Dharamsala, March 5 : The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) here on Thursday postponed two international summit due to coronavirus epidemic.

However, the official programme to mark the 57th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day on March 10, the day Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa in 1959 forcing the Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and other countries, would be organised but at a low-key.

The postponed programmes were the Global Summit of International Associations -- scheduled in July, and the Global Summit of the International Tibetan Associations on April 2-4, said CTA Information Secretary T.G Arya.

The summit, first such gathering of its kind, was being convened to discuss core issues related to preserving the Tibetan culture, sustaining the Tibetan freedom struggle, reinforcing Tibetan associations and organisations, and strengthening the CTA's ties with the Tibetan communities residing outside South Asia.

The CTA's 5/50 programme will take place as planned August.

Arya also advised the people to follow the health guidelines.

The Tibetan administration-in-exile is based in this northern Indian hill town.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

Azerbaijani Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov has met with the delegation headed by Georgian Minister of Defense Irakli Garibashvili on March 5, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Before the meeting, the Georgian delegation visited the Alley of Martyrs and laid wreaths and flowers at the graves of Azerbaijani compatriots who sacrificed their lives for the independence and territorial integrity of the country.

Then an official welcoming ceremony for the Georgian delegation was held at the Ministry of Defense. The Georgian defense minister passed along the guard of honor and national anthems of both countries were played. In accordance with the protocol, Garibashvili has signed the "Book of Honor".

During the meeting held in an expanded format, welcoming the guests, Hasanov stressed that Azerbaijani-Georgian strategic partnership is at a high level and this plays an important role not only in the development of the two countries, but also in ensuring security in the entire region.

Stressing that Azerbaijan and Georgia cooperate in the military field by ensuring the security of regional economic projects and implementing programs both bilaterally and within the NATO, as well as within the format of the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgias military structures, Hasanov emphasized the importance of expanding spheres of this cooperation.

Hasanov informed the guests that Armenia, as the occupying country, creates a great threat to regional security and renders ongoing support for separatism on the state level. The minister once again thanked the Georgian people for supporting Azerbaijan and recognizing its territorial integrity within the international organizations and stressed that Azerbaijan also supports and recognizes the territorial integrity of Georgia.

While expressing satisfaction with his visit to Azerbaijan, Garibashvili underlined that it is a clear example of the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Stressing the important role of friendly relations between the presidents in the development of relations between the two countries, the Georgian defense minister emphasized the significance of such meetings in terms of expanding cooperation.

During the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on the prospects for the development of cooperation in the military, military-technical spheres and in the field of military education and military medicine, as well as in conducting joint military exercises, the organization of working meetings, and other issues of mutual interest.
CHICAGO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a world of consumer micro-targeting, AI-directed marketing, and corporately mandated "Wokeness"  when it comes to effectively selling to women a surprising number of industries are still missing the mark. Even more surprising is which industries  including consumer packaged goods and some retail formats  are on that list.

To find out what women really think about how companies approach them Kearney polled 1,000 women for our 2020 Women Consumers Survey. We discovered the formula for winning with women goes far beyond developing gender progressive advertising that shows women comfortable in "historically male" roles and men doing household chores or just developing "female-focused" products. Companies must transform their entire organization from the R&D process to the boardroom in support of the advancement of women; cater to their unique category needs; and authentically and effectively communicate those efforts.

The bottom line could not be clearer. If you operate in product categories where a female-focused product is valued, invest in it, understanding that throwing marketing dollars at customers is not enough to ensure the loyalty of the women consumers. "Effectively selling to women requires companies take an integrated, holistic, and consistent approach -- anchored by true gender equality -- reflected in everything they do from talent development, leadership practices, and public support for women's causes to merchandising, supply chain partner selection, advertising content, and, in most cases, product and service design," said Alex Fitzgerald, Manager in Kearney's Consumer practice.

Kearney found a deep link between identity and purchasing behavior. Thirty nine percent of respondents said pro-woman/female empowerment marketing is a primary purchasing consideration and/or that they try to only buy from companies that do this. Gender progressive marketing campaigns were the least important for purchase decision. Over 75% of the women polled said they will pay a premium for products that support the advancement of women or walk away from brands they don't see helping the cause.

"But, just having women in executive positions is not enough," said Fitzgerald. "The higher the visibility of women in an organization the more other women expect of the company." Seventy nine percent of respondents have different expectations of women-led companies, assuming they should be better at meeting their needs.

As far as product design goes, where respondents clearly wanted to see gender built into the design of some products, over 40% still told us women they just don't have special needs in tools and electronics, so there's no need for more "female-focused" screwdrivers and televisions.

When we asked them what gender stereotype they thought presented the biggest roadblock to achieving their own personal and professional success respondents indicated that all were equally objectionable, leaving not safe space for vestigial corporate misogyny.

This report is the latest research from Kearney's Global Consumer Institute. For more information on Kearney's 2020 Women Consumers Survey, read the full report here.

About Kearney

As a global consulting partnership in more than 40 countries, our people make us who we are. We're individuals who take as much joy from those we work with as the work itself. Driven to be the difference between a big idea and making it happen, we help our clients break through. For more information, visit www.kearney.com.

Media Contact:

Ryan Dicovitsky/Stephanie Dressler

Dukas Linden Public Relations

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1-212-704-7385

SOURCE Kearney

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:51:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department has recently announced a cap on the number of staffers for Chinese media based in the United States.

Such a peremptory move represents the latest step in an escalating political crackdown by Washington on Chinese media outlets in the United States, and has seriously disturbed the normal reporting activities of these organizations.

Furthermore, the policy tarnishes the credibility of these news outlets, hinders regular people-to-people exchanges, and fully exposes the two-faced nature of America's so-called freedom of the press.

Washington loves to brag about press freedom. The facts, however, tell us otherwise.

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one," A. J. Liebling, a writer for The New Yorker, once said, accurately revealing how in the United States freedom of press is reserved for deep-pockets, vested interests groups and the powerful.

In recent years, this U.S. government has been on a systemic offensive against press freedom and media bodies, seeking to portray those unfriendly media as "fake news" makers.

While Washington has kept a tight leash on media reporting domestically, it has used the news media as a weapon against countries around the world it deems either unfriendly or challenging.

U.S. daily Wall Street Journal recently published an article, tagging China as the "real sick man of Asia" while the country was bravely fighting the novel coronavirus outbreak.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has insisted on defending the newspaper's ignorance and racism, while ignoring the opposition of the Chinese government and its people.

And in the U.S. media's coverage of countries like Syria and Venezuela, the absence of unbiased reporting and journalistic objectivity have been too conspicuous to deny.

These abuses of its superpower status have unequivocally revealed Washington's Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice. For those harboring a zero-sum mentality in Washington, China is a threat that needs to be dealt with.

In a newly released book "Fake Fear: America and China Relations," author Xin Jiyan argues that "Washington is currently besieged by hawkish policy makers, who consider China as indeed a cause for fear ... although China-bashing is not new, it is increasingly jeopardizing normal exchanges, mutual trust and cooperation between China and the United States."

The United States has long boasted about its own brand of democracy and freedom, a "Shining city on a hill."

Yet such self-aggrandizement only serves to bolster Washington's naked hegemonic desire to rule the world supreme, utilizing domestic news media in the process. It reveals that America's resolute belief in freedom of the press is anything but.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 16:26:15|Editor: xuxin

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MANILA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday that the performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines continued to decline in January 2020.

The PSA reported in its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) that year-on-year volume of production index (VoPI) and value of production index (VaPI) dropped by 1.6 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

However, the PSA said both indices showed improvement from the previous month's growth of -9.1 percent and -8.7 percent respectively in December 2019.

Concerns over the COVID-2019 affecting tourism and travel activities in the country could dampen production of consumer-related manufactures such as food and beverages, the National Economic and Development Authority said.

"Intensifying government's actions to monitor and implement mitigating measures will temper the potential negative impact of the COVID-2019 on the manufacturing industry," said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

As the epidemic scare lingers, output of firms that produce intermediate goods to overseas market will also be affected.

"Government needs to work closely with the industry in crafting and implementing strategies to effectively mitigate the possible impacts of COVID-19 on production," Pernia added.

Pernia also stressed the need to map out entire value chains across primary, secondary, and tertiary players in the economy, to understand where critical parts are sourced, to identify alternative market sources, and to beef up inventory capacity to insulate against vulnerabilities.

To help the manufacturing industry become more competitive and resilient, Pernia said "relevant government agencies need to swiftly implement measures that would streamline processes, facilitate trade, and reduce transactions costs."

To reinforce business continuity plans, he further said government support will be needed for facilitating partnerships between micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and large domestic and foreign enterprises and for leveraging advanced manufacturing technologies to enable greater resilience of firms and MSMEs amid the challenges posed by COVID-2019.

Meanwhile, Pernia also said the recent eruption of Taal Volcano will also have a temporary impact on the manufacturing sector, given that the region, where the volcano is located, accounts for about 31 percent of the country's industry output.
Mailprotector Mailprotector is dedicated to empowering our channel partners with highly valued services and profitable recurring revenue streams.

Mailprotector, a Greenville, SC-based cybersecurity company, raised $5 million in growth equity funding from Ballast Point Ventures. The channel-centric company will use that capital to accelerate product development, grow sales and marketing efforts, and expand services to its strong and growing network of Managed Service Providers (MSPs). As part of the expansion, the company plans to add more than 30 positions across all departments at its Greenville, SC headquarters and other locations around the country.

The company has over a decade of experience providing highly available and highly secure email solutions to organizations around the world. As a cloud-based email security, compliance, encryption, and hosting platform, Mailprotectors solution is engineered from the ground up with partners management needs as a top priority. Mailprotector puts a premium on user experience and security with its advanced product stack, including CloudFilter, SafeSend, SecureStore, XtraMail, CloudMail, Exchange+, and Bracket. The companys patent-pending flagship email encryption product, Bracket, is as simple to use as it is secure.

Mailprotector is dedicated to empowering our channel partners with highly valued services and profitable recurring revenue streams, said David Setzer, Mailprotector founder & CEO. We know that email is still the prime vector for cyber-attacks, especially financially crippling ransomware and phishing threats. This investment means we can supercharge the development of our world-class cybersecurity protection tools for our partners and their clients, giving them an even stronger first line of defense against cyber threats and user error, Setzer added. We were thrilled to find in Ballast Point a firm that aligns with our channel partner commitment and one who respects our stewardship responsibilities in those relationships.

We are excited to partner with David, CTO Ben Hathaway, and the entire Mailprotector team to drive continued email security leadership and technology innovation, said Robert Faber, Partner at Ballast Point Ventures, who will join Mailprotectors Board of Directors. BPV has a long history of supporting high-growth software companies throughout the Southeast, and we have been impressed with David and his team as they have built industry-leading email security tools with limited outside capital investment.

About Mailprotector

Mailprotector empowers its users with a portfolio of cloud-based email security, management, and hosting services sold exclusively through the channel to businesses, government, and non-profits around the world. Products include inbound and outbound email security, email continuity, email archiving, email encryption, and business-class hosted email solutions. More information is available at http://www.mailprotector.com.

About Ballast Point Ventures

Ballast Point Ventures, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a later-stage venture capital and growth equity fund founded in 2002 to provide expansion capital for rapidly growing, privately-owned companies, with a particular emphasis on companies located in Florida, the Southeast, and Texas. The BPV partners have more than 80 years of combined experience investing in and building high-growth companies in several industries, including software, technology-enabled business services, healthcare, and consumer. Ballast Point Ventures has $360 million under management across three Funds and seeks to make initial equity investments ranging in size from $4 million to $10 million. For additional information, visit http://www.ballastpointventures.com.
A team of scientists created a vaccine that may have been able to prevent the deadly coronavirus outbreak, but they were never able to get funding to commence clinical trials, experts told Congress on Thursday.

Dr Peter Hotez, co-director of the Centre for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, testified before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee as health officials confirmed at least 160 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in at least 17 states across the country.

We had the vaccine ready to go," the doctor told lawmakers about a vaccine his team developed to protect against a strain of coronavirus in 2016, but "by then nobody was interested in a coronavirus vaccine."

Dr Hotez said the vaccine his team created in response to SARS may provide patients with cross-protection from the new strain of coronavirus that has caused more than 3,200 deaths worldwide, the majority of those cases resulting in China where the illness was believed to have originated.

But he explained that his team attempted to secure funding from investors in order to move the vaccine into the clinical trial phase, but a decade had gone by since SARS spread across China, and agencies were not focused on preventing another coronavirus outbreak.

He also warned against inflated claims about vaccines coming in weeks, saying the process to manufacture and distribute a vaccine to combat the new coronavirus will take much longer than some officials have estimated.

He noted a previous study testing similar vaccines that resulted in two deaths, and said any trials for a potential vaccine would have to proceed very cautiously, very slowly.

Dr Hotez was joined by a panel of infectious disease experts on Thursday when he warned of the unique potential safety problems that arise in testing coronavirus vaccines.

"It's tragic that we won't have a vaccine ready for this epidemic," Dr Hotez said in his opening remarks, a copy of which was shared with NBC News. "Practically speaking, we'll be fighting these outbreaks with one hand tied behind our backs."

The Independents health correspondent Shaun Lintern noted in response to the doctors claims that most cases where new strains of viruses emerge, vaccines need to be changed and that requires time and testing and trials, which can take months.

Even if this vaccine could be adapted it would be unlikely to be useful now or for many months, he added.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

Dr Susan Murray, program director of the Smithsonian Global Health Programme, also testified on Thursday that the coronavirus was not a surprise to experts who had been researching the spread of similar infectious diseases in recent years.

These pandemics are coming, she said, while calling on Congress to bring experts from different fields and countries to combat the potential crisis.

We look at the economy globally, she said, its really time that we look at health globally.

The doctor also told lawmakers scientists have found several other strains of coronavirus in China.
SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels recently confirmed that the company would be laying off 5,000 employees from its global workforces. The most amount of people would be laid off in China where the coronavirus outbreak has foiled Oyo's expansion plans.

Oyo Hotels would also be laying off staff in the US as well as its home country India, as it seeks to boost its profits, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. This is not the first round of lay off that the company has initiated. Back in late January this year Oyo had said that it was in the process of laying off 2,000 employees in India and China. The company had said that it had also hired 12,000 employees in the last 18 months.

Oyo is now planning to lay off 3,000 employees in China and also plans to temporarily lay off some of the company's 4000 discretionary staff members.

Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal had said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak has hit the company's expansion plans in China, the world's second-largest economy.

The company going through the process of staff reduction in India as well. In January, Business Today had reported that 1200 employees were laid off in Delhi, Jaipur and Gurugram, where Oyo's headquarter is located. The cuts were intensified as the SoftBank-backed hotel chain struggled to rein in costs and shore up the bottom line.

According to Agarwal, after the 5,000 employees have been dismissed the company would be left with 25,000 employees. Oyo has around 20,000 - 22,000 employees just in India and China.

"This is the total number of employees impacted as part of the global restructuring exercise announced in January 2020 and includes all markets impacted like India, China, and the US, already publicly reported," an Oyo spokesperson told the daily.

In 2018, Oyo had invested $ 600 million in China for its expanding operations. By the end of that financial year, the hotel chain had posted a loss of $197 million which was equivalent to 60 per cent of all global losses Oyo had recorded in the FY 2018-2019.

According to Oyo, the hotel chain operates in more than 10,000 hotels. Some of these hotels have claimed that Oyo has violated contractual agreements with them.

Agarwal admitted that its hotel partners in China are going through "tough times" because of the coronavirus. "In China, the coronavirus has hit us and in specific provinces, we are trying hard to keep hotels open, as many as possible," he told Bloomberg.

Also Read: Oyo cuts staff strength by about 2,000, exits 200 cities as part of restructuring

Also Read: Pharma stocks rise amid coronavirus outbreak; Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy top gainers
Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda is being broadcast live on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at 8 p.m. The event will feature the infamous daredevil Nik Wallenda as he walks a highwire strung across the mouth of the Masaya volcano in Nicaragua.

Heres the information youll need to watch a live stream of Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda online without cable.

When is 'Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda on?

Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda will be broadcast live on ABC on Wednesday, Mar. 4. The live event will run for two hours and will be followed by a new episode of Stumptown at 10 p.m.

How to watch Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda without cable

If youre a cord-cutter or dont have cable, you can live stream Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda on Hulu Live TV.

What channel is ABC?

You can use the channel finder on your providers website to locate it: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish.

How to watch Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda online on-demand

If you missed an episode of Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda or want to binge watch other ABC series online as they become available, check out Hulu Live TV.

What is Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda about?

According to the official ABC announcement of the event: Nik Wallenda, seventh generation of the Great Wallendas, will return to the highwire for a daring 1,800-foot-long walk over the active Masaya Volcano in Masaya, Nicaragua. Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda will air as a live two-hour special on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on ABC. This will mark Niks longest and highest highwire walk ever attempted and make him the first person to embark on the 1,800-foot-long walk over the famed volcano. The date of Niks next highwire special was first announced during ABCs telecast of Dick Clarks New Years Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2020 from Times Square, the same location where Nik last walked the highwire 25 stories above New York City in June.

Heres a look at the type of performance to be expected with Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda, based on the time he walked across the Chicago skyline, courtesy of the Discovery UK official YouTube channel:

Related stories about Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda

Here are some additional stories and articles about Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda, including a look at how Nik Wallenda is preparing to complete this historic feat:

Walking over an active volcano: How Nik Wallenda is preparing

The Bachelors Chris Harrison & ESPNs Sage Steele To Host ABC Event Volcano Live! With Nik Wallenda

Chris Harrison of The Bachelor to Host Volcano Live! With Nik Wallenda

Joseph Rejent may be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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As World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has people hanging on his every word.

What a challenge to be the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the time of the coronavirus.

The entire planet hanging on your every word, addressing daily press conferences at the headquarters in Geneva to detail an ever increasing number of cases in an ever increasing number of countries.

This is the lot of Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the first African head of the WHO, who took office two-and-a-half years ago promising to reform the organisation, and to tackle the illnesses that kill millions each year: malaria, measles, childhood pneumonia, or HIV/Aids.

And yet, while the WHO is undoubtedly working hard on those illnesses, Dr Tedros' time in office has been dominated first by Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now by Covid-19.

Both have been declared Public Health Emergencies of International Concern, or PHEICs.

'Charming and unassuming'

That means they require 24-hour monitoring, deployment of medical staff, equipment and medicines, daily discussions with affected countries and countries who might be affected, and of course, a steady stream of reliable information for an anxious world desperate for immediate answers.

"Charming" and "unassuming" are some of the words those who know him use to describe the 55-year-old.

At his first press conference as WHO director general, the Geneva-based journalists were somewhat bemused by his manner.

He strolled in smiling, sat down and chatted in a very relaxed way, his voice sometimes so quiet it was difficult to hear him. That was a very big change from his more formal predecessor, Margaret Chan.

And yet behind that quiet manner there must lie a very determined man.

Before becoming head of the WHO he climbed through the ranks of Ethiopia's government, becoming health minister and then foreign minister. He could not have risen that far by being self-effacing.

Brother died of suspected measles

Dr Tedros was born in 1965 in Asmara, which became Eritrea's capital after independence from Ethiopia in 1991, and grew up in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region.

One formative, and now motivating experience, was the death of a younger brother, who was around four years old at the time, he told Time magazine in November. Later, as a student, Dr Tedros came to suspect it was measles that killed him.

"I didn't accept it; I don't accept it even now," he was quoted as saying, adding that it was unfair that a child should die from a preventable disease just because he was born in the wrong place.

"All roads should lead to universal health coverage. I will not rest until we have met this," he told the World Health Assembly shortly before his election as WHO chief.

Dr Tedros became a member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which was in the vanguard of the 1991 overthrow of Ethiopia's Marxist dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam.

As a government minister from 2005, he was seen as more approachable and friendly than some of his more austere TPLF comrades.

He has been praised for reforming the health sector and improving access to health care in Ethiopia, Africa's most populous state after Nigeria.

But when he was in charge, his ministry was known to discourage journalists from reporting about suspected cholera cases in the country.

'Coaxing China'

During his highly efficient and ultimately successful campaign to lead the WHO, Dr Tedros' supporters dismissed allegations that he had covered up cholera outbreaks.

That is why "persuasive" and "political" are also words which crop up regularly when discussing his leadership of the WHO.

He knows that the WHO's success tackling global health crises depends on the co-operation of the organization's 194 member states.

During the current Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, he has travelled there several times, not just to see the situation but to also talk to government leaders. And he moved quickly to visit Beijing when news of the coronavirus outbreak emerged.

"His strategy is to coax China to transparency and international co-operation rather than criticising the government," says Lawrence Gostin, Professor of Global Health Law at Georgetown University.

But has that actually worked?

Some WHO watchers have criticised the effusive praise heaped on China for its containment measures.

After his trip to Beijing, Dr Tedros said China had set "a new standard for outbreak control".

A few days later, he told world leaders meeting at the Munich Security Conference that China's actions had "bought the world time".

Such comments sit uneasily with the knowledge that China arrested health workers who first raised the alarm about the outbreak.

There is criticism too that Dr Tedros waited too long to declare a PHEIC.

"I was one of the first to ask him to call a PHEIC," says Prof Gostin. "Having said that, it was only a short delay and I don't think the timing had any impact on the trajectory of Covid-19."

"I do worry quite a bit however that his effusive praise for China could in the long term tarnish the WHO's reputation as a trusted scientific authority willing to speak truth to power."

So while Dr Tedros may be political, a lot of that political effort seems to be spent reassuring authoritarian, untransparent governments, in a bid to get them to work with the WHO to tackle diseases which threaten global health.

When it comes to perceiving how that effort may be viewed by governments in Western democracies, his political skills may not be quite so sharp.

Shortly after taking office he proposed Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president at the time, as a WHO goodwill ambassador, saying he had worked to make Zimbabwe "a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies".

Only after days of outrage, not just from governments, but from human rights groups, who pointed to the deprivation that Mr Mugabe's regime had inflicted on its people, did Dr Tedros decide to withdraw his proposal.

'Pitiful funding for WHO'

Now, in the midst of a global outbreak of a brand new virus, his judgement is being questioned again.

Some want him to declare a pandemic, others, including senior officials at the WHO, point out that it is only a word, and making the declaration would not change the WHO's strategy to contain the disease.

Then there are virologists and epidemiologists, some of whom say the WHO's advice to member states to adopt "robust, aggressive" containment measures is too feeble, and others who say the WHO is over-reacting.

We have been here before. Dr Chan was criticised for a perceived overreaction to the 2010 swine flu outbreak, over which she declared a pandemic and advised countries to spend millions on medicines most did not, in the end, need.

Then she was seen to react far too slowly to West Africa's catastrophic Ebola outbreak, which claimed at least 11,000 lives.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't", is a phrase you often hear at WHO headquarters.

Prof Gostin believes Dr Tedros has become "the symbol of leadership" in the course of the coronavirus crisis. But, he warns, the WHO's "fundamental weaknesses are still there, including pitiful funding".

'See you tomorrow'

The success of Dr Tedros, and the WHO as a whole, at handling the coronavirus will not be really clear until the crisis is over.

For now, he will keep on advising countries to prepare, to diagnose, to trace, and to contain.

Every day he gives a press conference, every day his words are flashed around the world. And despite the pressure to come up with answers, despite the constant media spotlight, he remains quiet and friendly.

The end of each press conference is always the same; a gathering of papers, a smile, and "see you tomorrow". BBC

WHO lauds Vietnams Covid-19 response efforts The World Health Organization lauded the efforts that Vietnam has made to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Dr. Kidong Park, World Health Organization representative in Vietnam, grants an interview to VNEWS.
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Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:25 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20688ffc0 1 National #coronavirus,COVID-19,coronavirus,house-of-representatives,#lawmaker,Lawmakers Free

Lawmakers are planning to form a special team involving various House of Representatives commissions that will work to monitor and evaluate the governments work in responding to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Lawmakers said the government should not only focus on handling the existing cases but also on containing the virus amid mounting public fears, as well as doubts over how the government is responding to the outbreak.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on Monday two positive cases of coronavirus: a 31-year-old woman (Case 1) and her 64-year-old mother (Case 2), both residents of Depok, West Java. Both tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into contact with a Japanese woman who later tested positive in Malaysia.

Deputy chairman of the Houses Commission IX overseeing health, Melki Laka Lena, said the team would involve members of her commission, as well as of Commission I overseeing information and defense, and Commission II overseeing home affairs, among other commissions. The team would likely be in the form of a special committee, or Pansus.

It might now be called a coronavirus desk, but we would decide on [the name] later. The important thing is to sit together first, we must be quick," Melki of the Golkar Party said.

Commission I had agreed on Feb. 24 to support the establishment of the working committee in question, according to commission chairwoman Meutya Hafid of the Golkar Party.

She also said that at a time like this the Health Ministry could not work alone, and the participation of other state institutions, such as the military and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) -- both working partners of Commission I  was important.

At a critical time like this, we believe the roles of the military and the BIN are quite important. We will discuss later how far such military involvement is needed," she said.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has so far assisted the government several times in handling the coronavirus, most notably during the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from China's Hubei province to Natuna Island for quarantine and Indonesian crew members from the World Dream cruise ship to Sebaru Island.

They had also helped find suitable locations for the government to set up a hospital for COVID-19 patients.

On Wednesday, TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono visited Galang Island in Batam, Riau Islands, where the government is planning to transform a former camp for Vietnamese refugees into the special outbreak hospital.

The planned hospital is expected to be able to accommodate around 1,000 patients and have 50 isolation rooms, which will take up 2 percent of the hospitals total capacity.

Galang Island was a refugee asylum during the Vietnam war from 1955 to 1975. The site also has access to clean water and electricity, while the island is located 50 kilometers from Hang Nadim International Airport.

House Commission I lawmaker Bobby Adhityo Rizaldi called on the TNI to be prepared in helping the government prevent the spread of the virus. He said, however, that further military involvement was only needed if public health services managed by civilians were no longer able to handle patients suspected of having contracted the coronavirus.

"Or if the government decides to isolate certain areas," the Golkar politician said. "It [military assistance] is like a lifebuoy on a ship, it's best not to use it but when the situation is urgent, it's ready."

Another Commission I member, Charles Honoris of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), meanwhile, urged the government to ensure the privacy of its citizens in relation to the coronavirus handling.

He said the disclosure of personal information of coronavirus patients, whether through social media or other platforms, should be taken seriously as a violation of citizens privacy.

House speakers will discuss the proposed Pansus to see whether or not its establishment is necessary, deputy speaker and Gerindra Party politician Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said.

"Because the House is currently in recess for the next three weeks, we will discuss it after the recess," he said.

House speaker of the PDI-P Puan Maharani urged the government to immediately create a national level team for coronavirus handling, which would centralize the coordination of all related stakeholders, citing that several regions had already formed special teams on coronavirus, namely Jakarta, South Tangerang and West Java.

"A national team is important to ensure that authorities are working together to prevent the spread of the virus and to prove to the public that Indonesia is being vigilant and serious in dealing with the outbreak, she said.

Panic buying of face masks, hand sanitizer and everyday goods such as instant noodles hit supermarkets and drugstores in various areas in the country after the government confirmed the first two COVID-19 cases. Fake news and misinformation on the virus are also rampant on social media.
With COVID-19 spreading across the world at an unprecedented rate, the need for a cure is getting more and more serious. And Microsoft founders Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation is working on making this a reality ASAP.

Reuters

The foundation has paid for 15,000 medicinal molecules to be shipped to a leading laboratory in Belgium to test and be a potential cure to the novel coronavirus.



These samples are actually active ingredients in current antiviral treatments. Researchers will screen these for their effect on particles developed from a swab that was taken from Belgiums first patient to be affected with COVID-19.

The molecules are being sent from the Scripps research institute, California to Rega institute for medical research in Leuven, near Brussels. The Scripps Institute has a wide variety of active ingredients of drugs that are already existing or either in development, in its collection.





The analysis will be carried out by Professor Johan Neyts. He expects the results to be released within a fortnight of the reception of the shipment.

He said in a statement, to De Standard newspaper, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hopes that there are one or more molecules among the 15,000 substances that can also inhibit the new coronavirus. Well figure that out for them. We will know the results a week or two after the shipment is delivered."

Reuters

He further added, The cost to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be a few tens of thousands of euros. Thats nothing compared to what it costs to design and market a medicine from scratch.



Neyts isnt expecting to find a groundbreaking drug to cure coronavirus for the world, but even some action against the novel coronavirus will be regarded as a step towards progress. He said, A bit is also good. Or even better: a few substances that inhibit a little, and which we can then combine to hopefully cure seriously-ill patients.




As the spread of coronavirus continues across the world, sales of hand sanitiser have remained drastically increased.

According to federal health organisations, such as WHO and the CDC, one of the most effective methods for preventing the spread of germs is thoroughly washing your hands. However, if you do not have access to soap and water, hand sanitiser with at least 60 per cent alcohol can be used.

The influx in purchases of sanitiser has subsequently led to shortages as people attempt to stock up on household supplies, with the heightened demand leading some stores to implement limits on the number of hand sanitisers customers can buy, while other retailers have increased prices of the containers.

Fortunately, if you are not able to find sanitiser in stores, experts say you can make your own at home - but there's one key aspect you must get right to make sure it is effective.

Homemade hand sanitisers are just as effective as what you buy as long as you use the right percentage of alcohol, Dr David Agus told CBS News. This is a good way to get around people price-gouging.

According to Dr Stephen Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, DIY sanitiser is about as effective as using soap and water when made correctly.

We know it works - just make sure it has enough alcohol on it, he said.

How do you make hand sanitiser at home?

To make hand sanitiser, you need Isopropyl alcohol, known as rubbing alcohol, aloe vera gel, a bowl, a spoon, a funnel, and either a spray bottle or liquid soap container, according to CBS.

The first step is pouring  cup of alcohol and  cup aloe vera, which will make the sanitiser easier to apply, into the bowl and mixing well.

Once the mixture is blended, you can use the funnel to pour the mixture into containers.

If you want to mask the scent of alcohol, you can add five to 10 drops of essential oil such as lavender, according to the outlet.

How else can you limit the spread of germs?

In addition to regularly washing your hands or using hand sanitiser, the CDC recommends that people avoid touching their face, mouth or nose and avoid close contact with anyone who is sick.
Los Angeles, March 5 : Pakistan-origin actor-comedian Kumail Nanjiani will have a Bollywood-style entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor says his character in the superhero project "The Eternals" will have a secret identity of a Bollywood star.

"My character, for instance, is like, 'Okay we're supposed to keep a low profile, no one should know'. So I become a Bollywood movie star, that's my secret identity," Nanjiani said in Deadline's New Hollywood podcast.

"We're supposed to keep quiet and I've become the biggest Bollywood movie star," he added.

Nanjiani, 42, said he took months of "Bollywood dance classes" to prepare for the role.

"I took months of Bollywood dance classes to prepare for that. It's really a workout... and you know, there's like 52 dancers, and 51 of them are professional dancers, and then there's me," he said.

The actor also explained the representative importance of filming his character's dance number with over 50 South Asian actors, reports collider.com.

"I was like, we went from, like, none of us, to so many in one scene," he joked.

Director Chloe Zhao will be bringing the world of Jack Kirby-created comic, which debuted in July 1976, alive. It is about super-powered beings The Celestials and their villainous adversaries The Deviants in a war set millions of years ago.

"A lot of it takes place in the present day," said Nanjiani of Zhao's take on the material.

Nanjiani is essaying the role of Kingo, an Eternal who is cosmic-powered.

"The Eternals" also features Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Brian Tyree Henry, Gemma Chan, and Barry Keoghan. The movie is scheduled to release in November.
Mumbai, March 5 : Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), has acquired 100 per cent stake in Tamil Nadu-based Shri Kannan Departmental Store Private Limited for Rs 152.5 crore.

RIL in a regulatory filing said that the investment will further strengthen the group's retail operations and its presence in the state of Tamil Nadu and will further enable its retail and new commerce initiatives.

"Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, has acquired 7,86,191 equity shares representing 100 per cent of the equity share capital of Shri Kannan Departmental Store Private Limited (SKDS) for a consideration of Rs 152.5 crore," the company said in a filing late on Wednesday evening.

Incorporated on September 15, 1999, Shri Kannan Departmental Store is engaged in the business of retailing fruits and vegetables, dairy, staples, home and personal care and general merchandise to consumers. It currently operates 29 stores across Coimbatore and nearby areas with a retail area of over 6 lakh square feet.

The company reported revenue from operations of Rs 415 crore, Rs 450 crore and Rs 481 crore and net profit of Rs 2 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore in FY2018-19, FY2017-18 and FY2016-17 respectively.

Retail has been a major focus of RIL and with its plan of 'new commerce', which is an offline-to-online initiative, the company aims to penetrate India's retail market. Through the new commerce initiative RIL plans to link producers, traders, small merchants, brands and consumers through technology.

Shares of RIL on the BSE traded in the red on Thursday. At 10.17 a.m., shares of RIL were trading at Rs 1,326.75, lower by Rs 12.40 or 0.93 per cent from its previous close.
A Russia delegation has travelled to Suweida to meet with notables and to try and resolve some of the security issues that are plaguing the province reports Suweida 24.

A delegation of Russian forces headed by two officers from the Russian Reconciliation Center in Damascus met with notables from Suweida province in the town of Shahba to discuss a number of recent security issues and developments in the area.

The notables called on the Russian delegation to find a solution to the security issues and to settle the status of people wanted by the Assad regime security, as well as for compulsory and reserve service, and to address the repeated kidnappings in the area.

The Russian delegation called on the notables to form a small council with the aim of expanding the issues they had discussed and also preparing a list of names of individual gang members, their locations, as well as a list of names of missing persons from the province.

The Russians previously met with people from the al-Haroubi district in the Suweida province and discussed the working mechanism for the Bedouins displaced from their villages in the provinces northeast, who were displaced when of the Islamic State took control of Daraa province.

A civilian was killed and others wounded on Tuesday when regime forces open fired on civilians in the centre of Suweida province.

Before that, the regimes Military Security branch in February had kidnapped a member of a local group in the province, and the group responded by kidnapping five officers, including a colonel.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
What does it mean to be a teacher of color? How can a white teacher support students of color? How have teachers race and other demographics shaped who they are and how theyll act in the classroom?

Teacher-candidates at the University of Washington are mulling over these questions on a regular basis, in what are known as caucus groups with others who share their identity.

Caucuses, which are nonpolitical affinity groups, are places where people can talk in a structured format with others who share a part of their identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. In these groups, people can unpack shared experiences and reflect on how their identity shapes their worldview.

The most common form of caucusing is based on race, where white people are given a chance to work through structural racism and internal biases without the fear of offending people of color, and where people of color are able to talk about their experiences without feeling like they have to educate white people.

Caucusing is often seen at conferences with a social-justice bent, or at equity-minded companies. It has also been done in some education settings, including during professional development. But the University of Washington might be one of the only colleges of education in the nation that has made identity caucusing mandatory for teacher-candidates in elementary and secondary programs.

We want to signal that for us, this is a central part of teaching, said Manka Varghese, a professor at the university who has done research on caucusing in teacher education. Its important to connect ... who teachers are, and what questions they can ask of themselves, and how who they are relates to what and how they teach.

For all candidates, caucusing is a chance to explore their teacher identity, Varghese said. But their experiences will be vastly different based on what group theyre in.

Often for teachers of color, the sense is more like, Well, Ive never had a teacher of color. Am I going to be an effective teacher? ... And also battling [with] what are the expectations of what good teachers are supposed to be, because a lot of the models that are out there have been based on white female teachers, she said.

And for a lot of white teachers, the goal is to be asking deeper questions around, what are the effects of certain things that they do and say in the classroom when they have students and families of color, and then how do they try to ask questions and interrogate themselves around that?

These conversations, teacher-educators said, are meant to be uncomfortable. But theyre critical, especially in an education system where 80 percent of teachers are white, but less than half of students are. (In Washington state, about 88 percent of teachers are white, compared to 53 percent of students.)

It scares me to think about being a teacher without caucusing, because it really helped me to understand and navigate conversations about race, said Jacquelyn Betz, a kindergarten teacher in Seattle who got her masters degree in teaching at the University of Washington and was part of the white caucus there. If I was not comfortable with the idea of talking about race, I would automatically be stifling my students of color.

Race at the Forefront

University of Washington teacher-educators in the secondary program started this work six years ago, with the elementary program following suit and making caucusing mandatory in 2016. At first, faculty members said, it was tough to get buy-in.

Students didnt see the value in it necessarily, said Teddi Beam-Conroy, the director of the elementary teacher education program. There were even people on our instructional team who thought this isnt valuable: What are white people going to learn from sitting in a room with other white people?

But over time, she said, it has become an integral part of the program. When applicants interview for the program, theyre told to expect this.

Students self-identify their race and ethnicity at the start of the year, and teacher-educators put them in caucus groups, which vary year to year based on student demographics. For example, there might be what facilitators call a white caucus, a combined black and brown caucus, and an Asian caucus. Another year, there might be a white caucus, a person of color caucus, and a multiracial caucus.

The groups are led by experienced faculty members or doctoral students who share students identity. In the secondary program, candidates meet in their caucuses 26 times over three quarters, and in the elementary program, candidates meet four times a quarter, although Beam-Conroy said many voluntarily meet outside of the scheduled times.

Students do guided readings and reflective writings throughout the caucus period. In the secondary program, facilitators collect exit slips each time the caucuses meet and ungraded reflections two or three times a quarter to gauge students takeaways and experiences, said Anne Beitlers, the director of the secondary teacher education program.

Race is at the forefront of the caucusing, but faculty are experimenting with how to incorporate other aspects of identity, including gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and disability. This year, for instance, there were enough LGBTQ candidates in the elementary program to create a white queer caucus, Beam-Conroy said.

And in the secondary program, facilitators divide the race-based caucuses by socioeconomic statusidentified by where candidates fit when they were in middle or high school, the same age as the students they will teachfor two weeks, Beitlers said. (The biggest group is typically middle-class white candidates, she added.)

During the sexual identity caucusing period, candidates might start in what the program deems a straight caucus and then move to a queer and questioning caucus as the quarter progresses and students learn new things about themselves, Beitlers said. Facilitators have also had to work with transgender or gender-nonconforming candidates in the past to customize their experiences and make sure they are not excluded from the gender binary groups.

Thats one concern about the structure of caucusing, said Christopher Emdin, an associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, who has written about race and education.

The nature of social life is so complex and layered, he said. Its particularly challenging for a person whose identity is in flux to be able to identify an identity they want to connect to within an established and rigid structure when their experience is much more fluid.

That said, theres a lot of value in meeting with others who have a shared experience, Emdin said. Teachers Colleges Reimagining Education Summer Institute, which is an annual conference for classroom teachers focused on integrated schools, has the opportunity for attendees to participate in affinity groups, he said.

Being a man of color myself whos worked in education for quite a while, I think that sometimes you take a little pause with sharing the complexities of your experiences, because you dont want to offend or you dont want to hurt or you dont want to be misperceived, Emdin said. When people convene based on shared culture, it always makes for more freeing, more rich, more authentic dialogue, which is essential to teacher preparation.

Stark Conversations

Conversations in caucus groups require a lot of vulnerability, and they can be intense. Betz, the kindergarten teacher, said some people in her white caucus were initially reluctant to open up.

It feels scary to talk about the things youve been trained not to talk about, she said. Its a very stark conversationyoure really noticing the ingrained biases that you have, and the moments in your life where you have been a bystander or even possibly a major factor in an act of racism and you didnt know, or you were simply [focusing on] your own perspective.

But as the year progressed, Betz said, the group became a safe space to ask questions and process how their experiences differed from their nonwhite classmates.

Janaki Nagarajan, a contracted substitute teacher in the Northshore School District in Bothell, Wash., joined the multiracial caucus while going through her masters program in elementary teaching. Shes white and East Indian.

I think there was always this sense of discontent in that identityfeeling kind of conflicted and confused and not really sure if youre there all the time, she said. I spent a lot of time cultivating this white part of me and that identity, and not so much feeling like I could be or had any part in this other community, or maybe I didnt really want a part in it.

But through her conversations with others in the caucus, Nagarajan felt affirmed: We were able to say things that a lot of us have felt most of our lives, but didnt really have an explicit place to bring that up with other people, she said.

Those conversations have helped her in the classroom, she said. It has made her conscious of whose voices and experiences she was centering in her curriculum, and helped her see her own background as an asset to bring forward instead of hiding it away and pretending it wasnt there, Nagarajan said.

Even so, the discussions that are taking place during caucusing can be fraught. Students used to all come together for a large group conversation about some of the issues theyve worked through in their own caucuses, but faculty decided to nix that practice and devote more time and resources to the individual caucuses.

We found that in the end, because theyre not really ready to talk to each other about what theyve learned yet, they dont quite have the words, that it ended up doing damage to the community thats being built, Beitlers said.

In their own caucuses, candidates feel less on stage, she said. We feel like these backstage spaces allow them opportunities to be vulnerable and make sense of their positionality.

Still, Carolyne Abdullah, the senior director of the strengthening democratic capacity team at the Connecticut-based Everyday Democracy project, said sustained change comes through conversations with everybody at the table.

We are not homogenous in the broader society we live in, she said. Its really important that we learn how to interact, how to interface, and how to navigate differences, and you cant navigate unless youre put in a situation where you have to.

After that larger conversation, Abdullah added, its important for students to go back to their own caucuses to debrief.

Beam-Conroy, however, said the spaces where students come together naturallylike classare where they can enact the work done in caucusing.

Moving Past the Rage

Not all students are receptive to caucusing. A common complaint at first is that this feels like segregation, facilitators said.

And in an essay published in April by the online magazine Quillette, which calls itself a platform for free thought and opposes identity politics, a person who said he graduated from the secondary teacher education program slammed caucusing, where, as he put it, white people are asked to sit around to free-associate and express how badly they feel about race relations in America.

Eventually, you learn that who you are is irrelevant because all that really matters is what you are in terms of your group identity, wrote the author, who published the essay under a pseudonym.

Theres often a lot of rage in white caucuses, said Julia Daniels, who was a white facilitator at the University of Washington as a doctoral student and now works at Antioch University in Seattle.

She often started the caucus sessions off by addressing candidates anger: Why are they uncomfortable? What assumptions are they making?

Theres a lot of learning to be done in discussing that, Daniels said.

And proponents say its critical for teachers to grapple with their discomfort on issues related to race.

If were not picking up the people that are not ready to have those conversations, or havent even discussed their race, then were not going to get any further in schools, and our kids are not going to have us as our best teacher selves because we havent unpacked this huge part of our teacher identity yet, said Santasha Dhoot, a 1st grade teacher in Seattle who was part of the black and brown caucus during her masters program at the University of Washington. Its just a huge disservice to everyone.

Dhoot, a Punjabi Sikh woman, is the only brown teacher at her school, an experience that she said has been really isolating. But her experience caucusing gave her a toolkit of strategies to take care of herself, she said, and she still texts her facilitator when shes had a hard day.

Now, Dhoot is facilitating a caucus for people of color who work at her elementary school. There are also two white caucuses at the school. Its an optional professional development for staff, but Dhoot said its an important start to those tough conversations.

We impact so many kids, and especially in the area that we work in, these kids arent whitethey come from all types of different experiences, she said. We just need to be able to relate to these kids, find access points, and see how our identities impact them. Because it does, and [our identity] impacts every single thing that we do in the classroom, whether we say it or not.
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Here are some stocks that are in the news today:

HDFC: Reduced its retail prime lending rate (RPLR) on housing loans by 5 basis points.

Reliance Industries' subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures acquired 7,86,191 equity shares representing 100% of the equity share capital of Shri Kannan Departmental Store for a consideration of Rs 152.5 crore

Adani Ports board approves interim dividend of Rs 3.20 per share

Piramal Enterprises to consider declaration of interim dividend on March 18

DLF board to consider raising upto Rs 1,000 crore via NCDs on March 7

M&M - Estimate reduction in production/sales volume of around 12,000 units in March

Allcargo Logistics: The company got SEBI approval to buy 3.17 crore shares in Gati via open offer.

Bank of Baroda: Moody's cut Bank of Baroda's baseline credit assessment rating to Ba3 against Ba2.

Maruti Suzuki: The company partnered with HDB Financial Services to facilitate car loans for the customer.

HDFC Bank: The lender reconstituted the search panel to identify the successor to the MD.

Max Financial Services - Mitsui Sumitomo to acquire 21.87% stake in the company through a share swap

Commercial Engineers has successfully completed the first rake comprising of 58 wagons of the order received from Ministry of Railways, to supply 500 wagons

Navneet Education allotted 1000 units of commercial paper aggregating to Rs 50 crore at a discount rate of 5.95% p.a.

Varroc Engineering's Netherlands subsidiary Aries Mentor Holding B.V. merged with subsidiary company VarrocCorp Holding B.V.

Dynemic Products - Dahej project is expected to be completed by August, 2020

GMR Infrastructure: Promoter group acquired 38 lakh shares via open market on March 2.

Tata Steel board meeting on March 9 to consider issuance of NCDs

SBI Life Insurance approved re-appointment of Sanjeev Nautiyal as the MD and the COO of the company with effect from March 10

Ashok Leyland: The company has fixed record date as March 20 for the purpose of interim dividend.

TIPS Industries: CARE Ratings has revised ratings on the company's long-term bank facility as 'CARE BBB' from 'CARE BBB-'.

Deepak Nitrite: The company has a fixed record date as March 17 for the purpose of the payment of the interim dividend.

Bhagyanagar India: CARE Ratings has revised ratings on the company's long-term bank facilities as 'CARE BBB' with a stable outlook.

IndusInd Bank board to consider raising funds via debt on March 9

Allsec Technologies: ICRA has withdrawn ratings on the company's long-term and short-term instruments worth Rs 11 crore.

RRIL: The board of the company will meet on March 5 to consider and approve the draft scheme of amalgamation of RRIL with Krkumar Industries.

Grandeur Products: The board of the company will meet on March 5 to consider and approve an increase in the authorised share capital of the company from Rs 25 crore to Rs 27 crore.

The respective boards of Pidilite Industries, Godfrey Phillips India, BNK Capital Markets, Chembond Chemicals, Deepak Spinners, Insecticides India, Jamna Auto Industries, KPIT Technologies and Praj Industries will meet on March 5 to consider and approve interim dividends.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
The global march of the new virus triggered a vigorous appeal from the World Health Organization today for governments to pull out 'all the stops' to slow the epidemic, as it drained color from India's spring festivities, closed Bethlehem's Nativity Church and blocked Italians from visiting elderly relatives in nursing homes.

As China, after many arduous weeks, appeared to be winning its epic, costly battle against the new virus, the fight was revving up in newly affected areas of the globe, unleashing disruptions that profoundly impacted billions of people.

The UN health agency urged all countries to 'push this virus back,' a call to action reinforced by figures showing there are now about 17 times as many new infections outside China as in it. To date, the virus has infected nearly 97,000 people and killed over 3,300.

Healthcare professionals wearing protective suits and healthcare masks at work inside the isolation area of the Amedeo di Savoia hospital in Turin, northern Italy on Thursday

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on the new coronavirus dubbed COVID-19, at the WHO headquarters on Monday

'This is not a drill. This is not the time for giving up. This is not a time of for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily briefing in Geneva. 'Countries have been planning for scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans.'

Virus fears also affected the joyful Indian celebration of Holi, in which Hindu revelers celebrate the arrival of spring with bursts of color, including bright powders smeared on faces. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders said they wouldn't attend Holi events and the Holi Moo Festival in New Delhi was canceled.

Palestinian officials closed the storied Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem indefinitely, weeks ahead of the busy Easter holiday.

The Christian holy site will close indefinitely from 4pm today after suspected virus cases emerged in the town.

The news is a blow to tens of thousands of worshippers who were expected to descend on the church for Easter next month.

Jeres Qumsiyeh, a spokesman for the Palestinian tourism ministry, said the church would be closed 'until further notice'.

All tourists have been barred from entering the West Bank, after four suspected coronavirus cases were found in Bethlehem, authorities said.

Most tourists to the West Bank visit Bethlehem and its fellow biblical city of Jericho.

As the rest of the world prepares anti-virus barriers, Chinese manufacturers gradually reopened their factories.

In Italy, the epicentre of Europe's outbreak, workers in latex gloves pinned 'closed' notices on school gates, enforcing a 10-day shutdown of the education system. Italy's sports-mad fans are also barred from stadiums until April 3.

Government officials make phone calls to members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus to check if they have symptoms of COVID-19 at the Goyang City Hall in Goyang, South Korea

A government decree that took effect Thursday urged the country's famously demonstrative citizens to stay at least three feet apart from each other, placed restrictions on visiting nursing homes and urged the elderly not to go outside unless absolutely necessary.

That directive appeared to be widely ignored, as school closures nationwide left many Italian children in the care of their grandparents. Parks in Rome overflowed with both young and old, undercutting government efforts to shield older Italians from the virus that hits the elderly harder than others. Italy has the world's oldest population after Japan. Italy's death toll climbed Thursday to 148, and its confirmed cases to 3,858.

Lorenzo Romano, making lunch for his grandchildren, saw a positive side.

'Altogether, it makes me happy, because then I have them around me more,' he said.

Further to its directive to 'pull out all the stops,'the WHO earlier warned that a 'long list' of countries are not doing enough to combat the deadly coronavirus.

It comes as the EU said it was considering drafting in medical students and retired healthcare professionals to bolster hospital work forces as the global number of those infected by COVID-19 neared 100,000, including 3,305 deaths.

WHO chief Mr Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva on Thursday he was concerned that many countries were not showing 'the level of political commitment' needed to 'match the level of the threat we all face.'

People visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, on Thursday. The Nativity Church in Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely from 4pm today after suspected virus cases emerged in the town.

Meanwhile the EU warned it might be necessary to boost supplies of protective clothing with several countries facing shortages, as it confirmed it was mulling taking on health workers still studying for their qualifications.

EU health ministers are due to discuss the coronavirus outbreak at a meeting in Brussels tomorrow.

Iran, which has registered 107 virus deaths, has also closed schools and universities. Now it has introduced checkpoints to limit travel between major cities. Iranians were urged to reduce their use of paper money.

Amid the string of bad news, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged state television to offer 'happier' programs to entertain those stuck at home.

'I urge all artists, scientists, psychologists and all who can bring smiles to people's faces, come into the social media,' he said.

Brian Hook, the U..S. special representative for Iran, said the United States offered humanitarian assistance to help Iran deal with its outbreak but 'the regime rejected the offer.' He said the offer would stand.

In the United States, where 11 have died from the virus, hundreds of people were placed in self-quarantines due to cases in a New York suburb. A school district north of Seattle with 22,000 students announced it will close for up to two weeks because of coronavirus concerns.

Financial markets remained volatile, as investors continue to weigh the size of the epidemic's dent on the global economy. The U.S. stock market was down in early trading Thursday. Analysts say more yo-yo moves on global markets are likely as long as the number of new infections continues to accelerate.

The OPEC oil cartel called for a deep production cut to keep crude prices from falling further as disruption to global business from the coronavirus slashes demand from air travel and industry.

A crowd of people daubed in vibrant colours celebrate Holi in the town of Barsana, northern India, yesterday amid fears that the festival could help spread coronavirus

People throw dry coloured powder which will be used in Holi celebrations in India - which PM Narendra Modi will no longer attend

Oil ministers from the 14 OPEC countries decided at a meeting Thursday to push for a cut of 1.5 million barrels a day, or about 1.5% of total world supply.

Across the globe, travelers faced ever-greater disruptions, as countries sought to keep the virus out. But South Africa confirmed its first case Thursday, becoming the seventh African nation to report infections. Britain and Switzerland reported their first coronavirus deaths.

'The virus doesn't care about race and belief or color. It is attacking us all, equally,' said Ian MacKay, who studies viruses at the University of Queensland in Australia.

The outlook for the travel industry was increasingly grim. The International Air Transport Association said the outbreak could cost airlines as much as $113 billion in lost revenue. The struggling British airline Flybe collapsed Thursday amid sinking demand.

Australia banned travelers from South Korea who aren't Australian citizens or permanent residents, following similar bans for China and Iran.

Indonesia announced restrictions on travelers from parts of Iran, Italy and South Korea after previously banning those coming in from China. The United Arab Emirates warned its people not to travel anywhere abroad.

South Africa has also confirmed its first virus case today, saying the patient was a a 38-year-old man who had travelled to Italy.

The case in South Africa is the first in the southern part of the continent and the latest confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Senegal.

'This morning,... the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive,' Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

The case was detected in the country's eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.

The patient and his wife were part of a group of 10 people who arrived back in South Africa from Italy on March 1.

Two days later, on March 3, he consulted a private general practitioner with a fever, headache, sore throat and a cough.

Germany's Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss said they will cancel all flights to and from Israel for three weeks starting Sunday after Israeli authorities announced tough restrictions on travelers from several countries because of the new virus.

Meanwhile, Indian PM Narendra Modi and other Hindu leaders say they will not attend Holi festival celebrations on March 10.

They advised people to exercise restraint at Holi, where people usually spray each other with squirt guns and colour each other with water-filled balloons.

The colourful spring festival in which Hindus smear each other's faces with red and yellow powders has drawn concern from health authorities who fear it could help the virus to spread.

Modi tweeted that he would not celebrate Holi while experts have advised people to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of the virus.

The message is reaching community leaders who are canceling street celebrations as well large gathering of people in condominiums.

Foreign tourists visit the Church of the Nativity, revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in Bethlehem today just hours before the site is due to close

Japan said visitors from China and South Korea would face a two-week quarantine at a government facility and be barred from public transit. Sri Lankans arriving from Italy, South Korea and Iran will be quarantined at a hospital once used for leprosy patients.

In South Korea, with the highest number of infections outside China, exports of masks will be prohibited beginning Friday and people will be limited to buying two masks a week.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to express condolences over the health crisis.

In China, where hospitals were releasing hundreds of recovered patients, officials reported 139 new cases of infection and 31 more deaths. Overall, China has reported 80,409 cases and 3,012 deaths, and authorities say about 6,000 people remained hospitalized in serious condition.

A state visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping was postponed. It was to have been the first for a Chinese leader since 2008.

Meanwhile in Iran, the country's health minister Saeed Namaki urged people to reduce their use of cash to stop the spread of the virus.

Saeed Namaki made the announcement at a news conference where he also revealed that schools and universities will remain closed until at least March 20, which is Persian New Year.

In addition, Namaki said authorities will begin manning checkpoints to limit travel between major cities in the Islamic Republic.

He said people should stay in their vehicles at gas stations and allow attendants to fill their gas tanks to avoid the spread of the virus.

Namaki said Iran had begun a national plan to combat coronavirus which will start in the handful of locations most affected by the disease and expand to other parts of the country, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Families would be contacted by telephone to help identify possible cases and health teams will disinfect public spaces, he said, listing the provinces of Qom, Gilan and Isfahan as the locations where the plan would begin.

On Sunday, Namaki had said that 300,000 teams, including members of the Basij militia, would be sent out to perform door-to-door coronavirus screening.

The plan sparked criticism from Iranians online about the possibility of the teams spreading, rather than stopping, infections.

Members of the World Health Organisation arrive at an airport in Tehran earlier this week after arriving on a UAE military transport plane

The latest plan announced on Thursday did not mention door-to-door screening.

'Our method is not going into homes,' Namaki said on state TV. 'We can use digital communications and ultimately the telephone. So we don't see a reason to go to the doors of peoples' homes.'

The telecommunications ministry is working on an app to enable people to register cases of suspected infections, he said.

Home visits will only take place if a patient requires assistance to be hospitalized, Namaki said, and health teams would wear full protective gear to help with transport and disinfection.

Home visits are possible in very rare circumstances, with prior coordination and out of complete necessity, he said.

Iran has been heavily criticised for its response to the crisis after refusing to shut down holy cities even as Shi'ite pilgrims spread the virus across the Middle East.

The regime's official figures show 2,922 confirmed cases and 92 deaths, although there has been suspicion that Tehran is covering up the true scale of the crisis.

Iran has also been facing shortages of face masks and other medical equipment, worsened by U.S. sanctions.

The country has also cancelled Friday prayers in major cities including Tehran.

The UAE today warned its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing worldwide coronavirus outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines.

The warning from the UAE's health and community protection ministry comes as the capital Abu Dhabi, sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from Hubei into quarantine.

They include citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Health officials warned that those traveling abroad could face quarantine themselves at the discretion of authorities.

The UAE is home to some nine million people, with only about one million estimated to be Emirati citizens.

It is also home to Emirates, the government-owned airline based at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel.

Abu Dhabi also is home to Etihad, the country's national carrier. Both airlines have encouraged staff to take time off because international travel has dropped due to the virus.

Saudi Arabia yesterday suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage over fears that coronavirus could spread to Islam's holiest cities.

The umrah - which, unlike the hajj, can be undertaken at any time of year - draws millions of Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia every year.

But the Gulf state yesterday decided to 'suspend umrah temporarily for citizens and residents in the kingdom', official media said.

Visitors are also barred from 'visits to the Prophet's mosque in Medina', the foreign ministry said.

Saudi Arabia on Monday confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus after one its citizens who had returned from virus hotspot Iran tested positive.

How coronavirus spread around the world: Animated graphic shows how severely each country was hit over the last two months

A graphic shows the shocking spread of the deadly coronavirus that has infected more than 97,000 people and killed over 3,000.

Coronavirus has been found in over 80 countries worldwide and the graphic - created with data from the World Health Organisation - shows just how rapidly it has spread.

Coronavirus began when the WHO was alerted by Chinese authorities to a number of pneumonia-like cases in the city of Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province.

The data for the latest graphic is collected from the WHO, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), China's National Health Commission (NHC), and the Chinese medical community website DXY that combines data from China's NHC and CDC.
GROUNDED AIRPLANES: United Airlines will cut international and U.S. flying, freeze hiring and ask employees to volunteer for unpaid leave as it struggles with weak demand for travel because of the new virus outbreak. United said Wednesday it will reduce passenger-carrying capacity 20% on international routes and 10% to 12% in the U.S. United executives expect the reductions will carry into May. Beyond that, it depends what happens to bookings over the next few weeks. Uniteds CEO and president say they hope the moves are enough, but the nature of the outbreak requires the airline to be flexible in how it responds.

ALTERED EXPECTATIONS: General Electric Co. General Electric believes the viral outbreak could have a negative impact of about $300 million to $500 million on its first-quarter industrial free cash flow. Operating profit for the period could be hurt by about $200 million to $300 million. GE said that the expectations are incorporated into its full-year 2020 outlook. Major corporations like Apple, Microsoft and Visa have already cut expectations.

RATIONING: Kroger Co., the nations biggest independent grocer, is placing limits on the number of certain products that customers buy as its shelves are cleared by people doing heavy stocking in preparation for any spread of the virus. Due to high demand and to support all customers, we will be limiting the number of sanitization, cold and flu related products to 5 each per order. Your order may be modified at time of pickup or delivery, the company said on its website. Amazon is warning same-day grocery customers that delivery may be limited. Target and Walmart are scrambling to replenish shelves with basics like canned goods, toilet paper and other household essentials, but have yet to announce rationing.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS: The International Air Transport Association says that January had the slowest monthly year-over-year growth since April 2010, at the time of the volcanic ash cloud crisis in Europe that led to massive airspace closures and flight cancellations. January was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the traffic impacts we are seeing owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, given that major travel restrictions in China did not begin until 23 January, said Alexandre de Juniac, the group director general.

Delta will reduce its weekly flying schedule to Japan through April 30 and suspend summer seasonal service between Seattle and Osaka for 2020 in response to reduced demand due to COVID-19.

Amazon has asked its 800,000 employees worldwide to postpone non-essential travel. It is also conducting some job interviews on video conference calls instead of in its offices. Ford Motor Co. has banned all domestic and international travel, unless approved at the highest levels of the company.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday that all international travel by employees has been restricted.

Texas Instruments has canceled its March 13-15 Teachers Teaching with Technology International Conference because of coronavirus concerns. Dallas-based TI had set aside 2,500 room nights at a downtown Dallas convention hotel for the annual event.

NETWORKING IS NOT WORKING: Starbucks converted its big annual shareholders meeting in hometown Seattle to a virtual only event due to concerns about the virus. The meeting will still be held on March 18 as originally planned. The party-like event which attracted 4,000 shareholders last year was supposed to be held at a theater in downtown Seattle. A virus cluster has emerged in Washington state, however, with nine deaths reported.

The 40th Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled for later this month in Boston, has been postponed. The largest such event in North America typically attracts about 20,000 people. Organizers cited concerns about safety and travel restrictions. The event takes place in Bostons Seaport district.

The International Monetary Fund said its spring meetings in Washington, D.C., along with those of the World Bank, will now be virtual to limit the risk from traveling.

The Global Gaming Expo Asia scheduled for later this month in Macao has been pushed back to the end of July. More than 13,000 people attended last years expo.

General Motors asked employees who have traveled within the past 14 days to China, South Korea, Japan, Iran or Italy to skip this weeks high-profile roll out of the companys new slate of electric vehicles, according to CEO Mary Barra.

F5 Networks Inc. postponed its analyst and investor event due to the virus outbreak. The company was scheduled to hold the event in New York this week. The cloud technology company, based in Seattle, also postponed its annual user conference scheduled for mid-March in Orlando, Florida.

CLOSE TO HOME: Amazon says one of its employees in Seattle has contracted the new coronavirus. Were supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine, it said in a prepared statement. Amazon said earlier this week that two of its employees in Milan, Italy, have contracted the virus and are quarantined.

Aflac announced Wednesday that a temporary worker at its call center in Kobe, Japan is infected with the virus. The individual had attended an event in Osaka where multiple participants also contracted the virus. The company said its continuing to monitor the recovery of the infected individual, who is being instructed to refrain from coming into the office.

STAFF REDUCTIONS: Finnish national carrier Finnair is planning temporary layoffs between 14 days up to one month for its entire staff based in Finland due to the economic impact caused by coronavirus to the airlines operations.

More than 6,000 Finnair employees will be affected.

The Finnish flag carrier, which has a total staff of nearly 7,000, has strongly focused on Europe to Asia flights from its Helsinki hub and has been forced to temporarily cancel flights to mainland China and other Asian destinations because of the coronavirus.

THE MACRO VIEW: The head of the 189-nation International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that the economic impact of the spreading coronavirus will be more serious than originally thought.

The IMF is now prepared to make rapid support available to low-income countries through a $50 billion emergency fund that the group maintains to help nations facing an economic crisis, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

We unfortunately over the past week have seen a shift to a more adverse scenario for the global economy, said Georgieva.

The IMFs forecast in January that the global economy would rebound to growth of 3.3% this year, up from 2.9% last year, is no longer reliable.

We know the disease is spreading quickly with over one-third of our membership affected directly, Georgieva said. This is no longer a regional issue. It is a global issue calling for a global response.

SHORT SUPPLY: A U.N. agency estimated Wednesday that a shortage of industrial parts from China caused by the coronavirus outbreak has set off a ripple effect that caused exports from other countries around the world to drop by $47 billion last month.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says that figures from Chinese businesses suggest an annualized 2% decline in output in China. That has led to shrinking supplies for automotive, chemicals, communications and other industries in many countries, in turn reducing their export capacity.

The agency says the preliminary figures show that industries outside of China that rely on components, parts and other inputs from the country arent able to export goods as much as they had before the virus erupted. The outbreak began in the city of Wuhan, shutting down factories and quarantining workers at home.

The drop in Chinese output results in a ripple effect throughout the global economy that rises to the tune of a $50 billion fall in exports across the world, said said Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director of the UNCTAD international trade and commodities division.

Exports from the European Union alone made up for about one third of that, or nearly $15.6 billion. Exports of the United States were second, at nearly $5.8 billion, and Japan was third at almost $5.2 billion.

SHAKEN: The release of the James Bond film No Time To Die is being pushed back several months because of concerns about coronavirus. MGM, Universal and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on Twitter Wednesday that the film will be released in November, rather than next month as originally planned. No Time To Die will now hit theaters in the U.K. on Nov. 12 and worldwide on Nov. 25. Publicity plans for the film in China, Japan and South Korea had already been canceled because of the outbreak. Theaters are empty in regions afflicted by the virus.
(Kitco News) - Teranga Gold Corp. (TSX: TGZ) said late Wednesday that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of a 90% interest in the Massawa gold project from a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corp. and its joint-venture partner, Compagnie Senegalaise de Transports Transatlantiques Afrique de lOuest SA.

The government of Senegal holds the remaining 10% interest. The Massawa mine is located near Terangas Sabodala gold mine.

Now that the transaction is complete, we are turning our focus to integrating the high-grade Massawa deposits into our mine plan and leveraging our existing infrastructure at Sabodala, said Richard Young, president and chief executive officer of Teranga. The combination of the two assets results in significant capital and operating synergies and creates a top-tier gold complex.

The purchase price of $380 million consisted of some $300 million in cash and $80 million in Teranga common shares issued to Barrick and CSTTAO. Barrick said there is also the potential for an additional payment based on the average gold price for the next three years.

Mark Bristow, Barrick president and chief executive officer, described Massawa as one of the largest unexploited gold deposits in West Africa, developed enough so its value can now be realized by all stakeholders, including the Senegal government.

Teranga is best placed to achieve this as it already owns the nearby Sabodala mine, and Sabodalas combination with Massawa is expected to deliver significant synergies, Bristow said. Barrick will participate in the upside of the combined asset through the 11% interest it is acquiring in Teranga through this transaction.
Gardai are investigating serious allegations that safeguarding documentation was forged at a disability charity.

Officers seized desktop computers, laptops and files from a Camphill Communities of Ireland (CCI) premises as part of the inquiry, the Irish Independent has learned.

But the probe is set to be delayed after the charity secured a temporary High Court injunction restricting gardai from searching the computers and files until further order of the court.

CCI secured the injunction after complaining gardai would not agree to a protocol to safeguard "sensitive material" about service users and to determine which material is irrelevant to their probe.

The probe, which has been ongoing for several months, was launched after gardai received three complaints.

The charity operates 17 communities in Ireland, catering for around 500 people, and is part of an international movement providing residential care services for people with intellectual disabilities.

It runs schools for children, as well as training centres and "working villages" for adults.

The computers and files were seized during a search of CCI's premises in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, by eight gardai on December 4.

The charity says no member of staff has been arrested or questioned.

Details of the investigation emerged when the charity issued judicial review proceedings against the Garda Commissioner last week.

Detectives are examining allegations safeguarding documents and records were forged at the charity. They secured a search warrant under legislation dealing with theft and fraud offences.

In a legal filing, CCI chief executive Ann Sheehan said the charity had a duty of care "in relation to the confidentiality and dignity" of residents.

She complained gardai initially refused to provide a copy of the search warrant and a receipt or inventory of the material seized.

Ms Sheehan said the material included individual care, medication and behavioural support plans, safeguarding documents, incident reports and staff files.

She said the charity's lawyers wrote to gardai requesting a protocol be put in place for dealing with the material.

The letter cited a Supreme Court ruling on the obligation of law enforcement bodies to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of third parties is protected in investigations.

In her affidavit, she said it was a matter of "gravest concern" that gardai appeared to be of the view they were under no obligation to refrain from examining the material in the absence of attempting to agree a protocol. She said the position of gardai appeared to be that to do so would "restrict a criminal investigation".

As well as securing the temporary injunction, the charity was given leave to seek a judicial review in which it will seek declarations that the extent of the materials seized was disproportionate and that privacy rights would be breached if it was searched without "a suitable agreement". It is not yet clear if the commissioner will challenge the injunction.
[March 05, 2020]

Stardog open-sources the first data model template for the Cloud Information Model, supporting out-of-the-box development of Knowledge Graphs

ARLINGTON, Va., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stardog, the leading Enterprise Knowledge Graph platform, today announced the release of the first data model template compatible with the Cloud Information Model .

CIM address the brittle data integrations that are common amongst enterprises. An enterprise may support hundreds of applications, each with its own data model. Connecting data models across applications requires custom code to map data across these different sources. However, with a CIM template that mapping comes pre-loaded, allowing for out-of-the-box development of Knowledge Graphs .

"CIM is solving an enormously complex and critical problem," said Stardog CTO Evren Sirin







Stardog joined CIM in February 2020 alongside partners Amazon Web Services and Salesforce, among others. The goal of CIM is to create a cloud-native, application-agnostic data model. With the CIM template that Stardog released, it will be possible to unify data sources in much less time.

The CIM template also provides native support for validation and reasoning, core components of Stardog's Enterprise Knowledge Graph platform . Validation supports effective management of complex data systems and reasoning derives new information from within the wealth of the connected systems.

"We're excited to continue to contribute to CIM," said Sirin. "We plan to update the CIM template as the model evolves and new versions are released."

Stardog, the leading Enterprise Knowledge Graph platform, turns data into knowledge to power more effective digital transformations. Industry leaders including Morgan Stanley, Bosch, Ericsson, and NASA use Stardog to create a flexible data layer that can support countless applications. Stardog is a privately held, venture-backed company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. For more information, please visit www.stardog.com .

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stardog-open-sources-the-first-data-model-template-for-the-cloud-information-model-supporting-out-of-the-box-development-of-knowledge-graphs-301016932.html

SOURCE Stardog
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KAHNAWAKE, Que. - A blockade in the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake that halted rail traffic south of Montreal for more than three weeks came to a peaceful end on Thursday as activists voluntarily dismantled their camp next to Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People leave the site after a blockade in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, Que. that has halted rail traffic south of Montreal for more than three weeks is dismantled, on Thursday, March 5, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiroz

KAHNAWAKE, Que. - A blockade in the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake that halted rail traffic south of Montreal for more than three weeks came to a peaceful end on Thursday as activists voluntarily dismantled their camp next to Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.

Dozens of Mohawk community members sang and played drums as they walked behind a convoy of trucks and tractors flying Mohawk flags, which carried pallets, firewood and other supplies to a new location at the foot of a bridge leading to Montreal.

Traffic stretched for at least a kilometre in either direction as the procession temporarily stopped in the middle of the highway for a brief press conference.

"Our decision is to relocate our fire to the green space in Kahnawake, away from the railway tracks," Roxann Whitebean told reporters. "We want the fire to be visible for every commuter that crosses the Mercier Bridge to show that we are here to stay for as long as the Wet'suwet'en need us to."

The Kahnawake blockade was the last major rail disruption remaining from a wave of solidarity protests that sprung up across the country last month in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in northern British Columbia. The movement arose after the RCMP moved into Wet'suwet'en territory on Feb. 6 to enforce an injunction against a blockade erected by pipeline opponents.

Later Thursday, protesters inthe Mikmaq community of Listuguj removed a blockade of a rail line operated by the Chemin de fer de la Gaspesie. The blockade, about 525 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, had been in place since Feb 10.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault wrote on Twitter that he was satisfied the two blockades had "finally" been lifted.

"The negative effects that the blockades have had, primarily on public transport users and on the economy, are deplorable," he wrote. "Solutions need to be found so this doesn't happen again."

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake praised the dedication of the protesters and said the action was a sincere and peaceful expression of support for the hereditary chiefs in B.C.

"I think everybody  all sides  are happy that this has happened. It took a while, but people have to realize that our processes aren't always as fast as others," said Joe Delaronde, a spokesman for the council. "What's done is done, the solidarity remains, but the tracks are open and everyone is happy about that."

A statement from the Mohawk longhouse, distributed by the protesters, called the removal of the blockade a gesture of good faith as the Wet'suwet'en people consider a draft agreement reached Sunday between their hereditary chiefs and senior Canadian officials.

"We want to allow the Wet'suwet'en to take the necessary time within their own community to make decisions," added Whitebean, whose Mohawk name is Karonhiarokwas. "Let this be a strong message and demonstration of good faith to all of Canada. We prefer a peaceful resolution and demand that Indigenous peoples' rights be respected."

However, she warned that the Mohawks were prepared to take further action in the future if the situation is not resolved satisfactorily.

"Depending on how Canada moves forward, we are ready to react, and we will ensure our rights and lands will no longer be violated," she said.

"We will not back down until these standards are met."

Commuter and freight traffic along the line has been stopped since early February, forcing transit users to shuttle back and forth to Montreal by bus. CP Rail obtained a court injunction on Feb. 25 to end the blockade, but local Peacekeepers said they would not enforce it and provincial police made no effort to enter the community.

Legault sparked an angry response from the protesters and elected officials in Kahnawake last week when he said the reason provincial police were reluctant to intervene was because of the presence of assault rifles in the community.

On Thursday morning, there were signs the blockade was drawing to an end. Pickup trucks, some pulling flatbed trailers, could be seen driving along the access road to the camp, which was guarded by concrete barriers, piles of rubble and a structure built of poles where Mohawk community members stood watch day and night.

A spokeswoman for Exo, the commuter rail operator, said service will not resume until CP Rail has authorized use of the track.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
With Coronavirus spreading worldwide, people have become extra-cautious and have been suggesting precautionary measures on social media.



With the killer virus finally making its way to India, around 29 people have already been affected by it, so far.



Bollywood celebs like Anupam Kher have asked people not to greet each other by shaking hands and instead, use the Indian traditional way of greeting, that is Namaste.



Of late I am being told by lots of people to keep washing hands to prevent any kind of infection. I do that in any case. But also want to suggest the age old Indian way of greeting people called #Namaste. It is hygienic, friendly & centres your energies. Try it. #caronavirus pic.twitter.com/ix7e6S8Abp  Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) March 3, 2020

Even Salman Khan agrees with it and took to Instagram to share a picture wherein he is seen folding his hands with the caption, Namashkaar ... hamari sabhyata mein namaste aur salaam hai! Jab #coronavirus Khatam ho jaye tab Haath milao aur gale lago.... @beingstrongindia.

It's not just us, fans are also agreeing with Salmans stance on preventive measures for Coronavirus and they are appreciating Salman for his message.



 Instagram/Salman Khan

 Instagram/Salman Khan

But, of course, there were also some people who clearly forgot everything about Coronavirus after seeing Salman all-ripped, and even went on to say that they now want a hug from the star.



 Instagram/Salman Khan

 Instagram/Salman Khan

Amid the Coronavirus fears, the makers of Salman Khans Radhe  Your Most Wanted Bhai have now decided not to go to Thailand for the shoot.



A source close to the film told Bollywood Hungama, "Thailand is one of those countries where Coronavirus fear looms large. Hence, the makers of the film, including lead actor and producer Salman Khan, decided not to let the unit and actors travel there. The risk is too big and they don't want anyone to suffer. Hence, they decided to cancel the Thailand schedule. The makers are now shooting the portions instead in Mumbai."



The action entertainer is all set to release on Eid 2020.
A video showing three maintenance workers wearing hazmat suits at an Apple store in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 3 sparked unfounded concerns about the local risk of the new coronavirus.

The video, captured by Gary Young, was shared on Twitter with the hashtags #Covid_19 and #coronavirus, and quickly went viral. Young told Storyful he was shocked to see the crew in protective clothing. In less than a day his footage had been viewed more than 90,000 times.

However, the Irish Sun quoted representatives for Apple who said that the workers were performing standard furniture restoration that takes place on a regular basis.

The Apple-focused site iMore.com said Apple stores regularly sand and refinish their tables to make sure they always look like new.

A second case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Ireland on March 4, according to public broadcaster RTE. Credit: Gary Young via Storyful
Washington, US (PANA) The Federal Government of Somalia on Thursday cleared its arrears to the International Development Association (IDA), completing the process of normalizing its financial relationship with the World Bank Group
Prison chief to retire

Colin McConnell has announced he is to retire after almost eight years as head of the prison service.

McConnell has led the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) since May 2012, following a career in prisons in Scotland, England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has thanked McConnell for his work as SPS chief executive.

He said: I am very grateful to Colin for his important work in Scotlands prison service, including almost eight years leading the organisation through a critical period of change, challenge and transformation.

The organisational review he commissioned led to the establishment of a new vision for Scotlands prisons, focused on the rehabilitation and reintegration of people in the SPSs care.

He has enhanced and highlighted the critical role of frontline prison officers and, as a member of the Justice Board for Scotland, has contributed to our collective aim of a safe, just and resilient Scotland.

Colin has played a key role in challenging traditional views of the role of prison  driving work aimed at unlocking potential and transforming lives  for example in paving the way for a transformation in how we manage and support women in custody.

McConnell began his career in the SPS as a prison officer, before serving as Assistant Governor at Glenochil and as Management Development Officer at the SPS College. He also worked in the prison service in England and Wales and, prior to his current role, in Northern Ireland as Director General of the Prison Service.

McConnell said: Having been afforded the opportunity to lead one of our nation's core public services, and all of the good and loyal people who make it the exceptional organisation that it is, fills me with considerable pride and immeasurable gratitude.

I know that whoever is appointed to this role in future will quickly come to feel the same way.

McConnell will retire later this year and the process to appoint a new chief executive will begin shortly.
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey is sending elite special operations police to the border to stop Greek officers from driving back people who try to cross over to Europe, Turkish authorities said Thursday.

Thousands of refugees and other asylum-seekers have tried to enter Greece from the land and sea in the week since Turkey declared its previously guarded gateways to Europe open.

Greek police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to repel people trying to breach the land border from Turkeys side. Turkish authorities allege that Greeces officers also fired live ammunition and killed a migrant, an assertion Greece denied.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Ankara intends to bring a case before the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the dead migrant.

The Greek government has said no such fatal shooting occurred. Greek authorities also have claimed that Turkish police fired tear gas to disperse Greeces border guards.

During a visit to the border area Thursday, Soylu said 1,000 officers from the tactical units of the Police Special Operation Department would be deployed to the Turkey-Greece border to counter the Greek officers working to repel migrants and refugees.

Soylu asserted that Greece violated international conventions by using force to stop about 4,900 migrants from getting across the border. He also accused the European Union and Europes border protection agency Frontex of complicity by remaining silent.

An estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people near the Pazarkule border crossing, opposite the Greek village of Kastanies, were being prevented from crossing, Soylu said.

It is a border gate. They are obliged to take them in. They are obliged to take in asylum-seekers, the minister said.

But he added the migrants were not obliged to use the official border crossing and could cross anywhere along the roughly 125-mile-long border. Much of the border is demarcated by a river, and many have tried wading, rowing or swimming across it.

I want to say that there is no rule that says they have to cross from Pazarkule, Soylu said.

The minister asserted more than 130,000 people had crossed into Greece since Feb. 27, when Turkey made good on a threat to open its borders. He said around 20-25% of those who reached Greece were Syrians.

There was no evidence to support the number.

Suzan Fraser is an Associated Press writer.
(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Corp. made official its plans for a fifth-generation cellular networking service, something all Japanese carriers are racing toward, on Thursday in Tokyo.

SoftBank, the reliable revenue stream underpinning Masayoshi Sons SoftBank Group Corp., will start by selling four 5G smartphones from March 27. Its getting out ahead of incoming rival Rakuten Inc., whose 4G network will begin service on April 8 with an attractive 2,980-yen unlimited monthly plan.

The 5G option will be available as an add-on to existing plans for 1,000 yen ($9) per month. Subscribers who sign up by Aug. 31 will get it for free for two years. SoftBanks plan with 50GB of monthly data currently costs 6,500 yen, with a 1,000 yen discount for the first year. The company recently softened its contract pricing, ostensibly to head off Rakutens aggressively priced competition, and its laying the groundwork for getting users onto 5G without added financial impediments.

Local rivals KDDI Corp. and NTT Docomo Inc. also plan to launch 5G services this spring, whereas newcomer Rakuten has targeted June for availability of its 5G network.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will deliver a key speech in May to mark the 75th anniversary of the Netherlands liberation from World War II Nazi occupation.

The Dutch government on Thursday announced Merkels participation in the May 5 liberation event in The Hague.

The committee that organizes the Dutch event said it and Prime Minister Mark Rutte asked Merkel because she, steeped in history, has worked for years for peace, freedom and stability in Europe.

While many Dutch people who survived the brutal occupation that saw tens of thousands of Dutch Jews deported to concentration camps long harboured resentment toward Germany, the neighbouring nations have for years enjoyed close social and economic ties.

Merkel, who has ruled Germany since 2005, gave up the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union in late 2018 and said that she wont seek a fifth term as chancellor. But she said she was prepared to run Germanys government until its term ends in the fall of 2021.

Merkel is not the first German to speak at Dutch celebrations marking the May 5, 1945, surrender by German forces in the Netherlands at the end of World War II. In 2012, then-German President Joachim Gauck delivered the speech.

May 5 liberation celebrations across the Netherlands come a day after the countrys annual solemn commemoration of war dead.
Director Adam Shankman is directing "Hocus Pocus 2", the sequel to 1993 fantasy comedy, for upcoming streaming service Disney Plus.

Based on story by Garris and David Kirschner, the original film followed a comedic trio of witches -- played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy -- who are inadvertently resurrected 300 years later by a boy whose family has moved from Los Angeles to Salem.

Shankman is best known for films such as "What Men Want" (2019) and "Hairspray" (2007), reported Variety.

TV writer-producer Jen D'Angelo of "Workaholics" fame has written the screenplay for the film, produced by Lynn Harris.

On the announcement of the sequel last year, Midler, Parker and Najimy expressed their interest to star in "Hocus Pocus 2.

The original film, directed by Kenny Ortega, was a moderate success upon its release, but it has attracted a cult following ever since it premiered on Disney Channel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Con artists deceived a significant number of victims recently in Pearland, stealing identities and relying on counterfeit forms of payment, according to reports from the citys police department.

Theft by fraud occurred Feb. 21 in the 6300 block of Laurie Street, according to a Feb. 24 police report.

Police conducted a debit or credit-card abuse investigation Feb. 24 in the 2700 block of Pearland Parkway.

Police charged a Houston woman, 36, with fraudulent use or possession of identifying information Feb. 24 in the 2200 block of Business Center Boulevard.

A worthless check was passed Dec. 2 in the 1900 block of Main Street, according to a Feb. 25 police report.

Identity fraud occurred between March 29, 2019 and Feb. 3, according to a police report filed Feb. 25 in the 2000 block of Deepbrook Drive.

Police conducted a prescription fraud investigation Feb. 25 in the 12800 block of Broadway Street.

Items were purchased with a counterfeit credit card between Nov. 18, 2019 and Feb. 26, according to a police report filed Feb. 26 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street.

Forgery occurred between Feb. 10 and Feb. 18, according to a police report filed Feb. 27 in the 1800 block of Broadway Street.

Identity information was stolen and used to open an account between June 29 and June 30, 2019, according to a police report filed Feb. 27 in the 4000 block of Lee Lane.

Theft by fraud or deception occurred Feb. 27 in the 3100 block of Broadway Street, police said.

A complainants bank account information was used fraudulently, according to a police report filed Feb. 27 in the 2500 block of Barry Rose Road.

Theft by fraud or deception was reported Feb. 28 in the 2300 block of Marys Creek Court, police said.

Identity theft occurred between Jan. 16 and Feb. 24, according to a police report filed Feb. 28 in the 1200 block of Broadway Street.

Credit card abuse was reported Feb. 28 in the 2000 block of Business Center Drive, police said.

A victims identity was used fraudulently to open an account between Nov. 26, 2019, and Feb. 24, according to a police report filed Feb. 28 in the 11400 block of Tara Place.

Credit or debit-card abuse took place Feb. 29 in the 2000 block of Pleasant Springs Lane, police said.

Police filed an identity fraud report March 1 in the 3000 block of Rocky Canyon Drive.

Theft

Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle occurred Feb. 23 in the 2900 block of Broadway Street, according to a Feb. 24 police report.

Police charged a Houston man, 53, with theft and evading arrest Feb. 24 at Home Depot, 10111 Broadway Street.

Equipment was reported stolen Feb. 25 in the 14300 block of Texas 288, police said.

A Houston man, 47, was charged with theft Feb. 25 in the 10100 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Employee theft occurred between Dec. 20, 2019, and Feb. 17 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street, according to a Feb. 25 police report.

Shoplifting was reported Feb. 25 in the 8400 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police filed a theft report Feb. 26 in the 2600 block of Dunsmore Oak Drive.

Theft was reported Feb. 26 in the 1300 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police took a Spring man, 54, into custody on charges of theft and evading arrest Feb. 26 in the 2800 block of Business Center Drive.

A Houston man, 26, was charged with theft of a firearm, marijuana possession and unlawfully carrying a weapon Feb. 26 in the 1500 block of Main Street, police said.

Vehicle theft was reported Feb. 28 in the 4100 block of Seminole Drive, police said.

Police responded to a shoplifting report Feb. 28 in the 2500 block of Pearland Parkway.

A Houston woman, 42, received a citation for shoplifting Feb. 28 at H-E-B, 2805 Business Center Drive, police said.

Police charged a Houston man, 55, with theft and forgery Feb. 28 at Academy, 2804 Business Center Drive. A Houston man, 47, and two Houston women, 43 and 50, were charged with theft, police said.

A male suspect stole items Feb. 29 from a store in the 11100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said.

A Houston man, 44, received a citation for shoplifting Feb. 29 in the 1700 block of Broadway Street, police said

Shoplifting was reported Feb. 29 in the 11100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said.

Police filed a theft report Feb. 29 in the 1300 block of Broadway Street.

Theft was reported Feb. 29 in the 15700 block of Texas 288, police said.

A female suspect stole merchandise March 1 from Dicks Sporting Goods, 11200 Broadway St., police said.

Police filed a theft report March 1 in the 1900 block of Main Street.

Police charged an Alvin woman, 41, with shoplifting March 1 in the 1700 block of Broadway Street.

A shoplifting incident March 1 in the 2700 block of Broadway Street led to a foot pursuit, police said.

Robbery

Robbery of a specialty store was attempted Feb. 24 in the 11000 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said.

Robbery and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle were reported Feb. 29 in the 11900 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said.

Burglary

A residence was burglarized Feb. 22 in the 2700 block of Old Alvin Road, according to a Feb. 24 police report.

Police conducted a vehicle burglary investigation Feb. 24 in the 13000 block of Shoalwater Lane.

Vehicle burglary was reported Feb. 26 in the 13400 block of Hickory Springs Lane, police said.

Burglary of a habitation occurred between Feb. 19 and Feb. 23, according to a police report filed Feb. 26 in the 500 block of Chickory Field Lane.

Attempted burglary of a building was reported Feb. 29 in the 1800 block of Pearland Parkway, police said.

Assault

Police filed an assault report Feb. 24 in the 10100 block of Broadway Street.

Family violence was reported Feb. 24 in the 1900 block of Plum Falls Lane, police said.

Police conducted a family violence investigation Feb. 25 in the 4200 block of Pine Mill Court.

Police filed an assault report Feb. 26 at Pearland Junior High West, 2337 N. Galveston Ave.

A complainant reported involvement in a physical altercation Feb. 26 in the 2100 block of North Park Avenue, police said.

Police conducted a family violence investigation Feb. 28 in the 1100 block of Chesterwood Drive.

Police investigated a reported road rage incident Feb. 28 in the 2400 block of Business Center Drive.

Assault was reported Feb. 28 in the 3500 block of Southdown Drive, police said.

Police charged a Pearland man, 31, with assault, family violence Feb. 28 in the 3700 block of Ginger Lane.

A 38-year-old Pearland woman was charged with assault, family violence Feb. 29 in the 3700 block of Sunset Meadows Drive, police said.

Police charged a Pearland man, 32, with assault, family violence Feb. 29 in the 2400 block of Fastwater Creek Court.

Assault occurred Feb. 29 in the 2700 block of Southdown Drive, police said.

Assault and criminal mischief occurred March 1 in the 2300 block of Anthony Drive, police said.

Threats, harassment

An online threat was reported Feb. 24 in the 3700 block of Main Street, police said.

Police filed a terroristic threat report Feb. 28 in the 4700 block of Bailey Road.

Narcotics

A 24-year-old Pearland man was charged with possession of a controlled substance Feb. 25 in the 2700 block of Pearland Parkway, police said.

Police charged a Spring man, 26, with possession of a controlled substance Feb. 27 in the 11100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway. A 20-year-old Houston woman was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.

Police charged a Cypress man, 32, with marijuana possession and tampering with evidence Feb. 27 in the 3000 block of Business Center Drive.

An Arlington man, 23, was charged with possession of a dangerous drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawfully carrying a weapon after a traffic stop Feb. 28 in the 5600 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police charged a 25-year-old Port Arthur woman with marijuana possession Feb. 28 in the 11000 block of Broadway Street.

Driving while intoxicated

Police charged a Pearland man, 52, with DWI Feb. 27 in the 12100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway.

A Houston man, 62, was charged with DWI Feb. 28 in the 2100 block of Main Street, police said.

Police charged a 22-year-old Channelview man with DWI Feb. 28 in the 11000 block of Shadow Creek Parkway.

A Houston man, 30, was charged with DWI Feb. 29 in the 2600 block of Old Chocolate Bayou Road, police said.

Police charged a Houston man, 39, with DWI Feb. 29 in the 15800 block of Texas 288.

A 31-year-old Pearland man was charged with DWI March 1 in the 2500 block of Business Center Drive, police said.

Disorderly conduct

Police filed a disorderly conduct report Feb. 28 in the 11700 block of Broadway Street.

A 17-year-old Manvel man, a 17-year-old Pearland man, three 18-year-old Pearland men and a 40-year-old Pearland man received citations for disorderly conduct after a fight Feb. 29 in the 3000 block of Norwich Street, police said.

Criminal mischief

Police filed a criminal mischief report Feb. 26 in the 2100 block of Kingsley Drive.

Vehicles parked in the 4100 block of Bailey Road were reported damaged Feb. 29, police said.

Police charged a 23-year-old Fresno man with criminal mischief March 1 in the 1900 block of Main Street.

Other incidents

A student disrupted class and cursed school administrators Feb. 24 in the 3300 block of Manvel Road, according to a Feb. 25 police report.

Police charged a Houston woman, 27, with resisting arrest Feb. 26 in the 2500 block of Cullen Parkway.

Possession of child pornography was reported Feb. 27 in the 12200 block of Bell Creek Drive, police said.

Police charged a Pearland man, 23, with unlawfully carrying a weapon Feb. 28 in the 13900 block of Texas 288.

Police filed a criminal trespass report March 1 in the 5900 block of Larrycrest Drive.
Terryberry Employee Recognition Software Market Leader It's a privilege to provide our customers with employee recognition software that helps them honor their team members in meaningful ways," says Terryberry's CEO Mike Byam.

Terryberry has been named a Market Leader in the Employee Recognition Software category for the Spring 2020 Customer Success Report published by FeaturedCustomers. FeaturedCustomers evaluated all the potential Employee Recognition Software companies on its platform for possible inclusion in the report. Terryberry was one of only 15 companies that met the criteria needed for being included in the Spring 2020 Employee Recognition Software Customer Success Report, earning the highest award as Overall Best in the category.

The Customer Success Report is based on the curation of authenticated case studies, testimonials, and videos from across the web, telling a complete story of vendors in the Employee Recognition Software space through real customer experiences. Rankings are determined by multiple factors including total number of customer success content, social media and market presence, vendor momentum based on web traffic and search trends, and additional data aggregated from online sources and media properties.

About the Market Leader Designation

The Market Leader designation is awarded to providers with substantial market share and customer success content to validate their vision. Leaders have the highest ratio of customer success content, content quality score, and social media presence relative to company size. Highly rated by customers, Terryberry consistently publishes high quality, vendor produced customer success content and curates quality customer references from multiple third-party sites.

The full report, along with Terryberrys profile, is available for you to download here:

https://www.featuredcustomers.com/vendor/terryberry

"It's a privilege to provide our customers with employee recognition software that helps them honor their team members in meaningful ways," says Terryberry's CEO Mike Byam.

"When our clients take the time to share positive feedback on how the 360 Recognition program is making a difference, it galvanizes us in our vision to be the best partner for employee rewards and recognition," says Terryberry's Marketing Director Jenny Watkins. "Recognition really does make an impact, even on recognition providers."

About Terryberry:

Terryberry provides employee recognition products, programs, and services to thousands of organizations of all sizes across North America and in the UK. Through effective recognition, Terryberry helps to boost morale, increase employee engagement and retention and create a culture of recognition in your business. Contact them to find out how Terryberry can help you develop, implement, and manage a customized recognition program. Learn more at https://www.terrryberry.com
As the fallout from increased tensions between Turkey and Syria at Idlib, a Russian warship was sent to the Mediterranean coast. The warship was sighted by civilians as it was on the way.

The large landing ship Novocherkassk was spotted sailing on the Straits of Bosphorus at Turkey, days after two Syria-bound Russian warships with cruise missiles passed by said strait. A frigate has been stationed in the Mediterranean since December last year.

Direct conflict between Turkey and Russia looms over the military engagements in Syria as hostilities are experienced there.

Ankara let loose attacks at Idlib last week and fought against the Syrian who was supported by the Russians who want to recapture the rebels base of operations. Syrian air attacks have caused the deaths of 33 Turkish soldiers on Thursday. Aside from that, a total of 54 Turks were slaughtered in all-out attacks in February.

In response, Turkey shoots down two Syrian Mig-24s with the US-made F-16 Fighting Falcons bombarding a military airfield. Turkish Defense ministry also mentioned a third craft shot down too.

As tensions are getting higher, the two leaders Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are meeting on Thursday, to seek a resolution for the current shooting war.

Both Russia and it's Syrian ally were part of naval exercises at the Tartus port recently. The Tartus military base has been operated by Russian from 1971 to today, plans to extend its lease till 2092.

Assisting the regime of Bashar al Assad from 2015, in an all-theatre conflict as the current Syrian regime is trying to quell a nine-year civil war it has fought.

Also read: Child Drowned After Migrants Boat Capsized Off Greek Coast

Backdrop of Events

The Idlib engagement left 33 Turks dead, with Erdogan demanding backing from NATO nations to assist them. Moscow then replied with a veiled threat of a military advance, which can harm Turkey seriously.

Continued tensions on the ground and the political arena elicited a remark from Russians that they were not the cause of the Turk casualties, adding more tension to this flashpoint in the skirmishes.

Another response to the Turkish leaders is that it did not inform the Russians that Syrians forces were bombarding with force. As a retort, a spokesperson said that the Turks were not supposed to be in the skirmish area.

The Russian denied that an airstrike was carried out, and said it will help in making Syria barrages stop, so Turkey can get the dead soldier and injured in Idlib.

The Black Sea fleet dispatches two frigates

The death of 33 Turks was the cause of retaliating Turkish rebel fighters at Syrian targets since about 16 Syrian soldiers were casualties according to them.

President Erdogan sent in troops and heavy arms into Syrian territory as rebel support for anti-Assad fighters against the Russian backed regime.

Later the Russian Black Sea Fleet dispatched the frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Grigorovich, both with the Kalibr cruise missiles into the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Before this, another ship was sent.

Also, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg appealed to Russia and Syria to stop airstrikes and military action. As Russia sends in another support warship to Syria, it will not help Turkey, Syrian, and Russia to de-escalate tension, or make it worse.

Related article: 33 Turkish Soldiers Killed in Syrian Air Strike in the Idlib Province as Hostilities Escalate

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Gov. Kristi Noem drafts bill limiting 'action civics'

This legislation prohibits colleges and schools from directing, requiring or compelling students to protest or lobby as part of a grade or a class.
On Tuesday, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined his governments plan for the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

He confirmed that the ruling elite in Britain, as internationally, are responding based on defending the interests of the tiny layer of financial parasites, who dominate society at the expense of the working class.

Flanked by the governments Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Advisor, Johnson outlined a four-pronged plan: containing the virus, delaying its spread, researching its origins, and mitigating its impact.

He said in relation to this collection of ill-defined aims, The plan does not set out what the government will do, but the steps the government will take on the basis of scientific advice.

The only concrete advice offered by Johnson to the UK population was to wash your hands with soap and hot water for the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice.

After he spoke, it was announced that the number of people infected in Britain had risen to 51 from 39 at the start of the day. By the following afternoon, the total reached 87more than doubling in 24 hours. This could be a vast underestimation, as just 16,659 people have been tested in Britain.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the command centre at the Public Health England National Infection Service, after more than 10 new coronavirus patients were identified in England,. (Photo Credit: Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

At this stage, the coronavirus has not officially reached epidemic levels and with the required resources available it could be eradicated. But Johnson is playing down the threat of the virus to extraordinary levels. According to the government, what is being confronted is nothing much worse than the annual bout of winter flu.

While the government has admitted in a worse-case scenario that 80 percent of the population in the UK could be infected with the virusover 50 million peopleits plan states, The majority of people with COVID-19 have recovered without the need for any specific treatment, as is the case for the common cold or seasonal flu. We expect that the vast majority of cases will best be managed at home, again as with seasonal colds and flu.

These claims are bogus. Coronavirus has a much higher death rate than flubetween 10 and 24 times depending on age.

The government admits that were 80 percent of Britains population to be infected, up to 500,000 could die, with up to two million people requiring hospital treatment. According to researchers, between five and 40 coronavirus cases in 1,000 will result in death, with a best estimate of nine in 1,000 (about one percent). This week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government's "very best assessment" was that the mortality rate was "2 percent or, likely, lower."

The death rate is still subject to much debate, with World Health Organization's Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declaring Tuesday that "globally, about 3.4% of reported Covid-19 cases have died."

What is clear from the global death toll is that the older people are, the more likely they are to diewith those in the 60-69, 70-79 and 80+ age brackets most at risk. Those with serious health conditions, including cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and hypertension, also have a higher death rate.

There is nothing in Johnsons plan to provide any extra resources to treat the elderly, or anyone with the virus. His speech was full of his usual stupid bluster, including the statement, Our country remains extremely well prepared, as it has been since the outbreak began in Wuhan several months ago.

He added cynically, Lets not forget, we already have a fantastic NHS [National Health Service], fantastic testing systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of disease.

There is no fantastic NHS or fantastic anything in Britain. What has been exposed by the coronavirus crisis is that the basic social infrastructure in all the major capitalist countries has been eviscerated after decades of looting at the hands of the ruling elite.

Tens of billions of pounds have been slashed from the NHS budget in efficiency savings and vast swathes of service provision privatised. Such have been the cuts to public health and social care by successive Labour and Tory governments that the NHS is now longer able to even cope with the annual outbreak of winter flu.

The NHS has no provision for the required life and death services for the millions of people who could be infected with the virus. Over 15,000 beds have been slashed from the NHS in the last decade.

The Guardian reported last week that there are just 15 available beds for adults in England to treat the most severe cases of respiratory failure. The beds for providing adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment are available at just five centres across England.

The NHS will struggle to cope if there are more than 28 patients who need them if the number of coronavirus cases rises, the Guardian reported. It cited an NHS report from 2017, warning that if there are no more ECMO beds available in the UK within the designated and surge capacity, more beds would have to be secured from other countries, including Sweden.

There are only around 3,700 adult critical care beds in England, and these already run at a dangerous occupancy rate of over 80 percent, leaving just 670 such beds free. Overall, a massively dangerous occupancy level of 94 percent of beds was recorded throughout the NHS last week.

Part of the governments plan is for all NHS Accident and Emergency units to set up an isolation pod, where those suspecting of contracting the virus can isolate themselves. One of these, at Lincoln County Hospital, consists of a 3m x 5m tent next to the kitchen bins. No electricity, heating, or running water or toilet is providedjust a chair and a telephone with a note that people call the NHS 111 helpline if they suspect they have coronavirus.

Many elderly people rely on social care, but this is no longer provided by the NHS. Since 2014, local authorities have been forced to provide the care and charge enormous sums to do so. This must often be paid for by elderly people themselves and involves them handing over their life savings or selling their homes. Anyone with savings of over 23,250, or who owns their own home is not entitled to the cost of care from a local council.

The destruction of NHS provision and social care has already had a terrible human death toll. In 2017, a team of researchers at University College London concluded that the squeeze on public finances since 2010 is linked to nearly 120,000 excess deaths in England with the over 60s and care home residents bearing the brunt.

Last year, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank reported that a reversal of public health initiatives has led to 130,000 preventable deaths since 2012.

NHS frontline staffing has been slashed, with 200,000 departing since 2010, culminating in over 100,000 staff vacancies.

Forced to recognise the devastating impact of their own policies, the governments plan states that if transmission of the virus becomes established in the population then Staff rostering changes may be necessary, including calling leavers and retirees back to duty.

Under conditions of a mass outbreak of the virus, the logic behind bringing back retired NHS workersamong the age group most at risk from contagionto treat coronavirus cases defies comprehension.

Millions and even tens of millions of workers face being unable to work under conditions of a mass infection of the population. The government admits that up to one-fifth of employees [over 6 million workers] may be absent from work during peak weeks, yet proposes virtually nothing in relief.

After days of prevaricating, yesterday Johnson allowed that workers who are forced to self-isolate at home will get statutory sick pay (SSP)paid by employers for up to 28 weeksfrom the first day off work, not the fourth as per usual. This would provide workers with only an additional 40. SSP is set at the rock bottom level of just 94.25 a week (13.46 a day).

Millions will receive nothing in SSP as they do not earn the 118 a week to enable them to qualify. Asked Wednesday during Prime Ministers Questions how these two million workers, many in the gig economy working on zero hours contracts, would survive during a mass outbreak of the virus, Johnson replied, Others will be entitled to help through existing systems such as Universal Credit.

Access to Universal Credit requires a five-week delay and compulsory attendance at job centres.

The government is also offering nothing extra to small businesses, who may be forced to go under due to subdued demand and workforce absences.

But when it comes to propping up the big business and the stock market, Britain committed Tuesday, as one of the G7 nations, to use whatever "fiscal measures" to support the economy are required and to use all appropriate policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable growth and safeguard against downside risks.

The ruling class will do nothing that impinges on its own money mad, sociopathic self-interest and will do whatever it takes to defend itself from the working class.

Johnsons authoritarian government has already developed plans, under Operation Yellowhammer to roll out police state measures to confront mass social discontent post-Brexit. It intends to use the coronavirus crisis to test out this agenda.

Its plan states that the military could be enlisted to provide support to civil authorities. Moreover, the police and fire and rescue services, will enact business continuity plans to ensure they are able to maintain a level of service that fulfils their critical functions. For example, with a significant loss of officers and staff, the police would concentrate on responding to serious crimes and maintaining public order

Other moves being considered are population distancing strategies including reducing the number of large-scale gatherings, and giving Border Force police extra powers.
The key to curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. may not be a vaccine or medication, but several days of self-quarantine, health experts say.

The number of confirmed cases is climbing in the U.S.  at least 129 people were infected by Wednesday  and the death toll has risen to 11 with all but one case in Washington state. Massachusetts has avoided community-level transmissions up to this point, partly due to people seeking medical help or staying home.

The UMass Boston student who contracted the disease in January after returning from China sought medical attention after falling ill and remained home. State officials said the student had little contact with others, and those people were quickly identified.

The Norfolk County woman, who fell ill after a school trip to Italy, was deemed a presumptive positive case. Shes recovering at home.

Massachusetts schools have asked students and staff returning from other parts of the world to stay home, especially in cases where individuals started showing symptoms such as a cough or fever. While those symptoms could be linked to a cold or the flu, health experts said they are also the symptoms for the novel coronavirus and most people with the disease have shown mild symptoms despite the attention to severe, even fatal cases.

In a subset, especially older individuals and those with underlying medical problems, it can cause severe disease and be potentially fatal, said David Hamer, the infectious disease specialist and medical epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center. So the one area that will need attention are more vulnerable populations, including nursing home residents.

11 Coronavirus in U.S.

Hamer, a professor at Boston University, is the co-principal investigator at the GeoSentinel, a global surveillance network that tracks emerging infections in more than two dozen countries. During the 2018 yellow fever epidemic in Brazil, the network identified returning travelers who had not been vaccinated against the illness because they were traveling to a part of the country that didnt have very known disease.

Identifying those cases, he said, led to world health officials remapping the risk areas in a country that for decades had all but eradicated the illness.

With the coronavirus, GeoSentinel has monitored the spread of the outbreak beyond the countries highlighted by U.S. officials, which have included China, South Korea, Italy, Iran and, to some degree, Japan. In the past 48 hours, GeoSentinel noticed a series of cases in Paris and Madrid.

I think this outbreak is broadening within Europe and that we need to be aware of this, Hamer said.

Massachusetts health officials and Boston-area experts explained what quarantine really looks like Wednesday during a legislative oversight hearing on Beacon Hill.

Whats the difference between self-quarantine and isolation?

During Wednesdays hearing, Sen. Becca Rausch asked the Baker administration to go over the difference between isolation and self-quarantine, two terms that have been thrown around a lot in discussions about the novel coronavirus.

Isolation is when someone is infected, or at least shows signs of infection, and needs to stay away from others, Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said. A quarantine is when a person is contained to a place, like home, after being exposed to disease, even if the contained person shows no symptoms.

Its really a way to decrease the spread of disease, Bharel said.

The state has recorded at least 719 cases of people undergoing self-quarantine, Health Secretary Marylou Sudders said Wednesday. Officials say 470 people have already completed the two-week self-monitoring protocol, with 259 still under quarantine.

Truly quarantining means cutting off physical contact with the public for 14 days, depending on the recommendations of local public health officers. Earlier this week, an infected person from New Hampshire ignored the recommendations of health officials and attended a party at a public event space in Vermont. The management learned about the situation from the New Hampshire Department of Public Health and the Vermont Department of Public Health.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders briefs reporters Monday afternoon on the state's response to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Why self-quarantine for 14 days?

Health officials believe the incubation period is 14 days. When someone is exposed to the disease, it takes five days on average for symptoms to appear, Bharel said.

UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy said the university was already asking students and staff who had recently traveled to remain at home for 14 days before the Baker administrations call for people to self-quarantine.

Massachusetts schools in Bellingham, Weymouth and other parts of the state have asked students and employees who recently traveled to stay home.

Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said more than a dozen people were asked to stay home following a school trip to Italy. One student fell ill but was diagnosed with strep, not the coronavirus, Soter said.

Id rather have 25-30 parents upset than have the whole town upset that we didnt do the right thing, he said.

Soter said he'd rather have 25-30 parents upset than having a whole town at risk.  Steph Solis (@stephmsolis) March 4, 2020

Should I go to the hospital?

Health experts urge people showing severe symptoms, particularly older people and those with underlying medical conditions, to seek medical attention. Those who show mild symptoms, however, should contact their local boards of health and stay home.

We have unfortunately seen health care systems in China and South Korea and elsewhere overloaded with patients, many of whom do not need medical evaluation or care, said Paul Beninger, who works at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday urged schools and colleges to cancel upcoming organized trips abroad. He also said people returning from international travel should self-quarantine for two weeks as a precaution.

In a letter sent Monday night, he told state employees to stay home if they seem sick and reminded them to wash their hands and cover their coughs.

Something that we as a culture are pretty bad at is staying at home when youre sick, not going to work or school, Monica Bharel, commissioner for the state Department of Public Health, told lawmakers during an oversight hearing Wednesday. Its really, really important.

Bharel said the combination of regularly cleaning surfaces, washing ones hands and staying home when possible could keep schools and workplaces safe. (Yet defying the countrys 24/7 work culture may prove tough, especially for those who cant afford to stay home.)

People ask me all the time, what can I do? Bharel said. Her answer is a combination of regularly cleaning surfaces, washing ones hands and staying home when possible. If we all do that, we will help decrease the spread of this disease.

Related Content:
The leaders of Turkey and Russia will meet in Moscow in a bid to agree a deal that avoids further escalation of conflict in Syria.

Faced with mounting losses of his troops in Syrias Idlib province and a potential wave of refugees fleeing the fighting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eager for a ceasefire, and Russias Vladimir Putin is ready to bargain.

With a looming new migration crisis at Europes borders, all eyes will be on Moscow, where the two main power brokers in Syria will see if they can hammer out yet another deal carving up northern Syria, tailored to their own agendas.

A Turkish military convoy in Idlib province, Syria (AP/Ghaith Alsayed, File)

Whatever deal they can work out, it is likely to only bring a temporary halt in the punishing Moscow-backed onslaught by the military of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which threatens continued suffering for the three million people trapped in Idlib.

Vladimir Frolov, an independent Russian foreign affairs analyst, said: The main problem in Idlib is the desire of Assad to establish full control of the area and block the border with Turkey, while also having pushed three million of the Sunni population, unfriendly to Assad, out onto Turkish soil.

The fight in Idlib, the last opposition-controlled region of Syria, has already been catastrophic for the population. Nearly a million people have fled their homes since December 1, when the latest government offensive began, in the biggest single wave of displacement since Syrias civil war began nine years ago. With nowhere to go, many have gathered at the border with Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees and has refused to let new ones in.

It has also brought Turkey, a Nato member, dangerously close to war with Russia.

In the past month, Syrian and Turkish troops have repeatedly clashed on the ground and in the skies, killing scores on both sides. For Turkey, which sent thousands of troops to Syria in the past few weeks, the intervention has been disastrous with 58 Turkish troops killed in the past month, including 33 in one air strike last week.

Mr Erdogan has opened Turkeys borders with Greece, declaring he would no longer hold back migrants and refugees wishing to go to Europe. Some European leaders have accused him of using refugees to blackmail the West into backing Turkey.

A baby cries as migrants gather next to a river in Edirne, Turkey, near the Turkish-Greek border (AP/Darko Bandic)

Analysts say the move showed Mr Erdogans desperation, especially after failing to get the desired assistance from Nato, and is likely to backfire as dramatic scenes reminiscent of the 2015 migrant crisis play out at the gates of Europe.

As his isolation deepens, Mr Erdogan is likely to settle for less than what he aspires to at the talks. Asked about his expectations, he told reporters that the main topic will be to rapidly achieve a ceasefire in the region.

Moscow also appears keen on restoring some kind of status quo in Idlib.

Mr Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: We expect to reach a shared view of the cause of the current crisis, its consequences and agree on a set of measures to overcome it.
Writing brief lives of Americas Presidents taught me that Trump is far from being the first outlandish one

The more one hears about the American presidential race, the less comprehensible it can seem. For one is presented with an excessively detailed account of what has happened in the last few hours, and nothing at all about what happened in the last few centuries.

It is easy in these circumstances to suppose that Donald Trump is an unprecedented figure.

The correspondents covering the race are for the most part too busy to read much history, let alone to make use of it if they do, condemned as they are to show, say, their mastery of Super Tuesday.

And when they do turn to history, they tend to fall in love with the works of Robert Caro, who in the fourth volume of his magisterial life of Lyndon B. Johnson, President from 1963-69, has reached 1964.

It was partly in an attempt to gain some faint sense of the whole sweep of the history of the United States that I wrote Gimsons Presidents: Brief Lives from Washington to Trump, published this week.

It emerged from this exercise that most of the Presidents (there have been 44 so far, though Trump is described as the 45th, because Grover Cleveland, President from 1885-89 and 1893-97, is counted twice, as both the 22nd and the 24th President) are unknown even to most people versed in American history.

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the current President and perhaps half a dozen others, most of them within living memory, take almost all the light going, leaving at least 30 holders of the office, if not in darkness, at least in deep shadow.

The greatest Presidents are world-historical figures, who repay any amount of study.

But who can name the eight presidents before Lincoln, or  except for Grant, famous as a soldier rather than a politician  the eight presidents after him?

As Professor Richard White of Stanford University, author of the volume in The Oxford History of the United States covering the period 1865-1896, remarks in his introduction, this for a long time was historical flyover country, with writers, scholars and readers taking off at the end of the Civil War, after the assassination of Lincoln, and only touching down again at the start of the 20th century, when thanks to the assassination of President Andrew McKinley, the inspiring figure of Theodore Roosevelt enters the White House.

One result of this amnesia is that Trump came as a greater surprise to educated Americans than he should have done. Although he is the first reality TV star to have entered the White House, he has many of the characteristics of Andrew Jackson, President from 1829-37.

Jackson was touchy, quarrelsome, ignorant, vindictive and a born killer, though also a born leader of men, and much braver than Trump. He beat the British at New Orleans in 1815, and as a commander of Tennessees militia, in which capacity he massacred hundreds of Creek Indians whose lands were taken by white settlers, was nicknamed Old Hickory in tribute to his toughness.

Trump said he could not go to Vietnam because he had bone spurs in his heels. It would have taken a lot more than bone spurs to keep Jackson out of a fight.

In 1806, Charles Dickinson, a brilliant shot, referred while drunk to the Jackson adultery  a reference to the fact that when Jackson got married, his wifes first husband had failed to complete the formalities needed to get divorced from her: an oversight unknown to her or to Jackson.

Jackson proceeded to pick a quarrel with Dickinson about the payment of a forfeit in a horse race. In the resulting duel, fought at eight paces, Jackson decided to let Dickinson fire first, hoping speed would be the enemy of accuracy, but was hit in the chest.

The bullet, though partially checked by his coat, broke two of his ribs and was so close to his heart that it could never be removed, and in years to come caused him much pain.

Jackson then took aim at Dickinson, but the hammer of his pistol stuck at half-cock. The seconds conferred and decided Jackson could have another go if he insisted. He did insist, and hit Dickinson, who bled to death.

In the presidential election of 1824, Jackson topped the poll with 41 per cent of the vote  not a winning margin, but clearly ahead of John Quincy Adams, on 31 per cent.

Henry Clay, who came third with 13 per cent, described Jackson as ignorant, passionate, hypocritical, corrupt and easily swayed by the basest men who surround him. This view was shared by many members of the political class, and when the election went to the House of Representatives for its decision, Clay ensured that Adams won on the first ballot.

Adams proceeded to give the office of Secretary of State to Clay, of whom Jackson wrote:

So you see the Judas of the West has closed the contract and will receive the 30 pieces of silver. His end will be the same. Was there ever witnessed such bare-faced corruption?

The return match, in 1828, was described in a piece of doggerel as Between J. Q. Adams, who can write/ And Andy Jackson, who can fight. It was the dirtiest in American history, though there is, admittedly, quite a bit of competition for that title.

Jacksons opponents circulated a pamphlet accusing him of getting into 14 fights in which he killed, slashed, and clawed various American citizens.

Jacksons supporters spread calumnies about Adams, including the absurd claim that while serving as American Minister in St Petersburg, he had procured a beautiful American girl for the Tsar and kept a harem of concubines for himself.

On the day of Jacksons inauguration in 1829, the mob which came to Washington to celebrate his victory invaded the White House, smashed the furnishings and could only be induced to leave by the provision of free punch on the lawn.

Jackson had a genius for appealing to the resentment of frontiersmen who felt themselves looked down upon by the folks in Washington. He understood that resentment because he felt it himself. Like Trump, he was dismissed by educated Americans as a barbarian.

As President, Jackson instituted the spoils system, sacking more office holders, most of them perfectly competent, than had been sacked in the whole 40 years since Washington, and replacing them with his own supporters.

From then onwards, politics was made to pay by rewarding the hacks who ran the party machine, and the main incentive of each side was to find some mediocrity (not a term that could be applied to Jackson himself) who looked and sounded sufficiently presidential to win the election, and could then be relied on to distribute to his followers the spoils of office, however little idea he might have of how to govern the country.

Hence the high incidence of mediocrities in the White House. On the whole, unknown candidates did better than distinguished men who had made enemies by taking a stand on the great questions of the day.

One of the most mediocre of the mediocrities was Warren G. Harding, President from 1921-23, who had been chosen by the Republicans in a smoke-filled room, an expression dating from their convention in 1920. Here is a specimen of his oratory, when he was chosen in 1912 to propose President William Howard Taft for the Republican nomination:

Progression is not proclamation nor palaver. It is not pretence nor play on prejudice. It is not of personal pronouns, nor of perennial pronouncement. It is not the perturbation of a people passion-wrought, nor a promise proposed.

Harding found alliteration worked like a charm on his audiences, and also on himself. He said I like to go out into the country and bloviate, which he defined as the art of speaking as long as the occasion demands and saying nothing.

Politics today is full of bloviators, but I can think of no one who does it quite so preposterously well as Harding. Shortly before he was adopted as the presidential candidate, he set out his approach in a speech in Boston:

Americas present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.

The New York Times was appalled when Harding was adopted:

The nomination of Harding, for whose counterpart we must go back to Franklin Pierce [in office 1853-57] if we would seek a President who measures down to his political stature, is the fine and perfect flower of the Senatorial cabal that charged itself with the management of the Republican convention.

Denunciation by The New York Times is not always fatal. Harding won a landslide victory. The voters felt comfortable with him, as did the crooks he appointed to various key posts in Washington.

The Teapot Dome scandal, in which the navys oil reserves in Wyoming were transferred to the Interior Department and then sold off at knock-down prices, was only the most notorious example of the grotesque corruption which flourished under Harding, who died in office of a heart attack in 1923, though malicious people claimed his wife, Florence, had poisoned him.

After Hardings death, his mistress, Nan Britton, a gormless young woman, 31 years his junior, from his home town of Marion, Ohio, applied to his family for support for her daughter by him.

When no funds were forthcoming, she wrote the first kiss-and-tell book about a President, entitled The Presidents Daughter, which described her happiness when I received my first forty-page love letter from Mr Harding, and how in due course they found a closet in the White House, where in the darkness of a space not more than five feet square the President of the United States and his adoring sweetheart made love.

When I was in New York with my family, and we were taking photographs of Trump Tower, an elegant old lady implored us to desist.

Trump is a most dreadful embarrassment to elegant New Yorkers, and to many other Americans too.

But he is by no means the first President of whom that could be said.

Gimsons Presidents: Brief lives from Washington to Trump is published by Penguin Books.
THERE are no cases of the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) in Trinidad and Tobago to date.

People seemed to be in panic mode yesterday as fake news and reports of suspected cases gripped social media platforms.
Sri Lanka: Tax on imported fish raised to boost the local fishing industry and protect fishermen

March 05,2020 | Source: Colombo Page

As a measure to protect local fishermen and boost the fisheries industry, the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as Minister of Finance, has decided to increase the special commodity levy on imported fish from midnight Tuesday (03). The Minister of Finance has taken this step in response to a request by the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry heeding to the requests by the fishermen.



Accordingly, from midnight last night the tax for a kilo of imported fish will be ten percent of the value or 150 rupees. Previously the tax for a kilo of imported fish was ten percent of the value or 25 rupees after giving 100 rupees concession.
Italy has taken the unprecedented step of closing all schools and universities in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus, which has so far killed 107 people and infected more than 3,000 in Europe's worst outbreak.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that schools and universities will be closed from today until March 15.

"We wanted to adopt all possible measures to obtain either the direct containment of the virus or a slowing down of its spread," said Mr Conte, speaking in Rome.

Hospitals were struggling to cope with the number of infected patients and intensive care units risked being overwhelmed, he added.

"It was not an easy decision for the government," Education Minister Lucia Azzolina said. "We waited for the opinions of our scientific committee and we have decided to suspend teaching activities.

"I hope pupils can return to school as soon as possible... my commitment is to ensure that the essential public service, albeit from a distance, is provided to all our students," she added, speaking alongside the prime minister.

The drastic measures will have a profound impact on millions of families, particularly those in which both parents have full-time jobs.

It left Italian parents scrambling to find last-minute childcare, amid speculation that the closures could extend beyond March 15 if the government deems it necessary. Schools have been closed since February 24 in the northern regions worst hit by the emergency - Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna - as well as in the regions of Piedmont and Friuli Venezia Giulia.

But the government's decree extends the closures to the whole country. "It's a decision without precedent, but the priority is the public's health," said Antonello Giannelli, president of the National Association of Headteachers.

At the same time, a government minister placed himself in voluntary isolation. Stefano Patuanelli, the economic development minister, said he had come to into contact with a regional politician in Lombardy who has since tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ministers advised Italians to stop kissing, hugging and shaking hands when they meet each other and advised people over the age of 75 - the most vulnerable section of the population - to stay indoors as much as possible. The government said people should try to remain at least a yard apart when out in public - spelling commercial disaster for cinemas, theatres, museums and galleries, where people are generally in proximity.

The World Health Organisation said 3.4pc of people known to have had the new virus globally have died so far.

But it says it is too early to know if the death rate for the virus is really that high. When viruses pop up in new places, the first to get counted are often the sickest.

In Britain, there were fears the infection could be spreading in hospitals, as NHS patients were among 36 sufferers identified in a trebling of new cases.

The total number of cases in the UK rose to 87 yesterday, with warnings from the chief medical officer that a "significant epidemic" is now "highly likely". Three of the new cases were detected in hospitals after officials ratcheted up surveillance of medical facilities, amid concerns that the virus is being spread among patients.

A major London hospital was on partial lockdown, with visitors to some wards banned, after two patients tested positive for the virus, with the third case found in a Manchester hospital.

British health officials were particularly concerned because none of the three patients had travelled to countries linked to outbreaks, or were connected to people known to be infected.

It came as Chinese scientists said the virus had mutated into two strains, one of which appeared to be far more aggressive, which could affect work on a vaccine.

Meanwhile, the South Korean city of Daegu is short of thousands of hospital beds for patients, but Prime Minister Chung Se-Kyun is expressing confidence the country can cope with the outbreak.

North Korea says it doesn't have any cases, despite sharing a porous border with China, where the virus first appeared.
Nearly 20 years have passed since Sir Mick Jagger last acted, but as the new film The Burnt Orange Heresy' shows, his chops have gathered no moss.

In the film, which Sony Pictures Classics will release Friday, Jagger co-stars alongside Claes Bang and Elizabeth Debicki as a devilish art collector who cunningly convinces an art journalist (Bang) to use a rare interview with a reclusive artist (Donald Sutherland) as an opportunity to steal one of his paintings.

It's Jagger's first film since 2001's The Man From Elysian Fields, and the entertainer said it might be his last.

Devilish role: Sir Mick Jagger is shown as a devilish art collector in a still from the upcoming film The Burnt Orange Heresy that marked the rocker's return to acting after nearly 20 years

'I wish I had done a lot more acting. I've just done bits and pieces here and there whenever I've been able to,' Jagger told the Associated Press in a phone interview.

Then he chuckled.

'You know, I have another job. I have several other jobs, really.'

When the 76-year-old rocker hasn't been performing with the Rolling Stones, Jagger has carved out a peripatetic but adventurous career in movies.

Rock legend: Jagger, shown in June 2018 in France, has carved out a peripatetic but adventurous career in movies

He's favored more experimental filmmakers, working with Jean-Luc Godard, Nicolas Roeg and Werner Herzog.

Acting a little less than David Bowie but more than Bob Dylan, Jaggers film career has been consistently intrepid. He's a very good actor, even if his big-screen performances will always be dwarfed by the gyrating spectacle of his kinetic stage persona.

'I always liked the idea of it,' Jagger, speaking by phone from France, said of acting. 'I enjoy the change of pace and the change of focus of your performance. When I'm performing these days, it's mostly in very large places in front of lots of people, whereas when you're on a small set, you're performing much more subtly and not such elaborate gestures. You have to really tone it down.'

Art theft: The 76-year-old rocker plays a devilish art collector who cunningly convinces an art journalist to use a rare interview with a reclusive artist as an opportunity to steal one of his paintings

Sometimes, fate (and tour scheduling) has intervened.

Jaggers performance in Herzogs famously delirious Fitzcarraldo (1982) was cut because the original lead, Jason Robards, got sick. When shooting restarted in the Peruvian jungle, Jagger had a conflicting Stones tour. His part was cut and Klaus Kinski took over for Robards.

Herzog has called Jaggers departure 'one of the biggest losses I've ever experienced as a director.' (Bits of Jagger's performance can be seen in documentaries such as Burden Of Dreams and My Best Friend.)

'It was a pity about that. That was a shame,' says Jagger. 'So Klaus Kinski did the job on that and did it better than I. Nevertheless, it was an experience.'

Long break: Jagger, shown with Claes Bang in a still from The Burnt Orange Heresy, last acted in 2001's The Man From Elysian

But the timing and the script lined up for The Burnt Orange Heresy. Its directed by Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Capotondi, whose twisty 2009 debut film The Double Hour proved his talent for conjuring a noirish atmosphere of intrigue and mystery.

The Burnt Orange Heresy, based on Charles B. Willeford's 1971 novel, is an elegant, stylish kind of film seldom made anymore, with glamorous actors in the glamorous setting of Italy's Lake Como.

When Capotondi first met Jagger in London to discuss the part, he was struck by the rock star's humility.

Legendary band: Ronnie Wood, Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, shown performing August 22, 2019 in Pasadena, California, will kick off a 15-city leg of their No Filter tour beginning in May in San Diego

'He said, ''Look, I haven't done this in 20 years. I might be rusty'',' recalled Capotondi.

Jagger found ways to shape the character, giving him slicked-backed hair and a slightly menacing Chelsea accent from the 1960s. In the film, Jaggers art dealer presents Bangs writer with a kind of Faustian bargain, and things get darker from there.

Capotondi considers the character a version of the devil - an apropos role for the writer of Sympathy For The Devil.

Bushranger film: Jagger is shown as Ned Kelly in the 1970 bushranger film of the same name

'To play the devil is something that can appeal to most actors. It's such a serpentine character,' says Capotondi. 'Given the Rolling Stones discovery, I think it's quite fitting.'

Jagger is less sure about the connections between The Burnt Orange Heresy and the bands classic 1968 single, which was partially inspired by Mikhail Bulgakovs beloved Russian novel about Beelzebub in 1930s Moscow, 'The Master and Margarita,' and a Baudelaire poem. But Jagger's art dealer is, for sure, 'a man of wealth of taste,' and one that playfully trades on Jaggers demonic charisma.

'It was in my grasp to do this character. I thought it would be fun to do,' Jagger said. 'He basically charms and threatens him to do what he wants. Its not a lot of screen time but he's the one who sets off the action.'

The director: The Burnt Orange Heresy director Giuseppe Capotondi, shown earlier this month in Los Angeles, said of Jagger's role: 'To play the devil is something that can appeal to most actors. It's such a serpentine character'

One of Jagger's first films remains one of his most celebrated: Roegs hallucinatory 1970 film Performance, in which he played a drug-addled, gender-bending rock star. Critically slammed upon release, its steadily grown a cult following with Jaggers performance often ranking among the best by a musician in a film.

He played the title character in Tony Richardsons Ned Kelly, the 'bonejacker' in Victor Vacendaks cyberpunk Freejack (1992) and a drag queen in Bent.

Jagger was an executive producer on the short-lived HBO series Vinyl, and produced the James Brown biopic Get On Up. And then there are the many documentaries that have indelibly captured the Stones, including 'Gimme Shelter,' about the tragic 1969 Altamont concert; Martin Scorseses 'Shine a Light,' Brett Morgans 'Crossfire Hurricane' and Godards intimate but chaotic doc, 'Sympathy for the Devil.'

Film stars: Elizabeth Debicki and Claes Bang, shown earlier this month in New York City, also star in The Burnt Orange Heresy

'I used to say to Jean-Luc, ''Whats the rest of the movie like? Can you explain to me what the rest of the movie is like?'' And he really couldnt. I dont think he really knew. It was like: What a genius,' said Jagger.

'When I was really young, I used to watch a lot of foreign cinema,' he added. 'I watched early Roman Polanski movies when I was a student and we used to think ourselves great intellectuals and just watch foreign films and New Wave. We were very into that.'

Jagger, who last year had heart surgery, is currently prepping the North American leg of the Rolling Stones No Filter tour this summer. His day job, again, calls.

He is, of course, certain to remain a regular soundtrack to cinema. The Stones remain an irresistible needle drop to countless filmmakers. (Most recently, Sweet Virginia lent a luminous lilt to the finale of Knives Out.) But Jagger acknowledges The Burnt Orange Heresy could be his big-screen swan song.

'If I don't get offered another decent role, it might be,' Jagger said. Then he laughed. 'It's not planned. If someone offered me something to do in the autumn, I'm sure I'd do it if it was a good part.'
On International Womens Day this year we as Indigenous women in Canada honour more than ever how interconnected we are to each other, to our families, to our communities, to our environment and our ancestors.

This is why we measure the safety and well-being of a community based on the safety and well-being of the women and children in that community.

Our connection to our community cannot be at the expense of our individual well-being. Our nations cannot be rebuilt on the backs of women and children as this would be from an oppressive and a colonized approach.

In order to rebuild, we must begin with healing to ensure we dont duplicate colonization as we have all experienced some form of this trauma, whether it be generational trauma from residential schools, racism and sexism to internalized oppression that results in high levels of violence.

Healing must begin with the women in our communities to address the root causes of the crisis we are facing, she is not the end point of healing but the beginning.

Someone once said that focusing on everyone focuses no one. We are all born by our mothers and if shes supported to take up her responsibility our communities will become a safer place for future generations. Indigenous knowledge holder Mona Hardy reminds us that Motherhood is the first profession.

On the path forward we are reminded by activist Ingrid Bengis that words are a form of action capable of influencing change. We have been educated on the traumas we have faced as a result of governments assimilation policies from the Indian Act to the dehumanizing of our sacred grandmothers, aunties, mothers, daughters and nieces.

Focusing only on the governments actions or inactions doesnt allow us to focus on our individual and collective responsibilities. We need a comprehensive strategy that includes us in the actions, we need to reclaim our power, our sacredness and our leadership.

In reclaiming our story we must be mindful of the fact that trauma is not our fault, healing is possible. Colonization has taught us to other ourselves and people. This othering technique has targeted our core values to dismantle relationships with ourselves, our community, our environment and also our responsibilities.

You can see this tactic in lateral violence, which is internalized hatred of ourselves. When you speak unkindly of yourself and other Indigenous women you are contributing toward a root cause of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

Ive heard someone say other peoples opinions of you is none of your business. This is easier said than done, unless you have a wellness plan for yourself to support you in the work you need to do.

Don Miquel Ruiz book the Four Agreements is a good starting basis in learning to not take things personally, the first of the four agreements. Peoples actions are a reflection of their reality, not ours.

In doing community healing work we must remember hurt people hurt people. It is our responsibility to tell the truth and hold people accountable in a kind way. This may seem like an oxymoron but if we dont have difficult conversations and refuse to accept any form of violence how can we effect change in our communities.

There are consequences of actions and inaction, both positive and negative.

Fear holds us back: fear of making mistakes, fear of unworthiness, fear of being unacceptable, fear of achievement. We need to check our fear, we need to acknowledge it and move through it.

Growth happens because of mistakes and lessons learned; dream big, start small. On this International Womens Day we must take a chance toward making positive change in our communities.

In the wise words of elder and knowledge keeper Mariea Linklater remember, every day is ceremony.
The Kerala government has given its nod to a proposal aimed at encouraging students aged between 18 and 25 years to take up part-time jobs while pursuing education so as to help them gain work experience and hone their skills.

The government has decided to accept the proposal as a policy decision at the Cabinet meeting held on March 4, an official press release said.

The aim is to ensure that in a fiscal, 90 days of work is assured for students in government departments, local body organisations, PSUs and private companies.

This will help in developing a work culture among students.

Honorariums will be given to students by the organisations employing them part-time, the release said.

Students aged between 18 and 25 years will be permitted to become part of the scheme which will help them to gain work experience and hone their skills, the release added.

In another decision, the government decided to release Rs 26 crore from the Chief Minister's disaster relief fund for providing compensation to farmers who suffered crop loss during the 2018 floods.
The most moving moment for Justice S Muralidhar as a judge of the Delhi High Court was on July 2, 2009, when a bench involving him scrapped the penal provision which criminalised sexual intercourse between two consenting adults of same sex.

Justice Muralidhar, who was bid farewell from the Delhi High Court on Thursday, said at the time of pronouncing the judgement, he and the then Chief Justice of the high court A P Shah knew that something "irreversible" had happened.

The judge, who will move to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said: "The relief that swept through the courtroom amongst those waiting to hear the verdict was palpable. Many broke down right here in front of us".

The judgement delivered by them was set aside by the Supreme Court on December 11, 2013. But in September 2018, the apex court dealing with the issue on a fresh writ petition, came to the findings that were delivered by Justices Shah and Muralidhar.

Going back to nearly 11 years, Justice Muralidhar said, "The most moving moment as a judge was in this very court sitting where I am today when on July 2, 2009, (then) Chief Justice A P Shah and I delivered our judgement in NAZ Foundation.

"Even as we held that consensual same sex between adults in private was not a crime, the relief that swept through the courtroom amongst those waiting to hear the verdict was palpable. Many broke down right here in front of us."



Retired Justice A P Shah was also present in the high court at the farewell programme of Justice Muralidhar.

Justice Muralidhar is known as a judge who champions human rights causes and it was reflected in the speech of Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel who spoke about some of the books written by the outgoing judge on topics including Bhopal Gas Tragedy and access to justice.

Bar Council of Delhi chairman K K Mittal said Justice Muralidhar is a human rights champion.

Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra termed Justice Muralidhar as a "highly intellectual, courageous, upright and incorruptible judge".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem demonstrated in mice that intestinal bacteria reprogram DNA activity in cells of the gut mucosa and thus have a considerable impact on the development of the healthy gut. Acute intestinal inflammation induced under experimental conditions led to a huge increase in the activity of inflammation-related and cancer-promoting genes in the mucous membrane cells of microbe-colonized animals.

A large body of research work indicates that the intestinal microbiota - in other words, all the microorganisms that colonize the human gut - and its composition are linked to a whole series of diseases. The illnesses range from inflammatory diseases of the intestine and metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes to cancer, autism, and depression.

These studies usually only show links and do not clarify the mechanisms by which the intestinal microbes affect the human body. Frank Lyko from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Yehudit Bergman from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem teamed up to address this issue.

To do so, the researchers compared the DNA of the gut mucosal cells in mice with a normal microbiome with those of mice who had grown up in sterile conditions. They focused on analyzing DNA methylation, known as epigenetic marking, which prevents DNA-binding proteins from attaching to the DNA at these sites, hence restricting the activity of the genes there.

The researchers noticed considerable differences in the methylation patterns between sterile and microbe-colonized animals. In the latter, they found a group of "sentinel genes" activated by demethylation, which are responsible for the normal regeneration of the intestinal mucosa in the healthy gut.

Both the microbe-colonized mice and the sterile animals were treated using a chemical that attacks the intestinal mucosa, thus inducing acute inflammation. In the microbe-colonized animals, this treatment led to a reduction in DNA methylation in the gut mucosal cells, particularly affecting a number of regulatory elements. As a result, many genes that play a role in inflammation and in cancer were activated.

In contrast, the chemical hardly caused any changes in genetic activity in the microbe-free mice. "That shows that the differences in methylation are due to the bacteria and not to the chemical," Frank Lyko explained. However, if the microbiome of the microbe-colonized mice was transferred to the microbe-free animals, methylation of the intestinal mucosal cells was reduced in these mice too.

The team of German and Israeli researchers realized that this effect apparently depends on the demethylating enzymes TET2 and TET3: If they were turned off genetically, treatment with the chemical hardly caused any changes in the genome methylation.

"The microbiome seems to have a considerable influence on the animals' health: It ensures normal intestinal development by using epigenetic programming to activate genes that steer regeneration of the gut mucosa. In the microbe-free mice, however, this activation does not take place," Frank Lyko explained. "During acute inflammation, the gut microbes also cause a change in genetic activity, and genes are dysregulated that are also dysregulated in patients with intestinal inflammation and cancer of the colon. This once again underlines the key role that microbes play in epigenetic regulation," he added.

###

The work was funded by the Helmholtz-Israel Cooperation in Personalized Medicine.

Ihab Ansari, Gunter Raddatz, Julian Gutekunst, Meshi Ridnik, Daphne Cohen, Monther Abu-Remaileh, Timur Tuganbaev, Hagit Shapiro, Eli Pikarsky, Eran Elinav, Frank Lyko and Yehudit Bergman: The microbiota programs DNA methylation to control intestinal homeostasis and inflammation. Nature Microbiology 2020, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0659-3

The German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) with its more than 3,000 employees is the largest biomedical research institution in Germany. At DKFZ, more than 1,300 scientists investigate how cancer develops, identify cancer risk factors and endeavor to find new strategies to prevent people from getting cancer. They develop novel approaches to make tumor diagnosis more precise and treatment of cancer patients more successful.

DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides individual answers to all questions about cancer for patients, the general public, and health care professionals. Jointly with partners from Heidelberg University Hospital, DKFZ runs the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) located in Heidelberg and Dresden, and, also in Heidelberg, the Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ). In the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), one of six German Centers for Health Research, DKFZ maintains translational centers at seven university partnering sites. Combining excellent university hospitals with high-profile research at a Helmholtz Center at the NCT and DKTK sites is an important contribution to the endeavor of translating promising approaches from cancer research into the clinic in order to improve the chances of cancer patients.

DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centers, with ninety percent of its funding coming from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the remaining ten percent from the State of Baden-Wurttemberg.
The government's conservation watchdog is investigating claims that unprecedented roadside tree removals throughout areas of East Gippsland affected by the catastrophic summer bushfires have been over-zealous and will fragment ecosystems.

Members of environment and landcare groups in Gippsland have raised the alarm over the quantity of trees being felled and removed by logging contractors in fire-affected areas, including near Cann River, Mallacoota, Cape Conran and Orbost.

Cape Conran Coastal Park, the Marlo-Conran roadside.

Residents say they understand roads need to be reopened and made safe, but they are concerned that large trees - often blackened but still intact - are being unnecessarily cut down by contractors without the proper oversight of arborists.

We are extremely disturbed at the amount of questionable clear felling of large habitat trees occurring along thousands of kilometres of East Gippslands roads, says a submission prepared by Friends of the Earth on behalf of environment groups, and lodged with the Office of the Conservation Regulator.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says shes endorsing Joe Biden for president and will be joining his campaign as one of four national co-chairs.

The Democratic governor made the announcement on Twitter and on MSNBCs Morning Joe talk show.

We need a president who will show up and fight for Michiganders, Whitmer said on Twitter. Biden has proven time and again that he has our back. I am proud to both endorse him and announce that I will be joining his campaign as a co-chair.

We need a president who will show up and fight for Michiganders, and @JoeBiden has proven time and again that he has our back. I am proud to both endorse him and announce that I will be joining his campaign as a co-chair. pic.twitter.com/Vs5J4Ik09F  Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) March 5, 2020

She expanded on that statement in a press release.

Biden had all of our backs when he worked with President Obama to expand health care to millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, including 680,000 Michiganders who now have coverage through Medicaid expansion, she said in the press release. He had our backs during the auto industry rescue that saved GM and Chrysler. And hes proven that he will continue to fight for those values and more as our next president.

Joe Biden is the candidate we need to defeat Donald Trump in November," she said. "Hes always had our backs. Now, Im proud to have his.

The press release said that Whitmer joins Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as national campaign co-chairs, serving as a top advisor and surrogate for Biden.

Whitmer earlier said that she was unlikely to endorse a candidate before Michigans March 10 primary. But Wednesday, Whitmer told reporters a lot of things have changed in the last 72 hours."

Whitmer added that she is interested in leadership thats focused on the fundamentals.

Last month, Whitmer told MLive every leading Democratic presidential hopeful had called her for advice on how to win Michigan, and said she encouraged all of the candidates to visit Michigan and listen to voters concerns.

As of Thursday morning, four Democratic candidates remain in the race: former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Bidens prospects of securing the nomination were in doubt after losing the first three primary states, but he decisively won South Carolina last weekend, kicking off a comeback tour that produced victories in nine of 14 states voting on Super Tuesday.

Bidens resurgence reshapes the dynamics of Michigans primary, where Sanders had been expected to secure a repeat of his 2016 primary victory.

Wednesday, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden.
The delivery of justice is fastest in Borno State  more than any other state in Nigeria, a new report has said.

In what is seen as a first-of its-kind publication, the ranking was based on the capacity of High Courts to make quick the administration of justice across 33 states.

The publication, Measuring the Pace of Justice through Data A ranking of State High Courts of Nigeria, was released by a tech-civic group, Citizenss Gavel Foundation in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The publication assessed timeliness of justice delivery from 1,388 cases across 33 states, taking samples randomly from 50 cases per state with filing date of judgement and estimated number of legal problems.

The ranking shows that Borno, Katsina, and Kebbi States are top performers with justice delivered within 205, 229 and 365 days respectively.

Meanwhile, Rivers, FCT Abuja and Anambra States have the lowest ranking with justice delivery spanning up to 1,731; 1,431 and 1,206 days respectively.

This is despite the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA, 2015) provides that justice be delivered within 180 days.

Topping the list of states delivering fast-paced justice on civil cases is Katsina State, with justice administered within 167 days while Rivers State is the least state.

With speedy justice delivery on criminal cases, Borno State ranks first as cases are resolved on average within 158 days while Rivers State ranks the lowest with justice delivery spans up to 1,570 days.

The publication said the present insurgency in Borno State may be connected to the states success of fast-paced justice dispensation.

Borno State is battling a decade-long terrorist oppression as many have fled the state to seek better life in other states in the Northern region and across the country.

Nigerias justice delivery system too slow

The Foundations team lead, Nelson Olanipekun, at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, said the publication spoke in depth to the pace of justice delivery in Nigeria through data sourced from the National Judicial Council.

He said a lack of data that measures dispensation of justice had made its delivery painfully slow.

This has turned into a tool that somehow pushes Nigerians to conceding or resulting to various categories of injustice and taking laws into their hands because we lack a fast paced justice delivery system, he said.

Bemoaning the gaps in Nigerias justice delivery system, Mr Olanipekun linked good justice system with economic prosperity.

He, however, pointed out that the ranking was not to discredit any states High Court but to help states to seek more creative paths to increasing the pace of justice delivery.

On improving the justice delivery system, the team lead said Nigeria needs to make active other alternative means of justice delivery and traditional mechanisms such as peace resolutions and mediations.

He said this would decongest the number of awaiting-trial cases in courts and bring judges efficiency.

He added that deployment of efficiency should also technologically wired as it would improve the pace of justice process.

He called for good policy change to aid the delivery system.

A representative of OSIWA, Tsema Okoye, said Nigeria should ensure that access to justice equates access to remedies.

To achieve that, she said, efforts from non-state actors are necessary.

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Two Sydney doctors who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus went to a medical conference attended by 77 people.

A 53-year-old male doctor working at Ryde Hospital and a female doctor, who works in the emergency department of Liverpool Hospital, went to the event on February 18.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Thursday health authorities are trying to track them down.

'This is a bit like a police investigation in a sense, trying to track who is coming into contact with who and what possible associations there may have been,' Mr Hazzard said, news.com.au reports.

One of the doctors that attended the conference is employed at Ryde Hospital (pictured). Forty of his colleagues have now been placed into isolation

'New South Wales Health has been working very hard to try to contact each of those doctors and other attendees of the conference, so far it has been positive, nobody else showing any symptoms of coronavirus.'

Mr Hazzard said the spread of the coronavirus around the world is evolving and, although there had been 'no substantial change' overnight, there were seven human-to-human transmissions in NSW.

The female doctor, diagnosed on Wednesday, is one of six new confirmed cases of the virus in the state.

NSWs chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the woman had not recently travelled overseas and some of her colleagues have been placed into isolation.

'We are immediately establishing which staff and patients may need to self-isolate and be tested for COVID-19 should they be unwell,' she said.

Forty members of Ryde Hospital staff that had been in close contact with the male doctor were placed into home isolation on Wednesday.

In Australia, there are 57 confirmed cases of coronavirus including two deaths.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told the Nine Network on Tuesday that the 53-year-old male doctor is in a stable condition at Westmead Hospital and 'going quite well'

It comes as an eight-month boy, from South Australia, became the first Australian baby to be diagnosed with the deadly disease on Thursday, a day after his 40-year-old mother tested positive.

She had returned to the country from Iran on Sunday.

Meanwhile, 17 toddlers from a Sydney childcare centre were assessed for coronavirus after recently visiting a nursing home experiencing an outbreak.

Children from Banksia Cottage childcare in Macquarie Park went to Dorothy Henderson Lodge for an excursion on February 24.

The aged care facility has recorded four separate incidents, including a 95-year-old woman who died on Wednesday and a 50-year-old staff member who worked with 13 residents.

There are now 57 confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide as human-to-human transmissions climb (medical staff pictured transporting an infected woman to Westmead hospital at the end of January)

An 82-year-old man and a woman, aged in her 70's, are receiving treatment and all other residents have been placed into isolation.

Last week, James Kwan, 78, became the first death in Australia from the coronavirus after he returned home from a holiday aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday confirmed more than 10,000 Australians had been tested for coronavirus since diagnosing the first case in late January, 3000 in NSW alone.

On Wednesday, an additional 13 cases were reported across Australia, including the first diagnosis in the Northern Territory, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian warning the number of cases is likely to go up in the next few days.

'What is scary on this situation is that the vaccine is not yet developed but we ask everybody to stay calm, to go about business and to stay updated the NSW health website is giving our citizens in NSW timely information,' she told Nine's Today Show on Wednesday.

Worldwide there have been more than 95,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across 84 countries, including at least 3,254 deaths.
Greta Thunberg today joined climate protesters outside the EU Council building as EU environment ministers met inside.

It came a day after she accused European Union governments and institutions of only 'pretending' to urgently tackle the climate crisis.

A handful of protesters clutched umbrellas as they gathered for the small protest on the sidelines of the ministers' meeting at Schuman Square.

The 17-year-old Swedish activist is in Brussels where she appeared at a European Commission meeting yesterday as a new climate law was unveiled.

Thunberg writes a message on a wall set up by the protesters to demand immediate action from EU leaders

A handful of protesters clutched umbrellas as they gathered for the demonstration

Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg takes part in a protest as she leaves the 'Europa building', the headquarters of the EU Council

Thunberg takes part in a protest as she leaves the 'Europa building' after a meeting of EU environment ministers

Thunberg takes part in a protest after a meeting of environment ministers

But the European Commission's announcement of plans to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 fell flat with environmental groups.

Thunberg was left unimpressed and dismissed the proposal as 'surrender'.

She questioned the urgency of the commission and said: 'When your house is on fire, you don't wait a few more years to start putting it out.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a small protest on the sidelines of an EU environment ministers' meeting at Schuman Square on Thursday

Thunberg takes part in the small protest outside the EU Council building

Thunberg takes part in a protest outside the 'Europa Building' on Thursday

The protest comes a day after the Commission's announcement of a new climate law fell flat with environmental groups

'And yet this is what the Commission is proposing today.'

The new law would commit the 27-member bloc to reaching zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and give Brussels new powers to impose emission targets.

But the announcement was declared inadequate by Thunberg and dozens of her fellow activists.

Underwhelmed: Climate activist Greta Thunberg (right) with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (left) at a meeting of the EU's executive arm yesterday

European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli (right) welcomes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as she arrives at the European Parliament in Brussels, ahead of the European Union unveiling a landmark law to achieve 'climate neutrality' by 2050

Greta Thunberg is welcomed to the European Parliament by its president, David Sassoli, as she visits Brussels to lobby for climate change action

Thunberg sat alongside Commission president Ursula von der Leyen during the meeting at the body's Brussels headquarters yesterday.

She has also met a committee of MEPs, after an exception was made to a coronavirus-related ban on visitors to the European Parliament.

But she and 33 other youth climate activists have already condemned the EU's climate plans as insufficient in an open letter.

16-year-old Greta Thunberg makes an opening speech of an Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee meeting held at European Parliament in Brussels

Greta Thunberg addresses the environment committee at the European Parliament in Brussels

Greta Thunberg is pictured after arriving at European Parliament in Brussels for a meeting to urge the EU to be more ambitious ahead of unveiling plans to be carbon neutral by 2050

'Net zero emissions by 2050 for the EU equals surrender. It means giving up,' the letter said.

'We don't just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come,' it said.

Speaking to the MEP committee, Thunberg said: 'Here you are, trying to create laws and policies once again ignoring it. Pretending that your plan or policy disregarding the united science will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.

'The European Union must stop 'pretending that you can be a climate leader and still go on building and subsidising new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Greta Thunberg speaks to the press after the meeting in Brussels yesterday

The 17-year-old Swedish climate activist sits at the meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels where she watched EU chiefs unveil a law she has already declared inadequate

Death stare: Greta Thunberg's unamused facial expression previously became a meme after she glared at Donald Trump at a United Nations summit last September

'We will not be satisfied with anything less than a science-based pathway which gives us the best possible chance to safeguard the future living conditions for humanity and life on earth as we know it,' Thunberg said.

She also added that children had been 'sacrificing' their education for the cause for a year and a half.

Thunberg's unamused facial expression previously became a meme after she glared at Donald Trump at a United Nations summit last September.

At the same event, she memorably tore into world leaders for their inaction on climate change, asking them repeatedly: 'How dare you?'.

Thunberg made an impassioned address on stage at the UN last September (pictured), tearing into world leaders for their inaction on climate change

Ursula von der Leyen, the German former defence minister who became European Commission chief last year, speaks to Thunberg in Brussels

Thunberg arrives for the meeting with Ursula von der Leyen and other EU officials including Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans (left)

Handing more power to the commission, the EU's executive arm, faces almost certain opposition from national governments and the European Parliament.

'Member states and parliament will hate it,' said Quentin Genard of climate think tank E3G in a blog post.

'Even the more pro-European and pro-climate action countries want to keep oversight over climate policies.'

The goal of climate neutrality was approved by EU leaders at a rocky summit in June with coal-dependent Poland the only holdout.

The commission, which proposes EU law, has hailed the draft has the cornerstone of a European Green New Deal that also envisages a major investment drive to decarbonise the European economy.

Greta Thunberg stands before a packed audience of Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee members at the European Parliament in Brussels

Greta Thunberg addresses the environment committee at the European Parliament in Brussels

Greta Thunberg chats with the media after her speech in Brussels. Greta is in the Belgian capital for a protest on Friday

Critics say the 2050 goal depends too deeply on technology that does not exist and creates a false hope that climate change can be fixed without fundamentally changing the economy or human behaviour.

Also angering activists, the proposal steps back from the commission's original ambition to order countries to cut emissions by 50 per cent or even 55 per cent from 1990 levels by the end of this decade.

Instead, the EU draft accepts that the existing goal to reduce pollution by at least 40 percent by 2030 will be revised by September.

Ursula von der Leyen gets up from her seat during the Commission meeting while Greta Thunberg stays sat down to her left

European Parliament president David Maria Sassoli offers a handshake to Greta Thunberg

That is only two months before the UN climate summit in November, when all parties to the Paris Agreement must make more ambitious pledges to put the world on track to limit global warming to 2.7F (1.5C).

Twelve EU countries - including France, Italy and the Netherlands but not the EU's biggest emitter, Germany - want the Commission to revise the 2030 goal in June.

They say that would leave enough time for the EU to adopt the new 2030 target and use it to pressure large emitters such as China to raise their climate pledges before the summit.

'Delaying discussions until September would crush the EU's ability to play a leading role in global climate talks,' Greenpeace climate policy adviser Sebastian Mang said.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium

The NGO projected an image of flames onto the European Commission building in Brussels on Tuesday, urging leaders to tackle climate change as urgently as if a house were on fire.

Green members of the European Parliament accused von der Leyen of giving up her claim to lead in the global climate debate.

'In the face of Greta, she is breaking her promise to present ambitious climate targets for 2030,' Green lawmaker Michael Bloss said.
Unlike in the first nominating contests, when these failures did not stop Mr. Sanders from winning, his inability to expand the electorate was crucial to his losses on Super Tuesday, when Mr. Biden beat him in 10 of 14 states, including Texas, Virginia and North Carolina.

After Mr. Sanderss dominant performance in Nevada less than two weeks ago, his aides and advisers had operated with new swagger, cautiously optimistic about his chances even in Southern states like South Carolina that they had expected to lose. He competed especially heavily in Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Minnesota, holding big rallies that doubled as shows of force.

But as the clock ticked toward midnight on Tuesday and his losses began to pile up, the campaigns buoyant tone shifted sharply. When Mr. Sanders took the stage at an election-night rally in Essex Junction, Vt., he was defiant, declaring that he would win the Democratic nomination despite a series of weaker-than-expected results. Aides and advisers insisted it was still early, and urged reporters not to jump to conclusions.

If you turn off your television at 10 p.m. tonight, you will wake up tomorrow to a different race, Mike Casca, a spokesman for Mr. Sanders, said at one point.

But by Wednesday morning, that optimism was gone.

Of course Im disappointed, Mr. Sanders said at the news conference in Burlington. I would like to win every state by a landslide. Its not going to happen.

He blamed his underperformance in part on the venom of the corporate media.

As he has begun to do in recent days, he also framed the race as one between him and Mr. Biden, and drew explicit contrasts between his record and the former vice presidents.

Joe and I have a very different voting record, he said. Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country. And Joe and I are running very different campaigns.
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.
At meeting held on 05 March 2020

Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be amalgamating into Union Bank of India with effect from 01 April 2020. The board of Andhra Bank at its meeting held on 05 March 2020 has approved the following Equity Share Exchange Ratio for amalgamation of Andhra Bank into Union Bank of India:

325 equity shares of the face value of Rs.10 each fully paid up in Union Bank of India for every 1,000 equity shares of the face value of Rs. 10 each fully paid up held in the Andhra Bank as on the record date.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After viral proposal, youth pastor marries high school sweetheart on ABCs Strahan, Sara & Keke

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A youth pastor from North Carolina who proposed to his high school sweetheart in a now viral "Family Feud" style event last December topped off his love for her last Friday with a wedding on ABCs "Strahan, Sara & Keke" show.

Eight long years ago, I found my best friend and you taught me what true love is. A life of listening, learning and laughing, and I vow to love you through every life lesson. I vow to overcome personal obstacles and open doors to limitless opportunities for us. I vow to pray for you before myself with a vision of virtuous prosperity, Joshua Powell, youth pastor at Pleasant Union Missionary Baptist Church in Riegelwood, told his bride, Kiana, on the Our big fast TV wedding segment of the show.

You smile soothes my worries, your heart loves me through my mistakes. And I know I can trust you with my whole heart. You are my dream come true and my prayers answered. These eight years have shown me that our love can withstand all things, Kiana said in her vows to Joshua.

Kiana is set to graduate in December from Duke University while Joshua will graduate from North Carolina A&T, according to the Bladen Journal.

The couple met at Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville, where they have been together since the end of their freshman year, the Journal said. After Joshuas proposal, which went viral on Facebook and has been viewed more than 3 million times, the couple appeared on ABCs Good Morning America to discuss the event.

The producers later asked if they wanted to get married on the show and the couple agreed.

They said, lets make a surprise for Kiana and get married on the show, Joshua told the Journal. I said yes and everyone there was great in helping and showing me what to do for it. All I wanted was for it to be special for Kiana. As long as it was special for her I was OK with anything.

After the couple got married on Friday, they were surprised again with a honeymoon to Hawaii which left Joshua visibly overwhelmed on the show.

I had been the one doing the surprises all week so I was like, are you serious, is this a joke? Where is Ashton Kutcher?, Joshua said of his shock. I was completely speechless and were so grateful to them and hopefully well be able to take the trip very soon.

And as they settle into married life, Joshua said so far things still feel the same.

Weve been together eight years, he said. The only thing thats really different is the spiritual aspect and that I was able to give my vows in front of God. This has been incredible because she is my best friend and the love of my life.
Another Colstrip Power Plant owner says it will save customers money by cutting the cord to the southeast Montana generator in five years.

Spokane-based Avista Corp. says its customers would save at least $2 million a year if Colstrip Units 3 and 4 were retired at the end of 2025. Ongoing expenses like the cost of coal ash pollution storage are expected to increase for the Colstrip owner in coming years. Disposal of coal ash is expected to double by 2023.

Avista did not include rising costs associated with the price of coal, which recently increased for power plant owners under a new agreement with Rosebud Mine.

To replace Colstrip electricity, Avista would purchase 300 megawatts of Montana wind energy in the next seven years and transmit that green power to Washington on power line space freed up by Colstrips shutdown. The first Montana wind purchase of 100 megawatts could come as early as 2022, according to the utility's 2020 Integrated Resource Plan, filed Feb. 28 with the Idaho Public Utility Commission.

Montana wind energy was included in Avistas latest 20-year energy plan because it performs well in the winter, when Avistas peak energy demand is highest. Thats not a season when Washington wind is performing well, said Jason Thackston, Avistas senior vice president of energy resources.

Montana typically has a different wind profile than our current wind generation, specifically it is more likely to produce wind energy in the winter, which is when our customers need it the most, Thackston said in an email Monday.

Idaho isnt mentioned much in Colstrip Power Plant conversations, which are dominated by climate change laws establishing coal power end dates in Washington and Oregon, where four of Colstrips six owners face coal power bans starting in 2025. As states drawing Colstrip power go, Idaho is the most conservative, even more so than Montana. Climate change bills don't last long in the political heat of the Idaho Legislature.

But coal power costs do get discussed by Idaho's utility commission because coal power is more expensive than electricity from renewable energy and natural gas. Idahos utility commission isnt blocking the exit for any utility who wants out of coal power.

People can smell a bad deal. Theres a reason why people are moving away from these things, its because theres cheaper energy out there, said Matt Nykiel, of the Idaho Conservation League. Here, the issue is the pocket book.

Idaho doesnt have a coal-fired power plant or a coal mine. It does have three utilities, Idaho Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Avista, with coal-fired power plants spread across Montana, Wyoming and Nevada. Consumers arent thrilled about being caught up in politics of coal states, where politicians and utilities like NorthWestern Energy are pushing to keep power plants running.

For Montana to demand that Idaho customers stay on and pay more for power, thats not fair, Nykiel said.

Until the Avistas latest energy plan, there was concern that Idaho, lacking climate change laws, would become the repository for coal power Avista couldnt sell in Washington.

Idaho accounts for a third of Avistas customer base, but the utility does not plan to dedicate its Colstrip power to Idaho customers, Thackston said.

Nykiel said Idahoans are still watchdogging Avista's plans.

The companys plans for Montana energy are bit of a slide puzzle. The ability to move wind power from Montana is limited until Colstrip goes offline. Thats because the power lines serving Colstrip are the only direct energy path to the Pacific Northwest. Avista owns capacity on the Colstrip line equal to its output share at the coal-fired power plant. The initial plan is to move 100 megawatts of Montana wind beginning in 2022, but theres another 200 megawatts that wouldn't move until Colstrip output declines.

Which Montana wind farm sells power to Avista remains to be seen, Thackston said. Avista's goal is to by 2030 cut carbon emissions by 80% from 2018 levels.

Avista has not identified any specific wind projects in Montana at this time. We would go through a request for proposal process where we would select the best choice for our customers, Thackston said.

There are Montana renewable energy projects in development with the Colstrip power line in mind. The Clearwater Wind farm near Forsyth is a 400-megawatt project with 120 to 200 turbines spread over three counties. The Colstrip line is nearby.

When Colstrips units go offline is complicated, Avista explained in its 20-year resource plan. Avista game-planned for Unit 3 going offline in 2025, while Unit 4 burned on until 2035. It also forecast for both units shutting down in five years. Ownership of the units makes closure complicated. Avista has a 15% share in both.

Four Pacific Northwest utilities own shares of Unit 3 and all face deadlines to stop billing customers for coal assets. Talen Energy, the power plant operator and non-utility owner of Unit 3, has also indicated that its losing money on Colstrip.

Unit 4 ownership has a different ownership makeup. Talen isnt a Unit 4 owner, but NorthWestern Energy is. The largest monopoly utility serving Montana, NorthWestern which is trying buy an additional 25% of the unit. NorthWestern has indicated support for running the unit until 2042, while also suggesting it considers buying more of the unit beneficial even if Unit 4 closed in 2025.

Avista indicates it would have to wait until 2035 to add another 200 megawatts of Montana wind if Colstrip Unit 4 continues to operate that long.

Avistas Colstrip plans are in stark contrast to NorthWestern Energys.

While Avista is planning for Montana Wind energy during its winter peak energy demand, NorthWestern has cited coal power as essential on cold days when the wind doesnt blow and the sun doesnt shine. Both are planning to add about 750 megawatts of capacity in the next five years. NorthWestern's plan concludes that building new gas-fired power plants is the best way forward, but is also looking to buy 185 megawatts of Colstrip capacity.

Both utilities own 222 megawatts of Colstrip Power Plant capacity. Avistas capacity is evenly split between Colstrip Units 3 and 4. NorthWesterns share is entirely in Unit 4. NorthWesterns plan to buy more of Unit 4 depends on Montanas Public Service Commission pre-committing the utilitys Montana customers to paying for costs, not fully disclosed, which are tied to the larger share.

Avista is the third Colstrip owner to indicate that it would save customers money by getting out of Colstrip within five years. PacifiCorp, which has the smallest share of Colstrip with 148 megawatts of capacity is making a dramatic shift to renewable energy, which it says is cheaper. PacifiCorp will cut ties with 16 coal-fired units in the next 10 years, including its 148 megawatt ownership share in Colstrip.

The earliest owner out may be Puget Sound Energy, which is attempting to sell its share of Unit 4 to NorthWestern this year. Puget estimates that its early exit from Unit 4 would create a $25 million to $46 million net benefit for customers.

Puget is Colstrips largest shareholder with 370 megawatts of capacity evenly divided between Units 3 and 4. The Bellevue Washington utility also closed Colstrip Units 1 and 2, with co-owner with Talen Energy. The units that shut down in January were uneconomical, according to Talen and Puget, which each had a 50% share.

All three utilities have plans for new generation to fill the regional power void created by shuttering coal-fired power plants. And, all three face a Washington state deadline to remove coal power from their supply portfolios by the end of 2025.

Avista forecasts a less than 5% chance of not meeting customers' energy needs in the most extreme energy demand times as it shifts away from fossil fuel energy sources.

PacifiCorp plans to add 7,000 megawatts of new renewable and gas-fired generation by 2025. Puget Sound Energy expects to buy low-priced market power as new renewable energy projects are constructed in California and the Pacific Northwest.

Avista plans to add 794 megawatts of new capacity during the next 10 years both by investing in new renewable energy developments, and also upgrading generation at its existing dams. At the same time, the Spokane utility plans to shed 479 megawatts of fossil fuel power, not only by cutting ties with Colstrip, but also by ending its purchase power agreement, or PPA, with the gas-fired Lancaster Power Plant in Rathdrum, Idaho, from which Avista has a 257-megawatt commitment.

While the fate of the plant will depend on a decision made by all owners of the facility, each of whom have their own economic circumstances, (Avistas plan) indicates that Avistas most economic decision would be to close the plant at the end of 2025 as opposed to 2035. To replace the lost Colstrip capacity along with the Lancaster PPA, Avista seeks to add a combination of 175 megawatts of long duration pumped hydro and 200 megawatts of Montana wind.

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Ireland's company bosses are deeply pessimistic about the short-term outlook for the country's economy, according to a new PwC CEO survey.

It found that just 16pc of those surveyed are positive about our prospects in the next year.

That is the lowest level of confidence in the Irish economy since 2011, when Ireland remained in the depths of the financial crisis. The previous low was 3pc, which was recorded in 2009.

The percentage of global CEOs who believe there will be an improvement in global economic growth has halved to just 22pc over the course of 12 months, according to PwC.

At the time the survey took place last year, a hard Brexit looked likely and the general election was still four months away, but the coronavirus had yet to emerge as a major threat to global trade.

The percentage of CEOs in Ireland who are confident about the prospects for the Irish economy over the next year has declined every year since 2015.

PwC Ireland managing partner Feargal O'Rourke said the pessimism amongst Irish chief executives stems from their concerns that uncertain economic growth, trade conflict and increased regulation will weigh on Irish businesses.

"There is confidence behind the caution and there is resilience and realism in equal measure at a time of global uncertainty," Mr O'Rourke said.

Despite the gloomy outlook for the broader economy, many Irish CEOs believe their companies will remain resilient, said PwC in its global CEO survey published this morning.

It said that 67pc of CEOs in Ireland remain confident in their organisations' revenue growth prospects in the year ahead. That compared to 84pc last year, however, and the reading is the lowest since 2013. Only 19pc of CEOs here are 'very confident' in their hopes for revenue growth this year.

And almost half of company bosses, or 47pc, plan to hire more staff this year. That's down from the 63pc last year that planned to add more jobs.

"CEOs have lost little of their belief in the potential of their own businesses to succeed," said Mr O'Rourke.

"Ireland needs to ensure that we remain encouraging to local business, attractive to overseas investors, and continue to prepare for Brexit, good and bad," he said.

"Continuing to think beyond the challenges and invest in these important areas to ensure business models are fit for a digitally-enabled sustainable future will be critical."

The survey also found that 66pc of CEOs intend to spur growth through operational efficiencies this year, with a similar percentage planning to launch a new product or service during 2020.

Slightly more than one-third, or 34pc, intend to initiate a new strategic alliance, joint venture, or merger or acquisition. And despite Brexit, 95pc of the bosses surveyed said they intend to increase or maintain their investment in Ireland.

The PwC survey also shows that company bosses remain concerned about labour availability, with Ireland's unemployment rate now just below 5pc.

Some 57pc of CEOs said that upskilling employees is the most important action to take to close the skills gap in their organisations.

But only 12pc said they have made 'significant progress' in establishing an upskilling programme that develops a mix of soft, technical and digital skills.
Former Janata Dal (United) Rajya Sabha member of Parliament (MP), Pavan Varma, is of the opinion that political strategist, Prashant Kishors, Baat Bihar ki  holds the key in a possible third front coming to fruition in the poll-bound state, where election is slated to be held in November.

Its too early to tell. Right now he [Kishor] and I believe that Bihar is on the cusp of a transformative change. We are seeing an aspirational Bihar. We are seeing whether mass support can convert an apolitical platform to a political movement. How that is done and in what manner will be decided soon, Varma told HT.

Kishor launched Baat Bihar ki last month to mobilise like-minded people who believe in the development of Bihar. Kishor was expelled from the JD(U) by state chief minister (CM) and his one-time mentor, Nitish Kumar, for criticising the partys support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Varma too was expelled for joining issue with Kumar over the similar issue.

Sources told HT that Kishor has already met Congress Bihar chief Madan Mohan Jha, former Bihar CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha head, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party president, Upendra Kushwaha.

Varma said he is in constant touch with Kishor as a friend and colleague, but the career diplomat-turned-politician himself is still undecided on his political future. I havent yet decided on which party to join. Ive recently been expelled from a party which I wear as a badge of honour because I did what I believed was right, he said.

Kishor and I are old colleagues and friends. I was the one who put him [Kishor] in touch with Nitishji in 2015 in the run up to Bihar election. Weve been close ever since. Now, we share the honour of being expelled together for our beliefs, he added. Varma claimed that Baat Bihar ki has already drawn 10 lakh people in the state and Kishor hopes that the figure may go up to one crore over the next two months.

Once there is a groundswell of support, Kishor will take a call on how to convert this into a political movement, he said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Amid a slight decline in temperature after rains lashed Delhi-NCR on Thursday, Indian Council of Medical Research director-general Balram Bhargava said the change in weather will not have any impact on the spread of novel coronavirus.

Thirty people have tested positive for the virus so far with the latest being a man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran.

Refuting claims that the virus spreads in low temperature, Bhargava said that no such finding has been proven till now.

There is no relation between the decline in temperature and the spread of the virus, he said, adding that the virus does not spread through air but human contact.

He advised people to take care of themselves against cough and cold with the change in weather.

The mercury in the national capital dropped slightly on Thursday due to overcast skies and rains in parts of the city.

Delhi recorded a minimum of 14.4 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 27 degrees Celsius, around two notches less than that on Wednesday.
NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AnyClip announced this week that it has received funding from the Google News Initiative's Innovation Challenge to create Luminous Watch, a streaming video page experience for media companies that mimics the functionality and design of today's most popular video-on-demand services while accessing advanced video management tools supported by a patented AI backbone.

Unlike traditional video solutions, which rely on expensive technology stacks and manually-operated content management tools, Luminous Watch disrupts the streaming paradigm with AI-powered tools and services that help digital media companies of any size or type to break into -- and thrive in -- the lucrative streaming video business.

With a pay-as-you-go service model available with no up-front cost, Luminous Watch is easily added to any website or mobile app. Through a back-end platform, Luminous Watch ingests owned and licensed video and accesses AnyClip's patented AI technology to analyze each video's image and audio contents frame-by-frame. In this analysis, detailed keywords, people, brands, phrases images and actions are detected within each moment. This information is tagged to the content in the form of data, which is then used to structure content libraries and power advanced content search features used by editorial teams curating channels or playlists.

On the front-end of the platform, content data is then used to organize videos into a customizable hub of browsable channels and playlists. As viewers engage with this content, the platform automatically understands their interests and uses content data to organize playlists and channels of related videos to watch. All Luminous Watch streaming activity can be fully ad-supported, providing publishers with a valuable and sustainable new revenue opportunity.

AnyClip's Luminous Watch was one of few projects selected out of more than 500 applications to the Google News Initiative (GNI)'s Global Innovation Challenge program. Launched in 2019, Google's Innovation Challenges support the GNI's global effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. Across a two-year period, GNI Innovation Challenges will allocate $30 million in funding to kickstart projects like Luminous Watch that support new thinking in online journalism and develop new publishing business models for news organizations.

While the product's audience and business benefits to publishers are substantial, AnyClip sees Luminous Watch's impact as farther-reaching: a means to democratize how people get their news, shifting from push to pull experiences that embrace personalization versus editorialization, facilitated by technology.

"As behemoth conglomerates gain traction with audiences and advertisers alike, it is increasingly difficult for any publisher to thrive in today's media landscape without new business models and new technologies," says Gil Becker, AnyClip's President and CEO. "Luminous Watch was invented with this need in mind: a way to radically change the way content is delivered to users, providing publishers with the same tools and smart engines used by today's most evolved streaming services. We are grateful to Google for their funding of AnyClip's Luminous Watch project and we are honored to support journalism in the digital age through our alignment with the Google News Initiative."

AnyClip expects to release an initial version of Luminous Watch to publishers worldwide later this summer. The product is the fourth AI-powered streaming video solution introduced by AnyClip since 2018; previous Luminous Platform releases include Luminous Studio, an online video platform (OVP) offering flexible tools and services for editorial and operations teams; Luminous X, a fully-automated content recommendation video player; and Luminous N, a native content player that displays a site's most recent articles, or a curated collection of articles, in a social video story format.

For more information about Luminous Watch and to gain early access to the product's beta launch, please contact AnyClip through their website at www.AnyClip.com.

About AnyClip

AnyClip is a video data and technology company revolutionizing the digital video industry with tools, insights and services for media companies and advertisers. Using patented AI analysis and deep video content data at its core, AnyClip's Luminous Platform tools and players challenge traditional, manual-data-powered solutions by using automation to support more efficient and effective video strategies. The Platform offers four AI-powered video player products: Luminous Studio, an online video platform (OVP) and editorially-curated player; Luminous X, a fully-automated video recommendation player; Luminous N, a native content recommendation player; and Luminous Watch, a streaming video experience page that mimics the functionality and design of today's most popular video-on-demand services.

In addition to technology products, the Company also offers full monetization and account support services for media companies, as well as data-supported advertising solutions for marketers and brands. AnyClip has growing offices in New York, Tel Aviv, London and Berlin and is backed by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), Roman Abramovich's Ervington Investments, former Sony America President & CEO Michael Schulhof, and Limelight Networks.

www.anyclip.com

About the Google News Initiative

The Google News Initiative is Google's effort to bring together products, partnerships, and programs to help journalism thrive in the digital age. It is focused on three key objectives: elevating quality information, evolving business models to support quality journalism, and empowering news organizations to use new technology to meet their needs.

More information can be found through the following Google resources:

https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/

https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/innovation-challenges

SOURCE AnyClip

Related Links

http://www.anyclip.com


Baowu is headquartered in Shanghai, but has many subsidiary firms throughout the country, including in Shanghai, Xinjiang, Guangdong, and Ningbo.

Outbreak in Qingshan District

WISCO has kept its factory running despite local authorities having enacted strict quarantine measures to contain the virus since late January.

As a result, employees have become infected. Chinese media Caixin obtained a copy of an internal document from Baowu, wherein the company stated that there were 119 known cases among all staff, with two deaths at its headquarters in Wuhan, according to a Feb. 22 report.

WISCO itself had 69 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the document.

A WISCO employee, who goes by the pseudonym Han Jiang, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on Feb. 28 that the outbreak was evidence that the Chinese Communist Party placed the countrys GDP (Gross Domestic Product) before protecting peoples lives from the virus.

Zhuo Hui (a pseudonym) is originally from Qingshan district within Wuhan. He currently doesnt live in Qingshan, as his job in the education sector has taken him out of town.

While he hasnt been back to his hometown for more than two years, he has kept in touch with his parents and friends who still live there, especially since the coronavirus outbreak.

My parents still live in Qingshan district. They told me recently on the phone that Qingshan district has become a hard-hit disaster area. The outbreak has spread in the region, Zhuo told the Chinese-language Epoch Times in a phone interview on Feb. 28.

His sources in Wuhan told him that before local authorities revealed the severity of the outbreak, a hospital affiliated with WISCO was already seeing many patients. He suspects that the death toll is being underreported by local authorities.

The Chinese-language Epoch Times also spoke with Zhang Jie (a pseudonym), a Qingshan resident, who said that the outbreak in his district had become severe because WISCO had been manufacturing nonstop, and infected employees could spread the virus to others while traveling to and from work.

Zhuo explained that residential areas in the district have been sealed off and residents are required to get groceries delivered to their homes.

There are many complaints [about the deliveries]. Some complained about delays, others about delivered products being very overpriced, Zhuo said.

Zhuo also questioned whether Chinese authorities current 14-day quarantine requirement for anyone who has recently traveled to Wuhan is effective.

A study led by renowned Chinese respiratory doctor Zhong Nanshan found that the viruss incubation period could be longer than 14 daysup to 24 days in some patients.

Zhuo added: Local authorities are not completely open about the outbreak. This is a serious problem since people will not know how to protect themselves.

No Precautions

Chinese media have previously reported about WISCO and its employees expressing concerns about the lack of safety measures in the wake of the outbreak.

About 6,000 workers of WISCO had been working normal schedules since the outbreak began late last year, according to Caixin. But since the outbreak began, employees were asked to shower and change clothes at the companys locker rooms before starting their workday.

I have colleagues who suddenly just dont come to work anymore, but I dont know why, one unnamed WISCO told Caixin. The worker said that company staff have not been informed about the number of infections at the company.

On Feb. 22, Chinese state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily reported that WISCOs production lines were operating at a 100 percent rate.

The escalating coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, capital of central Chinas Hubei Province, in December 2019. The virus has since spread to over 60 countries and regions around the world.


The British flag and a smartphone with a Huawei and 5G network logo are seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday took another step to try to prod Britain to reverse its decision to allow China's Huawei Technologies Co to build portions of the UK's next generation 5G networks.

Republican senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Marco Rubio proposed legislation requiring the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review Britain's place on the foreign investment "whitelist," which exempts some Australian, Canadian and UK companies from increased U.S. scrutiny of their foreign investments.

The British Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

Also on Wednesday, a U.S. Senate committee heard testimony from Nokia <NOKIA.HE> and Ericsson <ERICb.ST> about how rural U.S. carriers can swap out equipment from Huawei and ZTE Corp <000063.SZ>, also from China, to stay within recently issued federal rules.

Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by companies deemed to pose a national security risk, such as Huawei. The Trump administration also added Huawei to its trade blacklist.

In November, the Federal Communications Commission followed up by voting unanimously to designate Huawei and ZTE as national security risks, effectively barring their rural customers in the United States from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase equipment.

"We need to do more to shore up our own network defenses against hackers and state-sponsored actors, especially in our nations rural and underserved communities. This effort will require the development of a comprehensive strategy to secure the telecommunications supply chain," said Senator Roger Wicker, the Commerce Committee's Republican chair.

Last week, Congress passed legislation to reimburse telecommunications providers with fewer than two million customers who replace equipment in their networks deemed to pose a national security risk.

Story continues

Steven Barry, who heads the Competitive Carriers Association, said at Wednesday's hearing rural carriers were "essentially attempting to rebuild the airplane in mid-flight" by having to remove and replace network equipment.

Huawei said the congressional legislation was "considerably underfunded, would take longer than anticipated and could put at risk some of our customers, who serve the most undeserved areas."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Five taken down by Cozumel police with drugs, alcohol

Cozumel, Q.R.  Cozumel police authorities report the arrest of five and seizure of drugs after a chase that began with the collision of their car and a patrol car.

According to the police report, those inside the vehicle fled at maximum speed to try to escape from police after hitting a parked patrol. The collision resulted in a chase that lead to the apprehension of three men and two women who were traveling in a vehicle in which liquor and drugs were found.

Police of the 7192 patrol were stationed on Rafael E. Melgar Avenue when they were suddenly hit on the left side of their unit. A chase began with the vehicle being stopped several blocks later. Inside the Yucatan-plated vehicle, police reported finding cocaine and alcohol.

The detainees were transferred to the Public Security Directorates facilities, while the vehicle was towed to the municipal corral.
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The high-speed train was heading to Paris at approximately 270kmph when it ran off the tracks near Strasbourg.

A French high-speed TGV train derailed early on Thursday after an embankment collapsed onto the tracks in eastern France, seriously injuring the driver and hurting 21 others.

The train, compared with Japans famed bullet train, was heading to Paris at approximately 270 kilometres per hour (170 miles/h) when the locomotive ran off the tracks near Ingenheim, about 30km (19 miles) northwest of Strasbourg.

The driver sustained a crushed chest and was evacuated by helicopter in critical condition, said Dominique Schuffenecker of the Bas-Rhin regional authority.

National rail operator SNCF said he was expected to survive, while the crew chief on the train suffered a back injury and one passenger suffered a facial injury.

Most of the other injuries among the 348 passengers on board were minor, though some were treated for bruises or shock, Schuffenecker said.

The train was still intact but the locomotive was leaning on its side and four other wagons were also off the tracks, which were bent near the area where the embankment collapsed, according to the journalists of AFP news agency at the scene.

Malgre cette sortie de voie, le TGV est reste debout. Les premieres constatations font etat dun bilan de trois blesses. Lagent de conduite du TGV, grievement blesse, a ete evacue par helicoptere. 2/6 pic.twitter.com/pKEHjHtkJu  Groupe SNCF (@GroupeSNCF) March 5, 2020

Despite going off the tracks, the TGV remained upright. Initial findings indicate that three people were injured. The seriously injured TGV operator was evacuated by helicopter, SNCF said in a Twitter post that included a picture of what it called a major landslide.

The necessary security mechanisms  functioned perfectly, it added.

Nearly 100 rescue workers and dozens of fire engines were at the scene of the incident, which occurred about 20 minutes after the train left Strasbourg at 7:19am (06:19 GMT).

Several passengers were taken by bus to a community hall in Ingenheim, where a crisis medical centre was set up.

Like in a washing machine

The rails moved under the TGV, the SNCFs regional director, Stephanie Dommange, told journalists.

A spokesman said the driver was able to apply the emergency brakes.

Union sources noted the heavy precipitation in the region recently which could have caused the landslide that damaged the tracks near Saverne, near the German border.

The CFDT union said the accident raises questions  over how to ensure the security of equipment on terrain susceptible to climate hazards, and how to verify the state of tracks in real time.

But Dommange said high-speed lines in particular were regularly maintained and are made to withstand rain.

The SNCF, as well as local prosecutors, have opened inquiries.

The impact was quite violent  we were holding on to our trays to keep from being thrown forward, passenger Abba Perez told AFP. It was incredibly loud, we had no idea what was happening.

Many passengers were shaken by the accident, with some saying their backs had been hurt, but there wasnt any wave of panic, he said.

Another passenger, who gave his name as Philippe, told the Top Music local radio station that it felt like we were in a washing machine.

Rocks were flying everywhere and the windows all shattered, he said. We were all in a bit of shock.

Train services between Strasbourg and Paris were continuing to run with high-speed trains rerouted via an older conventional line, SNCF said.
George Soros has called on Europe to side with Turkey on the issue of Putin's war crimes in Syria.

In an article published by the Financial Times, Soros criticized Putin for his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom he calls the most barbarian ruler in the world since Joseph Stalin.

According to Soros, Turkey is the only country to use military force to protect civilians trapped in Assad and his Russian ally in Idlib. He admits that Turkey did not dare to attack Russia directly, because the Russian Air Force is stronger than the Turkish. Thus, Turkey decided to retaliate against Assads forces with the help of military drones.

In 2014, I urged Europe to wake up to the threat that Russia was posing to its strategic interests, albeit in a different context and geography. Russia had invaded Ukraine knowing that Europe would seek to avoid any confrontation with Moscow, he said. Yet what is happening in Idlib now is following the same pattern: Europe is evading a confrontation with Russia over its Syria policy when it should be standing up to it. By focusing on the refugee crisis that Russia has created, Europe is addressing the symptom and not the cause.

A Europe that is set on limiting the inflow of refugees must concede that Turkey has already borne the brunt of housing the millions of Syrians displaced from their country. Turkey already houses 3.5m Syrian refugees in its territory. It cannot absorb the additional million that Mr Assad and Mr Putin are pushing towards its borders.

According to him, Europe should not forget how Turkey can also treat its own people, for example, the use of force against the Kurds. But with respect to Syria at least, Turkey deserves Europes support, he said. Europe should therefore seek to bolster Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogans negotiating position with Mr Putin in trying to reach a cease fire that would preserve a safe zone in Idlib for Syrian refugees. I hope that this would also put Mr Putins war crimes at the centre of the European conversation.
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On February 21, 2020, Iraqi riot police in Baghdads Al-Kilani Square shot Ahmad al-Rubaye, an Iraqi photographer for the French news agency Agence France-Presse, with rubber pellets that hit his back, legs, and right shoulder, according to news reports, a statement by the local press freedom group Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Al-Rubaye told CPJ that he was covering clashes between protesters and police when he was attacked. Protests have taken place throughout Iraq since October over a lack of basic services, unemployment, and alleged government corruption, and have seen hundreds killed, according to news reports.

I tried to run away but an officer shot me directly even though it was clear that I was a photojournalist because I was carrying my camera and photographic equipment, he told CPJ.

Al-Rubaye said he was bleeding from the attack, and that protesters carried him from the scene and took him to a medical tent on Tahrir Square. At the tent, paramedics told al-Rubaye to go to the nearest hospital for examination and treatment, he said.

He went to a private hospital, but staffers told him that there were no doctors available and that his legs were too bloody to take x-rays, al-Rubaye said. He then went to a public hospital, where he was admitted and examined, and a doctor told him that he still had four pellets in his legs and one in his shoulder, the journalist told CPJ.

Al-Rubaye said he did not want to be treated there, as he wanted to ensure that the pellets could be removed without damaging any nerves or blood vessels, and did not trust the services at Iraqs public hospitals.

He told CPJ that a surgeon told him that the pellets, which can cause infection and be toxic to the body, should be removed as soon as possible. Al-Rubaye told CPJ on February 24 that he had not yet found a surgeon capable of removing the pellets, and said he was still in pain and his wounds were still bleeding.

On February 29, al-Rubaye posted on Facebook that he had successfully undergone surgery the previous day, and was fine.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry did not reply to CPJs emailed request for comment.

At least five journalists have been killed since the protests started, according to CPJ research.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Oak Place Apartments at the University of Missouri - Kansas City will be demolished less than 15 years after opening. In an email to the UMKC community on Wednesday, UMKC Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal said university officials have decided to demolish both wings of the apartments.
As parents tuned into news reports about the spread of coronavirus in the United States, telephones at local school districts across the country began to ring. Announcements of school closures abroad prompted questions about what schools stateside were doing to get ready for the novel coronavirus or COVID-19. Today, school district leaders are relied on for leadership and guidance on this evolving disease. Clear, proactive outreach and consistent messaging are critical as district leaders begin to respond.

As with most communications campaigns, there is no one size fits all approach. Each district should stay true to their vision, systems, and stakeholders, while challenging themselves to be flexible, collaborative, proactive, and transparent. Remember, a communications plan is only as good as the programming and processes it represents. To create an effective outreach strategy, leaders must start by creating their districts response plan.

Here are five action steps to help school leaders craft an effective outreach plan:

As with most communications campaigns, there is no 'one size fits all' approach."

1. Tap into existing communicable disease policies and crisis procedures. It is important that district teams work collaboratively with health leaders in your community. Reach out to your state and county health department and request written guidance and regular updates. Begin by revisiting your district or school boards communicable disease procedure and crisis communications plan. Assess what parts of these policies and procedures translate to the coronavirus and identify any new steps you need to take. If your district does not currently have existing plans or procedures in place, check in with your local health officials for recommendations. Set up alerts from news sources, federal directives, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so that you and your team stay on top of breaking news. Pay special attention to updates in your state or region that could cause local concern.

2. Determine where announcements will be made. Set one main source for posting announcements for your district. Consider where families in your district are most likely to get their information and ensure that you are meeting your audiences where they are. Communicate that decision to parents and other key stakeholders. Consider creating a website landing page (for example, www.yourdistrict.edu/coronavirus) that can act as a one-stop shop for information that is regularly updated and can be easily accessed on a mobile device. All other outreach should direct stakeholders to the centralized landing page.

See Also: Coronavirus and Schools

3. Create a steering committee to offer input on your communications. In evolving cases like these, consider creating a nimble working group of district leaders who bring a diverse set of perspectives to the situation. This committee should be assessing risk, coordinating efforts, and identifying any proactive measures schools can take. Consider including the superintendent, communications lead, operations lead, student services lead, district attorney, and partner-organization representatives or community experts. Since this steering committee represents different stakeholders and is empowered to take action, its members can be critical spokespeople who can help build buy-in both internally and externally. As you create outreach messaging, incorporate this groups expertise into your tactics, ensuring that your community members are receiving thoughtful, data-backed information.

4. Create core messaging. It is important that your stakeholders hear a clear and consistent message from you across all communications and outreach channels. Creating a set of central messages that you can modify for all other communications will ensure that your district leaders are all singing from the same song book and have the same information available. Be sure to ensure accessibility for your outreach materials and translate all messaging into Spanish and other languages spoken by your districts families. Messaging should include the proactive and prevention steps the district is taking (including at the school level), where updates will be posted and who families can reach out to for more information.

5. Create an internal communications plan for coronavirus. Based on the districts crisis communications plan, steering committee outcomes and ongoing information updates, the lead communicator for the district should create an internal communications plan to guide your outreach efforts. This plan should include tactics for regular external and staff-wide communications about preventative measures that can be taken. This strategy should also serve as a rapid response plan that incorporates a few different scenarios, including school closures. Think through potential situations before they happen to ensure your communications team and other district leaders dont miss important steps while in a hurry or accidentally forget to touch base with key stakeholders. Consider including emergency procedures and a communications tree with contact information for district officials. Plan to translate all collateral and outreach materials into the languages spoken in your district. Remember to keep the plan updated as the situation in your district evolves.
The home of embattled property developer Salim Mehajer has been raided by police, months after he was pictured with a fake shotgun on a boat.

Mehajer's recently purchased harbourside unit on Sydney's north shore was stormed before dawn on Wednesday, with officers hunting for firearms he may have had inside.

The businessman - who was released from Cooma Prison after 11 months last May - is the subject of a firearms prohibition order (FPO) and cannot possess any weapons, weapon parts or ammunition.

NSW Police confirmed they attended Mehajer's home, but said they did not find him to be in breach of his FPO.

Police have raided a harbourside apartment owned by property developer Salim Mehajer (left), months after he and friends were pictured with fake shotguns on a boat. NSW Police said they did not find any weapons inside Mehajer's apartment

Mehajer (left) is the subject of a firearm prohibition order (FPO), meaning he cannot possess a firearm, firearm parts or ammunition. He was not charged with breaching his FPO for holding the fake gun while at a boat party for the 30th birthday of his girlfriend Missy Tysoe (pictured)

'About 6.30am (Wednesday, March 4 2020) officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command attended a unit... to execute a firearms prohibition order search,' a police spokesperson said.

'During the search no weapons were found.'

Mehajer turned heads last December when he and friends were pictured with guns on Sydney Harbour onboard a boat for his girlfriend Missy Tysoe's birthday.

The photograph showed Mehajer and his two friends pointing what appeared to be shotguns over the side of the boat and towards the camera.

However the guns turned out to be realistic-looking fakes used for laser shooting.

At the time NSW Police said they were 'aware of the photo and conducting inquiries', but no action was ever taken against Mehajer.

The 33-year-old is currently on both bail and parole, and a breach of his FPO would have meant he could be immediately taken into police custody.

Police can conduct random searches at the properties of those subject to FPOs.

A large floral arrangement spelling 'MISSY' was central to the yacht party, which ended with police investigating Mehajer

Mehajer (pictured outside Parramatta Court) is currently on bail for close to 50 charges as well as being on parole for the electoral fraud conviction which landed him behind bars

Mehajer is understood to have purchased his new harbourside property in late-2019, but still resides partly at his mansion at Lidcombe, in Sydney's west.

He is currently on bail for close to 50 charges as well as parole for the electoral fraud conviction which landed him behind bars.

In addition to his criminal matters, Mehajer also has a series of civil matters currently before the courts relating to his business dealings.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Los Angeles, United States  Thu, March 5, 2020 07:56 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206859ed2 2 World #USA,#Crime,tycoon,Robert-Durst,trial,murder Free

An eccentric US real estate tycoon accused of the 2000 murder of his best friend finally went on trial Wednesday in California, in a case that gained new momentum after his participation in a 2015 HBO documentary series.

Robert Durst, 76, has pleaded not guilty to the charge that he shot Susan Berman in the back of the head, execution-style, in 2000 at her home in Los Angeles.

"The evidence is going to show without question that Susan knew her killer, and that she freely and voluntarily admitted this person into her house," Deputy District Attorney John Lewin told jurors in his opening statement.

Prosecutors allege that Durst murdered Berman, a crime writer, in December 2000 to prevent her from being questioned by New York police over the disappearance of his wife Kathleen in 1982.

Berman, the daughter of a Las Vegas mobster, had acted as a spokeswoman for Durst after he became a suspect in the disappearance of his wife, who vanished from the couple's New York cottage.

Durst was arrested in March 2015 in a New Orleans hotel room in connection with Berman's murder, hours before the final episode of the six-part HBO documentary "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst."

The series delved into the disappearance of his wife as well as the killing of Berman and the 2001 death of a neighbor in Texas who was found dismembered.

At the time of the 2001 murder, Durst was living under an assumed name in Texas and pretended to be a mute woman. He claimed self-defense and was acquitted after a high-profile trial.

In the HBO documentary's explosive finale, Durst is heard muttering to himself, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course" -- apparently unaware that a wireless microphone remained switched on while he used the bathroom.

Durst has repeatedly denied killing his wife or Berman.

However, Lewin said the murder scene pointed to Durst's involvement.

He explained to jurors the killer had sent a cryptic note to Beverly Hills police -- before her body was found -- with Berman's address and the word "cadaver."

In "The Jinx," Durst was shown another letter he once sent Berman -- the handwriting appeared to be nearly identical to that seen in the "cadaver" note.

Durst's defense team has said that their client had written the note to police but argue that this did not mean he killed Berman.

Lewin added that Berman lived in a low-crime area of Los Angeles, and that there was no indication of a burglary or a struggle at her home when police found her body.

The trial in Los Angeles is expected to last several months, with opening statements possibly going into next week.
Georgia gets another crack at 'Bama for college football title
Delhi High Court on Thursday asked Central and Delhi government and Delhi police to file their response on a public interest litigation (PIL), which claimed people were facing difficulties while compounding the challans for traffic violation post the implementation of Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act.

A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the Delhi government counsel why it is not notifying officers to compound offences under Motor Vehicle Act and listed the matter for further hearing on April 17.

The PIL, which was filed by social activist and advocate Amit Sahni on Wednesday, sought directions to the Delhi government to notify the officers and compounding fee for compounding offenses under the Motor Vehicle Act.

It claimed that the public at large are facing difficulties while compounding the challan for violation of the provisions of Motor Vehicle Act 1988, more particularly after amendment dated September 1, 2019, whereby the penalties for the traffic violations were raised multifold.

The petition stated that Section 200 of the Motor Vehicle Act enlists the traffic violations, which are compoundable in nature, adding that the violator upon payment of compounding fee at the spot can compound the challan and the violation stands disposed of.

Sahni further added that prior amendments to the list of compounding fees and authorised officers were notified by the Delhi Government and Delhi Traffic Police and Officers of Transport Department, Delhi were compounding the challans at the spot and on their web portal upon payment of compounding fee.

"The Delhi Traffic Police or officers of State Transport Authority, Delhi are not able to compound any offense at the spot and are constrained to send all the traffic challans to the court and the same has not only overburdened the court but the public at large is also suffering as they are not able to compound the petty violations at the spot and have to revisit the circles for collection of impounded documents even after disposal challans in Virtual Court (Traffic)," the plea said.

It claimed that the Virtual Court (Traffic) portal are not accepting payment of fine above Rs 2,000 through debit card, however, the said payment can be made through credit cards or other means like online banking, etc.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  The Armed Forces of the Philippines is validating information that about 2,000 to 3,000 Chinese soldiers are in the country, calling it a "matter of serious concern."

"I have my staff for intelligence to confirm said reports in coordination with other relevant agencies of government," Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., AFP chief of staff, said in a statement.

Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, a former national police chief, earlier disclosed that a reliable source told him about the presence of up to 3,000 members of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. The source said the foreign troops seem to be "on an immersion mission."

Lacson called on intelligence authorities to "exert exra effort to gather information" on the matter.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Tedoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin shared an article citing Lacson's claims on Twitter. It got a rare response from the official Twitter account of the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

"Is the Senator testing the intelligence of the Philippine people?" the Chinese Embassy said.

Malacanang refused to comment until the information is confirmed.

Under the Constitution, foreign troops are not allowed in the country "except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate." The Philippines has exisiting forces agreements with Japan and Australia, but is abrogating its two-decade old military pact with the US.

READ: PH inviting China to seize West Philippine Sea with VFA's end, Carpio says

Lacson said officials "have every reason to be concerned" about the presence of Chinese troops in the country amid Manila's long-standing dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire global waterway, including areas the Philippines claims and occupies as the West Philippine Sea.

Chinese nationals have also been sneaking in foreign currencies into the country, an issue that is now being investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
Austin Harouff is accused of randomly killing a Florida couple and chewing the dying husband's face in August 2016

A 23-year-old accused of randomly killing a Florida couple and chewing the face of the dying husband was legally insane at the time of the attack, court documents filed this week show.

Prosecution psychiatrist Dr. Gregory C. Landrum says Florida college student Austin Harouff was legally insane when he fatally attacked Michelle and John Stevens outside their home in August 2016.

The findings show that Harrouff, who was then 19, believed God and demons were talking to him and he had increasing paranoia and other hallucinations in the lead-up to the killings.

On the evening of the killings, his mother found him at her home drinking cooking oil mixed with Parmesan cheese - the victim's family alleges the concoction was spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Landrum also noted that Harrouff is being treated for schizophrenia while jailed.

The psychiatrist's finding bolsters the case of Harrouff's attorneys, who are planning to argue the 23-year-old should be found not guilty by reason of insanity at his murder trial, which is scheduled for May.

Landrum's conclusion was that Harrouff was 'unable to distinguish right from wrong' when he killed the couple - the legal standard in Florida for being found not guilty by reason of insanity.

He faces a life sentence if convicted.

If Harrouff is found not guilty by reason of insanity, that does not mean he would go free.

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Austin Harrouff, accused of murdering Michelle and John Stevens in August 2016, appeared in court for a hearing in November 6, 2019. He is being treated for schizophrenia while jailed

Michelle and John Stevens were randomly attacked outside their Florida home by Harrouff. he chewed John's face off

Harrouff is pictured here being taken in custody after the murders. He begged deputies to kill him after they pulled him off John Stevens and told them 'I ate something bad'

He would be committed to a state mental hospital and his attorneys have previously conceded it is unlikely that he would ever be released.

Harrouff 'has a mental illness and, because of the illness, is manifestly dangerous to himself and others,' Landrum wrote.

Defense attorney Nellie L. King welcomed Landrum's finding, while understanding 'it may provide little comfort to the victims' families'.

'However, mental illness is very real and can lead to unintentional, yet tragic, outcomes,' King said in a statement.

The defense examiner also found him legally insane.

Prosecutors and attorneys who are representing Michelle Stevens' family in a lawsuit against Harrouff had no immediate comment Thursday.

The family sued Harrouff for 'wrongful death' in 2018 after becoming impatient with the speed at which the criminal trial was moving.

A pretrial hearing on the criminal case is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Evidence provided to the court as the mental state of Austin Harrouff was being determined

A wine bottle opener retrieved from the scene of the Stevens' murder in August 2016

A knife from the scene of the murder presented as evidence. Harrouff's trial begins in May

When Martin County sheriff's deputies arrived at the Stevenses' home north of Palm Beach on the night of August 15, 2016, they found a horrific scene, court documents, recordings and photos show.

Michelle Stevens, 53, lay mangled and dead in the garage and Harrouff, then a muscular exercise science major at Florida State University, was attacking and biting her 59-year-old husband on the driveway.

Harrouff is alleged to have also wounded neighbor Jeffrey Fisher who tried to save the couple.

One deputy ordered Harrouff off at gunpoint while another used an electric stun gun on him, but he wouldn't let go.

Deputies say they didn't shoot Harrouff because they feared hitting John Stevens.

Finally, a deputy with a dog arrived and its bites enabled deputies to subdue Harrouff, who had no previous arrest record.

He told deputies, 'Help me, I ate something bad' and then admitted it was 'humans' as he spit out a piece of flesh, court documents show.

The home of neighbor Jeffrey Fisher who was allegedly stabbed as he tried to save the couple

Accident scene workers remove furniture from the garage where Michelle Stevens was found

He begged deputies to kill him after they pulled him off Stevens, according to the records.

'Shoot me now; I deserve to die,' Harrouff said.

Harrouff has a history of alcohol and drug abuse, including cocaine, methamphetamine and other stimulants and hallucinogens like mushrooms, but blood tests only found marijuana in his system in the hours after the killings.

Landrum wrote that Harrouff in an October interview told him that in the weeks leading up to the killings he had begun to feel 'go go go' and experienced grandiosity during the day and paranoia at night.

Demons and God were talking to him.

He said it felt like he had Jesus' 'special abilities' while working at his job as a dental assistant and that he blessed the dental instruments by pouring water on them.

Harrouff told Landrum that on the day before the killings he felt that 'dog spirits' had become part of him and he had new strength and agility.

About 45 minutes before the attack, Harrouff argued with his father and stormed out of a restaurant 2 miles from the Stevenses' home.

Harrouff later told the Dr. Phil television show that he was fleeing a demon he called 'Daniel.'

He told Landrum that he recalls having a machete in his hand and stabbing a woman - 'it was like she was covered in darkness'.

He recalled seeing a man who was 'glowing white' and began stabbing and biting him. He remembers drinking a liquid, calling out to God to save him and feeling he was a dog before blacking out.

Harrouff was hospitalized for nearly two months recovering from injuries caused by drinking a caustic liquid found in the couple's garage.

His criminal trial will begin in May with a pretrial scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Some Americans are looking past the bigger, bolder styles toward wines with food-friendly restraint. Joshua Greene, Editor & Publisher of Wine & Spirits Magazine

After 30 years of tracking industry trends in top restaurants across the US, Wine & Spirits has seen wine sales rise and fall with the economy. In those three decades, the two moments when our respondents noted a downward trend in wine sales prefaced an economic downturn: in 2001, prior to the burst of the first tech bubble; and in 2007, predicting the Great Recession of 2008.

This year, our Poll results once again pointed to a downtrend, although this time many of the 200-plus sommeliers who responded tied that trend to changing demographics in their dining rooms. In our follow-up interviews, wine directors described the challenges of serving two distinct audiencesthe older Boomer generation and the Millennialswith vastly different agendas and budgets for wine. They also noted a divide within the Millennials: The affluent young, who frequent tasting-menu restaurants to Instagram coveted dishes and bottles, and their thin-walleted contemporaries, hunting for delicious but approachably priced options.

Many sommeliers report that the hunt for affordable wines is increasingly taking them back to the classics. Joe DeLissio, wine director of the River Cafe in Brooklyn, NY, remarked that the top wines have gotten ridiculously expensiveIts made some of my favorite wines the best values: Non-vintage Champagne and Chablis. A number of respondents called out Beaujolais, too. If guests are looking for a red, our sommeliers will always go straight to Beaujolais, said Cullen Leonard, wine director of Atlantas Staplehouse, not only for quality, but also for the price. For wine director Rory Pugh of New Yorks Jean-Georges, Bordeaux is his go-to. For $50, Bordeaux will take you to the moon and back. And for $100, you can get something with close to a decades worth of age on it.

Most pointedly in the SF Bay Area, though echoed in other parts of the country, sommeliers noted a more open and expansive attitude toward drinking in general, with guests increasingly choosing spirits, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. We have a more robust non-alcohol program than before, Jim Rollston of Manresa, in the Silicon Valley town of Los Gatos, told us, a selection of mocktails, juices, herbal infusions and tinctures. While wine sales may take a hit, Rollston, like many others we talked to, doesnt see this change as a negative. Guests are not looking for just one experience, he says. Theyre no longer coming into the restaurant and saying I only drink cab. Its been a sea change.

Thats not to say that cabernet isnt still king: For the 31 years of the Poll, in respondents lists of top bottles sold during the last quarter of the year, cabernet sauvignon has represented around 15 percent of those wines. This year, Jordans take on California cabernetmore savory, red and earthy rather than jammy, purple and inkyhas propelled the brand to the top, joined by R. Lopez de Heredia, a staunchly traditionalist Rioja firm.

Wed like to think this years rankings for Jordan and Lopez de Heredia might reflect more diners ordering wine with their meal in mind, says Joshua Greene, the editor of Wine & Spirits. Some Americans are looking past the bigger, bolder styles toward wines with food-friendly restraint.

Here are the Top Ten Most Popular Restaurant Wine-List Brands of 2019:

1. Jordan Vineyard & Winery

2. R. Lopez de Heredia

3. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

4. Faust Wines

5. Justin

6. Frog's Leap Winery

7. Caymus Vineyards

8. Flowers

9. Duckhorn Vineyards

10. Nickel & Nickel

The complete results of our exclusive report will appear in the April 2020 issue of Wine & Spirits, available nationwide on March 17, 2020. To celebrate the years most sought-after restaurant wines as well as our favorites places to dine in LA, we will gather over 500 members of the W&S wine community on Sunday, May 17, 2020 for our 2nd annual WSLA Drink + Eat.

Copies of Wine & Spirits April 2020 issue are available by mail for $9, including postage and handling. Members of the press interested in receiving the publication or scheduling an interview with editor Joshua Greene may contact Marketing Manager Louise Nightingale at 213-629-0200, ext. 101 or lnightingale@wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

______

About Wine & Spirits Magazine

Founded in 1982, Wine & Spirits is published seven times a year and read by over 200,000 members of Americas wine community. Consumers and wine professionals read the magazine for information on established and up- and-coming regions and producers, the art and science of viticulture, industry happenings and food and wine pairing. Wine & Spirits, the only wine publication to win the James Beard award five times for excellence in wine writing, evaluates more than 11,500 bottlings every year.




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Hispano-Suiza rose from the dead in 2019 to introduce a limited-edition electric hypercar named Carmen. It's not the only company on a quest to peddle multi-million-dollar EVs, the segment is getting unexpectedly crowded, so Hispano-Suiza injected a little bit more performance into its retro-futuristic coupe in a bid to help it stand out from the pack.

Introduced online, the Carmen Boulogne loosely channels the spirit of race-winning Hispano-Suiza models made during the early 1920s. It carries on with an electric powertrain that consists of two electric motors (one for each rear wheel) and a T-shaped, 80-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, but engineers increased the system's output to 1,114 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque. The 95-horsepower bump gives the Boulogne a 180-mph top speed, up from 155 mph, and lowers its zero-to-100-km/h (62 mph) time to somewhere under the 2.6-second mark.

The reborn Spanish brand made rather bold claims about its two-seater coupe. It pledged to deliver a coupe gifted with "blistering acceleration," "seemingly endless pulling power," and "exceptional handling" in a package that remains "predictable and easy to drive." It backed up these ambitious statements by pointing out the 1,630-pound Boulogne is 60 pounds lighter than the Carmen, boasts a better stiffness-to-mass ratio than the Lamborghini Aventador, and has a lower drag coefficient (0.32) than high-profile hypercars like the Koenigsegg Agera R, the Ferrari F12, and the Porsche 918 Spyder made between 2013 and 2015.



Carbon fiber helps offset the weight added by the battery pack, which holds enough electricity for up to 250 miles of range, and the Boulogne proudly displays its lightweight construction by forgoing paint. It also stands out from the standard Carmen thanks to copper-colored accents, new-look wheels, model-specific interior trim, and either suede or Alcantara upholstery. Finally, stylists took off the rear wheel arch covers to achieve a sportier look.



The focus put on performance doesn't overlap with creature comforts, however. Every Boulogne comes standard with a six-speaker sound system, heated seats, and a Swiss clock designed by an unidentified watchmaker. There's also a 10.1-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, and a mobile app.



Hispano-Suiza plans to cap global Carmen production at 19 units, and only five of them will receive the Boulogne package, meaning it's a limited-edition version of a limited-edition car. Pricing starts at 1.6 million (about $1.8 million) before taxes and options elbow their way into the equation. Deliveries from the Barcelona, Spain, factory are scheduled to begin in 2022, and the company is inviting enthusiasts who want one to get in touch.

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An Indonesian startup called Newman's is using telemedicine to help patients get care for stigmatized health issues. Part of Y Combinators winter 2020 batch, the startup launched last month with prescription hair loss treatments and plans to expand into other verticals, including erectile dysfunction and smoking cessation.

Newman's was founded by Elsen Wiraatmadja, Alfred Ali and Anthony Suryaputra and motivated partly by their own experiences with hair loss in their twenties.

Newman's Y Combinator Team Photo

Newman's Y Combinator team photo

"It was a rather depressing period. It affected our confidence, our jobs and we didnt know who to talk to and what to do," says Suryaputra. "Even going to the doctor for treatment was an awkward process and it was expensive to pay for medications. We talked to other men and they faced the same issues."

Hair loss treatments with minoxidil and finasteride, the two most common clinically-proven ingredients, require a prescription in Indonesia, and it can be difficult to book consultations since the country has a relatively low number of physicians. The price of a doctors visit, which the founding team says is usually about US $30, and treatments, is also prohibitive for many people.

Newman's works directly with manufacturers for its hair loss products, which contain minoxidil and finasteride. By cutting out distribution and retail middlemen, their margins are higher, and they use some of that revenue to pay doctors on the platform. This enables them to make consultations free and also offer a 100% money-back guarantee to encourage patients to use products for at least three months, since it usually takes that amount of time to see results.

For doctors, online consultations through Newmans platform saves time and allows them to see more patients. Before booking an appointment for hair loss, Newman's users complete a questionnaire and upload photos, which help their doctors determine treatments and shorten consultation times to as little as five minutes. There are currently about 15 doctors on Newmans (with plans to add more from a waiting list) who see about 10 to 15 patients through the platform per day.

Story continues

The startup will launch in other mens health verticals before expanding into womens health, with an emphasis on issues that patients are often reluctant to seek help for because of stigma or cost.

"Right now were focused on hair loss because it personally affects us and a lot of other men," says Suryaputra. "With other verticals, like erectile dysfunction, there are the same dynamics. Its embarrassing and in Southeast Asia, the taboo around erectile dysfunction is a lot stronger than in the United States."

Newman's will continue to focus on Indonesia, where data from the World Bank shows there are much less physicians per 1,000 patients than in the United States or nearby countries like Thailand and Singapore.

"We cannot create more doctors, so we have to make seeing patients more efficient for them," says Suryaputra.
In Europe, the risk of COVID-19 coronavirus pneumonia has increased from moderate to high

In Europe, the risk of COVID-19 coronavirus pneumonia has increased from moderate to high. At the same time, the risk of the spread of the virus globally at the World Health Organization was assessed as very high. This is the highest level of risk, according to the WHO graduation.

Types of the risk

Low, moderate, high and very high. WHO has published the Rapid Risk Assessment of Acute Public Health Events.

The guidelines were developed in response to requests from the Member States of the World Health Organization. Its goal is to help health care agencies make quick and informed decisions when it comes to events that are dangerous to the health of the population.

By "events", the authors of the manual mean the outbreak of any disease or rapidly changing sanitary and epidemiological situations, which can have negative consequences for human health and require immediate evaluation and action.

The questions asked by the risk assessment team will be influenced by factors including:

the population at risk

the level at which the risk assessment is taking place  local, sub-national, national, international (e.g. cross-border), or global

the technical and policy disciplines and agencies that are included in the risk assessment team and their collective experience with the type of event they are assessing (e.g. a well-characterized disease compared to a public health event of unknown cause (unknown etiology)

the level of risk accepted by decision-makers, other stakeholders and society (i.e. the acceptable risk)  the timing of the risk assessment during the course of the event

the outcome of previous risk assessments carried out for the event and similar situations in the past

the level of perceived external (e.g. international community) interest or awareness of the event.

Hazard assessment is the identification of the dangerous factor (or factors) that triggered the outbreak, as well as the adverse health effects associated with it.

Exposure assessment is the evaluation of the exposure of individuals and populations to likely hazards. The key output of the assessment is an estimate of the:

number of people or group known or likely to have been exposed,

number of exposed people or groups who are likely to be susceptible (i.e capable of getting a disease because they not immune).

Context assessment is an evaluation of the environment in which the event is taking place. This may include the physical environment such as climate, vegetation, land use (e.g farming, industry) and water systems and sources as well as the health of the population (e.g. nutrition, disease burden, and previous outbreaks), infrastructure (e.g. transport links, health care and public health infrastructure), cultural practices and beliefs.

So, having done a great deal of work consisting of the steps described above, the assessment team can assign the following levels of risk to an outbreak of a particular disease:

Here it is time to remember the Wuhan coronavirus. February 28, WHO raised the risk posed by the spread of COVID-19 from high to very high.

At the time, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the concern was the spread of the virus from China to Iran, Italy and other European countries and the lack of health systems in the world.

He stressed that fear and misinformation are the biggest problems with the coronavirus.

Coronavirus in Europe: high threat level

The COVID-19 coronavirus threat level was moderately high and increased by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

On 31 December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown aetiology was reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. On 9 January 2020, China CDC reported a novel coronavirus as the causative agent of this outbreak, which is phylogenetically in the SARS-CoV clade. The disease associated to it is now referred to as novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As of 2 March 2020 at 08:00, more than 89 068 cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide, mainly in China and from all Chinese provinces; of these cases, around 9 000 cases were reported from other countries. As of 2 March, 66 countries have reported cases. The risk associated with COVID-19 infection for people in the EU/EEA and UK is currently considered to be moderate to high, based on the probability of transmission and the impact of the disease, it says in its report from March 2.

The European Commission is working on all fronts to support efforts to tackle the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This includes ongoing coordination with the Member States to share information, assess needs and ensure a coherent EU-wide response.

Five commissioners will coordinate the work:
So far, Africa has been spared a major outbreak of the coronavirus. There have been just twelve confirmed cases in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal. But is it because the disease hasn't spread or because it hasn't been detected? The World Health Organization has warned that countries with poor healthcare systems may not be able to cope with an outbreak, with many in Africa being of particular concern.
Strapped for cash and badly outspent by his rivals, Joe Biden barely had enough money to air television ads in critical Super Tuesday battlegrounds.

He won't have that problem again.

Support for Biden from the Democratic establishment abruptly materialised Wednesday as influential donors lined up behind the former vice president following his romp through 10 of the 14 contests.

The showing reshaped the primary into a two-person race between him and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, providing clarity in what had been a crowded field.

In Los Angeles, a pricey Biden event suddenly sold out on Tuesday night.

In Florida, a prominent fundraiser received an outpouring of phone calls from donors who now want to help Biden clinch the Democratic nomination.

Others who hadn't been in touch with the campaign were nonetheless laying the groundwork for big-dollar events.

Bryan Rafanelli, a major Democratic donor in Boston who was one of Pete Buttigieg's top fundraisers, was flooded with requests to host a gathering after announcing his support for Biden on social media.

I don't have a date. I haven't talked to the Biden people," Rafanelli said.

"I don't want to get out over my skis. But it's going to happen.

Democratic megadonor Susie Tompkins Buell, who also backed Buttigieg before he dropped out, said in a text message that she now supports Biden and is open to hosting an event.

Biden has never been a particularly successful fundraiser. His perseverance over better-funded candidates, including two billionaires who poured their personal wealth into their campaigns, demonstrates the limits of unlimited money.

But it also underscores the indecision that gripped many moderates, donors included, who had several candidates to choose from until Biden cleared much of the field with a commanding win in Saturday's South Carolina primary.

It has been a lot easier to fundraise for Joe Biden in the last 72 hours than it had been over the previous 72 days, said Alan Patricof, a Wall Street venture capitalist and longtime Biden supporter.

Now that Biden is in a tight contest with Sanders, his campaign is poised to be flooded with cash the very resource he has sorely lacked.

The money will come from donors who say they are nervous about Sanders' open embrace of democratic socialism and fear his nomination would result in President Donald Trump's reelection.

Everyone likes a winner. It's not very complicated, said Tom Nides, a former deputy secretary of state and adviser to Hillary Clinton.

"Joe Biden has proven it's not all about money and not all about organization it's about authenticity.

Biden was running on fumes headed into Super Tuesday, drastically outspent across the country by billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Billionaire Tom Steyer flooded the airwaves with pricey ads in South Carolina, where he tried to cut into Biden's support from black voters. And for much of the contest, he lagged in fundraising behind Sanders, Buttigieg and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The sudden interest in Biden is intense and overwhelming.

At Wednesday's fundraiser in the posh Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, there was no available parking, and valet service was over capacity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the event.

Held at the home of Paramount Pictures executive Sherry Lansing, it exploded from 80 to 350 registered attendees, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, in the days leading up to it.

A Florida consultant said out-of-state donors asked about flying in for a Biden fundraiser. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning details.

Despite the flood of incoming cash, Biden's newfound financial success could also prove to be a liability. Sanders took aim at him over the issue during a conference in Vermont on Wednesday.

You've got a candidate from the establishment going out to rich people's homes, raising all kinds of money, Sanders said.

Such rhetoric is precisely why some wealthy donors are uneasy about Sanders, who calls for political revolution, and are now eager to work with Biden.

We had a revolution back in 1776, Rafanelli said. We don't need another now."



For some longtime supporters, the change in fortunes is cathartic after a monthslong stretch of tough headlines about poorly attended town halls and uneven debate performances that seemed to reinforce a perception of Biden as someone doomed to lose.

Primaries are always messy, said Steve Westly, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has been raising money for Biden since he got in the race.

"Momentum is everything, and people want to be a part of the wining side.

Biden's financial picture began to shift the week before the South Carolina primary. A super PAC backing him called Unite the Country, raised USD 2.5 million that week. Biden's campaign also reported raising USD 10 million in the days after.

Since then, Biden aides say they've taken in USD 7.1 million online during a 42-hour period that included Super Tuesday.

Strategists for Unite the Country, which can raise and spend unlimited sums so long as they don't coordinate with Biden's campaign, now expect to take in even more.

That will help get Biden's message out while defending him from attacks by Sanders. The group, which is cutting an ad now, expects to be on the air soon in Missouri, Michigan and Mississippi.

We are going to defend our guy, said Unite the Country strategist Steve Schale.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of its deal with world powers, U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Tuesday, Associated Press repots. It raises new questions about possible nuclear-related activities and undeclared nuclear material at three locations, The Japan News writes in the article Iran triples enriched uranium stockpile.

The International Atomic Energy Agency made the statement in a confidential report distributed to member countries that was seen by The Associated Press. The agency said as of Feb. 19, Irans total stockpile of low-enriched uranium amounted to 1,020.9 kilograms (1.1 tons), compared to 372.3 kilograms on Nov. 3, 2019, noted in its November report. The current stockpile puts Iran within reach of the amount needed to produce a nuclear weapon, which it insists it doesnt want to do.

The nuclear deal that Iran signed in 2015 with the United States, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, allows Iran only to keep a stockpile of 202.8 kilograms.

The JCPOA promised Iran economic incentives in return for the curbs on its nuclear program, but since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal unilaterally in 2018, Iran has been slowly violating the deals restrictions.

With the violations, Tehran has said it hopes to put pressure on the other nations involved to increase economic incentives to make up for hard-hitting sanctions imposed by Washington after the American withdrawal.

In a second report issued Tuesday, the IAEA said it had identified three locations in Iran where the country possibly stored undeclared nuclear material or undertook nuclear-related activities without declaring it to international observers. It said it had sent questions to Iran in three separate letters, but Tehran maintained it wasnt obliged to respond. The IAEA asked for access to two of the sites, but was denied. The activities at all three sites are thought to have been from the early 2000s.

According to the Washington-based Arms Control Association, Iran would need roughly 1,050 kilograms (1.16 tons) of low-enriched uranium  under 5% purity  and would then need to enrich it further to weapons-grade, or more than 90% purity, for a weapon.

With the nuclear deal in place, Irans so-called breakout time  the period Tehran would need to build a bomb if it chose  stood about a year. As Iran has stepped away from the limits of the 2015 nuclear deal, it slowly has narrowed that window. However, that doesnt mean that Iran would immediately rush toward a bomb if all materials were in place.
 Participate in activities that you enjoy. This may be different, depending on the individual. Some people like to reflect in solitude while others may prefer spending time with family and friends for support. Some of these activities may include: singing, prayer, meditation, attending a spiritual service, going to a movie or just getting together with loved ones to share a meal. Avoid using drugs or alcohol to help you cope.

 Talk about your losses if you need to. If you want to talk about your losses since the disaster, you can. If you want to talk about the future, you can do that, too. Be sure to share your thoughts and feelings with someone you trust. That can be a friend or family member or a health care professional. Honor the positive change and progress that has been made. Identify where it fits in your heart, minds, and lives.

 Draw on your faith/spirituality. For many, faith and other spiritual beliefs are a source of strength and comfort every day, and most especially during difficult times. Reach out to your faith adviser, spiritual community, or anyone that you feel comfortable talking with about your beliefs to support and console you.
ANNAPOLIS (March 4, 2020)Maryland could begin replacing old diesel and hybrid state-operated transit buses with electric and zero-emission ones no earlier than July 2022 if a bill passes the General Assembly, jolting Maryland's fleet into the future.



Gov. Larry Hogan, R, set a goal for Maryland's bus fleet to be 50% zero-emission by 2030, laid out in the state's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act Draft Plan.



Delegate Marc Korman, D-Montgomery, is sponsoring House bill 432 and said at a hearing Feb. 18 that it is "slightly more aggressive" than Hogan's plan since the bill would make Maryland's fleet more than 50% zero-emission by 2030.



Sen. Craig Zucker, D-Montgomery, is sponsoring an identical bill, Senate bill 423.



"This is the right step to go in terms of saving the state money, and obviously it has huge benefits for the environment," Zucker testified at a Senate bill hearing Feb. 19.



Sen. Arthur Ellis, D-Charles, said he likes the idea of more electric buses, but he is concerned that the buses' power would be supplied by coal burning power plants instead of renewable energy resources.



"Unless we find a way of producing more renewable energy solutions, bills like this will be on the backs of my constituents, those in Southern Prince George's (where the population is) majority-minority. Our community members have the worst health effects when it comes to asthma," Ellis said during the bill hearing.



The Maryland Transit Administration operates about 775 transit buses, overseeing CityLink in Baltimore and more than 50 other bus routes, and it is scheduled to sign a new contract that would update the fleet, according to a state legislative analysis.



Currently, Maryland's fleet is diesel and hybrid according to a Maryland Transit Administration spokesperson.



Zucker told Capital News service that there will be an amendment to include zero-emission buses.



These can include electric and hydrogen fuel-cell buses, because they do not release "tailpipe pollution," according to the Sierra Club.



The bus contract would begin payments in 2022, and the legislative analysis predicts 70 new zero-emission buses would be purchased each year.



"We anticipate that our next procurement will be entirely zero-emissions vehicles, with delivery of vehicles beginning in 2025," Brittany Marshall, director of media relations for the Maryland Transit Administration, told Capital News Service in an emailed statement.



The Hogan administration has not taken a position on the Democrats' legislation, according to the governor's press secretary.



Maryland Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network Steven Hershkowitz told lawmakers the group is in favor of the bill because it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.



Hershkowitz calculated emission reductions using estimates from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act and an EPA emissions calculator.



Hershkowitz said if the legislation passes, "we would see about 50,000 metric tons of carbon removed. That's the equivalent of taking 11,000 cars off the road."



Electric buses would cost Maryland, annually, $20.6 million more than diesel buses, according to the legislative analysis.



When compared to diesel, the legislative analysis estimates 40-foot electric buses to cost about $375,000 more and 60-foot electric buses to cost about $200,000 more.



The analysis also noted that costs would be higher since the estimates do not take into account necessary garage upgrades or staffing expenses.



Ramon Palencia-Calvo with the Maryland League of Conservation Voters said electric buses can save the state money over time.



"Electric buses are more cost effective than diesel buses. They cost more upfront. Savings in fewer operations and maintenance throughout the life of the bus makes it more cost effective," Palencia-Calvo said.



Zero-emission buses are already transporting riders in Maryland, like in Frederick County where there are currently six electric buses in operation, according to TransIT deputy director Roman Steichen.



Electric buses cost Frederick County $130,000 per bus, and save the county $300,000 over a bus's "12-year useful life"largely due to lower annual energy and maintenance costs, Steichen wrote in an email to Capital News Service.



Last year, Prince George's County received a $2.2 million grant for battery-powered buses and charging stations; the buses are expected to serve routes at the University of Maryland and National Harbor, according to a press release from the Federal Transit Administration.



Prince George's County has not purchased the buses but anticipates them to arrive by early 2021, according to Paulette Jones, the public information officer for the Public Works and Transportation department.



In testimony at the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Feb. 19, Hershkowitz said transportation is the largest sector contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland, at 36% in 2017 according to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which aims for statewide greenhouse gas reductions of 40% from 2006 levels by 2030.



"If you really think about the work that has to be done by 2030, the legislators have taken a major step in the right direction," Hershkowitz said.
South Korea sent three emergency response teams to Vietnam Thursday to provide consular support to around 300 citizens quarantined over the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Korean citizens are quarantined in Vietnam at military schools, healthcare facilities or hotels, the South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry said. 142 of them are in Hanoi, 112 in Ho Chi Minh City and 22 in Da Nang, according to official data from the foreign ministry.

Each South Korean team consists of four members, mostly from the foreign ministry and the National Police Agency. The teams will be dispatched to the South Korean Embassy in Hanoi and the offices of the Consulate General in HCMC and Da Nang.

The teams plan to stay in Vietnam for a week starting Thursday, but they could decide to extend their stay if needed, the ministry said.

Before arriving, they have been certified as being free of the novel coronavirus by South Korean authorities.

They will discuss with Vietnamese authorities the possibility of lifting the quarantine, while helping citizens who want to return home and those facing visa and other consular problems.

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press conference Thursday that Vietnam would work with South Korea to address the issues.

"Vietnam regularly shares information and is willing to coordinate with South Korea so that South Korea can protect its citizens in accordance with international law and practice," Hang said.

South Korea has so far reported over 5,700 Covid-19 infections, second only to mainland China, where the disease was first detected last December. The South Korean government declared a red alert, its highest level of alarm, over the novel coronavirus outbreak on February 23.

The Vietnamese government has deployed various measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including requiring everyone coming from mainland China, Italy, Iran and South Korea, the worst-hit countries so far, to be put in quarantine for at least 14 days.

All 16 persons confirmed with Covid-19 infections in Vietnam have been discharged from the hospital and the country has detected no new cases since February 13.

Worldwide, the virus has spread to 85 countries and territories, killing 3,287 people, mostly in mainland China, followed by Italy (107), Iran (92) and South Korea (35).
Navalnys foundation fined $7,500 for breaching foreign agent law

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

14:04 05/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 5 (RAPSI)  Moscows Simonovsky District Court has fined a foundation established by opposition blogger Alexey Navalny 500,000 rubles ($7,500) for violation of requirements applicable to NGOs functioning as foreign agents, according to the court s press service.

In early November, Moscows Zamoskvoretsky District Court refused to overturn the Justice Ministrys October decision to include Navalnys organization in the list of NGOs acting as foreign agents.

The Justice Ministry established the fact of the organizations conforming to the foreign agent criteria during the monitoring of its activity conducted by the Justice Ministrys Moscow Main Directorate, the Ministrys official website informed at that time.

The decision to give Navalnys foundation the status of a foreign agent was made based on evidence of its funding from abroad, the acting director of the Justice Ministrys NGO affairs department Vladimir Titov told journalists.
(Alliance News) - Quadrise Fuels International PLC on Thursday reported "significant progress" ahead of a pilot trial of its MSAR heavy fuel oil alternative technology at a customer's site in Morocco.

Quadrise said fabrication of an MSAR pumping and heating unit was completed during February, as planned. The unit, and other equipment needed for the trial, have been shipped to Morocco.

The trial is on track to begin in mid-March, Quadrise added.

Quadrise shares were 5.9% higher at 2.25 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey said Thursday it would deploy special forces along its land border with Greece to prevent Greek authorities pushing back people trying to cross into Europe, after Turkey declared its previously guarded gateways to Europe open.

Thousands of refugees and other migrants have tried to cross into Greece from the Turkish land and sea border in the past week. Clashes have been frequent, with Greek police firing tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to repel thousands of people trying to breach the border. Greek authorities say Turkish police have also fired tear gas at them to disperse border guards.

Turkey says Greek authorities were also firing live ammunition at the migrants, and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Wednesday that Turkey would make a case in the European Court of Human Rights for a migrant it says was shot dead by Greek authorities on the border. The Greek government has denied any such incident occurred, calling it fake news.

Soylu, who visited the border area Thursday, said Turkey would deploy 1,000 special forces along its land border to prevent Greek authorities from pushing back those attempting to cross.

As of this morning  we are bringing 1,000 fully equipped special forces police (along) the Meric river system to prevent the pushbacks, Soylu said. With the help of Zodiac boats they will (stop) those who mistreat people.

Soylu said Greece had tried to push back around 4,900 migrants, in violation of international conventions, and accused the European Union and Europes border protection agency Frontex of remaining silent.

An estimated 4,000-5,000 people were near the Pazarkule border crossing, opposite the Greek village of Kastanies, and were being prevented from crossing, Soylu said.

It is a border gate, they are obliged to take them in. They are obliged to take in asylum-seekers, the minister said.

But he added the migrants were not obliged to use the official border crossing and could cross anywhere along the roughly 200-kilometer (125-mile) -long border. Much of the border is demarcated by a river, and many have tried wading, rowing or swimming across it.

I want to say that there is no rule that says they have to cross from Pazarkule, Soylu said.

The minister asserted more than 130,000 peoplehad crossed into Greece since Feb. 27, when Turkey made good on a threat to open its borders. He said around 20-25% of those who reached Greece were Syrians.

There was no evidence to support the number. Although hundreds of people have managed to cross, most appear to have been caught by Greek authorities. Many have said they have been summarily pushed back into Turkey after being detained.

Greek authorities said that from Saturday morning until Thursday morning, they had thwarted 34,778 attempts to cross, and 244 people had been arrested. That includes 6,955 attempts to cross the border in the 24 hours between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans decision to open its gateways to Europe has raised concerns within the European Union, which was holding a foreign ministers meeting in Zagreb, Croatia.

His move came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syrias northwestern Idlib province, where Turkish troops are fighting. The offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and sent nearly a million Syrian civilians toward Turkeys sealed border.

Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin were meeting in Moscow Thursday for talks aimed at ending the hostilities in northwestern Syria.

Turkey currently hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and Erdogan had frequently threatened to open Turkeys borders to Europe. He maintains the EU has not upheld its end of a more than 6 billion-euro deal designed to stem the flow of migrants into Europe, after more than a million people entered the EU in 2015.

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Francesco Rocca, visited the Greek side of the border Thursday, and said he hoped a political solution would be found soon. He said he saw through the border fence that there were hundreds of people, including women and children, waiting on the Turkish side of the border.

Every country, every institution like (the) European Union has the right to set up policies, but these policies must never affect they dignity of human beings, he said. Its very, very sad that we have seen again human beings treated as a political weapon. As a tool for politics. And this is unacceptable.

He said everyone should be grateful to Turkey for sheltering millions of refugees for years, but political reason cannot justify the decision to open the border.

Greece has called the situation a direct threat to its national security and imposed emergency measures to carry out swift deportations and freeze asylum applications for one month  moves which have come under criticism from human rights groups and refugee aid agencies.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Thursday it was important that Greece not be left alone and that a united European answer be found.

For us its clear: the EU must continue to financially and increasingly support the efforts of Turkey when it comes to the admission of refugees and migrants, Maas said.

Greeces sea border has also come under pressure, with hundreds heading to Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast. A child died when the dinghy he was in capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos earlier this week.

Soylu, the interior minister, said he had received instructions from Erdogan for Turkish authorities to prevent migrants from crossing by sea to avert drownings.

There were no sea crossings Wednesday, when the area faced high winds and rough seas.

___

Elena Becatoros in Athens, Costas Kantouris in Kastanies, Greece, and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
Collaboration with key interconnect technology partners to develop leading technologies for Industrial Ethernet Connectivity

TORONTO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amphenol ICC is pleased to announce today, it has worked with Hirose Electric and Harting Technology Group to release the ix Industrial series of connectors. IEC 61076-3-124 compliant and designed to meet the needs of next generation high speed ruggedized Industrial Ethernet requirements, the ix Industrial is ideal for use in equipment for Factory and Process Automation, Machine to Machine communication, Robotics, Sensors, Human Interface devices, and all devices requiring Ethernet IIoT connectivity in a highly automated Industrial environment.

"Anticipating and meeting our customer needs brought about the development of this product," said Peter Swift, Product Marketing Director, Amphenol Commercial Products Americas. "It is a feature packed, mechanically robust 10-position connector capable of Cat6A performance, in a package 30% the size of a typical RJ45 connector currently used in many Industrial Ethernet applications."

Robust performance with smaller footprint

As an IEC 61076-3-124 compliant 10-position connector capable of Cat6A performance, the ix Industrial comes in a package 70% smaller than the size of a typical RJ45 connector. With 10mm connector pitch, robust 2-point metal latching, 360-degree shielding for EMI immunity, it is poised to meet the needs of new higher density Industrial Ethernet communication designs.

Designed in collaboration with technology partners

Designed to be intermatable with Hirose and Harting ix Industrial series of interconnect products, Amphenol's ix Industrial series will help to meet the growing demands of Industry 4.0 and Cloud to Factory floor Ethernet connectivity.

Product Availability

Amphenol offers right angle and vertical PCB mount receptacles with multiple keying options, and mating field terminable plugs for easy on-site installation. Available versions will include IP20 products for MICE1 environments, and IP67 versions for MICE2 and MICE3 harsh environments.

About Amphenol ICC

Amphenol ICC, a division of Amphenol Corporation, is a world leader providing interconnect solutions for the Information, Communications and Commercial electronics markets. Amphenol ICC designs and manufactures a wide range of innovative connectors as well as cable assemblies for diverse applications including server, storage, data center, networking, industrial, business equipment and automotive. With a global presence in R&D, manufacturing and sales, Amphenol ICC is well positioned to support our customers wherever they operate. https://www.amphenol-icc.com

ix Industrial is a registered trade mark of Hirose Electric Co., and Harting Technology Group, used by Amphenol ICC with permission under licence.

Peter Swift

Product Marketing Director

Amphenol Information Communications and Commercial

pswift@amphenolcanada.com

www.amphenol-icc.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099313/ix_Industrial_Connectors.jpg
UNODC celebrates World Wildlife Day with 'Sea of Shadows' screening in Brussels

 Photo: Stadtkino Filmverleih

Brussels (Belgium), 5 March 2020 - The 3rd of March is World Wildlife Day, a day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild animals and plants. This year, to mark World Wildlife Day, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) supported the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC) to hold a screening of Richard Ladkani's award-winning documentary 'Sea of Shadows' in Brussels.

Sea of Shadows documents how Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers join forces to poach the rare totoaba fish in the Sea of Cortez. Their deadly methods threaten to destroy virtually all marine life in the region including the most elusive and endangered whale species on Earth, the vaquita porpoise. Sea of Shadows follows a team of dedicated scientists, high-tech conservationists, investigative journalists and courageous undercover agents as well as the Mexican Navy as they put their lives on the line to save the last remaining vaquitas and bring the vicious international crime syndicate to justice.

The documentary is a poignant case study on the role organized criminal groups play in wildlife crime, showing the inter-linkages between conservation, poverty alleviation and the challenges faced by law enforcement. Over 200 people attended the event in Brussels. The screening was followed by a panel discussion on criminal threats to biodiversity as well as solutions to tackle wildlife crime. The discussion was moderated by Antonio Ferrari, from UNRIC. Members of the audience asked questions and contributed to the discussion.

Director Richard Ladkani highlighted the need for proper criminal investigations to protect endangered species worldwide. As a film maker, Ladkani said he felt obliged to raise awareness on worrying issues, showing hidden realities to inspire people to take action. He commented that political support and good governance are necessary in the fight against corruption and transnational organized crime, to bolster the efforts of individuals and organizations on the ground.

Grace O'Sullivan, Green Party MEP, highlighted that the problem of vulnerability of species cannot be solved in isolation. She called on the new European Parliament to take strong action for the conservation of species, ocean health and protection of the environment. O'Sullivan invited everyone present to act against the mass extinction of many species the world is now witnessing because of illegal trade and transnational organized crime. She called on local government and authorities to step up their actions and guarantee sufficient strong law enforcement and infringement procedures against criminals. By taking on the responsibility of environmental challenges, schools, communities, local authorities, governments, NGOs and international organizations such as the United Nations should work together to guarantee future generations the right to a protected and healthy environment.

Jenna Dawson-Faber, manager of UNODC's Global Programme for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime, explained the need for an approach that goes beyond enforcement - a balanced approach focusing on demand, supply and livelihoods. She stressed the importance of smart partnerships and highlighted UNODC's close coordination with the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the World Bank and the World Customs Organization under the International Consortium for Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). As a Consortium, it forms a unique pool of technical and programming expertise, bringing the skills and knowledge of five organizations together to tackle wildlife trafficking.

In closing, the expert panellists reiterated that we must work together and stop turning away from the problem of wildlife trafficking and biodiversity loss because we are now out of time.

***

UNODC implements a comprehensive Global Programme for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime, working with actors along the criminal justice chain to effectively investigate, prosecute and adjudicate such crimes. While each criminal market has its own drivers, beyond specificities there are common characteristics. The trafficking of totoaba, pangolins, ivory, rhino horn, high value tree species, amongst other examples, is only possible due to a series of common vulnerabilities. UNODC works to mitigate these vulnerabilities, by working with key actors to strengthen legislation and build capacity; prevent and mitigate corruption; strengthen regional and international cooperation; and conduct assessments to understand context, patterns and trends. UNODC works with countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America to address these issues and build their capacity to prevent and combat wildlife, forest and fisheries crime.

Further Information

UNODC Executive Director's Statement on World Wildlife Day

UNODC on wildlife and forest crime

UNODC Brussels Liaison Office
Kim Jong Un's sister has insulted its rival South Korea as a 'frightened dog barking' for protesting against her country's latest live-fire exercises

Kim Yo Jong, the younger sibling of the North Korean leader, is in charge of propaganda affairs for the country and often appears at her brother's major public events - including summits with President Donald Trump and other regional leaders.

But her statement carried by state media was the first of its kind, indicating a further elevation of her political status and rising stock among North Korea's ruling class.

In the statement issued on Tuesday night, she criticised South Korea's presidential Blue House for expressing strong concerns over the North's firing drills and urging it to stop acts that do not help reduce military animosities.

'As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware,' Ms Kim said.

Kim Yo Jong, the younger sibling of the North Korean leader, is in charge of propaganda affairs for the country and often appears at her brother's major public events - including summits with President Donald Trump and other regional leaders

Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, talks with South Koran President Moon Jae-in as they watch a performance of North Korea's Samjiyon Orchestra at National Theater in Seoul, February 2018

'They meant they need to get militarily prepared but we should be discouraged from military exercises.

'Such a gangster-like assertion can never be expected from those with normal way of thinking.'

Describing the Blue House as 'a mere child' and 'a burnt child dreading fire', she questioned how its words and actions could be 'so perfectly foolish in detail'.

Ms Kim did not name liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, whom she has met several times.

She only said: 'The South side's response is so regretful and disappointing but it is somewhat fortunate that it was not direct statement of the president.'

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it has no specific comment on Ms Kim's statement.

But spokesman Yoh Sang-key said the two Koreas should maintain mutual respect while working toward establishing a peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier Tuesday, state media said leader Mr Kim supervised a live-fire rocket artillery exercise in an apparent reference to the two suspected short-range ballistic missile launches detected by South Korea's military a day earlier.

Kim Yo Jong, left, sister of North Korean Leader, walks ahead of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Koran leader Kim Jong Un, right, as they arrive at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 2018

'As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware,' Ms Kim said

On Saturday, North Korea said Mr Kim also guided an artillery drill aimed at testing the combat readiness of military units.

The back-to-back firing exercises were an apparent show of force by Mr Kim, who had earlier vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent and warned of 'shocking action' over now-stalled nuclear negotiations with Mr Trump.

The latest firing drills were his first weapons tests since late November.

Kim Yo Jong's statement was issued in her capacity as a first vice-department director of the Workers Party's Central Committee.

She also serves as an alternate member of the North's powerful Politburo and a member of the rubber-stamp parliament.

South Korean officials and experts say she is virtually the North's top propaganda official.
Representative Image

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak hurts business in China, SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels will reportedly give pink slips to 5,000 employees from offices around the world.

The highest number of layoffs would take place in China, where it plans to fire half of its 6,000 strong staff, sources told Bloomberg. The news comes a few months after media reports suggested the company is firing staff in India.

Also read: Startup Corner | Oyo needs to find a path to profitability -- the sooner, the better

Oyo Hotels founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal told Bloomberg that the company is working on an overhaul of its global operations. He added that its global workforce would reduce by 17 percent from 30,000 in January.

"By the time our restructuring process is complete, OYO will have over 25,000 employees worldwide," Agarwal told the news agency.

In China, COVID-19 has killed over 3,000 people and infected over 90,000. Several countries have issued advisories restricting travel to China, which has hurt the hospitality industry.

Agarwal said it is a difficult time for its hotel partners in China. "In China, the coronavirus has hit us and in specific provinces, we are trying hard to keep hotels open, as many as possible," he told Bloomberg.

"In our previous phase, we added a lot of properties to our platform and built the brand and mindshare," he said. Agarwal added that the companys focus in 2020 is on growth with profitability.
Public and private schools are racing to adopt e-learning to mitigate the disruptions caused by COVID-19

Test result

At 8am Pham Tran Khanh Linh, a sixth-grader of The Olympia School in Hanoi, is sitting in front of the computer instead of rushing to school, waiting for her online class to start. E-learning was rolled out by the school in reaction to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which forced a month-long nationwide school break.

We use Microsoft Team and Google Hangouts to study online. I have 3-5 lessons a day, with 45-55 minutes each. Besides that, my teacher can also send homework by email or through the app named School Online. We are all used to it because the school introduced online learning much before the current epidemic," Linh shared.

Same as Linh, instead of going to class, many teachers now sit in front of a smartphone or computer to record classes and upload them online or live-stream lectures.

With students on such a long compulsory break, the country is witnessing a transformation of education, from public to private schools and big cities to local provinces. Teachers who usually used chalk are now getting familiar with smartphones and laptops and online teaching. While e-learning is generally perceived as a natural progression in the 4.0 era, for many senior and elderly teachers in public schools, these are still uncharted waters.

The health emergency has become a lever for online learning to grow. The most popular software include Skype, Zalo, Google Classroom, Google Site, Class Dojo, Microsoft Office 365 Teams, and Facebook,among others.

Along with that, technology companies have also been rolling out products to meet the high demand. As an example, VNPT opened its vnEdu Teacher and vnEdu Connect applications which support teachers to give homework by sending pictures or word files as well as mark students via the internet.

VNPT's e-learning tools can support schools of all levels, even institutions that provide vocational training. With VNPT e-learning, teachers can upload their lecture notes as well as videos or even hold live streams to teach online. Teachers can also interact, assign homework, and test assignments very conveniently. VNPT will provide free access to these applications for a year, shared a VNPT representative.

Viettel also launched ViettelStudy, its social learning system for free. On this system, teachers can organise online classes by live-streaming lectures, provide lecture notes, tests, and check the results. Students can take online classes, review their test results, or interact with teachers and friends right after the test.

FPT also supports free online learning via its VioEdu system (vio.edu.vn), providing lively and interesting animated video lectures and real-life examples. VioEdu has achieved 70,000 daily visits.

Elsewhere, Dr Nguyen Long Giang, head of the communications department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education chose the Zoom application to connect with his students.

Zoom shows statistics on meeting time, the list of members, and member activity. In addition, Zoom allows meetings to be recorded and downloaded for later review, without time limit and capacity. The price of the application is also quite reasonable, with about VND360,000 ($15.6) a month. If used for free, the connection will time out every 45 minutes and users will have to log in again, said Giang.

Some private education institutions choose to invest in their own online learning systems to support students, for instance, Topica, GLN & JOLO online learning, and Yola smart learning.

Scenting opportunity, UK-based Nisai Group, a new player, signed an MoU with a Vietnamese partner to open offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and expand its Global Online School to Vietnam. Nisai's global school is an online British school that provides the Cambridge international programme for students in grades 6-12. The school will begin to enrol students in this March to start the first semester in this September.

It is time to change

While private education institutions are familiar to e-learning, most public schools are still loyal to the traditional methods. Only a few universities adopted online teaching such as National Economics University, National University of Civil Engineering, and Hanoi Open University.

The relationship between student loyalty and the factors that lead to loyalty have been studied extensively in the traditional educational environment where interactions between students and instructors take place directly in physical classrooms on campus. However, advances in ICT are changing all industries and sectors, and education is no exception.

In the technology era, computers and IT are making a revolution in education systems, showcasing many advantages like low costs, internationality, and a variety of teaching and learning options for schools at all levels.

If education institutions in Vietnam can improve the quality of their services, their student base will solidify and grow. Better services would also increase student loyalty, and after a point each satisfied student can be a messenger to freely advertise the school and its e-learning programmes.

However, on the flip side, the equipment available in Vietnamese education institutions is not yet up to standard and is in a dire need for upgrade, leaving obstacles for both teachers and learners.

It is undeniable that online teaching method still has many limitations and cannot completely replace face-to-face classes. However, it is obvious that e-learning is a rising trend in the world as the technology era is setting in and is a promising land for technology players and a valuable opportunity for public schools to renew themselves in the competition with private educational institutions.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 5 : In what has come as a surprise, a senior bureaucrat on Thursday came out strongly against the decision of the State cabinet which transferred a junior IAS officer, without his knowledge.

Senior bureaucrat, Principal secretary (revenue) V. Venu's letter surfaced in the media where he has written to the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister expressing his strong displeasure in the sudden removal of young IAS officer V.R. Premkumar from the post of director of Survey and Land records.

The decision was taken at the weekly cabinet meeting held here on Wednesday chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"Premkumar was posted only a few months back and has been handling all matters relating to the department with responsibility and diligence. As the Secretary in charge of the department, I have full satisfaction with his work. It is shocking that he has been removed without any discernable reason. I should have been consulted. The abrupt transfer of a young IAS officer will not only demotivate him, but send a negative signal to the officers serving in responsible positions," read Venu's letter.

"As a leader of a team, I feel that it's my responsibility to take this issue up as this affects the morale of my officers. I would urge the Chief Secretary to submit this matter for reconsideration of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, so that the decision is revoked and he is posted back," said Venu.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, MI -- New hours have been set for the Walmart Supercenter thats closing in Ypsilanti Township.

The company announced on Wednesday, March 4, that the store at 2515 Ellsworth Road is closing on April 3 due to its overall financial performance, spokesman Phillip Keene said. The stores new daily hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., he said.

Walmart Supercenter in Ypsilanti Township to close

Clearance sales are slated to begin Friday, March 13, Keene wrote in an email. Walmart may close sooner if sales are successful, but the pharmacy is expected to remain open until the final date.

The retail chain will offer transfer options to 220 employees but any who do not transfer will be paid through May 8, then be offered severance, if eligible. Three other supercenters exist within 17 miles of the Ypsilanti Township store in Belleville, Canton Township and Pittsfield Township.

We will continue to serve customers in new ways across Michigan through store remodels, expanded grocery pickup and grocery delivery and other ways to save customers time and money," Keene said in a previous statement. "We will also continue our investments in training to give our associates the skills to succeed and a path to grow their careers.

Ann Arbor-Detroit hourly bus service has launch date

Ann Arbor restaurant, chef semifinalists for James Beard awards

Old Farmer Jack store revamped for Crunch Fitness in Ypsilanti Township

Blank Slate Creamery to open Brighton location
(Bloomberg) -- Tech giants continue to drop out of this months South by Southwest festival over coronavirus concerns, threatening an event that typically serves as one of the industrys most influential gatherings.

Apple Inc. said on Wednesday that it wouldnt be attending the conference, which kicks off March 13 in Austin, Texas. The iPhone maker and streaming-video provider had planned to debut three new Apple TV+ projects at the festival, including a Spike Jonze documentary about the Beastie Boys, an original series called Central Park by Loren Bouchard, and a series called Home from Doug Pray and Matt Weaver.

Netflix Inc. also is pulling out, according to a representative for the company, canceling five film screenings and a panel. It had planned to screen the feature film Uncorked and four documentaries. Variety reported earlier on the move.

Amazon.com Inc, Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. have already dropped out of the conference, and SXSW organizers are under pressure to cancel the show altogether. But the conferences management has said theyre following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and dont feel they need to take that step yet.

CNN also backed out, saying its parent company, AT&T Inc.s WarnerMedia, decided to not to move forward with this years conference. We look forward to seeing everyone in Austin next year, the news outlet tweeted.

Apple may have to make another decision soon. The company typically holds a wide-ranging conference for software developers in June, and hasnt said yet if its changing plans for that event.

(Updates with CNN in fourth paragraph)

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in Los Angeles at mgurman1@bloomberg.net;Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at lshaw31@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner, Dave McCombs

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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His front-runner status slipping, Bernie Sanders refocused his Democratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednesday as the Vermont senator's allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tuesday stumble that raised internal concerns about the direction of his White House bid.

Sanders targeted Biden's record on trade, Social Security and fundraising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his campaign and Elizabeth Warren confirmed she was privately reassessing her future in the race.

The dramatic shifts signaled that the Democrats' once-crowded nomination fight had effectively come down to a two-man race for the right to face President Donald Trump in November.

Sanders declared himself neck and neck with Biden as he faced reporters in his home state, Vermont, one of just four states he captured on the most consequential day of voting in the party's 2020 primary season. Biden won 10 states, assembling victories that transcended geography, race and class.

What this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is, Which side are you on? Sanders said.

The progressive candidate lobbed familiar attacks against the former vice president's record but ignored supporters' calls to be more aggressive and insisted his campaign would avoid any Trump-type effort that included personal criticism.

I like Joe. I think he's a decent human being," Sanders said. "Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country. Biden told reporters he would unify the country and, without naming Sanders, knocked the senator's frequent contention that he is beholden to an elite party establishment.

The establishment are all those hard-working people" who voted on Tuesday, Biden told reporters in West Hollywood, California.

Elected officials and leading donors rallied around Biden after his Super Tuesday romp. Top Democrats have long been skeptical of the 77-year-old lifelong politician's political strength but raced to unite behind him to blunt Sanders' rise.

After suspending his campaign, Bloomberg became the fourth failed Democratic presidential contender this week to endorse Biden. Like the growing chorus of Democratic officials, Bloomberg called Biden the best chance to defeat Trump in the general election.

Warren's future was uncertain.

Sanders confirmed that he spoke to his progressive ally earlier in the day, though it was unclear whether she would endorse him or anyone else should she leave the race. Warren didn't win a single state on Super Tuesday and finished in third place in her home state of Massachusetts.

A resurgent Biden, meanwhile, was poised to finish Super Tuesday with more delegates than Sanders a stunning shift. Sanders' team had hoped he would finish the night more than 100 delegates ahead of his next closest competitor. He'll likely finish dozens of delegates behind once all the votes are counted.

Biden's allies sought to quickly capitalize on his success and take on Sanders.

Biden campaign co-chairman, Rep. Cedric Richmond, blasted Sanders for suggesting that the Democratic establishment was colluding against him. Richmond said Biden is earning his votes.

"I just did not know that African Americans in the South were considered part of the establishment," the Louisiana Democrat said, noting that Biden's overwhelming support among black voters gave him wide delegate gains in Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia, among other states.

The Sanders campaign announced it would begin airing three new campaign ads across states holding the next series of primary contests on March 10 and March 17: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Washington state.

One new ad features archived footage of former President Barack Obama praising Sanders. It's a not-so-subtle attempt by the Vermont senator to undercut Biden's frequently spotlighting his closeness to Obama.

Despite the aggressive ad buy, there was new evidence of internal frustration with Sanders' strategy, which some believe has not been tough enough in courting high-profile endorsements or attacking Biden.

Sanders prefers to focus his criticism on the former vice president's record on key issues, declining to lean into more divisive attacks that will almost certainly come up in a prospective general election match-up against Trump.

For example, there has been internal discussion about highlighting Biden's role in the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy. As the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Biden allowed an all-male Senate panel to grill Anita Hill, who had accused Thomas of sexual harassment.

Sanders has largely avoided the subject.

Roseann DeMoro, a key Sanders ally and a former president of National Nurses United, said Biden's strong showing on Super Tuesday caught people off guard. Sanders' struggle, she said, was likely tied to his gentle approach.

Is Bernie too gentle on the Democratic Party? I think he's a gentleman, and they are not," DeMoro said. Bernie's a statesman, and he's up against sharks. He needs to call people out for who they are." Moumita Ahmed, co-founder of the independent group Millennials for Bernie, was also disappointed in Tuesday's outcome.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  As the US entered World War II, Rosalind Walter (nee Palmer) was enjoying a comfortable life as "a dark-tressed society doll," the Washington Post quotes a decades-old article on her as saying. The Long Island resident signed up to build Corsair fighter planes nonetheless, becoming the subject of a newspaper column and then a 1942 song called "Rosie the Riveter." After all, rivets were Walter's specialty. "That little frail can do more than a male can do," went the song written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, which "captured a historical moment that helped sow the seeds of the womens movement," per the New York Times. But Walter, who died at her Manhattan home on Wednesday at age 95, was more than the original inspiration behind the archetype of hard-working, wartime women.

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The Brooklyn, NY, native was also a philanthropist and huge supporter of public television. She was one of PBS's main benefactors and "the most generous individual supporter of WNET in its history," according to an obituary. Walter, the daughter of the chairman of a drug company that's now part of Bristol Myers Squibb, had attended a college preparatory boarding school before giving up her chance at college to join the war effort; she saw public television as giving her some of the education she missed out on, per the Times. Along with her second husbandHenry Glendon Walter Jr., the CEO of International Flavors & Fragrances, whom she married in 1956she would also donate to Long Island University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Pierpont Morgan Library. (The model for Norman Rockwell's iconic 1943 Rosie the Riveter painting died in 2015.)
Editors Note: In two parts, we will publish an expansion of a piece we have in the current issue of National Review. Todays installment deals primarily with Enrique Krauzes work, background, and influences. Tomorrows will deal primarily with current politics, in Mexico and elsewhere.

For many years, Enrique Krauze had a dream for Mexico: that the country have real elections, a free press, separation of powers, and the rule of law. This was my very modest utopia, he says  and this very modest utopia came to life in the year 1997.

In that year, there were free and fair elections, supervised by an independent body. These elections broke the monopolistic power of the PRI  whose initials stand for Partido Revolucionario Institucional. We are talking about the party that ruled Mexico for some 70 years.

For about 20 years, Krauzes very modest utopia held, although with the usual problems that beset Mexico, and some other ones to boot. But then, a master populist  Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a.k.a. AMLO  was elected president. And Krauze fears that Mexican democracy will be lost for generations to come.

He is one of the leading intellectuals in the country, and in great Latin America at large. He is a historian, an essayist, an editor, a TV producer, and more. I have come to see him at his home in Mexico City. It strikes me as a writers paradise, this home, with books, desks, paintings, objets dart, and lots of natural light. If a writer cant get work done here, I think, he cant get it done anywhere.

Krauze has a lot of work to do. He runs Letras Libres, the magazine he founded in 1999. (It is a literary-intellectual journal.) He runs Clio, the company he founded in 1992. It produces documentaries about Mexican history, and publishes books about the same. (You remember from Greek mythology that Clio is the muse of history.) He writes a biweekly column. And he writes his books and essays. I have always combined many tasks in my life, he says. If you take life seriously, you can do that.

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I cant help thinking of William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of National Review, who kept up a range of activities, with energy and aplomb.

Krauze tends to do most of his writing on the weekend, particularly at his home in Cuernavaca, some 55 miles from Mexico City. He cites Philippe Aries, a French historian of the 20th century. Aries wrote a memoir called Un historien du dimanche: A Sunday Historian. Krauze allows Saturday too. And when it is time to draft a book, he puts everything else on hold  trusting those tasks to his colleagues  until the draft is complete.

In an aside, Krauze tells me this, about Cuernavaca: It is a beautiful place, known as the City of Eternal Spring. Humboldt gave it that name in the 19th century. Now it is hellish, because of the violence we have through all Mexico  but that is another subject.

He was born in 1947, here in Mexico City. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. With other family members, they came here in the 1930s. From where we are sitting, looking through the window, we can see the building where Krauzes great-grandparents lived. The neighborhood is called Hipodromo.

His father, Moises, started a printing business. His mother, Helen, was a journalist. (She is in her mid 90s today and still active.) To one another, the extended family tended to speak Yiddish.

Enrique speaks good English, by the way. He protests that he is not fluent, but he is more fluent than a good many native English-speakers. He never had formal instruction, he says. He learned the language mainly from reading  that and listening to music, from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles. In the early 1980s, he was a visiting professor at St. Anthonys College, Oxford.

Well before that  from the age of four until he was sixteen  he attended a Jewish school (a secular one, not a religious one).

I ask him about anti-Semitism, starting with anti-Semitism in Latin America at large. You dont hear much about it, or at least I dont. In virtually every other region of the world  yes. Borges used to say that Argentinian anti-Semitism was a facsimile of the real one, Krauze tells me. (Jorge Luis Borges, you remember, was the great Argentinian writer.) The real anti-Semitism was European.

Personally, Krauze has not experienced much anti-Semitism in his life. In the past, there have been attacks from the far Right, and now, he says, there are attacks from the far Left, especially in the social media. This is because he is a critic of populism, he says. His defamers make the usual accusations. But I can say confidently, at the age of 72, and after an intellectual career of 50 years, that I have never had major problems as a Mexican Jew.

Krauze earned an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering and a doctorate in history. He worked in his fathers printing business for a couple of decades. All the while, he was writing. Then he became a full-time writer and cultural entrepreneur, to borrow his phrase.

By some Americans, he is thought of as a conservative, because he has stood for democracy against dictatorships, not only of the Right but also of the Left. (Few are those who are consistent in this regard.) By some Mexicans, he is tagged as a conservative  even a reactionary  because he opposes the Left populism of Lopez Obrador (and Right populism elsewhere). Strictly speaking, however, he is a liberal, he says  a liberal in the classical sense. He is an admirer of George Orwell, Arthur Koestler, Karl Popper, and Isaiah Berlin, to name four.

When he mentions Berlin, I think of Charles Krauthammer  who told me about his intellectual development. (His own, I should make clear.) When he was a young man, Krauthammer read Berlins Four Essays on Liberty, and thought, Thats what I believe. He never wavered from it. When Berlin died in 1997, Krauthammer paid tribute to him in a beautiful column, hailing the Four Essays in particular.

Krauze got to know Berlin in Oxford. Once, he asked Berlin how the Bolshevik Revolution succeeded. Lenin, Berlin said. If not for Lenin, that revolution would not have been pulled off. That is a powerful statement about the effect one man can have, for good or ill. Krauze tells me, The only dogma I have in my life is this: Total power concentrated in one man leads to disaster and doom. If we didnt learn that from the 20th century  Mao and the rest  we didnt learn anything.

Early in his career, Krauze had a mentor, an intellectual grandfather, he says. That was Daniel Cosio Villegas, who lived from 1898 to 1976. He was a Mexican economist, historian, and diplomat. He was also a builder of institutions, as Krauze says. Most significantly, he founded a prestigious publishing house, the Fondo de Cultura Economica. In his politics, Cosio Villegas was a pure liberal, says Krauze  a liberal in the classical sense. He believed in human freedom. He was not an anarchist, mind you. He believed in freedom within the framework of a republic, within the framework of institutions.

Krauze says that he has tried to model his life on Cosio Villegass. No one would say he has not succeeded. Krauze himself says simply this: You feel you are building a culture, and that you have a responsibility to the country. He continues, I have devoted my life to Mexico, out of love  and out of thankfulness, to a country that opened its hearts to my family, Jews who came from Europe. (They could not get into the United States, Krauze says, owing to a quota.)

If Daniel Cosio Villegas was his grandfather, Octavio Paz was his father, intellectually. Paz was another all-purpose writer and intellectual, who also served as a diplomat. Octavio Paz is, and always will be, the towering intellectual figure in Mexico, says Krauze. His books, his essays, his interpretation of the Mexican soul, in The Labyrinth of Solitude, his poems . . . All of these things add up to a singular achievement, says Krauze.

He came from the very far left, Krauze says of Paz. I didnt come from the very far left, but I did come from the left in the 1960s. They both arrived at liberalism (again, classically understood.) Paz was shocked by revelations about the Soviet Union. And then he was very much like the New York intellectuals, such as Irving Howe, Daniel Bell, and Irving Kristol. These were his contemporaries, and many of them were his friends.

In the early 1970s, Krauze started to contribute to Pazs magazine, Plural. (Theres an essential liberal word, right?) He met Paz, face to face, for the first time at Cosio Villegass funeral. I glimpsed him behind the trees, says Krauze. He was very discreet.

Not long after that, Paz started another magazine, another literary-intellectual journal: Vuelta (indicating a return, a going back to the basics, or fundamentals, or origins). At Vuelta, Krauze worked alongside Paz for almost 20 years.

Octavio Paz is probably best known for his poetry. It is for this, primarily, that he won the Nobel prize in 1990. But Krauze thinks he was actually best as a cultural essayist.

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Flood-hit families face seeing their homes demolished due to damage from successive storms as the river levels in East Yorkshire have dipped by only inches in six days - with Britain preparing to take another battering of rain.

Kevin Lorryman's home is just one of dozens in the communities of Snaith and East Cowick which were inundated a week ago when the River Aire spilled out of its normal washlands, creating a vast inland sea.

Across December, January and February, the country was deluged with an average total of 469.7mm of rain, according to Met Office figures released this week.

Last month has already been confirmed as the wettest February on record, with an average of 209.1mm measured across the UK.

Mr Lorryman's Snaith bungalow has become a symbol of the recent flooding which has affected many areas of England and Wales, with just its roof and its solar panels visible above the muddy, 9ft (3m) deep floodwater.

Kevin Lorryman, outside his bungalow in Snaith, Yorshire, which is surrounded by floodwater after a deluge of bad weather

Flood water at Snaith in the East Riding of Yorkshire, has only dropped by inches in over six days, and more bad weather is expected

Flooding damage around a house in the village of Snaith in East Yorkshire this week after the bad weather

Despite facing the prospect of his home having to be completely demolished, the 56-year-old said he is keen to make sure no-one forgets the scores of other families in East Yorkshire and beyond in a similar situation.

He said: 'I just want people to think about all the other people around here who have been affected.

'There are hundreds. I think it's 69 houses in total affected in East Cowick, not far away, as well as those in Snaith.

'They are all in the same situation I am in. Even those who've just had a few inches, it's caused a huge amount of damage and it will take a lot of recovery.'

Mr Lorryman is now living in his caravan as prepares to move into a rented house while the home he lived in with his daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren slowly re-emerges from the receding water.

He said the local community has pulled together in response to the crisis but he wants to see the country more prepared for these situations in the future.

'Going forward, there needs to be action taken at a much higher level to prevent this happening again,' he said.

Flood water at Snaith in the East Riding of Yorkshire, has only dropped by inches in over 6 days. More bad weather is expected at the end of the week

A Network Rail employee wades through floodwater in Snaith, East Yorkshire, this week. More bad weather is expected this week

Sheds are floating in the floodwater which has hit the East Yorkshire village of Snaith following heavy rainfall

The owner of this house attempts to protect furniture from flood damage as the waters rise to waist level in their property in East Cowick

A flooded interior of a home in Snaith, East Yorkshire. Rain-soaked areas in East Yorkshire have been battered by torrential downpours for several days causing the River Aire to burst its banks and leave an area the size of Lake Windermere under water

'East Riding Council teams have come in and everyone here has been brilliant but it needs to be sorted at a much higher level - emergency response teams put in place to respond to these things.

'And we need to build flood resilience in.

'I don't want my family to go through this again. I don't want anyone to go through this again.'

Mr Lorryman said he is hoping to use his insurance money to build another home on slightly higher ground on his land.

He said his neighbours had been inundated with donations of clothes and other items but still needed help and urged people to donate to a Just Giving page set up by the community.

Workmen clear debris from the road where floodwater has begun to recede today in Snaith, East Yorkshire

A van sits in floodwater in the deluged East Yorkshire village of Snaith which has been badly affected

A car is almost completely submerged in the floodwater in the village of Snaith, East Yorkshire

More than 150 residents attended a meeting at Snaith Primary School on Monday night where they questioned officials from a range of organisations, including East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Environment Agency.

The council said at the height of the floods that 23 homes had been flooded in Snaith, with 65 affected in nearby East Cowick. On Tuesday it said the combined total was now 93.

It said water levels had dropped around 12 inches (30cm) overnight from Monday to Tuesday as vast amounts of water were being pumped to the River Don and after the Aire, Don and Ouse Consortium of Internal Drainage Boards dug a series of trenches that have helped reduce flood water levels.

Brigette Giles, head of technology and transformation and emergency control centre manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: 'The council and its partners have been working around the clock since the flooding incident started a week ago and will continue to provide a high level of support over the coming days and weeks for those affected as we move into recovery.'

Floodwater has deliged properties in the village of Snaith in East Yorkshire today

A car submerged in floodwater in Snaith, East Yorkshire, as more than 160 flood warnings or alerts are still in place today

Workers inspect floodwater on a railway line in the village of Snaith in East Yorkshire today

Workmen clear debris from the road where floodwater has begun to recede this morning in Snaith, East Yorkshire

Floodwater surrounds homes in Snaith, East Yorshire, as dozens of flood warnings are still in place for England today

Paul Abbott, head of housing, transportation and public protection and the council's lead for recovery operations, said: 'The council is aware of 93 properties that have flooded in Snaith and East Cowick and our officers will be going door-to-door to provide any and all advice and support and to arrange any assistance that might be needed to help our residents and businesses.'

The clear-up operation in the lower Aire catchment is just one of scores going on around northern England, the Midlands and Wales as the UK continues to experience one of its wettest, and warmest, winters on record.
She found herself defending her 'weird' toes on social media this week.

And Kylie Jenner took matters a step further this Wednesday, firing up her Insta Stories to playfully name all 10 digits.

The 22-year-old cosmetics billionaire decided that 'big toes are boys,' so she called the left one Toby and the right one Tony.

Toe time: Kylie Jenner took matters a step further this Wednesday, firing up her Insta Stories to playfully name all 10 digits

Kylie, who shares her two-year-old daughter Stormi with her rapper ex Travis Scott, mused on Insta Stories: 'my toes are so famous.'

She then uploaded a snap of her feet and wrote in the caption that 'We probably should name them at this point.'

Aside from Toby and Tony, the lip kit mogul has christened her toes Tess, Teague, Tia, Trix, Tahnee, Tasha, Talia and Tina.

That day Kylie also posted a glammed-up Instagram photo-shoot with her best pal Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou.

No false modesty: Kylie, who shares her two-year-old daughter Stormi with her rapper ex Travis Scott, mused on Insta Stories: 'my toes are so famous'

Next step: She then uploaded a snap of her feet and wrote in the caption that 'We probably should name them at this point'

Earlier this week she fired up her Insta Stories to cheekily explain her toes, which trolls had been criticizing as odd on social media.

'Okay, so everyone wants to come for my f***ing toes. By the way, I have cute a** feet,' she vamped before heading into her story.

'And I broke this middle toe in middle school, and you cant really  theres nothing to do for a broken toe, so I just had to let it heal how it wanted to heal,' she shared.

'she got a donk': That day Kylie also posted a glammed-up Instagram photo-shoot with her best pal Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou

The digit in question is on her right foot and she demonstrated that when she tries to 'flex' all her toes upward, the middle one looks 'out of place.'

Kylie's elder sister Kendall Jenner recently joined her, Stormi and Stassie on a seaside vacation to Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

The youngest daughter of Kris Jenner rented out the six-bedroom Villa Rosalita which according to TMZ set her back north of $10,000 per night.
A private school in San Mateo County will be closed through the weekend because a staffer had recent contact with a relative who tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said.

Officials at Menlo School, a private middle and high school in Atherton, said the school will be closed out of an abundance of caution and for the safety and well-being of our community. The relative of the staffer, whose identity was not released, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, school head Than Healy said in a letter sent to parents of the schools 795 students.
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Governor Whitmer Creates Task Forces to Combat Spread of Coronavirus

Governor Whitmer Creates Task Forces to Combat Spread of Coronavirus

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 3, 2020

Governor Whitmer Creates Task Forces to Combat Spread of Coronavirus

Governor creates COVID-19 task forces focused on state operations, health care, education, and the workforce

LANSING, Mich. -- Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the creation of four task forces to combat the spread of coronavirus and assess the impact it may have on Michiganders day-to-day lives. The task forces include:

1. The COVID-19 Task Force on State Operations, covering all aspects of state operations, including employment and facilities;

2. The COVID-19 Task Force on Health and Human Services, covering the provision of medical and human services, including protecting the healthcare workforce;

3. The COVID-19 Task Force on Education, covering K-12 public schools and universities and colleges; and

4. The COVID-19 Task Force on Economy/Workforce, covering general economic impact, workforce, supply chain, business continuity, and related issues.

The task forces will include key state government agencies, who will work closely with the appropriate community and non-governmental stakeholders.

While there have been no confirmed cases in Michigan yet, we must recognize that this virus has the potential to impact nearly every aspect of our lives, said Governor Whitmer. From our public schools, colleges, and universities to our businesses and hospitals, we must harness all of the resources we have to ensure we can prevent the spread of coronavirus and keep Michiganders safe. This is a strong, smart team that will make protecting our public health their number one priority and work closely with me to protect the people of our state.

On February 3rd, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services activated the Community Health Emergency Coordination Center, and they have been working diligently with local health departments, health systems, and medical providers to make sure appropriate screening and preparations for COVID-19 are being made. On Friday, February 28th, Governor Whitmer activated the State Emergency Operations Center to maximize coordination with state, local and federal agencies, as well as private partners, and to help prevent the spread of the disease. Since then, the administration has been working with schools, businesses, medical providers, and local health departments to make sure they have the information they need to prepare for potential cases. Today, MDHHS also launched a campaign to raise awareness of appropriate hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses.

COVID-19 has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan City in the Hubei Province of China. As of March 3rd, there were over 91,313 cases globally, with over 3,000 deaths. There are at least 10 states reporting cases of the disease, with at least 2 deaths. Person-to-person spread of the virus has occurred in the U.S., with some of those occurring in people with no travel history and no known source of exposure.

Michigan currently has no known cases of the disease. For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low. People in communities where ongoing community spread with the virus that causes COVID-19 has been reported are at elevated though still relatively low risk of exposure.

Patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:

Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath

The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is to:

Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing.

Avoid contact with people who are sick.

If you are sick, stay home, and avoid contact with others.

Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

###
Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee bows in a show of apology over his followers' role in the spike in coronavirus infections in South Korea during his press conference on Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



Shincheonji  the biggest culprit behind the coronavirus epidemic in South Korea  has donated 12 billion won ($10.1 million) to help in the nationwide fight against the virus.



The mysterious cult, led by the self-proclaimed messiah Lee Man-hee, 89, said Thursday the money had been delivered to Community Chest of Korea, a local charity, hoping it will be used to help contain the spread of coronavirus in Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province.



The two regions are the epicenter of a spike in the nation's coronavirus infections  the number of confirmed cases there account for nearly 90 percent of the total (5,766 as of noon Thursday).









The donation came three days after Lee made a public apology on Monday for his followers' role in spreading the disease  nearly 60 percent of coronavirus patients are affiliated with the cult.



"We feel heavy responsibility for what's happening," Shincheonji wrote in a text message sent to reporters. "As our leader said in the press conference (on Monday), we will spare no human or material resources to support the fight against the epidemic."




People will be banned from attending funerals and bringing their children to creches under the Government's worst-case scenario plans to tackle the coronavirus.

It comes as four people from the same family were diagnosed with the virus last night - the first cluster of cases here. It brings the total number of cases in the Republic to six.

The two parents and a son and daughter from Co Clare recently returned from a holiday in northern Italy where over 100 have died from the virus.

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They were last night being treated in a hospital in the west of Ireland.

A major contact tracing exercise is now under way to find out if others in close contact with the family were exposed, including school pupils.

Two more people were diagnosed in Northern Ireland yesterday. The North's chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said neither patient travelled through the Republic.

Meanwhile, the battle plan in the event of a major escalation in cases envisages gardai and the Defence Forces being drafted in to deal with potential public order issues.

The high-level briefing for Cabinet ministers says the Government will stockpile food and medicine, while restrictions on purchases will be introduced to prevent panic buying.

Central to its emergency plans will be the introduction of bans on mass gatherings including at shopping centres, churches and all forms of public transport.

Leading infectious disease consultant Dr Jack Lambert, of the Mater Hospital in Dublin, said yesterday the expected arrival next weekend of a significant number of Italians who had booked to come to Ireland for the cancelled Six Nations rugby match increases the risk of person-to-person spread of the new coronavirus.

Many Italian rugby fans will continue with a tourist break here.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan told a press briefing in Dublin last night the virus "knows no borders or race".

"Restricting travel into Ireland does not form a component of our current response.

"We must continue to focus on ensuring that everyone is informed and knows what to do in the event they develop symptoms," he said.

"It is essential that any decisions regarding responses to Covid-19 are proportionate, necessary and based on specific public health advice.

"No other response is appropriate."

Expand Close Emergency: A babys temperature is checked at Bangkok airport. AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit / Facebook

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Whatsapp Emergency: A babys temperature is checked at Bangkok airport. AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

He said as of now the St Patrick's Day Festival will go ahead: "As things stand I don't see it changing."

Dr Holohan warned it was also a "fast-moving situation" in relation to changes in the pattern of the virus.

Asked about Cheltenham racing festival, which will attract thousands of Irish punters, he said they should be reassured the person-to-person transmission of the virus in the UK is "localised" and is not "widespread". The latter would be more serious.

Dr John Cuddihy, of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, also revealed the tracing of contacts of the woman from the east of the country who tested positive for the virus on Tuesday after returning from Italy was still under way.

The worst-case scenario plan envisages businesses will be asked to let their employees work from home or introduce "flexible leave policies".

The document warned these measures will also have a knock-on economic impact on employers.

The aim of the so-called "social distancing" measures are to stop the spread of the infectious disease.

Ministers were told public health officials have not "as yet" advised to introduce a ban on public gatherings.

However, officials tasked with preparing for the worst-case scenario are assessing the challenges associated with banning large gatherings.

The newly established Senior Officials Group on the Coronavirus Response is basing its plans on recommendations from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Expand Close SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - MARCH 04: Medical professionals, in protective gear, look at decontamination trucks arriving at the preliminary testing facility against the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Eunpyeong district on March 04, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.(Photo by Woohae Cho/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - MARCH 04: Medical professionals, in protective gear, look at decontamination trucks arriving at the preliminary testing facility against the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Eunpyeong district on March 04, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.(Photo by Woohae Cho/Getty Images)

The group is reporting directly to the Cabinet sub-committee established by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to tackle the spread of the virus.

"Many of these measures would only be required in the case of significant concerns around community transmission," the briefing stated.

"Based on expert advice, it is not anticipated or necessary in Ireland. In the current phase, the focus here should remain on effective risk communications and early identification of cease."

However, the group is working to "minimise the economic disruption of the public health measures that it may be necessary to implement".

This includes drafting contingency plans to protect key infrastructure such as energy, water, sanitation and transport services in the event of staff absences because of a serious outbreak. They are also examining the impact the virus my have on services for older people and those with disabilities - including how they might receive their social welfare payments.

The "prudent planning" document will also include recommendations on how employers can avoid significant workplace absenteeism in the event of the Government seeking the closure of "non-essential businesses or services" in certain areas.

Expand Close A member of the medical team checks the temperature of a child, following the coronavirus outbreak, at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Duhok, Iraq March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Ari Jalal TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY / Facebook

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Whatsapp A member of the medical team checks the temperature of a child, following the coronavirus outbreak, at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Duhok, Iraq March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Ari Jalal TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

The document warned that in the case of "severe outbreaks and for worst-case scenarios" contingency planning will involve the use of essential public services staff including gardai and members of the Defence Forces to "ensure heath service delivery and public order".

There are also concerns about the impact of the virus on agri-food, manufacturing, retail and tourism sectors.

The Government does not anticipate introducing travel restrictions and will not close any borders. It believes people will voluntarily restrict travel in affected areas.

As of yesterday, the global death toll is 3,190, while more than 93,000 people have been infected in more than 80 countries.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

The virus outbreak has led India to restrict the export of dozens of drugs including paracetamol and various antibiotics, leading to fears of a global shortage of essential medicines.
The Plainview Police Department recognized several of its own during its annual awards banquet Friday night.

Police Chief Ken Coughlin kicked off the event with a presentation laced with humor, to lighten the mood, but heavily focused on the mental demands of being a police officer.

The speech foreshadowed some of the circumstances the officers were recognized for this past year.

Three awards presented on Friday stemmed from the same callout in September. Corporal Josh Vanbebber was presented with the departments second highest honor  the Medal of Valor. The medal is presented to someone who shows bravery at risk of serious injury. Cindy Hawkins was presented with the Certificate of Merit/Distinguished Service and Brian Morris was presented with the Distinguished Service award.

The Lifesaving Award was presented to Captain Dion Guerra. Guerra was first on the scene to an attempted suicide and took action to save the individual. Coughlin said Guerras actions saved a life.

Filiberto Cordero was presented with the Community Service Award for the actions he took to detain a known burglary suspect. Lt. Bill Bridgwater explained that there were several car burglaries reported in the summer and Cordero walked across the street and held two suspects until PD could get there. His help resulted in their arrest and solving of three different cases.

Others recognized were as follows:

Supervisor of the Year  Luis Montelongo

Rookie of the Year  Cade Morris

Officer of the Year  Andy VanCleave

Intermediate Peace Officer  David Ballard

Master Peace Officer  Chris Hall

Basic Telecommunicator  Samantha Hernandez

Master Peace Officer  Brian Morris

Intermediate Peace Officer  Cade Morris

Advanced Peace Officer/Bachelors Degree  Jesse Ortiz

Training completion:

David Ballard  new supervisor training

Bill Bridgwater  graduated from Leadership Command College

Jose Flores  completed Basic SWAT training

Jose Nieto  completed Basic SWAT training

Dion Guerra  FBI Command College

Jeff Stalcup  FEMA Basic Emergency Management

Cody Ward  Blood Stain Pattern training



Years of Service:

David Ballard  promotion to corporal

Dion Guerra  25 years

Jeff Erpelding  15 years

David Ballard  5 years

Chris Tristan  5 years

Andy VanCleave  5 years



New officers:
Samsung's 4K and 8K TV launch is one of the more controversial in years, because Samsung appears to be saving high-end features for the much more costly 8K models. We first saw signs of it in January at CES 2020, when Samsung failed to show off any mainstream 4K sets, while displaying a plethora of 8K models. The company has now effectively confirmed that situation with the US launch of its new lineup.

The high-end QLED sets appear to be limited to the 8K range, while the 4K QLED TVs are along the lines of last year's Q80R step-up model. Feature-wise, only the 8K sets have HDMI 2.1, for instance. More significantly, it appears that the 4K sets have fewer dimming zones than before, with around 100 compared to 500 in 2019, according to a FlatpanelsHD analysis. (A Samsung spokesperson told Engadget that "unfortunately, we don't share number of zones in our TVs, as it's a subjective measurement to begin with.")

This year, Samsung is leading its lineup with 8K QLED TVs in the Q950TS range. That includes 65-, 75- and 85-inch models ranging in price up to $13,000 or so (Samsung has yet to fully reveal prices or release dates yet).

As the flagship sets, they run at 7,680 x 4,320 native resolution and pack full array local dimming (FALD) to maximize HDR picture quality. Samsung said that it has managed to increase peak brightness with this system by up to 20 percent over last year's models. The Q950TS series should also deliver better contrast, while retaining the controversial ultra-wide viewing angle tech from last year. Samsung also said the new models will deliver better clarity, color accuracy and HDR. Note that as usual, Samsung will support HDR10, HLG and HDR10+, but not Dolby Vision.

Samsung 4K and 8K QLED TV lineup Samsung 4K and 8K QLED TV lineup

From a gaming standpoint, the sets offer support for both AMD's open-source FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync technology. They also come with a Game Multi-View option that lets you play a game while also watching a separate TV feed via a picture-in-picture window. Input lag, meanwhile, is down to around 10 milliseconds.

Story continues

Visually, they sport nearly bezel-free designs and are a mere 15mm thick, so they'll look like frameless paintings on your wall. To keep unseemly wiring to a minimum, they also come with Samsung's OneConnect box that can be located out of sight below the TV. As mentioned, the lineup will also support HDMI 2.1 with up to 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 120Hz.

The big problem with 8K TVs is the lack of 8K content. To that end, the Q950TS lineup comes with a neural-network upscaling engine powered by the Quantum Processor 2.0 8K. Upscaling is no substitute for native content, however, and that doesn't look to be coming any time soon. In fact, there's still a serious dearth of 4K programming in the US and Europe.

Audio-wise, the Q950TS sets will feature a 4.2.2 speaker array with Object Tracking Sound (OTS) making voices and sound effects appear to come from the appropriate region of the screen. If you install one of Samsung's 2020 Q-series soundbars, they'll work in concert with the TV speakers to deliver a large soundstage while maintaining the object tracking features.

Samsung 4K 8K QLED TVs 2020

Still in 8K, Samsung will also release the Q900TS series in the US, again in 65-, 75- and 85-inch models (above). That lineup is nearly identical to the Q950TS series, feature-wise, but doesn't have the bezel-less "Infinity Screen" and ships without the OneConnect box.

The Q800T series, meanwhile, also lacks the Infinity Screen display, has FALD but fewer local dimming zones, lower brightness (2,000 compared to 3,000 nits) and a cable management system rather than the OneConnect box. It'll come in 65-, 75- and 82-inch sizes.

That brings us to the 4K lineup, starting with the top-end Q90T QLED model, available in 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch sizes. It does offer full array local dimming, but as mentioned, reportedly has fewer local dimming zones. It also packs HDMI 2.0, rather than HDMI 2.1 inputs.

Samsung 4K TV lineup Q90T

Like the 8K models, the Q90T (above) harnesses new AI upscaling powered by deep learning, which is key on a 4K set considering that most US content is still 1080p. It also has improved local dimming efficiency for brighter highlights and ultra-wide viewing angles, along with support for HDR10+. None of the 4K displays have the bezel-free Infinity Screen, but the bezels are certainly pretty tiny. You also get HDR10+ support along with the Object Tracking Sound and Q-Symphony available on the 8K sets.

The Q80T is Samsung's cheapest QLED set with full-array local dimming, but is slightly dimmer than the Q90T with 1,500 nits of peak brightness. Otherwise, the feature set is the same, and it also comes in a 49-inch model, along with 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch versions.

The cheapest models will be the Q60T and Q70T sets ranging in size from 43- to 85-inches. Those lack full-array local dimming, but use something Samsung calls Dual LED edge-lighting. That system can adjust the backlight color temperature between cool and warm to best suit the image, yielding better contrast and improved viewing angles. You also get a significant drop in brightness from 1,500 nits on the Q80T to 500 nits on the Q70. These sets also lack the OTS audio feature, and have thicker three-sided bezels.

As mentioned, Samsung has yet to reveal prices and shipment dates for these TVs, but you can expect them to start at around $530 for the 43-inch Q60T, and go up to around $13,000 for the Q950TS.
All local residents of Novi Sanzhary were glad to help their compatriots, law enforces to deal with artificial blockade, Zelensky

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that law enforcement agencies will deal with the blockade to prevent evacuees from China to be located in Novi Sanzhary. He said he is sure the overwhelming majority of the local residents were glad to help their fellow nationals.

"I want to express a certain gratitude to the National Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the head of the Poltava Regional Administration. This situation was a test for him, and we definitely have a strong guy in this area. I also want to thank the Ministry of Health, our great Mrs. Skaletska, I'm sure that we won't 'lose' her, he said on Thursday during a talk with Ukrainian and foreign citizens, who were being observed at the Novi Sanzhary health center.

Zelensky also thanked the local population of Novi Sanzhary.

"You know that there was an artificial blockade. Law enforcement agencies will deal with this issue there. But I'm sure that the majority here, almost all local residents understand that their Ukrainians came to them," he said.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday brought up a proposal for selecting 10 census towns along the Indo-China border as a pilot project for infrastructure development to put a check on migration.

Khandu, replying to a query in the assembly by BJP MLA Lokam Tassar on migration along the border areas of Kurung Kumey and Upper Subansiri districts that he termed as "security threat", said the issue is serious as the state shares its border with China, Bhutan and Myanmar.

The CM said the state government has already placed a proposal with the Union Home Ministry for a special package to the tune of 4,600 crore for development of infrastructure in the border areas.

"The proposal... is pending with the Union cabinet. Once it is cleared, the border areas will be developed with all amenities so that migration could be stopped," he said.

Tassar said the state government should take steps to make the people go back to their villages by providing basic amenities.

The government machinery was not active and did not take up any initiative for providing livelihood to the people in such areas, he alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amber Rudd told of her disgust at being blatantly snubbed by Oxford University students last night over her links to the Windrush scandal.

Miss Rudd, who was Home Secretary when the scandal broke in 2018, had planned to deliver a speech encouraging young women to get involved in politics before International Women's Day on Sunday.

But she arrived last night to an empty hall after Felicity Graham, president of an Oxford student society supporting the work of UN Women UK, which organised the event, was forced to cancel amid severe criticism from fellow members and students.

The UNWomen Oxford society's 13-strong committee approved sending an invitation to Miss Rudd in Janaury.

Amber Rudd (pictured with student organiser Felicity Graham) was due to speak to young women about engaging in politics at Oxford University

But Miss Graham started to come under intense pressure on Monday from students who said the event should be scrapped because of Miss Rudd's links to Windrush.

She told the Mail she was adamant the event should go ahead, but received a call 30 minutes before the event was due to start last night from the committee which said they no longer supported the invitation.

Miss Graham said: 'It was ultimately my decision but every single person on the committee was against and I was given no choice.

'I was adamant we weren't going to cancel because I think she was a great feminist to be platforming and because she has worked on UN campaigns, it seemed right. It was the Oxford African and Caribbean Society - who hold a lot of power - who really applied the pressure and forced us to cancel.'

The snub is the latest in a series of figures being 'no-platformed' - denied a chance to speak - at universities across the UK by students who deem them too controversial.

Event organisers were forced to cancel after they were inundated with complaints about the former Home Secretary's links to the 2018 Windrush Scandal (pictured, Jamaican immigrants arriving at Tibury Docks in Essex, June 1948, coming to Britain escaping unemployment)

Miss Rudd said: 'It was supposed to be all about International Women's Day, to inspire young women to get into politics. This is outrageous and so disappointing. These young women want to engage and campaign and become politicians and so they shouldn't be hiding away, they should be talking to me and I would have taken any of the issues they raised with me very seriously.

'But to cancel at the last minute is terrible behaviour and a terrible sign of the way they think they can engage with other political women.

'Oxford should be a place where they explore ideas and have the highest standards. They are just damaging their own reputation and it's disgusting that they're behaving in this way.

She added: 'I would have been quite content to talk to them about Windrush in terms of how it came to pass, what action I took to try to make sure it was corrected and never happens again and my deep regret it happened at all. I want to share what happened honestly and fairly.'

Miss Rudd said she gave a similar speech at the University of St Andrews in Scotland last week, and was approached by students who said it had inspired them to pursue getting into Parliament.

'These students need to re-thinking their approach to how they handle people.'

Miss Rudd resigned as Home Secretary over the Windrush scandal, which saw those of Caribbean heritage who arrived between 1948 and 1971 wrongly detained, threatened with deportation or wrongly refused re-entry to the UK.
(Natural News) Since the outbreak of Coronavirus in Wuhan, the Chinese Communist Party has concealed the epidemic from the local government to the central government and shirked from its responsibility. Recently, Caixin, a Beijing-based media group published a shocking report that the Hubei Provincial Health and Medical Commission ordered the destruction of Coronavirus samples. Soon after the story was gagged with the article subsequently taken down.

(Article republished from GreatGameIndia.com)

Gene sequence detected and reported at the end of December

On February 26, Caixin published a shocking article titled Tracking the Source of New Coronavirus Gene Sequencing. Caixin sources told GreatGameIndia on condition of anonymity that the article was taken down due to mounting pressure from the Chinese authorities. The article was archived on the web but even the archived version redirects to an error page. So, we decided to publish the Caixin report in full translated into English from Chinese (found at the above link).

The Caixin report said:

As of February 24, more than 2660 people have died and more than 77,000 people have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, a novel coronavirus similar to SARS. When was it found? Caixin reporters conducted interviews from various sources and sorted out relevant papers and database materials. By piecing together all sorts of information, the full picture is gradually emerging.

The Caixin article stated that there were no less than 9 unknown pneumonias before the end of December last year. Samples of the cases were collected from various hospitals in Wuhan. Gene sequencing showed that the pathogen was a SARS-like Coronavirus (similarity is about 80% and infectious). These test results were returned to the hospital and reported to the Health and Medical Commission and the Center for Disease Control.

A private enterprise in Huangpu district of Guangzhou, analysed the gene sequence of the virus on December 26. The results of the study found that it was most similar to the bat SARS Coronavirus, with an overall similarity of about 87% and a similarity with SARS of about 81%.

The company officials communicated with the hospital and CDC by telephone on December 27 and 28, and even went to Wuhan to report all the results of the analysis in person to the hospital management and CDC on December 29 and 30.

Zhang Jixian, director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Xinhua Hospital of Hubei Province, received four consecutive unexplained pneumonia cases on December 26. On December 27, Zhang Jixian reported the discovery of four unknown viral pneumonias to the hospital, which was inturn reported by the hospital to Jiang Han District Center for Disease Control.

From December 28th to 29th, Xinhua Hospital treated 3 patients from the South China Seafood Market. They had similar symptoms of viral pneumonia. At 1 pm on December 29th, Xia Wenguang, deputy director of Xinhua Hospital, convened ten experts to discuss the seven cases. The experts agreed that the situation was unusual. Xia Wenguang reported directly to the disease control department of the provincial and municipal health committees.

On December 29, the industry leader Huada Gene (Shenzhen, China) completed a case of gene sequencing, and the results showed that the virus and SARS gene sequence similarity was as high as 80%. On January 1, the companys three sample test reports were reported to the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.

On December 30, Beijing Boao Medical Laboratory reported the patient report to the doctor, and the test result was  SARS Coronavirus.

Health and Medical Commission of Hubei Province ordered destruction of Coronavirus case samples

The Caixin report said that it was not until January 9th that the Chinese Communist Party officially declared the pathogen a new Coronavirus.

The report also quoted a person from a gene sequencing company who disclosed that on January 1, 2020, he received a phone call from an official of the Health and Medical Commission of Hubei Province, informing him that samples of cases of new Coronavirus in Wuhan could not be re-examined. Existing case samples must be destroyed and sample information cannot be disclosed. Relevant papers and related data cannot be released to the public. If you detect it in the future, you must report to us.

This article from Caixin has now been deleted, but has been circulated widely overseas and in Chinese social media attracting a strong response from the administration.

Beijing authorities concealed the epidemic

In fact, not only the authorities in Wuhan and Hubei provinces and related medical units were involved in the Coronavirus coverup, but also the National Health and Medical Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese authorities concealed the epidemic.

On January 5th, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center detected a new SARS-like Coronavirus and sequenced it to obtain the entire genome sequence of the virus. On the same day, the center immediately reported to the National Health Commission of the Communist Party of China and suggested to take corresponding prevention and control measures in public places.

The report states that the virus shares 89.11% homology with SARS Coronavirus and is named Wuhan-Hu-1 Coronavirus.

Numerous such internal circulars, notifications and reports of studies warning the Chinese administrations were sent out in the weeks leading to the outbreak which were not only ignored but actively suppressed from reaching to people. We have cataloged these findings in our scientific investigation on the origin of Coronavirus  the COVID19 Files  from five major areas, including epidemiological investigation, virus gene comparison, cross-species infection research, key intermediate hosts and the findings on the Wuhan P4 lab.

However, the Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Health Commission of the Communist Party of China declared that the epidemic was preventable and controllable until January 19, and the possibility of limited transmission from person to person was not ruled out.

On February 3rd, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying said that since January 3rd, the Chinese Communist Party has notified the United States of a total of 30 outbreak information and control measures. Immediately after the remarks were published, it was strongly condemned.

However, it was not until January 20th that Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang made public statements on the prevention and control of the epidemic for the first time. Zhong Nanshan, a CCP expert, acknowledged for the first time that the new Coronavirus was person-to-person.

On January 26, the Communist Party of China set up a task force for epidemic prevention and control with Li Keqiang as the leader. It was after more than two months since the outbreak.

Wuhan pneumonia cases were discovered by the Communist Party of China CDC, Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CPC Health and Medical Committee, and the Hubei Health and Medical Committee by December 1st, and the relevant results were published in international journals.

However, the Chinese Communist Party has been concealing the epidemic, suppressing doctors and people who spread the truth of the epidemic, and spreading a false narrative that the epidemic is preventable and controllable and is not person-to-person.

EXCLUSIVE#Coronavirus Bioweapon Thread How China Stole Coronavirus From Canada And Weaponized Ithttps://t.co/tc7W2DrmAA  GreatGameIndia (@GreatGameIndia) January 27, 2020

The claims of the Caixin report that gene sequencing studies carried out by the Chinese administration found that COVID-19 Coronavirus is almost 80% similar to SARS gives further credence to GreatGameIndias report on how Chinese Biowarfare agents smuggled SARS Coronaviruses from Canada and weaponized it  Coronavirus Bioweapon. Further, the Canadian Scientist Frank Plummer who received these SARS Coronavirus samples of the first patient from Saudi Arabia was found dead in mysterious conditions in Nairobi, Kenya within 11 days of the publication of our report.

Read more at: GreatGameIndia.com
New Delhi, March 5 : Suspended Aam Aadmi Party Councillor Tahir Hussain, who is absconding in a murder case during the Delhi riots, has been booked in attempt to murder case during the violence.

A highly placed police source said on Wednesday that the new case has been lodged in the Khazuri Khas police station. The complainant, who received a bullet injury during the Delhi violence, has said in the FIR that Hussain was among the rioters who opened fire at him.

However, IANS tried to contact northeast district DCP Ved Prakash Surya and Joint Police Commissioner Alok Kumar in this regard for multiple times, but all efforts went in vain. Also, no official information has been issued about the complaint so far.
The merger of Agri News and Agweek, two of Minnesota's premier newspapers focused on agriculuture, will be celebrated as part of this year's Farm Show.

The 38th annual Farm Show opens at 9 a.m. March 10 at the Graham arenas on the Olmsted County fairgrounds. Cake will be served at 7 p.m. in the show's food court to celebate the merger. The show closes at 8 p.m. that day.

Forum Communications publishes both Agri News and Agweek. Agri News is based in Rochester and covers people and events in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Agweek is based in Fargo, N.D., and covers western Minnesota, North and South Dakota, as well as portions of Montana.

Beginning March 9, Agri News subscribers will begin receiving Agweek. Agri News readers will still find news and advertising about themselves and their neighbors, as well as more in-depth coverage of ag-related issues.

Staff members from Agri News, Agweek and Forum Communications will be on hand both days at the show to explain the merger as well as show off some of the "bonuses" that Agweek brings. Among them are Agweek TV and a more robust website.

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"Stop by the booth and introduce yourselves to our team members," said Agweek Publisher Katie Pinke.

Mychal Wilmes, the former managing editor of Agri News who continues to write a weekly column, will be at the Agweek booth both days -- 4-7 p.m. March 10 and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 11.

"I may be retired, but I still like to talk to people at the show. They 'talk my language' and keep me in touch with what's important," Wilmes said.

Also new this year will be a free seminar, "How to Preserve Your Farm," presented at 9 a.m. both days by Julianne Kocer, an elder law attorney in Rochester.

The Farm Show would not be the Farm Show without three of its most popular features -- pork sandwiches on March 10, beef sandwiches on March 11, and the Olmsted County Dairy Association's ice cream wagon.

Nearly 140 exhibitors will be at the show with everything from milking equipment to insurance available. Overall, the vendors provide goods and services for use in the barn to the business office.

The grand prize for the Farm Show's traditional drawing is an Arctic Cat Stampede, a UTV. (You must be at least 18 to enter the drawing.)

Parking at Graham Park and admission to the show are free. The show is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 10, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 11.
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian Ministry of Health is asking all travellers from countries affected by Covid-19 (coronavirus) to register at a health facility to monitor their health status
KAMPALA -The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has issued travel guidelines to tour operators and those travelling to Uganda, especially from six countries most affected by the virus including China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran.

UTB Chief Executive Office Lilly Ajarova, in the new guidelines, warned that travel from the Coronavirus hit countries should be reconsidered at this time due to Ugandas efforts to curb the virus that is fast spreading since December 2019.

Ms. Ajarova says that travellers from the affected countries will be required to undergo a 14-day isolation process for daily monitoring by the Health Ministry, a guideline set by the government.

All tour operators, tour agencies and accommodation facilities have been directed to provide handwashing facilities with soap at their premises and onboard travel vehicles and vessels.

To improve preparedness as a sector, tour operators, agencies and accommodation facilities are encouraged to maintain a stock of recommended masks (N95) for their clients Ms. Ajarova said.

All tour operators and travel agencies should inform their clients who intend to come to visit Uganda to carry own recommended masks (N95, and operators should also educate their staff and visitors on preventive measures for the mitigation of contracting coronavirus, UTB CEO Ajarova said in a travel advisory.

President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday asked Ugandans to stop shaking hands as a precaution to avoid contracting the deadly Coronavirus.

Now as the Ministry of health guides us, let us take a personal decision not to shake hands unnecessarily or expose ourselves to conditions that will facilitate the spread of Coronavirus, Mr. Museveni.

Mr Museveni said Coronavirus can be a very big inconvenience if it breaks out in Uganda.

This is an inconvenience to us and jeopardy to our economy, we do not want to head there as a country, he said, This means that we must rely heavily on our personal behaviour first, while the Ministry of Health guides us on other measures,

Mr. Museveni said if Coronavirus breaks out in Uganda, it will not be the biggest we have gone through as a country, we fought Aids by behaviour [change] even before we got medicine.

He said that whoever has specific symptoms similar to Coronavirus, even as simple as a running nose, should do self-quarantine from the rest and seek medical guidance and confirmation that you are free from infection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier Wednesday that a sudden increase in cases of the new coronavirus in Italy, Iran, and South Korea are deeply concerning.

The WHO head said a lot had changed in the past week illustrating the rapidly evolving nature of the epidemic.

WHO declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

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(@FahadShabbir)

The Syrian governmental army is repelling terrorists' attacks in the area of Dadikh village, located in Idlib province, at the M5 highway, connecting Damascus and Aleppo, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Thursday

SARAQIB (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2020) The Syrian governmental army is repelling terrorists' attacks in the area of Dadikh village, located in Idlib province, at the M5 highway, connecting Damascus and Aleppo, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Thursday.

Terrorists are making attempts to attack the army's forward positions, chiefly those located near Dadikh. Both the highway and the settlements located around Saraqib are coming under fire.

The Syrian army's artillery is firing at terrorists and their equipment.

Fighting is also ongoing in Saraqib's western and north-western outskirts.
Aizawl, March 5 : A senior Mizoram government officer on Thursday denied claims that the process of preparing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was going on in Lunglei district of the northeastern state.

He made it clear that the state had undertaken a survey only to identify unauthorised villages and illegal foreigners, if any, in the district.

Chakma leaders belonging to all political parties in Mizoram and six NGOs of the tribal community had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the central government's intervention to stop the preparation of the NRC by the Mizoram government.

Lunglei district's acting Deputy Commissioner Pu R. Vanrengpuia on Thursday categorically said that no NRC preparation was underway, as claimed by the different Chakma leaders and the NGOs.

"According to a decision of the state-level screening committee of the Local Administration Department, the district administration is conducting a survey to identify unauthorised villages in Lunglei district along the Bangladesh border," Vanrengpuia told IANS over phone.

He said that the survey was also undertaken to ascertain whether any foreign national was residing in these villages inhabited by Chakma tribals.

The Chakma leaders of the ruling Mizo National Front, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and the National Peoples Party and six NGOs, including the Chakma National Council of India, had in a memorandum to the Prime Minister sought his intervention to stop what they called the NRC exercise.

Mizoram's Chakma Autonomous District Council Chief Executive Member Rashik Mohan Chakma, BJP's lone MLA Buddha Dhan Chakma, former minister and BJP's national council member Nirupam Chakma are among the signatories to the memorandum.

The memorandum said: "Illegal NRC being conducted in at least 14 Chakma-inhabited villages under Lunglei district. No such survey is being conducted in any Mizo-inhabited village." "On February 13, an officer of the Lunglei district administration issued a notice to the presidents of the village councils, asking them to participate in the illegal NRC on the pretext of verification and identification of unauthorised settlements," it added.

The memorandum claimed that the district administration had circulated a proforma asking villagers to furnish their names, places of birth, nationality and religion, name of last village they had lived in and the period of stay along with documents like voter identity cards, Aadhaar cards, and educational certificates.

"Mizoram's NRC form has six more questions which were not included in Assam's NRC," the memorandum claimed.

The Chakma leaders had urged Modi to "stand by his declaration at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on December 22 last year that ever since his government has come to power in 2014, there has been no discussion on NRC anywhere." Buddhist Chakmas are a minority in Christian-dominated Mizoram. According to Chakma leaders, three lakh Chakma tribals live in Bangladesh, 2.2 lakh in India and 30,000 in Myanmar.
ISTANBUL, March 4 (Reuters) - Two more Turkish soldiers were killed by government forces in northwest Syria, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, as fighting raged a day before Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin are to meet to seek a ceasefire.

The conflict in the Idlib region, which has displaced nearly a million civilians, has intensified in recent days between Turkey and allied rebels on one side and Syrian government forces backed by Moscow and Tehran on the other.

Since late last week, when 34 troops were killed in an air strike, Turkey has sharply ramped up drone attacks through the region as an answer to relentless Russian air strikes that have helped the Syrian government take territory since December.

Syrian opposition sources said Ankara is hitting Syrian forces and Iran-backed militia inside the strategic town of Saraqeb, which has changed hands three times in recent weeks, in what one called a "war of attrition." Local sources said reinforcements are being sent to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

The battle for Idlib, the last big rebel-controlled area in the northwest, has brought what the United Nations fears might be the worst humanitarian crisis of the nine-year-old Syrian civil war.

Erdogan is scheduled to meet Putin in Moscow on Thursday to try to agree a deal to halt the fighting. At least three rounds of talks between Turkish and Russian delegations in recent weeks have so far failed to reach an agreement.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia accused Turkey of violating international law by building up forces in Idlib, and failing to meet its obligations under a pact to create a demilitarised zone there.

The RIA news agency quoted a Russian defence ministry spokesman as saying "terrorist" fortifications had merged with Turkish outposts in Idlib, resulting in daily attacks on Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria.

Turkey, which hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, fears another wave from Idlib. In an effort to force Western allies to more forcefully back its effort in Syria, Ankara has encouraged migrants already in the country to enter the European Union via Greece or Bulgaria.

Story continues

NATO member Turkey has seen 59 troops killed in Idlib since the beginning of February. The latest casualties included six wounded, the defence ministry said, adding it retaliated and struck Syrian targets.

"After this attack, all targets in that region were hit and (Syrian) regime elements were seriously damaged," a Turkish security official said. "Russia's approach to ensure the regime makes as much headway as possible on the ground ahead of the meeting is causing issues."

(Reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul, Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, Olzhas Auyezov in Moscow and Orhan Coskun in Ankara; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dominic Evans, William Maclean)
New Delhi: At present, there is a fierce uproar in the Citizenship Amendment Act in the country and due to this, the violence has killed more than 40 people in Delhi, while in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai presented the data for the last five years Tax has created panic. Rai has informed in a written reply to a question that the Central Government has granted citizenship of India to 18 thousand 999 people in the last five years.

According to this reply, a total of 18,999 citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar have been approved as Indian citizens between 2014 and 2019. According to data presented by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the government has made the maximum number of 15,394 citizens of five neighboring countries in the year 2015. In 2015, the government recognized 14,864 citizens of Bangladesh after signing the Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement. These 14,864 Bangladeshi nationals were granted citizenship of India under Section 7 of the Citizenship Act 1955.

If we remove the figures of this treaty of 2015 from the list, then from 2014 to 2019, the number of Indian citizenship every year did not increase unexpectedly. In 2014, a total of 544 citizens of these five neighbouring countries were approved to become citizens of India. Whereas in 2015 the number of non-treaty cases was 530. After this, 988 in 2016, 677 in 2017, 511 in 2018 and 885 citizens of neighbouring countries were made Indian in 2019.

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Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has advised city-based companies to allow their employees to work from home if they have flu-like symptoms.

"Those employees having flu-like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette," the Health Department said in its advisory.

The advisory asked people to avoid non-essential travel to COVID-19 affected countries and refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan.

"Employees other than those restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Maccau, Veitnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry," the advisory read.

The government advisory also mandated employees arriving through all international flights entering lndia from any port to furnish duly filled self-declaration form, including personal particulars - phone numbers and address in India, and travel history to health officials and immigration officials.

It also appealed to promote regular and thorough hand washing at workplaces and keeping sanitising hand rub dispensers (alcohol-based) in prominent places and provide access to places where staff can wash their hands with soap and water.

Companies have been asked to promote good respiratory hygiene and ensure the availability of surgical masks and paper tissues at workplaces only for those who develop a running nose or cough at work along with closed bins for their hygienic disposal.

Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner B H Anil Kumar chaired a meeting on Wednesday regarding the preparedness to deal with coronavirus.
Three of Romania's six COVID-19 (coronavirus) patients were declared cured, the Strategic Communication Group informed on Thursday.

"The first case identified in Romania, the man from Gorj County, was discharged from hospital. The other two patients, a 38-year-old woman and a 48-year-old man admitted to a hospital in Timisoara, were declared cured after testing negative twice within a 24-hour span. The two Timisoara patients declared cured will remain under medical supervision until they are discharged," the report said.According to the cited source, three patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (coronavirus) infection are still hospitalized in infectious disease medical facilities in Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Iasi; their health condition is stable and they are under permanent medical monitoring. AGERPRES
If, then, the courts of justice are to be considered as the bulwarks of a limited Constitution against legislative encroachments, this consideration will afford a strong argument for the permanent tenure of judicial offices, argued Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 78.

If we ever needed a pristine example of why justices are bestowed lifetime appointments and shielded from the vagaries of the electorate and the intimidation tactics of unethical politicians, Chuck Schumer has now provided us with one.

While speaking to pro-abortion protesters in front of the Supreme Court today, the Senate minority leader threatened  theres no other way to put it  two sitting justices with repercussions if they ruled to uphold a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to gain admitting privileges to hospitals before offering their services to women:

I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

Its conceivable that Schumer  who, like the rest of his party, doesnt have the slightest interest in protecting babies whove survive botched abortions  cant think of any good reason for hospital-admitting privileges. But treating as an undue burden any laws that require abortion clinics to provide basic medical facilities for women is just an example of the Democrats extremism on the issue. Threatening justices over the case is hysterical.

Moreover, Schumers thuggish attack on Kavanaugh and Gorsuch is a transparent attempt to intimidate justices. And wow  a sitting senator threatening an independent judiciary. Surely the champions of norms and decency will be horrified by this development. When Donald Trump, rather absurdly, demanded that Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg recuse themselves from Trump-related Supreme Court cases because of their partisan positions  and, yes Notorious RGB is openly partisan and anti-Trump  it was a major national story. In this case, I suspect were going to hear a lot about a general coarsening of discourse.

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Whatever the case, this an unprecedented attack on a justice of the Supreme Court. And by unprecedented, I mean that you wont be able to unearth a single instance in modern history of a member of Congress threatening a justice  by name, no less  for ruling against his wishes. Which is why, I imagine, Chief Justice John Roberts felt the need to release this statement:

Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

Sometimes, in highly charged debates over public policy, the moment gets the better of person. Its probably happened to all of us. Yet, rather than walking back his statement, Schumer compounded the ugly behavior by smearing the chief justice as a partisan ideologue, as well.

For Justice Roberts to follow the right wings deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes, Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said in statement to USA Today. The senator meant only that there would be a political price Republicans will pay for putting them on the court, Goodman added.

First of all, is Schumer really arguing that being critical of justices is tantamount to threatening them? If thats the case, why, during Obamas State of the Union address in 2010, did Schumer stand and clap for Obamas norm-breaking attack on the Supreme Court justices who had upheld the First Amendment in Citizens United? It seems clear that Obama was attempting to manipulate court, as well, but at least he had the decency not to sound like some wannabe Mafioso.

By accusing Roberts of misrepresenting his comments for partisan reasons, Schumer (via his spokesman) is obviously trying to influence the chief justice, as well. But hes lying. Schumers initial statement specifically and unequivocally named two justices  one of whom he and his colleagues had already attempted to humiliate and defame. He was not calling out the Republicans who put Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Court.

Schumer doesnt have the power to follow through on any threats, thankfully. His attack, like many less obvious ones, is just part of the Lefts concerted effort to delegitimize the court, denigrate its justices, and undermine the legality of its decisions. This isnt surprising, since the Constitution  and the jurists who are inclined to uphold it  is the biggest impediment to the progressive agenda. So expect a lot more of this.

More from National Review
: Chairman of Karnataka



Christian Development Committee (CDC) Joylus DSouza on Thursday welcomed the allocation of a Rs 200-crore grant in the state budget for the development of the Christian community.

In his message to the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa released to the media, DSouza said, "Christians in Karnataka welcome with gratitude the announcement of Rs 200-crore allocation for the community in the budget for the fiscal 2020-21."



In 2011-12 fiscal also, Yediyurappa as Chief Minister had allocated a grant of Rs 50 crore for the community for the first time in the history of the state, he said.

The grant of Rs 200 crore this year shows Yediyurappas concern for the Christians.

I congratulate and offer my sincere gratitude on behalf of the Christian community of the state to Yediyurappa, DSouza said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BURLINGTON, Vt. - Tuesday night was the 39th anniversary of Bernie Sanders' narrow victory to become the mayor of this liberal lakeside city, the race that launched the career of one of the country's most prominent left-wing politicians.

But what could have been a triumphant homecoming for a political revolutionary seemingly on course to become the Democratic presidential nominee instead morphed quickly into a moment of reckoning - a sign that the political movement he has built may not be enough to get him to the White House.

By Wednesday, Sanders sought to regain his footing from primary election defeats in several key states as his campaign advisers looked to address his glaring inability to win African-Americans and traditional Democrats.

Hours after Joe Biden racked up wins in at least 10 of the 14 Super Tuesday states, Sanders took sharp aim at the former vice president's record, a sign of what aides said would be a more confrontational posture in the coming weeks. Sanders also unveiled a pair of television commercials critical of Biden's record on Social Security and trade in states voting later this month.

"Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country, and Joe and I are running very different campaigns," Sanders said. "My hope is that in the coming months, we will be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have."

Sanders' reset attempt, coming less than a week before another critical set of primaries, reflected a divide among some of his supporters about how to proceed.

In some parts of the Sanders orbit, there have been private discussions about how to reassure Democrats that Sanders - a democratic socialist who frequently lambastes the party establishment - is an ally of the party.

The campaign released an ad featuring an audio clip of former president Barack Obama praising Sanders, a clear attempt to undercut the benefit that has accrued to Biden, particularly among black voters, as the loyal lieutenant to the country's first African-American president.

The flurry of activity amounted to the clearest acknowledgment yet that the coalition Sanders has built - which is composed largely of young people, liberals, working-class voters and Latino voters - has failed to expand since Sanders' upstart 2016 bid, all as the rest of the party has coalesced behind Biden.

The Tuesday results, in which Sanders led in California while winning Colorado, Utah and Vermont, offered a reminder that he retains a forceful position in the party - win or lose the nomination - with support from a quarter to a third of the base.

But much of his team's focus Wednesday was on the need for improvement.

Exit polls showed that the struggles Sanders experienced among black voters four years ago against Clinton were largely unchanged. Black voters boosted Biden across Southern states on Super Tuesday, with exit polling showing that he won the votes of roughly 7 in 10 black voters in Virginia and Alabama, and did nearly as well in North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, getting roughly 60 percent of the black vote.

Sanders' push to broaden the electorate with scores of new voters rallying behind him hasn't been realized. And he has struggled to persuade voters that a leftist political revolution is the best way to beat President Donald Trump.

Now, Sanders is confronting a radically different political landscape from 11 days ago, when he was flying high after a decisive win in Nevada seemed to put him in the driver's seat in the Democratic race. Divisions in the moderate wing of the party that enabled him to succeed with a limited, if loyal, base have been resolved.

On Wednesday, Sanders appeared frustrated by the decision by former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg - who ended his campaign after a disappointing showing - and others to end their campaigns and line up behind Biden.

"How do we stop Bernie Sanders?" the senator from Vermont said. "What you do is you get candidates out of the race to rally around Joe Biden."

Sanders campaign officials were hopeful that as more votes were tallied in California - Tuesday's biggest prize - the delegate advantage Biden had built would shrink or disappear entirely. Even if it does, though, the path ahead for Sanders is a treacherous one, with some states that present opportunities but many others that seem more favorable to Biden.

Campaign officials are also eyeing Michigan, a populous state where Sanders defeated Clinton in 2016. But Florida, another delegate-rich state where many Democrats were angered by Sanders' recent comments praising Fidel Castro, is likely to be much tougher.

Mississippi, which holds its primary next week, could be another difficult contest for Sanders due to the state's high concentration of black voters.

Sanders planned to travel Friday to Jackson, Miss., to deliver a speech at a civil rights museum, although his aides declined to say what he would talk about.

His struggles were apparent in the closing days of the South Carolina primary, when he drew mostly white crowds.

Chokwe Lumumba, the African American mayor of Jackson, Miss., where Sanders will be Friday, spent time in South Carolina campaigning for Sanders last week. He recalled meeting a young African American man who told him, "My student loans are killing me."

"I asked who he was voting for, and he said Joe Biden," recalled Lumumba. "I said, 'I don't know what his policy is around your student loans, but I know where Bernie Sanders is.' "

Some close Sanders allies believe the distance between the Sanders movement and the party have caused broader issues, especially when Biden is portraying himself as a unifier. Now, some are trying to bridge that gap in hopes of mending old wounds and preventing new ones.

"Our campaign is deeply proud of the Democratic Party and contributions to America," said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a national co-chair of the Sanders campaign. "We are open to listening and earning the trust of every Democrat from every ideological spectrum to earn the right to lead this extraordinary party."

Some Sanders allies believe the problem is deeper than party identity.

As Sanders spoke in Vermont on Wednesday afternoon, a handful of his prominent supporters quietly connected by phone and text message, according to three Democrats familiar with those discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations.

In these discussions, some debated whether Sanders' anti-establishment message was enough. "We've got to be ready for when the party gets cold feet on Biden and looks to us," one of the Democrats said. "We can't just keep running the same playbook again and again."

A second Democrat involved said there are plans to reach out to supporters of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in key states, should she drop out, but those efforts are not being directed by Sanders' inner circle since they are busy with primary contests, ads and travel.

The second Democrat added that there are some leading liberals in Sanders' orbit who would like to see "less Michael Moore and the Squad" on the campaign trail.

Warren's intentions were not clear on Wednesday, and her continued presence in the race is hurting Sanders, some of his allies privately acknowledged. As the senator from Massachusetts hunkered down to consider her future after failing to gain traction anywhere on Tuesday, she and Sanders spoke, according to the senator from Vermont.

Sanders said it was important to "respect the time and the space that she needs to make her decision."

One bright spot for Sanders on Tuesday was California, where he was leading and performed well among Latino voters.

Analilia Mejia, Sanders' political director, said the campaign sought to capitalize early on what it saw as a chance to make inroads with Latino voters by immersing itself in Hispanic communities through intimate meetings, the hiring of staff who knew local areas best and by encouraging young Latinos to persuade their parents to consider supporting Sanders.

"What people see outwardly," Mejia said, is "a rally at a particular location or state or city. What isn't always apparent is we build clutches with leaders and communities before and after those rallies."

- - -

The Washington Post's Emily Guskin in Washington contributed to this report.
New Delhi, March 5 : A hilarious video of a Pakistani panellist falling off his chair during a live TV broadcast has taken the Internet by storm recently.

The video was tweeted by user @nailainayat with the caption, "Oh my God." The video features four panellists debating on the performance of the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan led Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

After a few seconds in the video, one of the four Pakistani panellists falls off his chair following which the news anchor immediately called for an advertisement break.

The video has received over 63,500 views and more than 600 likes.

As the post went viral, Twitterati flooded the social media with their reactions.

A user wrote, "This is what will now happen to Pak panellists on tv speaking against Mr Niazi!Am sure it was done on purpose...Get ready to see many other panellists falling off in Pak studios!" Another wrote, "He was sitting on a chair or Economy of Pakistan?"

A post read, "Do not purchase Chinese items, they can do damage at any given time." "He didn't fall on his own.. Probably his chair was pulled off by someone" a user remarked.
Now that Mike Bloombergs half-billion-dollar bet has gone bust, two questions remain to be answered in Pennsylvanias political economy:

Will the billionaire former New York mayor live up to his vow to keep the money flowing to assist the eventual Democratic nominee and target President Donald Trump?

And will Bloombergs outsize spending be sustainable for future political gigs?

Mustafa Rashed, one of the legion of Pennsylvania consultants drafted by Bloomberg, said decisions are being made now about maintaining campaign staffing in the state.

Michael Bloomberg has said all along that he is going to support the eventual Democratic nominee, no matter who that is, Rashed said. As of right now, that is the plan. The team is in place.

Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race Wednesday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.

Only Sen. Bernie Sanders, who campaigns as much against the billionaire class as he does against Trump, has said he would reject Bloombergs money if he becomes the Democratic nominee.

Aubrey Montgomery, a Philadelphia fund-raising consultant who worked for Sen. Amy Klobuchars campaign, said she was thrilled to have friends gainfully employed, however briefly, for Bloombergs campaign. But she doesnt expect his pay scale  20% to 30% or more above the going rate  to be repeated in 2021.

Im happy to see political organizers being compensated like professionals, she said. I think thats good for the industry. Im sure there will be a resetting of salary expectations when this race is over. We wont be able to pay people the Mike Bloomberg rate for municipal races next year.

There had been speculation that Bloomberg was trying to corner the market for consultants ahead of Pennsylvanias April 28 primary, which could have left any remaining competitors in a scramble.

They have ruined the market in many ways, in the sense that theyre paying so much money that advocacy groups cant find anyone, one local consultant, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve business relationships, told Clout just before Bloomberg dropped out. Its just killing [other] campaigns because theyre soaking up all the talent.

A former statewide political operative now working as a lobbyist, who also asked to remain anonymous, suggested Bloombergs enhanced pay included a reputation premium for consultants worried about working for a former Republican who pushed for stop-and-frisk policing and other ideas deeply unpopular with the Democratic base.

Its tough in a city like Philadelphia, trending left for a while, to enthusiastically support a former Republican who fought for policies that have been devastating to communities in major cities, the lobbyist said. They recognized it is a tough sell, and you have to do business after that.

Clout caption contest  Mike & Mike

With Bloombergs exit, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutters time as national campaign cochairperson has come to a conclusion. That got us thinking about this photo from Clout colleague Julia Terruso, of Nutter pondering the visage of his candidate while out on the trail this week in San Francisco.

Give it a gander and then shoot your best captions to clout@inquirer.com. Well peruse the entries and publish any that strike our fancy.

For inspiration, you can see Nutter introduce Bloomberg as a great leader, a great man, a great person when Bloomberg delivered a speech Wednesday about the end of his campaign. And yes, Nutter dropped the mic on stage. Its a thing he does. Dont ask us to explain it.

Pa. Democratic Jewish PAC avoids primary endorsements, until now

As far as political action committees go, Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania isnt going to shatter any fund-raising records. The group, based in the Philadelphia suburbs, raised about $17,000 last year.

And while it may not hold as much sway as Jim Clyburn does in South Carolina, the group says the presidential race is so important that its breaking its own rule prohibiting endorsements in a primary.

We think in order to defeat Trump, we need to solidify and unify, said Jill Zipin, the PACs chairwoman. We consider ourselves liberal. We consider ourselves progressive. But we dont consider ourselves revolutionary. We believe that Vice President Biden best reflects Jewish values.

She said the PAC wanted its donors, 9,800 Facebook followers, and email list of 1,500 people to know of our support.

Zipin and others founded an earlier iteration of the group in 2008 to counter a Republican Jewish groups attack ads against Barack Obama. It later became a political action committee.

Powered by mostly small-dollar contributions, the group places ads in Jewish media and in newspapers like The Inquirer, the Morning Call in Allentown, and the Centre Daily Times in State College. Its events draw members of Congress and prominent Democrats like former Gov. Ed Rendell.

We take the small-dollar donations and leverage them in a very big way, Zipin said.

Kind of like Bernie Sanders.

Staff writer Andrew Seidman contributed to this article.
WRTC 2022 Postponed At the WRTC 2022 Association Assembly on 23 April 2021, having previously consulted the WRTC Sanctioning Committee, the assembly and Organizing Committee decided to postpone WRTC 2022 one year to 2023. There have been no changes in the qualification process or to the overall structure of the event and its sponsoring committee. A detailed report on the qualification standings will be prepared and released at a later date.



In consideration of the worldwide public health challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, we believe our decision is reasonable. We have received many communications from competitors and friends of WRTC and have taken them very seriously.



There will be further announcements regarding WRTC as soon as new arrangements have been made.

Thank you for your understanding and commitments in support of our adventure!

73 de Carlo IK1HJS

President, WRTC 2022

Organizing Committee Source: WRTC2022

Venezia 1600 Award

On the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the founding of the city of Venice (on March 25th of the year 421 AD !) and of the 75th anniversary of the constitution of ARI Venezia (November 1946) ARI VENEZIA is pleased to introduce a commemorative award for OM and SWL from all over the world with the following rules: To obtain the award OM and SWL need, till November 30 2021, to make QSO or SWL reports with the special callsign II3VE and/or with the callsign of the Venice ARI branch IQ3VE on all legal amateur bands at least on 2 different modes or bands and on different days. Score QSO number requested: Italian stations: 10 QSO

European stations: 6 QSO

Extraeuropean stations: 2 QSO Contacts on FM and through land repeaters are not valid. On April 25th, St. Mark feast day patron of Venice, II3VE will be on the air via satellite QO-100 and the relative contacts will be valid as 2 QSO II3VE will be also valid for SASC W1600VE from March 20 to 27

IQ3VE will be also valid for SASC W75VE from November 1 to 15 Once you reach the score requested you can send your application to the following email: ari.venezia(at)virgilio.it Upon verification from our award manager the VENEZIA 1600 AWARD will be issued as a PDF file via email.

Fonte: ARI Venezia

New 2380km record on 2.4 GHz between Australia and New Zealand The Tasman Sea is an area where there are regular tropospheric ducting openings between Australia and New Zealand. On the 13th of December 2020, Hayden VK7HH and Richard VK7ZBX portable on an elevated location in Tasmania made successful SSB contacts with Nick ZL1IU in New Zealand on 144 MHz, 432 MHz and 1296 MHz.

Read all... The Asheville Radio Museum

Aperto al pubblico nel 2001 da un piccolo gruppo di radioamatori, da collezione diviene museo didattico, dove persone di tutte le eta possono conoscere la storia della tecnologia radio e stupirsi delle apparecchiature e di come si sono evolute. Sono state raccolte e conservate apparecchiature radio, pubblicita e altri cimeli, in un museo orientato all'istruzione, con display pratici e una stazione radioamatoriale funzionante. Per maggiori informazioni cliccare QUI

Fonte: avlradiomuseum.org


KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  With another dry year increasingly likely in the Klamath Basin, stakeholders in the area say that Governor Kate Brown has issued a drought declaration to free up state resources to help.

The news comes from the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA), a group representing farmers and other businesses that rely on the Basin's waterways for their livelihoods.

We are very grateful to the Governor for her swift action to get in front of a very difficult situation, said KWUA President Tricia Hill. The action by the Governor and her team will create important opportunities to lessen the impact of a water year that is going the wrong direction."

An official drought declaration directs state agencies to help soften the blow of a drought on affected communities. KWUA says that it will help growers who have invested in groundwater wells get better access to that resource, while obligating Oregon agencies to coordinate with the federal government for help.

"Drought conditions arrived early and have persisted, including reduced snowpack, precipitation, and minimal streamflow," the Governor's declaration reads. "The long-term forecast for the region continues for warmer than normal temperatures and lower than normal precipitation. These conditions have had a significant economic impact on the agriculture and livestock industries in Klamath County."

Klamath County last experienced a drought emergency in 2018. Lawmakers eventually secured millions in relief funds for those affected.

KWUA and Klamath Irrigation District board member Jerry Enman said that the Klamath County Commissioners had requested the declaration from the Governor in a letter dated February 25, 2020.

RELATED: Klamath Lake water fight continue as farmer reps strike back

The County Commission, as well as the Supervisors in Modoc and Siskiyou, have been on top of this and are working hard to protect the agricultural community, Enman said.

The Klamath River and Upper Klamath Lake have long been a battleground between those represented by the KWUA and local tribes, the latter of which have fought to preserve water levels in an effort to rehabilitate salmon populations. During drought years, the water levels mandated to help fish often mean that farmers are left without a significant source of water for irrigation.

KWUA and the Klamath Project Drought Response Agency plan to host a public meeting on March 5, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. at the Klamath County Fairgrounds, Building #2, "to update growers on water supply conditions and resources that may be available to help get through a difficult year." Representatives from state and federal agencies will also be in attendance, KWUA said.
The festival of colours, Holi is around the corner and the Gokuldham society of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is prepping up for the same. Recently, the cast was seen shooting for the Holi special sequence, 'Holi Rasiya'. As per the Tellychakkar's report, the security on the sets was tightened due to the recent controversy!

It has to be recalled that in a recent episode, Bapuji aka Amit Bhatt said that Hindi is the common language in Mumbai, which angered a few people, especially, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The MNS had even openely threatened and demanded an apology from the team.



The party workers also landed at the residence of Amit Bhatt (who said the dialogue). Post this, Amit had issued an apology letter in which he had stated that he was portraying the character and performed as per the script's demand. He also mentioned in his letter that he respects Marathi language and is proud of it. Even Asit Kumarr Modi, the producer of the show, issued a statement. The makers aired a segment clarifying their stand and stated that the only thing they like to spread is love.

Well, we assume that this controversy was the reason for the tight security on the sets. Apparently, media was also present on the sets while the cast was shooting for the Holi special episode. The report also suggests that a few police constables were present on the sets to avoid any kind of havoc. However, things were all fine on the sets.

Also Read: Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah: MNS Threatens & Demands Apology From Makers; Producer Reacts
Singapore, which has reported 112 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, on Wednesday stepped up efforts to contain its spread at Changi Airport after a passenger from Turkey tested positive for COVID-19.

The health ministry said that one of the passengers of Turkish Airlines flight TK54, which arrived here from Turkey on March 3, tested positive for COVID-19.

A statement from the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said Turkish Airlines flight TK55 did not take off from Changi Airport on Wednesday at its scheduled departure time of 11.35 PM, Channel Asia reported on Thursday.

The health ministry said it has started contact tracing for flight passengers who may have had a contact with the affected person.

The MOT, together with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Changi Airport Group, are in contact with and assisting the airline and passengers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is in contact with the Turkish embassy.

Singapore has reported 112 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, two of which were reported on Wednesday.

Out of the 33 people hospitalised, seven were critical. So far, 79 patients have been discharged.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has asked pilots and cabin crew on a Milan-Singapore flight to take a leave of absence and monitor their health closely after a passenger tested positive.

The infected woman landed at Changi Airport then left for Auckland on February 25 on an Air New Zealand flight. She was subsequently confirmed to have the COVID-19 infection on Wednesday.

Flight NZ283 was also carrying the SIA passengers, The Straits Times reported on Wednesday.

Air NZ said the woman, who flew from Singapore to Auckland, then went to Palmerston North on flight NZ5103 on Monday and returned to Auckland on NZ8114 the same day.

"Singapore Airlines has been informed that a passenger, who is confirmed to have COVID-19, travelled on our flight from Milan to Singapore on February 24.

"We are assisting the relevant authorities to identify the passengers and crew who were on board the flight," an SIA spokesman was quoted as saying in the report.

According to media reports, the novel coronavirus has so far killed 3,123 people across the world and infected more than 91,783.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six students and faculty members at the University of Houston are self-quarantined after returning from trips to South Korea and Italy  a precautionary measure amid the spreading coronavirus outbreak, the university announced Wednesday.

The news comes as Fort Bend County reported the states first presumptive case of the virus.
WASHINGTON  Senate leaders and the Trump administration have reached an election-year deal to double spending on a popular conservation program and devote more than a $1 billion a year to clear a growing maintenance backlog at national parks.

The deal, announced Wednesday by senators from both parties, would spend about $2.2 billion per year on conservation and outdoor recreation projects and park maintenance across the country.

If approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, the bill will be the most significant conservation legislation enacted by Congress in nearly half a century, said veteran Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Alexander was one of 12 senators from both parties who hailed the bill at a news conference Wednesday. The breakthrough, which is supported by the leaders of both parties, came as Trump tweeted support for the proposal despite repeatedly trying to slash spending for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund in recent years.

The program uses federal royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to pay for conservation and public recreation projects around the country. The 55-year-old-fund is authorized to collect $900 million a year but generally receives less than half that amount from Congress.

The plan announced Wednesday would fully fund the conservation program and add $1.3 billion a year for deferred park maintenance. The proposed $900 million for land and water conservation is nearly double the $485 million Congress approved this year and 60 times larger than the $15 million Trump proposed in his 2021 budget last month.

Trump credited Republican Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Steve Daines of Montana for his change of heart. ALL thanks to @SenCoryGardner and @SteveDaines, two GREAT Conservative Leaders! Trump tweeted.

Both Daines and Gardner are seeking reelection this year, and Gardner is considered one of the Senates most vulnerable incumbents. Gardner, who went to the White House with Daines last week to lobby Trump on the bill, denied that politics played a role in the presidents reversal. He and Daines said they showed Trump pictures and maps of their states and stressed the importance of conservation in the West. They also noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backs the bill.

Im not going to try to play politics or point partisan fingers, Gardner told reporters Wednesday. Im going to focus on the good the great outdoors does.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he didnt care about the plans politics, only that it helped his state and others across the country. Politics be dammed, lets get this done, Manchin said, standing next to Gardner at a Capitol news conference.

Daines also downplayed the bills politics, saying, This is a bipartisan moment.

This is about doing the right thing for America, added Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Democratic front-runner to challenge Gardner, said in a tweet that Gardner supported cuts to the conservation fund as recently as 2018. Gardner also voted to confirm former oil and coal lobbyist David Bernhardt as interior secretary.

Only President Trump would praise a record like this, Hickenlooper said.

Trump predicted Congress will approve the plan, which helps address a $12 billion backlog in maintenance of national parks. When I sign it into law, it will be HISTORIC for our beautiful public lands, Trump said in a tweet.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., called Trumps tweet good news, but added, Its almost too good to be true.

At a budget hearing Wednesday, Bernhardt joked that Trumps tweet caused heart palpitations at the White House budget office, but said he and the rest of Trumps administration support full funding for the conservation program and for clearing the maintenance backlog, a longtime priority of interior secretaries of both parties.

The president made his comment and Im pretty 100% confident everybodys getting in line, Bernhardt said. He called the proposal a tremendous opportunity for conservation in America and urged Congress to seize the day.

Udall praised Trumps political instincts, saying, the president was right to sense that this is a popular issue. A recent poll found that 70% of Westerners, including majorities of both parties, support full funding of the conservation program.

If the president is sincere in abandoning his administrations previous attempts to gut the fund, he and other Democrats are eager to work across party lines to get this done for the American people and for future generations, Udall said.

Sen. Maria Cantwell , D-Wash., called the Land and Water Conservation Fund the nations most successful conservation program.

The late Washington Sen. Henry Scoop Jackson helped create the program in the mid-1960s, but over the years it has been shortchanged by more than $20 billion, Cantwell said. Thats why I am so grateful that our years of effort to get full and permanent funding for LWCF now has the bipartisan support we need to make it the law of the land.

At the same time, the bill will address an unacceptable maintenance backlog at national parks like Olympic and Mount Rainier in her state, Cantwell said. Passing this legislation will be a huge boost for the outdoor recreation economy, she said.

Bills to boost the conservation fund and address the maintenance backlog have bipartisan support in the Democratic-controlled House.
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Four new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Ireland bringing the total number on the island to nine.

Two males and two females from the west of Ireland were confirmed as having tested positive for the virus last night.

They are being treated at a hospital in the west of Ireland. The patients are all associated with travel from the same affected area in northern Italy.

Contact tracing is now underway for the four new cases.

Deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health Dr Ronan Glynn said that, despite the confirmation of four new cases of the virus, there is still no evidence of widespread or sustained community transmission in Ireland, as seen in some other EU countries.

While we now have six confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, we continue our containment efforts, central to which is that the public know what to do in the event they have symptoms, he said.

Earlier yesterday, two new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Northern Ireland brining the total number of positive cases there to three.

One of the people involved recently returned to Northern Ireland from northern Italy, while the other had recent contact with a person elsewhere in the UK who has subsequently tested positive. The results are being sent to England for verification.

At a briefing yesterday, Dr Holohan said there is no indication that the two cases in Northern Ireland had travelled through this jurisdiction.

The contact tracing process has only begun. We have not been alerted to any cross-border aspect in terms of that contact tracing.

It is still quite early in the contact tracing process so it is still possible, but there are no indications as of yet, he said.

Dr Holohan also reiterated the position of the National Public Health Emergency Team that there is currently no reason to cancel the St Patricks Day parade in Dublin.

As things stand and on the basis of our assessment, we see no implications for the St Patricks Day parade, he said.

The chief medical officer also said it is understandable that its emergence may give rise to anxiety and fear among the general public but said these factors can also give rise to harmful stereotypes.

This virus knows no borders, or race. Restricting travel into Ireland does not form a component of our current response. We must continue to focus on ensuring that everyone is informed, and knows what to do in the event they develop symptoms. It is essential that any decisions regarding responses to Covid-19 are proportionate, necessary and based on specific public health advice. No other response is appropriate, he said.

In a letter to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Patricia King said workers impacted by the virus should not suffer in terms of loss of income.

She said where employees are not covered under a contract of employment or by an agreed attendance policy, there is no statutory entitlement to be paid by their employer  even following HSE advice.

Put bluntly, some workers, through no fault of their own, may simply be unable to afford to self- isolate. Considering the imperative to ensure that virus containment efforts succeed, it is essential that workers do not experience income interruptions arising from Covid-19.

We believe that it is of the utmost importance, therefore, to uphold the net incomes of all affected workers, whether through the social welfare system or through temporary payments, said Ms King in the letter.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it was still too early to say what effect the spread of the virus will have on the economy.

The spread of the virus is already having an effect on global growth. International analysts believe 0.5% of growth has been lost. That will have an effect on the Irish economy, but at this point, it is too early to calibrate what that effect will be.

We have an economy that is performing at a high level of momentum at the moment and if there is an effect, we have an economy which is growing at a high rate and I believe it will be able to deal with many of the effects of the virus, he said.
PHILIPSBURG:---The House of Parliament will sit in a Plenary Public session on March 6, 2020.

The Public meeting which was adjourned on October 11, 2019 will be reconvened on Friday at 10.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Justice will be present.

The agenda point is:

2. Ontwerp van Landsverordening houdende vaststelling van een nieuw Wetboek van Strafvordering (Wetboek van Strafvordering) (IS/1189/2018-2019 d.d. 19 juni 2019) (Zittingsjaar 2018-2019-129)

National ordinance establishing a new Code of Criminal Procedure (Code of Criminal Procedure) (Parliamentary Year 2018-2019-129)

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten
She just returned back to the states following a blissful holiday to picturesque Bahamas with sister Kylie Jenner and her daughter Stormi, as well as friends.

And days after touching down in her home base of Los Angeles, Kendall Jenner was spotted arriving to lunch at Croft Alley at Melrose Place.

The supermodel, 24, showcased her long, toned legs in tiny spandex shorts with a two-two jacked for the afternoon meal with her friends Fai Khadra, Justine Skye and Zack Bia.

Looking great: Kendall Jenner was spotted arriving to lunch at Croft Alley at Melrose Place on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles

Kendall highlighted her toned stems as well as her pert derriere in the tiny black shorts.

The runway beauty chose a cropped black and white jacket with gray sneakers and small framed sunglasses.

The brunette beauty styled her short tresses in a center parted, sleek and low ponytail.

Kendall opted to go makeup free for her outing, revealing her perfect, blemish-free complexion.

The supermodel, 44, showcased her long, toned legs in tiny spandex shorts with a two-two jacked for the afternoon meal

Just arrived: Kendall appeared to arrive later than her friends, who were already munching on their meals; her friends Fai Khadra and Zack Bia pictured

Stunning lady: Kendall highlighted her toned stems as well as her pert derriere in the tiny black shorts

Leaving: She was seen leaving the restaurant with her pal Justine Skye

Her lunch adventure comes just days after Bahamas vacation with Kylie, Kylie's daughter Stormi, two, and friends Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou, Yris Palmer and Kylie's former assistant turned influencer Victoria Villarroel.

Kylie, 22, shared sultry snaps of her and Kendall showcasing their incredible figures in coordinating cut-out bathing suits.

Kendall also posted a racy slideshow of herself in a colorful - but incredibly tiny - swimwear set.

The cover girl took an array of selfie in the printed suit, which she opted to wear strapless; she also posed on the beach in the stylish bikini.

She captioned the slideshow with: 'Me and this bikini: a love story.'

The images were from just a few days ago while they stayed at the $10,000 per night beachfront villa - called the Villa Rosalita - in the Bahamas on Harbour Island.

Wow: Her lunch adventure comes just days after Bahamas vacation with Kylie, Kylie's daughter Stormi, two, and friends Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou, Yris Palmer and Kylie's former assistant turned influencer Victoria Villarroel

Sisters: Kylie, 22, shared sultry snaps of her and Kendall showcasing their incredible figures in coordinating cut-out bathing suits

Woah: The cover girl took an array of selfie in the printed suit, which she opted to wear strapless

It's a vibe: She also posed on the beach in the stylish bikini

The barely-there string bikini showcased her flat midsection and her perfect form

Kendall also rocked a lime green bikini with an orange scarf for boat day on their Caribbean holiday.

She smiled and leaned sweetly onto younger sister Kendall as they enjoyed snacks on their boat ride.

Kendall was also snapped while she read the book So Sad Today by Melissa Broder; the book is a collection of essays about anxiety, social media and life in the modern world.

Sweet: Kendall also rocked a lime green bikini with an orange scarf for boat day on their Caribbean holiday

Bookworm: Kendall was also snapped while she read the book So Sad Today by Melissa Broder; the book is a collection of essays about anxiety, social media an life in the modern world

Another one: Kendall showed off her fit form in a third image, this time posing with Victoria's sister Sofia

Kendall was seen stepping out with bestie Hailey Bieber on Saturday right after jetting back into LA.

The duo enjoyed breakfast together at Croft Alley's Beverly Hills location before going shopping.

Kendall and Hailey, 23, wore coordinating outfits - both opting for jeans, white top and a black cover up.

While Hailey opted for booties, Kendall donned Converse sneakers for a much more casual approach.

Gorgeous pals: Kendall was seen stepping out with bestie Hailey Bieber on Saturday right after jetting back into LA

Adorable: Kendall, a known horse lover, shared an Instagram story of a beautiful brown horse on Thursday

So beautiful: The horse had gorgeous brown eyes and fur
New Delhi, March 5 : The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced it has superseded the Yes Bank Board of Directors for 30 days and has appointed former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar as the bank's administrator.

In line with the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, the RBI will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the bank's reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the Central government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium (30 days) ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time.

The Reserve Bank has also issued certain directions to the bank under section 35A of the Act.

"In exercise of the powers conferred under 36ACA of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, the Reserve Bank has in consultation with the Central government, superseded the Board of Directors of Yes Bank Ltd for a period of 30 days owing to serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank. This has been done to quickly restore depositors' confidence in the bank, including by putting in place a scheme for reconstruction or amalgamation." Prashant Kumar, ex-DMD and CFO of State Bank of India, has been appointed as the administrator under Section 36ACA (2) of the Act, the RBI said.

The RBI on Thursday capped withdrawal from Yes Bank at Rs 50,000 and effected moratorium on Yes Bank from 6 p.m. on Thursday to April 3.

It said the financial position of Yes Bank Ltd has undergone a steady decline, largely due to the inability of the bank to raise capital to address potential loan losses and resultant downgrades, triggering invocation of bond covenants by investors, and withdrawal of deposits. The bank has also experienced serious governance issues and practices in the recent years which have led to a steady decline of the bank.

The Reserve Bank has been in constant engagement with the bank's management to find ways to strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity. The bank management had indicated to the RBI that it was in talks with various investors and they were likely to be successful. The bank was also engaged with a few private equity firms for exploring opportunities to infuse capital as per the filing in stock exchange dated February 12, 2020. These investors did hold discussions with senior officials of the Reserve Bank but for various reasons eventually did not infuse any capital.

Since a bank and market led revival is a preferred option over a regulatory restructuring, the RBI made all efforts to facilitate such a process and gave adequate opportunity to the bank's management to draw up a credible revival plan, which did not materialise. In the meantime, the bank was facing regular outflow of liquidity, the RBI said.

After taking into considering these developments, the RBI came to the conclusion that in the absence of a credible revival plan, and in public interest and the interest of the bank's depositors, it had no alternative but to apply to the Central government for imposing a moratorium under section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Accordingly, the Central Government has imposed moratorium effective from Thursday.

The RBI also assured the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic.
Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

April 9, 2020 at 17:40 (CET +1)



Nokia has filed its annual Form 20-F for 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and published its "Nokia in 2019" annual report and its Remuneration Policy

Espoo, Finland - Nokia has today filed its annual Form 20-F for 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Nokia has published its "Nokia in 2019" annual report, which includes audited financial statements, the annual review by the Board of Directors and Nokia's corporate governance statement.

The Form 20-F and "Nokia in 2019" reports will be available in PDF format at https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/reports-filings , along with Nokia's past quarterly and annual financial reports. Shareholders may request a hard copy of the reports free of charge through Nokia's website. The corporate governance statement is available also at https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/corporate-governance .

In addition, Nokia has published its Remuneration Policy applicable to the Board of Directors and the President and CEO. This policy will be presented to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting 2020 and is available at www.nokia.com/agm as well as attached to this release.

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.

Media Enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

Katja Antila, Head of Media Relations

Attachments
It is the second day of the official Irish visit by Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

William and Kate will visit locations in Dublin, Kildare and Meath later, before departing for Galway.

The British Royals spent last night in Farmleigh after a trip to the Guinness Storehouse ended their first day of engagements.

While yesterday's itinerary was diplomatic in nature, with meetings with the Taoiseach and the President, their remaining engagements will be more relaxed.

William and Kate will visit mental health charity Jigsaw in Temple Bar, a youth programme called Extern in Prosperous in Kildare, The Howth Marine Institute, and the Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation centre in Grange in Meath.

They British royals will also visit the Museum of Literature Ireland on St. Stephen's Green, which draws its inspiration from James Joyce.

...and from Brod the Bernese Mountain Dog! #RoyalVisitIreland pic.twitter.com/R89IrFAkTK  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) March 3, 2020

Dublin's Essex Street will be closed to traffic until 11am, while gardai say the royal visit to Meath and Kildare will have a limited impact on traffic.

The royal couple will then depart for Galway to visit the city centre and a local GAA club on Thursday.

The three-day visit is part of a diplomatic effort to highlight the many ties between the UK and Ireland.

Kensington Palace has described the trip as an opportunity to build a lasting friendship with the Irish people.
1 Dead, Several Others Shot Near Skate Park in Tulare, California

At least one person was killed and several others were injured, including a 7-year-old girl, during a shooting at a skate park in Central California.

Police Sgt. Edward Hinojosa told The Associated Press that a 23-year-old man was shot and killed, and the 7-year-old girl was shot several times.

The incident took place at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday when a group of at least 50 people gathered after a funeral of a man who died in a car accident, said officials.

Then, according to officials, a man ran up to the crowd and began shooting, reported KGET. Overall, six people were injured.

The young girl was taken to Valley Childrens Hospital in Fresno, authorities said. She was stable as of Thursday morning, they said.

Police said the other victims were listed as stable, according to KGET.

The gunman ran away on foot. His motive at this time is not clear.

Police told KGET that they dont have a good description of the suspect. The type of gun that was used in the shooting is also not known.

There was blood everywhere, a female witness said, according to the Visalia Times-Delta, which added that she didnt want to provide her name for fear of retaliation.

Neighbors told the news outlet that recently, the neighborhood has experienced a lot of trouble. However, they never expected anything like a mass shooting.

The motive is unknown, Hinojosa told the Times-Delta. Suspect information is vague at this point and the entire Investigations Unit has been called out to investigate.

Anyone with information about the shooting should call Detective Vasquez at 559-685-2300, extension 2142 or Sergeant Richard Payne at 559-685-2300, extension 4265.
ALBANY  Everyone counts.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Albany City Schools Superintendent Kaweeda Adams pushed the message that the city will try to make sure it reaches populations that are typically undercounted in the U.S. Census.

Accurate census data can ensure that city students, who may have greater educational needs, get the necessary resources, Adams said during a news conference Thursday at the Philip J. Schuyler Achievement Academy.

That census is extremely important to us because it would help us in delivering quality instruction, she said.

Sheehan said that the schools will be a key part of the citys efforts to reach as many residents as possible.

When were in the schools, engaging our kids, getting them to talk about the census with their parents, it increases the likelihood that a parent is going to fill out that census form, she said. Lets face it, we know that there are census tracts in Albany, like the one were standing in, where there has been historically undercounted populations.

Albany has budgeted $50,000 to mobilize its community and is taking advantage of a partnership with Albany County through which state financial support flows for the census count.

The 2020 census will also be the first time that residents can fill out the census online. Residents should expect to start seeing cards arriving in by mail telling them how to fill out the census in the next two weeks. The census can also be filled out over the phone or through the mail.

The city is partnering with the Albany Public Library to help people fill out the census online. Several library branches will have terminals set up for residents to use, beginning March 25. There will also be terminals at various community and recreation centers.

The city has set up a website, www.albanycounts.com, to help residents stay informed about the census.

We want to make sure we get everyone counted, she said, adding that for every resident not counted the city will lose an estimated $2,000 annually in federal funding for a decade, Sheehan said.

The city could also be cut out of programs that rely on a minimum population of 100,000.

As of 2018, the Census Bureau estimates Albanys population is 97,279, or 2,721 below the mark.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The census results help determine federal and local legislative boundaries and funding for programs such as housing, school funding, day care, loans, transportation, transit, medical care, senior citizens and other programs.

Albany has been working on the census since March 2019. City Hall has #BeCounted signs posted from the mayors office door and throughout the first floor. The city is also offering the yard signs for free for anyone who wants one.

The city is also pushing census participation at school concerts in the city, reaching out to barbershops and beauty salons, filming videos to be posted online touting the complete count and working with pastors and other community members.

New York state is investing $70 million to get a complete count statewide. Some of the money will go to counties to assist their push on the census to avoid an undercount.

Minorities, the poor, immigrants, college students and children less that 5 years old are traditionally undercounted.
In what could be a major breakthrough in the murder case of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, the Central Bureau of Investigation has recovered a firearm from a creek in neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra, sources in the probe agency said.

The CBI hired services of a foreign sea explorer agency to search and recover the firearm used in the killing of Dabholkar.

The CBI earlier claimed in a Pune court that one of the accused shooter, Sharad Kalaskar, dismantled the firearm used in commission of the crime and threw it in a creek in Thane.

"A weapon has been recovered during the search operation, but whether it is related to the crime or not will only be confirmed after the ballistic report from the forensic laboratory," a CBI official said on the condition of anonymity.

He, however, refused to divulge any further details about the recovered weapon.

Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar, one of the accused in the case who was arrested and is currently on bail, is alleged to advised Kalaskar to destroy the firearms used in the crime.

Punalekar, before his arrest, had represented members of the Sanatan Sanstha and other activists in various cases in courts.

The CBI earlier claimed that during the investigation, it came to light that in June 2018, Kalaskar visited Punalekar's chamber in Mumbai where he explained his role in the killing of Dabholkar.

"Punalekar then told Kalaskar to destroy the firearms used in the killings, including of journalist Gauri Lankesh (in Bengaluru)," the CBI earlier claimed before the Pune court.

The agency also told the court that on July 23, 2018, Kalaskar dismantled four country-made pistols (by taking out barrels and sliders) and threw them from a bridge in Thane creek while on way to Nallasopara (in adjoining Palghar district) from Pune.

Dabholkar, a well-known anti-superstition activist, was shot dead on August 20, 2013 in Pune.
Airlines have been suspending flights or modifying services in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Below are details (in alphabetical order):

* American Airlines has extended the suspension of China and Hong Kong flights through April 24

* Air France said on Feb. 6 it would suspend flights to and from mainland China for much of March

* Air India has suspended flights to Shanghai, Hong Kong until June 30

* Air Seoul has suspended China flights from Jan. 28 until further notice.

* Air Tanzania, which had planned to begin a charter service to China in February, postponed its maiden flights.

* Air Mauritius has suspended all flights to China and Hong Kong

* Austrian Airlines has suspended its service until end-February.

* British Airways has suspended extended its flight suspension until April 17.

* Delta Airlines flights have been suspended from Feb. 2-April 30

* Egyptair suspended flights on Feb. 1, but on Feb. 20 said it would resume some flights to and from China starting next week.

* El Al Israel Airlines has extended its suspension of flights to Hong Kong and Beijing until May 2.

* Iberia Airlines has extended its suspension of flights from Madrid to Shanghai, its only route, from Feb. 29 until the end of April.

* JejuAir Co Ltd is to suspend all China routes starting March 1.

* Kenya Airways has suspended flights from Jan. 31 until further notice.

* KLM said on March. 2 it would extend its ban on flights to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen in China to at least May 3 because of the coronavirus outbreak. It expects to resume flights to Beijing and Shanghai on March 29.

* Lion Air has suspended flights for all of February.

* LOT has extended flight suspensions until March 28.

* Lufthansa has extended China flight cancellations until April 24.

* Oman Air suspended flights on Feb. 2 until further notice.

* Qatar Airways has suspended services from Feb. 1 until further notice.

* Rwandair has suspended flights from Jan. 31 until further notice.

* Saudia, Saudi Arabia's state airline, suspended flights on Feb. 2.

* Scoot, Singapore Airlines' low-cost carrier, suspended services from Feb. 8 until further notice.

* United Airlines suspended its service to Hong Kong from Feb. 8-April 23.

* Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines suspended flights to the mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macau Feb. 1-April 30, in line with its aviation authority's directive.

AIRLINES THAT HAVE CANCELLED SOME CHINA FLIGHTS/ROUTES OR MODIFIED SERVICE

* Air Canada has extended the suspension of its flights to Beijing and Shanghai until March 27. It also suspended its Toronto to Hong Kong flights from March 1 to March 27, but its Vancouver to Hong Kong route remains active. [https://bit.ly/39zgmI0 ]

* Air China said it would cancel flights to Athens, Greece, from Feb. 17 to March 18 and "adjust" flights between China and the United States. On Feb. 28 it resumed flying to Frankfurt from Chengdu following a 21-day suspension, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

* Air New Zealand has suspended its Auckland-Shanghai service Feb. 9-March 29. Reduced capacity on Shanghai route throughout April and Hong Kong route throughout April and May.

* ANA Holdings has suspended routes including Shanghai and Hong Kong from Feb. 10 until further notice.

* Brussels Airlines, a Lufthansa subsidiary, said on Feb. 28 it would cut flights to northern Italy by 30% from March 2 to 14.

* Cathay Pacific Airways plans to cut a third of its capacity over the next two months, including 90% of flights to mainland China. It has encouraged its 27,000 employees to take three weeks of unpaid leave in a bid to preserve cash.

* China Southern Airlines recommenced flights on Feb. 25 to Nairobi from Guangzhou.

* Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has suspended flights to Hong Kong until March 28, the airline said on Feb. 26, citing a drop in demand.

* The UAE suspended all flights to mainland China, except Beijing, on Feb. 5.

* Finnair is cancelling flights to mainland China, South Korea and Milan because of the coronavirus outbreak

* Hainan Airlines suspended flights between Budapest, Hungary, and Chongqing Feb. 7-March 27.

* Kenya's High Court ordered flights from China to be temporarily suspended following a petition.

* Korean Air Lines Co, the national flag carrier, suspended eight routes to China and reduced services on nine Chinese routes between Feb. 7 and Feb. 22.

* Philippine Airlines cut the number of flights between Manila and China by over half.

* Qantas Airways suspended direct flights to China from Feb. 1. The Australian national carrier halted flights from Sydney to Beijing and Sydney to Shanghai between Feb. 9-March 29.

* Royal Air Maroc suspended direct flights to China Jan. 31-Feb. 29. On Jan. 16 it had launched a direct air route with three flights weekly between its Casablanca hub and Beijing.

* All Russian airlines, except national airline Aeroflot, stopped flying to China from Jan. 31. Small airline Ikar will also continue flights between Moscow and China.

* Russia's Aeroflot said it would suspend its flights to Hong Kong from March 7 and from Hong Kong the following day.

* All planes arriving from China will be sent to a separate terminal in the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport. Aeroflot reduced the frequency of flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou until Feb. 29.

* Nordic airline SAS has extended its suspension of flights to Shanghai and Beijing until March 29, added on March 3 it would cut flights to Hong Kong from March 5

* Singapore Airlines has suspended or cut capacity on flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen and Chongqing, some of which are flown by regional arm SilkAir.

* Taiwan in February suspended flights to most cities in mainland China, though those to the capital Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Chengdu have continued.

* UPS has cancelled 22 flights to China because of the virus and normal manufacturing closures due to the Lunar New Year holiday.

* Virgin Atlantic has extended its suspension of daily operations to Shanghai until March 28.

* Virgin Australia said it will withdraw from the Sydney-Hong Kong route from March 2 because it was "no longer a viable commercial route" due to growing concerns over the virus and civil unrest in Hong Kong.

* Vistara Airlines temporarily reduced flights to and from Bangkok and Singapore. AIRLINES THAT HAVE MODIFIED SERVICE ON OTHER ROUTES

* Asiana Airlines has decided to halt all flights to Daegu until March 9, while Korean Air Lines will also suspend flights until March 28.

* American Airlines Group Inc said Tuesday it will temporarily suspend all remaining flights to South Korea through April 24 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

* Air Canada will allow travellers to rebook flights to parts of Italy at no charge.

* United Airlines said it would reduce U.S. and Canadian flights by 10% and international flights by 20% in April, with similar cuts planned in May. It added South Korea to its travel waiver list but is not cancelling flights.

* Bahrain's civil aviation authority suspends all its flights from Dubai and Sharjah airports for 48 hours.

* British Airways on Monday said it was cancelling some flights from London to the United States to match reduced demand for flying.

* British Airways also said it would cancel some flights to and from Italy, Singapore and South Korea.

* Czech Republic said on March 2 it would stop flights to South Korea and cities in northern Italy for at least two weeks

* easyJet said on Feb. 28 it would cancel flights, particularly in and out of Italy, and cut costs across its business.

* El Al Israel Airlines said it would suspend flights to Italy, including Milan and Rome from Feb. 28 to March 14, and to Bangkok from March 2-27. It will also delay launching a new route to Tokyo from March until April 4.

* Finnair is cancelling all flights to mainland China until April 30 and to Milan between March 9 and April 7, and is reducing the frequency of its flights to several destinations in Asia and Europe, it said on March.4

* Japan Airlines, ANA Holdings to cancel some Japan domestic flights between March 6 and 12

* JetBlue said on March 4 it would cut capacity by approximately 5% in the near term.

* Kazakhstan plans to suspend flights to Iran from March 1 and reduce the number of South Korea flights

* The Kenyan government suspended direct flights from northern Italy on March 3, specifically Verona and Milan, which usually have direct flights to the Kenyan coast.

* Kuwait's civil aviation authority halts all its flights to and from South Korea, Thailand, and Italy. Kuwait had earlier suspended all its flights to and from Iraq.

* Latam Airlines Group SA is cancelling its direct flight between Sao Paulo and Milan from March 2 until April 16

* Lauda, an Austrian unit of Ryanair, said it will cut flights from March 18 until April 8 due to lower demand. The company said to expect further disruptions to flights in the coming weeks.

* Lebanon halted flights for non-residents from countries including China, Iran, Italy and South Korea, the transport ministry said on Feb. 28. The ban excludes Lebanese citizens and foreign residents of the country.

* Lufthansa said on March 5 it would cancel about 7,100 flights up to the end of March and reduce capacity by about 25%. It had previously said it would ground 150 aircraft and suspend flights to Tehran until April 30.

* Mongolia's National Emergency Commission said on Feb. 24 it had halted all flights from South Korea and would block entry through its borders until March 2. Mongolia had previously suspended all entries from China.

* Norwegian Air Shuttle said on March.5 it had decided to cancel 22 long-haul flights between Europe and the United States from March 28 to May 5, with routes from Rome to Los Angeles, Boston and New York seeing a reduced number of departures.

* Oman's civil aviation authority has halted all flights between the sultanate and Iran, it said on Feb. 24.

* Portugal's flag carrier TAP cancelled 1,000 flights in March-April, mainly affecting destinations in Italy, France and Spain and some intercontinental flights

* Royal Jordanian Airlines has suspended flights between Amman and Rome until further notice starting from Feb. 26.

* Russian low-cost carrier Pobeda, a subsidiary of the country's largest airline Aeroflot, said on Tuesday it will reduce the frequency of its flights to Italy until May due to falling demand.

* Russia's Ministry of Transport said on Feb. 27 it would suspend some flights to and from Iran, except those operated by its national carrier Aeroflot and Iranian airline Mahan Air.

* Ryanair will cut capacity in and out of Italy, its largest market, by 25% for three weeks due to a significant drop off in bookings since a coronavirus outbreak, Europe's biggest low-cost airline said on Monday.

* Swedish-Danish airline SAS on Tuesday cancelled its flights to northern Italy and withdrew financial guidance for its current financial year after the spread of the coronavirus hit demand.

* SAS said it would cut its short-haul capacity over March and April.

* Sweden suspended IranAir from flying to and from Sweden on March 2.

* Taiwans largest carrier China Airlines has been banned from flying to Italy after the Italian government included Taiwan as part of Chinas virus area.

* Tajikistan has suspended all flights to and from Iran until the virus situation there stabilises, the Civil Aviation Agency said on Feb. 24.

* Tunisia may suspend some flights to Italy.

* Turkish Airlines extended a cancellation of flights to Iranian cities, with the exception of flights to Tehran, until March 10.

* Turkish commercial flights between Turkey and Iran are suspended until further notice. "The Iranian carriers will fly empty to Turkey and be permitted to carry passengers destined for Iran. Turkish passengers will not be transported on these flights," Turkey's Civil Aviation Authority announced on its Twitter account.

* United Airlines sharply cut flights to Japan and South Korea as travellers have slashed ticket purchases for those destinations.

* United Airlines announced on Wednesday it is cutting domestic, Canadian and international flying and implementing a series of cost-cutting measures.

* Vietjet Air will suspend flights to destinations in South Korea from Saturday, March 7

* Vietnam Airlines suspended flights to South Korea from March 5.

* Vietnam's Bamboo Airways suspends flights between Da Nang and Nha Trang to Seoul's Incheon International Airport, starting Feb. 26

* Wizz Air said it would decrease the frequency of its Romania, Poland, Italy and Israel routes, cutting two-thirds of all flights on affected routes over three weeks between March 11 and April 2, and added it could further reduce capacity by around 10% in its next quarter.

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Burma Myanmars Army Refuses Shan IDPs Access to Village Amid Ongoing Clashes

Ethnic Shan IDPs tried to go back to their village but it was unsafe, according to Myanmars army. / Khun Zaw Oo / Facebook

Ethnic Shan internally displaced people (IDPs) were blocked from returning to their homes because the Tatmadaw (military) said it was not safe, according to Shan State sources.

About 300 ethnic Shan IDPs in Keysi and Mong Kai fled Koong Nyawng Hpahsa village when fighting broke out on Feb. 27 between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and Myanmars army.

Some Shan lawmakers and community leaders made the trip along with the Shan IDPs yesterday (Wednesday) to Koong Nyawng Hpahsa village in Mong Kai. Villagers wanted to check their homes as they were worried about their possessions being stolen.

Sai Sam Murng, a regional lawmaker for Keysi, who traveled along with the IDPs, told The Irrawaddy today (Thursday) that Myanmars army told the IDPs to turn back as there was still some fighting in the area.

[The army] stopped our truck of IDPs and asked us where we were going. We told them that some IDPs wanted to go back to their homes. But they told us we could not go to the village, he said.

Sai Sam Murng asked to speak to the commander who repeated the message by phone.

I told him that IDPs could not bring food when they ran away from their village. So they wanted to bring food from the village to eat in their camp.

He said the commander replied: Bro, do you not know that [the RCSS] attacked us? They still come sometimes to ambush us.

The situation is still unstable but it will get better soon. I will contact you when the situation improves, Sai Sam Murng quoted the commander saying.

The villagers were forced to turn around.

Fighting broke out on a hill in Loi Twan where the RCSS accused Myanmars army of attacking its base. Fighting continued until March 3 in Mong Kai, according to the Tai Freedom news outlet, which said Myanmars army attacked several RCSS bases in Mong Kai.

Major Kham San, the spokesman for the RCSS, told The Irrawaddy today that Myanmars troops were still active around Koong Nyawng Hpahsa so it was difficult to guarantee the villages safety.

Military tension has eased, but [Myanmars army] has not withdrawn its troops from the area yet. It is difficult to say the area is secure, he said.

He denied that the RCSS, a National Ceasefire Agreement signatory, had ambushed Myanmars army in the area.

But if Myanmars forces did not leave the area and continued to search RCSS bases, fighting would continue, Major Kham San said.

We have withdrawn from our base on the hill in Loi Twan to stop fighting with Tatmadaw. But if they continue to seek our other bases, fighting will continue to break out. Therefore, the situation depends on the Tatmadaw, he said.

The 300 IDPs sheltering at Buddhist monasteries in Keysi and Mong Kai did not have enough food and were dependent on donations, according to Sai Sam Murng.

The Mitta Foundation would come to donate food today to IDPs. We were waiting for their cars, he said.

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Charity shops are facing a 'painful' epidemic of theft as police turn their backs on retail crime, a report warns today.

Figures show losses from criminal activity across the retail sector topped 1billion for the first time last year, and even charity shops run by volunteers are considered fair game by thieves.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said 424 cases of violent or abusive behaviour against shop workers were reported each day in the year to April, up 9 percent on the previous 12 months.

But seven out of ten retailers said the police response to crime was poor or very poor.

Losses from criminal activity across the retail sector topped 1billion last year, claims new report, and even charity shops run by volunteers are considered fair game by thieves (pictured, the thoroughfare in Woodbridge, Suffolk, May 2019)

Robin Osterley, chief of the Charity Retail Association, said: 'The fact people are volunteering in these circumstances can be incredibly destructive for their morale.'

The report noted a trend for thefts of small amounts, with the perception that police will not attend if the stolen goods are worth less than 200.

Clothes were the main items taken from charity shops, along with bric-a-brac and vinyl records.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson called for a stronger police response to retail crime and legislation for tougher sentences for those who assault staff.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: In a sudden political development in Madhya Pradesh, which is bound to jolt the ruling Congress, the party MLA from Suvasra seat of Mandsaur district Hardip Singh Dang resigned from the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday evening.

Dang, the second-time Congress MLA is among the three Congress MLAs and an independent MLA, who was allegedly taken to Bengaluru by BJP leaders as part of attempts to topple the Kamal Nath government in the central Indian state on Wednesday.

Also, in another related development, the son of another Congress MLA and ex-minister Bisahu Lal Singh (who was allegedly taken to Bengaluru) had lodged a missing person complaint at the TT Nagar police station about the Anuppur MLA missing since March 2, after he left for Raipur.

Dang, who is the lone Congress MLA from Mandsaur Lok Sabha seat, has addressed his resignation to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker, key official sources confirmed to The New Indian Express.

The lone Sikh MLA in the 230-member Vidhan Sabha, the Suvasra MLA is seen to be a close confidant of former Mandsaur MP Meenakshi Natrajan, who is close to former Congress national president Rahul Gandhi.

In the resignation, Dang has mentioned about him and his assembly constituencys concerns being repeatedly ignored despite a Congress government being in the state since 14 months.

None of the ministers in our government are helping in works related to my constituency as well as the implementation of different government schemes in my constituency. Despite being the lone Congress MLA from entire Ujjain division in 2013 polls and presently the lone Congress MLA from Mandsaur Lok Sabha seat, neither was I made a minister nor rightful honour as MLA was ever given to me. Even arrangements have never been made for my accommodation during my stays in Bhopal, wrote Dang in the resignation.

My only fault seems to be that I only belong to the Congress and not to any of the factions led by CM Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh or Jyotiraditya Scindia. Ive been raising my concerns with CM Kamal Nath, ex-CM Digvijaya Singh and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, but no one has addressed my concerns, he wrote further.

Senior Congress leader Narendra Saluja (also the media coordinator to CM Kamal Nath), when contacted over the issue, said, as per the Vidhan Sabha Speaker NP Prajapati, he (the Speaker) has heard about the Suvasra MLA resigning from the Assembly membership. But he (Dang) is yet to personally submit his resignation to me (Speaker). Only when he submits his resignation to me personally, will I act on it in accordance with law.

According to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Ive heard about Hardip Singh Dangs resignation, but havent received any letter about it. Till the time I meet him in person, commenting over the issue wont be right.

Importantly, Congress MLAs resignation triggered celebrations by BJP workers in Mandsaur district on Thursday evening.

In a related development, the Tej Bhan Singh, who is the son of former minister and Congress MLA from Anuppur seat Bisahu Lal Singh, lodged a complaint at Bhopals TT Nagar police station on Thursday, about his MLA father missing since March 2.

In the complaint, the MLAs son mentioned that his father had left for Raipur on March 2, but since then is untraceable and his cell-phone too is sounding switched off.

Importantly, both Bisahu Lal Singh and Hardip Singh Dang are among the four MLAs (three Congress and one independent MLA) who as per Congress leaders, including ex-CM Digvijaya Singh were taken by BJP leaders on Tuesday to a hotel in Gurugram and then forcefully sent to Bengaluru by a chartered plane on Wednesday morning.

Ex-CM Digvijaya Singh had alleged on Wednesday that the four MLAs were forcefully made to embark a 12-seater chartered plane in Gurugram on Wednesday morning by BJP leaders and sent to Bengaluru after snatching their cell-phones as part of the BJPs plan to topple Kamal Nath government.

Meanwhile, the only independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera Bhaiya who allegedly was sent in the chartered plane to Bengaluru, told The New Indian Express over phone on Thursday evening that he has gone to Bengaluru for medical treatment of his daughter and will return to his native Burhanpur within a day or two after offering prayers at Tirupati Balaji Temple.
An Arizona mother, father and grandmother were charged with murder and child abuse after confessing to keeping a six-year-old in a closet with his brother for stealing food. The child died.

Anthony Jose Archibeque-Martinez, 23, Elizabeth Archibeque-Martinez, 26, and Ann Marie Martinez, 50, were each charged with one count of first degree felony homicide and two counts each of child abuse. They are currently being held at the Coconino County Jail.

Fox10 Phoenix reported that the boy who died and his seven-year-old brother would be kept in a closet 16 hours daily for a month, during which time they were denied food. The boys survived by stealing food at night while their parents slept.

The boys would be shut into the closet around 8pm and would not be allowed out until noon the following day. They were given oatmeal at noon and a cheese sandwich four hours later, but were given nothing after 4pm.

Police became aware of the children when they received a call regarding an unresponsive child at the location. Responding officers tried to revive the child but were unsuccessful.

The seven-year-old is recovering in the hospital at the Flagstaff Medical Center. He is in the care of the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

The DCS took custody of two other children found in the home, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl.

Darren DaRonco, a spokesman for the DCS, said the department mourns the tragic loss of this innocent life, and confirmed that the children would receive care to help them recover.

The six-year-olds cause of death is still being investigated.

Leslie Lerma, who lives in the neighbourhood where the death occurred, said she was disturbed by the situation.

That little boy suffered. Im not going to sleep well tonight, she said.
STORY LINK Lower Chance of Surprise BoE Cut Sends Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Higher

Pound Sterling Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Rises on Lower Chances of BoE Cut

Australian Dollar (AUD) Edges Up from Earlier 11-Year Low

Pound Australian Dollar Outlook: Australian Data in Focus

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The Pound Sterling Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate rose, leaving the pairing trading at around AU$1.9501.Sterling was able to make some gains against the Australian Dollar after expectations of an emergency UK rate cut decreased.After Tuesdays surprise rate cut from the US Federal Reserve, markets largely expect many central banks to follow suit.The Bank of Englands (BoE) incoming Governor, Andrew Bailey said that action will be needed to fight the impact of Covid-19.Although, he stated that any easing measures would be done in tandem with the British government, which dampened expectations of a surprise cut.In a note, analysts at MUFG said:The stronger pound reflects in part some short-term relief that the BoE has not yet quickly followed the Fed and delivered an inter-meeting rate cut.[Baileys remarks] signal that the BoE is not yet at the point to pull the trigger on further easing but we still expect sufficient evidence will be in place to take policy action at their next policy meeting on the 26th March.Despite the decrease in expectations of a surprise rate cut, many still expect the BoE to slash rates during its next monetary policy meeting.Commenting on this, head of G10 currency strategy at CIBC Capital Markets, Jeremy Stretch said:Certainly the market is priced for a 25 bps cut at the March meeting, so the market is anticipating the BoE will use up its arsenal.The Australian Dollar (AUD) edged lower on Thursday after becoming the best performing G10 currency over the past day, lifting from its earlier 11-year low.The countrys Treasury Department said that it is not forecasting a recession, but the spread of Covid-19 is likely to see Q1 2020 growth slump by around 0.5%.Commenting on this, Pepperstones head of research, Chris Weston said:People are looking at Aussie dollar positions and whether or not they want to be long.If you have a look at the outlook, the talk of the town now is what does quantitative easing look like in Australia, when is it likely to be deployed and how much of that is priced in.Looking ahead to this evening, the Australian Dollar (AUD) could suffer further losses against the Pound (GBP) following the release of Februarys Ai Group Services Index.If Februarys index slumps further than expected, Aussie sentiment will be left dampened.Meanwhile, AUD could extend losses further following the release of retail sales data.If Januarys sales slump further than expected, it will dampen Aussie sentiment and cause the Pound Australia Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate to make further gains.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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U.S. digital marketing spend will rise to about $332 billion by 2021, indicating its increasing role in modern business.

TopMarketingCompanies.com, a B2B marketplace connecting brands with digital marketing experts, ranked the top agencies that help companies improve their digital marketing through advertising, copywriting and content marketing, data analysis and more.

The best digital marketing agencies are:

1. K2 Analytics

K2 Analytics Inc. is fully engaged with businesses to maximize results and increase conversions. With a creative and driven marketing team, they take every client and project to its fullest potential. From website and graphics to content and social media, they explore the many possibilities to reach audiences, increase sales and spread brand awareness. Using a scientific and professional approach, every project they craft is tailored to inspire, captivate and make a statement. Its digital marketing packages include SEO, social media marketing, pay-per-click campaigns and more.

https://www.k2analytics.com/

2. Digital Silk

Digital Silk is a top-rated digital agency focused on creating superior digital experiences. They work with brands in B2B and B2C, and their past clients include HP, Microsoft, Amazon and P&G  to name a few. Their expertise is in developing creative yet effective digital properties to drive brand exposure and engagement. They allocate a team of top industry experts on each project to assure success and a proactive attitude towards every project.

https://www.digitalsilk.com/

3. PH3 Agency + Brewery

PH3 Agency + Brewery is a strategic digital marketing agency headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Its team partners with growth-minded clients across many locations and multiple industries from private, luxury communities to world-changing non-profits. Uniquely, PH3 also brews craft beer, enjoying the entrepreneurial spirit it brings, and is the only Agency + Brewery in the nation.

https://www.ph3.us/

4. TribalVision

TribalVisions mission is to help organizations grow by combining an intelligent strategy with tactical execution in a hands-on, results-driven manner. TribalVision utilizes its clients marketing budgets efficiently and intelligently to ensure each dollar spent maximizes awareness and generates new business. Its unique marketing model aims to fully align interests with client outcomes through a fee-based compensation structure, roll up your sleeves mindset, metrics-driven approach and role as a trusted marketing resource.

https://tribalvision.com/

5. Digital Operative

Digital Operative is a full-service digital agency specializing in ecommerce, focused on understanding the omnichannel world that customers browse, compare and transact within. The team develops growth strategies for emerging brands and refreshes customer experiences for lifestyle brands. Their approach to brand strategy brings the customer's voice to the foreground to establish a deep understanding of their needs/desires. Using that, Digital Operative layers the strategy, experience design, marketing and technology capabilities to deliver solutions that engage, educate and drive some type of transaction.

https://www.digitaloperative.com/

6. Anderson Collaborative

7. Anvil Media, Inc.

8. Brenton Way

9. Campfire Digital

10. Cerberus Agency

11. Clark Five Design

12. DEVENEY Communication

13. Ernst Media

14. HMG Creative

15. InsightWhale

16. Kontra Agency

17. Matrix PR

18. Mod Girl Marketing

19. Newman Grace

20. Pace Social Media

21. Req

22. SITSL

23. TEDA

24. 10.digital

25. 36creative

26. Titan SEO Group

27. Velvet Media & Marketing

28. Verve Marketing Group

29. Visual Realm

30. Warren Creative

31. Web Sharx

Brands can view the top-ranked digital marketing companies by price, expertise and location on TopMarketingCompanies.com.

About Top Digital Marketing Agencies: TopMarketingCompanies.com is a B2B marketplace connecting brands with digital marketing experts around the world. The site acts as a directory of digital marketing companies carefully ranked by their area of expertise, industry experience and US location.
As My Kitchen Rules' ratings continue to plummet to record lows, judge Manu Feildel has revealed plans that could save the long-running reality series.

The 45-year-old chef suggested show-runners could take a hint and follow shows like Big Brother.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, he said: 'We have got Big Brother coming back, and how long was it rested for?'

Game changer! TV chef Manu Feildel (pictured) has revealed plans to save My Kitchen Rules as the long-running cooking show battles its worst ratings in history

'Four years or whatever and it is coming back, good. Maybe a rest,' he continued.

The TV chef went on to say that he believes Channel Seven should put the cooking competition on hiatus after managing to stay on air for over a decade.

'It has been 11 years, it has been a good run, we cant whinge about that. Like anything, people get bored. We tried to reinvent the wheel with a new format.'

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, Manu said: 'We have got Big Brother coming back, and how long was it rested for?' Pictured: Colin Fassnidge (left) and Pete Evans (right)

Channel Seven recently axed My Kitchen Rules from Sunday night's programming.

As reported by TV Blackbox, the struggling cooking show was replaced by a 'rushed-to-air' documentary about koalas being rescued during the recent bushfires.

It's the second time MKR had been ditched from the Sunday schedule, after Seven bumped another episode in favour of the Fire Fight Australia concert.

Pow! Channel Seven recently axed My Kitchen Rules from Sunday night's programming

MKR's Sunday episodes have struggled to compete with the likes of Married At First Sight, Dancing with the Stars and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Judge Colin recently blasted Seven's management, saying that bad programming decisions had resulted in the show's failure.

'Not everyone's watching it at the moment because we've got some people in Channel Seven who don't know how to program!' he told 2GB's Chris Smith.

'A lot of work went into this and then some stupid decisions were made to go up against the [Australian Open men's final] and MAFS. We should have started a week early. But what do I know? I'm only a cook!
Associate Health Education Officer (P2), Vienna, Austria

Organization: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Country: Austria

City: Vienna, Austria

Office: IAEA Vienna, Austria

Closing date: Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Associate Health Education Officer (P2)

( 2020/0114 (209724) )

Organization: NAHU-Nutritional/Health-Related Environmental Studies Sect.

Primary Location: Austria-Vienna-Vienna-IAEA Headquarters

Job Posting: 2020-02-25, 12:22:25 PM

Contract Type : Fixed Term

Regular

Probation Period : 1 Year

Organizational Setting

The Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications implements the IAEAs Major Programme 2, Nuclear Techniques for Development and Environmental Protection. This Major Programme comprises individual programmes on food and agriculture, human health, water resources, environment and radiation technologies. These programmes are supported by laboratories in Seibersdorf, Monaco and Vienna. The Major Programmes objective is to enhance the capacity of Member States to meet basic human needs and to assess and manage the marine and terrestrial environments through the use of nuclear and isotopic techniques in sustainable development programmes.

The Division of Human Health is organized into four Sections whose objectives are to enhance the capabilities of Member States to address needs related to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of health problems through the development and application of nuclear techniques within a framework of quality assurance.

The Nutritional and Health-Related Environmental Studies Sections aim is to assist Member States in combating malnutrition throughout the human life course by contributing technical expertise in the use of nuclear techniques, in particular stable isotope techniques, for the development and evaluation of nutritional interventions. Malnutrition covers a wide spectrum, the priority areas of which include maternal and child nutrition, obesity and non-communicable disease prevention, and food based strategies to combat micronutrient deficiencies.

The Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging Sections primary objective is to enhance Member States capabilities to use nuclear medicine and other imaging technologies efficiently, mainly, but not limited to cancer and cardiac diseases, and for undertaking related basic and clinical research. To achieve those goals, special attention is given to the preparation of educational resources, guidelines and guidance documents.

Main Purpose

As a member of the Nutritional and Health-Related Environment Studies Section (NAHRES) and the Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging Section (NMDI), reporting to the respective Section Heads, the Associate Health Education Officer contributes to and supports the implementation of educational and training activities in the fields of nutrition and nuclear medicine and diagnostic imaging. The incumbent contributes to the development of educational material such as guidance documents, interactive e-learning modules, online learning resources and training curricula. He/she implements web-based training activities, monitors and reports on the effectiveness of training provided either web-based or face-to-face, implements user surveys and supports the tracking of key performance indicators of the projects and sub-programmes.

Role

The Associate Health Education Officer is: 1) a collaborator, supporting the development and update of educational material; and 2) a contributor and analyst, supporting developments related to the monitoring of training activities, maintaining and improving the quality of the training in nutrition and nuclear medicine and diagnostic imaging and improving the tracking of the key performance indicators and impact of the projects and sub-programmes.

Functions / Key Results Expected

Coordinate the educational and training activities in nutrition and nuclear medicine and diagnostic imaging, and follow-up on their effectiveness.

Contribute to the identification of training needs in the use of stable isotope techniques in nutrition as well as in the clinical applications of nuclear medicine and diagnostic imaging, and to the development of appropriate training methodologies and tools.

Coordinate the development and update of training materials and ensuring harmonization of inputs to achieve overall consistency of the training.

Provide insight and coordinate the development of e-learning modules and other web-based educational tools, including maintenance of the content of the Human Health Campus website.

Tags biostatistics child nutrition civil servants content management data analysis data collection disease prevention environmental protection health education health programmes impact evaluation information technology instructional design knowledge sharing nuclear medicine nuclear science online learning quality management radioactive materials safety regulations sustainable development water resources

Coordinate and collect information needed for the monitoring of performance indicators and impact evaluation of the projects and sub-programmes on nutrition and nuclear medicine and diagnostic imaging.

Provide regular reports and conduct impact evaluation through user surveys.

The incumbent may perform his/her work in areas involving exposure to radioactive materials. Therefore, as an Occupationally Exposed Worker, he/she must be medically cleared by VIC Medical Service and is subject to an appropriate radiation and health monitoring programme, in accordance with the IAEAs Radiation Safety Regulations.

Competencies and Expertise

Core Competencies

Name

Definition

Planning and Organizing

Plans and organizes his/her own work in support of achieving the team or Sections priorities. Takes into account potential changes and proposes contingency plans.

Communication

Communicates orally and in writing in a clear, concise and impartial manner. Takes time to listen to and understand the perspectives of others and proposes solutions.

Achieving Results

Takes initiative in defining realistic outputs and clarifying roles, responsibilities and expected results in the context of the Department/Divisions programme. Evaluates his/her results realistically, drawing conclusions from lessons learned.

Teamwork

Actively contributes to achieving team results. Supports team decisions.

Functional Competencies

Name

Definition

Client orientation

Establishes effective relationships with clients to understand and meet or exceed their needs. Finds ways to ensure client satisfaction.

Commitment to continuous process improvement

Identifies opportunities for process, system and structural improvement as well as improving current practices, increasing effectiveness and achieving efficiency gains. Actively supports the application of sound quality management standards and process improvement.

Judgement/decision making

Consults with supervisor/manager and makes decisions in full compliance with the Agencys regulations and rules.

Knowledge sharing and learning

Actively seeks opportunities to learn by formal and informal means; learns from others, adopting and sharing best practice.

Required Expertise

Function

Name

Expertise Description

Information Technology

HTML/Web Tools and Technologies

Basic knowledge of HTML, web tools and technologies.

Training

Training Design

Experience in or knowledge of design of live courses, e-learning modules, webinars, and other interactive web-based activities, including the preparation of a training curricula and instructional design.

Asset Expertise

Function

Name

Expertise Description

Radiation Medicine

Biostatistics and Biometry

Experience in data collection and in performing data analysis.

Nutrition

Public Health Nutrition

Knowledge and experience in designing and assessing public health programmes and in applying public health principles to medical imaging and nutrition.

Qualifications, Experience and Language skills

University degree in Public health, education, communication, pedagogy, instructional design or related field. Masters Degree is an asset.

A minimum of two years of related working experience in design of educational materials, instructional design, use of web content management tools or public health.

Excellent oral and written command of English. Knowledge of other official IAEA languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

Remuneration

The IAEA offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free annual net base salary starting at US $47895 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance), a variable post adjustment which currently amounts to US $ 19110*, dependency benefits, rental subsidy , education grant , relocation and repatriation expenses; 6 weeks annual vacation, home leave , pension plan and health insurance

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applications from qualified women and candidates from developing countries are encouraged

Applicants should be aware that IAEA staff members are international civil servants and may not accept instructions from any other authority. The IAEA is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. As part of the United Nations common system, the IAEA subscribes to the following core ethical standards (or values): Integrity , Professionalism and Respect for diversity . Staff members may be assigned to any location. The IAEA retains the discretion not to make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade or with a different contract type, or to make an appointment with a modified job description or for shorter duration than indicated above. Testing may be part of the recruitment process
A Toronto infection control physician says there is no evidence in Canada that travelling on public transit increases the chances of contracting novel coronavirus.

While Dr. Alon Vaisman, an infection control physician at University Health Network, applauded the extra measures being taken by the TTC and GO Transit to clean their buses and trains, he says the likelihood of someone getting the COVID-19 during their daily commute is already very low.

Things that increase risk is having face-to-face contact, having surfaces where the virus does not easily die and areas that are not easy to clean, he said.

Right now, there isnt much of a concern, because there hasnt been a single transmission thats unrelated to (overseas) travel, he said. Riding on a GO Train from Ajax to downtown, is very low risk at this point.

He said if cases start popping up in the community then exposure during daily commute may become more of a concern.

If a bus or subway is not being cleaned at all, then that increases the risk, he said. Its hard for me to say that it increases it by this much, or that much.

Vaisman said the vast number of cases documented are of people who have travelled overseas and if it was transmitted, it was from direct contact.

We have not seen a single Canadian who acquired the illness by travelling on a bus, train or by using the subway, he said.

That kind of tells us something about whats going on, he said.

A passenger who later tested positive for COVID-19 travelled on a GO bus from Pearson airport to Richmond Hill last week. The other passengers were contacted and the bus was cleaned with an anti-microbial cleaner as an extra precaution.

We will see if anything comes out of that, he said, adding that its unlikely more cases will arise as a result.

He said coronaviruses are transmitted predominantly through droplets, which means that coughing and sneezing leads to the suspension of particles in the air, that then quickly fall to the ground.

It all comes down to the amount of contact commuters are having with an infected person.

Someone touching those surfaces then putting their hands in their eyes, mouth or nose, increases the likelihood of infection. Thats why constant handwashing is critical to general disease prevention, he said.

RELATED STORIES Canada Transit workers seek protection after passenger tests positive for novel coronavirus

Hospitals tend to avoid surfaces that are hard to clean such as carpets, Vaisman says, adding that its good protocol to clean crevices, cloth seating and carpeted areas throughout the transit system.

Thats going to be a different risks versus a subway where youre have more concentration of people face-to-face, he said.

He said the move by Metrolinx to install hand sanitizers for GO Transit buses and stations is a good measure to promote good hygiene habits that reduce risk.

Part of that is showing the public that they are taking it seriously, he said

Jason Miller is a breaking news reporter based in Toronto. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic

Read more about:


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Swedish furniture giant Ikea recalled about 970,000 units of KULLEN 3-drawer chests in the United States and Canada citing tip over risks for children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement.



The company, which in early January agreed to pay $46 million for a toddler killed by one of its already recalled dressers, noted that the newly recalled chest is unstable if it is not anchored to the wall. This may cause tip-over and entrapment hazards that may lead to death or serious injuries to children.



The latest recall was initiated after receiving six reports of tip-over incidents.



The company added that the 3-drawer chests imported after August 12, 2019 do not comply with the performance requirements of the updated version of the U.S. consensus standard.



The recall involves about 820,000 units sold in the U.S, and about 150,000 sold in Canada. They were manufactured in various countries and sold exclusively at IKEA stores nationwide and online from April 2005 to December 2019 for about $60.



The recalled chest is 28 3/8 inches tall, sold in black-brown or birch colors, and weighing approximately 45 pounds.



The company has given option to customers to return the product for a full refund.



Ikea's recent $46-million settlement was related to Jozef Dudek, a toddler in California, who was killed by its earlier recalled three-drawer Malm dresser. Since 2016, Ikea has recalled around 17.3 million units in the United States.



According to the CPSC, there were eight reports of child tip-over related deaths with Ikea's recalled chests and dressers. The company received nearly 300 reports of such incidents involving chests and dressers that caused 144 injuries to children.



Ikea in 2016 had paid $50 million in total to the families of three other children who had been killed by its dressers.



In a similar incident, citing tip-over and entrapment hazards, Home Depot in late February had called back about 200 units of 4-Drawer Whitewash chests and Safavieh called back about 760 units of Aura and Silas 3-Drawer Chests.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
The Supreme Court has now heard arguments in a case that will decide whether a highly controversial Louisiana law regulating abortion providers can come into effect.

It is the first abortion-related case to come before the court since Donald Trumps two appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, took up their seats  and it may prove to be a watershed moment in the future of abortion rights across the US.

What is the law in question?

Louisianas Unsafe Abortion Protection Act was signed into law in 2014 by governor Bobby Jindal. Among its various provisions, it requires that doctors who provide abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.

At the signing ceremony, Jindal said: "Women who resort to the traumatic experience of abortion are entitled to have these procedures performed in a safe environment.

"The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act ensures that surgical abortion facilities are held to the same safety standards of other outpatient surgical facilities in Louisiana, and this initiative will build on our past work to protect life in our state."

Reproductive health organisation Planned Parenthood says the law is part of a dangerous national trend, and that if this law takes effect, it will pose a serious risk to women across Louisiana.

Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Show all 20 1 /20 Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced New York AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Atlanta Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Washington, DC Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Louisiana AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Louisiana AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Washington, DC AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty

What case is the Supreme court hearing?

The law is being challenged by doctors who provide abortions and an abortion clinic. They argue that the case is similar to another that the court heard in 2016, namely Whole Woman's Health v Hellerstedt. That case revolved around provisions in a law in Texas that also required abortion providers to have similar admitting privileges.

In a 5-3 vote, the court ruled against the law. In his majority opinion, Justice Steven Breyer wrote that each of the provisions places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution.

The Louisiana law, the challengers say, is unconstitutional for the same reasons. The team defending the law, by contrast, argue that the law benefits abortion patients by making abortion safer, even though the court found that the Texas law offered no such benefit.

What are the justices likely to do?

The oral arguments in the court on 4 March seemed to indicate that the usual ideological split among the justices remains clear  but that doesnt mean the decision is a foregone conclusion.

The outcome is expected to hinge on chief justice John Roberts. While he is a conservative as a matter of course, he also joined the four liberal justices in voting to stay a lower courts ruling on the Louisiana law, thus allowing its challengers to file their Supreme Court challenge.

Roberts is also known to value the public trust on which the court depends, and which he feels could be endangered if the court pays little heed to its previous decisions.

The lawyer for the challengers, Julie Rikelman, has appealed directly to this concern, arguing to the justices that because the Louisiana law was expressly modelled on the Texas law, the Louisiana case is about respect for the courts precedent.

A decision is expected by the end of June.

Could it overturn Roe v Wade ?

This case is not a direct challenge to Roe v Wade  but if the court allows the law to stand, it will be allowing yet another in a long series of measures that have made abortion harder to access.

Roe v Wade has been under heavy pressure from such measures for a number of years. If the law is upheld, it will become a template for other states to pass admitting privileges laws that could radically reduce the number of doctors who are permitted to provide abortions at all. And it could also provide precedents for anti-abortion groups and activists to draw on in future cases.

Both pro-choice and pro-life factions have latched onto the case as potentially decisive. A controversy arose on the day of the oral arguments when Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, speaking at a pro-choice rally outside the court, warned conservative justices that they would be held to account.

"I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price, he said. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

What does Trump have to say?

Donald Trump has made his views on abortion clear. Since his 2016 presidential campaign, he has promised to see Roe v Wade overturned, pledging to appoint justices who would automatically overturn the ruling were it to come back to the court.

With Trumps first two appointees in place, the court is expected to tilt relatively conservative for some time  especially if Trump is president and Republicans hold the Senate when the next liberal-held seat becomes vacant.
Photo: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein is soon going to Rikers Island, a sprawling New York City jail complex reputed for violence and corruption, following more than one week in a hospital prison unit, a source said.

After a Manhattan jury found Weinstein guilty of rape in the third degree, and criminal sexual act in the first degree, on February 24, he was cuffed and taken into custody. Weinstein was originally supposed to go to an infirmary unit on Rikers pending his March 11 sentencing.

Several hours after his conviction, however, a source saw Weinstein being driven from the 100 Centre Street courthouse in an ambulance. Reps for Weinstein confirmed shortly thereafter that he was taken to Bellevue Hospital due to chest pains, heart palpitations, and high blood pressure.

Vultures source said that Weinstein had a heart stent (basically, a device that keeps coronary arteries open) put in during a surgery on Wednesday. Doctors have now deemed Weinstein well enough to be transferred to a Rikers infirmary unit. Weinsteins transfer is expected to take place today.

Weinsteins health problems have repeatedly come up during his case.

Before he was taken into custody, Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno said, for example, He has significant medical issues. I have letters from all his doctors, Judge. Hes under the care of five doctors currently. Hes dealing with the remnants of his back operation which was not successful.

Hes in need of the walker. He takes a list of different medicines. Judge, hes currently receiving shots in his eyes so he does not go blind, she also claimed in her failed bid for house arrest prior to sentencing.
MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2020) The number of those infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ecuador has increased by three, taking the total to 13, the country's Health Ministry said on Thursday.

"The Health Ministry has detected three more patients with the coronavirus disease, the total number of [COVID-19] cases in Ecuador is 13," the ministry wrote on Twitter.

The new patients were infected with the virus after coming into contact with the country's first person to contract the disease, an Ecuadorian woman in her 70s who came back from a trip to Spain on February 14. She was registered on Saturday and is currently in intensive care.

So far, more than 95,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus, and over 3,200 others have died. Meanwhile, about 53,400 patients have recovered.
New Zealand Birds Show Humanlike Ability To Make Predictions Science

NASA drops mind-blowing 1.8 billion-pixel Mars landscape panorama that might make you cry CNET (David L)

Boom! Scientists spot the biggest known explosion in the universe Space (Dan K)

Silent earthquakes are tied to changes in fluid deep below Cascadias fault LiveScience (Kevin W)

a href=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-ski-resort-administration-le-mont-dore-alps-snow-global-warming-a9374431.html rel=nofollow>French ski resort goes bust due to lack of snow in Alps Independent (resilc)

Tropical forests losing their ability to absorb carbon, study finds Guardian (Kevin W)

Climate Change Will Turn These Common Foods Toxic Vice (resilc)

Simple Systems Have Less Downtime Greg Kogan. This is considered to be novel?!?!

#COVID-19

Coronavirus mutates into second strain which is more aggressive and contagious Mirror (David L). Story less alarming than headline.

Coronavirus is mutating: Chinese scientists find second strain Fortune (David L). Points out limited data, more mutations likely. So which strain was found in WA?

Why so many epidemics originate in Asia and Africa  and why we can expect more The Conversation (resilc)

Experts confirm human to animal spread of coronavirus Telegraph (David L)

Woman holds sign outside quarantined U.S. care home in desperate bid to find out about husband CBC (Mark A)

Coronavirus cases are spreading in Switzerland SwissInfo. MA flagged this section from the WHO. Surprised to see the cheery take re R0:

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that about 3.4% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have died, far above seasonal flus fatality rate of under 1%, but the novel coronavirus can be contained. To summarise, COVID-19 spreads less efficiently than flu, transmission does not appear to be driven by people who are not sick, it causes more severe illness than flu, there are not yet any vaccines or therapeutics, and it can be contained, he declared.

You dont want to go to war with a president Politico

U.S. Hospitals Say Theyre Ready for Coronavirus. Their Infection Control Violations Say Otherwise. ProPublica (resilc)

Los Angeles-Area Officials Declare Emergency After Confirming Six New Coronavirus Cases Over 48 hours CNBC

First days at the heart of an outbreak: Life Care nursing home becomes national epicenter of coronavirus Seattle Times (Chuck L). From yesterday, still germane.

IMF sets aside $50bn for coronavirus-hit countries Financial Times

Italy: Coronavirus death toll to 107; 3,089 cases: Live updates Al Jazeera

Italy is shutting down all schools nationwide amid coronavirus outbreak CBS

Coronavirus in Israel: 60,000 Quarantined; Mass Gatherings Forbidden Haaretz

Release of James Bond film No Time To Die delayed amid coronavirus fears BBC (David L)

2 cases of coronavirus in EU institutions confirmed Politico

Coronavirus Porn Is Going Viral on Pornhub Vice (resilc)

Jet fuel woes set to linger as coronavirus sickens global aviation Reuters

Flybe: airline collapses two months after government announces rescue Guardian (PlutoniumKun)

How to Hedge a Coronavirus Wall Street Journal (Stefan P). Interesting but misleading headline. The investor was simply buying grossly mispriced risk. This is like Magnetar sponsoring toxic subprime CDOs. Magnetar correctly saw the trade they structured as no lose (theyd make a small profit if subprime defaults were tame and a killing if they werent) and simply reloaded every time the pricing lined up.
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A number of the homebuying characteristics of younger millennials are replicating the buying desires of those in the silent generation.

This is according to the latest study from the National Association of Realtors, the 2020 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report,1 which researched each generation to examine the differences of recent homebuyers and home sellers.

The NAR report found that despite the obvious age gap between millennials and those that make up the silent generation, the two groups are likeminded in terms of buying preferences. Among both age groups, proximity to friends and family is a high priority, with 53% of homebuyers between the ages of 22 to 29 and 74 to 94 listing this as a major factor that would influence their decision in selecting a neighborhood.

"The silent generation  older Americans who are typically grandparents and great-grandparents  for years have prioritized living near family and other loved ones," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "But it was surprising to see younger millennials with homebuying preferences and ideals similar to older segments of the population."

Thirty-three percent of home sellers aged 74 to 94 said the primary reason for selling their previous home was to move closer to friends and family, a deviation from historical trends that pushed home sellers to relocate more so due to reasons such as career changes or retirement. However, now sellers have expressed a strong desire to be near family and friends and in some cases are motived to sell for this reason.

Another similarity between the two groups is seen in those classified as "recent buyers." Younger millennials and silent generation buyers who purchased a new home, were the most likely to make the purchase due to the amenities a newly constructed home provides. This aligns with norms of older generations but represents a new trend for younger homebuyers.

NAR found those in each generational group began their home search by viewing properties online, although buyers 74 and older contacted a real estate agent or broker nearly as often as they looked online. This group, along with the youngest buyers, were more likely than others to confer with a friend or relative regarding their homebuying process, indicating that despite the resources made readily available by the internet, both younger and older buyers call on the advice of a trusted friend or relative.

All generations of buyers found the services of a Realtor or agent were needed as the primary resource to help them buy and sell their home.

"As technological advances are made, more potential buyers will want to consider the latest homebuying apps," said Yun. "However, we see buyers of all ages prefer an experienced Realtor or broker to assist with this major, complex transaction."

Moreover, half of all homebuyers between the ages of 22 to 39 found a real estate agent through a referral provided by a friend or family member.

Although younger homebuyers closely mirror older buyers, the two groups are not totally in sync. Younger millennials have the highest share of unmarried couples buying homes at 21%, whereas only 3% of homebuyers in the silent generation and 3% of older boomers were unmarried at the time of purchase. Older millennials have the highest share of married couples, 67%.

For context, 61% of all recent buyers were married couples, 17% were single women, 9% were single men and another 9% were unmarried couples.

Twenty-two percent of homebuyers between the ages of 65 to 73, older baby boomers, are single women. A number of factors go into this share, including single divorcees entering the market, widows and unmarried women.

Another area where younger homebuyers stood apart from other buyers was in their living arrangements. Thirty-three percent of homebuyers aged 22 to 29 reported living with parents, relatives or friends prior to buying a home. Of this 33%, 13% paid rent and 20% paid no rent. The next highest share was homebuyers aged 30 to 39, where 13% lived with parents, relatives or friends. This same living situation was found in only 5% of buyers aged 65 to 73, and in 6% of buyers ages 74 to 94.

Other notable findings

Twenty-five percent of the homes purchased by those aged 22 to 29 were located in a small town. This speaks to affordability conditions, essential among younger buyers who traditionally are not in a position to afford high-cost housing. As affordability wanes, as outlined in a recent NAR report, 64% of homebuyers aged 22 to 29 said the overall affordability of a home influenced their decision to purchase.

Forty-six percent of homebuyers aged 30 to 39 said school district quality influenced their decision making, while 36% of buyers from the same age group cited proximity to schools as an influential factor.

"The importance of being near schools and assessing the quality of a given school district is prevalent among older millennials," said Yun. "Also, proximity to healthcare facilities are important for older boomers."

The NAR report found that homebuyers aged 40 to 54, Generation Xers, had the highest household incomes of any age group at $110,900. Still, Gen Xers overall are facing some challenges, as 11% of Gen X home sellers stated a desire to sell earlier but were delayed because their home was worth less than the mortgage.

Furthermore, home purchases were delayed a median of five years for Gen X buyers, which Yun says is in part due to student loan debt and lingering impacts of the Great Recession.

This age group also comprised the most racially and ethnically diverse population of homebuyers, with 24% identifying they were a race other than White/Caucasian. This finding comes as a recent NAR report examined the change in the homeownership rate among minorities.

One in six younger boomers and Gen Xers are buying multi-generational homes. In many cases, the intent is to care for aging parents or to accommodate children over the age of 18.

Millennials as a whole made up the largest share of homebuyers over the past year (38%), marking the seventh consecutive year the group represented the most active generation of buyers. Millennials were also most likely to purchase a previously-owned home or townhouse, and were those most likely to find their home online and to use the internet during their home search. Convenience to workplaces and commuting expenses were some of the most important factors to the millennial age group.

"For several years now, millennials have shown that homeownership is important to them," said NAR President Vince Malta, broker at Malta & Co., Inc., in San Francisco, Calif. "Their reasons vary: some are starting families, others are caring for aging parents, while others found that buying a home was decidedly cheaper than renting."

Additionally, millennials had a dominating presence in several other homebuying categories, including in regard to first-time buyer totals. Eighty-eight percent of younger millennials and 52% of older millennials were first-time home buyers, more than every other age group. The older millennials were also the most educated age group, as 79% hold at least a bachelor's degree.

Methodology

NAR mailed a 125-question survey in July 2019 using a random sample weighted to be representative of sales on a geographic basis to 159,750 recent homebuyers. Respondents had the option to complete the survey via hard copy or online; the online survey was available in English and Spanish. A total of 5,870 responses were received from primary residence buyers. After accounting for undeliverable questionnaires, the survey had an adjusted response rate of 3.7%. The sample at the 95% confidence level has a confidence interval of plus-or-minus 1.28%.

The recent homebuyers had to have purchased a primary residence home between July 2018 and June 2019. All information is characteristic of the 12-month period ending July 2019 with the exception of income data, which are for 2018.

The National Association of Realtors is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.4 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.nar.realtor . This and other news releases are posted on the NAR Newsroom at www.nar.realtor/newsroom. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the "Research and Statistics" tab.



1 Survey generational breakdowns: younger millennials (ages 22-29); older millennials (ages 30-39); Gen Xers (ages 40-54); younger boomers (ages 55-64); older boomers (ages 65-73); and the silent generation (ages 74-94).

SOURCE National Association of Realtors

Related Links

http://www.realtor.org


JERUSALEMAfter three brutal campaigns, three elections and three failed attempts at forming a government, Israel now finds itself right back where it was more than a year ago: deadlocked over the fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His devotees still insist he should stay. They remain outnumbered by lawmakers who want him gone.

But the outcome this time, after Mondays election, may be different.

Netanyahus trial on bribery and other serious corruption charges starts in less than two weeks. His opponents appear wounded and exhausted after he outfought them to win a solid plurality for his right-wing and religious coalition in this election. And no one in the country appears eager to contemplate a fourth.

The prospect of yet another failure to form a government after more than a year of stalemate resurfaced troubling questions about Israeli democracy: can a system that depends on a fractious jumble of political parties to come together to build a majority function in so polarized a country?

The desperation prompted a frenzy of exploratory manoeuvring Wednesday, with forces on both sides of the Netanyahu-or-not divide all seeking to gain advantage.

The prime minister, who needs three more parliamentary seats for a majority, tried baiting right-leaning opposition members to defect. His adversaries threatened to pass legislation that would bar an indicted lawmaker from serving as prime minister.

Neither gambit appeared too likely to work, and both threatened only to raise temperatures and harden positions.

But with Israels entire political establishment trying to identify a way out, the question was whether a creative new solution might emerge before the politicking grinds to another acrimonious halt.

A nearly complete vote tally Wednesday showed Netanyahus coalition with 58 of 120 seats. The parties opposing him have a total of 62 seats, but at least two of them have pledged not to join forces with a third, the predominantly Arab Joint List, which won a record 15 seats.

The scenarios most commonly being discussed all have serious flaws.

Netanyahu could woo turncoats from the other side, given the presence of right-leaning politicians in the broad coalition headed by Benny Gantz, the former army chief at the helm of the Blue and White party.

But just one defector  whose political career could be ended, analysts said, by such a betrayal of the voters who elected him or her  would be a lot to ask; three would seem to be a miracle, even for a political wizard like Netanyahu.

And the likeliest prospects each insisted they were holding fast to their promises to send him into retirement, or to prison, saying they could not be bought off, no matter the inducement.

Yoel Razvozov, a former Olympic athlete and Blue and White lawmaker, wrote on Twitter that he had rejected a Likud approach. Theres a better chance that Netanyahu will topple Hamas rule than that someone from Blue and White will defect, he said, alluding to the Islamist militant movement that controls Gaza.

Showing they still had some fight in them, lawmakers from all three centre-left parties spoke in favour of passing a law to bar Israels president from giving the task of forming a government to a lawmaker under indictment.

It reflects the will of the public, said Nitzan Horowitz, leader of the left-wing Meretz party. And its the moral thing to do.

Israeli law now prohibits someone under indictment from serving as an ordinary government minister, but does not specifically address the post of prime minister.

It was not clear whether Avigdor Libermans ultra-nationalist, right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose seven seats would also be needed, would join such an effort.

But good-government groups warned that a retroactive law aimed at a specific person would not survive a court challenge. And Netanyahu allies accused their rivals of trying to steal the election.

Why go in circles? Just pass legislation that Gantz be prime minister, taunted Ayelet Shaked, the former justice minister from the right-wing Yamina party. Not for four years. For 40 years. After all, you have a majority.

Some Likud members have talked of forming a unity government by inducing one of the smaller centre-left parties to break away, perhaps in return for a democratic ceasefire, in which Netanyahu would drop his efforts to undermine Israels judiciary, according to Yohanan Plesner, president of the non-partisan Israeli Democracy Institute.

But while centre-left politicians might cut such a deal to protect the judiciary if Netanyahu seemed on the verge of capturing a 61st seat, they would be less likely to crumple with Netanyahu three seats away from being able to exert his will.

Other ideas for forming a new government were difficult to fathom given the people involved.

Netanyahu could revive a deal proposed by Israels largely ceremonial president, Reuven Rivlin, and agree to step aside at some point, in exchange for Gantzs joining a unity government. But that would require trusting Netanyahu to follow through and actually step aside.

Liberman could play the kingmaker, exacting a high price from Netanyahu to throw him his support. A secular nationalist, he has vowed not to join a coalition with ultra-Orthodox religious parties, who he says have too much power.

Or he could throw in with Gantz to form a minority government with the outside support of the Joint List. But that would require Liberman and Arab politicians, who are arch-enemies, to co-operate.

What absolutely no one is talking seriously about at the moment is Likuds deposing Netanyahu, which Gantz has long set as his condition for a unity government  one that would instantly hold a powerful 69-seat majority in Parliament, according to the latest vote tally.

Thats what a majority of Israelis probably want, said the right-leaning writer Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Thats the stability that we need.

The problem, he said, is that Netanyahus Likud party depends on Netanyahu, known in Israel as Bibi.

Without Bibi, they probably go down to a dozen seats, Halevi said. So how do you force Bibi out?

The most intriguing possibility circulating on Wednesday was one being promoted by Plesner, of the Israel Democracy Institute, for what he called a technocratic interim government, led by Gantz, in which ministries are led not by lawmakers but by professional appointees.

Its goal would be to pass a budget, get the wheels of state turning and enact reforms to Israels political system to get us out of this deadlock, Plesner said.

The two most critical changes, he said, would be to award the position of prime minister in future elections to the leader of whichever party receives the most votes, and to prevent the dissolution of parliament by a simple majority vote of no confidence.

A new 61-seat majority would first have to be formed to pass such laws, Plesner said.

Those changes would have far-reaching consequences, including reversing the power dynamic between the prime minister and his coalition partners  vastly reducing, for example, the influence that ultra-Orthodox parties hold over Netanyahu.

Its an idea that will be considered, Plesner said. And when I look at the options, its one of the more serious ones.

Halevi expressed excitement at the idea. Whats so frustrating and tantalizing about this moment is that we can see the outline of a civic coalition that can pull Arabs and Jews together in a shared, neutral, Israel identity, without endangering the basic Jewishness of the state, he said.

Both sides are terrified about deepening this relationship, he added. On the Arab side, it means admitting theyre really part of Israeli society. On our side, it means legitimizing parliament members who have supported terrorism, or who make these tortured distinctions between killing Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Netanyahu wasted no time on Wednesday re-establishing the high political price he would try to make Jewish politicians pay for even contemplating collaboration with Arab lawmakers. And a law barring someone under indictment from being prime minister qualifies, since it would require the votes of the Joint List to pass.

We warned again and again during the election campaign, Netanyahu said. Gantz is joining the terror supporters in the Joint List.

But Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, offered his own warning.

Bibi, I will teach you what democracy is, he wrote on Twitter. It is the rule by the majority of the citizens, not only the majority of the Jews. Pack your suitcases. Youre on your way out.

Read more about:
Dong Y (meaning Traditional Vietnamese Medicine) is a traditional practice in Vietnam which has been passed down through generations. These days, Dong Y is more popular than ever  especially in spa treatments  due to the numerous health benefits associated with it, including the harmonisation of mind and body. The fundamentals of Dong Y are based on Yin & Yang, the Five Elements, and how they interact with peoples internal energy.

A healthy body and a strong mind depends on the balance of different sources of energy (Qi). HARNN Heritage Spa understands the philosophy of Dong Y and has designed treatments to take full advantage of its traditional medicinal wisdom, focusing on improving these aspects through the spa's Outer Body and Inner Body philosophy.

"Outer Body" focuses on the external environment. The physical space where the spa therapy takes place is extremely important  it should bring out a feeling of calming relaxation for guests. The resorts treatment rooms are made out of bamboo structures which appear to float over a lotus lagoon, surrounded by verdant vegetation.

This seclusion is key to providing an ideal space of tranquility for spa therapies. Additionally, treatments only use natural ingredients such as oil and herbs, as a fundamental philosophy of Dong Y is to only use the purest source of energy from nature.

"Inner Body" focuses on how the treatment techniques interact with the internal and external energies to bring balance to the body and mind. Visitors to the spa will be served different types of herbal tea, depending on the changing energy level of each day, in accordance with the Five Elements and Yin & Yang theories. The spa's Bamboo Ritual treatment uses heated bamboo sticks to help relaxation and strengthen different muscles and blood vessels in the body to clear the flow of energy circulation and bring optimal spiritual balance.

Especially during March, visitors should not miss InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach resort's Escape to Phu Quoc package to enjoy daily buffet breakfast, VND3.5 million ($150) credit applied at the resorts restaurants, bar, and spa, and so much more.
A LIMERICK teenager who used a knife during an attempted robbery has been sent back to Oberstown Children Detention Campus for not engaging with the Probation Service.

The 16-year-old was given six months detention and six months supervision for robbery, attempted robbery at a shop in Croom, and production of an article. It occurred in August 2018 when he was 14. He cannot be named for legal reasons.

His probation officer told Newcastle West Court that after being released the minor was quite motivated at the start but his attitude has deteriorated, and he is not complying with the supervision order.

He doesnt want to return to education. There are issues with his behaviour in class. He wants to get full-time employment. He did his Junior Cert in Oberstown. His options are limited.

He is in receipt of disability allowance for ADHD. He is prescribed medication but he doesnt take it, said the probation officer.

Concerns over the youths drug use were also expressed to Judge Mary Cashin.

He has a significant history of drug abuse for his age. He binges, not necessarily takes them every day. There is concern over an accumulating drug debt. His mother has been threatened in relation to money owed.

There is concern over people he is associating with. They are known to the courts and to gardai, said the probation officer.

Julieanne Kiely, solicitor for the teen, said it is what it is and the facts had been very fairly set out by the probation officer.

She asked Judge Cashin to give her client another chance.

When he engages he is very respectful but the difficulty has been him engaging continuously. This experience might make him reflect on his behaviour. He lost a friend tragically in January, said Ms Kiely, who asked Judge Cashin not to send him to Oberstown and give him one last opportunity.

Judge Cashin said the starting point is the youth is not taking his meds.

It is very common. It is so hard to concentrate without them. You have to take your meds, said Judge Cashin.

The teen took the stand. He said the reason he doesnt take his medication is, They dont react with my body properly.

I cant eat food afterwards. I lose loads of weight when I take it. The GP is upping and downing the dose but it isnt working, he said.

The youth said he cant fit in in school and would like a manual job.

Judge Cashin asked him what he can offer?

I dont know - stack shelves in shops, he replied.

Judge Cashin said his mother is being threatened over a drug debt.

Im off drugs five or six weeks. Im trying my best, he said.

Judge Cashin said the court is concerned that the defendant has been diagnosed with ADHD but has decided to come off his medication.

I am aware of lots of engagement with the Probation Service, Garda Diversion Programme, but there has been substance misuse. No mother should experience being threatened over a drugs debt.

Due to the lack of compliance during the six month supervision order I am imposing six months detention in Oberstown, said Judge Cashin.

The probation officer rang the children detention campus to check if there was a space available and she confirmed to the judge that there was.
Enigmatic telco entrepreneur David Teoh has signalled a combined TPG Telecom-Vodafone will seek to use 5G fixed wireless services to take on the National Broadband Network in the residential internet market.

Mr Teoh, executive chairman of TPG, is poised to become chairman of the merged company after the competition regulator said it wouldnt appeal a court ruling allowing the $15 billion tie-up to proceed.

A great relief for all of us here, Mr Teoh said when asked about the news.

The combined company's assets, including fibre links and spectrum, would put it on a strong footing to compete in both mobile and fixed-line markets, including potentially through the sale of wireless services that compete directly with the NBN, he said.
Princess Haya (L) and Sheikh Mohammed (R) at Royal Ascot in 2010.

Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Sheikh Mohammed threatened to abduct his estranged wife Princess Haya and left loaded guns in her bedroom, according to an explosive ruling from London's High Court.

The details were revealed on Thursday as part of a custody battle between the Sheikh and Princess Haya in London.

"On two occasions in March 2019, the mother states that she found a gun left on her bed with the muzzle pointing towards the door and the safety catch off," court documents said.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Shocking details about how the ruler of of Dubai threatened and intimidated his estranged wife Princess Haya have been revealed following a eight-month court battle.

On Thursday, the UK's high court threw out an appeal from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum that sought to block the publication of allegations made against him by his ex-wife, who fled to London in June 2019.

Haya is said to have fled after learning chilling details about the failed escape of Sheikha Latifa, one of Sheikh Mohammed's other children.

After arriving in London, Princess Haya sued for custody of the two children she shares with the Emir. During the case, a number of startling allegations were made about the sheikh's conduct.

The judgment from Sir Andrew McFarlane said:

"The mother received a series of anonymous notes, left in her bedroom or elsewhere, making threats, for example 'We will take your son  your daughter is ours  your life is over' or warning her to be careful."

"On two occasions in March 2019, the mother states that she found a gun left on her bed with the muzzle pointing towards the door and the safety catch off."

In March 2019 Sheikh Mohammed attempted to have the Princess abducted by helicopter and taken to Awir, "a prison in the desert."

The Emir divorced Princess Haya without telling her.

According to the outlet, McFarlane ruled the above allegations to be true "on the balance of probabilities."

Story continues

This is the standard used in civil law in England and Wales. It is a lower standard than a criminal case, which requires proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Lawyers for Sheikh Mohammed argued that the information contained in the ruling should be suppressed.

The BBC reported that the request was denied after the court decided it was in the public interest for it to be published.

Read the original article on Insider
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) has published their latest findings from the Global Reef Expedition--the largest coral reef survey and mapping expedition in history. Released today, the Global Reef Expedition: Cook Islands Final Report contains critical information on the health and resiliency of coral reef ecosystems in the Cook Islands. It provides scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders with invaluable information they can use to protect and restore these fragile marine ecosystems.

Over the course of five years, the Global Reef Expedition nearly circumnavigated the globe collecting data on the status of coral reefs in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. In 2013, the expedition arrived in the Cook Islands, where scientists worked closely with local leaders, government officials, and members of the Cook Islands Marine Park Steering Committee to study the reefs. Together, they completed over 400 surveys of the coral and reef fish communities surrounding Rarotonga, Aitutaki, and Palmerston Atoll.

Scientists on the research mission also created over 400 square kilometers of detailed marine habitat and bathymetric maps of these three island areas. This information can help managers identify priority sites for conservation action and track changes to the reef over time. The Foundation produced an award-winning film, Mapping the Blue, which shows how these maps were made and illustrates how they can inform marine spatial planning efforts in the Cook Islands. The film stars international rugby star and conservationist Kevin Iro, who helped to establish Cook Islands' marine park, Marae Moana, the largest marine protected area in the world.

"We are excited to receive the report and are most appreciative of the work done by Living Oceans foundation," said Marae Moana Ambassador Kevin Iro. "This report will definitely help with our current marine spatial planning of the Marae Moana and it also demonstrates that government and non-government organizations can work cooperatively to better understand our ocean environment."

The report released today contains a comprehensive summary of the research findings from the expedition along with conservation recommendations that can help preserve Cook Island's reefs into the future. Scientists on the expedition found that many coral reefs in the Cook Islands were in good shape, with high coral cover and diverse and abundant fish communities. For the most part, reefs in remote areas tended to be healthier than those near population centers. But while the reefs surrounding Palmerston Atoll were healthy, and the reefs in Rarotonga were doing alright, Aitutaki's corals were being ravaged by an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS).

"When we arrived in Aitutaki, it was evident immediately that there was a problem. Reefs that should have been flourishing were being eaten alive before our eyes by thousands of starfish," said Alexandra Dempsey, the Director of Science Management at the Foundation and one of the report's authors. The reef was in crisis. In some places in Aitutaki, one of the more popular island destinations in the Cook Islands, crown-of-thorns starfish had damaged 80-99% of coral on the seafloor. "We couldn't help but intervene."

Over the course of a few days, scientific divers on the Global Reef Expedition collected 540 COTS from reefs around Aitutaki. The starfish were collected by hand, a daunting task as the starfish are covered in large venomous spines. Scientists returned to the reefs in 2015 to assess the damage and remove any remaining crown-of-thorns starfish. Although the reefs have likely changed since then, reefs in the Cook Islands showed many signs of resilience. When scientists returned to Aitutaki, they noted that healthy fish populations and a diverse coral community allowed new coral to settle and grow on damaged reefs, beginning the process of recovery. Based on their experience, the scientists created a best-practices guide for dealing with future COTS outbreaks and shared their findings with government officials in the Cook Islands.

Despite the damage done by COTS in Aitutaki, the report's authors are optimistic about the future of Cook Islands' reefs. "With continued efforts to protect and preserve their reefs, coral reefs in the Cook Islands could become some of the best in the South Pacific," said KSLOF marine ecologist Renee Carlton.

The Cook Islands is regarded as a global leader in marine conservation, most notably for establishing Marae Moana marine park and expanding it to include all of their waters. The development of a zoning plan for the marine protected area is currently underway to determine which activities will be allowed where.

"It was a privilege for the Foundation to work in the Cook Islands which turned out to offer some of the more vibrant reef systems encountered on the Global Reef Expedition," said Sam Purkis, KSLOF's Chief Scientist as well as Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "It was particularly reassuring to see that the conservation initiatives already in place in the country, such as the widespread use of marine protected areas and reserves, are paying dividends. It is our sincere hope that the habitat and benthic maps that we have produced for the Cook Islands from satellite, along with the extensive portfolio of field data, will serve to bolster these ongoing efforts and catalyze even more ambitious conservation actions."

###

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation hopes the maps and data from the Global Reef Expedition will inform ongoing marine spatial planning efforts for the marine park and help the Cook Islands refine their nearshore fishing management practices. With continued protection, coral reefs in the Cook Islands can continue to flourish for generations to come.
[HK]:XS1926064541192606454 20200305 12:45:21  ::XS1926064541192606454

::XS1926064541192606454

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES, OR TO, OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT

OF, U.S. PERSONS



This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or solicitation of an

offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities or an invitation to enter into an agreement to do any such

things, nor is it calculated to invite any offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any securities.



This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the

United States or any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to

registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No securities may be offered or

sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. Any

public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus. Such

prospectus will contain detailed information about the company making the offer, its management, as well as

financial statements. The Company does not intend to make any public offering of securities in the United States.



MODERN LAND (CHINA) CO., LIMITED







(Incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)



(Stock Code: 1107)



COMPLETION OF THE OFFER



(ISIN: XS1926064541, COMMON CODE: 192606454)



Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated February 19, 2020 and March 2, 2020

in relation to the commencement and results of the Offer, respectively (collectively the

Announcements). Capitalized terms used in this announcement shall have the same meanings as

defined in the Announcements unless the context requires otherwise.



The Offer was completed on March 4, 2020. The Company confirms that the New Financing Condition

has been satisfied. Subject to the terms and conditions contained in the Offer to Purchase, the amount

payable per principal amount of the Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Deadline was

US$1,030 for each US$1,000 in principal amount of the Notes. The final aggregate principal amount

of the Notes accepted for purchase was US$100,540,000 (the Accepted Notes), representing

approximately 28.73% of the total aggregate principal amount of the outstanding Notes. The Notes

repurchased pursuant to the Offer have been cancelled.



The aggregate amount paid by the Company to holders of the Accepted Notes for repurchase of the

Accepted Notes is approximately US$106,240,059.46 (which includes the accrued and unpaid interest

in respect of the Accepted Notes from and including the last interest payment date of January 2, 2020

up to, but excluding March 4, 2020).



As at the date of this announcement, after completion of the Offer and cancellation of the Accepted

Notes, the aggregate principal amount of the Notes which remains outstanding is US$249,460,000.



IMPORTANT NOTICE  THE OFFER IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO INVESTORS WHO ARE

NOT U.S. PERSONS (WITHIN THE MEANING OF REGULATION S) AND ARE OUTSIDE

THE UNITED STATES; U.S. PERSONS (AS DEFINED IN REGULATION S), PERSONS

ACTING FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF U.S. PERSONS AND PERSONS LOCATED





IN THE UNITED STATES ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TENDER NOTES IN THE OFFER.



GENERAL



The Offer is not being made within, and the Offer to Purchase is not for distribution in the United States

or to, or for the account or benefit of, any U.S. person (as defined under Regulation S). The Offer to

Purchase is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of,

any U.S. person (as defined under Regulation S) or any other jurisdiction where it is unlawful to offer

such securities and any guarantees with respect thereto, for sale.



The Offer to Purchase and this announcement do not constitute, and may not be used in connection with,

an offer to purchase, a solicitation of an offer to purchase, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to

sell, securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is not

authorized or in which the person making such an offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to any

person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer or a solicitation. The Company will not accept any

responsibility for any violation by any person of the restrictions applicable in any jurisdiction.



No securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries are being, or will be, registered under the U.S.

Securities Act or the securities laws of any state of the United States, and no such securities may be

offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject

to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and any applicable state or local securities

laws. No public offering of securities is being or will be made in the United States or any other

jurisdiction. Nothing in this communication shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer

to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer or sale would be unlawful.



The distribution of this announcement and the Offer to Purchase in certain jurisdictions may be

restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement and/or the Offer to Purchase comes

are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions. Forward-looking

statements in this announcement and/or the Offer to Purchase, including, among others, those

statements relating to the Offer are based on current expectations. These statements are not guarantees

of future events or results. Future events and results involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and

are difficult to predict with any precision. Actual events and results could vary materially from the

description contained herein due to many factors including changes in the market and price for the

Notes, changes in the business and financial condition of the Company and its subsidiaries, changes in

the property industry and changes in the capital markets in general.



By Order of the Board



MODERN LAND (CHINA) CO., LIMITED



Zhang Peng



President and Executive Director



Hong Kong, March 5, 2020



As at the date of this announcement, the Board comprises ten Directors, namely executive Directors: Mr. Zhang

Lei, Mr. Zhang Peng and Mr. Chen Yin; non-executive Directors: Mr. Fan Qingguo, Mr. Chen Zhiwei and Mr.

Tian Jiong; and independent non-executive Directors: Mr. Qin Youguo, Mr. Cui Jian, Mr. Hui Chun Ho, Eric

and Mr. Zhong Bin.





 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES, OR TO, OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFITOF, U.S. PERSONSThis announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or solicitation of anoffer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities or an invitation to enter into an agreement to do any suchthings, nor is it calculated to invite any offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any securities.This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in theUnited States or any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior toregistration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No securities may be offered orsold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. Anypublic offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus. Suchprospectus will contain detailed information about the company making the offer, its management, as well asfinancial statements. The Company does not intend to make any public offering of securities in the United States.MODERN LAND (CHINA) CO., LIMITED(Incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)(Stock Code: 1107)COMPLETION OF THE OFFER(ISIN: XS1926064541, COMMON CODE: 192606454)Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated February 19, 2020 and March 2, 2020in relation to the commencement and results of the Offer, respectively (collectively theAnnouncements). Capitalized terms used in this announcement shall have the same meanings asdefined in the Announcements unless the context requires otherwise.The Offer was completed on March 4, 2020. The Company confirms that the New Financing Conditionhas been satisfied. Subject to the terms and conditions contained in the Offer to Purchase, the amountpayable per principal amount of the Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Deadline wasUS$1,030 for each US$1,000 in principal amount of the Notes. The final aggregate principal amountof the Notes accepted for purchase was US$100,540,000 (the Accepted Notes), representingapproximately 28.73% of the total aggregate principal amount of the outstanding Notes. The Notesrepurchased pursuant to the Offer have been cancelled.The aggregate amount paid by the Company to holders of the Accepted Notes for repurchase of theAccepted Notes is approximately US$106,240,059.46 (which includes the accrued and unpaid interestin respect of the Accepted Notes from and including the last interest payment date of January 2, 2020up to, but excluding March 4, 2020).As at the date of this announcement, after completion of the Offer and cancellation of the AcceptedNotes, the aggregate principal amount of the Notes which remains outstanding is US$249,460,000.IMPORTANT NOTICE  THE OFFER IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO INVESTORS WHO ARENOT U.S. PERSONS (WITHIN THE MEANING OF REGULATION S) AND ARE OUTSIDETHE UNITED STATES; U.S. PERSONS (AS DEFINED IN REGULATION S), PERSONSACTING FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF U.S. PERSONS AND PERSONS LOCATEDIN THE UNITED STATES ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TENDER NOTES IN THE OFFER.GENERALThe Offer is not being made within, and the Offer to Purchase is not for distribution in the United Statesor to, or for the account or benefit of, any U.S. person (as defined under Regulation S). The Offer toPurchase is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of,any U.S. person (as defined under Regulation S) or any other jurisdiction where it is unlawful to offersuch securities and any guarantees with respect thereto, for sale.The Offer to Purchase and this announcement do not constitute, and may not be used in connection with,an offer to purchase, a solicitation of an offer to purchase, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer tosell, securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is notauthorized or in which the person making such an offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to anyperson to whom it is unlawful to make an offer or a solicitation. The Company will not accept anyresponsibility for any violation by any person of the restrictions applicable in any jurisdiction.No securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries are being, or will be, registered under the U.S.Securities Act or the securities laws of any state of the United States, and no such securities may beoffered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subjectto, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and any applicable state or local securitieslaws. No public offering of securities is being or will be made in the United States or any otherjurisdiction. Nothing in this communication shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offerto buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer or sale would be unlawful.The distribution of this announcement and the Offer to Purchase in certain jurisdictions may berestricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement and/or the Offer to Purchase comesare required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions. Forward-lookingstatements in this announcement and/or the Offer to Purchase, including, among others, thosestatements relating to the Offer are based on current expectations. These statements are not guaranteesof future events or results. Future events and results involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions andare difficult to predict with any precision. Actual events and results could vary materially from thedescription contained herein due to many factors including changes in the market and price for theNotes, changes in the business and financial condition of the Company and its subsidiaries, changes inthe property industry and changes in the capital markets in general.By Order of the BoardMODERN LAND (CHINA) CO., LIMITEDZhang PengPresident and Executive DirectorHong Kong, March 5, 2020As at the date of this announcement, the Board comprises ten Directors, namely executive Directors: Mr. ZhangLei, Mr. Zhang Peng and Mr. Chen Yin; non-executive Directors: Mr. Fan Qingguo, Mr. Chen Zhiwei and Mr.Tian Jiong; and independent non-executive Directors: Mr. Qin Youguo, Mr. Cui Jian, Mr. Hui Chun Ho, Ericand Mr. Zhong Bin.
In a matter of days, thousands of people and canines will be traveling to West Midland to witness the annual canine show in the United Kingdom, Crufts 2020 as organizers announce that the event will go ahead this year amidst the looming threat of coronavirus.

The announcement followed the government's COBRA meeting last Monday with the organizer of the dog show revealing that they have not received any advice form the Public Health England to cancel or postpone the event.

On the website of the Kennel Club, the organizer, it was published that they are still looking forward to welcoming their visitors, dog owner, canine lovers and exhibitors as usual.

A statement published on the Kennel Club's website reads: "We are looking forward to welcoming our exhibitors and visitors as usual." However, they also noted that the situation is still evolving and that they will continue to adhere to the advice of health experts and authorities.

The club further stated that they will continue to be guided by the facts and medical information released by public health organizations. As of the moment, the advice from Public Health England has not changed. They said that the most effective thing to do to protect themselves from the virus is simple personal hygiene routines like washing one's hands properly, maintaining good respiratory hygiene. and employing the 'Catch It. Bin It. Kill It' ethos.

Read also: Facemask Shortage Hits US Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Experts Advised To Stop Panic Buying

With this in mind, the Kennel Club assured that there will be enhanced measures that will be taken and put in place to protect those who will be present at the event. They also said that they are continuing to monitor the situations along with the Department of Health and Defra for further updates and ensured that they will issue official statements and announcements on their social media channels and website.

According to Independent, Kennel Club's Senior Health and Welfare Manager Bill Lambert revealed the lengths that they have taken in order to make sure that the event will be safe from COVID-19 threats. He also said that the club will be putting 3,000 additional hand sanitizers in all over the event

Even with the concerns that people have expressed over the event, Lambert insisted that it is still going to push through and are reminding people to take extra effort in caring for their pets and themselves in the duration of Crufts 2020.

On top of this, he said that there are an estimated 27,000 dogs that will be participating in the events and about 3,000 of these will be coming from outside the country. In view of this, they have informed the participants that there are areas where they cannot travel from and that they have written to people as a reminder than traveling in those quarantine areas are restricted.

There are currently 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK. The disease has so far affected more than 92,100 people across 71 countries and territories and has killed more than 3,100 worldwide.

Related article: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Japan Warns Possible Postponement of 2020 Olympics, IOC Disagrees

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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West Asheville Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina, prominently flies the Christian flag above the American flag. When asked about it, Stan Welch, the churchs pastor, tells people that he knows its not proper flag etiquette, but its not a mistake by the church. Theyre doing it purposely to make a point. They started flying the Christian flag that way back in 2015 because they believed the nation had entered a time when there ought to be an emphasis on God being first, and then country.

Its not a protest; its simply who we are, says Welch. Its going along with our National Motto, In God We Trust. Thats our ultimate trust. When we get to heaven one day and stand before the Judgment, were going to be asked, How good a patriot were you? Its then were going to be judged on our Christian faith.

Welch says flying the Christian flag above the U.S. flag brings heat in a progressive city like Asheville  a city where the political philosophy of many sees government as the giver of rights rather than God. In fact, this week, the Asheville Citizen-Times highlighted West Ashevilles flag flying in the segment: The Answer Man by John Boyle. Its the second time Boyle has covered the subject in the last five years since people are still inquiring whether its legal and why the church is doing it.

But Welch insists, Its meant to be a positive statement, biblically  its God first, then our country, and thats the order. We are in perfect alignment with Scripture and perfect alignment with our National Motto.

West Asheville is not the only church flying the Christian flag above the American flag. Rit Varriale, the pastor of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina, says one would be surprised to see how many churches and residences are flying the two flags in that manner throughout Cleveland County.

Varriale could rightly be given credit for the concept. He says that back in 2015, he was already planning to launch a new website, God Before Government, when one day, he noticed that Focus Missionary Baptist Church in Shelby was flying the Christian flag at their church above the American flag. Varriale then sought out the pastor, which led to the discovery that the two preachers shared concerns that America had seemingly forgotten that portion of the pledge to the U.S. flag, which says, one nation under God.

Focus Missionary Pastor Walter Wilson, who had been flying the Christian flag above the American flag for several weeks, said that one day while he was hoisting the flags, Gods Spirit spoke to him and said that God should always be first. Everything we do, were supposed to acknowledge Him first, Wilson told the Gaston Gazette. He told me to put the flag above the American flag.

Wilsons obedience to God inspired Varriale not only to do the same, but to use the switching of the two flags as a means of sending a critical message  the message that God comes before government.

Varriale said that he was never really trying to start a movement. He just wanted to make a stand. But as people caught wind of it, it became much more than he anticipated.

When we looked at the analytics of our God Before Government website and Facebook page, it created a tremendous amount of conversation. We even trended number one for topics on Facebook, he said. We were number one for over 24 hours, which is almost unheard of. We had contacts from across the country, who were telling us that they were doing it, but we never kept a tally.

However, Varriale said that there was one disappointment: I will say though, at the same time that it generated a lot of discussions, it was disappointing to see the number of key leaders that could have jumped on board with this, but decided that they wanted to sit it out because they thought it was too controversial.

Varriale said that there seems to be a pervasive feeling in evangelicalism today that first we have to get people to like us, and then hopefully if they like us, they will like the message of Jesus.

Certainly we dont want to be cantankerous and mean-spirited when were taking a stand, but sometimes you have to take a stand, and if people are offended at it, if people are upset by it, so be it! he added.

Varriale also notes that in his dialogue with people who questioned the appropriateness of flying the Christian flag above the American flag, the one argument that caused people to pause more than anything else was his pointing out to them the inside front cover of the Roosevelt World War II Bible, particularly the Navy edition, which has a picture of the pennant of the church, the Christian flag, flying above the American flag.

Varriale says, Was Roosevelt aware of the fact that there were Muslims in America during the 1940s? Of course, Roosevelt was a smart man. He knew that there were atheists. He knew that there were socialists, liberals, and others who completely objected to Christianity. And back in the 40s, they were laying the seeds of the extreme liberalism that we see today. But he, knowing that we were, by and large, a Christian nation, demonstrated that the church flag is the only flag ever to be flown over our nations flag, and its to be flown during divine services. So were a church [Elizabeth Baptist Church], people are praying here and doing stuff of a divine nature all the time.

Still, some objected, more specifically Christians, who told Varriale that God would never honor what he was doing because it was born of the spirit of rebellion  because it was in the spirit of noncompliance  because it disregards flag etiquette and even though flag etiquette is not punishable by law, it is a law, and God never honors rebellion.

But Im thinking to myself Messianic rebellion is what sent our Lord to the Cross, the fact that he wouldnt toe the line of the authorities of his day. If Jesus had just stayed in Galilee and taught Bible studies and led great worship experiences, they wouldnt have killed him. They killed him because he challenged the authorities, said Varriale. He basically said that honoring God is more important than honoring you. And of course, thats what caused the disciples to face the harsh treatment they went through in Acts chapters 3  5. They said we are going to obey God rather than men.

Varriale concludes that Christians arent characteristically rebellious, theyre just the opposite, but when were being pushed by the government to live in ways contrary to Gods law, thats when its proper to peacefully rebel.

Just recently, I met with a group of about 25 key church leaders in Vance County, North Carolina. I told them that the Bible has historically provided the premise for law and liberty in Western Civilization, especially in America, and it is an indispensable source for governing in a manner that ensures domestic tranquility, prosperity, justice, and happiness for every nation around the world. Christians have always believed, and American citizens have generally agreed, the rule of law requires the state to act in accordance with the principles of a higher law  the revealed will of God as delineated in the Bible.

Although Varriale never set out to make flying the Christian flag above the American flag a movement, I believe in these times when religious liberty is under serious assault, socialism is on the rise, and Americans have seemingly forgotten that freedom can only be sustained by a right relationship with our Creator, it seems to me that it should be a movement.

On a personal note, I say, may God hasten the day when we would see Christian flags flying above the American flag in front of churches, residences, and other places everywhere. Im for it! Its neither a protest or an unpatriotic act! Instead, it merely sends a desperately needed profound message: Americas hope  the answer to its many seriously complicated problems  the best response to its greatest threats and the vast divide between the American people  is to put God first again.
Cosmopolitan Hotels, UAE has announced the opening of its five-star flagship hotel, the Grand Cosmopolitan Hotel.



Located in al Barsha and within walking distance from the Mall of Emirates, the hotel offers 235 rooms & suites, the smallest being 41-sq-m.



The property also offers several food and beverage venues, including Pacifico, a rooftop terrace with views of the Arabian Gulf. The Conference and Events facilities, which feature the latest in technology including state-of-the-art IPTV with Chromecast facilities, can accommodate events up to 200 persons.



Other amenities include a rooftop infinity temperature control pool and children's pool, as well as an outdoor kids play area.



Tony Saliba, managing director of the group, said: Despite the current challenges in the market and at a time where the world is facing one of its most severe health-related threat, we remain confident in the potential of the hospitality industry in the UAE and in Dubai particularly."



"The vision and the targets set by the authorities re-assure us that our investment is in the right place. We spared no efforts in developing a very fine property that provides equally the best facilities for businessmen and holidaymakers. Families will have a great time at the Grand Cosmopolitan Hotels and executives will have an amazing stay too," he said. - TradeArabia News Service
A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of being a member of a banned group linked to right wing terrorism.

The constable, 21, was held by counter-terrorism officers today at an address in north London where a search is being carried out.

The officer, who works in 'frontline policing', has been taken to a south London police station, where he remains in custody.

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of being a member of a banned group linked to right wing terrorism.

The arrest relates to suspected membership of a proscribed organisation linked to right wing terrorism, but the Met said there is nothing to suggest there is any threat to the wider public.

Scotland Yard said the force's directorate of professional standards has been told and the officer's status is 'under review'.

The case has also been referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog.

The constable, 21, was held by counter-terrorism officers today at an address in north London where a search is being carried out

The arrest comes after MPs backed a ban on membership of more right-wing groups last month.

A proscription order was issued which makes joining Sonnenkrieg Division illegal in the UK.

The law also recognises System Resistance Network as an alias of the already banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

Anyone found to be a member of, or offering support to, the banned groups can face up to 10 years in jail.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

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China said on Thursday that the industrial autoclave seized from a Pakistan-bound Chinese ship at the Kandla port is a heat treatment furnace shell system and not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control as alleged by the Indian officials.

Asked about reports that officials of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) confirmed that the industrial autoclave seized from the Chinese ship 'Da Cui Yun' can be used for the "manufacture of very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it is not for military use.

"China has noted the relevant reports. As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling the international non-proliferation obligations and international commitments," Zhao said.

"After seeking the information, we know that this item is actually a heat treatment furnace shell system, produced by a private company in China. This is not for military use and it is not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control," he said.

He said the Chinese merchant ship and its owner have declared this item truthfully beforehand with the Indian authorities, so there is "no concealment and forced declaration".

He, however, did not respond to the part of the question quoting reports that India's national security authorities could notify the UN pursuant to relevant Security Council legal instruments to expose the nuclear proliferation nexus between China and Pakistan.

Reports said the ship bearing Hong Kong flag was detained by Customs at Kandla Port in Gujarat while en-route to Port Qasim, Karachi, on February 3.

The cargo of the Chinese ship has been offloaded and kept in a godown at the port.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[March 05, 2020] Coincheck Adopts Sumo Logic to Bolster Security for its Virtual Currency Trading Service

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sumo Logic , the leader in continuous intelligence , today announced that Coincheck, Inc , one of Japans premier cryptocurrency exchanges, has chosen Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM to centralize its log monitoring system and bolster the security of its virtual currency trading service infrastructure. Through Sumo Logics Continuous Intelligence Platform, Coincheck is able to detect early warning signs of illegal access of its systems allowing the company to quickly respond to potential threats, while adhering to strict data compliance regulations.

Coincheck is a Bitcoin wallet that operates exchanges between Bitcoin, Ether and Fiat currencies in Japan and other countries. After an undetected security breach, the company was looking to improve its business management and internal control postures, while improving technological safety with the assistance of outside experts. Coincheck decided to rebuild their systems from the infrastructure up with the goal of fortifying security. After an extensive vendor selection process, Coincheck selected Sumo Logics Cloud SIEM solution to support their cloud security strategy. With Sumo Logic, Coincheck gained the ability to monitor and analyze logsfrom cloud servers, on-premises network security devices and end-point terminals in one central location allowing teams to leverage real-time security intelligence to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities and give them time to resolve these issues before it can be exploited.



We needed to rebuild our monitoring framework as quickly as possible and the speed with which Sumo Logics platform could be implemented was a major draw for us, said Hideaki Oura, manager, cybersecurity promotion department, Coincheck. In addition, having a single location where our IT, security and dev teams can monitor log data across our network was another factor that led to our selection of the Sumo Logic platform. Our work with Coincheck further exemplifies our commitment to solve the unique security challenges facing todays modern digital businesses, said Dave Frampton, vice president, security intelligence business unit, Sumo Logic. With our continuous intelligence platform, we enable Coincheck to integrate analytics and workflow across security, IT and development teams, so they can stay ahead of rapidly evolving threats and ensure their customers have a safe trading experience.

In the future, Coincheck plans to use Sumo Logics Continuous Intelligence Platform for non-security related use cases to improve additional company services and systems. Additional Resources Learn more about Sumo Logic cloud security intelligence solutions

more about Sumo Logic cloud security intelligence solutions Download the Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM solutions brief

the Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM solutions brief Sign up for a Sumo Logic Security Intelligence Platform free trial About Sumo Logic

Sumo Logic is a leader in continuous intelligence, a new category of software, which enables organizations of all sizes address the data challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation, modern applications, and cloud computing. The Sumo Logic Continuous Intelligence Platform automates the collection, ingestion, and analysis of application, infrastructure, security, and IoT data to derive actionable insights within seconds. More than 2,000 customers around the world rely on Sumo Logic to build, run, and secure their modern applications and cloud infrastructures. Only Sumo Logic delivers its platform as a true, multi-tenant SaaS architecture, across multiple use-cases, enabling businesses to thrive in the Intelligence Economy. Founded in 2010, Sumo Logic is a privately held company based in Redwood City, California, and is backed by Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, DFJ Growth, Franklin Templeton, Greylock Partners, IVP, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Tiger Global Management. For more information, visit www.sumologic.com . Sumo Logic is a trademark or registered trademark of Sumo Logic in the United States and in foreign countries. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Any information regarding offerings, updates, functionality, or other modifications, including release dates, is subject to change without notice. The development, release, and timing of any offering, update, functionality, or modification described herein remains at the sole discretion of Sumo Logic, and should not be relied upon in making a purchase decision, nor as a representation, warranty, or commitment to deliver specific offerings, updates, functionalities, or modifications in the future. Media Contacts United States

Melissa Liton

Sumo Logic

[email protected]

(650) 814-3882 Harper Schmidt

PAN Communications for Sumo Logic

[email protected]

(415) 544-7220 Japan

Kyosuke Wakairo

Sumo Logic Japan KK

[email protected]

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A man in a face mask rides the subway in Manhattan, New York City, after further cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New York on March 5, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

New York Coronavirus Cluster Linked to Eight More Cases

The cluster of coronavirus cases in New York has produced eight additional patients, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.

Two new cases were reported in New York City and one on Long Island. In total, the number of cases doubled in the state in just hours to 22.

The number will continue to go up, Cuomo said at a press conference. It must, because we are continuing to test more and more. The more you test the higher number you will have.

The cluster centers around a lawyer who lives in Westchester County but works in the borough of Manhattan. Nine cases had previously been linked to the 50-year-old man, including his 20-year-old son, his 14-year-old daughter, and his wife.

A neighbor who drove the lawyer to the hospital on Feb. 27 tested positive, as did a friend he spent time with. Tests returned positive for the friends children and spouse.

A man walks past SAR High School, which has been shut down due to the new coronavirus, in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York on March 3, 2020. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

The schools the children of the friend and lawyer attended have been closed, including SAR High School in the borough of Bronx and Yeshiva University in the borough of Manhattan.

The other new cases were two New York City residents, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s who were both in intensive care in hospitals, and a 42-year-old man in Nassau County who is also in the hospital. The county Department of Health didnt immediately provide information on that patient.

Disease detectives are working on tracing the contacts of the new cases.

The eight new patients in Westchester are all showing mild or no symptoms, Cuomo said.

Dozens of others have tested negative for the virus.

Testing helps limit the spread of the virus even though the current system is imperfect, the governor told reporters. The procedures include isolating confirmed cases and identifying known contacts of those cases.

You go through the same process over and over again. The universe obviously continues to expand, but the more you can do, the better. And thats what were doing all across the state, he said.

A woman in a face mask walks in the downtown area of Manhattan after further cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in New York on March 5, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Officials have asked New Yorkers to remain calm amid the escalating case count, referring to international figures that indicate about 80 percent of people who have the virus have an experience similar to the flu and will recover without hospital care.

The other 20 percent or so require hospitalization, with a percentage of those needing intensive care and, in some cases, mechanical ventilation.

The virus has spread to a slew of new states this week, including Florida, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. The cluster of cases in New York is the biggest outside of Washington state, where a large cluster has been linked to a nursing home in Kirkland just outside Seattle.

The majority of cases in the United States are in Washington state or California, which is holding the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast after the first death by the virus in the state came from a patient who had traveled on the ship to Mexico and back.

The virus, which first emerged in China in December 2019, appears similar to the flu in most people, with symptoms including fever, coughing, and respiratory issues. If people show symptoms they should contact health authorities or their doctor.

To try to limit the spread of the virus, experts recommend staying home when sick, frequently washing hands, regularly cleaning objects and surfaces, and avoiding touching ones nose, eyes, or mouth.
Cotton Closes Black on Monday Barchart - Mon Jan 10, 4:48PM CST Cotton futures were off their high at the closing bell on Monday, but were still 10 to 40 points in the black. New crop cotton also bounced on Monday, ending the session 40 to 76 points firmer. The Seam... CTH22 : 115.64 (+0.36%) CTK22 : 113.43 (+0.32%) CTZ21 : 111.55s (+0.25%)

Wheat Markets Close Mixed Barchart - Mon Jan 10, 4:48PM CST Mondays wheat market ended with winter wheat gains to HRS weakness. Spring wheat futures ended the session a nickel to 9 cents in the red. March MPLS wheat has posted losses in 9 in the last 11 sessions... ZWH22 : 760-4 (-0.20%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.2051 (+0.47%) KEH22 : 776-6 (-0.19%) KEPAWS.CM : 7.5951 (+0.45%) MWH22 : 915-6 (+0.16%)

Corn Weakens out of Weekend Barchart - Mon Jan 10, 4:48PM CST Mondays corn trading session left prices 5 1/2 to 7 cents weaker. May futures were able to hold above the $6 mark, while Marcha and July closed less than a penny under. New crop futures were fractionally... ZCH22 : 601-0 (+0.21%) ZCPAUS.CM : 5.8670 (-1.13%) ZCK22 : 602-2 (+0.17%) ZCZ21 : 588-6s (+0.77%) ZCPZ21US.CM : 5.7930 (-0.49%)

Chart of the Day: KLA-Tencor - A Tech Stock Still Worth Looking At Barchart - Mon Jan 10, 4:37PM CST I wanted to find out if there were still any tech stocks that were worth buying so I screened the NASDAQ 100 Index stock for the highest Weighted Alpha and technical buy signals and found one. My Barchart... KLAC : 418.73 (+0.44%)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 14:36 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206881ac8 1 Business Indonesia,smartphone,Samsung-galaxy-20,sales,launching,Samsung-Galaxy-Note-10,Korea,Oppo,Xiaomi Free

Samsung, the world's top smartphone maker, remains optimistic that its newly launched Galaxy S20 will receive a good response from Indonesian consumers although fears of the COVID-19 outbreak could discourage people from going to shopping malls to buy the new handset.

Samsung Electronic Indonesias marketing head Denny Galant said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the sales in Indonesia would be high as usual despite the plunging initial sales of the Galaxy S20 in Korea.

Our S20 pre-order numbers surpassed the S10 pre-orders during its launching year in February, last year. Based on that figure, we believe that demand in Indonesia will remain high, he said while declining to elaborate on the numbers.

Samsung sold an estimated 70,800 units of the Galaxy S20 in Korea on Thursday (Feb. 27), far lower than 140,000 units of the Galaxy S10 series sold on the first day of sales last year, The Korea Herald reported.

A Korean telecom company official blamed the COVID-19 outbreak for the sales slump, which reduced the number of consumers visiting brick-and-mortar stores.

In addition, Indonesias smartphone sales volumes also reported single-digit negative growth in 2019, following a global trend of a 2 percent decline in smartphone demand, market researcher Growth from Knowledge (GfK) stated on Wednesday.

Denny assured that the coronavirus outbreak has not disrupted Galaxy S20s stock supply to Indonesia, despite the recent shutdown of Samsung's factory in South Korea.

As of Monday, Samsungs smartphone plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang province, in South Korea had to shut down twice as four of its employees tested positive for COVID-19, according to The Korea Herald. The Gumi plant produces Samsungs flagship smartphones including the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip.

The supply for our flagship smartphone in Indonesia remains secure despite the virus outbreak, Denny said.

Samsung maintained its domination of the flagship smartphone market in Indonesia with a 67 percent market share in 2019, according to Samsung. (mpr)
A file image of BBC Broadcasting House in London. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)

The TV licence fee is the least worst way of funding the BBC, a leading peer has insisted.

Lord McNally, the Liberal Democrat leader in the House of Lords, said the fee is essential as the BBC is the source that everybody turns to.

Boris Johnsons government has ramped up its assault on the BBC since the general election, including the launch of a consultation on whether to decriminalise non-payment of the 154.50 licence fee.

In a debate about the role of the BBC on Thursday, Lord McNally launched a broadside at the government, accusing it of intimidatory tactics against the corporation.

Lord McNally in the House of Lords on Thursday (Parliamentlive.tv)

Theres always been a kind of problem of a new government that comes in with a sense of triumphalism and score settling, he said.

The way this government has launched itself onto the BBC is very worrying indeed. Its worth remembering the BBC is protected by Royal Charter just so to protect it from the day-to-day vindictiveness and intimidation of a government.

He went on: The licence fee is probably the least worst way of financing the BBC and should be protected from populist ways to weaken it.

Lord McNally added that if the BBCs independent values are lost, Fox News here we come.

Broadcasting House (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Labour peer Lord Bragg, who works for Radio 4, told the chamber: People in this country would march for the BBC because they know since the beginning, it has served them well.

For almost 100 years they have paid for it with very little complaint. It is a public service, it belongs to them. We cant let them down.

Crossbench peer Viscount Colville of Culross, on the other hand, said the government is right to question the BBCs universal licence fee.

He said: It served the corporation well but its increasingly unable to fund the organisation properly. Thirty-three thousand fewer licences were purchased last year and the forecast is for the reduction to continue.

Story continues

Im in favour of progressive household tax, as in Germany. It reflects the differing wealth of households and maintains the universality of the BBCs funding.

The corporation can fall back on the licence fee  which provides 75% of its revenue  until at least December 2027, when the current Royal Charter expires.

Number 10 has been openly hostile to the BBC, and Boris Johnson has said he was certainly looking at scrapping the licence fee.

Government ministers, meanwhile, have been banned from appearing on flagship BBC current affairs shows Today and Newsnight.

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Earlier this week TCM played the classic Robert Drew cinema verite documentary Crisis: Behind a presidential commitment. The documentary first aired on ABC in October 1963. My only purpose is to bring it to your attention in case you might find it of interest and to recommend it if you havent seen it before.

The documentary takes us behind the scenes of the Kennedy administrations efforts the previous June to enforce the federal court order desegregating the University of Alabama. The link to the documentary accessible for a fee via YouTube (above) provides this summary:

When Governor George Wallace literally stands in a school building door to block the admittance of two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, to the all-white University of Alabama in 1963, President John F. Kennedy must decide whether to commit the power of the presidency to backing racial equality. This astonishingly intimate documentary of a key confrontation in the U.S. battle for civil rights takes viewers inside the White House, the U.S. Justice Department, and the Alabama governors mansion, candidly filming events from all sides with cameras that follow each participant as the crisis unfolds, up through its dramatic climax.

The film is also accessible on Amazon Prime. It is in any event a powerful and moving documentary. Representing the Democrats hold on the solid South, Wallace was of course a stalwart of the regime of segregation. After making his stand in the schoolhouse door, however, Wallace retreated. Events play out as a sort of domestic analogue to the Cuban missile crisis.

The film presents impressive portraits of JFK, RFK, and Nicholas Katzenbach. The only moment of levity in the films 52 minutes comes under high stress, when RFK puts three-year-old daughter Kerry on the phone to chat with Katzenbach. We see both ends of the conversation. For a few seconds, the stress breaks and Katzenbach cracks a smile.

Having watched the climax unfold in public on the evening news, I found that the documentary brought back a lot of memories. Its hard to believe it all happened within my lifetime, or how far we have come in at least one respect. Unfortunately, among other things, we have exchanged segregation forever for affirmative action forever and all its many kissing cousins.

One wonders what happened to the two students at the center of the film. They are incredibly composed and dignified as events unfold around them. Checking Wikipedia, I discover that the late Vivian Malone Jones was Eric Holders sister-in-law. Wikipedia provides this touching update:

In October 1996, Jones was chosen by the George Wallace Family Foundation to be the first recipient of its Lurleen B. Wallace Award of Courage. At the ceremony, Wallace said, Vivian Malone Jones was at the center of the fight over states rights and conducted herself with grace, strength and, above all, courage. In 2000, the University of Alabama bestowed on her a doctorate of humane letters.

James Hoods entry notes:

In 1997, Wallace planned to give Hood his degree, but poor health prevented him from attending the ceremony. Hood himself was convinced that Wallace was sincere after that meeting, as he wrote in an interchange following the PBS documentary on Wallace, Setting the Woods on Fire. Hood attended Wallaces funeral in 1998, imploring others to forgive Wallace as he had, as Wallace had publicly apologized for his actions.

Below is the trailer for the documentary.

Below is the Criterion Collections profile of Robert Drew and background on Drews four Kennedy films (the three others are Primary, Adventures on the New Frontier, and Faces of November). Drews site is here.
Egypt has banned Shiite websites and TV channels, including the website of renowned Shiite activist Ahmed Rasem al-Nafis, in an attempt to prevent any exploitation of religious ideologies to achieve political gains.

The Cairo Administrative Court decided Feb. 23 to accept the lawsuit filed by lawyer Samir Sabry in which he demanded the closure and cessation of Shiite websites and TV channels in general, and Nafis website in particular.

The reasons behind this verdict are based on the dangers of Shiite ideology on Egyptian society and national security as Shiites in Egypt use religion for political manipulation, the office of Sabry told Al-Monitor. The purpose of those who advocate Shiite ideology is aimed at creating discord in the country and implementing the agendas of foreign countries to destroy the Egyptian state.

Nafis, who is also a physician, told Al-Monitor that the closing of his website is part of the government crackdown on freedom of expression, opinion and religion. There are many websites that have been shut down in Egypt and it is no wonder that my site has been closed as well, he said.

Nafis added, As Shiites, we do not want to convert Egyptians to the Shiite sect. We have our own ideas and perceptions and we are not hurting anyone.

He said Egypt should embrace people with different points of view and uphold values of respect of others and give them freedom to express their ideas and practice their religious rituals.

According to Nafis, Shiite Islam has longstanding roots in Egypt as the Shiite Fatimids came to power in 969 in Egypt, and founded a new capital called Cairo as the seat of the Fatimid dynasty.

The Fatimids ruled Egypt for 200 years [969-1171] and formed its identity. They also founded the famous Al-Azhar University in 970 in Cairo, which was originally established as a Shiite university, he said. Saladin then came to Egypt and overthrew the Shiites.

Nafis said that although Egyptians have predominantly remained Sunnis, they still boost Sufi shrines and sacred Shiite mosques dedicated to the Prophet Muhammads family members.

There are many contradictions in Egyptian society when we look at the country's history and the peoples practices, Nafis noted.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians have backed the courts decision, saying that Shiite ideology threatens the security of the Egyptian state, especially amid regional tensions.

Awareness must be raised from the relevant religious institutions starting from the Ministry of Awqaf [Endowments] and the Islamic Research Academy [affiliated with Al-Azhar] to warn of Shiite thought that aims to serve the agendas in the countries of the Sunnis, Mohamed Abu Hamed, a member of parliament, told Al-Monitor.

He noted that amid tensions in the region, the state has to take all precautionary measures in order to prevent any internal conflicts, in particular among Muslims. The country has a Muslim-majority community and stirring religious conflicts in the country would largely affect its security, Abu Hamed said.

Iran and the rest of the Arab world, especially Saudi Arabia, have always been at loggerheads because of religious differences; Iran has a Shiite majority while Sunnis form a majority in the other countries. Eagerness for dominance has also been among the reasons for regional conflicts.

Shiite activists like Nafis estimate the number of Shiites in Egypt at 1 million. However, government officials and parliamentarians like Abu Hamed say that their numbers are in the thousands.

The Economist, meanwhile, said that there are between 500,000 and 1 million Shiites in Egypt.

Egyptian Shiites have been targeted by the Salafists in the last decade and Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb has repeatedly said that he will never accept any attempts to Shiitize Egyptians.

On June 23, 2013, during the reign of late President Mohammed Morsi, several hundred misguided Sunni Muslims attacked and surrounded the home of Shiite cleric Hassan Shehata, a former Sunni, in the village of Abu Muslim in Giza governorate.

The mob killed the cleric and three of his followers, and dragged their bodies onto the streets. The police did nothing to stop the attack.

Since 2012, Egyptian authorities have started to prevent Shiites from attending the Ashura celebrations at Al-Hussein Mosque in Cairo, which are part of an annual Shiite religious event. The authorities said in a statement that the decision came to avoid any extremist Shiite religious rituals that have no basis in Islam, as these rituals have caused many problems between Sunnis and Shiites in the past.
A man accused of forcing his way into a woman's home and repeatedly sexually assaulting her while armed with a knife was on bail at the time, police allege.

Takavaha Leveni was arrested on Wednesday after police appealed for information about an attack on a woman in her Footscray home last Friday morning.

Mr Leveni, 35, was due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday but he refused to leave his cell and was remanded in custody.

Police allege he confronted the woman with a knife and repeatedly sexually assaulted her, before stealing her phone, wallet, laptop bag and charger as he left. The items were valued at $200.

He faces 12 charges including aggravated burglary, three counts of sexual assault, assault with a weapon and unlawful imprisonment.
Two Montgomery County beverage producers have teamed up to co-release a beer and a whiskey (aged three years).

Manatawny Still Works Batch 20 (made using the recipe for Sly Foxs Nihilist Russian Imperial Stout) and Sly Fox Brewings Nihilist Russian Imperial Stout (aged in MSW barrels that once held the Batch 20 whiskey) are making their appearance this week. Both producers are located close to each other in Pottstown.

Max Pfeiffer of Manatawny Still Works is its master distiller and a former brewer at Sly Fox. He said the Batch 20 is part of its ongoing Small Batch series, according to a press release. He said of the new whiskey: "We took Sly Foxs Nihilist Stout recipe and distilled it as whiskey, then we let it sit in new oak barrels for three years. Through this collaboration, we show the close relationship between beer and whiskey  they are, essentially, made in the same way. Plus, the roasted malt in the stout recipe translates well to whiskey in the form of cocoa and coffee notes.

Nose  Vanilla, Oak, Apricot, Burnt Sugar

Palate  Vanilla, coffee, Malt

Finish  Dark Chocolate, Dry

Said Keith Maynard of Sly Fox about its new beer: Our coveted Russian Imperial Stout was carefully aged in Manatawny Still Works premium oak cooperage in which a batch of Nihilist whiskey had matured for 3+ years. Rich vanilla and caramel notes imparted by the barrels complement the robust chocolate and roasted malt character of the original liquid and transform the beer into a delicious doppelganger. With a warm and pleasant denouement, Barrel-Aged Nihilist will get you through the darkest of nights.

Heres a list of where you can go and grab a taste:

Sunday, March 8  MSW Bake Sale (MSW East Passyunk location)

Chef Monica Glass will make an assortment of pastries that incorporate the whiskey and pair well with the beer

MSWs Jennifer Sabatino has made a smart cocktail list featuring several classic cocktails using the whiskey including Old Fashioned, Manhattan and Boulevardier.

Thursday, March 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. - Urban Farmer

Foxatawny Spectacular

The brewers and distillers will be there to talk to guests about the collaboration

Urban Farmer will offer the beer and whiskey at special pricing

And theyve made a menu to pair:

House Pretzel- Maple whiskey mustard glaze/Royal Weiss (Sly Fox beer) cheese sauce. $6

Beer Brined Wings- whiskey buffalo/goat blue cheese dipping sauce. $9

Goat cheese and potato croquettes- stout & Swarmbustin (MSW whiskey) aioli. $5

Whiskey pickles- Route 113 herb mustard/Vulpulin ale (Sly Fox beers) bread. $4

Goat grilled cheese- stout onions/pea shoots/Keystone Whiskey (MSW whiskey) jam on ale bread. $8

Saturday, March 14  MSW Distillery in Pottstown, PA

Dessert by Beverlys Pastry Shop created a chocolate stout cupcake, made with both the whiskey and the beer as well as a honey whiskey buttercream frosting ($4)

5oz. beer and Batch 20 whiskey shot ($10)

Whiskey tastings

Sly Fox Pubs

Located in Wyomissing, Malvern, Phoenixville, and Pottstown

5oz. beer and Batch 20 whiskey shot ($10)

Plus, Beverlys special cupcake

As far as where you can buy these, the collaboration beer is only available on draft at Sly Fox Brewing locations, the MSW Tasting Room on East Passyunk, at the MSW Distillery, and select bars and restaurants across the area. The Batch 20 whiskey is available for sale at any Manatawny Still Works location (Pottstown, Reading Terminal Market, East Passyunk, One Penn Center).
In 1940, on the shores of the North Sea in the French port of Dunkerque, a massive evacuation of troops happened. Escaping the horrors of World War II, almost 350,000 soldiers were saved by ships and transferred from France to Great Britain.

The Battle of Dunkirk was a battle to save lives. After Germany invaded northern France in May of 1940, thousands of soldiers had to relocate and change their position because the strategy changed. There was no way that the line of defense could have been held so high up north in France, and after Queen Wilhelmina had to leave the country, on May 13, the Dutch army had to surrender to the Nazis.

So Close, Yet So Far Away From Home

Before the Dutch army had to raise the white flag, the British government already planned Operation Dynamo. In a rescue operation, they recruited every possible vessel they could find, including small civilian ships. What made this situation so hard is the fact that the canal that divided France and England was so easy to pass - it was only measuring 21 miles (33 km).

And yet, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were holding on to their lives, practically seeing the ground of salvation across the sea. The even greater problem was that the enemy was aware of the troops literally trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk.

Salvation: Operation Dynamo

Operation Dynamo was run by Admiral Bertram Ramsay, and the person controlling the action on the ground was Captain William Tennant. Tennant quickly realized how dangerous a task was ahead of him because the port of Dunkirk was quite devastated. There were no boats that could be used, and the docks were no good either, so they had to improvise.

WW2 Operation "Dynamo" barge resting on the beach of Zuydcoote, France.

Once the rescue operation was already underway, Tennant saw how the entrance to the harbor should be utilized, because picking up the soldiers in distress directly from the beach looked impossible. Instead, the eastern part of the beach was used, while the troops and the rescue mission figured out how to get troops on board.

They used a long wooden boardwalk, which was wide enough for soldiers to walk on. However, this process was slow, and it further complicated the whole operation. All of this lasted from May 26 to June 4, because the troops on the Belgian ground had to defend from the bombers and airstrikes that were started by Germans, who almost reached their location.

BEF Evacuated

During the 10 days, so many lives were saved. With a lot of help from hundreds of civilian boats that fearlessly set sail for Dunkirk, about 198,000 British soldiers survived. With them, another 140,000 troops belonging to the French and Belgian army. The action would not have been such a success if the air fighters on the side of the Allied forces did not do such an excellent job in providing support from the air.

Most of the British Expeditionary Force was now saved, and Tennant could finally contact Admiral Ramsay with a message BEF evacuated. World War II was far from being over, but the soldiers lived to fight another day, after facing an impossible situation.
It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Royal Caribbean (RCL). Shares have lost about 32.9% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Royal Caribbean due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Royal Caribbean's Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss



Royal Caribbean reported fourth-quarter 2019 results, wherein earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate after missing the same in the third quarter.



Adjusted earnings of $1.42 per share topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.41 by 0.7%. However, the figure declined 7.2% year over year, owing to negative impact of the cancellation of sailings to Cuba and disruption generated by Hurricane Dorian.



Total revenues were $2,517.4 million, missing the consensus mark of $2,532 million by 0.9% but improving 7.9% from the year-ago quarter. This year-over-year upside can be attributed to higher passenger ticket, and onboard and other revenues.



Quarterly Highlights



Passenger ticket revenues improved 8% to $1,784.5 million, and onboard and other revenues increased 7.7% from the prior-year quarter to $733 million.



On a constant-currency basis, net yields rose 6.8% year over year, which was within the companys guidance.



Net cruise costs (NCC), excluding fuel per APCD, increased 15.9% on a constant-currency basis. Higher marine costs and employee-related expenses led to the increase.



Total cruise operating expenses of $1,481.5 million increased 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. The companys operating expenses increased at the Payroll and related, Onboard and other, Commissions, transportation and other, and Food segments. However, fuel expenses declined during the quarter under review.



2019 Highlights



Adjusted earnings came in at $9.54 per share, reflecting an increase of 7.7% from the 2018 level. Revenues advanced 15.3% from a year ago to $11 billion. This upside was achieved despite a series of disruptions that include the dry-dock incident in the Grand Bahama shipyard, cancellation of cruises to Cuba and an unusual hurricane season, all of which negatively impacted the company's results for the year.



Net Yields were up 8% on a constant-currency basis.



20> 25 by 2025 Program



The company introduced the 20> 25 by 2025 program. With the help of this program, it expects to achieve $20.00 adjusted earnings per share; reduce carbon footprint by 25%; deliver strong returns on invested capital; and continue to improve on record guest satisfaction and employee engagement metrics.



Q1 Guidance



For first-quarter 2020, Royal Caribbean expects adjusted earnings per share within 80-85 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings is currently pegged at $1.11 per share.



Constant-currency net yields are projected to decrease 0.5% from the year-ago quarter. NCC, excluding fuel, is likely to improve 3% on a constant-currency basis.



Although demand for core products and onboard experiences remains strong, the company stated that the unprecedented bushfires in Australia, and recent activities in Hong Kong and the Middle East will have a negative impact on the first quarter. Moreover, the first quarter is negatively impacted by other structural elements such as the discontinuation of Cuba sailings that equals a revenue headwind of approximately 120 basis points and a tough year-over-year comparable.



2020 Guidance



Royal Caribbean projects adjusted earnings within $10.40-$10.70 per share. The company has cancelled eight cruises out of China ending Mar 4 and also modified certain itineraries in the region, which are estimated to have an overall impact of 25 cents per share.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings is pegged at $10.50 per share. The company expects net yields to increase 2.25-4.25% on a constant-currency basis.



NCC, excluding fuel, is expected to be up 1.75-2.25% on a constant-currency basis.

Story continues

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in estimates revision. The consensus estimate has shifted -72.17% due to these changes.

VGM Scores

At this time, Royal Caribbean has a nice Growth Score of B, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Royal Caribbean has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
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Cleveland police suspend recruit arrested in sexual assault case (cleveland.com)

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Man in Canton suffers fatal gunshot wounds, drives into garage, police say (cleveland.com)

Feds: 20 charged in Ohio in operation to move hundreds of pounds of drugs from Mexico to U.S. (cleveland.com)

19-year-old Akron woman accused of killing her mother in apparent stabbing, police say (cleveland.com)

Solon man charged in deadly drunken-driving wrong-way crash on Ohio 176 (cleveland.com)

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Cleveland / Cuyahoga County

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams, above right, issued no discipline to Sgt. Janell Rutherford in her handling of Tamir Rices sister in the moments after Rice was shot and killed by a police officer. (cleveland.com file photo)The Plain Dealer

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Vice President Mike Pence. (Andrew Harnik, Associated Press)AP

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Saudi Arabia is urging OPEC+ to agree to an oil-output cut of more than 1 million barrels a day to compensate for the hit to demand from the global spread of the coronavirus.

Options discussed by ministers in Vienna on Wednesday included a reduction as big as 1.5 million barrels a day, but the talks were still underway and there was no agreement yet, said delegates, who asked not to be named because the talks were private. To secure a supply curb that could support prices, the Saudis must first overcome Russian resistance.

The kingdoms push reflects mounting concern that growth in fuel consumption could be wiped out this year as the outbreak wreaks havoc on the world economy. Following oils biggest weekly slump since the 2008 financial crisis, ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies must overcome their differences to forge a deal, while also grappling with the risks of bringing together delegations from 23 nations as the deadly disease continues to spread.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, whose country is enduring a severe coronavirus outbreak, arrived in the Austrian capital on Wednesday without his usual cohort of government officials. He refused to be drawn on the possible extent of production curbs, and said Russia is likely to wait until the last moment to make any decision.

The cut under discussion in the Austrian capital is larger than that put forward by the groups technical committee on Tuesday. The panel recommended a 600,000 to 1 million-barrel-a-day reduction in the second quarter, more ambitious than curbs mooted in February but still short of some estimates of the demand loss.

Equatorial Guineas Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy Gabriel Obiang Lima told reporters that he supports a cut at the higher end of that range.

Crude jumped as much as 2.6% in New York and traded at $48 a barrel as of 10:36 a.m. Prices slumped 16% last week, and remain too low for most OPEC+ members to balance their budgets.

Delayed start

With flights canceled in Europe, schools closed in Japan, towns quarantined in Italy and a rising death toll from Iran to Washington state, the coronavirus crisis has gone global, and with it, its impact on energy demand. For only the fourth time in almost 40 years, oil consumption may not grow at all in 2020, according to a growing minority of traders, investors and analysts. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Tuesday became the first major Wall Street Bank to forecast a contraction in demand this year.

This is a sudden, instant demand shock, said Jim Burkhard, vice president and head of oil markets at IHS Markit Ltd. The scale of the decline is unprecedented.

In an effort to limit potential contagion as officials arrived in Vienna, OPEC said medical advisers would conduct screenings to detect staff or delegates who might have high temperatures. Some employees will be told to work from home. OPEC told national delegations to limit their size to the bare minimum, pressing ahead with the meeting even as conferences across the globe were canceled.

Amid the difficult circumstances, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak sought a moment of levity, posting on Twitter a video of themselves performing a handshake with their feet, in keeping with guidelines to avoid bodily contact that could spread the virus.

OPEC has taken the unprecedented step of blocking journalists from entering its headquarters, and has also scrapped the final press conference in favor of a webinar. The cartels gatherings typically attract a contingent of hundreds of officials, reporters, TV crews, analysts and consultants from around the world.

The OPEC+ alliance was formed in late 2016, and has been struggling to manage the price impact from the U.S. shale boom ever since. It kicked off a new round of supply curbs at the start of this year, removing about 2.1 million barrels a day from the market.
Boris Johnson's spokesman has insisted the government will refuse to ask the EU for an extension to the Brexit transition period, despite the rapid global spread of the potentially deadly coronavirus outbreak.

It comes as the number of covid-19 cases continue to climb in the UK, with the chief medical officer warning on Thursday that an epidemic is now looking likely.

Ministers and officials are also due to hold discussions on whether to move Britain from the containment to the delay phase of tackling coronavirus that would result in efforts being ramped up to prevent its spread.

Pressed on whether an outbreak of the virus could derail the talks over the UKs future trading agreement with Brussels  forcing the government to request an extension to the talks  the prime ministers spokesman said no.

That work has been continuing throughout, and Id expect it to carry on as planned  no change, they added.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

No 10 also confirmed that geographical information of coronavirus cases in the UK would continue to be updated on a daily basis  just 24 hours after the Department for Health said it would switch to a weekly format.

Appearing to confirm a U-turn on the issue, the spokesman added: I think the prime minister and the chief medical officer have both said this morning we will provide geographic information on cases - it will be at 2pm, it will be with a 24-hour delay to make sure that all of the details are correct.

Talks over the UKs future trading relationship with the EU started on Monday, and are expected to alternate between government buildings in London and European Commission offices in Brussels over the coming months. Mr Johnson has repeatedly insisted he will not request an extension to the 11-month transition period that expires in December 2020.

Speaking earlier at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London, the health secretary Hancock said the response to the outbreak remained in the "contain" phase, despite chief medical officer for England Chris Whitty saying it had "mainly" moved into the second "delay" phase of the government's strategy.

Mr Hancock said: "Contain, the phase we are currently in, means detecting the early cases, tracing their close contacts and preventing the disease from taking hold in the UK for as long as is reasonably possible.

"This approach has bought time for the NHS to ramp up its preparations, but the scientific advice is that we may not be able to contain the virus forever, especially if the number of cases continues to rise in Europe.

"At that point, on the advice of the chief medical officer, we will activate the next phase of the plan, which is to delay."
Key players in radical Islamic and extreme right-wing groups make use of similar strategies to mobilize support on social media. The joint research project "X-Sonar" arrived at this finding. The Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF) funded X-Sonar's work as part of their funding line on civil security research. Over the past three years, X-Sonar researchers investigated the ways in which extremist groups build networks of support both online and offline. It is through these groups that they engage people and mobilize support for their aims. The researchers evaluated both online content and the biographies of convicted individuals who were active in extremist spheres in order to pave the way for early intervention and prevention in the future.

The project's closing conference brought together academic researchers, security authorities, justice officials and experts in civil prevention practices, who convened in Bielefeld on Thursday, 30 January, to attend X-Sonar's closing conference.

Conference participants discussed the findings of the project at Bielefeld University's Zentrum fur interdisziplinare Forschung (Center for Interdisciplinary Research, ZiF). "Both radical Islamic and extreme right-wing groups use some of the same strategies online to attract attention and normalize extremist discourse," says Professor Dr. Andreas Zick, of the Institut fur Konflikt- und Gewaltforschung (Institue for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence, IKG) at Bielefeld University. "By using social media campaigns that are accessible to non-extremist individuals and groups, extremists succeed in polarizing and emotionalizing these kinds of ideologies," as Zick explains. Prof. Zick, a social psychologist, heads X-Sonar together with Dr. Kerstin Eppert, a sociologist who is also a member of the IKG.

"Extremist groups make very strategic use of social media," says Dr. Eppert. "That said, spreading messages that glorify violence and promote racism is only part of the strategy. An equally important component includes making resources accessible in both covert and known networks of support," explains Eppert. "By this, we are referring to an open invitation to join the movement - an invitation that is tailored to the means and abilities of each and every individual." As Prof. Zick explains, radical Islamic and extreme right-wing movements are characterized by their 'division of labor.' "Extremist networks do not operate solely as engines of radicalization. They also require support, whether in disseminating ideology or acquiring funds."

How Terrorists Behave in Online Networks

Researchers from seven different sites presented their findings at the conference. Kristin Weber, of the Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei (German Police University), for instance, discussed how German jihadis to Syria become radicalized, and which means of communication and methods of networking were used in doing so. Nils Bockler, of the Institut Psychologie und Bedrohungsmanagement (Psychology and Threat Management Institute), investigated different patterns of behavior exhibited by terrorists in online social networks. "Before an attack, terrorists communicate differently than other radicalized individuals who are not planning to commit violence," says Bockler.

According to Bockler, the Internet is a space in which the processes of escalation to violence can be detected early on. This is why X-Sonar was interested in developing technological methods for detecting extremist mobilization online in order to assist researchers as well as investigators in their work. "With methods like these, authorities and researchers alike can gain insight into whether a situation threatens to escalate - by monitoring certain Twitter hashtags or relevant Facebook pages, for instance," explains Alexander Gluba, who works on X-Sonar together with the Landeskriminalamt Niedersachsen (Criminal Police Office of the Federal State of Lower Saxony). Gluba cites the example of the Chemnitz protests of August 2018, during which right-wing extremists attacked the local population, targeting primarily immigrants. "We now know that these attacks were coordinated by right-wing extremists in online chats."

Developing New Methods of Analysis

"Because X-Sonar brought together project partners from tech and the social sciences, we were able to develop new methods of analysis, such as combining the analysis of online data with information from court records," says Kerstin Eppert. This helps to shed light, for instance, on how extremist support networks are embedded in society.

During the conference, the joint project X-Sonar presented its research on how radical Islamic networks operate, in addition to other topics. "We have new findings on the structures and resources of such networks," says Eppert. "We were able to demonstrate, for example, that the radical Salafist scene in Germany is currently undergoing a process of reorganization. In social networks online, there is a web of portals and organizations whose proceeds provide financial support to the Salafist scene."

It is also with these networks that individuals who returned from territory held by the Islamic State (IS) and are now serving time in German prisons are kept active in the Salafist scene. "These online networks document the on-going legal proceedings of IS-returnees, which helps maintain the image of Germany as the enemy state." At the same time, the names and contact information of convicted IS-returnees are also published online - ostensibly out of compassion - to encourage people to write letters that will provide emotional support to convicts in prison. "This exerts a massive amount of pressure on individuals who might potentially leave the scene," as Eppert explains.

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The X-Sonar Joint Project

The project name "X-Sonar" stands for "Extremist Engagement in Social Media Networks: Identifying, Analyzing and Preventing Processes of Radicalization." The BMBF funded the project since 2017 with a total of 3 million Euro. Additional project partners in addition to Bielefeld University's IKG include the Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei in Munster (German Police University), the Deutsche Forschungszentrum fur Kunstliche Intelligenz in Berlin (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence), the Institut Psychologie und Bedrohungsmanagement in Darmstadt (Psychology and Threat Management Institute), the Abteilung Kriminologische Forschung und Statistik des Landeskriminalamts Niedersachsen in Hannover (Department of Criminology Research and Statistics of the Criminal Police Office of the Federal State of Lower Saxony) and the Landesinstitut fur Praventives Handeln in St. Ingbert, Saarland (State Institute for Preventative Action).

Original German release: https://50jahre.uni-bielefeld.de/2020/01/30/von-ideologieverbreitung-bis-finanzierung-wie-extremistische-netzwerke-operieren/
T wo teen killers who fist-bumped after fatally stabbing an 18-year-old though the heart in west London have been jailed.

Yusuf Mohamed was knifed in a seemingly motiveless and unprovoked attack while on his way to buy some milk in Shepherds Bush in June 2019.

William Haines, 18, from Acton was found guilty of murder and being in possession of a knife at a trial in January.

A 17-year-old from Brentford, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also found guilty of manslaughter and being in possession of a knife.

At the Old Bailey on Thursday Haines was jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years and the 17-year-old was sentenced to 10 years.

The judge also ordered the destruction of the knives used in the attack.

William Haines (left) was jailed for murdering Yusuf Mohamed (right) / CPS

The defendants spotted Yusuf, who was with three friends on the opposite side of Uxbridge Road, on June 26, 2020.

They ran across the street before Haines drew a knife from his waistband and stabbed Yusuf in the chest, piercing his heart.

The 17-year-old then stabbed Yusuf in the thigh as he tried to escape inside the Intercontinental Foods shop.

A court heard previously how as the attackers ran away "tucking their knives back out of sight, they gave each other a fist bump as if to say, Well done us.

The victim was stabbed outside shops in Shepherds Bush (Google Maps ) / Google Maps

Yusufs three friends ran from the attackers, but when one realised Yusuf was no longer with him, he returned.

He found Yusuf at the back of the shop, bleeding heavily and struggling to breathe.

Despite applying pressure to the wounds until the ambulance arrived, he was pronounced dead 45 minutes after he was stabbed.

Haines and the 17-year-old ran away and threw their knives into nearby bushes. They were later identified by a combination of DNA from the murder weapons and CCTV.

Once arrested, Haines claimed he did not know his co-defendant. But phone evidence showed frequent contact between the two.

Sarah Dale, from the CPS, said: This devastating, cowardly and unprovoked attack has led to the death of an innocent 18-year-old who had so much to look forward to in life.

On what should have been a routine walk to the nearby shop for some milk, Yusuf was set upon for no apparent reason.

Armed with knives and in the violent way that these defendants attacked him, there could be no doubt as to their deadly intentions. After they fatally stabbed Yusuf, they fist-bumped in callous celebration.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the impleadment application filed by former MP Atiq Ahmed on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking setting up of special court to deal with cases related to lawmakers.

A bench headed by Justice NV Ramana allowed Atiq Ahmed to become an intervener in the case after the court went through his application.

The PIL, filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, sought setting up of special courts to deal with cases related to Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) across the country.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, who was appearing for Atiq Ahmed, told ANI that his client was aggrieved by the order of shifting him from Uttar Pradesh to a Gujarat jail.

Atiq Ahmed moved the impleadment application after the top court had refused to reconsider its decision to shift from Deoria jail to a high-security prison in Gujarat. Ahmad is accused of kidnapping a businessman and forcing him to hand over his company.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A devastated member of Flybe air crew broke down on live TV today as she described learning that her job was gone and 2,000-plus colleagues must also find 'something new to pay the bills'.

Katherine Densham, who worked for the collapsed airline for 13 years, was visibly devastated as she arrived at Exeter airport to say goodbye to her 'Flybe family', who were clearing their desks this morning.

She cried about the 'sad' collapse of the airline and said: 'I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I've worked for them since leaving college'.

She added: 'I heard in the early hours of the morning. We were due to operate this morning flying to London City so I just wanted to come in and see everyone. We're just all really sad, really sad', and said she has to get on and 'find something to try and pay the bills'.

Flybe staff have bid a poignant 'farewell' to their colleagues and told how they are 'truly heartbroken' at losing their jobs after the airline collapsed - but some anger has been directed at bosses who let it go to the wall last night.

Exeter Flybe staff emerge from a meeting at the national HQ as they clear their desks and try to find a new way to pay the bills

A Flybe aircraft is pictured on the tarmac at Exeter airport - which will never fly under the Flybe livery again

Staff posted photographs and messages on social media within hours of the announcement

Devastated Flybe crew bid 'farewell' to their colleagues and told how they are 'truly heartbroken'

One staff member, who has flown with Flybe for 16 years, admitted: 'The people made Flybe. On the frontline, we were lions - lions led by donkeys.'

The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was 'still in denial' about the news. He added: 'I still think this is a dream. I was praying for a miracle. I've not slept all night and am worrying what I'm going to do next. I'm 35 and flown in total 16 years - this is basically all I've known'.

'Working for an airline is more than work. You work 24/7, 365 days a year. You sometimes see colleagues more than you see your own family. They, in turn, become your surrogate family.

'The older ones look out for the younger ones and I've lost count of the numerous surrogate younger siblings. It was a real family affair. Mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. So many babies have been born due to the parents meeting at work.'

Staff posted photographs and messages on social media within hours of the announcement the budget carrier had plunged into administration - writing how they would 'cherish all the memories' of their 'Flybe family' and 'hope we are all back in the skies where we belong.'

Tributes to the airline flooded social media as Flybe collapsed in chaotic circumstances, with passengers sent texts at 2am warning them of cancellations, while staff were informed the company had ceased trading during shifts.

Thousands have been left stranded as all Flybe flights were grounded with 'immediate effect' last night, or diverted to the nearest airport in mid-air so the planes could be impounded.

Cabin crew Sophie Wilson wrote: 'So heartbroken & numb to get the email that flybe is gone. It wasn't just a airline. 'It was a job that never felt like a hard days work'

Staff posted images showing them posing with colleagues as the airline announced it had fallen into administration

Up to 2,300 jobs are now at risk as Flybe, owned by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart and Cyrus Capital, an American hedge fund, blamed the coronavirus crisis for hastening their collapse because of a drop in sales.

Air hostess Sophie Wilson wrote on Instagram: 'So heartbroken & numb to get the email that flybe is gone. It wasn't just a airline.

'It was a job that never felt like a hard days work. Will be forever grateful that i got to share my problems and pour my heart out in the back galley to people who were fellow crew members that became friends for life.

'I hope it isn't to soon until were all back in the skies where we belong. Thinking of all my flybe lot'

Another said: 'Thinking of everyone I worked with at Flybe this morning.'

Flybe crew flooded social media with images as they shared their memories of working at the airline

Cabin crew member Juliette-Rose Carruthers said: 'Bye Bye Flybe Family. Whilst flying the skies yesterday not for one moment did I realise that it was going to be my last day working for Flybe and that honestly breaks my heart.

'Thank you for the last 6 years for the good times, the hard times, the exams, the training & for all of the friends made throughout the way.

'To my colleagues I will miss you all. I will miss sitting in the back galley drinking tea & chatting about only things your closest friends would know, even if we had only worked together several times.

'Thank you for making my time at Flybe so enjoyable and the thought of not seeing you all each day fills me with such sadness. You are all such incredible people & such a pleasure to fly with.

'When they go low - we go high. Keep strong everyone! X'

2,000 workers are set to lose their jobs and crew shared poignant memories and their photos from their time there today

Tributes to the airline flooded social media as Flybe collapsed in chaotic circumstances, with passengers sent texts at 2am warning them of cancellations

Pilot Joakim Bosved wrote: 'My favourite airline has officially ceased trading. I have flown for four year and one day, surrounded by amazing people I will miss deeply.'

Another wrote: 'It's with a heavy heart I have to say goodbye to some of the best colleagues, friends and mentors I could ever have asked for.

'Flybe you were amazing and I'll never forget my time flying for you.'

Another said: 'Thinking of everyone I worked with at Flybe this morning.'

Another member of staff posted: 'Absolutely devastated tonight. The thought of not being able to work with my amazing colleagues again is truly heartbreaking.

Unmanned check-in desks at Belfast City Airport today as Flybe, Europe's biggest regional airline, collapsed into administration

Flybe workers take home boxes and tool cabinets from the Exeter head quarters of Flybe as it went to the wall late last night

'I've had the best 4 1.2 yearsd working with Flybe and I'm absolutely heartbroken that it's come to an end tonight.

'I'll cherish all the memories and friendships I've made. Love you all.'

The airline, which carried eight million passengers a year mainly in Britain, almost went bust last year but appeared to get a lifeline from the Government who pledges to forgo an 106million air passenger duty bill if the owners promised to pump in more cash.

What does the FlyBe collapse mean for you? Flybe, the largest regional airline in Europe, has gone bust. But what does this mean for travellers? - How many people are affected by the collapse? Flybe carried about eight million passengers a year between 71 airports across the UK and Europe. The collapse could leave thousands of people stranded across the UK and Europe. The company also has around 2,000 staff who have lost their jobs. - What happens to customers already on holiday? When previous airlines such as Monarch Airlines and Thomas Cook collapsed, the Civil Aviation Authority was ordered by the Department for Transport to launch a major repatriation operation to fly them home. It is not yet clear whether the Government will order a widespread repatriation of stranded passengers. - Who would pay for this? When Monarch Airlines went bust in October 2017, the Government spent 60 million hiring planes to get passengers home while bringing back Thomas Cook passengers has been estimated to have cost even more. - Will travellers get a refund? Some travel insurance companies will cover cancelled flights if they are the result of an airline collapse, but not all policies provide this coverage. Holidaymakers can apply to their credit or debit card provider to be reimbursed. Flights bought directly from airlines such as Flybe are not generally Atol protected but those bought through a separate travel company may be covered. - What is the Atol scheme? Atol provides protection to holidaymakers when travel firms collapse. - What type of bookings are protected? The scheme protects most trips booked as a package, such as flights and accommodation, or flights and car hire. It also applies to some flight-only bookings, particularly when the tickets are not received immediately. - What protection does it offer? If a business collapses while you are on holiday, the scheme will make sure you can finish your holiday and return home. Customers who have not yet left home will be given a refund or replacement holiday. Advertisement

But the agreement imploded amid confusion over whether EU competition rules Britain has signed up to until January 2021 made it impossible.

Many pilots and air crew were completely in the dark and only learned the company had gone bust from airport staff waiting with administrators after all planes were on the ground at 11pm last night.

Frank McCready, of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, was on Flybe's final flight  a trip from Birmingham to Glasgow, diverted to Manchester in mid-air last night.

He said: 'The staff were a bit confused getting mixed messages. They were told it was a refuelling issue. Then they found out from Manchester Airport staff that Flybe had been placed into administration. It was quite emotional and tough times as you can imagine.

'The passengers were very patient and a collection was done among everyone on the plane for those affected. We were patient because I think we realised a delay for us is nothing compared to potential job losses. Everyone's thoughts are with all the Flybe staff affected. Everyone's main concerns are for them'.

Flybe's demise, announced early on Thursday and blamed in part on a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak, sparked fierce condemnation from unions and opposition politicians, who criticised both the airline's owners and the Government for failing to act to save it.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said everyone was 'gutted' about the news but added: 'We really tried to do everything we could back at the turn of the year.

'Unfortunately, with the situation that has developed with (coronavirus), an already weak company, I'm afraid, just hasn't been able to survive.'

The carrier narrowly avoided going bust in January but has continued to lose money since then.

The airline announced in the early hours that it had ceased trading with immediate effect and that administrators had been appointed after crisis talks on Wednesday failed to secure a rescue package.

All Flybe flights and those operated by sister airline Stobart Air were cancelled but some other airlines and rail operators stepped in to offer help to stranded passengers and staff.

Flybe was bought by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital in February 2019, after running into earlier financial problems.

In a statement, chief executive Mark Anderson said the company had made 'every possible attempt' to avoid collapse but had been 'unable to overcome significant funding challenges'.

'The UK has lost one of its greatest regional assets,' he said.

'Flybe has been a key part of the UK aviation industry for four decades, connecting regional communities, people and businesses across the entire nation.'

Unions and politicians reacted angrily to the collapse of the company - which had a staff of around 2,000 - just weeks after it narrowly avoided going under.

In January, Flybe agreed a deal to defer tax payments of 'less than 10 million' with HM Revenue and Customs, while ministers pledged to review Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Passengers were taken off a plane at Manchester after hours of waiting on the tarmac

Passengers told of how they waited hours on their flight before being escorted off before the plane even took-off (pictured, passengers waiting at Manchester Airport)

But other airlines, including Ryanair and British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG), complained that the agreement breached EU competition law and state aid rules.

Oliver Richardson, national officer for major airline industry union Unite, said: 'It is simply outrageous that the Government has not learned the lessons following the collapse of both Monarch and Thomas Cook, that the much promised airline insolvency review has still not materialised.

'While other European countries are able to introduce measures to keep airlines flying when they enter administration, the UK remains unable or unwilling to do so.'

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the loss of Flybe would cause 'real anxiety' throughout the country.

Flybe operated a high proportion of flights at a number of regional airports so its collapse will have a knock-on effect.

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, whose constituency contains Exeter Airport, where Flybe had its headquarters, tweeted: 'A devastating day for @flybe staff, uncertainty for passengers & a big blow to our local & regional economy.

'Why did the Government say flybe was vital to regional connectivity last month & promise to reform Air Passenger Duty in next week's budget ... to apparently break that promise, which was the last straw for the company.'

He added: 'Johnson's mantra of 'levelling up' our left-behind regions lies in tatters. Lost connectivity & the future of many regional airlines at risk.'

Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: 'If the Government stands aside as Flybe goes to the wall then we will know ministers have learned absolutely nothing from the collapse of Thomas Cook last year.

'Back in September, Boris Johnson said stepping in to save a cornerstone of the British high street amounted to a moral hazard. That was an outrage and it would be outrageous and needless to let Flybe go under. The Government should nationalise the airline now.

'Johnson would do well to remember that this carrier connects regions around the UK which badly need investment after too many years of austerity. They do not need to lose yet more jobs, which would be a bitter economic blow.

'The time for the Government to act is now; there should be no repeat of the shambles they created in dealing with Thomas Cook, which ended up with taxpayers footing a far higher bill than it would have cost to keep Thomas Cook afloat and thousands of hardworking people in their jobs.'

At Belfast City Airport, 81% of its flights were operated by the carrier and Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: 'This is simply devastating news for Northern Ireland.'

But Brian Ambrose, chief executive of Belfast City Airport, said he is confident the airport can fill the routes vacated by Flybe, as he revealed that multiple other carriers had already expressed an interest.

'Our immediate feelings are with the staff of Flybe and our customers,' he said.

'It's been a long relationship with Flybe, they are wonderful people.

'We were meeting a lot of them coming off shift last night to discover they had lost their jobs, so our commitment to them is to rebuild this business and, as we do so, hopefully there will be opportunities for them with other airlines as we get the business back to where it should be.'

**Do you work for Flybe? Contact ed.riley@mailonline.co.uk**
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the decision was made in very difficult circumstances. "The pathology results came into NSW Health on Thursday night and the challenge for Health was then to work out whether we could track all the young man's contacts in the space of just a few hours," he said. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the decision was made in difficult circumstances. Credit:AAP "The answer, in the end, was Health could not do that so on a precautionary basis, a decision was taken in consultation with the Education Minister to close the school on Friday, effectively giving NSW Health three days to trace the young man's contacts." "The young fellow ... he is not bad, but he is not well."

It was possible other students could have caught the virus "but I am hoping against hope that is not the case", Mr Hazzard said. "We expect over the weekend there will be a detailed examination of where the student has been since he contracted the virus and with whom he has been in contact," he said. Epping Boys High School has been closed for one day after a student tested positive for coronavirus. Credit:Getty "I implore parents not to panic but to make sure your child stays home," Mr Hazzard said. "I trust parents will appreciate the decision is made in the interests of their sons and friends who may have come into contact with the young man.

"I am so apologetic to parents who will find this as an inconvenience if they need to work or have other obligations, but the world is in an extremely challenging time and unfortunately it has come to Epping Boys High." Loading NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said "our first concern is for the health of the school's students, and it was decided that until we learned more about this specific case, the school should be closed as a precaution." "I'd encourage the community to remain calm at this time as the men and women in our health system continue their excellent work to minimise the impact of COVID-19," Ms Berejiklian said. Mr Hazzard said the outbreak had reached a new phase in the state.

"We do know that containment is ... an unlikely outcome," he said. Secretary of Education Mark Scott said "education has well-prepared continuity plans and is contacting students, parents and the broader school community to provide advice and support." Epping Boys High School is less than two kilometres away from Macquarie University's Banksia and Gumnut childcare centre that cares for 17 children who were tested for coronavirus on Thursday evening after they visited a nursing home where four residents and an assistant nurse were diagnosed with COVID-19. The BaptistCare Dorothy Henderson aged care facility, the site of the small coronavirus outbreak and which is now in lock-down, is also located a couple of blocks from Epping Boys High School. The other two newly confirmed cases are a 94-year-old patient at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge and a Goulburn local who returned from Singapore on February 28 on QF02 and subsequently travelled to Darwin on March 2 on QF840.

The state's Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said NSW Health was immediately establishing contact with all new cases and their families, as well as their close contacts, and advising them to self-isolate for 14 days, monitor their health and be tested for COVID-19 should they become unwell. Loading "More information about the latest cases will be disclosed as soon as their contacts and movements are established," NSW Health said. The virus has now stretched across Sydney, with a 30-year-old woman diagnosed at Northern Beaches Hospital, a man in his 50s diagnosed in Cronulla and a 27-year-old female trainee doctor at Liverpool Hospital all confirmed cases. "NSW Health is continuing to find and respond to cases as they are diagnosed to slow any spread of COVID-19 in the community."
Scientists better predict recurrence of prostate cancer for black patients, according to new study; land $3.2 million in federal grants to explore racial bias in cancer diagnosis using Artificial Intelligence, computational imaging

CLEVELAND--Scientists at Case Western Reserve University are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reveal apparent cellular distinctions between black and white cancer patients, while also exploring potential racial bias in the rapidly developing field of AI.

Their most recent published research asserts that AI analysis of digitized images of cancer tissues reveals critical variations between black and white male prostate cancer patients. The work also suggests the new population-specific information--in addition to image detail on tissue slides also analyzed by computers--could substantially improve care for black patients with prostate cancer.

"On one level, we're simply trying to understand and answer this question: 'Are there biological differences in the disease, in the cancer, that are a function of your ethnicity or your race?'" said Anant Madabhushi, the F. Alex Nason Professor II of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve and senior author on a study published today in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "In other words, is there something else going on that can't be explained by other disparities- The answer appears to be, 'yes.'"

This new work on prostate cancer builds on mounting evidence that clear biological differences between races can be discovered at a cellular level in the analysis of cancer cells--information which can be useful to tailor medical care to specific groups and individuals within those populations.

$3.2M in three new grants from the Department of Defense

Madabhushi and his lab, along with collaborators from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, University of Washington Seattle and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have also been awarded $3.2 million in three grants from the U.S. Department of Defense to assess biological differences in prostate and breast cancers between black and white patients:

Sanjay Gupta, Carter Kessell Associate Professor of Urology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and Madabhushi were awarded $1.6 million to study how AI might be used to explore differences at the morphologic and molecular level of prostate cancer between black and white men.

Madabhushi, Jonathan Liu at the University of Washington-Seattle and Dr. Priti Lal at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania were awarded $1 million to develop new approaches to understand biological differences between prostate cancer appearance in black and white men. The grant will involve a new technique pioneered by Liu's group called "light sheet microscopy tissue imaging," which uses AI and 3D technology to view tumors in an entirely new way, Madabhushi said.

Cheng Lu, an assistant research professor in Madabhushi's Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics, and collaborators, were awarded a three-year $570,000 grant to use AI to study differences in appearance of tissue biopsy images of triple-negative breast cancer, a very aggressive form of breast cancer, between black and white women.

Implicit in all of the ongoing research, Madabhushi said, is the larger question about whether the racial differences being discovered at the cellular level are revealing a research bias at the human level.

"Even as we do this groundbreaking research, we can't allow ourselves to get trapped into trusting these models blindly," he said, "so we need to question whether we are considering all populations (and) ask how diverse our research pool is."

Prostate cancer study

Racial differences were a key component in the most recent research work. The prostate cancer study was performed over three years at six sites and involved nearly 400 men with the disease.

One of the critical questions in management of prostate cancer patients is to identify which men following prostate surgery are at higher risk of disease recurrence and could benefit from adjuvant therapy.

The patient pool in this study, however, was about 80% white and 18% black, "so the model was biased toward the majority population," Madabhushi said. "Once we found the variations, applying the model to all would be doing a disservice to that one population."

Once researchers created a race-specific model, the accuracy in determining which black patients would have a recurrence of the cancer increased six-fold, Madabhushi said.

Like previous cancer research led by Madabhushi's lab, the scientists asked the computer to look for patterns not only from images of the tumor itself, but at tissue outside the tumor, known as the stroma.

In doing so--in this and other cancer studies--they have been able to successfully tell, among other things, which patients would respond well to chemotherapy, immunotherapy or even, in some cases, whether cancer would return or how long a patient might live.

Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States and one of the leading causes of cancer death among men of all races, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Further, while surgical resection of the prostate--known as a radical prostatectomy--is performed for about 75,000 newly diagnosed patients each year, 30% to 40% will see the cancer return, Madabhushi said.

In this case, armed with the knowledge of which patients had a recurrence of the cancer, scientists were able to retroactively see visual signals in tissue slides from their initial diagnosis to determine which patients would suffer that recurrence.

Lead authors who collaborated with Madabhushi on the paper included Hersh Bhargava, a PhD student at the University of California-San Francisco and Patrick Leo, a graduate student of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University.

Additional quotes:

Sanjay Gupta, Carter Kessell Associate Professor of Urology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine: "The major goal of this application is to address the aspect of health disparity in prostate cancer by constructing a race-specific prostate cancer classifier for prognostic prediction and risk assessment. The proposal utilizes a novel suite of computerized image analysis and computer vision tools to quantify histomorphometric features of tumor along with the expression of a panel of biomarkers differentially expressed in race-specific prostate cancer. "

Lead author Hersh Bhargava, a PhD student at the University of California -San Francisco said the researchers were able to "look at, and actually measure, hundreds of thousands, even millions, of cancer cells to see features that a human could never see--including structural characteristics." "It's clear from the existing scientific literature that there are racial disparities in all cancers, but it appears that especially in prostate cancer that those differences can't be explained by access to care or socioeconomic status--but rather that there is a biological component to how the cancers manifest differently between black and white patients."

Patrick Leo, a Case Western Reserve graduate student, author on the paper and researcher in Madabhushi's lab, said that the research was focused on a population-disparities element that has not been recognized until now in what he called the "AI-for-health space."

"We know now that the risk is that if you just build a model for all patients, you will actually perform worse for patients in the minority and that's something we cannot accept, even if it's not something we did intentionally. So, if you want a model to work on patients from all populations, you have to deliberately include a population-specific aspect."

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Case Western Reserve University is one of the country's leading private research institutions. Located in Cleveland, we offer a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. Our leading-edge faculty engage in teaching and research in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Our nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. About 5,100 undergraduate and 6,200 graduate students comprise our student body. Visit case.edu to see how Case Western Reserve thinks beyond the possible.
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani (pictured) will spend 37 months in prison for sabotaging a jetliner carrying 150 passengers before it took off from Miami International Airport

An American Airlines mechanic will spend 37 months in prison for sabotaging a jetliner carrying 150 passengers as it prepared to take off from Miami International Airport.

The sentence was handed down Wednesday to Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, 60, who tampered with a commercial plane's critical sensors last July in an attempt to gain overtime pay to fix the aircraft.

Last September, reports circulated that Alani may have been an ISIS sympathizer, after prosecutors claimed to have discovered terror propaganda videos on the mechanic's smartphone.

However, US District Judge Marcia Cooke said Wednesday: 'The indictment doesn't charge anything related to terrorism or terrorist activity. I don't see anything.'

Instead, Alani's crime was financially motivated, with the Iraqi-born mechanic telling investigators that he was upset about an ongoing labor dispute which was denying him overtime work.

In an attempt to gain overtime pay, he 'glued a piece of styrofoam inside a tube on the air data module system' of the packed Boeing 737 before it took off from Miami bound for The Bahamas on July 17.

Alanai stated that his 'intention was not to cause harm to the aircraft or its passengers.'

Alani glued Styrofoam into an American Airline aircraft's nose (pictured) by placing the objects into a tube located on the plane's front

On the evening of July 17, American Airlines flight 2834 was scheduled to leave Miami and fly to Nassau, Bahamas.

As pilots prepared to take off, they received an error notice on the plane's computer and returned the aircraft to American Airline's hanger for routine maintenance.

That's when the Styrofoam and apparent sabotage was discovered by one of the maintenance workers.

Federal air marshals were able to identify Alani through video footage that showed him accessing the aircraft's navigation system and spending around seven minutes at the compartment

Alani later confessed to gluing Styrofoam inside the nose of the Boeing 737 so that it disabled a component in the aircraft that monitored factors like airspeed, altitude and the pitch of the plane.

Alani placed the Styrofoam into a tube located at the aircraft's front from outside the plane.

Federal air marshals were able to identify Alani through video footage that showed him accessing the aircraft's navigation system and spending around seven minutes at the compartment.

Interviews conducted by the air marshals, who are Transportation Security Administration, found three fellow American Airline employees who identified Alani.

In a subsequent statement, American Airlines condemned Alani's sabotage and said it was not a reflection of the company.

American Airlines condemned Alani's sabotage and said it was not a reflection of the company

None of the 150 passengers or crew members were injured as a result of the sabotage, but authorities say that if the plane had taken off it might have resulted in a crash.

Alani is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Iraq who worked as an American Airline mechanic since 1988.

Alani's attorney Jonathan S. Meltz told The Wall Street Journal last December that his client 'made a terrible mistake, but it does not make him a terrible man.'

Meltz maintains that Alani has led a 'law-abiding life' and was 'just trying to provide for his family like most of us try to do'.
Ukraine's parliament approved Denys Shmygal as the new prime minister on Wednesday after his predecessor resigned following a leak of a recording where he criticised President Volodymyr Zelensky. Analysts say Zelensky was unhappy with the government's handling of the economy and its flagging popularity, sparking a reshuffle of his top team -- the foreign, defence and finance ministries all getting new bosses. Most lawmakers voted to back deputy PM Shmygal, Zelensky's nominee who previously served as a regional governor and earlier worked for an energy company owned by the country's richest man Rinat Akhmetov. Former prime minister Oleksiy Goncharuk quit on Tuesday -- the second time he had offered to resign after a leaked recording emerged in January of him questioning Zelenskyas grasp of economics. Zelensky was disappointed in Goncharuk and the work of the government as a whole, Kiev-based political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told AFP. "The last straw was the growing discontent" among the population, he said. Shmygal promised to address economic and social issues in a country still locked in a conflict with separatists in the east, saying: "Ukrainians must see and feel that the state is protecting them." Parliament also approved other cabinet members, including Dmytro Kuleba as foreign minister, Andriy Taran as defence minister and Igor Umansky as finance minister. Comedian-turned-politician Zelensky came to power last April promising to "break the system" that had ruled Ukraine since independence in 1991. His campaign pledges included ending the conflict in the east, fighting corruption and reforming an economy still reliant on foreign aid. But some international investors questioned the timing of the reshuffle -- with the coronavirus outbreak causing market uncertainty. Also, Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed a new $5.5 billion programme in December, but IMF officials have not yet approved the deal. Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, told AFP it was "not perfect timing" for a cabinet reshuffle, adding that investors would be watching for the IMF's next move.
Where does that leave reproductive rights?

Ordinary People and Independent Personalities presenting their slate. Igor Matovic in the middle, Anna Zaborska is first from left. (Source: Sme)

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The liberal worldview seemed to be gaining momentum in Slovakia last spring. First, Zuzana Caputova was elected the first-ever female president. The party she was the deputy chair of until then, Progressive Slovakia, in coalition with the more moderate Spolu, won the European Parliament election and continued polling around 15 percent.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

One year later, Slovakia has elected its new parliament and it is plain to see just from the list of elected MPs that liberal politics is not going to prevail.

Quite the contrary. Many observers have labelled it the most conservative parliament in Slovakia's modern history. One of the reasons why this is so is the failure of the Progressive Slovakia and Spolu coalition to make it to parliament by a very narrow margin  they lacked 926 votes. Their 200,000-plus votes of mostly liberal voters will thus not have parliamentary representation.

>> Read more about the 2020 parliamentary election here.

This has provoked concerns not only among the voters of PS/Spolu but also among advocates of women's rights, about which the conservatives in the parliament would vote in the agenda like abortion restrictions. At the same time, observers say the parliament cannot be expected to extend the rights of same-sex couples in any way.

Igor Matovic, the potential future Slovak prime minister, tried to dispel these concerns after his March 2 meeting with President Caputova. Out of the 53 MPs in the caucus of his OLaNO movement, about 10-15 are liberal-leaning, he said.

These could represent the PS/Spolu voters, Matovic suggested. OLaNO is not a typical party and over his ten years in politics, Matovic has made it his trademark to compose the slate of the movement of people from different walks of life, with different opinions and worldview.

Registered partnerships are not a topic
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday allowed a government petition seeking to reopen and Industrial Solutions accounts from 2014-15 to 2018-19.

The corporate affairs ministry had filed an application in the seeking the appointment of an independent auditor to reopen the accounts of & Industrial Solution from 2014-15 to 2018-19.

The ministry in its prayer had said the reopening of the books of accounts is needed to bring out the truth in the larger public interest.

The Mumbai-bench -- comprising members Bhaskara Pantula Mohan and Rajesh Sharma -- in its order also directed the government not to rely on the report by Vaish Associates, and asked them to conduct a separate investigation.

The tribunal also denied & Industrial Solution founder Gautam Thapar's plea to grant stay on the order.

Earlier in January, the had quashed the audit report submitted by Vaish Associates, terming it bogus.

Thapar was sacked based on this report, which was in fact penned by a rival agency KPMG.

Dismissing the Vaish report, the bench had said it would rely only on a report either ordered independently or by a government agency in the matter.

The Vaish report was ordered by the board of CG Power.

Following report, the markets regulator Sebi had banned Thapar and entities associated with him for three years from the market, following which he moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal, which has asked the company to provide relevant documents to him but upheld the ban on him.

Late November, the ministry asked the SFIO to launch a probe into the affairs of the company and 15 group entities.
Fears of a breakdown in security in al-Hol camp, which houses tens of thousands of families of Islamic State fighters, are growing amid a continuing standoff between the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria and Turkey over the provision of water and electricity to areas under their respective control. The dispute has taken a dangerous twist as Turkey and Russia face off in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Since last month the US-backed Kurdish government has accused Turkey of cutting off water provided by the Alok pumping station in the Turkish-occupied town of Ras al-Ain to the Hasakah region where al-Hol is located. The facility supplies water to approximately 460,000 people, including to tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by the conflict.

Service delivery and security are intertwined and there is a lot of concern that sustained water shortages could spark off protests in al-Hol, where the security situation is fragile, said a well-informed source familiar with the affair. IS women internees have attacked and injured camp guards and rioted in the past. The lack of water also has a major impact on sanitation and health.

Defusing the crisis has become a priority for the United States and the UNs Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, the source, who requested anonymity, told Al-Monitor.

Alok was badly damaged during Turkeys October invasion of Ras al-Ain and neighboring Tell Abyad. A technical team from the Syrian government responsible for maintaining the facility has been repeatedly denied access to it, most recently on March 3, independent sources tracking the situation confirmed. The water supply remains dangerously erratic, with Turkey accused of deliberately sealing the spigot for political leverage.

Ziyad Rustem, the co-chair for electricity in the autonomous administration, told the Rojava Information Center, a newsgathering body in northeastern Syria, that water had been cut off for another three days.

He said Turkey stopped the flow because it was demanding that the Kurdish-led administration provide 25 megawatts of electricity per hour from its own sources to Ras al-Ain in exchange for the water. Rustem said the original agreement mediated by Russia with Turkey was for the administration to provide 5 megawatts per hour. Water should not be used as a bargaining chip. This is dirty and unethical. As a matter of humanity we will provide electricity, but Turkey should fix the lines they destroyed themselves, he said.

The Mabrouka power station that serviced Ras al-Ain was knocked out during the fighting in October, leaving Turkey dependent on the Kurds for electricity "and Turkey hates that," a second knowledgeable source told Al-Monitor.

The water flow resumed today, Sozda Ahmad, an official with the autonomous administration, told Al-Monitor via the Rojava Information Center. But she remained skeptical that it would continue. We only know that the technicians at Alok have turned on the water [but] it may be shut off at any moment, she said, commenting on an emerging pattern of pressure on the Kurdish-run administration.

Now that Turkey occupies the large swath of land between Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain it needs to provide services. They arent going to bring electricity from Turkey and the networks are all linked to other parts of northeastern Syria that they dont have control over, the second source said. Its quite easy for the Kurdish-run administration, who sees Turkey as the enemy  and doesnt want Turkey to legitimize their occupation and to establish themselves as a state in control of the area  to say, No, we are not going to help you provide electricity and make everyone think you are this functional administration, and so theyve blocked that.

The source continued, I think Turkey has clearly been facing discontent from the populations in the areas that it's controlling and its taken this really drastic measure and said, OK, we are going to shut off the water if you dont give us access to the electricity.

The United States, which has around 700 forces deployed in northeastern Syria, has been drawn into the row. The Americans have tried to negotiate with Turkey, telling them that You as a NATO ally should turn it back on, and Turkey has said, You need to tell the Kurds to give us electricity.

But in recent weeks Turkey has shifted its ire to Russia amid rising tensions over Idlib. They peaked following an Oct. 27 airstrike in which at least 36 Turkish soldiers died. The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Russia though both sides have blamed Syrian government forces in a face-saving ploy.

Turkey is framing [the power shortage] as a Russian issue now, the second source said. Russia has enjoyed growing heft in northeastern Syria ever since it brokered a deal with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in October when US forces withdrew from the length of the Turkish border. The source added, Theres been a really big shift in the power dynamics. The Americans have really been disempowered since October. And [though] Americans still have a lot of influence over the Kurds, Turkeys target is Russia now because of whats going in the northwest.
T wo recent patients of King's College Hospital in South London have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

The pair were among the latest infections as the toll across the UK hit 87, it has been confirmed.

It comes as Britain saw its largest spike in diagnoses in a single day, with 34 cases. 

A statement from the hospital, based in Camberwell, said: "The Trust has had two recent patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

"We have strict protocols in place to manage the control of infection and to reduce the possibility of cross-infection, and this includes restricting access for staff and visitors to the ward."

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

It added that Public Health England is carrying out contact tracing and will be in touch with anyone who may have been exposed to the virus.

Three of the 32 new cases recorded in England were passed on in the UK, raising fears that community transmission may now be taking hold.

The jump in cases came as England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, warned that a UK epidemic is looking "likely".

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new sick pay changes as part of emergency coronavirus legislation so that anyone self-isolating is paid from day one rather than day four as current rules state.



The Department of Health has been updating the UK figures daily, with one Northern Ireland case among the 85 recorded at 2pm on Wednesday.

However, Northern Ireland later confirmed two more cases, taking the UK total to 87.

Earlier, Prof Whitty told the BBC there could be a need to do "extreme things" to protect the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

He added: "At this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the UK."

But he stressed that for most people, "this will be a mild or moderate disease, anything from a sniffle to having to go to bed for a few days, rather like with mild flu".

On the NHS, Prof Whitty said: "The NHS will always cope because the NHS is an emergency service which is very good at adapting to what it finds itself with."
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - Mountain Valley MD Holdings (CSE:MVMD) is one of the latest new listings on the Canadian Securities Exchange, having previously traded as Meadow Bay Gold, prior to a fundamental change of business. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mountain Valley MD Inc., the company is building a world class health and wellness organization centered around the implementation of patented oral delivery technologies to create industry leading products that are sought out globally.

For more information, please view the InvestmentPitch Media "video" which provides additional information on the company. If this link is not enabled, please visit www.InvestmentPitch.com and enter "Mountain Valley" in the search box.





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http://www.investmentpitch.com/video/0_upuh1org/New-Listing-Mountain-Valley-MD-Holdings-CSEMVMD

Dennis Hancock, President & CEO, stated: "This is a very exciting milestone for the Mountain Valley MD team and our shareholders. This is an important step for the Company as we increase our visibility on the global stage and diversify our partner and shareholder base."

The company's delivery technology includes two fast-acting, rapid dissolving applications, (1) oral dissolving film and (2) stick pack powder, both of which are dissolved easily under the tongue for transmucosal delivery. Management believes that its proposition for delivering formulations that have rapid onset, with high bioavailability, with precision dosing technology, will be core to the company's success across key health and wellness categories, including pain management, weight loss, energy, focus, sleep, anxiety, libido and more.

The company has been working on significant product development activities and management anticipates finalizing some key initial commercial agreements in the coming months for energy, sleep and nicotine products.

Story continues

The company has a strong cannabis vertical structure which spans several areas. For example, the company holds 25% of Sativa Nativa, which is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Colombia and is focused on the large-scale organic production of greenhouse cannabis flower and resin for local and international distribution.

The company has acquired the right to acquire an exclusive licence to distribute "CannaBloom" a cannabis and hemp plant stimulant technology. The company has been conducting preliminary testing with key agricultural partners in Colombia and Canada with initial results indicating cost-effective organic crop yield increases of 20% and in certain cases by as much as 40%.

For more information, please visit the company's website www.MountainValleyMD.com, contact Dennis Hancock, President and CEO, at 647-725-9755 or by email at dennis@MountainValleyMD.com.

About InvestmentPitch Media

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Nik Wallenda walked 1800 feet along a steel highwire over the active Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua on live television Wednesday night.

The 41-year-old member of the famed Flying Wallendas made the death-defying feat walking across the volcano's active lava lake. Masaya is one of only eight volcanoes in the world that has an active lava lake and generates heat of about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, or almost 1100 degrees Celsius.

The daredevil started the crossing, which was broadcast on ABC, by proclaiming, 'I'm going!' just after 9:20pm eastern standard time.

Nik Wallenda walked 1800 feet along a steel highwire over the active Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua on live television Wednesday night

The 41-year-old member of the famed Flying Wallendas made the death-defying feat walking across the volcano's active lava lake. Masaya is one of only eight volcanoes in the world that has an active lava lake

'I'm going!' the daredevil cried out as he started on the walk

The harness was cabled on to a wire to catch Wallenda in the event he lost his balance and fell

His walk began with a 60-foot drop just after 9:20pm, eastern standard time

Wallenda is spotted where he begins to pass over the lava lake

The active volcano's molten lava glows red hot underneath Wallenda

Wallenda was about half-way done on the walk ten minutes after he started

Wallenda joked he was not in a rush and was enjoying the view

He was attached the whole time to a safety harness and had to pass through foggy conditions that required tracking his movements with special thermal cameras.

In addition, he performed while having to stomach the egg-like smell toxic sulfur dioxide emanating from the lava, which can burn eyes and lungs and cause dizziness.

'My eyes did start to burn,' he admitted, even though he was wearing goggles for protection.

'Thank God they didn't start to fog up,' he said.

He also ran the risk of being burned by corrosive acid created when water vapor mixes with the sulfur dioxide.

'It's kind of ridiculous what you have to do to get a good view of a volcano these days,' said Walenda nearly five minutes into the walk going down a 60-foot drop before bottoming out half way through the stunt.

There were foggy conditions along Wallenda's walk, making it difficult to track him

Thermal cameras were used to keep up with Wallenda's movements

Wallenda began praising his maker for carrying him through the experience

'I don't know how you can't glorify God,' he said. 'It's unbelievable.'

Even though he wore goggles, Wallenda said his 'eyes did start to burn' and was grateful that his eye protection did not fog up

Wallenda appears heated and sweaty as he nears the end of his walk

Wallenda raises his arms in victory after completing the walk about 30 minutes after he started

Wallenda is greeted by his wife Erendira after he completes his walk across the volcano

Wallenda's performance followed a successful aerial ballet performed by Erendira over the same lava

Erendira Wallenda performs her aerial ballet over the lava lake before her husband's stunt

What would you be thinking if you were in Nik's shoes right now? #VolcanoLivewithNikWallenda pic.twitter.com/uXFQH2ujWD  Nik Wallenda (@NikWallenda) March 5, 2020

During the tightrope performance, Wallenda kept saying how much the view was 'amazing,' and praised his maker for carrying him through the experience.

'I don't know how you can't glorify God,' he said. 'It's unbelievable.'

At one point, he had to untangle the harness cable holding him from falling to his doom which had wrapped around his neck.

He reached the half-way point about 16 minutes into the walk, and was talking to his viewers about how he replaced negative mindsets with positive ones to prepare for the stunt.

Members of the Flying Wallendas, watched as Nik made his latest history-making walk. He remained in contact with his father Terry (pictured) by radio through out the stunt

Walenda's walk over the volcano was eight times higher than his previous stunt over Times Square in New York last year

'Let me tell you, you can't be successful, without some failures,' he told his audience, urging viewers to use their fears to gain strength.

His performance followed a successful aerial ballet performed by his wife Erendira over the same lava.

Members of the Flying Wallendas, watched as Nik made his latest history-making walk. He remained in contact with his father Terry by radio through out the stunt.

It was eight times higher than his previous walk over Times Square in New York last year.

Walenda revealed that he had 'freaked' when his balancing pole slipped during the June 24 walk his sister Lijana.

The brother and sister duo defied gravity in what was then a never-before-attempted stunt where they successfully crossed a 1,300ft-long highwire set 25 stories high across two skyscrapers.


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Premier Oil plc (PMO.L) reported Thursday that its pretax profit from continuing operations for the year ended 31 December 2019 declined to $102.5 million from $158.2 million in the prior year.



However, However, profit after tax rose to $164.3 million from $133.4 million a year ago. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations were 18.8 cents, up from 12.2 cents in the prior year.



EBITDAX increased to $1.23 billion from $1.09 billion in the previous year, adjusted for the impact of IFRS16.



Sales revenue from continuing operations rose to $1.58 billion from $1.40 billion last year.



The company noted that its full-year production of 78.4 kboepd was at the upper end of market guidance. This was driven by exceptionally high uptime across the portfolio and outperformance from Premier's operated flagship Catcher Area in the UK, which reached cash payback in October.



Looking ahead, the company noted that in the first quarter of 2020, oil prices have fallen significantly due to fears over the spread of COVID-19 and the impact this may have on global demand for oil.



The Group's immediate priority remains to reduce its debt levels and covenant leverage ratio towards 1x, a process which will be accelerated by the acquisition of the UK assets announced post period-end.



Premier Oil also announced that Elisabeth Proust will join the company's Board as an independent non-executive director and member of the Health, Safety, Environment and Security Committee and Nomination Committee with effect from 1 April 2020.



Elisabeth spent more than 35 years with Total SA holding several senior leadership roles.



The company also said that Robin Allan, Director of North Sea and Exploration, will be leaving the Board at the close of the Group's Annual General Meeting in May. Robin will continue to work for Premier on a part-time consultancy basis, with a particular focus on ESG matters and Premier's response to the Climate Change agenda.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
Participants at a recent Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi discussed the problem of integrating variable renewable energy into electricity grids. Despite the significant challenges, an upbeat mood pervaded the conference. As one panelist, Mahmoud Hanafy, Senior Vice President at Siemens, put it, The Middle East is a blessed region for energy.

All seemed to agree, and they werent thinking about oil and gas.

That the energy transition is good news for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), that renewables could become a new source of export income, growing even as income from hydrocarbons declines, was an important insight that emerged.

Indeed, pilot projects now being launched thousands of miles away in the Pacific, and planning in Europe, could hold great significance for MENA. They concern the so-called green hydrogen produced from renewable energy.

Getting started with hydrogen

It is widely agreed that a post-carbon future will be much more electrified. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) foresees the share of electricity rising from 20% of final energy consumption today to almost 50% by 2050. Renewable power will provide the bulk of it, with conversion of the transport sector and the heating and cooling of buildings to electric power.

To help facilitate this change, IRENA sees a significant role for hydrogen as a store and means of transporting excess renewable energy, as well as a feedstock for industrial processes. The agency calls for getting started by finding niches where it makes sense to support commercial-scale hydrogen pilot projects.

Related: The 3 Hottest Inverse Energy ETFs

The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its landmark report on hydrogen last year, also sees it as a leading low-cost option for short- and long-term storage of renewable energy. The IEA sees hydrogen facing an uphill climb with a need for governments and companies to cooperate, building on existing infrastructure such as natural gas pipelines. They should also try to launch the first international shipping routes for hydrogen, with governments working in coordination to scale up clean hydrogen trade.

Story continues

This work is beginning now with important pilot projects in Asia, which may be harbingers of new opportunities for the Middle East.

Starting a hydrogen road

Japanese companies and development agencies are now advancing on two ways to ship hydrogen over long distances to Japan.

One, a cryogenic method that moves liquid hydrogen at very low temperature, is led by Kawasaki. The company is creating a Hydrogen Road connecting Australia to Japan, deploying proprietary technology at facilities now under construction. Hydrogen production is not from renewables but from brown coal, with gasification and gas refining in Latrobe Valley in the state of Victoria, and liquefaction and loading at Hastings near Melbourne.

Shipment will occur on a new liquefied hydrogen carrier  the worlds first  the Suiso Frontier. The vessel built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries was launched last December. It will traverse a nearly 6,000 mile journey to Kobe Port in southern Japan, where a special storage tank will maintain the fuel at minus 253 degrees C (minus 423 F), which is 91 degrees C below that of liquid natural gas (LNG at minus 162 C).

The hydrogen will be combined with natural gas to fire a turbine supplying heat and power to an area near the port. Kawasaki has developed a gas turbine that can run entirely on hydrogen fuel.

Another Japanese-led hydrogen supply chain pilot project is now producing hydrogen from LNG in Brunei, converting it to a stable liquid that can be carried by more conventional shipping on another long journey to Japan. The project will carry some 200 metric tonnes of hydrogen to Japan to fuel power plants during 2020.

The demonstration project is occurring through collaboration of Kawasaki and Japans New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), and a consortium of Japanese companies, with strong support from the Sultanates government.

MENA is well positioned

Japan, one of the largest importers of the Middle Easts energy, is planning to deploy hydrogen as a clean energy source on a large scale by 2030. Its conceivable that a Hydrogen Road could open in the shipping lanes to the Middle East, carrying the regions vast potential stores of renewable energy to Japan and other East Asian countries.

One Middle East energy expert who is watching closely is Frank Wouters, head of the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Clean Energy Network. He sees several potential ways to ship green hydrogen from MENA to East Asia.

Related: Has U.S. Electricity Lost Its Spark?

You can make ammonia from hydrogen completely green, no carbon, for shipment to Japan, says Wouters. A coal-fired power plant can be fueled with up to 20% ammonia, and over time fueled completely with ammonia. He notes that Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems has developed a gas turbine that can run on 100% ammonia.

In a report, The New Oil, Green Hydrogen from the Gulf, Wouters and Dr. Ad van Wijk calculate the cost of producing green hydrogen in the GCC countries and sketch a roadmap for its export. They see an advantageous cost structure for the Gulf countries to become global leaders in the production of green hydrogen for export in liquid form to Asian markets.

Wouters sees possibilities especially for Saudi Arabia. Green hydrogen can be an important hydrocarbon export replacement, the numbers are convincing, he says. The opportunity is massive in the Kingdoms northwest with its strong wind and high solar irradiance, where thermal winds are related to sunlight (i.e., sun goes down, winds pick up).

From North Africa by pipeline

Another large energy importer, Europe, offers a vast potential export market for North African clean hydrogen, specifically in the form of gas by pipeline.

Wouters has coauthored several research papers including A North Africa  Europe Hydrogen Manifesto (Wouters, et. al., Dii Desert Energy, 2019), in which the authors argue for a joint hydrogen strategy between Europe and North Africa, to help build a European energy system based on 50% renewable electricity and 50% green hydrogen by 2050.

The authors have estimated production capacities and mapped the pipeline infrastructure that could be used for hydrogen gas, connecting the solar and wind resources of North Africa to Europe. Morocco leads the way in research and planning for green hydrogen at its Institut de Recherche en Energie Solaires et Energies Nouvelles (IRESEN).

In another report published on-line called Hydrogen, the final fuel? Wouters notes that a main advantage of hydrogen is relatively cheap transport by existing pipeline infrastructure.

He asserts that moving hydrogen through existing natural gas pipeline is highly feasible and that Europe's existing natural gas grid can be converted at very low cost. He refers to recent Dutch studies that conclude that the existing grids, both on- and offshore, can accommodate up to 100% hydrogen without major modification to the actual pipelines.

In a sign that this hydrogen route is being looked at seriously at the highest levels, the EU Commissions climate chief Frans Timmermans recently mentioned importing hydrogen from North Africa during questioning at the European Parliament.

So it could be that countries of the Middle East and North Africa, which have long enabled the worlds economic development with low cost hydrocarbons, will see emerging opportunities to provide carbon-free energy to the world. Europe and Asia could become lucrative new markets for the MENA countries, should they become major hydrogen producers in a bid to replace declining hydrocarbon exports.

By Alan Mammoser for Oilprice.com

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Yoga will be introduced as a separate subject for study in government senior secondary schools in Himachal Pradesh, Minister Suresh Bhardwaj told the state Assembly on Thursday.

Responding to Jawalamukhi BJP MLA Ramesh Chand Dhawala's query during Question Hour, Bhardwaj informed the House that introduction of yoga as a subject was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's vision document.

The minister said the Himachal Pradesh State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in Solan had been asked to prepare the required syllabus for the classes. Subsequently, the SCERT prepared the syllabus which was forwarded to the state department for giving final touches, he added.

As soon as the syllabus is finalised, recruitment and promotion (R&P) rules will be framed for appointment of yoga teachers, the minister added.

With this, yoga will be introduced as a separate subject for students of Classes 9 to 12, Bhardwaj added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President of Ukraine got acquainted with the progress of the implementation of the project for the development of the H-31 highway

President of Ukraine pays a working visit to the Poltava region Office of the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Poltava region with a working visit: he is expected to meet quarantined evacuees from China in Novi Sanzhary. The broadcast was provided by 112 Ukraine TV Channel.

It is emphasized that the President of Ukraine got acquainted with the progress of the implementation of the project for the development of the H-31 highway and the presentation of "large construction" projects in the Poltava region.

Zelensky also flew to Novi Sanzhary by helicopter in order to meet evacuees from China after their two-week quarantine came to an end.

As we reported earlier, according to correspondent of 112 Ukraine TV Channel,48 citizens of Ukraine and 29 foreigners, evacuated from Wuhan, will be discharged from the Novi Sanzhary sanatorium today, on March 5.

"He (President Zelensky  112 International.) will pay an official visit to the Poltava region. But most importantly, according to the head of the Public Health Center, Ihor Kuzin, the results of the final coronavirus tests showed that everyone is absolutely healthy," the journalist said.
Pune Police's Economic Offences Wing



has arrested the founder-director of a Sangli-based agro firm in the multi-crore Kadaknath chicken scam.

Sudhir Mohite, who was lodged in Kolhapur jail in another case, was arrested in the scam, a police official said here on Thursday.

A case had been registered by Pune Police against Mohite, Sandip Mohite and Hanumant Jagdale of Maharayat Agro India last year.

Farmers from several districts of Maharashtra had lodged cases against the company for allegedly duping them after promising to help them rear chickens of Kadaknath breed.

"Mohite was produced before a court here and remanded in police custody till March 7," said the officer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Additional certification and training courses can not only affect an employee's pay grade and career, but their sense of control over their life. Employees who have 'upgraded' their professional knowledge and skills find it easier to manage problems both in their personal lives and in the workplace. However, the trend does not hold equally for men and women. A study by researchers from the HSE University shows that men reap more benefits than women. The results were published at the International Journal of Lifelong Education.

Job-Related Training: Necessary but not Always Effective

Continuing education is becoming commonplace. It contributes to professional success by opening up new career prospects for employees and helping them qualify for pay increases. Conversely, Natalia Karmaeva and Andrey Zakharov note, a lack of additional training is associated with lower wages for older employees.

It is assumed that additional job-related training or certification--at the workplace, at a corporate university, or in special courses--helps increase human capital, i.e., knowledge and skills. It can increase the productivity of individual workers and the effectiveness of the company as a whole. However, the HSE researchers found that this is not always the case.

The relationship between additional training and labour productivity is 'mediated by a social and gender hierarchy,' the researchers write.

The positions in which workers find themselves vary (often even if the employees have equal credentials and levels of experience). Some workers are able to enter the primary labour market, where prestigious professions with decent wages and long-term employment dominate. Others, however, find themselves in a secondary market, characterized by precarious work, low salaries, and low employee qualifications.

'Who gets what position is explained by gender, class, and race,' the authors explain. 'Jobs in the secondary labour market are less attractive than those in the primary labour market in terms of pay, the type of contract, career opportunities, and retraining.' The economic return on additional training is also lower in the secondary labour market.

In addition, gender appears to influence how professional skills are perceived. 'Women's' skills, from diligence to communication skills, are less valued. Employers' and colleagues' perception of 'male' skills (leadership, physical endurance), on the other hand, is coloured by their attitudes of the holder of these skills.

The Main 'Controllers' Are Men

A low sense of control, According to previous studies on Russia, correlates with traditional ideas of women about the distribution of roles in the family (i.e., the man is the breadwinner and a protector; the woman, as mother and wife, is in charge of domestic life). 'In traditional culture, a sense of control is more likely a "male" trait,' say Natalia Karmaeva and Andrey Zakharov.

The researchers used data from three waves (2009-2011) of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey - HSE (RLMS-HSE), which measures economic wellbeing and health among the Russian population. The survey results reveal the effects of completing job-related training (JRT). The JRT effect was examined with regard to employees of both genders, aged 20-60. The researchers also considered employees' professional affiliation, sector of employment (public or private), level of experience, the number of employees at their place of employment, and other factors.

Researchers were interested in one of the non-economic effects of JRT: subjective control, or an individual's perceived ability to influence his or her professional or private life.

Until now, this non-economic implication of on-the-job training has remained poorly understood. It was only known that in Russia, reported subjective control for women is on average about 30% lower than for men. In other words, women believe that they are less able to influence circumstances in their lives.

Karmaeva and Zakharov's study showed that additional training indeed increases individuals' sense of subjective control. But this effect did not equalize the playing field between men and women: to the contrary, the effect is stronger for men than it is for women.

Life Management Upgrade

Subjective control is one of the personal resources that people rely on in difficult situations. It gives one a sense of confidence in one's ability to manage challenges.

Subjective control helps one respond to and deal with events more effectively. For example, it helps one mobilize and come up with a solution rather than enter into conflict.

Self-confident employees usually work better and get along with people.

Researchers analysed the effects of employer-funded short-term courses, which aim to improve employees' expertise and skills on the job. 'This kind of training involves the acquisition of both specialized professional expertise and general skills,' the researchers explain. General skills include, for example, self-control, the ability to work with information, and communication skills.

Both professional expertise and general skills (i.e., soft skills) can enhance one's sense of control over one's life. Moreover, through the 'expansion of social support networks (friends, colleagues, relatives, etc.),' it can also lead, both directly and indirectly, to 'salary increases and more career opportunities,' the authors explain.

Expired Bonuses

The benefits of continued education are often unevenly distributed between different groups of workers. The researchers analysed how the completion of job-related training 'exacerbates or mitigates gender disparities in subjective control'.

The analysis showed that professional training enhances perceived control among both men and women.

This can occur both directly and indirectly, with the development of the ability to effectively solve problems at work and in life.

This can contribute to empowerment in the long run, salary increases, and career advancement.

At the same time, discrepancies in the effects of JRT were found between genders.

'Our analysis proves the significant impact of continuing education on subjective control, mainly for men,' the researchers say. 'The positive effect of JRT for men was 0.42 standard deviations.' For women, however, the positive effect amounted to only half of that of men, with a total of 0.26.

These results correspond with those of foreign studies, in which women generally have less control over their life circumstances, despite the fact that many of them work, are financially independent, and, on average, have higher levels of education than their male counterparts.

In other words, though women receive the additional JRT bonuses of enhanced expertise and control skills, they are often unable to put them into practice.

Glass Ceiling

Researchers explain this situation by the persistence of gender stereotypes and gender discrimination as well as masculine culture in the workplace and in society.

The market as a whole is segregated by gender. Women often have less prestigious professions and lower positions than men (despite having the same level of education). In addition, women with children are often forced to abandon their career ambitions and choose a job that is convenient for the family. As a result, education and qualifications often do not bring them dividends in the form of promotion and income growth. All of this affects women's perceived control.

Women have fewer opportunities for professional development due to the already noted gender segregation of the labour market, as well as a 'double workload' that includes both family and work responsibilities. As a result, female employees avoid working overtime, do not work on projects for entire days, and do not participate in professional parties and gatherings that are important for their careers. Instead, they often rush home.

If a man and a woman do the same job, the latter is often paid less for it. 'As a result, a woman's position in the labour market can reduce the positive impact of JRT on her sense of control,' the researchers explain.

Institutionalized Discrimination

Women often do not see a return on improved expertise due to three factors:

1. In transitional economies, 'the labour market becomes more unstable, and specific skills acquired through training are less important for individual success than in developed economies,' the authors say. This results from the fact that, while specific human capital may be in demand at one enterprise, other enterprises may not show an interest in it. An unstable economic situation forces people to change jobs, and companies and firms to close. 'Enterprises are not interested in developing specific human capital, and for employees, this human capital depreciates when they change jobs,' Karmaeva and Zakharov say.

2. More powerful groups can control the distribution of economic benefits from additional training, such as the prevailing status quo of men in areas like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, for example. 'Although the Soviet Union managed to encourage women to enrol in STEM disciplines, the percentage of women among STEM graduates in Russia today is not very high,' the researchers note. In 2017, for every 100 male graduates in physics and mathematics, there were only 60 female graduates. In information science and energy, these numbers were even lower: for every 100 male graduates, there were about 25 and 20 female graduates, respectively.

According to some researchers, women were unable to pursue education in STEM fields because of the glass ceiling. The ceiling manifested itself in insufficient grant or scholarship support for women in these areas from the state as well as family and societal views of 'female' and 'male' professions.

3. The role of 'patriarchal' attitudes of Russian women themselves cannot be discounted either. Russian women often place less importance on professional success than other areas of their lives. This also reduces the positive effects of job-related training.

But it is possible that the problem simply lies in the quality of training.

The authors of the study suggest that the content or design of supplemental professional training courses do not allow women to develop their sense of subjective control to the same extent as men. Alternatively, it also could be that opportunities in labour market are so skewed in favour of men that job-related training simply does not enhance women's success.

###
India confirmed its 30th coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patient on Thursday and authorities widened the number of people under watch for the illness to close to 30,000, ramping up containment efforts that also included an order for all primary schools in the national capital to be closed for the rest of the month.

The confirmed patient identified on Thursday is a 57-year-old Ghaziabad resident, who returned from Tehran, Iran, on February 23 and was approached by health workers on Monday. He was isolated and swabbed for samples, which turned out to be positive.

The country now has 27 active patients  three patients in Kerala recovered last month  and authorities are now looking for more people who may have been in close contact with them.

Till Thursday, 28,529 people with history of travel to a Covid-19-affected country, or contact with a positive case, are have been brought under community surveillance and monitoring, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said in Parliament, where he made a suo motu statement on the outbreak in both Houses.

The contact-tracing operation is crucial to avert a wider community transmission. in addition to Covid-19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed, it has been decided to involve district collectors and States have been asked to form rapid response teams as the district, block and village levels, the Union health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Also read | Coronavirus: Nine including four foreigners quarantined in Rajasthan

All confirmed patients are stable, including the three from Kerala who are now discharged and disease-free, the ministry statement added.

All but three current patients  two in Jaipur and one in Hyderabad  out of the 27 are in hospitals in the national capital region (NCR). These include the Delhi resident who was confirmed a patient on Monday, his relatives from Agra; a group of Italian tourists, and an Indian who worked as a driver for them.

The latest patient, a businessman, has been taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital. His sample was taken and sent for testing on March 3 and on afternoon of March 4 he was shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi after he developed symptoms of headache and fever. We have quarantined his two family members at home as well as three people who worked at his office in Ghaziabad. They are under close surveillance, said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer (CMO) of Ghaziabad.

The number of people sickened by the rapidly spreading virus was close to 97,000 on Thursday evening, with over 3,300 of these believed to have succumbed to the consequent illness. The pathogen, similar to the Sars virus that spread in 2002-2003, leads to cough, fever and, in serious cases, respiratory distress that can turn fatal.

Also read | Chinese man locks himself in Noida flat fearing attack over coronavirus scare

The virus started spreading in China in late December, but is now recording an exponential spike outside of the country. Iran, South Korea and Italy are among the nations where the outbreak is now most serious.

We are calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination, WHOs director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing at the UN health agencys Geneva headquarters.

Tedros also voiced concern that some countries have either not taken this seriously enough, or have decided there is nothing they can do.

He added: This is not the time to give up. This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops.

India has activated its massive health care machinery to trace and isolate new infections, tapping into a network of more than 300,000 workers who are deployed across the country.

Also read | Coronavirus scare: CBSE allows students to bring masks, sanitisers to exam halls

Delhis deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the administration has order all primary schools to close till March 31.

As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of Covid-19 amongst our children, the Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20, Sisodia said in a tweet.

India also revised its travel advisory and asked passengers from South Korea and Italy to produce a certificate saying they are Covid-19 free.

In addition to Visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from /having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need certificate of having tested negative for Covid-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries. This will be enforced from 0000 Hrs of 10 th March, 2020 and is a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subsides, said health ministry in statement.

Till Thursday, 649,452 passengers from 6,550 flights had been screened for signs of an infection.

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After three postponements in six weeks, a Delhi court on Thursday set March 20 as the fresh date for the execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case that has witnessed several twists and turns after they received the death sentence in 2013.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana directed that Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) "be hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 20 at 5.30 am". All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together in Tihar jail here.

The order was pronounced after the lawyers for the Delhi government and the convicts submitted that the condemned prisoners have exhausted all their legal remedies.

A P Singh, the lawyer for the convicts, conceded that there was no legal impediment for the court in proceeding to fix the execution date.

"It is fairly conceded at bar by counsel of convict as well as public prosecutor (appearing for the State) that as of now, there is statutory no bar in exercise of power under 413/414 (issuing death warrant) of the CrPC, rather it is obligatory on the part of the court to discharge the duties cast upon it under the relevant provisions.

"In view of the same, it is directed that convicts shall be hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 20 at 6 am," the court said.

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi said their struggle would continue till the time they are hanged and hoped that March 20 will be the final date of hanging.

"The morning of March 20 will be the morning of our lives," Devi told reporters.

She also said that if there is any chance, she would want to see the convicts dying.

"While dying Nirbhaya asked to ensure they get such punishment that such crime is not repeated ever. If there is any chance, I would like to see them die."



The new date for the hanging was fixed even as the Supreme Court said it would examine on March 23 the legal issue arising out of the Nirbhaya case on whether there could be separate hanging in a common crime where there are more than one death row convicts.

"The question is whether there can be separate hanging or whether it has to be simultaneous. We will go into it," said a three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi against the backdrop of the contention by the Centre that the hanging of convicts for a common crime can be carried out separately as and when each one exhaust their legal remedies.

The move by the apex court is not expected to have any bearing on the execution of the four death row convicts on March 20 since they have exhausted all legal remedies.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre and the Delhi government challenging the February 5 order of Delhi High Court which said that the four Nirbhaya case convicts have to be executed simultaneously.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Delhi government, told the bench that these convicts have taken justice delivery system for "a ride" and made a "mockery" of it by adopting delaying tactics.

Mehta, who said "credibility of the system is at stake", informed the bench that a trial court has fixed March 20 as the date of execution of the four convicts who have exhausted all their legal remedies.

Taking note of the submission, the bench, also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna, posted the plea for arguments on merits on March 23 and made it clear that no adjournment would be given.

During the arguments, Mehta said there was no statutory provision which stipulates that convicts have to be executed simultaneously and as per the law, only trial of a case has to be conducted simultaneously.

"Today, there are four convicts in this case. Tomorrow, there may be a case having 10 or 20 such convicts and they may again delay the execution by moving separate forums at different time," he said, referring to the tactics adopted by the convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

Mehta said pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay against rejection of their mercy petitions by the President has already been dismissed by the apex court.

"For Mukesh and Vinay, we should be permitted to execute them. There is no need to give any further time to them," he said, adding, "This is not our anxiety to hang somebody. Nobody likes this. Our anxiety is that credibility of the system is at stake".

He said the two other convicts -- Akshay and Pawan -- will now file pleas in the top court challenging rejection of their mercy petitions and in this scenario, the authorities should be allowed to execute Mukesh and Vinay.

"It is de-humanising to keep them under such threat," Mehta said.

When the bench said it would hear the matter on merits on March 23, Mehta said, "These convicts have taken the system for a ride. Please say that whosoever of them want to file for whatsoever remedy, they should do it before March 20".

To this, the bench said, "We will not say this. We will hear the matter on March 23".

The first date of execution--January 22--fixed on January 7 was postponed by the court to February 1. But on January 31, the court indefinitely postponed the hanging. On February 17, the court again issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 but just one day before it was deferred till further orders.

A city court on September 13, 2013 awarded the death sentence to the four convicts, less than one year after the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in south Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Review petitions and curative petitions were then filed in a staggered manner in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order on March 13, 2014 confirming the death sentence.

The last option of mercy petition before the President to escape the gallows was also exercised by the convicts one by one but they all stand dismissed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japan will adopt a two-week quarantine for visitors from China and South Korea and suspend visas already issued, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday, as the country seeks to bolster its defenses against the new coronavirus, Kyodo News Plus reports.

The government will also expand its entry ban to cover foreign visitors from parts of South Korea and Iran that have seen a surge in infections from the pneumonia-causing virus which originated in China, Abe told a government task force meeting.

From Monday to the end of March, visitors from the two countries will have to stay at designated facilities for two weeks to be checked for infections and refrain from using public transportation.

The updated entry ban, effective Friday, will target travelers from a wider area of South Korea's North Gyeongsang than now and from Qom Province in Iran. Both places have been severely hit by COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

In a bid to ensure an effective quarantine, Abe also requested that flights from China and South Korea use only two major airports -- Narita airport east of Tokyo and Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture.

In a related move, the Foreign Ministry elevated its travel alert for the whole of South Korea, urging Japanese citizens not to visit the country. Previously, a heightened alert had only applied to areas surrounding Daegu, the city hit hardest by the virus.

The series of measures will limit travel from the Asian neighbors -- accounting for over 40 percent of all visitors to Japan in 2019 -- and pre-empt a surge in domestic cases ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer.
Super Tuesday: 4 things to know about the Democratic Presidential Primaries

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On Tuesday, several states and one United States territory will be going to the polls to determine the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.

Known as Super Tuesday, the day is seen as an important test to determine which candidate has enough support to effectively challenge Republican President Donald Trump in November.

The once crowded Democratic field has withered down to a few candidates, with three notable figures ending their campaigns over the past week.

Here are four important things to know about Super Tuesday 2020. They include which states are voting, the current delegate count, and a possible contested convention.

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Called the Democratic Renaissance Project, it attracted a rotating cast of ambitious 20-somethings looking to get past the doldrums of the Bush-Clinton-Bush era without succumbing to utopian radicalism. As these elder millennials aged into maturity, the same ideal gave rise to new journalistic outlets like Vox. They gained new champions too, like the Warren protegee Katie Porter, who turned her suburban Orange County, Calif., congressional district blue in the 2018 wave election. By the time the 2020 campaign got underway, liberal reformers had a bevy of candidates to select from, none more impressive than Ms. Warren.

Except here we are, refighting 2016, with Joe Biden taking up Mrs. Clintons role and Bernie Sanders playing himself. To baffled Warren supporters, the last year seems like a string of avoidable disasters. If only activists hadnt been so fixated on Medicare for All, then she could have finessed her way around health care. If only Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hadnt endorsed Mr. Sanders after his heart attack, then he could have quietly wrapped up his candidacy. If only the Sanders campaign wasnt a personality cult that refused to take yes for an answer, the left could have united behind a politician with a real shot at winning.

But that misses the true nature of the movement that has grown up around Mr. Sanders. Ms. Warren tried to bend the Democratic Party to the left. Mr. Sanderss core supporters are intent on remaking it from the ground up.

They want a new coalition grounded in the multiracial working-class and less dependent on affluent professionals; a new donor class made up of grass-roots contributors; a new base of activists who read magazines like Jacobin and come out of groups like Democratic Socialists of America; and new politicians like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who trounced New Yorks Democratic machine.

Mr. Sanderss most loyal followers are as much part of a counterculture as they are members of a political campaign. Rather than asking the best and brightest to lead the way beyond left and right, they have come up with a novel fusion of populism and socialism that marries a critique of the inequalities generated by capitalism with a rejection of technocratic nudging and meritocratic striving. Tell them that Elizabeth Warren is the real radical, and theyll ask what you can expect from an administration dominated by products of the same elite institutions that ran the Obama White House. Insist that they should be practical, and theyll wonder how progressives will be able to change the country if they cant even change the Democratic Party. See the world from this perspective, and Ms. Warren looks like the left wing of a broken status quo, not the start of something different.

Yes, the Sanders campaign has its fair share of Ivy-trained policy specialists. But to its millennial base, the difference between their tribe and the rest of the party is obvious at first sight. Its what separates Ms. Ocasio-Cortez from Katie Porter, Jacobin from Vox and Democratic Socialists of America from the Democratic Renaissance Project. They cant stand MSNBC; their attitude toward Russia, Ukraine and impeachment tended toward indifference; and dont get them started on The West Wing. While Mr. Sanders offered them red meat, the other candidates were trying to sell an Impossible Burger.

The problem for Mr. Sanders is that this group is still a distinct minority among Democrats, and the populist revolution that was supposed to sweep new voters to the polls has failed to arrive. But Democratic leaders shouldnt celebrate for long. Mr. Sanders remains a formidable opponent, and President Trump will be waiting in the fall. The Democratic establishment has put all its chips on Mr. Biden, and the costs will be high if the gamble doesnt pay off.
[March 05, 2020] Investing to support clean technologies in agriculture

KENSINGTON, PE, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, and Prince Edward Island Minister of Agriculture and Land, Bloyce Thompson visited Schurman Family Farm in Kensington, PEI today to announce an investment of $893,284 for an innovative project that will help increase energy use efficiency and reduce fossil fuel use in their greenhouse production. The Schurman family operates Atlantic Grown Organics which provides organically grown produce throughout Atlantic Canada. The operation will receive a federal investment of $446,642 under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Agricultural Clean Technology Program, $271,467 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program, $89,328 from the PEI Department of Agriculture and Land and $85,847 from Atlantic Grown Organics. Atlantic Grown Organics has been using waste bio-products as fuel for the operation of its greenhouses. Their operation has been able to make use of bio-waste from a local oilseed processing plant but have been required to supplement this system with fuel oil. Through this support, the farm will test and demonstrate the adaptation of a clean technology boiler system, a first of its kind to be installed in North America. The new boiler system will help turn the greenhouse operation into 100 per cent renewable heating, and promote the adoption of clean technologies in the sector. Quotes "This first of its kind technology to be installed in North America is a terrific example of how producers from coast-to-coast-to-coast are looking to 'grow greener'. Our Government is committed to supporting research into sustainable agriculture practices. This project showcases how the ingenuity of our farm families in adopting new technologies can help Canada be a leader on sustainable farming and food."



- Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food "Growing the economy can compare to nurturing produce both take time and require consistent effort and support to thrive. We are here to best equip entrepreneurs like Marc and Krista who are passionate about quality food, the environment and sustainable business practices to remain competitive."

- Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for ACOA "Prince Edward Island's government believes in agriculture that is progressive and dynamic, while being both financially sound and environmentally responsible. Clean, renewable energy projects are part of reducing the ecological footprint of this vital industry." - Bloyce Thompson, Prince Edward Island Minister of Agriculture and Land "Greenhouses in our Canadian climate need a lot of energy and most greenhouses in Canada use fossil fuels for heat. Being able to grow local organic vegetables in a "green" way is certainly rewarding. There is a lot of risk in testing new technology. The funding from the Agricultural Clean Technology Program, ACOA and Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program was essential to lower the risk involved and realize the positive outcomes of the investment." - Marc Schurman, owner of Atlantic Grown Organics Quick Facts The Agricultural Clean Technology Program supports research, development and adoption of clean technologies to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate a wide range of positive impacts on the environment from agricultural production, and promote sustainability and clean growth.

Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector contributes over $114 billion to our gross domestic product. Associated Links Agricultural Clean Technology Program

Schurman Family Farms/ Atlantic Grown Organics

PEI Provincial Department of Agriculture and Land

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Eerie pictures show Epping Boys High School in Sydney's north-west stuck in time, after a 16-year-old pupil tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

Officials confirmed on Friday morning that the teenage boy's mother works alongside the infected doctor at Ryde Hospital.

The dramatic development sparked fears the killer disease could sweep through whole communities, as it is now spreading through people not previously known to be infected.

'We can confirm that a parent of the Year 11 student here at Epping Boys High School had been in contact with a patient of the Ryde doctor who tested positive to COVID-19 last week,' NSW health said in a statement.

Empty school buses, abandoned cars and a lone teacher meandering towards the entrance, it is the first Australian school to be shut down over fears of an outbreak.

A student (pictured) is seen speaking to reporters and wearing a face mask on Friday, as the nearby Epping Boys High School was dramatically shut down over coronavirus fears

Epping Boys High School (pictured) will be closed on Friday, with students warned to stay home

It has suffered the seventh case in the disease's Australian epicentre, and the 62nd case nationwide.

Panicked school officials were forced to close the gates on Friday, as they scramble to trace those who have had close contact with the young boy.

The usually bustling high school, which has 1,200 students and staff, was left empty at rush hour on Friday morning.

Three school buses whizzed by around 8am but were empty, and there were no more than a handful of vehicles in the usually full car park.

Health officials believe they are circling in on how the boy became infected, but are still rushing to confirm how it spread.

As of Friday morning, there are 62 cases of coronavirus across Australia, with two patients already dead

Two students (pictured) are seen wearing face masks as they walk past Epping Boys High School on Friday

The usually bustling Epping Boys High School (pictured) was nearly empty on Friday morning

International student Nick Wen said he was worried about living on the same street as Epping Boys High School.

I am worried, Mr Wen told Daily Mail Australia.

I live in this area. Every night I see the students from the Epping school, they walk around this street  and I live in this street.

Some international students, theyre walking around here as well.

Another student at nearby Macquarie University who lives around the corner said the virus was a worry for everyone, but people should stay strong.

The student said she was really happy with the updates she had received about the virus from the university.

Macquarie Park (pictured), 13km north-west of Sydney's CBD, has become Australia's coronavirus epicentre - with seven people infected and a childcare centre dramatically shut

School buses to Epping Boys High School (pictured) were completely empty on Friday morning, as the school turned into a ghost town amid coronavirus fears

Malcolm Elliott, president of the Australian Primary Principals Association, insisted that schools were 'well prepared'.

'We've got 7,200 primary schools and about 3,000 secondary schools that we are concerned about right now,' he told ABC.

'And it does feel it might be the start of quite a long flu season.

'The other big responsibility schools face is presenting the calm and informed face to the children.

'So when we're talking about people becoming worried about the coronavirus, well of course we're worried.

'It's alright to be worried. We need to think about what is going on.

'But we need to be able to say, hand on heart, life goes on, and we stick with the program, come to school and do our best, and we will do the best we can to continue our schooling.'

A lone teacher (pictured) is seen walking towards Epping Boys High School on Friday to check no students accidentally arrived, after it was closed over coronavirus fears

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard compared the incident to a 'police investigation'.

Students have been urged to stay home and self-isolate for 14 days, while health and education officials scramble to find out how the boy caught the virus.

Speaking on Sunrise on Friday morning, Mr Hazzard admitted it was a race against time to find who the boy had been in contact with.

He also warned Australians that attempts to control and manage the spread of the virus 'probably' won't work.

Epping Boys High School (pictured) was forced to close after a student tested positive to COVID-19.

The boy is the latest in a string of people to be diagnosed in what is emerging as Australia's virus epicentre - a tiny pocket of Sydney consisting of neighbouring suburbs Ryde, Macquarie Park and Epping.

Two hospital doctors, a university professor, two nursing home residents and a carer in the area were struck down with the virus in just three days, with dozens more feared to have been exposed.

'In the end, the decision was taken, which I am absolutely convinced is the right decision, that the school should shut at least for today and then we have today and the weekend to work through this young fella's contacts,' Mr Hazzard said on Friday.

'It's like a police investigation - working out who he's been in touch with and make sure we can track them and do the testing on them to try to do what we can for containment, although it's getting much harder.'

The Epping Boys High School car park (pictured) sat nearly empty at 8am on Friday morning, after the school was shut down over coronavirus fears

Worried parents took to social media to express their concerns after the news broke

'We are lucky it's so close to the weekend. We have one day off school, the two other days for Saturday and Sunday to work through both talking to him but also talking to his various contacts.

'I implore parents not to panic but to make sure your child stays home. I would also add this - until we have had a chance to sort through who are the contacts, we would like parents to ask their children to self-isolate today.'

Epping High School is located less than 2km from Dorothy Henderson Lodge Aged Care Centre, in Macquarie Park, where multiple cases of the virus were reported this week - including a 95-year-old woman who died on Wednesday.

Twenty-five of the country's cases of coronavirus have come from NSW, as the government admits it has no way of controlling the spread of the fatal respiratory disease.

A woman is seen wearing a protective face mask seen in Sydney on March 4 (pictured)

Mr Hazzard also admitted on Friday morning that efforts to contain the virus 'probably' wouldn't work.

'It's going to get more people,' he told Karl Stefanovic on Today.

'I think we have nine now who have actually been infected on our soil rather than coming in from overseas and that means that we are getting an increasing number of people who are passing it on.

'It's likely to unfortunately become not a containment issue but how do we manage this as it rolls out.

The school (pictured) was dramatically closed on Friday after a 16-year-old student tested positive to coronavirus on Thursday

'Having said that, can I also say this - this is not a time for panic. 80 per cent of all people who get this virus get it very, very mildly. Just like a very mild cold or flu. So don't panic. Don't be unnecessarily worried about it. Just be cautious.'

Four Australians are stranded on the Grand Princess cruise ship more than 600 kilometres off the coast of California amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak.

At least 20 passengers and crew members have fallen ill, with the US Coast Guard delivered virus testing kits to the ship.

More than 20 per cent of people living in Macquarie Park, dubbed Australia's coronavirus 'ground zero', have Chinese ancestry - compared to just 3.9 per cent nationally.

Epping Boys High School (pictured), in Sydney's north-west, will be closed on Friday after a 16-year-old boy was diagnosed with coronavirus

Banksia Cottage childcare centre (pictured) in Sydney's north-west is just across the road from Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care complex where multiple cases of the infectious disease have been reported this week

A woman loads her daughter into the car after taking her out of the Macquarie Park childcare centre early on Thursday. She said she was worried about her children catching the virus

About 70 per cent of residents in Macquarie Park have foreign-born parents, compared to just 34.4 per cent nationally.

It has sparked a panic across the inner-city area, with the local Aldi supermarket left with bare shelves as locals rushed to stock pile.

In dramatic developments on Thursday, health officials shut down the Banksia Cottage daycare centre, in Macquarie Park, amid fears more than a dozen kids have been exposed to the respiratory virus.

Seventeen toddlers are being assessed after they visited the age care home - located 50 metres away - for an excursion on February 24.

Locals have been flocking to the Macquarie Centre (pictured) to stock up on supplies as a coronavirus outbreak threatens the area

Infant care workers are now being tested for the deadly virus, amid a growing panic that they too are infected.

A further two vulnerable elderly nursing home residents, including an 82-year-old man and a woman in her 70s, have also been infected, after a worker at the care home is believed to have spread the virus.

Health officials believe the female worker, in her 50s, may have been working in the home, where she was treating 13 residents, while contagious.

Even more worryingly, the female care worker hasn't recently travelled outside Australia and has had no known contact with an infected person.

Health officials are seen at the aged care home in Macquarie Park, where one woman died and a further two residents caught coronavirus after a staff member became infected

Two elderly patients have contracted coronavirus after being treated by an infected nurse at the BaptistCare old people's home in Macquarie Park. A third woman, 95, died after becoming infected

She started experiencing flu-like symptoms around February 24 and is now in a stable condition in hospital, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed on Wednesday.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS? Like other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold and that triggered SARS, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are:

Fever

Dry cough

Shortness of breath

Difficulty breathing

Fatigue Although having a runny nose doesn't rule out coronavirus, it doesn't thus far appear to be a primary symptom. Most people only become mildly ill, but the infection can turn serious and even deadly, especially for those who are older or have underlying health conditions. In these cases, patients develop pneumonia, which can cause: Potentially with yellow, green or bloody mucus

Fever, sweating and shaking chills

Shortness of breath

Rapid or shallow breathing

Pain when breathing, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Low appetite, energy and fatigue

Nausea and vomiting (more common in children)

Confusion (more common in elderly people)

Some patients have also reported diarrhea and kidney failure has occasionally been a complication. Avoid people with these symptoms. If you develop them, call your health care provider before going to the hospital or doctor, so they and you can prepare to minimize possible exposure if they suspect you have coronavirus. Advertisement

The coronavirus 'ground zero' is also home to Macquarie University, which boasts 40,000 students - 8,600 of which are international.

A university engineering lecturer was also diagnosed on Wednesday.

Those cases come after the diagnosis of a 53-year-old male doctor from Ryde Hospital, about 4km from Macquarie Park, on Monday.

A female doctor, who works in the emergency department of Liverpool Hospital and who apparently attended the same conference as the male doctor, also has the disease.

Since then, 40 staff have been put into isolation, after fears the doctor was infected while treating a 'diverse range of patients'.

Thirteen doctors, 23 nurses and four other workers have been identified as close contacts of the doctor.

A further eight patients of the doctor are showing no symptoms, but officials are still chasing up 29 other patients identified as casual contacts.

'We are making sure we get in contact with them and make sure they dont have symptoms,' Mr Hazzard said.

'Its a bit of a worry.'

The panic over the virus spread across the country this week with anxious shoppers clearing supermarket shelves as they rushed to stockpile on groceries in fears of a pandemic.

Pictures from the area's three big supermarkets, Aldi, Coles and Woolworths, show bare shelves after panicked locals stocked up on essentials.

Toilet paper, pasta, rice and painkillers were all impossible to find in Macquarie Park.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths were forced to introduce a four-pack limit on toilet paper earlier this week after anxious shoppers rushed to stockpile on items.

On Thursday, Woolworths announced it was imposing buying restrictions on rice after it earlier introduced limits on hand sanitiser and toilet tissue.

One of the doctors that attended the conference is employed at Ryde Hospital (pictured). Forty of his colleagues have now been placed into isolation

Aisles at Macquarie Park's Aldi (pictured, left) were emptied by worried residents on Wednesday, as was the local Woolworths (right)

Supermarkets across Australia are facing shortages on food and other goods as panic-buying chaos sweeps the country. Pictured: A man looks for toilet paper at a Melbourne Woolworths

Chief executive Brad Banducci told loyalty card members in an email customers will be limited to two kilograms of rice per transaction.

'As you may have read, or seen for yourself, these are unusual and challenging times. We know it can be frustrating when we don't have the products you need, or when delivery or Pick up windows are filled more than usual,' the email stated.

'The makers of Kleenex, Sorbent, Quilton and Woolworths own range of toilet paper have all increased their production to meet this very unusual demand.

'For example, the makers of Kleenex are now manufacturing 24 hours, 7 days a week at their Millicent, SA factory, as are Sorbent in their NSW and Victorian facilities. And the makers of Quilton have tripled their normal production across their factories in Queensland, NSW and WA.'

Mr Banducci said the company would introduce more limits if needed.

Photos and videos have emerged on social media in recent days showing empty shelves in the pasta, rice and canned veg aisles at grocery stores and shoppers filling up their trolleys in a panic.

A Chinese restaurant in Macquarie Park (pictured) as the area becomes Australia's coronavirus epicentre

Macquarie University (pictured) has more than 8,000 international students and is at the centre of the outbreak

In Adelaide, a train passenger was seen resorting to extreme measures to protect himself from the virus by wearing a full-body hazmat suit.

It isn't known if the man was playing a practical joke or genuinely feared contracting the virus.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian issued a grave warning that the number of cases is likely to keep going up.

'What is scary on this situation is that the vaccine is not yet developed,' she said on Wednesday.

'But we ask everybody to stay calm, to go about business and to stay updated the NSW health website is giving our citizens in NSW timely information.'

In Adelaide, a train passenger was seen resorting to extreme measures to protect himself from the coronavirus by wearing a full-body hazmat suit

James Kwan, 75, (pictured) was the first Australian to die of the virus, after contracting the deadly disease on the Diamond Princess cruise ship

Officials are urging anyone who feels unwell to contact their GP or the local hospital and make arrangements to go and get tested.

But they should not self-present at a GP surgery or at Accident and Emergency, in case they infect others.

As pressure grows on health care workers, Australia's nursing union has warned their are not enough staff to deal with the pandemic.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is demanding more help to stop the transmission of the virus - with some calls for retired staff to return to work.

It comes as the number of cases of coronavirus in Australia rocketed to 62 overnight, with two already dead amid fears the outbreak could soon be uncontainable.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told the Nine Network on Tuesday that the 53-year-old male doctor is in a stable condition at Westmead Hospital and 'going quite well'

'Were calling on the government and providers to provide a registered nurse working around the clock in aged care facilities,' ANMFs Assistant Federal Secretary Lori-Anne Sharp said on Sunrise.

'We know that there are not enough registered nurses working in nursing homes - in fact some dont have a registered nurse working around the clock.'

'If facilities are understaffed already to meet the basic needs of residents then they wont be equipped to deal with a coronavirus pandemic.'

She explained that Australia has seen a reduction of 13 per cent of its nursing staff in recent years - leaving health officials unable to meet the needs of a pandemic.
After years of back and forth negotiations and multiple elections, the United Kingdom finally left the European Union last month. On the eve of Brexit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation:

This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act in our great national drama. And yes, it is partly about using these new powersthis recaptured sovereigntyto deliver the changes people voted for.

Yet, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Recently, the U.K. government announcedit was putting its telecoms regulator, Ofcom, in charge of policing so-called harmful online speech to make the [I]nternet a safer place. To achieve this, the government wants Ofcom to enforce a duty of care on platforms like Facebook and YouTube to keep people using their platforms safe. The government portrays this mandate positively, claiming that the authority given to Ofcom will be flexible and can adapt to the rapid emergence of new harms and technologies. But the dangers of roving regulatory mandates are enormous in the technology sector.

The U.K. may very well have good intentions. In support of this regulatory move, U.K. officials chiefly cite concerns about online child exploitation, self-harm, and the dissemination of terrorist propaganda.

But of course, consequences, not intentions, matter. The introduction of a vague duty of care for platforms owners will inevitably curtail users speech on those platforms. Faced with a choice between potentially incurring billions in rent-seeking government fines or removing the occasional users post, the rational choice for platform owners is obvious. Worse yet, a duty of care can easily become the pretext for political or other forms of censorship. Under a duty of care, online platforms have a lawful opportunity to exclude views the platform owners do not share.

And as our experience here in the U.S. shows, government need not create an online speech czar with broad, vague authority to combat narrow categories of online conduct. In the U.S., Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act grants broad protections to online platforms against liability for content posted by users; it is, in many ways, what allows today's user content-driven Internet to exist. In 2018, facing a scourge of online sex trafficking, Congress passed and the president signed FOSTA-SESTA into law. Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater and wholesale repeal Section 230, though, the law merely targets those who inten[d] to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person.

Mere weeks after FOSTA-SESTA went into effect, the DOJ successfully shut down Backpage, a website that notoriously facilitated online sex trafficking. FOSTA-SESTA is far from perfect, and it potentially creates a dangerous precedent for future erosions of Section 230. Nevertheless, it is a narrow, targeted measure that is far superior to the British alternative.

To longtime observers of European law, the U.K.s latest move shouldnt be particularly shocking. Of course, the U.K. has no First Amendment. In the U.K., one can be convicted of a crime for posting publicly-available rap lyrics to her Instagram account, teaching her pug how to imitate a Nazi salute, or making tasteless jokes on Twitter.

Nonetheless, Americans can no longer be smug on this issue. Indeed, in recent years, Americans views on free speech have hardly been inspiring. According to a 2015 poll, over 40% of Americans support criminalizing hate speech. And according to a 2017 poll, 81% of college students believe words can be a form of violence, while 30% believe that physical violence is a justifiable response to someone using hate speech or making racially charged comments. Yet in the same poll, 93% of college students said that free speech was important to them.

This erosion of American free speech culture is perhaps why Section 230 has come under such fervent attack in recent years by politicians of both political stripes. Citing anti-conservative bias, one politician wants to strip platforms of Section 230 immunity altogether unless they remain in the good graces of a blatantly unconstitutional, Orwellian political neutrality czar. Others view the issue, similar to the British, through the prism of preventing supposed hate speech, claiming online platforms have a responsibility to help fight against this threat to our democracy. Even the attorney general has piled on, questioning whether Section 230 is still needed.

America would be wise to avoid the British example here and should instead fearlessly lean into Section 230. Section 230 isnt perfect, but to do otherwise would inevitably curtail lawful speech. As former Justice Anthony Kennedy once wrote, [t]he First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.

Kirk R. Arner is a legal fellow at the Hudson Institute.
By PTI

MUMBAI: The SBI board has given the largest lender an "in-principle" approval to invest in the capital-starved Yes Bank.

The central board of SBI discussed the matter at a meeting on Thursday, it informed the exchanges.

The announcement came hours after Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.

ALSO READ: Yes Bank depositors can not withdraw more than Rs 50,000 as RBI imposes moratorium on lender

"The matter in regard to Yes Bank was discussed at the meeting of the central board of bank on Thursday and an in-principle approval has been given by the board to explore investment opportunity in the bank," the SBI board informed the bourses late in the evening.

According to reports, the government has asked SBI and life insurance behemoth LIC to collectively pick up a 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank.

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said Yes Bank, which had over Rs 2 lakh crore in deposits as of September, will not be allowed to go down.

ALSO READ: SBI, LIC may acquire 49 per cent stake in YES Bank for Rs 490 crore at Rs 2 per share

Appreciating its investments in technology, he said the bank has a strong brand. Earlier, Kumar also suggested that Yes Bank's rival Kotak Mahindra Bank is best placed to takeover the lender.

Reports of the takeover led to a 25 per cent jump in Yes Bank in trading on Thursday, while the SBI scrip closed 1.05 per cent up at Rs 288.30 a piece at the end of trade.
By Trend





Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 25 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Armenian armed forces were using large-calibre machine guns and sniper rifles.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
A planned trip to Italy for Charlottetown Rural High students has been changed after the federal government issued a travel advisory for the northern part of that country.

The travel advisory was issued on the advice of the Public Health Agency of Canada, due to the spread of COVID-19 in northern Italy. The Charlottetown Rural students will now visit Austria and Switzerland instead.

Public Schools Branch director Parker Grimmer said students and staff are informed from the outset that trips are subject to change and cancellation. Grimmer said these decisions are made in consultation with public health authorities and the tour company handling the trip.

"The decision was made by the tour provider that they could go to other locations. And right now those particular locations are not on the travel advisory. And so they are deemed safe to travel to," he said.

There are cases of COVID-19 in Austria and Switzerland, but no Canadian travel advisory.

The trip is organized through EF Educational Tours. In an emailed statement, the company's spokesperson said it continues to work with groups, schools and individual families to provide flexible options for tours that have already been booked.

More from CBC P.E.I.
By Express News Service

ONGOLE: Amid the scare the novel coronavirus has created, Prakasam health officials have established a 24-hour observation and isolation ward at RIMS, Ongole. The facility with 20 beds has been equipped with staff skilled to deal with similar situations.

Meanwhile, the authorities have identified persons who were visiting other countries, particularly COVID-19 affected ones, and recently arrived in the district. Such persons have been kept on a 28-day observation as a precautionary measure to ensure that they were not carriers of the contagious virus.

District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr K Padmavathi said nearly 20 persons returned to the district from countries such as China, Taiwan, Dubai and Italy recently. Even though they seem to be healthy and not showing symptoms of COVID-19, they were kept under medical observation, she added.

We are more concerned about seven persons who came back from China and Taiwan, where the number of people suffering from the deadly virus is high. Our staff have met all of them and collected their details.

At present, they are all under strict medical supervision and, fortunately, no one has shown any symptoms of COVID-19 so far, the DMHO noted.Also, the district authorities are mulling setting up more such isolation wards in major government and corporate hospitals in Ongole, Markapur, Chirala and Kandukuru.Meanwhile, the district health officials have bought 3,000 face masks for the on observation duty. A district-level COVID-19 monitoring committee was also formed.
As many as 16,076 crew and passengers onboard ships from China or having travel history to affected countries have not been allowed to disembark at Indian ports, a shipping ministry official said on Thursday.

However, all possible assistance and help are being provided to these passengers and crew -- onboard 452 ships anchored at designated places -- as per WHO guidelines in case of any fever or symptoms.

"As many as 452 ships with EXIM cargo and 16,076 crew and passengers have arrived at Indian ports so far from China or a travel history to countries affected from coronavirus. As a precautionary measure to prevent any outbreak, we have not allowed the passengers and crew to disembark but ships were allowed to anchor at designated places. The cargo was brought with all precautions.

"No shore pass is being issued to the crew/seafarers having travel history from the infected countries," the official told PTI.

The official said that as per WHO guidelines, scanning of all aboard on the vessels are being done and all necessary facilities were being extended to them.

The protocol is being maintained with all help in case of fever or sickness to those on board.

The official added that at Paradip port a crew member onboard Chemstar Stellar developed fever, and he along with his wife were evacuated and transferred to SCB Medical College, Cuttack for further testing. The vessel had departed from Zapu, China on February 10 and had reached Paradip Port on March1.

All required protocols are being followed.

India has 12 major ports -- Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) -- that handled 699.04 MT of cargo during 2018-19. There are about 200 non-major ports under the control of states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
T he Tate Modern celebrates its 20th birthday this year and to mark the occasion, is hosting exhibitions, installations and events  including something very special from Yayoi Kusama.

The gallery will be opening two rooms created by the Japanese artist, both designed to highlight Kusamas obsession with reflection.

The first, Infinity Mirrored Room  Filled with the Brilliance of Life, is one of Kusamas largest installations to date and was made for her 2012 retrospective at the gallery. The second, Chandelier of Grief, is a room which creates the illusion of infinity with the help of rotating, crystal chandeliers.

The Tate will also be presenting a small selection of photographs  some of which will be on display for the first time  to provide context for Kusamas world-famous mirror rooms.

When is the exhibition running?

The good news is that theres no need to rush, as the show will be running for a whole year. It launches on May 11 and will be open until May 9 2021.

Yayoi Kusama, Chandelier of Grief, 2016 (Courtesy Ota Fine Arts and Victoria Miro) / (Courtesy Ota Fine Arts and Victoria Miro)

How get tickets

General admission tickets are now available to buy for 5 on the Tate website. A date and time for attending will need to be selected at the checkout.

Yayoi Kusama's early career

Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Kusama trained at the Kyoto School of Arts and Crafts in a traditional Japanese painting style called "nihonga", but moved to New York in 1958.

Kusama shot to fame in the 1960s when she organised a series of artistic happenings in which naked participants were painted with brightly coloured polka dots  a print which is now known as her hallmark.

Since then, shes gained a reputation for her installations and autobiographical conceptual art, which often carries themes of feminism, minimalism and surrealism.

Yayoi Kusama, Victoria Miro (October 3 - December 21 2018) 1 /16 Yayoi Kusama, Victoria Miro (October 3 - December 21 2018) INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM -MY HEART IS DANCING INTO THE UNIVERSE, 2018 Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM -MY HEART IS DANCING INTO THE UNIVERSE, 2018 Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM -MY HEART IS DANCING INTO THE UNIVERSE, 2018 Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA FLOWERS THAT SPEAK ALL ABOUT MY HEART GIVEN TO THE SKY, 2018 Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA FLOWERS THAT SPEAK ALL ABOUT MY HEART GIVEN TO THE SKY, 2018 Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA Installation view, THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai and Victoria Miro, London/Venice.  YAYOI KUSAMA

The artist's most famous works

Kusuma is best-known for her sculpture and installations, but she also works across other artistic mediums, including painting, performance, film, fashion, poetry and fiction.

During the 1960s, Kusama attracted a following for her Accumulations series, which saw everyday objects, such as furniture, boats and clothing, covered with hand-sewn phallic-shaped growths. Its thought that her early sculptures were influenced by the rising pop art movement, which also incorporated everyday household items.

In 1965, she launched her first immersive environment, a 25-square-metre mirrored room with a thick carpet of soft, twisting polka-dot phalluses, which she named Infinity Mirror Room  Phallis Field (Floor Show).

Its not just polka dots that Kusama seems to be passionate about  she also loves pumpkins. Her 2018 show at the Victoria Miro brought these two loves together, with exhibits such as a pumpkin infinity room and large bronze painted pumpkins.
NASA employees were told to work from home Friday as a part of a systemwide test in case of an outbreak of the coronavirus.

Memos obtained by Politico shows the space agencys employees  as well as select Air Force personnel  are advised to stay home to test remote work technologies in case federal employees are forced to work from home for an extended person of time due to the virus.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation continues to evolve, NASA is taking various actions to maintain preparedness, Bettina Inclan, a NASA spokesperson, to Politico. To that end, Friday, March 6, will be an agency-wide telework day. NASA centers and headquarters regularly perform telework drills to test our capabilities, resources, and preparedness for large-scale teleworking.

No other federal agencies or military branches have announced similar plans at this time.

Inclan said the opportunity to work from home is voluntary. NASA centers, including Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, will remain open. Contractors are asked to check with program managers about their schedules.

A memo from the Air Force said the employees as part of a short-notice telework capacity test. Employees will be asked to submit reports if they have technological or connectivity problems.
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assuring that the government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Titanic captain telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

Gandhi's remarks came after Vardhan's assurance in Parliament that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) in India.

The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Gandhi said in a tweet.

It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis, he said.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Gandhi has been raising concerns over the coronavirus infection since long. In a February 12 tweet, he had said coronavirus is an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy.

My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical, he had said.

Earlier this week, Gandhi had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the detection of fresh coronavirus cases in the country, saying he should quit wasting India's time playing the clown with his social media accounts when India is facing an emergency.

With the message of Here's how it's done, Gandhi had also tweeted a video of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressing Singaporeans on how to deal with the coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 29, including 16 Italians, the government had said on Wednesday, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:51:31|Editor: xuxin

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BERLIN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- While delivering a speech in Berlin on Thursday, German Bundestag (federal parliament) President Wolfgang Schaeuble called for more engagement from the government in the fight against right-wing terror in the country.

During a debate about the consequences of right-wing extremist violence, Schaeuble warned that the German state had "underestimated the right-wing extremist danger for too long."

In a shooting attack in February, a 43-year-old German citizen with a xenophobic and racist motive killed nine people with immigrant backgrounds in the German city of Hanau, and later killed his mother and himself.

Following the attack, many German politicians demanded further tightening of Germany's gun law. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer called for introduction of psychological tests for firearms license holders under certain conditions.

Also in February, German authorities conducted raids on a right-wing extremist group and arrested 12 suspects for allegedly planning terror attacks. Large quantities of explosives and hand grenades as well as automatic weapons were seized.

Schaeuble stressed that the "long trail of murderous assaults" by individuals and groups would show that "this is terrorism".

"The decisive response to this must be to use all constitutional means to uncover radical networks and break up right-wing extremist associations," called Schaeuble. "This will only be possible if we finally get better at consistently enforcing the law."
PHILADELPHIA, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Risk Management Association has made available to its members a new Emerging Risks Framework. Put into action, the new Framework helps risk managers assess and address emerging risks which can damage and even eliminate firms and industries, but which also present opportunities for those who capitalize on them.

Developed by RMA's Operational Risk Council and Enterprise Risk Management Council, the Framework is a guide for risk managers to identify, assess, and manage emerging risksfrom linking your risk appetite to corporate strategy to developing a risk governance process. In addition to those areas, the Framework's sections include: identifying and assessing emerging risks; data management; understanding behavioral impediments and risk mitigation; and enterprise risk management.

"RMA's Emerging Risks Framework is a tool that will be valuable to any operational risk team," said Joseph A. Iraci, Chair of RMA's Operational Risk Council and the opening speaker at RMA's upcoming Governance, Compliance, and Operational Risk (GCOR) Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "In today's interconnected world, risks are emerging at an alarming rate, so risk managers must have operating models to adjust to changing circumstances and capitalize on new opportunities," said Iraci, Chief Risk Officer at TD Ameritrade Inc., TD Ameritrade Clearing, and TD Ameritrade Futures and FX

"The new Emerging Risks Framework is another example of how RMA is a standards setter and thought leader for the financial services industry," said Edward J. DeMarco Jr., RMA's Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, and Director of Operational Risk. "I would like to thank Joe for his leadership and RMA's Operational Risk and ERM Councils for their work in developing it." The RMA Operational Risk Council and Enterprise Risk Management Council promote sound practices in the management of operational risk and enterprise risk management in financial services institutions through the dissemination of methods, tools, and materials.

About GCOR

GCOR XIV will be held April 22-23 at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. GCOR is the only conference of its type developed by practitioners for practitioners, and features plenary panels and sessions designed to help you better understand emerging operational risks and best practices in governance and compliance. This year GCOR will be preceded by pre-conference round tables on Third-Party Risk Management, Culture and Conduct, and Incentive Compensation. GCOR panels and sessions will cover: change management, cybersecurity risk, end-to-end process and product review, agile risk management, board reporting, mergers and acquisitions, BSA/AML, AI and machine learning, strategic risk, reputation risk, and privacy. The keynote speaker will be a leader in the field of sustainable investing, Geeta Aiyer, President of Boston Common Asset Management and an investment manager for the Advisory Council to the UN's Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative. For information on registration and the full agenda.

About RMA

Founded in 1914, The Risk Management Association is a not-for-profit, member-driven professional association whose sole purpose is to advance the use of sound risk management principles in the financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise approach to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and operational risk. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, RMA has 1,900 institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as nonbank financial institutions. They are represented in the Association by 18,500 individuals located throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia/Pacific.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 04:46:56|Editor: ZD

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Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic (L) meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Zagreb, Croatia, on March 4, 2020. Croatia, in cooperation with other EU member states and NATO, will do everything to prevent a new wave of migrants, Andrej Plenkovic said here on Wednesday after talks with Jens Stoltenberg. (Igor Kralj/Pixsell via Xinhua)

ZAGREB, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Croatia, in cooperation with other EU member states and NATO, will do everything to prevent a new wave of migrants, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said here on Wednesday after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Plenkovic noted that he and visiting NATO Secretary General discussed the migrant crisis. "For Croatia, which has experienced a big wave of migrants in 2015 and 2016, it is important to prevent this situation," the prime minister said after meeting with Stoltenberg. He explained that there will be no major threats if the Greek and Bulgarian borders stay impervious.

"We have agreed that there is a firm view at the European Union level and among many EU and NATO members that illegal migration should be prevented," Plenkovic told reporters.

People who are already in a difficult position shouldn't be put in the belief that the borders are open, which causes additional humanitarian difficulties and crises, explained the prime minister.

The two also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Syria.

Stoltenberg praised Croatia as a valuable NATO partner and pointed out the crucial role Croatia plays in maintaining stability in the Western Balkans.
Russia officially banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in April 2017.

A Russian-controlled court in Ukraine's Crimea has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to 6 years in prison for being a member of an extremist group, in what Amnesty International called "the latest example of the wholesale export of Russia's brutally repressive policies" to the Black Sea peninsula.

The Dzhankoy district court on March 5 found Sergei Filatov guilty of being a member of the religious group and handed down the sentence on the same day, the Jehovah's Witnesses said in an email, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said.

Read alsoCOREPER approves prolongation of sanctions over violation of Ukraine's sovereignty

According to the group, Filatov is the religious organization's first member sentenced in Russia-annexed Crimea, and the 30th Jehovah's Witness convicted in Russia and Crimea since 2017. Ten of the convicted have received prison sentences.

Russia officially banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in April 2017 and deemed it an "extremist organization," a designation the U.S. State Department has characterized as "wrong."

Filatov, a father of four, had to move from continental Ukraine, where the Jehovah's Witnesses are legal, to Dhankoy to take care of his ill daughter, his supporters told Crimean Solidarity, a rights group that has members in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine.

Crimea has been controlled by Moscow since March 2014 after Russia forcibly annexed the peninsula, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted amid a wave of public protests.

"Sergei Filatov is a prisoner of conscience, facing years in a penal colony solely for expressing his faith. Across Russia, Jehovah's Witnesses are being sent to jail, tortured and harassed under vague counter-extremism legislation," said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.

"It is chilling to see the Russian authorities roll out their pursuit of Jehovah's Witnesses across the border," Struthers said in a statement.

Also, on March 5, another court in the Crimean city of Yalta, convicted another member of the religious group, Artyom Gerasimov, of organizing extremist activities and fined him 400,000 rubles.

The group says the case against Gerasimov stemmed from his bible studies sessions with others.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia for decades due to the views of its members about military service, voting, and government authority in general.

Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, nine Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in Russia. They include Danish citizen Dennis Christensen, who was sentenced in February 2019 to six years in prison in the western city of Oryol.

The charges against Christensen have been condemned by rights groups in Russia and abroad.
A small company called Banjo is bringing pervasive AI surveillance to law enforcement throughout Utah, Motherboard reports. In July, Banjo signed a five-year, $20.7 million contract with Utah. The agreement gives the company real-time access to state traffic cameras, CCTV and public safety cameras, 911 emergency systems, location data for state-owned vehicles and more. In exchange, Banjo promises to alert law enforcement to "anomalies," aka crimes, but the arrangement raises all kinds of red flags.

Banjo relies on info scraped from social media, satellite imaging data and the real-time info from law enforcement. Banjo claims its "Live Time Intelligence" AI can identify crimes -- everything from kidnappings to shootings and "opioid events" -- as they happen.

Banjo presents many of the same concerns that similar companies have encountered. One of the strongest arguments against surveillance practices by Clearview AI has been that the company's data storage and security protocols were untested and unregulated. As Clearview AI proved earlier this month, that can lead to massive data leaks. According to Motherboard, Banjo says it removes all personal data from its system, but how and how well it does this remain unclear.

There are also concerns about the lack of public oversight and rampant potential for abuse. Plus, facial recognition is still biased. It's not as good at interpreting black and brown faces as it is at interpreting white faces, and for that reason, some law enforcement companies have opted not to use it.

The contract between Banjo and Utah says the technology will be deployed in all of Utah's 29 counties, its 13 largest cities and 10 other cities with "significant relevance," as well as the University of Utah. So far, Motherboard hasn't been able to track down a single case that Banjo's technology helped on, but that doesn't meant the tech hasn't been put to use.
OTTAWA - There are 235 Canadians on the passenger manifest for a cruise ship that is being held off the coast of California for coronavirus testing.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Firefighters disinfect a sidewalk to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Iran has one of the highest death tolls in the world from the new coronavirus outside of China, the epicenter of the outbreak. The federal government is now warning against all travel to Iran over concerns about the novel coronavirus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Vahid Salemi

OTTAWA - There are 235 Canadians on the passenger manifest for a cruise ship that is being held off the coast of California for coronavirus testing.

Global Affairs Canada says there are no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus on the ship.

But the federal department says previous passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19, which is the respiratory disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus that first appeared in China last year.

The federal department says it is in contact with the cruise line and local authorities and is monitoring developments closely.

Any Canadians who need emergency assistance are being asked to call the Canadian consulate general in San Francisco.

Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said "knee-jerk" reactions to the outbreak will not keep people safe as he defended Canada's decision not to close its borders to foreign nationals coming from regions where the outbreak is spreading.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau answers questions while visiting The Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough in Toronto on Thursday March 5, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Misinformation being spread about the virus, which can cause a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, is having negative impacts on some communities' ability to keep their populations safe, Trudeau warned while speaking to reporters in Toronto.

"We're going to stay focused on doing the things that actually matter: on empowering Canadians to make the right decisions for their own health, for their families' health, listening to experts, working to co-ordinate with health authorities across the country, including in all provinces and territories and ensuring that our response is active and up to date every step of the way."

Australia has banned travellers from South Korea who aren't Australian citizens or permanent residents, following similar bans for China and Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump boasted on Twitter Thursday that U.S. border restrictions, which includes a travel ban on any foreign national who has travelled to Iran, are the reason U.S. illnesses and deaths related to COVID-19 has remained low.

Trump characterized his country's border measures as "quick action on closing our borders."

Other countries have a right to make different decisions in dealing with this outbreak, Trudeau said, but Canada is taking its lead from the World Health Organization and other health experts here and abroad.

"We know that keeping Canadians safe needs to be done in the right way and we're going to keep doing the things that actually keep Canadians safe," he said. "There is a lot of misinformation out there, there is a lot of knee-jerk reaction that isn't keeping people safe, that is having real challenging impacts on communities and on community safety."

The WHO has advised against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries dealing with COVID-19 cases, citing evidence showing that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations and may have a significant economic and social impact.

However, the federal government is stepping up its travel advice for Canadians  now warning against all travel to Iran due to COVID-19 concerns.

Global Affairs Canada posted a new alert Thursday morning, upgrading an advisory against non-essential travel to say that nobody should go.

The warning says that travel restrictions imposed to control the spread of the new coronavirus are making it increasingly difficult to leave Iran.

And because Iran doesn't recognize dual citizenship, Iranian-Canadians who might go for a visit likely wouldn't be able to get any help from Canadian officials to leave.

The Canadian government has warned against non-essential travel to China and all travel to the province where the new virus first broke out.

It also says to be extremely cautious about travel to Japan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Bangladeshi women work at a garments factory in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka, Oct. 30, 2019.

Bangladeshs garment industry, the engine of the South Asian nations economy, has suffered huge losses with disruptions in the supply chain of fabrics imported from China as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, factory owners and economists said Thursday.

The epidemic has claimed more than 3,000 lives worldwide in less than three months, although no cases have been confirmed yet on Bangladeshi soil. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, a city in central China, the main supplier of yarn, cotton and other raw materials for Bangladeshs ready-made garment (RMG) industry, which employs about 4 million, mostly women.

The coronavirus epidemic in China has hugely impacted the supply line of raw materials for Bangladeshs RMG sector, Siddiqur Rahman, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told BenarNews. The BGMEA, the industrys most powerful trade group, represents factory owners across Bangladesh.

Our ready-made garment industry has been hit by the coronavirus, he said. But we cannot provide any figures at this stage.

Procuring raw materials from other countries has proven difficult, Rahman said, after the viral outbreak hammered the capacity of China to supply goods as swathes of factories remain shuttered.

We can find a market for raw material supplies as an alternative to China, he said, but what is the benefit of producing when there is no customer and demand?

The sector generated $34.1 billion in 2019, according to the BGMEA. Since 2014, the garment sector has also registered more than 80 percent annually of the gross domestic product (GDP) for Bangladesh, the worlds second-largest apparel exporter of fashion brands after China, according to the World Bank.

Britain  which gives preferential access to Bangladeshi garments and is one of the main destinations of clothing made in Dhaka  on Thursday moved into the second of four phases in its battle plans to tackle the spread of the virus after registering 90 confirmed cases, officials in London said.

At high risk

But Bangladesh has not yet reported a case of the COVID-19 illness, which currently has no approved vaccines and has infected more than 93,000 people in 77 countries, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Bangladesh, however, remains at high risk of experiencing the virus because of the nations connectivity with nations where cases of the epidemic have been confirmed, authorities said.

In 2015, the United States, Britain, Germany and France were Bangladeshs top textiles trading partners, according to the World Bank, which has repeatedly pushed Dhaka to diversify its economy beyond garment exports and remittances to sustain growth.

We are at high risk of the coronavirus spread, which has compelled us to urgently act to take preventive measures, Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director for disease control and research at the nations Institute of Epidemiology, told reporters Wednesday.

Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told BenarNews that the virus would be expected to deliver an adverse impact to the garments industry, but authorities could only decipher its economic impact in May this year.

We do not know how long coronavirus situation in China will continue, he said, as he expressed hope that the supply chain could be restored soon.

It would be difficult for Bangladesh to immediately gauge the economic loss inflicted by the viral outbreak, Ahsan Mansur, executive director of the Dhaka-based nonprofit Policy Research Institute, told BenarNews.

Actually, the RMG factories have been preparing the orders placed for the summer season in the Western countries. But they will see orders crunch for the next fall, he said. Then we can understand the loss.

Bangladesh factories order about $5 billion of raw materials, mainly from China each year, Mansur said. So, it is very difficult to import those items from other countries, he said.

We can seize the opportunity

But the virus might also have opened up a silver lining for Bangladesh.

The whole world suffers from the lockdown in China. So, a majority of the investors will now try to relocate their factories from China, he said. We can seize the opportunity.

Abdul Wadud, owner of Knitvalley Ltd. in Dhaka, told BenarNews that production of knitted clothing at his factory went down by 20 percent, while production of other garments has so far suffered a 40-percent loss.

The factory imports at least 50 percent of yarn, cotton, chemicals and other raw materials from China, Wadud said.

First of all, some buyers would not buy apparel made of yarn and cotton from China, he said. At the same time, Bangladesh government has imposed some restriction on imports from China.

But, he said, the epidemic would unlikely be so severe in Europe and in the United States, the main markets of Bangladeshs ready-made garments,

This is because the U.S. and European countries have better capacity than the Chinese to deal with the coronavirus epidemic, he said.
There is complicity in silence. Martin Niemoller, a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany famously wrote, First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out  because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out  because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out  because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me  and there was no one left to speak for me.

Since the end of World War II, Pope Pius XII  who reigned from 1939 to 1958  has been accused of being Hitlers Pope for his notable silence on the Holocaust and the deportation of Italian-born Jews. While the Vatican maintained a strictly neutral stance during the war, Historians are torn as to whether Pius XII was an anti-Semite, actively working with Hitler, or secretly helped the Italian Jewish population.

For the first time, the Vatican archives will be open to all researchers. Johan Ickx, a Vatican archivist, tells NPR, We have now passed 1 million and 300,000 documents that are digitalized and interfaced with an inventory for it, to help the researchers to go quickly.

While the Vatican typically waits 70 years after the death of a pontiff to allow archival access to scholars, last year Pope Francis made the decision to allow access to the wartime records declaring, The Church is not afraid of history.

For historians, this remains to be seen.

As sweeping anti-Semitic laws were enacted in Italy in 1938, the Vatican and the Italian Catholic Church did little to protect the nations Jewish population  they did not protest and they limited themselves to requesting mercy for Jewish converts to Catholicism or Jewish marital partners of Catholics, writes the Italian news outlet La Stampa.

Pius XII was silent still when Nazis raided a Jewish ghetto a mere 800 yards from St. Peters Square. The Nazis deported 1,259 Jews that night. Only 16 survived the war.

Similar charges have been leveled against the Catholic Church in Germany in its complicity in the death of more than 11 million souls and its knowledge of Hitlers euthanasia program, where thousands of physically and mentally disabled German citizens were murdered.

With millions of documents to pore over, Vatican officials tell the Associated Press that it will take years to draw a formal conclusion about Pius XIIs role during WWII.

David Kertzer, a professor at Brown University and author of The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe, tells NPR, We know [Pius XII] didnt take any public action, he says. He didnt protest to Hitler. But who within the Vatican might have been urging him to do so? Who might have been advising him caution? Thats the kind of thing I think well find out, or hope to find out about.
Tavistock gender clinic trial moves ahead in case of patient harmed by gender transition

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Judges have approved the advancement of a trial in a case against the Tavistock gender clinic in London where a 23-year-old woman says she was severely harmed by experimental treatments as part of a gender transition when she was a teenager.

The legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, the lone gender identity clinic in the nation, comes amid heightened scrutiny about gender identity policies and the use puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and body-altering surgeries, and whether minors are capable of giving informed consent to such experimental practices.

According to the Sunday Times, one of the most senior judges on the U.K.'s highest court, Justice Supperstone, said it was plainly arguable that England's first pediatric child gender clinic was not acting lawfully when it referred children to go on hormonal agents meant to halt normal pubertal development.

Supperstone granted permission for a full trial in the divisional court before the end of July.

Lawyers for Keira Bell, a 23-year-old who underwent a hormonal transition at the clinic when she was a teenager, will argue that indeed children cannot give consent. The opposition, however, maintains that the experimental treatments save the lives of youth who self-identify as the opposite sex.

Bell was referred to the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) when she was 16, and has said that after three appointments she was prescribed puberty blockers, the BBC reported Sunday. She now believes the risks of the drugs were never adequately explained to her and that the process to transition her both chemically and surgically was fast-tracked.

"I should have been challenged on the proposals or the claims that I was making for myself," she told the BBC. "And I think that would have made a big difference as well. If I was just challenged on the things I was saying."

Bell took the puberty-blocking drugs for a year and then continued down the transition pathway with testosterone, which caused her voice to deepen and facial hair growth. She had her breasts amputated three years ago. Last year she decided to quit taking cross-sex hormones.

"Initially, I felt very relieved and happy about things. But I think as the years go on you start to feel less and less enthusiastic or even happy about things," Bell said.

"You can continue and dig yourself deeper into this hole or you can choose to come out of it and have the weight lifted off your shoulders."

Bell now accepts herself as female and is angry about how she was treated at the gender clinic.

"I feel I could say anything to my 16-year-old self and I might not necessarily listen at that time. And that's the point of this case, when you are that young you don't really want to listen," she said.

"So I think it's up to these institutions, like the Tavistock, to step in and make children reconsider what they are saying, because it is a life-altering path."

When Bell was asked about how important it was for her to transition as a teen, she indicated that the process was gradual as she read more information on the internet about what was involved. Yet upon starting with the experimental drugs, "one step led to another," she said.

Defenders of medicalized gender transition routinely insist that puberty-blocking drugs are fully reversible.

Rates of gender dysphoria in youth, particularly among girls, have risen astronomically in the U.K. in the past decade.

Critics of transgender ideology, especially as it relates to medicalizing young people, often point out that a significant number of youth being transitioned are on the autism spectrum, are gender-nonconforming, or are experiencing same-sex attraction and will likely go on to identify as gay or lesbian if left alone.

Gender confusion is often accompanied by other psychiatric comorbidities that can go unexplored or treated by clinicians intent on affirming transgender identities, critics say.

Polly Carmichael, who heads the Tavistock clinic, maintains that the facility is welcoming the judicial review and that treating gender dysphoric youth is a complicated matter.

"This is a really complex area with strong feelings on all sides. And at its center, the young people we work with  they come to us in often really great distress around their sense of themselves," she said.

She went on to assert that youth who come to the clinic feel their body does not match their "gender identity."

The amorphous term gender identity has no material definition yet is employed by transgender activists and their allies as though it is an innate and immutable trait of their existence. Thus, they insist, their self-declared gender is their most authentic identity which should be recognized in society and on legal documents such as birth certificates.

In July, former GIDS staff psychologist Kirsty Enwistle penned an open letter to Carmichael arguing that a culture of evasive deception existed at the clinic and that medical treatments lacked a robust evidence base. Other clinicians with similar concerns have resigned in protest of the facilities practices.

The NHS announced in February that it was revisiting its rules around permitting children to take the experimental drugs without parental approval as well as forming a task force of doctors to conduct a formal review of puberty blockers.
Tech firm Salesken on Thursday said it has raised USD 8 million in series A funding led by Sequoia India.

"The funding round was led by Sequoia India and also featured a secondary with investors such as Unitus Ventures and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation making partial exit," a statement said.

The transaction was facilitated by Masterkey Holdings, it added.

The funds will be used for further development of Salesken's artificial intelligence-based conversation intelligence platform (Salesken.ai) and for expansion across the Asia Pacific and North America markets, a statement said.

Salesken helps companies with real-time intelligence during their sales conversations to help them win more deals. Sales teams using Salesken.ai receive intelligence on various aspects of the sales pitch, from lead qualification to navigating pricing discussions. They can also gauge the sentiments of their customers during the conversation.

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* Callido Learning raises seed funding from Education Catalyst Fund *Edu-tech firm Callido Learning on Thursday said it has raised seed funding from Education Catalyst Fund (ECF).

While the amount of funding raised was not disclosed, the company said the proceeds will be used to strengthen the technology underpinning its products, fuel growth for its recently launched skills assessment and launch its first retail offering.

In India, Callido counts schools such as The Shri Ram School, Shiv Nadar Schools, Cathedral & John Connon School, and The Dhirubhai Ambani International School amongst its clients. Internationally, Callido works with schools in 18 countries.

"We intend to use the funds for product upgrades and to scale our presence in India and overseas. We also plan to foray into the B2C segment," Sriram Subramanian, CEO at Callido Learning, said.

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* TCS HOBS helps Airtel streamline product portfolio *



IT services major Tata Consultancy Services on Thursday said it has implemented its HOBS Product Portfolio Management (PPM) solution for Airtel to help the telecom giant to create personalised offers and make them available in the market instantly.

"Airtel partnered with TCS to implement a single enterprise-wide product catalog for all marketing and sales channels in India. TCS HOBS PPM has streamlined the company's product lifecycle processes, rationalizing its large product portfolio by 80 per cent," a statement said.

It empowers Airtel's business teams to manage the product portfolio on their own, and significantly automates new product rollouts across business and IT operations, eliminating inefficiencies and reducing time to market by 90 per cent, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two groups lobbying against stricter requirements on childhood vaccinations are using dark money while refusing to follow state transparency rules by not registering with ethics officials, Democratic leaders of the state Senate charged Thursday.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney of New Haven, Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk and Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams, co-chairman of the legislative Public Health Committee, said the groups are engaged in organized fundraising and seem to have spent beyond the $3,000 thresholds for registering as lobbyists with the Office of State Ethics.

The anti-vaccination groups Informed Choice Connecticut and Health Choice 4 Action remain secret operations with no public scrutiny, the senators said.

A third group, the Connecticut Freedom Alliance, based in Ridgefield, registered with the ethics office this week, but did not indicate a lobbying budget.

The groups have attracted thousands of supporters to the Capitol this session, have social media sites and websites, have rented roadside billboard ads and have created stickers and posters.

Transparency is critical to an honest and effective public policy process, Looney said in a written statement Thursday. We know foreign governments are fueling public dissent in America on health care. We know that out-of-state people are trying to influence Connecticut's discourse on public health. The public deserves to know who is funding these groups that are actively lobbying legislators to endanger the health of our children.

Duff called the groups professionally organized and operated entities.

The groups have declined to comment about their operations, or could not be reached.

With massive foreign operations funding the anti-vaxxer movement to undermine the public health of our nation the public deserves to know how these organizations are being funded, Duff said. Not only should these organizations be following state law and filing with the Office of State Ethics, but they should be providing financial records demonstrating the dark money fueling their efforts to harm Connecticut's public health.

When citizens shared concerns about the funding of these groups, I began to question where the money for websites, booklets, and billboards, to name only a few of the apparent financial expenditures, was coming from, said Senator Abrams. "These organizations claim to be grassroots and/or non-profits, but upon further investigation are not registered as such. We have laws that require transparency, especially when finances are involved; people, including lawmakers, have the right to know who is spending money to influence legislation."

While anti-vax parents and their children by the thousands have literally flooded the Capitol twice this session, first during a public hearing and again when the Public Health Committee voted on pending legislation that would eventually end the states religious exemption for parents who want their children to attend public schools, Looney said that parents of children with compromised immune system and cannot safely take vaccines, have been scared away from supporting the measure.

We are here to say that we hear you and we will fight for you in the face of irresponsible efforts to ignore the needs of children whose lives depend upon a high level of herd immunity and vaccination compliance, Looney added.

All the facts show Connecticut must increase vaccination numbers to protect public health, Duff said. "Democrats in the Public Health Committee stood up to the bullying and constant threats by these anti-health care organizations. The people of our state deserve to know where the money is coming from to prop up this small but vocal group."

With the backdrop of our current concerns regarding the Coronavirus, it is imperative that we address the rise in non-medical exemptions from childhood immunizations, said Abrams, D-Meriden. Non-medical exemptions among enrolling kindergarten students have increased from 455 to 1,469 over ten years; the trajectory of this trend is a public health concern. We have over 100 schools in our State that fall below the immunization rates required for community immunity, putting our State and our children at risk for an outbreak of disease.

Informed Choice Connecticut registered as a limited liability corporation in Woodstock on May 30, 2019 and dissolved on December 31, 2019, but was apparently reincorporated on February 26, according to records with the Secretary of the State. The principal for the organization, LeeAnn Ducat, recently declined comment on the issue.

Health Choice 4 Actions website says it is a non-profit leading the lobbying/education efforts within the state in opposition to bills introduced this legislative session pertaining to vaccines and exemptions for school.

The Connecticut Freedom Alliance, according to records at the Office of the Secretary of State, registered in Ridgefield by Dawn Jolly on October 19, 2019 and is still an active LLC. While lobbying outside the state Senate chamber last week, members of the group declined comment.
Ultra Music Festival in Miami has been canceled amid coronavirus concerns.

The decision was made after organizers of the Spring Break festival, scheduled to take place between March 20 and 22, met with city officials on Wednesday.

The cancellation was confirmed by Billboard, making it the first time in 21 years Ultra will not go ahead.

According to the Miami Herald, concerns are now rising for other large events in the area. Four cases of the virus are confirmed in Florida, none in the Miami area.

Several colleges and universities have also canceled international trips scheduled for students during Spring Break.

Ultra Music Festival at Bayfront Park in Miami is to be postponed and effectively canceled until 2021 amid coronavirus concerns for its 55,000 daily attendees at the three-day event. Pictured above the music festival in 2018

Acts such as Flume, Zedd, Gryffin and Sofi Tukker were set to perform at Ultra Miami. Crystal Method performs above during the 2018 festival

Commissioner Manolo Reyes said Ultra: 'I agreed with the decision to postpone it.

'And now I'm worried about the Calle Ocho Festival.'

The Calle Ocho festival is a one day event that is mainly attended by locals.

Ultra ticket holders voiced their anger on hearing of the cancellation, some saying they would still be flying to Miami for other Spring Break parties having booked flights and hotels months in advance.

Commissioner Joe Carollo and Mayor Francis Suarez asked for the festival to be postponed

The new protocol comes as 216 cases of the coronavirus are confirmed in the United States

'Stupid. Everyone will be in Miami regardless since everything is already booked and paid for,' one attendee wrote.

'Plus there are tons of Miami Music Week parties going on. Are they going to try to just cancel everything?'

Others were angered about the confusion with one ticket holder stating: 'Thousands of attendees still have flights and hotels to worry about. Ridiculous. Tie up loose ends over late lunch and announce.'

Some ticket holders were glad to here of the cancellation.

'Criticism of those saying it might be a bad idea to play it by ear and possibly cancel this later is sheerly, utterly stupid and shortsighted,' one said

'Lots of companies and people are pulling out of SXSW. Only a total moron would suggest we keep Ultra 100% on and import this virus.'

Ticket holders voiced their anger as news of the cancellation began to spread

Other ticket holders claimed it was a good idea to cancel the event

Performer Zedd appeared to confirm the cancellation on Wednesday with a tweet

Acts including Flume, Zedd, Gryffin and Sofi Tukker were set to perform at Ultra.

Zedd appeared to tweet his disappointment at the news simply writing 'NOOOOOOOO'.

The festival pulls in attendees from more than a hundred countries each year, with a capacity of 55,000 people a day.

Ultra also canceled its Abu Dhabi festival which was set to take place today and tomorrow.

Mayor Francis Suarez said on Wednesday: 'I can tell you that just in the last 24 hours, I have received countless emails and messages of all kinds urging the city to act.'

Commissioner Joe Carollo added: 'We're saying suspend it to a later date when we'll have a better idea of where we're heading with the coronavirus.'

Ultra has not yet commented on the cancellation but is due to give a statement on Friday. There is currently no information available on the implications for ticket holders.

U.S. health officials have warned against travel to mainland China, South Korea, Iran and northern Italy but there are currently no advisories in place for popular spring break destinations such as Florida, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, and Mexico.

Mexico has five confirmed cases of the coronavirus while North Carolina just confirmed its first case.

Nevada has not yet identified any cases in the state.

Spring breakers party in Cancun in this file photo above. Coronavirus fears has also caused several schools to cancel their international trips planned for Spring Break with some students heeding warnings against international travel

As of Thursday morning, Florida's Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale were still continuing with their Spring Break plans.

Officials in the City of Miami Beach on Wednesday released its plan for the month-long rager which will offer spring breakers free events by the beach.

In response to the coronavirus concerns, they advised attendees to practice basic hygiene and to skip out on the party if they are sick.

Tourism leaders in Tampa Bay are also continuing with their plans and do not believe the outbreak will impact the spring break travelers.

According to ABC Action News, hotels in the area remain booked out throughout March until the beginning of April.

'The year before last, it was red tide. This year, it is coronavirus. Everything is going to be fine, come to the beach,' said Robert Eustice, owner of Pearly's Beach Eats.

'You can't change your day to day life. Take a little extra precaution but go out and have fun.'

Coronavirus fears has also caused several schools to cancel their international trips planned for Spring Break with some students heeding warnings against international travel.

College and universities are not yet warning about domestic travel but some have called back their students currently studying internationally in some of the hardest hit areas.

Among them was the University of Southern California which stated: 'Students are strongly advised against international travel during spring break.'

The University of Central Florida also urged students to use caution when traveling at home or abroad.

Northwestern University has canceled its spring break trips to international locations.

This cancellation do not effect any personal vacations plans made by students.

However Florida State student Abdullah Derosier told WCTV that he canceled his travel to Europe just a week before he was set to jet off.

'I was just going to go from Paris to Madrid to Barcelona to London and back to Paris to fly back over here,' said Derosier.

'My parents didn't feel comfortable with me traveling to Europe at this point in time and so now I just have to cancel it.

'It's definitely tough and I still want to make it out there, and it's definitely annoying losing money like that but I rather have my safety at this point in time,' he added.
In November 2010, the Russian State Duma took a big step toward healing a decades-old rift with Poland by officially accepting Soviet responsibility for the Katyn massacre -- the mass killing of some 22,000 Polish military officers, religious figures, and intelligentsia in 1940.

"Published documents, kept in classified archives for many years, not only revealed the scale of this horrific tragedy, but also showed that the Katyn crime was carried out on direct orders of Stalin and other Soviet officials," the declaration read, adding that Moscow's long-standing argument that the executions were carried out by Nazi Germany had "unfailingly provoked the wrath, grievance, and mistrust of the Polish people."

The declaration was warmly received in Warsaw, which had long sought answers and soon afterward heard Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, pledge during a visit that his country was committed to determining the truth about Katyn and would continue "clearing up the legacy of the past."

But fast forward nearly a decade -- and 80 years to the day when Stalin and his Politburo signed off on a proposal to execute thousands of "enemy" Poles rounded up by the Soviet secret police after their country was divvied up between the U.S.S.R. and Nazi Germany before World War II -- and the legacy of the war is again haunting the relationship between Warsaw and Moscow.

Moscow's official line is unchanged since the 2010 declaration, which was the culmination of baby steps the Kremlin took toward reconciliation for the wartime crime as communism crumbled. But what is widely known as the "Katyn lie" lives on as online sleuths embrace and embellish the old Soviet argument denying any part in the massacre, and fringe politicians and media figures take a decidedly unapologetic stance on the massacre, even if they accept that Stalin ordered it.

Bloody History

Hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers stationed in eastern Poland were among those captured when Soviet forces invaded in September 1939, just two weeks after Nazi forces invaded from the west in keeping with a secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact -- a nonaggression agreement signed by the foreign ministers of Stalin's Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany.

By December, after eastern Poland had been annexed by the Soviet Union, most had been either released or handed over to the Germans in the west. But thousands were kept as prisoners of war at three camps maintained by the Soviet secret police, or NKVD: Kozelsk in Russia's Smolensk region, Ostashkov in Kalinin (now called Tver) near Moscow, and Starobelsk in Voroshilovgrad (now called Luhansk) in Ukraine.

Six months after World War II started with the two-pronged partition of Poland, Stalin was facing how to deal with the potential obstacles to Kremlin rule when the Politburo -- the chief policymaking body of the ruling Communist Party -- received a proposal known as memorandum 794/B from the head of the NKVD.

Historian Andrzej Nowak, a Jagiellonian University professor and member of Poland's Academy of Sciences, summed up the results while speaking at a commemoration of the Katyn anniversary at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, D.C., on February 25.

"Stalin decided that the best way to solve the Polish problem was to behead it [...] Lavrenty Beria, head of the NKVD, sent a memorandum to the Politburo on March 2, 1940, in which he enumerated 14,736 officers from three camps and suggested also killing 11,000 inmates held in different political prisons in Lviv, Minsk, and cities in occupied Poland," Nowak said. "On March 5...they signed the final decision to do what Beria proposed. They decided to shoot 22,000 people."

The Poles were executed in the Katyn Forest outside Smolensk, and at NKVD prisons in Smolensk, Kharkiv, and Tver, according to Aleksandr Guryanov, a prominent Katyn researcher and Polish program coordinator for the Russian human rights group Memorial who also spoke at the event.

In April 1943, just less than two years after it broke the nonaggression pact by invading the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany announced the discovery of a mass grave in the Katyn Forest that held some of the bodies of the executed Poles.

An International Committee of the Red Cross commission established to investigate the site determined that the Soviet Union was responsible for the massacre, an allegation denied by the Kremlin.

In 1943, after Smolensk was liberated by Red Army forces pushing back the Nazi invasion, the Soviet Union set up its own investigative body, which concluded that the massacre was carried out by Nazi forces.

This is the position that would become known as the Katyn lie.

Keeping The Lie Alive

Speaking at the Wilson Center commemoration, Memorial's Guryanov explained that the Katyn massacre was not only the lawless murder of prisoners of war and prisoners, "it was also a 50-year-long campaign of disinformation and lies that the Soviet Union was disseminating around the country and around the world."

Moscow would not begin to change its position until April 1990, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev admitted guilt and the official news agency ITAR-TASS attributed direct responsibility for the Katyn Forest executions to the Soviet Union.

That move was followed up by an investigation by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, which had early success but was abruptly halted in 2004, and the declassification of Katyn documents in 1992 by the president of newly independent Russia, Boris Yeltsin.

In 2010, when the Duma adopted the statement pinning the blame for the massacre on Stalin, the head of the lower house of parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee expressed hope that the sides had finally settled the matter. "We do not want to raise the Katyn issue to a new level of internal or international discussions," Konstantin Kosachyov said. "We want to close this issue."

The Duma statement came amid a thaw in Russian-Polish relations that unexpectedly took hold after the plane carrying the Polish president and several other high officials to a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre crashed in western Russia, killing all 96 people on board.

But as wrangling between Russia and Poland over Moscow's World War II narrative has intensified in recent years, the old wounds have reopened.

In the days leading up to the 80th anniversary of the Politburo signing off on Beria's memorandum 794/B on March 5, 1940, Russian social media was filled with posts denying any Soviet role in the massacre.

One widely distributed post highlighted a version of a clip in which Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has openly accused Russia of rewriting World War II history, purportedly blames Nazi Germany for Katyn. In the official version of the same remarks, made in 2018, Morawiecki does not say that Germany was responsible.

Others falsely claimed that the European Court of Human Rights -- which in 2012 found that Russia had violated the rights of Katyn victims' relatives by refusing to hand over documents related to its 1990-2004 investigation

-- had determined that the Katyn documents released by Gorbachev and Yeltsin were fake.

Still other posts sought to build on old Soviet arguments blaming Nazi Germany for the crimes by claiming that the caliber of ammunition used in the killings could not have been used by the NKVD.

Sorry Not Sorry

Other arguments -- including from politicians and media figures seen as close to the Kremlin -- harkened back to the sentiments expressed by the late Communist Party deputy, Viktor Ilyukhin, in 1990, when he reacted to the Duma's Katyn statement by saying: "I am troubled that over the past few decades the Russians have been put on their knees and forced to apologize for everything, including things they have never done."

Communist Duma lawmaker Leonid Kalashinikov reportedly claimed in January that Soviet responsibility for the Katyn massacre had never been proven and that the Beria letter was an "obvious fake."

Highlighting the losses Soviet forces incurred in liberating the Poles during World War II, Kalashnikov also repeated a popular argument that Poland should be the one apologizing for Soviet POWs who died in captivity during the 1919-1920 Polish-Soviet War.

Pro-Kremlin journalist Vladimir Solovyov, meanwhile, shared a comment titled Once Again About Katyn that argued that the Katyn massacre was generally on par with the "annihilation of prisoners of war in Poland" during the Polish-Soviet War, and that "if Poland has nothing to apologize for to us, then we have nothing to apologize for."

Such arguments remain outliers. But many liberal Russians say they reflect a widespread reluctance to accept responsibility for Soviet-era crimes, undermining the prospects for the country to shed the negative aspects of its Soviet legacy.

Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky wrote on Telegram that the "attempt to build a supposedly post-Soviet Russia based on a sense of continuity and incorporating the lies of the previous 75 years make it impossible to move forward qualitatively in state building, in the economy, or in determining the role and place of Russia in the world."

Yavlinsky called for "a comprehensive assessment of the Soviet period and the crimes of Bolshevism (the Red Terror, forced collectivization and its tragic consequences, mass repressions, Katyn, and much more)" and suggested the constitution should include wording on "the absolute unacceptability of the use of terror, lies, and violence in the state policy of modern Russia."

In his speech to the Wilson Center, Memorial's Guryanov reminded the audience that when it came to Katyn, "Russian courts and prosecutors still refuse to recognize individual Polish POWs as victims" and still do not acknowledge any political motivations for the killings.

"It is important to recognize Stalin and other members of the Politburo as guilty of this crime, together with those who carried out these orders," he said. "Their names need to be published...all those who were executed need to be proclaimed rehabilitated in accordance with the law."
Industry Update

Appointment

5 March 2020

Todd Buchko

Appointed General Manager

At Origin Raleigh - NC, USA

A New York native, Todd Buchko brings 25 years of hospitality experience to North Carolina's capital city, most recently as the general manager of the AAA four diamond 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel in Clayton, New York. As Origin Raleigh's general manager, Buchko leads the property's onsite programming, guest experiences, and local community connections.

Recent Appointments at Origin Hotel Stephen Alsop - Executive Chef 5 March 2020  With a culinary passion that has fueled a 30-year career in the industry, Chef Stephen Alsop brings a diverse skill set and background to his role as executive chef at Origin Raleigh's onsite restaurant Good Day Good Night. read more

Karlee Tanel - Brand Activation Manager 5 March 2020  Karlee Tanel oversees the programming, partnerships, and activations for Origin Raleigh. She is also curating Origin Raleigh's Do Lista handcrafted collection of suggested local experiences focused on highlighting Raleigh's culture and community. read more
WASHINGTON  An $8.3 billion federal spending plan to combat coronavirus will send more than $35 million to Texas for infection control and preparedness efforts, as state officials try to slow the spread with multiple cases now confirmed in the Houston area and dozens of other patients quarantined in San Antonio.

President Donald Trump signed the spending package  which also includes billions to develop vaccines, stockpile medical supplies and bolster hospitals  on Friday. Every Texas lawmaker supported the spending bill as it sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate this week.

The plan doles out $400 million to the states over the next 30 days, with each state getting at least $4 million to help with surveillance of the virus, boost lab capacity, treat patients and more.

A spokesman for the House appropriations committee said Friday that Texas is on tap for at least $35.2 million. That also includes funding to reimburse states and cities  including San Antonio  that have already provided treatment to patients of the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Texas, meanwhile, is slated to receive another $1.75 million from the Centers for Disease Control, part of a separate $25 million effort by Health and Human Services.

Its fair to say that San Antonio, my hometown, more than any other city in the United States has borne the brunt of the coronavirus, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said. The spending package, he said, will make sure that Texans wont be left holding the bag.

San Antonios Lackland Air Force Base has housed hundreds of evacuees, including seven still quarantined there, and 13 patients who have tested positive have been treated in San Antonio hospitals, including a woman who was released over the weekend, stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near the airport and took a hotel shuttle to North Star Mall before being taken back to the hospital.

As of Friday afternoon, officials had confirmed six cases of the virus in the Houston area, all travel-related with no evidence of local spread. The first Houston-area patient was reported in Fort Bend County, where a man in his 70s had tested positive with the disease. His was the first case confirmed in Texas outside of quarantine.

As Houston prepares its COVID-19 response plan, the emergency supplemental funding is vital to ensure we are adequately staffed with personnel, testing and surveillance resources, and infrastructure at the local level, Houstons Health Authority, David Persse, said in a statement.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that more than half of the states 10 public health laboratories  in Austin, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Lubbock and Ft. Worth  are up and running. The others, in Tyler, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Harlingen, will be online by the end of the month, he said.

Abbott said the state lab in Austin can test about 26 patients per day, in Houston and El Paso about 15 per day and in Dallas and Lubbock about 10 per day. Once all of them are up and running, full state capacity will be more than 125 tests per day.

We are not surprised by cases like this, Abbott said in response to the Houston-area coronavirus patients. We anticipated cases like this arising, and we continue to collaborate with local and federal partners to remain prepared to respond to any future cases of COVID-19.

The federal aid package should help improve that capacity, he said, adding that he wasnt sure about the size of the allocation for Texas but that the state will be seeking as much as possible.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, told Hearst Newspapers that testing kits are a top priority, as the CDC suspects there are people in American communities carrying the disease who havent been tested.

Were going to push as hard we can to get those there as soon as possible, Castro said.

For subscribers: Coronavirus has come to Fort Bend and the Houston area. Heres what we know so far.

The bill also includes millions for low-interest loans to small businesses affected by the virus. U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Houston Democrat, said that funding could help businesses like those in Houstons Chinatown that have seen sales drop off after false rumors of coronavirus in the area.

The spending package comes as Texas lawmakers have pushed for action. Castro and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, another San Antonio Democrat, earlier this week called for Congress to investigate the Centers for Disease Control after it erroneously released the patient in San Antonio. U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have also pressed Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, for answers.

Cruz has called for a travel ban to and from China and the aviation and science committee he chairs held a hearing earlier this week on the disease. He and Cornyn have also written to Customs and Border Patrol raising questions about preparedness along the border and pointing to the European Union, where they said border shortcomings 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.

As of March 5, the disease has infected more than 90,000 people and killed at least 3,000 in 65 countries. More than 150 patients have been treated for the disease in 16 states, 11 of whom have died.

Cornyn noted that there have been no Texas fatalities so far.

I dont believe theres any reason for people to panic, Cornyn said. But I do believe theres reason for people to be vigilant.

Benjamin Wermund reported from Washington; Taylor Goldenstein reported from Austin.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Amid the growing fears over the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, Islam practices in the region have been disrupted , Saudi Arabian citizens have been banned from taking the Muslim pilgrimage in Mecca, Wednesday and Iran has also canceled Friday Prayers on its major cities.

Last week, Saudi has already placed bans on foreign visitors to the home of the holiest sites in Islam, Mecca, and Medina, and Wednesday's decision places an expansion on the said ban.

On the other hand, authorities have also halted Friday prayers on all Iranian provincial capitals as a response to the growing coronavirus outbreak in the country. Traditionally, Friday prayers are an important event for Iran's clerical rulers. Friday is also considered the main congregational day of prayer in Islam. Other areas like Tehran have already canceled Friday prayers in their region last week.

Iran has previously announced the coronavirus highest death toll outside of mainland China with 92 deaths out of the 2,922 cases confirmed across the Islamic Republic.

Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesman for Iran's Health Ministry announced the country's latest figure's during a news conference releasing the information that Iran's COVID-19 death toll has surpassed Italy's which has previously the densest number of cases outside China.

As of the moment, there are currently 3,140 cases of the virus across the Middle East region and the cases outside Iran are mostly linked back to the Islamic Republic.

Read also: Crufts 2020 To Push Through Despite Coronavirus Threats

The dreaded virus that first emerged in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China has sickened even the top leaders of Iran's civilian government and Shiite theocracy. Even when compared to the virus' epicenter China, the way that the virus has affected the government in Iran is on another level.

Health experts worldwide have also been speculating that the Mideastern country might be downplaying the number of cases in its boundaries. However, Jahanpour insisted that they are not under-reporting their cases even stating that the virus has no wings and it cannot fly and the only way to transmit it is through contact with one another.

Meanwhile, Presiden Hassan Rouhani of Iran has acknowledged that the virus has infiltrated nearly all of the country's 31 provinces during a Cabinet meeting last Wednesday.

According to the Huffpost, the meeting's transcript stated that the disease is widespread and it encompasses almost all of the provinces. It was also stated that with the disease becoming global and infecting many countries around the world they are calling to the cabinet and the citizens to work together in tackling the problem as quickly as possible.

Last week, Saudi Arabia has closed off access to the holiest Islamic sites to foreign pilgrims over fears of the coronavirus. This has disrupted travel for thousands of Muslims who were already headed to the kingdom. This has also the potential to affect millions on pilgrims who are also planning to travel to the holy sites as the fasting month of Ramadan and the annual hajj pilgrimage approaches.

COVID-19 has already infected more than 95,000 world wide and the death toll has now risen to more than 3,200.

Related news: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Japan Warns Possible Postponement of 2020 Olympics, IOC Disagrees

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Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been moved from hospital to an infirmary unit at Rikers Island jail in New York City.

Weinstein was found guilty on 24 February of one count of carrying out a criminal sex act on a woman in 2006 and one count of third-degree rape for a 2013 attack on another woman.

But instead of being taken straight to prison to await his sentencing, he was taken from the court in Manhattan to Bellevue Hospital due to concerns about his blood pressure and heart palpitations.

Weinstein's spokesman Juda Engelmayer said the 67-year-old had a "successful" heart procedure but gave no further details.

Weinstein also has a number of other health conditions, according to his lawyers - back problems following a car crash last summer and a condition that requires shots in his eyes to prevent blindness.

His lawyer Arthur Aidala visited him in hospital on Thursday and said he was "obviously not the picture of health".

Mr Aidala added: "He's obviously not happy where he is. But he's lucid and realistic about everything. He's still in a state of disbelief."

:: Listen to the Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker

Weinstein is due to be sentenced next Wednesday and faces a maximum of 25 years in jail for the criminal sex act and a maximum four years for the third-degree rape.

He was acquitted of the predatory sexual assault charges he faced that would have carried a maximum life sentence.

Weinstein was once the king of Hollywood, a man with the power to make and break careers in the movies.

But in October 2017, in reports by the New York Times and the New Yorker, the Oscar-winning producer was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women. He was also accused of reaching settlements to keep the stories quiet.

In the months that followed, dozens more women came forward to allege incidents of rape, sexual assault and harassment by Weinstein dating back decades.

He admitted his behaviour had "caused a lot of pain", but consistently denied all the sexual allegations made against him.
The Duchess of Sussex will tonight make her first official public appearance in Britain following the Megxit crisis as she prepares to step down as a senior royal.

Meghan will join her husband Prince Harry at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London before they end their official duties on March 31.

The event celebrates the achievements of wounded, sick and injured servicemen and women who have taken part in sporting and adventure challenges.

This evening will mark Meghan and Harry's first joint official royal engagement since revealing two months ago that they would step down from royal duties.

Harry waved to well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace yesterday as he was driven away in a Range Rover after a series of internal meetings with his team.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pictured at Canada House in London during what was their last official royal engagement on January 7

The Queen was holding one-to-one audiences in her London residence yesterday, although it was not clear whether Harry spoke to his 93-year-old grandmother.

It came after they had a 'heart to heart' for four hours in her private apartments at Windsor Castle on Sunday about his imminent departure from the Royal Family.

What are Harry and Meghan's engagements for the rest of March? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attend the Endeavour Fund Awards in London tonight in one of their final engagements before stepping down as senior royals at the end of the month. Harry and Meghan will celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in sporting and adventure challenges over the last year. Tomorrow, Harry will be at the official opening of the Silverstone Experience with motor-racing champion Lewis Hamilton. The couple will also attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall this Saturday before Meghan undertakes an engagement for International Women's Day the following day on Sunday. They will both attend the Commonwealth Service at the Royal Albert Hall next Monday, where they will be reunited with Harry's brother Prince William and his wife Kate - who are currently on tour in Ireland. Despite quitting a senior royals, Harry is expected to attend the London Marathon in April in his capacity as patron. The Duke and Duchess will also attend the Invictus Games in Holland in May. Advertisement

Harry is said to have requested the meeting, and the Queen - who last saw her grandson during their showdown at Sandringham in January after Harry broke the news that he and Meghan were quitting - was happy to agree.

The Queen is believed to have told her grandson that she was keen to keep the door open for him and Meghan to return and stressed that he would be welcomed back from Canada at any time.

Harry, who has always enjoyed a warm relationship with his grandmother, was apparently keen to 'clear the air' before he and Meghan formally step down as working royals on March 31.

He has been staying at Frogmore Cottage, the couple's home on the Queen's Windsor estate, since returning to the UK last week to undertake a handful of final official engagements.

He and Meghan have agreed to pay back 2.4million in taxpayer funds used to rebuild the property in light of their decision to relocate to North America.

It is understood that he and his grandmother shared a light lunch and tea as they discussed his future.

The Queen was left deeply upset after Harry and Meghan decided to suddenly announce their plans to step down and move abroad in early January in an apparent effort to bounce the Royal Family into agreeing to their demands to retain the trappings of royal life, while pursuing independent commercial careers.

And the couple were taken aback when Buckingham Palace made clear its displeasure and insisted that Harry would have to relinquish his HRH title as a non working royal and hand back their official patronages and his military positions, as well as dropping their plans to market themselves as 'Sussex Royal'.

The Duke of Sussex waves to well-wishers as he leaves Buckingham Palace in London yesterday afternoon following a series of internal meetings with his team

The Queen is said to be 'very sad' that she sees so little of Harry and Meghan's son Archie, her great-grandson.

How the Endeavour Fund Awards celebrate the achievements of injured servicemen The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be the guests of honour at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London this evening. The event celebrates the achievements of wounded, sick and injured servicemen and women who have taken part in sporting and adventure challenges. Harry will give a short speech, and the Sussexes will hand out the awards, as well as attending a pre-ceremony reception. The four awards are: Recognising Achievement Award, Celebrating Excellence Award, Henry Worsley Award and the new Community Impact Award. The Endeavour Fund is a body set up by the Royal Foundation to finance inspiring sporting and adventure projects aiding the recovery of veterans. Advertisement

The meeting at the weekend was said to have been 'productive and positive'. One source said Harry was seen leaving 'deep in thought'.

But the couple have decided to leave Archie in Canada, meaning his British family haven't seen him for more than four months.

Last autumn, American ex-actress Meghan opened up about her struggles with royal life in an ITV documentary filmed on their Africa tour.

She said she had tried to cope with the pressures by putting on a 'stiff upper lip' but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.

'It's not enough to just survive something, that's not the point of life. You have got to thrive,' she added. Meghan told presenter Tom Bradby: 'Not many people have asked if I'm OK.'

The Sussexes attended the previous annual Endeavour Fund Awards ceremony in February 2019, when the duchess was heavily pregnant with Archie.

They were last seen together on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The Queen meets President of Malta George Vella and his wife Miriam Vella during an audience at Buckingham Palace yesterday

The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent - a move dubbed Megxit by the press.

Security headache as Meghan leaves Archie behind in Canada The Duchess of Sussex is expected to have left her baby son Archie in Canada as she returns to the UK today, 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. Canada, which has contributed towards the cost of protecting them since they moved to Vancouver Island last November, is withdrawing cover because of the couple's '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. It is also likely to be a disappointment to the Queen and senior royals, who haven't seen him for months. Advertisement

A summit of senior royals was later convened by the Queen at Sandringham to discuss the issue, with Harry sitting down for talks with his grandmother, father the Prince of Wales and brother the Duke of Cambridge.

It was eventually announced they would give up royal duties, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, no longer be known as HRHs, and their lives as working royals would end on March 31.

Tonight, Harry will give a short speech, and the Sussexes will hand out the awards, as well as attending a pre-ceremony reception.

The four awards are: Recognising Achievement Award, Celebrating Excellence Award, Henry Worsley Award and the new Community Impact Award.

The Endeavour Fund is a body set up by the Royal Foundation to finance inspiring sporting and adventure projects aiding the recovery of veterans.

Today's engagement is part of a final run of official appearances by the couple.

Tomorrow, Harry will join Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton at the official opening of the Silverstone Experience, a museum about British motor racing.

Harry and Meghan will attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall on March 7 and the following day the duchess will mark International Women's Day.

The duke and duchess will join the Queen and other royals at the Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey on March 9, their last official appearance as HRHs.

The countdown to Megxit: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's last five engagements before their time as working royals ends

March 5: Endeavour Fund Awards (Harry and Meghan)

Tonight, Harry and Meghan will attend the Endeavour Fund Awards which recognises wounded, injured or sick military personnel and veterans who have gone on to use sport and adventurous challenges as part of their recovery and rehabilitation.

Harry has attended every ceremony since the inaugural one in 2017, which he went to with his brother William. He went to the event in 2018 and 2019 with Meghan.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pose with nominees and guests at the Endeavour Fund Awards at Drapers' Hall in London on February 7, 2019

The Endeavour Fund was led by his and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Royal Foundation which saw them step up the drive to help wounded service personnel.

The Fund has brought about programmes such as Climb2Recovery, led by former Royal Engineer Neil Heritage Team Endeavour Racing, which was started by former Infantryman Stu Croxford and carried on by Royal Engineer veteran Brian Seggie.

Harry speaks to guests at a reception for the Endeavour Fund at St James's Palace in 2015

It has also resulted in an expedition to Oman organised by a veteran Rifleman, Matt Fisher, which saw him and the team spend several days crossing the desert with Fund ambassador Levison Wood.

Harry has said of the Fund: 'I am continually amazed by the tenacity, fortitude and unshakable humour displayed by the men and women who sign up to run races, cross oceans, climb mountains or take on challenges few would even contemplate.'

March 6: Silverstone Experience (Harry)

Tomorrow, Harry will join British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton at the official opening of the Silverstone Experience.

The much-anticipated museum - which the Duke has been backing for years - will tell the story of the past, present and future of British motor racing.

Prince Harry (right) meets racing drivers Jenson Button (left), Lewis Hamilton (second right) and former F1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart (second left) at Silverstone in July 2011

Harry official launched the project for the 19.3million visitor attraction in March 2018 and is the patron of the museum in Northamptonshire.

It was built inside a former Wellington bomber hanger located within the grounds of the track and officials hope it more than 500,000 people a year will visit.

Prince Harry, his cousin George McCorquodale and his mother Princess Diana are shown the workings of a Williams F1 car at Silverstone by driver David Coulthard in July 1994

Harry had promised it would be 'an exhilarating attraction, based here at the home of British motorsport and I'm sure it will help to engage children in engineering'.

Harry is a big F1 fan, and congratulated Hamilton on his title win in November 2014 by telling him on the radio: 'Lewis, you're an absolute legend. Well done mate.'

March 7: Mountbatten Music Festival (Harry and Meghan)

The couple will also attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, which see the Royal Marines showcase their musicianship and pageantry.

The festival takes places over two days - March 6 and March 7 - at the venue in London, with Harry expected to attend the Saturday evening performance.

The Duke of Sussex at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2019

Last year's concert saw the Marine bands performed a range of different songs, including versions of popular hits by Take That and the Greatest Showman.

The 2019 event also marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day. All proceeds from the concert this year will again go to The Royal Marines Charity and CLIC Sargent.

The Massed Bands of the Royal Marines perform at the Mountbatten Festival of Music last year

This event will also be Harry's last engagement as Captain-General of the Royal Marines, before he loses this title as he steps down as a senior royal.

The couple will continue to be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well as by the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton and the Baron and Baroness of Kilkeel.

March 8: International Women's Day (Meghan)

Meghan is expected to undertake an engagement to mark International Women's Day on March 8, although no specifics have yet been revealed.

Speaking on a panel to mark International Women's Day last year, she said she would like her first child to be a feminist, regardless of whether they are a girl or a boy.

Meghan speaks at a panel in London in March 2019 with model Adwoa Aboah (left) and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (right) to mark International Women's Day last year

Speaking on a panel to mark International Women's Day, Meghan said she had recently been watching a documentary on feminism.

She told an audience at King's College London last March: 'One of the things they said during pregnancy was 'I feel the embryonic kicking of feminism'.'

In March 2018, Harry and Meghan took part in an International Women's Day event in Birmingham to encourage young women to pursue careers in Stem subjects

Meghan has spoken about how noticed during a school assignment that an advert for a dishwashing detergent suggested women do all the cleaning.

She complained about it in a letter to Proctor and Gamble when she was aged just 11, and the firm responded by changing a line in the advert.

In 2018, Harry and Meghan took part in an International Women's Day event in Birmingham to encourage young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects.

March 9: Commonwealth Service (Harry and Meghan)

Harry and Meghan will both attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey the next day with the Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the Queen had requested that Harry and Meghan attend the annual service with the rest of the royals.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (left) with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (right) as they attend the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 11 last year

The event will likely see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reunite with Prince William and Kate, a year after they were pictured smiling together at the 2019 service.

But the Sussexes have severed professional ties with the Cambridges by pulling out of the Kensington Palace household and their joint charitable foundation.

Prince Harry and Meghan arrive for the Commonwealth Day service in London in March 2019

At last year's event, Harry and Meghan were seated beside Prince Andrew, who has left his royal duties after an interview about his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.

The 2019 service included performances by the Dhol Foundation drummers, Clean Bandit, William Barton on the didgeridoo, tenor Alfie Boe and the B Positive choir.

Commonwealth Day has been celebrated since 1977 annually on the second Monday in March, celebrating the historic ties Britain has with the 53 other countries.
Adam Bergman, founder of the leading provider of self-directed retirement plans, releases the third edition of his Solo 401(k) book. The Secure Act was the most important piece of retirement Legislation in over ten years and it has significantly impacted the Solo 401(k).

Adam Bergman, tax attorney and founder of the fastest growing self-directed retirement provider in the country (IRA Financial), is proud to announce the updated release of his widely popular book, Going Solo: Americas Best Kept Retirement Secret for the Self-Employed.

The book Going Solo discusses in detail the IRS approved Solo 401(k) Plan and how it is quickly gained popularity among the self-employed, sole proprietors and small business owners with no full-time employees.

The book was written to help self-employed individuals and small business owners better prepare themselves for retirement by understanding the many advantages of establishing a Solo 401(k) Plan. The third updated version of the book includes new plan contribution numbers for the 2020 taxable year, as well as updated required minimum distribution rules based on the 2019 Secure Act.

The Secure Act was the most important piece of retirement Legislation in over ten years, said Bergman, author of Going Solo. Both the 401(k) and Solo 401(k) will have significant changes in 2020.

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE Act), was signed by President Trump in December 2019 and became a law Jan. 1. The SECURE Act significantly modified the required minimum distribution rules from age of 70 1/2 to 72. In addition, the new solo 401(k) plan maximum contributions increased from $56,000 to $57,000 for individuals under age 50, and $62,000 to $63,500 for plan participants over the age of 50.

Adam Bergman has written seven books on the topic of self-directed retirement plans, including How to Use Retirement Funds to Purchase Cryptocurrencies, Turning Retirement Funds into Start-Up Dreams, and Solo 401(k) Plan in a Nutshell.

Prior to joining the IRA Financial Group, LLC, Mr. Bergman worked as a tax and ERISA attorney at White & Case LLP, Dewey LeBoeuf LLP, and Thelen LLP, three of the most prominent corporate law firms in the world. Throughout his career, Mr. Bergman has advised thousands of clients on a wide range of tax and ERISA matters involving limited liability companies and retirement plans.

His company, IRA Financial, is the markets fastest growing provider of self-directed retirement plans and has helped over 16,000 clients use their retirement funds to invest in alternative assets, such as real estate.

To learn more about the IRA Financial Group, visit their website at http://www.irafinancialgroup.com or call 800-472-0646.
The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, says democracy is yet to take deep roots in Nigeria as it means more than regular elections.

Mr Fayemi spoke in his capacity as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) during a visit to Czech Republic Ambassador to Nigeria, Marek Skolil, in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, the democratic system is yet to take deep root in the country despite 20 years of uninterrupted practice.

The notion that once you have elections, all else will follow is no doubt a pipe dream that is now obvious to all and even now, there is nothing irreversible about democracy in Nigeria.

According to a statement signed by the NGF spokesperson, Abdulrazaque Barkindo, Mr Fayemi also emphasised that there is no democracy without rule of law.

The governor, who was enumerating what governance at the subnational levels entails, said, We need to increase economic opportunity at the subnational level for the safety and security of our people because security and welfare is the first job of the government.

He added that In the minds of the people we need more than governance for the goodwill of the people

At the end of the day there are no Federal Nigerians but state citizens, so those who are friends of Nigeria must understand the two-level strata of our government and aid the one that best touches the heart of the problem as it were.

He said for good governance to be possible in the country, there is a need to pull more people out of illiteracy.

According to him, the more educated the people, the more they would be able to hold people in power accountable.

You cannot extricate violence from poverty. Someone who is less educated is a lot more risk-averse than someone who is educated and can read the future and therefore the thrust is to get more people out of poverty and illiteracy, as quickly as possible for good governance to germinate on an even level in the country.

This according to him this is why States are interested in agriculture, manufacturing, education and other economic generators that improve the quality of life of our people.

READ ALSO:

The more qualified the people, the more accountable the governors would be because qualified people will be able to hold those in government to put their feet to the fire for the benefit of all.

In his remarks, Mr Skolil described Nigerias democracy as a transitioning process.

The Czech Ambassador said during his stay in the last general election in Nigeria, he witnessed an environment that was very vibrant, an atmosphere he said his country could learn from.

He said the Czech Republic would be willing to partner with Nigeria in areas such as the challenges of insecurity facing some parts of the country.

Ill be delighted as a duty to help in any way. I have witnessed in my short stay in Nigeria that there are areas where we can intervene but most importantly, I learned after witnessing elections here that there are things to learn from Nigeria as well.

I must emphasize, with no false modesty that your political environment was very vibrant when I witnessed it for my personal experience, the ambassador stated.

He told Mr Fayemi that I would like to remind you of the scope of the Czech Republic in Nigeria. Since the 90s we have been rebuilding our ties with sub-Saharan Africa.

For example, we can be of help to Nigeria not just in the area of security but, also, we can have both feet on the ground on trade. Nigeria is 2nd only after South Africa in our relationships with Africa.

Our mission has a broad regional scope. Weve been busy finding our new identity. We are back in Africa and feel well-acquainted here but at the same time we must feel how you see the challenges of European countries in your continent.
Mohammed Anees fled his home in northeastern New Delhi last week as Hindu-Muslim clashes erupted in his area, escaping with his family of four to a relative's home. He had only a few hundred rupees in his wallet, leaving everything else behind.

Now the 37-year-old Muslim mechanic is among more than 1,000 people sheltering in a large open-air mosque that has been turned into a relief camp in the Mustafabad area of the Indian capital and opened on Monday. "I don't have any money left now," Anees said, showing pictures of his ransacked home that he visited on the weekend on his cracked mobile phone.

With jewelry and savings looted and afraid of more violence, he moved to the camp with his wife and three children, victims of the worst communal riots in New Delhi for decades. More than 40 people were killed and hundreds injured. Anees lived in Shiv Vihar, where two large mosques and dozens of Muslim houses surrounding it were torched. Houses with Hindu symbols were largely left untouched. In total, some 2,000 people are believed to have been displaced, local politician Amanatullah Khan said. Hundreds of those are taking shelter on the floors of private homes.

"The police brought us and left us here," said Mohammed Uddin, 70, outside a cramped house where dozens of people packed into an entrance foyer. "They didn't even check if we were hurt." Many of those displaced, who are overwhelmingly Muslim, have moved to the Mustafabad camp, where a kitchen provides free meals and volunteer doctors are treating victims.

Rashid Ali, a local resident helping organise the camp, said they had received some help from the Delhi government, run by a regional party.On a long desk outside the mosque premises, a small group of lawyers helped the victims of riots file for compensation ranging from 25,000 rupees ($341.34) to 100,000 rupees. Seema Joshi from Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party, who was helping the legal team, said around 500 applications had been made, though many people showed up without any paperwork since they fled in a hurry without documents or had belongings burnt.In the narrow streets surrounding the mosque, women jostled for food supplies as children rummaged through piles of second-hand clothes donated to victims.

On a loudspeaker, an announcer asked for volunteers to clean an overflowing toilet attached to the relief camp. "A lot of people are facing depression," said Wasim Qamar, a doctor at the camp. "People saw terrible things. Some of them can't eat or sleep. They are very fearful."

Describing the violence as "one-sided and well-planned" against Muslims, the Delhi Minorities Commission - a government-appointed body that focuses on minority groups - said the Delhi government's compensation package was inadequate after surveying riot-hit areas on Tuesday. Saurabh Bharadwaj, a lawmaker from Aam Aadmi Party, said the party was trying to improve its response to the emergency.

Some leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have accused opposition groups of fanning the violence, saying that Muslims targeted Hindus during the clashes. Shabira, 55, and her family were rescued by police early last Wednesday from Shiv Vihar, leaving their home with nothing but what they were wearing. At the relief camp, she said she was getting basic amenities - food, shelter and diapers for her infant grandchild."I want my house back," she said, in tears. "I just want to go back."

Also read: Arvind Kejriwal urges people to share info on needy people for quick response

Also read: Delhi violence: Govt hospitals denied fair treatment to riot victims, says report
[March 05, 2020] Anatomage Introduces Physiology Functions to Digital Cadavers with Table 7

SAN JOSE, California, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Anatomage Inc, a leader in 3D medical technology, today announces the launch of Table 7, bringing physiology elements to real human cadavers. Anatomage is the first company to successfully integrate physiology functions into a real human cadaver. Through the Table 7 software release for the Anatomage Table, users can restore a portion of a cadaver back to life using four physiology tools - Heart Motion, Nerve Connection, Pathways, and Catheterization. The Heart Motion tool restores the cardiac physiological functions of the cadaver's heart. By simulating the entire cardiac cycle and synchronizing heart rhythms with the integrated digital electrocardiography, the tool can be used to elevate cardiovascular physiology learning. The Nerve Connection tool interactively displays the cadaver's nerve innervation from the brain to a dermatome, muscle or organ. The tool provides students with the physiological context of the human nervous system, allowing them to locate the nerve root responsible for any stimulus, thereby supporting neuroanatomy education. The Pathways tool illustrates drug delivery and different physiological pathways on the cadaver. Depicting the physiological mechanism occurring during the transport of chemcal compounds, this tool offers visual references of physiology for toxicology, pharmacology, and any applicable studies in medicine.



The Catheterization tool enables users to practice catheter insertion on a digital cadaver. With the Anatomage Table, students can learn how real-life cardiac catheterization procedures are carried out on a living human body, preparing them for medical careers. Introducing physiology elements to deceased bodies is the first step toward building a digital body that functions as an alive human body for medical simulation and educational applications. Aside from the physiology elements, Table 7 features medical-school level educational materials, including 60 3D real-cadaver prosections with annotations, 400 fully-prepared medical illustration presets, and 3D radiology reports reviewed by real radiologists. The update also comes with additional high-resolution regional anatomy scans, improved quizzing options, annotated bony landmarks, and refinements in the Table's histology-viewing feature such as the ability to compare 4 different histology tissues. Altogether, these technologies bring values that a physical cadaver couldn't deliver to various medical disciplines.

Containing 4 life-size real human cadavers and over 1,000 real-life pathology cases, the Anatomage Table has been trusted and adopted by thousands of educational and clinical institutes worldwide. Now with the launch of Table 7, the Anatomage Table has become an unrivaled healthcare education platform that marks a beginning of an era where learning with a living cadaver is possible. For more information about Table 7, please visit here . About Anatomage A market leader in medical imaging technology, Anatomage enables an ecosystem of 3D anatomy hardware and software, allowing users to visualize anatomy at the highest level of accuracy. Through its highly innovative products, Anatomage is transforming standard anatomy learning, medical diagnosis and treatment planning. Contact :

Jack Choi

CEO

Anatomage Inc.

Phone: 1-408-885-1474

Email: [email protected]

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Syria and China have signed an agreement for a large grant that will be used to fund humanitarian efforts in Syria and help those affected by the war writes SANA.

In the framework of the economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Syria and the Peoples Republic of China, the two sides signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement on Wednesday according to which, China will provide a grant for funding humanitarian needs in Syria.

According to the agreement, which was signed at the International Planning and Cooperation Commission, China will provide a grant with a value of 14 million dollars to the Syrian government that will be used to fund humanitarian needs, the precise nature of which will be agreed upon later by the two sides.

The head of the International Planning and Cooperation Commission, Dr. Imad Saboni, said in a press statement that the grant comes in the framework of a series of grants provided by the Chinese government and is the fifth of its kind, with the total value of grants reaching about 60 million dollars.

Saboni noted that this grant will be used to finance various fields related to humanitarian needs and to relive the suffering, which has resulted from the terrorist war and its repercussions on the Syrian people. Previous grants have been used to fund health, environment and education.

For his part the Ambassador of China in Damascus, Feng Biao, who signed the agreement, said that it comes in the framework of the cooperation between the two governments and it affirms the depth of the bilateral relations.

The Chinese Ambassador expressed his countrys readiness to provide more support and help to the Syrian people, hoping that Syria will liberate every inch of its territories.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

A few clouds. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 7F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 7F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Gurugram: The present coalition government has failed to deliver on multiple fronts, including employment and development, a senior Congress leader on Thursday said, adding that the mandate given by the people of Haryana in 2019 assembly elections was against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Deepender Singh Hooda, who was in the city for an event organized by the state legal cell of the party, also said that in the past six months the coalition government of BJP-JJP had been exposed due to its involvement in the paddy scam and mining scam.

The allegation of large scale wrongdoings in mining sector have been levelled by a state minister and not us. From Aravallis to Yamuna Nagar, there have been multiple allegations and several things will get exposed if these are properly investigated, said Hooda.

The former Rohtak MP further said that not even one kilometre of metro line has been extended in Gurugram after the BJP came to power.

The BJP, however, refuted the allegations and said that its government was working to bring all out development of the state. The heavy debt on the state is the legacy of the Congress. Major land scams were carried out under the previous regime misusing sections 4 and 6 of Land Acquisition Act which destroyed the economy, said Raman Malik, BJP spokesperson.

Malik also said that public functions should be avoided by all in the wake of coronavirus threat.

The president of Haryana Congress legal cell, Naveen Sharma, who organised the Thursdays event, said that they have been working across the state to strengthen the rank and file, and this hard work will show results in future elections.

A large number of lawyers from various Bar associations from across the state attended the event and Holi Milan function.

Manish Khatana, president, district youth Congress, said that all party workers, including lawyers, would fight the ruling party on the ground to ensure it acts as a strong opposition.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The North-South International Transport Corridor, which is a multi-modal network of ship, rail and road routes from India to Azerbaijan, is strengthening Azerbaijans role as Europes and Asias economic partner, U.S. expert Peter Tase, a strategic adviser on international affairs for governments told in an interview with Day.az.

"Trade communications and cooperation in the field of logistics services are the cornerstones of this strategic project, which made Azerbaijan a key economic partner of the countries of Europe and Asia. As Azerbaijan becomes the main actor in this intercontinental transport corridor, we observe a higher level of economic development in the regions of Azerbaijan, and the country is becoming a reliable trading partner that connects the markets of India with Europe," the expert said.

He noted that since 2005, Azerbaijan has also been conducting dynamic economic diplomacy, which includes the development of the North-South transport corridor and, of course, contributes to regional development on both sides of the Caspian Sea and Eastern Europe.

Tase emphasized that after the completion of all infrastructure projects in this corridor, it will be possible to organize direct rail transportation of goods from Baku to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via Iran.

"The development of this project will directly contribute to increasing employment and ensuring sustainable growth of the national economy of Azerbaijan. The country has an exceptional geographical and geostrategic location. These two factors are combined with the competent policies of President Ilham Aliyev, a statesman who works to ensure that his country is more competitive and strengthening economic growth in the midst of a global crisis, "said Peter Tase.

The American expert called the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway an outstanding initiative, which since October 2017 has generated a large flow of goods and services between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia.

"This railway project is designed to transport more than 17 million tons of goods annually, it also connects residents of the three countries and subsequently develops a sustainable tourism industry and provides economic diversification in the Central Asian region and, above all, is a continuation of China's One Belt and One Way Initiative.

"The tourism industry in Azerbaijan has reached a record level of growth thanks to the vision of President Ilham Aliyev and his energetic leadership, which allowed Baku to implement a number of projects in the field of rail transportation, which have direct economic influence both on the people of Azerbaijan and on the peoples of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe, "said Tase.

Commenting on the capabilities of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), the expert said that he has the technological capabilities to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

"An investment of $40 billion, in which more than a dozen energy companies participate, is a symbol of the success of the Azerbaijani government," said Peter Tase.

He called the SGC a star project, which has already become a strategic asset for Europe, thanks to the large volumes of natural gas that can be delivered to Austria, Italy and other parts of Europe.

"The European Commission and large European countries are showing great interest in increasing the supply of natural gas through the Southern Gas Corridor. This pipeline is capable of doubling the current flow rate of gas pumped to the shores of the Adriatic. With the potential to double the level of transportation, SGC can play an important role in ensuring the supply of Turkmenistans natural oil and Kazakhstan in the near future, "he said.

Tase noted that in the coming decades, the European Union will need to import more natural gas.

"There is a certain level of fragile decision-making and insecurity, but one thing is a fact, namely: gas consumption and the development of the gas market in the EU will increase; the volume that will be covered by imported natural gas will certainly increase. Therefore, in Azerbaijan higher economic indicators will be achieved, and the welfare of the Azerbaijani people will be significantly improved, "the American expert concluded.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
EDITORS: Here is an audio clip of Dr. Dana Hargunani discussing the 2018 suicide data

March 4, 2020

Rank change due to increase in suicide deaths as well as drop in unintentional injury deaths among ages 10 to 24

Salem, Ore. -- In February the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that suicide was the leading cause of death among Oregon youth ages 10 to 24 in 2018, up from the second leading cause of death in 2017. Oregon is now ranked 11th highest in the nation for youth suicide death rates (up from 17th in 2017).

The change in rank is due to multiple factors: There was a rise in the suicide rate as well as a drop in the rate of unintentional injury deaths, the former leading cause. The unintentional injury category includes overdose deaths and motor vehicle accidents. While the suicide rate has increased, the unintentional injury rate decreased from 2017 to 2018.

"Suicide continues to be a concerning problem in Oregon across all age groups, including youth, as this new data confirms," said Dana Hargunani, Oregon Health Authoritys chief medical officer. "We continue to prioritize work across Oregon to support young people in schools, at home and in our communities. Fortunately, we are able to apply best practices that work to prevent suicide, and there are many ways you can get involved."

The 2018 CDC data is included in the 2019 Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan annual report, which was released to the Legislature this week.

Advocates and state agency staff have been working to address this growing issue and together requested dedicated funding for suicide prevention in 2019.

Governor Kate Brown included more than $6 million for suicide prevention in her budget for the 2019-2021 biennium, marking the first time this work has been funded by the state. The funding is being used to:

Fully fund Oregons 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Create statewide access to proven suicide prevention programming.

Provide funding to Oregon tribes for suicide prevention.

Address higher risk groups (LGTBQ youth, veterans, people with lived experience).

Support school districts to create and implement suicide prevention plans.

Fund youth peer-to-peer crisis intervention, outreach and youth development through the Oregon YouthLine.

Add capacity to support suicide prevention programs at the Oregon Health Authority.

Additionally, the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority are collaborating to implement Senate Bill 52 -- also known as Adis Act -- which requires school districts to have a suicide prevention, intervention and postvention response plan by the start of the 2020-2021 school year. The two agencies are also working together to support school safety (including suicide prevention), which is outlined in the Student Success Act (Section 36, pages 21 and 22).

What can I do?

Join in the efforts. Creating a suicide-safe Oregon is everyones work. There are many projects underway in communities across Oregon.

For more information:

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please know that help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline run by Lines For Life at 800-273-8255 or text '273TALK' to 839863. En espanol: 888-628-9454. TTY: 800-799-4TTY (4889).Youthline is a teen-to-teen crisis and help line. Teens are available to help daily, 4 to 10 p.m. Pacific Time (off-hour calls answered by Lines for Life). Call 877-968-8491 or text teen2teen to 839863 or chat at http://www.oregonyouthline.org/.

See Crisis Services by Oregon County and a list of crisis lines on OHAs website.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:52:15|Editor: xuxin

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CAIRO, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Health Ministry and the World Health Organization said in a joint statement Thursday that an Egyptian citizen was tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed cases inside Egypt to three.

"The case is a 44-year-old Egyptian citizen returning from Serbia who had transited via France for 12 hours," said the statement released by Egyptian Health Ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed.

Megahed said that upon his return to Egypt, the person did not show any symptoms. "However, minor symptoms have appeared a few days later."

According to the statement, the affected went to a hospital where he was tested positive on Thursday.

"The case is being transferred to hospital for quarantine where he will receive the necessary medical care," the spokesman said, adding that the ministry is currently taking strict preventive measures regarding those who were in contact with the person.

He added that the health ministry has raised the utmost degree of readiness in all airports and ports across the country to follow any new developments of the virus.

Egypt's health ministry has previously announced that two foreigners were confirmed infected with the virus inside Egypt, adding that the first person has fully recovered.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Egypt has adopted an integrated plan which covers early detection, quarantine and treatment measures, as well as raising public awareness, he added.
There is the lowest number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine compared to many European countries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Ukrainians to engage in domestic tourism amid the global spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-2019.

"Stay in Ukraine for a while, it's very important. Now is the time when you may engage in tourism within our country. You see that even in comparison with many European countries, we have the lowest number of such [coronavirus] cases, and we control it," he said at a meeting with Ukrainian and foreign evacuees from China who were discharged from a health center in Novi Sanzhary, Poltava region, on March 5 after 14-day observation.

Read alsoNumber of hospitalized patients in Chernivtsi being tested for coronavirus rises

"I think we've got a beautiful country, and we have a lot of wonderful cities and places where one can spend some time on a normal holiday while this viral story is over, and it will be over for sure," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Chinese authorities reported an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan late in December 2019.

The causative agent of the disease was a new type of coronavirus, COVID-19. The virus is transmitted from person to person, with the incubation period lasting at least two weeks.

A plane with 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreigners evacuated from China's Wuhan amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus arrived in Ukraine on February 20. The evacuees were then bussed to the town of Novi Sanzhary in Poltava region and accommodated at a local medical center for 14-day observation, which was over on March 5.
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday announced a commitment of US$10 billion of his personal money to the newly launched Bezos Earth Fund to fight climate change.

Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet, Bezos wrote. This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs (non-governmental organizations)  any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.

The fund will begin issuing grants this summer, Bezos said. The $10 billion commitment is to start the effort, which suggests he will contribute more money in the future.

Whether he does so likely will depend on what the reaction to this investment is, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Reactions to the Announcement

The $10 billion is not sufficient, said Charlotte Tate, labor justice campaigns manager at Green America.

While its good that Jeff Bezos is finally recognizing that were facing a climate crisis, he needs to tackle Amazons massive climate emissions more quickly and effectively in order to create sustainable climate solutions, she told the E-Commerce Times.

Amazon emitted 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2018, an amount Green America said was larger than the emissions of UPS and FedEx, and the emissions of Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft.

We applaud Jeff Bezos philanthropy but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said in a statement.

AECJ pointed to Amazons signing up oil and gas companies for its services; funding think tanks like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which denies climate change; and the companys threat to fire employees for speaking out publicly about its role in the climate crisis.

People often seem to want to be critical before learning what they are being critical about, and thus are working against the greater good in many cases rather than for it, Enderle told the E-Commerce Times. If we want wealthy people to donate to causes like this it might be wise to cut back on the criticism.

Many tech companies have announced efforts to combat climate change.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Almost every tech giant is focused on driving down the cost of datacenter energy usage, noted Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

Its in their self-interest, he told the E-Commerce Times.

However, not many tech CEOs have pledged green initiatives, Wang added.

The Business of Business

Business decisions can no longer be made with only profits in mind, said Green Americas Tate. The future of our society and our planet must be incorporated into all business decisions, and corporations as large as Amazon have a responsibility to prioritize ethical decision making.

She suggested that Amazon take these steps:

Not renew contracts with oil and gas companies;

Not seek new contracts with them; and

Publicly announce this commitment, giving a date for ending all contracts with oil and gas companies.

If Amazon were to pull out of servicing the oil and gas industry, it might lose ground to Google and Microsoft, which also work with the industry.

There is no business rationale to get out of this business, Constellations Wang said. Being in the business may help Amazon find solutions for energy-intensive and carbon-based businesses to shift to greener alternatives.

The purpose of any business arguably is to make money first, last and always. That may be changing, though, with company staff, investors and shareholders now pressuring businesses on issues such as climate change.

AECJ wrote an open letter to Bezos and the Amazon Board of Directors last April. Nearly 1,800 Amazon employees staged a walkout in support of a global climate strike last fall.

Activist shareholders have been pressuring Amazon on climate change and other issues. Further, 251 institutional investors around the world with more than $16 trillion under management have called for corporate action over deforestation and the forest fire in the Amazon rainforest.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission last fall proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8 to modernize the process for shareholder proposals inclusion in proxy statements.

The amendment would make it more difficult for shareholders to file and refile resolutions, Green Americas Tate pointed out. Shareholder resolutions have been highly effective in addressing environmental, social and governance issues at corporations for years.

Green America, together with Americans for Financial Reform and As You Sow, delivered a petition with 18,000 signatures opposing the amendment.

Being Good Needs More Work

The major high-tech companies have pledged to combat climate change. However, their plans may be more hype than reality, according to Greenpeace.

Amazons commitment to renewable energy covers its own operations and electricity use but leaves out its supply chain, which constitutes more than 75 percent of its overall carbon footprint, for example.

Amazon, like Microsoft and Google, includes renewable energy credits (RECs) in its carbon footprint calculations. RECs confirm that one megawatt-hour (Meh) of electricity is generated and delivered to the grid from a renewal energy resource.

However, RECs can be purchased, and reporting RECs lets companies claim they run on clean energy while actually not doing so.

Getting rid of RECs is not a solution, though, because this model ensures that they budget for offsets, Wang pointed out. However, there is a need to take these investments and drive down the cost of renewable energy production and distribution.
LIMERICKs newest councillor Sasa Novak Ui Chonchuir is celebrating this week after securing Irish citizenship.

Cllr Novak, who was co-opted onto the council following the Green Partys Brian Leddin securing election to Dail Eireann, was born in Slovenia, but moved to Ireland in 2007.

She was one of more than 5,000 people being conferred with the honour of Irish citizenship at a ceremony in Killarney this week.

Like so many people, Cllr Novak said the decision to become naturalised Irish came following Britains decision to leave the European Union in 2016.

I never felt I needed to do this before. As a European citizen felt the same.

But [Brexit] made me realise the European Union wasnt as strong as we all thought it would be. That was the trigger for me, she said.

The northside councillors children, Fionn, 4, Liam, 7, and husband Eoin were also uppermost in her mind when applying.

When you have the kids, you think of worst case scenarios when you dont have Irish citizenship. It put things into perspective, she said.

Cllr Novak had to produce a mountain of paperwork proving she had lived in Ireland for the required three years, something she admits was a frustrating process.

She said: I actually ended up crying one day. I went through the permanent residency application which was a much bigger pile of documents than this was. There was a lot of frustration because everything was paperwork. By the time I had everything compiled, the form was replaced, so I had to do it up all over again. It took, in the end, 13 months.

The tears of frustration were replaced with tears of joy in Killarney this week, as Cllr Novak took to the stage to receive her certificate.

When the anthem played at the end, it felt emotional, she admitted.
New York, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Sepsis Diagnostic Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product, By Technology, By Pathogen, By Testing Type, By Region And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05868757/?utm_source=GNW



The global sepsis diagnostic market size is expected to reach a value of USD 1.1 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 9.4%. High prevalence of sepsis, introduction of technologically advanced medical examination systems and increasing government initiatives is expected to propel market growth over the forecast period.



According to CDC estimates, every year more than 1.7 million adults in U.S. suffer from sepsis, which leads to around 270,000 deaths. Furthermore, according to the report published by OECD in 2018, every year around 3.8 million patients suffer from hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in acute care hospitals in European countries. High prevalence of HAIs in key regions is expected to significantly increase the demand for medical examination solutions, thereby fueling market growth over the forecast period.



Increasing regulatory approval and introduction of technologically advanced medical examination solutions for the life-threatening disease condition are expected to facilitate market growth over the forecast period. In May 2018, T2 Biosystems, Inc., a U.S.-based emerging medical examination solutions company received the U.S. FDA approval for its T2Bacteria Panel, intended for the detection of specific sepsis-causing bacterial pathogens in human whole blood specimens.



In April 2019, the Scottish Government in collaboration with Sepsis Research (originally called FEAT - The Fiona Elizabeth Agnew Trust) launched a Scotland-wide campaign to spread public awareness about the signs and symptoms of sepsis. Such initiatives to raise public awareness about the disease condition is expected to raise demand for its rapid medical examination solutions and support its market growth in the near future.



Further key findings from the study suggest:

 In 2019, the blood culture media segment has emerged as the largest revenue generating segment owing to the high adoption of culture media tests in laboratories for the diagnosis of septic poisoning

 Molecular diagnostics is anticipated to witness a lucrative CAGR over the forecast period owing to its high sensitivity, accuracy, and less turnaround time

 In 2019, bacterial sepsis contributed towards the largest revenue share among the pathogen segment owing to its high prevalence

 North America dominated the sepsis diagnostics market with the largest revenue share in 2019. High awareness, favorable reimbursement scenario, and presence of established players are facilitating the dominance of this region during the study period

 The Asia Pacific region is projected to witness a lucrative growth owing to increasing awareness about sepsis diagnosis and treatment in emerging economies such as India and China

 Some of the key players include bioMerieux SA; Beckman Coulter, Inc.; Becton, Dickinson and Company; Sysmex Corporation; F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG; and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05868757/?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.



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This is an extremely exciting time for Cigna, said Toor. We operate in an environment with increasing customer expectations. Our new, streamlined organisation allows a greater drive for affordability for our clients, while also helping us create a more tailored and personalised service in markets across the globe. At a time when the cost of healthcare is rising by up to 12% each year and employers want localised solutions for globally mobile individuals, our new organisational structure will be crucial to helping us continue to provide industry-leading, tailored and affordable whole health solutions.

Toor joined the company back in 2011 and has since held a variety of roles including as chief marketing officer for Cigna International Markets, based in Hong Kong. Now, Jason Sadler, president of Cigna International Markets, believes Toors deep knowledge will prove an important asset.

In his previous role as CEO of Cignas International Organisations business, Arjan enhanced its position in the market and I am confident that he will continue to drive our growth trajectory, he said.

As part of the move, Phil Austin, who previously led Cignas European business lines will now take on a broader role as head of strategy and global business development for Cigna International Markets.
The Australian economy will shrink by at least 0.5 per cent during the March quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak, with the figure likely to increase as the epidemic continues to spread.

This latest estimation of the fallout from the virus measured the effects on tourism, education and exchange rates but did not take into account other impacted industries, Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy said during Senate estimates on Thursday morning.

Treasury secretary Dr Steven Kennedy said the impacts of coronavirus on the economy would continue through the year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"We are looking beyond the March quarter and there are a range of possible scenarios ... in our view it's just too early to tell just what those economic impacts might be," Dr Kennedy said.

The Morrison government is finalising its fiscal response to the economic fallout of the epidemic, which will probably include incentives for businesses to invest and hold on to staff, and assistance for self-funded retirees affected by lower interest rates.
As new spikes in coronavirus cases continue to surface in countries across the globe, the World Health Organisations concerns for one continent in particular continue to grow.

Despite only having 15 confirmed cases to date, Africa with a population of 1.2 billion is highlighted by WHO as an area where the coronavirus could rapidly take off due to a lack of adequate health systems in place in some areas.

The continent is frantically preparing for an outbreak and planning how to reduce its effects.

Testing laboratories are being supplied, quarantine and hospital treatment facilities are being readied for patients, and public health advisories have been issued.

There have been eight confirmed cases in Algeria, two in Egypt, one in Tunisia, one in Nigeria, two in Senegal and one in Morocco.

Yet only two of those are on a list of 13 countries, nearly a quarter of all countries on the continent, which have been identified by the World Health Organisation as at risk of becoming centres for the disease.

Passengers in Ethiopia preparing to fly to the major Chinese hub of Guangzhou in the nation's south. Source: Getty

The list has been made by WHO on the basis of volume of traffic between China and weak health surveillance and treatment systems.

The countries included on the list are Algeria, Angola, Cote dIvoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

It is critical that countries step up their readiness and in particular put in place effective screening mechanisms at airports and other major points of entry to ensure that the first cases are detected quickly, WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti said last month.

Sub-Saharan Africa now under threat

Nigeria on Friday became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to report a confirmed case when an Italian citizen travelling from Milan on a business trip fell ill after arriving at Lagos, Nigeria's largest city with 20 million people.

With the case in Nigeria, concern has grown over the virus spreading to countries with weaker health systems.

Story continues

WHO officials in Africa, where some countries are already battling outbreaks ranging from Ebola to malaria and measles, have warned that the continent's health systems could be overwhelmed.

A man wearing a face mask outside Yaba Mainland hospital in Nigeria where an Italian citizen is being treated for coronavirus. Source: AP

The new virus, first detected in China, has infected more than 90,000 people globally and caused over 3,000 deaths.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has hurried to train its 54 member countries in testing for the virus.

At the start of February just two African countries had the capability to test; now the number is more than two dozen.

Most African airlines with direct flights to China suspended them, and countries activated surveillance and quarantine measures.

Regular flights to China continue

However, Ethiopia, one of Africa's largest air traffic hubs, has maintained regular flights to China.

Ethiopian Airlines said Monday that it has continued to operate 35 flights a week to the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, as well as to Hong Kong.

Since January 24 more than 220,000 passengers have entered Ethiopia through the main airport in Addis Ababa and have passed through screenings, according to a statement from Ethiopia's health ministry on Monday.

More than 5,400 of those travellers were from countries that have reported COVID-19 cases. Twenty travellers with symptoms were tested for the new virus and all proved to be negative. Health officials are monitoring 875 travellers, including those with a history of travel to China, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy.

A quarantine area set up at Cairo airport last month. There has since been one confirmed case of coronavirus in the country. Source: Getty

Many African countries had experience with trying to prevent the spread of the devastating West Africa Ebola outbreak that ended in 2016.

Global health experts point to that as a sign of preparedness in this outbreak. The Africa CDC was created in response to the Ebola outbreak, and many countries established public health institutes.

With the new virus case announced in Nigeria, Africas most populous country with 190 million people and numerous air links around the continent and beyond, other nations warned of possible spread.

Still, the World Health Organisation has said that 80 per cent of people who catch the new virus will only experience mild symptoms. The death rate is about 2 per cent and the disease appears to be most severe in people over 60 with underlying health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure.

So far there are no confirmed cases of the virus in East Africa, where authorities in recent days have sought to scale up their preparedness efforts as the death toll from the virus has gone up around the world.

Regional governments, which rely heavily on trade and business ties with China, are scrambling to take measures that control the spread of the virus but may harm their economies.

Uganda fears outbreak is imminent

Uganda is monitoring four patients isolated over the weekend after arriving in the East African country. The four, whose nationalities have not been revealed, are in an isolation ward at a hospital near the international airport in Entebbe, about 28 miles south of Kampala, the capital of over 2 million residents, according to Emmanuel Ainebyoona, a spokesman for Uganda's health ministry.

More than 6,000 Chinese work in Uganda, many of them employed by Chinese construction firms contracted to put up infrastructure projects such as dams and highways.

Others run businesses of their own, including in manufacturing and trade. A spokesman for the Ugandan government agency in charge of roads told the local press over the weekend that the outbreak had slowed down public works as workers are quarantined or remain in China.

Uganda's health ministry is urging people to avoid hand-shaking and hugging at all times." The directive is reminiscent of the country's efforts in the past to combat outbreaks of Ebola, a much deadlier virus that has tested health systems in Africa because it requires strong surveillance systems to catch it, the isolation of contacts to contain the spread and cooperation from local communities to adopt prevention measures.

Other African countries are taking similar measures.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday ordered that a national isolation and treatment facility be completed within a week.

The country's High Court ruled the same day that all 239 passengers who recently arrived on a China Southern Airlines flight should be found and quarantined at a military facility until declared free of the virus. The court also suspended all flights from China for 10 days.

South Africa  whose government is set to evacuate 151 citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan  has said two citizens who had been working on the Princess Diamond cruise ship have the virus and will stay in Japan for treatment.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases said Monday that it has tested 160 people for the new virus and all have been found negative.

Angola announced Monday that it is barring entry to people arriving directly from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria.

With AP

Read the original here
LONDON - The ruler of Dubai conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, a British judge ruled in documents that were unsealed Thursday.

A judge at the High Court in London found that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 70, acted in a manner from the end of 2018 which has been aimed at intimidating and frightening his ex-wife Princess Haya, 45.

Judge Andrew McFarlane also said the sheikh ordered and orchestrated the abductions and forced return to Dubai of two of his adult daughters from another marriage: Sheikha Shamsa in August 2000, and Sheikha Latifa in 2002 and again in 2018.

The judge made rulings in December and January after a battle between the estranged spouses over the welfare of their two children, but the sheikh fought to prevent them from being made public. The U.K Supreme Court quashed that attempt on Thursday.

Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, married the Dubai ruler in 2004, becoming his second official wife, the court said. Sheikh Mohammed also has several unofficial wives. The couple have a daughter, Jalila, 12, and 8-year-old son Zayed, the youngest of the rulers 25 children.

In April 2019, Princess Haya fled the Gulf emirate with her children, saying she had become terrified of her husbands threats and intimidation.

The threats continued after the princess moved to London, the judge said, adding that the sheikh had used the apparatus of the state to threaten, intimidate, mistreat and oppress with a total disregard for the rule of law.

In May 2019, Sheikh Mohammed launched legal action, seeking the childrens return to Dubai, while Princess Haya asked for them to be made wards of the British court and stay in the U.K.

The sheikh later dropped his bid to take the children back to Dubai, and fought unsuccessfully to prevent the court issuing a fact-finding judgment on his wifes allegations.

The judge found that Hayas allegations about the threats and abductions met the civil standard of proof on the balance of probabilities.

Princess Haya also alleged that Sheikh Mohammed had made arrangements for Jalila  then aged 11  to be married to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. The judge said the hearsay evidence for that allegation fell well short of the required standard of proof.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, is popular at home and is seen as a modernizing force. He has, however, faced criticism abroad following reports that his daughter Latifa tried to flee the country and was forcibly returned.

McFarlane supported the allegation that on two occasions in June 2002 and February 2018, the father ordered and orchestrated the forcible return of his daughter Latifa, now 35, to the family home in Dubai. In 2002 the return was from the border of Dubai with Oman, and in 2018 it was by an armed commando assault at sea near the coast of India.

The judge said Shamsa, now 38, was abducted from the streets of Cambridge and has been deprived of her liberty for much if not all of the past two decades.

Sheikh Mohammed is also the founder of the successful Godolphin horse racing stable and last year received a trophy from Queen Elizabeth II after one of his horses won a race at Royal Ascot. The judge noted that both he and his ex-wife are said to be on respectful and friendly terms with the British Royal Family.

Haya, a graduate of Oxford University, is also a keen equestrian and competed in show jumping for Jordan at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was a two-term president of the International Equestrian Federation and an International Olympic Committee member.

In a statement released after the rulings were published, the sheikh said that as a head of government, I was not able to participate in the courts fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a fact-finding judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story. 

I ask that the media respect the privacy of our children and do not intrude into their lives in the U.K., he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 02:00:25|Editor: huaxia

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French President Emmanuel Macron is seen before a cabinet meeting in Paris, France, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

The victory on Tuesday night means the pension reform bill automatically passed its first reading at the National Assembly and moves to the upper house.



PARIS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government has survived two no-confidence votes at the lower house of parliament over his party's decision to press through a controversial pension reform without lawmakers' vote.

The victory on Tuesday night means the pension reform bill automatically passed its first reading at the National Assembly and moves to the upper house.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe decided last Saturday to use a special clause in the Constitution to cut short the debate and force into executive decree its reform plan to overhaul the current pension system of 42 separate regimes. Two no-confidence motions were introduced by the opposition against the government.

On Tuesday night, the motion called by the conservatives won 148 votes while that by the far-left "Unbowed France" party won 91 votes, both short of the simple majority of 289 votes -- an unsurprising result as the ruling "Republic on the Move" party now holds 291 of 577 seats at the National Assembly.

Policemen disperse demonstrators during a protest against pension reform in Lille, north France, Jan. 9, 2020. (Photo by Sebastien Courdji/Xinhua)

Now at the Senate, the upper house, the pension reform bill will face hot debates, before going back to the National Assembly.

If passed, the reform will be phased in over the coming years for people born since 1975. Under the new system, separate regimes will be replaced by a point-based single system. Every hour worked will earn pension rights, which will benefit gig economy workers who often do not earn enough to lock in pension rights under the current system.

It also means the end of a specific regime for workers of public transport companies RATP and SNCF, which allows train drivers and other staff who work underground to retire at 52 -- a decade earlier than the legal retirement age for a full public pension.

Widely considered a taboo, pension reform has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the country's streets in December and January.

Despite the government's concessions, unions are planning a new wave of strike and protests on March 31. 
Police in the northwestern Lao province of Oudomxay have seized a large quantity of dead wildlife poached in violation of Lao law and sold openly in local markets and restaurants, sources in the country told RFA on Thursday.



The haul, seized in local markets from December 2019 to February this year, was made up of parts of deer, monkey, bats, birds, and wild boar and totaled around 155 kilograms, according to an official from the provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department.



We cant control all the trade and poaching here, because its a large area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Also speaking to RFA, a provincial police officer said, We confiscated the wildlife and fined and re-educated the sellers, making sure that they now understand the law.



In spite of what officials have called strict measures aimed at curbing the trade in protected wildlife, though, local villagers still rely on wild animals for food, one villager said.



We like to eat wild animals. This is our way of life, he said.



China enacts nationwide ban



The seizure came as in neighboring China, the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee approved a permanent nationwide ban on the consumption and illegal trade of wild animals.



Chinas decision to shutter the estimated $74 billion industry was part of an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in a wildlife market in Wuhan, and to have spread to humans from bats, civets, or pangolins.



Laos became a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a multilateral treaty protecting endangered plants and animals, in May 2004.



On Jan. 5, 2018, a memo sent by the Lao prime ministers office to government departments called for improved cooperation with CITES agreements aimed at blocking trafficking in endangered species.



Lao officials have not always enforced laws prohibiting the smuggling or sale of illegal wildlife products in the past, though, with some taking an active part in the trade or paid to look the other way.



Sales of banned wildlife products, especially ivory and tiger parts, reportedly continue in Chinese shops in the capital, Vientiane.



Reported and translated by Max Avary for RFAs Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
While some festivals center around performers of a certain genre, the second annual Adverse Fest will feature mainly single or duo artists.
This week, FX debuts its miniseries on the Zodiac Killer. The show is just the latest in a long line of television and film explorations of the serial killer's identity, from dozens of true crime specials to David Fincher's modern classic "Zodiac." Most zero in on Arthur Leigh Allen as their prime suspect, but FX took a different tack.

Theyve chosen to highlight one of the weakest suspects in the infamous case.

"The Most Dangerous Animal of All" is based on a 2014 nonfiction book of the same name by Gary Stewart, who claims his father was the man who killed five people around the Bay Area in the late '60s. The Zodiac Killer took on a mythic status not so much because of his crimes but because of his words: He sent bragging, cryptic letters (and sometimes cryptograms) to the media.

Over the years, countless suspects have been investigated, but police never got close to an arrest. Into that void have stepped dozens of people claiming to know, or be related to, the real Zodiac Killer. One of those men is Stewart, who says he instantly knew his biological father, Earl Van Best Jr., was the murderer after seeing the famous Zodiac Killer police sketch on TV one night.

Who was Earl Van Best Jr.?

There seems to be no doubting one thing: Earl Van Best Jr., was not a nice person.

Van Best made San Francisco news in the early 60s when at age 28 he began a predatory relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Shortly after meeting Judy Chandler at an ice cream parlor, he married her. She was pregnant with their son  Gary Stewart  at 15. By that time, Van Best had been imprisoned for statutory rape.

"I cant help the difference in our ages," Van Best told the San Francisco Chronicle in a 1962 jailhouse interview. "I love Judy and she loves meit was love at first sight."

Van Best was also allegedly an abusive father, eventually abandoning his one-month-old in Louisiana. Stewart was adopted and did not learn about his biological parents until 2002 when he was contacted by Judy.

Van Best, who would go on to be charged with DUIs, fraud, rape and pedophilia, among other crimes, died in 1984 in Mexico.

What started Stewarts Zodiac Killer journey?

The book tells of how Stewart, watching a crime show one night on television, saw the only Zodiac Killer suspect sketch and believed it was nearly identical to a photo hed seen of his father.

So what evidence is presented in his book?

Its scant and very circumstantial.

Superficially, Van Best did have some commonalities with the Zodiac Killer. They both loved operas, specifically "The Mikado" which is referenced in a Zodiac letter. Van Best was also a fan of ciphers.

One of the cornerstones of Stewarts evidence is analysis he had done on a marriage certificate allegedly filled out by Van Best. He asked a handwriting expert to compare it to samples of the Zodiacs handwriting and the expert declared it a likely match, but that's very much contested ground.

Alongside the fact that handwriting analysis as a science is widely questioned, shortly after the books publication, a manager at the church that issued the marriage certificate laughed it off.

"Thats not the fathers handwriting, Im sure of it," Audrey Phelps, administrator at St. Pauls United Methodist Church in Reno, told The Chronicle in 2014. "Its Reverend Edward Fligers (the priest who signed the certificate). He always filled those out. I laughed when I saw it in that book."

Stewart does not link Van Best to individual crime scenes  except to say he may have lived near the Paul Stine murder site  nor does he provide any ties to murder weapons or physical evidence. Stewart claims a bloody partial print found at one murder scene matches Van Bests, but in order to do so, Stewart had to invert a known Van Best print to get anything close.

How does a San Francisco police officer factor in?

In an odd coincidence, Stewarts biological mother Judy ended up marrying a detective in the San Francisco Police Department. Stewart puts forth a theory that his fathers links to Zodiac were covered up by SFPD in order to protect this detective.

There is no evidence for this.

So does Stewart really think his father is the Zodiac?

Only Stewart can answer that, of course. But after reading his book, you come away feeling that Stewart does sincerely believe his father is the Zodiac Killer.

It's clear that Stewart struggles to grapple, as anyone would, with the terrible revelation that his father was a convicted pedophile who victimized Stewart's own mother. By turning a bad guy into The Bad Guy, a horrible personal history becomes something more meaningful.

But whether putting that story out there for the world to see on television helps or hurts Stewart's case remains to be seen.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE Senior Digital Editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd
A number of hotels in Danang City and neighboring Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam have let their employees take unpaid leave for several days each month to cope with the hardship caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

An employee at a Danang-based hotel helps a guest to carry luggage. A number of hotels in Danang City and Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam have let their employees take unpaid leave for several days each month

Hoi An Central Boutique Hotel, located in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, has 115 workers, including executives and employees. To address the steep fall in revenues and guests triggered by the virus, named SARS-CoV-2, the hotel has let its employees take annual and transfer leaves and has suspended its recruitment plan.

We are training many current employees to support various departments at the hotel that are short of workers, Phan Van Thuc, general director of the hotel, noted, adding that from March, each worker will take an unpaid five-day vacation per month.

The hotel will consider increasing or lowering the unpaid days off in late March, based on its business performance, Thuc told the Saigon Times on March 2.

Hotel Royal Hoi An-MGallery is also keeping a close watch on its business situation to adopt a suitable solution for human resources.

In the initial phase, the hotel will let its employees take any days off left over from last year, remarked Nguyen Truong Gia Bao, head of marketing and communications at the hotel.

We are doing everything possible, from changing the opening time and restructuring work hours to cutting operating costs, Bao stressed, adding that the hotels staff will take time off on rotation without pay.

Facing the same fate, many hotels in Danang City are weighing plans to let their staff take unpaid days off during this period of hardship.

Nguyen Duc Quynh, deputy general director of Furama Resort Danang, pointed out that the hotel is encouraging its employees to take time off and training its 800 current workers in various skills.

As the hotel does not heavily depend on Chinese and South Korean tourists, it has not been seriously affected by the fallout from the virus.

Room occupancy rates at many hotels and resorts in the city have accounted for a mere 15%-40% as tourists from China and South Korea, Vietnams two largest source markets, are subject to travel restrictions. This low occupancy is expected to continue in the coming months, Quynh said.

Multiple lodging facilities are contending with the hardship caused by headlines on the coronavirus outbreak, while some others are planning to shut down, Quynh said, adding that employees at a number of travel firms, transport businesses, restaurants and spa centers are on unpaid leave. This situation is unprecedented, he added. SGT

Nhan Tam

Hotels strengthen preventive measures amidst Covid-19 The hospitality sector in Vietnam is facing losses due to the outbreak of a disease caused by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
YOU'RE NOT LISTENING

by Kate Murphy (Harvill Secker 16.99, 288 pp)

In her memoirs, Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston's mother) recalled dining separately with rival politicians William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. Her verdict?

'After sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli, I left feeling I was the cleverest woman.'

No prizes for guessing whose company she preferred. It was Disraeli's ability to listen that gave him the edge: whether that was to working-class voters, opposing parliamentarians or Queen Victoria, whose preference for him bordered on the unconstitutional.

Kate Murphy reveals how improving your 'active listening' skills can help to reconnect with those closest to us in a fascinating new book (file image)

But the great art of listening is withering in the face of our increasingly noisy and navel-gazing culture, claims journalist Kate Murphy. 'In modern life,' she says, 'we are encouraged to listen to our hearts, to our inner voices, to our guts but rarely are we encouraged to listen carefully and with intent to other people.'

The rise of social media has skewed our perception, making us more focused on what we project than what we absorb.

The consequence? A politically divided society and an epidemic of loneliness which, according to the World Health Organisation, has seen the global suicide rate rise 60 per cent over the past 45 years. In 2018, the UK even appointed a Minister for Loneliness to help the nine million Britons who reported feelings of social isolation.

So how do we plug ourselves back into our communities? By using our ears again. It isn't easy. Many of the people Murphy spoke to freely admitted they were terrible listeners.

She offers tips on good listening from successful CEOs, teachers, scientists, athletes, chefs, economists, creative artists and even con men. She learned that we can all improve our 'active listening' skills to reconnect with those closest to us, as well as people we meet on trains or in work corridors.

YOU'RE NOT LISTENING by Kate Murphy (Harvill Secker 16.99, 288 pp)

We do this by not interrupting and asking open-ended questions. When a spouse tells you they had a bad day, you can close them down by saying: 'I'm sorry. Shall we watch Strictly?' or you can help and expand your own mind with: 'I'm sorry. What happened?'

We must also remember that over half the emotional content of a conversation is transmitted non-verbally. Sigmund Freud said that: 'No mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.'

This is all hard work. 'Careful listening,' says Murphy, 'is draining, regardless of your personality, aptitude or motivation.' So it's fine to draw boundaries. Choose who you hear and when you hear them. Nothing, she says, makes people happier than going back to them later and saying simply: 'I've been thinking about what you said.'

So we should heed the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus who said: 'Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.'
[March 05, 2020] Get Back to School and Get Started on a Career: Insight School of Kansas Now Enrolling for the '20-21 School Year

Insight School of Kansas (ISKS), a full-time public school program of the Spring Hill Unified School District, is now accepting enrollment applications for the 2020-2021 school year. Available tuition-free to students in grades 7-12, as well as to adult learners, ISKS provides Kansans with the opportunity to finish their high school education and plan for college and career success. Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, ISKS will offer the Destinations Career Program. With the goal of preparing high school students for college and careers in IT, Business, and Health & Human Services, ISKS Destinations students can gain early exposure to these fields through coursework, project based learning, and by connecting with industry partners. ISKS also offers a unique Adult Learner Program, providing people across the state with the opportunity to earn a high school diploma, no matter when or at what point they left school. Students who are past their fourth-year cohort and have not earned a tradiional high school diploma have a renewed chance to do so, no matter their age.



"There can be many challenges that get between a student and high school graduation, but earning that diploma is essential to success in today's economy," said ISKS Head of School Cassie Barton. "With our online learning platform and our dedicated staff, we're here to help students navigate that path and graduate ready to tackle whatever lies ahead." ISKS offers students the academic, emotional and social supports needed to earn a high school diploma and succeed after graduation. ISKS staff are committed to the success of each student. State-certified teachers facilitate lessons during live, interactive online classes, and connect with students and families via phone, email, web-based classrooms and online discussions to help them stay on track.

ISKS also builds a sense of community throughout the year with in-person social and learning opportunities, including an in-person prom and graduation ceremony each spring. Virtual clubs and student organizations give students diverse opportunities to explore shared interests, grow leadership skills and form friendships online and in their communities. Enrollment at ISKS is now open for the 2020-2021 school year. To learn more, visit ks.insightschools.net or download the K12 mobile app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Insight School of Kansas Insight School of Kansas (ISKS) is an accredited, full-time online public school program of the Spring Hill Unified School District that serves Kansas students in grades 7-12, as well as adult learners who are past their fourth-year cohort and have not earned a traditional high school diploma. As part of the Kansas public school system, ISKS is tuition-free and gives parents and families the choice to school from home using curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ISKS, visit ks.insightschools.net. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005263/en/

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In a relief to Telangana government, two people from the state have tested negative for coronavirus.

Speaking to reporters here, Health Minister E Rajender said the two samples -- one who came from Italy and another, a sanitary worker, who works in an IT company, tested negative.

Expressing relief over the development, he said the state health department has spent the last few days with anxiety as it always wished good health for people.

Samples of two persons had been sent to NIV, Pune after local tests for coronavirus returned "borderline".

Hoping that COVID-19 would not spread in the state, the minister said the state government is capable of tackling any situation.

With two samples testing negative, the number of positive cases reported in the state so far is one.

Asserting that COVID-19 was not air-borne, Rajender deprecated "overreactions" to the virus.

He referred to apprehensions among residents of the locality where the house of the person, who tested positive for the virus, is located and evacuation of employees in the IT corridor of the city, where the techie worked.

The state IT department and police have been trying to instill confidence among IT firms, he said.

The Minister appealed to the IT industry not to worry, saying even a single person in the state has been infected by the virus so far.

The only one, who tested positive, was suspected to have contracted it in Dubai, he added.

Even his condition was improving by the day and he can also be free of the virus, he said.

The COVID-19 positive person, a software professional who works in Bengaluru, is currently undergoing treatment at the state-run Gandhi hospital here.

Displaying the reports of two persons, who tested negative for the virus, Rajender said any "irresponsible" behavior that causes panic would not be good for the society.

He said 21 other samples tested for the virus have also turned out to be negative.

Though the fresh samples have been negative, the state government would not lower its guard and the command control system set up by it would continue till required.

Asserting that the state government was fully prepared to deal with COVID-19, he said there was no shortage of treatment facilities in the state.

Even the unoccupied double bed room houses for poor, built by the state government can be used, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Not a single country is on course to meet targets to reverse spiralling obesity rates by 2025, a damning report has revealed.

Countries are 'worryingly off-track' to meet World Health Organization targets agreed to by member states, according to the World Obesity Federation (WOF).

Research suggests there is a less than a 10 per cent chance the world will meet targets within five years, while the UK and US have zero chance.

Around 200 countries had pledged to significantly cut their obesity levels by making sure levels didn't rise any more from 2010.

But key trends show that most countries are experiencing either growing obesity rates or a failure to improve them.

One in five adults are expected to be obese within five years, which also causes more people to fall ill with diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Some middle income countries have seen their obesity levels soar in the past 20 years, such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Laos.

'Not a single country' is on course to meet targets to reverse spiralling obesity rates by 2025. Pictured, some of the countries with the highest obesity rates in the world

The WOF's report was released to coincide with World Obesity Day on March 4.

Professor Donna Ryan, President of the World Obesity Federation, said 'Despite government commitments, not a single country is on track to meet the WHO goals.

'There is no excuse for this inaction.

'People with obesity require respectful and equitable access to treatment or opportunities for prevention.

'This requires action from policymakers around the world to address the underlying roots of obesity'

SO WHICH TOP FIVE COUNTRIES ARE ON TRACK TO MEET TARGETS? MEN Andorra 6% American Samoa 3% China (Hong Kong) 3% Djibouti 3% Mauritius 3% WOMEN Andorra 32% Estonia 20% Latvia 20% Russian Federation 20% China (Hong Kong) 18% Advertisement

Member states of the WHO agreed to targets in 2013, which included no increase in the prevalence of adult obesity and diabetes between 2010 and 2025.

Despite the 'modest' target, countries have failed to 'get a grip on their obesity epidemics', Professor Ryan wrote in the report.

More than 42.9million men and 46.8million women in the US are obese, ranking the first in the world.

Following behind are China and Brazil, with a total of 69million and 34.7million respectively.

Of men globally, men in the UK rank eighth, with 6.9million obese. Of women, the UK 11th, at 7.7million.

By 2025, global obesity prevalence is predicted to reach 18 per cent in men and surpass 21 per cent in women - around a fifth overall.

WHICH COUNTRIES IN EACH REGION HAVE THE HIGHEST OBESITY RATES? Region/gender Highest country Per cent Lowest country Per cent Africa







Men Algeria 20.70% Uganda 1.90% Women South Africa 40% Ethiopia 7.30% Americas







Men United States 36.50% Trinidad and Tobago 11.20% Women Bermuda 43.20% Paraguay 24.40% Europe







Men Malta 30.10% Tajikistan 12.00% Women Turkey 40.70% Tajikistan 17% Middle East







Men Kuwait 34.30% Afghanistan 3.40% Women Kuwait 47.10% Afghanistan 8% South East Asia







Men Thailand 7.30% Bangladesh 2.40% Women Thailand 13.30% Timor-Leste 5.20% Western Pacific







Men Nauru 59.90% Vietnam 1.70% Women American Samoa 65.30% Vietnam 2.70%

TOP 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST OBESE MEN Top 10 countries with the most obese men by per cent of population: Nauru: 59.9% American Samoa: 58.8% Cook Islands: 54% Palau: 53% Marshall Islands: 49.8% French Polynesia: 48.9% Tuvalu: 48.5% Niue: 46.2% Kiribati: 42.9% Tonga: 42.7% Top 10 countries with the most obese men by numbers: US: 42.9million China: 33.2m Brazil: 13.4m India: 12.3m Russian Federation: 9.7m Mexico: 9.4m Germany: 8.2m UK: 6.9m Turkey: 6.5m Egypt: 6.3m Advertisement

TOP 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST AND LEAST OBESE WOMEN Top 10 countries with the most obese women by per cent of population: American Samoa: 65.3% Nauru: 64.8% Cook Islands: 60.9% Palau: 60.5% Marshall Islands: 59% Tuvalu: 57.9% French Polynesia: 56.9% Niue: 56.8% Samoa: 56.6% Tonga: 56.1% Top 10 countries with the most obese women by numbers: US: 46.8million China: 36.2m India: 21.3m Brazil: 19.6m Russian Federation: 17.6m Mexico: 14m Egypt: 11.6m Turkey: 11.1m Iran: 9.1m Indonesia: 7.8m Advertisement

A third of these people, totalling 257million, will be severely obese, with a body mass index (BMI) over 35, a rise from the 202million in 2016.

Five countries - the US, China, Brazil, India and Russia - are forecast to account for a third of all adult obesity cases worldwide.

The prevalence of childhood obesity has risen dramatically worldwide, too. An estimated 205million children aged between five and 19 will be affected by obesity by 2025.

Few countries have a better than 50 per cent chance of meeting targets to control rising levels from 2010.

The UK's chances of meeting adult obesity targets was 0 per cent, the WOF said. Cases of obesity in men are predicted to rise from 23.9 per cent in 2010 to 35.4 per cent in 2025.

Women don't fare much better - rising from 26.4 per cent in 2010 to 35.6 per cent in 2025.

Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, told MailOnline: 'Since the turn of the century Whitehall has set obesity targets which it then found to be unattainable.

'Successive governments have avoided taking the bold and certainly unpopular measures that tackling the rising epidemic demands.

'The latest casualty was the promise to reverse both childhood and adults obesity to their 2000 levels by the beginning of this year. It just didn't happen.

'Now the Johnson administration has vowed to halve child obesity by 2030. I fear that that will not be achieved either without the bold measures that should have been taken 20 years ago.'

In the US, obesity levels are predicted to rise by 10 per cent to 44.2 per cent in men and 44.4 per cent in women by 2025.

Because obesity levels are worsening, so are the costs to deal with them. It is estimated that the total cost of high BMI to health services globally is US$990billion per year, over 13 per cent of all healthcare expenditure, the WOF said.

The Americas spend the most of their total expenditure on obesity and its complications, at almost 18 per cent, followed by Africa at 13 per cent.

To tackle the issue, a declaration has been drawn up by groups including the WOF, the Obesity Action Coalition, and the Obesity Medical Association.

HOW CAN THE WORLD TACKLE OBESITY? A declaration has been drawn up by groups including the WOF, the Obesity Action Coalition, and the Obesity Medical Association. This requires action from policymakers around the world to address the underlying 'ROOTS' of obesity. These are: Recognise officially that obesity is a chronic disease. Obesity research into the causes and effective strategies must be vigorously promoted and supported. Obesity prevention strategies must be implemented across the life course, from pre-conception to old age. Treatment of obesity should be accessible to all people with obesity. This includes nutrition, surgery and medical support Systems-based approaches should be applied to the management of obesity, aimed at strengthening health systems, enabling obesitys incorporation into primary and secondary care, and addressing the environmental, social and commercial roots of obesity. Advertisement

It calls upon governments to tackle the root causes of obesity, which involve designating it as a disease.

Obesity has a wide range of causes, including genetics, environment - such as how many takeaway shops are in a person's neighbourhood - and lifestyle behaviours.

Experts at the WOF are calling for obesity to be seen as a chronic disease to break barriers to treatment.

The report said: 'People with obesity are regularly shamed and blamed for their disease. This is because many people- including doctors, policymakers and others  do not understand that obesity is a chronic disease.

'They see it as a simple lack of willpower, laziness, or a refusal to eat less and move more.'

WOF's statement echoes that of a group of 100 health professionals worldwide who also said calling overweight people fat or lazy must stop because stigma is blocking the fight against the obesity epidemic.

The 'social exclusion' faced by people with obesity is similar to that of diseases in the past, such as the plague, HIV and cholera which were wrongly blamed on individuals, the group led by King's College London said.

WOF head Johanna Ralston said: 'The absence of a comprehensive view of obesity has translated into fragmented health systems, weak policies and poor translation of medical knowledge into widely available prevention and care.

'That is why we are launching a Declaration on obesity, calling on governments and policymakers to join civil society organizations around the world in supporting greater collective action and to further raise awareness about this serious, chronic disease.'
The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on Thursday that it was working with the Health Ministry to allocate $30 million to finance Cambodias screening and monitoring efforts, as the novel coronavirus outbreak reached more than 70 countries.

The ministry said the allocation would be used for preventive and monitoring measures, as well as to treat potential patients testing positive for COVID-19.

Through the establishment of the protection system and monitoring facilities, there is a need for [budget], the statement read. "For example, to look for those who have the potential to spread the virus and to prevent and treat it in case of infection.

Or Vandine, Health Ministry spokesperson, said the funding would also be used to prepare doctors at provincial hospitals, drug procurement and other material acquisitions.

There was an in-depth consideration about the demand for medical equipment, as well as the necessary remedies for patient care if we find someone positive for COVID-19, she said.

The announcement comes a day after Prime Minister Hun Sen called for all relevant ministries to prepare for a fight against the viral outbreak. He even asked ministries to cut expenditure, excluding salaries, by half to prepare for the virus spread in Cambodia.

This directive comes after Hun Sen has downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak, even travelling to China to show solidarity with a diplomatic ally. The Cambodian government has maintained that there has been only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country.

A Japanese man living in Siem Reap tested positive for the virus this week in Nagoya, Japan, resulting in 44 people being put in isolation to stem the spread of the disease in Cambodia.

Government accountability advocate San Chey said the $30 million was not enough given the scale of the outbreak, especially if it were to spread fast in Cambodia.

In addition, the use of preventive tools should be in communities, schools, and industrial areas, such as factories, he said.
While the coronavirus spreads across the globe, hackers are taking advantage of the epidemic to steal data and make a profit.

Cybersecurity experts reveal that since January more than 4,000 coronavirus-related domains have been registered and some 300 are deemed 'malicious' or 'suspicious'.

A new report, released by Check Point, found that domains about the virus are 50 percent more likely to be owned by cybercriminals than other domains registered during the same time period.

Omer Dembinksy, security researcher at Check Point, told DailyMail.com that fraudulent sites offering information or test kits in order to gather people's information or receive payment.

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While the coronavirus spreads across the globe, hackers are taking advantage of the pandemic to steal data and money from the public. Cybersecurity experts reveal that since January more than 4,000 coronavirus-related domains have been registered and some 300 are deemed 'malicious' or 'suspicious'

'There is going to be a big increase in malicious coronavirus-themed websites over the next few months, but they will begin to slow as time goes on, Dembinksy told DailyMail.com in an interview.

'We found that the current malicious domains are asking users fill out details or provide payment.'

'Hackers are also sending emails prompting users to download a file claiming to offer more information about the virus, which gives them access to the user's computer.'

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Check Point discovered a range of malicious websites using people's fears in order to benefit themselves. One in particular claims to be selling 'the best and fastest test for Coronavirus detection at the fantastic price of 19,000 Russian rubles (about US$300)

Other web

The firm also discovered a phishing campaign floating around the web in Italy where more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported and a total of 107 have died. The attack was found to hit over 10 percent of all organizations in Italy

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

To date, there are more than 97,000 cases and 3,000 deaths reported across the globe.

Check Point discovered a range of malicious websites using people's fears in order to benefit themselves.

One in particular claims to be selling 'the best and fastest test for Coronavirus detection at the fantastic price of 19,000 Russian rubles (about US$300).'

'When looking at websites, we need to use common sense,' Dembinksy said.

'If the website is offering something that seems too good to be true or asking you to fill out details about yourself or payments, then it is most likely owned by hackers.'

'Websites that provide information are usually running mining activity in the background and can take control of your computer when you download a file.'

'As a precaution, do not visit websites you are not familiar with.'

'When you do a search for coronavirus, the first few results are usually well trusted.'

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. To date, there are more than 97 cases and 3,000 deaths reported across the globe

The firm also discovered a phishing campaign floating around the web in Italy where more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported and a total of 107 have died.

The attack was found to hit over 10 percent of all organizations in Italy, which exploited people's fears about coronavirus gain access and mine people's computers.

The email contained a malicious document file, named f###########.doc (#=digit) and with the email subject 'Coronavirus: Informazioni importanti su precauzioni' (English translation- Coronavirus: Important information about precautions).

The body of the email reads: 'Due to the number of cases of coronavirus infection that have been documented in your area, the World Health Organization has prepared a document that includes all the necessary precautions against coronavirus infection.'

To make it seem more legitimate, hackers signed it using a name of a doctor from World Health Organization (WHO) based in Italy.

'We did a search online and could not find a doctor by the name of Penelope Marchetti with WHO or Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanita (OMS),' Check Point explained in the paper.

'Also, the senders' email addresses are not from official WHO or OMS domains, and most of them were not Italian at all.'

The fraudulent document contains a Trojan-Downloader that attacks the user's computer and enables hackers to mine it for data.

Dembinksy explained that he and the team at Check Point monitor the internet during big events, such as holidays, disasters and outbreaks, to see where the traffic is going in order to spot these online threats.

'If there is an Olympics this year, you will some more malicious websites and phishing emails begin to pop-up based on the event.'

'I have seen the same happen during the ash cloud in Iceland and during tsunami warnings.'

'Hackers utilize people's fears for their benefit.'
Days after a district-level



committee declared the caste certificate of Solapur BJP MP Jaisiddeshwar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji as "invalid", a case of cheating and forgery was registered against the seer-turned- politician here in Maharashtra on Thursday, an official said.

On February 24, the district caste validity committee invalidated Swami's caste certificate and directed that a case be filed against the parliamentarian.

The Solapur Lok Sabha seat is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

One Pramod Gaikwad had complained to the committee that Swami, in his affidavit submitted for the 2019 general elections, had falsely mentioned that he belonged to the 'beda jangam' community, which falls in the SC category.

Gaikwad had claimed Swami was actually a Hindu Lingayat and sought a detailed probe into his caste certificate.

The three-member committee, led by Dnyaneshwar Sul, after a detailed probe, had said Swami did not belong to the beda jangam community and declared his certificate as "invalid and forged".

The panel had directed district authorities to file a case against the 63-year-old spiritual leader in a magistrate court under provisions of the Caste Certificate Act, 2000, and relevant sections of the IPC.

"As per orders from the court, we have registered a case against Swamiji under IPC sections 420 (cheating) 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating ), 471 (using as genuine a forged document ) and relevant sections of the Caste Certificate Act, 2000," said a senior official from the Sadar Bazar police station here.

The complaint in this regard was registered in the court of judicial magistrate by Balasaheb Baban Shirsath, the officiating tehsildar of Akkalkot town in Solapur district.

He said besides Swami, officials from the revenue department in Akkalkot and Umraga in Osmanabad district were named in the complaint.

Swami had defeated Congress heavyweight and former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde by over 1.5 lakh votes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A UK court on Thursday rejected for the fifth time the bail plea of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition to India on charges over the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.

The 49-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year and is scheduled for an extradition trial in May, made his fifth attempt at getting bail on the basis of a change in circumstances.

However, the High Court in London rejected his bail plea.

Modi was arrested on March 19, 2019, on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on charges brought by the Indian government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
General tickets go on sale for the Chicago show March 16. VIP packages, which Live Nation says which may include premium tickets, a backstage tour, VIP parking and exclusive access to a pre-show lounge, special entry and more will also be available. VIP package information can be found at www.vipnation.com and for all tour and ticket information, visit www.livenation.com.
It is subordinate to the HCM City-based Central Military Hospital 175 and consists of 70 members.

Members of Level-2 Field Hospital No. 3 and delegates at the launching ceremony pose for a photo (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the event, Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh spoke highly of efforts by units of the Defence Ministry, the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Central Military Hospital 175 in readying the field hospital, especially in terms of personnel, for replacing Level-2 Field Hospital No. 2 which is performing duties at the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

He asked the relevant parties to keep close coordination to perfect the hospitals apparatus and continue training for its staff so that the hospital will fulfill its tasks even better than its predecessors.

On this occasion, Vinh also appreciated other countries and international partners support for Vietnam during the building, training and deployment of its peacekeeping force for UN operations.

Deputy head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam Axelle Nicaise congratulated the peacekeeping force of Vietnam on their achievements, which have helped promote the countrys stature and prestige in the international arena.

She said the EU and Vietnam share the same wish to ensure regional and global security and peace.

The EU will always stand ready to support and assist Vietnam in peacekeeping activities, the diplomat said, adding that it also hopes Level-2 Field Hospital No. 3 and future units of Vietnams peacekeeping force will receive more assistance from international friends, including the EU.

At a meeting earlier the same day, Maj. Gen. Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, reported that Level-2 Field Hospital No. 2 in the UN mission in South Sudan has been performing their duties well. In three months working in Bentiu, it provided checks and treatments to 527 patients, successfully conducted six surgeries, and airlifted three patients in critical conditions to higher-level hospitals./.
China has allocated 110.48 billion yuan ($15.93 billion) in coronavirus-related funding as of March 4, Vice Finance Minister Xu Hongcai said at a press briefing on March 5.

He added that China would ensure the smooth operation of local governments amid the coronavirus outbreak and that the finance ministry will ensure the funding needs of Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

China saw an uptick in new cases on March 5 driven by more cases in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have emerged in a market late last year.
Mumbai, March 5 : Actor Kartik Aaryan is excited because he will get to perform live on home turf soon. The actor, who hails from Gwalior, says he looks forward to performing at the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA), which will be held in an Indian city for the second time in a row, when the 21st edition is hosted in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

Watch: Katrina Kaif and Kartik Aaryan at the Press Conference For IIFA

"This is the first time it's happening in Indore. Earlier, they (people of Indore) didn't have the access (to stars), but this year such a nice line-up is arriving to perform, so all of us are excited. I am excited because it is taking place in my home state. I look forward to it. Right now, I am injured but I am dying to perform there," said Kartik at a press conference of the event that he attended with Katrina Kaif.

Did Katrina, who is known for her cool moves, give tips to Kartik on dancing? "He already performed when IIFA was held in Bangkok, so it will not be his first performance. I think he is fantastic on stage," Katrina replied.

Apart from Kartik and Katrina, celebrities including Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez will perform on the awards night, which will be hosted by Salman Khan and Ritiesh Deshmukh.

While a pre-event will be held in Bhopal on March 21, the actual three-day event will take place in Indore from March 27 to 29.

- IANS iv/vnc

-- Syndicated from IANS
Parents in a southwest Winnipeg suburb are infuriated, after learning their children will likely have to switch schools for the second time in four years due to overcrowding at South Pointe School and the provinces rejection of requests for portable classrooms.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Parents in a southwest Winnipeg suburb are infuriated, after learning their children will likely have to switch schools for the second time in four years due to overcrowding at South Pointe School and the provinces rejection of requests for portable classrooms.

The catchment area for the dual-track K-8 school in South Pointe includes the neighbouring community of Richmond West, which doesnt have a local school of its own, but that could soon change.

Related Items Click to Expand Articles Feb 18, 2020: Pembina Trails scrambles to find space after province refuses portables request Maggie Macintosh

As trustees address capacity concerns, it is all but certain boundaries will be redrawn  forcing about 100 students to leave the school on Kirkbridge Drive.

"I put my son to bed last night with a broken heart, sobbing," said Grant Rutherford, a Richmond West resident whose two children, in grades 2 and 4, respectively, attend South Pointe. "We are being discriminated against in our subdivision. Weve been told all these different schools are not their schools."

There are currently 950 students enrolled in the facility designed for 875, and it isnt the first area school to deal with space issues.

The Rutherfords initially wanted to send their children to nearby Ecole St. Avila, but they had to rearrange plans because the school was too packed. The oldest child started at Bonnycastle School, and was transferred to South Pointe mid-school year, when it opened in January 2017.

South Pointe parents have just learned from the Pembina Trails School Division and the province that they will have to move their children to different schools due to overcrowding issues. Some parents have had to move their children three times in the past four years. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

Rutherford penned a letter to local city councillors, MLAs, Pembina Trails School Division, and province to express his frustration that asking families to move their children again will affect child-care arrangements, parents abilities to work, and the students, who will have to leave friends, teachers and support system.

"We absolutely understand the parents' frustration. We are in between a rock and a hard place. This was not our preference. Our preference was portables," said Pembina Trails superintendent Ted Fransen, hours before he planned to attend a South Pointe parent advisory council meeting Wednesday night to address concerns.

Trustees were briefed on the overcrowding problem during a meeting Feb. 13  the same day Fransen announced the province had again rejected a request for portables to deal with growing enrolment.

Instead of approving trailer-classrooms, the province has asked divisions, including Pembina Trails and Louis Riel, to fill all open seats in other schools.

"We absolutely understand the parents' frustration. We are in between a rock and a hard place. This was not our preference. Our preference was portables."  Ted Fransen, Pembina Trails superintendent

In response, senior administrators at Pembina Trails have recommended trustees end South Pointe's grandfathering system for French immersion students from Richmond West and Fairfield Park in the summer. (Shortly after South Pointe opened, the school's catchment area was condensed as a result of space concerns.)

The board is expected to approve the latest motion at a meeting March 11, meaning families such as the Rutherfords and Smiths will have to move their children to either Ecole St. Avila (K-6) or Ecole Viscount Alexander (5-8).

"Not only are my children being separated from teachers theyve built relationships with, their friend group, but theyre also being separated from each other," said Jim Smith, a Richmond West father of two. "Meanwhile, weve never moved."

Smith said he wished the division had consulted parents to come up with a less disruptive solution; the board decided there wasnt time.

Chibuya and Jim Smith go over school homework with their daughters Marley, 11, and Scarlett, 8 in their Winnipeg home. The Smiths and other South Pointe parents have just learned from the Pembina Trails School Division and the province that they will have to move their children to different schools due to ongoing overcrowding issues. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

The decision impacts the smallest number of students, the superintendent said, adding enrolment at South Pointe School is expected to reach almost 1,000 next year, and continue to grow in the following years.

"This plan will realign the French immersion catchment for all students who live in Richmond West," Fransen wrote in a letter to parents dated Feb. 28, one day after the motion was introduced to trustees.

Meanwhile, Rutherford is calling for the division to alter the grades offered at the school or cut off acceptance of new students next year, rather than move his children and their Richmond West classmates. Either the division needs to take action, he said, or the province should provide portables.

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"Not only are my children being separated from teachers theyve built relationships with, their friend group, but theyre also being separated from each other. Meanwhile, weve never moved."  Jim Smith, a Richmond West father of two

A provincial spokesperson said in a statement the policy of asking divisions to use available spaces prior to portable approval is long-standing. They also noted Pembina Trails' previous decision to allow a grandfathering system for French immersion students outside the catchment.

The Public Schools Finance Board works with divisions to determine whether all seats are being maximized, the provincial official said, adding it was determined there are more than 250 available spaces at schools near South Pointe.

Another K-8 school in Waverley West will be built "in the very near future," the spokesperson added.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
The company behind a daycare centre accused of leaving a three-year-old boy to die in a hot minibus had left a child in a vehicle just weeks earlier.

The three-year-old boy's body was found on a minibus at Goodstart Early Learning in Edmonton, near Cairns in Far North Queensland, at about 3.15pm on February 18.

Bus driver and manager Michael Glen Lewis, 45, and Goodstart employee Dionne Batrice Grills, 34, are charged with the toddler's manslaughter.

A three-year-old boy's body was found on a minibus near Cairns in far north Queensland on February 18

In the weeks before the tragedy, a one-year-old child was left on a Goodstart bus near the town of Toowoomba in south-east Queensland, it has emerged.

A source told The Courier-Mail a headcount was not performed by the driver or staff and the child was found during a second pick-up round.

A Goodstart Early Learning centre spokeswoman confirmed the baby was left unsupervised for between three and five minutes.

'The incident was thoroughly investigated, reported to the regulatory authorities and subsequent disciplinary action taken,' the spokeswoman said.

Bus driver and manager Michael Glenn Lewis, 45, and Goodstart employee Dionne Batrice Grills, 34, are charged with the toddler's manslaughter

'The two staff members involved are no longer employed by Goodstart.'

In 2018, a 14-month-old girl was also left in a Goodstart bus in Parkwood on the Gold Coast for more than an hour, on a day when temperatures reached 30C.

Thankfully she survived.

Further back in 2015, Goodstart said a staff member was fired after a three-year-old child was left unsupervised for ten minutes in South Toowoomba.

The youngster was also left behind on a minibus after a headcount was not completed by room staff or the driver.

Pictured: A Goodstart Early Learning minibus. It has emerged a one-year-old child was left on a Goodstart bus near the town of Toowoomba in south-east Queensland in January

Ms Grills (pictured) is charged with manslaughter over the tragic death of a three-year-old boy at Edmonton Goodstart Early Learning Centre on February 18

The toddler who died in February will be farewelled on Friday at a funeral in a children's section of the Martyn St lawn cemetery.

Tributes have been laid at the Edmonton centre featuring teddy bears, and a spokesperson for the boy's family has thanked the public for their support.

'At present, our families are working through a very difficult time in our lives by supporting, encouraging and looking out for each other,' the spokesperson known as Uncle Nick said.

Goodstart's national Safe Work team reviewed the centre in the wake of the boy's death, leading to national compulsory refresher training for staff.

The tragedy has also led to new designated roles in the bus system; where staff members will be assigned to be a driver, supervisor or checker.

THE TRAGIC TIMELINE OF THE BOY'S DEATH: 7.35am: Edmonton Goodstart Early Learning Centre manager Michael Glenn Lewis allegedly 'fraudulently' checks in the boy on the electric sign-in system. 8.30am: The boy's mother calls to ask if he can be picked up, as he was not collected on the initial morning run. 9.15am: Lewis and his colleague Dionne Batrice Grills collect the boy from his home on the minibus. 9.33am: The bus pulls into the daycare carpark, but the boy - who is strapped into a baby seat, two seats away from the front door - never gets off, despite being clearly visible. **During the day the temperature rises to 36C in the Cairns area. 2.45pm: The bus leaves for the afternoon run, with the boy still in his seat. 3pm: Lewis makes a desperate call to Triple-0, telling the operator: 'Oh my God, this kid is dead' Advertisement

Each have their own roles and duties to make sure kids get on and off the bus safely.

The supervisor will be responsible for making sure no children are left on the bus before getting off.

A checker will be required to inspect the bus after it returns to the centre, then double-check the attendance roll and check off children.

They will also take and upload photos to show the bus is empty.

In late February, Cairns Magistrate Court heard the three-year-old was left strapped in a babyseat inside the bus for six hours in sweltering 36C heat.

It was only when Mr Lewis, the director of Edmonton Goodstart Early Learning Centre, returned to the bus that afternoon that the boy's body was discovered.

The boy had allegedly been put in a child restraint just two seats away from the driver and front door.

Yet when the minibus being driven by Lewis arrived at the daycare centre, he and his colleague Grills allegedly left the vehicle - but did not take the boy with them.

He allegedly spent the next six hours sweltering inside the bus as the mercury rose to 36C.

At 2.45pm, Lewis returned to the bus to begin the afternoon drop off run, but the court heard it wasn't until 3pm that he discovered the dead boy.

He then called Triple-0 and said: 'I've left a child on the bus... my life is over.'

The court also heard allegations that Mr Lewis and Ms Grills had signed in the young boy more than two hours before the bus arrived at the daycare centre.

Police allege the boy had been signed in by Mr Lewis at 7.35am last Tuesday on the Goodstart Early Learning Centre's electronic sign-in system.

However, the boy was not collected from his home by the bus until 9.15am, and CCTV footage showed the bus did not arrive at the daycare site until 9.33am.

Today show host Allison Langdon challenged the CEO of Goodstart Early Learning as the company resumed operation of its bus services on Tuesday.

The centre's minibus services had initially been suspended following February's death.

During a heated discussion on the Today Show on Tuesday, Langdon asked Ms Davison how could any parent be reassured their child will safe in her care.

'We don't know what happened in Cairns,' Ms Davison responded.

Allison Langdon confronted the CEO of a daycare centre accused of leaving a three-year-old boy to die in a sweltering hot minibus. Pictured with co-host Karl Stefanovic

'What we do know is we have had a handful of bus incidents over the years here at Goodstart.

'Every time we've had an incident we've taken stock and we've reviewed and strengthened our policies and procedures.'

Langdon responded: 'But whatever you're doing isn't enough. A little boy is dead.'

During a discussion on the Today Show on Tuesday morning, Allison Langdon questioned CEO Julia Davison (pictured)

Ms Davison said the centre will 'keep doing everything we possibly can to make sure that nothing like this can possibly happen again whilst a child is in our care'.

Co-host Karl Stefanovic then chimed in, saying: 'I don't know how has a parent I would over allow my child to go on your bus. I just don't know how that happens.'

When asked how the family of the little boy were coping, Ms Davison refused to provide any specific details of their correspondence.

'It's obviously a very private matter. We're having ongoing conversations with them. I'm unable to share what they're saying with you, I'm afraid on national television. That will not be respecting them,' she said.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

Your Excellency,

Please accept my compliments.

At the risk of not allowing my voice to be stifled by those who wish I was never born to take position on issues that speak to the afflictions of my dearest nation, I write to you to officially bring to your attention my indignation over your deafening silence on the Airbus SE corruption.

As you are aware, Airbus SE has agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to resolve foreign bribery and other charges with authorities in the United States, Britain and France.

The aircraft maker has admitted using intermediaries over several years to bribe government officials and airline executives in order to win lucrative contracts the world over uncluding Ghana.

The European aircraft manufacturer, is alleged to have paid bribes in Ghana when it sold the three-military aircraft to the country.

The company admitted hiring the brother of a top elected Ghanaian official as its consultant in the sale of the aircraft. Also, Airbus confessed paying the said consultant through a third party when its Compliance Unit raised red flags about the close relationship between the consultant and the top elected official who was a key decision maker in the purchase of the military aircraft.

The Airbus corruption is the biggest corruption case ever. Indeed, payment of bribes were made and received and the beneficiary was GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1. Again, documents were falsified in making the payments to disguise the payment of bribes to GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1. GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1 is on the record of the Court as the recipient of the corrupt proceeds from this transaction.

Paragraph 136 of the US Court documents actually described Government official I as having a reputation for bribe taking.

Sir, this "sad story" dates back to 2009 -2015 when you were in full control of governance.

Respectfully sir, everyone who is privy to the core details of the series of court documents published by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom cannot allege ignorance of the persons who have brought our nation into this international shame.

And since these matters came to light, most Ghanaians have had reasons to believe that government official 1 codenamed in the courts documents is no other person than your good self.

As a matter of fact, the deputy Attorney General, Godfred Odame has made comments to the fact that you are indeed the codenamed individual.

I am aware the president of Ghana has referred the matter to the investigative authorities. Whereas I do not doubt the competence of our investigative authorities to get to the bottom of this massive international corruption, and bring you to justice, I respectfully submit and appeal to your good self to tell Ghanaians the role you played in this massive corruption scandal.

Sir, why is it difficult for you to come clear on these matters and submit yourself to the investigative authorities?

Respectfully sir, it is incumbent on you to come out and respond to allegations that an individual close to a top government official was bribed by Airbus between 2011 and 2015.

The 35 million involved in the purchase of the aircraft as at that the time was equivalent to $40 million and I am wondering why Ghana should spend $40 million to buy an aircraft that was selling at $25 million on the market.

A host of former world leaders have served time behind bars for corruption committed while they were in power. From Europe to Middle East to Asia to South America to Africa. The list is endless. Some have been able to avoid prison through appeals and others are on trial, such as South Africas past president Jacob Zuma who is facing 16 counts of graft from before his presidency.

In Brazil, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been ordered to start a 12-year sentence for corruption.

In Croatia, Ivo Sanader was Prime minister from 2003 to 2009, he was arrested in late 2010 on charges of corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power. Sanader served time in 2011 and again in 2012-2015, when he was released after a court overturned a nine-year sentence and ordered a retrial. Other trials are due.

Portugal's Jose Socrates who was prime minister between (2005-2011) spent more than nine months in temporary detention before being placed under house arrest in September 2015 over bribery corruption.

Ollanta Humala served as President of Peru from 2011 to 2016, Humala entered prison in July 2017 on a sentence of 18 months of pre-trial detention. This followed charges of accepting illegal campaign donations worth $3 million from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

These are just a few of the many former presidents who have had their day with the law.

Bearing in mind the above realities, it is most unfortunate that the international community has, for political expediency, treated you with kids gloves.

I expected both the US and UK to come hard on your involvement in this corruption scandal.

Sir, do you ever go to bed at night thinking about this Airbus saga how it has already ruined your chances of becoming president again?

Clearly, this has dent your already battered reputation and it has make you unfit to contest the highest office of the land.

Sir, do yourself a favour by stepping aside as NDC flagbearer in order to clear your name from this international shame. You cannot sanitize your and corrupt deeds by juxtaposing them with the governing flaws of the the current regime.

Indeed, you owe it to the good people of Ghana who reposed their confidence in you as president for 4 years.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:31:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Thursday refuted a Fox News host demanding an apology from China for the novel coronavirus outbreak, saying the relevant remarks were preposterous and ridiculous, and fully revealed his arrogance, prejudice and ignorance toward China.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing when asked to comment on Fox News host's relevant remarks.

The epidemic is a common enemy of mankind and every patient of the virus, wherever he or she is, is a victim, Zhao said, adding that at present, people all over the world are working together to fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic. The World Health Organization has repeatedly said that stigmatization is more dangerous than coronavirus itself.

"What is the intention of certain individual and media to preach such an absurd logic?" Zhao asked.

There is no basis and no reason to demand an apology from China, Zhao said. "The origin of the virus is still undetermined. No matter where the virus originated, China and all the other affected countries are victims of the virus and face the challenge of containing its spread."

"The H1N1 flu that broke out in the United States in 2009 spread to 214 countries and regions, killing at least 18,449 people that year. Who asked the United States to apologize?" Zhao asked.

Zhao said in its fight against the epidemic, China has conducted itself as a responsible country. "China's strength, efficiency and speed in this fight have been widely praised by the international community."

China is protecting the health and safety of not only its own people but also the rest of the world, and along the way made huge sacrifice and major contributions, he said.

To date, leaders of more than 170 countries and heads of over 40 international and regional organizations have sent messages of sympathy or issued statements of support for China. They also spoke highly of China's anti-epidemic measures and the positive results, and the enormous sacrifices and contributions made to prevent the spread of the epidemic, he added.
An airstrike on a rebel-held village in northwestern Syria hit a poultry farm where several displaced families were taking shelter early Thursday, killing at least 15 people including children while wounding several others, opposition activists said.

The activists blamed Russian warplanes for the strike on Maaret Musreen village, which is home to thousands of internally displaced people.

The strike came hours ahead of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the escalation in Syrias northwestern Idlib province, which comes amid a months long Russian-backed Syrian government offensive there.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by the fighting in Idlib  Syrias last remaining rebel stronghold  and hundreds have been killed. Many of the displaced have fled north toward the sealed border with Turkey.

Turkey and Russia are the two main power brokers in Syria and each supports rival sides in the nine-year conflict.

Violence worsened in Idlib in recent weeks, with Turkey sending thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents holed up there. But Erdogan hasnt been able to halt Syrian President Bashar Assads offensive, which began in early December.

Syrian and Turkish troops have engaged in deadly battles, leaving at least 58 Turkish soldiers dead since the beginning of February as well as scores of Syrian soldiers. Direct fighting between Turkish and Syrian government forces had been rare throughout the war.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursdays airstrike hit a poultry farm used as a settlement for internally displaced Syrians, killing 15 people including women and children. It said 18 others were wounded.

The oppositions Syrian Civil Defence group, also known as the White Helmets, blamed Russian warplanes for the strike as well. They said 14 people were killed, including five women and two children.

A young man who said he survived the attack told The Associated Press said he was inside a building with his father when the airstrike hit. He suffered a minor injury to his face. He said he called out and searched for survivors, and that an ambulance arrived at the same time as his father made it out of the destroyed building.

Paramedics were seen removing debris before dawn Thursday, using flashlights to reach some of the victims buried under the rubble. Chickens could be seen in the vicinity as the rescue operations took place, according to Associated Press video.

Photos of the strike posted by the Civil Defence showed paramedics using a bulldozer to remove a ceiling that had apparently collapsed on top of people. Civil Defence said it had finished recovering bodies from under the rubble by Thursday morning.

Step news agency, an activist collective, said 16 people were killed including five children and also said that 18 people were wounded.

Such discrepancies on casualty figures are not uncommon in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria.
A thief has been caught on camera hooking a gold necklace with a fishing rod in a brazen night-time theft from an Australian designer store.

The thief, captured on closed-circuit television camera, broke the store window in Melbourne's central business district before using a fishing rod to hook the Versace necklace, local police said on Wednesday (March 4).

But it took the inner-city angler nearly three hours to land his catch.

WATCH: Security footage shows a man using a fishing rod to remove a Versace necklace from a mannequin within the store just after 2am. pic.twitter.com/9S103jZjv4 Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) March 3, 2020

After first attempts with a smaller rod failed, the man decided to get a bigger rod, eventually snagging the US$700 (S$970) gold piece from a mannequin's neck in crime police described as - until now - unseen.

"It's fairly blatant and it's quite bold as well, to have someone attend with a fishing rod in the middle of the night," Victoria Police Senior Constable Bede Whitty said.

Police released the footage as they attempt to net the balding, middle-aged thief.
His charm and status were not all that Prince Andrew used to woo women. Another woman claimed that the Duke of York has tried to win her heart by allowing her to sit on the Queen's throne at Buckingham Palace.

Charming His Way In

The 60-year-old Duke was said to have dated the 48-year old "Dancing On Ice" star Caprice for two months after they met each other at a dinner party back in 2000. The pair only went out on a few dates before Caprice introduced him to Denise Martell, a US Masseuse with whom he got involved with for 10 years.

The date at Buckingham Palace allegedly happened months before he reportedly slept with the 17-year old Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia roberts Giuffre.

A source close to the model Caprice told The Sun that the American model was entertained at the notion that Andrew was part of the royal family.

"He took her to Buckingham Palace twice and on one occasion, she gladly sat on the Queen's throne," the source added.

According to The Sun, the prince allegedly allowed Caprice to take home with her a decorative bowl from the palace. She claimed that he let her steal it.

They went out for two months, but the source said that they have gone out on more "platonic" dates -- including the two where he took her to the palace.

Aspiring to Be Royalty?

Caprice was not the only woman who sat on the Queen's throne. Andrew allegedly invited this second woman for dinner at his one-bedroom quarters. Then, she was taken to the balcony and pretended to wave to an imaginary crowd as if she were crowned royalty.

The unnamed woman also claimed that she was able to sit on the Queen's throne with Prince Andrew's blessing. In fact, she believed that it was one of Andrew's signature moves to woo women to like him, according to the report of the Daily Beast.

The claims made by the unnamed woman was reported a year ago, but it only came out more prominently this time when allegations regarding Caprice surfaced.

Members of the royal family are allowed to bring guests to the palace. However, as part of the protocol, they must inform the staff before they could show the guest around.

No Longer a Royal

After the disastrous interview with Emily Maitlis of BBC Newsnight about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was forced to step down and resign from his royal life. Since then, he has not attended any social or civic event on behalf of the royal family.

His situation only got worse when Virginia Roberts Giuffre came forward and claimed that she had sex with him three times, the first time was when she was only 17 years old. Though he has repeatedly denied the allegations thrown at him, it seems the evidence presented is against him.

Did Prince Andrew really involve the Queen in his "moves" to woo women to like him? These new claims definitely put him in a more difficult situation.

READ MORE: Prince Andrew A Huge Disappointment To Royal Family
Health official: 'Regardless of variant, the protective measures are the same'

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CAESAREA, Israel and AGOURA HILLS, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- V-Wave Ltd., a privately held medical device company developing novel implantable devices for the treatment of Heart Failure (HF), today announced that its Ventura Interatrial Shunt System received CE Mark and is now approved to be marketed for use in the European Union.

"More than 26 million people suffer from chronic heart failure worldwide, and HF remains a leading driver of disability and acute hospitalization, particularly in the growing elderly population," noted V-Wave Chief Medical Officer and renowned heart failure cardiologist, William T. Abraham, MD. "Despite decades of advances, heart failure patients continue to progressively deteriorate, enduring disabling symptoms, having a poor quality of life, diminished exercise tolerance, and a markedly reduced life expectancy. The minimally invasive implanted Ventura Interatrial Shunt relieves excessive pressure in the left-side of the heart, thereby reducing the build-up of fluid in the lungs, which is the most common reason for worsening HF symptoms, exercise limitation, and HF hospitalizations."

The Ventura Interatrial Shunt is being evaluated in a global, randomized, controlled, double-blinded, 500 patient U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) IDE pivotal trial called RELIEVE-HF, which is designed to demonstrate safety and effectiveness of shunt therapy in reducing HF morbidity and mortality and improving functional status. The study is enrolling advanced HF patients with preserved or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction who remain symptomatic despite the use of guideline-directed medical and device therapies. Approximately 100 of the top hospitals in North America, Europe and Israel are or will be participating.

"CE mark for the Ventura Interatrial Shunt System is a significant milestone for V-Wave, as it recognizes that this therapeutic product conforms to the standards of the European Medical Device Directive," said V-Wave CEO Neal Eigler, MD. "Along with the FDA Breakthrough Device Designations we received last year, CE Marking will help accelerate the introduction of our potentially impactful clinical treatment to the millions of patients suffering from heart failure."

About V-Wave Ltd.

V-Wave is a privately held medical device company with offices in Israel and the U.S. In addition to developing interatrial shunt device technologies for the treatment of heart failure, V-Wave is exploring the use of such technologies for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in an FDA IDE Early Feasibility Study. For more information, please visit www.vwavemedical.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements related to clinical development and potential regulatory approval of V-Wave's products. All forward-looking statements and other information included in this press release are based on information available to V-Wave as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements or information. The company's actual results could differ materially from those described in the company's forward-looking statements.

CAUTION: THE VENTURA INTERATRIAL SHUNT SYSTEM IS UNDER CLINICAL INVESTIGATION.

Contact

Murtaza Mogri, PhD

[email protected]

818-629-2164

SOURCE V-Wave Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.vwavemedical.com


Peanut Slab is one of Aotearoa's OG chocolate bars, everyone's Nana and Koro had a little stash somewhere.

And now Whittaker's have teamed up with Kiwi ice cream giants Tip Top to turn the Peanut Slab into an ice cream!

When speaking to the Herald, a Tip Top spokesperson said that "Tip Top is excited to partner with Whittaker's to bring the iconic Peanut Slab to life as an ice cream. This treat will be starting to appear in freezers this week,"

The ice cream has started to appear in stores around the country, including one dairy in Westmere, Auckland, that is already selling the iced treat!
Dr. Catherine DiGiorgio joins the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation

Leonard Miller, MD, FACS, FRCS is happy to announce the arrival of Board-Certified Dermatologist, Catherine DiGiorgio, MD. The Harvard-trained dermatologist comes into the group with a top-notch education and extensive experience in lasers and cosmetic procedures, most recently working in private practice in Boston, MA and Austin, TX. The Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation is pleased to add Dr. DiGiorgios unique dermatology expertise and skill to the aesthetic team.

Dr. Miller started his private practice in 1985 and over the last 20 years has built the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation into a leading cosmetic surgical and non-surgical treatment facility for the greater Boston area. A pioneer in the field of aesthetic medicine, he was the first doctor to bring the micro-needling procedure to the United States. A board-certified plastic surgeon, over the years, Dr. Miller has perfected several innovative and complex surgical techniques such as the natural facelift and neck rejuvenation. Dr. Miller continues to participate in valuable clinical trials, developing new cosmetic products and skin care technologies.

Dr. Doherty is a board-certified plastic surgeon, specializing in surgical procedures for the breast and body. He joined the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation in February of 2015, bringing his talent for creating a pleasing appearance without looking plastic or unnatural. Together, Dr. Miller and Dr. Doherty have been able to provide a wide range of cosmetic surgery procedures for all areas of the face, neck, breast and body.

With two locations, one in Boston and one in Brookline, the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation has grown into one of the citys top destinations for surgical and noninvasive cosmetic procedures. As a board-certified dermatologist, Dr. DiGiorgio will bring extensive experience, sharing the teams passion for gentle, natural aesthetic care. She is already an active member of the Boston community and will make an outstanding addition to the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation team.

ABOUT DR. CATHERINE DIGIRGIO

The New Orleans native completed her medical training at the Tulane University School of Medicine. This was followed by her internship in Internal Medicine and residency in Dermatology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Dr. DiGiorgio came to Boston for a competitive fellowship, training at the Harvard Laser and Cosmetic for Photomedicine for 2 years. During this time, she trained in the application of laser and energy-based devices alongside the worlds most respected dermatologists. Today, Dr. DiGiorgio is a speaker and educator, presenting at medical conferences across the U.S., contributing to peer-reviewed journals and textbooks, and participating in dermatology resident education. Before coming to the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation, Dr. DiGiorgio practiced dermatology in private practice in Boston and Austin, Texas.

Known for using a conservative approach to dermatology, Dr. DiGiorgio creates a unique treatment plan for every individual. With a gentle bedside manner, she tailors each plan around the patients needs, goals and lifestyle. Dr. DiGiorgio specializes in the use of lasers for semi-invasive and noninvasive procedures. She has extensive experience with Botox and fillers, thread lifts, and microneedling, as well as using PRP growth factors for restoring both skin and hair.

The Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation welcomes all our patients to consult with Dr. DiGiorgio. She is going to make a wonderful addition to the team. If you would like more information on any of our anti-aging treatments or would like to schedule a consultation appointment with Dr. DiGiorgio, contact the Boston Center for Facial Rejuvenation at 617.735.8735.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan attended the event dedicated to the 61st birthday of Sparapet (Commander-in-Chief) Vazgen Sargsyan and held by the Yerkrapah Union of Volunteer Land Defenders of Armenia. The Prime Minister first paid tribute to Vazgen Sargsyan by laying flowers at the monument to him.

Nikol Pashinyan congratulated everyone on the 61st birthday of Vazgen Sargsyan and attached importance to the fact that he was expressing his congratulatory remarks at the Union of Volunteer Land Defenders since the Union is one of the most obvious expressions of the activities of Vazgen Sargsyan. Why do we attach so much importance to and appreciate the activities of Vazgen Sargsyan as one of the organizers of the battle for liberation, as Commander-in-Chief and as the founder of the Armenian Army so much? It is because the activities of Vazgen Sargsyan as a freedom fighter was first and foremost an expression of the faith that one can have in his strengths to change the destiny of his own people and the future of the people, and I believe Vazgen Sargsyan had that faith in the early 1990s. Hundreds of thousands of other Armenians also had that faith, and it is thanks to that faith that the Armenians achieved victory in the battle for the liberation of Artsakh, Nikol Pashinyan stated.

The head of government noted that when Armenians take a look at the destiny of the nation, they can state that most of the nations achievements are linked to the faith that the nation had in its strengths, past and future. Pashinyan also emphasized that it is through that faith and attribute that we Armenians must shape more victories in the future.
Rescuers searched through shattered Tennessee neighborhoods for bodies Tuesday, less than a day after tornadoes ripped across Nashville and other parts of the state as families slept. At least 24 people were killed, some in their beds, authorities said.

The twisters that struck in the hours after midnight shredded more than 140 buildings and buried people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements. The storms moved so quickly that many people in their path could not flee to safer areas.

It hit so fast, a lot of folks didnt have time to take shelter, Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said. Many of these folks were sleeping.

The governor declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts. State emergency officials, who initially reported at least 25 dead, revised the toll to 24 fatalities on Tuesday evening after determining one death counted earlier was not storm-related.

An unspecified number of people were missing.

On Thursday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee asked President Donald Trump to expedite declaring a major disaster in Tennessee so federal recovery assistance can be made available to counties cleaning up as a result of the deadly tornado and severe weather.

Local and state emergency officials and responders, working alongside countless volunteers and non-profit organizations, have worked tirelessly to respond to the needs of their families, communities, and neighborhoods, Lee said. It now becomes necessary for our federal partners to make resources available to supplement our efforts and get Tennessee and those impacted on our way to recovery.

Early findings by National Weather Service survey teams indicated that the damage in Nashville and Wilson County to the east was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, the agency said.

One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile (16 kilometer) stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown. It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church. Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) path of destruction in Putnam County, wiping some homes from their foundations and depositing the wreckage far away.

Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable. More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged, forcing Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.

In Putnam County, 80 miles (some 130 kilometers) east of Nashville, houses and businesses were completely flattened. In one neighborhood, volunteers found five bodies. Neighbors and sheriffs officers were still looking for two more. Later, authorities imposed an 8 p.m.-8 a.m. curfew in the county and reported one looting arrest.

Nashville residents walked around on streets and sidewalks littered with debris, in neighborhoods where missing walls and roofs left living rooms and kitchens exposed. Mangled power lines and broken trees came to rest on cars, streets and piles of rubble.

We are resilient and were going to rebuild, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said.

During Gov. Bill Lees tour of Putnam County, homeowners dug through debris, trying to salvage any items not destroyed. One young woman held up a clean green blouse while standing on a second floor of a home that had no roof.

President Donald Trump spoke with the governor by phone and pledged federal assistance, the White House said. Trump also announced plans to visit the disaster area on Friday.

In Nashville, the twisters path was mostly north and east of the heart of downtown, sparing many of the citys biggest tourism draws  the honky tonks of Broadway, the Grand Ole Opry House, the storied Ryman Auditorium and the convention center.

Instead the storm tore through the largely African American areas of Bordeaux and North Nashville as well as neighborhoods transformed by a recent building boom. Germantown and East Nashville are two of the citys trendiest hotspots, with restaurants, music venues, high-end apartment complexes and rising home prices threatening to drive out longtime residents.

The dogs started barking before the sirens went off. They knew what was coming, said Paula Wade, of East Nashville. Then we heard the roar  Something made me just sit straight up in bed, and something came through the window right above my head. If I hadnt moved, I wouldve gotten a face full of glass.

The roof came crashing down on Ronald Baldwin and Harry Nahay in the bedroom of their one-story brick home in East Nashville. We couldnt get out, Baldwin said. And so I just kept kicking and kicking until we finally made a hole.

The roaring wind woke Evan and Carlie Peters, also in East Nashville, but they had no time to reach the relative safety of an interior bathroom.

Within about 10 seconds, the house started shaking, Carlie Peters said. I jumped on top of the ground. He jumped on top of me. The ceiling landed on top of him.  were grateful to be alive.

With more than a dozen Super Tuesday polling places in Nashvilles Davidson County damaged, voters were sent to other locations, some of them with long lines. Election officials in Putnam County advised voters in eight precincts with damaged polling locations to vote at the main election office in Cookeville.

Hours later, a judge ruled that some Tennessee polls must extend voting hours after four Democratic presidential candidates sued to keep the polls open, a Democratic party spokeswoman said.

Lee said he observed numerous examples of people coming together to help one another. In the worst of circumstances, the best of people comes out, and thats what were seeing, he said.

Just as the governor stopped by to tour the devastation in Putnam County, a van of longtime customers at a local eatery _ who proudly stated they ate there every morning _ arrived to help clear debris.

In the small town of Baxter, Mike Stephens was awakened when a big tree crashed through the roof of his house. He started cleaning up as soon as the sun rose. He cut up one tree and had help from a neighbor with a backhoe and a man who stopped by with a chainsaw.

Ive only met him once, and he just happened to show up while were out here, Stephens said of his neighbor. And then this other guy he just happened to stop by. I dont know him.

Wayne Stephens, a technician at a local car dealership, had Tuesday off from his job. With no damage to his home, he got in his truck with his chainsaw. Hes not related to Mike Stephens and had never met him. He said he only wanted to help as much as I can.

___

Associated Press writers Kristin Hall, Jonathan Mattise and Mark Humphrey in Nashville; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Teresa Walker and Wade Payne in Cookeville; Rebecca Reynolds Yonker in Louisville, Kentucky; and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Tennessee
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MILFORD  Jose Morales turned down a chance to preview some of the states evidence against him Thursday when he waived his right to a probable cause hearing.

Morales is accused of murdering Christine Holloway, his girlfriend and mother of their child, Vanessa, in her Ansonia home just after Thanksgiving. Vanessa is still the subject of a nationwide Amber Alert. She has not been see in public since Nov. 29.
Marked Sussexes first joint official engagement since announcing step down

Duchess looked stunning in Victoria Beckham dress at the Endeavour Awards

The Duchess of Sussex was called a 'glowing queen' tonight by royal fans who went wild over first post-Megxit appearance.

Meghan Markle, 38, looked gorgeous in the 950 bright blue gown by Victoria Beckham as she attended the awards evening at Mansion House in London alongside Prince Harry, 35, tonight.

It is the couple's first official public appearance in Britain following the Megxit crisis and preparations to step down as senior royals.

Royal fans on social media were wowed by Meghan's appearance, with many praising her for her outfit choice and beautiful makeup.

The Duchess of Sussex, 38, was praised by fans tonight as she made her first appearance since announcing her plan to step back from life as a senior royal (pictured with Prince Harry)

Royal fans praised the Duchess, who donned a Victoria Beckham dress for the occasion, as 'glowing' at the evening event

One commented fire emojis online, before commenting: 'I stan a GLOWING queen.'

Another wrote: 'OK So Harry and Meghan are the definition of unbothered tonight. They are glowing at their first joint engagement since leaving the Royal Family.'

Another commented: 'She looks fresh, young and beautiful!'

One excited follower added: 'HRH's beaming face says a beautiful story. I love them so much.'

Social media users went wild over the Duchess' appearance at the Endeavour Awards, with some saying she was 'glowing'

One said: 'Sis is GLOWING. This is what happens when you cut toxicity out of your life. The bodycons are back.'

The dress, which comes with a 950 price tag, is described online as 'inspired by the simplicity of a T-shirt'.

The mother-of-one carried a navy blue 1,742 Stella McCartney clutch bag and finished her outfit with her pair of navy Manolo Blahnik BB pumps.

She swept her hair back into a stylish pony-tail, revealing a set of gold hoop earrings.

The Duchess appeared in high spirits as she stepped out in the vivid blue dress for this evening's awards

The royal could be seen beaming as she walked into the event alongside Prince Harry in the turquoise gown

The Duchess swapped her usual low key make-up for a stunning glamorous look on Thursday, bold dark eyeshadow, highlighter and a metallic lipstick.

The royal is known for her love of designer brands, and rarely wears the same outfits twice, selecting new outfits from favourite designers such as Givenchy and Victoria Beckham on almost every appearance.

The couple will help celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women in their first appearance since they visited Canada House before announcing their step down from royal duties.

The engagement will be the first in three joint engagements the couple will undertake in early March, before they officially step down as senior royals.

She wowed followers as she stepped out in the turquoise gown for the Endeavour Awards tonight

The royal appeared radiant at the award's ceremony in the Victoria Beckham turquoise gown, which she matched with Prince Harry's tie

The Duchess beamed and giggled while attending the event in Mansion House in London this evening alongside the Duke

The Endeavour Fund supports the ambitions of men and women who use challenges to help with their physical, psychological and social recovery and rehabilitation.

Meghan's appearance tonight is her first since announcing her plans to step back as a senior royal in January.

Meghan was last seen with Prince Harry on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent - a move dubbed Megxit by the press.
SAN DIEGO - A 10-year-old boy fired two shotgun rounds at police in San Diego during a two-hour standoff before turning himself in, authorities said. No one was hurt.

The boy will be evaluated by mental health professionals, San Diego Police Officer Billy Hernandez said.

The boys mother called police shortly after 9 a.m. and said he had a knife and was slashing furniture, Hernandez said. The youth went outside with the knife and locked himself into a backyard shed, where there was a shotgun and several rounds inside.

As officers tried to talk to him, the boy fired one shot, Hernandez said. While SWAT officers and crisis negotiators were en route to the home, he fired another round, police said.

Hernandez said the boy walked out of the shed and into the home as the SWAT officers set up. He then came out the front door with his hands up and was taken into custody.

Police evacuated several homes in the neighbourhood and put a nearby school on lockdown, Hernandez said.

He said he wasnt aware of previous police responses to the boys home.
Elizabeth Warren has ended her campaign for nomination as the Democratic candidate of the 2020 United States presidential election.

Warren, a senator, finished well behind the two front-runners on Tuesday in 14 states, including her home state of Massachusetts, leaving her path to the nomination virtually non-existent, Reuters reported Thursday.

The race for candidate who will lead the challenge against President Donal Trump has become a two-way battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S Senator Bernie Sanders.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who also performed poorly on Tuesday, stepped down on Wednesday and endorsed Mr Biden.

It was not clear whether Warren would endorse either of her rivals.

Warrens departure ensures that what had once been the most diverse field of candidates in U.S. history will now be waged between two white men nearing 80 years old, Reuters reported.

READ ALSO:

U.S. newspaper, Politico, quoted Mrs Warren as saying in a conference call to her staff: I want to start with the news. I want all of you to hear it first, and I want you to hear it straight from me: today, Im suspending our campaign for president.

Roger Lau, her campaign manager, was quoted as saying in a follow-up comment to Warrens remarks by saying: Thank you for dreaming so f big, thank you for fighting so f hard, a colorful spin on Warrens Dream Big. Fight Hard slogan.
Celebrated Australian composer Brett Dean has been diagnosed with coronavirus. The 58-year-old was due to conduct an Adelaide Festival performance over the weekend. He recently travelled to Australia from Taiwan and arrived in Adelaide on Tuesday via a flight from Brisbane. He tested positive to COVID-19 on Thursday. Australian composer Brett Dean at the Sydney Opera House. Credit:Domino Postiglione Three people have been asked to voluntarily quarantine themselves in the wake of the diagnosis. None of those who have been asked to self-isolate are displaying symptoms of COVID-19, according to Adelaide Festival. The festival's executive director, Rob Brookman, said he is working closely with authorities to limit the virus. The health and safety of the public, our artists and our staff [is] of paramount importance to the Adelaide Festival and we are following the advice provided to us by SA Health and instituting appropriate measures meticulously, he said. We are obviously very concerned for the health of Brett who is receiving the best of care and we hope that he has a swift and full recovery.

Dean is receiving treatment at the The Royal Adelaide Hospital and has been placed under quarantine. The composer's agents said they, along with his publisher, have taken the necessary steps to inform everyone who has worked with him over the last 14 days. Loading Our thoughts are with Brett at this difficult time and we wish him well in his recovery, the company said in a statement. Adelaide Festival says this weekend's The Sound of History concert will still go ahead, with composer Richard Mills the fill-in conductor. A festival spokeswoman stressed that Dean had not been in rehearsals with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra this week. Dean, who was born in Brisbane, is a celebrated viola player and recognised as one of Australia's best contemporary composers. He is the composer in residence at the Orchestre National de Lyon in France, as well as Germany's Dresden Philharmonic and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. He has received a UNESCO award and is also credited with helping to save the Australian National Academy of Music.
Rise of the Resistance, which opened in December, is touted as the most technologically advanced ride Disney has ever designed. Its the main attraction of the companys $1 billion Star Wars: Galaxys Edge expansion, and so far, according to reviews online, the ride sounds pretty thrilling. It features a trackless vehicle that moves both laterally and vertically and, also, the coup de grace, live Star Wars actors. For a Star Wars devotee like my son, this is as close to nirvana, or rather the galaxy, as hes going to get, and so we have come to Orlando for a long escape-from-winter weekend, saving this  what we hope will be the best  for last. Given that we have a 6:15 p.m. flight back to New York, well need to leave Hollywood Studios by 3:30 p.m. That will give us more than eight hours in the park, surely more than enough time to ride even this super-popular attraction, I think. Ill soon be disabused of this notion. Heres how the day played out, and what we learned along the way.
Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi paid his respect to former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik on his 104th birth anniversary on Thursday.

"Biju Patnaik was one of the great politicians in Odisha and India. He had received both and international honours as well," Sarangi told ANI.

"I pay my respects to the former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik on his birth anniversary. He was a very courageous leader and played a very important role in the formation of the Janata Party," he said.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to pay homage to the former Odhisa Chief Minister as well. "Remembering Biju Babu on his Jayanti. This document from the pages of history (dated 1945) gives a glimpse of his courage (flying Dr. Lohia, who was then underground) and excellence. Biju Babu worked tirelessly for India's progress and pioneered the development of Odisha."

The Prime Minister also went on to share a document highlighting the courage shown by Patnaik in flying then underground leader Ram Manohar Lohia from Delhi to Calcutta. It states that Patnaik was an excellent aviator.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Meghan Markle seemed in high spirits during the annual Endeavour Fund Awards Paul Edwards/Pool via REUTERS

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London Photo credit: Paul Edwards/The Sun/PA Wire

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle celebrated the work of the British military (Photo by Paul Edwards - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The Duke of Sussex said he was "proud to serve Queen and country" as he and wife Meghan celebrated the work of the military at one of their final events before they quit royal life.

Harry and Meghan attended the Endeavour Fund Awards on Thursday night to recognise the sporting and adventure achievements of wounded, sick and injured service personnel.

It was the first time the duchess has carried out a public royal duty in the wake of the Megxit crisis but the couple seemed in good spirits as they smiled for the cameras and crowd who greeted them in the rain at Mansion House in London.

The couple will step down as senior royals on March 31 following a small number of public appearances in the coming days.

Expand Close Meghan Markle seemed in high spirits during the annual Endeavour Fund Awards Paul Edwards/Pool via REUTERS / Facebook

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In a speech at the reception, Harry told the audience "Meghan and I are so happy to be back with you", with both handing out awards during the evening.

Addressing the veterans, Harry, who served with the Blues and Royals and the Army Air Corps, spoke of the honour of serving his grandmother amid reports of tensions between the royals.

He said: "Being able to serve Queen and Country is something we all are rightly proud of, and it never leaves us. Once served, always serving!

"Leaving the military and hanging up your uniform is - we know - an incredibly hard thing to do...unless of course it's blue in colour...

"But being forced to hang it up due to injury, beyond your control, can be even more difficult to accept.

"It can take time and effort to recognise the fact that it is something that happened to you, rather than something that's wrong with you - so please don't ever forget that."

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The Endeavour Fund is a body set up by the Royal Foundation to finance inspiring sporting and adventure projects aiding the recovery of veterans.

The duke added many of the servicemen and women had told him they "had his back" and was keen to offer his own support.

He said: "I feel lucky to be able to count myself as one of you; and am deeply proud to have served among you as Captain Wales.

"A lot of you tonight have told me you have my back, well I'm also here to tell you, I've always got yours."

He added: "You have all had to demonstrate physical and mental strength that I doubt you even realised you had. Never underestimate what your actions, your choices and your resilience means to others.

"You should all be tremendously proud of what you've achieved and the positive service you continue to provide to so many.

"To see you guys excelling and uplifting others while doing it makes me incredibly proud and grateful to all of you - because you don't have to do it, you choose to do it."

Arriving at the venue, Meghan wore a bright blue Victoria Beckham dress and linked her arm under Harry's as he held an umbrella above their heads as they walked inside.

Meghan took to the stage to present the 'Celebrating Excellence' award, which is given to those who achieve excellence in their chosen sport or adventurous challenge.

She said: "It is very nice to be back [at the event], it is the third year.

Expand Close The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London Photo credit: Paul Edwards/The Sun/PA Wire / Facebook

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"As you all know I can feel it is just the most inspiring space.

"I will say, watching the [nomination] videos all the way in Canada, we had the same moment as you, where each of us [said] 'how are we going to choose."

Prior to the ceremony, the couple mingled with guests, which included television star Ross Kemp, during a reception event.

At times, the duke was very animated as he joked with award nominees, while Meghan asked questions and listened intently, clutching her purse by her side.

Ex-Royal Marine Lee Spencer, who holds the world record for the fastest unsupported row across the Atlantic Ocean despite losing his right leg in an accident, won the award, which was collected by his wife.

Meanwhile, Harry presented Army veteran Tom Oates with the final prize of the night, the Henry Worsley Award, which is given to an individual who has best inspired others through adversity.

Mr Oates lost his fiancee weeks after returning back from Afghanistan when she was struck by a car in front of him.

He now supports others with metal health difficulties and regularly speaks about his own experiences at events.

The Endeavour Fund's new community impact award was presented by actor and journalist Ross Kemp to the Superhero Tri Series, which provides swim, cycle and run events that are open to all people regardless of their age.
After Alek Minassian was arrested on Yonge St. in April 2018, after using a van to kill 10 pedestrians and injure 16, he was brought to a police station.

In response to a question from an officer about whether he was suffering from any illnesses, Minassian responded: Yes. I am a murdering piece of s---.

At a pretrial motion ahead of Minassians April trial on 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder, his defence is seeking to have that statement ruled inadmissible because his rights to counsel and to silence were violated.

In court documents filed by defence lawyer Boris Bytensky, he argues the routine questions police asked during the booking process were not appropriate because they risked eliciting a response relevant to the investigation about Minassians mental health.

Pretrial hearings are typically subject to publication bans meant to protect an accused persons right to a fair trial by jury. However, Minassians trial will be heard by a judge alone, with no jury.

According to an agreed statement of facts read by the Crown on Thursday, Minassian drove a rented van into or otherwise struck at least 26 people. Ten of those people were killed and 16 others were injured to varying degrees on April 23, 2018.

Before he was arrested that day, Minassian told Toronto police Const. Ken Lam shoot me, kill me and made hand gestures to suggest he had a gun. Lam arrested Minassian with no struggle.

Shortly after his arrest, Minassian told Const. Philip Butler something about suicide by cop in response to a question about whether he had anything on him that could cause an injury.

In court Thursday, families of the people killed in the attack and some of those injured listened as the agreed facts of the case were read out.

The trial will focus on Minassians state of mind and is expected to centre on the testimony of forensic psychiatrists who have examined him while he has been in custody.

The defence has conceded a four-hour interview Minassian gave to police  in which he said he wanted to inspire an incel uprising and that he felt that he accomplished (his) mission  is admissible.

The Crown psychiatrist has been asked to comment on the significance of Minassians comment that he is a murdering piece of s---, according to the agreed statement of facts. The psychiatrist has said that the utterance is not the determining factor to the opinion. I consider everything the applicant told the police himself to be important and the utterance is one piece of that.

On Thursday, Bytensky argued police should have been more aware that Minassian may have had mental health issues and that he should have been informed that he could face murder charges

Const. Philip Butler, one of the officers who led Minassian to the station, testified that he first arrested the man on a single charge of attempted murder.

Butler said he repeatedly advised Minassian he had the right to speak to a lawyer and the right to remain silent. He also said he told Minassian that it would be in his best interest to remain silent as he had, at that point, declined to speak to a lawyer. Minassian later spoke to duty counsel twice.

Butler testified that at no time did Minassian give him any reason to think that he did not understand what was going on or that he didnt know he was speaking to police officers.

Minassian was not told by police that he didnt have to answer routine questions asked upon his arrival at the police station for safety, Bytensky said.

The questions include whether the accused is on medication, if they have recent injuries or illnesses, and if they have any physical or mental conditions the police should be aware of, said Minassians lawyer Bytensky during cross-examination.

Staff Sgt. Brad Lloyd testified that accused persons are not told they do not have to answer the routine questions.

Bytensky said Lloyds notes show he was concerned about that mental health or emotional factors may have played a role in the offence, but he asked Minassian questions about his mental and emotional state anyway and did not tell him that he didnt have to answer the questions.

You didnt do anything other than encourage him to speak loud enough so the microphone would pick up his answers, Bytensky said.

Lloyd agreed with that, saying he was not aware at the time that Minassian had said shoot me, kill me prior to the arrest or that hed made a comment about suicide-by-cop during his arrest.

That would have been informative, he said.

Bytensky also questioned Butler about why he told Lloyd during the booking process that Minassian had been arrested on numerous attempt murders, vehicular manslaughter.

Butler agreed that Minassian was initially only arrested on one count of attempted murder and had not been told that information before.

Butler said, at that point, just before 2 p.m., he was not aware whether any of the victims struck by Minassian had died, though hed heard some were vital signs absent  which is why the charge at the time was only attempted murder.

Things were still unfolding, Butler said, adding he didnt know how many people had been harmed but believed there had been more than one victim.

Bystensky noted that vehicular manslaughter is not a real charge. Butler said he was trying to add context about the offence for the sergeant.

Bytensky said a charge of manslaughter implies someone had died. Butler said he did not know for sure that someone had died at that time.

Butler agreed that if someone had died, that would increase the seriousness of the charges Minassian faced.

Bytensky also noted that Butler did not tell the staff sergeant that Minassian had said something about suicide by cop after his arrest. He also did not mention it when Minassian was specifically asked by the staff sergeant if he had harmed or tried to harm himself and Minassian said no.

Bytensky asked whether a medical practitioner had been called because the possibility of a suicide risk had been raised by that comment. Butler said that did not happen. No specific suicide risk protocol was done.

The Crown and defence have not yet made arguments about the application.

A ruling is expected at the end of the trial which is expected to start April 6, presided over by Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy.
Trans-identified males in women's hospital wards policy under review in UK, health board says

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Official guidance in the United Kingdom urging medical professionals to chastise women who express discomfort with sharing hospital wards with trans-identifying males is being reviewed.

The U.K. Times reported that the National Health Service in Greater Glasgow and Clyde had urged staff to treat women who objected to sleeping next to patients who appear to be male as through they were racists. But that policy is now under review by the health board following a consultation with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Members of the Scottish parliament were informed Wednesday that Scottish officials backed single sex exemptions in some circumstances, after Joan McAlpine, an MSP and critic of transgender ideology, voiced her concerns about the hospital policy.

"NHS Greater Glasgow and Clydes gender reassignment policy review says that a female patient who is distressed at the presence of a male-bodied trans-identified person in the next bed should be told that that person is female and that her complaint is similar to a white woman complaining about a black patient being in the next bed," McAlpine said.

Such statements in official documents cast doubt on assurances that the government is committed to maintaining womens privacy and dignity and the single-sex exemptions in the Equality Act 2010.

The review comes as ongoing debate occurs, particularly among the Labour party, about how and why laws and policies should recognize and cater to individuals who self-identify as something other than their biological sex. Women's rights campaigners across the U.K. have in recent years contested allowing males into female-only spaces amid an increasing presence of transgender-identifying persons.

The Equality Act of 2010 presently permits authorities to restrict some services for women such as rape crisis facilities where women may feel uncomfortable speaking to counselors who appear as male.

"The health board would not specify what advice it had received from the EHRC but said the policy was under consideration," the U.K. Times reported.

The review is also the latest of moves that have been set in motion related to transgender issues.

Last month, a team of doctors was formed to review the safety of drugs used to halt puberty in youth who present with gender dysphoria. The NHS also recently announced that it was revisiting its rules surrounding allowing young people to go on the experimental drugs without the approval of their parents.

Last week, a senior judge on the U.K.'s highest court approved a full trial in the divisional court in a case against the Tavistock gender clinic  in which a female claimant who underwent a hormonal gender transition during her teen years says she was harmed at the facility  before the end of July.
NATO chief urges political solution in Syria

Jens Stoltenberg called on the Syrian regime and Russia to respect international law.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday urged for a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

"ASSAD REGIME MUST END ITS OFFENSIVE"

"NATO's deployment in the Aegean Sea remains important. But the international community needs to address the root causes of the crisis. We need to see a political solution to the conflict in Syria. So the Assad regime and Russia must end their offensive. Respect international law. And support UN efforts for a peaceful solution," said Stoltenberg.

Speaking about the influx of asylum seekers from Turkey to Greece, he said Greece is faced with a tough situation. "Greece is also severely impacted by the current situation. Greece carries a heavy burden. And the challenges of migration are shared challenges that require shared solutions," said Stoltenberg.

Meanwhile, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that irregular migration had to be prevented. "We will try to prevent the new migrant influx in cooperation with the EU and NATO," said Plenkovic.

More than 135,000 asylum seekers have crossed to Europe after Turkey opened its borders, accusing the EU of not fulfilling the promises it made as part of a 2015 agreement reached on the refugee crisis.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a $21.7 million verdict against a Connecticut rabbi accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage boy in the early 2000s.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City rejected the appeal of Rabbi Daniel Greer, 79, of New Haven, who was sentenced in December to 12 years in prison on state criminal charges related to the abuse.

A New Jersey man, Eliyahu Mirlis, now 32, filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against Greer in 2016. Mirlis said Greer sexually abused him in 2002 and 2003 when he attended the Yeshiva of New Haven school, which Greer founded.

A federal jury awarded Mirlis $15 million in compensatory damages and a judge tacked on another $5 million in punitive damages plus $1.7 million in interest.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say theyve been sexually assaulted, but Mirlis wanted to come forward, his lawyer said.

Greer, who had denied the allegations, appealed the verdict, saying the trial judge made mistakes in instructing the jury about how to consider, during deliberations, Greers invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when declining to answer questions during the trial.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Defensive driving education allows drivers to improve their skills and learn new moves. As a driver, you learn how to assess traffic hazards or how to adapt the vehicle to traffic conditions. Also, graduating approved courses will help you get discounts. said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director

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DUI?DWI is one of the most important topics. Attendants will learn more about the effects of alcohol and drugs and how they impair driving. The legal aspects, including penalties and blood alcohol limits, are also presented.

Crash dynamics. Drivers will learn how the speed and position of the car influence the severity of the collision and which types of collisions are the most dangerous.

Crash prevention techniques. Drivers will learn how to avoid traffic crashes and to recognize potential dangers that lie ahead before any collision can occur. Crucial prevention techniques include: road scanning and surroundings adaptation, keeping the distance with the following vehicles, knowing the braking distance of the car, dangers of environment, allowing the emergency vehicles to pass, how to share the road with other cars, passing procedures, how to adjust the speed, how to pass the railroads and many other related techniques.

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Prosecutors opposed Bernard Madoff's request to be freed from prison - even though he is close to death from kidney failure - saying he has never accepted responsibility for his massive Ponzi scheme or shown compassion for victims.

In a Wednesday night court filing, prosecutors said denying the 81-year-old Madoff's request would uphold victims' and the public's faith in the justice system.

They said Madoff should continue serving his 150-year sentence, to ensure that 'one of history's worst fraudsters' faces the consequences of his crimes.

In a Wednesday night court filing, prosecutors said denying the 81-year-old Madoff's request would uphold victims' and public faith in the justice system. He is seen exiting federal court in 2009

Vehicles are parked outside the medical center at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, where Madoff is being held

'Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil,' prosecutors said.

'His sentence was appropriately long. It should not be reduced.'

Prosecutors also said roughly 500 of the 520 victims who wrote to the Manhattan federal court about Madoff's request opposed it, including an 84-year-old who said: 'Why should he be shown any compassion, when he had none for his many victims?'

Madoff has spent just under 11 years in prison.

The filing came one month after he sought 'compassionate release,' saying he had fewer than 18 months to live because he is dying from kidney cancer.

He confirmed at the time of the filing that he was 'terminally ill'.

'There's no cure for my type of disease. So you know, I've served. I've served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I've suffered through it,' Madoff told the Washington Post, about his request for the early release.

His lawyer Brandon Sample says that despite the prosecution's claims, Madoff 'is remorseful for his conduct,' and 'remains hopeful' his request will be granted.

Madoff's case is the biggest test of the First Step Act, a bipartisan law signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018 affording early freedom to some older prisoners, often for health reasons.

Among those released is Bernard Ebbers, who once led phone company WorldCom Inc. He died on February 2 at age 78.

Prosecutors opposed Bernard Madoff's request to be freed from prison even if he is close to death from kidney failure. The convicted financier is show in a 2008 mug shot

Madoff's case is the biggest test of the First Step Act, a bipartisan law signed by President Donald Trump affording early freedom to some older prisoners, often for health reasons. Trump is pictured at the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit in Washington Wednesday

Among those released under the First Step Act was Bernard Ebbers, who once led phone company WorldCom. He died on February 2 at age 78

Prosecutors said Madoff used his firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities to swindle thousands of individuals, charities, pension funds and hedge funds, including many with ties to the Jewish community.

A court-appointed trustee estimated Madoff's customers lost $17.5billion. Nearly $14billion has been recovered.

Madoff was arrested in December 2008 after admitting his fraud to his sons, who have since died, and pleaded guilty three months later to 11 criminal counts.

His fate will be determined by Circuit Judge Denny Chin, who called Madoff's crimes 'extraordinarily evil' when imposing the 150-year sentence in June 2009.

In seeking Madoff's release, Sample said his client is confined to a wheelchair and battling several illnesses, and would pose no danger to anyone if released.

But prosecutors said Madoff has improved since he resumed kidney dialysis treatment in November, and while ill he could live more than 18 months.

They also said his request last year that President Trump commute his sentence was mainly so he could care for his wife Ruth in her old age, 'apparently confident' his health would allow it. Trump has not acted on that request.
Open source

After watching yesterdays news, most of my entourage asked: Why do you need this? and Should we congratulate you or sympathize with you? Indeed, today the office of Prime Minister of Ukraine is not just an honor, it is a huge responsibility. And the fate of the Ukrainian state, its citizens is actually in the hands of the parliament, the government, and we bear enormous responsibility for this. There are various reasons why I am at this rostrum today.

This is an economic decline, risks of a budget crisis, state of the industry, healthcare, social protection of the population. The issue of energy security of the country, utility bills and, most importantly, what the president always focuses on is the level of well-being of Ukrainian citizens. These are simple things, for which you do not need to be a Ph.D. in economics, this is a usual legal desire, the human desire of Ukrainians to live prosperously and dignified. You can list the reasons for the fall for a long time, look for the extreme ones, but today we just dont have time to answer the question Who is to blame?, We must answer the question What should we do?

There are a number of challenges that need to be addressed immediately. We should prevent the economic and budget crisis. I believe that we should revise the budget for 2020, especially in terms of increasing payments and pensions for ordinary Ukrainians. There are expenses that should be reduced, this also applies to the salaries and bonuses of officials, including ministers of the new government, members of a number of supervisory boards and other officials.

Another urgent issue is the repayment of debt to Ukrainian miners. We do not have the right to forgetting about people, who risk their lives daily, and we will not allow the destruction of the coal industry.

A serious challenge is the threat of coronavirus. The first case has already been recorded in Ukraine. I believe that here the government should work in two directions. The first is medical support for the detection and treatment of the virus, much has already been done for this. Each region has medical facilities that are ready to receive potential patients, family, and other doctors are informed. The country has 12,000 beds in infectious diseases hospitals, about 2,500 infectious boxes. But this is not enough, there should be a comprehensive program for the spread of the virus, and it will be the first brick in building a single effective system for protecting the population from biological, climatic, and technological threats. Second. This is an increase in the level of informing Ukrainians, and not only about what to do in case of suspicion of a disease, but also what the state is doing for the health and safety of its citizens. Ukrainians must see and understand that the state protects them.

Among other things, what the government urgently needs to do is strengthen the economic bloc. This has been repeatedly mentioned in recent days and on this rostrum today. It should ensure not only the growth of industry and the agricultural sector, which is important but also the sensation of this growth by every Ukrainian. So far, we have seen only the strengthening of the hryvnia, which, unfortunately, hit the export, but did not affect the welfare of ordinary Ukrainians. We heard about the reform of tax customs but did not see this in budget revenues, and the president spoke about this today.

At the same time, we will maintain and develop those reforms and projects that have already been launched. This is a decentralization reform, which I have been working on as vice-prime minister for the past weeks, and as the head of the regional administration in Ivano-Frankivsk, I have been engaged for the past more than six months. It's about the Big Construction program, which should push the economy off the ground, warmed it up and give an impetus to overcome the economic crisis, preventing a budget crisis. These are affordable loans for small and medium-sized businesses, mortgages for the population, digitalization of government processes.

Also, the duty of the Cabinet of Ministers in the near future is to present the country with a strategy and prospects for economic development for the coming years. As a vice-prime minister, I have initiated a big discussion on further decentralization, as the Prime Minister, I will propose starting a big discussion on the place of Ukraine on the economic map of the world and ways to achieve a certain goal. Our priorities remain the same, as of August 29 of 2019, voiced by the president during the appointment of the previous government, but they were not completed. This is the continuation of decentralization, creation of a favorable investment climate, the achievement of energy efficiency, development of industry, agricultural sector and infrastructure, improvement of the quality of medicine and education, and most importantly - strengthening of national security and defense, the end of Donbas war, and return of annexed Crimea. All these tasks will be solved by the new government.

If it is unable to fulfill it, it means that there wont be this government, it is obvious, and today we have witnessed it. We understand this very well, none of us has come here for decades, and everyone is well aware of the responsibility. The expectations of citizens are enormous, patience ends, reforms had to be fulfilled yesterday, and the result is needed today. I hope for fruitful cooperation with the MPs, with you, dear people's representatives, only together can we solve all these problems. Thank you for your attention, I would like to thank the president, the parliament, and the Ukrainian people for trusting.
Each PANOSETI observatory will house a geodesic dome of 80 innovative telescopes that can image about one-third of the heavens every night in search of sub-second pulses of light from intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. (Graphic courtesy of Shelley Wright, UCSD)

Are advanced civilizations in our galaxy trying to communicate with us by means of laser blasts? A team of University of California, San Diego, UC Berkeley, Harvard University and California Institute of Technology astronomers are building a pair of fly's-eye observatories to find out.

In early February, the scientists finished installing two prototype telescopes at Lick Observatory near San Jose, California, the first of hundreds of planned telescopes for a project called Panoramic SETI, or PANOSETI, for Pulsed All-sky Near-infrared Optical SETI. Eighty of these one-and-a-half-foot in diameter telescopes will be assembled into a geodesic dome, like the faceted eye of a fly, to collect optical and infrared signals from a big chunk of the Northern Hemisphere sky in search of split-second flashes of optical or infrared light.

"The goal is to basically look for very brief, but powerful, signals from an advanced civilization. Because they are so brief, and likely to be rare, we plan to check large areas of the sky for a long period of time," said UC Berkeley's Dan Werthimer, who has been involved with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) for the past 45 years and is chief scientist at the Berkeley SETI Research Center. "This is the first wide-field survey for sub-second phenomena."

With its geodesic telescope array, each PANOSETI observatory would image about one-third of the sky every night in search of short-lived astronomical flashes that last seconds to nanoseconds, or a billionth of a second. The observatories would be built in pairs up to a mile apart to provide a stereo view of the night sky, essential to confirming and discarding light flashes coming from the atmosphere, rather than deep space.

"The deployment of two PANOSETI telescopes now offers us a new window into how the universe behaves at nanosecond timescales," said Shelley Wright, associate professor of physics at UC San Diego and principal investigator for the project. Wright first worked with Werthimer 20 years ago when she was an undergraduate student at UC Santa Cruz. She was a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow from 2009 to 2011.

Wright and her team, which includes Paul Horowitz from Harvard, as well as Lick and Caltech astronomers, eventually hope to build several pairs of these 80-telescope observatories around the world to image the entire heavens. The two prototype telescopes are now installed and undergoing testing in the Astrograph Dome at Lick, which is owned and operated by the University of California Observatories (UCO) for the benefit of astronomers across the UC system.

"This allows us to test our optics, our electronics, our detectors, our software, and get some preliminary data to get us confident before we go into full production," said Werthimer, who is also the Marilyn and Watson Alberts SETI Chair at UC Berkeley.

Wright and her team are now evaluating sites for the observatories and hope to begin observatory construction and telescope production in the next year.

Adapting technology from PET scanners and lighthouses

PANOSETI incorporates two technologies new to astronomy: an innovative, lightweight, flat plastic lens, which is akin to the Fresnel plates in lighthouses, to focus optical and infrared light; and very fast optical and infrared detectors first developed for diagnostic medical PET (positron emission tomography) scanners.

A single PANOSETI telescope has a very wide field of view: 10 degrees by 10 degrees, the width of 20 full moons. This wide-angle view is made possible by a compressed lens design first used nearly 200 years ago to reduce lens weight and shorten its focal length.

The team is also developing specialized cameras in each telescope that can precisely measure when each photon arrives. Most current telescopes looking for short-lived astronomical phenomena such as supernovas -- Pan-STARRS in Hawaii and the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory in San Diego are good examples -- collect light that brightens and dims over seconds to months. Standard charge-coupled devices (CCDs) found in every camera and phone are good for this. But CCDs can't capture millionth-of-a-second flashes of light.

PET scanners' avalanche photodiode arrays, dubbed silicon photomultipliers, can. They were developed, for example, to detect photons of light from the annihilation of positrons emitted by radioactive tracers injected in patients to detect cancer metastases.

Both Fresnel lens telescopes and avalanche photodiode detectors are far cheaper than current options, making multi-eye observatories possible. The researchers are hopeful that the unique ability of these telescopes to image large areas of sky simultaneously for sub-millisecond light flashes will reveal never-before-seen astronomical phenomena, if not messages from other civilizations.

"PANOSETI explores the universe at billionth-of-a-second time scales, a time scale that earthlings have not examined well," Werthimer said. "When astronomers examine an unexplored parameter space, they usually find something surprising that no one predicted. PANOSETI could discover new astronomical phenomena or signals from ET."

Why would an intelligent civilization want to communicate with us via nanosecond flashes?

"One way to communicate or get your attention is a flash, like a lighthouse," Werthimer said. "It's very effective, because it's a bright, intense flash. If you put a lot of energy into a short time, the average energy can be small, but the instantaneous brightness can be incredibly large. It's like fast radio bursts, which appear for a thousandth of a second. But when they're on, they're the brightest thing in the sky, and you can see them a billion light years away."

Berkeley SETI already operates an optical telescope at Lick -- the Automated Planet Finder -- that looks for laser signals from other planets, though it also is blind to split-second flashes of light. UC San Diego and UC Berkeley also are collaborating on a new instrument currently operating at Lick, the Near-Infrared Optical SETI (NIROSETI) instrument, which is the first designed to search for signals from extraterrestrials at near-Infrared wavelengths.

Most of UC Berkeley's SETI projects collect radio data from telescopes such as the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Parkes telescope in Australia. The latter two are directed by Breakthrough Listen, a UC Berkeley-led project supported by a $100 million, 10-year commitment from Breakthrough Initiatives, founded in 2015 by Yuri and Julia Milner to explore the universe, seek scientific evidence of life beyond Earth and encourage public debate from a planetary perspective.

The PANOSETI research and instrumentation program is made possible by the support and interest of Franklin Antonio. UC Berkeley's PANOSETI efforts are supported by the National Science Foundation (1407804) and the Marilyn and Watson Alberts SETI Chair fund. The Bloomfield Family Foundation supports SETI research at UC San Diego in the CASS Optical and Infrared Laboratory, while Harvard's SETI research is supported by The Planetary Society.

Other UC Berkeley collaborators are Ryan Lee, Wei Liu, Samuel Chaim-Weismann and Andrew Siemion, director of Breakthrough Listen.



Please follow Astrobiology on Twitter.
M any of us are increasingly taking a 'from the inside out' approach to selfcare, blurring the lines between beauty and wellness, with the revival of traditional Chinese medicine practices such as cosmetic acupuncture and gua sha, not to mention the rise in popularity of Ayurvedic herbs, or adaptogens.

If you're already into your supplements, one woman who's about to shake things up is 30-year-old Jules Miller, CEO and founder of The Nue Co., who is so confident that her products "just work", you'll want to buy all 23 of them after talking to her.

Miller started The Nue Co. in 2017 after suffering with IBS symptoms like chronic constipation for years. "I wouldn't go for like 10 days, my stomach was out here, doctors would ask if I was pregnant," she says over a coffee in London ahead of the brand's UK launch. "Then it'd be: 'oh it's IBS, sort it out yourself.'"

After trying countless "generic" gut health products, which she says contained "questionable" ingredients, she saw a gap in the market to create her own natural, food-based supplements on a subscription basis.

Jules Miller has raised over $10 million in three years for her supplement empire

But as a born and bred Londoner and the former head of business development for The Detox Kitchen, she's done things a little differently, deciding instead to launch her business across the pond first.

"In terms of speed, innovation and the consumer, New York was the perfect place for us to launch, but weve never really left our roots in the UK from a creative perspective," she says.

Between her and and husband Charlie, COO of The Nue Co., the pair has drawn in over $10 million of investment from the likes of Unilever and Morningside Group, a billion-dollar fund which otherwise invests in biotech and Harvard Medical School.

In the US it's currently stocked in Nordstrom, Violet Grey, Net-a-Porter and Alo Yoga, and as of this week it's available to buy at Cult Beauty, Liberty London, Net-a-Porter and The Drug Store in the UK.

"I'd always been interested in wellness and organic food but moving to New York made me so unhealthy. You eat out all the time, people have no concept of a work/life balance, so you're having meetings on Saturdays and Sundays at any time of the day, I started accidentally skipping meals. Over time I sort of became our customer  who are not really your typical wellness warriors. They're not really people obsessing over calories and ingredients, they're people who work long hours and want to take better care of themselves, they really struggle with stress or sleep and just want products that work.

"I think there's a misconception in the UK and Europe that supplements dont work, that perhaps you have to write them off. In the US people already believe that supplements work, so the challenge was more to develop products that work within 30 days. So many brands aren't accountable, we wanted to create something you can measure after three days  you're either still constipated or you're not  but that also can be used for long-term use if have more chronic issues." 

Taking inspiration from her grandfather, a scientist at the University of Cambridge who spent most of his career developing vitamins and supplements and lived until he was 93, Miller set about creating formulations which combine vitamins with ingredients from Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine.

"All of our products have clinical studies behind them and are made with clean ingredients  if you're launching a product in the wellness industry today its crazy to think that you would do it using ingredients that have studies showing they can be harmful to peoples health. I think that should just be a standard."

Are they vegan? No. "We are always trying to be plant-based but if there's ever an opportunity to use an ingredient that can better service a need we'll do that rather than just jumping on trends," explains Miller.

The Nue Co. now sells 23 different supplements, each targeting very specific needs from regularity to exercise recovery, spanning probiotics, prebiotics and a powdered topical vitamin C. The products aren't exactly cheap, but cost slightly less if you sign up for a subscription, "it's cheaper than a coffee a day!" Miller insists.

Her hero products?

Debloat is currently The Nue Co.'s best-seller

"Our best-selling product is the first we ever made, it's Debloat+," Miller says. The capsules (45 for 60 capsules or 36 with a subscription) contain 17 digestive enzymes and ayurvedic extracts that work together to ease a bloated stomach.

"We launched Skin Filter (40 for 30 capsules), in October and it's already starting to outsell Debloat+," she says proudly. The latter promises to improve skin luminosity, elasticity and reduce pigmentation and blemishes with a patented blend of vitamin C, zinc, champagne grape seed and melon and, for retinol addicts, beta carotene, which is a a precursor to vitamin A  and the brand likens it to "ingestible retinol" in its product description.

"Many people don't realise that if you ingest pure vitamin A or retinol it can be toxic at a certain level in the body, but some brands [in the US] still use it anyway because the industry's unregulated," she adds.

One of the brand's most innovative products to date is its first Functional Fragrance (120 for 100ml or 96 with a subscription), which was made in collaboration with the lab that supplies Le Labo products and, specifically, Frank Voelkl, the perfumer and nose behind cult-scent Santal 33.

"We believe you can absorb a supplement both topically or orally and love to question the experience you have with one, so I started looking into aromatherapy directly linked to stress and anxiety." The result was a fragrance which offers the functionality of an aromatherapy, backed by research from the University of Geneva into how scent can impact mood and cognitive function. We launched it exclusively through our site, and now it drives about 15 per cent of our revenue," Miller says.

"Three years later, what were really known for is our retention, we've got a 67 per cent repeat purchase rate and less than 1 per cent returns rate in our 30-day trial," she adds, once again seamlessly reeling off impressive figures.

The chic products will look just as good on your shelfie as your jade roller, as they come packaged in brown glass jars with minimalist white branding. They're conscious, too, the brand is 95 per cent sustainable with the lids being the only element that's currently not recyclable. "It's such a huge operation but we're working on that the moment and are hoping to have a solution by the end of this year."

At first Miller says buyers were sceptical about the idea of selling a debloating supplement in the beauty section but that their customers were ahead of the curve. "We saw they were really starting to merge beauty and wellness and have never been confused by buying both a fragrance and a probiotic from us. So when we launched the brand we really wanted to prove that this category could transcend your average vitamin shop and open the floodgates to these kinds of retailers."
Red Bull-Honda is sounding very bullish about its chances of taking on Mercedes in 2020.

Max Verstappen is giving very little away, but it is telling that he has had no complaints about the team's new car.

"The RB16 is not a completely different car," the Dutchman told Ziggo Sport. "Overall the balance has improved and we've changed a few things on the car as well.

"In general, most of the cars have stayed about the same because the regulations have remained almost identical."

While Mercedes' DAS system has been attracting more attention, one innovation on the Red Bull is the new front suspension layout.

Many suspect that the team engaged in some sophisticated sandbagging in winter testing.

"A lot has changed everywhere," Verstappen said when asked about the innovative suspension. "Everyone always talks but in the end nobody knows anything at all."

His boss, Dr Helmut Marko, is hopeful the 2020 car is good enough to allow Verstappen to start charging for the title from the very beginning.

"Hopefully we can get involved. With Honda we have almost the same engine power as them for the first time," he told Kronen Zeitung newspaper.

Marko also doesn't want to write off Ferrari, after a tough winter for the Maranello outfit.

"They were always fast, but not particularly consistent," said the Austrian. He does, however, expect the race to be between Mercedes and Red Bull.

"There is a lot of pressure, especially on Lewis and Max," said Marko.

"Lewis is naturally fast and has so much momentum. But Verstappen is probably the fastest of the best three drivers on a single lap, and now he also has the necessary routine and maturity," he continued.

Marko said that if Hamilton has a weakness, "as stupid as it sounds, he has driven more or less without competition in recent years".

"I believe it will be a duel between Hamilton and Verstappen this year, and with the package we hope to offer Max, we hope he can become a serious opponent."

(GMM)
U.S. political history is a road of great ups and downs. Still, there is nothing quite like a presidential scandal to catch the interest of the public eye. Interestingly, scandals involving presidents have been around long before the modern media we know today. These ten scandals involving U.S. presidents have stood out as the most shocking ones.

10. President Andrew Johnson's Impeachment

Andrew Johnson fired Edwin Stanton, which led to Johnson's impeachment trial. Image credit: wikimedia.org

After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln back in 1865, the then Vice President Andrew Johnson took over the presidency and moved into the White House. Johnson was in strong opposition to giving the freed slaves the right to vote as well as with many other efforts of the Reconstruction period. He was constantly butting heads in Congress, mainly with Radical Republicans who had the majority. They managed to pass the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, which forbade Johnson to fire Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, without Senate approval. He did so anyway, which entered him in a long impeachment trial. Still, Congress was left one vote short of having the two-thirds majority to confirm the impeachment.

9. The Sally Hemings Scandal

Thomas Jefferson had six children with Sally Hemings. Image credit: needpix.com

President Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, was a widower in 1782 but hardly single. He fell in love with Sally Hemings, who was his servant and of mixed-race. This scandal did not break out in real-time as its details were revealed years later when a journalist broke the story in 1802. It turned out that Jefferson and Hemings were together for more than thirty years and had six children. The story was not confirmed until 1998 when DNA analysis of their descendants showed a very high chance of kinship.

8. Teapot Dome Scandal

Albert Fall took bribes in exchange for oil contracts. Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash

In 1922, under the term of President Warren Harding, Albert Fall served as interior secretary. He managed to get full control of oil reserves in Wyoming for the Department of Interior, one of them being Teapot Dome Oil Field. This step enabled him to award contracts to private oil companies to suit his own benefit. The process did not include any bidding, meaning that the Department of Interior, ruled by Fall, was able to award a contract to the company of their own liking. When smaller oil companies complained about it, the Senate launched one of its most essential investigations in U.S. history. Investigations showed that Fall received extensive bribery from companies he eventually contracted. For many in Washington DC, it finally became clear how Fall got so rich so quickly.

7. Corrupt Bargain

Henry Clay chose John Quincy Adams to be president in exchange for a cabinet position. Image credit: wikimedia.org

None of the candidates in the 1824 election managed to win the majority of votes. The race was up to Congress to decide. The candidates in question were President Andrew Jackson, a war hero, and President John Quincy Adams, son of the founding father, President John Adams. Before the vote in Congress, Henry Clay announced he was going to support Adams. Since Clay was a very powerful House Speaker, the House followed and elected Adams president. To everyone's disbelief, Adams then made Clay his secretary of state. Jackson won the popular vote, so he and his supporters united in disagreement with the "Corrupt Bargain" between Adams and Clay and helped to elect Jackson in 1828. The group was the foundation of political actors who would later form the Democratic Party.

6. President Woodrow Wilson's Engagement

Woodrow Wilson engaged Edith Galt one year after the death of his first wife. Image credit: flickr.com

President Woodrow Wilson was a respected statesman and president, famous for his role in the progressive movement. Still, even he was involved in a presidential scandal. His first wife, Ellen Louise Axson, died in 1914. The next year, Wilson met Edith Galt, and they were soon engaged. Back in the day, this event was big enough to cause a public scandal. The scandal went to such an extent that there were even rumors saying Wilson murdered his first wife so he could marry Edith.

5. The Whiskey Ring

The Whiskey Ring involved the diverting of tax revenues. Image credit: wikimedia.org

Exposed in 1875, The Whiskey Ring describes the group of politicians, distillers, distributors, and others who conspired in tax fraud. Whiskey distillers bribed the officials who then helped them evade tax by approving the stamp as if they had paid the full tax fee. However, they would only pay $0.30 to the required $0.70 per gallon. Millions of dollars of bribery were collected until the scheme was revealed. The scandal did not involve President Ulysses S. Grant until the investigation implicated his secretary, Orville Babcock. Grant testified in court in Babcock's defense, who was then acquitted.

4. President Grover Cleveland's Illegitimate Son

The public was outraged when it was discovered that Grover Cleveland had an illegitimate son. Image credit: wikimedia.org

Even back then, in the 19th century, it was not so unusual for a presidential campaign to revolve around a scandal. A scandal happened to President Grover Cleveland during his first presidential campaign in 1884. The information broke out that he had an illegitimate ten-year-old son. Cleveland admitted it, and even though it caused a public scandal, he was still elected president. In fact, he was elected again in 1892, making him the only president in U.S. history who served two non-sequential terms.

3. Iran Contra Affair

Ronald Reagan's administration broke the trade embargo with Iran and sold them weapons. Photo by Science in HD on Unsplash

To the concern of the Democratic party, President Ronald Reagan's plan for his second term was to support foreign anti-communist organizations worldwide. In 1982, Democrats passed the Boland Amendment, thus limiting U.S. engagement in international conflict. At the same time, Iran and Iraq were at war, and Iran wanted to purchase weapons from the U.S. Reagan's administration broke the trade embargo with Iran and sold them the weapons. When the deal became public in 1986, the investigation showed that the portion of the arms deal went to financing the Contras, a right-wing extremist and militant group in Nicaragua. Fourteen members of the Reagan administration were charged. Still, no evidence was found to link Reagan to the deal even though he later admitted his involvement.

2. The Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton Affair

President Clinton was impeached because he lied about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

In 1996, 22-year-old Monica Lewinsky had to move from the White House office to the Pentagon because of the rising concern she had been too close with President Bill Clinton. The phone conversations between Lewinsky and Linda Tripp revealed that she was having an affair with Clinton. Clinton and Lewinsky made the whole thing even worse as they both denied the relationship. Lying about it presented the severe grounds for charges of perjury against Clinton. Eventually, The House of Representatives impeached Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998. Still, he was able to serve out his term as the Senate acquitted him.

1. Watergate Scandal

Nixon's re-election campaign broke into Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. Image credit: wikimedia.org

The scandal of Watergate, under the term of President Richard Nixon, completely changed the landscape of contemporary politics, and it is probably the most referenced presidential scandal in U.S. history. Five members of Nixon's re-election campaign broke into Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. The goal was to collect information that could be used in the campaign. Nixon supposedly did not know about the plans for the break-in, but he did everything to cover up the scandal. Eventually, the news broke out about his involvement, only to cause a great shock all over the nation.
A Fort Bend County man in his 70s has tested presumptively positive for the coronavirus, the first non-imported case in Texas.

The man, who recently traveled abroad, is currently hospitalized and in stable condition, officials said.

During an evening news conference Wednesday, Fort Bend County health officials cited federal privacy laws when they declined to release the mans identity, where he traveled and where he is being treated. Harris County Public Health Executive Director Dr. Umair Shah said there is no evidence of a community spread of the pneumonia-like disease but called the latest case a concerning development.

Area health officials said they anticipated a diagnosis in the state.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus has come to Fort Bend and the Houston area. Here's what we know so far.

While we know this news is concerning, it is not unexpected, said Dr. Jacquelyn Johnson-Minter, director of Fort Bend County Health and Human Services. We have watched the number of cases increase daily across the U.S., and it was just a matter of time before Texas announced its first case.

Fort Bend County HHS said it was notified of the case at 4 p.m. Wednesday and started an investigation, including an effort to quickly identify those who came in contact with the individual. Close contacts may include family members, coworkers, emergency responders and other contacts.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Stay on top of our continuous coverage into the outbreak

Johnson-Minter said she could not specify the mans symptoms but urged residents to practice healthy hygiene habits. Other county officials tried to quell residents concerns.

This is a rapidly evolving situation, and we know it is concerning and unsettling for our residents, Fort Bend County Judge KP George said in a statement. While this is a serious public health threat, we encourage residents to rely on verifiable sources of information and remain calm.

George added that county officials will continue to provide updates Thursday as they become available.

FORT BEND ISD: District responds to development of 'presumptive positive' case

George and Fort Bend HHS both referred to the case as actionable and said they are treating it as a positive. The virus was diagnosed by the Houston Health Department, which announced Wednesday evening that it is now conducting testing for specimens collected by medical providers. The Fort Bend mans specimen will now be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation.

The Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management announced it was moving to level three readiness, which means additional staff will be available, said Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Alan Spears. Level three is one step above normal operations, he said.

Basically right now, theres no immediate threat to life and property, he said. Were still monitoring the situation.

RENEW HOUSTON: Prepare for coronavirus like you would for a hurricane, says expert

The previous cases in Texas all involved patients imported to San Antonio. Two were repatriated from Wuhan, China  where the outbreak originated in late December  on State Department-charted flights. Eleven were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. All but one were originally quarantined at Lackland Air Force base.

One additional Diamond Princess evacuee who was infected with the virus was transferred from a San Antonio hospital to a facility out of state for medical care.

In all, at least 153 patients in 16 states have been treated for the coronavirus, known as COVID-19. Eleven of the patients have died, 10 in the state of Washington and one in California.

The number of non-imported U.S. cases grew by at least 20 Wednesday, the largest number of new cases in the U.S. yet.

The U.S. total includes 49 imported cases. The CDC is counting such cases separately than those in which the patient developed symptoms in the U.S., the vast majority of the time after returning from traveling abroad.

The U.S. numbers represent a small fraction of the cases globally. More than 90,000 people have been infected with the illness in 65 countries now, with a death toll exceeding 3,000.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

brooke.lewis@chron.com

julian.gill@chron.com
Companies around the globe have been asking staff to work from home as they work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and reduce its impact on global business.

Alphabet Incs Google joined Amazon.com, Facebook and Microsoft in recommending employees in the Seattle area to work from home, after many were infected with the coronavirus in the region

Seattle in Washington state has been most affected by the virus in the United States. Ten people have died out of 39 cases of infections through community transmission of the virus.

A Google spokesperson said the company made the decision after consulting with public health officials.

Seattle-headquartered Amazon recommended employees in the area to work from home through the end of the month, after an employee at its South Lake Union office complex in the city tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Facebook on Thursday said it would shut its Seattle office until March 9 after a contractor at the location was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

HSBC has sent more than 100 of its London staff home after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the first known case at a major company in Europes main financial hub.

Italys UniCredit also told some staff to go home after two new infections were reported among its employees - one in Germany and one in Italy.

Banks globally are readying out-of-town offices and isolating some teams to ensure they can keep trading if coronavirus spreads in more major financial centres.

JPMorgan said in a memo on Thursday that it was moving traders in New York and London to a number of locations.

German fashion house Hugo Boss warned yesterday that the coronavirus will have a significant impact on its first-quarter results, with sales falling particularly in Asia, but also in other key markets.

Hugo Boss said it expects a gradual normalization by the middle of the year and forecast that currency-adjusted sales will rise from zero to 2% for the full year, including a single-digit decline in Asia/Pacific.
Elizabeth Warren, 70, was the youngest serious candidate in the Super Tuesday battle, and it certainly wasnt any help. Coming in third in her home state was a terrible way to end a campaign. But when Americans in the future look back on her career, theyll remember Warren as one of the pioneers who, like Hillary Clinton, helped to get the nation used to the idea that theres nothing unusual about voting for a woman to be president.

Either Biden or Sanders, if elected, would be the oldest American entering a first presidential term. As of right now the record is held by Trump, who was 70, followed by Ronald Reagan, who was 69. Reagan went on to a second term that many people felt was marred by a certain  mental slippage. Its sort of hard to tell whether Trump is failing in that way since he was so awful when he started out.

Well, weve had plenty of presidents who seemed to go off the rails in the prime of life. And these days an average man of 77 has about a 10-year life expectancy. That goes up if he doesnt smoke or drink. And Ill bet it really skyrockets if he has the entire staff of Walter Reed hospital at his beck and call.

The first time age was a big issue in a presidential election was back in 1840. William Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate, was 67 and his opponents referred to him as a living mass of ruined matter.

Harrison promptly released a doctors report: vivacity and almost youthfulness of feelings.  Bodily vigor as good as that of most men his age. Subject to no disease but periodic headache. For its time, it was probably more thorough than the one we got from Bernie Sanders.

Then, of course, Harrison got elected, went to Washington, and died a month after the inauguration. The only lesson the nation should derive from that story is that its a bad idea to give an extremely long inaugural speech in inclement weather.

Trump, who revels in his ability to attach insulting adjectives to peoples names, calls Sanders Crazy Bernie. Thats a tad ironic coming from a man who has been driving the nation nuts for more than three years.
For UK nationals living in Luxembourg, this information evening is a perfect opportunity to press officials on the ramifications of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The British Embassy are hosting a Citizens' Rights Information Evening this evening (5 March) at St. George's International School from 7pm.

John Marshall, British Ambassador to Luxembourg will be in attendance and joined by embassy colleagues from Brussels.

The evening will begin with a short introduction on what the Withdrawal Agreement means for UK Nationals living in the Grand Duchy before the floor is opened to a Q&A session.

The event is free but you should register in advance (click here for more info).
05.03.2020 LISTEN

Ghana is sick and tired of stubborn citizens who evade taxes. Ghana is 63 after independence but still in-dependence because a good number of citizens have made it the point not to pay taxes. Many private workers, as well as businessmen and women, are always doing everything possible to avoid taxes.

It is the same men and women who don't pay their taxes that complain of a lack of developmental projects in their areas. Every society depends greatly on taxes for any developmental project. The USA and the UK are where they are today because their citizens and in fact every individual living on their land do well to pay their taxes.

The good Rabbi when asked in the book for Christians whether they were to pay tax or not commanded his audience to pay their taxes in the following words: it is good to pay taxes. And give what belongs to the government to him. If the good Rabbi of the New Testament ordered his audience to pay taxes, then it is obliged on every Christian living in this country to pay their taxes. A country filled with Christians who hold in high esteem the payment of tithes to pastors but forgo their duties to the country, their motherland. On this day of our celebration of our independence, we are called upon to honorably pay our taxes. I, however, thank you who are paying your taxes. Thank you.

As we celebrate our 63rd Independence Day, I your first gentleman of the land will want you to know that Ghana is sick and tired of corrupt officers. Corruption on our land has been institutionalized. This is evident in a situation where an officer who is in charge of a position will tell a vulnerable person searching for employment to pay a certain sum of the amount before employment will be given. Suppose that person paid an amount lower than expected, the officer comes in, you know what, I am not the only one who will take all the money, I have to pay various officers too who will be involved in granting you the employment opportunity. Ha! Ghana is sick and tired of this nonsense. There are indeed officers in the corruption institute. It looks like they are firm because they have built a good defence mechanism to enable their institution stay even when heavy storms rage against it.

To you my dear cabinet ministers it has come to my desk how deeply you have wounded the nation by your corrupt ways. I have been notified on your use of public offices for your advantages. How you use your offices to pave way for your family members and friends into offices they do not qualify. I am again aware of your use of office hours to write recommendation letters for people in order that they got opportunities when they did not deserve it. I have again been made aware of your use of the nation's properties including the cars for your private use. I must in a word make you understand that the offices you occupy are not to be used to build Islands for your families. The offices you occupy is one of service. Ghana is sick and tired of these awkward attitudes. I must, however, say thank you to the good men among you who have the nation at heart.

63 years on and Ghana continues to witness bad policies. If the nation is not growing as it should, it is because over the years and mine, we have made wrong policies that have brought the nation where she is now. We fail in these policies because they are not policies mostly of the country but party policies. How can a whole nation independent of itself having a goal for her cherished members rely on policies made by a kind of political parties. Won't it be the parties' aims that will be achieved instead of the nation's? It's about time Ghana had a long term national policies for a period of fifty years and beyond. This policy should be drawn by stakeholders of the nation. It is the nation's policies that are to guide political parties who rise to power and not their individual opinions for the country. Till now, all political parties rule Ghana with their individual political opinions which in most cases are not good policies. Ghana is sick and tired of all these and I call on you and me to begin this change.

As this year is an election year, I ask that we all conduct ourselves well. We are not violent people, we cherish peace. You and I need the peace we have long ago enjoyed. Do not let political parties buy your conscience with gifts forcing you to make a decision you will regret in future. Remember, four years is still a longer way to go, and so do not exchange it for a four days satisfaction.

Before I take my seat, I would like to present a gift to my dear people of this land. Henceforth all gutters are going to be covered. This is our bit to control and prevent malaria. All gutters on every street is going to be covered. We are sick and tired of breathing in polluted air. Doctors association of Ghana have yearly reported on how citizens die as a result of that and we are not going to take that any longer.

I promise you on this day of our 63rd Independence Day celebration, a nation free from all colonial dictatorship, a nation desirable to be lived in. God bless our fathers and mothers and God bless our homeland Ghana. Happy Independence Day to you all.

From the pen of Emmanuel Graham Nyameke.
UAE-based Azizi Developments said steady progress is being made on Riviera, its stylish waterfront-lifestyle destination located in the heart of Mohammed bin Rashid City which, on completion, will boast 71 mid-rise buildings housing over 16,000 residences.



With windows installation and paint works in full swing, several buildings in the first phase of the four-phased master-planned community development are scheduled for completion by the year-end, said a statement from Azizi.



Phase One of Riviera is now 55 per cent complete and 95 per cent sold out, stated the Emirati developer.



Designed to introduce the French-Mediterranean lifestyle to Dubai, which is not merely about architectural art, but also about a certain 'joie de vivre' - a celebration of life, an exultation of spirit, Riviera represents a new landmark, it added.



Executive Director (Engineering) Mohamed Ragheb said: "Seeing windowpanes being installed and the exterior getting its paint coatings is a very touching moment for us all. It signifies a construction site  a concrete skeleton  being manifestly turned into liveable homes."



"Seeing the Riviera project progressing so swiftly instils a true sense of accomplishment and pride. We are very excited to finish several buildings of this sizable, remarkable community by years end," he added.



According to him, the homes offer spectacular views of the citys skyline and ensure generous space, spread across three districts: An extensive retail boulevard, a canal walk with artisan eateries and boutiques, and Les Jardins - a lush-green social space.



Phase One of Riviera comprises 3,589 residences across 18 towers, consisting of 2,461 studios, 935 one-bedroom, 111 two-bedroom, and 82 three-bedroom units, most of which are projected to be completed in 2020. It boasts a total built-up area of 375,541 sqm and a total gross floor area of 180,854 sqm.-TradeArabia News Service
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.




English Dutch

Papendrecht, 5 March 2020

HIGHLIGHTS 2019

Revenue: EUR 2.6 billion

EBITDA: EUR 376 million

EBIT: EUR 111 million

Net profit: EUR 75 million

Record high order book: EUR 4.7 billion

Net debt-free: EUR 26 million net cash

Dividend proposal: EUR 0.50 per share all cash

OUTLOOK

Well-filled order book for 2020

Dredging: stable market volume with stable margins

Offshore Energy: gradual market recovery

Towage: stable market

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) ended 2019 well after a difficult first half of the year with EBITDA of EUR 376 million, slightly above its own expectations. Net profit came in at EUR 75 million (2018: EUR 436 million loss).

Revenue increased by 2.9% compared to a year earlier to EUR 2.64 billion (2018: EUR 2.57 billion).

EBITDA totaled EUR 376 million and EBIT amounted to EUR 111 million, including extraordinary book profits. The 2018 EBITDA was EUR 354 million and EBIT EUR 119 million, both adjusted for extraordinary charges.

The decline in the result was mainly due to a poor first half of the year for the Offshore Energy division, with operational and contractual issues at a limited number of offshore wind cable and decommissioning projects. Following a thorough analysis of the project portfolio, provisions of more than EUR 100 million were taken in the first half of the year with respect to a limited number of contracts.

The result in both 2019 and 2018 was impacted by various extraordinary items. In 2019 these related to a book profit on the sale of two harbor towage joint ventures as well as the sale of equipment. In 2018 these items related to considerable non-cash impairment charges.

Dredging & Inland Infra realized a healthy revenue growth of more than 6% that was fully generated outside of Europe, due in part to large projects in Oman, Singapore and Canada. The utilization of the hopper fleet was slightly less strong compared to 2018 but was still well above the average utilization rate in the industry, whereas the utilization rate of the cutter fleet was considerably higher than the previous year. EBITDA was virtually stable with a lower operational margin. Various high-profile projects were awarded in the course of 2019 that contributed to a growth in the order book.

At Offshore Energy revenue declined by 2%. Despite a good second half of the year the annual result of the division was considerably lower as a result of the loss provisions taken in the first half of the year relating to offshore wind cable and decommissioning projects. The seabed intervention and survey activities made a sharp contribution to the result this past year. The transport activities continued to depend on the spot market, although in the course of 2019 concrete signs of recovery became visible for 2021 onwards. In the second half of the year Boskalis was awarded an important sizable offshore wind project in Taiwan, leading to the decision to invest in a second crane vessel.

The combined result of Towage & Salvage increased despite the sale of Boskalis share in the Saam Smit Towage and Kotug Smit Towage joint ventures. Salvage had a busy year with the completion of two ongoing operations and the successful salvage of two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Combined with a large number of medium-sized and small contracts, this resulted in a higher result and stable revenue. The contribution of the remaining Towage joint ventures was higher than in 2018 but declined on balance as a result of the sale of Boskalis share in the Saam Smit Towage and Kotug Smit Towage joint ventures.

Boskalis financial position remains strong and improved considerably in the second half of the year. At the end of the year Boskalis was net debt-free with a net cash position of EUR 26 million, compared to a net debt of EUR 420 million six months earlier and of EUR 131 million at the end of 2018. The solvency ratio remains high at 54%.

The order book excluding our share in the order book of associates, grew by 10% to a record high of EUR 4.72 billion (year-end 2018: EUR 4.29 billion).

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis: We were able to end 2019 well after a difficult first half of the year. Due to these results and the proceeds from divestments we ended the year net debt-free. This is no small feat in light of the difficult market conditions over the past few years and the investments and acquisitions we made.

A number of the Offshore Energy activities are showing signs of recovery. We are seeing a higher level of activity at survey, heavy marine transport and seabed intervention. In addition we have been awarded a strategically important offshore wind energy project in Taiwan. Due in part to this project we have decided to invest in a new, innovative crane vessel that will enable us to install extremely large foundations. This investment will further strengthen our position in the wind energy market.

At Dredging we performed well under the circumstances. The fleet utilization was above-average and the order book rose sharply. In November we were awarded a sizable project in the Philippines that will enable us to provide Manila with a considerable area of new land that will also help protect against the impact of climate change. With this project we have laid a solid foundation in our fleet utilization for the next two to three years.

Salvage had a very successful year with a number of high-profile operations. These included preventing a large environmental disaster in the Middle East by bringing two tankers that had been attacked by militias to safety.

Furthermore we made great strides in the strategic repositioning of our company with the successful sale of the two harbor towage joint ventures and the acquisition of the marine survey company Horizon in the Middle East.

In the past period we have been working hard on a new corporate business plan, which we will present later today. This will reveal the purposeful role that Boskalis can play to help tackle a number of large societal challenges in the coming decades. With the quality of our organization, vessels and most importantly our people, we look to the future with confidence.

Market developments

The development of macro trends relevant to Boskalis is positive in the long term. The structural growth and rising prosperity of the global population that increasingly lives in coastal areas drives demand for infrastructure, raw materials and energy and stimulates global trade. Climate change necessitates massive investments in the energy transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. Despite all the measures aimed at emission reduction, emissions will rise further in the medium term and the damaging effects of climate change will continue to grow in the coming decades. Adequately addressing these effects through adaptive measures requires huge investments. Collectively these macro trends are propelling demand for maritime infrastructure and as such are key drivers of sustainable growth for our activities.

The new Corporate Business Plan 2020-2022 takes a detailed look at the development of our business drivers and how these translate into our end-markets. Despite the short-term challenges Boskalis is positive about the chances and opportunities for the medium and long term. We see plenty of scope for further expansion of the business; opportunities at Dredging & Inland Infra, as well as Towage, but especially in the offshore wind segment at Offshore Energy as well as the traditional oil and gas markets. The new Business Plan is discussed in greater detail in the Annual Report 2019 that is published later today, Thursday 5 March.

Outlook

The market outlook for 2020 is more favorable compared to the start of 2019.

At Dredging & Inland Infra we are seeing a stable volume of work in the market in the short term, with the projects in the order book providing a solid basis for revenue and fleet utilization in 2020. However, the market continues to be competitive and the emphasis for Boskalis is on maintaining utilization at a responsible level of project risk.

The picture for the Offshore Energy market is gradually becoming more positive. The contribution of wind energy projects is expected to be positive and seabed intervention is expected to have a reasonable year. Survey is expected to have another good year and will grow due to the consolidation of Horizon. 2020 will be a year of transition for Transport as it emerges from several quiet years to an improving market in 2021 and 2022.

At Towage & Salvage the remaining joint ventures (Smit Lamnalco and Keppel Smit Towage) are expected to have a stable year. The annual result of Salvage will largely depend on the inherently unpredictable supply of work and the completion of projects from the past.

In view of the project-based nature of a significant part of our activities along with the uncertain conditions, it is difficult at this early stage of the year to make a specific quantitative statement about the projected annual result for 2020.

As a result of two coinciding large investments, relating to the mega cutter Krios and the Bokalift 2, capital expenditure is expected to be around EUR 400 million in 2020, excluding the purchase of the remaining stake in Horizon and any possible acquisitions. The financial position is extremely solid and Boskalis comfortably meets its financial covenants.

Dividend policy and dividend proposal

The main principle underlying the Boskalis dividend policy is to distribute 40% to 50% of net profit from ordinary operations as dividend, while pursuing a stable long-term development of dividend. The choice of dividend form (in cash and/or fully or partly in shares) takes into account the companys desired balance sheet structure as well as the interests and wishes of the shareholders.

Given the robust balance sheet, in setting the amount of the dividend for 2019 it was decided to maintain a stable dividend and in doing so pay out more than the ratio formulated in the policy. Boskalis will therefore propose to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 13 May 2020 that a dividend of EUR 0.50 per share be distributed fully in cash, equal to approximately 88% of the net profit. The dividend will be made payable from 25 May 2020.

>>> click here for the full version of the 2019 financial review

including all the financial details <<<

Boskalis Financial Review 2019



KEY FIGURES 2019 2018 (in EUR million) Revenue 2,645 2,570 EBITDA 375.8 353.6 Net result from JVs and associates 25.6 28.4 Operating result 28.5 119.0 Extraordinary items pre tax 82.3 -519.5 EBIT 110.7 -400.5 Net profit (loss) 74.9 -435.9 Dividend (proposal) per share (in EUR) 0.50 0.50 End 2019 End 2018 Order book at year-end 4,722 4,292

EBIT(DA) and operating result include our share in the net result of joint ventures and associates.

2018 EBITDA and the Net result from joint ventures and associates are presented excluding impairments and extraordinary charges.

Live webcast

The Board of Management of Royal Boskalis Westminster will comment on the 2019 full year results and present the Corporate Business Plan 2020-2022 at the analyst meeting (13.00  16.00 CET) on 5 March 2020. This meeting can be followed by means of a live webcast, details of which can be found on the website ( www.boskalis.com ).

Publication of Annual Report and Sustainability Report

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. will publish both its Annual Report 2019 and its Sustainability Report 2019 today, 5 March. The reports will be made available in the course of the day on www.boskalis.com .



2020 FINANCIAL AGENDA 5 March Publication of 2019 annual results 13 May Trading update on first quarter of 2020 13 May Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 15 May Ex-dividend date 18 May Record date for dividend entitlement (after market close) 25 May Date of dividend payment 20 August Publication of 2020 half-year results 6 November Trading update on third quarter of 2020

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Investor relations:

Martijn L.D. Schuttevaer

ir@boskalis.com

Press:

Arno Schikker

press@boskalis.com

T +31 786969310

This is a Boskalis press release on the grounds of article 17 paragraph 1 of the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014).

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and has a number of strategic partnerships in harbor towage and terminal services (Keppel Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 700 vessels and floating equipment and 9,600 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.

This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com .

Attachments
Adam Kucharski studies how diseases spread, but hes not handling viruses in the lab or treating sick people in the hospital. Hes a mathematician at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and he uses math to understand outbreaks of diseases like Ebola, SARS, influenza and now Covid-19. His goal is to design better ways to control outbreaks.

In an eerie coincidence, he wrote a book called The Rules of Contagion, before the current outbreak, which has been published in Britain and will be released in September in the United States. In it he talks about the math of contagion involving not only physical diseases, but also ideas, rumors and even financial crises.

In a recent experiment for the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu, he worked with another mathematician and BBC presenter, Hannah Fry, of University College London, and collaborators at the University of Cambridge, to create a documentary, Contagion: The BBC Four Pandemic, using a phone app to track social contacts and map how an infection might spread.

The news of coronavirus epidemics around the world involves a flood of numbers that are a challenge for any nonscientist to digest. I asked Dr. Kucharski to help us navigate some of these numbers, and to tell us which ones we should pay attention to. We talked on the phone and corresponded by email this week. This is an edited version of our back and forth.
Congress MLA in Telangana T



Jayaprakash Reddy on Wednesday urged the state governmentto take appropriate preventive measures against coronavirus in the legislature complex during the Budget session beginning on March 6.

Reddy, popularly known as Jagga Reddy, said the government has already taken several precautionary measures vis-a-vis the virus.

Withthe Budget session beginning on Friday, appropriate steps should be taken in the assembly buildings also, Reddy said in a press release.

Telangana has reported one positive case of COVID-19 as on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, various government agencies in the state have initiated special sanitization campaigns on their respective premises.

City police commissionerAnjaniKumarstressed the need for improving cleanliness and hygiene at all police stations.

"Let us improve on cleanliness and hygiene on all our premises. City police officers are requested to set example of cleanliness and hygiene at all station. Assistant commissioners must visit each of the police stations and ensure this. Deputy commissioners may make suprise visits. Let us make Hyderbad safe and healthy," Kumar said in a tweet.

The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited and the state-run Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) have also taken up sanitization measures in the interiors of the Metro trains and the RTC buses respectively.

Meanwhile, state Health Minister E Rajender inaugurated the distribution of homeopathic medicines taken up by the state governments Department of Ayushas a prophylactic medicine for coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Doctors and other healthcare professionals have been called away from their bureaucratic desk jobs and others will be retrained to combat what NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has declared the "war on coronavirus".

Mr Hazzard warned the state would need "a damn sight more doctors and nurses" and called on the federal government to deliver a funding package - a war chest to help with the fight.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant have warned the virus cannot be contained. Credit:AAP

More than 80 staff across two Sydney hospitals have been sent home to self-isolate after coming in contact with one of two doctors diagnosed with COVID-19.

The doctors, a 27-year-old female trainee from Liverpool Hospital and a 53-year-old male doctor from Ryde Hospital, had both attended a radiology seminar at Liverpool Hospital on February 18.
It should be really no surprise; its exactly what we said we would do, said Henry Lucero, the top government official overseeing the division of ICE that conducts street arrests. He added: If theres no cooperation, thats not going to stop ICE from doing its job. We are still going to try to protect the public as much as we can by arresting and removing criminal aliens from the communities before they can get another crime or make another victim.
Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed uproar over a controversial remark by a Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MP, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party ally, against the Gandhi family during a discussion on coronavirus, leading to adjournment of proceedings for over an hour.

Congress members stormed the Well of the House as soon as Hanuman Beniwal said there should be a probe on whether coronavirus is being spread from the "home" of Congress president Sonia Gandhi as a large number of people who were found to be affected by the virus are from Italy.

Fourteen Italians have tested positive for coronavirus in India.

"Earlier, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that party leader Rahul Gandhi had forewarned the government on the impending threat from coronavirus. There should be a probe to find out if the spread of the virus originated from Sonia Gandhi's home," the Rajasthan MP remarked.

With this, the Congress members rushed to the Well of the House strongly protesting and shouting slogans, tearing papers and throwing some on the table of the Speaker.

Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the chair, immediately adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Leaders of various parties were speaking in Lok Sabha after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan made a statement on steps taken by the government to control spread of coronavirus.
A four-year-old girl with alopecia got a whole new outlook on her condition after seeing a stunning beauty campaign featuring a bald model.

Iylah Hanley, from Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, was shopping with her mother Amelia Palmer, in her local department store earlier this month when she came across a MAC Cosmetics campaign starring Parris Goebel, the celebrity choreographer behind Jennifer Lopez's Super Bowl performance, who has a shaved head.

Capturing the touching moment on camera, Amelia revealed how her young daughter 'lit up' when she saw the images of Kiwi dancer Parris, 28, recalling that Iylah asked whether the A-list dancer 'has alopecia like me'.

Inspiration: Four-year-old Iylah Hanley, who has alopecia, was overjoyed when she saw a MAC Cosmetics campaign featuring celebrity choreographer Parris Goebel, who has a shaved head

'Is she like me?' The little girl's mother Amelia Palmer shared that her daughter 'lit up' when she saw the campaign, and immediately began asking questions about Parris' hairstyle

'This morning we walked into [Farmers department store] and the first thing Iylah saw was @parrisgoebel with short hair,' Amelia shared, while posting photos of her daughter posing proudly in front of the campaign image.

'She goes (with soooo much excitement in her voice), Mum! Does she have alopecia like me?'

Amelia said that she then explained to Iylah that Parris likely 'chooses to have her hair short', prompting the little girl to marvel at the thought that anyone would opt to model such a short haircut.

'Iylah pauses and I watched her as she thought about what I just said.... she said, Wait, so she chooses to wear her hair short?" She then lit up and asked to take a photo with her.'

But while the moment was incredibly uplifting and positive for Iylah, her mother confessed that it sparked upset for her, because it reminded her just how much her daughter worries about her appearance.

She noted that Iylah's concern over her looks has come as a result of unfair beauty standards, and urged other to echo her message that beauty truly is on the inside.

'I find it absolutely crazy that a 4.5 year old questions whether its cool or not to have short hair due to her life experiences in such a short time?' she continued.

'I always tell her that beauty is on the inside, you can express who you are on the outside but what really matters is on the inside but it does hurt that she thinks this way.

Surprise! After images of Iylah posing with the campaign went viral, MAC's New Zealand team arranged for her to meet Parris, 28, in her local store

One in a million: Iylah and Parris were given the opportunity to get makeovers together and to hang out in the store, which was shut down especially

Bond: 'You have changed my life and I love you for it,' Iylah told Parris in a sweet Instagram tribute posted after their meeting

One-on-one: Iylah and her mother also said that Parris made the youngster 'feel like the most important little girl in the world'

'Anyways take what you want from this wee story I just want to say a massive THANK YOU to @parrisgoebel for expressing who you are in such a beautiful way and giving my baby girl a smile no one could wipe away!'

Amelia's touching post about her daughter's reaction to the MAC campaign quickly spread across social media, with hundreds of people leaving comments praising the mother-daughter duo for their positivity.

'I think that this is priceless, Iylah with your story you are raising awareness about Alopecia areata, but also about being unique and beautiful just the way that you are!' one person commented.

'Because of you, your whole school will be educated about Alopecia areata, your community will recognise you and Im sure you already touched many hearts!

'And now all around the world, lets spread the word, so looks might not be as harsh when staring in you direction, and others will let you be comfortable in your own skin, recognise you for who you are!'

Another added: 'She is such a beautiful and bright girl!! Shes gonna take over world when shes older.. Keep being you Iylah!!'

The post also caught the attention of Parris herself, who shared the images on her own account, as well as the MAC team in New Zealand, who decided to arrange a private meet-and-greet so that Iylah would have the chance to meet the dancing superstar in person.

Affection: Parris also posted about the meet-up on her Instagram, where she praised Iylah's positivity and confidence

Making memories: The duo played with makeup, did drawings, and played games together

Fighter: 'What touched me the most is although she has been through so much at such a young age, over time she has gained the confidence to ignore what people think,' Parris wrote

Changing attitude: Iylah's mother Amelia shared, 'I always tell her that beauty is on the inside, you can express who you are on the outside but what really matters is on the inside'

World domination: 'Thank you Iylah for inspiring myself and people all over the world...together we are bald and BEAUTIFUL,' Parris told the youngster

'Following that traction, the MAC New Zealand team shut down the entire store and arranged for a meet and greet with Parris and senior artist Kieke for them to have their own makeup date,' a spokesperson for MAC revealed to DailyMail.com.

The duo were given the chance to bond and hang out in the store, where they also received matching makeovers.

In a touching Instagram tribute written by Iylah and her mother to Parris, the duo thanked the superstar for 'changing Iylah's life', describing her as having 'the purest soul and a beautiful heart'.

Superstar: Parris has worked with a host of A-listers, including Justin Bieber and Rihanna, and was responsible for choreographing Jennifer Lopez's recent Super Bowl performance

'You took me and my family in like we had known you forever and you treated us like we were apart of your family but most importantly you made me feel like the most important little girl in the world - for that I am forever grateful,' the post read.

'Thank you for being the purest soul and for having a beautiful heart. You have changed my life and I love you for it.'

And it seems the feeling was mutual, with Parris sharing an equally heartfelt post about Iylah on her own account, while sharing several photos of their meeting.

'A week ago I was tagged in a post by Iylahs mum saying her baby girl Iylah who has alopecia was so excited to see my picture at the @maccosmetics store,' she wrote.

'Iylah started losing her hair at two years old so it meant so much to her to see a bald girl rocking it. I had to meet this beautiful girl, so we shut down the MAC store and had our own little make up date!

'We danced, we wrote each other cards, we did each others make up, we had the best time.

'What touched me the most is although she has been through so much at such a young age, over time she has gained the confidence to ignore what people think and walk out into the world and show everyone how beautiful she is.

'Thank you Iylah for inspiring myself and people all over the world...together we are bald and BEAUTIFUL.'
Press Release

March 5, 2020 Sponsorship Speech of Senator Risa Hontiveros

Senate Bill 1373 under Committee Report 52, Prohibiting and Declaring Child Marriage as Illegal

March 04, 2020 Let me begin by telling a sad story. Last year, Rappler ran an article about a girl who they chose to call "Fatima." Three days into the new year of 2019, Fatima woke up to what she thought was any other normal day spent doing household chores and taking care of her younger siblings. Little did she know that before the day would end she would be married to a distant cousin 8 years her senior, someone who she didn't know and hasn't met. At 14 years old, she would become a wife to a total stranger. It was her uncle who sealed the marriage and made the arrangements, and no amount of pleading and bargaining by Fatima and her mother who was also a child bride herself could dissuade him to undo the agreement. In justifying this decision, the girl's grandmother, the family matriarch explained that marriage will lighten the burden of her widowed mother, Isha who was left to feed 11 children, some of them were adopted, like Fatima. The small sari-sari store she used to own was destroyed during the Marawi siege, and only the meager income from a small vegetable patch is what keeps them hardly afloat. We all know this isn't a rare occurrence, Mr. President. According to a UNICEF report, 750 million women and girls alive today were married before they reached their 18th birthday, and 2% of this number got married even before they turned 15 years old. Also, the Philippines with 726,000 child brides is the 12th highest in the world in terms of absolute numbers. In a 2019 survey by the Oxfam-led Improving Availability of Reproductive Health Services in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or the ARCHES Project, 253 or 24% out of the 1,058 respondents coming from Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and the Basulta regions were cases of child marriage, and 97% of them involved girls. Thirty years ago, the Philippines ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which clearly sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years old. Almost a decade earlier, we also became a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or CEDAW which obligates states to ensure full, free and informed consent of both parties to the marriage. In many an instance where issues concerning children are being discussed, we always point out to the fact that there are acts that children and young people below the age of 18 are prohibited from doing, among them is being a party to a legal contract which is exactly what establishes the legitimacy of a marriage. Our usual understanding of the world would point to poverty as the main motivation that drives families to marry off their children at a very young age. Not unlike the case of Fatima whose family was affected by armed conflict, and were further pushed deeper into poverty, many girls like her have suffered the same fate. Internal displacement brought about by armed conflicts and natural disasters have driven impoverished families into greater hardships that many of them seek to somehow be unburdened with mouths to feed, and hope that their young daughters would be better off married to someone who could better care for them. Poverty may be among the drivers of child marriages, but there is also a more subtle impulse behind this practice. Child marriage, as part of social norms in communities where it is common is often the result of entrenched gender inequality. This gender inequality plays a key role in making girls disproportionately affected by this cultural practice. Female children are falsely seen as contributing less to the household, and is expected to eventually leave to join the family of her husband making them of less value than male children. In a baseline study on violence against women conducted by Oxfam revealed that among the respondents from Maguindanao, social pressure is the main reason why girls enter into marriage early, many of them between the ages of 14 to 17. Mr. President, in a time when we, together with the rest of the world are slowly making headway in ensuring that young girls are protected and are able to reach their full potential as human beings, the existence of child marriages in our country negates these efforts. Child brides are less likely to remain in school depriving them of economic prospects and other opportunities an education affords. Girls who get married at a very young age are more likely to experience early childbearing, exposing them to higher pregnancy-related complications including childbirth-related deaths. I would like to direct your attention to this photo of three young girls and two baby boys from the Palaw'on community. To reach their village, one has to travel 5 hours by land from Puerto Princesa in Palawan to the Municipality of Rizal, then another 1 and a half hours from Rizal to the Barangay Proper, and finally, a 4- to 6-hour climb uphill. If you think the baby boys in the care of the two girls are their siblings, I am sad to say that you are mistaken. They are their children. CHILDREN. HAVING. CHILDREN. All three of these girls, ages 13, 12, and 9 are child brides. Distressful. Heartbreaking. Just by looking at them, one immediately realizes that this practice has to stop. Medical evidence has also shown that the risk of infant mortality among children of very young mothers is 60% higher than among those born to mothers older than 19. Girls who get married early are also vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence, abuse, and exploitation. These are but some of the implications arising from child marriages, Mr. President. If we continue to allow this to happen to our children, we are essentially robbing them of their right to a childhood. It is with this in mind that the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality wishes to sponsor Senate Bill 1373 under Committee Report 52 entitled, "Prohibiting and Declaring Child Marriage as Illegal." This bill considers the act of child marriage a public crime, and penalizes any person who facilitates and solemnizes this union. Being conscious of existing cultural practices, the bill introduces a culturally-appropriate program and services that will be responsive to the needs of those who will be affected by this law. The Department of Social Work and Development shall be the lead duty-bearer in the formulation of such program and services, and in the implementation of the law. Mr. President, I realize that there might be some apprehension that the bill may be intruding into established and long-held cultural practices. In all humility, allow me to say that I fully understand this anxiety. May I invite you to watch a short but heartening video of a young Muslim woman, Hanod Ebrahim who is an unwavering advocate of ending child, early, forced marriage. As history has time and again demonstrated, any aspect of culture is not static, and neither is it monolithic. Culture can be considered not only as practice but also a process, a consequence of material and non-material conditions, and a bearer of values. As such, culture continues to evolve, to grow with us human beings who are fully aware of present realities and necessities, accepting of new knowledge and belated realizations. And among the learnings that we are duty-bound to acknowledge is that our children are our future, and all that we do must be in their best interest. Bago po ako magtapos, nais ko lang banggitin ang mga advocates na narito ngayon na walang kapagurang itinataguyod ang pagpasa sa panukalang batas na ito: Oxfam, PLCPD, AMDF, UnyPhil, PBSP, mga taga-Barangay Culiat, World Vision, at Forum for Family Planning. Maraming salamat, at mabuhay po tayong lahat.
Prime Minister of Israel has encouraged Israeli citizens to greet people using the Namaste instead of a regular handshake at a presser. This presser took place after a review meeting held on containing the deadly virus.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt the Indian way of greeting #Namaste at a press conference to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gtSKzBDjl4 India in Israel (@indemtel) March 4, 2020

Netanyahu said that several precautionary measures will be adopted to mitigate the spread of coronavirus but simple measures such as greeting people the Indian way by using Namaste instead of the usual handshake can be adopted in day to day lives. He also showed how Indians do Namaste at the presser.

He stated that the world right now is "in the middle of a global epidemic" and that the nation was quick in taking action to prevent coronavirus outbreak in the country. Netanyahu further stated that "We have had to take rigorous steps to slow the spread of disease in Israel; we have taken select isolation and flight policies and measures for flights."

Netanyahu is not the only one to encourage people to greet each other using Namaste. Back home, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar also said that we should greet each other using folded hands. Apart from endorsing Namaste as a way of greeting each other, Javadekar also said that cleaning hands and being careful while going to crowded places are some other precautions that need to be adopted to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Union Minister was answering a question on the reported shortage of protective masks in the market.

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak LIVE updates: Benjamin Netanyahu asks Israelis to adopt 'namaste' as greeting

Also read: Netanyahu leads in Israel elections but still short of majority
Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) witnessed a knee-jerk reaction and slipped over 5 per cent in the intra-day session on Thursday after media reports suggested the government may ask the bank to form a consortium and pick a stake in the beleaguered private lender, YES Bank. The stock, however, recovered later.

YES Bank, on the other hand, zoomed over 29 per cent on the expectations that move will provide much-needed stability and capital to the bank. Although the details of the development are yet to be out, Business Standard spoke to a few analysts to ascertain what this means for ...
Bucharest, March 5 : A 71-year-old man from northern Romania tested positive on Wednesday with COVID-19, becoming thus the second confirmed case of the day and the sixth so far in the eastern European country.

The patient returned from Lombardy last Friday and was in self-quarantine. All infected people so far in Romania can be traced back to Italy, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The man showed up Monday at a local hospital in Suceava with fever and chills, and was immediately hospitalized, according to the Strategic Communication Group, a government agency authorised to publish official public information.

According to the same source, an epidemiological inquiry has now been launched to establish contacts.

Romania confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus last Wednesday after a 20-year-old Romanian was infected by a visiting Italian.

As of Wednesday, 35 people are currently in institutional quarantine in Romania nationwide, and 10,771 are monitored at home.

Romania has frequent people exchange with Italy. As of 2019, over 1.2 million Romanian citizens are living in Italy -- the largest Romanian immigrant population in any country, also the largest immigrant group within Italy.
The Ray Charles Foundation Donates One Million Dollars to Help the Next Generation of Medical Doctors

The Ray Charles Foundation recently donated $1 million to Cedars-Sinai Hospital to fund The Ray Charles Foundation Scholars Fund in Neurosurgery. Under the leadership of internationally acclaimed neurosurgeon and scientist, Dr. Keith Black, the program will promote diversity in science and medicine with a focus on students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). This generous gift allows us to create a program that will help us invest in the future, Dr. Black said. The goal is to create a training pipeline that helps shape the careers of future leaders in the field of neuroscience.

The Ray Charles Neurosurgery Scholars will come to Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles where they will receive a paid salary, be matched with faculty/staff, intense in-depth training, shadow neurosurgery and clinical partners. They will also attend a conference for professional development, network, and prepare and submit research papers and publications. The program will accept one or two MD or PhD students each year who will then be matched with a principal investigator who will provide mentorship, guidance and career-development advice. Scholars will also be able to access the day-to-day resources and training that they need as they carry out their research projects. The knowledge and insight these scholars will gain through this experience will help prepare them to serve as the healers, scientists and thought leaders of tomorrow and hopefully, one of the Scholars will find a cure for brain cancer, Black added.

It is an honor, on behalf of The Ray Charles Foundation and its board of directors, to partner with Cedars-Sinai and Dr. Black in shaping the future for the next generation in science and medicine through The Ray Charles Foundation Scholars Fund in Neurosurgery, said Valerie Ervin, president of The Ray Charles Foundation.

Founded in 1986, The Ray Charles Foundation continues in the legacy of its founder by supporting philanthropic programs in music, education and healthcare.

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For more information about The Ray Charles Foundation Scholars Fund in Neurosurgery, or to make a donation to support important programs and research led by Dr. Black, contact KC Miller 323.866.6748 or email [email protected]
Priti Patel is facing fresh pressure over bullying allegations today despite Boris Johnson vowing to 'stick by' her - with a claim she threw a folder at an official during a row.

The Prime Minister told MPs he had full confidence in the embattled Home Secretary despite launching a Cabinet Office inquiry this week into claims that she bullied staff.

But his vote of confidence came as a Whitehall source told the Mail that Miss Patel had thrown a folder at an official, hitting him in the face during a meeting in 2016.

The fresh claim, which was denied by allies of Miss Patel last night, dates from her time as Employment Minister.

A Whitehall source said: 'She was being briefed by officials for an event and there was a page missing and she got annoyed. At the end of the briefing, she threw the folder at him and hit him in the face.

Boris Johnson said he was 'sticking by' Priti Patel (pictured left) after he was pushed on bullying allegations during PMQs yesterday

Former Home Office Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutnam (pictured appearing before the Home Affairs Committee in February last year) has threatened to bring a case against the government for constructive dismissal

'It was so aggressive. She didn't apologise. It was just like when Alex Ferguson chucked the boot at Beckham.' A spokesman for Miss Patel said the claim was 'categorically false'.

Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who was Miss Patel's boss at the time, also denied the claim, saying: 'If someone threw a file at you, you would report it, wouldn't you? There wasn't a complaint.'

But the allegation is the latest in a series of bullying claims levelled against the Home Secretary in recent days - all of which she has denied.

In a bombshell resignation statement at the weekend, the Home Office's former top civil servant Sir Philip Rutnam accused Miss Patel of 'shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands'.

Sir Philip, who branded Miss Patel a liar and a bully, is now suing the government for constructive dismissal.

An official at the Department for Work and Pensions is reported to have received a 25,000 payout after filing a formal complaint her. According to legal documents seen by the BBC the woman took an overdose of prescription medicines following the alleged incident in 2015.

Miss Patel has also been accused of bullying her private secretary during her time as International Development Secretary. A senior official at the Department for International Development (Dfid) has claimed there was a 'tsunami' of allegations of abuse by officials in her private office.

One former senior figure in the department told the Mail yesterday that she had 'harassed' her private secretary to the point where he was eventually signed off sick with a stress-related condition and asked for a transfer to another department.

But, in a sign of the difficulty the Cabinet Office is likely to face in investigating the claims against Miss Patel, another former Dfid official flatly denied the claim she had bullied her private secretary.

The source said: 'Priti wanted to get a new private secretary, which is not uncommon for a new minister. It was handled a bit awkwardly but it all ended amicably. The claim she was bullying him is just not true and is being put about maliciously.' A former minister who served with Miss Patel urged the Prime Minister to sack her.

The minister said: 'There hasn't been a single government department in which she has worked where there haven't been complaints about her conduct, whether it was the Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions, Dfid or now the Home Office. She is a serial offender.

Ms Patel (pictured on the green benches behind Mr Johnson at PMQs yesterday) has furiously denied the allegations of bullying

'Shouting and screaming is the way she operates. She is not fit to be a minister and it is a reflection on Boris's judgment that he ever put her in the Home Office.'

In the Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister gave Miss Patel his full backing.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, with Miss Patel sat alongside him, Mr Johnson said: 'The Home Secretary is doing an outstanding job - delivering change, putting police on the streets, cutting crime and delivering a new immigration system - and I'm sticking by her.' A senior government source said: 'You could not put a cigarette paper between the PM and Priti. She has his full backing.' Labour called for an independent inquiry into Miss Patel's conduct, and said it had received fresh allegations against her from officials who served with her various government departments.

Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Johnson had 'no shame in defending bullying' in his Government as he called for an 'independent' investigation, and demanded to know when the PM first knew about bullying allegations against Miss Patel.

But Downing Street insisted that the Cabinet Office inquiry, which will report to the PM, would be 'robust' and would be able to look at all allegations made against Miss Patel.

It is thought that Miss Patel will be interviewed by senior officials about the claims in the coming days.

Allies of Miss Patel have claimed that 'dark forces' are trying to remove her.

Mr Duncan Smith said disgruntled officials were 'in league' with each other and elements of the media as part of an effort to damage the government.

'Some of the civil service are using Priti Patel to take on the Government,' he said. 'They're using Priti to weaken Downing Street's resolve.

'If Downing St backs down, some in the civil service will say they have won, and no one will say boo to them again.

'It's complete nonsense from start to end.

'I've worked with her and yes, she's tough, she's strident. But she's trying to get a job done.'
The new Armed Response Teams have been called out at 50 times the rate that Armed Offenders Squads were last year.

The teams were deployed 75 times a day in the first five weeks of a six-month trial that started late October, according to data released under the Official Information Act.

Police say the trial is going "really well", the public is getting "good value", and the teams have not fired a gun once.

Last year, Armed Offenders Squads were called out on average 1.3 times a day across Auckland, Waikato, and Canterbury - 488 times in the 2018/19 financial year - for both emergency and pre-planned events.

The same AOS officers, which make up Armed Response Teams, were deployed 2641 times between October 28 and December 2 last year in Counties Manukau, Waikato, and Canterbury districts.

This means armed police are attending more jobs in an average week than the Armed Offenders Squads were sent to in an entire year.

In the same five weeks, Auckland Armed Response Teams were deployed 67 times, an average of almost twice a day, in Waitemata and Auckland City - districts outside the trial's scope.

"It sounds very much, given that volume, that they're involved in day-to-day policing," says private investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel.

"I think a large number of them are going to be routine traffic stops... but we were told by the Commissioner [Mike Bush] when he launched them that they were to focus on high-risk armed situations, high profile public events."

Even police admit the teams - which carry a pistol and have a Bushmaster rifle in the car - are dealing with some low-level crimes they come across.

Freda Grace, the police national commander who oversees Armed Response Teams, defended the wide range of jobs they have attended. This includes "a lot" of traffic stops, she says, but the teams' focus is on high-risk events.

"They will also be undertaking quite a lot of proactive activity, because we wouldn't want people to be sitting in a vehicle just waiting for a specific incident to come in. We'd want them to be occupied all of the time."

Freda says this showed the country is getting "good value" from these teams.

But Tim says there is a danger using armed police so routinely.

"In some respects, it's not surprising if you have a tool or resource or unit like the ARTs - you want to use them, you don't want them sitting around doing nothing.

"This is one of the fears with them; once you introduce them then you're forced to use them. In practical terms, once you have these full-time armed teams, you want to be using them more and more and more".

Victoria University Professor of Criminology Simon Mackenzie says having roving officers with guns day-to-day, for no specific reason, would meet many people's definition of routine arming.

Simon says for police to say they are opposed to routine arming but then routinely arm some patrolling officers is "Trumpian newspeak".

"So, of course, they're going to be asked to respond to other calls and engage with any emerging events that happen nearby. The problem is that then brings police with guns into normal day-to-day business, policing in the community.

"That is not a good development, that is not what the trial is supposed to be about, as far as I understand it."

Figures showed Armed Offenders Squads fired a gun just nine times out of more than 4000 callouts in the last five years.

Freda says there had not been any shots fired by the ARTs during the trial, more than four months ago.

She says these officers are highly trained and skilled at de-escalating situations, and there were a maximum of 12 officers on duty across the country at any one time.

"They are delivering excellent services, and there is no reason for anyone to be concerned if they see that group of officers in their neighbourhood or street.

"If they're there, they're the right people doing the right thing to ensure the community remains safe."

Freda says it isn't a surprise that teams had been to jobs outside of the trial districts.

She says the district boundaries were arbitrary, and if there was an incident on the other side then the public would expect police to attend that, even if it was technically outside of the trial teams' ambit.

She says the Auckland ART base was in Auckland City so they would inevitably drive through and spot jobs.

Simon worries about mutual escalation - offenders knowing police are armed, and instead of submitting, levelling the playing field by arming themselves more.

He says consequences of more regular arming could go one of two ways - well, and crime falls; or badly, escalating to something resembling the United States.

"Bringing guns regularly into communities, especially with the well-known racially disproportionate effects of the criminal justice system writ large - the fact that these guns will almost inevitably be disproportionately used is something that means that this may seem like a small decision, but actually it's probably quite a big one."

The trial finishes in late April. From there it will be assessed as to whether it will be scrapped, continues, or rolled out more widely.

-RNZ/Jordan Bond
This is the fourth time that death warrants have been issued as the earlier three had to deferred pending the exhaustion of legal remedies by the convicts.

IMAGE: Asha Devi, mother of the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim flashes the victory sign after the court issued new death warrants against the four convicts in the Nirbhya case. Photograph: ANI Photo/span>

After three postponements in six weeks, a Delhi court on Thursday set March 20 as the fresh date for the execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case that has witnessed several twists and turns after they received the death sentence in 2013.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana directed that Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) "be hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 20 at 5.30 am".

All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together in Tihar jail in New Delhi.

The order was pronounced after the lawyers for the Delhi government and the convicts submitted that the condemned prisoners have exhausted all their legal remedies.

A P Singh, the lawyer for the convicts, conceded that there was no legal impediment for the court in proceeding to fix the execution date.

"It is fairly conceded at bar by counsel of convict as well as public prosecutor (appearing for the State) that as of now, there is statutory no bar in exercise of power under 413/414 (issuing death warrant) of the CrPC, rather it is obligatory on the part of the court to discharge the duties cast upon it under the relevant provisions.

"In view of the same, it is directed that convicts shall be hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 20 at 6 am," the court said.

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi said their struggle would continue till the time they are hanged and hoped that March 20 will be the final date of hanging.

"The morning of March 20 will be the morning of our lives," Devi told reporters.

She also said that if there is any chance, she would want to see the convicts dying.

"While dying Nirbhaya asked to ensure they get such punishment that such crime is not repeated ever. If there is any chance, I would like to see them die."

The new date for the hanging was fixed even as the Supreme Court said it would examine on March 23 the legal issue arising out of the Nirbhaya case on whether there could be separate hanging in a common crime where there are more than one death row convicts.

"The question is whether there can be separate hanging or whether it has to be simultaneous. We will go into it," said a three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi against the backdrop of the contention by the Centre that the hanging of convicts for a common crime can be carried out separately as and when each one exhaust their legal remedies.

The move by the apex court is not expected to have any bearing on the execution of the four death row convicts on March 20 since they have exhausted all legal remedies.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre and the Delhi government challenging the February 5 order of Delhi High Court which said that the four Nirbhaya case convicts have to be executed simultaneously.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Delhi government, told the bench that these convicts have taken justice delivery system for "a ride" and made a "mockery" of it by adopting delaying tactics.

Mehta, who said "credibility of the system is at stake", informed the bench that a trial court has fixed March 20 as the date of execution of the four convicts who have exhausted all their legal remedies.

Taking note of the submission, the bench, also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna, posted the plea for arguments on merits on March 23 and made it clear that no adjournment would be given.

During the arguments, Mehta said there was no statutory provision which stipulates that convicts have to be executed simultaneously and as per the law, only trial of a case has to be conducted simultaneously.

"Today, there are four convicts in this case. Tomorrow, there may be a case having 10 or 20 such convicts and they may again delay the execution by moving separate forums at different time," he said, referring to the tactics adopted by the convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

Mehta said pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay against rejection of their mercy petitions by the President has already been dismissed by the apex court.

"For Mukesh and Vinay, we should be permitted to execute them. There is no need to give any further time to them," he said, adding, "This is not our anxiety to hang somebody. Nobody likes this. Our anxiety is that credibility of the system is at stake".

He said the two other convicts -- Akshay and Pawan -- will now file pleas in the top court challenging rejection of their mercy petitions and in this scenario, the authorities should be allowed to execute Mukesh and Vinay.

"It is de-humanising to keep them under such threat," Mehta said.

When the bench said it would hear the matter on merits on March 23, Mehta said, "These convicts have taken the system for a ride. Please say that whosoever of them want to file for whatsoever remedy, they should do it before March 20".

To this, the bench said, "We will not say this. We will hear the matter on March 23".

The first date of execution--January 22--fixed on January 7 was postponed by the court to February 1. But on January 31, the court indefinitely postponed the hanging. On February 17, the court again issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 but just one day before it was deferred till further orders.

A Delhi court on September 13, 2013 awarded the death sentence to the four convicts, less than one year after the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in south Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Review petitions and curative petitions were then filed in a staggered manner in the Supreme Court against the Delhi high court order on March 13, 2014 confirming the death sentence.

The last option of mercy petition before the President to escape the gallows was also exercised by the convicts one by one but they all stand dismissed.
Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Thursday's trading session based on latest developments.

Maruti Suzuki: The company announced that it has partnered with HDB Financial Services to facilitate car loans for customers.

Allcargo Logistics: The company announced that it has recived SEBI' approval to buy 3.17 crore shares in Gati Ltd via open offer, which is expected to be closed by April, 2020.

Bank of Baroda: The rating firm Moody's has the lender's baseline credit assessment rating to Ba3 from Ba2 earlier.

Deepak Nitrite: The company board has announced an interim dividend of Rs 4.50 per equity share.

GMR Infrastructure: The company informed exchanges BSE, NSE that it's promoter group has acquired 38 lakh shares of company's shares through open market on March 2, 2020.

Piramal Enterprises: The company board plans meet on March 18, 2020 to consider declaration of interim dividend.
He also ordered Zimra to pay the interest at the prescribed rate of 5 percent per annum from September 2002 to date of full and final payment and also to pay the cost of the suit.
Polarized is a weekly series featuring Americans from all 50 states sharing their views on the 2020 elections. Click here if you would like to be a part of this project

Salomee Levy has big goals, from becoming a senator in the state of Nevada to providing a platform for underrepresented communities through her nonprofit  but the 18-year-old still needs to graduate from high school.

The teen is a budding writer and youth activist from Las Vegas. She also served as a United Nations Youth delegate in 2018 and created a platform called We The Immigrants, which highlights the stories of immigrant youth and their experiences.

Weve seen a rise in deportations since 2016 and hate crimes towards immigrants, she says. I really wanted to create this project to shine a light on immigrant youth voices, [a place] where they can share their perspectives.

On the news, you dont see stories from their point of view, she adds. You see statistics and numbers.

Levy is somewhat of a rising local political star, receiving the Congressional Silver Medal from Senator Jacky Rosen and serving on the International Congress of Youth Voices. When she launched a nonprofit that worked towards saving art programs throughout the state, her efforts were featured in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper.

Still, in many ways Levy is a typical high school senior. She says her final semester has been a lot more calm than past years and adds that she works at a gym and does some part-time tutoring work after school to save for her future.

(Photo courtesy Salomee Levy)

Having moved to the country as an infant, the French-Belizean teen is an American citizen and registered Democrat who tells The Independent in an interview that she voted for Elizabeth Warren in the Nevada Democratic caucuses last month (which was also the first time she ever voted). Levy likes the senators two-cent wealth tax plan, wants to see a woman serve as president, and is considering three key issues among her concerns surrounding the 2020 election: immigration, climate change and human rights. Warren checks off all of those boxes for Levy.

Story continues

But as we spoke, the Warren campaign released a blog post on Medium titled Next Steps, which said the Massachusetts senator was going to take time right now to think through the right way to continue this fight.

Much like Levy, the campaign said it was disappointed by its results on Super Tuesday, in which the presidential hopeful  who at one point was seen as the potential Democratic frontrunner  failed to finish in the top two in any of the 14 states that voted on Tuesday.

On Thursday morning, the New York Times reported that Warren would be dropping out of the race, with an official announcement potentially arriving later in the day. Levy supports the decision, and thinks its time given the latest delegate counts. Moreover, if the senator wants to continue this fight for progressive reform in Washington as she has insisted, the Nevada voter has some advice for her: I think she should drop out and endorse Bernie Sanders.

Its great that shes always persisting, and she says shes going to run to the end, but to me I think it seems pretty clear that Biden and Sanders are the clear frontrunners, Levy says. Most of her voters would support Sanders because shes a more progressive candidate, and I think her endorsement would help him to the end.

Bernie Sanders has really been appealing to me lately, she adds. He stands out to me a lot and really appeals to young voters I think he has the potential to beat Donald Trump.

Sanders has so far picked up 501 delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination, compared to former Vice President Joe Bidens 566. Still, 1,991 delegates are required to secure the nomination, and both candidates appear ready to stay in the race for the long haul.

The Vermont senator sweeps the vote when it comes to the youth: he raked in 62 per cent of voters under 25 in North Carolina, 61 per cent of voters aged 18 to 29 in California, and similar percentages across the other states which have so far held primaries and caucuses. But he hasnt been able to turn out young voters in droves, which appeared to contribute to his losses in several states on Super Tuesday.

Levy thinks members of her generation aren't coming out to the polls en masse right now because they dont see the process as a major turning point in the election". There needs to be more education on the primaries available to the youth, she adds.

Ultimately, Levy says she would be supporting Warren right now if she had a stronger showing and won more delegates on Super Tuesday. But she notes how Warren placed third in her own home state of Massachusetts and adds: I think some people are just not ready, and think that another woman isnt ready to challenge Donald Trump.

Levy says she will go on to vote for whoever wins the Democratic nomination, but shes hoping for a progressive victory in the primaries. Trumps election during her freshman year in high school changed the way I viewed politics, Levy says, adding that she became more aware of current events and learned how to speak her mind and debate with people who support the president.

It really got me fired up and inspired to become a politician in the future, she adds.

Levy seems to have a bright future ahead of her, regardless of what next steps she takes after high school. And even though shes upset about Warrens campaign and concerned about another potential four years of Trump, the teen says shes excited and optimistic about whats to come.

I have hope, she says. Im seeing young people  especially within my own community  becoming more involved. Theyre coming out and voting for the more progressive candidates. Theres a lot of hope that well one day have more women and minorities in politics, get equal pay, have equal rights  so yeah, I really have a lot of hope.

Click here to read more of The Independent's series, Polarized: Voices From Across America
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Some people on board a San Francisco-bound cruise ship will be tested for COVID-19, and the ship remains off the coast of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday during a state of emergency proclamation.

Thousands of people are on board the Grand Princess, which is on its way back from Hawaii, Newsom said. It left San Francisco bound for Hawaii after traveling to and from Mexico.

A person on the Mexico trip has died of COVID-19. The person was a Placer County resident who disembarked the ship after returning from Mexico.

Newsom said the death, the first in California, and the cruise ship headed to the state are the reasons for the emergency proclamation.

"It's a dynamic situation but nothing that should be alarming," he said.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said on Twitter that city officials have been told by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Coast Guard "that a cruise ship originally scheduled to return to San Francisco contains individuals who have exhibited flu-like symptoms."

Officials with city departments including the mayor's office, the department of emergency management, department of public health and the Port of San Francisco will be assisting, as needed, the mayor's office said.

Newsom said that 53 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state. Twenty-four of those persons were repatriated.

About 9,000 people in the state are being monitored.

The cruise ship off the coast returned to San Francisco from Mexico on Feb. 21, Newsom said. Then it left for Hawaii.

A request was made to delay the ship's pending arrival in San Francisco and it may be in port Thursday.

CDC spokesman Scott Pauley said they are still in the planning stage.

Newsom said test kits will be flown to the ship and the results will be sent to a lab in Richmond to see if anyone with symptoms has the virus.

California now has 14 labs for testing people for the virus and Newsom said he expects that number to rise to 20.

The state had more than 5,000 test kits as of Wednesday.

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.
Imogen Poots has admitted she thinks that there is a 'deep, dark central problem' in the film business, as she described Harvey Weinstein as a 'despicable human.'

The actress, 30, said she likes to think she would have had the 'physical power' to avoid being in a similar situation to other stars, having rose to prominence when she was just 19 years old.

During the interview with ES Magazine, Imogen also spoke about why she avoids using social media and feeling restless as an actress, ahead of the release of her latest film Vivarium.

Opinions: Imogen Poots has admitted she thinks that there is a 'deep, dark central problem' in the film business, as she described Harvey Weinstein as a 'despicable human'

Speaking about Harvey on women in the film industry, Imogen said: 'Obviously he's a despicable human for his actions and forgivably is being depicted as a monster. [But there is ] 'a deep, dark, central problem' [at the heart of the business].

'I couldn't say what I would have done as an 18-year-old. I think now, apart from anything else, I could say, yes I've got the physical power but I don't know about the emotional power.'

Harvey was found guilty on two counts for third degree rape and criminal sexual act last week following a lengthy trial in New York.

The former Hollywood mogul was acquitted of first-degree rape and the two most serious counts for predatory sexual assault, and is scheduled to be sentenced on 11th March.

Important: The actress said she likes to think she would have had the 'physical power' to avoid being in a similar situation to other stars (pictured with Jessie Eisenberg in Vivarium)

Imogen also said that even after the rise of the #MeToo movement, she still struggles to combat the the ongoing stereotype that an outspoken women is viewed as having an attitude.

She said: 'Still I come up against it a lot, where if you come to work and you're quite opinionated in a good way for the benefit of the project, that can often be perceived as ''you have an attitude'' or that you're hostile.'

Since rising to prominence in 2007 through the science fiction horror film 28 Weeks Later, Imogen has steered clear of using social media, which the star said stems from a need to protect her mental health.

Convicted: Harvey was found guilty on two counts for third degree rape and criminal sexual act last week following a lengthy trial in New York

The full interview appears in this weeks issue of ES Magazine, on sale now

She said: 'I'm not a fan because I'm seeing what it's doing to the generation below me, and that's really sad with mental health. I think it's a really slippery slope.'

'It's intriguing to me but I also wonder, can you ever be authentic? Or is that not the point? Perhaps the point is to sell something.'

As a working actress, Imogen added that she's always felt 'restless' and ready to take on another project.

'I find work to be my happy place, in a way. Because it's all I've ever known: packing up a bag and moving on,' she said.

'That restlessness that's inherent in you is very addictive. And I suppose now I'm supposed to slow down and set up a farm or something. But I'm not ready to do that. I want to keep exploring the world.'

The full interview appears in this weeks issue of ES Magazine, on sale now.
The agency is likely to recommend that people who can consistently wear N95 or KN95 masks, rather than cloth masks, should do so.

Coming Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET
Dhankhars proposed meeting with Mr Shah comes close on the heels of the Union home ministers day-long visit to the state on March 1.

Kolkata: West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar  who has had several run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee-led government over the past seven months  will meet Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi Friday to highlight critical issues of the Trinamul Congress rule in the state. He is also expected to apprise Mr Shah of the ground realities he has seen in the state. Mr Dhankhars proposed meeting with Mr Shah comes close on the heels of the Union home ministers day-long visit to the state on March 1.

On Thursday, the Raj Bhavan stated, The meeting is taking place at the initiative of governor Dhankhar. This will be the first meeting between governor Dhankhar and Union home minister Amit Shah since the former assumed office as the governor of the state of West Bengal. After taking oath of office as governor on July 30, governor Dhankhar had, as per custom, formally called on the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Union home minister.

It elaborated, Governor Dhankhar has indicated that he has by now been in office for over seven months. During this period, he has been able to get updates from various quarters as regards critical issues of governance in the state. He has also felt the pulse of the people. Governor Dhankhar has indicated that as per his oath under article 159 of the Constitution, he has to do his utmost for the service of the people.

According to the Raj Bhavan, In the meeting, the welfare of the people of the state of West Bengal will be uppermost in his mind. He will avail the opportunity of this meeting by apprising the Union home minister of various issues that are relevant and critical to governance in the state. He would obviously indicate areas of conc0ern as also of challenge.

It added, Over these seven months, that in several ways have been sufficiently indicative of the state of affairs in the state, he has also come to gather the ground reality by his numerous visits outside the state capital.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) today announced its plans to build a freestanding, 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital on Millicent Way in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Complementing local acute care services, the hospital, which is expected to open in the summer of 2021, will care for patients recovering from a variety of debilitating illnesses and injuries including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions. It offers physical, occupational and speech therapies as well as 24-hour nursing care that aim to restore functional ability and quality of life.

"We look forward to expanding our care in Louisiana through this new, state-of-the-art hospital," said Brad Kennedy, president of Encompass Health's south central region. "Through this new location, our team will provide residents of Shreveport and the surrounding areas with access to high-quality, rehabilitative care that is set apart by Encompass Health's intensive, individualized therapy and advanced technologies."

The hospital will feature a large therapy gym, advanced rehabilitation technologies, an activities of daily living suite, cafeteria and dining room, pharmacy and courtyard.

It will become part of Encompass Health's national network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and home health and hospice agencies. The Company's Louisiana footprint includes an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Alexandria, a home health and hospice location in Covington and a hospice location in Vidalia.

About Encompass Health

As a national leader in integrated healthcare services, Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) offers both facility-based and home-based patient care through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies and hospice agencies. With a national footprint that includes 134 hospitals, 245 home health locations, and 83 hospice locations in 37 states and Puerto Rico, the Company is committed to delivering high-quality, cost-effective, integrated care across the healthcare continuum. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter and Facebook.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the completion of this hospital project, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Encompass Health may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking information speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Encompass Health's actual results or events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the regulatory review and approval process, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against the Company; the possibility this project will experience unexpected delays; the ability to successfully complete and integrate this project consistent with Encompass Health's growth strategy, including realization of anticipated revenues, cost savings, and productivity improvements arising from the related operations and avoidance of unforeseen exposure to liabilities; changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry at either or both of the federal and state levels; competitive pressures in the healthcare industry and Encompass Health's response thereto; the hospital's ability to maintain proper local, state and federal licensing; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's information systems; Encompass Health's ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment with often severe staffing shortages and the impact on Encompass Health's labor expenses from potential union activity and staffing shortages; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; general conditions in the economy and capital markets; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019.

Media Contact:

Hillary Carnel | 205 970-5912

[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:

Crissy Carlisle | 205 970-5860

[email protected]

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.

Related Links

http://www.encompasshealth.com


By Mariko Tamura, KYODO NEWS - Mar 5, 2020 - 12:41 | Feature, All

On the 11th of every month since April 2019, groups of sexual violence victims and supporters have gathered throughout Japan in public spaces, to protest against unjust acquittals of sexual crimes and seek changes to the law.

Holding flowers in a show of solidarity for victims near Tokyo Station at a January event, hundreds in the "Flower Demo" movement braced against the cold as they listened to victims speak about their traumatic experiences for nearly two hours.

(Posters and lights at the Jan. 11, 2020 Flower Demo in front of Tokyo Station.)

The crowd was separated, with those who did not wish to be photographed standing in one area. Audio and video recordings were tightly controlled with an organizer letting the crowd know whether or not the person speaking wished to be revealed on social media. Most of them did not.

Only women took the microphone that night, and almost none gave their names. But quite a few spoke, some wearing surgical masks or hoods over their heads. Others sat on the ground listening intently, periodically murmuring encouragements to the women.

A woman in her 50s, who wished to remain anonymous, told Kyodo News that she felt compelled to speak to the crowd about being raped by her father as a child.

"I spoke with the hope that younger people, especially, would not feel that they have to carry the burden alone as I did," she said. It was the first time she had spoken openly about being raped, she said.

Jun Masunari, 44, who said he had been the victim of multiple groping attacks by men and women, stood out as one of only a handful of men there to protest. Holding pink roses, he said he was conscious that a majority of perpetrators mentioned by the women at the rally were men.

"The Flower Demo is not really a place for men to speak out easily," said Masunari, who wore an anti-groping badge.

Flower Demo is a nationwide grassroots movement that was triggered by outrage over consecutive district court acquittals in March 2019 in four sexual assault cases.

In one case, the judge doubted a child's allegations of paternal rape, stating that a family member would have noticed.

Judges in the other cases recognized that the sexual acts were nonconsensual, but said the victims had not shown enough resistance.

For example, the judge ruled a father innocent of raping his 19-year-old daughter, arguing that the daughter had the power to resist him, although recognizing her as having been a victim of sexual abuse as a child.

The first demonstrations were held in Tokyo and Osaka in April 2019 after feminist activist and author Minori Kitahara called for them on social media, incensed by the verdicts and by the barrage of criticism leveled against those who questioned the acquittals.

(Minori Kitahara)

"I thought female victims of sexual violence would be too frightened to speak about their experiences and it was necessary to discuss the problem of sexual violence head-on," she explained.

She had not planned to create a movement when she called for the April demonstrations, which were attended by around 500 people. But it was as if a dam had burst with many in the crowd asking to tell their own stories, prompting her to call for another rally.

The movement has spread since to all 47 prefectures and regions in Japan, with around 1,500 people coming together on average in recent months, Kitahara said. Demonstrations and online events have also been scheduled for Women's Day coming on Sunday.

"Survivors feel that they had been bottling up their experiences too long, that others had shut down their voices, and now they do not want to stay silent any longer," Kitahara said about the organic growth through social media.

The Flower Demo movement is far smaller and quieter than the #MeToo movement, which has dominated world headlines since 2017. It has no mass marches and few big voices promoting it, unlike in the United States and South Korea where vocal Hollywood stars and K-Pop stars are speaking out.

The #MeToo movement did not take flight in Japan because victims felt they had little social support, Kitahara said, echoing a similar explanation given by journalist Shiori Ito, who became the symbol of Japan's movement against sexual abuse after going public with a rape accusation against a famous former political journalist.

Ito's decision to reveal her face publicly and give her full name to accuse Noriyuki Yamaguchi of raping her in 2015 was a rare step at the time in Japan. Although prosecutors dropped the case, she won a civil suit against him in December last year.

To encourage survivors and help them feel less isolated, Kitahara, inspired by the South Korean movement, has been promoting the #MeToo hashtag to be accompanied by #WithYou, while Ito has been promoting a #WeToo Japan movement against sexual violence and a panoply of harassment issues, including over sexual orientation.

Three other human rights and activist groups -- Human Rights Now, Spring and VoiceUP Japan -- have garnered over 80,000 online signatures for a petition to change the country's Penal Code.

(Roses brought by a survivor at the Flower Demo in front of Tokyo Station on Jan. 11, 2020.)

They plan to submit the petition to the Justice Ministry once they hit 100,000, said Kazuko Ito, an attorney and Human Rights Now's secretary-general. They did something similar in June last year after reaching more than 45,000 petitioners, she said.

Japan's 1907 sexual assault law was amended for the first time in June 2017, including lengthening prison sentences to a minimum of five years from three years, and broadening the definition to include oral and anal penetration in addition to vaginal, thus recognizing male victims.

The change also facilitates prosecution without a formal complaint from the victim, and establishes a new penalty for guardians who take sexual advantage of children under the age of 18, even if there is no evidence of coercion.

The government said at the time that it would "consider" further revisions in 2020.

The current law states that the victim must not have consented and that there be proof of the inability to resist due to physical violence or threat -- conditions activists argue make proving sexual assault impossible because of a misunderstanding that nonresistance in certain situations equals consent.

Activist demands for 2020 include raising the current age of sexual consent from 13, scrapping the statute of limitations for sex crimes, and heavier sentences.

But ultimately the goal is to have a law similar to Sweden's "Yes Means Yes," where sex without freely-given consent is sexual assault. So long as "violence and intimidation" are viewed as part of the definition of rape, activists say, the law will fail to recognize power dynamics and the "freezing" response that explains why a person may not fight or flee.

But it might be difficult to quickly achieve a clear-cut change to the law despite working-group discussions at the Ministry of Justice, said Ito of Human Rights Now.

As for revisions envisioned for 2020, she said, "It is difficult to think that there will be no change since there is public discourse, but in Japanese culture, change comes slowly."

Inadequate sex education and widespread gender discrimination have made it a labored process, Kitahara said. Add to this a culture of silence in Japan surrounding sexual assaults, and it is no wonder there has been little progress.

According to the latest Cabinet Office survey in 2017 of 3,376 adults over 20 years old, composed of 1,807 women and 1,569 men, one out of every 13 women said they were "forced to engage in sexual intercourse." One out of 67 men said the same.

The survey also found that among the 141 women and 23 men who so responded, fewer than 3 percent of women and 9 percent of men reported the forced intercourse or consulted the police. Around 60 percent of women and 40 percent of men said they asked no one for advice.

Embarrassment was the main reason for women not telling anyone, while men said they did not know whom to turn to for advice.

Victims do not immediately report cases because they question their experiences, which usually do not fit the violent stereotypes of sexual assaults, Kitahara explained.

"Most assault revolves around happy occasions, such as after drinks with co-workers, making it difficult for victims to immediately assign responsibility and blame. It is also extremely difficult to speak about being sexually assaulted by friends and bosses," Kitahara said.

"That's why it's important to clearly explain what sexual assault is so that everyone, including victims and potential perpetrators, will know," she added.

Survivors must also deal with "secondary victimization," also called "secondary rape" -- the insults, disbelief, and victim-blaming perpetuated by society over claims of sexual harassment and abuse.

Gender further complicates talking about personal experiences of sexual violence.

Masunari, the man who alleges being groped, said when he tried to explain about being assaulted, most people refused to believe him, trivialized it, or said that he must have welcomed it in the case of female perpetrators.

Some victims are unsure or pessimistic about the prospect for change.

One educator in her 50s, who quit her job as a reporter almost a year after she said she was drugged and raped in 1993 by a section chief from a prefectural police department, is doubtful about making drastic changes to the law.

"The current administration espouses the belief that people are responsible for putting themselves in difficult situations, and therefore must resolve it on their own."

The woman who said she was the victim of child incest said, "Things may change only a little because even if the law does change, it does not mean that people will. What's important is changing societal awareness," she told Kyodo following her speech.
New Delhi, March 6 : Coronavirus-hit Iran will send a special flight to India to carry back its citizens.

The flight would land in India on Friday and fly back Iranian nationals the following day.

An Iranian Embassy official has said that one more special flight would be operated day after and carry Indian equipment to Iran for stranded Indian citizens there.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said that India was in touch with Iran on possible evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Coronavirus-hit Iran.

Over 2,000 Indians are stranded in Iran and would be brought back after screening them properly by the medical team.

Iran is among the worst-hit countries by the deadly virus after China and South Korea. In the recent days, it has seen several hundred new cases of infections.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a tweet on Thursday expressed hope to establish first clinic at Iranian city of Qom by today evening saying Indian medical team will reach there today evening.

"Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities," Jaishankar said.

Nearly 3,500 cases of Coronavirus have been reported in Iran and at least 107 people have died of it.

After a spike in Coronavirus cases in Iran, India has suspended regular commercial flights with the Islamic country.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
After Apple Pays expansion in the European markets such as Portugal and Slovakia last year, the mobile payment solution could soon make it to Mexico. Some users in the country were able to add their banks debit and credit cards to the Wallet app on their iPhones.

Some Mexican consumers were able to add their cards issued by the Banregio bank to Apple Wallet. They were able to do this by changing the region of their iPhone to a country where Apple Pay is available. However, they were unable to verify those cards as the service hasnt been officially launched in Mexico yet.

Some users in the country tried adding cards from banks other than Banregio but failed. And this hints towards Apple Pays exclusivity with Banregio, at least during the launch. The Cupertino-based company could add support for more Mexican banks in the future, once the service rolls out officially.

https://twitter.com/Juadso/status/1235611856833822721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1235611856833822721&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F9to5mac.com%2F2020%2F03%2F05%2Fapple-pay-may-soon-arrive-in-mexico-as-users-were-able-to-add-their-cards-to-the-wallet-app%2F

Mexico could become the second country after Brazil in the Latin American region to receive support for Apple Pay. Apples mobile payment service is already available in 59 countries and territories around the world. You can view the complete list of supported regions on the companys website.

Apple Pay is an easy to use mobile payment solution from the iPhone maker, and it works via NFC. You can make payments for purchases made in physical stores, compatible apps, and supported websites. Apple Pay is only available on certain iPhones and Apple Watches. You can even send and receive money via Apple Pay.

The company is quite confident about the security and privacy it provides via Apple Pay. It says that the card numbers are not stored on the iPhone or its servers, so the card numbers are never shared with merchants. Apple has also launched Apple Card in partnership with Goldman Sachs and is offering cashback and discounts.
The former chief executive of an ASX-listed company and his accountant friend have been convicted for creating false invoices that funnelled $357,500 into a luxury yacht company they had both invested in.

Adrian Ballintine was in 2012 chief executive of satellite communications company NewSat, and arranged for three invoices  for work that was never done  to be paid from his company to accounting firm BMK. BMK then paid the money to Cresta Motor Yachts.

Adrian Ballintine leaves the County Court on Thursday. Credit:AAP

Ballintine had a 73 per cent stake in Cresta, while his friend, BMK senior accountant Jason Cullen, managed the yacht company's finances.

Between them, Ballintine and Cullen created and approved two false invoices that sent $275,000 from NewSat to Cresta via BMK. Ballintine approved a third invoice in 2012, for $82,500, to be paid to Cresta, while Cullen was away.
The novel coronavirus has taken away colour from political gatherings lined up during the festival this month. As the government swung into action to counter the coronavirus threat with back to back meetings at the high level, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined decision makers and celebrities in shunning Holi Milan programmes with big gatherings to contain the outbreak of the disease.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has held a series of review meetings on coronavirus starting from February 25, on Wednesday, affirmed a pro-active pan-government approach to tackle the menace.

Like his campaign on Swachchtat, Modi has made a point for peoples involvement in containing the spread of coronavirus. The meeting on Wednesday laid emphasis on greater participation of the private sector and the community at large, through a Jan Bhagidari approach.

It was highlighted that participation of the communities and local bodies is essential to combat the public health challenge posed by the virus. It was decided to explore the greater involvement of the private sector.

In light of the public health experts recommendation to avoid big public gatherings, it was decided that all government departments and ministries shall consult Ministry of Health before organising Conferences and international meetings in the country at present.

Noting that experts across the world have advised to reduce the mass gatherings to avoid the spread of novel coronavirus, Modi announced, hence, this year I have decided not to participate in any Holi Milan programme.

Soon a stream of BJP leaders joined in announcing their plans to opt-out of the Holi celebrations solely to avoid the outbreak of Corona while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought to link his decision of not taking part in the Holi celebrations to the violence that singed Delhi last month.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that he and his party MLAs would not celebrate Holi due to the riots in northeast Delhi, which has left 42 dead and over 200 injured.

President Kovind in a tweet said, with alertness and safeguards, we all can help contain the outbreak of COVID-19. In a precautionary measure, the Rashtrapati Bhavan will not hold the traditional Holi gatherings.

Latching on to Modis decision, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also announced cancelling a Holi Milan programme that was being organized by his party in his home town Patna on March 7. Holi is the most prominent Hindu festival in Bihar, where Holi Milan by politicians are key event to connect with masses and supporters.

Home Minister Amit Shah underlined that Holi is a very important festival for Indians while declaring that in the wake of coronavirus, he has decided not to participate in any Holi Milan celebration this year. He also appealed everyone to avoid public gatherings and take good care of oneself and ones family.

BJP chief J P Nadda, who was Union Health Minister in the first Modi government noted that in battling COVID -19, the countries and medical fraternity are jointly making efforts to contain its spread.

Keeping this in mind, this year, I will neither celebrate Holi nor organise Holi Milan, Nadda said giving the Stay safe, Stay Healthy message.
The ill-wind of coronavirus has blown a jobs bonanza to a Co Limerick company.

Due to a worldwide shortage of face masks, even the Chinese are queuing up to purchase masks made by Irema in Kilmallock.

Irema, a wholly owned Irish company, is busy recruiting new workers as it has to double output over the next week.

Marketing manager Kieran OBrien said: We have a full-time workforce of 50 and because of the worldwide demands for face masks we are in the process of adding another 15 as we need to ramp up our operation from 24/5 to 24/7. The last time we had to ramp up was when the Sars virus struck in 2003.

Irema exports most of its masks internationally to western Europe and the Middle East. It also sells to China which is finding it hard to keep up stocks from its own manufacturers.

Mr OBrien said: Up to now we would manufacture about 1.3m masks a week and with demand due to the coronavirus we will need to double output to 2.6m masks a week.

We supply the HSE with surgical face masks and also supply many manufacturing companies which need to have a clean-room work environment.

Meanwhile, a hospital in the North plans to send patients to England for treatment. In all, three patients have tested positive for the disease so far.

Antrim Area Hospital is ready for drive-through testing for the virus and expects patients will receive results within four hours. They will be swabbed in the nose and mouth and then told to go home and self-isolate while awaiting the outcome.

Doctors are attempting to contain the spread of the virus until the summer, when it will be easier for hard-pressed health services to manage and the infection could go dormant.

Dr Seamus OReilly, medical director with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, said: If the test comes back positive there is a very well-rehearsed process that we do in conjunction with our colleagues in England.

We identify an infectious diseases bed in England, if possible, to transfer the patient to. If we cannot transfer the patient across for whatever reason, the infectious diseases beds in the Royal Victoria in west Belfast will be used for that purpose.
New Jersey has its first presumptive positive case of the deadly new coronavirus after a man was taken to hospital with symptoms.

Health officials in the state reported that the man in his 30s was hospitalized in Bergen County and has been treated since Tuesday.

The New Jersey patient reportedly had some type of contact with one of the 11 cases that have been confirmed in New York.

He was unaware he had coronavirus and may have spread it to others in New Jersey unwittingly, according to NBC New York.

The state's Department of Health are tracing individuals who may have had close contact with the man, officials said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks during a news conference. On Wednesday Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, and Acting Governor Sheila Oliver announced the first presumptive positive case of novel coronavirus

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, and Acting Governor Sheila Oliver, announced the first presumptive positive case in the state via a statement

The US has seen 157 cases and 11 deaths, with Washington at the epicenter of the outbreak

On Wednesday Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, and Acting Governor Sheila Oliver, announced the first presumptive positive case of novel virus that has killed more that 3,200 worldwide and seen over 95,000 cases.

So far the US has seen 157 cases and 11 deaths, with Washington state at the epicenter of the outbreak, with 39 cases and 10 deaths.

Governor Phil Murphy reported on Wednesday that the first case had been discovered and urged residents to 'remain calm'.

He said in a statement: 'My Administration is working aggressively to keep residents safe and contain the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey.

'We take this situation very seriously and have been preparing for this for weeks. I urge residents to remain calm and use resources from the New Jersey Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control to prepare and prevent the spread of infection.

Gov. Murphy greeting people before his budget address in Trenton, New Jersey. He urged residents to 'remain calm' after the first case of coronavirus was discovered in the state

'Safeguarding the public's health is one of my highest priorities and my Administration is prepared to respond swiftly to any additional positive cases of COVID-19 here in New Jersey.'

Yesterday federal health officials said they were providing New Jersey with $1.75 million of initial funding to respond to the virus.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Republicans and Democrats had reached a deal to fund the response to the outbreak nationwide to the tune of $8.3 billion.

New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said: 'Any case of novel coronavirus in our state is concerning, however most New Jersey residents are at very low risk of contracting COVID-19.'

Yesterday Gov. Murphy has surgery to remove what was likely a cancerous tumor on his kidney.

Acting governor, Sheila Oliver, who was elected with Murphy as the state's lieutenant governor in 2017, said in a tweet that the governor is resting at a New York hospital and the operation was successful.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...March 5, 2020 - A Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researcher has developed a laser-based defense system to defend against the next generation of autonomous attack drones in a wide range of homeland security settings.

Laser expert Prof. Amiel Ishaaya, deputy dean, BGU Faculty of Engineering Sciences, together with two industry associates, developed the new Light Blade system (Lahav-Or in Hebrew). The technology is being developed and commercialized in their new company, OptiDefense.

A basic version of Light Blade deployed by Israel's Border Police and paired with Elbit's SupervisIR threat detection system downed an unparalleled 90% of airborne incendiary and explosive-laden devices: kites and balloons in its field of fire that were lofted over the border from Gaza to Israel. Click here for video.

Since 2018, thousands of acres of land have been ignited by burning kites in Israel's Western Negev region, near the Gaza border. More recently, balloons carrying explosives are being launched into Israel.

Prof. Ishaaya recognized that existing Israeli defenses were ineffective. Together with associates Dr. Udi Ben-Ami and Dr. Rami Aharoni, and with enthusiastic support and funding from Border Police Commander Yaakov (Kobi) Shabtai, they developed a prototype laser that would hit the incendiary devices. Their system is based on a laser that is used for cutting thick plastic on greenhouses and fields.

The Light Blade technology system has a significant advantage since it can be used in urban environments, such as stadiums, and has an approximate range of several miles. The system operates day and night and when paired with Elbit's SupervisIR has a detection capability roughly equivalent to about 150 cameras standing side-by-side.

That's why a version is being developed to shoot down drones, as well. Current drone technology requires a communication link, either to its handler or to GPS, and electronic jamming systems can exploit that weakness - known as a "soft kill." However, future attack drones will be completely autonomous, navigating via onboard sensors and cameras and eschewing any sort of exploitable communication link. In order to neutralize them before they reach their target, a "hard kill" option, provided by Light Blade, is needed to attack and burn up the drone.

"In order to operate most high-powered laser defense systems, the airspace needs to be cleared for many kilometers, so the laser does not accidentally blind anyone," says Prof. Ishaaya. "Our technology uses a relatively low-power 'eye-safe' laser so airports, for example, could install our systems around the facility to provide complete coverage without endangering pilots or passengers or local populations."

OptiDefense is currently seeking investments to facilitate future development.

###

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) turns 50 this year, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more. AABGU, headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information visit http://www.aabgu.org.
Pakistan, which has been on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since June 2018, has managed yet another reprieve from it. Pakistan has not been put on the black list of the terror finance watch body despite Islamabad not taking any significant action to check either terror financing or money laundering. Pakistan played its limited cards well. Indeed, it sensed the situation well in advance and was quite sure it would not be blacklisted. Instead, it actually mounted a diplomatic offensive to get off even the grey list.

The FATF is a Paris-based intergovernmental body created in 1989 to check money laundering but its mandate widened after 9/11 to check even terror financing. It has 39 members and it judges the conduct of member countries on certain bases. The support of 12 countries is required to take a country away from the grey list, while the support of three countries is enough to prevent one from being blacklisted.

Pakistans conduct has not improved since June 2018. The terror groups, especially the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, have continued to engage in terrorist actions against India. India has pleaded on international fora that the United Nations should be objective in taking action against countries like Pakistan that sponsor terror groups. In November last, Indias permanent representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, called for a zero tolerance approach, without any double standards, to combat the global threat from the crime-terror nexus. He pointed out that UN-sanctioned terror groups such as the LeT and JeM continued to destabilise regions through their cross-border financing and propaganda.

Even the US State Department castigated Pakistan for not acting against terror groups. In its assessment, regionally-focused terrorist groups remained a threat and Pakistan-based LeT  which was responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks  and JeM maintained the capability and intent to attack Indian and Afghan targets. It accused the Pakistani government of failing to significantly limit the LeT and the JeM from raising money, recruiting and training in Pakistan, and of allowing candidates affiliated with LeT front organisations to contest the July 2018 general election.

Despite this assessment, the US did not go beyond a point. President Trump had, during his election campaign, promised that he would bring US forces back home from Afghanistan and end the longest war in Americas history. He cannot fulfil this campaign promise without the cooperation of Pakistan from where the top leadership of the Taliban operates. Last week, US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader, signed a peace agreement in Doha. The US knows that if Pakistan is put on the blacklist, its behaviour towards the US-Taliban peace deal would be hostile.

While the FATF meeting in Paris was on, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Pakistan for an international conference on Afghan refugees. Guterres appreciated the role played by Pakistan in hosting Afghan refugees but was careful not to point out the role of the Haqqani network in creating terror. He tried to further please Pakistan by offering mediation in Kashmir, like President Trump has done, too.

The international community also fears that if Pakistan is put on the blacklist, then its troubled economy would deteriorate further, which could cause the country to implode, resulting in further trouble for its neighbours and the world.

Pakistan also tried to use the politics of the Muslim world to its advantage. In recent times, the situation in the Gulf has been in a flux. There is a decline in the political influence of Saudi Arabia while Iran has risen in status. In this environment, Turkey is looking to emerge as the new leader of the Muslim world. With this objective, a summit was organised in Kuala Lumpur and Pakistan was also invited to attend. But Pakistan withdrew at the last minute after the Saudis threatened to send back four million Pakistani citizens and withdraw billions of dollars kept in Pakistani banks. Imran Khan subsequently tried to please Malaysia by visiting that country and invited Turkeys President Tayyip Erdogan to visit Pakistan. Turkey and Pakistan also have a strong defence partnership. Erdogan visited Pakistan on the eve of the Paris meeting of the FATF and promised to help Pakistan escape being blacklisted.

Pakistan also took some cosmetic measures, as it does on the eve of every plenary meeting of the FATF. It arrested Hafiz Saeed on charges of terror financing and said that another terror kingpin, Masood Azhar, was untraceable. However, India gave evidence of Azhars presence in Pakistan.

Pakistan needed three countries to vote in its favour to keep out of the blacklist. These three votes were easily managed with Turkey, Malaysia and China. Moreover Pakistans all-weather friend China is also current heading the FATF. The exercise perhaps also had the tacit approval of the US, which is hoping that Pakistan would help it to extricate itself from the Afghan quagmire. Whether that will happen or not, only time will tell. For now, Pakistan has got the reprieve it needed.

(The writer is Associate Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi)
With the coronavirus outbreak showing no sign of slowing down, the number of confirmed cases surged to 5,766 with 39 deaths as of Thursday morning. Most of them were reported from followers of the secretive Shincheonji sect, but there are several cases of group infections whose sources of transmission have not been identified yet. As testing of the virus among Shincheonji followers is almost complete, the further spread of the outbreak lies in stopping such group infections in local communities.



People wait for coronavirus testing at a facility in Seoul on Monday.

The government on Wednesday reiterated that the coming few weeks will be the "critical period." A rise in infections with unknown transmission routes means people should stay at least 2 m away from each other and those who came into contact with a coronavirus patient should put themselves in self-quarantine for at least two weeks. "The best vaccine available at the moment is keeping these two rules," said Eom Joong-shik at Gachon University Gil Hospital. "Personal protective measures are very important in this war against coronavirus," agreed Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip. Health authorities have been ordering people who have had contact with a confirmed patient to stay at home since early last month. As the virus spread, the number of people in self-quarantine surged to 29,888 -- more than five times the number of infections.

Quarantine workers disinfect suits for fighter jet pilots at an airbase in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province on Wednesday, in this photo from the Air Force.

But not everyone is complying. Some have transmitted the virus to their families because they did not understand the isolation rules. A man in his 50s, for example, went out to buy masks and wandered around downtown Daegu for four hours after testing positive for the virus on Monday. Another infected man in his 60s was caught by police in a restaurant in Seoul. A woman in her 70s, who later tested positive, traveled from Daegu to Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province on public transportation to see her daughter. In a bid to prevent any violation, laws have been revised to introduce tougher penalties as of Wednesday. Those who break their self-isolation now faces a prison term of up to one year or a fine up to W10 million (US$1=W1,185). "The government has developed a smartphone app for people in self-quarantine," Kim said. "It alerts them when they leave their permitted area. It will start a test-run in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province on Saturday." But some experts pointed that it all comes down to mature civic consciousness in the end. "The app is no use if they leave the phone at home," a health official in Daegu said.
Five hours around Belfast, north, south, east and west, and a quest to find anti-bacterial hand sanitiser drew a blank with every last bottle snapped up amid fears of the spread of coronavirus.

It looks like anyone who could has heeded the health warnings about washing hands as often as possible, but for those still looking for the right product, they might as well join the hunt for Lord Lucan. There's nothing to be found.

Not a single pharmacy had any in stock, with one pharmacist saying she's never seen demand like it in 35 years behind the counter.

Already the shelves are bare in the high street chemist stores.

Across the UK, Boots limited sales to two per customer last week as the panic-buying set in - but the entire product range remains out of stock across the country.

A quick check on their website and the messages range from 'sorry temporarily out of stock' to 'stock sold out' or 'stock coming soon'.

We've found hand sanitiser incredibly difficult to source. We were promised a supply last week and it arrived on Monday, but we didn't even get them out of the box before they were gone Paul McKenna, Loughview Pharmacy

In Belfast, you'll not have any better luck around the local pharmacies, as several hours attempting to buy a single bottle of hand sanitiser proved an impossible task.

"It's crazy," said pharmacist Paul McKenna at Loughview Pharmacy near Stranmillis.

"We've found hand sanitiser incredibly difficult to source. We were promised a supply last week and it arrived on Monday, but we didn't even get them out of the box before they were gone. We have had so many people coming in who have become very health conscious because of the virus warnings. A lot of people are planning to travel and will be going through airports, but the supplies are exhausted.

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"And the suppliers are charging more, with extra surcharges given the incredible demand.

"We had to tell people who were able to get some that we weren't profiteering, but we couldn't sell it any cheaper than what we had to outlay to bring the product in.

"We're still trying to get more as there are a lot of elderly residents and they're concerned. We've also had a lot of carers in who need it but until we get a supply, we can't do anything. Suppliers don't have the stock."

Nicola McKevitt at Stranmillis Pharmacy told a similar story.

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"It's as scarce as hen's teeth!" she said. "So many people come in asking for it. It's ridiculous but the supply just can't meet the demand. We had one man who came in and bought 12 soap pumps instead, despite the fact that it doesn't do the same job. It's impossible to get enough.

We've even had Chinese students who live around here trying to buy it, and buy face masks, to send home to family, but there's nothing in stock to sell to them Nicola McKevitt, Stranmillis Pharmacy

"I'll have been here 35 years in April and I can tell you, I've never known anything that's been so sought after.

"We've even had Chinese students who live around here trying to buy it, and buy face masks, to send home to family, but there's nothing in stock to sell to them."

Off to west Belfast, and along the Andersonstown Road, still no joy. Every chemist is out of stock.

At Turf Lodge Pharmacy, Jarlath McCarthy shakes his head. It's another "sorry, no".

"We have normal handwash but that's not the same. We've had no hand sanitiser at all for the last fortnight.

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"We've had a lot of people coming in to buy bottles of Dettol, but you can't wash your hands or face with that."

Along the Shore Road, around Fortwilliam in north Belfast, you're met by more sympathetic smiles.

If they had it, they'd sell it. They simply don't have it and have no idea when they'll be able to get it.

One pharmacist tells us that the demand has been almost constant and it seems your best bet for picking up the most sought after product in Northern Ireland is to keep turning up in the hope of striking it lucky.

A final call to east Belfast and on the Newtownards Road guess what?

"We have placed an order," said Amy Robinson at McDonald's Pharmacy.

"We just don't know if or when we'll be getting a supply."

Lack of supply, incredible rise in demand and soaring prices, and the only people cleaning up are the companies who can't make the product fast enough.
For the latest coronavirus news in the Bay Area, please visit SFGATE's newest update page.

LATEST, March 8, 11:30 a.m. The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) announced Sunday passengers onboard the Grand Princess will "not be released into the general public."

The Grand Princess, the cruise ship being held off the California coast over coronavirus concerns, is scheduled to dock at the noncommercial Port of Oakland on Monday. From there, a disembarkment mission managed by state and federal entities will begin to unfold.

Passengers who require acute medical treatment and hospitalization will disembark first, followed by other guests. California residents will go to a federally operated facility within the state for testing and isolation while non-Californians will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states.

Of the more than 3,500 people on the boat, 1,000 are Californians and they "will complete the mandatory quarantine at Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Naval Air Station," according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Residents of other states will complete the mandatory quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia. Throughout the quarantine, passengers will be monitored for symptoms of COVID-19."

"The entire mission is centered around protecting the health of the passengers, and ensuring that when the passengers disembark, the public health of the United States, the State of California, and partner communities is protected," a statement from Cal OES reads.

Federal and state officials chose the Port of Oakland for the disembarkment because it's one of the few ports that can accommodate the 951-foot-long ship.

"The Port of Oakland location was the easiest to seal off, securely move passengers toward their isolation destinations and protect the safety of the public," the statement reads.

The Port of Oakland is the fifth-busiest container port in the United States after Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark and Savannah.

At least 21 people on the Grand Princess have tested positive for coronavirus, including 19 crew members and two passengers. The tests were initially administered to 46 people who were displaying symptoms. Vice President Michael Pence said in a press conference Friday that all passengers would be tested.

A 71-year-old passenger from a previous voyage on the same boat died of coronavirus on Wednesday at a hospital in Roseville in Placer County, near Sacramento. He had underlying health conditions. The Los Angeles Times reported that he had the virus before boarding the boat that traveled between San Francisco and Mexico, Feb. 11 to 21. This means the virus may have been circulating in the state for a longer duration than originally thought.

"Dr. Grant Tarling, the cruises medical officer, said the man  who later died in Placer County after leaving the cruise  sought medical care on the ship Feb. 20 and had been sick for several days," the Times reported. "Tarling said two waiters who served the man multiple times were subsequently infected."

UPDATE, March 7, 10:45 p.m. The Grand Princess will now dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday after Princess Cruises said "further modifications of the plan are necessary that will impact the arrival of the ship. The ship will now arrive in the Port of Oakland on Monday."

Guests who require acute medical treatment and hospitalization will disembark first, followed by other guests.

"According to Governors Office of Emergency Services, following health screenings, guests who are California residents will go to a federally operated facility within California for testing and isolation while non-Californians will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states. Crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship," Princess Cruises said in a statement.

UPDATE, March 7, 9:48 p.m. The Grand Princess, the cruise ship that has been holding off the California coast due to concerns over coronavirus, will dock at the Port of Oakland on Sunday, Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid told The Chronicle.

On Saturday morning, a "critically ill" passenger was taken off the cruise ship on a boat. The cruise line later stated the illness was not related to the coronavirus.

On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence said 21 people on board the ship are known to have coronavirus. There are roughly 3,500 total people on board, but only 46 were tested. Pence said the plan is to now test everyone on the ship and quarantine or treat as needed.

UPDATE, March 7, 6:35 p.m. All non-essential group events scheduled to take place in city-owned facilities have been banned for the next two weeks due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, according to statement released Saturday by the SF Department of Public Health.

The order specifies city-owned facilities as: City Hall; Moscone Center and its associated buildings; Bill Graham Civic Auditorium; New Conservatory Theatre; War Memorial & Performing Arts Center, including Davies Hall, the Opera House and the Veterans Building; the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre; the SF Public Library; Pier 27; and Pier 35.

A "non-essential group event" is considered a gathering of 50 or more people.

The order lasts through March 20.

UPDATE, March 7, 5:48 p.m. The city of Gilroy confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus, police announced in a statement.

On Thursday, firefighters responded to a call of a resident who was experiencing chest pain. The patient was transported to Kaiser Santa Teresa, where the patient tested positive for COVID-19.

The firefighters, who have shown no symptoms, have been allowed to return to work, but will be monitored daily for the next 14 days, the statement said.

UPDATE, March 7, 3 p.m. Santa Clara County officials reported eight more cases of coronavirus on Saturday.

No details on the eight patients were released, and the county's public health department stated there will no media availability Saturday.

The cases bring the county's total up to 32, the most in the Bay Area.

UPDATE, March 7, 1:40 p.m. Six new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in San Francisco, bringing the city's total to eight.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health announced Saturday afternoon that all six presumptive positive cases are linked to previously known cases, and the individuals are isolating at home and are in good health. Two of the individuals are in their 20s, three are in their 40s and one is in their 50s.

UPDATE, March 7, 11:30 a.m. A Santa Cruz County resident who recently traveled on the Grand Princess cruise ship currently being held off the Northern California coast, tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Saturday.

The patient, whose age and gender were not released, traveled on the Feb. 11-21 trip from San Francisco to Mexico. An Alameda County resident who was on the same trip last month tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

That same cruise ship is now off the coast of Northern California and, so far, 21 people currently on board  19 employees and 2 passengers  have tested positive for coronavirus.

This marks Santa Cruz County's first known case of the virus.

UPDATE, March 7, 9:20 a.m. The captain of the Grand Princess cruise ship currently being held off the Northern California coast told passengers a sick person on the ship was evacuated Saturday morning.

A passenger on the ship sent KGO a video recording of the captain announcing that the "critically-ill" person was evacuated via boat.

"At 7:15 this morning, we successfully evacuated the critically-ill guest," the captain said in the video.

The Coast Guard and CDC have not commented on the evacuation.

UPDATE, March 7, 7:09 a.m. Stanford University announced Friday that all classes will move to an online format in response to the coronavirus situation.

For the winter quarter, final exams will be take-home.

University Provost Persis Drell also announced that Admit Week, when prospective undergraduates visit the campus, has been canceled. It had been scheduled for April 23-26.

The announcement was later followed by news that a faculty member was found to have tested positive for coronavirus, according to NBC Bay Area. The employee worked at a clinic and has not returned since experiencing symptoms, the university told the news outlet.

Drell also said that two students are in self-isolation after possible exposure to COVID-19. The students have not shown any symptoms of coronavirus.

UPDATE, March 6, 8:14 p.m. A 72-year-old Sunnyvale man who died Thursday did not have COVID-19, Sunnyvale police announced Friday night.

Police responding to a medical call Thursday found the man unconscious and not breathing, and performed CPR. The man died, but family members later told police that the man had recently been on a cruise with two people who were suspected of having novel coronavirus.

Test results confirmed the man did not have COVID-19.

UPDATE, March 6, 7:23 p.m. An FBI agent who works in a satellite office in San Francisco has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the agency announced Friday night.

UPDATE, March 6, 7:17 p.m. A third resident of Alameda County has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the Alameda County Public Health Department announced Friday.

The patient, described as an older adult, was a passenger of the Grand Princess cruise ship from Feb. 11-21 and is currently hospitalized, officials said.

The patients family members are quarantined.

UPDATE, March 6, 5:22 p.m. San Francisco health officials announced the cancellation of the St. Patrick's Day parade, The Chronicle reported, as part of the "aggressive recommendations" to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the city.

The Department of Public Health recommended that all "non-essential" events such as concerts and sporting events be canceled for an initial period of two weeks, including any non-essential medium- to large-sized events at schools.

Vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with weakened immune systems were encouraged to limit outings, telecommute if possible, and not attend large gatherings (of 50 or more) unless absolutely necessary.

Workplaces were also told to "suspend nonessential employee travel" as well as "minimizing or canceling large in-person meetings and conferences." Schools were encouraged to equip classrooms with hand sanitizers and tissues, as well as ensure a plan is in place in the event of citywide school closures (should it be necessary).

"We have been preparing for this," Mayor London Breed said in a released statement. "These recommendations are informed by the best public health information available and guided by experts in our own health department. They mirror the actions being taken in many other municipalities and are informed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. These are important steps to protect our public health and are concrete things all of us can do to keep our community safe."

To see the full list of guidelines from San Francisco, head to the city's website here.

UPATE, March 6, 5 p.m. A high school basketball game in Atherton was canceled due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus.

Menlo was supposed to host Bishop O'Dowd for Friday night's CIF-NorCal Division I girls basketball quarterfinal, but the game was called off hours beforehand. Because it was a playoff game, Menlo forfeited by canceling, and O'Dowd will advance to the next round.

As you can expect, there were 15 girls crying, Menlo athletic director Earl Koberlein told the Mercruy News. Very disappointed and very hard news to give. Its not fair to them, they did nothing to deserve this.

UPDATE, March 6, 3:10 p.m.: Santa Clara County officials announced four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday afternoon, bringing the total number in the county to 24.

The Public Health Department described the four new cases:

An adult male who is being monitored at home in isolation. He had contact with another known case of coronavirus in Santa Clara County.

A female who is hospitalized. The source of her infection is under investigation.

A male who is hospitalized. He recently traveled back to the Bay Area from India.

A male isolated at home. The source of her infection is under investigation.

The four cases are unrelated, according to the county.

UPDATE, March 6, 2:45 p.m.: The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services confirmed there is only one known case of coronavirus in the county. The patient was transferred from Travis Air Force Base to a Kaiser hospital in Marin on Feb. 26.

The person, who is not a Marin County resident, is suspected to have contracted COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess cruise to Japan, then was quarantined at Travis AFB before being hospitalized.

Marin HHS says it is currently evaluating 11 of the 56 Marin County residents who returned to the county from another cruise, the Grand Princess, on Feb. 22, which has been linked to several other local cases of the novel coronavirus. The cruise from San Francisco to Mexico sailed between Feb. 11-21. The vessel since went on another voyage, from San Francisco to Hawaii, but hasn't been allowed to return. Vice President Mike Pence said in a press conference Friday afternoon, 21 people on the ship being held off the California coast tested positive for coronavirus, including 19 crew members and two passengers. Read more here.

UPDATE, March 6, 10:45 a.m.: Three new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Contra Costa County, officials announced Friday.

Two of the infected individuals were on board the Grand Princess cruise ship, reports KRON. The third Contra Costa patient was known to have contact with a coronavirus patient from outside the county, officials said.

All three individuals are being monitored in isolation at their homes.

UPDATE, March 5, 10:51 p.m.: An employee of Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale has tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, according to a statement from the company.

"An employee based in Sunnyvale, California, who was previously flagged for potential exposure to COVID-19 has tested positive," the statement said. "From the moment we were aware of the possibility of exposure, appropriate steps were taken in coordination with local health officials. We have taken actions to ensure a safe workplace for employees and visitors, including deep cleaning of work areas and common spaces. The health and well-being of our employees is our top priority."

UPDATE, March 5, 9 p.m.: Multiple Bay Area tech companies are encouraging employees to work from home due to fears of a widespread coronavirus oubreak in the region.

On Thursday night, both Google and Facebook sent emails to employees informing them of the situation. The Google email, obtained by reporters from The Information, gave employees the "option" to work from home starting Friday, unless being in the office is "critical to business continuity."

The Facebook email was stronger, as it "strongly recommended" that Bay Area employees work from home. Facebook has multiple offices in the region.

Earlier in the week, Twitter encouraged its employees around the globe to work from home due to the virus.

UPDATE, March 5, 7:40 p.m.: The San Bruno Senior Center has been temporarily closed due to possible coronavirus exposure.

Officials announced Thursday that three individuals who were on the currently-offshore Grand Princess Cruise Ship visited the senior center over the past few weeks, and as a precaution, the facility will be closed until March 10.

Of the three, only one has shown symptoms.

"It is important to note that the City is not aware of any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Bruno at this time and we are working closely with county and state officials to further investigate any potential connections between the passengers on the Grand Princess and individuals who may have visited the Senior Center," the San Bruno Police Department wrote in a statement.

UPDATE, March 5, 6:26 p.m.: A 72-year-old Sunnyvale man who recently had been on a cruise with two passengers who are suspected of having COVID-19 died Thursday, Sunnyvale police said.

Sunnyvale police officers performed CPR, but not mouth-to-mouth, on the man after he was found unconscious and not breathing. The seven officers who responded to the call were placed under quarantine for several hours, but were allowed to return home late Thursday, Sunnyvale Police Chief Phan Ngo said at a press conference.

Family members told police that the victim had been on a cruise with two passengers suspected of having the COVID-19 virus. Ngo didn't not say whether the cruise was the Grand Princess, which is being held about 70 miles offshore from San Francisco.

It would be the second fatality related to novel coronavirus in California, if the cause of death is confirmed.

UPDATE, March 5, 2:30 p.m.: Lowell High School in San Francisco announced Thursday afternoon it is closing immediately.

"The District has just learned this afternoon that a relative of a Lowell High School student is being treated for COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. Out of an abundance of caution and for the safety and well-being of our community, we have decided to close the school and all events and gatherings for the time being," SFUSD said in a statement.

The student wasn't on campus after lunchtime Thursday, according to the district. The student hadn't reported any symptoms but was being monitored in quarantine.

All classes and events were canceled Friday and the district said it would provide an update before Monday.

Lowell parent Spring Utting said her daughter was sent home at 2:15 p.m. Thursday.

"She got an announcement in history class over the PA system," said Utting. "All the kids were in front of the school, milling around and calling [their parents] to get picked up."

In Santa Clara County, officials announced an additional six confirmed cases, bringing the total number of cases in the county to 20. The six new cases are three men and three women. Four of them had contact with other known cases and are being monitored at home. The other two are hospitalized (officials didn't say how they contracted the virus).

One of the 20 known infected patients has made a full recovery, officials said in a press conference.

Santa Clara County expects to see more confirmed cases in the coming days. Dr. Sara Cody, the county's public health officer, recommended in a press conference employers make it easier for employees to telecommute and to suspend non-essential work travel. She also ask those who are feeling sick stay home from work when possible.

The county is not recommending widespread school closures at this time, but would consider closures on a case-by-case basis if school employees or students were known to have come in contact with the virus.

See the latest numbers from all nine Bay Area counties at the bottom of this story.

UPDATE, March 5, 2 p.m.: The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose announced it will be closing for several days "in an abundance of caution."

The museum said on Twitter an employee may have been exposed to COVID-19 and so the museum will be closed until March 10.

A charter school in Oakland also closed Thursday, reportedly due to possible coronavirus exposure. Oakland Unified School District said Aspire Monarch Academy, not the district, made the decision and couldn't provide more details.

KRON reports the school is closing for "an undetermined period of time because a staff member came into contact with someone who had been exposed to COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Neither the staff member or the person they came in contact with has tested positive."

UPDATE, March 5, 11:30 a.m.: San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Thursday the city saw its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus sickening thousands worldwide.

The patients are "contained" and being treated at two different hospitals, Mayor Breed said in a press conference. One patient is a man in his 90s with preexisting health conditions; he's hospitalized. The other is a woman in her 40s; she's hospitalized but in fair condition.

The Sonoma County Department of Health Services also confirmed Thursday a second positive coronavirus test in a resident who recently traveled on a Grand Princess cruise ship from San Francisco to Mexico, Feb. 11-21. The Department said both of the patients who have tested positive are being treated in isolation at a local hospital.

Now, Sonoma County DHS is working with the cruise line to identify other passengers who may have been exposed.

"The 14-day window of risk from these exposures will end Friday evening, March 6, 2020, and if passengers have not exhibited symptoms by then, they will be considered not at risk from the cruise ship exposure," said the department in a release.

In Santa Clara, three more individuals, all men, also tested positive for the virus. The results bring the total of those with COVID-19 in the county to 14. One is hospitalized; the other two, who were reportedly "close" in proximity to another affected person, are being monitored in their home.

Here's a look at coronavirus cases reported in Bay Area:

ALAMEDA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 3 residents

On March 3, the city of Berkeley announced a resident tested positive for the virus after returning to the city from traveling. Officials didn't reveal the resident's travel destination.

A second Alameda County resident, who is a health care worker, was exposed to an infected patient at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville.

The third case involved an older adult who was a passenger on the Grand Princess cruise ship from Feb. 11-21.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 4 residents, 3 people of unknown residence

The first resident of Contra Costa County tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday. The resident did not have any known recent travel history.

On Friday, officials announced another three people in the county tested positive. Two had traveled on the Grand Princess Cruise Ship; one had contact with a coronavirus patient from another county.

Three patients transferred from Travis Air Force Base to Contra Costa County hospitals have tested positive, according to health officials.

MARIN COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 1 patient of unknown residence

A patient with laboratory-confirmed novel coronavirus was transferred from Travis Air Force Base in Solano County to a Marin County hospital on Feb. 27, according to health officials. The patient is now in isolation at home. The person is not a resident of Marin.

Two Marin residents who were experiencing some respiratory symptoms consistent with COVID-19 were admitted to local hospitals, the Marin Independent Journal reported Thursday. They were being tested for the virus, but results had not yet been returned.

NAPA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 2 patients treated in Napa, then transferred out of county

Napas Queen of the Valley Medical Center treated two patients with suspected coronavirus. The two patients arrived in Napa on Feb. 17 after being transferred from Travis Air Force Base. They had originally been under quarantine for two weeks aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan before being evacuated with other American residents to West Coast locations. The hospital reported the patients were transferred to another location on Feb. 24.

SAN MATEO COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 1 resident

County health officials reported a case in a resident who is presumed to have the virus on March 2; test results are pending.

A repatriated patient was also transferred to a county hospital on Feb. 27.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 32 residents

This county has the most confirmed cases. As of March 5, health officials have identified a total of 20: five were travel-related, 10 were from being in close contact with a known case, and nine contracted the virus without any known contact with other infected individuals.

Of the 20 patients, one has fully recovered.

Another person, a 72-year-old man from Sunnyvale, died on March 5. The man recently had been on a cruise with two passengers who are suspected of having COVID-19, but he hadn't been tested for the virus. The cause of death was under investigation as of March 5.

The first Bay Area case was identified in Santa Clara County on Jan. 31; a man returned from Wuhan and Shanghai on Jan. 24, and left his home only for medical care.

The county's second case was confirmed on Feb. 1  a woman who visited Wuhan stayed at home except to go to a medical clinic on two separate occasions.

A fourth case was confirmed Feb. 29 in a resident who had household contact with the third case who was identified Feb. 28 as a 65-year-old woman with no travel history to a country with an outbreak and no known contact with an infected patient. She was the second case of "unknown origin" in the U.S. This patient had chronic health conditions and was hospitalized for a respiratory illness.

The fifth was a woman who officials said has chronic health conditions. The county's sixth and seventh cases were a husband and wife who recently traveled to Egypt.

The eighth person to test positive was an adult male who had household contact with an infected person in another county. He's also isolating at home. The ninth case is an adult male who had household contact with an infected patient in Santa Clara County. He's in isolation at home.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 8 residents, 3 non-resident patients

The San Francisco Department of Public Health announced Saturday that there are six new presumptive positive cases in San Francisco, bringing the total number of cases up to eight. All six cases are linked to previous cases, and the individuals are in good health.

Mayor London Breed previously announced Thursday two residents of San Francisco tested positive for the virus. One patient is a man in his 90s with preexisting health conditions; he is hospitalized in serious condition. The other is a woman in her 40s; she is also hospitalized, but in fair condition.

The patients are in separate local hospitals; the specific locations aren't being disclosed.

San Francisco has also treated three out-of-county patients in SF hospitals, according to local officials. One traveled in China, one was the spouse of that person, and one was from the cruise ship and had tested positive, with no symptoms.

SOLANO COUNTY

Confirmed cases: At least 2 residents, 1 healthcare worker who resides in Alameda County

The county received a lot of American evacuees from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess cruise at Travis Air Force Base. Some people who tested positive days after arrival were transferred to hospitals in and outside the county. According to the county's public health department, there were three confirmed cases of the virus as of March 2.

A female Solano County resident was the first case of "unknown origin" in the U.S. and was infected with virus without any travel history or contact with another known case. She first arrived at the North Bay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville on Feb. 15 and was transferred to UC Davis Medical Center three days later, before being tested.

Two health care workers at the North Bay VacaValley Hospital were also infected with the virus. One is a Solano County resident; the other lives in Alameda County.

SONOMA COUNTY

Confirmed cases: 2 residents, 1 patient of unknown residency

Two Sonoma County residents who recently traveled on a cruise from San Francisco to Mexico tested positive for the virus. Both patients were being treated in isolation.

Another patient of unknown residency was evacuated from the Diamond Princess Cruise ship off the coast of Japan to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, before being treated in isolation at a Sonoma County hospital. The person tested positive but wasn't showing symptoms.

CALIFORNIA DEATHS: 1

As of March 5, two deaths related to coronavirus in California have been reported. In the first case, the Placer County Health Department said the deceased is an elderly resident of the county with underlying health conditions. The patient tested presumptively positive on Tuesday at a California lab and was likely exposed on a Princess cruise ship that traveled from San Francisco to Mexico, Feb. 11 to 21, health officials said. The patient was under treatment in isolation at Kaiser Permanente Roseville.

Amy Graff and Alix Martichoux are digital editors with SFGATE. Email them: agraff@sfgate.com, alix.martichoux@sfgate.com. Eric Ting is an associate digital reporter with SFGATE. Email him: eric.ting@sfgate.com.

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Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board on Thursday said it would announce sometime after Holi the details of the planned trust for the construction of a mosque in Ayodhya.

Waqf Board chairman Zufar Farooqui told this to reporters after a meeting of the board in which, he said, the issue of the formation of the proposed trust was not discussed today.

"The issue of the proposed trust for the construction of a mosque as well as an Indo-Islamic research centre, a hospital and a library on the five-acre plot allotted following the Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict was not on the agenda of the meeting today," said Farooqui.

He said the meeting discussed other issues related to the Waqf and action taken on them.

"Details about the trust and its members will be announced through a press conference after Holi," he said.

Holi falls next week on Tuesday, March 10.

The Waqf Board, after its last meeting on February 24, in which it had decided to accept the five-acre land given by the state government for building a mosque in Ayodhya, had also said it would soon set up a trust for the construction of the mosque.

The Board had also decided to build an Indo-Islamic research centre, a public library, a charitable hospital and other useful facilities on the land besides the mosque.

In a historic verdict in November on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the construction of a temple. It had also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for building a mosque within Ayodhya.

In 1992, the 16th century Babri mosque that stood on the disputed site in Ayodhya was demolished by karsevaks, claiming that originally there was a Ram temple at the spot.

Soon after last year's verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute, there were suggestions that the Sunni board should not accept the plot.

There were also suggestions that instead of a mosque to replace the demolished Babri Masjid, the Muslim community should build a public facility like a hospital there.

Based on the SC verdict, the Centre had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to allot five acres of land to the Sunni Waqf Board. The UP Cabinet made the allotment after its meeting of February 5.

The allotment letter is for a plot at Dhannipur village in Ayodhya's Sohawal area, on the Ayodhya-Lucknow highway, about 20 km from the district headquarters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Although it was black voters in South Carolina who probably saved Biden's bacon by giving him a much-needed bounce, it might be black voters who give Trump help in retaining the White House. In 2016, Trump was able to win the White House with only 8% of the black vote. Although that meant that 92% of blacks who voted went for Hillary, the problem was with the number of blacks who stayed home: of the black voters who turned out for Obama in 2012, 7% stayed home for Hillary in 2016.

If Democrats are to have a prayer of retaking the White House, they're going to need lots of black voters. Trump aims to deny them those votes. As reported here earlier, Trump is doing something Republicans should have been doing for years: making a direct play for black voters.

To his credit, Trump is not offering black voters more and more welfare. Instead, he's making the pitch that, by improving the economy and enforcing border control laws, the lives of black Americans are improving dramatically. Trump is impressing upon them the fact that the scary things Democrats have been saying about him vis-a-vis African-Americans are untrue.

Certainly, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) believes that Trump's efforts will pay off:

.@SenatorTimScott to Neil: President Trump will see a 50% increase in his African American support, it will go from 8% in 2016 to a minimum of 12% in 2020 pic.twitter.com/a0eCJI70wo  Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) February 20, 2020

On Wednesday night, Trump appeared on Sean Hannitys show to remind voters how his policies benefit black Americans, with special emphasis on the way in which hes reversed Democrat policies (especially Bidens and Obamas) that locked blacks in prisons and kept them in economic ghettoes:

It's probable that few Democrat-voting blacks pay attention to Sean Hannity. However, also on Wednesday, Trump got support from someone who is popular within the black community. Kim Kardashian gave a big shout-out to Trump for his decision to commute the sentences of three minority women:

President Trump commuted the sentences of three really deserving women. I didnt hear much about it in the news so I wanted to share with you their stores! I have the pleasure of spending the day with these women today along with @AliceMarieFree who helped to pick these women  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Crystal Munoz was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to posses & distribute marijuana. She left behind a five month old baby & was pregnant. Crystal was shackled by prison guards during the birth of her second daughter. Her case was highlighted in the First Step Act. pic.twitter.com/8iVyEeoMTT  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Crystal case was highlighted in the First Step Act which banned the degrading and inhumane treatment of shackling female prisoners during childbirth.  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Judith Negron was sentenced to 35 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. After trial she received the longest sentence ever given to a female for a white collar crime. A mother, she left behind two young sons. This was Judiths first ever offense. pic.twitter.com/4dQHJikOjp  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Wardens and staff alike spoke glowingly of the incredible contributions Judith made to the prison while incarcerated.  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Tynice Hall was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a first time non violent drug conspiracy. Her boyfriend at the time used her house for his illegal drug activities. She was only 22 years old when she went to prison and left behind a 3 year old son. pic.twitter.com/Miu2JIiU6N  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Tynice rehabilitated herself and prepared for a future outside of prison by completing numerous classes and becoming certified in various trades.  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 4, 2020

Because Kim Kardashian matters, Van Jones, a socialist but a surprisingly honest man, retweeted what she had to say. This meant that another person popular in the black community gave a shout-out to Trump for actually making black lives matter, instead of just spouting platitudes about black lives:

TODAY @KimKardashian is helping formerly incarcerated women go from the jail house to the White House. Always blown away by @JessicaJackson, @EdyHaney & the @cut_50 & @REFORM crews. I hope @realDonaldTrump keeps granting clemencies & pardons to sisters like this. #FightDifferent https://t.co/6P02cCQMNN  Van Jones (@VanJones68) March 4, 2020

The most pathetic (but, sadly, popular) response was a petty little stab at Obama's border policies, which the tweeter attributed to Trump:

Love you Kim but we have zero respect for a man who imprisons thousands of children and forced them to sleep in cells.  Vernon Wes (@ProdigyofHim) March 4, 2020

Myriad responses set him straight (although they probably didn't change his mind):

The important thing is that Kim retweeted this moment, giving it tremendous weight:

President @realDonaldTrump granted clemency to 3 momsJudith Negron, Crystal Munoz, and Tynice Nichole Hall!



Today, they met with the President in the Oval Office along with @AliceMarieFree and @KimKardashian. pic.twitter.com/9pGp71BUOF  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 5, 2020

For well over 150 years, Democrats have sought to separate blacks from America, first as slaves, then as Jim Crow victims, and then as identity-politics victims. When Democrats control education, they teach blacks that America is a hateful, cruel place that snatched their ancestors from the paradise that was Wakanda...er, Africa.

American education would change profoundly if students could read Keith Richburg's powerful and brilliant Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa. Having spent several years in Africa as the Washington Post's African bureau chief, Richburg returned to America incredibly grateful for those unnamed ancestors who had suffered so horribly on the transatlantic passage and then again as slaves. Africa is a sad and deadly place.

Perhaps President Trump will be the man who, at long last, brings American blacks home to their real country: America.
Birdsong filled the air Wednesday morning in a North Side backyard where Amanda Lamberson peered through binoculars at cardinals and chickadees flitting around a feeder.

Lamberson, 28, is pursuing a masters degree in environmental science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and wrapping up field research on which types of birdseed attract the greatest numbers and diversity of local birds.

I think more birds in urban areas is beneficial, she said. Birds are one of those species that are accessible, and really pretty and enjoyable to look at, so I think theyre an important connection for people to commune with nature.

Other scientists have done similar research, but those studies were in rural areas or colder climates with different species, and theres a lot we dont know specifically about San Antonio.

Americans spend about $4 billion a year on birdseed, and varieties that attract diverse bird species might be more desirable, Lamberson said. Research has shown greater numbers of insect-eating birds cut down on the pesticides and herbicides people use in their yards.

To do the study, Lamberson needed access to 36 backyards. She recruited families at meetings of the San Antonio Audubon Society and Texas Ornithological Society. She put out fliers at a store that sells songbird seeds. Her professor, Jennifer Smith, who runs the UTSA Smith Lab of Avian Ecology, put in a plug as a guest on the nationally syndicated radio show Science Friday.

She collected sales data to decide which seed varieties to study and concentrated on the North Side because thats where more residents seem to be feeding birds, Lamberson said. A dozen households were given mixed seed for their feeders, another 12 got thistle seed and the remainder are a control group putting out no seed at all.

Lamberson has visited each location every two weeks since November, and asked the residents to also count birds once a week  Theyre actually participating in science, she said.

Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox

Lou and Velma Armijo met Lamberson at an Audubon Society gathering and signed up for the study. Theyre in the mixed-seed group.

The couple had moved into the tree-lined River Oaks subdivision off Vance Jackson Road after retiring from federal government jobs in the Washington, D.C., area. A tall live oak shades their back yard and their corner already was lively with birds before someone gave them a feeder two Christmases ago. Once the scent cone on the feeder dissipated, their yard became a hot spot for birds  and, one night, a family of five raccoons.

Birds are important because they reflect the health of the environment around them, Velma Armijo said.

The birds are really such tellers of whats going on and I think its really up to us to protect them, she said. We have not been good stewards of our Earth, and its coming back to bite us.

Lamberson counted at least five northern cardinals and two Carolina chickadees in the Armijos yard Wednesday morning. A white-winged dove fluttered nearby. Earlier, in another yard, Lamberson had seen a yellow-rumped warbler and a ruby-crowned kinglet.

I didnt see any house sparrows today, Lamberson told Armijo.

Its not time for them yet, she replied. They usually come around eleven-ish. They get the early lunch seating.

Lamberson is accounting for other variables, such as the weather each time she takes a survey and yard features such as trees and fences. Shell try to determine which factors are most important to attract birds.

She hasnt fully analyzed the data yet, but said mixed seed seems to attract bird diversity.

As migratory season kicks off, Lamberson is ending the field work and next will survey the participants and their neighbors, collecting information about basic demographics, how often they feed birds and how many feeders are in the area.

UTSA has funded the project so far, but Lamberson is applying for grants to cover a second season of field research.

Its really been fun to work with all the community scientists, she said. I didnt expect as many people to be interested in my project as there was.  Im really grateful for that.

Alia Malik covers several school districts and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | amalik@express-news.net | Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN
Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Bihar, in view of the growing cases of Coronavirus in India and elsewhere, cancelled all Holi-related community events in Patna and other parts of Bihar.

The cancellation came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged everyone to avoid organizing or attending large group events where people are more susceptible to catching the deadly virus that has killed over 3000 people worldwide with over 94,000 cases reported from across the globe.

As reported, Central Minister and Patna Saheb MP Ravi Shankar Prasad was slated to hold a Holi Milan event on March 7 at Miller High School. On Wednesday, he announced the cancellation of the event that was followed by other BJP leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Prasad, MLAs Nitin Navin and Sanjiv Chaurasia who had planned their own Holi events at their residences respectively.

Meanwhile, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said Bihar was fully prepared to handle Coronavirus and there was no need for people to panic.

"Bihar is on full alert on the issue of Coronavirus. We are monitoring the situation from Patna and Gaya Airport to the borders of Nepal by installing virus screening machines at all check points. Ditto for Patna Junction where passengers are being screened for Coronavirus. The good news is we had sent 49 samples for testing out of which 46 have come out to be negative and results on the rest three are awaited," Pandey said.

The Health Minister further said that the government has set up isolation wards in every district hospital where doctors and other medical staffs were on duty round the clock.
Photo credit: Stuart C. Wilson - Getty Images

From Town & Country

After an eight-month legal battle, the British High Court has issued a ruling in the child custody case between Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, and his estranged wife, Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan. The "fact-finding" judgement found that Sheikh Mohammed had waged a campaign of intimidation against Princess Haya, and abducted two of his daughters.

The court battle began last year after Princess Haya fled Dubai with her two children, Jalila, 12, and Zayed, seven. Haya, the Sheikh's sixth and "junior" wife, had told friends she feared for her life before leaving Dubaiand in the judge's ruling, it's noted that there may have been a plot to imprison her in the months before her escape. She initially arrived in Germany to seek asylum in 2019, before settling in London. Sheikh Mohammed then applied to British courts for the return of their children.

The judge's ruling essentially corroborates Haya's allegations. "I have, for the reasons that I have now given, concluded that, save for some limited exceptions, the mother has proved her case with respect to the factual allegations that she has made," it reads in part, per the Telegraph.

Photo credit: Peter Summers - Getty Images

The judge also found that Sheikh Mohammed had abducted two of his daughters from another wife, Princess Shamsa and Princess Latifa. The ruling stated that the Sheikh had "ordered and orchestrated" the abduction and return of Shamsa after she left the Sheikh's English estate in 2000, and organized the "forcible return" of Latifa twice (in 2002 and 2018).

Afterwards, the judge found, their freedom was heavily restricted. "I have found that he continues to maintain a regime whereby both of these two young women are deprived of their liberty, albeit within family accommodation in Dubai," the ruling read.

The findings could mean the Sheikh has flouted "accepted human rights," and broken English criminal law.

Story continues

In a statement issued after the judgments were published, Sheikh Mohammed said: "As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court's fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a 'fact-finding' judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story."



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It was not immediately clear if the progressive Massachusetts senator planned to endorse one of her rivals, a move that could be pivotal as Biden and Sanders jockey for a delegate lead. Warren has spoken to both candidates by phone in recent days, though none of the Democrats has said what was discussed.

"We didn't reach our goal, but what we have done together  what you have done  has made a lasting difference," Warren said on a call with her campaign staff ahead of the official announcement at an event in Massachusetts, according to a transcript provided by the campaign.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren quit the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders as the last major contenders battling for the nomination to challenge President Donald Trump this fall.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren talks to reporters with her husband Bruce behind her outside their house after informing her staff that she is withdrawing from the 2020 presidential race in Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 5, 2020.

Warren's exit  like that of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg on Wednesday  came after the Massachusetts senator's poor showings in the crucial Super Tuesday contests, when 14 states held primaries, and the territory of American Samoa held a caucus.

Her departure leaves what was once a historically diverse Democratic field essentially narrowed to two white men in their 70s. Sanders is 78 and Biden is 77.

Surrounded by supporters in Massachusetts on Thursday, Warren described her anguish that there would not be a woman nominee in 2020. On the trail, when Warren met little girls, she often bent down to promise them that she would fight for the presidency because "that's what women do."

"One of the hardest parts of this is all those pinky promises. All those little girls are going to have to wait for a woman," Warren said.

Biden and Sanders both praised Warren on Thursday.

"She has run a very strong issue-oriented campaign and the reason that her campaigns ideas will remain viable for many, many years is she has changed political conscience in America," Sanders said.

Biden, in a post on Twitter, called her "the fiercest of fighters for middle class families."

The trajectory of the race has rapidly shifted in recent days, with Biden gaining momentum in the contests that voted on Super Tuesday. Biden won at least 10 states on Tuesday, a dramatic turnaround for a candidacy that very recently looked doomed.

Read more: Supreme Court looks likely to weaken Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but leave it standing

Warren's dismal showing the same day included a third-place result in her own state of Massachusetts, which Biden won, and where she finished 5 percentage points behind the Vermont independent Sanders.

Warren previously failed to notch any wins in the Democratic race's first four nominating contests in February, when Sanders appeared to consolidate support from the party's progressive wing.

The former Harvard Law professor had sought to court that left flank  which flocked to Sanders during the 2016 primary race  with a series of ambitious and detailed policy proposals.

Those plans included a wealth tax on the very rich, and a call to break up Big Tech companies.

Warren alluded to those many plans during her Thursday call with staff.

"What we have done  and the ideas we have launched into the world, the way we have fought this fight, the relationships we have built  will carry through, carry through for the rest of this election, and the one after that, and the one after that," she said.

Despite Warren's plans, Sanders largely retained his hold on left-leaning voters, besting his rival by significant margins in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Warren came in third in national delegates in the Iowa caucuses, behind Sanders and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

She took fourth place in New Hampshire, behind Sanders, Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

The Democratic race took a dramatic turn after Biden's sweeping victory Saturday in South Carolina, which led to Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropping out and endorsing Biden.

Biden's performance on Super Tuesday then spurred Bloomberg to exit the race and endorse the former vice president. Despite spending more than $500 million on campaign ads, Bloomberg won only American Samoa on Super Tuesday.

Warren's early losses put added pressure on the campaign as it sought to fund a unionized staff of more than 1,000 workers, one of the largest payrolls in the field.

A strong debate performance in Nevada, during which she shredded Bloomberg, brought a fundraising surge.

But the votes didn't follow the money. Warren finished fourth in the Nevada caucuses, behind Sanders, Biden and Buttigieg. She also had a weak showing in the South Carolina primary.

Warren seemed to reference her debate performance against Bloomberg during her remarks to staff, commenting that "in this campaign, we have been willing to fight, and, when necessary, we left plenty of blood and teeth on the floor."

"And I can think of one billionaire who has been denied the chance to buy this election," Warren said.

To support her massive ground operation, Warren rejected traditional fundraising methods, refusing to meet with wealthy donors behind closed doors and instead relying on online contributions from small-dollar donors.

Her campaign received more than 1 million such donations, behind only Sanders in the display of grassroots support.

As the campaign lagged, Warren reverted so some more traditional methods of campaign financing.

She reversed her earlier position on Super PAC support in February, refusing to disavow an outside spending group that deployed millions on her behalf. Persist PAC spent about $15 million, largely focused on Super Tuesday state advertising, ultimately becoming the top outside spending group of the cycle, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Chanda Kochhar against her termination as managing director and CEO of the ICICI Bank, noting the dispute arises from a contract of personal service.

A division bench of Justices N M Jamdar and M S Karnik accepted the bank's contention that Kochhar's petition was not maintainable as the dispute was contractual and concerns a private body.

"The termination of the petitioner is in the realm of contractual relationship," the court said in its order.

Courts cannot exercise their writ jurisdiction when employment in a private entity is regulated by contracts, it further said.

"Contractual duties are enforceable as matters of private law by ordinary contractual remedies such as damages, injunction, specific performance and declaration," the high court said.

The bench in its order noted that even if an institution is performing a public duty and is amenable to writ jurisdiction, all its decisions would not be subject to judicial review.

"If the private body is discharging a public function and the denial of any right is in connection with the public duty imposed on such body, the public law remedy can be enforced," the court said.

It took note of the fact that ICICI was a private bank governed by a board of directors and did not receive any funds from the government.

The ICICI Bank's counsel Darius Khambata earlier argued that a judicial review cannot be incurred under Article 226 of the Constitution, which empowers high courts to issue directions, orders or writs in such a matter.

The bank sought dismissal of Kochhar's petition.

Kochhar was terminated from the ICICI Bank months after she voluntarily left the second largest private sector lender.

The high-profile former banker moved the high court on November 30, 2019, challenging "termination" of her employment by the ICICI Bank.

She contended that the bank also denied her remuneration and clawed back all the bonuses and stock options between April 2009 and March 2018, for her alleged role in granting out of turn loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon Group which benefitted her husband Deepak Kochhar.

Kochhar's counsel Vikram Nankani earlier argued that her termination came months after the bank approved her voluntary resignation on October 5, 2018 and therefore, the termination is "illegal, untenable and unsustainable in law".

The ICICI Bank then filed an affidavit, contending the reliefs in the petition are not maintainable and it deserves to be dismissed as ICICI is a private bank and is administered under the Companies Act, not the state or its agency.

Khambata argued that ICICI was a private banking company and Kochhar's petition seeks to contest what are purely private contractual terms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Skip Drish of Tampa, FL, is a man of many talents. A U.S. military veteran and former Chicago P.D. officer, he has spent much of his professional life serving his country and communities. But when he is not protecting the public or educating others in safety and security tactics, Skip Drish of Tampa is manning his construction firm, WorldWide Contracting, Inc.

A skilled craftsman, Skip Drish of Tampa has worked for over 30 years in the construction industry. He has held various titles, from a general contractor to construction manager, with a number of noteworthy firms. Throughout the past three decades, he has demonstrated time and again his versatility and talent on-site and in the boardroom.

By demonstrating strategic planning and utilizing controlled investments, market forecasting, continuing education, and exceptional leadership, the State Licensed General and Electrical Contractor has earned a reputation as one of Tampa's most respected contractors.

As Theodore Roosevelt said, "No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

Skip Drish of Tampa embodies this philosophy, demonstrating his dedication and passion for his craft in every project he undertakes.

Headquartered in Lutz, Florida, WorldWide Contracting, Inc., also has affiliate offices in Oak Brook, Illinois, Newark, Delaware, Atlanta, Georgia, and San Antonio, TX. Skip Drish of Tampa plans to expand to additional locations in the near future.

Prior to founding WorldWide Contracting, Inc., Skip Drish of Tampa graduated with honors with a bachelor in science management from National-Louis University. After serving in the U.S. military as a Military Police/Investigations Corporal and Squad Leader in the U.S. and Europe from 1981 to 1984, during which time he earned a U.S. Army Medal for Heroism in the line of duty, he served in various roles within local, state, and government law enforcement arenas, beginning with a position as a Chicago Police Department officer. Skip Drish has also served in various roles in security, medical services, and investigations.

Skip Drish of Tampa's numerous certifications include certification with Square D, certification in pre-manufactured residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, fiber-optic installation and termination, certification for city water reclamation plant, Master Electrical Wireman, and OSHA safety certification.

Whether it's residential renovations or commercial new builds, Skip Drish of Tampa and WorldWide Contracting, Inc., are Tampa's top choice for contracting and construction services.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579276/Skip-Drish-Owner-of-WorldWide-Contracting-Inc-Reflects-On-His-Construction-Career
URBANA, Ill. - University of Illinois scientists, with help from members of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, have developed a new, scalable method for estimating crop productivity in real time. The research, published in Remote Sensing of Environment, combines field measurements, a unique in-field camera network, and high-resolution, high-frequency satellite data, providing highly accurate productivity estimates for crops across Illinois and beyond.

"Our ultimate goal is to provide useful information to farmers, especially at the field level or sub-field level. Previously, most available satellite data had coarse spatial and/or temporal resolution, but here we take advantage of new satellite products to estimate leaf area index (LAI), a proxy for crop productivity and grain yield. And we know the satellite estimates are accurate because our ground measurements agree," says Hyungsuk Kimm, a doctoral student in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) at U of I and lead author on the study.

Kimm and his colleagues used surface reflectance data, which measures light bouncing off the Earth, from two kinds of satellites to estimate LAI in agricultural fields. Both satellite datasets represent major improvements over older satellite technologies; they can "see" the Earth at a fine scale (3-meter or 30-meter resolution) and both return to the same spot above the planet on a daily basis. Since the satellites don't capture LAI directly, the research team developed two mathematical algorithms to convert surface reflectance into LAI.

While developing the algorithms to estimate LAI, Kimm worked with Illinois farmers to set up cameras in 36 corn fields across the state, providing continuous ground-level monitoring. The images from the cameras provided detailed ground information to refine the satellite-derived estimates of LAI.

The true test of the satellite estimates came from LAI data Kimm measured directly in the corn fields. Twice weekly during the 2017 growing season, he visited the fields with a specialized instrument and measured corn leaf area by hand.

In the end, the satellite LAI estimates from the two algorithms strongly agreed with Kimm's "ground-truth" data from the fields. This result means the algorithms delivered highly accurate, reliable LAI information from space, and can be used to estimate LAI in fields anywhere in the world in real time.

"We are the first to develop scalable, high-temporal, high-resolution LAI data for farmers to use. These methods have been fully validated using an unprecedented camera network for farmland," says Kaiyu Guan, assistant professor in the Department of NRES and Blue Waters professor at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. He is also principal investigator on the study.

Having real-time LAI data could be instrumental for responsive management. For example, the satellite method could detect underperforming fields or segments of fields that could be corrected with targeted management practices such as nutrient management, pesticide application, or other strategies. Guan plans to make real-time data available to farmers in the near future.

"The new LAI technology developed by Dr. Guan's research team is an exciting advancement with potential to help farmers identify and respond to in-field problems faster and more effectively than ever before," says Laura Gentry, director of water quality research for the Illinois Corn Growers Association.

"More accurate measurements of LAI can help us to be more efficient, timely, and make decisions that will ultimately make us more profitable. The last few years have been especially difficult for farmers. We need technologies that help us allocate our limited time, money, and labor most wisely. Illinois Corn Growers Association is glad to partner with Dr. Guan's team, and our farmer members were happy to assist the researchers with access to their crops in validating the team's work. We're proud of the advancement this new technology represents and are excited to see how the Guan research team will use it to bring value directly to Illinois farmers," Gentry adds.

###

The article, "Deriving high-spatiotemporal-resolution leaf area index for agroecosystems in the U.S. Corn Belt using Planet Labs CubeSat and STAIR fusion data," is published in Remote Sensing for Environment [DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2019.111615]. Co-authors include Hyungsuk Kimm, Kaiyu Guan, Chongya Jiang, Bin Peng, Laura Gentry, Scott Wilkin, Sibo Wang, Yaping Cai, Carl Bernacchi, Jian Peng, and Yunan Luo. The work was supported by NASA programs, including NASA New Investigator, NASA Carbon Monitoring System, and NASA Harvest Program.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.
(Newser)  While Joe Biden is riding high after Super Tuesday, he has yet to unite the Democratic Party, which is why Brian Klaas at the Washington Post is urging him to "announce his pick for vice president this week." So what are the chances that Biden will team up with his rival Bernie Sanders? After questioning Sanders' ability to draw in black voters, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow put that question to the senator in an interview aired Wednesday. "You mean two old white guys on the ticket?" responded Sanders. "Probably not. I think the American people don't wantone old white guy is probably one too many for some," he said, per the Week. "I think we need a little bit more diversity than that." That could be good news for Elizabeth Warren, depending on Sanders' performance in Michigan.

story continues below

A candidate must secure a majority of delegates1,991to win the nomination. But Sanderswith 501, trailing Biden's 566told Maddow that the candidate with a plurality of votes, not a majority, should be the winner come July. "If Biden walks into the convention, or at the end of the process, has more votes than me, he's the winner," he said, per Axios, noting a second ballot involving superdelegates, who could potentially give the nomination to the candidate with fewer votes, "would be a real, real disaster for the Democratic Party" since "people would say 'the person who won the most votes didn't get selected.'" This comes after the New York Times interviewed 93 superdelegates, finding huge opposition to nominating Sanders if he falls short of a majority. (Read more Election 2020 stories.)
The government has given a go-ahead to State Bank of India and other financial institutions to take over capital-starved Yes Bank, and an announcement is likely to be made soon, highly places sources said on Thursday.

The board of SBI, the country's largest lender, is meeting in Mumbai on Thursday, but it could not be immediately ascertained whether the takeover of Yes Bank is on the agenda.

Yes Bank, which is grappling with bad loans, is looking to raise fresh capital but the plans are facing uncertainties.

It has also delayed the announcement of 2019 December quarter results due to the ongoing crisis.

The bank's capital buffers have come down due to non-performing assets.

The sources said the government has cleared a plan for an SBI-led consortium to acquire a controlling stake in the bank.

In a clarification to stock exchanges on reports that the government is said to have approved SBI's plan to buy a stake in Yes Bank, the State-owned lender said it would disclose developments, if any, as per Sebi regulations.

"... we will abide by the timelines under Regulation 30 of Sebi (LODR) Regulations 2015 in disclosing the developments, if any in the matter to stock exchanges," it added.

Yes Bank said it would like to clarify that as on date, the bank has not received any such communication from RBI or any other government or regulatory authorities or from the SBI.

"... we are unaware of any such decision. Therefore, we are not in a position to comment on such news item," Yes Bank said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

The bourses had sought a clarification on the reports.

Further, Yes Bank said in the usual and ordinary course of business it continues to explore various means of raising capital/ funds through issuance of securities to diverse set of investors to meet its business or regulatory requirements.

The bank also said that it would keep stock exchanges updated on disclosures required to be made under Sebi regulations.

Yes Bank has been passing through a tumultuous period ever since the Reserve Bank, in August 2018, asked the then chief executive Rana Kapoor to leave by January 31, 2019, amid concerns on governance and loan practices.

Under his successor Ravneet Gill, the lender has disclosed large under-reported stressed assets.

The bank reported its maiden loss in the March 2019 quarter.

Yes Bank had initially planned to raise capital of over USD 2 billion in the current fiscal. Later, its board rejected a USD 1.2 billion investment in the bank by Canadian investor SPGP Group/ Erwin Singh Braich.

Mumbai-headquartered Yes Bank was incorporated in 2004. The bank's asset size stood at Rs 3,71,160 crore at the end of June 2019.

Promoters of Yes Bank -- Madhu Kapur, Yes Capital (India) Pvt Ltd and Mags Finvest -- hold 8.33 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden bank, as per data available on the stock exchanges.

The bank's co-founder Rana Kapoor has sold his entire stake in the bank.

Besides, foreign portfolio investors hold 15.17 per cent stake, State-owned LIC has 8.06 per cent, and mutual funds own 5.09 per cent.

Shares of Yes Bank jumped nearly 26 per cent to Rs 36.85 apiece in late afternoon trade on the BSE.
"Climate change is the most immediate and devastating challenge facing our planet's future. We have to solve this now. It's not that my generation wants to be the most passionate about this issue, it's that we have to be," said organizer Divya Nair, The Tech Student Board president and senior at Notre Dame High School.

The youth summit is organized by 13 students from 11 different Bay Area high schools. Teens will work together to develop policy and tech-based solutions to challenges like deforestation, plastic pollution and clean energy.

"We are thrilled to empower young leaders in their quest to make our world a better place," said Anna Schlegel, Vice President, NetApp.

Activities also include a United Nations climate negotiations simulation, sustainable foods tasting, escape room, advocacy storytelling workshop and more. A leader with the Popeloutchom peoples will also discuss the threats climate change poses to local indigenous culture.

The summit is part of The Tech's Tech for Global Good program, designed to create the next generation of innovators ready to tackle the toughest challenges facing our planet. The Tech will also preview a portion of its next exhibition about living sustainably.

Youth Climate Action Summit

Saturday, March 7. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Tech Interactive

201 S. Market St.

San Jose, CA 95113

Tickets are $10 at techclimatesummit.org

About The Tech Interactive

The Tech Interactive is a family-friendly science and technology center in the heart of downtown San Jose. Our hands-on activities, experimental labs and design challenge experiences empower people to innovate with creativity, curiosity and compassion. The Tech is a world leader in the creation of immersive STEAM education resources to develop the next generation of problem-solvers locally, nationally and globally. We believe that everyone is born an innovator who can change the world for the better.

Inspiring the innovator in everyone. | thetech.org

SOURCE The Tech Interactive

Related Links

https://www.thetech.org


Jaya Beemon was one of five people shot inside the store near the 7900 block of South Avalon Avenue. Jaya Beemon stopped there with a date, also a nursing student at Malcolm X College. Her date was shot in the neck and stabilized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The other three injured were a 17-year-old girl shot in the arm, chest and ankle; an 18-year-old woman shot in the back; and a 63-year-old man shot in the leg.
The uncrewed SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft at the International Space Station with its nose cone open revealing its docking mechanism while approaching the station.

The most expensive flying laboratory soon will moonlight again as a space hotel.

Houston-based start-up Axiom has signed a deal with SpaceX to fly three privately paying space tourists to the International Space Station, the companies announced Thursday. The mission is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2021, Axiom said, and will use a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and a Falcon 9 rocket.

Crew Dragon is a capsule SpaceX has been developing for NASA. The spacecraft is built to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, a capability the U.S. has lacked for nearly a decade. SpaceX plans to launch its first NASA astronauts between April and June.

This mission will last 10 days  with two days of travel and eight days on board the space station  and will include an Axiom "commander" to assist the three customers. Axiom said it will announce the members of the crew at a later date.

And, while tourists have flown to the ISS before, Axiom says this will be "the first-ever fully private" trip to the space station.

"This history-making flight will represent a watershed moment in the march toward universal and routine access to space," Axiom CEO Michael Suffredini said in a statement. "This will be just the first of many missions to ISS to be completely crewed and managed by Axiom Space."

Suffredini led the ISS program for NASA for a decade until 2015, shortly after which he co-founded Axiom. The company's website offers private missions to the ISS ranging between 10 days to 180 days, with Axiom providing all the services necessary  from training to management and more. Axiom was also recently selected by NASA to build an addition to the ISS, which would be a large habitat that would attach to the space station for research and more.
WASHINGTON  Last week on Fox News, Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, lamented how it was very disappointing to see the other party trying to politicize coronavirus when national unity should be the order of the day. But six years ago, it was a different story when Mr. Cotton, then running for the Senate as Republicans worked to seize the majority, hit the Obama administration for not protecting our country and our families from Ebola.

Mr. Cotton was far from the only one.

Republican candidates and their conservative allies pounded Democrats and the Obama White House over their handling of the Ebola crisis in the weeks before the 2014 elections, capitalizing on it as part of an aggressive campaign strategy that ultimately flipped nine Democratic Senate seats and won them the majority they still hold today. Ebola was far from the only issue in that election, but it was an important one, and it came in the pivotal late stage of the campaign as something of an October surprise.

It was a stark example of how a nationwide health crisis and the public anxiety it can provoke can be exploited as powerful political weapons in election years. Now, with the tables turned and a Republican president in the White House, Democrats are working to use the administrations response to the novel coronavirus to amplify their own campaign messages, and Republicans are quick to charge that they are improperly politicizing the outbreak.

North Carolinians deserve to know: Will Senator Tillis push for adequate resources for this public health outbreak? read a statement from the North Carolina Democratic Party circulated on Monday, taking aim at Thom Tillis, a vulnerable incumbent.
Channel 10's The Project premiered to 1.2 million viewers in 2009, but in the decade since has slumped in the ratings, with just 430,000 people tuning in on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the current affairs show often makes headlines for all the wrong reasons - with Nicole Scherzinger's 'awkward' interview this week being picked up by publications around the world.

Yet no matter what happens, Channel 10 has no plans to cancel the struggling show - which is produced by Rove McManus' company Roving Enterprises - even though many at the network believe it should be axed.

It's going nowhere! Channel 10 bosses will always stand by The Project because it is perceived as a 'sacred' part of the network's schedule, despite its low ratings and controversies. Pictured (left to right): Peter Helliar, Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little

A well-placed source told Daily Mail Australia: 'For some reason, the higher-ups at Channel 10 love The Project, even though the viewers don't. It doesn't rate, it's expensive to produce and a lot of the publicity it generates is negative.'

The insider added that despite many staffers believing the show 'peaked years ago', management sees it as one of the network's 'sacred cows' and 'will do anything to protect it'.

They explained: 'Although it fails to attract a big audience, it does do well in certain demographics. There's also the argument that it is popular on Facebook and drives social engagement, but that doesn't translate to advertising dollars.

'Still, it will never be cancelled because senior management won't hear a bad word said against it.'

'Senior management won't hear a bad word said against it,' said a well-placed insider, adding that 'higher-ups at Channel 10 love The Project, even though the viewers don't.' Pictured: The Sunday Project host Lisa Wilkinson

On Wednesday, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls was left unimpressed during a cringeworthy interview on The Project.

She looked quite offended by a series of bizarre and poorly-researched questions, including one about fighting with her bandmates over 'tube tops'.

'When you guys are backstage, do you guys fight over who wore the best tube tops and low rise jeans?' host Waleed Aly asked.

Nicole looked confused by the question - which was seemingly a joke about the Pussycat Dolls' early 2000s style - and offered a one-word response: 'No.'

The awkwardness continued when Waleed and his co-host Carrie Bickmore joked about how he'd misheard the lyrics to the Pussycat Dolls song When I Grow Up.

Apparently, Waleed was convinced the chorus included the line 'I wanna have boobies' instead of the actual lyric 'I wanna have groupies'.

Nicole seemed puzzled by the odd confession, saying 'yeah, cool' dismissively.

Awkward: On Wednesday, Nicole Scherzinger (pictured) was left unimpressed during a cringeworthy interview on The Project, which made global headlines

Nicole isn't the only star to walk away from an interview on The Project unimpressed.

In 2019, American musician Maggie Rogers lashed out after being asked about her connection to Pharrell Williams, whom she'd briefly worked with years earlier.

'Note to future journalists: I have no idea what Pharrell smells like,' she tweeted afterwards, baffled that she wasn't asked about her new album instead.

Baffled: In 2019, American musician Maggie Rogers (pictured) lashed out after being asked about her connection to Pharrell Williams, whom she'd briefly worked with years earlier

Carrie Bickmore is the only panelist to remain on the show since its launch in 2009.

'At the beginning I don't think we really knew a hundred per cent what we were in the show,' she told 10 Daily last year.

'All of those things take time and I think with each new person that comes to the desk and every person that leaves, the show shifts slightly.

'The vibe of the show changes and I think that's a good thing. If it stayed exactly the way it was 10 years ago then I think it would be a bore.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel 10 for comment.
By Online Desk

"GOOD NEWS!!! Wuhan's coronavirus can cure itself with a bowl of freshly boiled garlic water. The old Chinese doctor proved its effectiveness. Many patients have also proven it to be effective. RECIPE: Take eight chopped garlic cloves, add seven cups of water and bring to a boil. Eat and drink the boiled water from the garlic. Improved and cured overnight. Please share with all your contacts. Can help save lives..."

If you saw this message and several other 'online medications' for the novel coronavirus outbreak circulating virally across social media, you're not alone.

ALSO READ | Cat in Chennai faces deportation to China over coronavirus fears

With panicked Indians rushing to medical shops to buy masks and hand sanitizers over fears of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, several unverified and fake cures have emerged on social media platforms.

Garlic water, homoeopathic medicines, ginger and many other products commonly used as home remedies to treat normal cold, fever and cough are suddenly being touted on Facebook, Twitter and other sites as medicines "verified" by several Wuhan doctors which have "successfully proven effective" in treating the disease.

ALSO READ | Imported food from coronavirus-hit nations safe; don't eat raw or undercooked meat: FSSAI

In view of such fake information, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an advisory that busts several of these myths.

Before you press that forward message on any viral coronavirus message from your family WhatsApp group, read this first!

1) Can an ultraviolet disinfection lamp kill the new coronavirus?

UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.

2) Can eating garlic help prevent being infected by the new coronavirus?

Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.

ALSO READ | Coronavirus likely a permanent guest, summer may not contain spread, says top virologist

3) Is it safe to receive a letter or a package from China?

Yes, it is safe. People receiving packages from China are not at risk of contracting the new coronavirus. The virus does not survive long on objects, such as letters or packages.

4) Does applying sesame oil block the new coronavirus from entering the body?

No, sesame oil does not kill the new coronavirus. There are some chemical disinfectants that can kill the 2019-nCoV on surfaces. These include bleach/chlorine-based disinfectants, ether solvents, 75% ethanol, peracetic acid and chloroform.

Scientists have also warned that if you put them on the skin or under your nose, it can turn out to be dangerous.

5) Are antibiotics effective in preventing and treating the new coronavirus?

No, antibiotics do not work against viruses, only bacteria. Therefore, they should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment. However, if you are hospitalized with the 2019-nCoV, you may receive antibiotics because bacterial co-infection is possible.

6) A cat which arrived at the Chennai port in a container from China more than 20 days ago and was suspected to be infected by the coronavirus is now facing deportation. But can pets contract the virus?

At present, there is no evidence that pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the coronavirus, the WHO said. However, it cautioned that it is safer to wash your hands with soap and water after contact with pets.

As of Thursday, 30 people from India have tested positive for coronavirus, the latest being reported in Ghaziabad in the national capital region.

On Wednesday, a Paytm employee in Gurugram was reported to have contracted the bug.

Of the other 28 cases, 16 are Italian tourists who have been quarantined. The Indian driver of the tourists has also tested positive for the virus.

Three cities with active coronavirus infections include the national capital Delhi, Jaipur and Hyderabad.

The new virus, that originated in China in December 2019, continues to spread around the world and has infected more than 90,000 people. Globally, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 has crossed 3,000.
An Iranian director who recently won the top prize at the Berlin film festival has been summoned to serve a one-year prison sentence, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Mohammad Rasoulof, 48, won the festival's Golden Bear for "There is no evil" in February, but was unable to accept the prize in person as he was barred from leaving Iran.

Rasoulof received an order via text message on Wednesday to appear and start serving his sentence, his lawyer Nasser Zarafshan said in a phone interview.

The director was charged with "propaganda against the system" and sentenced to a year in prison last year, according to the attorney.

Zarafshan said the sentence was "mostly" over his previous film, "A Man of Integrity". Rasoulof's passport was confiscated in 2017 after the film's premier at Cannes.

Zarafshan has advised his client not to turn himself in for now, he said, considering the novel coronavirus outbreak in Iran.

"With the congestion in prisons... there are clear orders from the judiciary that prisoners be given leave time, and sentences not be carried out for the current" Iranian year that ends in a few weeks, he said.

Zarafshan added that a summons via "SMS has no legal basis," and the judiciary should send an official warning detailing an allowed time period for his client to appear.

Iran has scrambled to halt the rapid spread of COVID-19, which has claimed 107 lives and infected 3,513 in the country in the past two weeks.

Authorities have shut schools and universities, suspended major cultural and sporting events, and reduced working hours.

Officials have already sent 54,000 prisoners on temporary leave, seemingly over concerns of the virus spreading in the prison system.

Rasoulof's new film is a critical work about the death penalty in Iran, telling four loosely related individual stories from the executioner to the families of the victims.

According to Amnesty International, at least 253 people were executed in the Islamic republic in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MEXICO CITYAfter a string of gruesome killings of women, feminist activists here began wondering: What if we all just disappeared?

Mexico is about to find out. Women across the country are being urged to skip work next Monday, stay off the streets and purchase nothing for 24 hours.

The March 9 national strike, which is being promoted as #UNDIASINMUJERES, or a day without women, is meant to deliver an economic punch to cast light on what activists describe as a crisis of violence.

We want to make visible the violence that women suffer in every space in this country, said Arussi Unda, a spokeswoman for Las Brujas del Mar, a feminist collective that is helping organize the strike. We want to punish the system.

What began as a fringe movement has in just a few weeks morphed into a major cultural moment, with well-known actresses, writers and politicians promoting it and some of Mexicos largest companies showing their support by giving female employees the day off.

Its all evidence of the growing visibility of the feminist movement in Mexico, where activists have been going beyond #MeToo denunciations of sexual harassment and violence and embracing much more radical forms of protest.

At the National Autonomous University of Mexico, students have for months occupied several buildings to protest the killing of a female student and alleged sexual harassment by professors.

Last year, women spray-painted national monuments in Mexico City and broke windows at the attorney generals office after a teenage girl alleged she had been raped by four police officers.

And last month, after the abduction and killing of a seven-year-old girl and the death of a young woman whose husband disemboweled her and skinned her corpse, masked women splashed blood-red paint on the doors of Mexicos National Palace, accusing the government of not properly investigating femicides, a term used to classify certain homicides targeting women.

Of the 35,558 homicides recorded in Mexico last year, 3,825 of the victims were female. A total of 1,006 killings were officially classified as femicides, based on a variety of criteria, including whether the victims body showed any signs of sexual violence and whether there had been a sentimental relationship between the victim and the killer.

The generally dismissive response of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has only fuelled protesters anger.

Recently, when a reporter asked about femicides while he was speaking about a planned raffle to auction off the presidential airplane, he grew angry.

I dont want femicides to overshadow the lottery, he said.

He has also criticized Mondays strike, suggesting that it is part of a larger plot against him by his political opponents.

The protest has drawn the support of several key members of the opposition, including Margarita Zavala, a former leader of the socially conservative National Action Party and the wife of ex-President Felipe Calderon.

The killing of women should be a national priority, she wrote in an op-ed in El Universal newspaper.

That Zavala has been an outspoken opponent of abortion  putting her at odds ideologically with many of the activists organizing the strike  has aroused suspicion. So, too, has the fact that large corporations have embraced the strike.

Are they committed to this cause, or are they just taking advantage of the movement because its cool right now? asked Lulu Barrera, the founder of an organization that combats online harassment of women.

Lorena Wolffer, an artist and cultural activist, questioned whether the companies that have come out in support of the strike will take concrete steps to address gender inequality, harassment and other grievances.

What does it mean when a bank announces that it supports something like this but doesnt do anything to address the problems within its own structure? she said. If they really want to do something against violence against women, they can start by cleaning their own house.

She is among a group of feminist activists that is critical of the extensive demands that the strike has put on female participants, questioning whether it is practical or particularly meaningful to ask women to disappear from society for a day.

She said she supports the idea of a work strike, other versions of which have been carried out on a small scale in Mexico in recent years. But she says asking women to go off the grid is unlikely to result in more female-friendly laws or other measures.

At a time when 10 of us are disappearing daily, I dont think that retreating into our homes is particularly effective, she said.

The protests roiling Mexico are inspired in part by other feminist demonstrations across Latin America in recent years.

Activists in Mexico often wear green handkerchiefs  a nod to abortion rights protesters in Argentina and Chile. They have also embraced the Chilean feminist anthem A Rapist in Your Path, recreating the performance at multiple protests.

But a strike with this much support from a broad spectrum of society is unprecedented.

It was unclear exactly how many people would participate in the strike  or in a march planned in Mexico City the day before.

Josefina Ruiz, a notary public, said she will proudly skip work and stay home. Im doing it because of the violence, and because of the general machismo in this society, she said.

Others said they simply couldnt afford to take a day off.

So many of us are in such a precarious position, said Sandy Munoz, a pharmacy worker.

Her employer told female staff members they could miss work Monday  but then stressed that many clients would be depending on pharmacy workers for their medicine.

We felt guilty, Munoz said.

Read more about:
A County Derry pilot has landed the last ever Flybe flight in the early hours of this morning after the company entered administration.

Maghera native Peter Donnelly was in charge of the 20:15 flight from Manchester which touched down in Belfast City Airport around midnight.

The delay followed a frantic period of negotiation as Peter attempted to ensure he got his passengers back to Belfast.

He told Derry Now: It was the last of four flights I had done yesterday.

It was quite subdued because most of the passengers were on social media and already had heard rumours and various bits and pieces, which I hadnt heard myself.

When youre flying, its all-consuming. You dont have time to be looking at social media  theres a job to be done.

For two hours, I was constantly on the phone back and forth to the various authorities.

I was hopeful and then some of the guys at the airport dashed that, saying they were impounding the plane. But I stayed focused and we eventually got the news we wanted.

At the time, Peter was unaware of the flights significance as Flybes last, but he took time today to reflect on the impact the airline has had, particularly on Belfast City Airport.

He said: Its a lifetime for me  Ive been there 28 years. Its more of a family than just a job.

It will be a massive blow. I know a lot of the staff at the airport and watched it grow from a couple of tin shacks to what it is today.

Its a lovely wee compact airport and its modern but it was Nissen huts in 1992 when I started.

At the centre of the south Derry mans thinking was passenger welfare, so much so that the plane was further delayed to allow a group of workers coming from Aberdeen to board.

We were all ready to go and we got a call saying Aberdeen was inbound with seven guys from the rigs.

Those guys were depending on us to get home, so we waited and got them on board. A lot of people were relying on Flybe to get to and from their jobs.

Peter admits it is a concerning time for all staff at the airline and revealed that getting any form of payment from the company could be difficult.

He said: We wont get any form of payment from the company because its gone into administration. Any pay thats owed, we wont get that.

Maybe down the line there will be some form of payment, but theres nothing we can use to pay our bills.

The pilot, who flies hot air balloons in his spare time, has planned to get the staff together at a later stage to try and keep spirits up, but in the meantime has received a unique job offer.

On a positive note, a friend rang me to tell me he needed a shepherd to look after his sheep on the Glenshane and asked if I was available.

I said sure, Ill take anything!. Thats my first job offer and its not even 24 hours yet.

Im glad we stayed with the process and got everyone back home. At least thats some consolation.
With 70 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, many people see refugees as statistics. But not Isabel Allende.

The bestselling author, who was herself forced to flee her native Chile, sees refugees as people who deserve our understanding.

When you are a refugee you lose your nation, your tribe, and you have to make a new community. Without other human beings helping you its impossible to make it, she said in a recent interview.

Her latest novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, uses a historical episode that followed the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War to dramatize her point of view.

When you are a refugee you lose your nation, your tribe, and you have to make a new community."

It follows the journey of fictional character Viktor Dalmau, one of among half a million refugees who fled the war to France, where many were held in grim internment camps. Many died.

Chilean poet Pablo Neruda responded to the human tragedy by commissioning an old cargo ship called the Winnipeg to transport 2,000 of the refugees to Chile.

Allende was recently in London to promote her book and was interviewed by Rosianna Halse Rojas, a supporter of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Rojas is a well-known vlogger and co-founder of Lifes Library Book Club.

Author @IsabelAllende meets vlogger @RosiannaRojas to talk about love, war, and why it's more important than ever to support those forced to flee home. #WorldBookDay pic.twitter.com/6n95od2oCn  UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) March 5, 2020

In conversation, Allende explained the logic behind her choice of story and argued the role of a novelist is to create empathy.

The whole theme of this book is that you should live with an open heart  The moment you tell a story someone becomes a person, and you can connect, she said.

The hearts of the Spanish refugees were wounded by loss and separation, but their eyes were set firmly on the future, she said.

Allendes insight is sharpened by personal experience as a refugee.

After her relative, President Salvador Allende, died in a military coup in 1973, she risked her life arranging safe passage out of Chile for victims of oppression. She only abandoned her homeland when she received death threats.

Once in Venezuela, she thought she would stay just a couple of months. But it was not safe to return to Chile and her family eventually joined her in the South American country, where she spent 13 years.

"People who are desperate need to find a place where they feel safe."

At first the new country shocked her. For a start, she found it strange to be in a place where she could live without fear.

It was hard. But then I connected to Venezuelan families and they were so kind and so welcoming, she said.

It was during her exile in Venezuela that she wrote her breakout novel, the House of the Spirits. She has since written more than 20 works of fiction and memoir that have together sold more above 56 million copies in more than 30 languages.

There is little doubt that those experiences of fear, flight and welcome spurred her creativity and helped make her one of the most important and respected writers in Latin America.

It also makes the novel deeply relevant today.

The theme of refugees is in the air and people think the crisis can be solved by building walls but that doesnt work. People who are desperate need to find a place where they feel safe . We need to work together to find global solutions, she said.
S. Korean Hospitals Lack Enough Space for Coronavirus Patients

By VOA News March 04, 2020

South Korea reported more than 500 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, as health officials said more than 2,000 people in the city hardest hit by the outbreak were waiting for open spaces in hospitals.

South Korea has seen the most cases outside of China, and is planning to spend about $10 billion on medical resources and measures to counteract the economic impact of the outbreak.

China reported a continued slowdown of new cases of the coronavirus Wednesday with 119 new people infected, far reduced from when it reported several thousand at a time.

The focus of containing the outbreak has shifted to places such as Italy and Iran, which have not only seen their own cases steadily increase, but have also had their citizens and others who traveled from those areas test positive while in other countries.

Italy reported a sharp increase in deaths on Tuesday, up to 79, the most outside of China. India, which has linked cases to Italian tourists, said Wednesday the number of cases there jumped from five to 28.

Wednesday also brought news of the first death in Iraq, where so far all of its cases are connected to Iran.

Worldwide, the coronavirus has infected more than 93,000 people and killed more than 3,100, with the vast majority in both categories in China.

The expansion of the outbreak has reached several new countries, including Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, Portugal and Saudi Arabia.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged people around the world Tuesday to stop hoarding masks and other protective gear, saying health care workers need them.

Experts say surgical masks are no guaranteed protection against the virus, but say they are essential equipment for doctors and nurses.

Tedros said he is concerned about the "severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment caused by rising demand."

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The commitment will also extend to supporting NAF's Academies of IT and engaging NAF alumni through its NAFTrack platform. Through its partnership with NAF, UTC will prioritize the development of a robust pipeline of diverse technical talent.

During a kick-off event in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, representatives from UTC and NAF announced that two high schools, Benito Cerezo High School and Elvira Colon High School, will serve as the inaugural sites for Puerto Rico's first NAF Academies of Engineering. Both schools are close to UTC's Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace Systems facilities, making it possible for employees to volunteer and work side-by-side with students.

"UTC is incredibly proud to partner with NAF, an organization that is transforming the STEM learning environment with tangible, hands-on learning opportunities for high school students in underserved communities," said Greg Hayes, UTC Chairman and CEO. "These academies will expose generations of students in Puerto Rico to STEM classes, mentorships and company internships, bringing to life what a future career in engineering and technology can look like."

Through the partnership, UTC and NAF will bring professional engineering expertise into the classroom. And, by offering a variety of work-based learning engagements such as company visits, mentoring, and paid high school internships, UTC and NAF are ensuring that these students are career ready. The two new NAF locations will join a nationwide network of 600 academies offering "school within a school" career-themed programs. This reflects UTC's commitment to nurturing the next generation of engineers, scientists and inventors.

"NAF aims to make a positive difference for as many students as possible," said Sandy Weill, NAF Founder and Chairman. "By working with UTC, we are expanding into a previously untapped location that will greatly benefit from UTC's investment and support NAF's long-held belief that all students deserve access to opportunities for success. NAF can now proudly say that we are serving more than 100,000 students throughout the United States, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. We want to thank Greg Hayes and his outstanding leadership team for the wonderful work they do in the communities they serve and we look forward to a long-lasting partnership."

UTC has a history and established aerospace presence in Puerto Rico that stretches back 17 years. It began when Infotech Aerospace Services, Inc. (IAS), the first aerospace engineering services company in Puerto Rico, launched a joint venture with Pratt & Whitney. Today, UTC employs over 2,000 people on the island in the design and manufacturing of aerospace technologies for jet engines, air management and electrical systems.

As UTC continues its transformation into a pureplay aerospace company through the planned spin offs of Otis and Carrier, and expected merger with Raytheon, it remains committed to supporting STEM programs such as those provided through NAF.

This announcement is part of UTC's comprehensive effort to help address the technologies skills gap and under-representation of women and minorities in the technology sector. NAF is one of UTC's pillar partnerships which include Girls Who Code, National Invention Convention and FIRST.

About United Technologies Corp.

United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems to the building and aerospace industries. By combining a passion for science with precision engineering, the company is creating smart, sustainable solutions the world needs. To learn more about UTC, visit www.utc.com or follow the company on Twitter: @UTC.

Contact:

Media Inquiries, UTC

(860) 493-4364

SOURCE United Technologies Corp.

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New Delhi, March 5 : "This is Parliament, not a bazaar," said Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday as he adjourned the House within two hours after it was convened following ruckus over the Delhi riots.

With members of the opposition demanding immediate discussion over the violence in the capital that led to 47 deaths, Naidu adjourned the House as the government had already announced that debate will take place post Holi on March 11.

It was the fourth consecutive day when the House was adjourned over same issue. The opposition had made it claer on Wednesday that they would not let the House function unless the debate took place.

Naidu's "bazaar" remark came after his repeated appeals to the members to stop sloganeering in the House fell on deaf ears.

The chairman also said that it is the House of the Elders and members should not raise slogans.

The opposition members walked into the Well of the House and started sloganeering against the central government over rioting in Delhi. This happened soon after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan issued a statement in the House over government's preparedness to contain the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Vardhan gave an elaborate statement wherein he gave every minute detail about the government initiative to deal with the crisis After Vardhan's statement, the members were allowed to give their suggestions. Once suggestions were made and Zero Hour started, the opposition members started sloganeering.

The Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad thereafter walked away.

The Chairman ensured that the Zero Hour was completed.

Many members who gave notices to raise important issues refused to raise their issues. The Chairman repeatedly said that if the members did not raise the issue even after giving notice, further notices from them would not be taken.

Amid sloganeering a few members raised their issues and as soon as Zero Hour ended and Naidu appealed the members to go to their respective seats so that Question Hour could begin.

When members did not budge and demanded discussion over Delhi riots, Naidu announced that the House would remain adjourned till 11 a.m. on Friday.

For the fourth consecutive day, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned over Delhi riots issue. The Chairman earlier assured the members that the matter would be taken up but later in the month but the members wanted discussion at earliest.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 04:06:31|Editor: huaxia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, on March 5, 2020. (Kremlin photo)

According to the protocol, Russia and Turkey confirmed their fidelity to maintenance of the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.



MOSCOW, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Turkey agreed Thursday on a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan which lasted for about six hours.

The ceasefire becomes effective from 00:01 on Friday, according to the protocol read after the talks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Russia and Turkey also agreed to create a safety corridor 6 km to the north and 6 km to the south from the strategic M4 highway, which connects Aleppo in northern Syria with Latakia in the northwest.

Concrete parameters of the functioning of the safety corridor will be agreed on between Russian and Turkish defense ministries within seven days, the protocol said.

Russia and Turkey will begin joint patrolling of the M4 highway on March 15, 2020, said the protocol signed by the two countries' defense ministers.

According to the protocol, Russia and Turkey confirmed their fidelity to maintenance of the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

They also confirmed their determination to fight against all manifestations of terrorism and to destroy all the terrorist groups, recognized as such by the United Nations Security Council.

The parties stressed that the Syrian conflict has no military solution and must be settled by a political process led and implemented by the Syrians themselves with an assistance of the United Nations in accordance with the Resolution 2254 of its Security Council.

Russia and Turkey underlined the importance of further improvement of the humanitarian situation of the Syrians, provision of humanitarian assistance to all needy without advancing preliminary conditions and discrimination, as well as preventing forced transfer of people and contributing to safe and voluntary return of the refugees and internally displaced persons to places of their permanent residence in Syria, the protocol said. 
A 14-year-old North York boy who was the subject of a late-night Amber Alert has been found, after he was abducted as retribution for his stepbrothers $4-million unpaid drug debt, police say.

Police say he was found safe Thursday night and was taken for a medical check. A press conference with more details is planned for 10 a.m. Friday at Toronto Police headquarters.

The boy, a grade nine student at Newtonbrook Secondary School, was last seen a short distance from his home near Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue at about 8:25 a.m. Wednesday.

Police were notified he was missing hours later, and an Amber Alert was issued around midnight.

Police allege the boys stepbrother owes a large debt in relation to a multi-kilo cocaine ring and has since fled the GTA.

They said the missing boy has no connection to the criminal lifestyle.

As a result, we are alleging that two to three males forced (the boy) into a dark coloured Jeep Wrangler, Steve Watts of the Toronto Polices organized crime enforcement unit told reporters Thursday evening.

Police said they are looking for two suspects between the ages of 18 to 22, both wearing black jackets with bandanas on their heads.

A burned out vehicle matching the description of the Jeep Wrangler has been located in the Caledon area, Watts said. Police believe this is the same vehicle used in the abduction.

The alleged drug deal was in the summer of 2019 and it was in the area of a hundred kilos.

There was an initial police response around 8:30 a.m. when an unknown trouble call came in that was investigated by 31 Division. The boys parents called police around 5:30 p.m.

Investigators have not yet said if any arrests were made in the case.

Four staff members at a North York high school were put on home assignment after the boys parents werent notified for at least nine hours after he failed to show up at school.

TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird confirmed an automatic call to notify the boys parents that he had not shown up for school was sent at 6:09 p.m. Wednesday.

Board policy requires classroom teachers to report attendance promptly each period, Bird said. At Newtonbrook, this information is relayed to parents in attendance calls are sent twice daily, once around 11 a.m. and again around 6 p.m.

Weve now confirmed that attendance information was not entered by the 11 a.m. cut-off, and, as a result, this information was shifted to the second call, he said.

Were looking to confirm the details right now, but what is clear is that the attendance information was not entered as it should have been.

Several police officers could be seen outside the boys house early Thursday morning and were canvassing the neighbourhood, including on horseback.

In 2017, at least 90 people were arrested for their alleged connection to a drug trafficking gang called the Driftwood Crips, known to frequent the Jane and Driftwood area.

Arrests led to the seizure of 193 fentanyl patches, with a street value of $38,000, and 194 fentanyl pills, valued at about $15,000. Almost 500 charges were laid including drug trafficking, sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery, and firearm offences.

With files from Tom Yun and the Canadian Press
Cao Bang has more than stunning landscapes and historical sites to offer, the northern province is also home to delicious banh khao, or sweet shortcake made of roast glutinous rice flour.

In the past, the cake was only made for special occasions like Tet (Lunar New Year) or wedding ceremonies but now banh khao is made year-round for daily use and gifts for the increasing number of travelers to the province, said Nong Thi Huong in Thong Hue Village of Trung Khanh District.

Huong said many households in the province make the cake but the best come from his Thong Hue Village, said to be the birthplace of banh khao making a hundred years ago.

Banh khao (khao cake) made by makers in Thong Hue Village have been praised to be most tasty compared with others.  Photo baodientucaobang. com



As a banh khao maker for some 50 years, Huong's mother Hoang Thi That said the process of making the cake is rather complex, from how to choose the right glutinous rice (locally known as heo rice) to roast and grind it.

The rice is soaked with warm water for three hours and then dried before being roasted on a cast iron pan over a light fire until it becomes light yellow and crunchy, said That, noting that if cooked with a strong fire, the rice will burn.

So each time you should roast two bowls of rice and regularly stir them.

A Thong Hue banh khao maker is wrapping the cake to be ready for sale. Photocaobangecopark.com



After letting the roasted rice cool, he grinds it to powder and then spreads it on a large piece of paper to sit on the ground for a night.

This process aims to make the powder less crunchy then mixing it with sugar cane before pressing it in a frame, he said.

Banh khao fillings include roasted peanuts, sesame (both white and black) and pork fat of black pig (locally known as lon i) raised by local people. This kind of pig, often 60kg each, gives fragrant pork compared to pig raised with chemical food, That said.

The roasted peanuts and sesame are ground into powder while the pork fat is cut into tiny cubes and mixed with sugar.

Fragrant roasted special glutinous rice is ready to be ground to make banh khao.  Photo viso.vn



I was lucky to watch Huong making the cake. She poured the glutinous rice powder into the frame and let the filling over it then again poured the rice powder on the filling and used a special tool to press the cake and cut it into four parts.

After removing the cake from its frame, Huong wrapped it in white or colourful tissue paper.

The banh khao is often wrapped into a rectangle shape and its size depends on each maker, he said, inviting me to try a piece.

The cake was fragrant from the glutinous rice, buttery due to roasted peanut and sesame, greasy with the pork fat and lightly sweet thanks to the sugar. I'll never forget these charming flavours.

The cakes cost VND100,000-140,000 for a big package which includes 10 smaller banh khao.

In the past, the cake had been considered a dry food of the Tay ethnic group who often ate it as fuel for a hard day's work.

During that time I still remember the cakes aromatic flavour when enjoying it with a cup of tea. At such times we enjoyed our happiness and our new rice crop, That said.

The Tay ethnic group has their own custom of enjoying Tet for the entire lunar month so for those households that still have banh khao in their home, it means Tet with happiness still exists, she said.

Pham Quynh Nhu from Hanoi said there are different banh khao cakes produced by makers in the countrys three regions but what she likes most is the cake made by the likes of Huong and her mother.

I often order the cakes from him to send to my relatives abroad who are interested in it so much. I wish local makers would try their best to preserve this specialty as the national spirit of Vietnam, she said.  VNS

Traditional Tet food offerings to ancestors During the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, each ethnic group in Vietnam has its own culinary specialties that reflect the culture of their people and are used as offerings to worship their ancestors.
In bid to boost safety, repeal of cop residency rule advances in Missouri House JEFFERSON CITY - Police officers throughout Missouri would no longer have to live within the cities they serve under a plan given preliminary approval by the Missouri House Wednesday. Supporters said scrapping the mandate could help fill scores of vacancies in St.

Important background with an easier paywall to get past and probably inspiration for po-po and firefighters looking for houses in JoCo tonight. Checkit:
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Singapore  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:26 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206876230 2 World Singapore,Turkish-Airlines,passenger,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,outbreak Free

A Turkish Airlines aircraft was flown back to Istanbul without any passengers on Thursday on orders from authorities in Singapore after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane on Tuesday tested positive for coronavirus.

Singapore's aviation regulator said that the three pilots and 11 other crew of flight TK54 that had arrived on Tuesday were on the return flight to Istanbul, where they would be placed in quarantine.

"The crew had come into close contact with a passenger on flight TK54 who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in a statement on Thursday.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in contact with the Turkish Embassy, which has confirmed that the crew will be quarantined upon arrival at Istanbul," CAAS said.

Singapore's transport ministry said in a statement on its website that authorities had begun tracing passengers on flight TK54 that may have had contact with the infected person.

The Straits Times newspaper said 200 passengers were affected. It issued a correction to an earlier report, cited by Reuters, that all of them had been tested for the coronavirus.

Turkish Airlines did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the number of passengers on board.

Singapore had 112 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which started in China, but a large majority of the patients in the city-state have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
A medical staff member checks information as patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus leave from Wuhan No.3 Hospital to Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 4, 2020. - China on March 4 reported 38 more deaths from the new coronavirus but a fall in fresh cases for a third consecutive day. (Photo by STR / AFP)



Mainland China reported a rise in new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Thursday, reversing three straight days of declines, because of a spike in new infections in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak.



Mainland China had 139 new confirmed cases as of Wednesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said, bringing the total accumulated number of cases to 80,409. Authorities reported 119 new cases the previous day and 125 the day before that.



The increase was driven by more cases in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have emerged in a market late last year.



Wuhan's new infections climbed to 131 from 114 a day earlier. There was no immediate elaboration and health officials were due to hold a briefing later in the day.



After what some critics said was an initially hesitant response to the new virus, China imposed sweeping restrictions to try to stop it, including transport suspensions, lockdowns of cities and extending a Lunar New Year holiday across the country.



World Health Organization (WHO) officials have said other countries have much to learn from the way China has handled the outbreak and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said many countries had asked for help and China was responding.



The number of new confirmed cases in Hubei, excluding Wuhan, has remained in single digits for seven consecutive days, with three new infections recorded on Wednesday.



In the rest of mainland China, outside Hubei, there were only five new confirmed cases, the health commission said.









The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 3,012 as of the end of Wednesday, up by 31 from the previous day. Hubei accounted for all of the new deaths. In Wuhan, 23 people died.



With the downward trend in new cases, Chinese authorities have turned their attention to stopping the virus being brought in from new coronavirus hot spots abroad.





A worker transfers medical waste at the west campus of Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 19, 2020. Xinhua
Struggling airline Flybe has said coronavirus made a difficult situation worse after it went bust in the early hours of Thursday.

The carrier was saved from going out of business earlier this year but has been unable to obtain a 100 million ($127 million) loan from the government.

A drop in demand caused by coronavirus has added to Flybes long-standing woes and administrators announced it had ceased trading with immediate effect.

Crisis talks were held throughout the day Wednesday to try to secure a rescue package, but no deal was agreed on.

The end of the Exeter-based airline, which employs 2,000 staff, will threaten thousands of jobs and the future of a number of regional airports.

Belfast City Airport is one of those airports worst hit by the collapse, with 81% of its flights operated by the carrier.

In a statement, Flybe Chief Executive Mark Anderson said the company had been unable to overcome significant funding challenges.

The UK has lost one of its greatest regional assets, Anderson said.

Flybe has been a key part of the UK aviation industry for four decades, connecting regional communities, people and businesses across the entire nation.

The company said all Flybe flights were immediately grounded and advised all passengers not to travel to airports unless alternative flight arrangements had been made.

As part of the January rescue deal, Flybe agreed to an arrangement to defer tax payments of less than 10 million with HM Revenue and Customs.

Ministers also agreed to hold a review into Air Passenger Duty (APD).

The structure of APD  which adds 26 to the price of most return domestic flights such as those operated by Flybe  could be altered in next weeks budget.

Flybe serves around 170 destinations and has a major presence at UK airports such as Aberdeen, Belfast City, Manchester and Southampton. It flies the most UK domestic routes between airports outside London.

A series of issues have affected...

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A group appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey to study the amount of tax revenue and other consequences that would result from a lottery, casinos, and other forms of gambling in Alabama met for the first time this morning.

In February, Ivey issued an executive order appointing 12 members to the Study Group on Gambling Policy, an initiative she had announced during her State of the State address.

Former Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange chairs the group, which agreed not to receive compensation or reimbursement for expenses. The group signed an ethics pledge saying they would not profit from their participation and had no known conflicts of interest. All 12 attended todays meeting.

The group heard a presentation this morning from Will Parker, general counsel for Ivey, on the current state of gambling in Alabama.

Bills on a lottery, electronic bingo, and other gambling issues are topics during every legislative session. The Alabama Constitution prohibits lotteries, so lawmakers would have to approve a constitutional amendment to allow a lottery or expansion of gambling. Voters would have the final say on whether to change the constitution.

Forty-five states, including the four that border Alabama, have lotteries. But lottery bills in Alabama have repeatedly stalled because of opposition to gambling and competing interests among the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and lawmakers from counties that have approved dog tracks and bingo.

The Legislature has not approved a lottery bill since 1999, when voters rejected the plan proposed by Gov. Don Siegelman.

Ivey has generally taken a hands-off approach to gambling issues. She has said she does not believe gambling is good way to fund government services. But she has also said shes not opposed to a ballot referendum on the issues. She said she wants clarity on the facts before that happens.

Without a doubt, there will be ramifications if we eventually expand gaming options in our state just as there are costs associated with doing nothing," Ivey said in announcing the study group.

Strange said today he believes the study groups goals are to learn what forms of gambling are possible and the benefits, revenue, costs, and governance structure associated with those. The former mayor said that would be based partly on best practices in other states.

Strange said he expects study group to meet again no later than the first week of April. That meeting would be for a listening session to hear from opponents of gambling as well as those who want to offer expanded forms of gambling.
A Connecticut lawmaker has plans for a bill that not only calls for the state to look at which insurers have fossil fuel investments  a growing trend among government entities as of late  but also which ones are underwriting such projects.

The bill, being introduced by state Sen. Matt Lesser, a Democrat from Middletown and chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, would require the insurance commissioner to at least annually conduct a study to determine whether each insurer licensed or domiciled in the state has any investment in fossil fuels, including a coal or tar sands projects, or is engaged in underwriting for a coal or tar sands project.

The bill also calls for the commissioner to engage a third party to perform an analysis to assess each insurers investment portfolio for exposure to climate risk.

The Insurance Association of Connecticut has not taken a stance on the bill. Neither has the largest trade group representing the insurance industry, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

Its a study bill and we are monitoring it, was the reply from APCIA spokesman Jeffrey Brewer when asked for a comment for this story.

Three government entities to date have passed resolutions or adopted local policy on insurance and fossil fuels.

Paris was the first to do so in 2018. Later that year the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to urge the city to screen insurers for their investments in coal and tar sands. Commissioners in Boulder, Colo., in February passed a resolution to screen potential county insurance providers for those that support fossil fuels without phaseout plans.

Nearly half-a-dozen government entities are considering or actively working on similar actions, according to the climate change activist group, the Sunrise Project. They include Los Angeles, Calif., New York, N.Y., Seattle, Wash., Oakland, Calif., and Cambridge, Mass.

They are at different stages, explained Mary Sweeters, with the Sunrise Project. Some are actively working on a resolution or drafting policy, some are considering what local advocates are proposing to them.

California Bond Measure

A $5.5-billion bond measure proposed in the California Senate has the goal of combating climate change by funding various environmental preservation and expansion projects throughout the state.

Senate Bill 45, also known as the Wildfire Prevention, Safe Drinking Water, Drought Preparation and Flood Protection Bond Act of 2020, would allocate the money based on environmental hazards faced in California, the LA Times is reporting.

The bill, which must pass the full Legislature to get placed on the November ballot, proposes that $2.2 billion be allocated for wildfire prevention, $1.47 billion to ensure safe drinking water, $620 million to protect fish and wildlife, $190 million for agricultural protections, $970 million to protect the coastline and around $60 million toward workforce development and education efforts, according to the article.

The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Californias changing climate creates increased risks of catastrophic wildfire, drought, floods, severe heat events, intense rain events, and sea level rise that will impact Californias residents, agriculture, water supply, water quality, and the health of forests, watersheds, fish and wildlife, our biodiversity, and our economy, the text of the bill states.

The bill notes that investment of public funds will result in public benefits that will address the most critical statewide needs and priorities for public funding and save local and state agencies billions of dollars.

PACE

One program that has produced billions of dollars of investment in solar power and hurricane readiness across Florida, as well as whats reported to be a reported significant cut in carbon emissions, now has a rising number of critics, who contend the program may hurt some consumers  particularly the elderly and low-income.

The Property Assessed Clean Energy program, best known as PACE, enables homeowners to borrow tens of thousands of dollars for energy-efficient or hurricane-resistant improvements to their home with no money down and no credit check required. Instead, a new type of private lending industry collects payments through property tax bills.

Many business and political leaders have embraced the program as a key to covering the cost of adapting to climate change.

However, critics contend these agreements amount to a lien on a home, and there are no state laws requiring PACE providers to explain the costs of the improvements, check if the people who sign up can actually afford to pay back the money or understand the terms, an Associated Press story in Insurance Journal this week explains.

In California, which pioneered the product, major new regulations have emerged, which include designating a state body to oversee the program and requiring lenders to make sure homeowners can afford the tax.

Thats not the case in Florida, where some local governments have begun to take action. Some Florida counties have taken steps to guard consumers against the pitfalls of the program, which has included at least one ban on all residential PACE activity.

In Pasco County, the tax collector received so many complaints about the program that his office hired someone to contact every new person who signs up and explain PACE in more detail.

In Miami-Dade, the largest PACE market in the state, the tax collectors office shows the number of people who fell behind on their taxes after getting a PACE lien has steadily, but the total number of people in distress has hovered around 1%, the story on Insurance Journal states.

In 2018, roughly 8,000 residents had PACE liens and 103 fell behind in their taxes, while the office estimates that of the nearly 12,000 homeowners who had PACE liens in 2019, about 141 will have trouble with their taxes, according to the article.

Climate Change Australia

Climate change has increased bushfire risk by 30% or more, according to a new report.

The report is from World Weather Attribution, which can be described as an international effort to analyze and communicate the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events.

It shows global warming boosted the risk of the hot, dry weather thats likely to cause bushfires.

The study also suggests the figure is likely to be much greater. If global temperatures rise by 2C, such conditions would occur at least four times more often, according to the report, Attribution of the Australian bushfire risk to anthropogenic climate change.

The report computes the change in probability of a Fire Weather Index (FWI), extreme heat or drought as high as was observed in the 2019-20 season in the current climate compared to the climate of around 1900.

Four climate models for which FWI could be calculated show that the probability of a Fire Weather Index this high has increased by at least 30% since 1900 as a result of anthropogenic climate change, the report states. As the trend in extreme heat is one of the main factors behind this increase and the models underestimate the observed trend in heat, the real increase could be much higher.

The FWI shows a significant trend towards higher fire weather risk since 1979, according to the report.

The Insurance Council of Australia has noted that at least 20,000 claims had been filed, with insured losses reaching A$1.65 billion. These totals inevitably will rise further.

Elizabeth Blosfield, Insurance Journals East editor, contributed to this report.

Past columns:

Topics Carriers California Florida USA Wildfire Underwriting Climate Change Agribusiness Energy Oil Gas Numbers Australia
CHICOPEE  Mercedes of Benz of Springfield welcomed guests to the latest Arrive@5 event on Wednesday night.

Driven by Community was a Multi-Chamber Passport Tour that brought together members of the Amherst Area Chamber, East of the River Chamber, Greater Northampton Chamber, West of the River Chamber, Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and Hampshire County Young Professionals.

Guests had an opportunity to sample food, drink and learn something about area non-profits.
Google Maps

A San Antonio woman was killed Wednesday when a driver rear-ended her car on the North Side, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Rosalva Tamez, 61, was traveling southbound on the 3500 block of West Ave. shortly before 5 p.m.
Tourists wearing protective masks are pictured at the historic Taj Mahal in Agra

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India has ramped up the screening of travellers to keep the coronavirus at bay but a flurry of new cases has experts warning that it may be hard to contain a spread in densely populated South Asia with its generally poor medical infrastructure.

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are home to some 1.7 billion people, or more than a fifth of the world's population, but their over-stretched health systems could struggle to handle the type of intensive care required for coronavirus patients.

On top of that, a prevalence of existing health problems such as diabetes could spell trouble while the sort of sweeping restrictions China has imposed to stifle the virus would be hugely difficult in South Asia's more unruly cities.

"The way Indian society is structured, the kind of lockdown that many countries including China and Japan have instituted, is pretty much impossible even under good circumstances," said Vivekanand Jha, executive director of the George Institute for Public Health, in New Delhi.

India's total confirmed coronavirus rose to 29 on Wednesday, from six early this week.

The coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, has infected more than 95,000 people globally, and killed more than 3,200, most of them in China.

Some health experts fear that even with the recent spike in cases, India's actual tally could be much bigger.

"There is a strong possibility that the number of cases in India is much higher than what has been detected," Arunkumar G., director of the Manipal Institute of Virology, said, citing a virus incubation of up to two weeks.

Fears were fanned this week when India's health minister disclosed that 16 foreign tourists who have tested positive had been touring since mid-February.

Last week, U.S. intelligence sources told Reuters that India's available countermeasures and the potential for the virus to spread its dense population was a focus of serious concern.

Story continues

'ALL INITIATIVES'

India's government says it has screened more than one million travellers, boosted its testing capabilities and set up isolation wards in all major cities with international airports.

But 450 million of India's 1.3 billion people are estimated to be migrants, with vast numbers packing its rail and road systems daily meaning controlling any spread would be a huge challenge.

India's high number of diabetics - 77 million - and high rates of problems like kidney disease could lead to higher morbidity, or protracted treatment, experts said.

"One particular risk of India is the co-existence of other non-communicable disease epidemics," Dr Rajib Dasgupta, who is a professor of community health at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government says it is confident of its ability to arrest the spread of the virus.

"Coronavirus is a challenge, but the government of India has taken all initiatives to ensure that it is stopped," said D.V. Sadananda Gowda, minister of chemicals, who oversees the pharmaceuticals sector.

Neighbouring Pakistan has found five coronavirus cases. A top health official was gloomy about the prospects of tackling a major outbreak.

"We don't have human resources, we don't have the required inventory, we don't have a capacity to cope with a big emergency with the given resources," Shahid Malik, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association, told Reuters.

Bangladesh has not confirmed any cases of the coronavirus but five Bangladeshi workers have tested positive in Singapore.

Bangladesh's health ministry said more than 300,000 people have been screened at airports and other border entry points.

But one passenger was not impressed by what he considered lax screening upon arrival in the capital, Dhaka.

"Many of us could skip the screening. Just imagine what would happen if someone infected with the virus enters. It'll be a total disaster," Farid Yamin, a Bangladeshi working in Singapore, told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Swati Bhat and Abhirup Roy in Mumbai, Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad, Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by Euan Rocha, Robert Birsel)
Google has come up with a handy feature for its users who get most of their information from web articles. The tech major has enabled its Google Assistant with a read aloud function that will read entire web articles for the users, highlighting the words as it scrolls across the page.

The new feature for Android users was announced by Google in a recent blog post. Those looking to use it can simply say "Hey Google, read it," or "Hey Google, read this page to the Google Assistant. The artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant will then start reading the web page from the top all the way to the bottom.

Interestingly, the new Google Assistant feature also supports different languages, enabling users to listen to the information on a web page in the language of their choice. Google says that the Assistant can read the web pages in 42 different languages in case the original content is in a language other than the users preferred one.

Users can even choose between different reading speeds and voices for the web pages. As per Google, the Assistant tries to use the same expressive voices as humans to convey a natural feeling to the user. We tried it out and we can say that the Google Assistant does the job fairly well, reading the web pages in a consistent pitch but with appropriate pauses and an impressive flow. Its much like a news anchor reading out the news to you.

We tried out the Google Assistant Read Aloud feature.

What to use it for?

The way we look at it, this is a very handy tool for people who are constantly on the move. A considerable part of the day of the working class around the globe, is spent on travelling. If one wants to stay updated with the latest information on the web, this feature might just be the key to start your day with a healthy dose of news.

Needless to say, the feature will also be of immense help to those with visual impairments and reading difficulties. Rather than relying on any third party apps or equipment, they can use the Google Assistant easily by voice commands and know what their favourite website has to say.

The fact that the Assistant can read out a web page in different languages is also of importance, as many accustomed to a particular language will now be able to access the web pages of any language in a listen-to format in their own choice of diction.

It is not hard to see that the feature competes closely with podcasts, provided the content on a particular web page is a viable replacement for the content on a podcast. So those accustomed to listening to podcasts will also find the new Google Assistant feature quite handy.

As per Google, websites do not have to do anything extra for this feature to work on them. The feature can read any web page by default. However, if a web page does not want the feature to be enabled on it, a nopagereadaloud tag can be used by the website. The feature can also be added by developers using Actions on Google.
RTHK: ICC overturns ban on Afghan war crimes probe

International war crimes judges ruled on Thursday that a probe into wartime abuses in Afghanistan must go ahead, including looking into possible atrocities committed by US forces, as they overturned a previous court ruling.

Pre-trial judges at the International Criminal Court last year rejected a demand by its chief prosecutor to open a full-blown probe into crimes committed in the war-torn nation  an investigation also bitterly opposed by Washington.

Prosecutors at The Hague appealed against the move, saying that the judges made an error when they slapped down Fatou Bensouda's request by saying although it met all the right criteria and a reasonable basis, it was "not in the interest of justice".

The appeals judges agreed with the prosecution.

"The prosecutor is authorised to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003," ICC judge Piotr Hofmanski said. "It is for the prosecutor to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to initiate an investigation."

Pre-trial judges are only called upon to see if there is a reasonable basis for an investigation and not to "review the prosecutor's analysis", he said.

In fact, the appeals judges said, prosecutors could even look into possible atrocities outside of Afghanistan if they were clearly linked to its armed conflict. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
(Natural News) Coronavirus update highlights for March 5th, 2020:

 Two more coronavirus cases are now confirmed in New York City. Importantly, the origin of these cases cannot be found, meaning its almost certainly a local, sustained outbreak in NYC. This means NYC infections are about to explode. Neither patient has a connection to travel nor any of the other local individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, tweeted Mayor Bill de Blasio.

 The State of Texas has now confirmed a Houston resident as positive for the coronavirus. A secondary positive test is currently pending. The Texas DSHS says the case is travel related and did not originate in Texas. Its unknown how many other people in Houston were exposed before this patient was identified as infected.

 The first case has now been identified in Nevada.

 New Jersey now has its first positive case for coronavirus. Its a male in his 30s, demonstrating yet again that the coronavirus can strike anyone at any age, not just the elderly.

 Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee just announced the first confirmed coronavirus case in Tennessee.

 Scientists have identified a coronavirus infection in a dog that they believe is a human-to-animal transmission scenario.

 California has a whole new cruise ship emergency as the Grand Princess (not to be confused with the Diamond Princess) has been ordered to halt its planned docking with San Francisco. All passengers and crew are being tested for the virus, as it is suspected some may be infected.

 The evil tech giants like Google, Facebook and Netflix are increasingly canceling public events and ordering workers to work from home. Facebook just closed an office in Seattle after an employee there tested positive. Its now clear that the coronavirus is going to sweep through the labor pool of moderators and engineers that power the worlds most evil techno-fascist companies.

 The US Dept. of Health and Human Services announced plans today to purchase 500 million N95 masks  the same masks the U.S. Surgeon General recently declared dont work as he was begging people to stop buying them. Once again, the government keeps buying up all the medical supplies and food supplies while telling the people that stocking up is silly.

 On an international note, Iran just put armed roadway checkpoints in place, a form of medical martial law that will likely be coming to America soon. Most schools and universities are also now closed across Iran as the coronavirus explodes there.

 Celebrity health guru Dr. Drew continues to insist the coronavirus is no worse than the flu and that people should stop talking about it or writing about it. Thats the problem with celebrities: They have no idea how stupid they sound when they open their mouths.

 On the subject of coronavirus testing kits that the Trump administration promised would be produced and distributed by the millions: There wont be a million people to get a test by the end of the week, stated Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida. Its way smaller than that. And still, at this point, its still through public health departments. In other words, local hospitals still dont have testing kits, just as weve been warning about for weeks. Nobody at the CDC seems to mind this fact, as they just got an extra $2 billion in emergency funding by allowing this virus to spread out of control across the USA.

 Importantly, NIH director Dr. Fauci warns that 15-20% of infected patients may require hospitalization. That means America might need tens of millions of hospital beds, yet the entire country only has 980,000 hospital beds in existence and most of those are already occupied. Once the hospital beds get full, the mortality rate climbs to around 15% as infected people are, effectively, sent home to die.

Its too bad no one in the government will dare recommend natural medicines, supplements, vitamins and herbs that can easily halt infections and help stop the spread of the virus:

Stay informed on the coronavirus outbreak by reading Pandemic.news.

Sources for this story include:

TheEpochTimes.com

CNBC.com

ZeroHedge.com
American television personality Tyra Banks revealed that one of her favourite snacks in the world is an Australian treat.

Speaking to The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Thursday, Tyra, 46, recalled her previous trip to Australia and said she was a fan of Australian ice cream chain, Gelato Messina.

'The last time I went to Australia, for the finale of Australia's Next Top Model, five years ago, it was around my birthday,' she said.

Yummy! On Thursday, Tyra Banks (pictured) told The Kyle and Jackie O Show she was a fan of Australian ice cream chain, Gelato Messina

'I love ice-cream and I was asking everybody in Sydney, where I find good ice cream,' continued Tyra, who was on the show to promote her latest venture, Modelland.

The popular television personality went on to tell Kyle and Jackie, 45, that she was overjoyed when she discovered popular ice cream spot, Gelato Messina.

And five years later, she still hasn't been able to forget the taste.

Birthday treat! 'I love ice-cream and I was asking everybody in Sydney, where I find good ice cream,' continued Tyra, who was on the show to promote her latest venture, Modelland

After the radio duo confessed to being fans of the popular ice cream chain, Kyle, 48, then suggested that the model should open her own store.

'We are going to have ice cream in Modelland, not immediately, but we will have some Smize ice cream', she responded.

Gelato Messina is known for its array of flavours, including peanut butter and caramel, burnt vanilla, mango cheesecake and red velvet.

One scoop or two? After Jackie and Kyle confessed to being fans of the popular ice cream chain, Kyle then suggested the model should open her own store

Elsewhere in the interview, Tyra gave Jackie some dating advice.

'I always say when you start dating: don't fish, throw the net [and] date more than one person at a time,' she told the radio star.

To which Jackie replied: 'That sounds really exhausting'.

Tyra was on The Kyle and Jackie O Show to promote Modelland, a new attraction that allow fans of fashion to experience the glamour of photoshoots and runways.

It will open in Santa Monica in the U.S. on May 1.
No detention centre is coming up



in Maharashtra in connection with implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed NRC, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the legislative council on Thursday.

Deshmukh gave this information in a written reply in response to a question by Sharad Ranpise (Congress).

"No detention centre is coming up anywhere in the state in connection with rolling out of the CAA and NRC," he told the upper house.

However, in the past the Union home ministry asked the state government to set up a temporary facility to house foreign nationals awaiting deportation, he said.

The Union home ministry directed the state, in a letter dated September 10, 2014, and a manual dated January 9, 2019, to set up a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals who have completed their jail terms here and were waiting for deportation, Deshmukh said.

Those foreign nationals who have served their jail sentences after conviction will be kept in such a detention centre until their nationality is proved and they are deported," the NCP minister said.

There are directives for constructing a temporary detention centre at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. The government has also requested the CIDCO (a state-run city planning agency) to allot three acres of land for setting up a permanent infrastructure for the same, Deshmukh said.

All three ruling coalition allies -- the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP -- have opposed the proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens), an exercise that seeks to create a record of bonafide Indian citizens and identify illegal migrants.

However, last month the government told Parliament it has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide NRC.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already said his government will not allow the NRC to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions".

But Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, has supported the CAA, which seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees who have fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan because of religious persecution.

However, his allies Congress and the NCP have opposed the amended citizenship law, calling it discriminatory and violative of the Constitution.

The CAA and NRC measures, along with the NPR (National Population Register), are facing opposition from various quarters, including some political parties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One man has been shot dead and a seven-year-old girl left fighting for her life after a mass shooting at a wake in California.

A gunman opened fire on the gathering at an apartment complex in Tulare, 45 miles south of Fresno, around 10.20pm Wednesday.

In total six people were shot - including a 23-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the scene and the young girl.

She has been taken to hospital in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police.

A 23-year-old man was shot dead, a seven-year-old girl left in critical with multiple gunshot wounds, and three more people hurt in a shooting at a wake in California (scene pictured)

Two men and one woman were also taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, while a second woman was grazed by a bullet but refused hospital treatment.

Witnesses told ABC30 that there were between 50 and 60 people at the gathering when the gunman walked up and opened fire.

A relative of one of the victims described how the terrifying scene unfolded.

The witness told ABC7: 'We were all dancing, listening to music and drinking and the only thing I remember is hearing one shot, and then after that we heard like 10 rounds.

'Then everyone dropped to the floor and then we just heard screaming. Then after that everyone ran inside.'

Police were called and arrived to find a 'chaotic' scene with 'blood everywhere', according to the Visalia Times Delta.

The shooting happened at an apartment complex opposite a skate park following a burial earlier in the day.

A gunman walked up to a crowd of 50 people at a wake in this apartment block around 10.20pm and opened

Police locked down the area and said the shooting may be gang related.

Police Sgt. Edward Hinojosa said that suspicion is based on some of the ties of the man who was buried.

He told the Fresno Bee: 'We believe that it may be gang related, though it's unclear the affiliation.

'Upon arrival, the scene was chaotic. People were running in every direction, some trying to attend to family members who had been struck.'

The entire Police Department was helping investigate the crime scene, Hinojosa added.

Locals said the area has had its fair share of troubles, but the shooting marks a significant escalation in violence.

Tulare is a city of about 64,000 people about 160 miles north of Los Angeles.
The battle over residential parking spaces in Jersey City is escalating.

For years, Jersey City officials have feuded with the United States Postal Service over parking spaces. Post office trucks, which lack license plates and residential permits, often park overnight in Jersey City with impunity, ignoring local parking tickets.

Now, the city is trying a new tactic. On Wednesday, Jersey City Chief Prosecutor Jake Hudnut announced that, in an attempt to deter the federal vehicles from parking on residential streets overnight, the city has begun issuing tickets to Jersey City Postmaster Gibril M. Baba.

Weve had issues for years w/ @USPS trucks parking illegally near #JerseyCity post offices - crosswalks, fire hydrants, fire lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks - often overnight. This endangers children, pedestrians, cyclists & other motorists + takes up resident overnight parking, Hudnut wrote on Twitter.

Last month, we worked w/ @JCParking to amend tickets into Post Masters name, he wrote, referring to the Jersey City Parking Authority. That got their attention.

Since Jan. 23, the city has issued 63 citations to USPS vehicles. This new strategy, Hudnut said, has gotten results: an assistant U.S. attorney representing the USPS appeared in municipal court Wednesday to contest the tickets.

Weve had issues for years w/ @USPS trucks parking illegally near #JerseyCity post offices - crosswalks, fire hydrants, fire lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks - often overnight. This endangers children, pedestrians, cyclists & other motorists + takes up resident overnight parking. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/SrAiDoLCqx  Jake Hudnut (@JakeHudnut) March 4, 2020

The reality is we just want the @USPS to come to the table with the City and come up w/ solutions. Yes, they need to park their trucks near their post offices, but it needs to be done safely & and not take up resident overnight parking. 3/3  Jake Hudnut (@JakeHudnut) March 4, 2020

Hudnut said that the main goal was not to fine the post office, but to find a way to start discussions with the agency. Weve made efforts to come to the table with USPS for many years, he said. They do provide us a service, of course.

But the parked post office vehicles are often safety hazards, he added, blocking crosswalks, bike lanes, or fire hydrants.

I want them to, obviously, find somewhere to store their postal trucks overnight when theyre not in use, he said. I do consider this a public safety issue.

The move raises some intriguing questions. Its unclear who has jurisdiction over the federal vehicles when they park on Jersey City streets. The USPS has ignored parking tickets for years, Hudnut said. And its not certain what leverage the city has in ticketing Baba, or whether this will succeed in bringing the agency to the negotiating table.

A spokeswoman for the USPS declined to address questions about whether the agency is willing to negotiate on the issue, citing the ongoing litigation.

While this remains a very complex issue, it is important to recognize that every effort is made to be respectful of where and when we park postal vehicles, USPS spokeswoman Maureen Marion said in an email. Our focus remains on safety, service to the community, and being a good neighbor in the Jersey City area as this issue works towards a resolution.

The development comes a month after The Jersey Journal published a story about USPS trucks taking up street parking in the Jersey City Heights, leaving some residents miffed.

Its kind of exacerbated (the) issue with parking in Jersey City in general, said Jocelyn Patrick, president of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, a neighborhood group in the Heights, last month. It doesnt take much to send people off the deep end about parking in this town.
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Public awareness and a united concerted effort by the public and private health care sectors is needed along with the cooperation of the citizens to contain this new novel viral epidemic

Apex healthcare industry body NATHEALTH has called for a unified response to arrest the cascading impact of Covid 19 and said that private sector would work collaboratively with the Government to ward off the disease before it takes Greater proportions.

Time is of essence and therefore it is imperative to diagnose and prevent the spread of the disease at the earliest, NATHEALTH emphasised in a statement issued recently.

As per WHO guidelines, Government of India has initiated a number of critical measures and build up necessary reserves based on planned contingencies for critical medical supplies and reduce cascading effect of coronavirus impact on human lives. These include potential response scenarios for containing travel related cases reported within India, local transmission of COVID, large outbreaks and the disaster response scenario of an endemic. Some of the steps include Inter-ministerial coordination, Early Detection through Points of Entries Screening, Community Surveillance through Integrated Disease Surveillance Program, Early Diagnosis, Buffer Stock and Risk communication for creating awareness among public to follow preventive public health measures.

Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, President, NATHEALTH said, Private sector players will be happy to collaborate with the Govt to augment the diagnostics/ treatment capacity as was done in 2009 when H1N1 had started spreading incessantly.Covid19 has surfaced again in India and we do believe that we need to be as alert as possible in containing this disease without creating any panic. Though the disease is more infectious than the regular flu it seems less fatal than some of the other epidemics we have faced.

Public awareness and a united concerted effort by the public and private health care sectors is needed along with the cooperation of the citizens to contain this new novel viral epidemic.

Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Secretary General, NATHEALTH said, It is high time to be prepared and agile. Healthcare sector in India stands united at this juncture to respond to the evolving scenario. We must prevent the spread through Government and citizen led public health measures while putting in place a unified preparedness strategy to treat COVID-19 across India."

On behalf of industry, NATHEALTH makes the following recommendations for consideration of Government:
ALBANY  As state health authorities raced to contain the growing transmission of COVID-19 downstate Wednesday, Capital Region governments and institutions updated the public on precautions theyre taking to keep their communities safe.

Risk to the region remains low, authorities said. But community transmission is occurring in a New York City suburb, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Wednesday that limiting the spread will be "like trying to stop air because of how easily the viral droplets spread, especially when someone doesnt know theyre infected.

I think you do everything you can to limit the spread, but I think its only a matter of time before youre trying to limit the increase, he said, when asked whether the virus will make its way to Albany.

The statewide tally of cases rose to 11 on Wednesday, up from two the day before. Ten of the cases are connected to a Westchester County man who unwittingly spread it to his family, a neighbor, and a friends family. The other is in a Manhattan health care worker who traveled to Iran and knew to limit her exposure once home, Cuomo said.

Investigators are now working to trace all known exposures, which may include the Metro North train, a New Rochelle synagogue, three Westchester County schools, and a law firm, hospital and university in New York City. Roughly 1,000 people without symptoms were quarantined across Westchester County out of precaution.

The number of people infected will continue to increase, Cuomo said. It is a function of mathematics. Were now playing this game of, oh one here, one here, one here whack-a-mole. It is going to be dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens, at minimum.

Local quarantines and tests ordered

Quarantines and testing are also occurring in the Capital Region, but no known cases have been reported. The measures being taken out of precaution and in coordination with state health authorities, as people return from high-risk travel areas.

On Wednesday, Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said the county is awaiting test results on one person who recently traveled to Italy, a coronavirus hot spot, but who is showing no symptoms.

The county has tested two people so far for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China late last year. One has come back negative. The pending case is being analyzed by the states Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany, which is currently testing anywhere from 100 to 200 samples a day, but hopes to ramp up to 1,000, Cuomo said.

Across Albany County, 37 people have agreed to voluntarily quarantine themselves for 14 days since monitoring began in February, Whalen said. Eleven remain under quarantine across seven households.

We check in on them on a daily basis to ensure they dont have fever or symptoms, and the knowledge was if they developed any concerns we would facilitate any health care needs they have, she said.

Schenectady County has quarantined 13 people since monitoring began, with 12 still under daily monitoring as of Wednesday, spokeswoman Erin Roberts said. No one has required testing as yet, she said.

Saratoga County said its quarantined 12 people who returned home from high-risk travel areas. All have been cleared since, and only one required testing, which came back negative.

Rensselaer County has quarantined seven people so far, with five remaining under daily monitoring as of Wednesday, spokesman Rich Crist said. Three tests have been ordered and results are still pending, he said.

Montgomery County has ordered three quarantines so far, all last month and all since cleared, said Public Health Director Sara Boerenko. No tests were needed, she said.

Columbia County Public Health Commissioner Jack Mabb said in an email that his county has not quarantined anyone nor ordered tests, despite one man returning home sick from Northern Italy with a respiratory illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the man did not meet testing guidelines, he said.

"Our Italian traveler came home before the virus really hit Italy," he said. "The big thing with him is that he had respiratory symptoms but no fever. That has been the decider for the CDC."

CDC has come under fire for denying tests elsewhere in the country, which some believe may have led to increased spread. On Wednesday, the agency broadened testing guidelines to include anyone who has symptoms like fever, cough or difficulty breathing, so long as a doctor approves.

Fulton County Public Health Director Laurel Headwell declined to comment Wednesday on quarantine and testing trends within the county.

The Times Union also asked counties whether they have identified outside-the-home quarantine locations for residents who cant do so at home for risk of spreading to family members. Albany, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties said they had, but declined to disclose where, citing privacy. Columbia County said it hasnt but found one that looks promising.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Communal gathering site concerns

The Capital District Transportation Authority announced Wednesday that it has ramped up cleaning on its fleet of 300 buses, which board 57,000 people a day across Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties.

CDTA said it will be doing a deep cleaning and disinfection of its buses every three days.

Capital Region churches, temples, synagogues and mosques are now urging congregants to avoid touching each other  whether by handshake, hug or otherwise  while at services.

At Temple Beth Emeth in Albany, members were sent a list of such precautions by email Tuesday, and told that the rabbi and cantor would follow them as well.

Please understand that while we strive to continue to be the warm, welcoming and loving congregation that we are known for, this precaution is in everyones best interest and we will return to our normal practices when the situation allows.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany issued guidelines Wednesday urging parish members with cold or flu symptoms not to take communion from the chalice.

Members of the Islamic Center of the Capital District will meet Friday to discuss concerns, as well, though coordinator Ayman Akari acknowledged that many members have already stopped customary handshakes.

Local arts leaders, meanwhile, said they are educating themselves about appropriate responses, up to and including temporary venue closures or performance cancellations, if recommended by health authorities.

Many  including Proctors in Schenectady, Palace Theatre in Albany, and Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy  will be on a conference call Friday to discuss preparedness and policy, Proctors CEO Philip Morris told The Collaborative magazine.

Its unclear whether mass lobbying events at the state Capitol in Albany have slowed this legislative session, but some groups appear to be weighing public health concerns. The Healthcare Association of New York State canceled an advocacy day program Wednesday that was expected to draw hundreds to the site.

It is our responsibility to ensure the hundreds of expected hospital and health system attendees are where they are needed most  in their communities with their patients and their colleagues, spokeswoman Janae Quackenbush said.

Also on Wednesday, the State University and City University of New York systems announced they would be bringing roughly 300 study-abroad students and staff home from China, Italy, Iran, Japan and South Korea, where cases have surged. They will take chartered flights home, and enter 14-day quarantines at unoccupied dormitories in Utica, Rome, Long Island and Western New York.

Lauren Stanforth and Steve Barnes contributed.
The European Union is ready to cooperate with the new government of Ukraine and help continue the reforms initiated by the previous government headed by Oleksiy Honcharuk, but stressed the need to abide by the principle of the rule of law and not interfere with the activities of anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said this in a statement made available to Ukrinform.

We took note of a reshuffle in the Government of Ukraine after yesterday's extraordinary plenary meeting of the Parliament of Ukraine - the Verkhovna Rada. Good progress was achieved under the previous Government, headed by Oleksiy Honcharuk, over the past six months in the pursuit of a broad and ambitious reform agenda, including implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. This progress also includes effective cooperation with the EU and other international partners such as the IMF, the statement reads.

According to the statement, the European Union expects the new Government of Ukraine to demonstrate a similar degree of determination to pursue reforms, including those related to the fight against corruption and vested interests in such important areas as the financial sector. In this context, the EU recalled that the rule of law remains the cornerstone of economic stability and investment flows.

The spokesperson stressed that broad and irreversible reforms in Ukraine require time, consistency and independence from political or business pressure.

The EU hopes to continue cooperation with the new Ukrainian government in support of these reforms and backs all those who intend to advance the process of transformation in Ukraine for the benefit of its citizens, Stano said.

He emphasized that the EU has observed significant progress in reforming the Prosecutor General's Office and consistent investigations conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

According to Stano, the EU also took note of reports of further changes in the governing bodies of the Prosecutor General's Office and NABU.

Independence and freedom from inappropriate political interference in the activities of anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies remain crucial, the statement said.

op
Rise in demand for industrial and commercial development, increase in public-private partnerships (PPP), and development of residential construction industry drive the growth of the global real estate market

PORTLAND, Oregon, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Real Estate Market by Property (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Land) and Business (Sales and Rental): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026." According to the report, the global real estate industry was estimated at $6.87 billion in 2018 and is expected to hit $8.66 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 2.8% from 2019 to 2026.

Drivers, restraints & opportunities-

Increase in demand for industrial and commercial development, rise in public-private partnerships (PPP), and development of residential construction industry fuel the growth of the global real estate market. On the other hand, volatile economic conditions in Latin America, and slow economic activity after Brexit hamper the growth to certain extent. Nevertheless, surge in government investment in infrastructure development is expected to pave the way for multiple opportunities in the industry.

Download Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6394

The land segment to retain its dominance during the estimated period-

Based on property type, the land segment accounted for nearly half of the global real estate market share in 2018, and is expected to dominate by the end of 2026. Growing commercial, industrial, and residential projects especially in developing regions are expected to drive the growth of the segment. The industrial segment, on the other hand, would grow at the fastest CAGR of 4.1% during 2019-2026. Rise in demand for industrial spaces around the globe fuels the growth of the segment.

The sales segment to lead the trail during the study period-

Based on business type, the sales segment held the major share in 2018, garnering more than two-thirds of the global real estate market. Government initiatives to open up real estate sector for foreign direct investment has boosted the market growth. Simultaneously, the rental segment would register the fastest CAGR of 3.2% throughout the forecast period. Development in the commercial and industrial segment is expected to increase the lease and rental transactions around the globe which, in turn, has driven the growth of the segment.

Buy Now: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/real-estate-market/purchase-options

North America to rule the roost by 2026-

Based on region, North America contributed to more than one-third of the global real estate market revenue in 2018, and is projected to maintain the lion's share from 2019 to 2026. Development in the construction industry and increase in adoption of modular construction fuel the growth of the market in this province. At the same time, the LAMEA region would cite the fastest CAGR of 4.5% by 2026. This is attributed to improvement in business environment and increase in construction expenditure, mainly from Latin American and African countries.

Inquire for Purchase Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/6394

Key players in the market-

Welltower

AvalonBay Communities

Sinar Mas Land

Gecina

Link REIT

Segro

Simon Property Group

Prologis

Ayala Land Inc.

American Tower

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The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has arrested a man accused of repeatedly raping a 10-year-old boy at a Terrytown residence.

Mario Salinas, 41, was booked Tuesday with first-degree rape, indecent behavior with a juvenile and crimes against nature, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Salinas is accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy at his Harvard Avenue home. Salinas is known to the victim's family, authorities said.

The rapes occurred over an undisclosed period of time. Salinas is also accused of showing the boy pornography, Rivarde said.

Salinas was arrested Monday at his home, the same day the abuse was reported to the Sheriff's Office.

No other details were available.

Salinas was being held Wednesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of a $575,000 bond.
HOLON, Israel, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the ITC's Office of Unfair Import Investigations, the Regenlab asserted U.S. patent is invalid and not infringed - RegenLab could not meet the requirements of a U.S. domestic industry.

Regenlab USA LLC, a subsidiary of Regen Lab SA ("Regenlab") has withdrawn its U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") complaint against Estar Technologies Ltd. ("Estar Medical") and Eclipse Medcorp LLC (Inv. No. 337-TA-1147). In its pre-trial brief submitted to the administrative law judge, the ITC's official Investigative Staff Attorney ("Staff Attorney"), agreed with Estar Medical that the asserted claims of Regenlab's US Patent No. 10,064,894 ("'894 Patent") were invalid and not infringed by Estar Medical and Eclipse Medcorp. The Staff Attorney also agreed that RegenLab failed to show that it either has or is in the process of establishing a U.S. domestic industry.

Notably, the Staff Attorney also pointed to certain misrepresentations made by Regenlab and its CEO, Antoine Turzi, during the course of the ITC investigation and questioned their credibility: "Any one of these misrepresentations might be chalked up to a mistake or a typo. Taken together, however, the Staff views RegenLab's and Mr. Turzi's misrepresentations to the Commission and the other parties as reflecting poorly on RegenLab's and Mr. Turzi's credibility. And as noted above, much of RegenLab's evidence relies on Mr. Turzi's unsupported testimony. Whether or not Mr. Turzi appears credible is thus an important issue in the investigation."

Mr. Turzi's credibility issue was also raised during the UK trial in 2019, during which the UK Patents Court stated that he was "not being a reliable witness." In its ruling, the UK Patents Court stated that Regenlab's patent No.2073862 "is invalid for lack of novelty and inventive step."

Since then, Regenlab SA has been in breach of two UK High Court orders after failing to pay Estar Medical's extensive legal expenses, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds. In fact, while trying to delay these court-ordered payments, Regenlab admitted to the UK Court that such payments "could have a 'domino effect' on the viability of the business" and "would impact on Regen's business in a way that would be difficult to quantify financially" and that "the amount of cash Regen can access is limited."

It should also be noted that the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office (EPO) has also revoked Regenlab PRP patent in its entirety in Europe due to (i) lack of novelty; and (ii) added subject matter. Estar Medical filed an opposition against Regenlab's European PRP Patent in 2017, and the patent was revoked following a hearing in April 2019.

Estar Medical also defeated Regenlab in Germany and in the U.S. federal district court, winning a non-infringement judgment in the former and obtaining a dismissal in the latter. Regenlab's U.S. subsidiary and its CEO Antoine Turzi are also still facing antitrust claims in the U.S. federal district court in Manhattan, New York.

About Estar Medical: For more than 2 decades, Estar Medical has been committed to the unique development and manufacturing of innovative medical devices in the biologics, cell therapy and platelet rich plasma (PRP) fields which it markets under the well-recognized TROPOCELLS, CELLENIS and other related brands. Estar Medical fulfilled the need of a standardized PRP preparation methodology by developing a unique and effective PRP technology for the simple preparation of PRP by enabling the physician to easily and effectively separate and concentrate growth factors taken from the patient's own blood for the purpose of building new tissues and effectively accelerate the natural wound healing process. Estar Medical remains committed to providing innovative proprietary products of the highest quality and safety, as well as protecting its partners, distributors and global clients through enforcement of its intellectual property rights.

For more information visit: www.estar-medical.com
: The Madras High Court on Thursday



refused to transfer the trial in an acid attack case from Krishnagiri to Chennai but ordered police to provide security to the victim who allegedly feared a life-threat from the accused.

Justice GK Ilantheriyan, dismissing a plea of the victim from Krishnagiri district seeking to transfer the case from Krishnagiri Mahila Court to Chennai Mahila Court, directed the inspector of Gurubarapalli police station in Krishnagiri to provide adequate protection to the girl when she is examined before the trial court.

The petitioner was attacked with acid due to love failure.

Justice Ilantheriyan, in his order, said,"Considering the facts and circumstance of the case that all the witnesses are residing within the jurisdiction of the Krishnagiri court and that it is difficult for the prosecution to prove the case if it was transferred to the other district."



Therefore, he said, this court is not inclined to transfer the case.

However, the authorities are directed to provide adequate security to the victim.

A complaint with regard to the acid attack was made to the police who registered a case under sections 307, 450 and 326(a) IPC.

Investigation was completed and charge sheet filed before the Krishnagiri Mahila Court which was taken on file by the Sessions Judge, Mahila Court, Krishnagiri.

When the petition came up for hearing, the Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that the police were ready to give protection to the victim at the time of examination before the trial court.

Also, it was submitted that there was no proof to show that the petitioner faced a threat and that no complaint was lodged in this regard.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai, March 5 : Instagram sensation Shobhita Rana, who shot to fame down South following a stint in Tamil and Telugu commercials, is all set to make her Bollywood debut in the film "Ram Rajya". The film also marks the debut of actress Rakul Preet Singh's brother, Aman Preet Singh and features television heartthrob Salman Shaikh.

Shobhita has been working in the Punjabi industry for a while now, and is known for her appearance in the 2014 Punjabi rom-com "Ishq Brandy", and other projects such as "Cannada Di Flight" and "Gollu Aur Pappu".

In Nitesh Rai's "Ram Rajya", she plays a pivotal role. The film talks of the need to create 'Ram rajya' (land of Ram), where there is no place for terrorism, hate, indiscipline and rationalism.

"The movie revolves around three central characters, and Shobhita is one of them. Owing to circumstances, she tries to end her life but her life takes a turn when she decides to fight against all odds and create 'Ram Rajya'. Her character is someone who everyone can connect to," claimed director Rai.

"We are trying to put out a very clear message with this movie. We want the youth of our country to learn from an early age about fraternity, brotherhood and religion, which will help them become good rulers and decisionmakers," stated writer Shivanand Sinha.

The film is set to hit the theatres on April 2, which is the day of Ram Navami this year.
SPRINGFIELD  Several statewide law enforcement organizations said Monday, March 2, they will strongly oppose efforts to eliminate cash bail in Illinois, one of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzkers top priorities.

Were here to say we cannot, and unequivocally do not, support efforts being discussed to eliminate cash bail, Jim Kaitschuk, executive director of the Illinois Sheriffs Association, said during a news conference. This is not the way to make the criminal justice system more equitable. It is not the way to make our communities safer.

Kaitschuk and several other law enforcement leaders announced they had formed a new organization, Coalition for Public Safety. Its members include the Sheriffs Association, the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, Chicago Lodge 7 Fraternal Order of Police, Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective Association, and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.

Illinois enacted significant bail reform in 2017. Under the new system, people charged with most nonviolent crimes do not have to post a cash bond to get out of jail, but they may be subjected to other limitations such as house arrest or wearing some kind of electronic monitoring device.

Also that year, Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans issued a general order that greatly limited that courts use of cash bail.

Advocates for eliminating cash bail say the system is unfair to poor people who cannot afford their bail and it forces many of them to plead guilty simply so they can get out of jail. People who can afford their bail, on the other hand, often have better outcomes in their cases because they have more time to work with their attorney.

But McDonough County Sheriff Nicholas Petitgout said bail is also an effective way to ensure someone will make their court appearances. Since the 2017 reforms went into effect, he said, the number of warrants issued in his western Illinois county has more than doubled, from fewer than 1,000 per year before the change in law to more than 2,000 per year.

Since the reform, if youre a criminal, you are twice as likely to have a warrant (for failure to appear) and half as likely to cooperate with the criminal justice system, he said.

Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow said judges already have authority to lower a bond amount or release people on their own recognizance if they deem an initial bond amount is too high.

Supporters of eliminating cash bail in Illinois have not yet introduced a bill.

February marijuana sales

Legal marijuana sales in the state remained strong in February, with nearly $35 million spent on marijuana and infused products in the second month of adult-use legalization.

Customers spent $34.8 million on 831,600 items over the 29-day period. Of that, $25.6 million was spent by Illinois residents, while out-of-staters spent about $9.2 million, according to a news release from the governors office.

The numbers do not include taxes collected.

The numbers are down slightly from January, which saw $39.2 million in sales over a 31-day span. That generated $7.3 million in cannabis tax revenue for the state, plus another $3.1 million in retail sales taxes that are shared between the state and local governments. Tax numbers for February are not yet available.

The states share of cannabis tax revenue is divided among several funds, including 35 percent to the state general fund, 20 percent to substance abuse programs, 10 percent to a budget stabilization fund, 8 percent to local governments for crime prevention and 2 percent for public education and public health data collection.

Another 25 percent goes into a special fund for community development projects in areas with high arrest and poverty rates that were disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.

Prescription price caps

A bill that would allow the state to cap the prices of certain high-cost prescription drugs stalled in a House committee Wednesday, March 4, amid stiff opposition from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries.

It was the second straight year House Bill 3493 failed to pass out of the Prescription Drug Affordability and Accessibility Committee. Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, who chairs the committee and is the bills chief sponsor, called it frustrating.

I think that the situation for patients who need their prescriptions in this state is dire and getting worse every day, and I would hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle could see that its time for us to do something, Guzzardi said in an interview after the vote. Unfortunately, they seem to be more responsive to the pharmaceutical industry than to their constituents.

The bill would set up a five-member board that would have authority to conduct cost reviews and set upper payment limits for any prescription drug that crosses certain price thresholds.

Those include brand name drugs that cost $30,000 or more for a years supply or a course of treatment, or whose wholesale price increases by more than $3,000 in a 12-month period. Other thresholds would apply to biosimilar drugs  those that are highly similar to name brand drugs made from microorganisms found in plants or animals  as well as generic drugs.

The upper payment limits would apply only to insurance policies regulated by the state. Those are primarily small-group employer-based plans, individual family plans that people purchase through the Affordable Care Act exchange markets, and plans administered directly by the state, such as state employees health insurance and the state Medicaid program.

The limits would not apply to large self-insured plans that are governed by the federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA, or to Medicare Part D plans, which are regulated under federal law.

In the end, the bill received only eight yes votes on the 18-member committee, two votes short of the majority needed.

The bill was officially listed as tabled under House rules and Guzzardi said he would continue working on it in hopes of getting it through the House this year.

I think we have some more education to do with some members of this committee who may not fully understand how this board would work or why its an effective tool to lower costs, he said. So well continue doing that as well.

FOID card delays

Republican lawmakers are calling to abolish the states Firearm Owners Identification card requirement  or at least to install fixes to expedite the Illinois State Polices handling of a backlog of applications that is leaving gun owners in a state of uncertainty.

My office receives three to five calls almost every day now (with FOID delay concerns), Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, said at a Capitol news conference Wednesday, March 4. Wherever I go, I'm contacted by people that walk up to me, I have a problem with my FOID card. You have to explain the process. And you tell them that, you know, you're not the only one that's two, three or four months behind. There's many more.

Meier and some of his fellow Republican House members said their offices have been inundated by callers who have had issues with FOID. They said the delay in FOID card processing has left law abiding gun owners in the lurch as they await renewals, and two constituents who experienced delays shared their stories at the news conference Wednesday as well.

The lawmakers said nearly $30 million in funding was swept from the ISPs coffers to the states general revenue fund from fiscal years 2015 to 2019, including more than $13 million from the Firearm Services Fund which goes to FOID administration.

A FOID card costs $10 and must be renewed every 10 years. Of that fee, $6 goes to the Wildlife and Fish Fund, $3 to the Firearm Services Fund and $1 to the State Police Services Fund.

Rep. Patrick Windhorst, a Metropolis Republican who represents all or parts of the states southernmost 11 counties, said his priority is abolishing FOID card requirements in the state, and he noted there are court challenges to the FOID cards constitutionality.

Right now, a FOID cardholder can apply for renewal within 90 days of the cards expiration date. Windhorst said, due to long delays, this often creates a window between when a FOID card expires and when the cardholder gets a renewed card in the mail.

Windhorst said House Bill 4447, backed by the group, would move that renewal window to 180 days before expiration in the hopes of closing any overlap between expiration and a lag in processing.

Another measure, House Bill 4448, would require ISP to automatically renew the lapsed FOID card of anyone who has a valid and current concealed carry license as long as the license holder is in good standing with the state. An automatically renewed FOID would expire at the same time the CCL does.

Property tax relief

Illinois House Republicans said Tuesday, March 3, they believe efforts to enact property tax relief have stalled in the General Assembly, and they accused Democrats of using a task force that was formed last year to push for higher income and sales taxes.

Illinois' convoluted and broken property tax system has been driving the high cost of living that's pushing families and businesses out of our state, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, said during a news conference at the Capitol. Despite the fact that homeowners have been crying desperately for relief, Democrats last year failed to produce any significant action.

Last year, as lawmakers were debating Democratic Gov. JB Pritzkers proposed constitutional amendment to overhaul the states income tax system, they also passed a bill establishing a Property Tax Relief Task Force that would meet throughout the fall to study ways to provide property tax relief and deliver a final report by the end of the year.

So far, though, the task force has produced only a draft report that Republicans said was simply a list of topics that had been discussed by various subcommittees of the task force, while none of the recommendations had been considered by the full 80-member group.

Meanwhile, Republicans have said they have introduced numerous bills they believe would provide property tax relief, including bills calling for overhaul of public pension benefits, limiting workers compensation awards, repealing what Republicans call unfunded mandates on school districts and expanding property tax exemptions for seniors.

Rep. Michael Zalewski, D-Riverside, who chairs the House Revenue Committee, did not immediately respond to the Republicans charges but said through a spokesperson that he would make a statement later in the week after that committee has met.

Utility rates

A 2013 state law allowing utilities to tack natural gas surcharges onto consumer bills for the purpose of funding infrastructure improvements is under scrutiny at the Capitol.

At a Statehouse news conference Tuesday, March 3, lawmakers and consumer advocates called for ending that state law on Jan. 1, 2021, three years earlier than its Dec. 31, 2023, statutory sunset date.

They claim allowing the surcharges helps major utilities sidestep the regulatory process, automatically raise heating bills, and force many customers into financial crisis to cover billions of dollars in reckless utility spending.

Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said his Senate Bill 3497 and its companion House Bill 5247 are aimed at starting a conversation centered on the accountability, the safety, and the affordability of utility bill increases that our families are facing in the state of Illinois.

He was joined by Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, who sponsors the House bill, and representatives of AARP Illinois, the Citizens Utility Board, the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Theyre among more than 20 groups supporting the effort.

The coalition criticized a 2013 state law which allowed for Qualified Infrastructure Plant, or QIP, surcharges to be applied to consumer bills. The measure was written to allow utility companies to replace outdated pipes, including cast iron piping that was an explosion risk.

Seven years ago, the Illinois Legislature gave gas utilities permission to charge their customers more in order to make urgent repairs, such as replacing old cast iron pipes  repairs that were needed to keep us all safe, Mason said. Unfortunately, instead of just making the necessary safety repairs, the utilities are now spending money on things like installing new meters and replacing perfectly safe pipes and we're all getting stuck with this bill.

Marcelyn Love, an Ameren Illinois communications executive, said the coalitions effort was intentionally misleading.

By claiming that Ameren Illinois has no clear public safety justification for making system improvements, these groups are willfully ignoring a federal law which requires natural gas utilities to implement pipeline safety upgrades by 2035, she said. This includes upgrades to transmission and distribution lines and improved technology to maintain proper pressurization of the system. Ameren Illinois will continue to do our part to help strengthen the safety, reliability and integrity of the natural gas distribution system every day for the customers that rely on us.

Student ID cards

A panel of state senators Tuesday, March 3, approved legislation requiring public colleges and universities to add mental health contact information to the back of student identification cards.

As a parent of a first-year college student, Villa Park Democratic Sen. Tom Cullerton said it is a trying and stressful time, as with any other parent who misses their child. But he said such situations are also difficult for the student, who may be away from home for the first time.

His initiative would ensure phone numbers for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Crisis Text Line and the schools mental health counseling center are published on each students identification card.

If an institution of higher education does not have such cards, the bill requires that information be published on its website instead.

Students are constantly required to use their student ID card to access sporting events, dorm rooms or utilize their meal plan, Cullerton said. Ensuring these lifesaving helplines are easily accessible can be the difference between life and death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 15-24 in 2017.

Adding such mental health resources is a simple step universities and colleges can take to save lives, Cullerton said.

Those public institutions in Illinois, though, asked that he amend the measure to postpone its effective date from July 1, 2021, due to financial concerns. Cullerton said he agreed, and plans to allow for universities and colleges to issue the identification cards with resource contact information with each new class, or when a student needs a new card after losing theirs.

The legislation approved unanimously in the Senate Higher Education Committee Tuesday is Senate Bill 2495.

Blagojevich disbarment

A board that oversees the discipline of attorneys in Illinois recommended Tuesday, March 3, that former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich be disbarred from the practice of law.

The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, or ARDC, said in an order that Blagojevich has not acknowledged that his conduct was wrongful or expressed any remorse and that his

failure to appear for his disciplinary hearing demonstrates a lack of respect for the disciplinary process and the legal profession.

Blagojevich, of Chicago, received his law degree from Pepperdine University in California and was admitted to the practice of law in Illinois in 1984.

A former state lawmaker and member of Congress, he was elected governor in 2002 and again in 2006. But he was impeached and removed from office in January 2009.

He was later convicted in June 2011 on multiple federal charges of crimes committed while in office including attempt to commit extortion, corrupt solicitation, conspiracy to commit extortion, conspiracy to commit corrupt solicitation, and making false statements to the FBI.

Most notable of the charges was the allegation that he attempted to sell an appointment to then-President Barack Obamas former U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich served eight years of a 14-year federal prison sentence. President Donald Trump commuted his sentence on Feb. 19. Blagojevich has consistently maintained he did nothing wrong.

An ARDC spokesman said in an email that Blagojevich has 21 days to appeal the finding. If he does, the case would go to a review board. If he does not appeal, however, the report will be sent to the Illinois Supreme Court, which has the final say in whether to revoke his law license.

Local government funding

A local government advocacy group laid out its legislative agenda Monday, March 2, and called on lawmakers to fully fund a program that shares state income tax revenue with local municipalities.

The Illinois Municipal Leagues Moving Cities Forward agenda also includes efforts to: protect local governments from lawsuits resulting from data breaches; give non-home rule communities greater authority to tax and greater access to financially-distressed cities assistance; and remove unfunded mandates on municipalities.

The organizations top priority is for full funding of the Local Government Distributive Fund, or LGDF, which is funded below statutory levels, according to Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole.

City leaders from throughout the state understand the need for shared sacrifice in addressing the state's budget woes, Cole said during a Capitol news conference. However, municipal share of that sacrifice continues to grow and negatively impact the communities that provide for the health, safety and welfare of the residents.

In two budget scenarios laid out by Gov. JB Pritzker last month, the LGDF fund would be funded at either 95 percent or 90 percent of statutory levels for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Which amount is allocated depends on the passage of a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to impose a graduated income tax rate structure.

Thats because Pritzkers budget leaves $1.4 billion in state spending authority in reserve, including $79 million to the LGDF, if the graduated tax amendment does not gain approval from voters in November. Should it pass, an already-approved graduated rate structure would take effect and make the added spending authority possible, according to Pritzkers budget team.

If the amendment passes, the LGDF funding would remain flat from current-year levels at a 5 percent reduction from statutory levels. The budget proposal lays out only Pritzkers budget priorities, however, and the General Assembly must approve any budget before it can become law.

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder, who attended the news conference, said his city just passed a budget that included full LGDF funding.

Anytime you put on hold funds that are due the municipalities, it creates an issue, he said, adding the city would have to prioritize spending in the event of LGDF cuts, as every 5 percent decrease in funding would cost the city about $650,000.

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Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey

Eco-activists accuse Leonardo DiCaprio of hypocrisy

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

Kanye West and Demna Gvasalia are working on collection for Gap

Putin: Peacekeeping contingent to stay in Kazakhstan for a limited period

Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit court session is closed

Sinead O'Connor threatens to sue hospital after her son commits suicide

Azerbaijan commandos conduct military exercises

Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to earthquake

There is no footballer with a strong personality at Roma, Mourinho says

Armenia MP: Turkey, Azerbaijans regional calculations have mixed up

Copper prices decline

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit trial resumes

Karen Khachanov: Good start of season 2022

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

1,694,518 people so far vaccinated in Armenia against Covid

National Center for Infectious Diseases Yerevan branch employees protesting outside center

Court grants Djokovic appeal

Karabakh President: Radical Pan-Turkic circles are actively involved in process in Kazakhstan

Oil is getting more expensive

Golden Globes winners announced

Mars helicopter Ingenuity preparing for difficult 19th flight

Why is omicron strain of COVID-19 dangerous for children?

Interior ministry: About 8,000 people detained in Kazakhstan

Earthquake hits Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone

La Liga: Atletico do not defeat Villarreal

Serie A: Inter beat Lazio

Ligue 1: PSG play draw with Lyon

Africa Cup of Nations: Cameroon, Cape Verde win

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

Baldwin denies claims he does not comply with requirements of investigation

Norwegian military surrender panties before demobilization

Iranian MFA says Tehran is ready for talks on downed plane of UIA Ukraine

Kate Middleton doesn't want to celebrate her 40th birthday?

Russian defense minister says information war is on all fronts

Armenian football federation president pays working visit to Spain (PHOTOS)

Several strategic objects in Kazakhstan transferred to CSTO contingent under protection

New tree species named after Leonardo DiCaprio

David Minasyan elected head of Armenia's Parakar community

Bloomberg: US is considering issue of limiting supply of high-tech products to Russia

Benzema's 300th goal and exceptional record at Real Madrid
Joe Biden has told aides that he wasnt aware that his son had joined the Burisma board until after it had happened. At that time, the vice president had already taken the administration lead on Ukrainian corruption. What should he have done? A former Biden aide says that White House ethics policy was to avoid interaction with independent adult children in any such employment matters. That was ethically correct, but was it wise? The answer to me is clearly not.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday, said he would not celebrate Holi because of the communal riots that hit northeast Delhi areas last week. The violence left at least 47 dead and over 350 injured.

Responding to a question at a press conference here, Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party national convener, said he and his party MLAs would not celebrate Holi due to the riots. I think all the ministers in my Cabinet will also follow suit. I see nothing in celebrating Holi after what happened in our city last week, the chief minister said.

The declaration came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and other top BJP leaders also said they would skip Holi celebrations in view of the coronavirus outbreak. President Ram Nath Kovinds office also tweeted that the Rashtrapati Bhavan will not hold the traditional Holi gatherings as a precautionary measure as with alertness and safeguards, we all can help contain the outbreak of COVID-19.

Holi is on March 10.
Exposing the tall claims of the Jammu and Kashmir administration of setting up facilities to tackle the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the newly formed union territory, two suspected patients who were quarantined in the Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu, fled from the hospital last night putting the lives of thousands of others at risk.

Yesterday the authorities had said that two people with a travel history to Italy and South Korea were quarantined after they displayed symptoms of coronavirus. They were quarantined at the facility set up at the Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu.

However, both the suspected patients managed to flee from the quarantine facility even before their test results turned in.

Read: WATCH: Health Min Issues Detailed Coronavirus Update In Rajya Sabha; '29 positive Cases'

#coronavirus #COVID19india

100% self declaration starts in J&K :2 passengers with travel history to Italy/South Korea identified; symptomatic passenger shifted to GMCJammu for quarantine & sample testing: asymptomatic passenger instructed for home quarantine as per protocol.  DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) March 4, 2020

Both the suspected patients managed to flee from the quarantine facility in the hospital last night, a source in the hospital said.

Read: WB BJP Unit Distribute Masks With 'Save From Coronavirus Infection, Modi Ji' Printed On It

Administration at fault

However, the authorities in the Government Medical College Hospital now has given a bizarre justification stating that the patients returned to their homes after the authorities collected their blood samples.

Their blood samples were collected and they were told to stay in the isolation ward, but as their blood report was yet to turn in, they left for their homes to stay with their families, a senior doctor at the hospital told Republic World.

The Jammu and Kashmir Administration had last night claimed that 2 passengers with travel history to Italy/South Korea identified; symptomatic passenger shifted to GMC Jammu for quarantine & sample testing: asymptomatic passenger instructed for home quarantine as per protocol.

People across Jammu are really concerned about the irresponsible behavior shown by the administration of the hospital in handling the case as they say the hospital authorities have put at risk the lives of the residents of the entire union territory.

Read: Coronavirus Scare: Chemist Shops In Delhi Witness Surge In Demand For Masks, Sanitisers

What if these two suspected patients are actually infected with Coronavirus, imagine how many people they will infect now, they will not only infect their family members but every single person who will come in their contact. This would lead to a chain that would ultimately end up infecting every single individual in the union territory Sham Lal a local resident said.

Meanwhile to tackle the situation the divisional commissioner Jammu Sanjeev Verma has called an emergency meeting today.

Read: Request Shaheen Bagh Protest To Halt For Few Days Because Of Coronavirus: Sirsa's Appeal
Malaysian and Indonesian authorities are tightening travel restrictions to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, in a week where cases in Malaysia shot up, Indonesia confirmed its first cases and Thailand its first death.

Malaysia has reported 26 new cases during a three-day stretch since Tuesday, bringing to 55 the number of people in the country infected with the mystery virus known as COVID-19.

On Thursday, the Malaysian government reported five new cases and convened a high-level meeting to determine how to respond to the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said, referring to the surge in domestic cases.

The five new cases were part of a cluster of more than two dozen confirmed COVID cases linked to one patient, a 52-year-old Malaysian man who had visited China in mid-January, the Ministry of Health said.

After Thursdays meeting, officials decided that several measures needed to be taken, including imposing restrictions on foreign travelers coming to Malaysia from specific regions of Italy, Iran and Japan that were affected by the virus, Noor said in a statement.

The government  decided to put a temporary ban on visitors/travelers of any countries who had visited or been to [those regions] within 14 days before their arrival to Malaysia, he said.

Noor also urged Malaysians to postpone plans to visit the affected regions: Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in Italy; Tehran, Qom and Gilan in Iran; and Hokkaido in Japan.

On Feb. 28, Malaysia announced a temporary ban on South Korean nationals traveling to the country, including a ban on all foreign nationals who had been in Daegu City or Cheongdo district during the previous 14 days, reports said.

More than 93,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed and at least 3,000 deaths reported in 77 countries, although most cases have been concentrated in China, where the outbreak was detected, according to the latest available information from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Outside of China, three countries  South Korea, Iran and Italy  have been identified as hotspots for the virus, with thousands of cases detected and scores of deaths reported.

On Thursday in Jakarta, the government announced a similar travel ban on people coming from regions in Italy, Iran and South Korea hit hard by the virus.

Travelers coming from areas in those countries that lie outside the affected regions would be allowed to enter Indonesia, provided they showed certificates issued by health officials in their respective countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

According to the latest WHO report, there is currently a significant increase of COVID-19 cases outside China, particularly in three countries: Iran, Italy, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and in the interest of public health, Indonesia has issues a temporary measure for incoming visitors from the three said countries, the ministry said in a statement.

Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, announced its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 2, weeks after neighboring countries had confirmed cases of the virus.

To guard against its spread, Indonesia has evacuated hundreds of its citizens from cruise ships located abroad and placed them in quarantine on an island off Java.

In Bangkok, Thai authorities confirmed four new cases on Thursday, bringing the nationwide total to 47 cases, including an infected person who died on Sunday. The new cases include two people had traveled in Italy and two others who had visited Iran, the Thai Department of Disease Control said.

Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, the head of the department, said health authorities also were arranging facilities to quarantine thousands of undocumented Thai workers who were expected to be heading home from South Korea.

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, government officials have yet to confirm any cases of the virus on home soil, but at least seven Bangladeshi citizens have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Italy.

And in the Philippines, which was the first country outside China to record a death on its territory from the virus, only three cases have been confirmed.

Earlier in the week, Philippine health officials said that a total of 86 cases had been detected among Filipinos working abroad, including 80 in Japan. Last week, Manila evacuated back home hundreds of citizens who were on a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, many of whom worked as members of the crew.
[March 05, 2020] Government of Canada takes action to offer more affordable options for wireless services

Minister Bains announces next steps to help reduce wireless prices and promote competition TORONTO, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - More than ever, Canadians are relying on wireless services for their everyday needs, making access to high quality and affordable wireless services absolutely essential. That is why the Government of Canada is offering Canadian consumers more affordable options by helping to reduce the cost of mid-range wireless services by 25 percent and further increasing competition. Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, took the opportunity to highlight the progress made to date to help reduce prices. He announced the release of the 2019 Price Comparison Study. The study shows that average prices from regional providers were up to 45 percent lower than plans provided by the three big national carriers. While this progress is promising, the prices for mid-range plans have not moved. To that end, Minister Bains presented the next steps to lower prices for telecom services and promote competition. To track progress of a 25 percent reduction, the Government will report on wireless pricing quarterly by establishing a clear benchmark.This will also increase transparency. For cellphone plans that offer 2 GB to 6 GB of data, the three big national carriersBell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada and Telus Communicationsare expected to lower their prices by 25 percent in the next two years. If these targets are not met within two years, the Government will take action with other regulatory tools to further increase competition and help reduce prices. To promote greater regional competition and lwer prices, Minister Bains also announced the rules for the 3500 MHz spectrum auction. In the past, pro-competitive auction rules have allowed regional providers to more than double their share of low-band spectrum, creating more competition in the marketplace and lowering prices as a result. That is why this auction will reserve 50 MHz for small and regional telecom companies, encouraging more competition in the wireless market and ensuring they are on a more equal footing with the three big national carriers. The 3500 MHz bands are recognized around the world as one of the key spectrum bands for 5G technologies. This spectrum will support higher speeds, increased data usage and new applications.



Quote "Canada is at an exciting turning point in the future of connectivity. Wireless services are no longer a luxury. They are a critical necessityfor working, for learning at school and for engaging in modern society. We heard Canadians when they asked for more affordable options for their wireless services, and we have delivered. Canadians shouldn't have to choose between having a cellphone or heating their home. These new tools build on a number of initiatives we already set in place to help lower prices, improve access and ensure affordable, high-quality wireless services in every corner of our country."

 The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Quick facts The 2019 Price Comparison Study also shows that Canadians have been paying more overall compared to consumers in other G7 countries and Australia .

. The Government's priority is to enhance competition as it contributes to more choices at affordable prices for consumers. To enhance competition, the Government has taken these steps:

Set out pro-competition rules for the 600 MHz band spectrum auction that led to regional providers more than doubling their share of spectrum, creating more competition in the marketplace;



Issued in June 2019 a policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to encourage all forms of competition and to foster affordability and lower prices in all telecom decisions;

a policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to encourage all forms of competition and to foster affordability and lower prices in all telecom decisions;

Engaged the CRTC to explore lower cost wireless offerings, resulting in its mandating the three big national carriers offer low-cost data-only plans; and



Reserved 50 MHz in the upcoming 3500 MHz spectrum auction for small and regional telecom companies to enhance competition in the market.

The CRTC's ongoing Wireless Framework Review is looking at three broad areas: competition in the retail market, mandating wholesale access for mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), and the future of mobile services in 5G. The Government is following this proceeding closely. Associated links Backgrounder  3500 MHz Spectrum Auction

What is Spectrum? Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on Twitter: @ISED_CA SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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By Steve C. Gold

Fifty years ago, Richard Nixon signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for the first time obliging the federal government to consider environmental damage when making decisions. Now the Trump Administration is proposing, by executive action, to deprive America of much of the benefit of this landmark law. The public can still weigh in on the proposed new rules, but only until March 10.

NEPA requires every federal agency to prepare an environmental impact statement for any proposed major federal action that would significantly affect the human environment. So when the Federal Highway Administration wants to fund the widening of Routes 1&9, or the Federal Aviation Administration wants to approve runway changes at Newark Airport, the agencies have to think about the environmental consequences of those actions. NEPA will not stop those projects from happening. But it will make sure that the federal agencies understand the environmental impacts and therefore have a chance to minimize the environmental damage.

For half a century, everybody has understood that a projects environmental impacts go beyond its direct effects. If widening Routes 1&9 will attract new high-density development to the Meadowlands, NEPA says that the damage to the Meadowlands must be analyzed as part of the study of the road project. If runway changes at the airport are part of a larger expansion plan, NEPA says that the environmental impact of the runway changes must be analyzed in the context of the larger plan.

Recognizing this, federal regulations have long required agencies to consider, within reason, the indirect and cumulative environmental impacts of proposed major federal actions. These rules prevent federal agencies from dividing projects into small chunks to make the environmental impact seem insignificant. So, for example, when the Forest Service tried to say that a forest road would not have a significant environmental impact  by ignoring the effects of the logging that the road was built to accommodate  the courts refused to allow it.

The Trump Administration want to change that.

The new regulations proposed by Trumps Council on Environmental Quality would do away with the concepts of indirect and cumulative impacts. The rules would actually prohibit agencies from analyzing those environmental impacts. Even if agencies know that the impacts exist in the real world, they would be forced to bury their heads in the sand.

Climate change, of course, is the biggest cumulative impact of all. Three years ago, Donald Trump issued an executive order that effectively told federal agencies not to think about climate change when analyzing the environmental impacts of agency actions. The proposed rules go even further, directing agencies in every case to ignore any type of indirect or cumulative environmental impact, not just climate change. Where the law requires analysis, the Trump Administration prefers ignorance.

There is no good reason for this radical emasculation of a law that has worked well for five decades. Critics complain that NEPA compliance and NEPA lawsuits slow down their favored projects. But of all the things federal agencies do, only a tiny fraction require an environmental impact statement. Even fewer generate NEPA litigation.

By and large, the actions that receive intense scrutiny under NEPA are the ones that most deserve it. They are the most controversial, most environmentally destructive, and least-well-justified pet projects that agencies hope to slip through before anybody notices how harmful they will be. Projects like the long-dead Westway interstate highway on Manhattans west side or an international airport in the Pine Barrens -- or the much more recently dead PennEast gas pipeline across New Jersey.

NEPA was supposed to shine a light on the environmental impacts of these federal projects. The Trump Administration wants a blindfold instead.

Steve C. Gold teaches Environmental Law at Rutgers Law School in Newark. Individuals can comment on proposed federal agency rules at regulations.gov.

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.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has apologised after a Tory MP voiced concerns over a Union Jack flag flying upside down over parliament amid the countrys escalating coronavirus crisis.

I am sorry that this has happened, the leader of the House said. I am glad it has been brought to the attention of the House authorities.

Robert Courts, Conservative MP for Witney and West Oxfordshire, had brought the issue to the attention of parliament, making a play on the flag serving as a distress signal when the wrong way up.

I would not want to be seen to be too much of a stickler for these things, he said, but my right honourable friend will no doubt be distressed to note that the Union Jack above Portcullis House has been flying upside down for some time.

This could be a mistake, he added, but could we have a debate in government time as to whether in fact the building is in distress or whether it is the MPs within it are in distress.

As Mr Rees-Mogg started replying, members across the bench shouted flag at him as he mentioned the Union Jack.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, he said. There is this pedantic but erroneous view that it should be called the Union Flag and it is used by people who are more pedantic than they are wise.

The floor erupted with laughter.

I imagine that someone is as we are speaking going to correct this, a smiling Mr Rees-Mogg said.

I assure you that members of parliament are not in distress, he added.

Mr Courts raised the issue in parliament as the country prepares for a potential Covid-19 epidemic, which Englands top doctor said this week is looking likely.

The number of cases in the UK rose to 115 on Thursday, with over 90,000 coronavirus patients reported throughout the world.
Mumbai is set to host the 2023 International Olympic Committee's session after the IOC Executive Board recommended the Indian city for the annual conference.

The EB decided to put Mumbai's candidature to a vote of the members after the IOC Evaluation Commission praised the quality of the facilities at the Jio World Centre, which is the potential venue for the meet.

The decision will be ratified at the 136th IOC session in Tokyo in July this year.



The Evaluation Commission had visited Mumbai in October last year to study the feasibility of hosting the Session in Mumbai.

"We have chosen India because it is the second most populous nation in the world, with a very young population and a huge potential for Olympic sport," IOC President Thomas Bach said.

"We want to encourage and support the National Olympic Committee of India and all the National Federations to promote and strengthen Olympic sport in the country," he added.

India had hosted an IOC session way back in 1983 in New Delhi.

"The year 2023 will be significant for India as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of Indian independence. Hosting the IOC Session in Mumbai would put the Olympic Movement at the heart of those celebrations," an IOC statement said.
United Airlines, JetBlue Airways Ax Flights, Cut Spending Due to Coronavirus

United Airlines and JetBlue Airways announced on March 4 they are cutting their U.S. flight schedules and implementing cost controls, amid dwindling travel demand because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Both U.S. airlines became the first to reduce flights as they announced the measures on Wednesday.

In a letter to employees, United Airlines said it would reduce 10 percent of U.S. and Canadian flights and include a 20 percent reduction in international flying in the month of April, with similar cuts planned in May.

The airline said it would only hire for critical roles, offer all U.S.-based employees the option of a voluntary unpaid leave of absence, and delay 2019 merit salary increases for management and administrative workers.

Later on Wednesday, JetBlue said it would soon cut flight capacity by roughly 5 percent but would continue to assess if further cuts were necessary. The airline said in a memo that it would also implement measures aimed at preserving cash, including delaying or canceling upcoming events and meetings and reducing hiring for frontline and support center positions.

JetBlue said it may also limit non-essential spending and consider voluntary time-off programs, as it struggles with weak demand for travel as a result of the novel coronavirus.

Passengers whose flights have been affected by the measures will be moved to other flights that will get them to their destinations on the same day, the airline said.

United CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said in their letter they hoped the latest measures would be enough.

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz (L) testifies next to UAL President Scott Kirby at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Oversight of U.S. Airline Customer Service, on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 2, 2017. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The dynamic nature of this outbreak requires us to be nimble and flexible moving forward in how we respond, they wrote.

The pair said the crisis continues to evolve rapidly for the airline industry, adding that the airline plans to ax flights in a way that minimizes the impact on our employees and our operation, CNN reported.

The airlines did not specify which routes would be targeted by the cuts.

The news came as the United States on Wednesday confirmed its 11th death from the coronavirus outbreak, with 160 confirmed cases.

Executives from major airlines met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on air travel.

Concerns over the effect of reduced travel demand on airlines have hit airline shares and stoked fears of a financial bailout for the sector, an idea that the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday moved quickly to dismiss.

In response to a question about a potential bailout, Trump said: Dont ask that question please, because they havent asked [for] that. I dont want you to give them any ideas.

Where these people are flying, its safe to fly, he said as he sought to reassure passengers that flying on U.S. airlines remains safe.

The executives from United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and others said that they have intensified aircraft sanitation procedures to keep planes clean and disinfected.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Cotton and yarn prices have declined by up to 10 per cent during the past one month on a domestic supply glut that emerged after exports to China came to a grinding halt. The cessation of shipments to that country was caused by the lockdown of shops and factories there, following the coronavirus outbreak.

Raw (unginned) cotton in the Gondal (Gujarat) market shed almost 10 per cent to trade at Rs 4,280 a quintal on Wednesday from a level of Rs 4,755 a month ago. Cotton yarn lost 2-3 per cent over the last one month, while synthetic yarn declined by 4-5 per cent during the past one month, ...
Karnataka Budget 2020: How will CM Yediyurappa raise resources for the promises made?

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Bengaluru, Mar 05: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday tabled the state budget in Vidhan Souda for the FY 2020-21.

CM Yediyurappa, who also doubles up as the finance minister was seen calling for new schemes and policies and scrapping the one made by the previous govenment.

However, there are claims that Yediyurappa might bite the dust while focusing only on one side of the budget than failing to know more.

Speaking to OneIndia, Dr Sandeep Shastri, one of India's top psephologist disagreed to the changes bought by CM Yediyurappa in the budget and said, "Of course, the budget has a range of schemes the Chief Minister has announced. But, the biggest challenge of this budget is from where are you (BS Yediyurappa) going to raise the resources for all the promises made?"

"Looking at the previous budget, the revenues that he is hoping to generate have not been realised. There is no concrete step on this year's budget as to how is Yediyurappa going to ensure that the revenues are hoping to be collected? If there is a shortfall in the revenue, all these plans will not take him (Yediyurappa) anywhere," he added.

Karnataka Budget 2020: Key takeaways of the budget session

Also, Yediyurappa has not provided a back up for the loss in revenue that the poeple of Karnataka going to suffer.

In the previous state budget, CM Yediyurappa had also made several schemes in a Parliament. But, little expenditures were made due to revenue shortage.

Education sector also found a dip in the budget as the type of allocation that has happened for irrigation was not seen in the education sector. The percentage of allocation has not really reached to an extend that people expected it to reach.

It seems to be looking as the state government is retreating from the higher education, which is not a good sign for the ruling government. The type of investment that needed to be made in the education sector was not visible enough to point the differences.

Here are few key highlights of the Karnataka Budget 2020-21:

Allotment of Rs 500 crore for Kalasa Banduri Project to supply drinking water to the four-drought prone districts in Karnataka's north-west region. Revision of Anna Bhagya scheme that provides free 7 kg rice to every member of a below poverty line. Horticulture sector to be considered as an industry. Rs 27,000 crore allocated to elevated corridor project in Bengaluru. Rs 1,000 crore to develop more than 100 villages under the BBMP limits. Rs 2600 crore for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana Rs 900 crore for the implementation of Fasal Bima Yojana Rs 2 crore for Mahila Meenugarike Sabalikarana Yojana Bhagya Lakshmi, bicycle schemes to continue Increase in petrol ann diesel price by Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.59 per litre, respectively. Twin towers building with 25 floors to be constructed in Bengaluru Rs 25 crore for Vishwakarma Development Board Rs 10 crore for Arya Vaishya Development Board

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Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 14:55 [IST]
A REVENUE officer who offered to sell unstamped Polish cigarettes during an undercover sting operation in Limerick city centre has paid an enormous price, a court has heard.

Colm Keane, 37, who has an address at Shravokee, Clonlara was convicted, at Limerick District Court, of offering 400 Marlboro cigarettes for sale at Thomas Street, Limerick on January 5, 2018.

During a contested hearing, customs officer Christopher Mulqueen said a covert operation was put in place to carry out a test purchase after customs officers responded to a post on social media advertising cigarettes for sale at 7 per pack.

The ad was posted by a user with the profile name Bruno Baz who, the court heard, was Mr Keanes girlfriend.

He said the an arrangement was made to meet the seller at a cafe at Thomas Street at 12.15pm and that a surveillance operation was mounted.

Officer Mulqueen said two undercover officers were in situ at the cafe while he and another colleague observed from a distance.

He told Judge Marian OLeary that shortly after 12.15pm he observed a male who was carrying a small plastic bag approaching the two undercover officers.

After the bag, which contained 20 packets of cigarettes, was handed over he approached the male and identified himself as a customs officer.

Read also: Limerick teenager sent back to Oberstown for six months over attempted armed robbery

After Mr Keane produced his Revenue staff card to confirm his identity, he was taken to a Customs patrol car where he was interviewed under caution.

The defendant told Officer Mulqueen that he had bought the cigarettes in Poland a number of days earlier and that he had intended smoking them himself.

He explained that he had been contacted by his girlfriend who had asked him to sell them.

I said I would sell them for her and that she could keep the extra profits once she paid me what I paid for them, he told Officer Mulqueen.

Being cross-examined by barrister Pat Barriscale, the witness rejected that it was highly irregular to interview suspects in patrol cars.

It is standard practice in these type of cases, he said.

Officer Mulqueen also rejected the suggestion that he had not cautioned Mr Keane and that he did not read the notes of the interview back to him. I refute that. I read from start to finish, he insisted.

The customs officer who met with the defendant told the court that after she arrived at the cafe, she received a message at 12.13pm informing her that the seller would be driving a silver Peugeot car and would be wearing a red hat.

When Mr Keane approached her, he asked if she was Lisa which was the name provided in reply to the Facebook ad.

He asked if I was Lisa. He opened the plastic bag and I took it from him and put it on the ground, she said adding that her colleagues then moved in.

After Judge Marian OLeary rejected an application to dismiss the charge, the defendant took to the witness box to give direct evidence.

He told Mr Barriscale he had no knowledge of the Facebook advertisement or the correspondence that had taken place between the Customs officers and his girlfriend.

I received a phone call from her asking me to deliver cigarettes. I was told to meet (the buyer) at a coffee shop in the city centre, he said.

Mr Keane, who accepted that duty had not been paid on the cigarettes, said he informed Officer Mulqueen that he was not selling them and that he had not committed any offence.

He insisted he had not been cautioned and stated he believed the interview in the patrol car was for some incident report.

Seeking to have the case dismissed, Mr Barriscale noted his clients girlfriend had not been interviewed and that the cigarettes had not been produced in court as evidence.

He submitted the investigation had been shoddy and that the interview process had been flawed.

He did not offer anything for sale. He delivered 400 cigarettes to a Lisa. He did not offer to sell any tobacco products to anybody, he added.

Solicitor Aileen Mee, prosecuting, said it was not relevant that Mr Keane was not the person who posted the ad on Facebook offering cigarettes for sale and she submitted the State had proven its case  based on the evidence.

Judge OLeary agreed and after she formally convicted the defendant of the charge before the court, Mr Barriscale stated his client has paid an enormous price for what he described as an error in judgment.

Seeking leniency he said his client had worked with the Revenue at Sarsfield House for more than a decade but was dismissed following the incident.

He lost his job, he lost his entitlements, he lost everything  he has been enormously penalised, he said.

Having considered the matter, Judge OLeary imposed a 2,500 fine  giving him 18 months to pay.
A roadside bomb which injured three members of the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) in Mali was probably laid by a child who was paid just 1.50 by Islamic extremists to carry out the highly-dangerous task.

UN observers in the war-torn country, which is nearly four times the size of France, have said extremists allied to Isil and al-Qaeda are paying children a pittance to lay bombs.

Three members of the ARW were injured last week by one of the roadside bombs while on patrol near the lawless eastern city of Goa.

Fortunately, the force of the blast was deflected by the armour plating on the Moag Eagle light tactical vehicle they were travelling in.

The three injured soldiers, described as walking wounded, were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

A Defence Forces spokesman said that if they had been travelling in an unarmoured vehicle it was likely there would have been fatalities.

However, even before the ARW were deployed to the country last September they realised the potential risk of roadside bombs and planned accordingly to travel in high-risk areas in armoured vehicles.

The ARW is mainly operating in the eastern side of the vast country which has been described as one of the most dangerous places on earth.

They are deployed there as part of a UN mission, MINUSMA.

There are also other Irish troops based in based closer to the capital Bamako, which is less dangerous. They are helping to train the Mali governments soldiers.

Apart from Islamic extremists, there is also infighting between various tribes, primarily between the Fulani, who are predominantly cattle-breeders, and the Bambara, who are farmers.

Islamic fundamentalists have forced the closure of over 3,500 schools in Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso because they do not like westernised education.

Its estimated that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in the two countries in the past year and several massacres have occurred in isolated villages.

Unicef say there are close to 5m children, many of them displaced refugees, who are in need of food.

A Defence Forces spokesman said the build up of Islamic extremists in the region had become more pronounced since Libya descended into civil war.

He said the ARW were carrying out patrols in areas where the civilian population is under threat.

Theyre trying to bring protection to daily life there, the spokesman said.

The ARW is expected to stay in Mali for a further 18 months.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France  Thu, March 5, 2020 10:03 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068692be 2 Lifestyle Jean-Paul-Gaultier,France,fashion,Sacai,Japan,Chitose-Abe Free

Legendary French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier may have hung up his scissors, but his fashion house will live on under an ever-changing carousel of guest designers, he said Wednesday.

The flamboyant creator -- who bowed out last month after half a century at the top of the fashion tree with a musical spectacular in Paris -- said a guest designer will be given the keys to his haute couture studio every season.

"I have the pleasure to announce the new concept for my Haute Couture," 67-year-old Gaultier tweeted.

I have the pleasure to announce the new concept for my Haute Couture. Each season, I will invite a designer to interpret the codes of the House and I am doubly pleased that Chitose Abe of Sacai will be the first one ! #JeanPaulGaultier #ChitoseAbe

Photographed by #GioStaiano. pic.twitter.com/27dyeEmnsj  Jean Paul Gaultier (@JPGaultier) March 4, 2020

"Each season, I will invite a designer to interpret the codes of the House and I am doubly pleased that Chitose Abe of Sacai will be the first one."

The two were photographed together on the roof of Gaultier's Paris headquarters in the famous blue overalls he and his collaborators wear.

Abe, 48, is one of the most admired Japanese designers, counting Vogue supremo Anna Wintour and the doyenne of fashion critics, Suzi Menkes, among her fans.

She was also one of the very rare rivals that the late Karl Lagerfeld showered praise upon, calling her "one of the most interesting designers working today."

Abe's genius is in her unique cut and in recutting and splicing clothing together, "creating a sum that is greater than its parts".

She trained with Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garcons in Tokyo and worked with Junya Watanabe before striking out on her own 20 years ago.

The Jean Paul Gaultier label shows a new collection twice a year during Paris haute couture week, the elite club that is regarded as the creme de la creme of fashion.
Senator Elizabeth Warren suspended her US presidential campaign on Thursday after a disappointing Super Tuesday that included a third-place finish in her home State of Massachusetts.

The 70-year-old leader, however, did not announce who she was endorsing for the Democratic presidential primaries which has now been reduced to a direct contest between former US Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

"Today, I'm suspending our campaign for president," Warren said, two days after she failed to win a single Super Tuesday State.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Massachusetts, Warren said she'd likely endorse one of the two major Democratic candidates left in the race, but "not today".

"I need some space and I need a little time right now," she said.

Warren is the fourth Democratic leader in the last one week to withdraw from the party's race to the White House.

Biden had a convincing Democratic primary win in Massachusetts along with nine other Super Tuesday States.

A day before, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had announced to withdraw from the race.

On the eve of the Super Tuesday, two other presidential aspirants Senator Amy Klobucher and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg withdrew from the race. All three of them rallied behind Biden to help him win the Democratic party's nomination and to challenge incumbent President Donald Trump in the November elections.

"Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die," Warren told her supporters.

"I may not be in the race for president in 2020, but this fight our fight is not over. And our place in this fight has not ended," she added.

With the exit of Warren from the race, Hindu Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard remains the only female candidate in the Democratic party's presidential race.

However, she has failed to gain any traction in the primaries so far.

Trump was quick to take a dig at Warren.

"Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mike's head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary...THREE DAYS TOO LATE. She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass," he said in a tweet.

The Democratic Party at its national convention in Wisconsin will elect its nominee for the November polls.

The nominee must have 1991 of the 3979 pledge delegates. As of Thursday, Biden was leading the pack with 596 pledged delegates, followed by Sanders with 531.

On March 10, six States would hold their primaries: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington.

This would be followed by primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio on March 17. Political pundits believe that by then a front runner for the Democratic party would have secured his position.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Technavio has been monitoring the CMOS image sensors market and it is poised to grow by USD 10.15 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 11% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005372/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global CMOS Image Sensors Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. ON Semiconductor Corp., Panasonic Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV. are some of the major market participants. Although the rise in automation across industries will offer immense growth opportunities, high cost associated with 3D packaging will challenge the growth of the market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Rise in automation across industries has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, high cost associated with 3D packaging might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report

CMOS Image Sensors Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

CMOS Image Sensors Market is segmented as below:

Application

Consumer Electronics

Automotive

Security and Surveillance

Industrial

Others

Geographic Segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40729

CMOS Image Sensors Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our CMOS image sensors market report covers the following areas:

CMOS Image Sensors Market Size

CMOS Image Sensors Market Trends

CMOS Image Sensors Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies technological advances in CMOS image sensors as one of the prime reasons driving the CMOS image sensors market growth during the next few years.

CMOS Image Sensors Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the CMOS image sensors market, including some of the vendors such as ON Semiconductor Corp., Panasonic Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the CMOS image sensors market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

CMOS Image Sensors Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist CMOS image sensors market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the CMOS image sensors market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the CMOS image sensors market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of CMOS image sensors market vendors

Table of Content

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Value chain analysis

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market outlook

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

Consumer electronics Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Automotive Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Security and surveillance Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Industrial Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by application

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Technological advances in CMOS image sensors

Growing number of strategic partnerships

Growing investment in autonomous cars

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

ams AG

Canon Inc.

GalaxyCore Inc.

Himax Technologies Inc.

OmniVision Technologies Inc.

ON Semiconductor Corp.

Panasonic Corp.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sony Corp.

STMicroelectronics NV

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005372/en/

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Technavio Research

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Media Marketing Executive

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Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
JUNEAU, Alaska - The Alaska Department of Revenue has hired a former Republican state senator to work with two state corporations.

Anna MacKinnon began working last week as a special assistant to department Commissioner Lucinda Mahoney, Alaskas Energy Desk reported Tuesday.

MacKinnon did not seek reelection at the end of her term in the Alaska Senate in 2018. She was elected to the Senate in 2012 after serving three terms in the House beginning in 2006. She was previously an Anchorage Assembly member for seven years.

MacKinnon will join the board of the Alaska Energy Authority, which invests in projects that reduce the cost of energy in Alaska.

She will also become a board member of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which finances businesses and focuses on economic growth in the state.

Ive been fairly disconnected over the past year, MacKinnon said, explaining she will begin by working to understand how the organizations are investing in communities.

The Eagle River resident was in Anchorage for a development and export authority board meeting Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner Mike Barnhill said the department is looking for special projects that fit MacKinnons areas of expertise, likely in the treasury and tax divisions.

MacKinnon was a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a member of the Senate leadership team.

MacKinnon will be paid $135,168 annually.

Her husband, John MacKinnon, is the commissioner of the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
Earlier on March 3, the Japanese passenger boarded the Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 with 72 others from Cambodias Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, then took a transit flight VN340 to Japans Nagoya city.

After landing in Japan, the Japanese passenger showed the symptom of fever and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

All crewmembers on VN340 flight returned to Vietnam on flight VN341, which landed at Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Son Nhat airport at 1:55pm on March 4. The flight carried 73 passengers and 12 crewmembers.

Accordingly, 51 passengers entering Vietnam and all crewmembers have been put into quarantine. The 22 others were also quarantined and are making procedures for transit flights.

The aircraft used for VN341 flight was also disinfected.

At Tan Son Nhat airport, two security staff and six service staff at business lounge, class C were also quarantined due to having close contact with the Japanese passenger.

Both Vietnamese and Japanese agencies are investigating itinerary of the Japanese patient in Cambodia.
The combined Holy Name Junior-Senior Central Catholic High School and St. Peter-Marian Junior-Senior Central Catholic High School is going to be renamed and will stay on the Holy Name campus, officials said Thursday.

Rev. Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester, announced that the combined schools will be known as St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School and will be located on the Holy Name campus on Granite Street.

In December, McManus announced that the schools would merge for the next academic year, citing a steady decline in enrollment in the two schools over the last decade.

It is amazing how something doesnt really exist until it has a name, and such is true for a school, McManus wrote in a letter to students, parents, faculty and staff on Thursday. In the final analysis, it makes much sense that we turn to our patron for the diocese, Saint Paul, who not only was the apostle to the Gentiles, but offers us inspiration as he proclaimed the Christian faith with missionary zeal so that all people may know the Good News of Christ.

In deciding to keep the high school at the Holy Name campus, McManus cited the new science lab, recently renovated auditorium, elevators accessibility and a better gymnasium as factors.

The committee can now focus on what immediate needs can be addressed over the summer to give us a fresh environment for the entire student body to come together as Saint Paul School in the fall, McManus wrote.

Soon, the diocese will be able to market the Saint Peter-Marian campus, which will help finance both short- and long-term renovations at the combined high school, according to the letter.

In terms of staffing, McManus said teachers who are interested in administration are applying this week for department head positions. In the next few days, the application process for various teaching positions will be open. Decisions will be made around April 1, the letter reads.

Depending on enrollment, there could be additional hiring later on, McManus wrote.
RAMALLAH, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Wednesday slammed senior U.S. officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for remarks supporting settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

During the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Monday, Pompeo said that the U.S. will take action against the UN Human Rights Council "blacklist" of the businesses working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

"Pompeo chose to criticize the parties that criticize the American bias and champion international law and legitimacy," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

"He poured his outrage on the UN Human Rights Council and threatened to carry out punitive measures to all those who harm American companies working in settlements," it said.

The ministry warned that Pompeo's remarks undermine any chance for achieving peace based on the two-state solution and on international terms of reference.
(TNS)  A first-of-its-kind project is providing high-speed Internet to more than 40 New Mexico homes on the Navajo Nation, with hundreds more on the way.Sacred Wind Communications announced last week it has completed a project that brings fiber-optic cable to a housing development just south of Farmington through a partnership with the Navajo Housing Authority.John Badal, CEO of Sacred Wind, said the project is a way to bring high-speed Internet into a community that has largely been considered too rural to support it.We want our Navajo children to have the same opportunities to improve themselves as the students or the children who reside in urban areas of New Mexico, Badal said.The Navajo Nation, like many rural communities across the United States, has limited access to high-speed Internet. Badal pointed to the regions extremely low population density  roughly two homes per square mile across Sacred Winds territory  as a barrier to high-speed Internet.It would be terribly unaffordable to try to stretch a copper mile or fiber a mile to reach a single home, Badal said.When Sacred Wind was founded in 2006, Badal said most of its customers were served using copper wire, a network he described as outdated and not suited for broadband Internet.Sacred Wind has attempted to bridge gaps in coverage through a mix of technologies, using fixed wireless towers in some areas to provide line-of-sight Internet access, Badal said. Recently, however, the company has shifted its approach and is working to replace its network of copper cable with fiber-optic cable in specific developments managed by the Navajo Housing Authority.The Navajo Housing Authority provides public housing on the Navajo Nation, managing more 8,500 housing units in the community. Badal noted that NHA developments are among the densest portion of the rural region, with up to 150 homes per square mile.It makes sense to target homes that are closer together, Badal said.Most customers can receive 25 megabits per second with copper, which Badal said is sufficient for a couple devices to send e-mail and do basic tasks on the Internet. Fiber will bring speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, which opens up more functionality. Catherine Nicolaou, external affairs manager for Sacred Wind, added the new fiber can be helpful for students, who are increasingly asked to do homework on their computers.One hundred megabits is really going to level the playing field for these students, Nicolaou said.Installation is free to residential customers, and Badal said costs are comparable to what customers currently pay for slower speeds.The first phase of the project brings fiber to around 45 homes in the Huerfano Chapter, located south of Farmington. Over the next three to four years, Badal said the plan is to build out a fiber network that can bring high-speed Internet to more than 1,000 homes managed by the housing authority across northwest New Mexico.Theres no other company thats positioned to do this, except for us, Nicolaou said.
This is an opinion cartoon.

Joe Super Tuesday Biden now has his own big F-bombin moment.

As then Vice President Biden famously whispered way too loudly to President Obama after introducing him to speak at a White house ceremony celebrating the signing of healthcare reform: This is a big f------- deal!

Yes. Ahem. Yes it is. Thanks, Joe.

Bloomberg drops out of presidential race, endorses Biden

Bidens immaculate transition from the brink of defeat to Democratic frontrunner is a political comeback for the ages. This was a wild election week in an election year thats only gonna get F-bombing wilder.

Alabama GOP Sycophant race: Kiss-off between Sessions and Tuberville

Check out all the latest Alabama Elections 2020 coverage

Check out more cartoons by JD Crowe
Australians are heading into the unknown now that autumn has begun with a global pandemic worsening at the very time flu season approaches.

The months ahead will be a murky period of economic and social uncertainty, with nobody sure when the coronavirus will peak, nor when it might pass.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced further travel bans. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The panic on display in supermarkets, while met with laughter and disbelief, is proof of the way fear can take hold in confusion. It is also a sign that this crisis is utterly different to the shock that triggered a $90 billion economic stimulus a decade ago.

That is why the key word in Scott Morrisons response will be "scalable"  because the spending boost to be announced in coming days will be merely a first instalment if the threat grows and a bigger stimulus is required.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:15:40|Editor: huaxia

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CHENGDU, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Rangers in Baoxing County of southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday morning found more than 100 Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys playing and foraging for food in the snow.

The primates trooped down to feed in the alpine forests where they usually live, as snow continued for days and temperatures dropped, according to Pu Zhengkai, a staff of the local forestry bureau.

Pu said he found two clear strings of footprints left by the monkeys when he was patrolling the forest in the morning. Before long he heard them jabbering.

Baoxing is considered where the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys were scientifically discovered by French zoologist Armand David about a century and a half ago.

Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are under top-level protection in China. More than 800 from nine populations were living in Baoxing, according to a survey conducted in 2014.
their bombings of tankers in the Gulf of Hormuz, their missile strikes on Saudi oil installations, and their shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet, which killed 176 people.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that when the coronavirus came to Iran, the regimes initial response was to lie.

At first, their justification was that they wanted as many people out in the streets to mark their anniversary celebrations and to vote in the election; things people typically dont do because when they could catch an infectious disease.

Struan Stevenson, the coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change, wrote: The mullahs knew that the virus was in Iran but covered it up and did not make any announcements to warn the people. Nor did they make any preparations for preventing the virus from spreading, unlike other countries, because the mullahs wanted to see large gatherings of people attending the anniversary of the 1979 revolution and voting in its recent sham election. Khamenei even ridiculed the disease and said the coronavirus was an excuse created by Irans enemies to discourage people from voting.

Now, the regime is downplaying it to evade mass protests as people realize that the mullahs gambled with the peoples health and lost. (The regime claims that less than 50 have died and 500 are infected, but the opposition revealed that the number of deaths is around 1300.)

The mullahs also dont want any more scrutiny over the fact that they are refusing to hand out preventative gear, like masks and hand sanitizer, even to hospital staff. (That stuff the mullahs are keeping for themselves and for the people who can afford their black market prices.)

The regime refused to halt flights from China until a few days ago.

Stevenson, a former member of the European Parliament, wrote: The World Health Organization and the entire international community are worried about coronavirus spreading from Iran, as they feel certain the issue is being covered up by the Iranian authorities Now they are putting their own 80 million citizens at risk and in so doing are endangering the international community with the spread of this disease. How can the world community ever trust such a regime? How can we be sure that it has any commitments to the conventions it has signed? This regime deserves to be held accountable for all its lies and crimes.

Read More:

Dont Believe Iran Regimes lies

Khameneis Lie About the Statistics of Child Labor in Iran
Actor Kriti Sanon penned down a heart-warming note as she finished shooting for her upcoming film 'Mimi' on Thursday.

Directed by Laxman Utekar, 'Mimi' is a remake of Marathi film 'Mala Aai Vhhaychy' by Samroudhhi Porey.

The actor who shared the news of film's wrap on social media by posting pictures with the cast and crew of the film, wrote, "And its a WRAP!! #Mimi has been such an experience!! The most satisfying schedule ever with a super passionate and hardworking cast & crew!!"

The post featured group pictures of the film's crew.

"Its such a lovely feeling when everyone just wants to put in their best effort to make a beautiful film! #Mimi this one's too close to my heart!@laxman.utekar @maddockfilms #Dinoo #PankajSir #ManojSir #SupriyaMam #RohanShankar #SamruddhiPorey Missed u yesterday @saietamhankar," Kriti added.

In the film, Sanon will be seen in the role of a young surrogate mother. The movie also features veteran actors Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Pahwa, Supriya Pathak, and Sai Tamhankar.

Produced by Dinesh Vijan, 'Mimi' is scheduled to be released this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
A pervert was caught on CCTV having sex with a shop's metal shutters in a bizarre encounter in Thailand.

The motorcyclist pulled over next to the shop in the early hours of yesterday morning before using a hole in the iron grate to perform the unusual sex act.

He then disappeared on his bike when a woman inside the building became suspicious of the resulting noises.

Police in Chonburi, eastern Thailand, are now examining the bizarre footage in an effort to catch the pervert.

The motorcyclist pulled over next to the shop in the early hours of yesterday morning before using a hole in the iron gate to perform the unusual sex act

Resident Sineha Panjatha, 40, said she was cooking breakfast for her family in the kitchen and heard the motorcycle when she went to the building's front porch.

She said she saw the man wearing a helmet while appearing to have sex with her iron gate.

She said: 'I heard him ride around several times and wanted to know what was happening.

'I came out of the kitchen to the front porch to ask him, but then I saw his penis. I was shocked so I shouted at him and it scared him away.'

Sineha added that she wanted the police to catch him to prevent it from happening again to other properties.

She said: 'I gave my CCTV footage to the police. Hopefully, they can catch the guy because I feel insecure about having this pervert around my neighbourhood.'

The man disappeared on his bike when a woman inside the building became suspicious of the noises which were coming from outside

The baffled woman said she could not understand why the man appeared sexually attracted to the metal gate.

The full CCTV footage which she has handed to police shows the pervert riding around the building with his private parts exposed.

He was spotted parked in front of the house, before returning six minutes later to perform the sex act on the gate.

He rode his motorcycle away after Sineha saw him and shouted at him.

Police received the CCTV and have started trying to identify the pervert.

A spokesman said today: 'The motorcycle registration number is not clearly visible in the surveillance footage from the home but we are checking cameras on streets nearby to identify a suspect.'
Silkair to suspend flights to Hiroshima amid weak demand made worse by COVID-19

SilkAir will be indefinitely suspending operations to Hiroshima from March 27 due to weak demand, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) said in a press statement that the last flight on this route on its regional airline will be MI867 from Hiroshima to Singapore on March 26.

Photo courtesy: Singapore Airlines

All affected customers will be contacted and arrangements will be made to re-accommodate them on to other flights, SIA added.

The SIA Group, which includes the parent Airline and low-cost carrier Scoot, also serves six points in Japan including Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo-Haneda and Tokyo-Narita.

It remains firmly committed to the Japanese market and is working to grow both passenger and cargo traffic to and from the country, SIA said in the press statement.
Donald Trump said he will make Joe Biden's business dealings in Ukraine a 'major issue' if the Democratic front-runner wins the nomination.

Biden came back after defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire to take control of the Democratic race after racking up stunning primary victories over Bernie Sanders during Super Tuesday.

Trump said he would bring up Ukraine 'all the time' in any future presidential head-to-head before later praising Biden for his 'incredible comeback'.

He told reporters at the White House: 'It was a great comeback for Joe Biden, an incredible comeback when you think about it.'

Yesterday the president said he would use recent news that a Ukrainian court ordered an investigation into Biden as ammunition if he were to become the Democrat presidential candidate.

Last week a court in Kiev granted a request by Ukraine's ex-top prosecutor to launch a probe into the former vice present's alleged role in the removal of Viktor Shokin from his post in 2016.

Shokin accused Biden of pressuring officials in Kiev to fire him while Biden was in office.

"That will be a major issue and I will bring that up all the time. I don't see how they can answer those questions."@realDonaldTrump says that, if @JoeBiden is the nominee, he plans on hammering on Biden's activities in the Ukraine and Burisma connection. pic.twitter.com/eQxNNUUrkI  Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 5, 2020

In an interview with Sean Hannity, Donald Trump said he would use Joe Biden's dealings in Ukraine as a 'major' campaign issue

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaking at an event a day after 'Super Tuesday' at the W Hotel in West Bevery Hills, in Los Angeles, California, yesterday

He said Biden wanted the removal because Shokin tried to investigate Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas company where Biden's son, Hunter, was a highly paid board member, reportedly being paid $83,000 per month.

Trump, who has repeatedly called for the Bidens to be investigated, told Fox News last night Democrat rivals of Biden were not challenging him on the unsubstantiated allegations during debates.

He also claimed interviewers were not asking Biden tough questions about his dealings in Ukraine.

'To show you how crazy it is, it's not a campaign issue for the Democrats. They don't want to bring it up. They were obviously told you can't bring that up.

'So even people that are against, if you look at Joe, they're against Joe. They don't want to bring that up. That [Ukraine] was off-bounds.

'I watch certain reporters say that this [the allegations] is totally unsubstantiated, and we're sorry to even ask you a question, Anderson Cooper, then he asks a question at one of the debates, and it was so mild, and a ridiculous answer is given, because there is no answer to it - of course it's corrupt. And so, he gives a really bad answer. And they go into the next question.

'Nobody says anything, the other people that are running trying to beat him don't bring it up. That wouldn't happen with the Republicans, I can tell you.

'I'm not saying good, bad, or indifferent, but that certainly wouldn't happen with the Republicans.'

Trump again called the Bidens' connections to Ukraine 'corrupt' when he held a phone interview with Fox News on Wednesday

Hannity went on to ask Trump on Wednesday night if he would make Ukraine central to his campaign.

He replied: 'You know, it's incredible. That will be a major issue in the campaign. I will bring that up all the time, because I don't see any way out. I don't see any way. For them, I don't see how they can answer those questions. And maybe they can, I hope they can.

'I'd actually prefer it that they can. But I don't believe they'll be able to answer those questions. That was purely corrupt.'

Trump has been central in calls for the Bidens to be investigated and has repeatedly called the arrangement 'corrupt'.

The president's call to Ukraine's newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, last July in which he asked him to launch an investigation into the Bidens over their dealings in the country sparked the impeachment inquiry.

The House proceedings culminated in Trump's acquittal in February.

The ousting of Shokin was in 2016 the official position of the US government and its Western allies, including European Union nations and the International Monetary Fund leadership, because Shokin was believed to be incompetent or corrupt.

Hannity asked Trump why he thought Barack Obama has not yet endorsed his vice president of eight years.

Trump responded: 'Well, I would say because he [Obama] didn't think he could make it. He didn't think he had a shot at it.

Trump has repeatedly called for the Bidens to be investigated over claims Joe put pressure on officials to fire the country's top prosecutor while an investigation into his son was underway

World Food Program USA Board Chair in 2016, Hunter Biden, introducing his father when he was vice president during a leadership award

'You know, he's dealing with people that I didn't rate the highest on the political scale.

'I know people that are Democrats that are far above what you're watching. I watched one night and I looked at the cast of characters. I said, ''this is 350 million people, and this is the best we can do?'' I don't think so.

'I will tell you, I know some Democrats that would blow all of those Democrats away, but they didn't run.

'Maybe they just didn't want to run against me, I've heard that. Maybe it's true and maybe it's not - makes me feel good. But they're going to wait for another four years.

'But you have some Democrats that are very impressive. This is not a group that I think was very impressive at all.'

Biden declared victory in the Super Tuesday primaries this week after winning 10 of the 14 states up for grabs to overtake rival Bernie Sanders as the Democrat front-runner to be the party's candidate to take on Trump.

After being counted out just days ago, Biden came back to earn the endorsement of his former rivals Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and deep-pocketed billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Biden is running as a moderate, in contrast to the leftist Sanders, but Trump insisted that some of the former vice president's 'handlers are further left than Bernie'.

Trump also noted that decisions by the two centrists - Buttigieg and Klobuchar - to drop out and endorse Biden had electrified his previously struggling campaign.

The president has lambasted the weak performance by Bloomberg, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his own fortune on advertising.
Destiny Church Leader Brian Tamaki (pictured) has blamed Satan on the spread of the deadly coronavirus

A controversial religious figure has blamed Satan on the spread of the deadly coronavirus and says it's a sign the world has 'strayed from God' - but his followers will be protected.

Destiny Church Leader Brian Tamaki, who previously attacked Islam after the Christchurch shooting, made the comments during a congregation in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sunday.

The Pentecostal leader likened COVID-19 to Ebola, Black Death and Cholera - saying the outbreak was 'energised by demons' and 'evil spirits' to punish non-believers.

'Satan has control of atmospheres unless you're a born-again, Jesus-loving, bible-believing, Holy Ghost-filled, tithe-paying believer,' Bishop Tamaki said to a crowded hall of followers.

He said the outbreak is a form of judgement for those who have abandoned God.

'God judges primarily by pestilence, which is those diseases, by famine - which is the shortage of anything - shortage of food, shortage of water, shortage of resources,' Bishop Tamaki said.

In the 80-minute sermon, he said the virus had spread through 'airborne demons' and was a direct result of 'violation' and 'perversion' of spiritual and natural laws.

Among the 'perversions' was a reference to the live animal market in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated.

'You're not supposed to be drinking bat's blood or using snakes and gutting them alive or eating them alive or letting these animals cross or touch each other,' he said.

Pentecostal leader Brian Tamaki (pictiured) said the coronavirus is a 'pestilence' to punish 'perversions of spiritual and natural laws'

Bishop Tamaki referenced Psalm 91:3 in the New International Version Bible to suggest believers had special protections from the virus.

'Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence,' the psalm read.

The leader told his followers the 'PS-91 protection policy' would keep them safe from the coronavirus.

'You're the only one that can walk through atmospheres and have literally a protection, the PS-91 protection policy,' Tamaki said.

Destiny Church Leader Brian Tamaki and wife Hannah Tamaki pose for a portrait in May 2019

'I don't care if you don't believe it ... Everybody else is susceptible.'

But he told his followers to ignore coronavirus panic as evidenced with the stockpiling of basic supplies like food and toilet paper.

'We don't need to do that, that sort of hysteria ... you never panic.'

Reverend Dr Helen Jacobi, Vicar at Auckland's St Matthew-in-the-City, told The New Zealand Herald some of Bishop Tamaki's comments were 'incredibly unsafe'.

'People should be following public health advice. I think it is very dangerous and wrong for any public leader to contravene that. Certainly in the Anglican church we have been sharing the message to follow public health advice, and we follow it in our own gatherings,' she said.

'It is also quite offensive, saying his followers are safe and no-one else, which is the absolute opposite of the Christian belief.'
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has hailed the ruling of Abuja Federal High Court which bars Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, from parading himself as national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Governor stated this while addressing party members during the Edo South Senatorial rally of the APC in Benin City, the State capital.

Obaseki who has been at daggers drawn with Oshiomhole over the soul of the party in Edo State described the ruling as Gods plan and a right decision for the party which calls for a thanksgiving to celebrate it.



When we planned this meeting last week to meet with all our executives, we did not know that God has plan for us today.

No man is God. God is God. No man can play God. With what God has done today, what we should do now is to just thank him.

The meaning of what happened today is that peace has now finally come to our party. The purpose of God for Nigeria in our party will now be fulfilled.

My problem with Comrade Oshiomhole is that when people started saying that they were Edo Peoples Movement (EPM), I called him and urged him to denounce them.

I told him to come out and say something. I told him Comrade, denounce them, you are the national chairman; dissociate yourself from these people that are destroying our party. Up till today, he did not.

Obaseki however said that the decision of the court barring Oshiomhole from parading himself as national chairman of the APC does not make him a happy man.

The court has taken the right decision today, but it does not make me a happy person because it would not have come to this.

So, my message today is, when a child puts his hands in feces, you do not cut off that hand, you take that hand and wash it.

And for those our members who have been misled, we cannot practise our democracy the way it was in 1983, the Governor said.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says it has issued 826,000 Real IDs in the year it has been offering them.

Beginning Oct. 1, a federally acceptable form of identification must be used as identification to board a commercial flight or visit a secure federal building. Real ID meets that requirement.

Based on data from other states offering an optional Real ID program, PennDOT projected that 1.3 million of its customers would get a Real ID prior to the Oct. 1 deadline.

Although October may seem far away right now, we encourage our customers who want a Real ID to get one as soon as possible, PennDOT acting Secretary Yassmin Gramian said. We continue to focus on providing the best possible customer service to all of our customers as the federal deadline approaches.

Real ID is optional in Pennsylvania, and PennDOT will continue to offer standard-issue drivers licenses and photo IDs. However, these forms of ID will be necessary to fly commercially or enter a federal building or military base for individuals who dont have another form of federally acceptable identification, such as a U.S. passport.

State Rep. Barb Gleim, R-Carlisle, is hosting a Real ID informational event on March 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Carlisle Fire & Rescue, 177 Carlisle Springs Road, Carlisle. Residents can learn more about what is required and talk to PennDOT representatives. Real IDs will not be issued at the event.

Federal Real ID regulations require that PennDOT verify a customers identity, Social Security number, Pennsylvania residency and name changes (if applicable), even if a customer already has a state drivers license or ID card. More information about document requirements, including a printable document checklist, can be found on the Document Check page of the PennDOT Driver and Vehicle Services website.

Customers have three options for obtaining a Real ID: customers may order online if they have been pre-verified; they can visit any PennDOT Drivers License Center, have their documents verified and imaged, and their ID will be mailed to them within 15 business days; or they can visit one of 12 Real ID Centers and receive it over-the-counter at the time of service.

When a customer gets their first Real ID, they will pay a one-time fee of $30, plus a renewal fee (current renewal fee is $30.50 for a four-year noncommercial drivers license or a photo ID). The expiration date of their initial Real ID will include any time remaining on their existing non-Real ID, plus an additional four years, unless the customer is over 65 and has a two-year license.

After the initial Real ID expires, the customer will pay no additional fee, beyond regular renewal fees.

PennDOT upgraded seven of its existing drivers license centers to allow for over-the-counter issuance, and added a number of locations, including one in Enola at 429 N. Enola Road.

Real IDs are marked with a gold star in the upper right corner.

More information about Real ID in Pennsylvania, including frequently asked questions and information on documents required for Real ID, can be found at www.penndot.gov/REALID.

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VERNON, N.Y.  March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month, and the state Gaming Commission, along with other organizations, visited Vernon Downs Thursday to shed more light on the issue.

This month is all about taking action and having conversations about problem gambling issues and directing people to the help they may need, said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

According to the council, about 6 million adults and half a million teens across the country meet the criteria for problem gambling.

In the state of New York, nearly 668,000 people struggle with gambling.

Those looking for help or more information can call the problem gambling resource center Hope Line at 315-413-4673.
Hong Kong: Police probe criminal damage case

Police today said they are highly concerned about a case of suspected criminal damage by a police officer.

Police explained that the officer in question is accused of damaging some articles during an anti-crime patrol operation at Tung Chau Street Park in Sham Shui Po on February 24.

An officer in suspected connection with the case has been immediately interdicted.

Police stressed that any breach of law or offence against discipline by police officers is not tolerated, adding that the case will be followed up in a fair, just and impartial manner.

Kowloon Wests Regional Crime Unit is investigating. Anyone with information about the case can contact the unit at 3661 8257.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Diane Zola, an assistant general manager at the Met, sent an email to artist managers on Tuesday mandating a "self-imposed quarantine for a period of 14 days upon arriving in New York from any one of the countries designated by the U.S. Center for Disease Control. These countries currently are China, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Italy and Hong Kong."
Dublin, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Emerging Market Growth Opportunities in India, Forecast to 2024" country profile has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The political scenario of India is likely to remain stable and makes it an attractive destination for investments.

This report analyzes the political and economic scenario in the country and its impact on both domestic and foreign investments. It also examines the social and technological trends along with legal and environmental factors, which surround the business environment. The report provides in-depth analysis of these factors to help take key strategic business and investment decisions in India.



The report presents a comprehensive understanding of the past, present, and future economic scenario of India. It is estimated that the country will have one of the highest populations in the world; the resulting rising middle-class population and increasing spending power will positively influence domestic demand. The report explores specific industries that have significant growth and investment opportunity, such as the healthcare sector, ICT, infrastructure sector, and automobile industry.



The government has planned to make India reach revenue of $5 trillion by 2024 for which it has developed initiatives, such as Digital India 2020 to improve the national ICT infrastructure, and the new automatic 100% FDI allowance in various sectors. There has also been increasing concerns towards pollution. The report discusses various initiatives that the government has undertaken to tackle environment issues, which may impact many industries and the automobile industry in particular.



Key Issues Addressed

What is the current political and economic scenario in India?

How will existing internal conflict, in particular, the Jammu-Kashmir issue, impact the business environment in India?

What are the initiatives undertaken to make technological advancements in India?

What are the government initiatives that support growth in investments within the country? What are the plans and policies devised by the government to improve the ease of doing business in India?

What is the trend of key macro-economic variables that will impact investment decisions in India?

What is the current legal and environmental scenario in India? How will it impact various industries?

Which are the industries that the government is primarily focusing on and how is it promoting them? What are the emerging trends and forecasts for these industries?

What are potential sectors of key growth opportunities in the next 5 years?

Conclusion



The report also underlines the growth opportunities within different sectors and suggests key calls-to-action for investors. It specifically discusses the current status of these industries and lists factors contributing to the prospective growth in these sectors. Furthermore, it explores the regulatory provisions and laws implemented by the government related to the industry, and resulting opportunities that businesses can use to establish themselves in the Indian market.

Key Topics Covered



Political Overview

Political Framework and Regime

Key Political Trends

Key Foreign Relations

Economic Overview

Economic Overview and Forecast

Economic Growth Determinants

Economic Policies - Fiscal Health

Economic Policies - Fiscal Policy

Economic Policies - Monetary Policy

Investment Trends and Opportunities

Social Overview

Demographic and Social Trends

Technological Overview

Technological Profile

Legal Overview

Legal Profile

Environmental Overview

Industry Analysis - Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry

ICT Industry Overview

eCommerce Industry Overview

eCommerce Growth Prospects

Automotive Industry

Automobile Industry Overview

Automobile Industry Growth Prospect

Infrastructure Industry

Healthcare Industry Overview

Future in Infrastructure Industry

Healthcare Industry

Healthcare Industry Overview

Healthcare Industry Outlook and Opportunities

Pharmaceutical Industry

Growth Opportunities



Conclusion

Key Takeaways

For more information about this country profile visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/l1gpkd

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
On this august day of 6th March 2020, the Social Justice Movement of Ghana (SJMG) is minded to extend fraternal greetings to all Ghanaians and groups who made the independence of Ghana on the 6th of March 1957 possible. Our fraternal and comradely greetings go to the working people, represented by the Trade Union Congress of Ghana (TUC), the peasant farmers across the length and breadth of Ghana, the African people in the diaspora world, that is the people of African descent in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St. Kitts, Guadaloupe, Haiti and so on, whose contributions in diverse ways made the 6th of March 1957 a reality. We cannot also fail to pay glowing tribute to Nkrumahs Convention Peoples Party (CPP) which spearheaded the struggle for independence.

Today 6th March 2020 marks the 63rd Anniversary of Ghanas independence. It is a day for us not only to celebrate but to reflect on how far we have come since independence on 6th March 1957. On that fateful day, Dr. Kwame Nkrumahs clarion call was Seek ye first the political kingdom and all else shall be added onto you."

Taking over the colonial political apparatus, the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) under the leadership of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah sought to use it to undertake far reaching policies and programmes: the establishment of import-export substitution industries, the nationalization of key sectors of our mineral resources and the expansion of our educational, social and health services. The programmes were meant to improve the livelihood of our people and disentangle us from the stranglehold of the colonial economy.

It is important to point out however that, nation states like Ghana, which arose after colonial rule were structured on the basis of a compromise. In Ghana, the political superstructure was ceded to the petite bourgeoisie, while colonial authorities (imperialism) held on to the economic base: a key and decisive aspect in the running of the state machinery. In the nation state of Ghana therefore, there were two masters, Nkrumah and the CPP who theoretically controlled the state political machinery and International capitalism which controlled the economy and bureaucracy (civil service and security forces). There were obvious advantages in the new constitutional arrangement which could advance and propel a meaningful socialist agenda. Nkrumah could take the process of decolonization further by eliminating vestiges of racism, and feudal practices in the countryside, reduce the power of chiefs, speed up the emancipation of women and strike at superstition and myths by guiding the state along the path of secularism.

But while independence offered obvious opportunities, it was bristling with hazards, emanating from the agents of imperialism like the JB Danquahs, the Kofi Abrefa Busias and all the reactionary elements whose commitment to the ethos of the colonizers was unflinching. It was this class of people imbued with the philosophy of the free market economic system which reversed the revolutionary course started by Nkrumah on 24th February 1966.

Since the overthrow of Nkrumah to the present day, the Ghanaian economy has continued to be under the iron grip of foreign control. The dominant classes that have ruled since 1966 do not question why all their policies and programmes have failed to bring about economic development.

The two political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are the two dominant parties that have occupied the Ghanaian political space since 1992. Under them politics has been reduced to the struggle of the two to capture state power not because they want to use it to bring about any meaningful structural change in the economy that would benefit the people. The acrimony between them has a single purpose of capturing the levers of state power to pilfer economic resources.

This explains why the two parties have supervised and superintended over abominable levels of poverty, corruption and nepotism over the years. Our youth complete schools without jobs; while the mass of people submit to curable diseases like malaria, typhoid and common cold. because the NHIS is nothing to talk about. In spite of this the NPP and NDC have never had cause to question the root cause of our underdevelopment which is the dependent nature of our economy.

The effect of this domination is that the advanced capitalist countries continue to rob us. They wax fatter and fatter even as we grow thinner and thinner. Ghana and other African countries since Nkrumahs overthrow have become more and more entrapped in these relations of exploitation. Ghana has become an economic satellite of the advanced capitalist states like Britain, America, France, Japan and so on. But economic control cannot be sustained without political control, so the ruling parties of Ghana after the CPP was ousted; ceded parts of the country to the ruling authorities in America for military use, thereby putting the entire population of Ghana in the frontline of terrorist attacks. With all this Ghana has become a ridiculous imitation of the way of life of the ruling class of Europe and America.

Internally politics has become a conduit for the two main political parties to loot state coffers. Corrupt governments wield power and use their positions to grow wealthy out of the handshakes they get for their services as intermediaries between the multinational corporations and the people. The result is that our people have become extremely poor; and the NPP and NDC have become so alienated from the people to the extent that the electorate has become disenchanted with elections.

It is to fight against the dependency of our economy on foreign capital that the SJMG was formed. We are currently working with other progressive organizations and individuals to provide an alternative to the decadent current political system. We have the objective of taking control of our country from the parties that believe in the new liberal economic ideology. The cheeky ease and arrogance with which they have taken over the control of some of the smaller parties is something that must be defeated. We know that the NPP and NDC as neo-colonial parties will not and never confront the control of our economy by foreign concerns. And why should they do so?. They also benefit immensely from managing the neo-colonial state. That is why they will gleefully adhere to policies and programmes dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). The two institutions were created to establish the hegemonic control of the United States of America (USA) and Western Europe over African resources.

On this important day of our independence, we are calling on the mass of our people to reflect on the root cause of our problems and together find ways to solve our problems in order to bring social and economic justice to our people.

The SJMG, is calling on all progressive and nationalistic forces to come together and form a political party that will provide an alternative to the hegemony of our politics by the two decadent and neo-colonial parties of the NPP and NDC.

The SJMG together with the Concerned Nkrumaists of North America (CNNA), the Osageyfo Youth Movement, Afram Progressive Forum, Convention for Progressive Organisations, Heritage Pan African Revolution and as well as other groups are engaged in discussions on how to provide an alternative to the NPP and NDC.

We in the SJMG are willing and prepared to work with organisations such as the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, progressive organisations and individuals who are ready to walk along the path towards our second independence. By this we mean building a country that controls its natural and human resources for the betterment of its people. In a nutshell the construction of a socialist society. We also believe in the Pan-Africanist project, that together with other African states we can defeat imperialism and bring social and economic justice to the whole of Africa. Now is the time more than ever before for Africans to work towards the control of their resources. We have to stop lamentation and agonizing and take concrete steps for our own development. Nobody can do this for us, unless ourselves.

We must work together in a united party with clear pro-people political programme that clearly provides alternatives to disengage us from foreign control. It is a matter of priority for us to eschew individualism and petty party formations and work together to salvage Ghana from the disaster that the NPP and NDC have plunged us so far into.

Issued on Friday, 6th March 2020, Bolgatanga, Upper East Region.

Please contact the following for further information:

Nyeya Yen 0200133091, Aidan Adongo 0541140922 & Hillary Adongo 0247483235
"One has damage to the skull and there is a bullet inside. Of the others, two have gunshot wounds to the lower extremities and one to the upper extremities," said Dr Mustafa Burak Sayhan. Loading A source in Edirne said they had seen Turkish border guards firing rubber bullets at migrants, while another eyewitness said migrants had also come under fire from the Greek side. Thousands of migrants are stranded on Turkey's land border with Greece ever since Turkey on Friday said it would no longer stop them from trying to reach Europe. But the move was met by a harsh response from Greece, which does not want a repeat of the last migration crisis that peaked in 2015-16.

Greek security forces have been firing tear gas at the migrants trying to cross the land border between Kastanies and Pazarkule nearly every day since Turkey flung the border gates open. At Kastanies, on the Greek side of the border, the military allowed reporters one hour of access to the restricted zone on Wednesday. A DPA reporter saw police in riot gear launching tear gas at migrants as they moved toward the border fence and barricades. The migrants threw some still-smoking missiles back, along with stones. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised not to move to reestablish border controls for migrants until his conditions are met. "This refugee influx will continue until a new constitution, based on Syria's political unity and territorial integrity, is drafted and free elections are held ... and a new government is formed," he said on Wednesday.

Loading "If they want to solve the issue, European countries should support the political and humanitarian solution Turkey is trying to achieve in Syria," Erdogan added. He is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the escalation of tensions between the two countries in Syria where President Bashar al-Assad has cornered the last of his opposition - fighters and civilians - in Idlib province, near the border with Turkey. Russia, which supports Assad and has been a major player in air strikes on rebel targets, is said to be reinforcing its troops located in Syria, by sea and air ahead of the talks, which Erdogan hopes the talks will yield a ceasefire in Idlib. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Turkey of blackmailing Europe by sending refugees to the Greek border.

Migrants climb a fence installed by Turkish authorities near the Turkish-Greek border in Pazarkule on Wednesday. Credit:AP "This migratory pressure is organised," Le Drian told the Senate in Paris. "It is organised by President Erdogan's regime as a form of blackmail against the European Union." EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell, after meeting Erdogan and other officials over two days, said that the bloc could work with Turkey to address the conflict in Syria, but warned that Ankara's decision to open its borders to Europe undermines trust. On the agenda was further EU assistance to help Turkey address "the challenges stemming from the situation in Syria," according to an EU statement. The EU, in turn, expects Ankara to "deliver on its obligations" under the 2016 EU-Turkey migration deal.

According to Greek sources, some 12,500 migrants were massed across the border, with the biggest flashpoint in the area of the Kastanies-Pazarkule crossing. This has sent the EU scrambling for measures to prevent a new surge of migrants, four years after a collapsing deal with Turkey hugely curbed the number of people making it into the bloc. In Brussels, EU interior ministers held emergency talks and agreed that the bloc should take "all necessary measures" to protect its border "in accordance with EU and international law," according to a joint statement. A small demonstration of some 350 people assembled outside, holding signs reading "Refugees Welcome" and "Protect humans, not borders". Many in the EU worry about a repeat of Europe's 2015-16 migration influx, which triggered a populist backlash and gave rise to anti-EU forces.

EU top officials and member states have stood resolutely by Greece in the past few days, despite accusations of heavy-handed tactics from rights groups and NGOs. Luxembourg and Finland have offered to take in 100 and 175 vulnerable people, mostly minors, from Mediterranean countries. Many in the EU worry about a repeat of Europe's 2015-16 migration influx, which triggered a populist backlash and gave rise to anti-EU forces. The flaring crisis at the Turkish-Greek border also exposes a broader rift between member states on how to deal with migration. Efforts to overhaul the bloc's outdated asylum rules have led nowhere, with EU capitals fiercely divided on whom to take in and how to distribute them.

European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who oversees migration affairs, said he hoped the new pact could be unveiled within a few weeks. EU border agency Frontex is preparing to deploy further equipment to the Greek border, while Athens can expect up to 700 million ($781 million) in additional EU funding. EU member states offered support for Greece's border effort. Germany is to send 20 police officers and a helicopter, while Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski declared readiness to send 100 border guards and 100 police officers to Greece. Greece was also taking steps on its other flank, in the Aegean, and is set to accelerate the deportation of migrants still arriving on the islands. On Sunday Athens suspended asylum applications for a month and plans to expel all those arriving in the meantime with an expedited procedure.
Bengaluru, March 5 : Four Madhya Pradesh MLAs, three from Congress and an independent, have arrived in the city, said a source in the Congress on Thursday.

"As per information we received, three Congress MLAs and one independent came to Bengaluru on Tuesday night or early Wednesday and are staying at a villa Whitefield in the city's southeast suburb," the source told IANS.

Claiming that only Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) people have access to the the four MLAs, the source said the party's state unit did not have their names yet.

The Congress source said the MP lawmakers want to join the BJP.

"I have no idea if any MLAs went to Chikmagalur," added the source.
Fox5 San Diego

A 10-year-old boy surrendered to police Thursday after hiding out in a shed and firing a shotgun at them.

San Diego police said the unusual firefight began when the boys parents called the police because he was having an emotional and mental episode.

Police said the boy grabbed a hammer and a knife from his house. He initially spoke with police before running into a shed in his backyard, where a shotgun was stored, and began firing rounds off at police.

The San Diego Union Tribune reported gunshots kicked off a nearly two-hour standoff between the boy and San Diego police. Eventually SWAT officers and an armoured vehicle arrived on the scene.

During the stand-off, a nearby elementary school was put on lockdown and a home was evacuated.

The boy turned himself in to the police around 11.30am. Officers said the boy would be put in protective custody and given a mental health evaluation.

Lieutenant Shawn Takeuchi said the police responded to the situation like they would any other standoff, but assured that the police kept in consideration that they were dealing with a child.

He said responding officers were taking it slowly to reach a peaceful resolution.
St. George's School and International School of Luxembourg have announced contingency measures in the event of a coronavirus infection at the school.

St. George's

Writing to parents of pupils, St. George's officials state "the Ministry of Health has further advised all schools in Luxembourg yesterday that if a member of staff or a student falls ill with the COVID-19 virus, they will require the school to close for 14 days and all staff and students will need to remain at home for that period. If a case therefore occurred at our school, we would need to close."

Due to the impossibility of planning for any infections the school can only inform parents on an ad-hoc basis and have stressed that all families need to be aware of that eventuality "now and remain prepared for this happening in the weeks ahead.

Parents (and indeed pupils) will not have access to the school during the 14 day closure period, the school insists that this will be communicated to all parents using their established SMS, e-mail, app and website channels.

Further, the school notes that examination classes in Year 11, 12 and 13 may be impacted; "we will make alternative arrangements with the examination boards if we are closed during the examination period."

This news follows the announcement from Lycee Vauban that they too will follow Ministry of the Health guidelines.

International School of Luxembourg (ISL)

ISL outlined a similar approach to that above, noting that the school will be immediately closed should any member of staff or student be found to have been infected. Their announcement says that the school director should be informed by the ministry by approximately 6am, at which point all parents will receive notification by SMS, e-mail, and through the parent portal.

An important note is that the school also intends to include "a phased approach to virtual learning," which indicates that some degree of teaching will continue, from home, should the school be temporarily closed.
>>> Lockdown on COVID-19 cluster in Vinh Phuc lifted



>>> Vietnam successfully produces SARS-CoV-2 test kit



>>> 30 Vietnamese returning from Chinas Wuhan freed from medical isolation

The senior government official, who is also the head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, made the statement during a military exercise on Covid-19 prevention and control hosted by the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday (March 4).

The drill, which is the largest of its kind in the army, was organised to strengthen coordination in preventing and combating the Covid-19 epidemic at all levels, and to assess the capacity and supplement plans and procedures to be ready to cope with new situations in the fight against the disease.

The field exercise was conducted at the Military Medical Academy, Hanoi Capital High Command, 1st Army Corps and at other infirmary units. The operative exercise was implemented in a five-level hypothetical situation from the early appearance of the disease to its spread to the community of 3,000-30,000 people.

To anticipate new scenarios arising from the epidemics complex development around the world, Deputy PM Dam urged for preparedness if new Covid-19 infections appear in Vietnam.

Whether or not the source of infection is identified, we must quickly segregate, promptly treat, thoroughly localise and avoid the spread of the disease to the community, Dam stressed.

Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam (third from left) and Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich (second from left) watch the rehearsal online, Hanoi, March 4, 2020. (Photo: VGP)



Vietnam has recorded 16 confirmed cases so far but all of these have fully recovered and been discharged from hospitals after quarantine and treatment. Since February 13, the country has not detected any new cases.

Son Loi, a rural commune with 10,000 residents in Vinh Phuc Provinces Binh Xuyen district was placed under a three-week quarantine on February 13 following six confirmed cases were detected, was declared officially free from the lockdown at 0:00 on March 4, as the locality did not record any new case of infection during the three-week period.

However, as the disease has spread to dozens of countries, Deputy PM Dam affirmed that besides continuing to apply preventive measures, it is necessary to focus also on the early detection of infection cases in health facilities and communities for timely treatment, isolation and the thorough stamping-out of the disease.

He requested continued strengthening of the capacity of backup facilities, as well as an ability to detect, isolate and treat infection cases at the grassroots level with the support of leading doctors and experts, like in Son Loi commune.

The deputy PM also noted that as Covid-19 is a new disease, coordination and experiential lessons learned from the fight against the deadly virus are important for Vietnam in order to develop scenarios, plans and mechanisms for any disease outbreak in the future.

He also expressed his hope that the army would continue to actively participate in epidemic prevention and control, cementing the peoples confidence that Vietnam can defeat the disease together.

Military medical forces carry out rehearsals of medical examination, treatment and isolation for patients and people suspected of being infected with Covid-19 in the isolation areas managed by the army on March 4, 2020. (Photo: VGP)
Though there has been no sign yet that big doors are closing internationally, the violence in New Delhi has clearly opened a new chapter of international questioning of Mr. Modis agenda, and, perhaps, of the investment climate in a country hoping to turn its weakening economy around. The current unrest threatens one of Indias biggest appeals for investors or potential allies: that it is the worlds largest secular democracy.

In private conversations, diplomats are worried that the rhetoric coming from Mr. Modis governing Bharatiya Janata Party is creating an environment that could lead to more violence. They point out that B.J.P. members have been labeling protesters and opposition supporters as terrorists who were supported by Pakistan. One minister led crowds in chants of shoot the traitors!

One area where international officials believe that India may be particularly hurting itself is in its campaign to be granted a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council along with other nuclear powers. Speaking on condition of anonymity, several diplomats, including some from countries that have publicly pushed for an Indian seat on the Security Council, say that their governments are now reluctant to push the issue after Indias domestic unrest has laid bare the effects of Hindu nationalism there.

During his first campaign for prime minister in 2014, Mr. Modi downplayed his Hindu agenda. His first term was marked by an energetic foreign policy and alliance building. Domestically, he focused on development and economic reforms. He promoted himself as a globalizer and unifier, friends with everyone: the Israelis and Palestinians, the Russians and the Americans.

After winning a second term last year, Mr. Modis government prioritized issues that appealed to its Hindu-nationalist base, and the prime minister himself talked less about economic reform.

In August, the government scrapped the statehood of Indias only Muslim-majority state of Kashmir and locked up hundreds of its politicians and activists without charge. In December, the government approved a citizenship law that would expedite citizenship for every major religion in the region except Islam. Coupled with a citizenship test, observers worry the policies will disenfranchise Indias 200 million Muslims, 14 percent of the population.
Book ninjas are walking into trains and buses and leaving novels written by Australian women in empty seats for people to find in the lead-up to International Women's Day.

Books supplied by publishers are being distributed across the nation, including in Brisbane, as part of the Books on the Rail initiative, which began in Melbourne by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus in 2016.

Brisbane resident Sarah Taviani was happy to join the movement to promote Australian authors and reading. Credit:@commasandampersands, Instagram

There are about 10,000 books in circulation in Australia, bearing a sticker that reads "take me, read me, return me".

Ms Berg said the initiative began as a way to connect book lovers and promote books.
At least nine people were killed and 60 injured on Thursday when a bakery fire swept through a crowded market in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, health officials said.

Six children were among the dead and 14 of the injured were in critical condition, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Witnesses said they heard an explosion come from a bakery in the Nusseirat camp in central Gaza before a blaze engulfed the bakery and quickly spread to nearby stores, factories and cars parked along the street.

Palestinian members of Civil defence firefighters try to control a fire broke out at a market Market fire, Nusseirat, Gaza Strip today. Nine people died, and more than 50 Palestinians were injured in an explosion in Nusseirat refugee camp

Palestinian firefighters try to put out a fire that broke out in a market in the central Gaza Strip today

Firefighters try to fight back a blaze after a fire broke out today at a market in the central Gaza strip

Palestinians hose down burnt cars after a fire broke out in a market in the central Gaza Strip today

Gaza's interior ministry, which is run by the enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas, said the fire resulted from a gas leak inside one of the bakeries which caused several cooking gas bottles to explode.

Large numbers of civilians rushed to help firefighters put out the flames. Smoke rising over the refugee camp could be seen from miles away.

'People started to run towards the sound but then a huge fire broke out...it was horrifying,' said Ishaq Kuhail, 24, who owns a nearby cellphone shop.

A Palestinian Hamas militant controls the scene where a fire broke out in a market in the central Gaza Strip today

Palestinians put out a fire that broke out in a market in the refugee camp of Nusseirat in central Gaza Strip today

Palestinians put out a fire that broke out in a market in the refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip today

'I have never seen anything like it.'

The fire was eventually put out after over three hours of work by firefighters and civilians, said Mohammad Mahmoud, 38.

Gaza authorities said they would offer cash assistance to the injured and families of the dead.

Gaza, a Palestinian enclave which covers 140 square miles (365 square km) along the Mediterranean Sea, is home to some two million people.

Israel maintains a blockade of the Strip, citing security concerns from Hamas, with which it has fought several wars.
Coronavirus cases in India swell to 28 as 22 more test positive

The number of COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases in India rose to 28, with 22 more cases confirmed today, the largest number of cases reported in a day, union health minister Harsh Vardhan has said.

The 22 COVID-19 cases include 16 Italian tourists who had travelled with their countryman, who initially tested positive. The Indian driver of the tourists has also tested positive.

Addressing the media about the recent rise in the COVID-19 cases in India, the minister said, "From now on, all flights and passengers will be part of universal screening, not just those to the 12 countries which we had listed earlier."

14 Italians and one Indian, who were part of the team of the Jaipur COVID-19 confirmed case, are also initially confirmed positive for COVID-19. Another case in Jaipur, wife of the already confirmed Italian patient, has been confirmed for COVID-19.

Six people in Agra, who are family members of the COVID19 confirmed case from Delhi, are confirmed for COVID-19.

Six positive cases were reported in Agra. They are all relatives of the Delhi-based man who tested positive for COVID-19.

In addition, two cases with high viral load have been detected in Telangana.

Meanwhile, tech giant Intel said one of its employees in Bengaluru had "potentially been exposed" to the coronavirus and is currently under quarantine.

According to the health ministry, about 5,89,000 people were screened at airports and over 15,000 people at minor and major seaports and over 10 lakh at the border of Nepal, till Tuesday.

Last month, three cases were recorded in Kerala. All three patients have now recovered and were discharged from the respective hospitals.

The Union Health Minister has requested all hospitals in Delhi to develop good quality isolation wards, in order to stay prepared for more coronavirus cases.

Leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda have said they will not celebrate Holi or hold any Holi Milan function in view of the novel Coronavirus outbreak.

Global tally following the coronavirus outbreak on Monday rose above 3,000 with the new count in China mainland rising to 2,912.

The deadly virus, that originated in China late last year, continues to spread around the world.
The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate Nigerias apex bank, CBN, and FIRS over alleged racketeering in allocating of foreign exchange.

The House took this decision on Thursday after adopting a motion brought under matters of urgent national importance by the chairman, committee on finance, James Faleke (Lagos, APC).

The CBN is responsible for injecting dollars into the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

It mostly distributes to the wholesale sector, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the invisible segments.

The motion is titled Urgent Need to Rescue the Country from Over $30bn Annual Revenue Leakages Arising from Various Malpractices in Foreign Exchange Allocation to Companies from Sources Such As CBN, Autonomous, Interbank, Domiciliary and Over-the-Counter Purchases for the Importation of Physical Goods, Payment of Foreign Service Vendors, Dividend Repatriation, Foreign Loan and Interest Payments, Including Foreign Currency Denominated Contracts Payments by Companies in Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Marine Transportation.

Mr Faleke in his motion stated that the leakages are causing the Federal Government to lose revenue worth over $30billion.

He urged the house to also probe commercial banks, forex dealers, importers and beneficiary companies.

Part of Mr Falekes prayer, adopted by the house was that the Committees of Finance; and Banking and Currency will conduct public hearing by looking into the various originating documents maintained by the CBN, banks, forex dealers, FIRS, importers and other beneficiary companies.

The committees were also mandated to identify the perpetrators and the atrocities committed based on verifiable documents obtained from the valuable records.

Determine in a statutory and in a professional manner, the revenue amount involved in the malpractices by each organisation based on every revenue line item collectable by agency of government for the purpose of timely recovery into government accounts.

Make a formal report of findings and provide necessary recommendations toward the correction and regularisation of the problems aimed at putting a stop to the menace in the future.

Advise the House on the statutory provisions/amendment for penalties as provided in the applicable Law for various related offences as a deterrent to others.

The speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, while ruling on the motion told the panel to conclude its investigation within weeks.
Theyre back, baby! Photo: David Lachapelle/Paramount/Kobal

Extremely exciting news, sketch-comedy nerds: The funny Canadian boys known as the Kids in the Hall are returning to our TV screens soon! Amazon announced today that The Kids in the Hall, the Canadian sketch-comedy show that originally aired from 19891995, is returning to the streaming network with eight all-new episodes. All of the original troupe members  Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson  are slated to return for the new batch of episodes, and Lorne Michaels is attached as executive producer. (Its confirmed that they will be reprising fan-favorite characters, so dont worry, Buddy Cole fans.)

Even after 30 years, The Kids in the Hall has retained its brilliance and originality. We are happy to be bringing back all of the original Kids for the new series, Michaels said on the news. Added Amazon Studios James Farrell: Weve been investing in Canada for several years and are excited to add to that momentum by making The Kids in the Hall the first Canadian Amazon Original series.

While the original sketch show ended in 1995, the Kids have reunited many times over the years, from their 1996 movie Brain Candy to the miniseries Death Comes to Town to several reunion tours. (They were also the subject of Paul Myerss 2018 book One Dumb Guy.) There has been talk of a possible Kids in the Hall reunion series for a few years now, with McDonald saying in a 2017 interview that Michaels wanted the reunion to happen similar to what Mr. Show did with Netflixs W/ Bob & David in 2015. Its so at the beginning, were not able to even get conference calls together. Theres always one or two of us that are kind of busy, McDonald said. And because we are who we are, theres always one of us against it. But I think, right now, theres no one against it  And Ill try to get it going, because Im the one whos supposed to get it going  Its super exciting! We, and all 30 Helens, very much agree.
36-year-old Kerala man who died after testing negative for coronavirus, cremated with WHO protocol

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Kannur(Ker), Mar 05: A 36-year-old man from Kerala, who died after testing negative for coronavirus, was cremated after being wrapped in layers of white cloth and his family was not allowed to get close to his mortal remains.

The youth, who had recently returned from Malayasia had died at Kochi on February 29 after being admitted to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College hospital as he was running high fever.

State Health Minister K K Shailaja said though the man's samples had tested negative, further tests could not be done as he passed away. "He was so tired, sinking and showed symptoms of infection", she said.

5 people with travel history to coronavirus-hit countries kept in isolation in Srinagar hospital

A medical official said though the man's two test samples were negative, as a safety precaution his body was covered as per protocol in layers of cloth and polythene and taken from Kochi to Payyannur his home town in Kannur district.

The man's family had been counselled about the protocol being followed, the official said. According to hospital sources, the man had been suffering from pneumonia, he was diabetic and died due to multi organ failure.

Kerala had reported the country's first three Coronavirus cases but all the patients had been discharged from hospitals after they recovered and tested negative for the infection, which has claimed over 3,100 lives and affected 90,000 people in more than 60 countries.

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Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 17:50 [IST]
She's one of the biggest names in pop music and soon Katy Perry will be able to add "mother" to her roster of achievements.

The 35-year-old, who is engaged to Pirates of the Caribbean actor Orlando Bloom, revealed her pregnancy in her new music video for her song, Never Worn White, which is from her upcoming fifth studio album.

In addition to 13 Grammy nominations, five American Music Awards and five Billboard Music Awards (among many others), Perry has also gained notoriety for her outlandish and quirky sense of style.

Perry was propelled to fame in 2008 when her single "I Kissed a Girl" hit the top of the charts, sending her album "One of the Boys" into the Billboard Top 10.

Katy Perry poses for a photo backstage during MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios June 9, 2008 (Getty Images ) / Getty Images

When she first entered the limelight over a decade ago, kitsch-loving Perry's stage outfits comprised of an arsenal of leg-baring ensembles in a series of retro silhouettes.

The pop star rapidly adopted a more outlandish style on stage, donning PVC and micro-mini's whenever she had the chance. And as her star ascended, Perry took every red carpet as an opportunity to showcase her fashion fearlessness.

Katy Perry attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 (Getty Images ) / Getty Images

Humour is an integral aspect of her whimsical style, and that's never been clearer than when she attended last year's "Camp: Notes on Fashion" themed Met Gala dressed as an illuminated chandelier. But did that top the six-foot high angel wings she wore to the Met Gala in 2018? That's for you to decide.
World Book Day 2020

Gibraltar Cultural Services confirms that the public performances and events scheduled for tomorrows World Book Day Celebrations at the John Mackintosh Hall have been cancelled.

This includes the performances by The White Light Company and JF Dance as well as the Story Telling sessions at the Library scheduled as from 4.30pm.

This follows the recommendation by the Director of Public Health and the COVID-19 Co-ordinating Group, that public gatherings and events where crowds of adults, especially of senior citizens, might congregate should be discouraged.

GCS will continue to host a number of school visits during the day and will be offering a variety of fun and educational activities for the pupils. This years theme is Aladdin, taken from the One Thousand and One Nights/Arabian Nights, a collection of stories that includes the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor, Shahrazad and Ali Baba, among others.

There will be no changes to the activities within the schools, which will continue as planned.

All Government events are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with the situation monitored daily as it develops. A spokesperson for the Govt said that they understand that this may be inconvenient and frustrating but their main concern and focus is to safeguard the wellbeing of the community.

The Government would like to remind the public that it is confident that Gibraltar is as ready as possible for the impact of the virus.

The Government continues to take the advice of our Public Health professionals and the situation is under constant review.

'The best thing that everyone can do to protect themselves and their loved ones is to wash hands regularly and well with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. It is also a good idea not to shake hands, hug or give kisses when greeting colleagues, friends and relatives for the time being, especially if they are over 70. We know that the elderly and people with chronic health conditions are the most vulnerable, so we must all do our part to keep ourselves and our loved ones out of harms way.

If you do not feel well, please do not go to the Primary Care Centre or to St Bernards Hospital as this puts you and others at greater risk. Go home, avoid public transport and call 111 as soon as you can to tell us about your symptoms.

For almost 90% of people, the symptoms will be very mild and most people who contract the virus will be able to recover well and quickly at home. 99% of people will likely fully recover. The focus now is to increase the distance between people in order to try to slow the spread as much as possible, and to take extra care with older and vulnerable friends and relatives. Think twice before you pay them a visit and strongly consider whether you could phone or video call them instead.'

Please look to official sources for advice, particularly www.wuhan.gi

 PROTECT your loved ones  call, dont visit

 WASH your hands

 CALL 111 if you feel unwell
The woman's diagnosis comes after James Kwan, 78, passed away from the illness in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital at the weekend.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said WA's ongoing campaign to restrain and isolate the virus had so far been successful. Credit:Lauren Pilat

A woman aged in her 30s returned to Perth on Monday, having travelled in the UK and Iceland, coming home via Dubai, and became unwell on Tuesday.

A third West Australian has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

He had been evacuated from Darwin to Perth on February 21 with his 79-year-old wife Theresa, who has also tested positive to the virus and remains in hospital.

Tourism pioneer James Kwan was the first Australian to die from coronavirus.

Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson said the new patient had self-isolated as soon as she became unwell. She was being managed at her home in Perth, as she had a mild illness and was in a stable condition.

He said because she was asymptomatic on the plane to Perth, and probably in the incubation period of the illness, the risk to other travellers was low.

He could not give details of the flight or airline she had travelled on or when she had been at Perth Airport.
Although the owner obviously took his eyes off the Doberman long enough for the pooch to get into some mischief, Payton said, this dog was obviously no fool in school. In fact, his personality was a testament to how well socialized and trained he was, particularly because his breed does not always have the best reputation.
Compared to my desk at work, this workspace is actually fairly clean and organized.

Graham Rapier / Business Insider

I'm stuck working from home this week thanks to my company's coronavirus policy.

Last week, I returned from a vacation in Japan just as cases there (and in the US) were starting to spread rapidly.

Working from home is the worst, but I'm determined to make the most of the week.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's been one day and I'm already going a little stir crazy.

Last week, I was informed by a manager that any Insider employees who had recently traveled to countries affected by the quickly spreading coronavirus (Japan, in my case) were to work from home for two weeks from the date of their return. That means until Monday March 9 for me, despite being in the office for three days after my trip.

A few of my coworkers were jealous, but I hate working from home. Distractions are plentiful, company is nonexistent, and there isn't any free coffee. I cannot emphasize enough the lack of free coffee. There are also some tools, like the Bloomberg Terminal, that we can't access remotely. I'm sure I will be nagging some coworkers to help me find information.

Complaints aside, and left with no choice, I was determined to make the most of my temporarily remote status. After all, some 24.8 million Americans  both full-time and self-employed  work from home on an average day, according to 2018 numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So I asked my Twitter followers for their advice. The responses ranged from what you might expect: Establish a routine, avoid stretchy pants, and put on a show or podcast. Some of the advice was more extreme: Get a dog.

To be clear: this "quarantine" is simply out of an abundance of caution by my employer. No federal, state, or local governments had implemented rules for people returning from Japan at the time of my return. Still, it left my roommate wondering "what am I supposed to do if you DO have the virus?!"

Story continues

Here's my plan to survive four more days of exile:

Establish a workspace.

Work from home desk space

Graham Rapier / Business Insider

My desk at work is chaotic. But it's dedicated to one thing: work. It has two monitors, a standing desk, and a nice comfortable chair.

At home all I have is this chair, so I commandeered the kitchen table (sorry again, roommate). Luckily, there's more natural light here than at work in Lower Manhattan, and the Wi-Fi might even be faster. Still, its mere feet from my bed and other distractions.

Go outside.

Prospect Park Lake - work from home coronavirus

Graham Rapier / Business Inisder

The weather has been beautiful lately, which bodes well for my mental health. The longer days don't hurt either. During lunchtime the first day I took a quick stroll to the park and hung out with some ducks. I'm not saying they're better listeners than my coworkers, but they were good company.

Going outside BEFORE starting to write for the day is going to be more difficult. It sounds great in theory, but cold is cold, and pants are harder to put on when I'm not actually going anywhere.

Food.

Snacks work from home coronacvirus

Graham Rapier / Business Insider

This sounds like a no-brainer, but I realized that in previous iterations of working from home that my pantry was not prepared. So on Sunday, I went to town at my local Stop and Shop and got breakfast foods, fancy coffee, snacks, and more. I also had some homemade soup on hand from wisdom teeth surgery  but that's for a very different blog post

Distractions  but the good kind

Spotify playlist - work from home coronavirus

Spotify

As monotonous (or loud: looking at you Jim Cramer) as the CNBC anchors can be sometimes, I wanted to have the headlines and stock tickers crossing in lieu of my usual second monitor and TweetDeck. When I really needed to focus  and drown out the construction noises from my neighbors  my all-but-noise-cancelling headphones came in handy (I also highly recommend this "minimalism" Spotify playlist.)

Will this work?

Netflix - work from home coronavirus qurantine

Graham Rapier / Business Insider

My best guess is no. As I file this story from my second day of working from home, things are looking bleak. If it hadn't been for a scoop I was chasing yesterday, motivation would have been fleeting. I'll be filing a second dispatch after the full week is up. What else am I missing? Let me know at grapier@businessinsider.

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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) London, United Kingdom/Jakarta, Indonesia  Thu, March 5, 2020 15:48 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20688bfa1 2 National Twitter,Facebook,Twitter-in-Indonesia,Facebook-in-Indonesia,military,account,Papua,social-media Free

Twitter and Facebook have suspended more than 80 accounts following a Reuters investigation that linked them to a network of news sites backed by the Indonesian army that publish pro-government propaganda about the restive region of Papua.

The 10 sites in the network appear to be independent news outlets. But registration records and Reuters interviews with website editors and a special forces intelligence officer showed they are funded and coordinated by an Indonesian army corporal.

Materials from the websites were spread by a network of Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Some of them used profile photos or cartoons that made them appear to be the work of Papuan residents or "Free Papua" activists, even as they promoted material that praised the army and criticized advocates of Papuan self-determination.

Reuters flagged more than 80 accounts to both social media platforms following publication of the story. Twitter subsequently took down more than 60 accounts that appeared to be using the fake personas, Reuters checks showed.

"Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter rules," read the message displayed on the platform in response to Reuters' efforts to access the accounts.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the reasons for the suspensions.

A Facebook spokesman said the platform had removed "a number of accounts" flagged by Reuters for being in violation of its community standards, adding its "investigations are ongoing".

Facebook previously took down a network of fake accounts and pages posting content on the Papua Independence movement in October 2019.

A spokesman for the Indonesian military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
He split from girlfriend Rebekah Ward, 25, in March 2019.

And it seems that Dean Gaffney is on the lookout for another stunning female partner, which sparked some hilarious mocking from a male pal during Wednesday's Celebs Go Dating.

The former EastEnders star, 42, was roasted by his friend for only being interested in women that 'were the same age as his daughter,' and suggested that he try and find a partner through personality instead.

Scroll down for video

Cheeky: Dean Gaffney was mocked by his pal for only dating girls that are 'the same age as his daughter' during Wednesday's Celebs Go Dating

During the scenes, Dean's friend Tony 'the truth' Truman, didn't hold back in sharing his take on the star's love life, insisting he was too wrapped up in finding another 'trophy-type' girlfriend.

He told him: 'I think you've got to look for the right type of girl. Instead of this trophy type girlfriend you love having on your arm.

'I know you want a pretty girl but sometimes you should go for personality, not one who wants to have the latest Instagram post.

'That's what you've got to be careful of, choosing girls your daughter's age. Would we want them to meet guys like us?'

Over: The EastEnders star split from his girlfriend Rebekah Ward, 25, in March 2019, after it was claimed he sent a string of racy texts to another woman (pictured in October 2018)

Funny: During Celebs Go Dating, Dean met his pal Tony 'the truth' Truman, who didn't hold back in sharing his take on the star's love life

Dean has been appearing on the current series of Celebs Go Dating in a bid to find love, joining stars such as TOWIE's James Lock, and Love Island star Amy Hart.

Last March, Dean was reportedly dumped by his model girlfriend Rebekah after three years together.

According to The Sun, it came after he begged a mum-of-two Theresa Hayman, 26, on Facebook to send him inappropriate photos after a string of racy texts.

The actor- who has reportedly bedded over 1,000 women- is now claiming she 'wasn't a girl that was hard done by' and she knew what she was doing.

Savage: Tony told him: 'I think you've got to look for the right type of girl. Instead of this trophy type girlfriend you love having on your arm'

Opinions: His pal [pictured] then added: ''I know you want a pretty girl but sometimes you should go for personality, not one who wants to have the latest Instagram post'

Speaking about Theresa's kiss-and-tell, Dean told The Sun last month: 'I didn't just go in there like a Neanderthal asking for pictures, I went along with it and now it's come back on me... it was not like she was brought to the table kicking and screaming.'

The actor blames his actions on a 'self destruct button' and has complained 'the life of an actor is hard' due to him now being out of work as a result, as EastEnders bosses axed him following the scandal.

'I have a self-destruct button and people can't understand why I press it, I have no idea why I pressed it', Dean added at the time.

Speaking of his split, the soap star described himself as 'suffering real heartbreak' after the demise of his relationship but admitted the romance became toxic where ' I didn't treat her right and she didn't treat me right.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Only hours after officials announced four additional confirmed coronavirus cases in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said another five patients have tested positive, bringing the state total to 11.

One new person who had close proximity to the second confirmed coronavirus case in New York  a 50-year-old Westchester man who works at a small law firm located only hundreds of feet away from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan  tested positive for the virus.

Then, the new mans wife, two sons and daughter also tested positive, Cuomo said. The two children attend Westchester Torah Academy, which will be closed at least until Friday.

The newest cases will trigger a Health Department investigation into further potential close contacts.

This was announced only hours after the 50-year-old mans neighbor, wife, son and daughter were announced to have the virus.

The schools the 50-year-old Westchester mans two children attend, SAR Academy and High School in the Bronx and Yeshiva University in Manhattan, have both been shut down until at least Friday, Cuomo said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said two students at Yeshiva University have met the threshold for testing for the virus; the results of those tests are pending. Seven co-workers at the law firm and one intern are also being tested for the virus at various locations, de Blasio said.

The 50-year-old man, who has underlying respiratory illnesses, was initially taken to Lawrence Hospital in Westchester, officials said, but was later hospitalized at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan and was in serious condition. Officials said his condition is improving.

The most recent cases are now triggering Health Department disease detectives to try to make as many connections as possible to ascertain who came into contact with the latest patients.

Update: Yeshiva University's Wilf Campus will be closed until Friday out of an abundance of caution.



SAR Academy and High School in Riverdale will be closed until purim.#COVID19 #coronavirus  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 4, 2020

At a press conference on Tuesday, de Blasio and Cuomo said detectives are looking for prolonged contact, adding that the global medical community believes you cannot contract the virus through casual contact," adding, so the subway is not the issue.

The issue of the train is not the issue, de Blasio said. The issue is prolonged, consistent contact.

Still, the MTAs mass transit divisions  New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Access-A-Ride, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North  have significantly ramped up the frequency and intensity of their sanitizing efforts, using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed disinfectants, the Advance previously reported.

Frequently-touched station surfaces like turnstiles, handrails and MetroCard vending machines will be disinfected daily, with the agencys full fleet of trains, cars and buses undergoing full sanitization every 72 hours.

SUNY, CUNY STUDENTS IN FIVE COUNTRIES RECALLED

Cuomo said that SUNY and CUNY students studying abroad in five countries would be recalled, brought back to the United States on a chartered plane and then quarantined in a dormitory setting for two weeks.

Students studying in China, Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea, will be quarantined out of an abundance of caution, Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

The students will return to New York Stewart International Airport SWF in New Windsor, N.Y., Cuomo said.

We are bringing home @SUNY & @CUNY students studying abroad in China, Italy, Japan, Iran or South Korea. They will be quarantined for 14 days out of an abundance of caution.



Remember: We have been expecting more cases & we are fully prepared. There is no cause for undue anxiety.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 4, 2020

A PANDEMIC OF FEAR

Cuomo earlier cautioned that the rise of confirmed cases in New York should not cause panic.

Remember: We have been expecting more cases & we are fully prepared. There is no cause for undue anxiety, he said, adding, "We have an epidemic caused by coronavirus but a pandemic caused by fear."

Cuomo said the context of the recent cases, which showed four individuals in close contact with the second confirmed case in the state, shows that the virus is behaving as expected.

Additionally, the 39-year-old health worker from Manhattan who was the first confirmed coronavirus case in New York is getting better, Cuomo said. The womans husband tested negative for the virus, Cuomo announced.

Tested cases in Buffalo, Oneida and Suffolk also came back negative, he added.

Those are the facts, Cuomo said. If you understand the facts, there is no reason for undue anxiety.

Globally, there have been over 93,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, and over 100 cases have been confirmed in the United States.

The Washington State Department of Health announced on Tuesday that 10 deaths have been confirmed in the state. One death has been reported in California, the states health department said Wednesday.
Virus Crisis Shifting Westward As Kazakhstan Shuts Ports To Iranian, Azerbaijani Ships

By RFE/RL March 04, 2020

As the COVID-19 virus crisis ebbs in China, it is shifting increasingly westward to areas in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

Clusters of the new coronavirus have emerged in South Korea, Iran, Italy, and Japan.

Iran on March 3 reported a total of 2,336 confirmed cases and 77 fatalities. Twenty-three members of Iran's parliament and the head of the country's emergency services were reported to have been infected.

Kazakhstan closed its Caspian Sea ports of Aktau and Kuryk to ships carrying passengers from Iran and Azerbaijan to prevent the spread of the pathogen, the Central Asian nation's government said on March 4.

Deaths in Italy climbed to 79, making it the deadliest reported outbreak outside China, where the virus originated in December.

South Korea, with a total of 5,328 cases reported on March 4, is limiting human contact by introducing drive-thru testing.

And Ukraine and Morocco recorded their first cases on March 3.

Mostly Muslim Tajikistan asked its citizens on March 4 to avoid attending mosques for Friday Prayers as a precaution, though the Central Asian nation hasn't reported any cases of the virus.

There was no blanket ban on mosque attendance, according to a spokesman for the state committee on religious affairs, but several imams have asked for the measure.

Worldwide, more than 92,000 people have fallen ill and over 3,100 people have died, with China accounting for about 95 percent of them.

The death toll in the United States rose to nine on March 3 and more then 100 people have the infection across at least 15 states. Seattle, Washington has emerged as a cluster with all the deaths occurring there.

"What is happening now in the United States may be the beginning of what is happening abroad," said Nancy Messionnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most cases have been mild.

A $7.5 billion emergency bill to fund the U.S. government's response to the outbreak is making its way through Congress.

Still, frustration has been mounting over lack of access to coronavirus tests in the United States. CDC kits delivered to states and cities in January proved faulty by providing inconclusive results.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn told Congress that testing kits should be available by the end of the week and would give labs the capacity to perform about 1 million coronavirus tests.

As of March 3, only 54 state and local labs were able to conduct tests, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

With reporting by the BBC, CNN, AP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/virus-crisis- shifting-from-china-westward-as -tensions-rise-in-u-s-/30467589.html

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

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:18:11|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Thursday urged efforts at the community level in containing the COVID-19 epidemic and ensuring the supply of people's daily necessities.

Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is leading a central government team that is guiding the epidemic control work in central China's Hubei Province, the center of the outbreak.

While visiting local communities in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei, Sun stressed that the tasks of epidemic prevention and control in Hubei and Wuhan remain arduous, calling for continuous efforts in joint prevention and control, as well as in fortifying a community defense by mass participation.

Sun called for efforts to ensure the supplies of living materials for the residents and strengthened assistance to the disabled, the elderly and other vulnerable groups, after learning about the supply of vegetables, infant products and drugs for chronic diseases.

In response to the difficulties and problems raised by the residents on the spot, Sun required in-depth investigations to address the issues.

A conference held by the leading group in the afternoon stressed the provision of psychological counseling for community residents.
SAN PEDRO, Philippines (AP)  A helicopter carrying the Philippine national police chief and seven other people crashed after hitting a power cable on takeoff Thursday, critically injuring two other generals on board.

Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa and the others were pulled from the wreckage by police officers on a village road in San Pedro city in Laguna province, south of Manila. Gamboa was injured in the shoulder and right arm but flashed a thumbs-up and said, Im OK while being wheeled to an ambulance.

In a video shown by the DZMM network, Gamboa later said from his hospital bed that he would report back to work on Monday and asked for prayers for those who remained hospitalized.

Two passengers  Maj. Gen. Mariel Magaway and Maj. Gen. Jose Ma. Victor Ramos  were in critical condition, while the rest, including the police spokesman and the police flight crew, were in stable condition, police Maj. Gen. Benigno Durana Jr. told reporters.

The aircraft took off from a police compound in Laguna and hit a power cable before crashing onto a road near houses, witness Glenda Garcia said.

It was really loud and we ran away in fear because we thought the helicopter would move out of control in a circle and hit us," Garcia said, adding that power in her village was cut due to the crash.

No one on the ground were hurt by the crash. Part of a rotor blade hit the roof of a house, Garcia and police officials said.

TV video showed the white Bell 429 helicopter resting on its left its side, with men scrambling to put out a small fire in one part of the wreckage and pull out the passengers and flight crew. Gamboa sat on the right side of the chopper, police said.

The group had flown to the area to inspect vehicles seized by highway patrol officers for various violations. They were heading to a police camp for meetings when the helicopter crashed, police said.

Other police helicopters were grounded temporarily for inspections after the crash, police said.

Story continues

Gamboa took over the national police force in October when his predecessor retired early after being linked to illegal drugs.

The 200,000-strong police force has enforced President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug crackdown, which has left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead in a campaign that has alarmed Western governments and human rights groups.

___

Gomez reported from Manila. Associated Press video journalists Joeal Calupitan and Vicente Gonzales contributed to this report.
Advertisement

Amanda Holden led the way on Thursday morning as celebrities celebrated World Book Day across social media.

Famed for her youthful looks, the Heart Radio presenter paid tribute to evergreen children's character Peter Pan by dressing up as Tinkerbell.

Sporting the character's lime-green outfit and fairy wings, Amanda struck a pose after making her way into the radio station's central London studio.

Make me a wish: Amanda Holden led the way on Thursday morning as celebrities celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as fairy Tinkerbell from J.M Barrie's Peter Pan

Here we go: Getting in on the act, co-host Jamie Theakston embraced a similar theme by dressing as Captain Hook, the antagonist from Barrie's 1904 play and its series of bestselling books (although Alesha Dixon clearly missed the memo)

The presenter, 49, added to her look with a pair of flesh coloured tights and silver stiletto heels, while her hair was pulled into a messy bun.

Sharing a playful snap with Instagram followers, she wrote: Its a #Tinkerbell kinda day.'

Getting in on the act, co-host Jamie Theakston embraced a similar theme by dressing as Captain Hook, the antagonist from J.M Barrie's 1904 play and its series of bestselling books and film adaptations.

Say cheese: Amanda and Alesha posed for a fun snap as the celebrated World Book Day on Wednesday morning

Lovely: Rochelle and Marvin Humes' children Valentina (L) and Alaia-Mai (R) also joined in the fun on Thursday morning by dressing as animated bunny Bing and popular children's character Matilda

The Cat In The Hat: Coleen and Wayne Rooney's youngest son Cass got in on the act by dressing as his favourite children's character

Let me tell you a story: Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson read to son Rox as she celebrated World Book Day on Thursday

Rochelle and Marvin Humes' children Alaia-Mai, six, and Valentina, two, also joined in the fun by pulling on costumes dedicated to their favourite characters.

Taking to Instagram. Rochelle, 30, posted two snaps of her daughter dressed respectively as popular children's character Matilda and animated bunny Bing.

Elsewhere Loose Women star Stacey Solomon ensured son Leighton celebrated World Book Day by dressing him up as one of one of English fiction's most iconic creations.

He'll cast a spell on you: Elsewhere Loose Women star Stacey Solomon ensured son Leighton celebrated World Book Day by dressing him up as one of one of English fiction's most iconic creations, Harry Potter

Here we go: Loose Women star Stacey Solomon ensured son Leighton celebrated World Book Day by dressing him up as one of his favourite characters, Harry Potter (L) Alan Halsall's daughter Sienna-Rae dressed as Aladdin character Princess Jasmine (C) while Amy Childs' daughter Polly got into character as Beauty And The Beast character Belle (R)

Big Friendly Giant: Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams - himself a successful children's author - shared a snap of himself as Roald Dahl character The BFG

Taking to Instagram, Stacey, 30, shared a snap of her second son clad in a Harry Potter cape and spectacles, and effect created with a special filter.

Former TOWIE star Amy Childs also joined the celebrity tributes on Thursday morning, with daughter Polly, two, getting into character as Beauty And The Beast character Belle.

Captioning the shot, the 29-year old reality star admitted the celebration was all the more special because it was her oldest child's first.

Adorable: Raheem Sterling and Paige Milian's children Thai-Cruz and Thiago dressed as Peppa Pic character George and children's favourite Peter Pan

Distinctive: Thiago, Manchester City star Raheem's son with Paige, showed off his Peter Pan costume in a series of pictures

What is World Book Day?

World Book Day is a registered charity that aims to give every child and young person a book of their own. It also celebrates the work of authors, illustrators, books and reading in general. A worldwide celebration, it is honoured in over 100 countries across the world. *From World Book Day. Advertisement

She wrote: 'Belle. Awww my darling princess... her first ever #worldbookday2020 how beautiful does she look... please stop growing polly.'

Joining in the fun, retired Olympic swimmer delighted fans by sharing a shot of daughter Summer dressed as legendary Frozen character Princess Elsa.

Captioning the image, Rebecca, 31, admitted the four-year old - her only child with ex-husband Harry Needs - had a hard time deciding which character to choose because she's an avid reader.

She told followers: 'World Book day!!! Summer dressed up on Tuesday at school and the hardest part was finding her favourite book.

'She loves so many and didnt really understand when I asked her to choose just one. A princess came out on top every time though!! Im so glad she loves books and i love reading to her every night.'

Good look: Presenter Sarah Cawood's son Hunter dressed as an elf in celebration of the special day

Life changing literature: Gaby Roslin shared a shot of her most treasured books, among them J.M Barrie's Peter Pan, Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass

Out now: Lisa Faulkner took the opportunity to promote her new book, Meant To Be, during World Book Day

Meanwhile Coronation Street star Alan Halsall's daughter Sienna-Rae, six, joined in as another famous princess - the iconic Jasmine from well-traveled folk tale Aladdin and its string of animated adaptations.

Sharing a snap of his daughter - the 37-year old's child with former co-star Lucy-Jo Hudson - he wrote: 'My little princess rubbed the lamp, made a wish and flew off to school as Princess Jasmine.'

David Walliams, himself a successful children's author, also paid tribute to the special day by sharing an old shot of himself dressed as Roald Dahl character The BFG.

Peaceful protest: DJ Jo Whiley's daughter Coco took the opportunity to dress as Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg

Here she comes: Amanda wore her Tinkerbell outfit in the pouring rain a she arrived at Heart Radio studios on Thursday morning

Comedy: The presenter performed an impromptu dance after making her way inside

Competition: However her young daughter Hollie appeared to outdo her by dressing as Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz

The Little Britain star originally portrayed Dahl's famous creation for Dahlicious Dress Up Day in September 2012, during which he read extracts from the author's famous 1982 book.

And he fondly remembered his involvement in the celebration all things Dahl on Thursday, telling fans: Happy #WorldBookDay everyone. I hope you have as much fun dressing up as I do.'

Manchester City ace Raheem Sterling and fiancee Paige Milian also recognised the celebration by sharing snaps of their two children, Thai-Cruz and Thiago, dressed respectively as Peppa Pig character George and Peter Pan.

Happy World Book day! The costumes were missing, but Helen Flanagan still recognised the special day with infant daughter Delilah, the younger of her two children with footballer Scott Sinclair

Avid reader: Ferne McCann's daughter Sunday appeared to be engrossed with a copy of Roald Dahl's 1988 bestseller Matilda

Especially for you: Sara Cox admitted she was celebrating World Book Day by giving loved ones copies of her autobiographical bestseller, Till The Cows Come Home

Meanwhile Derby County skipper Wayne Rooney, Sterling's former England team-mate, was also part of the fun after wife Coleen dressed their youngest son Cass as The Cat in the Hat.

The two-year old looked adorable as he posed for a picture while dressed as author and illustrator Theodor Geisel hugely popular creation.

Continuing the footballing theme, current England captain Harry Kane's daughter Ivy, three, made an appearance on social media as Little Red Riding Hood.

Sweet: England skipper Harry Kane's daughter Ivy got into the spirit of the occasion by dressing as Little Red Riding Hood

Just like the real thing: 'The Body Coach' Joe Wicks admitted he had been inundated with pictures of young mini-me' holding copies of his Lean In 15 books

Funny: Giovanni Fletcher admitted her two children misinterpreted what their mother meant when she asked them to pose for World Book Day

While DJ Jo Whiley missed the literary theme of the day, she still embraced the fun element of World Book Day, with daughter Coco dressing as Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

There was also an opportunity for self-promotion on the day, with presenter Lisa Faulkner using it to promote her newly released book, Meant To Be.

Following her lead, Sara Cox admitted she was celebrating World Book Day by giving loved ones copies of her autobiographical bestseller, Till The Cows Come Home.

Hitting all the right notes: Take That star Gary Barlow urged fans to share a story in celebration of the day

Ferne McCann also got involved by posting shots of two-year old daughter Sunday engrossed in a copy of Matilda, another Roald Dahl besteller.

Fellow reality star Marnie Simpson made sure she was among the celebrity tributes by sharing a snap of herself reading to five-month old son Rox.

World Book Day is a registered charity that aims to give every child and young person a book of their own.

It also celebrates the work of authors, illustrators, books and reading in general. A worldwide celebration, it is honoured in over 100 countries across the world.
One of the vehicles set alight in the arson attack. Credit: McAuley Multimedia

Three vehicles have been destroyed in an arson attack in Ballymoney in the early hours of Thursday.

The vehicles were set alight in the Alexandra Avenue area and the incident was reported to police shortly before 4am.

Police attended the scene alongside the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and found three vehicles and a garage on fire.

It's believed the fire was started deliberately, spreading from the vehicles to the garage and causing significant damage.

Police are appealing for information and witnesses and ask anyone who may have noticed any suspicious activity in the area, to get in touch on 101, quoting reference number 140 of 05/03/20.

Alternatively, information can be provided anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
On Tuesday, March 10, at 11:30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a presentation of the educational program aimed to change the existing view of the Chornobyl zone and the events of 1986. The state course for the preparation of guides of the Chornobyl zone will allow earning UAH 2,300 per day. Participants: Acting Head of the State Agency for Management of the Exclusion Zone Kateryna Pavlova; Vice-rector of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine for academic and educational work, PhD in Economics, Academician of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Professor Serhiy Kvasha; radiation reconnaissance platoon commander, writer, ecologist Serhiy Myrny; CHORNOBYL TOUR director Yaroslav Yemelianenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration of journalists with press cards on the spot. Details by phone: (050) 077 7609.
Tomato sauce is a staple in many Kiwi kitchens - but the debate has always raged as to where it is best kept.

Well now food company Heinz have chimed in to the debate saying where they think the best place is to store it

"Because of its natural acidity, *tomato sauce* is shelf-stable. However, its stability after opening can be affected by storage conditions."

"We recommend that this product, like any processed food, be refrigerated after opening. Refrigeration will maintain the best product quality after opening."

"We discovered a lot of confusion, misinformation and downright bad habits  including ones that could be putting their health at risk."

The same was said for other sauces such as mustard, mayonaise and aioli.
In Milan on Wednesday, attendance was down at museums, too. Under the regulations, museums must also limit their capacity to make sure the one-meter rule can be enforced. But, at the Novecento, there was no need to turn anyone away.

A staff member at the ticket kiosk said that, by just after midday, only 28 people had been admitted to the museum.

At the Palazzo Reale museum next door, 160 visitors were admitted by 1 p.m. on Wednesday. According to a staff member at the ticket desk, the usual daily average is 1,000.

Daily attendance across Milans museums was down by 70 percent, Filippo Del Corno, Milans chief culture official, said in a telephone interview.

Italys culture ministry analyzes attendance at museums and archaeological sites on a monthly basis, so numbers for the whole country were not available on Thursday. But contacted individually, some of Italys top tourist draws were noting dramatic drops in visitors.

The archaeological site at Pompeii has seen an 80 percent reduction, a culture ministry official said. The Uffizi in Florence continues to register between 1,000 to 2,500 visitors a day, about the same as a normal day in low season, which this year is likely to continue through March and April, said the museums director Eike Schmidt.
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
Vietnamese boats increasingly intruding into Chinese waters for espionage: report

Global Times

By Zhang Hui Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/4 13:55:38

Vietnamese fishing boats have been increasingly intruding into Chinese territorial waters near Hainan Island and Guangdong Province, both are home to many Chinese military bases.

A total of 311 Vietnamese fishing boats intruded into Chinese internal waters, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones in South China in February for the purpose of illegal fishing and spying, according to a report conducted by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a think tank at Peking University.

Among them, 212 entered the southeastern waters of Hainan Island, Leizhou Peninsula and waters near Guangdong, and some 90 fishing boats entered the Chinese waters of the Beibu Gulf, it said.

Most of these fishing boats operated in areas close to some of the major routes for China's naval and air forces stationed in the two provinces, and some Vietnamese boats even came within sight of Chinese military bases, the report said.

Hu Bo, director of the SCSPI, told the Global Times on Wednesday that they began to monitor Vietnamese boats' activities in January.

The research team used data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS), an automated tracking system used to track vessels' movements to avoid collision, while monitoring the Vietnamese boats and regularly releasing reports on it, Hu said.

"Considering that some Vietnamese boats may shut off their AIS terminals, the actual number of their boats could be larger than what we have monitored," Hu said.

In addition to the AIS data, Hu said the team had also visited several islands and spoken to Chinese fishermen for verification.

Compared with Vietnam's previous activities in what are considered to be disputed waters of the South China Sea, such activities in China's non-disputed waters are of a more serious nature, representing an outright violation of China's sovereignty and security and of related international laws such as the UN Charter, Hu said.

The team also found that some Vietnamese fishing vessels deliberately changed their AIS information or fraudulently used the vessel calls of merchant ships and Chinese vessels, posing a challenge for China's law enforcement.

Hanoi needs to rein in its illegal fishing activities to maintain bilateral relations and its international image, Hu said.

The Vietnamese intrusions have been going on for more than 10 years. Two Vietnamese boats were seized by Chinese coast guards near Sanya, Hainan Province in 2014, the Xinhua News Agency reported.



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Oklahoma one step closer to putting 'In God We Trust' on over 300 state buildings

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Oklahoma is one step closer to adding the national motto In God We Trust to more than 300 state buildings, with a bill passing the states House of Representatives.

The Oklahoma House voted Tuesday to overwhelmingly support House Bill 3817, with a final tally of 76 yeas, and 20 nays, with 4 legislators excused.

Authored by House Speaker Charles McCall, HB 3817 would have the Office of Management and Enterprise Services display the national motto on 342 state buildings.

The placement and size of the display shall be in keeping with the placement and size of the display of the national motto in the United States Capitol Visitor Center, reads the proposed legislation in part.

The display of the national motto shall not be construed to mean that the State of Oklahoma favors any particular religion or denomination thereof over others.

Republican state Rep. Jay Steagall of Yukon defended the legislation, dismissing in a statement last month any church and state separation concerns.

Our government is based on the idea that our inalienable rights are granted to us by our creator, Steagall said, according to Tulsa World. It is impossible to separate church from state. And our founders said we should not do that, actually.

Other legislators have criticized the measure, as have multiple secular organizations that view HB 3817 as an offensive government endorsement of religion.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation argued in an action alert that the proposed legislation was an example of government-sponsored Christian proselytizing.

While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it is clear that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience, stated FFRF. These laws are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was founded on God or Christianity, dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government.

The statement In God We Trust became the official motto of the United States in 1956 when President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law that also put the motto on the currency.

More recently, secularist groups have tried to remove the motto from U.S. money and elsewhere under the belief that it violates church and state separation.

Last year, South Dakota put into effect a law that required all public schools to display the national motto that was at least 12 inches by 12 inches in size.

Some have plaques. Other have it painted on the wall, maybe in a mural setting, explained Wade Pogany, executive director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, to The Associated Press last year. [In one school] it was within their freedom wall. They added that to a patriotic theme.
When my partner and I travel to see one of these couples, they don't offer to pick us up at the airport. They have said that they would prefer if we just took an Uber to their home, because it is not wise for them to waste two hours back and forth in traffic. At the same time, they don't expect us to pick them up from the airport, either.
Record sea-surface temperatures in much of the Great Barrier Reef region have intensified the risks that coral bleaching already underway could develop into another mass bleaching event.

The Bureau of Meteorology briefed the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and reef scientists on Thursday of the record February heat and the likelihood that the well-above average sea temperatures will linger well into March.

The Bureau's warning follows an updated alert earlier this week from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that also predicted a high chance of bleaching off eastern Australia and much of the tropics in coming months.

Terry Hughes, head of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said the weather warnings were sufficiently serious for him to order another round of aerial surveys to begin from March 16.
New York: China's Huawei Technologies, the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, has pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court to new charges in a 2018 case against the company.

A corporate logo sits on a Huawei Technologies router at a 5G event in London, UK. Credit:Bloomberg

The latest indictment accused Huawei of conspiring to steal trade secrets from six US technology companies for two decades, lying about its business in North Korea and helping Iran track protesters during the 2009 anti-government demonstrations in that country.

Huawei had previously been charged by the US government with bank fraud and violating sanctions against Iran by using Skycom Tech, a suspected front company, to obtain US goods and move money via the international banking system. It pleaded not guilty to those charges last year.

At an arraignment in US District Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, US time, Thomas Green, a US lawyer for Huawei, entered the not guilty plea on behalf of the company and three subsidiaries, including Futurewei Technologies, its US-based research arm.
Some Mosques In Dushanbe Suspend Mass Prayers To Keep Coronavirus At Bay

By RFE/RL's Tajik Service March 04, 2020

DUSHANBE -- Several mosques in Dushanbe have asked worshippers to not attend Friday Prayers as a precaution against the spreading of the coronavirus in mostly Muslim Tajikstan, which has yet to register a confirmed case.

Afshin Muqim, a spokesman for the Committee on Religious Issues, told RFE/RL on March 4 that the move by some mosques to suspend mass prayers was based on a recommendation from the Tajik Islamic Center.

Muqim added that authorities may officially suspend collective prayers in mosques in the near future.

Deputy Health Minister Mirhomiddin Kamolzoda confirmed to RFE/RL that such a measure is currently being discussed by health officials.

The Education and Science Ministry said on March 4 that all street performances by students held from March 20 to 22 to celebrate the Norouz New Year's holiday had been canceled due to the virus.

Norouz is the pre-Islamic New Year celebration that starts on the vernal equinox, which usually occurs around March 20. It is marked in many countries in Western and Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, and the Balkans.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/some-mosques- in-dushanbe-suspend-mass-prayers-to-keep- coronavirus-at-bay/30468240.html

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

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As the country's total number of positive cases of coronavirus reached 30, the Maharashtra government on Thursday launched a helpline number for the public to seek help in case of coronavirus infection.

The country's total number of positive cases of coronavirus reached 30 today after a person in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, tested positive.

Earlier today, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said: "Since January 17, an action has been taken in this regard and we started preparing ourselves to deal with for such scenario. It was even before the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO)."

He informed that border crossing in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal are also being monitored by specific teams.

Coronavirus has so far killed more than 3200 people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus: Whats Behind the South Korea Outbreak?

The coronavirus has begun to spread rapidly in South Korea, after its government allowed access to people traveling from Wuhan, China, which was the virus epicenter. In this episode of Crossroads we speak with Dr. Jung Min Kim, Chairman of Strategy at Dawn of Liberty, about whats really happening in South Korea, and about how socialist policy and alleged corruption may play a part.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Thu, March 5, 2020 06:56 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206858fe1 2 World #USA,#Elections,Democratic-party,Joe-Biden,Donald-Trump Free

President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed Democrat Joe Biden's "incredible comeback" in the primaries race and signaled how he will attack the new frontrunner, saying he was surrounded by far leftists.

"It was a great comeback for Joe Biden, an incredible comeback when you think about it," Trump told reporters at the White House the morning after the Democrats' Super Tuesday polls.

Biden is running as a moderate, in contrast to his leftist rival Bernie Sanders, but Trump insisted that some of the former vice president's "handlers are further left than Bernie. That's pretty scary."

In his first public comments on the dramatic events of Super Tuesday -- other than a series of mocking tweets -- Trump also said that Sanders could easily have won if liberal Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren had dropped out earlier, thereby not splitting his vote.

Trump noted that decisions by two centrists -- Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar -- to drop out and endorse Biden had electrified the previously struggling vice president's campaign.

Had Warren done something similar to help Sanders, then the self-described democratic socialist, who is calling for a political revolution, "would have won a lot of states."

"She was really a spoiler, because other people got out and those votes went to Joe. Those people really helped Joe, you know, by getting out early," Trump said.

"Had she gotten out, it would have been a very different situation, I think. It would have been a very different night."

Trump also had a typically bitter appraisal of billionaire Mike Bloomberg's flat performance, despite having spent a record hundreds of millions of his own dollars on creating a campaign.

Bloomberg quit the race on Wednesday, throwing his support and likely bottomless funding behind Biden.

Trump dismissed the importance of this, saying "he's going to try and save face by putting some money into Biden's campaign. We'll see what happens. I don't think that's going to have an impact."

"He's doing that because he's spiteful, he's a spiteful guy, I know him well," Trump said. "He made a fool out of himself."
The Thursday said it will hear pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act after arguments in the Sabarimala reference matter are over.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said this after senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought urgent hearing of CAA matters while stating that the Centre has not filed a reply in the matter so far. He said the case needs to be listed for hearing at an early date so that it is does not become infructuous.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench, also comprising justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, that the Centre would be filing a reply in a few days. Sibal said some interim orders are required to be passed in the case.

The apex court said it would consider this and granted liberty to Sibal to mention the matter again after the Holi break. A nine-judge bench is re-examining various religious issues, including the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple and mosques, and the practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community.



The CAA, which was notified on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who had migrated to India till December 31, 2014 following persecution over their faith.

The top court, on December 18 last year, had decided to examine the constitutional validity of the CAA while refusing to stay its operation.

While hearing a batch of petitions, the top court had on January 22 made it clear that the operation of CAA will not be stayed and gave the government four weeks to respond to the pleas challenging the CAA.

The court had also said that pleas concerning Tripura and Assam as well as the matters related to Uttar Pradesh, which is going ahead with the implementation of CAA without framing any rules, can be dealt with separately.

It had also said that the modalities of hearing the batch of petitions on the CAA will be decided in-chamber and the court may fix them for day-to-day hearing after four weeks.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on December 12, turning it into an Act.

Several petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA. Among those who have filed pleas are the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.

The IUML said in its plea that the CAA violates the fundamental Right to Equality and intends to grant citizenship to a section of illegal immigrants by making an exclusion on the basis of religion.

The petition had alleged that the government''s CAA was against the basic structure of the Constitution and intended to explicitly discriminate against Muslims as the Act extended benefits only to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians.

The plea filed by Ramesh said the Act is a "brazen attack" on core fundamental rights envisaged under the Constitution and treats "equals as unequal".

The other petitioners include the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the All Assam Students Union (AASU), the Peace Party, the CPI, NGOs Rihai Manch and Citizens Against Hate, advocate M L Sharma, and law students.
More than a dozen life-size, animatronic dragons have made their way into town and are staying in an enchanted forest at the Houston Zoo.

The Houston Zoo's brand new dragons exhibit features mythical, animatronic creatures of air, land and sea that are hidden among a sprawling magical forest, according to a release. Visitors can come face to face with beasts such as the 35-foot-tall towering East Asian dragon, the Western dragon and the Manticore. All of the dragons move and roar, providing for a thrilling experience for families and kids of all ages.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 19:58 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068a3541 1 Politics Pramono-Anung,Cabinet-Secretary-Pramono-Anung,Fadli-Zon,Fahri-Hamzah,opposition,Jokowi,Gerindra-Party,PKS,Prosperous-Justice-Party,RockyGerung Free

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung said that he missed the pointed criticism from outspoken opposition figures following President Joko Jokowi Widodos successful consolidation of power in the past few months.

I personally find myself longing for people like [former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician] Fahri Hamzah and [Gerindra Party executive] Fadli Zon, who used to criticize the government; they acted as vitamins, Pramono said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Sometimes when theyre not in the news, I seek out Pak Fahri, Pak Fadli, and [government critic] Rocky Gerung on Twitter, wondering why they have yet to voice their usually reinvigorating thoughts.

He said the countrys political scene had lost its dynamism after the Jokowi administration won the support of around 74 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives.

Pramono went on to call on the public to feel free to criticize the government in order to live up to the countrys democratic ideals.

Shortly after his inauguration in October, President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced his Cabinet, which included Gerindra Party chairman and losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto as defense minister, effectively reducing the potential opposition in the House by over a third.

Only three parties in the House are outside the government coalition and only one of those three - the PKS - has definitively said it would act as opposition to the Jokowi administration. The National Awakening Party (PAN) has remained ambivalent, while Democratic Party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that his party would support the government though it would also criticize policies it deemed to be misguided.(rfa)




Haiti - News : Zapping...





COVID-19 : health surveillance in Malpasse

Meeting and implementation of the measures taken by the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) on the border of Malpasse in the context of traveler surveillance and COVID-19 screening.



USA : Cultural program at the Embassy of Haiti

The Embassy of Haiti in the United States in Washington D.C. announces the launch of its new program "Thursdays of Literature and Culture". Thursday March 12 this program will receive Emmelie Prophete Milce. For more information and registration : www.eventbrite.com/e/jeudi-de-la-litterature-et-de-la-culture-avec-emmelie-prophete-tickets-98062291955



Writer E. Danticat elected to the American Academy of Arts...

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has released the list of 13 new members elected this year, which includes the Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat. The induction ceremony for new members will take place at the awards ceremony in mid-May. In parallel, an exhibition of art, architecture, books and manuscripts of new members and laureates will be launched in the galleries of the Academy from May 21 to June 21 See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22688-haiti-literature-edwidge-danticat-wins-the-neustadt-international-prize-for-literature.html



ONA-Polis : first registrations

In the company of several members of the High Command, Rameau Normil the Director General ai of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) presented himself at the headquarters of the National Office of Old Age Insurance (ONA), in Delmas 17, to register for the new program called "ONA-Polis" https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30169-haiti-notice-open-registration-for-the-ona-polis-program.html



DR exported 79 million to Haiti in January 2020

For the month of January 2020, the Dominican Republic exported to the world for 895.3 million US dollars of goods (+ 3.9% compared to January 2019). The main destination was the United States ($ 378.2 million), followed by Switzerland ($ 132.1 million), Haiti (79 million, 8.8% of the month's exports), Puerto Rico (38.1 million) and South Korea (31.6 million).



COVID-19 epidemic : Global report March 5, 2020

Thursday March 2020, the number of people infected worldwide with the Coronavirus COVID-19 (laboratory confirmed cases, official source) rose to 95,748, an increase of 2,293 cases (+7.0%) compared to the previous day (2,142) , https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30183-haiti-news-zapping.html ; 3,286 deaths (+ 2.8%) or 88 more than the day before (3,198). Average mortality rate 3.4%. 53,423 people healed, 2,680 more than the day before. Note that the cure rate continues to remain higher than the number of new confirmed cases.



To date, there have been 15.337 confirmed cases of infected people outside China (+ 16.3%), or 2.152 more than the previous day, in a total of 85 countries (+5 countries compared to the previous day). Note that South Korea, Iran and Italy alone account for 12,099 cases (78.9% of all cases outside of China) and that 50 affected countries have fewer than 10 reported cases.



266 deaths outside of China have been reported to date since the start of the epidemic (December 2019), 60 more than the day before: 107 in Italy, 92 in Iran, 35 in South Korea, 1 in Taiwan, 1 in the Philippines, 2 in Hong Kong, 6 in Japan, 4 in France, 2 in Spain, 2 Australia. 1 Thailand, 2 in Iraq, 11 in the USA (159 confirmed cases).



A first case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in the Dominican Republic. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30165-haiti-flash-first-case-of-covid-19-in-the-dominican-republic.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















New Delhi, March 5 : Days after violence broke out in northeast Delhi, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has reunited a two-year-old girl with her family.

The DCW came to know about the minor through media reports following which Commission's Chief Swati Maliwal handed over the case to the Mahila Panchayat for locating the girl's family.

Through its local enquiry, the team learnt that the girl was currently staying in a shelter home for the riot victims in Mustafabad with a woman named Suhani (name changed).

When the team reached the Shelter Home and spoke to Suhani, she informed them that she had found the child sitting alone near a mosque in the chaos during the violence. The girl was crying and seemed severely traumatised, she said.

Suhani took the girl with her in view of the tense circumstances. When the Commission's team spoke to Suhani, she informed the Commission that she did not report the matter to the police since she was afraid to go to the police. She was also reluctant to give back the girl because she was afraid that the girl might not be looked after properly.

DCW Member Firdaus Khan then spoke to Suhani and explained to her that the Commission was making efforts to find the child's parents. Only then did Suhani agree to hand over the child to the team and police.

The Commission then conducted a joint operation with the police to locate the child's parents. The Commission's team went door to door around the area and talked to local people and publicised the information about the missing girl child in the entire area. The team also made announcements about the girl from the mosque near which the girl was found and subsequently after a lot of effort, the girl's grandfather was traced, who then approached the police station.

The girl's grandfather said that she was with him when the violence brokeout, but when everyone started running, in the confusion the girl went missing. He said that he and his family had been looking for the girl for the last two to three days.

The girl's father was then called to the police station where he showed evidence of the girl being his child and after all the paperwork, the girl was safely handed over to her family. The girl's family was overjoyed when she returned and thanked the Delhi Commission for Women and the police.

Maliwal in a press statement said, "We got the news of this 2-year-old girl child being lost through the media. We immediately formed a team and started searching for the girl's family. In this case, we got a lot of cooperation from the police.

"DCW Member Firdaus Khan, spoke to Joint Commissioner Alok Kumar, who instructed his team to give full support to DCW. We are very happy that we were able to introduce back the child with the family. I also wish to thank the two important women in this case -- Suhani for keeping the child safe until DCW reached and Savita Anand for offering to adopt the child in case her parents were not found."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Deals worth over US$2 billion to strengthen Uzbekistan's energy industry

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan is pleased to announce the signing of three new strategic agreements, worth over US2 billion, with the Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power to amplify power generation and develop technical expertise.

The agreements include:

A 25 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) - with a total investment value of US$1.2 billion - for the development/construction/operation of a 1500 MW Combined Cycle Gas-Turbine (CCGT) power plant

- for the development/construction/operation of a 1500 MW Combined Cycle Gas-Turbine (CCGT) power plant An Implementation Agreement worth US$550 million - US$1.1 billion for the building of a wind power plant with a capacity of 500-1000 MW of clean energy

- for the building of a wind power plant with a capacity of 500-1000 MW of clean energy A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development of a training centre to enhance technical skills of Uzbek students

As Uzbekistan fast tracks its ambitious energy diversification strategy, the 1500 MW CCGT power plant is set to contribute materially. The plant will be located in Shirin City in the Syrdarya region and will be developed under the 'Build, Own, Operate, Transfer' model. ACWA Power will take the lead in constructing, engineering, operating and maintaining the plant.

Signed with the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, and with an estimated aggregate worth of US$1.2 billion, the PPA has a 25-year duration, with JSC National Electric Grids of Uzbekistan acting as the sole off-taker. The CCGT plant's efficiency rate will be in excess of 60% - saving almost twice the natural gas currently used for electricity production.

An implementation agreement worth US$550 million-US$1.1 billion has also been signed with the Ministry of Energy to utilise Uzbekistan's natural renewable energy sources. ACWA Power will leverage the country's wind power to generate 500-1000 MW of energy.

The third agreement is an MoU between the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan, Air Products & Chemicals and ACWA Power. This agreement entails training programs to bolster the technical expertise of students at one or more colleges in Uzbekistan. It will equip potential talent with the tools and knowledge to gradually support a local supply chain for the utilities and chemicals sectors in Uzbekistan.

The agreements reflect Uzbekistan's growing role in the global energy market, its commitment to energy security and use of the very latest technologies. It also demonstrates Uzbekistan is becoming an attractive destination for foreign investors.

Alisher Sultanov, Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan said:

"These newly agreed power projects represents a historic milestone for Uzbekistan and supports our mission to strengthen energy security through self-sufficient power sources. ACWA Power's focus on smart, energy efficient technologies will provide more than 2000 MW of added power and enable us to achieve a more sustainable, secure and affordable energy ecosystem for our country."

Mohammad Abunayyan, Chairman of ACWA Power, said:

"ACWA Power is on a dynamic growth path and our priority has been to expand and extend our geographic footprint in Central Asia. The market has an economically vibrant landscape that favours private investment and power sector fortification and this is where we can make a great contribution. ACWA Power has an impressive track record in helping emerging markets and communities drive progress by providing access to affordable electricity. We are honoured to have been given the opportunity to utilise our energy expertise to unlock the tremendous growth potential of Uzbekistan's power sector.

"Our partnership will create new opportunities for national and community development and help build a sustainable future for all the people of this great country."

About ACWA Power

ACWA Power is a developer, investor and operator of power generation and desalinated water production plants. Currently present in 12 countries in the Middle East , Africa and South East Asia , ACWA Power employs over 3,500 people with about 60percent local employment

, and , ACWA Power employs over 3,500 people with about 60percent local employment ACWA Power's portfolio includes 56 assets with an investment value of USD 45.5 billion , producing 31 GW of power and 5.2 million m3 /day of desalinated water delivered on a bulk basis to address the needs of state utilities on long-term, off-taker contracts under Public-Private-Partnership model

, producing 31 GW of power and 5.2 million m3 /day of desalinated water delivered on a bulk basis to address the needs of state utilities on long-term, off-taker contracts under Public-Private-Partnership model Registered and established in 2004 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia , ACWA Power is co-owned by nine Saudi conglomerates, including Vision International Investment Company, Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Public Pensions Agency and the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group)

, ACWA Power is co-owned by nine Saudi conglomerates, including Vision International Investment Company, Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Public Pensions Agency and the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group) ACWA Power's mission is to reliably deliver electricity and desalinated water at a low cost, thereby contributing effectively to the sustainable, social and economic development of communities and countries. ACWA Power is committed to the values of Safety, People and Performance in operating its business across all geographies. For more info, please visit www.acwapower.com

Further information

Sabina Sagadeeva, press@minenergy.uz
The police spokesman, Benigno Durana, National police Chief, Archie Gamboa confirming the incident said the police chief was unconscious when he was pulled out of the Bell 429 twin-engine chopper while two high-ranking police officials, intelligence Chief Mariel Magaway and comptrollership Director Jose Ramos are in critical condition.
Most babies develop nappy rash at some stage in their lives, and as a new parent, caring for their health and wellbeing is your number one priority.

But could the way you're changing your little one be - albeit unintentionally - making the problem worse?

Midwife Heather Morris, a registered nurse who has contributed to the British Journal of Midwifery, has identified a few common mistakes during nappy changing which could be heightening your baby's risk of developing the irritating condition.

The good thing is, they're easy to fix! Here Heather shares her top tips for keep your baby rash-free with FEMAIL.

Most babies develop nappy rash at some stage in their lives, but could the way you're changing your little one be - albeit unintentionally - making the problem worse? Pictured: stock image

'Most babies will get nappy rash at some point,' Heather explained. 'Although it is common and mild cases are easily treatable, it can be a cause for concern.

'At any one time, around one in three nappy-wearing infants will have nappy rash, with girls and boys equally affected.

'It is less common in newborns, however it may occur in pre-term babies due to the reduced barrier functions of immature skin.

'But there are some simple changes any parent can make to lessen the chances of their baby getting nappy rash.'

The nappy you are using

Midwife Heather Morris (pictured) has identified a few common mistakes during nappy changing which could be heightening your baby's risk of developing nappy rash

Heather said nappies with a higher absorbency are more effective at preventing nappy rash, as they are better at keeping excessive moisture away from your baby's skin.

'Look out for plus signs on certain nappies - this means they are super absorbent and are effective for use at night time or when your baby may need to go for longer without being changed,' she suggested.

'Also make sure your baby's nappy is well-fitting, as an ill-fitting nappy will increase friction and therefore chances of irritation. Your baby's nappy should be snug, but not too tight.'

Disposable nappies sometimes contain chemicals which can irritate your baby or provoke an allergic reaction, which will also heighten their risk of nappy rash.

Usually shopping around for different varieties or trying reusable nappies can help solve any problems.

Always having your baby in a nappy

Nappy rash can occur as a result of excess moisture on the skin, so leaving your baby with no nappy on for a while is also a good way of preventing it.

'It lets their skin breathe,' Heather explained. 'As often as you can, after a nappy change let your baby lie on a towel with no nappy on.

The way you're changing your baby It sounds simple, but the way you change your baby's nappy can affect their chances of getting nappy rash. 'Being gentle throughout a nappy change and being cautious to pat dry and not rub too hard can stop nappy rash occurring,' Heather observed. 'Rubbing skin dry causes unnecessary friction which can weaken it. Also be sure to wipe your baby's bottom from front to back, being careful not to drag their skin as this can irritate and damage it. 'Make sure you have clean hands when changing your baby in order to prevent the spread of bacteria. 'After they are clean and dry, I recommend applying a thin layer of purple Metanium everyday barrier ointment in order to prevent nappy rash by forming a barrier against external irritants.' Advertisement

'This will help air circulate around their bottom. After doing this for a while, apply a barrier ointment which will help to prevent excess moisture damaging your baby's skin.'

Using baby soap or lotion

If your baby has nappy rash, Heather said you should avoid potential irritants such as soaps and bubble baths.

'Use them minimally to prevent it,' she added. 'Such toiletries can remove lipids from the skin, making your baby's sensitive skin more vulnerable to irritants and microorganisms, enhancing the risk of nappy rash.'

Ingredients such as perfumes and colourants can cause damage to your baby's delicate skin, especially if they have skin problems such as eczema.

'Always try to use fragrance-free toiletries on your baby's skin,' Heather advised.

Bathing too regularly

While it's important to keep your little one clean, there's a fine line when it comes to bathing.

Doing so too regularly can dry out their skin as it washes away natural oils, which may worsen nappy rash.

Heather said: 'It has been recommended to wash a baby in its early months using only water, then move onto a gentle liquid baby wash. Avoid using talcum powder.'

Using baby wipes

Most mums and dads rely on baby wipes during a change - but the type you're using could be contributing to nappy rash.

Heather advised using water-based and fragrance-free wipes which are more sensitive to your baby's skin.

Take into account your baby's development stage 'The peak incidence of nappy rash is between the ages of nine to twelve months,' Heather said. 'There are certain "trigger times" that may exaggerate the risk of nappy rash, including when your baby is teething or weaning, as these stages can cause diarrhoea and frequent, watery poos which increase moisture in your baby's nappy. 'If your baby is poorly - maybe they've had a cold or a course of antibiotics - the chances of them getting nappy rash is likely to be increased. 'Certain antibiotics, including amoxicillin, can cause diarrhoea in babies and therefore heighten the risk of nappy rash.' Advertisement

'Heavily fragranced or alcohol-based wipes are potential irritants for baby's skin and can worsen nappy rash,' she said.

If you don't have water-based baby wipes, use cotton wool and warm water to clean your baby's bottom, which will be gentler on nappy rash.

How frequently you change them

Again, it sounds obvious, but how often you change your baby's nappy can also have an impact on them developing nappy rash.

'When your baby first starts to sleep through the night, nappy rash is more likely to occur due to prolonged skin exposure to excess moisture,' Heather explained.

'I recommend changing your baby's nappy before or after every feed and whenever they have done a wee or a poo.

'Also be sure to change your baby into a fresh nappy right before bedtime when they start to sleep through the night to ensure the nappy is dry for as long as possible, and keep an eye on it.'

Use a preventative ointment

Heather said: 'Ointments are more effective than creams and lotions to prevent nappy rash, as they create a better moisture barrier.

'In cases where nappy rash has occurred, use a treatment such as the yellow Metanium to quickly soothe and treat the rash.

Metanium has a range of products to treat and prevent nappy rash (pictured)

'The topical ointment has a thick yellow consistency which should be spread thinly, so the skin can still be seen through it.

'This creates a barrier from moisture in order to eliminate the rash. Apply at every nappy change to ensure quick treatment.

'Follow effective treatment of nappy rash by applying barrier ointment and adhering to these top tips to ensure your baby doesn't get nappy rash again.'

If the rash persists despite adhering to treatment via an ointment, Heather advised contacting your GP as your baby may have a secondary candida infection.

'Most cases of nappy rash are mild and easily treated by parents without the need for referral,' she added.

'Despite being a cause for concern, uncomplicated nappy rash should settle when treated appropriately with good skincare routines and the use of an appropriate barrier ointment. It typically lasts about three days.'

You can buy Metanium products at Amazon, ASDA, Boots, Morrisons and Tesco. For more information, visit Metanium.co.uk
The University of California (UC) strike is a political struggle against the Democratic Party and the corporate interests it defends. UC strikers and supporters can hear Socialist Equality Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates Joseph Kishore and Norissa Santa Cruz speak this week at a town hall meeting in San Diego on March 5. Read Santa Cruzs statement on the UC struggle here.

Graduate students at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) are continuing their wildcat strike to demand cost-of-living wage increases, despite the vindictive firing of over 100 graduate student teaching assistants (TAs) by the university administration. The strike has spread to UC Davis (UCD) and UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) with solidarity actions, and in some cases, strike votes at most if not all of the 10 UC campuses.

Joseph Kishore speaking to striking grad student workers at UC Santa Cruz

The struggle has pitted grad students directly against the Democratic Party and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which signed a contract last year that imposes poverty level wages and a no-strike clause. On Tuesday, Joseph Kishore, the presidential candidate of the Socialist Equality Party, spoke with students on the picket lines. They discussed the role of the UAW and other unions in isolating workers struggles and the political issues in the 2020 election.

Many students expressed their hostility to the Democratic Party and were interested in an alternative. In a widely echoed sentiment, Phil C, a graduate student in the History of Consciousness department, told Kishore, The two parties are just factions of the same basic political position. Cyril, an alumnus who was supporting the strikers, made a similar point, saying, Even if they get a senate full of Democrats they wouldnt pass anything good; theyre all centrists and neo-liberals.

At the election meeting at UC Berkeley Monday night the SEPs vice-presidential candidate, Norissa Santa Cruz, spoke at length on the role of the UAW in collaborating with the administration.

Norissa Santa Cruz speaking at UC Berkeley on Monday evening

Earlier, World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke with strikers and their supporters at the Los Angeles (UCLA), San Diego (UCSD), Irvine (UCI) and Santa Cruz (UCSC) campuses.

Abdullah, a grad student at the rally of nearly 150 students at UCLA, said, There is a lot of money being poured into the system. They have the money, yet they are operating largely by exploiting underpaid graduate student workers who are forced to live in conditions of near poverty, just to live near campus.

Asked whether this is the reality for most workers in the world, Abdullah replied, Of course. One of the main problems is capitalism itself. One corollary of that is the fact that this country is controlled by plutocrats who exploit people and we have to stop tolerating it.

Abdullah spoke of the history of class struggle in the US previously enabling workers to win gains: There have been advances at times within this society, which have often come through disregarding the established processes. The civil rights struggle is an example. Definitely there has to be some major transformation. The political process in this country is skewed and we need to change it.

Abdullah also expressed his view on the role of the trade unions: The unions in this country have been largely compromised, its a demonstrated fact, its been the case for a long time. Its symptomatic of the larger problems with capitalism in this country.

Yasmin

Yasmin, an undergrad student of atmospheric and oceanic science, voiced her support for grad students. Its unfair that the UC system makes so much money off of the labor of graduate students and TAs, but they cant even give them enough to live where they work in Los Angeles.

Yasmin also pointed to the underlying economic basis for the housing crisis. Its the capitalist system. Thats how billionaires are made, how big corporations are formed, without ensuring basic things like health care or job security.

Yasmin also protested the role of UC President Janet Napolitano, formerly the head of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, stating, They wanted someone to quell student protests. That is not acceptable. Its now considered normal for them to fire us.

Aida

About 200 graduate students and supporters held a rally and march at UC-Irvine, 40 miles south of Los Angeles. Aida, a TA in criminology, said, I think the firing of the Santa Cruz grad students is ridiculous. Forty-five percent of my income goes to rent. I live on campus and share a place with my roommate, but I have no money to buy furniture. Then you have to pay for your car, insurance, phone, and then I send money to my parents and younger brother. It becomes a game juggling and budgeting. Towards the end of the month, I run out of basic stuff. My partner sometimes helps if she can, but a lot of times I use my credit card to buy basics.

Jordan, a graduate TA also in criminology, said, I pay 90 percent of my income to live on campus. The 10 percent thats left has to go to car payments, food, and my partners health insurance because shes not covered by UCI. She is in the masters program in education here at UCI and is student teaching, which means she gets no pay as a student teacher. She works from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day at an elementary school, and she drives to work. And we both have a ton of student loans.

Jordan and Carolyn at UC Irvine

Speaking on her working conditions, Jordan stated, As a TA, I have to attend undergraduate lectures, maintain online grade books, grade papers and exams, and meet regularly with the students. Last week, I calculated that my total time working as a TA, completing my own coursework, and attending meetings with faculty amounts to 5060 hours a week. After that, theres nothing left for my own research. I get paid $21,000 for nine months and we arent guaranteed work during the summer. If you spread that out over 12 months, its about $1,750 a month.

The WSWS also spoke with a Pakistani grad student in fine arts. He asked to speak anonymously for fear of retaliation due to his international status. UCSC has already threatened international strikers with deportation. On the firing of the UCSC grad students, he said, I think its horrible. Maybe they can do that to 57 grad students, but can they fire 5,000 or more of us? Strikes are happening all over: Canada, here in the US by the teachers, autoworkers, all over the world. Authority does not like resistance.

Im in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, not PhD. So, Im paid less. My take home pay is $1,100 a month. As it is, the arts are so underfunded here in this country. Also, as an international student, I pay higher tuition. Students who are residents of California pay $15,000 in tuition a year to attend a UC campus. I have to pay $35,000.

Im one of three TAs in a class with 300 students. So, each of us is responsible for 100 students. We do the grading of exams, papers, quizzes and attend all the classes. We have to grade many writing assignments.

Last week I had my first encounter with police brutality here. Around the time of our rally, the campus police brutally arrested an alumna. As an international student, I definitely feel the fear. Nothing has happened to me, but when I came over here, it was when Trump was elected president.

Showing her support at the rally at UC-San Diego, Katrina, an undergraduate studying cognitive science, explained, Its the same story, different group. Someone is underpaid for their work by a private corporation who is profiting off their labor and they dont care about their well-being.

My parents are in the military so I dont have to pay as much for school, but even then I depend on them for gas, food, etc. Ive tried living in La Jolla and having a job, and my grades tanked. You actually go into debt with all the work.

Socialism has been associated with dictatorship but the truth is capitalism is the real dictatorship. Under socialism, learning wouldnt be for profit, automation can ensure a high standard of living for everyone.
By Nneka Chile and Abraham Achirga

LAGOS/ABUJA (Reuters) - Two men in grey jumpsuits brush glue onto rubber soles, while factory machines whir in the background. Elsewhere, women perched behind industrial sewing machines attach leather swatches to sturdy-looking men's shoes.

The production line could be anywhere in the world. But Bertram Dozie, the chief executive of the newly opened Bata Nigeria shoes plant, hopes this Abuja facility heralds a renaissance for Nigerian-made shoes.

The factory, which opened in late 2019, can produce more than 500,000 shoes annually. It employs roughly 120 people.

Bata Nigeria is a franchise tied to Bata, a historic shoe company based in Switzerland, and present in 70 countries. The Nigeria franchise has stores in the capital, Abuja, the southwestern megacity Lagos and southern oil city Port Harcourt.

Bata Nigeria also sells shoes directly to Nigerian schools, for pupils as part of their uniform, and stocks other stores in the country.

Nigeria's government hopes companies like Bata can spur the local manufacturing sector, create jobs and reduce Africa's biggest economy's reliance on oil sales.

It has tried to stimulate this with its long-running "Made in Nigeria" agenda, which included placing import restrictions on shoes in 2007.

The shift to locally-made goods is slowly taking effect. In 2010 Nigeria imported $180 million worth of footwear. By 2018 this figure had fallen to $100 million, mostly from China.

Dozie, surrounded by shoes in one of the company's showrooms, described the market opportunities for locally-made mass-produced shoes in Africa's most populous nation of 200 million people as "glaring".

MEMORIES

Bata, once a household name in Nigeria, closed its factory in the country around 20 years ago. Brand recognition has helped its return.

It sells everything from strappy heels and protective work boots for adults to black leather school shoes. Prices range from 34,000 naira ($111) for leather boots to just under 6,000 naira for plain casual shoes for children.

Dozie, 39, remembers wearing the shoes as a child as part of his school uniform.

Story continues

Bata was founded 126 years ago in what is now the Czech Republic. A local company began marketing Bata in Nigeria in the 1930s, and manufacturing the shoes in the west African country in the 1960s. Reuters archive footage from 1971 shows a Polish delegation touring a thriving Bata shoe plant in Lagos.

Nigerian manufacturing still faces serious disadvantages due to frequent power outages, poor-quality roads and jam-packed ports that push up the cost of raw material imports.

The absence of reliable supply chains of rubber can also pose problems.

But Dozie is not alone in hoping that the "Made in Nigeria" label will become a source of pride for consumers.

Tokunbo Onagoruwa, chief executive of Lagos-based shoemaker City Cobbler also said attitudes have shifted.

"When I started I wasn't putting my label on the shoes. I didn't want people to know they were made in Nigeria," Onagoruwa said, adding "now people wear 'Made in Nigeria' with all pride."

It helps, she added, that a good quality locally-made shoe costs around 35 ($45), compared with 150 for a high-quality import.

Dozie said, "Our citizens are working for themselves and producing these shoes, so people enjoy that story."

(Writing by Libby George; Editing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Alexandra Hudson)
Gov. Phil Murphy and state lawmakers are now promising action after state officials refused to pay restitution to a man wrongly convicted of rape, citing fine print in New Jerseys compensation law.

Last week, a New Jersey appellate court sided with the states Treasury Department, which has spent nearly two years fighting a claim from former prisoner Dion Harrell under New Jerseys Mistaken Imprisonment Act.

Facing criticism over the legal fight to deny Harrell compensation, Murphys administration may reverse course.

A spokeswoman for Murphy, Alyana Alfaro, said his administration now agrees that Mr. Harrell should be compensated for time he spent imprisoned due to a wrongful conviction of sexual assault.

Whether authorities will drop the fight and settle with Harrell remains unclear, but state lawmakers say they will revise the state law to make clear that people in his position deserve payment for the years taken from them.

Harrell was falsely accused of rape in 1988 and ended up serving four years in prison, as well as more than two decades as a registered sex offender.

He wasnt exonerated until 2016, after the Innocence Project took up his cause and obtained new DNA testing ruling him out as the man who raped and robbed the 17-year-old victim in a Long Branch parking lot.

In 2018, Harrell sued the state for compensation, but the state Attorney Generals Office, which represented Treasury officials in the case, argued that the law required him to file his claim within two years of his release from prison, meaning the window for his payment had long closed.

That would have required Harrell to sue the state claiming wrongful conviction back in 1997, as a convicted rapist out on parole.

It was impossible to file for that, Harrell said last week. I wasnt even cleared yet.

The law, as written, requires exonerated prisoners to file claims within two years after his release from imprisonment or after the grant of a pardon. Even though Harrell was released long before he was proven innocent, the court found, the plain language of the statute was the best indicator of lawmakers intent.

So was that their intent?

No, it was not, said Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, who wrote the last bill updating New Jerseys wrongful conviction payment law, enacted in 2013.

Johnson, D-Bergen, introduced a new bill clarifying the language and expanding who qualifies for compensation. Last year, it got two public hearings  Harrell testified at both  but never got a vote.

Harrell and his attorney, Glenn Garber, argue officials in Murphys administration still could have settled the case and paid Harrell for his time.

This is the case where the public and anybody who is reasonably minded should cry out for compensation, Garber said.

Harrell was seeking $200,000 for his four years in prison, according to his attorney. Lawyers for the state countered he wasnt owed the money because of the time issue and because he also served time concurrently for an unrelated minor burglary charge.

Alfaro, the governors spokeswoman, said the administration was "working to assess Mr. Harrells case and hopes to work with the Legislature to reform the existing law.

Sharon Lauchaire, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, said he also would support new legislation amending the statute.

Sen. Declan OScanlon, R-Monmouth, criticized the Murphy administration for fighting Harrells claim in the first place.

If they couldve settled this, why the hell didnt they? said OScanlon, a co-sponsor of the reform measure. Any rational, decent human being that cares about justice would agree that you figure out how to make justice happen if its remotely possible.

Its also unclear why state lawmakers havent acted sooner. The measure (A729) was passed between several Assembly committees last year without receiving a vote. It was re-introduced in January and assigned to the judiciary committees in both the Senate and Assembly.

The bill would expand access to compensation for those who spent years on sex offender registries or on probation or parole for crimes they didnt commit, as well as allowing people to file claims if they were exonerated long after they left prison.

Sponsors of the bill include both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and nobody testified against the measure at public hearings.

This should be a no-brainer, said OScanlon. Everyone  Republican, Democrat, whether youre sympathetic to people in the system or just interested in justice being served  everybody should be on board. Were talking about innocent people here who were victimized by the system.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered all airlines operating international and regional flights into Nigeria to issue Health Declaration Forms to their passengers and crew members before arriving Nigerian airports.

This directive was given Thursday morning in a statement by Sam Adurogboye, NCAAs General Manager, Public Relations.

Mr Adurogboye noted that the warning is coming on the heels of the failure of some airlines operating international and regional flights into Nigeria to provide Health Declaration Forms (Passengers self-reporting forms) to passengers.

A letter to this effect has been issued to all airlines and other stakeholders, the statement said Thursday.

In view of the above, Airlines are to remind passengers to provide factual address and phone numbers to enhance contact tracing in case there is need to do so, the statement added.

READ ALSO:

The Health Declaration forms (Passenger self-reporting forms) will be collected and evaluated by the personnel of Port Health Services on the arrival of the passengers and crew members alike.

Covid-19 in Nigeria

Last Friday, Nigerians woke up to the news that an unidentified Italian businessman who tested positive for the virus at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, had been taken to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba.

The Senate health committee had earlier asked the Federal Ministry of Health to set up a Health War Room.

The federal government has also released N386 million to two health agencies to curtail the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, broke out in Wuhan in Hubei province of China in December last year.

The disease has infected over 1716 medical workers in China alone and over 73,000 in 25 countries, causing not less than 1,875 deaths. Majority of the deaths were recorded in Wuhan. The exact cause of the disease has not been determined, neither has a cure been found.

On Thursday, the NCAA disclosed that airlines are to collect the Health Declaration forms (Passenger self-reporting forms) from the Port Health Services at the various International Airports of the country.

Failure to comply with the directive by any airline will attract severe sanctions, Mr Adurogboye said.
Many people dead or missing after torrential rain in Sao Paulo state.

At least 24 people have been killed due to floods and landslides in Brazils southeastern state of Sao Paulo.

Hundreds of volunteers have joined rescue workers in a desperate search through the rubble to try to find 25 people who are still missing in the cities of Guaruja, Santos and Sao Vicente.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by disruptions to road services with trees and landslides blocking several major roads, including some into Santo, the largest port in South America.

An active cold front in the South Atlantic generated a trough of low pressure which provided the energy and moisture required to produce almost a months worth of rain on Sunday and Monday.

Flooding from the same weather system has also affected Rio de Janeiro where more than 5,000 people have been displaced.

Controversially, Rios mayor, Marcelo Crivella, blamed residents for the problem, telling journalists that people cant be throwing trash onto hillsides, in storm drains and in the street.

Although showers are possible across the region in the next few days, it is expected to be much drier, which will help the rescue and recovery efforts.
Houston ISD officials want to open the districts first specialty school focused on computer sciences in the upcoming school year, aiming to produce graduates ready for high-paying jobs in a fast-growing sector.

District administrators hope to open the Houston Academy for Computer Sciences in August 2020, possibly in east Downtown, ultimately aiming to serve about 900 students in grades 6 through 12. HISD officials said they plan to partner with Rice Universitys Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity in Education and Schlumberger, as well as other to-be-determined nonprofits and companies, in the creation of the school.

There are just all of these incredible, untapped opportunities in this field, and I dont think were really doing it justice, said Rick Cruz, HISDs chief strategy and innovation officer. Theres just so much excitement from various people we talk to, whether its corporate partners or parents or students. I think people are going to eat this up because theres just so much that can happen with it.

The academys development comes amid widespread demand for employees in the computer and information technology fields, which are expected to add more than 500,000 jobs over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The employment need is particularly acute in Houston, where the citys medical and energy industries require thousands of tech-savvy employees.

HISD officials said the potential for students to earn well-above-average salaries  the median annual wage reached about $86,300 in 2018, according to federal data  in a high-demand industry requires action by the district. As proposed, the campus would provide students with tracks to attend prestigious colleges or gain employment straight out of high school.

HISD currently offers computer and information technology classes in most of its high schools. The specialty academy, however, would expand those offerings to middle school students and embed more computer science courses throughout its curriculum.

The recommendation, however, faced several questions Wednesday from school board members who expressed concern about the potential campus location, access for students from historically disadvantaged neighborhoods and the cost of expansion.

In particular, the possible east Downtown location prompted concerns about equitable distribution of specialty schools. The downtown area already is home to several choice campuses.

Are we really looking at this equitably and thinking about where is the demand? HISD Trustee Judith Cruz asked.

HISD administrators have not set a date for seeking final approval for the school from trustees.

Few public school districts across the country have adapted to the growing demand for tech-focused employees, partially due to challenges in hiring and retaining computer science teachers who can make more money in the private sector.

Were noticing computer sciences is hot right now and theres a real groundswell of interest across states in bringing more computer science into K-through-12 classrooms, said Talia Milgrom-Elcott, founder and executive director of 100Kin10, a national nonprofit that coordinates training of math and science teachers.

The biggest catch, and this is showing up all over the country, is that there are not enough teachers prepared to teach computer science.

If opened, Houston Academy for Computer Sciences would join more than 20 other HISD campuses that draw middle or high school students from across the districts geographic boundaries, one of the states most extensive school choice systems.

HISDs specialty schools have drawn praise over the past few decades for increasing choice options in the district and providing unique opportunities to students ahead of graduation. Several campuses designed to prepare students for college produce strong academic results while also serving large percentages of black, Hispanic and lower-income students.

Critics, however, have noted that some specialty schools enroll a disproportionately higher share of affluent, Asian and white students, including three of the districts most-lauded campuses. In addition, specialty schools often draw high-performing students from neighborhood campuses, resulting in lower accountability ratings that perpetuate negative perceptions about low-ranked schools.

Administrators aim to enroll a diverse student population, which could involve giving admissions preference to some students living close to the campus. The campus would enroll about 200 students in grades 6 and 9 in August 2020, then add an additional middle and high school grade level each year.

There is a shared, common feeling among our parents that theres a need for this, that there are jobs for this, said Jyoti Malhan, HISDs director of computer science and a lead designer of the new campus.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
[March 05, 2020] Health Monitor Network Launches Two New Products: Point of Care Mobile Offerings for Patients and Physician Device Targeting

MONTVALE, N.J., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Monitor Network (HM), a leading direct-to-patient/patient engagement company, introduces a new point-of-care (POC) innovation that seamlessly integrates into its existing suite of digital and print solutions. This advanced precision mobile solution broadens HM's patient and prescriber engagement capabilities. "These new product innovations are in response to satisfying customer interest in wanting to use point-of-care mobile to complement Health Monitor programs," says Health Monitor Network CEO, Ken Freirich. "Mobile will be a fantastic overlay to our highly successful patient and physician print and digital products, where strong ROI continues to fuel the rapid growth of our organization." HM's Patient-focused POC targeting product leverages highly accurate geofencing capabilities coupled with overlays to present ads to the "right" types of patients or condition sufferers at precise locations and times. When a patient enters a physician's office they can be targeted with relevant, branded ads and patient education materials on their mobile devices. This will complement existing Health Monitor print and digital patient education products where HM content is showcase in over 200,000 physician offices around the country and will provide a "surround sound" approach for marketers.



The Physician-focused product uses proprietary technology that targets Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) that have HM physician or patient education products. The associated HCP devices are all National Provider Identifier (NPI) verified. Branded advertising will be delivered and deployed cross-device, to laptops, desktops, and mobile platforms. Ads are served into consumer content that is compliant, brand safe, and complimentary to the brand message, activating on the "right place, right time" approach.

"Innovation is at the core of the Health Monitor Network DNA. By leveraging technology platforms to further enhance the patient/HCP dialogue, we see this mobile offering as a wonderful addition to our existing portfolio of products," says Health Monitor Network Executive Vice President, Alex Dong. "We're excited to see our clients benefit from this 360 industry leading POC platform." About Health Monitor Network Health Monitor Network is the leading direct-to-patient (DTP)/patient engagement company in the United States. In its 37th year, the company provides high-quality patient education through digital, print, and mobile platforms to tens of millions of condition sufferers through 200,000+ medical offices and more than 400,000 healthcare professionals. For more information, please visit www.healthmonitornetwork.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/health-monitor-network-launches-two-new-products-point-of-care-mobile-offerings-for-patients-and-physician-device-targeting-301018631.html SOURCE Health Monitor Network

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The working visit of third President of Armenia, President of the Republican Party of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to the Kingdom of Belgium has kicked off, as reported on the Facebook page of third President of Armenia.

Among the members of the delegation led by Serzh Sargsyan are Armen Ashotyan, member of the Supreme Body of the Republican Party of Armenia and Executive Director of Luys Foundation Davit Harutyunyan and member of the council of the political party Lilit Beglaryan.

During the visit, Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with President of the European Peoples Party (EPP), former president of the Council of Europe Donald Tusk in Brussels.

Serzh Sargsyan expressed gratitude for the cordial reception and congratulated Donald Tusk on being elected president of the European Peoples Party and wished him success, after which the interlocutors attached importance to the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement signed between the EU and Armenia in 2017 in Brussels.

At the request of the president of the European Peoples Party, Serzh Sargsyan presented the latest developments of domestic politics in Armenia. The growing and effective cooperation with the Republican Party of Armenia within the scope of the European Peoples Party and the future actions were touched upon. Donald Tusk and Serzh Sargsyan exchanged views on regional issues and challenges.

Serzh Sargsyan emphasized the importance of the international partnership from the perspective of the development of democracy in Armenia and the strengthening of regional stability. The risks of populism for real democracy were touched upon. Serzh Sargsyan emphasized that any change must be made within the scope of the Constitution and exclusively legal procedures, through maximum involvement of relevant specialized institutions and based on the conclusions of experts.
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Trump and Republicans are intentionally distorting Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumers comments as the president called for Schumer to be impeached and arrested.

After Schumer warned Trumps Supreme Court justices that an overturn of Roe v. Wade would set off a grassroots political pushback, Trump tweeted:

This is a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court by Schumer. If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW! https://t.co/WqQUbyzaJU  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020

It is not a surprise that Trump used a tweet from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Sex Abuse Cover-Up Ohio State) to advance his goal of having his political opponents arrested.

Sen. Schumers office called out Trump, Chief Justice Roberts, and the rest of the GOPs hysterical BS in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

Womens health care rights are at stake and Americans from every corner of the country are in anguish about what the court might do to them.

Sen. Schumers comments were a reference to the political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.

For Justice Roberts to follow the right wings deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes.

Republicans are clinging on to anything they can to motivate their voters after Joe Bidens march through Super Tuesday. Trump would love to arrest his political opponents because his heart beats pure authoritarianism.

Trump wants to talk about anything else besides Joe Biden, his bungled coronavirus response, the looming economic slowdown.

The Trump presidency is running on fumes, which is why he is trying to fire up the fake outrage machine at Chuck Schumer.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Design thinking is all the rage at the moment. Prashant Deorah, MD & CEO, Puretech Digital, decodes how brands can use it to improve their digital marketing strategy.

Its really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people dont know what they want until you show it to them, Steve Jobs had said. Design thinking is partially about that, or as Wikipedia states: Designers approach users with the goal of understanding their wants and needs, what might make their life easier and more enjoyable and how technology can be useful for them. Empathetic design transcends physical ergonomics to include understanding the psychological and emotional needs of people  the way they do things, why and how they think and feel about the world, and what is meaningful to them.

So, whats that got to do with marketing? A lot actually, but first, lets have a look at how design thinking can be summarized.

What is Design Thinking?

Coe Leta Stafford, Managing Director of IDEO U, says: Design thinking is a process for creative problem-solving. Career Foundry, on the other hand, stipulates that: Design thinking is both an ideology and a process, concerned with solving complex problems in a highly user-centric way.

Wikipedia concludes that: Design thinking refers to the cognitive, strategic and practical processes by which design concepts (proposals for new products, buildings, machines, etc.) are developed by designers and/or design teams. Design thinking encompasses processes such as context analysis, problem finding and framing, ideation and solution-generating, creative thinking, sketching and drawing, modelling and prototyping, testing and evaluating.

In short, design thinking is a creative and practical process, by which people aim to find a solution to a problem. Often there isnt a well-defined problem or no apparent problem at all, such as when looking for ideas to innovate new products  you have to find the problem. Some people like to refer to these ill-defined or tricky problems as wicked problems.

Using Design Thinking for Digital Marketing

According to the Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford, design thinking can be broken down into five phases: empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test. The same phases can be used when creating an online marketing strategy.

Empathise

Empathising with your client base means finding out what drives their psychological and emotional urges. When you do market research, its easy to get stuck with numbers. Big has become a thing, so finding data isnt as hard as it used to be. In fact, you might find yourself lost in the numbers you find.

Thats great, actually. You have access to data. But how do you use that data? How do you interpret it? This is when you need to empathise. What are your potential customers feeling? What drives them? You may know what kind of books/ blogs theyre reading, or what types of videos theyre watching on YouTube, but what does that mean? What are the emotional and psychological drives that make them read those books/ blogs and watch that kind of videos? And if they spend more time on Pinterest than on Twitter, what does that mean? What emotional need does Pinterest satisfy that Twitter does not?

As a marketer, youre no longer just selling a product. Online, youre selling content that leads to people engaging on social media, which in turn, leads to their interest and faith in your product.

Define

Once youve figured out who your customers are and how they think and feel, you need to define the problem. For example: Working moms in Los Angeles are frustrated by long and complicated pieces about motherhood as they dont have time for them. Yet they want to learn as much as possible about motherhood and the shorter pieces are often not well-researched, nor very informative. Or: CMOs in the Bay Area have a problem finding marketing strategies that are as innovative and meticulous as their employers.

In short, you need to figure out what kind of online content will solve their problem(s). CMOs in San Francisco will have different problems from working moms in Los Angeles. Of course, you can also dig deeper to find more problems. The working moms may, more specifically, want to solve problems like ensuring quick and healthy meals for babies, workout regimes for busy moms that are actually statistically proven to work, etc. These can all be used for content ideas.

Social media is usually used to inform or entertain, and once youve empathised with your target market, youll be better equipped to figure out what specifically informs, or entertains them (or rather: what problems theyre having being informed and entertained at the moment).

Ideate

Now that you know the problem(s), you can think of one, or many, solutions. For example, the working moms in Los Angeles may be looking for short (>2min) and entertaining pieces that help them become better mothers, while the CMOs in San Francisco want to find ways of coming up with innovative marketing strategies that have a statistical back-up.

Basically, this is when you come up with content ideas that would solve the problems of your target audience, be it to inform or entertain them better.

Prototype

This is when you design some different content pieces. For the moms in LA, you could create a video, blog; podcast and infographic that help them solve a problem.

Testing

This is when you test the content. You can do A/B testing and try out various different approaches, such as videos, blogs, infographics, etc. Feedback will then allow you to adjust the content youre creating. If you defined two to three different problems for your audience, you should examine what resonates most. Maybe one problem appears to be more prominent than another, depending on how people react to the content.

In Closing

Design thinking is a creative, yet practical, process that can be applied to solve pretty much anything. This includes digital marketing, as you aim to solve your target markets problems by providing them with content. Of course, if youre directly selling the product, you can apply the same process, only now you need to figure out how to present the product so that it solves the problem(s) of your target market.

Sources: Wikipedia, IDEO U, Career Foundry
The final batch of nurses recruited from the Solomon Islands have received their appointment and registration letters from PSC and Vanuatu Nursing Council
H arvey Weinstein has been transferred to prison after undergoing heart surgery following his conviction for rape and sexual assault.

The disgraced former film mogul was taken to New York's Rikers Island jail complex from Bellevue Hospital on Thursday.

It comes after the 67-year-old had surgery to clear a heart blockage in a procedure that followed his conviction on February 24.

He was found guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping a woman in 2013.

The ambulance that had been transferring Harvey Weinstein to jail was redirected to hospital / AP

He faces up to 29 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 11 following the historic trial in New York.

The verdict was seen as a milestone for the #MeToo movement, which was fuelled by his case starting in late 2017.

The movement inspired women to accuse hundreds of powerful men of sexual misconduct.

Jurors acquitted Weinstein on the two most serious charges, predatory sexual assault, which carried a maximum life sentence.

More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

He has denied the accusations and said any sexual encounters were consensual.

The former producer was a key force behind acclaimed films such as The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love.

His former film studio, the Weinstein Co, filed for bankruptcy in March 2018 and is being liquidated.
Burma Myanmar Journalists Detained by Karen Border Guard to Be Released

Frontier Myanmar reporter Naw Betty Han. / Kyaw Kyaw Han / Facebook

MANDALAYTwo journalists from Frontier Myanmar and Myanmar Times are set to be released Thursday evening after being detained by a Karen armed group while on a reporting trip on the Thai border.

Reporter Naw Betty Han of Frontier Myanmar and Ko Mar Naw, a photojournalist from Myanmar Times, were detained by the ethnic Karen Border Guard Forces (BGF) in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Wednesday. Frontier announced on Thursday afternoon that Naw Betty Han would soon be released.

Myawaddy police confirmed to The Irrawaddy that the BGF were bringing Naw Betty Han to the Myawaddy police station Thursday evening.

We are waiting at the police station to receive the reporter. They will be arriving soon, said Police Major Thet Lwin Oo. The police were unable to offer information on Mar Naw at the time.

Naw Betty Han was covering land and development issues in Karen State when she lost contact with the Frontier office.

The Karen State-based BGF, formed in 2010, is a splinter group of the defunct Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and is backed by the military. The group operates businesses in the area, including casinos, and is involved in building the Chinese-backed Shwe Kokko development project. Naw Betty Han has written extensively about them.

Frontier said the reporter sent an SMS saying the Karen BGF had abducted her near Border Gate 1 on Thursday afternoon before they lost contact.

Frontier then attempted to contact the BGF, the military and local authorities and also sought advice and assistance from the Myanmar Press Council (MPC).

Karen BGF head Colonel Saw Chit Thu told The Irrawaddy on Thursday afternoon that their soldiers detained Naw Betty Han because she took pictures of the border gate. They interrogated her and found notes on casinos and investments in the area in her notebook, the colonel explained.

I have ordered her release now. Its a shame. I have warned my guys not to do this again, he said.

Editors Note: The story was updated on March 6 to reflect the number of journalists arrested.

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CHICAGO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oil-Dri Corporation of America (NYSE: ODC), producer and marketer of sorbent mineral products, today announced its second quarter fiscal 2020 earnings.



Second Quarter Year to Date Ended January 31 Ended January 31 F20 F19 Change F20 F19 Change Consolidated Results Net Sales $71,005,000 $69,880,000 2% $142,127,000 $136,023,000 4% Net Income Attributable to Oil-Dri $4,830,000 $2,287,000 111% $8,366,000 $3,193,000 162% Earnings per Diluted Share $0.63 $0.30 110% $1.09 $0.42 160% Business to Business Net Sales $24,471,000 $26,458,000 (8)% $50,949,000 $51,784,000 (2)% Segment Operating Income $7,552,000 $7,272,000 4% $15,848,000 $14,304,000 11% Retail and Wholesale Net Sales $46,534,000 $43,422,000 7% $91,178,000 $84,239,000 8% Segment Operating Income $5,608,000 $2,653,000 111% $8,968,000 $2,662,000 237%

Daniel S. Jaffee, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, I am pleased with the results in the second quarter, including a triple-digit percentage increase in earnings per diluted share. This was a welcome outcome as our performance in the same period last year was negatively impacted by the implementation of our new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and several significant cost increases. Although we experienced slight sales declines within the Business to Business Group, we remain confident in the long term success of Amlan International. Net sales within our Retail and Wholesale Group were strong and continue to grow at a consistent pace. Record operating earnings in this segment reflect our cat litter business aforementioned sales growth along with improved margins. Going forward, we will continue to focus our efforts on driving revenue and earnings growth within both business groups.

During the second quarter, Consolidated Net Income Attributable to Oil-Dri reached $4.8 million compared to $2.3 million last year. In addition to higher sales, we continued to benefit from our manufacturing operations strong performance and improved natural gas and freight costs. These favorable outcomes offset a 4% increase in Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses in the second quarter versus the prior year. This increase represents the net effect of higher bonus accruals, a curtailment gain upon the freeze of our supplemental executive retirement plan, and lower consulting costs related to the ERP implementation in fiscal 2019.

Our Business to Business Products Groups second quarter revenues decreased 8% compared to the prior year, primarily due to the loss of a large customer who purchased our traditional agricultural products. This decline was partially offset by increased sales for our co-packaging coarse cat litter. Revenues of our fluid purification products were down 1% in the second quarter versus a year ago. While we experienced an increase in demand for our edible oil purification products, primarily in Europe, a biodiesel processing customer closed its U.S. plant which negatively impacted sales. Animal health and nutrition product revenues were flat for the quarter, reflecting growth of our feed additives in Mexico and Asia, excluding China, offset by declines in sales of our products in China. Our business in Asia, including China, continues to be impacted by the African swine fever, as sales to pork producers have not fully recovered since the spread of the virus in fiscal 2019. With the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our sales office in China temporarily closed, due to restrictions from the Chinese government. The spread of the virus has also limited travel by our salesforce and delayed product shipments.

Operating Income in the Business to Business Group was up 4% in the second quarter versus the prior year. Decreased natural gas and freight costs helped offset an 11% increase in SG&A expenses over the prior year. These higher SG&A costs reflect elevated product development costs, support, and compensation related expenses.

The Retail and Wholesale Products Group experienced a 7% increase in revenues in the second quarter compared to the prior year. Total domestic cat litter sales rose 10% in the quarter over last year, reflecting increases in both branded and private label litter products. Revenues of our private label scoopable and coarse litter increased due to higher demand from both existing as well as new customers. In addition, we witnessed continued sales growth of our branded coarse cat litter and litter box liners. Our subsidiary in Canada also contributed to this business segments increase with gains in cat litter and industrial absorbents sales.

Operating Income for the Retail and Wholesale Products Group reached a record $5.6 million in the second quarter compared to $2.7 million last year. Increased sales combined with lower natural gas and freight costs offset slightly higher SG&A costs. A reduction in advertising expenses also occurred within the quarter. However, we expect advertising spending in the remainder of the fiscal year to result in a higher total advertising expense for fiscal 2020 than for fiscal 2019.

The Company will host its second quarter of fiscal 2020 earnings teleconference on Friday, March 6, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. Participation details are available on our websites events page.



While Oil-Dris founding product was granular clay floor absorbents, it has since greatly diversified its portfolio. The Companys mission to Create Value from Sorbent Minerals is supported by its wide array of consumer and business to business product offerings. In 2016, Oil-Dri celebrated its seventy-fifth year of business and looks forward to the next milestone.

Oil-Dri , Amlan, and Cats Pride are registered trademarks of Oil-Dri Corporation of America.

Certain statements in this press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our future performance, our business, our beliefs, and our managements assumptions. In addition, we, or others on our behalf, may make forward-looking statements in other press releases or written statements, or in our communications and discussions with investors and analysts in the normal course of business through meetings, webcasts, phone calls, and conference calls. Words such as expect, outlook, forecast, would, could, should, project, intend, plan, continue, believe, seek, estimate, anticipate, may, assume, or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to, the dependence of our future growth and financial performance on successful new product introductions, intense competition in our markets, volatility of our quarterly results, risks associated with acquisitions, our dependence on a limited number of customers for a large portion of our net sales and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, intended, expected, believed, estimated, projected or planned. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except to the extent required by law, we do not have any intention or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements after the distribution of this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, or otherwise.

Category: Earnings

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (unaudited) (in thousands, except per share amounts)

Second Quarter Ended January 31

2020 % of Sales 2019 % of Sales Net Sales $ 71,005 100.0 % $ 69,880 100.0 % Cost of Sales (52,047 ) (73.3 )% (54,476 ) (78.0 )% Gross Profit 18,958 26.7 % 15,404 22.0 % Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (13,085 ) (18.4 )% (12,577 ) (18.0 )% Operating Income 5,873 8.3 % 2,827 4.0 % Interest Expense (103 ) (0.1 )% (142 ) (0.2 )% Other (Expense) Income (12 )  % 103 0.1 % Income Before Income Taxes 5,758 8.1 % 2,788 4.0 % Income Tax Expense (1,009 ) (1.4 )% (506 ) (0.7 )% Net Income 4,749 6.7 % 2,282 3.3 % Net Loss Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest (81 ) (0.1 )% (5 )  % Net Income Attributable to Oil-Dri $ 4,830 6.8 % $ 2,287 3.3 % Net Income Per Share: Basic Common $ 0.68 $ 0.33 Basic Class B Common $ 0.51 $ 0.25 Diluted Common $ 0.63 $ 0.30 Avg Shares Outstanding: Basic Common 5,181 5,121 Basic Class B Common 2,039 2,068 Diluted Common 7,344 7,229 Six Months Ended January 31 2020 % of Sales 2019 % of Sales Net Sales $ 142,127 100.0 % $ 136,023 100.0 % Cost of Sales (103,234 ) (72.6 )% (104,609 ) (76.9 )% Gross Profit 38,893 27.4 % 31,414 23.1 % Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (28,899 ) (20.3 )% (27,584 ) (20.3 )% Operating Income 9,994 7.0 % 3,830 2.8 % Interest Expense (206 ) (0.1 )% (293 ) (0.2 )% Other Income 47  % 135 0.1 % Income Before Income Taxes 9,835 6.9 % 3,672 2.7 % Income Tax Expense (1,626 ) (1.1 )% (456 ) (0.3 )% Net Income 8,209 5.8 % 3,216 2.4 % Net (Loss) Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

(157 ) (0.1 )% 23  % Net Income Attributable to Oil-Dri $ 8,366 5.9 % $ 3,193 2.4 % Net Income Per Share: Basic Common $ 1.19 $ 0.46 Basic Class B Common $ 0.89 $ 0.34 Diluted Common $ 1.09 $ 0.42 Avg Shares Outstanding: Basic Common 5,164 5,099 Basic Class B Common 2,045 2,069 Diluted Common 7,321 7,242







CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited) As of January 31 2020 2019 Current Assets Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 21,569 $ 9,375 Short-term Investments  480 Accounts Receivable, Net 35,699 38,282 Inventories 22,679 28,123 Prepaid Expenses and Other 6,234 6,040 Total Current Assets 86,181 82,300 Property, Plant and Equipment, Net 89,831 86,193 Other Noncurrent Assets (1) 33,067 24,644 Total Assets $ 209,079 $ 193,137 Current Liabilities Current Maturities of Notes Payable $ 3,067 $ 3,083 Accounts Payable 9,565 7,882 Dividends Payable 1,766 1,680 Other Current Liabilities 19,107 18,444 Total Current Liabilities 33,505 31,089 Noncurrent Liabilities Notes Payable  3,038 Other Noncurrent Liabilities (1) 28,645 26,246 Total Noncurrent Liabilities 28,645 29,284 Stockholders' Equity 146,929 132,764 Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity $ 209,079 $ 193,137 Book Value Per Share Outstanding $ 20.38 $ 18.52 Acquisitions of: Property, Plant and Equipment Second Quarter $ 3,386 $ 2,141 Year To Date $ 7,286 $ 6,199 Depreciation and Amortization Charges Second Quarter $ 3,460 $ 3,234 Year To Date $ 6,929 $ 6,539

(1) Amounts as of January 31, 2020 include right-of-use operating lease assets and related liabilities required by adoption of Accounting Standards Codification 842, Leases.







CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (in thousands) (unaudited) For the Six Months Ended January 31 2020 2019 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net Income $ 8,209 $ 3,216 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and Amortization 6,929 6,539 (Increase) in Accounts Receivable (434 ) (4,529 ) Decrease (Increase) in Inventories 1,508 (5,607 ) Increase in Accounts Payable 2,661 2,295 (Decrease) in Accrued Expenses (1,602 ) (1,390 ) (Decrease) Increase in Pension and Postretirement Benefits (5,536 ) 859 Other 2,535 1,309 Total Adjustments 6,061 (524 ) Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities 14,270 2,692 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Capital Expenditures (7,286 ) (6,199 ) Net Dispositions of Investment Securities  6,654 Net Cash (Used in) Provided by Investing Activities (7,286 ) 455 CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Principal Payments on Long-Term Debt (3,083 ) (3,083 ) Dividends Paid (3,527 ) (3,287 ) Purchase of Treasury Stock (523 ) (135 ) Net Cash Used in Financing Activities (7,133 ) (6,505 ) Effect of exchange rate changes on Cash and Cash Equivalents (144 ) (24 ) Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents (293 ) (3,382 ) Cash and Cash Equivalents, Beginning of Period 21,862 12,757 Cash and Cash Equivalents, End of Period $ 21,569 $ 9,375
Queen Elizabeth II meets President of Malta George Vella and his wife Miriam Vella during an audience at Buckingham Palace, London. (Press Association)

The Queen has ditched her gloves again, the day after wearing them for investitures at Buckingham Palace.

While giving out awards at the palace on Tuesday afternoon, the Queen was seen in long white gloves, despite it being a fiddly process to attach the medal to clothing.

But as she received the president of Malta and his wife on Wednesday, she was gloveless, shaking bare hands with the couple.

It came amid growing fears of the spread of coronavirus.

The Palace did not confirm whether the Queen wore gloves earlier in the week because of the virus, but she has not worn gloves at investitures for some time.

A royal source said she would be following government advice.

Queen Elizabeth II did not wear gloves for her audiences on Wednesday. (Press Association)

Read more: Coronavirus: Queen wears long gloves while handing out honours to members of the public

In her one-to-one audiences on Wednesday, the Queen, dressed in a vibrant red dress, met President of Malta George Vella in the Palaces 1844 room.

She also held an audience with Cuban Ambassador Barbara Montalvo Alvarez.

The monarch shook hands with her guests, who were also without gloves.

Government advice is that people wash their hands regularly and for 20 seconds, with soap and water and use hand sanitiser.

The Royal Family posted a video on social media of the Queen meeting Vella, who tells her he always dreamt about meeting her, and at last it has happened.

The Queen replies: Oh thats very nice isnt it.

 The President of Malta, George Vella and Mrs. Vella meet The Queen at Buckingham Palace.



 Her Majesty last visited Malta in 2015 to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. pic.twitter.com/M3LcZoZHw2  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 4, 2020

Queen Elizabeth II wears gloves as she awards the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) to Miss Anne Craig. (Press Association)

Read more: World Health Organisation issues warning over new coronavirus scam

The Queen and Philip have a special relationship with Malta as they lived there in the early years of their marriage, because the death of the Queens father.

Story continues

Audiences with the Queen last about 15 to 20 minutes and the conversations take place in private.

She holds several throughout her working week and are usually for members of the diplomatic community, though this sometimes extends to political, religious or military leaders.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will continue to shake hands with people despite the outbreak of coronavirus.

Prime ministers usually have an audience with the Queen each Wednesday, where they typically shake the monarchs hand.

See latest coronavirus news and updates.
Justice Senchi gave the ruling in an application of interlocutory injunction following his suspension as a member of the APC from Etsako ward 10 in Edo State.
Authorities in HCM City have found five people who boarded the same flight with a SARS-CoV-2-positive passenger from Cambodia to Tan Son Nhat airport on March 3.

Health monitoring at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City



Speaking with Dantri/Dtinews on March 5, director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Nguyen Tri Dung, confirmed that the five passengers included one Vietnamese, three French, and one Australian.

"However, only the Vietnamese passenger is staying in the city while the three French have already flown to Bangkok and the Australian passenger has returned to his country," the official said.

The official said that the Vietnamese passenger has been taken to a quarantine centre while people who had close contact with him were instructed to self-quarantine at their homes.

According to report from CDC, on the evening of March 3, a Japanese passenger boarded Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 with 72 others from Cambodias Siem Reap to HCM City, then took a transit flight VN340 to Japans Nagoya City.

After landing in Japan, the Japanese passenger showed symptoms of fever and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Flight VN814 carried 67 passengers and six cabin crew. Sixty-one passengers had connecting flights that night to London, Japan, Busan and Manila. Six passengers checked in at HCM City including one Vietnamese, three French, one Australian and one Filipino. The Filipino then flew home on Wednesday.

Right after being informed by Japanese authorities about the passenger's situation, CDC launched a search for the five passengers who checked into Vietnam.

All the crew from flight VN340 flight returned to Vietnam on flight VN341, which landed at HCM City's Tan Son Nhat Airport at 1:55 pm on Wednesday. The flight carried 73 passengers and 12 crew.

Accordingly, 51 passengers entering Vietnam and all the crew have been put into quarantine. The 22 others were also quarantined and are making arrangements for transit flights.

The aircraft used for flight VN341 has been disinfected.

At Tan Son Nhat Airport, two security staff and six service staff in the business lounge were also quarantined due to having close contact with the Japanese passenger.

Both Vietnamese and Japanese agencies are investigating the itinerary of the Japanese patient in Cambodia. Dtinews/VNA

HCM City tracks five passengers on same flight as confirmed COVID-19 case HCMC Centre for Disease Control is coordinating with relevant agencies to verify the identities and addresses of five passengers travelling with the Japanese passenger, who was found to have been infected with coronavirus, on flight VN814 on March 3.
A New York City lawyer was placed in critical condition on Wednesday after contracting the 2019 coronavirus.

The Manhattan lawyer, Lawrence Garbuz, worked near Grand Central Terminal at the Lewis and Garbuz P.C., law firm.

The patient is Manhattan's second case of coronavirus.

Garbuz reportedly sought care in a suburban hospital on February 27 after experiencing respiratory problems. He was reported coronavirus positive four days later.

The lawyer is under observation at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

The victim was said to use the Metro-North Railroad to commute from a home in New Rochelle.

Health officials reported four victims who tested positive after coming into contact with the lawyer --- his 20-year-old son, 14-year-old daughter, his wife, and a neighbor.

New York City now has 11 confirmed coronavirus cases.

The victims are now quarantined at their homes.

Shutting Down

Authorities said the lawyer's son attends Yeshiva University while his daughter goes to SAR Academy and high school.

Administrators voluntarily closed the high school.

Yeshiva University also said they are taking measures to ensure the safety of the community. The private university also announced it will cancel all classes on Wilf Campus in Washington Heights.

Agencies are also working with law firms and academic institutions to give employees proper guidance.

Health officials have also asked the Young Israel of New Rochelle, a synagogue the family reportedly attended, to shut down operations due to potential exposure.

"Congregants of the Temple who attended services on February 22, and a funeral and a bat mitzvah at the temple on February 23 must self-quarantine until at the very earliest March 8," the county department said.

New York Law School also ceased operations after a student revealed coming into contact with the New Rochelle lawyer.

The unnamed student is now under self-quarantine.

Administrators from the law school said the campus in now undergoing thorough cleaning.

Disease detectives are now working on identifying who may have come into contact with the victims.

Also Read: The Coronavirus Cases in Each US State

A 39-year-old health-care worker is the first person to test positive for coronavirus in New York City. The woman self-quarantined herself after arriving from Iran with her husband.

The health-care worker avoided taking public transportation and took a car service when she and her husband arrived Tuesday.

Her husband is reportedly under self-quarantine. Health officials are now testing him for COVID-19.

Authorities are contacting passengers who shared the same flight with the couple, as well as the driver for their car service and anyone who may come into contact with them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 129 cases in the US as of Wednesday. The report suggests an increase of 55 more patients since Tuesday.

The CDC said 80 of the confirmed cases were picked up through the public health system in 23 states.

Ten people have died due to coronavirus as of Wednesday. Several states including Washington State, Florida, and Los Angeles County, California have declared public health emergencies.

New York City health officials promised transparency amid the rising number of coronavirus cases.

Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot also urged the public to contact health care providers if they are experiencing cough, fever, or shortness of breath.
The BJP's "fever" to destabilise state governments rises when Rajya Sabha elections are due, the Congress said on Thursday, accusing the saffron party of trying to bring down the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh by "abducting 14 MLAs" of the ruling alliance.

The Congress said BJP MLAs conspired and held some MLAs hostage in a hotel in Manesar in Haryana on Wednesday, but they voluntarily came back in support of the Congress.

The 14-month-old Kamal Nath government in the state appeared to face its first major threat to survival after the Congress alleged a "poaching" bid on its and its allies MLAs by opposition BJP.

"The atmosphere created by the BJP in the country (is of) targeting and breaking opposition party leaders with threats of raids etc and forcing them to join or ally with the BJP so they can form government," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said while addressing a press briefing.

"Where ever other parties have made governments, their (BJP's) aim has been to destabilise them. This fever to destabilise state governments rises when Rajya Sabha elections are due," he said.

Three Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant in Madhya Pradesh and they are currently held by Congress' Digvijaya Singh, and the BJP's Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha.

Ever since the BJP has come to power at the national level, the democracy of the country is being finished in every state one by one, Azad alleged.

"The BJP has been systematically destroying democracy in every state since it came to power. It started with Arunachal Pradesh, then Karanataka and then recently in Himachal Pradesh, despite BJP not being in majority, a BJP CM took oath," he said.

The BJP's policy has always been to ensure that states do not get any government except that of the party, Azad said.

"What is going on in Madhya Pradesh is not a first. It is perhaps the third or fourth attempt. We condemn this and if this goes on, we will take strict action against it. We urge other parties to join us in this fight. We have never done of this kind where we scare and intimidate people to join us," he said.

Congress leader and party chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP "abducted 14 MLAs" and accused the saffron party of being hand in glove with the "mafia" in Madhya Pradesh who want to topple the Congress government in the state.

"Eleven mafias have been identified and are being reigned in by the Congress. They had been active for 15 years. The Vyapam scam is unravelling. So, this is a conspiracy to bring the Madhya Pradesh government down," he said.

"Who paid for the charter plane to abduct the MLAs? Who paid for the five star hotels?" Surjewala asked.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that in "the sinister design of the BJP in breaking state governments, they have hatched a plan to dig the grave of democracy in the country."



"By doing this heinous activity, they want to destabilise the Congress regime. They are putting pressure on Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh by adopting the carrot and stick policy," he said, urging all opposition parties to unite against the "authoritarian" government.

In a statement later, the party said that the Congress government in the state was stable and that the plans of the BJP will never materialise.

The BJP is now "steeped in despair" and its defeat in the upcoming by-elections to the Jora and Agar assembly seats is now imminent, the Congress said in the statement.

"That is why they have come down to the of toppling the government. The Congress currently has 114 MLAs, and one independent Pradeep Jaiswal is a minister. That is, the figure of 115 majority is with the Congress," it said



"Two BSP MLAs, Ramabai Parihar and Sanjeev Kushwaha, have reiterated their support for the Congress even today. Radhe Shukla of the Samajwadi Party has also expressed her faith in the government. Independent MLAs Kedar Davar and Vikram Singh Rana are also with the Congress," the statement said.

It said that it is also reported that BJP leaders from Delhi have "forcibly taken four MLAs to Bangalore, including three from Congress and one from Independents".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CAMBRIDGE, Ontario, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cowan Insurance Group, a leading Canadian insurance brokerage and consulting firm, was recognized for the eighth consecutive year by the prestigious Canadas Best Managed Companies program, earning Platinum Club status, for a second straight year.



Now in its 27th year, Canadas Best Managed Companies is one of the countrys leading business awards programs recognizing Canadian-owned and managed companies for innovative, world-class business practices.

Cowan has proven itself as a market leader in commercial and personal insurance, group benefits, and wealth management through its client-centric approach to doing business and commitment to innovation and excellence.

Best Managed Platinum Club winners are resilient. They have been consistent in successfully adapting to change throughout the years and overcoming economic challenges. These companies truly impact how Canada is viewed on the world stage when it comes to the success of private business, said Kari Lockhart, Partner, Deloitte Private and Co-Leader, Canadas Best Managed Companies program.

Applicants are evaluated by an independent judging panel comprised of representatives from program sponsors, in addition to special guest judges. 2020 Best Managed companies share commonalities that include a clear and concise strategy, and investment in resources and development with a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility.

Attaining Platinum status for a second consecutive year is a testament to our employees who continually go the extra mile and deliver excellence, said Heather McLachlin, President of Cowan Insurance Group. We care about what you care about is more than simply our tagline, its how we do business. Our clients are at the centre of all that we do.

Winners will be recognized at the annual Canadas Best Managed Companies gala in Toronto on April 1, 2020.

The Best Managed program is sponsored by Deloitte Private, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group.
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A judge on Wednesday ordered a young woman from Rahway accused of fatally stabbing her mother to be released on home detention.

Malika Jones, 22, is charged with first-degree murder and two weapons offenses for allegedly killing her mother during a Feb. 16 argument about going back to school.

The 57-year-old victim, Inell Jones, was found dead with a single stab wound to her upper left chest at their East Albert Street home, authorities said.

But Malika Jones attorney painted a much different picture of his client -- and the tumultuous relationship with her mom -- in Superior Court of Union County during a detention hearing Wednesday that went more than two hours.

She was formerly a student at Barnard College studying dentistry and had an outpouring of support from her classmates and professors in the form of letters. About two dozen people, including her father, sister, grandmother, pastors and neighbors attended the detention hearing to support the younger Jones.

This young lady is unlike clients that I have, Malika Jones attorney Raymond Hamlin said. Its unlike young men and young women that I met. I dont remember ever meeting someone being charged in an offense like this that was in an Ivy League school.

The 22-year-old was pushed by her mother to become a doctor, Hamlin said, but she wanted to study theater instead. She chose to study dentistry to appease her mom, but is now enrolled in a dentistry program at a community college in New York after taking time off from Barnard College, Hamlin added.

But Union County Assistant Prosecutor Armando Suarez argued that Jones should be detained because a person charged with killing her own mother would pose an even greater threat to the community.

If this individual committed this act against her own mother in that home, what conditions can there possibly be that this court deems as sufficient to protect someone who is not her mother from acting in this way again if theres an argument, Suarez said in court. I dont see it.

Malika Jones quietly cried continuously in the courtroom and shook during most of the detention hearing. Her nearly two-dozen supporters broke out in applause when Superior Court Judge Lara DiFabrizio ruled that she could be released with a home monitoring device to a couple who were once neighbors with the Joneses.

"To just look at the charge and detain, that goes against -- and throws in the face -- the purpose of criminal justice reform, said DiFabrizio, referring to state bail reform laws that went into effect about three years ago.

The judge said her consideration for releasing Malika Jones went beyond the seriousness of the charges. She also heard testimony from the couple who would constantly be watching her under home detention and took into account the 32 letters she received supporting her.

Hamlin, meanwhile, also argued that Malika Jones acted in self-defense and was struggling with the knife while it was in her mothers hand when the blade collided with her mom. The younger Jones also sustained a cut to her wrist and her mother mocked her about it, he said.

He also claimed that Inell Jones isolated Malika Jones from her father and his side of the family. The last time she had seen her father was when she was 8-years-old, but he attended the detention hearing on Wednesday.

The defense attorney raised questions about what is likely to be the prosecutions star witness: a man who was living in the house at the time of the stabbing. The man described himself as a friend of the mothers and did not get up to see what was happening despite hearing dishes crashing, Hamlin said.

Malika Jones called 911 in a hysterical state to report what she said was an accident, Hamlin said. The prosecutor, meanwhile, argued that it took Malika Jones about 20 minutes to call police at the urging of the man in the home.

The younger Jones asked through her attorney during the detention hearing if she would be able to attend college in New York under home detention. The judge refused and told her to consider taking online courses.

The prosecutor plans to appeal the judges decision.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
Amid the rising fear over the spread of coronavirus in different parts of the world, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday (March 5) announced that the India-EU (European Union) summit, supposed to be held this month in Brussels, has been rescheduled keeping in mind the situation arising due to the spread of deadly virus. It is to be noted that Prime Minister was also scheduled to attend the crucial summit.

"As far as India-EU Summit is concerned which PM Modi had to attend, the health authorities of both the countries suggested that travelling must not take place at present. So, it has been decided that Summit will be rescheduled on a mutually convenient date," said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar at the ministry's weekly press briefing.

The MEA spokesperson added that the decision to postpone the summit has been taken keeping in mind the spirit of close cooperation between the EU and India. "The decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the EU and India who share same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon," noted Kumar.

Commenting on PM Modi's upcoming visit to Bangladesh to attend centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the MEA spokesperson said, "When PM Modi met Bangladesh's PM Sheikh Hasina, she specifically invited him to attend centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu. PM had accepted the invitation&he'll be visiting Bangladesh to attend the celebrations. We we'll share more details later."

Meanwhile, Delhi government on Thursday ordered the closure of all primary schools in the national capital till March 31 as a precautionary measure as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 30 across the country.

"As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed the immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20," Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said in a tweet.

The Delhi government has also advised head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
India on Thursday said it was closely watching the situation in Afghanistan following signing of a peace deal between the Taliban and the US.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also said India will continue to extend all support to the government and the people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous future.

After months of negotiations, the US and Taliban signed a landmark peace deal in Qatari capital Doha on Saturday, effectively drawing curtains on the United States' 18-year war in Afghanistan since 2001.

"The deal has just been signed. We have noted that the entire political spectrum in Afghanistan has welcomed the opportunity for peace and stability," Kumar said when asked during a media briefing about the deal between the Taliban and the US.

"India has always supported the opportunities that can end violence and cut ties with international terrorism. We are all aware of what the agreement provides for. We are closely watching the situation," he added.

India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan as it had already spent around USD 2 billion in reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.

"India will continue to extend all support to the government and the 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," Kumar said.

Major powers such as the US, Russia and Iran have been reaching out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process.

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.

Ahead of the peace deal, India conveyed to the US that pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror networks operating from its soil must be kept up though Islamabad's cooperation for peace in Afghanistan is crucial.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last weekend, after he held his first news conference on the coronavirus crisis  a scripted affair with prearranged questions that left Japanese journalists shouting at him for answers  Twitter was flooded with over a million posts demanding his resignation.

Two days before, after weeks of inaction, Mr. Abe blindsided parents by asking the nations schools to close for a month, sending many scrambling to find child care.

Japan has struggled to roll out widespread testing for the virus, which has been limited to 900 patients per day while neighboring countries test up to 10,000 daily. His former health minister said the outbreak had been so disastrous because Mr. Abe has stayed too long in power.

The latest: Here are live updates and maps of where the virus has spread.

Markets: U.S. stocks plunged on Thursday, falling more than 3 percent for the fourth time in the past two weeks. The impact on airlines was almost without precedent, the president of the International Air Transport Association said.

Sick while rich: The wealthy are ditching first class for private planes and consulting with concierge doctors and other V.I.P. health care services.
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal on Thursday said Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi must get tested for Coronavirus as they have just returned from Italy and may end up spreading it.

"Most of the patients who have been tested positive for Coronavirus in India have a connection with Italy. Earlier, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that party leader Rahul Gandhi had forewarned the government on the impending threat from Coronavirus," said Beniwal while speaking to ANI.

"I urged the government in the Lok Sabha to screen the Gandhi family for Coronavirus as they have just arrived from Italy. There should be a probe to find out if the spread of the virus originated from Sonia Gandhi's home," he said.

The RLP leader had made the same remark in the Lok Sabha today, following which, Congress leaders slammed him and shouted slogans and threw papers on the table of the Speaker.

The Lok Sabha speaker did not allow his remark in the House.

Being asked if his statement will be expunged from records, he said: "I do not care if my remarks get expunged. I am used to it. However, I am worried about Sonia's health. They all should get their medical check-up done."

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi over his posts on social media about Coronavirus, he said: "Rahul not coming out from his house but expressing his concern by sharing posts on it."As Congress leaders demanded an apology from him for his statement, he said: "I will not seek an apology for his remark in this birth."

On Wednesday, Beniwal targetted Rahul Gandhi over his visit to violence-hit northeast Delhi and asked the leader if he underwent screening after coming from Italy.

"Precautions must be taken...first you misguided people (on CAA)... your mother said people should be either this side or the other...first you instigate violence, then you go to show solidarity...before going there, I want to ask, you have come from Italy just six days back, have you taken screening test at the airport? Did you take precautions or you want to spread it (Coronavirus)?"Beniwal told ANI.

Leaders of various parties were speaking in the Lok Sabha after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday made a statement on steps taken by the government to control the spread of the novel coronavirus and informed the House that so far 29 people have been tested positive for Coronavirus in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NWS Weather Alert NOTE: This information is provided by the National Weather Service. Forecast may differ from local information provided by our own 69News Meteorologists

...A SNOW SQUALL WILL AFFECT PARTS OF MORRIS...SUSSEX...WARREN... LEHIGH...CARBON...MONROE AND NORTHAMPTON COUNTIES... At 1048 PM EST, a snow squall was located along a line extending from near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to near Port Jervis, New York. Movement was southeast at 25 mph. Locations that may be impacted include... Newton, Lehighton, Montague, Mount Pocono, Dover, Hopatcong, Lincoln Park, Kinnelon, Northampton, East Stroudsburg, Hackettstown, Tobyhanna, Boonton, Butler, Wharton, Washington, Rockaway, Blairstown, Nazareth and Palmerton. This includes the following highways... Northeast Extension between mile markers 62 and 97. Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania between mile markers 278 and 314. Interstate 80 in New Jersey between mile markers 0 and 42, and between mile markers 50 and 51. Interstate 287 in New Jersey between mile markers 43 and 54. Interstate 380 in Pennsylvania between mile markers 0 and 13. Visibilities may drop quickly to less than a quarter of a mile in this squall. Use extra caution if you must travel into or through this snow squall. Rapid changes in visibility and potentially slick roads are possible. Consider delaying travel until the squall passes your location.
Photo: (Photo : Unsplash/Cryancom)

Calling in for another emergency!

A little girl had two Colorado police officers rushing to her house to help her with her "hurt" stuffed animal, and everyone is just in "awwe."

The little girl, named Natalie Coulter, was just playing one day on one of her mom's old cellphones, unknowingly that she has dialed an emergency number that led to a call to the police.

According to Natalie's mom, Brittany Coulter, she actually gave Natalie a dead phone that she used to have for her to play around with and pretend that she is calling somebody. She added that she never expected she will accidentally make that call to the police with a very small, yet cute, emergency matter since the phone was old and it was already not working.

The phone was already deactivated for years now, and as the call went through with the police, Natalie reported that she was having an "emergency" with her stuffed animal, saying it was "hurt."

This emergency call was indeed the cutest thing everyone can find on the Internet and has sparked conversations among social media users.

Cops who were nearby Natalie's address, Officer Dane Stratton and another co-officer, hurriedly tracked the call and made a visit to the little girl's house.

Fort Collins Police Service in Colorado was quick to trace the call to an address and investigate about the emergency situation Natalie reported to find out what is happening.

The audio call of the incident was released by Colorado's police department on Wednesday. In the released audio, you can hear Natalie calling in and reporting how her stuffed animal was "hurt" and sustained an injury. Her report grew concerned with police officers. According to the statement released by Fort Collins Police Service on their Facebook post that was published Friday, Natalie hung up without saying a word to the dispatchers, so police officer Stratton and his co-office who was on duty around their area went to their home to make sure everyone in that household was OK.

When Officer Stratton arrived at Natalie's residence, Brittany explained the situation to them about Natalie using her old phone that apparently was already not working for years. She also explained that she was unaware that the emergency call function was still useable.

Officer Stratton then went to Natalie and helped her with her "injured" stuffed bunny toy with a band-aid. After he helped her with her toy, Officer Stratton took the opportunity to educate Natalie that situations like that will not require a call to 911. However, if she or her family is in real trouble, she should call 911 immediately and let them know what's going on for her to be assisted and helped.

The officer also shared to the public that the reason why he helped Natalie even though it was a wrong call was that he wants to let children be educated about asking help to police officials. Not all children are knowledgeable and aware enough that calling police officials when there is trouble is the right thing to do when they are in a dangerous situation.

On the Facebook post that Fort Collins Police Service, they finished the post with a very funny and cute line about Officer Stratton that said: "Not all officers are equipped with the same rabbit repair skills, so please do not call police for furmergencies."
New Jersey has suspended all international business travel for state workers the same day officials said a second person has tested positive with the coronavirus, acting Gov. Sheila Oliver announced Thursday.

The state is also putting restrictions on domestic out-of-state work trips for state employees, requiring workers to first get approval from the governors office. Permission for travel includes trips to New York City and Washington D.C.

I would like to reiterate, Oliver said at a news conference in Ewing. This case does not come as a surprise. Our state has been prepared for weeks.

She added: The threat to public health in New Jersey remains low.

Exceptions to the restrictions include travel for things like civil and criminal investigations.

The out-of-state travel ban does not include personal trips.

The announcement comes the day after Oliver and Gov. Phil Murphy said officials identified the states first likely confirmed case of the virus. The second confirmed case was announced Thursday.

The 32-year-old man from Fort Lee in Bergen County is being treated for the illness at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he arrived on Tuesday and was placed in isolation, according to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich.

The man is in stable condition and that officials were hoping to interview him Thursday morning at the hospital to find out where he was before apparently contracting the virus, Sokolich said.

They said the individual who is the second case that tested presumptive positive" is being treated at Englewood Health.

Officials on Thursday said 13 people have tested negative for the coronavirus in New Jersey in recent weeks, and another eight are under investigation. But Murphy and other officials warned Monday that the virus was likely to spread.

There are more than 93,000 cases worldwide and more than 3,100 deaths from COVID-19, mostly in China, as of Wednesday evening. The virus has infected more than 120 people in the U.S. and killed 11.

Oliver said more information on coronavirus may be found at nj.gov/health or call the toll free state hotline 1-800-222-1222.

She is serving as acting governor as Murphy recovers from surgery to remove a likely cancerous tumor. Murphy is being hospitalized in the New York City hospital where he underwent surgery on Wednesday.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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Adina Barg, a junior at Northwestern, said she was devastated to learn that a trip to Morocco through Fiedler Hillel, a Jewish center on campus, was going to be canceled. Barg, a student leader for the trip, said she has been meeting with 15 other attendees for months in preparation for the cultural exchange experience. Students will be refunded for any expenses they put toward to trip, which cost about $1,500 before financial aid, according to Barg and the Hillel website.
By Trend

Latvia already has examples of successful investment from Azerbaijan in wholesale trade and in the future the country would like to attract more investors to its ports and logistic hubs, Latvias Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dainis Garancs told Trend.

"The Latvian companies are already doing business in Azerbaijan in fields like transport and logistics, mechanical engineering, ICT, food production, architecture, design, construction, chemical, pharmaceutical industries, tourism etc. We would like to expand this cooperation exchange. Promising area is green technologies where Latvia has well-developed expertise and knowledge. We are interested in increasing mutually beneficial investment exchanges. Investment in small and medium-sized business could bring a lot of benefit to our economic relations," said the ambassador.

Talking about bilateral trade, he noted that the main categories of goods exported from Latvia to Azerbaijan currently are food products, construction and building materials, wood products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

"We are also very glad to see fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan in our supermarkets. However, the current bilateral trade volume (7.75 MEUR in the first half of 2019) does not reflect the actual economic potential of our countries. One of the embassys priorities is to encourage our entrepreneurs to look for new opportunities and to facilitate further contacts between businesses," said Garancs.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Coronavirus: Greece says 21 cases on bus back from Israel Jewish State confirms tourists also visited Palestine

(ANSAmed) - ATHENS/TEL AVIV, MARCH 5 - The Greek government announced 21 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, in tourists who returned to Greece from Israel on the same bus.



Israel said the Greek tourists also visited the Palestinian territories during their trip.



The Israeli health ministry said it learned that some members of the tour group, which visited Israel between February 19 and 27, resulted positive for the coronavirus after returning to Greece.



Palestinian press sources said the tourists visited Bethlehem, where authorities declared a health emergency on Thursday.



The Israeli health ministry said Israel and the Palestinian National Authority are exchanging information in order to reconstruct the tour group's movements in detail.



It said it will make the information public in the coming hours to determine who may have had contact with the group and should now go into quarantine. (ANSAmed).




Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 05:49:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The policy-setting body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday pledged to provide necessary support to mitigate the economic and financial impact from the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

"The economic and financial impact has also been felt globally, creating uncertainty and damaging near-term prospects," the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) said in a statement after holding a teleconference call, chaired by Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago and Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva.

"We have called upon the IMF to use all its available financing instruments to help member countries in need," the IMFC said, adding that the IMF's 189 member countries "stand united" to address the global challenges related to the COVID-19 epidemic.

"We are confident that, working together, we will overcome the challenge facing us and restore growth and prosperity for all," the IMFC said.

Following the conference call, the IMF announced that it is making available about 50 billion U.S. dollars through its rapid-disbursing emergency financing facilities for low-income and emerging market countries in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We know that the disease is spreading quickly. With over one-third of our membership affected directly, this is no longer a regional issue -- it is a global problem calling for a global response," Georgieva said Wednesday at a joint press conference with World Bank Group President David Malpass.

The IMF chief said she is "particularly concerned about our low-income and more vulnerable members -- these countries may see financing needs rise rapidly as the economic and human cost of the virus escalates."

The World Bank Group also announced Tuesday that it is making available an initial package of up to 12 billion dollars in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In January, the IMF had projected global growth to improve to 3.3 percent this year from 2.9 percent last year. Then in February, it revised down 2020 global growth to 3.2 percent.

"Under any scenario, global growth in 2020 will drop below last year's level," Georgieva said at Wednesday's press conference.
Paul Yovich Credit:sds

The final contamination event Mr Yovich is questioning Mr Egan about relates to a twig recovered from Jane's crime scene, known as exhibit RH21.

Female DNA from a victim of an unrelated crime was detected during DNA testing of the twig in 2002.

An investigation into the incident found the unrelated 19-year-old victim's intimate swab exhibits were tested five days prior to the twig being tested, with a weekend falling in between.

It concluded the contamination likely occurred as both examinations took tubes from the same batch when preparing the samples of DNA extraction.

Mr Egan has agreed with Mr Yovich that the method of contamination is a highly unlikely one.

The type of contamination, known as secondary transfer, is the most likely contamination method the defence says resulted in Mr Edwards' DNA being found underneath Ciara's fingernails.

Mr Edwards' DNA was being held in the Pathwest lab in relation to the 1995 Karrakatta rape he committed.

Mr Yovich is now wrapping up his cross-examination of Mr Egan.

Mr Yovich: Do you say the transfer of biological material from the [Karrakatta rape victim intimate swab] into the environment of the lab was impossible?

Mr Egan: Like just floating around? ... It's probably unlikely because we haven't seen that DNA profile come up.

Mr Yovich: But you cannot say it's impossible?

Mr Egan: In our field of work, impossible is not a word we used very often.

Mr Egan agreed the likelihood that Ciara's fingernail exhibit AJM42 was contaminated with trace DNA when opened was again not impossible, but also not foreseeable and highly unlikely.


Less than 30 minutes into a discussion of bioinformatics, student Chu Xinjians class was suddenly ended.

It was the first day of an unusual school term. Across China, schools are closed in an effort to contain the new coronavirus that has killed some 3,000 people.

Chus class was one of tens of thousands -- from grade school to university -- that have been forced to go online for an undecided amount of time.

Chus professor was sending voice recordings to the online class group discussion when, without warning, the system ended the class. It had violated Chinas strong internet laws.

The students did not know the nature of the violation. Was it something about the subject matter? Bioinformatics is the science of collecting and examining complex biological data. Chu, who spoke to Reuters about the incident said, I guess we touched on some sensitive topic.

Major social media sites including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are blocked in China. The countrys government closely watches similar sites created in China, such as Weibo and WeChat. Chinese security agents remove information considered offensive.

Now, the sudden arrival of public education onto such sites has brought new attention to government controls over the internet.

Biology courses in recent weeks have been blocked for pornographic content. History and politics classes are among the most at risk of shutdowns. Subjects such as Chinas Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward are commonly censored in classes and online discussions.

Daily life in the worlds most populous nation has changed greatly in the last six weeks. Streets that are usually full of activity are now empty. Fast-food restaurants offer only takeout service. And group activities have been replaced with online substitutes.

Classes have stopped but learning will not, the Education Ministry said in a February notice. It has established 24,000 free online studies on 22 websites.

Yet the countrys internet security agents have interfered with many of these substitute educational programs.

Louis Wang is a middle school history teacher in northeast China. He said his workload has expanded greatly because of a difficult approval process for online classes.

Every word that is spoken in a video recording must be pre-approved, Wang said.

For him, that means writing his class lectures word-for-word  about 5,000 Chinese characters each  for school administrators to examine.

Even seemingly neutral statements can cause a problem with the censors.

Wang said one of his coworkers, a politics teacher, was trying to upload a document that included the words socialism with Chinese characteristics in its name. That expression was made famous by former leader Deng Xiaoping and is still often used by the government today.

However, the systems internet censors blocked the document. The teacher was able to upload it only after the group of words was removed.

Teachers are finding ways to avoid some barriers to sharing information over the internet. For example, they can sometimes share online files with individual students, even as the same documents get rejected when sharing with an online group of students. So, some teachers send files to parents and students one-by-one.

Not every problem faced by online classes involves censorship. Sometimes technical difficulties are the cause.

Cheng Yufan is a university student in the southern province of Jiangsu. She accidentally became the leader of a lecture on the first day of online classes last month.

When class was set to start, her professor did not appear. And the media sites system appointed Cheng as the group administrator.

When her professor finally signed on, connection issues blocked his communication with the class. Cheng and the other students spent two hours listening tonothing.

But, the professor did not even know. He wrote in the class group discussion, See you next time!

Im Jonathan Evans.

The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

topic - n. someone or something that people talk or write about

pronography - n. material that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement

censor - v. to examine books, movies, letters, etc., in order to remove things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc.

censor - n. a person who examines books, movies, letters, etc., and removes things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc.

lecture - n. a talk or speech given to a group of people to teach them about a particular subject

character - n. a graphic symbol (such as a hieroglyph or alphabet letter) used in writing or printing

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THE managing director of a Limerick retirement village has threatened one of its residents with legal action as hostilities intensify over a proposed hike in rent.

Occupants of the Park Retirement Village in Castletroy have been told they cannot hold meetings on site, while a residents committee member has had his key fob deactivated for certain areas of the complex, with the company claiming he is trespassing in areas where he should not be.

The dispute between residents and the management company  first revealed in the Limerick Leader  comes with dozens of retired people told to expect steep rental hikes, two people facing eviction, and complaints of a downgrading of services at the facility adjacent to the entrance to UL.

Residents have held several meetings to try and campaign against the proposed rises, and have met in the clubhouse within the facility.

But speaking this week, one of the residents committee members, Dr Kevin Ryan, claims the management company is clamping down on this, threatening to restrict access to the clubhouse.

Local Fianna Fail TD Willie ODea has described the standoff as simply intolerable and is contacting the council as he believes the Park Retirement Village owners are in breach of their planning permission.

In a letter to Dr Ryan, seen by the Limerick Leader, Edel Madden, the managing director of CRV Park Ltd, wrote: You have no authority or no entitlement to hold a meeting within our premises. Unless you confirm the meeting is cancelled, the clubhouse will be locked.

Despite this warning, the meeting went ahead, and Ms Madden then sent a further letter, claiming he had no authority to enter Sylvan House, the part of the complex in which the clubhouse is located.

Your actions constitute a clear trespass of our property. Should you ever do so again, legal action will follow. In addition, you should be aware that we are currently reviewing the full implications of your actions and the consequences may indeed impact upon your tenancy, he said.

Dr Ryan said he will not back down, saying that he has heard residents crying over this standoff.

Speaking on RTEs Drivetime earlier this week, he said: I found it distressing to hear people crying. We have people here who have a number of intellectual disabilities and they were very frightened of being kicked out of their homes, as were a lot of the older residents. I found that really shocking.

Residents claim in the last few months, services have been curtailed, including 24-hour security reduced down to mobile patrols, the loss of an on-site caretaker, as well as the elimination of a clubhouse co-ordinator which provided activities for those present.

Any activities like art, music and Zumba which used to be provided free of charge are now payable by residents.

Theyve gone downhill so fast, so many things have been removed, Dr Ryan said, One very egregious one is on December 2, a letter was issued, saying the practice of leaving refuse outside our doors will cease. What that means is the refuse service we depended on, especially for people with restricted ability was being abolished with no-one being told about it or it being discussed.

Its not what people expected, as they were told when they got here, there would be 24 hour services, the University of Limerick academic added.

The management company did not return requests for comment.

Last November, the company said significant work was needed to raise the development to a satisfactory standard .They conceded this would mean some residents would need to move, while they pledged to address other concerns.
Born on March 5, Rhea Kapoor celebrates her 33rd birthday this year. Many fans and celebrities have been showering the Bollywood producer with wishes and love on her social media. While the fans continued to make her feel special on her birthday, they also did not fail to notice the birthday wish of Rhea Kapoor's rumoured beau, Karan Boolani.

Rhea Kapoor's rumoured partner Karan Boolani makes her feel special on her birthday

ALSO READ | Sonam Kapoor Ahuja And Rhea Kapoor Are Each Others A1 Since Day 1; Heres The Proof

Karan Boolani shared a series of pictures of the duo together. When the alleged couple took a trip to the Maldives last year for Karan's birthday, Rhea shared a birthday post for him and thanked him for putting up with her. Responding to Rhea Kapoor's caption in his birthday post for her, he said, "Happy birthday.. thank you for putting up with me too" and added a series of red hearts to it.

ALSO READ | Sonam Kapoor Flaunts Effortless Style In Rhea Kapoor's New Collection 'The Lost Letters'

Boolani also shared a series of stories on his social media from Rhea Kapoor's birthday celebration. She is seen doing rounds and feeding cake to her closed ones. Rhea also took to her social media stories to share glimpses from the intimate celebration.

While the couple has been tight-lipped about their romance, Sonam Kapoor confirmed their relationship in an interview with a leading channel. When the actor was asked about Rhea Kapoor and Karan Boolani's wedding, Sonam said that when Rhea does get married, she will be happy to tell them. She added that they have been dating for 10 years and that they have not gotten married yet. She also added that when the happy news is there, it will be announced and also said that they will not be getting married this year.

ALSO READ | Sonam Kapoor-Rhea Kapoor's Luxury Cars And Fashion Brands; Here's Their Combined Net-Worth

ALSO READ | Rhea Kapoor Says She Misses Her 'Veeres' By Sharing A Selfie

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.
Dartmouth College officials, in a message to students, said an investigation was underway to trace the close contacts of the individual, and said no Dartmouth students were considered close contacts to the patient at this time. It was unclear whether the second patient who tested positive had attended the mixer or was exposed at another time.

The general vibe is we are all pretty concerned that this medical professional showed up to the event, despite being told to self-isolate, said Christie Harrison, a first-year Tuck student who sang with the band that performed at the mixer on Friday night. She estimated that about a hundred business school students attended, along with 30 or 40 resident physicians associated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, an academic medical center located near Dartmouth College.

We all were just excited to have one of the last few parties of the quarter and be off campus, Ms. Harrison said. She said investigators appear to have made efforts to trace those who interacted with the man at the mixer, and have asked them to self-quarantine. Those who did not interact with him, like herself, were simply told to monitor their health and alert authorities if they came down with symptoms, she said.

The college was really great at communicating all of that to us, in a timely manner, Ms. Harrison said. The college has been really transparent with us throughout the process.

Gunnar Esiason, a Tuck student who considered going to the mixer on Friday night, but did not, said he nonetheless felt distressed about the potential exposures because he has underlying health issues. In my opinion, it is shocking that a health care worker would do this, if it is in fact true, said Mr. Esiason. He has since left campus and was planning to take exams remotely.
The Step Pyramid, the first stone building in history and the oldest pyramid in the world, consists of six stacked terraces to a height of around 63 metres

The serenity of the Saqqara necropolis was disturbed today as the archaeological site was buzzing with people who flocked to attend the grand opening of Djosers Step Pyramid, the first stone building in history and the oldest pyramid in the world.

Among the attendees were Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and Assem El-Gazar, the minister of housing.

At the press conference following the inauguration, Madbouly said opening the Djoser Pyramid after restoration was an honour. This project, along with other project in the field of archaeology, is one of the countrys mega projects. Egypt is keen to preserve its unique heritage and it is on top of its priorities, Madbouly said.

This is a meticulous medical surgery, El-Enany told Ahram Online, explaining that the restoration work that took 14 years has been carried out by skillful and efficient Egyptian conservators with a budget of EGP 104 million.

The Step Pyramid is the highlight of Saqqaras monuments. It is the oldest monumental stone building in history and Egypts oldest pyramid. It was commissioned by Djoser (c 26672648 BC). The genius architect was Imhotep. He designed a layout in which the Step Pyramid was at the centre of a larger funerary complex. The pyramid itself consists of six stacked terraces to a height of around 63 metres.

The dimensions of the base are 121 x 109 metres. The pyramid has two entrances, one on its northern side, which is the original entrance, and another on the southern, which dates back to the 26th Dynasty. The complex also includes a colonnade entrance, the South Tomb, the Sed Festival court, the Pavilions of the North and South, and a funerary temple to the north of the pyramid.

El-Enany explained that the restoration aimed at consolidating the pyramid and removing the damages. Accumulated dust, sand, and stones containing damaging salts were removed from the surfaces of the terraces. Stone blocks that had loosened were restored, and gaps between the facade blocks were filled with the same archaeological material that had been used in the construction of the pyramid.

Degraded stone blocks were treated using materials immediately after the removal of the soil covering them. The walls of the deteriorated underground passages were treated with injections and reinforced materials, or with careful restoration methods.

The southern entrance was prepared to serve as the main entrance into the pyramid for visitors.

The stones in the collapsed area above the central shaft were unstable and in a critical state of structural equilibrium. Loss of mortar between the blocks had occurred, causing them to detach from each other, causing gaps to form.

The primary objective was to stabilise the ceiling blocks (the area of initial collapse) in three stages. Loose ceiling blocks were reconnected by filling the gaps between them with lime mortar, a material similar in composition to the original mortar, to a depth of no less than 25 centimetres. Air stents were distributed in all hazardous locations to render the work area safe for workers.

El-Anany said the area around the pyramid was developed. New placards with information of the pyramid and its restoration work were installed. A visiting path was created and a slope was made for the disabled. A new lighting system was installed.

The burial chamber and its corridors were restored. Rubble was completely removed and taken outside the pyramid, revealing a granite sarcophagus and guaranteeing its structural stability.

After the rubble was removed, the sarcophagus was found to consist of 32 granite blocks, with sides measuring 3.47  5.35 metres, and a height of 4.73 metres. Its total weight is estimated at around 176 tons. The coffin was found resting on 18 limestone bases, all of which had collapsed, filling the burial chamber with rubble.

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Behind every successful man is a woman, goes the cliche.

As Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's better half, Rashmi Thackeray has been credited with much of his political decision-making and successes. However, if straws in the wind are something to go by, Rashmi may now emerge from the shadows to assume a more pro-active role in politics.

On Sunday, the print line of the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana was changed to reflect Rashmis name as the editor. Shiv Sena hawk and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut will continue as the executive editor of the publication. Though Rashmi's post may be seen as a sinecure  it is Raut and his team who handle the daily grind and editorial decision-making  this change is significant.

When Saamana was launched as the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece in 1989, it had party supremo, late Bal Thackeray, as the editor, and Ashok Padbidri, who had a socialist orientation, was the executive editor.

Later, Raut joined from the Indian Express group's Marathi weekly Loksatta as Padbidri's replacement in 1992. Though many of the newspaper's editorials spelling out the Shiv Sena's line were written by Raut, they were attributed to the Sena chief.

After Bal Thackeray's demise in 2012, Uddhav replaced him as the editor, but had to step down from the position after becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra.

Rashmi's appointment as the editor of the newspaper reiterates the Thackeray family's control over it, and may be her soft launch for a more formal role in politics. While Rashmi has been active in the Shiv Sena for decades, she may increase her engagement with the party organisation due to her husband and elder son getting positions in the state government. amed as editor of `Marmik', a Marathi cartoon weekly started by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray in 1960

The appointment also has another angle of intra-party politics. In the long run, Raut, seen as the man of the match in the Shiv Sena's alliance with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), may eventually see his wings clipped in the way in which he controls the deeply influential Saamana.

Born to Meena and Madhav Patankar, the Shiv Sena's first lady spent her formative years at Dombivali in Mumbai's extended suburbs, and graduated from the Vaze-Kelkar College. She joined the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in 1987. During this time, Rashmi became friends with Jaywanti, Bal Thackeray's niece and Raj Thackerays elder sister.

Jaywanti suggested Rashmi as a bride for elder cousin Uddhav, who she called Dadu. Rashmi and Uddhav were married in December 1988 at the Raja Shivaji School in Dadar.

Uddhav, who was then running an advertising agency, was launched into politics later, though he played a behind-the-scenes role, compared to his flamboyant younger cousin Raj, who was seen as his uncle's political heir.

The Shiv Sena came to power in Maharashtra for the first time in 1995. The period saw a massive churn within the Thackeray clan due to charges against Raj in connection with the death of Matunga resident Ramesh Kini in July 1996. It was alleged that Kini, who was found dead in suspicious circumstances in a cinema hall in Pune, on a day when the road and rail traffic between the two cities was disrupted due to torrential rains, was being threatened to vacate his tenanted house by his landlords, who were close to Raj.

The subsequent controversy saw Raj being sidelined in the Shiv Sena, and Uddhav, whose camp was at odds with that of Raj, emerged as a power centre.

The sudden deaths of Bal Thackeray's wife Meenatai and elder son Bindumadhav, aka Binda, changed the power dynamics in the Thackeray family. Smita, the wife of the Sena patriarch's second and estranged son Jaideo, competed with Uddhav and Rashmi to fill the gap.

This kitchen politics swung Uddhav's way later and he was anointed the Shiv Sena's working president in 2002, cementing his position as the party's number two and his father's heir apparent.

Then leader of opposition and former chief minister Narayan Rane, with whom Uddhav fell out, charged that Bal Thackeray's attempts at reconciliation with him (Rane) were stonewalled when Uddhav threatened to walk out of Matoshree (the Thackeray family residence) with Rashmi. Rane eventually joined the Congress in 2005, and posed one of the strongest existential threats to the Shiv Sena for a while, with his men putting Shiv Sainiks on the back foot in pitched street battles.

After a long and protracted power struggle with Uddhav, Raj also quit the Shiv Sena in 2005 to form his own Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) the next year.

Despite the obvious crisis for the party and challenge to his leadership, Uddhav and his father managed to keep their flock together.

Shiv Sena insiders say that Rashmi, who has been a constant presence at Uddhav's side in his political journey, worked hard to smoothen ruffled feathers in this period. While preventing a further exodus of leaders and functionaries to the Rane and Raj camps, Rashmi also ensured that some of these dissidents were eventually brought back to the Shiv Sena.

The Achilles heel for Uddhav has been described as his poor communication with his men. This is perhaps an extension of his introvert personality. Rashmi emerged as an alternate line of communication for party leaders, who were unable to reach Uddhav through the conventional route. Those who have seen Rashmi at work in these times say she was among those who helped extricate Uddhav and the party from this crisis.

Uddhav has been described as a typical family man attached to his wife and sons Aaditya (the incumbent environment minister and Yuva Sena chief) and Tejas. Their relatives say that there are no negative vibes in the Thackeray household.

However, though Uddhav has often been called a reluctant politician with his political foray being attributed to Rashmi's ambitions, even a cursory look at his career trajectory will reveal that the Maharashtra chief minister is as consummate a politician as anyone else. Uddhav had spoken about his chief ministerial ambitions way back in 1999 and would realise them two decades later.

However, Rashmi is described as politically astute. Shiv Sena insiders who have interacted with Rashmi vahini (sister-in-law) as she is known, say she has sharp political instincts and wants her husband to take the political centre stage. They acknowledge Rashmi as the power behind the throne, but also stress that Uddhav has a mind of his own. She however provides her husband inputs from the ground after due diligence and manages to strike a balance between the old guard and young Turks within the party.

Rashmi's brother Sridhar Patankar is also said to be influential behind the scenes as are the Shringarpures, the family of her maternal uncle.

Varun Sardesai, the civil engineer son of Rashmi's sister Swati, is also the shadow for cousin Aaditya. Varun, who is a core committee member of the Yuva Sena, has often taken up cudgels on behalf of the party and Aaditya on social media, crossing swords with the likes of Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Said to be a good hostess like late mother-in-law Meenatai, Rashmi is also the mentor for the Shiv Sena womens wing.

Rashmi's appointment as the Saamna editor has another subtext. The Shiv Sena is known as a patriarchal and conservative political formation. Rashmi will be the first woman to edit the paper.

The Shiv Sena has already attempted a course correction by fielding the suave Aaditya to create a new, auxiliary constituency among cosmopolitan voters in a fast-changing Mumbai. It will be interesting to watch the impact of Rashmi's impending formal political foray on its outlook and approach towards women.

(Dhaval Kulkarni is a journalist and author of the book The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the shadow of their Senas. Views are personal)
The Department of Justice issued some non-binding legal advice to security researchers who gather cyber intelligence from dark corners of the internet.

The document advises researchers and threat intelligence firms to create and follow organization-wide engagement policies, document their work and develop relationships with law enforcement if they plan to explore sites that "openly advertise illegal services and the sale of stolen credit card numbers, compromised passwords, and other sensitive information."

Researchers have many questions about the legality of cybersecurity intelligence gathering. For instance, passively lurking on online forums to gather intelligence -- even information that touches on criminal conduct -- is usually legal as long as the researcher is using legitimate credentials. However, DOJ said using exploits or "other techniques" to access or gather information from the server or system on which the forum operates could be viewed as gaining unauthorized access. More active actions, like posing questions or directly soliciting advice, can also present a "marginal legal risk" to researchers depending on whether their interaction furthers a crime.

While it is common for threat intelligence practitioners to use pseudonyms or false identities when engaging on forums, the document advises them to avoid "legally problematic" tactics like impersonating actual people or government officials.

Leo Taddeo, a former special agent in charge of the Cybersecurity Division at the FBI's New York City office, said that it's sometimes necessary to leverage some form of legitimate credentials to get past forum gatekeepers. Exactly how far a researcher can go to do so is likely to be a continuing debate.

"There are little pieces of identity that may be necessary to establish bona fides, so researchers are constantly trying to find the right mix of true and not true and fabricated credentials in order to gain entry into some of these forums, and creating a completely fabricated identity is really not easy," Taddeo said. "It's not easy to backstop it, it's not easy to create a legend and it's also not easy to fool some of these criminal groups because they have ways of checking to see you are who you say you are."

DOJ advises threat intelligence companies to mitigate this risk in a number of ways: create documented internal rules of engagement for acceptable conduct, use systems that are properly secured and not connected to the company's networks and establish trusted lines of communication with their local FBI office to avoid misunderstandings in the event their activities are swept up in an active investigation. They should also ensure their legal counsel is looped into the process and report any evidence of an ongoing crime to law enforcement.

The guidance is peppered with caveats and disclaimers, clarifying that it provides no actual rights or legal remedies for users, does not apply to government actors or other forms of non-cyber intelligence gathering and assumes the practitioner is obtaining the information solely for legitimate cybersecurity purposes.

Ari Schwartz, former White House senior director of cybersecurity at the National Security Council and coordinator of the nonprofit Cybersecurity Coalition, said that any attempt by law enforcement to better clarify the legal rules around gathering threat intelligence is helpful.

"Researchers have often been uncertain what to do when coming upon potentially illegal information," Schwartz said in a statement. "More clarity can only help to strengthen our security rather than chill the speech of those who want to do the right thing."

Intent matters, so the context of how a threat intelligence firm obtains information and how it plans to use it could impact its legal liability. For example, soliciting to purchase a companys or a client's stolen data to take it off the black market is not illegal. Even if stolen data from other sources is co-mingled, there is little chance a company will face legal consequences if they have no intent to use it for illegal purposes and did not know, or had no reason to know, they were purchasing data that belonged to others.

DOJ advises companies to document their activities and how the information or samples obtained relate to ongoing work to create a paper trail in the event they fall under suspicion of law enforcement. They should take particular care not to offer technical assistance that could be used by criminals to improve malware or help them to breach networks.

"An individual may be found liable for aiding and abetting a federal offense if he or she takes an affirmative act -- even an act that is lawful on its own -- that is in furtherance of the crime and conducted with the intent of facilitating the crime's commission," the guidance states.

Taddeo said law enforcement is primary interested in two things when it comes to the legal landscape around threat intelligence research: cutting down on the signal-to-noise ratio between criminal activity and legitimate research efforts and denying criminals a blanket defense in the event they're charged by law enforcement.

"What the government doesn't want to do is constantly get their indictments and complaints and convictions thrown out of court because someone says, 'Well I was only doing research,'" said Taddeo. "What the government is saying is, 'Here's more evidence that you should have known if you were a true researcher, you would have done these things.'"

This article was first posted to FCW, a sibling site to GCN.
Satirical UK puppet show Spitting Image has been confirmed to return 23 years after it last aired.

A pilot for the resurrected show, taking on Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, the Royals, Kanye West and Mark Zuckerberg, is proceeding to series for streaming service BritBox.

Originally broadcast from 1984 to 1996, the show parodied political leaders, celebrities and royals across 18 series.

Roger Law, co-creator and Executive Producer, said: PUBLIC SERVICE SATIRE ANNOUNCEMENT. Ive refused to resuscitate Spitting Image for years but when my pension ran out and my palm was crossed with silver what could an old man do? The new Spitting Image will be global through a uniquely British eye, it will be more outrageous, audacious and salacious than the previous incarnation. With scandalous scripts and A-List characters, it will be the peoples programme! 

He added,  We will take back control from the likes of BoJo, Trump, Harry & Meghan, Elon Musk, and Kim Kardashian. We will be dazzled and amazed by Jurgen Klopp & Beyonce, we will have regular weather updates from our roving reporter Greta Thunberg. The timing is right, the puppets are ready, the people have spoken. And the message for the doomsayers and gloomsters is, this autumn we will get BritBox done!

BritBox yesterday confirmed an Australian launch later in 2020 but is yet to confirm its content (pretty please).

Source: BBC
South suburban elected officials optimistic about getting blighted sites back on tax rolls: The Daily Southtowns Mike Nolan writes bills in the Illinois House and Senate would lower tax bills for some commercial and industrial properties, with an eye toward making them more attractive for redevelopment. That, in turn, could help ease the tax burden on homeowners and other businesses that have had to make up for the loss of property taxes paid on those properties, officials said. Read the rest of the story here.
New Delhi : The Delhi Police has registered 531 first information reports and arrested or detained 1,647 people in connection with the communal violence in northeast Delhi, an officer said on Wednesday.

47 of the cases were registered under the Arms Act, the officer said.

According to police, the police control room (PCR) did not receive any calls of rioting in the past seven days.

The situation in the riot-affected areas was under control, the police said.

On Tuesday, Mohammed Shahrukh, who was seen confronting an unarmed police personnel with gun during the violence at Maujpur last week, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said.
This is something people are seeing globally and have seen it announced that there are cases in the U.S., but we want to pass on information to the public here in Aurora from local sources," Muhammad said. We wanted to put together a list of cautions out there and not cause a panic because we know the risk is low, but still provide checkpoints from a local aspect and underscore what the experts are saying.
A Bay Area resident visited Kunming, in China's Yunnan province  about 1,000 miles southwest of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak originated  on January 25.

He said that he saw more safety precautions being taken in China than in the US and that officials understood the gravity of the situation.

Seeing how differently the Chinese and US governments handled the outbreak convinced him that he felt safer in China than he does on American soil.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A 36-year-old US citizen from Cupertino, California, visited Kunming, China, almost 1,000 miles southwest of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak originated, on January 25.

When the Bay Area resident and user-experience designer  who requested to stay anonymous but whose identity was verified by Business Insider  visited China, there were at least 217 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

And following his trip, he observed just how differently the governments of both countries dealt with the growing outbreak of the virus that has now infected more than 94,000 people and killed more than 3,200 other people.

He told Business Insider that he saw locals and Chinese officials understanding the severity of the outbreak and taking safety precautions. That contrasted heavily with his colleagues' blase attitudes back in the US and a disorderly experience at San Francisco International Airport upon his return on February 2.

In China, he told Business Insider, he noticed precautions being taken.



china hong kong airport mask coronavirus







Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Cathay Pacific Airways flight attendants wore masks aboard, as did many Chinese residents, he said. The man said locals likely remembered what it was like experiencing the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and knew how to prepare.

(While masks can help prevent people who are already sick from spreading the illness, they're not very effective for healthy people trying to avoid getting it. Health experts recommend washing your hands thoroughly and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.)

Story continues

Passengers also went through full-body screenings with infrared thermometers at the airport in Kunming, he said.

When a relative with late-stage cancer died while the man was visiting, the body was taken away by people in protective suits as a precaution.

The Chinese government had issued an order to cremate the body of a loved one within 12 hours of their death in case they had the virus, something the man said he and his family followed.

A family in Wuhan was described as having to do the same in a New York Times report on February 10.

But returning to the US was a different story.



san francisco airport sfo







Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

He said "the alarm bells" sounded when he saw how the outbreak was being addressed at San Francisco International Airport.

"They literally had no idea what they were doing," he said, adding that one airport official even admitted that since things had escalated so quickly they were in disarray.

As passengers got off the plane, no one was at the gate to record their temperatures, he said. (One of the symptoms of the disease is a fever, though a few cases are asymptomatic.)

He also said no one was wearing masks.

It took him hours to go through customs, get his temperature taken at customs, and fill out paperwork. The man said the paperwork that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave him was handwritten and then photocopied.

People returning from China were taken from the immigration gate to a designated area to have their temperature taken. But since neither he nor his family members exhibited any symptoms or felt sick, they weren't tested for COVID-19.

Passengers coming from China had to wait in "the little black room" in the airport, typically used for passengers with visa problems, he said.

The Bay Area resident said immigration officials didn't wear any sort of protection and were impatient with people, telling them to stop asking questions when they inquired about the wait time.

"It was really not a good experience at that point," he said.

If he had returned from China's Hubei province, he would have been given a government-mandated quarantine.



woman wuhan china hubei province coronavirus







Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

But what he was given instead was a verbal recommendation to stay home and avoid going in public for 14 days. CDC officials also gave passengers cards with guidelines about how to self-quarantine and told him to give it to a primary-care doctor, should he visit one.

Thousands of people in California and beyond are self-quarantining in response to the outbreak, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms.

He said that the CDC never contacted him during his quarantine to check in on his and his family's health and that there was no form or other documentation to submit at the end of the quarantine.

"I'm seeing reports now that the CDC is monitoring, but what are they monitoring?" he said.

He worked from home. He said his son went to school the day after the family returned to the US, despite the man's request to allow his son to stay home and for his absences to be excused. It was only after concerned parents learned of the family's trip to China that the school allowed the boy to stay home, he said.

He said that if his son had had the virus, the boy could have passed it along to others at school in just that one day.

He completed his quarantine on February 17, but concerns about the virus loom as cases are reported throughout the US.

He said that based on his experience in both China and the US as the coronavirus has spread, his family was actually considering going back to China since they felt safer there.

"As someone who was in China during the initial outbreak/lockdowns and restrictions and seeing the situation develop here in the US I am 100x more concerned for my own safety during this crisis than I ever was in China," he told Business Insider in a message.

As of Thursday, there were 130 confirmed cases in the US across 16 states, including New York and Washington. There have been cases of "community spread" in the US, meaning people who contracted the virus despite not traveling outside the US. And CDC test kits for the virus are limited.

"We're the richest country in the world," he said. "We should be the most prepared."

Business Insider
To support this new parental leave policy and further advance its commitment to the empowerment of women, the L'OCCITANE Group also announced that it will join the Leading Executives Advancing Diversity (LEAD) Network.

The new parental leave policy seeks to empower all employees and their families. It directly promotes health and well-being through equal opportunities in the workplace and fairer gender relations within the family. With this pioneering initiative, L'OCCITANE's new parents enjoy more generous maternity and paternity leave than local legislation would provide for in many countries. The difference is particularly marked in the US and Asia, which together account for more than 50% of the Group's activity. The Group's subsidiaries will provide longer parental leave where required by local legislation.

Armelle Saint-Raymond, L'OCCITANE Group Human Resources Vice-President, explains:

'Empowering women is a core value of L'OCCITANE. Our new, inclusive global parental leave is a major step forward in our ambitious programme towards gender parity within the Group, aiming to help employees to balance parenthood and career and increase diversity within teams, resulting in better business performance overall.'

Women currently represent 87% of L'OCCITANE's global workforce. The new parental leave policy strengthens the Group's existing provisions to attract, retain and advance women, which is one of the three pillars of its commitment to sustainability. The new leave is company-mandated to lower barriers preventing men from taking parental leave while also breaking the glass ceiling to help women achieve their full potential. In addition, the Group will continue to further develop flexible working arrangements and support programmes for employees returning to work after parental leave. L'OCCITANE will begin implementing the policy at its global headquarters in Switzerland in 2020, with the global roll-out set to be completed by April 2022.

LEAD Network partnership

L'OCCITANE is keen to unite its voice with those of other companies and organisations to drive positive change in the industry globally. In order to support its new parental leave policy, further advance its commitments to diversity and inclusion and share best practices, the Group is joining the Leading Executives Advancing Diversity (LEAD) Network, the goal of which is to attract, retain and advance women in the retail and consumer goods industry in Europe through education, leadership and business development.

Sharon Jeske, Executive Director of the LEAD Network, observes:

'The LEAD Network is proud to welcome our new Partner L'OCCITANE Group, which enthusiastically supports our mission. As a company with a strong purpose, L'OCCITANE Group is playing a strategic role to help us advance women in the retail and consumer goods sector in Europe. Through the launch of its new, inclusive global parental leave policy, L'OCCITANE Group demonstrates its thought leadership and lives up to the LEAD Network's motto of "Diversity & Inclusion: Doing not Trying".'

Sylvain Desjonqueres, L'OCCITANE Group Managing Director said:

'I am extremely proud that L'OCCITANE Group joins the Leading Executives Advancing Diversity (LEAD) Network. This is an exciting opportunity to leverage the network's resources as a means of forging ahead with our diversity and inclusion policies. Membership of the network will provide a platform for our employees to grow on a personal and professional level and drive the Group's ambition to act as an advocate for women in business within the industry worldwide.'

For more information about the LEAD Network, visit: www.lead-eu.net

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099628/LOCCITANE_Parental_Leave.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1078680/LOCCITANE_Group_Logo.jpg

SOURCE L'OCCITANE International
Among the more exotic cases that Environmental Conservation Police Officers handled last month included rescuing a Kinkajou on loose in Ulster County and seizing 157 live venomous snakes and 31 dead venomous snakes in Newburgh.

Those incidents and others below involving ECOs took place between Jan. 26 to Feb. 24. All specifics were supplied by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

NY Boat Show at Javits Center  New York County

On Jan. 22 - 26, Region 2 ECOs joined DEC Division of Marine Resources staff at the DEC booth at the New York Boat Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. Several thousand visitors from the tri-state area attended the show, along with Governor Andrew Cuomo. The ECOs discussed current fishing regulations, boating safety, and careers in the Division of Law Enforcement.

Injured Red-Tailed Hawk  Ulster County

On Jan. 28, ECO Jeannette Bastedo was contacted by wildlife rehabilitator Missy Runyan about an injured Red-Tailed Hawk found at Camping World in the town of Ulster. Camping World employees captured the hawk and placed it in a box so that ECO Bastedo could take possession of it. The hawk was brought to Missy Runyan, who operates Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center, and was diagnosed as having elevated lead levels and injuries consistent with a motor vehicle strike. The hawk is recovering under the wildlife rehabilitators care and is doing much better.

Sampling Team Members Attend HAZWOPER Training Course

Feb. 3 through 7, Investigators Scott Angotti, Jeremy Eastwood, Claude Stephens, and Michael Unger, along with ECOs Jeannette Bastedo and Darci Dougherty, attended a Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training course offered by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 158. The course is a requirement for DLE members on the Sampling Team since they may be called upon to collect evidence that either includes hazardous materials or comes from hazardous environments. The course covered proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in different types of hazardous environments, decontamination processes, various types of respirators and supplied air equipment, hazardous substances, and other informative topics.

The Trees Have Eyes  Sullivan County

On Feb. 4, two men entered guilty pleas in connection with the illegal taking of deer. On Nov. 4, 2018, ECO Michael Hameline received an anonymous complaint of an illegally taken deer in the town of Mamakating, Sullivan County. It was reported that a deer was taken with a rifle during bow-crossbow season with the aid of bait. The complaint included a trail camera picture showing an ATV with a deer on the rear rack and the operator carrying a rifle. Upon arrival to the area, ECO Hameline located an ATV matching the trail camera photo that was still warm with fresh blood on it. ECO Hameline attempted to canvass the area for witnesses without success. ECO Ricky Wood and K9 Deming were called in to assist with evidence collection. The Officers followed a blood trail along an ATV trail to a baited tree stand. Blood samples were taken from the baited stand and the back of the ATV for future analysis. K9 Deming, trained in shell case detection, was also able to locate a recently fired shell casing at the base of the tree stand. In addition, a trail camera facing the stand was seized as evidence. Over the next year, investigators conducted multiple interviews identifying two suspects. A search warrant was obtained, and with the help of the New York State Police Forensic ID Unit, hundreds of deleted images were recovered from the seized trail camera. The collected blood samples were sent to DECs Wildlife Health Unit (WHU) for forensic comparison, which confirmed that the blood recovered from the baited stand and the ATV were from the same deer. With the help of ECO Wood, K9 Deming, NYSP, DEC WHU, and the overwhelming evidence, Joseph Sabatello of Wurstboro and Michael Zielinski of Hopewell Junction pled guilty to charges. Sabatello, identified as the primary offender, was fined $2,517.50; Zielinski, his accomplice, was fined $1,910. With a DNA restitution fee of $450, the men were fined a total of $4,877.50.

Kinkajou on the Loose  Ulster County

On Feb. 4, ECOs Adam Johnson and Nicole Duchene overheard radio traffic concerning a possible primate trapped on an individuals porch. While enroute to the location, Ulster County Sherriffs Deputies and Plattekill Police placed the animal into a cat carrier. Once on scene, ECOs confirmed that the animal was a Kinkajou. Kinkajous are tropical mammals bearing a close resemblance to primates or raccoons. These animals are legal to own because they do not belong to the primate family. After securing the Kinkajou, ECO Johnson contacted the New Paltz Animal Hospital to arrange temporary lodging. Employees at the animal hospital were familiar with an individual who lived in the area and owned a pet Kinkajou, and inquired if any were missing. As it turned out, the individuals Kinkajou had escaped from a residence close to where it became trapped. The ECOs reunited the owner with the Kinkajou in less than an hour after the original call came over the radio.

Illegal Exotic Snake Breeding Den Identified  Orange County

On Feb. 20, a Newburgh man pled guilty to misdemeanor commercialization charges and agreed to pay a $500 fine related to the possession of more than 150 venomous snakes seized from his home. On Jun. 2, 2019, St. Lukes Cornwall Hospital contacted Central Dispatch reporting a subject bitten by a venomous snake. The subject received several doses of antivenom. Darren Paolini explained he was bit by a Taiwanese Pit Viper (Ovophis Makazayazaya) at his residence where he was attempting to breed the snakes. He was bitten on the left hand and transported himself to St. Lukes Cornwall Hospital for treatment and then transferred to Jacobi Medical in the Bronx. At Jacoby Medical, Paolini made a voluntary statement to ECO Ryan Kelly that he gets the snakes from importers, breeds them, and then trades the baby snakes for new snakes. Paolini stated that he had approximately 50 Pit Vipers and two Coral Snakes at his residence. On Jun. 3, 2019, Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigations (BECI) Investigator Jeff Conway obtained a search warrant for Paolinis residence. The warrant was executed the following day with support from staff from the Bronx Zoo, who assisted with handling, transporting, and housing the snakes. In total, investigators seized 157 live venomous snakes and 31 dead venomous snakes, representing 29 distinct species. Several years of breeding records were also seized.

Indian Lake Fishing Derby  Hamilton County

On Feb. 22, ECOs Keith Kelly, Scott Pierce, Louis Gerrain, and Alan Brassard patrolled the Second Annual Ice Fishing Derby on Indian Lake. The ECOs focused on public safety during the event, in addition to compliance checks for fishing and off-road vehicles. DEC reminds New Yorkers to be safe when heading out on the ice. The presence of snowmobile tracks or footprints on the ice should not be taken as evidence of safe ice conditions. Individuals are strongly encouraged to check ice conditions and avoid situations that appear to present even a remote risk. For more information about being safe on the ice, go to DEC's Ice Fishing website.

K9 Deming Will Find You, and Your Evidence  Sullivan County

On Feb. 24, Freddy DeGroat of Port Jervis paid civil penalties in the Town of Lumberland Court stemming from a hunting incident that occurred at Glen Spey. On Nov. 9, 2019, ECOs Ricky Wood and Tom Koepf responded to Glen Spey to check on a previously observed baited tree stand. While monitoring the baited stand, ECO Wood observed DeGroat and another man, later identified as Mark Muller of Sparrowbush, entering the woods with a bow and gun just prior to sunset. After waiting nearly an hour for the hunters to return, ECOs Wood and Koepf spoke with the property owner for further information and ECO Wood deployed K9 Deming. K9 Deming ran a track from DeGroats vehicle through the woods, past the baited stand, and located a dead and field dressed spike buck, the associated gut pile, and a rifle hidden under a tree. After ECOs Wood and Koepf secured the evidence, K9 Deming continued to track through the woods to where the hunters appeared to have been picked up by a vehicle along the roadway. The ECOs eventually made phone contact with DeGroat and seized his bow before meeting with him and Muller the following day. On Nov. 10, 2019, ECO Wood charged DeGroat with unlawfully taking protected wildlife, hunting deer with the aid of bait, and failing to tag deer as required. ECO Koepf charged Muller with possessing a firearm while bow hunting and taking protected wildlife. In total, the unlawful hunters paid $1,815 in penalties and the illegal deer was donated.

READ MORE

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Meghan Markle opted to wear a cerulean blue Victoria Beckham dress this evening for her first UK appearance in two months. The fitted, body-con dress is still available to buy for 950.

The last time Meghan wore one of Beckham's designs was Christmas 2018, when she opted for a dress and coat by the British label.

Accessorising the look, the 38-year-old paired the dress with midnight blue pumps and a matching clutch.

Meghan kept her hair in a chic low ponytail and opted for slightly vampier make-up, complete with berry-stained lips and kohl-rimmed eyes.

Meghan Markle arriving at the Endeavour Awards / Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan made the appearance this evening to attend the annual Endeavour Awards, which recognises wounded, injured or sick military personnel and veterans who have gone on to use sport and adventurous challenges as part of their recovery and rehabilitation.

Both she and Prince Harry will make an appearances at a final series of events over the course of the next few days, before they officially withdraw from royal life and relinquish both their duties and their titles on March 31.
M ore than 100 Britons are stranded on a cruise ship off the coast of California as coronavirus tests are carried out following the death of a former passenger.

The Grand Princess was due to dock on Wednesday but it has been forced to remain at sea while groups of guests and crew are checked for the Covid-19 virus.

The cruise operator confirmed that 142 UK nationals  made up of 121 passengers and 21 crew  are on board the ship, which is carrying a total of 3,533 people.

Princess Cruises added that there have so far been no confirmed cases of the virus on board, and that fewer than 100 people had been identified for testing.

A Coast Guard helicopter delivers virus testing kits to the Grand Princess / AP

It said in a statement: "Public health officials have advised that no guests will be permitted to disembark until all results have been received.

Out of an abundance of caution, all guests who have been identified for testing have been asked to remain in their staterooms.

Coronavirus cases: The spread outside China

The infected former passenger, aged 71, was the USs first coronavirus death outside Washington state and brought the national death toll to 11.

He had travelled on the Grand Princess from San Francisco to Mexico but died two weeks after his return home to Placer County, near Sacramento, California health officials said. He had underlying health conditions.

Another previous passenger has also been taken to hospital after falling ill.

Sixty-two people who were on the cruise with the victim, and continued their journeys on the ship, have been confined to their cabins for testing.

Coronavirus: Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined 1 /32 Coronavirus: Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined Cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off the shore of Yokohama, south of Tokyo AP Global interest: David Abel, who is on board Diamond Princess with his wife Sally, has been posting updates on social media David Abel Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), officials of the DFA-Philippines in Tokyo with Department of Health team wear protective suits as they prepare for the disembarkation of Filipino crew members on board the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship at Yokohama Port AP A man in a proctective clothing is seen on the sixth deck of cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama via Reuters A woman holds a Japanese flag that reads "shortage of medicine" on the cruise ship Diamond Princess Reuters Passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port are pictured in Yokohama REUTERS/Kyodo Japan David Abel of the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been quarantined in Japan. PA David Abel being treated David Abel Workers in protective clothes stand before passengers disembarkating off the Diamond Princess AFP via Getty Images Quarantine operation on the eighth deck of cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama via Reuters An empty general view of Diamond Princess cruise ship PA The Diamond Princess cruise ship, in quarantine due to fears of new COVID-19 coronavirus, is seen at Daikoku pier cruise terminal in Yokohama AFP via Getty Images Sally Abel being treated David Abel/Facebook Men wearing protective gear are seen near the cruise ship Diamond Princess, Reuters The Diamond Princess cruise ship with around 3,700 people on board sits anchored in quarantine off the port of Yokohama after a number of passengers were confirmed to be infected with coronavirus Getty Images An empty general view of Diamond Princess cruise ship PA Medical workers in protective suits lead a passenger tested positive for a new coronavirus from the cruise ship Diamond Princess at Yokohama Port AP Buses carrying passengers who have been under quarantine on a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship off the coast of Japan, the Diamond Princess, leave RAF Boscombe Down in Amesbury Reuters An empty casino on the Diamond Princess cruise ship PA Workers in protective gear are seen on the Japan Coast Guard boats in Yokohama Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images An empty atrium on the Diamond Princess cruise shi PA Workers in protective gear transfer a person under a blue sheet from the Diamond Princess cruise ship onto a Japan Coast Guard boat in Yokohama Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images Medical workers in protective suits carry belongings of passengers of the cruise ship Diamond Princess at Yokohama Port AP Cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off the shore of Yokohama, south of Tokyo AP

The Grand Princess is from the same line as the Diamond Princess, which saw one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks outside China.

Six people died and more than 700 people tested positive for Covid-19 on board the blighted ship during its two-week quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama last month.

Medics wheel out a person on a stretcher from the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases / REUTERS

The decision to hold the ship offshore came as federal health authorities announced an investigation into a nursing home in Seattle, which has seen the majority of US coronavirus patients.

Investigators will determine whether the Life Care nursing home in Kirkland followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Last April, the state fined the same care home $67,000 (around 51,780) over failures following two flu outbreaks which affected 17 patients and staff.

At least 39 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Mike Pence warned that the US doesn't have enough coronavirus tests to meet anticipated demand / Getty Images

On Thursday, US Vice President Mike Pence warned that the country doesn't yet have enough coronavirus tests to meet anticipated demand.

He told reporters in Minnesota: "We don't have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate the demand going forward.

"We're focused very much on a cruise ship just off the California coast today. The Coast Guard delivered a sufficient number of tests for the passengers on that ship.
Nine years ago, Jang and her partner, chef Matt Abergel, opened Yardbird HK, a popular restaurant that has come to typify the citys most recent iteration of East meets West chic. She has lived in Hong Kong now for 11 years and is raising two young children. And like many of the citys residents, including its more than 600,000 expatriates, Jang has chosen to hunker down, hoping the outbreak will soon be brought under control.
A gruesome WWII photo album made from the skin of Nazi death camp victims has been found at a bric-a-brac antiques market in Poland.

The battered WWII album was handed over to staff at the Auschwitz Memorial Museum after the buyer noticed the cover had 'a tattoo, human hair and a bad smell'.

Museum experts have now analysed the album's cover and binding and say it is likely that the skin came from an inmate murdered at the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, in Germany.

They added that it was 'without doubt proof of a crime against humanity.'

The WWII photo album (pictured) was made from the skin of Nazi death camp victims, according to museum experts

The photo album pictured with a notebook. The battered WWII album was handed over to staff at the Auschwitz Memorial Museum after the buyer noticed the cover had 'a tattoo, human hair and a bad smell'

Experts say the book is 'without doubt proof of a crime against humanity'

Set up in 1937 as Hitler's first concentration camp, Buchenwald gained notoriety for its executions, experiments, bestial conditions and the depravity of its guards.

Among them was Ilse Koch, known to inmates as the 'Bitch of Buchenwald', who later became the inspiration for the character of Nazi camp guard Hanna Schmitz in the award-winning film The Reader starring Kate Winslet.

The wife of camp commandant Karl-Otto Koch, Ilse Koch is said to have had male prisoners with interesting tattoos murdered and then had their skin turned into interior designs.

Her interests included lampshades, books, albums, table covers and thumbs which were used as light switches.

Witnesses say she was helping Nazi doctor Erich Wagner who collected human skin at the camp for his PhD thesis.

From the 100-odd skins Wagner harvested, many were turned into gift items.

After being captured by American troops at the end of the war, he escaped and continued to practice medicine in Germany under a pseudonym until his recapture in 1958.

He committed suicide a year later.

According to accounts by Buchenwald survivors, human skin was treated as material for the production of everyday objects, including book bindings and wallets.

Former inmate Karol Konieczny recalled: 'I bound things in covers received from my colleagues from the camp bookbinding workshop.

Ilse Koch (pictured) was known to inmates as the 'Bitch of Buchenwald', and later became the inspiration for the character of Nazi camp guard Hanna Schmitz in the award-winning film The Reader starring Kate Winslet

A collection of Buchenwald prisoners' internal organs including two human heads remains (upper left) and also examples of tattooed skins (foreground)

'Of course, as one can easily guess, the covers were made of human skins, which came from the 'resources' of the SS.

'The idea was to secure documents of Nazi bestiality and genocide.'

Head of the Auschwitz Museum Collections, Elzbieta Cajzer, said: 'The research suggests that it is very likely that both covers, owing to their technology and composition, came from the same bookbinding workshop.

'The use of human skin as a production material is directly associated with the figure of Ilse Koch, who, along with her husband, inscribed her name in history as the murderer from the camp in Buchenwald.'

Despite the evidence against her, 'The Bitch of Buchenwald' was acquitted of the charges at the Nuremberg trials.

As part of their analysis, museum researchers carried out a comparative analysis with a notebook in their collection, also made from the skin of Holocaust victims.

Ilse Koch at the Nuremberg Trials. Despite the evidence against her, 'The Bitch of Buchenwald' was acquitted of the charges at the trials

Cajzer said: 'The comparative analysis revealed the content of human skin and very similar amounts of polyamide 6 and polyamide 6.6.

'The content of polymers used for the production of synthetic fibres is all the more important because they were invented no later than in 1935.

'The information allows us to determine when the cover was created. During the Second World War, polyamides were a technical novelty, and access to them was limited.'

The album contained over 100 photos and postcards, consisting mainly of views and panoramas.

According to the museum's research, the album originally belonged to a Bavarian family that ran a guest-house in a health resort town during WWII.

It was most likely given to the owners as a gift by a guard at the Buchenwald camp.
* California is the day's biggest prize

* Biden projected to win in Texas upset

* 'We are very much alive,' Biden says

By Trevor Hunnicutt and John Whitesides

LOS ANGELES, March 4 (Reuters) - A resurgent Joe Biden rode a wave of momentum to win Texas and eight other states and Bernie Sanders was leading in Super Tuesday's biggest race in California, setting up a one-on-one battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In a surprisingly strong showing, Biden rolled to victories across the South, Midwest and New England on the biggest day of voting in the Democratic campaign. Americans in 14 states cast ballots for a challenger to Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

In what would be the day's biggest upset, Biden was projected by Edison Research to have won Texas, the biggest prize after California. Sanders invested heavily in Texas and was counting on its sizeable Latino population to propel him to victory.

"For those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign," said Biden, the former vice president who had performed poorly in the first three nominating contests but broke through with a win in South Carolina.

"We are very much alive," he told roaring supporters in Los Angeles.

Sanders, the one-time front-runner who had hoped to take a big step toward the nomination on Tuesday, won Colorado, Utah and his home state of Vermont, Edison Research said.

Fox News and AP projected Sanders won California, whose 415 delegates represent the largest haul in the nominating contest. But Edison Research and other networks held off declaring a winner as results trickled in. Maine was a toss-up.

With overwhelming support from African American, moderate and older voters, Biden also swept to wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia.

It was a spectacular turn for Biden, whose campaign was on life support after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Until a week ago he trailed Sanders in most state and national opinion polls.

Biden's blowout win in South Carolina on Saturday provided a burst of new momentum, fueling a wave of endorsements from elected Democratic officials and former presidential rivals including Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Story continues

ONE THIRD UP FOR GRABS

More than one-third of the delegates who will pick the eventual nominee at a July convention were up for grabs in the primaries on Tuesday, which provided some clarity at last in a muddled race for the White House.

The results also left Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor who spent more than half a billion dollars on advertising, largely out of the running, with his only victory coming in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

Bloomberg campaign officials said he would reassess whether to stay in the race on Wednesday, but they said that did not mean he would drop out.

Biden was hoping to stay within reach of Sanders in delegates, giving him a chance to catch up as the race moved on. But after Tuesday, he led Sanders in delegates for the day 260 to 187, with hundreds more to be allocated.

Overall, Biden leads Sanders in delegates 313 to 247.

Without naming him, Sanders took direct aim at Biden during a rally with supporters in Vermont, criticizing his 2002 vote to authorize war in Iraq and his support for global trade deals that Sanders opposed.

"We're going to win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country," Sanders said.

Biden accomplished his main Super Tuesday goal of muscling aside Bloomberg and consolidating support from moderates to turn the race into a one-on-one contest against Sanders.

BAD NIGHT FOR WARREN, BLOOMBERG

The results were disappointing for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who finished well behind Sanders and Biden in most states and trailed them in her home state of Massachusetts.

Bloomberg was a wild card heading into the voting, as he joined the competition for the first time. He was winning more than 15% of the vote, enough to pick up some delegates, in Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Utah, California and Arkansas.

The moderate skipped the first four contests and bombarded Super Tuesday and later voting states with ads, but saw his poll numbers slip after coming under fire during Democratic debates over past comments criticized as sexist and a police policy he employed as New York's mayor seen as racially discriminatory.

Biden is hoping to build a bridge between progressive Democrats' desire for big structural change and more moderate Democrats yearning for a candidate who will be able to win over enough independents and Republicans to oust Trump.

That effort gained fresh momentum on the eve of Tuesday's voting as moderates Buttigieg and Klobuchar endorsed Biden after withdrawing from the race.

Biden pulled off his victories despite being vastly outspent on ads by Bloomberg, who had spent $377 million on ads by Feb. 23, and Sanders, who spent $20 million. Biden spent $4.7 million during the same period, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks ad spending and content.

The pace of the Democratic race begins to accelerate after Super Tuesday, with 11 more states voting by the end of March. By then, nearly two-thirds of the delegates will have been allotted.

The next contests, on March 10, will be in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Los Angeles, John Whitesides from Washington, Jarrett Renshaw, Ginger Gibson, Doina Chiacu, Sharon Bernstein, and Zachary Fagenson; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Howard Goller)
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More than 2,300 people have today walked off a cruise ship in Corfu only 24 hours after it emerged that a former passenger had tested positive for coronavirus in Italy.

The 1,579 passengers and 723 crew, including dozens of Britons, were ordered back on board the MSC Opera in Athens yesterday in the latest virus scare at sea.

The ship's captain told them that an Austrian tourist who left the ship in Genoa on February 28 had since been infected with the virus.

However, they have today been allowed to return to dry land on the island of Corfu after health officials boarded the ship to review its medical records.

Passengers and crew were allowed to leave the MSC Opera (file photo) in Corfu today after a coronavirus scare yesterday when a former passenger was revealed to have the disease

A map showing where the infected passenger left the ship in northern Italy (1), where tourists were ordered back on the ship (2) and where they were allowed to leave (3)

The passengers will not face any further quarantine because of the ship's 'existing strict preventative health measures', a spokesman for MSC Cruises said today.

'At no time have passengers or crew been quarantined and all were able to freely make use of the ship's facilities and restaurants before it departed yesterday,' he said.

Greek health officials boarded the ship after it docked in Corfu in a 'common maritime practice to review the ship's full medical records', the spokesman said.

The health authorities 'deemed the vessel needed no further health measures beyond the ship's existing strict preventative health measures,' he said.

'There is no reported illness today, nor yesterday, among any of the 2,302 passengers and crew.'

Corfu has not yet reported any cases of coronavirus, although Greece as a whole has ten.

The tenth patient, confirmed today, is related to an individual who recently travelled to Israel and Egypt.

Passengers had yesterday been held on board the MSC Opera for three hours before Greek authorities allowed them to leave the Athenian port of Piraeus.

Guests had been told to return to the vessel 'immediately' from their excursion on the Greek mainland, according to one passenger, Antonio Montalto.

The order was initially unexplained, and rumours even swirled that the delay was linked to the tensions on the Greece-Turkey border.

However, the captain subsequently explained that passengers had been called back over virus fears.

Pictured: Passengers Mike and Charysse Knotts walk past the MSC Opera ahead of visiting Rhodes

Pictured: An announcement from MSC Opera captain Pietro Esposito regarding the passenger

'The check was to assess if any additional onboard health measures should be put in place following reports that a passenger who had disembarked the ship six days ago had tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus two days after returning to Austria via Northern Italy,' the MSC spokesman said.

A letter from the captain said that the ship's crew was 'waiting for further clarity and guidelines' from Greek and Austrian authorities.

The ship was making an 11-day Mediterranean cruise, according to the company's website.

Health authorities have had a suspicious eye on cruise ships in recent weeks after a number of voyages were disrupted by virus scares.

In the most serious case, 705 people tested positive for the virus on board the Diamond Princess during a two-week lockdown in Japan.

Separately, the cruise ship Westerdam was turned away at five ports last month before it finally arrived in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville. There were no cases on board.

Pictured: Mike Knotts and his wife Charysse in Athens, the couple are travelling aboard the MSC Opera

In addition, fears of a cruise ship outbreak off the U.S. coast were growing last night after a former passenger died of coronavirus and 21 people showed possible symptoms.

The Grand Princess cruise liner was barred from returning to its home port of San Francisco after the death of the 71-year-old, who is feared to have contracted the illness during a cruise to Mexico.

Two more cruises were disrupted on Tuesday after Myanmar turned a ship away and Norway kept a vessel in port while two passengers were tested.

Norwegian authorities kept 1,200 tourists on board the Aida Aura at Haugesund harbour after fears were raised over two German travellers, although they later tested negative.

Meanwhile Myanmar refused permission for the Silver Spirit to dock in Thilawa after 400 tourists arrived from nearby Thailand which has dozens of virus cases.
Participants conduct fast-roping training. (Photo by Huang Kang)

By Li Yingdong and Yin Bo

CHACHOENGSAO, Thailand, Mar. 5 -- The humanitarian assistance disaster relief field training exercise (HADR FTX) as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2020 was held at the national disaster relief training center in Chachoengsao Province, Thailand from March 1 to 4, 2020. Over 200 troops from seven countries including China, Thailand and the US participated in the drill.

The drill on March 4 simulated a typhoon and torrential rain scenario in southern Thailand, which caused secondary disasters such as severe floods, mudslides, and building collapses, as well as serious casualties and property damage. A joint military coordination center was established and multinational troops were quickly deployed to the affected areas for rescue.

Over the past few days, military members from various countries have conducted group training on events of air and ground search, water salvage, on-site medical first-aid, etc., for different types of disasters, which not only have honed their joint rescue capabilities, but also improved the cooperation on major natural disaster relief among the participating countries.

The Chinese participants were mixed with their counterparts from other countries into teams for water rescue, debris flow rescue, building collapse and fire rescue, as well as medical emergency. Their participation fully reflects China's willingness to actively join in multilateral security and defense cooperation and deepen exchanges and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.

General Chaichana Nakkerd, Deputy Chief of Defense Forces, said that coping with new disasters will no longer be the task of one institution or one country, now and in the future. All countries must join forces to deal with possible public crises.

The annual Cobra Gold joint military exercise is one of the most influential joint military exercises in Southeast Asia. The Chinese military participated in Cobra Gold for the first time in 2014.
Despite financial stress, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa tried to focus on agriculture and irrigation in his budget for 2020-21, proposing to allocate Rs 500 crore to take up the works of Kalasa and Banduri Nalas under the Mahadayi river Project.

He proposed to waive the interest on default farm loans given for the purchase of agricultural equipment by cooperative banks, benefiting about 92,000 farmers.

The Chief Minister said, the state government is committed to the "speedy continuation" of the much anticipated Mahadayi Project, which is very helpful for the people and farmers of North Karnataka region.

Noting that the central government has issued the notification as per the direction of the Supreme Court, he said, "we congratulate the Central government for this".

In accordance with the notification, the state government will provide Rs 500 crore in 2020-21 to take up the works of Kalasa and Banduri Nalas under the Mahadayi Project.

The Kalasa-Banduri Nala (diversion) project, which will utilise 7.56 tmcft of water from the inter-state Mahadayi river, is to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and the districts of Belagavi and Gadag.

The project involves building barrages across Kalasa and Banduri, the tributaries of the Mahadayi River.

Focusing on irrigation, Yediyurappa said, the government will accord priority to the "Yettinahole Project" to provide safe drinking water expeditiously to the districts of Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapura and Kolar which are facing severe scarcity.

A programme has been formulated to complete the Lift component works of the first stage of this project and to commission it on a trial basis in the coming monsoon season, he said, adding that "Rs 1,500 crore will be provided to this project in the year 2020-21."



Yediyurappa said it had been proposed to launch new lift irrigation projects in view of demands and these would be implemented at an expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore.

Noting that repayment of the medium and long term loans given by banks in the cooperative sector for the purchase of agricultural equipment like tractor and tiller to the farmers had been very low, he announced waiver of interest on such default loans.

"For this purpose, Rs 466 crore would be provided in the year 2020-21. By this scheme, 92,000 farmers in the state would be benefited," he added.

Also, the government would bring in a new agricultural policyto encourage water security, land bank and mass cultivation and micro irrigation farmers among others.

For 2020-21, a total amount of Rs 32,259 crore is provided for the agriculture and allied activities sector.

The budget proposed Rs 200 crore allocation for developing non-notified slums in ten metropolitan cities, including the state capital, which are inhabited by large number of minorities.

He announced Rs 200 crore for comprehensive development of the Christian community.

The government also proposed to provide an assistance of Rs 20 crore for 325 feet high bronze statue of 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara being constructed in the premises of Sri Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga District.

A 100 feet high bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru city, will be erected in the International Airport region here at a total expenditure of Rs.66 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman decapitated her 73-year-old mother with a knife and scissors before removing her brain and kissing it in front of a family friend, a court heard today.

Odessa Tammy Carey, 36, is accused of beating her mother to death at her home in Ashington, Northumberland, before performing the grisly act.

Odessa Carey, 36, beat her mother, also called Odessa Carey, to death at her home then used a knife and scissors to cut off her head, cut a cross shape into her abdomen and removed her brain, it has been claimed.

Odessa Tammy Carey (pictured) is accused of beating her mother to death at her Northumberland home. Newcastle Crown Court has heard claims that the daughter carried her mother's severed head around in a carrier bag and kissed it in front of a family friend

Newcastle Crown Court heard today that the killer daughter carried the severed heard around in a carrier bag and brought it out and kissed it in front of a family friend.

The 73-year-old's headless corpse was found on her bed and her brain was in the bathroom at her home in Ashington, Northumberland.

Mrs Carey's head was found at a separate address, in a cupboard under the sink, at a house where Carey Jr was found hiding in the loft.

An undated file photo shows Odessa Carey, 73, whose headless body was discovered at her home in Ashington, Northumberland, with her head found at a separate address under a sink. Her daughter, also named Odessa Carey, 36, has been charged with murder but is too unwell to face trial for a criminal offence

Carey, of no fixed address, has been charged with murder but is too unwell to face trial for a criminal offence.

Jurors will decide whether Carey did the act of killing but not whether she is guilty or not guilty.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC told the court that Mrs Carey Sr, who used a mobility scooter to get around, was found dead on April 8 last year.

Mr Lumley said: 'On her bed, in her own home, lay Odessa Carey Sr's body. Her head was missing and her abdomen, her tummy, had been cut open to expose the inside of her stomach.

'In the bath in the house, in a plastic container, there was blood and there were parts of brain tissue.

'There was also implements; a large pair of scissors, knives and a mallet.'

Mr Lumley said police went to an address in Guide Post, Northumberland, and found Carey hiding in a loft.

He added: 'In a cupboard under the sink at the address in Guidepost police found a human head, wrapped in a pillow case, in a towel, inside a carrier bag.'

Odessa Tammy Carey has been charged with murder but will not face trial. Instead jurors will decide whether or not she did the act of killing

Jurors were shown cctv of Carey carrying the bag around the streets in the days before the grim discovery.

The court heard the day before her mother's body was found, Carey had taken the head to a friend's allotment.

Mr Lumley added: 'She was sitting in his shed. This time she was wiping up blood from her hands and her arms using one or more baby wipes.

'She had a bag with her and from the bag she carefully took a parcel, of sorts, the contents wrapped in a pillow case in a towel, from which she produced a human head.

Police can be seen at the scene of the crime in Ashington, Northumberland in April last year, when Odessa Carey Jr is accused of decapitating her mother

Forensic teams can be seen outside the Ashington home in a file photo from April last year. Mrs Carey's head was found at a separate address, in a cupboard under the sink, at a house where Carey Jr was found hiding in the loft

'Odessa Carey spoke and kissed her mother's forehead before carefully re-wrapping the head in its shroud, putting it back into the bag.'

Mr Lumley said expert findings suggest Mrs Carey had been face down on her bed when she was attacked and there was 'multiple impacts' to her head which caused fractures to her face and skull.

The court heard it was the head injuries, which may have been caused with a mallet, that caused the death.

Mr Lumley said Mrs Carey's head was removed using 'knives and scissors' after she was dead.

He added: 'Her body was then turned over and her abdomen cut open, in the shape of a cross.

'Her head was then taken into the bathroom, where the brain was removed from the skull and the mallet was washed.'

Mr Lumley said Carey's DNA was found on the handle of the mallet.

He added: 'The head was wrapped up in the bathroom before being taken from the house.'

The trial continues.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5) Two people who traveled to the Philippines tested positive for coronavirus disease after returning to Taiwan and Australia.

A man in his 30s went home to northern Taiwan on March 3 after a five-day trip to the Philippines with his friends. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control reported that the man had diarrhea in the Philippines on March 2 and went to the clinic for dry throat and tiredness after returning to Taiwan.

The man's COVID-19 infection was confirmed by a laboratory test on March 5, Taiwan CDC added. He is Taiwan's 44th confirmed case of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a woman who traveled from the Philippines tested positive for coronavirus disease in Australia.

The woman in her 60s returned to the southeastern state of New South Wales from the Philippines on March 3 and is one of six new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the state's capital Sydney, the local government there reported. She boarded Cebu Pacific flight 5J39 from the Philippines, it added.

"Her travel details are being obtained and will be disclosed if she posed a risk to any other passengers on her flight," read a statement posted Wednesday in the NSW government website.

With the new addition, the total number of COVID-19 cases in NSW has risen to 22, it added. Australia has at least 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 based on the World Health Organization's tally.

There are no reported cases yet of local transmission in the Philippines. The three confirmed cases recorded were all Chinese nationals who came from Wuhan City in China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Letecia Stauch, 36, is pictured in her latest booking photo taken Thursday morning at the El Paso County jail following her extradition to Colorado

The stepmother of missing 11-year-old Colorado boy Gannon Stauch arrived in El Paso County on Thursday morning to face murder and other charges following her extradition from South Carolina.

Letecia Stauch, 36, was booked into the county jail on counts of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with evidence.

Gannon has not been seen alive since he left his home in Colorado Springs with his stepmother on January 27.

Police do not know what happened to the child, or where his body is located, but they said they do not believe he is alive.

Letecia was arrested in South Carolina on Monday and appeared in court the next day to waive an extradition hearing, clearing the path for her speedy return to Colorado.

She did not seem to understand much of the legal process and told the judge she had not spoken to a lawyer, but later said: 'I didn't run from you guys.

'I don't want to make trouble with you guys.'

Letecia Stauch appeared via video link in a South Carolina court on Tuesday. Police do not know where 11-year-old Gannon is but they do not believe he is alive

Stauch spent Wednesday night in Sailina, Kansas, where she was booked into a jail, before continuing on to Colorado

Stauch spent Wednesday night in Sailina, Kansas, where she was photographed for a mugshot, before continuing her journey to Colorado.

Stauch's name was removed from the roster of current inmates at the Sailina jail early Thursday morning.

She is expected to go before a judge in El Paso County on Friday morning.

Letecia is married to Gannon's father, Albert Stauch.

She originally told authorities that she last saw her stepson between 3.15pm and 4pm on January 27. She said at the time that he was heading to a friend's house in Colorado Springs.

Gannon was originally categorized as a runaway, before his case was upgraded to that of a missing/endangered person.

But on Monday, police announced they no longer think he is alive.

They also announced charges against Letecia.

Police have not yet laid out their theory on what happened to him or where they believe he is.

On Monday, Lt Mitch Mihalko said at a press conference: 'We do not believe Gannon is alive.

'Our work is only just beginning...as we continue our relentless pursuit of justice for Gannon and his family.'

Stauch seemed confused at times during the hearing and asked the judge about extradition proceedings

Judge Clifford L. Welsh told her she had the chance to waive extradition

The authorities have charged Letecia with charges including murder of a child under 12

Surveillance footage shared by a neighbor allegedly shows Gannon entering a car with his stepmother that morning but not returning with her that afternoon (pictured). However, when she returned at 2.19pm, Gannon is nowhere to be seen

Gannon's devastated mother Landen Hoitt at a press conference on Monday afternoon

TIMELINE OF GANNON STAUCH CASE: Jan. 27: Gannon Stauch is reported as a runaway; last seen by stepmother Letecia Stauch between 3.15 pm-4 pm Jan. 30: Case is upgraded to a missing and endangered childs case due to his age, need for medication, winter weather and the length of time hes been missing Jan. 31: Letecia Stauch gives interview to KKTV saying deputies had threatened to shoot her and put her 17-year-old daughter in handcuffs Feb. 4: Neighbor Roderrick Drayton shares surveillance video showing what appears to be Letecia returning home at 2.19pm without Gannon in her pickup truck; claims boy's father broke down in tears when he saw the video Feb. 5: District Attorney Dan May visits Stauchs home; Stauch family make YouTube statement to bring Gannon home Feb. 7: Searchers use submersible remotely operated vehicle with sonar to scour a pond near Stauch family's home Feb. 8: Candlelight prayer vigil is held at Lorson Ranch Feb. 11: Letecia Stauch releases statement to Fox 31 claiming Gannon was in her truck on Jan. 27 and that later left with a 'friend' Feb. 21: Ground search for Gannon is halted by investigation continues Feb 28: Planned search for Gannon is called off without explanation Mar 2 Letecia Stauch is arrested in connection to the case. Stauch was charged with murder of a child under 12 years of age by a person in a position of trust, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with a dead body. Authorities announce that they don't believe Gannon is alive, but they haven't found his body. The investigation is ongoing Advertisement

Gannon's father Albert released a statement to say he was shocked by the news.

'My little boy is not coming home. We will never play Nintendo again. No more taco Tuesdays. No more smooth-looking hair cuts. And no more G-man for the world.

'The person who committed this heinous, horrible crime is one that I gave more to anyone else on this planet, and that is a burden that I will carry with me for a very long time,' it read.

The boy's mother Landen Hiott appeared at the press conference.

She cried as she said she hoped Letecia would be made to pay for what she has allegedly done.

Surveillance video from a neighbor's home captured Stauch leaving the home with Gannon in her pickup truck at around 10.13am on January 27.

However, when she returned at 2.19pm, Gannon is nowhere to be seen.

Footage from 2.19pm to the time Gannon was reportedly last seen is not available, but the sheriff's office said earlier that officers had no surveillance video showing the boy leaving the property.

After he watched the video, a friend said the boy's father 'just broke down and started saying 'she lied, she lied about the time.'

In an interview before her arrest, Letecia insisted she had nothing to do with the boy's disappearance or death.

'After news of the video broke, Stauch gave an interview to KKTV, insisting that she played no part in her stepson's disappearance.

'I took care of Gannon for the last two years in our home because his mother didn't want to do it,' she said.

'I would never ever, ever hurt this child... these people have these conspiracy theories... I'm like: "Why are you saying Gannon is dead?" He is not dead. We are going to find Gannon.'
HOUSTON, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tokio Marine HCC today announced it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire managing general agent GCube, a leading renewable energy risks specialist. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020.



"We are pleased to acquire this outstanding underwriting organization and welcome the passion the GCube team of market-leading renewable energy professionals brings to the development of climate-friendly business models," said Susan Rivera, Tokio Marine HCCs Chief Executive Officer.

GCube is one of the worlds largest underwriters of renewable energy, covering wind, solar, bio, hydro, wave and tidal projects globally. The business writes global property and liability cover for renewable energy construction and operational risks in 40 countries around the world and is a significant capacity provider to this expanding and dynamic market. GCube employs approximately 50 people and is based in London with additional offices in Amsterdam, New York and Newport Beach, California.

"This strategic investment underlines our commitment to the renewable energy insurance market and our desire to actively address the issues around sustainability, helping us move towards a safe, secure and sustainable future. GCube also adds significant weight to our existing classes of specialty insurance and is in line with our strategy of acquiring businesses which possess real market-leading expertise, complement our existing portfolio and offer opportunities for growth and diversification," stated Barry Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Tokio Marine HCC  International Group.

Fraser McLachlan, GCubes Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are delighted to become part of the Tokio Marine HCC family. The groups corporate social responsibility efforts, financial strength and global reach leave us ideally positioned to continue our expansion in one of the most vibrant and evolving sectors of the market."

Story continues

We have worked closely with the GCube team for a number of years, and their addition to our group is a natural extension of this relationship. The renewable market offers significant opportunities for growth, and GCubes 25 years experience as a global leader clearly positions Tokio Marine HCC as an important trading and innovation partner in this emerging field, added Simon Button, Chief Underwriting Officer  London Market division of Tokio Marine HCC  International Group.

Tokio Marine HCC is a member of the Tokio Marine Group, a premier global company founded in 1879 with a market capitalization of $39 billion as of December 31, 2019. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Tokio Marine HCC is a leading specialty insurance group with offices in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Tokio Marine HCCs major domestic insurance companies have financial strength ratings of A+ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings, A++ (Superior) from A.M. Best, and AA- (Very Strong) from Fitch Ratings; its major international insurance companies have financial strength ratings of A+ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings. Tokio Marine HCC is the marketing name used to describe the affiliated companies under the common ownership of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated insurance holding company. For more information about Tokio Marine HCC, please visit www.tokiomarinehcc.com.
BOCA RATON, Fla., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix Tower International ("PTI") announces that it has closed the transaction through the acquisition of a 100% ownership interest in Tower Ventures Holdings, LLC and related entities. The transaction provides PTI ownership and control over high quality wireless telecommunications infrastructure assets strategically located along the Atlantic seaboard, South, and Midwestern regions of the United States. The ownership of these 197 wireless communication towers further solidifies PTI's position as the premiere private tower company in the Americas. Terms of the transaction remain confidential between the parties.

"PTI is excited to invest further in the United States and continue to grow its tower portfolio in advance of significant 5G deployments and ongoing 4G densification across the country," stated Dagan Kasavana, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Tower International. He continued, "The Tower Ventures team has a great reputation and has constructed and operated high quality sites that we believe will see continued growth through lease-up and provide the wireless operators more best in class locations to achieve their network coverage needs alongside our existing towers and growing DAS and small cell business. We are proud we have completed this transaction with Tower Ventures and look forward to working with them across the United States in the future."

Commenting on the transaction, Tower Ventures President and CEO, William Orgel, said; "Dagan and the wonderful team he has built in the past seven years were an absolute pleasure to work with on this transaction. They are professional, intelligent and have immense knowledge of the tower industry. Tower Ventures looks forward to a continued relationship with PTI as we move forward in developing more towers and managing our remaining portfolio of owned and managed sites."

About Phoenix Tower International

PTI owns and operates over 8,500 towers, 986 kilometers of fibre, and other wireless infrastructure and related sites across 14 countries in North, Central and South America and Europe. PTI was founded in 2013 with a mission to be a premier site provider to wireless operators across high-growth international markets. PTI's investors include funds managed by Blackstone, John Hancock, and various members of the management team and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information, please visit www.phoenixintnl.com.

About Tower Ventures

Tower Ventures is a Memphis, Tennessee based cell phone tower operator that owns and manages 360 towers in the United States. Tower Ventures and its subsidiaries have developed towers since 1987 and over that time have successfully built and sold tower portfolios valued at over $600 million dollars. Tower Ventures is owned by its management team with an investment from BBH Capital Partners, a private equity strategy of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

SOURCE Phoenix Tower International

Related Links

http://www.phoenixintnl.com


The federal government will spend the N150 billion Sukuk bonds being issued by the Debt Management Office in financing 44 ongoing highway projects across the country, the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, has said.

Mr Aliyu said the federal government had to leverage alternative sources of funding to finance infrastructure, due to the paucity of funds.

He disclosed this on Thursday at the ongoing Summit on National Policy and Development in Abuja.

The summit was organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Policy Development and Analysis with the theme: Actualising the Next Level Agenda: Strategies, Prospects and Anticipated Challenges.

The minister said the federal government spent N200 billion raised through Sukuk bonds on 58 critical highway projects across the country between 2017 and 2018.

He said 25 of these projects were funded in 2017 and 28 in 2018.

The expansion, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of Lagos-Ibadan road, Construction of Second Niger Bridge and the Rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Dual Carriageway are being financed with the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), he said

He said the concerted and sustained effort in road infrastructure financing had positively impacted on the physical completion of many of the projects.

Mr Aliyu said in bridging the infrastructure gap in the country, his ministry is also intervening in tertiary institutions internal road networks across the country through the reconstruction of internal roads in 44 tertiary institutions across the country.

This forms part of the over 500 road and bridge projects currently being undertaken by the ministry as its contribution to infrastructure provision in the country, he said.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari has prioritised the provision of basic road infrastructure because it is a necessary prerequisite for the socio-economic development of any nation.

He said policies have been put in place to encourage the private sector to partner with the government in the provision of these critical infrastructures.

The Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (RIDRITCS) through which projects like the Apapa-Oworonshoki road, Obajana-Kabba road, the Bodo-Bonny road and the Apapa-Wharf road are being executed by private firms, he said.

Speaking on the housing sector, Mr Aliyu said the National Housing Programme is ongoing across the country with over 2,500 units completed in 34 states of the federation.

The Federal Mortgage Bank and the Federal Housing Authority are also increasing the housing stock to Nigerians through several programmes designed to achieve this, like, rent-to-own, mortgage finance ownership, etc. , he added.
job fair career fair recruiter

REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Jobs at Microsoft are highly sought-after, but many entry-level positions don't require a college degree.

The company avoids ruling out applicants based on prior credentials, focusing instead on soft skills and a willingness to learn.

According to executives, this approach helps bolster diversity at Microsoft.

Microsoft is one of several major tech companies to widen its hiring practices in an effort to recruit from a more diverse talent base.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Landing a job at Microsoft without a college degree is within reach  even if your name isn't Bill Gates.

That's because, for many entry-level positions, Microsoft doesn't require that candidates hold a college degree, instead encouraging anyone who believes they're a good fit to apply.

Microsoft executives spoke to Business Insider about the reasons for that practice. They said the decision not to require certain credentials for entry-level jobs allows Microsoft to recruit from a broader talent base, and ultimately builds a more diverse workforce at the company.

"If you have the same people who have the same STEM degree and same background and everything, they're not going to be able to solve all our problems," CVP of cybersecurity solutions Ann Johnson told Business Insider. "If you have people that come in with a lot of different backgrounds, they can actually think differently."

Microsoft isn't the only major tech company eschewing traditional expectations for job requirements. Google and Apple have broadcasted a similar policy of accepting job applications from anyone regardless of their educational background, as the broader tech industry grapples with combatting its chronic lack of diversity.

Here's what executives had to say about Microsoft's policy of accepting applications from anyone for entry-level jobs, regardless of degree.

Most entry-level jobs at Microsoft can pay anywhere from $60,000 to over $130,000, according to listings on Glassdoor.

Story continues

FILE PHOTO: A Microsoft logo is seen in Los Angeles, California U.S. November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Reuters

Source: Glassdoor

Microsoft's Ann Johnson, who has spoken at length about the need for a more diverse workforce, said college degrees aren't a perfect indicator of whether a candidate will perform well in a role  instead, she encourages a focus on soft skills like teamwork and curiosity, as well as a candidate's willingness to self-train and learn quickly.

Microsoft Campus

Matt Weinberger/Business Insider

Ping Look, who leads Microsoft's cybersecurity Detection and Response Team, added that candidates who apply to jobs without a college degree already signal a level of determination that she respects.

K5 Microsoft knightscope security robot

Knightscope

"There are some companies like, you don't have a degree so we're not going to interview you for an entry-level job," Look told Business Insider. "We give them a chance because they clearly have some tenacity or desire to be working here. It's worth having a conversation with them."

Microsoft

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

Employees echo that sentiment  Ram Shankar Siva Kumar, a "data cowboy" working on security for Microsoft Azure, told Business Insider that workers without college degrees have strengthened his team.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft

"Some people have PhDs, some people have traditional engineering degrees, some people actually have not even been to college," he said. "This might sound very Oprah-ish, but being 'you' really does help."

FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Microsoft logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Reuters

Read the original article on Business Insider
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A prosecution psychiatrist says a Florida college student was legally insane when he fatally attacked a couple outside their home, chewing off part of the mans face, court documents filed this week show.

Dr. Gregory C. Landrums finding bolsters the case of Austin Harrouffs attorneys, who are planning to argue the 23-year-old should be found not guilty by reason of insanity at his murder trial, which had been scheduled for May but was postponed indefinitely Thursday. He faces a life sentence if convicted of murdering John Stevens and Michelle Mishcon Stevens in August 2016.

Landrum outlined Harrouffs declining mental state before the killings, including God and demons talking to him, increasing paranoia and other hallucinations. He noted that Harrouff is being treated for schizophrenia while jailed.

As a result, Landrum concluded, Harrouff was unable to distinguish right from wrong when he killed the Stevenses  the legal standard in Florida for being found not guilty by reason of insanity.

If Harrouff is found not guilty by reason of insanity, that does not mean he would go free. He would be committed to a state mental hospital and his attorneys have previously conceded it is unlikely that he would ever be released.

Harrouff has a mental illness and, because of the illness, is manifestly dangerous to himself and others, Landrum wrote.

Defence attorney Nellie L. King welcomed Landrums finding, while understanding it may provide little comfort to the victims families.

However, mental illness is very real and can lead to unintentional, yet tragic, outcomes, King said in a statement. The defence examiner also found him legally insane.

At a pretrial hearing Thursday, prosecutors asked Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer for permission to have another psychiatrist examine Harrouff. Bauer said he would consider it, but warned prosecutors that if this doctor agrees with the first two their case would seem doomed.

Evan Fetterman, an attorney representing Michelle Stevens family in a lawsuit against Harrouff, said in a statement Thursday that Landrums conclusions are inconsistent with the facts because Harrouff abused drugs in the months preceding the attack and was drunk during it. That usage caused any insanity Harrouff may have experienced and should not be legally considered, he said.

When Martin County sheriffs deputies arrived at the Stevenses home north of Palm Beach on the night of Aug. 15, 2016, they found a horrific scene, court documents, recordings and photos show. Michelle Stevens, 53, lay mangled and dead in the garage and Harrouff, then a muscular exercise science major at Florida State University, was attacking and biting her 59-year-old husband on the driveway. Harrouff is alleged to have also wounded a neighbour who tried to save the couple.

One deputy ordered Harrouff off at gunpoint while another used an electric stun gun on him, but he wouldnt let go. Deputies say they didnt shoot Harrouff because they feared hitting John Stevens.

Finally, a deputy with a dog arrived and its bites enabled deputies to subdue Harrouff, who had no previous arrest record. He told deputies, Help me, I ate something bad and then admitted it was humans as he spit out a piece of flesh, court documents show. He begged deputies to kill him after they pulled him off Stevens, according to the records.

Shoot me now; I deserve to die, Harrouff said.

Harrouff has a history of alcohol and drug abuse, including cocaine, methamphetamine and other stimulants and hallucinogens like mushrooms, court records show. Blood tests found alcohol and marijuana in his system in the hours after the killings.

Landrum wrote that Harrouff in an October interview told him that in the weeks leading up to the killings he had begun to feel go go go and experienced grandiosity during the day and paranoia at night. Demons and God were talking to him. He said it felt like he had Jesus special abilities while working at his job as a dental assistant and that he blessed the dental instruments by pouring water on them. Harrouff told Landrum that on the day before the killings he felt that dog spirits had become part of him and he had new strength and agility.

On the evening of the killings, his mother found him at her home drinking cooking oil mixed with Parmesan cheese  Michelle Stevens family alleges the concoction was spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms. About 45 minutes before the attack, Harrouff argued with his father and stormed out of a restaurant 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) from the Stevenses home.

Harrouff later told the Dr. Phil television show that he was fleeing a demon he called Daniel.

He told Landrum that he recalls having a machete in his hand and stabbing a woman  it was like she was covered in darkness. He recalled seeing a man who was glowing white and began stabbing and biting him. He remembers drinking a liquid, calling out to God to save him and feeling he was a dog before blacking out.

Harrouff was hospitalized for nearly two months recovering from injuries caused by drinking a caustic liquid found in the couples garage.
India voices serious concern over increasing spread of terrorism in Africa at UN

Former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar Dies at 100: How he helped to end Iran-Iraq war

International

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New York, Mar 04: Javier Perez de Cuellar, the fifth United Nations Secretary-General, died on Wednesday, according to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry. He was 100.

In his two terms, Javier Perez helped to end a prolonged war between the Iran and Iraq.

In 1991, Javier Perez had submitted important reports that he had prepared to the UN Security Council which were based on Paragraph 6 of Resolution 598.

This resolution was adopted by the Security Council on July 20, 1987.

In his reports, Paragraph 5 said that the war between the two countries - Iran and Iraq - had continued for several years through breach of international law. He added that the breach added the responsibility for the beginning of the conflict which was the main subject of Paragraph 6 of Resolution 598.

During that war, the then UN Secretary-General noted that there were many cases of breach on international humanitarian law.

Paragraph 6 of his report stated that Iraq's response contained no required information and hence relied on previous explanations provided by the Iraqi government.

In his reply, Javier Perez said that those explanations by the Iraqi government fell short of convincing the international community. He also mentioned the attack against Iran in 1980 as the "most important breach of international law".

Years after Iraq invaded Iran and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Secretary-General said that the Security Council should have immediately proclaimed following the invasion of Iran by Iraq.

According to Article 24 of the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council is responsible for protecting international peace and security. If the Council had recognized Iraq as aggressor in the beginning of the war, it would not have lasted for years and claimed thousands of people's lives and caused billions of dollars damages.

The Security Council's Resolution 598 (July 20, 1987):

Paragraph 5 - Determined to bring to an end all military actions between Iran and Iraq

Paragraph 6 - Convinced that a comprehensive, just, honourable and durable settlement should be achieved between Iran and Iraq

Paragraph 7 - Recalling the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular the obligation of all Member States to settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered
Amaravati, March 5 : Leading Swiss company IMR Metallurgical Resources-AG has proposed to set up a major steel plant in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of more than Rs 12,000 crore.

The plant, proposed to be set up in YSR Kadapa district, will have an annual production capacity of 10 million tonnes.

This was disclosed by the representatives of IMR company who held discussions with Chief Minister Y. S Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Thursday.

The company has its operations in Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Columbia, Italy, Ukraine and India pertaining to coal, iron ore and gold mines excavation and is also involved in the power production and steel industries.

The Chief Minister said that there would be scope for improving industrialization in YSR Kadapa district once the proposed steel plant comes up, adding that the government was ready to provide all the basic infrastructure facilities.

He noted that Krishnapatnam port, railway connectivity and highways were readily available for transportation purposes. Moreover, it would provide better employment opportunities to the local people.

Chief Secretary Neelam Sawhney, Industries Special Chief Secretary Rajat Bhargav, IMR-AG chairman Hans Radolf Weld, company director Anirudh Misra, project president Arindam De, Finance Director Sanjay Sinha, and AP Integrated Steel Managing Director P. Madhusudhan were among those present during the meeting.

Earlier, the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has laid a foundation stone for the Kadapa Steel Plant on December 23, 2019. This plant with 30 lakh tones capacity is part of the assurance given by the Central at the time of bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh.

The state government also entered into a deal with National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for supply of iron ore for Kadapa Steel Plant.
The largest Irish Education Fair is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 10th March 2020 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

The fair between 9am and 5 pm is open to the general public and provides an opportunity for Ghanaian students considering to study in Ireland to meet representatives of Irish universities and colleges.

A total of fourteen Irish universities and colleges offering various courses in humanities, arts, English language and science at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels will be participating in the fair.

There are over 160,000 international students undertaking short term, undergraduate and postgraduate studies from over 160 countries with close to 1,500 from across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The international teams in all colleges, universities, and institutes provide students with all the needed assistance they require in order to settle in and comfortably pursue their studies.

By choosing Ireland, students can join communities of researchers, academics and commercial innovators to collaborate and co-create solutions for the myriad of challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.

Ireland is an English speaking country at the heart of Europe and has a wide global reach in todays world. Graduates from Ireland bring more than just their world-class Irish education and globally-recognized qualifications on their life journeys as well as onto the job market.

Through education, life, and work experiences, the graduates develop key skills that many employers prioritise such as ability to lead, the practice of effective collaboration, creativity, agility, and critical thinking

An Irish qualification could best be described as a passport to global success. No matter where you choose to pursue your career, your Irish qualification will be recognised and highly regarded all over the world. Also, Ireland has a well-earned reputation for the warmth of its welcome and for providing a safe and supportive environment for foreign students. By International standards, Ireland is amongst the safest and most stable countries in the world and features in the Top Twenty in the Global Peace Index 2019.

The country has a tradition of educational excellence and embodies a pioneering spirit to deliver education that creates graduates with unique skills and the right qualifications for the world today. Coincidentally, Ireland is home to the brightest and best global corporations and is a destination of choice for every global corporation that wants to establish its headquarters in Europe. The exceptionally skilled graduate pool is uniquely positioned to access the opportunities the Irish business ecosystem creates.

There is a myriad of great career-starting opportunities for international students in Ireland. Under the Irish Third Level Graduate Scheme, non-European third level graduates can remain in Ireland for up to 24 months upon completion of studies to look for full-time employment. In addition, employers can hire graduates who are eligible to work for up to 40 hours per week. After 24 months or working, they may be eligible for the Green Card or Work Permit Scheme.

Registration to participate in the fair is on-going  www.educationinafrica/Accra.
A baby girl was born in a Hanoi coronavirus quarantine zone Thursday, her mother having been quarantined after returning from South Korea.

The 21-year-old mother underwent a C-section for the delivery, said Vuong Trung Kien, director of the Thach That District Hospital. As many as 20 doctors and nurses participated in the operation, he added.

The baby girl weighed 3.1 kg at birth. Both the mother and the baby are doing well, Kien said.

Doctors pose with a baby girl born on March 5, 2020 at a Covid-19 quarantine zone in the Thach That District Hospital, Hanoi. Photo courtesy of the Thach That District Hospital.

The mother, a native of the northern province of Thai Nguyen, had returned from South Korea to Vietnam on February 27. She was 39 weeks pregnant then.

As of Thursday morning, Hanoi had gone more than three weeks without any new Covid-19 suspects.

Under Vietnams current regulations, every one entering the country from mainland China, Italy, Iran and South Korea have to be quarantined for at least 14 days. The four countries are currently the worst-hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

South Korea has reported over 5,700 infection cases, second only to mainland China, where the disease was first detected last December.

In Vietnam, all 16 persons confirmed with Covid-19 virus infection so far have been discharged from the hospital.

The novel coronavirus has spread to 85 countries and territories to date, killing 3,287 people, mostly in mainland China, followed by Italy (107), Iran (92) and South Korea (35).
Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Shani Cooper has presented a stone imported from Jerusalem to President Akufo-Addo for the laying of the foundation of the National Cathedral.

The stone was presented to President Akufo-Addo at the sod-cutting ceremony of the Ghana National Cathedral on Thursday, 5 March 2020.

Work on the construction of the National Cathedral is expected to begin on Ghanas Independence Day.

According to Ambassador Cooper, Christians consider Jerusalem as the most sacred land in the world, hence the stone also symbolises the land allocated for the construction of the National Cathedrals sacredness.

She also indicated that ties between Ghana and Israel will be strengthened with the involvement of Israel in the construction of the National Cathedral.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo, has said the proposed National Cathedral which is to be built in the heart of the city of Accra will be one of the iconic structures on the African continent.

Addressing attendees of the ceremony at the construction site of the Cathedral to lay the foundation stone for the commencement of construction works, President Akufo-Addo said he is determined to lead the efforts aimed at ensuring the completion of the project in fulfillment of his pledge to God to build same should he win the 2016 general elections.

"As I indicated on 6th March 2017, upon completion, the National Cathedral is certainly going to be one of the iconic structures of the African Continent" President Akufo-Addo noted.

---classfmonline
Im excited to be part of WiCyS and participate in this conference. With so many women as part of this organization, I see endless opportunities to influence change while further protecting the organizations and customers we serve.

Gretchen Block, Optum vice president, is one of three significant women to present a keynote at the Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) conference, March 12-14 in Aurora, Colorado.

Block is the vice president of the Optum Global Technology Enterprise Risk Governance Program. Her presentation, Power, Influence and the Art of Female Leadership will chronicle her journey from John Deere HealthCare to her current role as a global leader that drives technology risk management across business towers and geography. Block aims to candidly cover uncomfortable topics for female leaders surrounding organizational politics, positional and personal power, the juxtaposition of power and influence, and female leadership potential. Female leaders emerging in the workforce must employ savvy and grit to maximize their leadership potential, and she will touch on those issues.

In 1995, Block began her career in healthcare by working for John Deere HealthCare. Her roles included IT asset management, computer operations and security. In 2006, she joined Optum as part of the acquisition of John Deere HealthCare with UnitedHealth Group. She currently leads the enterprise policy, risk governance, access management and security operations teams supporting critical business areas. She has been part of the Enterprise Security organization working with risk governance, compliance management and threat management in support of the broader cybersecurity program.

We have to be ruthless in our pursuit to protect the customers information that we are accountable for within the organization that we serve while also keeping cybersecurity woven into the fabric of how we operate on a daily basis, Block said. Im excited to be part of WiCyS and participate in this conference. With so many women as part of this organization, I see endless opportunities to influence change while further protecting the organizations and customers we serve.

The WiCyS conference will bring together more than 1,650 women and allies in cybersecurity from industry, academia, government, nonprofits and research to share their knowledge and expertise while networking and mentoring. The conference is unique as it zeroes in on recruiting, retaining and advancing women in cybersecurity careers.

Journalists are invited to attend and should email info@wicys.org to request a media pass. For more information on WiCyS or the conference, visit http://www.wicys.org.

About WiCyS:

Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) is the premier nonprofit organization with international reach dedicated to bringing together women in cybersecurity. Founded by Dr. Ambareen Siraj from Tennessee Tech University through a National Science Foundation grant in 2013, WiCyS offers opportunities and resources for its members and collaboration benefits for its sponsors and partners. The organizations founding partners are Cisco, Facebook and Palo Alto Networks. WiCyS strategic partners include Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, Cisco, Equifax, Facebook, Google, HERE Technologies, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Nike, Optum, Palo Alto Networks, PayPal, SANS Institute, Target, and University of California San Diego. To partner with WiCyS, visit https://www.wicys.org/become-a-partner


The US launched an airstrike against Taliban fighters to defend Afghan forces on Wednesday, an American military spokesman said, as violence spirals after a string of deadly attacks by the insurgents, throwing the country's nascent peace process into grave doubt.



News of the airstrike in southern Helmand province -- the first in 11 days -- came hours after US President Donald Trump told reporters he had had a "very good" chat with the Taliban political chief, who on Saturday signed a historic deal with Washington to withdraw foreign forces.



Since the signing in Doha however, the militants have ramped up violence against Afghan forces, casting a pall over peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, due to begin on March 10.



US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett tweeted that the airstrike targeted Taliban fighters who were "actively attacking" an Afghan forces checkpoint in Helmand.



"This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack," he tweeted.



"We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments. As we have demonstrated, we will defend our partners when required." He said insurgents had carried out 43 attacks on checkpoints in Helmand on Tuesday alone.



Provincial police spokesman Mohammad Zaman Hamdard told AFP: "In the past two days we have witnessed the most intense Taliban attacks in Helmand."



"They have attacked several districts and many military bases," he added.



Elsewhere the insurgents killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a series of overnight attacks in other provinces, government officials told AFP Wednesday.



"Taliban fighters attacked at least three army outposts in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz last night, killing at least 10 soldiers and four police," said Safiullah Amiri, a member of the provincial council.



A defence ministry official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity confirmed the army toll, while the provincial police spokesman Hejratullah Akbari confirmed the police fatalities.



The insurgents also attacked police in central Uruzgan province Tuesday night, with the governor's spokesman Zergai Ebadi telling AFP: "Unfortunately, six police were killed and seven wounded."



The news of the attacks came after Trump told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that he had a "very good" relationship with Taliban political chief Mullah Baradar, with the pair speaking on the phone for 35 minutes, according to the insurgents.



"The relationship is very good that I have with the mullah. We had a good long conversation today and you know, they want to cease the violence, they'd like to cease violence also," he said.



But on Wednesday, US military spokesman Leggett warned that the "#Afghans & US have complied w/ our agreements; however, Talibs appear intent on squandering this (opportunity) and ignoring the will of the people for #peace."



Under the terms of the deal, US and other foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with the national government in Kabul.



The agreement also includes a commitment to exchange 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government in return for 1,000 captives -- something the militants have cited as a prerequisite for talks but which President Ashraf Ghani has refused to do before negotiations start.



Trump has said the Taliban and Washington both "have a very common interest" in ending the war.



Since Saturday's deal signing, the Taliban have been publicly claiming "victory" over the US and on Monday they announced they would resume attacks on Afghan forces, ending a partial truce that provided a rare reprieve to war-weary residents.



In the last 24 hours the Taliban conducted 30 attacks in 15 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi tweeted.



The insurgents, who have been known to exaggerate figures, claimed on their website to have killed 35 security forces since Tuesday night.



Ghani's government last week sent a delegation to Qatar to open "initial contacts" with the insurgents, but Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen on Tuesday said the militants would not meet Kabul's representatives except to discuss the release of their captives.



Apparent differences between the Doha agreement and a separate joint US-Afghan declaration made in Afghanistan underline the obstacles facing negotiators.



The US-Taliban deal committed to the release of prisoners, while the Kabul document only required both sides to determine "the feasibility of releasing" captives.
People generally touch their face about 250 times a day without knowing it, she said. Washing hands is always important, and its a good idea to use hand sanitizer if youre not able to wash your hands. Keeping wipes in your car also can be helpful because we all touch a lot of different things when were out, even at someplace like the supermarket.
MANZINI  The police have made a major breakthrough in solving 11 robbery cases, eight of which were committed in one day (Christmas Eve) in Matsapha.



In fact, the police managed to bring to book a man, Mlungisi Schuster Tsabedze (25) of Mbikwakhe, who was on the list of most wanted people and slapped him with a total of 13 counts.



Out of the 13 charges, 11 counts are robbery cases and the total amount of items and cash which were stolen during the robberies is E44 900.



Assault



The other two charges that Tsabedze is facing are assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and contempt of court.

According to his charges, the suspect allegedly assaulted his victims and robbed them at knife point.



In the first count, the accused person is facing a robbery charge, in that on December 24, 2019, he allegedly assaulted and robbed Ahmed Abdull while at the infamous Mbhuleni area, under Kwaluseni Chiefdom in Matsapha.



According to the charge sheet, during the attack, he allegedly robbed an Asian businessman Abdull of a Samsung A7 worth E6 000 and E3 000 cash.



Furthermore, according to the charge sheet, on the same day and same location, the accused person allegedly assaulted and robbed one Likhwa Ndzabandzaba a sum of E300 in cash.



Again, on the same day and area, according to the charge sheet, Tsabedze allegedly pounced on one Senzo Bulunga, assaulted and robbed him a sum of E2 000 in cash.



Another robbery charge that the accused person is facing also took place on December 24, 2019 at Eteni. It is alleged that he assaulted and robbed Mlaba Dlamini a sum of E2 000 in cash.



In count five, it is alleged that on December 5, 2019 the accused person attacked Wandile Ndlela and robbed him a Samsung Z2 cellphone worth E800, E3 800 in cash and an unmentioned cellphone valued at E1 200.

On December 24, 2019 while at Eteni, the charge sheet alleges that he pounced on Simangele Nhleko and used violence to steal a bag with various clothing inside and it was valued at E3 000.
Representative Image

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar assured Indians stuck in Iran amid Coronavirus scare in the country that the Government of India is working on expediting their return at the soonest.

Taking to Twitter on March 5, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled government at the Centre is in constant touch with Iranian authorities to establish a clinic for screening the stranded Indians by evening.



Update for Indians stranded in #Iran and for their families: Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities.

 Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2020



Group of Ministers constantly monitoring progress. Understand the concern of families.

Keep faith.

 Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2020

Empathizing with the kin of those Indians, he further wrote:

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor had earlier written to Jaishankar, informing him that nearly 30 fishermen working with Iranian fishing companies are stranded in the country at present.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

More than 50 people have already died in Iran due to Coronavirus or COVID-19 infection and almost 1,000 people have tested positive for the fatal disease.
Communities in West Virginia say they would get $1.25 billion from the drug industry in a proposed settlement that would end most of the litigation stemming from the opioid crisis in the state.

The deal would be the first of its kind, even as drug makers, distribution companies and pharmacies are considering settling about 3,000 lawsuits nationwide over what many  including the families of those who died of opioid addiction  say was their role in fueling a crisis that has been linked to more than 430,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000.

Paul Farrell, a West Virginia-based lawyer who is one of the leaders in the lawsuits nationwide, said governments in his state have agreed to the deal that was hammered out by 250 lawyers in a Charleston office building last week.

Farrell said the companies would have to determine how much each would pay and officials in West Virginia still have to figure out how to divide the money among the state and local governments, hospitals and other entities. A panel of judges could be called in to settle the allocation formula if there are disagreements.

Lawyers fees would not come out of the $1.25 billion. Rather, they would be an additional amount set by the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel, which is made up of state judges.

How to handle payments for lawyers has been a factor in a split among states over whether to enter a national settlement over opioids with three major distributors plus the drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Teva.

Ive solved the attorney fee problem by handing it over to the court, Farrell said Monday. He would not comment on details of the talks surrounding the proposal.

Left out of the potential state deal would be state Attorney General Patrick Morriseys claims against drug makers. Morrisey would be able to continue those lawsuits or reach separate settlements  possibly as part of national deals.

The West Virginia plan also does not apply to two key drug makers, Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt. Both are attempting to settle opioid lawsuits they face through bankruptcy court.

Farrell said West Virginia was seeking its own deal partly because the state would be cut out of a piece of a national $18 billion settlement thats under consideration with the three dominant distribution companies, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

The state has already settled lawsuits with those companies over the past three years for a total of $63 million. West Virginia also settled with a group of smaller wholesalers in 2016 for $11 million.

The West Virginia plan would be the first statewide opioid settlement with companies from all parts of the drug industry. West Virginia has the countrys highest fatal opioid overdose rate.

A spokesman for McKesson issued a statement saying the company is still working toward a global settlement that would serve as the best path forward by providing billions of dollars in near-term funding, as well as vast amounts of free medication to aid in treatment and provide relief to the communities that need it now, including West Virginia.

Officials in Ohio have been working on a plan for how to divide money among government entities if they reach a settlement, either as part of a national effort or separately.

The timeline for accepting the West Virginia plan should become clearer this week. Farrell said the companies would have until the start of a federal trial expected in coming months over claims from the city of Huntington and Cabell County against the major distributors. A judge is expected to set a date for it during a hearing Thursday.

___

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Virginia Drugs
You won't find any of the latest juicers, blenders or fashionable steam ovens in Robert Deeley's kitchen.

But if dangle spits, bottle jacks and faggot ovens from centuries long past are more your taste in culinary gadgets, then the cavernous room with its flagstone floor and two roaring open fires in his French chateau will definitely get your juices flowing.

Briton Mr Deeley, 77, has been collecting historic cooking utensils since he was six years old when an aunt gave him an early English copper drinking pot. He now has more than 1,500 weird and wonderful items dating from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

You won't find any of the latest juicers, blenders or fashionable steam ovens in Robert Deeley's kitchen

He even uses some of them to roast joints of meat like cooks would have done in medieval times  and today his food preparation can be more like Game Of Thrones than MasterChef.

When Mr Deeley, a former farmer and antiques dealer, began restoring the historic chateau in Gascony in 1990, the kitchen was a ruin with a tree growing through the ceiling. Now it is like a fully-working museum of gastronomy, while he and wife Melanie, 71, and their faithful labrador Teal, eight, live in a wing of the castle above.

Mr Deeley explains the chateau, which dates back to the 1160s, had probably not been used since the Napoleonic era in terms of a working kitchen before he and Melanie restored it.

'It had no roof on when I came here, and it hadn't been touched since the French Revolution in 1789 so it was unique in that everything was as it was,' he says. 'I put the roof back on and the ceiling, and restored the two monumental fireplaces, one at each end.'

But if dangle spits, bottle jacks and faggot ovens from centuries long past are more your taste in culinary gadgets, then the cavernous room with its flagstone floor and two roaring open fires in his French chateau will definitely get your juices flowing

The cooking utensils, farming equipment, bowls and cutlery that now populate the kitchen have been gathered from all over England, France and elsewhere in Europe and form a working social history of the kitchens used by our forebears.

Mr Deeley, a great-great grandfather, adds: 'You can go to loads of National Trust homes and see rows and rows of copper saucepans, but I've tried to collect the things that possibly our ancestors would have used in a humbler home, too.

'For the cooking I have things like a dangle spit, which is brass with two knobs on the end. You wind it up and it rotates one way with the meat and then rotates the other way  and then you wind it up again.

'We have faggot ovens, which cooked the food by charcoal or bundles of sticks.

Briton Mr Deeley, 77, has been collecting historic cooking utensils since he was six years old when an aunt gave him an early English copper drinking pot

'I have a medieval fork and scummer, which dates back possibly to the 13th century, so I can eat dinner having used an 800-year-old utensil to remove it from the cauldron.'

Bottle jacks were used to turn meat when cooking over an open hearth in the 18th and 19th centuries. The contraptions had to be wound up on a spring to make the joint  hanging from an attached hook  twist from side to side while roasting.

His collection also includes hasteners, used in front of an open fire to reflect heat back onto a joint of meat hanging from a hook. The combination of bottle jack and meat hastener was designed to get the meat evenly roasted without constant attention from the cook.

Roasting duck on an early English brass spit engine (1650 to 1660) with a fat tray and basting ladle

The exterior of the restored chateau. Mr Deeley hopes that one day he will be able to find a buyer for his collection when it becomes too much hard work to look after

Mr Deeley hopes that one day he will be able to find a buyer for his collection when it becomes too much hard work to look after.

He says: 'My wife has been incredible to put up with me. I'm the eccentric I suppose. I would never have done this if I hadn't had her help.'

Mrs Deeley admits: 'It's a lot of work to keep the collection together and to clean it all. We don't have many servants like they would have done in medieval times  there's only me.

'I think it would be a shame for Rob's collection to be broken up, I don't think anyone else could get what he has got together very easily now.'
BEIJING - To keep his 40 employees indoors and away from Chinas virus outbreak, the manager of an electronics factory in Dongguan, near Hong Kong, says he hired a cook and arranged dormitories for them.

Cjtouch Electronic Co., which makes smartphone touch screens, is one of thousands of manufacturers trying to protect employees while they gradually reopen after anti-virus controls shut down much of the worlds second-largest economy.

We have adopted strict prevention measures, said its general manager, Zhang Feng.

Trying to curb the soaring cost of anti-virus controls, the ruling Communist Party has told local officials in areas deemed at low disease risk to help reopen factories that make the worlds smartphones, toys and other consumer goods.

They were idled when Beijing extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep workplaces empty in hopes of containing the virus that emerged in central China in December. Offices, restaurants, cinemas and shopping malls also were closed.

Officials have orders to prevent a spike in infections as millions of workers who returned to their hometowns for the holiday flow back to Chinas southeastern factory belt and big eastern cities.

Following government instructions, factory operators are buying face masks by the thousands and jugs of disinfectant. Employees are scrutinized for the viruss telltale fever.

Some manufacturers bar outsiders. Others remain closed due to a lack of employees or raw materials.

Cjtouch is in Guangdong province, home to thousands of export-driven factories. It is back to 90% of normal production, Zhang said. In the three weeks since it reopened employees have used more than 3,000 masks, he said.

We hired someone to cook for employees so they dont need to eat outside and persuaded them to stay in dormitories and not go out, Zhang said.

The government has told anyone who can work from home to stay there, but factories need employees on their assembly lines.

Some still are stranded in their hometowns by the suspension of bus and train service or curbs on leaving areas deemed at high disease risk.

Mingliang Electronics Co. in the eastern city of Weifang in Shandong province resumed work this week with 20 of its 30 employees, said a manager who would give only her surname, Liu. The company makes circuit boards for U.S., European, South Korean and Japanese customers.

The rest cannot make it due to restrictions on movement ordered by local authorities in the countryside, said Liu.

Those who are at work wear masks and are checked twice a day for fever, Liu said.

We keep the place clean by disinfecting three times a day, mopping the floor and wiping computer screens with disinfectant, she said. We ordered nearly 2,000 masks for employees.

The Yayuan Toy Factory, which makes plastic cars in the southeastern city of Yiwu, a hub for export manufacturers, still is shut down due to virus fears and the difficulty of finding employees, according to its owner, Cui Ting.

Cui said his workforce of 12 went home to Shanxi province in western China and Guizhou in the southeast for the holiday and have yet to return.

We havent resumed production yet, because I still worry about the infection risk due to asking my employees to travel, said Cui.

Cui said he expects to get new orders in a few weeks but is in no hurry.

Life matters more, said Cui.

Despite the renewed activity, forecasters say Chinas economic growth will be flat to negative for the three months ending in March, a marked decline from the previous quarters 6% growth.

UBS estimates factory output expanded only 1.2% in January and February from a year earlier. UBS economists Ning Zhang and Tao Wang say exports probably fell 17%.

Travel disruptions also are raising costs for manufacturers that have to pay higher wages to get or keep scarce employees.

The government has promised tax breaks, low-interest loans and other aid, but it is unclear how many companies might shut down for good due to the burden of paying rent and other expenses with no revenue.

Yinhong Protective Product Co. in the city of Xiantao in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, is paying super high wages of up to 1,800 yuan ($250) a day to attract workers, said its sales manager, Chen Jihao.

Demand for masks, protective clothing and disinfectant is soaring, but producers arent reaping a windfall. Chen said Yinhongs output has increased by 20% to 1.2 million masks per day, but the government pays below-market prices.

Cjtouch in Dongguan kept paying employees during the shutdown, Zhang said.

Lesen Xiping Electronics Co. in the southern province of Hunan, which makes cosmetics equipment, is paying more for labour and for materials including LED display panels, said its sales manager, Flora Fang.

We are paying extra to keep workers under the current circumstances, Fang said.

The company, which exports to the United States, Germany and Mexico, requires its workforce of 20 to wear masks and disinfects its factory daily.

We do hope that everything will return to normal by the end of April, she said.

___

AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed.

___

The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - MedXtractor Corp. (CSE: MXT) ("MXT" or the "Corporation") announces it has entered into a distribution agreement (the "Agreement") with Purpl Scientific Inc., https://www.purplscientific.com/ a manufacturer of low-cost cannabis testing devices. The Agreement is non-exclusive and may be cancelled by either party at any time. Medxtractor is free to sell the test devices via its website to customers anywhere in the world.

Mr. Jim Durward, CEO, states, "We are always looking for products that target the craft grower horizontal and that compliment our existing offerings. Purpl's test device, with it's low-cost MSRP (US$1495) and high accuracy fits right into our targeted horizontal and we believe it will be a valuable product for our extractor customers."

ABOUT MEDXTRACTOR CORP.:

The Corporation is a Calgary-based company that manufactures award-winning, patented, proprietary craft-scale carbon dioxide-based extractors that are used to extract essential oils and compounds from a variety of botanical materials. Growing demand is from the premium craft medical cannabis market as these growers respond to the shift toward high-purity oils and concentrates as the base for a multitude of products such as vapes, dabs, edibles, lotions, sprays, and suppositories. The ongoing worldwide cannabis legalization movement is expected to further increase demand for extracts and the Corporation has installations in multiple countries worldwide. The Corporation owns the US patent, and the Canadian Patent application, on its CO2-based extraction process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

MEDXTRACTOR CORP.

James M. Durward, President and CEO

Telephone: (403) 689-3901

Email: jimd@medxtractor.com

Website: www.medxtractor.com

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell 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.

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Corporation disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53146
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 19:08:06|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A Zimbabwean court on Wednesday sentenced to jail 40 members of a machete gang that besieged a police station in January in an attempt to rescue their arrested colleagues.

Armed with machetes, axes, shovels, and picks, the machete gang members had stormed a police station in Gokwe, Midlands Province, state media reported Thursday.

They were sentenced to between five and seven years in jail each.

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing widespread violence in the gold mining sector, perpetrated by machete gangs.

The southern African country is battling to bring sanity to the artisanal mining sector, which contributes significantly to gold production every year.

About 2,500 illegal miners were arrested early last month in an effort to thwart illegal mining activities and machete gang violence around the country. Enditem
OTTAWA - "We cut taxes for the middle class. It was the first thing we did as a government in 2015, and it helped to lift more than one million Canadians out of poverty. And thats exactly why we did it again in 2019."  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in tweet Feb. 29, 2020.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA - "We cut taxes for the middle class. It was the first thing we did as a government in 2015, and it helped to lift more than one million Canadians out of poverty. And thats exactly why we did it again in 2019."  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in tweet Feb. 29, 2020.

---

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media while touring the Lion Electric bus factory, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 in St-Jerome, Que..THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Statistics Canada published new data earlier this month showing Canada's poverty rate declined to a new low in 2018 and the number of low-income Canadians fell by more than one million over three years.

But were these people lifted out of poverty as a result of the Liberal government's 2015 tax measure?

The Canadian Press Baloney Meter is an examination of political statements culminating in a ranking of accuracy on a scale of "no baloney" to "full of baloney." This one earns a rating of "a lot of baloney": The assertion is the statement is mostly inaccurate but contains elements of truth.

The facts

The Liberals came to power in 2015 with a campaign pledge for a middle-class tax cut, a reduction they planned to pay for by raising taxes on the wealthiest Canadians.

Starting in 2016, they lowered the tax rate on the middle income bracket  earnings between $45,282 and $90,563 went from a tax rate of 22 per cent to 20.5 per cent  and hiked taxes on all earned income above $200,000.

In 2019, the Liberals introduced a further tax measure, selling it as a help for low- and middle-income earners. That more recent move, which took effect Jan. 1 and is to be phased in over four years, increases the amount someone can earn before federal taxes kick in, lifting the amount ultimately to $15,000 from $12,300.

The experts

David Macdonald, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says the Liberals' 2015 tax cut itself was not responsible for lowering Canada's poverty rate.

He agrees that over a million people were lifted out of poverty between 2015 and 2018 using the "market basket measure," which calculates the minimum a person or family has to bring in to afford a modest or basic living standard. The Liberals adopted this measure as the country's official poverty line in 2018.

But Macdonald says the primary driver of the decrease in the poverty rate was the introduction of the Canada Child Benefit in 2016 as well as other changes to income-transfer programs, including the guaranteed income supplement and the Canada Workers Benefit.

"It is certainly true that public policy is responsible for a million fewer people living in poverty today versus 2015, but it's not due to tax cuts, it's due to changes in transfer programs," Macdonald said.

"The Liberals can certainly take credit for it: they made the changes and those have had a big impact on people's lives. It just wasn't tax cuts."

Macdonald further notes the 2015 tax changes introduced by the Liberals were not actually targeted at the middle class, but rather the middle tax bracket.

Canadians who made more than $45,000 that year benefited somewhat from this tax cut, but only those making over $90,000 saw the full benefit of the Liberal "middle-class tax cut."

In other words, only higher-income earners got the most out of this measure.

Stephen Gordon, an economist at Laval University, says he has long taken issue with the Liberals' calling the 2015 tax reduction a "middle-class tax cut."

The move only helped those who made more than $45,000 in taxable income  after all deductions  the year it was implemented.

Roughly two-thirds of tax-filers don't make enough money qualify for that income-tax reduction, Gordon said.

"It's a stretch to say it was a tax cut that benefited the middle class," Gordon said.

What's more, "it is a nose-stretcher to say that it helped reduce poverty. Because these people are not in poverty, these are people in the top 30 (per cent) of the income distribution and the biggest benefit went to the people in the top 10 per cent of the income distribution."

Both Gordon and Macdonald point out that those whose annual incomes are close to the poverty line, which is around $20,000, saw no benefit at all from this measure.

"Most people that live at or near the poverty line already have enough deductions so that they don't pay income tax anyway, so none of these changes in the tax brackets would have affected them."

The 2019 tax changes that took effect this year  raising the basic personal exemption  do offer a little more tax relief for middle-income earners, both economists agree. However, they note that this only helps those who are paying income taxes.

"People living in poverty don't pay income tax, they don't have enough money. You're not going to do much for poverty with an income-tax cut," Gordon says.

The government response

A spokesperson for Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the 2015 tax cut was one measure among several that contributed to the measured poverty reduction over three years.

"Thanks to programs like the Canada Child Benefit, the increase to Guaranteed Income Supplement, Canadian Worker benefit and the Middle Class Tax Cut, Canadians have more money in their pockets. Under this plan, more than one million Canadians were lifted out of poverty between 2015 and 2018," Maeva Proteau wrote in an email that described each measure and the further tax cut in 2019.

"Our plan is working," she concluded. "Incomes are up for the middle class and those working hard to join it, and poverty is at the lowest level on record."

The baloney reading

Listing the tax cut among other measures that contributed directly to reducing poverty doesn't mean the tax cut reduced poverty. The experts say poverty is down markedly and Liberal policies have been a significant factor, but a tax cut for people making more than $45,000 a year doesn't deserve the credit.

For these reasons, Justin Trudeau's statement earns a rating of "a lot of baloney."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Bosnia on Thursday reported its first confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, in a man who recently travelled to Italy and his child.

"It is a middle-aged man who worked in Italy from where he returned in late February," Alen Seranic, the health minister of Bosnia's Serb-run half, told reporters.

The patient lives in the northwestern region of Banja Luka where he was hospitalised and is held in isolation, the minister said.

"His health condition is good, he has no difficulties and feels well," Seranic said.

Members of the man's family were also tested and a child tested positive, he said.

Bosnia is now the third country in the Balkans region to which the virus has spread. Croatia has registered 10 cases, and North Macedonia one.

More than 90,000 people have been infected and around 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, the vast majority in China where COVID-19 first emerged late last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - British environment minister George Eustice said on Wednesday he was optimistic an agreement could be reached with the European Union over future fishing rights by July.

Eustice told a committee of members from the upper house of parliament that Britain, which wants a partnership agreement setting out the process for annual negotiations on fishing quotas, was "not asking for something extraordinary" as Norway already has a similar agreement with the EU.

He also said that even if a broader multi-year agreement was reached, annual negotiations on total catch were "inevitable" because of the science of fish movements. There will be some reduction in access for EU fisherman to UK waters, he added. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
(Photo : REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann) The logo of U.S. technology company Apple is seen at a branch office in Basel, Switzerland March 2, 2020.

The international coronavirus outbreak maintains to send markets on a rollercoaster ride. As delivery chain disruptions and consumer spending have whipsawed stocks, Apple should nonetheless see a historical income of its iPhone in the next economic year.

Apple's robust ecosystem of gadgets and services, according to a distinguished Wall Street analyst, should see the business enterprise sell more than 231 million phones in 2021, beating the previous data of 231 million sets in 2015.

In a notice on Tuesday, Mar. 3, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said taking a step back while the last few weeks have been an exogenous 'shock event' to Apple's ecosystem on both the supply and demand due to coronavirus outbreak. "We believe this will be short-lived as the longer-term 5G supercycle thesis and services re-rating remain the crux of our bull thesis on Apple for the next 12 to 18 months," Ives added.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook continues to play down the need to shift the tech giant's supply chain drastically. During an interview Thursday with Fox Business Network, Cook said unpredictable occasions are an aspect of modern business and said that Apple's operations group has previously faced with earthquakes, tsunamis, and other challenges.

ALSO READ: Should We Believe Apple CEO Tim Cook Saying Coronavirus is 'Getting Under Control,'? Here's What Experts Have To Say

Clean break with China 'impossible'

Apple has recently commenced experimenting with small production operations out of China. These attempts and its plans to assemble wireless earbuds in Vietnam, iPhones in India, and Macbook Pro computers in the United States, have laid bare some of the difficulties.

However, a clean break with China is impossible. Apple is predicated on a workforce of more than three million oblique employees in China. Its top manufacturer, Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, hires hundreds of seasonal employees in China. Dan Panzica, a former Foxconn executive, told WSJ that a lot of whom are skilled in manually inserting tiny screws and skinny printed circuit boards at some point in the iPhone assembly procedure. Tens of thousands of experienced manufacturing engineers oversee the manner.

Panzica pointed out that Apple won't be able to look for mega-factories anywhere else apart from China. "You're going to have to break them up," he added.

Factories are coming again online

Like many consumer goods companies, Apple was hardly hit by the coronavirus outbreak in China. Thanks to its heavy reliance on the country's manufacturing abilities to drive its supply chain and its significant consumer base in the country.

Foxconn, which produces the majority of Apple's iPhones in China, was forced to temporarily close its factories amid the Chinese government's order to extend the Lunar New Year in February and mass quarantining of millions inside the Wuhan place.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told Fox Business in an interview that the company's manufacturing companions are continuing to ramp up their production abilities to help Apple build out its inventory of gadgets.

China is likewise Apple's third-largest revenue generator with the aid of place behind Europe and the U.S., incomes the enterprise $13.58 billion of its total $91.81 billion sales in Q1 2020. During the peak of the outbreak, the company closed its shops throughout mainland China, appreciably limiting income within the country.

As a result, on Feb. 17, Apple despatched a letter to investors saying the employer would omit its Q2 revenue steering, and chose not to set a new guidance range. Cook also hasn't said whether he believes the damage to Apple's backside line will be constrained to Q2, or if it'll bleed into Q3.

ALSO READ: Ming-Chi Kuo Says Coronavirus May Negatively Affect Apple's Q1 Shipping Forecast

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A man has been arrested for lighting a string of firecrackers that was dozens of meters long at a wedding party in Hanoi.

Police in Soc Son District, Hanoi confirmed on Wednesday that they had apprehended and initiated legal procedures against Tran Van Khang, 41, for his alleged role in the incident.

Officers added they are hunting for another suspect in the northern province of Lao Cai to verify the origin of the firecrackers.

The violation was acknowledged by police officers after a video clip of Khang lighting a long string of firecrackers at a local wedding party surfaced on social media on Monday.

Video: Facebook Nguyen Van Son Trung

The firecrackers, a stream of explosives measuring dozens of meters long, were placed on the sidewalk in front of the house where the wedding took place.

N., the owner of the house, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he had organized the wedding party for his son.

N. asserted that his family was not involved in the incident, explaining that some of the guests had brought the firecrackers to the party.

Tran Van Khang is currently being held at a police station in Soc Son District, Hanoi, March 4, 2020. Photo: Ha Linh / Tuoi Tre

The chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, Nguyen Duc Chung, has also ordered competent authorities to promptly probe the case and impose suitable punishments on those responsible.

According to Vietnamese law, lighting firecrackers is punishable by a fine of VND1-2 million (US$43-86), while those who illegally produce, possess, and trade the explosives can be fined up to VND10 million ($430).

People who light firecrackers can also be criminally charged, depending on the severity of the offense.

Smoke from the firecrackers. Photo: Facebook Nguyen Van Son Trung

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The specter of Americans voting for an open socialist is frightening. We're way past 1972, when Americans rejected a hard-left candidate. Since then, leftists acquired a stranglehold on education, creating a generation of young people who think socialism is cool. Bernie could have won.

Bernie's probable departure shouldn't cause us to ignore that Joe Biden is a terrible candidate. He's usually wrong, famously dishonest, almost as hard-left now in his policies as Bernie himself, corrupt, and showing signs of severe mental degradation.

(Regarding the incipient senility, Dorothy Parker's cruel question when the famously taciturn Calvin Coolidge died comes to mind: "How can they tell?" The same can be said of Joe's mental decay.)

With almost 50 years in office, there's a laundry list of "awfuls" attached to Biden: Borking the esteemed Robert Bork, plagiarism, leading the hi-tech lynching against Clarence Thomas, crafting the 1994 crime law that warehoused generations of black men in American prisons, leading the intemperate pullout from Iraq that led to ISIS, and helping credit card companies ride roughshod over Americans all spring to mind.

Kyle Smith has an excellent run-down of some other painful and dirty Biden moments:

Even at his best, Biden was notorious for being loopy, digressive, and sloppy, and he's long past his best. Clarence Thomas noted of Biden's line of questioning during his Senate confirmation hearings, "You have to sit there and look attentively at people [who] you know have no idea what they are talking about." His bizarre 2012 debate with Paul Ryan consisted of bursts of strangely out-of-context laughter and boorish interruptions. His own aides panic every time he goes off-script, to such a degree that David Axelrod once quipped that Biden was being kept in a "candidate-protection program." When he starts riffing, he is given to making false claims such as that he was arrested trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison. His answer to all questions in debate is a subject, a verb, and Obama. Moreover, Biden looks moderate only in the context of the insanity that is gripping the Democratic Party, only by comparison to wackadoodles such as Warren and Sanders. He has so far escaped scrutiny for the implications of his policy proposals, such as a "public option" for health insurance that would inevitably destroy the private insurance market. He was specifically asked whether this could happen by the New York Times and replied, "Bingo. . . . Sure they would." He blithely said that when employer-based private health insurance dies out, people could simply go on "the Biden plan." His health-care policy is just a slo-mo version of Sanders's and Warren's policy. He has called for massive tax hikes, offered public health care for illegal immigrants, said such immigrants should not be deported if they're convicted of drunk driving, and endorsed the $93 trillion boondoggle known as the Green New Deal.

Tucker Carlson documents that Joe is willing to prostitute himself to Democrat Party extremists if it means finally winning the White House:

And then there's Biden's corruption. No, he didn't enrich himself personally, but he used his political connections to set up crooked deals that sent millions of dollars to his family members. Had Trump done that, he would have been kicked out of office to universal approval.

Lastly, even honest left-of-center journalists are noting that, of late, Biden isn't just being stupid; he's decompensating:

If journalists keep referring to Biden's cognition failures as "gaffes" they are deceiving the public. His brain is deteriorating and it's obvious to anyone paying attention. Not surprising for a 77-year-old man, and not a comfortable subject. But it's the truth: stop obfuscating  Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 4, 2020

Glenn Reynolds made an astute comment about Joe's appearance, which is familiar to all of us who have seen our loved ones fade away:

I've also noticed a change in the way he looks. Just a few months ago I was thinking he looked pretty good for a guy his age. Lately I've noticed his head is developing that skull-like look you see in the old and the sick.

In addition to talking about Biden's willingness to sell himself to the highest leftist bidder, Tucker Carlson has shown a short montage with just a few of Biden's most recent departures from reality (beginning at 1:30):

The Democrats know exactly how bad Biden is. That means we need to keep a close eye on his running mate, because there's a decent chance that, if the Democrat establishment gets Biden into office, it will then use his declining mental state as a way to get him out of office (the 25th Amendment), leaving his veep as the new (and, for Democrats, real) president.
Anthony Jose Archibeque-Martinez, 23, and Elizabeth Archibeque-Martinez, 26: Coconino County Jail

An Arizona mother, father and grandmother were charged with murder and child abuse after confessing to keeping a six-year-old in a closet with his brother for stealing food. The child died.

Anthony Jose Archibeque-Martinez, 23, Elizabeth Archibeque-Martinez, 26, and Ann Marie Martinez, 50, were each charged with one count of first degree felony homicide and two counts each of child abuse. They are currently being held at the Coconino County Jail.

Fox10 Phoenix reported that the boy who died and his seven-year-old brother would be kept in a closet 16 hours daily for a month, during which time they were denied food. The boys survived by stealing food at night while their parents slept.

The boys would be shut into the closet around 8pm and would not be allowed out until noon the following day. They were given oatmeal at noon and a cheese sandwich four hours later, but were given nothing after 4pm.

Police became aware of the children when they received a call regarding an unresponsive child at the location. Responding officers tried to revive the child but were unsuccessful.

The seven-year-old is recovering in the hospital at the Flagstaff Medical Center. He is in the care of the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

The DCS took custody of two other children found in the home, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl.

Darren DaRonco, a spokesman for the DCS, said the department mourns the tragic loss of this innocent life, and confirmed that the children would receive care to help them recover.

The six-year-olds cause of death is still being investigated.

Leslie Lerma, who lives in the neighbourhood where the death occurred, said she was disturbed by the situation.

That little boy suffered. Im not going to sleep well tonight, she said.
After a not-so-Super Tuesday, Michael Bloomberg is out of the presidential nomination contest. But the power of his $60 billion fortune is staying in. Bloomberg on Wednesday switched from being a candidate to being a powerful backer of former Vice President Joe Biden, who dominated March 3 Super Tuesday voting in the race to challenge President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

Bloomberg, the 78-year-old former mayor of New York and one of America's richest people, performed poorly at Tuesday's polls, winning only the U.S. territory of American Samoa despite spending more than $500 million in an unprecedented ad blitz. In announcing he was ending his presidential run, he also endorsed Biden, who like Bloomberg is a moderate and is now the leading contender to take on the self-described democratic socialist, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, for the Democratic Party nomination.

"I will work to make him the next president of the United States," Bloomberg said of Biden in a statement. It was not immediately clear how Bloomberg would support Biden. When asked what the support will look like, an official in Bloomberg's former campaign pointed to his past pledge to keep campaign infrastructure in place through November to help Democrats defeat Trump.

Bloomberg addressed a crowd of supporters in New York, thanking his staff for their efforts but providing no details on how he would spend his money. Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said it wasn't clear how Biden's campaign will work with Bloomberg. "All of those details are still to be worked out," she said on a call with reporters.

Bloomberg had used advertising as part of his novel electoral strategy, in which he skipped the four early-voting states and instead focused on the 14-state Super Tuesday contest. His ad campaign on Facebook, costing him about $63 million, appeared to go dark on Wednesday. No ads were listed as active on the social media platform's political ad library

AVALANCHE OF CASH

Since entering the race on Nov. 24, Bloomberg spent freely from the fortune he built on his eponymous financial information company on an ad campaign that vaulted him into the top tier of the Democratic field. He showed what an avalanche of cash could and could not do.

After Bloomberg blanketed the airwaves with promises that he could defeat the Republican Trump in November, his support among Democrats and independents in public opinion polls rose to around 15% from about 5% when he entered. He hired thousands of staff and mounted a vigorous national tour focused on the 14 states that voted on Super Tuesday.

But he failed to win much more than 15% of the vote in any state on Tuesday. With counting still under way, Bloomberg's vote tallies were enough to pick up some delegates to the party's July convention - in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Bloomberg's campaign was dogged from the start by criticism over his past support of policies seen as racially discriminatory, including stop-and-frisk policing, which ensnared a disproportionate number of African-Americans and Latinos, as well as past sexist remarks. Bloomberg apologised for stop-and-frisk a few days before he announced his candidacy.

His Democratic rivals attacked him in his first presidential debate on Feb. 19 in Nevada. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren lambasted him for having made crude jokes about women in years past and Sanders accused him of trying to buy the election. Outside his rallies - which were often smaller than those of his rivals - protesters regularly waved signs echoing Sanders' claim. Inside them, Bloomberg detractors and enthusiasts alike ate from tables stocked with free food. Bloomberg was assailed for his spending despite his pledge to use his personal fortune to support the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever it was.

"Trump would eat 'em up," he told CBS's "This Morning" on Dec. 6. He increasingly pitched himself as the centrist alternative to Sanders. In the Feb. 19 debate, he described Sanders' policies as "communism." Bloomberg's political fortunes initially rose after Biden, who led in public opinion polls during much of 2019, performed poorly in the first three nomination contests: Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Bloomberg did not compete in those races, nor in the fourth contest in South Carolina, saying his late entry made it impossible to assemble a competitive election staff. Bloomberg heavily criticized Trump, and the two New York billionaires traded insults, with Trump mocking Bloomberg's short stature on Twitter, nicknaming him "mini-Mike." Bloomberg earned his estimated $60 billion fortune by founding Bloomberg LP, a leading purveyor of financial information for Wall Street firms.

After spending much of his life as a Democrat, he switched to the Republican party in 2001 to run for mayor of New York. He became an independent in 2007, and switched back to the Democratic Party in 2018. His past as a Republican also dogged him during his presidential run. Warren attacked Bloomberg at the Democrats' Feb. 25 debate for giving money in 2012 to support the election campaign of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican and a key ally of Trump.

Also read: India 'bigger problem' than China on fighting climate change: Mike Bloomberg

Also read: Coronavirus claims 2 lives in US, authorities step up testing for virus
Learning in classical dance is conceptualised more as training than an education. A student is taught to effectively embody an aesthetic through physical training, with little reflection on what it means to do so historically, socially or politically.

With an interest in generating accessible writings that makes the connection between the larger social and political landscape of the country and its performing arts more evident, this monthly column is an attempt to un-bracket the dance discourse from its contained category of Arts for Art's sake. Read more from the series here.

***

The business of teaching is the lifeline of the classical dance industry, indispensable yet underrated. For dancers, it functions both as a mode of propagation (of the teachers style/brand of dancing) and a means of income. In a field where income is unregulated, class fees generate regular earnings for many dancers. Given that the majority of classical dancers are women, it opens up an option of financial independence, bringing a much required relief from dependence on familial wealth.

Matangi Prasan, a Bharatanatyam dancer and dance teacher based out of Bengaluru, says that she is able to treat her class fee as her salary, increasing it marginally on a regular basis. She is able to pay her rent and cover her basic expenses with the fee she generates through teaching.

For Poornima Kartik, an Odissi dance teacher and a dancer who runs classes in Bengaluru, teaching becomes important as a means of sharing all that she has learnt. The torso movements which I learnt as a part of my training, are slowly disappearing from the Odissi we now see. I want to make sure that this doesnt disappear.

Despite being indispensable to the sustenance of the industry, teaching continues to be falsely perceived as secondary to performance. It attracts far lesser attention, debate and discussion than performance. Consequently, the current discourse on pedagogy has not evolved much beyond the tautological debates around the relevance of Guru-Shishya parampara, arangetrams and state examinations. This lack of critical discourse in pedagogy is reflected in the stagnation of a learning trajectory standardised decades ago. A typical road-map for a student of classical dance consists of learning basic steps followed by a repertoire of items (arranged in the order of their difficulty level) and an arangetram. Mimesis without active inquiry continues to be the primary pedagogical tool. This formulaic route does not equip the student with many crucial tools required for living the life of a dancer: choreography, learning to teach, research, drawing on material to make performances, responding to the context.

Then what does one learn while training in classical dance? Learning in this field is conceptualised more as training, than an education. A student is taught to effectively embody an aesthetic through physical training but with little reflection on what it means to do so historically, socially or politically. The training remains severely cut-off from other art-forms and disciplines, with any intervention being seen as dilution rather than dialogue. In a recent interview with this writer, historian Davesh Soneji emphasised the need for classical dancers to read outside of the field of dance itself and try to connect with theories of the state, caste, gender, race, Orientalism, religious majoritarianism and the politics of Hindu nationalism.

The transfer of knowledge from teacher to student also happens in a context, outside of institutional spaces, where the teacher assumes an exalted position as a figure of authority. Speaking of classical dance spaces in Canada, Vidya Natarajan says The dance class tends to be the place of unquestioning respect  despite much cajoling, I have not been able to get my 20-something students to call me anything other than auntie, which at one stroke signals respect and assimilates the dance instructor into the world of home and family, rather than the world of education. Since most dance teachers typically occupy the entire space of inquiry, there is no room for independent research; even history is entirely mediated by the teacher.

Paulo Freire, one of the leading advocates of critical education argues against what he calls a banking model of education, where the student is assumed to be an empty vessel who can be filled with knowledge. True education for him, can occur only when we can reimagine the student as a co-creator of knowledge. How can classical dancers reimagine a teacher-student relationship where a student is not an empty recipient of tradition but a participating agent in it?

Education is essentially an experience where a student becomes cognisant of her agency and is empowered to exercise it in the form of dissent, supporting oneself and others, recognising the needs and problems of the field, producing critical and relevant nuggets of knowledge. Classical dance education side-steps these responsibilities by either outsourcing them to other institutions or rejecting them: financial empowerment is outsourced to marriage or a day job and intellectual empowerment is outsourced to mainstream education.

A group of dancers have recently begun a Masters programme in Dance Practice at Ambedkar University in Delhi that addresses some of these concerns, and gives us an insight into what a critical education in dance in the Indian context might look like. Our next column will be a conversation with some of the dance-educators who are involved in designing, running as well as facilitating this course.
New Delhi, March 5 : The lawyers' organisations plan to organise a Supreme Court to Parliament march at 3 p.m. on Friday in protest against the recent riots in northeast Delhi.

Mehmood Pracha, who has been at the forefront of the CAA protests and one of the organisers of the march, told IANS, "The march of lawyers, retired judges and law students is being organised to save the Constitution and democracy of India and to demand immediate resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah for his acts of omission and commission that led to the riots".

Meanwhile, with the death of one more person reported at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital on Thursday, the riot toll increased to 52. As many as 44 deaths - 43 men and 1 woman - have been reported from the GTB Hospital, three from the LNJP Hospital and five from RML Hospital.

GTB Hospital's Medical Director Sunil Kumar said, most deceased were in the 20-40 age group, and added, 298 patients had been treated at the hospital.
United Airlines Holdings plans to trim flights, freeze hiring and halt merit pay raises as it grapples with a swift drop in travel demand because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The domestic schedule will be pared 10% in April and international flying will be chopped 20%, United said in a message to employees. Similar reductions will probably be necessary for May, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said Wednesday in the memo.

United has also imposed a hiring freeze through June 30 and deferred merit-based salary increases for management until July 1 in an effort to prepare the company financially for a steep downturn in business. The Chicago-based carrier will also offer employees voluntary unpaid leaves of absence.

Stephanie Kitts, spokeswoman for the Albuquerque International Sunport, said on Thursday morning she hadnt heard whether the flight reductions would impact routes to and from Albuquerque. United offers direct flights from Albuquerque to Denver, Houston, San Francisco and Chicago.

The dramatic moves are a new warning sign as airlines worldwide grapple with an abrupt decline in passengers while governments rush to contain the virus spread. United is joining carriers from Asia to Europe that have slashed schedules and grounded aircraft amid falling demand and the cancellation of large trade shows and other events.

We certainly hope that these latest measures are enough, but the dynamic nature of this outbreak requires us to be nimble and flexible moving forward, Munoz and Kirby said.

Along with United, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have temporarily halted flights to China, where the virus originated. But American and Delta havent adopted cost-control measures as significant as those unveiled by Munoz and Kirby.

In the U.S., the cuts will come largely from frequency reductions on most routes, but United will also suspend some service to cities that it serves from multiple hubs. The airline is also changing aircraft sizes on certain routes to adjust for the schedule reductions.

Last month, United withdrew its 2020 profit forecast, citing the financial impact of the virus outbreak and resulting uncertainty.

Journal reporter Stephen Hamway contributed to this report.
ORLANDO, Fla., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SOC Telemed (SOC), the leader in acute care telemedicine, today announced the decision move to a virtual presence for the HIMSS 2020 Global Health Conference & Exhibition, to be held March 9-13 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The company brings a deep understanding of the efficacy of the virtual visit model, conducting more than 1,000 virtual urgent and emergent neurology, psychiatry and critical care consults every day. SOC plans to leverage the same approach for key meetings with HIMSS attendees, customers and partners while still protecting the health and well-being of its employees.

Harnessing the power of virtual visits, the company will still offer an online HIMSS experience for would-be attendees trying to understand how to effectively stand up a specialist telemedicine program leveraging their own physicians, SOC's specialists or a hybrid of the two. Meetings can be re-booked and will be hosted virtually by the company's representatives.

Hammad Shah, CEO for SOC Telemed stated "Given the national concerns regarding COVID-19, and out of an abundance of precaution, we made the decision to make our HIMSS 2020 presence entirely virtual." He continues, "At this time it's simply the right thing to do. Given the nature of our business, we already see the power of virtual consults every day and we know that we can still connect with our customers and partners while protecting everyone's health."

The company's chief medical officer, Dr. Jason Hallock is also closely monitoring the evolution of COVID-19 and its impact on health systems nationwide. "Telemedicine will play a vital role in the infection control strategy implemented by hospitals and healthcare systems. SOC Telemed created an internal COVID-19 command team to raise awareness for core clients and we are prepared for any possible surge in demand for consultations that may arise."

While SOC has more than enough physician capacity, the company is also enacting a protocol (RACER) that accelerates the implementation of an acute telemedicine program making sure hospitals have the support needed to streamline the process. SOC Telemed partners with healthcare organizations to bring clinicians and patients together using innovative technologies to improve clinical care and patient outcomes in a measurable way. SOC brings the highest quality of care to the patient when and where it is needed the most. That will continue to be the case even in the face of the novel coronavirus.

About SOC Telemed

SOC Telemed (SOC) is the largest national provider of telemedicine technology and solutions to hospitals, health systems, post-acute providers, physician networks, and value-based care organizations. Built on proven and scalable infrastructure as an enterprise-wide solution, SOC's technology platform, Telemed IQ rapidly deploys and seamlessly optimizes telemedicine programs across the continuum of care. SOC provides a supportive and dedicated partner presence, virtually delivering patient care through teleNeurology, telePsychiatry, and teleICU as well as enabling healthcare organizations to build sustainable telemedicine programs in any clinical specialty. SOC enables organizations to enrich their care models and touch more lives by supplying healthcare teams with industry-leading solutions that drive improved clinical care, patient outcomes, and organizational health. The company was the first provider of acute clinical telemedicine services to earn The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval and has maintained that accreditation every year since inception. For more information, visit www.soctelemed.com.

Media Contact:

Lauren Shankman

Trevelino/Keller

(404) 214.0722 Ext. 121

[email protected]

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The fight for the Democratic presidential nomination is now a two-man race. On Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders won nearly all the delegates at stake in 15 states and territories. On Wednesday, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropped out. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, far behind in the delegate count, is conferring with advisers to assess the path forward. Its been a crazy week, so nothing is certain, but Biden has the upper hand. He didnt just win most of Tuesdays primaries and pull ahead in the delegate count. He also has three underlying factors working in his favor, as revealed in returns and exit polls.

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First, Super Tuesday wasnt a single day of voting. It was decided in two stages. Many candidates who have since dropped out competed in the first stage, in which a lot of voters made up their mindsand in many cases submitted early ballotsmonths or weeks ago. Then, after South Carolina voted on Saturday, there was a second stage: The race narrowed to Biden, Sanders, Warren, and Bloomberg, and the remaining voters chose among those candidates. Sanders did well in the first stage, but Biden crushed him in the second. And because the second stage more closely resembles the field that remains, its a warning of whats ahead.

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Sanders won four of the 15 primaries: California, Colorado, Utah, and his home state of Vermont. But in every state where voters were asked when they had decided on a candidateincluding the states Sanders wonBiden beat him among people who made up their minds in the last few days. In several states, late-deciding voters represented about half the electorate. In this second-stage race, Biden beat Sanders by 34 percentage points in Minnesota, 30 in Maine, 29 in Texas, and 23 in Massachusetts. It was a blowout.

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Late deciders, by definition, are less likely to be committed to a candidate and more likely to be influenced by momentum and electability. But on a day when a dozen primaries were exit-polled, youd expect Sanders to win late deciders in at least one state. Even in Vermont, he narrowly lost them, 35 percent to 32 percent. And thats the only place where he came within single digits of Biden.

Theres no guarantee that Bloombergs voters will move to Biden. But the most recent data on this question imply that most of them will.

Second, in all but two the 15 primaries, the combined vote for Biden and Bloombergwho had positioned himself as the anti-socialist in the Democratic fieldwas bigger than the vote for Sanders. That means Biden has an extra reservoir of votes he can exploit in the contests ahead. In Californias incomplete returns, Biden and Bloomberg collectively outpolled Sanders by 5 percentage points. In Colorado, they outpolled him by 8 points. In Utah, they were almost dead even. Only in Vermont did Sanders hold a clear lead.

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Theres no guarantee that Bloombergs voters will move to Biden. But the most recent data on this question, released by SurveyUSA, imply that most of them will. When Bloombergs voters were asked to name their second choice, 44 percent picked Biden. Another 19 percent picked Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar, who have since endorsed Biden. Only 25 percent picked Sanders. And that was before Bloomberg, on Wednesday, urged his supporters to switch to Biden.

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Some pundits on the left think that if Warren were to drop out, her supporters would move to Sanders. But polls suggest that in reality, the result would be a wash. In the SurveyUSA sample, 45 percent of Warrens supporters picked Sanders as their second choice. Another 45 percent picked Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, or Bloomberg. The subsample for these calculations was small, but the results match findings from other surveys. If Warrens voters split evenly between Sanders and Biden, while Bloombergs voters break toward Biden, Sanders is in trouble.

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Third, Tuesdays exit polls indicate that Biden is closer than Sanders, ideologically, to the center of the Democratic primary electorate. Im not talking here about centrism or the party leadership. Im talking about everyone whos participating in Democratic primaries, including the new voters Sanders has attracted.

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In Iowa and New Hampshire, the numbers were ambiguous. By some measures, most people who participated in those Democratic contests were liberal; by other measures, they were moderate. But in the Super Tuesday exit polls, one question elegantly captured the difference between Biden and Sanders. It asked whether the next president should return to Barack Obamas policies, change to more liberal policies, or change to more conservative policies. Biden has positioned himself as the Obama candidate. Sanders has positioned himself as the champion of a more progressive agenda.

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In Vermont, 51 percent of voters chose more liberal policies. But in the other 11 states where this question was asked, the more liberal policies camp was outnumbered by voters who preferred Obamas policies or more conservative policies. In California, Minnesota, and Massachusetts, most voters favored Obamas policies or a more conservative agenda. In Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Alabama, the majority for Obamas policies or for more conservative policies was overwhelming.

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In every state, Sanders won the bloc of voters who wanted more liberal policies, but Biden won the other two blocs. When you combine that advantage with the additional pro-Obama or more conservative voters who went for Bloomberg, Buttigieg, or Klobuchar, Bidens leverage looks even stronger. Its no wonder that at every rally in the past week, he has praised Obama and called himself an Obama-Biden Democrat.

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Not everything in the exit polls looks bad for Sanders. Socialism polled fairly well in the five states where it was tested. Pluralities favored it in Tennessee and North Carolina, and majorities favored it in California, Texas, and Maine. In 11 states, majorities supported replacing all private health insurance with a single government plan for everyone. In the other state where that question was asked, Massachusetts, a plurality supported it. But Bidens alternative, a public option, wasnt tested in these polls, so its hard to know how that fight would shake out. Its worth noting that Sanders, while raising other differences with Biden at recent rallies, has chosen not to raise this one.

Sanders is close in the delegate count. He has lots of money, an enthusiastic base, and high favorability ratings. Only Biden still stands in his way, and Biden has had trouble speaking coherently and exciting people. But the underlying composition of the Democratic electorate favors the former vice president. Its his race to lose.
A week after "Super Tuesday," residents of Midland County will have a chance to cast the first vote for their vision of the country's future.

The presidential primary election will take place in Michigan on Tuesday. Voters can check their polling location by searching for their jurisdiction and precinct at the Michigan Voter Information Center's (MVIC) website at mvic.sos.state.mi.us.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. When voters arrive at the polls, they will have to selected either a Democratic ballot or a Republican ballot, unless they are in one of the few jurisdictions that have a school millage proposal on their ballot, in which case they can request the proposal ballot, said Midland County Clerk Ann Manary.

Voters in Beaverton, Clare, Farwell, Gladwin and Harrison school districts will be voting on a millage proposal from Mid Michigan College, which is requesting an additional .6268 mills. If the proposal passes, it would raise Mid's total millage rate to 1.85 mills for the next 10 years.

Mid taxpayers currently pay 1.2232 mills, which is the second lowest college millage in the state.

Though the Feb. 24 deadline to register online to vote has already passed, prospective voters can still register in person with their city or township clerk through March 9. Registrants must validate their residency, by bringing a driver's license or ID card, current utility bill, paycheck or another government document. You can check to see if and where you are registered to vote on the MVIC website.

Voters have until 4 p.m. Saturday, March 7, to request an absentee ballot, but they must do so in person, Manary said. Absentee ballots must be turned in by 8 p.m. Tuesday, which is the close of polls on election day.

As of Tuesday, the City of Midland has issued 2,111 absentee ballots, with more being requested ever minute, said Clerk Erica Armstrong.

To request an absentee ballot, voters have to submit it in writing to their city or township clerk. Voters can find their local clerk's name and office location on the MVIC website.

Prospective voters can find information about local polling locations, view a sample ballot for their ward and precinct, and check their voting status on the Michigan Secretary of State website at michigan.gov/sos.

Daily News Writer Ashley Schafer contributed to this report.
EDITORS NOTE: On March 10, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts its first semi-annual, daylong industry conference, featuring top leaders in the medical marijuana, hemp and legal cannabis industries. Tickets are still available.

Three new dispensaries have opened and the number of registered patients has more than tripled since Gov. Phil Murphy was sworn-into office in January 2018.

Yet despite the steady growth in New Jerseys medicinal marijuana program, breaking into the competitive cannabis industry remains a challenge for minorities and women. A group of state and national experts will debate the barriers that remain and rally their peers to get more involved in the March 10 New Jersey Cannabis Insiders conference.

Foremost on aspiring entrepreneurs minds is  and has always been  access to capital, said Jessica F. Gonzalez, an attorney at Bressler Amery & Ross and outside general counsel for Minorities for Medical Marijuana.

Jessica F. Gonzalez

Access to capital is a major hurdle for every company involved in the cannabis industry but especially so for minorities and women entrepreneurs, said Gonzalez, a panelist. Given that access to traditional methods of obtaining capital, such as bank loans, are not feasible, companies must look to private investors for funds.

Alongside capital, access to human capital is imperative because an applicant needs to be build a strong team comprised of experienced professionals to truly stand out in such a hyper competitive state such as New Jersey, Gonzalez added. Access to affordable service providers including lawyers, accountants, lobbyists and consultants is also an issue.

Forming partnerships with experienced professionals is key because the Health Department has had two requests for applications with very short lead-up times  four weeks and about six weeks, she noted.

If folks are seriously considering applying for a state cannabis license for the next round (whenever that should be), then they should start preparing now as it take a few months to get all the necessary requirementsfrom financing to establishing a team, it takes a lot longer than people might realize. Such a heavy lift should not be taken lightly.

Leo Bridgewater

Leo Bridgewater, a panelist who is the national director for veterans outreach for Minorities for Medical Marijuana, said its critical that passionate newcomers get involved with all aspects of the cannabis issue  especially the ballot question to legalize marijuana in the Nov. 3 election in New Jersey.

At a time when the medicinal program is growing and the legal market could be just a year or two away, Bridgewater said with the exception of the governor, he is dismayed by the number of Flintstones he sees shaping the discussion when we need people who represent the future, or the Jetsons to lead the way.

There are two kinds of people in government: The Flintstones and the Jetsons. We are asking a bunch of Flintstones to make the rules to a Jetsons crowd. And they transcend age, race and gender. There are some young Flintstones out there, said Bridgewater, who is also the national director of EdifyPAC, and the co-founder of Leaf Launch.

Some people still talk about it as a gateway drug, he added.

Bridgewater said state lawmakers and policy makers should be having a conversation of decriminalizing marijuana before the election. He would also support lobbying the Murphy administration and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to re-schedule marijuana so in New Jersey, at least, it is not a Schedule 1 substance.

That would signal our progressiveness and our leadership in the country, Bridgewater said.

Gonzalez agreed this is a critical time in the history of cannabis prohibition. She wants to encourage everyone who cares about the issue to get involved.

Supporters of legalization encourage anyone aligned with the mission to legalize adult use cannabis to speak to anyone they can about the benefits of legalization. From family members to friends to community groups to legislators, it is imperative that New Jersey advocates rally together to push this initiative through, she said.

The opposition is loud and strong and despite 62% of New Jersey residents being in favor of legalization, it is not the time to sit back and wait for it to happen. We have a few months to gather a collective voice and move forward with legalization so I urge everyone to do their part and speak up.

Other panelists include Roz McCarthy, founder/CEO of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and Imani Dawson, vice president and managing partner of MJM Strategy, a minority-led strategic consulting group for the cannabis industry.

A version of story first appeared in NJ Cannabis Insider.

NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based newsletter produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers.

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The Centre has asked Delhi and its neighbouring Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to expedite the implementation of a Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) for management of air pollution in the national capital and NCR.

The ministry had in 2018 introduced the CAP to combat air pollution while focusing on the necessity of a strict parking policy in Delhi-NCR and on upgrade of public transport system.

According to sources, the ministry recently held a meeting with Delhi and its neighbouring states, and their departments regarding the status of implementation of the CAP.

During the meeting, the agencies concerned were requested to share their updated implementation plans and to expedite the execution of those in a time-bound manner, they said.

Under the Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP), agencies concerned have to ensure strict compliance of shift to BS VI emission standards, expand CNG network across the national capital region, introduction of battery-operated vehicles and installation of vapour recovery systems.

"A meeting was convened under the chairmanship of the secretary to review the progress in implementing the decisions taken at high-level task force meetings as well as the action points of CAP for Delhi and NCR regarding management of air pollution," a ministry source said.

Sources said senior officials of the ministries and departments concerned as well as governments of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi participated in the meeting.

They said the progress with regard to actions for the abatement and control of air pollution from various sources like construction and demolition activities, road and soil dust, vehicular emissions, industrial emissions etcetera were discussed.

"The agencies concerned were requested to share their updated implementation plans and to expedite the implementation in a time-bound manner," the sources said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The test reports of 68 people who had come in contact with the Italian couple, who tested positive for the new coronavirus earlier this week, have come out negative, a senior health department official said here on Thursday.

Test results of eight more people are awaited, the official said.

As many as 229 people were found to have come in contact with the Italian tourists who visited Jaipur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur.

Of them, samples were collected from 76 people.

"Sixty-eight have tested negative and test reports of eight samples are yet to come," said Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh.

He said 247 samples have been collected in the state so far and 239 samples have been tested. Barring the Italian couple, the test reports of all others (except 8 which are under process) are negative, he added.

The Italian couple are admitted to an isolation ward in SMS Hospital in Jaipur.

While the 69-year-old man tested positive for the virus on Monday, his wife tested positive the next day.

Singh said the situation was reviewed with health department officials on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its OK to be tripped up on a Thursday. I will freely admit that I was, at first. A word to the wise: You do not need the rebus key for this puzzle. I thought this had a MAD rebus element to it, which I would have needed the key for, but that worked for only the first theme entry at 1A/1D.

When I moved on, I discovered that the MAD rebus didnt work anywhere else, so I cleared the puzzle and started all over again. Thats right; I am not above tearing up my work and going back to the solving board. Its all in the name of conquering the puzzle, and it will be worth it.

The clues at 1A and 1D are Mugged for the camera, maybe and Much-painted religious figure. The answers should be MADE FACES and MADONNA, but we have room to write only DEFACES and DONNA. You can see why I thought that a MAD rebus might work.

In the rest of the puzzle, the missing MAS dont work both Across and Down, but thats more than fine. Youll be too busy trying to remember that its not a rebus and marveling at the fact that the words you are left with are legitimate and look perfectly innocent sitting there in those slots.
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The women in the country report feeling deflated as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announced she would be dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, and this is something that both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden need to take into account as they move forward.

Warren acknowledged that this feeling among women and little girls is one of the hardest parts of leaving the race:

Warren says one of the hardest parts of leaving the race is all those little girls and women who are going to have to wait four more years for a female president. pic.twitter.com/XUSwIEkTf2  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 5, 2020

Sanders supporters assume right now that Warren will endorse the Vermont Senator. Polling in February found that 40% of Warrens supporters picked Sanders as their second-choice candidate. Meanwhile, 28% picked centrists as their second pick. That poll was taken before the winnowing of the field, but if Sanders expects to get the women who were supporters Warren, hes going to need to address the problems he has with women, including his supporters issues.

From accusations of sexism and harassment within his campaign to consistent issues with Bernie Bros attacking women online to having his old writings on fantasies of women being abused flagged, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders is being vetted in 2020 in a way he wasnt in 2016, and much of it stems around women.

No, Im not suggesting Bernie Sanders is a Trump or even a Bloomberg. The accusations against his campaign have been of other people mistreating women and it being dismissed, not of Bernie himself doing it. But dismissal.

Dismissal is what happened to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a wound in the collective psyche of so many women in our country that will not heal until women are respected as important, autonomous beings with the same rights and freedoms as men, including the right to have their reputation matter. That wound changed the women in this country for a generation. It was the last straw, after Trump the predator being elected by our fellow citizens in an unspeakable betrayal.

That wound is even larger today, the day that the last viable Democratic women dropped out of the presidential primary, four years after the most qualified candidate in modern history lost an election to a self-confessed sexual predator.

To get the woman vote, a candidate needs to understand this rawness and let women know he or she is on their side, will respect them, will listen to them, will champion their rights. But Sanders is currently dismissing the Democratic votes for Biden as establishment Democrats. Women are as far from the establishment as one can be in this country. The ERA has yet to be ratified.

So the attacks on Elizabeth Warren, the campaign accusations, the Bernie Bro issues and old writings, in which he writes, A child has an old bitch of a teacher (and there are many of them), look like an over-arching narrative instead of one-offs. A story in which Bernie Sanders has a problem with women.

The narrative goes way back. In a 1972 article written for the Vermont Freeman when he was 30, Sanders wrote, in what his campaign explained was an attempt to discuss cultural gender roles, satire, and fiction:

A man goes home and masturbates his typical fantasy. A woman on her knees, a woman tied up, a woman abused.

A woman enjoys intercourse with her man  as she fantasizes being raped by 3 men simultaneously.

The man and woman get dressed up on Sunday  and go to Church, or maybe to their revolutionary political meeting.

Have you ever looked at the Stag, Man, Hero, Tough magazines on the shelf of your local bookstore? Do you know why the newspaper with the articles like Girl 12 raped by 14 men sell so well? To what in us are they appealing?

Sanders has previously addressed the article as a piece of fiction, likening it to Fifty Shades of Grey. His 2016 campaign spokesman Michael Briggs wrote it was a bad attempt at dark satire, and in no way reflects his views or record on women, noting that bringing the essay was an attempt to distract voters from real issues.

The problem *now* with that 2015 dismissal is that 2020 is very different from 2016. The country is in the beginning of an awakening about how women are routinely sexually harassed and assaulted. Attitudes toward women are one of the real issues currently facing American women.

Due to misogyny and sexism, our medical right to freedom over our own bodies stands threatened and we have two men on the Supreme Court who actively hate womens freedom, not to mention a President who stands credibly accused of rape and sexual misconduct by at least 22 women and a Vice President who cant be alone with a woman because of his primitive beliefs about us.

The Sanders campaign noted at the time that these articles were written 40 years ago and much has changed. Back then, for instance, Sanders believed that cancer can be caused by lack of sexual adjustment.

Sanders recently did the right thing in firing a campaign field organizer who used his private twitter account to harass other candidates, including mocking Elizabeth Warren over her looks. But then the journalist who wrote that story was harassed and doxxed.

Accusations of sexism and sexual harassment leveled against the Sanders 2016 campaign revealed an atmosphere so toxic that,Two delegates who supported Mr. Sanders two years ago recently told his staff that he cant run for president again without addressing the sexism they believe surfaced in his last campaign.

More accusations followed.

As Ive written before many times, sexism and sexual harassment are prevailing cultural values that can be found everywhere; which means, not just in the Sanders campaign. Sexism, sexual harassment and assault shouldnt be used as weapons by people who dont care about them when found in their own camp; for instance, the way Republicans, who still support a man credibly accused of rape and sexual misconduct 22 times, try to hit Democrats over an issue that they themselves spit on (see the treatment of Dr. Ford during and after the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing).

If one is running in the Democratic Party, one needs to be accountable to the growing importance of womens political power, and not dismiss womens concerns.

Making the woman vote even more important for Senator Sanders, Yale research study released Monday showed that Sanders will actually drive moderates and swing voters to Trump, Approximately 2 percent of Republicans choose Trump over Sanders, but desert Trump when we pit him against a more moderate Democrat like Buttigieg, Biden, or Bloomberg.

Which brings us to the Bernie Bro problem.

Sanders has had a consistent problem with his supporters expressing ugly, misogynistic attacks on women, including violent harassment during the 2016 campaign that rivaled that of the Trump supporters. Its continuing in 2020, with the latest being the threats toward the Culinary Union. In tweets, the union and its leadership have been referred to as bitches, whore, fucking scab and evil, entitled assholes.'

I am, full disclosure, a supporter of many of Senator Sanders platform issues  especially getting money out of politics, but its impossible not to see the line between this old essay and the longstanding actions of some of his supporters.

Even though I was one of many consistent targets of the sexist attacks by Sanderss supporters in 2016, I defended Sanders saying he didnt seem to hold these beliefs. Today, its much harder to believe that Sanders doesnt actually hold at least some of these beliefs that have come to define his campaign and its supporters and I believe women deserve better from him.

Women shouldnt be afraid to voice that they want someone who innately respects them. They shouldnt be afraid that supporters on the left will attack them and threaten them for voicing their opinions and preferences. But many of them are, once again, just like they were in 2016.

After four years of Donald Trumps assaults on women, including nominating credibly accused rapist Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court for his lifetime, women known now, if they didnt before, that attitudes translate to policy and to nominations, which impact them in their daily lives.

Any Democratic candidate who doesnt recognize how fed up women are is making a grave error.
Mr Anderson filmed himself licking the ice cream before putting it back in the freezer: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

A man has been sentenced to 30 days in prison after filming himself licking a tub of ice cream in Walmart before returning it to the freezer.

24-year-old D'Adrien L'Quinn Anderson filmed himself licking a tub of Blue Bell ice cream in Port Arthur, Texas and uploaded it to Facebook and Instagram.

Anderson pleaded guilty to misdemeanour criminal mischief in January and faced the possibility of one year in prison and a $4,000 fine.

Although he said the the video was just a joke, the The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office said they saw the incident differently to the 24-year-old.

"Anderson's actions caused public concerns about the safety and quality of consumer products offered for public consumption, impacted Blue Bell consumer confidence and caused the company financial loss. This type of activity will not be tolerated," their statement said. 

"The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office and the Port Arthur Police Department want the public to know that such cases will be taken seriously and appropriate criminal charges will be filed."

Blue Bell Creameries, the company behind Blue Bell ice cream had to replace all of the ice cream that were in the display at the time of the incident, costing them $1565.00, according to the attorney's office.

Anderson claimed to have later paid for the ice cream, but without a proof of purchase his claim could not be backed up.

Walmart echoed the the attorney's office in a statement to ABC, saying that jokes similar to Anderson's will not be tolerated.

"If food is tampered with, or a customer wants to leave the impression that they left behind adulterated product, we will move quickly with law enforcement to identify, apprehend and prosecute those who think this is a joke  it is not."

Anderson is not the first person to film themselves licking ice cream as two other people were arrested for the same reason in 2019.

Read more

Man arrested for licking ice cream and putting it back in shop freezer
A number of key science and technology projects delayed by the coronavirus outbreak have been resumed, even as the country makes all-out efforts to fight the epidemic.

On March 2, the fifth test jet of Chinas first independently developed C919 trunk airliner taxied on the wetland runway of Nanchang Yaohu Airport in east Chinas Jiangxi province for four hours and seven minutes.

Work on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has resumed completely and is being carried out as normal. When the last two geostationary orbit satellites of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System are launched in March and May this year, China will have completed construction of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System global network.

On Feb. 5, Chinas Long March-5B carrier rocket arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south Chinas Hainan province. The rocket is scheduled to make its maiden flight in April, and work at the launch site is in full swing.

On Feb. 20, China successfully sent four new technological experiment satellites into planned orbit with its Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Chinas Sichuan province.

The lander and rover of Chinas Chang'e-4 probe were switched to dormant mode for the lunar nights on March 2 and March 1 respectively, after completing their 15-lunar day mission.

Trial production of water tank doors for Chinas independently developed AG600 large amphibious aircraft entered an important stage of development when the doors were riveted on Feb. 27. The amphibious aircraft was developed for forest firefighting and water rescue work.

Work at the Baihetan hydropower project, the largest of its kind in the world, currently under construction in southwest Chinas Sichuan province, has continued as normal this past Spring Festival holiday, with around 5,000 construction workers sticking to their posts. The station is scheduled to impound its reservoir in 2020 and put its first batch of generator units into operation in 2021.

Hot functional tests on the fifth nuclear unit of China's Hualong One nuclear reactors, a domestically developed third-generation reactor design, was basically completed on March 2, 2020 in Fuqing, southeast Chinas Fujian province. This has laid a solid foundation for upcoming tasks, including the loading of nuclear fuel and electricity generation.
By PTI

BEIJING: The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 94,000 globally according to World Health Organisation.

Coronavirus cases also surged to over 84,400 in China, and President Xi Jinping has called for "undiminished vigilance", saying the situation in virus-hit Wuhan still remains severe despite positive progress.

China's National Health Commission said on Thursday that it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.

All the deaths were in the epicentre of the virus, Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, which continued to be ground zero of the COVID-19.

Also on Wednesday, 143 new suspected cases were reported while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952, the NHC said, adding that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 80,409 by the end of Wednesday.

This included 3,012 people who have died of the disease, 25,352 patients still undergoing treatment and 52,045 patients who have been discharged.

Also on Wednesday, two "imported cases" (people arriving from abroad) of the novel coronavirus infection were reported on the mainland, all of which were in Zhejiang Province.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus outbreak - Italy closes schools as death toll hits 107

By the end of Wednesday, 20 imported cases have been reported, the commission said.

By the end of Wednesday, 104 confirmed cases, including two deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in Macao and 42 in Taiwan, including one death, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Forty-three patients in Hong Kong, nine in Macao and 12 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

In Hubei province, from where the COVID-19 originated in December reported 134 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 new deaths on Wednesday, the local health commission said.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,466 and that of total deaths to 2,902, which included 2,305 fatalities in Wuhan.

The province also saw 1,923 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Wednesday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 40,479.

Among the 20,765 hospitalised patients, 4,747 were still in severe condition and another 1,041 in critical condition, it said.

Hubei province also reported 67 new suspected cases of the virus on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance on the prevention and control work of the COVID-19 as the situation in the Wuhan City and Hubei Province remains severe.

After arduous efforts throughout the country, the current situation of the epidemic prevention and control has continued to improve, and production and people's living have been recovering, Xi said in a meeting of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) on Wednesday here.

He called for more efforts to accelerate the establishment of an economic and social order that is compatible with the prevention and control work of the epidemic, so as to consolidate and expand this hard-won good momentum and create condition to build a moderately well-off society in all respects, and completely eliminate absolute poverty, state-run CGTN reported.

ALSO READ: Save masks for healthcare workers, wash hands, says Barack Obama on how to combat coronavirus

The epidemic prevention and control work remains tough in Hubei province and Wuhan city, and the risk of the epidemic spreading is increasing due to increased movement of people and gatherings in other regions, he pointed out.

He asked relevant authorities to deepen global cooperation and play China's role as a responsible major country.

It is imperative to promptly advance various tasks of economic and social development, orderly promote the resumption of work and production, realise the orderly flow of people and property, the connection of production, supply and marketing, and the effective integration of domestic and foreign trade, and minimise the loss caused by the epidemic, Xi said.

ALSO READ: Iran reports 15 new coronavirus deaths, toll 92

The CPC meeting highlighted the importance of COVID-19 prevention and control work in Beijing and called for more efforts in preventing the situation from rebounding.

The meeting also urged more scientific research into test kits, vaccines and medical supplies.

By the end of Wednesday, there have been 12,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus outside China, with over 214 deaths, statistics from the World Health Organisation showed Thursday.

In the past 24 hours, 2,103 newly confirmed cases outside China have been reported and four new member states--Argentina, Chile, Poland and Ukraine--have reported cases of COVID-19, the state-run People's Daily reported.

South Korea confirmed 438 more cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 5,766, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Japan confirmed over 1,037 coronavirus cases, and so far 12 people have died due to the infection.

Italy reported a total of 107 deaths of the deadly coronavirus, taking the total number to 3,089.

In Iran, the deadly infection claimed 92 lives out of more than 2,922 cases.

The US' death toll from the COVID-19 rose to 11 on Thursday and nationwide there are nearly 160 confirmed cases.

France said that 21 new cases of COVID-19 had been identified with a total of 285 cases now diagnosed, of which 12 were cured and four have died.
GREENWICH, Conn., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of International Women's Day, Greenwich Medical Spa CEO and Visionary Marria Pooya announced an inaugural campaign, #CourageisConfidence, celebrating the fascinating stories of strong women who inspire confidence and embody empowerment.

As part of the spa's commitment to confidence and championing women, the campaign aims to create and encourage conversations about confidence and calls on the public to join us. The month-long campaign will feature original content celebrating the stories many women, many of whom are passionate about telling their stories because of barriers they've overcome.

"With a larger share of voice on confidence, we believe women will empower other women and inspire upcoming generations to redefine self-expression and what it means to feel beautiful," says Pooya. "Championing women is what we stand for at Greenwich Medical Spa, and as we expand into Ridgefield, Conn., we have even more responsibility to move this conversation forward."

Research for the campaign and mission for Greenwich Medical Spa stemmed from a past study by Cornell University that cited women underestimate both their abilities and their performance, while men do the opposite.

"The confidence gap is a revelation not only experienced by women entering the workplace, but by some of the most highly-skilled, established and high-net-worth women out there," says Kathleen Ruiz, luxury marketing veteran and owner of KRW Consulting, the marketing campaign's creator. "Addressing the 'gender confidence gap' is real, and we want women to know they have thousands of reasons to succeed and create a more beautiful world."

Motivated by Confidence

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Greenwich Medical Spa managing partner Marria Pooya moved to New York as a child and was the first in her community and family to attend college. She earned a dual degree in Finance and International Business from NYU's Stern School of Business. Since launching Greenwich Medical Spa, Marria and her staff have donated more than $100,000 to charitable organizations with an emphasis on empowering women, youth, and vulnerable populations.

She is involved with the Blossom Hill Foundation, which supports organizations that engage and empower war-affected youth as leaders in the reconstructions of their lives and their communities, as well as Afghan Hands, a nonprofit that supports disadvantaged and disenfranchised women in Afghanistan.

Marria's business acumen and competitive edge developed during her time as a High Yield Analyst on Wall Street covering beauty and consumer products companies. She later joined a startup that created color cosmetics lines for international and teen markets, before establishing Greenwich Medical Spa.

About Greenwich Medical Spa

Greenwich Medical Spa was founded to inspire beauty, confidence, and make customers look and feel their very best. As one of the top award-winning medical spas in the U.S. with 15 years of experience providing safe, effective treatments, Greenwich Medical Spa provides a variety of cosmetic solutions to rejuvenate the body and improve daily life. Rated as one of the 5000 fastest growing companies by zinc, among the top 1% or the top 100, Juvederm & BOTOX facilities in the U.S., New Beauty Expert Injector and Top Doctor, and the only practice in Connecticut in Club 5000 of CoolSculpting Practice Recognition Club, Greenwich Medical Spa credits its recognition to its team, and to the trust clients place in them.

Contact:

Kathleen Ruiz

[email protected]

SOURCE Greenwich Medical Spa
Tahir Hussain accused in IB staffer's murder arrested

The Delhi police today arrested Tahir Hussain, the suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilor who is accused in IB staffer Ankit Sharma's murder during Delhi riots, after a Delhi court refused to accept his surrender.

Tahir Hussain has been also accused of attempt to murder and of inciting the mob to indulge in violence and riots. The party suspended him after he was accused in the brutal murder of the young IB staffer Ankit Sharma.

Delhi Police Crime Branch police arrested Tahir Hussain just before he was going to surrender at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi. He had filed an anticipatory bail petition in Delhi's Karkardooma Court in connection with an FIR in which he has been accused of killing Ankit Sharma.

Ankit Sharma was killed during the riots near his home and Hussain has been accused of directing the rioters to target the IB staffer. He has been charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 365 (kidnapping and abduction) and 302 (murder) under which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment or death sentence.

Hussain has been named in two more cases of violence in Delhi although he has not been made accused in them. The FIRs in which Hussain has been named are registered at Dayalpur and Khajoori Khas police stations in connection with the violence in these areas.

Ankit Sharma's body was recovered by police from a drain in Chand Bagh area of Northeast Delhi on 26 February. His father Ravinder Kumar had lodged a complaint naming Hussain as accused in the murder of his son following which Delhi Police filed an FIR.

Ankit Sharma, 26, who worked as a Security Assistant with the IB, had gone missing on Tuesday. His family said he was picked up by a mob on his way home from work. His body, bearing multiple stab wounds, was found the next day.

Ankit Sharma's father alleged that Hussain, whose office is located near Chand Bagh Pulia area, had sheltered a large group of men who were pelting stones and petrol bombs during the violence.

At least 48 people were killed and over 200 others were injured, many of them seriously, in the riots which started following clashes between pro and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in Northest Delhi.
A closedown of Parliament during the coronavirus outbreak was ruled out today by the Government which said the public expected the Commons to get on with its job.

A five-month shutdown  the longest since 1914  was being considered by the Speakers of the Commons and House of Lords, according to a report in the Times. It drew a furious response from Opposition MPs who claimed it smacked of an overreaction.

We must continue the important job of holding this Government to account, said Labour MP Ruth Jones. We cannot allow the shut down of Parliament.

Labour MP Ruth Cadbury claimed: Our PM likes any excuse to shut down Parliament. But Downing Street made clear that Boris Johnson had nothing to do with the idea.

It appeared to be killed off after the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said he did not see why the Commons and Lords were more risky environments than any other workplace.

He said elderly or ill peers may have to stay away, however, because they would be at greater risk if infected.

A Parliamentary spokesman played down  but did not deny  the report, saying: We have been reassured that our current response is responsible and proportionate. The recess dates for 2020 have been announced and we are not aware of any plans to change or extend those dates.

Asked about a closedown, health minister Edward Argarsaid: What I understand is that the advice at the moment is not that that is necessary.
Pakistans longstanding ties to the Taliban were born from the Afghan civil war of the 1990s, when Islamabad saw the Pashtun group as a valuable proxy against other warring factions that had the support of India. That relationship was radioactive after the Sept. 11 attacks, when it became obvious that Al Qaeda had planned the strikes from a safe haven the Taliban had provided for the terrorist group.

The Bush administration forced Pakistan to make a stark choice: Sever ties with the Taliban and become a partner in Americas planned war against global terrorism, or possibly become a target of that war.

Mr. Musharraf and his successors held up part of the bargain: working with the C.I.A. to hunt down Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and allowing the spy agency to unleash a withering drone campaign in the countrys tribal areas. But Islamabad never fully cut ties with the Taliban, and the countrys military intelligence agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, spent years covertly supporting Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and shielding some of the groups leaders inside Pakistan.

Today, some Pakistani officials argue that the Taliban is far different from the fanatical band once led during the Sept. 11 era by Mullah Mohammed Omar. The group is more pragmatic, they say, understanding the importance of political influence in a power-sharing arrangement. One senior Pakistani intelligence official in Islamabad described the Taliban simply as a political party.

It is Pakistans assessment, they say, that the Taliban struck a deal from a position of strength: The United States felt compelled to leave a war that the Taliban could have continued fighting for years. The senior Pakistani intelligence official did not hide what was his countrys primary focus in Afghanistan: The use of Afghan soil in collaboration with India is a red line, the official said.

The intelligence agencys support for the Taliban strained  and eventually ruptured  Americas relationship with Pakistan, a longtime ally that the United States saw as a bulwark against Soviet expansion during the Cold War.
Former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar, who helped broker a cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war, has died in his native Peru at age 100, his son said on March 5.



Perez de Cuellar served as UN secretary-general from 1981 to 1991.



Perez de Cuellar led the UN during a period marked by the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, as well as the civil war in U.S.-supported El Salvador, which led to UN-mediated peace talks.

The UN chief also played a role in securing the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, and mediated Namibian independence from South Africa.

In addition, he helped end hostilities in Western Sahara as well as civil wars in Cambodia and Nicaragua.

He was president of the UN Security Council from 1973 to 1974 and was UN permanent representative in Cyprus from 1975 to 1977.

Current UN chief Antonio Guterres wished him "with pride & joy" a happy 100th birthday on January 19.



"On this momentous occasion, we at the UN draw on his example for inspiration & are deeply grateful for his many contributions and achievements as Secretary-General," Guterres wrote on Twitter.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and the BBC
Weather Alert

SUB-ZERO WIND CHILLS LATE TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING Wind chills of near 0 to 10 below zero are likely late tonight into Tuesday morning. This will be from temperatures around 5 to 10 degrees across the interior areas combined with northwest winds of around 10 to 15 mph. For coastal areas, this will be from temperatures around 10 degrees combined with northwest winds of around 15 to 20 mph. If you need to be outside, be prepared for the wind and cold, and dress in layers and wear a hat, heavy coat, as well as gloves or mittens. Frostbite can occur in a short amount of time, so dress in layers and make sure all exposed skin is protected.
North East Independent School District has cancelled two international trips and suspended all such travel for its students out of concern for coronavirus outbreaks overseas.

This decision was not made lightly, but we will not risk students and staff becoming ill or being quarantined or stranded in a country due to circumstances out of our control, assistant superintendents Donna Newman and Rudy Jimenez said in a letter to parents last week.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York drew anger on Thursday by suggesting that many African-American voters supported former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. because his record had not been sufficiently examined beyond his connection to former President Barack Obama.

Asked why Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont lost decisively to Mr. Biden among black voters in recent races for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. de Blasio suggested those voters did not know enough about Mr. Biden  remarks that some called offensive and condescending.

It stands to reason if people have a certain amount of information  and I dont blame them for this, I understand it, Mr. de Blasio said on the MSNBC show Morning Joe, before a host, Elise Jordan, interrupted.

So youre saying they were low information? she asked.

No, no, no, said Mr. de Blasio, who endorsed Mr. Sanders in February. Im saying you had a whole lot of candidates, which I think is a very different discussion. The information that I think people received about Joe Biden was some of his historic connection, which, understandably, means something to people.
Petrol, diesel and liquor are set to cost more in Karnataka from 1 April as the BJP government in its 2020-21 budget on Thursday proposed to hike the taxes to mop up additional resources.

Bengaluru: Petrol, diesel and liquor are set to cost more in Karnataka from 1 April as the BJP government in its 2020-21 budget on Thursday proposed to hike the taxes to mop up additional resources in the face of unprecedented "financial difficulties".

Rate of tax on petrol and diesel were increased by three per cent making the fuel dearer by Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.59 per litre respectively.

Presenting the budget in the assembly, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced tax on petrol would be increased from 32 percent to 35 percent and diesel from 21 per cent to 24 percent.

Yediyurappa, who also holds the finance portfolio, increased excise duty on Indian Made Liquor (KML) across 18 slabs by six percent.

However, to promote affordable housing, the government proposed to reduce stamp duty on first time registration of new apartments/flats costing less than Rs 20 lakh from existing five per cent to two percent.

This is the first budget of the BJP government after coming to power last year and the seventh presented by Yediyurappa.

"For the year 2020-21, a total amount of Rs 55,732 crore is provided for stimulating economic growth sector", the Chief Minister said.

A new industrial policy would be implemented to attract capital investment, keeping in view the comprehensive industrial development of the state, especially for the backward areas, tier-2 and tier-3 cities. "Priority will be given to those sectors providing greater opportunities in innovative technology and employment generation", the Chief Minister said.

Rules would be framed by amending the relevant acts to encourage the investors and to enable them purchase land directly from the land owners at the place identified for the Establishment of industrial units. The government would bring out a new agricultural policy to encourage water security, land bank and mass cultivation, micro irrigation farmers, processing of farm produce, marketing and also to consider agriculture and horticulture as an industry.

Recognising the importance of Bengaluru as the key driver of state's economy, Yediyurappa mooted proposals to ease the notorious traffic congestion of the city by promoting the public transport system. "For the year 2020-21, a total amount of Rs 8,772 crore is provided for the Bengaluru development sector," he said.

A comprehensive mobility programme for Bengaluru  half of the contribution of Karnataka gross state domestic product comes from the city alone  is prepared for the first time, he said.

Infrastructure facilities, transit based development and essential regulatory measures will be taken up with an objective of increasing the utilisation of public transport from 48 percent to 73 percent, Yediyurappa said.

He indicated Karnataka is facing unprecedented economic difficulties following a Rs 8,887 crore reduction in the state's share in central taxes, cut in allocation under 15th finance commission and a Rs 3,000 crore hit in GST compensation. Karnataka's share in central taxes has come down by Rs 8,887 crore in 2019-20 as per the revised budget estimates of the central government.

Apart from this, Rs 3,000 crore GST compensation will also be reduced as collection from the GST compensation cess is not as expected, the Chief Minister said.

"With all this it has become difficult to reach the 2019-20 budget targets and to manage this situation within the bounds of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, an inevitable situation has arisen this year to cut down the expenditure of many departments," he added.

As per the interim report submitted by the 15th finance commission, there is a reduction in the state's share of central taxes to 3.64 per cent compared to 4.71 per cent fixed by the 14th finance commission. In view of this, there will be a reduction of Rs 11,215 crore in the state's share of central taxes in 2020-21 budget, when compared to the previous year.

"This magnitude of economic difficulties was never faced in the previous years by our state," he added.

Despite financial stress, the Chief Minister tried to focus on agriculture and irrigation in the budget, proposing to allocate Rs 500 crore to take up the works of Kalasa and Banduri Nalas under the Mahadayi river Project. He also proposed to waive the interest on default agricultural loans given for the purchase of farm equipment by cooperative banks, benefiting about 92,000 farmers.

The Chief Minister said, the state government is committed to the "speedy continuation" of the much anticipated Mahadayi Project, which is very helpful for the people and farmers of North Karnataka region.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 06:51:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "was shocked to learn that airstrikes on populated areas are continuing in northwest Syria" as ceasefire talks were underway in Moscow, his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said on Thursday.

"He reminds all parties of their obligation under international law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure," Dujarric said.

"The secretary-general takes note that Russia and Turkey have reached an agreement at the highest level for a ceasefire to go into effect in the Idlib de-escalation area as of midnight (Thursday)," the spokesman said.

"The secretary-general hopes that this agreement will lead to an immediate and lasting cessation of hostilities that ensures the protection of civilians in northwest Syria, who have already endured enormous suffering," Dujarric said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in the week that he would seek a ceasefire deal in Idlib during a Thursday meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The United Nations has stepped up the cross-border critical humanitarian needs initiative from Turkey for hundreds of thousands of newly displaced women, men and children in northwest Syria, the spokesman said.

"From March 1-4, 130 trucks carrying food, shelter material, water, sanitation and hygiene and nutrition assistance for over 309,000 people have been sent into the northwest part of Syria through the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam border crossings, as authorized by the Security Council," he said. "This is in addition to more than 2,000 trucks that went through in January and February."

"This assistance is saving lives, but as we have been clear, more has to be done to meet these high needs," Dujarric said. "The United Nations is currently pushing for more trucks to be able to go through the border."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in a Flash Update said the fact that almost 1 million people were displaced in the last three months deepens the humanitarian crisis in the northwest.

The most recent displacement "further aggravated the already dire situation in northwest Syria where 2.8 million people out of 4 million were already estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance," said the update issued here.

The World Food Programme and the UN Children's Fund executive directors David Beasley and Henrietta Fore wrapped up a two-day visit to Syria, and said in a joint statement that "it is now more urgent than ever to end the violence in the country and to improve access across the country."

The two agency chiefs also underlined the need to provide families in Syria with basic services and to improve their economic conditions.
[March 05, 2020] SAIC Expands Innovation Factory Presence to Include the University of Massachusetts

Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC (News - Alert)), has entered into a strategic partnership with the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) Research Institute to become the lead partner with the university in the development of the Northstar Campus near Hanscom Air Force Base. The partnership expands SAIC's Innovation Factory presence to include a new geographic area in the northeast, leveraging the talent and creativity offered by one of the nation's leading academic institutions. SAIC's Innovation Factory is a forward-thinking environment that equips teams with highly automated, cloud-hosted toolsets and DevSecOps practices to rapidly build, test, and deploy solutions that can be improved as customer mission needs evolve. Northstar Campus establishes an aerospace and defense ecosystem that supports initiatives in advanced technology development and innovation in support of national defense. "Partnering with UMass Lowell opens doors for our professionals to seamlessly work beside the leading minds in academia and government to address emerging challenges in national defense," said Michael LaRouche, executive vice president and general manager of SAIC's National Security Group. "The small business engagement and opportunities for innovation offer an exciting chance to spark new thinking and novel solutions for the Air Force and all of our customers." "We are very excited to have SAIC as our Northstar Campus launch partner at the UMass Lowell Research Institute outside the gates of Hanscom Air Force Base. The defense industry experience that SAIC brings to the campus will be instrumental in strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem, developing the future defense industry workforce, and accelerating technologies that support our customers' missions," said UMass Lowell Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Joseph Hartman. Northstar Campus serves as an economic development engine, providing an infrastructure platform and 19,000 square foot physical environment for public-private collaboration and business growth activities. The Campus will act as a sparkfor innovation-hosting pitch competitions, small business mentoring and networking events, and opportunities to partner on the DOD's hyper-creative OTA R&D opportunities. These factor areas intersect with SAIC's investments in IT modernization, engineering, and development.



SAIC's Innovation Factory is located in Reston, Virginia; Catalyst Campus, Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the Capital Factory in Austin, Texas. "Northstar Campus and SAIC's investment in it are in direct response to demands from defense customers for flexible, focused, next generation solutions," said Josh Jackson, executive vice president and general manager of SAIC's Solutions and Technology Group. "The Campus joins SAIC's expanding map of Innovation Factory locations. These geo-targeted incubators give us access to unparalleled concentrations of talent pools focused on key technology areas."

About SAIC SAIC is a premier technology integrator solving our nation's most complex modernization and readiness challenges. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian, and intelligence markets includes high-end solutions in engineering, IT, and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective, and efficient solutions. We are 23,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has pro forma annual revenues of approximately $6.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release contain or are based on "forward-looking" information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "guidance," and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Legal Proceedings" sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC (News - Alert), which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at www.saic.com or on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAIC's expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005884/en/

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Catholic Church leaders are advising parishioners feeling unwell to stay at home, telling them that it is not a sin to avoid Mass, as religious gatherings across the United States take measures to ensure the safety of their congregations amid the spread of the coronavirus.

Physical contact during the making of the sign of peace has been banned by some churches with others banning the section of the service completely.

Catholic service are also emptying out church fonts to prevent parishioners from passing on the virus as they bless themselves with holy water.

A decision was made by some Catholic dioceses to suspend serving wine during communion and many are asking mass-goers to receive communion in their open hands instead of it being placed in their mouth.

Other religions are also warning worshipers to take similar precautions with a 'elbow bump' introduced instead of hugs and handshakes and several imams telling Muslims they can conduct Friday prayers from home.

There is not yet any widespread cancellations of religious services.

Catholics are being ordered to accept the communion host in their hands instead of mouth

Many Catholic church goers will no longer be able to drink from the wine chalice

Among the Catholic bishops who ordered changes this week was Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle, the region hardest hit with the coronavirus in the United States. There have been 10 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in the area.

In a letter to parish leaders, Archbishop Etienne banned the distribution of wine at communion and told parishoners they must take the host in their hands.

He also urged mass-goers in the diocese to stay home from Mass if sick, to avoid hand-to-hand contact and to practice good hygiene.

The Archdiocese of Detroit told parishioners that not attending mass was not a sin if you are sick.

'An individual does not commit any sin by avoiding Mass to protect others from potential spread of illness,' they wrote.

Dioceses in Atlanta, Boston, Joliet, Illinois, San Antonio and Newark and Paterson, New Jersey, were among those to implement similar rules, as well as areas such as Pittsburgh where no cases of coronavirus have been confirmed.

Holy water is being removed from fonts in Catholic Churches amid coronavirus concerns

Catholic congregations are being ordered to accept communion into the hands instead of it being placed into their mouth as the American Catholic Church responds to the coronavirus

At Holy Name Cathedral in the Chicago archdiocese, the faithful were told to stay home if sick

In Brooklyn, the sign of peace is to be skipped altogether.

'The church practice states that the priest or deacon should ask the faithful to exchange the sign of peace if appropriate,' spokesperson John Quaglione told HuffPost.

'At this time, in light of the coronavirus, it has been deemed in fact, not an appropriate time to do so.'

In the Chicago archdiocese, priests, deacons and other personnel who distribute communion were ordered to wash their hands before mass and to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after communion.

'Assure the faithful that if they are sick or are experiencing symptoms of sickness, they are not obliged to attend Mass, and even that out of charity they ought not to attend,' the archdiocese said.

The Archdiocese of Chicago posted the precautions it is taking during services

Among the precautions being taken is ensuring deacons wash their hands before communion

'How we receive, while very personal to the individual communicant, is not crucial,' wrote Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, after ordering communion to be received only in the hands in his diocese.

'Receiving Communion in the hand is every bit as respectful as receiving on the tongue.'

While the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has distributed advice to its members, the decision on the precautions to be taken has been left with individual bishops.

'It's really just some logical preventative measures as we monitor whether or not we need to do anything greater,' Vicki Cessna, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan told MLive.

The decision by the Catholic Church to respond comes after it was confirmed that a coronavirus patient in New York may have infected other members of the temple he attended.

Officials revealed Wednesday that the 50-year-old infected Manhattan attorney named as the second case in New York had been linked to at least nine of the 11 confirmed cases in the state.

Health officials on Tuesday directed the family's synagogue, Young Israel of New Rochelle, to halt services immediately. Congregants who attended February 22 services as well as a funeral and a bat mitzvah on February 23 were directed to quarantine themselves at least through Sunday.

The new protocol comes as 216 cases of the coronavirus are confirmed in the United States

The Catholic Church is advising that deacons places the host during communion into people's hands instead of placing it on their tongues to limit people's exposure to germs

It has led to many faith leaders taking decisions to protect their congregations and members until the threat of the coronavirus has ended.

Several imams have advised Muslin worshipers that they can pray at home, allowing adult men to worship at home instead of attending Friday group prayers which are considered compulsory.

Muslim congregants have also been advised to avoid physical contact when they great each other with some mosque leaders halting the shaking of the imam's hand after prayer.

'For the time being, it may be worth avoiding touch and switching to a hand on the heart, a respectful nod, and a warm smile,' Omar Ricci, spokesman of the Islamic Center of Southern California, wrote in an email to congregants, according to the New York Times.

Again in Seattle, the Temple De Hirsch Sinai synagogue was quick to outline similar precautions.

'As members of a warm and nurturing community, Temple members frequently greet each other with hugs and kisses,' said a message to its members.

'At this time, we recommend that an elbow bump may be a more appropriate way of offering a warm welcome while also staying healthy.'

Others have not been as quick to heed the warnings.

At the Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, wine is still being distributed to the congregation at communion.

'Scientists have shown that the risk of transmitting disease in this way is very low,' wrote pastor Thomas McKenzie.

'Please know that we will worship on Sunday morning no matter what. Some other church events might be canceled -- as we sometimes do in bad weather -- at the request of local authorities. However, we Anglicans have long continued to worship even in the face of bombs, persecutions, earthquakes, fires, floods and, yes, disease.'

In Washington, Rev. Dr. Matt Paul, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Port Angeles, also claimed that only God could save lives from the coronavirus.

While praying for a vaccine, he said lives being saved was 'something only God can do'.

'Just the act of being together to worship is somewhat an act of faith and an act of risk,' he said.

'We're reminded of our humanity and the frailty of life.'
This article by David Roza originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.

The coronavirus has officially spread to the veteran community, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told House lawmakers in a hearing on Wednesday. The Palo Alto VA prepared a section of its campus to receive the veteran, who is being taken care of there, Wilkie said.

Though Wilkie didnt offer many specifics, Wilkie said the VA is preparing to meet the virus the same way it prepared for Ebola and the H1N1 flu in the past.

"We will be approaching this as we have these other issues," Wilkie told members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.

Dr. Richard Stone, the executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, said the VA team has been preparing for coronavirus since January, and they had 12 people at Travis Air Force Base screening patients coming in from China and Japan.

Stone explained that many VA facilities offer negative airflow rooms, which prevent cross-contamination from room to room. Those rooms are excellent tools for trying to control the spread of a respiratory disease such as coronavirus, CDC says.

Negative airflow rooms were the reason why the California veteran came to Palo Alto, Stone explained, and there are more like them across the country.

"We have across our system multiple negative airflow rooms, frankly almost 1,000, on any given day," he said. "About 60% of those are filled but well begin repurposing and preparing for that."

The doctor said the VA is especially concerned about its 135 nursing homes and the 8,000 veterans living in them. Those veterans are especially vulnerable to coronavirus, so the department has started screening everyone coming into the nursing homes for the virus.

"They are on our campuses and we must protect them," Stone said.

The VA is also screening people outside its emergency rooms, Stone said.

According to Military Times, the Palo Alto patient arrived at the VA on March 2. The risk of transmission is low, Armenthis Lester, chief communication manager for the VA Sierra Pacific Network, told Military Times.

Military Times also reported that several VA medical centers have barred visitors from nursing home facilities and inpatient wards, primarily to ward off influenza, but also to prevent contact with coronavirus.

"We are in constant contact now with CDC and the National Institutes of Health, and the presidents task force," on coronavirus, Wilkie said.

According to the CDC, 80 cases of coronavirus and 9 deaths have been reported in the U.S. across 13 states so far. According to the World Health Organization, 93,090 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide, with 3,198 deaths.

More articles from Task & Purpose:
Scientists and engineers working at the frontier of nanotechnology face huge challenges. When the position of a single atom in a material may change the fundamental properties of that material, scientists need something in their toolbox to measure how that atom will behave.

A research team led by the University of Leeds, in collaboration with colleagues at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, have shown for the first time that it is possible to develop a diagnostic technique loosely related to the idea of a tuning fork.

A tuning fork produces a fixed tone when energy is applied to it - in that case, when it is struck. But if the fork is somehow altered, it goes out of tune: the tone changes.

The technique being used by the research team involves firing a beam of electrons at a single atom in a solid. That energy stream causes it and the atoms that surround it to vibrate.

This creates a unique vibrational energy fingerprint, akin to the fixed tone from a tuning fork, which can be recorded by an electron microscope. But if a single atom impurity is present, another chemical element, for instance, the vibrational energy fingerprint of that impurity will change: the material will 'sound' different at this precise location.

The research opens up the possibility that scientists will be able to monitor materials for atomic impurities.

The findings, Single Atom Vibrational Spectroscopy in the Scanning Electron Microscope, are published today (March 5) in the journal Science.

Quentin Ramasse, Professor of Advanced Electron Microscopy at Leeds who led the project, said: "We now have direct evidence that a single "foreign" atom in a solid can change its vibrational property at the atomic scale.

"This has been predicted for decades, but there has not been any experimental technique to observe these vibrational changes directly. We have been able to show for the first time that you can record that defect signature with atomic precision."

The researchers used the SuperSTEM Laboratory, the UK National Research Facility for Advanced Electron Microscopy, supported by the Engineering and Physical Research Council (EPSRC).

The facility houses some of the most advanced facilities in the world for investigating the atomic structure of matter, and is operated under the auspices of an academic consortium led by the University of Leeds (also including the Universities of Oxford, York who were involved in this project, as well as Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool).

The scientists located a single impurity atom of silicon in a large graphene crystal (a form of carbon only one atom thick) - and then focused the beam of their electron microscope directly on that atom.

Professor Ramasse said: "We are hitting it with an electron beam, which makes the silicon atom move around or vibrate, absorbing some of the energy of the incoming beam of electrons in the process - and we are measuring the amount of energy that is being absorbed."

The animation illustrates schematically how the silicon vibrates, and how that vibration begins to affect neighbouring atoms, and is inspired by extensive theoretical calculations by the team of Dr Guillaume Radtke at the Sorbonne University, who collaborated on this project.

(The animation can be downloaded from: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DIct9Wg6lqd6PdO2stLKK8orq1Idcezq

"The vibrational response we observe is unique to how this particular silicon atom is located within the graphene lattice," added Dr Radtke. "We could predict how its presence would perturb the surrounding network of carbon atoms, but these experiments represent a real technical achievement because we are now able to measure with atomic precision such a subtle change."

###

The research and electron microscopy facilities were funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council.

Notes to Editors

For more information, please contact David Lewis in the press office: d.lewis@Leeds.ac.uk or 0113 343 2049

Images can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DIct9Wg6lqd6PdO2stLKK8orq1Idcezq

Please credit: The animation: D.Kepaptsoglou, SuperSTEM

The image show the single atom of silicon in the graphene lattice: Q. Ramasse, SuperSTEM

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 38,000 students from more than 150 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University plays a significant role in the Turing, Rosalind Franklin and Royce Institutes.

We are a top ten university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and are in the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings 2020. Additionally, the University was awarded a Gold rating by the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework in 2017, recognising its 'consistently outstanding' teaching and learning provision.

Twenty-six of our academics have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships - more than any other institution in England, Northern Ireland and Wales - reflecting the excellence of our teaching.

Over a third of our academics are involved in applied research or as consultants to industry, and over the last ten years, the University of Leeds has produced more than 100 'spin-out' companies. http://www.leeds.ac.uk

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The Australian Defence Department took an online recruitment system down in February over concerns hackers had compromised personnel data using a security flaw in Citrix software, it was revealed this week.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday that the department shut the Defence Force Recruiting Network (DFRN) electronic records system for 10 days from February 2 in response to a potential data breach. The departments online Powerforce recruitment database is managed by Australian recruitment firm ManpowerGroup, which held personnel records on candidates medical exams, physiological records and interviews.

The Defence Department said its investigation turned up no evidence the data was stolen, however there was sufficient cause for concern to take DFRN offline between February 2 and February 12, 2020.

The department was one of many organizations worldwide caught out by a critical bug in Citrixs NetScaler Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and NetScaler Gateway server products.

The US enterprise technology vendor disclosed the bug on 17 December 2019, but it was unable to release patches for affected products until the end of January 2020. The bug, tracked as CVE-2019-19781, was referred to as Shitrix among members of the infosec industry. By the time Citrix released patches in late January, two exploits had been published and security researchers discovered the bug had been used to load ransomware and cryptocurrency miners on to vulnerable systems.

The Australian Signals Directorates (ASD) Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) issued a public alert about the Citrix bug on 25 December, warning it could allow an attacker without correct credentials to execute code on a targets local network. The Netherlands government cybersecurity agency was so concerned about the bug that it warned all government agencies on January 17 to disable Citrix ADC and Gateway servers until a patch was released.

According to ITNews, Defence Department CIO Stephen Pearson told Senate Estimates on Wednesday that it took DFRN offline in February to mitigate potential exploitation. Pearson noted that DFRN was external to Defences network. ASD director-general Rachel Noble told Estimates that ACSC had informed Defence on January 24 that DFRN may have been compromised due to the Citrix bug. She added that it was normal for organizations to take a "week or so to survey a network to understand whats happening.
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Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 15:08 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068866c7 1 Business Indonesia,face-mask,scarcity,kppu,monopoly,hoarding,police,seizure Free

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has found no violations in relation to the scarcity of face masks, which has caused their prices to skyrocket amid growing fears over the new coronavirus in the country.

KPPU commissioner Guntur Saragih said during a press conference on Tuesday that the sharp increase in prices of face masks was purely caused by the supply shortage due to high demand rather than due to hoarding or other unfair business practices.

"Based on our monitoring, weve found no violations of Law No.5/1999 or other offenses," he said in a reference to the law on monopoly and business competition.

Read also: Kimia Farma puts in place mask and hand sanitizer rationing to ensure availability

In addition to Jakarta, the monitoring was also conducted in KPPU regional offices in Bandung, West Java; Balikpapan East Kalimantan; Lampung in South Sumatra, Makassar, South Sulawesi; Medan in North Sumatra and Surabaya, East Java.

He said Law No.5/1999 only applied to corporations, excluding small and medium retailers, including individuals selling masks via e-commerce.

N95 masks were being sold for Rp 1.3 million (US$94.61) for a box containing 20 masks. In early January, such a box was sold only for around Rp 200,000. Meanwhile, according to sellers at Pramuka drugstores in East Jakarta, the sale of protective face masks had more than tripled.

Price increases are not unusual and we have yet to find any violation of the law, Guntur said, while adding that corporations found in violation of the regulation could be fined a maximum Rp 25 billion.

He said that the sharp increase in prices of face masks had occurred because producers were unable to meet the high demand.

We asked the public to not panic and not stock up on masks because doing so could worsen the situation, he told reporters.

Peope buy masks and antiseptic gel at a Kimia Farma outlet in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wendesday, March 4, 2020. (JP/Riza Roidila Mufti)

Market monitoring was conducted beginning in February and concluded before Indonesia announced its first coronavirus cases on Monday. Hence, Guntur said that the KPPU was still open to receiving reports from anyone who found foul play in the market.

Meanwhile, KPPU economic director Zulfirmansyah said that the price surge was normal since prices usually went up in times of scarcity.

Big retailers such as minimarkets are still selling masks at a normal price, which is around Rp 9,500 apiece, he said. And even though they sell quickly, they always restock every two days.

The Health Ministry previously said a shortage of face masks in Indonesia had been triggered by hoaxes that caused people to panic, causing uncontrolled buying and hoarding.

Read also: Surabaya Mayor Risma admits to hoarding masks 'since January' in anticipation of COVID-19 outbreak

Panic buying also hit supermarkets and drugstores across Jakarta on Monday as people stocked up on cooking oil, instant noodles and antiseptic. Jakartans also descended on drugstores to buy hand sanitizer, multivitamins and wet wipes.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Police raided a mask manufacturer on Feb. 27. During the raid, the police seized 60 boxes containing 3,000 masks in a warehouse in Cilincing, North Jakarta

The police later found that the warehouse was not only being used to stockpile masks but also functioned as a mask production facility. Investigators discovered that the company, could produce 850 boxes of masks every day.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 19:41:44|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Lebanese protested on Thursday near banks in Sidon in southern Lebanon to complain about restrictions preventing them from withdrawing their deposits, the National News Agency reported.

Protesters asked banks to release the money of small depositors who stand in lines daily to withdraw limited amount of U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, protesters also gathered near money exchange companies forcing them to shut down or adopt the regular exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese pounds per U.S. dollar.

Lebanon has been going through a shortage in U.S. dollar caused by economic slowdown, the drop in cash injections from Lebanese abroad and transfer by big depositors to foreign countries.

This has prompted banks to impose unofficial capital control on all depositors with people standing in lines for hours to be able to withdraw up to 200 dollars weekly from their banks accounts.

Also, the shortage in U.S. dollar created a big demand on the currency which increased its price in the black market to 2,600 Lebanese pounds per one dollar.
Hinds Sets Community Outreach Events for March

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The staff of state Sen. Adam G. Hinds, D-Pittsfield, will host two community outreach events during March.

The senator's staff will be available to meet with constituents in the communities of Huntington and North Adams on Wednesday, March 18, for this month's staff office hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

North Adams City Hall, 10 Main St.

Stanton Hall, 24 Russell Road, Huntington

Appointments are not necessary but can be booked in advance by calling the Pittsfield office at 413-344-4561 or the Williamsburg office at 413-768-2373. These office hours provide an opportunity for those seeking assistance with state agencies or programs to speak with Hinds' constituency services staff in person.

All residents of the senator's Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin & Hampden Senate District are invited to participate in these sessions if they have an idea, question or comment about state government they wish to share, or if they require assistance from the senator's constituent services team. Everyone is welcome.

Appointments are not necessary but can be booked in advance by calling the Pittsfield office at (413) 344-4561 or the Williamsburg office at (413) 768-2373. These office hours provide an opportunity for constituents seeking assistance with state agencies or programs to speak with the senator's staff in person.

Since early 2017, Hinds' district team, A.J. Enchill and Jon Gould, have held monthly roving office hours outside of their primary work locations in an effort to increase office accessibility for every constituent no matter where they reside. Enchill is based in the senator's Pittsfield office and Gould splits his time between Pittsfield and Williamsburg.

Last year, the senator's district staff traveled to 19 towns and met with hundreds of local officials and residents in Adams, Alford, Blandford, Charlemont, Chester, Cummington, Heath, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Middlefield, Monroe, New Marlborough, Peru, Plainfield, Rowe, Washington and Windsor, Westhampton, West Stockbridge while Senator Hinds participated in public forums throughout the Senate District.
The real time crime command center is shown, in the Anti-Terrorism unit building in South Philadelphia. Read more

Philadelphia police have been quietly experimenting with Clearview AI, the controversial facial-recognition company that mines billions of images from social media and across the web, a department spokesperson said, confirming a recent BuzzFeed report.

The thousand or so searches the department ran last November were a test, according to the spokesperson, Staff Inspector Sekou Kinebrew. The department has not yet finished drafting a facial-recognition policy, he said, but one will be disseminated to staff in the near future.

But facial recognition is already a reality in Philadelphia, where police have access to a database called the Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET)  and it could be an even bigger part of the future. The Streets Department currently has a request for proposals to upgrade the citys 100,000 streetlights to smart LED lights. In addition to numerous benign features  light sensors, temperature gauges and humidity readings  smart-light capabilities include license plate readers, microphones, and cameras with facial recognition.

Philadelphia has not ruled out including any of those features in its eventual smart cities investment, a city spokesperson said. And the Police Department has not yet decided whether it will pursue a contract with Clearview AI.

The investigative applications of facial recognition are numerous, Kinebrew said. But for civil-rights advocates, its also a new frontier of concern  one with potential constitutional implications.

Clearview AI in particular has raised alarms. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal issued a blanket ban on its use in the state in January. That announcement followed a New York Times investigation that raised concerns about the security of the servers holding law-enforcement data. One expert warned, The weaponization possibilities of this are endless. The paper also revealed that the companys investors and clients used it to spy on dates and at business gatherings.

Paul Hetznecker, a defense and civil-rights lawyer, said ubiquitous facial-recognition cameras could raise the same privacy concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court found unacceptable in Carpenter v. United States. The court in 2018 found that using cell-site records to track a persons movement over time was a privacy violation.

With facial recognition, its even more dangerous and more invasive, Hetznecker said. Were moving toward a complete surveillance state.... It means your movement through public space becomes not a free and unfettered movement through a free society. It becomes something easily tracked and documented.

A coalition of social-justice organizers called Philly Tech Justice is beginning to organize around digital surveillance, specifically facial recognition, said Devren Washington of the Media Mobilizing Project.

A resolution before City Council calls for enhanced video surveillance near schools as a response to gun violence. To Washington, the intentions are good, but the technology is vulnerable to abuse  its like a high-tech answer to stop-and-frisk.

They ended up using stop and frisk against a whole slew of people who are innocent of doing anything but looking suspicious," he said. These investments in surveillance technologies are at the expense of investments into wraparound services  for instance, job training and treatment programs  "which have been shown across the country to massively reduce crime.

Kinebrew said facial recognition software is viewed only as an investigative tool, to be used in a discreet manner that limits the possibility of police action based on unverified results."

In addition, he said in an email, Facial recognition software could be effective for identifying persons with Alzheimers or dementia, as well as unidentified homicide victim cases.

JNET, the facial-recognition software in use by the department, can run comparisons with more than 35 million images, including PennDots database of driver photographs, as well as photos from state and county probation, parole, and prison databases. A brochure quotes Philadelphia Police Sgt. Andrew Callaghan from 2018 after a series of heroin and fentanyl arrests.

This would not have happened without the magic of JNET," he said.
NORTH SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Thinking about buying something online but afraid of a face-to-face exchange with a stranger?

The North Syracuse Police Department has established an internet purchase exchange location for just such meetups.

The zone consists of two parking spaces in front of the police station at 600 South Bay Road in the village.

People who have agreed to a local sale online can meet there to exchange the item being sold. The department said the area is under 24-hour surveillance by a video camera that is constantly recording.

Theres also an emergency telephone for folks to call if needed.

The North Syracuse police department has established an "internet exchange zone" in front of its station for the safe exchange of local online sales transactions. Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com

The department is the latest in a growing list of police departments that have established such zones for people who have arranged sales through Facebook, Craigslist and various mobile apps.

As such sales have grown, so too have reports of people being robbed and even killed during the transactions. In March 2018, a 20-year-old man was murdered in Trenton, New Jersey, when he went to buy a PlayStation from a seller from Facebook Marketplace. Two men were later charged with the killing.

The idea for internet exchange zones reportedly started with the Boca Raton police department in Florida after officers took note of several robberies stemming from online sales meetups.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

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.
For Shaboyd Cannon, it was a celebratory moment  one hed been anticipating for years, ever since he beat his latest rape arrest.

In a video recorded on his cellphone, Cannon points to a signed admission letter for Texas Southern Universitys law school for the 2019-2020 academic year and reaches across the desk to shake hands with Edward Rene, the schools assistant dean of admissions at the time.

This man has stuck with me since day one, Cannon says of Rene in the video.

Cannon became a key witness in a monthslong investigation into admissions improprieties that shocked TSU, cost Rene his job and led to a six-figure buyout of university President Austin Lane, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

School officials said that Cannon, 37, failed to disclose his arrest record, which included two sexual assault cases that did not result in convictions, and revoked his admission to law school. Cannon claimed Rene, who had worked at TSU since 1999, knew about his history all along. Cannon demanded to be readmitted.

TSU officials have provided few details about the scope of the scandal and have refused to release an audit report that the Chronicle requested under the states public records law. The Chronicle obtained a memo on Monday through a public records request with the State Auditors Office detailing the preliminary findings by TSUs internal auditor.

The Oct. 25, 2019, memo shows that auditor Charla Parker-Thompson found anomalies in admissions practices at the law school. She identified Rene as a person of interest and called for a full investigation.

Parker-Thompson sent the memo to TSUs board of regents stating that Rene had admitted a transfer student to the law school who had character and fitness issues. The memo stated that at least two other students were admitted despite failing to meet the academic requirements of the law school. One student reported paying $14,000 in cash to Rene in exchange for being admitted to the academic program and a $14,000 scholarship.

School administrators had already taken action against Rene and revoked the students admissions, including Cannons. Then, the board of regents stepped in.

The boards involvement led to an ugly, public confrontation with Lane and his supporters that eventually toppled the president of TSU, a historically black university in Houston that has served generations of students since its founding in 1927 in the days of segregation.

In an early February notice of termination, the regents said the president failed to notify them about fraudulent and dishonest activities in the law schools admissions process. Ultimately, however, the board found no wrongdoing on Lanes part, according to a settlement reached weeks later. Under that agreement, Lane stepped down and the board paid him a lump sum of $560,000, plus unpaid benefits, bringing the total buyout to $879,000, Lane said.

Messages left with Hasan Mack, the boards chairman, werent returned for this story.

Michael Olivas, a recently retired University of Houston law professor and former interim president of UH-Downtown, who was not involved in the investigation but has followed it in the media, said instances of wrongful admissions at universities arent uncommon.

What makes TSUs handling of the situation so unusual, Olivas said, is that regents usually dont deal with such matters. School officials had already dealt with Cannon when the board intervened.

The thing that is extraordinary about this is not that that it happened, but that it came so inflamed and toxic, Olivas said.

Past arrests

Cannon said he first met Rene in 2013 while working as an intern at the Texas Legislature. A resolution from Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who was a state lawmaker at the time, recognized Cannon for his outstanding work with the Thurgood Marshall School of Law Innocence Project.

Cannon said he and Rene reconnected after he encountered problems at his former school, the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, La. Cannon had already been dismissed once from the school in 2014 for not disclosing his arrest record  a misdemeanor shoplifting charge in 2008 and a rape charge in Albany, Ga., that was dismissed in April 2010 for insufficient evidence  on the admissions application he filed in 2011. The university allowed him to return that same year.

In 2015, Southern University police arrested Cannon after a student accused him of sexually assaulting her in the campus law library. Southern University Law Center once again expelled him.

Cannon said he was wrongfully accused. Court records show he posted $50,000 bond after his arrest but was never indicted in the case. A message left with the district attorneys office in East Baton Rouge Parish wasnt returned.

Cannon said he flew to Houston to meet with Rene in 2016 in hopes of enrolling in law school at TSU  a place where he already had a connection. Cannon enrolled in TSUs online graduate administration of justice program that spring, according to TSU documents.

Cannon provided the Chronicle with a December 2016 email exchange with Rene that he also sent to TSU officials. In the email thread, Cannon and Rene discussed whether Cannon should include his past arrests on his law-school application.

Dean you want me to tell them about the charges, they were dropped in May? Cannon wrote on Dec. 5, 2016.

If you check yes I can not help you! Rene replied.

That same month, Rene conditionally admitted Cannon as a visiting student at the law school for the spring 2017 semester, according to an admissions letter signed by Rene on Dec. 2, 2016. Rene wrote in the letter that once he received a letter of good standing from Southern University Law Center, Cannon would be admitted and allowed to complete nine credits. But the letter never came, Cannon said.

Meanwhile, Cannon filed a lawsuit against the Southern University Law Center in 2017 in federal court, alleging the school violated his rights by expelling him. He sought to be readmitted, but a judge dismissed the case. Cannon appealed. Southern University officials declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Emails provided by Cannon show that Rene was trying to secure Cannons transcript and letter of good academic standing from Southern University in the fall of 2018. His admission to TSUs law school finally was approved in 2019 and captured in the video with Rene.

But Cannon said that his admission to TSUs law school came with a caveat  though he would be admitted as a transfer student, none of his 70-plus credits he previously earned would transfer. Rene told him hed have to start from square one, Cannon said.

Truthful answers

Cannon said he began asking other people in the law school  including the law schools dean, Joan Bullock  whether he could be granted his transfer credits, even if it was only a portion. Cannon said he met with Bullock, who told him that she would consider his request and make a final decision about his admissions.

In a response to a request for a comment from Bullock, university spokesman Steve Scheffler said that it is TSUs policy to not comment on personnel matters and that Bullock couldnt answer questions about Rene or Cannon.

Cannon said officials had advised him that his credits had expired. Standards set by the American Bar Association, an accrediting body for law schools, state that a law degree should be completed no later than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at the law school or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit.

Cannon started law school in 2011 at Southern University  around eight years or 96 months before attempting to apply for the fall 2019 semester at TSUs law school.

But Cannon wouldnt take no for an answer.

I did not cooperate with them just letting me in school, admitting me as a transfer student, but not treating me as a transfer student, Cannon said. I begged and pleaded with them to give me at least a minimum 30 of the transferable hours. ... They were reluctant to (do) so.

In a letter dated Aug. 27, 2019, and obtained by the Houston Chronicle, Rene said Cannon was dishonest in his application for not including his past rape arrests. Cannon said the letter came after several conversations with Rene, during which Cannon says he disclosed his history.

It has come to our attention that you did not provide truthful answers on your law school application, Rene wrote. I must inform you that your acceptance as a transfer student has been rescinded and your application has been rejected.

Cannon said he was confused and angered. He began sending emails, contacting TSU officials and anyone who would listen. He had heated phone exchanges with Bullock, Cannon said, and sent several emails pleading and demanding to be admitted.

Cannon also began emailing members of TSUs board of regents.

Ultimately, Bullock rejected Cannons request to attend TSU, noting an admissions committee had reviewed his case and reached the same conclusion.

Bullock began scrutinizing other students who had been admitted by Rene. Her concerns were reflected in a letter she wrote last November to the American Bar Association, the law schools accrediting body, in which she said she terminated Rene.

Bullock said she reported the problem to TSU Provost Kendall Harris and Lane, and asked the internal auditors office for assistance.

As a consequence of my oversight, I terminated the assistant dean of admissions, Bullock wrote to Barry Currier, the ABAs managing director of accreditation and legal education. I had no trust or confidence in his ability to lead and manage the office because of his failure to follow all the rules and procedures required for transparency and for fair consideration of all applicants in compliance with ABA (standards).

Bullocks letter was sent the same month the board announced the discovery of improprieties in TSUs admissions process. The board said it had contacted law enforcement authorities and approved a comprehensive review by outside experts of the schools admissions and financial aid practices.

Lane later said the boards actions werent just unnecessary, they violated school policy, which states that school management  vice presidents, directors, managers and supervisors  are responsible for detecting fraudulent, dishonest or improper activities and should notify the universitys Office of Internal Audit & Assurance and university police, if necessary.

By the time the board began investigating, Bullock and other TSU officials had already removed Rene, Lane said, and TSUs internal auditor was examining the law schools admissions office.

Its clear that the board of regents did not follow the fraud policy and hijacked the internal auditors job of doing the investigation for her, Lane wrote in a letter that he later released, which objected to the boards efforts to oust him.

The fallout

In the end, Lane was caught in the fallout from the admissions scandal. The board of regents stated in the Feb. 4 notice of termination to Lane that he was responsible and failed to keep the board informed.

You and/or your subordinate allowed this student to be admitted into the university, the board stated in what appears to be a reference to Cannon attending the online graduate program.

Lane denied the claims, asserting that he and his staff adhered to university policy by reporting Cannons situation to the schools auditor. Lane said it was the auditors responsibility to investigate and report to the board.

On Feb. 20, Lane and the board reached the settlement that found no wrongdoing on Lanes part. Many of Lanes supporters said they are still shocked by his departure and how the board handled it.

Glenn Lewis, a former TSU board member who served as chairman for 11 years, said he didnt want to second-guess the boards conflict with Lane or the decision to buy out his contract. But he said Lanes departure caught him by surprise because he hadnt noticed any friction between Lane and Mack, the boards chairman.

It all happened kind of quickly, Lewis said.

Cannon said he found another law school to attend. And he holds no grudges against Rene.

He never took money from me. He was sympathetic for me, Cannon said. He was really a nice guy. I was really sad that s--- happened to him.

brittany.britto@chron.com

john.tedesco@chron.com
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The Indian Army launched anti-tank guided missiles and artillery shells at Pakistani Army positions opposite Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara sector recently, with visuals being released on Thursday.

The attack was in retaliation to the Pakistan Armys persistent ceasefire violations with an aim to push infiltrators across the Line of Control (LoC) in India.

Indian Army sources: Indian Army troops recently used Anti-Tank Guided Missiles&artillery shells to target Pakistan Army positions opposite Kupwara sector (J&K). Indian Army action was in response to frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan to push infiltrators into J&K.  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

READ | Ceasefire Violations By Pak Increased Manifold To Push Terrorists Into J-K: DGP

Here is a video of the attack.

#WATCH Indian Army Sources: Army troops recently used anti-tank guided missiles & artillery shells to target Pakistan Army positions opposite the Kupwara sector. This was in response to frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan to push infiltrators into Indian territory in J&K. pic.twitter.com/oHuglG0iQL  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

Earlier, in the month of February, the Indian Army had retaliated against similar ceasefire violations by Pakistan, which killed one Pakistan Army soldier. The action was in response to Pakistan Army's attempt to infiltrate terrorists in India from the Neelam Valley.

READ | 2 Civilians Injured In Pak Shelling Along LoC In J-K's Poonch

2,335 incidents of ceasefire violation in Jammu

There have been 2,335 incidents of ceasefire violation along the LoC in Jammu region between May 30 last year and January 20 this year, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik on Monday, February 4.

"There have been 2,335 incidents of ceasefire violations (CFVs) along Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region since 30 May 2019 (formation of the current government) till 20 January 2020," the minister noted in his written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. "In addition, 177 incidents of cross-border firing along Indo-Pak International Border in Jammu region since 30 May 2019 till 15 January 2020," the minister added. So far, there have been eight fatal casualties of Army personnel since 30 May last year, he stated.

READ | India Shows Mirror To Pak At UNHRC; Cites Terror-funding, Forced Conversions And More

READ | Pakistan Army Shells Areas Along LoC In J&K's Poonch
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday told Yes Bank Ltd depositors that the central bank will fully protect their interest and there was no need for them to panic. The central banks statement came after the Finance Ministry notified a moratorium that stopped continuation of all actions against the banking company from 6 pm on Thursday to 3 April. During this period, depositors will only be able to withdraw 50,000.

In a statement issued soon after the finance ministry order, the RBI issued a statement to assure depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic.

The central bank said it will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the banks reconstruction or amalgamation. The plan will be finalised well before the 30-day moratorium period ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time.

Yes Bank Ltds financial position has been declining steadily due to its inability to raise capital to address potential loan losses and resultant downgrades, triggering invocation of bond covenants by investors, and withdrawal of deposits.

The bank has also experienced serious governance issues and practices in recent years which have led to steady decline of the ban, the Reserve Bank of India said.

The central bank has superseded the banks board of directors for 30 days and appointed Prashant Kumar, the SBIs ex-Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer as the administrator of the company.

In the order imposing the withdrawal cap of 50,000, the finance ministry barred Yes Bank from paying more than 50,000 to a customer over the next one month. This limit would remain the same irrespective of the number of the accounts that a person may hold.

If a depositor maintains more than one account in the same capacity and in the same right, the total amount payable from all the accounts together shall not exceed the ( 50,000) limit, the finance ministry order said.

In cases where a depositor also owes money to the bank in any manner - either as a borrower or surety - payments will be paid to such depositor only after adjusting the relevant borrowal accounts.
A US Army veteran who believed he was helping ISIS terrorists plot a devastating attack on Kansas City, missouri, was sentenced Wednesday to 19 years in prison and a lifetime of probation.

Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr, 28, of Columbia, pleaded guilty last September to providing material support or resources to terrorists.

Prosecutors said Hester gave materials such as nails and duct tape to people he thought were members of ISIS but who were actually undercover federal agents.

Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr, 28, of Missouri, was sentenced Wednesday to 19 years in prison and lifetime of probation for providing material support or resources to terrorists

Hester came to the attention of the FBI in 2016 after posting comments on Facebook supporting radical Islamic ideology and expressing hostility toward the US

The FBI said Hester, who also went by the names Mohammed Junaid Al Amreeki, Junaid Muhammad, Rabbani Junaid Muhammad, Rami Talib and Ali Talib Muhammad, stated the US government should be 'overthrown' and that the government should be hit 'hard.'

An FBI undercover officer told Hester the 'attacks' were planned on buses, trains and a train station on President's Day in Kansas City.

Hester, who was married with two young daughters, came to the attention of the FBI in 2016 after posting several comments on four different Facebook accounts supporting radical Islamic ideology and expressing hostility toward the US, according to federal prosecutors.

'Hester indicated that he had converted to Islam, expressed animus toward the United States, and posted photos of weapons and the ISIS flag, among other material, suggesting an adherence to radical Islamic ideology and a propensity for violence,' according to a press release form the US Department of Justice.

In order to determine whether Hester posed a security threat, FBI agents using undercover identities reached out to Hester via social media, texting and face-to-face meetings.

Hester was enlisted in the US Army for less than a year. He received a general discharge from service in mid-2013 after reportedly violating regulations during combat training

Hester got married in 2012 and had two young daughters with his wife (pictured with wife Omni and one of their children as a baby)

During those encounters, Hester identified categories of potential targets for attack, including 'oil production,' 'military bases,' 'federal places,' 'government officials,' and 'Wall Street.'

He specified that '[a]ny government building in DC would get attention of everyone.'

He also was quoted as saying he wanted to unleash a 'global jihad' and carry out 'global jihad' and an attack '10 times' as deadly as the Boston Marathon bombings.

Citing his brief enlistment in the US Army, Hester also claimed proficiency with assault weapons and said that his favorite firearm was the AK-47 rifle.

He was enlisted in the US Army for less than a year, receiving a general discharge from service in mid-2013 after reportedly violating regulations during combat training.

According to federal officials, an undercover FBI agent pretending to be an ISIS operative 'provided Hester a number of opportunities to dissociate with no questions asked, but Hester repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to their plot.'

During one exchange, the agent told Hester he didn't have to take part but he allegedly responded: 'I'm down'.

Later, he told him he 'couldn't wait' for the attack and that it was 'time they pay for their atrocities'.

At the request of the bogus ISIS fighter, Hester obtained boxes roofing nails that he was told would be used as bomb components.

The Justice Department said undercover FBI agents pretending to be ISIS members repeatedly offered Hester an out, but each time he affirmed his commitment to carry out the plot

The undercover agent made clear to Hester that the nails purpose was to maximize the number of casualties, which left the retired soldier unfazed.

'In addition, Hester did not hesitate when the undercover showed him a cache of three machine guns and two handguns that would be used in the attack, and two pipes that would be used to construct the bombs,' according to the statement.

In January 2017, the undercover agent told Hester to buy 9-volt batteries, duct tape, copper wire and roofing nails to make a bomb.

He also asked him to buy ammunition, but the veteran said he would not be able to because of his criminal record, which included an October 2016 arrest stemming from an incident in which Hester threw a knife through a store window and reached for a gun hidden in a diaper bag during a fight with his wife.

On February 17, 2017, Hester delivered two more boxes of roofing nails to a meeting with the FBI agent at a storage facility. He was arrested moments later and has been in custody ever since.
Tennessees legislative push to allow anyone over the age of 21 to carry a gun without a permit is simply nuts. If you support this constitutional carry lunacy, then please do the following.



Give one of your guns to a person you know or a stranger who is in a custody battle, going through a divorce, facing some life altering situation like job loss or health issue, addicted to alcohol or other drugs, battling one or more mental issues or simply angry at the world. After you give them the gun and the bullets, let me know how much safer you feel.



I suspect I would hear the same line that it is our constitutional right to do what you support. You will also say the law will really punish the bad folks with guns. Lets say I agree with you. Does that mean it makes sense or is what is best for our country and ALL the citizens you are supposed to represent?Remember, there are other rights protected by our Constitution.



I have come to believe that support for this type of legislation is generated for only a few reasons. First, it is in alignment with your political party and leanings and it helps you raise money and keep your seat. Second, you grew up believing this and are unwilling to consider you might be wrong. Third, you think everyone who owns a gun or has a gun is just like you: sane, stable and reasonable. Guess what - they are not, and you may not be as sane as you think you are.



Dewayne Belew

Cleveland

* * *

Mr. Belew is not alone while making his complaint against Governor Lees push for so-called "Constitutional Carry" here in Tennessee; Roy Exum and Brenda Washington share his outrageand his faulty terminology. In their public postings here, each makes the same egregious (perhaps unknowing) error by leaving out one word or phrase  Legal ownership.



First  this bill is not a Constitutional Carry" bill by any means. A careful reading of the Bill clarifies this:



Quote (in part)

(a) that a person is carrying, whether openly or concealed, a handgun and:



(1) The person meets the qualifications for the issuance of an enhanced handgun carry permit under [Section] 39-17-1351(b) and (c); and

(2) The person lawfully possesses the handgun; and

(3) The person is in a place where the person has a right to be.



Unquote  [additions/deletions for clarity mine]



Note it states lawfully possesses. Not only that but just giving a handgun to a friend or stranger is illegal under federal law, regardless of the circumstances.



Finally, the bill clearly states penalties for violations.



This is hardly a Wild Wild West bill that Ms Washington implies.



R. Roland Smith

* * *

Mr. Belew uses imaginary scenarios (basically hyperbole and fear mongering) to make his case. Tennessee already allows almost anyone to have a gun in their home or car with no license at all.

Mr. Belew's points address issues that the Carry Law barely, if at all, affects.



Steve Campbell

* * *

Mssrs Smith and Campbell,

Let me ask you a question. Does knowing that when you and/or your family drive down the street, go out to eat, take in a movie or go to the mall you are in close proximity to any number of people, any one of whom may be mentally unstable, who are armed or carry guns around in their cars make you feel safer?







It surely doesnt make me feel that way.







Harry M. Hays
Mick Fanning's alleged stalker will be allowed to return to the legendary surfer's home state.

Sarah Anne Foote, 38, from Ballina on the far north coast of NSW, had her bail conditions changed during a brief appearance at the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday.

After initially only being allowed on Queensland soil for court appearances, she has been given permission by the courts to relocate to Brisbane, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Foote is facing two charges of stealing and one charge of unlawful stalking and entering a dwelling without consent.

She'll return to court on March 26.

Sarah Anne Foote (pictured), 38, allegedly wrote several love letters to the three-time world champion before breaking into his Gold Coast home on February 2

Foote allegedly wrote several love letters to the three-time world champion before the alleged break-in at his Gold Coast home on February 2.

Fanning revealed the details of his alleged run-in with the accused last month.

'When someone walks into your house, it's concerning, so that's why I called the police,' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Fanning is pictured with his American model girlfriend Breeana Randall

'I know the details of it, I was there, I look after people in my house and that's what I am doing.

'It is what it is, it's done, she was arrested. It's in the court's hands, it's in the police hands.'

Police allege that Foote had an 'unhealthy infatuation' with Fanning.

Fanning discovered the letters after returning from a three-week holiday.

Foote allegedly wrote a letter to Fanning was about how she had thoughts of killing him, while another was titled: 'Sarah loves Mick', Southport Magistrates Court heard

The surfer and his friends allegedly discovered Foote inside before she ran off after spending an unknown amount of time in his house.

Fanning retired from competitive surfing in 2018, finishing second to Brazilian Italo Ferreira in his final contest at the Rip Curl Pro Bell's Beach.

The 38-year-old ended his career with 22 elite tour wins and was famously attacked by a shark while competing at Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa in 2015.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 04:32:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ROME, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian authorities on Thursday confirmed 3,296 people tested positive to the new coronavirus, an increase of 590 cases compared to the previous day.

The figure did not include recoveries or fatalities, whose numbers were provided separately by Civil Protection Department chief Angelo Borrelli, who also serves as extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency.

"We have registered 138 new cases of people who have recovered and have been dismissed (by hospital), which brings the total number of recoveries so far to 414," Borrelli told a televised press conference at 6 p.m. local time.

"Forty-one more people died, which means the total number of fatalities has reached 148."

The official specified the victims ranged between 66 years and 94 years, and that "all of them were in fragile health conditions, and for a large majority, had previous diseases."

As in the previous days, the Health Ministry specified in the daily statement that the total of 148 fatalities "can be confirmed only upon certification of the effective cause of death by the National Health Institute (ISS)."

Adding death toll and recoveries, the country's total figure of assessed cases was 3,858, the ministry added.

Lombardy remained the region hit worst by the epidemic, with a daily increase of 280 infections that brought the total of 1,777 positive cases.

It was followed by Emilia Romagna region (142 new infections, and a total of 658 people who tested positive), and Veneto (35 new infections and 380 infections).

With regard to the 3,296 people positive to the new coronavirus, some 1,155 were currently under house confinement -- because of asymptomatic or with light symptoms -- another 1,790 were in hospital with symptoms, and 351 in intensive care.

"Those in intensive care units represent about 10 percent of the population overall affected by the coronavirus (including death toll and recoveries)," Borrelli told reporters.

He added recoveries made 10.73 percent, while fatalities made 3.84 percent of the total population affected so far.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Italy's Superior Institute of Health(ISS) explained that "the average age of the deceased positive to COVID-19 is 81 years; they are mostly male, and, in more than two-thirds of cases, they had three or more pre-existing diseases."

"This resulted from an analysis made by ISS on data concerning 105 Italian patients who died up to March 4, which highlights there are 20 years of difference between the average age of the deceased and that of virus-positive patients," the ISS stated.
The Senate voted on Thursday to overwhelmingly approve a sweeping spending package to direct billions of dollars toward the US government's response to the coronavirus outbreak as lawmakers scramble to fight the spread of the disease.

The package will next be sent to the White House for the President's signature. It passed the House on Wednesday with broad, bipartisan support.

BREAKING NEWS: An $8.3 billion emergency aid package that exceeds the limited WH request has been agreed to. Votes later. It includes items Ive pushed for to support CDC, FDA, local govts, & small biz. Communities in OR & across the country need help now.https://t.co/NS8UVfKPUD  Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) March 4, 2020

The finally tally for the Senate vote was 96-1. Sen. Rand Paul was the lone senator to vote against the measure. Ahead of the vote on final passage, the Kentucky Republican also offered an amendment to the coronavirus funding package that would offset costs by canceling some foreign aid spending. But the Senate voted to table, or kill, the motion.

LIVE UPDATES: Coronavirus outbreak spreads across the world

The agreement provides $7.8 billion in appropriations to address the outbreak of coronavirus as well as an authorization for $500 million in mandatory spending to fund a telehealth program in an effort to expand access to health services for seniors for a total of $8.3 billion in all.

Lawmakers have been meeting for days to hammer out a package to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The total funding package that will be allocated by the deal is an amount far higher than the $2.5 billion White House request. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed $8.5 billion to deal with the outbreak.

Last week, however, the President opened the door to a higher spending level to combat coronavirus than what the White House initially requested, saying, 'We'll spend whatever is appropriate.'

The White House is expected to back the deal with President Donald Trump tweeting on Wednesday after the House approved the package, 'Congress has agreed to provide $8 Billion to fight Coronavirus!' and 'This is great news for our Health, our Economy, and our Nation!'

Some Republican senators, though, expressed unease at the price tag of the deal.

GOP Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said ahead of the final vote that he anticipated some budget-conscious Republicans would vote against the package because of its large price tag, though he didn't indicate who might oppose it.

'Not everyone will vote for the bill. But they would not have voted for it at $2.2 billion either,' Blunt said, referring to the much smaller original supplemental request from the White House.

In a show of bipartisan support, however, GOP Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking member on the committee, both spoke on the floor about the legislation ahead of the final vote.

'Today we face a serious global crisis with the spread of the coronavirus, we all know that. The American people, I believe, expect us here in the US Senate to set aside politics and set into motion a swift and sweeping response to this danger,' Shelby said.

Leahy said in his own remarks on the floor, 'We have tried to set an example, the two of us, from two different parties, two different parts of the country, I think it's fair to say two different political philosophies. We have come together on this as we have on so many other issues in appropriations to give an example to our colleagues of what we think is best.'
A snake catcher in Queensland, Australia, said he considered himself lucky not to have been attacked after he opened a drawer full of DVDs on March 4 and found a deadly eastern brown snake coiled among the cases.

Stuart McKenzie, the Director of Operations at Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7, recorded this video in Bokarina, a coastal suburb of the Sunshine Coast region. He told Storyful finding this particular snake was a surprise.

He explained on Facebook that based on the description of the snake, he originally thought he was searching for a tree snake. According to the Queensland Museum, brown tree snakes are not generally considered to be dangerous. Eastern brown snakes, however, have been responsible for the most deaths caused by snakebite in Australia, according to the Australian Reptile Park.

McKenzie said he was fortunate he was taking his time while looking for the snake.

This may have ended badly if I was being complacent, he said on the post. One thing I have learnt over the years is to expect the unexpected, and thats exactly what happened today.

The video shows McKenzie carefully lifting the snake from the drawer and putting it in a bag. Credit: Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 via Storyful
The notorious New York City prison where pedophile Jeffrey Epstein killed himself has been on lockdown for six days in a bid to track down a smuggled gun, officials have revealed.

Inmates in the Metropolitan Correctional Center prison - where the financier, 66, was found hanged in his cell - are reportedly being kept under 24-hour confinement and have gone days without showers.

Authorities have been searching for a possible gun that is believed to have been smuggled into the correction facility, The New York Post reports.

The inmates have told their attorneys they have not been fed hot meals for six days - and are being forced to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The notorious New York City prison where pedophile Jeffrey Epstein killed himself has been on lockdown for six days in a bid to track down a smuggled gun

Campaigners New York Federal Defenders have since filed a letter about a lockdown to complain about federal prison conditions.

However Tyrone Covington, the union head who represents MCC correction officers, told the news outlet that the inmates were receiving showers and food.

'I think it's practical when you're trying to ensure someone's safety,' he added.

The prison, situated in Lower Manhattan, has come under fire since Epstein was found dead in his cell on August 10 last year.

Two correctional officers who were responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night he hanged himself were allegedly shopping online for furniture and napping

Footage taken from a least one camera outside the financier's jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan has been determined to be unusable

Two correctional officers who were responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night he hanged himself were allegedly shopping online for furniture and napping instead of checking on the millionaire pedophile in his jail cell 15 feet away from them.

After they discovered the high-profile inmate dead, the officers allegedly told a supervisor they had 'messed up' and 'didn't do any checks' in the hours before he killed himself.

Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself on August 10 in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges

The two guards are accused of repeatedly signing false certifications saying that they had conducted multiple counts of inmates during their shift.

The prisoners were not checked on for eight hours, according to the indictment. The guards discovered Epstein's body at 6.30am.

Epstein hanged himself on August 10 in his cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

His death has triggered investigations by the FBI, the US Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which runs the detention facility.

It also prompted outrage and disbelief over how such a high-profile prisoner, known for socializing with powerful people including presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, could have been left without surveillance at the federal facility.

Epstein's suicide occurred despite a previous attempt on July 23 when he was found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck.
TOYAHVALE  After careful consultation with onsite contractors, Balmorhea State Parks closure has been extended to summer of this year, according to release from the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The extended closure will allow contractors to complete the four major construction projects without compromising the visitors experience and safety, according to the press release. Construction projects in progress at Balmorhea State Park include removal and replacement of all existing septic systems, replacement of the chain-link fence surrounding the pool to one made of wrought iron and limestone, reconstruction of the CCC pergola near the diving board, campground and San Solomon Courts repairs, and renovations to the managers house and concession building.
Five new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Singapore, taking the total number of people infected by the deadly virus to 117 in the country, the Health Ministry here said on Thursday.

The new cases include three Singaporean women linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster, an armed forces club in the West Coastand, and a French national. The fifth patient is a male Singaporean citizen.

The French national working in Singapore had travelled to France, Portugal and the UK between February 8 and March 3. The Singaporean citizens have no recent travel history to affected regions, the Ministry of Health said.

As of March 5, Singapore has confirmed 117 cases, it said.

To date, seven coronavirus patients are in the intensive care units while 36 confirmed cases are still in hospital but stable or improving.

A total of 81 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital. Two of them were discharged Thursday, the Ministry said.

It said the contact tracing for the confirmed cases was going on.

As of March 5, a total of 3,291 close contacts have been identified and they have been quarantined, the Ministry said.

Of these, 381 are currently quarantined, and 2,910 have completed their quarantine.

The coronavirus outbreak which first originated in China in December last year has infected over 95,000 people and resulted in more than 3,200 deaths worlwide.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A general view of Dorothy Henderson Lodge in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park in Sydney, Australia on March 5, 2020. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Australian Woman Dies at Age 95 After Contracting Coronavirus

A 95-year-old female nursing home resident had the coronavirus when she died in hospital, after contracting the deadly illness from one of the facilitys nurses, NSW Health has confirmed.

The case of the woman, who was living at BaptistCares Dorothy Henderson Lodge at Macquarie Park west of Sydney, takes the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state to 22.

A general view of Dorothy Henderson Lodge in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park in Sydney, Australia on March 5, 2020. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Thats up from the 16 confirmed cases recorded before another six people were confirmed as testing positive late on Wednesday night.

The woman is the first person to die from the virus in NSW and the second across the nation after a 78-year-old man died in Perth earlier this week.

The NSW chief medical officer Kerry Chant extended her sympathy to the family of the woman, who died on Tuesday.

A general view of Dorothy Henderson Lodge in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park in Sydney, Australia on March 5, 2020. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

The other five new cases confirmed on Wednesday night include another female resident, 70, from Dorothy Henderson Lodge, a female doctor working at Liverpool Hospital, a female patient from the northern beaches, a man from Cronulla and a woman believed to have returned from the Philippines.

The female doctor had no history of overseas travel.

We are immediately establishing which staff and patients (at Liverpool Hospital) may need to self-isolate and be tested for COVID-19 should they be unwell, Chant said in a statement late Wednesday night.

The aged care nurse working at Dorothy Henderson Lodge, aged in her 50s, was confirmed positive for the virus on Tuesday and is in a stable condition in hospital.

Eleven of the 13 residents she was caring for have been placed in isolation.

Another resident, an 82-year-old man, was confirmed to have COVID-19 before the other new cases were identified.

Chant said the nurse was a much-loved worker at the facility and had worked there for more than two decades.

The woman believed to have returned to Australia from the Phillippines is aged in her 60s and arrived on March 3.

Her travel details are being obtained and will be disclosed if she posed a risk to any other passengers on her flight, Chant said.

Authorities are still trying to establish the recent movements of the woman aged in her 30s from the northern beaches and the man in his 50s from Cronulla.

NSW Health is also seeking passengers who were on five separate flights from Asia in the past week after two men in their 30s, a man in his 50s and two women in their 60s tested positive following their arrival in NSW.

They traveled from Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

Qantas on Wednesday canceled its QF1 Sydney-to-London flight after it was advised that several passengers who had recently traveled on various airlines had tested COVID-19 positive.

The airline said it was doing some additional cleaning of the aircraft as a precaution.
Since Sunday, 13 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in New York, and residents have adopted a variety of strategies to curb the spread of the illness.

[Two new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New York City.]

Heres how the outbreak, and the reaction to it, has unfolded in New York:

The first case, on Sunday: A health care worker

State officials announced on Sunday that a Manhattan woman, 39, had contracted the coronavirus. The woman, a health care worker, had returned to New York after visiting Iran, a hot spot for the outbreak.

The woman, who did not take public transportation home from the airport, has been in isolation with her husband  who has tested negative for the virus  since returning. On Wednesday, Governor Cuomo said she was recovering.

The second case, on Tuesday: A lawyer

Before the state had confirmed the first case, another case was developing: A man from New Rochelle, just north of New York City, became ill on Feb. 22. A neighbor drove him to a hospital in Westchester County on Feb. 27.
Yesterday, the OPEC + countries could not agree on the deepening of oil cuts at a meeting of the Ministerial Monitoring Committee in Vienna. Meanwhile, as S&P Global Platts writes in the article Libyan recovery could neutralize OPEC's plans to cut deeper, the OPEC+ countries are closely following the situation in fellow member Libya, whose production has been almost decimated by the civil war in the country, where oil has increasingly been used as a weapon.

The 23-country producer coalition, dubbed OPEC+, is on the verge of undertaking hefty production cuts to neutralize the sharp fall in demand brought about by the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Sources have told S&P Global Platts that OPEC is concerned that the return of Libyan crude to the market would thwart its future production strategy.

Wary of Libya return

The removal of more than 1 million b/d of Libyan oil from the market since mid-January has barely had an impact on oil prices, which have in fact crashed by almost 25% on fears that COVID-19 could substantially reduce oil demand this year.

Indeed, any deepening of the coalition's production cuts could be undone by the return of Libya's oil -- reduced by around 1 million b/d at present by blockades at the country's key oil terminals. "OPEC will be in a soup if they decide to cut around 1 million b/d more and then a few weeks later 1 million b/d of Libya's production comes back," said another source, emphasizing that this lost output could come back online relatively swiftly.

Sources also said that the international community has not put enough pressure on Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, which has orchestrated the oil blockade, to reopen the country's terminals. Some of Haftar's key allies are Russia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are part of the OPEC+ coalition. Haftar's plans of effectively switching off Libya's oil actually aligns somewhat with the OPEC+ strategy to prop up oil prices, according to Hamish Kinnear, an analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

"With COVID-19 hitting oil demand, Saudi-UAE pushing for production cuts and US disinterest in conflict resolution, I don't think that the oil blockade is ending anytime soon (until early April at least)," Kinnear said. "Saudi is pushing for 1 million b/d in cuts, and if the Libyan taps were turned back on this would be wiped out," he added.

The chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, has surprisingly not been in favor of deeper production cuts. Speaking to reporters in Vienna, Sanalla said there is no need to cut further, with 1 million b/d of the country's crude already off the market.

Most analysts have said OPEC+ needs Libyan oil to be offline for the first half of this year for the deeper cuts to have substantive effects, as this would help keep global stockpiles low.

Downward spiral

Libya's crude production, as high as 1.22 million b/d before the latest blockade, has plummeted to 120,000 b/d in the past week -- the lowest level since late-2011, when a civil war tore the country apart and led to the downfall of Moammar Qadhafi. According to state-owned NOC, output could fall even further to just 72,000 b/d in the coming days, with exports already limited to only offshore terminals.

Sanalla said Tuesday that Libya was currently producing around 121,000-123,000 b/d because of the blockade. Since January 18, east Libyan tribesmen -- supported by Haftar -- have orchestrated an oil port blockade, slashing the country's oil output.

Haftar controls the bulk of Libya's key oil infrastructure, but does not have access to its oil revenues, which are handled by the Central Bank of Libya. By holding the ports hostage, he is hoping to starve off revenues to the UN-backed Government of National Accord, allowing him to capture Tripoli and other parts of western Libya.

But with the chances of LNA and GNA agreeing a wider political agreement looking doubtful, most analysts do not expect Libyan oil to return to the market very soon.

"A resumption hinges on a fair distribution of proceeds from oil and gas exports, which in turn depends on how things evolve on the military front," said Iliasse Sdiqui, associate director at Whispering Bell, a risk management company covering Libya. "A return to full-blown military escalation is likely in the medium term. The narrative developing on the ground is gradually moving towards escalation. " "In Libya, a political resolution remains elusive in the near term, as the recent intensification of battles near Tripoli could be extended, weighing on oil export recovery prospects," Barclays said in an analyst note.

Sanalla, however, has chosen to remain optimistic that a deal to reopen the oil terminals could be reached soon. "I can say we are working very hard with all parties inside and outside. We try to mitigate that and I think we're always optimistic," he said. "And I'm sure that we are going to reach [1 million b/d] very soon and have no technical problem...We can get back to 1 million b/d within days [once production restarts]," he added.
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Linkedin Eric Roston (Bloomberg) New York, United States  Thu, March 5, 2020 18:07 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20689d965 2 Environment rainforest,tropical-rainforest,tropical-forest,carbon-dioxide,emission,nature,environmental-damage Free

Humanity has pushed atmospheric carbon dioxide levels almost 50% higher than they were before industrialization. That dramatic number would be even higher without tropical forests, which have been absorbing as much as 17% of CO emissions along the way.

Unfortunately, rainforests cant capture carbon like they used to.

In a new study using 30 years of data from pristine Amazon and African tropical forests, researchers found the actual rate CO-reduction rate peaked a quarter-century ago. These rainforests absorbed about a third less CO over the past decade than they did the 1990s, according to the study published in the journal Nature. Thats a difference of 21 billion metric tonsor roughly similar to a decade of fossil-fuel emissions from the UK, Canada, Germany, and France combined.

South American forests began their decline more quickly than their African counterparts, which showed slowing only around 2010. The Amazon, which is worlds largest tropical forest, may turn into a source of emissions by 2035 if it continues to lose the ability to store new carbon at its current rate. Weve always taken it for granted, says Wannes Hubau, a researcher at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, but now we see that it may not last.

Hubau and Simon Lewis, professor in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds, led the study with more than 100 co-authors. The dataset is made up of hundreds of thousands of standardized measurements taken on 565 remote forest plots in as many as 20 African and South American nations.

These are the largest remaining tracts of intact tropical forests on the planet, says Johanne Pelletier, a fellow at Cornell University who wasnt involved with the study but is familiar with its findings. Without the forests help, the CO that we produce will accumulate in the atmosphere faster. The impacts of climate change will happen faster. It will also make it harder and more costly to stabilize the climate system.

The decline of tropical forests as long-terms vaults for carbon dioxide is a momentous change in how Earth systems cope with humanitys penchant for turning carbon-rich minerals into atmospheric gas. The researchers note that their grim findings may also influence global climate policy debates. Scientific models had been projecting that forests would continue to consume our CO emissions for decades to come. If those projections turn out to be wrong, the study warns, nations have much less time to meet any given commitment to limit the global heating of the Earth.

Deforestation and wildfires are widely understood to destroy tropical biomesbut those can be limited or at least managed somewhat by government conservation and forest policies. The authors of the Nature paper demonstrate that trees are dying at higher rates regardless of human-caused damage. Rising CO, volatile temperatures, and more prevalent drought may be affecting the internal dynamics of the tropical forests themselves, Hubau says, and those are very difficult for scientists to model.

The fact remains, however, that the greatest direct threat to intact tropical forests is deforestation and forest degradation, which remains unabated, says Cornells Pelletier.

Forests outside the tropics have stepped up their appetite for CO even as tropical forests have passed their peak. Northern, or boreal, forests surpassed tropical areas in the amount of CO absorbed over the past two decades. All forests and land vegetation together absorb about 30% of human CO emissions. Oceans draw down about another 25% of emissions, leaving just 45% of emissions up in the air.

The study is not good news in terms of the carbon cycle and CO sequestration by tropical forests in Africa and Amazonia, says Thomas Lovejoy, senior fellow in biodiversity and environmental science at the UN Foundation, who wasnt involved in the research. The biggest take-home is that for a properly functioning planet, atmospheric CO levels need reduction.
Chinese students and their supporters hold a memorial for Dr Li Wenliang, who was the whistleblower of the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, and caused the doctor's death in that city, outside the UCLA campus in Westwood, Calif., on Feb. 15, 2020. (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

US Senate Unanimously Honors Chinas Coronavirus Whistleblower

The U.S. Senate has honored the Chinese doctor who raised the alarm on the outbreak of the coronavirus late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

By unanimous consent, the Senate on March 3 passed Sen. Tom Cottons (R-Ark.) resolution to commemorate the life of Dr. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist who warned his former medical school classmates that the hospital where he worked had quarantined seven patients with a disease similar to SARS, the deadly respiratory disease that ravaged China in 2003.

Li later updated his closed WeChat group with the information that the disease was indeed caused by a coronavirus like the SARS virus, but that it was a new sub-type.

As Cotton said in his Senate floor speech about his resolution, Dr. Li tragically fell victim to that very diseasebut not before he was victimized by his own government, the Chinese Communist Party.

Cottons resolution was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of five other senators.

Perhaps the greatest irony for Li was that he was reportedly a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the very organization that forced him to recant the rumors he had spread.

The Chengdu Business Daily, in an article filed on Feb. 7, the day Li died, reported that the doctor had joined the CCP in his sophomore year of college. Less than 6 percent of all Chinese citizens are reported to be card-carrying Party members.

The resolution, titled Commemorating the Life of Dr. Li Wenliang and Calling for Transparency and Cooperation from the Government of the Peoples Republic of China and the Communist Party of China, describes in detail the efforts that Li made to ensure that his former medical school classmates knew that a new type of SARS had hit Wuhan.

Posting the virus report in his WeChat group in the late afternoon of Dec. 30, Li urged his friends to take precautions for themselves and for their families. On Dec. 31, the regime said there was an unknown pneumonia in Wuhan. Around Jan. 8, it said there was a viral pneumonia. Not until Jan. 20 were the Chinese people told this new pneumonia was able to spread with human-to-human contact.

As reported in Beijing News on Jan. 31, Li said:

At that time, 7 people from the South China Fruit and Seafood Market came to our hospital for treatment and were then quarantined. Initially, the test results of these seven individuals showed that they were infected with SARS coronavirus. I sent these messages in the group to remind everyone and their loved ones to take precautions. I also told everyone in the group not to circulate the news and test reports. I did not expect that the news would be spread out soon.

China Digital Times reported, Dr. Lis death has galvanized public opinion in China, with untold numbers of Chinese netizens openly calling for freedom of expression, first with the hashtag #WeWantFreeSpeech, and then, when that was taken down by censors, #WeDemandFreeSpeech.

According to the South China Morning Post, academics at Central China Normal University in Wuhan quoted Chinas constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, and posted a letter online calling for the government to admit its mistakes, apologize, and name Li a martyr.

Urges Openness and Transparency

Cottons speech and the resolution itself express support for the Chinese people and gratitude to Chinese medical personnel and citizens on the front lines of the epidemic.

The resolution goes on to urge China to be open and transparent in its investigation and response to the epidemic, and to ensure that Chinese citizens and the international community have free and unfettered access, without censorship, to information on the disease.

It also calls on China to fully cooperate with the United States, international health organizations, and nations whose health systems already face high burdens.

Included is a call for China to cease efforts to exclude Taiwan from international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Foreign Policy noted on Jan. 22 that Beijing has been successfully blocking Taiwan from participation in international organizations since 2016, when President Tsai Ing-wen was first elected. China invokes the October 1971 U.N. resolution stating that the Peoples Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations as its tool to keep Taiwan out of WHO, despite cases of the coronavirus having found their way to the island.

Cotton, in his speech, called out Beijing for initially denouncing Lis report. Thats been the pattern of the Chinese Communist Partys response to the coronavirus from the very beginning: First coverup, and then catastrophe, he said.

The resolution closes by strongly supporting the people of China in their demand for freedom of speech and affirming that freedom of expression is a social good that enables experts to sound public health warnings.

Li was a 34-year-old native of northeast Chinas Liaoning Province. He was married and the father of a 5-year-old child. His wife is pregnant with their second child.
Tokio Marine HCC has agreed to snatch up GCube, a managing general agent with a focus on renewable energy risks.

The deal is expected to close in the 2020 second quarter, pending the usual regulatory approval process and other customary closing conditions. Neither side disclosed financial terms.

Tokio Marine HCC noted in its deal announcement that GCube is one of the worlds largest underwriters of renewable energy, covering wind, solar, bio, hydro, wave and tidal projects globally. The business writes global property and liability cover for renewable energy construction and operational risks in 40 countries around the world and is a significant capacity provider for the market.

GCube employs approximately 50 people and is based in London, with additional offices in Amsterdam, New York and Newport Beach, Calif.

Barry Cook, chief executive officer of Tokio Marine HCC  International Group, said in prepared remarks that the planned acquisition of GCube reinforces his companys commitment to the renewable energy insurance market as well as its desire to promote sustainable resources.

As well, Cook noted that GCube adds more muscle to its existing classes of specialty insurance and continues his companys strategy of acquiring businesses with real market-leading expertise that can complement Tokio Marine HCCs portfolio and also help grow and diversify operations.

Tokio Marine HCC is a member of the Tokio Marine Group, a Japanese global insurer founded in 1879 with a market capitalization of $39 billion as of Dec. 31, 2019. Tokio Marine HCC, based in Houston, is a specialty insurance group with offices in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

Source: Tokio Marine HCC
You are here: China

China's Ministry of Education (MOE) will expand channels for college graduates to pursue further education or find jobs amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

The country's bachelor's degree programs will expand enrollment and will be geared toward sectors that serve the national strategies and those that are urgently needed for people's wellbeing, according to a circular issued by the MOE.

Universities and colleges will admit more junior college students this year, said the circular.

To facilitate the employment of college graduates, the country will expand recruitment in senior high schools and kindergartens where teachers are urgently needed, and encourage more graduates to find jobs or start businesses in sectors including modern agriculture and social public services.

College graduates will also be encouraged to join the military, according to the circular.

Online job fairs will be unveiled to facilitate job-seeking, it said, adding that graduates from virus-battered Hubei Province will enjoy preferential policies in employment and further education.

China expects to see a total of 8.74 million college graduates this year, data from the MOE showed.




Haiti - Politic : Statement by Jovenel Moise on Joseph Jouthe





Wednesday at the National Palace, in the presence of the senior officials of the State, personality of the Civil society, the political class and the diplomatic corps took place the ceremony of taking office of Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe (appointed on March https: //www.haitilibre.com/article-30159-haiti-flash-jovenel-moise-nomme-un-nouveau-premier-ministre.html) and his Government and the delivery of the amalgamation by President Jovenel Moise.



In his speech, the Head of State declared "[...] Let me pay tribute to the outgoing Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Michel Lapin and his Government who have been at the service of the Republic for almost twelve months. They accomplished their tasks with patriotism in a particularly difficult, agitated and uncertain context.



The choice made for Prime Minister Jouthe Joseph was not a coincidence. His experience in public administration and his expertise in various fields make him a reference personality.



We need men and women soldiers who go into battle, who will make war for hunger, insecurity, unemployment. Citizens who will fight smuggling, tax evasion and avoidance, extra-billing, corruption and social injustice.



We need men and women who do not hold ministerial positions to help themselves and get rich. We need dedicated people to transform this predatory state into a servant State.



We need men and women whose exemplarity will give citizens confidence in the State. We need men and women who have a high sense of responsibility and who will display impeccable behavior at all times [...]" adding to the attention of the new Prime Minister "[...] The situation is serious and we don't have much time. The people are hungry and they need security. Get to work quickly, the people expect quick and effective solutions [...]" then to the ministers of the new cabinet "[...] We must work with financial partners, especially the IMF to have a new budget quickly. It is through this budget that we will judge your government [...]"



For his part, the new Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe has promised "[...] My Government will work to restore a security climate in the country. The second priority point of this new government is the reduction of social inequalities. The third priority axis is the revival of the national economy."



Official list of Ministers of the Jouthe Government : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30184-haiti-flash-composition-of-the-new-jouthe-moise-government.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Suspects in a burglary Wednesday led Alameda County sheriff's deputies on a chase through Dublin and then Oakland, where they abandoned their car and successfully got away on foot, authorities said via social media.

Deputies responding to a home burglary report at 12:30 p.m. on Gramercy Way in unincorporated San Leandro saw the burglars flee as they arrived and undertook a pursuit that went to Dublin and then to Oakland. That's where the suspects fled on foot at Edwards Avenue by Interstate Highway 580.
Weigum has been living on the 3200 block of St. John's Avenue near 32nd Street West for 42 years. Winds this week have covered part of her lawn with dirt, and some of it has even slipped past her front door.

"We couldn't see anything but dust the last two days," she said. "I was thinking today the West End is going to be blown downtown."

About four residents near the Centennial Park project called the Billings Parks and Recreation Department recently about the blowing dirt to see if anything could be done, Director Michael Whitaker said Wednesday afternoon.

The contractor on the project was contacted Wednesday to see if they could wet the dirt to try and create a crust that would blow less.

City park planner Mark Jarvis said that there is a limit to what can be done considering the conditions.

"With high winds at 60 miles an hour, it's not a whole lot you can do about it," Jarvis said.

Work on the Centennial Park project is expected to resume next week. The contractor has 30 days to finish the current phase of the project, which includes putting down soil, finishing the irrigation system and seeding.
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will meet Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday on "critical issues" on the Mamata Banerjee government's rule in the state. He is also expected to apprise Mr Shah of the "ground reality" he has found. Mr Dhankhar's scheduled meeting comes close on the heels of Mr Shah's day-long visit to the state on March 1.

On Thursday the Raj Bhavan stated, "The meeting is taking place at the initiative of Governor Dhankhar. This will be the first meeting between of Governor Dhankhar with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah since assumption of the office of Governor of State of West Bengal. After taking oath of office as Governor on July 30, Governor Dhankhar had as per custom formally called on the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Union Home Minister."

It elaborated, "Governor Dhankhar has indicated that he has by now been in office for over seven months. During this period he has been able to get updates from various quarters as regards critical issues of governance in the State. He has also felt the pulse of the people. Governor Dhankhar has indicated that as per his oath under Article 159 of the Constitution, he has to do his utmost for the service of the people."

According to the Raj Bhavan, "In the meeting welfare of the people State of West Bengal would be uppermost in his mind. He will avail the opportunity of this meeting by apprising the Union Home Minister on various issues that are relevant and critical to governance in the State. He would obviously advert to areas of concern as also of challenge."

It added, "Over these seven months, that in several ways have been sufficiently indicative of the state of affairs in the State, he has also come to gather ground reality by his numerous visits outside the State Capital."
Global banking giant HSBC has filed a winding up petition in a Singapore court against an overseas subsidiary of IL&FS Transport Services Ltd (ITNL) for recovery of dues totalling more than Rs 1,000 crore. In the first such case against a group entity of crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) Group, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is seeking to recover its funds parked in bonds worth RMB 1,000 million (over Rs 1,050 crore) maturing in 2021, which were issued by ITNL Offshore Pte Ltd.

As per a notice published in Singapore's government gazette on March 3, HSBC filed its application for winding up of ITNL Offshore Pte Ltd in Singapore High Court on February 27.

The application has been listed for hearing on March 20 and "any creditor or contributory of the company desiring to support or oppose the making of an order on the winding up application may appear at the time of hearing by himself or his counsel for that purpose", the notice said.

When contacted, an IL&FS spokesperson told PTI, "The company is engaging with bondholders and aims to arrive at an amicable solution to resolve their debt."

After a huge crisis came to light due to outstanding debt of over Rs 90,000 crore at IL&FS, the government in October 2018 seized control of the debt-trapped company and superseded its board by appointing a new one, led by eminent banker Uday Kotak as its chairman.

ITNL alone is said to account for outstanding debt totalling nearly Rs 40,000 crore, while the company and many other subsidiaries of IL&FS have defaulted on several debt instruments due to insufficient funds.

The new board, as part of the overall resolution process for the IL&FS Group, has sold a number of assets to clear dues and debt.

ITNL and several other IL&FS entities are also facing multiple probes for alleged wrongdoings by the erstwhile management, while role of auditors and credit rating agencies have also come under the scanner.

On Wednesday, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal dismissed pleas of auditors of debt-ridden IL&FS -- Deloitte Haskins & Sells and KPMG arm BSR & Associates -- along with independent directors challenging their impleadment in the case of alleged fraud at group firm IFIN.

The central government had submitted that the act of fraud perpetuated is on account of "mis-representation and falsehoods about the financial state of affairs" of IFIN, which jeopardised its financial health and also caused serious damage and financial loss to various stakeholders.
A gender neutral sign is posted outside a bathrooms at Oval Park Grill in Durham, North Carolina on May 11, 2016. (Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

High School Closes Gender-Neutral Bathroom After Student Arrested for Alleged Sexual Assault

Authorities arrested an 18-year-old high school student in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, after an alleged sexual assault took place in the schools gender-neutral bathroom.

According to News 9 WOAW, 18-year-old Austin Sauer was arrested on Thursday on charges of child enticement, fourth-degree sexual assault, and exposing genitals to a child, the sex of whom has not been reported.

The Wisconsin state law defines fourth-degree sexual assault as sexual contact with a person without the consent of that person.

An officer from the Oneida County Sheriffs Department told the local ABC affiliate that the incident took place in a gender-neutral bathroom at Rhinelander High School. The school has promptly closed that bathroom.

In a statement released to WOAW, Rhinelander School District Superintendent Kelli Jacobi said that both students went into the bathroom voluntarily.

This was not a random incident, as both students went into the bathroom voluntarily, she said. The male student will no longer be able to be on school grounds, and the gender-neutral bathroom is no longer available to students.

Sauer was released on a $1,500 signature bond, according to WAOW.

WAOW reported on the opening of Rhinelander Highs gender-neutral bathroom in October 2019. The school turned a former mens bathroom into a gender-neutral space in order to make meet the increasing needs of students coming out as transgender or gender expansive.

One transgender male student told the news outlet at that time that the gender-neutral bathroom made a big difference in his life because he no longer had to go to the other floor to use the nurses bathroom, which sometimes made him late for the class.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower courts decision in a privacy lawsuit against a public school district in Dallas, Oregon. A panel of three judges ruled in favor of the school district, saying that it did not violate federal law or constitutional rights with a student safety plan that allows transgender students to use bathroom, locker, and shower facilities that match their self-identified gender.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court last May refused to hear an appeal in a case from Pennsylvania, in which lower federal courts upheld a school districts policy of permitting transgender students to use restrooms or locker rooms matching their gender identity. Four students, who felt uncomfortable with the policy, sued the school district on the basis that it violated their privacy rights and federal laws under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.




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by Sumon Corraya

For bishops, the countrys poverty and large population are a source of major concern. We have sent brochures to priests so that during their Sunday homily, they can explain to people how they can protect themselves, says a health professional.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  The Catholic Church of Bangladesh is concerned about the great risk Bangladesh is facing as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. For this reason, it is taking some steps.

So far, Bangladesh has not reported any cases. However, local media yesterday cited the case of a Bangladeshi infected in Italy. At the same time, Chinas ambassador to Bangladesh recently said that screening in the country is inadequate, whilst the United States deems the South Asian nation among its top 25 high-risk countries.

Dr Edward Pallab Rozario, secretary to the Episcopal Commission for Health Care (EC-HC), spoke to AsiaNews about the situation.

"Catholic bishops are very worried about the coronavirus epidemic, he said. We recently met to discuss the issue and expressed our concerns, because Bangladesh is a very populated country. If the coronavirus arrives, it will seriously harm people. As a poor country, we don't have much chance to protect ourselves.

Dr Rozario, who is also Caritas Bangladesh's health coordinator, noted that the Catholic Church in Bangladesh has taken steps against the virus.

We have sent brochures to priests so that, during the Sunday homily, they can explain to people how they can protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Caritas Bangladesh also has more than 3,000 employees who have been briefed. And Caritas staff are informing people on how to protect themselves from the virus.

Dr Rozario noted that many Bangladeshi Christians live in China, Italy, Iran and South Korea. If they came back to Bangladesh, this epidemic could break out here, any time.

Most Bangladeshis are concerned about the epidemic. People have now taken to wearing masks to protect themselves. Some people don't go out unless absolutely necessary.

"I watch the coronavirus epidemic on TV; I don't leave the house if I don't have anything urgent to do," said Shaphaly Corraya, a Dhaka domestic worker.

Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said: "We have been forced to take urgent preventive measures against the high risk of coronavirus spreading.

The United States and China have also expressed concern about Bangladesh as a high-risk country for the coronavirus. The epidemic has so far affected 73 countries, including Bangladeshs neighbour India. Worldwide, the virus has killed about 3,000 people, and infected more than 90,000.

Li Jiming, Chinas ambassador to Bangladesh, yesterday said that Bangladesh is at high risk of coronavirus infection as it spreads in neighbouring countries.

Speaking at the Padma Bridge Rail Link project site in Keraniganj, he expressed dissatisfaction that only Chinese coming to Bangladesh are being tested, adding that other people coming into the country should be tested as well.

As Bangladeshi authorities indicated, no one has so far been affected by the coronavirus. People continue to pray in churches and temples.

For its part, the Episcopal Commission for Healthcare has tried to explain the Churchs ministry in health matters. The latter entails proclaiming Jesuss Gospel of love and mercy in the service of the sick as well as explaining and defending the Church's teachings on health. It includes Christian-centred training to Christian health professionals, be they doctors, nurses and others.
More than 50 charges have been laid against 15 youths believed to be responsible for violent crimes and home invasions across Melbourne's north and Shepparton.

The 12 males and three females  aged between 14 and 21  were arrested this week as part of Operation Liege, Victoria Police's crackdown on state-wide and cross-region youth offending.

The alleged offending relates to more than 20 incidents in Melbourne's north-western suburbs and Shepparton this year.

One of those charged, a 14-year-old Shepparton boy, is accused of 21 offences, including home invasion, multiple counts of aggravated burglary, armed robbery and car theft.

A 17-year-old Airport West boy has been charged with 14 offences and a 16-year-old Preston boy has been charged with eight offences.
In the past, lawmakers have been hesitant to strengthen the states animal cruelty laws, primarily due to concerns raised by farmers and organizations that represent them. They raised the concern that any attempt to strengthen animal cruelty laws could create burdensome regulations on livestock farmers.

Lawmakers say they have addressed those concerns in the current proposals by writing the legislation to specifically address pets, or their legal term, companion animals.

And the proposals would amend a portion of state law that is different from the one that deals with livestock.

We cant fix bad people, but I think we can go a long ways toward dealing with these issues and keeping the animal agriculture business out of it, said Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway.

Lawmakers said they worked with all stakeholders to draft a proposal all parties would be comfortable with.

Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, voted for the bill but expected legislators would be working on the issue in future years to address possible unintended consequences of the legislation, which now goes back to the Iowa House for consideration.
Photo: Jeff Turner/Flickr

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Sacramento. Court filing indicates suspected East Area Rapist hopes to avoid trial Read the full story on FOX40. Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin will tour together. Heres when they visit Sacramento. Read the full story on The Sacramento Bee. Police looking to identify 2 robbery suspects Read the full story on CBS13 CBS Sacramento. 10th annual Capitol Beer Fest in Sacramento this Saturday

Read the full story on ABC Sacramento, KXTV. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

A dismissal motion filed in Sacramento County court late Monday says he would plead guilty to his charges in exchange for a life sentence to put the death penalty off the table.

Tickets for the Sacramento concert go on sale next week.

Sacramento police are asking for help in finding two robbery suspects.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is set to announce on Thursday that she is suspending her run to be the Democratic Partys nominee for president.

The New York Times reported the development on Thursday morning, citing sources from her campaign that detailed the planned announcement.

Warrens campaign ignited strong support in the beginning, prior to any nominating contests within the Democratic caucuses and primaries. However, she failed to win a single early state, and had a poor showing in Super Tuesday contests as progressive voters flocked to her opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Elizabeth Warren is dropping out of the 2020 race  CNNPolitics https://t.co/OdmXVvAtPj  Karin Caifa (@karincaifaCNN) March 5, 2020

Even before the actual elections began, Warren faced difficulties, the Times reported:

Ms. Warrens political demise was a death by a thousand cuts, not a dramatic implosion but a steady decline. Last October, according to most national polls, Ms. Warren was the national pacesetter in the Democratic field. By December, she had fallen to the edge of the top tier, wounded by a presidential debate in November where her opponents relentlessly attacked her.

Her departure leaves two remaining top-tier candidates vying for the nomination: Sanders, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden.

Sanders has done well courting the more progressive wing of the party, while Biden has successfully become the front-running candidate by simultaneously appealing to centrists as well as making the case that hes got the best chance to beat current President Donald Trump in the fall.

This is a gut punch. I have so much appreciation & respect for the campaign she ran and the ideas she brought to the forefront of the national debate. She was the top choice of Indivisible leaders, and while she's ending her run, I know she will persist. https://t.co/WWSEnCnBiA  Ezra Levin (@ezralevin) March 5, 2020

The Sanders campaign will likely try to attract Warrens base of progressive supporters in the days ahead. However, its unclear how many of those who had planned to vote for her will switch to Sanders or to Biden.

Polling from Morning Consult late in February found that 40 percent of Warrens supporters picked Sanders as their second-choice candidate. Meanwhile, 28 percent picked centrists, such as Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, as well as Biden, as their second pick.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Thursday he would not run in October's election, ending months of speculation over whether he would seek a third term. October's presidential election looms as a major challenge for the West African country after its 2010 vote ended in violence between political rivals that killed 3,000 people. "I would like to solemnly announce that I will not be a candidate in the October 31, 2020 presidential election and I will transfer power to the younger generation," Ouattara said in a speech to Congress. Ouattara, first elected in 2010 and then re-elected in 2015, had kept Ivorians guessing over his political future, saying last year that he could run again if his traditional rivals were candidates. Ouattara in 2011 ousted the then-president, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to step down after losing elections in a standoff that triggered violent street clashes. The constitution allows only two presidential terms, but Ouattara, 78, had said he would be able to stand due to a constitutional change in 2016 -- a claim vehemently denied by the country's opposition. Ouattara's announcement to Congress, which followed a 30-minute state of the nation address, was met with thunderous applause from lawmakers as well hundreds of students invited to attend the speech. "Thank you! Thank you!" the students chanted. - 'Head held high' - "We are happy that he is giving way to the younger generation. He is a man of his word. I am proud of my president even if I am not one of his supporters," post-graduate student Daouda Bakayoko said in the capital Yamoussoukro. The opposition also welcomed the president's announcement. "It is a good decision which allows President Ouattara to end his political career with his head held high," said Pascal Affi Nguessan, who served as prime minister under Gbagbo. "It is an important act which allows the environment to become more calm, the political game to gain clarity, and the new generation to prove itself," he said. "The message is also addressed to all politicians of his generation... It is a challenge that he has given them and I hope they are up to the task." Since the death of founding president Houphouet Boigny in 1993, Ivory Coast's politics has been dominated three men: Henri Konan Bedie, who was president from 1993-1999, Gbagbo, president from 1993-1999, and Ouattara. Bedie, who will be 86 during the October election, has not ruled out running. After Ouattara's announcement, an MP from Bedie's Ivorian Democratic Party (PDCI), Veronique Aka, said the president had "freed everyone". "You have to know when to let go," she said. Gbagbo will be 74, but whether or not he will be able to run likely rests in the hands of the International Criminal Court. He was arrested in 2011 over the violence following his refusal to step down, but was cleared of crimes against humanity last year. Currently staying in Belgium under strict conditions ahead of a prosecution appeal, Gbagbo has requested his unconditional release but the court has yet to rule. - 'Echo across Africa' - The political climate has been tense in the run-up to this year's vote, following municipal and regional elections in 2018 that were marked by violence and fraud allegations. Former prime minister Guillaume Soro, a longtime Ouattara ally who has fallen out of favour, is currently the only person to have declared themself a presidential candidate. But Soro has been accused of plotting an anti-government uprising -- a claim he denies -- and is living in France under threat of an arrest warrant at home. Some of the president's allies expressed disappointment he would not run for a third term, including deputy government spokesman Mamadou Toure. "Alassane Ouattara is 25 years of our history," he said, adding that he was "divided between sadness and respect" over the president's decision. "It is also a lesson for the entire Ivorian political class: you must know when to walk away. It is a message that will echo across the African continent." President Alassane Ouattara had previously kept Ivorians guessing over his political future Ouattara's announcement to Congress, which followed a 30-minute state of the nation address, was met with thunderous applause from lawmakers
[March 05, 2020] Unios releases 2020 Catalogue; 2020 Unios range focuses on comfort, well-being and consistent lighting

PERTH, Australia, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Unios has just released its 2020 Catalogue. The 2020 Catalogue is backed by the Unios Toolbox providing digital access 24/7 to individual product specifications, BIM objects and installation guides.

The 2020 range places comfort, well-being and consistency as the focal points. With new mounting options, from flagship ranges to the introduction of Tunable White and Casambi Bluetooth technology  the 2020 catalogue is a guide with the most up-to-date data and information from Unios.



CRI 97+ technology achieves a superior level of colour rendering and is now available for a range of products. Many products in the range have been extended to include a new textured grey finish. The latest G2 Phase-Cut Driver's flicker-free feature helps prevent known potential adverse health effects.



"Our engineering team continues to work behind the scenes to innovate. We take advantage of the latest technology to refine and improve performance. We also add the "X factor" to continue to provide high-performance and cutting-edge design," stated David Ho, Engineering Manager.







"So much has changed since we launched our last catalogue in 2018. We have taken into account the adverse and positive effects of lighting.



"Some members of our community are easily affected by unstable light, so we knew that we needed to add flicker-free options in our range. Another significant integration is Casambi using ubiquitous Bluetooth technology to easily adjust lighting to provide light-for-purpose and better align with our circadian rhythm.





"I'm immensely proud of the team effort in discovering ways that we can better use lighting technology. We believe in light as an extension of every surface, every structure  enriching everyday experiences through light," said Paley Ho, General Manager.



The 285-page catalogue illustrates Unios' adaptive and universal product range and encapsulates their most up-to-date specifications, technology and application imagery. To download the catalogue http://bit.ly/Unios-2020-Catalogue About Unios: Unios is a proud Australian architectural lighting designer and manufacturer. With headquarters in Perth, Western Australia, Unios has partnered with renowned architects and lighting specialist to deliver award-winning projects both in Australia and internationally. In 2019, Unios won the Telstra WA Business of the Year. The judges recognised the Unios Toolbox, which uncomplicates the design to construct process. With 24/7 access to individual product specifications, BIM objects and installation guides, specifiers have the information they need whenever they need it. Unios also took home the Medium & Making Waves at the 2019 Telstra Business Awards. Business founder, Paley Ho was recognised as 40under40. Starting the company from the boot of a Camry has resulted in an internationally lighting brand. Unios is transforming the way the world thinks about lighting in their daily lives. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200305/2739575-1

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200305/2739575-1LOGO SOURCE Unios

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday requested people not to panic about the coronavirus outbreak and assured them that the state was prepared to deal with the situation.

Speaking in the Maharashtra Assembly he said, "With full responsibility, I want to say that people are requested not to panic over Coronavirus issue."

"I want to appeal to people that do not panic due to this, we had also tackled swine flu earlier in the state. Just stick to the precaution advisory issued by the government," he added.

On opposition allegations that the government hasn't initiated enough measures to tackle Coronavirus, he said, "I want to say that our administration is strong and has made good arrangements to tackle this situation".

Thackeray said he was holding a daily review meeting with the health department and keeping a close watch on the situation.

"Earlier we had only one centre for the test in Pune NIV now this has been increased to Nagpur and Pune so now we have three such centres in Maharashtra," he said.

"We have also requested private hospitals to make isolation wards for coronavirus patients and be prepared," he further said.

He said that the international airport has taken enough measures. "We are checking each and every traveler coming from abroad. We have also informed all employees at airports regarding the measures to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease," Thackeray added.

"Ahead of Holi, I want to request people to limit their Holi celebration and to avoid being part of gatherings," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four cars were involved in a crash Thursday morning on the intersection between N11 and CR119.

According to recent reports two people were injured. One blocked lane resulted in a traffic tailback. First aid responders and police from Luxembourg City attended the scene.

 Domingos Oliveira / RTL  Domingos Oliveira / RTL  Domingos Oliveira / RTL  Domingos Oliveira / RTL The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

In a further accident, two cars collided at 9.37am in Kaerjeng, injuring two people. Two ambulances from Petange and the fire brigade from Kaerjeng attended the scene here.

Morning traffic on the A6 between Aire de Capellen and Capellen came to a virtual standstill when three cars collided. The tailback stretched all the way to Arlon. Rescue services from Mamer attended the scene.

A car landed on its roof between Berchem and Livange, injuring the driver.
The number of people infected with the new virus charged toward 100,000 Friday, with the global scare upending routines, threatening livelihoods and prompting quarantines in its spread.

Asian shares were down following a rough day on Wall Street and the consequences of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, were becoming clear to people around the world. Halted travel and a broader economic downturn linked to the outbreak threatened to hit already-struggling communities for months to come.

"Who is going to feed their families?" asked Elias al-Arja, the head of a hotel owners' union in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where tourists have been banned and the storied Church of the Nativity shuttered.

The head of the U.N.'s food agency, the World Food Program, warned of the potential of "absolute devastation" as the outbreak's effects ripple through Africa and the Middle East.

Across the West, there was a sense of deja vu as the virus' spread prompted scenes that already played out in Asia, with workers foregoing offices, vigorous sanitizing in public places and runs on household basics. Even the spectacle of a cruise ship ordered to stay at sea off the California coast over virus fears replicated ones weeks ago on the other side of the globe.

"The Western world is now following some of China's playbook," said Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at the financial firm IG.

Signs of the virus' shift away from its origins in China were becoming clearer each day.

China reported 143 new cases Friday, the same as a day earlier and about one- third what the country was seeing a week ago. Just a month ago, China was reporting several thousand new cases a day, outnumbering infections elsewhere in the world about 120 to 1. The problem has now flipped, with the outbreak moving to Europe - where Italy, Germany and France had the most cases - and beyond.

AP
Regulators fear the absence of important staff could cause markets to seize up.

HSBC has sent more than 100 of its London staff home after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the first known case at a major company in Europes main financial hub.

Italys UniCredit also told some staff to go home after two new infections were reported among its employees  one in Germany and one in Italy. The possibility of the coronavirus spreading across the finance industry is worrying regulators, who fear the absence of important staff could cause markets to seize up if firms cannot operate their trading operations normally.

The European Central Bank has asked euro zone banks to urgently test their large-scale remote working arrangements, or other flexible working arrangements for critical staff, a letter dated March 3 that was seen by Reuters news agency showed.

German and British financial regulators have also said they are watching how prepared banks and other institutions are.

At HSBC, an employee in its research department in London self-isolated on Sunday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The employee was later confirmed to have the coronavirus and on Thursday morning the bank sent home more than 100 people from the research department, a bank spokeswoman said. HSBC has told staff who came into contact with him to work from home as areas affected undergo a thorough clean.

We have been informed that one of our employees at 8 Canada Square has been diagnosed with COVID-19. This colleague is under medical supervision and has self-isolated, the spokeswoman said. All staff whose roles allow remote working have been told they can work from home if preferred.

HSBCs London office is in Canary Wharf, a major financial district that hosts many investment banks, including Citi, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Barclays.

HSBCs headquarters remains open, the bank said.

Meanwhile, the number of UniCredit workers infected with coronavirus reached three on Thursday. It sent home the staff who dealt with them.

UniCredit said it had told all employees who have been in contact with a contractor in its Munich office who has tested positive for the virus to self-quarantine for two weeks.

The bank has closed its Piacenza office, where another employee who has tested positive, and a branch in the northern Italian city, UniCredit said in a statement.

Italy has been hit harder by the coronavirus than any other country in Europe, with 107 deaths and more than 3,000 confirmed cases.

Banks globally are readying out-of-town offices and isolating some teams to ensure they can keep trading if coronavirus spreads in more significant financial centres.

Goldman Sachs has been testing a back-up site in Croydon, south London, and Citi has been preparing an office in Lewisham, southeast London, sources familiar with the matter said. JPMorgan is testing back-up locations in Basingstoke, to the southwest of the capital, and another city centre site.

In Spain, BBVA said on Thursday it had transferred up to 100 staff from its Madrid trading floor to a location just outside the city as part of its contingency plan to protect operations from potential disruption related to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seized control of Yes Bank Ltd, capped withdrawals at 50,000 and imposed restrictions on its operations till April 3, as the central bank moves to implement a bailout plan for the troubled lender that was once the countrys fifth largest private lender by assets.

A moratorium usually concludes with the target bank  Yes Bank, in this case  being merged with another bank.

In a late evening press release on Thursday, RBI said that it has superseded the board of the private sector lender because of a serious deterioration in its financial position. The central bank named Prashant Kumar, a former chief financial officer of the State Bank of India (SBI), as the administrator of Yes Bank.

This has been done to quickly restore depositors confidence in the bank, including by putting in place a scheme for reconstruction or amalgamation, it said.

A top RBI official said depositors need not panic. We are working on a plan and we will disclose it in the next few days, the official said, requesting anonymity.

The central banks move is aimed at preventing a run on the bank. Such an event can cause a contagion in the entire banking system as financial institutions are interlinked.

A lot will now depend on the administrators recommendations on the real financial state of Yes Bank and RBIs choice of the merger partner.

Also read | Yes Bank netbanking, ATM services down as RBI restricts withdrawal

Under the moratorium, Yes Bank is barred from activities such as granting or renewing loans, making investments, incurring liabilities, transferring or disposing of any properties or assets. However, the bank is allowed to meet expenditures towards employee salaries, taxes, rent and legal expenses.

The Reserve Bank assures depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic. In terms of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the banks reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the Central government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium of 30 days ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time, the statement said.

Yes Banks financial position has been undergoing a steady decline largely due to its inability to raise capital. The bank has also experienced serious governance issues and practices in recent years, leading to a steady decline.

RBI said that it has been in constant touch with the banks management to find ways to strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity. The regulator even met a few private equity firms that were exploring opportunities for infusing capital into the bank.

Since a bank and market-led revival is a preferred option over a regulatory restructuring, the Reserve Bank made all efforts to facilitate such a process and gave adequate opportunity to the banks management to draw up a credible revival plan, which did not materialise. In the meantime, the bank was facing regular outflow of liquidity, it added.

The latest development comes six months after the regulator did the same with the city-based cooperative lender PMC Bank after a large scam was unearthed.

In 2010, RBI encouraged a merger between the Bank of Rajasthan and the ICICI bank. The central bank had found serious violations of banking regulations by the promoters of Bank of Rajasthan, including those on corporate governance.

Also read | Yes Banks Rs 50,000 withdrawal cap: Who can be exempted and everything you need to know
The ruler of Dubai is today found to have ordered the kidnap and torture of two runaway daughters - including one from the streets of Britain.

The High Court in London said billionaire Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - a friend of the Queen - had Princess Shamsa abducted from Cambridge after she went on the run in 2000.

And it found he ordered commandos to snatch her sister Princess Latifa from a yacht in 2018 as she too tried to escape from Dubai.

Their father - one of Britain's most important allies in the Middle East - has been declared responsible for both terrifying abductions.

Neither princess has been seen in recent times and both apparently remain locked up in their father's palace, the High Court has found. Read the full story here.

As their her marriage to the Sheikh fell apart, MailOnline revealed how the wife at the centre of the courtroom drama was involved in a tryst herself...

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein ran into the arms of her hunky bodyguard as her marriage to Dubai's billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohamed al Maktoum collapsed.

The princess embarked on a two-year affair with her close protection officer Russell Flowers behind the sheikh's back, which sparked the couple's 4.5billion divorce.

Family Court judge Sir Andrew McFarlane said the princess began an adulterous affair with the infantry soldier in 2017 and that her husband had been aware of the 'inappropriate relationship' for some time.

In his damming judgement after a 10-month long court case, he said matters came to head in 2019 leading to Princess Haya becoming 'terrified for her life' and her husband divorcing her under Sharia Law.

Former infantry soldier Russell Flowers (pictured) is the bodyguard reported to have had 'inappropriate contact' with the wife of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed, sparking their divorce

Flowers, a close protection officer (pictured at Ascot with Princess Haya and Sheikh Mohammed) worked for the princess for five years where the pair struck up a close friendship

The close protection officer was not named in the court but he was identified as Mr Flowers last year by MailOnline.

Mr Flowers has since gone into hiding and was not called to give evidence at the Family Court hearings that ruled Sheikh Maktoum ordered the kidnap and torture of two of his runaway daughters - and conducted a campaign of fear against his wife.

Mr Flowers, 37, has never spoken about the affair and declined to comment on the relationship that led to the breakdown of his marriage when tracked down to his Suffolk home.

Friends said he was in fear of his life after his involvement with the princess became public knowledge.

Mr Flowers became close to the royal during his five-year posting as her close protection officer based at the family's Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket and often accompanied her around the world.

A former soldier with Princess of Wales Royal Regiment he was by the princess's side in 2018 at the Dubai ruler's annual visit to Royal Ascot and was pictured holding her seven-year-old son.

The princess would spend time with the former Infantry soldier at the family's stunning 3,000-acre Suffolk home Dalham Hall (above). Mr Flowers lived in his marital home nearby in Newmarket before he separated from his wife

Sheikh Mohammed (left) is divorcing his estranged wife Princess Haya (right) after becoming concerned about his wife's 'inappropriate contact' to her British close protection officer

Independent sources in Dubai and London confirmed to MailOnline that Sheikh Mohammed had grown suspicious of Princess Haya's time spent with her bodyguard

Sources within the Dubai royal family said the princess insisted that Mr Flowers accompanied her on every foreign trip.

She is said to have lavished him with gifts and bought him a Range Rover as well as other presents including a 50,000 custom made hunting rifle, Saville Row suits and a watch.

The top of the range car is said to have a personalised number plate.

Following the break-up of his own marriage to his wife, the princess is also said to have bought a farmhouse to accommodate him in a village near Newmarket, Suffolk, where he was based.

Sources told MailOnline the friendship between Flowers and the princess was an open secret among the mostly ex-military men who formed the protection team for her and her children aged seven and 11.

Haya would always be accompanied by two bodyguards but on many occasions would dismiss one of them so she would just be left with Flowers, the source claimed.

One member of her team who told her this was a breach of security protocol had his contract terminated was given a pay-off and asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, it is claimed.

The source said: 'Princess Haya has always had a completely separate security detail from her husband and it was their job to protect her and the kids.

Princess Haya is pictured with her husband Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum at Ascot Racecourse in 2008

Timeline of the legal battle between Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his wife Princess Haya bint Al Hussain The High Court in London has published rulings relating to the legal battle between Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his former wife Princess Haya bint Al Hussain of Jordan. Here is a timeline of events in the case. July 15, 1949 - Sheikh Mohammed is born in Dubai. May 3, 1974 - Princess Haya born in Amman, Jordan. August 15, 1981 - Princess Shamsa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is born to Sheikh Mohammed, who has several wives. December 5, 1985 - Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is born. Summer 2000 - During a visit to England, Shamsa runs away from her family and seeks immigration advice to try and stay in the UK. August 2000 - Shamsa is taken from the streets of Cambridge by men working for her father. She is taken to her father's home in Newmarket, before being taken by helicopter to France and then to Dubai. She has not been seen in public since. March 2001 - A woman claiming to be Shamsa contacts Cambridgeshire Police, saying she has been taken from England to Dubai. December 2001 - The Guardian publishes an article suggesting Shamsa has been abducted from the UK. April 2004 - Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya are married. December 2, 2007 - Al Jalila born. January 7, 2012 - Zayed born. February/March 2018 - A video of Latifa is uploaded to the internet, in which she gives a detailed account of important events in her life. She also describes what she knows about her sister Shamsa's time in England and her subsequent abduction. December 6, 2018 - The BBC broadcasts a documentary called Escape From Dubai: The Mystery Of The Missing Princess. February 7, 2019 - Sheikh Mohammed divorces Princess Haya under sharia law without her knowledge. She says this date, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of her father's death, is deliberately chosen to 'maximise insult and upset to her'. April 15 - Princess Haya travels to the UK with Jalila and Zayed. May 14 - Sheikh Mohammed issues proceedings at the High Court in London seeking the summary return of his two children with Princess Haya to Dubai. May 22 - First High Court hearing before Mr Justice Moor - the media, who are unaware of the hearing or even the proceedings, do not attend. July 16 - On the eve of a 'scoping hearing' to consider media issues before Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division of the High Court, Princess Haya issues applications to make the children wards of court, for a forced marriage protection order and for a non-molestation order. July 17 - Three journalists attend and lawyers for Sheikh Mohammed apply for them to be excluded. Sir Andrew says the hearing is relatively short while those in court 'simply scope out what lies before us' and to consider what information, if any, should be given to the media. The judge adds that the parties will issue a short statement explaining the nature of the proceedings. July 18 - With the permission of the court, the parties release the following statement: 'The parties to these proceedings are HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein. These proceedings are concerned with the welfare of the two children of their marriage and do not concern divorce or finances.' July 30 - At a hearing to work out issues, including the question of media reporting and to how to proceed to a final hearing to determine the welfare issues, Sir Andrew allows the media to report that Sheikh Mohammed has applied for the summary return of the children to Dubai, and that Princess Haya has applied for the children to be made wards of court, for a non-molestation order and a forced marriage protection order. November 12-13 - Sir Andrew conducts a hearing to make findings of fact in relation to Princess Haya's allegations against Sheikh Mohammed. December 11 - The judge delivers his ruling on the fact-finding hearing. However, strict reporting restrictions preventing its publication remain in force. January 17, 2020 - The judge delivers a ruling on a series of 'assurances and waivers' given by Sheikh Mohammed to Princess Haya. He also conducts a hearing to determine whether his earlier rulings should be made public. January 27 - Sir Andrew concludes that his earlier rulings should be published, but the publication is postponed pending a Court of Appeal challenge by Sheikh Mohammed to this decision. February 26 - The Court of Appeal hears Sheikh Mohammed's challenge. February 28 - Three leading judges dismiss his appeal and refuse to grant him permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The stay on publication remains in force to give the father chance to make a fresh challenge to the Supreme Court. March 5 - The Supreme Court announces that it has refused permission to appeal and all previous rulings are made public. The judge's conclusions are that Princess Haya was subjected to a sustained campaign of fear and intimidation by her former husband. He also finds that Shamsa and Latifa were abducted on their father's orders. Advertisement

'There were many occasions when two bodyguards would be with her, but she would dismiss one or Flowers would tell the other he was not needed.

'This meant when they went out she was not fully protected as there would be no one in a back-up car. The protection team took their jobs very seriously and did not want to lose their jobs for anything going wrong that could be avoided.

'When the concerned bodyguard brought this up with the princess explaining it was a breach of protocol he had his contract terminated. Of course he signed a non-disclosure agreement.'

Before becoming the princess's bodyguard Flowers had worked for a private security firm. After leaving Mayfield College in East Sussex he joined the army and served for almost six years in the 2nd Battalion of The Princess of Wales Regiment from 2003 to 2009.

According to his LinkedIn page he was a Maritime Security Office for two years serving on oil tankers at risk from hijacking by pirates off the Somalia coast.

In 2012 he joined the Knight Security Group and two years later joined UK Mission Enterprise Ltd.

The Dubai Government owns the Belgravia based security and concierge firm which provides round the clock protection as well as domestic help for the Dubai Royal family at their UK residences.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: the 'modernising Sheikh' accused by human-rights activists of 'torturing political dissidents by electrocution' and 'spying' - as well as 'running secret detention camps in war-torn Yemen' Sheikh Maktoum is Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. Since his accession in 2006, he has undertaken sweeping reforms in the UAE's Government, and has been held responsible for turning Dubai into a wealthy and global mega city. The sheikh trained in the military before being appointed to head of the Dubai Police Force and Dubai Defence Force, and was the UAE's first defence minister in December 1971. In January 1995, he was pronounced Crown Prince by his elder brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and embarked upon a policy of tackling Government corruption that led to the arrest, charging, and unusual public 'naming and shaming' of 14 officials, including six officers. After around one decade of acting as the UAE's de facto ruler, he became Vice President in January 2006, and Prime Minister of the UAE that February. He has created and encouraged the growth of numerous Dubai businesses and economic assets, including Dubai World, Dubai Holding, and Emirates flight. Sheikh Maktoum's rule has been mired in controversy. Allegations concerning the abduction of two of his children - princesses Shamsa and Latifa - have been brought to the forefront during the high-profile High Court case involving his wife Princess Haya, who fled Dubai in 2019. He has come under criticism by human-rights groups for alleged infractions, presiding as he does over a judicial system which mandates the execution of criminals by firing squad, hanging, or stoning. Sentencing for flogging - a legal punishment for criminal offences such as adultery, premarital sex, and alcohol consumption - ranges between 80 and 200 lashes. Apostasy from Islam and homosexuality are a crimes punishable by death, while women in the country require permission from male guardians to marry and remarry. It is not permitted to be critical of the UAE Government, royal families, officials, and police, in any way. Attempts to demonstrate in public are met with resistance. Human Rights Watch has accused the UAE regime of violating rights to freedom of expression, while US intelligence identified that the UAE had developed its own messaging app - to be used for spying purposes. The UAE Government has also been accused of kidnapping, detaining, and torturing political opponents and expats, often to extract forced confessions of alleged plots to overthrow the regime. For instance, during the Arab Spring in 2011, at least 100 activists were jailed and tortured. The Arab Organisation of Human Rights listed 16 different methods of torture used by the UAE Government, including electrocution. Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused the UAE of running secret prisons in Yemen where prisoners are forcibly disappeared and tortured. Advertisement

Pictured: Today the Supreme Court in London refused to hear Sheikh Al Maktoum's appeal

Almost all members of the protection team are ex-military.

Mr Flowers was primarily based at Dalham Hall, the stunning 3,300 acre country estate owned by the sheikh about six miles from Newmarket town centre.

A short distance away are the world famous Godolphin Stables, the centre of all the Sheikh's horse racing and breeding activities.

Princess Haya, an accomplished horsewoman who competed in the equestrian events at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, was a frequent visitor to Dalham Hall.

The source said: 'Flowers would go everywhere the princess went. If she went on holiday he was by her side. If she went to the races he would be there.

'When she goes back to Dubai he would accompany her but did not work there as the royal family have their own protection.

Once the princess was in Dubai he would get on a plane and fly home. The princess took a great interest in what went on at Dalham Hall and was there most often.'

Due to her frequent visits, the bodyguard and his wife brought a Victorian cottage close to the town centre.

But the source said the marriage broke up in 2018 with his ex blaming the close friendship between her husband and the princess said to be a contributory factor.

Sheikh Maktoum is pictured shaking hands with the Queen at Ascot racecourse in June 2016 alongside his ex-wife Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein

Shamsa: the princess who escaped her father's Surrey mansion in the family's Range Rover before being 'abducted on the streets of Cambridge' and flown back to UAE Sheikha Shamsa al-Maktoum, 38, was in the UK on holiday with her extended family at their Longcross estate near Chobham in Surrey in 2000. In a bid to better her future and escape her life in Dubai - restricted as it is by incorporated elements of sharia, or Islamic Law - the princess used this opportunity to dodge guards and flee from her family in mid-July. Shamsa is believed to have driven a black Range Rover to the edge of the vast estate, where the Emirati ruler had installed his family, before dumping it and slipping through an open gate onto Chobham Common. She stayed with her friends for six weeks in London before being found out by her family. That August, the princess was apparently abducted in Cambridge by the Sheikh's staff while walking out of a bar and taken to an airport in southeast England, before being flown back to Dubai on a private jet. In March 2001, after having been contacted by a British solicitor who had spoken to Shamsa, Cambridgeshire Police began investigating the incident. During enquiries, people close to Shamsa in the UK substantiated her story of the escape, and the matter was even raised in Parliament. However, the police investigation stalled when they ran into a denial of access to Shamsa by Dubai authorities and non-cooperation of the Longcross estate staff. Little is known about Shamsa's circumstances during the past two decades, save for Latifa's account in her video that she is kept confined to one room and constantly supervised by nurses and a psychiatrist. She is given regular medication which Latifa asserts is designed 'to control her mind'. Today, the judge said that 'the allegation that Shamsa has been deprived of her liberty for much if not all of the past two decades, living in circumstances as described by Latifa, is, I find, proved.' Advertisement

A friend told MailOnline: 'When the house was being sold the estate agent make a remark that her husband was now living in a much nicer place that had been bought for him. If she did not know the full extent of the friendship she found out then.'

The house is understood to be in the name of a private company owned by the princess. His former wife is said to have been left 'devastated' by the end of her marriage.

In his court judgement today Sir Andrew said: 'Whilst the father and mother had apparently not enjoyed an intimate relationship with each other for a significant period of time, their relationship remained cordial and, seemingly, mutually supportive.

'The mother maintained her own household in Dubai and in England, but the father was a regular visitor, spending time with her and with the children.'

Sir Andrew also described Princess Haya as the victim of a campaign of harassment and intimidation by the Emirati sheikh.

He said she was taunted about the affair and threatened to have her abducted by helicopter and flown to a desert prison. Loaded guns were also left in her bedroom and he divorced her without informing her.

The High Court also ruled today that the sheikh - one of Britain's closest Middle East allies - had ordered the the kidnap and torture of two runaway daughters.

Sir Andrew ruled that Sheikh Maktoum was responsible for the abduction of Princess Shamsa in Cambridge after she went on the run in 2000.

He also ruled that the sheikh had ordered commandos to snatch her sister Princess Latifa from a yacht in 2018 as she too tried to escape from Dubai.

Neither princess has been seen in recent times and both apparently remain locked up in their father's palace, the High Court has found.

The court concluded, on a civil law standard of the balance of probabilities, that the Sheikh had acted 'contrary to the criminal law of England and Wales, international law, international maritime law, and internationally accepted human rights norms'.

In a statement issued after the judgments were published, Sheikh Mohammed said: 'This case concerns highly personal and private matters relating to our children.

'The appeal was made to protect the best interests and welfare of the children. The outcome does not protect my children from media attention in the way that other children in family proceedings in the UK are protected.

'As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court's fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a 'fact-finding' judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story.

'I ask that the media respect the privacy of our children and do not intrude into their lives in the UK.'
Ill vote for the Democratic nominee this November, bar none. But every primary voter should understand the stakes  they should be explicitly political with their vote. As you enter your polling booth, know that your choice is really between radically different theories of how Democrats win. The stakes are high, and we cant afford to get the politics wrong. If we lose, we not only hand the White House to Trump for four more years. We will have been defeated up and down the ballot, and well face the prospect of enduring an unrestrained executive branch and a submissive Congress for at least the next two years, and a conservative Supreme Court for the better part of a generation.
Police should be seen by the common man as "credible and fair" and if it fails to enforce the law, democracy fails, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval said on Thursday while addressing young police personnel from across the country.

The NSA asked police officials to ensure that impressions, such as the police only serves the privileged, which sully the image of the organisation are removed.

"Law-making is the most sacrosanct job in a democracy. It is not done by an imperial ruler or from the pulpit of a religious leader but by the representatives of the people and you are the enforcers of that law," he told the gathering.

"If you fail, democracy fails," Doval said while inaugurating the 'Third young Superintendents of Police Conference' organised here by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), a police think-tank under the Union home ministry.

If the police personnel are not able to enforce the law, then framing of that law is immaterial. A law is as good as it is executed on the ground, he said.

The comments by the NSA assume significance in the wake of the recent Delhi riots where the role and effectiveness of the police in controlling the violence has been questioned.

Doval said he had an over 50-year association with policing and intelligence since he joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1968.

"In a democracy, it is extremely important to be totally dedicated to the law. You should be doing things fairly and objectively," he said, adding it is also important that you are seen as credible.

Doval said perception about the police is important as people tend to latch on to a "stray" abberation involving a wrong policeman and then they think that to be the standard prototype of policemen and that is what Indian police is all about.

"Perception gives confidence to the people, which enhances their trust level and makes their lives psychologically more secure," he said.

If the common man feels that they have got a police that is efficient, alert, honest, objective, professionally competent and friendly, the society gets a sense that all will be secure, Doval emphasised.

He urged the young police officers to understand the psychology of the people in the place of their posting and work for them sincerely.

The NSA asked them to work for people in the society who feel "most neglected, unprivileged, those who feel there is lack of safety and security for them and who feel that their complaint will never reach the police".

"You should 'disabuse' the people from the impression that police is only there to serve the privileged," he said at the event.

The NSA said India being "enslaved" for long is sometimes linked to people's disenchantment with the police.

"Basically, we have been a society which has been enslaved for a very long time and an enslaved society always has a contempt for the people who are in authority and police is an instrument of government which has to enforce the law on the ground, which otherwise is only a scrap of paper," Doval said.

"Police bring teeth to the law. Since they have to do that unpleasant work and since it is the mindset that the man who enforces the law is the ruler and we are the ruled or the slaves... that brings certain amount of aversion," he said.

Doval said in a democracy, when people themselves feel politically empowered, which they rightly should feel, they probably like it. This also takes the form of resistance and as part of that one sees police vehicles being put on fire during protests or violence, he said.

"The day the society starts realising that the property of the police or the police vehicles one has burnt is actually people's money, it will bring about a societal change," the NSA said.

People will have to realise that it is the police for which they are paying, it is the police which is there to serve their best interests. That realisation will take time, and it has already started, he said.

Doval rued that despite India being a powerful country that has the technology to hit a target in space with an anti-satellite missile or has got plans to go to the moon, does not has "adequate technology for policing in a village or a town".

There was no dearth of leadership in the police forces, he said and urged the young police officers to innovate and find solutions to new challenges and problems that they face.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Celebrated British director Michael Winterbottom (Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People) reunites with noted British comedian Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge, Around the World in 80 Days, Hamlet 2) for another bitingly witty outing. After their work together in the indelible comedies Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story and The Trip, expectations might be highhigher, unfortunately, than the broadly seriocomic Greed can really match.

Greed races out of the gate, establishing itself immediately as a rapid-fire send-up of modern-day capitalism and the predatory billionaire class that fuels it. Our central representative here is Sir Richard McCreadie (Coogan), an Irish immigrant to England known to those who sing his praises as The Monet of Money and to his detractors as Greedy McCreadie. Over the course of his go-go life, McCreadie has made billions as the king of British fashion with trendy shops on every High Street in England. Now, on the eve of his 60th birthday, hes throwing himself the party to end all parties, a full-on Roman-style bacchanalia on the Greek island of Mykonos. Celebrities are flying in from all over the world. There will be a gladiatorial contest on Saturday night and Coldplay on the beach Sunday morning.

Among the guests is a nervous writer named Nick (David Michell from Peepshow and That Mitchell and Webb Look) whos been tasked with compiling a laudatory biography of the business mogul. In the weeks leading up to the party, Nick has been interviewing McCreadies friends and colleagues (far more of the latter than the former). McCreadies domineering mother (Shirley Henderson) insists hes really a very shy boy. He just hides it with all his bluster. But as we catch snippets of McCreadies past life unfolding in quickly-edited flashback, we realize hes not a very nice guy. Hes no business genius, either. Hes just a bullying jerk. And a gambler. He knows nothing about fashion. He built his empire on discount clothing brandsstealing designs from other retailers and browbeating suppliers into giving him bargain basement prices. Over the years hes driven dozens of companies into bankruptcy, but not without diverting millions into his own pocket. In fact, hes currently the subject of a Parliament investigation into his questionable finances.

While Nick mulls over what to do with the mountains of unflattering information hes gathered, preparations for McCreadies ridiculously lavish soiree continue apace. A full-sized Roman colosseum is being constructedalthough its falling behind schedule thanks to McCreadies steady insistence on never paying anyone a fair wage. Also, thanks to that government investigation, a lot of the celebrity guests (all of whom were going to be paid anyway) are dropping out. Adding to the chaos are the various members of McCreadies family and staff. Sir Richards much younger ex-wife (Isla Fisher) is there, but hes already replaced her with an even younger model (Shanina Shaik). His kids are on hand, but daughter Lily (Sophie Cookson) is distracted filming her heavily scripted reality show The Young, the Rich and the Beautiful, and youngest son Finn (Asa Butterfield) is spending a worrying amount of time reading about Oedipus. Also, theres the problem of some poor, Syrian refugees camping out on the beachwhich does nothing for the million dollar views from McCreadies villa.

Greed doesnt have anything particularly penetrating to say about rich people: Theyre jerks, they exploit poor people and most of them got where they are not by hard work and superior ideas, but by bending the rules, breaking the law and buying politicians. Over the years, Coogan has more or less cornered the market on this exact kind of self-serving asshole. But there arent nearly as many cringe-inducing layers to capitalist vulture Richard McCreadie as there are to inept broadcaster Alan Partridge (Coogans signature character).

Winterbottoms screenplay veers between jokey jabs about vapid rich folks and a sort of broadside docudrama on the way in which the 1 percent shirk civic responsibility, avoid taxes and consider the world their own personal piggy bank. The metaphors he employs arent exactly subtle. (The rich treat the working class like slaves.  So all the people working this Roman empire-themed birthday party are literally dressed like slaves.)

Like culottes and a poncho, the mix of satirical humor and self-serious lecture isnt always the best combination. (Adam McKay did it better in his occasionally condescending dramedy The Big Short.) Still, there are definite moments of pointed humor. Lily weeps over her boyfriend off cameranot because theyre breaking up, but because, as she puts it, I have to stay in character. And Winterbottoms preachy narrative definitely finds a laser focus, in the end, on the worldwide fashion industrys pervasive exploitation of third-world labor. Hes on the money, of course. But the target of the films humor and outrage is just too broad. We dont need a comedy to tell us the Kardashians are stupid. Or a drama to tell us that billionaires dont care about the 99 percent. Most of us are already painfully aware.
 Flash

A Chinese UN envoy on Wednesday urged the international community to keep up humanitarian and economic assistance to South Sudan, which has just formed a transitional unity government after years of conflict.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on the African country, Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that the world should help South Sudan tackle its development problems and assist the return and resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the country.

He encouraged expanding investment in South Sudan's agriculture, energy, infrastructure, education and medical services to help the South Sudanese people build greater capacity to rebuild their homes and resume development.

He also expressed China's appreciation for the contributions made by the UN mission in South Sudan to the maintenance of peace and stability, and said China will continue to provide assistance to facilitate the implementation of the 2018 revitalized agreement and the peace process.

South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar, which led to fighting between forces loyal to the two leaders.

In September 2018, the revitalized agreement was signed between Kiir and Machar, and on Feb. 22, the transitional unity government was formed in accordance with the deal. Machar has been sworn in as the first vice president of the country.

Wu said the political process in South Sudan has recently made positive headway, and that China welcomes the establishment of the transitional coalition government.

"We commend the leadership and courage demonstrated by the leaders of South Sudan," he said. "This marks an important step forward in the country's peace process with the active mediation by the international community, especially by the African countries and regional organizations concerned."

In this regard, he urged the international community to continue supporting the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa in its role as the main player in mediation of South Sudanese affairs.

"The international community should intensify coordination with IGAD and the African Union, support their mediation efforts, and help all parties in South Sudan to build great mutual trust and show great responsibility and good will, so consensus can be reached as soon as possible on all the outstanding issues," he said.
A top Iranian military official is spreading a conspiracy theory regarding the coronavirus amid an outbreak in the Islamic republic that has killed more than 100 people, including an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, and infected more than 3,500, according to official figures.

Hossein Salami, the commander of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), suggested on March 5 that the coronavirus might be an American biological weapon -- contradicting experts who say there's no evidence it could be man-made.

"Today, the country is engaged in a biological battle," Salami was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency. "We will prevail in the fight against this virus, which might be the product of an American biological [attack], which first spread in China and then to the rest of the world," he said, adding that "America should know that if it has done so, it will return to itself."

He provided no evidence to back his unfounded claim.

Salami also said that Iran will contain the coronavirus outbreak "even if it's not America's work."

Last month, U.S. officials said Russian-linked social-media accounts were making unfounded claims that Washington was behind the outbreak.

The United States is among the more than 80 countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 95,000 people worldwide. Eleven have died in the United States so far and more than 200 have tested positive as of March 5.

The outbreak has led to the spread of conspiracy theories on social media and news sites, including claims that the virus originated in a lab linked to China's biowarfare program.

Experts have said repeatedly that there is no indication that the coronavirus could be man-made. "Based on the virus genome and properties there is no indication whatsoever that it was an engineered virus," Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told The Washington Post on January 29.

Iran Hit Hard

Salami's remarks come amid warnings by Iranian officials against those spreading rumors and fake stories about the outbreak in Iran.

The head of Iran's cyberpolice, Commander Vahid Majid, said on March 5 that 121 people had been summoned for spreading rumors about the coronavirus. He said 190 others had been warned over the phone and told to remove content from social-media pages.

"Dealing with those spreading rumors and those publishing fake news is currently one of the most important missions of the cyberpolice," Majid said.

Iran and Italy have the highest death tolls from coronavirus outside of China, where the virus emerged in December.

The coronavirus currently has a fatality rate of about 3.4 percent, with the elderly and those with underlying health problems dying far more frequently after contracting the virus.

Massud Pezeshkian, a lawmaker and former Iranian health minister, suggested earlier this week that the outbreak in Iran was far more widespread than the government acknowledges, saying many infected citizens had not been identified.

Vice President Masumeh Ebtekar, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, and more than 20 parliament deputies are among those who have tested positive in the country.

Mohammad Mirmohammadi, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, has died from the disease.
They attracted less attention than the Democratic presidential primary, but several key down-ballot races in Harris County are headed to runoffs, giving voters another shot to decide their partys nominee in 12 weeks.

In some cases, candidates held-double digits leads over their primary opponents but failed to secure a majority of the vote. In others, two candidates headed to the runoff neck-and-neck, leaving less certainty about who has the edge in the May 26 contest.

Here are five runoffs to watch across the federal, state and county levels in Harris County.

2nd Congressional District, Democrats

Houston lawyer Sima Ladjevardian and Navy veteran Elisa Cardnell will face off in May after topping the three-candidate field in Texas 2nd Congressional District. The winner will take on U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, in November.

Ladjevardian, who had an advantage in fundraising and the size of her campaign operation, received 48 percent of the vote, ahead of Cardnells 31 percent. Democrat Travis Olsen finished third with the remaining 21 percent.

The race has drawn extra attention since the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the district to its 2020 battlefield map  indicating it could put resources into flipping the seat. Crenshaw has become one of the most prominent freshmen in the House and is a prolific fundraiser, setting the stage for an expensive and closely watched race in November.

22nd Congressional District, Republicans

In the south Houston suburbs, Republican Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls won more than 40 percent of the vote in a 15-candidate primary for U.S. Rep. Pete Olsons seat.

Olson, a Sugar Land Republican who is not seeking re-election, endorsed nonprofit executive Pierce Bush in the first round, but Bush failed to make the runoff. Instead, Nehls will face Republican donor Kathaleen Wall, setting up a clash between two candidates who have been butting heads for weeks.

Both candidates have made border security central issues in their campaigns, and each professes unwavering support for President Donald Trump.

In the runoff, Wall will have to make up ground on Nehls in Fort Bend County, where the majority of the vote is located. Nehls received 52 percent support there, his best performance in the districts three counties: Brazoria, Fort Bend and Harris. Wall received 19 percent of the vote overall.

House District 138, Democrats

Democrats Akilah Bacy and Jenifer Rene Pool made it to the runoff Tuesday in House District 138, a swing district in west Houston that Democrats view as a favorable pickup opportunity in 2020.

State Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, is not seeking re-election to the seat this year, and Republicans nominated conservative activist Lacey Hull to replace him on the GOP ticket this fall. Bacy, meanwhile, secured 47 percent of the vote, finishing about 17 points ahead of Pool.

An immigration lawyer and former Harris County prosecutor, Bacy heads into the runoff with $31,000 cash on hand, while Pool has not filed any campaign finance reports. Pool, who in 2016 became the first transgender Texan to win a primary race, edged out Democrat Josh Wallenstein by about 5 percentage points. Wallenstein has endorsed Bacy in the runoff.

House District 142, Democrats

State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, was forced into a runoff for the first time since he initially won the north Harris County seat in 1984. His opponent is Houston Councilman Jerry Davis, who secured 25 percent of the vote  20 points behind Dutton. Two other Democrats combined for the remainder of the vote, helping deny Dutton an outright win.

Davis entered the race late, filing hours before the deadline in December, but he established an early financial advantage over Dutton, transferring over his well-stocked city campaign account. And he was a familiar face to some in the district thanks to his council districts overlapping boundaries.

A third candidate, Natasha Ruiz, finished about 5 percentage points behind Davis and narrowly outperformed him on Election Day. Ruiz has not established a campaign website, filed any finance reports or appeared at events with the other candidates, prompting questions about the origins of her candidacy. Dutton said Thursday he is investigating Ruizs candidacy and may contest the election result depending on what the investigation yields.

The district is believed to be solidly Democratic, though Republican Jason Rowe will face the Democratic nominee in November.

Precinct 3 County Commissioner, Democrats

Democrats are mounting their most vigorous challenge in years for the Precinct 3 seat on Harris County Commissioners Court, long represented by Republican Steve Radack.

With Radack declining to seek re-election, Spring Valley Mayor Tom Ramsey easily won the precincts Republican nomination, while Democrats Michael Moore and Diana Alexander are poised for a May runoff.

Moore, who was chief of staff for former Houston Mayor Bill White, received the endorsement of Commissioner Adrian Garcia and vastly outspent Alexander and every other Democrat combined. But Alexander, an educator who is framing herself as the activist candidate in the race, finished about half a percentage point ahead of Moore.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
At least 102 persons were hit by bullets, while 171 suffered injuries caused by sharp weapons or blunt objects, the Delhi Police said in a report to the government, officials privy to the matter said. It is unclear how many of the injured died of bullet injuries.

Doctors had earlier confirmed that of the 47 who died in the riots last week, at least nine had died of bullet injuries. The cause of death in the case of the others will be clear only after autopsy reports are submitted.

The report prepared by the Delhi Police mentioned that at least 500 persons were injured in the riots, the officials cited above said. Apart from bullet injuries and those by sharp weapons or blunt objects, a majority of the other case were due to stone pelting or burns.

The police control room received almost 21,000 distress calls between February 22 and February 29, police mentioned in the report.

On February 24 and 25 alone, when the communal violence was at peak in several parts of northeast Delhi, the police control room received over 13,000 riots related calls. The following day, around 6,000 calls were made but a majority of them were panic calls and not of rioting, said a senior police officer, quoting the report.

Two special investigation teams (SITs) formed to probe the riots-related cases are yet to make any breakthrough in the cases of 47 murders. Also, they are still trying to ascertain the exact sequence of the violence, which spiraled into a communal riot and are also probing the possibility of a larger conspiracy, another police officer said on the condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday, the police had arrested Mohammad Shahrukh,28, whose video showing him aiming a pistol at a policeman during the violence in Jafarabad went viral on social media. However, police are yet to solve the cases related to the murder of Delhi police head constable Ratan Lal, Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma.

Tahir Hussain, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor from Nehru Vihar, who was booked for murder and abduction, after allegedly being linked to Sharmas death in Chand Bagh on February 24, is yet to be arrested. The AAP had suspended Hussain after his name cropped up in the investigation into the riots.

There are also two other FIRs, which mentions his name although not as an accused directly. Instead, the complainants alleged that a mob had fired guns, pelted stones and petrol bombs from Hussains Chand Bagh house.

One of these FIRs, having attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy charges, was registered on March 1 at the Dayalpur police station on the statement of a person named Ajay Goswami, who suffered a bullet injury during the violence on February 25. Goswami was admitted to Hindu Rao Hospital by his relatives and some locals.

In his complaint, Goswami said that he was returning to his Khajoori Khas home after meeting his uncle when he was hit by a bullet in a firing being done by some people. the people who lifted me said that many people were firing and throwing petrol bombs, stones from Tahir Hussains home, reads the FIR.

The second FIR  of rioting, arson, assaulting security personnel and damaging property  was registered at the Khajoori Khas police station on the complaint of a policeman, whose bike was torched by rioters. The policeman in his complaint also mentions similar allegations of a mob throwing burning objects and stone pelting from the home.

On Tuesday, the police visited a factory in riot-hit Shiv Vihar after being informed that hundreds of litres of acid were stored in a factory and that it was used during the riots.

We spoke to the factory owner who possessed a licence for storing acid. Whether the amount of stored acid was above the permissible limit, or the acid was supplied to fuel the violence is being probed, said joint commissioner of police (eastern range) Alok Kumar.
The supposed flag of the Western Togoland secessionist group was on Thursday morning, March 5, seen flying at full mast at the premises of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) where the Volta Regional Minister operates.

As of 8:30 am on Thursday, police officers from the Volta Regional Command were seen frantically pulling down the flag supposed to be the identity of the group.

It is unclear who hoisted the flag and why it was done at the Regional Coordinating Council a day before the celebration of Ghana's 63rd independence anniversary.

Officials of the Coordinating Council are yet to make any public comment on the matter.

Also known as the Homeland Study Group Foundation, they have been advocating for the secession of a part of Ghana which formed colonial Western Togoland from Ghana as it is currently constituted.

Some members of the group have been arrested on several occasions with some of its members still standing trial.

The group first made calls for the secession in May 2019.

Leaders of the group have been training some youth to form the core of police and military activities in the supposed new country after the declaration of independence.

Clamp down on Western Togoland 'militia group'  Security analyst to gov't

A Security Analyst, Colonel Festus Aboagye Rtd. has said that activities of the group, could degenerate into an insurgency if urgent steps are not taken to halt the trend.

He said recent photos on social media that show the group reportedly training some young people as military officers pose a serious security problem in the country and urgent action must be taken by the country's security agencies to clamp down on them.

According to him, the trend of the group's actions points to the fact that the group has a well-planned itinerary to execute which may destabilize the country.

Colonel Aboagye called on authorities to take caution from neighboring countries who suffered similar tragedies.

The idea that this is generating, is becoming serious and bearing in mind how we could end up where other countries are, should give great cause for concern. If any group of persons anywhere can assemble on the sovereign territory of Ghana and conduct training which could be about 8 weeks or more and graduate before national intelligence gets to know, there is any obvious case that there has been intelligence failure here, he said.

---citinewsroom
Mr Samuel Atta-Akyea, the Minister of Works and Housing, has called for an attitudinal change among Ghanaians to curb the recurrent flooding during the rainy season.



Mr Atta-Akyea expressed concern about how some people disposed rubbish in drains, stating that until Ghanaians change their attitude, Accra and major parts of the country would continue to face flooding situations.



The Minister made the call on Wednesday when he was joined by a team from the Ministry, the Ministry of Sanitation and the Hydrological Services Department to inspect some flood-prone areas in Accra to assess the condition of the drains and prepare ahead of the 2020 raining season.



The Minister and the team visited ongoing Accra drainage projects in Mallam, Santa Maria, Tetegu, Agbogba pure water, Abeka Apenkwa, Asylum down Weija area, all under the 2018 National Flood Control Programme.



He said no amount of investment aimed at finding a solution to Accra flooding would work if people continue to dispose rubbish into the drains, and urge all to be responsive and stop the habit to stay healthy.



The Ghana Meteorological Agency has forecasted heavy rains this year compared to previous years, cautioning the public to adopt safety measures.



Indiscriminate dumping of waste, according to the Minister impedes the Metropolitan and Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) efforts in reducing flooding in Accra, and urged the authorities to be proactive and enforce laws on sanitation breaches.



Mr Atta Akyea expressed dissatisfaction at a three storey building in Mallam area along the water way and warned MMDAs to take proactive steps to guard against unauthorised development on water ways and rivers.



This, according to the Minister affected free flow of water whenever it rains and causes serious flooding, affecting lives and property.



Our local government systems must wake up and perform their duties as expected. They must prosecute individuals who flout the law to serve as deterrent to others, he added.



He said, It is better to demolish an unauthorized property than allow a whole community to be submerge into water leading to loss of property and lives.



Statistics show that four million people in the last 50 years have been affected by floods, resulting in economic damage exceeding USD$780 million.



Already, about 40 per cent of Accra is classified as "highly prone" to flooding and this will increase due to more building in the system.



Government has come under intense pressure for doing little to address the worsening flooding situation in major urban areas.



However, the ongoing dredging of the Odaw River is expected to mitigate the situation.



Mr Atta Akyea appealed to the public to keep the country clean in order to promote good health, adding that the task was a shared responsibility and not for the government and the MMDAs alone.



Mr Seth Kudzordzi, Head of Drainage, Hydrological Services Department said a concerted efforts was needed to address the actual causes of flood hazards in cities of sub-Saharan African countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal six.



He said work on the 500-metre double cell culvert drain at Mallam Junction was progressing steadily, stressing that other priority drains are located at areas such as Gbawe, Kaneshie First Light and Agbogba, while some minor ones are also to be constructed across the 11 assemblies within the Accra Metropolis.



These are among some priority drains that have been earmarked for re-engineering under the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area sanitation project that started in 2015 with a $150 million funding support from the World Bank.

Source: GNA









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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose during their meeting in the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on March 5, 2020. (Mikhail Klimentyev/ Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia, Turkey Reach Cease-Fire Deal in Northwestern Syria

MOSCOWThe presidents of Russia and Turkey said they reached agreement on a cease-fire to begin at midnight Thursday in northwestern Syria, where escalating fighting had threatened to put forces from the two countries into direct conflict.

The deal struck by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also would set up a security corridor along a key east-west highway in Idlib province.

Putin voiced hope the agreement will serve as a good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to suffering of civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis.

The agreement appears to achieve Russias key goal of allowing the Syrian government to secure control over strategic highways essential for consolidating its grip on the country after a devastating nine-year war.

But in a nod to Turkeys interests, the deal also puts the brakes on Syrian President Bashar Assads push to reclaim control over all of Idlib province, the last opposition-controlled region that borders Turkey.

Erdogan said he and Putin agreed to help refugees return to their homes. More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since Assads forces began an offensive in December backed by Russian airstrikes.

Both leaders had underlined the need for an agreement at the start of the Kremlin talks, which lasted more than six hours. One goal had been to prevent damaging their bilateral relations and blossoming trade.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres takes note of the cease-fire agreement and hopes it will lead to an immediate and lasting cessation of hostilities that ensures the protection of civilians in northwest Syria, who have already endured enormous suffering, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Guterres also called for a return to the U.N.-facilitated political process, aimed at ending the nine-year conflict, Dujarric said.

Until the latest crisis, Putin and Erdogan had managed to coordinate their interests in Syria even though Moscow backed Assad while Ankara supported the governments foes. Both Russia and Turkey wanted to avoid a showdown but the sharply conflicting interests in Idlib province made it difficult to negotiate a mutually acceptable compromise.

The Syrian offensive in Idlib has resulted in Turkey sending in thousands of troops to repel the Syrian army. Clashes on the ground and in the air have left dozens dead on both sides. Russia, which has helped Assad reclaim most of the countrys territory, has signaled it wont sit by while Turkey routs his troops.

The fighting also has pushed nearly 1 million Syrian civilians toward Turkey, which already hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees. Erdogan responded by opening Turkeys gateway to Europe in an apparent bid to persuade the West to offer more support to Ankara.

He has frequently threatened to open Turkeys borders to Europe, maintaining that the European Union has not upheld its end of a more than 6 billion-euro deal designed to stem the flow of migrants after more than 1 million people entered the EU in 2015.

Putin discussed the situation in Idlib with European Council head Charles Michel, who met the Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday. The Kremlin said Michel informed Putin about the EUs efforts to block the flow of migrants.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second from right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) talk during their meeting in the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on March 5, 2020. (Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo)

Putin offered Erdogan his condolences over Turkish military losses but noted that Syrian troops also suffered heavy casualties. Turkeys Defense Ministry announced that two more of its soldiers were killed Thursday, raising the number slain in Syria since the start of February to 60.

The worlds eyes are on us, Erdogan had said. The steps we will take, the right decisions we will take here today will help ease (concerns in) the region and our countries.

After Turkey had downed several Syrian jets, Moscow warned Ankara on Sunday that its aircraft would be unsafe if they enter Syrian airspace.

Opposition activists in Idlib blamed Russia for Thursdays strike on a rebel-held village that they said killed at least 15 people, including children, and wounded several others. The Russian military had no immediate comment, but it has denied similar claims by insisting it hasnt targeted residential areas.

The fighting in Idlib is the most severe test of Russia-Turkey ties since Turkeys downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015. Russia responded then with sweeping economic sanctions, cutting the flow of its tourists to Turkey and banning most Turkish exportsa punishment that eventually forced Turkey to back off.

Turkey cant afford a replay of that costly crisis, much less a military conflict with a nuclear power, but it has a strong bargaining position. Moscow needs Ankara as a partner in a Syrian settlement, and Russias supply routes for its forces in Syria lie through the Turkish Straits.

Moscow also hopes to use Ankara in its standoff with the West. Last year, Turkey became the first NATO country to take delivery of sophisticated Russian air defense missile systems, angering Washington. Turkey has put its deployment on hold amid the crisis in Idlib.

The talks in Moscow marked the 10th meeting in just over a year between Putin and Erdogan, who call each other dear friend and have polished a fine art of bargaining.

In October, they agreed to deploy their forces across Syrias northeastern border to fill the void left by President Donald Trumps withdrawal of U.S. forces. Before that, they had negotiated deals that saw opposition fighters from various areas in Syria move into Idlib, and in 2018 carved out a de-escalation zone in Idlib.

They blamed one another for the collapse of the Idlib deal, with Moscow holding Ankara responsible for letting al-Qaida-linked militants launch attacks from the area and Turkey accusing Moscow of failing to rein in Assad.

The Russian and Turkish foreign ministers said Thursdays agreement involves a cease-fire to be enforced starting at midnight along existing battle lines. The deal also envisages setting up a 12-kilometer (7-mile) security corridor along the M4 highway to be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops, starting March 15.

A security corridor along the M4 that crosses Idlib to reach the Mediterranean province of Latakia, where Russia has its main base, will help solidify Assads gains and strengthen his control.

Earlier this year, Assad retook control of the M5 highway linking Damascus with Aleppo, the countrys commercial capital. As part of their latest offensive, Assads forces have pushed back the militants who were blocking it.

Earlier this week, Russian military police deployed to the strategic town of Saraqeb, sitting on the junction of the two highways, to ward off any Turkish attempt to retake it.

In the deal with Erdogan, Putin appeared to accept the presence of Turkey-backed militants in areas alongside the border and put brakes for now on Assads attempts to claim full control over Idlib. That compromise will allow Turkey to secure its stake in Syria and prevent refugees from fleeing across the border.

Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute, said the agreement freezes the conflict on the ground.

The fighting was not expected to flare up again until the next moment when Putin feels emboldened enough to push further, Cagaptay said.

For his part, Erdogan avoided a situation where Turkeys borders would be overwhelmed by refugees, while also preventing a rupture with Russia, the analyst said.

Cagaptay also said Assad did not emerge the winner.

His military capabilities have been undermined by Turkey, he said. We witnessed a NATO country pummeling Assads third-rate army.

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian upper houses foreign affairs committee, hailed the deal as a compromise that respected security interests of each country.

The only alternative to the talks would be trying to sort out the differences on the battlefield, and neither side needs that, he said on Facebook.

By Vladimir Isachenkov and Suzan Fraser
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson announced that he will seek a seventh term as sheriff.

The sheriff, age 62, has held the office since Jan. 1, 1997.

Sheriff Wilson graduated from Lafayette High School in 1975. He began his law enforcement career as a fingerprint examiner in 1976 for the FBI in Washington, D.C., for more than three years.

In 1979, he was employed with the Georgia Department of Corrections for a year. He graduated from the police academy at Floyd Junior College in 1981.

He served more than five years as a patrolman for the Lafayette Police Department until 1986.

In 1986, he was employed with the Walker County Sheriffs Office as a Deputy Sheriff. He was promoted to detective the following year. He also served as an agent and Commander of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force for seven years, prior to being elected sheriff.

He is an active member in several organizations: committee member for BEAT (Business and Education Alliance Together) and president of the Al Millard Stocking Full of Love. He also serves as Chairman of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force and is on the Georgia Sheriffs Youth Homes Board of Directors. He serves as a deacon and is a member at Oakwood Baptist Church.

Sheriff Wilson was president of COAG (Constitutional Officers Association of Georgia during 2006/07, President of the Georgia Sheriffs Association Youth Homes 2012/13 and President of the Georgia Sheriffs Association 2015/16.

During his six terms, he:

 Started an inmate chaplain program

 Digitally updated the investigative filing system

 Began the School Resource Officer

 Began C.H.A.M.P.S (Choosing Healthy Activities & Methods Promoting Safety)

 Updated the patrol fleet and outfitted patrol vehicles with computers which allow officers to perform many tasks themselves including check warrants, run tags and generate reports from their vehicle

 Established a north end of the county satellite precinct office in Rossville

 Contracted with a psychologist to provide on-site mental health assessments and treatment for inmates

 Implemented courthouse security detail in 2006

The Sheriffs Office utilizes social media to engage the public's help in developing information for cases. Many criminal cases have been solved using the Sheriffs Office social media accounts.

The Sheriff Ralph Jones Law Enforcement Training Center was launched in 2012 and has been used to train hundreds of law enforcement officers over the past eight years.

He was elected to his first two terms as sheriff with 73 percent of the vote and he ran unopposed in 2004. He garnered 82 percent of the vote in 2012 and was elected unopposed in 2016.

He has completed thousands of hours of law enforcement in-service training. He attended North Virginia Community College and graduated in 2008 from the Naval Post Graduate School of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

In 2016, Sheriff Wilson partnered with Rossville area residents to form the Wilson Road Neighborhood Group, an advocacy group formed looking to reduce crime, improve codes enforcement and enhance business development along the Wilson Road corridor.

In 2018, Sheriff Wilson started a church  House of Worship safety program where safety/security is taught to church leaders throughout Walker County.

The Sheriffs Office has embraced technology with the walkerso.com website which allows citizens to track sex offenders and submit anonymous tips.

He said, "During the next four years, our #1 priority will be our continued drug enforcement efforts with the Lookout Mountain Judicial Drug Task Force, Wilson said. If we can suppress the drug use and sales in Walker County, all other crimes will reduce themselves."

He said he supports Governor Brian Kemps efforts to eradicate Georgia and Walker County of gangs. With that, the Sheriffs Office and Drug Task Force will be prioritizing efforts to arrest and prosecute gang members to the fullest extent of the law, he said.

Sheriff Wilson has been married to Sandy Wilson for 37 years; he has three adult children and three grandchildren.

His hobbies include genealogy research and watching the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs.

Sheriff Wilson received the 2009 Distinguished Service Award from the Fort Oglethorpe Kiwanis Club, was recognized as the Walker County Citizen of the Year in 2004 and was awarded a Governors Public Safety Award in 2002.

He was selected as the Chattanooga Times Free Press Best North Georgian for 2011, 2016, 2019 and 2020.

Sheriff Wilson said, "I ask for your vote and support in the May 19 Republican primary."

Voters can contact him at 706-638-4500 or walkersheriff01@gmail.com.
AUSTIN, Texas, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, the Austin Business Journal recognizes the top residential real estate agents in the Central Texas region at their Residential Real Estate Awards Ceremony. To determine the nominees and winners, ABJ ranks local real estate agents by their gross closed residential sales. With over 13,000 members of the Austin real estate board, competition is high and being nominated for the prestigious award is accomplished by a small minority of Austin real estate agents. This year, David Brodsky Properties is honored to have half of its agents nominated for the coveted ABJ Residential Real Estate Award.

Abbie Phillips began her Austin real estate career in 2015 and joined David Brodsky Properties in 2018. Since then, her referral based real estate business has grown tremendously as a result of unparalleled customer service and market expertise. Known for her problem solving, exceptional work ethic and negotiation skills, Abbie has achieved professional success by empowering her clients to make the best real estate decisions to accomplish their goals.

Brittney Heffernan began her career as an Austin real estate agent in 2017. Her previous four years of experience working in new home construction lend to her in-depth knowledge of how to guide clients through buying or selling a home. Brittney also holds herself to exceedingly high professional standards. Her performance expectations and genuine purpose for helping others has resulted in her quickly becoming a top-performing Austin real estate agent.

Courtney Unangst helped create the David Brodsky Properties brokerage, being the first agent David partnered with and mentored. Her accomplishments include closing top sales at the brokerage and building a successful real estate team. June Clark joined Courtney's team in 2017 and leveraged her professional competence and community knowledge to quickly build a successful real estate career. In 2018, Michelle Browning joined Courtney's team and, through her aptitude and sharp real estate skills, has become an integral part of the team's success.

"It's critical for real estate consumers to work with competent professionals, especially in the current market," said David Brodsky, broker/owner of David Brodsky Properties. "Providing the best consultative real estate service is the purpose of our brokerage. I'm honored to have a majority of the agents at our boutique recognized for their professional excellence and accomplishments."

SOURCE David Brodsky Properties

Related Links

https://dbrodskyproperties.com


Ministers have been told to come clean on the future of the foreign aid budget, after the Foreign Office was quietly handed power over how to spend it.

Senior MPs raised the alarm after a leaked memo revealed that department for international development (DfID) staff have been told to report directly to Dominic Raabs department.

Directors in poorer countries, responsible for allocating British aid to local projects, have always answered directly to DfID in London  but the Foreign Office will now control spending, the memo reportedly said.

Sarah Champion, the chairwoman of the international development committee, warned the change would undermine the UKs strong reputation for aid being free of political interference.

Anything that is seen to undermine that independence will undermine our reputation among partners and must be avoided at all costs, she said.

Recommended Boris Johnson and his government are dithering on the climate crisis

And Andrew Mitchell, the former Conservative international development secretary, argued ambassadors are not the right people to make decisions about aid projects.

The value of our ambassadors comes from their relationships and diplomatic acumen, not their eye for details or experience of value-for-money programming of multimillion-pound taxpayer investments, he warned.

The criticism comes just weeks after Boris Johnson was praised by aid groups for deciding not to axe DfID in his botched Cabinet reshuffle.

However, it then emerged that all its junior ministers will be shared with the Foreign Office  and senior officials were reportedly warned a full merger would follow, if that arrangement did not work.

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

Senior staff at Dfid criticised the new chain of command in comments to The Times, which revealed the details of the memo.

They said that, even under the present arrangements, they had to fight off requests from ambassadors for projects to be funded for political reasons or to help British companies operating in the region.

Ambassadors are not development specialists and should not be providing oversight on how aid is being spent, one senior figure said.

Another told The Times: DfID is over. It will just be the Foreign Office now. If it eats grass, produces milk and is black and white ... it's a cow. We are just pretending it's called a horse.

Doubts about DfIDs long-term future have remained, not least because the prime minister backing scrapping it last year, saying: If Global Britain is going to achieve its full and massive potential then we must bring DfID to the FCO [Foreign Office].

He also accused the department of inevitable waste as money is shoved out of the door in order to meet the 0.7 per cent target  raising fears its budget will be slashed.

The new international development secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan is also a known sceptic, having once calling for its cash to go to hungry kids in the UK instead.

In 2017. she highlighted Priti Patel, a former holder of the job, saying that a waste of cash in vanity projects in far-flung lands kept me awake at night.

However, a government spokesperson insisted: DfID ministers retain authority over spending decisions and accountability for all financial resources remains within existing departmental lines.

Mr Johnson wants all aspects of the governments international operations to be integrated fully to promote Global Britain, the spokesperson added.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took the unprecedented step of expressing his strong displeasure against the ongoing disruptions in the House by not conducting House business for even a minute on Wednesday after his appeals for peace in the last 48 hours failed to yield results.

Birla came to his office in the morning and held meetings in his chamber but refused to enter the House when the proceedings started at 11 AM. In his absence, two presiding officersMeenakshi Lekhi and Kirit Solankiran the House briefly before adjournment.

The budget session of 2020 started on a confrontational note between the Opposition and the government over the recent riots in north-east Delhi that has left at least 47 dead and another 350 people injured. The Opposition has been insistent on an urgent debate on the riots while the government wants to debate the issue only next week.

The impasse, now in its third day, is also the longest in the 17th Lok Sabha and may adversely affect the successful run of the both Houses of Parliament -- something seen since June last year.

On Monday, Birla held discussions with both Opposition and the ruling party leaders to arrive at an understanding. But after all his efforts failed, a disappointed Speaker told the House, I dont want to run the House in such a situation. You all discuss among yourselves to build a consensus and to uphold the tradition and rules of the House. The House should run only in a proper manner and to strengthen our democracy. He too, assured the Opposition of allowing a debate on the riots after Holi (March 10).

According to Lok Sabha officials, on Wednesday Birla reached office around 9 am and spent more than 10 hours there but didnt want to go to the House. Birlas absence didnt go unnoticed as several leaders, cutting across partyl lines, came to meet him during the day. It is not clear if he will preside over the House on Thursday.

So far, the two session of the 17th Lok Sabha have seen over 100% utilization of time. The Lok Sabha, under Birla, worked overtime in both the monsoon and winter session of 2019 and managed to use 134% and 110% of the time available to it, respectively.

According to an analysis by PRS, the Lower House sat for just one hour on Monday and for 55 minutes on Tuesday, as against the allotted 6 hours schedule. The Rajya Sabha sat for 1.27 hours on Monday and just 37 minutes on Tuesday.

The situation was no different Wednesday.

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On March 2, the United Arab Emirates facilitated an air shipment from the World Health Organization to Iran of medical supplies to help quell the coronavirus outbreak and, two days later, evacuated a student group of Arab foreign nationals from China, in an agreement with the Chinese government. Saudi Arabia last week decided not to issue of visas for pilgrims to Mecca. With these actions, both humanitarian and wise, the Gulf states are setting an example for what could soon be an official viral epidemic in the region, mostly generated from Iran, their main adversary.

Whatever the political tensions with Iran, Abu Dhabi and others in the region reflect the insight that global disease response is not a contest; no state wins for the lowest contagion count or fewest deaths. All governments will struggle to respond, but some will choose testing policies and communication strategies that make the rest of us safer, and they should be commended and replicated. The coronavirus will affect everyone and every economy. It is already changing our consumer and social behavior, underscoring the interdependence of our global economy from supply chains to the transmission of market anxiety.

For those who distrust globalization and promote nationalist or autarkic political agendas, the crisis is gold. But they are no better protected, as it is already clear that the COVID-19 virus will not be contained to one country or region. In fact, it was the sharing of information, the provision of supplies and technical expertise in a coordinated international institutional response that helped quell the spread of disease in the past. Most people in the world are healthier, more wealthy and better informed because of connected markets, international institutions and globalization.

Gulf economic impact of the coronavirus

Heres what we know: Even in best-case scenarios of economic impact for 2020, this year will be difficult. It will be especially difficult for some developing economies, many of them in the Middle East, and hardest on commodity producers. Developed markets will face supply chain problems from production in China. Reduced spending by Chinese tourists will affect other countries unevenly, but the airline industry as a whole will face considerable losses.

Chinese travel spending generates 0.30-0.35% of annual global GDP, double the amount that the US generates, according to Johns Hopkins and Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research. Even if Chinese tourists do not make up a major proportion of the tourist population in many Middle East states, the impact to the travel industry at large is deep and Gulf carriers will be no exception. In Lebanon, tourism accounts for 14% of GDP and nearly 4% in Egypt. Though Chinese visitors are a fraction of visitor populations to Egypt and Lebanon, the regional risk and damage to transportation links and the rising use of travel bans will weaken already vulnerable regional economies. For the UAE, Chinese tourists account for nearly 6% of total visitors, and Expo 2020 planned for later this year had expected a large Chinese contingent.

According to data from S&P Global Ratings, in direct trade Saudi Arabias exposure to China is significant, with close to 5% of Saudi GDP made up of merchandise exports to China. Oil exporters are especially vulnerable, as global demand is extremely weak and the Gulf Arab states have concentrated their export relationships to the east. Qatari gas makes up 16.8% of Chinas gas imports and Saudi oil accounts for 12.4% of Chinas oil import mix. Omani oil makes up about 7.2% of Chinas oil imports, but Omani exports to China make up 45% of Oman's total goods exports and a whopping 78% of Omans oil exports were destined for China in 2019, according to reports from Standard Chartered.

A bad year gets worse

2020 was already a challenging year for Gulf oil exporters with persistent fiscal deficits, growing debt service obligations, soft oil demand and a backlash of global investors less interested in potential privatization in the oil sector. Now those expectations look rosy, as new projections see global oil demand declining this year. And its not just because China is not at full productivity. It is the market anxiety that is crushing demand for transport fuel. 2020 looks worse than both 2009 and 2015 for Gulf energy exporters, and there are now fewer fiscal levers in place to create economic stimulus. Gulf governments are likely to return to international debt capital markets, but there is little to suggest that the borrowing spree of the last few years has done much to stimulate growth.

In Saudi Arabia, a roughly 20% increase in public debt as a portion of GDP from 2014 to 2019 has been met with an average growth of 1.5% of GDP in the same five-year period, according to research by S&P Global Ratings. The debt strategy has not been a successful growth strategy, but rather a way to tread water in the face of economic diversification and social liberalization efforts. The few success stories in economic diversification rely on open markets, tourism and the privatization of sectors that will be hard hit by the coronavirus: health care and education.

Moreover, the political risk factors that failed to shock oil markets starting with the summer 2019 tanker attacks, then the targeting of Aramco oil facilities in September, to the January killing of Iran's Qasem Soleimani in Iraq now contend with a true black swan event. Fear of disease contagion that will likely kill very few on a global scale now amounts to a greater economic risk than an outright war between Iran and the United States. This is the brutal irony and sad lesson of the last year in the Gulf. The anticipated confrontation with Iran led by the US administration turned into a debacle, with the Gulf Arab states left exposed to more risk and fewer assurances of American protection. Iran is now more a neighborhood liability than a global concern.

Iran cannot be contained

The coronavirus' impact in Iran is dire and underscores the assessment of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that an imploding Iranian regime with desperate citizens and ruthless military leadership is not a desired outcome. For those who support the US "maximum pressure" campaign, there is now a decision point. It is one thing to advocate for regime change in Iran and force its economic and political collapse. That approach demands a plan, and an international coalition committed to rebuild Irans political leadership and reintegrate its economy into global markets. It is another to deny the intention of regime collapse and watch gleefully as people suffer the consequences of a failed political system unable to care for its citizens in the face of a pandemic.

I know, because I have heard analysts in Washington speak about Irans current economic and health crisis as if it had no effect on US interests in the Middle East or on our own domestic economy and security. I spoke on a panel at AIPAC on March 2 in which a co-panelist cheered the failure of Irans disease response as some kind of just reward. By March 5, AIPAC announced there may have been a risk of contagion from some participants in the conference.

There is no insulation from the current crisis; it has no politics. This outbreak and our national and global institutional responses should be a lesson. Good neighbor policy is an understanding of shared risk, a maturity that does not allow hubris at the misfortune of ones adversaries.
The SA Post Office has not been taking advantage of its strategic position and needs to improve its courier business to stem the decrease in its customer base.

This was according to SA Post Office Chairperson Colleen Makhubele, who was speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria.

Even in our obvious areas of growth  such as ecommerce  we have been slow to capitalise on our competitive advantage.

The new SA Post Office board was appointed in December 2019, and upon taking up its duties, it soon found that there were big problems at the struggling postal service.

The new board found that there were no new initiatives and that there was a big problem with general performance  resulting in situations such as the late delivery of cash, said Makhubele.

The board realised that in order for us as a business to take advantage of the great opportunities facing us, we first needed to get our house in order.

Makhubele said that this included the driving down of costs, the automation of manual processes, strengthening of the SOEs internal audit and risk functions, and acquiring more revenue through new initiatives.

The SA Post Office is an organisation that has been losing money for the last decade, said Makhubele.

She added that expenditure continues to exceed revenue and predicted that the SA Post Office would make a R1-billion loss in the current financial year.

Fixing the Post Office

Makhubele outlined various plans the SA Post Office has to improve its current situation and become profitable.

This included the recent implementation of a 90-day plan, which seeks to identify and address the key concerns within the organisation.

The SA Post Office is also revisiting all contracts to determine which need to be cut or renegotiated.

Most contracts run for three years and over, and in such a long period a lot can change. SAPO is bleeding money through some of the contracts we have entered into, said Makhubele.

An audit has found that there are serious irregularities in some Post Office contracts.

This includes partners being paid retainers without any work being done, or with the scope of the required work not being clarified.

We also witnessed an attempt to finalise some tenders before the new board settled, said Makhubele.

Makhubele said the process of reviewing contracts and related functionalities could save the Post Office as much as R100 million over the next financial year.

Building an improved system

The SA Post Office has also improved its systems to handle the necessary load  something that has been a big issue in the past.

The system could not handle the high volumes of SASSA payments in the past, said Makhubele.

The system used to collapse every few hours due to transaction volume. This is being addressed.

The SA Post Office has also implemented an international system which allows for the tracking of deliveries throughout the entire process using a single tracking number.

Previously, parcels were allocated a local tracking number  meaning there was a gap between the arrival of the package from other countries to the beginning of local tracking.

Makhubele said the SA Post Office is also implementing a notification system via SMS which will tell customers when their parcel is ready for collection.

Ecommerce

The SA Post Office also envisions the development of its own ecommerce platform as a key driver of revenue to strengthen its financial situation.

This new platform is expected to launch on 9 March and has been built in partnership with the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

The ecommerce platform will integrate with other key African postal services  from Egypt, Kenya, and Ghana  and will also allow for comprehensive global shopping.

Customers will be able to list their products on the SA Post Office platform for free, and customers from anywhere in the world can purchase these products.

The SA Post Office will provide these entrepreneurs with both financial and delivery assistance.

The Post Office is also looking to work with local logistics entrepreneurs to assist with house-to-house deliveries in remote areas.

Now read: Awesome perks South African tech companies offer their employees
Peter Bone in the Commons on Wednesday. (Parliamentlive.tv)

A Tory MP has called for a new June bank holiday to celebrate the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Peter Bone wants an annual United Kingdom Day on the Friday closest to 23 June, the day the European Union poll was held.

He said the referendums anniversary should be officially marked as it invigorated the country, but added the government has been sniffy about the idea.

The backbencher told the Commons on Wednesday: Of course, 23 June, 2016 is the day the UK voted on our membership of the EU. It was the largest democratic participation this country has ever seen, with 33,551,983 people voting in that referendum.

Whether the people we met [while campaigning] were big Brexiteers or real Remainers, the public were energised. Fundamentally, the people of the UK were engaged. For the first time, many felt their vote really mattered.

Whether they felt happy or sad about the outcome, nothing in history has invigorated the country as much as that political debate.

He said other reasons to have a bank holiday in June include the Queens coronation and official birthday being in this month.

Brexit briefing: 302 days until the end of the transition period

The MP for Wellingborough also pointed to patriotic bank holidays in other countries, such as Bastille Day in France and Independence Day in the US.

The UK currently has eight bank holidays a year, which Bone said is the 226th lowest of 246 countries worldwide. He compared that to countries such as Cyprus and Malta, which have 17 and 14 respectively.

Bone told MPs: One very important thing the government should be looking at when enhancing workers rights are public holidays.

It is time the government recognised the tremendous work carried out by British people. If we are serious about wanting enhanced workers rights, then lets at least create one extra bank holiday.

Success of a business is down to the quality and productivity of their employees. Companies dont succeed by making workers work as many hours as possible. They succeed if their workers are happy and productive.

Story continues

The bill passed its first reading, though Bone didnt appear confident it would progress.

He said the government has been quite sniffy about the idea, which has rather surprised and disappointed me.

He complained: Why not mark this great democratic event?

The June bank holiday bill is set to go through its second reading in the Commons in June. This is the second of 11 stages it must pass in order to gain Royal Assent and become law.

How four years of utter Brexit chaos unfolded
(Newser)  A cruise ship with more than 2,500 passengers on board is being held off the coast of California after the state's first confirmed death in the coronavirus outbreak. Authorities say the 71-year-old man, who had underlying health issues, is one of three people who were on a round trip cruise on the Grand Princess from San Francisco to Mexico last month that have now tested positive for the virus the Guardian reports. After the man, who lived in Placer County, and thousands of other passengers disembarked on Feb. 21, the vessel began a round trip to Hawaii. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declared a statewide emergency Wednesday, says 10 crew members and 11 passengers have now reported flu-like symptoms.

story continues below

Newsom says the ship, which was supposed to dock in San Francisco Wednesday night, is being held in international waters and testing kits will be flown out to it. He says the Grand Princess' previous voyage has been linked to a "small cluster" of coronavirus cases in California and authorities are trying to track down 2,500 former passengers who could be at risk. The passenger who died is the 11th person known to have died from the coronavirus in the US and the first outside Washington state.In other developments:

More cases in New York . The number of coronavirus cases in New York has now reached 11, including a person whose source of infection is unclear, the New York Times reports. New Jersey also reported its first coronavirus case Wednesday.

. The number of coronavirus cases in New York has now reached 11, including a person whose source of infection is unclear, the New York Times reports. New Jersey also reported its first coronavirus case Wednesday. "Distancing measures" in Washington . In the Seattle area, which has the largest cluster of cases, authorities are trying to stop the spread of the virus by urging people over 60 to stay home and asking companies to let people work from home as much as possible, reports Reuters. "The distancing measures that were recommending are essential because we need to slow the spread of the disease to the point where we are able to continue to handle the load," says Patty Hayes, the public health director for Seattle and King County. Authorities have also closed schools in a district that serves 20,000 students.

. In the Seattle area, which has the largest cluster of cases, authorities are trying to stop the spread of the virus by urging people over 60 to stay home and asking companies to let people work from home as much as possible, reports Reuters. "The distancing measures that were recommending are essential because we need to slow the spread of the disease to the point where we are able to continue to handle the load," says Patty Hayes, the public health director for Seattle and King County. Authorities have also closed schools in a district that serves 20,000 students. "Changes to society." In Britain, which has now reported 90 coronavirus cases, the country's chief medical officer warned lawmakers that it is very likely that "community transmission" is now happening, the BBC reports. Christ Whitty said the government is stepping up virus control efforts, which could involve "changes to society."

In Britain, which has now reported 90 coronavirus cases, the country's chief medical officer warned lawmakers that it is very likely that "community transmission" is now happening, the BBC reports. Christ Whitty said the government is stepping up virus control efforts, which could involve "changes to society." Iran sets up checkpoints . In Iran, confirmed cases have now surged to 3,513, with 107 deaths, the most in any country outside China. The country says it is taking measures including setting up checkpoints between cities and discouraging the use of paper money, the AP reports. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Palestinian authorities said sites including the Nativity Church in Bethlehem will be closed due to coronavirus fears.

. In Iran, confirmed cases have now surged to 3,513, with 107 deaths, the most in any country outside China. The country says it is taking measures including setting up checkpoints between cities and discouraging the use of paper money, the AP reports. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Palestinian authorities said sites including the Nativity Church in Bethlehem will be closed due to coronavirus fears. Facebook worker tests positive . Bloomberg reports that Facebook has closed its Seattle office until March 9 because a contractor based there has tested positive. The company says Seattle employees will be encouraged to work from home until the end of the month.

. Bloomberg reports that Facebook has closed its Seattle office until March 9 because a contractor based there has tested positive. The company says Seattle employees will be encouraged to work from home until the end of the month. Xi cancels trip. In Chinastill the worst-hit country by far, with more than 3,000 deathsPresident Xi Jinping has cancelled a state visit to Japan, which is also dealing with a major outbreak. Chinese authorities say the number of new infections is continuing to fall, with few new cases reported outside Hubei province.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
Toronto art-house destination the Gladstone Hotel has been sold to a development team with a reputation for maximizing the potential of historic properties.

Its not yet clear what the new owners plan to do with the 37-room Gladstone Hotel, an arts and dining hub on Queen Street West near Dufferin Street. But the buyers, Streetcar Developments and Dream Unlimited, are known for character projects.

They are behind the makeover of the 127-year-old Jillys strip club into the Broadview Hotel on Queen Street East. Condo developer Dream is the company that helped transform the Distillery District into one of the citys destination neighbourhoods with its Victorian buildings and cobbled streets now overlooked by modern, highrise condos.

Christina Zeidler, president of the Gladstone Hotel, said it was a personal decision to sell the property. She said she was looking for a buyer who would respect its historic and cultural significance.

The Gladstone became a hub for the arts after her father, architect Eberhard Zeidler, renovated it about 15 years ago.

The buyers are committed to the hotels cultural pedigree, said Streetcar Developments founder and president Les Mallins, in a press release on Wednesday.

We look forward to amplifying the hotels offerings with our refreshed vision, enhancing the current building while ensuring the property remains a staple within the community, he said.

The Gladstone, which has a heritage designation from the city, will be part of the developers portfolio of character buildings of historical significance, said Dreams Michael Cooper.

The Gladstone advertises itself as Torontos oldest continually operating hotel, built in 1889. It has 37 artist-designed rooms and three gallery spaces.

The new owners will take possession of the property later this month.
OTTAWA, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) is conducting a federal environmental assessment for the proposed BHP Canada Exploration Drilling Project , located approximately 350 kilometres offshore, northeast of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Agency invites the public and Indigenous groups to comment on the potential environmental effects of the project and the proposed measures to prevent or mitigate those effects as described in the proponent's summary of the Environmental Impact Statement .

This is the second of three opportunities for the public to comment on the environmental assessment of the project.

Written comments in either official language will be accepted until April 4, 2020.

Comments can be submitted online by visiting the project home page on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry (reference number 80174 ). All comments received will be published online as part of the project file.

For more information on the project, the review process and alternative means of submitting comments, visit the Agency's website at canada.ca/iaac.

As a next step, the Agency will prepare the draft Environmental Assessment Report and the potential environmental assessment conditions for the project. The public will be invited to comment on these documents during a final public comment period on this project.

Associated Links

Follow us on Twitter: @IAAC_AEIC #BHPCanadaExplorationDrilling

SOURCE Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

For further information: Media Relations, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, 343-549-3870, [email protected]

Related Links

https://www.ceaa.gc.ca/


The head of the European Commission says the EU's first priority is to keep order on Greece's border.

Mrs von der Leyen flew over the border in a helicopter with her colleagues

The head of the European Commission has sent a strong message of support to Greece in its attempts to stop migrants crossing its border from Turkey.

"Our first priority is to ensure order is maintained at the Greek external border, which is also a European border," Ursula von der Leyen said.

She promised Greece, which she called a "European aspida [shield]", 700m (608m; $780m) in financial aid.

Turkey lifted controls on migrants exiting for the EU on Friday.

It took the decision after suffering a heavy military loss in north-west Syria, where it has been trying to create a safe area to resettle millions of Syrian refugees it took in during the ongoing civil war.

At least 24,000 people have been stopped from crossing the border from Turkey since Saturday, according to Greek government figures.

Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using the migrants as pawns. He also announced that his government had strengthened Austria's borders to make sure the mass influx of refugees and migrants of 2015 was not repeated.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is due to visit Ankara to discuss Turkey's decision to drop restrictions on migrants, abandoning a deal struck in 2016.

What was the 2016 EU-Turkey deal?

It was proposed as a solution to the migrant crisis in which almost one million refugees and migrants arrived in the EU in 2015 and thousands died in mass drownings

On 20 March 2016 the EU and Turkey made a deal that saw Syrian refugees who arrived on Greek islands sent back to Turkey. In return Turkey received 6bn (5.2bn; $6.7bn) in EU aid for migrants and refugees

For every Syrian person removed from Greece to Turkey, another would be resettled from Turkey to the EU

The EU agreed to work towards lifting visa requirements for Turkish citizens by the end of June 2016

After the deal was agreed, the number of migrants arriving in Greece declined sharply

How is the EU helping Greece?

Mrs von der Leyen inspected the land border on Tuesday along with European Council chief Charles Michel and European Parliament speaker David Sassoli, accompanied by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The support she announced for Greece included:

700m in aid for migration management

A Frontex force comprising seven vessels, two helicopters, one plane, three thermal-vision vehicles and 100 extra border guards

Civil protection aid including medical equipment and teams, and shelters

"The Greek worries are our worries," she told reporters at the Kastanies border crossing.

"This border is not only a Greek border but it is also a European border and I stand here today as a European at your side... We have come here today to send a very clear statement of European solidarity and support to Greece...

"I am fully committed to mobilising all the necessary operational support to the Greek authorities."

She added that she wanted to express her "compassion for the migrants that have been lured through false promises into this desperate situation".

Charles Michel said it was very important as to protect Europe's borders but also to show respect for international law.

He called on Turkey to keep to the 2016 agreement.

Defending his tough line on maintaining the border, Prime Minister Mitsotakis said Greece could not and would not be "blackmailed".

"This is no longer a refugee problem," he said. "This is a blatant attempt by Turkey to use desperate people to promote its geopolitical agenda and to divert attention from the horrible situation in Syria."

What is the situation at the border?

Monday night was quiet in comparison with events over the weekend when thousands of migrants clashed with Greek security forces, a Greek army officer told Reuters news agency near the Kastanies border crossing.

"There were only a few attempts today [by migrants to cross the border]," he said. "Let's hope they get the message."

Some migrants including women and children could be seen in custody after being detained on the Greek side of the land border.

On the Turkish side, migrants who had been waiting around the border city of Edirne were again moving towards the frontier.

Several hundred migrants crossed to Greece from Turkey by boat in recent days but people were deterred by choppy seas on Tuesday, a police source told Reuters.

A young boy died when a boat capsized off the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday, Greek police say. It was the first reported fatality since Turkey opened its border.

Why is the humanitarian crisis so grave?

Nearly a million Syrians have fled to the Syrian-Turkish border since December, amid heavy fighting in the Idlib region between Turkish-backed rebels and Syrian government forces.

Turkey is already hosting 3.7 million Syrian refugees, as well as migrants from other countries such as Afghanistan.

President Erdogan said the EU had provided no help for resettling Syrian refugees in safe zones inside Syria and he predicted that "millions" of migrants would go to the EU.

Greece has blocked any new asylum applications for the next month, because of what it calls the "coordinated and massive nature" of illegal migration from Turkey.

But the UN Human Rights Council said Greece had no legal justification for suspending asylum procedures.

Europe's top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has condemned both Turkey and Greece, calling the situation an "unprecedented humanitarian crisis".

"Everything must be done to de-escalate violence in the border region, including by ensuring that law enforcement authorities refrain from using excessive force," it said. BBC

Turkey says millions of migrants may head to EU President Erdogan says EU inaction over Syria means he cannot stop migrants heading for Greece.
Second patient in Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus  in Cardiff

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 5th, 2020

The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Frank Atherton, has confirmed as of 4pm that a second patient in Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The patient is a resident in the Cardiff local authority area and has recently returned from Northern Italy, where the virus was contracted. The patient is being treated in a clinically appropriate setting.

Dr Atherton said: I can confirm that a second patient in Wales has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).

All appropriate measures to provide care for the individual and to reduce the risk of transmission to others are being taken.

I can also confirm that like the first case in Wales, this patient had travelled back to Wales from Northern Italy, where the virus was contracted.

Id like to take this opportunity to assure the public that Wales and the whole of the UK is well prepared for these types of incidents. Working with our partners in Wales and the UK, we have implemented our planned response, with robust infection control measures in place to protect the health of the public.

To protect patient confidentiality, no further details regarding the individual will be released.

The UK Government has said there are now 115 confirmed coronavirus cases in UK, with the below table released for the stats in england:
TSX: TML

OTCQX: TSRMF

TORONTO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Treasury Metals Inc. (TSX: TML) ("Treasury" or the "Company") is pleased to announce additional assay results from its expansion drilling in the Eastern C Zone and Infill drilling in the Main Zone at the Goliath Gold Project located in northwestern Ontario. The results demonstrate further delineation of the developing new C Zone East shoot approximately 200 metres from the easternmost Main Zone shoot. Drilling to date has intersected 7 holes above 10 g/t in an area now spanning 200 metres along strike by 150 metres down dip (see attached image).

Exploration Highlights include:

C Zone East hole TL20-520 intersected 1.35 g/t over 14.7 m including 6.0 g/t Au over 2.0 m and approximately 15 m further down the hole 65.2 g/t Au over 3.0 m including 193 g/t over 1.0 m

and approximately further down the hole TL20-522 intersected 2.26 g/t over 15.0 m including 6.48 g/t over 4.0 m in the Main Zone Measured Infill program

in the Main Zone Measured Infill program TL20-515 intersected 5.4 g/t Au over 4.0 m including 20.9 g/t Au over 1.0 m in the new Main Zone area along strike

in the new Main Zone area along strike TL19-513 intersected 2.0 g/t Au over 4.0 m

TL20-521 intersected 0.92 g/t Au over 26.0 m including 6.2 g/t Au over 1.0 m and 1.9 g/t Au over 4.0 m in the Main Zone Measured Infill program.

Eastern C Zone:

TL20-520 intersected 1.35 g/t over 14.7 m including 6.0 g/t Au over 2.0 m and approximately 15 m further down the hole the high-grade intersection of 65.2 g/t Au over 3.0 m including 193 g/t over 1.0 m from two distinct areas of mineralization both located within the C Zone. The high-grade intersection was associated with strong sericite and silica alteration and the presence of pyrite, sphalerite, galena which is analogous with the other high-grade shoots of the deposit. The highest sample was found within part of a fault zone which cut through the footwall contact of the C Zone. This contrasts to other areas of the deposit and will be investigated further.

The drilling program followed up on previously reported holes TL19-503 (January 2020) with 14.8 g/t Au over 7.0 m including 101.0 g/t over 1.0 m and TL18-494 (August 2018) with 25.2 g/t Au over 4.5 m including 111 g/t over 1.0 m

Holes TL20-513, TL20-515, TL20-518, TL20-520 have low-grade mineralization over long intervals between approximately 13.0 m and 16.0 m, respectively.

Eastern Main Zone Along Strike:

Drilling continues to hit meaningful gold grades in a newly discovered area of mineralization along strike (see press release January 13, 2020). These intercepts are encountered while targeting the C Zone East and is located approximately 200 metres along strike from the Eastern Main Zone Shoot. The discovery intersection included a series of high-grade lenses (TL19-506: 14.6 g/t Au over 1.0 m, 11.8 g/t over 1.0 m, and 8.13 g/t over 1.0m).

Additional Results Include:

TL19-515 intersected 5.4 g/t Au over 4.0 m including 20.9 g/t Au over 1.0 m

TL19-513 intersected 2.0 g/t Au over 4.0 m

TL19-511 intersected 1.0 g/t Au over 4.8 m

Next Steps:

The Company will be analysing these results along strike in relation to known mineralization within the Main Zone and establish drill targets for later testing.

The Eastern C Zone area has the potential to lead to new resources and increased production profile in the underground because of its close proximity to the Main Zone. The Company is presently reviewing the impact of the mine schedule and will establish additional drill targets.

The Company will report results from the Main Zone expansion drilling designed to extend the main zone shoots as they become available and is approximately 6,000 metres into the 15,000 metre program.

Figure 1: Plan View, Drill Program Collar Location Map (click to enlarge).

Figure 2: Goliath Gold Project C Zone Longitudinal Section of the Developing East C Zone Shoot (click to enlarge). The updated Main Zone Longitudinal Section is available on the website.

Table 1: Drill Hole Intercepts Drill Hole Target Zone From (m) To (m) Sample Length

(m) Grade g/t

Au TL19511 C Main 363.70 368.50 4.80 0.98* C 448.00 456.00 8.00 0.33 TL19513 C HW 298.00 299.00 1.00 5.19* Main 406.00 410.00 4.00 1.99* C 502.00 515.00 13.00 0.38 TL20515 C Main 348.00 352.00 4.00 5.38* Including 348.00 349.00 1.00 20.9* C 446.00 462.40 16.40 0.52 C 477.00 483.10 6.10 0.52 TL20518 C HW 129.00 140.00 11.00 0.45 C 403.10 417.10 14.00 0.67* Including 413.10 417.10 4.00 1.21* C 432.70 438.20 5.50 0.70 TL20520 C C 495.00 509.70 14.70 1.35 Including 507.00 508.00 1.00 10.70 C 522.50 527.50 5.00 39.28 Including 524.50 525.50 1.00 193.00 TL20521 Main Main 205.0 231.0 26.00 0.92 Including 211.0 215.0 4.00 1.93 Including 222.0 223.0 1.00 6.21 TL20522 Main Main 265.0 280.0 15.00 2.26 Including 267.0 271.0 4.00 6.48 Including 269.0 270.0 1.00 17.00

For duplicate samples, an average of the two gold assays are used to calculate the intersection grade; all grades un-cut, no-capping. Holes are generally drilled 350-0 Azimuth with inclinations ranging -65 to -80. All assays are rounded to two decimal places. Intervals do not indicate true widths. *Metallic Screen Fire Assay Results.

Qualified Person

Technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Adam Larsen, P. Geo, who is the qualified person under the definitions established by National Instrument 43-101.

To view further details about the Goliath Gold Project, please visit the Company's website at www.treasurymetals.com.

Follow us on Twitter @TreasuryMetals

About Treasury Metals Inc.

Treasury Metals Inc. is a gold focused exploration and development company with assets in Canada and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") under the symbol "TML" and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol "TSRMF".

QA/QC Program:

The Company has implemented a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program to ensure sampling and analysis of all exploration work is conducted in accordance with the CIM Exploration Best Practices Guidelines. The drill core is sawn in half with one-half of the core sample dispatched to Actlabs facility located in Dryden, Ontario. The other half of the core is retained for future assay verification and/or metallurgical testing. Other QA/QC procedures include the insertion of blanks and Canadian Reference Standards for every tenth sample in the sample stream. A quarter core duplicate is assayed every 20th sample. The laboratory has its own QA/QC protocols running standards and blanks with duplicate samples in each batch stream. Additional checks are routinely run on anomalous values including gravimetric analysis and pulp metallic screen fire assays. Gold analysis is conducted by lead collection, fire assay with atomic absorption and/or gravimetric finish on a 50 gram sample. Check assays are conducted at a secondary ISO certified laboratory (in this case AGAT Laboratories located in Mississauga, Ontario). Metallic screen fire assaying is now completed using a 1.0 kg sample and four 50 gm fire assays of the pass (-100 mesh) pulverized material.

Forward-looking Statements

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expect, are forward-looking statements. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Treasury Metals disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Treasury Metals Inc.

Related Links

www.treasurymetals.com


The aftermath of a massive vehicle crash Sunday is seen from a Wyoming highway Patrol vehicle. The crash resulted in both Interstate 80 lanes east of Rock Springs being closed. As of Tuesday at noon, the Wyoming Department of Transportation's Wyoming 511 phone app listed the closure to last until late Tuesday night.

CASPER - At least three people died in a wreck involving 80-100 vehicles Sunday on Interstate 80, while a second crash on I-80 involving at least 30-40 vehicles occurred around the same time, just miles away.

The larger crash came amid winter conditions on westbound I-80 at milepost 184 near Creston Junction. Videos posted to social media depict a chain-reaction wreck involving cars, trucks and tractor-trailers on icy roads with poor visibility.

Three people are known to have died from that crash, Sgt. Jeremy Beck of Wyoming Highway Patrol said Monday. Officials had previously said four people died, but the highway patrol, the primary agency dealing with the crashes, said the number was three as of Monday morning.

Beck said there was some miscommunication regarding the number, which led to a delay in the patrol putting out its first official statement on the wrecks at 11:19 a.m. Monday.

"Of course that number could increase," Beck said of the fatalities, "but that's the number (three) we're being told."

"Any further details are pending next-of-kin notifications," Mower said in a statement to the Star-Tribune in which he corrected the number.

Beck also clarified that the number of vehicles involved in the bigger crash was currently estimated at 80-100. However, the patrol did not yet have an exact count, and that number was likely to increase.

The sergeant said he did not know whether a pileup of over 100 vehicles had ever happened on a Wyoming highway before.

The second crash on eastbound I-80 happened around milepost 181 and involved 30-40 vehicles, Beck said.

There were no known fatalities in the crash, but one person was left in critical condition, and at least seven were taken to the hospital. Most vehicles from that crash have been cleared to the side of the road. Officials were still working to clear the scene of the bigger pileup as of 10 a.m. Monday.

Wyoming Highway Patrol said that roads were expected to reopen between noon and 4 p.m. Tuesday. The interstate remained closed eastbound from Evanston to Laramie and westbound from Cheyenne to Rawlins on Monday afternoon.

Beck said around 4:30 p.m. Monday that the highway patrol didn't have any updated information on the wrecks.

Troopers first were notified of the crashes around 3:39 p.m. Sunday, according to the highway patrol announcement.

Other than the influence of weather, Beck was not able to provide specifics about what initially caused the crashes, as the agency continues to investigate them.

The fact that two crashes of such significance happened at the same time "is just a disaster," said Mower of the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office. "It required a huge response," he said.

The wrecks prompted assistance from agencies throughout the region.

Wyoming Highway Patrol called in help from around the I-80 corridor, Mower said.

More than a dozen agencies responded to the scene: Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office; Sweetwater Medics; Sweetwater County Fire District No. 1; Castle Rock Ambulance; Carbon County Memorial Hospital; Wamsutter Fire Department; Carbon County Fire Department; and ambulances from Baggs, Green River, Wamsutter, Saratoga and Hanna.

Beginning at 3:30 p.m., patients from the crash began arriving at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins, according to Stephanie Hinkle, the hospital's marketing and communications director. There were 30 people taken to the emergency room, Hinkle said Monday morning. Two patients were admitted to the hospital. The 25-bed hospital set up a temporary holding area in the cafeteria to deal with all of the patients. Three additional doctors came in to assist the two emergency room physicians who were on duty at the time.

"We were completely full," Hinkle said.

After patients were discharged, EMTs from the hospital drove them to area hotels.

"Our staff really went above and beyond to help those individuals," she said.

A Department of Corrections spokesman said Monday morning that about a dozen people involved in the wreck were sheltering in the agency's Rawlins training center.

A video posted to Facebook by David Cuarezma, a trucker out of Miami, shows wreckage from the crash, including footage of people trying to cut open mangled vehicles in an attempt to rescue others.

Jordan Achs, public relations specialist at the Wyoming Department of Transportation, confirmed that the video was from Sunday's crash. Cuarezma later shared a longer video on YouTube, during which his truck gets hit and the sound of other crashes can be heard in the distance.

Achs said around 9:30 a.m. Monday it would still be several more hours before the wreckage would all be cleared. She said the Department of Transportation was primarily focused on clearing the roads so that wreckers could get through to clean up.

Visibility was a significant concern Sunday, Achs said, and that remained the case Monday morning as snow continued to blow.

Additionally, a WYDOT plow was rear-ended Sunday by a semitruck driving eastbound on I-80 near Elk Mountain. There were no injuries, according to a social media post from the department. It was the 10th plow hit in District 1 this winter.

I-80 closed Sunday night around 7 p.m. between Rock Springs and Wamsutter. At the time, it was expected to remain closed for 14 to 16 hours, WYDOT said.
The UK's High Court has ruled that the son of a fraudster who conned 740m (847m) in borrowings from AIB must have an opportunity to pursue an allegation against the institution that it made misrepresentations in order to seize a property portfolio amassed using the loans.

The claimant is Michalis Kallakis, the son of Greek businessman Achilleas Kallakis.

The latter was initially jailed in 2013 for seven years for the AIB loan fraud. He used the money to buy high-end London properties, and pay for yachts, art and luxury cars. His sentence was later increased to 11 years. His business partner, Alex Williams, was sentenced to eight years.

They used fake documentation to secure the bank loans from AIB between 2003 and 2007. The money was loaned to a number of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) registered in the British Virgin Islands.

But in 2008, AIB discovered that the documentation used to procure the loans was fake. In November that year, it served notice of default and sold the properties the same day to 14 entities that were part of Dublin-based Green Property, the group founded by Stephen Vernon.

AIB advanced the money to Green to buy the portfolio, taking a near-60m writedown on the loans originally used to buy the properties. Green Property agreed to pay AIB 30pc of any profit from the eventual sale of the properties.

Michalis Kallakis is 21 years old. He claims that he was a beneficiary of the Hermitage Syndicated Trust, which was the sole shareholder in each of the SPVs that his father used to buy the properties with AIB loans. The trustee of that trust was Michael Becker.

Michalis Kallakis has claimed that the bank caused loss by repossessing the properties, or seizing control of the SPVs, or by making false and/or negligent misrepresentations to gain control of the SPVs and the properties.

He also alleges that AIB sold the properties without legal authority, and that it breached a duty to obtain the best possible price for them.

AIB denies that the terms of the sale to Green and the associated lending were unusual and further denies that the sale was at an undervalue. AIB also claims that it did not profit from the sale to Green.

Michalis Kallakis has claimed that misrepresentations were made to "managers, directors and shareholders" of the British Virgin Islands SPVs, but AIB claims that Mr Kallakis does not allege that Mr Becker relied on the alleged misrepresentations.

The judge hearing the case said AIB has not shown that there is no real prospect of that reliance being established.

The court also said that the issue of whether the sale of the properties to Green was lawfully exercised will involve "full argument at trial".
Amo Houghton, who led Corning Glass Works before serving nearly two decades in Congress, died Wednesday. He was 93.

Houghton was born in Corning and attended boarding school in New Hampshire. After serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Harvard University.

During his collegiate studies, Houghton started working at his family's company. The Houghton family founded Corning Glass Works in the 1850s. Houghton was the company's chairman and CEO from 1964 to 1983.

Wendell Weeks, the chairman, CEO and president of Corning Incorporated, credited Houghton with overseeing some of the company's most notable inventions, including its CorningWare brand and optical fiber.

"The company, the community and the country have lost a giant," Weeks said. "I can't think of anyone who embodied leadership more than Amo."

Houghton, a Republican, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986. During his 18-year congressional career, he served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and was a member of the House International Relations Committee.

He had four bills signed into law, including legislation to present the Congressional Gold Medal to Nelson Mandela.

Houghton was one of the most moderate members during his House tenure. He opposed the articles of impeachment against then-President Bill Clinton. In 2002, he voted against the Iraq war resolution. In both cases, he was one of a small number of Republicans to oppose the measures.

While in Congress, he founded the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of centrist GOP members.

"Amo knew that American progress can only be made when we shift politics back to the civility of the center," said Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. "A resolute beacon of bipartisanship, Amo's unyielding commitment to country over party manifested into the Republican Main Street Partnership almost 23 years ago."

From 1993 to 2003, Houghton's district included a portion of Cayuga County. Part of Auburn and several towns in the southern half of the county were in his district.

Guy Cosentino, who was mayor of Auburn from 1992 through 1995, remembered Houghton as a "gracious man." He said Houghton would drive an RV to Auburn and park outside Memorial City Hall. He used the RV to hold mobile office hours for his constituents in Auburn and Cayuga County.

Cosentino lauded Houghton, along with former U.S. Reps. Bill Paxon and Jim Walsh, for taking action to rebuild the Owasco Lake seawall. He also assisted the city when Auburn Steel was having issues with NYSEG.

"Amo Houghton was just a great guy to have as your congressman," Cosentino said. "He was doing it for all the right reasons."

Houghton announced in 2004 that he would not seek reelection after serving nine terms in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, a Corning Republican, said in a statement that his family has longstanding ties to the Houghtons. He said his grandfather "bounced Amo on his knee working for the Houghton family more than 90 years ago."

Houghton was also a classmate of Reed's mother and father. Reed said he considers his predecessor a mentor and friend.

"Washington still has much to learn from his legacy," Reed continued. "A legacy of common sense governing through respected bipartisan friendships and political civility. A legacy where our country comes first and our political party a distant second. Our nation has lost a true hero, and our hometown of Corning has lost a great ambassador. He will be missed by all."

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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By Jung Min-ho







The government has denied allegations that it provided North Korea with face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.





"The government has not provided any masks to North Korea, nor has any nongovernmental organization sought permission from the government to send masks to help the North," Yoh Sang-key, a spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, said Thursday.





He urged the public to stay vigilant about disinformation, saying those who are responsible for spreading it will be held accountable in court.





Rumors started swirling that the Moon Jae-in administration secretly sent masks to the North after YTN, a local broadcaster, aired on March 1 video footage of a North Korean medical worker wearing a mask from the South Korean company Yuhan Kimberly.





This comes as many people in South Korea complain about a shortage of masks, which prompted the government to restrict exports to ensure enough domestic supply amid the coronavirus outbreak.





Yuhan Kimberly said it has not sold any masks to North Korea.





A ministry official said the mask may have entered North Korea through China.





North Korea has not reported any coronavirus infections.


By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The coronavirus count in India jumped by a whopping 23 on Wednesday, taking the total active cases to 26. The latest was that of a digital paywalls employee who had recently returned from Italy.

The spurt came from a group of 15 Italian tourists, their Indian bus driver, six in Agra who came in contact with the Delhi man who had tested positive on Monday, and the paywalls staffer. All of them are under quarantine.

Add to that the two who had tested positive on Monday (Delhi and Telangana), one Italian tourist in Jaipur whose infection was confirmed on Tuesday and three Keralite students who have already recovered, and the total count stands at 29.

The spouse of the infected Italian tourist quarantined in Jaipur, too, tested positive, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan informed.

As he was part of of a group of over 20 Italian tourists, the 15 possibly got their infections from him, Vardhan added. Contact tracing of the infected Delhi man based in Mayur Vihar established he had visited his relatives in Agra shortly after his return from Italy late last month.

On Tuesday, six of those relatives were reported to have high viral load and were quarantined in New Delhis Safdarjung Hospital. Their swab samples sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune tested positive for the virus, Vardhan said.

In the wake of the rising global footprint of the virus  82 countries and territories besides a Japanese cruise ship  the Centre has now decided to start universal screening for international flights.

Earlier, only passengers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Italy, Iran and Malaysia were being screened.

The government has also directed all public hospitals in Delhi to be prepared for more cases, both confirmed as well as suspected.

We will ensure that all facilities are of the highest order to handle patients that require any isolation, said Vardhan.

Iran is high on the priority list as hundreds of Indian fishermen, mainly from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, are stuck in the middle of the outbreak there.

Vardhan said that India is trying to set up a COVID-19 screening test in Iran itself so as to evacuate those who have not been infected.

One scientist has already been sent to Iran, while three more scientists and the testing equipment will go to Iran on Wednesday.

Vardhan said that the government was seeking Irans support for the implementation of the plan.

Confirmed cases



94,364

Total Deaths



3,221

Recovered cases



51,317

No Holi Milan

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders have announced they will not participate in any Holi Milan in view of the advisory to avoid congregational events

More schools shut

Apart from 2 Noida schools, 3 schools in Delhi and its adjoining areas announced holiday for students and staff. Also, two schools advanced their spring break as a precautionary measure

17 infected abroad

Seventeen Indians have been infected with the coronavirus abroad, including 16 crew of a Japanese cruise ship, Diamond Princess, and one from the UAE, the Centre informed Parliament

Visiting Italian tourists catch the bug in large numbers, raising Indias tally; govt plans to set up a testing lab in Iran to evacuate those Indian fishermen who are uninfected; universal screening of all international passengers from now
Harry Houdini's 'trick' steel crate which he used for his daring underwater escapes has emerged for sale for at most $70,000.

The illusionist boxed himself into the claustrophobic 28in by 36in container which he had to get out of and reach the surface.

It has a solid lid which was designed to be padlocked to his body, with small holes on each side to let water gush in.

Harry Houdini performed many daring underwater escapes

Harry Houdini's 'trick' steel crate (pictured) is being auctioned off in New York City on Friday

But all was not as it seemed as the crate actually has a sliding trap door on the bottom he was able to get through.

This crate, which was used in the 1953 bio-pic film Houdini starring Tony Curtis, is going under the hammer with auctioneers Bonhams in New York. It will sell between $50,000 to $70,000.

Following Houdini's sudden death aged 52 in 1926, his wife Bess sold the crate and other possessions to 'mentalist' Joseph Dunninger.

Houdini's steel crate had a trap bottom that helped create his illusions during his underwater escapes

The steel crate is being sold by Bonhams in New York for as low as $50,000 to $70,000

It also went on display at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada, before being sold to the present owners in 1999.

A Bonhams New York spokesperson said: 'This crate, which has a sliding 'trap door' on the bottom through which the illusionist could make his escape, boasts an amazing pedigree and history.

Houdini's steel crate made an appearance in the 1953 biographic film 'Houdini' starring Tony Curtis

'We can say with confidence that it was part of Houdini's estate and Dunninger who was reportedly close to Houdini and his wife Bess purchased it from her after his death.

'The crate appears in the 1953 film Houdini starring Tony Curtis.

'The Amazing Dunninger was hired as creative consultant on the film, and the crate is clearly visible in the overboard escape sequence in the film.

'The perforations on the steel crate make for a dramatic scene as the water pours out in torrents while the crate is pulled up from the bottom of the river.'

Hungarian born illusionist Houdini became a global star for his daring feats of extrication from shackles, ropes and handcuffs.

His signature stunts included being buried alive, escaping from straitjackets under water and freeing himself from being suspended in mid-air. The sale takes place Friday.
An article from the New York Post revealed that the leader of the World Health Organization (WHO) released a warning regarding the coronavirus outbreak. The announcement includes a statement saying that the deadly virus had reached "unchartered territory." The WHO reported that the dangerous disease had already reached at least 90,000 total cases all over the world.

The Unique Features of the Deadly Virus

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had announced that the cases of the epidemic are growing at an alarming rate.

Also, he acknowledges that the "unique features" of the virus had resulted in a record-breaking global health crisis.

Tedros released a statement during a press conference in Geneva about the deadly COVID-19 epidemic. He said the coronavirus had reached the unchartered territory. He also said that the dangerous virus was a unique respiratory pathogen that can be transmitted in the community. However, the transmission of the virus can be controlled with the right number of measures.

Is the COVID-19 Illness Already in Pandemic Level Status?

According to Tedros' previous statement, a health concern reaches a pandemic level where there is a big-scale of severe sickness death from the disease. Also, the pandemic level is reached if the virus is spread globally and is left largely uncontained.

According to the chief of WHO, there is a big chance that the COVID-19 illness can reach the pandemic level.

Tedros stated that WHO is evaluating the situation extensively every day. They are analyzing data they gather almost every moment in the day. Tedros speaks on behalf of the WHO regarding the status of the COVID-19 outbreak. He says that WHO will not waste any time to report to the public if the evidence they gather points to the new coronavirus epidemic in the pandemic level status.

The Worldwide COVID-19 Outbreak

Currently, the virus had already caused havoc in 73 nations in the world. However, it should be noted that 90% of the thousands of new coronavirus cases in the world are in China. Most of the worldwide total of the illness from the new deadly virus is concentrated in one area in China.

Currently, there are more than 3,000 deaths globally. 172 of the total deaths are outside China.

According to CNN, the United States of America has a total of 118 COVID-19 cases. Nine deaths were reported from the United States. All of the deaths were from Seattle.

WHO on Collection of Data

Experts are still in the process of completely understanding the important details about the new coronavirus. They are still in the process of collecting data to find out about how the virus spreads. They are also in the process of researching for the ways on how it can be transmitted to humans. Additionally, the experts are researching the ways of how deadly the virus is.

An article from CBS News revealed that the WHO released a statement saying that according to the current data they had recently gathered, the virus is expected to be lethal. They stated that based on their collected data, the virus is difficult to transmit. However, they are yet to create a firm conclusion regarding the new deadly virus. They are still in the process of gathering information about the COVID-19.
But starting on Monday for the next 11 months, they wont be able to get word to the spry spacecraft in case something again goes wrong (although the probe can still stream data back to Earth). Upgrades and repairs are prompting NASA to take offline a key piece of space age equipment used to beam messages all around the solar system.

The downtime is necessary because of a flood of new missions to Mars scheduled to leave Earth this summer. But the temporary shutdown also highlights that the Deep Space Network, essential infrastructure relied upon by NASA and other space agencies, is aging and in need of expensive upgrades.

On any given day, NASA communicates with an armada of spacecraft in deep space. These long distance calls require the most powerful radio antennas in the world. Luckily NASA has its own switchboard, the Deep Space Network or DSN.

The DSN is one of space explorations most valuable assets. It comprises one station in the United States  in Goldstone, Calif.  and two overseas in Canberra, Australia, and Madrid. It has been in operation nonstop for 57 years, and without it, spacecraft that traveled beyond the moon couldnt communicate with Earth. It is used not only by NASA, but also the European Space Agency and the space programs of Japan, India and soon even the United Arab Emirates.
(Natural News) Blockchain company TRON, owned by Chinese millionaire Justin Sun, recently purchased Steemit, a unique content sharing platform co-created by Twitter co-founder Ned Scott, that rewards its best and most popular content providers with STEEM cryptocurrency based on the value of their work. Why is this significant? Because its happening to nearly every independent platform these days as China continues to buy out as much of the tech world as it can get its hands on in order to subdue it all under communism.

In what Cryptoslate describes as a spending spree, Sun has been busy acquiring all sorts of major blockchain companies in recent months, as well as partnering with other tech giants to steer the future of both cryptocurrency and technology at large in favor of communist ideals. By adding Steemit to its tech ecosystem, the TRON company is rapidly expanding its so-called DApps lineup of applications, all of which are built upon the STEEM blockchain.

If youve ever heard of D.Tube, as one prominent example, Steemit is the system that powers it. And this is exactly what Sun and China as a whole want: to power and control everything that people do online, from paying for things with cryptocurrency, to watching and sharing videos with their friends, to living their digital lives on social media  and everything in between.

Sun, in case youre not familiar with his litany of tech acquisitions in recent years, is a rich, young millennial who was groomed by a Chinese business magnate, investor, and politician by the name of Jack Ma. Ma co-founded the well-known Alibaba Group, which is currently the worlds largest e-commerce business  even surpassing Amazon  that boasts a record-setting IPO in 2014 that was valued at $25 billion.

Under Mas guidance, Sun learned the ropes of how to sling around gobs of cash and take over major independent tech platforms like Steemit that were supposedly designed to be bastions of freedom  unlike more conventional platforms like Facebook and YouTube, which we know are now in the business of censorship. Now that Sun is in charge, Steemit will likely become a carbon-copy of these others, seeing as how every other tech platform influenced by China has pretty much gone full-on communist.

Steemit is currently the largest decentralized blockchain-based social media and blogging company in the world, by the way, while TRON is one of the largest decentralized ecosystems, as they call them, providing fast network speed, high throughput stability, and scalability, according to its company heads.

TRON and Steemits development teams will immediately begin working together to bring Steemit and other STEEM blockchain-based DApps to TRON blockchain and its community of over 20 million users, products, and services, a press release about this recent acquisition explains. This partnership continues the beat of TRONs rhythm in partnering with top firms like Samsung, Poloniex, Opera, and DLive to provide a dynamic value proposition to its users, investors, and community leaders.

Sun, its further important to note, is also the CEO of BitTorrent, one of the worlds most popular peer-to-peer software systems through which high-quality digital content such as video, music, and games can be downloaded quickly and with relative ease for those who know how to use it. Suns goal, in other words, is to basically own the internet, which just so happens to be the very same goal as the communist Chinese regime from which he hails.

Will D.Tube be censored like YouTube now that its owned by communist China?

Its only a matter of time before platforms like D.Tube become no different from YouTube in the way that content is shadow-banned, censored, or simply removed. Youre probably noticing that more and more YouTube channels of the conspiracy variety are having to self-censor certain words and phrases, as well as imagery, in order to avoid tripping the artificial intelligence (AI) censorship robots that will immediately target them for engaging in wrong-speak.

Such silencing tactics are among the many reasons why Brighteon.com is exploding in popularity. People are tired of being told by Silicon Valley  or in this case, Beijing  what they can and cant say online. Especially in the U.S., free speech is an enshrined right within our Constitution that isnt to be infringed by enemies of our freedom, whether theyre here in our country or halfway around the world.

On the D.Tube website, the company claims that its resistant to censorship due to the decentralized nature of how it exists. D.Tube is not able to censor videos, nor enforce guidelines. Only the users can censor it, through the power of their upvotes and downvotes, it further explains.

The STEEM blockchain, it adds, is immutable in that sense, being run by the people who own and use it, for the people who own and use it. In other words, a bunch of far-left social justice warriors in the Bay Area of California arent able to selectively target content that upsets them while punishing the content providers who publish it. Instead, the system is user-based, at least for the time being.

You see, if someone like Sun is able to acquire all of the pieces that go into running a system like D.Tube, then its not an impossibility for him to alter it in favor of a more centralized setup thats run from the top down, rather than from the top up, if you catch our drift.

What would it take to accomplish such a feat? It depends on how easily the STEEM blockchain can be hijacked by nefarious forces and turned into something other than what it was originally intended, or at least stated, to be. Weve seen a similar type of thing happen to Bitcoin, which many believed was decentralized and controlled by the people, but that is really just a Ponzi scheme thats making a few insiders rich at the expense of the gullible.

Just like how the U.S. government is trying to take over Bitcoin, Justin Sun is taking over STEEM, D.Tube, and whatever else he can get his hands and money on, the endgame of which would seem to be total control over all online ecosystems.

As it turns out, Sun is a convicted felon whom the communist Chinese government actually is trying to extradite on accusations of illegal fundraising, money laundering, pornography, gambling, running an illegal cockfighting ring in the basement of TRON headquarters, and being a national embarrassment.

The Chinese Communist party, known for imprisoning, torturing, and killing its wealthy citizens who screw up or flaunt their wealth, was eager to imprison the arrogant Mr. Sun and make him a statistic, one report explains about the character of the young money tech magnate.

We have learned that Justin Suns social credit score has since been lowered to zero, a score so low it ranks below disgraced Bitmain founder Jihan Wu who has since been sentenced to forced labor as a janitor in Hong Kongs gambling junkets, cleaning up after Chinese government officials.

Is this really the type of guy we want running the internet and its burgeoning digital money systems? We certainly didnt think so.

For more related news about the communist Chinese takeover of all things Big Tech, be sure to visit Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

Cryptoslate.com

Forbes.com

Wikipedia.org

Virtual-Strategy.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

CoinJazeera.news
Amazon is asking employees at its Seattle and Bellevue, Washington, offices to work from home if they can until the end of the month after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus.

The company informed employees of the change late Wednesday, one day after Amazon confirmed that an employee who works in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for COVID-19. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle and has offices in Bellevue, where it employs more than 2,000 people.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement, "We are recommending that employees in Seattle/Bellevue who are able to work from home do so through the end of the month."

Last month, Amazon restricted all nonessential travel in the U.S. in response to continued spread of the coronavirus.

Several technology companies have been urging their employees to work from home in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Facebook on Thursday encouraged all of its 5,000 employees in Seattle to work from home the rest of the month, after a worker in the area tested positive for the coronavirus. Facebook closed its Seattle office until Monday.

Microsoft also urged employees in the Bay Area in California and the Puget Sound area of Washington to work from home, while Twitter advised employees to do the same if they can.

As of Thursday morning, there are now more than 95,700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with at least 3,280 deaths. There are at least 159 confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S., and at least 11 deaths.

Washington state has reported the largest number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. Ten people in the state have died from the virus as of Wednesday night. Heath officials have reported at least 39 confirmed cases of the virus, while 231 people remain under supervision.
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) shares are down 20% year-do-date on fears that the global coronavirus outbreak will grind international air travel to a halt.

While some investors see the outbreak as a major red flag for airline stocks, others see the recent dip as a long-term investing opportunity. Regardless, Delta certainly had the attention of some large option traders on Wednesday.

The Trades

On Wednesday, Benzinga Pro subscribers received seven option alerts related to unusually large Delta option trades. Here are some of the largest:

At 10:40 a.m. ET, a trader sold 3,000 Delta put options with a $52.50 strike price expiring on June 19. The contracts were sold at the bid price of $8.651 and represented a $2.95 million bullish bet.

At 11:03 a.m. ET, a trader sold 926 Delta put options with a $40 strike price expiring on March 20. The contracts were sold near the bid price at 79.6 cents and represented a $73,709 bullish bet.

At 11:04 a.m. ET, a trader sold 5,980 Delta put options with a $52.50 strike price expiring on June 19. The contracts were sold below the bid price at $8.651 and represented a $5.17 million bullish bet.

At 1:51 a.m. ET, a trader sold 526 Delta call options with a $60 strike price expiring on Jan. 15, 2021. The contracts were sold near the bid price at $2.969 and represented a $141,809 bearish bet.

Of the seven total large Delta option trades on Tuesday morning, five trades were puts sold at or near the bid, trades typically seen as bullish. One trade was calls sold near the bid, a trade typically seen as bearish. One trade took place at the spread midpoint, a price typically considered neutral.

Why It's Important

Even traders who stick exclusively to stocks often monitor option market activity closely for unusually large trades. Given the relative complexity of the options market, large options traders are typically considered to be more sophisticated than the average stock trader. Many of these large options traders are wealthy individuals or institutions who may have unique information or theses related to the underlying stock.

Story continues

Unfortunately, stock traders often use the options market to hedge against their large stock positions, and theres no surefire way to determine if an options trade is a standalone position or a hedge. In this case, given the relatively large sizes of the two largest Delta option trades, theres certainly a possibility they represent institutional hedging.

Delta Cleared For Takeoff?

Delta and other airline stocks have taken big hits since the coronavirus outbreak began, and analysts say theres no question the health concern will impact near-term numbers. However, assuming the coronavirus outbreak eventually dies down, the February dip could be a major opportunity for investors to get some great value in the space.

During the SARS outbreak in 2003, U.S. airline revenues over the Pacific dropped by 40% in the second quarter, and the coronavirus could have similar negative impacts on U.S. domestic flying as well given there are already dozens of reported cases in the U.S. Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora recently said pricing could be a big overhang for airline stocks thanks to the coronavirus.

The near term risk to the industry could be to domestic pricing, not from coronavirus concerns, but from increased domestic capacity as the airlines redeploy international widebodies onto domestic routes, he said.

Fortunately for Delta, investing legend Warren Buffett has been adding to his position in the dip.

According to the latest filing by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B), Buffetts company recently added more than 976,000 shares of Delta, a $45.3 million investment at an average price of $46.40 per share. Berkshires total stake in Delta now stands at 71.9 million shares.

Bullish sentiment among StockTwits messages mentioning Delta plummeted from a peak of 100% on Feb. 15 a six-month low of 34.6% on Tuesday.

DAL Chart by TradingView new TradingView.widget( { "width": 680, "height": 423, "symbol": "NYSE:DAL", "interval": "D", "timezone": "Etc/UTC", "theme": "light", "style": "1", "locale": "en", "toolbar_bg": "#f1f3f6", "enable_publishing": false, "allow_symbol_change": true, "container_id": "tradingview_1fb91" } ); Benzingas Take

The two biggest trades on Wednesday were June put sales, which could represent hedges against a short position or a former bear throwing in the towel on a coronavirus short trade. Regardless of what happens in the option market in the next couple of days, long-term investors would be wise to carefully consider emulating anything Warren Buffett does with his money.

Do you agree with this take? Email feedback@benzinga.com with your thoughts.

Related Links:

Here's How Large Option Traders Are Playing Walmart As Economic Fears Grow

How To Read And Trade An Options Alert

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SAN FRANCISCO  Anthony Levandowski, a former star Google and Uber engineer who helped pioneer self-driving cars, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after a court ordered him to pay $179 million to Google over a contract dispute.

The damages stemmed from an arbitration case between Google and Mr. Levandowski. The engineer had for years worked on self-driving cars at Google before leaving to create an autonomous vehicle start-up in 2016 and then later joining the ride-hailing giant Uber.

An arbitration panel had ruled in December that Mr. Levandowski and another colleague, Lior Ron, had engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by secretly poaching away Google colleagues to join the start-up. On Wednesday, a San Francisco County court confirmed the arbitration panels decision that Mr. Levandowski pay $179 million to Google.

In his filing for bankruptcy protection, Mr. Levandowski said he had $50 million to $100 million in personal assets, which would not be enough to pay the damages to Google.
By AFP

NEW DELHI: India-EU summit scheduled for March 13 in Brussels has been postponed because of the coronavirus, New Delhi said Thursday.

"Both sides have agreed that due to health authorities advising against travel between regions it would be wise to reschedule the summit to a mutually convenient date," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been due to attend the 15th such summit with the European Union represented by Charles Michel, European Council president, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

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The EU is India's biggest trading partner but efforts towards a free trade agreement have been stuck for years. New Delhi also has prickly trade relations with the United States.

Modi's government has been irked by criticism in Europe of its actions in India-administered Kashmir and of a new citizenship law that has sparked three months of protest and last week sectarian riots in Delhi that killed at least 42 people.

"The decision (to postpone the summit) has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between India and the EU who share the same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon," Kumar said.
He appeared via videolink from the prison as his legal team offered a package of "stringent" bail measures, including bail security of 4 million pound, house arrest with a 24-hour electronic tag as well as a private security guard service and a strictly monitored access to gadgets and telephones.

A UK court on Thursday rejected for the fifth time the bail plea of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition to India on charges over the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.

Justice Ian Dove, who presided over the bail hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, also concluded that the 49-year-old jeweller continued to pose a risk of absconding.

This was the fifth attempt at bail by Modi, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year and is scheduled for an extradition trial between May 11 and 15.

He appeared via videolink from the prison as his legal team offered a package of "stringent" bail measures, including bail security of 4 million pound, house arrest with a 24-hour electronic tag as well as a private security guard service and a strictly monitored access to gadgets and telephones.

"There are risks involved with this applicant and the questions for the court are those risks adequately guarded against, noted Justice Dove.

"My central concern of a risk of absconding are not obviated by the measures presented," he ruled, adding that he was unsatisfied with the arrangements presented to the court adequately contained the risks posed in the very "substantial case" of fraud and money laundering.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) barrister Nick Hearn, arguing on behalf of the Indian government, had reiterated that Modi continues to remain a flight risk and that any additional measures offered for his bail would not make a breach impossible.

Modi's barrister, Edward Fitzgerald, argued that an offer to pay for a security guard from a reputable crisis management company offered "house arrest with effective room arrest" at his luxury apartment at Centre Point in London.

He also sought to dismiss the CPS concern of Modi continuing to interfere with witnesses due to strictly monitored access to phones and gadgets.

While details of Modi's mental health were not discussed in open court, the court was told he suffers from depression and that his psychological condition was "deteriorating with the ever-increasing detention" since his arrest in March last year.

There have additionally been very disturbing number of physical attacks inside prison and he was told he was being set up for extortion, Fitzgerald added.

The judge said he had taken those factors into account but concurred with both Justice Ingrid Simler, who denied bail at the high court last year, as well as Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, who had last refused Modi's bail in November 2019.

Modi observed Thursday's proceedings via videolink from prison and occasionally referred to some files before him.

Last week, he appeared via videolink from his prison before Judge David Robinson at the Westminster Magistrates' Court for his routine 28-day call-over remand hearing and will next appear before the magistrates' court on March 24.

Modi was arrested on March 19, 2019, on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on charges brought by the Indian government.

During subsequent hearings, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.

Photograph via Facebook
Israel issued in February a series of threats against Hamas in the Gaza Strip that would include a harsh military operation. Although Hamas has repeatedly heard such statements in the past, the recent threats include new and recurring terms such as sudden operation and hot spring.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened March 1 in an interview on Channel 12 to launch a sudden operation on Gaza. He said, We will not hasten to a war, but we have surprises in store  like toppling Hamas.

On Feb. 14, Netanyahu said during his visit to Ariel settlement in the central West Bank, God help the Palestinian factions if we choose to fight them. We will adopt new and surprising unprecedented measures, and the operation will not last one or two days.

In an interview with the Israeli Army Radio Feb. 18, Netanyahu said that Hamas has two choices: complete calm or a blow beyond its imagination.

On Feb. 19, Israeli Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett threatened Hamas during an interview with Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper, saying, A painful spring awaits you. He revealed his plans to radically change the situation in the Gaza Strip, and on Feb. 9, he had threatened during security talks with senior army officials to wage a fatal attack on Hamas leaders. He said, We will not reveal where and when, but the operation will be different from previous ones, and nobody will be immune to targeting.

Mahmoud Merdawi, a Hamas leader in the West Bank and former commander of its military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, told Al-Monitor, The Israeli threats to Hamas have not stopped, and Israel implemented its threats during its three wars on Gaza in 2008, 2012 and 2014. We cannot deny that Israel executes its threats. Neither of us [Hamas nor Israel] will have it easy, but implementing the threats is a possibility that we have not lost sight of. Hamas decision-makers are aware of the hazards and we are taking security precautions to avoid Israeli foul play. Meanwhile, we continue to pressure Israel to alleviate its blockade on Gaza.

Netanyahu was not the only one to threaten Hamas; his ministers issued similar threats. Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz told the pro-settler Channel 7 on Feb. 25, Gaza will remain a problem, and we have prepared a comprehensive and tough plan that is quite different from our previous achievements in Gaza so far. We might spend weeks there to topple Hamas.

Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan said in an interview with Kan radio on Feb. 24, We are closer than ever to a wide-scale operation in Gaza that includes a ground invasion.

Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Aviv Kochavi said in a speech at the honoring of the Israeli armys reserve soldiers Feb. 24, The security situation is delicate and we might face a wide-scale military operation soon.

Ibrahim Habib, professor of security studies at Al-Awda University College in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, Any wide-scale Israeli military operation in Gaza might result in casualties that Israelis cannot bear. In the wake of such an operation, Israel will have to address the issue of who will handle Gazas governance if Hamas is overthrown.

Habib added, Gaza does not constitute a strategic threat for Israel, and Israel can put it on hold for a few more years. But the sudden operation against Hamas might consist of an intelligence operation, targeting the rocket system and assassinating first-rank Hamas military leaders. Abducting Hamas officials from outside Gaza is also an easier possibility [for Israel] because Gaza has a small surface area, and Israeli forces cannot move inside it.

In an article in Felesteen newspaper Feb. 26, Fayez Abou Shamala, a journalist close to Hamas, wondered whether the possible Israeli operation aims at deporting Palestinians from Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula to implement US President Donald Trumps peace plan  known locally as the "deal of the century." Hamas is vigilant to Israels threats that coincide with the publication of the results of an Israeli opinion poll Feb. 26 that assessed the Israeli policy in the Gaza Strip. According to the poll, 55% of Israelis are not satisfied with Netanyahus policy, and 48% are not satisfied with the work of Bennett.

Palestinian military expert Youssef al-Sharqawi told Al-Monitor, Israeli threats against Hamas are serious and the movements disarmament might be a condition for implementing the deal of the century through a strike on the rocket warehouses and a shock and terrorization strategy to restore the image of Israel that was tarnished when Hamas discovered an Israeli unit in Khan Yunis in November 2018 and killed its leader. Assassinating Hamas leaders is the most likely option, after which a wide-scale war on Hamas will begin. Israel will use an unprecedented amount of fire and cut all connections between the Gaza Strip and other areas to further tighten the noose on it.

It seems Israel is preparing for a rough confrontation with Hamas, but nobody knows when. Threats of a sudden military operation against Hamas might include airstrikes targeting senior Hamas leaders to kill as many of them as possible, infiltration of Israeli special units to Gaza with air coverage or abduction of Hamas political and military leaders.

Emad Abu Awad, Israeli affairs expert at Vision Center for Political Development in Turkey, told Al-Monitor, Israel's threats against Hamas are linked to the Israeli elections. Nobody knows if the [operation] might be imminent or might happen next year. Hamas military strength is increasing and Israel does not have a successful strategy to deal with it. Therefore, the Israeli operation is at a standstill.

He added, But the increasing pressure on Hamas in Gaza will expedite the process, despite the assumption that Israel has a regional inclination to stir an internal coup in Gaza against Hamas through a popular uprising against the living conditions in the besieged enclave.

Palestinians and Israelis agree that dangerous narratives are in store for the Gaza Strip. Hamas is beefing up its intelligence work, deploying security checkpoints and imposing field control, in addition to increasing police patrols to anticipate any security loophole that Israel might take advantage of. Still, there are no guarantees that Hamas is safe from the Israeli strike, or that such a strike would topple the movement.
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The central courtyard of the Great Mosque of Mecca was completely closed on Thursday as workers disinfected it in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Photos and videos showed the area around the cuboid Kaaba - the holiest site in Islam - completely deserted except for cleaners in near-unprecedented scenes.

It comes after Saudi Arabia banned its citizens from making pilgrimages to the site, having already banned foreigners from coming amid fears it was spreading the virus.

The courtyard of the mosque is at it busiest during the Hajj pilgrimage - which this year falls during July and August - but remains busy throughout the year for Umrah pilgrimages, meaning it is almost never empty.

The courtyard around the cuboid Kaaba at Mecca's Great Mosque was deserted except for workers disinfecting it after it was closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus

Photos and videos showed the area around the cuboid Kaaba - the holiest site in Islam - completely deserted except for cleaners in near-unprecedented scenes

An aerial view taken today shows the white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba empty of worshippers

Municipal workers are pictured in empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba, inside Mecca's Grand Mosque

Small groups of people walk around the empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba, inside Mecca's Grand Mosque

Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ordered closed over coronavirus fears The Church of the Nativity was ordered closed on Thursday and foreign tourists were banned from West Bank hotels after four suspected coronavirus cases were found in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem. The measures announced by the Palestinian Authority's tourism ministry came as a particular blow to the Biblical town, whose businesses are largely dependent on Christian visitors to the church, built on the traditional site of Jesus's birth. Just three months ago Bethlehem was hailing its best Christmas for two decades, the mayor and hoteliers said, even better than the 1.5 million visitors it received in 2018. The Latin Patriarchate of the Holy Land said the Church of the Nativity, which was first founded in 339 and rebuilt and extended over the centuries, would be closed for two weeks, along with other churches and mosques in the Bethlehem area. The ban on foreign guests at West Bank hotels will also last two weeks, the tourism ministry said. 'This affects us dramatically,' said Joey Canavati, manager of the 58-room Alexander Hotel in Bethlehem. 'Our workers are essentially laid off for the next 14 days. We will be closed down completely. It destroyed our business from every perspective.' Canavati said groups of tourists from the United States, Poland and Cameroon had already cancelled their bookings. Palestinian health officials said they were examining whether four workers at another hotel in Bethlehem had contracted coronavirus from tourists who had stayed there recently. Police surrounded the hotel, as authorities awaited the results of laboratory tests. There have been no confirmed cases of the disease in the West Bank. Fifteen people have been diagnosed with the virus in neighbouring Israel. The Palestinian governor of the West Bank town of Nablus on Thursday ordered its Muslim and Christian holy sites shut as a public health precaution. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank under interim peace accords. On Wednesday, Israel ordered travellers arriving from Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Switzerland to go into home quarantine over coronavirus concerns and cancelled a military exercise with troops from the U.S. European Command. The measure effectively cut off foreign tourism from those countries, whose citizens, the Health Ministry said, would not be allowed into Israel unless they could show they had made quarantine arrangements ahead of time. Israel has already imposed the edict with regard to flights from Italy, China and Singapore. Advertisement

Saudi Arabia has so far confirmed five cases of coronavirus, all of them in citizens who had recently returned from Iran - which it at the centre of the outbreak in the Middle East - or their relatives.

Having initially dismissed the outbreak as 'no big deal', Iran's mullahs seemed to have woken up to the scale of the crisis as Friday prayers were cancelled in major cities to prevent the disease spreading.

It comes after troops were placed on alert to help deal with the crisis, travel between major cities was restricted, holy sites were disinfected, and 54,000 prisoners who had tested negative were freed to stop it spreading in jails.

The country has also urged people not to use paper money.

Palestinian officials also announced on Thursday that the Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem would close indefinitely after the first suspected cases of coroanvirus were reported on their territory.

The move comes just weeks before Easter, when thousands of pilgrims come to worship at the site - built on the reputed birthplace of Christ.

The Church of the Nativity was closed after suspicions that four Palestinians had caught the virus, prompting a flurry of measures that included banning all tourists from the West Bank for an unspecified amount of time and shutting down other places of worship in Bethlehem for two weeks.

Built on the grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born, the church joins a list of prominent tourist and holy sites to shutter their doors in the wake of rising fears over the spread of the virus, which has infected tens of thousands and killed more than 3,000 globally.

'We respect the instructions of the relevant authorities,' said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to Catholic church officials in the Holy Land. 'Safety comes first.'

Cleaners had closed part of the Great Mosque earlier in the week in order to disinfect it, but the site was completely shuttered Thursday

Cleaners wear protective face masks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, as they swipe the floor at the Grand mosque in the holy city of Mecca

Cleaners wear protective face masks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus which has so far infected five people in Saudi Arabia

The Kaaba is pictured during Hajj in 2019, when millions of Muslims circle it during the holy pilgrimage

Just before 4 p.m., a bearded clergyman walked outside and locked the church's wooden door with a large key. Just a few foreign tourists milled about.

Artur Joba, a Polish tourist visiting with his girlfriend, said he had decided to cut his stay in Bethlehem short and would head to nearby Jerusalem on Friday.

'I heard they found the coronavirus infection here and we decided to leave,' he said. 'We can't stay here any more. I'm going back to my hotel now to look for a hotel elsewhere.'

Saif Saboh, a Palestinian tour guide, said a number of groups have canceled visits in recent days, fearing the virus.

He said he has stopped shaking hands or getting too close to tourists. When he gets home in the evening, he said he washes and keeps away from his children.

'I'm terrified,' he said. 'It is serious and any tourist could be infected.'

The virus has disrupted Muslim worship across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia banned pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca, while Iran has canceled Friday's Islamic prayers in major cities.

The Church of the Nativity receives some 10,000 tourists a day, according to Palestinian officials.

It is expected to welcome tens of thousands of visitors during the busy Easter season. If the measures remain in place, the fledgling Palestinian tourism industry could take a walloping.

Tourists currently in the West Bank were instructed to leave once their bookings end.

Elias al-Arja, the head of the Bethlehem hotel owners union, angrily accused the government of caving in to panic.

'This will cause huge damage to the economy. We have 3,000 workers in the tourist sector and they will all go home. Who is going to feed their families?' he said.

Anton Suleiman, the mayor of Bethlehem, acknowledged that 'everything is closed because of the panic.'

But he said, 'Even if this causes huge damage to the economy, public safety is the most important thing to us.'

Thousands of worshippers were still making their way around the Kaaba - the holiest site in Islam - earlier in the week, before Saudi Arabia banned its citizens from going

The mosque is busiest during the Hajj pilgrimage, which this year falls between July and August, but is open all year round for Umrah pilgrimages meaning it is almost never empty

Saudi Arabia has confirmed five cases of coronavirus, but appears to be learning lessons from neighbouring Iran were refusal to close religious sites led to thousands of infections

An aerial view showing the courtyard around the Kaaba completely deserted

In Iran, Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced his country's new restrictions at a televised press conference.

He added that schools and universities will remain closed through Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20.

'We will strictly control comings and goings,' he said.

Ali Darvishpour, deputy governor of Alborz province, said that except for medical centers, all governmental offices, banks and institutions will be closed Saturday, the first day of Iran's work week, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

He also urged people to stay at home.

Iran and Italy have the world's highest death tolls outside of China.

These mark the latest disruptions of life across the Mideast from the new virus, which has seen over 3,740 confirmed cases in the region.

Even as the Bethlehem church was closed, other major places of worship in the Holy Land remained open.

Israeli officials said there were no special precautions at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

The nearby Al Aqsa mosque compound was expected to welcome 50,000 worshipers for Friday prayers.

Coronavirus has officially infected 96,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000, leaving the disease on the brink of becoming a pandemic

The Islamic Waqf, which administers the site, encouraged the faithful to ensure good personal hygiene.

Israel, which has 15 confirmed virus cases, has taken strict measures in a bid to stave off an outbreak, including banning the entry of visitors from some 10 countries.

With many tourists to the West Bank flying in through Israel's international airport, the Palestinians are likely also being affected.

The virus has started to shake Israel's tourism industry as well. Israeli airline El Al, which has cancelled dozens of flights to countries with a virus outbreak, announced on Wednesday that it was laying off 1,000 employees because of the economic fallout from the virus.

Earlier Thursday, the United Arab Emirates warned its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel abroad amid the ongoing outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines.

Both airlines, Emirates and Etihad, have encouraged staff to take time off as international travel has dropped due to the virus.

The country's Health and Community Protection Ministry warning comes as its capital, Abu Dhabi, sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from hard-hit Hubei in China to a quarantine set up in its Emirates Humanitarian City.

Iraqi medical staff check passengers' temperature, amid coronavirus outbreak, upon their arrival from Iran, which is at the centre of the Middle

Iranian fire fighters spray rental bikes with disinfectant in the capital Tehran as authorities try to control the spread of coronavirus

They include citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Health officials warned that those traveling abroad could face quarantine themselves at the discretion of authorities.

The UAE is home to some 9 million people, with only about 1 million estimated to be Emirati citizens.

Worship continued to be disrupted elsewhere, as Iraq canceled Friday prayers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, according to a statement Thursday.

Millions of Iraqis look to the weekly sermon delivered by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for guidance every Friday.

Karbala, and the nearby Shiite holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq, attract millions of Shiite pilgrims, most of them from Iran, every year.

Two people who had tested positive for the coronavirus have died in Iraq, the Iraqi Health Ministry said. Iraq has 39 confirmed cases, almost all of them Iran-linked.
It concerns me that were not looking at the full picture here, he added. If were only looking at one side, thats a caution to those kinds of statements. Because what were seeing on the ground is very different. We have developers trying to buy their way into the community. We have all sorts of development thats not in line with our communities. We have a beautiful community, a community we need to preserve."
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Linkedin Catherine Triomphe (Agence France-Presse) Burlington, United States  Thu, March 5, 2020 09:49 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206868249 2 World #USA,#Elections,Democratic-party,Joe-Biden,Bernie-Sanders,Vermont Free

In Bernie Sanders' Vermont stronghold, leftists say they could vote for once-again Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, backing him as a "charming" guy capable of reducing tensions in America.

From the Green Mountain State, self-described democratic socialist Sanders has spent 40 years denouncing the Democratic establishment -- including Biden, who he links to Wall Street billionaires and other interest groups.

But Super Tuesday voting suggested many in Vermont feel that the pragmatism of Biden has a better chance of defeating Donald Trump in November than the progressive idealism of Sanders.

Sanders easily won on his home turf, as expected, but he did so by a much smaller margin than in 2016. He took 50.7 percent of votes, down from 86.1 percent four years ago.

Across the 14 states that voted on Tuesday, Biden won 10 of them, with Sanders picking up just three. The race in California was still up in the air, with Sanders leading.

"I am personally disappointed," said Bobby Lussier, a 22-year-old Sanders voter.

"But I kind of have to accept that the rest of the country is coalescing around a different candidate," he told AFP.

Lussier, who works in environmental protection, said he was not yet ready to give up on a Sanders candidacy but said he would back Biden if he wins the nomination.

He considers Biden a "career politician" and is hesitant to trust him, but admits there is something about Barack Obama's vice president that is appealing.

"I think he is very charming, I can understand why he has a lot of support.

"He has a really amazing story," added Lussier, referring to the death of Biden's first wife and daughter in a car crash in 1972 and the death of son Beau from brain cancer in 2015.

Less conciliatory is 28-year-old Melanie G, who is fiercely pro-Sanders and continues to denounce the "status quo" that Biden represents.

'Experience'

But Melanie, who did not disclose her last name, concedes she would still vote for him against Trump.

"He is the lesser of two evils," she told AFP.

Shawnna Lea Zeranek, a 41-year-old project coordinator for a software company, said she voted for Biden on Tuesday.

"I was really happy with the Obama administration and so as much as there has been some complaints about Joe Biden himself, I have faith he spent eight years with a man who did a really good job and I think he could continue that," she told AFP.

Thirty-eight-year-old Scott Gale, who runs an internet advertising company, has also come to terms with the idea of voting for Biden.

Gale would have preferred Pete Buttigieg, the young former mayor from Indiana, but he pulled out of the race on Sunday and backed Biden after a poor result in the South Carolina primary.

"He is not a fantastic orator," Gale said of Biden, who has appeared confused at times on the campaign trail and made several odd remarks.

"I'd love to have someone who doesn't have these gaffes. But I think he has the right heart for the job. He has a lot of experience and I think he would be capable of trying to pull the country together."

As many voters do, Gale also likes that Biden regularly smiles.

"When I see Trump touring factories and stuff, he is always very serious. I like seeing a smile on the president's face from time to time," he said.
Humour, Ardal OHanlon chuckles, is no laughing matter.

Best known as lovable eejit Father Dougal McGuire in the classic comedy Father Ted, the Irish actor and comedian is passionately defending the popular but frequently frowned-upon sitcom Mrs Browns Boys. It is very funny in that gag-driven, old-fashioned way, says OHanlon, 54. Its heart is in the right place, it is multi-generational and it speaks to a huge constituency that werent being catered for.

For a long time on British television the shows were being made by people who went to Oxford and Cambridge. They were very clever shows. Mrs Browns Boys identified that and came in there and put on this cheerful, feelgood show  and fair play to them.

Best known as lovable eejit Father Dougal McGuire in the classic comedy Father Ted, the Irish actor and comedian Ardal O'Hanlon is still trying to break free of the beloved character

When Mrs Browns Boys was voted Best Comedy at the National TV awards in January, it beat critically acclaimed favourites such as Ricky Gervaiss After Life and Phoebe Waller-Bridges Fleabag. Democracy always wins, tweeted Gervais, having lost out to Brendan OCarrolls smutty auld matriarch.

People can get really angry about comedy, warns OHanlon as he sits in his Dublin home. You could have a debate about comedy with someone and come to blows. Each to their own, is what I say.

However, he acknowledges that the concept of wokeness  once termed political correctness'  can cramp a comedians style.

Try as OHanlon might, he finds it difficult to shake off the dim-witted shadow of Father Dougal. It can be hard to escape, he confesses

There is nothing inherently wrong with it but it can go overboard, he says. People should, of course, respect immigrants and LGBT people  that is just basic manners. But I dont think that means you have to radically rethink your comedy.

When you leave London or Dublin and you go round the country in the UK, or Ireland, people havent even heard of the term wokeness. They dont know what you are talking about.

OHanlon is currently on the third leg of his highly successful tour The Showing Off Must Go On. The one-man show is an exploration of Irish and English manners, particularly the cardinal sin of blowing ones own trumpet.

In small-town Ireland, where I grew up, you really were discouraged from putting your head above the parapet. Boasting was the worst thing you could do.

When I was a kid, my mother would get a notion to do something like spaghetti Bolognese, he recalls. Then she would fiercely instruct us not to tell anyone because she was genuinely afraid the neighbours would think we were showing off.

Post-Ted, OHanlons career has flourished. But he still yearns for a part to vanquish the ghost of goofy Father Dougal. A serial killer with dark secrets, he cackles. That would be lovely'

So doing stand-up is a risky manoeuvre in a society like that. Being an actor, an entertainer, or a show-off in any way is almost considered a crime.

Try as OHanlon might, he finds it difficult to shake off the dim-witted shadow of Father Dougal. It can be hard to escape, he confesses. Its always on the telly, and there are always references to it in everyday life. It has infiltrated popular consciousness.

Post-Ted, OHanlons career has flourished. He tackled his last Caribbean case as DI Jack Mooney last month on BBC1s Death In Paradise. Despite filming in sun-drenched Guadeloupe, he found the relentless schedule punishing and the conditions gruelling.

He remains proud of his work in the joyous BBC comedy My Hero and relished his more serious role in E4s teen drama Skins, as well as a cameo last year in Derry Girls.

But he still yearns for a part to vanquish the ghost of goofy Father Dougal. A serial killer with dark secrets, he cackles. That would be lovely. Id love to do something so radically against type. If anyone can help organise that, Im in.

Ardal OHanlon: The Showing Off Must Go On is touring the UK until Friday, mickperrin.com/acts/ardal-ohanlon
President Donald Trump with Vice President Mike Pence, speaks during a coronavirus briefing with Airline CEOs in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Associated Press

President Donald Trump met with US airline CEOs on Wednesday to discuss the coronavirus outbreak.

They discussed what airlines are doing to protect passengers, as well as how the airlines are weathering the significant impact to their businesses as demand for travel continues to plummet.

Trump said the executives did not ask for a bailout to help them manage the situation.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Chief executives from some of the nation's top airlines met with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying they have stepped up their cleaning and other procedures amid concerns about the coronavirus.

Executives from Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue Airways, among others, attended the meeting at the White House with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other top US officials.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian was attending the funeral for his mother, who passed away late last week, and was not able to attend the meeting, a representative for the airline told Business Insider. The airline said it was in touch with the office of Vice President Mike Pence, who is overseeing the federal government's response to the outbreak.

Trump said the airlines would be hit from a fall in overseas travel related to the virus.

"It's affecting the airline business, as it would. And a lot of people are staying in our country and they're shopping and using our hotels in this country, so from that standpoint I think probably there's a positive impact, but there's also an impact on overseas travel which will be fairly substantial," Trump said.

The global airline industry has been badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak, with early optimism that it would recover quickly becoming increasingly tempered.

Bookings have fallen as meetings and conferences around the world have been cancelled, and as major corporations have paused nonessential business travel.

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Airlines have reduced their service to affected regions amid falling demand, and have been forced to ground planes and postpone normal operations like recruitment and hiring.

Demand has plummeted across airline networks, not just to destinations where there are currently viral outbreaks, as business and leisure customers become concerned about committing to travel plans without knowing where future outbreaks may occur, or worrying about exposure to infected people in airports and on airplanes.

Airlines around the world  including those in attendance  have begun offering flexible booking policies, waiving change or cancellation fees on new tickets, in an effort to convince potential customers to book without risk.

Trump said the executives had not asked for financial assistance to make up for the hit to their businesses.

The airline executives said the industry was taking measures to intensify aircraft sanitation.

"We've stepped up our efforts to make sure the airplanes are clean and disinfected," said Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly.

"All of us have made a lot of changes to our cleaning procedures, changes to our on board procedures, to gloves, sanitation," said Alaska Air Chief Executive Brad Tilden.

United Airlines Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said his airline had promoted fist bumps as a way of greeting each other to reduce hand-to-hand contacts.

A representative for United previously told Business Insider that the airline is cleaning airplane cabin surfaces after each international flight, using a disinfectant first implemented during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said American had offered flexibility to passengers who wanted to change their travel plans because of the disease.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Apart from maintaining good hygiene practices, pet owners need not be overly concerned and under no circumstances should they abandon their pets, the government of Hong Kong said. It did suggest that if members of a family were sick with the virus, they might want to consider quarantining their pets.

Heres what has happened so far. A coronavirus patient in Hong Kong had a dog, and the authorities tested the dog which showed some level of virus in its nose and mouth. Theyve tested it several times, and the test still show a weak positive. The dog will remain in quarantine, the authorities said, until its tests are negative.

What does that mean?

Raymond R.R. Rowland, a veterinarian who is a specialist in swine viruses at Kansas State University, said so-called weak positives often show up in testing pigs, where a farmers livelihood can be at stake.

Ill tell you what I tell them, he said. Wait and see.

Even if there is a low-level infection, he said, That doesnt say the animal is sufficiently infected that it can spread the virus. It may be a dead-end host, neither becoming ill nor infecting any other people or animals.

Edward Dubovi, a professor at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, who worked with a team that identified canine influenza in 2005, said the Hong Kong dog may indeed have a low-level infection, which would not be a big surprise. Humans do pass on infections to their pets and other animals on occasion, he said.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Finxact , the emerging leader in Core-as-a-Service banking, today announced that FirstBank , one of the largest privately held banks in the United States with over $19 billion in assets and 119 locations throughout Colorado, Arizona, and California, will launch new digital banking products and services on the Finxact Core.

FirstBank, one of the first regional banks to adopt Real Time Payments (RTP) and Zelle, will leverage Finxact's next-gen core to rapidly innovate new products and experiences that meaningfully engage its customers and differentiate it in the market. In the coming months, FirstBank will develop and launch multiple products on the Finxact Core with the ultimate goal of full conversion to Finxact from its 35 year-old in-house core system.

"We looked at most of the major core players, but Finxact was the only one that had exactly what we were looking for - a real-time, cloud-native headless core. We've been building a services environment for several years that acts as our API and Finxact's open API approach fits perfectly into our architecture," said Christian Winward, CIO, FirstBank. "Real-time access to core data was also very important to us as a bank that uses tools like Tableau for analytics and BI. The Finxact core is meeting all of these requirements."

The Finxact Core banking platform is the only cloud-native system-of-record (SOR) with open APIs that allows product innovation to happen at speed and transaction processing to happen at scale. By leveraging Finxact's modern architecture, banks are able to invent, curate, and launch products at the speed required to meet customer expectations in today's marketplace.

"The Finxact Core is a highly scalable, real-time position keeping and product platform that banks can use to transform their business," said Frank Sanchez, CEO and founder of Finxact. "Innovative financial institutions understand the benefits this platform can provide, and we are pleased that FirstBank will be among the first to bring to market products developed on the Finxact Core."

Finxact secured a $30 million strategic investment by leading banking and financial services firms in 2019 and is currently working with multiple U.S. and international financial institutions, from de novo banks to top-tier banks, on projects ranging from full core conversions to digital-only initiatives.

About Finxact

Finxact is innovating the first enterprise class cloud-native Core-as-a-Service platform with a 100 percent accessible open banking API. Finxact's modern architecture enables banks to rapidly deliver new experiences by creating products on demand and integrating new services as needed. The Finxact team has been at the forefront of banking software for 35+ years, and together with its best of breed partners is disrupting core banking so financial institutions can truly transform on their terms. Learn more at www.Finxact.com .

About FirstBank

FirstBank began providing banking services in Colorado in 1963. Today, the bank maintains more than $19 billion in assets and operates more than 115 branch locations across Colorado, Arizona and California. FirstBank offers a variety of checking accounts, savings accounts, home equity loans, mortgages, and a full range of commercial banking services, including financing, treasury management and deposit accounts. Since 2000, FirstBank has been recognized as a leader in corporate philanthropy, contributing more than $65 million and thousands of volunteer hours to charitable organizations. The company is also unique in that a large portion of its stock is owned by management and employees, giving all employees a financial stake in the bank's success through its Employee Stock Ownership Program. For more information, visit www.efirstbank.com.

Media Contact:

Finxact

Alyson Kuritz

[email protected]

(908) 892-7149

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The Duchess of Sussex wowed in an electric turquoise figure-hugging dress as she made her first post-Megxit appearance at the Endeavour Awards tonight.

Meghan Markle, 38, looked gorgeous in the 950 bright blue gown by Victoria Beckham as she attended the awards evening at Mansion House in London alongside Prince Harry, 35, tonight.

The mother-of-one carried a navy blue 1,742 Stella McCartney clutch bag and finished her outfit with her pair of navy Manolo Blahnik BB pumps.





The Duke of Sussex made sure to match his radiant wife for the outing, as he sported a light blue tie and royal blue suit.





It is the couple's first official public appearance in Britain following the Megxit crisis and prepares to step down as a senior royal.

Meghan Markle, 38, wowed in an electric turquoise dress as she stepped out for the Endeavour Awards tonight

The Duchess of Sussex could be seen beaming at the cameras as she and Prince Harry, 35, made their way through the rain

She swept her hair back into a stylish pony-tail, revealing a set of gold hoop earrings.

The dress, which comes with a 950 pricetag, is described online as 'inspired by the simplicity of a T-shirt'.

The Duchess swapped her usual low key make-up for a stunning glamorous look on Thursday, bold dark eyeshadow, highlighter and a metallic lipstick.

The royal is known for her love of designer brands, and rarely wears the same outfits twice, selecting new outfits from favourite designers such as Givenchy and Victoria Beckham on almost every appearance.

The Duchess donned the turquoise dress by Victoria Beckham as she returned to the UK for the first time since announcing her plan to step back as a senior royal

Victoria and her husband, former England footballer David Beckham, were among the guests at Harry and Meghan's star-studded royal wedding in 2018.

The former singer launched her fashion label in 2008.

Since she married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018, the mother-of-one has worn a parade of designer outfits from brands such as Dior, Prada and Chanel and an array of expensive accessories.

Her maternity wardrobe is believed to have cost over half a million pounds, and further boosted by decadent jewellery, which adds financial value to several of her outfits.

Her royal wardrobe, only taking into account the cost of items once and not counting recycled items, came to a staggering 947,132.49.

The royal forewent her usual low key make-up for a glamorous lip and a dark smokey eye for the award's event

The Duchess appeared in high spirits as she stepped out in the vivid blue dress for this evening's awards

The royal could be seen beaming as she walked into the event alongside Prince Harry in the turquoise gown

Meghan's stylish 1,742 Stella McCartney clutch bag Meghan Markle pulled out all the stops for her first engagement in the UK today, since announcing her departure from the Royal Family. Appearing alongside Prince Harry at the Endeavour Awards in London, the mother-of-one accessorised perfectly. The former actress carried a navy blue 1,742 Stella McCartney clutch bag upon her arrival. Shimmering with multiple shades, the eye-catching bag complimented her electric turquoise Victoria Beckham dress. She finished her outfit with her pair of navy Manolo Blahnik BB pumps. Stella McCartney clutch bags have proven a big hit recently, with the following celebs sporting them: Jessie J, Maisie Williams, Kate Moss and Amelia Windsor. Advertisement

The couple will help celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women in their first appearance since they visited Canada House before announcing their step down from royal duties.

The engagement will be the first in three joint engagements the couple will undertake in early March, before they officially step down as senior royals.

The Endeavour Fund supports the ambitions of men and women who use challenges to help with their physical, psychological and social recovery and rehabilitation.

The annual awards, now in their fourth year, brings together hundreds of wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and veterans as well as their families, friends and supporters of the military community.

The awards ceremony, which will be hosted by former Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers, will see four prizes awarded on the night.

The prizes include The Recognising Achievement Award, The Celebrating Excellence Award, The Henry Worsley Award and the The Community Impact Award.

Upon arrival, the Sussexes will attend a pre-ceremony reception where they will meet the inspiring nominees, as well as endeavour participants and key supporters of the Endeavour Fund.

They will then attend the awards ceremony, where they will each present an award. Harry will also give a short speech.

The royal appeared to look back and smile at cameras as she and Prince Harry made their way into the event this evening

Despite the pouring rain, the couple appeared in high spirits as they walked together into the awards event

Meghan's appearance tonight is her first since announcing her plans to step back as a senior royal in January.

Last autumn, American ex-actress Meghan opened up about her struggles with royal life in an ITV documentary filmed on their Africa tour.

She said she had tried to cope with the pressures by putting on a 'stiff upper lip' but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appear deep in concentration as they listen to speakers at the event

Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex are all smiles as they attend the glamorous event

The royal couple share beaming smiles as they applaud people at the lavish occasion tonight

Meghan (pictured this evening) was last seen with Prince Harry on an official engagement on January 7

Meghan was last seen with Prince Harry on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent - a move dubbed Megxit by the press.

It was eventually announced they would give up royal duties, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, no longer be known as HRHs, and their lives as working royals would end on March 31.

Meghan addresses the audience as she hands out an award while attending the event with her husband Prince Harry

The Duchess of Sussex holds an award ready to hand it out as she stands on stage at the event
Afghan president's rival threatens parallel inauguration after disputed election Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah speaks during a live debate at Tolo TV channel in Kabul

By Abdul Qadir Sediqi

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's main political rival said on Thursday the two sides were holding talks over a disputed presidential election result but that if no solution could be found, he would hold a parallel inauguration next week.

The dispute between Ghani and his longtime political foe, Abdullah Abdullah, is threatening to hamper the next steps towards a peace deal as the United States attempts to usher the government towards talks with the Taliban after the signing of a U.S. troop withdrawal deal on Saturday.

"Today, delegations from both sides had a meeting for finding a solution to the current (election) crisis, meetings may continue," Abdullah said in an interview hosted by local broadcaster Tolo News.

Ghani is set to hold his inauguration on Monday, and Abdullah has said he will hold a parallel ceremony on the same day.

"We still have hope to solve the (election) crisis, if not we will have an inauguration ceremony," said Abdullah.

Ghani and Abdullah are old rivals who both held roles in the previous government under a U.S.-brokered power-sharing agreement. A former foreign minister, Abdullah held the specially created post of chief executive in the outgoing government.

The Election Commission last month announced that Ghani won September's presidential election but Abdullah has also proclaimed himself winner.

Afghan government push-back to the Taliban's prisoner release demand, included in its agreement with the United States, also threatens the U.S.-led effort to bring peace to Afghanistan.

"Something should be done for sure to release prisoners from both sides as part of a peace deal," Abdullah told Tolo News. "The release of 5,000 prisoners should be part of a peace package."

He did not elaborate on whether the release needed to take place before or after talks with the Taliban but said that so called intra-Afghan talks should take place "without preconditions".

Story continues

The Taliban have said the release of 5,000 prisoners is a pre-condition to talks.

Abdullah's comments appeared to be a softening of his spokesman's comments to Reuters earlier in the day that the prisoner release should take place "without delay" before talks with the Taliban get under way.

A spokesman for Ghani did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday but a senior government official reiterated that the release was neither practical nor a prerequisite for the intra-Afghan talks.

"Over the years, we've released hundreds of insurgents as a gesture of good faith but it didn't help with peace," said the official, who declined to be identified.

"The government has to be sure the release guarantees peace negotiations with the Taliban," the official said.

U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has led the negotiations with the Taliban, had asked both sides to delay their inaugurations, Abdullah's spokesman told Reuters, but the senior government official said there was no plans to delay Ghani's.

(Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi, additional reporting by Hamid Shahlizi; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Nick Macfie)
C alifornia has declared a state of emergency after confirming its first coronavirus death, bringing the US death toll to 11.

The patients death was the first COVID-19 fatality in the country outside of Washington state, where 10 people have died.

It came as US lawmakers reached an agreement on a $8.3 billion emergency bill to help fund efforts to contain the virus.

Hours after the person's death was announced, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency in response to the coronavirus.

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

"The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Newsom said in a statement.

He said the virus has resulted in 53 cases across what is the nation's most populous state.

The 10 other people died in a cluster of at least 39 infections that have emerged through community transmission of the virus in two Seattle-area counties.

The first California death from the virus was an elderly person in Placer County, near Sacramento, health officials said.

The person had underlying health problems and likely had been exposed on a cruise ship voyage between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

US lawmakers reached bipartisan agreement on an $8.3 billion emergency bill to help fund efforts to contain the virus.

The bill garnered enough votes to pass in the House of Representatives.

More than $3 billion would be devoted to research and development of coronavirus vaccines, test kits and therapeutics.
Only a few days after reports that Saudi Arabia was planning to propose a 1 million barrel per day reduction in crude oil output to its OPEC counterparts, the group, which controls more than one-third of the world's oil, has now agreed on a massive 1.5 million barrel production cut.

Unlike the reaction to the Saudi proposal, which sent crude oil prices up more than 4%, oil markets are not viewing today's news nearly so favorably. At this writing, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down slightly at $50.24 and $46.12 per barrel at recent prices.

Oil stocks are taking the news even less favorably. At this writing, shares of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) are down 5%, while the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Explorer & Production ETF (NYSEMKT:XOP) is down 4%.

Proposed cuts hinge on Russia's decision

While OPEC member states have agreed to the proposal, OPEC+ member Russia has not yet to agreed to participate in the cuts. According to the deal, OPEC members will shoulder the first 1 million barrels per day in cuts -- essentially what Saudi Arabia was proposing -- but is asking for the countries that make up OPEC+ to take on the additional half-million barrels in cuts.

Russia is by far the largest non-core-OPEC producer in the OPEC+ group, and the full cuts that OPEC is asking from this group requires Russia's involvement. However, the country's leadership has said that while they are open to cooperation, president Vladimir Putin has also said that, "...for the Russian budget, for our economy, the current oil prices [sic] level is acceptable."

Whether OPEC+ can agree to the full 1.5 million cuts will remain to be seen, but it's clear by the oil market's reaction that the general feeling is it may not be likely.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 5 said it is superseding the board of troubled private sector lender YES Bank with immediate effect.

Former State Bank of India CFO Prashant Kumar has been appointed the administrator.

"This has been done to quickly restore depositors' confidence in the bank, including by putting in place a scheme for reconstruction or amalgamation," the RBI said in a statement.

The central bank has also imposed a moratorium on the private lender till April 3, 2020. Withdrawals from the bank have been capped at Rs 50,000 per depositor.

Also Read | YES Bank: Govt caps deposit withdrawal at Rs 50,000

The move by RBI comes nearly six months after it did the same with Mumbai-based Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.

Also Read: Govt may nudge LIC to play white knight along with SBI

YES Bank has been grappling with mounting bad loans and has been struggling to raise fresh capital.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

The Japanese government has allocated grants to social projects in Uzbekistan worth about $700,000, Trend reports with reference to press service of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

Tashkent hosted a ceremony of signing grant contracts for small-scale social projects, which are being implemented in Uzbekistan within the program of gratuitous assistance of the government of Japan.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador of Japan to Uzbekistan Yoshinori Fujiyama noted that the government of Japan attaches great importance to strategic partnership with Uzbekistan.

"Since 1995, Japan has been providing assistance for Uzbekistan's economic and social development, as well as improving people's well-being," the diplomat said.

It was stressed that Japan will continue to provide intensive assistance to Uzbekistan.

Grant assistance will be provided on three lines, namely, medicine, education and culture.

In particular, a number of medical institutions will receive new equipment. Among them are the Regional Perinatal Center and the Republican Endocrinological Dispensary of Karakalpakstan, Khorezm and Jizzakh branches of Uzbek Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Oncology and Radiology, as well as the Second Regional Perinatal Center of Surkhandarya region.

Preschool institutions No. 12 and No. 17 in Termez, as well as secondary school No. 4 in Pakhtakor district of Jizzakh region, will be provided with educational equipment.

Finally, through culture, the Uzbek State University of World Languages will be provided with additional equipment for studying Japanese.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
New Delhi, March 5 : National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday hit out at the police force for failure to implement laws on ground saying If laws enacted in Parliament can't be implemented, what good are those laws.

Doval was speaking at a police expo in Gurugram, on Thursday. "If you (Cops) can't implement laws enacted in Parliament, what good are those laws? You are a law enforcement agency, Doval said." Doval's statement assumes significance in the aftermath of Delhi riots where the Delhi Police was seen to have initially failed in containing the violence that eventually killed 47 people.

In a subtle reference to recent violence in Delhi, the NSA said burning police vehicle is not property of the police but of society for which people have paid taxes. He asked for societal change in attitude and asked the police to take the lead. "There is a perception that the most neglected can't reach the police and it's there only to serve a few. That needs to change. Here technologies like drone can help." He made a strong pitch for use of technology by the police force to change "perception" about itself so that its "credibility" remains unblemished.

"Indian law enforcement agencies are preparing for tomorrow, Doval said, "Technology is a great enabler. When you induct technology, you enhance capabilities." Giving an example for face detection, he said technology should and must be used on a mass scale to meet today's challenges. He also pitched for introduction of technology in the process of road opening, to detect mines.

Bringing in reference of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Battle of Plassey and Kumbh Mela, Doval pitched for a "fair" police force that can "integrate technology" to serve the neglected.

He also pitched for use of data for events like Kumbh Mela that witnesses millions thronging and face a massive security threat.

Doval told policemen that not only they should be fair and credible but also should seen to be fair and credible. He added, one incident of corruption can alter perception. He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that if one police station each can do one good work that reaches the public, the credibility of the force will be emboldened.

He concluded by entrusting the police of delivering a 'secure India'.
The next few weeks will show whether Bernie Sanders can expand his support beyond those who want a political revolution  much as he did in winning California on Super Tuesday.

The upcoming weeks will also show if Joe Biden can maintain the momentum that brought him victories in 10 of 14 primary election states Tuesday and vaulted him into the delegate lead for the Democratic presidential nomination, or whether he will undermine his candidacy with more rickety debate performances and stumbles on the trail.

But Sanders faces a greater urgency to broaden his appeal, because much of his Super Tuesday support was attributable to votes cast before Biden revived his campaign by winning Saturdays South Carolina primary, said Dave Wasserman, an editor with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which analyzes federal races.

And he still fell well short of Biden, Wasserman tweeted. Thats why this race could functionally be over soon.

Sanders actions Wednesday were seemingly contradictory. The Vermont senator both extended an olive branch to fans of Barack Obama and alienated other Democrats.

He released a new ad showing the popular former president, perhaps the ultimate establishment Democrat, praising Sanders in 2016 as someone who has great authenticity, great passion, and is fearless.

Hours later at a news conference, Sanders railed on the entire political establishment ... an establishment that is working frantically against us.

What this campaign is increasingly about, Sanders said, is, Which side are you on? 

Some of the challenges facing Sanders:

Getting young people to vote: Sanders told The Chronicle on Sunday that Democrats win elections when voter turnout is high. ... Does anyone really think that a Biden candidacy will create the kind of energy and excitement we need to significantly increase the voter turnout?

But young people, a key component of Sanders envisioned coalition, arent turning out.

Roughly 1 in 8 voters Tuesday was under 29, according to exit polls. Meanwhile, almost two-thirds were older than 45 and about 30% were older than 65  people also known as Biden voters.

Sanders acknowledged that Wednesday, noting that historically, the young dont vote in numbers as great as those of the old.

We have not done as well in bringing young people into the process, Sanders said. It is not easy.

Making some Democratic friends: Bidens campaign turned around when Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., endorsed him in South Carolina days before the primary. Most endorsements dont matter, but that one did  Clyburn has unsurpassed credibility with fellow African Americans in his state.

Hes also the No. 3 House Democrat, making him a member of the establishment that Sanders relentlessly criticizes. So is Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator whose last-minute withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Biden delivered her state to the former vice president.

Sanders isnt even a Democrat  he caucuses with the party in the Senate, but hes an independent. He can continue to alienate establishment Democrats with us-against-them rhetoric, if he doesnt mind losing more states.

Changes are coming soon, Fremont Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, a national co-chair of Sanders campaign, told The Chronicle. Khanna expects Sanders to start talking more positively about the Democratic Party.

We need to convey how proud we are of the Democratic Party, from FDR to Obama, and how we want to complete the project of the New Deal, Khanna said. Youre going to hear much more about expanding the coalition, reaching out to leaders in the Congress, the nonprofits and in the grassroots.

Finding revolutionaries in the suburbs: Sanders acknowledged Wednesday the difficulty of assembling his coalition without the support of super PACs or private fundraisers.

What we are trying to do is unprecedented. We are talking about a political revolution. We are talking about bringing millions and millions of people who have no voice, who have given up on the political process, into the process, Sanders said. Its not easy.

Yet Democratic voters are with Sanders on his signature issue  a Medicare for All, government-run health plan. Exit polls Tuesday showed that that most voters backed replacing private health insurance with a single-payer government plan. Many of those voters backed Sanders, but not in the overwhelming numbers one would expect given his full-throated support of the idea.

Khanna sees potential for Sanders to connect with suburban voters. Look no further than the Bay Area, where Khanna points out that Sanders won the Silicon Valley counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo.

Sanders carried some of the most affluent suburban counties in this country, Khanna said. That is because his message is resonating  it is one of economic opportunity, particularly his support of tuition-free college.

Getting supporters to tone it down: Several times during his remarks Wednesday, Sanders said that I like Joe, perhaps in an effort to blunt the nasty tone of a small percentage of his supporters.

Former candidate Pete Buttigieg criticized Sanders for the actions of his supporters last month, saying, We can build a movement without having legions of our supporters online and in person attacking Democratic figures and union leaders alike.

Sanders said he didnt want the campaign to degenerate into a Trump-type effort where we are attacking each other with personal attacks. That is the last thing this country wants.

Its worth watching how the Sanders camp handles Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who had a terrible Super Tuesday and is reportedly weighing her options. For several days, Sanders supporters have urged Warren to drop out and endorse Sanders, using the hashtag #WarrenEndorseBernie.

Some Warren supporters didnt appreciate the advice. I cant think of anything more insulting than telling Warren to endorse Bernie, one tweeted.

Sanders tried to tamp down the talk Wednesday, saying it was important for all of us  certainly me, who has known Elizabeth Warren for many, many years  to respect the time and the space that she needs to make her decision.

Warren is one establishment figure who might be able to help Sanders navigate these next few weeks. If she does bow out, a Morning Consult poll says Sanders is the second choice of 40% of Warren supporters, while Biden is the second pick of 16%.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Crown Prince of Bahrain Visits NAVCENT

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200304-01

Release Date: 3/4/2020 10:03:00 AM

From U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- The Crown Prince of Bahrain, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, visited U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and the U.K. led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) Task Force SENTINEL on Naval Support Activity Bahrain, March 3.

During his visit, Crown Prince Salman toured NAVCENT and the IMSC headquarters to discuss U.S. 5th Fleet and coalition partner operations.

"It was a great honor to welcome His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa to the headquarters of Naval Forces Central Command," said Vice Adm. Jim Malloy, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet. "Our partnership with the Kingdom of Bahrain is deep and enduring, and is based on a long history of friendship, trust, and a shared commitment to regional security. Under the steadfast leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Crown Prince, Bahrain continues to lead and pace regional efforts in the critical and collaborative work to protect and defend this vital region."

During his visit to NAVCENT, the Crown Prince received an operations and intelligence brief, and also toured the IMSC's operations center where he spoke with the commander, Royal Navy Commodore James Parkin.

"Our partnership with Bahrain is crucial," said Parkin. "Welcoming Bahrain's Crown Prince and sharing our mission with him emphasizes the significance of what this coalition of nations is doing to deter state-sponsored malign activity and provide all mariners with a sense of assurance and security."

The multinational IMSC deploys advanced capabilities through the region as part of a surveillance and detection effort, leading to de-escalation and deterrence through transparency. The IMSC ensures freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waters throughout the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Oman.

The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The expanse is comprised of 20 countries and includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of Yemen.



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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 10:39:18|Editor: ZD

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WELLINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand confirmed the third case of COVID-19 on Thursday after an Auckland man in his 40s, whose family member was back from Iran recently, tested positive for the coronavirus.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the country's third case was one of family transmission because the man himself had not travelled abroad.

The man is quarantined at home and his partner becomes ill, in self-isolation and is being tested, Bloomfield said.

The Health Ministry suggested passengers on flight Qatar Airways flight QR 0920 to call healthline for more information.

The patient's two children attend schools in Auckland, and show no symptoms, Bloomfield said. There was no danger to other students, according to the Ministry of Education.
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh on Thursday said 175 people have been tested so far for coronavirus in the state with 157 of them showing no sign of the infection.

Of the remaining 18 tested, six are from Agra and one from Ghaziabad, he said, referring to the seven cases which have tested positive.

The reports of the remaining 11 are yet to be received from National Institute of Virology in Pune, according to the minister.

"The situation is under control. As many as 820 isolation beds have been prepared at various hospitals. Seven medical colleges have been alerted, he told reporters here.

He said the authorities are keeping a close watch on the Agra case, in which six people related in some manner to a Delhi-based man recently tested positive.

The six from Agra are now admitted at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.

"As many as 66 persons have been tracked in Agra in a span of 24 hours, he said, referring to the measures taken after the Delhi man was found to have been infected during a visit to Italy.

Altogether, almost 10 lakh travellers have been examined in the state since the coronavirus scare began.

There is no need to panic, but remain alert. We are taking all required steps," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Bareilly's Chief Medical Officer Vineet Kumar Shukla said 59 people with history of travel to coronavirus-affected areas have been monitored in that district.

So far, five samples have been taken in Bareilly. All tested negative, he said.

In state capital Lucknow, five samples have been taken over the past month and all of them tested negative for coronavirus.

At Aligarh Muslim University, Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor has asked heads of departments to postpone all international conferences and also avoid holding any national conferences.

University festivals and functions have also been called off.

AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai told PTI that a meeting was called by the vice-chancellor on Thursday to take stock of the situation.

The university, which is a residential institution with 12,000 students, issued an advisory telling them to "avoid travel as far as possible".

Kidwai said an isolation ward has been set up at the on-campus Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, where those suspected of having contracted the virus will be admitted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Justice S Muralidhar on Thursday received a heartwarming farewell by the Delhi High Court Bar Association.

In a rousing speech during the ceremony, Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel described Muralidhar as Kohinoor and said that the association loses the most eminent judge today.

Justice Muralidhars transfer, over his remarks during a hearing on the Delhi violence, had stirred debate.

Muralidhar has been transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

The decision to have the case on Delhi violence in High Court transfer from his bench to a bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel also raked controversy.

The central government notified the Muralidhars transfer to the Punjab & Haryana High Court last month.

The petition by Harsh Mander seeking courts intervention in the Delhi violence was heard by Justice Muralidhar last month wherein he made strong remarks against Delhi Police for not registering FIRs for hate speech against some BJP leaders.

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Yesterday, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed a decree convening the first session of the new composition of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (lower house of parliament) on March 17. The day before, the results of the elections were announced in the republic. The Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT) does not agree with them; its leader, Rakhmatillo Zoyirov, called them not a legal, but a politically fabricated decision.

As predicted, most of the seats in parliament were taken by the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT), led by Emomali Rahmon. According to the Central Election Commission, the PDPT won 50.4% of the vote and received 12 deputy mandates on party lists and 35 seats in single-mandate constituencies. Total 47 out of 63 places.

In addition to the PDPT, four more parties, the Party of Economic Reforms and the Agrarian Party, went to the lower house of parliament - they won just over 16% of the vote and received four deputy seats. Also, the Socialist and Democratic Parties of Tajikistan received one mandate. The Communists of Tajikistan with three percent remained overboard, the SDPT gained only half a percent of the vote. Although according to the data of the Social Democrats, they received the support of 30% of voters and counted on at least two or three deputy mandates. The turnout in the elections was 86%. Thus, the party of the president will retain the majority, which means that no changes in the political course should be expected.

Tajik expert Parviz Mullodzhanov shared his impressions of the recent election: The most faithful, the Social Democrats, sincerely believed that they would go to parliament. The most productive, the Agrarian Party, had avoided the election campaign, but they had the best harvest. The most economical "The Party of Economic Reforms is a minimum of efforts, all the same in parliament. The most assiduous - the ruling Peoples Democratic Party - I dont know, maybe because the most democratic? The most inconspicuous - the communists, the most contented They are democrats, the most silent ones are socialists. Together: incomprehensible, that is, what they want, its clear, but what benefit to all of us (citizens of Tajikistan) is not understandable. ! ", Mullodzhanov noted.

Shokirdzhon Khakimov, a doctor of law, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the distribution of seats in parliament does not depend on the results of the vote, but on the decision of the ruling elite. Khakimov participated in the elections as a candidate from the SDPT, therefore he knows the situation firsthand. He explained that in a number of regions, in particular in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the Karategin Valley, the districts of the Kulyab zone of the Khatlon Region, as well as Tursunzade, Shakhrinau, Gissar and Rudaki, independent experts were appointed who secretly conducted parallel monitoring. If they had done this openly, then the authorities would have stopped their activities. In addition, the SDPT conducted an active election campaign in the regions of Tajikistan. Voters at meetings with party representatives expressed their support and willingness to vote for the SDPT.

Our assessment is based on these data. In addition, a source in the Central Election Commission informed party leader Rakhmatillo Zoyirov that according to the results of the vote count, the party is in second place with 30% of the vote. This meant that we would get two or three deputy mandates. But at the final press conference, the head of the CEC announced completely different figures, supposedly only 13 thousand voters, or 0.5%, voted for the SDPT, these data have no basis, since the party consists of twice as many citizens. their family members who are so but they took part in the vote, it turns out 30%. 0.5% do not stand up to criticism. We learned that after all the ballots were counted, the Central Election Commission changed the results of voting three times, apparently, as instructed above. The SCO and the CIS did not find any violations, "Khakimov said. Although, according to him, there were many violations.

The SDPT will not appeal against the results of the vote. "Under the law, this is useless, since there are no independent courts in Tajikistan, and it is dangerous to protest on the square, since destructive forces seeking to destabilize the situation can take advantage of this action," said the Tajik politician.

According to him, the fact that the opposition was not allowed into the parliament is only regrettable. Two opposition deputies in parliament could give the population hope for a change. But the authorities chose to use the experience of Turkmenistan and Belarus, abandoning the best practices of Uzbekistan.
A Casco Township man was hospitalized on the night of March 4 following a two-vehicle crash in Port Huron Township, police said.

Deputies were called to the intersection of Business Loop I-69 and 32nd Street at about 10:30 p.m. When they arrived, they observed a 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup and a 2008 Pontiac Torrent had been involved in the crash, St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon said.

The driver of the pickup, a 38-year-old Casco Township man, told deputies he was traveling southbound on 32nd Street when the driver of the Torrent, who was heading eastbound, ran the red light, causing the crash.

The driver of the Torrent, a 23-year-old man from Camlachie, Ontario, Canada, told deputies he was traveling eastbound on Business Loop I-69 when the pickup ran the red light, causing the crash.

The pickup driver was transported by Tri-Hospital EMS to McLaren Port Huron with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Torrent and his three passengers, all from Ontario, refused treatment at the scene.

Port Huron Township Fire and Rescue also assisted at the scene of the crash, which remains under investigation.

 Emily Pauling, MediaNews Group
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Greater Lafayette leaders are in Washington D.C. talking to politicians about improving the community.

Agenda items for the annual trip include pushing for rural community support, small businesses, mental health treatment and sustainable infrastructure.

Both mayors and business and county leaders are having these conversations with Congressman Jim Baird and Senator Mike Braun.

News 18 talked with Tom Murtaugh, who is on this trip.

He said the time the group spends at the Capitol is beneficial.

"We have had a significant amount of success when it comes to economic development but with that comes some challenges which we need some help from our partners in D.C," said Murtaugh.

Murtaugh said every year, including this year, trade is always a hot topic.

They will return to Indiana Thursday night.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to enfortumab vedotin (Padcev, manufactured and marketed by Astellas Pharma US, Inc., Northbrook, Illinois 60062; distributed and marketed by Seattle Genetics, Inc., Bothell, WA 98021) on December 18, 2019, for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received platinum chemotherapy and a PD-L1 inhibitor.

Two years ago, I briefly mentioned enfortumab vedotin in a Clinical Trials Portal article focused on discussing the promising Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) class of drugs.

Now, we have this new agent on the market to use to help our patients. The EV-301 randomized Phase III trial intended to demonstrate survival benefit with enfortumab vedotin over taxane chemotherapy is fully accrued and pending events driven analysis. However, the impressive single-agent activity of enfortumab vedotin in open-label Phase I and II trials for a patient population with great unmet need in the third-line setting justifies the accessibility of this agent for our patients.

To briefly review, enfortumab vedotin is an ADC specific for targeting Nectin-4, which is highly expressed in urothelial carcinoma.1 The monoclonal antibody targeting Nectin-4 is connected by a linker molecule to a cytotoxic drug payload. In the case of enfortumab vedotin, the payload is monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), a potent antimitotic agent that blocks the polymerization of tubulin. MMAE is too toxic to utilize as a therapeutic agent itself, hence it is linked to the antibody resulting in the vedotin complex. The intent is for enfortumab vedotin to be intracellularly internalized by endocytosis and for the linker to be degraded in a lysosome to subsequently release the cytotoxic payload.

The sum of the published data with enfortumab vedotin in metastatic urothelial carcinoma is from an open-label Phase I and another open-label Phase II trial. One hundred fifty-five heavily pretreated patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma were enrolled in the Phase I trial, identifying the recommended Phase II dose of 1.25 mg/kg.1 Of the 112 patients treated at 1.25 mg/kg, the confirmed objective response rate (ORR) was 43% and the median overall survival was 12.3 months. Impressively, outcomes were similar in patients with and without prior anti-PD-L1 therapy, liver metastases or upper tract disease. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events were rash, peripheral neuropathy, fatigue, alopecia, and nausea. In the global Phase II trial, enfortumab vedotin was administered in a three week on, one week off schedule every 28 days.2 The trial was restricted to the post-platinum, post-PD-L1 inhibitor locally-advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma population, and 125 patients were treated with the primary endpoint of confirmed ORR. This rate was 44%, similar to the Phase I findings. Again, prespecified subgroup analyses identified similar efficacy across various prognostic populations such as those with and without liver metastases. Adverse events were similar to Phase I findings.

With the above data leading to accelerated FDA approval, more impressive results were presented at the 2019 European Society of Medical Oncology Congress with combination enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab in the EV-103 trial.3



First-line metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients who were ineligible to receive cisplatin chemotherapy were treated with pembrolizumab 200 mg every three weeks and enfortumab vedotin 1.25 mg/kg on day one and eight of 21-day cycles. Of 45 treated patients, 32 (71%) had a confirmed ORR and six (13%) with a complete response. All but three patients had some level of tumor shrinkage translating into a 93% tumor reduction rate. Treatment-related serious adverse events were observed in seven (16%) patients. This level of impressive early efficacy has prompted consideration of this combination regimen for investigation in earlier disease states.

Given the recent FDA accelerated approval of enfortumab vedotin and the exciting early signs of efficacy, multiple clinical trials are ongoing. Please see below for more information and sites of accessibility for your patients.

Ongoing trials with enfortumab vedotin:

Phase III enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone (EV-302) (NCT04223856)

Enfortumab vedotin plus atezolizumab (MORPHEUS mUC) (NCT03869190)

Enfortumab vedotin plus multiple combinations (with pembrolizumab, with cisplatin, with carboplatin, with gemcitabine, with pembrolizumab plus platinum) (EV-103) (NCT03288545)

Enfortumab vedotin in cisplatin-ineligible patients after prior PD-L1 inhibitor (EV-201) (NCT03219333)

Written by: Evan Yu, MD , Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine Member, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Clinical Research Director, Genitourinary Oncology, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Medical Director, Clinical Research Service, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research ConsortiumReferences:
In a dramatic operation to contain the coronavirus outbreak, four California Air National Guard troopers armed with testing kits rappeled onto a San Francisco-bound cruise ship Thursday to test passengers stranded at sea for two days to see if they have the contagious disease.

The emergency mission using two choppers and a fixed wing C-130J aircraft out of Moffett Field allowed 45 passengers on the Grand Princess, some 70 miles off the San Francisco coast, to be tested for the virus.

The kits were flown back Thursday afternoon to a California Department of Public Health laboratory in Richmond, where officials expect to have results Friday.

Some 3,533 people have been holed up in their cabins on the Grand Princess since former passengers from an earlier voyage tested positive for coronavirus and several of the current passengers also fell ill. Officials said the testing was done on a mix of guests and crew.

The action came on a frantic day in the Bay Area as San Francisco officials announced their first cases, Lowell High School was shut down after a students parent was diagnosed with COVID-19, and Santa Clara County officials saw their cases jump by six to 20.

Friends and family of people stranded on the ship waited desperately for news.

Lisa Egan said her 90-year-old father is aboard the ship with friends and had packed essential medications to get him through Saturday, when the trip was scheduled to end, but she worried about what could happen if the ship couldnt dock by then.

I am unbelievably stressed out about this. Its the lack of information and wondering where they are going to end up. ... Is this going to be another Diamond cruise situation? Egan said, referring to the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was held off the coast of Japan for weeks.

In that case, more than 700 of the 4,000 people aboard the Diamond Princess fell ill with the coronavirus and six died.

On the Grand Princess, whose home port is San Francisco, tests will determine whether any of the 2,422 passengers and more than 1,111 crew members have the coronavirus. Some are showing symptoms, authorities said.

They may have contracted the virus from three former passengers who were aboard the ship in February for a trip to Mexico and came down with the disease. The infected passengers were a 71-year-old Placer County man who died Wednesday, and two people from Sonoma County.

Authorities with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Coast Guard are developing a plan for meeting the Grand Princess once test results come in, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday as he announced a state of emergency for California.

Mary Ellen Carroll, director of the citys Department of Emergency Management, said the test results are expected early Friday.

Meanwhile, the search began for the people who were on the Mexico cruise after state and federal public health officials ordered counties to track down and quarantine them.

Dr. Bela Matyas, the Solano County health officer, who reported the first case in California on Feb. 26, said the incubation period for those people ends Friday, which means it is probably too late to prevent those particular passengers from infecting others.

Were expected to find all of those people and do what with them? Matyas said. Quarantine them for one day?

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety sent seven officers home for self-isolation after they performed CPR on a 72-year-old man who stopped breathing. He died and family members told the officers he had been a passenger on the Grand Princess and may have been in contact with people diagnosed with the virus.

We are asking our community to remain calm, said Phan Ngo, chief of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, pointing out that the officers had not performed mouth to mouth. The precautions we have taken exceed the recommendations by the CDC.

The plight of the cruise ship is one example of a local and nationwide effort to isolate the fast-spreading disease, which began in China and is now threatening to become a global pandemic, if it isnt already.

The disease was confirmed in San Francisco on Thursday when two residents  a man in his 90s and a woman in her 40s  tested positive for the virus, the first positive diagnoses in the city. Several other coronavirus patients have been treated at San Francisco hospitals, but those patients were not city residents.

The man and woman, whose names are not being released, had pneumonia-like symptoms. The man, who is in serious condition, suffers from underlying health issues and is in serious condition. The woman is in fair condition, said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the citys health department.

Neither patient had a history of travel to places with confirmed coronavirus cases, nor did they knowingly come into contact with anyone diagnosed with the disease.

The city victims are among 75 coronavirus cases in California, including 42 in the Bay Area. Nationwide, 233 cases have been confirmed, including 12 deaths, one in California and 11 in Washington state. Health officials believe there are many unreported cases.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The Grand Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, left San Francisco for a 15-day trip to Hawaii about eight hours after it returned Feb. 21 from an 11-day cruise to Mexico. When former passengers  from the Mexico cruise  were diagnosed with coronavirus 10 days after they had left the cruise ship, officials decided to hold the Grand Princess at sea.

The news onboard is troubling. Officials said 62 passengers now on the ship were also passengers during the February trip to Mexico and could have been exposed to the virus and spread it to the new passengers.

At least 20 people onboard had flu-like symptoms, officials said.

Neil Kran, a 69-year-old Sausalito resident, said he had been relaxing aboard the Grand Princess with his wife until a piece of paper was slipped beneath their door Wednesday, informing them the ship would skip its last stop because of the Placer County mans death.

The mood of people weve talked to is just kind of somber, Kran said. Were caught up, and theres not much we can do about it.

Kran and his wife have received frantic messages from friends and family who asked if they are on the cruise that has dominated news headlines. Youre not on the Grand Princess, are you? one friend asked.

Indeed, we are, they answered.

Santa Clara County held a news conference Thursday to announce six new coronavirus victims, two of whom were hospitalized. Of the 20 total cases in the county, officials said, four were travel-related and nine had been in contact with infected people. Seven, however, had no known cause.

Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara Countys public health officer, urged people over age 50 or with cardiovascular or other health problems to avoid sporting events, conferences, concerts, parades and other social activities. San Mateo Countys health officer on Thursday also issued a similar advisory.

As worry spread, Lowell High School, in San Francisco, was closed, businesses urged employees to work from home, especially if they were feeling sick, and some people were spotted on the streets wearing masks.

Meanwhile, the union representing San Franciscos registered nurses said Thursday that city hospitals are understaffed and not prepared for the outbreak.

Princess Cruises announced that its March 7 Hawaii cruise has been cancelled. The company offered full refunds of fares, hotel packages and prepaid shore excursions.

Peter Fimrite, Anna Bauman and Alejandro Serrano are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com, alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite @abauman2 @serrano_alej
A high-speed TGV train locomotive derailed early Thursday while travelling from the eastern city of Strasbourg to Paris, injuring the driver, the national rail operator SNCF said.

"The TGV locomotive went off the tracks," an SNCF spokeswoman said. She did not indicate if others on the train were hurt or confirm reports that several wagons also left the tracks.

Rescue workers were at the site of the accident near Vendenheim, around 15 kilometres (9 miles) north of Strasbourg, the SNCF and local authorities said.

Alexandre Sergeant, a passenger on the train, told BFM television by telephone that the train left Strasbourg on time at 7:19 am (0619 GMT), and the accident occurred around 20 minutes later.

"All of a sudden we felt an impact, and then the train was on the gravel, it kept rolling for a while and then started to lean on its side," Sergeant said.

"We're in the third wagon, all the windows are broken, and our wagon is off the tracks," he added.

The SNCF, which said traffic has been halted on the line, did not mention yet the cause of the accident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Akufo-Addo has said the construction of the National Cathedral is pivotal to the development of Ghana.

He explained that the countrys comparative performance against neighbouring countries is mainly by the grace of God.

Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the cathedral on Thursday, March 5, the President said the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the construction goes to affirm his conviction about the project.

Ghana has so far been spared civil war, famine and epidemic. We are certainly not better than the other nations in our neighbourhood who have been confronted with these challenges and I believe it is by the grace of God that we are being sustained. It will be an act of thanksgiving to the Almighty for his blessing, favour, grace and mercy on our nation.

71 percent of the Ghanaian people adhere to the Christian religion, grouped under the various persuasion of the Christian faith. The Supreme Court of the Republic in unanimously rejecting recently the challenge of the constitutional quality of the Cathedral project laid particular emphasis on this.

President Akufo-Addo has been criticized for his decision to build a National Cathedral in the face of numerous challenges facing the country.

Some persons who went to court to challenge government's decision to champion the project have not been successful.

At a recent public event, President Akufo-Addo said the construction of the cathedral was a fulfilment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the 2016 election.

The interdenominational Christian Cathedral, when completed, will have a 5,000 seating capacity with chapels, a baptistery, a music school, an art gallery and a Bible museum.

The monument is expected to be put up within the next five years.

Construction work is set to begin by March 6, 2020.

The government announced plans to construct the cathedral to serve as a national non-denominational Christian worship centre for Ghana.

Nine justices of the Court of Appeal as well as other judicial staff occupying bungalows around the site earmarked for the project were asked to vacate to make way for the construction of the 5,000-seater capacity facility.

They were moved into temporary residential buildings pending the construction of some new bungalows for them.

---citinewsroom
Three Sharon Hill residents have been charged with bilking the Pennsylvania Medical Assistance program out of more than $320,000 in a fraudulent home health care scheme, according to a release from state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Home care work is a necessary and life-sustaining service for Pennsylvanians of all ages, Shapiro said in the release. Thats why this case is so disappointing. I will not allow a few bad actors to undermine the value that this program brings to individuals across the commonwealth.

Tina Artis-Watson, 45, her husband, Robert Watson, 52, and her mother, Sylvia Meadearis, 73, all of the 600 block of Sharon Avenue, are each charged with Medicaid fraud, theft by deception, tampering with public records and conspiracy, according to affidavits of probable cause filed in Dauphin County by Attorney General Special Agent Courtney OBrien.

Meadearis was eligible to receive 140 hours of services per week under a Pennsylvania Department of Human Services waiver program, according to the affidavits. The program allows for one or more direct care workers to provide services at the recipients residence rather than a nursing home or other facility.

Between February 2015 and August 2019, the husband and wife team allegedly caring for Meadearis billed the Medical Assistance program for 21,217 hours of services including washing, grooming, shopping and supervision, according to affidavits.

But OBrien found Watson had fraudulently billed for hours when he was working as a toll collector for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and a review of pole camera footage at the defendants shared residence showed Meadearis regularly performing activities of daily living without the assistance or supervision that she allegedly required, according to the affidavits.

The footage showed Sylvia regularly ambulating without any assistance or supervision from any person or any device, equipment or apparatus, the affidavits state. The footage showed Sylvia regularly opening and closing doors, getting in and out of cars, going up and down steps, carrying bags, bending down to the ground, and reaching up above her head.

The total amount of the alleged fraud is $326,547, according to the release. The case is being prosecuted in Dauphin County by Senior Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth M. Madigan.
Combination creates new Top 100 regional powerhouse with significant specialisms including private client, property and personal injury

Leading UK law firms Moore Blatch and Barlow Robbins have agreed to merge, creating a new regional powerhouse firm with a significant geographic footprint across the South East. The merger has been approved unanimously by the two firms' respective partnerships.

Set to begin trading as Moore Barlow from 1 May, the new firm will comprise 70 partners, 272 lawyers and legal professionals, and a total staff of nearly 500 across six UK offices. Moore Barlow will have a combined turnover of almost 40 million, putting it well within the roster of the UK's top 100 law firms.

In terms of clients, Moore Barlow will be focused primarily on meeting the needs of private individuals families, owners and managers of fast-moving organisations and businesses, and people whose lives have been affected by serious accidents or negligence. Each of these groups require relationship-oriented legal advisors who are dedicated to helping them find the best path through complex, difficult or stressful situations, a focus and approach which will set Moore Barlow apart in the marketplace. At the heart of the firm's proposition will be a singular focus on people, both when it comes to clients and the firm's 500-strong workforce across the UK.

Bringing together both firms' respective and highly complementary areas of expertise, Moore Barlow will boast some of the largest and most comprehensive teams of legal advisors in areas such as private client, clinical negligence and property, among others.

The firm combined will have offices in Southampton, Guildford, Woking and Lymington, as well as two locations in London (Richmond and the City). It will also be the sole UK legal advisor within Ecovis, an international network of more than 7,500 lawyers, accountants and consultants with capability around the globe.

Ed Whittington, managing partner of Moore Blatch, commented:

"There is a unique opportunity to bring together the absolute best of our two organisations both outstanding firms with deep regional roots, strong areas of specialism, and dedicated teams of exceptional talent. By combining our respective and highly complementary areas of expertise within a culture of excellence and support, we will be one of very few firms with the breadth, depth and resources to meet all the needs of our core client groups. Moving forward with a clear vision and building on a shared set of values, Moore Barlow is poised to become a national leader in our chosen fields."

Helen Goatley, chairman of Barlow Robbins, added:

"We feel strongly that the focus on people which lies at the heart of Moore Barlow will truly set us apart in the marketplace. For clients looking for a relationship-led service, we offer a strong commitment to achieving better outcomes for people, whether they are individuals, families, managers, leaders or entrepreneurs, and particularly those encountering opportunity, challenge or life-altering circumstances. Today's top talent also want the right mix of a stimulating, rewarding career alongside a fulfilling work-life balance, an experience which we feel Moore Barlow will be uniquely suited to offer, and from which our clients can only benefit."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

About Moore Blatch

Moore Blatch is one of the largest law firms in the South of England with major strengths in mergers acquisitions, rural services, taxes and trusts, corporate and commercial, property, dispute resolution, personal injury, clinical negligence and private client. We also have specialist teams serving sectors such as the lending industry, land development and transport, with a strong reputation in health and safety law. Moore Blatch has offices in Southampton, Richmond, Lymington and the City of London.

About Barlow Robbins

Barlow Robbins LLP is a leading law firm with offices in Guildford, Woking, and London. The firm provides a wide range of private and commercial legal services to an impressive list of clients. They have been?named?as one of the leading 200 law firms in "The Times" Best Law Firms 2019 for?their private client work. Its proximity to London and both Heathrow and Gatwick airports means that the firm is ideally placed to serve local, national, and international markets. Barlow Robbins LLP is accredited with both Lexcel and the Customer Service Excellence Standard in recognition of their commitment to clients and dedication acknowledged by external assessors. The firm a member of Law South, a group of twelve prominent law firms in the South. For more information, visit Barlow Robbins.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005392/en/

Contacts:

Scott Addison Naomi Bryer, Infinite Global

moorebarlow@infiniteglobal.com

020 7269 1430
Washing hands to prevent the spread of viruses View Photo

Update at 7:40 p.m.: After declaring a state of emergency, Governor Gavin Newsom also updated that the Princess Cruise ship the deceased Placer County man traveled on between San Francisco and Mexico then headed to Hawaii. He announced that it is now docked off the Bay Area coast and disclosed that more than 50 percent of the passengers are Californians. He also acknowledged, That ship is now being delayed to provide ample opportunity for CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] partnership with the Coastguard and with state health officials to conduct test because we have a number of passengers and crew members that have developed symptoms.

With thousands of passengers on the ship, the Governor reveals that testing kits are being flown to the ship and then sent to an area lab where results can be determined within a few hours. Details on the emergency declaration and the Placer County mans death are below.

Update at 5:40 p.m.: Wednesday afternoon Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency following a rise in coronavirus cases, more than 53 in 12 counties, and the states first virus-related death involving a Placer County man, as detailed below.

Newsom remarks the proclamation will make additional resources available, formalize emergency actions already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, and help the state prepare for broader spread of COVID-19.

The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus, said Governor Newsom. This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly.

The governor adds that the emergency proclamation includes provisions allowing for health care workers to come from out of state to assist at health care facilities and give health care facilities the flexibility to plan and adapt to accommodate incoming patients. It also protects consumers against price gouging as Newsom notes, It allows us on the competitive bidding frame to move forward with a kind of procurement thats necessary with a sense of urgency on medical supplies or other monitoring or suppression efforts that would allow us to move forward without any hurdles.

Original post at 2:05 p.m.: Sonora, CA  Health officials in Placer County say an elderly adult with underlying health conditions is the first confirmed death in California related to coronavirus.

Placer County Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson stated, While we have expected more cases, this death is an unfortunate milestone in our efforts to fight this disease and one that we never wanted to see.

The case involves a person that tested positive on Tuesday who traveled on a Princess Cruise ship between San Francisco and Mexico. Governor Gavin Newsom expressed condolences to the family and issued this statement:

This case demonstrates the need for continued local, state and federal partnership to identify and slow the spread of this virus. California is working around the clock to keep our communities safe, healthy and informed, relayed Newsom. He added, The state is working with federal officials to follow up on contact tracing of individuals that may have been exposed to provide treatment and protect public health.

Placer County health officials detail that the preliminary contact investigation found that the patient had minimal community exposure between returning from the cruise and arriving at the hospital by ambulance on Feb. 27. Ten Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers and five emergency responders who were exposed prior to the patient being put in isolation, and are now in quarantine, relay health officials that advise none are exhibiting symptoms.

Additionally, other cruise passengers may have also been exposed. Placer County Public Health notes that it is working closely with Sacramento County Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify and contact other cruise passengers. This is the second confirmed case of the virus in the county. No details were released regarding the other patient.
SEOUL, March 4 (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday canceled his planned trip to the UAE, Egypt and Turkey in mid-March, over coronavirus, according to the presidential Blue House.

"In response to the recent nationwide spread of COVID-19, we have decided not to go ahead with trips," said presidential blue house spokesman Kang Min-seok in a statement.

South Korea reported 516 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, raising the country's total tally to 5,328. (Reporting by Sangmi Cha Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi Police and the Arvind Kejriwal government to ensure that there was no breach of security at board examination centres in the riot-hit northeast Delhi.

The single-judge Bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdar ordered this while disposing of a plea by a private school saying the centre allotted to them by the CBSE was 16 km away from their school and was located in one of the violence-hit areas.

It was difficult for students to reach the centre and write the examination in such a situation, it said.

The petition, filed by Bhai Parmanand Vidya Mandir and kin of students, said it was absolutely impossible to even think of approaching the examination centre, much less reaching there in time to take the examination.

The judge asked the police to provide security till Class 10th and 12th board examinations were over. The examination centres must be sanitised and no breach of security be allowed, the court said.

On last Friday, the court had asked the police to ensure that the board examination centres in the violence-hit northeast Delhi were provided proper security.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had told the court letters had been sent to the National Testing Authority (NTA) prevent any clash of dates between the board and the IIT and medical admission examinations.
Kolkata, March 5 : Two premier educational institutes in Bengal have barred visits of students, researchers and teachers to coronavirus-hit countries and scrapped exchange programmes with those nations to prevent any spread of the disease in campuses.

Calcutta University authorities have stopped issuing no-objection clearances to faculty, researchers and students planning a trip to the nations affected by the deadly disease, an official said.

There is also now a temporary restriction on teachers and guest speakers from those nations on attending seminars, symposiums and other programmes here.

The university has also advised its students from foreign countries not to leave India now, and even try to avoid visits to their motherland.

Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore founded Visva-Bharati University has scrapped visits by students from universities in China.

"We have now put a halt on cultural and educational exchanges involving Chinese universities," an official said.
Hemant Kumar Rout By

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: With novel coronavirus (COVID-19) scare gripping the entire world, the travel and tourism industry in Odisha has been the worst hit.

More than 50 per cent tourists, both inbound and outbound have cancelled their trips scheduled for summer, monsoon and early winter periods.

While the worlds biggest travel expo, five-day International Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin, scheduled to commence from Wednesday has been cancelled for the first time in its 54-year history, the State Government has deferred its three international tourism roadshows that were planned at the end of March and early April at Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Bali.

The virus outbreak has shaken the tourism sector in the State that had just recovered from the devastating cyclone Fani and witnessed a steady flow of foreign tourists during the winter months.

Tourism Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev said after ITB Berlin was cancelled, the roadshows planned in the next couple of months have been postponed.

There is also little chance of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) at Jaipur that is attended by more than 300 foreign buyers. It is its 13th year and was planned in April. Though we have not been apprised about its status, but going by the trend the chances of holding the event are remote. Things are very lean for the tourism sector, he said.

Though the number of inbound visitors declines during summer, tourists from abroad visit the tribal areas in the State during February and March.

The March-July period is considered peak for outbound tourists, most of who prefer to visit Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and China besides the European countries.

As India has temporarily suspended visas to people from China and foreigners visiting other affected countries, leisure and business travel has taken a hit. The State has more than 50 tour operators and all are staring at a huge loss due to the standstill situation.

Leading tour operator Benjamin Simon said main source market for Odisha is Europe, followed by UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Holland.

More than 50 per cent of bookings for the August-December period for inbound tourists and April-July period for outbound tourists have been cancelled in the last one week, he said.

Since it is a global phenomenon, people are not willing to step out. We do not know for how long the situation will prevail, but it will definitely have a cascading effect, he added.

The hotel bookings have been witnessing cancellation for the restriction on visa following the virus outbreak.

The hotel and tourism professionals have estimated the loss to be over Rs 500 crore and fear it may hit jobs in the sector. The business and trade in the handicraft sector which is also mostly dependent on tourism will also face the impact.

Secretary of Hotel Association of India JK Mohanty said most of the tourists from Italy have cancelled their tribal tours and no tourists are coming from Malaysia, China, Thailand and Singapore and other affected countries.

Even as we face huge loss due to the unprecedented situation, we have waived the cancellation fee of tourists. Since it is a global issue, we have taken the decision not to charge any retention charges, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 14:13:08|Editor: huaxia

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A portrait of former United Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar is pictured at the UN headquarters in New York, on March 5, 2020. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday night expressed sorrow at the death of Javier Perez de Cuellar, who served as the head of the world body from 1982 to 1991. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday night expressed sorrow at the death of Javier Perez de Cuellar, who served as the head of the world body from 1982 to 1991.

"I am profoundly saddened at the passing of my predecessor, Javier Perez de Cuellar," Guterres said in a statement, praising him to be an "accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration."

Earlier on Wednesday, Perez de Cuellar died at 100 in Lima, the capital of his native country Peru, his son told local media.

"Mr. Perez de Cuellar's life spanned not only a century but also the entire history of the United Nations, dating back to his participation in the first meeting of the General Assembly in 1946," said the UN chief.

Perez de Cuellar "played a crucial role in a number of diplomatic successes," including the independence of Namibia, an end to the Iran-Iraq War, the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, the peace accord in Cambodia and, in his very last days in office, a historic peace agreement in El Salvador, Guterres recalled.
Oil ministers from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday defied the global scare of the deadly coronavirus to hold its crucial meeting in Vienna, Austria.

Since the breakout of the deadly disease, several groups and organisations have decided to either cancel or postpone their scheduled meetings till further notice.

For instance, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on Tuesday announced the adjustment of their schedule for the annual Spring meetings billed for Washington DC from April 13.

Rather than the usual physical meetings attended by finance ministers of countries around the world, along with other leaders, civil society groups and journalists, the organisers opted for virtual meetings format, following the ravaging spread of the deadly virus in the U.S.

Not deterred

Regardless, the 15-members OPEC defied the threat of the ravaging scourge to go ahead with their scheduled 178th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the OPEC Conference on Friday, March 6.

The inter-ministerial meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC Ministers is also slated for Sunday to take a decision to salvage the plunging global crude oil price.

Despite previous decisions to intervene by a commitment to cut about 2.1 million barrels per day of their combined production, crude oil prices have declined by over 20 per cent this year.

The OPEC basket of 14 crude oil blends stood at about $51.80 per barrel on Wednesday, compared with the previous $52.65 per barrel, according to OPEC Secretariat monitoring report.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 40 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to settle at $46.78 per barrel.

The latest price is already significantly below the crude oil benchmark price of $57 per barrel in the 2020 Federal budget.

Nigerias Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, is leading the Nigerian delegation to the crucial meeting where members are poised to take further decisions to cut their production and stabilise the plummeting market

The mere confirmation that the meetings would go ahead despite mounting anxiety over coronavirus shows how serious members of the group are to the effort to save the economies by rescuing the plummeting oil prices.

Three meetings are expected to be held over the period beginning with the 18th joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC) to review the impact of the previous output cut on oil prices.

The other meetings include the 178th (Extra-ordinary) OPEC Conference, which will consider the report of the JMMC, while the 8th OPEC-NON OPEC (OPEC+) meeting to take a decision on whether to maintain the current output, or further announce a cut to strengthen the market and stabilise prices.
By WestKyStar & McConnell Staff Mar. 05, 2020 | 01:04 PM | KENTUCKY

The Departments initial change in eligibility for the Rural Low-Income Schools (RLIS) program -- which was implemented without notice to Congress and after funding for Fiscal Year 2020 was already appropriated -- would have reduced the amount of federal funding Kentucky schools receive through the program.





In the letter, the Senators objected to a change in how the Department determines which rural schools are eligible for funding through the RLIS program. RLIS is one of two programs funded by the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), which helps rural schools overcome the increased expenses often caused by geographic isolation.





Geography should be a class in school, not a barrier to Kentucky students educational opportunities, said Senator McConnell. Im proud to continue advocating for rural Kentucky schools to help them overcome many of the unique challenges they face. As the only congressional leader not from New York or California, I see it as my responsibility to look out for Middle America and most especially Kentucky. With a bipartisan group of Senators, I urged the Trump administration to continue giving rural students every opportunity to learn and grow and to maintain the funding eligibility that many rural schools have come to rely on. I am pleased Secretary DeVos listened to our concerns, and I look forward to continue to work with her to ensure members of our Commonwealths next generation reach their full potential.





Since 2002, rural schools across the nation have relied on these additional flexible funds to purchase supplies and make technology upgrades; expand curricular offerings, such as in reading, physical education, music, and art; provide distance learning opportunities; fund transportation; and support professional development activities. Without any chance to prepare, this abrupt change in RLIS eligibility will force many rural schools districts to forgo essential activities and services, the Senators wrote. The Departments decision has created a funding cliff for hundreds of rural, low-income schools that are already balancing tight budgetsREAP helps deliver an equitable and enriching education to thousands of students living in rural America. We strongly encourage you to rescind this new interpretation and to work with Congress to serve students in rural communities.



U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined 21 of his Senate colleagues in writing U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to express concern with a sudden decision by the Department that would have jeopardized funding eligibility for more than 800 rural, low-income schools, including some in Kentucky. Following the release of the letter, Secretary DeVos announced the Department will reverse course and maintain this critical funding for the rural schools for another year.
Treasurer Nancy Kopp, Gov. Larry Hogan, center, and Comptroller Peter Franchot at the Board of Public Works meeting on March 4, 2020, in Annapolis, Maryland. The panel approved $2.9 million each in compensation for three men wrongfully imprisoned more than 30 years ago in a middle-school killing over a Georgetown jacket. (Kevin Brown)

ANNAPOLIS

(March 4, 2020)The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a total of about $8.7 million in compensation for three wrongfully convicted men on Wednesday.Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart Jr., and Ransom Watkins were each given about $2.9 million in damages for spending more than three decades in prison due to convictions for a 1983 murder of a Baltimore middle schooler. They were exonerated in November."These were kids in middle school, and are only now getting the freedom they deserve and should've had all along," Nancy Kopp, the state's treasurer, said at the Board of Public Works meeting."All three of them experienced unimaginable pain while they were incarcerated," Gov. Larry Hogan said. "And there's no question they deserve to be justly compensated as they work to rebuild their lives."Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for Baltimore, with her office's Conviction Integrity Unit, led the investigation into reopening the case.The three men were convicted for the murder of DeWitt Duckett, a 14-year-old boy who was killed before he could give up his Georgetown jacket. The suspected killer died in 2002.The Board of Public Works awarded a total of $9.3 million to five other wrongfully convicted men ( cnsmaryland.org/2019/10/30/board-approves-9-million-for-five-wrongly-convicted-men/ ) in October, using the same formula to arrive at that compensation number as they did Wednesday.That formula is based on the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent Maryland median household income figures. The Census Bureau calculates the median household income by averaging the five years prior, which in the case of the five men given compensation in October was a figure totaling $78,916 per year incarcerated.For the latest three men, the board is using more recent annual census figures$81,868to represent the cost of damages per year spent behind bars. The board also approved additional mental health and financial counseling funds of $10,616 for each."Although no dollar amount can restore what was stolen from them, I hope that today's action brings some solace in the form of adjudication to these individuals," said Comptroller Peter Franchot. "We've deprived these men of their households, frankly, and any possibility of making an income to make any contributions in our state."Legislation making its way through the Maryland General Assembly would take away the Board of Public Works' discretion for awarding compensation to innocent people who spent time behind bars through a requirement mandating the board use the current formula of a median household income.It would also make administrative law judges responsible for determining who is eligible for compensation, and would allow for additional accommodations such as education or vocational training, housing and health care following their release. That legislation has not advanced out of committees.The compensation for these three men must be paid in full by July 31, 2025with the first payment installment of $35,140 scheduled to be made 30 days after Wednesday's approval."They deserve our most sincere apologies," said Kopp. "Thank God it was recognized and thank God they maintained their faith in justice."
Wake-up Call to Soren Government:

Thousands gather in Ranchi to demand rejection of NPR in Jharkhand



Thousands of people, from across Jharkhand, gathered at Raj Bhawan (Ranchi) today to demand that the Hemant Soren government rejects NPR and stops all NPR-related activities. Many peopleas organisations (partial list attached) participated in this dharna, convened by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha. Jharkhandas main communities a hindus, muslims, christians, dalits, adivasis and others a were all well represented.

Participants also included women from Kadru Bagh, Ranchias own aShaheen Bagha , where hundreds of women have united in a continuous sit-in against CAA, NRC and NPR for several weeks. Their courageous protest has inspired many a other parts of Jharkhand (including all the main cities and many smaller towns) have also seen regular protests for weeks on end.

The dharna epitomized a rapidly growing concern among all communities in Jharkhand about the NPR-NRC process, which is due to start on 1 April along with the household listing of the 2021 census. Most people in Jharkhand donat have the documents that are likely to be required from them if they are asked to prove their citizenship.

Introducing the event, James Herenj said, aMany state governments are opposing the NRC and some have appealed to the central government to repeal the CAA. Kerala and West Bengal have issued an order categorically staying all NPR activities. What is stopping Jharkhand from doing this?a The same point is made in the petition sent today to the state government on behalf of all dharna participants (copy enclosed).

Other speakers included Kumar Chand Mardi, Prafull Linda, Sarsaraj, Vinod Singh (MLA), Jean Dreze, Dharamdas Valmiki, Dayamani Barla, Ibrar Ahmad, Aloka Kujur, Vasavi Kiro, PC Murmu, Naren Kumar Bhuiyan, Premsai Munda, among many others from all walks of life. Their spirited speeches were interspersed with lively songs, slogans and poems. The creativity, solidarity and peacefulness that have marked most anti-NRC protests so far across the country was on full display.

The statements by the various speakers brough out the communal, anti-poor, and exclusionary nature of the CAA-NPR-NRC process especially in the context of Jharkhand with its large Adivasi population. Some of their insightful points are below:

Sifwa a aToday, Muslim women have taken the responsibility to fight the fascist government and save the country from them. The mothers of Shaheen Bagh have shown us the way. The killers of Rohit Vemula were also from the BJP. We will also fight for his justice as well as Pehlu Khan, Aklhaq, and others.a

Ibrar Ahmed a aIt is a very positive step that the movement against NRC in Jharkhand is now being led and energised not only my Muslims but also by large numbers of women and men from all communitiesa .

Dharamdas Valmiki a aSafai Karamchari Andolan staunchly opposes CAA-NPR-NRC. We shall fight, we shall win!a

Dayamani Barla a aRSS wants to take away the lands and evict the Jharkhandis from their own lands. We will not let them succeeda This is not a fight of religions, it is a fight to save our country and constitution, to save our hard-earned rights.a

Shahbaaz a aThe government is trying hard to break peopleas solidarity. This Act is outright communal. We must continue fighting it. Their next step will be a Universal Civil Code. We must be united and strong in fighting that as well.a

PP Verma a aThis is not only a Muslim movement. This a movement of Dalits, Adivasis, Villagers, Poor. There are many non-Muslims who have come out today to make this message clear.a

Aloka Kujur a aJharkhand is a state of hills and jungles where for many years there have been attempts are uprooting the Jharkhandis from their land and lives. In such a situation, CAA-NPR-NRC will be very dangerous for Jharkhand. In the Fifth Schedule Areas, the Gram Sabha is the most powerful and only they will create laws for their peoplea .

Solomon a aCAA-NRC are being brought in to break the Constitution. The struggle to save it shall continue and be taken forward.a

Sunil Minj a aThose who are rich will find a way out. But what about Dalits who are poor and landless? How will they prove their identity/citizenship? Where will they find safety? CAA-NRC is an attack against the Constitution.a

The dharna was also addressed at length by ex-IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from the services last year over growing attacks on the democracy. Gopinathan said athis is not a Hindu-Musalman issue at all, this act is anti-poor, anti-woman, anti-Adivasi who cannot produce the documentsa the biggest danger of NPR is that one Babu in a block can tag anyone as a doubtful citizena We need to ask questions, questions about unemployment, which is highest in last few decades, 3.25 Cr. employment has gone in last 5 years, in private sector.a

Another highlight of the dharna was a performance by well-known poet Aamir Aziz, including aSab Yaad Kiya Jaegaa , a powerful poem that has gone viral recently.

The dharna ended with a resolve to continue the struggle against CAA, NRC and NPR and to intensify the pressure on the Hemant Soren government to stop NRC. Participants left the venue with thousands of leaflets alerting people to the dangers of this process, in anticipation of local meetings on this issue all over Jharkhand.

A partial list of participant organisations [can be seen below]

For further information, please contact Pallavi (9915065122), Praveer (7979848955), Siraj (9939819763) or Vivek (8873341415).

Partial list of participating organisations

Adivasi Adhikar Manch

Adivasi Buddhijivi Manch

Adivasi Jan Parishad

Adivasi Moolvasi Adhikar Manch

Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch

AICCTU

AISF

All India Peopleas Forum

APCR

Azadi Bachao Andolan

Bagaicha

Bharatiya Bhuiyan Vikas Parishad

Catholic Sabha

CPI

CPI-ML

Ekal Nari Sashakti Sangathan

Gaon Ganraj Parishad

Gram Sashaktikaran Abhiyan

Jan Mukti Sangharsh Vahini

Jharkhand Jantantrik Mahasabha

Jharkhand Kisan Parishad

Jharkhand Nagrik Prayas

Jharkhand Workersa Union

Joint Student Union

Majhi Pargana Mahal Singdisum

Marxist Coordination Committee

Munda Sabha

NAPM

Netarhat Field Firing Range movement

Right to food campaign Jharkhand

Safai Karmchari Andolan

Samajvadi Jan Parishad

Ulgulan Sena

United Mili Forum

Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan

Yuva Chetna Manch (Chatra)
The Delhi Government is now advertising the recently announced guidelines that target fake news, hate mongering and any inflammatory messages that may be shared as a message on WhatsApp or as social media posts on platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you are now caught forwarding fake news or sharing messages or posts that could incite tensions, violence or are remotely provocative, incendiary or instigative, you could end up in jail for up to 3 years. The Committee on Peace & Harmony of the Delhi Legislative Assembly has also launched a WhatsApp service as well as an email helpline where citizens can report any inflammatory messages that they may have received on WhatsApp, any instant messaging platform or any social media site. The advert also says that if an FIR is filed based on your complaint, then you also get a reward of Rs 10,000.

The WhatsApp number and the email address are being advertised prominently in full page adverts rolled out in the Delhi editions of major newspapers. If you find anyone sharing communally inflammatory messages or video on WhatsApp or any Social Media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) then immediately send the screenshot or video to us, says the advert. It was earlier this week that the Committee on Peace & Harmony had launched a campaign against fake news and the recommendations to reward those who report such messages. The committee has already clarified that the reported messages will be forwarded to the Delhi Police after due diligence, for further action.

If an FIR is filed based on your complaint, then you also get a reward of Rs 10,000.

We will apprise the people that if anyone shares fake news, hate content or a rumour, which can cause enmity between two communities, then it is a criminal offence which can invite a jail term of three years. We will seek complaints from people through the campaign in radio, newspapers and other media platforms, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj had said while speaking with the media.

This comes immediately after Delhi saw riots last week in the northeastern part of the city in which more than 45 people were killed.

This move comes immediately after Delhi saw riots last week in the northeastern part of the city in which more than 45 people were killed. It was during this time that fake news was quite rampant on instant messengers and social media platformsone such example included the much shared Facebook post which incorrectly suggested that Shahdara deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Amit Sharma has succumbed to his injuries.
Victoria and New South Wales will use a special meeting on domestic violence with the Morrison government and other states to push for more funds for men's behaviour change programs, as well as front-line services such as legal assistance and family violence refuges.

The meeting, called in response to the horrific murders of Hannah Clarke and her three children last month, is also expected to bring renewed calls for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson to be demoted from her position as deputy chair of a controversial family law inquiry.

Women's safety advocates say $88 million is needed to adequately fund behaviour change and fathering programs. Credit:iStockphoto

Women's Minister Marise Payne and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston will co-chair an hour-long phone meeting with state women's safety ministers on Friday afternoon.

Senator Payne has previously said the federal government is open to "new ideas", while Senator Ruston has flagged concerns with the enforcement of apprehended violence orders. The Morrison government is also expected to ask states to support an extension of the "Stop It At The Start" advertising campaign.
Bahrain's Ministry of Health has announced that eight Bahraini nationals have been discharged from quarantine after completing a preventative mandatory 14-day stay, having tested negative for the Coronavirus (COVID-19), as per recommendations outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The ministry highlighted that a total of 20 individuals have been discharged from quarantine so far, a Bharain News Agency report said.

The Ministry noted that the majority of those discharged from quarantine had returned from Iran during February, and the others had returned from other COVID-19 affected countries.

The ministry further noted that all quarantined individuals are being monitored by a specialised medical team, and are cared for in line with guidelines established by the WHO, in order to ensure the containment of the virus and to safeguard the health of the community.

Meanwhile, the ministry also said a male Bahraini national was discharged from the isolation centre after responding positively to the medical care provided by the Kingdoms specialised medical team, which was in line with measures outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The ministry confirmed the individual had gone through extensive medical testing to ensure he has fully recovered from the virus before being discharged, and will remain under monitoring post-discharge. The ministry further highlighted that the individual in question had returned from Iran during the month of February, before the country announced its COVID-19 outbreak.

The Ministry of Health reiterates the importance of all individuals returning from Iran or other COVID-19-affected countries to schedule their mandatory medical examinations by visiting www.moh.gov.bh/444 or calling 444.
One of the truths about the word we live in today that many people are unfamiliar with has to do with the various ways in which tech monopolies are governing our everyday lives. If you stay up to date with the countless changes that occur in the world of tech, you would probably know that there are four or five tech companies in this world, and that these big players own a lot of services that you might decide to end up using on a regular basis. A recent survey has shown that only 12% of respondents knew that Amazon owned the immensely popular video game streaming platform known as Twitch. This is pretty surprising when you think about the various ways in which people tend to use Twitch on a daily basis. However, Twitch is a pretty specific example, and since it is not exactly a service that is used by the majority of the people in the world it would be understandable if people dont really know all that much about it.However, there are other facts that would be pretty shocking for people not to know. For example, only about 47% of respondents to the survey knew that Google owned YouTube, even though it was one of the biggest acquisitions that have ever occurred in the world of technology. Facebooks growing monopoly is also pretty under the radar, with only 38% of people that responded to the survey being aware of the fact that the social media platform owned Instagram and only 29% aware of the fact that Facebook owned WhatsApp.Facebook is now incorporating a lot of its own branding into WhatsApp and Instagram so these numbers might increase, but Google and Amazon dont look like theyre going to be publicizing their ownership anytime soon, with Google mostly treating it as a matter of fact.It is important that the general public be educate about the monopolies that are currently in place so that they can make the right kinds of decision based on their knowledge of how few companies there are that control the world of tech.Read next: Study: 1 in 3 business owners have no idea that Google determines search rankings [infographics]
[March 05, 2020] DYONYX and Single Path Enter Definitive Merger Agreement Creating DYOPATH

DYONYX and Single Path, both industry-leading managed service providers (MSP) since 1996, today announced they have merged, effective March 5, 2020, creating DYOPATH. By bringing together two industry MSP leaders, the transaction will create an MSP that helps organizations across all industries manage their risk, technology and people more effectively with an unparalleled delivery of exceptional customer service. The combined company will have enhanced scale and an even stronger position in the fast-growing MSP and MSSP (managed security service provider) marketplace. The merger is a natural pairing of the two companies' complementary services and will provide immediate opportunities for clients to explore several alternatives in managed services, professional services, security services, and K-12 services. Our combined services will help our customers combat the ongoing increase of cyber threats, the growth in more complex IT environments, and the ever-increasing human capital shortages. "I have never been more excited in my 17 years at Single Path! Combining our passionate and extremely talented Single Path and DYONYX teams will create a company that is truly focused on customer service and innovation. Together, we will expand the value we deliver to customers and create the industry's most comprehensive IT solutions provider for organizations," says Rob Koch, CEO at Single Path. "With a combind 50 years in business, we are poised for tremendous success. For our employees, customers, and partners there is an even better future ahead. Our top priority as we complete this merger is to ensure a smooth transition for our people and continue to exceed our customers' expectations."



"The combination of Single Path and DYONYX paves the way to deliver the next generation of IT solutions that will set the standard for MSPs of the future. This merger will enable our 200 employees to deliver innovative solutions faster than ever before," says Chuck Orrico, CEO at DYONYX. Both companies remain fully committed to their core strengths as well as to the combined benefits that the new company will bring to employees and customers." About DYONYX: Located in Houston, TX, DYONYX, is an award-winning IT total solutions provider dedicated to helping clients across the globe solve multiple problems through one delivery system. Consulting services include, security assessments, IT assessments, O365 Migration services, and more. Managed Services include hosting, hybrid Cloud Services, ITIL-aligned Service Desk, managed network and security, disaster recovery, SIEM and Security as a Service. www.dyonyx.com

About Single Path: Located in Lombard, IL, Single Path provides a full range of managed services, managed cybersecurity solutions, and IT consulting to the commercial and education market segments. Single Path specializes in providing solutions to organizations that assist in maximizing return on technology investments, lowering costs, collaborating, and driving dynamic workforces that can grow and evolve to meet the challenges of the changing business environment. Single Path also provides a comprehensive set of education-based services that make a positive impact on teaching and learning in the classroom. www.singlepath.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005286/en/

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Two Roads Brewing Co., Connecticuts largest brewery, has entered the hard seltzer arena.

Were always looking for opportunities and we just couldnt ignore the explosion of seltzer in our industry, says John Rehm, director of brewing operations at Two Roads in Stratford. We were too late to be the first, but wanted to get in with a really interesting product that we could be proud of.

That product is H2Roads, a line of craft hard seltzer made with real fruit that is available in raspberry, grapefruit and cranberry-lime flavors, and is being distributed across the state.

Last summer, White Claw, a national brand of spiked seltzer that has been around since 2016, became the drink of the moment. With its low-calorie and gluten-free recipe, the Claw was popularized through memes and caught on with the force of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Demand was so high that in September the company had to start rationing sales.

The brands success, along with the steadily growing popularity of hard seltzer, has caused breweries big and small across the country to start brewing spiked seltzer, even though its not technically a beer. Budweiser debuted Bud Light Seltzer in January, while in Connecticut several breweries including Stony Creek, Thimble Island, No Worries and Overshores have begun offering at least one variety of seltzer.

Two Roads has been working on its seltzer since 2018. And while hard seltzer may be easy to poke fun at, it is not easy to make, Rehm says. At Two Roads, brewers add sucrose to sterile water and ferment the product using a wine yeast chosen for the clean, relatively neutral but lightly fruited flavors it produces. As basic as that process sounds, it is anything but, according to Rehm. It actually has been a very challenging product to make from a technical perspective for me as a brewer. A lot of people are failing to make it because they believe you can throw sugar and water together and it will ferment. He adds that when you are making beer you can use nutrients in barley and wheat to feed the yeast to keep a healthy fermentation going. With seltzer thats not the case. Theres just nothing there for the yeast to chew on except for basic sugar, which is not very good for the yeast. Weve done a lot of R&D to try and figure out how do we give the yeast the nutrients that we need to produce the flavors that we want.

The most popular Two Roads seltzer is raspberry, and it is also my favorite of several samples I tried during a recent visit to the taproom. Despite their fruit flavorings, none of the seltzers offered here are sweet. Instead they have a subtle fruit taste that is similar to a regular nonalcoholic fruited seltzer. The drink is refreshing and light, and would definitely make for good summer drinking.

Even so, as I talk with Rehm I soon move to beer, a drink that has more character. Its an impulse Rehm seems to understand. I love making beer. Thats my one true love, but if people are drinking seltzer we cant ignore that. We dont want to get left behind in terms of product innovation, he says. Our core will always be beer. We expect this [seltzer] to be big this year but still a small percentage of everything else weve been doing.

This article originally appeared in Connecticut Magazine.
President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan today received members of the delegation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), as reported the Staff of the Constitutional Court.

The interlocutors touched upon the reforms that Armenia is implementing in the judicial and legal sectors, legislative processes and the current problems in the legislative sector. Hrayr Tovmasyan answered the guests questions and provided details about the activities of the Constitutional Court and the recent events regarding the Constitutional Court.

The interlocutors also touched upon the amendments to be made to the Constitution, the constitutional regulations for the participation of the Constitutional Court in those relations and the ensuring of regular activities of the Constitutional Court.
Bengaluru: Shares of Yes Bank Ltd soared 17 per cent on Thursday after a report that the Indian government has approved a plan for top lender State Bank of India to lead a consortium that will buy a stake in the troubled private-sector bank.

SBI shares slid 5.4%, after local TV channel CNBC-TV18 cited https://twitter.com/cnbctv18live/status/1235431015851503616?s=21 the report by Bloomberg.

Yes Bank and SBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Consumer advocates are outraged following a CRTC decision that wireless carrier Koodo can use online billing for almost all customers and is not required to offer paper bills. They say the move is a slap in the face to seniors, disregards a basic consumer right and clears the path for all service providers to invoice exclusively online.

We will find a way to raise this issue again with the CRTC or whomever, said John Lawford, executive director and general counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.

PIAC, along with the National Pensioners Federation, filed a formal complaint asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to force Telus-owned Koodo Mobile to reverse its move to electronic billing for all but a few of its customers  and require all wireless service providers to offer paper bills to anyone who asks for them.

The federal telecom regulator on Tuesday denied the request, saying existing legislation and regulation cannot be interpreted to oblige carriers to provide paper bills, with the exception of requiring bills in alternative formats for customers with disabilities.

It did note, however, that it has received complaints from customers of Koodo and other carriers who say they need to have access to paper bills, including from senior citizens who may have difficulties paying bills online.

I am in full support of environmental efforts, but its ridiculous to expect our seniors and aging population to be able to make the switch to paperless billing, reads one such complaint.

As part of its decision, the CRTC said it would launch a consultation into telecom and broadcasting services providers billing practices, and whether theres a need to protect vulnerable consumers. Providers have a month to file information on their invoicing practices, with the further CRTC examination to take until the end of May.

In addition, the commission encourages Koodo to consider offering bills in alternative formats for people with other identified needs, such as cognitive disabilities. As long as companies clearly spell out their invoicing policies to new customers, the CRTC said the offering of paper bills may operate as a competitive incentive to gain customers.

But PIAC and NPF in their complaint argue that the legal right to receive paper bills  at no charge  is enshrined in federal legislation passed in 2014 in the wake of consumer complaints about telecoms who were charging customers a fee for paper bills. That legislation, the complainants say, includes recognition of the requirement to provide bills in the format. Koodo argued that the law prohibits a fee for paper invoicing, but does not explicitly compel carriers to actually provide paper bills.

We cannot understand how the CRTC misinterpreted the law, Lawford said, calling paper bills a nominal cost of doing business for service providers. This decision will cost millions of wireless, home phone and internet consumers dearly in missed payments, inconvenience and chaos. Consumers wishing to express their dissatisfaction should contact their MP.

He said the PIAC board is weighing next steps while Trish McAuliffe, president of NPF, which represents more than a million seniors and retirees across Canada, said the interpretation by the CRTC splits hairs and is a a slap in the face to seniors, many of whom simply dont trust the internet for bill payment.

Thousands of seniors do not use email or text and rely on a paper bill to remind them to pay for their voice telephone service. This means they will not even know they have a bill and may face credit problems and be disconnected, she said. We do not accept this decision. We could go the courts. We are speaking with our legal adviser.

Since Koodo began switching to electronic bills in early 2015 most other wireless carriers, including Telus, have done so as well. Rogers in a notice to customers announced that it was shifting to online only billing as of March 26, while Bell Mobility has contacted customers announcing a shift to online billing  but with a provision allowing those without email or a home internet connection to receive a paper bill without a fee.

A spokesperson for Rogers said that despite the notice, the carrier will provide no-charge paper bills for customers who dont have data or internet services on their account, if they have accessibility needs or if they are seniors. If a customer falls into one of these categories and received the notification, they simply need to reach out to us to have their paper bills continue.

A spokesperson for Telus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Facebook has deleted more than 6.5 billion fake accounts thanks to a new machine-learning program designed to sniff out frauds.

The social media giant currently has over 2.89 billion monthly users, of which it estimates five percent are fakes.

To help identify deceitful accounts, the company has developed a system it calls Deep Entity Classification (DEC), a computer program equipped with machine-learning capabilities that analyzes user accounts for potential fakes.

A new report from Facebook revealed the company removed over 6.5 billion fake accounts in 2019, more than twice the number of real users it has

Facebook claims to have caught around 99.5 percent of the fake accounts on the site, often before other users have flagged the accounts in question.

This is the place where we see machine learning and human review working in concert forever, Brad Shuttleworth, Facebooks Product Manager for Community Integrity, told The Next Web.

The program works by analyzing the number of other accounts a potentially fraudulent user is connected to, as well as whatever groups and pages they may have liked or followed.

The program then maps out similar data for each person in the account's friends list, in addition to evaluating their daily activity for potential evidence of fraud, such as sending the same link to a promotional sale on sunglasses to hundreds or thousands of people.

The overall idea is to not just evaluate individual accounts, but look at how they interact with their presumptive friends, and in-turn consider how those friends interact with their own groups.

Facebook relies on a fraud detection system called 'Deep Entity Classification,' which analyzes both individual accounts and the list of accounts that are friends with it to try and better distinguish unusual behavior from actual fraud

One of the factors that can make it hard to identify fake accounts are the sometimes radically different social standards that users in different regions operate under.

When people say fake, they often mean suspicious, Bochra Gharbaoui, of Facebooks Community Integrity unit, said.

Theyre not sure of what the intent of the account is, and it may also be that theyre seeing behavior on Facebook which doesnt align with how they expect people to behave on the platform.

Facebook says their priority in fraud detection is behavior that could put other users at risk through potentially malicious links or other harmful activity

In one culture, sending out mass friend request to people youve never met might be a taboo, while in another culture networking with strangers might be normal.

In other instances, a user might have wanted to create a joke page for their pet cat or create an online hub for an in-joke they might have shared with friends.

These kinds of uses would be allowable as Facebook pages, but not as Facebook accounts, a distinction that likely wouldn't be clear to every user.

Facebook says its main priorities arent honest mistakes or benign attempts at humor, but forms of deception that could cause material harm to others.

We prioritize enforcement against users and accounts that seek to cause harm and find many of these fake accounts are used in spam campaigns and are financially motivated, the company said in its Community Standards Enforcement Report.
One of the most common questions asked of health experts about the new coronavirus is some variation of the same thing: How worried should I be?

Its a complicated question for two reasons.

Why its so complicated

First, while global knowledge of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is growing every day, much remains unknown. Many cases are thought to be mild or asymptomatic, for example, making it hard to gauge how wide the virus has spread or how deadly it is.

Second, much of the risk comes not from the virus itself but from how it affects the societies it hits.

For most people, the disease is probably not particularly deadly; health officials tend to put it somewhere within range of an unusually severe seasonal flu. Even in a global pandemic, its expected to kill fewer people than the flu virus. Data so far suggests that if you catch the coronavirus, you may be likelier to have no symptoms at all than to require hospitalization.
HWaus wrote:



The resources that I ordered include 's Foundations of GMAT Verbal & Quant, they are due to arrive in ~3 days. I want to have a read through these two books first, then I will attempt my first GMAC Official Practise Test.



I will stop attempting questions today.

[p]lace stock in numbers only when they are tied to official practice tests and materials

mykrasovski

Glad to pitch in when I can. You will notice I said that you should. I do not differ from my colleagues at all when it comes to this. (By the way, many students also feel as though the mocks run slightly harder than the real test as well.) Where I do differ sometimes is that I do not find it necessary to tie yourself down to a baseline score before you have had a look at some of the material. If you were sitting for the exam in a month or two, I would say have at those practice tests; if you have six months or more and you might not be getting into a regular study schedule yet, then why waste such a valuable resource as an official practice test? I like the suggestion by. The diagnostic test in the gives you a feel for the layout of the exam without committing too much to taking a mock under timed conditions. Once you have gotten through something like that and have read through your Foundations guide, practicing questions along the way, then I think it might be a good idea to get your feet wet and sit for an official mock. In other words, it is all dictated by the time you have to prepare. One way or the other, you are going to have to spend a lot of time hitting the books and toiling away. Dedicated and organized (well thought-out) prep is what leads to significant gains.Good luck. Feel free to inform the community of your study progress now and then. In case you cannot tell, this is one that loves to offer a kind and helpful word.- Andrew
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the coronavirus outbreak has eliminated hopes of stronger economic growth in 2020 and will likely cap output gains to the lowest rate since the 2008-09 financial crisis.



Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, a Bulgarian economist, said on March 4 that the IMF now sees world growth to be below the 2.9 percent rate achieved in 2019, perhaps falling to the 0.7 percent level seen in 2009.



She told a news briefing that the IMF, considered the worlds lender of last for resort for governments, will likely publish revised forecasts in the next few weeks.



"Global growth in 2020 will dip below last year's levels, but how far it will fall and how long the impact will be is still difficult to predict," Georgieva said.



The epidemic "is no longer a regional issue -- it is a global problem calling for a global response," Georgieva told reporters.



The Washington-based lender had previously forecast 3.3 percent growth for 2020.



Georgieva declined to say whether the crisis over the COVID-19 virus could push the world into a recession.



The IMF will make $50 billion in emergency funding available to help poor and middle-income countries with weak health systems respond to the epidemic, she said.



Georgieva added that some $10 billion of that can be accessed by the poorest countries at zero interest for up to 10 years.



The virus has forced the closure of factories, disrupted travel, infected nearly 95,000 people worldwide, and killed more than 3,200, mainly in China.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP


A 16-year-old Jersey City girl who police say stabbed a girl in Hoboken Wednesday has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, Hoboken police said.

The victim suffered four stab wounds in the incident that occurred at 3:43 p.m. near Jackson and Sixth streets at 3:43 p.m., Hoboken Detective Sgt. Jonathan Mecka said. She is in stable condition at a local hospital.

The Jersey City girl was arrested Wednesday afternoon, a short time after the attack, Mecka said. The weapon used in the assault was recovered by Hoboken police.

The assailant  whose name is being withheld because she is a minor  was also charged with possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, unlawful possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

It could not immediately be determined if the Hudson County Prosecutors Office will seek to have the girl charged as an adult.

The Hoboken Police Department has stepped up patrols in the area of the incident Mecka said.

Police ask that if anyone witnessed this incident or has video or information regarding this incident, please contact Detective Sgt. William Collins at 201-420-5112 or email him at collinsw@hobokenpd.org.
North Haven police photo

NORTH HAVEN  A 29-year-old North Haven man has been arrested in connection with several burglaries at Nicks Lawn Care and Nicolock paving.

Jermaine Ham is charged with five counts third-degree burglary, one count of third-degree larceny, two counts of fourth-degree larceny, one count of sixth-degree larceny, one count of third-degree criminal trespass and one count of possession of burglars tools.
The injuries sustained by the elderly woman. (Merseyside Police)

Police have appealed for help hunting burglars who left a woman in her 90s badly shaken and with visible injuries.

Merseyside Police said unknown men with their faces covered broke into her house in Herm Road, Liverpool at 2.25am on Wednesday, as the pensioner slept.

They searched it while one of them covered her mouth with his hand to stop her making a noise.

The raiders took cash before making off, and the elderly woman was taken to hospital suffering shock and bruising to her face.

An investigation has been launched and police are carrying out house-to-house, forensic and CCTV enquiries to find the burglars.

Herm Road, where the burglary took place. (Google Maps)

Detective Sergeant Richie Shillito said: Everyone has the right to feel safe and secure in their own homes and this was a particularly cowardly and despicable incident involving an elderly lady who was left badly shaken and with visible injuries.

I know that members of the public will be shocked by what has taken place and I would appeal for their help in finding out who is responsible and bringing them to justice.

Were you in the area around Herm Road in the early hours of this morning and saw anyone or anything suspicious? Did you capture anything significant on your cars dash-cam or CCTV camera? Please come forward and speak to us so that we can take positive action.

We understand the huge impact that incidents such as this have on our local communities.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, direct message @MerPolCC on Twitter or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with reference 20000137884.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement on Wednesday defending his newest colleagues, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned at a rally earlier in the day that the two Trump appointees would "pay the price" if they voted against reproductive rights activists.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts wrote. "All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."

The statement directly named Schumer but did not name Gorsuch or Kavanaugh. The court heard arguments on Wednesday in the first major abortion case since Gorsuch and Kavanaugh joined the bench, one of the most high-profile disputes of the term.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price!" Schumer said at a rally coordinated by the Center for Reproductive Rights around the arguments.

Justin Goodman, a Schumer spokesperson, said that the New York lawmaker's comments referred to the "political price" Republicans will pay for confirming the two justices "and a warning that the justices will unleash major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision."

Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, almost never issues statements. In 2018, Roberts issued a statement defending a federal judge who had been criticized by President Donald Trump as an "Obama judge," writing that America does not have "Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges."

"What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them," he wrote at the time.

Trump responded to Schumer's comments late Wednesday, tweeting: "There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!"

tweet

A controversy last year over a friend-of-the-court brief filed by several Democratic lawmakers, who warned that the court should "heal itself" or face being restructured, prompted a response from all of the Republicans in the Senate.

"It's one thing for politicians to peddle these ideas in Tweets or on the stump," the senators wrote. "But the Democrats' [friend-of-the-court] brief demonstrates that their court-packing plans are more than mere pandering. They are a direct, immediate threat to the independence of the judiciary and the rights of all Americans."
Super Tuesday was a fantastic day for Joe Biden. It was a disappointing day for Bernie Sanders, although he won a few states, including the largest in the union. And it was a disastrous day for Elizabeth Warren.

After finishing third in Iowa, fourth in New Hampshire, fourth in Nevada and fifth in South Carolina, the Massachusetts senator who was briefly the Democratic frontrunner met the 15 percent delegate threshold in just six of the 15 states and territories that voted Tuesday  barely clearing it in five of the six. And even in the state where Warren did best, she still lost to both Biden and Sanders. The fact that it was her home state of Massachusetts added insult to injury.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a primary night rally Tuesday in Detroit. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

All told, Warren emerged from Super Tuesday  a day when 1,357 delegates were up for grabs  with a gain of just 36 delegates, for a total of around 60, compared with more than 500 for both Sanders and Biden.

So if it wasnt clear before, its abundantly clear now: Warren has no path to winning the Democratic nomination.

The question is, what will she do next?

She hasnt said. After a rally in Detroit, Warren flew home to Boston late Tuesday. She has no public events scheduled Wednesday. A senior campaign official told The Hill she would meet with staff to consider her options.

Elizabeth is talking to her team to assess the path forward, the aide said.

Before Tuesday, Warrens team was pushing the idea that their boss would barrel through to a contested convention. On Sunday, Warren campaign manager Roger Lau openly predicted that no candidate will likely have a path to the majority of delegates needed to win an outright claim to the Democratic nomination.

Warren at a primary night rally Tuesday in Detroit. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

Milwaukee is the final play, he continued, referring to the site of Julys Democratic National Convention. It was there, Lau said, that Warren would ultimately prevail.

But Warrens dismal Super Tuesday showing makes that an untenable strategy. Either Biden or Sanders could theoretically suffer a campaign meltdown in the weeks ahead  but the other would still be standing in Warrens way. Meanwhile, Warren would have to keep campaigning (and likely losing) while asking her supporters, staffers and volunteers to keep working for a lost cause.

Story continues

There was some speculation, meanwhile, that even if Warren didnt win the nomination at a contested convention, she could position herself as a kingmaker of sorts  an influential figure with the power to send her delegates one way or the other in exchange for a Cabinet position or the vice presidency or some other substantial prize. But 60 delegates is far fewer than Warren hoped to have at this point, and unless the primaries end in a virtual dead heat they wont be enough to make a difference.

So Super Tuesday has shortened Warrens time frame. Instead of strategizing about Milwaukee, she has to figure out how she can leverage her remaining influence right now.

On Wednesday morning, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg provided one example. Like former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar before him, Bloomberg dropped out and endorsed Biden, arguing (like the others) that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it.

But Warren is a progressive, not a moderate, and she has repeatedly signaled that she doesnt believe Biden is the best candidate to beat Trump.

I respect his years of service, she said Monday night during a rally in Los Angeles. But no matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating their fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren addresses former Vice President Joe Biden during a Democratic presidential debate on Feb. 7 in Manchester, N.H. (Elise Amendola/AP)

Nominating a man who says we do not need any fundamental change in this country will not meet this moment, Warren continued. Nominating someone who wants to restore the world before Donald Trump, when the status quo has been leaving more and more people behind for decades, is a big risk for our party and our country.

Warren and Biden also have history: They battled throughout the 1990s and early 2000s over bankruptcy reform, and no love was lost between them. Unless Biden suddenly offers Warren the vice presidency  and leeway to make big, structural change under his potential administration  its very hard to imagine her coming onboard.

That leaves Sanders.

For days, Sanders supporters have argued on social media and elsewhere that Warren was playing the spoiler for progressives while the establishment was rallying around Biden in the wake of his South Carolina landslide. But Bloomberg and Warren earned a roughly equal number of votes on Tuesday, and not all Warren supporters name Sanders as their second choice. So its unclear that the day would have unfolded much differently if only Biden and Bernie had been on the ballot.

What is clear is that if Sanders wants to compete with a resurgent Biden going forward, he needs Warren on his side.

At a press conference he called to discuss the Super Tuesday results, Sanders said he had spoken to Warren on Wednesday, although he didnt describe their conversation.

The case for Sanders and Warren to team up is twofold. The first part has to do with messaging. As New York magazines Eric Levitz has pointed out, Sanders declined to adopt the posture of a magnanimous frontrunner after winning Nevada, choosing instead to continue campaigning as an insurgent and to paint his Democratic rivals  almost all of whom are quite popular among Democratic primary voters  as unscrupulous shills for corporate power. This strategy likely provoked a backlash on Super Tuesday, both among former Buttigieg and Klobuchar supporters whod been made to feel unwelcome in Sanderss movement and among late deciders looking for a candidate more interested in unifying the party than criticizing it.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders at a Democratic presidential debate on Feb. 25 in Charleston, S.C. (Matt Rourke/AP)

This is a problem Warren could help solve  first because endorsing Sanders would instantly convey unity on the left, and second because shes already spent the entire campaign presenting progressive, populist ideas in ways that are palatable to the professional-class voters now gravitating toward Biden, something she could continue to do alongside Sanders on the stump.

And that tees up the second part of the Sanders-Warren solidarity argument: demographics. According to the Super Tuesday exit polls, Sanders ran strongest among young voters, Latino voters and white voters  particularly white male voters  without a college degree. Warren overperformed among college graduates  particularly female college graduates in places like Minnesota.

A big reason why Biden came roaring back on Super Tuesday is that affluent suburban voters  especially suburban women in Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Minnesota and Massachusetts  broke for him over Sanders. Joining forces with Warren wouldnt necessarily sway all of them to Sanderss side. But with the wind at Bidens back and a flurry of Biden-friendly states still to come on the calendar, what better chance does Sanders have than to partner up with a woman who holds a particular appeal to the voters he most needs to win over in order to stay afloat?

As to whats in it for Warren, who knows? But after a terrible Super Tuesday, shes running out of other options to make a difference in 2020.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Houston, March 5 : An Indian-American Democrat has secured a victory in the Texas Congressional primary which was held earlier this week, a media report said on Thursday.

In the primary held on Monday for Texas' 22nd Congressional District, a number of Indian-Americans candidates were vying for seats in Congress, said the India-West news report.

While Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni scored 53.1 per cent of the vote and won the nomination by nearly 30 points, Republican Bangar Reddy finished a distant sixth with 1.6 per cent of the vote, about 40 points behind the party's winning candidate.

"Thank you for your support," Kulkarni tweeted, with a picture saying "We Won". "We couldn't have gotten here without your help and your support." In Texas' 10th Congressional District, Pritesh Gandhi was seeking the Democratic nomination.

The Indian-American finished with just over 33 per cent of the vote, behind fellow Democrat Mike Siegel's 44 per cent. Siegel and Gandhi will face-off in a runoff election to determine the person to challenge Republican incumbent Michael McCaul.

Elsewhere in the 18th District, Bimal Patel finished a distant third in the Democratic primary with 4 per cent, 72 points behind the victor, Sheila Jackson Lee, while Abhiram Garapati finished last in a four-candidate race for the Republican nomination in the 31st Congressional District that was won by John Carter (82.3 per cent).
A woman passes a closed front door of a private study school in Seoul, Wednesday, due to fears of COVID-19 virus spreading. /Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwon



By Bahk Eun-ji



Hagwons, or private cram schools, are grappling with financial difficulties as they remain closed due to many parents' growing reluctance to send children to them amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak, according to the association that represents them, Thursday.



The Korea Association of Hagwons (KAH) said it has appealed to the government to support half of a hagwon's monthly losses based on the amount they reported to the National Tax Service to help educators in the private education industry continue to make a living.



The association said private cram schools have already spent a lot of money on disinfecting their buildings and purchasing hygiene products to prevent the spread of the contagious virus among their students.



"If the period we should close the doors of our institutes is prolonged, many of our members will not be able to recover financially," the KAH President Park Jong-deok said.



38-year old Kim Tae-yun, said she had no intention to send her 14-year old daughter back to the private English institution teaching her TOEFL until the virus epidemic subsides.



"What kind of parents want to send their children to such a place and increase the risk of infection? I'm also deeply concerned about how well disinfection processes can be carried out in those private study institutes," Kim said.



Given the potential risk of the private study institutes becoming hotbeds for mass infection, most cram schools have voluntarily postponed their opening dates.



The Ministry of Education (MOE) put off the spring semester for all kindergartens and secondary schools across the country by three weeks in a measure to combat the fast-spreading virus. The spring semester will begin March 23.



Roland Choi, 36, an owner of a private English academy in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, said it is difficult to follow the government's instructions as his family's livelihood is at stake.



"The trickiest part is that no one knows when this will end. If the government advised us to suspend our operation for just a week, most of the owners would do so for the sake of their students' safety. But this will definitely require the government to come up with measures to compensate hagwon operators for any financial losses during the worsening situation that all of us are observing," Choi said.



The KAH claimed that while the owners of hagwons have to refund their tuition fees to parents when they are closed, they still have to pay expenses such as office rent and instructor wages.



"The government's support is highly needed to share the burden being placed on private study schools," Park said.


Hand sanitizer makers have seen up to 10-fold jump in demand, as the number of coronavirus cases in India is on the rise.

The companies have increased the production amid reports of non-availability of hand sanitizers in the market, as people have started buying them after cases of coronavirus appeared in the national capital region.

"We have seen a 10 times demand for hand sanitizers over the last month," The Himalaya Drug Company CEO Philipe Haydon told PTI.

He further said, "We are ramping up our production line to cater to the demand of sanitizers and handwashes nationwide that can help people take precautionary measures. We launched awareness drives on hand hygiene in the year 2000."



FMCG firm Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), which is also present in the hand sanitizer segment, has also witnessed the similar trends and the company has increased the production of Protekt hand sanitizers and hand wash.

"We have ramped up our production capacity. We are also trying to ramp up through our vendors also," Godrej Consumer Products Ltd CEO (India and SAARC) Sunil Kataria told PTI.

HUL, which sells Lifebouy hand sanitizers, has also redoubled its efforts to make the products accessible in such time.

"Given the surge in demand for hygiene products, we have redoubled our efforts to ensure that consumers have access to products that keep them safe such as Lifebuoy hand sanitizers and hand wash," said an HUL spokesperson.

ITC, which is present in the segment through its brand Savlon, said it is ensuring that there is an adequate supply of hygiene products in the market.

"ITC is ensuring adequate supply of Savlon hygiene products in the market. Savlon continues to focus on enhancing awareness about hand hygiene and urges consumers to maintain good hygiene practices," according to an ITC spokesperson.

However, FMCG major RB India (erstwhile Reckitt Benckiser), which owns popular brand Dettol in the segment, has declined to comment on its efforts amid the coronavirus scare.

Besides, the FMCG makers through their brands are also running special campaigns on digital and mainstream media, to create awareness and educate the public about the benefits of regular hands wash as prevention for coronavirus.

Dabur, which is present in the hand sanitizers segment with its brand Fem Safe Handz, is running a series of awareness campaigns to educate the public about how to keep themselves safe from coronavirus.

"Our key healthcare brands such as Dabur Chyawanprash, ImmunoDab and Giloy Ghanvati are running informative campaigns to drive awareness about staying protected from such illnesses," said Dabur India Marketing Head (Healthcare) Mukesh Mishra.

Hand sanitizers form a very small part of the liquid soap category and is still a premium segment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shares of airlines plunged and industrial, financial and energy stocks also fell sharply. Worry about long-term growth also pushed the yield on 10-year United States Treasury notes to a new low. Because of their relative safety, government bonds are in high demand during bouts of panic over the economy.

After markets closed on Thursday, Starbucks warned that its quarterly same-store sales in China, where it has a huge presence, would fall 50 percent compared to last year, resulting in a $400 million to $430 million hit to its revenue forecast.

News about the coronaviruss spread has been relentless: A cruise ship being held off the coast of San Francisco has suspected links to two coronavirus cases, one of them fatal. The governor of California declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, and 18 states have infected patients.

Around the world, more than 90,000 cases and 3,000 deaths have been reported.

The jump in the number of cases in the United States has crystallized expectations that the crisis will last longer than earlier predictions suggested. And without the kind of full-court-press efforts that China staged to guard against the viruss spread, some analysts worried that infections could expand widely.

Economists at the Institute of International Finance slashed their outlook for the global economy on Thursday, downgrading their 2020 forecast for the growth in the United States to 1.3 percent that in China to below 4 percent. The revisions could conceivably take global growth to 1 percent, the weakest since 2009, said the chief economist, Robin Brooks, and down from 2.6 percent last year.
The United States has called for Iran to be held accountable for its commitments under international nuclear treaties, accusing Tehran of violating safeguards.

All nations must hold Iran accountable to its commitments, otherwise the NPT [Nuclear Proliferation Treaty] isnt worth the paper it is written on, U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo told a news conference on March 5.

Earlier this week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium over the past three months in sharp violation of the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with six world powers.

The UN nuclear watchdog also said on March 3 that Iran appears to have three undeclared atomic sites, which the IAEA is insisting on clarifications from Tehran.

Irans intentional failure to declare such nuclear material as reported by the IAEA this week, would constitute a clear violation of its safeguard agreements required by the NPT. The regime must immediately cooperate with the IAEA and fully comply with its obligations, Pompeo said.

The IAEAs reports are all the more troubling because Iran continues to lie about its past nuclear weapons program, just as it lied about the downing of a civilian airliner and its suppression of the extent of its coronavirus outbreak, he added.

Iran in 2015 signed the nuclear accord with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the European Union, but the United States abandoned the deal in 2018 and introduced new sanctions against Iranian officials and can punish entities that do business with Tehran.

Iran has said it no longer considered itself bound by the agreement and has gradually reduced some of its commitments under the deal.

It has said it would be willing to move back to full compliance with the deal if Europe provides meaningful economic benefits, but it has complained that Germany, France, and Britain have not done enough to mitigate the harm U.S. sanctions have caused.

In its report, the IAEA said Irans stockpile of low-enriched uranium had reached 1,020.9 kilograms, far above the limit of 300 kilograms allowed in the agreement.

In its previous report, in November 2019, the IAEA said the stockpile was at 372.3 kilograms.

Some experts have said Iran is reaching a level sufficient to produce a nuclear weapon, but they caution it would require several more steps -- including further enrichment -- to make the material suitable for use in a bomb.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian and energy uses.

The IAEA also said that Tehran refused to grant access to two of three suspected nuclear sites that the UN agency wanted to visit in late January.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters
A linguist working for the US military who kept a list of secret informants hidden under her mattress has been charged with sharing the names with a romantic interest linked to Hezbollah, officials say.

Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, appeared in Washington's federal court on Wednesday to face charges in an espionage case that investigators said put at risk the lives of American military members and confidential sources and represented a significant breach of classified information.

The criminal case accuses Thompson, a contract translator, of giving to the unidentified Lebanese man the names of US government sources and the information they provided.

That effort, according to the government, accelerated during a six-week period from the end of December, when US airstrikes targeted Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and exacerbated relations between the two countries, through the middle of last month.

The Justice Department claimed on Wednesday that Thompson shared this list of named with the Lebanese militant group.

Mariam Taha Thompson appeared in Washington's federal court on Wednesday to face charges in an espionage case. Pictured is the Pentagon in Washington (file image)

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's powerful Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, delivering a televised address from an undisclosed location in Lebanon

Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department's top national security official, called the alleged conduct 'a disgrace, especially for someone serving as a contractor with the United States military. This betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished'.

The Justice Department said that during its investigation, it discovered audit logs showing a 'notable shift' in Thompson's network activity on the Defense Department's classified systems.

The discovery came on December 30, a day after the United States launched air strikes against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and the same day that protesters there stormed the US Embassy in response.

The information Thompson was looking up involved dozens of files on human intelligence sources she had no need to access, including their names, photographs and other personally-identifiable information, the department said.

In February, FBI agents searched her living quarters on the base and discovered a handwritten note written in Arabic under her mattress, according to a sworn statement from an FBI agent contained in a court filing.

The note had the names of US intelligence informants. The note said these sources were collecting information for the United States, and suggested that their phones be monitored and their target should be warned, according to the sworn statement.

In subsequent interviews with the FBI, Thompson she waived her Miranda rights and told the agents she had passed along the information from the note to a Lebanese foreign national, according to the statement.

Fighters from the Lebanese Resistance Brigades (Saraya al-Muqawama al-Lubnaniya), a paramilitary group affiliated with Hezbollah, marching in the streets of Lebanon's southern suburbs last month

Court documents identify the person only as a co-conspirator whom Thompson had a romantic interest in.

She told the FBI she did not know if he was with Hezbollah, which was first designated as a terrorist group by the United States in 1997, according to the court filing.

To share the intelligence, Thompson claimed she had memorized the classified information, wrote it down and conveyed it to the co-conspirator through a secure messaging application on her phone, according to the filing.

She apparently later amended her statement, saying she was 70 per cent sure she had not transmitted the note.

However, investigators said in the court filing they had developed solid evidence to suggest Thompson was sending the person details about the human intelligence sources, including information she wrote on a second Arabic note.

Thompson's court appearance, on charges that could carry life in prison, was brief and ended with her being detained until a hearing next Wednesday. Her attorney did not return a phone message afterward.

Thompson was arrested last week at the military facility in Erbil, Iraq, where prosecutors say she worked as a contract linguist.

The Defense Department said it was aware of the arrest and was cooperating with the investigation.

Iraqi security forces after Iraqi protesters stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad, protesting Washington's attacks on armed battalions belong to Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forcesin January

After the arrest, prosecutors say, Thompson acknowledged that she passed secret information to a man she was romantically interested in, but said she did not know that he had any affiliation with Hezbollah.

She instead said she thought he might have been tied to the Amal political party in Lebanon, though she later said she considered the groups to be the same.

Thompson told an agent, according to an affidavit unsealed on Wednesday: 'No, I don't know about Hizbollah. I hate Hizbollah.'

She described members of the group, which the US has designated as a foreign terrorist organization, as 'terrorists' and 'like the octopus. They can reach anybody'.

Thompson also told the agent that she passed along classified information by memorizing it, writing it down and transmitting it via the video feature of a secure messaging application on her cellphone.

One screenshot of a video chat the FBI says it obtained showed Thompson displaying to the Lebanese man an Arabic note describing the technique an informant had used to collect information, according to the affidavit.

Starting in late December, once the airstrikes began, Thompson repeatedly accessed about five dozen files with information on eight government informants, prosecutors said.

Those files included the names of informants, their photographs and cables detailing the information that the sources provided to the US government.

Prosecutors said that when officials searched her living quarters, they found a handwritten note in Arabic concealed under her mattress with information about Defense Department computer systems and warning of a Defense Department target.
After working the fashion weeks of London, Milan and Paris, Bella Hadid is back home in New York.

And after weeks of walking the runway in other's designs, the professional model showed off her own sense of style on Thursday.

The fashion-loving beauty showed her own style in a cropped top, roughly cut to show off her underboob and toned abs.

Bella Hadid shows off her underboob and toned abs as she steps out in tiny crop top after flying home to New York

Fashion star: And after weeks of walking the runway in other's designs, the professional model showed off her own sense of style on Thursday

The 23-year-old teamed the slashed top with bootcut black yoga pants, which featured delicate lacing around her navel.

Her outfit was completed by a black jacket, featuring a dollar bill in the pocket.

While she looked ready for a photoshoot, Bella instead popped into a coffee shop to grab an iced drink.

The California-raised beauty comes from a family of models, and joined her sister Gigi and Dutch-born mother Yolanda on the catwalk during Paris Fashion Week.

Well hey there: While she looked ready for a photoshoot, Bella instead popped into a coffee shop to grab an iced drink

Tip: Her outfit was completed by a black jacket, featuring a dollar bill in the pocket

Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills Yolanda, once a top model herself, joined her daughters for the brand Off-White.

The brand's creative director Virgil Abloh said: 'What better sort of muse than not just one woman, but a family unit, the three of them, a family of models?

'I wanted to have that be the anchor of the show.'

And Yolanda was thrilled to take to the runway again.

The reality star, who walked a lot in the 80s and 90s, she shared: 'It's full circle, right? It's like riding a bicycle: You never forget how to walk.'

Home at last: New York based Bella just walked the runways in London, Paris and Milan




THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to hold an oral hearing into Irish Cements 10m plans for Mungret this May.

Under controversial plans for its factory here, the company is seeking to burn used tyres and waste to produce cement.

The proposals have been met with strong opposition across Limerick, with huge concerns raised over the impact that the reforms will have on the environment with new pollutants entering the atmosphere.

Irish Cement has always maintained its plan to switch away from fossil fuels will not see an increase in emissions due to the fact that the incineration will be taking place at such an extreme temperature. It also says its vital for the future of the more than 100 staff working on site.

After more than 5,000 people lodged objections to the granting of its licence, the environmental regulator has now written to the parties to formally confirm details of an oral hearing to take place in two months.

Parties who formally requested the oral hearing were contacted this Thursday by the EPA, and were asked to formally register an interest in taking part.

While a firm date has not been set, it will be in May next. Four days have been set aside for the hearing.

The move was welcomed by former metropolitan mayor, Cllr Daniel Butler.

He said: I was one of only two local politicians who made a submission on their own to this process. Myself and my colleague Kieran ODonnell called for an oral hearing. Every avenue needs to be exploited to ensure the right decision is made in relation to this licence, and ensure the people of Raheen, Dooradoyle, Mungret and much further afield are protected. Thats the opportunity we have now, for local representatives and residents to have their voices heard and push for the right decision. Despite the proposals being on the cards since late 2016, opposition to the Irish Cement blueprint remains high, he said.

During the local election and general election, it was an issue which came up on the doors, especially in the Raheen and Dooradoyle area. People are hugely concerned about the issue. It hasnt gone away, he added.

Claire Keating of Limerick Against Pollution has also welcomed the news of an oral hearing.

She said: "It's good news, it's a welcome decision. We will certainly be putting our positions forward as will the other 18 people who have objected. We are delighted to get ths."

Mr O'Donnell, Fine Gael said it's imperative the oral hearing be held in the South Court Hotel to facilitate local residents wishing to attend.

"Having seriously considered the EPA boards recommended determination of September 18, 2019 and taking into account the genuine and legitimate fears of local residents, on public health grounds, I continue to hold major concerns and reservations with this recommendation to grant by the EPA board. This Oral hearing will facilitate putting forward these serious concerns in a public forum and I would encourage as many as possible to attend and participate," he said.

Its not the first hearing into the proposals  An Bord Pleanala held an inquiry in September 2017, before ultimately granting Irish Cement permission to build the infrastructure associated with its plans.

In a statement, Irish Cement said it "notes the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency of its intention to hold an Oral Hearing into the proposed decision to grant a licence to allow for the replacement of fossil fuels in the Mungret cement factory. Irish Cement welcomes the opportunity to participate in this process."
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Linkedin Emma Batha (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Thu, March 5, 2020 08:06 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20685a075 2 Environment Britain,dogs,climate-change,climate-crisis,Scotland Free

A dog-sledding center in Scotland's Cairngorm Mountains is to shut up shop after nearly two decades, blaming climate change for turning snowy trails into mud baths.

"Climate change has crucified us. It's horrendous," said owner Alan Stewart. "My dogs are molting in winter."

Stewart said rising temperatures meant he could no longer properly train his "Formula One" dogs for races in Europe as they can only run when it is below 10 degrees C.

Climate scientists have warned there is likely to be "a substantial decline" in the number of days of snow cover in the Cairngorms from 2030 onwards and the region could see years with no snow by 2080.

Stewart, who also takes paying clients on exercise runs in the Cairngorms, first noticed changes about seven years ago.

"I used to spend seven months a year training my dogs. In the last three years it's down to three months, and this year it's down to two," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Read also: In Greenland village, shorter winters cast doubts over dog sledding

Snowfalls, which used to lie on the ground for weeks, were melting within hours and trails had become "liquid mud", he said.

Soggy ground conditions meant trees were also falling over blocking trails.

The Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands covers 4,528 sq km - bigger than Luxembourg. The park authority is hosting a climate conference on March 9.

Sled dog racing is a sport practiced in Arctic regions of Europe, Canada and the United States as well as in the European Alps and Patagonia. The Cairngorm Sleddog Centre is among a small handful of such centers in Europe.

"I live very remote - not like anyone else lives in the UK. It's a way of life. My dogs are my best mates," said Stewart, who used to have 50 huskies but stopped breeding them after noticing the climate was changing.

Now down to 20 dogs, Stewart said they would be kept in kennels until they died.
New Delhi, March 5 : Did Delhi Police have any understanding with the two most wanted persons -- Shahrukh Pathan and Tahir Hussain -- in the riots that shook the capital recently? The sequence of events in the run-up to the arrest of Shahrukh Pathan from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and the surrender of Hussain on Thursday in a Rouse Avenue court raises some questions which no police officer is willing to comment on, particularly at a time when the new Commissioner of Police S.N. Shrivastava has taken charge.

A Crime Branch officer told IANS on the condition of anonymity that the enthusiasm of police had vanished with the arrest of Shahrukh, but the circumstances in which he was caught "easily" by the Crime Branch were self-explanatory.

The officer asked if Shahrukh, who had held a pistol to Constable Deepak Dahia during the violence, was indeed evading police, then why no reward for his arrest was announced immediately after he had absconded.

Another SP-rank officer said that Shahrukh was on the run due to the fear of police encounter. His family too was looking for ways to make him surrender before the Crime Branch. Once it was confirmed he would not be killed in a police encounter, he himself walked into the police net, the officer claimed.

He said the police should have announced a reward of at least Rs 1 lakh in the initial stages itself. Since this did not happen, he claimed, it was clear that the absconding criminal or his family or someone he knew was in contact with the police throughout.

Fingers have now been raised over Tahir's surrender in court, "without the Crime Branch getting to know about his impending action".

Was the intelligence apparatus caught napping or was Hussain too in constant touch with police to ensure his hassle-free surrender? Attempts by IANS to talk to Crime Branch Additional Commissioner of Police Dr Ajit Kumar Singla on the issue did not elicit any response.

(Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be reached at sanjeev.c@ians.in)
Public officials in Washington faced pressure to take more aggressive steps, including closing schools and canceling large events. Some individual schools and businesses have closed, with schools considering whether to plan for online classes in the event of prolonged shutdowns.

Washington state also announced another death, bringing its total to 10. Most of those who died were residents of a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. At least 31 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Officials in Placer County, northwest of Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday after returning from a San Francisco-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health conditions, authorities said.

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a victim succumbing in California -- the nation's first reported fatality outside Washington state - as officials, schools and businesses came under pressure to respond more aggressively to the outbreak.

Washington state and Seattle have declared emergencies, which gives leaders broad powers to suspend activities. But so far no direct orders have been issued.

"We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now," Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday. "Right now, we are deferring to the judgment... of these organizations."

He also said large-scale school closings have not been ordered because "there are so many ramifications for families and businesses," especially for health care workers who might not be able to go to work because of child care responsibilities. However, he said, the situation is fluid and he would make decisions after consulting with health experts.

Jennifer Hayles, 41, of Kirkland, the epicenter of Washington's outbreak, said she was appalled that Inslee and health officials hadn't canceled next week's Emerald City Comic Con.

The four-day cosplay and pop-culture event draws close to 100,000 people each year, and some participants -- including D.C. Comics and Penguin Random House -- have pulled out over the virus.

Hayles said she spent hundreds of dollars on tickets and other items related to the event but will have to pass on attending because she has a compromised immune system.

"There's a lot of people who are talking about the economic cost of people forced to pull out of Comic Con, but if we have an explosion of cases of coronavirus, the economic cost is going to be much higher," Hayles said. "They're not considering how hugely this is going to affect not just Seattle and people who are traveling back to other states, but our outlying communities so much, including Kirkland."
AP Photo/Hans Pennink

In both 2000 and 2016, the Green Party garnered enough votes in enough swing states that, had those votes gone to the Democrats they would have prevented George W. Bush and Donald Trump from ever assuming the presidency. At the time, Green Party advocates defended their positions by claiming, not without cause, that their voters never would have gone to Democrats anyway, and that the Democrats inability to win states like Florida in 2000 or Wisconsin in 2016 was, at the end of the day, their own fault.

But now, as the 2020 election races on, the Green Party is facing an unprecedented question: What happens if an avowed socialist takes the Democratic nomination, and goes up against in Trump in November? If Sen. Bernie Sanders, still vying for the Democratic nomination, can bounce back to grab the nomination, should the Green Party risk a reprise of 2000 and 2016 all over again?

Those backing the Green Party havent yet come up with an answer. Instead, the dilemma has led to unprecedented fissures among the Green Partys most prominent backers, and within the leadership of American leftism writ large.

Jill Stein Cooperated With Congressional Russia Investigators

The current frontrunner for the ticket, Green Party co-founder Howie Hawkins, remains adamant that hell run in as many states as he can in Novembera position that puts him squarely at odds with some of the luminaries of American leftism, such as Noam Chomsky.

Two months ago, Chomsky and a raft of other prominent leftist voices penned an open letter criticizing 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein for not doing enough to paint Trump as a unique danger to the U.S., and for siphoning off votes from potential Hillary Clinton supporters in key states in 2016. We are told, Greens want to get Trump out as much as anybody but how can that be if Greens would vote for a Green candidate, and not for Sanders, [Elizabeth] Warren, or any Democrat in a contested state knowing that doing so could mean Trumps victory?, the signatories wrote.

Story continues

As such, Chomsky and the others explicitly called for the Green Party to remove itself from potential swing states in the 2020 election, which could potentially tilt their Electoral College votes to Trump yet again. Like Stein in 2016, some might claim doing so cant help Trump win again or, in any case, that Trumps re-election would not matter all that much. He isnt that much worse, the signatories wrote. We write in hopes that no one in 2020 will rationalize campaign actions by making such irresponsible and patently false claims.

Chomskys call, though, has fallen on deaf ears, at least when it came to the Green Partys leading candidate. The two-capitalist-party systems stranglehold on U.S. politics has not changed, Hawkins responded in an open letter of his own a few weeks ago. Recognizing the danger of Trump does not mean that electing any damned Democrat should trump all other considerations. Even if Sanders is the nominee, Hawkins continued, that will hardly mean the Democratic establishment will wither on the vine. The Democrats might beat Trump, but they wont beat Trumpism because they have enabled it, Hawkins continued. Progressive Democrats are allowed to make speeches. But the corporate Democrats make the decisions.

Hawkins has been sure to publicly praise Sanders positions on things like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. But hes not dropping out, or competing only in states that are solidly blue, like California or Hawaii.

Instead, he intends to compete in as many states as possible. No to safe states, Hawkins told The Daily Beast. My campaign's goal is to get on the ballot and compete in all 50 states and DC.

And Hawkins is getting help in splitting these Green Party divisions even wider. A few days after Hawkins issued his public rebuff to Chomsky and the others, he appeared on the Russian propaganda outlet RT  marking the first time any candidate in any party had appeared on the Russian propaganda organ, four years after RT, according to the U.S. intelligence community, played an outsized role in amplifying Russias election interference efforts.

In an appearance in January on RTs CrossTalk, Hawkins talked everything from socialism to identity politics. (Hawkins also plugged the RT appearance on his own presidential campaign site, criticizing the Democratic National Committee for pack[ing] nobody but corporate Democrats into credentials, rules, and platform committees of the Democratic presidential nomination convention in his post.) During his appearance, Hawkins said that Sanders wasnt a real socialist, and isa little slow when it comes to enacting the kinds of policies Hawkins would want. Hawkins told The Daily Beast that he intends to continue appearing on RT through the campaign (depending on the show and format, he added).

The move is all the more remarkable considering that four years ago one of the most successful U.S. election interference prongs from Russia centered on cultivating and promoting Steins candidacy. Stein not only appeared on RT time and again before the 2016 election, but she memorably popped up in Moscow at a lavish 2015 gala honoring RT, sitting alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and since-convicted Trump adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Steins appearance at the gala was condemned by European members of the Green Party, who described her as delusional for her appearance. Russian environmental activists also piled on the criticism, saying they were deeply shocked by Steins actions.

However, that did little to dissuade Stein from hewing close to Moscows line in the run-up to the 2016 vote, even going to so far as to select a vice presidential candidate who pushed pro-Kremlin conspiracies regarding the 2014 downing of a Malaysian passenger plane by Russia-sponsored separatists in Ukraine. (When asked whether the downing of Flight MH17 was a false flag attack designed to smear Russia, Ajamu Baraka, Steins VP pick, responded, [T]hats exactly what has happened.) Stein also praised RT for hosting the Green Partys 2016 presidential debate, which she described as a step towards real democracy. Other 2016 Green Party candidates, however, boycotted the debate entirely. One, Bill Kreml, said he was disgusted by Steins appearance on the RT debate. Hell no, I was not going to that It was just the worst kind of representation of what the Green Party should be, Kreml told Vice. Jill was desperateshe was being ignored by the mainstream press to be fair, but you just dont do things like that.

Hawkins told The Daily Beast that he would skip any potential RT gala in Moscow; RT would want me there to legitimize them, not to provide a forum to hear what I had to say on whatever panels they put me on or to Russians and others present in private, he said. But if RT once again hosted the Green Party presidential debate, as we saw in 2016, Hawkins said he would likely appear. It would probably be the most widely viewed debate of our nomination campaigns, he said. I would owe participation to my supporters who are contributing time and money to my campaign. (There is no Green Party debate currently scheduled on RT.)

Its unclear if any fake Russian social media accounts have begun stumping for Hawkins campaign, as we saw with Stein. (One of the hashtags Russian troll operators pushed was #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein.) However, U.S. officials recently told Sanders that Russia was attempting to back his campaign as part of their election interference efforts. There are scant details on what form these efforts have taken, although Kremlin-backed propagandists like Rania Khalek routinely push Sanders candidacy for followers.

A push to help Hawkins campaign would, then, fit with Russias prior playbook of backing multiple campaigns opposed to the so-called Democratic establishmentand, more broadly, sowing chaos for chaos sake, even among Green Party backers.

Whatever form these efforts take as 2020 continues on, Hawkins said hes fully aware of the criticism hes going to receive for things like running in all fifty states, or his appearance on RT. As he said on his appearance on the Russian propaganda outlet, I expect to be called a Russian asset pretty soon.

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Tularemia is a rare but often lethal disease. It is caused by one of the most aggressive pathogens on earth, the bacterium Francisella tularensis. The microbe, transported by a variety of animals and insects, is able to enter and attack the body through a range of pathways, resulting in different constellations of symptoms and degrees of severity.

Tularemia remains poorly understood and no safe and effective vaccine exists for the disease. The extreme lethality of F. tularensis and its potential to be aerosolized have also made it a bioweapon candidate, increasing the urgency of understanding the disease and developing effective treatments.

In a new study, researchers at the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery examine a key membrane protein responsible for the bacterium's prodigious ability to infect the body and cause illness. This virulence factor, known as Flpp3, is examined in unprecedented detail with the aid of an X-ray free electron laser or XFEL, a massive and powerful X-ray accelerator located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford.

XFEL technology uses brilliant and extremely short flashes of X-rays to probe crystalized samples of Flpp3, revealing the protein's detailed structure as never before. By comparing the structural information gathered by XFEL experiments with previous structural analysis using NMR, researchers have developed a more complete model of Flpp3's elaborate form. (Previous studies have shown that when a gene coding for Flpp3 is disabled, the effects of the F. tularensis pathogen are significantly diminished.)

Scientists hope to eventually use this information to develop targeted drugs capable of disabling the protein's virulence properties and protecting against tularemia. The advances in understanding could also help scientists develop an effective vaccine against the illness in the future. Currently, only live attenuated vaccines exist for tularemia, and risks of infection and insufficient immunity associated with this approach have precluded use of such vaccines in the US.

Biodesign researcher Dr. James Zook together with Professors Petra Fromme and Abhishek Singharoy at the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery led the new study. He is joined by international colleagues, including researchers from DESY, SLAC, AstraZeneca, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Grenoble, France, among others.

Petra Fromme, director of the Center for Applied Structural Discovery explains the Importance of the results: "This study combines, for the first time, state of the art XFEL techniques with NMR and molecular modelling to unravel the large conformational space of Flpp3. The study unravels different conformations of this important protein for the virulence of the bacterium in the XFEL and NMR structure thereby showing the highly dynamic nature of Flpp3. This study is so exciting as it shows that very different conformations coexist and are converted into each other under physiological conditions."

Visualizing virulence

Using detailed structural data from NMR and new XFEL analysis of the tularemia virulence factor, the researchers identified a potential inhibitor of Flpp3. This information was obtained from available virtual libraries containing structures of drug fragments. Next, a physics-based modeling method, known as molecular dynamics (MD), provided detailed information on the fluctuations and conformational changes of atoms and molecules in the virulence-linked protein, helping researchers get a more precise read on Flpp3's structure and behavior.

"This work provides several atomic-resolution structures of an important virulence factor from the bacterium that causes tularemia," according to Biodesign researcher Dr.Debra Hansen, a co-author of the new study. The protein configurations identified will help researchers pursue structure-based design of drugs that could be effective against the elusive disease, through the targeting and inhibition of Flpp3.

As co-author and Biodesign researcher Dr. Abhishek Singharoy explains, the study is noteworthy for being among the first investigations of protein conformational flexibility discovered with serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography and NMR and confirmed using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.

The group's findings appear in the current issue of the Cell Press journal Structure.

Persistent threat

Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is a rare infectious disease, typically attacking the eyes, skin, lymph nodes and lungs following infection by the bacterium F. tularensis. The disease is endemic in North America as well as in many parts of Europe and Asia, though cases of tularemia are uncommon and full-blown outbreaks tend to be restricted to regions with poor sanitation and inaccessibility to modern healthcare.

Tularemia primarily affects mammals, particularly rodents, rabbits and hares, although it sometimes also infects birds, sheep, and domestic animals, including dogs, cats and hamsters.

The disease can be spread to humans through insect bites and direct exposure to an infected animal. The disease is extremely contagious. Just 10 bacterial cells can be fatal and a single bacterium may be sufficient to cause infection. The organism can live for weeks in soil, water and dead animals.

Tularemia can be effectively treated if detected early, though the treatment regime can be lengthy and complex. Most infected with F. tularensis display symptoms within three to five days, though it can take as long as two weeks.

The disease exists in a variety of forms with differing symptoms, depending on how and where the bacteria enter the body. These include ulceroglandular tularemia, the most common form, which produces ulcers of the skin at the site of infection, swollen and painful lymph glands, fever, chills, headache and exhaustion.

Other forms include glandular, oculoglandular, oropharyngeal, pneumonic, and typhoidal tularemia. If left untreated, a variety of severe complications from the disease may ensue, including meningitis, inflammation of the lungs, irritation around the heart and infection of bone.

Crystal method

In the current study, a technique known as serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography is used to probe the structure of the Flpp3 protein. Here, brief and brilliant X-ray bursts, roughly a billion times brighter than conventional X-rays, strike a jet of crystals "flying" through the X-ray beam. The intense X-ray blast destroys the crystals but before doing so, creates a diffraction pattern on a screen. The X-ray pulses are ultrashort, lasting just 40 femtoseconds, that they outrun X-ray damage, allowing for data to be collected at room temperature under near physiological conditions. (1 fs = 10-15 seconds or one quadrillionth of a second.)

Assembling many of these X-ray shots with the aid of computers permits the assembly of a detailed, 3D structure of the protein under study. This so-called diffraction before destruction method was first pioneered by Henry Chapman at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) with the team at ASU under the lead of John Spence and Petra Fromme and their collaborators.

The researchers combined the new XFEL structural data with their previous NMR studies of Flpp3, observing two distinct states of the protein. The MD simulations revealed an internal cavity structure that is transient, suggesting that Flpp3 undergoes a subtle conformational change.

The approach opens the door to targeted drug development aimed at reducing the lethality of tularemia and displays the power of combined technologies for unlocking the details of protein structure and dynamics.

###

XFEL and NMR structures of Francisella lipoprotein reveal conformational space of drug target against tularemia

This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which is supported by the Office of Science, Department of Energy (DE-AC05-00OR22725).Use of LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under contract no. DE-AC02-76SF00515. Parts of the sample injector used at LCLS for this research were funded by the NIH, P41GM103393, formerly P41RR001209. This work was supported by the NIH Common Fund Grant R01 GM095583 (to P.F.) and the Center for Membrane Proteins in infectious diseases, MPID supported by the PSI:Biology Structural Biology initiative of the NIH U54 GM094599. We also acknowledge funding from the Science and Technology Center (STC) "BioXFEL" through award STC-1231306. The work was also supported by funds from the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery at Arizona State University.

Written by: richard harth

Senior Science Writer: BioDesign Institute at ASU

richard.harth@asu.edu
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  Many questions remain in the shooting death of Kyle Christopher Luark, whose body was found mutilated on a Lodi Township property over the weekend after he was reported missing by his mother.

The homeowner, Kent Hyne, 57, was arrested in connection with the death of Luark, 27, of Redford. He was charged Feb. 29 with concealing the death of an individual and disinterment and mutilation of a dead body.

Here a look at whats clear and what isnt in the case of Luarks death and the arrest of the man who shot him.

What happened to Luark?

Luarks mother called police about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26 to report being shot at while looking for her son, who had been missing since the previous day. His last known location, the mother told police, was Hynes home in the 4000 block of Waters Road in Lodi Township, southwest of Ann Arbor.

Washtenaw County Sheriffs deputies responded to the call and found Luarks body on Hynes property. Hyne told officers he was defending himself during an altercation, police said.

Investigators believe Hyne shot Luark earlier in the day and he died of his wounds.

What was done to Luarks body?

It is unclear what exactly was done to Luarks body that would warrant a charge of disinterment and mutilation of a dead body.

Police declined to elaborate on the case, directing questions to the Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office, which stated it would not release facts on pending cases.

A Freedom of Information Act request for Luarks autopsy report was submitted to the Washtenaw County Medical Examiners Office. It was denied, with the office stating, no record exists.

Why was Luark in the Lodi Township home?

Hyne is a licensed medical marijuana grower and he ran his business out of the Lodi Township home, police said.

Police confirmed Luark was a past client of Hynes, but it was unclear if he was still a client at the time of the shooting.

Did either have a criminal history?

Court records reveal no criminal history for Hyne. Outside of a few civil cases, Hyne has spent almost no time in court.

Luark, however, has nine felony convictions on various breaking and entering and receiving stolen property charges in both Washtenaw and Livingston counties, Michigan Department of Corrections records show.

Hes had no additional charges since his discharge from the prison system in August 2018.

Whats next?

Though the investigation is ongoing, Hyne is scheduled to appear in court March 10 for a probable cause conference.

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call 734-994-2911, the confidential tip line at 734-973-7711 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

More from The Ann Arbor News:

Ann Arbor sees surge in absentee ballot requests for 2020 presidential primary

Ypsilanti adds ex-offenders as protected class in nondiscrimination ordinance

Washtenaw County schools can start before Labor Day after receiving waiver

Jewelry stolen during middle of the day in Ann Arbor area home invasion
We officially know how The Bachelor Finale ends and honestly, were underwhelmed. For months theres been no clear cut winner for Peter Webers heart, but that all changed today when Reality Steve revealed how everything will play out. Not only do we know who Barbra Weber is talking to when she demanded that Pilot Pete Bring Her Home! but we also know who Weber is with after the most dramatic season in Bachelor history.

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for The Bachelor finale and also reveals the winner for Webers season.]

Chris Harrison and Peter Weber | Kelsey McNeal via Getty Images

Peter Weber is down to his final two contestants

When we last left Weber, he had finally eliminated Victoria Fuller and narrowed it down to his final two contestants: Madison Prewett and Hannah Ann Sluss (who, funnily enough, make Alabama Hannah when combined.) However, this was far from an easy rose ceremony. This elimination came on the heels of Prewett telling Weber that if she was named the winner of The Bachelor, she wouldnt be able to accept a proposal if hed been intimate with others, which he had. Upon learning the truth, Prewett showed up late to the rose ceremony and reluctantly accepted the rose.

The Bachelor finale

But what happens from there? In keeping with the shows main storyline, The Bachelor finale features Weber having one last date with both Sluss and Prewett. They also both meet his family (or in Prewetts case they meet again.) Webers mother declares Dont let her gobring her home to us, the same day they met with Prewett. According to Reality Steve, things pretty much play out according to script until the final rose ceremony.

On the big day, Prewett fails to show up for the final rose ceremony. Instead, she chooses to self-eliminate. Rather than revealing who he was planning to propose to, Weber chooses to postpone the rose ceremony until he is able to talk to Prewett. However, at that point, Prewett has already chosen to fly back to the States, so the conversation is placed on hold, as is Sluss.

Reality Steve reveals spoilers for Season 24

Failing to choose a winner until he spoke to Prewett is likely the reason that Weber was so confident that nobody would be able to spoil his season. When Weber left Australia, he hadnt chosen a woman, nor had he rejected one. To his credit, this is the closest thing weve had to a spoiler-free Bachelor finale in years, but still, it was always a bold claim to make.

The Bachelor 2020 winner is Madison Prewett

When Weber arrived back to the states, its clear that Prewett is his choice. But, shes difficult to win over. Not only did he have lots of explaining to do, but he also had to deal with trying to earn the trust of her family. Reality Steve reported that Weber was not able to win back Prewett right away, and it took time apart for them to rebuild their relationship. Ultimately though, The Bachelor finale will reveal that the pair is together now, but not engaged.

Will there be a proposal or an engagement during After The Final Rose?

But if Prewett is the clear winner and the pair are together now, why did Chris Harrison say that not even Weber knows how his season will end? Reality Steve believes this is because Weber is planning to propose to Prewett during the After The Final Rose segment, which typically airs after The Bachelor finale. As Weber doesnt know if Prewett will accept a proposal, that would be a reason that he doesnt know how its all going to ends.

An underwhelming ending

After all the crazy conspiracy theories and wild rumors about The Bachelor finale, this seems like a bit underwhelming. Prewett was a clear frontrunner from the beginning, so the shock value is relatively low. If Reality Steve is to be believed, this ending feels too much like Colton Underwoods ending to be truly game-changing. Plus, more dramatic Bachelor finales have happened in the past e.g. Jason Mesnick and Arie Luyendyk Jr. We guess well have to wait a few more days to know if Reality Steve missed anything, but as things stand now, The Bachelor finale doesnt seem like everything its been hyped up to be.
SALEM, Ore.  In 2018, suicide rose to become the leading cause of death for Oregon's young people, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

Oregon now ranks 11th highest in the nation for youth suicide death rates, up from 17th in 2017.

The CDC released the new numbers to Oregon health officials in February. The year earlier, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for Oregonians between the ages of 10 and 24 after unintentional injury deaths  but in 2018, the two flipped.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, the change was due to several factors. The suicide rate did go up, but unintentional injury deaths dropped as well. The latter includes fatal overdoses and motor vehicle crashes.

"Suicide continues to be a concerning problem in Oregon across all age groups, including youth, as this new data confirms," said Dana Hargunani, OHAs chief medical officer. "We continue to prioritize work across Oregon to support young people in schools, at home and in our communities. Fortunately, we are able to apply best practices that work to prevent suicide, and there are many ways you can get involved."

That 2018 CDC data is included in Oregon's 2019 Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan annual report, which was released to the Legislature this week.

OHA says that advocates and state agency staff have been working to address this growing issue, requesting dedicated funding for suicide prevention in 2019. The agency said that Governor Brown included $6 million earmarked for suicide prevention in the 2019-2021 budget  the first time that it has received dedicated government funding in Oregon.

The funding goes toward a number of different programs and initiatives, according to OHA:

Fully funding Oregons 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Creating statewide access to proven suicide prevention programming.

Providing funding to Oregon tribes for suicide prevention.

Addressing higher risk groups (LGTBQ youth, veterans, people with lived experience).

Supporting school districts to create and implement suicide prevention plans.

Funding youth peer-to-peer crisis intervention, outreach and youth development through the Oregon YouthLine.

Adding capacity to support suicide prevention programs at the Oregon Health Authority.

Additionally, the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority are collaborating to implement Senate Bill 52  also known as Adis Act  which requires school districts to have a suicide prevention, intervention and postvention response plan by the start of the 2020-2021 school year. The two agencies are also working together to support school safety (including suicide prevention), which is outlined in the Student Success Act (Section 36, pages 21 and 22).

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please know that help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline run by Lines For Life at 800-273-8255 or text '273TALK' to 839863. En espanol: 888-628-9454. TTY: 800-799-4TTY (4889).

Youthline is a teen-to-teen crisis and help line. Teens are available to help daily, 4 to 10 p.m. Pacific Time (off-hour calls answered by Lines for Life). Call 877-968-8491 or text teen2teen to 839863 or chat at oregonyouthline.org.

See Crisis Services by Oregon County and a list of crisis lines on OHAs website.
The final round of the WhiteHat Grand Prix 06 will be rescheduled for May due to the acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), organisers said on March 4.

The preliminary round of the WhiteHat Grand Prix 06

Contestants will be notified of the new schedule three weeks prior to the event, which will be held online instead of taking place in Hanoi as initially planned.

Ten teams making it through to the finals comprise of three from the US, two from both the Republic of Korea and host Vietnam, and one each from Russia, India and Germany.

The winners will walk away with a prize worth 230 million VND (10,000 USD), while the runner-up and third-placed teams will win 45 million VND and 23 million VND, respectively.

This year, contestants will be asked to detect vulnerabilities in popular software and information systems in Vietnam and then receive a bonus prize in connection with the number of security flaws they find.

The first WhiteHat Grand Prix was held in 2014. It became an annual international competition the following year, drawing the participation of leading cyber-security teams from all over the world. The tournament attracted 453 teams from 62 nations and territories last year./. VNA
As Thailand works to contain the spread of the new coronavirus that has already infected more than 90,000 across the globe, authorities have sent conflicting messages about restrictions for travelers.

On Tuesday, Thailand's Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in Facebook post that all visitors from "high-risk zones" would be required to quarantine themselves for 14 days, according to a Bangkok Post report. The post, which was quickly deleted "without explanation," reportedly mentioned Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea.

A day later, the Singapore branch of the Tourism Authority of Thailand said in a Facebook post that it has "not received any official government announcement on the quarantine/restriction for visitors from Singapore traveling to Thailand." The agency also said in a separate release on Mar. 3 that "Thailand does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions against China or other affected areas."

The mixed signals come as the coronavirus hits Thailand's tourism sector, which accounts for a significant proportion of the country's economy.

Thailand reported 4 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the the total to 47 cases since the start of the year, Reuters reported, citing the director-general of Thailand's Department of Disease Control. One fatality from the disease has been recorded so far.

A spokesperson from the Royal Thai Embassy in Singapore previously told CNBC that passengers arriving from Singapore "need not have to go for quarantine, if they are healthy."

Charnvirakul previously suggested scrapping visas-on-arrival for Chinese travelers, which was opposed by the tourism minister and private sector, according to the Bangkok Post.
The Supreme Court has said that information or certified copies of orders held by a high court can be given to a third party only as per rules framed by the high court and the person cannot invoke the Right to Information Act to get details.

A bench of Justices R Banumathi, A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy said rule requiring a person to file an application/affidavit stating the reasons for seeking the information is not inconsistent with the provisions of the RTI Act.

The apex court said that when there is an effective machinery for having access to the information or obtaining certified copies which is a very simple procedure it does not find any justification for invoking the RTI Act and adopt a cumbersome procedure.

This would involve wastage of both time and financial resources which the preamble of the RTI Act itself intends to avoid, the bench said.

"Rule 151 of the Gujarat High Court Rules stipulating a third party to have access to the information/obtaining the certified copies of the documents or orders requires to file an application/affidavit stating the reasons for seeking the information, is not inconsistent with the provisions of the RTI Act; but merely lays down a different procedure as the practice or payment of fees, etc. for obtaining information," the bench said.

The apex court said that in the absence of inherent inconsistency between the provisions of the RTI Act and other law, overriding effect of the RTI Act would not apply.

The information to be accessed/certified copies on the judicial side to be obtained through the mechanism provided under the High Court Rules, the provisions of the RTI Act shall not be resorted to.

The counsel for the Chief Information Commissioner had contended that Section 6(2) of the RTI Act specifically provides that an applicant making a request for information shall not be required to give reasons for requesting the information sought.

"Whereas under the Gujarat High Court Rules, applications made by third parties seeking copies of the documents shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating the grounds on which they are required and there is direct inconsistency between the provisions of the RTI Act and the Gujarat High Court Rules, 1993," the lawyer said.

He further argued that in view of the inconsistency between the provisions of the RTI Act and the Gujarat High Court Rules, harmonious construction between the two is not possible and in the event of conflict between the provisions of RTI Act and any other law made by the Parliament or State Legislature or any other authority, the former must prevail.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Chief Information Commissioner against a Gujarat High Court order which had held that the high court rules governing issuance of certified copy of the documents would prevail over the Right to Information Act provisions.

As per Rule 151 of the Gujarat High Court Rules, 1993, any application seeking certified copies of orders should be accompanied by an affidavit stating the grounds for which the certified copies are required.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A social media influencer is reportedly lined-up to star in the upcoming edition of Love Island, which is set to return this summer.

Nikita Rai, 24, was said to have been considered as a Casa Amor bombshell for the winter season, but producers are now keen for her to feature as a main cast member on the seventh series.

During the show's finale last month, host Laura Whitmore confirmed Love Island will be back in the coming months following speculation over its future in light of Caroline Flack's death.

Bombshell: Nikita Rai is reportedly lined-up to star in the upcoming edition of Love Island, which is set to return this summer

The British-Indian beauty boasts a whopping 91,000 followers on her Instagram account and has described herself as an ambassador for lingerie brand Boux Avenue and cosmetics company Colour Pop.

The online sensation from Bedfordshire, who recently created a YouTube channel, garners thousands of likes for her sizzling bikini and underwear snaps.

A source told The Mirror: 'Nikita was initially lined up for the winter series as a bombshell, however the producers believe she would be better suited for the summer series as they've not yet had anyone like her in the original line up before.

Exciting times ahead: The influencer, 24, was considered for the winter season as a Casa Amor bombshell, but producers are now keen for her to feature as a main cast member

Champs: Nikita will no doubt be keen to follow in the footsteps of Paige Turley, who was crowned the winner of the sixth series alongside boyfriend Finley Tapp (pictured)

'She is extremely excited to be taking part in the show and the producers are certain she will be a perfect fit with the nature of Love Island.'

Nikita, who often goes by Nikki, will no doubt be keen to follow in the footsteps of Paige Turley, who was crowned the winner of the sixth series alongside boyfriend Finley Tapp.

A Love Island spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Any names are pure speculation and the line up will not be announced until closer to transmission.'

Stunning: The British-Indian beauty boasts a whopping 91,000 followers on her Instagram account

What a babe! The online sensation from Bedfordshire, who recently created a YouTube channel, garners thousands of likes for her sizzling bikini and underwear snaps

It had previously been reported that bosses of the ITV2 show were locked in crisis talks in the days following former host Caroline's shocking February 15 suicide, as they discussed whether to continue with the series or axe it altogether.

But during the live finale last month, Irish presenter Laura, 34, confirmed to viewers that the team was in the hunt for new recruits as she said: 'Love Island will be back in Majorca this Summer  head to the website for audition details.'

Erstwhile host Caroline, 40, was found dead at her east London home hours before February 15th's episode was set to air, prompting bosses to cancel airing the show both on that day and on the 16th.

Return: Host Laura Whitmore confirmed Love Island will be back in the coming months following speculation over its future in light of Caroline Flack's death (pictured last year)

Executives were subsequently said to be working to hammer out a definitive plan on how to handle the ratings juggernaut going forward.

Financial Times' Mark Di Stefano took to Twitter last Sunday to report that bosses at ITV were locked in meetings to discuss how best to respond to the TV personality's tragic death.

He wrote: 'ITV execs and programme makers are meeting now to discuss how to respond to Caroline Flack's death. Told to expect more information this afternoon on tonight's episode of Love Island and the long-term.'
Its not policy. Theyre all going the same direction. This is about control. If the Democratic establishment had a choice between losing elections or losing control of the party, theyd lose elections. Without control of the party they have no leverage to make their deals. The Republican establishment was the same in 2016. They would have rather lost the White House than have President Donald Trump run their party. But Trump rushed them and fought in the mud and the blood and the beer, biting ears off and giving no quarter.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  Offshore gaming companies continue to bring more harm than good in the Philippines, according to two senators who have expressed dismay that their presence is justified by a few billion pesos of revenues paid to the state.

Senator Richard Gordon led a committee inquiry into alleged crimes and stacks of cash brought into the country, which are believed to be channeled here for money laundering. Central to the discussions were allegations that these funds were being spent in Philippine casinos and online betting, so that the ill-gotten funds would suddenly appear legitimate.

"Since the POGO came in our shores, all these things suddenly happened," Sen. Franklin Drilon said during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

READ: Senator says impact of 'social ills' by poor POGO regulation cannot be reversed

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said POGOs generate a mere 7 billion in net inflows, which is the money retained as a huge chunk of the 30-billion capital sent to the country are subsequently pulled back out. This translates to a "negligible" 0.04 percent of the domestic economy, the senator said.

Drilon also expressed disgust when POGO regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) said it is still in favor of offshore gambling based here, as these are sources of taxes for the state.

"I am disappointed at the statement of PAGCOR saying [they] are in favor of POGO continuing in our shores because of the income we earn  such a short-ranged statement," the senator said, even calling it a "stupid" mindset.

"The social problems they have brought in our country is not worth the regulation fees that you earn," he added. "Why are we so in love with POGOs?"

The Philippine National Police reported 10 police operations versus POGO sex dens, which mostly cater exclusively to Chinese workers. Some 199 women who got involved in prostitution have been rescued. There have also been 73 casino-related kidnapping cases in the last three years, which targeted Chinese nationals.

READ: Pagcor willing to shut down POGOs if crimes, tax issues not resolved

RELATED: Two POGO workers arrested for the kidnapping of fellow Chinese nationals in Cebu

Two residents of the Multinational Village in Paranaque also appeared in the hearing, exposing the unrest that hundreds of their new Chinese neighbors said to be POGO employees brought to their community.

'Slow to act'

The AMLC also got a scolding from the lawmakers, saying it did not act fast enough to curb the huge sums of foreign currencies which have made their way into Manila, brought in by what Gordon dubbed as the "Rodriguez" group. Cold cash brought in through airports have amounted to $633 million, or around 32 billion, in 890 entries from September 2019 to date.

Gordon said there are about five syndicates involved in this scheme, but which bring in money in US dollars, Japanese yen, Hong Kong dollars, and other foreign currencies.

Rather than running after the 5 percent franchise tax charged from a POGO's gross gaming receipts  which a legal opinion from the Office of the Solicitor General has disputed  Gordon said authorities should just focus on seizing the big bucks being brought in by suspected Chinese syndicates.

READ: QC-based POGOs issued notices of violation over business permits

The Bureau of Internal Revenue said separately that it collected 6.42 billion in POGO taxes in 2019. Meanwhile, PAGCOR said these firms have remitted 18 billion since 2016, coming from 61 operators and 240 service providers in business.

Pagcor added that there are over 100 unlicensed POGO outlets under investigation.

Existing central bank rules dictate that handcarried cash beyond $10,000 should be declared upon entry to the Philippines. Failure to declare or understating the amount would render these as illegal importation or smuggling, Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero said. But AMLC Executive Director Mel Georgie Racela said money cannot be treated as goods, and should be treated as intelligence information to establish trends, discover crimes, and unearth illegal money deals.

"How can a government agency like PAGCOR say 'sayang naman 'yung pera?' Kung kinuha natin 'yung perang pinasok dito na umaabot na ng $600 million... hindi ba, malaking bagay?" Gordon said, adding that the haul could fund big infrastructure projects, upgrade military equipment, and pay off the country's foreign debts.

For Gordon, these illegal acts prove that the country's defenses and border control are down. He said other nations like the US have very strict protocol to guard against big money flows.

Racela added that the AMLC saw around 14 billion out of the total 54 billion fund transactions involving POGOs as "suspicious." He said investigations are ongoing.

RELATED: Pagcor, BIR not yet closing illegal POGOs despite Duterte's ultimatum
SAN FRANCISCO  Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship to hold off the California coast Thursday to await testing of those aboard, after a passenger on an earlier voyage died and at least one other became infected.

A Coast Guard helicopter was expected to deliver test kits to the Grand Princess once it reached the waters off San Francisco later in the day. Princess Cruises did not immediately disclose how many people were aboard the vessel  which has a capacity of 3,650 passengers and crew  but said fewer than 100 had been identified for testing.

"The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

On Wednesday, Newsom declared a state of emergency over the virus, opening the way for federal aid, after the death of a man in Placer County, near Sacramento, who had been on an earlier sailing of the ship in February.

It was the nation's first coronavirus death outside of Washington state and brought the U.S. death toll to 11, with most of the victims from a suburban Seattle nursing home.

Another previous passenger has also been hospitalized. The cruise line said that no cases of the virus had been confirmed among those still on the ship but that some passengers had experienced flu-like symptoms.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: FULL COVERAGE

The decision to hold the ship offshore came as federal health authorities announced an investigation of the Life Care nursing home in Kirkland to determine whether it followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Last April, the state fined Life Care $67,000 over infection-control deficiencies following two flu outbreaks that affected 17 patients and staff.

At least 39 coronavirus cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

On Thursday, U.S. health officials said they expect a far lower death rate than the World Health Organization's international estimate of 3.4% -- a rate admittedly too high because it doesn't account for mild cases that go uncounted.

Assistant U.S. Health Secretary Brett Giroir instead cited a model that included mild cases to say the U.S. could expect a death rate somewhere between 0.1%  like seasonal flu  and 1%.

The risk is highest for older people and anyone with high-risk conditions such as heart or lung disease, diabetes or suppressed immune systems, such as from cancer treatments.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington came under pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and canceling large events.

Many major Seattle-area businesses and some schools have begun acting on their own, including the the 22,000-student Northshore district north of Seattle, which announced it will close for up to two weeks as a precaution.

Three people in Oregon have tested positive for the virus. No new presumptive cases were reported Wednesday.

 The Associated Press

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OPEC managed to agree on a massive new production cut1.5 million bpdon Thursday, but the deal hinges rather shakily on Russias buy-in to the cuts, two Reuters sources said.

And so far, the market is none too happy about the developments.

Yesterday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak left the meeting after three hours of talk, without agreeing to anything. Novak is expected back at the negotiating table on Friday. Then on Thursday, Russias Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Moscow was prepared for a drop in oil prices should OPEC+ fail to reach a deal.

Despite the 1.5-million bpd tentative agreement by OPEC ministers, WTI and Brent crude slid on Thursday, with WTI falling 0.47% to $46.56 per barrel, while Brent crude was trading down 0.68% to $50.78.

The Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh confirmed that OPEC had agreed on an extra cut of 1.5 million bpd, and that Iran was still exempt from any cuts. According to Zanganeh, OPEC wanted non-OPEC states, including Russia, to shoulder 500,000 bpd of that 1.5 million bpd.

As the largest non-OPEC member of the group, Russia would likely be tasked with cutting most of that 500,000 bpd, and so far Russias motive to actively pursue higher oil prices is certainly less than its Middle Eastern peers, indicating on multiple occasions that it is positioned better to withstand these lower oil prices, while Russian oil companies have signaled that they are none too happy about further disruptions to their oil production plans.

The OPEC meeting of ministers from OPEC, Russia, and other non-OPEC producers ended Wednesday without agreeing on a solution to the coronavirus problem, with Russia holding out, Reuters reported yesterday afternoon, sewing the first seeds of doubt that the group would be able to get a bigger cut deal done after all.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Read this article on OilPrice.com
Hong Kong media tycoon and founder of Apple Daily newspaper Jimmy Lai (C) leaves the Kowloon City police station in Hong Kong on Feb. 28, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

US Officials Question Hong Kongs Autonomy After Arrest of Media Tycoon

Following the recent arrests of three supporters of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, two U.S. lawmakers are calling for the enforcement of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which was signed into law in November last year.

Last June, mass protests ignited over a since-shelved bill that would have allowed the Chinese regime to extradite individuals from Hong Kong to face trial in the mainland.

Many Hongkongersand U.S. lawmakers who supported themsaw the extradition bill as a sign of Beijings encroachment on the citys freedoms and autonomy, which China had promised to uphold after the territory was transferred from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

U.S. Congress thus passed legislation requiring that the U.S. Secretary of State annually review whether the former British colony is sufficiently autonomous from mainland China to retain its special economic privileges.

Since 1997, the United States has considered Hong Kong a separate entity in matters of trade, investments, and visas.

Hong Kong protesters have billed the law as a victory in their struggle to achieve universal suffrage and have an independent inquiry to investigate police violence during recent protests.

Arrests

Last Friday, Hong Kong police arrested several outspoken critics of Beijing: Yeung Sum, former chairman of the Democratic Party; Lee Cheuk-yan, vice chairman of the pro-democracy Labour Party; and Jimmy Lai, founder of the media conglomerate Next Digital. Publications under the media group, such as Apple Daily, are known for their outspoken critiques of Beijing.

All three were charged for participating in an illegal assembly on Aug. 31, 2019. Lai was also charged for intimidating a local reporter during an incident in 2017. They have all been released on bail and are scheduled to appear in local court on May 5.

The three, along with thousands of other Hong Kong residents, participated in a march from Wan Chai to the Central district on Aug. 31.

The march was initially organized by a local pro-democracy group to protest the extradition bill. But after police rejected the groups application, people gathered for a religious rally to pray for sinners in Hong Kong governmentas local regulations stipulate that religious gatherings do not need prior approval from police.

Rights groups and local lawmakers deemed the arrests as political suppression from Beijing.

Hong Kongs Department of Justice, in a statement issued on Feb. 29, stated that it was wholly speculative and totally baseless to suggest that the prosecutorial decisions were made under undue influence.

Call to Action

U.S. lawmakers condemned the arrests. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) stated: We witnessed yet another sad chapter in what appears to be the steady erosion of Hong Kongs autonomy with the arrest of Jimmy Lai, Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum, along with other leading voices for democracy and the freedom of expression, he said in a March 2 press release.

To be clear, these individuals were targeted and thrown in jail for doing nothing more than seeking to exercise their rights to free speech, assembly, association, and the press under Hong Kongs own Basic Law, he added, referring to the citys mini-constitution.

Menendez called on the U.S. administration to fully implement the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

The law stipulates that sanctions be placed on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who have violated human rights in the city.

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) also expressed his concerns about the arrests in a statement, saying that there has been no accountability for the Hong Kong government in arresting and charging pro-democracy protesters. He also called for the Hong Kong human rights law to be put into action.

In Hong Kong, the satellite office for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on March 3, accusing the two U.S. lawmakers of brutally interfering with Hong Kongs rule of law and judicial independence with their remarks.

Last Friday, the U.S. State Department also voiced its concerns about the three arrests.

We expect Hong Kong authorities not to use law enforcement selectively for political purposes, and to handle cases fairly and transparently in a manner that preserves the rule of law and the Hong Kong peoples universal rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, the State Department said in a press statement.

Cedric Alviani, head of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) East Asia bureau, said there is no justification for the charges against Jimmy Lai and his arrest at home like a criminal, which seem to be intended to humiliate him, in a March 3 statement.

His arrest is designed to smear him and his media group, which provided extensive coverage of last years pro-democracy protests, Alviani added.
Confusion and controversy bedevils UK's planned Mali deployment

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 04 March 2020 2:22 PM

There is growing controversy about Britain's planned deployment of 250 troops to Mali later this year, which has been widely described as the most dangerous since the UK's military intervention in Afghanistan.

The Times' defence editor, Lucy Fisher, tweeted that the government's plan to deploy additional forces to the Sahel region has caused "grave concerns" among "senior British personnel".

According to Fisher, one major source of confusion centres on the logic behind the UK's decision to attach forces to the United Nations "peacekeeping" mission in Mali when there are already British forces seconded to the separate French-led "combat" mission in the West African country.

Fisher quotes one of her Whitehall sources as describing Mali as "hugely complex and messy" and claiming that there hasn't been "sufficient parliamentary scrutiny" of the planned British deployment.

Meanwhile, Tory MP, and a member of the influential foreign affairs committee of the House of Commons, Bob Seely, told the Telegraph (March 02) that Britain's "looming intervention" in the Sahel has "slipped under the radar".

In addition to inadequate scrutiny, Seely warns against "generational missions" which owing to insufficiently defined combat objectives run the risk of never ending.

As controversy and confusion mounts, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) is refusing to engage honestly with the critics and detractors of the planned Mali mission.

In an arrogant and self-righteous tweet, the MoD claimed there had been "misleading" reporting on the Mali deployment.

The Tweet has further enraged the planned mission's critics. The Times' Fisher described it as a "poor, cowardly attempt at spin".

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Three Congress MLAs and an



independent legislator who were allegedly taken to Bengaluru by the BJP in an attempt to topple the Madhya Pradesh government will return soon, a state minister said on Thursday.

The BJP has denied the Congress' charge that the saffron party was trying to poach its MLAs in a bid to bring down the Kamal Nath government.

"We are in touch with our four MLAs and they will return home shortly," Congress leader andMadhya Pradesh Minister Jaivardhan Singh told reporters.

Asked when they will return, he said, "It is upto their wishes."



State Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza, meanwhile, said the "operation Kamal (actions of chief minister Kamal Nath) had triumphed over operation lotus (the alleged attempt by the BJP, whose symbol is lotus, to topple the government)."The crisis had blown over on Wednesday itself and there was no threat to the Congress government, she claimed.

Oza also denied that the four MLAs -- Raghuraj Kansana, Hardeep Singh Dang and Bishulal Singh of the Congress and independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera -- were unhappy with the state government.

Like the six other MLAs who returned to Bhopal after being holed up in a hotel in Haryana, these four legislators too will come back, she said.

None of the four MLAs could be contacted over phone.

Earlier in the day, the MLAs of the SP and BSP who came back to Bhopal on a special plane arranged by Congress leaders denied that they had been 'abducted' by BJP leaders.

While reaffirming support to the Congress government, BSP MLAs Ram Bai and Sanjeev Singh Kushwaha and SP legislator Rajesh Shukla denied that any BJP leader had contacted them.

The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly has 114 Congress MLAs followed by the BJP which has 107 members.

The mark for simple majority is 116. Four independents, two MLAs of the BSP and one of the SP provide crucial support to the Congress government.

Two seats are vacant following the deaths of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PowerReviews, a software and data company powering the authentic voice of the customer for brands and retailers, today announced the appointment of Mark Dillon as chief executive officer. Mark initially joined PowerReviews in May 2019 as senior vice president of sales and was quickly promoted to chief revenue officer late last year, having been responsible for driving record bookings growth at the Company. Matt Moog, who founded the Company as Viewpoints in August 2006 before acquiring PowerReviews and rebranding as such in June 2014, has stepped down as CEO to pursue his next entrepreneurial venture.



Moog commented, I have known Mark for nearly 20 years, and I was thrilled when he agreed to join PowerReviews nine months ago. After working closely with Mark over the last year, I have complete confidence that Mark is the right person to succeed me as CEO. Marks ability as a leader to bring people together to focus, collaborate and execute is best-in-class, and I know he will be successful in executing the PowerReviews vision.

I started the company 14 years ago with a vision to help companies and people make smarter decisions by bringing transparency and accountability to commerce. I could not be prouder of the impact that we have had as a team. Today we work with 1,000+ leading brands that positively impact billions of shopping visits a year. As I return to my entrepreneurial roots, I will be forever grateful to the amazing team of employees that built the company, our fantastic clients and supportive investors.

The board is grateful to Matt for setting the vision for PowerReviews to unify and amplify the voice of the consumer, bringing authenticity and transparency to so many people, said Paul Mariani, general partner at ABS Capital Partners and board member at PowerReviews. He added, As PowerReviews embarks on its next phase of growth, we are confident in Marks ability to continue the companys impressive path to becoming the leading SaaS platform for the collection, display and analysis of customer-generated content for brands and retailers.

Prior to joining PowerReviews, Dillon served as a senior vice president of Spiceworks, a global IT marketplace that connects technology buyers and sellers, where he was focused on worldwide sales, sales operations and client success. Dillon is an experienced leader, demonstrated by his role in the successful sales of multiple businesses to public companies, following years of significant revenue growth and value creation.

"I'm excited to build on Matts vision and impressive foundation to lead PowerReviews to new heights, with a focus on connecting more brands and retailers, driving additional content creation and resulting in better, smarter buying decisions, said Dillon. PowerReviews solutions are well-positioned to help customers address todays trends and drive sales.

Dillon is surrounded by an impressive executive team including chief financial officer Jillian Sheehan and chief technology officer Perry Marchant and is based in PowerReviews Chicago office headquarters.

ABOUT POWERREVIEWS

PowerReviews is a software and data company that works with 1000+ leading brands and retailers to bring authenticity and transparency to commerce. The PowerReviews Customer Content Platform has four solutions that help our customers collect and manage customer-generated content to improve the product and customer experience across the customer journey. We help clients meet the evolving need for social proof, accelerating the path to purchase and brand advocacy.

PowerReviews is known for innovation, consultative partnership, and actionable insights, supported by our open platform and approach. Our dedicated team of experts provides thoughtful analysis and turnkey service. PowerReviews is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Contact:

Leila Goldberg

leila.goldberg@powerreviews.com

847-452-7093

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f56da1f7-ee4c-49dc-a3d7-3055a5baab9f
 Flash

The epidemic of COVID-19 is becoming increasingly complex, said the chief of World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on Wednesday, calling for early and aggressive measures to break the chains of transmission and contain its spread.

Noting linked COVID-19 epidemics in several countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing that different countries are in different scenarios, thus "there is no one-size fits all approach".

Against first case, first cluster and first evidence of community transmission, WHO is advising countries on actions, Tredos said, stressing actions now will determine the course of the disease outbreak.

He pointed out the basic actions in each scenario are the same, while the emphasis changes depending on which transmission scenario emerges in a country.

Political commitment is needed in every country, Tedros said, calling for mobilizing the whole of government before cases even arrive and keeping aggressive when cases arrive.

Based on the report of the WHO-China Joint Mission, the WHO chief reminded all countries should educate their populations, expand surveillance, find, isolate and care for every case, trace every contact, and take an all-of-government and all-of-society approach.

"The nature of this virus means we have an opportunity to break the chains of transmission and contain its spread," Tedros said.
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Steelworkers (USW) International President Thomas M. Conway joined top executives from U.S. steelmakers on Thursday in testifying before the Congressional Steel Caucus to seek continued support from lawmakers for the American steel industry and its workers.

The first step is to ensure that American workers are competing on a fair playing field with overseas competitors, Conway said. While the Section 232 tariffs that took effect in March 2018 aided the industry in the short term, more consistent support for fair trade from Washington is necessary to ensure the industry remains on a long-term, sustainable course, Conway said.

"We need to work with our allies to secure multi-lateral disciplines to reduce steel overcapacity and sanction bad actors," he said. "Steel remains vital to our economy and our national security."

Besides fair trade, another key to maintaining a vibrant domestic steel industry, Conway said, is ensuring consistent, strong demand for its products. Congress can spur that demand by making much-needed investments in the nation's infrastructure and transportation systems and ensuring that such projects come with Buy America provisions.

"It is unfortunate that for all the rhetoric about the need to improve domestic infrastructure there has been a continued stumbling off the blocks by Congress and the administration," he said.

The $760 billion Moving Forward Framework unveiled last month by House Democrats could create 10 million jobs, help mitigate climate change and ensure that American manufacturers have a reliable network for use in shipping their products around the world.

"If we are going to share our energy resources with the world, our workers need to share in the benefits by providing the materials needed for transport of these vital commodities," Conway said.

Conway also cautioned lawmakers on the increase in automation in the industry, which he said allows companies to produce more steel with fewer workers, putting jobs at risk.

"These workers cannot be cast aside like equipment," Conway told the Congressional panel. "Lawmakers must work with labor to ensure a strong and vital manufacturing workforce for our current and future economies."

Joining Conway in testifying Thursday were industry executives John Brett of ArcelorMittal USA, Rich Fruehauf of U.S. Steel, Lourenco Goncalves of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., Leon Topalian of Nucor, Jim Charmley of Bull Moose Tube, Barbara R. Smith of Commercial Metals Co., and David Zalesne of Owen Steel Co.

For the full text of Conway's remarks, visit:

www.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2020/20-03-05-Testimony-of-Thomas-Conway.pdf

The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.

Contact: R.J. Hufnagel, [email protected], 412-562-2450

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


Chino Moreno longs for how cities transform at night. The frontman for the veteran American alternative metal flagbearers Deftones has spent the past 12 months travelling between his home in Portland and writing sessions with his bandmates in Los Angeles, Seattle and the groups starting point, Sacramento. But wherever he is, Moreno has the same routine late in the evening when hes trying to wind down.

Deftones will be in Australia this month, playing at Download festival.

Theres something calming to me about cities in general, Moreno says. At night when I walk around I put my earbuds in and thats kind of an escape  Ill put on ambient music or jazz, so that when the high-rises are lit up, as dirty as a city can be theres also a feeling of looking at a different world. That vibe always inspires me, not to make music like what Im listening to but just making me feel inspired inside.

Moreno, whose voice can be a galvanising force for Deftones whether channelling cathartic urgency or regret-laden soliloquies, has helped bring a similar fluidity to the bands sound. Blurring the lines between genres and movements, Deftones have long detailed a style that is fierce but fluid; when they assembled their B-sides for a 2005 compilation the artists covered included Cocteau Twins, Helmet, Sade and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

When we get together to make music its very rare that well say, were going to make a record that sound like this, or were going to make a song about that. We never have pre-conceived ideas, instead were interested in making sounds and generating moods, Moreno says. What we do is that well write between 12 and 16 songs, no more and no less, so within each one we want to give off a mood. I dont know what it will be, but we wont stop until we have 12 different moods on an album.
Vietnam-era and other pre-9/11 veterans are one step closer to accessing a program designed to pay their spouses or other family support for in-home care even as rules tighten for who can enroll, as part of a highly anticipated proposed rule release from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Among the changes laid out in the 231-page proposal is a shift in the level of care veterans must require to qualify; a change to monthly payment amounts and how they are calculated; a downsizing of benefits tiers; and a benefits grace period for caregivers who leave the program due to domestic or intimate partner violence.

No start date was given for the proposed changes. Their rollout, however, is tied to an already delayed IT upgrade needed to handle the anticipated influx of applicants. That update is expected by late this fall, VA officials said in a release. From there a two years must pass before the benefit is expanded to veterans who did not serve after 9/11. The program also only serves those providing care for a service-connected disabled veteran -- not a veteran providing care for someone else.

The VA's caregiver stipend program has long been available only to caregivers of post-9/11 veterans. The program currently pays stipends to about 18,000 caregivers, with dollar amounts based on a three-tiered system tied to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rates for in-home health aids.

Related: New VA Training Effort Aims to Help Caregivers of Veterans Get the Info They Need

But the program is notoriously inconsistent, with enrollment standards varying widely by region. To curtail that problem, VA officials have repeatedly closed and reopened enrollments as they worked to tighten guidance on what injuries require such care.

Meanwhile, some advocates for veterans decried the program as unfair because it did not allow pre-9/11 veteran access at all. A 2018 law, known as the VA Mission Act, laid the groundwork to open enrollment for the program to veterans of other eras. The law requires the VA to first complete an IT overhaul for administering the program, a process that is still ongoing, and issue new policy rules governing its administration.

The proposed rules, released March 4, are the VA's response to that policy requirement.

While newly qualifying veterans will benefit from the expanded access, the changes could drastically impact those who are currently enrolled. And while the proposal includes a grandfather clause that would protect their enrollment for a year, some caregivers may find they no longer qualify under the new, tightened regulation.

Currently, veterans qualify for the program by needing assistance with "activities of daily living" identified by the VA. Those include dressing and undressing; bathing; grooming; adjusting special prosthetics or orthopedic appliances; toileting; feeding; and mobility. But the current rules do not specifically dictate how often that assistance is required.

The new policy would instead require that the veteran need assistance with the identified activities each time they are completed. That change would in effect block veterans who only need periodic help from the program.

Those who qualify under the old rules would be grandfathered into the program for a year, during which time they would be reassessed for enrollment.

Rather than a three-tiered system currently in place with payment amounts based on estimates of time spent providing care, the revamped program would instead include only two tiers. They would be divided into those who need assistance with at least three of those daily living activities and those who need help with no more than two.

Monthly stipends would then be based purely on those tiers and tied to the government's GS-4, step 1 rate plus locality pay, instead of the BLS calculated rate for home health aids currently used. The proposal estimates that, in most cases, the change will result in a slightly increased caregiver payment.

For example, the proposal states, the 2020 GS-4 step 1 rate is about $27,000 annually, while the BLS rate in use as of December was about $25,000.

Caregivers in tier one of the proposed scale would receive about $2,250 monthly before locality pay, while those in tier two would receive 62.5% of the full rate, or about $1,410.

Caregivers who currently receive a higher payment than the proposed change to GS-4 gives would be grandfathered into the old payment system for one year, the proposal states.

The new proposal also expands protections for caregivers who are victims of domestic violence or intimate partner violence. Currently, those who drop from the program because of those issues are given a 30-day grace period. But how that is actually implemented depends on a wide variety of factors, including the local program administrator and whether the veteran immediately designates a different caregiver.

But the new rules add specific, broad protections for domestic and partner violence victims, granting a 90-day payment grace period for caregivers who report violence or abuse. By doing so, the authors state, they hope to encourage caregivers to keep themselves safe.

"We have found that oftentimes, a caregiver may remain in a [domestic violence] ... situation due to financial concerns," the proposal states. "They may choose to not leave such a situation because doing so would result in financial insecurity, including loss of caregiver benefits such as the stipend payment and health care benefits. We propose to extend caregiver benefits for a period of 90 days after discharge in such instances. .... We do not want to encourage caregivers to remain in such situations."

The rules will be published to the Federal Register on Friday and are subject to a 60-day public comment period.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.

Read more: This Institute Is Offering Free TBI Treatment for Vets with 'Bad Paper' Discharges
As he completed 20 years in office as Odisha chief minister on Thursday, BJP president Naveen Patnaik expressed gratitude to the people and said he has still a long way to go to empower the 4.5 crore citizens of the state.

Patnaik took oath as Odisha chief minister for the first time on March 5, 2000 (his father Biju Patnaik's birth anniversary).

A disinclined politician, the 73-year-old leader returned to power for the fifth consecutive term last year after leading the Biju Janata Dal to another emphatic electoral victory.

"I am grateful to people of Odisha for allowing me to serve them for 20 years. We have achieved a great deal, but we have still a long way to go to do more to empower four-and-a-half crore people of the state," Patnaik said in a video message.

Highlighting his government's performance, he said the state has moved from the days, in 1999, when a super cyclone killed 10,000 people.

The Patnaik government's effective handling of Cyclone Fani last year had won him praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the UN and other global organisations.

"The state has overcome all odds with the support and cooperation of the people and achieved progress. I am indebted to the people of Odisha for their uninterrupted support. We are now leading in many sectors, from Mission Shakti (a women empowerment programme) to Mo Sarkar (my government)," the chief minister said.

"These 20 years have changed Odisha," he said.

Recently in assembly, Patnaik said, "During the last 20 years of our governance, we promised what we could deliver and delivered what we promised. We are the only state which has doubled farmers' income. We have brought more than 8 million people out of poverty in the last decade."



Youngest among the three children of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, he had taken on the mantle of his father hesitantly after his demise in 1997. Once rated a novice, Patnaik never tasted defeat in his over two decades long political career.

In February this year, he was elected BJD president for the eight consecutive term. He has been holding the post since the regional party was formed in December 1997.

Known for maintaining a "dirt-free snow-white image", Patnaik removed over four dozen ministers from his council of ministers since 2000 on varied charges.

His popularity was first put to test when the "Modi wave" swept India in 2014. But the BJD remained unaffected and won 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha besides also winning the assembly elections that year.

The BJD again successfully faced another political storm in 2019 when the NDA won over 300 seats in Lok Sabha under Modi's leadership. Patnaik's BJD though lost eight seats to BJP in the general election, but registered a landslide victory in state polls.

BJD won 12 Lok Sabha seats while BJP bagged eight seats in 2019 election. The rest one seat went to Congress.

On Thursday, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said in a statement, "Odisha continues to remain backward despite BJD ruling the state in a row for two decades.

"Odisha has failed in all parameters of agriculture, irrigation, health, education. However, there has been good increase in crimes, especially crimes against women and children," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NORTH BLENHEIM  It will be 30 years ago this month that the blast occurred, but for those who lived through it, the memory of the Texas Eastern gas pipeline explosion that killed two and tore through this quiet Schoharie County community is clear as day.

Some townspeople on the morning of March 13, 1990 thought there was a fog bank or maybe a snow squall coming through town when the line started leaking. Now-deceased town supervisor and farmer Robert Shaffer called the pipeline company to alert them. Moments later the line ignited into a liquid propane fireball.
The Supreme Court Thursday said it would hear on March 23 the appeal filed by the Centre challenging the Delhi High Court order that the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case have to be executed simultaneously.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench, headed by Justice R Banumathi, that the trial court has fixed March 20 as date of execution of the four convicts who have exhausted all their legal remedies.

Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and a S Bopanna, that these convicts have made a mockery of the system by their delaying tactics and taken it for a ride.

The bench said that it would hear the mater on merits on March 23 and made it clear that no adjournments will be granted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 5 took to his official Twitter handle to condemn the recent violence that took place in Delhi. Imran Khan while retweeting a post of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote that he is grateful to him and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for raising their voice against "Modi's racist Hindu government" and the "massacre of Muslims in India". Prime Minister Imran Khan also said that the majority of protest against what he calls 'atrocities and massacre of Muslims in Kashmir and India' are rising from the west.

                                                  https://t.co/sUeIJ81q58  Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 5, 2020

Read: 'Erdogan's Remarks On Delhi Violence Politically Motivated And Factually Incorrect': MEA

Earlier in the day, Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to his Twitter handle where he warned the ruling government in India to confront 'extremist Hindus' and to stop the alleged massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India's isolation from the world of Islam, referring to the Muslim majority countries in the middle-east and south-east Asia. Khamenei in his Tweet also said that the hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the 'massacre of Muslims in India'.

The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent Indias isolation from the world of Islam.#IndianMuslimslnDanger  Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 5, 2020

Read: 'I Was Shot By Anti-CAA Protestors', Claims Journalist Who Was Attacked During Delhi Riots

According to reports, New Delhi had days ago summoned the Tehran's Ambassador Ali Chegeni over Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's comment condemning the Delhi violence and urging Indian authorities to ensure the well-being of 'all Indians'. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "It was conveyed that his selective and tendentious characterisation of recent events in Delhi is not acceptable."

Iran condemns the wave of organized violence against Indian Muslims.



For centuries, Iran has been a friend of India. We urge Indian authorities to ensure the wellbeing of ALL Indians & not let senseless thuggery prevail.



Path forward lies in peaceful dialogue and rule of law.  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 2, 2020

Read: Delhi Police Recovers Car In Which Gunman Shahrukh Had Fled; Here's How He Was Caught

Delhi violence

Violence in North East Delhi erupted on the night of February 23 after local BJP leader Kapil Mishra allegedly threatened to clear out the protest sites within three days if Delhi police failed to take any action. People were protesting against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act that was passed by the government on December 11. As per reports, the pro-CAA group arrived at an anti-CAA protest site on the morning of February 24 and refused to leave until demonstrators left the area. Violent clashes broke out between groups and in several areas of North East Delhi. The riots that lasted for three days killed at least 43 people and left 100 others injured.

Read: CPI-M Holds Protest Against Delhi Violence; Calls For SC-monitored Investigation
New Delhi: Opposition leaders from Congress, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party and CPI on Thursday gave a suspension of Business Notice in Rajya Sabha over the issue of recent Delhi violence, which has claimed over 47 lives and left around 200 people injured.

Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma have given Suspension of Business Notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 over the `need to provide relief to the violence-affected families in the national capital and to set up an independent inquiry commission`.

CPI lawmaker Binoy Viswam and DMK MP T. Siva and Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh have also given the notice under rule 267 in the House to hold discussion over the said matter. Samajwadi Party leaders Ram Gopal Yadav and Javed Ali Khan are also among the leaders who have given the same notice in the Upper House.

On March 4, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned following uproar by Opposition parties over the violence in the national capital. The Opposition was demanding that the House discuss the issue of violence without further delay.

Rajya Sabha faced repeated adjournments on Tuesday as well, with Opposition lawmakers demanding a discussion on Delhi violence and creating a ruckus on the issue. At least 48 people were killed and around 250 people sustained serious injuries in the violence that hit North-East Delhi.
HOUSTON -- (March 5, 2020) -- Diseases often pile on, coinfecting people, animals and other organisms that are already fighting an infection. In one of the first studies of its kind, bioscientists from Rice University and the University of Michigan have shown that interactions between pathogens in individual hosts can predict the severity of multipathogen epidemics.

In lab experiments, scientists explored how the timing of bacterial and fungal infections in individual zooplankton impacted the severity of bacterial and fungal epidemics in zooplankton populations. The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed that the order of infections in individual hosts can change the course of an epidemic.

"It's well known that the way parasites and pathogens interact within hosts can alter disease transmission, but the question has been, 'What information do you need to gather about those interactions to be able to predict the severity of an epidemic?'" said corresponding author Patrick Clay, a University of Michigan postdoctoral associate who conducted the research during his Ph.D. studies at Rice.

"What we showed is that you need to understand how infection order alters within-host interactions to be able to predict the severity of epidemics," he said. "We particularly need this information to predict how changes in the timing of an epidemic relative to co-occurring epidemics alters epidemic severity."

The research does not apply to the coronavirus.

"This applies to situations where multiple epidemics are simultaneously occurring and where the co-occurring pathogens interact within hosts," said study co-author Volker Rudolf, Clay's Ph.D. adviser at Rice. "There is no data to suggest that this is the case for COVID-2019."

But coinfections are common in humans and wildlife populations, and because they are difficult to study, much is still unknown about how they alter epidemic dynamics, Rudolf said.

"Disease biology and epidemiology have historically focused on one-on-one interactions: one pathogen, one host," said Rudolf, a professor of biosciences at Rice. "However, scientists increasingly recognize that diseases don't exist in a vacuum. In reality, a diverse community of parasites and pathogens are out there, and they interact with each other. This study emphasizes a more holistic, almost community type of approach to studying infectious diseases."

The study combined experiments with epidemiology models and computer simulations.

The zooplankton species used in the experiments, Daphnia dentifera, is a small crustacean that's both abundant and ecologically important in lakes across the U.S. Midwest. Zooplankton are also transparent, and Clay used a microscope to detect and monitor the growth of fungal and bacterial spores inside the animals. By altering the order of infection in test populations and examining thousands of individuals, he was able to document crucial differences in the way the pathogens interacted inside hosts.

"The order in which pathogens infect the host determines how they interact in the host, and this interaction ultimately determines how epidemics play out in the entire host population," he said.

Clay created epidemiological models that predicted the dynamics of fungal and bacterial epidemics in zooplankton populations that had one or both infections, when either the fungal or bacterial epidemic came before the other. He also spent months monitoring how epidemics progressed over many generations of infected and coinfected zooplankton populations.

By comparing data from experimental epidemics and computer simulations, Clay and Rudolf were able to determine what information was crucial to reliably predict how diseases would spread in coinfected populations.

"When we used models that ignored interactions between pathogens within coinfected hosts completely, the predictions were terrible," Rudolf said. "The models improved somewhat once we accounted for interactions between coinfecting pathogens, but it was still completely off on what proportion of individuals got infected. Only when we also specifically accounted for how the order of pathogen infections altered interactions within a host were we able to accurately predict epidemics, including how long an epidemic lasts and the proportion of hosts the pathogens infected."

Clay said the work is important because climate change will alter the timing of seasonal epidemics in many species, and understanding the impact of timing on epidemics will be crucial for ecologists. And his coinfection model could be useful for studying the severity of overlapping epidemics in other species.

"The model does not have anything in it that is specific to zooplankton," he said. "It uses parameters like the rate at which hosts are dying, the rate at which new hosts are being born, the rate at which the disease is transmitted, and you can measure those for any disease."

But the crucial metrics from his experiments, the data describing how order of infection altered within-host interactions between pathogens, are often either unknown or uncollected. And Clay hopes that will change.

"I hope this will influence people to look at what happens when you alter the order of infection in coinfected hosts," he said. "Because we've shown that that information is vital for predicting epidemics, and if people start gathering that information now they will be more prepared to predict the severity of future epidemics."

###

The study was co-authored by Meghan Duffy, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-1748729 and DEB-1601353).

Links and resources:

The DOI of the Proceedings of Royal Society B paper is: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0046

A copy of the paper is available at: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0046

IMAGES are available for download at:

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/03/0302_EPIDEMIC-b.jpg

CAPTION: The zooplankton Daphnia dentifera, as seen under a microscope. (Image courtesy of Meghan Duffy/University of Michigan)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/03/0302_EPIDEMIC-rudolf150-lg.jpg

CAPTION: Volker Rudolf (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/03/0302_EPIDEMIC-clay-sml.jpg

CAPTION: Patrick Clay (Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/03/0302_EPIDEMIC-duffy-sml.jpg

CAPTION: Meghan Duffy (Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan)

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Shoppers are panic buying toilet paper because of a primal yearning to feel in 'control' amid fears of a global coronavirus pandemic, leading psychologists say.

In bizarre scenes, worried Australians have cleared supermarket shelves of loo roll - despite tissue manufacturers saying the country is at no risk of running out.

The situation is so dire Woolworths introduced a ban on purchases of more than four packs and a woman allegedly pulled a knife in the tissue aisle of Sydney store.

Behaviour experts said shoppers have fallen into a 'herd mentality', where they act how others' act, rather than making than making their own conscious decisions.

A shopper loads his cars up with Quilton and Kleenex toilet paper in Sydney's west on Wednesday afternoon - as coronavirus fears escalate

Wiped clean: Bare shelves at a Sydney Woolworths are shoppers 'panic bought' the entire supply of toilet roll

COVID-19 latest: Two people have died and there are 53 cases of coronavirus across Australia, according to the latest data from health officials

'As advanced and brilliant as we think we are, part of our mental purpose in life is to get to the end of the day alive,' said psychologist Oliver Brecht.

It's that survival instinct which drives us to try and 'fix' negative situations, such as how to live through a virus epidemic.

Toilet paper symbolises control ... when we hear about the coronavirus, they are afraid of losing control Dr Niki Edwards, from the University of Queensland's School of Public Health

Mr Brecht said people were making an 'illogical jump' that toilet paper gave them 'control' and 'security' against the coronavirus.

The masters level psychologist, from Sydney firm Veretis, explained: 'We're anxious about things that we can't control.

'(People feel) coronavirus could happen to me, but if I have lots of toilet paper - I won't get coronavirus'.

Psychologist Oliver Brecht, from Veretis: 'We're anxious about things we can't control'

'It's something I could control, in something we believe we have no control over ... and people don't want to be the ones' missing out.'

'Of course, this is all happening below the surface, subconsciously, at this primal level.'

Dr Niki Edwards, from the University of Queensland's School of Public Health and Social work, agreed, writing in The Conversation: 'Toilet paper symbolises control.

'We use it to 'tidy up' and 'clean up'. It deals with a bodily function that is somewhat taboo.

'When people hear about the coronavirus, they are afraid of losing control.

'And toilet paper feels like a way to maintain control over hygiene and cleanliness. People don't seem interested in substitutes.'

Customers stocked up on value packs packs of loo roll during the grocery shop in Lidcombe

This shelf was completely bare within 10 minutes of it being restocked with new pallets of paper

An Instagram user wraps his arms around a precious possession

Consumer behaviour expert Dr Rohan Miller, from the University of Sydney, said social media influencers promoting their 'stockpiles' were fanning the flames.

'People are being panicked and they're just following the herd,' he said.

'We've been operating in an information void and in the absence of that information, the herd has indicated you need toilet paper.'

He said the phenomenon was mostly without precedent - with people typically stocking up on items during natural disasters, such as cyclones.

But with only two people dead and 53 confirmed infections nationwide, Dr Miller's local supermarket was sold out of toilet paper and other essentials last night.

This morning, his local cafe was selling toilet paper rolls.
New Delhi, March 5 : Amid rising cases of coronavirus in the country, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has slammed Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for claiming that the virus is under control.

Rahul said that it was like "the captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable".

"The Health Minister saying that the Indian Govt has the #coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable. It's time the Govt made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis," he tweeted.

The government is taking steps cautiously as the Home Secretary reviewed the arrangements on Thursday.

As coronavirus cases rose further in India, the central government on Thursday made COVID-19-free certificate mandatory for travellers from Italy and South Korea.

According to the additional travel advisory issued by the government, passengers travelling from Italy and South Korea who want to enter India will have to present a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19.

"In addition to visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from and having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorised by the health authorities of these countries," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The new regulation will be enforced from March 10. It is however a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.

Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in India, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday met key partners of private healthcare units for case management.

"Universal screening has been mandated since March 4 and has started in most airports from Wednesday evening. It should stabilise today with additional staff being provided by the states," he said.

At present there are 29 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, of which three from Kerala have recovered and have been discharged.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
E gypt became the first country in Africa to record a case of the coronavirus when it confirmed an infection in February.

The country's health ministry confirmed it informed the World Health Organisation, after the case was detected on February 14.

Its government said it had taken all necessary preventative measures such as placing the individual, who has not been identified, in quarantine.

On March 3, the Egyptian government slapped a ban on people from Qatar entering country, over fears about the spread of the coronavirus.

And as of March 5, there were three recorded cases of the bug in Egypt, including one in its capital Cairo, but no deaths.

Egypt became the first country in Africa to record a case of the coronavirus on February 1. Stock picture shows a street in the country's capital Cairo / Getty Images

One of the Egyptian citizens affected is an unidentified 44-year-old man who was diagnosed with the virus after returning to the country from Serbia via France where they had a 12-hour stop off.

In a Tweet the World Health Organisation Egypt said the man went to the hospital for examination after "showing minor symptoms of the condition".

Here is the latest travel information for Egypt, amidst the ongoing outbreak of the bug.

Is it safe to travel to Egypt?

There are no restrictions on travelling to Egypt because of the coronavirus.

At this time the Foreign Office has not provided official coronavirus related travel advice to those visiting the country.

However the Government has issued a warning that reads: "There is an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus in China. The virus originated in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, but cases have been confirmed in other parts of China and in some other countries, including a case in Cairo, Egypt. You should comply with any additional screening measures put in place by the authorities."

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

According to the NHS, the main symptoms of Covid-19 include coughing, shortness of breath and having a high temperature.

Those with weakened immune systems, like the elderly or those with long-term conditions such as diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease are more likely to suffer with these symptoms.

What precautions have officials said to take?

Health Secretary Matt Hancock issued an urgent appeal for the public to the self-isolation advice if returning from northern Italy, Iran and parts of South Korea.

He said: "Every single person can do something to try to help this country avoid this virus becoming big and that is to wash your hands. If you sneeze to make sure you cover it up, catch it, kill it and bin it.

He has, however, dismissed calls for a ban on flights from countries hit hardest by the virus.

Scientists believe swift quarantine action, rather than trying to rely on travel restrictions, are key to containing the virus.

Is there a treatment for coronavirus?
New Delhi/Bhopal, March 5 : Midnight resort politics, Congress leaders crying "money power", chartered flights vrooming -- they all are essential ingredients of the great political 'tamasha' that India has become accustomed to.

Two ministers in the Madhya Pradesh government - Jitu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh - scrambled to undo the 'damage' at the ITC Resort in Manesar near Gurugram on Tuesday night. By the next sunrise, Chief Minister Kamal Nath seems to have outsmarted the opposition, once again.

Six out of the 10 Madhya Pradesh MLAs who were allegedly held hostage at Gurugram overnight, were brought back on Wednesday and taken straight to the residence of the Chief Minister.

Ten MLAs from Madhya Pradesh were brought to the national capital by the BJP. BJP's Narottam Mishra is alleged to have been in "close contact" with them.

As of Thursday, four MLAs continue to remain "untamed".

While the imminent threat, if any, to the Madhya Pradesh government seems to have been thwarted by Nath, there are two concerns, often less talked about, that continue to trouble the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

1. Rajya Sabha election: Regardless of theories, it's not the impending Rajya Sabha election scheduled on March 25, which is weighing on Kamal Nath's mind. The three Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in Madhya Pradesh are presently held by Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP).

Digvijaya Singh is likely to be renominated after losing to BJP's Pragya Thakur. But given the massive ego tussle between Kamal Nath and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress may also nominate him. That would mean BJP losing one of its Rajya Sabha seats to the Congress. Scindia too lost from Guna in the Lok Sabha election.

If the Manesar episode is anything to go by, it brought the complex intra-party equation in the Congress out in the open which may threaten its ambition of snatching an extra Rajya Sabha seat from the BJP this time.

In the 230-member Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs and the BJP 107. If there is no whip issued, the chance of cross voting by 'unhappy' Congress members cannot be discounted.

2. Stormy Budget session: Not just the Rajya Sabha polls but the current upheaval may also adversely impact the upcoming Budget session in the state Assembly, where important bills are lined up.

The session which starts from March 16, is expected to be turbulent. Voting on an Appropriation Bill regarding the Budget may come up. Finance Minister Taran Bhanot will present the Budget on March 18. It will be of worth around Rs 2,30,000 crore.

The government will pass the first Budget before March 28 so that budgetary allocations can be provided to all departments with the approval of Governor Lalji Tandon, before April 1. Uproar is expected over farmer loan waiver, regularisation of staff, guest scholars and dearness allowance.

If some of the Congress MLAs and allies join the opposition in creating a ruckus in the house, it may spell trouble for the Congress government.

As of now, out of the four MLAs who are still missing, three are from the Congress. If they join the ruckus on Budget day, it will surely be embarrassing for the Kamal Nath government.

Meanwhile the BJP has rubbished allegations of horse trading, calling it an "internal matter" of the Congress. With just four missing MLAs, the BJP can't think of bringing a no-confidence motion and win it. But it can certainly make the going tougher for the Kamal Nath government when it comes to its aspiration of snatching another Rajya Sabha seat from the state and pumping in money in government departments.
A worker in a face mask walks past gates at the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai, China, on Feb. 17, 2020.

Tesla customers in China are complaining the company delivered new Model 3s with a version of Autopilot hardware that was not as advanced as promised.

According to a report in Japan's Nikkei  along with Chinese social media posts on Weibo, WeChat and Twitter  some Chinese customers view Tesla's installation of the old version of their hardware as a stealthily executed downgrade.

When customers signed up to buy the Model 3s, listings reportedly said the cars would feature "HW3" (or hardware version 3.0). Upon closer examination, owners said the cars they received actually included version 2.5 of the hardware, the reports say.

What makes the newer system desirable is a proprietary chip, developed and manufactured by Tesla, which processes images around 21 times faster than the previous version, which employed an older Nvidia-made chip.

With the newer chip, Tesla Autopilot  the car's advanced driver assistance system  can recognize traffic lights and orange traffic cones, helping it navigate automatically through highway traffic.

Drivers are supposed to keep their hands on the wheel, even while using Autopilot, according to the fine print in Tesla's Model 3 owners' manuals. However, Elon Musk has been promising Tesla customers and investors a Full Self-Driving upgrade would be possible with the company's HW3.0 installed.

On Tuesday, Tesla issued a statement via Weibo blaming disruptions in their supply chain for the decision to use lower-performance hardware in new, Made-in-China Model 3 vehicles. Tesla also apologized and tried to soothe upset customers by promising to replace the lower-performance hardware once their production capacity fully recovers.

Tesla did not respond to a request for further information.

Last month, the company disclosed that the coronavirus outbreak in China could impact its business  the first time "health epidemics" were mentioned in the Risk Factors section of Tesla's annual 10-K filing.

"Gigafactory Shanghai was closed for a brief time as a result, before it reopened in February 2020 and rejoined our U.S. factories, which had continued to operate," the company said.

In January, Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn downplayed the likely impact of the health epidemic.

"At this point, we're expecting a one to one-and-a-half week delay in the ramp of Shanghai built Model 3 due to a government required factory shutdown," he said during a Jan. 30 earnings call.

Tesla has not revised its guidance for 2020 sales and deliveries. Economists have predicted the coronavirus outbreak will hit global auto sales this year. Preliminary data suggests steep declines in China's February auto sales as the country shuttered businesses and quarantined cities in its efforts to contain the outbreak.
Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific has been fined HK$5 million by Britain's privacy watchdog over a huge data leak of more than nine million customers including passport numbers and credit card details.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said in a statement on Wednesday it has ordered the airline to pay 500,000 dollars for "failing to protect the security of its customers' personal data".

Between October 2014 and May 2019, a lack of security measures on the carrier's computer systems led to a massive data breach involving 9.4 million customers around the world -- including 111,578 from the UK -- according to the ICO.

"People rightly expect when they provide their personal details to a company, that those details will be kept secure to ensure they are protected from any potential harm or fraud," Steve Eckersley, ICO Director of Investigations said.

"That simply was not the case here." He added that multiple serious deficiencies they found "fell well below" standard and the airline failed to satisfy four out of five of the National Cyber Security Centre's basic guidance.

The Hong Kong-based airline in October 2018 admitted that about 860,000 passport numbers, 245,000 Hong Kong identity card numbers, 403 expired credit card numbers and 27 credit card numbers with no card verification value (CVV) were accessed.

Other compromised passenger data included nationalities, dates of birth, phone numbers, emails, and physical addresses.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States President Donald Trump has extended by one year sanctions against Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his inner circle saying the new governments policies continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to Washingtons foreign policy.

In a press statement, President Trump said Harare has failed to reform since 2017 after the ouster of the late President Robert Mugabe. The Trump administration said the Zimbabwean government has arguably accelerated its persecution of critics and economic mismanagement in the past year, during which security forces have conducted extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged abductions of numerous dissidents.

However, Deputy Information Minister Doctor Energy Mutodi accused Washington of pandering to the Zimbabwean opposition and former colonial power, Britain.

We have been expecting them to do what they have done. They have always been insisting on human rights, on economic and political reforms, which our president (Emmerson Mnangagwa) has said if such reforms are to be implemented in this country, they are supposed to be people driven and for us as the people of Zimbabwe, not dictated by other foreign powers.

We are disputing these sanctions as illegal and unwarranted because this is a bilateral issue between Zimbabwe and Britain which was escalated to the EU, which was escalated to the United States of America. So these sanctions we are saying as government, they need to be removed without any conditions, because we know where they are coming from, they are coming from the exercise of our land reform which we carried out to fulfill the interest of the electorate, the people who vote for us.

Mutodi though says Harare is still willing to engage Washington.

So Americans, the EU (European Union) and so on, America in particular, they have put the ZIDERA (Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act) which prohibits us from borrowing from other countries, from accessing credit lines, and so on. And they are doing this to punish us, to ensure that our people can suffer and then at the end of the day, ditch the Zanu-PF government and vote for the opposition. Now this is something that is very much unacceptable, and we as a country we are saying we are reengaging with the United States of America through our ministry of foreign affairs, and also through the Embassy.

We are reengaging with the United States so that at the end of the day, we expect them to have a changed mind  a different view all together that we are a government that deserves to be in office and whatever policy we are implementing is for the good of our people.

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change secretary for International Relations, Gladys Hlatywayo, says the Zimbabwean government has only itself to blame.

We have always insisted as MDC that in order to get rid of these measures, we need to implement reforms. Its unfortunate that the (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa regime has been going to town and lying to the international community to say we are implementing reforms, when in actual fact they are not doing anything. If anything, there is regression in Zimbabwe, if you look at the amendments that are being proposed. We have been clear as the MDC that what we want is alignment to the constitution, implementing the constitution, rather than bringing amendments that are meant to further the interest of the ruling elite.

If you look at the role of soldiers, role of the military, in our politics, if you look at what happened on August 1 (2018), if you look at what happened in January 2019, if you look at what happened when we were planning our peaceful demonstrations, late last year, you will see that the conduct of the military is not in line with the constitution of the land, and human rights abuses are done with impunity, no one is brought to book and these are the issues the international community has always been raising, and for us to normalize our relations with the international community, we dont need to be engaging PR (Public Relations) companies like what Zanu-PF is doing.

The renewal comes despite calls by African leaders for the targeted sanctions to be lifted and Zimbabwe engaging three Washington-based foreign lobbyist.

The Harare administration has hired London-based BTP Advisers - which joins United States-based Mercury International Limited, Ballard Partners and Avenue Strategiesin a quest to help Zimbabwe return to the community of nations after decades of isolation. However, Jeff Smith, founding director of Vanguard Africa - a United States pro-democracy group - says Harare must simply reform.

It was a futile exercise from the very outset, the fact that the Zimbabwe government under the auspices of the Foreign Minister S. (Sibusiso) B. Moyo even attempted to influence U.S. policy in this way, really was an indication of their misplaced priorities. Instead of reforming (former Zimbabwe President Robert) Mugabe era laws, and instead of abiding by the rule of law, abiding by Zimbabwes own constitution, regional and international human rights obligations, they decided to go the route of spending hundreds of thousands dollars on PR and lobbying firms in Washington, DC. This exercise was never going to work.

Zimbabwean independent political analyst, Joey Mabenge, concurs.

In a clear sign that Washington was set to renew sanctions, Zimbabwes state security minister, Owen Ncube and former army general Anselem Sanyatwe were added to the list last year over what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said was credible information of their involvement in gross violations of human rights.

U.S. targeted sanctions apply to only 86 Zimbabwean individuals and 56 entities (mostly farms and legal entities owned by the 87 individuals) as of February 2020.

The Zimbabwe sanctions program implemented by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) began on March 7, 2003, when then President George Bush issued an Executive Order imposing sanctions against specifically identified individuals and entities in Zimbabwe. Former Barack President Obama also maintained the sanctions regime during his 8 year tenure.
Twitter will take a page out of the playbook of Instagram and Snapchat.

The social media giant announced that it will test a feature that allows users to post tweets that disappear after just 24 hours, similar to the ephemeral story posts on Instagram and Snapchat.

The new style of tweet, which the company is calling 'Fleets' - a portmanteau of the words 'fleeting' and 'tweet' - cannot be retweeted or receive public responses, but instead can be interacted with through direct messages.

Instead of appearing on one's timeline, users can look at the 'Fleets' by tapping on someone's icon - yet another similarity to Instagram and Snapchat stories.

Weve been listening to this feedback and working to create new capabilities that address some of the anxieties that hold people back from talking on Twitter. Today, in Brazil only, were starting a test (on Android and iOS) for one of those new capabilities. Its called Fleets. pic.twitter.com/6MLs8irb0c  Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) March 4, 2020

'People often tell us that they dont feel comfortable Tweeting because Tweets can be seen and replied to by anybody, feel permanent and performative (how many Likes & Retweets will this get!?). Many of us can probably empathize with this,' wrote Kayvon Beykpour, product lead at Twitter in a tweet announcing the feature.

'Weve been listening to this feedback and working to create new capabilities that address some of the anxieties that hold people back from talking on Twitter. Today, in Brazil only, were starting a test (on Android and iOS) for one of those new capabilities. Its called Fleets.'

The feature is currently only being tested in Brazil and its uncelar if and when the platform intends to roll it out more broadly.

For some users, the feature could represent a welcome shift in the more permanent nature of Twitter which keeps tweets on a user's timeline until a user chooses to delete them.

The permanent record aspect of Twitter's timeline has lead to some public figures taking heat in recent years including stars like Kevin Hart who was accused by penning homophobic tweets.

Likewise, director James Gunn was fired from his role as director by Disney during the filming of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after tweets joking about rape and pedophilia surfaced.

Twitter said that even though 'Fleets' are ephemeral, they will be subject to all of the platform's community guidelines on harassment and hate speech.

The platform says it will keep a copy of the post for a 'limited time' after it disappears and users can report posts that they think violates its guidelines.

It's possible that given Twitters ongoing efforts to tamp down on misinformation that it could wait to release the feature more broadly until after the 2020 US presidential election.

Twitter has released a variety of new feature through the last year in an attempt to make its platform more user friendly and less prone to harassment and other toxic behavior.

Among the initiatives have been improved threading to make conversations easier to read and also a revamped set of community guidelines.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. is donating 40,000 pounds of protein to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee as part of ongoing recovery efforts in Nashville and surrounding counties in the wake of Tuesday mornings devastating tornadoes. The donation, equivalent to more than 160,000 servings, is part of Smithfields signature hunger-relief initiative, Helping Hungry Homes  .



We are very grateful for Smithfields support during this time of need, said Nancy Keil, president & CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Securing protein following this disaster is extremely important, and their contribution will go a long way to help feed our community as we recover.

Smithfields donation will allow the food bank and response organizations to support both the regions immediate and future needs. The tornadoes left more than 45 buildings collapsed and killed at least 24 people, with more than 20 hospitalized following the storms. It is estimated that more than 44,000 people were without power after the disaster.

Our hearts go out to those who were impacted, and we are immensely grateful for the first responders who are working tirelessly to keep people safe, said Jonathan Toms, charitable initiatives manager at Smithfield Foods. Recovering from devastation of this magnitude requires an ongoing collective effort, and were proud to provide resources to our neighbors in need.

For information about how to join the relief efforts, visit: https://www.nashville.gov/News-Media/News-Article/ID/9384/Ways-to-Help-Following-Deadly-Tornado.aspx .

About Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Headquartered in Smithfield, Va. since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Our 40,000 U.S. employees are dedicated to producing Good food. Responsibly. and have made us one of the worlds leading vertically integrated protein companies. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including many industry firsts, such as our ambitious commitment to cut our carbon impact by 25 percent by 2025. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our neighbors in need. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield, Eckrich, and Nathans Famous, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com , and connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , and Instagram .

About Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee

For 40 years, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee has followed its mission of feeding hungry people and finding innovative ways to solve hunger issues in our communities. As a private, not-for-profit and tax-exempt organization, Second Harvest distributes food and other products to approximately 490 nonprofit partner agencies in 46 counties in Middle and West Tennessee. Our partners include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, childcare facilities, senior centers, group homes, and youth enrichment programs. For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, its mission and programs, please visit secondharvestmidtn.org .
[March 05, 2020] Simwood Debuts Microsoft Teams Integration

BRISTOL, England, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UK and US carrier Simwood today demonstrated a full integration between its hosted VoIP solutions and Microsoft Teams at its annual 'SimCon' event. Simwood Partner is the company's channel proposition, enabling communication providers to white-label its hosted VoIP solution as their own. This solution has been fully integrated with Microsoft Teams such that end-user organisations using Teams can seamlessly integrate it with their hosted PBX. This enables simple two-way calling and brings the benefits of Teams to phone numbers and internal extensions the company already has. Simwood founder and CEO Simon Woodhead commented, "Teams is hot property at the moment, but risks being yet another unified communications island. Integrating these technologies is absolutely key to enable end-users to derive maximum value and work the way they want to work, where they want to work." Teams integration is available in two flavours - PBX and Trunk. The PBX integration integrates specific Teams users with PBX users, enabling two-way call flows as that user, i.e. incoming calls delivered toTeams, outgoing calls from Teams. The Trunk integration operates at the organisation level and enables Simwood Partner trunks to be used by the Teams installation.



ABOUT SIMWOOD Founded by Simon Woodhead in 1996, Simwood is a wholesale carrier specialising in uncompromisingly honest, dynamic, and innovation-driven wholesale VoIP telephony. With its own infrastructure and presence in multiple data centres across the UK, and ongoing expansion into the USA, Simwood has over 23 years experience in delivering cutting-edge, innovative, and secure solutions for VoIP providers around the world.

Simwood has recently acquired Sipcentric which strengthened its product set, offering a fresh yet experienced platform for truly white-labelled hosted VoIP. The Sipcentric platform (now branded Simwood Partner) is offered to resellers looking to expand on their service portfolios. All of the traditional Simwood values filter through to this platform such as encrypted voice, fraud prevention, as well as all the fantastic platform features like call centre wallboards, white labelling, and full customer control. Contact:

Simwood Group Plc

Simwood, Simwood House, Cube M4 Business Park, Old Gloucester Road, Bristol BS16 1FX, UK

+44 330 122 3000

https://simwood.com

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/simwood-debuts-microsoft-teams-integration-301017316.html SOURCE Simwood eSMS Limited

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The news in brief:

1) Red Sea corals and especially corals of the Gulf of Aqaba in the northern Red Sea may be one of the last reefs to survive the century. Scientists estimate 70 to 90 percent of all coral reefs will disappear by mid-century, primarily as a result of climate change and pollution. 2) In the Frontiers in Marine Science paper, an exceptionally broad scientific perspective is shared in a call to action to save the Red Sea's coral reef, with authors who have studied it while based in Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Australia and the United States. 3) The Red Sea's reef runs along 4,000 Km of coastline and is an important source of income and food for a rapidly growing population of more than 28 million.

STONY BROOK, NY, March 5, 2020 - An international group of researchers led by Karine Kleinhaus, MD, of the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), calls upon UNESCO to declare the Red Sea's 4000km of coral reef as a Marine World Heritage Site and recommends additional measures critical for the reef's survival. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the article cites that while Rapid Ocean warming due to climate change is predicted to decimate 70 to 90 percent of the world's coral reefs by mid-century, the coral reef ecosystem in the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba is strikingly resilient to rising sea temperatures.

Corals in the Gulf of Aqaba, at the northernmost portion of the Red Sea, withstand water temperature irregularities that cause severe bleaching or mortality in most hard corals elsewhere. This uniquely resilient reef employs biological mechanisms which are likely to be important for coral survival as the planet's oceans warm. But while the Gulf of Aqaba could potentially be one of the planet's largest marine refuges from climate change, its reef will only survive and flourish if serious regional environmental challenges are addressed.

"Corals of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the northern Red Sea, may constitute one of the last reefs to survive the century, so it's crucial that countries coordinate on Gulf-wide research and conservation efforts despite regional political tensions," said Dr. Kleinhaus, Visiting Associate Professor at SoMAS. "My co-authors have studied the Red Sea's corals while based in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United States and Switzerland. Their exceptionally broad scientific perspectives and deep expertise underpin our discussion of the value and significance of the Red Sea's coral reef, the threats it faces, and the steps that can be taken now to preserve it."

The authors point out that coral reefs of the Red Sea provide food and a source of livelihood to a rapidly growing population of over 28 million people living along its coastline, and are a uniquely rich potential source of new medicines. However, as towns and cities continue to grow along the Red Sea, these areas generate substantial local pressure on its reefs. Some portions of the reef have already been heavily damaged by uncontrolled tourism, human population expansion, overfishing, and coastal development that has led to pollution and a decline in coastal water quality.

Despite existing environmental stressors and newly emerging threats, there are currently no coordinated scientific research or management efforts that encompass the entire Red Sea reef complex.

The researchers assert that the most urgent objective is to advance immediate protection of the Gulf of Aqaba as a World Heritage Site as part of an initiative involving Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Ideally, they say scientists, conservationists, and policy makers should advocate strongly that UNESCO recognize the Red Sea's entire coral reef as a Marine World Heritage Site. Regional scientists and governments should work together to implement transnational research, monitoring and conservation efforts and seek UN support for a long-term scientific monitoring program. Considering political realities, the authors affirm that regional collaboration can be effectively facilitated by the Transnational Red Sea Center, a neutral organization which was established in March 2019 and is based at the Swiss Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL).

The researchers recommend several additional measures including:

Full regional cooperation under the directive of high levels of government

Informing governments of the monetary value and vast medicinal potential of the reef to each nation

Long-term regional monitoring of the threat to the reefs from new coastal development and the accompanying population expansion

sustainable development of the Red Sea coastline

###

The study was co-authored by Prof. Maoz Fine, of Bar-Ilan University's Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, along with a group of scientists who have studied the Red Sea's corals while based in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United States and Switzerland. The Swiss Ambassador to Israel also contributed to the article.
Dakota Access, in a June filing with the commerce commission, detailed its desire to increase pipeline volume and upgrade pumping infrastructure along the route. The simple reason for the changes, they say, is increased production and demand for crude oil. In order to handle the increased flow, the company wants to build a $35 million to $40 million pump station near Carthage in western Illinois and add two pumps and replace two others at the pump and tank hub near the towns of Patoka and Vernon along U.S. Highway 51.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergs campaign for president is over, but it brought much attention to the use of stop-and-frisk policing during his tenure in office. The procedure, which New York police used to detain, question and search suspects, was part of a package of measures intended to reduce the crime rate in Americas largest city.

Stop and frisk seemed to work. Between 1990 and 2014, crime dropped dramatically. But crime also declined in cities that used stop and frisk less aggressively.

The criticism of stop and frisk  then and now  is that it is used disproportionately against African Americans and Latinos. Reporting data required by a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against New York City challenging stop and frisk revealed that the police stopped more than twice as many suspects in 2011 than in 2004. There were nearly 533,000 stops in 2012.

Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin found in a 2013 lawsuit against New York that this remarkable increase in detentions was racially based and without adequate suspicion of wrongdoing. New York was stopping people based on a hunch, or perhaps for no reason other than their race. That practice, when it occurred, violated the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It was an unlawful exercise of police power.

These stops often included a frisk or pat-down search. According to a report published by the New York Civil Liberties Union, nearly 56 percent of stops conducted in 2012 included a frisk or search. Police found weapons in only 2 percent of those cases.

The NYCLU further reported that in 2012, 89.2 percent of all frisks in New York City were of black and Latino people, while only 7.6 percent were of white people. Interestingly, white people were more likely to be carrying a weapon than were African Americans.

The U.S. Supreme Court first approved stop and frisk in the landmark 1968 case Terry v. Ohio, one of the most significant holdings in the annals of American criminal procedure law. For the first time, the court approved the seizure of a person on less than probable cause. The stop, or temporary investigative detention, may be made with a lesser level of suspicion: reasonable suspicion, a degree of suspicion that warrants a reasonable officers belief that a crime has been, is being or is about to be committed. A hunch or gut feeling wont suffice.

In New York, a frisk accompanied a stop in more than half the cases. Frisk, however, requires independent suspicion that the suspect is armed and dangerous. Concern for an officers safety, by itself, doesnt warrant a frisk.

Despite these limitations, stop and frisk can be a useful tool for law enforcement. The procedure allows the police to detain would-be criminals before they have committed crimes, and when reason exists, the frisk protects the police.

When used improperly, though, stop and frisk provides errant officers an excuse for baseless intrusions of personal liberty. Only proper training and close supervision of the police can ensure that officers are not stopping and frisking people because of their own implicit biases.

When unlawful frisks uncover evidence, lawyers representing those accused of crime will challenge the search that produced incriminating evidence. In doing this, those lawyers are serving society by protecting the right of all to be free to go about our business unless there is good and substantial reason to believe we are engaged in criminal activity.

The problem with an improperly employed stop-and-frisk policy is that many people will be stopped illegally by the police for each case in which contraband or evidence of a crime is discovered. This is amply demonstrated by what happened in New York.

For those innocent people who are improperly and unlawfully detained, little recourse is available. They can lodge complaints with the agency involved, but as happened in New York, those complaints can be ignored, often because the involved officer denies wrongdoing or, worse, invents an explanation to justify his or her actions.

Stop and frisk is not the culprit. It is just a procedure like so many that can be used for good or ill. Because it is readily susceptible to misuse, police agencies have a duty to the public to train officers thoroughly, supervise them closely, and hold them accountable when they pervert this useful tool of policing to oppress the very people they are sworn to protect.

Gerald S. Reamey is a professor at St. Marys University School of Law and an expert in criminal law.
Google has removed all coronavirus apps from the Play Store in an attempt to help out the situation in general. The company is trying to avoid spreading misinformation and general panic by doing this.

Using the term coronavirus will yield zero results in the Google Play Store, all apps have been removed

If you try searching coronavirus or COVID-19 in the Play Store, youll get zero results, as those terms have been banned, basically.

Coronavirus has done quite a bit of damage around the world thus far. Even though the situation is serious, things have been pushed to the extreme by a ton of false information that has been circulating the web.

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Coronavirus has managed to take some lives in the US as well, thus far, even though China, South Korea, and Italy are still the main incubators of the virus.

This new virus is the reason why MWC 2020 in Barcelona got canceled this year. Many of the companies that should have hosted press conferences in Barcelona decided to do online-only presentations because of the whole situation.

Google has even canceled its physical Google I/O conference, in other words, the developers conference. The company will host an online-only event instead.

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The bottom line is, coronavirus has not only taken quite a few lives thus far, but it also disrupted the industry and everything around it. That is not as important, of course, but it is worth mentioning.

Is this the right call by Google?

Many people would argue that Google did the right thing by trying to avoid spreading misinformation and malware. One has to wonder, though, why did all apps got banned? And the search term in general?

There were sure at least a couple of coronavirus apps that were actually useful, or maybe there would be in the future? Maybe the company should have taken a different approach this time around.

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Coronavirus has been a hot topic for quite some time now, and unfortunately, and the end is not in sight. A vaccine for the virus will hopefully become a reality in the near future. We can only hope that this will not become a pandemic, even though its near that stage.

Some good coronavirus apps could help people get properly informed about the virus. It could help them avoid places where the virus has been spotted, and thus help them stay safe.

Google probably wont change its mind regarding this, but well see what will happen. For the time being, though, you will not find any coronavirus apps in the Google Play Store.
Seven persons have been arrested



from Maharashtra's Palghar district for allegedly trying to hack a leading corporate firm's bank account and transfer Rs 200 crore from it into another account, police said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police nabbed the accused from near a mall in Nallasopara area here on Tuesday evening while they were planning to hack the account at the IndusInd Bank's branch at Chembur in neighbouring Mumbai, assistant police inspector S B Kamble said.

One of the accused, Taslim Ansari (34), was working with the bank and had provided data to the other accused, the official said.

Their plan was to allegedly transfer Rs 200 crore from the corporate firm's account to another account in Kolkata. A person from Kolkata was then supposed to transfer the money to the accused through 'hawala', he said.

The accused also took help from some IT experts while planning the hacking bid, the official said.

The police seized an iPad, six mobile phones, a bank statement and a blank cheque from the accused, he said.

Besides Ansari, the other arrested persons have been identified as Naseem Siddiqui (35) (from Delhi), Gunjiv Baraiia (56), Saroj Choudhari (25), Satish Gupta (32), Anant Gosh (34) and Anand Nalawade (38).

"This is a mega racket," Kamble said, adding that they were searching for a person from Nashik who is also wanted in connection with the case.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating) and 511 (attempting to commit offence), a police spokesperson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Shiv Sena on Thursday lamented that the execution of convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case has been being delayed due to "loopholes" in the judicial system.

Hope people will not lose faith in the judiciary because of the delay in implementation of punishment of the convicts who are facing the gallows in the Nirbhaya case, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.

The execution of the death warrants of the four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) - has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies. All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together.

The Shiv Sena said courts must have been "bound" by provisions of the existing laws. But, the implementation of punishment to the culprits should not be delayed when the country's top court has upheld the hanging of the accused.

The President rejected their mercy petitions, their death warrants were issued and the date and time of the hanging was finalised, the Marathi daily noted.

"The loopholes in the existing laws should not come in the way of implementation of the death sentence. Such unfortunate developments shouldn't happen," it said.

Wondering who should be blamed for this, the Sena said "unfortunately, what should not happen is happening" in the Nirbhaya case.

"We hope peopledon't lose trust in the judiciary because of the delay in hanging of the Nirbhaya case convicts," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

Due to the delay in delivery of justice, people feel that the "disha" shown by Andhra Pradesh, wherein the accused in a rape case were "killed by Hyderabad police", should be implemented elsewhere, the Sena said.

The Andhra Pradesh government recently formulated the Disha Act that seeks to fast track cases of offences against women and children and award death penalty.

It was enacted as a tribute to a veterinary doctor who was brutally raped and murdered in Andhra Pradesh's neighbouring Telangana in November last year.

The law mandates completion of investigation in cases of sexual offences within seven working days and the trial within 14 working days from the date of filing the charge sheet.

Four accused in the rape and murder of the veterinarian were killed in a police encounter on the outskirts of Hyderabad in December last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On March 4, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in eastern Ukraine six times.

The enemy used 120mm and 82mm mortars banned under the Minsk agreements, grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns and small arms to fire on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports.

As noted, all attacks were recorded in the zone of action of tactical force North.

In addition, over the past day, the enemy launched two provocative attacks in the disengagement area No.3 using small arms. No casualties were reported. The Ukrainian side did not return fire. On our part, the ceasefire regime was observed.

Yesterday, on March 4, four Ukrainian servicemen were wounded.

Today, the Russian-occupation troops have not opened fire yet.

ish
UNODC provides Youth with platform to explore solutions to the world drug problem

Vienna (Austria), 5 March 2020 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) convened 45 youths and 27 parents and guardians from 33 countries for the Youth Forum 2020, to involve them in efforts to address the world drug problem and to strengthen their voices on the global level. The Forum was held from 2 to 4 March in the margins of the 63 rd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna.

The world today is home to 1.8 billion youths, the largest generation of youth in history. The United Nations at large is committed to amplifying the voices of young people, to increasing their agency, reach and impact, as manifested in the United Nations Youth Strategy. The UNODC Youth Initiative is the umbrella under which UNODC aims to connect young people from around the world and empower them to promote evidence-based drug use prevention strategies.

Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, opened the event and said: "We urgently have to act on the world drug problem. We have ten years left to achieve this and other targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. A Decade of Action, which is not much time, but I have confidence that with young people like yourselves we can make it."

During the three-day Forum, participants discussed and analysed scientific information on drug use and helped come up with feasible and tangible solutions to drug use problems locally.

They also delivered a message during the Plenary session of the CND. On 4 March, Hajibayli Bilgeyis from Azerbaijan and Muhammad Azhar Ibne Habib from Mauritius delivered the Youth Statement to the Plenary saying that "we call on Member States to provide opportunities for youth to become leaders and to find solutions that will lead to healthier communities. Youth need positive adult role models that will encourage them to think critically, respect diverse opinions and take action."

The interest in promoting youth and the attention given to their voices is growing worldwide, and the demand of young people to participate in this year's Youth Forum was higher than ever. The participants learned about important scientific principles of evidence-based prevention and discussed risk and protective factors potentially influencing the use of drugs by youth.

At this year's Youth Forum UNODC also held a session for the parents and guardians who accompanied their children, to learn about drug use prevention and parenting skills. This gives the adults an opportunity to have a better understanding of how to support their children to grow healthy and safe.

***

With the generous support of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, UNODC is able to support approximately 25 youth each year to participate in the Youth Forum. In addition, Member States themselves provide funding for another group of approximately 30 youth to participate. This however is only a small percentage of the youth voices that can be heard around the world promoting youth participation in drug use prevention activities. UNODC has worked with youth leaders to keep the "connections" active on such platforms as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Further Information

63rd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Youth 2030: The UN Youth Strategy

Preventing drug use among youth works
Kaos, the police dog that suffered a 12-centimetre stab wound to his chest during the arrest of two suspects in Brisbane's north, has been cleared by the vet to walk the beat once again.

The seven-year-old German shepherd and his handler Senior Constable James Griffiths will now take a "well deserved break" after Kaos was injured during the pursuit in Gordon Park on Sunday, February 2.

General-duties police dog Kaos will join his handler, Senior Constable James "Jimmy" Griffiths, on the job next weekend. Credit:Shane Prior - Queensland Police Union

Police were called to Victoria Terrace about 1.30am after a suspicious vehicle was seen in the area. When the officers arrived, two men allegedly fled, while three other people were arrested.

Kaos and his handler chased the two suspects and during the arrest, Kaos suffered a stab wound in the chest.
Russia seeks to convince the court of the primacy of circumstances over cause.

The simulation of court hearings in the case of the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 suggests that, despite obvious, convincing, and exhaustive evidence of Russia's guilt, the Kremlin could go for a number of steps to ensure that the countrys leadership escapes punishment for the deaths of passengers and crew, a U.S.-based think tank believes.

According to the leading coordinator of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), Dutch Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke, the investigators managed to fully prove Russia's involvement in the tragedy. However, the case so far targets only the performers, not masterminds behind the crime, IGTDS said in a report.

The key point based on JIT findings is that the deployment across the Russia-Ukraine border of a Buk air defense system thats in service with the 53rd Air Defense Brigade of the Russian Army required a direct order from Russias military-political leadership, as it implied the transfer of Russian military equipment abroad while no martial law was introduced and no war declared. Thus, deploying an air defense system  with or without a Russian crew  required the order of the Russian president and the countrys minister of defense.

De jure, their abetting the commission of the crime consists of:

 Providing means or tools (the handover of the Buk air defense systems);

 Concealing criminals and means of committing the crime (transporting the air defense system back to n the territory of the Russian Federation, hiding the crew on its territory); and

 Attempting to discredit the investigation, spinning conspiracy theories and misinformation in order to confuse the investigation.

Thus, court evidence of the MH17 downing by a Russian air defense system delivered from Russian territory automatically gives grounds for pressing charges against Russia's top military leadership. This explains Moscow's attempts to meddle in the investigation and the trial: through falsification of evidence and an active information campaign on misinformation.

Military intelligence data recently published in the Netherlands rule out involvement in the MH17 downing by either Ukrainian Buk air defense systems or Russian Buks located on the territory of the Russian Federation. An analysis of these documents by IGTDS proves that it was only the Russian Buk air defense system, which had been deployed to Ukraine across a section of the border with Russia that was beyond Kyiv's control, that could launch the deadly 9M38 missile.

However, Russia may try to escape accusations against its military-political leadership by recognizing that the air defense system was handed over to "DPR" militants, who further operated the launcher.

This position looks unconvincing, although the only possible one from the perspective of the urgent need to remove Vladimir Putin from under the probe's focus, IGDTS believes. It is unlikely that an air defense system that's in service with the Russian army could be deployed across the border without persons controlling its use. The fact that after the MH17 downing, the air defense system was quickly taken back to the Russian territory indicates that it remained under the effective control of the Russian military.

Read alsoDutch-led investigation has eyewitness to Russian missile launch  media (Video)

In this case, the precedent can be used of UK that's been held accountable for their actions in Iraq, and Turkey  for their actions in Cyprus, where in both cases the main argument is the proof that the country had effective control in the territory where the crime was committed. Thus, the jurisdiction of Russias responsibility can be expanded to the territory of Ukraine's Donbas.

Russia seeks to convince the court of the primacy of circumstances over cause. In other words, they argue that it doesn't matter who shot down the plane, while it is important to see circumstances that were in place at that moment. This position is legally void, since it fails to take into account the very cause of the aircraft crash, deaths of crew and passengers, and the cause-effect relationship, the report says.

Here, a similar case is the downing of the Ukrainian passenger jet operated by Ukraine International Airlines, flight PS752, over Iran on January 8, 2020. The cause of the aircraft crash was the strike by an Iranian air defense missile  not some foreign political tensions in the region, liquidation of Qasem Soleimani or Iran's missile strike on U.S. targets in Iraq.

Also, the report notes that Ukraine had not shut down the skies over Donbas, since at that time (before downing the MH17) there was no objective threat to civilian flights. Pro-Russian separatists had been downing Ukrainian Air Force jets using MANPADS, at low altitudes, unable to hit targets flying at altitudes over 6km. The Ukrainian authorities had no information about Russia transferring air defense systems to Ukraine. The lack of operational data on the deployment of Russian air defense systems in Donbas has also been confirmed by Dutch intelligence.

Read alsoCBS News: MH17 prosecutor says Russians "haven't been helpful at all"

The think tank also notes that all suspects in the MH17 case are now either in Russia or in territories controlled by Russia. Earlier, Moscow had already attempted to convict one of them for felony and thus remove him from the view of the court in The Hague.

There is a possibility that if the court proves the passenger jet was destroyed by a Russian air defense system, the Kremlin may attempt to arrest and imprison other defendants in Russia. Thus, Moscow will block further investigation aimed at identifying and prosecuting masterminds behind the crime.
SPRINGFIELD, Va. - A NASA employee has been charged with murder in the death of a Maryland National Guardsman whose family members say had an ongoing dispute with the suspect.

Michael Hetle, 52, was arrested Tuesday after the fatal shooting of Specialist Javon Prather, 24, Fairfax County police said in a news release. Hetle and Prather were neighbours in Springfield, Virginia, news outlets reported.

The men had argued for years, according to Prathers mother, Shavon Prather.

(Hetle) would call the HOA (home owners association) and say there was dog poop in their backyard, Prather told The Washington Post. He would call and complain when they put out trash. Anything he could do to scold them and to get them in trouble.

Prather said her daughter-in-law witnessed the shooting.

Fairfax County police didnt give a motive for the fatal shooting. Hetle was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was being held without bond.

It was unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Michael Hetle is a career civil servant who works at NASA Headquarters in Washington in the agencys Enterprise Protection Program, NASA said in a statement to news outlets.

Hetle also served as a police officer in Bellevue, Wash., until 2003, news outlets reported. He was involved in two deadly shootings while on duty  one in 2000 and another in 2001  and was cleared of any wrongdoing in both.

Prather had been an infantryman for the Maryland National Guard for nearly four years, the Guard said in a tweet. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan retweeted the message and sent condolences to Prathers loved ones.

Were deeply saddened by the passing of Specialist Javon Prather, Hogan wrote. The First Lady and I ask all Marylanders to join us in sending our heartfelt prayers to Javons family, friends, & to all those who loved him.
The bacterium Lactococcus lactis, which plays an important role in the dairy industry, is unable to produce the amino acid methionine and has to rely on uptake from the environment. To do this, the bacteria have two systems, with high and low affinity. University of Groningen microbiologists discovered that cells growing in a clonal population can differ in the uptake system they use. Furthermore, the choice for either system is maintained over many generations. It is the first time that such stable heterogeneity is observed in an amino acid uptake pathway. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications on 5 March.

It has long been known that bacteria grown in a clonal population (where all cells share the same genes) can nevertheless behave differently. Under harsh conditions, some cells may go into survival mode by sporulation while other cells do not. 'It is a kind of bet-hedging', explains University of Groningen Professor of Molecular Genetics Oscar Kuipers. 'Sporulation is costly for a cell, and conditions may improve. Or they may not. Taking both routes ensures that part of the population will always survive.'

Hesitant

However, this strategy had never before been observed in amino acid transport. Under Kuipers' supervision, Ph.D. student Jhonatan Hernandez-Valdes grew Lactococcus bacteria in medium with different methionine concentrations. He added a reporter gene to the cells that made them light up fluorescent green when the high-affinity methionine transporter was expressed. However, under low methionine conditions, he noticed that some cells did not light up.

At first, Hernandez-Valdes thought his cell culture was contaminated. But after several checks, it turned out that all cells carried the green fluorescence gene - though not all of them expressed the high-affinity methionine uptake system. Kuipers: 'We discovered that the switch to the high-affinity system is very slow. You could say that the cells are hesitant to switch.'

Bet-hedging

Further exploration revealed that something known as a T-box riboswitch was responsible for heterogeneity in the expression of the high-affinity transporter. Apparently, using low or high-affinity transporters makes no difference in terms of methionine uptake. 'It appears to be a matter of chance which route a cell will take. But once the choice is made, it remains fixed for over ten generations.'

Cells with either uptake system grow equally well under low-methionine conditions. So why the heterogeneity? Kuipers and his colleagues suggest two potential explanations. The first is bet-hedging, a well-known phenomenon in both bacteria and higher organisms. 'Not investing in the high-affinity transport system may offer some advantage under natural conditions.' Some cells within the population gamble on an increase in methionine availability, while others take the safe route and switch on the high-affinity system that provides them with the methionine they need even when there is very little around.

'The other possibility is that there is a division of labor: the two sub-populations cooperate, for example, cells may start to excrete methionine, or die and fall apart, thus making their amino acids available for other cells', Kuipers explains. But this scenario is very speculative.

'We do know that heterogeneity is a good thing for bacteria', he continues. There may be hundreds of different strains in a gram of soil, all battling for their niche. 'By splitting into two populations, you can better anticipate changes in the environment. That is always a smart strategy.'

###

Reference: Jhonatan A. Hernandez-Valdes, Jordi van Gestel, Oscar P. Kuipers: A riboswitch gives rise to multi-generational phenotypic heterogeneity in an auxotrophic bacterium. Nature Communications, 5 March 2020.

Simple Science Summary

The bacterium Lactococcus lactis cannot produce the amino acid methionine, so it must import it from the environment. University of Groningen scientists discovered that cells with the same genes living under the same low-methionine conditions use two different systems to get the amino acid into their cells: a high-affinity system and a low-affinity system. Individual cells are slow to choose for one of the two systems, but once a choice is made, bacteria stick to it for more than ten generations. By making use of both options, the cells probably anticipate on both a potential increase and a further decrease in methionine concentration. This is the first time scientists have observed such a stable use of different amino acid transport pathways in otherwise completely similar cells.
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Linkedin (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Thu, March 5, 2020 11:30 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20686dda7 2 People Duke-and-Duchess-of-Sussex,Britain,royals,Prince-Harry,Meghan-Markle Free

Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will appear together at an official engagement on Thursday for the first time since January's announcement that they would step away from their royal duties.

The appearance by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as Queen Elizabeth's grandson and Meghan are officially known, at an awards ceremony for wounded service personnel will also be one of their last before they quit as working members of the royal family.

The couple will stop their royal duties at the end of the month as they seek to carve out "a progressive new role", mainly based in North America, which they aim to finance themselves.

While Harry remains a prince, they have agreed not to use the HRH titles - His or Her Royal Highness - and will not use "royal" in their branding, even though they said there was no jurisdiction by the monarchy or the government to stop them using the word overseas.

The couple have spent most of their time in Canada since January's shock announcement.

Meghan's last official engagement was to visit Canada House in London days before that announcement. The prince returned to royal duties at the end of last month, when the host at the event said people should just "call him Harry".

Read also: Prince Harry and his wife will stop using 'Sussex Royal' brand

On Thursday, the couple will attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House which acknowledges the achievements of wounded or sick servicemen and women who have taken part in remarkable sporting and adventure challenges.

Harry, sixth in line to the throne, will carry out a solo engagement on Friday when he opens a new museum dedicated to British motor racing where he will be joined by Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Next week, Harry, 35 and Meghan, 38, will carry out what is expected to be their last official appearance alongside other senior royals including the 93-year-old queen, Harry's father and heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, and his brother Prince William at the annual Commonwealth Service at London's Westminster Abbey.

British newspapers have reported that the queen has been saddened that she has seen so little of Harry and Meghan's son Archie, her eighth great-grandchild who has remained in Canada.

Harry and the queen had a meeting to discuss his future at her Windsor Castle home last weekend, a royal source confirmed, with the Sun tabloid reporting it had been a "heart to heart" talk at which she said he would always be welcomed to rejoin the royal fold.
Britain's oldest poppy seller has died at the age of 104 after spending nearly 55 years selling poppies for the Royal British Legion.

Walter Randall served in Egypt, Libya and Italy for the Royal Army Service Corp in 1940 during World War Two.

Mr Randall was a well-known figure in his hometown of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire and the Royal British Legion said he had been a 'remarkable man' who would be 'greatly missed'.

The 104-year-old national hero was also known as 'Wally' and had been both branch and club chairman for the Legion in Leighton Buzzard.

Walter Randall (pictured left selling poppies) has died at the age of 104. He spent 55 years selling poppies for the Royal British Legion. He served during World War Two and is pictured right in his uniform

Leighton-Linslade Town Council mayor Dave Bowater said he was 'pretty devastated', and called Mr Randall a 'wonderful man', after his death was announced by the Royal British Legion on Wednesday.

Speaking shortly after his 103rd birthday in September 2018, Mr Randall had said: 'I like to do my little bit to help the heroes, like those on the Invictus Games.

'I'm going to keep on selling poppies while I've still got the energy to do it.

'My favourite thing about selling poppies is people's generosity. When someone puts money in but says 'I've already got a poppy', it's very gratifying.'

Mr Randall is seen in the picture above, taken in October 2018. He was described as a 'remarkable man'

A Royal British Legion spokeswoman said he had been 'an exceptional ambassador for the legion and the Armed Forces community'.

She said: 'He was a remarkable man and his service to his country and support for the legion over the years should be highly commended.

'He will be greatly missed, but not forgotten.'

Mr Bowater said the council would be considering a way of honouring Mr Randall in the town centre.

The veteran soldier was the proud recipient of a lifetime certificate for services to the local branch.

Mr Randall was born in Wing, Buckinghamshire, where he lived until his father, Daniel Randall, a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, died in the First World War on November 10, 1918 - a day before the end of the war.

His family then moved to Leighton Buzzard to live with his grandparents.
The organization provides affordable housing for income-qualified families in Lake County to give them financial stability. Its expenses are financed, in part, by two ReStores in Gary and Merrillville that sell used and new home furnishings and materials.
A government ID is a mandatory legal proof which explains how we are legal citizens of a country and helps in identification of individuals. The whole link your Aadhar procedure made our lives complicated three years ago when accounts were being frozen and lives were running amok since our government IDs were not in tow.

So what happens when your ID proof doesnt have your picture? That happened with a man living in Murshidabad in West Bengal but that wasnt the bizarre part. It was when his voter ID didnt have a human image at all. When Sunil Karmakar applied for a correction in his voter ID, little did he know his ID will end up having an image of a dog! Yup, that happened.

WB: Sunil Karmakar, a resident of Ramnagar village in Murshidabad,says he had applied for a correction in his voter ID&when he received a revised ID,it had a dog's photo instead of his own. BDO says "Photo has already been corrected. He'll get final ID with correct photo."(04.03) pic.twitter.com/c9Ba9uybOP  ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2020

Sunil was obviously embarrassed and was vocal about taking the matter with higher authorities. He told the media, Yesterday I was called at Dulal Smriti School and this voter ID card was given to me. I saw the photo. The officer there signed and gave it to me but he didn't see the photo. This is playing with my dignity. I will go to the BDO office and request that this should not happen again.



However, my basic question is who is keeping images of dogs in folders for the human database? We all love scrolling through doggo videos and images on social media but this is on another level!

The department also later gave its statement citing this mistake was already corrected, It's not his final voter ID card. If there is a mistake, it'll be corrected. As far as the dog's photo is concerned, it might have been done by someone while filling an online application. The photo has already been corrected. He'll get the final ID card with the correct photo.

People on social media shared their own plight and turns out such errors are common for our dear government agencies.

WTH.

these voter ID makers are rubbish.

They always make mistakes.

I also faced tthe problem.

They wrote diff name diff DOB inspite of providing documents.  J. K. UPADHYAY (@Chandra70358835) March 4, 2020

We applied for a correction in our voter ID- a couple of years ago. Elaborate process, took forever, guy came home, asked us to double check spelling etc. They came back with errors- different errors. Tiny ones. But still INCORRECT!  Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) March 5, 2020

Can the aam aadmi be saved from this trolling? What does the picture of the dog signify anyway? A certified  good boy ?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
This much is now clear: the next president of the United States of America will be an old white man.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This much is now clear: the next president of the United States of America will be an old white man.

With the much-ballyhooed "Super Tuesday" cavalcade of primary elections and caucuses in 14 states now decided, the field of legitimate contenders for the Democratic Partys 2020 presidential nomination has effectively been reduced to two: Bernie Sanders, 78, and Joe Biden, 77.

The current U.S. president, Donald Trump, is 73.

Former-vice president Joe Bidens Tuesday was, indeed, super. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / The Associated Press)

What remains to be seen, then, is which type of old white man Americans will prefer as their commander in chief: the old-school Democrat seeking to unite his party through compromise, common sense and situational combativeness, the radical-left independent whos not actually a Democrat, and who proposes a revolutionary shift toward a more socialist America, or the populist incumbent who in four short years has upended the American political establishment and forced the Republican Party to essentiallly abandon its traditional values in expedient support of a president whose cult-of-personality power can make a casualty of any elected Republican who dares to question or oppose him.

It did seem, for a short while, that Americans might see a ballot with a bit more demographic diversity. At the outset of the Democratic nomination race, the overcrowded roster of presidential hopefuls on the left of the political spectrum included young and old, male and female, straight and gay; the first Democratic debate resembled a true rainbow coalition, with a dozen-plus distinctive candidates vying for the publics attention.

From the get-go, Mr. Sanders  who had maintained his focus on 2020 after losing the bitterly contested 2016 nomination to Hillary Clinton  was the presumptive frontrunner. Mr. Bidens decision to enter the race came reluctantly, driven by a realization that his party needs a credible and non-radical Democrat at the top of the ticket to take a legitimate run at unseating Mr. Trump.

Bit by bit, the rainbow tapestry unravelled as the diverse Democrats fell by the wayside. Most recently, after last weeks South Carolina primary was won by Mr. Biden, former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar dropped out in advance of Tuesdays big vote.

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On Wednesday, billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg  a late entry in the Democratic contest who had strategically skipped the early primaries and focused all his efforts (and a big chunk of his half-billion-dollar advertising expenditure) on the Super Tuesday states  ended his candidacy after a particularly dismal showing.

As of Wednesday, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren remained in the race, despite having won no state primaries so far and only accumulating a few dozen delegates to support her. With a platform that seems caught between the radical-change agenda of Mr. Sanders and the mainstream-Democrat sensibility of Mr. Biden, Ms. Warrens presidential aspiration has dead-ended.

In the aftermath of Super Tuesday, which saw the formerly struggling Mr. Biden ride the wave of last weeks South Carolina triumph to victory in at least nine more states, it suddenly seems more likely that the main event in Novembers U.S. election will be Trump vs. Biden rather than Trump vs. Sanders. The momentum now belongs to the erstwhile V.P.

The ever-bombastic Mr. Sanders will fight on, but his failure to win widespread support among African American voters will likely have sealed his fate by the time the Democratic National Convention finalizes the nominee selection in July.

Come November, Americans will choose between two candidates who, despite both being old white men, couldnt possibly be more different.
A gang allegedly involved in battery theft in south Delhi has been busted with the arrest of four persons, police said on Thursday.

According to the police, a total of 128 stolen batteries, most of which are used in set top boxes to provide Internet service, have been seized from them.

The matter came to light after an Internet service provider firm filed a complaint with the police that some batteries installed at their office in Safdarjung Enclave have been stolen.

Following this, an investigation was initiated and Guddu Gautam, Lal Bacchan, Arun Kumar and Akram were arrested. With this, seven cases of battery theft have been solved, police said.

While Gautam and Bacchan were nabbed from Safdarjung Enclave on Tuesday, the rest were arrested from Okhla Industrial area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Devender Arya said.

"During interrogation, it was revealed that Gautam and Kumar used to worker at the company and had left their jobs two years ago. Later, they along with Bachhan formed a gang and indulged in battery theft in south Delhi," he said, adding the trio used to sell the stolen batteries to Akram.

Apart from the stolen batteries, the vehicle used in commission of the crimes have been impounded, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The race has come down to a battle between these two men: Getty

If Bernie Sanders was starting to have doubts he was not displaying them. Tonight I tell you with absolute confidence: We are going to win the Democratic nomination, he told supporters in Vermont on Tuesday night, his face fixed into a frown. We're going to win because the people understand it is our campaign, our movement, which is best positioned to defeat Trump

He added: You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics.

Yet millions of people on Tuesday night disagreed with the Vermont senator. While polls in California continue to be counted, we know at least 4,477,262 voted for the same old kind of politics on Super Tuesday when they cast their ballots for Joe Biden, handing him at least 433 delegates.

By contrast, Sanders, who had gone into the race as the de facto frontrunner after wins in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, received the 3,647,154 votes, bringing his delegate hall to 380.

It may be, by the time the counting is done, the 78-year-old Sanders emerges with a similar delegate haul to the 77-year-old Biden. What is beyond doubt is the momentum lies with the younger man.

On Wednesday morning, Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who spent $500m of his own money to insert himself into the democratic process, said he was dropping out and endorsed the former vice president. I've always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it, he said. After yesterdays vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.

By contrast, while there is pressure on progressive Elizabeth Warren to end her campaign, it is unclear if she would endorse Sanders, Biden or neither.

The battle for the nomination is far from over. There are many more states to vote. Is there anything Sanders could do to stop the surge of the centrist establishment politician many of his supporters have little time for?

The issue has always been about electability and that is because of Donald Trump, said Jeanne Zaino, Professor of Political Science at Iona College in New York.There was a realisation among many Democrats that for all his flaws Joe Biden was probably the best chance. But certainly Bernie Sanders was not a viable option for beating Trump.

Story continues

She added The more Trump tweeted about Bernie being robbed it became clear he does not want to run against Biden.

Ms Zaino said Mr Sanders could try to expand his appeal by diluting some of the policies many believe to be too progressive - Medicare For All and free college education - but that he is unlikely to do so.

Those things he wont do and because of that its going to hurt him in terms of getting the nomination, and even if he gets it he wont win in those swing states that decide to hold their nose and vote for Trump, she said. Its just not possible.

Data collated by Politico suggests Biden won the support of large swatches of the electorate, as he claiming victory in ten states, compared to four for Sanders.

A week ago in South Carolina, Biden managed to secure 61 per cent of the American American vote. On Super Tuesday he repeated similar figures in North Carolina (62 per cent, Alabama (70 per cent) and even Virginia.

It said while Sanders won college-educated white Democrats in Vermont and two states with significant early voting, California and Colorado, Biden swept at least nine other states among that group of voters.

Meanwhile, Biden won non-college-educated white voters in eight Super Tuesday states, compared with four for Sanders. Politico said many of Sanders strongest performances were in places where early voting took place.

As a result, they may have failed to reflect the major shake-up that followed Bidens landslide win in South Carolina last weekend, which in turn led Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to drop out and back Biden.

On his plus side, Sanders continued to secure the support of younger voters and Latinos, two groups that helped him win his own blow out in Nevada last month. Yet, those people did not turn out in enough numbers to win Texas, a huge, diverse state and the second most sought-after win in terms of delegates, other than Texas.

Sanders has consistently promised hed expand the Democratic electorate by motivating millions of young people and new voters to show up at the polls. It hasnt happened, said Larry Sabato, professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

And if it hasnt happened now, its unlikely to occur in a general election after he has a billion dollars of negative ads dropped on him by the Trump campaign.

Asked whether Sanders was capable of diluting his stance on issues such as universal health care, he said: Sanders cant afford to compromise on Medicare for All. I doubt hes going to pull back from much of anything.

On Wednesday, Sanders not appear to be backing down.

In comments to supporters in Vermont, but directed at Biden, he said a presidential campaign funded by the rich could not produce president who put working people first

Are you on the side of working people, and are you willing to stand up against the greed and corruption of the corporate elite, he said.

Or are you on the side of the billionaires and corporations that are trying to buy the election?

Read more

Can Bernie Sanders turn Texas socialist?

Bernie Sanders appeals to my blue-collar, Korean immigrant mother

I watched Bernie get defeated once. This year, it could be much worse

Sanders won Colorado, but the real story is Biden's resurgence

Clinton adviser tells Bernie Sanders: No-one wants a revolution
NEW YORK, NY, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- iQSTEL Inc. (OTC: IQST) announced today it has signed an investment banking agreement with a leading New York-based investment banking firm to assist in sourcing capital. The investment banking firm was founded in the early 1980s, is a full-service broker/dealer. The firm has nearly 150 retail brokers in ten offices across the East Coast.



iQSTEL has retained the investment banking firm as placement agent and financial advisor for up to $25 million for 5G infrastructure acquisitions and investments. The Company must meet various terms and conditions which it believes are reasonable and attainable.

5G telecommunications networks are growing rapidly across the globe. Allied Marketing Research estimates the 5G market size will surpass $5.5B for 2020 with a CAGR of 122% from 2021 to 2026. iQSTEL is well positioned throughout Latin America and Europe to take full advantage of this growing industry.

The Company's chairman and chief executive officer, Leandro Iglesias, said, "We are pleased to establish this relationship with such a prestigious firm, which validates our business plan. We expect the assistance of this well-established investment banker which will accelerate our growth. We have launched an aggressive acquisition program, beginning due diligence on several acquisition targets.

About iQSTEL Inc.:

iQSTEL (OTC: IQST) www.iQSTEL.com is a technology company offering a wide array of services to the Telecommunications Industry. These include services to International Long-Distance Telecommunications Operators (ILD Wholesale), Retail and Corporate markets (ILD Retail), Submarine Fiber Optic Network capacity, Satellite Communications services, Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services, Internet of Things (IoT) technology solutions, Data Center facilities capacity leasing, and Blockchain solutions for the Telecommunications industry.

About Etelix.com USA, LLC:

Etelix.com USA LLC www.etelix.com is wholly owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. Etelix.com USA, LLC is a Miami, Florida-based international telecom carrier founded in 2008 that provides telecom and technology solutions worldwide, with commercial presence in North America, Latin America, and Europe. Enabled by its 214-license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Etelix provides International Long-Distance voice services for Telecommunications Operators (ILD Wholesale), and Submarine Fiber Optic Network capacity for internet (4G and 5G). Etelix was founded in 2008 and has been profitable since inception.

About SwissLink Carrier AG:

SwissLink Carrier AG www.swisslink-carrier.com is a 51% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. SwissLink Carrier AG is a Switzerland based international Telecommunications Carrier founded in 2015 providing international VoIP connectivity worldwide, with commercial presence in Europe, CIS and Latin America. SwissLink Carrier AG is a Swiss licensed Operator, having a domestic Interconnect with Swisscom, allowing their international Carrier Customers direct terminations via SwissLink into all Switzerland Fix & Mobile Networks. Since the takeover from Swissphone in November 2018 and the rename into SwissLink, they operate on a profitable level.

About QGlobal SMS LLC.:

QGlobal SMS LLC www.qglobalsms.com is a 51% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. QGlobal SMS is a USA based company founded in 2020 specialized in international and domestic SMS termination, with emphasis on the Applications to Person (A2P) and Person to Person (P2P) for Wholesale Carrier Market and Corporate Market in US. QGlobal SMS has commercial presence in Europe, USA and Latin America. QGlobal SMS has robust international interconnection with Tier1 SMS Aggregators, guarantying its customers high quality and low termination rates, over more than 100 countries worldwide.

About itsBchain LLC.:

itsBchain LLC www.itsBchain.com is a 75% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. itsBchain is a blockchain technology developer and solution provider, with a strong focus on the telecom sector. The company is the final stage of development of a series of blockchain solutions aimed at using the blockchain ledger and smart contract solutions to enable more efficiency, quickness in execution and fraud-prevention in the telco industry. Specifically, the company is developing a solution that will enable users and carriers to transfer mobile phone numbers with just a few clicks, allowing users and carriers the ability to transfer retail users from one mobile carrier to another instantly. Additionally, the company is finalizing a carrier-grade marketplace solution to procure payments between carriers for cross-traffic of VoIP, SMS and data realtime as traffic is crossed between carriers. This marketplace will allow for instant payment settlement as well as the prevention of fraud between carriers.

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.

iQSTEL Inc.

IR US Phone: 646-740-0907, IR Email: investors@iqstel.com

Source: iQSTEL Inc.
The new coronavirus knows no national borders or social boundaries. That doesnt mean that social boundaries dont exist.

En route to Paris, Gwyneth Paltrow wrote on Instagram last week, beneath a shot of herself on an airplane heading to Paris Fashion Week and wearing a black face mask. Ive already been in this movie, she added, referring to her role in the 2011 disease thriller Contagion. Stay safe.

Ms. Paltrow did not pose with just any mask, unlike, say, Kate Hudson and Bella Hadid, who also recently posted selfies wearing cheaper, disposable masks. The Goop founder and influencer of influencers instead opted for a sleek urban air mask by a Swedish company, Airinum, which features five layers of filtration and an ultrasmooth and skin-friendly finish.

Never mind that the surgeon general, Jerome M. Adams, begged people to refrain from indulging in mask mania on Twitter last weekend. Priced from $69 to $99, the Airinum mask, which has been popping up on Instagram stylistas, is sold out on its website until April. (The MoMA Design Store, which carried the mask, is also sold out.)
Joe Giudice wants his daughter Gia to know he is thinking about her.

The estranged husband of Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice got the new ink on his chest, he revealed on Instagram.

'Alright Gia, I just want you to know that Im doing this because of you,' wrote the star who was in prison for three years for fraud. 'This hurts and I hate it.'

Ouch: Joe Giudice wants his daughter Gia to know he is thinking about her. The estranged husband of Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice got the new ink on his chest, he revealed on Instagram

Birds: 'Alright Gia, I just want you to know that Im doing this because of you,' wrote the star who was in prison for three years for fraud. 'This hurts and I hate it'

The tattoo seemed to be of an eagle flying with wings high above his head. The bird was inside a larger bird.

His 19-year-old eldest daughter left a comment for her dad, who moved to Italy to be with family after being held in ICE in the US.

'Looks so good,' the teenager commented underneath.

When he was getting the tattoo he looked calm but he said it really hurt. In the background he played Bohemian Rhapsody.

His second caption read: 'This is it Gia hope you like it. I got this to symbolize that I will always be my girls because it flies higher than any other.

'I want to give them strength to mount up with wings as eagles, they shall always run and not be spent. My girls will always be powerful and courageous women.

'I promise to look over you as strength and shield them from. Daddy loves you forever.'

Now covered up: The reality TV sensation was also seen in a black Balmain T-shirt as she was on the same chair with the same purse; her ex added a comment

He can't let go: And her ex noticed as he added four fire emojis in her comment box

In addition to Gia he has Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 11.

This comes after he added sweet messages for his ex Teresa when she was in Miami.

He added four fire emojis in her comment box in a shot where she had on a Balmain T-shirt over her swimsuit.

The TV vet looked incredible in the unforgiving suit that showed off not just her chest but also her small waistline and toned legs.

The former prisoner had on tinted sunglasses with her long raven hair worn down over one bare shoulder.

There were gold bracelets on her arm as she flashed a fresh French manicure.

New body: The 47-year-old siren was showing them off in a plunging black-and-gold one-piece swimsuit here

Next to her was a silver purse that had butterflies on the front from designer De Vesi.

The reality TV sensation was also seen in a black Balmain T-shirt as she was on the same chair with the same purse. Her caption read, 'Feeling Miami Heat.'

His fire emojis are not new.

He did the same for a photo she shared on the carpet at the Paws 4 charity gala on Saturday night.

Joe shared five fire emojis and one rose emoji in one of the first comments on her post.

Failed: Just one day after admitting he 'failed' in his 20-year marriage to Teresa, Joe left some flirty emojis on Teresa's Instagram whens he was at Paws 4 in Miami on Saturday

Flirty: Joe, 47, responded with five fire emojis and one rose emoji in one of the first comments on her post

Teresa did not respond to her ex-husband's comment, but other fans did, with one, xo_alley_p stating she hopes they 'find your way back to each other.'

'One way or another, you will always be in each others lives. You both did an amazing job raising those 4 beautiful daughters. Stay positive, and keep loving,' she said.

The flirty comment comes as Giudice reflected on his marriage to Teresa, which lasted from 1999 to 2019 when Joe was deported to his home country of Italy.

Marriage: The flirty comment comes as Giudice reflected on his marriage to Teresa, which lasted from 1999 to 2019 when Joe was deported to his home country of Italy

'No matter how much energy and time I devoted to trying it failed. I did my best and put all efforts into making this a great experience for my family,' Joe began.

I did try to address issues in the relationship that bothered me throughout the years in return portrayed it as Criticism! My key role was to always to be a great father and husband not the (male symbol),' he added.

Today, I cant allow others to keep lingering toxins and undesirable demands around me. I choose to have a solid foundation with strong and inspiring people around me in IT,' he concluded.

Energy: 'No matter how much energy and time I devoted to trying it failed. I did my best and put all efforts into making this a great experience for my family,' Joe began

Joe's post comes just days after Wednesday night's Season 10 finale of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

The episode followed Teresa and their four daughters visiting Joe in Sala Consilina, Italy, where he's been living as he waits for an appeal on his deportation decision.

'I mean, we've got 20 years in our marriage,' he told her after hinting that he hoped they'd sleep together that night.

Finale: Joe's post comes just days after Wednesday night's Season 10 finale of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

But Teresa said they haven't been together in four years and it would be 'weird' with Joe adding that was the 'Aha' moment he knew the relationship is over.

'A lot's happened. We live in two different countries,' she said, though the two ended their evening with a hug.

Joe also confirmed that he and his family are safe after an outbreak of the Coronavirus in Italy.

As far as her breast job, Teresa talked about it earlier this year on social media.

'10 Years after my first Breast Augmentation I decided to have my breasts re-done. I am so thankful for Dr. Preminger @premingermd.... I was very nervous to re-do my breasts, but I felt it was necessary for me to feel like my best self,' said the star.

She added, 'I believe its important to always stand strong and feel like your best most confident self.'

And the TV vet also said: 'I encourage anyone who doesnt feel their best self to work on feeling better. Even if it is the smallest thing every day. If it is something that requires cosmetic surgery to feel better I highly recommend Dr. Preminger @premingermd, and could not be happier with the results. I felt like she understood me, and really made me feel comfortable.

'I am grateful to have had such a professional approach.'
Photos: Rhett Butler

Dr. Oneil Harris grew up in Jamaica, which he said sparked an early interest in economics.

Harris has degrees in both economics and finance, and varied research interests that include everything from corporate social responsibility to the effect of tariffs on U.S. and global stocks.

PIRATE PRIDE

Dr. Oneil Harris, associate professor in the Department of Finance at East Carolina University, had one word to describe his youth growing up in Kingston, Jamaica - "interesting."However, that "interesting" life that included growing up in a single-parent household after his father left when Harris was 4 years old shaped the man and professor he is today.Harris said.Harris left Jamaica for Florida Atlantic University and knew exactly what he wanted to study.he said.He obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and then went to get his doctoral degree.Harris said.Harris has been teaching at ECU for 11 years.he said.That interest is displayed in an annual trip the students take to the New York Stock Exchange.Harris said.Harris said the world of business and finance changes often, generating questions from his students.he said.He said those changes can often create research ideas as well, such as examining the effect proposed and implemented tariffs had on U.S. and global stocks.he said.He's looked at everything from corporate social responsibility to CEO compensation. One research project he was involved in focused on the differences between male and female managers.Harris said.As a professor in finance, Harris said some people approach him with questions about specific stocks.he said.He said those who save their money have time on their side, as that money will compound to produce more - which isn't exactly a bad thing in what he called the unpredictable world of business, economics and finance.he said, adding with a smile,11 years
Vienna (Austria), March 05, 2020 (SPS) - Saharawi activist Hayat Haimuda held important meetings with European parliamentarians, political party leaders and humanitarian organizations in the framework of her working visit to Austria, with the presence of the Saharawi representative in Austria Mohamed Mamun Ahmed Brahim.

Activist Hayat struggling to break the silence about what is happening in the occupied areas of Western Sahara was invited by the Austrian Association of Solidarity with the Saharawi people.

During her tour in Austria she was received by parliamentarians, both European and national, mayors and vice mayors, as well as leaders of political parties and humanitarian organizations and institutes for international dialogue.

She had the opportunity to give interviews to several Austrian journalists. breifing his interlocutors the disastrous situation experienced by the Saharawi population in the territories occupied by Morocco "we live in a closed jail," said the activist.

After 44 years of occupation there is still no University in the Occupied Zones, and the few Saharawis who access a university have to go to Agadir, Marrakech, Casablanca or Rabat. We do not have hospitals with specialists. Any Saharawi lawyer who defends the right of self-determination of his people is not enrolled in Moroccan law schoolssaid Hayat.

"Whoever defends human rights, freedom of expression, the right to education, to housing, to work, to health care is arrested, imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to prison terms," said the Saharawi activist. .

"I was imprisoned for 6 months when I was 14 years old, and today there are several minors imprisoned by the Moroccan authorities just for participating in peaceful demonstrations in support of the right to self-determination," he said.SPS

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In a filing this week, attorneys for Audible and the seven plaintiff publishers for the first time publicly shared the final terms of their settlement agreement to end the litigation over Audible's Captions program. The unsealed agreement confirmed that Audible has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to each of the plaintiff publishers and the Association of American Publishers as part of closing the litigation, which was previously known.

After twice being rebuffed by judge Valerie Caproni, who insisted on more public transparency regarding the settlement's final terms, the parties ultimately chose to redact only the amounts to be paid to the seven plaintiff publishers and the AAP by Audible (redactions that were expressly approved by Caproni) while making the rest of the terms open to the public.

The release of the settlement comes after Caproni on February 26 gave the parties something of an ultimatum: make the terms more transparent or move on without the court retaining jurisdiction over parts of the deal. The public release of the settlement and other related documents now paves now the way for Caproni to sign off on an agreed upon final injunction restraining Audible from including AAP member works in Captions without permission, and to retain jurisdiction over the related settlement agreement, which the parties had initially sought to have sealed.

Now that its public, it's still not clear why the parties sought to keep the settlement terms private in the first place, other than the fact that NDAs and confidentiality agreements have become the default for Audible's parent company, Amazon. Beyond the revelation of the settlement containing payments from Audible, the settlement is brief, and its 18 terms are simple, standard, and straightforward.

A February 6 letter, initially filed under seal but also made public this week, sheds a little light on the parties unsuccessful bid to persuade Caproni to seal the agreement.

"The parties make this request to seal the Agreement because the parties negotiated and entered into the Agreement based upon the expectation it would remain confidential, [and] it contains confidential settlement terms between Audible and the AAP, a non-party," the letter states, adding that the release of the proposed final injunction was sufficient for the public to understand the case and the major beats of its resolution.

In a subsequent February 21st letter (also made public this week) the parties did manage to convince the judge to keep the settlement payment amounts confidential, arguing that disclosure of the payment amounts "may create the impression that the settlement amount reflects the monetary values of the claims, which is not true."

 In a February 6 letter, the parties told Caproni they 'may not have been able to settle the case without the expectation of confidentiality.' 

Perhaps the one minor surprise in the settlement agreement: paragraph 11, which Caproni had specifically called out in her February 26 order as being needlessly redacted, and which essentially gags the parties, limiting both sides to giving the public only the short statement that was shared by the AAP on February 7.

The release of settlement and related documents should mark the last act for case. First filed in August of 2019 by seven publishers (including all of the Big Five, plus Scholastic and Chronicle Books), the initial suit claimed that Audibles proposed Captions program, which scrolls a few words of an AI-generated transcription alongside an audiobooks narration in the Audible app, amounted to blatant copyright infringement, by turning licensed audio into unlicensed text.

In response, Audible officials argued that the Captions program was designed to enhance the audio experience, and was protected by fair use. At a September 27 hearing, however, Caproni appeared highly skeptical of Audible's fair use defense.

Meanwhile, the Captions program never launched, and in fact never even had a public launch date. Audible officials have also confirmed to PW that there are no plans to expand to the program beyond its current pilot, which is limited to public domain works for a select group of high school students. And, in a message to IBPA executive director Angela Bole, an Audible attorney last week reiterated that if the Captions program were to expand, Audible would clear permission for all works under copyright, not just AAP members' works, before including them in the program.

UPDATE: On March 6, Judge Valerie Caproni signed off on the final injunction.
Germany Unites: and Gaming in Germany Ushers in a New Era in Frankfurt

Published March 5, 2020 by Lee R

Gaming in Germany is positioned to provide all the vital information about Germany's new iGaming market and model.

Top local and international iGaming experts are descending on the Gaming in Germany conference to discuss the landmark new State Treaty--in advance of what long-awaited regulation in Europe's largest jurisdiction.

The Approval

Germany's 16 federal states are scheduled to convene on March 12th to approve the new State Treaty on Gambling, which welcomes nationwide online gambling for July 1, 2021.

The Conference

Less than a fortnight later on March 24th to 25th, Gaming in Germany will take place at Steigenberger Airport Hotel in Frankfurt International Airport to follow up on the booming momentum of the approval of the country's first iGaming regulatory framework.

Diverse Expertise

The Gaming in Germany Conference will feature both local and international experts.

Local Experts

Local experts sharing vital insights include Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV)

Senior Policy Adviser Dr. Bastian Scholz; Melchers Law Firm Head of Gaming and Betting Law Practice Dr. Jorg Hofmann; Melchers Law Firm Senior Lawyer Dr. Holger Jakob; sportcampo GmbH MD Frank Hesse; and IDnow Head of Regulatory Affairs Rayissa Manning Armata.

International Experts

International experts to provide vital external context for the proceedings include

EGBA Secretary General Maarten Haijer; Playtech Chief Policy Officer and former Head of Remote Gaming at Italian regulatory authority ADM Francesco Rodano; Stadtcasino Baden Group Online Gaming Leader and CFO Marcel Tobler; Better Collective A/S CEO and Co-founder Jesper Sgaard; and Assissa CEO and Study of Gambling EASG CEO Secretary General Pieter Remmers.

Agenda Highlights

The full conference agenda has been announced and is available at the event website.

Highlights include a kickoff mixer Tuesday, March 24th with business drinks and an official Conference Dinner; followed the next day by a full assortment of high-level sessions.

Some Presentations

Some presentations include Dr. Hofmann's keynote on Gambling Reform in Germany; Mr. Rodano's keynote on Gambling Reform in Germany from a Global Perspective; Dr. Scholz' discussion on the Past, Present, and Future of the Remote Gaming Industry in Germany; Dr. Jakob's Betting on eSports and the IMG Masterclass led jointly by Mr. Haijer & Dr. Hofmann.

Outlook

With registration still open for this landmark occasion, the opportunity to attend is clearly a hot ticket item and a chance to seize a significant portion of iGaming's future in Europe.
Mango lands in the Asian paradise. The Spanish fashion retailer opened its first store in Maldives. The new stores of Mango opened its doors in one of the most commercial streets of Male, the capital of the country, and has an area of 285 square meters.

With this new opening, Mango continues its expansion throughout the Asian continent, where it is already present in 27 countries. Mangos first store in the Maldives has adopted a new concept design.

In addition to the Maldives store, in Asia Mango has stores in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, among others. The company ended 2018 with a revenue of 2.2 billion euros (2.5 billion dollars), 1.8% more than in 2017. The gross operating result (Ebitda) stood at 135 million euros (150 million dollars), 17% more than in 2017, when it earned 115 million euros (128 million dolars).
The presidents budget proposal includes the repeal of Medicaids IMD (Institutes for Medical Diseases) exclusion, a Johnson-era policy that withholds federal Medicaid monies from residential adult psychiatric facilities with 16 or more beds. In 1965, Congress incorporated the exclusion in the seminal Medicaid statute for two distinct purposes: first, to honor the spirit of the late John Kennedys 1963 Community Mental Health Act, which called for the large-scale depopulation of American asylums, and second, to ensure that states retained a role in funding those state mental hospitals, whose maintenance had been a state responsibility for more than a century. The results of this and other deinstitutionalization policies are no doubt familiar to readers here: the explosion of homelessness, the surging incidence of mental illness in jails and prisons, sporadic cases of mass violence. But other outcomes, such as the psychiatric boarding crisis of psychiatric patients languishing in emergency rooms, or the takeover of state hospitals by the criminally insane, are less obvious to a disinterested observer.

Support for the proposed repeal of the IMD exclusion runs the gamut from contributors to the Wall Street Journal through the New York Daily News editorial board, but critics have crawled out of the woodwork to defend the exclusion as the only thing standing between the mentally ill and the snake pit asylums of old. With the homelessness crisis at a fever pitch and mental-health policy very much in the news, I asked Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, the founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center and the author of four books about psychiatry and mental-health policy in the United States, to discuss the state of our national mental-health system in light of the presidents proposal. Remarks are edited for clarity.

John Hirschauer: Im sure youre familiar with the Penrose hypothesis  the British psychiatrist Lionel Penroses theory that there is an inverse relationship between the rate of incarceration, and the size of asylums and psychiatric hospitals. In 2013, Steven Raphael and Michael Stoll released a study in the Journal of Legal Studies, which is often cited by civil libertarians and other deinstitutionalization proponents. The study estimates that the large decline in state-hospital populations over the past 70 years has accounted for only 47 percent of the concomitant increase in incarceration. Do you dispute that estimate?

Story continues

Dr. E. Fuller Torrey: Im not familiar with that particular paper. But the increase of the number of mentally ill people in jails and prisons, by all measures that Ive seen, has been much, much higher and has pretty much paralleled the deinstitutionalization movement. I started following this in the early 1980s, when I first wrote on the subject. During the 1980s, about 5 percent of people in jails and prisons  especially jails, at that time  were mentally ill. A decade later it was 10 percent, a decade later it was 15 percent, and today its not unusual for 20 to 25 percent of prisoners in a correctional facility to have a mental illness. So theres been a very close parallel between the numbers of patients who have been emptied out of the hospitals and the increase in the number of mentally ill estimated to be in jails and prisons. In two or three of my books, I mentioned the first person who was looking at this phenomenon in early 1980s. He looked at the number of mentally ill in the  I think it was in San Jose, Santa Clara, or San Mateo jail. I forgot which one. In any case, he had been a resident with me at Stanford, just a year ahead of me. He was the first one I could find who actually said, Hey, look whats going on. You just emptied these folks out of the state hospital, and now theyre all appearing in jail.

Locally, I have volunteered at the shelters for many years and have followed the situation in D.C. A couple of my nursing staff who had been working on the ward at St. Elizabeths [Hospital] with me, I later saw them, and they told me that they had gone to work for the jail system. They said, You know, its not very hard, because were seeing the same patients.

JH: Yeah. I wanted to ask you about that, too. You said you volunteered and spent some time with the homeless, and particularly people who have mental illness  serious mental illness  and are homeless. I think most people are aware, at least instinctively, of the relationship between homelessness and serious mental illness. From your experience, can you expound upon the relationship between the two?

FT: I was involved in one of the very first studies that tried to estimate the incidence of mental illness among the homeless. Back in the 1980s, I did a study jointly with a colleague  I think we were probably the second or third published study on this subject. I was working at St. Elizabeths at the time, and I also started volunteering in the womens shelters in Washington back in the early 1980s. During my final years on the wards at St. Elizabeths, I was also volunteering twice a month at the womens shelters. I can tell you that I was seeing the same people who had been at St. Elizabeths  some of them on my ward  who were then discharged and then stopped taking their medication. Then they would turn up homeless. When I would go to the shelters, I would think, I already know this woman, I took care of her when she was in the hospital. So it was no great mystery. They were in the hospital, they were discharged, they stopped taking their medication, they ended up homeless and in the shelters.

JH: Can you speak a little bit more about your time at St. Elizabeths? How long did you spend at the hospital? What did you learn, and what experiences struck you most in your time there?

FT: I started at St. Elizabeths in January 1977. I had worked at NIMH [National Institute of Mental Health] in 1970, and then spent a year at the Indian Health Service in Alaska. When I came back from the Indian Health Service in 1976, I decided that I was not going to stay at NIMH indefinitely. I was already involved in research on schizophrenia at the time and had developed ideas about infectious agents as being possible causes of the disease. So I decided I would go work at St. Elizabeths, which at that time was still under the control of NIMH and the federal government. It was later transferred to the district government. Ultimately, I called the head of St. Elizabeths and said, Id like to come over and work in the wards, just as a ward doc. He was very happy to oblige.

I told him that I would like to do research on my patients, and he said that would be fine. So I went to work in January 1977 and worked there continuously until 1986, at which time I had completed my 20 years of public-health service and retired. I was there on the wards for about eight years, and in that time, I started one division, and they made me the director of another division  I eventually had 12 wards, about 260 employees, and about the same number of patients under me for several of those years.

It was a very rich experience. I learned a lot about mental illness in a way that you can only learn if you take care of the patients. I also did a lot of research  I got very much involved in research at that time. It was a very defining experience for me because it really got me deeply involved, both clinically and research-wise, in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which were the two diseases that most of my patients had.

JH: What do you say to people who claim that the current failures of deinstitutionalization are not a product of having emptied the hospitals  except for the forensic patients committed after criminal behavior? The real problem, they claim, is that we dont invest enough in so-called community services. Were the problems that followed mass deinstitutionalization inherent to the policy, or did it fail because we didnt set up suitable community options?

FT: Theres no question that most people who were in the hospitals, before we started deinstitutionalization, could live successfully in the community if you provided the ongoing services for them in the community. There is no question about that. On the other hand, there is a core group of mentally ill people who could not live in the community, who are just too chronically, psychiatrically disabled. Its important to recognize that deinstitutionalization was not for everyone. It was for the majority of patients, but not for everyone. You need a core number of chronic beds for people who actually cant make it in the community, and you need the beds  as we still do today  for the people who need to be re-hospitalized and stabilized. And so, the Bazelon Center approach  basically saying Close down all the beds  is absolutely absurd. If youve ever taken care of these patients, you know that its absurd.

JH: You mentioned the Bazelon Center, which opposes most forms of involuntary treatment  do you think that there is any room for compromise between people at the Treatment Advocacy Center, an organization that you founded, and a place like Bazelon? Or do you think that your visions of psychiatry and mental-health policy are just irreconcilable?

FT: I think it is probably irreconcilable. I have suggested several times that if the Bazelon people would all volunteer to work at a public shelter, and work on the wards, and actually see what is wrong with these people, then I think we could come to a compromise. But its really  the Bazelon Center is an outgrowth of the movement that Bruce Ennis, who is now deceased, started in his book. He said that our goal  as he saw it  is to close down all hospitals and not have anyone ever involuntarily admitted. Its a very strong ideological belief among some people that the mentally ill should not be treated involuntarily, and that whatever treatment they do receive should be voluntary. I dont have any great hope that in my lifetime Ill see any kind of compromise.

JH: How do you respond to critics who claim that schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses, while they may have a biological component, cannot be identified with foolproof medical tests and therefore that psychiatrists should not have the power to involuntarily treat people whose conditions they cant diagnose with certainty?

FT: Id say its a position that I understand in theory, but if I am the person who is mentally ill, I wouldnt want someone to leave me on the street. I would want someone to take care of me. If I have anosognosia [the inability to recognize a disorder that is clinically evident], then I dont even understand that I am mentally ill  and there is good biological basis to show that brains of people with schizophrenia, who have anosognosia, are different from those who dont. So, no, we dont have a definitive test. We dont have a blood test yet that we can give to say, Yes, this person has schizophrenia. But clinically speaking, 95 percent of people with schizophrenia, theres just no question of what they have. Its not a mystery. Its very clear from their symptoms, and the fact that they dont understand that theyre sick. You can show that the brains of people who have anosognosia are different from those who have an understanding of their illness. So Im not very sympathetic to people who say, Until we have a blood test, you shouldnt do anything. I think that absurd.

JH: Branching out a bit here to forensic psychiatry  how do you feel about psychiatry and its role in judging an offenders culpability? How do you feel about forensic psychiatry, and its ability to aid in those decisions?

FT: I spent my last year and a half at St. Elizabeths in the forensic division, so Ive had some experience with these issues. My answer would be that I feel pretty good about forensic psychiatry. Its not perfect, but its pretty good. Especially some of the competent forensic psychiatrists that I work with and have known over the years. You get situations where people who are mentally ill commit crimes that are not related to their mental illness. I had a patient like this once  I had taken care of her on the civil side of St. Elizabeths for several years and had taken care of her brother, also. I knew the family very well. She shot and killed her husband one night; she was just sick and tired of being abused by him. I was not involved in the case at that point, but I thought, This woman may well have shot and killed her husband even if she didnt have schizophrenia. Thats an example of a crime that was committed by someone with schizophrenia, but not because of their schizophrenia. But that case is very much an exception. I think the ability of a forensic psychiatrist to take a reasonable guess as to the relationship between the serious mental illness and the crime is pretty good.

JH: How do you respond to people who say that the fact that two forensic psychiatrists  one for the defense, one for the prosecution  can sometimes come to different assessments of the defendants culpability at the moment of the alleged crime? Does that undermine the forensic psychiatrists claim that he has a relevant role to play in the legal process?

FT: Oh, sure. Forensic psychiatrists run a wide range, just as wide a range as non-forensic psychiatrists do. Some are much better trained than others, some are better psychiatrists than others. I certainly have experience with forensic psychiatrists who I suspected didnt know what they were doing, just as Ive had contact with a number of civil psychiatrists who I dont think know what theyre doing. So yeah, no question, it discredits the field when you get these high-profile shouting matches, disagreements between two forensic psychiatrists in court.

JH: This leads me to another question. You worked at St. Elizabeths for eight years or so?

FT: I worked on the ward for nine years, actually.

JH: Nine years, okay. I volunteer at a large state institution, and Ive been struck at how it has changed over the years. It was built in the early 20th century on a large, rural, patch of land  1,600 acres, more than 100 buildings, and a fully functioning farm. It was a self-sustained little world. Then the deinstitutionalization movement came, and the higher-functioning patients moved out, creating a static population. Now you had this 1,600-acre campus with 100 buildings being used for, you know, 200 patients, and half of the buildings are mothballed. I wonder if you could speak about your time at St. Elizabeths and how things changed over time  particularly as youre on this big, Victorian campus serving a much different purpose from the one for which it was designed.

FT: I was at St. Elizabeths during a transition period. When deinstitutionalization was going on, we were strongly encouraged to empty out the wards. I became aware that we were placing patients  some of the ones who had been there for 30 years or more  we were putting them in nursing homes downtown. I remember a guy who followed up with some of the patients and visited them in these nursing homes. One patient had been placed in a part of Washington that was very crime-ridden, and he couldnt leave the nursing-home building  he would get mugged if he went outside. I realized that we were placing a lot of patients who had been able to walk the grounds of St. Elizabeths, who had a certain social life there  we were putting them in a situation where they actually had less freedom, although they were in the community. Perhaps, by the letter of the law, the patient had been deinstitutionalized, but they were actually worse off.

I had patients who did whatever they had to do to get back into St. Elizabeths. One started a fire in the group home, for example. And while most deinstitutionalized patients were better off, a minority were worse off. And I realized that we were not doing them any favor at all. Deinstitutionalizing them was not in their best interest.

The hospital now  I havent been out there in several years, but half of it has been turned over to the federal government. The other half is still active, but with a lot of empty buildings. It has a very sad quality to it. I grew quite convinced of the fact that there was a small group of patients who are very severely disabled, that living in an asylum really was in their best interest.

JH: You mentioned nursing homes earlier. I read in your book American Psychosis about the sort of dumping that went on, where deinstitutionalized patients were sent to nursing homes, with diagnoses that were not psychiatric in nature, in part because of the IMD exclusion. The IMD exclusion, as you know, prohibits federal Medicaid funding from flowing to residential facilities with 16 or more psychiatric-specific beds. So, I wanted to ask  in the presidents budget, he calls for the repeal of Medicaids IMD exclusion. What do you think that would mean for patients with serious mental illness who need inpatient hospital care?

FT: I think it would improve things. Ive written a lot about the IMD exclusion, especially in a book I published in 1997  Out of the Shadows, where I traced the whole federalization of mental-health policy. You have to remember, back in the 1960s, there was almost no federal money in the state-hospital system. This was a state issue  my calculations showed that about 2 percent of the money that was in the state-hospital system, at that time, was from the federal government. The other 98 percent was state money. Then that changed. I documented how that changed, in Medicaid especially, so that, without really meaning to, we have federalized what had been a state responsibility for 150 years.

The IMD exclusion was passed because people in Washington didnt want to fund the state hospitals. They wanted to fund the outpatients, but they didnt want to fund what had been a state responsibility, so they put the IMD exclusion into the Medicaid bill. Of course, states gamed the system almost immediately and figured out that by closing down the state-hospital beds, they could force the federal government to pay for patients, either on the psych ward of a general hospital, or in the community in other facilities. So the IMD exclusion was an attempt by the federal government to prevent things from becoming completely federalized, but it has created, really, a half-assed system, where states are incentivized to empty those hospitals and shift patients onto federal funding one way or another. At this point, to answer your question, abolishing the IMD exclusion would enable states to make a decision about whether to put the person in the equivalent of a state hospital, or not. And I think that is much more rational.

JH: Is there an equal-and-opposite risk, if you repeal the IMD exclusion (and thereby take state-hospital funding out of states hands), that things will change when another president and other lawmakers come into power someday? People who are perhaps more  I dont want to say progressive, because these issues cross ideological lines, but there tends to be an alliance between civil libertarians and progressives on these issues. If someday the IMD exclusion were to be reinstated, would states lack the appetite to begin funding those hospitals once again?

FT: Thats definitely right. Bernie Sanderss mental health position has been very progressive, in the sense that youre using the word, and much of it is taken right from the Bazelon Center. So the scenario you suggest is not farfetched at all. I think that would be a possibility. The decision in the 60s to federalize what had been a state program was a mistake in this respect. If I could go back to the 1960s and change things, I would have left this in state hands. Theres evidence that states could do a better job overall than federal government on these issues, and Ive never been impressed by the ability of my colleagues here in Washington to figure out how things should be funded. Its too big of a country for that.

But thats all kind of by the board, now  it has already happened. It is federalized now. States are spending as little money as they can. The main job of a state commissioner of mental health  ask any of them, and theyll tell you  their main job is to figure out how they can shift more of the cost to the federal government and away from the states.

JH: The grand narrative about Americas mental-illness policies that we always hear holds that John Kennedy had this great idea, inspired by his sister, Rosemary, who was lobotomized. He wanted to reform or eliminate state hospitals that were, in many cases, snake pits  underfunded, overcrowded, and so forth. In the 1963 Community Mental Health Act, Kennedy comes up with this idea for Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs). The narrative goes that these centers were never properly funded, and, as I mentioned above, that the only reason we have this patchwork system now is that we never fully invested in the Kennedy model. Can you elaborate more on your view of this narrative?

FT: Thats a very popular myth among my colleagues. They love to use it because it ignores the fact that the centers that were funded were failing. I described that in great detail in my book, Nowhere to Go, which was the first book that I wrote about these things. In that book, published in the 1980s, I described in great detail how these mental health centers, which we funded  and we funded over 700 of them!  were not taking care of the people coming out of the hospitals. They were taking care of the worried well, and that was part of the plan from the very beginning. The people who planned the CMHC movement felt that you could prevent schizophrenia if you provided psychotherapy for people while they were young, and that therefore, we wouldnt even need the state hospitals because these people wouldnt get sick in the first place. So the whole basis for the community mental-health centers was flawed from the very beginning. Many well-meaning people were involved in the program; I have a good friend who worked in a CMHC. He will tell you that most of its failures were a money problem, but the data  which I collected at the time and have published  are very clear. Community mental-health centers were not taking care of the people who were coming out of the hospital, who most needed the care. There was very little interest in these patients well-being. It was a flawed system from Day One, but my liberal friends would prefer to believe it was just a question of money, and that Reagan destroyed our mental-health system [by block-granting mental-health funding to the states.] Its just not true.

JH: I know that youve written about your sisters experience with serious mental illness and schizophrenia. Is there one anecdote that sticks out to you as something that motivates you as a psychiatrist and as a public-policy professional?

FT: Im not sure if there is one anecdote. Certainly, I was influenced by my sister  it just seemed wrong what we were doing, as a society. When I see something wrong, I have a habit of talking about it. I think that my time at St. Elizabeths  I was already involved in these things, but my time at St. Elizabeths was very influential because I saw just how sick some people are, what poor care some of them receive, and the consequences of not treating them. I think I captured a lot of this in my first book, Nowhere to Go. By the time I wrote that book, I was volunteering in the shelters in the community, and seeing what happens when you dont provide treatment for people after they are released from the hospital.

JH: In closing, with your years of work in mental-health policy, why do you think people should concern themselves with the plight of the seriously mentally ill, even if they dont know someone who has a serious mental illness?

FT: I think you could you put it either in humanitarian terms or religious terms, but you have to acknowledge some obligation to take care of the people who cannot take care of themselves. The people who I most respect in mental-health work usually come at it from that point of view. If they dont have a family member with serious mental illness, they are involved because they see people who clearly are in need, and they are eager to help. They say a civilization should be judged by how it treats those people who are most in need, and I think thats true.

JH: Dr. Torrey, thank you. Im a great admirer of yours, and thank you for your years of service to  as you say  people who cant take care of themselves.

FT: Youre welcome, John.

More from National Review
KAMPALA  The President of the Republic of Cuba, Mr Miguel Diaz Canel Bermudez, has praised the relations between his country and Uganda.

President Diaz made the remarks on Wednesday while receiving Ugandas Vice President, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi in the Cuban capital, Havana.

The Cuban leader applauded the fraternal historical relations between Cuba and Uganda and thereafter held talks with Ssekandi and his delegation.

Earlier, on his arrival in Cuba, the countrys Vice Premier Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, thanked the Government of Uganda and all the countries of the African Union for the approval, last Monday, for the eleven consecutive time, of a resolution rejecting the US blockade against Cuba.

During the just concluded African Union summit in Ethiopia, (the 33 Summit of Heads of State and Government), African leaders called for an end to the US blockade against Cuba.

During his visit, Ssekandi met with Cubas Vice President, Salvador Valdes Mesa and the two leaders discussed the excellent state of relations.

They ratified the mutual will to strengthen them, particularly the cooperation in health and education, according to an official note.

They also discussed issues of interest on the international agenda.

The visit of Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi is a reciprocal visit following the visit of the Cuban Vice President in October 2016 where both countries signed protocols of mutual cooperation.

The Ugandan Ministers of State for Education, Foreign Affairs, Minerals, Trade, and Veterans Affairs, accompanied the Vice President

The Ugandan Ministers of State for Education, Foreign Affairs, Minerals, Trade, and Veterans Affairs, accompanied the Vice President

Earlier on Monday, Ssekandi placed a floral tribute to the National Hero Jose Marti and toured the memorial to the Apostle of Cuba.

The Ugandan Vice President agenda also included tours of scientific and cultural centers of interest.

Related
The here on Thursday sought BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis's response to a petition questioning the transfer of salary accounts of the police department to Axis Bank, a private lender.

Fadnavis, a former chief minister, had been targeted over this issue earlier by his detractors as his wife Amruta Fadnavis holds a senior position with

A division bench of Justices Ravi Deshpande and Amit Borkar also issued notices to the Additional Chief Secretary of the home department of the Maharashtra government and the Director General of Police, seeking affidavits-in-reply within eight weeks.

The petition filed by Mohnish Jabalpure alleged that Fadnavis misused his powers as chief minister to help at the expense of public sector lenders.

It cited a circular issued by the then BJP-led government on May 11, 2017, which effected transfer of salary accounts of police personnel as well as beneficiaries of the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana to

It caused a loss to nationalised banks which were handling these accounts earlier, the plea alleged, seeking revocation of the decision and a probe.

A senior official had stated last year that salary accounts of the police force were with UTI Bank -- later renamed as Axis Bank -- since 2005, much before Fadnavis became chief minister in 2014.
Just a day after US lawmakers voiced their frustration at the slow roll out of coronavirus testing, a Yale professor has warned that the country is on the verge of an "explosion" of cases, but that there is no need to panic.

Professor Howard Forman, a practising radiologist and expert in healthcare management, says that testing for the virus is a key part of controlling its spread and the US is not yet doing enough.

There is absolutely going to be an explosion in the number of identified cases. But how fast that number increases is highly dependent on how fast we can test, he told Yale Insights, describing the Trump administrations promise of 15,000 testing kits as woefully inadequate.

He stresses that people need to avoid panicking and that while the numbers may look gruesome over the next week or so ... these are existing cases that are finally being diagnosed.

More detection of cases will mean that those carrying the virus can be treated and practise self-isolation. I am confident that through adequate detection, we will contain this, he said.

Pointing to isolation tactics and the strengths of the health system, Professor Forman explains at length on Twitter that detection and quarantine are the best ways in which to end community outbreaks.

He also says that global public health agencies have done a great job at communicating the symptoms and the guidelines regarding testing and treatment.

Professor Formans comments come as confirmed cases outside of Chinas Hubei province have begun to spike across the world. Tests are becoming more widely available and Congress has now agreed to a bipartisan emergency funding package to counter the spread of the virus.

On Wednesday the US had 149 confirmed cases and a death toll of 11 centred on Washington state, with one fatality in California. The US House of Representatives has passed a massive bipartisan emergency funding package to cope with the spread of the virus.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her "plan for everything" and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans. The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldn't win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

The Massachusetts senator hasn't endorsed Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden, the remaining candidates in the race. But she has talked to both campaigns in recent days and is assessing who would best uphold her agenda, according to another person who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The people weren't authorized to speak about Warren's intentions and talked to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Warren's exit extinguished hopes that Democrats would get another try at putting a woman up against President Donald Trump.

For much of the past year, her campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. She was squeezed out, though, by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance.

Warren never finished higher than third in the first four states and was routed on Super Tuesday, failing to win any of the 14 states voting and placing an embarrassing third in Massachusetts, behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sanders.

Her exit from the race following Sen. Amy Klobuchar's departure leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. It was an unexpected twist for a party that had used the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, just two years ago.

Warren's campaign began with enormous promise that she could carry that momentum into the presidential race. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan's Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

She had a compelling message, calling for "structural change" to the American political system to reorder the nation's economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2% wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than $50 million that prompted chants of "Two cents! Two cents!" at rallies across the country.

Warren, 70, began her White House bid polling near the back of an impossibly crowded field, used wonky policy prowess to rocket to front-runner status by the fall, then saw her support evaporate almost as quickly.

Her candidacy appeared seriously damaged almost before it started after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry. Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didn't stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as "Pocahontas."

Warren also lost her finance director over her refusal to attend large fundraisers, long considered the financial life blood of national campaigns. Still, she distinguished herself by releasing dozens of detailed proposals on all sorts of policies from cancelling college debt to protecting oceans to containing the coronavirus. Warren also was able to build an impressive campaign war chest relying on mostly small donations that poured in from across the country  erasing the deficit created by refusing to court big, traditional donors.

As her polling began improving through the summer. Warren appeared to further hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, weren't ambitious enough to roll back Trump's policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling. And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the U.S. House in 2018.

But Warren couldn't consolidate the support of the Democratic Party's most liberal wing against the race's other top progressive, Sanders. Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a "Medicare for All" program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the "Green New Deal" while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Warren's poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates when she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she'd have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All. Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she'd work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years. In the meantime, she said, many Americans could "choose" to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House. After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldn't win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

Leaning hard into the gender issue only saw Warren's support sink further heading into Iowa's leadoff caucus, however. But even as her momentum was slipping away, Warren still boasted impressive campaign infrastructure in that state and well beyond. Her army of volunteers and staffers looked so formidable that even other presidential candidates were envious.

Just before Iowa, her campaign released a memo detailing its 1,000-plus staffers nationwide and pledging a long-haul strategy that would lead to victories in the primary and the general election. Bracing for a poor finish in New Hampshire, her campaign issued another memo again urging supporters to stay focus on the long game  but also expressly spelling out the weaknesses of Sanders, Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in ways the senator herself rarely did.

Warren got a foil for all of her opposition to powerful billionaires when former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg entered the race. During a debate in Las Vegas just before Nevada's caucus, Warren hammered Bloomberg and the mayor's lackluster response touched off events that ended with him leaving the race on Wednesday.

For Warren, That led to a sharp rise in fundraising, but didn't translate to electoral success. She tried to stress her ability to unite the fractured Democratic party, but that message fell flat.

By South Carolina, an outside political group began pouring more than $11 million into TV advertising on Warren's behalf, forcing her to say that, although she rejected super PACs, she'd accept their help as long as other candidates did. Her campaign shifted strategy again, saying it was betting on a contested convention.

Still the longer Warren stayed in the race, the more questions she faced about why she was doing so with little hope of winning  and she started to sound like a candidate who was slowly coming to terms with that.

"I'm not somebody who has been looking at myself in the mirror since I was 12 years old saying, 'You should run for president,'" Warren said aboard her campaign bus on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, previewing a ceasing of campaigning that wasn't yet official. "I started running for office later than anyone who is in this, so it was never about the office  it was about what we could do to repair our economy, what we could do to mend a democracy that's being pulled apart. That's what I want to see happen, and I just want to see it happen."

She vowed to fight on saying, "I cannot say, for all those little girls, this got hard and I quit. My job is to persist."

But even that seemed impossible after a Super Tuesday drubbing that included her home state.

Photos: Looking back at Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign

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In February a pet dog in Hong Kong tested weak positive for coronavirus and was placed into quarantine.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) in Hong Kong confirmed that repeated tests suggested the dog had a low-level of the virus and that it was likely to be the case of human-to-animal transmission.

The dog, a Pomeranian, had not shown any symptoms for the illness but its owner was confirmed as being infected with Covid-19.

Now pet owners are becoming increasingly concerned they could catch the deadly disease from their animals - but is that scientifically possible?

Can I catch coronavirus from my pet?

On 2 April a Chinese study showed that cats are "highly susceptible" to coronavirus and it can easily be passed between them. But only five cats were involved in the experiment.

This follows the news that a cat reportedly contracted coronavirus in Belgium but health authorities in the country said it was an "isolated case" and not "the rule".

There are still no reports of animals in the UK with coronavirus.

On 13 March the World Health Organisation said "at present there is no evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus".

Several global health organisations have issued advisories saying there is no any evidence that pet animals can spread coronavirus or indeed be infected with it in the same way as humans.

Therefore, there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals which may compromise their welfare, the World Organisation for Animal Health has said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concurred that there is no reason to think that any animals including pets in the United States might be a source of infection with this new coronavirus.

Raymond R.R. Rowland, a veterinarian who specialises in swine viruses at Kansas State University, said that weak positives frequently show up in testing pigs, where a farmers livelihood can be at stake.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

Ill tell you what I tell them, he told The New York Times. Wait and see.

Even if the Pomeranian has a low-level infection, he said: that doesnt say the animal is sufficiently infected that it can spread the virus.

The dog could simply be a host for the illness that neither becomes unwell or infects other people or animals.

Should I change my behaviour with my pet?

The World Health Organisation says: "It is always a good idea to wash your hands with soap and water after contact with pets.

This protects you against various common bacteria such as E.coli and Salmonella that can pass between pets and humans.

To protect yourself from catching coronavirus, the WHO advises the following:

Cover your mouth and nose while sneezing, with a tissue or your elbow

Put the tissue straight into a closed bin

Wash your hands afterwards, and then frequently, with soap or sanitiser

Keep your distance from people who are coughing and sneezing (at least one metre) [[Updated UK government advice also says people should stay at home and practice social distancing].

You can read more about the WHOs advice on coronavirus here.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again fallen short of a parliamentary majority with his hard-line allies, final election results confirmed Thursday, extending the country's year-old political deadlock and weakening the longtime leader as he prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

The embattled Netanyahu had been looking for a decisive victory in Monday's vote, and initial exit polls had indicated his Likud party and smaller religious and nationalist allies had captured 60 seats, just one short of a majority required to form a new government.

Netanyahu triumphantly declared a "huge victory." But a final count announced by the election commission determined that Netanyahu's jubilation was premature.

Likud emerged as the largest individual party, with 36 seats, ahead of 33 seats for the rival Blue and White Party. But with his smaller allies, Netanyahu's right-wing bloc captured just 58 seats, well short of the 61-seat majority.

In a video statement, Netanyahu continued to claim victory on Thursday.

The Likud and the right won the election in a knockout," he said. He accused his opponents of trying to "steal the decision from the masses of Israeli citizens who gave the Likud under my leadership a crushing victory.

While Netanyahu's opponents control a majority of seats, they are deeply divided, with a hard-line nationalist party and the predominantly Arab Joint List among them. The Joint List captured 15 seats, making it the third-largest party in parliament its best performance ever.

Those divisions could make it difficult for Blue and White's leader, former military chief Benny Gantz, to establish an alternative coalition. If neither he nor Netanyahu can form a government, the country would head to an unprecedented fourth straight election.

Monday's election was the country's third in less than a year. Previous elections in April and September also ended in deadlock.

Although Netanyahu's Likud had a much better performance than in September, the final results are nonetheless a disappointment for Netanyahu.

The long-serving Israeli leader is scheduled to go on trial March 17 on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. He is accused of accepting expensive gifts from wealthy friends and offering favors to powerful media moguls in exchange for positive press coverage. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.

Netanyahu is desperate to remain in office. Israeli law does not require the prime minister to resign if charged with a crime, and Netanyahu can use the powerful post to rally public support and lash out at what he says is an unfair legal system and hostile media.

The Supreme Court is expected to soon examine the question of whether an indicted politician is permitted to form a new government. If it rules Netanyahu ineligible that could spark a constitutional crisis.

Opposition lawmakers have also begun discussing possible legislation that would prohibit an indicted lawmaker from forming a coalition, or that would establish term limits for the prime minister. Netanyahu is seeking a fourth consecutive term.

The most straightforward path out of the deadlock would be for Likud and Blue and White to agree to a power-sharing unity government.

But Gantz has refused to sit in a government led by Netanyahu while he is on trial, while Netanyahu insists on remaining in office as leader of a unity government.

Avigdor Lieberman, a maverick politician who refused to endorse either candidate after September's vote, is reportedly expected to come out in favor of Gantz. But Lieberman has hostile relations with the Joint List, leaving it doubtful that Gantz can form a government with Netanyahu's opponents.

The election commission said its results were completed, but not official. It said several polling stations were being investigated for possible irregularities and that results will not be official until they are delivered to the country's president on March 10.

After that, President Reuven Rivlin will begin a round of consultations with the eight parties elected to parliament before choosing a candidate to try to form a coalition.

The prime minister-designate is usually the leader of the largest party, in this case Netanyahu. But Rivlin's decision has been greatly complicated by the parliamentary deadlock and legal questions facing Netanyahu.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I once heard a pastor say from the pulpit, there are two things we shouldnt talk about as Christians: politics and religion. I remember feeling a sense of unease when I heard this. Well no wonder, I thought to myself, no wonder I have no idea how to think about politics as a Christian if peoplelike the preacher is encouragingdont even talk about it in the first place!

When it comes to politics, Christians dont seem to be any better at talking about it than non-Christians. This is alarming, seeing as 2020 is an election year in New Zealand. And like every election year, there will be the usual online debates, dinner-table discussions and social media trolling.

Christian confusion

In our post-truth climate of ten second soundbites and opinion pieces masquerading as genuine newsit is not an easy time to think about how we as Christians should engage in the political process.

This question is as pertinent as ever seeing as Christians can supposedly find representation right across the political spectrum. I believe this has led to many other 20-somethings like myself being downright confused about what to do with our right to vote.

Which way to go?

I have had three elections since I was legally allowed to vote. I think my story is emblematic of many other Christians.

In the first election I was a young and questioning teenager who had inherited a certain political leaning from my family. Naturally, I thought this was the best (and God-directed) political leaning. I dismissed opposing points of view. In fact, I was so zealous that I ended up going even further in my views along the political spectrum. I didnt end up voting as I could not be bothered driving out to the voting booth, (did I mention I was a teenager?)

During the second election I had gotten a university degree, moved away from home (and like many others, returned back), while working more than a few meaningless jobs for awful bosses. My political views, as a result, were shaped by these experiences and I was drawn to a different party to vote for. This time I had a beat-up Mitsubishi Lancer and no excuse to not vote.

By the third election, I was married, had relocated to central Auckland, become a pastor, and had stopped studying. My priorities had changed remarkably and so did my voting preference. For the third time in as many elections my vote went to a different party.

Picking and choosing

What I have learnt from these three previous elections encourages me. It encourages me because of something a lecturer at Bible College once shared with us in one of his lectures on politics.

He claimed, and I think rightly, that Millennials (and Gen Z no doubt), do not simply vote according to party lines like our Gen X and Baby Boomer predecessors. We are not simply liberal or conservative on every single issues.

Instead of being someone whose views are either left or right, we tend to pick and choose different politicians and parties based on our preference for environmental issues, justice issues, moral issues, social issues and so on. Although we may support some polices, we dont have to support all of them.

Never the twain shall meet

Due to our preferential nature, voting should therefore be a more freeing and, dare I say it, enjoyable task. It is not simply about picking the right party over the wrong partythe God-chosen party over the non-God-chosen party.

Ultimately, I believe that the preacher had a point when they talked about the mix between religion and politics. Religion should not mix so much with politics that it can no longer be differentiated. The opposite is true also. Humans have shown throughout history that the two should never truly mix.

This is because Christians hold onto a vision of hope that can never be fully realized by any government at any time in history. This is a hope in a King and His Kingdom that at once is already elected to power, and yet, still awaiting his final coronation.

With this knowledge, vote for the party and politicians by all means, but do not place all your eggs in their political baskets. Maybe then a miracle might happen andunlike the preachers messagemaybe Christians will be better at talking about politics.
Taj Mahal is bearing the brunt of coronavirus outbreak after six people tested positive for COVID-19 in Agra. The tourist footfall at Taj Mahal has dropped significantly in the last few days due to COVID-19 scare. Several domestic and foreign tourists have cancelled their bookings. Guards and security personnel wearing masks and a much lesser crowd was visible at Taj Mahal on Thursday morning. Also thermal guns were used to screen tourists.

Besides, hotels and tourist sites in Agra have been instructed to inform Chief Medical Officer as soon any visitor from Italy, Iran and China arrive so that they can be screened.

Also read: Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: 25,000 under observation; authorities set up more quarantines

"We have issued instructions to all hotels in the city that if any person is coming from Italy, Iran or China, they should inform us. As soon as the hotel informs us, a team of doctors goes to the hotel and examines them for symptoms of coronavirus. All the tourists' sites have been told to inform the 24-hour control about visitors from countries where coronavirus outbreak has been reported," Chief Medical Officer of Agra Dr Mukesh Vats told PTI.

On March 4, six cases with 'high viral load' were detected during sample testing in Agra. These six people came in contact with the COVID-19 patient from Delhi.
Syria condemns US, Turkey for 'illegal infiltration' of officials into Idlib

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 04 March 2020 11:19 PM

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the US and Turkey for the "illegitimate infiltration" of American officials into the Arab country's Idlib province.

"The Syrian Arab Republic denounces and condemns in the strongest terms the thievery and banditry of the US administration and the Turkish regime," a senior official at the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The source said the "illegitimate infiltration" of US officials into Idlib has been made in collusion with Turkey and reaffirms Washington's support for Ankara's aggression in Syria.

"Syria is not surprised by the infiltration of Americans this way after they offered all kinds of support to the terrorist groups, including transporting them into Syria in flagrant violation of all UN resolutions related to combating terrorism," the official told Syria's official news agency SANA.

The official added that the US administration considers itself above international law and UN charters which emphasize the respect for states' sovereignty and non-interference in their affairs.

The Syrian official further accused the US of covering up the crimes of the terrorist groups and hindering their complete elimination despite advances made by the Syrian army against the terrorists.

The comments came after two senior US officials visited Idlib on Tuesday. US representative to the UN Kelly Craft, along with US Special Envoy James Jeffrey, briefly visited Idlib and met with members of the Syrian opposition and the so-called White Helmets group.

Syria launched a counter-terrorism offensive in Idlib and neighboring areas last December, but the campaign coincided with a massive deployment of troops and military equipment by Turkey, which is evidently upset by changing conditions on the ground.



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Common House, which aims to revitalize the Southsides iconic Industrial YMCA building into a modern, inclusive social club in late 2020, has hired two key staff members.

Honor Hostetler has joined the team as Director of Operations, and Rob Praino is Director of Membership.

As Director of Operations, Ms. Hostetler will work to execute the vision and culture of Common House by building the local team and overseeing all aspects of service, programs and events for the club.

Ms. Hostetler comes to Common House from the Chattanooga Convention & Visitors Bureau, where she led the charge as director of partnerships. In her impactful 11-year career in Chattanooga, She worked for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and spent four years in business travel sales, following her graduation from the University of Tennessee. She is continuously involved in the community, most notably by serving as the Rotaract Club President in 2017-2018. Hostetler comes to Common House from the Chattanooga Convention & Visitors Bureau, where she led the charge as director of partnerships. In her impactful 11-year career in Chattanooga, She worked for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and spent four years in business travel sales, following her graduation from the University of Tennessee. She is continuously involved in the community, most notably by serving as the Rotaract Club President in 2017-2018.

Prior to joining Common House, Mr. Praino represented Bahakel Radio Group for over 17 years as account manager and later senior account manager. After graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he worked for WDEF/WDOD Radio as account executive and later moved over to LivingSocial. Mr. Praino has served numerous local nonprofits in various capacities, including chairing Hunter Underground 2020 and serving on the Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society.
But the 2020 primaries have discredited Mr. Sanderss strategy, Eric Levitz writes at New York magazine. He notes that while Mr. Sanders has made impressive gains with Hispanic voters, the promised surge in youth turnout has not materialized: In many states, including Mr. Sanderss home state, Vermont, young voters share of the electorate fell from 2016. And while total Democratic turnout did increase significantly in most states, that increase tended to help Mr. Biden.

The left isnt going to maximize its ideological influence over Democratic voters, or its power within the party, by pretending that it commands an enormous army of nonvoters who are ready to storm the Democratic castle as soon as Sanders gives the signal, Mr. Levitz writes. To get what it wants, the left must first win with the electorate it has, not the one it wishes it did.

Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond.

write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Matthew Continetti writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party.

writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party. Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging.

speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Michelle Cottle examines two primary contests that will shake the parties well beyond the states in play.

[Related: The Sanders Surge That Wasnt]

Mr. Bidens delegate lead is small at the moment, but it could be hard to overcome, writes The Timess Nate Cohn. Although Mr. Sanders needs to defeat Mr. Biden by only three points in the remaining primaries to overtake him, Mr. Sanders will not have the advantage he enjoyed on Super Tuesday of early votes cast before Mr. Bidens South Carolina victory, a showing that prompted other candidates to drop out. The remaining states are also projected to be less favorable to Mr. Sanders than, say, California was. A three-point deficit is not a daunting handicap, certainly not when Mr. Biden was polling 20 points lower just a few days ago. But the Super Tuesday results do not augur well for Mr. Sanderss odds of pulling it off, Mr. Cohn writes.

Many people believe that Mr. Sanders is losing because voters see Mr. Biden as more electable. While Mr. Sanders is well liked among Democrats and his platform popular, his candidacy demands a leap that many voters fear others are not willing to make, as the Times columnist Frank Bruni has noted.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Sarajevo, Bosnia  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:13 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20688e998 2 World coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Bosnia,health,COVID-19,outbreak,infectious-diseases,infection Free

Bosnia confirmed its first two cases of the new coronavirus - a middle-aged man who recently visited Italy and his child, the health minister of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic said on Thursday.

Alen Seranic said the man, who returned from Italy late last month, had been confirmed earlier this week as having coronavirus. He is in a stable condition and is being kept in isolation in hospital in the city of Banja Luka.

"His wife tested negative for coronavirus but his child was found positive last night," Seranic told a news conference in Banja Luka.

Health authorities will test school children who have had contact with the infected child, as well as all other members of the infected family, he said. The school will be closed for the next couple of days.

"This is the first case of infection that was not unexpected, it was expected after the outbreak in Italy, which is among our biggest trade partners," Seranic said.

Bosnia is divided into two regions, one dominated by Serbs and the other by Croats and Bosniak Muslims.

So far the health authorities in the two regions have prepared hospital isolation rooms and urged citizens to be particularly careful with hygiene. Many hospitals have halted or limited visits in recent days.

The global outbreak of the new coronavirus that began last December in China has spread to nearly 80 countries and territories, killing more than 3,000 people.
A team of physicists led by Oriol Romero-Isart at the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Academy of Sciences is proposing to cool microparticles with sound waves. Carlos Sanchez Munoz

While quantum physics is usually concerned with the basic building blocks of light and matter, for some time scientists have now been trying to investigate the quantum properties of larger objects, thereby probing the boundary between the quantum world and everyday life.

For this purpose, particles are slowed down with the help of electromagnetic waves and the motional energy is drastically reduced. Therefore, one also speaks of motional cooling.

Quantum properties occur when particles are cooled to their fundamental quantum ground state, that is to the lowest possible energy level. While so far the only way to cool particles to the ground state has been to make them interact with photons trapped in an electromagnetic resonator, theoretical physicists led by Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero and Oriol Romero-Isart from the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with experimentalist Jan Gieseler from Harvard University and ICFO in Barcelona now propose to make the motion of magnetic particles interact with the internal acoustic waves that are confined inside every particle.

Sound waves in micro-magnets

In analogy to photons  the quanta of light  vibrations in a solid body can be described as so-called phonons. These small sound wave packets propagate through the crystal lattice of the solid. The phonons are very isolated and interact with the movement of the particle motion only through magnetic waves, explains Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero.

In our work we now show that this interaction can be controlled by a magnetic field. This allows to realize quantum experiments without photons, and therefore even with light-absorbing particles.

Conversely, we also show that the strong interaction between motion and phonons provides a path to probe and manipulate the elusive and exotic dynamics of acoustic and magnetic waves in very small particles, adds Oriol Romero-Isart. The new method also opens up new possibilities for quantum information processing, for example, by using phonons as a quantum memory.

Two papers of the Innsbruck physicists present their new approach in the journals Physical Review Letters and Physical Review B. Financial support was provided by the European Union.

Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero

Department of Theoretical Physics

University of Innsbruck

phone: +43 512 507 4770

email: carlos.gonzalez-ballestero@uibk.ac.at

https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.093602  Quantum Acoustomechanics with a Micromagnet. Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero, Jan Gieseler, and Oriol Romero-Isart. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 093602 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.093602 [arXiv:1907.04039]

https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.125404  Theory of Quantum Acoustomagnonics and Acoustomechanics with a Micromagnet. Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero, Daniel Hummer, Jan Gieseler, and Oriol Romero-Isart. Phys. Rev. B 101, 125404 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.125404 [arXiv:1912.08745]

https://iqoqi.at/en/group-page-romero-isart  Quantum Nanophysics, Optics and Information
Tottenham suffered a dramatic exit from the FA Cup on Wednesday night as they were beaten to a spot in the quarter-finals by visitors Norwich after a penalty shootout.

The teams were level at 1-1 after 90 minutes after goals from Jan Vertonghen and Josip Drmic, and a goalless period of extra-time led to penalties, with Daniel Farkes Premier League strugglers emerging 3-2 winners to book a clash with either Derby or Manchester United.

Derby host United at Pride Park on Thursday in the final fixture of the fifth round, and the victors will be the away side in their meeting with Norwich.

Meanwhile, Arsenal will travel to Sheffield United as they pursue a record-extending FA Cup crown. That tie resulted from Arsenals 2-0 win over Portsmouth on Monday and Uniteds extra-time victory against Reading on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Leicester will host Chelsea after Brendan Rodgers players saw off Birmingham on Wednesday, with Ricardo Pereira securing safe passage for his side with a late header.

Chelsea beat league leaders Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday after Adrian spilled Willians shot and Ross Barkley added a second goal following an impressive solo run.

The last quarter-final tie sees Newcastle welcome defending champions Manchester City, who edged past Sheffield Wednesday thanks to a Sergio Aguero goal.
Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, March 5, 2020 -The historical, landmark, courageous and commendable minority judgment delivered on 3rd March 2020 by Mr. Justice Chima Centus (CC) Nwaeze at Nigerias Supreme Court in a review application filed by the Supreme Court ousted Gov of Imo State, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha is not enough to delist all the serving Justices of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in Nigeria from having the hallowed titles of Lordship and Honorable removed from their official names.

It is also remembered that the decision by Intersociety to morally slam the serving Justices of the two Courts followed their political or controversial handling of the 2019 Presidential Poll matter, which the same Justice Nwaeze was part of. Mr. Justice Nwaeze had in his concurring verdict in Atiku v Buhari (2019), held that I see no reason for departing from the reasoning of the lower court. I find that this appeal is without merit and it is accordingly dismissed. The moral punishment slammed on the named serving Justices is also grounded in vicarious liability and on this, no exception or exemption is allowed.

The above was the position of Intl Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law in a statement issued today and signed by its key officers: Emeka Umeagbalasi (Board Chair), Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of Law, Chinwe Umeche, Esq., Head of Democracy & Good Governance and Ndidiamaka Bernard, Head of Intl Justice & Human Rights. It is reminded that lawyers and criminologists working with Intersociety are free to choose otherwise in their private or professional dealings with the said branches of the Nigerian Judiciary and their judicial officers.

It is recalled that Mr. Justice CC Nwaeze had in his dissent judgment in the Imo Governorship review copiously disagreed with his six colleagues including the CJN and asked the Court to set aside the 14th Jan 2020 judgment, describing it as a nullity and delivered in bad faith. He also nullified the declaration of Mr. Hope Uzodimma as governor on account of wrong declaration and that Uzodimma misled the Court into unjust conclusion with unverified votes in 388 poling units. The Judge concluded that this decision of the Supreme Court will continue to hunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come.

Supreme Court Decision On Bayelsa Is A Third Virus In The Row

The Supreme Court judgment on Bayelsa Governorship, delivered on 13th Feb 2020 not only despicably has something in common with that of Imo State, delivered by same Supreme Court on 14th Jan 2020; but it is also a third virus in the row. The first and second are the 30th Oct 2019 (Atiku v Buhari) and 14th Jan 2020 (Uzodimma v Ihedioha, INEC and ors). The three judicial viruses also have a commonality: judicial corruption and bastardization of the sacred electoral wishes of majority of Nigerians and majority of the citizens of Imo and Bayelsa States.

In the case of Imo, the Supreme Court magisterially imported dead votes and awarded same to Mr. Hope Uzodimma and in Bayelsa State, the same Court controversially ruled that once a candidate answers names other than his or her name at birth and his or her surname, then he or she is a rogue elected public official that must have his or her election or swearing in declared a nullity. It was on these two flimsy grounds that the Apex Court removed the two popularly elected governors and replaced them with those massively rejected at poll.

In Bayelsa, too, there was never a contention as to whether the ousted Deputy Gov-Elect attended primary school and earned a FSLC, or attended secondary school and earned a WASC or GCE, or attended a university and earned a B.Sc., and post graduate studies and earned an MBA. These were never disputed by the Supreme Court; except that he answered multiple names in his educational credentials. Contrarily, the same Supreme Court had earlier or barely five months ago turned blind eye and refused to inquire into President Muhammadu Buharis certificates particularly his secondary school education and its controversial WASC certificate.

Nigerian Politicians Lack Intellectual Depth

The shallowness with which politics is played in Nigeria by political actors is called pollutant virus or political virus and this played out recently and lent credence to the decision of the Supreme Court Justices on Imo review case. In other words, it was the shallowness or lack of tact and depth on the part of PDP and its key players that substantially robbed them of a favorable decision. The recent development in Bayelsa also partly aided same.

That is to say that the Party and its key figures fought like men but ended like children. The Party and its key figures ended up providing escape route for the Supreme Court Justices who already found themselves at crossroads. This, the Party and its key figures did by bastardizing the initially well coordinated and publicly sympathetic campaigns. Announcing their plans to seek for the review of the Presidential Poll case was a suicidal error that facilitated an easy way for the Justices to escape.

The struggling and diminishing Justices must also have reasoned that if the review application was granted as pleaded, it would have opened a floodgate of fresh applications for review of all recently decided electoral cases, decided by the Supreme Court and might be extended to the Court of Appeal for review of its decided National and State Assembly cases. Intersociety sees totality of these as nothing short of intellectual and political shallowness or tactlessness.

History Will Remember Retiring PCA, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa In Negative

The journey towards terrorization of Nigerias democratic process in 2019 by the Judiciary has a starting point and it is located in the doorstep of the chambers of the retiring President of the Court of Appeal, Justice (Madam) Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa who retires from Bench tomorrow, 6th March 2020. She will be negatively remembered as a PCA who propounded stifling time frame in the countrys electoral jurisprudence.

Through stifling time frame majority of Nigerians were denied justice at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in the case of declaration of President Buhari and in Imo Governorship matter at the Supreme Court, stifling time frame also played a key role in the denial of justice to the citizens of the State. Justice Amina Zainab Bulkachuwa, as PCA and then Chair of the Presidential Poll Tribunal had ensured that over 100, out of the constitutionally allowed 180 days were wasted or lost, leaving only less than 80 days for the Appellate Court to inquire into how the 2019 presidential poll was conducted into the countrys 176,000 polling units across the country.

Present Governments Of Imo & Bayelsa Remain A Product Of Judicial Coronation & Illegitimacy

The two Governments are clearly a product of input illegitimacy and judicial coronation. They are also unpopular Governments instituted though other means (i.e. via judicial coronation). In other words, in Imo State, majority voted for PDP and its ousted Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, but were judicially robbed and in Bayelsa State, majority voted for APC and its Governor/Deputy-Elect (David Lyon and Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo), but were also judicially robbed.

 Contacts:

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Foreign Minister of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius has congratulated Dmytro Kuleba on his appointment as Ukrainian foreign minister.

In a post on Twitter, he wrote: Thank you, Vadym Prystaiko, for friendship during your tenure as FM of Ukraine, looking forward to continue cooperation in your new capacity. Congrats Dmytro Kuleba, lets continue strengthening Lithuania-Ukraine ties in all the areas, also preparations for 4th Ukraine Reforms Conference in Vilnius.

In response to the tweet, Kuleba thanked Linkevicius and stressed that bilateral relations would be maintained at a "good pace".

As Ukrinform reported, on March 4, the Verkhovna Rada approved a new Cabinet of Ministers, which now will be headed by Denys Shmyhal. Former Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has become deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Dmytro Kuleba, who previously held this position, will now head the Foreign Ministry.

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The global hearing aid market is poised to grow by USD 2.85 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. Request free sample pages

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005563/en/

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The market is driven by the growth in use of binaural hearing aids. In addition, the growing adoption of hearing aids with rechargeable batteries is anticipated to boost the growth of the hearing aid market.

People suffering from bilateral hearing loss, lose their hearing capacity on both the ears. Binaural hearing aids used by these individuals are more efficient in comparison to single hearing aids as they enable better hearing from all directions. These hearing aids provide a better understanding of speech by selective listening, facilitate clear understanding of sounds in noisy environments, and provide improved sound identification. Aging population suffering from Tinnitus are also recommended to use binaural hearing aids. Thus, the growth in use of binaural hearing aids is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period.

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Amplifon Spa

Amplifon Spa operates the business under various segments such as EMEA, Americas, APAC, and Corporate. The company offers hearing aid solutions such as Behind-The-Ear hearing aids Receiver In-The-Ear Canal, and In-The-Ear.

Audina Hearing Instruments Inc.

Audina Hearing Instruments Inc. offers products through the following business units: Hearing Aids and Ear Molds. The company offers hearing aid devices and ear molds. It also provides custom linear hearing instruments, pre-wire kits, InstaFIT devices, and other products.

Cochlear Ltd.

Cochlear Ltd. operates under various business segments, namely Cochlear implants, Services, and Acoustics. The company offers Cochlear True Wireless, Middle-ear implants, bone conduction implants, and cochlear implants.

Demant AS

Demant AS offers products through the following business segments: EMEA, Americas, APAC, and Corporate. The company offers hearing aid solutions such as Receiver In-The-Ear Canal, In-The-Ear, and Behind-The-Ear hearing aids.

GN Store Nord AS

GN Store Nord AS offers products through the following business segments: GN Hearing and GN Audio. The company offers hearing aid solutions such as ReSound Enya, ReSound Up Smart, ReSound LiNX Quattro, Beltone Amaze, ReSound Vea, and more.

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Medical Devices Market Global Medical Devices Market by product (therapeutic and surgical devices, PMDMID, and other medical devices) and geography (Asia, Europe, North America, and ROW).

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A staffer at a Berks County high school is facing sexual assault charges for alleged contact with a student.

Krista Ann Stump, 34, was a paraprofessional in the Hamburg Area School District, and worked at Hamburg Area High School since last November.

Authorities said they received a report on Feb. 13 having inappropriate physical contact with a 15-year-old student at the school.

On Thursday, Stump surrendered to county detectives and was charged with institutional sex assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and indecent assault of a child under the age of 16.

Stump, of Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. Stump declined to comment Thursday. An attorney has not entered an appearance in her case.

Superintendent Richard Mextorf said a tip from a student led to the investigation. Stump was suspended from her job on Feb. 13 pending an investigation, and then dismissed the following day, Mextorf said.

The boy reported Stump had come onto him in a classroom, detective said.

Stump asked the victim to add her to his Snapchat account, and he hesitantly agreed and subsequently received text messages from her for about two to three weeks, prosecutors said.

The victim described the messages from Stump as weird and sexual, and that she sent him nude photos of herself, prosecutors said.

Detectives said they also learned that Stump had indecent contact with the victim inside a classroom.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The meeting focused on pushing forward the joint African cooperation and also the disputed massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with ambassadors of African countries in Cairo on Thursday to push forward joint African cooperation, said Egypt's FM Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez.

Shoukry stressed on the state's commitment to pursue efforts to promote joint cooperation with African nations.

He added that Egypt's endeavours stem from the solid persuasion that African countries have the ability to work together to overcome the challenges the continent faces to achieve peace and prosperity.

The meeting dealt with the exerted efforts and achievements during Egypt's presidency of the African Union, Hafez said.

The minster pointed out to the role of the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) in building African cadres.

The spokesman noted that Shoukry also posted the ambassadors on the latest developments concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and the serious and sincere efforts made by Egypt in this regard to bring about a fair and balanced agreement that meets the interests of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shoukry called on Arab countries during an Arab League meeting to support Cairo in reaching a final deal with Ethiopia over the $4.8 Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Tensions escalated between the two nations over the past week after Addis Ababa withdrew from the latest round of US-sponsored discussions aimed to resolve the dispute, and pledged to start filling the dam before reaching a final deal with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.

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She was a close friend of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell  and married a Rothschild.

Now, two years after the sudden death of socialite Annabelle Neilson, aged 49, there is to be one final, dazzling glimpse into her partnership with the fashion designer Alexander McQueen, whose muse and confidante she was.

Neilson's collection of McQueen couture is, I can disclose, being sold at auction in London later this month. 'We're already taking conditional report requests from museums in America and Australia,' Kerry Taylor, of Kerry Taylor Auctions, tells me.

'McQueen is one of the most famous British designers ever and Annabelle was his muse. It's a very British story.'

Two years after the death of socialite Annabelle Neilson (pictured) there is to be one final, dazzling glimpse into her partnership with Alexander McQueen

The 123-lot sale  initiated by Neilson's family  will raise between 120,000 and 180,000.

Neilson acknowledged that she and McQueen were, on the face of it, an unlikely pair: 'East End gay boy' and 'skinny posh bird with a naughty streak', as she put it.

But they instantly knew, she said, that they were the other's 'soulmate' after being introduced by their mutual friend, stylist Isabella Blow.

Thereafter, Neilson had a bedroom in every house McQueen owned, and was the last person to see him alive before his suicide, aged 40, in 2010.

Her own life was scarcely less turbulent. In Australia, she survived a brutal attack by a man later convicted of murder. Following reconstructive surgery, she became addicted to heroin.

She subsequently met Lord Rothschild's son, Nat, on a beach in India. They eloped to Las Vegas, marrying there in 1994, but divorced three years later. Back in England, Neilson was a member of the Primrose Hill set, describing Kate Moss as 'my sister'.

Neilson's collection of McQueen couture is, I can disclose, being sold at auction in London later this month (Pictured: McQueen and Neilson)

Young Tennant hopes to be a Ty-me Lord!

David Tennant's adopted son Ty has spoken of the moment he first met his father on the set of Doctor Who.

Ty's mother Georgia Moffett had a guest role on the show in 2008 when she began dating her future husband. 'It was great, I was five when I first met my dad, my mum was working on Doctor Who,' says Ty, 17. 'I watched him on TV as the hero, and it was crazy how much your life can change.'

Ty made his own big-screen debut last year as Christopher Wiseman in Tolkien and would love to play the Doctor  which would make him the third Time Lord in his family.

David played the role from 2005 to 2010, while Georgia's dad Peter Davison portrayed him in the early Eighties.

David Tennant's adopted son Ty (pictured together) has spoken of the moment he first met his father on the set of Doctor Who

You can't say the Duke of Beaufort doesn't speak his mind. 'Let's not beat about the bush,' Harry Beaufort  who is known to his friends as Bunter  tells his Twitter chums.

'Meghan Markle would be the daughter-in-law from hell.' The Beauforts were once on first-name terms with English monarchs and his family sheltered Queen Mary at Badminton House during World War II. It is unlikely the Duchess of Sussex would find succour there now.

Prince's Trust gave me my acting career: Idris

Luther star Idris Elba says he would have turned his back on acting if he hadn't received a grant from Prince Charles's charity  the Prince's Trust.

'At the age of 16 I left school and had dreams of being a big actor and went to the Youth Music Theatre until I realised how expensive it was going to be,' he told me at WE Day UK 2020 at Wembley. 'But because of the determination I'd had implanted in me, I didn't give up.

'After applying to the Prince's Trust and receiving a 1,500 grant, it changed my life.

'Sometimes the smallest things help you grow and these opportunities have helped shaped me as a person, as a parent, as a husband, a friend and a rapper. It will shape the legacy I will leave behind.'

Food critic Jay Rayner isn't in the business of doling out advice for free. 'I get repeated emails from small restaurants, big restaurants, saying: 'We'd love you to come in and try and give us your feedback.'

That's not my job, and you're worth 100 million. I'm not coming in to give you advice for free. Who the hell do you think you are? I won't even do consultancy for them.' Crumbs!

Shady Lady Pamela is one glam granny

What a groover! The Queen's bridesmaid Lady Pamela Hicks, 90, still knows how to put on a good spectacle.

She celebrated the birthday of her daughter India's partner David Flint Wood by wearing sunglasses with the words 'David rocks' emblazoned on them.

India  who was expelled from Gordonstoun school in Scotland, alma mater of her godfather Prince Charles, for entertaining boys in her room  spent holidays at her father's self-built home in the Bahamas.

She still lives there with former ad executive Flint Wood and their five children.

Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore says she is proud of the Be Kind movement that has flourished in the wake of the death of Caroline Flack.

'I'm really proud of it, but I think it's something that has always been there, but it hasn't had the attention before because it wasn't seen as glamorous or juicy,' she tells me.

'I think if we all are kind to ourselves and others then we'll be making a positive change.

'It was literally so hard getting through to the end of the series because of everything that has happened, but it's so nice to be back home.

'I just wanted to get back home to see my dog and my family and friends.'

Game Of Thrones Gwendoline goes on the warpath for women

Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie, who is 6ft 3in, is wielding the sword of truth on behalf of women.

'It's widely known that guys have had their own way for a long time,' she tells me.

'The society around us tries to dictate to us what it means to be a woman and what it means to look feminine or act in a lady-like manner. What's even more troubling is it's solely based on the way we look.

'I have experienced it first-hand. I'm dreaming of a future where we have more female characters that are loved for their actions and achievements, not the labels that are imposed on them by society.

'I don't want it to exist only in fiction, but in real life, too.'
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Federal prosecutors said an Ohio man made anonymous threats online to commit a mass shooting in a community in Illinois.

Ryan Gagnet, 22, of Maumee made the threats in early February using Omegle, a social media website that allows users to chat with random users, according to court filings.

Hi. Its going to be even more scary tomorrow. Because Im going to be on the news. Commit a mass shooting. In shorewood Illoinis (sic), Gagnet wrote, according to filings. Shorewood is a village of about 18,000 people, located about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.

The FBI learned of the threat Feb. 5 and tracked Gagnet down two days later. Gagnet, who attends Bowling Green State University, admitted that he made the comments and also told agents they may find disturbing things in the search histories on his electronic devices, the filings say.

A grand jury indicted him Wednesday, charging him with transmitting a threatening interstate communication.

The case is one of several the U.S. Attorneys Office and the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force in northern Ohio undertook in recent years that involve either ideologically-driven online threats or domestic terrorism that is not explicitly tied to overseas groups such as al-Qaida or the Islamic State.

Every person in this country deserves to feel safe in their community, U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said in a news release.

Gagnets attorney Jerome Phillips said he is concerned there might be more in his story. A little more than a week after federal prosecutors first charged Gagnet, he asked a U.S. magistrate judge in Toledo to order a mental-health examination. The judge granted the request.

Phillips, who described the case as kind of a bizarre situation while still acknowledging its severity, said there may be some mental-health issues that could explain his clients behavior. He said Gagnet has a 3.5 grade point average in college and has no prior criminal record. He also said his client had no weapons or destructive devices.

FBI agents in Chicago saw a tweet on Feb. 5 that showed a screenshot of the conversation the user had with someone on Omegle, which contained the threat against Shorewood, according to an affidavit filed by FBI agent Sara Pedersen. The Twitter user told agents that they chatted with the anonymous Omegle user on Feb. 4.

By Feb. 7, agents determined that the anonymous user was Gagnet and interviewed him, the affidavit states.

Maybe 3 days ago  I went on Omegle  I was wearing a mask, and I was telling people that ah that there may be a mass shooting at some point  then I would just see how ah their frightened reactions, he told agents, according to the affidavit.

Gagnet said he may have talked to a dozen people and would ask do you want to see my face?, the affidavit states. When they said yes, he would tell them they were going to see his face on the news because of what he was going to do, the FBI says.

The deputy police chief of the Shorewood police told agents that meetings and essential duties involving the department were canceled for two days due to the threat, according to the FBI. Ten officers worked overtime and the department stationed police at the schools. They told school officials in Shorewood, who also serve surrounding communities, and the situation created panic, the FBI says.

Nearly all the schools operated on a soft lockdown for two days, which meant they canceled outdoor recess and didnt allow students to leave the classroom unless necessary, the affidavit states.
LONDON - A 21-year-old police constable was arrested Thursday by Britains Counter Terrorism Command on suspicion of belonging to a banned group linked to right-wing terrorism.

Police said the officer was arrested at a location in north London, which was searched.

He remains in custody at a south London police station.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 18:36:12|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Israel fired 10 missiles on Syrian air bases and military positions in the central province of Homs and the southern province of Quneitra, a war monitor reported on Thursday.

The missile strike took place after midnight and targeted the al-Daba'a air base in the western countryside of Homs and the al-Shuairat air base in the eastern countryside of Homs.

The attack also targeted military positions in Kodna and Qahtaniyeh in the countryside of Quneitra, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said no reports on human losses have emerged yet.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in Homs and Quneitra after midnight.

The Israeli missiles were fired from Israeli warplanes over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and from the Lebanese airspace, said the report.

SANA did not mention the exact targets but Israel usually strikes military sites where pro-Iran fighters are located.

The attack is the latest in a string of missile strikes carried out by Israel.

Throughout the Syrian crisis, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria, as well as convoyed transporting weapons to the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah group.

The strikes further highlighted the sprawling tensions between Israel and Iran in Syria. Clashes between the two countries have escalated over the past months. Israel accuses Iran of entrenching itself near the Israeli border.
A police officer has been arrested over suspected ties to a banned right-wing terrorist group.

The serving Met Police constable, 21, was detained by counter-terrorism officers at an address in north London on Thursday.

A search is now being carried out at the address.

The 21-year-old, who works in frontline policing, has been taken to a south London police station, where he remains in custody.

He is suspected of being a member of an organisation linked to right wing terrorism.

Detectives said there is nothing to suggest any threat to the wider public.

Anyone found to be a member of, or offering support to, the banned groups can face up to 10 years in jail.

Scotland Yard said the forces directorate of professional standards has been told and the officers status is under review.

The case has also been referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog.

An IOPC spokesman said: We have received a referral from the Metropolitan Police Service and are now assessing it determine the level of IOPC involvement in any investigation.

The arrest comes after MPs backed a ban on membership of more right-wing groups last month.

A proscription  or banning  order was issued criminalising membership of neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division in the UK.
R yanair has announced rescue fares for customers affected by Flybe going into administration in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The fares start from 19.99 and will be available on five UK routes: Liverpool to Knock; Bournemouth to Dublin; Belfast to London Stansted; Bristol to Dublin and Belfast to Manchester.

Ryanairs Alejandra Ruiz said: We are working with the CAA to accommodate passengers who may have been left stranded or have had their travel plans disrupted by the collapse of the airline. We again call for more robust and frequent stress tests on financially weak airlines and tour operators so customers are not the ones who suffer.

Customers can fly at fares starting from just 19.99 until the end of April, and these rescue fares are on sale now until midnight Sunday 8 March.

Flybe collapsed overnight due to a drop in demand caused by coronavirus, cancelling all flights and putting some 2,000 jobs at risk.

In a statement posted to Twitter, the airline said said:"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect.

"If you are due to fly with Flybe DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline. Please note that Flybe is unfortunately not able to arrange alternative flights for passengers."

CEO Mark Anderson said in a statement: The UK has lost one of its greatest regional assets. Flybe has been a key part of the UK aviation industry for four decades, connecting regional communities, people and businesses across the entire nation.

I thank all our partners and the communities we have been privileged to serve. Above all I would like to thank the Flybe team for their incredible commitment and dedication.
The OPEC group of oil producers will recommend a production cut of 1.5 million barrels per day to its allies, Iran's Energy Minister said Thursday, as it seeks counter the slump in demand caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We decided... to recommend to the non-OPEC meeting tomorrow 1.5 million barrels of new cut for the second quarter of 2020," Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters after an extraordinary meeting of OPEC ministers at the group's headquarters in Vienna.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
jessica cheung Hello. austin mitchell Hello! astead herndon Hey, how are you? austin mitchell Buddy. astead herndon Yikes. What a day already. Um  austin mitchell Yeah, what do you mean when you say, What a day already? astead herndon Well, we just reported that Elizabeth Warren is dropping out of the presidential race. Were here in Boston outside of her house. Not in Boston, actually. Cambridge. Waiting for her to speak to a horde of media, both local and national. speaker 1 We have  speaker 2 I understand that, but I was here before you guys all jumped in front of me. speaker 1 Because we just found out we have to move.

astead herndon

From The New York Times, this is The Field. Im Astead Herndon in Massachusetts.

[cheering] Around 12:30 on Thursday, Senator Elizabeth Warren came out of a side door of her house with her husband and her golden retriever and addressed the media. archived recording (elizabeth warren) All right. So I announced this morning that I am suspending my campaign for president. I say this with a deep sense of gratitude.

astead herndon

Its been two days since Super Tuesday, where Elizabeth Warrens best finish was in third place, including in her home state of Massachusetts. That put her behind her campaigns already lowered expectations and made a gathering like today feel almost inevitable.

archived recording (elizabeth warren) For every single person 

astead herndon

She thanks her supporters and her staff and takes questions.

archived recording (reporter) Senator, will you be making an endorsement today? We know that you spoke with both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders yesterday. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Not today. Not today. I need some space around this.

astead herndon

And when it comes to why she has to drop out?

archived recording (elizabeth warren) You know, I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for, and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is the incumbent for. And theres no room for anyone else in this. I thought that wasnt right, but evidently I was wrong. archived recording (reporters) Senator, why do you think 

astead herndon

And on the question of gender?

archived recording (reporter) And I wonder what the message would be to the women and girls who feel like were left with two white men to decide between? archived recording (elizabeth warren) I know. One of the hardest parts of this is all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years. Thats going to be hard. archived recording (reporters) Senator, why do you think 

astead herndon

She gets emotional, but there are clearly things that shes left unsaid. But when you ask her supporters who have come to the house to watch this speech, they go there.

warren supporter 1 Oh, Im so sad. Yesterday, I so sad I couldnt  I couldnt move. warren supporter 2 Im frustrated, Im disappointed, and sad. warren supporter 3 Im heartbroken that very clearly most qualified candidate is out of the race. warren supporter 4 Sadly, too many people in this country arent ready for a woman president, which is an unfortunate thing. warren supporter 5 Very disappointed, but I guess theres never going to be a time for a woman. Shes my generation, and were not going to see it now. This was our  its not going to happen. toddler (CRYING) Grandma, Grandma, I wanna go home! warren supporter 5 Maybe her generation. All right, we gotta go. Look at this little girl looking at the doggie. She likes the doggie.

astead herndon

Today, millions of voters across six states will cast their ballot for the two viable Democratic candidates left: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. What began as a contest with historic diversity, along racial and gender lines, has now come down to two men, 70 plus, both white. And as someone who covered senator Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, and with Warren especially, who once led in national polling, Im left to wonder how did we get here? How did it end up this way?

[doorbell ringing] astead herndon Wow. Oh, those are one of the fancy doorbells, where you can look at it with your phone. Hello, how are you? lyn licciardello Hello, a party. astead herndon Hi, my names Astead. Im a politics reporter at The Times. lyn licciardello Hi, nice to meet you. astead herndon Its nice to meet you. lyn licciardello Im Lyn. What did you say your name is? astead herndon Astead. lyn licciardello Astead? astead herndon Yes. jessica cheung Im Jessica 

astead herndon

So the next day, me and producers Austin Mitchell and Jessica Cheung go to North Andover, Massachusetts.

austin mitchell Should we take our shoes off? lyn licciardello Oh, you dont have to. jessica cheung You sure?

astead herndon

To meet with a pretty typical Warren supporter, Lyn Licciardello.

astead herndon I only have one sock on. lyn licciardello Its fine. [LAUGHTER] jessica cheung You have what? astead herndon I only have one sock on. [laughter] austin mitchell How does that happen?

astead herndon

Her husband Tom is there, too.

lyn licciardello Tommy, will you pour water, please? tom licciardello Yes, I knew there was a role for me somewhere.

astead herndon

And her cousin Kathleen.

kathleen lambert Let me take your coats.

astead herndon

And we all sit down in their living room.

astead herndon What do you do? lyn licciardello I am a nurse, but I teach exercise now. astead herndon Oh, very nice. Give me  what exercise? lyn licciardello Oh, well, I teach a class thats about the first half is aerobic, and then theres some stretching and strength training. Its about an hour class at the senior center in Lawrence. astead herndon Awesome. How long have you been in North Andover? lyn licciardello Since 1949. astead herndon Hm. And when did you first notice Senator Warren? lyn licciardello I noticed Senator Warren years ago. I think it was around 2012. I happened to be reading the paper one morning. And I noticed that a congressman named Todd Akin had said a horrible thing about women and pregnancy, saying that if a woman were to get pregnant as a result of rape, then her body has a way of getting rid of that. archived recording (todd akin) It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, thats really rare. If its a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. lyn licciardello And my eyes just flew open, and I said, oh my god, this man is in our Congress. I was flabbergasted, and I said to my husband, who is that woman? There was a  at the same time, I was not happy with Scott Brown, who was our senator at the time. archived recording He doesnt stand up for womens reproductive rights and economic security. He co-sponsored legislation to let employers deny women coverage for birth control or even mammograms. He had two opportunities  lyn licciardello And I said, whos that woman thats going to run against Scott Brown? I heard that a woman is going to run against Scott Brown. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Im Elizabeth Warren. Im running for the United States Senate. And before you hear a bunch of ridiculous attack ads, I want to tell you who I am. Like a lot of you, I came up the hard way. lyn licciardello And I said, I have to do something to help her get elected. archived recording (elizabeth warren) But Washington is still rigged for the big guys, and thats gotta change. Im Elizabeth Warren, and I approve this message, because I want Massachusetts families to have a level playing field.

astead herndon

And so Lyn becomes a volunteer for the Warren Senate campaign.

lyn licciardello I was always on board with Elizabeth right after that. astead herndon Why do you think you felt so drawn to Elizabeth Warren? lyn licciardello Because in many ways, shes me. Shes me. She has the same feelings that I have. Shes actually very close to my age. She has a wonderful way of kind of looking into your heart and mind. Shes interested in you. Shes interested in the people. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Hi, Im Elizabeth Warren. Its very nice to see you. speaker Im going to vote for you. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Wonderful, say that again. Fabulous. Were here for the chicken. [LAUGHTER] Good to see you. I like your shirt. Very handsome. lyn licciardello Elizabeth has that heart. And, shes brilliant. archived recording (elizabeth warren) And despite the odds, you elected the first woman senator to the state of Massachusetts. [CHEERING] astead herndon How did it feel? I mean, she wins the race, obviously. How did that feel? lyn licciardello Oh, my god. It was so exciting. I still cant say that without crying. It was so exciting.

astead herndon

So then, in 2016.

lyn licciardello Well, I was for Hillary. Hillary, I was very invested in having Hillary be president. She had all the qualifications. She was more qualified than anybody whos ever been president, in my opinion. But because she was a woman, I knew it would be difficult. But I still thought she could win. astead herndon Did you know people or did you hear people say, I wont vote for Clinton because shes a woman? lyn licciardello Not like that. But heres what I did hear. I was talking to a woman who was kind of a stranger, but we were chatting. And we were talking about politics and about how we feel about certain things. So I guess it was like immigration, climate change and things like that. And this woman was on board with all of the Democratic ideals. And then I mentioned Hillary Clinton, and she said, Oh, I hate her. And I said, Really? Because shes the one who stands for all of these things that were talking about. No, no. I cant stand her. I said, Well, why dont you like her? Oh, I have no idea. I said, Is it because shes an aggressive woman? Is she too aggressive? Is she too loud? Does she express herself too much? And her reply was, No. I dont know why. So like a minute later, I mentioned Elizabeth Warren. She said, Oh, I cant stand her either. So I was like, She agrees with you about everything! All the things that youre saying you believe in, she is promoting. No, well, I cant stand her. So, I know. I mean, Ive been a woman my whole life. So I know very well that that is the reason. Even women will vote against women, because theyre women. archived recording (joy behar) There are people out there who have this idea that youre not trustworthy, that they dont like you for some reason. What is that about, in your opinion? archived recording (hillary clinton) You know, Joy, obviously Ive thought a lot about it, because I dont like to hear it. archived recording (joy behar) Yeah. archived recording (hillary clinton) So I need to figure out whats behind it. You know, I am perhaps a more serious person, a more reserved person than is in the public arena these days. So I think people then say, Well, shes serious. Shes reserved. Can I really like her? archived recording (joy behar) But what is inauthentic? Whats inauthentic mean? archived recording (hillary clinton) I dont understand that. I dont understand that. Because Ive been pretty much the same person my entire life, for better or worse, right? archived recording (joy behar) Mm-hm. lyn licciardello Clinton losing made a difference. Clinton losing did make it harder for me to think that a woman could win.

astead herndon

So this year, when Elizabeth Warren announces that shes running, Lyn has mixed feelings.

lyn licciardello I love that people were getting to know her all across the country. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Hi. archived recording (raelyn) Hi, my names Raelyn. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Hi, Raelyn. archived recording (raelyn) I was wondering if there was ever a time in your life where somebody you really looked up to maybe didnt accept you as much and how you dealt with that? archived recording (elizabeth warren) Yeah. My mother and I had very different views of how to build a future. She wanted me to marry well. And I really tried, and it just didnt work out. But I also know it was the right thing to do. And sometimes, you just gotta do whats right inside. You gotta take care of yourself first and do this. Give me a hug. [APPLAUSE] lyn licciardello And it was a pleasure for me to see that, although I was a little bit worried. archived recording 1 In the wake of her third place finish in Iowa and fourth place finish in New Hampshire, Warren said, My job is to persist. But persisting and winning are two very different things. archived recording 2 Senator Elizabeth Warren, she came in fifth place in South Carolina. archived recording 3 Elizabeth Warren trailing in fourth place in Nevada. archived recording 4 I think the biggest question that Elizabeth Warren has to answer is, where does she win?

astead herndon

Lyn voted early in Massachusetts for Senator Warren. But in the days leading up to Super Tuesday, shes questioning her vote and wondering if she did the right thing.

lyn licciardello But I didnt feel  I didnt feel bad that I had already voted for her at all, because like she said, vote with your heart. And she was my heart. jessica cheung Did you know anyone personally in your life who were for Warren and then jumped ship? lyn licciardello Yes, my cousin Kathleen. astead herndon Raising her hand. kathleen lambert Yes, actually as soon as Buttigieg and Klobuchar backed Biden  and I was kind of waiting to see how it all shook out a little bit  I voted for Biden because we have to stop Sanders, in my opinion. But I would have voted for Warren, because I voted for Hillary.

astead herndon

As Kathleen is talking, Tom nods and raises his hand.

austin mitchell Yeah, did you raise your hand, too? tom licciardello Me too. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, actually as the sole old white guy in the room, I, too, did vote for Biden, though I love Elizabeth Warren, and she would have made an extraordinarily wonderful president. astead herndon By the time Massachusetts was voting, if she looked more electable, if she was a front-runner, you all would have stuck with her? tom licciardello Yeah, you bet. kathleen lambert Absolutely, yeah. astead herndon Did you see when she  obviously when she comes out and talks at her house, did you see that? lyn licciardello Oh, yes. I was here in the living room. I was in my own living room listening to it, watching. And yeah, I cried through the whole thing. Its heartbreaking. astead herndon Do you remember something she said that day that stuck with you or maybe caused you to feel that emotion? lyn licciardello Well, one of the things was that, you know how she talked about the pinkie swear that she does with the little kids? The first time I met her, which was way back when, before she was elected senator for the first time, she was doing that with little girls that were there. jessica cheung What is the pinkie swear? What is she promising girls? lyn licciardello She says that girls can be president. She gets right down to their level. She gets right down to their eye level and talks to the girls like that. astead herndon The race is now down to two guys, after starting with such a diverse field, gender ratio, all of that. How does it feel for it to be down to two men, when you had four women senators at the start, all of whom you liked? lyn licciardello I know. Its sick, isnt it? [CHUCKLES] You know, it was almost inevitable. I think people pan  not panicked, but I think that people are very, very concerned that we have to beat Trump. astead herndon But why does the feeling of need to beat Trump then translate to men? So youre saying, I think a lot of people are scared, I think a lot of people just want to beat Trump, and thats why it came down to two men. What is necessarily male about those qualities? lyn licciardello Because there are so many people in the country that just would not vote for a woman, like that woman that I was talking about before. And we really feel the need to prevail this time, especially. astead herndon So the idea that a woman candidate is a risk because of other peoples or the countrys sexism? lyn licciardello Yes, thats how I feel. Its a terrible thing to have to feel, but I do feel that way. Right now. I dont think its always going to be like that, but I think its the way it is right now.

[music]

jessica cheung All right. austin mitchell Thank you. You can go skiing now. lyn licciardello Oh, good. Im sorry you cant come with us. That was too bad. jessica cheung Tell us where youre going. lyn licciardello Warren, Vermont. [LAUGHS] Its very funny, because we have our ski place right next to our daughter and son-in-law in Warren, Vermont. And our son-in-laws parents live in Warren, Rhode Island. laughter astead herndon A Warren household to the end. lyn licciardello Yes.

astead herndon

Its one voters view that sexism is what consumed the Elizabeth Warren campaign. And certainly thats one thats popular among her most die-hard supporters. But Im wondering, is this the view inside her own campaign? Do they think that the barriers that gender placed on them were too big to overcome? The same day we met with Lyn, we headed to the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, to Elizabeth Warrens campaign headquarters.

astead herndon Its kind of like a warehousey building, nondescript, very on brand. There is a Dunkin Donuts right across the street.

astead herndon

To meet with someone whos worked for the Warren campaign from the start.

kristen orthman Im Kristen Orthman, the communications director for Elizabeth Warren.

astead herndon

As communications director, Kristens in charge of trying to best translate the candidate to the rest of the country, particularly through the media. And over the course of this campaign, we got to know each other pretty well. Now that the campaign has ended, Im wondering whether Kristen will speak more candidly about what went wrong and about what role gender specifically played in the campaigns demise.

astead herndon Is there something different about planning communications and media for women politicians? kristen orthman Yes. astead herndon [LAUGHS] Yeah, in what way? kristen orthman I think that there can be more caution when youre working for a woman, because youre viewing things through the lens of much more of how will this be perceived? And I think Ive an appreciation for the challenges of the Clinton presidential campaign probably now than I did when I first started. astead herndon In what way? kristen orthman I think that the fact that there were stories when Elizabeth first ran  there was an infamous one like the day she announced.

astead herndon

This is December 31, 2018, when Warren first announced her intentions to seek the presidency.

kristen orthman Talking about like, I think it was the likability factor, her versus Hillary. Because they were two women who ran for president, two white women who ran for president that had blond hair. I mean, I guess Im not quite sure what else warranted necessarily that. astead herndon So when it becomes clear shes running for president, how forefront of mind was gender and the need to define her on her own, outside of Clinton or whatever terms? kristen orthman I think when youre running for president, male, female, you have to be yourself. So what I was always, and what our team and her always wanted to make sure is, you are showing what you would hope is the truest version of yourself.

astead herndon

One of the critiques of the Clinton campaign, fair or not, was that many voters felt like they never really knew her authentic self, that there was a barrier between candidate and voter built up over all those years in the public eye. So Kristen and her team tried to go in the opposite direction. To distinguish Warren, both from Clinton but also from everyone else.

kristen orthman You know, she runs out on stage. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Hello, Indianola! kristen orthman She dances. archived recording [CHEERING] kristen orthman She stays for hours for photos. archived recording (elizabeth warren) So we just finished our event here in New York City, and I got a lot of notes and a [INAUDIBLE]. kristen orthman She is just like the compassionate and joyful person that I know behind the scenes, was the person that was on a town hall stage. Or the fighter that Ive also seen behind the scenes, and that many people saw, whether in the hearing room or otherwise, was the person on the debate stage. There is a vulnerability that comes with that, being a female candidate versus being a male candidate. I always was thinking through the risks in that, because I just knew that the mistakes that  Im using quotes, because I dont always they were, but they were perceived as mistakes  that female candidates make. Its like a higher bar.

astead herndon

But to her, these risks were necessary components of running an authentic campaign.

kristen orthman Lets do the things that have now become like signatures, were signatures of the campaign. Its like, well, OK, shes running for president to say something and do something. So lets start doing that. archived recording 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is leading the pack when it comes to policy proposals. archived recording (elizabeth warren) So Ive got a plan for 3.2 million new housing units in America. Ive got a plan to put $800 billion new federal into our public schools. Student loan debt, Ive got a plan for that. And corruption.

astead herndon

She became known as the I have a plan for that candidate.

kristen orthman The I have a plan for that just happened organically. Time Magazine put it on the cover, and thats when it became more of a thing. I think it happened grassroots level before that. People start talking about it, because we were doing it. astead herndon There was like a whole meme section of like, Warren plan. kristen orthman Exactly, thats what I mean. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

astead herndon

And by the end of last fall, Warren has crossed into front-runner status. Shes leading in some national polls. But this is also about the time that I noticed a shift in the race.

astead herndon The primary change from a contest to ideas, to one of just as obsession about who can win. Do you think thats true? kristen orthman I think the primary campaign has always been about who can win. astead herndon How does that impact the women, specifically, who are running? kristen orthman I do think I need distance in order to fully formulate, but I dont think theres any question that electability was viewed through a lens that probably hurt the women candidates. Because there was a perception that, after 2016, even though the female candidate got 3 million more votes, is a woman not electable? And she has said before publicly that she would hear that from people in the early states. Like, Im worried about who can beat Trump. But I dont think all of a sudden in October it was like, Oh, lets make this primary about whos going to beat Donald Trump. Thats what its been.

astead herndon

I would largely agree. Certainly, electability has never been far from mind for most Democratic voters. But as more and more people tuned into the race, particularly around this time in the late fall, it shifted its tone. Policy ideas took a back seat to that electability question. And the candidates who had most clearly articulated their path to victory started to rise, while Elizabeth Warren started to fall. This coincided with rival candidates like Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar increasingly casting Warrens campaign as out of touch with the mainstream Democratic Party and a real general election risk. And so to respond to that scrutiny, the Warren campaign tries to reposition itself as a unity candidate, someone who can actually bring all sides together.

astead herndon Theres sometime during the unity candidate phase, where I did feel like it was different from the fight that we had heard before. kristen orthman Mm-hm. astead herndon How do you square those two versions that we did see just this year? kristen orthman I mean, I think you can both  unity doesnt mean not fighting. I never didnt think she was herself. astead herndon Take us into debate prep, for instance. Like, are you sitting there thinking, We have to package a candidate, and there are concerns about how shell be perceived if she attacks too much or attacks too little. Like, how much is gender a concern as you are thinking about the big national combative moments? kristen orthman Mm-hm. You know, I dont want to make a big statement saying its easier for men to attack than women. I do think that there are probably greater consequences to a failed attack by a female than a failed attack by a male. Because obviously she had a debate performance a couple  two debates ago  where she doing some level of contrasts with Mayor Bloomgberg. laughter astead herndon Understatement of human history. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Id like to talk about who were running against  a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And, no, Im not talking about Donald Trump. Im talking about Mayor Bloomberg. Democrats are not going to  kristen orthman She was really strong. She was tough, and she was dynamic. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another. This country has worked  kristen orthman They were contrasting with each other, and I think overall, it was agreed upon that she did well in that exchange.

astead herndon

But this came in Nevada, after two straight disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

astead herndon I mean, if were just going to take Nevada, I feel like that is a reason to ask why then and not previously? Were you all in rooms saying, Well, we cant attack yet? One of things I remember from the second this campaign started was the way that supporters were so eager to see her cut down the Bidens and the Bernies and everyone else. It really didnt get that payoff until Nevada. kristen orthman Mm-hm. astead herndon Why? kristen orthman So I like reject the premise of your question, because I think that you can be both advocating for yourself and creating contrast in ways that are not  that dont always need to be how it happened in Nevada. archived recording (moderator) Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? archived recording [LAUGHTER] archived recording (elizabeth warren) I disagreed. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But look  kristen orthman Now, some would say about  and this is what I heard frequently from reporters  Oh, you guys are doing subtle contrasts. People dont get that. People dont know that. I dont necessarily agree with that. I think that youre always looking at the bar of how do we balance advocating for yourself and your ideas versus contrasting with other people. jessica cheung You characterize Warren as contrasting with Bloomberg. kristen orthman Yes. jessica cheung Others might characterize that as she was attacking Bloomberg or going after Bloomberg. kristen orthman Yeah. jessica cheung And I wonder  yeah, I wonder if in your role, youre choosing your words carefully, because you know that male politicians are treated differently or characterized differently than female politicians. kristen orthman I very specifically used the word contrast. So you are correct that I was specifically choosing those words. That was your question, right? Yeah. astead herndon There is a prevailing view from Warren supporters that gender was the foremost reason that she wasnt successful in this race. Do you share that feeling? kristen orthman You think thats a prevailing view? astead herndon Yeah, definitely. kristen orthman I just think I probably need more time to think about it. And Im not trying to not answer your question. I think that there were  what she said yesterday around, like, there were basically two ideological, I think she called them poles. We could call them lanes. Thats not necessarily genderized. That is an ideological reason. And then I think electability, the idea of electability, was the other reason. Now, the idea of electability through the eyes of, can a woman win? Certainly, thats gender. And I would add that it wasnt just can a woman win? It was, can a non-white or non-male candidate win? astead herndon For that last point, it seems as if, then, this kind of place that weve ended, with two people on the ideological poles, both of them being white males, was that inevitable? kristen orthman I mean, maybe. I dont know.

[music]

astead herndon Yeah, well see you later. jessica cheung Bye, well see you later. astead herndon Its so hard to get people  I think this is true. I mean, particularly being a male reporter asking women about sexism, you need people to  like, oh, were you thinking about this, then? But thats not really how biases work, right? Like, does she say contrast and not attack because of sexism? Maybe. But its so deeply pervasive that its not something you actively think about as youre doing it. And I feel like that makes sometimes the reporting challenge difficult, because youre asking these candidates, like, wasnt that sexist? Wasnt that racist? Wasnt that blah, blah, blah. And its like, maybe? I think there were a lot of challenges in the race, and ideology was one, name recognition is one, fund-raising is one, and sexism and gender pervades all of those things. And does it define all of those things? Maybe it informs all of those things is a better way to put it, but you know, how do you now? archived recording (elizabeth warren) Gender in this race, you know that is the trap question for every woman. If you say, yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says whiner. And if you say, no, there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think, what planet do you live on? I promise you this. I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on. archived recording Senator, advice to your supporters right now looking for a candidate. What is your advice to them?

[music]

michael barbaro
You've heard of the man on the flying trapeze, but what about the man crossing an erupting volcano on a high-wire?

On Wednesday night, Nik Wallenda set out to make history when the 41-year-old daredevil crossed an 1,800-foot one-inch-thick wire stretching across Nicaragua's active Masaya Volcano. After having conquered a Grand Canyon gorge, Niagara Falls, and two Chicago skyscrapers, Wallenda set himself his most difficult task yet.

ABC

The walk itself was full of breathtaking, hair-raising views of Wallenda on the wire, the daredevil a speck against the gaping mouth of the volcano. He struggled with heavy winds and noxious gases issuing from the volcano, swirling plumes of acidic volcanic gas that make it hard to breathe and see. Wallenda had to wear a gas mask to make the walk, despite wanting to forgo the safety measure because it blocks his peripheral vision (without it he could have run the risk of losing consciousness).

Though still a mammoth task, Wallenda seemed to tackle it with ease, praising God and shilling with quips about writing chapters of his book in his head (it's about overcoming fear, for those wondering) while he walked.

ABC

Wallenda told host Chris Harrison about the challenges of the walk while completing it, noting that the strong winds were like a hurricane. He explained, The gases hit me hard, [and] eyes actually started to burn.

Still, he did it high spirits  and in just over 31 minutes  joking to the commentators, Im just hoping to make it on SportsCenters top 10.

ABC

ABC stretched the special into a two-hour event, bloating it to unnecessary lengths with over an hour of packages about Wallenda's past walks, the science and engineering behind the wire, and his family history (he is a seventh-generation member of the Flying Wallendas circus family).

They kicked things off with a special performance from Wallenda's wife, Erendira, who hung above the volcano on a hoop to deliver an aerial performance.

Story continues

"To be honest, my career is not about topping myself," Wallenda previously told EW. "Everything Ive done, the reality is, its just as risky. So to me, its more about parallels, and I have a long, long bucket list. The truth is, theyre life-and-death, whether Im walking over an amusement park or walking over my swimming pool, depending on how high I am, or walking over an active volcano."

But after crossing an active volcano, if he does want to top himself, it will be quite the challenge.

Related content:
The 2018 Wenner-Gren Symposium was Disability Worlds, and the papers are now available as a Current Anthropology supplement, open-access to all! Here is a PDF of the entire collection, and the abstracts are below.

Disability Worlds: Wenner-Gren Symposium Supplement 21

Danilyn Rutherford

[excerpt] From March 9 to 15, 2018, at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch in Tucson, Arizona, the Wenner-Gren Foundation hosted a symposium that brought together 17 scholars from seven countries around the world (fig. 1). Their goal was to investigate the worlds that have arisen around disability, the socially experienced state of difference and disadvantage experienced by people with nonnormative bodies and minds. It was a week of unexpected resonances and spirited debates. The political became the practical, as participants drew connections between the limits that confront disabled people and those that hamper our field. We used CART, a communication system that projected a written version of the conversation as it unfolded. The group included a revoicer to help those unaccustomed to atypical speech. These improvements in access fostered sharper thinking, with the participants paying close attention to what was being said. Even as the symposium focused on disability worlds, it created one of its own, shifting the stakes and norms of academic debate.

Disability/Anthropology: Rethinking the Parameters of the Human: An Introduction to Supplement 21

Faye Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp

As an analytic and an object of study, disability provides a powerful lens to refocus and potentially transform thinking about new and enduring concerns shaping contemporary anthropology. At its most basic, the recognition of disability as a universal social fact helps us to understand the cultural specificities of personhood and to reconsider the unstable boundaries of the category of the human. This special issue of Current Anthropology is based on a 2018 Wenner-Gren international symposium on disability addressing this underrepresented area of research. The articles published here demonstrate the transformative value of critical anthropological studies of disability for many of our disciplines key questions regarding kinship, biopolitics, the life course, inequality/racism, war and violence, technology and materiality, and the importance of disability to decolonizing perspectives in anthropology.

The Politics of Disability Performativity: An Autoethnography

Devva Kasnitz

Disability is a concept that grows as we think about it, forcing us to adjust our conversations in vocabulary and rhetoric depending on which disability world we inhabit or address. Understanding disability starts with exposure to disabled peoples bodyminds in their own spacetime and an appreciation of disability expertise. The disability justice movement pulls the intersectional performance of disability out of the intimate sphere so that it can play a role in policy, an analytic where anthropology should shine. This article is particularly addressed to anthropologists with a new interest in disability and critical disability studies scholars with a frustration with anthropology. I use exemplary analysis of actual dialogues drawn from an autoethnographic record of my own perceived mobility and speech impairments to explore my biopolitical positioning as disabled. Anthropologists have the capacity to move disability theory forward, feeding it with ethnographic fuel. While the anthropology of disability uses insightful ethnographic methods to understand specific impairments in specific contexts, the reflexive turn in anthropology has not yet embraced disability. We are still better off remaining individual disability experts; our collective efforts are still an embarrassment to power. This article, as part of a collective special issue, aims to change that.

Disability Expertise: Claiming Disability Anthropology

Cassandra Hartblay

This paper stakes out a space for a critical global disability anthropology that considers disability not as a medicalized classification of impairment but as a relational category. Disability expertise, I argue, is the particular knowledge that disabled people develop and enact about unorthodox configurations of agency, cultural norms, and relationships between selves, bodies, and the designed world. Disability expertise is a descriptive domain, that is, a container into which ethnographers might enumerate observations about how disabled people enact personhood and moral agency in diverse cultural settings. To illustrate what I mean by disability expertise, I draw examples from one interlocutors experiences, described in interviews conducted during broader ethnographic research in Russia. I elaborate one particular domain of disability expertise: managing perceptions of disability, especially the tendency of nondisabled people to view disability through the tropes of suffering and pity. I call for anthropologists to claim disability anthropology as a space for critical, interdisciplinary knowledge production.

Disability, Anonymous Love, and Interworldly Socials in Urban India

Michele Friedner

This essay considers disability studies scholars investment in the social as a site of rehabilitation, recuperation, and cure in order to argue that in urban India, the case is otherwise: the public often engages with disability through anonymous love, which produces opportunities for the concretization of disability as a category, for disabled people to exist socially, and for validation of an existing social. I argue, however, that this conceptualization and enactment of the social is empirically unfulfilling and analytically limiting. I then turn to ethnographic research conducted in deaf churches in order to consider what other forms of engagement might emerge when we include the interworldlyengagements with God, the Divine, or the Spiritin our analysis of disability worlds. This essay argues that including the interworldly offers an alternative animation of the social as a concept. Overall, attending to the interworldly leads to the creation of nonliberal and nonsecular alterworlds where alternative renderings of the social that are not premised on the politics of biosocial recognition are made possible.

Activism, Anthropology, and Disability Studies in Times of Austerity

In Collaboration with Sini Diallo

Pamela Block

How can we practice an anthropology of disability that is in respectful alliance with the disabled people and disability groups we study? What does critical theory making look like within the politics of such collaborative practice? What valued expertise do anthropologists offer and what do anthropologists gain? In an age of austerity and precarity in academia and in general, disabled people and disability groups struggle for survival while secure funding for grants and programs supporting graduate students and emerging scholars is increasingly precarious. In what interdependent spaces is it possible to imagine disabled activists and scholars working together for survival into an uncertain future? These questions stand at the heart of this collaborative auto-ethnographic essay.

Prosthetic Debts: Economies of War Disability in Neoliberal Turkey

Salih Can Acksoz

Following the neoliberal restructuration of the Turkish welfare and banking systems in the 2000s, many veterans of Turkeys Kurdish war faced debt enforcement due to failed payments for prosthetic limbs. Veterans responded to debt collection by turning their own bodies into spectacles of debt and sacrifice by publicly removing and showcasing their debt-ridden prostheses. The media interest in these prosthetic spectacles further amplified the visceral threat of dismemberment evoked by veterans embodied performances. The public debates surrounding prosthesis repossession cases extended well beyond veteran welfare issues, inscribing all sorts of social and political anxieties on the amputee veteran body, such as anxieties around the incommensurability between the value regimes of nationalism and neoliberalism or around the Syrian refugees. Providing a window into larger questions about the interconnections between disability, gender, nationalism, and neoliberal capitalism, prosthesis repossession cases show us how debt and disability coproduce each other at the nexus of consumer debt and nationalist welfare in Turkey. By homing in on the prosthetic re-membering and dismembering of veteran bodies in a rapidly changing health milieu, we see how the political economy of violence and the violence of political economy become complicit in the production of debt, dismemberment, and prosthetic rehabilitation.

Torture without Torturers: Violence and Racialization in Black Chicago

Laurence Ralph

What happens when trauma becomes a political frame for recognizing anti-black racism and police violence? I grapple with this question by illustrating the ways that survivors of police torture must present themselves as a part of a disability category. More broadly, this article demonstrates that, as opposed to being a category of difference unto itself, the idea of police torture in Chicago has been transformed through legal precedent, activism, and the resulting legislation to emerge, as it has in its latest rendition, as a medical condition. I argue that the role of trauma in producing such categories of disability is not unidirectional. Since racialized debilitation always already informs societal institutions before any contemporary incidence of state violence occurs, these concessions reify a racial caste system by putting the onus on the traumatized to gain state recognition. If they do not, then they have no one to blame but themselves. In sum, I show that the problem with trauma as a legal category is that it justifies inequality for black victims of police violence because these concessions betray a tacit assumption that they are debilitated by virtue of their racialized status before they can gain relief through the law.

People as Affordances: Building Disability Worlds through Care Intimacy

Arseli Dokumaci

This article builds on the critical disability theory of affordances that I have been developing through ethnographic inquiries and the notion of microactivist affordances, by which I mean micro and everyday acts of world building with which disabled people literally make up, and at the same time make up for, whatever affordance fails to readily materialize in their environments. Drawing from fieldwork in Turkey and Quebec with people who have chronic pain and mobility-related disabilities, I explore how microactivist affordances emerge, not through the complementarity of a single perceiver and the world but through the complementarity of multiple perceivers and the world, within the particular material conditions of living with disability. Taking into account the sociality of my interlocutors microactivist affordances and their, after Ginsburg and Rapp, disability worlds, I propose the notion of people as affordances as a way to describe how people can enable the emergence of, or directly become, affordances for one another, especially where no other affordances exist. I then explore the various forms that people as affordances may take and that allow people to create access by their own means, and the socialities within which that access creation mayor may fail tomaterialize. Finally, I suggest that people as affordances can provide new ways of understanding care that I, after Mia Minguss work, conceptualize as care intimacy.

The Ability of Place: Digital Topographies of the Virtual Human on Ethnographia Island

Tom Boellstorff

In this article I explore the relationship between digital place and disability through an ethnographic study of disability experience in the virtual world Second Life. I discuss how forms of landscape and interface shape disability experience, how building relates to being-inworld in digital place, and how proximity and collaboration relate to disability embodiment in a virtual context. Participant building on a virtual island created for this research, Ethnographia, complements participant observation and other methods to investigate these questions of digital place. Through these lines of analysis, I develop a notion of digital topography to illuminate the implications of digital place for disability and human experience more generally. This allows for differentiating digital places from digital media and thus forging conceptual frameworks that reflect how the internet is not a unitary entity. It also allows for considering digital emplacement as related to, but distinct from, digital embodiment. This helps draw attention to questions of digital placemaking alongside the better-known phenomena of avatars. Avatars are important, but it is crucial to highlight the virtual geographies without which the emplacement of those avatars would be impossible. These materials speak to broad questions regarding embodiment, ability, the digital, and the real.

The Skilling Journey: Disability, Technology, and Sociality in Postconflict Northern Uganda

Herbert Muyinda

In Uganda, people affected by war-related impairments may engage in skilling as a way of dealing with the disability problem. The aim is often to acquire skills that can enable them to adapt to their new conditions. As we look closely at the process, two questions arise: How are the skills passed on to persons with disabilities (PWDs) translated into daily life experiences? How do these processes (re)shape the world-making of PWDs in such settings? In this paper, I examine skilling as a translation processthe interface between the sociotechnological innovations (skills) developed to deal with disability and the socioeconomic shifts due to violent conflict, and how such interface influences the making of disability worlds. I analyze the global-local (dis)connections and their influence on the skilling journey of PWDs. Through ethnographic vignettes in war-torn Gulu District in Uganda, I illustrate how skilling processes and PWDs translation of technologies are influenced by changing socialities in the diverse domains of interaction: the individual and the collective, the formal and the informal, and the physical and the technological. I observe that skill is socially constructed: it is linked to peoples lives not only through bodily (dys)functions alone but also through social connectivitysociality.

In the Long Run: Ugandans Living with Disability

Susan Reynolds Whyte

Uganda has progressive legislation in place to support the rights of people with disabilities, and it has received donor support over the years for special education and community-based rehabilitation programs. Yet while political mobilization and interventions that aim to minimize disabling conditions have been important, they are not necessarily seen as a means to achieving rights and self-sufficiency. Using examples of families I have known for decades, I show how disability interventions and institutions affect their lives in the long run. James Fergusons approach to relations of dependence is useful in understanding how people in eastern Uganda perceive the possibilities in disability projects. I contrast global health time as instantiated in such projects with lifetimes of people and families with disabilities. Humanitarian and development projects sometimes feed into life projects such as education, housing, livelihood, and making families. But their impact is often not so great in the long run of lifetimes intertwined with lives of intimate others.

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A confirmed coronavirus patient in Tennessee traveled from Boston Logan International Airport to Nashville, though the individual was asymptomatic during transport, public health officials said.

The Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday announced the states first positive diagnosis of the respiratory infection, named COVID-19. More than 100 cases of the virus have been confirmed in the U.S., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said 10 people have died. Deaths were reported in California and Washington state.

The patient in Tennessee, a 44-year-old man from Williamson County who had recently traveled out of state, has a mild illness and remains isolated at his home, according to a statement from the Tennessee Department of Health.

Tennessees COVID-19 patient traveled on a nonstop, round-trip flight between Boston, Mass., and the Nashville International Airport, the statement said. TDH is in close contact with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Two patients with the respiratory infection have been confirmed in Massachusetts, a University Massachusetts Boston student and a Norfolk County woman. Both are recovering from the illness.

TDH has tested eight people for the coronavirus, including the presumptive positive case announced Thursday. Two more tests are in progress, the agency said.

The department will announce diagnosis results of the confirmed COVID-19 patients contacts as well as any additional positive test results, according to TDH.

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Speed dating is not exactly an uncommon occurrence in New York, but it is when used in the context of a show during fashion week. While most designers stuck to the typical runway format this season, gender-fluid label Hardeman used the opportunity to assemble a motley crew of performers wearing the brand's Fall 2020 collection to enact lively speed-dating rounds with each other (and the audience.)

Related | Marc Jacobs Wanted Everybody to Dance This NYFW

The presentation, which partnered with alternative dating app Feeld, doubled as a safe and welcoming space for sex-positive and queer people alike. Brooklyn drag queen Chola Spears performed hosting duties all while models showed off Hardeman's signature deconstructed and eccentric denim wares.

Photo: Nicholas Lattimore

For Fall 2020, the Amsterdam-based brand designed looks inspired by throwback concepts of adolescence, college dorms, and country cowboys while continuing to hold conversations around race, gender, sex and class. "Love Harder," as the collection is dubbed, is about "a truly inclusive and forward-thinking identity for American fashion," according to the show notes.

This meant we saw everything from asymmetrical bodysuits, long-sleeved corset tops, frayed denim dresses and slouchy leg warmers on a variety of body types.

Photo: Nicholas Lattimore

Surprise performances by Raven Artson and Cuntmafia kept the party going well into the night, as well as multiple DJ sets and even a karaoke slot. See, below, for the complete collection from Hardeman Fall 2020.

Photo: Babyhouse
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 11:42 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20686e709 1 National Indonesia,scientists,COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,outbreak,outbreak-in-Indonesia Free

The government has stepped up its efforts to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by tightening health screenings at borders and testing more people after confirming two cases in a Jakarta suburb over the weekend.

Scientists, however, say there is still a crucial element lacking in the war against the virus: transparency.

A number of scientists have highlighted the importance of involving more people, including independent scientists, in the handling of the virus outbreak, saying it is essential that health authorities work effectively and scientifically.

Ahmad Utomo, a principal investigator at the Stemcell and Cancer Institute in Jakarta, has said that how the authorities are conducting testing is not transparent and not helping the public understand the situation.

The government, he said, needed to write in detail about the sample collection, preservation, transport and quality control.

And if they are going to write a [scientific] paper [on the issue], they must disclose what brand they are using for the PCR testing, he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, adding that China's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had done exactly that.

Paper publications like the ones in China showed the details of the outbreak, complete with molecular genetic data of the virus.

The Health Ministry has posted updates about the COVID-19 situation at infeksiemerging.kemkes.go.id. In its latest update, posted on March 4, the ministry mostly explains the global situation of the outbreak and only spares one paragraph (or one pointer) to explain the domestic situation.

The links to the previous updates are all broken.

Indonesia has reported two confirmed cases in the country, even though the government itself has admitted that it was unable to detect infected people since they showed no symptoms and that the incubation period had been extended to more than 14 days.

Critics have said Indonesia should have reported more cases but the government, which claims to have conducted the lab tests according to the WHO standards, has insisted that the number of confirmed cases has not changed.

Achmad Yurianto, a government spokesman for the handling of the virus outbreak, said Indonesia had tested 168 samples as of Wednesday. Two of them, case one and case two, came back positive with COVID-19. We are still studying the 10 other samples. The rest are negative, he said.

When asked about the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test equipment, Yurianto said: I will not tell you the name of the brand.

Utomo deplored Yuriantos response, saying that information regarding the test kit was critical to allow independent parties review its reliability. Some test kits, he said, could be faulty, referring to the ones used by the US Centers for Disease Control.

After insisting that its Jakarta laboratory alone could conduct testing, the ministry decided to let local laboratories in 10 major cities conduct throat swab tests for COVID-19. However, it has yet to allow other scientific organizations, including from universities, conduct testing.

The government argued that such a policy was redundant, saying that scientists had been consulted with in the formulation of the governments policy, including the testing system. It doesnt matter where the testing is conducted, he said, adding that what mattered was the scientists contribution to the crisis management system.

Read also: Calls mount for revival of national outbreak committee over coronavirus fears

The building of Eijkman Institute in Jakarta (Eijkman Institute/File)

Herawati, the deputy for fundamental research at Eijkman Institute, said the institution had all the equipment needed to conduct testing but the government had yet to seek its assistance with the testing of the suspected coronavirus patients.

When the avian influenza outbreak occurred, the government immediately asked Eijkman to also help with the testing of samples from suspected patients, she claimed.

Indonesia, she said, should follow Singapore, where the government and universities are working together to conduct testing for COVID-19.

Indonesia, she said, might be underreporting confirmed cases.

[The two positive cases] I think are just the tip of the iceberg. We have to do more tests. Not because we want to get more patients but we have to make sure that we are ready, our abilities, facilities and everything for pandemic preparation, Hera said.

When asked about whether having local labs do the testing was enough, Hera said: The key is to have an independent laboratory under the command of the Health Ministry for comparison. This is to strengthen transparency, Hera added.

Ahmad concurred with Hera, saying that the government needed to get professional help. At least seek help to conduct supervision. We have many world-class virologists.

Bayu Krisnamurthi, who headed the National Committee for Avian Flu Control and Pandemic Preparedness (Komnas Flu Burung) between 2006 and 2010, also highlighted the importance of an independent laboratory for testing.

"It is important to confirm. This examination laboratory has two critical functions, to identify whether the patient is indeed infected with the virus and whether the virus is still the same, or has it mutated and even to trace the origin of the virus," he said.
February 24

Plainview Police arrested 36-year-old Michael Christopher Salas on Feb. 24 at the 400 block of W. 11th St. during a traffic stop just after 8:30 p.m. Salas was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving without a license, possession of marijuana and with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, which is a felony.

Two men were arrested by police on Feb. 24 at the 1500 block of Yoakum St. Officers reported to the location of the arrests just after 3:20 a.m. Mark Adrian Soto, 27, and Miguel Angel Daniel, 21, were each charged with a count of possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. Daniel was also charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon. Soto was also charged with possession of marijuana.

Criminal mischief and criminal trespassing were reported at the 200 block of Austin St. on Feb. 24 around 8:40 p.m.

Unauthorized use of a vehicle was reported at the 800 block of W. 5th St. on Feb. 24 around 4:40 p.m.

A crash was reported at the 2900 block of Business Park Drive on Feb. 24 around 7:20 p.m.

A theft was reported at the 1600 block of W. 11th St. just after 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 24.

An aggravated assault was reported at the 2400 block of El Paso St. on Feb. 24 just after 2:30 p.m.

A theft was reported at the 2400 block of Joliet St. on Feb. 24 just after 4 p.m.

A theft was reported at the 2600 block of Olton Road on Feb. 24 just before 10:30 a.m.

February 25

A 67-year-old man was arrested on Feb. 25 at the 2400 block of N. Columbia St. after police were called to the location in reference to a theft around 2:45 p.m. The individual was charged with theft and public intoxication. The same individual was later charged with theft for a different case reported at the 600 block of W. 24th St.

Police arrested a 53-year-old man at the 1000 block of W. 5th St. just before 7 p.m. on Feb. 25. The individual was charged with two active misdemeanor warrants.

A 22-year-old man was arrested for an active warrant at the 1100 block of El Paso St. on Feb. 25 around 9:30 a.m.

Credit card or debit card abuse was reported at the 200 block of N. Broadway on Feb. 25 around 10:30 a.m.

A theft was reported at the 3400 block of Olton Road on Feb. 25 just after noon.

A crash was reported at the 3600 block of N. Interstate 27 W. Frontage Road on Feb. 25 around noon.

A crash was reported at the 2500 block of W. 11th St. on Feb. 25 just after 3:30 p.m.
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By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: With the national capital in the grip of Corona fear following reports of suspected cases in the city and elsewhere, hand sanitisers and protective face masks flew off the shelves of most chemist shops as people, wary of an outbreak, resorted to panic buying.

Several drug stores across the city and NCR ran out of masks and sanitisers, as manufacturers failed to replenish depleting stocks amid a sudden spike in demand over the last couple of days.

EDITORIAL | Responding to the coronavirus epidemic without panic

It has been learnt that some chemist shops, which still had masks and sanitisers in stock, jacked up the prices of these items sensing a supply shortfall and soaring demand. The asking price of masks, which were earlier available at Rs 150, is now Rs 300.



There has been a steady demand for protective masks and hand sanitisers over the last two months, since word of the Corona outbreak in China got out. However, ever since a confirmed case was reported in Delhi, there has been a sudden and significant spike in demand, said a salesperson, who asked not to be named.



Commonly used hand sanitizers of brands such as Dettol and Himalaya are missing from shelves of many drug stores. While some have still have a few medical hand rubs, which come at bottles of different sizes, in stock, these are priced at anywhere between Rs 200 and Rs 600.

We are not getting supplies of the popular brands and whatever we still have in stock are literally flying off the shelves, said a salesperson at another chemist shop. While conceding to panic buying, another salesperson said its not as if these items arent available in the market at all.



Though we have run out of sanitizers, if you give us a couple of hours we can get you the item, he said.
Its 2016 all over again.

A crusading Bernie Sanders now faces off again against a more mainstream candidate, one with flaws that give many voters pause. This time, its Joe Biden.

Sure, Elizabeth Warren is still in the race for the Democratic nomination, but her chances of prevailing have evaporated. And, I must say here, I believe that part of the explanation for that boils down to sexism. I am baffled by her failure to attract more of a following. People will count errors by her campaign, but all candidates make errors. There is something more afoot in peoples relationship with Warren, something that they may not be willing to admit to themselves, something that they may not even be conscious of.

And, of course, there is Tulsi. Thats enough words on that suspect candidacy.

But with candidates withdrawing from the race and endorsing Biden, and with Bidens surprisingly strong showing on Super Tuesday, it is clear that this is now a two-person race  two men, two elderly men, two elderly white men.

Democratic voters have decided that what an old white man  Donald Trump  broke, only an old white man  Sanders or Biden  can fix. That is a shocking outcome because the Democrats started with a historically diverse field of candidates.
A top animal rights group wants Marines to trade the reptiles and other animals they're eating during an annual jungle training exercise for plants and other vegan survival options.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to the Marine Corps' top general this week pleading with him to ban the crude killing of animals during the annual Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand. This year's exercise, which includes lessons on jungle survival, will wrap up Friday.

Photos of past iterations show Marines drinking snake blood, eating scorpions and killing chickens during the training. Commandant Gen. David Berger's office did not immediately respond to questions about whether the service will ban those practices.

"The photos showing giddy Marines swallowing scorpions and guzzling cobra blood are more reminiscent of a frat party gone wrong than a military drill," PETA Vice President Shalin Gala said in a statement.

Related: Marines Guzzle Snake Blood Once Again in Gnarliest Training Exercise

A post on PETA's website titled "Training or Animal Abuse? U.S. Marines Behead Cobras, Drink Their Blood," adds, "No one needed to die for U.S. and Thai forces to strengthen their alliance."

Royal Thai Marine Chief Petty Officer First Class Pairoi Prasarnsai shows how to handle king cobras during exercise Cobra Gold 2020 at Ban Chan Khrem, Chanthaburi, Kingdom of Thailand, March 2, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Hannah Hall)

Cobra Gold is in its 39th iteration, making it the longest-running international military exercise in the world, Michael Heath, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, said during this year's opening ceremony.

This year's Cobra Gold includes a cyber exercise, amphibious-assault training, a humanitarian-relief drill and a live-fire event.

And yes, Marines were photographed drinking blood of a king cobra snake on Monday -- the day before PETA's letter to the commandant. But photos also show the members of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, drinking water from plants, eating coconuts and other fruit, and watching a Royal Thai Marine dig into a pineapple with his teeth -- tough skin and all -- to stay hydrated.

U.S. Marines observe as a Royal Thai Marine instructor eats a pineapple as part of jungle survival training during exercise Cobra Gold 2020 at Ban Chan Khrem, Chanthaburi, Kingdom of Thailand, March 2, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Hannah Hall)

Those options are more in line with what PETA says Marines should be eating during jungle training.

"Clearly, there are precedents for troops to learn food procurement survival skills without having to use live animals in abhorrent training drills," Gala wrote in her letter to Berger. "... As the Daily Mail notes, 'There are also vegan options too with the jungle being rich in fruit and other lush, edible vegetation.'"

PETA noted that the U.S. military had ended other training involving animals after the organization urged leaders to stop.

In 2011, for example, the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center stopped using live animals in its survival training courses following discussions with PETA, the letter states. The Army also canceled a survival-skills training course at Dugway Proving Ground after PETA asked then-Defense Secretary Les Aspin to intervene in the 1990s.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Birdcalls and Night Movements: Soldiers in Pacific Train to Fight in Jungle
Bhubaneswar, March 5 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said the state government has set a target of providing 20 lakh concrete houses (pucca houses) to the poor in the next four years.

On the occasion of Panchayati Raj Divas, the Chief Minister launched the Pucca Ghar Jogyata Adhikar Card (Eligibility Guarantee Card for Concrete House) here.

He handed over guarantee cards to some beneficiaries.

Patnaik said that the state government has already provided 25 lakh concrete houses to the people. He said that the dream of the late Biju Patnaik was that of a decent roof over the head of every citizen of the state.
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Galang Island, Riau Islands  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:55 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206894102 1 National Batam,COVID-19,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia Free

Residents of Galang Island in Riau Islands regency are objecting to the government's plan to turn a former refugee camp on the island into an infectious diseases hospital, and have urged authorities to consult them first before proceeding with such plans.

Barnasin, a community unit (RW) head of Sijantung village in Galang district, said that neither the central government nor the regional administration had informed local residents about the plan.

"I only learned about the plan from the news, that a special hospital will be built in our village. However, I'm [doubtful] about the plan. If we had known about the plan, we would have certainly rejected it," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Wednesday.

Barnas added that the residents were open to discussion, but also called on the government to provide adequate medical facilities for them, considering the kind of diseases the hospital would be treating.

The government is floating a plan to turn the former site of the Galang Refugee Camp into a referral hospital for treating COVID-19 patients.

The nation has been battening down since the President announced on Monday Indonesia's first cases of the novel coronavirus, which originated in China in December 2019.

Galang Island is located about 50 kilometers southeast of Batam, with a bridge connecting the two islands.

Galang Refugee Camp, which spans 80 hectares, was used in 1975-1996 to house 250,000 Vietnamese refugees who fled their homeland during the Vietnam War. The war arose from an ideological conflict between communist North Vietnam and socialist South Vietnam, and was exacerbated amid the prolonged Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Read also: Indonesia to turn former Vietnamese refugee camp into hospital for COVID-19 patients

More than 12 million South Vietnamese fled after the war ended and sought political asylum in countries such as the US, Canada and Australia, but many were cast ashore on the islands of Indonesia.

The camp was managed by the United Nations during the Vietnam refugee crisis.

Today, Galang Refugee Camp is under management of the Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam), and is maintained as a tourist attraction that draws both former refugees and tourists to Batam Island.

Several facilities of the camp have been preserved, including the refugee barracks, a church, a Buddhist temple, a 4-hectare hospital and a cemetery, as well as the wooden boats the refugees used to flee their country and which gave them the moniker, "Vietnamese boat people".

Horticultural crops such as water spinach, carrots, cabbage and ginger are grown on some of the land the refugees had once farmed.

Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono arrived on Wednesday to inspect the site of the former refugee camp.

Basuki said the government would consult with the residents in the area before proceeding with the construction of the hospital, which was expected to take a month to complete.

Hadi said the hospital would have the capacity to treat 1,000 patients with 500 rooms, 2 percent of which would be designated as isolation rooms to comply with the recommended protocol of the World Health Organization (WHO).

To date, Indonesia has two confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, a mother and daughter. The pair are currently receiving treatment at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI) in Jakarta, which has only 11 isolation rooms.

At least 31 suspected cases are under observation at an infectious diseases hospital in Jakarta, while 10 other Indonesians have been diagnosed abroad, including a domestic helper in Singapore and eight crewmen aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. (ars)
In a shocking revelation, a report has found that cases of bribery on the national highway have gone up by a whopping 120 per cent over the last decade. The drivers of commercial vehicles alone pay an average of 48,000 crore every year to access the national highway, the survey found.

According to a report published by road safety advocacy organisation Safe Life Foundation (SLF), the local police are at the forefront of taking bribes followed by the transport department.

It was also found that there is no dearth of those who recover money from drivers in the name for religious causes and charity.

According to the SLF report, the local police takes 22,000 crore every year from the drivers as a bribe. Officers of Regional Transport Office (RTO) recover 19,500 crores annually.

Also read: 50% truckers admit to driving when tired, fatigued

As much as 5,900 thousand crore is recovered annually from drivers in the name of religious events and for construction of buildings.

SLF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Piyush Tiwari told HTs Hindi language publication Hindustan that the report is based on talks with 1,310 truck drivers across the country. The information has been collected from the Truck Owners Association, Transporters Association, Pleat Operators and local media on various issues.

According to the officials at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, no studies have been conducted concerning incidents of bribery on national highways.

In FY 2006-07, an agency named Transparency in its report - after analyzing its interaction with drivers of commercial vehicles for the first time - filed a report stating that 22,000 crore are collected annually on roads in India.
Lori Vallow, the mother of two missing children, was extradited to Idaho on March 5 to face charges relating to her childrens disappearance, local media reported.

Vallow was arrested in Hawaii last month in connection to the disappearance of seven-year-old JJ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. Both children were last seen in September.

Idaho TV station KTVB said Vallow is charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, as well as misdemeanor charges of resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court.

The felony charges are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

In this video, taken by a passenger on a flight from Kauai, Hawaii, to Los Angeles, California, Vallow can be seen escorted by a law enforcement officer as she boards and exits the plane. Credit: Kevin Lunt via Storyful
March gets us underway strongly this week from a local music perspective in what promises to be a great gigging month for Kilkenny.

Once again, we must give credit to Sofa Sessions - a gig that has really enhanced the citys midweek music offering.

This Thursday Billy Byrnes welcomes Kenosha Kid, an American jazz ensemble that recently made Canadian and German appearances.

Joining them for this performance only will be Kilkenny musician and Sofa Sessions curator Cormac Larkin on drums.

The melodies are haunting, the grooves are devastating and the band continues to expertly serve jazz purists, indie-rock hipsters, and funk-loving jam fans alike. Gig starts at 9pm, no cover charge!

On Saturday, Brendan Ryder and the Backyard Band will make a welcome return to Ryans on Friary Street at 10pm.

Backed by the superb vocals of Brendan Ryder and sublime guitar playing of Gay Brazel, this fourpiece play a set of classics from The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Byrds and many more with some originals thrown in for good measure.

The Backyard Band are sometimes referred to as Little Tweed because both Brendan and guitarist Gay Brazel played with Tweed for several years during the heydays of that great band.

The Backyard Band regularly plays top music venues. Be sure to keep an eye out for them at Kilkenny Roots Festival.

Adding to Friary Streets live music offering this weekend will be Rafter Dempseys, who have two great acts lined up.

On Friday, cover artist Gavin Carroll will be playing all your acoustic favorites - from Bruce Springsteen to Ed Sheeran and so much more.

On Saturday, get your dancing shoes because you are bound to be swept up by the music of Rafters stalwarts True Colours. Both gigs kick off at 10pm.

Friday Trad will also be making a welcome return to the Home Rule Club, getting underway at 9pm. Dont miss out!

Next week all eyes will be fixed on Kilkenny Tradfest but for the week thats in it be sure to enjoy our superb local offerings.

Check out the Gig Guide for even more local listings, including tributes to acts such as Joy Division and Garth Brooks!
The tug-of-war for the soul of Americas Democratic party might be one of the longest-running tussles since the Hundred Years War.

Since at least the 1950s, with the brewing loss of the Dixiecrats in the U.S. South over proposed civil rights for African-Americans, through the social upheavals of the 60s, the decline of labour unions starting in the 70s, the defection of Reagan Democrats in the 80s, the culture wars incited by Newt Gingrich in the 1990s, Democrats seem to have been  even during periods of electoral success  in internal confusion about what they stand for and who they represent.

Now, once again, the campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination is being cast as an existential showdown.

The vault by former vice-president Joe Biden into the lead in the delegate chase after Super Tuesday, and the continued strength if diminished momentum of Sen. Bernie Sanders, has essentially turned it into a two-man contest between septuagenarians.

On the one hand, Biden, an affable old pol and known commodity, a familiar voice of the establishment, with a tested track record.

On the other, Sanders, an irascible firebrand, a self-described Democratic socialist, promising an overdue comeuppance for the wealthy, and overdue relief for the young, the poor, the marginalized.

On the one hand pragmatism, on the other passion.

On the one hand a wish to calm things down, on the other a zeal to tear them up.

Not surprisingly, Biden appears to be playing well with older voters, suburbanites and  having been running mate to Barack Obama, the countrys first African-American president  Black primary voters.

Equally unsurprisingly, Sanders is more popular in urban areas and among the young  a generation thats inherited a tough economy, no benefits or pensions, boatloads of student debt, little chance of owning a home on the street on which they grew up.

Perhaps the situation is best considered by the lights of a book published a century ago, The Education of Henry Adams.

In it, the perceptive Mr. Adams declared that knowledge of human nature is the beginning and end of political education.

In that, he hit upon a large truth.

Its increasingly understood that far more votes are cast based on emotion than on the details of policy.

And its in the peculiarities of human personality, often at a depth that voters themselves dont recognize, that shrewd politicos  not to mention Russian troll farms seeking to interfere in American elections  work.

In psychology, there is a concept called the Big Five Personality traits which, among other things, offer clues to which of our buttons might be profitably pushed by those seeking our votes.

The Big Five might help explain why things are breaking as they are in the Democratic contest.

The five traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness.

Studies suggest that emotional stability, agreeableness and conscientiousness are traits that increase with age, while openness declines.

Its obvious why Biden is profiting from the former factor, and why Sanders is suffering from the latter.

For some time, Democrats and Republicans have been sharply distinguishable in their constellation of psychological traits  most especially in openness to risk and uncertainty.

Simply put, Democrats have been more open than Republicans.

In their book on how psychological factors explain Americas great political divide, political scientists Marc Hetherington and Jonathan Weiler said the most fundamental trait in determining which side of the ledger one gravitates to is the perception of how dangerous the world is.

Fear is perhaps our most primal instinct, they wrote in Prius or Pickup? How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain Americas Great Divide. So its only logical that peoples level of fearfulness informs their outlook on life.

It seems to be exactly such fear, such aversion to risk and danger, or at least the less known, thats shown up as a potentially decisive factor among Democrats.

The two chief manifestations of fear among people is that of losing something we have, or of failing to get something we want.

On both scores, Sanders suffers.

What Democrats and the majority of Americans appear to want above all is an end to the relentless chaos and psychic exhaustion of President Donald Trump.

The conclusion seems increasingly to be that the surest route to that is by nominating the experienced, known and steady Joe Biden.

What most Americans seem to most fear losing, during times of economic uncertainty and inequality, is their perch in an increasingly precarious economy.

Once again, the conclusion seems to increasingly be that the moderate stewardship of Biden would be a safer bet than the fellow talking about a revolution.

So maybe its less a battle for the soul of the Democrats than a large-scale clash of personalities.

As Ezra Klein writes in his recent book Why Were Polarized?, We like to think that we choose our politics by slowly, methodically developing a world view.

Thats not how political psychologists see it. They argue that our politics, much like our interest in travel and spicy food and being in crowds, emerges from our psychological makeup.

Psychology or politics? The two, in truth, can hardly be separated.

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The newly planted live oaks at Willis Woods Cemetery are only about waist-high right now. But someday, they may be majestic giants whose sprawling branches welcome visitors to one of northwest Houstons unsung historical treasures.

Woods Cemetery in the Lakewood Forest subdivision is what remains of a historic Black community that settled the area in the 1870s.

Related: Lone Star College-CyFair group uncovers history of African-American cemetery

The cemetery is managed by the Kohrville Community Association. The KCA  through its nonprofit, Kohrville Community Amos Cemetery Association  works to beautify and maintain three historic cemeteries in which ancestors of the Kohrville community are buried.

In addition to Woods, the association manages cemeteries on the east and west side of Hufsmith-Kohrville Road known collectively as the Amos Cemetery.

The KCA was joined March 2 by local officials and residents for the planting of a legacy tree at Willis Woods. The tree was one of five live oaks that were planted along the cemeterys north border as part of Harris County Precinct 4s Legacy Trees Project. The program collects cuttings and seeds from historic Texas trees to plant at sites across the precinct.

Related: Volunteers beautify Houston National Cemetery despite delays from Imelda

The hardy live oak is an iconic tree of the south, explained Pct. 4 Parks Arborist Laura Medick. Its limbs can span up to 100 feet and trunks can grow to more than four feet in diameter. But, she pointed out, the trees at Woods Cemetery are not just any other live oak tree. Theyre descendants of the old Battle Oaks in Austin.

We find the mother tree at the UT campus, Medick said. It is a grove of live oak trees. Theres history that goes back during the Civil War. The story goes that soldiers would harvest the wood to build a fortress and protect the Capital.

Pct. 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle and State Rep. Sam Harless were among those present for the tree planting. Cagle read a proclamation calling the historic Battle Oak trees a gift to enrich the lives of our citizens and stand tall for many years to come.

The oaks are one result of a partnership between the KCA and Pct. 4. The entities have been working together for more than a year to enhance the aesthetic and accessibility of Willis Woods Cemetery.

Part of our mission is to ensure that we preserve and beautify, and educate our young people and people in the surrounding areas so that they will see and know what we do; just to give them an idea of how long weve been here and how much work has been done to keep things going through these years, said Cathyrine Stewart, KCA president.

Preserving history

KCA historian Joanne Green said that because African American history was loosely documented, Kohrvilles ancestral history has been passed down orally and gleaned from what documentation does exist, such as property deeds.

After the American Civil War, people who were formerly enslaved moved from Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina to a community in west Houston called Piney Point. Families left Piney Point in the early 1870s in search of more farmland. They settled in an area known then as the Bottoms, around Faulkey Gully in present day Lakewood Forest.

Greens ancestor, Willis Woods, was among the settlers who purchased land along Cypress Creek. Woods donated one acre for a family cemetery, which became the Willis Woods Cemetery. The settlement also included a church and a schoolhouse.

The Bottoms was prone to flooding and families eventually sought residence elsewhere. Woods moved north across Spring Cypress Road on Hufsmith-Kohrville Road in the Tomball area. He married Sarah Amos of the Amos family in Kohrville. The school and church were moved north to Kohrville as well, leaving behind the Woods Cemetery.

Years later when we form the Kohrville Community Association and began the beautification of the cemetery, we found it was landlocked, Green said. That is when we reached out to Harris County Pct. 4 to assist us with retaining our cemetery with dignity.

The need for easements is a common issue with old cemeteries, explained Pct. 4s assistant director of community outreach Landon Reed. Over time, land surrounding the cemetery is sold and getting legal access to the site can be a challenge.

A lot of cemeteries run into this problem, so they get interlocal agreements in line where they can get there  not only to maintain, but if theres a couple family members that still wish to maybe be buried back here, Reed said. The next step is going to be the interlocal agreement were going to get for them. Thisll be from Flood Control and Pct. 4 and the MUD that has this trail right here. That way theyll always have that legal documentation, no matter how many years pass, (as proof that) We are allowed to do this.

A community effort

Only some of the cemeterys graves are marked and over time a few of the weathered headstones have broken into fragments. But easements or no, the cemetery hasnt gone untended. Community members like longtime Lakewood Forest resident Joe Beatty have been helping the KCA with maintenance since well before the precincts involvement.

Beatty has lived next to the cemetery for decades.

Over the 40 years, weve maintained it, but then after the Harvey flood, thats when we got a lot of debris and weed seeds and just general trash floated into the cemetery and then it was wet for a period of time and just got ahead of us, Beatty said. So, we had a live brush problem then that just grew up.

In the past 10 months or so, Beatty said, efforts to beautify the cemetery have redoubled. He enlisted the help of Cy Creek High School JROTC student Cadet Lt. Col. Haley Kopp and Eagle Scout Matthew McCown. Both Kopp and McCown organized groups to aid in brush clearing efforts. McCown and his fellow scouts helped repair headstones through a method Beatty had seen used at another cemetery.

Related: Aldine ISD students compete to redesign Metros Greenspoint Transit Center

They had restored some of those old headstones that were broken in fragments and they just cased them in a concrete matrix, so the Eagle Scouts did that on some of these broken headstones, Beatty said.

Groups from Lone Star College have also joined the effort to preserve the cemeterys historical legacy, including students from the LSC-University Park Office of Student Life and Black Student Union who plan to clean the cemetery later this month for their Day of Service project.

Pct. 4 has been helping the KCA with the Willis Woods Cemetery project for about a year-and-a-half, Reed said. And the fruits of this partnership wont stop at legacy trees and easements.

In two years, he said, a trail section should be complete that will link the site to Pct. 4s greenway system.

Thatll hook up to here and then youll be able to go to Kickerillo, 100 Acre Woods, and Matzke (parks) all from this place, and then well have kiosks saying where the historical cemetery is, Reed said.

In the more immediate future, after removing some overgrown brush and debris, a new fence and historical marker will be installed at the cemetery. Green hopes to have the marker in place this summer.

The historical marker will be right here by this tree, Reed said.

Significance of the Battle Oaks

Out of several different mother trees Pct. 4 uses for the Legacy Tree Project, the KCA chose the Battle Oaks for Willis Woods Cemetery.

Green visited UT in Austin to see the Battle Oaks, which surround a statue of Barbara Jordan.

In 1966, Jordan became the first Black woman elected to the Texas Senate and the first Black state senator elected in the nation since 1883. In 1972, she was among the first Black U.S. Congressmembers elected from the deep south since 1898 and was the first ever Black woman from the deep south elected to Congress, according to the U.S. Houses History, Art & Archives website.

Jordans work as a member of the Judiciary Committee during President Richard Nixons impeachment proceeding garnered national attention. She strove to expand civil rights protections and was a respected orator known for her elocution.

The trees all around her statue up there, right at the school as soon as you come into the entryway, shes right there and it just looks strong and inviting and like shes manning the station, Green said.

The Battle Oaks are three in what used to be a larger grove of trees. Despite many of the groves trees reportedly being chopped down to build a fortress, the namesake of the remaining oaks isnt tied to combat.

The University of Texas was planning construction of a new laboratory building in the 1920s, according to TX A&Ms Famous Trees of Texas website. The facilitys original plans called for the removal of the campus oldest live oak trees.

William Battle, who served as chair of the Faculty Building Committee, advocated on behalf of students and staff wanting to save the trees. Because of his actions, the facilitys location was moved, and the historic live oaks now bear his name.

The statue of trailblazer Barbara Jordan surrounded by the resilient Battle Oaks reflects something Green sees in her own community and in efforts to preserve Woods Cemetery.

Perseverance, Green said. We felt like thats kind of the way we are here, just on a local level. The perseverance and strength in what youre trying to do in life; you have hurdles, but you just keep going until you figure out how to get over them.

mfeuk@hcnonline.com
The footage blacked out the childs face. But sources who saw the child told the Tribune she is a girl 6 to 8 years old and was visibly distressed. The judge may have brought her into court that day in an attempt at scared straight-type discipline, sources said.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Hundreds of people from Assam have got holed up in Meghalaya and are taking refuge in police stations in the wake of the violence between a section of tribals and non-tribals in the hill state.

Some 260 of them were rescued and brought to Guwahati on Thursday morning by Meghalaya and Assam Police. They hail from lower Assams Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Goalpara districts and worked in the unorganized sector in Sohra, Ichamati and other areas of Meghalayas East Khasi Hills that has been hit by the violence.

Some of them said they saved their lives by hiding in the jungles.

READ| 'Anxiety' over amended citizenship law reason behind violence in Meghalaya

After the violence broke out, some of us fled to a forested area and spent four days there without any food. Later, we took refuge at a police station. It gave us nothing to eat, not even water, one of them told journalists on reaching Jorabat on Assam-Meghalaya border.

Assams Inspector General Police Deepak Kedia said he was constantly in touch with Meghalaya Police to bring back the stranded people.

Those who have come said several others are stuck up there. I cannot give you the figures. They said the people are in police stations and BSF camps, Kedia told this newspaper.

BJPs Bilasipara East MLA in Assam Ashok Kumar Singhi, who took the lead in bringing the people back to the state, said 1,000-1,500 people were stranded in the violence-hit areas.

I was told a lot of people from Sapatgram and other parts of lower Assam were suffering in the wake of the violence. So, I met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and he instructed Additional Director General of Police GP Singh to do the needful. Subsequently, with the intervention of IGP Deepak Kedia and his Meghalaya counterpart, we managed to bring 260 people, the MLA told this newspaper.

He said he had arranged some buses to take the people to different areas of lower Assam. Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed for seven hours in Shillong, except for some areas, on Thursday.
This is terrifying moment a powerful storm ripped through a restaurant as torrential weather hit northern Thailand for a second night. Gusts of wind blew through the building, tipping over tables and chairs as staff and customers fled to safety in Khon Kaen province on Wednesday (March 4) at 6 p.m. local time. Torrential weather has hit northern Thailand for the last two nights as the country enters its tropical summer. There was also widespread damage caused by storms on Tuesday (March 3) night. Footage from the restaurant in Khon Kaen shows how screaming staff cowered on the ground as plates and cutlery flew around them. The business owner, who did not want to be named, said that he scrambled for a safe place to shelter after the building was rocked by the storm. He said: "The storm damaged the canteen furniture and even carried away a 1000Ibs vending machine. Luckily, none of us were injured by the cyclone." In neighboring Maha Sarakham province, a resident's home CCTV system showed how the strong winds and heavy rain sweeping the region tore the roofing from his home. He woke to find hundreds of pounds worth of damage to the property. One person has been killed and several injured since the storms began this week. Footage from Tuesday (March 3) morning shows hail bombarding damaged houses school and other public properties in Udon Thani, northeastern Thailand. More than 100 electric poles fell due to the strong wind while some 500 houses across five districts had their roofs blown away.
Randi Sykes listened as a caller told her he had been to Italy and had a cough and itchy throat. Can you hold on for me for just one moment please? she asked.

Sykes and six others were staffing a phone bank mid-morning Thursday in a windowless Fort Bend County conference room, fielding intermittent calls from those concerned about the regions first case of the new coronavirus.

Fear of the illness had been building  now it was here. Residents werent surprised it had shown up in this booming suburb, home to a diverse population thought to travel often. But they wanted to know more than they were being told.

Area officials, citing privacy concerns, had declined to say where the man in his 70s with a presumptive positive test had traveled, when he returned or where he went when he got back.

That afternoon, the city of Stafford held its own press conference, announcing that three firefighters there Tuesday went to address the patient. He was able to walk and talking, Fire Chief Larry DiCamillo said. They had received a call about difficulty breathing.

Then, later Thursday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced what Fort Bend authorities would not: that the patient had traveled to Egypt, along with two others in neighboring Harris County diagnosed with the illness that day.

We are kind of walking a fine line, County Judge KP George said Thursday. There is patient privacy and there is HIPPA we have to follow. And also, we dont want to freak out our citizens.

Older residents are among those most vulnerable to coronavirus, and more than 60 seniors packed a local community center in Sugar Land on Thursday afternoon for a city-sponsored meeting about the illness.

Hands shot up as residents rattled off questions: Where did the infected man live? Whom had he come into contact with?

The doctor leading the meeting didnt know.

In the call center, as they worked through how to direct those with symptoms, Sykes and others were peppered with more questions: Can I go work? (Yes.) What if Ive been on a cruise? (Do you have symptoms?)

I cant confirm any of that information, Danny Hernandez told another caller. This is just a screening line.

The phone bank operated from the aging county annex in Rosenberg. A bulletin board outside the office outlined information on the last big scare, Zika.

A woman ate a doughnut barehanded. A container of Purel sat on the table.

Fort Bend is a growing county west of Houston, where the population has steadily increased to more than 750,000 residents. Roughly one-fourth of residents were born in another country.

Officials, urging caution over panic, said it was inevitable a case would show up.

We can probably assume that there will be more, said Yaneth Calderon, spokeswoman for the countys health and human services department.

We knew that its only a matter of time, said George, the county judge. Its coming.

The case announced Wednesday night was first in the region. The two additional cases were announced in Harris County Thursday.

The presumptive Fort Bend County case was also first in the state outside the 11 people (at last count) quarantined in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base after getting the new coronavirus, COVID-19, overseas.

All day in Fort Bend, two county epidemiologists, with support from the state, were contacting those who might have been in close contact with the patient to advise they self-quarantine for 14 days.

They would move next to those in contact with that group of people, if needed. It remained to be seen, too, if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would confirm the presumptive case was in fact COVID-19.

A concern for scaring people with symptoms from coming forward, plus causing unnecessary fear, factored into the decisions not to share more information on the sole case, officials said.

The Fort Bend County patient was hospitalized and in stable condition, they said, and no evidence was reported of a community spread of the pneumonia-like disease.

Still, people have wondered.

The only callers being referred for testing were those sick enough to go to a hospital  and who had either come into contact with someone confirmed to have coronavirus, or who had also traveled to China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea.

(The caller to Sykes was not immediately referred for testing.)

The investigation is underway, Calderon said. Theres a science to this. Theres a method to the madness.

Outside an HEB supermarket in Sugar Land, Cindy Porras said she wondered if the man who tested positive had been out in the community, possibly spreading the virus.

The 60-year-old said she was a tad surprised to learn the confirmed case happened to be in Fort Bend, where she has resided for the last 16 years, but also not so surprised.

This is such a diverse place, said Porras. We have people from all over and presumably they travel all over the world.

Several Fort Bend residents interviewed seemed at ease.

Edward Shank, who works at the deli in HEB, was staying calm. Shank noted that the death rate from the virus is still low.

Its not a super big deal, said Shank, 69.

Nearby, as 66-year-old Morris Towns left LA Fitness after his workout, he said he didnt think people should panic or be fearful.

Said Towns: I just figured it was going to get close to home sooner or later.

brooke.lewis@chron.com

emily.foxhall@chron.com
The REIV is forecasting a slow auction weekend this Moomba in Melbourne.

Only 410 auctions are currently scheduled in Victoria.

However this volume is higher than the 186 auctions that took place during the Moomba/Labour day festivities in Victoria last year.

This is significantly less than the 1,345 that took place last weekend, which was much busier than that week last year.

During that time last year, 891 auctions took place.

Plus clearance rates were up nearly 25%, 80% compared to 57%.

The Moomba Festival this year runs from March 6th to March 9th coinciding with the long Labour Day weekend

One vendor undeterred by the festivities is auctioning off their 107/565 Flinders Street property (pictured above).

The one bedroom, one bathroom apartment sits on a 62 sqm block.

It goes to auction with a $350,000 - $370,000 price guide.

Sydney is also seeing a slowdown this week albeit not as drastic with 796 homes set to go under the hammer this week, lower than the 1,087 auctions held last week at final figures, according to CoreLogic data.

Their findings show that Perth is the only capital city market expected to see a rise in volumes over the week, with volumes set to be lower across Adelaide (-25.9%), Brisbane (-17.6%), Canberra (-50.6%) and Tasmania (1 scheduled auction)
A senator has said with the loopholes in Nigerias electoral laws that make electoral offenders go unpunished, one can be tempted to say that a military government is better than democratic government.

Smart Adeyemi (APC, Kogi) said this on Wednesday when the Senate debated a bill, which passed second reading the same day, to establish an electoral offences commission.

He berated how the last general elections, as well as the supplementary elections which returned him to the red chamber, was marred by violence, saying it brings people of questionable character to elective positions.

I think the time has come for us, not just to look at the possibility of having a tribunal. I think there is a need for a special court for the electoral offences, he noted, before drawing a parallel between democratic and civil rule.

But the senate president cut in to remind him that we are in a democracy.

Mr Adeyemi pressed on: I am saying that having people rigged into executive positions is the worst thing that can happen. I have said it over the years that a military government is the worst but it is even worse when you have people that are forcing themselves on the people.

We need a special court for electoral offences. Good governance is what democracy is all about but when people are not elected and they get into any position is the worst thing that can happen to any nation. That is just the emphasis I want to make.

READ ALSO:

Plenary observers believe Mr Adeyemis position stemmed from a long electoral battle which pitched him against his arch political rival, Dino Melaye.

Both men had between themselves elections largely marred by electoral malpractices, observers say. Mr Adeyemi was ousted from the Senate in 2015 by Mr Melaye.

He again lost to the same opponent in last years general elections but an appellate court saved his blushes. The court sacked Mr Melaye, ordering a rerun, aftermath of which led to Mr Adeyemi ousting Mr Maleye last November.

Obviously referring to the irregularities in the elections between himself and his opponent, Mr Adeyemi said for Nigeria not to run a pseudo-democratic system of government, punitive measures for election rigging, electoral offences must be put in place.

Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999 after two civil dispensations were aborted by the military junta in a series of coups, countercoup and a devastating civil war that left millions dead.

Talking of the bill, the lawmaker said because over the years Nigeria has witnessed bad governance which emanated from people who have succeeded in rigging, the establishment of a commission for election offenders is long overdue.

He said this is so that only women and men of honour would be elected, not charlatans, not ragamuffins coming to the National Assembly, making laws. People whose records are questionable character, sitting and making noise.
BOISE, Idaho  U.S. authorities are asking Yellowstone National Park tourists to review their vacation photos to see if they can spot any clues about two missing children whose mother has been brought back to Idaho to face charges.

Lori Vallow was arrested in Hawaii last month and charged with felony child abandonment. Her 7-year-old son, Joshua JJ Vallow, was last seen Sept. 23 and his big sister, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, was last seen Sept. 8  the same day the family went on a day trip through the popular park.

Police in the small town of Rexburg, Idaho, where the children were last known to be living, have said they strongly believe that Joshua and Tylees lives are in danger. They also say Vallow, 46, and her husband, Chad Daybell, have repeatedly lied about the childrens whereabouts.

The bizarre case spans several states, includes investigations into three mysterious deaths and touches on rumors of Vallows and Daybells apocalyptic religious beliefs.

Vallows estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother Alex Cox in Phoenix last July. Cox, who said the shooting was in self-defense, died of unknown causes in December.
Jaipur, March 5 : A day before the Supreme Court is likely to hear the case of cruel and apparently illegal use of captive elephants in the country, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, here on Thursday, wrote a letter to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and urged him to stop elephant rides at the Amer Fort and Elephant Village (Hathigaon) because of the potential risk to tourists and others to contract tuberculosis (TB) from elephants.

The PETA's letter follows the evidence that inadequately and not tested elephants are being used for rides. Even some elephants previously tested reactive for TB, received insufficient treatment and inadequate prevention and control protocol was followed, it said.

The group has also submitted evidence to the Chief Minister's Office that TB test kits used by the Rajasthan Forest Department (RFD) weren't specific to elephants, not meant for diagnostic purpose and not approved by any regulatory body. Also, it recklessly declared TB-free seven of the 10 elephants, found reactive for TB in 2018 by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

Unlike the RFD, the AWBI used kits approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Two elephants that tested reactive for TB even with the inadequate RFD kit were miraculously declared TB-free within two-three months of detection, indicating that the standard treatment protocol (which usually takes at least six months) was not followed.

One elephant of the 10 that tested reactive for TB by the AWBI died before any action could be taken. While only 10 were tested for TB by the RFD, 134 elephants are used for rides at the Amer Fort. Only 91 were presented for testing to the AWBI, leaving 32 per cent of them untested, it said.

The PETA also said elephant rides in Jaipur were apparently illegal as per the response received under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

"The only way to protect tourists and the public from TB is to stop elephant rides and prevent humans from coming into direct contact with them," said PETA India Chief Executive Officer and veterinarian Dr Manilal Valliyate.

"The PETA appeals to the Rajasthan government to protect travellers as well as the sick, suffering elephants that are being denied much-needed veterinary care, putting everyone at risk," he said.

A 2018 WBIA report revealed shocking cruelty to elephants used for rides in Jaipur and prompted PETA India to intervene in the matter before the Supreme Court.

This report also says the post-mortem reports for four elephants that died within five months in 2017 indicate that all had been suffering from respiratory diseases -- possibly TB.
The senior barrister appointed to oversee the governments national security legislation says he was never officially alerted to the existence of the controversial Witness J case, which saw a former military intelligence officer criminally tried and sentenced in complete secrecy.

Dr James Renwick SC, who is the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, says he learnt of the case last year only after the ABC stumbled on a cryptic mention of the matter on an ACT Supreme Court notice board.

Dr James Renwick SC, Independent National Security Legislation Monitor.

Much to my surprise, I didnt find out about it officially, he told the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Thursday.

Should I have been told? I would certainly have preferred to have been told about it because it is so extraordinary.
As many as 240,064 foreign passengers who have entered India through New Delhis Indira Gandhi International airport have so far been scanned for the novel coronavirus at the airport since January 17, beginning with people flying in from China, as the authorities scrambled to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly virus.

As medical staff and airport officials screen the passengers and note down their contact details just in case they developed symptoms of the Covid-19 later, immigration procedures have run into delays. No one seems to be complaining. The airport receives about 30,000 international passengers in a day.

On January 17, passengers arriving from China, whose Wuhan city is the epicentre of the new coronavirus, started being screened at the airport itself. The list expanded gradually to 12, with the addition of South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia. At least 165,064 foreign passengers who arrived at the airport from these countries have gone through thermal scanners so far.

Since March 3, on the directions of the health ministry, the medical team started scanning all passengers arriving from overseas, and has so far checked at least an additional 75,000 passengers, airport officials said.

Of these 240,064 passengers, 24 foreigners, who were detected with symptoms of the coronavirus, were sent directly to hospitals for a detailed medical examination.

That has necessarily meant a delay, however small, in the immigration clearance process. Earlier our average time to clear one passenger was around 30 seconds. Now it is taking around two minutes. The process has been delayed and is also causing crowding up of the immigration areas in peak time. We request the passengers to cooperate with us, an airport official said, requesting anonymity,

On Tuesday, special counters for detailed medical examination of the arriving foreign passengers and for their immigration clearance were set up. Those who have visited the 12 specified countries are being examined as soon as they exit the aero-bridge and the others are being scanned at dedicated counters in the pre-immigration area.

All the passengers are being checked by staff of the Airport Health Organisation (APHO), which implements international health regulations. The medical staff is also stamping passenger immigrations forms and a passenger can only secure immigration clearance if he or she has been medically examined.

The airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), has also placed billboards at many places in the immigration area to educate passengers about the disease. Notices with the helpline number 01123978046 have also been put up.

Notices also request passengers to inform the authorities and visit the nearest medical facility even if they did not exhibit symptoms of an acute onset of fever, cough or shortness of breath on their arrival from the 12 above-mentioned countries but develop the systems within a period of 28 days.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan visited the IGI airport late on Thursday evening to review the screening procedures put in place.
Catwoman reunites with an old flame (and meets a new mystery man) as Tini Howard takes over DC ongoing comic

Catwoman returns to Gotham City, with a nod to Les Miserables
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:01:05|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to support Iran in containing novel coronavirus while the international community should work with Iran to safeguard global public health security, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

Zhao's remarks at a press briefing came as Iran's President Hassan Rouhani reportedly said the United States should lift a ban from medicines if it really wants to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The spokesperson stressed that, at this crucial moment, continued unilateral sanctions on Iran go against the spirit of humanity and would only deteriorate the situation.

The Chinese side urged relevant parties to immediately lift sanctions on Iran and avoid interference with the efforts made by Iran and the international community in containing the epidemic, Zhao said.

Having paid close attention to the situation in Iran, China sent anti-epidemic materials including testing kits, as well as a team of voluntary experts, to Iran, Zhao said.

China hopes the international community will strengthen cooperation with Iran in epidemic prevention and jointly safeguard the world public health security, he added.

The experts from China's Red Cross Society, who arrived in Iran on Feb. 29, have been working conscientiously there to share anti-epidemic experience, and conduct in-depth exchanges with Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, the Red Crescent Society and the country's other departments on epidemic prevention and control, Zhao said.

The Iranian side has expressed gratitude and the World Health Organization has voiced high appreciation to China, he added.

As comprehensive strategic partners, China and Iran have always supported and helped each other in times of difficulties and stood firmly together, Zhao said, stressing that China will continue to provide assistance within its capacity and in accordance with Iran's needs.
Villagers of Jamkhandi taluk in Karnataka contribute labour and funds for their own water project.

Hubballi: In its budget today, the Karnataka government put out impressive figures for the water projects it intends to build. But the people of 30 villages in Athani and Jamkhandi taluks are just not impressed.

Budgets and governments have come and gone, but no water ever flowed into their barrage. So instead of waiting for the government to do something or the neighboring state of Maharashtra to release water to them during the summer, these farmers have taken up voluntary work to fill the Chikka Padasalagi (Shrama Bindu Sagar) barrage.

They plan to lift 1.5 tmc ft of water from the backwaters of the Almatti dam to cater to their drinking water needs in the summer.

Sounds like a tall order, but they have a history of DIY (do-it-yourself) dam building in these parts.

Back in 1990, these farmers built a barrage on their own after a desperate wait of more than a decade for the government to build one for them. They contributed their own funds and labour to realize their dream.

That voluntary initiative brought prosperity to them, ridding them of chronic poverty. The half-km barrage they built on the river Krishna turned the entire region into a sugarcane belt.

Back then, it cost them just Rs 89 lakh. The money was raised through contributions from farmers, ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 100. People of each village took turns to do the construction work on a rotation basis.

A few years later, the height of the barrage was raised from 8 m to 9.75 m, again through shramdan, with each farmer contributing Rs 15,000. That DIY effort increased the storage capacity of the reservoir from 2.8 tmc ft to 4.3 tmc ft.

Now the people have come together again, this time to fill the barrage with water. They plan to use 25 pumpsets of 100 hp capacity to pump water from the backwaters of the Almatti project. They have even contributed money to pay for the electricity needed to lift the water from Almatti.

This people's movement is supported by former Jamkhandi MLA Siddu Nyamagoudar, who united them under the umbrella of Krishna River Bank Farmers.

First up, they have taken up repair work of the barrage gates that were damaged in the devastating flood last year. They are removing weeds, thorny plants and silt.

Every summer, we are forced to beg Maharashtra to release water from the Koyna dam to supply drinking water in our region. But they have never done so despite the Karnataka government offering to pay crores of rupees for it. Therefore, we are trying find a solution on our own, said Rajugouda Patil, president of the Krishna Basin Farmers Association.

As per this plan, more than 100 people from each village will contribute shramadan every day on a rotation basis.

We are planning to store 1.5 tmc ft of water for the next 30 days, said Rajugouda Patil.
Health Ministry reports a second confirmed case.

Moroccos Personal Data & Privacy Protection Authority has opened an investigation following the publication in social media networks of the list of the 104 air passengers who travelled with the first Moroccan affected with coronavirus.

This is a violation of privacy and is totally unacceptable, said on Wednesday Omar Seghrouchni, chairman of the National committee for personal data control and protection (CNDP).

A probe has been launched and the leakers will be held accountable under the law and face heavy penalty, added Seghrouchni.

The protection of privacy is a fundamental right stipulated by the new Constitution of Morocco. Data protection laws prohibit the disclosure or misuse of information about private individuals.

The 104 passengers who were on the same plane with the Moroccan national infected with coronavirus as well as members of his family are quarantined and closely watched over by local medical teams.

The first Moroccan identified with coronavirus entered the North African country coming from Italy on February 29 without symptoms but fell sick later. The tests carried out turned out positive but his health condition is stable.

On Thursday, the Health Ministry reported a second confirmed case.

A woman, 89, who suffers from a chronic disease, was tested positive and is in critical condition, the Health Ministry said.

The infected woman also returned to Morocco coming from Italy.

Head of the Govt. Saad Eddine El Othmani said the virus could have an impact on the Moroccan economy but no assessment has been made yet.

According to experts, the Coronavirus is expected to affect air transport, hotel & leisure industries, trade & artistic showsat home and overseas.

Several economic, sporting and artistic events have been cancelled, including the international agricultural fair due in April in Meknes.

The novel coronavirus has spread throughout the world since the first cases were detected in central China in December. More than 3,200 people have died globally and over 94,000 have been infected, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway and two deputies will make guest appearances on A&Es Live PD this weekend.

Pettway, along with deputies Brandon Sunday and Deanna Marshall, will serve as analysts for Friday and Saturdays live airings. The trio will travel Friday to New York to take part in the weekend shows.

Sunday and Marshall seem to be Live PD fan favorites, said Deputy Chief David Agee. This will give viewers the opportunity to see them as human beings, not just making arrests.

The Jefferson County Sheriffs Offices contract with Live PD ended late last year after appearing on the show for about at least eight weeks. The partnership was announced by JCSO in October.

Agee at the time said filming would include use of dashcams and handheld and fixed-rig cameras in patrol cars to film what happens on a typical Friday and Saturday night patrol. The style of the show is to take a fly-on-wall approach by following deputies in-the-moment. There is no music, script, interviews, narrator or recreations in the show. The show offers a raw and complete view of what it takes to police a community.

Crews from the A & E show followed the Sheriffs Neighborhood Enforcement Team, or SNET. The contract, Agee said, was for eight to 10 weeks and their last session took place in December.

Agee said the agency has not yet entered into another contract with the network but hasnt ruled out a continued partnership in the future. The sheriffs office asked the community, via social media polls, for its input and Agee said the response was overwhelming. People want to see us on Live PD, he said.

Some in the community complained that the show portrayed the area in a negative light.

We got more positive feedback than negative feedback, Agee said. Were going to do our work whether a camera is on or not.
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DALIAN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Dalian's oysters and Wuhan's hot-dry noodles, as well as the Dalian Railway Station and Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower, lovely cartoon pictures drawn on the ward wall of a makeshift hospital in Wuhan have gone viral online.

The pictures are signature snacks and landmarks of the Chinese cities of Dalian and Wuhan.

Liu Yu, a post-90s nurse in Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, is one of the artists of those more than 30 wall paintings. She is also one of the 500 medical personnel sent to Wuhan from Dalian on Feb. 8 to aid local colleagues to treat patients and contain the virus spread there.

"I started to draw a cartoon on the corridor wall of ward A2 in Leishenshan. That helped me relieve pressure after a day's work," said the nurse. "More and more colleagues and patients come to see those pictures. I never expect them to become so popular."

Liu's first cartoon tells a story about Dalian's oysters and Wuhan's hot-dry noodles. Personified oysters encourage hot-dry noodles to stay strong with the message: "Wuhan, please hang on!"

"I used the signature snack of my hometown to show our support for the virus-hit Wuhan," said Liu.

Many of Liu's colleagues who used to draw pictures and write words on their protective suits to cheer up each other and patients also join her.

Doctor Wang Wei from Dalian drew a picture of the Dalian Railway Station and Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower. "They symbolize the 'heart-to-heart' solidarity between Dalian and Wuhan people."

Among those wall paintings, the one that touches Wang and other medical staff most is a portrait of Zhong Nanshan, a renowned Chinese respiratory specialist, with the words: Wuhan is a heroic city, and people of Hubei and Wuhan are heroic people.

"Everyday, we are impressed by the heartwarming and strong Wuhan people," said Liu. "I still remember the first day when I arrived at Leishenshan Hospital. A local shuttle bus driver made a deep bow and expressed appreciation toward us."

Tiger Beach Ocean Park, Xinghai Square... Pictures of famous tourist attractions in Dalian have emerged on the drawing wall in recent days. "This is a travel itinerary we make for patients. I hope they can visit these famous scenic spots in my hometown after they recover," Liu said.

"When I drew the Yellow Crane Tower, I made a decision that I would visit the tower and enjoy the beautiful scenery of this heroic city after the epidemic ends," said Wang.
WILMINGTON, Del. (March 5, 2020) - Researchers with Nemours Children's Health System utilized Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to more precisely identify genomic characteristics of leukemias in children, the most common childhood cancer. The study, published today in BMC Medical Genomics, identified new genetic structural variants that could be used to assess the presence of minimal residual disease during the course of chemotherapy and help determine response to various therapies.

"Progress in the field of genomic research and advanced technology has allowed us to find new variants that can better target treatments for kids with cancer," said Erin Crowgey, PhD, lead author of the study and Director of Clinical Bioinformatics at Nemours. "Pediatric leukemias have a diverse and complex genomic structure, and older sequencing techniques were missing a lot of the important information that guides our clinical evaluation, risk identification, and therapeutic strategy for patients."

Researchers analyzed DNA and RNA from bone marrow, cell lines, and umbilical cord samples from 32 pediatric leukemia patients and five adult leukemia patients. Patient samples were collected at diagnosis, end of the first treatment, and relapse. These samples were sequenced using molecular barcoding with targeted DNA and RNA library enrichment techniques. The sequencing identified multiple novel gene fusions and previously unknown copy number losses in leukemia genes. This approach enabled more sensitive detection of these genetic variants.

"Hearing that your child has cancer is scary; particularly that the clinical presentation of his disease is unique and there is no other research that matches his case," said Sophie Hayes, mother of Eliot Hayes, a patient at Nemours. "So, when the genomic results came back and showed that Eliot's cancer was not unique at the genetic level, we were very grateful to the scientific community and to Nemours. This early knowledge enabled us to incorporate an additional line of attack into his treatment and offered us hope."

Researchers note that the ultimate goal is to bring the genomic testing into routine clinical practice so that it can be used regularly, leading to a pediatric onco-specific genomic treatment program at Nemours. "Dr. Crowgey's work brings complex genomic testing closer to the bedside to improve the treatment of children with cancer," said E. Anders Kolb, MD, Director of Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and a co-author of the paper.

###

This work was supported through numerous grants, including funding from the National Institutes of Health, Moseley Foundation, Siteman Cancer Center Research Fund, Hyundai Hope on Wheels, Children's Discovery Institute, and Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware.

About Nemours Children's Health System

Nemours is an internationally recognized children's health system that owns and operates the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., and Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, Fla., along with outpatient facilities in five states, delivering pediatric primary, specialty and urgent care. Nemours also powers the world's most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, KidsHealth.org and offers on-demand, online video patient visits through Nemours CareConnect.

Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to families in the communities it serves.
Update: After losing committee post over inappropriate behavior, Michigan senator says he didnt sexually harass anyone

The Michigan senator accused of sexual harassment by at least three women will be removed from one of his committee assignments, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, announced Thursday.

Sen. Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township, was the subject of a Senate Business Office investigation after fellow Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Michigan Advance reporter Allison Donahue and Melissa Osborn came forward publicly with sexual harassment allegations.

After reviewing evidence - including texts, videos and audio recordings - and speaking to 25 people, investigators found all of Lucidos accusers to be credible and concluded it was more likely than not that each incident happened as reported, according to a memo summarizing the investigation provided by the state Senate.

The number of allegations and their similarities demonstrates an unfortunate pattern of behavior that requires little to no interpretation to be understood as inappropriate workplace behavior," the memo states.

Shirkey said in a statement Ludico will be removed from the Senate Advice and Consent Committee, whose members vet gubernatorial appointees, and will be required to participate in additional training. Lucido will continue to chair the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

In a statement issued Friday morning, Sen. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, said the Senate Business Office report that concluded his conduct was inappropriate workplace behavior determined the allegations made against me could not be unequivocally substantiated.

Given that I have not sexually harassed anyone nor were there any citations of a violation of Senate rules determined by the investigation, I look forward to continuing to work on behalf of the people I represent," Lucido said in the statement.

We place a high priority on ensuring the senate is a safe work environment, Shirkey said in the statement. We endeavor to foster a culture where senators, staff, and members of the public feel comfortable and secure to interact with one another, free from inappropriate behavior. We have a responsibility to be aware of how our words and actions are received, regardless of intent or interpretation.

Shirkey added that the Senate would soon announce a bipartisan workgroup of senators and staff to review current policies and offer suggestions for improvement. He thanked those who participated in the investigation: "In the spirit of continuous improvement, their willingness to share their experiences has helped ensure a comprehensive and impartial process from which we will all benefit.

In January, Donahue wrote in a first-person account that Lucido told her a group of male high school students he was meeting with could have a lot of fun with her. The report sparked immediate criticisms of Lucidos behavior and gained nationwide attention, and Senate leadership asked for the investigation within hours of publication.

Ludico apologized for the misunderstanding in a statement, but later disputed Donahues account.

McMorrow and Osborn came forward with their own experiences shortly after, both of which were first published in Crains Detroit Business.

McMorrow said she was subjected to an uncomfortable interaction with Lucido in November 2018 during an orientation for incoming senators. She said she walked over to introduce herself to Lucido, and said he put his hand on her lower back and held it there.

He asked her where she was from, McMorrow said, and when she told him shed defeated her opponent in the district, she said he looked her up and down and said, I can see why.

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[March 05, 2020] AI Chipmaker Hailo Raises $60 Million in Series B Funding

ABB, NEC, and Latitude Ventures join existing investors to empower a new age of robust Artificial Intelligence-driven edge computing TEL AVIV, Israel, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hailo, the leading AI chipmaker delivering unprecedented performance to edge devices, today announced it has raised $60 million in Series B funding. The round, led by existing investors, was joined by key strategic investors including ABB Technology Ventures (ATV)  the strategic VC arm of ABB, a global leader in industrial automation and robotics; NEC Corporation  a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies; and London-based VC firm Latitude Ventures. The funding will be used by Hailo to bolster the ongoing global rollout of its breakthrough Hailo-8 Deep Learning chip and to reach new markets and industries worldwide. "We are very impressed with Hailo's product and team and believe their novel deep learning processor will help advance different Industry 4.0 applications," said Kurt Kaltenegger, Head of ABB Technology Ventures. "We look forward to combining Hailo's solution with our cutting-edge industrial technology as an important piece of the puzzle to drive the digital transformation of industries." "Hailo's technology is a leading-edge solution for high-performance, low power, and cost-effective processing at the edge," said Hiroto Sugahara, General Manager of Corporate Technology Division, NEC Corporation. "Hailo's technology will help us dive even deeper into the intelligent video analytics market. We are excited to be a strategic investor in the company and look forward to incorporatingHailo's technology into our next generation edge-based products."



The Series B round brings Hailo's total funding to $88 million. It comes on the heels of the launch of Hailo-8, the company's industry-leading Deep Learning processor for edge devices. With a totally reimagined chip architecture that relies on the core properties of neural networks, Hailo's chip empowers devices to perform sophisticated Deep Learning applications that could previously run only on the cloud. The Hailo-8 innovative Structure-Defined Dataflow Architecture translates into higher performance, lower power, and minimal latency, enabling more privacy and better performance for smart devices operating at the edge, including partially autonomous vehicles, smart cameras, smartphones, drones and AR/VR platforms. The Hailo-8 features up to 26 tera operations per second (TOPS) and significantly outperforms all other edge processors with its small size, high performance, and low power consumption. "Hailo is poised to become a defining player in the rapidly emerging market for AI processors," said Julian Rowe, Partner at Latitude Ventures. "Their Deep Learning edge chip can be disruptive to so many sectors today, while the new, innovative use cases Hailo's chips can unlock are just starting to reveal themselves. We're thrilled to join the team for what lies ahead."

"Hailo's Deep Learning chip is a real gamechanger in industries such as automotive, industry 4.0, robotics, smart cities, and many more," said Hailo Chairman Zohar Zisapel. "A new age of AI chips means a new age of computing capabilities at the edge, and we are excited to lead this transformation." "This immense vote of confidence from our new strategic and financial investors, along with existing ones, is a testimony to our breakthrough innovation and market potential," said Orr Danon, CEO and Co-Founder of Hailo. "The new funding will help us expedite the deployment of new levels of edge computing capabilities in smart devices and intelligent industries around the world, including areas such as mobility, smart cities, industrial automation, smart retail and beyond." About Hailo Hailo, an AI-focused, Israel-based chipmaker, has developed a specialized Deep Learning processor that delivers the performance of a data center-class computer to edge devices. With a totally reimagined chip architecture that relies on the core properties of neural networks, Hailo's chip empowers devices to perform sophisticated Deep Learning applications that could previously run only on the cloud. The Hailo-8 innovative Structure-Defined Dataflow Architecture translates into higher performance, lower power, and minimal latency, enabling more privacy and better performance for smart devices operating at the edge, including partially autonomous vehicles, smart cameras, smartphones, drones and AR/VR platforms. The company was founded in 2017 by members of the Israel Defense Forces' elite technology unit. Press Contact Garrett Krivicich

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:49:13|Editor: huaxia

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Workers returned from Henan Province wait to take buses to their workplaces after getting off the customized train at the Shenzhen North Railway Station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, March 5, 2020. A customized train carrying a total of 523 workers from central China's Henan Province arrived at the Shenzhen North Railway Station on Thursday. Upon their arrival, the workers were divided into different groups and directly sent to their workplaces by bus. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)
Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives are earmarking $2 million in new annual funding for the provinces 42 rape crisis centres  one day after the facilities said $1 million had been cut.

In an apparent communications snafu from Fords Tories, the centres are in fact getting a cash infusion from Queens Park.

We havent heard anything from the minister yet, Nicole Pietsch of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres said Thursday.

Pietschs comments came moments after Womens Issues Minister Jill Dunlop stunned the legislature by announcing in the middle of the daily question period that her department was earmarking $2 million in new money for the centres.

Thats in addition to the $14.8 million they receive annually from Attorney General Doug Downeys ministry.

But on Wednesday, Downeys ministry said that a one-time funding increase of $1 million (that) was added to annual funding of $14.8 million to support sexual assault centres would not continue this year.

The confusion apparently stems from the fact that the government is planning a new strategy to curb human trafficking expected to be announced Friday in St. Catharines.

That $2 million infusion mentioned by Dunlop is part of the upcoming plan to be unveiled in conjunction with Sundays International Womens Day.

Still, last years one-time $1-million funding announcement by the Tories was far less than the $14 million over three years the centres had been promised by the previous Liberal government.

The Liberals move  on the eve of the 2018 election  came after years of underfunding and amid increasing demand for services in the #MeToo era.

Despite the failure to protect women by the previous government, this government is stepping up. I am proud to announce this morning that our government is annualizing $2 million for sexual assault centres across Ontario, said Dunlop.

This funding will go to support the important work that they are doing for victims and survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking with trauma-informed care, she said.

We are restructuring to provide better services that actually serve the victims across Ontario. For the first time, victims are being heard. It is the work of sexual assault centres that make a real impact for those seeking services.

But NDP MPP Jill Andrew (St. Pauls) said its a shame the Tories led Ontarians to believe $1 million was being cut from the centres.

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have turned their backs on women and it has to stop now. We cannot play with womens lives, said Andrew.

We need $14 million for our rape crisis centres  $1 million, $2 million, that is peanuts. Rape survivors deserve more, she said.

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said the reality is that these centres need more than $1 million annually, one time.

The crisis centres have experienced a constant increase in demand since the #MeToo movement started. We encourage women and men to speak out about sexual assault, seek help and look to put measures in place to ensure their safety, said Fraser.

How is this supposed to happen if the government cannot sufficiently supply the resources that are necessary to meet the demands in this critical sector? Its too late for the government to act like theyre coming to their senses. These centres need more support.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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UTICA  Centennial Elementary School had some after-hours fun Tuesday night, celebrating reading and family.

Area schools made Read Across America Day  a day promoting reading and literacy nationwide  an ongoing celebration. Centennial is no exception.

Tuesdays installment of Family Fun Night had a Dr. Seuss theme, whose birthday coincides with the Read Across Americas timing. The focus was on reading and the importance of getting eyes on print daily, reading with family and connecting with others from all of our communities, said Ken Booth, Centennial Elementary School Principal. The pajama party brought kids and parents together to read their favorite books cuddled up with pillows and blankets. There were also crafts and a coloring table. The concession stand served free milk and cookies, and other goodies. Free books were available to take home, as well as a drawing for some extra-special books.

Family nights like this are so much fun for my kids, said parent Laura Pulliam. As a parent, I love that our school values literacy and shows our children how important it is to read at school, as well as at home.
The Mind of the Sanders Millennial

Commentary

South Carolina and Super Tuesday may have blunted the excitement you felt a few days before those tallies came in, but you dont care too much about the numbers.

Its not that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is still close enough to Joe Biden to make it a live race. Its that you no longer trust the process. You just cant believe that the American people refuse to wake up and realize the scam that the economic elite have run on everyone else, and after 2016 you extend the scammers to the Democratic Party leadership and donors, too.

The endorsements of Biden by candidates whove dropped out are only further evidence of the conspiracy. The mainstream media have cast Donald Trump as a mortal enemy of the political establishment, but you dont buy that at all.

For all the extreme reactions to the president, you know hes not a radical. He wants to root out corruption, true, but he doesnt want to change the system. He only wants to change the people who run it. When he denounces the Swamp, he means the actual individuals in office along with people in the network of lobbyists, journalists, contractors, think tanks, semi-official institutions such as NGOs, academics, and experts who shuttle in and out of successive administrations, and family members.

Fineyou hate the corruption, too, but President Trump doesnt go nearly far enough. He likes walls and low taxes, and he calls your guy Crazy Bernie.

Which you take as a compliment. National health care, free college, cancellation of student debt  you see them as signs of deeper transformations to come if a Sanders administration materializes. They can call it crazy all they want. You aim to drag down the whole shebang.

Youre 27 years old and live in Brooklyn or Boulder, Seattle or Austin, Portland or Madison. You face stiff student loan payments, high rents and health costs, and a tight labor market in those Millennial zones. A politician pushing judicial reform and limited government doesnt cut it. Charter schools, religious liberty, North Korea, trans-rights  Who cares!

You dont want to raise the minimum wage a few dollars. You want to raise it enough to disrupt the low-wage status quo. You dont want to boost corporate tax rates a few points. You want it high enough to end those obscene CEO compensation packages for good. No more blather about hope and changelets have a Green New Deal. The more the Establishment called it extreme and fantastical, the more you approve it.

You want a politician as exasperated and indignant as you are, and daring in his proposals. When Bernie Sanders answers a question about the funding for his plans by saying he has no idea how much they will cost, that doesnt bother you at all. How are you gonna pay for it? is an Establishment question, a way for comfortable officials to block reform.

Youve had it with ordinary politics. If as the primaries proceed Sen. Sanders remains a close second to Biden, and if you hear rumors of closed-door dealings that negate the delegates he has won and the ideas they represent, youre ready to march on Milwaukee in July.

You dont know anything about the Democrat Convention in Chicago 1968, but the disruptions and demonstrations, the descent of Tom Hayden et al. on the city that summer, would look to you altogether fitting. We may see a repeat, with the exception of no Chicago cops with nightsticks ready.

You dont wish to be misunderstood. This is not a political outlook. Sen. Sanders has tapped into something else: frustration, pessimism, betrayal. Nobody in the race but Sanders offers a better future of lower bills and higher wages. If things continue as they have before, youll never buy a house or condo, which in college towns and hip urban neighborhoods run sky-high. The housing boom of the second half of the 20th century didnt help you. It priced you out of the prosperity the Boomers enjoyed.

It will be many years, too, before your student loans end, and the Medicare-for-all that will bring down payments doesnt have a chance in the current Congress. Finally, the jobs you have dont project you into a secure middle age, for everyone keeps telling you that in this dynamic and uncertain economy you should expect to switch workplaces every three years. Economists like to talk about disruptive innovation and creative destruction, but those terms only frighten you.

This is an irony that annoys you to the quick: the Establishment claims to be prudent and stable and far-sighted, but it has handed you anxiety and burden. It pledges to protect the future, but you have no future. You dont want a policy platform; you need help. And if you dont get it in 2020, you just might explode.

Mark Bauerlein is a professor of English at Emory College. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, TLS, and Chronicle of Higher Education.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The presidents of Turkey and Russia are meeting to discuss the situation in Idleb and to try and find a solution that can reduce the violence reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is heading to Moscow on Thursday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to reach an agreement regarding Idleb in northern Syria. This summit had not been possible until a few days ago, as Putin had been trying to avoid it. But then there were fears that the situation would get out of control after the wide-ranging Turkish response to the attack that struck its forces on Feb. 27, 2020, killing 33 soldiers.

The possibility of reaching a new agreement during the Turkish-Russian summit looks to be high, given both sides pragmatism and their insistence on not getting into a direct conflict. This was noticeable in the signals exchanged during the recent escalation. Despite the fact that the missile that killed the Turkish soldiers was Russian-directed, Ankara did not blame Moscow for the attack. In exchange, Russian did not intervene to protect regime forces and Iranian militias against the Turkish revenge attack, which killed a large number of fighters. The fact that Erdogan said that he had no problem with Russian and Iran in Syria confirmed this trend. He knows that he would not have real support from NATO or the United States if he got into a direct conflict with Russia and Iran in Syria, especially at this stage when the American president appears to be fully submerged in containing the repercussions of the coronavirus, which is threatening the American economyand, along with it, his chance for a new presidential term. The US Secretary of Defense was clear when he said that his country is not considering giving air support to the military operation carried out by Turkey in Idleb. Turkey also has not yet received a response from Washington about its request to obtain a Patriot missile system to set up in Idleb, and to set up a no-fly zone. President Erdogan is also aware of the limits of the military support he can provide to Syrian opposition forces. Russian media recently indicated that Moscow was ready to provide Kurdish fighters with anti-aircraft missiles if Ankara decided to move forward with providing the Syrian opposition similar missiles, speculation about which broke out after several regime aircraft were shot down over Idleb last month.

It seems clear that military operations in Idleb, at least at this stage, have reached their goal, with each achieving the maximum possible, within the limits permitted by the balance of power on the ground and the surrounding political conditions. The Syrian regime and its allies have managed to take control of the international Hama-Aleppo highway and the major towns along it. On the other hand, the Turks were able to regain credibilitywhich had been heavily damaged in recent years, due to the high level of rhetoric and poor level of performance. They were also able to draw red lines for what they are willing to accept in Idleb.

Putin is a professor in political opportunism, and he understands the difficulty of the Turkish position in general, because of Erdogans internal situation, and his complex relations with his allies in the West. A regional axis has emerged in this confrontation, which includes Arab countries alongside Cyprus, and even Israel. But Putin also understands that NATO, which refrained from supporting Turkey in Idleb, will be forced to intervene alongside it should the confrontation widen and reach Turkish territory. Therefore, he will also try to deescalate.

The chance of reaching an agreement in Moscow tomorrow is supported by the intensification of the fighting on the ground. Since the announcement of the summits date, the Russians and Turks and their allies have sought to take control of the strategic city of Saraqeb to draw the borders of the truce before the summit. The question is not, therefore, about whether an agreement will emerge tomorrow in Moscow, but rather what that agreement is. Leaked maps of the two sides indicate that another Gaza is beginning to emerge in northern Syria, where three million Syrians with a few thousand fighters will be crammed into a small strip of land between the international highway and the Turkish border. Where is Iran in all this? It is trying to intervene in developments in northern Syria by making invitations to a tripartite summit to revive the Astana track. But who wants a summit in Tehran, which is infested with coronavirus?

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Despite some strong support, the bill faces opposition not only from the tech industry, which considers the reforms too broad, and a threat to its offering services like encryption, but also from some victim advocates who view it as too narrow an approach to combating harms online.

Last year, tech companies reported nearly 70 million images and videos related to online child exploitation. They are obligated to report the material when they become aware of it on their platforms, but they are not required to go looking for it. Companies are generally not responsible for content uploaded by their users, because of a 1990s-era provision in the law known as Section 230.

The new bill, called the EARN IT Act, would carve out an exception to that rule. Companies that dont follow the recommended standards would lose civil liability protections for that type of content. The legislation would also lower the bar for suing those tech firms.

The bill would create a 19-member commission  including members representing law enforcement, the tech industry and child advocates  to recommend a set of strategies: for instance, how to spot illegal material, categorize it in standardized ways and verify users ages. These practices would be subject to approval by the Justice Department and other agencies, as well as Congress and the president.

In an interview, Mr. Blumenthal said the bill reflected the ideas that tech was no longer the fragile sector it was in the 1990s, and that the public would benefit from reasonable rules of the road.
Dr Jennifer Cole, a biological anthropologist, fears the lack of dialogue could lead to the spread of fake news

Experts have slammed health officials over a decision to delay the release of location information of where coronavirus cases are found.

Professor Paul Ashford, former north-west regional director of Public Health England, has criticised the government's decision to conceal the localities of new infections until the Friday of each week.

Britain is said to be on the brink of a critical new phase in the coronavirus crisis after yesterday saw the biggest surge in cases in one day, up to 87.

'They should be sharing the data as much as possible, to make the public equal partners in tackling this and help them make decisions about their own lives.

'The public needs to know if its in their area on a daily basis,' he told the Guardian newspaper.

A passenger wears a surgical face mask as they use the Underground system in London

He criticised the government further for talking about 'public involvement' while failing to include Britons in decisions.

According to another expert, the lack of dialogue from officials could lead to rumours and fake news circulating.

'I think its an incredibly ill-advised decision. If its not released officially, it creates an information vacuum and it will be filled by unreliable sources,' Dr Jennifer Cole, biological anthropologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, told the Guardian.

Dr Cole, who researched the transfer of information during the Ebola crisis in 2014, claims the decision could open the NHS and government to accusations of hiding information from the public.

Some countries have sought to make the public as aware as possible, with South Korea sending signals should the citizen come in close proximity to a known infectee.

Ministers are now expected to escalate their response which would mean no longer trying to contain the diseases seemingly inevitable spread

Ministers are expected to escalate their response to the coronavirus after the largest increase in one day, which would mean no longer trying to contain the diseases seemingly inevitable spread.

Instead, the focus will be on delaying the peak of the epidemic until the spring or summer  in the hope that consequences for the nation would be far less severe.

Yesterday, the Department of Health announced that 36 new patients had been diagnosed with the disease, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 87.

It came as scientists warned that a new, more aggressive strain of coronavirus had emerged in China.

The growing scale of the outbreak has triggered huge public concern, with signs of panic buying in supermarkets and people travelling on public transport in makeshift masks.

In an interview yesterday, Professor Whitty warned the virus was probably already spreading person-to-person in the UK and an epidemic was looking likely. On another dramatic day:
One flag features Donald Trump standing on a tank. Another has him dressed as Captain America. On the third, the shirtless president is holding a rocket launcher, his biceps ripped.

All three flags are hanging on the wood-paneled walls of the Bigler Township municipal building in central Pennsylvanias Clearfield County. A local lawyer says they need to come down.

If it was a traditional, dignified picture of President Trump, that is fine, but these clearly are not that, Terry Noble told WTAJ, a CBS affiliate in Altoona. These are what would be called electioneering materials.

Bigler Township Supervisor Chairman R. Philbert Myers, who paid for the flags, told the Clearfield Progress he would only take them down on election day.

Trump is our president, Myers told the newspaper. This is my domain and I run this show. No one is going to tell me what I can and cannot display here.

Noble, the state Democratic committeeman for rural Clearfield County, has threatened to sue. He told the Clearfield Progress that the flags broke the laws of common sense and decency and were being used for partisan political activity.

If it takes a federal judge to say the signs are inappropriate, then so be it, Noble told WTAJ. Theyre risking financial losses from litigation, from grant money. All in all, its a shame that one of their supervisors could literally put their township at risk.

Bigler, population 1,238, is 230 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Trump won Clearfield County with 73% of the vote in 2016.

Myers, who lamented having to see Gov. Tom Wolfs photo at Pennsylvania rest stops, told WTAJ he searched the Second Class Township Code and found only one issue with the flags, related to elections. He already removed a Trump 2020 flag but said the others would come down only on election day, because the municipal building is a polling place.

Myers also hangs a U.S. flag, the state flag, and a Veterans of Foreign Wars flag in the municipal building.

Meaning only one thing: I support our country, our state, our county, our veterans, and our president, Myers told WTAJ. If this display of flags is taken any other way, shame on you.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 05, 2020 | 12:32 PM | MURRAY





On Tuesday, officers with the Murray Police Department performed a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by 65-year-old Tony Hughes.







Officers say that after speaking with Hughes it was determined that he may be under the influence of alcohol. Hughes was reportedly given a field sobriety test, then placed under arrest. While performing the traffic stop, officers say they also found methamphetamine.





He was lodged in the Calloway County Jail. Hughes is being charged with first offense possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and improper equipment.

A Murray man is facing drug and DUI charges after a traffic stop.
Tensions Rise in Wuhan As Lockdown Enters Second Month

2020-03-04 -- Tensions are running high in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been under total lockdown since the coronavirus epidemic emerged there more than a month ago, with local residents complaining of food shortages and rising prices.

While health officials reported 38 new deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, there was a fall in newly confirmed cases for the third day running in mainland China.

A total of 2,981 have died in mainland China, with more than 80,200 people infected in total, the National Health Commission said, citing 115 new cases in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and only four elsewhere in the country.

In a video that went viral on social media on Tuesday, urban management officials, or chengguan, were seen beating up a man later identified as the employee of a supermarket in Wuhan's Jianghan district.

The officers, who are tasked with maintaining a pleasant and litter-free urban environment, but who have a reputation for brutality against some of China's most vulnerable people, beat Li Feng after he set baskets of newly delivered vegetables outside the door to save space.

"It's not easy for local residents to buy groceries," Li told local media. "Our store has limited floor space, and there is also very high demand."

"We had placed several baskets of vegetables at the door ... but they said we weren't allowed to put it outside because it spoiled the appearance of the neighborhood," Li said.

Li was surrounded by around 10 people and beaten after the chengguan called for backup, he said, adding that he had put his hand out to try to stop one of them from taking a photo of him.

Public anger at beating

The social media reaction to the video was largely angry, with some comments accusing the chengguan of abuse of power, and others suggesting they may have been trying to take the vegetables for their own use or profit.

"It was a very brutal attack by law enforcement, and hard to watch," Bruce Lui, a journalism professor at Hong Kong's Baptist University, told RFA. "This kind of violence will only be exacerbated given the kinds of pressures that people in Wuhan are under right now."

"People can't speak out because of tight security, but I'm guessing there'll be a very strong backlash [against the ruling Chinese Communist Party] in future," Lui said.

"Official cover-ups meant that the epidemic was allowed to spread ... there is no cure, and many people are just waiting to die."

"A lot of this is down to official inaction, and people will figure out the reason," he said.

Wuhan last month implemented a system of internal passes and permits which strictly limit how far people living in gated residential communities can travel to shop.

Residents resorted to online deliveries and group-buying programs, but some have complained that group-buying is an even more expensive way to shop than going to the local store.

Hong Kong residents flown home

Meanwhile, authorities in Hong Kong on Wednesday chartered two planes to bring home more than 200 of the city's residents who had been stranded in Hubei and Wuhan.

The city's mainland affairs secretary Patrick Nip said 244 Hongkongers arrived back in their home city on two chartered flights on Wednesday, although three were denied permission to board because they were running a fever.

He said 200 passengers were evacuated from Wuhan, while the other 44 had been in other locations in Hubei. They included pregnant women, students with exams coming up, and people with urgent medical needs.

Two more flights are scheduled to bring home more Hongkongers on Thursday, as an estimated 3,800 Hong Kong residents remain in 37 towns and cities across Hubei, Nip said.

"We're back in Hong Kong!" exclaimed one passenger as the Cathay Pacific plane docked at Hong Kong's International Airport.

A passenger surnamed Yip said she was enormously relieved to be back after being stuck in Wuhan for more than 40 days.

"I arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 17, so I'm pretty happy to be back," Yip said.

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said it would convert some general wards in government hospitals into isolation rooms, freeing up to 500 additional beds for coronavirus patients.

But it said that only around 30 percent of its 1,200 isolation beds are currently occupied. Many residents have been wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping social distance for weeks.

According to Ho Pak Leung, clinical associate professor at the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong medical school, there has been a dramatic fall in all forms of respiratory infections in the city during February, which he attributed to the wearing of masks in public places.

Some 99 percent of Hongkongers are believed to have worn masks outside last month in spite of government claims that it was unnecessary to do so.

Reported by Gao Feng, Man Hoi-tsan, Tseng Yat-yiu, Lu Xi and Lau Siu-fung for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright  1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/05/2020 -- Polymer coated fabrics are textile materials treated and glazed into various types of polymers such as acrylics, polyvinyl chloride, aramids, latex and others to improve and enhance mechanical properties such as elasticity, elongation, fiber strength, and wear resistance to the textile. There is significant demand for polymer coatings due to their ability to contribute towards abrasion resistance, and prevention of dust, gas or liquid penetration. For instance, the fabric required for military tents needs to be of high tear strength, high ductility, and flame resistant. In such cases the fabric is coated with a neoprene to enhance and improve the fabric abrasion. Depending on the application type, the fabrics are coated with one or more layers of polymer.



Get a PDF Sample of Oral Care Market Research Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/390



Polymer coated fabrics are commonly known as technical textiles and have several industrial applications including automotive, aerospace, military and others. Applications of polymer coated fabrics include industrial, protective coatings, transportation, seating, and others. Increasing demand for high performance quality materials is a major factor driving the growth of the global polymer coated fabrics market.



The physical properties required for air bag fabric installed in cars need an appropriate blend of tear strength and abrasion attributes which stimulates the growth of polymer coatings.



Owing to attributes such as water resistance, longevity, ductility, abrasion resistance, polymer coatings are expected to witness high demand over the forecast period. Other factors contributing to the growth of the global polymers coating market include easy processing methods, easy availability of various polymers, and low-cost of polymers especially polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polyamide.

However, polymers are non-recyclable and hence when polymer coating residue is burnt, or disposed, it results into toxic emissions which can cause considerable to the environment and human beings.



Market Outlook



On the basis of region, the global polymers coated fabrics market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Asia Pacific accounts for majority of the market share in the global polymer coated fabrics market. Factors such as increasing population, high rate of industrialization and urbanization, and the rapidly expanding automobile industry are expected to contribute to the growth of the market in Asia Pacific. Countries such as India and China accounted for a significant increase in the automobile production in 2016, compared to 2015, in which, India accounted for 4.5 million in 2016 compared to 4.2 million in 2015. China accounted for 28.1 million compared to 24.5 million in 2015. The increase in automobile production in India and China is expected to facilitate demand for polymer coated fabrics for automobile interiors, and drive growth of the polymer coated fabrics market.



Browse More Information: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/polymer-coated-fabrics-market-390



Major players operating in the global polymer coatings market include Continental AG, Saint Gobain SA, Sioen Industries, Spradling International Inc., Takata Corporation, Colmant Coated Fabrics, Serge Ferrari Group, Trelleborg AB, SRF Limited, Seaman Corporation and others.



Polymer Coated Fabrics Market Taxonomy:



On the basis of polymer type, the global polymer coated fabrics market is segmented into:

- Thermoplastic

- PVC

- PVDC

- Acrylics

- PVA

- PU

- Aramids

- Others

- Latex

- Rubber

- Natural

- Synthetic



On the basis of material type, the global polymer coated fabrics market is segmented into:

- Knitted

- Woven

- Non-Woven



On the basis of application, the global polymer coated fabrics market is segmented into:

- Protective Clothing

- Transportation

- Industrial

- Furniture & Seating

- Others



On the basis of end use industry, the global polymer coated fabrics market is segmented into:

- Automobile

- Aerospace

- Marine

- Chemical Processing

- Military

- Others



Among application, the transportation segment holds a dominant share in the global polymer coated fabrics market owing to the significant increase in demand for polymer coated fabrics in industries such as automotive, railways, aircraft, and marine. Polymer coated fabrics are mainly used in transportation to provide high quality physical properties such as dirt & oil-repellent, rot-proof, water resistant, mildew resistant, and UV resistant.



Request Customization Of Research Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/390



Among polymer type, owing to low-cost, easy availability of a wide range of colors, and weldability, PVC coatings are expected to witness maximum demand over the forecast period.
Madhya Pradesh crisis over for now? Six back, four MLAs still missing

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bhopal, Mar 05: The crisis in Madhya Pradesh appears to be over for now. Six of the 10 missing MLAs are back in the Congress fold.

However four MLAs are still missing are believed to be holed up in Whitefield, Bengaluru. The Congress said that that all its ruling MLAs are accounted for. Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Kamal Nath said that his government has proven its majority four times till date. We have defeated the BJP four times and will do it again, he also said.

The House strength stands at 228, with two seats vacant. The current majority mark stands at 115. The Congress has 114 legislators and the BJP 107. Even if one were to discount the four missing MLAs, the Congress still has a majority with the support of two BSP MLAs, one SP legislators and four independents.

Will Kamal Nath, who was Congress' troubleshooter, finds 'Operation Lotus' difficult to fight?

The trouble began when it was reported that around 8 MLAs of the Congress were whisked away to a hotel in Gurgaon. The Congress alleged that the BJP was holding them against their wishes. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who turned up at the hotel in Gurgaon claimed that he was not allowed to meet the MLAs.

Singh later said that the Congress government is secure and will complete its five year term. Kamal Nath on the other hand accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the government in collaboration with mafia groups. The BJP has however denied the allegations.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

Residents along the Nima-Paloma-Asylum-Down storm drain are saying Minister for works&housing is lying by saying a viral video of tons of rubbish captured floating in the drain following a few minutes of downpour last Monday, is fake.

The residents, speaking to #joynews reporter who visited the area to ascertain the veracity of the said video, confirmed that indeed, they "saw the rubbish floating in the drain" and some of them "took pictures".

Now, since time immemorial, these very residents along the drain are always seen, in broad daylight, squatting in this drain and defecating, while others pile mountains of rubbish in their homes and dump it into the drain, whenever it rains.

So even if the minister is not being truthful, are these residents along the drain also, inadvertently, shooting themselves in the foot with their rigorous challenge of the minister that, indeed, the rubbish was actually floating in the drain?

In other words, we as citizens, deliberately dump these huge tons of rubbish into our drains, and turn round to blame government of not keeping the environment clean.

Now, when government takes a decision that is in our long term interest but appear to be bitting in the short-term, we always rebel with the argument that "power resides with the people and therefore will not allow things to be pushed down our throats".

But when it comes to keeping our environment clean, then we are if the belief that it is well and good to be messy and expect government to clean after us.

HOW COULD ANYBODY BE BOLD TO ACCUSE A MINISTER OF PEDDLING FALSEHOOD ABOUT RUBBISH YOU HAVE AGREED WAS CAPTURED RIGHT AT YOUR BACKYARD, WHEN THIS RUBBISH OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T DROP FROM THE SKIES BUT WAS DELIBERATELY PUT THERE BY YOURSELVES?

In Ghana, it is a common practice to see people dumping huge piles of domestic rubbish, both solid and liquid, into drains whenever there is a downpour or sometimes when it threatens to rain: and how can we turn round to blame government for chocked drains, floodings and all the associated calamities when the rains set in?

I personally took similar pictures of the same drain, and at the same spot, on 4th February, 2016: the problem therefore cannot be blamed solely on government inaction but citizens' irresponsible attitude towards the environment.

We blame the government poor environmental practice created by ourselves but should drastic lawful action be taken to curb this menace, we the very culprits will turn round to engage in the usual noise of disapproval. HOW IN GOD'S NAME DO WE EAT OUR CAKE AND STILL EXPECT TO HAVE IT?

When I visited Rwanda in April,2015, I was overwhelmed by the impeccability of their environmental aesthetics which has been achieved through a level of military-like supervision.

The wholesale Western-style democracy which focuses on DEMICRATIC DEVELOPMENT we've adopted has been counterproductive.

What is workable in Africa, taking into consideration our customary/cultural norms, is DEVELOPMENTAL DEMOCRACY where our ways of doing things must rather determine the kind of governance we adopt and not the other way around.

Kindly visit Rwanda where some people are of the opinion that Kagame is a dictator, and see how his leadership style is yielding tangible results for his people.

I LANDED AT KIGALI AIRPORT AND WAS DRIVEN THROUGH THE CITY, AND MOMENTARILY, I THOUGHT I WAS IN GENEVA.

But I know this will not work here in Ghana because the typical Ghanaian understanding of democracy is engaging in mindless cacophonous partisan political diatribes from dusk to dawn, with absolutely no room for both common sense and responsible behavior.

Newton-Offei Justice Abeeku

email: [email protected]m
Hayes Valley, SoMa

Photos: Teresa Hammerl/Hoodline

At least two businesses will close, and three more are likely to be affected, as plans for a nine-story residential building at Market and Brady streets (between 12th and Gough) get underway.

17-year-old antique store Antiquario (1645 Market St.) plans to shutter at the end of the month. A few doors down at 1633 Market St., appointment-only Scandinavian furniture and lighting showroom Koncept 22 will close on March 24, with plans to move to 51 Rodgers St. (at Eighth) in SoMa.

Three other neighboring businesses  leather goods store Dermitzakis Leather Company (1641 Market St.), boutique Alorna (1633 Market St.) and party equipment rental service Table + Teaspoon (1639 Market St.)  are also likely to be affected.

It's unclear if and when those businesses will close. Alorna and Table + Teaspoon did not reply to a request for comment, while Dermitizakis Leather Company's phone is disconnected.

Rendering: SF Planning

Hoodline tipster Richard O. alerted us to Antiquario's closure, with a sign in the window noting its going-out-of-business sale.

Owner Christopher Albanese confirmed that the store would close on March 31. He said it's no surprise  he knew the building would be demolished at some point when he signed the lease 17 years ago.

Although Albanese still likes the area, he says he won't be looking for a new retail space in San Francisco, citing increased issues with break-ins and theft, as well as people taking drugs near his back door. Four weeks ago, someone broke in through the back.

"I enjoyed being here," he said, "but the last few months have gotten bad."

Albanese said the glass in the store's front door is regularly smashed, requiring him to repeatedly pay $370 to replace it. To enter the store, customers now have to ring a bell Albanese installed, because of recurring theft.

"I'm fixing [the door] myself  otherwise it would cost double that price," he said, noting that it's broken again at the moment.

Story continues

Antiquario owner Christopher Albanese.

Albanese says a lot of his customers are on the East Coast, and up to 75% of his sales are now online, through the online antique marketplace 1stdibs. He plans to move his stock to a warehouse on Treasure Island and a collective in Petaluma.

"The rents are too high" to make another storefront make sense, he said, noting that customers are welcome to email him to view specific items.

Changing tastes are another factor. Albanese believes that a lot of young people in San Francisco lack the awareness for the stories antique furniture has to tell.

"[They] dont look at things from a perspective of craftsmanship," he said, gesturing to a two-century-old armoire in the store.

According to city documents, the new building at 1629 Market St. will maintain its historic Market Street facade on the ground level, with space for retailers. A parking garage with 212 spaces will be housed beneath.

The upper levels will contain 185 market-rate units  69 studios, 62 one-bedrooms, and 54 two-bedrooms. Instead of on-site below-market-rate units, the developer will donate in-lieu funds to preserve 101 affordable housing units at the South Beach Marina apartments (2 Townsend St.)

The new building is part of a planned total overhaul of Market between 12th and Brady streets, which will build hundreds of units (including affordable supportive housing units) and a new union hall for the Local 38 plumbers and pipefitters, who are sacrificing their current building to the project. A small, park-like plaza is also planned.

See something interesting while youre out and about? Text Hoodline and well try to find out what's going on: (415) 200-3233.
The United States and Israel have scrapped the remainder of their joint military exercise Juniper Cobra 20 over the coronavirus outbreak, the US European Command based in Germany said Thursday.

"The decision is in alignment with recent Israeli Ministry of Health guidelines on COVID-19, and a precautionary measure to ensure the health and safety of all participants," said USEUCOM in a statement.

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BOISE, Idaho - U.S. authorities are asking Yellowstone National Park tourists to review their vacation photos to see if they can spot any clues about two missing children whose mother has been brought back to Idaho to face charges.

Lori Vallow was arrested in Hawaii last month and charged with felony child abandonment. Her 7-year-old son, Joshua JJ Vallow, was last seen Sept. 23 and his big sister, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, was last seen Sept. 8  the same day the family went on a day trip through the popular park.

Police in the small town of Rexburg, Idaho, where the children were last known to be living, have said they strongly believe that Joshua and Tylees lives are in danger. They also say Vallow, 46, and her husband, Chad Daybell, have repeatedly lied about the childrens whereabouts.

The bizarre case spans several states, includes investigations into three mysterious deaths and touches on rumours of Vallows and Daybells apocalyptic religious beliefs.

Vallows estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother Alex Cox in Phoenix last July. Cox, who said the shooting was in self-defence, died of unknown causes in December.

In August, Vallow moved from Arizona to Idaho, where Daybell lived with his wife, Tammy Daybell. She died in October. Her obituary said the death was from natural causes, but law enforcement became suspicious when Chad Daybell married Vallow just two weeks after Tammys death.

Tammy Daybells remains have been exhumed, but the autopsy report has not yet been released. Toxicology results on Cox also are not public yet.

Law enforcement escorted Vallow back to Idaho on Thursday and shes due in court Friday. Vallows attorneys, Brian Webb and Edwina Elcox of Eagle, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Rexburg Police Department and the FBI are asking anyone who visited Yellowstone on Sept. 8 to share any photos or videos of their trip with law enforcement.

Investigators are particularly looking for anything that may show Vallow, her brother, Cox, the children or a silver 2017 Ford F-150 pickup with Arizona license plate CPQUINT, which the group was driving in Yellowstone, according to an FBI statement.

Law enforcement is seeking photos and video which may have captured images of these persons and the vehicle, or images of crowds and other park visitors where these individuals may be present, the statement said.

Photos and video can be uploaded at FBI.gov/Rexburg.

Investigators are preparing in case of a break in the case: The FBI brought a mobile command unit to Rexburg on Monday. The command centre, which is similar to large recreational vehicle outfitted with crime processing equipment, is providing logistical support to local authorities.

Rexburg police first questioned Vallow and Daybell about the missing kids in late November, but when detectives returned the next day, the couple had left town. They asked Hawaii authorities for help finding them.

Vallow reportedly believes she is a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christs second coming in July 2020, according to divorce documents that Charles Vallow filed before his death.

She and Daybell were both involved in an Idaho-based group that promotes preparing for the biblical end times.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that whatever changes to legislation are needed in light of the Covid-19 outbreak will be clearer on Monday.

Speaking in the Dail this afternoon, Mr Varadkar said that while he did not foresee the need for major legislative changes, government will have a better handle on this after a cabinet sub-committee on the outbreak of the virus meets on Monday.

Mr Varadkar said that changes in legislation may be needed to ensure that those who are told to undergo the 14-day self-isolation period recommended do so.

We may need to enhance legislation on employment and social protection so as to not to deter people from self-isolating should they need to, Mr Varadkar said.

We will have clarity on this on Monday.

The Taoiseach later said those who need to self-isolate should receive income support, but stop short of saying where that money would come from.

Pay

Throughout the evening, members of the Dail delivered statements on the outbreak, with Health Minister Simon Harris saying that this is a time of national and international challenge. However, he stressed that there is no evidence of community transmission in Ireland.

This is not a time for panic, nor is a time for complacency.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, whose children are in isolation due the closure of their school, said that workers must be protected in the event that they are forced to take time off work.

People must have confidence that they can self-report to protect themselves and others. Particular care must be given to low-paid workers and those in precarious positions. This may necessitate changes to legislation. If that is the case, so be it.

Ms McDonald said her children had tired of the isolation, noting that it had become no craic whatsoever.

Labour TD Sean Sherlock warned that workers may not be in a position to miss work. He warned that legislation may be needed to ensure that people who were forced to self-isolate would not be negatively impacted. He said that many would risk going to work if it was a financial imperative.

If workers cannot put food on the table or pay the rent, they will go to work.

People Before Profit TD Brid Smith said that the state needed to intervene, saying this was not just a workers issue, but a public health issue.

Fianna Fail health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly raised the question of whether there would be restrictions on flights from Northern Italy.

I understand were following EU advice. But there is a lot of people coming from Italy, including from the affected areas.

I wonder if theres a question of whether we need to look at restrictions.

Committee

The Taoiseach also defended the decision by the Dail Business Committee not to establish an all-party committee on the Coronavirus, which has so far infected six people in Ireland.

He said that while no party wanted to politicise the outbreak, it was imperative that medical professionals were given space to focus on the virus itself.

Senior medical professionals need to be able to focus on their jobs. They dont need to spend all of their time being held to account and no time doing their work. We need to ensure a balance to that.

Speaking in the Dail on the rejection of his request, Labour TD Brendan Howlin said that if there is to be significant decisions to be made, they need political underpinning.

Mr Varadkar said that while the government retained full executive authority, it was custom that no major policy or legislative decisions would be made without consultation.
It has not even been one year since Nursultan Nazarbaev resigned as Kazakhstans authoritarian president after ruling ruthlessly for nearly three decades.



Nazarbaev quit as president on March 19, 2019, and it was clear from the first moments his pen hit the resignation letter that there was a plan for everything that would follow.



One key aspect of this plan was the glorification of Nazarbaevs legacy.



'Elbasy'



More than two decades into a despotic, nondemocratic tenure as ruler that began as Kazakhstans top Soviet official in 1989, parliament bestowed the honorary title Elbasy, or Leader of the Nation, on Nazarbaev in May 2010.



One member of parliament justified the title saying, Nursultan Nazarbaev ranks with such great personalities as [first U.S. President] George Washington, [Turkeys founder] Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and [Indian independence leader] Mahatma Gandhi.

On March 23, 2019, four days after his resignation, Nazarbaevs handpicked successor, Kasym Zhomart Toqaev, announced that the capital, Astana, would be renamed Nur-Sultan in honor of the countrys first president.



A statement released by the Kazakh Embassy in Vienna shortly after said, Renaming Astana in honor of the First President Nursultan Nazarbayev has its patterns and historical sequence and referred to July 1790, [when] the U.S. Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of the nation's capital on the Potomac River. In September 1791, commissioners overseeing the new capital's construction named the city in honor of the first President of the United States, George Washington.



The airport in Nur-Sultan is Nazarbaev Airport, there is a Nazarbaev University, and there are numerous streets, places, and other objects named after him.



The image Nazarbaev and state officials crafted of Elbasy was of a benign leader who had overseen the blossoming of Kazakhstan as a state, the enrichment of the country and its people, and who had risen to a prestigious place in the eyes of the international community.



To some extent, all of that is true, but perhaps not to the extent Nazarbaev or others might believe.



Old Bottle, Old Wine



Protests began for a variety of reasons immediately after Nazarbaev resigned. Among them were demands for greater social benefits for low-income families; concerns about growing Chinese influence in Kazakhstan and the plight of Muslims in Chinas western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, particularly ethnic Kazakhs; and the refrain for genuine change in the way the country was being ruled.



Nazarbaev had resigned as president but retained almost all of the same powers in his new role as secretary of Kazakhstans Security Council.

And the same people occupy all of the top positions in the Kazakh government and the countrys business world.



The people had no say in the renaming of the capital, the appointment of Toqaev as acting president, or the selection of Nazarbaevs eldest daughter, Darigha, to become chairwoman of the Senate. Constitutionally, Darigha would take over as president if Toqaev would, for some reason, be unable to perform the duties of the office.



Go Away Old Man



Those authoritarian actions orchestrated by Nazarbaev are the roots of recent social discontent and have led to people at the constantly occurring unsanctioned rallies around the country to shout Shal Ket! (Go away old man!).



It is quite clear to everyone who the old man is.



These unsanctioned demonstrations have never drawn more than hundreds of people, but they are frequent and seem to regularly involve many of Kazakhstans largest cities -- not only Almaty and Nur-Sultan in the east, but Shymkent in the south and Aktobe and Atyrau in the western part of the country. The cry of "Shal Ket!" is heard at all of them.



There is likely no danger the government will be ousted due to these rallies, but the legacy that Nazarbaev has crafted over the years is under serious attack.



Recent reports of Nazarbaevs middle daughter Dinara buying a castle in Switzerland or Nazarbaevs brother spending large amounts of money on lavish festivities remind the Kazakhs how much money has been diverted from the energy-rich state to the ruling family.



The death of opposition activist Dulat Aghadil in police custody in late February reminded Kazakhs about the systemic injustice in society that took root when Nazarbaev was president.



It has been evident since the early years of Kazakhstans independence that Nazarbaev was grooming his own image: the President Nazarbaev who would live on in history books. He gladly listened as officials called him father of the nation, a great leader, a wise man, a caring president, and applauded wildly for him when he gave speeches.



It is not known if Nazarbaev is aware of what one segment of the population is saying about him these days. His inner circle may be hiding the protesters chants from him. Such demonstrations are not reported by state media.



Several kilometers outside the windswept capital, a mausoleum is under construction. It is already the final resting place for those revered for their contributions to Kazakhstan.

Nazarbaev, who will turn 80 in July, has the final word on who qualifies for burial at the mausoleum, and it has been assumed that he, too, will be interred there after he dies as the beloved leader and father of modern Kazakhstan.



But Nazarbaevs image has suffered considerably in recent years, as evidenced by the frequent protests.



Some, particularly among the younger generation, are demonstrating that they view Nazarbaev not as the founder of modern Kazakhstan but as an obstacle to a better Kazakhstan.
Mumbai Police successfully foiled a hacking bid that could have siphoned off almost 70 percent from a Rs 200 crore Tata Sons' bank account with IndusInd Banks Chembur Branch, Mumbai Mirror reported.

Seven persons including a top executive of IndusInd Bank and techies were arrested by the police on the evening of March 3 from Nallasopara, the report said. They were picked up from the parking area of a shopping mall in the area, moments before they could hack into the account and commit the fraud.

Crime Branch officers identified the seven accused as Tasleem Ansari (IndusInd Bank account executive), and techies Anant Bhupati Ghosh, Gunjeev Shamjibhai Barayya, Naseem Yasin Siddiqui, Satish Ajay Gupta, Anand Pandurang Nalawade, and Saroj Ramniwas Chaudhary. All seven have been arrested under sections 420 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code.

The arrested persons were found in possession of nine cellphones, one tablet connected to a keypad, and an account statement of Tata Sons, the report said.

The investigation conducted by the Nallasopara unit of the Palghar Crime Branch has revealed that the gang were planning to steal Rs 150 crore from the Tata Sons account in three instalments of Rs 50 crore each and transfer the sum to an account holder in Nagaland, the report stated.

The article quotes a police officer as saying that the accused were nabbed based on a tip-off they had received a few days ago, following which the gangs movements were tracked closely.

"The members were actively looking for a professional hacker. But when they failed to find anyone suitable, they decided to hack the Tata Sons bank account themselves, with the help of the information provided by Ansari," the policeman added.

The bank employee had told the other accused persons that no one would notice if money is withdrawn from this account as it had been lying dormant for a while, the report said.

Police believe the plan was Siddiquis brainchild and he was the person who was in contact with the person in Nagaland, the report added. The latter was reportedly promised a 20 percent commission in exchange for his complicity.

The Bank would like to clarify and confirm that there has been no hacking activity attempted and no attempt to withdraw funds from the clients account. IndusInd Bank has robust security processes, for both online and offline transactions and a secure network environment with two layers of firewalls. Our data centre conforms to ISO27001:2013 requirements, which are of the highest security standards. Any request coming from the internet have to pass through a web application firewall, intrusion prevention system and next-generation network firewall. Any attempt to gain access to the bank's systems or the customer's account would have been thwarted basis the robust processes and superior security protocols set-up by the bank. In this incident as well, there has been no breach identified nor any loss to the client of the bank, or to the bank itself. We would like to reaffirm that all employees of the bank are trained and required to adhere strictly to the employee code of conduct, and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any violation of the same. The bank shall provide full co-operation to the authorities in their investigation.
Lok Sabha on Thursday suspended seven Congress members for the remaining period of the budget session for "gross misconduct" and "utter disregard" for House rules after they snatched papers from the Speaker's table.

IMAGE: BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi in the Speaker chair conducts proceedings in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament. Photograph: PTI Photo

As soon as the House reassembled at 3 pm following an adjournment, Meenakshi Lekhi, who was presiding the House, named Gaurav Gogoi, T N Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Manicka Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan, Benny Behanan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla.

Once a member is named by the Chair, he or she cannot attend the House for that day.

She said when the House was discussing the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, some members "forcefully" snatched and tossed papers from the Speaker podium.

"Such unfortunate incident has possibly happened for the first time in the parliamentary history...I condemn this behaviour," she said while naming the members.

Parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi then moved a motion to suspend the members from the House for the remaining period of the budget session.

The motion was passed by a voice vote amid protests by opposition members.

"...that this house having taken serious note of gross misconduct of these members' utter disregard to the House and authority of the Chair and having been named by the Speaker resolve that these members be suspended from the service of the House from the remainder of the session," he said.

Lekhi then asked the seven members to leave Lok Sabha chambers immediately and then adjourned the House for the day.

During this period too opposition members were in the Well.

The Congress alleged that the suspension of its members from Lok Sabha was a "dictatorial decision" by the government aimed at weakening the Opposition's voice ahead of a debate over Delhi riots.

Congress's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it was a "government decision" and not one taken by the Speaker.

Asserting that the Congress members had done noting wrong, Chowdhury said it was a "dictatorial decision" and one that was motivated by "revenge politics".

"We saw revenge politics in House, orders were given by the chairperson to suspend seven Cong MPs for this session," he said.

Chowdhury alleged that the suspension was an attempt to weaken the party in the House as the government fears a discussion on the Delhi riots in Parliament.

"Whether suspending seven MPs is right, people will decide. We will not be scared and will continue to raise the Delhi riots issue," he said.

Gogoi, who was among the suspended MPs, said, "Suspend us for a year, but discuss the Delhi riots and heal the wounds of people."

"What happened today is a tale of embarrassment in the history of Parliament," Chowdhury said.

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned four times on Thursday as Congress members demanded suspension of a Rajasthan MP over his controversial remarks against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her family members.

As the House met at 2 pm, Congress members stormed into the Well demanding suspension of Hanuman Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, a regional outfit from Rajasthan which is backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, who made the remarks against the Gandhi family.

As Rama Devi, who was in the chair then, continued to run the proceedings of the House, Congress members intensified sloganeering saying, "Suspend the MP, Modi Sarkar shame shame'.

As the process of passing the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was underway, Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress was seen throwing papers kept on the Lok Sabha Speaker's podium.

Soon after, Rama Devi adjourned the House till 3 pm.
A group of sleuthing mothers discovered that a convicted child sex offender had moved into their neighbourhood after searching his name online.

The group of mothers, who live on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, have now started a petition demanding a public register of sex offenders.

They said they were shocked to know offenders, such as Cameron Tweeddale Smith who moved in near their local school two years ago, were not required to inform residents.

The group said they were shocked to know offenders, such as Cameron Tweeddale Smith (pictured) who moved in near their local school, were not required to inform residents

Natalia, one of the mothers, said Smith is now allowed on school grounds and has had neighbourhood children over to his house.

Smith was jailed for five years for offences committed while working at a private school in Melbourne but was released after just two-and-a-half years.

He now resides on the Sunshine Coast with two young children after he re-married.

The group of four mothers said the couple regularly invited neighbourhood children to play at their house.

Sensing something was a bit-off, the group took it on themselves to investigate online.

After searching his name, Natalia and the other mothers said they found multiple articles detailing Smith's crimes.

Natalia said she and the other mother's think it's absurd sex offenders are required to self-report any change in circumstances.

'I have to laugh because I think it is so ridiculous. It's like handing a thief your wallet and saying, 'hey would you mind this for me, I'm just going to the bathroom,'' Natalia told A Current Affair.

'He's a registered sex offender. He was jailed for his crimes, it's not an accusation he was jailed. He's living in a 50 metre radius of a public school. How is that OK? This paedophile has more rights than we do, that's crazy,' she said.

'The details of his offences were horrific,' Natalia said.

Peter Dutton, the federal Home Affairs minister, has said he wants a national public sex offender register, however, it is something controlled by state governments.

Queensland MP Dan Prudie has thrown his support behind the group of mothers and their campaign for the register.

Mr Prudie said parents, schools, and childcare centres need a tool where they can check the register if they have any concerns or suspicions about someone.
Limits withdrawals from Yes Bank at Rs 50000 per account

The Government, after considering an application made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed Yes Bank under moratorium for the period from 18:00 hrs on 5 March 2020 up to and inclusive of 3 April 2020.

The Government also directed the Yes Bank that without the permission of the RBI it shall not make payment to a depositor of a sum exceeding Rs 50000 in any savings, current or any other deposit account. The bank shall not make payment to any creditor exceeding a sum of Rs 50000 during the moratorium period.

As per the RBI, the financial position of Yes Bank (the bank) has undergone a steady decline largely due to inability of the bank to raise capital to address potential loan losses and resultant downgrades, triggering invocation of bond covenants by investors, and withdrawal of deposits. The bank has also experienced serious governance issues and practices in the recent years which have led to steady decline of the bank.

The Reserve Bank has been in constant engagement with the bank's management to find ways to strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity. The bank management had indicated to the Reserve Bank that it was in talks with various investors and they were likely to be successful. These investors did hold discussions with senior officials of the Reserve Bank but for various reasons eventually did not infuse any capital.

Since a bank and market led revival is a preferred option over a regulatory restructuring, the Reserve Bank made all efforts to facilitate such a process and gave adequate opportunity to the bank's management to draw up a credible revival plan, which did not materialise. In the meantime, the bank was facing regular outflow of liquidity.

After taking into considering these developments, the Reserve Bank came to the conclusion that in the absence of a credible revival plan, and in public interest and the interest of the bank's depositors, it had no alternative but to apply to the Central Government for imposing a moratorium under section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Accordingly, the Central Government has imposed moratorium effective from today.

The Reserve Bank assures the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic. In terms of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the bank's reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the Central Government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium of thirty days ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time.

The Reserve Bank has also issued certain directions to the bank under section 35A of the Act ibid.

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People think its Armageddon and theyre never going to leave their house again, said Josh Berkowitz, the owner of Eden Wok, a kosher Asian fusion restaurant in New Rochelle. Most of his customers are quarantined to see if they develop symptoms of the virus. His employees have been making deliveries, setting the food outside without coming into contact with the people behind the front door.
An outbreak of novel coronavirus that emerged in China about two months ago has now infected more than 93,000 people globally and has claimed over 3,000 lives.

Today's biggest developments:

12 Americans have been killed by virus 12 suspected cases within U.S. Department of Defense UNESCO: Over 290 million students out of school due to coronavirus Switzerland, UK announce 1st coronavirus deaths Cluster of cases in California linked to cruise ship

Here's how Thursday's news developed. All times Eastern.

8:07 p.m. Nurses offer insight into coronavirus care, their own safety

Out of 6,500 registered nurses, only 29% said there is a plan in place to isolate a patient with a possible novel coronavirus infection, while 23% said they do not know, according to results from a National Nurses United survey.

The report also says only 44% of nurses indicated their employer provided them with information about coronavirus and how to recognize and respond to potential cases.

The results also show that a large percentage of nurses do not have access to N95 respirators on their units, with only 63% saying they do.

One nurse opened up about her own experience treating a patient and the issue she faces now: being unable to get tested.

The nurse from a Northern California Kaiser Facility, who was not named, said she is in quarantine after caring for a patient who tested positive.

"Im awaiting 'permission' from the federal government to allow for my testing, even after my physician and county health professional ordered it," she said in a statement.

The nurse said she had volunteered to be on the care team for the patient, but did so assuming "if something happened to me, of course I too would be cared for."

"I did this because I had all the recommended protective gear and training from my employer. ... But the National CDC would not initiate testing. They said they would not test me because if I were wearing the recommended protective equipment, then I wouldnt have the coronavirus."

Story continues

She said the only way to care for the patients is if they are also properly cared for.

"Nurses arent going to stand by and let this testing delay continue; we are going to stand together to make sure we can protect our patients -- by being protected ourselves," her statement read.

7:39 p.m. 3 US states report 1st cases

Colorado, Maryland and Nevada have all reported their first cases of novel coronavirus.

The Colorado Department of Public Health announced that a man in his 30s, who was an out-of-state visitor to Summit County, was the state's first case. In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan said the state confirmed its first three cases. Hogan said the patients all contracted novel coronavirus while traveling overseas and are in good condition. Local health officials in Nevada confirmed only one case: a Clark County man in his 50s, who recently traveled to Washington state and is in airborne isolation.

Other states, including California and New Jersey, reported new cases earlier Thursday.

San Francisco reported its first two cases, with a man in his 90s in serious condition and a woman in her 40s in fair condition. New Jersey reported its second case.

Texas announced its first two cases in Harris County, the state's most populous county -- both travel-related.

In Boston, three people who attended a conference in the city last week have also tested positive, according to a statement from Biogen, which held the conference.

The attendees are doing well and are under the care of their health care providers, the statement read.

PHOTO: In this photo provided by Michele Smith, a cruise ship worker cleans a railing on the Grand Princess Thursday, March 5, 2020, off the California coast. (Michele Smith via AP)

5:42 p.m. Grand Princess guests to remain inside their rooms as helicopters deliver test kits

Passengers on the Grand Princess have been advised to stay inside their rooms for the remainder of the voyage, the cruise line announced.

Princess Cruises said in a statement that the recommendation came from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Staff members will deliver passengers' meals to their rooms, and all activities have been canceled, according to the statement. The gym, casino, bars, boutiques and other public places all have been closed.

Earlier in the day, passengers could be seen standing on the ship's deck as California National Guard helicopters dropped off test kits.

The ship is being held after officials identified a "small cluster" of novel coronavirus cases in Northern California from guests aboard the previous Grand Princess voyage from Feb. 11 to 21.

There have not yet been any confirmed cases currently on board, the cruise line said.

5:42 p.m. Families who lost loved ones at nursing home speak out

The families of patients who died from novel coronavirus at a nursing home in Washington are grappling with many questions, and few answers, as to what exactly happened.

Pat Herrick said she got a call at 3:30 a.m. that her mom, Elaine, had passed away.

"She wasn't sick. She'd been really well. I was surprised," Herrick said. She made a point to note that she is grateful for the staff at the nursing home, but doesn't think they have enough help in handling the issue.

"How are we going to these people out of here?" she said. Herrick also had trouble reaching her mom before she died, with staff telling her that they weren't able to get the phone to her.

"Then I called at 8 o'clock and they weren't able to get the phone to her and then ..." she said before breaking down into tears.

Another man, named Mike, said that his mom was a resident at Life Care and also died.

"She passed away. No family members were present. I was asleep. I had no idea what was going on," he said, noting that his family has not yet received test results to confirm that she died from coronavirus but believes that's likely the cause.

When he visited her about two weeks ago, Mike said nothing seemed amiss.

"She was in there, and I didn't want to disturb her," he said. "I just peeked in the door. I saw her and she looked happy."

5:07 p.m. HHS investigating nursing home in Washington after multiple deaths

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sending investigators to a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, where nearly a dozen people have died from novel coronavirus.

"CMS has jurisdiction over all the nursing homes and health care facilities," Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Adminstrator Seema Verma told ABC News. "The situation in Kirkland is very concerning, and that's why we have investigators on the ground to determine what happened."

Verma said CMS initiated a "call to action" to all nursing facilities to double down on infection-control policies and procedures.

4:15 p.m. Dow plunges again

The roller coaster week for financial markets continued on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting nearly 1,000 points.

The Dow finished down 969 points, or 3.58%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also tumbled by 3.39% and 3.1%, respectively.

Among the hardest hit were airline stocks. An industry group issued a report Thursday, estimating the outbreak could cost the airline sector up to $113 billion, or more than three times worse than initial assessments.

4:10 p.m. Army working on vaccine

A U.S. Army lab in Maryland is working on developing a vaccine for novel coronavirus, senior Army medical officials told reporters.

The efforts are "mutually supportive" to what the National Institutes of Health is doing, but not the same. The timetable is similar: 12 to 18 months.

The lab at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland began the effort when coronavirus was identified earlier this year.

3:51 p.m. Pelosi signs $8.3B coronavirus bill

PHOTO: House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signs the Coronavirus Emergency Response Package which passed the House with only three votes against it on Capitol Hill on March 5, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the $8.3 billion bill to help tackle novel coronavirus, touting the bill's strong bipartisan support.

The bill was rushed to the Senate and will then makes its way to the White House.

She said the bill "may be a first step" if other needs may arise, such as unemployment relief.

3:34 p.m. Health officials update on testing, attempt to quash fears in US

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intend to send 75,000 tests by the end of the week to some 70 public health laboratories, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said.

Additionally, a private contractor that makes the same test used by the CDC is expected to send out around 400,000 tests by the end of the week, according to Azar.

At the same press conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tried to quell fears about novel coronavirus.

"What is the risk of actually getting infected with the coronavirus? The risk in the United States as a whole is still low," Fauci said. "If you're a young otherwise healthy individual, the risk of your requiring any kind of medical intervention is low. And we know that from data from China, and from recent data from Korea, and recent data from Italy, and that is, about 80% or more of individuals who get infected will do well without needing any medical intervention."

3:12 p.m. 11th person in Washington state dies, putting total US number at 12

A woman in her 90s became the 11th person to die in Washington state, public health officials said.

The woman, who was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth, died on Tuesday and was a King County resident, according to King County Public Health.

Her death puts the total number of U.S. fatalities at 12, with only one outside of Washington in California.

2:29 p.m. 5th case reported in Illinois

A 20-year-old man is Illinois' fifth positive case of novel coronavirus, Gov. J. B. Pritzker said on Thursday.

The patient is in isolation at Rush University Medical Center and in stable condition, according to Pritzker. He had recently traveled to Italy.

2:08 p.m. Washington state cases reaches 70

The positive cases of novel coronavirus in Washington state rose from 39 to 70 in the last 24 hours, according to the state's Department of Health.

There were no new deaths reported. Ten of the 11 deaths in the U.S. were in Washington state.

King County has the most positive cases and deaths in the state at 51 and nine, respectively. Snohomish County has reported 18 positive cases and 1 death.

PHOTO: Medics load a person into an ambulance the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, in Kirkland, Wash., March 4, 2020. (David Ryder/Reuters)

1:52 p.m. Cases in South Korea appear to be in decline

The World Health Organization said they are seeing encouraging signs out of South Korea, with the number of newly reported cases appearing to be in decline, according to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

South Korea has the highest national total of confirmed cases, behind China.

However, Ghebreyesus said novel coronavirus remains a threat for every country "rich and poor."

1:30 p.m. UK reports 1st death, 41 more dead in Italy

The first death related to novel coronavirus has been reported in the United Kingdom.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he extends his condolences to the family of the victim, however he cautioned that the situation is "pretty much as it has been" and still in the "contained phase."

"Our scientists and advisers are making preparations for the 'delay' phase, so what they're looking at in the next few days is ... what kind of measures might be necessary to retard the spread of the disease," Johnson said. "As soon as they've decided that the moment is right ... we'll be absolutely clear with the public about what needs to be done. But for the moment things are as they have been and you know I'm going to say this, the best thing we can do is wash our hands."

Meanwhile in Italy, there have been 41 new reported deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total fatalities to 148, according to the Civil Protection agency.

The total number of cases in Italy hit 3,296, the Civil Protection reported.

1:21 p.m. Number of cases more than doubles in the Netherlands

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the Netherlands has reached 82, after 44 new patients tested positive and more than doubled the total, Harald Wychgel, spokesman for the National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM), told ABC News.

Two of the new patients are hospitalized and the others are in isolation in their homes.

While the majority of the cases are either travel-related or in people who had contact with someone else infected, there are 13 cases that are presumed to be of an unknown origin, according to Wychgel.

Of those cases, four are hospitalized with two patients in serious condition.

12:55 p.m. 11 new positive cases in New York

There are 11 new positive cases of novel coronavirus in Westchester County, New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

The newest cases bring the state's total count to 22, he said. Eight of the new cases are in Westchester County, two in New York City (which Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier in the day), and one on Long Island in Nassau County, according to Cuomo.

The eight cases in Westchester County are linked to an attorney from there, who had been diagnosed earlier. Those patients are not hospitalized, but the patients in New York City and Long Island are hospitalized, Cuomo said.

Officials did not give details on the identities of the new cases, but said "all of them are getting better."

"The number will continue to go up. It must because we are continuing tests more and more," he noted.

11:51 a.m. 12 suspected cases within US Department of Defense

There are 12 suspected cases of the novel coronavirus within the U.S. Department of Defense, a senior defense official told lawmakers Thursday.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Thomas McCaffery could not say where the suspected cases were located, only that they included domestic and overseas cases.

PHOTO: This file photo taken on Dec. 26, 2011, shows the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. (Staff/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, there are six U.S. military individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. All six are in South Korea. Only one is an active-duty U.S. service member while the others are his wife and child, the widow of a U.S. veteran, the defendant of another American service member, and the spouse of a U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee, according to a press release from United States Forces Korea.

11:36 a.m. Starbucks temporarily bans use of reusable cups due to coronavirus

Starbucks announced it is suspending the use of reusable cups in its stores as part of precautionary steps in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

"We will continue to honor the 10-cent discount for anyone who brings in a personal cup or asks for 'for here' ware," Rossann Williams, Starbucks' executive vice president and president of U.S. company-operated business and Canada, said in an open-letter Wednesday.

PHOTO: A staff member is seen at a Starbucks at the Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China, on Feb. 20, 2020. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

The Seattle-based coffee company said it has modified or postponed large meetings across offices in the United States and Canada, has increased increased cleaning and sanitizing for all company-operated stores to help prevent the spread of germs, and has restricted all business-related air travel, domestic and international through the end of the month.

11:20 a.m. Kim Jong Un sends 'message of comfort' to South Korea as cases rise

South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 438 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday morning, bringing the national total to 5,766.

The vast majority of cases were reported in the city of Daegu, where a secretive religious sect has been linked to many of the infections.

PHOTO: South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant on the street to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, at Gangnam district in Seoul, South Korea, on March 5, 2020. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korea's presidential office revealed Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had sent a "message of comfort to the South Korean people who are battling against the outbreak of COVID-19." In the letter, Kim said he was "worried" about South Korean President Moon Jae-in's health and "also expressed his frustration that there isn't much that he can do to help at this moment," according to Moon's office.

Additionally, Kim "expressed his candid thoughts and positions on the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula," but Moon's office did not reveal those details.

South Korea has the highest national total of confirmed cases, behind China.

MORE: Coronavirus spurs Starbucks to temporarily suspend personal and 'for here' cups

11:04 a.m. Coronavirus outbreak could cost passenger airlines $113 billion in lost revenue

The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus could cost passenger airline businesses as much as $113 billion in overall lost revenue this year, the International Air Transport Association warned Thursday.

Many airlines have canceled flights in light of the epidemic.

PHOTO: A plane sits on the tarmac at an airport in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 1, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"The turn of events as a result of COVID-19 is almost without precedent," Alexandre de Juniac, director-general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, said in a statement. "In little over two months, the industry's prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. It is unclear how the virus will develop, but whether we see the impact contained to a few markets and a $63 billion revenue loss, or a broader impact leading to a $113 billion loss of revenue, this is a crisis."

10:45 a.m. Tennessee confirms 1st case

Tennessee has reported its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.

The Tennessee Department of Health announced the news on social media Wednesday morning, without providing additional details. State officials are expected to hold a press conference later.

8:30 a.m. Amazon tells Seattle-area employees to work from home

Amazon is encouraging its employees in its Seattle and Bellevue offices to work from home through the end of the month, after nine people have died from the novel coronavirus in Washington state.

"We are recommending that employees in Seattle/Bellevue who are able to work from home do so through the end of the month," an Amazon spokesperson told ABC News in a statement Wednesday night.

PHOTO: People walk out of an Amazon Go store in Seattle on March 4, 2020. An Amazon spokesperson said an employee who worked in a building on the company's campus in Seattle had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

The giant online retailer revealed earlier this week that one of its Seattle-based employees has contracted the virus.

7:58 a.m. UNESCO: Over 290 million students out of school due to coronavirus

School closures in over a dozen countries due to the coronavirus outbreak have disrupted the education of at least 290.5 million students worldwide, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

"We are working with countries to assure the continuity of learning for all, especially disadvantaged children and youth who tend to be the hardest hit by school closures," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement Wednesday. "While temporary school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education."

PHOTO: An empty classroom of the I.T.C Di Vittorio - I.T.I. Lattanzio school is pictured in Rome, Italy, on March 5, 2020. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)

Just two weeks ago, China was the only country mandating school closures. The novel coronavirus, known officially as COVID-19, emerged there in the city of Wuhan back in December.

As of Wednesday, 22 nations on three different continents have announced or implemented school closures to prevent or contain the virus, including 13 countries that have shut schools nationwide.

UNESCO said it will convene an emergency meeting of education ministers on Tuesday to share responses and strategies to maintain the continuity of learning and assure inclusion and equity.

7:38 a.m. New York City has 2 more cases, mayor says

In an interview Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed two more positive tests for the novel coronavirus, bringing the city's total to four and 13 overall in New York state.

"If there's good news here in our experience, we only have four people as of this morning who have tested positive," de Blasio said. "Of the tests completed 25 have come back negative so far. The batting average is good. On the four people, the ones who are previously tested, two of them are doing better."

7:08 a.m. New Jersey announces 1st presumptive positive case

New Jersey has announced its first presumptive positive case of the novel coronavirus.

The individual is a man in his 30s who is currently at a hospital in Bergen County. He has been hospitalized since Tuesday, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who announced the case Wednesday night.

PHOTO: A researcher works in a lab that is developing testing for the novel coronavirus at Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation in Nutley, New Jersey, on Feb. 28, 2020. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

The presumptive positive result came from a sample tested by the New Jersey Department of Health and is now being submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmatory testing.

"My Administration is working aggressively to keep residents safe and contain the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey," Murphy said in a statement Wednesday night. "We take this situation very seriously and have been preparing for this for weeks. I urge residents to remain calm and use resources from the New Jersey Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control to prepare and prevent the spread of infection. Safeguarding the public's health is one of my highest priorities and my Administration is prepared to respond swiftly to any additional positive cases of COVID-19 here in New Jersey."

6:34 a.m. Texas confirms 1st coronavirus case

A Texas man who recently traveled abroad has become the state's first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.

The man, a resident of Fort Bend County, Texas, who is in his 70s, fell ill after returning from his trip. State and local health officials confirmed his diagnosis Wednesday night.

The man is currently isolated in a hospital and is in stable condition, according to Jacquelyn Johnson-Minter, director of Fort Bend County Health and Human Services.

PHOTO: People wearing masks are seen leaving the grocery store as voters cast their ballot in the Democratic primary election at a polling station in Houston, Texas, U.S., on March 3, 2020. (Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters)

The patient is a travel-related case, which officials said doesn't indicate spread within the state.

Officials didn't express surprise over the confirmed case, saying it was only a matter of time before the virus came to Texas.

"Having a COVID-19 case in Texas is a significant development in this outbreak, but it doesn't change the fact that the immediate risk to most Texans is low," Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a statement Wednesday night. "This travel-related case reinforces the fact that we should all be taking basic hygiene steps that are extremely effective in limiting limit the spread of COVID-19 and all respiratory illnesses."

6:20 a.m. Switzerland announces 1st coronavirus death

A 74-year-old woman has become the first person to die from the novel coronavirus in Switzerland.

Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health recorded the death on Thursday. The patient was from Vaud, a mountainous district in the country's western region.

PHOTO: Information regarding the novel coronavirus are displayed on a screen at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 4, 2020. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

So far, 58 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Switzerland.

5:57 a.m. UAE urges residents not to travel due to coronavirus

The United Arab Emirates advised its nearly 10 million citizens and residents to avoid travel amid a global outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

MORE: Severe reduction of emissions from coronavirus not enough to mitigate climate change long-term, experts say

Those who do choose to travel and leave the country will face health screenings at the airport upon their return and then must quarantine themselves at home for at least 14 days "to ensure that they are free of the disease," according to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

FILE PHOTO: Travelers wear masks as they arrive at Dubai International Airport, after the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Health and Community Prevention confirmed the country's first case of coronavirus, Jan. 29, 2020. (Christopher Pike/Reuters)

Anyone found to be infected will be quarantined in isolation wards at health facilities, the ministry said.

The United Arab Emirates has a massive foreign workforce, with almost 90% of the population not citizens.

5:24 a.m. Facebook closes Seattle office after contractor tests positive

Facebook announced it is closing its Seattle office until Monday after a contractor tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

MORE: Facebook cracking down on ads that guarantee coronavirus cure

"A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19," Facebook spokesperson Anthony Harrison told ABC News on Wednesday night. "We've notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety."

PHOTO: The Seattle skyline is pictured from a Washington State Ferry, March 4, 2020. (Jason Redmond/Reuters)

The company is also encouraging all employees in Washington state's largest city to work from home for the rest of the month.

4:04 a.m. Cluster of cases in California linked to cruise ship

Public health officials are investigating a "small cluster" of coronavirus cases in Northern California connected to a cruise ship that sailed round-trip from San Francisco to Mexico last month.

Princess Cruises, a cruise line headquartered in Santa Clarita, announced late Wednesday that it had been notified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the cases include guests who were on the previous Grand Princess voyage from Feb. 11 to 21.

MORE: How to prepare for coronavirus in your community

The Grand Princess is currently at sea, and the cruise line has canceled the ship's call to the Mexican port city of Ensenada so that it can sail back to San Francisco early.

"While there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 currently on board, the CDC has identified groups of guests and crew who will be tested before arrival into San Francisco," Princess Cruises said in a statement Wednesday night. "Public health officials have advised that no guests will be permitted to disembark until all results have been received. Out of an abundance of caution, all guests who have been identified for testing have been asked to remain in their staterooms. We will continue to proceed under the guidance of the U.S. CDC and local authorities."

PHOTO: In this photo taken on Feb. 11, 2020, the Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge as it arrives from Hawaii in San Francisco. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

The cruise line has also canceled the upcoming Grand Princess Hawaii cruise set to depart Saturday. All guests will receive a full refund as well as a "future cruise credit" equal to the cost of the fare paid for the canceled voyage, the cruise line said.

MORE: At least 11 Americans dead from coronavirus; California declares state of emergency

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening after announcing the state had 53 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, including one death. The deceased patient is a resident of Placer County who was on board the Grand Princess last month.

Newsom said he delayed the cruise ship's arrival to give federal officials more time to prepare. The CDC will be flying testing kits to the cruise ship before being turned around in a matter of hours on shore.

So far, 11 people in the United States have died from the newly identified virus, known officially as COVID-19, which emerged in China back in December and has since spread to dozens of other countries.

ABC News' Joohee Cho, Dragana Jovanovic, Aaron Katersky, Luis Martinez, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Gabrielle Sarann, Christine Theodorou, Phoebe Natanson, Somayeh Malekian, Ibtissem Guenfoud, John Parkinson, Mariam Khan, Bonnie McLean and Amanda Maile contributed to this report.

California cruise ship guests advised to stay in rooms as coronavirus cases grow nationwide originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka held a demonstration in central Colombo on Tuesday afternoon demanding the release of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.

About 60 workers and young people, including party members and supporters, joined the picket, which was held outside Fort Railway station. A delegation of party members from war-ravaged northern Jaffna travelled 400 kilometres to attend the event. A group of plantation workers from Hatton in the central plantation area also participated. The SEP/IYSSE demonstration won the attention of thousands of workers and youth who were returning from their jobs and studies.

Part of the rally

Demonstrators enthusiastically chanted slogans in Sinhala and Tamil, including Free Julian Assange, Free Chelsea Manning, Defend the right to free speech, Stop internet censorship, No to imperialist world war, Fight for international socialism and Build the SEP. SEP/IYSSE members distributed copies of a February 20 WSWS perspective titled Growing support for Julian Assange on eve of extradition hearings.

Several media organisations, including Veerakesari, the countrys main Tamil daily, i24 News , an Israel-based international news and television group, the European Pressphoto Agency and Sunday Morning, covered the event.

K. Ratnayake

K. Ratnayake, WSWS national editor, addressed the rally following the picket. He stated that the campaign by the International Committee of the Fourth International and the WSWS to free Assange and Manning had been intensified with the beginning of British court hearing for Assanges extradition to the US, where he faces Espionage Act charges and life imprisonment.

Assange and Manning are being persecuted because of their exposure of the war crimes executed by the US-led imperialist powers in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ratnayake declared. The struggle for their defence, therefore, is an essential part of the struggle against imperialist war and for the defence of democratic rights, free speech and the freedom of expression.

He reviewed the decade-long persecution of Assange carried out by the US and its allies, including Britain, Australia and Sweden, since WikiLeaks publications.

Ratnayake continued: Making moral appeals to the ruling classes for his release is futile. The fight for Assanges release should be taken into the hands of the workers, students and all those who value democratic rights. The imperialists want to silence Assange and Manning not only for concealing their past crimes but because they are preparing for new crimes and paving the way for monstrous wars.

A section of the demonstration

Ratnayake pointed to the international upsurge of the working class as the basis for such a perspective.

The speaker explained that the persecution of Assange was the sharpest expression of a broader assault on democratic rights.

In Sri Lanka, the government was reviving the police-state measures associated with the 30-year anti-Tamil civil war prosecuted by successive Colombo administrations.

Political opponents and journalists who criticised the government were brutally victimised and some of them were murdered, including Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, under President Mahinda Rajapakses previous government.

Under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government, artists like Shakthika Sathkumara and Malaka Devapriya were victimised at the instigation of sections of the Buddhist hierarchy. As the ruling class faces a deepening crisis, it has brought Gotabhaya Rajapakse to power, a figure directly implicated in war crimes, to suppress working class opposition and safeguard class rule.

Kapila Fernando

Ratnayake explained that the SEP was the only party in Sri Lanka raising the issue of Assange. The SEPs around the world had established the same record, demonstrating that the defence of democratic rights was inextricably tied to the fight for the social rights of the working class.

Addressing the rally, IYSSE convener Kapila Fernando called on students and youth to join the struggle for the release of Assange and Manning. He warned that the major powers were creating the conditions for a third world war that would threaten the very existence of humanity. This underscored the necessity for the unity of the working class internationally in the fight for international socialism.

WSWS reporters spoke to some of those in attendance.

Soaresm

Arjun Ainkaran, a young worker, said: It's so important to hold campaigns like this. Actually many people don't know these type of attacks are taking place. All the governments are afraid of the truth being exposed. If everybody knows what Assange has revealed, people will hate American imperialism. I saw in the news that a major Iranian commander was killed by an American drone strike. It's a serious incident.

I have read about Edward Snowden [who revealed massive surveilence operations carried out by US intelligence agencies] before. When I now heard about Chelsea Manning, I realized that she also did a brave task like Snowden. I demand freedom for Assange and Manning and I will join further events like this.

Soaresm, a young visitor from France, stated: It is important to build international solidarity to free Julian Assange. This fight must be taken forward to protect liberty and freedom of expression. French people would like to give asylum to him in France, but the capitalist class wont permit that. It is obvious that to free him a movement must be built from below.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 09:17:11|Editor: zyl

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MANILA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Seven people including Philippine National Police chief General Archie Gamboa and four other police officers were injured after a police helicopter crashed on Thursday during take-off in Laguna province, south of Manila.

Police emergency responder Captain Edgar Miguel said Gamboa and the rest of the four passengers and the two pilots were injured. They were all taken to a nearby hospital, he added.

"General Gamboa is conscious. One of the passengers was unconscious and one was injured in the head," Miguel said.

Miguel said the engine of the chopper caught fire shortly after take-off before crashing into a small road.

The cause of the crash is still unknown.
A complaint of cheating has been registered against actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra for allegedly duping an investor in a gold scheme. The complaint has been registered by Sachin Joshi, a non-resident Indian, for being cheated by Satyug Gold Pvt Ltd, a gold trading company formerly headed by the couple, according to Mumbai police.

According to Joshi, he had purchased a kilo of gold from the company for Rs. 18.58 lakhs back in 2014. He was offered a gold card at a discounted rate under a five-year plan, which he was promised he could redeem for gold at the end of the term.

However, when his plan ended in March 2019, and he tried to redeem the card, he found that the company's office had shut down. He eventually learnt that Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra had resigned from their posts in May 2016 and November 2017 respectively.

Joshi lodged a complaint with the Khar police station against the couple and a few others.

Recently, Raj Kundra released a statement over the issue. He states, "Just stating facts to correct a false narrative that's doing rounds in the media. This is with reference to the news about a complaint filed by an NRI for losses suffered, following an investment in Satyug Gold Pvt Ltd. Firstly and most importantly, Shilpa and I have received no such complaint as claimed by the gentleman in question. The website has all the relevant details and contact information for those who want their queries answered. With all the assistance we've made available, it is quite underhanded to say that there was no remedy. I would request the media to perform a cursory fact check before publishing information and not be an accessory in misleading viewers and readers."

ALSO READ: Shilpa Shetty And Raj Kundra Welcome Baby Girl Samisha Shetty Kundra! First Picture Inside

ALSO READ: Did Rangoli Chandel Take A Dig At Shilpa Shetty Kundra Over Surrogacy?
A full-strength India, led by Sumit Nagal and Prajnesh Gunneswaran, will take on Croatia in the Davis Cup Qualifiers with a realistic chance of upsetting the top seeds here from Friday.

The hosts will be led by world number 37 Marin Cilic and the 2014 US Open champion is only top-50 singles player in their ranks.

The absence of their best-ranked player Borna Coric (33rd) means that Nagal and Prajnesh can go after their second singles player Borna Gojo, who is yet to win a match in the Davis Cup.

Getting two points from Gojo is very much possible for the visitors, considering that he is placed 277th in the ATP rankings chart, which is below the two Indian singles players.

Both Nagal (127) and Prajnesh (132) are capable of beating Gojo though they have not competed against him as yet.

Prajnesh, who missed the last tie because of his marriage, admitted that the lack of a strong second singles player in rival line-up could work to India's advantage.

"We are hoping to come with our A game. We definitely have a better chance (in absence of Borna Coric) and hopefully we can capitalise on that. The hard indoor courts suit us," said Prajnesh.

Ramkumar Ramanathan is set to be benched since Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will most likely play the doubles rubber.

The doubles will be a crucial match in the tie, the winner of which will qualify for the year-end Davis Cup Finals, to be held in November in Madrid.

It could be the last tie for the 46-year-old Paes who had said that 2020 is his final season as professional. Bidding adieu to the Davis Cup on a winning note will be a high point since he is already the most successful doubles player in the history of the tournament.

India have not won an away tie against a strong opponent for a long time and it seems to be their best chance. They lost to Serbia (2018) and Canada (2017), missing out on World Group qualification.

"We certainly have a chance in this tie. If we get one singles in the bag on Friday, anything can happen. But it's difficult to swing back if we are lose 0-2 on the first day," India's non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal told PTI.

"The Croatians are not taking us lightly. They have been watching our sessions. They are big boys, have been around. The courts are medium-paced with low bounce, which suits us," he added.

"We have been told that it's a new facility. The Croatian team is very popular since they have been champions. The locals will throng the stadium, cheering for them. We are going as underdogs and I like it like that way," he said.

The last time the two sides competed against each other, India won 3-2 in New Delhi in 1995 on grass courts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Srinagar, March 5 : The Kashmir Press Club has voiced concern over the alleged harassment of two video journalists by police in south Kashmir.

According to a statement the two were stopped by the police from conducting their professional work on March 4 in Pulwama, and their camera and two mobile phones were snatched and returned after almost five hours with all data deleted.

"As per the written testimony by two cameramen Qayoom Khan and Qisar Mir, working for CNN-News 18 and TV9 Bharatvarsh, the duo was stopped on Wednesday by a police officer in front of SSP Pulwama," it said.

Mir said that their cameras and phones were snatched by the police officer when they were covering a raid by a probe agency in Pulwama.

"Mediapersons in south Kashmir are being harassed while covering their professional duties," Mir said.

He said he was stopped at Babgund in Pulwama and thrashed by security personnel on February 29 during a cordon and search operation. He also alleged that he was "made a human shield" by the soldiers.
Press Release

March 5, 2020 Hontiveros wants to end child marriage in PH "If we continue to allow child marriages, we are essentially robbing our youth of their right to a safe and nurturing childhood." This was the remark of Senator Risa Hontiveros during her sponsorship of 'Girls Not Brides Act' on Wednesday which seeks to end child marriages in the Philippines. Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said that Senate Bill No. 1373 will prevent child marriage by making it a public crime. "Under the bill, any person who facilitates and solemnizes this union will face a prison sentence of up to 12 years, and fines of up to 50,000 pesos," said Hontiveros. "He or she will be held liable under the Republic Act No. 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act", she explained. With an estimated 726,000 children married off before their 18th birthday, the Philippines ranks 12th highest in the world in absolute numbers, the senator noted. "At a time when we, together with the rest of the world, are slowly making headway in ensuring that young girls are protected and are able to reach their full potential as human beings, the existence of child marriages in our country negates these efforts," she also said. Hontiveros explained that child brides are less likely to remain in school, depriving them of economic prospects and other opportunities an education affords. These girls, she said, are also vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, domestic violence, abuse, and exploitation. The Senator said that even though children below 18 are prohibited under law from being party to a legal contract which is what establishes the legitimacy of a marriage, more than half a million girls are forced against their agency to abide. She also acknowledged the cultural sensitivities surrounding child marriage, and said that the bill introduces culturally-appropriate programs and services led by the Department of Social Work and Development that will be responsive to the needs of those who will be affected by this law. "Poverty may be among the drivers of child marriages, but there is also a subtler impulse behind this practice. Child marriage, as part of social norms in communities where it is common, is often the result of entrenched gender inequality," she said. "Culture can be considered not only as practices but also a process. Culture continues to evolve, accepting of new knowledge and later realizations. We are duty-bound to acknowledge that our children are our future, and all that we do must be in their best interest," Hontiveros concluded.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Having decided to conduct local body elections by the end of the month, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday reportedly told ministers and in-charge ministers to be ready to resign if they dont bag a majority of seats in their respective districts.

Similarly, MLAs wont be given party tickets in the next election in case of a poor performance in their respective constituencies this time.

Though the Chief Minister received a survey report indicating that the partys performance would only improve in the ensuing local body elections, he warned us to be cautious and strive for a much better performance. Otherwise, we have to be prepared to resign immediately after the results of the election are announced, a minister said after the Cabinet meeting, adding that public representatives from Guntur and Krishna districts (where protests are being held against shifting of the executive capital to Visakhapatnam) also received the same warning.

The minister further said that the Chief Minister discussed the partys preparedness for the local body elections, and handed over the responsibility for this to the ministers and in-charge ministers.

They were also given the task of resolving clashes within the party, and told to field good candidates. The Chief Minister also insisted that the flow of liquor and cash be curbed ahead of the local body elections.

Expecting that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) would come into force by March 9 or 10, Jagan reportedly asked the ministers to hold meetings with leaders and cadre of the party to be prepared for the elections.

Members of the Cabinet felt that the Model Code of Conduct would not impact the distribution of house site pattas to the poor, which is scheduled for Ugadi (March 25), as the government has completed all the related work and finalised the list of beneficiaries.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sits outside its headquarters in Vienna

By Ahmad Ghaddar, Shadia Nasralla and Rania El Gamal

VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC agreed on Thursday to cut oil output by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2020 to support prices that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak, but made its action conditional on Russia and others joining in.

Russia and Kazakhstan, both members of the broader and informal group known as OPEC+, said they had not yet agreed to a deeper cut, raising the risk of a collapse in cooperation that has propped up crude prices since 2016.

Oil demand growth forecasts for 2020 have been slashed because of global measures to halt the spread of the virus, prompting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to consider its biggest cut since the 2008 financial crisis.

Factories have been disrupted, people have been deterred from travelling and other business activity has slowed, shrinking demand for fuel.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing OPEC and its allies, including Russia, for a big cut up to 1.5 million bpd for the second quarter of 2020, alongside extending existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd, which expire this month, to the end of 2020.

Riyadh, OPEC's biggest producer, has struggled to win over Moscow. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday he was ready for a drop in oil prices if there was no deal.

Kazakh Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev, another non-OPEC producer, said talks were only focusing on extending existing curbs to June.

"Moscow perhaps is underestimating that Saudi Arabia may be ready to walk away if it doesn't get a positive answer," said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects think-tank.

In an unusual development, OPEC members gathered for another informal meeting late on Thursday and two sources said OPEC would likely recommend that the additional oil cuts of 1.5 million bpd run until the end of 2020, not just until June.

Russia, which joins OPEC+ talks on Friday in Vienna, has been hesitant in the past in the build up to meetings but has agreed at the last minute.

Story continues

But OPEC sources have said negotiations with Russia this time have been tougher. Two OPEC sources said on Thursday that, if Russia failed to sign up, there was a risk Saudi Arabia would insist on scrapping OPEC production limits altogether.

But OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo sought to play down concerns that cooperation with Russia would falter.

"We have no reason to doubt the continued commitment of the Russian Federation to this partnership," he said after OPEC ministers held informal talks at a Vienna hotel.

After its formal ministerial meeting, OPEC said the coronavirus outbreak created an "unprecedented situation" with risks "skewed to the downside", adding that action was needed.

It said ministers had agreed non-OPEC states were expected to contribute 500,000 bpd to the overall extra cut. The group said the existing supply curbs should last to the end of 2020.

WORST CASE SCENARIO

Suhail al-Mazroui, energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, said OPEC would not carry the burden of cuts alone and non-OPEC states had to join in. "We are all in this together. So its not going to be us making a decision alone," he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is already cutting well beyond its quota under the existing pact, reducing its output by about 10%. Russia, with bigger total production, has reduced its output by a fraction of Riyadh's cut.

Gary Ross, founder of Black Gold Investors, said a worst case scenario in which Saudi Arabia returned to full production would send oil prices down to $25 to $30 a barrel.

That would take prices to a level that would be painful for OPEC states, already struggling with prices at around $50, and also Russia, which has said it can balance its books at $40.

"OPEC+ have little choice but to cut output substantially given the virus related demand losses," Ross said, adding that he expected Russia "will join because it is overwhelmingly in their economic interests."

Brent oil prices <LCOc1> rose 0.6% on news of OPEC's plan to cut but gave up most of those gains when Russia and others suggested a deal was not in the bag.

The proposed OPEC cut of 1.5 million bpd, if approved, would be well above what the market had expected up until this week. It would bring the group's overall output reduction to 3.6 million bpd or about 3.6% of global supplies.

The last time OPEC reduced supplies on such a scale was in 2008 when it cut production by a total of 4.2 million bpd to address slower demand because of the global financial crisis.

OPEC hold its next ministerial meeting on June 9.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Edmund Blair)
Amid increasing cases of coronavirus, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sushil Kumar Gupta on Thursday urged Chairman Venkaiah Naidu to put in place preventive measures for the virus including the provision of a thermal scanner within Parliament House complex.

In a letter, Kumar said that Coronavirus is posing a serious threat. He said all the preventive measures should be taken to ensure a proper sanitation drive and by putting in place stringent sanitation procedures.

"The Parliament, other than its members and staff, is also frequented by people from all walks of life. Even foreign nationals are also visiting this complex in connection with various official and non-official assignments/visits. As we all know very well, coronavirus is posing a serious threat," the letter read.

"Please also ask the concerned authorities to take immediate measures for spraying disinfectants in the entire Parliament complex. If anybody is noticed with symptoms of getting infected by this virus, he or she may please ask. for an immediate medical check-up. Provision of a thermal given a serious thought. scanner within the Parliament House complex should also," it added.

Coronavirus, which was first originated in China and has now spread in more than 74 countries, has killed more than 3200 globally.

India has witnessed a substantial rise in the case of coronavirus in last few days. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday confirmed that 29 were tested positive for Coronavirus in the country till March 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In explaining her decision against the more serious charge of first-degree murder, Rossetti also cited witnesses accounts of Collins aggressive behavior toward women and Bailey in the months leading up to the incident, including that Collins had confronted Bailey and punched him in the face on one occasion.
Upstate New York Chef Michele Hunter turned frog-eye salad into a prince of a dish and was crowned champion on the latest episode of Food Networks Chopped.

Hunter, Executive Chef at Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga Springs, attended the watch party at the restaurant to watch the pre-recorded episode which premiered on live TV on March 3.

The response to the watch party was incredible. It was a packed house. I was surrounded by love and support and it was an amazing feeling, she said.

Guests from the restaurants along with Hunters family and friends filled the room to watch her compete alongside three other chefs to prepare a spectacular three-course meal consisting of an appetizer, entree and dessert. To raise the bar, Chopped requires they must use unusual mystery ingredients and they have a limited amount of time cook each course.

The baskets of mystery ingredients on Hunters episode included vegan pork, pecan kringle, spaghetti sushi, moringa powder, an ambrosia-like dish called frog-eye salad, a Negroni, among others. With each course, chefs were chopped from the competition, but Hunter made it to the final dessert round and won the grand prize of $10,000.

The prize money is stashed away in hopes to open a bakery, but unfortunately it takes much more than $10,000, she said.

Hunter described the experience as challenging, but exciting and enjoyable. As for the possibility of seeing her on the Food Network in the future, she said, The experience on Chopped was very stressful and I put a lot of pressure on myself. I wasnt originally interested in any more shows, but my feelings may have changed after seeing the overwhelming support from the community.

Brendan Dillon, owner of Hamlet & Ghost, told The Daily Gazette, We are so proud of Michele. She is such a talented chef and we are so grateful to have her at our restaurant he said. If you havent been here, definitely come out and try some dishes because you wont be disappointed with Micheles work.

If you want to catch Hunters Chopped episode online, you can watch on Amazon Prime, YouTube, or iTunes.

She did it! Executive Chef Michele Hunter ghosted the competition and is now a @foodnetwork #chopped champion! Wanna... Posted by Hamlet & Ghost on Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Read more

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As the number of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Ireland total at nine, health officials are reiterating the importance of washing our hands properly.

The HSE has advised that 15-20 seconds is the minimum amount of time people should spend scrubbing your hands with soap and water or alcohol hand rub to help prevent infection.

Or the same length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday song twice.

You can imagine it only takes a few trips to the bathroom before flashbacks of your tenth birthday party come back to haunt you.

Thankfully, Irish journalist, Nicky Ryan has tweeted a list of songs that also have a 20-second chourses.

Her list includes Mambo No 5, the Irish dancefloor national anthem, Maniac 2000, Bat Out of Hell and Chers Believe.

But if youre really up for getting that bathroom sing-song going there are also these dancefloor bops.

Beyonces Love on Top

Fleetwood Mac's Landslide

Totos Africa

Bee Gees Stayin Alive

Lizzos Truth Hurts

And with no pun intended ...

TLCs No Scrubs

The Vietnamese Health Department have also released a song about coronavirus which is pretty catchy.

The tune, called The Vietnam Conoravirus song, explains the virus' origins and the importance of protecting oneself against the virus. It also advises listeners to be responsible if we want to keep it from exploding.

For more information on the best way to stop the spread of harmful germs, check out HSE.ie
A single mother is fighting to keep her four-year-old daughter alive after doctors claimed she is too brain damaged to remain on life support.

Little Pippa Knight, of Medway, Kent, has been on a ventilator at the Evelina Hospital in London since Flu A left her brain damaged in January last year.

The four-year-old suffered a similar episode at 20-months-old, but made a full recovery.

Doctors at Guys' at St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust claim there has been 'little to no improvement' in Pippa's prognosis and they have asked lawyers to apply for a High Court order to be allowed to take her off life support.

But her mother Paula Parfitt, 40, claims she is awake and has tried to sit up in bed and reach out to her for a hug.

With medics threatening legal action, the single mother of Pippa and her older brother faces a court battle.

Little Pippa Knight, of Medway, Kent, has been on life support at the Evelina Hospital in London since Flu A left her brain damaged in January last year

Her mother Paula Parfitt, 40, (pictured with her) claims she is awake and has tried to sit up in bed and reach out to her for a hug

Ms Parfitt claims her daughter recovered from a very similar condition just before her second birthday and should be given the chance to do the same again.

She says she is awake, has sleep cycles and responds to her voice and music played in the ward.

Pippa's father Karl Knight died in 2017 and her mother is desperate not to lose another loved one.

She told MailOnline: 'She is my little girl. She is Karl's legacy. I think the world or her and will do what ever it takes to protect her and my son.'

Currently Ms Parfitt is unable to work and spends all of her time at her daughter's bedside in London.

Doctors at Guys' at St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust claim there has been 'little to no improvement' in Pippa's prognosis and they have asked lawyers to apply for a High Court order to be allowed to take her off life support

She argues that Pippa is not in a coma and although she can't speak, she is highly responsive to what goes on around her.

She added: 'She moves her arms, she moves her legs some days she rolls on her side, she moves her fingers, she grips my hand.

'She tries to sit up with support and she reaches out for a cuddle.'

Ms Parfitt has also been given hope by the miraculous outcome of the case surrounding five-year-old Tafida Raqeeb.

Tafida, of Newham, east London, was sent into a coma around the same time as Pippa was struck down by flu in January last year.

The schoolgirl suffered a burst blood vessel in her brain and doctors at the Royal London Hospital said she was beyond hope.

But after a lengthy legal battle that ended in the High Court, her parents Shelina Begum and Mohammed Raqeeb convinced a judge to let her go to Genoa, Italy for further treatment.

Italian doctors last month said she has made enough progress to return to the UK.

A spokesperson for Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust said: 'Our highly experienced team have cared for this little girl over a considerable period of time and throughout this have had access to, and sought, the expertise and opinions of specialists within and beyond the hospital to ensure that she has the best and most appropriate care.

'Every child is immeasurably precious, and so we understand how very painful this has been for her family.

'We will continue to work closely with them to make decisions about her treatment which are in her best interests.'
London: The ruler of Dubai conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, a British judge ruled in documents that were unsealed on Thursday.

A judge at the High Court in London found that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 70, "acted in a manner from the end of 2018 which has been aimed at intimidating and frightening" his ex-wife, Princess Haya, 45.

Judge Andrew McFarlane also said the sheikh "ordered and orchestrated" the abductions and forced return to Dubai of two of his adult daughters from another marriage: Sheikha Shamsa in August 2000, and Sheikha Latifa in 2002 and again in 2018.

The judge made rulings in December and January after a battle between the estranged spouses over the welfare of their two children, but the sheikh fought to prevent them from being made public. The British Supreme Court quashed that attempt on Thursday.
Los Angeles, March 5 : The state of California has reported its first coronavirus death, taking the overall death toll in the US to 11 with 154 confirmed cases, authorities said.

The patient, an elderly adult with underlying health conditions living in Placer County, died in isolation at a hospital on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The victim had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday was likely to have been infected sometime between February 11-21 during a cruise from San Francisco to Mexico in February.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of this patient," said Placer County Health Officer Aimee Sisson told the media on Wednesday evening.

"While we have expected more cases, this death is an unfortunate milestone in our efforts to fight this disease, and one that we never wanted to see." Health officials said the person had minimal community exposure after returning from the cruise and going to the hospital.

All 15 healthcare workers who were exposed prior to the patient were now in quarantine and none of them exhibited symptoms.

However, it's possible that other cruise passengers may have also been exposed, Placer County Public Health said, adding they were are working closely with Sacramento County Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify and contact other cruise passengers.

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the state following the news of the death.

"The state of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Xinhua news agency quoted Newsom as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

"This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly." This is the first coronavirus death in the US to occur outside of Washington state, where the 10th fatality was also confirmed on Wednesday.
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will meet Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday. He left for Delhi on Thursday evening.

I have observed many things during my travels in Kolkata and other parts of the state. My utmost effort will be to put across to him (Shah) the objective reality, said Dhankhar.

Trinamool Congress ministers refused to comment on the governors statement despite the acrimonious relationship between the government and Raj Bhawan.

The governor recently summoned senior officials of the state election commission and asked them to ensure peace during the coming civic polls in the state.

He also drew attention in the last few days when he spoke of selective condemnation of violence without directly referring to any incident.

On Tuesday, Dhankhar said on the sidelines of a programme that all forms of violence should be condemned irrespective of whether it was being committed in Delhi or Bengal. His statement came after chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing a public meeting on March 2, described the recent violence in Delhi as planned genocide.
Congratulations, mountainendurocamp.net got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Mountainendurocamp.net scored 70 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 30 Mar 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

mountainendurocamp.net is very popular in Facebook. It is liked by 76 people on Facebook. Furthermore its facebook page has 742 likes.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- HOZON Auto, the company behind the EV brand NETA, and the power battery giant CATL forged a strategic partnership on March 2 to step up the collaboration in NEV battery field.



Under the agreement, CATL will provide HOZON Auto with power battery solutions, cell-to-pack battery technology and the technology enabling an ultra-long battery lifespan. All these technical fruits will be utilized in the startup's five models based on two EV platforms, according to a post on HOZON Auto's WeChat account.

The two platforms, dubbed HPC and HPA, are set to be established by the end of 2020, the EV maker said. The five models refer to the NETA N01, the NETA U, the Eureka 02, the V and the EPX2 (code name), of which the former twos mass-produced versions have been launched.

Besides, the newly-agreed collaboration will make two parties join hands to offer users greater driving experience by leveraging their merits in NEV R&D, manufacturing and relevant services.

During the signing ceremony, HOZON Auto and CATL had a discussion about such popular topics as the development trend of NEV industry, automobile intelligence, resource sharing and sustainable growth.



HOZON revealed its cooperation with the Ningde-based battery titan can date back to the days when it endeavored to launch the first model NETA N01. Now, the cemented collaboration will serve the second one NETA U, which is scheduled to be put onto the market in late March.

Unveiled at the Auto Guangzhou 2019, the production model of the U is priced between RMB150,000 and RMB210,000 in presale. According to the startup, the new all-electric model boasts a NEDC-rated range of up to 660km, and the four-wheel-drive version can sprint from zero to 100km/h in just 4.9 seconds (photo source: HOZON Auto).
Dozens of Australian children are still stuck in the Chinese province of Hubei, where the deadly coronavirus originated.

There are 22 unaccompanied children aged under two, along with five infants who have their parents with them.

Another 60 Australian children aged between two and 16 remain trapped in Hubei with relatives or carers.

The youngest unaccompanied Australian child in Hubei is eight months old.

Around 80 Australian children, including nine-year-old Theresa Li (pictured), are trapped in the Hubei province of China where the coronavirus originated

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says the government is focused on their welfare, but has tempered expectation of another evacuation flight.

'It's not something we are ignoring, not at all, but it is not in the immediate prospect that there will be a further flight,' she told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

China has not allowed Australia to help evacuate children with relatives who are not Australian citizens.

One Australian family spoke out on their struggle to recover their trapped nine-year-old daughter from Wuhan.

Theresa Li has been living with her Chinese grandparents since the travel ban stopped her from returning home.

Her father Meng Li told 7News: 'We're worried about her health, we're worried about her education and also she's been very far from us and we can't see her.'

Theresa has been stuck inside the apartment for weeks and her grandparents are beginning to run out of food.

Aussie kids ranging from sixteen to eight-months-old are stuck in Wuhan (file image)

'From the beginning, we kept telling her don't worry... you're going to be home very soon but now its already more than six weeks,' Mr Li said.

The family is trying their best to comfort Theresa and stay positive.

Mr Li explained: 'It's a very difficult time for us and every day we're asking about how we can get our daughter back.'

DFAT secretary Frances Adamson said Australia had sought to 'test the system' from the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, but Chinese authorities had consistently refused.

Strict travel restrictions imposed by China are another major factor behind the limited prospect of further evacuation flights.

'We have not given a time frame because it is beyond our control,' DFAT official Andrew Todd told senators.

DFAT has been in contact with 119 Australian citizens and 236 permanent residents still in Hubei.

The 355 people have expressed interest in Australian government support, including possible evacuations.
SUGAR ISLAND, MI  The U.S. Coast Guard has honored several civilians who rescued a teenage girl from the icy St. Marys River in January.

Capt. Patrick Nelson presented the Coast Guard Certificate of Merit to Captain Dale Rosenbum and Phillip Roy of Sugar Island Ferry, as well as Sonny Menard, Fred Newton, and Bob LaPointe, who volunteered to assist the crew in the rescue.

We are incredibly proud of the heroic and quick response by Captain Rosenbum and Mr. Roy, Capt. Nelson said.

It is a clear testament to their proficiency and dedication as professional mariners and their strong sense of civic responsibility to their community. These Good Samaritans embody the U.P. spirit of community selflessness. We thank them for stepping up to assist with saving a life.

The incident occurred on Jan. 21 when the teenage girl fell into the St. Marys River.

Upon seeing the person in the water, Captain Rosenbum expertly maneuvered the ferry so the makeshift Good Samaritan crew under the direction Roy, a deckhand onboard, could pull her from the water.

Roy and the Good Samaritans stabilized the survivors condition and swiftly transported them to awaiting emergency responders on the mainland.
There are plenty of reports and statistics available that demonstrate Illinois poor economic performance. One of the latest, Rich States, Poor States, ranks Illinois 46th in the country in terms of economic performance and 48th in economic outlook. But those of us who live here  those of us who pay the high property taxes, who search for gainful employment and economic opportunity, who read article after article detailing the pension crisis  dont need to see the numbers; we know somethings wrong.
Two new COVID-19 cases were reported in Singapore on 4 March, bringing the total number of infections to 112. (PHOTO: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

By Philip J. Heijmans and Faris Mokhtar

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore sees opportunities to win investments from companies whose supply chains have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, according to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing.

Speaking after an interview on Wednesday with Bloomberg TV, Chan said the city-state is pursuing a strategy to be the first one off the blocks once global economies begin to rebound from the effects of the virus. The Southeast Asian nation will also need to assess how the outbreak might impact the timing of elections due by April next year.

Singapore is aiming to appeal to companies and investors by demonstrating an ability to take comprehensive measures that contain the virus, and by helping companies on the ground through lean times, Chan said. For example, with the tourism sector in Singapore set to take a hit this year of about 30% due to the disease, the government is working to help to refurbish hotels, upgrade their operating processes and train workers.

There are natural advantages that favour us, because when people want to diversify they look at trusted hubs -- they dont just look at cost itself, Chan said, touting the countrys ability to provide stability, rule of law and connectivity. All of that plays to our advantage.

We must constantly plan on this basis that we want to be the first one off the blocks beyond just handling the crisis well, he said.

As the novel coronavirus starts to gather speed in Europe, the Middle East and the U.S., Singapore has received praise from health experts for implementing measures that have likely helped to contain the virus. In recent weeks, the number of cases in Singapore has slowed while recoveries are on the rise. Of the 112 cases confirmed since January, just 33 were active as of Wednesday evening.

In a world first, researchers in Singapore have developed a new serological test that can establish links between infected cases, which allows authorities to map out the chain of transmission and therefore try to break it. How governments have handled the outbreak, the minister said, will in the end matter when it comes time for companies to decide where to invest.

Story continues

When people look at our numbers they are confident that we know what we are doing and thats important, and that inspires confidence, he said. That is compared to some other places where there are no headline numbers. Then you really dont know because there are no known cases or tests.

Some Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, which borders China where confirmed cases total more than 80,000, has yet to record a single case. Cambodia, as a hotbed of Chinese investment, has confirmed just one while Indonesia, a country of 265 million people confirmed its first two cases on Monday.

Some countries have been exposed whereby they make decisions based more on politics rather than medical evidence and all this does not bode well for long-term confidence, he said, without mentioning any country in particular. Singapore wants to be one of these countries that distinguishes ourselves in the way we handle this and also in the way we have an eye for the future.

Election Impact

While the countrys next general elections are required to be held by April 2021, it is expected they will be called before the deadline. Chan said the outbreak would certainly be one of the considerations when we decide to go and that choosing an election date would hinge on how the virus was impacting the economy and how severe it may become.

If it is endemic then we learn to live with it with heightened measures, but if it becomes pandemic, where for whatever reasons, the virus starts to mutate and the fatality rate shoots up, then we are in a very different situation, he said. Then its almost like a 9/11 all over again and then we would need a fresh mandate to chart a very different path altogether.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, leader Carrie Lams inconsistent approach to wearing masks at press briefings stirred mistrust among its population. It also raised questions about Singapores own policy on masks, the minister allegedly told business leaders, according to reports last month. When asked about a leaked audio cited in those reports, he said that decisions should be made in a sustainable manner.

You cant do things which for a lack of a better word are just for show, and is either not sustainable or not medically proven to be effective, he said without specifically mentioning Hong Kong. Then you get yourself into a rut and you set off expectations which cannot be met, and that is very dangerous in managing a crisis.

 2020 Bloomberg L.P.
English French

TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- B2B Bank announces a decrease to its prime lending rate by 50 basis points from 3.95% to 3.45%, effective March 6, 2020.



About B2B Bank

B2B Bank is a leading provider of banking products to more than 20,000 financial advisors and brokers across Canada. Through the professional advisor and broker channels, it offers a broad range of products and services to consumers including Investment, RSP and TFSA Loans, mortgages, GICs, banking services and investment accounts and services through B2B Bank Dealer Services. B2B Bank is proudly dedicated to serving the needs of its clients and it continues to provide innovative products and solutions that help advisors and brokers build rewarding relationships with their clients. B2B Bank is a Schedule I bank. For more information, please visit https://b2bbank.com .

Information :
(Natural News) Just days after the state of Washington declared an emergency over the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) following two related deaths, federal officials at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Seattle announced they are closing that office after an employee began exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

While coronavirus isnt the flu, it is a respiratory illness that mimics influenza and, thus, given the fact that the virus has already been detected in the state  and people have died  its only prudent that immigration officials close up shop and protect themselves.

Plus, as the co-director of the USCIS noted, the employee in question was likely exposed.

The Epoch Times reported:

Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli wrote on Twitter that the employee had visited nursing homes in Kirkland four days ago; the homes had been dealing with several COVID-19 cases.

He noted that the employee was probably exposed on Feb. 22, becoming ill just four days later.

The office closure is effective immediately & employees are being directed to telework if they are able. There are also ICE, CBP, and FPS employees at the same facility, and all of them have received the same instructions, Cuccinelli noted, adding that the employee visited the nursing homes before knowing that patients there had become infected with coronavirus.

When the employee began feeling ill, the employee followed procedure and stayed at home, he added.

So this begs the question: How many more government offices  in Seattle, sure, but elsewhere  are going to fall prey to the outbreak? Because the more offices that close, the less able the government will be to handle its daily business. (Related: How The Pandemic Crisis Will Probably Develop Over The Next Year, by Brandon Smith.)

The closure of the USCIS office came as health officials noted that an Amazon employee in Seattle also tested positive for the virus.

Drastic measures coming?

Again, The Epoch Times reported, citing an internal email the news service managed to obtain, the employee went home from work feeling unwell Feb. 25 and has not yet returned to work. A March 3 message said that Amazon has since received word that the employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Were supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine, Amazon told The Epoch Times in confirming the illness.

In the company internal email, executives said that everyone who worked with or in proximity to the sick employee  defined as being closer than six feet over a prolonged period of time  has been notified.

The risk of transmission for employees who were not in close contact with this individual is assessed to be low, the internal email said.

Meanwhile, in a prelude to what could happen soon in the United States, several other countries are reported to have taken drastic measures in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus, The Epoch Times noted:

 Saudi Arabia has banned citizens from engaging in the traditional Muslim pilgrimage in Mecca;

 Italy is considering closing all schools nationwide;

 On Friday, Iran canceled prayers for a second week.

From religion to sports, countries are taking drastic and increasingly visible measures to curb the new coronavirus that first emerged in China and is spreading through Europe, the Mideast, and the Americas, the Times reported.

So far, the total number of cases in the United States remain low, especially in comparison to other countries and especially when you consider there are more than 327 million people in the U.S.

As of this writing, 148 people are known to have been infected in the United States, and while that figure is indeed low, the virus is still having an outsized effect. How many infections will it take for governments on the state and local level to order quarantines, mass closures of offices and schools, and curbs on other activities?

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Port Authority is ramping up cleaning efforts at the regions airports and bus stations in response to the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

On Wednesday, the agency announced increased facility-wide cleaning and sanitizing protocols developed in consultation with the New York State Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As part of our commitment to the passengers at our facilities, the agency will increase cleanings in response to the coronavirus, said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. Across our facilities we are utilizing EPA-approved, anti-viral cleaning agents to maintain the highest levels of sanitation.

At the international arrivals areas of the regions four airports -- John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and New York Stewart International -- all terminal operators have been instructed to intensify cleaning procedures.

This includes increased wipe-downs of frequently touched surfaces, such as doors, countertops, handrails on stairs and escalators, elevator cabs and buttons, information kiosks, ticket vending machines, ticket counters, seating areas, charging stations and water fountains.

Additionally, restrooms will receive increased cleanings using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed cleaning products. Terminal operators will also deploy additional hand-sanitizing stations near federal inspection areas.

The agency has also increased the frequency and intensity of all cleanings at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the Oculus World Trade Center Transportation Hub. All frequently touched surfaces will be sanitized on a regular basis with EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed cleaning products, similar to the measures being undertaken at the airports.

Enhanced cleaning measures have also been deployed on all PATH cars and stations, as well as at the Journal Square Bus Terminal. Disinfecting will take place on all commonly touched surfaces, including seating, doors, handrails, turnstiles, emergency gates, elevators, information kiosks, SmartLink and MetroCard ticket machines.

Health guidance public service announcements (PSAs) have also been rolled out in terminals and stations throughout the PATH system.

MTA EFFORTS

The MTAs mass transit divisions -- New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Access-A-Ride, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North -- have significantly ramped up the frequency and intensity of their sanitizing efforts, using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed disinfectants.

Frequently touched station surfaces like turnstiles, handrails and MetroCard vending machines will be disinfected daily, with the agencys full fleet of trains, cars and buses undergoing full sanitization every 72 hours.

This includes 472 stations throughout the subway system, 21 stations along Staten Island Railway, 124 stations and terminals along Long Island Rail Road and 101 stations throughout Metro-Norths New York territory, as well as 6,714 New York City Transit subway cars, 64 Staten Island Railway cars, 1,100 Long Island Rail Road and Metro-Norths cars, 5,700 buses and 1,341 dedicated Access-A-Ride vans.

The agency has also rolled out new health guidance PSAs both in stations and on trains and buses. The PSAs will complement existing advisories that have been deployed on 3,600 subway screens, 2,000 bus screens, 550 railroad screens and at 84 subway station street entrances.

Customers are advised to avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth, wash their hands often with soap and water, cover their coughs and sneezes with a disposable tissue and remain home if they are sick.

The safety of our customers and employees is our first priority as we continue to monitor the coronavirus, said Patrick Warren, MTA chief safety officer. The MTA is enhancing its cleaning regimen across all our operating agencies to ensure the system is safe for everyone. The best defense against COVID-19, according to the National Centers for Disease Control, continues to be good hygiene -- frequent hand washing and self-care.

STATEN ISLAND FERRY

The Department of Transportation (DOT), responsible for maintaining and operating the Staten Island Ferry, is also stepping up its cleaning efforts in an attempt to curtail the spread of the potentially deadly illness.

The DOT will maintain its around-the-clock cleaning of the St. George and Whitehall ferry terminals, with preparations being made to provide supplemental cleaning on the boats throughout the day, according to the agency.

The DOT says ferryboats will be subject to deep cleanings of all surfaces and touch points at least once every 72 hours, similar to the measures being undertaken by the MTA on the citys buses and trains.

While not specifically linked to the ferry, DOT employees have been handing out flyers at the Whitehall terminal in recent days to educate travelers on the virus.
Carter Page, petroleum industry consultant and former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign, in Washington on May 28, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Surveillance Court Bans FBI and DOJ Officials Who Erred in Carter Page Wiretap Applications

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on March 5 effectively barred FBI and Justice Department officials involved in the infamous application to surveil former Trump campaign associate Carter Page.

The chief justice of the secret court, James Boasberg, ordered the ban in a 19-page opinion, the latest in a series of developments triggered by the release of the condemning report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), which examined the four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications the FBI used to spy on Page.

Boasberg wrote, No DOJ or FBI personnel under disciplinary or criminal review relating to their work on FISA applications shall participate in drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting such applications to the court.

Boasberg also accepted a detailed plan put forth by the FBI to prevent the kinds of significant omissions and misstatements that made their way into the Page FISA applications despite significant vetting by top officials at the bureau and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The court is encouraged by the governments responses to the OIG report and its orders, as the FBI and DOJ have each indicated that the flaws identified in the OIG Report require significant and systemic remedial action, Boasberg wrote.

The DOJ inspector general released a report in December that found a number of serious omissions and misstatements in the FISA applications on Page. For example, the FBI failed to disclose that Page had a relationship with the CIA, that the agency had approved Page as an operational contact from 2008 to 2013, that Page notified the agency about his contacts with Russians, and that the CIA had assessed that Page was truthful about describing his contacts.

Exacerbating the omission, an FBI attorney altered an email to say that Page was not a source.

Boasberg ordered the FBI and DOJ to include in future applications to the court a statement saying that they contain all information that might reasonably call into question the accuracy of the information or the reasonableness of any F.B.I. assessment in the application, or otherwise raise doubts about the requested findings.

On the heels of the release of the OIG report, the FISC issued a scathing order, calling on the FBI to explain what is being done to rectify the malpractice flagged by the inspector general. Boasberg also appointed an independent monitor to assess the FBIs response. The bureau responded with a menu of procedural, training, and oversight reforms, some of which are already being implemented. Boasbergs order calls for information and status updates on several of the items.

Boasberg filed his order as lawmakers are considering reforming the FISA act. President Donald Trump told Republican lawmakers in a private meeting on March 3 that he would not sign an extension of the surveillance law without reforms, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters.

In addition to the issues identified in the wiretap applications, some of the key officials involved in the investigation of the Trump campaign were found to have expressed intense bias against Trump and in favor of his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. The inspector general found no evidence to suggest that the bias motivated the malpractice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union has been postponed in view of coronavirus outbreak in various parts of the world.

Modi was expected to visit Brussels on March 13 for the annual summit which was set to lay ground for deeper trade and investment ties between India and the 27-nation block.

"With regard to the proposed India-EU Summit, both sides have agreed that due to health authorities advising against travel between regions, it would be wise to re-schedule the summit to a later mutually convenient date," external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.

He said the decision has been taken in the spirit of the close cooperation between India and the EU.

The MEA spokesperson said the EU also shared same concerns and commitment with India to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon.

"So, it has been decided that the Summit will be rescheduled on a mutually convenient date," he said.

Over 3,200 people have died of coronavirus while it has infected more than 92,000 people in over 65 countries, triggering a global health emergency.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Belgium last month to prepare the ground for Modi's visit for the summit.

Jaishankar visited Brussels weeks after the European Parliament postponed a vote on a motion against India's Citizenship Amendment Act.

A number of member countries of the EU including Italy and Belgium are reeling under rising cases of coronavirus.

On Modi's proposed visit to Bangladesh, Kumar said the prime minister will be visiting the neighbouring country to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Kumar said Modi accepted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's invitation to attend the celebrations.

"We will share the details later," Kumar said.
All Indian states and Union Territories should be fully convinced on issues related to the upcoming National Population Register (NPR) as there is dissatisfaction and fear among the people over the twin exercises of the decadal 2021 Census and NPR, the Parliaments standing committee on home affairs said on Thursday.

The panel added that the home ministry must consider some way out so that the Census goes smoothly, and cautioned that otherwise there is quite a chance of the entire process being stymied in many states.

In its report on the demand for grants by the Union home ministry submitted to Parliament on Thursday, the committee, led by senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, also wants the ministry to explore the feasibility of using Aadhaar metadata for the census to update the population register.

The Committee recommends that all the States/UTs should be fully convinced on various issues pertaining to the NPR which commences in April to have a national consensus so that there is absolute clarity and no apprehension among remaining people across the country which will help in conducting these exercises in a smooth manner, the report, accessed by HT, said.

The report assumes significance since 10 states have written to the Centre in recent weeks expressing reservations about NPR  a biometric database of all usual residents on India, and a possible precursor to building a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Union government has maintained that there is no plan for an all-India NRC for now.

Tamil Nadu,in February, wrote to the Centre expressing apprehensions, according to senior government officials who did not want to be named said. The Andhra Pradesh government, headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress and considered to be close to the Centre, this week expressed its apprehensions too. It asked the Centre to explore the possibility of using NPRs 2010 format for updating the population register.

Other states that have expressed some reservations about the latest version of NPR  either through letters or public statements by the chief minister, or through Cabinet resolutions or assembly resolutions  include Odisha, Telangana, Bihar, and the Congress-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry and West Bengal. Three states  Odisha, Bihar and Maharashtra  have also expressed the desire to carry out a caste census at the state-level along with the national census exercise.

The NPR database, first built in 2010 and updated in 2015, was to be updated again along with the first phase of Census 2020  the house listing phase  that starts in April 2020. But with several states expressing concerns about NPR, there is a growing concern within the government about its possible fallout on Census 2021.

The House panel, in its report, wanted to know if states were consulted on the new parameters or questions that have been added in upcoming NPR. The ministry said that during the updation of the latest NPR, data on some additional items -- place of last residence, mother tongue, Aadhaar number (voluntary), mobile number, passport number (if Indian passport holder), voter ID number, driving license number, and the date and place of birth of father and mother -- will be collected.

The ministry underlined that the date and place of birth of parents were collected in NPR 2010 as well for all parents who were enumerated within the household; while for parents living elsewhere or expired at the time of enumeration, only the names of parents were collected.

Broadly, states have questioned the need to collect data on mother tongue, data and place of birth of parents and also previous residences of the individual, a third senior official who did not want to be named said. Neither of these three questions figured when the NPR was built in 2010 or when it was updated.

To assure growing concerns, the Union home ministry has said that providing details to NPR is voluntary.

The registrar general of India (RGI) told the panel that all State Governments who are now raising their concerns have re-notified the intention of the Central Government to conduct the Census as well as NPR. The RGI also said that a pilot project was conducted in all the States in which more than 3 million people from different states participated.

However, a senior government official who did not want to be named, said: With more number of states writing in with their concerns, there is a question mark whether updating NPR will go according to plan.

Even as the government has clarified that there are no plans to build the NRC immediately, there have been protests across the country against the idea and against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, which aims to hasten the path to naturalisation for minorities from three Muslim-majority nations.

Pitching for use of Aadhar data in the Census exercise to avoid duplicity and wastage of expenditure, the panel maintained that Aadhaar is not just an individuals data but it is also tied up with ration card, PAN card, etc. Aadhaar metadata also includes entire familys surname, address, etc. Therefore, the Committee fails to understand as to why this should be treated as individual data only.

While the NPR database is of a household and lists head of the family and other members, Aadhaar is for an individual and the database does not have details of other family members. So far, there is no provision to link all Aadhaar numbers having the same address.

The panel also pointed out that huge amount has already been spent on data collection under Aadhaar. The committee is not quite convinced with the reply of the Ministry that the Aadhaar is an individual data and in order to create a family database, NPR exercise has been undertaken... The Committee would like the MHA to explore the feasibility of using the Aadhaar metadata for the Census and updation of NPR in 2020-21, the report said.
Arrangements are being made to facilitate the return of stranded Indians from in the wake of the outbreak through normal civil aviation channels, the said on Thursday.

MEA Spokesperson said as of now there are no Indians infected with the virus in He also said Indian Embassies across the world are on the job wherever there has been an outbreak of

The Indian Embassy in was putting out regular updates and the mission continues to be in touch with all the Indians in that country, including fishermen, he said.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said an Indian medical team was reaching Iran to set up its first clinic at Qom by the evening to start screening for

Asked about reports that 495 Iranian tourists in are untraceable, Kumar said MEA has not received any information about it from the Iranian Embassy.

"The tourists we are talking about have been here before coronavirus outbreak and they can't return as no flights are operating between the two countries at present. They will leave once the flights resume, there should be no panic," he said.

Kumar also said the Indians in Iran are being advised to follow the health protocol as given out by the WHO and local authorities.

"Our mission has opened a 24/7 helpline. Arrangements are being made to facilitate the return of stranded Indians from areas of concern through normal civil aviation channels," he said.

"We need good cooperation from Iranian authorities so that an appropriate screening process can be set up before the Indian nationals can be facilitated to take those flights back home," he said. Asked if will impose further travel restrictions, Kumar said it is an evolving situation.

On the overall preparedness to tackle the coronavirus issue, Kumar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is personally taking a lot of interest in the preparedness of to deal with the situation.

"There is a group of ministers, regular meetings are being held, both and Ministry of Health are deeply involved. Our Embassies across the world are on the job wherever you have a certain number of cases. They have opened 24/7 networks for people to connect to them," he said.
The Luxor African Film Festival will kick off tomorrow with the Egyptian film Sondouq Al-Donia (Wonder Box) directed by Emad Al-Bahat. The film, which is Al-Bahats third long narrative after almost 13 years since his last film Al-Belyatsho (The Clown, 2007), was commercially released on 19 February. LAFFs regulations allow films that have been recently screened in commercial theatres to be included in its programme, because LAFF believes that this gives the audience in Luxor and Upper Egypt an opportunity to see new Egyptian productions in the absence of theatres in most of Upper Egypts main cities.



Sondouq Al-Donia was perhaps inspired by a narrative technique previously used in international films such as the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawas Rashomon, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival 1951, or like the American action film Vantage Point directed by Pete Travis in 2008. Such scripts are structured around one main event with a series of otherwise unrelated sequences revolving back to it regardless of chronology. I this case it is the killing of a villager (Bassem Samra) by a drug dealer at one of the squares of downtown Cairo. The villager was driving his microbus with his son and a few women of his village to attend the moulid of Al-Hussein. Sondouq Al-Donia is made up of titled sequences, each with its own story and protagonists.

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The filmmaker wants to tell a story about those who are living in the glamorous, clamorous capital. So, by choosing downtown at night as the location of the film, he seems to employ the dramatic concept of the unity of time and space to intensify this idea. Starting with the first and main story, Helm (Dream), Al-Bahat puts implausible philosophical-sounding banalities in the mouths of his characters. When the villagers son Ali asks him about their destination, the father answers, Cairo has a thousand gates, you need to have a thousand faces to enter it. And so, while running away from people he owes money, the drug dealer happens to kill the villager while commandeering his vehicle. Ali is buying his father a packet of cigarettes when this happens, so he survives to end up watching the ambulance pick up his fathers body. The filmmaker returns to this incident from different angles, to conclude each story of the film. At the end of the film, Ali is seen walking the streets of downtown Cairo alone.In the meantime the script moves back in time to tell the story of Roba (Farah Youssef), a young model who is cheating on her husband Adam (Khaled Al-Sawy), a poet and novelist, with Hatem (Amr Al-Kady), a casting agent, in hopes of an opportunity in the field of cinema or TV commercials. This story doesnt have much drama in it. It seems the filmmaker intended to tell this story just to show how a man with a slightly authoritarian job can abuse his power to compel a woman to have sex with him. But the script mentions that Hatem was naive person when he came to Cairo from a village with Rawhia (Gihan Khalil), who works as a vegetable seller in Al-Tawfikia Market. The scene doesnt relate much to the flow of the drama in the film, it is simply an attempt at a different perspective on how the city changes people. Later the script reveals Adams plan to obtain a pistol with which to kill Roba, showing how his friend Asfour (Ahmed Kamal), an actor without a job practising to become a circus clown, stops him.But the least convincing story in the film is that of Fatema (Rania Youssef), the secretary of a cardiologist, Khaled (Salah Abdalla). Khaled is arranging to have a secret ufri (unregistered) marriage with her after they finish up at the clinic, but they will spend the night together on the examining table. The scene ends with Khaled stealing the marriage contract to deprive her of any possible rights after having sex with her. Another, related story is that of Morgieha (Alaa Morsy), Asfours mentally challenged friend, who tells Asfour of his love for Fatema. But the scene has no function beyond this exchange.The film ends up being artificial and banal, especially in terms of dialogue, except for one beautifully directed scene with powerful cinematography and acting: the confrontation between Adam and Asfour as the latter tries to prevent him from killing his wife.Al-Bahat uses motifs not only for aesthetic purposes but also to give the film a touch of authenticity: marionette dolls in the pre-credit at the start hinting at a kind of folk-tale, for example. At many points, as a transition between one tragedy and another, Al-Bahat employs street performers walking on broken glass and fire-eating. And, though this is part of the downtown Cairo scene, it seemed that it added to the artificiality of the whole.
By Associated Press

DUBAI: Iran will set up checkpoints to limit travel between major cities and urged citizens on Thursday to reduce their use of paper money to fight a spreading outbreak of the new coronavirus, which has killed at least 107 people across the Islamic Republic.

The announcement in Iran came as Palestinian authorities said the storied Nativity Church in the biblical city of Bethlehem, built atop the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely later in the day over coronavirus fears.

These mark the latest disruptions of life across the Mideast from the new virus, which has seen over 3,740 confirmed cases.

Iran's Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced his country's new restrictions at a televised press conference.

He added that schools and universities will remain closed through Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20.

Coronavirus India cases LIVE UPDATES

He said people should stay in their vehicles at gas stations and allow attendants to fill their gas tanks to avoid the spread of the virus.

Iran and Italy have the world's highest death tolls outside of China.

The Palestinian Health Ministry meanwhile said it was preventing all tourists from entering the West Bank.

The ministry did not specify for how long.

ALSO READ: Ghaziabad man with travel history to Iran tests positive for coronavirus, total cases rise to 30

Most tourists to the West Bank visit the biblical city of Bethlehem, where the Nativity Church is located, and Jericho.

The measures comes after suspicions that four Palestinians had caught the new coronavirus.

A Palestinian official said the four had tested positive for the virus but that the tests were sent to Israel to verify the results.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to discuss the issue with the media.

They would be the Palestinian territories' first cases if confirmed.

The Palestinian Health Ministry also said churches and places of worship in Bethlehem will be closed for two weeks.

Earlier on Thursday, the United Arab Emirates warned its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing worldwide coronavirus outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines.

The country's Health and Community Protection Ministry warning comes as its capital, Abu Dhabi, sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from hard-hit Hubei in China to a quarantine set up in its Emirates Humanitarian City.

They include citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Health officials warned that those travelling abroad could face quarantine themselves at the discretion of authorities.

The UAE is home to some 9 million people, with only about 1 million estimated to be Emirati citizens.

The UAE is home to Emirates, the government-owned airline based at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel.

Abu Dhabi also is home to Etihad, the country's national carrier.

Both airlines have encouraged staff to take time off as international travel has dropped due to the virus.

The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted Islamic worship in the Middle East, as Saudi Arabia on Wednesday banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, while Iran cancelled Friday prayers in major cities.
During the 2003 SARS outbreak in Toronto, a person with the virus came to the emergency department but was kept in a general observation area, where his infection spread to two other patients and a nurse who cared for all three, according to a study of the episode. The SARS virus soon spread to many health-care workers, including paramedics, a firefighter, five emergency room employees and a housekeeper. Cases appeared in other hospitals. Of the 438 people ultimately sickened by SARS in Canada, 375 were in Toronto, and most of the cases were acquired in hospitals. Of the 44 people who died, two were nurses and one was a doctor.
There are fears a popular family beach has become the meeting site for 'organised' sex romps after a woman witnessed a disturbing act at the weekend.

The beachgoer said she saw two men meeting behind the sand dunes at Bokarina Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

She told the Sunshine Coast Daily they performed sex acts in full view of the public, including young children.

Bokarina Beach (pictured) on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has been tainted with reports of disturbing sex acts and fears it's becoming the site for organised sex meetups

'When you look up into the dunes and you see this sort of revolting behaviour  I would not even want to know,' she said.

'It's pretty unsettling to think you're going to be the only people down the beach with that happening 50m behind you.'

The woman claims to have seen a young man walking to the trees where he hung a towel over a branch.

She believed that was a signal for another man to approach him for sex in the sand dunes.

The two men then emerged from the bushes some time later and left separately.

She photographed their hasty exit and sent it to local media.

The woman claims she's seen other disturbing acts at the beach, including people masturbating in the sand dunes while watching other beachgoers.

A beachgoer described being horrified lewd sex acts are happening just meters away from young children at Bokarina Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast (stock image)

'There's always been this constant weird s*** happening up there,' she said.

The latest incident has sparked calls for greater police presence at the beach to stop it becoming a hot spot for public sex acts.

A spokesperson for Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia they had received a number of reports of unsavoury incidents at Bokarina Beach.

But they said they conduct regular police patrols to ensure it doesn't become commonplace.

'The Queensland Police Service does receive complaints from time to time and officers do their best to address the issue via proactive action in, on and around the beach areas via foot, pushbike and ATV patrols,' the spokesperson said.
With the coronavirus becoming more and more real for Indians with each passing day, the excitement that generally accompanies Holi is somewhat diminished.

With the coronavirus becoming more and more real for Indians with each passing day, the excitement that generally accompanies Holi is somewhat diminished. The Rashtrapati Bhavan has cancelled its celebration and PM Modi has also said he will not be participating this year. As of March 5, 29 people had tested positive for the disease. The sudden spike is linked to a group of travellers from Italy, the European country with the highest number of cases.

The WHO has updated its estimation of the mortality rate to 3.4% and multiple reports have shown that human to human transmission is possible. Given these new developments, would it even be a good idea to play Holi this year? MyUpchar spoke with Dr Rommel Tickoo, Associate Director of Internal Medicine, and Dr Monica Mahajan, Medical Director, from Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket to get their assessment of the situation.

Should we play Holi this year?

I would advise against celebrating Holi this year, Dr Tickoo said. Its not just about the festival though I would advise against unnecessary trips to malls, bazaars, conferences, or any public spaces that are crowded. The infection can be transmitted by those exposed to the virus, and you cant keep a track of all those you come across. The only thing you can do is lower the odds of getting the infection, so non-essential attendance in crowded places is discouraged. Holi is a social festival - large groups play together and it takes just one infected person to start off the transmission. Its just not worth the risk, he added.

Studies have shown that the incubation period of the virus is 2-14 days. Asymptomatic people can also spread the infection which is why social distancing and personal hygiene is important. So, if you have a large Holi gathering and go from house to house, you may increase your odds of getting the infection. This is also the reason many RWAs (resident welfare associations) and offices are cancelling society Holi celebrations. It might have been something you were looking forwards to, but at this time it's better to be safe than sorry.

Dr Tickoo added that the virus shouldnt cause panic in the country yet because the number of cases is small. However, people need to practice personal hygiene and not just preach it.

Dr Mahajan suggested that one can play Holi as long as it is within the family and no one has symptoms. If the celebration is small and you are only playing with your family members and no outsiders, then there isn't an increased risk of getting the novel virus. It is true that the virus can be transmitted without symptoms, but Holi doesnt change that. On the other hand, if you are playing in a larger group, then I have some reservations. You can then increase your chances of getting the infection, she reasoned.

So there is a consensus - if you do play, do so in a small group of people you encounter regularly. Avoid larger gatherings for the time being.

What are some precautions to take if you play?

If you do decide to play, make sure that no one who is displaying signs of cold, or has a fever, is involved. If you are able, ensure that everyone you play with is not displaying symptoms. This method has a lot of limitations though - so fair warning, Dr Tickoo recommended.

I wouldnt necessarily do anything much different this year. With Holi, there is a likelihood of getting skin allergies and eye infections because of the chemicals in synthetic colours, but medical advice for that is routine and is unrelated to the coronavirus, Dr Mahajan said.

The doctors had some general advice as well. While people may know how the disease is transmitted, there are gaps in compliance. Ill find that patients will come to me and take off their masks and put them on the table. The virus can spread through surfaces this way, and also, if you are coughing and sneezing, dont take your mask off - it is there to protect the people around you, Dr Tickoo said when describing his patients.

Can being out in the cold make you more vulnerable to the infection?

The flu and related viruses are seasonal and there are spikes in winter months in India. However, it is not the cold that makes you sick - you need to come in contact with the virus to get an infection. The dryer air in the colder months has been linked to higher viral transmissibility as well, and scattered studies have shown that the immune system may be weakened at colder temperatures. So should you not play in cold water this Holi? It's probably safer not to. And if you feel uncomfortably cold and are shaking, find a spot in the sun and dry off. While there are no black and white circumstances, these little steps may improve your odds of not catching a cold.

In summary, both the doctors thought that while the spike in cases is concerning, there is no need to panic yet and to comply with the basics of practising personal hygiene and maintaining distance from those who appear sick.

For more information, read our article on Coronavirus.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
Georgia has confirmed the fourth case of coronavirus Covid-19, head of the National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze said.



According to him, the infected individual is a citizen of Georgia who came to the country from Italy on March 1.



He noted that the individual came to Georgia without symptoms and addressed doctors yesterday with high temperature.

Gamkrelidze said that 20 individuals have already been identified who had contact with the infected individual, Agenda.ge reported.
New Delhi, March 5 : Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the status of the screening procedure of people coming from the neighbouring countries through land borders in view of the coronavirus threat.

According to a statement by the government, he also held a video conference with chief secretaries, additional chief secretaries and DGPs, additional DGPs of States -- UP Bihar West Bengal Sikkim Uttarakhand and Punjab -- besides DG BSF, SSB and Secretary border management.

Bhalla urged officials to ensure round-the-clock deployment of doctors at the entry points, the statement said. It was in the meeting that the state governments were informed that a regular screening was being done by doctors at various transit points and the people living along the international borders were sensitised through gram sabhas.

Bhalla urged all the officials to ensure round-the-clock deployment of doctors so that a full screening was done without fail, the official said.

Earlier in the day, the central government made COVID-19 free certificate mandatory for travellers from Italy and South Korea.

According to the additional travel advisory issued by the Central government, on Thursday, the passengers travelling from Italy and South Korea who want to enter India will have to present a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19.

"In addition to visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from and having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries," the Health Ministry on Thursday said in a statement.

The new regulation will be enforced from Tuesday March 10. It is however a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Description

GIS - 04 March, 2020: The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, announced a series of measures to reduce the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 for Mauritius, at a press conference, this afternoon, at the Treasury Building, in Port Louis.

The Prime Minister gave an overview of the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus in China as reported by the World Health Organization in December 2019 and which has spread around the world, affecting more than 60 countries.

Despite no case of Covid-19 reported in Mauritius, the country remains vulnerable to such a threat, stressed the Prime Minister. H e reiterated that in the wake of such pandemic, the authorities are ready to contain, delay and mitigate any outbreak and added that an awareness campaign on health measures to limit the general risk of transmission of Covid-19 will soon be launched.

Mr Jugnauth enumerated the various proactive precautionary measures put in place to prevent any outbreak of Covid-19 in Mauritius, including: reinforced security at the airport and seaport; setting up of three quarantine centres namely at Souillac Hospital, Anse-La-Raie and Pointe Jerome Community Centres; and the setting up of various committees at the level of several Ministries/ Departments to monitor the situation in the Republic. He also recalled that there is coordinated action between his Government and the World Health Organization for a better monitoring of the situation.

As concern mounts that Covid-19 could imperil the local economy, the Prime Minister stressed that the sectors which will be most affected are tourism, trade, construction, and manufacturing. Economic growth could fall to up to 0.3%, hence the need for Government to stand ready to take appropriate and targeted measures, he stated.

Consequently , he announced that overall Government spending will be reduced by 10%, including travel by Ministers and that with regard to expenditure in the context of the forthcoming National Day celebrations, it will be reduced from Rs 12 million to Rs 2 million.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 04:55:22|Editor: ZD

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A sign reading "shortage of FFP2 protective face mask, chirurgical face mask and alcohol hand sanitising gel" is seen at a pharmacy in Dieppe, northeastern France, March 4, 2020. COVID-19 cases in France rose to 285 on Wednesday, up by 73 from a day earlier, Health General Director Jerome Salomon said at a daily briefing over the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

PARIS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 cases in France rose to 285 on Wednesday, up by 73 from a day earlier, Health General Director Jerome Salomon said at a daily briefing over the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Death toll from the disease stayed at four, while 15 patients are being treated in intensive care, according to the senior official of the French Health Ministry.

Most of the new cases were detected as a result of the identification of so-called "contact people" of identified clusters, said the official.

Of all the cases, 172 patients are part of an identified chain of infection, while 52 were infected during their trips to affected countries. Investigations to trace the chain of infection of another 65 are still underway.

Salomon reiterated the government's determination to curb the spread of the virus and protect the non-affected areas by adopting measures in line with the situation of each region.

President Emmanuel Macron will meet on Thursday afternoon a group of doctors, scientists and laboratory chiefs at the Elysee Palace to discuss the virus outbreak and ways to contain its fast spread, according to the presidential office.
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The artist LL Cool J will no longer appear at the 2020 Illinois State Fair Grandstand, according to social media posts by the fair.

A statement on the fairs Facebook page and the Grandstands web page said, LL Cool J is no longer able to perform at the 2020 Illinois State Fair. The Department of Agriculture will announce another performer in the weeks ahead and looks forward to welcoming popular artists like Toby Keith, Chris Young and Kane Brown to the Grandstand this August.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, Member of Parliament for the New Juaben South Constituency in the Eastern region has been caught on record making a loose talk about Ghana's Parliament.

In an audiotape, the MP addressing NPP supporters after a successful vetting process declared that without him in the Parliament, Ghana's Parliament cannot function as it should and will totally collapse.

The MP's outburst which is in the local language Twi falls in a bid to woo delegates and court their support in order to secure him another mandate in the impending NPP Primaries on April 25th.

"If I am not in Parliament, Parliament will collapse. Since Ghana's multiparty democracy in the 4th republic, Koforidua has not had any MP of my calibre," he told the NPP supporters as they cheered him on.

The MP in the same audio, a copy attached to this publication is heard advocating for a clean political campaign devoid of insults.

Hon. Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah was in the company of his campaign Manager, Michael Oteng Adu.

Take a listen to the attached audio.
New Delhi, March 6 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national General Secretary and in-charge of Bihar, Bhupendra Yadav, has said that the coordination with the ally Janata Dal United (JDU) is going well in view of the Assembly elections in the state. He cleared the BJP's stand on the announcement of caste census by the Nitish government in Bihar. He said that the BJP has never opposed caste census.

The election strategist of BJP discussed various issues related to Bihar in an exclusive chat with IANS on Thursday.

On the question of "elder and younger brothers" in Bihar's politics, he said: "We both are brothers, there is no problem. We have a good rapport with the JDU. Many development works have been done in Bihar in past 15 years. Work is being done for betterment in many areas including roads, health, education etc. Both the parties will work together in Bihar in future.

On the question of passing the resolution against the National Register of Citizens in Bihar, Yadav said that since the NRC has also been refused at the central level, it is not a subject.

He said: "The JDU has also supported the Parliament on the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Nitish government has spoken of implementing the NPR (National Population Register) as well. The NPR is a constitutional process. The NPR was brought in at the time of the Congress. Availability of data is mendatory for the development of citizens and delivering achievements and resources to them. All the countries have such a system and it's a Constitutional matter. The government will work on those Constitutional subjects".

Some states have said not to implement the NPR? To this question, Yadav said, "Who says what is not important. What the Constitution says is important. We are under the rule of law. The laws authorised by the Parliament apply to all." Yadav also dismissed any type of challenge to the NDA from the experiments being carried out by Prashant Kishor. He said that I don't think this topic is worth my comment.

(Navneet Mishra can be reached at navneet.m@ians.in)
(TNS)  The head of the FBI issued a warning Wednesday to cyber criminals at home and abroad in countries including China, saying feds want to burn down their infrastructure as offenders have become more dangerous.FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke at Bostons annual Cyber Security Conference at Boston College and emphasized teamwork between feds, academia and the private sector to tackle cyber threats from individual hackers and nation-state actors whose data breaches can leave millions of people exposed.Four Chinese military members were charged in February in the 2017 Equifax hack that left personal data of 145 million Americans exposed.We dont just want to keep individual cyber criminals at bay, we want to burn down their infrastructure, Wray said.The FBI chief named China as the most severe threat to American economic assets, information and innovations, calling Chinas stealing of innovation and using it to compete with the U.S. cheating twice over.In the last four months, defendants including a Harvard professor have been indicted on charges of improper relationships with China  students on university-sponsored visas allegedly attempting to steal medical laboratory and military information and a Harvard nanotechnology expert allegedly working with prominent Chinese research entities.Joseph Bonavolonta, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Boston, declined to comment on ongoing China cases but said feds are laser focused on cyber crime activity within academia.It is something that we are having robust conversations with academia as well as private sector partners, Bonavolonta said.Wray hinted at the FBIs reach in combating foreign actors specifically in Russia, Iran and China.One day theyll slip up and when they do, were there, Wray said.Although he touted feds relationships with the private sector, Wray asked for help from companies who havent installed back doors to allow access to their own encrypted data to fight cyber crimes.Were not advocating for back doors, Wray said. Weve been asking for providers to make sure they themselves maintain some kind of access to the encrypted data they need so they can still provide it in response to a court order.Wrays statement recalls the battle between feds and Apple in 2016 to unlock an iPhone related to a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., when James Comey was leading the agency.Bonavolonta also briefly spoke on election security, saying no major security incidents were reported to the FBI Boston division after Super Tuesday voting in Massachusetts.
Army modernization leaders faced tough questions Thursday from lawmakers who worry that the decision to restart the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) effort has destroyed the trust of defense firms that have already invested millions in the Bradley fighting vehicle replacement.

Army officials announced in late January that the service would restart the high-priority OMFV effort after receiving only one valid bid for the $45 billion program.

Rep. Donald Norcross, D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee, said many lawmakers are concerned about the impact the Army's decision will have on defense firms who made a "tremendous investment" trying to develop prototypes for OMFV.

"We asked them to make an investment, and now we are switching," Norcross said. "How do we keep saying to our industrial base, 'OK, that was a screw-up. Your investments are not lost'? It's a risk; we understand. They knew it going in, but it doesn't help our case that this is the new way that we are going to do things."

Related: The Army Is Headed Back to the Drawing Board on Bradley Fighting Vehicle Replacement

Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisitions, logistics and technology, along with Gen. John Murray, commander of Army Futures Command, told lawmakers that the service is still committed to OMFV.

"I just want to make sure you understand this was not a quick or easy decision where we decided to restart the program," Murray said. "We went through probably two, three, four weeks of discussion ... with the Army senior leadership. It was not an easy decision."

Army officials say the service has no choice but to replace the Cold War-era Bradley, which is no longer upgradeable to meet modern threats.

The OMFV, which is part of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle effort, suffered a setback when it received only one qualifying bid from General Dynamics. A competing bid from Raytheon and Germany's Rheinmetall was disqualified when Rheinmetall failed to ship a prototype of its Lynx KF41 Infantry Fighting Vehicle to the U.S. by the service's deadline.

Army officials admit that the service may have rushed the prototyping effort, which discouraged many companies from competing.

"We were trying to go so fast that we asked for vehicle deliveries of prototypes at the very beginning. ... That itself kept people out of competition," Jette said.

The Army's new approach to OMFV will "lower the bar" for the amount of investment companies need to put into the effort, he said.

The service is asking defense firms to submit white papers on a digital design instead of "bending metal" to build prototypes, Jette said. "So, in this case, going to a digital design requires them to be professional in their engineering capabilities but doesn't require them necessarily to bend metal."

Army leaders maintain that they have given industry a set of operational characteristics that can be revised as the program evolves rather than rigid requirements that may be too difficult to achieve.

"We've added some characteristics there in particular with weight: How do you reduce weight on the weapon system? We'll see what ideas they have," Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters Wednesday at the McAleese 11th Annual Defense Programs Conference. "You know, can you bring additive manufacturing? Can you find different ways to configure the vehicle to yank weight off the platform?"

Norcross pushed for an answer about how defense firms have reacted to this new approach.

"Industry made a sizable investment. They now hear what you are talking about now -- are they going to continue this and be partners?" he asked. "Where is industry with this, because I know what we have heard and it hasn't been pretty. They feel that ... we could have done this many millions of dollars sooner."

Jette said he is aware of industry's concerns after meeting with major vehicle manufacturers last week.

"I had this discussion with them. I understand that it's a sting," he said. "I also understand that some of the things that they have done are still viable and useful in the next phase. So far, my estimate is that at least what I would consider the standard competitors are still intending to participate."

Jette added that about 11 additional companies have also indicated to OMFV program officials that they are interested in participating as well.

Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Michigan, said he continues to be frustrated that the Army has not explained how the setback will affect the OMFV's schedule and overall costs.

"I am concerned that I haven't got an adequate explanation of the abrupt cancellation of the procurement and what that does to the schedule -- what delays that creates in the schedule?" he said. "No one has answered what the cost delays will be. Frankly, I have gotten a whole lot of discussion around it. I am not going to ask you to address it here. I am going to ask you to address it for the record. We want an answer for the record. It's an issue of concern for many people here."

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said in January that the system should be ready for fielding in two or three years.

McCarthy said Wednesday that the service wants to release a new request for proposal "as soon as possible to try to make up for [time] that was lost."

-- Oriana Pawlyk contributed to this story.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Army Studying Whether M1 Tank Replacement Should Be Driver-Optional
(Photo : Alex Iby on Unsplash ) Study: Chromosomes Determine Whether You'll Easily Die or Not-- Either Humans or Animals (Photo : Benoit Gauzere on Unsplash ) Study: Chromosomes Determine Whether You'll Easily Die or Not-- Either Humans or Animals

We all heard studies saying that human females would likely live longer compared to a human male. Though there are a lot of explanations from different studies regarding this claim, a study was released this week explaining a different answer on why this is true, and it connects to chromosomes. Yup, the Xs and Ys of your body.

Here's why ladies live longer than men, and it's all based on Chromosomes!

According to the latest research released by Biology Letters, having more gender chromosomes in your body tends to have an impact on whether you will live long in this world or not. This means that the fewer gender chromosomes you have, the shorter your lifespan is.

"These findings are a crucial step in uncovering the underlying mechanisms affecting longevity, which could point to pathways for extending life," writes ecologist Zoe Xirocostas, the study's lead author. "We can only hope that more answers are found in our lifetime."

Here's an explanation. The researchers found in their study that genders play a major role in determining the lifespan of both humans and animals. The study reveals that "individuals with two of the same gender chromosomes live 17.6% longer, on average than those with either two different gender chromosomes or just one gender chromosome."

For humans, females have two of the same gender chromosomes, which is XX. Meanwhile, male species have one each gender chromosomes with its XY cells. This means that females tend to live longer since they have identical chromosomes that highly protect them from any exposure to diseases and illnesses.

In comparison, males only have one of both chromosomes that makes them more vulnerable to harmful mutations since only one gender chromosome fights dangerous cells.

Yup, human female live longer than men but not for animals, here's why

Though it was already proven that gender chromosomes affect humans with their lifespan, this is a different scenario for the animal kingdom.

Researchers found out that animals-- specifically male birds live longer than their female counterparts, and it still involves chromosomes. Male birds have both Z gender chromosomes on their body while female birds have one of each chromosome with one Z and one W.

Just like in humans, the more identical your gender chromosomes are the more chances of having a longer lifespan. Male birds turned out to live, on average, 7.1% longer than female birds.

"Our study suggests that the unguarded X is an underlying genetic factor that can influence lifespan, but many external factors can influence longevity in different ways such as predation, risky behaviors, establishing territories, and access to quality nutrition," said Xirocostas.

Researchers also explained that their study does not just suggest that chromosomes played the main role in getting a longer lifespan. A lot of factors can still be looked at that explained why human females live longer than human men and why male birds tend to live longer than female birds.

"I would think that it plays some role in understanding sex differences in longevity, but it certainly isn't the only factor," he said, noting that both risk-taking behavior and parental roles also appeared to be important. "For instance, owl monkey males live longer than females, and the males play a big role in infant care in that species," he said, noting such males have two different sex chromosomes.

ALSO READ: Women More Prone To Smartphone Addiction Than Men: Study

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In a late precautionary move Thursday, U.S. European Command called off a military exercise in Israel that had already begun in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A missile defense exercise with the Israeli Defense Forces called Juniper Cobra 20 began Tuesday, but EUCOM said the remainder, which had been scheduled to run through March 13, was being canceled as a precaution.

It was not immediately clear how many U.S. troops were actually on the ground in Israel before they were pulled back.

In a statement Tuesday announcing that Juniper Cobra would start as planned, EUCOM said about 2,500 U.S. service members would be supporting the exercise. However, Israeli media reports said that a total of about 600 troops from the U.S. and Germany would be participating in Israel.

Related: All Military Services Are Now Screening New Recruits for Deadly Coronavirus

EUCOM said that the cancellation is in line with guidance from the Ministry of Health in Israel, where 15 Israelis have tested positive for coronavirus, thousands have been placed in isolation and gatherings of more than 5,000 people have been banned.

Israel began taking strict measures against the epidemic last week.

The initial Tuesday announcement quoted Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Basham, deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, as saying that Juniper Cobra "will improve our combined ability to deter and, if needed, defend against missile threats by bolstering the integration and interoperability of our two forces."

However, EUCOM said Thursday that the exercise was broken off "as a precautionary measure to ensure the health and safety of all participants."

On Monday, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley cautioned that more joint military exercises with other nations could be called off to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

U.S. Forces Korea last week canceled an upcoming annual exercise with Republic of Korea forces in South Korea, where the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases has been reported outside China. Those cases include a 23-year-old U.S. soldier and a 61-year-old female military dependent.

"Right now, the overall broad impact to the uniformed military is very minimal," Milley said at a joint Pentagon news conference Monday with Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

"We have modified some of the exercises on the Korean peninsula," Milley said, and "we're taking a look at some other exercises" worldwide for possible cancellation or rescheduling.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: Here's Who Will Get the First Chance to Transfer into Space Force
I think theres a silent majority of people who want Donald Trump out of office, Ryan said. They dont want to have heated discussions with people about it. They dont want to get in fights with people about it. They dont want to be on social media about it, but theyre appalled at his behavior.
The ousting of Malaysias former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose criticisms of Indias policies in Kashmir damaged palm oil trade between the nations, has kindled hopes among Malaysian exporters for a rapid restoration of ties

Kuala Lumpur/Mumbai: The ousting of Malaysias former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose criticisms of Indias policies in Kashmir damaged palm oil trade between the nations, has kindled hopes among Malaysian exporters for a rapid restoration of ties.

But political rhetoric alone will not restore full Malaysian palm oil flows to top market India any time soon, traders say: Palm prices within India are still too high relative to rival oils to encourage a sharp uptick in wholesale demand.

Malaysian supplies of palm oil to India have slowed to a trickle since Delhi adopted a hardline stance after Mahathir criticised actions in Kashmir in September. Exports to Malaysias biggest customer for the last five years plunged 91% in February to 29,269 tonnes from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv assessments.

In a sign of how important it is to Malaysia to restore ties, within hours of the installation of a new prime minister on Sunday a senior lawmaker expected to be in the new cabinet called for a renegotiation of relations with India.

Malaysian industry players welcomed the move, but Indian traders said prices must also fall further due to palm oils relatively narrow price spread with rival oils.

The soybean-palm oil spread in India averaged 3,929 Indian rupees ($53.42) a tonne from January through February, compared with 13,150 rupees ($178.79) a year ago, according to Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India data.

The narrow gap between soft oils and palm oil has been encouraging refiners to buy more soy oil and sunflower oil than normal, said BV Mehta, SEA executive director. A spread of less than $100 per tonne between palm oil and soft oil always makes imports of soft oil attractive for Indian refiners.

Indias palm oil imports in the first quarter of the 2019/20 marketing year, which started on 1 November, fell 14 percent from a year ago to 2 million tonnes, while combined imports of soy oil and sunflower oil jumped 26% to 1.36 million tonnes, SEA data showed.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Associationa group representing growersis prioritising diplomatic efforts to woo India, chief executive Nageeb Wahab said.

However, Delhi will need to its soften its stance on Malaysia and the price differential between palm oil and soy oil will need to widen to get Indian buyers on board, Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics said.

Malaysias benchmark palm oil futures have dropped more than 20 percent since the start of 2020 to 2,478 ringgit ($594.96) on Thursday, retracting to November levels, as top buyers India and China slow purchases amid the coronavirus epidemic.
If you've been suffering from severe allergies lately, you're not alone.

As of Thursday morning, Houston ranks No. 1 for the highest pollen hot spots in the nation, according to The Weather Channel's Allergy Tracker. The tracker ranks pollen levels from low to very high and uses data compiled on a routine basis from the Houston Health Department. According to the Weather Channel, Houston's tree pollen count on Thursday is set at 780 per cubic meter of air. For comparison, the city's health department designates any tree pollen count from 90 to 1499 per cubic meter of air as "heavy."

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: How to navigate Houstons endless allergy season

Officials with the Houston Health Department explained the city's mild winter and surrounding vegetation coupled wind from area counties have contributed to a more severe allergy season.

"There is a possibility that allergy sufferers are going to think of it as one of the worst years they ever suffered," Porfirio Villarreal, public information officer for the Houston Health Department, said. "When we have mild winters, thats when more people are just miserable."

Houston's tree pollen allergy season typically starts as early as mid-January and runs through mid-April, Villarreal said. Grass pollen starts to pick up in April and May, and then high ragweed counts will start to appear in September.

NEED RELIEF? Houston doctor offers tips to combat seasonal allergies

"We have a lot of trees and there is a lot of pollen that just kind of drifts into Houston," Villarreal said. "Combine those two, the moderate weather and the vegetation, and we have peaks [in allergy season]."

One of the most helpful ways for allergy sufferers to alleviate their symptoms is to limit their exposure outside, especially during the early morning to midday when pollen counts are higher, Villarreal said. Residents should wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from pollen, close their home and car windows, take a shower before going to bed and should not sleep with pets that could be covered with pollen.

Allergy sufferers that start to experience symptoms that are "out of the ordinary" should consider visiting a doctor, Villarreal said. Above all, he recommends checking the city's daily report to plan how much time they should spend outside.

"It's beautiful outside and you feel like you want to be outside, but it can be the most miserable time of the year for allergy sufferers," he said.

The Weather Channel's allergy forecast predicts Houston will see high pollen counts through Tuesday, March 10.

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com
Handicraft exporters have decided to tap domestic market in a "big way" as imports of the goods from China have been affected due to the coronavirus outbreak, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts said on Thursday.

China is the major exporter of handicraft goods into India.

"In view of Chinese import products are affected, it was also decided that the handicraft exporters will tap the domestic market in a big way," Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) Director General Rakesh Kumar said in a statement.

He said exporters have agreed to gear up their efforts in domestic retail for the product range of home dcor, lifestyles, furniture and lighting.

Kumar also said the council has decided to go ahead with its five - day IHGF-Delhi Fair Spring 2020 starting from April 15.

In wake of the coronavirus outbreak in several parts of the world, a meeting of prominent exporters of handicrafts was held here to assess the situation and also decide whether to hold the forthcoming fair.

Prominent handicrafts exporters associations from places like Moradabad, Agra, Delhi, Jodhpur, Firozabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, have "unanimously decided that the show must go on as per schedule," he added.

It was urged in the meeting to undertake measures for the safety of the exhibitors, buyers and visitors.

Country's handicraft exports grew by about 1 per cent to USD 1.1 billion during April-January this fiscal. The sector employs about 70 lakh people directly and indirectly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South Africa: First case of Coronavirus reported in SA

The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has confirmed the first case of Coronavirus in South Africa on Thursday afternoon.

The Minister took to Twitter to make the announcement just moments before a Parliamentary debate on South Africas readiness to deal with Coronavirus (COVD-19).

This morning, Thursday, March 5, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive.

The patient is a 38-year-old male, who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on 1 March 2020, tweeted the Minister on his official account.

According to the Minster, the patient consulted a private general practitioner on 3 March with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough. The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab.

The patient has been self-isolating since 3 March. The couple also has two children.

The tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from NICD. The doctor has been self-isolating as well.

The Emergency Operating Centre (EOC) has identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor, said Mkhize.

Following the Parliamentary debate, the Minister will hold a media briefing to ensure that the public is immediately kept abreast.

A press briefing will be held later after the parliamentary debate this evening to shed more light on this issue, said Mkhize.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The secure data commons is an example of how City of Hope is an early adopter of innovative approaches that accelerate biomedical research to help people everywhere live healthy lives

DUARTE, Calif. -- A $12 million federal grant enabled City of Hope and collaborators to deploy a novel cloud-computing platform, making an immense amount of data from a historic 25-year study more accessible and user-friendly.

The ongoing California Teachers Study that first began in 1995 has already given researchers a bevy of data on how to better prevent and treat cancers, heart conditions and Alzheimer's disease. In the past, this data was available only to a select few researchers. Opening the data to researchers worldwide and making it user-friendly will fast-track scientific discoveries that can improve the quality of life for people around the world, said James Lacey Jr., Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Health Analytics at City of Hope and one of the principal investigators of the study.

"We might be one of the first in the world to use secure cloud computing to build a data commons for an observational study," Lacey said, adding that observational studies are expensive, so synthesizing data from disparate sources and making the information widely available is one way to ensure that federal grant dollars "get more mileage."

"City of Hope continues to lead the health provider pack when it comes to collaborating with cutting-edge technology companies to deploy solutions that accelerate the translation of precision medicine into disease prevention and, potentially, therapies for patients," Lacey said. Precision medicine is a personalized approach to disease prevention and treatment that takes into account each person's specific genes, environment and lifestyle choices.

The study, published on Feb. 12 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, provides a roadmap for other population health experts who want to broaden the reach and potential impact of their own research. The novel open cloud-computing platform City of Hope, San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and UC San Diego created for the California Teachers Study has simplified the process for understanding the incidence and distribution of disease. As a result, scientists can more quickly detect patterns and trends that could be translated into better health for individuals and the public.

The California Teachers Study was created in 1995 and enrolled 133,479 current and former public-school teachers or administrators. They agreed to have their health and lifestyle tracked to help understand why teachers historically have higher rates of breast cancer. The study has since expanded to address other cancers including colon, pancreatic and bladder, as well as heart disease and even Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. More than 190 published studies have resulted from the data.

This is an example of how sharing is really caring, Lacey said. "Cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease are big problems that need the combined brainpower of the brightest minds around the world. Cloud computing directly helps cancer researchers store, share, analyze and use their data in new and more efficient ways. In short, our open website allows interested individuals to securely access, explore and generate discoveries with our California Teachers Study data."

The new platform shortens the time needed to launch a research project from weeks to days, Lacey said. Previously, every research project had to be custom built, but now with the data commons framework, users can get started quickly, apply workflow templates for their projects and start analyzing the data right away.

"It is gratifying to see the grant for the California Teachers Study infrastructure successfully deliver on its promise of building a secure, cloud-based data commons platform for the cancer epidemiology research community," said Sandeep Chandra, director of SDSC's Sherlock Division and senior author of the study. "What is more exciting is the potential of how this data commons can serve as a model for other current, and future, observational studies through adoption of this framework; thereby, reducing time and investment to deploy data management and analysis capabilities."

Elena Martinez, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego and one of the principal investigators of the study added, "The newly implemented California Teachers Study infrastructure exemplifies what is possible when leveraging the knowledge and experience of population scientists who work alongside data scientists to move research into the 21st century. I am proud to be a part of an innovation leader that will serve as a model for future observational studies."

###

The University of California, San Francisco, also contributed to the creation of the open platform. The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (CA199277).

About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hope's translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is the highest ranked cancer hospital in the West, according to U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals: Specialty Ranking. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
In the wake of a Super Tuesday on which Democrat Joe Biden was transcendent and he and rival Bernie Sanders emerged from the pack of also-rans, there remains a scenario in which Oregon could matter during its late primary on May 19.

That is among the analyses put forth by Portland State University associate political science professor Chris Shortell, who teaches American politics.

He said the most likely scenario is that Biden will ride a continuing wave of popularity among Democratic primary voters who want to coalesce around the candidate they perceive as most likely to beat President Donald Trump.

If so, he would likely wrap up a solid majority before Oregons turn as one of the last states to decide. That would leave Oregons Democratic primary in its usual state of national irrelevance.

But, Shortell said, there is another viable scenario in which more progressive Democrats revolt against Bidens sudden surge and cast votes for Sanders to try to deny Biden the nomination. Both leading candidates are fairly close in delegate counts as of Wednesday mid-day, with enough California votes uncounted to create some uncertainty, he noted.

If the pair remain close in the count, Shortell said, Oregon could matter to both camps, as Sanders can expect to triumph in Oregon as he did against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden would likely work to minimize Sanders margin. Sanders was the overwhelming preference among Oregon Democrats, crushing Clinton 56% to 42%. Oregon donors have also given more money to Sanders this year than to any other Democratic presidential candidate by a wide margin.

Knowing that, Bidens new wealthy ally, former candidate Mike Bloomberg, might even spend big in Oregon to help Biden, Shortell said.

But, he emphasized, a neck-and-neck positioning of Biden and Sanders in May strikes him as less likely the day after Super Tuesday.

More signs point to Biden taking a decisive lead in the delegate count, he said. According to AP VoteCast surveys, conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago, Biden did well Tuesday with moderate and conservative Democrats, voters older than 45 and African Americans. In many states, he enjoyed an advantage among women and college graduates.

If Biden builds that lead as the primaries shift to Michigan, Washington, Louisiana, Wisconsin and so on, Oregon can expect to be ignored more than plastered with campaign advertising, Shortell said.

And the idea of a Bloomberg spending spree in the Portland or Bend markets would be unthinkable, as a vote-against-Trump campaign will win in Oregon without any special efforts to fire up voters. Only 39% of Oregon voters cast their ballot for Trump in 2016.

-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @OregonianPol

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
CareDx Brings a Leading Presence to the Cutting Edge of Transplantation Meeting with a New AJT Publication and KIRA Study Announcement

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CareDx, Inc. (CDNA), a leader in molecular diagnostics focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value diagnostic solutions for transplant patients and caregivers, maintains a leading presence at the Cutting Edge of Transplantation (CEOT) Meeting March 5-7, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.



CareDx is prominently featured in a lunch symposium on Friday, March 6, 2020 at CEOT. Matt Weir, MD, University of Maryland and Tarek Alhamed, MD, Barnes Jewish, will be presenting the recent AJT publication showing AlloSure is the only dd-cfDNA test that is proven to differentiate ambiguous rejections. Robert Montgomery, MD, NYU Langone, will be announcing the KidneyCare Immuno-optimization for Renal Allografts (KIRA) study. Arjang Djamali, MD, University of Wisconsin, Gaurav Gupta, MD, VCU, and Mark Lerman, MD, Medical City Dallas will be sharing case studies from their clinical experiences with AlloSure.

The KIRA study is a major leap forward in AlloSure utility. I am glad CareDx is working hard to advance the transplant patient's care, said Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, of NYU Langone. I can speak from experience on the value of offering surveillance solutions to patients who would benefit from having their immunosuppressive therapy changed or minimized and their invasive procedures reduced.

Immuno-optimization is near to my heart, and this has always been our goal to bring personalized care to transplantation. We are glad to partner with the transplant community as we launch the KIRA study at CEOT, said Peter Maag, CEO of CareDx.

About CareDx

CareDx, Inc., headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is a leading precision medicine solutions company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value healthcare solutions for transplant patients and caregivers. CareDx offers testing services, products, and digital healthcare solutions along the pre- and post-transplant patient journey, and is the leading provider of genomics-based information for transplant patients. For more information, please visit: www.CareDx.com.

Story continues

CONTACTS:

CareDx, Inc.

Sasha King

Chief Marketing Officer

415-287-2393

sking@caredx.com

Investor Relations

Greg Chodaczek

646-924-1769

investor@caredx.com




BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Two-way trade between the United States and Kazakhstan has significant potential, US International Trade Administration (ITA) told Trend.

The ITA representative said that US companies have been the largest foreign investors in Kazakhstan, helping to utilize US technology in developing and transporting Kazakhstans energy resources.

"Two-way trade between the United States and Kazakhstan has significant potential if Kazakhstan succeeds in developing other sectors of its economy beyond the natural resources sector, such as agribusiness and food processing, transportation and other infrastructure," the official said.

Talking current trade levels between countries, the official said that these depend mainly on broader economic and business-climate conditions and private sector decisions.

"If Kazakhstan allows its private sector to develop and ensures that its courts protect investors physical and intellectual property, then it will be easier for US and Kazakh businesses to work together, whether as sellers or investors, and to build durable relationships. The US and Kazakh governments discuss this important issue at senior levels," the official said.

The development of a comprehensive partnership with the US one of the main priorities of our country's foreign policy. Political dialogue is being consistently developed at all levels, including the highest one.

At the current stage, the Kazakh-American cooperation is determined by the agreements reached as a result of the official visit of President Nazarbayev to the US, during which the two leaders adopted the Joint Statement "Kazakhstan and United States: An Enhanced Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century."

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When you hear someone talking about seeing smokey on the highway, you presume they saw a cop. But they might be actually be talking about Terry Folsom's 18-wheeler meat smoker.

The rig is 76-foot long, and weighs 40 tons. Folsom said the barbecue grill/pit trailer is the largest mobile smoker in the world. The custom-made trailer was built in 2000, has 24 smoking compartments and a firebox in the shape of the state of Texas at the rear.

BBQ COOKOFF: RodeoHouston begins in style with first night of BBQ cookoff

Folsom, who is based in Brenham, said he bought the 18-wheeler smoker about seven years ago from a world champion BBQ pitmaster who fell on hard times.

"It takes a special escort to haul down the highway," Folsom said. Folsom said typically the orgainzation he is working with will hire a wrecker to haul the pit.

The smoker is obviously the envy of most backyard grillers. It was recently featured in a YouTube episode of "Ridiculous Rides."

The big rig BBQ pit can cook 8,000 to 12,000 pounds of meat at a time, enough for thousands of hungry folks. Folsom said he uses it only for charity. He has used it to help the Salvation Army in Galveston and for Hurricane Harvey relief.

"It's rewarding to see people happy. I'm glad to help people. It's not an ego thing."

HoustonChronicle.com: Rodeo cook-off helps barbecue go global

Folsom said he would like to do some grilling to help out some Houston charities, like MD Anderson or Texas Children's Hospital. He said anyone interested in contacting him can check out his Facebook page, or email him at aclasscarriers@gmail.com.

Danny Hermosillo is the Sr. Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1| Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com
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Mitch McConnell has condemned Democratic rival Chuck Schumer, who said Republicans and Supreme Court justices who support overturning landmark abortion rights would "pay the price".

Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, the Senate Majority Leader said "there is nothing to call this except a threat, and there's absolutely no question to whom it is directed", suggesting that if Senator Schumer had shouted his remarks to another American outside their workplace, "they would hear them as threatening or inciting violence."

He said: "No matter the intention, words carrying the apparent threat of violence can have horrific unintended consequences,

Senator Schumer addressed abortion rights demonstrators on the steps of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, as the high court began arguments in the first abortion-related case under Donald Trump's administration, which has supported efforts to overturn women's access to abortion without excessive government intervention.

The president's appointment of two conservative justices now gives the court a conservative majority.

In June Medical Services LLC v Russo, the court will hear a challenge to a Louisiana law requiring doctors that perform abortions have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals, which opponents say effectively prevents people from seeking a termination in a state where two of its three remaining clinics - all hundreds of miles apart - could close under the rule. The state also imposes several other restrictive measures opponents say make it excessively difficult to get the procedure.

Louisiana's law is similar to a Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016 after justices rules the policy was too restrictive. Plaintiffs in the 2020 case argue that a reversal of that 2016 decision would not be justified.

Mr Schumer told protesters that legislatures attempting similar moves to restrict abortion rights "have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price ... You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

Story continues

Mr McConnell used Mr Schumer's remarks to condemn Democrats, who he accuse of coordinating a "left-wing attack on the judiciary."

The justices "do not and must not serve at the pleasure of angry partisans" and "do not need to pay any mind to unhinged threats as shameful as they may be," he said.

His remarks come less than a week after the president attacked liberal justices Sonya Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who Mr Trump demanded recuse themselves from any court challenges to his administration.

In her dissent to the court's recent decision to lift an injunction on the president's immigrant "public charge" rule, Justice Sotomayor said the court was disproportionately granting stay requests from the administration over other emergency appeals.

Mr Trump had also appeared to threaten the Supreme Court justice, saying that "she's trying to shame people with perhaps a different view into voting her way and that's so inappropriate, so let's see what happens."

Senator McConnell accused his rival of trying to "gaslight the entire country" by clarifying that he said Republicans would pay a "political price" for establishing a conservative majority on the court - an effort also backed by Mr McConnell, who has boasted about stacking judicial appointments in other courts with conservative judges, which could hand Republicans legal victories in challenges to anti-abortion legislation.

Mr Schumer said his comments were a warning that the justices "will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights" against the Supreme Court's ruling.

In an unprecedented breach of the Supreme Court's impartial view from the bench, Justice John Roberts said the Senate Minority Leader's remarks outside on Wednesday were "dangerous" and Donald Trump said "serious action" must be taken.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," he said in a statement. "All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favour, from whatever quarter."

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley also plans to introduce a resolution to condemn Senator Schumer's comments

Following Mr McConnell's rebuke, Mr Schumer accused Republicans of "manufacturing outrage" while they avoid the context of his remarks and concerns about constitutional protections for abortion.

He said: "I'm from Brooklyn. We use strong language. I shouldn't have used the words I did but I in no way was making a threat. I never, ever would do such a thing. Leader McConnell knows that. And Republicans who are busy manufacturing outrage outrage over these comments know that too."

Mr McConnell famously refused to hold confirmation hearings for then-President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, igniting a partisan firestorm. He later added said his ability to prevent his appointment was among his proudest moments.

He recently said he would approve another appointment - which would be the Trump administration's third - should there be a vacancy on the court 2020.

Read more

Why is the Louisiana abortion case in the Supreme Court so important?

Trump's first Supreme Court abortion case may come down to one justice

Trump and Supreme Court Justice launch unprecedented attack on Schumer

Trump administration upholds 'one of its gravest attacks on abortion'

Women seeking abortion need an ultrasound first, new bill states
Collaboration is everything  also in the quantum world. To build powerful quantum computers in the future, it will be necessary to connect several smaller computers to form a kind of cluster or local network (LAN). Since those computers work with quantum mechanical superposition states, which contain the logical values 0 and 1 at the same time, the links between them should also be quantum links.

The longest such link to date based on microwaves, at five metres long, was recently built in the laboratory of Andreas Wallraff, professor at the Quantum Device Lab at ETH Zurich. The researchers were scheduled to present their results on it at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society in Denver. Because of the current epidemic situation this conference was cancelled at short notice. Instead, the scientists now report their results at a virtual substitute conferencecall_made.

Thats really a milestone for us, Wallraff explains, since now we can show that quantum-LANs are possible in principle. In the next 10 to 20 years, quantum computers will probably increasingly rely on them. Currently there are computers with a few dozen quantum bits or qubits, but several hundreds of thousands of them are almost impossible to accommodate in existing devices. One reason for this is that qubits based on superconducting electrical oscillators, such as those used in the quantum chips in Wallraffs lab (and also by IBM and Google), need to be cooled down to temperatures close to the absolute zero of -273,15 degrees Celsius. This supresses thermal perturbations that would cause the quantum states to lose their superposition property  this is known as decoherence  and hence errors in the quantum calculations to occur.

Extreme cold against decoherence

The challenge was to connect two of those superconducting quantum chips in such a way as to be able to exchange superposition states between them with minimal decoherence, says Philipp Kurpiers, a former PhD student in Wallraffs group. This happens by means of microwave photons that are emitted by one superconducting oscillator and received by another. In between, they fly through a waveguide, which is a metal cavity a few centimetres in width, which also needs to be strongly cooled so that the quantum states of the photons are not influenced.

Each of the quantum chips is cooled down over several days in a cryostat (an extremely powerful refrigerator), using compressed and also liquid helium, to a few hundredths of a degree above absolute zero. To that end, the five-metre waveguide that creates the quantum link was equipped with a shell consisting of several layers of copper sheet. Each of those sheets acts as a heat shield for the different temperature stages of the cryostat: -223 degrees, -269 degrees, -272 degrees and finally -273,1 degrees. Altogether, those heat shields alone weigh around a quarter of a tonne.

No table-top experiment

So, this is definitely not a table-top experiment anymore that one can put together on a small workbench, Wallraff says. A lot of development work has gone into this, and ETH is an ideal place for building such an ambitious apparatus. Its a kind of mini-CERN that we first had to build over several years in order to be able to do interesting things with it now. Apart from the three PhD students who carried out the experiments, several engineers and technicians, also in the workshops at ETH and at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), were involved in producing and constructing the quantum link.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised to negotiate "in good faith" with state governments and "share the burden" of dealing with coronavirus in hospitals and aged care centres, as the government weighs releasing more protective masks from the national stockpile.

"We will share the costs of what is necessary and we would do that constructively and cooperatively," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised to share the burden with state hospitals and aged care operators. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

State governments want funding to pay for surgeries that have to be shifted to private hospitals to free up capacity for coronavirus patients and to help ensure aged care facilities are adequately staffed to deal with an outbreak.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the states must receive a slice of the federal stimulus package, expected to be outlined next week, so they could make "nimble decisions".
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Reel World Casting the Net Elizabeth Gabel Casting is hosting an open casting call for a Netflix series that will be shooting in Albuquerque from April through the end of June. Producers are looking for actors of all types. EG Casting is working with casting director Lorrie Latham (Sicario, Midnight, Texas, Daybreak) at the casting call this Friday, March 6. The casting session runs from 2 to 5pm at the Aperture Center at Mesa Del Sol, right next to Albuquerque Studios (5700 University Blvd. SE). Please know all your clothing sizes. This is very important. If you would like to submit a photo with your sizes and phone number in advance, you can do so at castingabq@gmail. com. Photos must be well lit, in focus and without hats or sunglasses. Submitting photos is helpful, but the casting company assures prospective actors that, it is always better to meet us in person at our calls. View in Alibi calendar

Act On It If youre interested in launching or furthering your career as an actor in New Mexicos growing field of film and television, theres an educational forum you might want to check out this weekend. Film ABQ and Alessi Hartigan Casting bring the first Performers Forum of 2020 to Albuquerques KiMo Theatre (423 Central Ave. NW). The Forum consists of talks from Sande Alessi and Shayne Hartigan, the team behind Alessi Hartigan Casting. You can meet and greet the team members as they provide valuable insight on how to be a professional actor (background or principal) in the growing New Mexico film community. Organizers promise other special announcements and guest speakers. The event goes from 3 to 6pm on Saturday, March 7. Admission is free, but seating is limited. So you need to register for tickets in advance by going to kimotickets.com. View in Alibi calendar

Captain America 2020 Esther Bone Memorial Library in Rio Rancho (950 Pinetree Rd. SE) is hosting March Marvel Movie Madness. Each week though March 28, you can cast a vote for your favorite Marvel movies. The movies will be paired up against one another in typical March Madness bracket fashion. In the end, only one will be left standing. Will it be Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Thor: Ragnarok or Logan or Guardians of the Galaxy or Avengers: Endgame? Get in and vote for your favorite. Everyone who votes will be entered to win a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to Premier Cinemas. View in Alibi calendar
Oprah Winfrey is kicking off the Apple TV+ version of her famed book club with a controversial choice. In a two-part episode that begins streaming on March 6, Winfrey will interview Jeanine Cummins, author of American Dirt, a novel about a women fleeing Mexico to come to the United States, which generated so much protest that Cummins book tour was canceled, on account of safety concerns.

The press release for Oprahs Book Club on Apple TV+ describes American Dirt as the story of a woman, Lydia Quixano Perez, who lives a happy life in Acapulco, Mexico, married, raising a son and running a bookstore.

While there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable, the release says of the novels story. Even though she knows theyll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day, a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy  two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydias husbands tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Initially, Cummins novel seemed poised to be a publishing success story. But then came an intense backlash, with critics attacking American Dirt" as, in the words of one Mexican-American writer, a pastiche of stereotyped and melodramatic tropes of the sort one might expect from an author who did not grow up within Mexican culture.

As objections rose, what was intended to be Cummins author tour wound up being canceled, with scheduled appearances at bookstores -- including one at Powells City of Books in Portland -- called off.

With all this as context, Oprahs Book Club on Apple TV+ will present two parts. In Part 1 of the interview, according to the press release, Winfrey and Cummins will be joined by authors Reyna Grande, Julissa Arce and Esther Cepeda, and members of the Latinx community for an in-depth discussion of the book and real-life migrant experiences. For Part 2 of the interview, Winfrey speaks with Latinx people who saw themselves reflected in the book and share their insights into real-life migrant experiences."

Winfrey is quoted in the release, saying, If you read the book there is no doubt you heard about the controversy around it, adding, I heard and understand the concerns and wanted to bring together many voices to lean into this conversation because for 25 years on The Oprah Show I learned that is the only way I think we can actually gain a better understanding of one another."

The two-part Oprahs Book Club interview will stream beginning at midnight, Friday, March 6 at apple.co/-oprahbookclub.

More of our coverage:

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A town mayor linked to businessman Gagik Tsarukians opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) on Thursday strongly denied criminal charges brought against him earlier this week.

Mayor Vahagn Gevorgian of Abovian, a town 15 kilometers north of Yerevan, was charged with criminal negligence. Prosecutors said that he deliberately failed to stop a private company from seizing municipal land in Abovian and illegally constructing apartment blocks there.

Gevorgian admitted that the company, which is part of Tsarukians Multi Group conglomerate, occupied a 2,000-square-meter plot of land and lacked other permits to build a residential complex in his community. But he argued that the Abovian municipality twice fined it and suspended the construction last year.

Speaking to journalists at the construction site, Gevorgian said the municipality did not move to tear down the incomplete buildings because Multi Group formally asked it to legalize them in accordance with an Armenian law. He also stressed that Tsarukians company plans to build around 1,000 apartments in what would be the first affordable housing project implemented in Abovian since Soviet times.

A spokesman for Armenias Office of the Prosecutor-General, Gor Abrahamian, insisted, however, that Gevorgian was obliged to take tougher measures against the real estate developer.

Another law-enforcement agency, the Investigative Committee, formally indicted Gevorgian on Monday despite the fact that the Armenian police investigated the redevelopment project and cleared the mayor of any wrongdoing last year.

The police inquiry was ordered by prosecutors in July 2019 one month after Gevorgian narrowly won reelection in a tightly contested mayoral vote. His main challenger was a candidate of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians Civil Contract party.

Pashinian personally campaigned for the pro-government candidate.Tensions between the prime ministers political team and Tsarukians BHK, which is Armenias largest parliamentary opposition force, ran high during the mayoral race.

Gevorgian said he does not yet see political motives behind the charges leveled against him. I think this is the result of a misunderstanding and everything will be sorted out, said the Abovian mayor.

Abovian has long been a political and economic stronghold of Tsarukian.
IDLIB, Syria  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced a cease-fire in the Syrian province of Idlib after six hours of talks in Moscow today. Speaking from the Kremlin, Putin acknowledged disagreements with the Turkish leader, yet expressed hope the deal would be a "good basis for ending the fighting in northwest Syria.

The deal comes after fighting intensified with the January launch of a Russia-backed offensive by Damascus to retake the territory from opposition fighters supported by Turkey. In late February, Ankara was drawn further into the conflict, when Feb. 27 airstrikes killed at least 33 Turkish soldiers in Idlib and days later Ankara launched Operation Spring Shield against Syrian forces.

The opposition has been losing one town after another since the Syrian regime forces launched Jan. 16 their ground offensive in Idlib and in the adjacent countryside. The total surface area the opposition lost until Feb. 26 hit 1,890 square kilometers (730 square miles).

The Turkish drones are relentlessly shelling the regime forces military vehicles, gun emplacements, supply convoys and army command posts in Idlib. Turkey even targeted positions outside Idlib, such as the shelling March 1 of Hama Military Airport.

Although Damascus has remained relatively silent on the size of its losses  rarely noting deaths, and underestimating figures when it does  the Turkish Defense Ministry posted footage claiming to depict shelling on the Syrian regimes vehicles and convoys.

News circulated on social media Feb. 28 that Turkish airstrikes had killed four senior officers in the regime forces. Moreover, sources close to Lebanons Hezbollah said March 1 that nine of its members were killed and others were wounded in Turkish airstrikes west of Aleppo.

The Turkish drones did not only prevent the regime from making any advances in Idlib, but also caused confusion within its ranks. This is because the regime forces have not adapted yet to the military changes, particularly since the general atmosphere proved a decisive factor serving them in their war against the opposition in the past.

Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition is set out to take back control on three main fronts. In the Jabal al-Zawiya area in southern Idlib, the opposition factions managed to seize control on Feb. 29 and March 1 of more than 16 towns and villages it had lost in the past days, namely, the towns of Kafr Aweid, Hizareen and al-Dar al-Kabirah.

In eastern Aleppo, the opposition regained control March 4 of Sheikh Aqil town, which lies 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of Aleppo city, as well as several hills surrounding the town.

The fiercest clashes, however, have been taking place in the city of Saraqeb, in eastern Idlib, where hit-and-run battles continue between the armed opposition and the regime forces, backed by their Iranian fighters.

Damascus is well aware that unless the Syrian airspace is cleared from Turkish warplanes, it would be difficult for the regimes army to maintain control on the ground.

The Syrian army shot down five Turkish drones over Idlib between March 1 and March 4, according to the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency. Ankara retaliated by destroying nine Syrian army air defenses and downing three fighter jets on March 1 and March 3.

On the way to the city of Saraqeb, 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Idlib, on Feb. 29, the rising plume of black smoke was seen engulfing the city. The Russian warplane bombed the city with two airstrikes, and the neighboring towns of Sarmin and Qmenas were also hit by several raids.

This Al-Monitor reporter could hear the sounds of explosions when approaching the city. Fighters of the Free Syrian Armys Syrian National Army said that entering the city was extremely dangerous, as heavy clashes were ongoing between the opposition factions and the regimes forces.

On Feb. 27, the Syrian opposition regained control of the strategic town of Saraqeb and five neighboring towns.

The situation in Syrias Idlib is [now] in favor of Turkey, Erdogan said on the eve of the oppositions takeover of the city.

However, success did not last for the opposition. On March 2, Syrian regime forces retook control of Saraqeb after a fierce attack backed by heavy Russian airstrikes.

Opposition sources told Al-Monitor on March 4 that regime forces indeed seized Saraqeb, saying that opposition fighters were forced to withdraw from the city after coming under fierce attacks.

Since losing Saraqeb, the opposition forces have continued their attacks against the city and neighboring towns to retake it. But the mission seems difficult since Russian military police deployed in the city on March 2.

The opposition is hoping to regain Saraqeb, with the aim to stop the regime advances toward taking the M5 highway that connects Aleppo to Damascus, and prevent it from reaching Idlib city.

In addition, Ankara views Saraqeb as a strong card to be used in the negotiations with Moscow, should the Turkish-backed rebels regain control of it.

Ahmad Rahal, a political analyst and defected general from the Syrian army, told Al-Monitor, The regimes attack on Saraqeb was expected given the citys strategic importance. When opposition forces seized the city on March 27, it dealt a heavy blow to the regime and its allies, and the Turkish soldiers attack came to support the opposition in regaining the city.

The Syrian opposition and the regime had been racing for military gains and control on the ground ahead of Putin and Erdogans meeting. And despite the deal, the prospect for continued fighting remains. Speaking after the cease-fire announcement, Erdogan maintained that Turkey wouldnt remain silent about any attacks by Damascus forces.

The military operations will continue until the regime retreats behind the line of the Turkish observation points, as per the borders provided for in the Sochi Agreement, Maj. Youssef Hammoud, a spokesman for the Syrian opposition, told Al-Monitor.
Fashion designer and feminist Diane von Furstenberg, who is expanding her empire into the podcasting space, will launch her first podcast, InCharge with DVF, on Spotify starting March 12, with weekly episodes.

According to an exclusive report on The Hollywood Reporter, her guests include Kris Jenner, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Project Runway judge Elaine Welteroth, Project Runway host Karlie Kloss and SiriusXM Satellite Radio founder Martine Rothblatt.

In celebration of International Womens Day, the show will have guests on an intimate conversation with Diane about their successes and vulnerabilities.

Apparently, the title InCharge relates to Dianes movement and manifesto that encourages women to own who they are through four pillars: connect, expand, inspire and advocate.

About Priyanka, Diane says, Ive known her for a long time, but what impresses me about her, of course shes beautiful, shes this, shes that, shes all of that, but shes actually extremely intelligent. All of these women, that are in charge. They dont take no for an answer.

Diane had founded her fashion label in 1972, In 2010, she founded the DVF Awards. She released her book The Woman I Wanted to Be in 2014.
Sure, Elizabeth Warren is still in the race for the Democratic nomination, but her chances of prevailing have evaporated. And, I must say here, I believe that part of the explanation for that boils down to sexism. I am baffled by her failure to attract more of a following. People will count errors by her campaign, but all candidates make errors. There is something more afoot in peoples relationship with Warren, something that they may not be willing to admit to themselves, something that they may not even be conscious of.
New Delhi, March 5 : The sit-in site at Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the protest against new citizenship law (CAA), looked deserted on Thursday evening as rain lashed parts of the national capital.

To protect themselves from the rain, protesters took shelter in corridors of the showrooms.

"We have not vacated the protest site, but taken shelter in the showrooms to escape the rain.

The Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors Sanjay Hegde and Sadhna Ramachandran on Tuesday requested protesters to vacate the site as the Holi gift to the commuters.

They were there to initiate second round of talks with protestors.

"We expect that our sisters will send love to India on the occasion of Holi from Shaheen Bagh. Sisters can give the Holi gift in advance. We will celebrate Holi this month. We will hug each other on Holi," said an interlocutor.

They also told protestors that their demands had been conveyed to the Supreme Court. "Whatever you wanted, we conveyed it to the Supreme Court. We have submitted our report to the Supreme Court," said an interlocutor.
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A fifth Illinois resident has tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health and Cook County Department of Public Health.

The fifth person is a Cook County resident in his 20s who flew into Chicago OHare Airport earlier this month after traveling to Italy. He acquired the infection while in Italy and is hospitalized at Rush University Medical Center in isolation.
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Cult mom Lori Vallow has been photographed being extradited in handcuffs from Hawaii to Idaho to face charges over her missing children.

Vallow first was pictured on Wednesday arriving back at the jail in Kauai, where she has been in custody since February 20 on charges of deserting her children, JJ, seven, and Tylee, 17.

Neither of the kids has been seen since September and there are grave concerns for their wellbeing but Vallow and her new husband, Chad Daybell, are refusing to tell authorities where they are.

On Wednesday, Vallow appeared briefly before a judge but she pleaded the fifth, refusing to speak for fear of incriminating herself.

She was then transported back to the jail, where she was seen being escorted in her orange prison jumpsuit, back inside.

On Thursday, the FBI in Salt Lake City made a public plea for information about a trip Vallow took with the kids to Yellowstone before they vanished.

They are asking that anyone who was in the park on September 8 last year and has photos of the children or family to submit them to the authorities.

Scroll down for video

Lori Vallow is transported through the airport in Kauai, Hawaii, in handcuffs before being flown back to Idaho to face charges over her missing kids

Vallow was wearing handcuffs and a chain around her waist but she kept her hands in her pockets

Vallow was accompanied through the airport by two law enforcement officers from Idaho, where she will appear in court on Friday

The FBI released this photo of the family at Yellowstone National Park on September 8 and has asked anyone with information about that day to come forward

The FBI also released this image of the car the family used for their trip to Yellowstone

At 10pm that night, she was photographed again at Lihue Airport on Kauai to begin her journey to Idaho.

She was wearing a souvenir hoodie from the island, leggings and sneakers. Vallow also had on her glasses.

Vallow and her husband are accused of lying to police about JJ and Tylee by telling authorities

Authorities tracked the couple down in Princeville, Hawaii, and served Lori with a court order on January 25 requiring her to physically produce the children to authorities in Idaho within five days.

Lori failed to meet the deadline, prompting her arrest on February 20.

In addition to kids' disappearance, there have been multiple suspicious deaths in Lori and her husband's close circle.

It began in July, when her brother, Alex Cox, shot her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, dead in her home in Arizona.

Earlier in the day, Vallow was pictured arriving back at jail after a brief court appearance where she pleaded the fifth

Vallow's attorney said she did not want to speak for fear of incriminating herself. She is yet to answer questions on where the children are

Seven-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan have not been seen since September. Police in the city of Rexburg, Idaho, have said they 'strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger'

Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow (left) was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona on July 11 . Chad's wife Tammy (inset) died in October. Cox (right) died in December

At the time, they told police that he acted in self-defense.

In October, Chad's wife of 23 years, Tammy, died mysteriously.

DailyMail.TV's exclusive photos of the 51-year old doomsday author Chad Daybell show him visiting the Kauai Community Correctional Center on Tuesday

He married Lori two weeks later in Hawaii.

Then, in December, her brother Alex Cox died in mysterious circumstances.

Tammy's body has now being exhumed for further testing. Authorities have not yet revealed the results of those tests.

Some in their family have suggested that Lori and Chad are part of a religious cult. He is a doomsday author, and she has spoken openly in the past about her faith.

Now, the extended families of Tylee and JJ are pleading with her to tell them where the kids are.

Rexburg police questioned Daybell and Vallow about the missing children in late November, and when detectives returned the next day for a follow-up interview, the couple had left town.

In December, Idaho authorities asked police in Hawaii for help finding the couple.

On January 26, Kauai police served a search warrant on a vehicle and condo the couple were renting in the resort town of Princeville.

Vallow reportedly believes she is 'a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020,' according to divorce documents Charles Vallow filed before his death.

She and Chad Daybell were involved in a group that promotes preparing for the biblical end times.

The prolific doomsday author opened up last Thursday, when he was approached by ABC News reporters at Lihue Airport in Hawaii.

'The kids are safe,' Chad said minutes before he boarded a flight back to Rexburg, Idaho. He declined to go into any further detail about where the children are.
(@FahadShabbir)

The alleged illegal visit of several US officials to Syria's Idlib province is a violation of international norms and a reflection of disrespect of Syria's sovereignty, the country's Foreign Ministry said

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2020) The alleged illegal visit of several US officials to Syria's Idlib province is a violation of international norms and a reflection of disrespect of Syria's sovereignty, the country's Foreign Ministry said.

"The illegal visit of a number of US officials to the Syrian Idlib province is but a confirmation of the fact that the US administration considers itself to be above international law and the UN charters which emphasize the respect of states' sovereignty and non-interference in their affairs," the ministry said, as quoted by Syria's SANA state-run news agency.

According to the statement, the US move, coordinated with the Turkish side, reaffirms the devastating role of the United States in Syria and its support of Ankara's actions.

The US mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday that US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft and US Special Envoy for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey were visiting Turkey from March 2-4 amid the escalation in fighting in Idlib.

On Tuesday, media reported that the two officials briefly visited Idlib, which borders Turkey, and met Syrian NGO representatives and White Helmets representatives. The NGO claims to provide Syrian civilians with assistance but is accused by Damascus of extremism and waging an information campaign against the Syrian government.
Now in discussions with two potential off-take partners



Indonesia determined to become leading market for all stages of the EV battery supply chain

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bolt Metals Corp. (CSE:BOLT) (NXFE.F) (PCRCF) (the Company or Bolt Metals) is pleased to announce that it has signed a non-binding Cooperation Agreement ("Agreement") with Hunan Shijiyintian New Material Co., Ltd, an 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Hunan Jinxin New Material Co., Ltd. ("Hunan Jinxin"). The Company and Hunan Jinxin will immediately commence negotiations with the intention of entering into one or more definitive binding agreements (Definitive Agreement) subject to further due diligence to be completed between the parties.

It is anticipated that there will be two primary components of a Definitive Agreement with Hunan Jinxin; 1) preliminary offtake and 2) investment:

Subject to successful negotiations, the preliminary offtake section of the Definitive Agreement will grant Hunan Jinxin the right to purchase nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate from the Cyclops Nickel-Cobalt Project (Cyclops Project) or other projects owned or represented by Bolt Metals. Bolt Metals will not be restricted from entering into subsequent offtake related agreements with third parties in respect of output which has not been committed to Hunan Jinxin.

Subject to successful negotiations, the investment section of the Definitive Agreement will grant Hunan Jinxin the option to purchase equity in Bolt Metals or to make a strategic investment in the Cyclops Project, with the form and structure of the proposed investment to be finalised in the Definitive Agreement.

Ranjeet Sundher, President and CEO of Bolt Metals announced that While recent market developments have generated significant interest in Bolt Metals and its Cyclops Project from downstream EV battery manufacturers within Indonesia, the Company remains committed to an international outlook and a comprehensive strategy in order to maximise shareholder value and fast-track the development of its assets. I am excited to begin negotiations with a company of Hunan Jinxins calibre.

Story continues

James Foster, Bolt Metals China head, mentioned Hunan Jinxin represent the perfect partner to take Bolt Metals through to the next stage of development and we are happy to have them as partners for the long term.

Founded in 2004, Hunan Jinxin is primarily engaged in the acquisition, production, processing and marketing of tungsten and cobalt. It is located in Hunan and benefits from outstanding road and rail links to metals companies across Hunan and greater China. Hunan Jinxin makes a range of products including cobalt products for use in the EV batteries. Other products developed by Hunan Jinxin include cobalt carbonate, tungsten oxide, and sodium tungstate.

The Company also has an existing non-binding preliminary offtake agreement with Beijing Easpring Material Technology Co., Ltd. (Easpring) covering nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate sourced from the Companys Cyclops project. The agreement similarly includes a strategic investment option. Easpring is recognized as the leader in China in its industry and was one of the first suppliers to export lithium cathode material. Presently, Easpring supplies 5 of the worlds six larger lithium-ion battery manufacturers and is one of the only Chinese suppliers that simultaneously sells high-quality cathode materials in China and internationally, including Japan and Koreas high-end lithium-ion battery markets.

The Market

The growth in global EV sales continues to expand rapidly. Deloittes latest research projects global EV sales at 4 million units in 2020 and 21 million by 2030. The past five years have seen an annual 20% reduction in the cost of EV battery packs which Bloomberg now forecasts to become cheaper than equivalent combustion engine models by as soon as 2022.

According to CRU Mobility and Energy Futures, by 2030 the EV market will require an estimated 1.3 million tons per annum of nickel compared to just 600,000 tons in 2018. For cobalt, the required total is forecast to be 314,000 tons per annum of, which equates to 332% of the metals entire global supply in 2017.

The Company has always maintained that Indonesia is perfectly placed to take advantage of the burgeoning EV sector and 2019 has seen the continuation of a number of exciting trends and developments which lay the foundations for the continued future growth in every vertical of the EV supply chain. These developments also strengthen Indonesias ability to capitalize on its abundant resources, which includes 25% of global nickel reserves.

Spending on new nickel processing plants in Indonesia is expected to total US$20 billion by 2024, supported by the Indonesian governments determination to create a world-leading EV supply chain.

This commitment extends to the very top of government, with Joko Widodo  Indonesias President  stating in September 2019 that for nickel, we want raw materials to be processed in Indonesia. We want added values. This supports previous pronouncements from key officials, including Indonesian Maritime Minister, Luhut Pandjaitan who remarked that Indonesia will become the main player in lithium batteries and that it will control the world market.

In pursuit of this goal, in August 2019, the head of Indonesias Investment Agency announced that a ban on the export of nickel ore would become effective on January 1, 2020. Anticipation of the export ban had pushed global nickel prices up by 40% between June and October 2019 to US$17,500 per ton.

Some key Indonesian based project and investment highlights include:

Investment in downstream nickel projects clustered around Sulawesi Island and Halmahera Island have already passed US$9 billion, and are expected to increase to US$20 billion within five years.

PT Vale and Sumitomo Metal plan to spend US$5 billion on nickel projects during the next few years, including a US$2.5 billion plant to make battery-grade metal.



Chinese battery materials company GEM has stated its intention to work with CATL and Tsingshan to construct a US$700m plant in Indonesia to produce nickel for the EV battery market.



Toyota Motor Corp. has committed to invest US$2 billion by 2023 to develop electric vehicles in Indonesia.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Garry Clark, PGeo, independent director of Bolt Metals and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Bolt Metals

BOLT Metals Corp. is a Canadianbased exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of production grade nickel and cobalt deposits, key raw material inputs for the growing lithiumion battery industry. Visit https://boltmetals.com/ to find out more.

Bolt Metals Corp.

Ranjeet Sundher  President and CEO

(604) 922-8272

rsundher@boltmetals.com

Steve Vanry  CFO & Director

(604) 922-8272

steve@vanrycap.com

Sean Bromley  Director & Investor Contact

(778) 985-8934

sean@theparmargroup.com

Reader Advisory

This news release may contain statements which constitute forward-looking information that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company and with respect to the results of exploration and prospective plans in regards to the Cyclops Project. The words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Although Bolt Metals has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, success of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
The lawsuit was filed against Jimmy John's on behalf of Kahler Folkedahl, a patron who frequented a local Jimmy John's restaurant in Dubuque, Iowa in November of 2019. Shortly thereafter, Kahler began to experience vomiting, abdominal cramps, and hematochezia associated with E. coli poisoning. Kahler was hospitalized for three days, and thereafter notified by the local health department that she was suffering from the strain of E. coli O103 linked to consumption of contaminated sprouts sold on Jimmy John's sandwiches.

Health Officials Link E. coli Outbreak to Consumption of Sprouts Sold at Jimmy John's

The Iowa Department of Public Health has reported that a total of 22 people from Iowa have been infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O103. All of the victims were interviewed by the health officials, and all confirmed that they had consumed Jimmy John's sandwiches prior to their illnesses.

The Iowa Department of Inspections tested samples of sprouts served at Jimmy John's, and also the water used to irrigate the sprouts at the farm on which they were grown. Both tested positive for E coli O103. Health officials thereafter concluded that the contaminated sprouts sold on Jimmy John's sandwiches were the vehicle for the E. coli O103 outbreak.

Jimmy John's has since pulled sprouts from all of its locations in the United States.

Attorney Ron Simon Issues Statement for Victims and Establishes Jimmy John's E. Coli Claim Center

Lead attorney Ron Simon, who represents Kahler Folkedahl and other victims of this and numerous other Jimmy John's food poisoning outbreaks, issued the following statement today: "Unfortunately, Jimmy John's has been linked to too many outbreaks in recent years. In fact, Jimmy John's recently received a Warning Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detailing numerous violations in the serving of contaminated sprouts spanning across the last decade. Through this lawsuit and others, we will determine how this contamination occurred and how it can be prevented in the future, so that this never happens to Jimmy John's customers again."

Mr. Simon and his law firm have established a Jimmy John's E. Coli Claim Center to assist victims in the outbreak. The E. Coli Claim Center can be reached toll-free at 1-888-335-4901.

About Ron Simon & Associates

Over the last 20 years, Ron Simon and his colleagues have prosecuted thousands of food poisoning cases for victims across the United States. His work has resulted in numerous upgrades to food safety procedures in Fortune 500 companies and in legislation designed to protect consumers from dangerous food-borne pathogens.

Mr. Simon and his clients have been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and virtually all other major television networks and print media. Mr. Simon has collected over $750,000,000 for his clients. He regularly publishes articles about food safety and litigation at www.foodpoisoningnews.com which are read by viewers in over 180 countries.

Through litigation, media commentary, and his food poisoning publications, Mr. Simon relentlessly challenges food manufacturers, distributors, and restaurants to do a better job in making our food safe.

Contact:

Ron Simon

713-819-8116

SOURCE Ron Simon & Associates

Related Links

www.foodpoisoningnews.com


Mumbai, March 5 : Actor Nishad Vaidya of "Amita Ka Amit" fame has spoken about returning to television with the newly-launched show "Qurbaan Hua".

The last daily soap he did was "Bhaage Re Mann", which went off air in 2016.

"The break was not intentional. I have done a few episodic roles in 'Code Red' but after that, there was a phase when I was not getting roles according to my wish list. I preferred to wait. That was the time I used to feel very low and down. People often think that when one person is feeling low or depressed, it is mostly because of a heartbreak. But that's not the case," he said.

"As an artiste when you know that you have the potential but nothing is happening according to your preference, you feel low. My parents have been a rock-solid support system to me and their presence and guidance helped me to bounce back," he added.

Speaking about his new role, Nishad said: "Alekh is only concerned about his own designation and wants to satisfy his own ego. Beyond that, he doesn't care about anything. I have been eagerly waiting to play a character like this. Alekh is a dark guy and I am learning a lot on the set. Playing Alekh is allowing me to explore my wings and fly."
Sudan expressed fears that the resolution might result in 'an Arab-Ethiopian confrontation'

Sudan has expressed "reservations" over a draft resolution proposed by Egypt to the Arab League to support both Egypt and Sudan in the dispute over a massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, Egypt's official news agency said on Thursday.

Tensions between Cairo and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam mounted over the past week after Addis Ababa skipped US-sponsored talks in Washington that aimed to reach a final deal between the three nations over the giant hydropower project.

The US Treasury Department, which is brokering talks, said the filling of the 6,000-megawatt dam "should not take place without an agreement." Sudan expressed the same stance as it called for "a comprehensive agreement on the safe operation of the dam" before the start of the filling of its reservoir.

The Sudanese side was informed in advance about the draft resolution put forward to the Arab League, which is designed to underscore "Arab support for the water rights of Egypt and Sudan," sources told MENA news agency.

Despite support from all Arab states for the draft resolution, the Sudanese side did not show any enthusiasm, but rather requested that Sudan's name not be included in the resolution," the sources said.

Sudan argues that the resolution does not serve its interests and expressed fears that an Arab-Ethiopian confrontation might result from it, the sources added.

Sudan said the pan-Arab bloc should not be involved in the dispute.

The draft resolution was adopted without amendment during a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, with Sudan officially registering its reservations, according to MENA.

Egypt accused Ethiopia of skipping the last round of talks in Washington last week to deliberately hinder negotiations.

Ethiopia has said it needs more time to deliberate the matter, and that it would commence filling in parallel with construction of the dam even though outstanding issues about the operation and the filling have yet to be resolved.

Egypt said the move would constitute an "explicit breach of law" and a violation of the 2015 declaration of principles that guarantees equitable and reasonable utilisation of the Nile waters.

The US Treasury Department said last week that an agreement has been drafted with input from the three countries and the World Bank and called on Ethiopia to sign it "at the earliest possible time."

Egypt, which initialled the agreement, described it as "fair and balanced" and said it "achieves the interest of the three countries."

Ethiopia accused the United States of being "undiplomatic" in its efforts to resolve the dispute and expressed "disappointment" with the US remarks.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump told Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi that Washington will keep up efforts with the three countries until they reach a deal.

Ethiopia hopes the mega project will make it Africa's biggest power exporter. Cairo, however, fears the dam, which is under construction near Ethiopia's border with Sudan, would significantly diminish its water supply from the Nile, its major source of freshwater.

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A Judson ISD elementary teacher was charged with aggravated sexual assault after an 8-year-old student said he touched her inappropriately, according to an arrest affidavit.

The child's parent contacted the district on Feb. 29, saying 33-year-old Ryan Patrick England, a teacher at Elolf Elementary School, put his hand in the front of the victim's pants and assaulted her, the affidavit said.

When investigators spoke to the victim, she said the teacher touched her inappropriately multiple times, the affidavit continued.

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England allegedly gave the child "Takis and snacks" to keep the incidents a secret. The victim told police that the incidents happened both during and after school, the affidavit said.

England was arrested Wednesday and his bail was set at $75,000.

England, a San Antonio native also graduated from Judson ISD, has been teaching for eight years at Elolf and as a first-grade teacher for the past six years, according to his staff biography on the school's website.

Judson ISD has placed England on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, the district said in a statement.

"Please be assured that we take this and all allegations very seriously," the school district said in a letter to parents. "JISD Police and the Bexar County Sheriffs Office are conducting a thorough investigation in the interest and safety of our students. We understand that the safety of your child is of the utmost importance and we assure you that it is our top priority to keep our students in a safe learning environment."

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway
God giveth and the government taketh away, goes the old, wry saying. God aside, its people who wont or cant give when the government takes away.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

"God giveth and the government taketh away," goes the old, wry saying. God aside, its people who wont or cant give when the government takes away.

A recent survey of generosity in the United States and Canada gives proof. The more centralist and socialist a society becomes, the less voluntary giving occurs. Socialism doesn't help community, it destroys it.

The Fraser Institute's 2019 Generosity Index examined charitable giving in Canadian provinces and American states in 2017. Among provinces, Manitoba had the highest percentage of tax filers who gave to charity at 23.4 per cent; New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador had the least at 17.9.

In dollar amounts, Albertans gave the most at $2,703 each and Quebec the least at $746. In percentages of income, Manitobans gave the most at 1.02 per cent, and Quebecers the least at 0.32 per cent. Over the past 10 years, all of these percentages have dropped for every single province.

When it comes to charity, the United States puts Canada to shame. Only 19.9 per cent of Canadians give and the average donates C$1,800, or 0.54 per cent of their income. In the U.S., 24.9 per cent of Americans give, with the average donating US$6,751 or 1.52 per cent of their income. People in every state but West Virginia give a higher percentage to charity than Canada's leading province, Manitoba.

Total donations were US$256.3 billion in the United States and C$9.8 billion in Canada. If Canadians gave as high a percentage of their income to charity as Americans, they would have given $27.1 billion.

Are Americans inherently more selfless than Canadians or are other factors at play?

The state with the highest percentage of income given is Utah at 3.15 per cent. It seems more people in the Mormon state take seriously the religious obligation of paying tithes to the church. Its possible that more Americans give because more of them are religious than Canadians.

Another possibility is that Canadas welfare state has made its people less able or willing to give. The government can only give what it has taken from someone else. A comparison of tax levels on both sides of the border also shows sharp differences.

According to the Tax Foundation, Americans in 2017 paid 30.1 per cent of their income to national, state and local taxes. The Fraser Institute reports that the average Canadian in 2017 paid 43.4 per cent of their income to taxes. Charitable giving plus taxes still leaves 68.4 per cent of income in the American's pocket, but just 56.1 per cent in the Canadian's pocket. Canadians had less in their pocket than Americans without giving a single cent.

Socialists may talk about care for one's neighbour, but the reality is that people are less likely to care for ones neighbour the more socialist a system is. This is for two reasons. For one, they have less money and time to help their neighbour. Theyre working too hard and to long and are left with too little to offer the help. Secondly, when people believe its the governments job to help someone, they stop doing it themselves. Progressive tax brackets ensure the more someone works, the more the government takes, so why would they work harder?

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Collectivism undermines personal initiative so severely that even starvation can't motivate people enough. The pilgrims who founded Plymouth, Mass., in 1621 nearly starved for the first two years because of communal living. William Bradford wrote about in his History of Plimoth Plantation:

"The experience  may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato and other ancients  that [the] taking away of property, and bringing in community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort."

In 1623, they divided the same communal land into private plots and were given the adage that if they did not work, they would not eat. Once people were assured of the fruits of their own labours, they worked accordingly. That fall, there was so much to spare, there was plenty extra for anyone in need. They celebrated Thanksgiving for days and invited local Indigenous to the party.

Human nature doesn't change. More collectivism will always mean more poverty and less charity. How many more centuries will it take for collectivists to figure that out?

Lee Harding is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

 Troy Media
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 17:21:04|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writer Fu Min

XIAMEN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- After moving about 2,600 standard containers to and from the vessel, the container ship "Msc Trieste" departed Xiamen harbor Tuesday morning and continued its voyage along the ancient maritime silk route to countries such as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

A traditional shipping center, Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province, has sea lanes to Southeast Asia in the south and Taiwan in the east. This has made it a good choice for the country to rejuvenate ancient international trade routes by land and by sea, namely the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Last year, around 70 vessels en route to Belt and Road (B&R) countries stopped by the Xiamen harbor each week. However, the number dropped sharply in February due to the unexpected outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

"In the latter half of February, Xiamen harbor canceled 35 container ships to B&R countries under the influence of epidemic," said Bai Wenbin, senior manager of Operation Department of Fujian Silk Road Maritime Management Co., Ltd.

"Lots of factories resumed operation from Feb. 10, and their production capacity are gradually returning to normal," Bai said. With the receding outbreak, Xiamen has seen the recovery in trade with B&R countries, and the harbor becomes bustling again.

Xiamen Worthpart Machinery Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of undercarriage parts for excavators and bulldozers, saw its trade rebound in early March after experiencing a 60-percent drop year on year in February.

Zheng Ping, general manager of the company, said they would book containers soon to deliver their goods as the company's production and trade resumed rapidly.

"We have lowered profits and adjusted prices to retain our customers. Also, we increased the investment in online product promotion and plan to explore new markets in Africa and the Middle East," Zheng said. "I am confident to make up the losses caused by the epidemic in the following several months."

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, is aimed at building trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond. Xiamen, as well as Fujian, have played a key role in the construction of the initiative.

The trade volume between Fujian and B&R countries grew by 16.3 percent year on year in 2019, reaching 455.1 billion yuan (around 65.6 billion U.S. dollars). The amount accounted for 34.2 percent of the province's total export volume, according to Xiamen Customs.

In Xiamen, China-Europe freight trains laden with goods are on the go to provide a safe and efficient logistics platform for enterprises in this special period.

On Feb. 26, a cargo train carrying 50 containers of commodities worth about 4 million U.S. dollars departed Haicang park of Xiamen pilot free trade zone to Hamburg, Germany.

"We missed the scheduled date to deliver goods by sea. Luckily, our goods arrived in the factory in Poland on time thanks to the stable operation of China-Europe freight trains," said Wang Weidi, manager of the logistic department of TPV Display Technology (Xiamen) Co., Ltd.

In February, the company had sent 164 containers of electronic products to Poland in five batches through the cargo train service, which has provided a solid foundation for the company's production and sale in the European market.

Xiamen started rail cargo service to Europe in August 2015. So far, the China-Europe freight train service has linked Xiamen with more than 30 cities, including Hamburg, Moscow and Almaty.

Statistics from Xiamen Customs showed that the freight trains between Xiamen and other Asian and European cities had made a total of 31 trips between Jan. 1 and Feb. 25, transporting 2,900 standard containers of goods valued at around 107 million U.S. dollars.

The foreign trade of many Chinese cities was roiled by disrupted international shipping and air transports amid the epidemic. "With the help of the local government, we have provided tailored logistics service for enterprises and added freight trains to meet our customers' needs," said Chen Luchao, business manager of Xiamen International Railway Service. Co., Ltd.

Ding Changfa, associate professor with the School of Economics, Xiamen University, said the outbreak exerts a short-term impact on the economy. "The trade between China and B&R countries will continue to boom, and the advance of the initiative will not be affected in the long run."
Perhaps you cant buy the presidency after all.

Thats one potential lesson from the 2020 Bloomberg campaign, a 101-day billionaire media supernova that burned hot and fast  and through upward of $500 million in mostly ad money  but won no states in the primary contest. (At least Mike Bloomberg can expect a warm welcome the next time he visits American Samoa.)

One way to look at the Bloomberg campaign is as proof that attention-hacking digital and media strategies are mostly hot air  a quadrennial transfer of money from campaigns to creative consultants and media outlets thats hyped but not all that productive. If $500 million cant win you one state in the primary, what does that say about the Trump campaign digital ad juggernaut Democrats are terrified to go up against? Just how effective are all those pesky, political ads Facebook refuses to fact check?

But to look only at number of states won obscures the marvel of the Bloomberg experiment, in which name recognition and an unlimited war chest helped elevate a candidate polling nationally at less than 3 percent on the day he announced to around 16 percent by the end of February. It allowed a less than charismatic campaigner with stop-and-frisk and nondisclosure agreement baggage who skipped the first four nominating states to still manage to crack 10 percent of the vote in nearly all of the Super Tuesday contests. If theres a lesson to draw from Mr. Bloombergs media extravaganza it seems to be, as The Atlantics McKay Coppins remarked, how close it came to working.

In barely three months, Mr. Bloomberg built a national media apparatus that sucked up huge amounts of politics most precious and finite resource: attention. He managed to attack the left wing of the Democratic Party without damaging those in its center, and he provided a blueprint for how a Democrat with more raw appeal and connection to voters could compete with the Trump campaigns audacity online. The strategy  however cynical  worked, even if the candidate didnt.
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Government officials walk to the departure gate at Incheon International Airport, Thursday, to head for Vietnam to provide support measures for Korean citizens who have been quarantined at public facilities there following the Vietnamese government's toughened entry restrictions for travelers from Korea due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Yonhap



About half of UN member countries restrict entry of travelers from Korea



By Jung Da-min



The government dispatched three "emergency response teams" to Vietnam, Thursday, to help Korean citizens quarantined by the Vietnamese government due to the COVID-19 epidemic.



The move comes in response to the Vietnamese government placing travelers from Korea under a 14-day quarantine at public healthcare centers and military facilities since late February.



The Vietnamese quarantine decision follows it complete entry ban for people having visited Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the epicenters for the outbreak in Korea. A total of 276 Korean citizens are quarantined there, 142 in Hanoi, 112 in Ho Chi Minh City and 22 in Da Nang.



The teams to be sent to the three regions, consist of 12 officials from relevant government departments including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency. They will talk with the Vietnamese authorities about lifting the quarantine, while also helping citizens who want to return home and those suffering from visa and other consular problems.



"The most important task is to help those who want to come back to Korea through negotiations with the Vietnamese authorities, with the cooperation of the Korean Embassy and Consulate General there," Kyun Jong-ho, the chief of the teams, told reporters before departure at Incheon International Airport. "We will also be providing necessary items for those under quarantine at the facilities."



As almost all direct flights from Korea to the three Vietnamese regions have been suspended due to the virus the teams had to travel via Bangkok.



The support operations in Vietnam will require the dispatched workers to stay there for about a week and may be extended if necessary.



Meanwhile, following the increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases here, 98 countries and territories, about half of the 193 U.N. member states, have put entry restrictions on travelers from Korea in place as of 3 p.m. Thursday.




SWSYtips - by Olive Loveridge-Greene

A glam great gran polices online dating sites to catch scammers "preying on vulnerable rich older women" after being hounded by DOZENS of fraudsters.

Suzanne Parker, 71, started joining dating sites after her late husband John died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2004.

And after years of being messaged by both genuine Romeos and fraudsters she has learned how to spot the fakes almost instantly.

Since she opened an account on Match.com in October, Suzanne said she has reported a whopping 72 fake profiles who have tried to woo her.

Her antics have earned her the nickname "Scammer Detector" among pals.

She said the fakers pose as genuine lovers and target her - because they think older woman are a soft touch - trying to win her over before asking for money.

Savvy Suzanne said her top tricks for catching swindlers include avoiding profiles which say "widowed with no children" and people who very handsome profile pics.

She's even learned Nigerian phrases to spot out foreign tricksters, and asks them about prominent landmarks in towns they claim to be living in to catch them out.

Suzanne, from Bristol, who still works as a care assistant in a dementia home, said: "I've been doing it for years ever since my late husband died 16 years ago.

"The reason I'm on there is because at my age it is difficult if not almost impossible to meet someone unless you go to pubs, clubs or go dancing.

"Don't get me wrong I'm not on there to be pen friends or to knit their sweaters and bake them an apple crumble.

"But that's just proving really hard when there are people on their praying on lonely, vulnerable women.

"As soon as I get a hunch I play them at their own game.

"There was one man I was speaking to who told me he was a 72-year-old living on an oil rig and needed me to send him money.

Story continues

"He must have thought I was green as cabbage.

"I went on to ask him how he ate if he was living on an actual oil rig and he told me a takeaway would fly in his pizzas by helicopter.

"Another one was on a so called contract in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and asked me to send 1,000 via Western Union because his debit card chip wasn't working and he was apparently stranded.

"American soldiers are aplenty on there.

"One wanted to Skype me and when I did, mysteriously his microphone wasn't working. I'm guessing he didn't have an American accent.

"But the most convincing one was the orthopaedic surgeon working in a field hospital in Afghanistan with trauma cases.

"He was able to delay his ward rounds at night until 10 pm just so could speak to me.

"When I said I doubted him he produced a fake identity card which he said he uses in

Britain as he lives in Salcombe.

"I even got to the stage of buying train tickets to visit him when he was due home on

leave - this is when I suddenly realised how very easy it is to get sucked into their

lies and deceit.

"Seeing as I'm dating site wise now I play little games with them.

"I ask a little about the area they live in and try to discuss prominent landmarks with them but they usually give me the briefest of answers - because they're 1000's of miles away.

"Recently I was messaging a fake in Bath and I suggested we meet at Radcliffe Camera knowing full well it was a building in Oxford. He immediately turned round and said it was a splendid idea!

"When I get a feeling it's a scammer from Nigeria I write back with "No Wahala" which means no problems. I learnt it from one of my friends from Nigeria.

"Now to anyone else if they would just think I've come up with a saying.

"But I'm playing them at their own game and just want to see what they say back.

"They immediately clock it's Nigerian and query why I'm using a Nigerian saying.

"I used to be on Plenty of Fish but they should rename them Plenty of Freaks.

"They'd always been indecent remarks about pictures but I suppose that's what you get when it's free to sign up.

"A professional looking photo of a drop dead gorgeous man with a brilliant smile or serious sexy look is a warning sign truth be told."

Suzanne joined dating sites 15 years ago after her husband died and has tried out Plenty of Fish, Over Time and Match.com

She admits she has been emotionally scammed - taken in by someone who turns out to be using a fake identity - about six times in 14 years.

The former hospital voluntary service manager who has four grandchildren and

three great grandchildren has never handed over any money.

But she has been asked to hand over cash.

Drawing on her own experiences, she has shared the extraordinary lengths scammers will go to when fabricating a story to convince her to hand over cash.

She is now warning other elderly women of the warning signs of spotting a potential scammer.

She urged them to remain cynical of profiles with "too handsome a profile picture" and if they are listed as "widowed with no children" as it "screams scanner".

She said: "People always say 'how can someone fall for that, they must be stupid' but when you are lonely, widowed and vulnerable it is so easy in a short space of time to feel attachment to a complete stranger.

"To have some special back in your life who is beginning to show you kindness and give you compliments.

"I've probably been scammed about six times over the past 14 years. But I haven't handed any money over.

"But the emotional scamming really is heartbreaking. I had conversations for either a few days or a couple of weeks and you really do get sucked in.

"Another thing to look out for is the phraseology.

"Often the grammar becomes quite poor after the initial few sentences and this is a giveaway. The phrases seem foreign.

"If they say 'Wow' and 'My woman' this usually indicates a message from someone of African culture.

"Sometimes you may be asked the same thing twice in reasonably quick succession.

"This may mean that you have been passed to another person who will now continue the contact.

"Perhaps the other one has gone home or even for his lunch break.

"I just want to share my handy hints because I find it absolutely disgusting and upsetting that there are so many unscrupulous fakes on these sites and nothing is really being done about it.

"It's just not right."

ENDS
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh



Koshyari is yet to give his assent to a bill passed by the state legislature 10 days ago allowing election of sarpanch (village head) from among members of gram panchayats, government sources said on Thursday.

According to the sources in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi regime, NCP minister Hasan Mushrif met Koshyari on Wednesday to discuss the issue, but was told that the bill has been sent to the states advocate general to know the latters opinion on it.

"It never happened in the past (in Maharashtra) that the bill passed by both the Houses of the legislature was sent to advocate general for opinion. It will be good if the assent is given soon in view of the coming gram panchayat polls," the sources said.

Reversing a key decision of the previous BJP government, the Maharashtra legislature on February 25 passed a bill allowing election of sarpanch from among members of the local bodies instead of a popular mandate amid ruckus by BJP members over issues of farmers.

The rule for the direct election of the sarpanch was brought in by the previous BJP-led government in the state in 2017.

In the Lower House, the Maharashtra Village Panchayat (Amendment) Bill 2020 was tabled by Rural Development Mushrif.

The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress had formed the MVA government last year after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party severed ties with then ally BJP over sharing chief ministerial post.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 19:03:51|Editor: huaxia

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HOHHOT, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A herd of 66 reindeer imported from the Netherlands has arrived at a forestry farm in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The reindeer, the fourth batch of the imports from the Netherlands since 2017, are in quarantine on an isolated farm before they join their big family in a mountainous region occupied by the Ewenki ethnic minority people in Aoluguya Township, Inner Mongolia.

Ethnic Ewenki herders are known as "the last hunting tribe in China." Some people still use reindeer for transportation. But the population of the local reindeer species has dropped because of inbreeding.

The township has imported 244 reindeer from the Netherlands to revive the species and develop livestock farming.

The previous batches of imported reindeer have adapted to the local environment and given birth after mating with local reindeer.
Susan Berman (L) and Robert Durst pose sometime in the mid- to late 1990s. (Courtesy of Sareb Kaufman/HBO)

Prosecutor Says Real Estate Heir Robert Durst Killed His Best Friend to Keep Her Quiet About His Wifes Death

Prosecutors in the Los Angeles murder trial of millionaire Robert Durst, accused of killing his best friend to stop her incriminating him in the disappearance of his wife, are scheduled to start a second day of opening statements Thursday.

On Wednesday, they outlined a story that began around the 1982 disappearance of Dursts wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, while she was apparently en route to medical school in New York. It ended with his arrest in March 2015.

The jury is expected to hear how Durst allegedly shot his longtime confidante, Susan Berman, in the head on December 23, 2000, at her Beverly Hills home. Durst, 76, pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge, and he has repeatedly denied killing Berman.

Lead prosecutor John Lewin, a cold-case specialist from the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, said Berman had been Dursts confidant since their days at UCLA. Berman, the daughter of a notorious mobster, would go to almost any length to protect Durst, the prosecutor told the jury.

One of Bermans friends, Hollywood producer Linda Obst, will testify Berman told her that she had played a role in covering up Dursts wifes disappearance, Lewin said.

On the day in 1982 that she was supposed to arrive at Albert Einstein Medical School to continue her studies, a school official received a call from a woman saying she was Kathleen McCormack Durst, Lewin said. The caller said she was sick and wouldnt make it that day, Lewin said.

Susan Berman disclosed she made the call, Lewin said.

Kathleen Dursts body has never been found and Robert Durst has not been charged in her death, but Lewin spent a lot of time Wednesday talking about her troubled marriage to Durst.

Real estate heir Robert Durst sits in a courtroom during a hearing in Los Angeles, on Dec. 21, 2016. (Jae C. Hong, Pool/AP Photo)

In the late 1980s, Berman fell on hard times financially after her marriage broke up and she lost money shed invested in a Broadway play, Lewin said. Though Durst was known for being cheap, he gave Berman large amounts of money in exchange for guarding his secret, Lewin said.

Berman was killed hours before she was due to speak with police about the disappearance of Dursts wife. Bermans body was found the day after she was fatally shot.

Lewin told the jury Berman likely knew the gunman who executed her at very short range.

Susan knew her killer and  she freely and voluntarily let the killer into her house, Lewin said, describing her as a paranoid person who would never open her door to a stranger.

The Lawyers Clashed

Lewin told the jurors on Wednesday that Durst killed Kathie when they were spending the weekend together.

Dursts long time lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, seated at the right of the defendant, objected. Ive got to object to this conclusion that Bob Durst killed Kathie, DeGuerin told the judge, saying it was not permissible and Lewin was presenting evidence.

You present what you want to present and Ill present what I want to present, Lewin snapped, pointing a finger at DeGuerin.

The judge overruled the objection and urged the two lawyers to calm down.

Breathe, he said.

Lewin described Dursts role as scion of a New York real estate empire.

I can do whatever I want, Lewin said, describing Dursts attitude dating back decades.

Now frail and slow-moving, Durst is confined to a cell in a jail medical unit, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

Photos released last summer by the sheriffs department show magazine pages, advertisements and photographs taped to the wall of his cell. There are stacks of books and magazines, with titles ranging from War and Peace to The New Yorker.

The trial could last several months. The case centers on largely circumstantial evidence, including Dursts infamous muttering on the HBO documentary The Jinx that he had killed them all.

Jurors are expected to hear potentially incriminating statements he made during the three-hour interview with Lewin after his New Orleans arrest.

So-called Cadaver Note Could Be Key Evidence

There is little physical evidence in Bermans nearly 20-year-old unsolved death. There are no eyewitnesses and no murder weapon.

But a key piece of evidence is the so-called cadaver note, a cryptic letter sent to police with Bermans address and the word cadaver in caps that led detectives to her body.

We know that the killer wanted Susans body to be found, Lewin told the jury.

Robert Durst looks around the courtroom during his 2003 murder trial, in Galveston, Texas. (Pat Sullivan/AP Photo)

The prosecutor said Durst used word cadaver in the note, because his missing wife had gone to medical schoola statement that drew an objection from the defense.

In The Jinx, Durst said the letter could have been sent only by Bermans killer. Defense lawyers previously denied Durst wrote the note, and they tried to exclude from trial handwriting evidence about it.

In a court filing late last year, however, lawyers for the real estate mogul reversed course and acknowledged that Durst penned the anonymous note. This does not change the fact that Bob Durst did not kill Susan Berman, DeGuerin said at the time.

In the HBO documentary, filmmakers confronted Durst with another letter he once mailed Berman, with nearly identical handwriting to the cadaver note. In both, Beverly Hills was misspelled as BEVERLEY.

Immediately after the last shot of The Jinx finale, Durst went into the bathroom, apparently not realizing his microphone was still on.

There it is. Youre caught, he said. He rambled a series of seemingly unrelated sentences before saying, He was right. I was wrong.

Then, he muttered, What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.

The defense has said it will show Dursts statements were heavily edited and not uttered in the order in which they appeared in the documentary.

Real Estate Heir Robert Durst appears in the Airport Branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 21, 2016. (Jae C. Hong-pool/Getty Images)

Other Alleged Killings Shrouded Durst in Suspicion

Jurors are also expected to hear statements Berman made about allegedly helping Durst build an alibi for the death of his wife, according to prosecutors.

Durst has maintained he had nothing to do with his wifes disappearance. She was declared legally dead in 2017.

Prosecutors will argue that McCormacks death was the impetus for two other alleged killings that have long shrouded Durst in suspicionBermans killing and the 2001 slaying and dismemberment of a neighbor in the coastal Texas city of Galveston.

Superior Court Judge Mark E. Windham ruled in January that jurors can hear about Durst wanting his wife to have an abortion before she disappeared. The judge called the evidence relevant to show motive in the disappearance of Kathie Durst as well as Bermans murder.

The-CNN-Wire

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Good morning.

(Heres the sign-up, if you dont already get California Today delivered to your inbox.)

Yes, officials are still counting California ballots.

And no, we still dont have final results for any of the elections  although as my colleagues reported, Senator Bernie Sanderss big bet on California appears to have paid off.

Still, one thing I woke up thinking about on Wednesday morning was the thousands of voters  around the state, but mostly in Los Angeles County  who were greeted by hourslong lines when they showed up to participate in their democracy.

[Read more about how young people and Latinos showed up for Mr. Sanders.]

I called Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, to get some context.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is quoting at Rs 208.65, up 1.24% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 15.34% in last one year as compared to a 2.82% spurt in NIFTY and a 9.29% spurt in the Nifty Energy index.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 208.65, up 1.24% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.01% on the day, quoting at 11365.1. The Sensex is at 38794.09, up 1%. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has slipped around 14.28% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is a constituent, has slipped around 8.49% in last one month and is currently quoting at 13876.65, up 0.43% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 21.76 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 39.93 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark March futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 204.55, up 1.06% on the day. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is down 15.34% in last one year as compared to a 2.82% spurt in NIFTY and a 9.29% spurt in the Nifty Energy index.

The PE of the stock is 5.62 based on TTM earnings ending December 19.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

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

State and local officials announced today new recommendations to King County residents aimed at reducing their risk of exposure to COVID-19. We understand these actions will have a tremendous impact on the lives of people in our community. We are making these recommendations in consultation with CDC based on the best information we have currently to protect the public's health.

This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19 in King County and these measures can potentially impact the spread of the disease.

Public Health is recommending, but not requiring, the following steps:

People at higher risk of severe illness should stay home and away from large groups of people as much as possible, including public places with lots of people and large gatherings where there will be close contact with others. People at higher risk include:

People 60 and older



People with underlying health conditions including heart disease, lung disease, or diabetes



People who have weakened immune systems



People who are pregnant

Workplaces should enact measures that allow people who can work from home to do so. Taking these measures can help reduce the number of workers who come into contact with COVID-19 and help minimize absenteeism due to illness

If you can feasibly avoid bringing large groups of people together, consider postponing events and gatherings.

Public Health is not recommending closing schools at this time . If there is a confirmed case of COVID-19, Public Health will work with the school and the district to determine the best measures including potential closure of the school.

. If there is a confirmed case of COVID-19, Public Health will work with the school and the district to determine the best measures including potential closure of the school. All people should not go out when they are sick.

Avoid visiting hospitals, long term care facilities, or nursing homes to the extent possible. If you need to go, limit your time there and keep six feet away from patients.

More detail on these measures will be available at www.kingcounty.gov/covid

Case update:

COVID-19 test results have come back from the Washington State Public Health Laboratory confirming ten additional cases of COVID-19 in King County residents including one death. With these ten new results, the total number of cases in King County is 31. The total number of deaths is nine.

The ten new cases are in:

A female in her 60s, Life Care resident, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth

A male in his 50s, associated with Life Care, not hospitalized

A male in his 60s, Life Care resident, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth

A female in her 70s, Life Care resident, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth

A male in his 60s, Life Care resident, hospitalized at Evergreen

A female in her 90s, Life Care resident, was hospitalized at Evergreen and died on 3/3/20

A female in her 70s, Life Care resident, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth

A male in his 30s, no known exposure, not hospitalized

A female in her teens, associated with Life Care, not hospitalized

A male in his 80s, a resident of Life Care, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth

No other details about the 10 cases reported today are available currently.

21 other cases, already reported earlier by Public Health, include:

A female in her 40s, worked at LifeCare, never hospitalized and is recovering at home

A female in her 60s, family member of a confirmed case of COVID-19, not hospitalized

A male in his 70s, a frequent visitor of LifeCare, hospitalization status unknown currently

A male in his 20s, unknown exposure, hospitalized at Swedish Issaquah

A male in his 20s, unknown exposure, hospitalized at Swedish Issaquah

A female in her 80s, resident of LifeCare, never hospitalized, died on 2/26/20

A male in his 50s, resident of LifeCare, hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center and died on 2/26/20

A male in his 50s, hospitalized at Highline Hospital. No known exposures. He is in stable but critical condition. He had no underlying health conditions.

A male in his 70s, a resident of LifeCare, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. The man had underlying health conditions, and died 3/1/20

A female in her 70s, a resident of LifeCare, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. The woman had underlying health conditions, and died 3/1/20

A female in her 80s, a resident of LifeCare, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. She is in critical condition.

A female in her 80s, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. This person died on 3/1/20.

A female in her 90s, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland.

A male in his 70s, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. The man has underlying health conditions, and is in critical condition

A male in his 70s was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He had underlying health conditions and died on 2/29/20.

A man in his 60s, hospitalized at Valley Medical Center in Renton.

A man in 60s, hospitalized at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

A woman in her 50s, who had traveled to South Korea; recovering at home

A woman in her 70s, who was a resident of LifeCare in Kirkland, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth and died on 3/2/20

A woman in her 40s, employed by LifeCare, who is hospitalized at Overlake Medical Center

A man in his 50s, who was hospitalized and died 2/28/20 at EvergreenHealth

What Public Health is doing:

This is a massive undertaking and we have a talented, dedicated team digging in to learn everything we can to protect the health of our community. What we have seen with the level of community spread has raised the level of concern about the immediate threat of COVID-19, particularly for vulnerable populations such as people over 60, those with underlying health conditions or who are immune compromised.

King County Novel Coronavirus Call Center:

If you are in King County and believe you were exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19, or if you're a healthcare provider with questions about COVID-19, contact our novel coronavirus call center: 206-477-3977.

The call center will be open daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM PT.

For general concerns and questions about COVID-19, please call the Washington State Novel Coronavirus Call Center at 800-525-0127.

When to seek medical evaluation and advice:

If you have symptoms like cough, fever, or other respiratory problems, call your healthcare provider. Do not go to the emergency room. Emergency rooms need to be able to serve those with the most critical needs.

If you are having a medical emergency, call 9-1-1.

In addition to the recommendations listed above, the public can help:

Do not go to the emergency room unless essential. Emergency rooms need to be able to serve those with the most critical needs. If you have symptoms like cough, fever, or other respiratory problems, contact your regular doctor first.

Stay home when sick.

Practice excellent personal hygiene habits, including handwashing, coughing into tissue or elbow, avoid touching eyes, nose, or mouth.

Stay away from people who are ill, especially if you are 60 and older or have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, or a weakened immune system.

Stay informed. Information is changing frequently. Check and subscribe to Public Health's website (www.kingcounty.gov/COVID) or blog (www.publichealthinsider.com).

Remember to take every day preventive action such as washing hands, and if you are sick stay home. During an outbreak with a new virus there is a lot of uncertainty. Our guidance and advice is subject to change as we learn more. We will continue to keep you updated.
A drug that is already clinically available for the treatment of nausea and psychosis, called prochlorperazine (PCZ), inhibits the internalization of receptors on the surface of tumor cells, thereby increasing the ability of anticancer antibodies to bind to the receptors and mount more effective immune responses. PCZ enhanced the ability of anticancer antibodies to reduce tumor growth in mice, by temporarily increasing the clustering of a receptor targeted by anticancer antibodies on the surface of tumor cells. Temporary treatment of cancer patients with PCZ similarly resulted in receptor clustering on tumor cells inside of patients. The work appears March 5 in the journal Cell.

"This represents a potentially disruptive change in clinical approaches to improve therapeutic targeting as the opportunity of temporarily moving drug targets within patient tumor cells becomes possible," says senior author Fiona Simpson, a cancer researcher at the University of Queensland.

In addition to treating nausea and psychosis, PCZ is currently used in laboratory studies as an inhibitor of endocytosis, a process by which substances are brought into the cell. The temporary inhibition of endocytosis via molecules such as PCZ has been proposed for numerous clinical applications, including control of viral infection, epilepsy, and chronic kidney disease.

To help move this approach closer to clinical translation, Simpson and her team recently developed an imaging method to reliably measure endocytosis in humans. When they analyzed tumor samples from patients with squamous cell carcinoma, they found that a decrease in endocytosis of a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was associated with better clinical responses to the cancer drug cetuximab, an antibody that binds to and inhibits EGFR. "We found that if we stopped the drug targets getting inside the cells by inhibiting the uptake process, called endocytosis, we got a really big immune response against the tumors in mice," Simpson says.

"This led to the concept that temporarily halting endocytosis of receptors that are the targets of monoclonal antibody therapies may be used to improve clinical outcomes," Simpson says. Their findings suggested that endocytosis inhibition in humans, which increases the clustering of EGFR on the surface of tumor cells, thereby increasing the availability of the receptor for binding to the antibody, should lead to improved outcomes for patients treated with certain therapeutic antibodies.

Exploring this idea in the new study with a different therapeutic antibody, Simpson and her team showed that PCZ improved the immune responses of tumor cells to cetuximab. In mice with cancer, combination therapy with PCZ and cetuximab reversed resistance to cetuximab therapy and inhibited tumor growth more than either treatment alone. Similarly, combination therapy with PCZ and avelumab--an anticancer antibody that inhibits a protein called programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)--inhibited tumor growth in mice more than either treatment alone. "These findings highlight the crucial role of availability and persistence of the molecule targeted by the therapeutic antibody at the cell surface of tumor cells," Simpson says.

To begin to test the safety of this approach in humans, Simpson and her team carried out an open-label, uncontrolled, single-center proof-of-concept study in which a single dose of PCZ was intravenously administered to patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Tumor biopsies were taken before and after PCZ treatment. Analysis of results from four patients showed that PCZ increased cetuximab binding sites and the clustering of EGFR on the surface of tumor cells. "As far as we can tell, this was the first verified manipulation of endocytosis in humans," Simpson says.

Moreover, tumor cells became more homogenous with regard to the availability of cetuximab binding sites. "In our patients, we could see surface target on some tumor cells exposed and not others. After PCZ, they all had drug target on their surface, so it fixed the heterogeneity problem," Simpson says. "By overcoming the heterogeneity of drug target availability that frequently characterizes poorly responsive or resistant tumors, clinical application of PCZ may considerably improve the clinical benefit of therapeutic antibodies."

PCZ is already prescribed chronically in some people for the management of psychosis. Unfortunately, over a lifetime of PCZ use, patients may show an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome. But, in this case, the proposed use of the drug by Simpson and colleagues is shortterm, and the endocytosis inhibition is reversible, negating the side effects of chronic use. "It turns out PCZ at the high concentration we use it only stops trafficking for about four hours," Simpson says. "This is enough time to line up the immune cells when an antibody drug is used against the tumor cells," but theoretically not enough time to be really toxic. Further clinical studies are underway to fully test whether this approach can be safely used in people.

From a broader perspective, the study sets the stage for testing PCZ in clinical trials to treat epilepsy or chronic kidney disease or to improve the effectiveness of anti-HIV antibodies. According to the authors, the drug might also be used as a frontline medicine to prevent or reduce infections by highly pathogenic viruses such as dengue or Ebola.

Currently, Simpson and her collaborators are conducting a phase IB safety trial to test the combination of cetuximab and PCZ in head and neck cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and adenoid cystic carcinoma. "We need to show efficacy through trials first, but if it works, we could use it to improve therapies in lots of different cancers and also other uses," Simpson says. "We are hoping once the idea is out there, lots of clever people will run with the idea and make it work even better."

###

This work was supported by a University of Queensland IPRS scholarship, UQ International scholarships, a NHMRC Career Development Award, Cancer Council Queensland, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Queensland Head and Neck Cancer Centre, the International Rotary Club, and the Princess Alexandra Research Foundation. Further declarations of interest are listed in the paper.

Cell, Chew, De Lima, Gonzalez Cruz, Banushi, Echejoh, Hu, and Joseph et al.: "Endocytosis Inhibition in Humans to Improve Responses to ADCC-Mediating Antibodies" https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30163-X(20)30163-X

Cell (@CellCellPress), the flagship journal of Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that publishes findings of unusual significance in any area of experimental biology, including but not limited to cell biology, molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology, virology and microbiology, cancer, human genetics, systems biology, signaling, and disease mechanisms and therapeutics. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
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New genetic signatures in childhood leukemia create paths for precision medicine

WILMINGTON, Del. (March 5, 2020) - Researchers with Nemours Children's Health System utilized Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to more precisely identify genomic characteristics of leukemias in children, the most common childhood cancer. The study, published today in BMC Medical Genomics, identified new genetic structural variants that could be used to assess the presence of minimal residual disease during the course of chemotherapy and help determine response to various therapies.

"Progress in the field of genomic research and advanced technology has allowed us to find new variants that can better target treatments for kids with cancer," said Erin Crowgey, PhD, lead author of the study and Director of Clinical Bioinformatics at Nemours. "Pediatric leukemias have a diverse and complex genomic structure, and older sequencing techniques were missing a lot of the important information that guides our clinical evaluation, risk identification, and therapeutic strategy for patients."

Researchers analyzed DNA and RNA from bone marrow, cell lines, and umbilical cord samples from 32 pediatric leukemia patients and five adult leukemia patients. Patient samples were collected at diagnosis, end of the first treatment, and relapse. These samples were sequenced using molecular barcoding with targeted DNA and RNA library enrichment techniques. The sequencing identified multiple novel gene fusions and previously unknown copy number losses in leukemia genes. This approach enabled more sensitive detection of these genetic variants.

"Hearing that your child has cancer is scary; particularly that the clinical presentation of his disease is unique and there is no other research that matches his case," said Sophie Hayes, mother of Eliot Hayes, a patient at Nemours. "So, when the genomic results came back and showed that Eliot's cancer was not unique at the genetic level, we were very grateful to the scientific community and to Nemours. This early knowledge enabled us to incorporate an additional line of attack into his treatment and offered us hope."

Researchers note that the ultimate goal is to bring the genomic testing into routine clinical practice so that it can be used regularly, leading to a pediatric onco-specific genomic treatment program at Nemours. "Dr. Crowgey's work brings complex genomic testing closer to the bedside to improve the treatment of children with cancer," said E. Anders Kolb, MD, Director of Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and a co-author of the paper.

###

This work was supported through numerous grants, including funding from the National Institutes of Health, Moseley Foundation, Siteman Cancer Center Research Fund, Hyundai Hope on Wheels, Children's Discovery Institute, and Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware.

About Nemours Children's Health System

Nemours is an internationally recognized children's health system that owns and operates the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., and Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, Fla., along with outpatient facilities in five states, delivering pediatric primary, specialty and urgent care. Nemours also powers the world's most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, KidsHealth.org and offers on-demand, online video patient visits through Nemours CareConnect.

Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to families in the communities it serves.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Ryanair Holdings RYAAY posted impressive February traffic figures as air-travel demand was solid in the month. Traffic (including 0.5 million from its LaudaMotion unit in Austria) rose 9% year over year to 10.5 million.

However, load factor (% of seats filled with passengers) remained unaltered at 96%. This low-cost carriers passenger growth excluding traffic from LaudaMotion unit was 8% in the month. On a rolling annual basis, total traffic increased 9% to 153.8 million. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) Irish carrier operated more than 58,000 scheduled flights in February.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks (Strong Buy) here.

Ryanair Holdings PLC Price

Coronavirus Woes May Weigh on Traffic Ahead

However, the carrier might not be able to replicate Februarys stellar traffic results, at least in the near term. Notably, Ryanair will cut 25% of its Italian capacity in the Mar 17-Apr 8 time frame following reduced air-travel demand due to the rapid spread of the disease across many European countries.

As a result of this anticipated decline in bookings, traffic and load factor are likely be lower than normal in March and April. In fact, Ryanairs CEO Michael O'Leary warned of a "meaningful impact" of the virus on fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 (ending Mar 31, 2020) results.

Notably, Ryanair is not the only carrier to have trimmed its capacity due to the viral outbreak. U.S.-based carriers including American Airlines AAL, United Airlines UAL and the Latin American carrier LATAM Airlines LTM also suspended various flights in the wake of the coronavirus onslaught beyond its country of origin, China.

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I jumped onto my old 17-inch Toshiba laptop, I wasnt really sure if what Id heard was actually true.

Id only returned to the country about six months earlier. I had been gallivanting around Europe from April to November in 2008. And boy, what a time to be away, oblivious to the markets.

Call it divine intervention, but Id made a snap decision to head off with mates and do that whole backpacking thing.

And for most of 2008 our time was spent hopping from train to train, city to city, hostel to hotel to hosteland pub to pub. What a way to stay (somewhat) out of the loop when the one of the most devastating market crashes rolled out.

Of course, I couldnt remain completely blind to it. Whether it was Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin or Bordeaux, the world was awash with unadulterated fear of economic collapse.

And I had a relatively small stock portfolio at the time that Id dip into now and then to help fund the ongoing travels. The downside is that when I took off in April 2008, to when I started to need it most around September/October 2008the value was, sadly, much lower.

But I didnt really care. That trip was weirdly a foundation that helped to shape the person I am today (another story for another day).

I eventually made it back to Australia. And even with a bit of a tan. But with somewhat depleted funds. And I took up a job so that I could start to build my wealth back up again.

In this free report, Money Morning analyst Lachlann Tierney reveals two assets set to benefit as the corona crisis worsens. Click here to claim your copy today.

Navigating Australias financial landscape

The job was working in one of Melbournes most exciting, fast-growing financial advice firms. A great company with great people. Some will be friends for life.

I had worked as a financial advisor in the years before my trip too. And Id studied finance, economics, financial advice, and half a law degree at University as well (again, another story for another day).

Therefore, my education and experience had been in markets, finance, and the financial system. To see it falter, crash, and dive into the pits of despair was an eye-opener. And seeing the responses from central banks and government because of it was equally as eye opening.

Being also somewhat of a free-market proponent, I was always curious as to the need to bail out those that had happily sailed themselves up that creek without any paddles.

Nonetheless, thats what happened. And then the government and central banks coordinated attacks on the financial system. Now, you wont hear these programs labelled as attacks very often.

But thats exactly what they were.

Money printing, slashing of rates, fluffing up economies with cheap money and flooding the market with it. This benefited those in power, those that sat atop of these failing companies. The rich got richer, the really rich got mega-rich.

Now by around March 2009 wed hit the rough bottom of the crash. And a lot of companies did fail, they never received a bail out, they were just left to the administrators.

But the companies that were aligned to the operation of the flawed, broken financial system were kept alive. On life support, some of them, but still alive. And the broken strings of the system were restrung and retuned to play wonderful melodies for the next decade.

The governments $42 billion stimulus package

One of the most bizarre support mechanisms employed in this time, in mid-2009, came from the Aussie government.

They had decided to hand out cash payments to Aussies. The amounts were relative to how much you earned. Around 13 million Aussies would get these cash payments. It was part of the governments $42 billion stimulus package.

Remember, this was off the back of possibly the worst financial crisis ever seen outside the Great Depression.

Anyway, I couldnt fathom how this would work out well. The idea was give everyone $950 (or less depending on what you earnt), and they would spend it in the economy and wed be A-OK.

And thats exactly what they did.

Again, I couldnt quite believe it, until I saw it. I logged into my CommBank account, and there it was. $950 right there just for me, from the government, to do with what I wanted. They just gave me $950 for free!

Sweet. I was also now living with some mates. And Id wanted to get a TV for my room, because, why not? And thats what I used my $950 for. I was a good little citizen and I put that free $950 back into the economy, doing my part, buying a TV from JB Hi-Fi.

It was also in the throngs of the crashing market, the early parts of 2009, when an unknown way-out of the financial system was emerging. It was still unknown by most in 2009, and I hadnt even yet come across it or its potential.

It was during this time the Bitcoin blockchain started and the idea of bitcoin started to proliferate and permeate through the online world.

Now if I had my time again, I would have used my $950 of free money to buy bitcoin. Had I known about it well enough then and had I bought bitcoin in mid-2009things might be a little different today.

Bitcoin back then was worth very little. But by the end of 2009 it was worth roughly 3.3 cents in Aussie money. Had I spent my free $950 on BTC back then Id have got around 28,787 bitcoin for my money.

In todays AUD prices that would have been worth just over $380 million.

Thats no typo. $950 of bitcoin in 2009 could have been worth over $380 million today.

And I bought a TV instead

But like I say, I didnt know about it then. No one really did. And theres a good chance I wouldnt have held onto the full value all the way for the next decade, watching my paltry $950 become worth $1 million, $10 million, $100 million and not taken some out.

This is not a time to panic. Its a time for ACTION. Click here to download your free report now.

Government is looking to take drastic measures

Today however, thanks to the coronavirus, the government is once again looking to take drastic measures.

Theyre petrified about the impact this pandemic will have on the Aussie economy. And theyre preparing to release a new stimulus package. Theres even talk of there being direct cash injections. Which may even come in the form of this free government money.

Well see over the next few weeks as to how it plays out. But I tell you what, the government may just decide to kick the can down the road. They may decide they know whats best for us all. They may just do what theyve done before to try and stimulate the economy.

I say none of it will workagain. But I can tell you exactly what I would be doing with free money if the government decided to hand it out.

If I had my time again, and I may well do, then Id be taking that money and buying bitcoin with it  and Id sit on it for another 10 years to see what came about.

I reckon thats a fair thing to do. Dont you?

Regards,

Sam Volkering,

Editor, Money Morning
Qantas exposed staff and passengers to the risk of getting coronavirus by making cleaners handle dirty nappies, vomit, face masks and tissues without gloves, a health inspection found.

SafeWork New South Wales last month issued an improvement notice to the flying kangaroo airline, requiring them to comply with the order by March 30.

In the notice, seen by Daily Mail Australia, an inspector observed cleaners at Sydney airport on February 26 handle wet and dirty tissues, used face masks and soiled nappies without gloves, masks or surgical gowns.

'Workers and other persons may be exposed to a risk of injury or illness from the inadequate system of work used to clean planes that may have transported passengers with an infectious disease,' it said.

Qantas exposed staff and passengers to the risk of getting coronavirus by making cleaners handle dirty nappies, vomit, face masks and tissues without gloves, a health inspection found

Workers also complained of being required to 'clean vomit and blood off surfaces' without personal protective equipment.

'I also observed workers wiping over multiple tray tables with the same wet cloth with no disinfectant and cleaning unknown liquids on floors and surfaces,' the notice issued to Qantas said.

Qantas has vowed to fight the notice after a cleaner was dismissed for raising concerns about hygiene.

'We are investigating claims made by SafeWork NSW, after an inspector observed one of our aircraft being cleaned in Sydney last week,' the company said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

'We are considering appealing the notice.

'Qantas is not known for being complacent when it comes to safety or the cleanliness of our aircraft.'

Daily Mail Australia has also obtained a notice threatening the cleaner with disciplinary action for failing to comply with directions.

Qantas, however, refuted the NSW government inspector's finding that Qantas cleaners worked without protective equipment.

'All of our Fleet Presentation teams are provided with personal protective equipment for cleaning the aircraft and for more hazardous items, we have additional equipment such as masks and safety suits,' it said.

SafeWork New South Wales last month issued an improvement notice to the flying kangaroo airline, requiring them to comply with the order by March 30. In the notice, seen by Daily Mail Australia, an inspector observed seeing cleaners on February 26 handle wet and dirty tissues, used face masks and soiled nappies without gloves, masks or surgical gowns. Pictured is the Qantas check-in kiosk in Adelaide

'Our aircraft are thoroughly cleaned after each international flight.'

The Transport Workers Union, which represents ground and cabin crew employed by the airline, demanded the airline reinstate the cleaner.

The union's NSW branch secretary Richard Olsen said his colleagues were worried about the risk of workers and passengers getting coronavirus.

'Workers are worried about the risk to passengers, themselves and their families because of Qantass refusal to provide training and protective gear since this outbreak began,' he said in a statement.

'Instead of suspending workers and trying silence them Qantas needs to start consulting with workers and help reduce the risk of exposure.'

So far, the coronavirus has infected more than 93,000 people in 78 countries and killed 3,198 people.

This week, two elderly Australians have died from coronavirus including retired Perth travel agent James Kwan, 78, and a 95-year-old woman at a northern Sydney nursing home, as the number of cases rose to 53.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid tributes to former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik on his 104th birth anniversary, saying he worked tirelessly for India's development.

The prime minister also shared a document from 1945 to highlight the courage shown by Patnaik in flying then underground leader Ram Manohar Lohia. Patnaik was an accomplished aviator.

Remembering Biju Babu on his Jayanti. This document from the pages of history (dated 1945) gives a glimpse of his courage (flying Dr. Lohia, who was then underground) and excellence. Biju Babu worked tirelessly for Indias progress and pioneered the development of Odisha. pic.twitter.com/XLEjzOFEiQ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 5, 2020

"Remembering Biju Babu on his jayanti. This document from the pages of history (dated 1945) gives a glimpse of his courage (flying Dr. Lohia, who was then underground) and excellence," Modi tweeted.

He said Patnaik worked tirelessly for India's progress and pioneered the development of Odisha.
People applying for credit cards with two major UK lenders have to roll the dice to check if they will be accepted, putting their credit score at risk in the process.

HSBC and Tesco Bank require applicants to do a 'hard search' which shows up on their credit file, and can damage their credit score if they are rejected or make lots of applications in a short space of time.

The vast majority of Britain's biggest lenders, including Lloyds and Barclaycard, allow customers to do a 'soft search' - this determines the likelihood of being accepted for a credit card without harming credit ratings.

Roll the dice: Most credit card companies allow applicants to determine their chances of acceptance without risking their credit score, but HSBC and Tesco Bank's sites do not

Seven credit cards offered by HSBC and the same number from Tesco Bank do not allow customers to check their eligibility before applying through their websites.

Katie Brain, from financial information business Defaqto, said: 'It isn't always clear when consumers apply for these types of product that it could affect their credit rating.

'For example if their application is declined it will reduce their credit rating and could make it more difficult to apply for further credit, perhaps a mortgage, in the future.

She adds: 'Providers which do offer an eligibility check clearing state that it will not affect your credit rating, but those who don't have the eligibility check don't always state any effect on your rating just an "apply now" link, so consumers need to be really careful when applying for credit.'

The inability to do a soft search could prove a particular problem for people with credit card balances looking to transfer them over to an interest-free deal, as they may be less likely to have the kind of rating that made them a certainty to be accepted.

Both banks offer among some of the best balance transfer credit cards around, with HSBC offering 25 months interest-free in return for a 1.5 per cent transfer fee, while Tesco Bank offers a 28-month balance transfer deal with a 2.98 per cent fee.

This is just one month shorter than the longest interest-free deal available, offered by Sainsbury's Bank.

Tesco Bank told This is Money it planned to introduce eligibility checking on its website later this year, and that four of its credit cards could be soft searched through comparison site MoneySupermarket.

Meanwhile HSBC said in a statement: 'HSBC has a range of credit cards to meet customer's needs, and when making a lending decision rely on a number of factors which are available to customers -for example their credit score.

'We don't currently offer an eligibility checker on our direct channels, but do work with key aggregators to support customers to understand their likelihood of acceptance.'

Of the seven HSBC credit cards, just the balance transfer card and its Purchase Plus card  offering 0 per cent interest on purchases for 18 months  are available to non-HSBC customers.

Tom Platt, chief commercial officer at credit comparison site TotallyMoney, said: 'Unfortunately, eligibility checking is still not a universal experience, despite the benefits to both customers and lenders.

'Not only does eligibility checking let customers apply for a product with more confidence, but lenders are much more likely to get applications from the kinds of customers they're actually looking for. It really is a win-win situation all around.'

Can you check your rate before you apply?

But while eligibility checking allows potential applicants to see the likelihood of being accepted, it doesn't necessarily show them what APR they'll get, or, if applying for a balance transfer, their credit limit or the length of their interest-free term.

Lenders have to use a representative APR, which shows the rate offered to 51 per cent of those accepted.

For example, Tesco Bank's balance transfer credit card states applicants may get a 0 per cent interest period of 22 or 16 months, rather than the headline 28 months, but

Research from TotallyMoney and personal finance site Moneycomms found the length of balance transfer offers could be slashed by 50 per cent, or 14 months, and APRs by 15 per cent, compared to the headline rate customers applied for.

Meanwhile research last summer by personal loan provider Zopa found the majority of UK loan providers wouldn't show customers the actual rate they would get until after they'd completed an application, which it described as 'rate roulette'.

Some credit comparison services like Experian have introduced 'guaranteed rate' services where the rate people see before they apply is the rate they'll get, but this is not as widespread as eligibility checking, with fewer credit card providers offering this.

Platt added: 'Although eligibility checking is a positive step forward in the industry, there's still much to do.

'We work hard with lenders to push for more products that offer pre-approval and guaranteed rates, as this lets our customers know in no uncertain terms whether they'll be accepted, as well as the APR they'll get, before they apply.

'By equipping our customers with this essential information upfront, they are protected from being rejected and harming their credit score as a result.'
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While there have been no confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) at either Staten Island hospital system, there have been a handful of suspicious cases that have been referred to the states Health Department for further evaluation, according to the medical director of Staten Island University Hospital.

Dr. Theodore Maniatis, who is responsible for all medical affairs, quality management, patient safety issues and standards of care at the hospital system, told the Advance that multiple cases on the borough have warranted further investigation by the New York State Department of Health.

The individuals in those cases were referred to self-quarantine at their home, he said.

If the suggestion is they self quarantine, then there is a suspicion that they have it," Maniatis said. "There is a possibility they have it.

The majority of coronavirus patients are not required to be hospitalized, Maniatis explained, and patients would only be admitted if they meet the criteria for hospitalization.

After a recommendation of self-quarantine, We contact the state Health Department and they pick it up, Maniatis explained. The hospital then works in conjunction with state health authorities to see if culture material needs to be obtained, and the state is thereafter responsible for tracking the individual patients.

The Health Department, according to Maniatis, has the authority to further force an individual to be quarantined.

In a response to a question ascertaining the amount of time it takes for a patient to be further assessed by the state Health Department, a spokeswoman said The Department of Health analyzes samples sent by healthcare providers, after they assess their patients and collect samples for testing.

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

While no Staten Island hospital currently has the capacity for testing for the coronavirus, Northwell Health  which operates Staten Island Universitys Ocean Breeze and Princes Bay campuses  expects any day now that the health system will be able to do tests at a Northwell health lab or right on premises," Maniatis said, which would cut down on the amount of time it takes for a test result to return.

The laboratory thats part of Northwell is in discussion with the state to become one of the sites that has the right or authority licensed to do it, Maniatis said.

While Maniatis said Staten Island University Hospitals have seen a slight increase in the number of concerned individuals coming to the hospital, there is certainly not hysteria.

The more we could slow this down until hopefully it fades away  as all these things eventually do," Maniatis said, "the less people it will infect.

The World Health Organization said there are over 95,200 confirmed cases globally. The Washington State Department of Health announced on Tuesday that 10 deaths have been confirmed in the state. One death has been reported in California, the states health department said Wednesday.
Plaque bearing the United Nations logo above the podium of the General Assembly Hall. (File Photo: Ryan Brown/UN Photo/IANS) Image Source: PK

Lima, March 5 : Former UN chief and Peruvian Prime Minister Javier Perez de Cuellar has died aged 100, his family has said.

Perez de Cuellar's son told local radio station RPP that he died at his home in Peru, the BBC said in a report on Thursday.

During his two terms as UN Secretary General, he brokered peace agreements in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

A key achievement was negotiating a ceasefire between Iran and Iraq in 1988 after eight years of conflict.

Aside from the Iran-Iraq war, by the end of his second term in 1991, Perez de Cuellar had helped to end hostilities in Western Sahara, and civil wars in El Salvador, Cambodia and Nicaragua.

In a statement on Wednesday night, incumbent Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "profoundly saddened" by the news.

"He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the UN and our world," the BBC quoted Guterres as saying.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Peruvian President MartAn Vizcarra called Perez de Cuellar "a full-hearted democrat who dedicated his entire life to work to enlarge our country".

The former UN chief had also made an unsuccessful bid for Peru's presidency in 1995, losing to Alberto Fujimori.

His funeral is slated to take place on Friday.
A parent hunches over an open car door in a parking lot, struggling with a squirming baby as he awkwardly changes the childs dirty diaper in the back seat.

Dad could have done this task more easily  and more safely  inside the restaurant where the family was having dinner, but there was no changing station in the restroom.

Its not an uncommon scene, but now the city is trying to make it a thing of the past.

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Thursday that requires all publicly available restrooms  for men and women  to have baby-changing stations.

All of you have driven through parking lots and seen that poor guy in the back of his truck or the back of the van, changing a baby, said Councilman Manny Pelaez, who proposed the idea last year. Thats only because whatever restaurant, hotel or business he was in didnt have a baby-changing station in that restroom.

The ordinance applies to new and existing buildings that have public restrooms or provide services to the public, including hospitals, hotels, theaters, malls, restaurants and stores.

A station is defined as a safe and sanitary table or deck that can hold a child weighing up to 50 pounds. According to a presentation by Michael Shannon, the citys Development Services Director, a baby-changing station plus installation costs $450 to $1,000.

During public hearings on the proposed ordinance last year, concerns were raised that some existing small businesses have small bathrooms where adding a baby-changing station could take away from the space required by the federal American with Disabilities Act, forcing the business to undertake expensive bathroom remodeling to comply with both laws.

The final ordinance answered that concern by allowing for appeals in such cases, city officials said.

There also is an exception to the new law. A restroom without a baby-changing station is considered to be in compliance if theres another bathroom or designated area with a station on the same floor and theres clear and visible signage on the restroom without a station indicating the location of the restroom that has one.

Appeals would go to the City Council-appointed Building-Related and Fire Codes Appeals and Advisory Board, whose members made up the Baby-Changing Station Subcommittee that researched and helped draft the ordinance.

Pelaez said the San Antonio Restaurant Association and San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association were enthusiastically supportive of the new ordinance.

Louis Barrios, president and CEO of Los Barrios family restaurants, said he is happy with this new requirement.

Its not only about sanitation, but also safety, he said.

Barrios, whos a father of three, all adults now, said he has baby-changing stations in both mens and womens bathrooms of his restaurants.

Pelaez said an important part of the ordinance is that its required in restrooms for men as well as women.

Often, baby changing stations are only available in womens public restrooms or not at all, Pelaez said.

The councilman, who has two older children, said that when his kids were babies, he often found he had to change their diapers in the parking lot on the back of his car or on top of a sink counter. He sometimes had to delay changing a diaper altogether or rely on his wife to change it in the womens bathroom.

I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of moms out there who will feel thankful that we (passed) this today, he said Thursday.

Bryan Smith, the chairman of the Baby Changing Station Subcommittee, which is made up of all males, said during a discussion last year on the ordinance that he consistently found himself having to take his baby to his car to change a dirty diaper.

Probably about half the bathrooms Ive been in dont have baby-changing stations, said Smith, who is a registered building contractor.

There are other cities with similar baby changing ordinances, including Dallas and New York.

Just last month, Laredo voted to begin developing a baby changing station ordinance.

Through the BABIES Act, Congress mandated that changing tables be accessible in mens and womens restrooms in all federal buildings.

I know it may seem like a small deal, Pelaez said Thursday after the new law was approved. But it really is a big deal to a lot of parents.

sara.cline@express-news.net
Workers outside the entrance to the Life Care Center nursing home unload supplies, including Purell sanitation stations, on March 2. Read more

Theres much we dont know about COVID-19, the new coronavirus, but one thing is clear: The risk for death rises with age.

A report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control found that the fatality rate for people with coronavirus was under 0.5% for people under age 50. But it rose to 3.6% for 60- to 69-year-olds, 8% for 70- to 79-year-olds, and a whopping 14.8% for people 80 and older. (Those rates are likely inflated because many people with mild coronavirus have not been identified.)

The death rate was also higher for people with underlying conditions like heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, high blood pressure, and cancer, all of which are more common with age.

Those frightening numbers have organizations that work with groups of people over age 65 preparing for a potential onslaught of illness. People in nursing homes, who are often old, weak, and sick, are at particularly high risk.

It could be even worse for the people that we ... take care of, Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association (AHCA), which represents nursing homes, said Wednesday. The group met Wednesday with Vice President Mike Pence and Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to talk about how the virus could affect its members.

Retirement communities, assisted-living facilities, and senior centers must also consider how to keep seniors informed and minimize risk.

A COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in Washington state has driven home how serious the situation could be. As of Wednesday, seven residents of the Life Care Center of Kirkland had died of the new virus.

The potential epidemic is hitting at a time when facilities that serve older adults have trouble recruiting and retaining staff. Widespread staff illness could make things worse.

While it is not yet known how long sick people can spread the virus, Steve Alles, director of the Philadelphia Department of Public Healths disease control division, said employees should stay home at least until they no longer have symptoms, which could be a week or more.

Its not going to be easy, he said.

Retirement communities and nursing facilities are accustomed to dealing with other dangerous viruses, like the flu and norovirus, as well as weather that can disrupt staffing, said Dee Pekruhn, director of life plan communities services and policy, and Jodi Eyigor, director of nursing home quality and policy, for LeadingAge. The group, which represents nonprofit retirement communities and aging services providers, has called for calm preparedness.

We have experience, said Lisa Holloway, vice president of health services for Kendal Corp., a Kennett Square-based operator of senior communities and LeadingAge member. Were used to dealing with this season, because its a flu season for us, too.  We do this every day.

LeadingAges members are activating emergency plans that include increasing attention to infection control; making sure they have enough food, cleaning, and personal care supplies; coordinating plans with hospitals and home care providers; limiting group activities; and communicating with residents, families, and staff about protecting themselves and others.

Senior-care organizations are emphasizing whats important for everybody. Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Stay home if youre sick. Cover coughs. Keep your hands away from your face, because the virus spreads through contact with the mouth, nose, and eyes.

In guidelines released last weekend, the AHCA recommended placing sick residents in the same room or wing. Protective gear like masks and medical gowns are on back order in some places, say leaders, who have asked for government help with distribution.

 READ MORE: When and if coronavirus comes, heres how to prepare (and possibly reduce your panic)

Retirement communities, where the average age is 80 to 85, may also stop offering salad bars and buffets, opting instead for table service in dining rooms or even food delivered to individual apartments, Pekruhn said. If staff are out sick, administrators and marketing and human resources personnel may pick up duties like cleaning or food service.

Its going to require some flexibility and some creativity on behalf of our staff, Pekruhn said.

Tammy Berry, director of quality for the Visiting Nurse Association of Philadelphia, said her agency, which serves up to 900 home-care patients, has 150 telehealth monitors in patients homes and has ordered more. That could help, she said, if staffers are sick.

At this time of year, retirement communities often advise people with flu symptoms not to visit and that will likely be true as well for people with symptoms of COVID-19, which are similar.

Eyigor said it is difficult to stop visits completely at nursing homes. Facilities have to balance residents safety with their rights. Having access to loved ones is one of their rights, she said.

AHCA said that facilities can help families visit in other ways, like Skype, phone calls, or email.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus fears change life in Northeast Phillys Chinese community

AHCAs Parkinson said Pence and Verma assured AHCA leaders that nursing facilities have the duty and ability to exclude visitors from our facilities. Government leaders also told the group they would step up efforts to enforce infection-control procedures.

Acts Retirement-Life Communities, based in Fort Washington, said it will be monitoring the health of all residents, employees, vendors, and visitors who have traveled to or plan to travel to high-risk areas. It is also limiting all nonessential business air travel by employees.

Alles, a preventive medicine specialist who is heading Philadelphias response to COVID-19, said the city is now focused on detection and containment of the virus.

Older people, he said, should be especially diligent about washing hands and other infection control measures. He recommends against traveling to countries now experiencing outbreaks of COVID-19 and thinks seniors should avoid the Seattle area. Avoiding large crowds  at church, sporting events, or bingo night, as well as shopping at peak times  could be a good idea.

Alles said senior facilities should post signs asking any visitors or staff with symptoms to divulge that before entering. Like LeadingAge, he recommends separating people with and without virus symptoms during an outbreak and assigning different staff members to each group. Facilities should then also cancel group activities and refuse new admissions.
This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech.

The rosy optimism of the early internet has faded away, and in its place has entered a sense that the way that were communicating onlinewith its microtargeting, cheapfakes and deepfakes, harassment, and misinformationis an unprecedented threat to democracy. In so many ways, the digital revolution has challenged our traditional commitment to free speech and the First Amendment.

But that commitment has been challenged before, too. On Feb. 24, at the kick-off event for the Free Speech Project, historians, legal experts, and free speech advocates convened to look at how past debates around speech can inform how we protect the future of free speech.

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In the first panel, Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, acknowledged that for most of her career, she embraced the perspective that speech is good, and when speech is bad the answer is more speechshe was a self-described First Amendment absolutist. Now, however, she is increasingly concerned about how online speech could erode our democracy. American University President Sylvia Burwell echoed this sentiment, saying that university leaders like her are trying to create an environment where people can speak, express, develop their identity while defending their rights to do so. As people become more alarmed by harmful online speech, many are calling for new regulatory proposals for online ads, hate speech, and other issues on social media platforms. But Slaughter argued part of solution lies not in law but in the business model of companies that profit from extreme responses and getting the most clicks. There is an economic incentive to appeal to the very worst in us.

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While there are new dynamics with online communications, free speech debates course through American history. In the second panel, four media historians looked to the past of obnoxious, facetious, and harmful speech before the age of Twitter. To W. Joseph Campbell, American University professor and author of Getting It Wrong: Debunking the Greatest Myths in American Journalism, Twitter itself isnt a novel phenomenon. In the late 19th century, he said, editors used tweet-length editorial comments in the margins to critique opinion columnists they disagreed with. David Greenberg, Rutgers professor and author of Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency, argued that what were witnessing now with online speech and political disruption is part of a historic pattern: Its not uncommon for dislocations of technology to accompany political assaults on authority.

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Nicole Hemmer, a research scholar with the Obama Presidency Oral History project at Columbia University and author of Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics, pointed to the rise of radio in the early 20th century as another technology advancement that challenged authority. Because radio broadcasting created a zone of speech, that was difficult to regulate or guarantee for all, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission instituted the Mayflower Doctrine, which required broadcasters to provide equal opportunity to present all sides of public issues. It effectively brought the government into governing what is legitimate debate. A century later, we are now attempting to regulate and guarantee free speech on online platforms, but many of the issues and incentives remain the same. Heidi Tworek, University of British Columbia professor and author of News From Germany: The Competition to Control World Communications, 19001945, called for historians to push back against golden age nostalgia and focus on what speech is actually harmful. Tworek used the example of sometimes lethal patent medicines as a form of harmful disinformation that had economic incentives instead of political ones.

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If economic and political incentives have driven misinformation throughout history, what is distinct about online speech? Moderator Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor in chief of Reason, pushed the historians to consider whether the fast-paced nature of online speech has changed its nature. Campbell countered that people have blamed technology for social dissonance throughout history, noting that Victorians thought they lived in a very fast-paced society.  They felt like they had no time to reflect. While online speech is a heated topic in coastal cities, Tworek noted that many rural Americans do not have access to the internet, and the velocity of communication online may be enhancing the rural/urban divide. Hemmer argued that the loss of faith in journalism is more important to understanding misinformative online speech than its velocity.

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The final panel brought together Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America and author of the forthcoming Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, and Cecilia Munoz, vice president for public interest technology and local initiatives at New America, to discuss how to defend speech for everyone. Nossel believes its critical that we make free speech protections relevant to the rising generation: Young people arent against free speech, they are calling for censorship because they feel targeted, harassed, and isolated, she said. The challenge is how we acknowledge and approach hateful speech when its used to silence others. Munoz, a longtime activist, said that while the upswing of xenophobia and racism in popular discourse has been shocking, there is some value to the openness of online platforms. Were in an environment where racist sentiments are coming out of the mouth of the president, now we can see what it is and call it out when we see it, she said.

Munoz said she believes that a crucial step is making the technology sector more diverse and being deliberate about the architecture of online spaces. Nosselwho has held leadership roles in Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the State Departmenthas found that online speech is exceptionally complicated because the platforms developing the architecture of online spaces are multinational and are pulled between different free speech values. The United States needs to embrace its role as the global standard bearer for free speech, she said.

Watch the full event on the New America website.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
The Caretaker Chairman of the Imo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Marcellinus Nlemigbo has described the Supreme Court ruling returning Senator Hope Uzodinma as the duly elected governor of Imo State as the triumph of democracy and urged Imo citizens to join hands with the governor to provide democracy dividends for the people.

Chief Nlemigbo who spoke with journalists in his office in Owerri on Wednesday, said the Supreme Court verdict represents a final victory for Imo people made possible by God, to whom every glory and adoration belong to.

He said that by this final verdict, Imo people should now brace up for uninterrupted flow of prosperity to be driven by the Governor Hope Uzodinma Administration, adding that the time has come for all Imo citizens to come together in the interest of the State and join the governor in his efforts at repositioning the state.

I am excited that the Supreme Court has finally laid to rest this governorship tussle that has derailed development efforts of Governor Hope Uzodinma. For me, this is a triumph of democracy and justice. For me, there is no victor, no vanquished. It is a victory for Imolites irrespective of party affiliation, Chief Nlemigbo said.

You can see that the people are happy with this verdict going by jubilations across the State, across the State capital. People are happy that at least, the governor can now concentrate and govern the State, and get his vision and programmes executed for the betterment of the State, he added.

The Supreme Court had in a decision by a seven-man panel of Justices led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, reinstated the judgment it gave on January 14, which declared Hope Uzodinma as the validly elected governor of Imo State.

In a lead verdict delivered by Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the apex court held that Ihediohas application to set aside the judgment that removed him from office lacked merit, and held that the application was an invitation for the Supreme Court to sit on appeal over its own final judgment.

While dismissing Ihediohas case, Justice Ariwoola in his lead verdict held that section 235 of the 1999 constitution (as amended), accorded finality to the judgment that declared Uzodinma winner.

The apex court said it decided to discountenance the preliminary objection Uzodinma filed against Ihediohas application to decide the matter on its merit.

Justice Ariwoola said: There is no doubt that the judgment of this court being sought to be set aside for being a nullity was delivered on January 14, 2020. The judgment is a final judgment of this court as prescribed by Section 235 of the constitution.

The appeal was adjudged to be meritorious and was allowed and the judgment of the lower court, which affirmed the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal was set-aside.

By the provisions of the Rules of this court, it shall not review any judgment once given and delivered by it, except to correct any clerical mistake or error arising from any accidental slip or omission, or to vary a judgment or order so as to give effect to its meaning or intention.

The judgment or order shall not be varied, when it correctly represents what the court decided, nor shall the operative or substantive part of it be varied and in different form substituted. See order 8 Rule 16 of the Rules of this court.

Insisting that the judgment of the apex court on the Imo State governorship dispute remained final, Justice Ariwoola said the law might be amended in future to affect issues on the same subject, saying: But for that case decided, that is the end of the matter.

According to him, It is settled law that this court has no power to change or alter its own judgment or to sit as an appeal court over its own judgment.

There is no doubt that the court has inherent powers in respect of matters under its inherent jurisdiction. It certainly has no inherent powers to assume jurisdiction in respect of matters not within its jurisdiction.

The finality of the decision of the Supreme Court in civil proceedings is absolute. Unless specifically set-aside by later legislation. The justices that man the court are of course fallible, but their judgments are as the constitution intends, infallible.
NEW YORK - Anna Alexander, a property manager in Virginia Beach, Virginia, started the day Monday thinking that she might avoid shaking hands because of the coronavirus outbreak. Then somebody stuck out a hand to shake.

She took it.

Im a business person, Alexander, 65, explained. But if somebody else does it next time, I might try to be careful because of the coronavirus.

As the viral infections spread across the globe, everybody has to make a decision: How worried should I be about getting infected, and what should I do about it?

Those decisions can have wide impacts. Seriously people  STOP BUYING MASKS! tweeted U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome M. Adams on Feb. 29. He explained masks arent effective in protecting the general public but if healthcare providers cant get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!

The right degree of concern for somebody who lives near a coronavirus hotspot might very well differ from that of somebody who lives far from one. In any case, say experts in how people gauge risk, its not a simple, cold statistical calculation. Instead, it is colored by our emotions and other psychological factors.

Emotions are the filters through which we see the facts, says David Ropeik, a retired Harvard instructor on risk communication.

And this virus outbreak presents a list of hot buttons ... that ramp up our perception of risk and sometimes make those perceptions differ from the evidence-based conclusions of medical officials, says Paul Slovic, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon.

For example, its new and unfamiliar, unlike the usual seasonal flu that kills a lot more people every year than coronavirus has. It doesnt appear to be fully understood. And it seems hard to control, either by public health authorities or our own actions.

We see there is no vaccine that can prevent it, he said. It can spread through airborne droplets released by infected people, but we cant be sure the people we meet are truly healthy, which also undercuts any sense of personal control, he said.

As Ropeik put it, in the face of a new and poorly understood threat we start feeling like we dont know what we need to do to protect ourselves, and that feels like powerlessness, a lack of control, like driving down the road but with your eyes closed.

Meanwhile, the information people get from the news and social media is not particularly reassuring, Slovic said. The geographic risk of this seems to be rapidly expanding and within any country the case numbers start relatively small and then grow, without any known upper bound, he said. And reports focus on people getting sick and dying, not those whove become infected and had only mild symptoms, he said. Were getting only the scary information.

Whats more, Ropeik said, everybody is telling everybody about it in news and social media, which amplifies the perceived risk.

Ropeik said the coronavirus triggers thinking about years of warnings about lethal pandemics. This idea of the new disease being a major killer is an idea that has been burned into our recent fear memory, he said.

Vincent Covello, director of the Center for Risk Communication, based in New York, provided a list of 17 psychological factors that he said can influence how individuals gauge the risks of coronavirus. For example, he said, people are often more concerned about events if they dont trust the authorities or institutions in charge. Theyre more concerned about involuntary things, like exposure to an infected person, than voluntary ones, like smoking or sunbathing. And theyre often more concerned about risks that have delayed effects, like the lag time between infection and symptoms, than those with an immediate effect, like poisoning.

So how can people minimize the risk of overreaction in themselves and others? Dont spread the word about every little development, including minor missteps by government authorities, Ropeik says. And dont just share the scary parts, but also include things like infection usually causing only mild to moderate symptoms.

Finally, dont be a 24/7 information victim, he said. Log off, put your phone down, pick up a book ... Shut down your risk radar screen for a while.... Youre probably just as much at risk or safe tomorrow as you are now, whether you stay online all the time or not.

___

Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, contributed to this story.

___

This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Thursday, March 5, 2020

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Walmart (WMT), Pfizer (PFE) and Charter Communications (CHTR). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of todays research reports here >>>

Walmarts shares have underperformed the Zacks Supermarkets industry over the past six months (+1.8% vs. +2.6%). The Zacks analyst believes that the companys focus on strengthening e-commerce and store operations has helped it retain its sturdy comps trend in fourth-quarter fiscal 2019, wherein U.S. comps rose for the 22nd straight time.

Further, e-commerce sales surged on robust online grocery performance. Management expects e-commerce sales to rise nearly 30% in fiscal 2021, wherein International sales are likely to grow 4%.

However, Walmarts earnings broke its positive surprise trend and fell year over year in the quarter due to higher cost of sales and increased operating, selling, general and administrative expenses. Additionally, disruption in Chile and a legal matter affected the bottom line. Further, the gross margin remained soft due to pricing and growing e-commerce mix.

(You can read the full research report on Walmart here >>> )

Shares of Pfizer have lost -13.1% over the past year against the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industrys rise of +5.5%. The Zacks analyst believes that the Consumer Healthcare joint venture with Glaxo, the Array acquisition and the pending merger of Upjohn unit with Mylan, if successful, will make Pfizer a smaller company with a diversified portfolio of innovative drugs and vaccines.

The smaller Pfizer should see better revenue growth as the Lyrica LOE cliff will go away. Pfizer expects continued strong growth of key brands like Ibrance, Inlyta and Eliquis to drive sales in 2020. Pfizer also has a strong portfolio of new drugs, which will accelerate growth in 2020 and beyond. However, Lyrica generic erosion, currency headwinds and pricing pressure are the key near-term top-line headwinds.

Story continues

(You can read the full research report on Pfizer here >>> )

Charter Communications shares have gained +11.7% over the past three months against the Zacks Cable TV industrys rise of +0.6%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company is benefiting from growth in Internet, mobile, commercial and video revenues.

Increase in Internet speed at no extra cost is also aiding subscriber growth. Additionally, Charters spectrum mobile products are gaining traction and subscriber base is increasing rapidly. Launch of spectrum mobile services to small and medium business customers is a key catalyst. Improving free cash flow is a growth driver.

However, commercial revenues continued to suffer due to migration of customers to Spectrum pricing, and packaging from Legacy TWC and Legacy Bright House. Further, Charter persistently loses video subscribers, primarily due to cord-cutting and intense competition from streaming service providers like Netflix and Amazon.

(You can read the full research report on Charter Communications here >>> )

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Eli Lilly (LLY), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and CME Group (CME).

Free: Zacks Single Best Stock Set to Double

Today you are invited to download our latest Special Report that reveals 5 stocks with the most potential to gain +100% or more in 2020. From those 5, Zacks Director of Research, Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

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Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>

Today's Must Read

Walmart's (WMT) Superb U.S. Comps Trend to Fuel Top-Line

Ibrance & Other Key Drugs to Drive Pfizer's (PFE) Sales

Subscriber Gain Aids Charter (CHTR) Amid Stiff Competition

Featured Reports

Lilly (LLY) Makes Solid Pipeline Progress

The Zacks analyst points out that several late-stage data readouts are scheduled for 2020 for Lilly. It is also regularly adding promising new pipeline assets.

Robust Demand Aids Lockheed (LMT), F-35 program's Cost Hurts

Per the Zacks Analyst, Lockheed Martin witnesses strong demand for its aircraft programs and missile defense systems.

CME Group (CME) Futures Expansion Aids, Expenses Hurt

Per the Zacks analyst, the company is well poised for growth with the expansion of futures products in emerging markets and OTC offerings.

Intuit (INTU) Rides on Solid Product Portfolio & Cloud Shift

Per the Zacks analyst, Intuit is gaining from solid adoption of TurboTax Live offering, and its lending product - QuickBooks Capital.

Intercontinental (ICE) Gains From Buyouts, Debt High

Per the Zacks analyst, Intercontinental Exchange is set to grow on a number of buyouts and cost synergies.

Kimberly-Clark's (KMB) Restructuring Plans to Aid Earnings

Kimberly-Clark expects cost savings of $425-$500 million in 2020, from its FORCE Program and 2018 Global Restructuring Program.

Robust Product Portfolio & Acquisitions Aid ANSYS (ANSS)

Per the Zacks analyst, buyouts like Livermore Software Technology (LSTC) and Dynardo are enabling ANSYS to bring innovative solutions to the market & fortify foothold in the simulations market.

New Upgrades

Label Expansions of Eylea, Dupixent Boost Regeneron (REGN)

Per the Zacks analyst, label expansions of key drugs like Eylea and Dupixent boost Regeneron. The company's efforts to expand the label of these drugs and develop its pipeline are impressive too.

Robust Comparable Store Sales to Aid Cracker Barrel (CBRL)

Per the Zacks analyst, Cracker Barrel continues to benefit from robust comparable store restaurant sales, enhanced marketing efforts, seasonal promotions as well as unit expansions.

Fuel Distribution & Terminalling Businesses Aid Sunoco (SUN)

Per the Zacks analyst, Sunoco's fuel distribution and terminalling businesses are expected to bring higher profits on the back of higher demand in the domestic market.

New Downgrades

Weak Refining & Chemical Businesses Hurt Sinopec (SNP)

Declining demand for petroleum products continues to hurt Sinopec's refining business. Lower contributions from the firm's chemicals operations also concern the Zacks analyst.

VMware (VMW) Hurt By a Rise in Investment on SaaS Portfolio

Per the Zacks analyst, heavy spending on hybrid cloud and SaaS portfolios amid intensifying competition hurts VMware's profitability.

Sluggish Weibo & Portal Advertising Revenues Hurt SINA (SINA)

Per the Zacks Analyst, declining Weibo & portal advertising revenues is hurting SINA's top-line growth. Moreover, intensifying competition is a concern.



undefined



Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Pfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report



CME Group Inc. (CME) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 19:57:52|Editor: huaxia

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The epidemic knows no boundaries, and neither do efforts to combat it.

With a shared goal of overcoming the epidemic, China and its two close neighbors have set a vivid example of cooperating during a difficult time.

by Xinhua writers Lu Rui, Ye Shan, Zhang Jing

SEOUL, March 5 (Xinhua) -- With comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures, China's COVID-19 cases are declining and more people are returning to work.

But cases continue to grow rapidly outside China, with major outbreaks in neighboring South Korea and Japan, raising growing concerns in the two northeast Asian countries.

China, which has received donations of much-needed supplies and heart-warming well-wishes from countries including South Korea and Japan at the height of its epidemic situation, is now giving back like a real friend in need to the two neighbors so as to help them get through hard times.

WORSENING SITUATION

South Korea reported its first coronavirus case on Jan. 20. Nearly a month after, the number of infections stood at 31. The situation then quickly worsened, with several cases linked to a religious group in the metropolis of Daegu, a city roughly 300 km southeast of the capital Seoul.

Infections in South Korea soared over the past 15 days and the country has raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level.

By Thursday morning, South Korea's total coronavirus infections spiked to 5,766, the highest national count outside China. Some 90 percent of cases were reported in Daegu and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province.

South Korean soldiers disinfect the street in Seoul, South Korea, March 4, 2020. (NEWSIS/Handout via Xinhua)

Japan is also bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis. As of Thursday morning, the country's confirmed coronavirus infections rose above 1,000, with 700 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in the port city of Yokohama.

Other small-scale infections have occurred in Japan, say the authorities. In the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, the governor has declared a state of emergency and urged residents to remain indoors over the weekend.

As part of a new emergency package to tackle the worsening situation, the Japanese government will use reserve funds worth over 270 billion yen (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) in around 10 days to help cushion the fallout from the spread of the epidemic, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday.

A government panel comprising medical experts has warned that the next week or two would be "critical" to contain the virus' spread.

A pedestrian wearing a face mask passes by an electronic countdown timer for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

HELPING HAND

When the coronavirus first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Japan and South Korea were among the earliest to extend a helping hand. Government agencies, enterprises and institutions from both countries offered assistance to China.

On Feb. 10, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan decided to deduct 5,000 yen (45.43 dollars) from the March salary of every LDP parliamentarian and donate it to support China's fight against the outbreak, a sum totaling 2 million yen (18,170 dollars).

"For Japan, when it sees a virus outbreak in China, it is like seeing a relative or neighbor suffering. Japanese people are willing to help China and hope the outbreak will pass as soon as possible," said Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the LDP.

A Chinese-language poetic verse on the boxes of mask donations by the Japanese HSK Bureau caught the eyes of Chinese netizens and went viral on social media. The phrase written in eight Chinese characters conveyed the heartfelt support of the Japanese people.

"Although we are in different places, we are under the same sky," read the verse that stemmed from an ancient poem depicting the long-lasting friendship between China and Japan.

A Japanese girl wearing a red Chinese cheongsam bows deeply to passers-by with a donation box in hands to raise money to help those in China affected by the virus on the Chinese Lantern Festival in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 8, 2020. (Photo by Zhang Huiqing/Xinhua)

During the Chinese Lantern Festival in February, a Japanese girl wearing a red Chinese cheongsam stood in a busy street in Tokyo. She held a donation box and bowed deeply to passersby to raise money for those in China affected by the disease, an act that pulled the heart strings of millions of people on social media.

Meanwhile, South Korea's government decided to extend emergency assistance worth 5 million U.S. dollars to China, said the Chinese Embassy in South Korea. Donations of face masks, protective suits and goggles were provided by the South Korean Alumni Association in China.

A number of South Korean conglomerates including Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG contributed their share to China's fight against the new virus, according to the Chinese Embassy.

"South Korea and China are close neighbors, and helping one's neighbor is helping oneself," South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said.

SHARED COMMUNITY

Following the resolute measures taken to prevent the spread of and control COVID-19, the situation in China has stabilized, with new cases declining nationwide.

However, with infections in Japan and South Korea continuing to surge, China hasn't hesitated to offer assistance back. As one Chinese saying goes, the grace of dripping water should be reciprocated by a gushing spring.

After learning that Japan was running short, China donated a batch of test kits to the country's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, according to the Chinese Embassy in Japan.

Chinese nationals living in Japan distributed masks -- which they went to great lengths to collect -- to pedestrians, expressing gratitude to the Japanese people for their help during China's own crisis.

A member (R) of "Mask Panda Action Team", a volunteer group initiated by local Chinese community and later joined by more people in Japan, hands out masks to local people to help with the prevention of the novel coronavirus disease in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

A Chinese girl named Tiantian held a cardboard box with the Japanese words "Gratitude from Wuhan" written on it and distributed masks on the street of Tokyo.

"I hope that by handing out the masks, I can call attention to the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and draw the attention of the international community to the situation in Japan," Tiantian told Xinhua after garnering plenty of attention online.

In late February the Chinese Embassy in South Korea donated around 25,000 medical masks to the city of Daegu to help it cope with the deadly coronavirus.

The Chinese port city of Shanghai delivered a total of 500,000 masks to the worst-hit areas in South Korea, including Daegu city and North Gyeongsang province. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in South Korea on Wednesday donated 50 million won (42,000 dollars) in aid to Daegu.

Photo taken on Feb. 27, 2020 shows boxes of masks donated to Daegu by the Chinese Embassy, in Seoul, South Korea. (Chinese Embassy in South Korea/Handout via Xinhua)

The epidemic knows no boundaries, and neither do efforts to combat it.

With a shared goal of overcoming the epidemic, China and its two close neighbors have set a vivid example of cooperating during a difficult time.

The ground becomes firm after rain, says one proverb. The three-pronged battle against the coronavirus reflects a desire to jointly build a community with a share future.

"It is hoped that the joint efforts of the three countries to fight the novel coronavirus can deepen three-way cooperation in other areas," said Cao Jing, secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, an intergovernmental body to facilitate cooperation among the three neighbors.

"All three countries are now experiencing difficulty," Cao said. "The virus is the common enemy of humankind, and only through solidarity and cooperation can we overcome the challenge together." (Video reporters: Deng Min, Guo Wei,Tian Ming, Yin Xiaosheng, Di Chun; Video editor: Zhang Yichi.)
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told her staff Thursday that she is suspending her 2020 Democratic campaign for president.

The senator will formally drop out of the race Thursday afternoon, though has not yet said if she will endorse former Vice President Joe Biden or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. She will holding a press conference at 12:30 p.m. EST.



Warren is dropping out following a shallow performance on Super Tuesday, placing third in her home state. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar both dropped out before Super Tuesday, endorsing Biden.

Warren announced her plans to drop out during a phone call with her campaign staff this morning.

"I want to start with the news," she said. "I want all of you to hear it first, and I want you to hear it straight from me: today, Im suspending our campaign for president."

Warren went on to highlight the accomplishments of her team.

"We didnt reach our goal, but what we have done together  what you have done  has made a lasting difference. Its not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters  and the changes will have ripples for years to come."



"So from the bottom of my heart, thank you, for everything you have poured into this campaign."

She ended the call by reminding her team they still had work to do.

"Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die."



After mediocre showings in the first four contests, where she never finished higher than third place, Tuesdays results paved the way for Warren's exit from the race for the Democratic nomination.

The senator's campaign had all the early markers of success - robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a national organization -- but she was squeezed out by the emerging front-runners: Sanders and Biden.

Warren's campaign seemed to begin with enormous promise. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan's Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

Warren, 70, built her campaign around policy proposals and the slogan, "I have a plan for that."

She appeared to hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, werent ambitious enough to roll back President Donald Trump's policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling.But Warren was unable to consolidate the support of the Democratic Partys most liberal wing against the races other top progressive, Sanders. Both support universal, government-sponsored health care, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.
(UPDATED) PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Archie Gamboa and seven others, including three other high-ranking PNP officials, were hurt in a helicopter crash on Thursday morning, March 5, in San Pedro, Laguna.

With Gamboa on board the helicopter were Major General Mariel Magaway, director for Intelligence; Major General Jose Maria Jovic Ramos, director for comptrollership; Brigadier General Bernard Banac, spokesperson; aide-de-camp Captain Gayrama; pilot Lieutenant Colonel Zalatar; co-pilot Lt. Col. Macawili; and crew Senior Master Sergeant Estona.

They were in San Pedro, Laguna to visit the impounding area of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and were headed towards Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna when the helicopter hit a high tension wire minutes after takeoff and crashed.

All were conscious when they were pulled out of the helicopter and brought to two hospitals in San Pedro, Laguna.

HPG Special Operations Division Chief Rannie Estilles, who was among the first responders at the scene, said Gamboa was the first to be pulled out of the helicopter.

He was seated on the right side of the eight-seater Bell helicopter.

Captain Estilles said the left portion of the chopper slammed to the ground and a portion burst into flames. A fire truck on standby immediately controlled the fire. (SunStar Philippines)
Observing the 104th birth anniversary of legendary Odia politician Biju Patnaik on Thursday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the process of distributing 'pucca' house entitlement orders and declared that March 5 will now be celebrated as the 'Panchayatiraj and Lokseva Day' in the state.

Though the day was earlier observed as the Panchatairaj day, Patnaik said the word 'Lokseva' will be added to it as people are the masters.

The chief minister made this announcement while addressing the state-level celebration of the Panchayatiraj Day here marking the birth anniversary of his father Biju Patnaik.

The BJD chief also garlanded former chief minister Biju Patnaik's statue in the Odisha Assembly premises.

He launched the process for the allotment of 20 lakh concrete houses to beneficiaries by handing over eligibility guarantee cards to nine of them.

"We are happy to have come a long way in fulfilling the dream (of Biju Patnaik). We have already provided 25 lakh pucca houses to the beneficiaries and set a target to provide another 20 lakh houses in the next four years.

"I am very happy for launching the distribution of the pucca ghar entitlement cards on the birth anniversary of Biju Babu today," the chief minister said.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tributes to Biju Patnaik on his 104th birth anniversary, saying he worked tirelessly for India's development.

At a function in Cuttack held earlier in the day, Patnaik laid the foundation stone of the expanded and renovated campus of the SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Patnaik said the healthcare institute is now being expanded and renovated into a 3,000-bedded hospital by an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

The administration has taken into possession of nearly 25 acres of government land in the vicinity of the hospital after removing unauthorized constructions and encroachments.

Patnaik said his family members have a special attachment with Cuttack and Biju Babu had always held the city very close to his heart, where he was born and brought up.

"From here (Cuttack), Biju Babu plunged into the freedom movement and had travelled to Peshawar on a bicycle," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Responds to Wiretapping Abuses

Commentary

A new order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court sets forth and reviews specific changes in the wake of government wiretapping abuses.

The most noteworthy item bars the FBI and Justice Department (DOJ) officials who were involved in the controversial wiretaps from drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting new wiretap applications while their actions are under review.

The DOJs Office of the Inspector General flagged multiple abuses in the wiretapping of former Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and DOJ have determined that at least two of the four wiretaps against Page were improper and are invalid.

Other actions recommended by the FISC court this week include training FBI and DOJ officials on what they should already know: That theyre required to be honest, and shouldnt doctor documents or lie to the court explicitly or by omission.

A new FISC filing on March 4 describes myriad errors and omissions by the government in the Page wiretap applications. The court says FBI and DOJ fixes discussed to date would probably reduce inadvertent errors and omissions, and they should remind agents and other responsible FBI personnel of their obligation to provide accurate and complete information.

According to the court, The frequency and seriousness of these errors in a case that, given its sensitive nature, had an unusually high level of review at both DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have called into question the reliability of the information proffered in other FBI applications.

But one congressional critic of the reform process so far says, The recommendations and changes do not address the obvious. The violations were not accidental. Doubling down on formalities and forms does not resolve the issue of bad people motivated by bad intentions.

Below is a summary of the information contained in the new FISC filing. All of the information is according to the court.

The court asked whether an FBI attorney who allegedly doctored a document against Page has been referred for disciplinary action.

[The FBIs] omissions of material fact were the most prevalent and among the most serious problems with the Page applications.

The FBI didnt disclose Pages prior relationship with U.S. intelligence. He had been approved as an operational contact from 2008 to 2013.

The FBI didnt disclose that Page had reported to intelligence agency his prior contacts with certain Russian intelligence officers. These contacts were improperly used by FBI to justify wiretaps.

The FBI didnt disclose that intelligence officers had deemed Page to have been candid in describing his Russian contacts.

The FBI Office of General Counsel attorney doctored a government email to falsely indicate that Page hadnt been a government intelligence source.

The DOJ attorney responsible for preparing the Page applications knew that Page claimed to have been a government intel source, but didnt check out the claim or report it.

The same attorney received documents that contained materially adverse information, and that information should have been included in the wiretap applications, but wasnt.

All four FBI wiretap applications against Page relied on information compiled by Christopher Steele. He worked for Fusion GPS, a firm hired by Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton for president.

The Steele report presented to the FISC court made the following claims, in part:

(1) Russia was in control of derogatory information about Hillary Clinton that was compiled over many years. Russia had been feeding information to the Trump campaign;

(2) During a July 2016 trip to Moscow, Page discussed future cooperation and the lifting of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia in a secret meeting with top associates of Russia President Putin. At the meeting, participants also discussed divulging derogatory information about Clinton to the Trump campaign.

(3) Page was an intermediary between Russia and the Trump campaign in a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation, managed by Trumps then-campaign manager Paul Manafort. This is how Russian-hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) got into the hands of WikiLeaks. The exchange was made so that the Trump campaign would sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as an issue.

(4) At Pages suggestion, Russia released the DNC emails to WikiLeaks to swing voters to Trump.

The FBI didnt disclose inconsistencies in Steeles reporting and sourcing.

The FBI didnt disclose that Steele himself had undercut the reliability of one of his own main sources.

The FBI omitted and mischaracterized information about Steeles personal credibility and professional judgment.

The FBI omitted information that confirmed the political origins of Steeles reporting and Steeles own personal bias.

The FBI didnt disclose that Steele was the source for a September 2016 news article also submitted in the Page wiretap applications. The fact that Steele had shared with the news media information he gave to FBI would have shed further light on his motivations.

The FBI claimed Page was participating in a conspiracy with Russia by acting as an intermediary for Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, but omitted statements that Page made to a confidential government source that contradicted the FBIs theory of the case.

The FBI omitted other information that showed two other Trump campaign officials, and not Page, were responsible for changing the Republican platform regarding Russias annexation of part of Ukraine. The FBI had claimed Page made the change at the behest of Russia.

Changes

The FBI told the court it will now require that all information known at the time of the request and bearing on the reliability of a [Confidential Human Source] whose information is used to support the FISA application be included in the wiretap application. Also, the FBI said the information now will be verified by the handler for the source.

However, the court noted that a revised request form it reviewed doesnt include these requirements.

The government also is requiring that new wiretap applications include a checklist to document what information from a source is being used in the wiretap application. The court ordered the government to provide a copy of the checklist, an update on its implementation, and clarify whether the FBI handler of the human source is required to verify all CHS reliability information before the FBI submits the FISA request form.

The inspector general recommended improvements to the Woods Form, which was supposed to be used to ensure the FBI has verified all information in the wiretap applications. The improvements will:

(1) Emphasize the obligations to re-verify factual assertions repeated from prior applications and to obtain written approval from handling agents  of all source characterizations in applications;

(2) Specify what steps must be taken and documented during the legal review performed by the FBI  line attorney and supervisor (including clarification of what positions may serve as a supervisor) before submission of the FISA package to the FBI Director.

Modified Woods Forms will require FBI agents and their supervisors to verify that they have told the Department of Justice about anything that might question the accuracy of a wiretap application or the theory of the case. They must also re-verify information before renewing a wiretap application. The FBI source handler must confirm the reliability of each of the sources statements and content.

The court stated that these measures would probably reduce inadvertent errors and omissions, and they should remind agents and other responsible FBI personnel of their obligation to provide accurate and complete information.

The court had directed FBI attorneys submitting wiretap applications to sign the following statement, starting March 9: To the best of my knowledge, this application fairly reflects all information that might reasonably call into question the accuracy of the information or the reasonableness of any FBI assessments in the application, or otherwise raise doubts about the requested probable cause findings.

The government has agreed to have FBI case agents, rather than supervisory headquarters agents, affirm the truth of the information in the wiretap application. Each agent will have to sign the following statement, also starting March 9: To the best of my knowledge, the Office of Intelligence of the Department of Justice has been apprised of all information that might reasonably call into question the accuracy of the information or reasonableness of any FBI assessment in the application, or otherwise raise doubts about the requested probable cause findings.

The FBI and DOJ told the court they have already conducted training on the new procedures. This training, in part, emphasizes the heightened duty of candor to the wiretap court.

The DOJ and FBI will now coordinate on all training for wiretap applications and procedures.

The inspector general recommended the FBI and DOJ review all employees, including senior officials, in the chain of command regarding the improper wiretaps. While those reviews are ongoing, the court has barred these officials from drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting wiretap application.

According to the court, Any finding of misconduct relating to the handling of [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court] applications shall be promptly reported to the Court.

The court has asked for updates on all of this by March 27, a summary of new training courses by May 4 (with confirmation that all have been tested and passed by July 3), a description of any reviews that bear on the described fixes by May 22, and an assessment of how well the new wiretap forms are working by June 30.

Read the court decision by clicking on the link here.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Bernie Sanders told MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" Wednesday he would drop out of the 2020 race if Joe Biden won a plurality of pledged delegates at July's Democratic convention.

Details: "If Biden walks into the convention, or at the end of the process, has more votes than me, he's the winner," Sanders told Maddow. But he added if it ended up being that a candidate only had a plurality of votes and a second ballot were required that could potentially be decided by superdelegates "it would be a real, real disaster for the Democratic party."

People would say 'the person who won the most votes didn't get selected.' Not a good idea."

What else he's saying: In his interview with Maddow, Sanders said Biden's references to his Obama administration role were "working well" as the former president is "enormously popular" with most Democrats and African American voters.

But he made clear he respected the fact Obama hadn't endorsed any Democratic presidential candidate.

Of note: Sanders made the remarks as he became the latest 2020 candidate to release an ad invoking Obama's image.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Go deeper: Sanders pondered a primary challenge against Obama in 2012
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the false rumors about the novel coronavirus circulating in Russia are being organized from abroad during government meeting, Wednesday.

According to South China Morning Post, the country's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported to the president that false information about the country's coronavirus status is being planted to cause fear. Putin also advised the ministers that the reality of the situation is not very critical.

Putin also referred to the circulating stories as "provocative fake stories," and advised that the FSB reports say that these are mostly organized from outside the country which clearly aims to spread panic among the public. He also noted that Russia has to release comprehensive, trustworthy and timely information to fight the continued spread of false news. He further added that as of the moment, nothing critical is happening in the country regarding the virus, but it is vital that the people know the real situation.

Aside from Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova also aired out her thoughts on fake posts circulating on social media about COVID-19. She called out the posts that are claiming that there is quite a large number of people in Russia infected with the virus and that the country's officials are hiding the information. She further stressed in the meeting that these claims are far from reality.

The charges by Moscow were following the claims of State Department officials of the United States that thousands of social media accounts used to fuel alarm over the virus are linked to Russia.

Read also: Coronavirus Types: Scientists in China Discover Two New Strains of COVID-19

Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, Philip Reeker referred to the accounts as "Russia malign actors" and claimed that they were spreading disinformation about the virus which poses a threat to public safety and security.

Reeker's comments were immediately condemned by Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry saying that those were a "deliberately false story."

In response to the continuous spread of the coronavirus, Russia has banned export on masks, respirators and hazmat suits in order to ensure that their doctors and healthcare frontlines have access to these items when treating coronavirus patients.

Seventeen types of equipment including, plastic shoe covers, gloves, face masks, surgical scrubs, hazmat suits, and gas masks are affected by the ban. However, the ban does not cover humanitarian aid supplies leaving the country. The said ban is set to expire on the first of June.

As of the moment, Russia has recorded six confirmed COVID-19 cases including those who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess. The country has also placed a ban on visits by Chinese citizens and has restricted entry of Iranians and those traveling from South Korea.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 95,000 worldwide with the biggest density of cases still in mainland China where the virus first emerged. Deaths caused by the virus has also already risen to more than3,200 across 71 countries and territories worldwide.

Related news: Saudi Arabia Bans Citizens From Taking Mecca Pilgrimage Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

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French authorities have announced that work is progressing at a steady pace on its country pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site.



Designed by the Atelier du Prado Architects and Celnikier & Grabli, the French Pavilion has light as one of the key inspirations.



The France Pavilion will be a symbol of the country's participation in this global event, an emblem of the promotion of French innovation and experiential space for all visitors.



The design of the pavilion is based on the three pillars of bio-climatism: Controlling solar gains, providing a highly insulating waterproof envelope, and limiting the use of fossil fuels as much as possible.



"With the support of our talented team that has been working non-stop, as well as the immense support we have received from the team at Expo, we anticipate construction to conclude by June, with a complete handover shortly before the launch," stated Philippe Mille, the pavilion director.



The concept of the pavilion will bring to the forefront the interactivity and participation of all, which is an integral part of our public journey designed to interact with all types of visitors," he said, while visiting the Expo 2020 construction site in Dubai.



Mille was accompanied by Erik Linquier, General Commissioner and architects Bernard Mauplot from Atelier du Prado and Jacob Celnikier from Celnikier & Grabli during the tour.



The French pavilion, which will come up over a 2,700-sq-m area, boasts external facade covered with photovoltaic panels. It is this facade and a canopy, hanging at an altitude of 15 m and drawing a sky of 1,500 sq m, that will form an artificial screen and sky.



This, in turn, will become dematerialised day and night in an invitation and a prelude to the "Light, Enlightenments" journey that the pavilion unfolds within it.



Linquier said the pavilion will promote the French innovation model, which makes it possible to conciliate sustainable development and international business competitiveness for connected and sustainable cities and territories, serving the citizen and the common good.



"The pavilion will express, through its name, "Light, Enlightenments", France's singular and innovative vision in terms of ecological and inclusive transition, combining a strong architectural gesture with an innovative immersive scenography," he added.



Earlier this year, the France Pavilion announced its ambassadors: Jessica Prealpato, an award-winning pastry chef, and Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut with the ESA, said Linquier.



These representatives embody the countrys vision for Expo 2020 Dubai and their involvement with the project and the contribution of their expertise will enable France to shine on the international stage, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi: Actress Alia Bhatt, who on Wednesday night attended the screening of her best friend Akansha Ranjan Kapoor's debut film 'Guilty', is making her and boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor's fans go crazy after the internet spotted that her phone wallpaper is a loved-up picture of the couple hugging each other. A picture of Alia from the screening venue shows the actress clutching her phone in her hand and as the screen light pops, we see the wallpaper. The picture, which has been curated by fan clubs on social media, features her in a light-coloured attire while Ranbir can be seen in a blue outfit.

Take a look at the picture here:

Alia and Ranbir fell in love on the sets of their work-in-progress film 'Brahmastra'. The couple hasn't yet spoken openly about their relationship but are often spotted together on each other's family events and holidays. The actress' social media posts for Ranbir also speak a thousand words. Just recently the duo made a grand entry at Ranbir cousin Armaan Jain's wedding reception in Mumbai.

As of now, both Alia and Ranbir are busy completing 'Brahmastra' schedule. The Ayan Mukerji-directed film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia, Nagarjuna and Mouni Roy. Apart from 'Brahmastra', Alia will be seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' while Ranbir has 'Shamshera' in the pipeline.
Hundred of women in Mexico are now protesting over the government's empty promises to end violence against women.

The gruesome murder of a 25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla sparked protest throughout the country after she was found dead, disemboweled, and skinned by the 46-year-old man she lived with.

The public prosecutor's office faced backlash and criticism after they leaked photos of the victim's mutilated body to the press.

Local publications eventually used the photos in their newspaper.



Women marched to the National Palace where Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador held his press conferences.

Protesters demanded justice for the victim, as well as sanctions for the people responsible for leaking photos of her corpse. They urged the government to take action following the rising cases of femicide in the country.

Read More: Gruesome Murder of 25-Year-Old Woman Sparks Protest in Mexico

Following Ingrid Escamilla's death, authorities found another femicide victim in a 7-year-old girl.

Fatima was found murdered and wrapped in a plastic bag days after she was reported missing. She was picked up from school by an unidentified woman who was later charged with murder.

The perpetrator was arrested along with another man after they were found to have beaten and sexually abused the child before her death.

The suspects abandoned their rented home in Tlahuac a day before the victim's body was discovered by authorities.

Read More: 7-Year-Old Girl Found Wrapped in Plastic Bag in Mexico City

Law enforcement officials found two more cases of femicide on Ecatepec on February 24. The municipality is known for multiple murder and kidnapping cases involving women, making it one of the most dangerous places for females.

The cases sparked outrage among Mexican women who called the government's response insufficient and negligent.

"Governments come and go, and they never get to the bottom of the issue. That's why the number of murders has gone up in the last ten years," the Coordinator at the national Citizen Observatory for Femicide (OCNF) Maria de la Luz Estrada said.

10 women are murdered in Mexico every day. 3,825 women fell victims to the fender-based crime in 2019 alone.

Femicide cases rose from 425 cases in 2015 to 1,006 in 2019. The majority of these cases never get justice.

The federal government has reportedly decreased the budget for women's programs.

Activists warn the government about its inaction towards the rising number of femicide throughout Mexico.

Aimee Vega, who works with the National Autonomous University of Mexico said the murders are avoidable if the government chooses to approve more countermeasures.

She urged authorities to increase prison time for femicide suspects from 65 years.

Vega also said punitive sanctions will not help eradicate the problem.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador addressed the issue during a press conference, but refrained from using the term "femicide."

He also said the protests had different agendas.

Anti-femicide activists are now planning to hold protests and a national strike on March 8 and 9.

Estrada addressed Obrador's accusations saying, "What we cannot allow this government to do is to leave women out."
A man carrying three live rounds in his purse entered the parliament complex on Thursday, officials said.

He, however, was released after a thorough verification found that he possessed a licensed weapon and had forgotten to take out the bullets from his pocket before entering the complex.

According to police, Akhtar Khan (44), a resident of Ghaziabad, was passing through Gate number 8 of parliament.

The security personnel detected the live rounds



(.32 bore) inside Khan's pocket and stopped him from moving inside.

The man was handed over to police. He was released later after proper verification, the officials added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hyderabad, March 5 : Two persons, including a techie, have tested negative for coronavirus, Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender said on Thursday.

He said the samples of the two suspected cases were tested negative at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

While one of them is a software engineer, who had recently returned from Italy, the other is a sanitation worker of a private hospital.

The sanitation worker was one of those who came into contact with a techie, the lone positive case recorded in the state so far.

The minister said people need not panic as the state has not recorded any case of coronavirus contracted locally.

The techie, who was tested positive on March 2, had recently returned from Dubai.

The techie working for a software firm in Bengaluru underwent treatment at a private hospital here for five days before approaching government-run Gandhi Hospital.

His family members and others in his contact were advised self-isolation.

A total of 47 persons were tested at Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday. The officials had said 45 of them tested negative while samples of two others were sent to Pune for further testing.

The reports of the techie testing positive had triggered panic in one of the buildings at an information technology park, where the techie's office is located. The IT companies operating from that building had sent the employees home, asking them to work from their residence.
ULSTER Bank has been fined 4.6m by the Central Bank for failings around mortgage data it supplied to the regulator.

The fine would have been 6.5m, but the bank got a discount of 30pc for reaching a settlement with the regulators in the Central Bank.

Ulster Bank admitted to the breaches which mainly involved how it submitted returns on mortgage arrears.

An investigation by regulators found there was a failure to prepare proper returns.

There were questions around the integrity of the data supplied by the British-owned bank to the Central Bank.

Ulster Bank was told in 2013 that there were issues with how it was compiling data to meet what the Central Bank calls its Mortgage Arrears Resolution Targets.

But it was another two years before the bank acted to address the failings, the Central Bank said in a release.

This inaction and delay by the firm is unacceptable and the Central Bank is treating such failure by the firm as an aggravating factor in this case, the Central Bank said.

It added that a further aggravating factor is the banks previous enforcement record, which has repeatedly identified poor governance practices at the firm.

The Central Banks Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering Seana Cunningham said: Accurate and reliable data is vital to the Central Banks ability to monitor risk and supervise firms effectively, and to ensure the ongoing stability of the financial system.

Effective governance is a fundamental part of ensuring data quality.

She said banks must satisfy themselves that they have robust, effective and tested governance in place to ensure the quality of the data they manage and disseminate.
Washington, March 5 : Senator Elizabeth Warren, the last woman left in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination, is dropping out of the contest, reports said on Thursday.

The 70-year-old Senator's decision came after her dismal showing in 'Super Tuesday' phase of the Democratic primaries in which she was a poor third and could not even win her home state, Massachusetts.

It came a day after billionaire businessman and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also pulled out, and endorsed current front-runner, former Vice-President Joe Biden.

Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are the two key candidates left in the race but Warren has not indicated whom she will support.
The first edition of the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival is set to take place between 12 and 17 June 2020

The management of the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival announced that film critic Mohamed Atef will be the artistic director of the festival.

Atef expressed his happiness to Samir Sabri, the festival's president, and the members of the supreme consultative body headed by the writer Mohammed Salmawi.

He stated that the expected number of films participating in the various programmes of the festival is 45. Submission are still open for films produced in 2019-2020 and which have not been shown in Egypt.

The submission deadline is 15 March, with films to be in their original language with English subtitles.

The festival will give awards in several categories, including feature documentary and short documentary.

Atef is one of the most prominent programmers of film festivals in the Arab region.

Besides his new responsibility with the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival, he is also a programmer for El-Gouna Film Festival in Egypt and the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden. He is also a member of the selection committee for development and post-production grants by the Malmo Arab Film Festival market, CineGouna Platform, the production arm of El-Gouna Film Festival, and the Light Competition for film support organised by the Ministry of Culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He is also a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Film Critics Association.

Previously, Atef worked as the artistic director of the Ismailia Documentary and Short Films Festival, the artistic director of the Luxor Arab and European Film Festival, director of the Short Film Competition at Cairo International Film Festival, and member of the Supreme Committee for Festivals and Local and International Competitions.

The first edition of the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival is set to take place between 12 and 17 of June 2020, with France as the festivals guest of honour.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Democrats do have an advantage over their Republican counterparts: an immediate example to recoil from. The Trump takeover of the GOP demonstrates that some political choices are difficult to unmake, like trying to un-stir cream from your coffee. Because partisanship is so powerful, many Democrats would feel compelled to support a President Sanders the way Republicans now support President Trump. And this would likely turn their partisan duty into the justification of one mans eccentricities and extremism. Whatever a President Bidens flaws may be, defending him would at least be the defense of a distinctly Democratic cause.
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It was all supposed to happen this year for Oliver Anene.

He was going to become an American citizen, almost eight years after coming to the country as an asylum seeker. And his mother back in Nigeria was finally going to be able to get a visa through him, so she could see New York City for the first time.

In preparation for the reunion  the first time the two would see each other since Anene left Nigeria in 2012  the green card holder saved thousands of dollars and readied to move out of his studio apartment in Harlem. She would be here a few months, and they would need the space.

Before he could sign a lease on a bigger apartment, however, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that Nigeria had been added to a list of countries from which travel to the United States would be restricted.

U.S. officials said on Jan. 31, citizens from Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, would now be barred from entering the country  all because their governments failed to meet a series of security criteria.

The expanded policy took effect three weeks later, on Feb. 21.

Ive been avoiding my mom, because I still dont know how to explain, Anene, a program specialist at the Open Society Foundations, told THE CITY.

He has since renewed his lease on the studio in Harlem and is unsure when he will see his mother. Returning to Nigeria for him, as an openly gay man, is still very risky, he said.

This was something we discussed only a couple of weeks ago, in January, he said of his plan to bring his mother to New York. And then this happened.

A Large Community

Nigeria is Africas most populous country and the continents largest economy. Nearly 400,000 first- and second-generation Nigerians are estimated to be living in the United States, according to a 2015 report from the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think-tank that studies immigration.

New York City boasts the nations largest Nigerian immigrant population, with 35,000, followed by Houston and Washington, according to the Institute.

This is a massive expansion of the previous versions of the ban, said Amaha Kassa, executive director of African Communities Together, a civil rights organization for African immigrants.

African countries were targeted in the very first version of the ban, like Somalia and Sudan, Kassa added. But theyve gone after the largest country on the African continent and the country with the largest diaspora.

Nigerians are also a highly educated group of immigrants: Between 2008 and 2012, more than 60% of those with Nigerian ancestry who were 25 and older had a bachelors degree or higher, versus just 28.5% of all Americans, the Census Bureau found.

Everywhere you go, Nigerians are at the top of their game, said Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chair of the Nigerian governments Diaspora Commission, a federal entity responsible for connecting with the estimated 17 million Nigerians she said are living outside the country.

She told THE CITY that, given the contributions of many Nigerians in the United States, the Trump administrations decision felt especially vicious  particularly as the expanded ban most affects those who are already here.

In one case Dabiri-Erewa has been following, a Nigerian-American man living in America has been unable to bring his wife to the U.S. Its a frustrating challenge for the pair, who recently married after five years of dating from more than 6,000 miles apart, she said.

A Lot of Fear

There are many other stories like this one, Nigerian New Yorkers who spoke with THE CITY said.

Its causing chaos, Kassa said of the travel ban.

I dont think people believed that this could happen to them, he added. There is a lot of fear. People have family members, husbands, wives, children, parents, who they had planned to help bring to the U.S. They now dont know if thats going to be impossible, or what.

Dabiri-Arewa said she is optimistic that the ban will not last for too long.

The Nigerian government has set up a committee to examine the exceptions raised by U.S. officials, who contend the ban targeted countries that have deficiencies in sharing terrorist, criminal or identity information.

Nigerian officials said they also have started rolling out point-of-entry biometric verification in major airports, to collect information on those entering the country.

We are hopeful the president will listen, said Dabiri-Arewa.

DHS officials have said that the 13 countries now facing immigration restrictions will undergo regular review to ensure they are complying with the imposed vetting requirements.

Some observers thought the ban might be retracted after a federal judge on Sunday nullified President Doinald Trumps appointment of Ken Cuccinelli as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. But, while a few of Cuccinellis orders are expected to be retracted or at least delayed, the travel ban is exempted because it was enacted through a presidential executive order, advocates noted.

Meanwhile, Kassa said his organization is exploring ways to challenge the ban through litigation and legislation.

Were not just sort of sitting quietly while this happens, he said.

Even if the Nigerian government complies with the Trump administrations demands, Kassa is doubtful that after jumping through hoops this is gonna go away.

Anyone who thinks this is a bureaucratic problem as opposed to a political one is not being realistic, he added.

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An Alabama lawmaker is back this year, asking fellow lawmakers to legalize yoga for students in public schools, a proposal opposed by the states Christian lobbyist.

Rep. Jeremy Gray, D-Opelika, told lawmakers during an Alabama House education policy committee meeting on Wednesday that Alabama students are already doing yoga exercises in school.

If the word "yoga" is the problem, Gray said, "you can call it mindfulness, or mindfulness movement, or whatever you want to call it, but as long as yoga is banned, you can't use it in any kind of form."

Calling his a "simple bill," Gray said, "it's limited to stretching, breathing, meditation."

Yoga and meditation have been banned in Alabama schools since 1993, when the Alabama State Board of Education prohibited it based on the practices association with eastern religions. The House education policy committee approved the bill last year, but it failed to gain approval of lawmakers before the end of the session.

Committee member Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, told members after the bill was introduced last year, she started doing yoga. "If you're in this statehouse," she said, "mentally, it really helps you."

But Dr. Joe Godfrey spoke in opposition. Godfrey is executive director of ALCAP (Alabama Citizens Action Program), which lobbies for evangelical Christian interests in the Legislature, such as opposing gambling and medical marijuana. After saying his own daughter laughed at him for expressing concern, Godfrey told committee members that yoga is a religious practice.

"You can't separate the exercises from the religious meditation aspect of it. This is Hinduism, straight up," Godfrey said. "What you're doing is blatantly teaching a religious exercise that would violate the Establishment Clause."

Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said he'd spoken with members of churches in his community about yoga after it came through committee last year and said he didn't see a problem with lifting the ban.

"There are a lot of other things we doChristmas trees, Easter bunnies," Garrett said, that have been affiliated with religion.

Rep. Will Dismukes, R-Prattville, agreed with Garrett, saying many of today's celebrated holidays were originally "some type of pagan holiday that we adopted to make our own"

"I know churches that do yoga," Dismukes added. "We talk about prayer and meditation a lot. I think you can pray to God and do yoga, or you can think about whatever you want to."

In a classroom setting, Gray said, "you wouldn't be doing a lot of physical exercise." Instead, he said, "you would be doing a 5-minute reflection and exercise. You would breathe and you would think about 'what can I do positive today'."

"When we talk about physical health or mental health," Gray said, "it could really help school systems."

"It's happening everywhere, from third grade to fifth grade to 12th grade, and so why not make something someone is doing anyway legal?"

All committee members, except for Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, voted to send the bill to the House for consideration.

Related: What yoga ban? Some high school football coaches see benefits

Related: Yoga proposal would have lifted ban in Alabama schools

Related: Opinion - Alabama lawmaker: Yoga would provide school students with quality of mind, quality of life

Updated 3/10/20 to reflect that the ban on yoga was enacted by the Alabama State Board of Education in 1993.
By Sam Aung Moon , John Geddie and Poppy McPherson

YANGON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - From a boat on the Salween River in southeastern Myanmar, Than Zaw Oo pointed to a brown stretch of water he said was once full of lush paddy fields.

"This used to be my land," said the 51-year-old farmer, frowning at the murky waves.

All but six of the 24 acres where he used to grow rice and vegetables have slipped into the water in recent years, he said. Another farmer, Than Tun, said he had lost 15 acres of his land to erosion. While official records were not available, other villagers backed their accounts.

Farmers and politicians in Chaungzon township, just outside the southern town of Moulmein, worry that erosion in the area is being exacerbated by the ships that dredge its bed for sand each night. The sand is mainly bound for Singapore, the world's biggest importer, for use in reclamation and construction projects.

Both the Myanmar government and the company whose ships do the dredging in Chaungzon deny the dredging is causing the erosion. But the dispute highlights the fractious issue of sand-mining in Southeast Asia as Singapore is forced to look farther afield to slake its thirst for the mineral following bans on the trade in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia over environmental concerns.

Sand mining has been blamed by scientists for damaging sensitive ecosystems around the world, accelerating coastal and riverine erosion, and exacerbating the frequency and severity of floods and droughts, according to a 2019 report by the U.N Environment Programme.

Malaysia, formerly the biggest source of sand for Singapore, in 2018 introduced an outright ban on the export of sea sand, used for land reclamation, and imposed tighter controls on river sand, used mostly in construction.

Cambodia made a similar move in 2017, while Indonesia banned exports to Singapore in 2007, causing a "sand crisis" that brought building activity almost to a halt. Singapore, an island state that has grown 25 percent since its independence in 1965 thanks largely to aggressive land reclamation, has since bolstered its stockpiles, according to sand traders.

Story continues

Officials in Myanmar and industry sources in Singapore say the bans have prompted Singapore to seek new supplies from countries like Myanmar.

Almost 1 million tonnes of sand went from Myanmar to Singapore in 2018, earning over $6 million, according to the most recent UN data on the trade. That amount is expected to have increased substantially following the Malaysia bans, according to the Myanmar government.

"Since the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam almost completely stopped exporting sand to Singapore, the sand from Myanmar has become much more in demand," said Aye Lwin, joint secretary-general of the Myanmar Port Authority, which grants licenses for sand-mining operations.

The benefits of the mining  including tax revenues for the government  outweighed the costs, he said.

"I believe it only causes little environmental damage," Aye Lwin said. "But it generates funds for the government."

'AN EASY TARGET

The Singapore-registered company dredging in Chaungzon, Starhigh Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., has extracted hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sand since 2013, according to the local member of Parliament, Kyi Kyi Mya. She said at least 150,000 tonnes were extracted in 2018-2019, but did not have the exact number for other years.

Starhigh dredges the sand legally through a licence with the local government that does not limit the amount of sand the company can extract.

Most of the sand Starhigh extracts is sent to Singapore. The company last year bid to supply sand to JTC Corporation, a Singapore government agency for infrastructure development, according to a tender on a government procurement site.

Starhigh also supplied sand for a JTC reclamation project in Singapore completed in 2018, according to Starhigh's managing director, Si Thu Phyo. He said the sand for that project came from Myanmar as well as Vietnam and the Philippines.

JTC referred questions from Reuters to Singapore's Ministry of National Development, which said the country imports sand on a commercial basis and that suppliers are expected to abide by laws and regulations in source countries.

The Myanmar government says the environmental impact of the dredging is minimal and necessary to clear waterways of built-up sediment.

In 2014, the company paid compensation to local farmers who claimed that mining too close to the shore had led to landslides, according to Kyi Kyi Mya, the MP in Chaungzon.

Starhigh did not comment on any compensation paid to farmers but said "whenever it is possible, we will help locals with small landfill work at our own cost."

Si Thu Phyo, the Starhigh managing director, told Reuters that erosion was present in the area before dredging work started.

"Dredging is always an easy target when it comes to environmental complaints," he said. "People don't understand and are worried."

SECRETIVE INDUSTRY

Riverbank erosion along the Salween is not an entirely new phenomenon, with factors including climate change worsening the problem by contributing to higher levels of flooding and siltation, said Vanessa Lamb, a geography lecturer at the University of Melbourne who has studied the river.

She said that a lack of baseline data about the river made it difficult to track just how much sand dredging was affecting riverbank erosion. But in a 2019 research paper, Lamb said locals blamed accelerating erosion on the rise in sand-mining. It was not possible to verify those claims from local records or old photographs.

Dr Aung Naing Oo, deputy speaker of the Mon state parliament and the author of a parliamentary report on sand extraction in the region, said there was little transparency around the industry.

He said that there was no consistent monitoring process and that authorities were not checking how much sand was being extracted or whether companies were taking material only from agreed sites.

For now, the government says it does not have plans to end the dredging or compensate farmers for lost land.

Than Zaw Oo, the farmer in Chaungzon, said he is now in debt after borrowing more than $2,600 to pay for embankments in an attempt to keep erosion at bay.

"I am lost and I don't know what to do," he said. "The sadness is just beyond words."

(Reporting by Sam Aung Moon, John Geddie, and Poppy McPherson. Writing by Poppy McPherson. Editing by Philip McClellan)
Jamal Bryant calls out Christians who burn sage, says its witchcraft,' 'satanic aromatherapy

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Calling sage burning witchcraft and satanic aromatherapy, Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, warned his members on Monday to stay away from the practice.

In a teaching session with the women of his church streamed on YouTube, Bryant explained that he had to dive into some research on the practice after two members of his church gifted him sage for his new home in Atlanta.

I was amazed because two saints gave me sage for my new house. I didnt know what to do with it. I was unsure of it. And all the more, why theyd feel comfortable giving it to a pastor. Then I began to research and study it and found out that the sales of it have gone up by over 200% in the last four years and have to be constantly placed on restock in natural health stores.

After researching the practice, however, Bryant has concluded that it is a demonic New Age practice that Christians shouldnt be involved with.

Another word for burning sage is smudging. The thought of the Native Americans is that certain herbs carry spirits in them  and when you burn certain herbs youre calling on those spirits to dispel evil or vexing spirits or energies from a space, from an object or person. And so it is their contention that when I am burning sage, I am then calling down a spirit or calling up a spirit to then wrestle with that energy thats in a room, thats in a car or in a person, Bryant argued.

So are those who burn sage and then put it around themselves saying that they dont want any negative energy around them or negative energy approaching them?  It is highly practiced now by the New Age movement, he said.

The New Age movement, which currently attracts the largest amount of African Americans in our history, Bryant argued, does not bring glory to the God of the Bible but seeks to make humans like gods.

They are spiritual. They just do not believe or submit to authority  They believe through the doctrine of New Age faith or New Age theology, that mortals or humanity through the right wave of devotion and meditation can ascend themselves to become a deity. So they become their own gods, he noted.

So church or religion becomes a problem because it demands accountability and submission to authority for a generation who does not want to submit and has a problem with authority figures. So these same people who ascribe to New Age theology or have praying hands tattooed unto their chest will have the word God tattooed on their neck but you cant assume its the same God or that the prayers are pointed in the same direction, the megachurch pastor said. Gotta be careful when people believe that they are their own god.

Bryant further argued that Christians have a hard time identifying people who see themselves as their own god because they subscribe to a limited definition of demonic possession.

The people who believe that they are their own god, we dont know how to approach them or even how to attack it because we have minimized demonic possession as those who are foaming around their mouth, eyes are roaming in the back of their head and they are squirming on the floor. Thats how weve recognized demons, he said.

Demonic possession, he argued, can be reflected in a number of ways, including when someone cannot apologize or is unwilling to submit to the leadership and order of their church.

A demonic possession can be someone quite frankly, who doesnt know how to apologize. Demonic possession can be, I can take no authority for my error. It was you that made me hit you. Thats a demon. I wouldnt have cursed you out had you not made me. Had you just given me what I asked for the first time then we wouldnt have gone through all of this. That is a demonic principality and a demonic order, Bryant said.

The spirit of the anti-Christ is now slithering into our children and the next generation by putting a seed plot of rejection of authority and order. God is a God of order. God is a God of authority so you can see where demons show up in church, he said. Satan never wants to fall in line to authority and order so people who are out of order are operating out of the spirit of satanic principalities.

He noted that people who burn sage in their home to ward off bad energy or evil spirits to usher in more positive vibes are practicing satanic intercession because they are not operating under Gods authority.

Im practicing satanic intercession cause I am invoking these spirits that are not holy, that are not sanctified to reveal themselves. To reveal themselves and I am telling weeds and grass and herbs you have authority over the spirits in my house. And nowhere in there am I calling on the name of God. Nowhere in there am I calling on the name of Jesus, he said.

Christians who depend on burning sage to complement their faith, he argued, are devaluing the power of Christs anointing in their life.

This level of witchcraft is in-depth  Ive so questioned the strength of my anointing that I believe who comes into my presence can contaminate my spirit. How weak am I that I cant be in the presence of somebody whose spirit is off. If I am anointed  and somebody who is not like God comes into my presence I shouldnt be the one backing up. It should be them backing up 'cause they sense whats on me, he said.

Satan is cunning because he is a deceiver. Isnt it amazing that weve got throngs of our friends who will burn it, who will practice it, who will utilize it but if you talk about casting out demons they call you spooky or youre too spiritual? They dont want you to cast out demons but want you to push away spirits. Im pushing them away, Im not killing them. The role of those of us who are in the body of Christ and traffic in the supernatural is not to give Satan and his imps a restraining order, were supposed to give him a death sentence.
 Flash

Iran announced on Wednesday that the international community has contributed its aid to the country's health efforts over novel coronavirus, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry has already sent a list of Iran's medical needs to the United Nations, its relevant bodies and to the Iranian missions abroad, the ministry's spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, adding that accordingly a large consignment was shipped to Iran from the World Health Organization.

In addition, the UNICEF, China, Turkey and Austria, as well as the European countries have contributed their medical supplies, said Mousavi.

A remarkable number of other countries are also considering the list of Iran's needs and are preparing to deliver their aid, the spokesman noted.

"The aid will complement the constant and effectual efforts made by Iran's administration and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education to control the situation," Mousavi said.

On Wednesday, official IRNA news agency reported that the first consignment of humanitarian aid from the French government was handed over to Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education earlier in the day.

The French authorities show their solidarity with the Iranian government and nation over the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Iran, Philippe Thiebaud, French ambassador to Tehran, told IRNA on the sideline of the ceremony held in capital Tehran.

The consignment includes items requested by the Iranian authorities like screening test equipment and kits, boots, protective clothing, and gloves for medical personnel, Thiebaud said.

The French envoy added that France, Germany and Britain will also send additional aid to Iran worth nearly five million euros (5.56 million U.S. dollars) through the WHO and other UN agencies.

In the meantime, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday slammed the U.S. sanctions against the country, saying that if the United States really wants to help Iran in fighting against novel coronavirus, it should lift sanctions against Iran including the bans on the imports of medical supplies, state TV reported.

"Washington has been taking the most sinister of actions against the Iranians over the past two years by reimposing sanctions on their supplies of food and medicine, and is now hiding behind a mask of sympathy claiming that it seeks to assist the Iranian nation," said Rouhani.

"If you are really telling the truth, you should at least lift your sanctions on medicine," Rouhani added.

Besides, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that "the conditions created by the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country have further laid bare the negative impacts of the U.S. illegal sanctions on the people of Iran, particularly on the vulnerable groups," Mousavi said.

Iran announced the first cases of COVID-19 in the central city of Qom on Feb. 19.

The Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said Wednesday that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Iran has infected 2,922 people across the country, 92 of whom have died.

A total of 552 people have recovered and left hospital, said the ministry statement.
President Donald Trump complained Wednesday that anti-coronavirus measures are leaving him out of touch -- with his own face.

Trump spoke at a White House meeting with airline executives and administration officials on sanitary measures taken to try and stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Executives explained their enhanced cleaning operations on passenger planes. Then Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, reminded the common sense of washing your hands, not touching your face.

To which Trump, a self-acknowledged germophobe, joked: I havent touched my face in weeks, in weeks! I miss it!
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Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation on March 4 joined the growing number of United States companies employees to work from home in order to limit exposure to the spreading coronavirus outbreak, as it responded to cases near its Seattle headquarters and in California.

Microsoft asked many of its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25.

"Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite," Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene told employees in a blog post.

The post said that some employees for whom "it is essential to be in the office or other work environments" - such as data centre and retail employees - should continue to go to their work locations and that the company would follow government guidelines for disinfecting its sites for essential personnel.

Microsoft also asked employees to suspend any business travel to the areas "unless essential for the continuity of Microsoft."

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Microsoft also said employees should cancel non-essential travel to areas with active coronavirus cases - which includes much of Europe, Asia and the Americas - and that employees were not required to travel if they had concerns about doing so.

In the greater Seattle area, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 39 on March 4 and 10 deaths, up from 27 cases and nine deaths a day earlier, the Washington State Health Department announced. The first death in California from the coronavirus was announced on March 4.

The Seattle area has the largest concentration of coronavirus cases detected to date in the United States. Several cases were connected to a long-term care facility for the elderly.

Microsoft also implemented new guidelines for employees who do come to its offices. It recommended "limiting prolonged close interactions with people" by keeping in-person meetings as short as possible and staying at least 6 feet, or 1.8 meters, away from others.
OTTAWAThe Liberal government is giving Canadas big three telecommunications companies two years to slash the price of select cellphone plans by 25 per cent.

Industry Minister Navdeep Bains announced Thursday that Rogers, Telus and Bell will have until 2022 to cut prices from benchmark rates that the government has based on the current costs of mid-range plans  $50 for two gigabyte plans, $55 for four gigabyte plans, and $60 for six gigabyte plans.

If the telecoms refuse or fail to reduce those costs by 2022, Bains said the government will take further action to reduce prices. That could include changing the rules for wireless spectrum auctions and allowing cheaper mobile virtual network operators into Canadas wireless market.

Well look at all regulatory options  and other tools that promote competition, because we know that more competition means more innovation, means more investment, Bains said in an interview with the Star on Thursday.

According to figures released Thursday, the governments initiative would result in savings of up to $720 a year for a family of four.

The initiative to bring down cellphone bills was part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus 2019 election platform.

However, the executive director of advocacy group Open Media noted that rates for wireless plans have already been falling thanks to technological advances.

So I guess the question for me is, have they already been coming down by 25 per cent from two years ago, Laura Tribe said. And if so, are (the governments targets) actually aggressive enough, or is that actually just on trend for where (prices) will be in two years regardless?

The government is also committing to release quarterly reports on the wireless plan pricing to increase transparency.

Bell Canada said the company would study the governments direction but suggested the policy would discourage investment and potentially put jobs and innovation at risk.

How about you?

Its the worst time to jeopardize our countrys wireless success as carriers look to ramp up investment for the global move to 5G wireless, Bell spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis told the Star in a written statement.

We operate in a highly competitive market that continues to deliver more affordability and value, and we always evolve our services to meet the needs of Canadians, Rogers spokesperson Sarah Schmidt said in a written statement.

Telus did not respond to a request for comment.

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Bangalore: Microsoft Corp on Wednesday joined the growing number of US companies asking employees to work from home in order to limit exposure to the spreading coronavirus outbreak, as it responded to cases near its Seattle headquarters and in California.

Microsoft asked many of its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25.

"Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite," Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene told employees in a blog post.

The post said that some employees for whom "it is essential to be in the office or other work environments" - such as data centre and retail employees - should continue to go to their work locations and that the company would follow government guidelines for disinfecting its sites for essential personnel.

Microsoft also asked employees to suspend any business travel to the areas "unless essential for the continuity of Microsoft."

Microsoft also said employees should cancel non-essential travel to areas with active coronavirus cases - which includes much of Europe, Asia and the Americas - and that employees were not required to travel if they had concerns about doing so.

In the greater Seattle area, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 39 on Wednesday and 10 deaths, up from 27 cases and nine deaths a day earlier, the Washington State Health Department announced. The first death in California from the coronavirus was announced on Wednesday.

The Seattle area has the largest concentration of coronavirus cases detected to date in the United States. Several cases were connected to a long-term care facility for the elderly.

Microsoft also implemented new guidelines for employees who do come to its offices. It recommended "limiting prolonged close interactions with people" by keeping in-person meetings as short as possible and staying at least 6 feet, or 1.8 meters, away from others.
Iran has announced special flights to evacuate its citizens stranded in India after regular commercial flights between the two countries were suspended due to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

News agency ANI quoted an Iranian embassy official to say that an empty flight will arrive in Delhi tomorrow to fly back Iranian nationals to Tehran, Irans capital. The official said another flight will arrive on Saturday to carry Indian equipment to Iran.

Iran will send an empty flight to India (Delhi) tomorrow to take back the Iranian nationals from India to Tehran & one more flight will come to India a day after tomorrow to carry Indian equipment to Iran for stranded Indian nationals, ANI said.

Several Indians including students, pilgrims and fishermen are stranded since a sharp escalation in the cases of coronavirus in Iran. A total of 107 people have succumbed to the disease there so far.

The Indian government said a team of medical professionals had reached Iran to carry out tests for the infection on the stranded Indians and those found uninfected will soon be evacuated using normal aviation channels. A date for evacuation was, however, not specified in the briefing held by the ministry of external affairs on Thursday.

The Iranian embassy official quoted by ANI said about 2000 Indians were stranded in Iran and their evacuation was incumbent on proper approval of the Indian authority.

From tomorrow, special flights will start between Iran and India for the stranded passengers. Over 2000 Indians are stranded in Iran. We can send them back to India only after proper approval of Indian authority, the agency quote of the official said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had tweeted earlier in the day saying the government hoped to establish the first clinic at Qom in Iran to screen Indians for coronavirus by Thursday evening and the screening process, he said, will start immediately after the setup.

His ministry later added that those who test positive will have to stay back in Iran for further treatment as per the international protocols.

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Thousands of attendees and presenters may stay away from a big literary conference this week in San Antonio because of coronavirus concerns.

About 10,000 writers, editors, publishers and educators were expected to attend the AWP Conference and Bookfair, the largest literary conference in North America, which runs through Saturday at the Convention Center.

About 40 percent decided not to come, said Cynthia Sherman, executive co-director of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, a national organization dedicated to advancing the art of writing.

We always knew that there would be people who made the decision not to come, and we support each individual choice, she said. We wish we didnt have to deal with a pandemic. Its new for all of us.

She expects attendance will be between 5,000 and 7,500.

Theyll be arriving in a city that made national news this week when Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared a health state of emergency. The spark: on Saturday, a virus-infected evacuee from Wuhan, China, visited North Star Mall and checked into a hotel near San Antonio International Airport after being released from quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

The woman tested negative for the virus twice, but the third test came back weakly positive.

The AWPs board found itself in the same position as a lot of other convention organizers  deciding whether to go forward with their event essentially at the last minute, after months of preparation. Sherman described AWP board members deliberation as a really large debate.

There were people who wanted to cancel. There were people who did not, she said. We recognize that there are people who had their own personal decisions about coronavirus and being here.

WHAT WE KNOW: Coronavirus has come to Fort Bend and the Houston area. Here's everything we know so far.

Diane Zinna, the associations other co-director, resigned because of the decision.

I am brokenhearted, but I resigned from AWP this morning over the decision to hold the conference, Zinna posted on Twitter on Tuesday.

Sherman said the association gave staff members the choice to come or not.

Everybody came. They were really excited about coming, she said. Diane made her own personal choice, and it was a different choice, and we support that.

The board made its choice after consulting with Nirenberg and public health officials.

We were guided by the best information we were able to get, said Sheila Black, director of development for the association and the former executive director of Gemini Ink in San Antonio. The city has been amazing in working with us to develop a really good health plan.

A great number of attendees supported the decision to carry on with the conference, Sherman said. Only about 10 percent of the 611 book fair exhibitors pulled out.

Still, the conference will be scaled back because of absentees. About half the 400 scheduled panels have been canceled or rescheduled.

One of those was a tribute to Naomi Shihab Nye. It was scratched after another San Antonio poet, Jenny Browne, decided not to travel to the conference from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she is a Fulbright Scholar at Queens University.

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: Expert says you should prepare like it's a hurricane

Other convention organizers say they, too, are following through on their plans  and closely monitoring local and federal health warnings on coronavirus.

Like the writers organization, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America sought assurances from Nirenberg. The group of researchers and therapists is set to hold its annual meeting in San Antonio from March 19 through March 22.

Organizers expect about 1,000 attendees.

We are planning on coming but did want to talk to the mayor about the situation in the city, said Susan K. Gurley, the associations executive director. She called the mayors office Wednesday morning.

Nirenberg said he had an aide talk to Gurley, assuring her that to date, there had been no cases of coronavirus transmission in San Antonio  in other words, no cases where one person spread the disease to another within the city.

All 13 known cases in San Antonio have been among evacuees from China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan who were under quarantine.

The hysteria and fear is the worst, the mayor said. We want to people to understand that San Antonio is a safe place to work and play. We have zero cases of community spread of the disease.

OPINION: SXSW is the perfect place to spread coronavirus. Cancel it.

Nirenberg acknowledged he may have stoked some anxiety by declaring a local state of disaster and public health emergency Monday. But he said it was a necessary step.

Following the patients visit to North Star Mall and her brief stay at a hotel  before being returned to the Texas Center for Infectious Disease  Nirenberg said he wanted to ensure local public health officials had authority to prevent similar occurrences.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff made a similar declaration at the county level Monday, soon after Nirenbergs announcement.

Convention organizers, Nirenberg said, should rest assured that San Antonio will do whatever is necessary to keep the city safe from coronavirus.

Each day that there is not a community transmission of the disease gives San Antonio an advantage, he said.

Gurley wanted to talk to the mayor directly to better understand what the city is doing to keep visitors safe. She said a small number of conference attendees have canceled because of coronavirus concerns, but that the current situation is there is not a rush on cancellations.

The association has canceled several of the 140 planned seminars because speakers have decided not to attend.

We are worried about attendance, she said.

One of the conferences objectives is to discuss the anxiety and depression brought on by the spread of the coronavirus.

This is real for people  its important that we talk about the issue, Gurley said.

Organizers of another conference, for the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, also are going ahead with plans to bring 1,200 members to San Antonio March 30 to April 2.

'ONLY A MATTER OF TIME': Coronavirus case marks milestone for region

Poul Lemasters, the associations legal counsel, said officials are monitoring coronavirus developments in San Antonio on a daily basis.

Hopefully, we wont have to cancel, he said.

A key reason the association is pressing ahead with its meeting plans, Lemasters said, is that there have been no reported cases of the disease spreading here person-to-person.

Another San Antonio conference, planned by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, is scheduled for March 17 through March 21 at the Convention Center.

The organization posted a notice on its website to assure attendee that safeguards will be in place to try and reduce the risk of infection at the meeting and at San Antonio hotels.

For example, additional hand sanitizer stations have been installed, and high-contact areas such as railings, door knobs, rest rooms, elevator buttons and escalator handrails will be cleaned and disinfected more frequently, officials said in the notice.

Other conferences planned for San Antonio have put similar notices on their websites, but organizers concede they can be a double-edged sword  they also remind attendees there are no guarantees when it comes to coronavirus.

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BOSTON  A Jamaica Plain motorcyclist was killed when he crashed his bike on a Massachusetts Turnpike exit ramp Wednesday afternoon.

Stephen Salazar, 32, died at the scene of the crash that occurred on the Exit 18 off-ramp from Route 90 eastbound, Massachusetts State Police said.

A state trooper happened upon the crash, which occurred at about 2:45 p.m., and immediately requested an ambulance. Boston EMS responded but declared him dead, police said.

The preliminary investigation showed Salazar failed to negotiate a turn on the ramp causing the motorcycle to overturn. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, police said.

The crash is being investigated by State Police from Weston, Troop H Headquarters, Crime Scene Services and the Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section. Boston Fire and EMS and Massachusetts Department of Transportation assisted at the scene, police said.

The exit ramp was closed for about two hours due to the crash, police said.
People cast their ballot for the presidential primary at the South Whittier Community Resource Center in Whittier, Calif., on March 3, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

County Officials Work with Partners to Secure US Elections

Election laws vary broadly from state to state, which in turn dictates how their counties administer elections. At the same time, all county election officials work closely with federal, state, and local election officials to ensure that their voting systems are as safe and secure as possible.

The nations 3,069 counties voting systems include voter registration, voter check-in systems, and voting machines. Each part of the system has to be monitored by county officials to meet federal and state safety regulations.

The Election Assistance Commission is the federal agency that works with states to ensure compliance with federal voting safety measures and distributes federal grants to states for this purpose.

Ben Hovland, Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission, said that when Congress created the EAC, They recognized the 50 states, essentially run elections 50 different ways, and someone needs to try to keep track of that, which is what we try to do, but this is particularly true because the diversity has allowed for some great innovation and experimentation and how to best serve the voters.

Counties have been in the process of modernizing voter registration by implementing electronic registration to make voting more accessible and lower the cost. Ten states and the district of Columbia have automated voter registration.

Polling locations are often selected for how accessible they will be for voters. Local law enforcement officials are enlisted to do security checks and are present on-site during polling. Most states also train their poll workers to assist voters and look out for voter fraud and other potential security issues.

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2012 was passed as Congress sought to update polling technology to make voting more efficient and safer from outside manipulation.

According to the National Association of Counties (NACo), about three out every five counties use optical scan technology, which has scanners read and record the marked ballot. Two out of every five use a direct-recording electronic ballot, which allows the voter to use a touch screen or digital device. Regardless of the type of e-ballot machine used, they are never connected to the internet nor to each other.

Counties may use different types of voting machines, but they all have strict voting machine set-up policies and security protocols.

According to the EACs 2018 report (pdf), Many states, including Florida and Iowa, are installing ALBERT sensors, a network monitoring security solution that provides automated alerts of system threats, enabling election officials to respond quickly when data may be at risk.

38 states are using an auditable paper voter record, leaving 12 states with no paper trail with which to verify votes if, for some reason, the electronic system fails.

According to NACo, in 2000, the cost of running elections in the United States was $1 billion. However, the cost increased after HAVA was passed and upgrades to voter systems were put in place. Currently, the need to continually modernize, store, and set up voting machines has raised the cost of elections significantly. The cost of elections is borne mainly by counties, but states do contribute to voter registration databases and sometimes voting equipment. Each countys outlay is dependent on its voting population and the type of machines used.
Connecticut may be considering ending religious exemptions to vaccinations, but it appears Main voters beat the Nutmeg State to the punch.

As of Wednesday afternoon, with almost 80 percent of polling places reporting, 73 percent of voters decided to prevent all unvaccinated children from attending public schools, regardless of religious beliefs, as the Portland Press Herald reported.

This vote means that parents of vulnerable kids, parents of infants, and older adults dont have to fear anymore. This vote has brought back hope and has brought back sanity, Caitlin Gilmet, co-chair of Maine Families for Vaccines, to the Press Herald.

Maine is one of only five states with a similar rule, including California, New York, Mississippi and West Virginia. Connecticut may be poised to be the sixth.

The situation in Connecticut is very different. As thousands of protesters gathered at the Capitol last month, the General Assemblys public health committee narrowly voted to eliminate the religious exemption, mostly along party lines. All Republicans and two Democrats joined to oppose eliminating the exemption, in a 14-11 vote.

The bill was also watered down to allow students already in school under the religious exemptions to remain there, and lawmakers said they will broaden the medical exemptions. The measure now awaits votes in the House and Senate, which might not happen amid opposition.

Under the proposed bill, people would need to be immunized or placed on a modified immunization schedule prior to the first day of the 2020-21 school year.
i2c Inc, a leading provider of payment and open banking technology, has announced it is expanding its presence in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) due to high demand in the region for its solutions. i2c partners with financial institutions, fintechs and governments using its unique i2c agile processing technology and APIs to bring innovative credit, debit, prepaid, and multi-currency solutions to market quickly.

To support the growth in MEA, i2c added a General Manager position to its team and is announcing today the appointment of payments industry veteran Aurangzaib Khan to the position. Khan is based in Dubai.

Prior to joining i2c, Khan was VP, Government Business Development for Mastercard in the UAE and Oman where he managed government relationships and engagement in the areas of policy and regulation, fostered commercial initiatives and grew revenue. Other senior Mastercard positions during his eight-year tenure included the strategic development of banks, financial institutions and merchants in Dubai and Northern Emirates, and serving as Country Manager of Pakistan and Afghanistan where he established the Mastercard Pakistan office, grew Mastercard to become one of the largest networks in Pakistan and launched the first global QR.

i2c recently announced support of Apple Pay for Najm Prepaid cardholders, one of the first such implementations in the region in partnership with its client Majid Al Futtaim Finance (MAF)/Najm. The implementation, which took just 90 days to bring to market, is raising awareness for i2c services, global agile technology and APIs, and reputation for delivering 100 per cent availability and superior security.

Ive been aware of i2cs growing presence in the region and of their well-deserved reputation for client responsiveness and delivering innovation to market incredibly fast, said Khan. Ive also experienced firsthand what its like to drive financial and socio-economic development in the region. I believe i2c is unique among payments processors and has what it takes to lead the market. Im excited to be joining the i2c team at this historic time.

We are pleased to welcome Aurangzaib to i2c, said Jim McCarthy, President of i2c Inc. He is an experienced payments executive with deep insights about our industry, established relationships with key players and a stellar record of execution across the region. -- Tradearabia News Service
A dump truck works near the Syncrude oilsands extraction facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, in a file photo. A constitutional expert says the provinces fighting the federal carbon tax have a good chance of winning. (The Canadian Press/Jason Franson)

Provinces Fighting the Federal Carbon Tax Are Constitutionally Capable of Winning, Expert Says

The design of Ottawas Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, a.k.a. the carbon tax, could be the laws ultimate undoing, says a Canadian constitutional expert.

The legislation, the centrepiece of the Trudeau governments war on climate change, is the subject of ongoing legal challenges by four provinces, which argue that it amounts to jurisdictional overreach.

The very fact there is the opt-out kind of structure says the federal government is recognizing that provinces are constitutionally capable of doing this; B.C., for example, had its carbon tax before [Ottawas], said Dwight Newman, University of Saskatchewan professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Rights in Constitutional and International Law.

The provinces are constitutionally able to do these things, so it becomes challenging to say that the law has met the test of something the provinces are incapable ofthats the technical, legal matter at stake.

Opponents of the tax won a big victory on Feb. 24 when the Alberta Court of Appeal found the federal legislation unconstitutional, describing it as a Trojan horse that substantially overrides several parts of the Constitution.

The federal carbon levy came into effect on April 1, 2019, beginning at $20 per tonne of CO2 emissions and imposed on provinces that either didnt have their own greenhouse gas (GHG) pricing schemes or had one that didnt completely meet Ottawas requirements, namely Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba.

The tax is scheduled to increase $10 per tonne each year until it hits $50 in 2022.

It was also in April 2019 that Jason Kenneys United Conservative Party defeated the New Democrat incumbents in Albertas election and, after repealing his predecessors carbon tax, joined the list of provincial jurisdictions under Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus carbon levy umbrella.

In keeping with his election promise, Kenney and his UCP government promptly challenged Ottawas purported overreach in the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Albertas appeal court is the first to side decisively with its respective government by a 41 majority, calling the levy an unwarranted and unprincipled intrusion into provincial jurisdiction [that] undermines the basic structure of our constitutional system.

Conversely, Ontarios appeal court backed Ottawa (41), as did Saskatchewans in a June 2019 split decision (32). However, an accounting of the three courts opinions on either side of the fence indicates that eight provincial appeal court justices agree with Trudeau, while seven do not.

We dont normally just combine courts of appeal in that way, but thats the split, and it speaks to the challenging questions with how divided it is so far, said Newman, who has referenced this breakdown in his own writing on the subject.

Citing its power under the Constitution Acts peace, order, and good government (POGG) principle in endeavours of national concern is the federal governments central argument that its carbon levy on dissenting provinces is constitutionally sound.

Meanwhile, the provinces that object argue that imposing the levy on what is effectively localized energy production and consumption is federal overreach, regardless of POGG, and opens the door to further regulatory intrusion by Ottawa.

Saskatchewans submission to its provincial court of appeal stated, the Act cannot stand because it applies only in those provinces that have not adopted GHG pricing regimes considered appropriate by [federal cabinet].

In Newmans view, the federal government has not met the legal POGG test that it has to be something thats single, distinctive, and indivisible, that essentially needs to be regulated by the federal government.

This is the heart of the case. The challenge for those who are arguing for the constitutionality of the Act is that they need to show that theres some specific thing that meets this test, and I think theyve struggled to do that in a way, he told The Epoch Times.

The framers of Canadas 1867 Constitution Act purposefully delineated federal powers from those afforded provinces to ensureas the Supreme Court of Canada noted in its 1998 reference case on Quebecs successionthat the Canadian union would be able to reconcile diversity with unity.

Newman cites subsidiarity as one of the defining features of Canadas foundational document. [Its] the idea that where things can be handled by more local governments rather than more central governments, that they would have the chance to do that, he said.

This characterizes how the Canadian division of powers was constructed when it was developed in 1867, when modified later in 1982, and so on. Thats a big idea that tucked behind things, he noted.

Theres a delicate balance always there, but in many ways I think that the framers did a very good job in developing the balance they did. But the case [against the carbon levy] itself is just about the legal interpretation of what the Canadian division of powers means.

Manitoba forged ahead last week with its own federal court challenge of the carbon levys constitutionality, having earlier intervened on behalf of Saskatchewans, Ontarios, and Albertas appeal court challenges. Manitoba premier Brian Pallister is urging Ottawa to adopt a flat taxa potential compromise, said Newman.

The legal question of whether particular legislation is constitutional is a different question than the policy question of how to engage with greenhouse gas emissions, he explains.

[Ottawa] could have enacted a simple carbon tax the same across all provinces and it couldve done it under their powers over taxation. But they chose to do something different that they could avoid calling a tax and in the process theyve created constitutional challenges for themselves  something that raises big questions about the scope of peace, order, and good government power theyre using to support it.
The four convicts in the Delhi gang-rape case will be hanged at 5.30 am on March 20, a Delhi court ordered on Thursday. This is the fourth death warrant to be issued by the court in the case.

The order came a day after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta; with this, all the four convicts have exhausted all the legal options available to them.

Also read: Delhi gangrape convict Pawan Guptas mercy petition rejected by President Kovind

The Tihar Jail authorities had filed a petition on Wednesday for issuing a fresh death warrant to the four convicts - Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh and Pawan.

The father of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim had expressed hope on Wednesday that the convicts will be hanged this month. He has one option left - that is to challenge the mercy plea in Supreme Court as the others have done. Lets see what happens next, but we are confident of getting justice, the 23-year-old victims father said.

We are hopeful that the convicts will be hanged this month and justice will be finally delivered to us after a long wait, he further said.

Also watch: Delhi gangrape victims mother thanks President for rejecting convicts mercy plea

The first date of execution of the four convicts, January 22, was postponed to February 1. Then the trial court on January 31 stayed the execution till further orders as the convicts had not exhausted their legal remedies.

The court on February 17 directed that the four be hanged at 6 am on March 3. It was the third date of execution of the death warrants.

The woman paramedic student was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. She succumbed to injuries on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where she was taken for better medical treatment.

While one of the accused, Ram Singh had committed suicide in jail, a juvenile accused was released from a remand home after completion of his term.
Five people who came in contact with a coronavirus patient who works in Gurgaon and lives in west Delhi have been tested and quarantined till their results come in, Delhi government health officials said on Thursday.

The Paytm employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease with flu like symptoms on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurgaon, an official said, citing his counterpart in the suburban town.

Delhi government health officials are also coordinating with their counterparts in Noida to ascertain the number of people he came in contact with.

"The patient, a resident of Uttam Nagar, has tested positive and we have conducted tests on five persons he came in touch with. They have been quarantined at their residence," the official told PTI.

"We are coordinating with Gurgaon officials. They have come out with a list of 91 people the patient was in touch with. We are also coordinating with officials from Noida and Connaught Place, the two other places where he had come in contact with people," the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A glamorous mayor and bride-to-be who called off her wedding just hours after revealing she was engaged to her boyfriend of eight months had just enjoyed a romantic trip to Finland with him.

Sarah Carter, the mayor of Maribyrnong in Melbourne's inner-west, announced her upcoming nuptials with Aaron Lipson, an advertising director, over the weekend.

But in an embarrassing backflip days just later she was forced to announce the wedding was off after a a third party phoned her to reveal some bad news about the impending nuptials.

High-profile mayor Sarah Carter has called off her engagement to boyfriend Aaron Lipson after receiving information from a third party. They had just returned from Finland (above)

Over the weekend, she shared her upcoming nuptials with her boyfriend of eight months in a gushing Facebook post

A third party phoned to tell Ms Carter as she was basking in the glow of well-wishers

Ms Carter, an accomplished councillor who has enjoyed an accomplished political career in local government since being first elected to Maribyrnong City Council in 2008, is pictured in hand-in-hand with her ex Aaron Lipson under the northern lights

On Thursday, a neighbour of Mr Lipson told Daily Mail Australia he had seen the seemingly happy couple together just last weekend.

He said the pair had only recently enjoyed a trip away overseas together.

'I didn't even know they had got engaged,' he said.

Posts on Ms Carter's Instagram page show the once happy couple enjoying Finland together in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see the northern lights.

'We came, we saw, we conquered. The magnificent aurora borealis ~ thank you Mother Nature,' she posted hand-in-hand with Mr Lipson just weeks ago.

While there, Ms Carter accepted a dare to jump into the freezing Rovaniemi River, which she shared on social media.

But the openly public couple did not wish to discuss the break-up when approached by Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

'I'm out of town and not interested in providing further comment,' he said.

Ms Carter was equally as unenthusiastic.

'I do not wish to make further comment. Thank you,' she said.

Maribyrnong City Council spokeswoman Deidre Anderson was also not up for a chat, telling Daily Mail Australia it was a personal matter for the mayor and not something the council would get into.

Last weekend, Ms Carter had wrote in a gushing Facebook post her partner was the 'most amazing man I have ever chanced upon'.

'On Saturday, the most amazing man I've ever chanced upon got down on one knee and proposed,' Ms Carter wrote in the post, attracting hundreds of reactions on the social media website.

'I, of course, rushed to say "yes" and just like that we're engaged to be married. I'm the luckiest gal in all the world and can't wait to be your wife Aaron Lipson - love you to the moon and back.'

But while celebrating the news with her friends and family and basking in the glow of well-wishers, a third party phoned her to reveal some bad news.

Ms Carter returned to her Facebook page on Tuesday to tell her friends and family her plans to marry her advertising guru - who boasts Jeep, Nike and Heinz as his clients - were no more.

'The wedding is off,' she wrote in the second post.

'Thank you to the woman for telling me, best to know now.

'Im obviously terribly embarrassed.'

Returning to her Facebook page on Tuesday, Ms Carter said her wedding plans were no more. She had enjoyed a trip to Finland with her ex just weeks ago

The mayor of Maribyrnong in Melbourne's inner-west is pictured with former Labor leader Bill Shorten

'Thank you to the woman for telling me, best to know now,' Ms Carter wrote in the second post

The glamorous councillor (pictured ) was elected to the suburban Melbourne council in 2008, before reaching the role of mayor in 2011. She is pictured in Finland where after jumping into a freezing river

The glamorous councillor was elected to the suburban Melbourne council in 2008, before reaching the role of mayor in 2011.

Her political interests include gender equity and social justice

Ms Carter also spoke about the whirlwind of emotion in such a short space of time - leading from the happy moment to the shock separation.

'Its too soon and too raw,' she told the Herald Sun.

'Ive gone through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in a very short space in time and am just trying to get through it with family and friends.'

Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com

Ms Carter said she was 'terribly embarrassed' by what had happened over the past few days

Ms Carter said she was still feeling very 'raw' after a whirlwind of emotions leading from the happy moment to the shock separation

The now former fiance of Ms Carter has refused to comment on the claims, saying it is a 'private matter'




Department of Justice Charges Unprecedented Number of Elder Fraud Defendants Nationwide and Launches Hotline

Attorney General William P. Barr, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, and Chief Postal Inspector Gary R. Barksdale today announced the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases in history. This year, prosecutors charged more than 400 defendants, far surpassing the 260 defendants charged in cases as part of last years sweep. In each case, offenders allegedly engaged in financial schemes that targeted or largely affected seniors. In total, the charged elder fraud schemes caused alleged losses of over a billion dollars.

Attorney General Barr made the announcement at an event in Florida entitled Keeping Seniors Safe, which outlined his vision for protecting older Americans from financial harm. The event focused special attention on the threat posed by foreign-based fraud schemes that victimize seniors in large numbers. During the event, the Attorney General declared Prevention and Disruption of Transnational Elder Fraud to be an Agency Priority Goal, making it one of the Departments four top priorities.

Americans are fed up with the constant barrage of scams that maliciously target the elderly and other vulnerable citizens, said Attorney General William P. Barr. This year, the Department of Justice prosecuted more than 400 defendants, whose schemes totaled more than a billion dollars. I want to thank the men and women of the departments Consumer Protection Branch, which coordinated this effort, and all those in the U.S. Attorneys Offices and Criminal Division who worked tirelessly to bring these cases. The department is committed to stopping the full range of criminal activities that exploit Americas seniors.

The charges announced today demonstrate the great success of the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force to identify and stop those who are targeting our senior communities from overseas, said FBI Director Christopher Wray. Were committed to continuing our efforts to keep our elderly citizens safe, whether theyre being targeted door-to-door, over the phone, or online.

Every day, American consumers, particularly older Americans, receive offers that sound just too good to be true, said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale. Some come through the mail; others by telephone or the Internet. These offers have one objective  to rob you of your hard-earned money. Fraud costs Americans millions of dollars each year. The good news is most frauds can be prevented. Its one of the few crimes in which potential victims can just say No! So hold on to your money and report scams to Postal Inspectors.

This interactive map provides state by state information on the elder fraud cases and education and prevention community outreach efforts highlighted by todays sweep announcement.

Elder Fraud Hotline

Attorney General Barr also announced the launch of a National Elder Fraud Hotline, which will provide services to seniors who may be victims of financial fraud. The Hotline will be staffed by experienced case managers who can provide personalized support to callers. Case managers will assist callers with reporting the suspected fraud to relevant agencies and by providing resources and referrals to other appropriate services as needed. When applicable, case managers will complete a complaint form with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime ComplaintCenter(IC3) for Internet-facilitated crimes and submit a consumer complaintto the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of the caller. The Hotlines toll free number is 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).

Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force

The Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force prosecuted more than one quarter of the defendants charged as part of the announced sweep. Established in June 2019, the Strike Force is composed of the departments Consumer Protection Branch and six U.S. Attorneys Offices (Central District of California, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, Northern District of Georgia, Eastern District of New York, Southern District of Texas), along with FBI special agents, Postal Inspectors, and numerous other law enforcement personnel. Prosecutors in Strike Force districts brought cases against more than 140 sweep defendants. FBI and the Postal Inspection Service served as lead agencies in the Strike Force and committed substantial investigative resources to pursuing elder fraud cases as part of Strike Force efforts. The Strike Force has held dozens of meetings with industry, victim groups, and law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels to identify the most harmful schemes victimizing American seniors and to bolster preventive measures against further losses.

Law Enforcement Actions Swept from Coast to Coast

U.S. Attorneys Offices in every federal district took part in the Elder Fraud Sweep announced today. Many federal prosecuting offices filed cases against perpetrators and/or facilitators of elder fraud. Others conducted outreach to law enforcement, community groups, seniors, or private industry. Other U.S. Attorneys Offices demonstrated exceptional devotion to the cause of elder justice by both filing cases and conducting outreach.

For the second year, the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners also tookcomprehensive actionagainst the money mule network that facilitates foreign-based elder fraud. Generally, perpetrators use a money mule to transfer fraud proceeds from a victim to ringleaders of fraud schemes who often reside in other countries. Some of these money mules act unwittingly, and intervention can effectively end their involvement in the fraud. The FBI and the Postal Inspection Service took action against over 600 alleged money mules nationwide by conducting interviews, issuing warning letters, and bringing civil and criminal cases. Agents and prosecutors in more than 85 federal district participated in this effort to halt the money flow from victim to fraudster. These actions against money mules were in addition to the criminal and civil cases announced as part of this years elder fraud sweep.

In addition to announcing the sweep cases, Attorney General Barr and others at the Keeping Seniors Safe event also thanked department personnel  especially the Elder Justice Coordinators appointed in each U.S. Attorneys Office  for conducting dozens of outreach events across the nation to warn seniors of fraud schemes and to engage with industry representatives and state and local authorities on fraud-prevention measures. These outreach efforts have helped to prevent seniors from falling prey to scams and have frustrated offenders efforts to obtain even more money from vulnerable elders.

The charges announced today are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years .

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The Delhi BJP will distribute ration packets and money to help the victims of the recent violence in northeast part of the city, party president Manoj Tiwari said on Thursday.

A relief committee of the party will visit the violence-hit areas and distribute the aid among the victims from Friday.

Each affected family will be provided Rs 5,000 along with the ration packets, he said in a press conference.

Efforts will be made to reach out to at least 200 families everyday, he said.

The Delhi BJP chief also welcomed visits of politicians to violence-hit areas, saying everything was needed to be done to normalise the situation.

Tiwari represents the North East Delhi constituency in Lok Sabha.

"Many politicians are visiting the violence-hit areas, it should be welcomed. Massive efforts are needed to make the situation normal. BJP welcomes those visiting the affected areas," he said.

The BJP leader said the phrase "political tourism" was coined by the media.

"Nevertheless, it is sad that some politicians are using it as political tourism and I request them to understand the sufferings and problems of the people and try to help them.

"In the violence, 48 people have lost their lives. Many people are in a serious condition in hospitals. Many houses and shops have been burnt," he said.

"Even today, one can see the magnitude of the violence and destruction in several areas, including Khajuri Khas, Yamuna Vihar, Maujpur, Zafrabad and Bhajanpura," Tiwari added.

Appealing for peace, the Delhi BJP president said it was the responsibility of every citizen of Delhi to maintain harmony and fraternity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Young tourists wear facemasks as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak at the Bangalore City Railway Station, on March 4, 2020. - A group of Italian tourists were under quarantine in India on March 4, with 16 testing positive for the new coronavirus, prompting authorities to tighten controls. (AFP)

New Delhi: Twenty-three new, positive cases of the novel coronavirus have been found in India, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in India to 29. There is one patient in Delhi, one in Telangana and six in Agra who have tested positive for COVID-19. Apart from these, 16 Italian nationals have tested positive for the disease. The driver of the group of Italian nationals, who were touring in Jaipur, has also tested positive, said Mr Harsh Vardhan.

As the Centre, the Delhi government and several state governments held a flurry of meetings, e-commerce payment system Paytm said an employee in Gurgaon has tested positive for the coronavirus. A health ministry official confirmed this coronavirus case.

In a statement on Wednesday night, the company said the infected employee had recently returned from a vacation in Italy, which is fast emerging as a hub for the outbreak after China.

The government announced that it shall now start universal screening for all passengers flying into India from abroad. Earlier, only passengers coming in from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia were being checked. All government departments will consult the health ministry before organising conferences and international meets in the country in the coming days, it was decided on Wednesday at an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by the principal secretary to the Prime Minister.

With Holi less than a week away on March 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said they would not celebrate the festival of colours or hold any Holi Milan gathering. President Ram Nath Kovinds office also said Rashtrapati Bhavan will not hold any Holi gathering.

Holi is a very important festival for we Indians but in the wake of Coronavirus, I have decided not to participate in any Holi Milan celebration this year. I also appeal everyone to avoid public gatherings and take a good care of yourself and your family (sic), Mr Shah tweeted.

The 16 Italians and their Indian driver have been sent to Indo-Tibetan Border Polices (ITBP) quarantine facility in Chhawla.

One infected person is a 45-year-old man from Delhi who had recently gone to Italy, and the six fresh cases confirmed are his family members whom he had visited in Agra shortly after arriving from Vienna.

All of them continue to be in isolation in New Delhis Safdarjung Hospital, said the minister.

A Bengaluru-based techie in Hyderabad had tested positive on Monday. First three coronavirus patients in the country from Kerala, who contracted infection last month, have been cured.

At the meeting, chaired by P.K. Mishra, the home ministry was tasked with working closely with state governments, including relevant district administration officials, to ensure compliance with screening protocols at Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) on Indias land borders.

Over 5,89,000 people have been screened at airports in two months, over 10 lakh screened at borders with Nepal and around 27,000 are currently under community surveillance, he added.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said efforts are on to check and screen 88 people who came in contact with the Delhi man who tested positive for coronavirus.

A taskforce headed by him has been formed to tackle the situation emerging from the coronavirus infection and there is no need to panic, he said at a press conference.

A coronavirus testing lab will be set up at the Lady Hardinge Hospital and also at the LNJP Hospital if necessary, Mr Kejriwal said. There is no shortage of masks, the chief minister added.

Municipal corporations in Delhi are contacting and screening tourists from four countries where most cases of the infection have come to light. The screening is being done at hotels and guesthouses in the city, he said. Isolation wards in 19 government and six private hospitals are being readied in case of need, Mr Kejriwal stated.

Even though local administration has not asked any school to close down, three schools in the national capital and adjoining areas have announced holiday for students and staff as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of coronavirus, while two schools advanced their spring break and others sent out advisories to parents.

Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Delhi has asked parents to inform school authorities if anybody in the family or even relatives who frequently visit are suffering from cough and cold. Schools in the region have also suggested parents to not send their wards to attend classes even in case of mild cough or cold.
A federal court dismissed a $2 million civil rights lawsuit a Spring couple filed against Montgomery County, two judges, the Houston SPCA and six others for what they argued was a conspiracy to scam them out of ownership of 231 cats.

Representing themselves, David and Faye Spencer contended in their lawsuit that a neighbor made false reports about them to the homeowners association and to multiple Montgomery County agencies about their cats.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Spring couple at center of cat seizure plan to appeal court decision

The animals were removed Oct. 17, 2018, from their home on the 3300 block of Hickory Hollow Road by the HSPCA. The couple asserted they had been operating a private feline sanctuary for 11 years from the home, according to court documents.

The suit alleged all defendants conspired against the Spencers to engage in an animal forfeiture scam interfering with plaintiffs rights as the owners of the animals, the dismissal stated.

GRAPHIC: Houston SPCA: Spring home at center of major animal rescue one of most toxic sites ever encountered

The suit sought the immediate return of the 231 cats, $1.5 million in punitive damages from defendants, $500,000 in compensatory damages from the HSPCA and Montgomery County officials, documents show.

It was dismissed Feb. 19 by the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Southern District of Texas.

Feline forfeiture

The couple ran a nonprofit for stray and re-homed cats they founded in June 2017 and named Dave and Fayes Cat Sanctuary. The Spencers sole source of income, as detailed in 2018 court documents, came from social security and disability benefits. Their only asset of value appeared to be a $40,000 truck.

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Many of the cats were found suffering malnutrition, open wounds, diarrhea, infections and worms or fleas during an evaluation of the Spencers house. There had been repeated complaints about the smell emanating from the home.

Just walking through and looking at these cats  a reasonable human being could tell somethings going on with them and somethings not right, said HSPCA investigator Bob Wilson at a December 2018 hearing.

Wilson was also named as a defendant in the Spencers suit.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Spring couple ordered to surrender more than 200 ill and injured cats

Once at the HSPCA, three of the cats were euthanized, while six others died after suffering from heart disease and organ failure.

Defendants, the suit maintained, violated the Spencers constitutional rights by carrying out unlawful search and seizure, levying excessive bonds and fines and depriving them of due process. The suit stated no complaints about the sanctuary had been received prior to January 2018, a month after the complaining neighbor moved in, according to court records.

The day of the animal seizure in 2018, Houston SPCA and Montgomery County officials appeared at the Spencers home with what the suit described as a bogus warrant on cruelty of animals grounds. Huge nets were used to capture the cats, injuring many of them and leaving $8,000 in damages to the home, court documents state the suit argued.

Court rulings

On Oct. 24, 2018, Montgomery County Assistant County Attorney Ronald Chin, named as a defendant in the suit, argued the cats were being treated cruelly by the Spencers. Then Montgomery County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Edie Connelly ordered the cats ownership taken from the Spencers and given to the Houston SPCA. Connelly also fined the couple $52,137, court records show.

This is the biggest farce Ive ever seen, David Spencer said during the hearing, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The Spencers appealed the ruling and on Dec. 4, 2018, County Court at Law 2 Judge Claudia Laird made the same ruling on ownership as Connelly and fined the Spencers $100,000. The Spencers in turn filed a complaint against both judges. They argued Connelly and Laird lacked jurisdiction, the warrant was invalid and both judges orders were void,according to court documents.

David Spencer, though not present at the December hearing, slammed authorities in an interview with the Houston Chronicle.

Everything they have done so far has been totally illegal, David Spencer said at the time. The county courts do not interpret the law the way it is written, they interpret it the way they want.

Others sued by the Spencers included the complaining neighbor, a Montgomery County Sheriffs deputy, Montgomery County Animal Control Director Joseph Guidry and Montgomery County Animal Shelter Director Aaron Johnson. Montgomery County was also listed as a defendant.

Suit dismissal

Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the suit was dismissed because federal court cannot reverse or modify state court judgments unless directed to do so by Congress, court documents show.

The only federal remedy for an erroneous state court judgment is an application for review by the United States Supreme Court, the order for dismissal stated.

Furthermore, the order declared the Spencers failed to show in their suit any jurisdictional issue, as required by Texas law. Regardless, the state appellate court is where any errors must be resolved, the dismissal stated.

As for claims of a conspiracy, they did not meet the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals standard. Claims of a conspiracy must point to racial animus as a motivator for depriving a plaintiff of equal protection under the law, equal privileges and immunities under the law and other protections a U.S. citizen has rights to, the dismissal concluded.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztx
[March 05, 2020] Mastercard Commits to Reaching 1 Million Women Entrepreneurs Through Path to Priceless Initiative

A desire to problem-solve lies at the heart of young women entrepreneurs and this desire starts at a young age. In fact, a recent study* commissioned by Mastercard found that fifty two percent of Gen Z and 44 percent of Millennial women cited being able to help others as an important factor in determining their future or current career path. Mastercard knows that women have the ideas and passion that can Start Something Priceless, but sometimes the path to actualizing those ideas isn't easy, especially when starting your own business. To reaffirm its commitment to women entrepreneurs, Mastercard is launching Path to Priceless to shine a light on their journey and provide a curated calendar of physical and digital advisement and mentorship opportunities, extending its partnership with Create & Cultivate, and introducing the Her Ideas community in partnership with Hello Alice, where members can access learning modules, tools and more. "Women small business owners are already making their mark despite the challenges before them, and it's our intention to clear that path so that their ideas can reach their full potential," said Cheryl Guerin, executive vice president of North America Marketing & Communications for Mastercard. "While we're starting with a goal of 1 million owners, we're creating opportunities for all. Our hope is that any woman owner who can benefit from the advisement, mentorship and community we are bringing to life will join us." The Path to Priceless: Amplifying the Impact of Women Business Owners Access to mentorship programs and connecting with like-minded owners were top cited means of advancing female entrepreneurs, according to Mastercard research. To help women business owners continue their positive impact on the community, additional resources are now available through: Advisement and Mentorship IRL with Create & Cultivate: Working with some of the most forward-thinking women and motivational entrepreneurs, Mastercard and Create & Cultivate are sparking a 365-day conversation to empower female small business owners through conferences, panel discussions, networking opportunities and one-on-one mentorship. Create & Cultivate event details can be found here.

Working with some of the most forward-thinking women and motivational entrepreneurs, Mastercard and Create & Cultivate are sparking a 365-day conversation to empower female small business owners through conferences, panel discussions, networking opportunities and one-on-one mentorship. Create & Cultivate event details can be found here. Her Ideas Community Launch: In partnership with Hello Alice, a digital platform helping underserved communities build and grow their business, Mastercard is launching a community dedicated to delivering networking opportunities, as well as access to tools and learning catered to the specific needs of women business owners. Join the Her Ideas Community here.



Capital and mentorship are critical to ensure business for all," said Carolyn Rodz, CEO and Co-Founder of Hello Alice. "By partnering with Mastercard, we can bring the power of Hello Alice together with their vast insights and resources to create a place that owners can come to when they have questions, need advisement or want to hear from others forging a similar path."

Austin is the next stop for Mastercard and Creative & Cultivate as we continue our mission to bring real, actionable insights and solutions to women business owners across the country. Follow @Mastercard to join the journey and meet business owners driving a real impact. Mastercard Commitment to Women At Mastercard, we believe too much of our world was designed without women in mind - and without women involved. Even today, inequality and exclusion still hold women back. We're tackling this problem head on. After all, it's what Priceless is all about - unlocking the potential in every person across all parts of their life. We're committed to leading the charge in reshaping the way our world is designed, coded and constructed by bringing diverse perspectives to the table to unlock powerful ideas that open up our industry and the world's possibilities to women. The partnerships with Create & Cultivate and Hello Alice reinforce how we're championing the people, businesses and innovations that are transforming the way our world works. *About the Generational STEM Study Mastercard commissioned a U.S.-based study to better understand how perceptions and attitudes of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) differ across generations and gender. In addition to STEM-based topics, the survey investigated challenges and motivations for pursuing STEM college majors and career paths. An online survey of 3,803 respondents based in the United States, with an oversample of boys and girls from age 7 to 17 (n=100 for boys and n=100 for girls in each age group 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-17) and n=3,000 census-representative of age, gender, ethnicity, race and income for males and females 18+, was conducted from September 6th to September 16th, 2019. The total sample was nationally representative of region and ethnicity with a 2% margin of error. The study will be launched in full later this month. About Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all. About Create & Cultivate Create & Cultivate is the leading online platform and nationwide conference for women looking to create and cultivate the career of their dreams. Led by CEO and founder Jaclyn Johnson, Create & Cultivate has been bringing women together since 2012. The one-day conference gathers the best in the business including CEO's, content creators, and celebrities like Jennifer Hudson, Meghan Markle, Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman. Through their online platform, curated events, and partnerships, Create & Cultivate offers a 365-day conversation around entrepreneurship and works to advance inclusive conversations to empower women. About Hello Alice Alice (helloalice.com) helps all founders launch and grow their businesses. A free multi-channel platform, Alice guides business owners by providing funding, networks, and services. Through supporting hundreds of thousands of companies a day in all 50 states and around the world, Alice is building the largest community of owners in the country, while tracking data and trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs. Co-headquartered in Houston and San Francisco, and founded by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, we believe in business for all by providing access to all owners, including women, people of color, veterans, and everyone with an entrepreneurial spirit. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005562/en/

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Late Sunday evening, I spoke with a Muslim acquaintance who lives in a JJ colony in south-east Delhi. In the aftermath of the Delhi riots, Sunday night was tense as rumours of imminent violence were doing the rounds on social media. He had heard rumours that mobs armed with knives and swords had entered the colony. To which I rather naively asked what could be done to protect him and his family. Nothing, he said. It is now left to us to protect ourselves as best as we can. Fortunately, the rumours were false and the night and days since have seen restraint.

However, there is no escaping the harsh truth that this conversation revealed. The Indian State, and dare I say, Indian society, has failed Indias Muslims. It is now left to them alone to defend their constitutional right to equal citizenship in this secular land. And regardless of the eventual outcome of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)/ National Population Register (NPR)/National Register of Citizens (NRC) quagmire, the ideological project of othering the Indian Muslim has now dug its roots deeply in our everyday political and social life.

In the months since the passage of the CAA, the protests, especially in Delhi but also in other parts of north and north-east India, offered some respite from the relentless ideological project of remaking India being pursued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Although led largely by Muslims, the grammar of the protests, and the reclamation of the language of secularism, of the Constitution, of the Tricolour and other nationalist symbols, rekindled hope of developing a new counter-narrative to the current hegemony. Importantly, the protests in Delhi have emerged as a critical site for the expression of solidarity across communities, sharing in Muslim anxieties and fears. But amidst the hope and promise of these protests and what they symbolise, there is an equally depressing reality.

As was highlighted at a panel discussion on Indian politics at the recent Centre for Policy Research Dialogues 2020, these instances of cross-community solidarity remain limited to Delhi and the student community. For the most part, and despite their commitment to constitutionalism, the protests against the CAA and the anxieties this has fuelled have been largely confined to Indian Muslims.

Moreover, these anxieties now coexist with a new idiom of violence that has visible State sanction. The fact that politicians and mobs can chant slogans like Goli maro.... with impunity in the Capital is evidence of how deeply this othering of protesters has penetrated our social life. And absent broad based support, it is Indias Muslims who have to shoulder the burden of defending themselves from this new language of violence and from being pushed deeper into the margins. Muslims have chosen the Constitution as their means of protest, but the rest of India is yet to join them in solidarity and in defence of India.

What explains the silence from the rest of India? Part of the answer can be found in the failures of the political Opposition. While all non-BJP state governments have opposed the CAA/ NPR/NRC, passed resolutions and even taken the matter to the Supreme Court, but none have had the courage to craft an ideological counter-narrative to Hindutva, anchored in secularism and constitutionalism. In fact, the strategic choice has been made to avoid going against the mood of the nation and steer clear of secularism, of nationalism and even the Constitution, for fear of the BJP appropriating these words to their own cause. This is precisely what the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did in the Delhi elections. And while this may be tactically wise  after all it did win the election by consolidating the Muslim vote firmly in its favour  it lacks courage, moral conviction, and most important, it fails in the long run.

This is exactly what has happened with the AAP in these last few days following the Delhi riots. Once you give up ideology in favour of strategy, you lose the moral authority with which to lead. Most important, you lose the ability to negotiate compromises across social bases and strategically created voter coalitions to mobilise and create a counter-narrative to divisiveness and violence. Despite Muslim consolidation, the AAP has to worry about isolating the Hindu voter. It is hardly surprising then that the AAP has been found wanting. It simply doesnt have the vocabulary, legitimacy or moral authority to provide an alternative to the language of Hindutva. Of course, as a government, it could and still can do a lot more in terms of relief camps and rehabilitation. But it cannot make Muslims feel less vulnerable. There is no escaping this fundamental tension in the AAP approach of poll strategy and tactics versus articulating an ideological opposition.

It is, of course, unfair to focus only on the AAP. This choice of strategy and tactics over ideological conviction pervades all political parties, not least of all the Congress. Our politicians have convinced themselves that the BJP wins elections because of its tactics  money, mobilisation and communication. And these are the grounds on which they should be fought. They are wrong. As political scientists Rahul Verma and Pradeep Chibber have argued, there has been a shift in the ideological make-up of the median Indian voter toward the Centre-Right. This shift underlies the BJPs electoral success. It can only be challenged with a robust ideological narrative that confronts Hindutva, head on. And in the absence of this, Indias Muslims will remain on their own in this war to save Indias Constitution and preserve its social fabric. India will lose even if our politicians win.

Yamini Aiyar is president and chief executive, Centre for Policy Research

The views expressed are personal
Iran has closed all schools and adopted a series of other new measures as it battles the worst outbreak of coronavirus outside of China.



Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on March 5 that all schools and universities will remain closed until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20, and that checkpoints will be used to limit travel between major cities.



"People should not consider this as an opportunity to go travelling. They should stay home and take our warnings seriously," Namaki said at a televised press conference.



The moves come after authorities said the death toll in Iran from COVID-19, the illness sparked by the coronavirus had risen to 107, while the number of confirmed cases had reached 3,513.



The coronavirus has been found in almost all of Irans provinces, President Hassan Rohani said on March 4, and many experts fear the real toll of both the dead and the infected could be much higher.

Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, accused the Iranian leadership of not being transparent over the extent of the outbreak.

"Iran lied to its own people about the coronavirus," Hook told reporters. It told them it was not anything to worry about but at the same time the virus was spreading throughout Iran."

Hook said the United States offered humanitarian assistance to help Iran deal with its outbreak but the regime rejected the offer.

Friday Prayers in all Iranian provincial capitals this week have been canceled because of the outbreak.

Namaki listed several measures that Iranians could take to help impede the spread of the coronavirus, including a reduction of the use of paper money.



He also said people should remain in their vehicles when filling up at the gas station and instead allow attendants to do the job.



In a sign of the growing nervousness across the region over the outbreak, Palestinian authorities on March 5 said the storied Nativity Church in the biblical city of Bethlehem, built atop the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Iraq's Health Ministry announced the country's first two confirmed deaths related to COVID-19.



There have been more than 3,740 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Middle East, many of which have links to Iran.



The outbreak has disrupted Islamic worship throughout the Middle East.



Saudi Arabia on March 4 banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, which attracts millions of people each year.



The move expands a previous ban on foreigners visiting Mecca and Medina, home to the holiest sites in Islam.



COVID-19 has killed more than 3,000 people and infected tens of thousands more, mainly in China.

The disease has now spread to more than 60 other countries, leading to multiple travel and other restrictions.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, AP, Reuters, and CNN
A raft of Londoners have been donning inventive headgear on public transport to protect themselves against coronavirus as cases jump across the UK.

On the London Underground and buses, people have been pictured wearing apparatus like plastic containers, bags, tea towels and ski goggles.

Officials have warned that a UK epidemic looks likely, with the number of confirmed patients rising to 87 on Wednesday.

In response to this, Londoners have recently been stepping out in face masks in an effort to avoid contracting the the illness.

A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. / PA

But following reports of a global shortage of face masks, many Brits have still been spotted taking extreme and bizarre measures to avoid catching the infection in public.

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

Plastic tubs, ski goggles and Tesco bags are just some of the ways Londoners are trying to protect themselves.

However such measures are unlikely to provide any additional protection from the pathogen.

The infection is spread through respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing, health experts have said.

According to the World Health Organisation, face masks are actually only needed for those looking after people with Covid-19, as well as those already diagnosed with the virus, according to the World Health Organisation.

An increase in demand for masks as well as production being affected by the shutdown of Chinas workforce has lead to supply issues.

In the capital on Wednesday, two recent patients of King's College Hospital were among the 36 new cases confirmed in the UK.

Elsewhere, Italy is closing all schools and universities as it continues its fight against the most serious coronavirus outbreak in Europe.
File Image

A 16-year-old Indian girl has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed infection cases in the UAE to 28, according to media reports. Health officials here confirmed on March 4 that a new coronavirus case was detected in the girl who attended an Indian school in Dubai, Al-Arabiya website reported.

The girl tested positive for the COVID-19 after she contracted the infection from her father who travelled overseas, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) was quoted as saying by the report.

The Indian High School in Dubai will be closed from March 5 as a precautionary measure, the Gulf News reported.

"As a precautionary measure, Indian High School Group of schools is closed from March 5. Detailed circular about exams will be mailed. Your well-being is important. Take care," the report said.

The father developed symptoms of the virus five days after returning to Dubai. Both the student and family members have been quarantined in hospital and are stable and recovering well. All other family members have also been quarantined, the Khaleej Times reported.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"Within the framework of comprehensive preventive measures against the spread of coronavirus, the DHA is conducting tests and monitoring the students, staff and workers of the school that may have interacted with the coronavirus patient," the DHA was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received on Thursday a phone call from his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

The two leaders agreed on advancing mutual trade relations in light of development projects being carried out in Egypt and the investment opportunities offered at the economic zone of the Suez Canal.

El-Sisi expressed his solidarity with the Korean government and people to confront the coronavirus, underscoring their ability to overcome this crisis and expressing desire to cooperate and exchange expertise to combat this virus.

The South Korean president cancelled on Wednesday his planned trip to Egypt, the UAE and Turkey in mid-March, over the fast-spreading virus, according to the Presidential Blue House.

Moon stressed his desire to enhance ties with Egypt on all levels especially the investment and economy in light of the economic growth that Egypt witnesses currently.

The newly discovered virus has killed 5328 citizens in Korea and infected 32 others so far, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

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5 Great Examples on How to Use Explainer Videos in Marketing

An explainer video is a great marketing tool. And if you use it right, you will benefit your business.

The vast majority of the companies place explainer videos on their website to explain to prospective customers how their products work. However, this is not the only way explainer videos can be used in marketing.

Let's consider five examples that show how companies from different industries use explainer videos to grow their businesses.

Focus on customer's pain points

Do you want to draw the audience's attention to your brand? Show your customers that you do understand their needs. Use an explainer video to prove that your product is designed to address these needs.

Name: Slack - Work, simplified

About the company: Slack is an app, a chat room for the whole company, designed to replace email as the primary method of communication and sharing. Slack eliminates the necessity to switch between the apps and helps to boost team productivity.

About the explainer video: The video consists of two parts. The first part shows how managers and team members suffer from dealing with constant emails, alerts, and meetings. This part of the video is drawn in grey, and it evokes negative emotions.

The second part of the video demonstrates how Slack can transform working life to be simpler, more pleasant, and more productive. This part is drawn in vibrant colors, and it evokes positive emotions.

This explainer video resonates with the target audience - managers who struggle to boost team productivity - and communicates a call-to-action. It helps Slack to drive conversion rates and increase sales.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=33&v=uGPXaDaNla0&feature=emb_logo





Present a new feature

Even if your company exists for many years, and everyone knows how your product works, you still can benefit from explainer videos. For instance, you can create videos to present new features of your product.

Name: Skrill - Buy and sell cryptocurrencies from your account

About the company: Skrill is a payment system that allows low-cost international money transfers. Skrill supports 200 countries and over 40 currencies and has over 40 million users worldwide.

About the explainer video: This summer, Skrill has released a short explainer video to present a new feature that allows to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

The video helped the company in two ways. Firstly, Skrill informed current clients about new business opportunities. Secondly, the video attracted a new audience, cryptocurrency experts, who are interested in using Skrill not as an international money transfer platform, but as a cryptocurrency trading platform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQf6XZo56N0



Share your vision

An explainer video is a great tool to communicate your company's vision to a wide audience. "By using a simple graphics and narrative storytelling technique, you can explain to your customers who stand behind your brand and what values you promote. You can get people to fall in love with your products and your brand," says Donna Torres, a marketer at Studicus and Wow Grade.

Name: Chipotle - One Man's Quest for Better Tasting Pork

About the company: Chipotle is an American chain of fast-casual restaurants specializing in tacos and Mission-style burritos.

About the explainer video: In contrast to other American fast-food restaurants, Chipotle is committed to using the quality ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment, and the farmers.

The video communicates the company's mission statement. It explains why Chipotle does not use cheap pork that comes from farms where the pigs are confined in gestation crates and given antibiotics. The video helps to improve customer loyalty and turn customers into brand advocates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azhry6BJP5I



Take your social media campaign to the next level

If you introduce a new product to the market and want to promote it on social media, you should consider using a short explainer video as an ad. Here is a great example to follow.

Name: Resume.io - How it works

About the company: Resume.io is an online platform that allows job seekers to build a perfect resume using professionally designed templates.

About the explainer video: Resume.io created a 27 seconds long video to explain how the platform works and used this video as a YouTube ad.

The marketing campaign was successful. The video helped the company to grab the target audience's attention and convert ad viewers into platform users. Once job seekers understood that Resume.io allows building an excellent resume in a hassle-free way, they decided to sign up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pLWYswbcDc



Create a strong visual brand

In the age of fierce competition, it's important to build a strong brand. Here is an example of how you can use explainer videos to maintain a strong brand identity.

Name: KLM Airlines - Flight safety

About the company: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands.

About the explainer video: KLM Airlines strives to create a strong visual brand, and uses explainer video for this purpose.

The Netherlands is famous for its blue and white pottery, also known as the Delft Blue or delftware. As a national company, KLM uses the Delft Blue patterns as an element of its visual brand identity.

Naturally, the KLM flight safety video also was designed in the delftware style. This video perfectly matches the overall branding strategy of the company and help KLM stand out in the crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGVlLZujgA4



Do you feel inspired to create an explainer video for your brand?

If you want to use an explainer video to boost your marketing efforts, you are moving in the right direction. Here is a short guide on how to get an excellent explainer video:

Think about how you will use your explainer video. Set a specific goal you want to achieve: raise brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, improve brand loyalty, etc.

Brainstorm ideas with your team. Think about what type of video fits your brand the most: whiteboard video, infographic video, etc.

Hire a storyteller or video scriptwriter to write a script for your explainer video. Check out online writing services like TrustMyPaper and WritingJudge or freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.

Now it's time to take the first step! Create an explainer video and take your marketing strategy to the next level.



This guest article was written by Bridgette Hernandez, a Master in Anthropology who is interested in writing and is planning to publish her own book in the near future. She works with professional writing companies such as BestEssayEducation and GrabMyEssay as and as a writer, Brid also does some editing work SupremeDissertations.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:50:03|Editor: xuxin

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JAKARTA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has flagged coronavirus travel bans on certain regions in Iran, South Korea and Italy, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Thursday.

Marsudi told a press conference that people who have visited certain regions in the three countries in the last 14 days will be prevented from visiting or transiting in Indonesia, effective from Sunday.

The regions are Tehran, Qom and Gilan in Iran; Lombardi, Venetto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Piedmont in Italy; as well as Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do in South Korea.

"According to the latest report of WHO (World Health Organization), there is currently a significant increase in COVID-19 cases outside China, three countries in particular, namely Iran, Italy and South Korea," she said.

Travellers coming from other regions of the three countries will be required to show valid health certificates issued by the health authorities of the three countries.

"Without health certificates, travelers will be denied to enter or transit in Indonesia," Marsudi said.
- Luxury car manufacturer Bentley has unveiled a new Mulliner Bacalar car worth $2 million (GHC10,880,000.00)

- The new Mulliner Bacalar car was reportedly manufactured from a 5,000-year-old tree

- YEN.com.gh takes a closer look at the new Bentley luxury car

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Luxury car manufacturer, Bentley has unveiled a $2 million Mulliner Bacalar luxury car with no trim. The luxury car was reportedly manufactured from a 5,000-year-old tree.

Bentley announced that only 12 of these cars will be produced which have all been sold out.

The Mulliner Bacalar car doesnt have a roof or even a removable top, making it unusable in the event of rain.

The car is powered by a 650 horsepower 12-cylinder engine and it has an eight-speed transmission.

READ ALSO: Angelic photo of little boy with unique skin goes viral; stirs powerful reactions

With its distinct black colour, the interior wood trim of the car is made from trees that have been naturally preserved for over 5,000 years in the rivers and lakes of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.

Bentley planned to reveal the Bacalar at the Geneva Motor Show, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak and the luxury car was unveiled online instead.

In other stories, YEN.com.gh previously reported that while it is not clear why people cheat on the most loyal persons in relationships, it is certain that these people who cheat make the decision to hurt their partners.

However, often, people who cheat on their partners find it difficult to forgive even when they have been forgiven so many times. Many of these people find it hard to trust again and this is the case of a young lady who recently caught her boyfriend cheating on her with another lady.

READ ALSO: Ghanaians massively praise doctor who offered Kangaroo care to preterm baby of sick patient

Faces of Ghana: Ghanas 1st Female Police Bemoans High Rate of Police Indiscipline | #Yencomgh

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Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

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Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 07:13 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206859907 1 National COVID-19,Terawan,Sutopo-Purwo-Nugroho,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Achmad-Yurianto,health-ministry,spokesman Free

The government's recent handling of COVID-19 has spark nostalgia online for the late National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, who dedicated his life to relaying information to the public when disasters struck.

Big data consulting company Drone Emprit founder Ismail Fahmi said on his Twitter account that tweets about the late Sutopo had spiked since President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo confirmed Indonesia's first two cases on Monday.

Sutopo gained renown as a source of reliable information during the country's bleakest moments, even after he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in late 2017. He passed away at the age of 49 while receiving treatment in China in 2019.

The man, recognized by the Straits Times as one of the Asians of the Year in 2018, often took to his Twitter account @Sutopo_PN, which still has more than 200,000 followers to this day, to share up-to-date information on disasters. He was also known among journalists for his data-based answers during media briefings.

"The public has expressed dismay over the 'crisis management speech' of Pak [Health] Minister Terawan [Agus Putranto]. What he said was right, but the way he expressed it did not convince the public," Ismail of Drone Emprit said.

TREN penyebutan 'Sutopo' meningkat sejak 2 Maret 2020.



Ini saat yang sama ketika Presiden @jokowi mengumumkan ada 2 orang penderita #COVID19 dari Depok. pic.twitter.com/eYiwHUdj3x  Ismail Fahmi (@ismailfahmi) March 4, 2020

As an example, he quoted a tweet from musician Ananda Badudu that read, "We all miss the late Pak Sutopo". The tweet, which has been retweeted almost 50 times, was posted in response to another tweet criticizing Terawans press briefing on the confirmed coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, Twitter user @bawonot wrote, "With all due respect, Mr. Terawan [and all government officials] should have learned one or two things from the late Mr. Sutopo's playbook on how to handle public communication properly. There is a time and place for jokes and [unnecessary] comments, Sir."

With all due respect, Mr. Terawan (and all goverment officials) should have learned one or two things from the late Mr.Sutopo's playbook on how to handle public communication properly.



There are time and place for jokes and (unnecessary) comments, Sir.  Tejo B. (@bawonot) March 2, 2020

User @goldydharmawan tweeted, "In a critical time like this, I miss Pak @Sutopo_PN. The one who can publicly explain things as clearly as possible in the easiest manner that most people can comprehend."

In a critical time like this, I miss pak @Sutopo_PN.



The one who can publicly explain things as clearly as possible in the easiest manner that most people can comprehend.  Goldy Dharmawan (@goldydharmawan) March 2, 2020

Facing sharp public criticism, the government appointed on Tuesday Disease Control and Prevention Directorate General secretary Achmad Yurianto as the spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters.

Read also: 'It's our nation's right to rely on the Almighty': Minister justifies calling for prayers in coronavirus battle

Indonesian Public Relations Firm Association (APPRI) chairperson Jojo S. Nugroho said Yurianto's appointment, despite coming too late, was a good step toward ensuring effective communication that could cut across the widespread misinformation about the virus as well as the efforts of some politicians to seek publicity by issuing baseless statements. He also urged the government to form a specific crisis management team in anticipation of a domestic outbreak.

"Preparations should have been made since late December 2019 when the outbreak was first reported. However, it was not handled seriously [...] a crisis communication team was not formed to anticipate the outbreak. As a result, hoaxes have spread and the government has instead been busy clarifying misinformation," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the publics criticisms of Terawan were justified, as the minister's statements did not carry a "sense of crisis", both in content and in gesture.

"Quoting WHO director general Tedros [Adhanom], our biggest enemy is not the virus itself, but fear, rumors and stigma. Our strengths should be in facts, scientific explanation and solidarity," he said.
[March 05, 2020]

Plug and Play Chooses 111 Startups For Their Spring 2020 Batches

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Plug and Play has accepted 111 startups into their Spring 2020 Batches. Startups have been selected for one of the following programs that run through May: Brand & Retail, Food & Beverage, Media & Advertising, New Materials & Packaging, Supply Chain, Sustainability, or Travel & Hospitality. 21% of the startups are based outside the U.S. and represent 13 countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Israel, the NetherlandsSpain, and the U.K. The full list of startups can be viewed on Plug and Play's website: http://bit.ly/pnpspring2020







"These entrepreneurs have strong backgrounds and great ideas," said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. "I look forward to welcoming them into our community."

Throughout the next three months, the selected startups will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Plug and Play's global network of corporate partners, venture capitalists, alumni, and industry leaders. Each company will be invited to private deal flow sessions, networking events, mentor sessions, and more to increase their chance to land exclusive pilots, POCs, new customers, and investment. There is no equity requirement for startups to participate.

Graduation for these batches will commence May 5-7th at Plug and Play's Spring Summit 2020. Apply to attend: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/events/spring-summit-2020/

Plug and Play has also released its 2019 Company Performance Report. To see their new programs, locations, investments, and more, read the full report: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/2019-report/

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 25 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 300 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

Media Contact

Allison Romero

[email protected]

(408) 524-1457

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plug-and-play-chooses-111-startups-for-their-spring-2020-batches-301017440.html

SOURCE Plug and Play
Were a bunch of chefs  of course were going to check out the food in a city like Vegas, Helton said. We all still text each other and are very supportive of each other.  Almost everybody on that show, we were there for each other just as much as it was a competition. Because its a team sport in a kitchen, you know?
NSA Ajit Doval on Thursday told young police officers heading the district force to be "credible and fair" and warned them that if they fail, democracy would also fail.

During his lecture, organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) under the Union home ministry, Doval laid special emphasis on police and policing and asked the new officers to ensure that the man in 'khaki' is seen as fair by a common person.

The comments from the National Security Advisor (NSA) assume significance in the wake of the recent riots in Northeast Delhi where the role and effectiveness of the police in controlling the violence have been questioned.

"In a democracy, it is extremely important to be totally dedicated to the law. You should be doing things fairly and objectively and it is also important that you are seen as credible," he said.

Doval, a 1968 batch IPS officer who rose to become director of Intelligence Bureau and was later picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his NSA in 2014, said: "Law-making is the most sacrosanct job in a democracy. It is not done by an imperial ruler or from the pulpit of a religious leader but by the representatives of the people and you are the enforcers of that law."

"If you fail, democracy fails," Doval said while inaugurating the 'Third Young Superintendents of Police Conference' organised in Gurgaon by the BPR&D, a national police think tank.

If the police personnel are not able to enforce the law, then framing of that law is immaterial. A law is as good as it is executed on the ground, Doval said, adding that perception about the police is important as people tend to latch on to a "stray" aberration involving a wrong policeman and then they think that to be the standard prototype of policemen and that is what Indian police is all about.

"Perception gives confidence to the people, which enhances their trust level and makes their lives psychologically more secure," he said.

If the common man feels that they have got a police that is efficient, alert, honest, objective, professionally competent and friendly, the society gets a sense that all will be secure, Doval emphasised.

He urged the young police officers to understand the psychology of the people in the place of their posting and work for them sincerely.

The NSA asked them to work for the people in society who feel "most neglected, unprivileged, those who feel there is lack of safety and security for them and who feel that their complaint will never reach the police".

"You should disabuse the people of the impression that police is only there to serve the privileged," he said at the event.

The NSA said India being "enslaved" for long is sometimes linked to people's disenchantment with the police.

"Basically, we have been a society which has been enslaved for a very long time and an enslaved society always has a contempt for the people who are in authority and the police is an instrument of the government which has to enforce the law on the ground, which otherwise is only a scrap of paper," Doval said.

"Police bring teeth to the law. Since they have to do that unpleasant work and since it is the mindset that the man who enforces the law is the ruler and we are the ruled or the slaves...that brings certain amount of aversion," he said.

Doval said in a democracy, when people themselves feel politically empowered, which they rightly should feel, they probably like it. This also takes the form of resistance and as part of that one sees police vehicles being put on fire during protests or violence, he said.

"The day society starts realising that the property of the police or the police vehicles one has burnt is actually people's money, it will bring about a societal change," the NSA said.

People will have to realise that it is the police for which they are paying, it is the police which is there to serve their best interests. That realisation will take time, and it has already started, he said.

Doval rued that despite India being a powerful country that has the technology to hit a target in space with an anti-satellite missile or has got plans to go to the moon, does not has "adequate technology for policing in a village or a town".

There was no dearth of leadership in the police forces, he said., and urged the young police officers to innovate and find solutions to new challenges and problems that they face.
Jeff Kositsky, who helped create San Franciscos Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing when he was picked as its first director in 2016, is leaving his post to take charge of the citys front-line team tackling its homelessness crisis on the streets.

Kositsky said hes ready for a change, and the Healthy Streets Operation Center  a joint venture of city departments including Kositskys and police  has slipped badly over the past year in its mission of moving people into housing and shelter and clearing out nuisance camps and behavior. His last day at the homelessness department will be March 21.

Im really proud of what weve done, and Im as optimistic as I was the day I took the job, Kositsky told The Chronicle. This work is not easy, it takes time, but were making forward progress.

He said the mayor asked him to take over the joint ventures operation center, which was excoriated in a February report by the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, a city oversight panel, for emphasizing crackdowns on tents and behavior over helping street people move inside. The crackdowns are primarily led by crews from the police department and the Department of Public Works, whose director, Mohammed Nuru, resigned after being federally charged with fraud.

Conditions continue to be bad in the streets, Kositsky said. Things got better in 2018, but then worse in 2019, and the mayor wants me to focus on this.

Since starting his job, the biennial one-night homeless count has risen from 6,686 to last years tally of 8,011. In the same period, Kositskys department housed or sent home to relatives and friends more than 7,000 people, and created more than 500 units of permanent supportive housing and nearly 1,000 shelter beds.

The department has 120 full-time positions and oversees more than $300 million in programs and services, about half of which goes toward housing people in complexes with on-site services.

Addressing the conditions on our streets is our top priority, Mayor London Breed said in an email about why she asked Kositsky to take over the operation center. Jeff is the right person to refocus our efforts, coordinate the different city departments that are involved in (the center), and help people off the streets, out of tents, and into shelter and services.

Were adding resources, we have a plan, and now we have an experienced leader to help us meet these challenges, she added.

Kositskys spokeswoman and strategic director, Abigail Stewart-Kahn, will take over as interim director of the homelessness department while the mayor conducts a nationwide search for Kositskys replacement.

Kositskys shift comes as the operation center team, formed by the late Mayor Ed Lee and continued by Breed as the citys prime response to address its homelessness crisis, has become almost totally ineffective  at least in any long-term way.

Data on the teams 2019 performance demonstrates that the perception of many San Franciscans that City Hall isnt addressing the crisis in a competent fashion is merited.

Both housed and unhoused people and advocates have been really unhappy the past year, and we have data that shows why, Kositsky said.

For example, the number of large encampments of at least six tents increased from two to 15 over the course of 2019. The number of tents was up 31% from January 2019 to October 2019, and 649 tents and other structures occupied by homeless people were counted in January of this year. Vehicles with people living in them increased 24% from April 2019 to October 2019.

And when the operation center got involved, outcomes werent good. Of 650 homeless people placed in Navigation Centers or traditional homeless shelters by that team, 95% returned directly to the street rather than getting help finding a more permanent solution. That was up significantly from 58% the year before.

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.

Of all the times that teams from the center tried to interact with homeless people in 2019, just 2.4% of encounters with police officers resulted in being connected to services. And just 17% of the encounters with the Homeless Outreach Team resulted in connections to services.

So what went wrong in 2019? A whole lot.

A presentation given by Kositsky to the Local Homeless Coordinating Board last month cited an array of problems, including inconsistent strategies, a loss of focus on preventing large encampments from returning and a lack of accountability because the Healthy Streets Operation Center lacked a leader.

One change, Kositsky said, will be directing resources more strategically rather than prioritizing only complaints from 311. He said 311 calls will still be answered and dealt with, but wont compose the centers entire efforts. There have been many calls, for example, about people who appear homeless but arent, which takes time away from helping people who are actually in need.

Also, centering the citys response around 311 calls tends to mean that wealthier neighborhoods get disproportionate attention compared with their levels of homelessness. Kositsky said residents of the Tenderloin and Bayview tend to call 311 less often even though far more homeless people live in those neighborhoods.

Were going back to the way we did it before, which is the calls get triaged, and the various departments will handle those calls, he said. I think its great when government can stand up and say, Hey, we tried something and it didnt work, and were going to try something else.

Kevin Fagan and Heather Knight are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, hknight@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @KevinChron, @hknightsf
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued an additional travel advisory which says that aside from the visa restrictions already in place, passengers traveling from Italy or the Republic of Korea will require a 'tested negative for COVID -19' certificate before they are allowed to enter the country.

The certificates would have to be issued from designated laboratories authorised by the health authorities of these countries. This measure by the Health Ministry for the prevention of coronavirus will come into effect from midnight March 10. The Ministry has said that this is only a temporary measure till the coronavirus outbreak subsides.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier confirmed that a total of 29 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in India. This number includes the three initial cases in Kerala who were treated and later discharged from the hospitals.

Two new cases were discovered on Monday, one in Delhi with a travel history to Italy and another in Telangana. The patient from Telangana had come in contact with a Singapore national who had been infected with the coronavirus. 17 Italian tourists who were in India to tour Rajasthan were also tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday.

The government had said on Tuesday that all incoming international passengers must declare their travel history to health and immigration officials at India's airports.

Italy is one of the worst affected countries apart from China, with 107 confirmed dead because of the coronavirus outbreak. Till now, over 3,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Italy.

South Korea, a neighbor of China, is another country that has been gravely affected by coronavirus. South Korea reported 760 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing it to a total of 6,088 in the country - the highest outside of China. The coronavirus death toll in South Korea is currently at 40, with eight new deaths confirmed on Thursday.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Indian authorities in touch with Iran to evacuate stranded citizens

Also Read: COVID-19 in India: HM asks states to form Rapid Response Teams to prevent community transmission
California has declared a state of emergency after a cruise ship passenger became the first person in the state to die from coronavirus.

The 71-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions, died in a hospital in Placer County, near Sacramento.

His brings the death toll to 11 in the US, where there are now at least 150 cases across 16 states, including 53 in California.

Health officials say the man was one of two passengers who likely caught the illness on board the Grand Princess cruise liner during a trip between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

The ship later went on to Hawaii and returned to its home port of San Francisco on Wednesday after 20 people fell ill on board.

California governor Gavin Newsom said the cruise liner, which is carrying thousands of travellers, will remain at sea until passengers and crew complaining of symptoms can be tested for coronavirus.

He added that state health authorities are working alongside the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to contact some 2,500 passengers who were on the earlier voyage.

Mr Newsom declared a state-wide emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak after health authorities confirmed 53 cases of coronavirus in California  the most of any single US state.

The death of the former cruise passenger in California marked the first coronavirus fatality in the US outside of Washington, where 10 people have died in a cluster of at least 39 infections in the Seattle area.

Washington and Florida both declared states of emergency over the weekend, and Hawaii also joined them Wednesday.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $8.3bn (about 6.4bn) to combat the spread of the coronavirus and develop vaccines on Wednesday. It will now need to be approved by the Senate.

There are now more than 95,300 cases worldwide and more than 3,200 people have died.

Italy shut all of its schools and universities from Thursday, until 15 March. The death toll there has risen to 107 while cases total almost 3,090.

Scientists in China studying the disease caused by the new coronavirus, named Covid-19, say they have found two main strains of the virus are circulating in humans and causing infections.

They said they found a more aggressive strain of the virus, associated with the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which accounted for about 70 per cent of analysed cases, while 30 per cent were linked to a less aggressive type.

The researchers, from Peking Universitys School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, cautioned they had studied limited data and follow-up studies of larger data sets would be needed to better understand the viruss evolution.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
A woman involved in an alleged knife incident over toilet paper at a Woolworths supermarket suffered from communication difficulties and is unlikely to be charged, police said.

The altercation happened in the toilet paper aisle of the supermarket, at Parramatta Westfield in Sydney's west, on Wednesday, in front of shocked shoppers already in a frenzy and panic buying over coronavirus fears.

Staff members inside the store said there was a dispute between a man and a woman as toilet paper was unloaded onto shelves about 1pm, and one of the people pulled out a knife.

But NSW Police said on Thursday the 'disturbance' between the pair was due to the woman's inability to talk or hear, as she is both deaf and mute.

Scroll down for video

Police officers speak to shoppers after an incident involving a knife at Westfield Parramatta, in Sydney's west, about 1.30pm on Wednesday

This is the almost-empty toilet paper aisle at Woolworths Parramatta where the alleged knife incident occurred

At least six police officers were called to the scene, where they talked to the woman for more than an hour inside the Woolworths tea room.

She and her daughter were then escorted out a back door and taken home.

A NSW Police spokesman said charges are not expected to be laid.

Supermarkets are now enforcing strict restrictions on toilet paper purchases as shoppers, driven by fears of a global coronavirus pandemic, cleared supermarket shelves across Australia.

A witness to the incident said: 'There was a fight over toilet paper - you could hear a commotion coming from down the end aisle.

'It was all over in a few moments, security were here and police came and talked to a woman.'

A woman pushing a trolley speaks to officers in the wake of the incident at Woolworths Parramatta this afternoon

Earlier on Wednesday, Woolworths announced customers could not purchase more than four packets per person.

Worried shoppers have raided stores of toilet paper, hand sanitiser, pasta, rice and bottled water, with supermarkets desperately stocking up on essentials.

NSW POLICE STATEMENT ON PARRAMATTA INCIDENT A NSW Police spokeswoman said: 'About 1.30pm today, police were called to a supermarket on Campbell St, Parramatta following reports of a disturbance in an aisle. 'Officers from Parramatta City Police Area Command attended and spoke to a person at the scene. 'It was established there was a dispute. 'No people were injured and no arrests were made.' Advertisement

Footage showed shoppers madly grabbing toilet paper at a separate Woolworths supermarket in Revesby, in the city's south-west.

In what was dubbed a 'stampede', anxious shoppers were seen piling packets of toilet paper into their trolleys, some carrying two packs of 12 at a time.

At warehouse store Costco - where customers typically buy in bulk - customers were seen paying for trolley-loads of toilet paper.

A store in Lidcombe was completely emptied of toilet paper when Daily Mail Australia visited early on Wednesday afternoon.

One Aldi store has even enforced a radical one-pack per person toilet paper limit as pictures of bare supermarket shelves flood social media.

Meanwhile, sustainable toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap has run out of stock for 'all its products' due to what it described as 'panic buying madness'.

The company claimed purchases were up 800 per cent.

'Scalpers' have even started selling packs for marked up prices on Facebook Marketplace.

WHY AUSTRALIA'S GONE POTTY FOR TOILET PAPER By Josh Hanrahan A handful of the thousands of Australians who have stormed supermarkets to stock up on toilet paper have revealed why they felt the need to stockpile loo roll. Daily Mail Australia visited several Sydney supermarkets on Wednesday where manic shoppers were clearing out aisles, including an entire Costco warehouse in the city's west. As the coronavirus scare widens - with 43 confirmed diagnoses in Australia - a father and son were among dozens of shoppers to empty a supermarket shelf at Lidcombe Shopping Centre within 10 minutes of it being restocked. Oscar Andres, 46, said he and his son Ivan, 18, from Bondi had made an urgent trip to the shops to stock up on 'rare commodities' - including six packets of toilet paper. Oscar Andres, 46, said he and his son Ivan, 18, from Bondi had made an urgent trip to the shops to stock up on 'rare commodities' - including six packets of toilet paper Within 10 minutes of it being stocked, this shelf at Woolworths in Lidcombe Shopping Centre was completely empty But admitted they did not desperately need toilet paper and had largely been caught up in the hype that is sweeping the nation, despite authorities urging people to stop. 'It's a little bit scary, especially seeing the way everyone is behaving,' Mr Andres said. 'We are from Bondi but we heard on the radio about how everyone was selling out so we had to come and get some urgently. 'My son said people are buying up on rice too so I told him to get some of that too. We don't want to miss out!' While some had just run out at home or were doing their weekly shop, others admitted the hype surrounding coronavirus had them worried. Four shoppers make the most of the new arrival of toilet paper at Woolworths in Lidcombe on Wednesday A family carts four super-sized packs of toilet paper out of the supermarket 'It's because of the coronavirus, it's very scary,' Angelo Vargas told Daily Mail Australia. 'Everyone is buying toilet paper and I think everyone is a bit caught up in in and you don't want to miss out. 'I think if you get stuck in your house for a few weeks it's the only safe way to clean yourself.' Jeanette Timsans, Mary Delaveris and Rebecca Kastrantas left Woolworths with none empty trolleys and said people should only be able to buy one packet each. 'It's ridiculous, people are coming in and taking four rolls each - there's groups of people leaving with dozens,' Ms Delaveris said. 'Woolies should be limiting it to one per person.' Advertisement

Health officials have confirmed only 43 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Australia as of Wednesday afternoon.

One man has died and a 95-year-old woman may have also died after coming into contact with an infected nursing home carer.

The country's chief medical officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, told Parliament panic buying toilet paper wasn't a 'proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time'.

'We are trying to reassure people that removing all of the lavatory paper from the shelves of supermarkets probably isn't a proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time,' Prof Murphy told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

'We are a well-prepared health system but even the best-prepared health systems can face a challenge if you have large outbreaks.'

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there was no reason for panicked stockpiling, saying he was 'in the middle of all of this' and 'I'm certainly not out buying up.'

A despairing shopper posted to Instagram with a photo of the Woolworths aisle, earlier that day

An Aldi in Epping, Sydney has placed a one toilet packet per person rule on shoppers

At Costco warehouses, shoppers loaded up their trolleys with extra-large packs of toilet tissue

But several shoppers today told Daily Mail Australia they were stocking up on toilet paper out of fear they may 'miss out' amid the frenzy.

'It's a little bit scary, especially seeing the way everyone is behaving,' said Oscar Andres, who drove 25km from Bondi to Lidcombe to stock up.

'We are from Bondi but we heard on the radio about how everyone was selling out so we had to come and get some urgently.

'My son said people are buying up on rice too so I told him to get some of that too.

'We don't want to miss out!'

Supermarket workers reported re-stocking shelves with toilet paper only for it to sell out within 10 minutes.
As the largest fundraise in Elevation history, The Apollo Fund surpassed goals and raised over $20 million more than Fund VI, Elevation's previous fund. Individual investment averages also exceeded Fund VI averages by $75,000.

As with Elevation's prior funds, a large number of current or past investors reinvested in The Apollo Fund. Out of 267 investors who have ever invested in an Elevation fund over its 14-year history, 64 percent chose to participate in the newest fund. In addition, 80 percent of a recent $13.5 million distribution to Fund VI investors was reinvested back into the Apollo Fund.



"Elevation's Fund VII, The Apollo Fund is off to a fast start thanks to the growing support of a dedicated group of investors from all parts of the country," said Chris King, CEO of Elevation. "I am excited about what we will accomplish in The Apollo Fund and what we have already accomplished with some terrific assets acquired in the Southeast and Midwest. We are dedicated to delivering disciplined leadership over all facets of the investment process and are deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve so many wonderful investor families."

The Apollo Fund has already seen six impressive property acquisitions totaling over 1,100 units, including:

A 496-unit senior community in Indianapolis, Indiana , representing Elevation's largest acquisition to date

, representing Elevation's largest acquisition to date Four multifamily properties in Louisiana totaling 456 units

totaling 456 units A 160-unit 55+ independent senior community in Springfield, Illinois .

As with all of its past and current properties, Elevation will continue to operate Apollo Fund assets as affordable housing in line with its mission to provide safe, clean, and affordable housing to seniors and families. The company remains in a disciplined acquisition mode as it moves to successfully deploy remaining Fund VII capital.

About Elevation

Elevation Financial Group, LLC, a real estate private equity company, leads an award-winning group of companies with a focus and mission to acquire, revitalize, and operate affordable apartment communities for independent seniors and families. As a private equity company, Elevation raises capital through private placements to accredited investors and maintains a commitment to low or no loads on capital raised. Through a consortium of companies specializing in real estate investment, property management, and property renovation, Elevation aspires to deliver superior financial returns to its shareholders while making a positive and distinctive impact on the communities served.

CONTACT: Wendy Roundtree, 407-205-2952

SOURCE Elevation Financial Group, LLC

Related Links

http://www.elevationfinancialgroup.com


When we premiered this program in Cleveland last year, our Palestinian musician told a story to the audience about what he had learned from his grandmother in Jerusalem. She taught him that rather than placing an importance on being a good Christian or Muslim or Jew, she taught him that it was more important to be a good neighbor.
Troubled Vodafone Idea has warned that the Indian telecom market may move towards a position of "virtual monopoly" if Trai does not intervene in tariff fixation, while Airtel has cited "huge existential and financial crisis" to bat for fixation of floor price for two years.

Jio has termed the fixation of floor price for data services as "vital" for the health of telecom sector, and urged Trai to continue the policy of forbearance for voice services, which it said is the preferred telecom service of the subscribers at the bottom of the pyramid.

Jio further said hike in floor price should be undertaken gradually and be fixed at Rs 15 per GB for now -- against the prevailing Rs 9 to 12 per GB -- and taken to Rs 20 per GB after six to nine months depending on the data consumption growth.

In its recent submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Vodafone Idea -- confronted with Rs 53,000 crore in AGR dues, of which it has so far only paid 7 per cent -- flagged the "deep financial distress" in the telecom sector, reflecting in unprecedented decline in revenues.

Over the last three years, half a dozen operators have exited by either merging their businesses with existing Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) or declaring bankruptcy, Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) rued.

"If the existing financial stress in the sector is not addressed within a short period, it could result in further bankruptcy and exit of TSPs from the market, leading to a state of virtual monopoly and absence of fair competition in the market," VIL said in its written submission.

The telco's comments were in response to Trai's consultation paper on 'Tariff Issues of Telecom Services'.

Making a strong case for Trai intervention, the company said to address the current financial stress, floor price must be considered for pure data plans, metered data plans and bundled usage plans; and fixed subscription charges for voice only, data only or voice and data subscribers.

Floor price should also be considered for unlimited usage plan on voice (say plan with 1,000 minutes limit) or data which will construe as a bundled plan; and off-net outgoing calls.

"Subject to above, other services, including on-net voice may continue to be under forbearance," Vodafone Idea said.

VIL said that among the telecom companies in the market, the public sector operator has been provided a significant financial assistance to sustain itself.

In a commentary which clearly underlines extent of the crisis in the sector, VIL said there is a "very strong likelihood" of further exits in the Indian telecom sector, and therefore it is likely that India may move towards a position of virtual monopoly.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has said the industry is facing a huge existential and financial crisis, caused by cut throat competition due to 'below cost' pricing, and that operators have "bled".

The operators have a choice of raising tariffs unilaterally to correct the situation, but that is "easier said than done" given the extremely competitive nature of the market.

Airtel believes the industry needs an unprecedented intervention in terms of orderly conduct of the players.

"The only way to realise this orderly conduct for now is through the fixation of floor tariffs," it said.

Airtel said that after two years, however, the industry must go back to tariff forbearance.

"Our recommendation is to therefore have a clear time bound floor price which migrates back to forbearance at the end of two years. We believe that once industry health is restored, the Indian consumer will be well served by the innovation that tariff forbearance naturally provides," it said.

The Sunil Mittal-led company said the industry requires over Rs 1 lakh crore (excluding spectrum) in just 18-24 months to expand existing networks.

"For operators to themselves act sensibly and raise tariffs is very difficult given the brutal competitive intensity. We therefore believe that a temporary intervention by TRAI for a two year period so as to ensure orderly conduct has become essential to restore a dying industry," Airtel said.

The most critical need for the industry is to restore the financial health, Airtel said, adding that in its estimate even after the recent tariff hike of December 2019, the company will need an additional ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) of Rs 80 for 15 per cent return on capital employed.

It said that there should not be any specific floor price for voice and voice price may be kept under forbearance.

"While we have recommended voice to be under forbearance, there are bundled packs which have unlimited voice. Hence, there will be a requirement to add a voice price component, in order to arrive at the overall floor tariff," Airtel said responding to Trai's question on whether there should be a limit on telcos to offer free off-net calls.

Airtel has recommended including Rs 60 per month towards voice charges in case of bundled pack with unlimited voice.

"No limit to be applied on TSPs to offer free off-net minutes. Any charging of calls, outside the unlimited bundle pack, may be left to the discretion of the operator given the broader over-arching recommendation of tariff forbearance on voice," it said.

It has opposed any need for price ceiling, citing among other factors the competitive market.

Jio, on the other hand, has said that fixation of floor price for data services is vital for maintaining the health of the telecom sector and delivering best value to Indian consumers.

"We therefore submit that the data floor should be fixed on the basis of realized revenue from data services. As mentioned by the Authority, the realized revenue ranges from Rs 9 to 12 per GB. The authority should target to improve the realisation at least to Rs 20 per GB," Jio said.

Floor should to be prescribed for data service for all categories -- that is corporate, consumer and segmented, it said.

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

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The government has approved a plan allowing SBI-led consortium to buy a stake in ailing Yes Bank, according to news agency Bloomberg.

Neither bank confirmed the move, nor was there any official word from the government or the RBI as of now.

The news set shares of Yes Bank on fire with the scrip surging as much as 27 per cent to Rs 37.30 by Thursday noon. In stark contrast, SBI shares initially fell but picked up pace subsequently.

The development comes days after RBI Governor ShaktiKanta Das confirming to a news channel that the regulator won't allow any Indian bank to go bust. In the past, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar too stressed that the government will avoid a bank collapse, but maintained that the country's largest lender was not in the race to bid for Yes Bank.

If the plan goes ahead, this will be the first such bailout engineered by the goverment in nearly two decades. In the past, the state-run Oriental Bank of Commerce was forced to takeover Hyderabad-based Global Trust Bank, which collapsed due to financial irregularities by the bank's management.

The bank has significant exposure to crisis-hit IL&FS and other NBFCs and its bad loans shot up in the past few quarters. As such it needs additional capital for fresh provisions.

Yes Bank has been trying to raise $2 billion to shore up capital, but with little luck so far. As on September 2019, common tier-1 capital ratio stood at 8.7 per cent, marginally above the regulatory norm of 7.375 per cent. Investors are also concerned about the bad loan divergences. For instance, just last November, it was revealed that the bank under-reported bad loans worth Rs 3,277 crore in the year ended March, 2019.

From the archives | Yes Bank: Why worst-performing bank stock is now seeing world's biggest surge

It's previous attempts to raise capital backfired after the bank's board rejected a $1.2 billion bid from Canadian investor Erwin Singh Braich and Hong Kong-based SPGP Holdings. Last month, the bank delayed the announcement of its December-quarter results and is expected to publish them next Saturday or March, 14.

It also roped in Cantor Fitzgerald and local investment banks IDFC Securities and Ambit Capital to raise funds and has reportedly received fresh binding expressions of interest from investors including J C Flowers, Tilden Park Capital, OHA UK and Silver Point Capital. Besides, reports of Hinduja Group partnering with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP was also doing the rounds.

Trouble intensified after RBI rejected an extension to the bank's co-founder rana Kapoor in October, 2018. Subsequently, the bank appointed Ravneet Gill as its MD & CEO, which soothed investors nerves, who were hoping for a turnaround.

In January, the bank's audit committee chairman Uttam Prakash Agarwal resigned citing corporate governance lapses. He made damning allegations including fictitious investment proposals besides calling out the board's silence, spaking additional concerns.


The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, held every March at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan, is the worlds premier gathering of buyers, sellers and lovers of rare books. Its a kind of Woodstock for the ultra-bookish, where museum-like displays of stunningly bound 16th-century volumes and illuminated manuscripts are surrounded by booths specializing in rare maps, historical documents, vintage crime novels, counterculture ephemera and just about anything else, as long as its (mostly) on paper.

One veteran dealer interviewed in the early scenes of The Booksellers, a documentary opening Friday, just time for this years fair, calls it a roller-coaster ride between tedium and great bits of commerce and discoveries.

For the less jaded first-time visitor, it can also be an overwhelming explosion of stimulation.

Going in, you might imagine its a bunch of old brown spines, but its completely the opposite, D.W. Young, the films director, said last week while sitting in a the suitably book-crammed offices of Sanctuary Books, a rare-book outfit a few blocks from the armory. Its just an amazingly visually rich experience.
WASHINGTON  Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who only very rarely responds to criticism of federal judges, issued a statement Wednesday denouncing remarks made by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, at a rally outside the Supreme Court.

Schumer, speaking while the court heard arguments in a major abortion case, attacked President Donald Trumps two Supreme Court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price, Schumer said. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

Roberts condemned Schumers remarks.

Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous, he said in a statement. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

A spokesman for Schumer said the chief justice had engaged in a willful misrepresentation.

Senator Schumers comments were a reference to the political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grass-roots movement on the issue of reproductive rights, the spokesman, Justin Goodman, said in a statement.

For Justice Roberts to follow the right wings deliberate misinterpretation of what Senator Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes, he said.

That was a reference to a famous analogy proposed by Roberts at his confirmation hearings, comparing judges with umpires.

Last week, the chief justice declined to comment when the president called on Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, two liberal members of the court, to recuse themselves from all cases involving Trump.

Schumers remarks suggested that Democrats see a political advantage in criticizing the court, which they expect to issue consistently conservative decisions after the departure in 2018 of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Roberts, for his part, insists that the court is not a political body.

In presiding over Trumps impeachment trial this year, the chief justice got a taste of the venomous partisan warfare in Congress and did what he could to keep his distance. One of his tasks was to read questions submitted to him, even when they were directed at him.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and a presidential candidate, had the chief justice recite this: At a time when large majorities of Americans have lost faith in government, does the fact that the chief justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss of legitimacy of the chief justice, the Supreme Court and the Constitution?

That echoed criticism from liberals who wanted Roberts to take a more active role in the trial. But he showed no inclination to explore the limits of his role as presiding officer.

He made this clear when Schumer asked whether the chief justice would break a tie vote. If the members of this body elected by the people and accountable to them divide equally on a motion, the normal rule is that the motion fails, Roberts said. I think it would be inappropriate for me, an unelected official from a different branch of government, to assert the power to change that result so that the motion would succeed.

Last week, Trump took issue with Ginsburg and Sotomayor. Ginsburg had made critical remarks about Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, and Sotomayor had issued a recent and routine dissent taking issue with a string of requests for emergency relief sought by the administration.

Both should recuse themselves on all Trump, or Trump related, matters! Trump said on Twitter.

In 2016, Trump called on Ginsburg to resign after her remarks, which included calling him a faker. She did not, but expressed regret, saying that her remarks were ill advised for a Supreme Court justice and promised that in the future, I will be more circumspect.

Last week, Trump also criticized Sotomayors dissent.

I just thought it was so inappropriate, such a terrible statement for a Supreme Court justice, the president said of Sotomayors dissent, though he did not appear to have detailed familiarity with it.

Though he did not weigh in last week, Roberts did issue a statement in 2018 defending the independence of the federal judiciary after Trump called a judge who had ruled against his administrations asylum policy an Obama judge.

The chief justice said that was a profound misunderstanding of the judicial role.

We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, he said in a statement. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.

Trump responded to the chief justices statement on Twitter. Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have Obama judges, Trump wrote, and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country.

In general, Roberts has taken a cautious approach. He was silent during the 2016 presidential campaign, when Trump called him an absolute disaster and accused another federal judge of bias because of his familys Mexican heritage.

Schumer led the fight against the nominations of Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, waging a filibuster against Gorsuch that denied him the 60 votes required to advance to a final vote. Republicans responded by lowering the threshold on Supreme Court nominations to a simple majority vote.

At his own confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh used language similar that of Schumer in heatedly denying accusations of sexual misconduct.

Addressing Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh said, You sowed the wind, the county will reap the whirlwind.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL is planning some dramatic capacity reductions and stringent cost controls as the airline battles against receding air travel demand from the fast-evolving coronavirus outbreak.



In a first by any U.S. airline, the carrier plans to trim domestic capacity by 10%. The Chicago, IL-based airline intends to cut back U.S. and Canadian flights by 10% as well as slash capacity on international schedule by 20% in April. The flight schedule reductions might continue in May as well.



Simultaneously, United Airlines is putting a stop to hiring (except for crucial roles) at least through Jun 30. Also, 2019 merit salary increases for all management and administrative employees is being postponed from April 1 to July 1. This excludes employees falling under the collective bargaining agreements, who will continue to receive timely increments.



The plight of the carrier can be further gauged from the airlines decision giving employees the option to apply for unpaid leave of absence voluntarily. In some cases, they can also ask for a reduced work schedule.



With the airline reportedly having greater international exposure among all U.S. airlines, the novel coronavirus outbreak, having already spread to more than 75 countries across the globe infecting more than 95,000 people and claiming over 3,200 lives, is clearly taking a significant toll on its prospects.



Coronavirus-Led Low Demand Weighs on Shares



Earlier in the month, United Airlines cancelled its investor day amid uncertainty surrounding its long-term strategy, considering how unclear the extent and duration of the viral outbreak is. The carrier already withdrew its 2020 outlook.



With a substantial drop in demand, the carrier extended the suspension of its U.S. flights to mainland China and Hong Kong through Apr 30, 2020 from the previous cancellation through Apr 24. Additionally, the airline reduced approximately two thirds of its flights to Seoul, a third of flights to Japan and 40% of flights to Singapore. Moreover, the Chicago, IL-based airline is operating some routes on a smaller aircraft due to slackened demand.



To counteract the waning demand situation and encourage customers to travel without worrying over change in travel plans, United Airlines recently waived change fees on bookings through Mar 31. Customers can cancel tickets (in exchange for another ticket for travel within 12 months from the date of issuance of the ticket) without any change fees.



Amid this turbulence, shares of the company have plunged more than 26% in a months time.

Story continues





Viral Outbreak Rattles Airline Industry



Concerns over the rapidly-spreading virus outbreak has crippled the entire airline industry by significantly lowering travel demand. In response, numerous airlines across the globe, including Delta Air Lines DAL, American Airlines AAL, Ryanair Holdings and LATAM Airlines are trimming capacity. JetBlue Airways JBLU also plans to cut capacity by approximately 5% "in the near term to address the fall in demand". The airline is also taking other cost-control measures, such as "delaying or canceling upcoming events and meetings" and "reducing hiring for frontline and support center positions".



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Its a tragedy that the Williams Companies were forced to mothball the much-needed Constitution Pipeline project after it was subjected to years of legal red tape and state regulatory challenges that made the nearly $1 billion investment economically unfeasible.

No one  particularly families and businesses  should be pleased, and the blame lies squarely on radical activists and those political leaders who aid their destructive policies.

The pipeline would have delivered the much-needed benefits of clean natural gas to New York and New England from Pennsylvania. It received federal approval in 2014 as well as more recent positive court and permit approvals, but it couldnt withstand the years of expensive (and endless) legal battles. Scuttling it will hurt the poorest families and those still in search of the American Dream, let alone kill the thousands of good union jobs building it would have created.

And, it was unnecessary. The ear-piercing protests and handwringing by those who claim the United States is doing too little on the environmental front repeatedly fail to check their basic facts.

Its time Americans hear about the U.S.A.s greatest untold success story.

Thanks to natural gas, conservation, efficiency, and increased usage of wind and solar power, the U.S. is leading the world in cutting air-polluting emissions. Yes, you read that right! And were more than half way toward reaching our pollution-reduction goals under the Paris climate accord  even without being a signatory.

By 2025, we will be more than two-thirds of the way to reaching the Paris agreement objectives of reducing our emissions by as much as 28 percent from 2005 levels, according to Bloomberg Philanthropies. In fact, the U.S. has pared its carbon dioxide-equivalent output on an annual basis by almost as much as the entire European Union since 2005, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. On an annual basis, that works out to a reduction of 760 million metric tons per year versus the 770 million for the whole E.U.

Plus, our country in 2017 trimmed almost twice as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than any other nation, delivering the single-largest reduction of it on an absolute basis. This is occurring while the U.S. is the #1 producer of oil and natural gas; and the #2 producer of wind and solar power.

Contrast that environmental victory with the opposite path, found in the worlds biggest greenhouse gas emitter: China. That country, you may recall, didnt pledge any overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the Paris agreement. By 2030, it only promised that it will have reached peak carbon dioxide emissions. In other words, China promised that it will finally slow its emissions growth while we are still cutting ours. The Climate Action Tracker estimates by that date, Chinas emissions will have surged between 14 and 25 percent.

Consider that when you hear anti-energy activists saying the U.S. isnt doing enough, and applauding China for its so-called green credentials. China may be helping meet the important and increasing demand for solar panels, but it is utterly failing to meet its basic environmental responsibilities.

Starting with a 2005 baseline through 2017, Americas overall greenhouse gas emissions have fallen an impressive 12%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Carbon dioxide fell 14%, methane dropped 5% and nitrous oxide declined 4.1%.

And we can keep this environmental track record going strong on our own. Our trucking industry has slashed particulate emissions by over 98% , and it has a target of reducing emissions by an additional 25 percent by 2027. Similar gains are occurring across the private sector with significant environmental stewardship in manufacturing, energy and chemicals.

What about methane and natural gas? U.S. leadership and innovation shines through there, too. From 1990 to 2017, methane emissions from natural gas systems fell 14% while production surged by more than 50%. Thats an effective reduction of 43%.

We could go on, but the reality is clear. We are diversifying our energy portfolio. We are producing the cleanest energy on the planet. And, our environmental progress has been made while the U.S. is producing more oil and natural gas than ever before in our history. This is helping families and business across the nation keep homes warm and economies thriving. It plainly demonstrates that the energy production that keeps our strong economy growing can and should happen alongside sound environmental stewardship.

It is also clear that we must continue to deliver this much-needed energy  via pipelines  to those areas of the nation that need it, and to the families that rely on it. Intentionally increasing energy prices disproportionately impacts the poorest among us. If we are to achieve energy justice, we must deliver energy to all Americans.

Our great untold environmental story is what happens when American industry, government and other stakeholders team up to solve problems: We get results. Consequently, we will forever be a part of the greatest expansion of energy production and economic growth the world has ever witnessed  creating family-sustaining jobs while allowing the U.S. to become the worlds leading energy producer. This is secure energy at affordable prices and economic growth.

This is the greatest success story very few people have heard. We urge everyone to go out and tell it, and keep cheering for more of our amazing environmental progress.

David Holt is a founder and president of Consumer Energy Alliance, which represents energy consumers including families, farmers, manufacturers, truckers and small businesses.
The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders invites the public to celebrate Womens History Month with a free screening of the documentary Girl Connected on Thursday, March 19 from noon until 1 p.m. The film will be shown in the Freeholder Meeting Room, located on the sixth floor of the County Administration Building at 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth.

The free screening is coordinated by the Union County Office on Women and the Office of Community Engagement and Diversity.

'Girl Connected is an inspiring experience for audiences of all ages, and the Freeholder Board is proud to offer this opportunity for Union County residents to see how the women of the next generation are already meeting the challenges of today and shaping the world of the future, said Freeholder Alexander Mirabella.

Attendees are welcome to bring lunch or a snack, and are advised to arrive several minutes early to allow for sign-in time.

Girl Connected tells the story of five teenage girls from Bangladesh, Peru, Jordan, India and Kenya. Each of them uses their individual strengths and their talents in different fields to tackle gender discrimination and violence in their communities.

The documentary is part of the Girl Connected Campaign, a project of the organization Women and Girls Lead Global working to empower girls.

For more information about this event contact Nathalie Hernandez Coordinator of the Office of Community Engagement & Diversity at 908-527-4880 or Jennifer Erdos coordinator of the Office on Women at 908-527-4216.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) is now looking into all possible angles in the Kim Chiu ambush attempt, including that of mistaken identity.

A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) was formed on Wednesday to establish the motive behind the shooting and to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

According to the QCPD, investigators are now gathering pieces of evidence, including closed circuit television (CCTV) recordings that could have captured the shooting incident or the identity of the suspects who have fled towards Commonwealth Avenue.

Police are also asking the public for dash camera videos that could have recorded the incident and help in the investigation.

On Wednesday morning, the van carrying the actress was ambushed by unidentified gunmen onboard a motorcycle along Katipunan Avenue at the corner of C.P. Garcia Avenue.

Also inside the van were Chius personal assistant Mayrin Nasara and her driver Wilfredo Taberna. All three passengers, who were on their way to a taping, were unharmed.

In an Instagram post, the actress shared that she thinks the incident might be a case of mistaken identity.

"I don't have an idea what really happened, mistaken identity? I guess?? Napag tripan? Wala naman akong kaaway or ka atraso," she said.

[Translation: I don't understand what happened. Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity? Maybe someone did it as a joke? I don't have enemies.]

The STIG is headed by QCPD Deputy District Director for Operations (DDDO), PCOL Enrico Vargas as the SITG Commander and PLTCOL Lucio Simangan Jr as Deputy SITG Commander and eight other members.
Myanmar: Govt moves to regulate raft-fishing businesses

by MYAT THURA

March 05,2020 | Source: Myanmar Times

U Hla Kyaw, deputy minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, said the operators of fishing rafts have to get permits from the government. If the raft owners employ at least 30 people, they have to register their information, including their addresses, with the department to get a permit, he said.



He blamed past violations on the labour shortage and weak law enforcement. Under the new regulations, he said, fishing raft operators may employ only workers who hold national registration cards and ensure that there is no forced labour. Theres a code of conduct to address weaknesses in these areas, U Hla Kyaw said. During a meeting with legislators, the operators agreed to a 16-point checklist to monitor the conduct of their businesses. The department said that businesses that fail to follow the rules face a fine of up to K3 million (US$2000) and a three-month fishing ban. Last year, more than 100 people were reported killed, injured or missing on fishing rafts in Ayeyarwady Region. The business was thrust into the limelight late last year when a student at Dagon University was reported to have been trafficked and forced to work on a fishing raft before being rescued by his family.
Many people know of Tony Danza as the actor who starred in "Taxi" and "Who's the Boss?" on the small screen. But did you know that the television star also spent a year co-instructing a 10th-grade English class at Northeast High School in Philadelphia from 2009-2010?

Breakthrough Houston's 400 "Envision a Bright Future" luncheon-goers do.

After two years of tapping heavy-hitting locals such as Dr. Renu Khator, President of the University of Houston, and Scott McClelland, President of H-E-B, to deliver the event's keynote address, 2020's luncheon co-chairs Kelli Kickerillo and Todd Forester, Sarah and Richard Punches, and Vicky and Gordon Wight went the Hollywood route. And last week, what audience members at St. John's School got was an entertaining, Hollywood-type performance.

Danza began his speech by explaining the motivation behind his teaching stint.

"Arthur Miller said, 'Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets,'" he said, quoting the late American playwright. "I was closing in on my 60th birthday and had just lost what I thought was my dream job."

So Danza told his friends of his intentions to try his hand at education in hopes that they would hold him accountable. Then he reached out to Teach for America for help getting placed with a school. Lastly, he mentioned his plans to a reality television producer - and 20 minutes later, the A&E Network expressed interest in creating a show around his experience.

Which is how camera crews wound up following Danza around the halls of Northeast High School during his first semester.

"Once, I caught students cheating by reviewing the film," he told the crowd with a wink. "Teach: Tony Danza" lasted one season. "After the show got canceled, I spent the rest of the year becoming the teacher my students deserved. Because they only get to take 10th-grade English once."

In 2012, Danza published the book "I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had" based on his year of teaching. "Those 180 days in the classroom gave me a different perspective."

Breakthrough Houston utilizes a two-step approach to tackling the city's unique educational challenges: increase academic opportunities for high-performing, under-served students and training the next generation of educators. The non-profit organization serves 700 students annually and trains more than 150 teaching fellows and volunteers. Last summer, Breakthrough Houston opened its third location at Gregory-Lincoln Education Center; programs offered there, in addition to St. John's School and Connect Community schools, are tuition-free.

And that's partially thanks to support from luncheon-goers, who raised $200,000 toward educational equity in Houston.

"Just because they qualify for free lunch doesn't mean they aren't gifted and talented students," said Breakthrough Houston's Executive Director Kathy Heinzerling before introducing Rice University senior and teaching fellow Daniel Koh.

Koh, in turn, stressed the importance of person-to-person contact and mentioned that the organization is looking for area families to host teaching fellows during the summer's six-week intensive session.

"I taught my students to make the best of a bad situation," Danza said in closing. "They face poverty and inequality issues every day, and education is the only way to solve either of those problems."
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav



Thackeray on Thursday saidthe Chipi Airport at Sindhudurg district will be operational from May 1.

Thackeray made the announcement during a discussion in the Legislative Assembly about the development of the coastal Konkan region.

Without making a direct reference to the Nanar refinery project in Ratnagiri, Thackeray said there was no need to bring projects that adversely affect the ecology and of the region.

The Rs 3 lakh crore oil refinery project had met with staunch opposition from locals.

"You don't become anti-development just because you oppose such a project," he said.

The Chief Minister said he had directed officials to conduct necessarytrials and make the Chipi airport functional from May 1, which is the state's 60th foundation day.

The government also plans to launch a submarine tour of the Konkan coastand turn sea forts of the region into tourist attractions, he said.

Backwaters of theTillari Dam in Kolhapur district will be developed as a tourist destination, he said, adding that the coastal road in Konkan will also be expedited.

Thackeray said his government will address issues including development of roads, drinking water supply, mango and cashew production and grievances of fisherfolk in Konkan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Profits at Rietumu Banka, the Latvian institution in which billionaire Dermot Desmond has a one-third stake, saw its profit after tax fall 14pc to 18.5m last year as it continued to feel the impact of a 2018 cull of 4,000 'prohibited risk' corporate clients.

Interest income at the bank fell 18.4pc to 38.8m last year, its accounts show.

Mr Desmond first acquired a stake in the Latvian bank in 2005.

The bank cut its client base two years ago after the United States in 2018 accused Latvia's third-largest bank, ABLV, of "institutionalised money laundering". It was a claim ABLV denied.

But the United States called for changes to Latvian banks' business models, and for improvements to anti-money laundering mechanisms.

Rietumu responded to the pressure on Latvian banks by terminating its relationship with about 4,000 clients. They represented about two-thirds of all the bank's non-Latvian corporate customers. The majority of the prohibited risk customers were domiciled outside the EU and OECD countries, in off-shore jurisdictions.

Rietumu said in its latest results that it focuses on providing services to "dynamically-growing enterprises and high net worth individuals from Latvia, the Baltic states, the EU countries and from other countries worldwide".

It also provides loans to investors in the commercial property sector in Ireland.

The latest set of accounts show that on a group basis, Rietumu's profit after tax slipped 5pc to 23.7m. Its group interest income tumbled 14pc to 51.7m.

The bank also incurred impairment losses of just over 8m in 2019, which was substantially lower than the 17.5m in such losses it incurred the previous year.

The bank had total assets of 1.71bn at the end of last year, up from 1.5bn a year earlier, according to the accounts.

Last year, Rietumu was slated to begin an appeal against an 80m fine levied against it by French authorities for tax avoidance and aggravated money laundering.

Rietumu Banka was hit with the fine in 2017 following an investigation begun by French authorities in 2011.

It was found guilty of aggravated money laundering by providing assistance, as a bank, to the placement, concealment or conversion operations of the proceeds of an offence. In addition to the 80m fine, Rietumu Banka was ordered to cease banking activities in France for five years.

The bank said last year that it would "vigorously defend" its position, but that the case could continue for up to another three years.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A Pennsylvania man awaits sentencing after pleading guilty Thursday to charges that he bought and sold guns and gun parts that had been stolen from a federal disposal facility.

Richard Adam Schreiber, 38, of Everett, pleaded guilty to five federal counts related to the thefts by a contract security guard at the National Firearms and Ammunition Destruction Branch in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

His attorney, Dan Kiss, said in an email that Schreiber has accepted responsibility for his actions in this matter by his plea today.

The former guard, Christopher Lee Yates, is serving a lengthy federal sentence. Yates told investigators he would arrive at work early and take guns, gun parts and ammunition that had been seized during criminal investigations or were retired by federal agencies, authorities said.

The investigation began when a firearm was seized in Philadelphia with conflicting serial numbers, including one linked to the federal firearms destruction facility.

Prosecutors said agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized 101 firearms, 1,352 slides and 123,000 rounds of ammunition from Schreiber. They also recovered 28 firearms, including three machine-guns, from people who bought them from Schreiber.

Schreiber remains free on bond and will be sentenced in August in federal court in Johnstown.
Distressed: A baby cries as migrants gather next to a river in Edirne, Turkey, near the Turkish-Greek border yesterday. Photo: Darko Bandic/AP Photo

Greek riot police and troops used water cannon and tear gas yesterday against hundreds of migrants as they made another attempt to cross the border from Turkey into Greece.

Plumes of black smoke drifted above the Kastanies border crossing, and a fire engine raced by to put out blazes. Greek soldiers also fired warning shots into the air.

Witnesses saw tear gas cannisters being thrown from the Turkish side of the border toward Greek police over a high razor wire. It was not clear who was hurling the cannisters.

Video footage showed some migrants carrying an injured man away from the border. It was unclear how he had been hurt.

A Greek army vehicle equipped with loudspeakers informed the migrants in Arabic and other languages that the border is shut.

More than 10,000 migrants have been trying to breach the border since Turkey said last Thursday it would no longer abide by a 2016 deal with the European Union to halt illegal migration flows to Europe in return for billions of euro in aid.

Greece and the EU accuse Turkey of goading on the migrants in an effort to "blackmail" Brussels into offering more money or supporting Ankara's geopolitical aims in the Syrian conflict.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees and faces another influx from an upsurge in fighting in north-west Syria, says the EU is not providing anything like enough help to deal with the scale of the migrant crisis.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also accused Greek forces of killing two migrants, a claim Athens strongly denies.

"I call on European Union countries, namely Greece, to act in line with the Human Rights Declaration and respect the migrants arriving on their land," Mr Erdogan told lawmakers of his ruling AK Party yesterday.

He repeated his allegation that Greek coastguard vessels were trying to sink boats carrying migrants across the Aegean from the Turkish coast to Lesbos and other Greek islands, something Athens also denies.

A number of dinghies have arrived on the Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast in the past week, though choppy seas discouraged sailings for a second consecutive day.

A navy ship docked at Lesbos port will take in 508 migrants who have arrived since March 2 once they have been identified, a coastguard official said. He did not say where the ship would take them.

Hussein, in a group of about 100 migrants which arrived in Lesbos four days ago, said he left Afghanistan with his 17-year-old brother a month ago and crossed Iran and Turkey before reaching the island by dinghy.

"Our future is going to be bright because I am an educated person so I don't need much help. I want to complete my education and then I will need a job," he told Reuters.

EU leaders on Tuesday pledged 700m in aid for Greece and urged Turkey to hold up its end of the 2016 accord.

They fear a repeat of the 2015-16 migrant crisis, when more than a million migrants came to western Europe via Turkey and the Balkans, straining European security and welfare services and boosting support for far-right parties.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his tough anti-immigrant stance, said yesterday that 130,000 migrants had already passed the Greek border from Turkey and that they must be stopped as far south as possible.
In the late 1970s, after Watergate and Vietnam had roiled the country, I heard a rare political discussion in our rural Republican household about voting based on your values.

We lived in church-going, conservative Adams County, which has changed little in terms of politics over the intervening years, although a lot in tone. One evening, my mother startlingly acknowledged she had voted for a Democrat, Jimmy Carter, for president. After Watergate, she felt an urgency to vote for the decency, honesty and morality that Carter embodied. My father, a self-employed businessman, had voted Republican as always, in this case for Gerald Ford. He joked that his and my mothers votes had canceled each other out. End of discussion.

Today, we hear of irreconcilable political differences splitting or even destroying families and friendshipsand the idea of voting your values has been twisted beyond recognition.

Both political tribes have a strong sense that our country is running off the rails. They tell you that you must vote your tribe or identity above all else, which makes it nearly impossible to work (or even live) together.

The way to restore sanity is to return to values votingbut as a private, not public, act of citizenship and personal morality. We need to start there instead of trying to decide which presidential candidate scares us the least.

The kind of values voting we hear about today mostly isnt the real thing. Today its defined by a sermon, an election checklist handed out or by what speakers say at the Family Research Councils Values Voter Summit. We typically think of values voting as voting for or against abortion, gun regulation, LGBTQ rights, religious or patriotic displays, English-only speaking etc.

But real values voting isnt so facile, and neither should it be ridiculed. Its popular on the left to call evangelical Christians hypocritical on values for supporting Donald Trump while minimizing certain aspects of his behavior. But this is a hypocritical posture in itselfliberal voters and candidates make their own trade-offs of convenience, for instance minimizing aspects of Mike Bloombergs or Bernie Sanders past behavior.

But a better path forward (besides just rooting for your team no matter what) may be taking shape. In this fraught election cycle, at least a few people in Trump country are looking for new (which is really old) moral footing. Theres a feeling that things simply cant go on as they are with so many people so angry and hating each other.

For instance, an organization in Fayetteville, Arkansas, called Vote Common Good is urging evangelicals and others of faith to vote for the common good rather than political ideology. They urge commitment to six values: leading by example, keeping an open mind, and being clear, decent, fair and persistent.

There are other glimmers of rural soul-searching as well. A recent WHYY piece tells the story of a barber in Chambersburg who fosters honest political discussion in his shop in an effort to increase understanding and reduce political polarization. People hang around the shop long after their haircuts, hungry for honest, respectful discussion.

Most Christians and others of faith care about being good people, and are struggling this year with reconciling their values and political identity. The key is to return to thinking individually and independently about what it means to be moral in our lives and politics.

This starts with rediscovering or reexamining our values. Also, being moral means valuing character, our own and others. We have a responsibility to seriously weigh the character of the people we vote forpolitics isnt merely transactional, where you vote to get something.

The Roman statesman Cicero believed moral character is central to leadership. He wrote that a leader must show the moral values of wisdom, temperance, courage and justice. Moral leadership is important because character drives behavior and action. An immoral person acts morally only incidentally out of self-interest. Its not a sustainable course.

The way to out is for each of us to turn away from political tribe and identity and ask ourselves:

How do I define character: What moral qualities are most important to me and why?

How do I see these standards reflected by the president, the candidates, and my representatives?

How do I reflect the moral qualities important to me by my political participation? How can I be truer to my values?

We need to remember that were voting for people and values more than policiesand their character is a reflection of our own.

Becky Bennett lives in south-central Pennsylvania and is a freelance writer and editor. She was editor of the Public Opinion newspaper in Chambersburg for 18 years. Across the Divide examines rural perspectives on issues facing Pennsylvania and the nation.
Cleaners disinfect a restaurant in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, today (March 5) after a worker returned from coronavirus hot-spot South Korea ate there. The overseas worker, one of 5,000 Thais returning from South Korea where 40 have died so far, took their family to the BBQ grill restaurant on Tuesday (March 3). But staff later learned that they had been serving someone who was at high risk of carrying the deadly COVID-19. Restaurant owner Watcharin Noi Phut, 39, said: ''We saw on social media that the person who recently returned from Korea had eaten here. So we immediately closed the restaurant and began cleaning every surface.'' Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha confirmed today that illegal Thai workers from Daegu, in South Korea, must be put under quarantine for 14 days to prevent the possible spread of the disease. While The country's Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said a meeting was held today to find measures to address the return of Thai workers from the rest of the country. More than 5,000 Thai workers have been requested to travel back to Thailand following the outbreak outbreak in South Korea, which has already seen more than 6,100 infections.
The Delhi government on Thursday advised head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

"A letter has been written to principal secretaries, secretaries, autonomous bodies and municipal corporations for the suspension of biometric attendance in view of coronavirus threat," the official told PTI.

One more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad in the national capital region, taking the total number in the country to 30 so far, official sources said on Thursday.

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

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) slipped 11.6% in February, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, amid concern that a deepening of the coronavirus outbreak may hurt sales of companies with business in the country.

China is Abbott's second-biggest single market after the U.S. The country accounts for 7.6% of Abbott's $31 billion in net sales to external customers, according to the company's 2018 annual report. Abbott's pediatric-nutrition business is a good example of the company's exposure to China, as its Eleva is the country's leading organic infant formula.

So what

So far, more than 80,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in China. As a result, quarantines have been put into place, and people in areas such as Wuhan -- where the virus began -- have been prohibited from leaving their neighborhoods, even for necessities.

While Abbott and other companies that sell products in China likely will record a dip in sales there in February, it's unlikely the impact will be significant for Abbot. The company makes 35% of its sales in the U.S., and more than half of its business is spread across many countries worldwide. The diversity of businesses also should insulate Abbott from the crisis, as the company is presently in areas including diabetes care, heart failure management, and diagnostics.

Now what

Speaking of diagnostics, Abbott might eventually see a lift in that area from the coronavirus outbreak. Reuters reported that the company is developing a test and said Abbott was one of several diagnostics companies to meet with President Trump this week to discuss making tests more accessible. Though it will be interesting to keep an eye on those developments, Abbott's earnings and share movement most likely won't be led higher or lower by the coronavirus in the long term. And that, as mentioned above, is due to the company's many sources of income.

Abbott shares clearly tracked the losses of the S&P 500 Index in February after rising 20% last year. Wall Street expects 26% upside from Abbott's current price. Once the coronavirus outbreak eases, the shares should have a better chance of making those gains.
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BROOKLYN, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / With so many CBD products on the market, consumers are often unsure of effective products to buy. A leading CBD resource, bioMD+, recently published an article titled "CBD Oil for Anxiety" in which they highlight relevant CBD research in this area and make recommendations for the top CBD oil for anxiety.Read it here: https://biomdplus.com/cbd-oil-for-anxiety/ BioMD+ is the top-rated company is based in Marietta, Georgia and has become a new standard for effectiveness and transparency in the CBD industry. The article explains how bioMD+ earned this reputation through its commitment to quality.BioMD+ uses nothing but Organic Colorado-Grown hemp and enhances each of their hemp oil products with a blend of natural terpenes design for maximum support for the effectiveness of the cannabinoids.Their CBD Oils are refined through a Supercritical C02 extraction process and then further purified into Winterized oil--a step which few other companies seek in efforts to cut costs. In each of their different CBD oil products contain 1,000mg of potent CBD per bottle, and lab results made directly available so the customer knows exactly what they are buying.The legal landscape of CBD remains complex because of differing state and federal laws giving access to medical hemp and marijuana products.As an effective alternative to the items most commonly found in medicine cabinets today. We accomplish this by always:Striving to responsibly educate consumers on the benefits of hempAllow science to lead our product developmentUtilize only the highest quality 100% USA grown hemp in all of our productsThe passage of the Farm Bill in December 2018 opened the door for millions of Americans to have easier access to CBD and other cannabinoids as a health supplement.By removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, the Farm Bill paved the way for the legal cultivation, possession, sale, and distribution of the hemp plant allowing companies like us to bring professionalism to the industry and bring the benefits of hemp-derived CBD to the masses.CBD is a huge emerging market. The industry has been growing rapidly and is projected to be worth $22 billion by 2022. According to Consumer Reports, 64 million Americans have tried CBD in just the past two years alone.CBD, which is short for cannabidiol, is one of the chemical compounds found in cannabis and hemp plants. Preliminary research and years of anecdotal evidence have pointed to the many promising health benefits of CBD.One area of benefits, in particular, has received a lot of attention, and that is CBD oils use for anxiety and depression relief. CBD's ability to aid in the reduction and management of anxiety has been demonstrated in research studies and lauded by celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio who report using CBD to help manage anxiety.In a 2019 study published in The Permanente Journal, researchers reported that "anxiety scores decreased within the first month in 79.2% of the 57 patients and remained decreased during the study duration." CONTACT:Azriel AdelbergBrooklyn, NY470-433-3362support@ biomdplus.com SOURCE: bioMDplus
Three more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Santa Clara County as of Wednesday, according to county health officials.

All three news cases are men, with one of them hospitalized, officials said. The basis of exposure for the man in the hospital is under investigation and the other two men were close contacts of another previous case.

The California Department of Public Health confirmed the state is up to 53 cases as of Wednesday, including one person who died in Placer County. Twenty-four of the cases are related to federal repatriation flights, and 29 aren't. Of the other 24 cases, 12 are travel-related, 10 were contracted from person-to-person contact, 4 are from community transmission and 3 are currently under investigation.

Approximately 9,400 people who have traveled through San Francisco or Los Angeles international airports are self-monitoring themselves, CDPH officials said.

Symptoms of the illness include fever, respiratory issues and cough.

Health officials remind the public the best way to fight against catching COVID-19 is to wash their hands, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands, avoid close contact with sick people, stay away from work and school if you're sick and to follow guidance from public health officials.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued a consumer alert Wednesday afternoon reminding residents that price gouging is illegal. Anyone who sees price gouging is asked to call their local law enforcement agency or (800) 952-5225.

Santa Cruz County Health Office Dr. Gail Newel has declared a local health emergency. The decree should be ratified at the board of supervisors meeting next Tuesday.

San Mateo County has opened a public call center that will open no later than noon Thursday. The number for the center is (650) 363-4422.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
'The snakes and ladders game will continue till the consolidation process is complete simply because we don't know how bad the scene is with some of the banks being merged,' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.

State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar has every reason to feel happy.

The aggressive recovery of bad loans helped India's largest lender record Rs 5,583 crore net profit last December, its highest ever quarterly profit.

What could make him grin is the improvement in the bank's quality of assets.

Its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of loans dropped to 6.94 per cent, down from 8.71 per cent a year ago and 7.19 per cent in September 2019.

After setting aside money to provide for the bad loans, the banks net NPAs were 2.65 per cent, down 230 basis points (bps) year-on-year and 14 bps over the September quarter.

One bps is a hundredth of a percentage point.

His former colleague Sanjiv Chadha, the new boss of Bank of Baroda (BoB), has a different story to tell.

The bank did not even allow him to settle down in his new role before announcing a Rs 1,407 crore net loss for the December quarter, driven by higher provisions for bad assets.

Its gross NPAs fell 48 bps to 10.43 per cent year-on-year, but rose 18 bps from September.

Ditto for its net NPA trajectory. The pressure on asset quality continued with Rs 10,387 crore new loans turning bad.

Now that the earnings season is over, let's take a look at how Indian banks have done against the backdrop of tardy credit growth and the threat of new bad loans being created -- a fallout of the deteriorating health of many high profile non-banking finance companies and the Supreme Court's insistence that telecom companies must pay up their dues to the department of telecommunications.

For the record, in search of capital, two private banks have not yet announced their December quarter earnings.

Six of the 18 public sector banks were in losses in the December quarter.

In the previous quarter, five had been in the red.

The two new entrants in the 'loss club' are Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda while Union Bank of India, which had made a loss of Rs 1,194 crore in September, bounced back into the black.

Overall, PSBs made a net loss of Rs 2,712 crore against Rs 727 crore in September and Rs 7,384 crore a year ago.

Most private banks continue to remain healthy with their collective net profit crossing Rs 10,000 crore -- around 55 per cent higher than both a quarter and a year ago.

IDFC First Bank Ltd posted a net loss yet again -- five quarters in a row.

For IDBI Bank, making losses has become a habit -- since December 2016, its accumulated net losses are Rs 41,832 crore.

The only bank that can rival it is Indian Overseas Bank.

Its net losses in December was Rs 6,075 crore, because of a three-fold jump in provisions for bad loans.

Since September 2015, when it posted its first loss in this round, IOB has made losses in 19 quarters -- Rs 25,047 crore in total.

Incidentally, IOB will not lose its identity by joining the wave of consolidation, which is sweeping India's public sector banking industry.

After Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank joined BoB to make it a strong, big bank, the second round of consolidation envisages six weak banks being merged with four of their relatively better off peers.

When it comes to the pile of bad loans, no one can challenge IDBI Bank.

It has pared its stressed assets pile marginally, but still has 28.72 per cent gross NPAs.

The only other private bank with double digit gross NPAs is Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd (11.1 per cent).

Among the PSBs, IOB's gross NPAs came down to 17.2 per cent in December from 20 per cent in September and 23.76 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Central Bank of India now enjoys the distinction of having the maximum gross NPAs (19.99 per cent), followed by Uco Bank (19.45 per cent), Allahabad Bank (18.93 per cent) and Andhra Bank (17.26 per cent).

Bank of Maharashtra has 16.77 per cent gross NPAs and PNB and Bank of India 6.3 per cent each.

Only three PSBs have gross NPAs in single digits: SBI (6.94 per cent), Indian Bank (7.2 per cent) and Canara Bank (8.36 per cent).

Post provisioning, the net NPA figures do not look that ugly.

IDBI Bank's net NPAs in December were 5.25 per cent, far lower than many other banks.

IOB too has pared its net NPAs drastically to 5.81 per cent.

Central Bank leads the pack with 9.26 per cent net NPAs, followed by Punjab & Sind Bank (8.71 per cent), United Bank of India (8.56 per cent) and PNB (7.18 per cent).

Overall, 15 of the 18 State-owned banks have more than 5 per cent net NPAs.

The three which have less are SBI (2.65 per cent), Indian Bank (3.5 per cent) and BoB (4.05 per cent).

India's State-owned banking industry is not out of the woods as yet.

Fresh slippages are staring at many of them.

Also, unless they start lending, it will be difficult to pare their NPAs as this is computed as a percentage of their loan book.

For instance, BoB's domestic advances grew just 0.67 per cent year-on-year in December 2019.

Why has this happened? Probably, the bank management was too busy with the merger of two banks with itself and did not have the time and bandwidth for new business.

The 10 banks that are going through this exercise will have the same predicament.

Besides, at this point, most banks are using their resources for the recovery of bad loans and that is turning out to be the main source of profits.

There are some good signs though.

One of them is the rising provision coverage ratio.

It has reached a healthy level for many, adding strength to their balance sheets.

For instance, IDBI Bank's PCR in December was 92.41 per cent.

Six State-owned banks, including SBI and IOB, have more than 80 per cent PCR and barring three, all have at least 70 per cent PCR.

This could be the first sign of a turnaround story that will take a while to unfold.

The snakes and ladders game will continue till the consolidation process is complete simply because we don't know how bad the scene is, with some of the banks being merged.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, a consulting editor with Business Standard, is an author and senior adviser to Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd. His latest book is HDFC Bank 2.0: From Dawn to Digital.
LOS ANGELES, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At its 2020 Conference, InvestCloud announced the launch of InvestCloud White, a digital platform for wealth management and turnkey asset management programs (TAMPs).

InvestCloud White is a complete solution for the wealth management space, designed and built on a single unified platform for RIAs to run their entire business, or for turnkey asset management programs to support dozens of others. It provides wealth managers and TAMPs the opportunity to truly scale, supporting front to back office operations with functions such as research, portfolio construction, rebalancing, reconciliation, billing, performance reporting, tax optimization, and client reporting.

Founded in 2010, InvestCloud offers world-class digital solutions to the financial industry via its proprietary set of hyper modular apps and supports more than $2T in assets across 700+ diverse clients. With the addition of InvestCloud White, the platform's suite of apps covers all areas of a wealth manager's business. InvestCloud White reinforces the hyper-modularity of the company's products. It combines InvestCloud's Blue (client communication, automation and management), Orange (digital warehouse, aggregation, and content management), Black (performance and risk) and Green (trade processing and accounting) products.

"The launch of InvestCloud White marks a new opportunity for our clients to instantly gain access to our hundreds of hyper modular apps, with a complete front to back turnkey solution," said Yaela Shamberg, co-founder and chief product officer of InvestCloud. "We successfully deployed all components of InvestCloud's end-to-end digital platform for Westwood, an InvestCloud strategic partner and foundational client. From there, we partnered with Westwood to envision this approach to license the full product suite into one integrated platform. Westwood had found that tech stacks in this space are generally an amalgamation of disparate systems that are difficult for wealth managers to navigate. Not only is InvestCloud one of the few products built in the last decade but is by far one of the most innovative, proven by the volume of new client mandates."

Brian O. Casey, president and CEO at Westwood Holdings GroupNYSE: WHG commented, "At Westwood, we have embraced integrating major technological innovations and tools for several years with an eye toward the future. Designed from the ground up to be an intuitive and seamless experience for advisors and clients alike, InvestCloud White will help move us closer to our goal of creating a leading, holistic, digital client experience that can be accessed anywhere, any time on all popular devices."

Speaking at the InvestCloud Conference in Miami, FL, John Wise, co-founder and CEO of InvestCloud, said, "Today, at the InvestCloud Conference in front of more than 150 clients, we're proud to introduce InvestCloud White. It fulfills a vision that we had when we created InvestCloud in a garage in California 10 years ago. This is a product that serves a real market need  wealth managers and RIAs are spending far too much time and money managing dozens of different and outdated pieces of expensive technology that are poorly integrated and provide inflexible information. InvestCloud White gives managers an opportunity to focus on their core business - so they can spend their time where it matters and stop fighting last century's technology problems."

About InvestCloud Inc.

InvestCloud is a global company specializing in digital platforms that enable the development of financial solutions, pre-integrated into the Cloud. The company offers on-demand client experiences and intuitive operations solutions using an ever-expanding library of modular apps, resulting in powerful products. Headquartered in Los Angeles with additional offices in New York, Toronto and London, InvestCloud supports more than $2 trillion in assets across 700+ diverse clients  from some of the biggest banks in the world, wealth managers, institutional investors and institutional asset managers to family offices, asset services companies and financial platforms. For more information, visit www.investcloud.com .

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Dublin, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Advanced Opportunities in the Urban Water Infrastructure Market in APAC, 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Urban water infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is witnessing enormous investments in order to cater to the needs of the growing population and to address the challenges posed by rapid urbanization, and climate change.



Key investments in the region are towards the replacement of old pipes, expansion of existing pipe network, water treatment, water reclamation, storm water harvesting, quake resilience, development of smart water grids and improving consumer infrastructure.



Climate change policies and the UN's Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to clean drinking water and sanitation are encouraging APAC countries (and others globally as well) to invest in developing adequate infrastructure and provide sanitation facilities for their citizens.



Aging infrastructure in most of the countries presents yet another avenue for investments and market entry.



Developed nations within the region are shifting towards complete digitalization of water assets and establishing smart water grids, while developing nations are more focused on building the necessary infrastructure to provide safe and reliable drinking water and sanitation facilities.



With smart cities being a new focus across APAC, many new advanced infrastructure development opportunities have arisen or are expected to come up in the coming years. As a result, advanced water infrastructure such as membrane technology-based water/wastewater treatment, improved energy efficiency, smart metering, data analytics and predictive/preventive systems are seeing increased acceptance within the region. Furthermore, digital water sets the foundation for the application of data science and augmented intelligence techniques to business problems which will enable accurate real-time monitoring and quality control of water assets.



On the other hand, the water sector in APAC is underfunded and is highly dependent on official development assistance (ODA) funding and FDI to propel development and growth. For example, the massive Chinese water market has more than 10% of its projects funded by FDIs. Nonetheless, investors are especially cautious about investing in essential infrastructure sectors such as water and power since these projects are often the first to face citizen backlash and, consequent, heavy-handed government action. Another major deterrent of digitalization of any sector in general is the loss of jobs - utilities that are protective of their human assets may think twice even when the benefits outweigh the costs of digitalization in order to protect jobs.



Key growth opportunities in this market would be the need for integration and convergence of ICT solutions and business processes and value-add services to promote the use of smart devices in consumer infrastructure. Countries covered in this study include India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Key Topics Covered



1. Executive Summary

Key Highlights - 2019

Top 5 Predictions - 2020

2. Research Scope

Scope of the Study

Definitions

3. Urban Water Infrastructure Market Overview

UWI System

Market Value Chain

Market Value Chain - Discussion

Overview of Urban Population Growth and Urbanization

Position of APAC Countries in terms of GDP Growth and Urbanization Rate

Key Trends Favoring Smart Water Grid Deployment

Smart Water Infrastructure Funding Initiatives

4. APAC UWI Market Dynamics

Water Stress Stimulates the Need for More Optimized UWI

Smart City Provides Opportunity for Advanced Water Infrastructure

Technological Innovation Leading to Energy Efficient and Environmentally Sustainable Systems Promotes Digitalization of Water Assets

Lack of Adequate Reserves Delays the Development of Infrastructure

Regional Geopolitics and Resultant Market Uncertainty

Disadvantages Associated with Advanced Technologies Deter Expenditure on Water Infrastructure

5. Regional Trends - Southeast Asia: Singapore

Public Utilities Board (PUB)

Holistic Approach to Water Supply

SMART Singapore

Case Study - Water Management

Singapore - Future Potential

6. Regional Trends - Southeast Asia: Malaysia



7. Regional Trends - Southeast Asia: The Philippines



8. Regional Trends - Southeast Asia: Thailand



9. Regional Trends - Southeast Asia: Vietnam



10. Regional Trends - Southeast Asia: Indonesia



11. Regional Trends - East Asia: Japan



12. Regional Trends - East Asia: South Korea



13. Regional Trends - Oceania: New Zealand



14. Regional Trends - India



15. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action

Growth Opportunity 1 - Integration and Convergence of ICT Solutions and Business Processes

Growth Opportunity 2 - Value-add Services to Promote the Use of Smart Devices in Consumer Infrastructure

Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth

16. Conclusion

The Last Word - 3 Big Predictions

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/fvmwjr

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Those who advocate for sweeping government power to reverse global warming assert that it will lead to a "more prosperous" Vermont future.

Consider the $300,000,000 the Agency of Natural Resources estimates it will cost to resurface Rutland businesses under the "3-Acre Rule," a preposterous proposal to "help Rutland prosper" by imposing these costs on longstanding businesses. This plan mandates that businesses retroactively install storm water drains to protect Lake Champlain. Disrupting businesses and imposing a huge economic burden on owners will hurt sales and threaten productive jobs. But the state of Vermont extols the huge economic boon this will be for engineers and construction companies.

This is short-term, nonproductive waste. No goods sold; just costs of goods sold. There is no economic growth, only a government-mandated payday for one group of businesses by way of economic hardship on others. But more  and this is key  what is the environmental cost of excavating all that acreage? How much diesel will be burned, asphalt heated and relaid, plastic pipes manufactured and installed, CO2 generated, in the transition to improved surface water management? Can we afford those costs? Have state agencies calculated those costs? Nope. That's preposterous.

Consider elecrtic vehicles. Aside from the question of their reliability or long-term efficiency, are they not manufactured using fossil fuels? Is that manufacture carbon-neutral, as will be imposed on new business development under Act 250 in Vermont? These E.V.s will not be manufactured in Vermont. So these vehicles (like the diesel and equipment consumed resurfacing Rutland) will be produced outside Vermont  a boon for those businesses, a massive loss of wealth, and indirect consumption of fossil fuels in Vermont.

Solar panels  ditto. Manufactured using fossil fuels; of dubious long-term efficiency; costs imposed on ratepayers in Vermont to support foreign industry; affordable for the wealthy and not the poor. Regressive, polluting, and zero economic benefits.

Mandating reinsulation of buildings (as some have advocated)  how much petroleum would be involved in manufacturing, trucking, and installing these products in Vermont homes and businesses? Assuming that this helped Vermont to achieve its fantastical and arbitrary "goals" of reducing 25% of our greenhouse gases by such-and-such an imagined date  what are the externalized environmental costs of that production outside Vermont? Have the "climate warriors" calculated those costs? Nope. The effect is a drag on the Vermont economy and an increase in net pollution.

What if Vermont imposed pollution-control requirements on lawnmowers? That would reduce emissions and impose the costs directly on those who mow lawns. Yes, this is a federal issue, but why don't the climate warriors tackle things that would actually help the ecosystem? Why are they interested in the preposterous but not the sensible?

How about banning fireworks displays? Fireworks hurt the environment, depend 99% on Chinese manufacture, and are shipped long distances. They offer no economic benefits to Vermont or its ecosystem. Why not ban them? Because progressive legislators want to give judges and special-interest out-of-state nonprofits the unilateral power to do that later, along with banning snowmobiles, ATVs, and pickup trucks. They seek to do through the back door what they could never accomplish through the front.

What of mandating composting while advertising (with our tax dollars) that such laws won't be enforced? Car idling laws requiring police to time your idle and then ticket you $10 (instead of fight opioid-dealers)? How will the government ensure that citizens don't mow their lawn three times a week, burn a plastic bag in a fire, or pour used motor oil in the woods? Are more laws needed so Big Brother can hire car-driving enforcers to breathe down every neck?

Our forebears rightly opposed "taxation without representation." Sweeping one-sided powers granted to government, and "renewable energy" initiatives that use more energy than they renew, favor certain industries and are net pollution-creators, which help neither the economy nor environment. These are totalitarian regulations masked in lies of prosperity and environmental benefit where neither exists.

"Regulation without representation" is "taxation without representation." It's time to revolt against this revolting subjugation of Vermonters. The answer to our problems is personal responsibility, not government rescue by corporations and special interests.
The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has put the blame for his recent ordeal on some leaders of the ruling party, that include the governor of Edo State.

In his first public reaction a day after the FCT High Court suspended him as the chairman of the ruling party, Mr Oshiomhole said he will overcome his ordeal.

He spoke Thursday to journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock Villa.

The meeting held shortly after another ruling by Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Kano, affirming Mr Oshiomhole as the chairman of the party.

Although both are high courts, Mr Oshiomhole said the Abuja court that ordered his suspension lacked jurisdiction since the police and SSS joined in the suit are federal institutions.

Read Mr Oshiomholes full remarks:

Oshiomhole: You will recall that I was here two days ago to brief Mr. President as I always on matters affecting the party. Just yesterday (Wednesday) morning suddenly I saw in the news that an FCT High Court has suspended me as national chairman. And that the person who went to court includes one of my vice chairmen, north East, one Mustapha (Mustapha Salihu APC National Vice Chairman Northeast) and four others. I was taken back because in the same suit they joined the APC, the police as the DSS.

Our lawyers told me that in law when you sue a federal agency, FCT High Court has no jurisdiction to entertain it. Number two, the purported suspension of my person by my ward, first its not even through and I am going to give you a document to that effect so that you can form your opinion. Number three, I am not an officer of my ward, I am the national chairman of my party, elected at a national convention by over 7,000 delegates, so how could nine persons sit down somewhere and purport that they have removed a national chairman? And the court, contrary to all logic, all judicial precedence, found comfort in granting an interim interlocutory order to stop me from functioning pending when the matter is determined. In other words, he has given the order without the facts being laid before him and in the process adjourned the case to 7th of April.

The calculations are clear that between now and April 7th, my opponent in the system would have had ample time to do all the mischievous plans they have in place to destabilise the APC. Because, some of them have membership of more than one political party.

But happily this afternoon, a federal high court that I believe that has jurisdiction on federal issues because the DSS, the police are not state institutions but federal institutions, has given an appropriate order to restrain the so-called suspension that was allegedly imposed on me by my ward in Edo State.

I thought that I had a duty to brief Mr. President as the overall leader of our party about this development. Incidentally, when I requested for the audience yesterday, I wasnt sure what has happened today will happen. But I had a duty to inform him about the court order. But happily before coming here, the order from a Federal High Court that has made nonsense of what the FCT court purported to have done has already settled the question.

And I showed to the president the resolutions of my ward even though a ward executive does not have the powers to remove a national chairman, just to say that the document that we have says clearly that my ward passed vote of confidence on me. How the court can hold a vote of confidence and twist it to mean vote of no confidence, only that judge can explain it to himself. But the good news is that this is not a final court nor is it the only court; incidentally, it is just the court that didnt have the jurisdiction even to listen to this matter. And our lawyers so pointed it out but the judge was determined to oblige those who want to destabilise the All Progressive Congress.

Let me also say that those behind this plot, the hands you saw which includes as you saw yesterday, you saw the Edo State governor and his people jubilating; but that is the irony of life that you will help give birth to a child and the child looks for cutlass to want to chop off your neck. It has happened in history; it has happened in this country so I wont be the only person. But there are other forces who see me for whatever reason as threat to them. And those leading this anti-Oshiomhole campaign, some of them I emphasise, cannot even boast of a councillor in their states even as they lay claim to leadership position in our party.

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I am proud to say that I have done my best not only when I was a governor, I have done my best as chairman of this party, I have worked not only along members of the party and with support of the good people of Nigeria for the president to be re-elected, for us to have majority in the two chambers of the National Assembly, I also worked hard to deliver my unit, my ward, I worked hard my local government, I worked hard my federal constituency three of them in my senatorial zone, I also worked hard my senator. Those fighting me couldnt deliver even a councillor of a local government in their unit. And they just feel that if they cannot give me orders then they must do everything to embarrass my person, but I believe that he who God stands with no man born of a woman can bring him down.

I cant say more than that. Those who are parading themselves, holding meetings at night, my prayer to my God is that let them meet at night, what they do at night will be destroyed by light in the day time. I dont go for night business I do day business. They know themselves, they know me and I know them.

Why do they want you out?

Why they want me out? You see there is an issue in this country. People want strong leadership, the average Nigerian wants to have a strong leader for Nigeria, they want to have strong leaders in various institutions, they want institutions that are strong enough that cannot be controlled by individuals. That was why President Obama said, what Africa needs are strong institutions not strong persons. Unfortunately, very few section of our elites want to weaken institutions so that they can control, and if you refuse to oblige them the misuse of your institution, then they go for the jocular, that is the only thing. Otherwise I ask you, remember the confusion we had at the last NEC meeting, that meeting took place exactly a week or about 10 days after we had won Kogi election, Bayelsa election before the court took it and donated it to somebody else. Yet, in the face of this victory, people said Oshiomhole must be removed, precisely because we won more.

But you see whatever you do, those who want to fight you will fight you. But I know that my tenure will be defined my God not by man. And I worry more about what I will be remembered for when I was chairman rather than how long I was chairman. And I am convinced that I have done my very best; mistakes would have been made and I want to see the one person who will say he has never made mistakes. But if there are mistakes of the head we have the capacity to correct mistakes of the head. But I know I have not set out to make the mistakes of the heart. It is just that by the reason of the position that I occupy, it is not quite appropriate for me to join at this hour in explaining who is responsible for the losses that people point out and they want to heap on my head.

Even when we have lost some states, I ask you did you see one newspaper that congratulated Oshiomhole when we won in Kogi, Bayelsa before the court took it back? But look at the narrative, once it goes the other way, if we succeed it is not me, if we lose it is me. I know even in corporate organisations, we have what we call profit and loss account, you have profit and loss that is what is called balance sheet. If you look at my balance sheet, I know I am not the best chairman in the world but I believe I have given my all even at the expense of my familys wellbeing and family life to support my party, to ensure that I work sometimes almost 20 hours a day to ensure that I provide the desired leadership that APC.

And I am proud of the support that I am getting from the ordinary majority of our party and even majority of our leaders of our party. It is just unfortunate that if you have out of 100,90 people are happy with you, call and say well done, those 10 who are not are the ones that will call press conference to denounce, they are the ones who will hold midnight meetings in a ministers house to say how do we bring him down. They are the ones who will plot how do we get rid of him because they want to be president in 2023 even when their hold on their state at the moment is doubtful, If they were to go for referendum in terms of their approval rating. But as for me, I live my life as the Christians say live it as if there will be no tomorrow, on day by day basis. But God will see me through, He knows my heart, He knows my conscience and He knows the wishes of the overall majority of our members and to them I remain ever grateful. For all those who have been worried between yesterday and today, I believe God answered their prayers, and when God answers the prayers who am I to nurse any further disappointment. I am very grateful.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Swiss International Gherzi Consulting Organization praised Uzbekistan's economic achievements in recent years, Trend reports via Uzbek media.

Uztextilprom Association hosted a meeting of the Associations management with a delegation of the Gherzi (Switzerland), headed by Laurent Aucouturier, on March 3, 2020.

During the talks, the issues of implementation of the project "Sustainable development and increase of added value in the cotton industry" in Uzbekistan, implemented by GIZ German Community for International Cooperation, were discussed.

At the same time, the Association's management informed the guests about the current state, prospects of development, production, investment and export potential of the textile industry in Uzbekistan.

The foreign side noted the high economic achievements of Uzbekistan in recent years, as well as the significant growth in textile and garment and knitwear industry, accompanied by numerous implemented projects, a significant increase in exports and improvement of investment attractiveness.

Aucouturier noted that Uzbekistan has created a unique system of cotton and textile cluster in the world, where textile enterprises are initiators of projects.

According to Swiss delegation, this highly defined pace of strategic development of the industry can serve as a role model for the rest of the world.

Gherzi company, founded in 1929 in Zurich (Switzerland). The company deals with strategic development and expansion of companies in the textile industry, from manufacturing to retail. In addition, the organization has partnerships at the global level, as well as 6 headquarters with activities in more than 80 countries.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
Supermarket giant Coles has introduced a four-pack limit on toilet paper, after panic buying chaos swept Australia.

It joins the likes of Woolworths and Aldi, which also imposed tight restrictions as families began to stockpile in fears of a looming coronavirus epidemic.

A spokeswoman for the supermarket said: 'To ensure all of our customers have access to toilet paper, a temporary purchase limit of four packs per customer transaction will now apply in-store and online.

'This will help us maintain stock levels in stores while our suppliers increase local production and our distribution centres increase deliveries.

The toilet paper aisle was completely empty at Coles in Gladesville (pictured) on Tuesday afternoon amid coronavirus panic buying

'While there may be some temporary stock shortages, the vast majority of products in our stores and via Coles online remain available for customers.

'We apologise to customers if the product they want is currently out of stock, and our team is working hard to improve availability across the store.'

The crisis has forced Kleenex to step up production, with its manufacturing mills working around the clock to meet overwhelming demand.

Company spokeswoman Gabbi Davidson appeared on Channel Seven's Sunrise on Thursday to assure everyone there was no need to panic.

'It's like the world is coming to an end and I'm the only one who doesn't know it,' one shopper wrote alongside a picture of fellow customers lining up at the checkout

'We can assure you we will not run out of Kleenex toilet paper,' she said. 'I certainly have never seen anything like this in my time.'

Sorbent, a local toilet paper manufacturer, released a statement on Wednesday which said they're playing catch up to meet supply demands as shoppers clear supermarket shelves across the nation.

Woolworth introduced a four-pack per customer limit on toilet paper on Wednesday, while one Aldi store in Epping limited customers to one packet a day.

'Woolworths has today moved to apply a quantity limit on toilet paper packs to ensure more customers have access to these products,' the company said in a statement.

Shoppers around the country have left supermarket shelves bare following coronavirus panic buying. Pictured: Empty supermarket shelves and stockpiling customers in Sydney

'The purchase limit of four packs per customer transaction applies in-store and online.'

An Aldi in Epping, Sydney has placed a one toilet packet per person rule on shoppers

Woolworths is also limiting the sale of hand santiser to two bottles per person, and they will now be kept behind the counter along with cigarettes.

Toilet paper delivery startup company Who Gives A C**p announced on Wednesday it had entirely run out of stock.

Founder Simon Griffiths released a statement which said their sales had increased eightfold since the start of the frenzied shopping.

'With all the panic buying madness, we've sold out of all out products,' the statement read.

'We're working as hard as possible to restock.'

The company also called on customers to consider their neighbours and offer supplies to others if they realise they've over-ordered.

Video emerged earlier on Wednesday that appeared to show a stampede breaking out at another Woolworths store in Revesby, in the Sydney's south-west.

Anxious shoppers were filmed piling packets of toilet paper into their trolleys, some carrying two packs of 12 at a time.
One of the parents of an Irish family diagnosed with coronavirus completed a shift working in a hospital A&E after returning from Italy.

Two parents and a son and daughter from the west of the country tested positive for the virus after returning from Italy.

The father is understood to be a healthcare professional.

He tested positive for the virus yesterday.

Patients who may have been in close contact with the infected male adult in the hospital are being traced.

The family is now in a hospital in the west of Ireland.

Two schools in the west of the country have also been closed today following the family's diagnosis.

Public health doctors last night decided to close a secondary school and a national school attended by the children from the family.

Hundreds of pupils have been told to stay at home for two weeks.

Parents were contacted by text to alert them to the closure.

It follows a risk assessment by the health staff on the potential exposure to other children from the virus.

A major contact tracing exercise will continue today to find out others who were potentially exposed to the virus.

Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed today there will be school closures arising from the four cases of the new coronavirus in north Clare.

He said it is unclear how long they will close and in some instances it will be two weeks while in other schools it relates to one class.

Public health doctors have ordered the closures due to the potential exposure of pupils to the virus when the two children in the affected family were attending classes..

No school or business in the area should take any action unless directed by local public health doctors, he added.

He said the virus was picked up by the family while travelling in north Italy and there is no evidence of person to person transmission .

Yesterday, Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, said: We can confirm there are now six cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Contact tracing is underway for these four new cases.

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; There is still no evidence of widespread or sustained community transmission in Ireland, as seen in some other EU countries.

While we now have six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, we continue our containment efforts, central to which is that the public know what to do in the event they have symptoms.

COVID-19 is spread through close contact with an infected persons body fluids (for example, droplets from coughing or sneezing).

It is also spread by touching surfaces that an infected person has coughed or sneezed on, which is one of the reasons why it is so important that people wash their hands regularly, practice respiratory etiquette, and try to avoid touching their face.

The general public is advised to follow advice from the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre to protect their health.

Any person concerned that they may have symptoms of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) should immediately isolate themselves from others and contact their GP by phone.
If the emetic delivered in this fish wrap this past Tuesday warrants any serious consideration, its only as a Rorschach of progressive mental instability (not to be confused with far-right mental instability, which is an entirely different beast but no less unsettling if less prominent).

Socialist or sociopath? On one hand, we have a candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who frightens members of his own party to the extent two major players have suspended their own campaigns to align against him to support an increasingly doddering opponent. By this, I refer of course to Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg abandoning their respective nomination desires to support former Vice President Joe Biden.

On the other hand, we have the same litany of ad hominem attacks against a sitting president with admittedly many personal failings. Yet, he is a man impeached over a nothing burger slaughtered, seasoned and grilled by an opposition coup and served up and garnished by a resistance-minded government and its media lackeys.

Its the old, trusty canard: Orange Man bad, white man even worse. The fact is many of us dont care about the impeachment because it was conducted under false pretenses in the first place and, furthermore, crashed and burned as was predicted from the onset.

Truth be told, had the previous administration undergone the same partisan colonoscopy of the current presidency, chances are the very real scandals would have resolved themselves in a Biden presidency. But the deck was stacked in Pres. Obamas favor, and the Democrats deep-state apparatchiks ensured he skated while bungling their attempt to anoint his extremely flawed and even more unlikable successor.

But here we are: A diverse nation of equals, administered massive doses of rhetorical ipecac that any sensible, prudent oversight of voting privileges is evidence of voter suppression and inherent racism. Incidentally, Professor, how does one explain the wonderfully inclusive party that has rejected two African-American candidates and one white homosexual in favor of three crusty old white male curmudgeons and one white female who promises to give away more of other peoples stuff than Drew Carey on a meth bender?

No sooner is the question asked than an answer is provided: Not only are Republican white people racists, but their Democrat equivalents equally so; unless those equivalents vote for Bernie Sanders, because Democratic Socialism serves the best interests of the African-American community (according to our avowed Marxist devotee in this rag).

Let that sink in for a second.

In short, what the professor has written can be read thusly: Racism isnt the issue at all inasmuch the Marxist agenda is for our resident Jacobin. Ive warned readers persistently about this likelihood since the professor first appeared in these pages.

Slice and dice Sanders brand of top-down government authoritarianism any way you want. Either way, what Sanders proposes is still undeniably a brand of socialism far removed from the Scandinavian model. Denmark is far more free-market than the professor and Bernie Sanders would have you believe.

Note the use of unfettered capitalism in the Tuesday column, which, unsurprisingly, is linked to a view of the world shared only by those pundits possessing the eyes of whites who happen to be wary of a Sanders candidacy. Because thats not racist!

Mind you, Im not opposed to a Sanders nomination in the slightest. If its the will of his party (and those jumping the Republican fence to create mischief), so be it. However, I dont see how not voting for an ancient Communist throwback makes me or any other white person a bigot.

Could it be simple political calculation to think Sanders incapable of defeating a thus far economically successful incumbent, and perhaps someone else in the party is far more skilled at doing so?

Bruce Edward Walker (walker.editorial@gmail.com) is a Morning Sun columnist and Midwest Regional Editor for The Center Square.
Airlines could lose up to $113 billion in revenues this year due to the coronavirus, equivalent to the damage experienced by the industry during the financial crisis, a trade body warned Thursday. The dire prediction came as Flybe collapsed into bankruptcy with the virus, which has killed over 3,200 people worldwide, dealing a fatal blow to the ailing British regional carrier. With the disease now rapidly spreading outside China, demand for air travel is nosediving globally, spelling serious trouble for many already struggling carriers. In a new assessment of the impact, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated revenue losses to airlines' passenger business of between $63 billion and $113 billion in 2020. The higher figure is for a scenario where the virus spreads more widely, and would be equivalent to the hit to the industry during the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, the group warned. The "industry's prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse", said IATA head Alexandre de Juniac, and appealed to governments for support. "Airlines are doing their best to stay afloat," he said. "As governments look to stimulus measures, the airline industry will need consideration for relief on taxes, charges and slot allocation. These are extraordinary times." Flybe had narrowly avoided going bust in January when the UK government agreed to review air passenger duty paid by its customers -- and shareholders pledged extra investment. But it finally collapsed after the government reportedly refused a rescue loan for 100 million ($128 million). In further bad news Thursday, Norwegian Air scrapped its 2020 earnings guidance after earlier predicting a return to profit following several years of losses. - Bookings plunge - Other recent high-profile aviation industry casualties in Europe include French carriers Aigle Azur and XL Airways, as well as Slovenia's Adria Airways. Meanwhile travel analytics company ForwardKeys said the number of new flight bookings to Europe fell by 79 percent in the final week of February due to the outbreak. IATA's assessment was far bleaker than just two weeks ago, when it forecast revenue losses would come in at $29.3 billion. But since then the virus has spread rapidly outside China, and has now reached some 80 countries and territories, infecting more than 95,000 people. The vast majority of global deaths and infections are in China, which quarantined entire cities, temporarily shut factories and closed schools indefinitely after the virus emerged. IATA predicted that worldwide passenger revenues would fall between 11 and 19 percent this year. The impact on Asia-Pacific carriers will be bigger than during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-2003, as the Chinese travel market is far bigger now, said IATA chief economist Brian Pearce. Like the new virus, SARS emerged in China before spreading to numerous countries, killing hundreds. A plunge in oil prices caused by the virus could cut airlines' fuel costs by up to $28 billion this year, which would provide some relief but would not have a significant impact, the body added. The ailing British regional carrier Flybe was dealt a fatal blow by the coronavirus outbreak
From being ostracised by the international community as the centre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, China is seeking to reframe itself as a global expert that can help hard-hit regions battle the disease. Beijing is keen to reposition the virus as a global outbreak and not just a China malaise as it sends testing kits and experts overseas and translates treatment manuals into foreign languages. The deputy foreign minister said at a press conference Thursday that China had shared its treatment plan with "many countries". An expert team has already been sent to Iran, where 92 people have died, along with 5,000 testing kits and 250,000 face masks. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China has sent testing equipment to Iran, Pakistan, Japan and some African countries. "While fighting the epidemic at home, we will continue working with other sides and offer them assistance," Zhao told a press briefing this week. As the number of new infections drop in China and swell overseas, the country now worries about importing cases, with 20 reported so far, including from Italy and Iran. Several cities and provinces including Beijing have imposed a 14-day quarantine on people arriving from hard-hit countries. A loudspeaker message at Beijing's airport asks passengers to register on arrival. And this week Beijing flew 146 citizens back from Iran -- a symbolic turn of events since governments were scrambling to fly their citizens out of virus-hit China only a month ago. - Ready for export - A few weeks ago, Chinese officials were putting in calls to try and shore up overseas support as countries imposed travel bans. Now, outgoing calls are to offer technical advice, sharing China's experience through video conferences with the European Union and other nations. State media reported that a manual offering advice on controlling the spread of the virus had been translated into Persian and made free to download. After scrambling with a huge shortage of medical equipment, China is now looking to export material. An industry ministry spokeswoman this week said China's production of hazmat suits now exceeds demand from Hubei province -- where the virus first emerged in December -- and encouraged companies to adapt to meet foreign demand. China is likely to keep "claiming authority" over the epidemic based on its achievements, said Dorothy Solinger, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of California at Irvine. "Of course the trouble is most other parts of the world aren't in a position to command the population the way the Chinese government can, so it's unlikely that China can truly become a model," she said. "But it's a brilliant move to pretend that they've discovered a way that can be useful to other countries." China has also been stressing the outbreak is a "global fight" and casting doubt over the source of the virus. The foreign ministry said this week the origin of the virus is "not necessarily in China" -- contradicting an earlier official assessment that it likely came from wild animals sold at a seafood market in Wuhan. - Superior governance - The government came under a torrent of criticism online after a Wuhan doctor who had been reprimanded by police for warning about the virus in December died from the disease himself. Authorities in Hubei have also been accused of seeking to cover up the outbreak in early January. But state media has used signs of success to flag a victory for China's political system. "It's impossible for European countries to adopt the extreme measures that China has implemented," the nationalistic Global Times wrote in an editorial. Beijing is keen to use the epidemic to show "its system of governance is superior to the Western liberal democracy's system of governance," said Yun Jiang, researcher at Australian National University. "The propaganda within China has been focused on what it perceives as its competitive advantage... including the speed of construction of hospitals and locking down cities," she said. Yun added that if other countries struggle to contain COVID-19, it will allow Beijing to deflect the criticism it has also faced over its own handling of the outbreak. "This would be a huge boon for its propaganda efforts," she said. Beijing is keen to reposition the virus as a global outbreak and not just a China malaise Medical staff check information as patients infected by the coronavirus transfer between hospitals in Wuhan A man has his temperature measured at a mall in Shanghai
Overview:

Prof. Atsunori Matsuda, Prof. Hiroyuki Muto, Assistant Prof. Kazuhiro Hikima, Assistant Prof. Nguyen Huu Huy Phuc, Researcher Reiko Matsuda, and Mr. Takaki Maeda (Master Program) at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology have made an active sulfur material and carbon nanofiber (CNF) composite using a low-cost and straightforward liquid phase process. All-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries using a sulfur-CNF composite material obtained by liquid phase process show a higher discharge capacity and better cycle stability than those of lithium-ion secondary batteries. Thus, this all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries enable leading to applications in large scale batteries such as electric vehicles in the future.

Details:

Lithium-ion secondary batteries, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry last year, have been widely used as power sources for smartphones, electric vehicles, etc. All-solid-state batteries have also attracted attention as next-generation batteries in recent years because of the increase with hybrid and electric vehicles. In particular, all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries have attracted attention because of five times higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion secondary batteries. However, sulfur is an insulator, which thus limits their application in battery devices. In order to solve this issue, sulfur must be provided with an ionic and electron-conductive path.

Our research group suggested that cathode composites by combining a sulfur active material and carbon nanofiber (CNF) by an electrostatic assembly method, which can uniformly combine materials in a solution. All-solid-state lithium sulfur batteries using sulfur-CNF composites and electrochemically stable Li2S-P2S5-LiI solid electrolytes synthesized by liquid phase process showed high discharge capacity equivalent to the theoretical capacity of sulfur and maintained high capacity after repeated charge-discharge cycles.

The first author, Assistant Prof. Nguyen Huu Huy Phuc of Toyohashi University of Technology explained its features "It is required that a sulfur active material and a carbon material are appropriately combined for making high-performance all-solid-state lithium sulfur batteries. Conventionally, sulfur-carbon composites were synthesized by mechanical mixing, liquid mixing using a special organic solvent and complicated methods, in which sulfur is combined with a porous carbon material with a high specific surface area. However, there were few reports that all-solid-state lithium sulfur batteries showed high capacity almost equivalent to the theoretical capacity of sulfur and high cycle stability. Therefore, we focused on making a sulfur-carbon composite using a low-cost and simple electrostatic adsorption method which can uniformly combine nanomaterials. It was confirmed that sulfur at the sulfur-carbon composite synthesized by electrostatic adsorption method was accumulated on carbon nanofiber in the form of sheets. Besides, we constructed all-solid-state lithium sulfur batteries and found that sulfur was fully utilized as an active material. The other merit is that this sulfur-carbon composite can be produced by lower cost than conventional processes."

Development background:

The electrostatic adsorption method is that larger mother particles and smaller particles are electrostatically adsorbed by adjusting surface charges of the particles using polyelectrolytes in order to induce an electrostatic interaction. Although design of a variety of ceramic composites by the electrostatic adsorption were already reported, the adjustment of the surface charges of sulfur is difficult. However, our research group succeeded in the charge adjustment by using chemical reactions, in which Na 2 S and S reacted in ion-exchanged water to form aqueous soluble Na 2 S 3 . Therefore, this study achieved a new chemical process by applying the basic principle of electrostatic adsorption.

Future outlook:

This method is a low-cost and relatively simple method for preparing sulfur-carbon composites, so it is suitable for mass production. All-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries using a sulfur active material will be put to practical use by this method. Besides, it is expected the exponential improvement in the energy density of electric vehicles, large-sized power source batteries for household and business use.

###

Acknowledgments:

This study was supported by the Advanced Low Carbon Technology Specially Promoted Research for Innovative Next Generation Batteries (ALCA-SPRING, JPMJAL1301) program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

Reference:

Nguyen Huu Huy Phuc, Maeda Takaki, Hiroyuki Muto, Matsuda Reiko, Hikima Kazuhiro, and Atsunori Matsuda (2020). Sulfur-Carbon Nano Fiber Composite Solid Electrolyte for all-solid-state Li-S Batteries, ACS Applied Energy Materials, DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.9b02062
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ed Morse Automotive Group announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire three dealerships and a truck and 4x4 accessory store located in Sherman and Whitesboro, Texas and Durant, Oklahoma. Ed Morse purchased the dealerships from Hoyte Auto Group.

These new dealerships will be:

Freedom Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM North by Ed Morse located at 2300 Highway 75 North in Sherman, Texas

located at 2300 Highway 75 North in Red River Truck and 4x4, a truck accessory story located at 2407 N. Travis Street in Sherman, Texas

in Freedom Ram Trucks by Ed Morse located at 65 Riley Road in Whitesboro, Texas

located at 65 Riley Road in Freedom Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Fiat by Ed Morse located at 2516 W. University Blvd in Durant, Oklahoma

"In January 2019 we purchased seven franchises in the Dallas market and were immediately impressed with our acquired workforce, the local passion for cars and how warmly we were welcomed to the community. It was obvious to our leadership team that we wanted to expand and grow our footprint in this region. We jumped at the chance to continue this growth in outstanding communities like Sherman, Whitesboro and Durant," said Teddy Morse, Chairman and CEO of Ed Morse Automotive Group.

The Ed Morse Automotive Group is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida and has been family owned for over 70 years. This acquisition will add over 130 employees to their 1,100 plus employee base, growing their locations to 20 dealerships, 33 franchises and 14 automotive brands.

"We are looking not only to continue these dealerships' history of great deals and outstanding customer service, but to make significant capital improvements. We also look forward to supporting the local community with job growth and giving back to local non-profits," added Morse.

About Ed Morse Automotive Group

The Morse family has been in the automotive business since 1946 when Ed Morse founded Morse Motors with his father. Over 70 years later, Ed's grandson, Chairman/CEO Teddy Morse continues to build on the legacy and family tradition. Ed Morse Automotive Group continues to be one of the nation's most respected automotive dealer groups with 20 dealership locations, 33 franchises and 14 automotive brands. www.edmorse.com

SOURCE Ed Morse Automotive Group
Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race and backed Joe Biden on Wednesday, throwing the financial might of the Democratic Partys biggest benefactor behind the former vice-presidents campaign as Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed to wage a long battle for the nomination

Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race and backed Joe Biden on Wednesday, throwing the financial might of the Democratic Partys biggest benefactor behind the former vice-presidents campaign as Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed to wage a long battle for the nomination.

Sanders, regarded a week ago as having a clear upper hand over Biden, sounded chagrined as he faced reporters after losses in states from Maine to Texas where he was hoping for huge turnout of Democrats  yet where a surge in voter participation lifted Biden instead. Sanders now faces pressure to show he can expand his political base well beyond what he has achieved so far: He acknowledged that he had not yet managed to transform the electorate in his favour by bringing a great wave of young people to the polls.

The sudden shift in political momentum favoring Biden has redefined the Democratic race at breakneck speed. Since Saturday night, when Biden won South Carolina in a landslide, much of the Democratic establishment has aligned behind him: Two top rivals, Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, dropped out and endorsed Biden on Sunday and Monday; he won 10 states Tuesday, including Texas and North Carolina; and Bloomberg backed him on Wednesday.

Only Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts remains as the other major candidate in the race. Her campaign said Wednesday that she was assessing her path forward in view of another night of dispiriting election returns, including a third-place finish in her home state, that left Warren without a single victory after a month of primaries and caucuses.

Sanders said on Wednesday that he had spoken with Warren, who for months had been his most formidable rival from the populist wing of the Democratic Party. But Sanders said he applied no public pressure on her to stand down and shared no knowledge of her private intentions, if he had any.

Some supporters have urged Warren to take her time while others are pressing her to capitalise on what leverage she has now by dropping out and endorsing Biden, according to Democrats who have spoken to her. But Warren made it clear to one supporter Wednesday that she was not going to act hastily and that it may be at least another day before she makes up her mind.

In a further boon to Biden, Bloomberg, a multibillionaire, signalled in his concession speech that he intended to keep wielding his personal fortune against President Donald Trump. The former New York City mayor had previously pledged to keep deploying large sums of money to help Democrats in the General Election, even if Bloomberg did not become the nominee, though recently the Sanders campaign said it would not welcome that kind of help.

I am clear-eyed about our overriding objective, and that is victory in November, Bloomberg said, adding, I will not be our partys nominee, but I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life.

Advisors to Bloomberg said on Wednesday that they had not yet settled on a detailed spending plan for the general election, but Bloomberg is said to be keenly interested not only in the presidential race but also in Democratic efforts to take full control of Congress. Members of his enormous campaign staff were told that it would take days or perhaps a week for final decisions to be made about how Bloomberg might reorient his campaign machinery now that he is no longer a candidate.

Both of the Democratic frontrunners were in something of a regrouping phase Wednesday, as Bidens campaign raced to harness his new momentum and Sanders sought to refocus his rattled political operation for a newly-gruelling fight. The Biden campaign has told allies that it is seeking to rapidly hire new campaign staff to fill out its presence in states across the map, where the former vice-president has built little or no organised infrastructure because of his financial difficulties for so much of the race.

Sanders team is hoping that his more developed campaign apparatus might give him a chance to slow Bidens rise in the half-dozen states that vote next week, most significantly in the large swing state of Michigan. Addressing reporters in Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday afternoon, Sanders described the upcoming Michigan primary as enormously important and said he had high hopes to win.

Repeating a litany of criticism he leveled at Biden in his election-night speech Tuesday, Sanders indicated he would focus over the next week on attacking Bidens record of supporting what he described as disastrous trade agreements that had been particularly damaging to Midwestern states like Michigan. In a refrain calling out Biden, Sanders several times said Joe is going to have to explain various other parts of his record, including his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2008 bailout of the financial industry.

Biden has not faced a sustained challenge from any other candidate in weeks, having been largely written off by his rivals after his embarrassing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire. It remains to be seen whether Biden will be able to fully extend the explosive energy that has propelled his campaign over the past few days, and how deftly he might be able to grapple with a determined opponent like Sanders on the campaign trail and in future debates.

But Sanders also acknowledged that he was disappointed by the results from contests this week in 15 states and territories, of which Biden captured 10. And in a striking and uncharacteristic admission, Sanders conceded that his campaign had not managed to generate the soaring turnout among young people that he had been counting on to secure the nomination.

Have we been as successful as I would hope, in bringing young people in? And the answer is no, Sanders said. Were making some progress.

Campaigning in West Beverly Hills, California, on Wednesday, Biden brandished the breadth and diversity of his support to reject Sanders rhetoric casting him as an instrument of the political establishment.

The establishment are all those hardworking, middle-class people, those African Americans, those single women, Biden said, referring to voters who turned out in force for him this week.

Biden and Sanders supporters will be looking for wins next Tuesday in primaries and caucuses in Michigan, Missouri and four other states. Bloombergs exit, and his immediate move to back Biden, had the potential to anger supporters of Sanders, who have long regarded Bloomberg as a malignant force in the 2020 campaign, and stoke resentment among progressives that party power brokers were again taking exceptionally aggressive steps to thwart Sanders candidacy.

But Bloombergs decision to leave the race came primarily from an unsparing assessment of his own feeble prospects.

According to two people briefed on his deliberations, Bloomberg reached the decision to withdraw from the race Wednesday morning, after meeting with his inner circle of advisers at the Upper East Side town house that is the headquarters of his political and philanthropic empire  several miles away from the Times Square campaign office where in just a few months he assembled an enormous team of aides in a late-starting bid for the presidency.

Bloombergs advisors had acknowledged to allies even Tuesday evening that it was unlikely he would continue in the race, and by early in the morning Wednesday, Bloomberg had begun to make personal calls to some of his top supporters to inform them of his decision. Appearing before supporters later in the day, Bloomberg said that the delegate math that would have earned him the nomination had become virtually impossible.

Bloomberg and Biden spoke by phone on Wednesday morning, a person briefed on the call said. Shortly after Bloomberg announced his exit, Biden posted an appreciative tweet saying he would be counting on Bloombergs help to defeat Trump.

Bloombergs candidacy was unprecedented in its financial firepower, amounting to a no-expenses-spared effort to take control of a presidential race. His Democratic rivals accused him of seeking to buy the presidency, and Bloomberg often came close to embracing that idea: In his speeches, he frequently made allusions to his vast personal fortune and presented himself to Democratic voters as the candidate with the record and the resources to win the General Election.

But Bloomberg never escaped a set of serious political vulnerabilities that his advisers identified from the outset, including his long record of supporting stop-and-frisk policing and numerous accusations made by women about harassment and gender-based discrimination by Bloomberg and his company.

Both issues came to the fore in the Democratic debate in Las Vegas last month that signaled the beginning of Bloombergs downfall, as Warren left him reeling with a barrage of criticism about his conduct toward women. Biden and Sanders, too, harried Bloomberg for his policing strategies in New York, questioning his sensitivities on matters of race in a manner Bloomberg defended stiffly and in incomplete or misleading terms.

The campaign cost Bloomberg more than half a billion dollars in advertising alone. He also spent lavishly on robust on-the-ground operations, with more than 200 field offices across the country and thousands of paid staff. His operation dwarfed those of Democratic rivals who ultimately won states in which he had installed many dozens of employees and spent heavily on radio, television and direct mail ads.

It also enabled his campaign to produce a staggering volume of attention-grabbing  and, to some Democrats, cringe-inducing  commercials and other activities aimed at antagonising Trump. The same week Bloomberg wilted in the Las Vegas debate, his campaign ran advertisements on the citys huge electronic billboards taunting Trump: Donald Trump eats burnt steak, read one of them.

Bloomberg used his wealth to assemble an enormous campaign team of more than 2,400 staff members. He concentrated more than 100 offices in Super Tuesday states, where his infrastructure quickly exceeded that of his opponents. For instance, in Warrens home state of Massachusetts  where Bloomberg himself grew up  he established six field offices across the state, four more than Warren and five more than Biden, who ultimately won there.

But as a full picture of the results came into focus on Tuesday, Bloomberg had won only a single contest, in the territory of American Samoa.

Alexander Burns and Rebecca R Ruiz c.2020 The New York Times Company
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Beginning next month, it will be illegal for youth younger than 16 years old to possess BB- or other pellet guns in Grand Rapids without adult supervision.

Brandishing and discharging those and other real-looking pneumatic guns in public, regardless of age, will also be a criminal misdemeanor.

Before the new firearm ordinance goes into effect on April 1, city officials are ramping up an education campaign aimed at raising public awareness around the citys new policies. City officials announced the education campaign on Thursday, March 5.

The ordinance was created, officials said, to prevent fear, confusion, and unsafe situations that pneumatic and imitation weapons can create.

Residents have called 911 believing they have seen real guns, with police officers responding to what they think are real firearm calls, said Police Chief Eric Payne. These situations create challenges for police officers who, in a split second, have to determine whether they are real.

Its very important that the citizens are aware of this issue. Its not to criminalize; Its to keep the community safe.

The new ordinance was adopted by the city commission by a 6-0 vote in December 2019. It came in response to a change to Michigan law that removed pneumatic guns -- weapons that fire a projectile by means of air pressure -- from the definition of firearms.

That left regulating these types of guns up to local governments. Grand Rapids new ordinance:

Regulates pneumatic guns as allowed by state law, including prohibiting brandishing, regulating discharge and prohibiting individuals younger than 16 from possessing them without supervision.

Regulates other non-firearm projectile weapons, including bows and crossbows, in a manner consistent with pneumatic guns. These devices previously were treated as firearms under city code.

Regulates imitation firearm toys consistent with federal law. This generally requires that imitation firearms cannot be possessed unless they have markings required by federal law  such as an orange tip or brightly colored body. Federally required markings cannot be altered.

Regulates the seizure or forfeiture of weapons used in violation of the ordinance and provides a mechanism to dispose of weapons used in violation of the ordinance.

Requires reasonable parental responsibility for ensuring youth follow the ordinance.

A first-time violation of the ordinance as it relates to pneumatic guns, will result in a civil infraction and potential fine of $500. Subsequent offenses will be considered a misdemeanor criminal offense punishable by a $500 fine, 90 days in jail or both.

The city kicked off its education campaign on Thursday during a press conference at the Boys and Girls Club of Grand Rapids Steil Center.

The campaign will include a social media video component and posters going up in local schools and other places where youth often attend. The city is working with local partners, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, Lifequest Ministries and YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, to get the word out to families across the city.

Chief Payne said he plans to join city staff in discussing the ordinance at every opportunity he has. His officers will also undergo new training simulations related to the updated weapons ordinance.

Bo Torres, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, said the ordinance makes the lives of city residents safer.

They must, however, be accompanied by training of enforcement officers so costly mistakes and harm to the community are not done, Torres said. "Markings on toy weapons should be visible, brightly colored and distinguishable so there are no incidents where a toy gun can be mistaken for an actual weapon.

Pablo Villalvazo, president of the Mayors Youth Council and a Union High School student, said its vital to educate young minds on issues pertaining to their safety.

In 2018, a Grand Rapids police officer shot at, and missed, a 14-year-old boy who was wielding a BB-gun. Last summer, police stopped a 13-year-old at gunpoint and recovered a BB-gun from his waistband in response to a 911 call that the teen was armed.

A board featuring real and pneumatic guns, used by the Grand Rapids Police Department to show the challenge officers face when determining the level of threat while responding to 911 calls. (Justin P. Hicks | MLive.com)

Read more on MLive:

Dangerous parole absconder sought in Kent County

5 takeaways from mayors 2020 Grand Rapids State of the City

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New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 41F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 41F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said it's time for political parties to negotiate a government as he admitted he is prepared to go into government with Fine Gael.

Mr Martin said that it is his view that the government need to get beyond Confidence and Supply - a coalition is the optimum as far as he is concerned.

The Cork TD ruled out speaking to Sinn Fein, but said following a meeting yesterday, forming policy in Government with Fine Gael is "not insurmountable."

Asked by Sean O'Rourke on RTE radio if he is prepared to go into coalition with Fine Gael, he said: "Yes, depending on a programme of government that works and represents a new direction in terms of housing, health and climate change."

"Yesterday there was a six-hour block with Fine Gael. Now they'll be at pain to tell you that these were not negotiations.

"Our representatives at the talks are of a view that they were serious discussions. We didn't hear anything back that would be insurmountable in terms of policy.

"The most important sense of the meeting was a realisation that there had to be a radically different approach in terms of how the government gets delivered."

Mr Martin said that he is feels it is the duty of politicians to form a government swiftly. While he ruled out a government with Sinn Fein because "they are more left wing than they were five years ago" which he said would be disastrous economically.

He did not however rule out a rotating Taoiseach with Fine Gael, as he claimed that a left wing alliance is not viable and Fine Gael cannot just adopt the role of opposition.

"It's decision time, we would argue. I think it's time for all political parties to move beyond the exploratory phase of discussions and say let's negotiate a programme for government that can make a difference t o people's lives," he said.

"We have a very inconclusive result here and it's very fragmented. There is no pathway to opposition in that sense and the left wing alliance isn't going to materialise in terms of critical mass of numbers.

"In my view, people can continue going on saying others have to form a government but the realpolitik has to break through at some stage."

The Fianna Fail leader could not give a timeline or date for the formation of government but said that hit must be done quicker than in 2016 when it twoo two and a half months.

Mr Martin said that he would not be in favour of another election saying: "The people would not forgive us if there was another election - we're not afraid of another election by the way.

"But I've always been of the view that there is an obligation on politicians to work to form a government after a general election."
A fraudster who gained worldwide notoriety for an outrageous 2.7million charity scam almost 30 years ago is under investigation after 110,000 went 'missing' from her father's estate.

Rosemary Cubbin - nee Aberdour - served a jail term in the 1990s after going on a lavishly extravagant spending spree with millions she took from a central London hospital charity where she was a deputy director.

Mrs Cubbin, 58, used her ill-gotten gains to live out an opulent fantasy life, claiming to be a rich heiress, with the made-up title 'Lady Rosemary Aberdour'.

She rented a Battersea penthouse overlooking the Thames, sent a chauffeur to buy steak for her labrador - Jeeves - from Harrods, and hired drag queens from a West End cabaret for a Valentine's Day party.

Rosemary Cubbin, pictured outside the High Court, is being taken to court by her brother Robery Aberdour, pictured right, after cash and assets worth around 110,000 went missing from her late father's estate

She also rented a helicopter to fly her secretary and herself to Conwy Castle in north Wales, where two armoured knights battled for their attention, and once hired a car and driver to take her dog from London for a walk in Scotland.

After being rumbled, she fled to Brazil, but returned from Rio after being tracked down and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment amid worldwide media attention in 1992.

But 'Lady' Aberdour - now called Rosemary Cubbin after marrying her Army captain partner - is once more said to be under police investigation and was in front of a judge again last week after cash and assets worth around 110,000 went 'missing' from her late father's estate.

Her brother, Robert Aberdour, took her to London's High Court, asking Judge Stephen Lloyd to remove her as an executor of Dr Kenneth Aberdour's estate due to her failure to account for where around 90,000 cash, plus items from their father's house, went.

The siblings are the only beneficiaries of their father's 'modest' estate following his death in 2018.

Rosemary Aberdour with her boyfriend, and later husband Michael Cubbin, at Rio Airport, in Brazil, in 1991

Robert's barrister, Joshua Winfield, told the judge that Mrs Cubbin, who is also disqualified as a company director, 'cannot account for a significant sum of money.'

'There is an ongoing police investigation as well,' he added - although no charges have been made and police were unable to comment when approached.

The High Court heard that, while Mrs Cubbin had a power of attorney over her Essex dad's affairs before his death, suspicions were raised about what was happening with his money.

The Office of the Public Guardian was called in and investigated, ultimately finding that sums totaling 156,544.60 were a 'cause for concern' between October 2014 and November 2016, and had to be accounted for by Mrs Cubbin.

She was sacked as her father's attorney in November 2017, and although she has since repaid 47,510, Robert asked Judge Lloyd to remove her as an executor of their father's estate.

Mr Aberdour's barrister claimed that, since the estate itself could have a potential case to go after Mrs Cubbin for the missing cash and other items, his sister could not continue to act for it as executor.

'The Public Guardian investigated her conduct as attorney of the deceased, the late Dr Aberdour,' said Mr Winfield.

'That investigation was by a body of unimpeachable independence from the parties in this case.

'The conclusion was that she had to account to the estate for missing funds, household items and certain unsubstantiated payments.

'It is my submission that there is clearly a case here with reasonable prospects of success to recover money and items from Mrs Cubbin.'

Mr Winfield said that, as well as repaying about 47,000, Mrs Cubbin had produced receipts accounting for some legitimate spending, leaving about 89,000 cash unaccounted for.

Adding that to the value of some 'items' missing from the late Dr Aberdour's home, the shortfall is still 109,568, claimed the barrister.

But for Mrs Cubbin, barrister George Woodhead said she disputes that the amount allegedly missing is correct. She says it is closer to 30,000.

'She says money is owing, but it's not 89,000,' he told the judge.

Mr Winfield replied: 'There remains a significant sum, even on Mrs Cubbin's case, that is unaccounted for.'

The court heard Mrs Cubbin and her husband Michael, together with her brother and his wife, Susan, had all been appointed executors of the estate.

But Mr Winfield said, given the missing money, they could not now work together in the interests of the estate.

'There is an overwhelming case to remove Mr and Mrs Cubbin,' he said.

'The Public Guardian found that Mrs Cubbin as attorney of the testator cannot account for a significant sum of money.

'Now the testator has died, the estate needs to be administered and that matter remains unresolved.'

After a day of argument in court, the two couples agreed that all four should step down as executors of the estate and that an independent solicitor take over.

Mrs Cubbin's criminal case in 1992 received press attention worldwide and featured in a 1995 BBC One documentary titled 'Scam!' due to colourful accounts of the spending spree she went on with money intended for charity, The National Hospital Development Foundation.

According to press reports of her sentencing, Mrs Cubbin, then Aberdour, spent a fortune on champagne and had once hired a car and driver to take her labrador, Jeeves, for a walk in Scotland.

She turned up for work at the charity she was ripping off in a chauffeur-driven Bentley, spent tens of thousands creating a Chinese temple at the Savoy Hotel for her 29th birthday, and rented a helicopter to fly her secretary and herself to a castle in north Wales, where two armoured knights fought over them.

Between 1988 and 1991, she kept a personal staff of five and spent huge sums on flowers and Caribbean yachting holidays, and ran up a six-figure bill at diamond jeweller Boodle and Dunthorne.

She was sacked as a deputy director of the charity in June 1991 after the discovery of a forged cheque and fled to Brazil.

Her then fiance, army Captain Michael Cubbin, who is now her husband and sat alongside her in court during her latest appearance, persuaded her to return to face justice.

At the time, her then barrister Graham Boal reportedly told the Old Bailey: 'The cars and the jewels have gone back to their rightful owners. The pretty balloons have long since burst and the party is over.'

The police investigation is ongoing, but no charges have been made.
Professor Barry OReilly, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, has joined the team of top medical specialists at Mater Private Cork.

Prof OReilly will move his private practice to Mater Private Cork where he is seeing patients from Monday, March 9. He will see his ante-natal pregnant patients in his new consulting rooms and more specifically, hell carry out pelvic floor dysfunction, urogynaecology diagnostic and surgical procedures at Mater Private Hospital Cork.

CEO at Mater Private Cork, Donna Roche, said: Barry is well known and highly respected amongst his peers, colleagues and his thousands of patients in Cork. Together we plan to improve access to obstetrics and gynaecology services for all women in the region.

We are proud to welcome him to Mater Private Cork where our team of consultants and staff are leading the way in the provision of excellent private healthcare in Munster.

Since graduating from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) in 1991, Professor Barry OReilly has put in almost three decades of hard work and dedication to his career and vocation. He is the director of the Assert Centre at UCC but his primary role in Cork is in Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Prof OReilly said: The Mater Private Group is a very dynamic organisation and they will help me to bring our vision to reality. The vision that we share is to provide a very efficient and ready-access service to the women of Munster who currently are waiting huge lengths of time. Its very frustrating for both them and their primary care physicians to try and get timely access to hospital-based care, so working with the Mater organisation, we can radically improve this.

He has developed a strong and internationally respected research program in various areas of female pelvic floor dysfunction, in particular, looking at the effects of pregnancy on the pelvic floor and ways of managing the devastating effects of pelvic floor damage resulting from pregnancy.
Officers of the Nigerian police have allegedly carted away at least 10 television sets from the unsealed headquarters of the Nigerian Peace Corps during their stay.

The headquarters of the Corps located at number 15, Iya Abubakar Crescent, off Alex Ekwueme Street, Jabi, Abuja, was sealed off on the orders of the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, the same day it was commissioned on February 28, 2017.

Three years after the office was sealed, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, last week ordered that the office be unsealed, with immediate effect.

Taking journalists round the facility on Thursday morning, the commandant of the corps, Dickson Akoh, said many of their belongings were carted away.

He, however, said he would not join issues with the police and so had decided to move on. He said he has officially written to the police authorities.

Other items allegedly stolen were laptops, CCTV equipment, generator parts, diesel and many more.

Police spokesperson, Frank Mba, did not pick his calls or respond to enquiries via text message on the matter.

Mr. Akoh in his briefing said the corps has lost over N120 million, being damage to the physical infrastructure of the office.

This morning, I decided to be here to inspect and assess the extent of damages that have been done to this facility. For what you can also see with me, I can authoritatively say that we have lost over N120 million, being damage done to the physical infrastructure, furniture and state-of-the-art equipment installed here before the commissioning.

In addition, the gross misrepresentation, misconception and the psychological damages done to our members nationwide cannot be monetarily quantified, he said.

We have collectively resolved to put the past challenges behind us and remain focused on how to embark on confidence-building and institutional synergy with the police and other relevant agencies in the spirit of patriotism.

I wish to state at this point that, this organisation and its leadership bear no grudges or animosity against any agency or individual. Thus, our predicaments in the past three years are seen as an act of God and a sacrifice or a price that we have to pay in the task of nation-building.

He commended Mr Malami for giving the directive and the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, for complying accordingly.

LONG ROAD TO JUSTICE

After the police siege to the corps office, its commandant dragged the police before a federal high court.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in a judgement delivered on November 9, 2017, upheld the legality of PCN and declared the action of the police as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

Consequently, the court ordered the security agency to unseal the headquarters and went further to award damages to the tune of N11.5 million against the police.

Also, a ruling on a motion on notice delivered by Justice John Tsoho, who is now the Chief Justice of Federal High Court, on January 15, 2018, said the office be unsealed.

The House of Representatives, had also, in a resolution in 2018, after summoning former IGP Idris in an investigative hearing, ordered that the Peace Corps office be unsealed while condemning the incessant harassment of members and officers of the Corps.

Mr Malami, based on the development, advised IGP Idris via a letter in March 2018 to obey the subsisting court orders standing against the police, and unseal the PCN office, in the absence of any pending appeal or stay of execution. But the police remained adamant.

Relying on section 150(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended, former AGF, Chief Kanu Agabi, in one of his letters to Mr Malami January 16, 2020, urged the AGF to direct the police boss, who is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, to comply with the subsisting and valid orders of various courts of competent jurisdiction herein attached in respect of this matter but not limited to the unsealing of our clients offices nationwide.

The Peace Corps has been having running battles with the police and other security agencies, winning all the 15 legal actions instituted against it with over N50 million standing against various agencies as cost awarded in favour of the Corps.

According to reports, Mr Adamu, at the annual conference of the police lawyers held at Force Headquarters Abuja recently, had warned of the increasing judgment debts against the police and asked the lawyers to ensure at all times that court orders are obeyed and enforced and that constitutional rights of suspect and citizens are protected.

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Cambodian Health Ministry officials said Thursday that they have quarantined 44 people for two weeks to monitor their health after finding that they came into contact with a Japanese businessman who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Ministry of Healths Communicable Disease Control Department said in a statement on its Facebook page that provincial health authorities in Siem Reap, from where the 40-year-old man left the country, determined that four people had direct contact with him during his travel, while the reminder had indirect contact.

So far, Cambodian health officials have not detected any infections among those in isolation.

Health Ministry officials said they are working with Siem Reap health authorities to monitor the cases carefully and with transparency according to standards set by the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Infection, and the Cambodian office of the Institut Pasteur.

The Japanese national had traveled from Vietnam to Thailand and the Philippines, and later landed in Cambodia. He then returned to Vietnam and Japan, where he was confirmed positive for COVID-19, after landing at Nagoya Airport on Wednesday, health officials said.

The businessman, who had symptoms of a high fever, had taken a flight the evening before from Siem Reap province to Vietnams Ho Chi Minh City before getting a connecting flight to Japan.

The instance is the third time that a traveler who stopped in Cambodia has been confirmed as having the virus after traveling to other Asia countries  in the first two cases to China and Malaysia, respectively.

The right move

Yong Kim Eng, president of the Peoples Center for Development and Peace, said that Cambodias Health Ministry made the right move by taking action to determine who had come into contact with the Japanese man and to place them in quarantine.

He said he has urged officials to conduct thorough medical examinations of those in isolation to ensure they are not carrying the virus and to educate Cambodians about preventive measures to protect themselves from catching COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health should take more measures to prevent the coronavirus form spreading, such as directly dispatching health care professionals to some villages to evaluate and monitor peoples health and to take their temperatures, he said.

Ung Rachana, Cambodias ambassador to Japan, sent a letter to Cambodias Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation saying that the Japanese man entered the country on Feb. 16, left Siem Reap province five days later for the Philippines, and then landed in Thailand before returning to Cambodia on Feb. 28.

The letter also said that the Japanese man left Siem Reap for Vietnam on March 3 before arriving in Japan.

Siem Reap provincial governor Tea Seiha told Cambodias Thmey Thmey website that the Japanese national had been examined in Cambodia, but did not test positive for COVID-19. He also told the news service that the man had been checked in the other countries, but was not found to have the virus.

Cambodia has reported only one confirmed case of COVID-19  a 60-year-old Chinese man who was discharged from a hospital in February after recovering from the virus, according to Chinas Xinhuanet online news service.

There have been nearly 98,000 confirmed cases worldwide with more than 3,350 deaths.

Factories shut down

The coronavirus is also affecting workers in Cambodias apparel and footwear industry  a crucial sector that employs one million people and accounts for about 75 percent of clothing imports to the European Union. Those sectors are now suffering from a cut-off of materials and inputs from China.

Ath Thun, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said 33 factories have closed and more than 17,000 workers have been suspended from their jobs at the request of factory owners as a precautionary measure against possible virus outbreaks.

Additional factories have reported to the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training that they too will soon close their doors.

For example, in Preah Sihanouk province there are two factories that have been closed, and about 500 workers are now jobless, Ath Thun told RFAs Khmer Service.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), also told RFA that more than 30 factories had closed temporarily, affecting about 20,000 workers in early March.

As far as we know, there are about 30 factories or more that submitted letters to the Ministry of Labor informing it that they would temporarily suspend production, and the ministry approved, he said.

We believe that there may be more factories that will shut down, but we don't know yet, he added.

Cambodias garment industry has already suffered this year with a cutoff of raw materials imported from China amid supply chain disruptions attributed to COVID-19, as well as the loss of some of its trade preferences under an EU tariff-free and quota-free scheme.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Pheap Aun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
DOWNINGTOWN  Phil Dague was sworn in as Downingtowns newest mayor Thursday morning.

A lifelong Downingtown resident, Dague won the appointment Wednesday night during the communitys monthly Borough Council meeting.

Council interviewed four applicants for the position before appointing Dauge. Additional candidates included Michele Boggs Smith, Richard Bryant and Councilwoman Ann Feldman.

Each of the candidates were long term residents of the borough, bringing varying experience to the table for consideration, said Stephen Sullins, borough manager.

Borough Council voted 3 to 1 to appoint Dague mayor with only Feldman voting in opposition.

The mayoral vacancy opened up in Downingtown following the resignation of Josh Maxwell, who won his election bid to join the Chester County Board of Commissioners in November. Maxwell served the borough as its mayor for a decade prior to resigning from the role earlier this year.

Dague announced his intention to fill Maxwells vacancy during the Feb. 5 borough council meeting.

In 2014, Dague joined the Downingtown Borough Council and successfully ran to keep his seat in last years general election.

On Wednesday, after the mayoral appointment, Charles Grugan was selected by Borough Council to fill Dagues council member position via a 4-0 vote. Councilor Feldman abstained.

Dague also serves as council liaison on the Downingtown Planning Commission and Downingtown Historic Commission.

I firmly believe in transparency in government, Dague told the Daily Local News. In January, while serving in his role as a councilman, Dague held a town hall meeting to answer questions and learn from the community. Now, hes holding a springtime public forum as mayor on May 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Downingtown Borough Hall.

Although I have lived in Downingtown for 58 years and know a lot of people, I dont know everyone, Dague said. I want to get out into our neighborhoods and meet as many people as I can listen to what their concerns are.

In the months ahead, Dague said the municipality is slated to enact a single-use plastic bag and straws ban, which will become a reality once a statewide moratorium in Pennsylvania is lifted come July.

I also want to reach out to transportation officials in Harrisburg to introduce myself, establish lines of communication and see what we can do to speed up the relocation of the Downingtown train station, Dague said.

By September, Dague said he plans to have met with as many of Downingtowns business leaders as possible, to see what the borough can do to reinvigorate local commerce, which appears to be slowing down recently.

Mainly I am excited that very soon we will see the groundbreaking of the long anticipated Brandywine Station project on the site of the former Downingtown Paper Mill, the new mayor said. We will all be hearing a lot more about that.

Additionally, Dague said he looks forward to the replacement of the Chestnut Street Bridge in town, which is slated to reopen by October 2021. Although if the mild weather that we have enjoyed recently holds up, we are hoping that the construction company of the project will be able to improve on that date, he added.

On Wednesday night, Dague was joined with his wife, Francine, at the council meeting.

I am blessed with many friends that came out to support me last night, and I am hesitant to name them because I fear I would leave some out, he said.  I will say that the public officials that are my friends who came and spoke on my behalf include Chester County Prothonotary Debbie Bookman and Uwchlan Township Supervisor Kim Doan.

Dague graduated from Downingtown High School in 1979. He stayed local and raised three sons, Michael, Matthew and Benjamin, here who grew up in the community located at the heart of Chester County.

I love Downingtown. I think its a great community. It didnt get as great as it is by accident, Dague told the Daily Local News. It got the way it is because people cared and put in the time and effort to make it what it is today.

Dague runs Mr. Downingtown, a popular Facebook page which celebrates local happenings and is home to more than 9,000 followers.

He stopped by Borough Hall on Thursday morning where he was officially sworn in as mayor of Downingtown. A formal ceremony will take place at the next council meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. April 1.
Gender equality has a long-term impact on economic growth, and gender-balanced organisations perform better financially, according to research. However, women are still under-represented at every level in business, across the world and particularly in Africa. This gap is even widened at the senior management level and in the boardroom.



In Ghana, Vodafone continues to defy the odds, by demonstrating leadership in promoting gender equality. Currently, females occupy five out of the nine key senior management positions within the business, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Obo-Nai.



The other four female leaders heading various functions include Ashiokai Akrong, Human Resource Director; Tawa Bolarin, Enterprise Business Unit Director; Angela Mensah-Poku, Digital Transformation and Customer Operations Director; and Geta Striggner-Quartey, Legal Director.



Commenting on Vodafones approach to gender equality, Patricia Obo-Nai, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana said:



At Vodafone, we believe in Inclusion for All, which is one of the key pillars of our Purpose-Led Agenda and this is embedded in everything we do. Our approach to gender equality has achieved an extraordinary feat that few organisations have in the country and across the world. We have indeed proven that our commitment to offering equal opportunities to everybody, irrespective of gender, race, colour, religion, disability, ethnicity or age is not mere rhetoric.



The telecommunications giant also places specific focus on increasing the proportion of women in technology roles and has introduced a number of initiatives to achieve this. These include Female Engineering Students Sponsorship Programme (FESSP), which empowers and gives young female Engineering students from various Universities an opportunity to join the organisation to realise their dream of becoming leaders in their chosen careers.



Other initiatives include a generous four-month maternity leave policy for staff as well as Reconnect, a programme that focuses on hiring women who have been out of the workplace due to various reasons to transition back. Vodafone Ghana has been globally recognised for its numerous initiatives to promote equality. At the EU-Africa Women summit in 2018, Vodafone Ghana won the enviable Africa Impact Leadership Award for Best Company in womens economic empowerment.



Globally, Vodafones ambition is to become the worlds best employer for women by 2025. Vodafone was named one of the top companies leading the way towards more inclusive workplaces in the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. Vodafone was scored between 82% and 100% across several categories, including gender employment statistics, employee policies, company products and company community engagement.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Candice Swanepoel shared several new photos to her Tropic Of C swimwear Instagram page on Thursday morning.

The beauty, who was born in South Africa and has traveled the world as a supermodel, looked very much like a pinup as she posed in a red and black bikini.

'Our signature tie dye print is now available in a vibrant shade of red,' said the caption. 'All of our printed styles are digitally printed on recycled polyester, saving resources, water and energy.  #sustainableswimwear.'

New look: Candice Swanepoel shared several new photos to her Tropic Of C swimwear Instagram page on Thursday morning

The beauty was fully made up with makeup and her blonde hair in soft beach curls.

The suit was fun with a vintage style bra top with thick straps that looked like it was made in the 1950s.

And the briefs were high on the hips and almost covered her belly button.

She posed in what looked like a very rustic Tiki style bar with wood benches and a sand floor.

Fetching: The beauty, who was born in South Africa and has traveled the world as a supermodel, looked very much like a pinup as she posed in a red and black bikini

Earlier this week the 31-year-old former Victoria's Secret model was at it again as she showed off her new leopard print two piece bikini which barely covered her toned body.

'Kingston Cat @tropicofc,' was all the South African native said in her photo caption as she added that the images were taken in Jamaica.

The star was posing in front of a wicker hut as she had on two gold necklaces and a red beaded choker. She added a gold belly bracelet around her waist which was dotted with microdiamonds.

And the stunner also had on several gold rings.

Eco: 'Our signature tie dye print is now available in a vibrant shade of red,' said the caption. 'All of our printed styles are digitally printed on recycled polyester, saving resources, water and energy.  #sustainableswimwear'

She is in the best shape of her life after welcoming two children - Anaca and Ariel - with her ex, model Hermann Nicoli whom she was with for 14 years.

In yet another image, the siren has on a green and black print triangle bikini top with black high-waisted bottoms as she sits on a red bench.

The star added a chunky gold chain necklace.

'Feeling trippy in the #praia top in mystic green. #irie #sustainableswimwear,' she said in her caption.

In the wild: Swanepoel showed off her new leopard print two piece bikini which barely covered her toned body

Last week she was seen in three new images where she was in a very strappy Tropic Of C bikini as she wore large silver hoop earrings with her hair slicked back.

'All tied up!' the single mother said in her caption as she added, 'Shine on in the shade. The #praia two-piece in #blackglow.'

The striking suit - which leaves little to the imagination - which costs $170.

The triangular black bikini top goes for $90. She teamed the look with a pair of the matching $80 tie-up bottoms that showcased her long and lean legs.

Last week the blonde bombshell was seen in similar poses in the same location.

Against the vines: The fashion world fixture was seen in three new images where she was in a very strappy Tropic Of C bikini

In one of the posts, the Elle and Vogue cover girl quoted Spanish-born poet George Santayana: 'The earth has its own music for those who listen.'

The statuesque star was seen modeling the suit in a jungle in Ochos Rios in Jamaica which was rich in dark green fauna.

Candice launched her brand, Topic Of C, two years ago.

'Tropic Of C is a brand with purpose, partnering with like-minded people to make a positive impact on the environment & beyond,' it says on her website.

'This vision is realized through our core values of sustainability, empowerment, community and quality.'

She also took to her Stories to showcase her natural beauty while lounging around on a day off.

Candice juggles her career with being a mother to her two sons Anaca, three, and Ariel, 1, who she shares with her former fiance Hermann Nicoli.

The pair began dating when she was just 17 after meeting in Paris.

They became engaged in August 2015 after ten years together, but split in 2019.
Exxon Mobil Corp. is slowing the pace of its flagship shale project in the Permian Basin, one of the first signs that the oil majors are throttling back on production in response to the recent slump in prices.

The U.S. energy giant will cut Permian production growth by about 10% over the next two years, the company said at its analyst day in New York on Thursday, but will stick to its long-term plan to almost triple output from the basin by 2024.

Exxons short-term slowdown in the Permian stands in contrast to plans by rival Chevron Corp., which this week increased its output target for the basin to fund as much as $80 billion of dividends and share buybacks over the next five years.

Oil prices have plunged in recent weeks as concern mounts over the impact of the coronavirus on global consumption. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said earlier this week that demand will contract in 2020 for only the fourth time in 40 years. The pressure is particularly acute for Exxon. Its shares have dropped to a 15-year low as it continues to spend heavily on new projects through the downturn as part of a counter-cyclical strategy.

Today, oversupply is driven by industry investments and some of these growth markets have exceeded demand, Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said at the investor presentation. Weve got a very challenging short-term margin environment which is now being compounded by the growing economic impact of the coronavirus.

At HoustonChronicle.com: Exxon puts out methane policy in hopes that regulators will adopt it

The Permian pullback means this years capital spending will be not more than $33 billion, the low end of its previously targeted range. Even so, Exxon said its long-term plans were unchanged, with spending rising to as much as $35 billion a year through 2025.

The scale of Exxons spending has meant the oil behemoth has failed to cover its dividend payments with cash flow for eight out of the last 10 quarters, relying on asset sales and borrowing to make up the difference.

Its not clear that the oil majors analyst day presentation will be enough to soothe wary investors, Biraj Borkhataria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients Thursday.

The lack of a material change in strategy and capital spending leave us thinking that XOM is in for another tough year, Borkhataria said, referring to Exxons ticker symbol. The longer a recovery in the companys downstream and chemicals business takes, the longer XOM generates weaker free cash flow and returns versus peers, and the more likely investors start to question the premium multiple it trades on.

Exxon said Thursday its balance sheet has significant financial capacity to pay for project spending while growing the dividend. Debt is available at historically low cost. Its shares dropped 3.8% to $50.44 at 9:36 a.m. in New York amid a broader equities decline.

CASH BACK: Chevron leans on Permian to shower $80 billion on investors

The companys Permian pullback is another sign that U.S. shale growth may be slowing. West Texas Intermediate crude prices have dipped well below $50 a barrel, a level at which many of the independent operators in the Permian are thought to be losing money. Shale producers have been cutting spending and hiking dividends as investors demand better returns.

The company emphasized it is evaluating the pace of near-term development activities in response to market conditions, and can do so while preserving value, Exxon said in a separate statement, referring to the Permian.

Exxon, along with Chevron, is making a large bet on the Permian as a source for future production growth. Chevron told investors Tuesday that it sees its Permian output plateauing at 1.2 million barrels a day by the mid-2020s with capital spending of about $4.5 billion a year.
AMMAN, Jordan - The head of the U.N.s food aid agency warned of absolute devastation in Africa and parts of the Middle East in coming months if wealthier nations grappling with an economic downturn linked to the new coronavirus dont step up aid efforts in countries in need.

David Beasley, head of the World Food Program, told The Associated Press that the convergence of several crises could further destabilize conflict-scarred regions.

If the corona virus continues to create panic around the world, and there is an economic downturn, I have been telling the European leaders, and leaders around the world, you dont have enough money set aside to address the needs in Africa, East Africa, West Africa, in the Middle East right now, Beasley said during an interview in Jordan late Wednesday, after a visit to Syria.

If there is an economic downturn, on top of the economic downturn that exists now in Syria and Lebanon, it absolutely could be a catastrophe, he said. I mean absolute devastation. I am very concerned about what would happen in the next six months. You could see destabilization unlike any time period, maybe in my lifetime.

In the Middle East, Iran has been hardest hit by the new virus which has spread around the globe after first being detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. There are over 3,740 cases of the virus across the Mideast, with most linking back to the Islamic Republic which also confirmed dozens of deaths. Only a small number of cases has been reported in Sub-Saharan Africa so far.

Beasley did not give an amount for additional aid needed, but suggested it would be in the billions of dollars.

Beasley spoke after a tour of Syrias northwestern Idlib province, the countrys last rebel stronghold, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent weeks by a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive.

U.N. agencies, including the WFP, are distributing aid in Idlib, but are often hampered by logistics problems, including shifting front lines, access restrictions and roads clogged by large numbers of people on the move.

The leaders of Russia, which backs the Syrian government, and Turkey, which backs the rebels, were meeting in Moscow on Thursday to try to avert further calamity. But any deal will likely bring only a temporary halt in the punishing offensive by the military of Syrias President Bashar Assad, which threatens continued suffering for the 3 million people trapped in Idlib.

Beasley appealed to leaders on all sides of the Syrian conflict to end the war, which has raged for nine years. Enough is enough, he said. Too many people have suffered too long.
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Welovecouponingonline.com scored 84 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 4/5.0 Stars by Social Team

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PAGE TITLE We LOVE Couponing | Your secret to smarter savings! DESCRIPTION Your secret to smarter savings! KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS deals, coupon, price, final price, final, match, match ups



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FACEBOOK PAGE LINK FOUND FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/WeLoveCouponing.WLC DESCRIPTION We are here to help YOU save through the use of coupons LIKES 4022 PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT 656 PAGE TYPE Website TIMELINE PAGE TIMELINE

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TWITTER PAGE LINK FOUND TWITTER PAGE twitter.com/#!/WLC_Online DESCRIPTION Your Secret to Smarter Savings! ACCOUNT CREATED ON 21 Nov 2014 LOCATION From Sunny Florida TWEETS 902 FOLLOWERS 99 LISTED 1
The Maharashtra Area and Housing



Development Authority (MHADA) on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that the redevelopment of BDD chawls in south Mumbai has been planned and designed as per the development control regulations (DCR) and environment norms.

MHADA said this in an affidavit it filed in response to a petition, which alleged that the redevelopment project was being carried out in a haphazard manner.

The petition filed by two city residents- Shirish Patel and Sulakshana Mahajan- claimed that the manner in which the redevelopment is proposed, it would jeopardise the health, well-being and right to life of residents.

"As per the proposal, the buildings will be constructed in a small portion of the original plot. Buildings will be constructed so close to each other that the residents will be deprived of proper light and air. This will lead to an increase in diseases and other health issues," the petition said.

There are 206 BDD chawls, spread across 92 acres. Out of these, 120 are in Worli, 32 in N M Joshi Marg area, 42 in Naigaon and 12 in Sewri.

The government has initiated a process for redevelopment of all chawls, except for those in Sewri, which are built on Mumbai Port Trust land.

In its affidavit submitted on Thursday before a division bench of Acting Chief Justice B P Dharmadhikari and Justice N R Borkar, MHADA refuted the contentions raised in the petition.

The Environment Impact Assessment report and the reports submitted by GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) show that the light and ventilation within the rehab buildings are satisfactory and complying the norms, it said.

"Various community spaces and amenities are planned there. The existing amenities and community spaces are also retained and repositioned in the new master plan," the affidavit said.

It added that the redevelopment plan also includes jogging track, children's play areas with play equipments and a park for the elderly.

MHADA further said that the planning authority after following a tedious process prepared a draft development plan and submitted the same to the state government.

"The officers in the Town Planning Departments of the planning authority are experts in the field of Urban and town planning and it is with this objective that the Draft Development Plan is prepared by experts," it said.

The draft plan then undergoes another level of scrutiny by experts in the state government, the affidavit said.

The bench has posted the petition for further hearing after three weeks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coal remains the most practical option in the near-term to stimulate affordable electricity generation growth at the pace and scale needed by the country, said Fitch Solutions.

Vietnam's power expansion is predicted to continue being largely driven by coal despite increasing pressures on the fuel source of late, Fitch Solution has said in a report.

The National Steering Committee for Power Development has recommended scaling the share of coal down for the upcoming Power Development Plan (PDP) VIII, eliminating nearly 15GW of planned coal projects and for coal to account only 37% of Vietnams electricity by 2025, due to slow progress and environmental opposition to in some coal projects.

Vietnam - Capacity of Power Project Pipeline by Fuel Type, MW.

According to Fitch, the government initially had a coal capacity target of 106 gigawatts (GW) by 2025, and for an additional 55GW of coal capacity from 2017 to 2030. There is yet to be a decision made on capacity targets, and it is expected that the government is likely to retain an ongoing commitment to coal at present.

Fitch Solutions referred to its key project database that there are more than 17GW of coal power plants that are already under construction, and almost another 29GW under preconstruction stages.

It is unclear how the government will halt the development of these projects that are already under construction without incurring significant compensation costs, it said.

Furthermore, Vietnam is facing looming threats of power shortages over the coming years, given an expected surge in power demand, and has in fact been trying to fast-track the development of some of these projects since 2019.

Vietnam - Coal Power Generation, TWh and % of Total Power Generation.

It is clear that the government is prioritizing the development of the power sector in general to support the countrys strong economic growth. Meanwhile, coal remains the most practical option in the near-term to stimulate affordable electricity generation growth at the pace and scale needed by the country, given its affordability, accessibility and reliability, stressed Fitch.

A key supportive factor for continued coal-fired power growth is the continued access to financing from China and South Korea. While a shifting international financing environment for coal amid environmental concerns possess some downside risks, it is expected that alternative financing sources, particularly from China, will likely remain forthcoming.

Vietnam - Total Power Capacity by Type, MW

Fitchs report noted that the 1,200MW Vung Ang 2 and 1,980MW Vinh Tan 3 coal-fired power plants have come under the spotlight following OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC Bank recent announcements to withdraw financing from the plants. Japan, a key financing source in the region, is also looking towards reviewing their coal financing and export policies by end of June 2020.

That said, most Chinese and South Korean banks, which form a substantial majority to Vietnams coal financing, have not flagged any commitments to exit coal yet. Crucially, these countries aim to generate external demand for coal power equipment through the use of their respective export credit agencies, amid a decline in domestic coal power markets.

Fitch stressed that many banks with effective coal bans also have financing loopholes and exemptions, which unlock funding for certain projects in light of its importance to economic development. As such, the extent and scope of Japans coal financing review also remains uncertain at present, said Fitch. Hanoitimes

Ngoc Thuy

Ford expansions impact on Vietnams vehicle output muted by imports: Fitch Solutions U.S. automaker Ford Motors latest announcement that it intends to expand its Vietnamese plant will provide only a modest boost to the countrys vehicle output over this year and next, according to Fitch Solutions.
COVID-19 Causes Global Exports to Plunge by Billions of Dollars

By Lisa Schlein March 04, 2020

A U.N. analysis of the global trade impact of the coronavirus epidemic finds nations have been hit with export losses of $50 billion in February, and the world should brace itself for worse to come the longer the epidemic lasts.

Over the past two decades, China has become the world's largest exporter and supplier of key components for various products manufactured in many parts of the world. For example, automobiles, cellphones, and medical equipment depend upon the export of intermediate parts from China.

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reports China provides 20 percent of overall global production and trade in the manufacture of intermediate goods, making China a critical, integral part of the economies and global value chain across the world.

Pamela Coke-Hamilton is UNCTAD's director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities. She says there was a dramatic reduction in output in China last month as a direct consequence of the spread of the coronavirus. This amounts to a two-percent contraction in output on an annual basis.

"This will show that there is a ripple effect throughout the global economy and to the tune of $50 billion fall in exports across the world," she said. "If we look at what is occurring across the world now, and even with respect to China, we will no doubt realize that the fall may be continuing and this actually may be a conservative estimate."

Coke-Hamiton says this also is likely to trigger a fall in the world's gross domestic product. UNCTAD reports the economies that will be most affected by Chinese supply disruptions are the European Union, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

UNCTAD economists say the estimated global effects from a disruption to China's value supply chain are dependent on the containment of the coronavirus in China and the rest of the world. If the COVID-19 epidemic persists for any length of time, UNCTAD says it is likely to result in a significant downturn in the global economy.

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CCC Producing Topical Discussions Online as Premium Partner of Book Fair

Follow on Social Media at LBF20CCC

Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), a leader in advancing copyright, accelerating knowledge, and powering innovation, announces its alternate digital London Book Fair 2020 programming.

"We recognize the difficulty in making the decision not to go ahead with this year's London Book Fair given global health concerns," said Tracey Armstrong, CEO, CCC. "CCC is now scheduling virtual broadcasts, webinars, podcasts and blog posts based on planned sessions for the London Book Fair. We believe in the strength of the content and the importance of the message for the publishing community."

Discussion topics to be presented online include transformative agreements, Open Access, and Metadata and the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market:

Find the Right Combination: How Transformative Agreements Unlock Sustainable Open Access

For the transition to Open Access to be sustainable over time, publishers are forging new partnerships that will lead to frictionless, flexible, and scalable workflows for funders, institutions, and researchers. Successful collaboration among libraries, publishers, researchers, and intermediaries will also ensure diversity in the post-Plan S scholarly publishing ecosystem. Panelists will share insights into how they've adapted systems to support emerging needs under terms of Transformative Agreements. For example, solutions that incorporate multiple sources of funding into the Open Access payment stream and without disrupting the author journey from submission to publication are increasingly seen as basic requirements.

Sara Bosshart, Open Access Publisher, International Water Association

Lesley Boyle, Business Development Director, Academic, Cambridge University Press

Jennifer Goodrich, Director, Product Management, Publisher Solutions, CCC

Rob Johnson, Director, Research Consulting Limited

Niamh O'Connor, Chief Publishing Officer, PLOS

A Common Lot and a Lot in Common: Publishers and Researchers Today

Researchers and publishers have much in common. Dr. Milka Kostic recently told the Scholarly Kitchen blog that both "want to make a difference they want to advance human health and wellbeing, the health of our planet, and of our society." Spurred by the movement toward Open Access and Open Science, scholarly publishers have taken up a range of new approaches to strengthen relationships with researchers. Transformative Agreements, for example, prescribe educational programs on Open Access publishing for scholars. On their own and with third-party vendors, publishers also provide editorial assistance, social media services, and career development guidance. Attendees will learn how they too can find common ground with their researcher-contributors.

Pablo Palmeiro, Vice President, Publisher and Society Partnerships, CACTUS

Rosalind Pyne, Director, Open Access Books, Springer Nature

Kathryn Sharples, Senior Director, Open Access, Wiley

Get Fit for Licensing: Healthy Metadata and the EU Copyright Directive

Over the next two years, EU member states are required to adopt the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which was enacted in 2019. Importantly for scholarly publishers (whether based in the EU or not), this Directive provides a clear and explicit formulation of the legal status of copying materials for text and data mining (TDM) and other types of information extraction. While a narrow, non-commercial exception for scientific research does exist, the Directive leaves in place critical protections around licensing. To capitalize on any opportunities, publishers must maintain clean, reliable metadata related to, for example, authors, institutions, license types, and citations. The session will outline first steps for a metadata "fitness" program.

Duncan Campbell, Senior Director, Global Sales Partnerships, Wiley

Roy Kaufman, Managing Director, Business Development and Government Relations, CCC

Susie Winter, Director of Communications and Engagement, Research, Springer Nature

ABOUT COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER

Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) builds unique solutions that connect content and rights in contextually relevant ways through software and professional services. CCC helps people navigate vast amounts of data to discover actionable insights, enabling them to innovate and make informed decisions. CCC, with its subsidiary RightsDirect, collaborates with customers to advance how data and information is integrated, accessed, and shared while setting the standard for effective copyright solutions that accelerate knowledge and power innovation. CCC is headquartered in Danvers, Mass. with offices across North America, Europe and Asia. To learn more about CCC, visit www.copyright.com.

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Craig Sender

Director, Public Relations

csender@copyright.com

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WASHINGTON  His front-runner status slipping, Bernie Sanders refocused his Democratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednesday as the Vermont senators allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tuesday stumble that raised internal concerns about the direction of his White House bid.

Sanders targeted Bidens record on trade, Social Security and fundraising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his campaign and Elizabeth Warren confirmed she was privately reassessing her future in the race. The dramatic shifts signaled that the Democrats once-crowded nomination fight had effectively come down to a two-man race for the right to face President Donald Trump in November.

Sanders declared himself neck and neck with Biden as he faced reporters in his home state, Vermont, one of just four states he captured on the most consequential day of voting in the partys 2020 primary season. Biden won 10 states, assembling victories that transcended geography, race and class.

What this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is, Which side are you on? Sanders said.

The progressive candidate lobbed familiar attacks against the former vice presidents record but ignored supporters calls to be more aggressive and insisted his campaign would avoid any Trump-type effort that included personal criticism.

I like Joe. I think hes a decent human being, Sanders said. Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country.

Biden told reporters he would unify the country and, without naming Sanders, knocked the senators frequent contention that he is beholden to an elite party establishment.

The establishment are all those hard-working people who voted on Tuesday, Biden told reporters in West Hollywood, California.

Elected officials and leading donors rallied around Biden after his Super Tuesday romp. Top Democrats have long been skeptical of the 77-year-old lifelong politicians political strength but raced to unite behind him to blunt Sanders rise.

After suspending his campaign, Bloomberg became the fourth failed Democratic presidential contender this week to endorse Biden. Like the growing chorus of Democratic officials, Bloomberg called Biden the best chance to defeat Trump in the general election.

Warrens future was uncertain.

Sanders confirmed that he spoke to his progressive ally earlier in the day, though it was unclear whether she would endorse him  or anyone else  should she leave the race. Warren didnt win a single state on Super Tuesday and finished in third place in her home state of Massachusetts.

A resurgent Biden, meanwhile, was poised to finish Super Tuesday with more delegates than Sanders  a stunning shift. Sanders team had hoped he would finish the night more than 100 delegates ahead of his next closest competitor. Hell likely finish dozens of delegates behind once all the votes are counted.

Bidens allies sought to quickly capitalize on his success and take on Sanders. Biden campaign co-chairman, Rep. Cedric Richmond, blasted Sanders for suggesting that the Democratic establishment was colluding against him. Richmond said Biden is earning his votes.

I just did not know that African Americans in the South were considered part of the establishment, the Louisiana Democrat said, noting that Bidens overwhelming support among black voters gave him wide delegate gains in Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia, among other states.

The Sanders campaign announced it would begin airing three new campaign ads across states holding the next series of primary contests on March 10 and March 17: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Washington state.

One new ad features archived footage of former President Barack Obama praising Sanders. Its a not-so-subtle attempt by the Vermont senator to undercut Bidens frequently spotlighting his closeness to Obama.

Despite the aggressive ad buy, there was new evidence of internal frustration with Sanders strategy, which some believe has not been tough enough in courting high-profile endorsements or attacking Biden.

Sanders prefers to focus his criticism on the former vice presidents record on key issues, declining to lean into more divisive attacks that will almost certainly come up in a prospective general election match-up against Trump.

For example, there has been internal discussion about highlighting Bidens role in the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy. As the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Biden allowed an all-male Senate panel to grill Anita Hill, who had accused Thomas of sexual harassment.

Sanders has largely avoided the subject.

Roseann DeMoro, a key Sanders ally and a former president of National Nurses United, said Bidens strong showing on Super Tuesday caught people off guard. Sanders struggle, she said, was likely tied to his gentle approach.

Is Bernie too gentle on the Democratic Party? I think hes a gentleman, and they are not, DeMoro said. Bernies a statesman, and hes up against sharks. He needs to call people out for who they are.

Moumita Ahmed, co-founder of the independent group Millennials for Bernie, was also disappointed in Tuesdays outcome.

I was thinking Bernie would do way better, she said, adding that the campaign needs a more effective strategy to connect with African Americans. I would like to see a reassessment of how the campaign is run.

From his social media platform, Trump worked to fan the flames of growing frustration within Sanders camp. The president amplified his long-running argument that the Democratic Party would move to stop Sanders from winning the nomination.

The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Trump tweeted. He also called Warren selfish for staying in the race because it hurts Bernie badly.

Bidens strong finish punctuated a dramatic turnaround in the span of just three days when he leveraged a blowout victory in South Carolina to score sweeping victories in 10 states that cemented his status as the standard-bearer for the Democrats establishment wing.

The former vice president showed strength in the Northeast with victories in Massachusetts and Maine. He won delegate-rich Texas in the Southwest, Minnesota in the upper Midwest and finished on top across the South in Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas  in addition to Oklahoma.

Sanders scored the nights biggest delegate-prize in California but won just three other states: his home state of Vermont, as well as Utah and Colorado.

Biden racked up his victories despite being dramatically outspent and out-staffed. His moderate rival Bloomberg, for example, poured more than $12 million into television advertising in Virginia, while Biden spent less than $200,000.

With votes still being counted across the country, The Associated Press has allocated 566 delegates to Biden, 501 to Sanders and 61 to Warren. The numbers are expected to shift as new states report their numbers and as some candidates hover around the 15% vote threshold they must hit to earn delegates.

The ultimate nominee must claim 1,991 delegates, which is a majority of the 3,979 pledged delegates available this primary season.

___

Barrow reported from Los Angeles.

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Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
What is the coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses).

'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.'

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Where does the virus come from?

According to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals  the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively.

The first cases of COVID-19 came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in Wuhan, which has since been closed down for investigation.

Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat.

A study by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, published in February 2020 in the scientific journal Nature, found that the genetic make-up virus samples found in patients in China is 96 per cent identical to a coronavirus they found in bats.

However, there were not many bats at the market so scientists say it was likely there was an animal which acted as a middle-man, contracting it from a bat before then transmitting it to a human. It has not yet been confirmed what type of animal this was.

Dr Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, was not involved with the research but said: 'The discovery definitely places the origin of nCoV in bats in China.

'We still do not know whether another species served as an intermediate host to amplify the virus, and possibly even to bring it to the market, nor what species that host might have been.'

So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it?

Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly.

It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. It is less deadly than SARS, however, which killed around one in 10 people, compared to approximately one in 50 for COVID-19.

Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold.

Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them.

'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.'

If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die.

'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in.

'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.'

How does the virus spread?

The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms.

It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. It can also live on surfaces, such as plastic and steel, for up to 72 hours, meaning people can catch it by touching contaminated surfaces.

Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person.

What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms?

Once someone has caught the COVID-19 virus it may take between two and 14 days, or even longer, for them to show any symptoms  but they may still be contagious during this time.

If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients will recover from these without any issues, and many will need no medical help at all.

In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people.

Figures are showing that young children do not seem to be particularly badly affected by the virus, which they say is peculiar considering their susceptibility to flu, but it is not clear why.

What have genetic tests revealed about the virus?

Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world.

This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause.

Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much  changing is known as mutating  much during the early stages of its spread.

However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people.

This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it.

More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately.

How dangerous is the virus?

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

Experts have been conflicted since the beginning of the outbreak about whether the true number of people who are infected is significantly higher than the official numbers of recorded cases. Some people are expected to have such mild symptoms that they never even realise they are ill unless they're tested, so only the more serious cases get discovered, making the death toll seem higher than it really is.

However, an investigation into government surveillance in China said it had found no reason to believe this was true.

Dr Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization official who went on a mission to China, said there was no evidence that figures were only showing the tip of the iceberg, and said recording appeared to be accurate, Stat News reported.

Can the virus be cured?

The COVID-19 virus cannot be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic?

The outbreak was declared a pandemic on March 11. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'.

Previously, the UN agency said most cases outside of Hubei had been 'spillover' from the epicentre, so the disease wasn't actually spreading actively around the world.
The meeting discussed the rapid developments taking place in the region, especially in Libya and Syria

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Emirati counterpart Anwar Gargash stressed their rejection of regional interference in Arab countries' affairs during talks in Cairo on Thursday, Egypt's foreign ministry said in a statement.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed strategic bilateral ties and regional issues including the situation in Libya and Syria.

The ministers stressed their rejection of all forms of regional intervention in the Arab countries' affairs, as well as the importance of not allowing these interventions to affect the security and stability of the region, the statement said.

Shoukry expressed Egypt's "steadfast stance on supporting the security and stability of Arab Gulf states as an integral part of the Egyptian and Arab national security."

Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have all voiced their rejection of the Turkish intervention in Libya after Turkey began sending forces to the North African country in January to support the national government based in the capital Tripoli.

Egypt and the UAE support an eastern-based rival government allied to military commander Khalifa Haftar.

The ministry said Thursday's meeting also tackled the outcome of an Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo, which discussed the dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over a giant dam Addis Ababa is building on the Nile river.

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The NHS still needs 43,000 more nurses to meet patient demand in England, according to a new report.

One in eight posts are empty with only five per cent of workers joining the force since 2010, data shows.

This is despite the government's ambitious efforts to draw more students in - which the National Audit Office (NAO) said have 'failed to meet expectations'.

The stark warning from the parliamentary body comes after health officials said a Covid-19 epidemic was 'likely' in the UK, which would add further pressure to the NHS.

Patient safety remains at risk until shortages are met, experts said in response.

The NHS still needs 43,000 more nurses to meet patient demand in England

Officials from the NAO, which independently scrutinises public spending for Parliament, said nurses are 'critical' to the running of the health service.

But despite efforts to boost the workforce, there were over 43,000 vacancies reported by NHS trusts in July to September 2019, they added.

Vacancy rates as reported by NHS trusts were 12 per cent for nursing, higher than the overall staff vacancy rate of nine per cent, the NAO said.

While the overall numbers of nurses working in the NHS in England increased by five per cent between 2010 and 2019, there are still not enough, the report adds.

The problem is particularly acute in some areas of the health service; the authors detail a 38 per cent reduction in the number of nursing disability nurses during the same time frame.

In January last year, the NHS Long Term Plan acknowledged the need to increase staff numbers, noting that the biggest shortfalls were in nursing.

But the NAO said there is 'significant time lag' of at least three to four years before policies to train new nurses have an impact.

Commenting on the report, Public Accounts Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier, said: 'As the coronavirus spreads, the importance of the NHS and nurses who look after us becomes ever more apparent.

'There are 44,000 nursing vacancies. Plans to increase the numbers of nurses starting degrees have failed to meet expectations.

'It takes three to four years for policies to train new nurses to have an impact.'

She added that the NHS People Plan, expected in the spring, 'must be fully funded and finally start to tackle the real reasons why there are not enough nurses'.

Responding to the report, the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, said next week's Budget is an opportunity for the government to address the issue.

Susan Masters, the Royal College of Nursing's director of nursing, policy and practice, added: 'There simply aren't enough nurses joining the profession in England to look after the health of the population.

'Next week's Budget is the perfect opportunity for the Government to respond to the workforce problems of NHS and social care.

'We are calling for investment to remove financial barriers for nursing students, by paying for tuition fees and providing grants for the real costs of living.

'Until there's a law clarifying who is responsible and accountable for workforce in Government and throughout the health and care system, patient safety remains at risk'.

In December last year, the Conservative manifesto pledged to deliver '50,000 more nurses' by 2024/25 - only for Boris Johnson to admit later that it would be only 31,000 new nurses.

An NHS spokesman said: 'NHS hospitals successfully opened extra hospital beds at a record rate this winter, made possible by having over 7,700 extra nurses working across the NHS than last year.

'But given the pressures on the NHS, the Government's commitment to increase the number of nurses by 50,000, as well as invest in more new beds and facilities, will be crucial when it comes meeting the growing need for care.'

The report comes as cases of coronavirus in the UK saw the biggest day-on-day increase in coronavirus cases, with 85 people now confirmed to have the virus.

The jump comes as England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, warned that a UK epidemic is looking 'likely'.

'At this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the UK,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did something no American senator has ever done: he implicitly threatened Supreme Court justices if they did not rule his way on an abortion case. Chief Justice Roberts sharply reprimanded him, but that doesn't change the fact that this is an escalation of the simmering civil war in America ever since Roe v. Wade.

In 1857, the Supreme Court decided Dred Scott v. Sandford, which excluded blacks from American citizenship, denying them any rights and privileges under the Constitution. Four years later, America was fighting a civil war that killed roughly 655,000 Americans.

In 1973, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, holding that various unarticulated penumbras and emanations in the Constitution created a constitutional right to abortion. That decision resulted in the deaths of 61,781,600 individuals who would have been Americans, given a chance.

Like Dred Scott before it, the Roe v. Wade decision also led to civil war, although a peculiarly low-level one. One side has killed 61,781,600 babies under color of law. The other side has mostly held its fire. In the 47 years since Roe v. Wade, seven people chose to use violence as an anti-abortion statement, leading to eleven deaths. Otherwise, the anti-abortion side has used legislation and persuasion to slow abortions in America.

The primary battlefield has been the place in which this Second Civil War began: the Supreme Court. Over the years, the Court has articulated a test that says state laws cannot impose an "undue burden" on women. For example, in 2016, the Court held that it was an undue burden on Texas women to require that abortion facilities have health and safety standards equal to outpatient surgical centers and that abortionists have admitting privileges at local hospitals.

The Supreme Court will soon hear June Medical Services v. Stephen Russo, regarding Louisiana legislation requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion facility. Democrats are worried because the Court currently has four constitutional conservatives (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh), four activists (Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer), and one squish (Roberts). Democrats are frantic lest the conservatives take the lead, resulting in the Supreme Court placing limitations on abortions.

It was in this context that Schumer, while speaking at a Planned Parenthood rally outside the Supreme Court, abandoned the accepted practice of criticizing the justices' intelligence or impartiality and, instead, implied a call for violence against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh:

Democrat leader Chuck Schumer outside the Supreme Court:



I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price."



"You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions"pic.twitter.com/fVvM61Te9C  Trump War Room - Text EMPOWER to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) March 4, 2020

Chief Justice John Roberts, who tries to stay above the fray, was compelled to weigh in:

Schumer's remarks were so inflammatory that even Laurence Tribe, a reliable leftist and fanatic Trump-hater, called him to account:

These remarks by @SenSchumer were inexcusable. Chief Justice Roberts was right to call him on his comments. I hope the Senator, whom Ive long admired and consider a friend, apologizes and takes back his implicit threat. Its beneath him and his office. https://t.co/xbNnUeznRR  Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 4, 2020

Through his spokesman, Schumer attempted to defend himself by blaming Donald Trump:



Schumer points at the Supreme Court as he makes his threat (YouTube screen grab).

Schumer's spokesdrone was referring to the fact that, in February, Trump accused Sotomayor and Ginsburg of making statements showing they were biased against him, which Trump contended justified their recusing themselves. Requesting a recusal is a universe away from Schumer's statement, which, intentionally or not, sent a message to Antifa, the armed branched of the Democrat Party in this Second Civil War, to use violence to effect a political outcome.

The president was appropriately outraged and completely correct in both his diagnosis of Schumer's appalling action and the price he should pay:

There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has already announced that on Thursday he will introduce a motion to censure Schumer:

I would call on Schumer to apologize, but we all know he has no shame. So tomorrow I will introduce a motion to censure Schumer for his pathetic attempt at intimidation of #SupremeCourt  Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 5, 2020

To a man like Schumer, who's now a hero to the pro-abortion party for his rhetoric, censure is meaningless. He's already achieved his goal: for the first time in America, a senator has threatened Supreme Court justices with violence if they do not support his political views. He's unleashed the hounds and taken the Second Civil War to an entirely new plane.
Reporters were arrested after video was published claiming to show burial of an officer who reportedly died in Libya.

Two Turkish journalists have been sentenced to nine years in prison over a report covering the funeral of a Turkish intelligence officer reportedly killed in Libya, according to local media.

News director Baris Terkoglu and reporter Hulya Kilinc were detained earlier this week after a video was published on the OdaTV website claiming to show the officers burial, the Hurriyet Daily News reported on Thursday.

Last year Ankara and Tripoli signed a military cooperation deal, and Turkey has since sent troops and allied Syrian fighters to Libya.

According to state news agency Anadolu, an Istanbul court formally arrested the two journalists on suspicion of disclosing the identity of an intelligence agency official.

The Turkish news website published the officers first name and the initial of his last name, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. It also reported his burial took place in Turkeys western province of Manisa.

Responding to criticism, OdaTV told local media the officers name had already been revealed by an opposition lawmaker.

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In an interview with CNN Turk, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu condemned the news report, saying, There is such a thing as state secrets, national security secrets.

Terkoglu served a 19-month prison sentence between 2011 and 2012 after being accused of taking part in a plot to topple the government.

Last month, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said two Turkish troops were killed in Libya, where Ankara backs the United Nations-recognised government in the North African states conflict.

Turkey provides military support to the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in the capital, Tripoli. Since April, the city has been under an assault by forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is aligned with a rival administration based in the countrys east.

Ankara says its military personnel are there to support the GNA, but denies they are engaged in active fighting.

Turkey ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

The Turkish Union of Journalists said 135 members of news outlets are currently jailed in Turkey.
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By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's executive aims to introduce laws to combat gender pay gap across the bloc for the first time ever in a bid to fight inequality and boost the economy, according to a document seen by Reuters ahead of official publication.

The European Commission will present on Thursday a list of steps to promote gender equality in the 27-nation bloc, and its strategy said women in the EU earn on average 16% less than men, perpetuating a pension disparity of 30% between the sexes.

"Accumulated lifetime gender employment and pay gaps result in an even wider pension gap and consequently older women are more at risk of poverty than men," the strategy read.

To alleviate that, the Commission will roll out "binding measures on pay transparency" this year, it said, adding that improving gender equality in the labor market would boost EU's GDP per capita by up to a tenth.

Currently, 13 EU member states have no pay transparency measures in place. Others vary from Germany, which introduced the right to pay information in companies employing at least 200 workers, to collective bargaining envisaged in Belgium.

Acute shortage of female workers compared to male employees affects the tech and AI sectors, financial services, science and communication, as well as construction, agriculture and transport.

Conversely, women outweigh men significantly in education, health and social services. The Commission's data also shows a third of members of national parliaments in the EU are women, and less than 8% of board chairs and CEOs of Europe's top firms.

While a third of board seats in the FTSE 100 index in Britain are held by women, only four companies in the cohort have female CEOs, consultancy Kearney said in a report on Wednesday.

Britain has now left the EU. Introducing laws to combat labor market discrimination may be an uphill battle among the remaining 27 member states, since EU countries have refused since 2012 to adopt laws to bring in more women to corporate boards.

Six EU countries have not ratified the 2014 Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women. They are Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania, home of the EU's agency for gender equality.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by David Gregorio)
The United States and its allies have prevailed in a high-stakes diplomatic contest with China over who will head a United Nations agency overseeing intellectual property issues.

On Wednesday, the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) nominated Singaporean Daren Tang Heng Shim to be its next director general.

Tang heads the intellectual property office of the Singaporean government. His principal rival " and until recently the front runner " was China's Wang Binying, currently a Wipo deputy director general.

The 193 UN member nations must still vote on Tang's candidacy, although that has traditionally been considered a formality, with the real challenges taking place during the nomination stage.

Wang Binying, a Wipo deputy director general, was a front runner for the job. Photo: Handout alt=Wang Binying, a Wipo deputy director general, was a front runner for the job. Photo: Handout

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed Tang's nomination minutes after the final voting wrapped up.

"This is the first time a Singaporean has been nominated for the leadership position of a UN Agency," Lee said on his official Facebook page, a platform banned in China. "Well done for flying the Singapore flag high!"

According to officials close to the UN agency, Tang won the final round with 55 votes against Wang's 28 out of a total 83 eligible votes.

During an earlier round of voting, sources said, Tang won 37 against Wang's 19. Ghana's candidate received 16 votes, Colombia netted 7 and Peru 4 in that round. Under Wipo rules, weaker candidates drop out after each round until an eventual winner is declared.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2019, China ranked 49th globally on the Intellectual Property Rights Index of 129 nations monitored, up from 52nd in 2018. The US rose two spots to No 12. And Singapore rose one to No 4.

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Based solely on her resume, Wang's chances of clinching the nomination would likely have been greater. Wang joined Wipo in 1992 and has managed large swathes of the 1,500-staff agency. Current and former colleagues give her high marks for her professionalism.

Tang, by contrast, has far less management or industry experience.

But politics often trump resumes in UN leadership races. As it became clear in recent weeks that Wang was in pole position, Washington doubled down on working with like-minded governments in Europe, Japan and Taiwan on lobbying allies and otherwise rallying support behind Tang.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a plenary session at the 50th World Economic Forum annual meeting in January. Photo: Christian Clavadetscher/World Economic Forum via dpa alt=Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a plenary session at the 50th World Economic Forum annual meeting in January. Photo: Christian Clavadetscher/World Economic Forum via dpa

For Washington and its allies, the idea of having a Chinese national head an organisation with a global role in safeguarding corporate, scientific and quasi-military intellectual property was akin to the proverbial "putting the fox in charge of the henhouse", an analogy frequently used by opponents of China's candidate.

China also lobbied hard for the nomination, insiders say. In recent weeks, Wang has gone on a charm offensive for votes, visiting Asian, African and European capitals. China's 147 embassies also reportedly offered Chinese investment and jobs in return for votes.

"China's outreach has been amazing," said one official close to Wipo.

While Wang is seen as a personable manager " in contrast to the perceived style of current, controversial director general, Australian Francis Gurry " that in itself presented a potential problem. Some insiders said her accommodating nature would make it difficult to stand up to Beijing should it wish to influence Wipo operations in its favour.

The showdown comes as intellectual property plays a growing role in US-China trade battles and the fight over 5G telecommunications standards escalates.

China topped the 2019 Priority Watch List of countries Washington monitors, Beijing's 15th annual appearance. The list cites an "urgent need for fundamental structural changes".

Unlike most UN agencies, almost all of Wipo's US$800 million budget and US$99 million surplus is funded by industry, giving the agency and its director significant independence from UN member nations.

The funding comes from companies that pay around US$1,000 per claim to safeguard their corporate and quasi-military secrets. Patent and trademark filings are stored on a secure Wipo server while companies decide which national jurisdictions to target.

Intellectual property experts were worried that China could gain access to patent applications before they were published or alter global IP rules in ways that favor its state-led economy and world view.

US officials also were concerned that a Wang victory would give China five top spots at specialised UN agencies " the US has four " expanding its ability to project its worldview.

US elected officials, foreign governments and IP experts welcomed the news of Tang's nomination.

"Some sanity prevails. Not sure what deals the US made!!" said one person close to the UN agency.

"Protecting intellectual property rights is paramount to the success of the US and the future of the global economy," added the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on its official Twitter account. "Congratulations to Daren Tang of #Singapore on his successful bid."

But it remains to be seen how Beijing will react.

The headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Reuters alt=The headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Reuters

One person close to Wipo wondered whether China might break with tradition and challenge Tang's nomination when the full UN membership votes on his confirmation, given the current era of friction between Washington and Beijing on multiple fronts.

"Do you think China will accept this failure? Or will they call a vote at the General Assembly in May?" the official said.

Critics say the Wipo race has spotlighted the arcane UN appointment system, which is often defined by arm-twisting and favour-trading for votes. They also cite an urgent need for reform at Wipo, amid a legacy of scandals, alleged mismanagement and hounding out of whistle-blowers under Gurry's leadership.

The Australian has come under fire for establishing satellite Wipo offices in North Korea and Iran stocked with high-end US computers in violation of US export bans, allegedly in return for votes; for paying a US lobbying firm nearly US$200,000 to help avoid detection; and for the alleged routing of a large IT contract to an Australian company run by an acquaintances, according to 2016 congressional testimony.

"Hopefully, Mr. Tang will bring the much-lauded management expertise and accountability of Singaporean bureaucracy to WIPO, which has had so many years of controversy," said Mark Cohen, director of the law and technology centre at the University of California, Berkeley, in a blog post.

Tang could help diffuse this particular US-China standoff, Cohen said, adding that Singapore's foreign policy has generally been characterised by "neutrality and balance".

Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. Offer valid until 31 March 2020.

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.

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Chennai, March 5 : Tamil superstar Dhanushs upcoming film "Karnan" is not about Kodiyankulam caste riots, the films director Mari Selvaraj has clarified, in a recent interview to the Tamil publication Vikatan.

Controversy erupted since it was speculated that ''Karnan'' is about the 1995 Kodiyankulam Maniyachi communal clash. The crew of the film were even threatened to stop shooting in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi or face concequences. Members of the political party Mukkulathor Pulipadai demanded that the permission for the shoot be cancelled. The organisation's leader, actor-turned-politician Karunas, even went on to say that the film is overtly critical of a particular community, and portraying a similar episode might disturb peace in the region. Party members also urged the police to arrest the director.

In an unrelated controversy, fans of late actor Sivaji Ganesan had earlier requested the film's producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu to change the film's title because Sivaji's 1964 mythological film had the same title.

Chandrasekharan, President of Sivaji Social Welfare Association, wrote a letter to the producer stating: "We all know that Karnan is legendary Sivaji Ganesan sir's classic film. Now we have come to know that your film with Dhanush is titled as Karnan. It would be great if you could add a prefix or suffix instead of using the exact title of Sivaji's classic film. It hurts the sentiment of ardent fans."

Although, the producer still hasn't changed the film's title, Dhanush recently took to his social media account to declare that he has completed 90 per cent of the film's shoot. He shared the news with a photograph from the film, which showed him holding a sickle in his hand. Fans were quick to notice that his look was similar to his recent hit "Asuran", and expressed their anticipation for ''Karnan'' Said to be an action entertainer, which is set in Tirunelveli, the film also stars Malayalam actress Rajisha Vijayan as the female lead, cinematographer-turned-actor Natarajan aka Natty and Malayalam actor Lal among others.

"Karnan'' will release in mid-2020.

Meanwhile, Dhanush's film by director Karthik Subbaraj titled ''Jagame Thandhiram'', has been wrapped. The film will release on May 1. The first look poster of the film resembles the 15th-century, mural painting, The Last Supper by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.

In a tweet Dhanush wrote: "It was a pleasure to work with such a quirky, sensible and visionary film maker like @karthiksubbaraj this one is going to be special.'' The film features Malayalam actors Aishwarya Lekshmi and Joju George.

-- Syndicated from IANS
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 15:59:56|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Treatment of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has continuously shown effectiveness in China as more patients are discharged from hospital after recovery, a health official said Thursday.

As of Wednesday, the number of patients discharged from hospitals across the country was 17.3 times the total number of deaths, whereas the ratio on Feb. 1 stood at 1.08, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission.

The commission said in its daily report that a total of 52,045 patients had been discharged from hospital by the end of Wednesday while 3,012 people in total had died of the disease in the same period.

"This shows epidemic prevention and control efforts in the country have continued to show a positive trend," Mi said.

He also urged high-level medical teams to fully play their roles and improve treatment for patients.
The coronavirus outbreak may have brought handshakes to a halt, but one school has come up with its own solution.

Thai pupils at Brighton College are teaching all the pupils in its junior school, Brighton College Prep School, the Thai Wai.

Pupils are now greeting visitors with a slight bow, with their palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. The higher the hands are held, the greater respect is shown.

Thai pupils at Brighton College are teaching their younger prep school peers the traditional Thai Wai greeting as an alternative to shaking hands. Greetings are changing around the world to stop the spread of the potentially fatal virus

Brighton College Prep School pupils demonstrate the Thai Wai, headmaster John Weeks says the greeting is 'a model for the future,' as it aims to prevent the spread of coronavirus

John Weeks, headmaster of Brighton College Prep School, said: 'We always ask our pupils to greet visitors with a handshake, introduce themselves properly and smile.

'We dont want to lose the warmth of that welcome so we asked three Thai children to explain how we can use the Thai Wai as a model for the future as we seek to play our part in slowing the spread of the virus.'

He hoped the new policy would protect older visitors, adding: 'Young children are not suffering from the coronavirus whereas for older people it is much more serious.

As the number of coronavirus cases in the UK climbs, Brighton College is determined to keep greeting visitors properly



'That means that primary schools have a particular responsibility to find fun and imaginative ways of making young children realise that running over to kiss granny, should there be a pandemic, would not be wise.'

Handshakes are being turned down more and more as the virus continues to spread.

Earlier this week German chancellor Angela Merkel was left hanging after extending her hand to interior minister Horst Seehofer.

'Older pupils will more easily understand the importance of regular handwashing and trying to stop touching their hands or face but six or seven year olds are much more likely to forget all of that and so, inadvertently, put grandparents at risk.

'Through learning the Wai, they might just remember why they learned it and replace hugging granny with a lovely bow instead.'
YEREVAN.  At its session today, the government decided to approve amendments to the law on customs regulations, and which relate to Armenians returning to Armenia for permanent residence.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that it is about bringing these persons' personal property to Armenia without customs payments. "Now we are creating better conditions so they can bring more property with them to Armenia," he said.

State Revenue Committee chairman Davit Ananyan, for his part, noted that the main respective obstacle was that such a person must not have been in Armenia for 180 days or more each year during the last 5 years for the exemption from customs duty so that his personal use goods could be exempted from this duty.

"Now we are changing the norm so that if he was not in Armenia for 915 days within 5 years (1,825 days)," he added. It is important that we do not put forth the norm of citizenship; it is important that the person comes for permanent residence. If after coming to Armenia the person does not obtain Armenian citizenship, or is denied, he does not make use of those breaks, and must pay customs duty.

Ananyan said that such a person should first come to Armenia without property, inform the customs authorities that he is going within 60 days to get any status from the visa department. "When he got the status, he came, he then goes [back], brings his property to Armenia," he added. This break may be granted to those who come to Armenia for permanent residence, if recognized as such by the relevant authorities; the secondthose who have a refugee status and the status of forcibly displaced."
The Delhi police have arrested two notorious thieves, Deepak and Pankaj, who used to steal laptops and other valuables from the cars parked near the Supreme Court.

The thieves would break the glass of the cars to steal things. The arrests were made by the personnel of Police Station Tilak Marg.

Police have recovered two laptops among other things.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Researchers have discovered a list of 12,000 Nazis who lived in Argentina in the 1930s including many who hid stolen money in Swiss bank accounts.

The long-forgotten list was found in a store room at a former Nazi headquarters in Buenos Aires and handed to the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

The centre said it believed that the 'long-dormant' bank accounts could still hold funds which were looted from Jewish victims under Nazi rule.

Although Argentina is better known as a refuge for exiled Nazis after World War II, many also lived there in the 1930s while a pro-Nazi military regime was in power.

Researchers have discovered a list of 12,000 Nazis who lived in Argentina in the 1930s including many who hid stolen money in Swiss bank accounts

The list of Nazis was drawn up in the 1930s and seized by an anti-Nazi administration which took power in 1938.

Many such records were burned when another pro-Nazi regime took power in 1943.

However, the surviving list was discovered by Argentine investigator Pedro Filipuzzi and handed to directors at the Wiesenthal Centre.

Many of the Nazis on the list held funds that were sent to a bank called Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, now known as Credit Suisse.

'We believe very probable that these dormant accounts hold monies looted from Jewish victims, under the Nuremberg Aryanization laws of the 1930s,' the Wiesenthal Centre said in a letter to Credit Suisse.

'We are aware that you already have claimants as alleged heirs of Nazis in the list.'

The Centre has requested access to the Credit Suisse archives 'to settle this matter on behalf of the diminishing number of Holocaust survivors'.

Credit Suisse told Swiss media it was willing to 'look into this affair again'.

The bank also pointed out that it had co-operated with a 1997-99 inquiry into Swiss accounts that had been dormant since World War II.

The military regime of President Jose Felix Uriburu, who was nicknamed 'Von Pepe', and his successor Agustin Pedro Justo, welcomed a growing Nazi presence in Argentina during their time in office.

The long-forgotten list was found in a store room at a former Nazi headquarters in Buenos Aires and handed to the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre

According to investigators, there were around 1,400 official Nazi party members based in Argentina during the 1930s.

In addition, there were 12,000 members of a German-speaking trade union body which served as a front for the Nazis.

On top of that, there were 8,000 more people affiliated to companies with Nazi links, such as the chemical company which supplied Zyklon B to Hitler's gas chambers.

Two financial bodies called the Banco Aleman Transatlantico and Banco Germanico de America del Sur apparently helped the Nazis to transfer money to Switzerland.

'Many of the names listed were related to pro-Nazi companies blacklisted by the US and UK during World War Two,' investigators say.

The list was seized by the Special Commission to Research Anti-Argentine Activities which investigated Nazi links after the pro-Hitler regime fell in 1938.

But the Commission was disbanded after another coup in 1943 and many of its findings were destroyed.

Many Nazis subsequently fled to Argentina to escape justice in 1945 after the Third Reich was defeated in World War II.

They included notorious figures such as Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust.

He lived under a pseudonym until he was captured by Israeli intelligence agents in Buenos Aires in 1960. He was later executed.

The infamous doctor Josef Mengele, who carried out genetic research on humans, also lived for some years in the city.
GENEVA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Those suffering from conflict and war must have their human rights protected, a Chinese diplomat said here on Wednesday.

Currently, 168 million people around the world urgently need humanitarian assistance, 70 million people are displaced, and 24 million children in conflict areas cannot attend school, said Liu Hua, special representative for human rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, during a dialogue at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council.

"These human rights deficits need to be resolved. Without peace, there will be no human rights, and human rights including the right to development, will be difficult to realize," she said during the interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

The Chinese diplomat said that armed conflicts and terrorist activities continue to grow, and several prolonged conflicts have not been resolved for decades.

Liu said resolving conflicts is the only way to protect human rights.

All parties should abide by the principles of the UN Charter, seek dialogue and consultation on an equal footing, avoid the use of force and promote development, she noted.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:15:40|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday called on its international partners to support ongoing efforts to avert desert locust-inflicted food insecurity in the country.

Noting that about 3 to 5 locust swarms are currently active in parts of the East African country, the ministry stressed that the desert locust situation "is very severe which needs intervention of several stakeholders including the international community," state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) quoted officials at the ministry as saying on Thursday.

As the country embarked on its second rainy season, the Ethiopian government is battling against time to control the spread of desert locust influx, in which the country has so far managed to spry chemical on 112,000 hectares of land infested by the desert locust swarms across different parts of the country.

"The Ethiopian government is exerting maximum efforts to mobile resources from several stakeholders and partners in bid to protect the spread of locust swarms," Sani Redi, Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture, said.

According to the state minister, the locust is expected to upsurge in Ethiopia until the end of August, in which the situation could be further exacerbated by new swarm breeding, which may produce more locust swarms.

The Ethiopian government, which has so far allocated 30 million Ethiopian birr (about 1 million U.S. dollars) funding in addition to financial pledges from its partners to support the prevention and controlling mechanisms in the coming months, also stressed that it's intensifying preventative and controlling measures with support from its international and bilateral partners, such as the government of China and the United Nations.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) pledged to support about 4.5 million U.S. dollars and 220,000 liters of chemicals to help Ethiopia in tackling the desert locust swarms, according to Redi.

The state minister, however, stressed that allocating financial budget "is not enough to control the swarms," as he emphasized the greater need to deepen the general public's awareness on how to control the locust before experts reached the places is imperative.

"We have already tasked our experts to train farmers in simple and effective ways so as to control the swarms, and they are now providing trainings to the framers with particular emphasis on swarm prevention mechanisms," ENA quoted Redi as saying.

As the East African country enters into its February-May rainfall and harvesting season, known locally as Belg, the fight against locust invasion has taken an important dimension, with an ultimate goal of preserving the vegetation being planted across Ethiopia's major crop-producing areas from the desert locust devastation.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the ongoing desert locust invasion across different parts of Ethiopia "is further compounding the humanitarian landscape" in the country, in which the desert locust infestation has so far affected some 180 Woredas (local administrative districts) across the country.

Noting that some 17.8 million people are living in areas affected by the desert locust as of mid-January, the UNOCHA in its latest humanitarian update also stressed that an ongoing assessment will provide an overview of the impact of the desert locust infestation on food security and livelihoods by mid-March.

Amid the regional desert locust outbreak, the FAO had also recently warned that the locust invasion could further exacerbate the already dire food insecurity situation across the region, in which some 20.2 million people are already facing severe acute food insecurity in the affected East African countries that are Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.

"Even before this outbreak, nearly 20 million people have been facing high levels of food insecurity across the east African region, long challenged by periodic droughts and floods," the FAO had said.
SUKHUMI, Georgia -- An opposition presidential candidate in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia is now feeling well after being hospitalized in Russia for unclear reasons, his team says.

Aslan Bzhania's team said on March 5 that Bzhania flew from Moscow to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi three days earlier and was hospitalized there because he felt unwell.

Bzhania was later put into an artificially induced coma and transported to the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, his team said.

Russian media reports have reported that Bzhania was diagnosed with "poisoning with an unknown substance," an allegation rejected by Abkhazias de facto acting president, Valery Bganba, as being part of "attempts to destabilize" the separatist region.

Media in Abkhazia said Bzhania was hospitalized for "multisegmental pneumonia."

Bzhania's campaigners said he met with Abkhaz de facto Deputy Prime Minister Adgur Ardzinba in Krasnodar on March 5 to discuss the "social and political situation in the region" ahead of an early presidential election scheduled for March 22.

Ardzinba, along with the separatist government's former interior minister, Leonid Dzapshba, is also a presidential candidate. Both suspended their campaign following Bzhania's hospitalization.

The former leader of the breakaway region, Raul Khajimba, resigned in January following four days of opposition protests in the regional capital, Sukhumi.

The breakaway region's parliament named de facto Prime Minister Bganba as acting president and announced that the cabinet would remain in place until a new leader was elected.

Abkhazia and Georgia's other breakaway region of South Ossetia have been recognized as independent states by Moscow after a short Russian-Georgian war in 2008.

Georgia and most of the international community consider both regions to be occupied territories.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A mailer attacking Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Cheryl Stephens and her re-election bid includes a cryptic disclaimer identifying the sender as Friends of ATH, an organization that is not registered with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

But the post office box listed for Friends of ATH is the same as the one on file with the board of elections for the Friends of Anthony T. Hairston, the campaign committee for Cleveland City Councilman Anthony Hairston.

Hairston, who previously held the County Council seat now occupied by Stephens, did not return calls from cleveland.com inquiring whether he had any role in sending the attack mailer, and if so, why he did so without identifying himself.

Instead, Hairston sent a text message that fails to answer either question.

But the text states that Stephens challenger, former East Cleveland City Councilman Mansell Baker, had absolutely no involvement of knowledge about anything, and that anyone who believes it [the mailer] was over the top, including supporters of Cheryl Stephens, is mistaken.

A mailer attacking Stephens' re-election bid includes the disclaimer Paid for by Friends of ATH, but the disclaimers lettering is translucent and blends into the background. (Red circle added to photo by cleveland.com.)

Stephens and Baker are running in the March 17 Democratic primary to represent the council district that encompasses Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, University Heights and parts of Cleveland.

Both Stephens and Baker have said they do not know who authored the mailer and have condemned the nature of the attack.

The mailer blames Stephens, in her former role as a director at the Cuyahoga Land Bank, for the controversial Arco dump that caught fire three years ago in East Cleveland and required millions of dollars from the state to clean up.

Stephens called the mailer a smear document that misrepresents her involvement with Arco while serving as director of acquisition, disposition and development for the land bank, formally known as the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation.

Ohio law requires campaigns and political action committees to include a disclaimer on election materials that identifies their origin. Individuals acting on their own, and not in coordination with campaigns, dont need to include a disclaimer.

The Ohio Revised Code says that those disclaimers must appear in a conspicuous place and include the phrase paid for by followed by the name of the entity, which may use reasonable abbreviations for common terms such as committee.

The mailer attacking Stephens includes the disclaimer Paid for by Friends of ATH, but the disclaimers lettering is translucent and blends into the background of the multi-colored card.

Ryan Stubenrauch, a lawyer specializing in Ohio elections law, examined a photo of the mailer sent to him by cleveland.com and concluded that the nearly invisible text used in the disclaimer is almost certainly a violation of Ohio law.

It looks like somebody went to great pains to hide it as best they could while still quote-unquote including it. said Stubenrauch, who also works as a Republican strategist. You can tell whoever decided to put this disclaimer on there, they did so in such a way so you cant tell who it is.

No complaints about the mailer had been filed with the Ohio Elections Commission as of Thursday morning. The commission investigates complaints, and can impose fines on campaigns or political action committees that fail to comply with the law.
In the backdrop of the spread of coronavirus, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday took stock of the preparedness at Indira Gandhi International Airport here. He said that he will soon visit the Chennai Airport for inspection.

"This (COVID19) has spread in around 78 countries but in a large country like India, we are smoothly working towards ensuring that coronavirus does not affect people on a mass level. I will also go to Chennai Airport for inspection, in a day or two," said Vardhan.

"We had started screening at seven airports from January 17, it then extended to 21 airports and now thermal screening of all passengers coming on all international flights is being done. Several flights come at a time, screening of over 6 Lakh people has been done," he added.

The Union Health Minister asserted that after visiting the IGI Airport he witnessed that everything was carried out very smoothly here.

The country's total number of positive cases of coronavirus reached 30 on Thursday after a person in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh tested positive. Earlier today, Vardhan confirmed that 29 were tested positive for coronavirus in the country till March 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hanwha Life training center, dubbed "Life Park," in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province is turned into a hospital ward to accommodate coronavirus patients in the region, Thursday. Courtesy of Hanwha Group



By Kim Hyun-bin



SK Telecom, the country's leading mobile carrier, has spent 110 billion won ($92.7 million) providing both monetary aid and urgent virus supplies to its distribution network and business partners that have been suffering losses due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic spreading throughout the country.

"The move comes to secure its network operations to maintain high-quality services as well as to aid business partners in their struggles," the mobile carrier said in a statement.





SKT headquarters in Seoul. Courtesy of SKT

As many as 750 SKT authorized dealers nationwide, who are lacking liquidity due to a huge decline in sales attributed to the virus scare, have received part of their March incentive in advance, Wednesday, worth 35 billion won. In addition, the company contributed an extra 4 billion won to help cover the businesses' operational expenses.

Part of the funds will be used to better prevent the spread of the virus providing employees and stores with masks and containers of hand sanitizer as well as supporting quarantine measures.

Stores located in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, which were most heavily impacted by the virus will be given a one month extension on their mobile handset payments, which is worth a total of 40 billion won. They will also receive an additional 1 billion won in operation costs.

"We have contemplated ways to come up with realistic support measures to help our struggling business partners," SKT CEO Park Jung-ho said in the press release. "The measures will not be a one-time deal as we will continue to review ways to aid them."

To ensure the safety of customers, since January SKT stores nationwide have been providing masks and hand sanitizer.

A "COVID-19 combined situation room" has been in operation monitoring in real-time the spread of the virus and sharing prevention measures for the company's distribution channels.

SKT has been checking on its network and infrastructure maintenance with its partners, while providing support measures, accordingly.

For the 140 network infrastructure construction firms, they will be provided with March through June construction costs in advance this month.

A total of 23 billion won will be provided, 6 billion of which will be allocated to companies located in the southeastern region of the country including Daegu and Busan.

"It is imperative for telecom companies to maintain the quality of their communication services," an SKT official said. "It is a decision made to maintain top communication quality."

Hanwha support measures

Hanwha Group has stepped up efforts to aid in the lack of sickbeds for coronavirus patients by turning its Hanwha Life training institute "Life Park" into a treatment center, the company said, Thursday.

Hanwha is the third conglomerate following Samsung and LG to offer a training institute to accommodate virus patients.

The facility is equipped with 200 rooms as well as TV, WiFi, bathrooms and showering facilities and is in close proximity to large hospitals in Seoul and Suwon.

Hanwha Solution also donated 150,000 masks to North Gyeonsang Province on Feb. 26.
The Al-Hind Hospital in Mustafabad where those injured in the northeast Delhi violence are undergoing treatment turned into a marriage hall as 19-year-old Rukhsar got married in a sombre ceremony.

Rukhsar's wedding was earlier scheduled to take place on Tuesday. However, it was called off last minute as all that her family had bought for the wedding -- clothes, jewellery etc -- was looted in the riots that broke out over a week ago.

The groom's family declined to go ahead with the marriage.

Much to the relief of Rukhsar's family, they found a match soon and the wedding took place at the hospital on Tuesday itself.

"On February 24, a mob entered our lane and we had to flee to save our lives. We called the police several times but no one turned up for help. We sought refuge at our neighbours' place for two nights before the police got us out. Since then we have been staying at the Al-Hind Hospital," Rukhsar's mother, Parveen, said.

Rukhsar's husband Firoz said, "I was a little worried when I was told about the marriage but then I thought whatever happens will be for the best and I said yes to it."



Firoz works in a private company and his family has a furniture business.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A graphic shows the shocking spread of the deadly coronavirus that has infected more than 97,000 people and killed over 3,000.

Coronavirus has been found in over 80 countries worldwide and the graphic - created with data from the World Health Organisation - shows just how rapidly it has spread.

It comes as the UK today confirmed its first coronavirus death in an 'elderly person with underlying health conditions'.

Coronavirus has been found in over 80 countries worldwide and the graphic - created with data from the World Health Organisation - shows just how rapidly it has spread

The disease has doubled in Britain in two days to 116 and health chiefs revealed patients with mild symptoms will be asked to stay at home instead of being treated in hospital

Coronavirus began when the WHO was alerted by Chinese authorities to a number of pneumonia-like cases in the city of Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province

The UK's first coronavirus death was an 'older patient who had underlying health conditions' who was being treated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital

The disease has doubled in Britain in two days to 116 and health chiefs revealed patients with mild symptoms will be asked to stay at home instead of being treated in hospital.

NHS officials revealed the patient, who hasn't been identified, tested positive for the killer infection last night at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading before succumbing to the illness today.

It is unclear if they were taken to a specialist hospital for treatment.

No further details about the patient were released but the hospital trust admitted they had 'previously been in and out of hospital'.

A woman is pictured wearing a face mask today at Crufts, a dog show in Birmingham which is expected to attract thousands of visitors

Supermarket shelves have been seen stripped of home cleaning products  the chief medical officer today said the virus can survive on hard surfaces for up to three days

Health chiefs fear they caught the virus in the UK because they had not recently travelled abroad  eight of the 29 cases confirmed today were patients who caught the deadly virus on British soil.

Elderly coronavirus patients are at higher risk of suffering deadly complications because of their weaker immune systems.

England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said: 'I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends.'

Chopped tomatoes have flown off the shelves in a Tesco store. People have said they are setting up 'contingency plans' in case a disaster strikes in the UK

A passenger wears a face mask while riding the London Underground today as infections rapidly approached triple digits in the UK

Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk through Piccadilly Circus - normally a bustling tourist hotspot - in central London

In Italy - which has seen the worst outbreak in Europe - had its highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day with 41 new fatalities.

The latest figures - the highest the country has seen in one day - brings the death toll to 148.

It comes as Italy announced a clampdown on people visiting their elderly relatives in its latest bid to contain the deadly disease, that infected a further 769 today bringing the total confirmed cases to 3,858.

Coronavirus began when the WHO was alerted by Chinese authorities to a number of pneumonia-like cases in the city of Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province.

The data for the latest graphic is collected from the WHO, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), China's National Health Commission (NHC), and the Chinese medical community website DXY that combines data from China's NHC and CDC.
Venezuela has moved to seize assets of six shipping companies claiming they have unpaid debt to state oil company PDVSA, Reuters reported, quoting a document it had seen and two unnamed sources.

According to the document, originating with Venezuelas maritime authority INEA, a court had decreed that the six shipping companies had misappropriated funds at the expense of PDVSA without mentioning the exact size of the misappropriation.

Reuters notes that private shipping companies operating in Venezuela on behalf of its clients pay the Venezuelan state company fees for using the oil ports, which PDVSA owns, as well as fees for services such as anchorage and tugboats.

PDVSA is the focus of a recently announced energy emergency that President Nicolas Maduro blamed on U.S. sanctions.

The sanctions, the blockade - I will not accept any more excuses. I am signing a decree to declare an energy emergency in the hydrocarbons industry in order to adapt necessary and urgent measures to guarantee national energy security and protect the industry from imperialist aggression, the Venezuelan president said at the end of February.

Then, earlier this week, PDVSA said the president had appointed four new vice presidents at Venezuelas state oil firm and a new president of the unit managing the companys relations with private foreign firms.

Pressured by the sanctions as well as by years of underinvestment and mismanagement, PDVSA has passed a lot of day-to-day field operations into the hands of its foreign partners. The U.S., however, is not done with it.

The President has made a decision to push harder on the Venezuelan oil sector and were going to do it. And what were telling people involved in this sector is that they should get out of it, Elliott Abrams, U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, told Reuters in an interview last week.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio

March 5, 2020

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Columbus, Ohio

9:00 AM

3:00 PM

Ohio

Mitzi Hines

Ohio

$25,000

/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- This, Hines Little Smiles will again step up to help ensure the oral health of uninsured or underinsured children from the, area. The pediatric dental practice's fourth Biannual Community Day is expected to open atand extend until. Patients will be accepted in order of arrival, must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and will receive basic dental services, including cleanings, fillings and extractions, free of charge.Hines Little Smiles hosted their first Biannual Community Day in 2018, in response to rising dental care costs and an insurance system that was unable to provide support and care for children from low-income families. The event was met by enormous response from parents of children in the local community, and has since become a twice-yearly affair.has worked hard to make sure pediatric dental care is a priority," says Dr., who opened the pediatric dental practice in 2009. "Statewide, we're meeting and beating our annual targets for reduced dental decay in children and increased access to dental care. However, at a recent board meeting for the KidSMILES Pediatric Dental Clinic I learned that children who need dental care, but cannot afford it, would fill up the Horseshoe (Ohio Stadium) 5 times over. That's over half a million children inalone who need care and aren't receiving it regularly."Medicaid does cover some dental care for children, but this care is often insufficient, and reimbursed at levels far below the actual cost of care. "In 2018, we had to make a decision as a practice," says Dr. Hines. "We could keep trying to fight with Medicaid about coverage for biannual maintenance cleanings and other preventive children's dentistry, or put that time, energy, and budget into providing a higher level of care that is still completely free for underinsured children in our community."Dr. Hines says the turnout at each free, walk-in community event, held twice a year, has been outstanding. "We see a lot of new kids every year, which just hammers home the knowledge that we made the right choice for our community."The free dental services provided during the event include standard cleanings, fillings, extractions, and more. (Treatments requiring general anesthesia cannot be provided.) Children will be seen on a first come, first serve basis, and all patients up to age 18 will be accepted regardless of their ability to pay."At Hines Little Smiles, our focus is on the children of our community," says Dr. Hines. "During our last event, we had 38 volunteers on site for 6 hours. In those 228 total volunteer hours, we were able to serve the needs of 47 children and dispensed nearlyworth of quality dental services. We can't wait for our fourth no-charge day, and plan to continue this biannual event. It's a solution that is working for our community's kids."While reservations are not accepted in advance, potential patients and parents can RSVP on the Facebook event page.SOURCE Hines Little Smiles
Mayor Toby Powell took an opportunity during a candidate forum Thursday to address his health revealing he is battling prostate cancer but said his prognosis is good and he is ready to serve Conroe another four years.

Much has been said about my health by my opponent, Powell said during his closing statements. I am here today to tell you that my mind and my heart have never been stronger and I will continue to fight for this city and for our citizens with all I have, just as I fight the prostate cancer thats in my body today.

I believe our best days are ahead of us and I will continue to improve on what we do and how we do it.

In fact, Powell pointed out that in the last four years he has help bring new business to the Conroe Park North Industrial Park, improved miles of roads, and completed many water and sewer improvements, negotiated the purchase of over 600 acres to expand the industrial park, helped the city begin a 60 million project to build a new wastewater treatment plant and places caution lights and sidewalks near school zones to protect children.

We have been able to keep up with the growth and I plan to continue that growth in the future, Powell said. It takes leadership and experience for that to happen. I have had a good run these four years and I intend to have another four years.

However, Councilman Jody Czajkoski, who is leaving his unexpired term on council to challenge Powell for the top seat, has been vocal about the city needing younger residents to serve on city council. Czajkoski, who was sworn into Place 5 in June 2018, said he is the one to lead the city into the future due to his business knowledge and progressive thinking.

Soon after being elected, Czajkoski reached out to the University of St. Thomas to help the school bring a nursing program to Conroe. Last year, the school announced it was opening a micro-campus in downtown Conroe. He added his goal is to provide more education and jobs for young people.

If we can get an educated workforce, we can get them hired for jobs, he said. If you arent looking around and looking 20 year down the road and arent a little nervous, I dont know what you are watching because it is a little scary.

I very much invested in the community and I am going to continue to be focused on the future.

Council races

Candidates for Place 1, 2 and 5 responded to the only two questions posed to regarding term limits and increasing communication between the city and community.

Last month, the city council rejected a proposal by Czajkoski and Councilman Raymond McDonald to put to vote term limits that would ban council members of serving after two four-year terms.

I am 100 percent for term limits, said Brandon Polk, who is challenging incumbent Duane Ham and Todd Yancey for Place 1. We need to get new people involved, different ideas to continue pushing Conroe forward.

However, Yancey disagreed and said the current system of council members serving two four-year terms and then sitting out four years before running again is working.

We ought to leave it up to the voters, he said. If they want to change somebody, it is up to them to get out and vote.

Curt Maddux, who is running for Place 2 against Carl White, echoed Yancey and said he also believed the system is working.

Its the peoples choice, he said.

White said stricter term limits are needed to keep the council from being stagnant.

I believe in fresh, new blood, he said. When you serve for four years and then elected for four more, that is eight years to benefit the city and then it is time for someone else to step in.

In the race for the Place 5 unexpired term, Keith Armstrong, Clarence Lewis Jr. and Marsha Porter were against stricter term limits.

In my experience, the voters will replace people that become stale, Armstrong said. I dont believe term limits are necessary.

Lewis said the current system is working since council members need to be trained.

They are more prepared when they take office, he said of candidates that serve more than two four-year terms.

Porter, who served on the council from 2008 to 2016, believes repeat council members bring needed experience and knowledge of how the city works to the position.

I dont feel too stagnant, she said. I feel experience matters.

Frank Jackson and Frances McDougal said they both support term limits with Jackson calling the current council not very Texas for not allowing the public to vote if they want to impose stricter term limits.

You get to comfortable, Jackson said. You come back and you arent fresh and new, you are a recycled incumbent.

McDougal agrees.

If you have been in office a while you get stagnant, McDougal said. Flat out stagnant.

As for communication with the residents, all the candidates, who provided their cell phones numbers to the crowd, agreed they would be available to community members who have concerns.

Early voting in the May 2 election begins April 20 and will end April 28.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
DALLAS, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobs (NYSE:J) was selected by U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic for base operating support (BOS) services at naval installations located in Jefferson and Kitsap counties in Washington, referred to as West Sound (WSBOS).

The NAVFAC WSBOS contract is effective April 1, 2020 and has a negotiated award value of $52.3 million with a maximum potential award of $418.9 million over an eight-year period of performance, including a 12-month base period and seven, 12-month option periods.

With Jacobs' depth of capabilities around Intelligent Asset Management (IAM) through reliability-centered maintenance programs, the company will provide enhanced operations and maintenance expertise to increase infrastructure reliability and availability at the various locations throughout the Commander, Navy Region Northwest. Services performed include the areas of fire and emergency, facility management, facility investment, BUMED (Bureau of Medicine and Surgery) facility investment, pavement clearance, utilities wastewater, base support vehicles and equipment, environmental and other services.

"The WSBOS contract allows us to deliver innovative IAM solutions across an expanded U.S. Navy footprint, building on our ongoing success at the U.S. Navy's Mayport installation," said Jacobs Critical Mission Solutions Senior Vice President Steve Arnette. "We will deploy agile technical and management approaches across all elements of the WSBOS enterprise while making safety a priority in all that we do."

Naval Base Kitsap is the host command for the Navy's fleet throughout West Sound to provide base operating services, including support for both surface ships and fleet ballistic missile and other nuclear submarines having their home ports at Bremerton and Bangor. Naval Base Kitsap is the only base to host three classes of nuclear-powered submarines.

Jacobs is delivering innovative IAM solutions for an expanding portfolio of U.S. Government and commercial customers including U.S. Navy and NASA Langley Research Center, driving added value while enabling our customers' most critical missions.

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of approximately 52,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. For a description of some additional factors that may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Item 1 - Business; Item 1A - Risk Factors; Item 3 - Legal Proceedings; and Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, as well as the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results, except as required by applicable law.

For press/media inquiries:

Kerrie Sparks

214.583.8433

SOURCE Jacobs

Related Links

http://www.jacobs.com






Emeka Ihedioha and Hope Uzodinma

Justice Chima Centus Nweze a part of the 7-man panel that presided over the review appeal filed by former Imo state governor, Emeka Ihedioha, has condemned the Supreme Courts decision on the case.

Nweze the lone dissenting voice in yesterdays verdict stated that the decision will continue to haunt our (Nigerias) electoral jurisprudence for a long time.

Recall that the apex court dismissed the application for review of its January 14, 2020 judgement that sacked former Imo state governor, Emeka Iheodiha, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Justice Nweze who insisted that the Supreme Court can reverse itself in fulfillment of justice, stated that the apex court misled itself into declaring Hope Uzodinma as governor without evidence of meeting other constitutional provisions.

According to him, This decision of the Supreme Court will continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come. In my intimate reading of the January 14 judgment, the substance of Ihediohas matter was lost to time frame.

This Court once set aside its own earlier judgment and therefore cannot use time frame to extinguish the right of any person.

This Court has powers to over rule itself and can revisit any decision not in accordance with justice. This decision of the Supreme Court will continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come. This Court has a duty of redeeming its image.

I am of the view that this application should succeed. I hereby make an order setting aside the decision of this Court made on Jan. 14 and that the certificate of return issued to the appellant be returned to INEC. I also make an order restoring the respondents as winner of the March 9 governorship election.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 05, 2020 | 12:17 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY





On a Facebook post Thursday, Parcell's Perk Coffee Shop in Draffenville announced they are collecting donations for the victims of Tuesday's tornado that took 25 lives.







Parcell's Perk is teaming up with Marshall County native Dani Williamson. Williamson now lives and works in Nashville, and will be making trips from Marshall County to Nashville, providing agencies with the supplies they need.







All donations can be dropped off at Parcell's Perk, located at 165 US Hwy 68 East in Draffenville. All donations of cash or supplies are welcome.



A Draffenville coffee shop is collecting donations for victims of the recent Nashville tornado.
New Delhi: National Students Union of India (NSUI) activists participate in a protest march to India Gate against Delhi violence, in New Delhi on March 5, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: National Students Union of India (NSUI) activists participate in a protest march to India Gate against Delhi violence, in New Delhi on March 5, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: National Students Union of India (NSUI) activists participate in a protest march to India Gate against Delhi violence, in New Delhi on March 5, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 5 : Around a week after the violence in northeast Delhi, activists and supporters of National Students Union of India, the student wing of the Congress, on Thursday took out a peace march from its headquarters on the Raisina Road here to the India Gate.

The protesters accused the BJP of spreading the "venom of hatred" in the country.

"The main aim to organise the 'Chatra Aman Sandesh Yatra' (Students' peace message march) was to stand against the venom of hatred spread by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its Ministers that resulted in the violence in Delhi," an NSUI statement released after the march read.

The protesters also targeted the Delhi Police which, they pointed out, functions on the orders of the Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah.

"No reaction came from the Home Minister when Delhi was burning and people were dying. The NSUI appeals to the residents of Delhi to maintain peace and not let politics ruin their lives and homes," the statement added.

As of Thursday, the death toll in the violence in northeast Delhi had increased to 52.

Over 200 people were injured and property worth crores of rupees damaged in the violence that began after a clash between pro and anti-CAA groups took a communal turn.
New Delhi, March 5 : The Congress criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) leader Hanuman Beniwal alluded interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former party president Rahul Gandhi to the spread of coronavirus in the country, in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

It led to vociferous protest from the opposition benches and adjournment of the House.

The Rajasthan-based RLP is a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner and had a poll tieup to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Reacting to Beniwal's remark, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, he (Beniwal) had lost his mental balance, but he was not the architect of this conspiracy (to defame the Gandhi family). "Prime Minister Modi has launched a 'Goli Maro, Gali Do Abhiyan' against the entire opposition and the country per se," Surjewala said.

To those seeking accountability of the Prime Minister and the BJP government over 52 deaths, loss of properties worth a few thousand crores and the Delhi Police's inaction at the recent Delhi riots, their reply was "abuse or shoot the person", said Surjewala.

Same was the response for demanding the Home Minister's resignation for his utter failure to prevent and contain the riots, he added.

"Modiji, this is not democracy, but utter dictatorship. You have a phobia of the Gandhi-Nehru family. It's reflected in the likes of imbecile, unpardonable and unacceptable comments at the instance of the Prime Minister by the likes of Beniwal, who has lost his mental balance," said Surjewala.

Italy has emerged as one of the hotspots of coronavirus with 3,089 confirmed cases and 107 deaths. In India too, 16 visiting Italian nationals have tested positive for coronavirus.
HCMC Centre for Disease Control is coordinating with relevant agencies to verify the identities and addresses of five passengers travelling with the Japanese passenger, who was found to have been infected with coronavirus, on flight VN814 on March 3.

Passengers at Tan Son Nhat airport

Flight VN814 carried 67 passengers and six cabin crew from Seem Reap, Cambodia, to the city-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Sixty-one passengers had connecting flights that night to London (the United Kingdom), Narita and Nagoya (Japan), Busan (the Republic of Korea) and Manila (the Philippines). Six passengers checked into Vietnam including one Vietnamese, three French, one Australian and one Filipino. The Filipino then flew home on March 4.

The Japanese passenger boarded a connecting flight, VN340, to Nagoya, Japan, on early March 4 and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after arriving in Japan with a fever.

All the crew from flight 340 returned to Vietnam on flight VN341, which landed at Tan Son Nhat airport on March 4 afternoon. Accordingly, passengers entering Vietnam and all crew have been put into quarantine.

The aircraft used for flight VN341 was also disinfected.

After getting information on the case, the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Public Security and the HOCM City Peoples Committee on locating their whereabouts of those who had contact and boarded the same flight with the Japanese passenger.

COVID-19: Passengers, crew quarantined after contact with Japanese patient

All passengers, crewmembers and staff, who had contact with a Japanese passenger tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Vietnam Airlines VN340 flight, have been put into quarantine, the Health Ministry reported on March 4.

Earlier on March 3, the Japanese passenger boarded the Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 with 72 others from Cambodias Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, then took a transit flight VN340 to Japans Nagoya city.

After landing in Japan, the Japanese passenger showed the symptom of fever and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

All crewmembers on VN340 flight returned to Vietnam on flight VN341, which landed at Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Son Nhat airport at 1:55pm on March 4. The flight carried 73 passengers and 12 crewmembers.

Accordingly, 51 passengers entering Vietnam and all crewmembers have been put into quarantine. The 22 others were also quarantined and are making procedures for transit flights.

The aircraft used for VN341 flight was also disinfected.

At Tan Son Nhat airport, two security staff and six service staff at business lounge, class C were also quarantined due to having close contact with the Japanese passenger.

Both Vietnamese and Japanese agencies are investigating itinerary of the Japanese patient in Cambodia. VNA/VNN

Vietnam develops early treatment plan for COVID-19 Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Health Ministry's Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, talks about Vietnams methods to effectively deal with COVID-19.
English French

Satellite traffic management system to ensure reliability of services to end users

Paris, March 5, 2020  Atos , a global leader in digital transformation, has been chosen by Arabsat , one of the worlds top satellite operators and leading satellite services provider across the Middle East and Africa, to provide a state-of-the-art satellite monitoring solution to mitigate interferences in Arabsats satellite services and ensure the highest quality of service to its end-users.

The Atos solution, the SkyMon carrier monitoring system (CMS), is now operational at Arabsats ground stations throughout the region, including a main site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It monitors all payload signals and traffic within Arabsats satellite fleet, in different locations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week  to detect interferences in real time and help Arabsat eliminate service interruption. This is a key asset to deliver the optimal quality and ensure the reliability of Arabsats satellite services to its customers.

More specifically, the Atos solution performs spectral, radio frequency and quality of service (QoS) measurements to detect interferences, unwanted signals, transmission breaches or unknown satellite carriers  whether they are hidden or visible on the spectrum, continuous or intermittent. All of these can be identified on one single solution in order to take prompt counteractive measures.

Thanks to Atos radio frequency traffic monitoring system, we make sure to quickly identify all irregularities and rapidly coordinate response actions when the slightest problem occurs. This allows us to provide the highest quality of service to our customers, which is our most important objective. said Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEO at Arabsat.

We are delighted to support Arabsat in its day-to-day mission to deliver satellite-based, public and private telecommunications services to tens of millions of homes in more than 80 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Europe. said Bruno Milard, VP, Head of Business Unit Aerospace & Defense Electronics at Atos. To gain precious time in solving interference-related issues, Arabsat can rely on SkyMons fully-integrated comprehensive geolocation system.

For more information about SkyMon, please visit https://atos.net/en/products/aerospace-defense-electronics/skymon/carrier-monitoring

The Atos experts will be at  Satellite 2020  in Washington DC from March 9 to 13 on booth 1344.

***

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of  12 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos|Syntel, and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Press contact:

Lucie Duchateau - +33 7 62 85 35 10  lucie.duchateau@atos.net

Attachment
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Officers arrested a woman last week who allegedly ran over a police sergeant's foot at San Francisco International Airport, injuring the sergeant, police said.

On Feb. 26, officers from the San Francisco Police Department airport bureau responded to a report of trespasser at the airport's rental car center, located in the 700 block of North McDonnell Road.

According to police, the woman locked herself in a rental car and refused to exit.

Upon arrival, the officers recognized the woman, identified as 23-year-old Ananda Butler, from prior contacts.

After trying to speak with Butler, officers used an SFPD patrol car to block her from driving out of the parking space and prevent her from injuring staff and customers, police said.

After about 20 minutes, Butler allegedly started the vehicle, put it in reverse and struck a concrete wall. A sergeant tried to back away from the vehicle but the car's left back tire went over his foot, injuring him.

Other officers at the scene nearly made contact with the vehicle, but were not injured, police said.

Butler then turned the wheels to the left, changed direction and pushed a park unoccupied car out of the way before crashing into a concrete wall, according to police.

Officers were able to ultimately arrest Butler on suspicion of trespassing, aggravated assault on an officer, and auto theft, as well as a warrant for violating probation in connection with a separate auto theft charge, police said. Butler was booked into San Mateo County Jail.

The injured sergeant was treated for his injuries, which were not considered life-threatening.

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.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - People shouldnt stress if they cant find hand sanitizer to purchase: After all, the director of the Ohio Department of Health doesnt use it much.

I dont love it, Dr. Amy Acton said during a Feb. 24 interview. I wash my hands a lot. That will make a difference.

Acton, a licensed preventive medicine doctor, is a true believer in the power of washing hands with soap and water. Throughout interviews and events for the new coronavirus, she regularly cites a study that shows the effectiveness of washing hands to prevent infection by disease.

What was the study?

Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health, spoke with the cleveland.com editorial board. (Laura Hancock/cleveland.com)

Researchers conducted a study of 60 elementary schools in Cairo, Egypt -- 30 that were randomly selected for a hand-washing campaign and 30 that were not.

Students at the 30 hand-washing schools were required to bring soap and towels in a bag from home, with the school providing them if the family could not afford them. They had to wash at least twice a day for around 45 seconds each time, followed by rinsing and wiping with the clean towel.

The study lasted 12 weeks, from Feb. 16 to May 12, 2008.

To promote hand hygiene, children sang songs, played games and completed puzzles about hand-washing. Some had contests for the best article or best drawing about hand-washing. Some students got to visit a soap manufacturing plant, others a water purification plant.

What did they find?

(Neil Blake | MLive.com)Neil Blake

School teachers and nurses investigated the reason each child in the first three primary grades was absent. When parents replied that the kids were sick, school nurses visited the children in their homes or in the school clinics, asking questions and taking temperatures and nasal swabs.

Across the 30 schools, overall illness-related absenteeism was down 21% in comparison to the 30 schools that did not have the hand-washing campaign.

Absences caused by influenza-like illnesses were down 40%

Absences caused by laboratory-confirmed flu were down 50%

Absentees caused by diarrhea were down 33%

Absentees caused by pink eye were down 67%

What can be learned?

Hand sanitizer sold out at a Columbus-area Target on Sunday. As the new coronavirus spreads, Ohio Department of Health officials will update numbers daily. (Laura Hancock/cleveland.com)

Although the study involved children, Acton said that the effectiveness of hand-washing cannot be downplayed for adults too.

While there is no current study on the effectiveness of hand-washing in preventing COVID-19 infections, coronavirus is a virus, the flu is viral. Diarrhea and pink eye can also be caused by viruses.

Working in public health can be hard when people are lax about washing their hands. its one of the most effective ways to keep a person healthy, she said.

The trick of public health is when we dont see it, we forget about it, she said. We get complacent.

Other Columbus stories:

Gov. Mike DeWine signs letter urging the Senate to pass emergency coronavirus bill

Ohios demographics could work in Joe Bidens favor in the Democratic primary

Ohio Senate votes to ban medication abortions administered through telemedicine

New bill would prohibit most Ohio abortions if U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

Coronavirus testing coming to Ohio Department of Health

Ohio Department of Health to update COVID-19 coronavirus numbers daily

Ohio recreational marijuana plan would give tax revenue to criminal justice, local governments
Destination Crenshaw Broke Ground in Leimert Park Celebrating the Future of Black History and Community in the South L.A.

At the intersection of Crenshaw and Leimert, hundreds gathered to honor the history of Crenshaw Boulevard and Leimert Park and to celebrate the groundbreaking of Destination Park and its centerpiece; Sankofa Park.

The 1.3-mile outdoor museum will feature small parks and public art celebrating the history and culture of Black Los Angeles. Backed by Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Destination Crenshaw will stand as a cultural hub for years to come and a beautiful visual from Metros future Crenshaw Line.

The celebratory event held Saturday, February 23, featured performances by Terrace Martin, Alex Isley, LA Commons and Lula Washington Dance Theater. Interactive activations included Supervsn Studios x Destination Crenshaw Capsule, Sankofa Supermall, Academix Beat Lab and KAOS Network. To top it off, food from Harold & Belles mobile food truck and Not Your Mamas Kitchen and more.

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Among the faces in the crowds, Representative Karen Bass, Senator Steven Bradford, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Senator Holly Mitchell with a special appearance from the multi-talented writer, director and actor, Issa Rae.

Im excited, Senator Bradford stated. It represents the best of the African American community but as stated, not only to pass the present, but the future, what we can do as a community when we all come together both from a philanthropic standpoint, from a civic standpoint, and just from residents as a whole.

I think we all could be proud of whats going to happen here and we have to thank the Councilman for his leadership, he continued.

The main ceremony, which was hosted by KJLHs Adai Lamar, welcomed speeches from the community partners while thanking small business owners for their patience and cooperation. Councilman Harris-Dawson shared remarks, grateful for the work being done to further rebuild Crenshaw Boulevard and Leimert Park. Part of his speech included announcing the project raised more than half of its total budget. Along with Councilman Harris-Dawson, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas and Councilman Herb Wesson spoke, congratulating and encouraging residents to continue to strive for excellence, Black excellence to be exact.

It just shows where the imagination can result in, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas stated. This is cultural imagination and its going to elevate the quality of life. Its going to make Crenshaw something that might not have been imagined otherwise.

Throughout the day, several key players on the project and spectators gathered and posed with the pristine Destination Crenshaw shovels and hard hats. In true festival fashion, the east side of Crenshaw Blvd. was laden with food trucks and merchandising vendors, including visual art for sale.

The energetic event was full of exciting moments, but the highlight being celebrity appearance from Los Angeles native, Issa Rae. Born in View Park, Rae has opened a business in Los Angeles and filmed HBOs Insecure in various locations across Inglewood, Leimert Park and more.

This project is so incredibly special to me as a local resident, entrepreneur and creative because its a celebration of the monumental impact our culture has had on all aspects of art, Rae stated.

With a heartfelt speech from the stage, she explained to the audience and community the meaning of Sankofa, a Ghanaian word meaning, go back to the past and bring forward that which is useful. With the centerpiece for Destination Crenshaw being the Sankofa Park, the historical monument will contain 10 community gathering spaces with words such as, improvisation, firsts, dream, and togetherness, as themes to align with the mission and meaning of Sankofa.

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This is one of the citys most significant transit corridors and its going to be punctuated with culture. Were going to be serving the public need in terms of transit and culture. Theres an appetite for both and when they come together, its a beautiful thing, said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas.

Those in attendance were able to catch a glimpse of what is to come with a video showing the design plans from Perkins + Will, cultural inclusion, and happy members of the community. The video also paid homage to the late Nipsey Hussle, using his inspirational song, Real Big for the musical inspiration of the video, honoring the community leader, who supported Destination Crenshaw before his untimely death.

With pride and solidarity, the groundbreaking fulfilled its purpose and brought together the community.

This project is for us by us, so please take ownership of it, Rae encouraged. Make your voices heard. This land is our land, and were not going anywhere. We are here to stay!
He also has to forfeit 25 properties in Oregon and California and more than $16 million in Tesla stock. Here's how much time he'll serve.
Australians returning from Italy will be told to self-isolate for 14 days if they feel unwell in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, as the government places travel bans on three countries struggling to contain the disease.

Italian tourists will be able to enter Australia if they pass a temperature check but face being bundled into quarantine if they are found to be ill with the disease that has killed more than 3000 people and infected over 90,000 worldwide.

Tourists queueing to enter the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Credit:AP

The Morrison government placed a total travel ban on South Korea on Thursday and extended existing bans on China and Iran for another week. The evolving situation threatens to hammer the tourism industry, which has seen travel bookings fall by up to 70 per cent in key markets.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's office confirmed Australians returning from Italy who feel unwell will be asked to self-isolate after Mr Morrison made a brief reference to the measure at a press conference in Canberra on Thursday. The virus has killed 107 people in Italy and infected 3089 .
New Delhi, March 5 : Life Insurance companies may soon get permission to offer indemnity-based health insurance products but such permission would be with stringent conditions that would not allow these insurers to take away any sizeable market from stand-alone health insurance companies that are still struggling to grow their businesses, two sources privy to the development said.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) last month set up a committee to study the feasibility of allowing life insurers to offer indemnity-based health insurance policies and come with its report in two months.

The sources quoted earlier said that though the committee may recommend such flexibility for Life Insurers, it would come with conditions that directly did not interfere with products currently being offered by general insurers including stand-alone health insurance companies.

Though the nature of restrictions is still to be discussed, sources said that one issue that is before the committee is to allow life insurers to offer indemnity health cover only as an add-on feature of their life cover and reimburse actual expenses of medical bills of the customers only for specific diseases covered under the plan.

At present, life insurers are only allowed to offer fixed benefit health plans to the customers meaning a fixed amount is paid on contraction of identified disease. They are not allowed to sell indemnity-based health plans which indemnifies the policyholder against hospitalisation expenses up to the total sum insured. This plan is sole prerogative of general insurers or stand-alone health insurance companies. Till about 2016, life insurers could sell such health plans as well before it was banned by IRDA.

"Life insurers are already big market players and they should not be allowed to sell health products that would put a big dent on revenues of general insurers. Health market in India is still growing and regulations should not be changed at this juncture. We will strongly oppose any move by the regulator to make changes in regulations," said a senior executive of Oriental Insurance Company Ltd who is also part of union representing public sector insurers.

The permission to sell health insurance products by life insurance companies would allow entry of another 24 entities in the fray. But this would bad for general insurers as latest data suggest that stand-alone health insurers have managed just about Rs 10,600 crore premium income in FY19 even though the insurance spending by the middle class has increased.

The idea behind exploring re-entry of Life insurers into health insurance is to bring their expertise in long term pricing modelling to offer products (term plans) that offer even health coverage for a longer-term. Moreover, the customers will also have the prerogative of buying their life and health insurance from the same insurer.

(Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in)
Latest News CoreLogic data shows new listings on the rise in early 2022 First data of the year suggests supply is already entering back into the market, cooling hot property market

Business NSW calls for support as pandemic bites Staff shortages and customer falls causing severe problems in recovery

While property values have charted eight consecutive months of growth, with the CoreLogic February 2020 Home Value Index showing home prices reach a record high in five of Australias eight capital cities, the momentum seems unlikely to hold given the affordability concerns guiding Aussie homebuyer behaviour.

The primary factors driving this rebound remain in place and include an extremely low cost of debt and improved borrowing capacity, explained CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless.

However, considering the sluggish pace of household income growth, housing affordability is eroding rapidly which is likely to see some parts of the market become less active.

CoreLogic forecasting sees affordability constraints gradually pushing demand towards the middle and outer ring suburbs in Sydney, Melbourne and  to a lesser degree  Hobart, given the cheaper price points and lower barrier to entry in the medium to high density sector. Additionally, investors see higher rental yields in these more affordable segments of the market.

Given that affordability pressures are less severe outside of these hotspots, regions such as southeast Queensland and Perth which are trending higher in jobs growth and lower in unemployment, could be the markets to watch for a stronger performance later in the year.

The data from CoreLogic also highlighted some early signs the rate of growth may have already peaked late last year across Sydney and Melbourne, as affordability constraints dampen participation in the market and advertised supply levels increase.

According to the February index, national housing values are 7.9% higher than they were at their bottom in June, with Sydney and Melbourne continuing to exhibit the strongest growth, sporting values 13.1% and 12.6% higher than their floors respectively.

While the most recent figures may seem positive, there are many additional factors at play which temper the optimism they might otherwise arouse.

A more significant downturn in consumer sentiment related to the coronavirus outbreak could become a determining factor that impacts the market over coming months. Consumer sentiment readings are already low, and a further deterioration could see housing market activity start to slow, said Lawless.

The report also confirmed that regional markets are lagging far behind the capital cities, with housing values only 1.4% higher over the past twelve months as compared to the 7.3% rise evidenced across the major cities.
Photo: Toronto police Shammah Jolayemi

An Amber Alert has been issued for a 14-year-old boy who Toronto police say was abducted in the northwestern part of the city.

Police say they are "extremely concerned" for the safety of Shammah Jolayemi.

They say the teen was last seen Wednesday at 8:25 a.m. in the area of Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue.

Police say they do not know who abducted him.

Investigators say a black Jeep Wrangler with oversize front tires and a front push bar with round fog lights was seen in the area where the boy was believed to be abducted.

Shammah is described as about six feet tall, with a slim build and was wearing a grey hoody, grey track pants with a thin orange stripe, shiny black puffy coat, and black and yellow Air Jordan shoes.
March 04, 2020









In a myriad of sectors, advancement and evolution has manifested innovative solutions to ongoing problems, streamlined daily practices, created new cultures, and implemented the framework for successful daily operations. These advancements, on any scale, have been borne out of symbiotic marriages between technological innovation, and an earnest desire to overcome the status quo. For the countless startup companies that have ultimately changed the way in which millions of people exist, disrupting the unsuccessful status quo has driven fledgling ideas into being successfully manifested as the wave of the future. Within the highly traditional education sector, the notion of personalized learning began to spill out of the mouths of forward-thinking leaders many years ago, who dabbled in the seemingly radical notion of creating classroom spaces unlike previously seen within the traditional school environment.









As globalization allowed for instant connectivity, educational leaders bore witness to the multiple shortcomings facing countless school districts. From lack of funding for essential supplies, to overcrowding that rendered it impossible for educators to provide quality one on one time with students, the status quo of the traditional school model was becoming clearly antiquated, ineffective, and even potentially detrimental for the next generation of learners. With the ability to connect to other leaders across the world in real-time, the tech advancements of the Golden Age of Technology allowed for broader thoughts to be borne, for ideas to take shape based on models from across the world, and for the concept of leveraging this newly burgeoning technology to maximize the ability to successfully educate students in a meaningful, effective, and overall successful manner.

Through earnest desire to restructure the traditional classroom setting to maximize thoughtful education, various individuals, startups, and companies began to conceptualize new frontiers within the educational system. Independent school districts utilized funding to spearhead new programming, and startup companies worked toward building a new status quo for the evolution of classroom learning. Amongst those innovative startups, the successful personalized learning model Teach To One was born.

The Inception Of Ideas

Joel Rose began his professional trajectory as a fifth-grade math teacher in Houston. With a love for teaching, young Rose set out to make a difference in the lives of fifth graders, one math lesson at a time. Swiftly, however, Rose recognized the same problem that has plagued teachers across the country. Upon arrival within Roses fifth grade math classroom, some students showcased appropriate grade-level comprehension, while many students exhibited comprehension regarded as second grade level, or conversely, seventh grade level. With such variation in the mere starting points of these students, along with each of their individual learning styles, Rose was simply unable to effectively reach the entire scope of students with singular lessons. Without the physical ability to command a classroom that would have to essentially be divided into numerous subsections to gain relevance in lesson planning, Rose could only teach the standardized state-controlled lesson planning, hoping that all students would catch up. Recognizing the intrinsic faults with this type of system, Rose understood the unique frustrations of teachers, and the undeniable desire to restructure this seemingly archaic classroom system.

While Rose yearned to simply overhaul the traditional classroom infrastructure to allow for maximization of learning, he knew that this venture required systemic change, and a complete rethinking of the traditional learning experience that would require a strong academic component, as well as an innovative operational component. From these initial thoughts, the groundwork for what would eventually become known as Teach To One began to formulate. As Rose continued within his professional trajectory, he remained committed to modernizing the classroom experience. In 2008, Rose served as the New York City Department of Educations Chief Executive For Human Capital. Within this position, he was responsible for hiring talented educators, and fostering the dedication of the brightest educational leaders. However, he recognized that talented personnel would not suffice in his long-term goal for overhauling the traditional learning environment. After all, even the most talented educators could not overcome the limitations of overcrowding, students at vastly different comprehension levels, and the need to personalize educational modules to fit the bespoke needs of every student.

In considering plausible evolutions of the educator role within a modernized learning environment, Rose and his team began to take cues from other sectors that employed the leadership of experts to determine sustainable roles to maximize a positive outcome. While visiting an adult center, Roses inspiration was struck by a beacon of a banner, touting; Choose your modality. Learn live, online, or a blend. Swiftly, he recognized the connection between students requiring differentiating modalities to maximize learning, and educators requiring the ability to teach in multiple modalities to maximize the efficacy of their lessons. Envisioning the manifestation of this concept, Rose welcomed the notion of educators facilitating multiple personalized lessons simultaneously with the help of technology, through independent coursework, collaborative group session work, and instructor-led lessons within smaller groups.

School Of One and New Classrooms

Rose created a comprehensive blueprint for the innovative layout of this multi-tiered classroom experience, which he aptly called School Of One. Co-Founder Chris Rush developed and designed the model for School Of One, a former Earth Sciences teacher at an Environmental Education Center who has amassed vast prior experience in developing the infrastructure for the advancement of educational services, data systems, and reporting systems. Rose and Rush presented the idea to a supportive New York City Chancellor Of Schools Joel Klein. With Kleins support, the team was able to raise the initial funding needed to operate School Of One on a trial basis, as a summer pilot program in 2009. Within the same year, the fledgling innovative learning model was named by TIME Magazine as one of the years best inventions, heralded by initial supporters. While the fledgling program was a fantastic start to Roses grand vision, he aimed to harness the initial successes into a larger venture.

Two years after the inception of School Of One, then-Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Mayor Bloomberg (News - Alert), Rose set out to expand upon the initial offerings of School Of One, building upon the principals already set in motion by the initial successes of the project. He founded New Classrooms, a national non-profit organization that aimed to leverage the initial successes of School Of One, and bring similar ideas on a broad scale, made available to all schools throughout the country. In bringing the new version of School Of One to the masses, Rose renamed the program Teach To One, reflective of the actionary basis of the program. With the creation of Teach To One, the team worked to implement their innovative personal learning model within all schools, and to effectively create systemic change within the educational system.

Teach To One

By allowing educators to personalize what, when, and where each student engages in math education on a daily basis, Teach To One offers educators the flexibility to create bespoke learning modules in two-week increments that leverage each students unique learning style, comprehension level, and ongoing trajectory. While this personalized path harnesses each students potential, it simultaneously allows educators to dedicate their precious time to physically instructing smaller groups of students who are actively working on the same skills. As math is a cumulative subject, this methodology allows each student to fully comprehend the base skills needed in order to successfully move toward increasingly challenging tasks that require comprehension of the base skills.

During a typical day within partnered schools, students enter the dedicated math zone, typically spread into four quadrants, with each section dedicated to a particular type of activity. Within this large open-concept space, students can gain valuable social interaction skills via small group activities, gain independent knowledge through computer-based individual assignments, and garner the benefits of traditional instructor-led lessons via grouped lessons. Upon entering the math area, students look at large digital monitors, which direct them where to begin their daily lesson, how long they will remain at the given station, and where to report upon the completion of the allotted time. They begin their lessons on a particular dedicated topic, and make their way through multi-disciplinary methods of learning.

At the culmination of each day, students complete an exit interview, or a short quiz that aims to garner analytical data to confirm their comprehension of the days lesson. This smart data is crucial in determining the ongoing trajectory of lesson planning, and becomes tailored to the most effective learning styles for each student. Upon the completion of the exit interview, the bespoke algorithms determine whether the student has mastered the particular lesson, rendering them ready to work on a new topic throughout the following day. If the student has not showcased adequate understanding of the topic, the same topic will be highlighted during the following day, but it will be presented in a different learning module, utilizing a different learning style. This assortment not only allows for the content to remain interesting and engaging to the student, but it allows the algorithms to deduce the most effective learning strategies for each student.

With countless lesson-planning strategies and ideas available for educators, Teach To One aims to provide a comprehensive experience for educators, and provides many project ideas to be utilized as part of the curriculum. Of course, teachers have the capacity to tailor these projects based on the unique needs of their own classrooms, providing autonomy for educators. The pioneering educators work alongside Teach To One to maximize successful outcomes for their students, and to propel the successes of the program in terms of overall comprehension growth.

Ongoing Development

Continuously seeking growth, expansion, and streamlining of processes, Teach To Ones leaders remain committed to further development of the program to best suit the needs of every student, and to maximize positive results across all participating schools. While the program has garnered impressive results within the first few years of active implementation within various schools, and has showcased greater tangible growth of comprehension versus traditional math education programs, the innovators at Teach To One understand the importance of continuously striving to improve upon the program. Through their commitment to perfecting the personalized learning model on a long-term timeline, the experts at Teach To One have added new areas of focus, expanding beyond making Teach To One accessible in many school districts.

Since inception, Teach To One has been striving toward becoming accessible within the public schools systems, charter schools, and private independent schools. Within the span of a few short years, Teach To One has grown to include participating schools in four United States time zones, across all levels of funding, within urban and rural areas alike. While their physical growth and influence continues to rise, the innovators at Teach To One remain vigilant in their ongoing quest to evolve the program based on incoming feedback, growing population needs, and educational results captured through independent review.

With the operational aspects successfully underway, and initial information readily available to analyze, Teach To One aims to streamline, perfect, and maximize the educational aspects of the model. By asking concise questions related to the specific efficacy of targeted modules, learning styles, and educational variants, Teach To One can harness these analytics to provide even more effective lesson planning for all participant schools, and can share this breadth of knowledge to inspire further change within the traditional academic setting.

As Teach To One continues along the path to modernizing the traditional classroom experience via personalized learning, the future of the students positively impacted by the program continues to shine brightly. For many participating students, finally understanding math has turned the subject from a frustrating time, to a wildly successful learning experience. For these students, the future is filled with possibilities, resting on the full scope of comprehension garnered from the bespoke education they receive through Teach To Ones innovative learning model. From an educators recognition of a systemic deficit, Teach To One was born, and continues to pave the way for the future of the educational system, one student at a time.

Follow Teach to One on Facebook and Medium
Eric Williams Photography

A few weeks ago, Weekly Alibi reported on a meeting held in early February at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. The meeting was all about current citizen concerns amidst efforts to reform our local police department.

Many citizens attended, from local activist leader Tom Dent to several citizens whose interactions with APD have been less than positive. The story we wrote about the meeting ended up gracing the cover of that weeks Alibi and some of the protesters and activists were portrayed on that cover. They represent the heart of a struggle to bring justice to the metro area, and their ongoing work with the local police is just one part of the bigger picture with regard to citizen activism in the city.

Though many spoke that dayand topics varied, as each citizen spoke from their personal experienceone person seemed to stand out in that gathering of disconsolate Burquenos seeking a better future.

Felina Romero addressed the meeting a couple of times. Each time that she did, the young local community organizer used a hopeful tone and balanced her criticism of the system with words that pointed to brighter tomorrow.

Ms. Romero

At 20 years old, Felina Romero is relatively new to her chosen role as an activist. She is a voice for youth in this town but she also increasingly finds herself in a leadership role, as the city juggles several controversies including the establishment of community policing.

Romero is also actively involved in other issues that affect the Duke City, from child hunger to education, from the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women all the way through to the progressive Democratic proposal for a Green New Deal.

As a member of Youth United 4 Climate Crisis Action and the founder of locally based environmental social media group Save our 1 World, Romero recently returned from a protest held at the US Capitol Building in Washington DC, a political action where she was arrestedto begin planning further activities in the Albuquerque area.

Last Friday, she stopped by Weekly Alibi headquarters to talk about her history and future, her intent and what its like to be a young human on the cusp of radical change in a world that is rapidly accelerating toward an unknown and potentially dangerous outcome.

Skateboard

Romero arrived at Weekly Alibi on her longboard. Its a well-used model with phat tires and the activist handles it with aplomb; shes got solid technique and knows how to plant while retaining an ever so slightly forward-leaning posture that guarantees inertia but also demonstrates circumspection and keen awareness.

Upstairs in the conference room, our reporter wonders about the red handprint Romero has painted on her face, as if to cover her mouth. She says its a way to recognize and honor the missing and murdered Indigenous women that our culture must reckon with. As she explains, she stashes her skateboard in a corner of the office, sits down at the main table and produces a wealth of documentation about her latest work as an organizer and activist.

Picking It Up

Romero says she got involved early when she began to learn about the environmental impacts the Earth currently faces. I had a teacher who made me write an annotated bibliography on environmental ethics, she further recalls about her environmental awakening, which she says happened about two years ago, when she was 18 years old.

What really stuck out to me was when my sister took me to Redondo Beach in California. I began to see the amount of trash piled up on the streets. I realized that people are just laying in the sand, moving through the surrounding garbage and that has become normal to them. They dont see it as a big deal anymore.

In order to account for what she saw as errant human behavior, Romero began picking up trashfirst in California, then back at home in New Mexico.

There was a lot of trash at the beach. Theres trash in the ocean, in the animals, too. Whales who filter feed just suck that stuff in. After thinking about that, I went home and I started picking up trash around here. I would tell people about all the trash I picked up within a few blocks of home. I did that all last summer and decided to start my own organization to teach people to conserve, to take matters and actions into their own hands and to awaken their environmental conscience. Its called Save Our 1 World 19; its on Instagram [at instagram. com/ save. our1. world19]. 

Protesting

Although Romero has been actively involved in more than a few political environmental actions across the state and in the region this year, her recent work in the US capitol was memorable, she told Weekly Alibi.

I applied for a scholarship with the Sunrise Movement, a national youth climate change crisis organization. I got the scholarship, and they seriously paid for everything, so I could attend a series of workshops and trainings over four days.

Romero says the experience focused on training facilitators for the movement, whose overarching goal, according to their website, is to build an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across America, end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on our politics, and elect leaders who stand up for the health and well being of all people.

We were told we were going to the Capitol on Presidents Day to deliver public messages to members of Congress who are failing in the area of climate change. We told Senators to step up or step aside. The group also hung banners denouncing those Senators with poor records on climate change who were present that day. We had three speakers scheduled to speak, she continued. but they shut it all down. We started to sing Which Side Are You On.

Ultimately the group holding up the bigger banners was arrested, according to Romero.. After being released and returning to Albuquerque, Weekly Alibi asked Romero if it was all worth it.

She said, We are all really concerned about our health and well-being. We want to be able to breath clean air and drink clean water. So, yeah, its always worth it to peacefully protest.

Romero concluded by telling our reporter that she is currently planning an Earth Day event to potentially happen at our citys Civic Plaza.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday returned from a 12-day working visit to some European countries.



While on his trip, a Civil Advocacy Group of Medical and Public Health practitioners urged that the President and his entourage undergo screening when they return to the country following an outbreak of coronavirus in some of the countries they visited.



President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, 4th March 2020 toured the Tema General Hospital, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and the Kotoka International Airport where he went through screening.



His visit was to ensure that things are in place to deal with the threat of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).



However, the Member of Parliament for Juaboso Constituency and the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament says it is not enough to enough for the President to just go through the screening.



According to him, per directives from the Ministry of Health, returnees from countries that have recorded cases of COVID-19 or Coronavirus should go through self-quarantine for 14 days.



This is what the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service are saying that if you have recently arrived from any of the countries that have recorded a case, we advise you to stay away from the crowd (self-quarantine) for at least fourteen days. This is the Ministry and the Ghana Health Service speaking. But what are we witnessing  the President has returned from Norway and he is all over. We have heard that this Coronavirus has killed a whole Vice-President of Iran. We have heard that a whole deputy Minister of Health has been infected with this deadly virus. So, I will advise and I am very serious about it that the President and his entourage must quarantine themselves for at least fourteen days. This is a guideline issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service and they must adhere to it, he advised during an interaction with the media.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Michigan has spent more than $30 million on implementing new work requirements for Medicaid recipients just ruled illegal by a federal judge, and the state now faces a substantial expense to wind down the work-requirement program, state officials say.

Months of effort and dollars were spent ... (with) little effect, said Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, who has opposed the work rules. I think that $30 million could have been better spent in any number of different areas.

He said the expenditure is particularly unfortunate because of strong indications for months that the federal courts would rule the work requirements to be illegal.

Gordon made remarks Wednesday during and after a hearing by the Michigan Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Community Health/Human Services, in which Gordon was scheduled to give a presentation on his departments implementation of the new rules, which went into effect Jan. 1.

But shortly before the hearing, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a partial summary judgment blocking the work-requirement law. The ruling means Michigan must stop enforcing the law immediately.

U.S. District Court blocks Michigans new Medicaid work requirement rules

Republican lawmakers have defended the law, which was passed in 2018 under former Gov. Rick Snyder. It requires able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid under the Healthy Michigan plan to do 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month, of workforce engagement," such as working or going to school.

State Sen. Peter MacGregor, R-Rockford, who chairs the subcommittee and presided over Wednesdays hearing, pushed back against Gordons suggestion that Michigan should have paused implementation while awaiting the court challenges to play out.

In my eyes, the law is the law until the Supreme Court rules and the process is complete, MacGregor said, although he conceded, were probably at a standstill at this point."

Almost 700,000 Michigan residents are enrolled in the Healthy Michigan plan, which is available to people age 19 to 64 with a household income below 133% of the federal poverty guideline. Gordon estimated about 100,000 could have lost coverage by failing to fulfill the new work requirements.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has argued against the work rules, saying the experience in other states indicates that implementation is expensive and does not yield increases in employment, the GOPs stated goal.

She and others also have pointed to the success of federal lawsuits challenging the Medicaid work requirements. On Wednesday, Gordon noted the appeals court panel heard oral arguments in October and it was clear that all three judges on the panel -- including a conservative judge appointed by President Reagan -- were very skeptical about the legality of Medicaid work rules.

After the oral arguments, both Indiana and Arizona -- which each have a Republican governor and legislature -- paused their work requirements, Gordon said. But the Michigan Legislature refused Whitmers request to the same in Michigan.

That meant his department continued to spend considerable time and energy on implementing a law that now has been voided. Its been about a million dollars a month, Gordon said.

That includes the cost of figuring out which Medicaid recipients would have to file regular reports and which were exempt; developing computer programs to track those recipients; sending hundreds of thousands of letters to Medicaid recipients about the new requirements, and outreach programs to educate the public on the new rules.

Now, it will cost millions more to notify recipients that the work requirements are no longer in place, Gordon said.

MacGregor said the point of the work-requirements is to lift people up.

The Legislature needs to make sure that these people are lifted up, and not just given handouts, he said. Workforce engagement was one of those tools that we used.

Gordon said he agreed with the importance of getting people into the workforce and encouraging financial independence.

But, he said after the hearing, "I dont think (Medicaid) work requirements promote work. Theres evidence showing this; the Arkansas work requirements led to zero increases in employment. Since we started the Healthy Michigan program, the share of those people working has increased by 6%.

Could we do more to promote work? Absolutely," Gordon said. But we should be working together on initiatives that promote work without taking away peoples health insurance.

Related:

Whitmer signs bill to change Medicaid work requirement reporting, says legislature should do more

Gov. Whitmer asks legislature to halt Medicaid work requirements

Michigan lawmakers to Whitmer: Were not pausing Medicaid work requirements

Lawsuit challenges Michigans Medicaid work requirements
COLUMBUS, Ohio  In the final weeks before the March 17 primary, Ohio Republicans are spending big supporting their preferred state legislative candidates in their contested races, according to new state campaign finance filings.

The House Republican Campaign Committee reported spending nearly $718,000 since Jan. 31. Major expenditures included a $400,000 transfer to the Ohio Republican Party, and $257,651 to Strategic Media Placement Inc., a political-ad firm with close ties to House Speaker Larry Householder and other Ohio Republicans.

The HRCC gave $211,300 to Rep. Mark Fraizer of Newark, and $42,278 to state Rep. Diane Grendell, a Geauga County Republican, to help them in their races against Thaddeus Claggett, a Newark businessman, and Frank Hall, a teacher. Both Fraizer and Grendel were appointed to the legislature last year to fill vacant seats.

The Senate Republican Caucus gave $307,800 each to Strategic Media Placement and Sen. Terry Johnson, a Portsmouth Republican appointed to the Senate last year whos now running in a primary against David Uible.

The biggest expenditures for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus, which didnt spend in primaries, was $29,000 it sent to the Ohio Democratic Party. ODP in turn gave $10,802 to Columbus state Rep. David Leland. It also gave to two non-office holders running in crowded primaries for what will be open seats  $9,502 to Willis Blackshear of Dayton, and $6,547 to Dontavius Jarrells of Columbus.

Senate Democrats had not yet reported as of the publication of this story.

Some notes from individual races and candidates

- Mansfield-area State Rep. Mark Romanchuk spent $112,125 in his race against Brunswick Mayor Ron Falconi for an open seat representing Ohios 22nd Senate District. Falconi meanwhile spent about $62,000. Romanchuk heads into the final days of the race with $121,350 in the bank, while Falconi has $62,082.

* A slate of Householder-backed candidates reported among the highest fundraising totals of anyone running for the House. Allen Freeman, a township trustee running for a Cincinnati-area House seat, raised $69,600, Fraizer raised about 68,600 and Marilyn John, a Richland County commissioner, raised $67,400. Their major donors included Householder himself, the Act Ohio Foundation, an umbrella organized-labor group for the building trades, and Political Education Patterns, a political arm of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18.

* A handful of Republican House members who arent facing competitive primaries gave big to the Ohio GOP Caucus. That included Athens state Rep. Jay Edwards, who gave $200,000 to the caucus and more than $32,000 to Householder-backed candidates running for open seats. Cincinnati state Rep. Bill Seitz gave $170,000 to the House GOP caucus.

* Householder himself has nearly $1.2 million in the bank, and Edwards has almost $421,000. For comparison, House Democratic Minority Leader Emilia Sykes of Akron has about $27,900.

* Major donors to Householder included Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Sue Haslam, who each gave $13,000, and Fred Bidwell, a retired Cleveland advertising executive who gave $10,000.

Read other recent Ohio political news:

Campaign seeking Ohio voting-law expansion sues over state decision to split proposed ballot measure

Householder allies fund dark-money ad blitz in contested Republican House races

Ohio Ballot Board splits voter access amendment into four issues, dealing blow to ACLU-backed campaign

JobsOhio reports lower jobs numbers, larger staff for 2019

If recreational marijuana became legal in Ohio, what would happen to the medical marijuana program?
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:34 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20687813c 2 Business #UK,#coronavirus,Airlines,Flybe,collapse Free

One of Britain's biggest airlines, Flybe, collapsed Thursday with passengers left stranded as the coronavirus epidemic takes a heavy toll on air travel around the world.

A statement on Flybe's website said the no-frills airline, which employs 2,000 people, had entered administration and could not arrange alternative flights for its passengers.

"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," said the company, which avoided going bust in January only after being granted a tax holiday by the government.

Flybe is the biggest operator of UK domestic flights and carries around eight million passengers annually.

But it failed to turn around its fortunes since being purchased by the Connect Airways consortium last year, initially owing to weak demand and fierce competition.

That has now been compounded by the new coronavirus, with a slew of airlines cancelling flights and warning profits would take a hit from decreased demand.

The announcement came hours after media reports that the airline could collapse following its failure to secure a 100 million ($129 million, 115 million euros) state loan to help stabilise the business.

The impact of COVID-19 on travel "has made a bad situation much worse", sources told the BBC, while Bloomberg News reported Thursday that no agreement could be reached on a virus-related government bailout.

Small British airlines have suffered recently from volatile fuel costs and a weak pound.

'Do not travel to airport'

Flybe operates from 43 airports across Europe and 28 in Britain, and its collapse left potentially thousands of people stranded far from home.

"If you are due to fly with Flybe, please DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline," the airline said.

The British government said it had asked bus and train operators to accept Flybe tickets and other airlines to offer reductions to help passengers reach their destination.

"Flybe's financial difficulties were longstanding and well documented and pre-date the outbreak of COVID-19," a spokesperson said in a statement.

Flybe's owner, the Connect Airways consortium, is led by Virgin Atlantic and also includes investment firm Cyrus and infrastructure specialist Stobart.

Chief Executive Mark Anderson said "every possible attempt" had been made to avoid the collapse, but that the airline had been "unable to overcome significant funding challenges".

In January, Flybe said it had agreed a payment plan with authorities to defer tax payments of less than 10 million.

That announcement came just days after the airline was saved from collapse in a last-minute financial rescue, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government agreeing to review air passenger duty (APD) paid by Flybe's customers.

Following the tax deferral, rival companies including British Airways-parent IAG complained to the European Union that it was receiving unfair state aid.

The decision also sparked the ire of Greenpeace UK, which at the time called the air-ticket tax cut a "poorly thought-out policy that should be grounded".

"Cutting the cost of domestic flights while allowing train fares to rise is the exact opposite of what we need," the environmental campaign group said.

The government said its assistance did not breach EU rules and that help was based on the importance of the company's domestic services.

However, that contrasted with the fate of British holiday giant Thomas Cook, which collapsed without government assistance in September, causing the loss of 22,000 jobs worldwide and stranding 600,000 holidaymakers abroad.
'The government has given up its focus on economic growth because it it not something Modi has been able to fully understand.'

'This explains the extraordinary focus on divisive politics by the BJP even at a time when the world's most important man in visiting India,' notes Aakar Patel.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

India's economic growth has slowed down further to 4.7% in the third quarter of the current financial year.

This is the slowest in six years.

The finance minister says this is not a poor number and is an indication of stability, meaning she is relieved that it hasn't got worse.

Her bureaucrats have assured the country that this is as bad as it gets, and have called it a 'bottoming out, meaning that growth will naturally escalate on its own from here on.

Unfortunately, this is not true.

While releasing this data, the Modi government also revised the figure for the previous quarter (Q2, 2019-2020) up from 4.55% to 5.1% and for the first quarter from 5% to 5.6%.

This means that the figures for the last eight quarters are 8.1% for January-March 2018, 7.9%, 7%, 6.5%, 5.8%, 5.6%, 5.1% and now 4.7%.

This is not a bottoming out.

This is eight straight quarters, meaning two full years of consecutive decline in growth.

And this is even if we accept the government's figures, which many around the world are now sceptical of.

The government itself says that its full year growth for 2019-2020 will be 5% and that means that Sitharaman expects growth in the current quarter to slow further to 4.6%.

Outside of the formal sector, data has been difficult to collect credibly in India.

Further, the formal sector has been hammered over the last year.

It has had two consecutive quarters of negative growth in both sales and profit.

The Centre for the Monitoring of the Indian Economy says that corporate sales declined by 1.2% in the October-December 2019-20 quarter (having declined by 2.8% before that) and profits before tax shrunk by 10% (compared to a shrinkage of 60% in the previous quarter).

None of this is an indication of bottoming out and it would be stupid of the finance minister to herself believe what she is saying to cheer up the rest of us, that we will naturally start growing from here on.

Some of the other details that came out were that gross fixed capital formation, meaning investment, was minus 5.2% over the previous year.

It was minus 4.2% in the previous quarter to it is declined further.

The government expects that for the full year it will be negative meaning less money invested this year than the last.

Electricity production has shrunk and that is one of the best indicators that the economy is in deep trouble.

China's ministers have a similar problem of poor data (though better than India's, of course) to monitor economic growth.

To simplify this, one of the leaders Li Keqiang developed a respected method of assessing growth and it was merely to look at three easily reliable numbers: Railway cargo volume, bank loans and electricity consumption.

On all three, India is trending negative.

The manufacturing sector contracted again, which is astonishing given that the primary focus of economic growth by Narendra Damodardas Modi himself was his fancy Make In India scheme.

Not only is it not delivering, manufacturing as a percentage of our GDP is actually shrinking.

Unemployment is at 8% now and has been hovering around that figure for a long time.

The government has refused to release its own figures on this because they show that this is the worst performance on this front by any government in five decades.

There is further trouble down the line for the government.

It has refused to release the data it has already collected and now it also has a problem of collecting household data.

In Hyderabad earlier this month, enumerators from the National Sample Survey Office collecting data on how much families spend on domestic travel were confronted and stopped from working.

People are genuinely fearful of the linkages between the National Register of Citizens and this is the fault of Modi and Amit Anilchandra Shah for not having assured people.

The NSSO joint director in Hyderabad said she would not be able to deliver the survey to the government in the time frame given and it is possible that it may not be delivered at all, such is the atmosphere in the country today.

Without the data, the government will have no meaningful way of corrective action.

You can only do the right thing when you know what the wrong thing is.

The Modi government has put itself in the position where its ideological agenda on citizenship is now directly affecting its ability to tweak and take corrective measures on the economy.

The other truth is that the Indian government has given up its focus on economic growth because it it not something Modi has been able to fully understand.

This explains the extraordinary focus on divisive politics by the BJP even at a time when the world's most important man in visiting India.

The coverage across the world that we have received for the violence in Delhi is among the worst in decades.

Our reputation is mud and will need to be rebuilt.

And we have to do so in a period which is going to be turbulent.

Global trade has taken a hit this quarter with the coronavirus.

Stock exchanges across the world have been battered.

The National Population Register data collection begins in four weeks time.

But several states, including incredibly BJP-controlled Bihar, have said they will reject Shah and Modi's NPR scheme.

The government will also face neighbourhood level agitations like in Hyderabad once the enumerators fan out, producing more turmoil.

India is in the worst position economically and socially it has been for a very long period.

I would say going back to 30 years ago when we had both the Babri movement and pre-liberalisation crisis happening at the same time.

And this time we do not have the leadership to be able to steer us through it.

Aakar Patel is a writer and columnist.

You can read Aakar's earlier columns here.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent two trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

Today two trucks carrying humanitarian aid from the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have crossed the Novotroitske checkpoint," reads the report.

The State Border Guard Service added that a total weight of humanitarian cargo consisting of medical equipment made up 4.97 tonnes.

iy
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tucked under the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the heart of this University of Virginia historic community, guests will find the newly reimagined 139-guestroom Courtyard by Marriott Charlottesville - University Medical Center. The hotels redesign features a refreshed and modernized lobby with media pods, communal tables, plush lounge furniture and upgraded televisions. The all new Courtyard Crate is a redesigned sundry shop with freshly brewed Starbucks coffee and specialty beverages via the self-serve Serenade brewing machine. The shop sells an enhanced selection of merchandise and food items designed for todays travelers needs. Serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails, The Bistro is a great place to relax and meet with friends. Unwind at the new state-of-the-art fitness center with its expansive line-up of cardio, free weight, and circuit training equipment including Peloton Bikes. For meetings and special events, the hotel offers 1900 square feet of space in two re-styled meeting rooms, as well as the Blue Ridge Boardroom with high-tech audio-visual capabilities.



Each of the hotels guestrooms were recently remodeled to include plush bedding, new carpeting, wall coverings and draperies as well as Courtyards signature features such as functional workspace, spacious bathrooms, and complimentary in-room high-speed Internet, a microwave and mini-fridge. In keeping with guest preferences, the hotels double rooms have queen-queen bedding. Each king bedded guest room features a separate seating area and all suites also include a Keurig Coffee Maker and a variety of K-Cup options.

The Courtyard by Marriott Charlottesville  University Medical Center is managed by Crestline Hotels & Resorts. The hotel is located at 1201 West Main Street, Charlottesville, VA. It is near the campus of the University of Virginia and within walking distance to the University Medical Center. Leisure travelers will enjoy the short walk to the Historic Downtown Mall, considered one of the finest urban parks in the country, with 120 shops and 30 restaurants. The nearby Charlottesville Pavilion hosts a number of outside concerts throughout the spring through the fall. In addition, the hotel is a favorite for Cavalier fans and alumni. For more information and reservations call 434-977-1700 or visit online at www.marriott.com.

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About Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC

Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC is one of the nations largest independent hospitality management companies. Founded in 2000, the company presently manages 119 hotels, resorts, and conference centers with more than 17,500 rooms in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Crestline manages properties under such well-regarded brands as Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Hyatt, as well as independent, private-label hotels and conference centers throughout the United States. For more information, visit: www.crestlinehotels.com.

Important Notice:

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be materially different. In addition, words such as anticipate, believe, and intend indicate a forward-looking statement; however, not all forward-looking statements include these words.

Media Contact:

Gayle MacIntyre

Global Ink Communications

gaylemacintyre@bellsouth.net

404.643.8222
Pope Francis was reported to have suffered a cold, says an article from Rappler. After being tested for the coronavirus, it was found out that he was negative. The report was released on Tuesday, March 3 by an Italian Newspaper. Italy is currently in the battle of a bad coronavirus outbreak.

Cancellation of Lent Retreat

It was reported that Pope Francis had canceled a Lent Retreat this week. This is the first time that the Pope canceled such an event in his entire Papacy. He had also canceled all his public meetings and other appointments before last week ended due to a cold.

The 83-year-old pope announced in front of a Saint Peter's Square crowd that he will not be attending the Lent Retreat this weekend. He was coughing while saying the traditional Angelus prayer.

The Deadly Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus disease had spread from China to different parts of the world. Italy was one of the most infected nations across the globe. The dangerous virus had already infected at least 2,000 people in Italy with deaths totaling to 52.

Rumors

The Argentine leader of the Church had been suffering from coughs and cold for days.

There were rumors that the pope had caught the deadly COVID-19. However, the Vatican had released a public announcement on Sunday, March 1. The announcement says that the rumors were incorrect.

The pope had undergone testing for the terrible illness on February 26. He was tested for the virus after showcasing cold symptoms.

Changes in the City

The Vatican had been exerting efforts to promote calm despite the COVID-19 epidemic. The Vatican had also released a pre-recorded message from the Pope. The message was released to the public on Tuesday. The message includes an announcement saying that the Pope will still say the Angelus Prayer on Sunday.

The huge crowd that normally fills the Saint Peter's Square and the long-lines that piles up in front of the museums were nowhere to be found.

The Vatican is ready to supply staff who works in close contact with travelers with gloves and facemasks.

A part of the lungs of the pope was removed when he was young. He also suffers from sciatica, a nerve illness that causes pain in the hips. Despite his previous medical conditions, the pope remains healthy.

It is rare for the pope to cancel appointments. He typically takes time to mingle with the faithful and the supporters of the church.

COVID-19 in the Vatican

The Vatican has one coronavirus-related scare.

The offices of a Priest from France working at the ministry of communication in the Vatican had undergone disinfection on Monday. His community of 20 priests was quarantined from the Church of St Louis of the French from Rome.

They had close contact with a priest who went back to Paris in February. The priest had tested positive for the virus in the previous week.

An internal letter was leaked to the press on Monday. A copy of the letter was sent to the staff at the ministry.

The employee was quarantined.

However, the employee is still not showcasing any symptoms of the deadly coronavirus.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has voiced frustration with renewed violence in Afghanistan, saying the Afghan parties to the conflict need to take advantage of a peace deal signed over the weekend.

"Violence must be reduced immediately for the peace process to move forward," Pompeo told reporters on March 5. "Do not squander this opportunity."

The comments came after the Pentagon said U.S. forces conducted a defensive air strike against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan on March 4, as attacks by the militants left at least 32 Afghan security-force members dead in at least three provinces.

The wave of violence is threatening to unravel a February 29 agreement signed in Doha between the United States and the Taliban and aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.

The deal would allow allied forces to leave the country within 14 months in return for various security commitments from the Taliban and a pledge to hold talks with the Afghan government -- which the militant group so far has refused to do.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has warned he was not committed to a key clause in the deal involving the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

The Taliban said it would not take part in intra-Afghan talks until that provision was met.

"What we have urged the parties to do is stop posturing," Pompeo told his press conference in Washington, adding that this includes moving ahead with prisoner releases and sitting down to talk.

"We still have confidence the Taliban leadership is working to deliver on its commitments. We are working on ours," he also said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told a Senate panel on March 4 that the Taliban is honoring the agreement by not attacking U.S. and coalition forces, but not in terms of sustaining the reduction in violence.

Keeping that group of people on board is a challenge. They've got their range of hard-liners and soft-liners and so theyre wrestling with that too, I think, Esper added.

Esper, who was in Kabul with Afghan leaders while the peace agreement was signed in Qatar, told senators that the deal allows the U.S. military to act to defend Afghan forces.

Its the commitment I made to the Afghans when I was there. We would continue to defend the Afghans, he said.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told lawmakers that "there were significant numbers of attacks, small attacks, adding that the assaults were all beaten back."

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, did not refer to the U.S. strike in a series of Twitter comments. But he said: "Increasing violence is a threat to the peace agreement and must be reduced immediately."

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in a tweet that "according to the plan, [the Taliban] is implementing all parts of the agreement one after another in order to keep the fighting reduced."

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP


Earlier this week, Chris Matthews announced on his MSNBC show Hardball that he was quitting. He then walked off the set. Later, we learned that the network forced him to resign.

Why? One explanation is that Matthews made female guests on his show and some female employees uncomfortable with sex-charged banter. But reportedly, Matthews has been doing this forever.

Its true that an obscure journalist recently called Matthews out for his comments in an article for GQ. Why havent I fallen in love with you yet? is an example. But these types of remark, though boorish, arent the stuff of firings. Surely, there is more to Matthewss discharge than this.

The more, I think, is the fact that Matthews offended supporters of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Barack Obama may have sent a thrill up Matthewss leg, but the two elderly far leftists running this year dont. Matthews, I gather, is something of a traditional liberal, and thus at odds with MSNBCs core viewership.

Matthews got on the wrong side of Warrens supporters by daring to inquire of her why she believes the allegation that Michael Bloomberg said to a pregnant woman kill it, meaning the unborn baby. He asked Warren:

Do you really think Bloomberg is lying? Why would he do such a thing?

The best Warren could do was to say that she believes the accuser and that pregnancy discrimination in the workplace is a real thing. Yes, it is at some workplaces. But a federal court found that there was no systemic pregnancy discrimination at Bloombergs company.

If Warren knew the facts better, she might have pointed out that a male Bloomberg employee has said he overheard the conversation in question, that Bloombergs behavior was outrageous, and that he understood why the pregnant female took offense. However, I have seen no reporting that this employee heard Bloomberg say kill it. And who knows what this particular guy considers outrageous?

Thus, the womans kill it allegation remains a case of she said, he said, and it was perfectly reasonable for Matthews to press Warren as to why she believes Bloombergs accuser.

In the case of Sanders, Matthews compared the Vermont socialists victory in Nevada to the Nazi invasion of France. No reasonable person would think that Matthews was calling Sanders a Nazi. He must have had in mind that Sanders blitzed Nevada, figuratively.

Nonetheless, the reference to Nazis was certainly inappropriate. It required an apology, which Matthews delivered.

But lets not pretend that references to Nazis, even when they are meant to suggest that someone is Nazi-like, are firing offenses for commentators at leftist media outlets like MSNBC. They are only firing offenses if directed at leftists. If directed President Trumps way, theres no problem.

Matthewss offense wasnt what he said. It was the person he said it about.

I wont miss Chris Matthews. I liked his show when it first aired all those years ago, but eventually grew tired of the blustery host. Its been at least ten years since I watched Hardball.

Its important, however, to understand why Matthews was let go. Im pretty sure he was let go because aspects of his politics and his taste in politicians arent sufficiently in tune with those of the hard left.
(CNN)  Britain's Prince William has joked with healthcare workers about "spreading" the coronavirus, on the first evening of his three-day visit to Ireland.

The Duke of Cambridge made the comments on Tuesday while meeting emergency workers at a reception in Dublin hosted by Britain's ambassador to Ireland.

Speaking to Joe Mooney, an advance paramedic with the National Ambulance Service, William quipped: "I bet everyone's like 'I've got coronavirus, I'm dying,' and you're like 'no, you've just got a cough.'"

According to the UK's PA Media news agency, the prince, who is second in line to the throne, also questioned whether media coverage of the infection was excessive.

"It does seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment. Is it being a little hyped up, do you think, by the media?" he said.

In another video clip from the event the duke was heard saying: "By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus, Sorry. We're keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop."

According to the UK's Department of Health and Social Care, a total of 16,659 people have been tested for the coronavirus in the UK, of whom 85 have been confirmed as positive.

William's remarks came after it emerged that he and the duchess are following guidance from Public Health England on the coronavirus threat and that meant "business as usual" for now.

The royal couple shook hands with dozens of people on the first day of their tour, PA reported.

Earlier Tuesday, William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was pictured wearing gloves at an investiture ceremony, prompting speculation about whether it was a precaution against the outbreak.

However, Buckingham Palace said it wasn't unusual for the monarch to wear gloves for public engagements.
After Hurricane Harvey, Joel Dinkin decided it was time for the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center to plan for its future.

On Monday, the ERJCC, commonly referred to as the J announced a $50 million renovation and expansion project that will usher the existing community center into the 21st century, creating a first-class state-of-the-art Jewish community center. The project is set to break ground this September.

As CEO of the J, Dinkin believes the improvements will help the 50-year-old building better serve the community in a wide variety of social, recreational, and cultural educational programs and activities.

A building is really an ends to a mean, said Dinkin. The building will be able to serve the neighborhood community as well as a broad range of the city of Houston for decades to come.

Evelyn Rubenstein JCC Houston is a non-profit organization that provides quality programs for all members of the family, including infants, school-aged children, teens, adults, and seniors. Evelyn Rubenstein JCC provides more than $450,000 in scholarship aid to area families in need, in part, from the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and the United Way.

Signaling its support of the project, the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston unanimously voted to continue its presence on the campus, and therefore the renovation plan includes a new Federation building.

Construction will comprise of 126,000 square feet towards a new facility and 27,000 square feet of renovations to the existing center. The new three-story state-of-the-art facility is designed by Gensler Architecture & Design and consists of enhanced features and a new building configuration. The renovations will include a family-centric aquatics complex, a new culinary studio, and a dedicated fitness area among other additions and improvements.

We are thrilled to share with the community our plans to reinvest in our existing campus and renew our commitment to the Meyerland area for decades to come, stated Lauren Kaufman Blachman, board president at Evelyn Rubenstein JCC, in a news release. The enthusiasm from our donors and supporters of our capital campaign to date has been overwhelming, and thanks to their generosity and commitment to the J, we can now share that our renovation plans are becoming a reality.

As of February 2020, more than 80 families have invested in the next generation of the campus with current support totaling over $36 million. To learn more about contributing to the future of the J, donors may contact Anita Bormaster at abormaster@erjcchouston.org. For more information on the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center go to www.erjcchouston.org.

ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com
A mother's post about connecting with a stranger on a flight home to Calgary, Canada, has gone viral.

The sweet story, shared on Facebook by Holly Graham, began on the way home from a recent trip to Florida. Graham was traveling with her wife, Alex, and their two adopted young sons, Jaxson and Niko. Both boys have Down syndrome. Graham told TODAY Parents that the family had difficulty getting home, with flight cancellations, a surprise overnight stay in Toronto and two cranky kids making the final leg of their trip a "nightmare travel experience."

But everything changed once they boarded the plane. She and her older son, Jaxson, were sitting in one row, while Alex and their younger son, Niko, sat a few rows behind.

The Grahams were flying from Toronto to Calgary when they encountered another family who had a son with Down syndrome. (Holly Graham)

"We're dirty, we just feel all gross, the kids are exhausted," Graham said, noting that they hadn't had their luggage overnight. "We sit down, we get the kids settled, we're watching people file on the plane, and we noticed a couple with their young man of a son who had Down syndrome."

Graham said that they were immediately excited to have another passenger with Down syndrome on the flight. The young man and his parents ended up sitting right in front of Graham.

"We watch them walk on the plane, and we're both just like, admiring him, and then they sit down right in front of me and Jaxson," Graham said. "I'm like, 'Oh my god, this is going to be the best flight ever.'"

Graham said she quickly noticed similarities between her son and the young man sitting in front of them both were very "lovey."

Graham's sons had an instant bond with the family sitting in front of them. (Holly Graham)

"This young man was exactly how Jaxson was," Graham explained. "I spent the first 20 minutes of the flight on the verge of tears watching him... He kept turning around, playing with Jax, they're making faces at each other, and his mom kept trying to distract him, kind of like 'Stop bugging those people behind you.' Then she turned around, and she saw Jax and noticed Jax had Down syndrome and her face just lit up."

Story continues

Graham explained that the family in front of them didn't speak much English  the mother spoke what she described as "broken English," and the father didn't speak much  but the two communicated to share information like names and ages. The couple's son, Graham said, was 20 years old. Jax and the son continued to play with and entertain each other until about halfway through the flight.

"Alex was sitting a few rows behind us with Niko, so she came up and brought Niko to me and we switched kids," explained Graham. "The mother sitting in front of me saw Niko, who is 2 years old and still looks like a little baby, and noticed he had Down syndrome. This mother could not contain herself."

Niko, Graham's youngest son, was happy to be cuddled by the other mother for more than a half an hour on the plane. (Holly Graham)

Graham said that she's typically a helicopter parent, and her son is typically shy around strangers, but Niko and the mother bonded almost instantly.

"She just instantly started playing with him, singing him songs, petting his face between the seats," Graham said. The woman then stood up with outstretched arms, asking to hold Niko. "She needed to have Niko in her arms, and without any hesitation I handed him over."

Graham said that Niko sat in the woman's lap for more than a half an hour, playing games and snuggling together.

Niko and the young man played together during the flight. (Holly Graham)

"Her son was petting Niko's face, kissing his cheek," Graham said. "It was just so neat, watching this mother just love on him. I just knew that she saw her past when she looked into Niko's eyes. It was so cool to see that love that she had for him, and she didn't even know him, or us."

Unfortunately, when the plane landed and the families disembarked, Graham said that she and her wife didn't think to get the other family's contact information.

"In hindsight, I'm kicking myself that we didn't, but with hunger and exhaustion and tired kids we just didn't," she said.

Graham shared the experience on her personal Facebook page, where it has amassed thousands of shares and comments. In the post, she wrote that she "saw her future" in the interaction with the young man.

"I would never ever hand one of my kids off to a complete stranger," Graham wrote. "But you weren't a stranger. Despite never knowing you ... You weren't a stranger. You are family, you are my tribe, you are me. The connection, the understanding, and the bond we share because of our journeys. One of my favorite things about parenting our amazing sons. The giant family we automatically joined because of 47 perfect chromosomes."
E arlier this week, my nine-year-old burst into the room in tears because she had coronavirus.

I cant breathe, she cried. My throat hurts. Am I going to die? I told her not to be ridiculous, as is the Scottish way. Its just a cold, I said. I promise you wont die.

It was horrible to witness her genuine fear and panic, though not surprising, given the sensational headlines circulating in a fug as toxic as the virus itself. Three days later I succumbed to the same cold. As an adult who goes to bed early, takes vitamins, works from home and, like most introverts, has been self-isolating long before Public Health England got involved, the odds of catching covid-19 are low. Still, I stopped sharing my crisps, as a precaution. Its these types of selfless acts that remind me Im a great parent.

When it comes to containing coronavirus, were all clueless. And so it has come to pass that anyone whos been anywhere is self-isolating, even if theyve only been to Peckham. After returning from Iran feeling rather tired, Jon Snow announced he was going to stay home for two weeks. It must have been a doppelganger I saw dismounting from his bike and entering my local coffee shop last week. Londons schoolkids, meanwhile, are having a field day. Or rather, a duvet day, gleefully self-isolating with TikTok because a classmate spent half term in Lombardy.

If theres one thing corona has taught us, its that rich people are more paranoid than the rest of us. Accustomed to being able to control everything, the prospect of being wiped out by a rogue pathogen that has no respect for money must be terrifying. Paranoid? Prudent? Panicked? Placid? Pandemic? Propaganda? wrote Gwyneth Paltrow from her first class seat, snug behind a face mask as she jetted to Paris. Is alliteration an early symptom of corona? Lets hope not: in these troubled times, the world needs Goops wisdom.

It remains to be seen whether self-isolation will turn London into a ghost town. But if youre going to do it, dont do it half-arsed. Dont skip work and then answer the door to the Deliveroo bloke. Stay sensible, London, but above all, stay safe.

Showing solidari-tea

This photo, posted by the new Chancellor, led to members of the public calling for a Yorkshire Tea boycott / Twitter/Rishisunak

Labour vs Tory, Trump vs Mexico... sometimes it can feel that everyones at war. So when @pgtips reached out in solidarity to @yorkshiretea on Twitter (the latter was trolled mercilessly after Chancellor Rishi Sunak was photographed making one of its brews, leading to death threats), it was a moment of Peak Britishness and much-needed warmth. By the time @typhootea got involved, there wasnt a dry eye in the house. Whoever runs the @yorkshiretea account is a genius, reminding Twitter users to be kind while also lobbying Unicode for a proper tea emoji. @yorkshiretea for PM, please.

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Press Release

March 5, 2020 De Lima alarmed over rising spate of lawyer killings Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has expressed outrage over the unabated killings of members of the legal profession, noting that the Philippines is fast becoming a very dangerous place for lawyers to practice their profession. De Lima, a former justice secretary, said the murders of two lawyers that took place last month showed how their assassins have become more emboldened, reveling at the gangsterism and mafia culture that have become prevalent nowadays. "[T]his regime is populated by gangsters who have watched too much mafia movies and copycat the most inhumane and grotesque assassination techniques depicted in such movies," she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame 721. "Pumping bullets into a father in front of his daughter's school just before she is about to get in the same car takes the cake," she added. News reports showed that lawyer Bayani Dalangin, whom the Integrated Bar of the Philippines recalled as a "good, brilliant and respected lawyer," was attacked in his office in Talavera, Nueva Ecija during a meeting with his clients. Former Bureau of Corrections Legal Division Chief Fredric Santos was reportedly ready to spill the beans before the Senate about what he knows on the alleged anomalies surrounding the expanded Good Conduct Time Allowance policy. These cases are only two of the growing list of 48 unresolved killings involving judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other members of the legal community since Duterte took power in 2016. Most assailants in these killings have remained unidentified. "There will be a reckoning. Not today. But all those responsible for lives snuffed out without justice but with impunity will meet their own end," the former human rights chief said. "The gangsters now lording it over us should watch the mafia movies to their endings, so they will learn how gangsters like themselves eventually end up, either behind prison or in a pool of their own blood," she added. Since 2017, De Lima has called for independent inquiries to these lawyer killings. In the 17th Congress, she filed Senate Bill (SB) 1721 which seeks to increase penalties against perpetrators who commit offenses against workers in the legal and justice sector. In the 18th Congress, she filed SB 780, seeking to amend Article 14 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) to add, as an aggravating circumstance, the crime having been committed against lawyers and justice sector officials. In 2018, despite being restricted by her prolonged unjust detention, De Lima called out the Duterte administration to resolve not only the harassment and attacks against lawyers but also the surge of killings by masked gunmen. "[N]othing is sacred to the gangsters who are now in high posts of government. Not human life, not decency, not even the appearance of civility and moral uprightness," the lady Senator from Bicol said. "These people revel in their gangsterism and mafia culture. As they have so propagated in Davao City, so they have now spread this culture throughout the entire nation for us to accept and live with," she added.
Schistosomiasis is a severe infectious disease caused by parasitic worms. As an intermediate host, freshwater snails play a central role in the life cycle of the parasite. In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in cooperation with the Kenya-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) succeeded in proving that snail populations in waterbodies contaminated with pesticides were significantly larger than in uncontaminated waterbodies. The pesticides used in agriculture may well be an outright driver for the risk of infection with schistosomiasis, the researchers warn.

According to WHO estimates, there are around 200 to 300 million people infected with schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) worldwide; around 200,000 die each year of the consequences. The disease also has far-reaching socio-economic effects in the tropical regions concerned: infected individuals are often unable to work and children are too weak to be able to go to school. It is transmitted through the skin following exposure to infected water. The pathogen is a parasitic trematode worm of the genus Schistosoma - the "blood fluke". To date, five different kinds of Schistosoma that can infest humans have been identified. Around two centimetres in length, the worms become lodged in the intestinal wall, the bladder or the liver. The consequences include inflammation and severe organ damage that can lead to death. Schistosomiasis can be treated with an anti-worm medication. But treatment does not protect against reinfection. "Contaminated waterbodies are the problem," says Professor Matthias Liess, Head of the Department of System Ecotoxicology at the UFZ. "Before schistosomiasis can be contained, something has to be done to prevent the proliferation of the pathogens in bodies of water."

Matthias Liess and his team at the UFZ are carrying out research into how pesticides affect biological communities in bodies of running water. "Sensitive insect species disappear whereas the populations of more resistant species such as freshwater snails proliferate - and this starts happening even at extremely small concentrations of pesticides that are deemed harmless in the pertinent risk assessment," Liess explains. "In tropical waterbodies - and even in Corsica since 2011 - freshwater snails play a central role as an intermediate host in the life cycle of the parasitic trematode worm. If its eggs enter a waterbody through the excreta of infected persons, miracidia (larvae) hatch in the water and then reproduce asexually in freshwater snails. One larva can produce several thousand cercariae, the next larval stage, which then pass into the water. If they reach a human host, they penetrate through the skin into the body, where they develop into adult worms.

In their recent study sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), the researchers participated in field studies to examine 48 bodies of running water in the environs of Kenya's Lake Victoria for pesticide contamination, composition of biological communities and occurrence of snails. "It became apparent that in those places where there was no pesticide contamination and the biological community of the waterbody was in a natural balance there were only few snails," says Liess. "If it was possible to detect pesticides in the waterbody, the communities were dominated by snail populations." Laboratory tests further revealed that the species of snails that act as an intermediate host in the life cycle of the trematode worm Schistosoma were extremely tolerant of high concentrations of pesticides. Using model studies, the researchers looked for additional factors that favour snails in ecosystems contaminated with pesticides. It was revealed that the snail populations grow predominantly due to the lack of food competitors. "Insect larvae living in the water that graze the algae cover of rocks, just like the snails, are severely decimated by pesticide contamination or disappear completely. This results in optimum food conditions for the snails, which allows them to proliferate," Liess explains. "And the large number of potential intermediate hosts is, in turn, ideal for the trematode worm Schistosoma to spread."

One measure that would help reduce the level of schistosomiasis pathogen contamination of waterbodies in the affected regions is the construction of effective sewage plants, which would reduce the input of untreated, contaminated wastewater. But, on its own, this measure would not be sufficient in the researchers' opinion. "Even if only a few pathogens enter the water but meet with a huge snail population there, the problem is still unresolved," says Liess. "For this reason, it is important to make adjustments to both parameters and take measures to reduce pesticide contamination in order to effectively contain the risk of contracting schistosomiasis." For example, creating buffer strips adjacent to agricultural land or dispensing with the use of pesticides in the direct vicinity of waterbodies would promote significant shifts in the composition of species towards a natural biological community with only few snails, say the researchers. "With our study, we were able to clearly demonstrate that even low pesticide concentrations constitute a serious environmental risk and, in this respect, not only contribute to the decline in insect populations but also indirectly promote dangerous diseases in humans," says Liess. "We hope that our findings will contribute to reducing or avoiding the future use of pesticides near waterbodies in schistosomiasis hotspots and thus making it possible to lower the risk of infection."

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Michael Bloomberg ends his bid after his poor Super Tuesday showing and will now support Joe Biden.

After spending millions on his own campaign, Michael Bloomberg is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race.

"Three months ago, I entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason," he said in a statement.

Mr Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York City, spent at least $409m (313m) of his own money in the race to become the Democratic Party's nominee.

He said he would now support former Vice-President Joe Biden.

"I've always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday's vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden," Mr Bloomberg said in his statement.

He spent $409m up to the end of January, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, but is believed to have also spent heavily during February ahead of Super Tuesday.

Out of the 14 states and territories which voted on Tuesday, the billionaire only managed to win in American Samoa.

Joe Biden won 10 of the states, a remarkable rebound for his campaign.

The former US vice-president overturned predictions to narrowly take the key state of Texas from his main challenger, Bernie Sanders.

However, Mr Sanders is projected to win California - the biggest prize of the night - as well as three other states.

They lead the race to face Republican President Donald Trump in November.

Where did it go wrong?

Michael Bloomberg's unconventional presidential campaign strategy of skipping the early states and spending heavily on Super Tuesday just ran head-first into cold, hard reality.

Key takeaways:

1) While most of the candidates in the race were liked by Democrats, Bloomberg was underwater. In Virginia, for instance, 56% of primary voters viewed him unfavourably. Hundreds of millions of dollars in slick television adverts and glossy mailers won't do any good if voters don't trust you.

2) Bloomberg spent $34m in television and radio advertisements in Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia, while Biden spent a fraction of that amount - and won all three. The early warning signs - empty campaign offices, sparsely attended voter canvassing events - turned out to be harbingers of doom.

3) He was surging in the polls just a few weeks ago. Then the Las Vegas debate, and his evisceration at the hands of Elizabeth Warren, happened. While many of the debates this campaign have had negligible effects, that one mattered.

What happens with the Democratic race now?

Super Tuesday awards more than 1,300 of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the Democratic White House nomination in July.

Mr Biden is on course to pick up 584 delegates, Mr Sanders 509 and Ms Warren 40, according to the BBC's US partner, CBS News.

But full results from California, which has 415 delegates, could change that.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, once the frontrunner in the race, suffered a humiliating defeat to Mr Biden in her home state of Massachusetts.

She was talking to her team to assess her next step, a campaign aide said on Wednesday.

What's at stake in Biden v Sanders?

The next primaries take place on 10 March in Michigan, Washington state, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri and North Dakota, with 352 delegates available.

The front-runners are hoping to clinch the nomination before the Democratic convention in July.

The party is at a crossroads as its voters decide which candidate has the best chance of denying Mr Trump a second term in office this autumn.

Once a crowded field of more than two dozen, celebrated for its women and candidates of colour, the Democratic contest now increasingly looks like a two-man race between two white male septuagenarians.

Mr Biden, a moderate, and Mr Sanders, a liberal firebrand, offer starkly different visions for America's future.

The former vice-president presents himself as an electable pragmatist who will bring incremental change and restore "decency" after the Trump presidency.

But critics say his campaign is uninspiring, and that he brings too much political baggage from his lifelong career as a Washington insider.

Mr Sanders' detractors say a self-described democratic socialist cannot win over the swing voters needed to capture the White House.

He is planning to transform the American economy with a multi-trillion dollar, higher taxation blueprint covering everything from healthcare to education. BBC
New evidence on the optimal way to treat patients who carry BRCA mutations with breast cancer

Boston, Mass. - Commonly known as the breast cancer genes, the BRCA gene family plays a role in repairing damaged DNA. Inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 raise the risk of developing breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers. Led by clinician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a first-of-its-kind study provided new evidence about the optimal way to treat patients who carry BRCA mutations - also known as BRCA carriers - who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The new data come from the INFORM trial, the results of which appeared in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Designed to settle a question raised by previous studies, INFORM is the largest prospective randomized clinical trial to compare the efficacy of a platinum agent to a standard treatment regimen. The INFORM trial was led by Nadine Tung, MD, Director of the Cancer Risk and Prevention Program and head of Breast Medical Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

"Previous studies reported that the platinum-based therapy cisplatin was effective in BRCA carriers with breast cancer," said Tung. "Those findings left clinicians uncertain whether to use cisplatin - an unconventional drug for treating early stage breast cancer - or whether to use the same chemotherapy regimen used for other women with breast cancer. Prior to INFORM, no randomized prospective data existed comparing platinum to standard chemotherapy in this population of patients. Our study found that platinum-based therapy was actually no more effective than the standard first-line treatment."

Linked to five percent of breast cancer cases among the general population, BRCA mutations are responsible for a larger proportion of breast cancer in younger women, Jewish women, and those with a family history of breast cancer. BRCA mutations are identified in 10 to 20 percent of women with the type of breast cancer known as triple negative breast cancer.

As part of the INFORM trial, Tung and colleagues at 13 medical centers recruited 117 patients newly-diagnosed with but not yet treated for breast cancer who were also known to carry one or both of the two known BRCA mutations. Fifty-seven of these patients were treated with the standard first-line chemotherapy, doxorubicin combined with cyclophosphamide (AC), while 60 patients were treated with cisplatin. All participants underwent mastectomy or lumpectomy, followed lymph node biopsy or dissection after completing their respective courses of treatment.

The results of the INFORM trial demonstrate that, while cisplatin is an active agent for treating breast cancer in BRCA carriers, it is not more effective than the standard chemotherapy regimen AC. Tung and colleagues reported that among participants treated with cisplatin, the overall pathologic complete response rate - the disappearance of all cancer at surgery - was 18 percent compared with 26 percent with the AC regimen.

"We demonstrated that both regimens can be effective and treatment choice may need to incorporate an individual's other health concerns and anticipated side effects with each regimen," Tung said.

Further analysis of the data revealed that, among women with triple-negative breast cancer, pathologic complete response rates were 22 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Among patients with another subtype of breast cancer known as hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, response rates were six percent and 21 percent, respectively.

The number of patients with complete or near complete disappearance of cancer, termed Residual Cancer Burden 0 or 1, was also numerically but not statistically higher with AC than cisplatin, for all breast cancer subtypes.

"Given the previously reported impressive activity of platinum agents in BRCA-associated breast cancer, these results were surprising," Tung noted. "The INFORM trial underscores the importance of confirming results from single arm trials with randomized trials."

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In addition to Tung, co-authors included Michelle R. Hacker (statistician) from BIDMC, Stuart J. Schnitt (the study pathologist), and senior author Judy E. Garber of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Co-authors include Andrew J. Goss, and Colby Jenkins of BIDMC; Banu Arun of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Erin Hofstatter of Yale Cancer Center; Deborah L. Toppmeyer of Rutgers Cancer Institute; Steven J. Isakoff of Massachusetts General Hospital; Virginia Borges of University of Colorado Cancer Center; Robert D. Legare of Women and Infants Hospital; Claudine Isaacs of Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center; Antonia C. Wolff of Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center; Paul Kelly Marcom of Duke Medical Center; Erica L. Mayer, Paulina B. Lange, Ian E. Krop and Eric P. Winer of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

This work was supported by funding from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation; Susan G. Komen; and Myriad Genetics, Inc.

About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding.

BIDMC is in the community with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, Anna Jaques Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Lawrence General Hospital, Signature Healthcare, Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare, Community Care Alliance and Atrius Health. BIDMC is also clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Jackson Laboratory. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit http://www.bidmc.org.

BIDMC is part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a new health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,000 physicians and 35,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education.
Australia's biggest corporate names have grounded their staff from international travel to protect them from the spreading coronavirus.

Corporations including Woolworths, the Big Four banks and mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP have all issued travel-control directives in an effort to prevent workers being infected by the rapidly-spreading virus.

Observations of the new Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus so far show about 80 per cent of people infected will experience only mild symptoms or none at all.

Westpac has grounded its workforce except for flights to New Zealand due to coronavirus. Major companies do not want staff getting sick for long periods

But almost 20 per cent suffer a severe illness which can include viral pneumonia, according to World Health Organisation figures.

Viral pneumonia patients can experience hospital stays of more than 10 days with additional time off at home to recuperate.

This amount of down-time may heavily affect corporate workforces, especially as healthy staff may still have to take time off to care for sick family members.

Westpac has grounded its workforce except for flights to New Zealand, as infections soar internationally with numbers fast approaching 100,000 cases.

'The health and wellbeing of our employees is our highest priority,' a Westpac spokesperson said via email.

'There is no international business travel for Westpac Group employees, excluding travel between Australia and New Zealand,'

More than 14,900 coronavirus cases are now outside of mainland China.

More than 5700 coronavirus cases are in South Korea, over 3000 in Italy and more than 2900 in Iran although health experts fear Iran's number is far higher than reported.

After several infectious people with symptoms travelled to Australia on flights with stopovers at Changi airport, Singapore, travelers are now wary of the infection risks at airports and on planes.

Supermarket giant Woolworths has stopped sending its staff on overseas business flights and has asked staff to limit all domestic travel until further notice.

Commonwealth Bank put travel restrictions on staff to protect them from coronavirus weeks ago. Those who have been in high-risk countries such as China are asked to stay home

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'We have temporarily suspended international business travel for our team members,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

'Our team members can still book trans-Tasman and domestic travel where it is essential.'

Similarly, the Commonwealth Bank has limited staff trips to business-critical travel, with employees having to ask a managerial approval - and they are banned from travelling through Asia for the bank.

Any staff members who have visited China and a few other high-risk countries have been told to spend 14 days in self-isolation before returning to work.

A Commonwealth Bank spokesman told Daily Mail Australia this has been their position on travel advice for the past few weeks.

ANZ and National Australia Bank staff also have to ask permission from management to fly internationally.

Mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto have both banned travel to China.

BHP said its first priority was the safety of its staff.

'We are restricting all non-essential travel in and around China, including for local employees based in China, as a precaution,' said a BHP spokesman quoted in the Australian.

Commercial property group Goodman told all staff to avoid planes and trains, and to limit domestic travel and between European countries.

As corporate giants shut down business travel due to coronavirus, major airlines such as Qantas are suffering from declining passenger numbers

Almost all large Australian companies are now asking staff to isolate for 14 days and work from home if they have visited any countries designated as high risk by Australia.

As of Thursday afternoon, the government's Smart Traveller website designated both China and Iran as 'do not travel' and said a high degree of caution must be exercised in South Korea, Japan, Italy and Mongolia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison added South Korea to the banned list on Thursday afternoon, meaning anyone leaving South Korea cannot enter Australia for 14 days.

The move is expected to add further pressure to airlines suffering falling passenger numbers due to the coronavirus.

Internationally, corporate giants including Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Sony are all encouraging staff to work from home.

Grounding staff could have a lasting impact on work practices for companies that restructure for coronavirus, as systems for working from home become more familiar.

Leapers, a community that supports the mental health of self-employed people, advises workplaces to call staff working from home whenever possible so they don't get lonely and isolated.

'Ask them how they are doing and really listen to the answer,' said spokesman Matthew Knight.

Freelance worker community founder Anna Codrea-Rado said it was important to for staff to draw a sharp boundary between work and home life.

'Have a dedicated place to work, even if it's just the end of your kitchen table,' she told The Guardian.

'If you don't, it muddies the boundaries ... working from your sofa all day and then sitting there watching TV doesn't feel as relaxing.'

Ms Codrea-Rado said - if not under quarantine - it is important to get out of the house at least once every day, even if just to the shops, to prevent going stir-crazy.
The communal violence in northeast Delhi last week has claimed 44 lives, officials said on Thursday as Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and minister Gopal Rai visited the riot-affected areas and took stock of the situation there.

Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) officials said over 98 per cent attendance was recorded in class 12 accountancy exam in the riot-hit areas. On Wednesday, 97.8 per cent attendance was recorded in the class 10 board exam for the science paper.

Special parent-teacher meetings were held in government and aided schools in the violence-hit areas for the second consecutive day. At one such meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia interacted with parents and students affected in the communal clashes to encourage the pupils start attending schools again.

Paramilitary forces have been conducting flag marches and holding meetings with the locals in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad where the violence, that sparked from protests over the amended Citizenship Act, was the most intense.

The police said it has registered 654 cases in connection with the riots and 1,820 people have been either detained or arrested so far.

Northeast Delhi Deputy Commissioner Shashi Kaushal said, "The death toll stands at 44. We are still waiting for figures from the police."



Later, the police also confirmed the death toll. Additional PRO of Delhi Police Anil Mittal said, "The death toll in the northeast Delhi violence stands at 44."



However, an official with Delhi Health Minister's office said 53 people were killed in the riots but did not give any break-up. The figure of 53 was given when clarity was yet to emerge on whether three bodies at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital and five at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital were related to the communal violence or not.

While over 200 people have been injured in communal violence, it is not clear how many people are still missing. The Delhi High Court has directed the police to publish in its website details and photographs of all unidentified bodies brought to government hospital mortuaries following the riots.

Lieutenant Governor Baijal who visited the riot-affected areas with Delhi minister Gopal Rai, held a review meeting with officials on several issues, including security. He also held a meeting with peace committees in the northeast district.

The situation is improving gradually with joint efforts of public, police and administration, he said later.

The Delhi Cabinet has decided to enhance compensation for the damage caused to residential units due to the riots. According to a government statement, each floor of a multi-storey building will be treated as a residential unit for the purpose of providing compensation.

Rs one lakh would be provided as damages for complete loot of household goods in residential units and Rs 50,000 for partial loot. Ex gratia of up to Rs 10 lakh will be given to schools damaged during the riots, according to the statement.

Earlier, the government had announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for total damage of a house -- Rs 4 lakh to the owner and Rs one lakh to the tenant.

The AAP government said it has so far disbursed Rs 88.55 lakh among people who have been affected by the riots.

Delhi BJP president and Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari said his party will distribute ration packets and money for the victims. A relief committee of the party will visit the violence-hit areas and distribute the aid from Friday.

Each affected family will be provided Rs 5,000 along with the ration packets. Efforts will be made to reach out to at least 200 families everyday, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An international team of researchers led by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine has new insights into the function of neurofibromin, a tumor suppressor produced by the NF1 gene. It is well known that neurofibromin keeps cancer growth in check by repressing the activity of a cancer driver called Ras. The new research reveals a previously unknown function of neurofibromin -- directly repressing gene expression controlled by the estrogen receptor- (ER). Thus, when neurofibromin is lost, Ras and ER functions are both activated, causing treatment resistance and metastasis for ER+ breast cancer.

These findings, appearing in Cancer Cell, suggest that a therapeutic approach must combine two different drugs, a SERD (e.g., fulvestrant) to degrade ER and a MEK inhibitor (e.g., selumetinib or binimetinib) to inhibit Ras downstream signaling, in order to effectively treat neurofibromin-depleted ER+ breast cancer. When this combination therapy was tested in animal models, the result was tumor regression. The next step is to begin clinical trials of the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach in patients.

Neurofibromin loss drives tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitor resistance

This team first studied the importance of neurofibromin loss in a study they published in 2018 (Nature Communications PMC6123466) in which tumor DNA was sequenced to seek mutations that can promote resistance to tamoxifen, which is commonly used to prevent relapses from ER+ breast cancer.

"When we examined the mutational patterns in NF1, we observed that poor patient outcome only occurred when neurofibromin was lost, not through mutations that selectively affect Ras regulation. This suggested to us that neurofibromin may have more than one function," said Dr. Eric C. Chang, one of two senior authors on the paper, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a member in the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center's Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center.

This thought triggered studies, spearheaded by Dr. Zeyi Zheng in Chang's lab, into the function of neurofibromin in ER+ breast cancer cells. One of his early experiments showed that when expression of NF1 is inhibited (to mimic neurofibromin loss in tumors), the resulting ER+ breast cancer cells were instead stimulated by tamoxifen and, not as usual, inhibited. Furthermore, these neurofibromin-depleted cells became sensitive to a very low concentration of estradiol, a form of estrogen.

"The clinical relevance of these findings was immediately apparent because it suggested that tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors, which lower estrogen levels available to the cancer cells, would be the wrong choice for treatment when neurofibromin is lost by the tumor," said co-senior author Dr. Matthew Ellis, professor and director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center and a McNair Scholar at Baylor.

A key breakthrough: physically linking neurofibromin to ER

Follow-up gene expression studies all strongly suggest that neurofibromin behaves like a classic ER co-repressor.

"A co-repressor must bind ER directly, but the group hesitated to conduct such an experiment without more evidence because it is not trivial to do so," Chang said.

A breakthrough came when Dr. Charles Foulds, a co-author on the paper and assistant professor at the Center for Precision Environmental Health at Baylor, searched the "Epicome," a massive proteomic database created by Dr. Anna Malovannaya and Dr. Jun Qin at Baylor, as part of an effort by Dr. Bert O'Malley, chancellor and professor of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor, to comprehensively document all the proteins associated with ER. Foulds found neurofibromin in the database, which encouraged the team to ultimately demonstrate that ER and neurofibromin interact directly. However, to seriously consider NF1 as an ER co-repressor, there was still another missing piece of the puzzle.

"One day Charles casually asked me whether neurofibromin has a region rich in the amino acids leucine and isoleucine, because co-repressors use these motifs to bind ER, and it dawned on me that neurofibromin indeed does," said Chang. "In fact, neurofibromin has two such motifs that mediate ER binding in a cooperative manner. These motifs are frequently mutated in cancers but are not required for Ras regulation."

Approaches to treat neurofibromin-deficient ER+ breast cancer

Since tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors were found to be ineffective for neurofibromin-deficent ER+ breast cancer tumors, preclinical models were used to show that the ER-degrading drug fulvestrant was still effective. However, fulvestrant only temporarily inhibited tumor growth because secondary Ras-dependent fulvestrant resistance was induced by neurofibromin-loss. This Ras-dependent growth phase could be inhibited with the addition of a MEK inhibitor, which shuts off a key signaling pathway downstream of Ras.

The team validated this combination treatment strategy using a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse model which can maintain the genomics and drug response of the original human tumor from which is was derived (Cell Reports 2013 PMC3881975). In this case, this PDX was derived from a patient who failed several lines of endocrine therapy and already developed fulvestrant resistance.

"The results of the combination therapy were encouraging -- the tumor shrunk to almost undetectable levels," Chang said. "Our next goal is to test this combination therapy in clinical trials in order to determine its therapeutic potential in the clinic."

"Neurofibromin loss is present in at least 10% of metastatic ER+ tumors. As a result of these new data, we are now working on a clinical trial that combines a MEK inhibitor, with fulvestrant," said Ellis, Susan G. Komen scholar and associate director of Precision Medicine at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor. "Interestingly, MEK inhibitors are also being used to control peripheral nerve tumors in patients with neurofibromatosis, where a damaged NF1 gene is inherited. Our findings contribute to an understanding of why female neurofibromatosis patients also have a much higher incidence of breast cancer."

###

Other contributors to this work include Meenakshi Anurag, Jonathan T. Lei, Jin Cao, Purba Singh, Jianheng Peng, Hilda Kennedy, Nhu-Chau Nguyen, Yue Chen, Philip Lavere, Jing Li, Xin-Hui Du, Burcu Cakar, Wei Song, Beom-Jun Kim, Jiejun Shi, Sinem Seker, Doug W. Chan, Guo-Qiang Zhao, Xi Chen, Kimberly C. Banks, Richard B. Lanman, Maryam Nemati Shafaee, Xiang H.-F. Zhang, Suhas Vasaikar, Bing Zhang, Susan G. Hilsenbeck, Wei Li and Charles E. Foulds. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Adrienne Helis Malvin Medical Research Foundation, Zhengzhou University and Guardant Health.

See the publication for a complete list of the sources of support for this work.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail's parliamentary parties will meet later to discuss options for government formation after lengthy talks yesterday.

Despite meeting for around six hours to discuss policy, Fine Gael says it still does not want to be part of the next government.

The Dail will reconvene for the second time this afternoon but there will not be any votes to elect a Taoiseach.

So little progress has been made over the past two weeks that most TDs feel it would be a waste of time to have votes that won't lead to any result.

Instead, the chamber will debate the coronavirus and hear statements on the upcoming EU Council Meeting and Brexit negotiations.

There is also a motion on the agenda to establish a committee on Dail reform.

Outside the chamber, the parliamentary parties of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will meet to be briefed by teams that took part in a six-hour policy discussion yesterday.

Fianna Fail is openly saying it wants to move things on to more detailed discussions about forming a government with Fine Gael.

But Leo Varadkar's party still insists it wants to enter opposition and that the numbers are there to form a government without them.

There would have to be a change of heart for one side to move things forward.

Either Fine Gael decides to start more detailed talks with Fianna Fail or Fianna Fail would have to re-examine negotiating with Sinn Fein, something they have categorically ruled out.
(Photo : Wiktor Karkocha on Unsplash ) Don't Use Hinge Online Dating App-- They Will Give You $100 and a Date for the Weekend, Seriously? (Photo : Hinge ) Don't Use Hinge Online Dating App-- They Will Give You $100 and a Date for the Weekend, Seriously?

Hinge, one of the most in-demand online dating app in parts of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, is now introducing a new feature that can give you $100 while meeting that perfect person for you!

Is it too good to be true? Not really. To avail this one-day promo, dating players must do this simple task while having a date with the person you met in Hinge: be offline until the date ends.

Earn money while dating using the Hinge app, but you need to stay offline!

Have you been on a date wherein both of you make awkward faces on which person must pay the meal? We've all been there before. Luckily, when you use Hinge -- owned by Match Group that also owned other dating sites Tinder, Match.com, and OkCupid-- you do not have to worry about which party will pay the bill.

According to a report, this dating app will be giving out $100 worth of Visa gift card to anyone that will use their app and find their date. The budget of the app ranges with a $25,000 gift card, so only 250 users will be able to access the said promo-- meaning that it is first to come first basis. Though the promo sounds way too easy, it is not.

You need to stay offline until the date ends

Users that will avail the promo are required to pause their Hinge accounts from 4 PM ET on Friday, Mar. 6 until 4 PM ET on Saturday, Mar. 7-- while the date is still going on according to Hinge.

"Dating apps should connect people with people, not profiles. So, to celebrate National Day of Unplugging, we want you to take a break from liking new people on Hinge and go out with one of your matches. We'll pick up the check. Seriously," said on their website.

This campaign is part of their goal for their users to meet the love of their lives while not being too attached to their smartphones or the app itself. Their campaign is obvious already since their app slogan is "designed to be deleted."

After your date and a day of being offline from the app, users can now open Hinge and confirm that they actually met on their chosen date by both parties clicking 'yes.'

By this time, Hinge will then ask users whether they will be willing to go on a second date-- which is a very uncommon feature in a dating app. After this, the user will be sent an email and received their $100 Visa gift card from the app.

Now, you know what to do this weekend.

ALSO READ: Warning Love Seekers: Grindr, Tinder, and Other Dating Apps Sell Your Information Says Expert

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The spread of the coronavirus outbreak beyond the Chinese mainland is leaving migrant workers vulnerable.

Travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak are impacting some of the millions of migrant workers around the world.

Many are stuck and unable to return to their jobs, putting their livelihoods at risk.

Al Jazeeras Barnaby Lo reports from Manila in the Philippines.
OPEC ministers took a high-stakes gamble, recommending a large production cut to offset the hit on demand from the coronavirus, without overcoming Russian opposition first.

The cartel members tried to paint Moscow into a corner, warning that if Russia doesnt join them in reducing production by 1.5 million barrels a day, OPEC wouldnt act at all -- an outcome that would almost guarantee an oil price crash. If Russian oil minister Alexander Novak doesnt accept the proposal on Friday there will be no deal, his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters after the meeting on Thursday morning.

The cartel raised the stakes further that evening, agreeing at informal talks at the Saudi delegations hotel in Vienna that the cut should last until the end of 2020, six months longer than the proposal earlier in the day.

The ultimatum is unprecedented since Saudi Arabia, Russia and nearly two dozen other nations created the OPEC+ alliance in 2016 to collectively manage oil supply. The risk for the Saudis is that if the gamble backfires, Riyadh has more to lose -- it needs higher oil prices to fund its budget than Russia does.

OPEC is making the cuts conditional on Russia joining, said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. Saudi Arabia may be ready to walk away if it doesnt get a positive answer.

Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo was clear that he would make every effort to prevent such a thing, telling reporters on Thursday evening that he was fully determined to maintain the unity of the group and continue talks with its dependable partner Russia.

Only in July, Russia and Saudi Arabia touted their alliance as a marriage to eternity. Fast forward less than a year, and the view among traders is that the couple may be on the verge of divorce. Still, its not the first fight between Moscow and Riyadh, and both sides have been able to find a satisfactory solution in the past.

The Kremlin has gained a lot from its cooperation with OPEC. The country has been the biggest financial beneficiary of the cuts, largely because its borne a lesser share than Saudi Arabia. The alliance has also significantly enhanced President Vladimir Putins presence on the world stage and his political clout in the Middle East.

Diplomatic poker

With oil prices down 20% since the start of the year as the economic impact of the coronavirus saps oil demand, the stakes for the Friday meeting between OPEC and Russia are high. Not just for the OPEC+ alliance, but for the entire energy industry, from Exxon Mobil Corp to smaller shale drillers in Texas, and oil-rich nations in Africa and Latin America.

The stakes in this game of diplomatic poker are huge -- 1.5 million barrels a day of fresh oil cuts, plus 2.1 million of existing curbs that OPEC+ agreed on last year, which expire at the end of this month. Thats equivalent to the consumption of Germany and France combined.

So far, Russia has indicated its only prepared to roll over the current cuts for another three months, and doesnt want to go deeper. Moscow appears to be betting that the oil market would re-balance by itself over the next few months as low prices take their toll. In particular, Russia believes that the U.S. shale industry is about to go in reverse. Exxon on Thursday announced it was slowing the pace of its flagship shale project in the Permian Basin.

OPECs move today shifted the blame on Moscow for any epic policy failure while offering glory if minister Novak swoops into Vienna tomorrow to seal the deal, said Bob McNally, founder of consultant Rapidan Energy Advisers LLC.

The oil market took the OPEC proposal with extreme caution. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 1.9% at $50.15 a barrel at 7:02 p.m. in London.

With flights canceled in Europe, schools closed in Japan, towns quarantined in Italy and a rising death toll in Iran, the coronavirus crisis has gone global, and with it, its impact on energy demand. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. earlier this week became the first major Wall Street Bank to forecast a contraction in consumption this year, suggesting that an even large cut may not arrest the drop in oil prices.

Cutting production, 1.5 million barrels a day in April or May, is not really going to save you in the current environment, Jeffrey Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman said. The demand damage is happening today, right now.

OPEC itself cut its forecast for demand growth in 2020 to 480,000 barrels a day, down from a pre-crisis forecast of 1.2 million barrels a day. We now convene at a time when the outbreak of COVID-19 has had a pronounced adverse impact on economic and oil demand forecasts, said Algeria Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab.

Saudi Arabias push for a big cut reflects its mounting concern about demand and prices. Oil is now trading far too low to balance the budgets of most OPEC members. Riyadh needs more than $80 a barrel, according to the International Monetary Fund. Russia only requires a price of about $40 a barrel to balance its budget.

Saudi Arabia has always shouldered a larger share of the cuts than Russia, but the split has become more inequitable with each iteration of the deal. Last year, the kingdom implemented 65% of the groups total supply reduction on average, compared with just 11% for Russia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
If you had told me then I would be in court cross-examining a Nazi in 2020, I would have said, Not happening. Not possible for anyone to be doing that in 2020. But there you go, said Mr. Rosenbaum, the director of Human Rights Enforcement Strategy and Policy at the department.

He declined to say how Mr. Bergers case came to the departments attention, but he said such cases typically develop through a tip from a foreign government or from proactive research by the department, which has developed a list of names of suspected Nazi war criminals and methodically searched for them for 40 years.

In Mr. Bergers case, he said, the department received important investigative help from law enforcement and archival authorities in Germany, England, Denmark, Poland and Russia.

Mr. Berger, he said, was a regular soldier in the German Navy who was assigned by the SS to guard a concentration camp at Meppen, where forced laborers  many of them Russian civilians  were taken out each day in the dead of winter to dig anti-tank fortifications. He said Mr. Berger was tied to the operation through one critical piece of evidence  his name appeared on a set of SS cards identifying the guards in the Neuengamme system along with their basic service information.

The cards were found amid skeletons and other wreckage in the Thielbek, one of three German ships that were carrying thousands of prisoners when they were bombed by the British Royal Air Force in the Bay of Lubeck in 1945. In about 1950, Mr. Rosenbaum said, the Thielbek was raised from the sea and the cards were recovered and transcribed.

Fortunately, they could make out almost everything for Berger, he said, including when he went to Meppen and when he left. Its an incredibly intricate jigsaw puzzle, but this one was one of the most important pieces of evidence.

Mr. Berger came to the United States on July 20, 1959, according to federal officials, and had apparently been living quietly in Oak Ridge, where he blended in easily with his suburban neighbors.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  A gunshot victim had to be airlifted from Klamath County to a Medford hospital after a shooting in the outskirts of Klamath Falls in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Deputies from the Klamath County Sheriff's Office responded around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday to the 25000-block of Bedfield Cemetery Road after receiving reports of someone suffering from a gunshot wounds.

Deputies, troopers from Oregon State Police, and paramedics from Klamath County Fire District 1 called in a medical transport helicopter "due to the nature of the injuries."

The victim was taken first to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, then taken up to OHSU in Portland. The Sheriff's Office said that they remain in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon.

"KCSO will not be releasing any names related to this incident for confidentiality reasons," the agency said. "All persons on scene have been interviewed and the incident remains under investigation. This is an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the community."

There have been several shootings in the Klamath Falls area in the past week. Two people were injured in the Altamont area on Friday, and a man was reportedly shot in the leg on Monday evening following a struggle.
SAO PAULO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CCR S.A. (CCR), one of Latin America's largest infrastructure concession groups, discloses its results for the 4th quarter of 2019.

Highlights 4Q19 vs. 4Q18

Consolidated traffic increased 7.8%. Excluding ViaSul, the increase was 3.0%.





Same-basis* adjusted EBITDA grew 19.6%, accompanied by a margin of 63.9% (+2.8 p.p.).





Same-basis* net income totaled R$499.2 million , 3.0% down.





, 3.0% down. On February 21, 2020 , CCR informed its shareholders and the market in general that the Commission responsible for the bidding process object of Concession Notice 02/2019, promoted by the Federal Government through the National Land Transportation Agency (Agencia Nacional de Transportes Terrestres), declared that the Company won the bid for the concession for infrastructure and public services of recovery, operation, maintenance, monitoring, conservation, implementation of improvements, expansion and maintenance of the service level of the BR-101/SC stretch between Paulo Lopes (km 244 +680) and the border between the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (km 465+100), pending award of the CONCESSION.

*The same-basis adjustments are described in the same-basis comparison section.



IFRS Proforma Financial Indicators (R$ MM) 4Q18 4Q19 Chg % 4Q18 4Q19 Chg % Net Revenues1 2,233.5 2,645.0 18.4% 2,386.3 2,793.6 17.1% Adjusted Net Revenues on the same basis2 2,233.5 2,554.7 14.4% 2,376.7 2,703.3 13.7% Adjusted EBIT3 (24.4) 903.6 n.m. 44.8 975.1 n.m. Adjusted EBIT Mg.4 -1.1% 34.2% 35.3 p.p. 1.9% 34.9% 33.0 p.p. Adjusted EBITDA5 535.3 1,500.8 180.4% 640.4 1,605.2 150.7% Adjusted EBITDA Mg.4 24.0% 56.7% 32.7 p.p. 26.8% 57.5% 30.7 p.p. Operating adjusted EBITDA6 1,346.5 1,477.1 9.7% 1,451.5 1,581.5 9.0% Operating adjusted EBITDA Mg.4 60.3% 55.8% -4.5 p.p. 60.8% 56.6% -4.2 p.p. Adjusted EBITDA on the same basis2 1,365.1 1,633.1 19.6% 1,465.3 1,737.5 18.6% Adjusted EBITDA Mg. on the same basis2 61.1% 63.9% 2.8 p.p. 61.7% 64.3% 2.6 p.p. Net Income (307.1) 392.6 n.m. (307.1) 392.6 n.m. Net Income on the same basis2 514.7 499.2 -3.0% 514.7 499.2 -3.0% Net Debt / Adjusted EBITDA LTM (x) 2.8 2.4

2.7 2.4

Adjusted EBITDA5 / Interest and Monetary Variation (x) 1.6 5.2

1.8 5.0





 Net revenue excludes construction revenue.

 The same-basis effects are described in the same-basis comparison section.

3 Calculated by adding net revenue, construction revenue, cost of services and administrative expenses.

4 The operating adjusted EBIT and EBITDA margins were calculated by dividing operating adjusted EBIT and EBITDA by net revenue, excluding construction revenue.

5 Calculated excluding non-cash expenses: depreciation and amortization, provision for maintenance and the recognition of prepaid concession expenses.

6 In addition to non-cash expenses, revenues and/or non-operating non-cash expenses are excluded from adjusted EBITDA.

Conference Calls/Webcast

Access to the conference calls/webcasts:

Portuguese conference call with simultaneous translation into English:

Friday, March 6, 2020

11:00 a.m. Sao Paulo / 09:00 a.m. New York

Participants calling from Brazil: (+55 11) 3193-1080 (+55 11) 2820-4080

Participants calling from the US: 1-646 828-8246 or (+1) 800 492-3904

Access Code: CCR

Replay: (11) 3193-1012 or (11) 2820-4012

Code: 6613150#

The instructions to participate in these events are available on CCR's website: www.ccr.com.br/ri.

IR Contacts

Marcus Macedo (+55 11) 3048-5941

Flavia Godoy: (+55 11) 3048-5955

Caique Moraes (+55 11) 3048-2108

SOURCE CCR S.A.

Related Links

http://www.ccr.com.br/ri


ROCKLAND, Mass., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Miniter Group today announces record growth for insurance tracking as the loan servicing industry continues to embrace Miniter's Borrower-CentricSM force-placed insurance tracking.

Borrower-CentricSM insurance tracking was introduced by Miniter in 2006 and continues to gain market share as lenders embrace this new business model. The business model does not require force-placement of insurance to generate revenue for the insurance tracking operation, which leads to improved customer experience for borrowers.

Miniter's Insurance Tracking Department

According to Gary Mahoney, CFO of Miniter Group:

"We had a record year in 2019, highlighted by a 39% growth in the loan tracking operation. Miniter expanded sales reach geographically in 2019, adding lenders in Alaska and Hawaii. Miniter now services clients in 41 states as we continue to move outside of our traditional base in the northeast. In 2019 we attracted both midsize and large lenders, which allowed us to build portfolio size in large increments. Miniter continues to build on its reputation as a leading insurance tracker in the industry. Our Borrower-CentricSM approach gives lenders confidence that outsourcing their tracking service to Miniter results in an improved experience for their borrowers.

For lenders considering outsourcing their insurance tracking, the Miniter Borrower-CentricSM approach to outsource insurance tracking has completely changed the traditional value proposition associated with outsourcing insurance tracking.

Miniter Group is a leading provider of collateral risk transfer solutions to the lending industry, providing blanket and lender-placed insurance solutions to over 550 lenders in 41 states. Miniter's in-house software development team worked with lenders to create the Borrower-CentricSM Insurance Tracking System in 2006. Miniter's solutions include Vendor Single Interest Insurance, Lender Placed Insurance, Collateral Protection Insurance, and Mortgage Impairment Insurance.

We invite you to call us at 1-800-MINITER or visit us on the web at www.miniter.com.

Media Contact:

James Gilpin

Chief Operating Officer

Miniter Group

781-982-3100

[email protected]

www.miniter.com

SOURCE Miniter Group
The male antechinus is a small Australian marsupial that looks a lot like a mouse and lives life at light speed.

It has a lot to get through, you see, because its about to drop dead.

University of NSW researcher Zoe Xirocostas studied the link between lifespans and sex chromosomes. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Female antechinus typically live to the ripe old age of three, reproducing several times. Males get to the age of one, mate frantically, then drop dead.

It is an extreme example of a trait that is widespread throughout the animal kingdom.
Reason for correction: Proposed resolutions to the Annual General Meeting item 4 should read: Dividend will be distributed to those who are shareholders in the company as per the expiry of 24 March 2020, as registered with the companys shareholder register with the VPS as per the expiry of 26 March 2020. The share will be traded ex-dividend on Oslo Stock Exchange from and including 25 March 2020. The dividend will be paid on or about 3 April 2020.



Updated versions of Proposed resolutions to the Annual General Meeting in English is attached.

_______________________________________________________________________

3 March 2020 - Attached is the notice of Annual General Meeting of Kvrner ASA including notice of attendance/proxy, the Nomination Committee's recommendations, the Board of Directors' proposed resolutions to the Annual General Meeting and the Board of Directors' statement of executive remuneration.

The General Meeting will be held Tuesday 24 March 2020 at 12:00 CET at Engineerium, Snaryveien 20, 1360 Fornebu, Norway. Ballots will be distributed at the meeting venue from 11:30 to 12:00 CET on the day of the Annual General Meeting.

The notice of meeting and the supporting documents are also available at www.kvaerner.com:

the Annual Report 2019

the Board of Directors' Corporate governance statement

the Environmental, social and governance report 2019

the recommendation of the Nomination Committee

the Board of Directors' proposed resolutions for the Annual General Meeting 2020

the Board of Directors' statement of executive remuneration

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations:

Idar Eikrem, EVP & CFO, Kvaerner, +Mob: +47 950 28 363, email: ir@kvaerner.com

Media:

Torbjrn Andersen, Head of Communications & IR, Kvaerner, Mob: +47 928 85 542, email: torbjorn.andersen@kvaerner.com

About Kvaerner:

Kvaerner is a project execution specialist and a trusted advisor for our customers. We provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and deliver advanced offshore platforms, onshore plants, floating production units (i.e. FPSOs) and renewable energy solutions.

We have offices in seven countries and approximately 2 800 employees. Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) has the highest priority in our work, and we aim to deliver technology and solutions in a safe and sustainable way. Our passion, experience and expertise realise values for costumers and societies. Kvrner ASA, through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Kvaerner"), is an international contractor and preferred partner for operators and contractors within oil and gas, renewable energy and in the field of engineering and fabrication.

In 2019, Kvaerner's Field Development segment had consolidated annual revenues of NOK 9.4 billion and the company reported an order backlog at 31 December 2019 of NOK 8.2 billion. Kvaerner is publicly listed with the ticker "KVAER" at the Oslo Stock Exchange. For further information, please visit www.kvaerner.com ( http://www.kvaerner.com ).

To subscribe or unsubscribe to our press releases, please see our web page: https://www.kvaerner.com/investors/news-and-stock-exchange-announcements/subscribe-to-releases/

Attachment
The two Iranian students who were tested positive with the new coronavirus infection on Wednesday have mild symptoms and no fever, Janos Szlavik, head of the infectology department of St. Laszlo Hospital, told public broadcaster M1 on Thursday.

The cases are isolated, the two young men do not know each other, Szlavik said, noting that one of them had returned from Iran to carry on with his studies on February 22, while the other arrived on 28.



Hospital staff is now working to find the people they have contacted since then, Szlavik said, adding that their partners have also been isolated and are being tested.



Szlavik noted that recovery from the COVID-19 disease caused by coronavirus usually takes 10-14 days.



A group of 11 Hungarian students, two teachers and two drivers, quarantined on their return from Italy could be released from hospital on Sunday, while a dentist and their assistant may leave the next day, Szlavik said. All of them are well and probably not infected, he added.



Photo: Szent Laszlo Hospital

1097 Budapest, Albert Florian ut 5.
Lucknow, March 5 : Lucknow was lashed by a heavy hailstorm and rain on Thursday afternoon, throwing normal life out of gear.

Tomato-sized hailstones pattered down the state capital turning the streets into a sheet of white. Several two wheelers skidded on the streets and window panes also cracked due to the force of hail.

Lucknow recorded 14.6 mm of rainfall, accompanied by high speed winds. Several areas were waterlogged and a number of cars were stranded on the streets.

A large number of schoolchildren, travelling on rickshaws, were seen scurrying for cover in nearby shops and buildings.

Similar weather conditions have been reported in Jhansi, Meerut, Mirzapur, Orai and Hamirpur.
Citing stress and its health risks, the chief UN envoy to Libya has resigned while progress on a political and security resolution to the Libyan civil war grinds to a halt

On 2 March, Ghassan Salame (68) tendered his resignation as the UN special envoy for Libya and head of the UN Special Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), pleading health reasons due to the stress.

For more than two years, I sought to reunite the Libyans, curb outside intervention and preserve the unity of the country. Today, after the Berlin Summit convened, Resolution 2510 was passed and the three tracks of the Libyan process were launched, despite the hesitation of some, I must acknowledge that my health no longer can sustain this pace of stress. Therefore, I have asked the [UN] secretary general to relieve me of my mission, while continuing to hope for peace and stability for Libya, he wrote on his Twitter account.

Salames resignation came in the wake of a recent wave of criticism levelled against him after the first round of the political track of the Libyan process began and the second round of the military track ended at the UN headquarters in Geneva. The first was attended by representatives from the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) and from the Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS). The military track consists of the Joint Military Committee made up of five military experts representing the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and another five military experts representing the General Command of the Libyan National Army (LNA).

The military committee has made no progress apart from agreeing on a draft ceasefire agreement prepared by UNSMIL. However, the criticisms came from both the HoR and the HCS because of the lack of transparency on the agenda of the political track and the criteria on which UNSMIL based its selection of 14 Libyan figures, as yet unknown to either chamber, whom UNSMIL wants to include in the political track. Both sides walked out of the first round of political talks that were held 26-28 February in Geneva. Before resigning, Salame had said that he hoped the political track would resume 16 March.

Salame is the sixth UN envoy to Libya since the Libyan crisis erupted in 2011. He is the first to ask the UN secretary general to relieve him of his post, although his more than two years in it makes him the longest serving UNSMIL chief. The UN Security Council confirmed the Lebanese diplomat as head of UNSMIL on 21 June 2017. He replaced the German diplomat Martin Kobler who, at the outset of his tenure, put his name to the Libyan Political Agreement signed by the Libyan factions in Skhirat, Morocco, on 17 December 2015. However, Salame was not a shoe-in as Koblers replacement. His appointment was the product of strenuous deliberations after the US vetoed the appointment of former Palestinian prime minister Sallam Fayyad to that post.

Finding a successor to Salame is likely to encounter even tougher obstacles in light of the current contentions surrounding the handling of the conflict in that oil-rich North African country. A UN secretary generals appointment of an envoy to a conflict zone requires the approval of the 15 members of the Security Council.

After the US rejected Fayyad, on the grounds that the Palestinian leaders appointment as UNSMIL chief would conflict with Israels interests, about 10 other candidates were put to the 15 members of the Security Council. They were unable to reach a consensus until Salame, former dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), former Lebanese minister of culture (2000-2003) and political adviser to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (2003), emerged as a candidate.

At the moment, there appear to be two possible candidates for the job. Both have worked alongside him in UNSMIL: Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs in Libya Stephanie Williams and Deputy Special Representative and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya Yacoub Al-Hillo. Certainly, familiarity with the UNSMIL project of resolving the Libyan crisis will be a criterion in the selection of the next UNSMIL chief, which would favour Williams given her longer period of service in Libya and the fact that she helped prepare and oversee the working plan to reach a political settlement to the nine-year-old Libyan crisis.

However, last summer, when the question of a successor to Salame, whose two-year tenure had nearly expired at the time, first arose, the African Union proposed a joint UN-AU envoy. Western powers opposed the idea and extended Salames tenure for another year. Libyan sources told Al-Ahram Weekly at the time that the AU had proposed former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel-Aziz as the joint UN-AU envoy and that this nominee had the support of a number of regional powers.

For some time, the AU has been keen to play a larger role in efforts to resolve the Libyan conflict. Earlier this week, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso issued official invitations to Libyas neighbours and South Africa to attend a summit on 12 March preparatory to organising a comprehensive conference for Libyan reconciliation. Nguesso announced plans for this conference during the African summit last month in Addis Ababa.

Salames resignation is likely to increase the likelihood of military escalation between the GNA and LNA, making it urgent for the UN and the international community to fill his place as soon as possible. The political tracks he had initiated are at a very delicate stage, particularly given the mounting foreign military interventions in Libya that he had been trying to curb, especially on the part of Russia and Turkey.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The son of Congress MLA Bisahulal



Singh on Thursday lodged a complaint with the police here that his father was "missing".

The complaint comes amid the ongoing political drama over alleged poaching attempt by the BJP to pull down the 14- month-old Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh (65) is the legislator from the Anuppur seat.

His son Tejbhan Singh said in the complaint that his father left house in Malviya Nagar here at 5 pm on March 2, telling them he was going to Raipur in adjoining Chhattisgarh, a police officer said.

Since then, the Congress MLA is "missing" and is untraceable, the officer said, quoting the complaint.

The Congress has alleged that in order to topple the Kamal government, the BJP has "abducted" MLAs of the ruling party and its allies.

However, the BJP has denied the charges and termed the current crisis as a result of infighting and dissatisfaction among Congress legislators.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A former Australian police officer was to appear in court Thursday charged with over 100 sexually related offences, including dozens of rapes.

The former Western Australian officer, who resigned after being charged by internal affairs in 2018, allegedly assaulted and raped numerous women over a decade during dates arranged online.

The 50-year-old man from Perth was charged with 108 offences including dozens of rapes, several counts of drugging women and multiple counts of assault causing bodily harm.

Allegations of predatory sexual behaviour sparked the investigation that uncovered the offences stretching back to 2010 with police believing more women have yet to come forward.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has ratified an agreement between the Governments of Ukraine and France on enhancing maritime and border security.

A total of 261 MPs voted for the relevant bill, No.0025, the press service of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported.

On March 4, the Verkhovna Rada ratified the agreement between the Governments of Ukraine and France on strengthening the system of maritime security and border protection. In three years, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine will receive 20 modern patrol ships from the French company OSEA, the report says.

According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, cooperation in the maritime and border security is the second Ukrainian-French project, which is extremely important after the ministrys aviation.

According to Avakov, the total value of the contract between France and Ukraine is EUR 136.5 million, and the cost of one fully equipped ship is EUR 6.8 million.

As noted, Ukraine will receive these funds through special borrowing at 4.25% per annum from the state treasury of France and a consortium of French banks.

ish
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. J has won an architecture and engineering design contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Korea Air Operations and Intelligence Center (KAOIC).



KAOIC  part of the U.S. Military Construction and Host Nation Funding Program  will oversee air operations and distributed common ground station weapon systems. Notably, this project will help the U.S. Forces Korea and the U.S. and Korea Combined Forces Command in defense of the Korean peninsula.



Notably, this 1 million-gross-square-foot facility is expected to incur approximately $605 million of construction costs. Meanwhile, the new KAOIC facility is currently functioning at Osan Air Base in South Korea.



Jacobs Contract-Winning Spree Bodes Well



Jacobs business has been gaining strength on the back of solid contract wins. On Feb 26, 2020, the companys People & Places Solutions (P&PS) segment was selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District to deliver architect and engineering services for the latters Environmental Quality Program in South Atlantic Division.



Again, on Feb 12, 2020, the company was selected for four Lots on Network Rail's prestigious Design Services Framework (DSF) to provide multi-disciplinary technical and professional services in the U.K.



Jacobs Long-Term Prospects to Drive Growth



Jacobs shares have rallied 13% year to date against the industrys 7.1% decline. The outperformance is likely to continue in the near term, buoyed by a strong backlog, inorganic moves, a transformed portfolio and increased focus on infrastructure, aerospace, cybersecurity and technical building projects.











Recently, the company reported strong results for the fiscal first quarter on the back of solid segmental performance, acquisitions and cost synergies. Notably, the P&PS business has been a major growth driver, accounting for more than 55% of total revenues in first-quarter fiscal 2020.



Over the next three years (through 2021), management expects an expansion of 125-175 basis points (bps) in adjusted operating margins. The company anticipates an increase of 100-150 bps in Critical Mission Solutions or CMS margins and 110-140 bps in PPS margin, supported by the elimination of ECR.



It projects 3-5% net organic revenue growth, with P&PS leading with 4-6% top-line CAGR and CMS with 2-3% CAGR. The top line is expected to be driven by recurring revenues that roughly account for two-third of Jacobs total revenues, in turn reducing overall risks of market volatility.



Although excessive contract pricing pressure, poor competency and extreme competition are significant concerns for the company, its contract-winning spree and solid view are encouraging.



Zacks Rank



Jacobs, which shares space with AECOM ACM, KBR, Inc. KBR and Fluor Corporation FLR, currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



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Browsing through a trendy boutique in Culver City recently, I came across a framed sign that said Equality. It was pink and perched above a shelf with neatly folded jeans on sale for $450 a pair. I took a photo and laughed until it hit me  this was no laughing matter. Not long after, I visited a private school in Santa Monica where posters, done in a childs hand, said Join the Young Proletariat Club  Support the Revolution!

We now live in a realm of buzzwords, hashtags, slogans that can seduce us with the neatness of tidily packaged concepts in our desire for change. But equality, revolution and proletariat are rendered meaningless in environments where they are overused. Weve entered an age of Newspeak  though, unlike in 1984, this is not part of government indoctrination but our own doing.

Having spent my childhood in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Ive inherited a knee-jerk reaction to slogans. Soviet buzzwords were the foundation of our reality, overseen by the holy trinity of Marx, Engels and Lenin. One became a Young Pioneer after three years in the preparatory ranks of the Little Octobrists. We wore baby Lenin pins on our brown, itchy wool uniforms. You can still buy such a pin in Brighton Beach.

Back then, exchanging the pin for the red polyester kerchief of the Young Pioneer felt like an exciting rite of passage into a world of adolescence: unironic meetings, pompous speeches, fortissimo tuba marches. The initiation ceremony meant standing for hours under the hot sun, next to the granite Grandpa Lenin, while the district party official expounded on the five-year plan. Then, a teenager with vodka breath  from the Komsomol ranks!  tied the red kerchiefs around our necks. We would have given our lives at that moment for Proletariat! Revolution! Equality! To our parents, these words meant dreary lines for bread, bribes and crammed communal apartments at best; and denouncements, arrests and murder of millions at worst.

My family immigrated to the U.S. in 1989. Soon after, in 1991, the Soviet empire fell, eventually replaced by the dictatorship we know today.

Just after the Soviet collapse, we returned to Moscow, where I was to compete in the first International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. I represented the U.S., playing, among other things, Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue, the solo piano version.

We stayed in the historic Hotel Moskva, built during the Stalin terror years, near the Moscow Conservatory where the competition took place and the Kremlin. Provincial Communist Party bosses stayed there when visiting the capital, my dad explained. And now, look at us, penniless Jewish immigrants from Odessa, back to the capital as citizens of the world, making it here without any blat! (i.e., connections, political or monetary).

We stepped outside the hotel into Manezhnaya Square. A hot air balloon emblazoned with Glory to Russia! was prepped for takeoff. Veterans with medals were jogging in a circle around it and singing Soviet anthems, and nearby, a military band in full uniform was getting ready to play. The conductor raised his baton, but instead of a Soviet military march, the band broke into a medley from My Fair Lady. The confused city was still steeped in a time when slogans promised meaning and didnt deliver.

At the conservatory, I sat on the floor in my jeans, like a renegade, surrounded by the Russian contestants in their frilly dresses and stiff shirts. I heard murmurs, No culture  what do you expect from an American. In my semifinal performance, I bopped, perhaps excessively, to the musics jolly tunes, a newly American smile on my face. The Russian public loved it, but the stone-faced judges didnt get it. I was crushed when I didnt make the final round. The Soviet megalith was gone, but its ways had stayed.

As I ran my fingers over the $450 jeans at the boutique, I recalled that surreal scene in Moscow, the meeting of the free West with the oppressed East, its slogans now a Felliniesque pastiche. The multiple shades of human experience cannot be reduced to empty Newspeak buzzwords  nor should ideals like equality and democracy.

Faliks is a concert pianist and professor and head of the piano department at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Her column first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

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U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, of Montgomery County, speaks in her Glenside office in December. Read more

WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean endorsed Joe Biden for president on Thursday, joining a wave of officials rallying behind the former vice president after major wins that restored him to front-runner status.

Today I enthusiastically endorse Joe Biden for president. I admire Joe for his head and his heart. He has the experience, intellect, and passion to draw people together and move our country forward for the many  for us all," Dean, a Montgomery County Democrat, said in a statement to The Inquirer.

"Joes empathy, turning personal terrible losses into a greater purpose, is an inspiration to me, and a unifying quality that our country needs to win back the White House  bringing decency, humanity, and leadership to our nations highest office, Dean said two days after Biden racked up Super Tuesday gains that changed the presidential race.

Biden, a Scranton native who has based his campaign in Philadelphia, has won widespread support from Democratic leaders in Pennsylvania. With Deans backing, six of the states nine Democratic House members have endorsed Biden. The others have not chosen a candidate.

Sens. Bob Casey (a fellow Scrantonian) and Delawares Chris Coons and Tom Carper have also backed Biden.

Biden and his allies have argued that he is the candidate best positioned to win back Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, and to help other Democrats running for state, federal and local offices. In competitive suburbs outside Philadelphia, a number of local officials have raised alarms about the possibility of running on the same ticket as Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom some see as too liberal and divisive for moderate swing districts.

 READ MORE: We just barely turned blue: Bernie Sanders is getting stronger and some Democrats are getting worried.

Biden has endorsements from more than 55 Democrats in the House and seven senators.

Among the more recent supporters is Rep. Andy Kim of South Jersey, who endorsed Biden on Wednesday after previously supporting his home-state senator, Cory Booker, and then Pete Buttigieg before each left the race.
Employers should have a "positive duty" to eliminate sexual harassment in their workplaces, while those who aid or permit someone to sexually harass another person should also be made liable, a landmark Australian Human Rights Commission report has found.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins said the current system for dealing with workplace sexual harassment was "complex and confusing" and there was too much focus on individuals making a complaint.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins wants urgent change to address sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Releasing the results of an 18-month inquiry on Thursday, Ms Jenkins said progress to address sexual harassment in Australian workplaces has been "disappointingly slow" since the Sex Discrimination Act was introduced in 1984.

Ms Jenkins said workers under 30 are among those at highest risk, noting a 2018 survey of 10,000 Australians found 39 per cent of Australian women and 26 per cent of men had experienced sexual harassment in the previous five years.
The government has approved a plan for a consortium of lenders, led by State Bank of India, to acquire a controlling stake in Yes Bank, highly places sources said on Thursday.

An announcement is expected soon, they added.

Yes Bank, which is grappling with bad loans, is looking to raise fresh capital but the plans are facing uncertainties.

It has also delayed announcement of 2019 December 2019 quarter results due to the ongoing crisis.

The bank's capital buffers have come down due to non-performing assets.

The sources said the government has cleared a plan for a SBI-led consortium to acquire a controlling stake in the bank.

In a clarification to stock exchanges on reports that the government is said to have approved SBI's plan to buy stake in Yes Bank, the state-owned lender said it would disclose developments, if any, as per Sebi regulations.

"... we will abide by the timelines under Regulation 30 of Sebi (LODR) Regulations 2015 in disclosing the developments, if any in the matter to stock exchanges," it added.

Yes Bank has been passing through a tumultuous period ever since the Reserve Bank, in August 2018, asked the then chief executive Rana Kapoor to leave by January 31, 2019, amid concerns on governance and loan practices.

Under his successor Ravneet Gill, the lender has disclosed large under-reported stressed assets.

The bank reported its maiden loss in the March 2019 quarter.

Yes Bank had initially planned to raise capital of over USD 2 billion in the current fiscal. Later, its board rejected a USD 1.2 billion investment in the bank by Canadian investor SPGP Group/ Erwin Singh Braich.

Mumbai-headquartered Yes Bank was incorporated in 2004. The bank's asset size stood at Rs 3,71,160 crore at the end of June 2019.

Promoters of Yes Bank -- Madhu Kapur, Yes Capital (India) Pvt Ltd and Mags Finvest -- hold 8.33 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden bank, as per data available on the stock exchanges.

The bank's co-founder Rana Kapoor has sold his entire stake in the bank.

Besides, foreign portfolio investors hold 15.17 per cent stake, state-owned LIC has 8.06 per cent, and mutual funds own 5.09 per cent.

Shares of Yes Bank rose nearly 22 per cent to Rs 35.60 apiece in late afternoon trade on the BSE.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trinity Lutheran Church in New Milford will hold its annual St. Patrick's Irish Night Dinner March 7 at 6 p.m.

The dinner at the 107 Kent Road church will include corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, carrots, rolls, desserts, beverages and prizes.
Dublin, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Fall Protection Equipment Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Fall Protection Market is likely to grow at a CAGR of over 10% during the period 2019-2025.



Key Market Insights

The analysis of the fall protection market provides sizing and growth opportunities for the period 2020-2025.

Provides comprehensive insights on the latest industry trends, forecast, and growth drivers in the market.

Includes a detailed analysis of growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

Delivers a complete overview of segments and the regional outlook of the market.

Offers an exhaustive summary of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key strategies to gain competitive advantage.

The fall protection market is likely to witness rapid growth on account of a high number of accidents and incidences in construction, oil & gas, mining, and transportation industries. The increase in construction output and the rise in the aging workforce are likely to be other significant factors boosting the adoption of fall protection equipment. Moreover, the growing investment in renewable energies, such as wind and solar, is expected to increase demand for high-end safety equipment for workers that inspect, install, and maintain extensive infrastructures such as windmills, machines, and panels.



The construction industry accounts for the highest accidents than in other sectors. The rise in the number of infrastructure projects across the globe, especially in the US, the UAE, and China, is expected to generate awareness and demand for fall protection equipment. In the US, fall accidents are growing at an alarming rate, thereby increasing stringency in regulations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) work to promote voluntary safety standards at workplaces to ensure employee safety. Government agencies and employee welfare organizations across several countries are making efforts to reduce the number of work-related accidents. Hence, the increase in campaigns and awareness programs will influence employers to install safety equipment, thereby increasing the growth of the fall protection market during the forecast period.

Market Dynamics



Opportunities & Trends



Increased Government Investments

Growing Demand for Adventure Sports

Growth Enablers

Increase in Workplace Injuries

Stringent Safety Regulations

Growth in Professional Cleaning Industry

Growth Restraints

Lack of Skilled Labor

Use of Substandard Products

Fall Protection Market: Segmentation



This research report includes a detailed segmentation by product type, end-user and geography.

Soft goods comprise harnesses, body belts, lanyards, and ropes. The application of harnesses is high in construction, oil & gas, mining, and energy industries. Harnesses are in demand as they offer high safety and security. They are experiencing a high application in the mining industry. Hence, the expansion of the oil and rig industry in North America is expected to drive the demand for harnesses. Lanyards reduce free fall distance and minimize injury risks. These types of soft goods are durable and flexible, which increases their utilization in construction activities. The demand for lanyards is expected to grow due to the increasing construction activities in the APAC and North American regions. Hard goods consist of anchors, karabiner, rope grabs, and retractable blocks. Anchors are highly capable of supporting intended loads and helping in fall arrest. The application of anchors is mandatory in the mining industry as it can maximize versatility and convenience among workers.

The global expansion of the mining industry is likely to bolster the demand for anchors. Rope grabs enable level and inertial locking to prevent the fall and are the preferred options for vertical and horizontal lifeline systems applied in the construction and mining industry. The increasing installation of lifeline systems in the construction and mining industry is expected to drive the growth of rope grabs. Rescue kits prevent the employee from fall accidents. Stringency in occupational safety in the US is driving the demand for rescue kits as they are mandatory for all types of work environments. Hence, the increasing application of rescue kits due to regulatory compliance is expected to increase the revenue of the hard goods segment during the forecast period.



The construction industry is the major end-user of the fall protection system as it witnesses the highest incidences of accidents every year. The global construction industry accounts for more than one-third of workplace fatalities annually. The US, the UAE, Canada, Mexico, and China are the key countries for safety equipment in construction sites due to the high number of upcoming construction projects. As oil & gas industries are potentially more hazardous than any other industries, the exposure of physical, chemical, and biological toxins might increase the chance of falls and explosions that demand fall protection equipment. Retractable lifeline systems are widely preferred in the oil & gas industry due to high-security concerns.

The growth in public investments and the probability of increased risks in workplaces are likely to trigger the demand for protective equipment. The demand is expected to be significant in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as they are among the leading oil exporters in the world. Volatility in the mining environment is enforcing the adoption of fall safety equipment on a large scale. The demand for harnesses and belts is likely to increase as they are majorly used in the mining industry. The global mining industry is expected to grow at a rate of 3% until 2022. Thus, the demand for rescue kits, lanyards, and belts is likely to surge during the forecast period.



Insights by Geography



The increasing oil and rig activities in North America is expected to boost the demand for soft goods, access systems, and rescue kits during the forecast period. In the US, strict compliance to stated regulations, including OSHA, is likely to drive the market. Moreover, the increase in commercial construction, which consists of hotels, spas, amusement parks, and recreational facilities, is expected to drive the growth of the market. Increasing infrastructural developments in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Portugal is likely to drive the market in Europe.

The construction industry in the European region is expected to generate $2,750 billion by 2023. With the rise in the number of construction projects, risks and hazards associated with employees are also estimated to rise in the coming years, thereby expecting to drive the demand for soft goods such as lanyards, ropes, harness and access systems, and rescue kits during the forecast period. The APAC region will grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. The construction industry in APAC, excluding India, is estimated to reach over $5 trillion by 2021. China's construction industry will grow over 4% by 2021 due to the development of several mega infrastructure projects, along with the construction of over 2,900 hotel projects. In the MEA region, the fall protection market is likely to grow due to significant investments in advance technology and infrastructural design. Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait are the major countries in the region, which are likely to invest tremendous growth.



Insights by Vendors



The fall protection market is fragmented, with a limited number of global players earning significant revenue. The margin of success always lies in the intensity of the differentiation among the products. Factors such as price, warranty, training methods, feasible access to the trainers, and durability of the products are expected to play a vital role in highlighting the major vendors. In price-sensitive countries such as India, there is a threat from the new entrants that offer non-certified equipment at low prices. Hence, global players are facing a significant challenge to establish a diverse market base in the country. Globally, the expansion through mergers and acquisitions is likely to be effective in the fall protection market. The vendors are expected to earn revenue through training, inspection, and services in underpenetrated regions of APAC, MEA, and Latin America.



Key Vendors

3M

Honeywell

MSA

Petzl

Pure Safety Group

Other Vendors

SKYLOTEC GmbH

Guardian Fall

Kee Safety

Werner

FallTech

Cofra

FrenchCreek

Safe Approach

Swelock Asia

Heightsafe

Hi-Rise Access

SafetyLink

Malta Dynamics

Buckingham Manufacturing

Elk River

Sellstrom

Rigid Lifelines

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3ubbi6

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says knee-jerk reactions to the novel coronavirus will not keep people safe, as he defended Canada's decision not to close its borders to foreign nationals coming from regions where the outbreak is spreading.

Misinformation being spread about the virus, which can cause a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, is having negative impacts on some communities' ability to keep their populations safe, Trudeau warned Thursday while speaking to reporters in Toronto.

"We're going to stay focused on doing the things that actually matter: on empowering Canadians to make the right decisions for their own health, for their families' health, listening to experts, working to co-ordinate with health authorities across the country, including in all provinces and territories and ensuring that our response is active and up to date every step of the way."

Australia has banned travellers from South Korea who aren't Australian citizens or permanent residents, following similar bans for China and Iran.

Trudeau says other countries have a right to make different decisions in dealing with this outbreak, but Canada is taking its lead from the World Health Organization and other health experts here and abroad.

"We know that keeping Canadians safe needs to be done in the right way and we're going to keep doing the things that actually keep Canadians safe," he said. "There is a lot of misinformation out there, there is a lot of knee-jerk reaction that isn't keeping people safe, that is having real challenging impacts on communities and on community safety."

However, the federal government is stepping up its travel advice  now warning against all travel to Iran due to COVID-19 concerns.

Global Affairs Canada posted a new alert this morning, upgrading an advisory against non-essential travel to say that nobody should go.

The warning says that travel restrictions imposed to control the spread of the new coronavirus are making it increasingly difficult to leave Iran.

And because Iran doesn't recognize dual citizenship, Iranian-Canadians who might go for a visit likely wouldn't be able to get any help from Canadian officials to leave.

The Canadian government has warned against non-essential travel to China and all travel to the province where the new virus first broke out.

It also says to be extremely cautious about travel to Japan.
- Kim Chiu went viral after the van she was riding in Quezon City was shot repeatedly by unidentified gunmen

- Quezon City Police District's Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit chief Major Elmer Monsalve have spoken about the shooting incident

- He said that CCTV footage in the area showed the attackers stalking the actress van as it was exiting the subdivision

- According to the officer, there is a big possibility that the incident was a case of mistaken identity

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Kim Chiu made headlines yesterday after the van she was riding in Quezon City was shot repeatedly by unidentified gunmen.

KAMI learned that Quezon City Police District's Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit chief Major Elmer Monsalve have spoken about the shooting incident.

According to the officers interview with GMA News Unang Balita, CCTV footage in the area showed that the attackers stalked the actress van as it was exiting the subdivision.

He added that there is a big possibility that the incident was a case of mistaken identity.

Kung papaano dumaan yung sasakyan nitong aktres na si Kim Chui, makikita mo na nag-iisa lang siya.

Tapos may biglang sumulpot na isang motor na naghihintay na doon sa subdivision. Nakaabang na talaga sa paglabas niya

Yun ang ine-establish pa rin namin ngayon kasi kung titingnan mo naman si Kim Chiu, sa kanyang background at character, hindi mo makitaan ng mayroon siya nakatalo, he said.

After learning about the shooting incident, several celebrities, including Kris Aquino and Claudine Barretto, took to social media to express their concern for Kim.

Kims celebrity boyfriend, Xian Lim, also posted on social media, thanking all of the people who showed their love, concern, and support for his girlfriend.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

KAMI reported earlier that Kim still went straight to work even after figuring in the shooting incident.

Kim Chiu is one of the most well-known actresses in the Philippines. She broke through in showbiz by joining Pinoy Big Brother. The Kapamilya star is in a relationship with actor Xian Lim. Her former boyfriend is Gerald Anderson.

Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters!

Ara Mina spoke exclusively to KAMI to talk about her thoughts on the conflict between Sarah Geronimo and her mother, Divine Geronimo. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
In confronting the coronavirus, it is vitally important that we have all intelligence and information that exists, including the 90 percent known as open-source intelligence (OSINT). We need this so that our government can make the best decisions to keep our people and our businesses safe.

Getting accurate, real-time information about coronavirus is key to our efforts to get ahead of the virus and contain it. It's also key to knowing exactly what adversaries are doing to use the coronavirus to disrupt our financial markets.

CORONAVIRUS CAUSES SANITIZER SHORTAGE, PRICE GOUGING

Heres why. Lets start with China. Chinese leaders lack of full transparency and the breadth of the outbreak has caused real problems for the international community in terms of preparing an adequate emergency response.

In an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said it best:

"The way you deal with a global pandemic is you become transparent and you share information beginning with the actual virus... because researchers around the world can start working on the basis of that and developing treatments and vaccines...they didn't do that."

Senator Rubio is right. China's failure to share necessary information that could have helped contain the coronavirus has put the entire world more at risk.

FDA SENDS HAND SANITIZER BRAND PURELL STRICT WARNING

President Trump, who did the right thing at the outset by suspending all travel from China, obviously understands that the world has not been getting the whole truth and full story about the virus. He has repeatedly called Chinese President Xi to press for more information.

To further complicate matters, other American adversaries, like Russia, appear to be using the coronavirus as a weapon to disrupt U.S. financial markets.

In fact, a headline over the weekend in Russia's Sputnik read, "New York Stock Exchange Bracing for Trading Floor Closure Due to Coronavirus Outbreak."

Story continues

Fortunately, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) can provide the non-partisan multi-source information thats necessary to make logical and informed decisions.

We can do this based on real-time data and information on the current state of the coronavirus, its likelihood of spreading and information on how adversaries are using the coronavirus to try to hurt the United States economy.

ARE CHILDREN THE SECRET CORONAVIRUS CARRIERS?

While OSINT is a great tool to gather the best information, understand that it is not a new concept, still the Internet has taken OSINT to a new level.

The idea of acquiring information from publicly-available sources such as newspapers, radio and television actually pre-dates the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The history of what I call OSINT 1.0 began in 1941 with the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service, which analyzed broadcasts from the Axis Powers. Under the National Security Act of 1947, this organization was reconstituted as the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).

CORONAVIRUS FEARS PROMPT COSTCO SHOPPING RUSH, SHARES RISE

The mission of FBIS was enhanced to monitor all foreign media. By the end of the Cold War, FBIS was regularly translating over 3,000 news outlets from over 60 languages.

Today, with the development of the Internet and under what I call OSINT 2.0, there are advanced search engines that can easily provide the same kind of information.

Here, it should be noted that Google only gives individuals the most popular searches and not all open-source information. Using advanced search engines and in using them in different languages can give you an idea of how limited our traditional searches are in finding useful intelligence.

The late Lt. General Sam Wilson, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said, Ninety percent of intelligence comes from open sources. The other ten percent, the more clandestine work, is just more dramatic. The real intelligence hero is Sherlock Holmes, not James Bond.

It is vitally important that our government have all intelligence that exists, including the 90 percent known as OSINT, so that we can make the best decisions to keep America safe.

In 2014, as the deadly Bird Flu began to surge in China, I was approached by an Obama administration-appointed physician and health care expert who was concerned that he wasn't getting the most up-to-date information from the CDC.

He knew that I had used OSINT in December of 2012 to reveal that Iranian experts were actually on the ground in North Korea, assisting with their nuclear and ballistic missile programs. This physician thought that OSINT might be helpful in getting better information about the spread of what was then the height of the Bird Flu outbreak in China.

Fortunately, we were able to get information that he requested several days before he was receiving it from the CDC.

There are tremendous OSINT tools out there, both in academia and in the private sector that can greatly assist the United States government to get ahead of the coronavirus by getting the most up-to-date information available, as well as using it as an intelligence tool to glean information on what our adversaries are doing to use it to hurt our economy.

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For example, Auburn University several years ago created its own OSINT Laboratory, which has a highly skilled set of intelligence analysts.

No doubt, this is the brain-child of Auburn's COO and retired Lt. General Ron Burgess, who formerly served as the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, as well as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

There are also growing OSINT capabilities in the private sector. At least one, IA Analytica, has access to DNA researchers and state of the art DNA sequencers.

President Trump's decision to pick Amb. Ric Grenell to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence and Congressman John Ratcliffe to serve as its permanent director are refreshing choices of individuals who are known "outside-of-the-box" thinkers.

Their leadership can help ensure a renewed focus on OSINT as an effective tool to enable our leaders to have the best information available in order to make the most informed decisions.

We should definitely have a dedicated OSINT capability at those government entities that are on the front line of dealing with the coronavirus, such as the CDC, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and others.

Van D. Hipp, Jr. is Chairman of American Defense International, Inc. He is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army and author of The New Terrorism: How to Fight It and Defeat It. He is the 2018 recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II September 11 Garden Leadership Award for National Security. Follow him on Twitter @VanHipp.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

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The annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conglomeration of festivals will go ahead as scheduled in Austin, Texas from 13 to 22 March despite coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, reports Adweek. This is after local government and public health officials said they do not yet recommend the conference to be cancelled.The festival said it is working with local, state and federal agencies to 'plan for a safe event' and shared information on special precautions it was undertaking in light of the virus last weekend. Several notable attendees and major brands such as Facebook, Twitter, Mashable and Intel have, however, cancelled SXSW events citing the coronavirus fears.Read the full article here
Dr. Deborah Birx speaks in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House in Washington on Nov. 29, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

White House Reassured by Coronavirus Data From Italy and South Korea

The White House said on March 4 that it was reassured by data coming out of Italy and South Korea regarding coronavirus and will be focusing its resources on those who are most at risk.

Over the last 12 hours, weve been able to receive information, both from South Korea and Italy, adding to our China information. And its as we thought: The elderly and preexisting conditions have a more serious illness when confronted with the coronavirus, said Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator in the White House.

Reassuringly, in South Korea, no one has died under 30. This is reassuring to us. And the median age in Italy was 81, of those who succumbed. Those who became ill, the median age was 60. So we find this data reassuring but it also has really caused us to focus on the Americans who might be most vulnerable.

Birx said the team will now be focusing their attention and resources on making sure those who have preexisting health conditions and the elderly have access to the best prevention and treatment options. She added that good protective hygiene for the elderly was of utmost importance.

In the same press briefing on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence confirmed there are now more than 100 coronavirus cases in the United States, including domestic cases and cases of coronavirus in Americans that were returned from China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

Pence said that while the majority of those with the virus, which was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year, are continuing to recover, one American in California recently died from the disease. The total death toll in the United States stands at 11 as of March 4.

The case involved an elderly man in Placer County, near Sacramento, who had underlying health problems. It is currently believed that he may have been exposed while on a cruise that traveled between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

He is one of two people who have so far tested positive for the virus after returning from the cruise ship. Authorities are tracking down other passengers on the cruise who may have been in close contact with the two individuals.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak, and said the state is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus.

Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies over the outbreak.

Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
Photo credit: Chesnot - Getty Images

From Men's Health

Public health organizations and governments around the world are closely monitoring the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, which causes an upper respiratory illness known as COVID-19. As this is a developing situation, we'll be regularly updating this timeline with the latest news, including links to daily situation reports from the WHO.

March 6:

Global cases of the novel coronavirus have passed 100,000, and U.S. cases have passed 250, according to the New York Times.

March 5:

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, made these opening remarks when he briefed the media on the state of COVID-19. He called on countries to pull out all the stops to fight the spread of the virus.

"This is not a drill," he said. "This is not the time to give up. This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops. Countries have been planning for scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans."

March 4:

New York officials report more cases of coronavirus



Six people in New York have tested positive for coronavirus, including four family members in Westchester County, according to state officials. In a press conference, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said those infected include a 50-year-old attorney, his wife, their 22-year-old son (a student at Yeshiva University), and their 14-year-old daughter (who attends a Bronx private high school). The man has been hospitalized in serious condition, while the other family members are quarantined at their home in New Rochelle. The man's neighbor, who also tested positive, drove him to the hospital.

The first reported coronavirus case in New York was a health care worker who was infected in Iran. She is currently isolated in her home. The woman's husband was also tested for the virus but the tests came back negative, Gov. Cuomo said.

WHO says coronavirus is deadlier than seasonal flu, but doesn't transmit as easily

Story continues

Dr. Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said Tuesday that the global mortality rate for COVID-19 was 3.4 percent. That figure primarily reflects the outbreak in mainland China, where the vast majority of cases have been detected. In comparison, season flu typically kills fewer than 1 percent of those infected. D

Dr. Margaret Harris, a W.H.O. spokeswoman, said the figure was expected to "change over time, and vary from place to place." As researchers and officials get a clearer picture of the scale of those infected, the mortality rate could become "considerably less than 1 percent," according to an editorial published by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and Dr. H. Clifford Lane, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The coronavirus does not transmit as efficiently as influenza but causes more severe disease, Dr. Tedros added.

March 3

Eight countriesAndorra, Jordan, Latvia, Morocco, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and Tunisiareport new cases of COVID-19. Globally, over 90,000 cases have been confirmed and 3,200 deaths have been reported, with the vast majority of both occurring in mainland China, according to the WHO.

March 2

Six countriesArmenia, Czechia, Dominican Republic, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Indonesiareport new cases of COVID-19. A team of WHO experts arrive in Tehran, Iran in order to support the coronavirus response.

March 1

Five countriesAzerbaijan, Ecuador, Ireland, Monaco, and Qatarreport new cases of COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases in Hubei province, China, increases for two successive days after a period of decline.

February 29

Mexico and San Marino report new cases of COVID-19. The U.S. government announces it will suspend entry to foreign nationals who have been in Iran within the past 14 days.

February 28

Five countriesBelarus, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Nigeriareport new cases of COVID-19. WHO increases their assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact to "very high" at the global level. There are now over 36,000 cases who have recovered from COVID-19 in China.

The CDC issues notices elevating the situation to a Level 3 "Warning" in Italy and Level 3 "Warning" in Iran, and recommends that travelers should avoid all nonessential travel to those countries.

February 27

Nine countriesBrazil, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Norway, Pakistan, Romania, and North Macedoniareport new cases of COVID-19. The CDC updates its criteria to guide evaluation of persons under investigation for COVID-19.

February 26

Four countriesAlgeria, Austria, Croatia, and Switzerlandreport new cases of COVID-19. For the first time, since the onset of symptoms of the first identified case of COVID-19 on December 8, 2019, there are more new cases reported from countries outside of China than from China.

February 25

Four countriesAfghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Omanreport new cases of COVID-19. WHO shares an online course for healthcare workers and public health professionals titled Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

February 24

Kuwait reports new cases of COVID-19.

The CDC issues a notice elevating the situation to a Level 3 "Warning" in South Korea, and recommends travelers should avoid all nonessential travel to the country.

February 23

No new countries report cases of COVID-19.

February 22

Israel and Lebanon report new cases of COVID-19. The role of environmental contamination in the transmission of COVID-19 is not yet clear, according to WHO.

February 21

No new countries report cases of COVID-19.

February 20

Iran reports new cases of COVID-19. China revises their guidance on case classification for COVID-19, removing the classification of clinically diagnosed previously used for Hubei province, and retaining only suspected and confirmed for all areas, the latter requiring laboratory confirmation.

February 19

No new countries report cases of COVID-19. The CDC issues notices for Japan and Hong Kong, elevating the former to Level 2 "Alert" and urging practicing enhanced precautions, while declaring a Level 1 "Watch" for Hong Kong, urging to practice usual precautions.

February 16

A third death of a COVID-19 patient is reported outside of China. The individual was a tourist from China visiting France.

February 15

Egypt reports its first confirmed case of COVID-19. In a speech to the Munich Security Conference, the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak situation that WHO finds encouraging, and areas of concern.

The U.S. prepares to evacuate its citizens from a cruise ship quarantined at a Japanese dock. France confirms the first death from COVID-19 in Europe.

February 14

A second death is reported outside of China, in Japan. This individual did not have known travel history to China.

February 11

WHO names the upper respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus "COVID-19."

February 8

A U.S. citizen in Wuhan, China dies from the novel coronavirus, marking the first known fatality of a non-Chinese citizen.

February 7

Whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, who raised the alarm regarding the Wuhan coronavirus, dies.

January 30

WHO declares the outbreak to be a "public health emergency of international concern." The first two confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease are reported in Italy; both had travel history to Wuhan City.

The first confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease are reported in Finland, India and Philippines; all had travel history to Wuhan City.

January 21

The CDC confirms the first case of 2019-nCoV in the United States in the state of Washington.

January 20

As of this date, 282 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV are reported from four countries including China (278 cases), Thailand (2 cases), Japan (1 case) and the Republic of Korea (1 case).

January 12

WHO receives further detailed information from the National Health Commission China that the outbreak is associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan City.

January 7

The Chinese authorities identify a new type of coronavirus and isolate it.

January 3

By this date, a total of 44 case-patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology are reported to WHO by the national authorities in China.

December 31

The WHO China Country Office is informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) that are detected in Wuhan City, China.

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry shocked their world by deciding to step down from their positions as senior working royals. Since the announcement was made, rumors have been flying all over the place regarding where they will decide to live and how they will be financially independent.

Not all of the details of the royal exit  called Megxit  are finalized yet, but one thing that we do know is that as of the springtime, Meghan and Prince Harry will no longer be their royal highnesses. After announcing their plans, the couple has packed up and left their home in Windsor, England.

They have been spending a great deal of time in Canada, where they are enjoying the quieter life that they had been in search of all along. Prince Harry has returned to the United Kingdom and it was reported the queen was stressed about his return. That said, things have gone better than she imagined.

The past few weeks in Vancouver

Meghan and Prince Harry have always been a private couple and the fact that they have been relentlessly hassled by the British media was more than anyone should have to handle. They found themselves coming under scrutiny for just about everything, and finally, they had enough.

The couple announced their split from the royal family and took off for Vancouver, where they could finally have some privacy, and it is said to be working out great for them. Prince Harry and Meghan are much happier and are able to live the life that they had always wanted from the day that they got married.

Why are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returning to England?

Prince Harry | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

They are so happy in Canada, so why are they taking a trip to England so soon after leaving? Well, according to Glamour, her majesty requested that they visit in order to join the rest of the royals at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Service in early March. They will even be bringing Baby Archie along with them. Although no one expected them to be back in London so quickly, it will be wonderful to see the entire family together once again.

There is still some tension between Prince William and Prince Harry

Of the two brothers, Prince Harry is reportedly the more sensitive one. It is also pretty safe to say that Megxit has been stressful for Prince William and he and the rest of the senior royals work hard to finalize the details of Meghan and Prince Harrys resignation. As a result of everything that has happened, there is some tension between the princes, and according to MSN, although they are working on getting everything back to normal, their relationship still isnt where it used to be.

Why Prince Harrys return to the United Kingdom stressed Queen Elizabeth out

So, why is the queen stressed over her grandsons return to England? Glamour reports that more than anything, she just wants everyone to get along. She knows that there is still quite a bit of tension among everyone, and she hopes that everyone can put their differences aside during Meghan, Prince Harry, and Archies visit.

There is no doubt that her majesty is excited to see her grandson and his wife, as well as her great-grandson. But we can only imagine that the last thing she wants is drama among her family members.

That said, things look promising. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Harry reportedly grabbed lunch this past weekend in an informal setting. According to the Sun, the queen told Prince Harry he will always be welcomed back in a four-hour heart-to-heart.
Story Highlights Almost half of single mothers worldwide (44%) struggled to afford food in the past year

In the U.S., 40% of single mothers struggled to afford food; 27% could not afford shelter

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Worldwide, Gallup finds that single mothers are more likely than the rest of the population to be struggling to put food on their table and shelter over their head. For example, across 148 countries, 44% of single women aged 18 to 60 with children younger than 15 in their household -- a proxy for single mothers -- say they have had trouble affording food for their family in the past year, compared with 28% of other adults.

But the disparities between these single women and the rest of the population are even larger in some countries, including the U.S. Single mothers in the U.S. are significantly more likely than other Americans to say there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money for food (40% vs. 17%, respectively) or adequate shelter (27% vs. 14%).

Countries With Biggest Gaps for Single Moms: Afford Food Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed? Single women, children in household All other residents Gap % Yes % Yes Pct. pts. Canada 35 10 25 U.S. 40 17 23 Poland 36 13 23 Belgium 35 12 23 Australia 33 10 23 Countries in which single women with children under 15 in their household struggle most compared with other residents Gallup World Poll, 2014-2018

Countries With Biggest Gaps for Single Moms: Afford Shelter Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to provide adequate shelter or housing for you and your family? Single women, children in household All other residents Gap % Yes % Yes Pct. pts. Lithuania 36 18 18 Estonia 36 20 16 France 30 16 14 U.S. 27 14 13 N. Macedonia 24 11 13 Countries in which single women with children under 15 in their household struggle most compared with other residents Gallup World Poll, 2014-2018

These findings are based on five iterations of the Gallup World Poll, conducted between 2014 and 2018. The World Poll gathers data from more than 140 countries and areas annually, representing more than 99% of the global population.

It's important to note that the countries listed above are not those in which single women with children are most likely to struggle overall; as would be expected, those countries are in the world's poorest regions.

Across 40 sub-Saharan African countries, for example, 65% of single women with children in the household say there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money for food. But this figure reflects the general poverty of populations throughout the region, rather than circumstances specific to single mothers; among all other residents in sub-Saharan Africa, the figure is only somewhat lower, at 61%.

In Latin America, single women with children are substantially more likely than other residents to say they've struggled to provide food. However, the difference isn't as great as it is in the U.S./Canada and Australia/New Zealand, where such women stand out for their likelihood to experience hardship in societies with a higher baseline level of economic security. In other economically developed regions, a variety of economic and societal factors -- such as wealth distribution and public welfare programs -- may help explain the smaller gap between single women with children and other residents.

Single Moms Worldwide Struggling to Afford Food Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed? Single women, children in household All other residents Gap % Yes % Yes Pct. pts. World 44 28 16 Sub-Saharan Africa 65 61 4 Latin America 45 34 11 Southeast Asia 43 39 4 U.S./Canada 43 17 26 Middle East/North Africa 37 38 -1 South Asia 36 34 2 Post-Soviet Eurasia 36 26 10 Australia/New Zealand 35 10 25 Eastern Europe 31 19 12 East Asia 19 11 8 Western Europe 18 9 9 Gallup World Poll, 2014-2018

Implications

Single women raising children often face financial challenges regardless of where they live in the world. But Gallup data suggest the U.S. is among the countries where they struggle most relative to the rest of the country's population. Many single mothers in the U.S. live in low-income communities with limited childcare options and few opportunities to find good jobs.

Prior research has shown that such conditions often keep single parents focused on day-to-day subsistence, with little chance to consider longer-term strategies for upward mobility. Some observers, including the authors of a 2017 report from Brookings' The Hamilton Project, conclude that public investments in childcare and other strategies for removing barriers to education and job opportunities for single mothers could help many improve their financial situation while boosting women's overall participation in the labor market.

For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
Hes like the cockroach that has evolved. Hes a cockroach who knows how to get perfect signatures and theres nothing we can do, Morrison said. We fought it. We looked at it. He had good signatures. But he had those good signatures because the average person  the doors he went up and knocked on  they had no idea who Arthur Jones was.
Latest: At tonight's Covid-19 briefing, the chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan said they have been able to explain the source of the infection of each of the previous cases but not in the case which has arisen in Cork.

He said that gives rise to the possibility of community transmission but he said that is the pattern the virus has followed as it's spread in other countries.

Dr Colin Henry, HSE clinical officer, confirmed that the patient had spent a period in hospital before diagnosis and was in contact with health care workers.

A crisis management team has now been established to manage the situation.

Medical staff identified during contact tracing as at risk will be asked to self-isolate, he said.

He said CUH management and public health experts have also taken a series of robust and immediate actions to prioritise patient safety, including imposing visitor restrictions, ceasing elective surgery, cancelling out-patient appointments and clearing space for isolation.

He said those actions will be reviewed after the weekend.

First case of Covid-19 confirmed in Cork

The first case of Covid-19 has been confirmed in Cork - feared to be the first community-acquired case of the virus in this country.

Strict visitor restrictions have now been introduced at Cork University Hospital (CUH) where a middle-aged male patient is being treated in isolation.

It is understood that the patient presented at CUH a number of days ago with complications arising from an existing underlying health condition.

When his condition did not improve, a raft of new tests were ordered, including the test for Covid-19. It returned positive.

An extensive contact tracing exercise is now underway to identify close contacts, including the mans family members, medical staff, patients and medical students.

The latest confirmed case is the 13th in the Republic but it is the first time that a case has been confirmed in a patient with no history of travel to affected areas in Northern Italy, and with no known contact with previous confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Of the new seven cases confirmed today, four involve males from the east of the country and are travel related from northern Italy.

Two others are associated with close contact with a confirmed case, two females in the west of the country.

In a statement the CUH said it had introduced strict visitor restrictions as a precautionary measure.

We are advised by our experts that in the interest of patient safety we are currently restricting access to the hospitals facilities to patients only.

This is in the interest of patient care and in order to prevent the spread of infections within the hospital.

 Anyone with any queries about visiting times or visiting a particular ward should ring the hospital on tel: 021-4922000.

We regret any inconvenience caused to patients and relatives by these necessary measures, which are being taken in the interests of patient care.

All infection control measures are in place and every effort is being made to manage and contain the spread of infection.

The statement added: "All Outpatient appointments have been cancelled in Cork University Hospital tomorrow (Friday, March 6) due to Infection Control issues."

Management at the South/South West Hospital Group insisted however that CUHs emergency department, one of the busiest in the country, remains open for emergency cases.

However, all out-patient appointments for tomorrow have been cancelled.

They said where appropriate, people should contact their GP or Southdoc in the first instance and explore all other options available to them before presenting to emergency departments in the city if their needs are not urgent.

The Mater Private Hospital in the city has also restricted access to its facilities to patients only.

As a precautionary measure, we are advised by our experts that in the interest of patient safety we are currently restricting access to the hospitals facilities to patients only.



We thank you for your understanding and cooperation. pic.twitter.com/yfCZLs2uzl  Mater Private Network Cork (@MaterCork) March 5, 2020

The National Public health Emergency Team is due to provide the latest update on the outbreak this evening,

All the patients are associated with travel from the same affected area in Northern Italy.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris said his one focus was to contain this virus.

We will continue to provide all the information we can, he said.

It is also important to know that the vast majority of people who contract this virus will not need hospital care, they can be treated at home.

"It is also important to know that currently in Ireland, the likelihood of person to person transmission is low."

He added: I want to assure you our approach to this challenge is and will remain both vigilant and proportionate.

Useful information The HSE have developed an information pack on how to protect yourself and others from coronavirus. Read it here

Anyone with symptoms of coronavirus who has been in close contact with a confirmed case in the last 14 days should isolate themselves from other people - this means going into a different, well-ventilated room alone, with a phone; phone their GP, or emergency department - if this is not possible, phone 112 or 999 and in a medical emergency (if you have severe symptoms) phone 112 or 999

Anyone with any queries about visiting times or visiting a particular ward at Cork University Hospital should ring the hospital on Tel: 021  4922000

Additional reporting by Greg Murphy, Joel Slattery and Sean ORiordan
Pope Francis in his message for the 2020 diocesan World Youth Day, invites young people to be missionary disciples and to give their passions and dreams free rein.

By Lydia OKane

Its two years until the next World Youth Day, which will take place in the city of Lisbon in 2022 and in that intervening time, Pope Francis is inviting young people to reflect on the themes for the diocesan World Youth Days of 2020 and 2021.

Young man, I say to you, arise! is the 2020 theme taken from Lukes Gospel; and 2021 features the biblical text taken from the Acts of the Apostles: Stand up. I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen.

Arise in 2020

Focusing his attention on this years message, which is divided into five sections, Pope Francis says that for the young person who has lost his or her vitality, dreams, optimism and enthusiasm, there is hope.

That hope is in Jesus, who the Pope says, stands before you as once he stood before the dead son of the widow, and with all the power of His resurrection He urges you: Young man, I say to you, arise.

That passage in the Bible, the Pontiff explains, tells us how Jesus, upon entering the town of Nain in Galilee, came upon the funeral procession of a young person, the only son of a widowed mother. Jesus, struck by the womans heartrending grief, miraculously restored her son to life.

Pain and death

In the first section of the message, Pope Francis reflects on Jesus ability to see pain and death. He points out that Jesus, in the midst of the crowd, makes out the face of a woman in great pain. His ability to see generates encounter, the source of new life.

In todays world the Pope asks, how often do we end up being eyewitnesses of events without ever experiencing them in real time? Sometimes, he adds, our first reaction is to take a picture with our cell phone, without even bothering to look into the eyes of the persons involved.

The Pontiff goes on to say that many young people are dead because they feel hopeless. Others, he continues, waste their lives with superficial things, thinking they are alive while in fact they are dead within.

Negative situations, the Pope emphasizes in the message, can also be the result of personal failure, whenever something we care about, something we were committed to, no longer seems to be working or giving the desired results. But failures, he underlines, are part of the life of every human being; sometimes they can also end up being a grace.

A compassionate heart

In the second section of the message, to have compassion, Pope Francis counsels young people not to be robbed of this sensitivity.

If you can learn to weep with those who are weeping, Pope Francis says, you will find true happiness. So many of your contemporaries are disadvantaged and victims of violence and persecution. Let their wounds become your own, and you will be bearers of hope in this world.

The closeness of God

To come forward and touch is the third section of the message, and the Pope notes how Jesus in the passage from Lukes Gospel stops the funeral procession and demonstrates His closeness. The touch of Jesus, the living One, comments the Pope, communicates life.

Pope Francis goes on to says that if you can feel Gods immense love for every living creature  especially our brothers and sisters who experience hunger and thirst, or are sick or naked or imprisoned  then you will be able to draw near to them as He does.

The Divine Word gives life meaning

In the penultimate section, Pope Francis writes that people who are not on a journey never fall; then again, neither do they move forward.

This life is really a new creation, a new birth, not just a form of psychological conditioning, the Pope says.

He also stresses that young people need to look deeper than mere fashionable phrases and words. It is Jesus Word, he says, that has a deeper resonance, because it goes infinitely deeper. It is a divine and creative Word, which alone can bring the dead to life.

An invitation to dream

In the final section entitled Living the new life as risen ones, Pope Francis returns to the Gospel passage which recounts that the young man began to speak.

Those touched and restored to life by Jesus, the Pope says, immediately speak up and express without hesitation or fear what has happened deep within them: their personality, desires, needs and dreams.

Concluding his message, the Pope points out that today, we are often connected but not communicating. The indiscriminate use of electronic devices can keep us constantly glued to the screen.

With this Message, Pope Francis writes, I would like to join you, young people, in calling for a cultural change, based on Jesus command to arise. He calls us to embrace a reality that is so much more than virtual.

Arise! he adds, is also an invitation to dream, to take a risk, to be committed to changing the world, to rekindle your hopes and aspirations, and to contemplate the heavens, the stars and the world around you.

The Pope then invites young people to give their passions and dreams free rein, and, through them, offer the world, the Church and other young people something beautiful, whether in the realm of the spirit, the arts or society Make your voices heard.

Diocesan World Youth Day 2020 is marked on Palm Sunday, April 5.
Violent rain has killed scores of people and forced thousands from their homes this year in Brazil's most populous states, a disaster experts blame on climate upheaval but also rampant urbanization. Flash floods, landslides and other havoc wrought by torrential rain have killed at least 29 people in recent days in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Another 25 are missing. That comes after more than 50 people were killed by heavy rain that devastated the state of Minas Gerais in January. The same scenes of destruction have played out in all three southeastern states, together home to more than 83 million people: poor neighborhoods wiped out by tidal waves of brown mud; houses and cars swept away by flash floods; residents evacuated by boat and helicopter as their streets turn to gushing rivers. More than three million people live in high-risk zones in Brazil's southeast, which has been hit by record rain this year -- in some places, a month's worth in a matter of hours. As dozens of rescue workers dug through the debris of wrecked houses for his missing mother, stepfather and sister-in-law, one of those affected, 24-year-old Yago de Sousa Nunes, voiced frustration that the authorities did not do more to protect the at-risk population. "The city government knew this was a high-risk zone, they knew how much rain was going to fall this week, but they didn't do anything to evacuate people," he said alongside the ruins of the Barreira de Joao Guarda neighborhood, in the coastal city of Guaruja, Sao Paulo. - Extreme weather - Is climate change to blame? Experts say more studies are needed to be sure. But there is no doubt the region is experiencing "an increase in extreme weather events," said Andrea Ramos of the National Meteorological Institute. This year, the rainy season in southeastern Brazil has been marked by extremes, said Marcelo Seluchi of the Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alert Center (Cemaden): very dry in the first half of the summer, then very wet from mid-January on. "The planet is heating up, that's beyond doubt. It's more humid than 50 or 100 years ago, which means the same weather systems have more potential to create rain," he said. That has combined with the rampant expansion of urban areas to increase people's vulnerability to floods. Brazil's biggest cities have seen decades of nearly unchecked growth, as poor migrants arrive and settle wherever they can, often building unstable shantytowns on hillsides or the extreme city outskirts. "Population growth and the growth of cities means we're replacing vegetation with cement, and that's where a long-standing problem in Brazil comes into play: lots of building on high-risk areas," Seluchi told AFP. More than half the population of the southeast region's state capitals -- Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Vitoria -- lives in at-risk zones. And 80 percent of those people are "highly vulnerable: they live in very precarious houses, with high population density and a high percentage of children and the elderly," he said. - Housing problem - Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Marcelo Crivella, a far-right evangelical Christian bishop, caused outrage amid the floods when he blamed residents for the destruction. "People like to live close (to flood-prone rivers and gulleys) because they spend less on sewage pipes for their pee and poop," he said. Unaffordable housing costs have forced the urban poor into areas unfit for settlements, said Henrique Evers, an urban development expert at the World Resources Institute. "Planning housing for vulnerable populations near urban services is one of the best ways to deal with this challenge," he said. "Brazil still has a long way to go." Rescuers search for victims at the Morro do Macaco Molhado favela in the coastal city of Guaruja, Sao Paulo, after it was struck by torrential rains A cat rescued from a landslide in the Morro do Macaco Molhado favela in the coastal city of Guaruja, Sao Paulo A flooded street in the Morro do Macaco Molhado favela in Guaruja, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state Destruction caused by a landslide in the Morro do Macaco Molhado favela in Guaruja, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state
Is it a matter of narrative over-complication that keeps Onward from being better? Not really: My favorite Pixar movie, Ratatouille, is practically insane in its zigzags and its central premise of a rat becoming a gourmet chef. But somethings off with the dad element in Onward." Screenwriters Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin keep reminding us of the spell-casting deadline, and of the reason the boys are going through all this mayhem. They have to remind us, otherwise wed forget.
The Acting Minister of National Defense, Nicolae Ciuca, attended, on Wednesday and Thursday, the informal meeting of the Defense ministers from the Member States of the European Union, which took place in Zagreb, in which context he reconfirmed Romania's support for the EU commitments in the Balkans, in the central-southern region of the Mediterranean Sea, but also on the African continent.

"Minister Ciuca reconfirmed Romania's support for EU commitments in the Balkans, in the central-south region of the Mediterranean Sea, but also on the African continent, in efforts to strengthen security and stability in the Horn of Africa and in the Central African Republic, as well as stabilizing the situation in Mali and the Sahel region. In this regard he underlined our country's participation in EU and UN missions in the Sahel region with military personnel in EUTM Mali and a helicopter detachment in United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)," shows a press release of the National Defense Ministry (MApN) sent to AGERPRES.During the session dedicated to the security and defense priorities of the European Union, the Minister of National Defense supported the role of the EU Global Strategy as a solid foundation for asserting the organization as a credible and ambitious actor on the international stage, highlights the MApN. He also noted that a strengthened European defense needs better defense capabilities, as well as an enhanced ability to respond to security challenges and threats.Minister Nicolae Ciuca emphasized, according to the cited source, the contributions of the European initiatives such as PESCO, EDF, CARD to strengthening the EU profile of relevant actor in matters of security and defense, but also their essential role in the good sharing of defense efforts in the transatlantic relationship. He also stressed the importance of ensuring coherence and complementarity with NATO for all EU defense initiatives and expressed support for strengthening EU-NATO cooperation.The Defense Minister also highlighted Romania's openness and support for the analysis process started in order to develop a Strategic Compass Instrument, stressing the importance of a clear definition of the role of the document in relation to the other concepts and strategies elaborated at EU level. He expressed support for conducting the strategic review process of PESCO, specifying that the assessment of the implementation stage of the commitments made must be carried out in a constructive and balanced manner, which will support and encourage the development of the EU's defense capabilities.On the sidelines of the meeting, the Minister of National Defense signed with his counterparts from Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation within the framework of the PESCO project dedicated to setting up rapid response and mutual assistance teams in the event of a cyber attack.
DUSSELDORF, Germany, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alessandra Ambrosio, the famous Victoria Secret model and Vogue cover girl has been criticised after she launched a bikini line which she captioned as having the 'power of YANTRA.' She called the line special because it uses the geometry of the SRI YANTRA symbol proving she is trying to blend spirituality with fashion design. Several Hindu groups were quick to demand that Alessandra Ambrosio publicly apologise and rename her bikini line as they believe it is inappropriate and offensive to their religion. Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that "ancient Yantra," which is "the visual equivalent of mantra" or religious chants, represents "the Goddess and the cosmos" and is "a serious and sacred symbol or concept used for Hindu liturgy and meditation."

Alessandra Ambrosio in Sri Yantra Bikini Indian author and Yantra expert Vinita Rashinkar

Vinita Rashinkar, noted Indian author of the bestselling "Sri Chakra Yantra" has come to the defence of the former model and states that it is ridiculous for Hindu groups to oppose the bikini line on the grounds that it offends Hindu religious beliefs. In a statement, the author says: "The Sri Yantra is the ultimate symbol of Shakti - the power of the feminine energy." In the Vedic tradition, the Sri Yantra is regarded as the representation of the universe as well as the body of the goddess related to the feminine principle. If by wearing the Sri Yantra in any form allows a woman to feel the goddess-power within herself and helps her to move toward a radiant and joyful manifestation, then it should not be seen as hurting Hindu sentiments.

Zed also said that it "hurt the devotees" through the line, which featured "inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or icons or symbols for commercial or other agenda." Vinita counters this by stating that the Sri Yantra design is seen everywhere from t-shirts to jewellery, even bed spreads and wall decals so it is wrong to single out Alessandra for criticism and accuse her of commercialising the yantra when the whole world is doing the same and no one has raised an issue so far.

Vinita explains in her book "The Sri Chakra Yantra" that a yantra is an instrument for meditation which supports spiritual growth. The Sri Yantra is known to be the most powerful among all yantras and is the symbol of the great divine mother principle, the source of all energy, power and creativity.

Media contact:

Vinita Rashinkar

[email protected]

+ 919810069570

www.vinitarashinkar.in

SOURCE Sri Chakra Yantra Foundation
An Airbus A330 has made an emergency landing at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport after its navigation system failure sensor went off, an emergency source said.



According to the source, the plane was bound from Moscow to Dubai. Its navigation system failure sensor went off shortly after departure and the crew decided to return to Sheremetyevo, TASS reported.



There were no casualties during the emergency landing.
Ousted BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh Kuldeep Singh Sengar and brother have been convicted in the death of the father of the Unnao rape complainant. The Tis Hazari Court in Delhi held Senger and six others guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the custodial death two years ago.

BCCL

Three policemen, who were also linked to the case, were also charged with murder. The 55-year-old was arrested by police on charges of an attraction with one Shashi Pratap Singh, who then called up Atul. The MLAs brother and others beat up the woman's father who was subsequently taken to the police station and an FIR was lodged against him.

He died in judicial custody on April 9, 2018, due to alleged torture, a day after the complainant tried to self-immolate in front of CM Yogi Adityanath's residence seeking justice.

Before he died, the father who was admitted to a hospital after his health deteriorated had given a statement saying Atul Senger, the brother of the MLA had tortured him in jail.

BCCL

Following the death, were framed against Sengar, his brother Atul, the Makhi police station in-charge, sub-inspector Kamta Prasad, Constable Amir Khan, and six others.



However, despite the postmortem revealing horrific custodial torture, district judge Dharmesh Sharma said Sengar had no intention of killing the victims father. He was beaten in a brutal manner that led to his death, the judge said.

Sengar is already serving jail for the "remainder of his natural biological life" for raping the woman in 2017 when she was a minor. The former BJP strongman is also accused of trying to murder the rape complainant after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the incident. She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and to AIIMS in Delhi.

BCCL

The family had alleged that Senger had threatened to eliminate them if they went ahead with the case. Ever since the case surfaced the BJP was accused of trying to shield the 53-year-old four-time MLA. It was only in August 2019, after facing massive public and political outrage, the BJP finally suspended and later expelled him from the party.



BCCL

Despite the expulsion, he allegedly enjoys the party's backing, with even Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj visiting him in jail to thank Sengar for his support in the election. Another BJP MLA Ashish Singh Ashu, the lawmaker from Hardoi had openly supported him and said that Senger was going through tough times and expressed hope that he will come out soon.


H ilary Mantels latest, The Mirror And The Light, comes out today. It is already the book of the decade (it doesnt matter that the decade has barely begun; its never too early to call it). This is the book to be seen reading, even if you dont actually finish it.

It is 882 pages long  a slog for even quick readers, or those with a very long commute. (It is, however, ideal if you find yourself self-isolating for 14 days thanks to coronavirus.) So, if you dont have time on your hands, how do you give the impression youve read it? Heres how to fake it.

Whats it about?

This is the third volume in Hilary Mantels trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, tracing his humble beginnings in Putney to his role as the fixer and right-hand man of Henry VIII.

He was, more than anyone else, responsible for implementing the Reformation in England and dissolving the monasteries. He also dealt with Henrys wives  a tricky matter.

What does the title, The Mirror And The Light, actually mean?

Its a description of Henry VIII as the mirror and light of all other kings and princes in Christendom. Which is ironic, given what happens.

Author Hilary Mantel / BBC/Oxford Film and TV

The recap

The first book of the trilogy, Wolf Hall, is about Cromwells rise to power under his patron, Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII brought down Wolsey when the cardinal didnt manage to dissolve his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. (Henry had six wives; Cromwell only dealt with the first four.) Cromwell took Wolseys role as the Kings fixer and saw off Thomas More, who succeeded Wolsey as Lord Chancellor. More was beheaded, and Henry broke with Rome.

The second book, Bring Up The Bodies, sees Anne Boleyn as Queen. It ends with her being condemned to death, so Henry can marry his new fancy: shy Jane Seymour. Cromwell engineers Annes downfall, not least because she and her circle were involved in the destruction of Cardinal Wolsey. (Loyalty to Wolsey is Cromwells main redeeming feature in this trilogy.) One of the men executed is Annes brother George, for allegedly having sex with her. Yes, incest: gross.

The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel

Which brings us to

The Mirror And The Light, which begins in 1536 where the second left off, with the execution of Anne Boleyn. The book begins: Once the queens head is severed, he walks away. A sharp pang of appetite reminds him that it is time for a second breakfast

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Got the plot

Cromwells rise and rise. He becomes Earl of Essex, the Kings Secretary and Lord Privy Seal, despite his humble origins, which annoys grandees like the Duke of Norfolk. There is a popular rebellion in the North, the Pilgrimage of Grace, against the changes in religion. This is suppressed with the usual deceit and brutality. Jane Seymour becomes Queen, and dies after giving birth to a son. Cromwell is involved with Henrys marriage to the German Anne of Cleves, whom Henry doesnt fancy when he sees her (she smells). He blames Cromwell. Meanwhile, Cromwell has married his son Gregory to Queen Janes sister, which brings him dangerously close to the throne. There is, then, an awful lot of history crammed into this book. It ends in 1540 with

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Spoiler alert

 the beheading of Cromwell. Actually, this wouldnt be a spoiler if English history was taught properly in schools.

The Big Man

Thomas Cromwell in life was ruthless and avaricious: see the giveaway portrait by Holbein. Here he is an actual Renaissance man. He starts as the son of a brewer and ends as the most powerful man in England after the King.

Hilary Mantel makes him a brilliant linguist, a man handy with a knife, a genius organiser (true), a practical man of action (good on building projects) and even a proto-environmentalist. Mantel also makes him a) fanciable and b) a hero for our time: a self-made man brought low by entitled snobs.

Got style

Mantel writes in the present tense, in the third person. So, theres a lot of he says, he thinks, which can be confusing. This drives some people nuts. The characters have modern diction with authentic period turns of phrase. Sometimes she slips. At one point, Jane Seymour observes: Marvellous, isnt it?, which is more modern royal than Tudor royal.

Does Hilary Mantel take liberties with history?

Of course she does. She makes good use of the most recent biography by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Mantels most interesting take on Cromwell is that he is driven by loyalty to the memory of Cardinal Wolsey.

Her worst move is to turn Thomas More into a heretic-hunting killjoy when he was one of the wittiest men of his time, who educated his daughters as well as any man, and was Englands foremost humanist. She even has him arranging an assassination from the Tower, which would take some doing.Weirdly, she dismisses the Pilgrimage of Grace, a genuine mass popular uprising, as mob violence by a rabble.

Shes good on period detail: theres a description of a burning ... eugh.

NB, you can learn more about her writing process in a BBC documentary, Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall, which airs on Saturday.

Do say: Its obviously too long. Dont say: I lost the will to live after the first chapter

Talking points

Do say: Its obviously too long. She cant seem to leave anything out. But amazing how she manages to get so much history in. The descriptions of food!

Dont say: Its so long, I lost the will to live after the first chapter.

Do say: She really brings the period to life. The depiction of Thomas Wyatt, now that was fabulous; it really makes you think about his poetry.

Dont say: Did you see the cast of characters at the beginning? That ran to five-and-a-half pages.

Do say: It was so striking how she managed to tie up the beginning with the end. The whole thing starts with Cromwell lying on the ground and it ends with him lying on the ground. Without his head, obviously.

Dont say: I cant wait for the televised version to find out whats going on. Do you think theyll still get Mark Rylance?

Do say: Shes obviously our best contemporary novelist.

Dont say: Game Of Thrones, eh?

The Important Question. Does she deserve a third Booker? Yes.

How Cromwell are you? by Samuel Fishwick

Thomas Cromwell was, in modern parlance, a generational talent. Henry VIII knew it. History knows it. Thanks to Hilary Mantel, you know it. The man, the legend  he invariably got things done, one way or another. Maybe you too have a problem that needs solving, perhaps a nation state in peril. The question is, are you Cromwell enough for the job?

1. Its 1534 and you are the newly appointed master of the rolls. Congrats! What do your close friends call you?

a. Your goodness.

b. Thomas.

c. TC (providing its with dignity).

2. Its your first day in a new job in Westminster. What outfit will you wear to impress the boss?

a. Statement blazer, polished winklepickers and a power ruff.

b. Understated black velvet, lined overcoat and a power codpiece.

c. Adidas anorak, two plaid shirts and a power lanyard.

3. Oh no! You are locked in a titanic power struggle for sovereignty with the largest power base in Europe. Where do you turn?

a. To your blog, to light up your batsignal calling all weirdos and misfits.

b. To Rome. Youre on a mission from God.

c. To the office, to hand in your P45.

4. The careers going well, and youve decided to move house. Where do you want to set up shop?

a. Austin, Texas.

b. Austin Friars.

c. Austin Powers.

5. Youre going on a long business trip, and plan to while away the long hours with a little light reading. What book do you pack?

a. Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged, translated into Ancient Greek.

b. Erasmuss New Testament, translated into Ancient Greek.
It seems like Huawei is planning to boost its in-house chip design capabilities. This information comes from Digitimes, and was provided by industry sources.

Huawei wants to boost in-house chip design capabilities to reduce dependency on others

The company is trying to further reduce its dependence on US technology by doing this. As most of you know, Huawei has been predominantly using its Kirin processors in its smartphones.

Those chips are manufactured by Huaweis chipmaking arm called HiSilicon, and the two companies have been beefing up their R&D teams, according to industry sources.

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The sources have also added that Huawei plans to work towards self-reliance in the production of core technologies. This points towards less dependency on US technology, thats for sure.

The company is trying to be more self-sufficient. Not only when it comes to the tech itself, but manufacturing as well. This change could affect Huaweis existing Taiwan-based partners, as they will feel pressure to maintain orders from Huawei this year.

The sources noted that Taiwan-based suppliers of peripheral ICs, such as display driver ICs, sensors, RFICs, and analog chips, should not have any issues. They should still be able to land orders from Huawei without a problem.

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The company plans to announce in-house developed wired & wireless connectivity ICs

The source also claims that Huawei is planning to announce an in-house developed wired and wireless connectivity ICs in Q2 2020. It was also noted that Huawei developed its own processors, including AI chips, thanks to its R&D team. The companys workforce has been scaled up immensely over the last 10 years.

As most of you know by now, Huawei ended up on the US ban list last year. The company has been accused of many things, and thus is forbidden to work with US companies, with several exceptions for existing products.

That being said, Huawei not only lost Googles partnership as a result, at least for the time being, but a lot of partners for its hardware. That includes some core technologies as well. The company managed to sort things out fairly quickly in the hardware department. Things are more tricky when it comes to software, though.

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In any case, the company has developed HMS to replace GMS, and is also promoting AppGallery as a Play Store replacement.

That software issue is an ongoing battle. While that is ongoing, Huawei is trying to boost its in-house chip design capabilities to avoid such issues again. The company simply wants to be more independent.

Its not difficult to understand this move by Huawei. It doesnt want to allow others to dictate its business, as one such decision from the US managed to create a lot of problems for Huawei. It remains to be seen what will happen from this point on.
A staff member wears protective gear at the temperature check station of the arrival hall in Beijing Capital Airport as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A 370-pupil primary school that closed yesterday amid coronavirus concerns is reopening today, after being told it should not have shut.

Parents were left in the dark when they received a brief message at 7.30am yesterday advising that the school would not open and that further information would follow.

It sparked confusion among parents, whose concerns ranged from risk to health to having to make childcare arrangements, while others welcomed what they saw as a precautionary step.

Some hours later, a follow-up message said: "Dear parents, we have closed the school as a precaution and are waiting further instructions from the HSE."

It is understood that the school, in the east of the country, had concerns about some children feeling unwell and was in touch with the HSE on Tuesday night. It was advised that the HSE would be in contact yesterday, but it took its own decision to close.

There was as swift reaction from the Department of Education which was in contact with the school authorities yesterday. The department said that it was "essential that any decisions regarding school closures in relation to Covid-19 are proportionate, necessary and based on specific public health advice. No other response is appropriate."

A statement added that the Departments of Health and Education were in constant communication regarding Ireland's responsiveness to Covid-19, otherwise known as coronavirus.

The school's decision to close coincided with the confirmation of a second case of coronavirus but there is nothing to suggest any link between the two events.

One post-primary school has closed, following the confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in the Republic, a male student who recently returned from an 'at risk' region in northern Italy.

Following a risk assessment, all pupils and teachers are being treated as close contacts of this case and the school, in Dublin, has been shut for a 14-day period.
New designs for the Dagenham Studios were unveiled today as part of a planning application to transform a former factory site.

The plans were submitted by Be First, Barking and Dagenham Councils regeneration organisation, and are expected to be considered by the Councils Planning Committee in July this year.

Councillor, Darren Rodwell, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: This is a crucial stage in our ambition to make Dagenham Londons Hollywood. Our dream of making the area as famous for films as it was for Fords is very much on track.

The new studios will be a game-changer in bringing thousands of jobs to Dagenham.

Dagenham is already becoming known as a new hotspot for digital and knowledge-based industries with a huge data centre under construction and the UCL PEARL research centre set to be built just a stones throw away from the studios site. Its another sign that Dagenhams star is rising.

Pat Hayes, Managing Director of Be First, said: Our Consultancy Team has worked hard to submit exciting plans for what will be the most modern and largest studios to be built in the capital in the last 25 years.

Given the high demand for studio space in the UK, I am confident that ambitious movie makers, production companies and studio operators will be very attracted by these proposals.

The plans feature six large sound stages  equivalent to 140,000 sq ft, 85,200 sq ft of offices and 174,500 sq ft of workshops.

Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive, Film London and the British Film Commission said: The UK screen industries are enjoying an exceptional boom time and it is crucial that we capitalise on this by continuing to develop our world-class infrastructure and provide access to as much purpose built studio space as we possibly can.

I am therefore delighted to see the Dagenham studios proposals moving forward so positively with such ambitious and cutting-edge designs that will further bolster Londons studio offer.

Chris Berry of Lampton Smith Hampton, who have been working with Be First on the film studios project, said: The planning application is another step forward in this exciting project and demonstrates the councils commitment to the sector. We are delighted to be associated with it.

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The question over which presidential candidates deserve taxpayer-funded Secret Service protection, and when such protection should begin, can be a tricky calculation  for federal officials and the candidates themselves. Under federal guidelines, a candidate must meet minimum standards that include being a major candidate in his or her party  generally defined as a someone who is regularly appearing at rallies, conducting a national campaign and receiving at least 15 percent support in established polls. Biden and Sanders both meet such requirements.
Clinton told Jimmy Fallon Biden 'had so much energy' and it was 'very exciting'

Hillary Clinton praised the new Democrat front-runner, Joe Biden, describing the former vice president as a 'deeply decent person' who is the 'opposite' of Donald Trump.

The former First Lady said on Tuesday that she was 'not planning to endorse' anyone in the party.

But after Biden's better-than-expected Super Tuesday performance Clinton appeared to give her backing to her former colleague in the Obama administration.

Appearing on the The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night, Clinton said 'it was very exciting' because Biden 'had so much energy' in his campaign following his first primary win in South Carolina last week.

Biden declared victory in the Super Tuesday primaries after winning 10 of the 14 states up for grabs.

His main rival Bernie Sanders looked set to take four states, including California which has 415 delegates.

Hillary Clinton during an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on Wednesday night. She described Joe Biden as 'a deeply decent person'

During the interview the former secretary of state went on to say that Biden 'doesn't take cheap shots at people' and that he is 'the opposite of what we currently have in the White House'.

When asked about he Super Tuesday result by Fallon, Clinton replied that she has known Biden 'a really long time' and that voters decided 'the most important thing' was to 'retire' Donald Trump.

She said: 'People know he [Biden] is a deeply decent person, he is a kind person, he doesn't take cheap shots at people, he doesn't insult people as a way of, you know, trying to put people down and lift himself up.

'He is such the opposite of what we currently have in the White House, I really think that a lot of people had a chance to thin about it as this contest go going and decide, boy, the most important thing is we retire the incumbent, that's more important than anything else.'

She added after the audience started cheering: 'And he has the experience. He knows what needs to be done, he can repair the damage that he would be inheriting, so I think that is what was going on in people's minds.'

Clinton also said Super Tuesday was the first time all sections of American society got a chance to have their say on the Democrat presidential nominee.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaking during a campaign stop in Los Angeles, California, yesterday

She added: 'It's the first time that the real diversity of our country is going to go out and vote and then that vote will have a big impact on the outcome, as we saw last night with Joe Biden.'

Asked by Fallon what she thought of Biden's success, Clinton said: 'Look, I thought it was very exciting because starting in South Carolina, he had so much energy and what he had to say was, you know, really enthusiastic and positive and about what he was going to do and who he was.

'And the people of South Carolina, obviously, rewarded that. And then, that kind of set off this momentum, and it carried him.'

Biden dominated was the south, with wins stretching from Virginia to Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. Biden scored a surprise win in Minnesota.

He won South Carolina with large swaths of the African-American vote, while Sanders did well among Latinos and attracted the youth vote.

The candidates are gearing up for their next battle on March 10 when they go head-to-head over six states.
[March 05, 2020] Atlantic Broadband Deploys 10 Gig Fiber Service for Businesses

Atlantic Broadband, the nation's eighth-largest cable operator, today announced the availability of 10 Gigabit fiber service for its business internet customers in Western Pennsylvania, Rochester, New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Additional deployments are planned this spring in the company's Belmont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware and Florida service areas. The launch follows a major upgrade to the Atlantic Broadband transport network so that businesses with demanding speed and performance requirements now will have ready access to the 10 Gig speed without the need for additional engineering requirements. "The investment by Atlantic Broadband in our core network means these markets are now 10 Gig ready, so businesses looking for the enterprise-class speed, reliability and scale of dedicated internet access (DIA) or Point-to-Point solutions can be installed quickly without the need for additional network configuration work," said Heather McCallion, Vice President of Products and Programming for Atlantic Broadband. "With advanced, forward-looking 10 Gig technology, we will meet the demanding data needs of today's businesses, while having the capacity to meet future needs as businesses grow." 10 Gig with symmetrical download and upload speeds opens up new possibilities for businesses of all sizes: it allows for seamless Ultra High Definition-including 8K-video streaming and uploading, the quick transport of high-resolution diagnostic and medical imaging, large-scale video conferencing, and superfast data backups. It also will provide vital access to cloud-based business applications and platforms. In its Global Cloud Index Report (2016-2021), Cisco (News - Alert) noted that businesses will continue to shift from dedicated, on premise servers to cloud-based applications, with 95 percent of all workloads expected to run on cloud-based platforms by 2021, where secure, high-capacity data transport is essential.



Atlantic Broadband has long been a market leader for ultrafast internet deployments. It was the first provider in Connecticut to launch Gigabit speed internet in 2016 and was the first to deploy the service a year later in its Miami footprint. Last year, the company made 1 Gigabit internet available to more than 90 percent of its footprint across 11 states, well ahead of the industry pace. "We will continue to invest so that we have the very best networks for business and consumer needs," said McCallion. To learn about Atlantic Broadband's internet, phone and TV offerings for business, visit https://atlanticbb.com/business and https://atlanticbb.com/business/enterprise.

ABOUT ATLANTIC BROADBAND

Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX: CCA), is the eighth- largest cable operator in the United States, based on the number of television service customers served. The company provides its residential and business customers with internet, TV and phone services in 11 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Atlantic Broadband is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. To learn more about Atlantic Broadband, please visit https://atlanticbb.com. ABOUT ATLANTIC BROADBAND BUSINESS

Atlantic Broadband Business delivers advanced Video, Internet, Business WiFi (News - Alert) and Phone services to small and medium businesses over a highly reliable, fiber-rich, high-capacity network. It also offers customized, scalable Metro Ethernet enterprise solutions, including dedicated fiber with symmetrical speeds up to 10 Gbps, point-point and multipoint transport, and Hosted Voice solutions. Atlantic Broadband supports its business clients with 24/7 network monitoring and technical support, professional client care, and dedicated local account executives. To learn more, visit atlanticbb.com/business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005058/en/

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In an apparent effort to reach out to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (March 5) attended a mass marriage ceremony of Adivasi girls and boys held in Malda district. During the ceremony, CM Mamata was also seen shaking a leg with Adivasi women.

A total of 300 Adivasi couples from Gazole, Habibpur and Bamangola were married in the ceremony which was organised by West Bengal police. The newlyweds were also given Rs 25,000 as one-time financial assistance by CM Mamata Banerjee under Rupashree Prakalpa scheme.

"I wish the best to all of you who are getting married today. You(adivasis) are our pride. Almost 300 families are getting married. Wish them happiness. I feel elated to be a part of this Gana Bibaha in the adivasi culture. We have made a law that no one can grab your land. Land and rights of adivasis are of adivasis. If anyone is interested in community marriages please seek help from police, they will help you. Soon I will visit North Bengal too," said CM Mamata.

The West Bengal chief minister decided to attend the mass marriage ceremony days after launching her 'Joy Bangla' and Joy Johar scheme for tribals of the state ensuring a monthly pension for the elderly Adivasis. Under the Joy Johar scheme, tribal people, above the age of 60 years will get a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 per month from the state government.

Notably, a similar effort by a BJP-affiliated organisation as foiled in Gajole by tribals who dubbed the move as 'Hinduisation of tribals'. The area had also witnessed some tension due to this move and situation was brought under control only after the intervention of police.

CM Mamata Banerjee had also slammed the BJP-affiliated organisation for trying to convert tribal people in the name of social service and she had decided to arrange the mass marriage ceremony herself.

Three days ago, in Malda district, tribal women were being converted in the name of marriage. I thank my administration that they acted. One person has been arrested and the rest are evading the police. They are shameless, CM Banerjee had said while addressing a public meeting at Krishnanagar in Nadia district on Wednesday.
Midlands man Cathal Ely welcomed the legendary music producer Phil Harding to Ireland last week when the production icon flew in from London for a series of media engagements ahead of his March 6 'In Conversation' event.

A native of Birr, Cathal is the manager of (and a D.J. Instructor at) the Sound Training College, the Temple Bar venue which will host the In Conversation with Phil Harding event next month.

Being in Dublin, Phil decided to drop into the Sound Training College to say hello, and Cathal was delighted to give Phil a special tour of the S.T.C. buildings while he was there.

"It was a pleasure meeting Phil", Cathal remarked afterwards, "as I would be familiar with so many of the artists and tracks that he's worked on."Cathal continued, "We're all looking forward to the March 6 event here in the Sound Training College. It's going to be of great benefit to our students - and to everyone who comes along on the night - having a chance to gain knowledge from such a hugely respected and successful producer as Phil."



The In Conversation event, incidentally, will see another midlander, Kinnitty's John McFadden, chat to Harding about his career in music and his latest book, Pop Music Production. Last week Harding, who produced Boyzone's first-ever #1, Words, and the Christmas smash from East 17, Stay Another Day, flew into Ireland for a full day of media promotion.

As well as talking to national publications like the Irish Daily Star and Hot Press magazine, Harding joined one of the biggest names in Irish music today, Gavin James, on the couch of The Six O'Clock Show on Virgin Media One, chatting to hosts Martin King and James Kavanagh. One interesting story he recounted was how Louis Walsh and Boyzone phoned him to say thank-you on the night Words went to #1, one of the few acts ever to make such a gesture.

Phil Harding was chief mix-engineer for the famed Stock, Aiken, and Waterman 'hit factory' during the 1980s, and during his distinguished career has worked with artists such as The Clash, Pet Shop Boys, Kylie, Rick Astley, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Dead Or Alive, Mel and Kim, Bananarama, Belinda Carlisle, Holly Johnson, Samantha Fox, the aforementioned Boyzone and East 17, and that's to name but a few.

As if the chance to hear some of the stories and lessons garnered during such an outstanding career wasn't already enough, one lucky attendee at next month's In Conversation event will also go home having won a special one-on-one consultation with the man himself.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 00:05:19|Editor: zyl

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Li Dong (C), minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, poses for a group photo with Egyptian participants during a symposium themed "China and the World Challenge Coronavirus" in Cairo, Egypt, on March 3, 2020. Egyptian experts have applauded China's all-out efforts in combating the novel coronavirus, as well as its transparency and credibility in dealing with the epidemic. (Photo by Mohamed El Raai/Xinhua)

CAIRO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian experts have applauded China's all-out efforts in combating the novel coronavirus, as well as its transparency and credibility in dealing with the epidemic.

The experts made the comments at a symposium, themed "China and the World Challenge Coronavirus," which was organized on Tuesday by Cairo-based Wisdom House Culture and Media Group.

"China has been fighting the virus on behalf of the world," said Hassan Ragab, dean of the Faculty of Language and head of the Confucius Institute at Egypt's Suez Canal University.

He noted that China has spared no efforts, money or knowledge to fight the virus (COVID-19), and "tackled the ordeal with transparency and credibility."

"Though hundreds of millions of its people have stayed at home and worked via the internet, China has succeeded in maintaining work momentum," he said.

Ragab expressed his confidence that "China will soon announce victory over the virus."

Speaking of the ongoing visit to China by Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed, Ragab said that there are a lot of opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the scientific research field and in the fight against the virus.

Assigned by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Zayed flew to China on Sunday to convey Egypt's solidarity with China in combating the novel coronavirus.

Mostafa Ibrahim, vice president of the Chinese-Egyptian Business Council, said the outbreak of the coronavirus reflected that under any circumstance the world couldn't live without China, which has far-reaching exchanges with the rest of the world.

Ibrahim said that many countries now realized the importance of China as the engine of global development and growth, as it plays a powerful role in world's economy and trade.

Despite the virus outbreak, Ibrahim said it is expected that China will achieve a growth rate of 4 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to only 2 percent by the U.S. economy.

Ahmad Sallam, former media consular at Egypt embassy in Beijing, also voiced his support for the Chinese people who have taken extremely strict precautionary measures for nearly two months to stop the spread of the virus.

He noted that Zayed's visit to China will benefit Egypt, which has confirmed only two cases of COVID-19 so far.

On Tuesday, Zayed said in Beijing that she had received the sixth edition of the guidelines on coronavirus diagnosis and treatment, as well as 1,000 virus scanners donated by China.

Li Dong, minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, told the symposium that the virus is a challenge for the international community and not just for China, which has taken the largest share of responsibility in fighting it.

He said that China has taken all needed measures to meet its international obligations and responsibilities in the fight against the coronavirus.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," Li said, referring to Egypt's generous help to China in fighting the virus.

Egypt has donated tons of medical supplies to China to combat the virus. Egypt also lit up on Sunday evening three famous historical sites in red and golden stars to resemble the national flag of China as a sign of showing solidarity.

Li received a written letter of solidarity from the Egyptian participants of the symposium.
The local Alaska Wildlife Trooper post held an open house on Saturday to welcome the community to their new location on Haugen Dr. and to introduce Petersburg's new wildlife trooper.

Curtis Vik transferred to Petersburg from Eagle Rover, following Cody Litster's promotion to sergeant. Vik first joined the state troopers in 2002. Since then, he has worked with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation in Palmer tackling property crimes and major crimes. Then from 2010 to recently, he worked with a statewide drug enforcement unit that he founded.

Feb. 16 was Vik's first day on the job in town. He a...
Mitch McConnell has condemned Democratic rival Chuck Schumer, who said Republicans and Supreme Court justices who support overturning landmark abortion rights would "pay the price".

Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, the Senate Majority Leader said "there is nothing to call this except a threat, and there's absolutely no question to whom it is directed", suggesting that if Senator Schumer had shouted his remarks to another American outside their workplace, "they would hear them as threatening or inciting violence."

He said: "No matter the intention, words carrying the apparent threat of violence can have horrific unintended consequences,

Senator Schumer addressed abortion rights demonstrators on the steps of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, as the high court began arguments in the first abortion-related case under Donald Trump's administration, which has supported efforts to overturn women's access to abortion without excessive government intervention.

The president's appointment of two conservative justices now gives the court a conservative majority.

In June Medical Services LLC v Russo, the court will hear a challenge to a Louisiana law requiring doctors that perform abortions have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals, which opponents say effectively prevents people from seeking a termination in a state where two of its three remaining clinics - all hundreds of miles apart - could close under the rule. The state also imposes several other restrictive measures opponents say make it excessively difficult to get the procedure.

Louisiana's law is similar to a Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016 after justices rules the policy was too restrictive. Plaintiffs in the 2020 case argue that a reversal of that 2016 decision would not be justified.

 Chuck Schumer slams Supreme Court for abortion rights case

Mr Schumer told protesters that legislatures attempting similar moves to restrict abortion rights "have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price ... You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

Mr McConnell used Mr Schumer's remarks to condemn Democrats, who he accuse of coordinating a "left-wing attack on the judiciary."

The justices "do not and must not serve at the pleasure of angry partisans" and "do not need to pay any mind to unhinged threats as shameful as they may be," he said.

His remarks come less than a week after the president attacked liberal justices Sonya Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who Mr Trump demanded recuse themselves from any court challenges to his administration.

In her dissent to the court's recent decision to lift an injunction on the president's immigrant "public charge" rule, Justice Sotomayor said the court was disproportionately granting stay requests from the administration over other emergency appeals.

Mr Trump had also appeared to threaten the Supreme Court justice, saying that "she's trying to shame people with perhaps a different view into voting her way and that's so inappropriate, so let's see what happens."

Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Show all 20 1 /20 Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced New York AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Atlanta Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Washington, DC Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Louisiana AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Louisiana AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Washington, DC AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty

Senator McConnell accused his rival of trying to "gaslight the entire country" by clarifying that he said Republicans would pay a "political price" for establishing a conservative majority on the court - an effort also backed by Mr McConnell, who has boasted about stacking judicial appointments in other courts with conservative judges, which could hand Republicans legal victories in challenges to anti-abortion legislation.

Mr Schumer said his comments were a warning that the justices "will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights" against the Supreme Court's ruling.

In an unprecedented breach of the Supreme Court's impartial view from the bench, Justice John Roberts said the Senate Minority Leader's remarks outside on Wednesday were "dangerous" and Donald Trump said "serious action" must be taken.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," he said in a statement. "All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favour, from whatever quarter."

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley also plans to introduce a resolution to condemn Senator Schumer's comments

Following Mr McConnell's rebuke, Mr Schumer accused Republicans of "manufacturing outrage" while they avoid the context of his remarks and concerns about constitutional protections for abortion.

He said: "I'm from Brooklyn. We use strong language. I shouldn't have used the words I did but I in no way was making a threat. I never, ever would do such a thing. Leader McConnell knows that. And Republicans who are busy manufacturing outrage outrage over these comments know that too."

Mr McConnell famously refused to hold confirmation hearings for then-President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, igniting a partisan firestorm. He later added said his ability to prevent his appointment was among his proudest moments.

He recently said he would approve another appointment - which would be the Trump administration's third - should there be a vacancy on the court 2020.
Jan Tinetti

Labour MP

When I visit schools here in Tauranga I see so many children full of energy because each of them has the essentials they need to thrive  enough to eat, warm clothes, sturdy shoes and a place to call home.

But sadly this isnt true for every child. Child poverty in New Zealand is completely unacceptable. I know we wont eliminate it overnight, but this Government has laid the solid foundations for change and we are starting to turn things around.

Last week Statistics NZ released the latest figures on child poverty in New Zealand which showed that during the past year we have lifted 18,400 children out of poverty and in that time seven out of nine child poverty measures have shown improvement.

In future years were likely to see more improvement because since this Government came into office weve introduced the Families Package, were steadily lifting the minimum wage and we will index main benefits to wage growth.

The Families Package alone is forecast to lift up to 74,000 children out of poverty over the next few years.

Minimum wage increases will help tens of thousands of kids and their parents.

Read more at: www.sunlive.co.nz
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Following its board meeting on March 5, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced the share exchange ratio for the merger with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India, it said in a filing on the exchange.

The share exchange ratio approved for the same is as follows:

- 1,150 equity shares of Rs 2 each of PNB for every 1,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of Oriental Bank of Commerce

- 121 equity shares of Rs 2 each of PNB for every 1,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of United Bank of India

The bank also said the board has fixed March 25 as the date for issuing and allotting its equity shares to the shareholders of Oriental Bank and United Bank as per the above-mentioned share exchange ratio.
Amritsar, March 5 : Indians coming back from Pakistan are being scanned by the Indian authorities at the joint check post Attari for symptomatic symptoms of coronavirus (Covid-19), officials said on Thursday.

Similarly, screening has been going on at the Dera Baba Nanak check post at Gurdaspur for Indian devotees coming back on the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

The corridor links Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district with Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan's Narowal.

Non-contact thermometers have also been made available for screening of passengers at both check posts, besides displaying advisories, a government spokesperson told IANS.

He said that 70,106 passengers have so far been screened at the airports and border check posts. These included 47,671 at the Amritsar airport, 4,943 at the Mohali airport, 5,401 at Wagah-Attari border check post and 12,091 at the Dera Baba Nanak check post.

As on Thursday, 13 people were found symptomatic for Covid-19 with no positive case reported.
Now in discussions with two potential off-take partners



Indonesia determined to become leading market for all stages of the EV battery supply chain

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bolt Metals Corp. (CSE: BOLT) (FRANKFURT: NXFE) (OTCQB: PCRCF) (the Company or Bolt Metals) is pleased to announce that it has signed a non-binding Cooperation Agreement ("Agreement") with Hunan Shijiyintian New Material Co., Ltd, an 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Hunan Jinxin New Material Co., Ltd. ("Hunan Jinxin"). The Company and Hunan Jinxin will immediately commence negotiations with the intention of entering into one or more definitive binding agreements (Definitive Agreement) subject to further due diligence to be completed between the parties.

It is anticipated that there will be two primary components of a Definitive Agreement with Hunan Jinxin; 1) preliminary offtake and 2) investment:

Subject to successful negotiations, the preliminary offtake section of the Definitive Agreement will grant Hunan Jinxin the right to purchase nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate from the Cyclops Nickel-Cobalt Project (Cyclops Project) or other projects owned or represented by Bolt Metals. Bolt Metals will not be restricted from entering into subsequent offtake related agreements with third parties in respect of output which has not been committed to Hunan Jinxin.

Subject to successful negotiations, the investment section of the Definitive Agreement will grant Hunan Jinxin the option to purchase equity in Bolt Metals or to make a strategic investment in the Cyclops Project, with the form and structure of the proposed investment to be finalised in the Definitive Agreement.

Ranjeet Sundher, President and CEO of Bolt Metals announced that While recent market developments have generated significant interest in Bolt Metals and its Cyclops Project from downstream EV battery manufacturers within Indonesia, the Company remains committed to an international outlook and a comprehensive strategy in order to maximise shareholder value and fast-track the development of its assets. I am excited to begin negotiations with a company of Hunan Jinxins calibre.

James Foster, Bolt Metals China head, mentioned Hunan Jinxin represent the perfect partner to take Bolt Metals through to the next stage of development and we are happy to have them as partners for the long term.

Founded in 2004, Hunan Jinxin is primarily engaged in the acquisition, production, processing and marketing of tungsten and cobalt. It is located in Hunan and benefits from outstanding road and rail links to metals companies across Hunan and greater China. Hunan Jinxin makes a range of products including cobalt products for use in the EV batteries. Other products developed by Hunan Jinxin include cobalt carbonate, tungsten oxide, and sodium tungstate.

The Company also has an existing non-binding preliminary offtake agreement with Beijing Easpring Material Technology Co., Ltd. (Easpring) covering nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate sourced from the Companys Cyclops project. The agreement similarly includes a strategic investment option. Easpring is recognized as the leader in China in its industry and was one of the first suppliers to export lithium cathode material. Presently, Easpring supplies 5 of the worlds six larger lithium-ion battery manufacturers and is one of the only Chinese suppliers that simultaneously sells high-quality cathode materials in China and internationally, including Japan and Koreas high-end lithium-ion battery markets.

The Market

The growth in global EV sales continues to expand rapidly. Deloittes latest research projects global EV sales at 4 million units in 2020 and 21 million by 2030. The past five years have seen an annual 20% reduction in the cost of EV battery packs which Bloomberg now forecasts to become cheaper than equivalent combustion engine models by as soon as 2022.

According to CRU Mobility and Energy Futures, by 2030 the EV market will require an estimated 1.3 million tons per annum of nickel compared to just 600,000 tons in 2018. For cobalt, the required total is forecast to be 314,000 tons per annum of, which equates to 332% of the metals entire global supply in 2017.

The Company has always maintained that Indonesia is perfectly placed to take advantage of the burgeoning EV sector and 2019 has seen the continuation of a number of exciting trends and developments which lay the foundations for the continued future growth in every vertical of the EV supply chain. These developments also strengthen Indonesias ability to capitalize on its abundant resources, which includes 25% of global nickel reserves.

Spending on new nickel processing plants in Indonesia is expected to total US$20 billion by 2024, supported by the Indonesian governments determination to create a world-leading EV supply chain.

This commitment extends to the very top of government, with Joko Widodo  Indonesias President  stating in September 2019 that for nickel, we want raw materials to be processed in Indonesia. We want added values. This supports previous pronouncements from key officials, including Indonesian Maritime Minister, Luhut Pandjaitan who remarked that Indonesia will become the main player in lithium batteries and that it will control the world market.

In pursuit of this goal, in August 2019, the head of Indonesias Investment Agency announced that a ban on the export of nickel ore would become effective on January 1, 2020. Anticipation of the export ban had pushed global nickel prices up by 40% between June and October 2019 to US$17,500 per ton.

Some key Indonesian based project and investment highlights include:

Investment in downstream nickel projects clustered around Sulawesi Island and Halmahera Island have already passed US$9 billion, and are expected to increase to US$20 billion within five years.

PT Vale and Sumitomo Metal plan to spend US$5 billion on nickel projects during the next few years, including a US$2.5 billion plant to make battery-grade metal.



Chinese battery materials company GEM has stated its intention to work with CATL and Tsingshan to construct a US$700m plant in Indonesia to produce nickel for the EV battery market.



Toyota Motor Corp. has committed to invest US$2 billion by 2023 to develop electric vehicles in Indonesia.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Garry Clark, PGeo, independent director of Bolt Metals and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Bolt Metals

BOLT Metals Corp. is a Canadianbased exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of production grade nickel and cobalt deposits, key raw material inputs for the growing lithiumion battery industry. Visit https://boltmetals.com/ to find out more.

Bolt Metals Corp.

Ranjeet Sundher  President and CEO

(604) 922-8272

rsundher@boltmetals.com

Steve Vanry  CFO & Director

(604) 922-8272

steve@vanrycap.com

Sean Bromley  Director & Investor Contact

(778) 985-8934

sean@theparmargroup.com

Reader Advisory

This news release may contain statements which constitute forward-looking information that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company and with respect to the results of exploration and prospective plans in regards to the Cyclops Project. The words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Although Bolt Metals has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, success of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
If Saudi Arabia wants OPEC and its allies to agree to lower oil output, it will likely have to do "a lot of the heavy-lifting," one oil watcher has told CNBC.

OPEC is pushing for possible production cuts at its meeting in Vienna on Thursday and Friday. Prices have struggled following the global outbreak of the new coronavirus, which caused demand for crude to fall.

OPEC's top producer Saudi Arabia is hoping for a significant cut. The 14-member group decided on Thursday to cut production by 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) through the second quarter of the year. But non-OPEC leader Russia is still yet to agree to the effort.

"There's no guarantee that they're going to be able to get a deal," Herman Wang, S&P Global Platts' Middle East and OPEC managing editor, told CNBC's "Capital Connection" Thursday.

"Likely, if Saudi Arabia wants a deal, they're going to have to do a lot of the heavy-lifting themselves."




Former First Lady Grace Mugabe has asked the High Court to dismiss a US$2 million defamation lawsuit filed against her by a Lebanese businessman whose houses she grabbed over a diamond ring dispute.





The Lebanese businessman, Jamal Hamed, approached the High Court demanding a total of US$4 million from Grace and her son, Russell Goreraza, as defamation compensation and damages to his three houses he alleges were seized by Grace.





Prior to the defamation battle, Jamal had earlier on been embroiled in another legal saga with Grace over a diamond ring when her husband, the late former President Robert Mugabe was still ruling.





In his current lawsuit, Jamal said he was a renowned diamond entrepreneur who, among other businesses, trades in diamonds both within and outside Zimbabwe and that between October 2016 and December 2017, Grace and Goreraza caused a statement to be published in connection with the diamond ring saga, claiming that he had breached the terms and conditions of the deal.





Consequently, he said the published statements depicted him as a criminal, tarnishing his image both locally and internationally for which he is demanding US$2 million.

The businessman cited Grace, Goreraza, police officers Kennedy Fero and Nyambo Viera and Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga in his official capacity as respondents.





However, in their plea filed on February 25, 2020, Grace and her son urged the court to dismiss the claims.





The court proceedings referred to were filed by the first plaintiff (Jamal Hamed) and in terms of the law, they said.





The first and second defendants (Grace and Goreraza) were obliged to respond thereto. Their responses in the court proceedings were lawful and privileged. Further, it is correct that the plaintiff breached the contract and pursuant to the breach, offered to compensate the first defendant (Grace), which to date he has not done so.





Added Grace: The date of the alleged publication and where the said publication took place is not stated. If the said publication took place prior to 2017, this claim has prescribed. The statements attributed to the first and second defendants, if made in court proceedings, were made lawfully and in their context were not defamatory or unlawful.





It is denied that a reasonable reader would interpret court proceedings as ascribed by the plaintiff to the extent that any statement referred to the breach of contract and failure to remedy that breach, the statements are accurate.




The Turkish Spring Shield operation is the most impressive example of the successful defeat of the enemy during the local war, and the conditions of the war are in many respects similar to the situation in Donbas. Moreover, as you know, a set of Bayraktar drones was purchased by Ukraine for $ 69 million, but a year later this unit has not yet reached combat readiness. So our Bayraktars are not used in the war in Donbas. Why are the Turks successfully fighting, and the Ukrainians are afraid to use Bayraktars? And how exactly can the Turks dominate in the air and destroy the enemy with small losses?

In Ukraine, there was strong criticism of the purchases of Turkish drones, and primarily because of their extremely high cost (six UAVs with two control stations and 400 guided bombs and missiles). The main argument was the inapplicability of the Bayraktars in Donbas due to the presence of strong Russian air defense - allegedly, they will be easily shot down. I was originally a supporter of the purchase of Bayraktar UAVs, and the events in Turkey only once again emphasize what I have been repeating all the time: there is no invulnerable and perfect weapon, people win the war - their will to win and the right tactics of combat use, and modern weapons allows to apply new methods of battle, unexpected for the enemy.

So what do we see on the battlefield?

The Syrian province of Idlib is located on the border with Turkey. After sending the Russian army to Syria and intensifying hostilities, the Turks introduced their army to control Idlib. In the province, the Turks created their loyal power. Their army was located on a large territory - separate tactical groups took control of the communications.

Russia is now the main ally of the Assad regime, which controls part of the country's territory. But it is impossible to keep Assads power and withdraw Russian troops - the regime will immediately crumble. US forces are holding oil areas of Syria, and without control of Idlib Assad will not be able to stay in Damascus.

The Russian command understands this, they carried out a reform of the Assad forces, took full responsibility for reconnaissance, command, supply and air support, provided training of Iranian mercenaries and launched an offensive operation. The purpose of the operation is to penetrate Idlib through large gaps between Turkish strongholds and create their strongholds. And with the support of Russian-Assad aviation, defeat the pro-Turkish forces without engaging in battle with the Turkish army. Thus, the Turks would be forced to enter into negotiations on a settlement in Idlib with Putin and Assad, and Assad would be able to regain control there. The first key target of the offensive was the city of Serakib and the area around it, through which one of the strategic highways goes.

But Erdogan decided otherwise. During the Russian-Assad offensive, the Turks did not silently look at what was happening, the Turkish army introduced additional forces into Idlib. Assad troops, which were approaching Turkish ones, began to shoot. The Turkish military, as part of the Idlib pro-Turkish forces, began to suffer casualties in battle. Russian aircraft destroyed two Turkish M-60 tanks, and on February 27, Russian or Assad aircraft attacked Turkish regular army convoy - 33 soldiers were killed. This became a trigger and an excuse for further actions, the operation "Spring Shield" began.

Turkish drones staged an unprecedented terror in the air. For several days, the Turks posted dozens of videos about the defeat of the military equipment of Putins allies. It can be seen that strikes were made even against individual militants, against the Grad MLRS artillery batteries, and that losses reach many hundreds of dead and wounded.

The most impressive is how Bayraktar destroys the latest Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft cannon-missile system at a cost of $ 75-80 million on the world market. It is clearly seen that the Pantsirs radar works, but nevertheless the drone goes unnoticed, and the operator without interference hits the target with a bomb. Judging by the flickering of the lamp in the rear part of the bomb, this is most likely MAML-L (Ukraine bought 200 of these bombs for its Bayraktars).

Turkey is waging a truly contactless war, which Russia and Assad can not oppose. But why? After all, Russia has forces in Syria, a large number of air defense systems, why do heavy drones hang freely over Idlib and remain invulnerable? Since the beginning of the operation, there is reliable information about the defeat of only one Turkish Ansa drone.

We have our own successful experience of using Ukrainian heavy drones, which repeatedly penetrated the depths of the Russian defense. For example, in July 2019, in the Mayorove area, a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone discovered the Thorn-MD electronic reconnaissance station and Zhytel electronic warfare station and adjusted the real-time fire of Ukrainian artillery. As a result, both cars were destroyed by 20 shells. Even large drones can sometimes operate in the depths of Russian battle formations, despite the strong air defense system of the Russian Federation in Donbas, which knocks down a lot of our UAVs.

Why? Because no country in the world can provide continuous radar field at low altitudes, this task was not fulfilled even in the days of the USSR. Without constant radar monitoring, it is impossible to provide effective target designation for anti-aircraft missile systems and for electronic warfare systems, the capabilities of which to independently search for air targets are very limited.

All radars could be easily found by the forces of electronic intelligence. Their characteristics, coverage, data are updated in real time from satellites. Therefore, it is always possible to find the air defense group and their vulnerable zones. Therefore, in my opinion, the tactics of the "Spring Shield" was chosen as follows.

In the course of maneuvering hostilities, a significant part of Assads units found themselves without any air defense cover at all, they were closely mixed with the Turkish military formations, so that they could be beaten with impunity. In such a maneuvering war, the Bayraktars are most effective. Turkish troops do not carry out a ground attack. But they carry out reconnaissance and hit the enemy with concentrated artillery fire and MLRS from their strongholds. And hidden targets are destroyed by detachments of drones. This is the tactic that we need in Donbas. In order to inflict unacceptable losses on the enemy and demoralize, it is not necessary to launch a ground attack.

I believe that judging by the scale of the use of drones, the suppression of air defense was one of the priorities of the Spring Shield operation. Turkey is also armed with modern American AGM-88HARM anti-radar missiles and modern electronic jamming equipment. The Turks massively used the Kasirga 300-mm multiple launch rocket systems - an analogue of our Vikha and Smerch. The Kasirga range is up to 100 km, one battery can reliably cover any radar that will be detected and / or fixed by satellite. Turkish self-propelled guns Firtina hit up to 40 km range, that is, in this zone any air defense systems are extremely vulnerable.

And after the destruction of the radars and the communications system, the Turks began to strike at the Pantsirs. At this point, the Turkish Armed Forces announced the destruction of five Assad air defense systems.

Judging by the minimal losses and the number of drones that strike, the air defense radars of the Assad and Russian forces in Idlib are reliably suppressed. In such circumstances, the Russians also cannot use fighters from the Khmeimim base - they will be shot down, because the Turks reliably control the air.

Thus, the success of the Turkish troops in the "Spring Shield" operation lies in the integrated use of diverse forces and means, in the speed of action, in accurately determining the right tactics, in effective provision of intelligence information in real time. The Turkish strike was so quick and massive that Russia did not have time to react. And the transfer of forces and means from the Russian Federation to the Khmeimim base has just begun - obviously, to hide the losses.

Unfortunately, having Bayraktars in their hands, and having a very effective intelligence system Ukrainian command is not trying to work out modern tactics in Donbas. Although fighting an enemy on their land, the army must prepare for battle and new methods of warfare. Why do you buy weapons if you are afraid to use them in battle? Why do soldiers die at the front, and expensive cars that were bought so as not to risk their lives, continue to stand on the ground, forgotten by the command? The sad fact: the lack of combat readiness of Bayraktars a year after the purchase shows that the command of the Armed Forces poorly understands the significance of this new type of weapon and the new tactics it requires.

It should be noted that when investing in the construction of Ukrainian drones and guided weapons for them, when arming the troops with Vilkha missiles and finalizing the Neptune project, which has the functions of an anti-radar missile, the Armed Forces will receive modern contactless warfare instruments that are in great demand in Donbas. The invaders will not strive to peace until Ukraine demonstrates a force capable of inflicting heavy losses on the enemy in Donbas.
Photo: Andy Lee/Unsplash

From live jazz music to bird-watching, there's plenty to enjoy in Dallas this week. Read on for a rundown of ideas for how to fill your calendar.

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

Smooth Jazz at the Bishop Arts District, presented by A. Presley, Grown Folks Only and Aubreaux, Inc.

From the event description:

Smooth Jazz finally comes to the Bishop Arts District, featuring live jazz music, food, drinks, vendors, sipping and painting on the patio and live DJs.

When: Saturday, March 7, 3-7 p.m.

Where: 303 Bar and Grill, 303 W. Davis St.

Admission: $10

Click here for more details, and to get your tickets

Emery: Songs and Stories with Devin and Toby at Peak Street Church

From the event description:

Come hang with Devin and Toby as they play some of your favorite songs and tell Emery stories that will blow your mind.

When: Sunday, March 8, 2-4 p.m.

Where: Peak Street Church, 4301 Bryan St.

Admission: $30

Click here for more details, and to get your tickets

Afternoon Birding at Trinity River Audubon Center

From the event description:

We have heard the cry of the sleepy, and here is our answer. Join us for afternoon birding at Trinity River Audubon Center! Enjoy exploring the largest urban bottomland hardwood forest in the country, the Great Trinity Forest, and wandering through Blackland prairie and wetlands, as well.

When: Sunday, March 8, 2-4 p.m.

Where: Trinity River Audubon Center, 6500 Great Trinity Forest Way

Admission: $17.50

Click here for more details, and to get your tickets

Dallas Jazz Orchestra: Watch Us Wail at Luna's Tortilla Factory, presented by Galen Jeter, Eric Wells and Aime Dugger

From the event description:

The mighty 17-piece Dallas Jazz Orchestra will be hosting a free concert at Luna's Tortilla Factory. Come enjoy Dallas premier jazz orchestra, featuring our fabulous jazz vocalist, Drenda Barnett.

Story continues

When: Sunday, March 8, 6-9 p.m.

Where: Luna's Tortillas, 2225 Connector Drive

Admission: Free

Click here for more details, and to get your tickets

This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
At least four persons were killed and 22 others injured when a five-storey residential building collapsed in Karachi on Thursday, according to media reports.

The building collapsed in the city's Gulbahar area and rescue operations were underway, led by the police and Pakistan Rangers, the Dawn reported.

Of the four deceased, one was suspected to be a woman, a Geo report said.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar has ordered the 22 injured be provided with the best possible medical care.

The fallen structure's permit has come into question with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah seeking a detailed report on the building's construction.

In January, Karachi city administration had asked the province's building control authority to vacate 382 'dangerous' residential buildings, The Express Tribune reported.

Officials were ascertaining whether the collapsed building was part of the list.

Meanwhile, Geo reported that while one building was completely destroyed, there was extensive damage to two other buildings in the vicinity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vidya Balan ranks high in the list of the finest actresses in the industry right now. The diva has been on a roll for the last few years with films like Mission Mangal, Tumhari Sulu and Kahaani 2 helping her earn great appreciation from the critics and the audience. Now, the actress has kickstarted the shoot for Sherni which will be directed by Amit Masurkar of the Newton fame.

Vidya, who plays a forest officer in the film began shooting on March 4 in Bhoot Palasi in Madhya Pradesh. Speaking about the film, Vidya told a leading daily, I loved Newton and when Amit narrated Sherni to me, I knew I wanted to do this film. The uniqueness of the story and its world appealed to me. While the director, Amit Masurkar said, The Story of Sherni is one that needs to be told. I am happy to be working with Vidya Balan, one of the finest actors and human beings in the industry. A source close to the production also informed the daily that the drama in Sherni has strong humourous undertones with Vidyas character, along with a team of dedicated officers and forest guards, trying to find a solution to the man-animal conflict depicted in the film, while tracing her own journey.





Apart from Vidya, the film also features Vijay raaz, Sharat Saxena and Ila Arun. Bhushan Kumar, Vikram Malhotra and Amit will be producing the film which will be shot completely in one schedule wrapping up by April end.





We cant wait to watch what Vidya Balan and Amit Masurkar have in store for us with this outing.
For Cassie Ware, even a common cold or flu can pose severe health risks. The Dalles resident has Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, an immunological condition that causes various chronic health problems and makes her particularly vulnerable to illness.

Most winters she curtails her activities to avoid getting sick. She shops less, avoids having company over and washes her hands a lot more.

She took extra precautions after she learned that coronavirus, or COVID-19, the novel respiratory illness spreading across the globe, had reached her town. Three people have tested positive for the virus in Oregon, including one person from Umatilla County. Wares doctor urged her to be extra careful, and she plans to stay home for three weeks.

Its in Umatilla, Ware said. Its in Portland. We know it traveled. Im just really nervous about getting sick.

Oregon public health officials say much remains unknown about coronavirus, also called COVID-19. Officials believe the virus may be widespread and estimate that 300 to 500 Oregonians have or may have had it. Ten people have died from the illness in Washington, and an estimated 3000 have died worldwide since the virus was identified in December in China.

The risk of contracting the virus brings added uncertainty for people whose immune systems are already compromised, because they may be especially vulnerable. Many of the people from Washington who have died had underlying health conditions.

From the early data we have, it appears that patients with compromised immune systems, particularly the elderly, are at higher risk for worse outcomes, said Dr. Lynne Strasfeld, infectious diseases physician at OHSU.

For people with compromised immune systems, public health officials emphasized a need for caution and diligent hygiene. That includes people with obvious immune suppression, such as cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or transplant recipients on immunosuppressive medications; people with pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes; and older people with weakened immune systems.

Multnomah County public health officials stopped short Wednesday of recommending quarantine for people with compromised immune systems. Instead, they said people should talk with their doctors and keep themselves updated about the status of the virus.

Their medical provider can work with them to develop a plan if they become ill, said Dr. Jennifer Vines, lead health officer for the region.

The recommendation is in line with current guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Strasfeld said quarantine is most important now for people who have been exposed to the virus and is not yet a recommended step to prevent contracting the virus.

At this point, there isnt broad public health support for self-quarantining, Strasfeld said. We just have to see. We dont know enough about what the virus looks like.

Facing so much uncertainty, some Oregonians with compromised immune systems are still making the choice to avoid public interactions.

Marcia Pennyworth, of Clackamas, has a chronic medical condition that affects her lungs. She worried that being at work raised her chances of contracting the virus. She spoke with her doctor, who told her she couldnt be too careful.

Pennyworth decided to self-quarantine.

I surmised that if an immunocompromised person is going to make best choice, its good to be paranoid, Pennyworth said. I made the decision to sequester myself.

Pennyworth, who works as an administrative assistant, plans to work from home as much as possible.

Hopefully Im being overly cautious but given the lack of information I feel like I cant make an informed decision about my own risk, Pennyworth said.

Its unlikely that the outbreak will be over in the near term, said Strasfeld, so people need to weigh the risk to the personal cost of quarantine. A general dearth of information makes addressing the virus a moving target, she said.

While currently were not a recommending to avoid situations like large gatherings, that could lay ahead for all of us, Strasfeld said.

-- Piper McDaniel; amcdaniel@oregonian.com; 503-221-4307; @piperamcdaniel

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter:
CHICAGO - Prosecutors are dropping charges against a woman who was arrested at a hospital after her teenage daughter was fatally shot at a Chicago convenience store.

The Cook County States Attorneys Office said Wednesday that it was seeking to dismiss misdemeanour charges of battery and resisting a police officer against 35-year-old Nyisha Beemon. She was arrested Feb. 25 after she allegedly pushed a police officer from behind, grabbed his vest and kicked him while officers were trying to clear a hospital emergency room following the fatal shooting of her 18-year-old daughter, Jaya Beemon.

Until recently, the States Attorney was unfamiliar with this matter as the charges  like all misdemeanouroffences  were filed directly by police without our review, Aviva Bowen, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office, said in a statement. Upon reviewing the facts and evidence, we determined the case should not be pursued and are moving to quickly dismiss the charges, so that a grieving mother can mourn the loss of her daughter in peace.

Jaya Beemon, a nursing student, was buying snacks at a South Side convenience store when three people opened fire into the store, killing her and wounding four other people, according to police.

A $12,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the shooters.

A police spokesman said the departments chief of operations will review the hospital incident.
Betsy DeVos speaks out on faith, schools: One-size-fits-all approach does not work

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U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who is a key player in the nation's ongoing discussion about school choice and academic reform, is a devout Christian with a lifetime commitment to her faith.

And in a recent interview with "The Pure Flix Podcast," DeVos dove deep into her biblical roots, her passion for education and her perspective on potential reforms.

"I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that raised me to make my faith my own," she said. "I had exposure from my first memories to weekly church services."

WATCH: Stream Thousands of Faith and Family-Friendly TV Shows and Movies Today!

While DeVos was brought up in a Christian home, it wasn't until her teen years that her faith was more firmly rooted.

"My faith really became my own when I was a late teen, early 20s," she said, adding that she has since had continued challenges that have helped her learn and grow. "I'm grateful to have had that foundation."

The Trump-appointee went on to note that faith is "foundational to everything" she does, explaining how her views about individual value translate to the educational realm.

"I firmly believe every single child is a uniquely created individual with great potential and there are too many kids that are just not able to develop that full potential, because they are in a place that simply is not cultivating that for whatever reason," DeVos said.

Listen to DeVos share her faith journey and her passion for education:

She noted that there are many teachers across the U.S. who are doing a wonderful job, but added her belief that the system, as it currently stands, doesn't meet diverse needs.

"Kids are different," DeVos said. "They learn differently and a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach does not work."

READ ALSO: 15 Christian Religious Documentaries You Should Watch Now

She spoke to her own experience in K-12 education and expressed her wish that she had been more fervently challenged, and opened up about what led to her personal passion for reforming the contemporary educational system.

DeVos said it all started when she began to volunteer at a local Christian school and saw firsthand some of the "choice" issues at play.

"My passion around education really grew when my oldest son  who's just about 38  was starting kindergarten," she said. "My husband and I knew we were going to be able to send our children wherever we wanted to, but I started getting involved with a small Christian school [and] the more I did ... the more I realized that, for every family that had their child there, there were probably 10 or 20 other families in that neighborhood who longed to have their children in a place like that."

DeVos said she and her family soon started supporting scholarships to help students attend such schools, and that she realized it is a "policy issue," as many families simply lacked the economic ability to make the same choices.

READ ALSO: 7 Powerful Ben Carson Quotes About God And Faith

"[I realized] those families [didn't] have the economic means to be able to make that choice," she said. "And yet their children are every bit as special and precious as mine are. So that really spurred my interest in what I refer to as 'education freedom'  school choice, very broadly."

DeVos also spent 15 years as an in-school mentor for at-risk kids, an experience she said was "very formative" and beneficial. She's still in touch with one of the students  a girl she started working with in the first grade; she is now a college sophomore.

"I'm very proud of her," DeVos said. "I continue to encourage her to be everything God meant her to be."

These experiences helped inform DeVos' educational worldview and her penchant for reform. Her goal, she said, is academic freedom for all.

"We enjoy freedom in almost every other area of our life," she said. "And yet the K-12 years for almost a century and a half here have been very much a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach and it's time to change that."

DeVos added, "When you think about the fact that young people today represent 100 percent of our country's future ... we need to make sure that every single one of them has the opportunity to fully develop their gifts and talents innate in them."

While she said she never had any expectation that she would become U.S. education secretary, she didn't hesitate to take the opportunity when it arose.

But DeVos said making change is an uphill battle.

"Big, large complex systems and organizations don't change easily and they don't recognize uniqueness and they don't recognize differences in how you learn," she said. "It is a system that exists to really serve itself, not do what's best for individual children."

READ ALSO: The History Of Prayer Being Removed From Schools

DeVos also had a message about teachers who might find that the system they're working in "isn't working for them"  that they will be "highly valued in a system of freedom and choices."

As for the controversy that has surrounded her policy recommendations, she was candid and yet resolute.

"There have been a lot of misconceptions, misperceptions sown about me, but the reality is that my heart is with kids," DeVos said. "And I'm for them and for their futures and I'm for their parents to have the kind of opportunity to make the choices that I was able to make for my kids."

Be sure to check out powerful homeschooling resources and educational titles here.

This article was originally published on Pure Flix Insider. Visit Pure Flix for access to thousands of faith and family-friendly movies and TV shows. You can get a free trial here.

Billy Hallowell, author of "The Armageddon Code," has contributed to TheBlaze, the Washington Post, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Mediaite, and the Huffington Post, among other news sites. Through journalism, media, public speaking appearances, and the blogosphere, Hallowell has worked as a journalist and commentator for more than a decade.
She began by paying tribute to the martyrs of the fight for freedom in Iran and how regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini stole the revolution.

Here we will look at what she said on the five nationwide uprisings from December 2017 until January 2020 that have shown the Iranian peoples widespread hatred of both the mullahs and the Shah. These uprisings showed that the Iranian people wanted to overthrow the regime in its entirety.

Maryam Rajavi began by speaking about the ceaseless protests by people across Iran in 1979 that resulted in the Shahs overthrow and how these protests have started again against the mullahs. Just like in 1979, these protests are not stopping or slowing down, even though the regime has launched a major crackdown, just like the Shah did.

She advised the Iranian people, with the help of the Resistance Units and the Army of Liberation, will soon overthrow the mullahs. She further said that the people do not want the return of the Shah, which is a lie that the mullahs are spreading in order to make it seem like they should remain in power.

Maryam Rajavi said that due to the numerous sacrifices of the Iranian people, including the martyrdom of over 120,000 Resistance members, the people, and their Resistance were set to overthrow the regime through protests and public rebellion

She said: Five nationwide uprisings from December 2017 to January 2020, have underscored this demarcation through the activism of the masses on the ground.

Maryam Rajavi then went on to explain how the protests had progressed over time. She said that in December 2017, protestors were rejecting any differences between the so-called reformers and the so-called hardliners within the regime. Then, in November 2019, the people were furious with the regime as a whole. Finally, Maryam Rajavi said, in January 2020, the people cried we want neither the crown nor the turban.

She said: No to Shah, no to Sheikh. Long live the democratic revolution of the Iranian people. Yes, to freedom, yes to democracy and yes to equality.

Maryam Rajavi then argued that it was high time to create an Iran free of dictatorship, torture, execution, sexism, and religious discrimination. She said that it was time to create a republic based on the free vote of the Iranian people, separation of religion and state, pluralism, justice, and equality.

She ended her speech by honoring the eight Resistance members who died during a missile attack on Camp Liberty on February 9, 2013, saying that they sacrificed their lives for the revolution, which will triumph.

Maryam Rajavi said: We march in lockstep, we are one, we are partners, we sing from the same song sheet. Ready to sacrifice, we will rise up, and we will be triumphant. Hail to freedom. Hail to martyrs of freedom. Hail to the heroic people of Iran.

Read More:

Maryam Rajavis Speech on the Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution: Part 4

Maryam Rajavis Speech on the Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution: Part 3

Maryam Rajavis Speech on the Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution: Part 2

Maryam Rajavis Speech on the Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution: Part 1

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Vodafone Idea share price declined 6 percent and Bharti Airtel moved up a percent in the morning trade on March 5, a day after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) sent fresh notices to telecom operators on pending adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices were asked to clear AGR dues immediately.

Part payments would not be considered as compliance of the Supreme Court order, the notices said, asking the telecom operators to pay the outstanding amount at the earliest.

Also Read - Some telcos have made payments in line with SC order: MoS Communications

It also asked Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to furnish the documents supporting the due assessments made by them. Telcos are likely to submit self-assessment documents to the department during the week.

The companies believe that the full payment based on DoT-assessed amount is unfair. They are studying the order and will respond to the department at the earliest, sources said.

On March 3, Bharti Airtel had paid Rs 1,950 crore, Reliance Jio Rs 1,053 crore and Vodafone Idea around Rs 3,043 crore to the telecom department towards its deferred spectrum dues, sources said.

At 0933 hours, Vodafone Idea was quoting at Rs 3.42, down Rs 0.17, or 4.74 percent, and Bharti Airtel was quoting at Rs 523.00, up Rs 6.30, or 1.22 percent, on the BSE.
Amid COVID-19 war, Xi advocates int'l cooperation in scientific research

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:15, March 04, 2020

Public health security is a common challenge faced by humanity, and all countries should join hands to cope with it, Xi said, calling on countries to share research data and jointly work out response strategies.

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- As China is fighting a tough war against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Chinese President Xi Jinping has underscored international cooperation in scientific research guided by the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Public health security is a common challenge faced by humanity, and all countries should join hands to cope with it, said Xi during an inspection in Beijing on Monday, calling on countries to share research data and jointly work out response strategies.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China has actively cooperated and exchanged information with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries.

According to a WHO-China Joint Mission on the COVID-19, full genome sequences of the new virus were shared with WHO and the international community immediately after the pathogen was identified on Jan. 7.

"The epidemic is a devil. We will not let it hide," said Xi when meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing on Jan. 28.

Chinese researchers have also been actively sharing their latest study results and participating in international cooperation on diagnosis and effective treatments.

After receiving the genome sequence of the virus from China, researchers in the United States were able to map the first 3D atomic-scale structure of a key 2019 novel coronavirus protein, making a breakthrough toward developing vaccines, therapeutic antibodies and diagnostics, according to a study published online in the journal Science in February.

"Early data sharing really helps save lives," said Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist.

Noting that the COVID-19 outbreaks have emerged in many countries, Xi on Monday said it is important to step up communication and exchange with the WHO and carry out scientific research cooperation on source tracing, drugs, vaccines, testing and other fields with other countries, especially those hit hard by the virus.

The WHO-China joint mission, consisting of 25 experts from eight countries and the WHO, conducted a nine-day field study trip on COVID-19 last month in China's capital Beijing and several different provinces including Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The team made a range of findings on the transmissibility of the virus, the severity of the disease, and the impact of the measures taken. They offered 22 recommendations on COVID-19 control for affected and unaffected countries, the international community as well as the public.

The Russian government also sent experts to China to work with their Chinese counterparts on epidemic response.

Besides the government level, Chinese academics and the business community have also taken an active part in the international cooperation on COVID-19 scientific research.

A team led by renowned Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan is working with foreign scientists on tracing of the virus source, its transmission routes as well as building of the animal model for experiments, among others.

In late February, Jack Ma Foundation announced that it will provide 15 million yuan (around 2.1 million U.S. dollars) to support international cooperation on the development of antiviral drugs or antibodies to fight the epidemic.

"To prevail over a disease that threatens all, unity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon," Xi wrote in a reply to a letter from Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make a working visit to Poltava region on March 5-6, the press service of the regional state administration has reported.

The 14-day observation period for Ukrainians who arrived in Novi Sanzhary from Wuhan, China, expires on March 5.

A SkyUp Airlines jet carrying Ukrainians and foreigners evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan landed in Kharkiv early on February 20. On board the aircraft were 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreigners, as well as crew and doctors. Reports said that all people on board were healthy and had no symptoms of coronavirus.

The evacuees, together with the crew and doctors who were on board the plane, were brought to the medical center of the National Guard of Ukraine in the village of Novi Sanzhary in Poltava region. Locals were blocking the road all day so that the buses with the evacuees could not pass and demanded that they not be placed in a local health facility. However, when the buses arrived, law enforcement officers cleared the road for them.

Former Health Minister Zoriana Skaletska stays in isolation together with the evacuees.

op
Bangkok: The global march of the new virus has triggered a vigorous appeal from the World Health Organisation for governments to pull out "all the stops" to slow the epidemic that drained colour from India's spring festivities, closed Bethlehem's Nativity Church and blocked Italians from visiting elderly relatives in nursing homes.

As China, after many arduous weeks, appeared to be winning its costly battle against the COVID-19 illness, the fight was revving up in newly affected areas of the globe, unleashing disruptions that profoundly impacted billions of people.

The UN health agency urged all countries to "push this virus back", a call to action reinforced by figures showing there are now about 17 times as many new infections outside China as in it. To date, the new coronavirus virus has infected more than 98,000 people and killed more than 3300.

"This is not a drill. This is not the time for giving up. This is not a time of for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily briefing in Geneva.
We've been hearing about them for years  literally. We even got some leaked video a few weeks ago of this latest iteration. And now, we may finally have the folding smartphone that buyers are ready to truly embrace.

Samsung has dropped its brand new foldable Galaxy Z Flip, and outlets, as esteemed as CNN, are already calling it "the best foldable smartphone." Of course, you want to check that out for yourselfso if you win the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 256GB Giveaway, we'll give you one for free.

It should come as no surprise that the Flip's compact size and design have everybody talking. The 6.7-inch Infinity Flex glass display on the Flip is about the width of a human hair, yet is reportedly stronger than plastic for the toughest, most durable folding phone yet.

The full-size unit folds just like one of those flip phones from the early 2000s, offering a tight, compact design that slides easily into your pocket.

Of course, it isn't all about convenience with a smartphone. The Flip is almost sporting all the bells and whistles used expected from a Samsung flagship phone, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, 8GBs of RAM, 256GB of storage and a full camera array that will stand toe-to-toe with any other smartphone.

It's a $1,380 value that you have a chance to own just by heading to the contest page and signing up. Just fill out the quickie form and you're automatically placed in the drawing. Be the lucky, randomly selected entry and  bam! New cutting edge phone for you!

You can even pick up an additional entry if you can get a friend (21 or older) to enter as well. Follow the "Additional Entry" instructions on the contest page to learn how.

Enter to win right now  registration ends June 26. Good luck!
Pre-Stabilisation notice

05 March 2020

Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful.

Eika Boligkreditt AS

EUR500mil (no grow) Fixed Rate Notes due 12 March 2027

Launched pursuant to the Issuer's Euro Medium Term Covered Note Programme, dated 11 October 2019.

LEI: 549300T7MMTBQXCJOQ79

Commerzbank AG (contact: Ian Turner, telephone: +44 207 475 1817) hereby announces, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilising Managers named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU Regulation 596/2014).

The security to be stabilised: Issuer: Eika Boligkreditt AS Guarantor (if any): n/a Aggregate nominal amount: EUR 500,000,000 (no grow) Description: Fixed Rate Notes due March 2027 Offer price: tbc Other offer terms: payment date 12 March 2020, denoms 100k/1k, listing Dublin. Issued off EMTN Programme. Stabilisation: Stabilisation Coordinator:

Stabilising Managers: Commerzbank AG

Banco Santander SA

Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank

Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch

Swedbank Stabilisation period expected to start on: 05 March 2020 Stabilisation period expected to end on: no later than 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over-allotment facility. The Stabilising Managers may over-allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Euronext Dublin

In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilising Manager(s) may over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules.

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction.

This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful.

END
Joe Biden is like an old pair of slippers. He does not always show to advantage. But he is comfortable.

This, at least, appears to be the conclusion of thousands of Democratic voters who on Tuesday put the gaffe-prone old pol back in the running for their partys presidential nomination.

This, although, until last weekend, he had been running a disastrous campaign.

This in spite of a voting record in the Senate that does not always align with modern notions of political correctness.

This, although, unlike his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, he offers no coherent policy platform.

This, although, in the 280-character age of Twitter he remains windy, garrulous and decidedly uncool.

None of this seemed to matter Tuesday when Biden swept to victory in 10 of the 14 Democratic state primaries held that day, leaving Sanders in the dust with only four victories.

As expected, Biden did well among Democrats in conservative states like Alabama. But he also won uber-liberal Massachusetts, the home state of fellow presidential contender and self-styled progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Just a few days ago, such an outcome appeared extremely unlikely.

Barack Obamas vice-president for eight years, Biden did enter this nomination race as a known quantity. But whatever edge he had soon disappeared.

His performance in debates was lacklustre. He seemed unable to counter criticisms of a complicated voting record in the Senate that dated back to the 1970s.

California Sen. Kamala Harris took him to task for his record on integration. Sanders chastised him for supporting George W. Bushs invasion of Iraq.

Online, he was mocked as an incurable fuddy-duddy, particularly when he christened his campaign in Iowa last December the No malarkey bus tour.

Who uses old-fashioned words like malarkey, his critics sneered.

The answer, it seems, is that Biden does. He also quotes, with great affection, homilies such as, Without your word you are not a man that he says were taught him by his parents.

His speaking style is rambling and discursive, interspersed with stock phrases such as, This is not hyperbole folks that have come to be known as Bidenisms.

When he starts a sentence, it is not always clear where it will end up. He is gaffe-prone.

During the 2008 election campaign he famously defined the No. 1 task facing America as a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S. Jobs.

But on Tuesday, none of this appeared to matter. The Democratic establishment, fearful that a Sanders victory might make the party unelectable in the fall election, rallied behind Biden.

More to the point, so did rank and file Democrats, who calculated that, in spite of his many faults, comfy Joe would have the best chance of defeating Republican Donald Trump in Novembers presidential election.

None of this means that Biden has the nomination locked up.

Biden does lead Sanders in the delegate count, but only marginally. There are many more primaries to be held before Democrats gather in Milwaukee this July to formally choose their presidential candidate.

It is possible that Sanders, with his ambitious plan to bring Canadian-style universal medicare to the U.S., could eventually triumph over the more cautious Biden. But it is becoming increasingly unlikely.

Sanders cause wasnt helped when fellow progressive Warren, after dropping out of the race Thursday, declined to immediately throw her support behind him. Indeed, she didnt rule out supporting Biden.

The former vice-president is on a roll. And thats not hyperbole, folks.

Thomas Walkom is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Reach him via email: is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Reach him via email: walkomtom@gmail.com

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CALIFORNIA  Attorneys for the man accused of being the Golden State Killer and Sacramentos East Area Rapist said he is ready to make a deal.

The defense team for Joseph Deangelo said the accused serial killer has offered to plead guilty to the charges against him if he could get a life sentence without the death penalty.

Persecutors accuse Deangelo of killing at least 13 people, raping upward of 50 women and burglarizing dozens of homes in the 1970s and 80s.

Veteran Criminal Defense Attorney, Mark Reichel said the deal could prevent a costly and complicated court battle, and would likely have the same outcome.

The chances that this individual would be executed are very slim in my opinion and the chances and the likelihood that he would die in custody far exceed the chances that the state would execute this person, Reichel said.

Deangelo is slated to appear in the Sacramento County court on March 12.

The former police officer was arrested in Citrus Heights in 2018, thanks to DNA technology, after decades of eluding authorities.
A Delhi court on March 5 issued fresh death warrants for the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

The execution has been scheduled for 05:30 am on March 20.

President Ram Nath Kovind, on March 4, had rejected the mercy plea of Pawan Gupta, the fourth death row convict in the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case. The mercy pleas of the remaining three had been rejected earlier.

As of now, the four convicts  Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh  have exhausted all legal remedies.

The lawyer for the four death row convicts told the court that there was no legal impediment for court in proceeding to fix the date of execution.

A 23-year-old woman paramedic student, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya the fearless was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012.

She succumbed to injuries on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where she was taken for better medical treatment.

A total of six people Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Gupta, Ram Singh and a juvenile were convicted in the gang rape and murder of the paramedic student.

The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay. While Ram Singh had committed suicide in jail, the juvenile was released from a remand home after completion of his term.

This is the fourth death warrant issued by the court. The execution had been scheduled earlier for March 3 at 6 am. Before that, the convicts were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail, a Delhi court had announced on January 7 while issuing their death warrants.

However, on January 17, the court had issued a fresh death warrant for the execution of the four Nirbhaya convicts, with the convicts now scheduled to be hanged at 6 am on February 1.

The court had, however, on January 31 stayed the hanging of the four death-row convicts. The trial court had postponed the execution of the death warrant till further notice.
TAIPEI, March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PJ Asset Management Company ("PJAM") and its subsidiary, Jaryuan Investment Co. Ltd., collectively holding more than 15% in common stock of TECO Electric and Machinery Co., Ltd. ("TECO" or "Company"), submitted a letter to TECO's Board and Management outlining a Value Enhancement Plan on March 4. This letter has been provided as a follow-up to our previous meeting with the Company on December 06, 2019. With a position of approximately USD270 million in market value, PJAM is TECO's single largest shareholder.

The letter communicates PJAM's significant concerns regarding challenges facing TECO today and its analysis on the Company's opportunities to enhance corporate governance and capital allocation for the benefit of key stakeholders. Through interviews with a number of industry experts, former employees and market analysts, PJAM reviewed TECO's past successes and present need for changes in order to lay out this shareholder proposal. PJAM believes that the Company, by implementing the Value Enhancement Plan, can unlock its significant conglomerate discount, pinpoint new perspectives for development, and improve its balance sheet efficiency.

The original letter in Chinese can be found on PJAM's website: http://www.pjam.com.tw/.

PJAM's presentation on TECO's Value Enhancement Plan can be found here: http://www.pjam.com.tw/index.php?route=newsblog/article&article_id=42&lang=en-gb

March 4, 2020

The Board of Directors

TECO Electric & Machinery Co., Ltd.

5F, No. 19-9, San Chong Rd., Nan-Kang, Taipei 11501, Taiwan

Dear Chairman Chiu and Members of the Board,

We are writing to you on behalf of PJ Asset Management Company ("PJAM") and its subsidiary Jaryuan Investment Co. Ltd. Together with Jaryuan, PJAM holds more than 15% in common stock in TECO Electric and Machinery Co., Ltd. ("TECO" or "Company"), making us TECO's single largest shareholder. This large investment underlines our significant level of attention on the Company's challenges and opportunities evident today.

Our Value Enhancement Plan is laid out in the attached analysis based on our review of TECO's past successes and its present need for reforms. This proposal is provided as follow-up to our previous meeting on December 06, 2019. We believe that given a willingness to change, TECO's valuation will be re-priced to its historical glory. Stakeholders can benefit only when the Company is committed to winning and to staying attuned to, even ahead of, industry best practices.

TECO is one of the world's leading electrification firms, and we have the utmost respect for what Founder Huang, Chairman Chiu and the Company's management team have achieved with excellence. We recognize that this proposed value creation opportunity is only possible thanks to your diligence and dedication all these years.

We look forward to a positive and collaborative dialogue with TECO's board and management team to discuss this constructive plan. With conviction, we urge the Company to evaluate the initiatives outlined in the plan immediately, so that they can be announced and implemented without delay. As shareholders, we firmly believe the solutions outlined in the proposal offer the optimal path for TECO to maintain its market leadership and deliver long-term sustainable value.

Thank you very much for your consideration. We look forward to our meeting again in the near future.

With kind regards,

PJ Asset Management Company

SOURCE PJ Asset Management

Related Links

http://www.pjam.com.tw


ATLANTA, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GDS Group: Has your company had to consider reinventing loyalty and retention to capitalize on your existing customer base?

Ashlee Weisser, VP Analytics & Insights, Bloomin' Brands: We are always looking to improve retention within our existing customer base. Our loyalty program is a key component of this strategy, and we are constantly evaluating the program.

Cedric Clark, VP RGM, Sam's Club: We have definitely considered the true meaning of the "Member/Customer" being at the center of our decisions. Expectations have changed as it relates to a membership model and the biggest change was Free Online Order Shipping for Plus Members.

Nikolas Acheson, Director Data Products & Insights, American Eagle: Absolutely! I believe most companies are (or should be) incessantly looking at their loyalty and retention programs to make sure the voice of their customers are heard, responded to, and being provided the value and/or exclusive benefits they are expecting as a loyal customer. The best loyalty programs out there, emerging or otherwise, are incessantly cannibalizing their own programs and innovating.

GDS Group: What piece of advice would you give yourself now, regarding digital transformation, that you didn't know when you first started in your career?

Ashlee: While digital transformation is a cool buzzword, the hard work required to get it done successfully is often not discussed. My advice would be to understand that to get to the "cool" you have to get through some tedious work.

Cedric: My advice would be around creating a seamless experience with the members and customers between physical and online commerce.

GDS Group: What drives you to participate in events like our summits?

Ashlee: I participate in events like this for a few reasons. Firstly, personal and professional development is important for any leader who wants to continue to grow and make a positive impact. Secondly, these events allow for networking with colleagues to learn new approaches, ask great questions, and connect with people in similar roles.

Nikolas: Being able to share, give back, and learn from others' experiences allows everyone to go faster. Events like these that are smaller and more intimate allow deeper conversations.

Interested in attending the upcoming NG Retail Summit this April in Georgia, Atlanta? Apply to attend here. #NGRetail

Related Files

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Related Links

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SOURCE GDS Group

Related Links

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[March 05, 2020] AmpliVox CEO's Cancer Fund-Raising Spreads Throughout the Business Community

NORTHBROOK, Ill., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- When Don Roth, CEO of AmpliVox Sound Systems, set out to raise funds for ocular cancer in memory of his wife, little did he know how things would snowball. Recently, he explained his passion for his campaign in an interview with Commercial Integrator, a publication for technology professionals who install technology products across many industries. AmpliVox's portable sound systems and AV technology, lecterns, multimedia furniture are employed by many commercial integrators.



Nancy Roth lost her six-year battle with ocular melanoma on September 4, 2018 . Since then, according to Commercial Integrator , "Roth has led efforts to raise about $35,000 for the Eye Tumor Research Foundation and the Ocular Melanoma Foundation through a GoFundMe fundraising page as well as partnerships with local restaurants and neighborhood businesses near AmpliVox's headquarters in the Chicago area." Among the local restaurants to donate portions of their proceeds to Roth's fundraising efforts are City Barbecue, Eddie Merlot and The Warehouse, but they're not the only ones, he says. "My dedication and my goal is to raise money in many, many different ways for the Eye Tumor Research Foundation," says Roth. AmpliVox employees "have all been very supportive in every way," he says, as have the company's customers and suppliers.

Roth has invited all of AmpliVox's suppliers and customers to contribute to the GoFundMe page in Nancy's memory: https://www.gofundme.com/f/etrf-nancy-roth "There will always be a little hole in my heart. They fill the gap when all of these people are so supportive," says Roth. To learn more about AmpliVox Sound Systems' products, visit Ampli.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amplivox-ceos-cancer-fund-raising-spreads-throughout-the-business-community-301016874.html SOURCE AmpliVox Sound Systems

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Appointment

5 March 2020

With over 35 years of experience in the hospitality industry including his international work in Russia, China, Indonesia and Korea, Masi joins Remington Hotels from Schulte Hospitality Group where he served as Vice President of Operations, assuming responsibility for over 81 hotels, 7,500 rooms and 4,000 associates. Prior to his role at Schulte Hospitality Group, Masi was the Vice President of Operations for TPG Hotels & Resorts following his time at Interstate Hotels & Resorts where he held numerous leadership roles over 26 years including Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Special Projects. Additional experience includes various management positions for InterContinental Hotels Group and JW Marriott.

Masi earned his undergraduate degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Johnson & Wales University. As the Senior Vice President of Operations at Remington Hotels, Masi will be responsible for overseeing hotel performance with a focus on projects including operational plans for new hotel openings and conversions, interim hotel management and execution of group led initiatives. Link to high-res headshot.
Four more countries are confirming their first coronavirus cases while Italy is shutting down all schools for 10 days. Chile, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia reported their first cases Wednesday. The Hungarian cases involved two Iranian students, while the one in Slovenia involved a patient who had traveled through Morocco and Italy.

Italy has Europe's largest number of coronavirus cases -- 2,700, with 100 deaths. Its government made what it called the "prudent" decision to close all schools through March 15.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at his daily virus briefing Wednesday that 75 countries had reported cases. He urged all nations to act on what he called "The 3 C's" -- first case, first cluster of cases and first sign of community transmission.

"Our message to all countries is this is not a one-way street. We can push this virus back," he said. But he said he was concerned that in some countries he did not name, "the level of political will does not match the level of the threat we face."

Tedros, referring to the published report on the outbreak by the WHO-China Joint Mission, said it urged all countries to "educate their populations, to expand surveillance, to find, isolate and care for every case, to trace every contact, and to take an all-of-government and all-of-society approach. This is not a job for the health ministry alone."
I bet everyones like, Ive got coronavirus, Im dying, and youre like, No, youve just got a cough. Does it seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little bit hyped up do you think in the media?

That was Prince William, talking Tuesday with a paramedic in Ireland.

He then added:

By the way, the duke and duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus! Sorry!

People on social media immediately scolded the heir to the British throne, pointing out that people are dying of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus thats quickly spread around the world.

Yet William isnt the only public figure whos tried to make light of the brewing pandemic this week.

In the U.S., Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, posed while wearing a biohazard mask. He tweeted out the photo with the message: Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote.

Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote. pic.twitter.com/wjJ4YY4VZz  Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 4, 2020

The House voted to provide about $8 billion to take on the coronavirus outbreak. (Gaetz voted for the appropriation, but he tweeted that he didnt feel good about it. $8Billion+ in spending without offsets. The next generation will have to pay for their own pandemics....and ours too...with interest.)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, meanwhile, joked about why his country so far has seen no confirmed COVID-19 cases, declaring that coronavirus doesnt grow wherever you put alcohol, [so] Ive now found myself an additional reason to drink one glass a day.

He then added:

I just made that up for you to know.

Public officials in various countries have given conflicting messages about COVID-19, insisting the risk is low and that everyone should go about their daily lives while also calling on people to be vigilant about washing their hands and taking other measures to avoid infection.

Meanwhile, the virus has continued to spread. There have been more than 3,000 deaths from COVID-19 around the world, with at least 11 in the U.S.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The Andrews government insists the state can avoid a recession despite a downturn in Victoria's economic performance at the end of 2019.

National accounts figures published on Wednesday show the key "state final demand" measure - the value of goods and services traded in Victoria - shrunk by 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, well before the hit from bushfires and coronavirus.



But the government says state final demand is not a total measure of economic growth because it does not include exports, and insists the Victorian economy is the strongest of all Australian states.

With recession looming, Daniel Andrews is hoping for some federal assistance. Credit:Eddie Jim

The next national accounts, due in early June, will reflect the effects of the bushfire crisis and coronavirus, with the federal government predicting a hit of about 0.5 per cent to the country's economic growth.

Shadow Treasurer Louise Staley said the national accounts figures showed Victorians were "staring down the barrel of a recession".
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 15:43:57|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China is eyeing "new infrastructure" projects to offset the economic impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and boost sustainable growth.

The country will accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers, said a Wednesday meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Rather than resorting to a massive government-led stimulus to shore up growth, China is seeking more targeted investments in projects that facilitate innovation and improve weak areas in economic and social development.

A total of 25 provincial-level regions have put new infrastructure projects in their government work reports, with 21 intending to advance 5G network construction.

Among the first batch of major projects to be constructed in east China's Zhejiang Province this year, 61 percent are in the high-tech field, compared with only 41 percent from the previous year.

On Tuesday, the construction of the Alibaba Damo Academy started in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang. With an investment of 20 billion yuan (about 2.9 billion U.S. dollars), the academy is expected to become an incubator of strategic innovation industries such as big data, artificial intelligence, driverless cars and quantum computing.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has also pushed China Unicom to accelerate the construction of 5G network infrastructure. The leading telecom operator announced in February that it would work with China Telecom to finish the construction of 250,000 5G base stations across the country by the end of the third quarter, earlier than previously planned.

"Instead of simply turning to the old playbook of investment stimulus, the country should promote a new round of infrastructure construction through reform and innovation," said Ren Zeping, chief economist of Chinese property developer Evergrande.

Investors have already jumped on the bandwagon. In China's A-share market, stocks related to 5G networks, industrial internet, inter-city transit systems, vehicle charging stations and data centers -- all considered as new infrastructure -- saw continued fund inflows, with exchange-traded funds linked to these shares registering gains in the past weeks.

While policy incentives have guided market funds into the sector, the government is also expected to encourage new infrastructure via special bonds, public-private partnerships and credit support, said Tang Chuan, an expert with 360 Finance, noting that about 714.8 billion yuan of special-purpose bonds were issued in January, 10 times the amount of general bonds issued.

Lu Ting, chief China economist with Nomura, cautioned against the approval of massive infrastructure projects with low returns, but said that certain investments in major city infrastructure such as permanent epidemic control centers are necessary, as the epidemic revealed vulnerabilities in these areas.

"It is important that the government spends more on concrete projects and pools resources to areas including the healthcare system, medical research and education," Lu said.
Justice after 7 years, who said what on Nirbhaya hangings

Nirbhaya: Only two convicts wrote a will, one wanted to donate paintings, another his body

Nirbhaya: None of the four convicts slept at night

Squirmed for a bit before going still: The final moments of Nirbhayas killers

Bihar man hangs self in quarantine centre: Cops say he was stressed due to TB

Will Nirbhayas killers hang in the next 14 days?

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 05: The Delhi government on Wednesday moved a city court seeking a fresh date for execution of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the last remaining mercy plea in the case.

According to Delhi Prison Rules, a 14-day period has to be given to a death row convict after the dismissal of a clemency plea before the prisoner can be hanged. All the four men are to be hanged together.

A Union home ministry official said President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of 25-year-old Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four condemned prisoners.

The Delhi government told Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana that all legal remedies of the convicts have been exhausted and nothing survives now.

Nirbhaya case: President rejects mercy plea filed by convict Pawan Gupta

The judge then directed the convicts to file their response by tomorrow even as the lawyer for the prosecution said no notice was required.

While issuing the notice, the court said principles of natural justice are part of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and the sacrosanct principle of "Audi alteram partem" (listen to the other side) cannot be ignored.

The hanging of Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) besides Pawan previously scheduled for March 3 was deferred for the third time in six weeks by the court on Monday in yet another twist in the case marked by apparent delaying tactics by the condemned prisoners. The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

The court on Monday postponed the hanging till further orders.

Nirbhaya's father expressed the hope that the convicts will be hanged this month.

"He(Pawan) has one option left -- that is to challenge the mercy plea in Supreme Court as the others have done. Let's see what happens next, but we are confident of getting justice," he told PTI over phone.

"We are hopeful that the convicts will be hanged this month and justice will be finally delivered to us after a long wait," he said.

The first date of execution-January 22-fixed on January 7 was postponed by the court to February 1. But on January 31, the court indefinitely postponed the hanging. On February 17, the court again issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 at 6 am.

Nirbhaya: No condemned convict should meet his creator with a grievance says Delhi court

The Delhi High Court, meanwhile, declined to entertain a plea seeking directions to the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) to intervene and enquire into the mental and physical state of the four death row convicts.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said the petition was not maintainable as it should have been first filed before the NHRC.

Asking the petitioner to move the NHRC, the bench disposed of his plea.

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.

The case has witnessed a series of twists and turns right after a Delhi court on September 13, 2013 awarded the death sentence to the four convicts, less than one year after the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in south Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Review petitions and curative petitions were then filed in a staggered manner in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order on March 13, 2014 confirming the death sentence. The last option of mercy petition before the President to escape the gallows was exercised by the convicts one by one.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 7:46 [IST]
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 10:58:06|Editor: zyl

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SYDNEY, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A 95-year-old woman who passed away in Australia this week has tested positive for COVID-19, health authorities confirmed on Thursday, taking the country's death toll from the virus to 2.

The woman was among a number of residents at a Sydney aged care facility who had contact with an infected nurse, with two other elderly residents also testing positive for the disease.

New South Wales (NSW) chief Health officer, Dr. Kerry Chant said it was expected more COVID-19 cases could be confirmed at that facility in coming days.

A total of six new cases were confirmed in NSW on Thursday, taking the total number there to 22, and 52 overall in Australia.

One of the newly infected patients was a doctor working at a Sydney hospital, who had no recent history of overseas travel but had been in contact with a number of patients and staff.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that the doctor attended a radiology seminar last month, before she was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday.

A 53-year-old male doctor diagnosed with COVID-19 this week also attended the conference along with around 77 other medical professionals.

"NSW Health has been working very hard to try to contact each of those doctors and other attendees of the conference, so far it has been positive, nobody else is showing any symptoms of coronavirus," Hazzard said.

The spread of the disease in Australian hospitals and nursing homes has caused particular concern as these facilities appear to be more vulnerable to the severe effects of the virus.

Testing has been conducted at a childcare facility near the nursing home where the 95-year-old woman died, to determine if children who were part of a recent visit were responsible for bringing the virus in.

Visits by children and students to nursing homes is common in NSW, however health officials said they are advising all visits be stopped until further notice.

"For the ultimate prudence we are advising that these visits of groups of children is curtailed at this time," Chant said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden was the big winner on Super Tuesday, both in Massachusetts and nationwide.

The Democratic presidential candidate who did little campaigning in Massachusetts, won the Bay State by a more than seven-point margin.

With over 99% of results from Massachusetts precincts in, see below how Massachusetts residents across the state voted at county levels.

Statewide

Statewide, Biden received 33.8% percent of the vote. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders received the second highest total in Massachusetts, with 26.7% of the vote, followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received 11.9% of the vote Tuesday. Following a disappointing performance nationwide, he dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden.

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 2.7% of the vote and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar received 1.2% - largely due to early voting ahead of them ending their presidential bids and endorsing Biden on Monday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick - who ended his campaign following the New Hampshire primary - received just under a half percentage of the vote, 6,739 votes.

Over 5,000 voters didnt mark their preference for any candidate.

Statewide results from 2020 Super Tuesday

Barnstable County

Biden won Barnstable County by a double-digit margin with Sanders following in a far second and Warren further behind in third.

Berkshire County

Biden won the westernmost part of the state by a significant margin, receiving 38.5% of the vote to Sanders 28.7%. Warren received just under 20% of the vote. Bloomberg didnt break double-digits.

Bristol County

Biden was the winner in Bristol County, receiving 37.6% of the vote to Sanders 29.1%.

Bloomberg inched ahead of Warren in third place within the county, with 13.2% of the vote to Warrens 13%.

Dukes County

Only a few thousand residents on Marthas Vineyard voted, with Biden receiving 32.7% of the vote with 1,961 votes. Sanders and Warren also received more than a thousand votes.

Essex County

Biden won Essex County with 34% of the vote to Sanders 27.3%.

Franklin County

Sanders won the Western Massachusetts county, and by a wide margin. With 7,894 votes, Sanders received just over 40% of the vote. Warren came in second with 25.2% of the vote, followed closely by Biden in third with 23.7%.

Hampden County

Springfield and surrounding communities came out strong for Biden and Sanders. The former vice president received 36.9% of the vote and Sanders received 30.9%. Support for Warren was dwarfed by the two frontrunners, with her receiving less than half, 13.7%, followed closely by Bloomberg with 12.6%.

Hampshire County

Progressive candidates won the day in Hampshire county. Sanders was the top candidate, with just under 35% of the vote, followed by Warren with 29.5%. Biden received 24.5% - just over 10,000 votes.

Middlesex County

The most populated county in Massachusetts was not feeling the Bern. Biden won the day 116,119 votes - 31.1% - followed by Warren with 26.6%. Sanders received 24.5%.

Warren is a longtime resident of Cambridge and received strong support from her hometown. Bloomberg, who was born in Medford, did not.

Nantucket County

The island where the Biden family has spent almost every Thanksgiving since the 1970s came out strong for the former vice president. Biden received over 40% of the vote - 1,052 votes - a wide margin ahead of Sanders, who received just under 24%.

Norfolk County

Biden received a wide margin of support in Norfolk County, receiving 37.4% of the vote to Sanders 21.6%. Warren received just over 20%.

Plymouth County

Voters in Plymouth County showed support for Biden, with the former vice president receiving just under 39% of the vote, followed by Sanders with just over 24%.

Suffolk County

Sanders narrowly won Suffolk County, thanks in large part to voter turnout in Boston. Biden beat Sanders by 56 votes in Boston.

Biden was able to ultimately win with 30.1% or 43,210 votes out of a total of 144,200 ballots in Boston on Super Tuesday. Sanders trailed close behind with 30% or 43,154 votes. Warren followed in third with a respectable 27.3% or 39,188 of the votes.

Worcester County

Central Massachusetts swung towards Biden on Tuesday, with 35.5% of the vote going to the former vice president. Sanders received 29.2% of the vote, with Warren trailing behind in third with 16.4%.
Until recently, the States Attorney was unfamiliar with this matter as the charges  like all misdemeanor offenses  were filed directly by police without our review, Foxx spokeswoman Aviva Bowen said in a statement. Upon reviewing the facts and evidence, we determined the case should not be pursued and are moving to quickly dismiss the charges, so that a grieving mother can mourn the loss of her daughter in peace.
Cayman International Insurance Supports ReFocus Conference

Members of Cayman's international insurance industry are currently attending the annual ReFocus Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ReFocus, a global conference for senior-level life insurance and reinsurance executives is jointly hosted by The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) and the Society of Actuaries (SOA). With over 800 industry executives participating, representing almost 250 companies, the presence of a strong Cayman contingent further supports Cayman's footprint in the longevity reinsurance market.

Representatives from Aon, Conyers and Marsh are joined by Cayman reinsurers, Aureum Re, Knighthead and Nassau Re.

The Insurance Managers Association of Cayman (IMAC) Vice Chair, Adrian Lynch currently attending the conference, remarked: "With carriers, brokers, lawyers and insurance managers in attendance, and with an increased interest amongst US edants in Cayman's offering, I am confident ReFocus will become an ever more strategic event for Cayman."







Derek Stenson, member of IMAC's marketing committee added, "It's clearly evident every year at this conference that there is growing recognition among industry leaders of the advantages of Cayman for certain longevity structures. The ever-increasing contingent representing the jurisdiction is excited to meet the various industry stakeholders and to use the opportunity to discuss and showcase the positive and growing momentum Cayman is experiencing in the space."

Martin Cooke, Chair of IMAC's marketing committee commented, "Long term insurance and reinsurance is an increasingly important class of business in Cayman. The growth we're seeing in this area further highlights how Cayman has become a reliable option as an alternative jurisdiction for new structures in this space."

For additional information, including regularly updated statistics on insurance licensing, visit the website of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority by going to: www.cima.ky

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005853/en/
All rumours about an alleged National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise being carried out in Mizoram were debunked after a senior government official from the state clarified that only a village survey was underway. Amidst aroused suspicions regarding NRC, leaders of the village which mainly comprised of Chakma tribals of ruling Mizo National Front had written to PM Modi stating that an NRC exercise was going on in Lunglei district of the northeastern state. Their letter was also supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, National Peoples Party and six NGOs, including the Chakma National Council of India.

Read: Mizoram Assembly Budget Session Adjourned Sine Die

Read: 632 Firearms Seized In Mizoram In 16 Yrs: Minister To House

Agency sources reported that the Mizoram government official said that the state had undertaken a survey only to identify unauthorized villages and illegal foreigners, if any, in the district. Lunglei district lies along the Bangladesh border.

Read: 330 Foreigners Held For Illegally Entering Mizoram Since 2018

Memorandum to PM Modi

In their memorandum, the Chakma leaders wrote to PM Modi seeking an intervention to stop the "NRC exercise." Mizoram's Chakma Autonomous District Council Chief Executive Member Rashik Mohan Chakma, BJP MLA Buddha Dhan Chakma, former minister and BJP's national council member Nirupam Chakma also extended their support to the memorandum by being signatories to it.

Read: Mizoram Govt Yet To Notify New Prohibition Rules: Minister

"Illegal NRC being conducted in at least 14 Chakma-inhabited villages under Lunglei district. No such survey is being conducted in any Mizo-inhabited village," claimed a part of the memorandum.

The memorandum also claimed that the district administration had circulated a form like notice wherein the villagers were asked to fill in their names, places of birth, nationality, and religion, name of the last village they had lived in and the period of stay along with documents like voter identity cards, Aadhaar cards, and educational certificates.

Read: Assam NRC Data: Wipro Says IT Services Contract Not Renewed After October 2019

Read: 'Assam NRC Data Fully Secured', Says MoS Nityanand Rai, After List Went Offline Last Month

(With Agency Inputs)
While their asylum cases are heard in US courts, Al Jazeera meets the refugees and migrants affected by a controversial policy.

More than 60,000 asylum seekers have been denied entry into the United States under a controversial plan nicknamed remain in Mexico.

They have to wait across the border while their cases are processed in US courts.

In the Mexican border town of Matamoros, more than 2,000 people are living in a tent camp  waiting to know their fate.

Al Jazeeras John Holman reports from Matamoros, Mexico.
T he number of coronavirus cases in Britain is set only to go up, the chief medical officer said today as the battle was ramped up to the second stage of trying to delay a major outbreak in the coming weeks.

Health chiefs are switching from stopping Covid-19 from gaining a hold in the UK to trying to push an epidemic peak into the spring or early summer.

Then the NHS will be under less pressure, the warmer weather may stave off the spread of the virus, and a delay will also buy time to develop medicines to combat it.

Before the latest daily figures were published, chief medical officer Chris Whitty told the Commons health and social care committee: Im expecting the number only to go up.

Chris Whitty / Parliament TV

Professor Whitty said the working assumption was now that the virus was spreading from person to person in the UK on a limited scale because there were a small number of cases with no apparent link to outbreaks abroad.

The Government has a four-pronged strategy against coronavirus: contain, delay, science and research, mitigate.

We are mainly in the second stage at this point in time, Professor Whitty told the MPs, explaining there would be a gradual shift between phases.

First Brit To Contract Coronavirus Reveals His Experience On ITV This Morning

He also said there had been a communications fumble yesterday over a plan to give only a weekly regional breakdown of cases, signalling that these will be published more regularly, possibly 24 hours after the national figure to ensure they are accurate, and a map and dashboard could follow.

But he did not back very localised figures, as are being released in some countries on a street-by-street basis, amid fears that infected patients could be targeted with abuse on social media and stigmatised.

Thirteen out of the 87 cases in the UK so far are understood to be in London.

In his evidence to the MPs, Professor Whitty:

Told Londoners to wash their hands after going on the Tube and buses because there was a risk of contracting coronavirus from infected hand rails, for example.

Said advice to elderly people and those with existing health conditions, the most vulnerable groups, to avoid crowded places may be issued as the outbreak spreads.

Said he doubted that closing schools would have a big impact on stopping the spread, particularly as many infected children abroad have not got milder symptoms which are less likely to be passed on.

Said that hopes of containing the virus in China and a few controllable outbreaks outside the country had been dashed, and were now slim to zero.

Stressed he had a reasonably high degree of confidence that one per cent is at the upper limit of the mortality rate for coronavirus, amid fears sparked by the World Health Organisation that it could be at least three times higher.

The potential economic toll of the virus was becoming clearer, with Europes largest regional airline Flybe collapsing into administration after its financial woes were worsened by the disease outbreak.

Kings College Hospital in south London confirmed two recent patients had tested positive for Covid-19, with some staff told to self-isolate.

The Department of Health was criticised by experts and the public on Twitter for faling to provide daily updates on the locations of new UK cases.

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

Englands Six Nations game against Italy on March 14 in Rome has been postponed.

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The Government scientific advisory committee was meeting today to give the latest update on measures which could be taken to combat the virus.

They range from things like stopping public gatherings, sporting gatherings, closing schools and so on. Quite draconian stuff. To more targeted interventions, Boris Johnson told ITVs This Morning.

We will see what the scientists advise. These guys are brilliant they are epidemiologists who understand behavioural psychology of the populationbut at the moment what they are telling me is that actually slightly counter-intuitively things like closing schools and stopping big gatherings dont work as well perhaps as people think in stopping the spread.

Our advice on school closures remains exactly where it was we dont think at the moment schools should be closing. Professor Whitty said headteachers should not close their schools unless there was a confirmed infection of a pupil or teacher. Currently we are not encouraging schools to close just because someone has met someone who met someone who had the virus, he said.

He said a fundamental decision would come later in an epidemic stage when ministers would have to decide if the viruss behaviour warranted the disruption that would be caused by closing schools as a public health measure.

My own view is that this is less effective than it would be against flu, he said, explaining that coronavirus did not appear to harm children and may not spread as virulently among them.

There was no evidence so far that children with asthma would be affected differently by coronavirus than from any other respiratory disease, which might bring on an attack.
The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), alongside 7 South, a specialist Destinations Management Company from Seychelles, joined in the Meetings Arabia and Luxury Travel (Malt) Congress, where the islands showcased its potential as a destination for business and luxury travel.



The Malt Congress, held in the Rixos Premium JBR Hotel in Dubai, was a two-day event comprised of talks, panels, and various opportunities for buyers and destinations representatives to connect and establish business relationships.



Representing the destination at the event, the STB representative in Dubai, Ahmed Fathallah, and Janet Rampal, assistant groups and incentive reservations manager of 7 South, took the opportunity to meet with various clients in order to enlighten them about Seychelles.



Presenting the islands as an ideal destination with direct air connectivity and only four hours away from the Middle East regions for business meetings and luxury travel, the team actively promoted the destination to various potential prominent buyers and organisations in the region.



During the meetings, discussions centred on Mice, key trends, sustainability and the many disruptors of business and luxury travel in the region, providing more insights on how to handle the Middle Eastern market. A striking point mentioned during the discussion according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is that the Middle East is one of the smallest, yet fastest growing regions in the world, with outbound travel quadrupling in the last 20 years.



Seychelles is a very popular romantic destination among this market and so over the years, it became somewhat of a myth that the islands are just for honeymooners or weddings, albeit, it really is a great romantic destination  but we are here to share with our trade partners that Seychelles is a great destination even for Mice and business travel. There are plenty of properties in Seychelles that cater to this market and we will continue to strengthen our partnerships with the regions Mice experts, said Fathallah.



The Malt Congress awarded a certificate of recognition to the STB for their support to the eighth Annual Malt Congress. - TradeArabia News Service
The mayor of Fort Lee said Thursday there is zero reason for panic or school closures after a 32-year-old resident of the Bergen County town had the states first presumptive positive test for coronavirus.

Mayor Mark Sokolich said that a task force of 20 health and local officials had completed the process of interviewing the infected Fort Lee man, who does not have school-age children. The initial positive coronavirus test by the state is awaiting confirmation by the federal Centers for Disease Control.

None, said Sokolich. Zero. Absolutely zero reason we believe schools are going to have to close.

Sokolich declined to comment on the patients job and the circumstances of how he contracted the surging virus that has already claimed the lives of 3,100 across the globe, with more than 93,000 cases worldwide. The virus has infected 99 people in the U.S. and killed 10, according to the CDC.

The Fort Lee man, whose name has not been released, was being treated at the Hackensack University Medical Center, in Hackensack.

With a population of more than 37,000 and its location on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge, the busiest bridge in the world, Fort Lee had been preparing for coronavirus for two and a half weeks, said Sokolich.

Despite the heavy commuter population, the mayor said there was no reason for panic. He told reporters that more information on the patient would be released once the state authorized the borough to provide updates.

We intend on following those protocols, said Sokolich. I will however tell you that Fort Lee has zero reason to panic. Everybody just simply remain calm. Remain vigilant. Follow the CDC recommendations.

While restrictions like a quarantine protocol are not required at this point, Sokolich said that remains possible due the towns high commuter population.

Were presuming at one point that were going to have to take extraordinary steps because of our density, he said. This mayor is concerned. But this mayor is not panicked."

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco asked residents to report any instance of price gouging related to the coronavirus.

We are asking Bergen and Passaic County residents to report any merchants that dramatically increase prices for surgical masks, gloves, sanitizing products such as hand sanitizer, Lysol/Clorox wipes and sprays in an apparent attempt to take unfair advantage of a health emergency, Tedesco said in a statement.

Suspected instances of price gauging may be reported to the state Division of Consumer Protection at (201) 336-6400.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletter
NEW DELHIUntil recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modis campaign to portray India as a rising power seemed to be ticking along despite troubles at home.

Much of the world remained quiet, or cautious, in recent months as India began locking up hundreds of opposition politicians and activists without charge across the country. Business executives say they are too afraid to speak out about shortcomings in the governments economic strategy. The press complains of government intimidation.

Still, there was President Donald Trump last week, embracing Modi in New Delhi, where streets were dotted with posters declaring the worlds oldest democracy meets the worlds largest democracy.

But as the leaders celebrated each other in Indias capital, Hindu mobs began going after Muslim protesters in neighbourhoods just a few miles away while the police looked on or joined in. And it was those images  the return of sectarian violence on the streets, not the carefully crafted show of international partnership  that has set the tone for India on the world stage over the past week.

On Wednesday, Freedom House, a non-partisan democracy advocacy organization, flagged India as a major concern.

The Indian government has taken its Hindu nationalist agenda to a new level with a succession of policies, the group said, threatening the democratic future of a country long seen as a potential bulwark of freedom in Asia and the world.

In a rare move, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights filed a petition in Indias Supreme Court on Tuesday to challenge a citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims. Some of Indias closest partners have begun criticizing its treatment of Muslims and migrants, with condemnations coming in from Iran, the United States, Bangladesh and elsewhere.

If India loses that secular, democratic identity, then it loses what makes it different than other countries in Asia. We are all watching the riots in Delhi and worry they are going down a dangerous road that makes it harder for us to be a strong advocate for India, said Rep. Ami Bera, a California Democrat who is the longest-serving Indian American in Congress.

Bera, who has long lobbied for closer U.S. relations with India, added, If they want to become a global power, well, that comes with certain responsibilities.

Though there has been no sign yet that big doors are closing internationally, the violence in New Delhi has clearly opened a new chapter of international questioning of Modis agenda, and, perhaps, of the investment climate in a country hoping to turn its weakening economy around. The current unrest threatens one of Indias biggest appeals for investors or potential allies: that it is the worlds largest secular democracy.

In private conversations, diplomats are worried that the rhetoric coming from Modis governing Bharatiya Janata Party is creating an environment that could lead to more violence. They point out that BJP members have been labelling protesters and opposition supporters as terrorists who were supported by Pakistan. One minister led crowds in chants of shoot the traitors!

One area where international officials believe that India may be particularly hurting itself is in its campaign to be granted a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council along with other nuclear powers. Speaking on condition of anonymity, several diplomats, including some from countries that have publicly pushed for an Indian seat on the Security Council, say that their governments are now reluctant to push the issue after Indias domestic unrest has laid bare the effects of Hindu nationalism there.

During his first campaign for prime minister in 2014, Modi downplayed his Hindu agenda. His first term was marked by an energetic foreign policy and alliance building. Domestically, he focused on development and economic reforms. He promoted himself as a globalizer and unifier, friends with everyone: the Israelis and Palestinians, the Russians and the Americans.

After winning a second term last year, Modis government prioritized issues that appealed to its Hindu-nationalist base, and the prime minister himself talked less about economic reform.

In August, the government scrapped the statehood of Indias only Muslim-majority state of Kashmir and locked up hundreds of its politicians and activists without charge. In December, the government approved a citizenship law that would expedite citizenship for every major religion in the region except Islam. Coupled with a citizenship test, observers worry the policies will disenfranchise Indias 200 million Muslims, 14 per cent of the population.

Now, though none of the Western world leaders who have sought closer partnership with India have yet to issue strong warnings about the sectarian violence in India  at least publicly  more criticism is coming in.

On Tuesday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights filed its petition in Indias Supreme Court to challenge the citizenship act, claiming the law undermines the countrys human rights obligations. Indias foreign ministry has asked the Supreme Court to overturn it.

Last week, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom condemned the violence in Delhi, after suggesting in December that the American government consider sanctioning India for the passage of the citizenship law.

Iran, which has close ties with India and has typically refrained from commenting on others affairs, issued a rare condemnation this week about Indias treatment of Muslims.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation slammed the riots as anti-Muslim last week. Just last year the OIC had invited India as its guest of honour, which Delhi hailed as a diplomatic victory. While Indias Muslims are a minority at home, its Muslim population is the second largest in the world. But it never had a voice at the OIC until last year, coveted progress that is now at risk.

Allies worry that Indias domestic turmoil is creating unnecessary tensions with its neighbours, which could help China in the long run as it tries to expand its influence in South Asia.

Relations with Bangladesh are at a low, after Indias powerful home minister, Amit Shah, called people entering a country illegally from Bangladesh termites last year when justifying the need for the citizenship test. Afghanistan, which rarely comments on other countries affairs and has a warm relationship with India, has expressed its displeasure about the sectarian undertones Modis government has recently taken, which includes jabs at Afghan migrants.

The countrys domestic politics are now at risk of blowing up Indias global ambitions. Two officials in the ministry of external affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being punished, complained that when visiting foreign dignitaries arrive in Delhi, they spend most of their meetings defending their countrys domestic policies instead of fostering bilateral ties.

Some American officials worry that the condemnations from the U.N. or the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom may damage its bilateral relationship with India and encourage Congress to halt further weapons sales.

But Indias government is likely betting that the international criticism will blow over. With the rise of nationalism globally, leaders like Trump have been less concerned about human rights than protecting their own national interests, which include military and trade relationships with India.

Indias external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, noted earlier this week that the rise of nationalism across the world was providing an opportunity for India to shape its domestic politics. He argued that India would rise in a polarized world.

Indias faltering economy may also pose a threat to its ambitions.

The economy is experiencing its slowest growth in nearly a decade, with unemployment at a 45-year high. Government officials seem more focused on crushing political opposition than shoring up the economy, observers worry, and domestic turmoil might push more international investors away. Foreign direct investment in India slid 1.4 per cent last quarter, after foreign investment reached a 10-year low in 2019.

Modis party has always had two objectives: advancing Hindu nationalism and reforming the economy. There was this feeling that these two things had equal weight, but that is now dissipating and creating a lot of whiplash in corridors across Washington, said Milan Vaishnav, the director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Modi wants India to play a more active role globally, but all of that without robust economic growth at home is an empty shell, Vaishnav said. The nationalism is not only taking over the economic agenda but actively undermining it.

While Modis government tends to dismiss all criticism as anti-Hindu, they are often sidelining some of their biggest fans, like Bera, the California congressman, or friendly neighbouring countries.

India is very sensitive to any criticism. If they want to be that world leader, they cant be so sensitive all the time, Bera said. The U.S. is criticized all the time, and we take it.

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BAGHDAD  The post of prime minister in Iraq is proving to be a tough gig.

Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, who was designated to become prime minister with the support of pro-Iranian forces in Iraq, withdrew his candidacy March 2 after he failed to form a government within the constitutionally mandated 30-day deadline. Now those forces are looking back over their shoulders at caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, thinking he might be their best hope to retain influence in Iraq. However, Abdul Mahdi said March 2 that he is taking a voluntary absence from the post.

Allawis failure resulted from a large front that formed against him and his supporters in parliament. Allawi only had the support of the Iran-affiliated Fatah Alliance - the political wing of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU)  and, initially, the erratic cleric Muqtada al-Sadrs Sairoon Alliance. The rest of the Iraqi political groups  including Kurdish members of parliament, the majority of Sunnis and the rest of the Shiite parties  all were united against Allawi.

Allawis rejection raised concern among the PMU's pro-Iranian factions, leading them to threaten to burn the country if the political parties nominate a pro-American prime minister.

Some are trying to nominate candidates for the prime minister position who are accused of being involved in the [Jan. 3] US assassination of [Iranian Quds Force] commander Qasem Soleimani and PMU commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. This is a declaration of war against Iraqi people that will burn what remains of Iraq, Abu Ali al-Askari, spokesman for Iran-affiliated Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah, tweeted March 2.

This is seen as a threat to ignite a civil war in Iraq if the PMU doesn't hold sway over the prime minister position.

The head of Al-Mada news, Fakhry Karim, an influential figure in Iraqi Kurdistan, posted on his Facebook page, A militiaman threatened via a tweet to start a war against Iraq.  Iraq will not be held hostage" to outside influences.

As the PMUs plan for preserving its influence through Allawis Cabinet has failed, it is taking another look at Abdul Mahdi, hoping to keep him in power. Abdul Mahdi, who has strong ties to Iran, originally was chosen as prime minister in October 2018. He was considered a compromise candidate and struggled to form a Cabinet. In November, he resigned (pending the ratification of a new prime minister) under pressure from some Shiite religious leaders and mass protests against government corruption and Iranian influence.

Askari also said that following Allawi's withdrawal, The best option is to keep Abdul Mahdi in the prime minister's office. The only obstacle against him is the religious authority view that led to his resignation. This can be changed now.

Abdul-Mahdi, although he had said he would leave office if his successor was not ratified by March 2, said that instead he will take a voluntary absence and hand over his duties to the head of his office, Abu Jihad al-Hashimy, and some of his Cabinet members.

This is a tactic to prevent President Barham Salih from taking on the duties of the prime minister, as the Iraqi Constitution allows. The Iraqi president met March 3 with a number of Iraqi political leaders to seek consensus on a new candidate.

Al-Monitor has learned from several sources in the Iraqi parliament who asked to remain anonymous that prior to Askaris tweet, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the head of the State of Law coalition, held a meeting attended by all Shiite political leaders, including Ammar al-Hakim, Hadi al-Amiri and PMU head Faleh Fayadh, and they agreed to nominate a candidate accepted by Kurds and Sunnis to avoid creating more division in the country.

A source affiliated with the Fatah Alliance told Al-Monitor that Askaris tweet was a reaction from a minority group in the PMU to the Shiite political leaders' meeting. Askari's Kataib Hezbollah is thought to be under the direct control of the elite Quds Force unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Also on March 2, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi  Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi's cousin  accused Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of interfering in Iraqi internal affairs. Ayad Allawi said Velayati had imposed his views on Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi during the latter's Cabinet selection, which led the majority of Iraqi political parties to reject his choices.

Ayad Allawi also praised the role of protesters and some of Iraq's national leaders, such as Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who did not hesitate to stand against the proposed Cabinet.

Barzani issued a statement thanking all Iraqi national leaders who he said supported democracy in Iraq by rejecting the Cabinet, which Barzani said could have resulted in more crises and political disasters.

This all is happening in conjunction with a sharp division among PMU factions.

The PMU appointed Abu Fadak al-Mohammadawi, a former Kataib Hezbollah military leader, as PMU chief of staff in place of the slain Muhandis. However, this decision was rejected immediately by four PMU factions  known as the "shrine units" and aligned with powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani  who oppose Iran's influence.

Askari had warned previously that his group would target any Iraqis working with US troops in the country beginning March 15. On March 3, he published a list of such alleged figures.

The Iraqi Intelligence Service has warned Kataib Hezbollah that it will take legal action against the group if it continues to threaten Iraqi figures.
Mr. Duncan Keir "'I'm looking forward to the energy and experience he (Mr. Duncan Keir) brings to our team and our client matters." - Ross Albers, Managing Partner - Albers & Associates

Albers & Associates is pleased to announce the addition of Mr. Duncn Keir, an experienced litigator previously the litigation Partner with Price & Keir.

A lifelong resident of the Baltimore Metro Area, Mr. Keir graduated from St. Pauls School for Boys in 1994, from Kenyon College in 1998, and the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2006.

Mr. Keir began his legal career with Summerfield, Willen, Silverberg & Limsky in Owings Mills, representing businesses and individuals in a wide variety of matters before the District, Circuit, Appellate and Federal Courts of Maryland. Thereafter, in 2011, Mr. Keir joined the Law Offices of Steven Heisler in Baltimore City, where he honed his skills representing hundreds of clients in auto accident and personal injury claims, while continuing his business, domestic and criminal practice.

Mr. Keirs proven litigation and business experience enhances and expands the firms client representation to assist clients From the Boardroom, to the Courtroom. His practice areas include: personal injury, civil and corporate litigation, domestic and family law and criminal defense.

"We're pleased to add Duncan to our team" says Mr. Ross Albers, Managing Partner of Albers & Associates. He continues, "Duncan adds experience and depth to our growing litigation team. We're consistently looking to expand our team with talented individuals across all positions. I've known Duncan for some time, and now I'm looking forward to the energy and experience he brings to our team and our client matters."

About Albers & Associates

Albers & Associates have offices located in Carroll, Howard, Frederick, and Baltimore Counties. The four offices represent clients throughout Maryland in a range of legal matters. Albers & Associates take a personal interest in each client. You need an attorney that will listen to you and understand your unique situation, whether it be a criminal arrest, complex divorce and custody case, drunk driving charges, or an injury caused by an automobile accident. For more information, visit http://www.rossalbers.com/.

About Growth Solutions Team

The Growth Solutions Team is a leading provider of Business Consulting Services including, Strategic HR, CFO Advisory, Sales & Customer Service Training, and Small Business Advisory services. Our team assists companies with growth in sales, profitability, and improved cash flows. For more information, visit the website at https://growthsolutionsteam.com.
GREENWICH  First Selectman Fred Camillo is urging town residents to follow established protocols as prescribed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the effort to help stem the spread of the coronavirus, also known as the COVID-19 virus.

The CDC is advising all travelers who recently returned from China, South Korea, Italy and Iran to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return. While there have not been any coronavirus cases reported in Connecticut, there have been at least 10 reported in nearby New Rochelle, N.Y.

Greenwich Health Director Caroline Baisley said in a statement from the town that her staff continues to update the Health Department webpage with links to specific topics related to the coronavirus, including links to the CDC and the State Department of health websites, which continue to publish real-time information and guidance for communities, health-care facilities and schools. They also are endeavoring to establish a telephone hotline.

The Department of Health is modifying the towns plan on an influenza pandemic for the COVID-19 virus and is working with state and federal health agencies on planning strategies for implementation should the virus need to be slowed down once it arrives.

Camillo has convened a working group of major infrastructure town departments  including the Board of Education  who are assisting with design of a continuity plan that will assist the town in keeping programs functional should they be interrupted by the coronavirus. Baisley also is working with Greenwich Hospital so there will be a unified response to maximize care for all those who made need it.

The town is urging residents to follow the following protocols:

No handshaking  Use a fist pump or an elbow bump.

Use only your knuckle to touch light switches, elevator buttons, etc.

Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.

Open doors with your closed fist or hip. Do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door, especially on bathroom and commercial doors.

Use disinfectant wipes at stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery stores.

Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds or use a greater than 60 percent alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from any activity that involves locations where other people have been.

If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use the crook of your elbow only if you have to.

Remember that a virus can remain on clothing for as long as one week.

The virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you; however, all surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about one week.

The virus only has receptors for lung cells meaning it only infects the lungs.

The only way the virus can infect you is through your nose and mouth. Generally, this means that people introduce the virus into their airways themselves.

The point of the masks is to prevent people not to touch their faces. However, the standard masks do not prevent the inhalation of sub-microscopic viral particles.

It is generally advised to stay away from large gatherings.

It is generally advised to wear latex gloves while riding public transportation.

You should be washing your hands eight to 10 times daily, on average, and every time you return home and before you eat.

For more information including up-to-the-minute CDC reports, visit the Health Departments webpage at www.greenwichct.gov/575/Health-Department.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan convened a working consultation on March 5 to discuss issues related to the process of activities aimed at preventing the spread of acute respiratory infections and new coronavirus in the republic, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of Artsakh Presidents Office.

The heads of the relevant spheres participating in the consultation delivered corresponding reports on their activities. The situation regarding the measures taken against the coronavirus was analyzed. The members of the Interdepartmental Commission, established in the republic pursuant to the Government resolution, including the public administration bodies, being in constant contact with the relevant structures of the Republic of Armenia, carry out a joint policy in this matter.

The President underscored the necessity of controlling the epidemic situation in the republic and taking all preventive measures. The public should be constantly informed by state authorities about all the specific cases associated with the acute respiratory infections, including the new coronavirus, and this information should always be accessible to citizens. The Head of the State gave appropriate assignments towards carrying out the activities in an organized and coordinated manner, highlighting in this context the need of close cooperation between all the state structures. Artsakh Republic minister of state Grigory Martirosyan, Security Council Secretary Arshavir Gharamyan, and other officials participated in the consultation.
Burma NLD Constitutional Amendments Would Disrupt Democratic Transition: Military MPs

N: Military lawmakers at the Union Parliament on March 4. / Thiha Lwin / The Irrawaddy

Naypyitaw  Brigadier-General Maung Maung, who leads military-appointed lawmakers in Myanmars Union Parliament, said the proposed amendments by the National League for Democracy (NLD) to the 2008 Constitution would negatively affect the democratic transition, national unity and military-civil relations.

Though [the NLD] frequently talked about national reconciliation [its] actions are harmful to the process, Brig-Gen Maung Maung told the Parliament as the debate on the charter amendment bills continued on Wednesday.

He warned that the result will not be good if there is no mutual trust, understanding and cooperation between the two sides.

The military lawmaker objected to the NLDs proposed amendments which suggest amendments can be made with the approval of more than two-thirds of elected lawmakers. At present, any amendment needs the approval of more than 75 percent of lawmakers while the military holds 25 percent of seats.

Military parliamentarian Colonel Tin Tun Oo called the proposed amendments discrimination against military members.

Such discrimination harms civil-military relations and can, therefore, hamper the democratic transition the country is undergoing, said the colonel.

The NLD has also proposed gradually reducing the militarys share of seats from 25 percent to 15 percent after the 2020 general election, 10 percent after 2025 and 5 percent after 2030.

Military lawmakers said the move could result in undesirable side-effects. The Tatmadaw (military) had to make sure the country did not face crises like in 1958 and 1962 when it was on the brink of collapse, they said.

The proposed amendments suggest limiting the leading role of the military and their representation in the Parliament. You cant set a timeframe for reducing the proportion of military lawmakers. It depends on circumstances, Lower House lawmaker U Thaung Aye of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party told the Parliament.

The question of whether the proposed amendments will affect national reconciliation depended on how the Tatmadaw viewed it, said Lower House NLD lawmaker Tin Tun Naing.

If they dont agree, how can we push for it given the current Constitution? As such, I feel like they are making a threat against charter amendment by talking about past events, he said, referring to the military coups in 1958 and 1962.

The Parliament is scheduled to cast a secret vote on the charter amendment bills on March 10.

Most political analysts say the bills will be rejected and only some terminology will be altered.

The NLD makes up 59 percent of lawmakers in the Union Parliament, ethnic-minority parties constitute 11 percent, the USDP represents 5 percent and the military has 25 percent totaling 657 lawmakers.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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E lizabeth Warren was today reported to be considering quitting the race for the Democratic presidential nomination as her supporters push for a Left-wing alliance with Bernie Sanders.

Senior advisers from the Sanders and Warren camps are discussing ways to push a common liberal agenda, according to the Washington Post, after centrist candidate Joe Biden became the frontrunner in the race.

Ms Warren failed to come higher than third in any of nomination votes by Democrats in 14 states on Super Tuesday this week.

She and Mr Sanders reportedly spoke on the phone last night, just hours after Michael Bloomberg quit the contest and joined other ex-contenders including Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar in endorsing former vice president Mr Biden.

Super Tuesday - In pictures 1 /18 Super Tuesday - In pictures Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden arrives onstage with his wife Jill and sister Valerie (right) at a Super Tuesday event in Los Angeles AFP via Getty Images Bernie Sanders is accompanied by his relatives, including his wife Jane, as he addresses supporters at his Super Tuesday night rally in Vermont Reuters Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally AP Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer for early results at his Super Tuesday night rally in Vermont Reuters Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden takes a selfie with supporters after addressing a Super Tuesday event in Los Angeles AFP via Getty Images Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks to supporters during a rally Getty Images Democratic presidential candidate former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg waves to his supporters at his Super Tuesday night event Getty Images Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden (L) arrives with wife Jill (C) and sister Valerie (R) at a Super Tuesday campaign event at Baldwin Hills Recreation Center o Getty Images Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., endorses Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign rally AP Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accompanied by his wife Jane O'Meara Sanders, arrives at a primary night election rally AP Former Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, right, watches as his wife Jill Biden, center, blocks a protester from arriving on stage during an primary night rally in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, Californi Bloomberg via Getty Images Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, right, and his wife Jill attend a primary election night rally AP Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., greets supporters during a primary night election rally i AP Democratic presidential hopeful former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg greets supporters after speaking during a rally at Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Super Tuesday AFP via Getty Images

Sanders supporters claim Ms Warren is hurting the Vermont senators hopes by splitting the partys liberal vote. In an email obtained by the Post, Warren campaign manager Roger Lau conceded to staff that we fell well short of viability goals and projections, and we are disappointed in the results.

We are going to announce shortly that Elizabeth is talking to the team to assess the path forward, he added. This decision is in her hands, and its important that she has the time and space to consider what comes next.

Mr Sanders said: She has run a strong campaign. She will make her own decision in her own time.

It is unclear whether Ms Warren would back Mr Sanders. They were portrayed as friends early in the campaign but she did not endorse him in the 2016 nomination race and the pair fell out in January after she claimed that he told her in a 2018 meeting that he did not believe a woman could win the presidency.
Press Release

March 5, 2020 Bong Go pays tribute to family physicians for their contribution to health care Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go recognized on Thursday, March 5, the contributions of family physicians to Philippine health care, adding that his experience with them and their advice positively influence his health-related advocacies in line with his work as a Senator. "Malaking bahagi po ng trabahong ginagampanan ko at ng mga panukalang isinusulong ko bilang Senador at Chairman ng Committee on Health ay hango sa naging karanasan at payo ng mga miyembro ng inyong hanay," Go said in his speech at the 59th Anniversary and Annual Convention of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) at the Reception Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. The Senator cited the Malasakit Center, a one-stop shop for financial and medical assistances, as one of the projects that he helped establish upon consultations with doctors. Located in 68 government hospitals so far, the Malasakit Center streamlines the assistances from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). Go also recognized the contribution of the PAFP members to the society. "Family physicians are the key frontliners in our fight for a healthier future for the Filipino people," he said. "As the primary care physicians in communities, schools, workplaces, emergency rooms and hospitals, you are the first doctors that our people encounter. This makes you crucial not only in administering the best course of treatment and care among patients but also in ensuring the efficacy of our healthcare system," he added. The Senator, who serves as Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, also shared that the DOH, the Philippine Children's Medical Center, and The Medical City recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to perform pediatric liver transplantations in the country. Under the MOA, the government hospital will identify qualified patients, the private hospital will perform the transplants and the DOH will reimburse the expenses through the PCMC, among other stipulations. "Para po ito sa mga batang may biliary atresia na inilalapit sa amin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. Ngayon, hindi na natin sila kailangang ipadala sa India para maoperahan," Go said. He also said that he recently filed Senate Bill 1226, or the proposed DOH Hospital Bed Capacity and Service Capability Rationalization Act of 2019. "Under the current set up, a DOH hospital can only increase its bed capacity and improve its service capability through legislation. However, proposals to adjust hospital capacity and capability compete with multitudes of other proposals in Congress," he explained. "To expedite the process for improving the capacity and capability of hospitals that are under the jurisdiction of the DOH, the measure seeks to authorize the DOH to increase the bed capacity and service capability of its retained hospitals, and to allow it to promulgate evaluation and appropriate guidelines for changes in capacity and capability," he added. Go also mentioned that the other bills that he filed seek to establish a national Emergency Medical Services System, establish a Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in every province, expand the coverage of the Mandatory Basic Immunization Program, establish Advance Nursing Education Programs in universities and many others. "Kung mapapansin ninyo, ang lahat ng mga panukalang ito ay hindi lang nakatutok sa pagsugpo ng mga sakit at suliraning medikal kundi nakasentro rin sa pagpapatatag ng kahandaan laban sa sakit at sa pagpapalakas ng kalusugan ng ating mga kababayan," he explained. He added, "If we want a truly healthier future for the Filipino people, I believe that putting more resources in readiness and prevention is better than putting it in the cure. By pursuing this strategy, not only will we be able to spend far less, but we will also be able to do so much more "I know that this wisdom lies at the very core of the practice of family and community medicine, which is why I consider you to be an important ally going forward. "Kaya naman po, inaasahan ko hindi lang ang inyong suporta kundi pati na rin ang inyong aktibong pakikilahok upang tuluyan nang maging ganap na batas ang mga panukalang inilahad ko sa inyo." The Senator also shared that he defended the 2020 budget of the DOH. "Balak sana nilang i-slash ang budget, ngunit hindi ako pumayag dahil ayokong mawalan ng trabaho ang mga contractual workers. Tiniyak din natin na may budget para maibigay na ang mas mataas na suweldo ng mga nurse ayon sa desisyon ng Supreme Court."
The subdivisions of the border guard troops of Azerbaijan sabotaged again in the sector of Tavush Province of Armenia today, as reported Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan.

The Azerbaijani border guard subdivisions have been firing in the same direction with machine guns of large diameters for a couple of days now.

As a rule, the subdivisions of the Armed Forces of Armenia show restraint, but the target gunshots wont go unanswered. Azerbaijan will be held fully responsible for these sabotages and all of their consequences, Hovhannisyan reported.
International war crimes judges ruled on Thursday that a probe into wartime abuses in Afghanistan must go ahead, including looking into possible atrocities committed by US forces, as they overturned a previous court ruling.

Pre-trial judges at the International Criminal Court last year rejected a demand by its chief prosecutor to open a full-blown probe into crimes committed in the war-torn nation  an investigation also bitterly opposed by Washington.

Prosecutors at The Hague appealed the move, saying that the judges made an error when they slapped down Fatou Bensoudas request by saying although it met all the right criteria and a reasonable basis, it was not in the interest of justice.

The appeals judges agreed with the prosecution.

The prosecutor is authorised to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, ICC judge Piotr Hofmanski said.

It is for the prosecutor to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to initiate an investigation.

Pre-trial judges are only called upon to see if there is a reasonable basis for an investigation and not to review the prosecutors analysis, he said.

In fact, the appeals judges said, prosecutors could even look into possible atrocities outside of Afghanistan if they were clearly linked to its armed conflict.

ICC prosecutors previously said their investigation would include alleged war crimes by US Central Intelligence Agency operatives at detention facilities, referred to as black sites in ICC member countries like Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

At least 24 suspects were subjected to torture at these secret prisons between 2003-2004, the prosecutors said.

 Victory 

In 2006, the ICCs prosecutors opened a preliminary probe into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the central Asian nation since 2003.

In 2017 Bensouda asked judges to allow a full-blown inquiry, not only into Taliban and Afghan government personnel but also international forces, US troops and CIA members.

But pre-trial judges then said it would not serve the interests of justice and that the court should focus on cases with a better chance of success.

Human rights groups on Thursday hailed the decision to uphold the prosecutions appeal.

The decision also sends a much-needed signal to current and would-be perpetrators of atrocities that justice may one day catch up to them, Human Rights Watchs Param-Preet Singh said.

Today was not only a blow against the US administrations who dont want to be bound by the rule of law, added Katherine Gallagher, a US-based lawyer who represents two victims of alleged torture.

It was a victory for those who believe detainees should be treated humanely and that civilians should be protected, she told AFP after the judgement.

Washington did not immediately respond to the judgment.

 Backlash 

Bensoudas move had unleashed a backlash from the US government, which in April last year revoked the Gambian-born chief prosecutors visa as part of broader restrictions on ICC staff probing American or allied personnel.

Former national security advisor John Bolton warned in 2018 that the US would arrest ICC judges if the court pursued an Afghan probe.

The US has never joined the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens, saying it poses a threat to national sovereignty.

Washington argues that it has its own procedures in place to deal with US troops who engage in misconduct.

Afghanistan also opposes the inquiry, saying the country itself had responsibility to bring justice for our nation and for our people.

The ICCs ruling comes days after Taliban militants killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a string of overnight attacks, throwing the countrys nascent peace process into grave doubt.

Under the terms of a recent US-Taliban agreement, foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with Kabul.

A US-led force invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, targeting Al-Qaeda in the sanctuaries provided by the Taliban government.

Fighting has continued ever since  last year more than 3,400 civilians were killed and almost 7,000 injured, according to data provided by UN agencies.
The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in Wuhan, China says claims by the Ghana Health Service that majority of Ghanaian students in Wuhan do not want to be evacuated are false.

There have been divergent views on the evacuation of Ghanaian students living in Wuhan following the coronavirus outbreak.

Government announced in February that it was not ready to evacuate the students despite calls by some of the students and their parents.

But the government shot down the idea.

The students had complained about the risk they face and the challenges they go through in accessing basic medical and food supplies.

In the wake of the discussions, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Aboagye said the disinterest by the majority of the students in China was part of government's decision not to evacuate them.

The President of NUGS in Wuhan, Sampson Opoku however said the Director-Generals comment does not reflect the sentiments of students in China

I am saying emphatically that the opinion of my members is that majority of them are for evacuation. No survey has been done on whether the students want to go home or not. Whoever claims to have done a survey should let us know when that survey was done and the survey report. They might have interviewed one or two people but that is not our opinion but theirs. Many of us want to be evacuated. The director alluded to the fact that if we did not want to be evacuated, why did we accept the US$ 500 dollars. But the money is not a replacement of evacuation. They asked us to accept it till the evacuation comes. So that assertion is wrong.

Most Ghanaian students in Wuhan don't want to be evacuated

Dr. Patrick Aboagye said government's decision not to evacuate Ghanaians in China over the outbreak of coronavirus in that city was partly due to the disinterest of majority of the students there to return home.

According to him, the government through intelligence and surveys gathered that most of the students in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak started did not want to be evacuated.

A significant number didn't want to come home. We did a survey, those who wanted to come home were few. We are talking about 162 students in Wuhan and the Ambassador [to China] was in touch with them every other day. We had information about the situation they were in and the number of those who really wanted to come back home. We also assessed whether the systems and protection that they were getting there [in China] was adequate, if it was inadequate we would have brought them, Dr. Aboagye noted.

Evacuation calls not best practice

Dr. Aboagye said it was not best practice to heed the calls by the students especially because they were getting better care in China than they would if they were evacuated to Ghana.

It is not the best practice as far as public health is concerned and WHO has even advised against such evacuationsOur position was that, because they were getting good care and support, we felt that there was no point in bringing them but we continue to watch the situation and as you can see the numbers are coming down in China, he said.

He added that, even if you get the disease, you are probably better off in China because they have experience managing that kind of condition.

---citinewsroom
Gimsons Presidents: Brief Lives From Washington To Trump

Andrew Gimson

Square Peg 10.99

Rating:

Moving into the White House, which had just been built in the middle of a rutted field, Americas second president, John Adams, prayed: May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.

Alas, his wish was not granted. From the earliest years, the presidency has been a prize coveted as much by sinners as by saints.

In our own day, President Trump is clearly a throwback rather than an aberration. As early as 1842, Charles Dickens noted, on a trip to America, that politics there were marked by desperate trickery at elections; under-handed tamperings with public officers; cowardly attacks upon opponents

Most presidents were a bit of both. Adamss successor, Thomas Jefferson, is nowadays regarded as one of the greatest of all. And so he was: his Declaration of Independence  We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal  was a work of genius, assuring Jefferson a fame which, as Andrew Gimson says, will endure as long as people care about liberty.

But he was also a hypocrite, as well as ruthless and underhand. The political battle he fought against his colleague Alexander Hamilton was, in Gimsons words, as disreputable as anything seen in more recent times. Not wishing to be seen to enter into the fray, he got a deputy to do the dirty work for him, saying: For Gods sake, my dear sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, and cut him to pieces in the face of the public.

And Jeffersons well-known advocacy of freedom and equality was always very partial. He publicly condemned slavery, but kept slaves, and made one of them, Sally Hemings, his mistress. In his will, he failed to liberate the slaves he owned, though at least he felt obliged to let his own children by Sally go free. Nevertheless, the American citizens of today continue to pay homage to Jefferson, turning a blind eye to his less savoury characteristics.

On the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, you can still read his noble words about slavery: Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate, than that these people are to be free But the rest of that particular line has been craftily excised:  nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion have drawn indelible lines of distinction between them.

In our own day, President Trump is clearly a throwback rather than an aberration. As early as 1842, Charles Dickens noted, on a trip to America, that politics there were marked by desperate trickery at elections; under-handed tamperings with public officers; cowardly attacks upon opponents. In fact, Trump is probably most like Andrew Jackson, who was president from 1829 to 1837. Jackson fought what Gimson reckons to be the dirtiest campaign in American history, vowing, like Trump, to clean up Washington, while at the same time throwing mud at his opponent.

On a personal level, Jackson makes Trump look meek and mild. When one of his 110 slaves escaped, he offered a reward of $50 for his recapture and ten dollars extra for every hundred lashes a person will give him, to the amount of three hundred. Jackson remains the only president to have shot an opponent dead in a duel. He also took charge of a massacre of hundreds of Creek Indians. Finding a living child in the arms of a slaughtered Indian woman, he adopted him. Like many cruel men, he had a streak of sentimentality, is Gimsons typically wry comment.

He was the kind of man with whom it was inadvisable to pick a quarrel if you did not want to end up dead

This is history at its liveliest and most enjoyable. Most presidential biographies are abominably long-winded and reverential. With miniaturist wit and precision, Gimson manages to compress all the salient facts about each president into five or six pages, while offering beautifully crafted insights into their characters and temperaments.

His brevity has the additional benefit of letting the reader focus on the detail and the panorama at one and the same time. Compared to British monarchs  the subject of a previous volume by Gimson  the presidents of America are all very recent. Furthermore, they have often exhibited the miraculous ability to concertina time. For instance, President Woodrow Wilson died in 1924, but his widow attended President Kennedys inauguration in 1961. Even more surprising, John Tyler, who was born in 1790 and was president from 1841 to 1845, has two grandsons who are still alive today.

Gimsons opening sentences to his brief lives are invariably snappy and arresting: Andrew Jackson was the kind of man with whom it was inadvisable to pick a quarrel in a tavern if you did not want to end up dead. Dwight D Eisenhower had the good sense not to try to be interesting. Richard Milhous Nixon destroyed many enemies during his rise to power, and ended by destroying himself.

The ensuing portraits are often sympathetic, showing both the light and the shade, and recognising that faults in a human being may well be assets in a president. Accordingly, he rates President F D Roosevelt as magnificent, while at the same time acknowledging that his career was made up of all sorts of evasions and compromises. He astutely describes Roosevelts celebrated New Deal as having the advantages of being neither precise nor consistent, adding that he had a gift for making pragmatic choices seem adventurous and morally right.

Gimsons keen historical perspective enables him to identify future insignificance in recent presidents who still carry an air of importance

The lives of even the dullest, least memorable presidents are illuminated through bright, funny details. For example, we learn that President Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) had an icy manner and a handshake that was compared to a wilted petunia. He was, says Gimson, an undersized man with small eyes and a protruding belly, and reminded people of a pig blinking in a cold wind.

I confess I had never heard of President Zachary Taylor (1849-50) before I read this book, but I will now always remember him for his remarkable thrift. When his party adopted him as their presidential candidate, they informed him of their decision in a letter, but forgot to pay the postage. When the letter was delivered, Taylor refused to pay it too, so he did not hear of his candidature for several weeks.

Calvin Coolidge (1923-29) was known as Silent Cal, because he was a man of so few words. When a woman at a White House party told him that she had a bet that she could get him to say more than two words, he replied: You lose.

IT'S A FACT Lyndon B Johnson had an amphibious car in which hed drive visitors into his lake, yelling: The brakes dont work  were going under! Advertisement

Famous presidents who have in the past been turned into sombre monuments by over-reverential historians also spring to life in these pages. At 6ft 4in, Abraham Lincoln was so strong that he could grasp the handle of an axe between his finger and thumb and hold it level with his shoulder at the end of his outstretched arm. By the age of 57, George Washington had lost all but one of his teeth, so had to wear a brace, equipped first with cows teeth and then with a set made out of hippopotamus tusk. Ulysses S Grant once surprised a young Englishwoman by telling her: Venice would be a fine city if it were only drained.

There is something fascinating or funny on every page. The award for the shortest presidency goes to William Henry Harrison, who became president aged 68, took two hours to deliver his inaugural address in bitterly cold weather, caught pneumonia, and died a month later. His contemporaries regarded him as a mediocrity, and he had no time to prove them wrong. The only president to have served as a public executioner was Grover Cleveland, who became known as the hangman of Buffalo. When he was sheriff of Erie County, refusing to delegate this disagreeable task to one of his subordinates [he] pushed the lever which opened the trapdoor through which the condemned man fell I love the conjunction of the wild behaviour of so many presidents with Gimsons very English understatement: in that last sentence, the word disagreeable seems to me especially funny.

Gimsons keen historical perspective enables him to identify future insignificance in recent presidents who still carry an air of importance. Of President George W Bush, he concludes that he strutted and boasted in order to conceal his insecurity Bush retired with relief into a dignified obscurity from which even he perhaps wishes he had never emerged. And though he greatly admires President Barack Obama as a brilliant orator and an exemplar of hope and generosity, he adds that the uncomfortable truth was that many of the issues he faced were so intractable that no president could solve them. His conclusion is melancholy, but, as always, judicious: although he had retained his dignity, his presidency was clouded by a faint but unmistakable sense of anti-climax.
AUSTIN  The father of a 2-year-old Milwaukee girl who was found dead in a ditch days after her mother was murdered is charged in Mower County with the girl's death.

Noelani Robinson's body was found on March 15, 2019, by an off-duty Department of Public Works employee off the highway about 15 miles north of Austin, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said last year.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety clarified that the location was about a mile north of Blooming Prairie. It is believed the girl's body was placed there on March 10.

Her father, 35-year-old Dariaz Higgins, of Miami, was charged in Mower County District Court on Thursday with second-degree murder in connection to her death.

Higgins was arrested on March 13 in Milwaukee for the March 11 shooting death of 24-year-old Sierra Robinson and wounding one of her friends. Robinson was Noelanis mother.

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When interviewed by police, Higgins reportedly told officers he was at an Austin motel when the girl died after falling off the toilet. He allegedly said he wrapped the girl's body in blankets and left her on the motel room floor by the bed for a couple of days.

Higgins said he put the girl's blanket-wrapped body in a ditch because he knew she "was dead and that she had been dead for a couple of days and that he could not travel with her," the complaint states.

Higgins is in custody in Wisconsin and is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of Sierra Robinson, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting of Robinsons friend.

Higgins is also charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety for injuries a neighbor allegedly suffered during the incident, according to a report from CBS 58 News.

An autopsy found that Noelani died from non-accidental blunt-force trauma and that she suffered multiple blunt-force injuries to her head as well as multiple blunt-force injuries to her extremities, according to the complaint.

The injuries that contributed to her death did not match the Higgins' version of events.

2-year-old girl found dead in ditch died of blunt force trauma

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Top stories for Thursday, March 5

Beth Nakamura/Staff

(Beth Nakamura/Staff)

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Oregon plans a strike force to respond if coronavirus appears in a nursing home, memory care center or assisted living facility. At Portland International Airport, Delta Air Lines on Wednesday abandoned plans for daily flights between Portland and Tokyo, citing diminished demand due to the coronavirus. Experts say the coronavirus could be deadly for homeless people in Oregon and along the West Coast who already face higher health risks and have fewer ways to protect themselves from infection or to recuperate if infected. Meanwhile, California reported its first coronavirus death and Washington reported its 10th.

Stay in the know by subscribing to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter. Get the latest updates at oregonlive.com/coronavirus.

OREGON LEGISLATURE: The greenhouse gas cap-and-trade bill that Oregon Republicans fled the Capitol in order to kill is on track to die Thursday unless the absent lawmakers return. Although the 35-day legislative session does not end until midnight Sunday, Senate Bill 1530 still needs to clear several procedural steps and a floor vote in each chamber in order to pass.

OREGON PRIMARY: In the wake of a Super Tuesday on which Democrat Joe Biden was transcendent and he and rival Bernie Sanders emerged from the pack of also-rans, there remains a scenario in which Oregon could matter during its late primary on May 19. That is among the analyses put forth by Portland State University associate political science professor Chris Shortell, who teaches American politics.

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS: At Tuesdays school board meeting, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero decried recent racist acts in the district, including a racist threat at Grant High School, discrimination against Asian students amid coronavirus tensions, and the finding of a noose on the Benson High School roof.

WEST LINN: West Linns wrongful arrest of a Portland man has now ensnared its current police chief, who chose not to participate in the citys negotiations to settle a lawsuit in the case because hes also friends with the businessman who made the unfounded accusations.

Snaps of the day

Portland Rose Festival

METRO PRINCESSES: Seniors from Liberty High School in Hillsboro and Lake Oswego High School were crowned Wednesday as princesses on the 2020 Portland Rose Festival Court. Kimberly Huynh of Liberty (left) will represent Metro West and Jensen Kaelin of Lake Oswego will represent Metro East. (Portland Rose Festival)

More news

North Portlands Rosa Parks Elementary loses year-round calendar

1 dies in Naito Parkway crash, 2 hospitalized

Oregon postal worker who stole mail sentenced to prison

Oregon man sentenced to 6 years in prison for slamming girlfriend into concrete

Portland, once the pornography capital of the West Coast, loses its last porn-movie palace

Find more at oregonlive.com

TOP WORKPLACES 2020: Love your workplace? Nominate your employer by March 13 for Top Workplaces 2020, a survey-driven project to identify and recognize the top employers in Oregon and southwest Washington. Learn more.

Weather and traffic

Thursday starts mostly clear and will be mostly sunny until the evening commute, which could see rain. High 59, low 41.

Travelers through Hood River will experience delays on Interstate 84 near exits 63 and 64 through May as crews repair the aging bridge decks that carry drivers across Hood River on the freeway.

Get the latest forecast at oregonlive.com/weather

Stay up to date on traffic conditions at oregonlive.com/commuting

Advice

Ask Amy: DNA test proves hes the father, should he point new son towards his mom?

Dear Abby: Jealous, controlling boyfriend looks to ex for comfort during relationship turmoil

Dear Annie: Employee torn between job interview and loyalty to boss

Find more, including todays horoscope, at oregonlive.com

Today's comics

Click here to see today's comics

Today's obituaries

Click here to find area deaths reported recently

Today in history

In 1770: The Boston Massacre took place as British soldiers whod been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five people.

In 1868: The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the first U.S. president to be impeached, began in the U.S. Senate. Johnson was accused of high crimes and misdemeanors stemming from his attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; he was acquitted May 26.

In 1933: In German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote; the Nazis joined with a conservative nationalist party to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag.

awang@oregonian.com; Twitter: @ORAmyW

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
BOSTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Historically, growth in the Li-ion battery (LIB) market has been due to consumer electronics. Moving forward, LIB demand will be driven by growth in electric vehicle (EV) adoption, which has grown steadily over the last 10 years. Subsidies in countries such as Norway and China, especially, have encouraged EV sales. However, 2019 saw a slowdown in growth rate, primarily due to more stringent subsidy restrictions announced by China. The announcement, made in 2019, includes the removal of subsidies for pure electric vehicles with ranges below 250 km and for battery packs with specific energies below 125 Wh/kg. Nevertheless, rapid EV growth is forecast over the coming decade. Creating this demand are a number of underlying factors. Firstly, global emissions targets will necessitate a shift to zero-carbon transport with several countries presenting timelines for the ban of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Secondly, various auto-manufacturers have announced aggressive EV sales targets for the 2020s. Thirdly, the continuing drop in battery prices will allow EVs to reach price parity with their ICE counterparts, which will create a huge demand for EVs. This forecasted growth in EVs focuses attention on the LIBs that power them  can we produce enough of them and is there enough material to meet demand?

Recent investment across the LIB supply chain has been significant, and this will need to continue. The extraction and processing of raw materials is one segment that will be under increasing strain to meet demand and uncertainty over long-term supplies of raw material remain. Activity in this segment is regular and ongoing. In 2018, Chinese battery companies Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) and GEM formed part of a consortium to establish additional nickel smelting and processing facilities in Indonesia. In 2019, Indonesia brought forward restrictions on the export of nickel ore to encourage further investment from the steel and LIB industries, causing an increase in the nickel futures price. The potential impact of material price volatility is discussed in IDTechEx's report "The Li-ion Battery Supply Chain 2020-2030" (www.IDTechEx.com/LiSupply). Nickel will be an important metal for LIBs and the move by CATL and GEM is one example of companies securing a long-term supply of raw materials. IDTechEx analyses and forecasts demand growth for the various materials and components that make up a LIB. Players, production capacity, production location and material trends are all discussed in the report.

Investment in cell and battery production has also been significant. For example, several gigafactories have come online or are being constructed in Europe to allow EV manufacturers greater control over the LIB production process. IDTechEx's new report discusses whether enough battery production is being brought online to meet demand. The report also presents a timeline for a number of gigafactories that have recently been built or are under construction, providing insight into how much time is needed to increase production capacity. This increasing scale at which batteries are produced can help bring battery prices down further. IDTechEx break down the cost of LIBs and present a price forecast through to 2030, accounting for historical price and volume data, increasing economies of scale, different end uses and the underlying bill of materials.

The LIB supply chain will be under increasing scrutiny as the demand for LIBs grows. IDTechEx's report analyses the ongoing activity in various segments of the supply chain, including technology developments, current production output and location, recent investments, timelines and players. Along with their 10-year demand forecasts and price analysis, the report will provide a comprehensive overview of the LIB supply chain. For more information, please see IDTechEx's report on "The Li-ion Battery Supply Chain 2020-2030".

To find out more about Energy Storage research available from IDTechEx visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/ES or to connect with others on this topic, IDTechEx is hosting: Electric Vehicle Materials, May 13-14, 2020, Estrel Convention Center, Berlin, Germany www.ElectricVehiclesEurope.Tech.

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

Media Contact:

Jessica Abineri

Marketing Coordinator

[email protected]

+44(0)1223 812300

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Further IDTechEx Research on Energy Storage

Electric Vehicle Materials | 13 - 14 May 2020 | Estrel Convention Center, Berlin, Germany

SOURCE IDTechEx

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Amid reports of the



coronavirus outbreak in China affecting the Indian pharma industry, Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Sadanand Gowda on Thursday assured there is no shortage of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for at least three months.

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are the raw materials required to produce medicines. They are also referred to as bulk drugs.

"There is no shortage of any APIs for next three months. There is some confusion about supply and availability of medicines. We have got sufficient medicines and sufficient APIs. For another three months, there is no shortage (of raw material) for manufacturing pharmaceuticals," Gowda said here.

The minister was speaking at the inauguration of the India Pharma 2020, the fifth international conference on pharmaceutical industry, organised at the Mahatma Mandir here.

Gowda said the Narendra Modi government is taking steps to check the spread of coronavirus in India.

"There is no need to panic about the coronavirus. The Group of Ministers as well as secretaries are meeting daily to assess the situation. We are also in regular touch with the Prime Minister's Office," he said.

Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya also assured that the Centre has made plans to tackle any situation regarding coronavirus.

Initiatives are being taken to open API manufacturing parks in different parts of the country to reduce dependency on China, he said at the conference.

During the inaugural session of the conference, Zydus Group Chairman Pankaj Patel said the present situation is a "wake up call as natural calamities" can strike anytime.

"There is a long pending need to support the API industry in the country so that we don't remain dependent on a specific region (for imports). There was a time when we were the leaders in API production. We need to create API parks," he said.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was present at the conference, thanked the Modi government for approving a bulk drugs park and a medical devices manufacturing park in the state.

During the event, Gowda and Rupani inaugurated 'Pharma Bureau', a single point interface created by the ministry in Delhi to address issues concerning the pharma industry.

Later talking to reporters, Mandaviya admitted that international participation in the conference is less this time because of the coronavirus scare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US has denied one in every fifth new petitions for the most-sought after H-1B visas in 2019 to individuals with the denial rate higher for Indian IT companies like the TCS and Infosys in comparison to the American firms, according to a study from official figures.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

While the denial rate has dropped slightly to 21 per cent in 2019 from 24 per cent in 2018, the Foundation for American Policy has said it is much higher for Indian IT companies like the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro and very low for American companies like Amazon and Google.

For instance, the denial rate for the TCS, and Infosys in 2019 was 31 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, whereas for Wipro was 47 per cent and 37 per cent for Tech Mahindra.

On the other hand, the denial rate for the new H-1B petitions in 2019 was just four per cent each for Amazon and Google. The denial rate for Microsoft during the same period was six per cent, and Facebook along with Walmart was just three per cent each.

"In 2020, the Trump administration is expected to introduce a new H-1B regulation that will make it more difficult for employers to hire high-skilled foreign nationals in the United States," the policy said in a report this week.

The issue of H-1B visa has been discussed between India and the US many times in the past.

In February, during President Donald Trump's maiden official visit to India, the issue of H-1B visa was raised and contribution of the Indian professionals in high-tech sector was highlighted.

In December last year, during the 2+2 dialogue in Washington, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stressed on the importance of people-to-people ties, saying they were the defining elements of the Indo-US friendship.

Since 2004, the annual limit of 65,000 H-1B petitions and the 20,000 exemption from that limit for individuals with an advanced degree from a US university has been exhausted every fiscal year. The 85,000 new H-1B petitions allowed each year come to only 0.05 per cent of the US labour force of approximately 164 million.

In addition to higher denial rates under the Trump administration, the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data shows the percentage of completed cases with Requests for Evidence (RFEs) increased from 22.3 per cent in 2015 to 40.2 per cent in 2019.

According to the report, new H-1B petitions for the top seven Indian-based companies declined by 64 per cent between fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2019.

The seven companies had only 5,428 H-1B petitions for the initial employment approved in fiscal 2019, accounting for six per cent of the 85,000 H-1B petitions for companies (or 0.003 per cent of the US labour force), it said.

Denials may have contributed to this decline but the primary reason for the drop in H-1B visas is a choice by companies to build up their domestic workforce in the and rely less on visas, the report said.

In 2018, there was a sharp 10 per cent decline in the approval of the H-1B visas by the US.

The Trump administration has tightened the noose on firms violating H-1B visa rules. President Trump has himself accused many IT companies of abusing the work visas to deny jobs to American workers.

Two years ago, Trump signed the 'Buy American and Hire American' executive order, which seeks to create higher wages and employment rates for US workers and to protect their economic interests by rigorously enforcing and administering our immigration laws.

It directed the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with other agencies, to advance policies to help ensure H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid beneficiaries.
(Natural News) Federal authorities have announced an investigation into the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of the coronavirus outbreak. The news comes just as the total death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11, with the first reported death outside of Washington state.

Officials in Californias Placer County near Sacramento announced that an older adult who had tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. Washington state also reported another casualty, bringing its total to 10.

Most of the deaths in the state were residents of a nursing home run by the Life Care Centers of America in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. Now, Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has announced that the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to determine what happened and see if the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

This wont be the first time the nursing home has come under investigation. Last April, the nursing home was fined $67,000 by the state for infection-control deficiencies following two influenza outbreaks that affected 17 people, including both patients and staff. Verna confirmed that an unannounced follow-up inspection in June of Life Care determined that it had corrected its problems.

For its part, Life Care has stated on its website that it is now screening employees for symptoms before they start work and as they leave. It is also prohibiting visits from residents family members.

Officials under pressure

The new investigation into Life Care comes as public officials in Washington state are coming under pressure to take more aggressive steps to contain the outbreak. People have called for schools to be closed and large events to be canceled. However, while both the state and the city of Seattle have declared emergencies, giving officials broad powers to suspend activities, neither issued any orders to do so as of yet.

We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now, stated Governor Jay Inslee. Right now, we are deferring to the judgmentof these organizations.

While some schools and businesses have already shut down, Inslee stated that large-scale closings have not yet been ordered because there are so many ramifications for families and businesses. He specifically singled out health care workers who might not be able to go to work if they needed to take care of children at home.

Meanwhile, both local and state health officials have not recommended school closings unless a confirmed case of the disease was found at the school. One such school, Hazen High School in Renton, south of Seattle, has already been closed for the rest of the week after a student tested positive for the coronavirus.

Some businesses arent taking chances

Some businesses, however, arent taking chances. Reedpop, the organizer of the annual Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, recently announced that it would make an exception to its no-refunds policy for those who no longer want to attend the event. However, it also stated that it remained committed to holding it unless officials change their guidance.

Meanwhile, tech giant Microsoft has asked its Seattle-area workers whore able to work from home to do so until March 25. The same directive has also been issued to Microsoft employees in the San Francisco Bay Area. Additionally, the Redmond, Washington based company is asking people to cancel travel to its Puget Sound and Bay Area campuses unless its essential for the continuity of Microsoft, on top of canceling all non-essential business travel to regions where the virus is active.

Finally, at least one government office has also been shut down. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday that a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Tukwila in King County would be closed for two weeks after an employee had tested positive for the virus. The employee had previously visited a relative in the Life Care facility in Kirkland where they most likely caught the virus.

Sources include:

APNews.com

SeattlePI.com

TheVerge.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 02:22:41|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Sudan said on Wednesday it had received a U.S letter announcing the end of sanctions on 157 Sudanese entities.

"The Central Bank has received a letter from the head of the U.S State Department Sanctions Office confirming ending of all forms of economic sanctions on Sudan," Badreddine Abdel Rahim Ibrahim, governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, was quoted as saying by a statement issued by the bank.

According to the letter, the U.S. sanctions on 157 Sudanese entities have been lifted, said Ibrahim, adding that only a few individuals and entities associated with the conflict in Darfur are still under sanctions.

He said that the central bank has notified the Sudanese banks and correspondents of the matter.

The central bank has also contacted some central banks in Arab states to reactivate banking ties to enhance mutual benefit, he said.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Sudan since 1997, listing it as one of the countries sponsoring terrorism.

On Oct. 6, 2017, the U.S. decided to lift its economic sanctions on Sudan, citing Khartoum's positive actions to end hostilities in the conflict areas in Sudan, improve humanitarian access throughout Sudan, and maintain cooperation with the U.S. on countering regional conflicts and the threat of terrorism.

Nevertheless, the U.S has kept Sudan on its list of states sponsoring terrorism. Enditem
Given the widespread market volatility, some investors are seeking refuge in more defensible stocks. However, this certainly doesnt apply to every Wall Street observer. A select group remains ready to take on some risk, enticed by the possibility of massive returns. Where are they looking for these opportunities? The biotech industry.

The nature of the sector sets names up for impressive upside potential as only a few key indicators determine their prospects. So, a single piece of good news like positive trial data or a regulatory approval can act as a catalyst that sends shares through the roof. That being said, the opposite holds true, meaning that shares are in for a rapid drop should bad news be doled out.

Bearing this in mind, it can be challenging to differentiate between the tickers bound for greatness, and those poised for a slump. Thats where TipRanks comes in. With the help of the platforms Stock Screener tool, we were able to zero in on 3 biotech stocks that have received substantial analyst support ahead of important upcoming catalysts. Should the outcome be favorable, each stands to notch some serious gains in the next year. Lets get started.

DBV Technologies SA (DBVT)

DBV Technologies is using a new type of immunotherapy that could activate the immune system of patients through the skin to find more effective food allergy treatments. With this approach, the company has developed its proprietary Viaskin platform as a self-administered and non-invasive treatment option. With the platforms AdCom meeting to discuss its use in patients with peanut allergies scheduled for May 15, DBVT has caught Wall Streets attention.

SVB Leerink analyst Dae Gon Ha points out that both he and the company expected the AdCom announcement, and that the biotech has been getting ready for it for some time now. We believe DBVT will be well prepared come May 15 and remain optimistic that the FDA will take a holistic approach evaluating the totality of the Viaskin Peanut data, he commented. After the AdCom takes place, the PDUFA date is slated for August 5.

Story continues

While some investors have been concerned about competition from Aimmunes recently approved Palforzia therapy, Ha remains confident in DBVT. In our view, given the prevalence of peanut allergy, this is unlikely a winner take all market and depending on the needs of the pts. could accommodate both Palforzia and Viaskin Peanut, if not other approaches, he explained.

Part of what sets DBVT apart is that the therapy was designed as a patch, making it convenient and easy to use for children and parents. Ha does acknowledge that desensitization takes longer to achieve with Viaskin than with Palforzia, but thinks many parents would prefer to have an alternative to Palforzia, even though it may take longer to achieve roughly the same result, since it may be easier and safer to undertake, and desensitization can still be achieved before the child encounters allergens outside the home on their own.

In line with his optimistic approach, the four-star analyst reiterated his Outperform call and $29 price target. Should the target be met, shares could be in for a whopping twelve-month gain of 201%. (To watch Has track record, click here)

H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein seems to agree with Leerink. In a research note issued today, the analyst noted, "In considering the AdCom, we maintain Viaskin Peanut offers differentiation based on its safety profile and, in our view, sufficient efficacy to manage risk of accidental peanut exposure." According to Fein, DBVT could be worth about 177% more than its currently selling for, and should hit $25 within the next 12 months. (To watch Fein's track record, click here)

What does the rest of the Street have to say? With 100% Street support, or 3 Buy ratings to be exact, the message is clear: the stock is a Strong Buy. At $19, the average price target implies 111% upside potential. (See DBV Technologies stock analysis on TipRanks)

Zogenix (ZGNX)

Zogenix develops drug candidates that have the potential to improve the lives of patients with rare diseases. While the company has taken a beating recently, some members of the Street believe that ZGNXs future is still bright.

Last week, the company announced that the PDUFA date for its Fintepla candidate will now be on June 25, three months later than previously expected. This was caused by the three month extension of the Fintepla NDA review after ZGNX provided additional efficacy data so the FDA could perform their own sensitivity analyses of its Phase 3 results. It should be noted that the review isnt related to safety concerns and the FDA isnt planning on holding an AdCom meeting. However, the Fintepla manufacturing site will be inspected.

Needhams Serge Belanger notes that given past concerns related to the candidates safety and the Refuse-to-file (RTF) in 2019, the analyst understands why investors are concerned. That being said, he tells investors that the news isnt necessarily a negative. The FDA delay appears to be part of the regular review process rather than a specific Fintepla efficacy or safety issue. It's possible FDA needed breathing room to meet its Priority Review timeline mandate. We see no negative read-thrus to Fintepla's approvability or its potential to play a prominent role in DS patients, he stated.

The situation wasnt helped after it released Phase 3 trial data evaluating its Fintepla therapy in LennoxGastaut syndrome (LGS) patients. While the primary endpoints were met, the efficacy levels disappointed as they couldnt match those produced in patients with Dravet syndrome (DS).

However, Belanger thinks that in spite of the result, Fintepla still has the potential to be an effective LGS treatment. He also points out that the heterogeneity of LGS and wider patient age range (2-35) made it more difficult to deliver efficacy levels on par with those seen in DS patients.

To this end, Belangers bullish thesis remains very much intact. Citing the recent weakness as presenting a unique buying opportunity, he maintained both his Buy recommendation as well as his $54 price target. This target leaves room for a potential twelve-month gain of 97%. (To watch Belangers track record, click here)

Looking at the consensus breakdown, it appears that other analysts also like what they are seeing. With 7 Buys compared to a single Hold, the word on the Street is that ZGNX is a Strong Buy. The $51.67 average price target brings the upside potential to 89%. (See Zogenix stock analysis on TipRanks)

Foamix Pharmaceuticals (FOMX)

Switching gears now, Foamix develops topical drugs for dermatological applications. Most of its products are designed as, you guessed it, foam. With one treatment, Amzeeq, already approved for acne treatment, analysts are keeping an eye on FOMX as the PDUFA data for another candidate approaches.

The company filed the sNDA for its papulopustular rosacea treatment, FMX-103, back in August, with the FDAs approval decision being handed out on its June 3 PDUFA date. Part of the excitment surrounding the therapy is related to the size of the market. Even though the market opportunity is less than acnes, there are 16 million people living with rosacea. Additionally, the lack of effective treatment options means that a majority of patients arent receiving treatment.

Weighing in on FOMXs prospects for Cowen, analyst Ken Cacciatore thinks that the candidates potential as a treatment for inflammatory lesions as well as the erythema (redness) has been undervalued by Wall Street. We do not believe that investors fully appreciate the potential of this asset that is targeting a market that has limited options that provide limited benefits, he noted.

Cacciatore added, Interestingly, our consultants have continued to indicate that FMX-103 has a very competitive efficacy and tolerability profile when compared to market-leading Oracea, which is oral doxycycline (and therefore systemic), and yet is a ~$350 million a year product. Taking our consultants commentary into account  and their view when compared to Oracea  we believe could yield another $250 million-plus product, with conservative penetration rates.

On top of this, Cacciatore argues that with Amzeeqs approval, a commercial platform will most likely be established. Should FMX-103 get the go ahead from the FDA, it can leverage the Amzeeq relationship building and commercial platform as it taregts the same clinician base. Based on the Cowen analysts estimates, this could drive combined sales of $500 million.

As a result, Cacciatore decided to stay with the bulls. Along with his Outperform rating, he kept the price target at $15, implying shares could skyrocket 356% in the next twelve months. (To watch Cacciatores track record, click here)

Judging from the consensus breakdown, it has been relatively quiet when it comes to other analyst activity. Over the last three months, only 2 analysts have reviewed the biopharma. Both of which, however, were bullish, making the consensus a Moderate Buy. On top of this, the $15 average price target puts the upside potential at 352%. (See Foamix stock analysis on TipRanks)
The massive setback suffered by the Bernie Sanders campaign as a result of former Vice President Joe Bidens victory in 10 of the 14 states casting votes on Super Tuesday contains harsh and inescapable lessons for all those who have been led to believe that the capitalist Democratic Party can be transformed into an instrument of socialist politics. The bankruptcy of this opportunist strategywhich has been the essential premise of the Sanders campaign and of his supporters in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and other pseudo-left organizationshas been totally exposed by the outcome of the primary elections.

In the week leading up to Super Tuesday, the same party that Sanders claims can be captured for socialism mobilized its party apparatus to resuscitate the right-wing campaign of the semi-senile ex-vice president, whose career as a corrupt Democratic Party politician spans more than four decades.

The Democratic Party is the oldest capitalist political party in the world. Its existence stretches back to 1828, and in the course of its long history, it has perfected the art of deflecting popular opposition to inequality through the skilled combination of demagogy and deceit.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke endorses Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign rally Monday, March 2, 2020 in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

It is the party of Andrew Jackson, the forced removal of the Native Americans, southern secession, Jim Crow segregation, Chinese exclusion, the Palmer Raids and the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Democratic Party is the graveyard of social movements. It disarmed the Populist movement through William Jennings Bryan and suffocated the industrial rebellions of the 1930s through Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the popular front and the American Federation of Labor. It disarmed protests against inequality and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and subsumed opposition into left primary campaigns only to select a nominee each more right-wing than the last for 40 years. This was repeated in 2016, when Sanders told his 13 million supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton. It is now being repeated again in 2020.

The second lesson from Super Tuesday is that the racial politics actively promoted by the pseudo-left for decades has far-reaching, right-wing consequences. Race was the principal weapon used by the Democratic Party against Sanders last week.

The Democratic Party mobilized the corrupt representatives of the African-American bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie to proclaim that Joe Biden represents the genuine voice of black America. From James Clyburn to Al Sharpton, a litany of African-American politicians explicitly stated that racial solidaritynot classis fundamental.

The Democratic Party is well practiced in the use of race to manipulate social discontentment and suppress class grievances behind its own reactionary aims. It is ironic that the contemporary Democratic Party boosted Biden as a defender of African-Americans in precisely the same states where it oversaw segregation some fifty years ago. It is doubly ironic that Biden just last year praised segregationist senators James Eastland and Herman Talmadge as examples of political civility and is responsible for supporting tough-on-crime laws that incarcerated hundreds of thousands of black people in the past quarter-century.

Biden won overwhelmingly among older African-Americans in the South, dominating areas with high proportions of regular churchgoers. In North Carolina, where 10 percent of the electorate were black voters over the age of 60, Biden won 66 percent to Sanders 11 percent. Younger black voters in the South, who are far less conservative than their parents and grandparents, however, were more likely to support Sanders, though youth turnout was down nationally compared with 2016.

Among all Super Tuesday states, Biden fared best among voters who said race relations was the most important issue, defeating Sanders 48 to 22 percent. Sanders dominated among voters who cited social inequality, leading Biden 35 to 28 percent.

A similar phenomenon took place among affluent women voters, demonstrating the impact of right-wing feminism. Outside of the South, Sanders received his lowest level of support from white women with college degrees, winning just 20 percent of the vote from this demographic in Massachusetts, 25 percent in California and 18 percent in Minnesota.

The results demonstrate the impossibility of combining identity politics with the struggle for socialism. The former is based on division and the struggle for privilege. The latter is rooted in the fight to unite the working class of the world across races, ethnicities and backgrounds.

The third lesson from Tuesdays election is that Sanders Democratic Party politics produced a decline in youth voter turnout in 2020 versus 2016. This shows that contrary to Sanders self-proclaimed ability to mobilize young voters, many young people are looking for far more radical solutions than the Democratic Party has to offer.

Three-and-a-half months remain before the Democratic convention in July. It may be the case that the ruling class decides Sanders has a role to play in the 2020 election.

But even as these lines are read, readers can be sure Sanders is already in discussions with the Democratic Party to determine how he can best serve the party in November. Sanders has withheld serious criticism of Biden after Tuesdays election and yesterday began running advertisements praising the right-wing Obama administration.

Sanders California campaign co-chair Ro Khanna announced that Sanders would be toning down calls for political revolution. Politico reported that Khanna said Sanders would appeal more to older voters and mainstream Democrats. Sanders has already pledged to support whichever right-wing candidate wins the nomination. Just as in 2016, this will only end in tears for Sanders supporters.

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is running Joseph Kishore and Norissa Santa Cruz for president and vice president. Our intervention is based on the fight to break the stranglehold of the capitalist parties on the working class in the US and internationally.

The experience of Super Tuesday has powerfully vindicated the analysis of the World Socialist Web Site . In a February 20, 2019 statement titled Bernie Sanders announces 2020 presidential campaign, the WSWS wrote:

The fundamental fraud promoted by Sanders, along with individuals such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is that the Democratic Party can be pushed to the left and made a force for progressive change. Articulating this political fiction, Jacobin editor and leading Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Bhaskar Sunkara proclaimed in a column for the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday that Sanders started a revolution in 2016. In 2020, he can finish it... " The Democrats have relentlessly promoted identity politics, including through the #MeToo witch hunt, which serves to divide the working class while undermining basic democratic rights such as due process and the presumption of innocence. Sanders mere association with opposition to economic inequality has brought rebukes from within his own party, which intends, as in 2016, to make racial, gender and sexual politics the basis for a right-wing campaign directed at mobilizing privileged sections of the upper-middle class behind Wall Street and the military.

Tuesdays events confirm this analysis.

Kishore and Santa Cruz are the only candidates fighting to mobilize the working class independently of the Democratic Party. The SEP campaign is spearheading the fight to educate the working class and to convince workers and young people that they can unlock their immense social power only by unchaining themselves from the Democratic Party, striving for political independence and entering into international struggle against the entire capitalist system. We urge our readers to follow and become active in our campaign and take the fight for independent socialist politics into the working class on a world scale.
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Shincheonji Church founder Lee Man-hee speaks to the media about mass infections among his members. Korea Times





By Oh Young-jin







The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is caused by a new coronavirus  still a virus.







But calling it a "cryptic virus," as little is understood about it, virologist Dr. Hakim Djaballah raises the possibility it is acting like a bacterium, meaning it could be more contagious and last longer in the environment







"This evolving virus could have developed a symbiotic relationship with common bacteria found everywhere  in homes, in metro stations, in restaurants, on plane seats and others," Djaballah told The Korea Times. "The virus has now turned some of these harmless bacteria into pathogenic bacteria or virulent bacteria, and it has gone into stealth mode, living undetected and protected by them."







He said not much is known about the virus, which is traveling quickly around the world, with not much known about its transmission methods understood.







There is a similarity between Italy and Daegu. In Italy, it took 11 days for confirmed cases to rocket to more than 2,000. In Korea, it took 12 days for cases to rise to 3,600 after a woman, 61, from the Shincheonji Church religious cult was identified as "patient zero" for a mass infection among members. Cases in the rest of the country were tallied at 900-plus in the first 44 days.







Djaballah said that in Italy and Daegu, the authorities failed to establish how the first patient contracted the virus.







Masked revelers take part in the "Plague Procession" in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Feb. 25, during a previous celebration of the city's carnival festivities that have been cancelled this year following the coronavirus outbreak. AP-Yonhap





This prompted him to theorize as follows:







"The virus has now turned some of these harmless bacteria into pathogenic bacteria or virulent bacteria, and it has gone into stealth mode, living undetected and protected by them.







"This new ecosystem, due to the virus' adaptive response through random mutations acquiring the correct ones to infect these bacteria, means that the virus can now easily infect many more people than ever before; with 4,285 cases reported in 12 days for Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province versus fewer than 900 cases nationwide in 44 days. The Daegu infection trend looks more like a bacterial outbreak within a very tight church community."







Pointing out the growing list of unexplained cases, he said the most probable explanation was that these patients came into contact with these pathogenic bacteria harboring the SARS-CoV2 virus.







The Korean Centers for Disease Control (KCDC) has not investigated and tested whether these surface-growing bacteria do contain the SARS-CoV2 virus, especially in hot-spot clusters; one place to look is the Shincheonji Church, followed by the house of the female "super infecter," Djaballah said.






Keith Girton, M.D. - PPOA "Im excited to be part of the team at Pain Relief Centers and Physician Partners of America. Im looking forward to offering orthopedic care to Orange county residents." - Keith Girton, M.D.

Dr. Keith Girton is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and minimally invasive laser spine surgeon at Pain Relief Centers Orlando clinic. With more than 30 years of orthopedic experience, his practice encompasses a wide variety of surgical procedures.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Girton attended a combined program with Otterbein College and The Ohio State University, completing both his BA and M.D. degrees in six years.

After completing a family practice residency and becoming board-certified in family medicine, he went on to complete an orthopedic surgery residency at Ft. Worth Affiliated Hospitals in Ft. Worth, Texas. He then joined the U. S. Air Force, where he attained the rank of major and served as an orthopedic surgeon at Scott AFB near Bellville, Ill., and became certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery.

He later joined the Laser Spine Institute and practiced minimally invasive outpatient spine surgery primarily in the Philadelphia area, where he was featured in Philadelphia magazines Top Docs edition and where he was honored as Most Valuable Surgeon for the Laser Spine Institutes seven national facilities in 2013.

Throughout his time at the Laser Spine Institute, he completed upwards of 6,000 minimally invasive outpatient spinal surgeries on patients from every state as well as various countries including Egypt, Bahrain, South Africa, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Dr. Girton made the decision to move to Florida in 2019 and join Pain Relief Centers.

Im excited to be part of the team at Pain Relief Centers and Physician Partners of America. Im looking forward to offering orthopedic care to Orange county residents, he says.

He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the North American Spine Society, the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and the American Medical Association.

Dr. Keith Girton is excited to bring his specialty in orthopedics to Pain Relief Centers Orlando clinic at 1724 33rd St., Suite #200, Orlando, FL 32839.
Businesses to be saved, not let go bankrupt: prospects of Business Recovery Center



11:59 05/03/2020

A working group on drafting legislative proposals facilitating the establishment of a Business Recovery Center has held its first meeting in the framework of an initiative launched by member of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russias Parliament, Maxim Kavdzharadze in 2019.

The discussion has focused, among other topics, on the development and implementation of mechanisms to settle crisis situations at industrial enterprises of systemic significance. As it has been noted during the event, the instruments sought are aimed at saving businesses and preclusion of bankruptcies of such enterprises. The participants of the meeting have presented their respective specific proposals.

Chair of the Federation Councils Rules and Organization of Parliamentary Activities Committee Vyacheslav Timchenko has acted as a moderator of the meeting, whereas Deputy Chair of the Councils Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Kavdzharadze has initiated the discussion. Representatives of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Federal Bailiffs Service, Business Ombudsman, State Corporation Rostec, as well as persons representing regional authorities, legal experts and practitioners, have taken part in the meeting.

The participants have discussed issues relevant to the need to develop and implement crisis settlement mechanisms at Russias enterprises aimed to save these enterprises and prevent their bankruptcies; they have also presented their proposals as to changing or streamlining the current legislation.

Members of the working group on anti-crisis regulation of socially important businesses at the Moscow office of the Association of Russian Lawyers have made a specific proposal. Their project envisages, on the one hand, determination of the procedure and format of involvement of state bodies in the settlement of crisis situations. On the other hand, it stipulates a mechanism of protection of the rights of employees of enterprises, for instance, in the form of a federal foundation, which could ensure repayment of wage arrears accumulated by bankrupted enterprises at the expense of the sums received as pay for queue positions in the line of those waiting for such repayment.

According to the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Moscow Office of the Association of Russian Lawyers Dmitry Kravchenko, in the context of development of a modern enterprise recovery mechanism it is necessary to prioritize the issue of prevention of bankruptcies of enterprises of systemic importance. At the same time, a public service aimed to bring together companies and the bodies undertaking the recovery thereof established specifically in the interests of small and medium-sized businesses might be seen as a respective viable instrument, which could be introduced even in the absence of a specific law and formation of a public not-for-profit organization.

Ways of finding solutions and instruments aimed at lowering risks in the course of business operations are actively discussed this year. In January, for instance, there was raised the issue of decriminalization of certain Criminal Code provisions concerning economic crimes most often incriminated to entrepreneurs. This topic was discussed at legal expert conferences, across federal mass media outlets, by state bodies. There was announced the establishment of an expert center for anti-crisis regulation and restructuring of distressed assets on the basis of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and a Rostec structure.

In mid-February 2020, a working group of the State Council chaired by Tula Region Governor Aleksey Dyumin drafted proposals aimed to partially decriminalize legislation on economic crimes. One of the most imaginative initiatives was the proposal to abolish Article 145.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (failure to pay wages and salaries), which envisaged imprisonment for up to 5 years, replacing it with a punishment by commensurable fines. Similar approaches were proposed with respect to a number of other provisions on economic crimes.

In a whole range of high-profile criminal cases there were brought charges based on the so-called economic articles of the Criminal Code, whereas the motives behind the defendants actions and crisis situations at enterprises were not taken into account as significant arguments because of the respective position of the judiciary. The graphical examples are the case over extortion of the controlling interest in Inskoy mine where businessman Alexander Shchukin, two ex-deputy governors of the Kemerovo Region, and a retired Investigative Committee General are among the defendants; the case of the Volsky poultry farm where its ex-owner Alexander Ivanov is charged with embezzlement of over 4 billion rubles (about $60.3 million) borrowed from Sberbank and a 600 million-ruble (over $9 million) VAT return fraud; the case against AO T-Platform CEO Vsevolod Opanasenko charged with a state contract related fraud; the case against OOO AVA Company CEO Armen Babadzhanyan charged with a profit-motivated failure to pay wages to workers of an enterprise went bankrupt because of a technical accident.




A family snuck their grandfather's beloved cat into hospital so he could say his final goodbyes before dying of cancer.

Alisha Foti, from Sydney, shared a heartwarming video of her grandfather Paul Lewis being farewelled by his 19-year-old ginger, Coco.

Mr Lewis, who had bowel and kidney cancer, was admitted to hospital last Friday after his health suddenly deteriorated.

Ms Foti, her partner Shane and uncle Matthew hid Coco in a bag before sneaking him into Muswellbrook hospital, in the Hunter region of New South Wales, on Sunday.

Alisha Foti, from Sydney, shared a heartwarming video of her boyfriend and uncle hiding Coco the cat in a bag before sneaking him into Muswellbrook hospital, in the Hunter region

Alisha Foti's heartwarming video has been liked more than 2.6 million times

But before Mr Lewis eventually passed away on Monday night of kidney failure, he was given a surprise farewell by his furry 'best friend.

Ms Foti told Daily Mail Australia it was her boyfriend Shane's idea to covertly take Coco into the hospital.

'Coco was frantically looking for my grandfather on Sunday,' she said.

Doctors warned the family that Mr Lewis would be unresponsive from the morphine he was given, but Ms Foti wanted her grandfather to be able to see his 19-year-old ginger one last time.

'We wanted Coco to have closure as well so we tested putting him in a few bags just so he wasnt too stressed,' she said.

'He was calm in the car and once we got him to my grandfather he just sat there and actually started crying which set off all of us crying.

'Pop was in and out of consciousness but you could tell he was happy to see him.

'I think his main nurse had noticed something was going on but I think due to the circumstances she didnt say anything which was amazing.'
Delhi government announced all primary schools in the national capital will be shut till March 31 in wake of rising Coronavirus cases. Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia posted the notification on his official Twitter account.

"As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20", he wrote on his social media account.

As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) March 5, 2020

The total number confirmed cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in India has reached 29 as one more person in Gurugram tested positive for the infection. The latest positive case is an employee of Paytm in Gurugram.

According to the company, the employee who works in the Gurugram office had recently returned from a vacation in Italy. "One of our colleagues based out of Gurgaon office who recently returned from Italy has sadly been tested positive for Coronavirus. He is receiving appropriate treatment. As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately," the company said in a statement.

Following the development, the company has advised its employees to work from home for the next couple of days while the Gurugram unit gets sanitised.

The previous case which was also confirmed in NCR was a man who had recently returned from Italy. He had then visited his relatives in Agra and six members of the family have since tested positive for Covid-19. Authorities are also trying to identify everyone who the individual had come into contact with since his return.




The controversial execution of Nathaniel Woods was carried out late Thursday in Alabama just minutes after the Supreme Court denied a temporary stay, issued only hours earlier.

Woods was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m. local time, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Advocates had argued Woods, who was convicted in the murder of three police officers in 2004, did not directly take part in the slayings and should have his execution delayed.

The decision came after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reviewed the letter requesting a reprieve from the death sentence, but said she would allow the execution to proceed.

"Governor Ivey does not presently intend to exercise her powers of commutation or reprieve in this case," general counsel William G. Parker Jr. wrote. "While Governor Ivey reserves the right to grant clemency at any time before an execution is carried out, she has determined, based on her review of the complete record, including the matters presented in your letter, that clemency for Mr. Woods at this hour is unwarranted."

Woods, 44, was killed by lethal injection at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.

"The fight is far from over. Nathaniel is an innocent man, and that will always be the truth. We are not giving up," the family said in a statement provided to ABC News.

Supporters were calling for Ivey to grant a reprieve. As of Thursday morning, Ivey offered no sign that she would intervene in Williams' case and it appeared the execution would go as planned.

PHOTO: Nathaniel Woods in an undated photo from the Alabama Dept. of Corrections. (Alabama Dept. of Corrections via AP)

But late Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued a temporary stay in the minutes leading up to the execution of Woods, who was convicted of capital murder in the 2004 killings of three Birmingham, Alabama, police officers.

He already requested his final meal of sweet potatoes, spinach, chicken patty, chicken leg quarter, cooked apples, fries, two oranges and orange flavored drink, according to a statement from Alabama Department of Corrections. However, he only took one bite of the chicken and left the rest of his meal untouched, the statement read.

Story continues

Woods also made calls earlier that day to his father, sister, daughter and mother, as well as friends. His imam was expected to be the only person present at the execution.

After Woods was put to death, the son of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., who had joined a chorus of calls to halt the execution, called it a "mockery of justice."

"In the case of Nathaniel Woods, the actions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Governor of the State of Alabama are reprehensible, and have potentially contributed to an irreversible injustice," Martin Luther King III wrote in a post on Twitter. "It makes a mockery of justice and constitutional guarantees to a fair trial."

In the case of Nathaniel Woods, the actions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Governor of the State of Alabama are reprehensible, and have potentially contributed to an irreversible injustice. It makes a mockery of justice and constitutional guarantees to a fair trial.  Martin Luther King III (@OfficialMLK3) March 6, 2020

A spokeswoman with the Alabama Department of Corrections told ABC News that the execution warrant did not run out until 11:59 p.m., meaning they had until then to carry out the execution once the court decided to lift the temporary stay.

On Tuesday, King sent a letter to Ivey, a Republican, reading, "I stand with hundreds of thousands of Americans across Alabama and the nation, pleading with you not to execute Nathaniel Woods."

In his letter, King, who was born in Alabama, told Ivey her state was "set to kill a man who is very likely innocent."

King told Fox News Thursday, "If a person is innocent, they should not be killed in this country. People have been killed and [hanged] for doing nothing. And in this context, if that is the prospect, we ought to at least go through the facts, go through the information, give the system the opportunity to work if it did not work."

MORE: MLK III pleads with Alabama governor to stop execution of Nathanial Woods, convicted in slayings of 3 cops

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 91,000 people had signed a petition on the website Change.org to stop the execution of Woods, who would become the first person executed in Alabama this year and the 67th since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Ivey noted two Alabama citizens had been executed since 1983 as being accomplices to capital murder.

Woods' alleged accomplice, Kerry Spencer, confessed to being the sole gunman who killed the officers with a high-powered weapon, but separate juries convicted him and Woods of four capital murder charges, including killing the officers in the course of committing another crime.

"The state offered the testimony of 39 witnesses at Woods' capital murder trial, including Officer Michael Collins, 25 other law enforcement officers, and forensic experts," Ivey wrote in a lengthy statement announcing Woods' execution. "There is no evidence, and no argument has been made, that Nathaniel Woods tried to stop the gunman from committing these heinous crimes. In fact, he later bragged about his participation in these horrific murders. As such, the jury did not view Woods' acts as those of an innocent bystander; they believed that he was a fully engaged participant."

PHOTO: Gov. Kay Ivey gives the State of the State Address to a joint session of the Alabama Legislature, Feb. 4, 2020, in the old house chamber of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/AP, FILE)

Spencer's trial was held before Woods' case was heard by a jury, but his execution date has yet to be set.

During both trials, prosecutors presented the juries the theory that Woods and Spencer acted in tandem to lure the officers into the apartment to kill them.

On June 17, 2004, Birmingham police officers Carlos Owen, Harley Chisholm III and Charles Bennett were shot to death while executing a misdemeanor assault warrant for Woods at a suspected crack house in Birmingham. A fourth officer was also shot, but survived and testified against Woods.

A jury convicted Woods in December 2005, and in a nonunanimous verdict of 10-2 recommended a sentence of death.

MORE: Federal government resuming executions after 2 decades, names first 5 people to be killed

Chisholm's sister has come out against the execution, saying in a statement to ABC News provided by Wood's family: "I am writing to express my sincere wishes for Governor Ivey to stop the execution of Nathaniel Woods. I am the sister of Harley Chisholm III. I do not think that Nathaniel is guilty of murder. I urge Governor Ivey to reconsider her decision not to intervene."

"There is no harm in allowing more time for the courts to investigate," the statement added. "I want the new evidence to be brought forward and evaluated by new attorneys. Please do not move forward with the hasty decision to execute Nathaniel. My conscience will not let me live with this if he dies. I beg you to have mercy on him."

Alabama State Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement Wednesday that Woods was "correctly found guilty and sentenced to death by a jury of his peers."

"The only injustice in the case of Nathaniel Woods is that which was inflicted on those four policemen that terrible day in 2004," Marshall said in the statement.

Woods appealed his conviction, arguing his lawyer gave him inadequate representation by misinforming him that he could not be convicted of capital murder as an accomplice and convincing him to reject a plea deal prosecutors offered him of 20 to 25 years in prison, according to court records.

MORE: Death row inmates fight for his life shines light on use of jailhouse informants

"A jury of Mr. Woods' peers convicted him of four counts of capital murder," Ivey wrote Thursday night. "In the past 15 years, his conviction has been reviewed at least nine times, and no court has found any reason to overturn the jury's decision."

Woods' appeal was denied by the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his letter to Ivey, King stated that Woods "has never had a fair trial" and has not gotten the opportunity to present new evidence since his conviction bolstering his claim that Spencer acted alone and that there was never a plan to lure the officers into an ambush.

The case has also garnered the attention of celebrities like Kim Kardashian West, who has become an advocate for criminal justice reform. She tweeted Thursday, Woods "is scheduled to be executed in Alabama TONIGHT for murders he did NOT commit. Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims  in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nate's execution."

#NathanielWoods is scheduled to be executed in Alabama TONIGHT for murders he did NOT commit. Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims  in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nates execution.  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 5, 2020

Following Ivey's inaction, which allowed Woods' execution to proceed, West said her heart goes out to Woods' family and those who worked to "save his life."

"This is a tragic example of injustice in the system," she tweeted. "Nate will die for a crime another man confessed to and says Nate had nothing to do with."

West met with President Donald Trump Wednesday at the White House to talk criminal justice reform along with women the president recently commuted.

Nathaniel Woods executed in Alabama after Supreme Court denies stay originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infections in Hyderabad rose to three on Wednesday with two more persons testing positive in preliminary checks, Telanganas public health and family welfare department said in a statement. The test samples of the two persons were sent to the National Institute of Virology aboratory, Pune for confirmation.

Of the two, one has a history of travel to Italy. The other is a person who came in contact of the 24-year-old software engineer who tested positive for the virus on Monday.

The two underwent preliminary tests at Hyderabads state-run Gandhi Hospital. The state public health and family welfare department said the results of the additional tests on the two sent to Pune are expected on Thursday.

Many of those who came in contact with the infected software engineer have been kept under observation. On Monday, 47 people underwent tests for the novel coronavirus. Forty-five tested negative and two positive.

One of the two person who has tested positive is an employee of DSM Shared Services, part of Dutch MNC which is into health and nutrition. The company said in a statement on Wednesday: We would like to inform you that one of our DSM colleagues in our Hyderabad office at Mindspace building has been diagnosed with Coronavirus. This diagnosis was confirmed early this morning. We are regularly checking on the colleague who is in hospital as well as family members to ensure everyone is doing fine.

The companys offices in two tech campuses of the city, Raheja Mindspace and Brightspace, are being disinfected, DSMs statement added. It said that till everything is sorted out, its employees should work from home.

The Telangana government has put in place quarantine facilities for 3000 people and close to 300 beds for patients requiring treatment. Health officials also began publicising the preventive measures being taken to ensure that the virus doesnt spread.

Meanwhile, the BJP said a public rally scheduled to be addressed by Union home minister Amit Shah on March 15 in Hyderabad has been postponed. The partys chief spokesperson for Telangana K Krishnan Sagar Rao said This decision was taken to reduce mass physical contact during the rally in the current context of serious precautions being undertaken by the Centre to arrest spread of Coronavirus.

A couple of schools in the area where the techie, who worked in Bangalore, resided in after coming back to Telangana did not operate as a precautionary measure. A software engineer from Hyderabad who recently visited South Korea and was visiting his wifes family at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, exhibited some early symptoms of the disease and has been quarantined. District authorities have sent his samples for testing to Hyderabad and he is currently under observation, according to district collector Muralidhara Reddy.

The number of infections has surged recently with 15 people including an Indian testing positive at the Indo-Tibetan Border Polices quarantine facility at Chhawla near Delhi on Wednesday. They were among 21 Italians and three Indians at the facility.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has announced that passengers from all countries will be screened at airports.
Psychologists at the University of Bath, King's College London, and Cardiff have found that a common test used by doctors and researchers to measure autistic personality traits lacks reliability and might not be capturing the right signs of autism.

This means that research including scores from this test may lack validity and raises new questions about its use for screening for autism in the general population.

The 10-item Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ10) questionnaire asks people to report if they have personality characteristics associated with autism. There are many forms of these types of questionnaires, with the AQ10 being the shortest and most commonly used by GPs.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the government body responsible for making recommendations for clinical practice and to the NHS, recommends the AQ10 as a screening tool for autism in adults. For research purposes, results from the questionnaire are used in large-scale studies to measure autistic traits in the general population.

These autistic traits/tendencies are then linked to their performance on other tasks, in order to inform how autism may be related to other social behaviours and difficulties.

In a new study, published today (Thursday 5 March) in Cambridge University Press' new journal Experimental Results, researchers used data from over 6,500 participants from the general population to examine the effectiveness of AQ10 in measuring autism.

Their results found that the measure had poor reliability across several statistical techniques and the team now suggest the reliance on AQ10 as a measure of autistic traits needs to be questioned. They suggest we need new systems in place designed to better capture the range of autistic personality traits across the population.

Dr Punit Shah, senior author of the study and expert on cognitive processing at the University of Bath's Department of Psychology, explained: "Our findings add further evidence to a growing body of literature indicating that the measures of autism and autistic traits currently used in research are inadequate.

"A lot of what we know about autism - and how to help people with autism - has come from studies where these tools are used. However, if the measure of autism is unreliable, as we suggest, so too are the findings and conclusions. Without reliable measures, it is unclear if the findings from these studies are valid, and may be hampering the support we provide for people with autistic personalities or diagnosed autism in society."

Emily Taylor, a PhD researcher on the team, added: "This is an important finding, which will hopefully initiate a more concerted effort at examining and refining tools used in autism research and clinical practice. Our analyses used a large sample without medical diagnoses, so the next step would be to conduct follow-up studies in equally large clinical samples.

"More generally, we have focussed on a measure of autistic traits, but we know that there are similar reliability problems with measures of mental health tools. We need far more 'basic' science to examine and address these issues in future research, towards improving their application in the management of mental health difficulties in society."

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The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and a Whorrod Scholarship.

It is published on Thursday 5 March 2020 at 12pm (GMT - UK) / 7am (Eastern Time).
A Ghaziabad-based man tried to enter Parliament complex with three live rounds in his pocket on Thursday

New Delhi: A Ghaziabad-based man tried to enter Parliament complex with three live rounds in his pocket on Thursday.

Akhtar Khan, 44, was detained while trying to enter the Parliament premises through gate number 8. Three live rounds (.32 bore) were recovered from his wallet. During frisking the security personnel detected the bullets and immediately handed him over to the police.

Delhi Police sources stated that on further questioning Khan claimed to have forgotten to remove the cartridges from his wallet. After detailed verification, it was revealed that the man was indeed telling the truth and did own a licensed weapon.

Late in the evening, Khan was released by the police.
Monika DeRoussel (Cincinnati, OH) 2019 Top 100 Individual RE/MAX Agents In USA joins eXp Realty Global Brokerage I am excited to join the global brokerage of eXp Realty after more than a decade as a local Ohio real estate agent with RE/MAX, said DeRoussel. As an immigrant from Czechoslovakia and a former competitive athlete, I am very proud of my success in Ohios real estate industry but I have been eager

Monika DeRoussel today announced that she has joined eXp Realty, one of the fastest-growing, global real estate companies. DeRoussel joins eXp Realty from RE/MAX, one of the leading global real estate franchisors, where she was named the No. 1 individual real estate agent in Southern Ohio, 2011-2018, and in 2019 was ranked as one of the top 100 individual real estate agents in the United States. DeRoussel joins the companys more than 26,000 real estate agents across North America, the United Kingdom and Australia, with the goal of taking her Ohio-based business global.

I am excited to join the global brokerage of eXp Realty after more than a decade as a local Ohio real estate agent with RE/MAX, said DeRoussel. As an immigrant from Czechoslovakia and a former competitive athlete, I am very proud of my success in Ohios real estate industry but I have been eager to expand further and work on a global level. By joining eXp Realty, I will be able to take my business to the next level thanks to eXps global resources which will allow me to build a partnership of agents from across the country.

DeRoussel is a real estate professional renowned for her friendly and enthusiastic demeanor. Awarded her real estate license in 2006, her professional management experience ensured her business swiftly doubled in size, becoming RE/MAXs top-performing agent in Southern Ohio from 2011 through 2018 and on their Top 100 agents list.

eXp Realty was founded in 2009 as the first cloud-based brokerage firm. Innovating the real estate brokerage space, eXp Realty moves real estate to an anytime and anywhere service through internet technology. eXp Realty had exceeded 26,000 real estate agents in the U.S. and Canada and recently expanded into Australia and the United Kingdom. The growth is due to the companys core values, international professional collaboration, and other high-tech solutions and tools, including a virtual office.

For more information about Monika DeRoussel, visit Facebook and LinkedIn.

For more information about eXp Realty, visit exprealty.com.

Monika DeRoussel is an independent contractor of eXp Realty and this is not an official release of eXp Realty, its parent eXp World Holdings, Inc. or any related subsidiary.

###

MEDIA ASSETS: Photo of Monika DeRoussel for download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xz2q8KWMowjRLasqrCmEp8HA2fhhns5O/view
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2020) The United States has imposed sanctions on Nicaragua's national police and on three senior officials that are part of the force, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement on Thursday.

The three individuals sanctioned by the Treasury Department include Nicaraguan Police Chief Luis Alberto Perez Olivas, Chief of the Department of Special Operations Justo Pastor Urbina and Police Commissioner Juan Valle.
Washington

His front-runner status slipping, Bernie Sanders refocused his Democratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednesday as the Vermont senator's allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tuesday stumble that raised internal concerns about the direction of his White House bid.

Sanders targeted Biden's record on trade, Social Security and fundraising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his campaign and Elizabeth Warren confirmed she was privately reassessing her future in the race.

Sanders declared himself "neck and neck" with Biden as he faced reporters in his home state, Vermont, one of just four states he captured on the most consequential day of voting in the party's 2020 primary season. Biden won 10 states, assembling victories that transcended geography, race and class.

The progressive candidate lobbed familiar attacks against the former vice president's record but ignored supporters' calls to be more aggressive and insisted his campaign would avoid any "Trump-type effort" that included personal criticism.

"I like Joe. I think he's a decent human being," Sanders said. "Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country."

Biden told reporters he would unify the country and, without naming Sanders, knocked the senator's frequent contention that he is beholden to an elite party establishment.

"The establishment are all those hard-working people" who voted on Tuesday, Biden told reporters in West Hollywood, Calif.

After suspending his campaign, Bloomberg became the fourth failed Democratic presidential contender this week to endorse Biden. Bloomberg called Biden the best chance to defeat Trump in the general election.

Sanders confirmed that he spoke to his progressive ally Warren earlier in the day, though it was unclear whether she would endorse him should she leave the race. Warren didn't win a single state on Super Tuesday.

A resurgent Biden, meanwhile, was poised to finish Super Tuesday with more delegates than Sanders. Sanders' team had hoped he would finish the night more than 100 delegates ahead of his next closest competitor. He'll likely finish dozens of delegates behind.

The Sanders campaign announced it would begin airing three new campaign ads across states holding the next series of primary contests on March 10 and March 17: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Washington state.

One new ad features archived footage of former President Barack Obama praising Sanders. It's a not-so-subtle attempt by the Vermont senator to undercut Biden spotlighting his closeness to Obama.

Despite the aggressive ad buy, there was new evidence of internal frustration with Sanders' strategy, which some believe has not been tough enough in courting high-profile endorsements or attacking Biden.

Sanders prefers to focus his criticism on the former vice president's record, declining to lean into more divisive attacks that will almost certainly come up in a prospective general election matchup against President Donald Trump.

Roseann DeMoro, a key Sanders ally and a former president of National Nurses United, said Biden's strong showing on Super Tuesday "caught people off guard." Sanders' struggle, she said, was likely tied to his "gentle" approach.

"Is Bernie too gentle on the Democratic Party? I think he's a gentleman, and they are not," DeMoro said. "Bernie's a statesman, and he's up against sharks. He needs to call people out for who they are."

Moumita Ahmed, co-founder of the independent group Millennials for Bernie, was also disappointed in Tuesday's outcome.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"I was thinking Bernie would do way better," she said, adding that the campaign needs a more effective strategy to connect with African Americans.

From his social media platform, Trump worked to fan the flames of growing frustration within Sanders' camp. The president amplified his long-running argument that the Democratic Party would move to stop Sanders from winning the nomination.

"The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN!" Trump tweeted. He also called Warren "selfish" for staying in the race because it "hurts Bernie badly."

Biden's strong finish punctuated a dramatic turnaround in the span of just three days when he leveraged a blowout victory in South Carolina to score sweeping victories in 10 states that cemented his status as the standard-bearer for the Democrats' establishment wing.

The former vice president showed strength in the Northeast with victories in Massachusetts and Maine. He won delegate-rich Texas in the Southwest, Minnesota in the upper Midwest and finished on top across the South in Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas  in addition to Oklahoma.

Sanders scored the night's biggest delegate-prize in California but won just three other states: his home state of Vermont, as well as Utah and Colorado.

Biden racked up his victories despite being dramatically outspent and out-staffed.

With votes still being counted across the country, The Associated Press has allocated 566 delegates to Biden, 501 to Sanders and 61 to Warren. The numbers are expected to shift as new states report their numbers and as some candidates hover around the 15 percent vote threshold they must hit to earn delegates.

The ultimate nominee must claim 1,991 delegates, which is a majority of the 3,979 pledged delegates available this primary season.
PHOENIXShen Yun Performing Arts brings classical Chinese dance to over 100 cities around the world each year, but according to many audience members and fans, the group of artists brings much more than what their posters and billboard advertise.

Just getting to watch it, [Shen Yun] was more than danceit was art, a true art form, said Tanya FuQua-Abbas of Phoenix, Arizona, with awe in her voice. It was beautiful.

Tanya FuQua-Abbas runs a pet care business with her mother and sister and came to see New York-based Shen Yun for the first time on March 4, 2020, at the Phoenix Orpheum.

It was amazing, it was absolutely breathtaking. Watching their feet move as fast as they could, it was unbelievable. I need to come multiple times, so I can see every part of it, FuQua-Abbas said.

Classical Chinese dance lies at the heart of what Shen Yun is all about and forms the foundation upon which the arts company is reviving traditional Chinese culture. According to Shen Yuns website, Chinas deep cultural traditions are contained in classical Chinese dance, allowing its movements to be richly expressive, such that the personalities and feelings of characters can be portrayed with unparalleled clarity.  Over thousands of years, it was constantly refined, eventually developing into the vast and distinctly Chinese dance form we know today.

It was beautiful, FuQua-Abbas continued. [The dancers,] they float. I cried and I laughed and I cheered. Their movements, you could hear, and see, and understand just by just way they were moving together in unison. And the little king and the battles were amazing. I loved the stories.

Some of Shen Yuns storytelling dances depict ancient legends and heavenly beliefs that have been passed down since time immemorial in China. Other pieces portray modern-day China where followers of one of the countrys ancient spiritual practices are now persecuted at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Overall, Shen Yuns roughly 20 vignettes present different aspects of authentic Chinese culture which was almost lost when the CCP rose to power in the mid-twentieth century.

The message was very powerful, the Arizona business owner said about the lyrics of the song Persecuted for Your Redemption sung by Shen Yuns baritone, Qu Yue. You dont realize just how much battle there is still going on for being able to express yourself [in China] the way that we express ourselves [in the US]. So getting to hear that and see it, the way you could see [the baritones] heart was really in it. It was amazing. Its definitely a profound event for all of us. I really appreciated getting to come.

Shen Yun combines Eastern and Western instruments in a way no other arts company has to create a sound that is richly expressive of Chinas sounds and melodies, but with an overall sound quality familiar to Western ears.

I would like to pick up the soundtrack before I leave, FuQua-Abbas said. Getting to listen to the different elements of it and the way they introduced the Chinese aspects of it to us, I had never heard of a two-string instrument and my son loves to play violin, so, hes definitely going to want to see that instrument.

Soloist Lu Sun played the erhu, which is the two-stringed instrument that so excited FuQua-Abbas. Lu played a piece titled Roaming Without a Care.

The baritone, the erhu player, and all of the artists in Shen Yun are carrying on Chinas ancient tradition of acknowledging the legend of the Creator and His eventual return to earth in their songs, dances, and even in their personal spiritual practice in their daily lives.

To FuQua-Abbas, this was a touching and memorable part of her Shen Yun experience, and one she feels everyone can share.

I think that for every person, that Creator is something different. And in this, I felt it was everything. It didnt matter what belief you had  what you thought of each person. The way they brought through, they brought it in, and it made the Creator feel like everythingIt is All! And it was amazing, I loved it, she said.

Even the name Shen Yun translates to the beauty of divine beings dancing in English. FuQua-Abbas thought that the name was apt and had generous parting words for the artists.

Oh, it came through beautifully, absolutely beautifully. I recommend that for anybody, she said in reference to the translation of the phrase Shen Yun.

Thank you! Thank you for sharing what you guys do with us, she said to the artists. Because that was emotional. And I, I cant thank them enough, theyre beautiful.

With reporting by NTD Television and Brett Featherstone.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
Four score and six years ago, a remarkable election took place that featured Democrats, Republicans, Hollywood moguls, captains of industry, the Los Angeles Times and The San Francisco Chronicle, all teaming up to defeat a socialist candidate at the top of the ticket.

Upton Sinclair, the renowned muckraking author, shocked the Democratic Party establishment, the California business community and the national press when he won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the summer of 1934. In response to Sinclairs surprise nomination, a Never Sinclair coalition of odd but powerful bedfellows arose to successfully prevent the socialist from becoming the Golden States chief executive in the middle of the Great Depression.

Fast forward over eight and a half decades and another self-avowed socialist, Bernie Sanders, is now among the final two candidates left with a realistic chance of winning the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Like Sinclair did nearly nine decades ago, Bernie Sanders has a good chance, even with the revival of Joe Biden, to win the Democratic nomination despite resistance from the party elite.

With the California primary and Super Tuesday in the rearview mirror, the delegate count has the remainder of the primary set up to be a two-man contest between Sanders and Biden. A major question of the 2020 election is, if Sanders wins the nomination, would Democrats unite behind him, or would key constituencies break away as they did 86 years ago in response to the placement of a socialist at the top of the ticket in California? There are indicators that such a break could occur.

Hillary Clinton criticized Sanders in January for being, according the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, unaccomplished and not well-liked. The New York Times Elizabeth Bruenig has reported on other instances in which Democratic Party elite have expressed resistance to Sanders.

Mrs. Clinton was not alone in her apparently rising anxiety. Near the end of last month, the centrist think tank Third Way released a memo all but begging Iowans not to vote for Mr. Sanders, Bruenig writes. The former Democratic nominee John Kerry was reportedly overheard on Sunday contemplating several strategies to stop Mr. Sanders from taking the nomination. Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee members are considering shifts in convention rules tailored to hobble Mr. Sanderss chances.

The New York Times Thomas Edsall recently laid out the challenges a Sanders nomination would present for Democrats in a general election:

Not only does Sanders currently take positions that would be tough to defend in the general election  a Medicare for All plan eliminating private health coverage, a ban on fracking highly unpopular in Pennsylvania, the decriminalization of illegal border crossings  but in the past he has also argued for nationalization of the energy industry, public ownership of banks, telephone, electric, and drug companies and of the major means of production such as factories and capital, as well as other proposals, such as a 100 percent income tax on the highest income earners in America.

Back in 1934, Hollywood royalty of the era came out to help defeat Upton Sinclair. Famed studio executives Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg went so far as to create short news films that misleadingly depicted waves of homeless people flocking to California in anticipation of Sinclairs victory and the redistribution of wealth that was sure to follow if the socialist became governor.

Sadly, actors and staging are not needed in order to depict a California overrun by homelessness today. California is home to 12% of the U.S. population, yet almost half of the nations unsheltered homeless live in California. Los Angeles, where Joe Biden held his Super Tuesday campaign speech, has seen homelessness spike by 47% over the past half decade, rising from approximately 36,000 in 2012 to 53,000 in 2018. Though Californias primary is still too early to call, Bernie Sanders is on track to win the most delegates from the Golden State.

Sinclair ultimately lost the California gubernatorial election to Republican Frank Meriam in November 1934 by a 48% to 37% margin. As much of a cautionary tale as 1934 might turn out to be for Democrats in 2020, Republicans would be unwise to feel overly confident if Sanders becomes the nominee, as Democrats were when Trump captured the GOP nomination in 2016.

Polling shows Sanders ahead of Trump in a number of key states. Regardless of how much division Sanders stokes within the Democratic electorate, its unlikely to occur to the degree witnessed in California in 1934. Hollywood moguls, the Los Angeles Times and The San Francisco Chronicle are not likely to help elect Donald Trump today like they did with Frank Merriam in 1934.

Whether Sanders or Biden wins the nomination, only time will tell, but the nervousness about Sanders from leading Democrats is palpable. Its not only not free, it doesnt freaking work, recently resigned MSNBC host Chris Matthews, clearly exasperated about the prospect of a Sanders nomination, said about socialism on air last month. A lot can change in 86 years, but the 2020 election could, if Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic Party nomination, demonstrate whether a socialist at the top of the ticket is as unappealing to Americans in 2020 as it was to Californians in 1934.

Patrick M. Gleason is vice president of state affairs at Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington-based nonprofit that opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle.
French clocks of the 17th-19th centuries  an expert guide

Christies Senior International Clocks Specialist Will Strafford offers points to consider when buying French clocks, from the reputation of the maker to age, condition and provenance

Christies offers a dizzying variety of French clocks, says Will Strafford, Christies Senior International Clocks specialist. And these are some key things to consider when searching for the right one. Date  from Louis XIV to Louis XVI There are so many different types of clock to consider, in so many different styles, that it is important to consider different periods when buying a new timepiece. French clocks from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, known as the Louis XIV (1643-1715) and Regence periods (1715-1723) respectively, tend to be grand in style and made on a theatrical scale. For instance, the long case clock, or regulateur, below, was made by the French designer Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), a cabinetmaker to Louis XIV, and is typical of the baroque taste at the time.

Clocks from the following Louis XV period (1715-1774) are characterised by a looser, and even more sculptural design, such as the below wall-mounted cartel clock, with its figures lost in clouds and shells.

If youre after a clock with a complex and precise movement, and housed in a more refined case inspired by symmetrical Greek and Roman architectural styles, maybe the Louis XVI (1774-1792) period is right for you. Sculptural ornament was still a big part of the visual appeal of clocks of this period, and many of them incorporate figures in ormolu  finely-ground, high-carat gold applied to bronze.

The clock shown above is not only an excellent representation of clockmaking in this period, its also a technological marvel that reflects the pursuit of science in the Age of Enlightenment.

During the following Empire Period (roughly 1800-1815), and in the time of the restoration of the monarchy during the 1820s, there was a greater emphasis on the narrative quality of figurative sculpture on clocks. The figures on the clock below represent a scene from the story of Hector in the Trojan wars.

A good tip for those who want a French baroque clock that wont break the bank is to look at late 19th-century versions. They have all the opulence of their 18th-century predecessors, but can cost a lot less, says Strafford. Form Another important criterion is the shape and size of your clock. If it is going to be hung on a wall, go for a cartouche-shaped cartel clock, such as the Louis XV example above.

If youre looking for something monumental to stand on the floor, think about a regulateur longcase clock such as the one above. Or if you want something small to sit on a shelf, pick a mantel clock such as the jewel-like Louis XVI example below.

On the smaller end of the scale are carriage clocks. The first of these travelling clocks was designed by Abraham-Louis Breguet for the Emperor Napoleon in 1812. They tend to be made in gilt-bronze or brass and glass, and often have intricate movements with multiple functions, says Strafford. This makes them excellent gifts for the technologically inclined.

The 19th-century French carriage clock shown above has an eight-day movement (designed to be wound only once a week), as well as a full calendar, moon-phase dial, barometer and thermometer. Dial and movement French clocks can sometimes come with as many as three names attached  the maker of the case, the maker of the dial, and the maker of the enamelling for the dial. Christies specialists are always on hand to explain which names signal the best quality. French clocks from the first half of the 18th century tend to have fairly simple movements, so are often collected for the name attached to the ornamental appeal of their cases instead of their complex mechanics, explains Strafford. After the 1750s there were a number of technological advances made within the movements of French clocks. If horological wizardry is your thing, concentrate on the later Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, says the specialist. Paris is usually associated with the best-quality movements. In 1752 Ferdinand Berthoud, then aged just 25, presented a longcase regulateur to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, which successfully adjusted for the difference between solar and mean time (which can be up to 16 minutes a year). This complication is known as equation time. The movement in the clock below is one of the first Berthoud built with this feature, and it was sold at Christies in 2001 for 322,750. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

During the Louis XVI period, Robert Robin perfected the precision of equation-time clock movements. Robin, who was the favourite clockmaker of the French king and his wife Marie Antoinette, made the equation movement for the gold table clock shown below, which sold at Christies for $200,000 in 2018.

A Louis XVI ormolu table regulator with equation of time and remontoire, the clockmaker Robert Robin, horologer du roi, Paris, the enameller Joseph Coteau, the dial dated 1781. 16 in (41 cm) high, 8 in (21.9 cm) wide, 6 in (7.2 cm) deep. Sold for $200,000 on 20 April 2018 at Christies in New York

Its enamel dial is signed by the finest French enameller of the day, Joseph Coteau, and is decorated with the signs of the zodiac painted in exquisite detail, notes Strafford. Details such as this will usually make a clock more desirable.

A Louis XVI ormolu and white marble portico clock, circa 1785. With Henri IV accepting the French crown above a portico with classical figures. 43 in (109 cm) high, 28 in (72.5 cm) wide, 5 in (12.5 cm) deep. Estimate: $100,000200,000. Offered in Dalva Brothers: Parisian Taste In New York on 22 October 2020 at Christies in New York

The later Empire (1800-late 1820s) and Restoration (1814-1830) periods saw fine and elaborate enamelled dials became more popular, as well as further astonishing technical innovations. The multi-dialled clock shown below is by the maker Hubert Sarton, says Strafford. It not only shows the phases of the moon but also the time in cities across the world. Even among todays hyper-sophisticated timepieces, not many can rival that.

Condition Check the surface of the body and dial for cracks, tarnishing, rubbing and restoration. Ask yourself questions such as, Are the feet original? Has the veneer been replaced? advises the specialist. Damage around winding holes, especially on enamel dials, is a potential spot for repair work, Strafford explains. The movement should also look clean and tidy, although because of the physical pressure it withstands every second of the day, parts will often have been replaced over time. Vacant holes and makers marks with different dates inside the clock might also suggest the case and movement dont belong together. Christie's will often have particularly complex movements vetted by specialist clock restorers to reassure any bidders that the parts of the movement are accurately described, although for understandable reasons, their working condition can't be guaranteed, adds Strafford.

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Provenance One of the most alluring aspects of collecting in almost any category is the potential to acquire pieces with significant history.
Vivel has roped in Housefull 4 actor Kriti Sanon as its brand ambassador on March 5, 2020. ITC's brand Vivel has worked on its philosophy of Ab Samjhauta Nahin to encourage the women.

ITCs leading personal care brand, Vivel has roped in Housefull 4 actor Kriti Sanon as its brand ambassador on March 5, 2020. ITCs brand Vivel has worked on its philosophy of Ab Samjhauta Nahin encouraged several women to not compromise with their choices and their dreams. Kriti has been a perfect choice for being an inspiration and motivation to young women.

Kriti Sanon also shared her gratitude for becoming a Vivel face, she said she is glad and excited to get associate with the leading brand ITC Vivel and its personal care products. She also appreciated the idea of their strong motive and initiative Ab Samjhauta Nahin. The brand ensures that the primary motive is not just to associate with the products and the brands but also with the philosophy. She said that the Vivel beauty is uncompromising and real, she added that Vivel women naturally come to her. She has achieved her dreams through her spirit. She felt amazing that she get a chance to associate with them and get a chance to help the women in raising their voice.

Talking about the philosphy Ab Samjhauta Nahin, Vivel, continues to empower and educate women to challenge stereotypes and help enable self-action. Also, Vivel spreads a message of quality and believes that for a more equal life. According to this philosophy, awareness and education is the first step to empowerment. Vivel Ab Samjhauta Nahin is working relentlessly towards women empowerment, it has co-created a program with Azad Foundation to help empower women feminist leaders at the grassroots level.

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Future Market Insights (FMI), in its new offering, investigates the floral extract market and provides critical insights for the forecast period of 2019-2029. The report expects that the global sales of floral extract will increase 4.5% year-over-year to reach ~ US $ 2.3 billion in 2019, primarily driven by shifting consumer preference towards cosmetic and personal care products based on natural ingredients.

The report opines that the floral extract market is likely to exhibit a promising growth over the next decade, prominently driven by growing consciousness about health & wellness, especially among millennial demographic, who are constantly rejecting conventional products and shifting to natural products.

As 'green beauty', 'clean beauty', or 'natural beauty' is fast becoming an industry buzzword, cosmetics manufacturers are voluntarily ceasing the use of toxic chemicals and disclosing the ingredients in their products. The expansion of floral extract market has been working in tandem with greater awareness of natural cosmetics among the consumers and a rising number of celebrities exploiting the ill effects of conventional skincare and makeup on social platforms.

Floral Essential Oils Hold Significant Shares, Absolutes to Witness Rising Demand

While floral essential oils continue to influence the growth strategies, with revenue share of 65% in 2018, manufacturers are focusing on increasing the production of absolutes to capitalize on growing demand for premium fragrances and perfumes. On the one hand, floral concentrates will continue to represent relatively low share as compared to the two types of floral extracts, according to the report.

Apart from serving as a natural ingredient in cosmetic and personal care products, floral extracts possess multi-functional properties such as medicinal and colorant, thereby increasing its application potential in the industry. The study forecasts that the sales of natural floral extracts to increase ~5% y-o-y in 2019, while rapid adoption of organic variants is likely to result in increased market share.

Increased awareness about health & skincare beneficial products along with rising acceptance of organically sourced products will continue to fuel the growth of floral extract market, as suggested by FMI's analysis.

High Growth Opportunities Abound in East Asia

Regions such as Europe & North America are expected to hold prominent market shares in terms of value. However, the East Asia market for floral extract is expected to project lucrative growth over the forecast period of 2019-2029. Gains will remain propelled by the rapid growth of the cosmetic industry in the region, in the view of growing inclination towards personal grooming and increased disposable income available for purchasing high-end products.

According to the FMI's research, a majority of key players in floral extract market are directing their investments in R&D on extraction techniques. While distillation and solvent extraction methods are widely adopted for various flowers, manufacturers are targeted towards supercritical fluid extraction method that not only reduces the energy consumption but also eliminates residual solvent in the resulting extracts.

Significantly high application potential of floral extracts is identified in fragrances, which accounted for ~42% in 2018. The rise of vegan perfumes in line with strong desire for cosmetics and fragrances to be cruelty-free will contribute to the overall sales of floral extract. Manufacturers are further exploring the capabilities of floral extracts as colorant and fragrance enhancer in skincare products as well as body care & toiletries.

Sensing an increase in direct sourcing of floral extracts to avoid intermediates in the supply chain, manufacturers are focusing on deepening their collaboration with cosmetic producers. In addition, leading players in the floral extract market are aiming to introduce their own product line of cosmetics and personal care.

Press Release Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/floral-extract-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-5-during-the-forecast-period- of-2019-to-2029 --- futures-market-insights-300907457.html

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C olourful, confident and outward-looking, Design Centre Chelsea Harbours elegant showrooms are gearing up for London Design Week from March 8-13.

The event will open to professionals on Sunday. From Wednesday to Friday, though, everyone is welcome.

Talks, demos and workshops add to the fun and you can join free discovery tours with an expert guide. If you love your home and its potential for colour, pattern and joie de vivre, this is a must-see event, even for just a long lunch hour.

Theres no charge to enter, and a free Mercedes shuttle runs from Sloane Square Hotel to the Design Centre in Lots Road, SW10. See dcch.co.uk for full details.

Wallcoverings: Alcazar Gardens from the Seville collection at Cole & Son, 145 per 10-metre roll

Were the largest centre of our kind in Europe, asserts managing director Claire German. Nowhere else is guiding interiors with such an assured hand.

Finishing soon, an ambitious multimillion-pound expansion will bring more visitors, exhibitions and events, and crucially expand international brands, which already number 600 in more than 120 showrooms.

Colours for 2020 are warm and positive

Look for Etruscan reds, watermelon and flamingo, says Arabella McNie, creative consultant. Its also go for green, with lots of lovely leaves from native woods to rainforests.

This is the very haute couture of interior design. In three multi-tiered glass domes and pushing into the new extension are thousands of fabrics and wallpapers, fine woods and precious metals for windows, floors, furniture, lighting and more. See a cabinet of high-gloss ivory vellum at Julian Chichester; a plain bone china lamp shade at Original BTC.

Stroke rugs of handspun silk and wool in Art Rugs Gallery and consider contrasting textures of banana bark and grass for walls at Mark Alexander, or printed cork at Anthology.

Surreal surprise: Tokyo Blue, from mischievous Moooi. "Indigo macaque monkeys posture amid blossoms, wearing kimonos, parasols and little crowns

Global influences

New collections are global with influences from just about everywhere. Sanderson has taken the ancient Silk Road and made it live again in ikats, chintz, velvet and embroideries, in the Caspian Collection. Ikats are also in at GP & J Baker, along with Chinese fire dragons, Persian landscapes and oriental peonies, magnolias and ferns.

In the vivid Seville wallpapers at Cole & Son, formal Mudejar architecture of the Spanish Muslim era mingles with jasmine, orange trees and bougainvillea. Sri Lankan festivals have sparked a soft tropic mix of jungle leaves, exotic birds and animals, in Escala at Scion.

Currently, London loves Japan, with a new kimono show at the V&A of these dynamic icons of fashion, called Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, until June 21 (vam.ac.uk). A surreal surprise is Tokyo Blue, from mischievous Moooi. Indigo macaque monkeys posture and preen amid lavish blossoms, wearing kimonos, parasols and little crowns. These are the latest from an invented menagerie of so-called extinct animals.

The noble Spanish brand of Gaston y Daniela  at Abbott + Boyd  has a Japon collection with proper Japanese ladies on plush velvet.

Back in Britain, meanwhile, Sanderson is marking 125 years of the National Trust.

Printed linen union: Garzas by Gaston y Daniela of Spain, 117.60 per metre

It's all in the detail

Note the details that set a home apart, such as hand-stitched leather, bullion braid, a silvered pole with carved finial, a lamp of mouth-blown glass, or bronze handles. Just a little of this luxury goes a long way to lift a room. Artisan is now a prized accolade for block prints, hand-weaves, fine joinery and intricate finishes. If you have the budget for bespoke, commission a colour, finish, shape or material thats uniquely yours.

Design Centre Chelsea Harbour has many niche US brands you wont see in the high street. For walls, Phillip Jeffries of New Jersey has huge, splashy digital-print abstracts. Interior designer Kelly Wearstler is doing a multi-layered melange of prints, weaves, embroideries and wallcoverings for Lee Jofa, sparked by vintage fashion, art and design

Pop-ups: design duo Parker & Jules's hand-knotted rugs will be at the Amy Kent pop-up during London Design Week

Make a meal of it

There are numerous cafes specially installed in the domes, the adjacent Design Centre East and the new Design Avenue, which also hosts 19 pop-ups for idiosyncratic visiting brands, including Amy Kent with splashy rugs by design duo Parker & Jules. Decorator Flora Soames is bringing lovely fabrics, all woven and printed in carefully sourced British mills.

To furnish that outside room explore the Italian brands with their suave oversized sofas in soft, weather-resistant fabrics. Our own Katie Walkers reality check is a compact little table and tuck-in chairs, steam bent in solid oak with dinky dovetails by Hampshire craftsmen Gaze Burvill, who youll find in the Design Avenue. On a more lavish scale, their new grill station is an oak cabinet fitted with BBQ, fridge, Bluetooth sound and storage, that can live outside.
Northern Ireland business leaders have said the collapse of Flybe will have a "hugely negative" impact, citing concerns around connectivity and tourism.

The airline announced in the early hours of Thursday it had ceased trading with immediate effect.

Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton said the news was devastating for staff and said it will have a knock-on affect to the connectivity that impacts business and tourism on a massive scale.

"I know that the team at Belfast City Airport will work hard to find new airlines for these key routes and Belfast Chamber urges Government at all levels to support them to ensure that our connectivity [...] isnt harmed by the unfortunate collapse of FlyBe," he said.

Have you been affected by the collapse of Flybe? Contact us digital.editorial@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Chief executive of Visit Belfast Gerry Lennon said the news is "deeply concerning". He said the hope is that the routes are re-established as quickly as possible.

"With over 1.7m visitors annually, tourism generates over 395m each year for the city economy and supports 19,000 jobs so it is imperative that industry and government work together to minimise the impact.

"To achieve our ambitious growth targets, the city and region need to see a continued uplift in air capacity," he said.

Read More

Chief executive of Hospitality Ulster Colin Neill said there will be a knock-on effect for tourism.

"This sounds alarm for our pubs, restaurants and hotels at a time when Coronavirus is compounding the sectors problems," he said.

"Great Britain is our largest tourism market and without that regional connectivity, the hospitality sector is going to take a real hammering. Our only hope in the short term is that other carriers can increase capacity so that visitors can come here and not be put off by Flybes collapse.

"This is a very clear reason why Air Passenger Duty needs to be scrapped immediately and we call on the Chancellor to wake up to this grave situation and cancel APD in his Budget only a week away."

Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said while it is clearly bad news for the economy and connectivity, he is "confident" Belfast City Airport will find new carriers for their vital air routes across the UK.

"Belfast City Airport is a crucial part of our transport infrastructure and is vital to the future of our local economy," he said.

"Tourists and business travellers who use Belfast City Airport are important customers for our retail sector in Belfast City Centre and across Northern Ireland.

"We need to see Government at all levels supporting the City Airport during these challenging times as they engage with new carriers and address the issue of APD. I have no doubt that the airport will come through this difficulty and go from strength to strength."
Facebook Inc has confirmed that a contractor at a Seattle office has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and the social media giant said it would close that location until March 9. "A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19," a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Facebook said it has notified employees, adding that workers in all Seattle locations were being encouraged to work from home until the end of the month. Seattle in Washington state has the largest concentration of coronavirus cases confirmed to date in the United States.

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday reported the first case of the virus among its US employees. The news of the Facebook contractor being diagnosed with the coronavirus was first reported by Bloomberg.

Also read: COVID-19 in India: HM asks states to form Rapid Response Teams to prevent community transmission

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: UN report pegs trade impact on India at $348 million
At meeting held on 05 March 2020

The Board of United Bank of India at its meeting held on 05 March 2020 has approved the following in respect of amalgamation of United Bank of India (Transferor Bank) into Punjab National Bank (Transferee Bank):

Share Exchange Ratio, subject to statutory and regulatory approvals:

121 equity shares of Rs 2 each of Punjab National Bank for every 1000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of United Bank of India.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PULLMAN, Wash. - Organic compounds called thiophenes are found on Earth in coal, crude oil and oddly enough, in white truffles, the mushroom beloved by epicureans and wild pigs.

Thiophenes were also recently discovered on Mars, and Washington State University astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch thinks their presence would be consistent with the presence of early life on Mars.

Schulze-Makuch and Jacob Heinz with the Technische Universitat in Berlin explore some of the possible pathways for thiophenes' origins on the red planet in a new paper published in the journal Astrobiology. Their work suggests that a biological process, most likely involving bacteria rather than a truffle though, may have played a role in the organic compound's existence in the Martian soil.

"We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but we still need proof," Dirk Schulze-Makuch said. "If you find thiophenes on Earth, then you would think they are biological, but on Mars, of course, the bar to prove that has to be quite a bit higher."

Thiophene molecules have four carbon atoms and a sulfur atom arranged in a ring, and both carbon and sulfur, are bio-essential elements. Yet Schulze-Makuch and Heinz could not exclude non-biological processes leading to the existence of these compounds on Mars.

Meteor impacts provide one possible abiotic explanation. Thiophenes can also be created through thermochemical sulfate reduction, a process that involves a set of compounds being heated to 248 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) or more.

In the biological scenario, bacteria, which may have existed more than three billion years ago when Mars was warmer and wetter, could have facilitated a sulfate reduction process that results in thiophenes. There are also other pathways where the thiophenes themselves are broken down by bacteria.

While the Curiosity Rover has provided many clues, it uses techniques that break larger molecules up into components, so scientists can only look at the resulting fragments.

Further evidence should come from the next rover, the Rosalind Franklin, which is expected to launch in July 2020. It will be carrying a Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, or MOMA, which uses a less destructive analyzing method that will allow for the collection of larger molecules.

Schulze-Makuch and Heinz recommend using the data collected by the next rover to look at carbon and sulfur isotopes. Isotopes are variations of the chemical elements that have different numbers of neutrons than the typical form, resulting in differences in mass.

"Organisms are 'lazy'. They would rather use the light isotope variations of the element because it costs them less energy," he said.

Organisms alter the ratios of heavy and light isotopes in the compounds they produce that are substantially different from the ratios found in their building blocks, which Schulze-Makuch calls "a telltale signal for life."

Yet even if the next rover returns this isotopic evidence, it may still not be enough to prove definitively that there is, or once was, life on Mars.

"As Carl Sagan said 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,'" Schulze-Makuch said. "I think the proof will really require that we actually send people there, and an astronaut looks through a microscope and sees a moving microbe."

###
A Delhi court on Wednesday convicted seven persons, including expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, his brother Jai Deep (alias Atul) Singh Sengar and two policemen for the death of the father of a woman whom Sengar raped in June 2017.

He was beaten in a brutal manner that led to his death, district and sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma said, while delivering the verdict. However, Sengar did not intend to kill the victim, the judge said.

Sengar, who was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh assembly last month, was sent to jail in December 2019 by the Tis Hazari district court for the remainder of his natural biological life for raping the woman when she was a minor. The accused are involved in a chain of actions and each one of the conspirators had knowledge as to the ultimate common objective in creating an example out of the victim, so as to silence him and deter him from pursuing any vindictive complaint against them, the judge said on Wednesday.

While Sengar, his brother and three aides were convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304), criminal conspiracy (120B), wrongful restraint (341), voluntarily causing hurt (323) and relevant sections of Arms Act of the Indian Penal Code, policemen Ashok Singh Bhadauria and KP Singh were also convicted for registering a false complaint (Sections 211 and 218) against the father, as well as for assaulting him in judicial custody. On April 3, 2018, Sengars aides thrashed the survivors father and his co-worker in Unnao, where he had gone to attend a hearing in the rape case.

According to charge sheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Bhadauria and KP Singh took the father to the police station, and did not go after either Sengars men or provide medical care to him. Between 5.20pm and 9.43pm, the two officers and Sengar spoke on the phone 10 times. Sengars aide Shailendra Singh filed an FIR against the father for possession of an illegal firearm, and police planted the evidence against him. The father was sentenced to 14 days in judicial custody. The chief medical officer of Unnao, SP Chaudhary, received calls from Sengar, who told him that the father should not be kept in the hospital if his condition was fine. The survivors father died in the jail hospital five days later.

The doctors at the district hospitals...did not conduct an X-ray or give proper treatment to the victim at the correct time, the judge said. Noting that the accused agreed to demonstrate their political and muscle power, in order to criminally intimidate the victim and his family members, so as to deter them from pursuing any criminal case against the accused Sengar with regard to the alleged case of sexual assault upon his daughter of the victim, the judge said that the accused hatched a false case against the father and planted evidence against him.

The court sentenced Sengars aides, Vinay Mishra, Birendra Singh and Shashi Pratap Singh and acquitted four, Shailendra Singh, Ram Sharan Singh, Amir Khan and Sharadveer Singh giving them benefit of the doubt.

Dharmendra Mishra, the advocate representing the survivors family, said, There are two more cases pending in the trial court, one of gang rape, and another that pertains to the death of the victims aunts. The evidence hearing of the gang rape case will begin on March 16.
PetroChina's logo is seen at its petrol station in Beijing, China, on March 21, 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Chinas Top Gas Importer PetroChina Declares Force Majeure on ImportsSources

SINGAPOREChinas top gas importer PetroChina has declared force majeure on natural gas imports, including on liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and on gas imported via pipelines, following the coronavirus outbreak, four industry sources told Reuters.

The company issued the force majeure notice to suppliers of piped gas and also to at least one LNG supplier, though details of the force majeure notice could not immediately be confirmed.

Force majeure refers to unexpected external circumstances that prevent a party to a contract from meeting their obligations.

PetroChina did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for state firm KazTransGas which handles gas exports had no immediate comment.

PetroChina meets 40 percent of its total gas needs through imports and about 70 percent of imports are through pipeline gas from central Asia, Burma (also known as Myanmar) and Russia while the rest are through LNG, one of the sources said.

The supply cuts will fall on suppliers proportionately but LNG suppliers will have a lesser impact versus those on piped gas, said one of the sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

It was not immediately clear what volumes PetroChina had declared force majeure on or the time period the notice covers.

But one major LNG supplier to the Chinese company told Reuters that PetroChina had requested some cargos be deferred to the third quarter instead.

For piped gas, PetroChina will be likely to ask for a cut in daily nominations, the first source said.

Last month, the countrys top LNG importer China National Offshore Oil Corp. suspended contracts with at least three suppliers, which drove spot LNG prices to a record low.

PetroChina has done its best over the past month mitigating the virus impact and tried not to issue such a notice, including diverting cargos to India and Singapore, the source said.

But unlike CNOOC (which sent the notice earlier) which may see demand slowing recovering, PetroChina is grappling with a sharp seasonal demand fall from mid-March (for piped gas) when the heating season ends.

By Chen Aizhu and Jessica Jaganathan
ANNAPOLIS (March 4, 2020)The State Highway Administration would be authorized to post suicide prevention information on existing electronic highway signs under new legislation proposed in the Maryland Senate.



Senate bill 810, which is expected to be heard in the Finance Committee Wednesday, would authorize usage of the signs within a five-mile radius of high-risk suicide zones, such as the the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.



Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher, D-Montgomery and the bill's sponsor, told Capital News Service adding suicide prevention information, such as a hotline number, would be along the same lines as active Amber and Silver Alerts, which are displayed along with standard traffic-related messages.



While Waldstreicher said the highway administration would make the determination for what constitutes a high-risk suicide zone, one area he specifically highlighted was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which is 186 feet above the water at its highest point.



"We wanted it to be enabling legislation, not prescriptive legislation," Waldstreicher said. "We wanted to provide flexibility for SHA so they might be able to implement it."



In a statement to Capital News Service, a Maryland Department of Health spokesperson wrote the department is "currently evaluating introduced legislation through its internal review processes" and referred further questions to Waldstreicher.



According to the most recent statistics available from the Maryland Department of Health's Vital Statistics Annual Report, the state's age-adjusted suicide rate in 2018 was 10.2 per 100,000 people, the highest in a decade, according to the report.



Waldstreicher said the idea for the legislation was brought to him by Jillian Amodio, the founder of Moms For Mental Health. Amodio said her Annapolis, Maryland-based group, which she said has more than 1,500 members, strives to end the stigma around mental-health struggles.



In January, the Anne Arundel County Council voted unanimously to declare suicide a public health crisis in the county. Amodio said many of her group's members have been touched by suicide in some way and she said the group often hears about people jumping off the bridge. She said those cases are traumatic not just for the suicide victims, but for the witnesses and first responders as well.



Amodio said people who think about suicide often make a quick decision and the new legislation could help change that. She said the messaging could also serve to help people who are struggling in any way.



"That decision can be made in a matter of seconds, but that decision can also be changed in a matter of seconds just by someone reaching out," she said. "If someone's on their way to the bridge thinking about this and they see a message that says, 'you are not alone,' maybe that could have a positive impact."



Amodio said she was told by the Maryland Department of Transportation that it loved the idea, but the state prohibits any messages on the electronic signs that are unrelated to traffic.



In a statement to Capital News Service, Shantee Felix, a department spokesperson, wrote "Federal guidelines dictate that the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration use its message signs to share transportation related messages that support traffic safety and mobility."



Felix added that Maryland code "requires that Amber and Silver alerts are broadcast via overhead message boards as disseminated by Maryland State Police."



According to a legislative analysis of the bill, the SHA is responsible for more than 16,800 lane miles of road and 2,500 bridges. The legislation could be implemented using existing budgeted funds, the note states.



In a January 2017 position statement regarding suicide prevention on bridges, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline supports highway signage.



While barriers are the most effective prevention method, "Lifeline recognizes that



"promoting access to lifesaving means"such as signage or other public education media near bridges that promotes awareness of hotlines (such as 800-273-TALK) or other suicide prevention servicesis a supplement to bridge barriers."



Amodio said even if the messages were flashed only a few times a month, it could have an impact.



"It might serve somebody who's kind of in the right place at the right time and needs to hear that message," she said.
Australia's economy managed to beat market expectations during the last quarter of 2019 despite the continued softening of the residential building segment, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Australia's GDP growth hit 0.5% over the last quarter of 2019, outpacing the market expectation of 0.3% to 0.4%. The annual gain of 2.2% also beat the market forecast of 2%.

The economy has continued to grow and picked up through the year. However, the rate of growth remains below the long-run average, ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said.

However, the residential construction segment continued to be a major drag. New construction activity fell by 4.1% over the quarter while renovations declined by 2.2%.

Dwelling investment also decreased over the quarter by 3.4%, clocking a sixth consecutive decline.

The slowdown in the residential segment detracted 0.2 percentage points from the overall GDP growth, said Diwa Hopkins, senior economist at the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

Also read: Sentiments down, price outlook up

Hopkins said the three rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the easing of credit rules provided support to the wider domestic economy.

"The effect of these moves had not yet filtered through to the residential construction sector, which represented a drag on the economy in the December 2019 quarter," she said.

A recent analysis by Matthew Hassan, an economist at Westpac, said the growth in dwelling approvals does not appear to be responding as strongly as expected to the rate cuts.

Shane Garrett, chief economist at Master Builders Australia, said the residential building segment is amongst the major sections of the economy that Australia needs to watch out for. Garrett said recent events, such as the bushfires and the COVID-19 outbreak, could potentially impact not just the residential segment but the overall economy.

"Given these challenges, it is imperative that everything is done to boost demand and confidence across our economy including support for building and construction businesses affected by disruption to building product supply chains and the broader economic impact of the coronavirus," he said.

Hopkins shared the same sentiments, adding that the December 2019 economic growth figures predate the onset of trade and travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"The restrictions represent a risk to the level of home building through their effects on supply chains and also demand for new housing," Hopkins said.

An earlier projection by the HIA pointed to a modest upturn in construction this year.

"Despite this whopping contraction, we believe that the cycle had just about run its course and the overall housing market reached a turning point at the end of 2019, buoyed by interest-rate cuts and house price growth," said Tim Reardon, chief economist at HIA.

However, it is unlikely for the next upturn in home-building activity to reach the highs recorded during the boom years from 2014 to 2018.
Boris Johnson's planned bridge to Northern Ireland could end up being a tunnel, the Scottish Secretary said today.

Alister Jack said the PM agreed with him that an underground link could be cheaper and avoid problems such as the huge Second World War munitions dump in the Irish Sea.

Mr Johnson has previously extolled the virtues of a bridge, ordering the idea to be seriously investigated by government officials.

He insists the multi-billion pound scheme, potentially running for 20 miles between Portpatrick and Larne, would help strengthen the bonds between parts of the UK.

Speaking during an evidence session in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Jack said he was convinced the project would bring economic benefits for Scotland and the province.

Mr Jack said: 'I'm very keen on it now, but it's not a bridge that I'm keen on, it's a tunnel.

Boris Johnson has previously extolled the virtues of a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland, ordering the idea to be seriously investigated by government officials

Alister Jack (pictured on a visit to Scotland today) said the PM agreed with him that underground link could be cheaper and avoid problems such as the huge Second World War munitions dump in the Irish Sea

The Ministry of Defence estimates there are a million tons of munitions at the bottom of a deep trench at Beaufort's Dyke

'It's no different to the tunnels connecting the Faroes, it's not different to the tunnels underneath the fjords, and it deals with the problem of Beaufort's Dyke and the World War Two munitions.

'The bridge for me is a euphemism for a link, which is a tunnel.'

Expanding on his views to reporters afterwards, Mr Jack said it could be the case that a crossing is made up of sections of both bridge and tunnel.

He added: 'But I think the best solution if we're going to bridge Scotland with Northern Ireland is a tunnel, and I've had conversations along those lines with the Prime Minister.'

Mr Jack also said he and the PM are 'on exactly the same page' when it comes to the idea of an underwater crossing.

He said he had been told by a number of engineers that a tunnel would cost less than a bridge.

Mr Jack described the plans as being in the 'discussion phase', and it would be for the Prime Minister to 'push the button' and move forward with a full feasibility study to test if the proposals are possible.

When the initial plans were made public, the Scottish and Northern Irish transport secretaries wrote to the Prime Minister and called for the estimated 20billion cost to instead be given to the devolved administrations to improve infrastructure - a position First Minister Nicola Sturgeon agreed with.

Mr Jack refused to reveal any costings he had been quoted for the crossing, but did say it would be 'quite achievable' to have the tunnel built by 2030, adding: 'Since the Channel Tunnel, costs have come down and techniques have improved dramatically.

'The problem is not about whether or not it's feasible, it's about how quickly you do it... If you're going to do it you should get on and do it.'

It is thought that one of the designs for the approximately 20-mile bridge would copy a link between Sweden and Denmark which featured in a hit 'Scandi noir' crime drama.

It would be modelled on the Oresund Bridge, which runs for five miles from the Swedish coast near Malmo to an artificial island in the middle of the Oresund Strait.

Mr Johnson (pictured on ITV's This Morning) insists the multi-billion pound scheme, potentially running for 20 miles between Portpatrick and Larne, would help strengthen the bonds between parts of the UK

It then turns into a 2.5-mile tunnel to the Danish island of Amager, near Copenhagen.

The Oresund crossing was the setting for The Bridge, a popular BBC series starring Sofia Helin and Killing Eve actor Kim Bodnia as detectives investigating a gruesome murder.

At an estimated 20 miles, the UK bridge would still be dwarfed by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge-tunnel system, which traverses 30 miles of water.

The structure spanning the greatest expanse of open sea is the 22.4-mile Hangzhou Bay Bridge in China.

The Ministry of Defence estimates there are a million tons of munitions at the bottom of a deep trench at Beaufort's Dyke, including 14,500 tons of 5in artillery rockets filled with phosgene gas, in addition to two tons of concrete-encased metal drums filled with radioactive waste which was dumped there during the 1950s.
The gig economy has exponentially increased the number of 1099s issued and for businesses to have to manually enter all that data into an eFile system is an archaic model. Together, we empower businesses to collect the info they need, verify sensitive data, and populate forms quickly.

AccountingSuite announced their integration with Tax1099, improving the eFile experience for businesses with contractors, just in time to meet the 1099-MISC deadline of March 31 for non-Box 7 amounts. The integration empowers users of both systems to seamlessly pull data from the AccountingSuite file into Tax1099 to eliminate manual entry.

Tax1099 is an IRS-approved, cloud-based eFiling platform for the 1099 MISC form and forty other forms. The platform eFiles forms directly with the IRS and files with the states based on each state's special filing requirements. If a customer chooses, Tax1099 will also send vendors or contractors their 1099 MISC copy via USPS or their email addresses if available.

"We are excited to integrate Tax1099 with AccountingSuite to offer their customers a streamlined channel to file forms to the IRS and states," says Sanjeev Singh, founder and CEO of Zenwork. "This integration will make it a lot easier for AccountingSuite users to pull data over to Tax1099 to eFile their 1099 MISC forms."

The new integration with AccountingSuite will allow users to log into their AccountingSuite accounts via the Tax1099 cloud platform and pull over payer, vendor, and payment data that is 1099 eligible. This will significantly cut down filing time as users will not have to manually enter 1099 information or deal with the pulling and formatting of various exports. AccountingSuite users can also use Tax1099 to send and collect digital W-9s as well as verify vendors' EINs or SSNs through the TIN matching function.

Ted McRae, Director of Business Development at AccountingSuite, expanded on the integration partnership stating, The gig economy has exponentially increased the number of 1099s issued and for businesses to have to manually enter all that data into an eFile system is an archaic model. Together, we empower businesses to collect the info they need, verify sensitive data, and populate forms quickly while ensuring consistency between systems.

AccountingSuite is an award-winning accounting software with built-in advanced inventory management solutions. The pure cloud application allows users to login anytime from any device and provides unlimited transactions as well as multiple users. The software is a popular alternative for CPAs and accountants because it adheres to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) unlike other popular accounting programs; lack of this backbone in an accounting system allows inexperienced users to make changes to the file after closing.

About AccountingSuite

AccountingSuite is a powerful, all-in-one business application for accounting, cloud banking, order management, inventory management, project and time tracking in one cloud-driven platform. Our mission is to provide easy to use, no-nonsense software that is scalable for startups, entrepreneurs, and growing companies to manage not only finances, but day to day operations. AccountingSuite partners with accountants to deliver the software as low as $5 per month per client. Learn more at http://www.accountingsuite.com.

About Zenwork, LLC

Based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Zenwork has specialized in digital tax and compliance solutions for more than 10 years. Tax1099, with 150,000+ users, is one of 7 compliance solutions powered by Zenwork. Other compliance platforms powered by Zenwork include Fidentity, a front-desk visitor management system, ZenCanna, an inventory management and tax automation platform for the cannabis industry, and EZ2290, eFiling for heavy vehicle use tax. To learn more about Zenwork and their other compliance products, visit: https://zenwork.com/.
The 14 Italian tourists who travelled across three states before arriving from Rajasthan to New Delhi and tested positive for Covid-19 have been shifted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram. They have been housed in isolation on a separate floor, the hospital said.

Medanta has received, at the special request of the government, 14 asymptomatic persons suspected to have Covid-19. These patients are housed on a completely separate floor, in an isolated quarantine floor, with no contact with the rest of the hospital, the hospital said in a statement on Thursday.

The Medanta statement further said that a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear is attending to these patients. All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor. The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, said the statement.

The group reportedly travelled parts of Haryana in Hisar, Agra in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan capital Jaipur.

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said on Wednesday, around 215 people came in contact with the 23-member Italian tourists group infected by coronavirus, which visited six districts between February 21 and February 29. An Indian, who was driving around these tourists, has also tested positive for the infection.

The Italian tourists and three Indians, who were part of this group, were initially admitted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force centre in Chhawla on Tuesday.

The Centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane from Chinas Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week. So far, 29 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India.
New Delhi, March 5 : Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in India, Union health Minister Harsh Vardhan will on Thursday meet key partners of private healthcare units for case management.

"Private sector shall also be engaged for COVID-19 management. Health Minister will meet with key partners today evening," a statement issued by the Health Ministry said.

"Universal screening has been mandated since March 4 and has started in most airports from Wednesday evening. It should stabilize today with additional staff being provided by the states." At present there are 29 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, o which, three from Kerala have recovered and have been discharged.

A total of 3,542 samples have been sent for testing, of which 29 were positive for COVID-19.

Testing of 92 samples was ongoing and 23 were being reconfirmed.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
India has not received any information from the Iran Embassy about 495 Iranian tourists who are reportedly in the country and are untraceable, External Affairs Ministry said today.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar assured that there is no need for panic because the tourists had arrived in India before the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran.

"As per protocol when is a foreign goes missing the embassy concerned is the first to know and then they notify us. We have so far not received any information from the Iranian Embassy," Raveesh Kumar said.

Coronavirus death toll in Iran has now crossed 107 while over 90,000 people across the world have been infected.

On February 27, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation temporarily suspended Iranian carriers from operating flights to India in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak in that country.

Currently, two Iranian carriers -- IranAir and Mahan Air -- operate flights to Mumbai and Delhi, respectively.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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WYOMING, MI -- Wyoming is now offering real-time Spanish translation services at its city council meetings.

The move comes amid continued petitioning by immigrant rights group Movimiento Cosecha GR. The group wants council members to pass a resolution in support of state legislation that would grant drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants in Michigan.

Movimiento Cosecha members have communicated this desire in both English and Spanish at the meetings and utilized their own translators, as the city did not have one on hand.

Translation services were first available at the councils meeting Monday, March 2, and will only be available if requested before the meeting.

To request the services go to wyomingmi.gov, then scroll down to the bottom of the page where the upcoming meetings are listed. Click on the desired city council meeting and information on how to request the services will be displayed.

We want to make sure that everybody has the ability to hear and understand that the council is working on, said Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt. As long as we know, well make sure we have people there to accommodate them.

The services include an earpiece for Spanish speakers to hear the translated comments of city council members, and earpieces for city council members to hear Spanish speakers address them during public comment. Holt said staff is also working to translate all council agendas.

Related: Drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants wont be backed by West Michigan city

At the Monday meeting, no members of Movimiento Cosecha utilized the translation services, according to Holt.

Instead, they stood silently with their backs turned to city council during public comment. On their backs were signs that read: Wyoming turns its back on immigrants.

The move was a non violence act of uncomfortable resistance to the Wyoming council members and their audience, Movimiento Cosecha officials wrote in a press release.

Members have expressed frustration that city council is only allowing them the normal three minutes of public comment when it takes about twice as long to have those comments translated. In addition to signs on the backs, members also covered their mouths with masking tape that stated 6 min.

"We cover our mouths to show that the city is NOT inclusive to its Spanish-speaking population or other languages because they do not give extra time for translation," Mabel Lara, one of the Movimiento Cosecha participants, said in a statement.

Holt said he doesnt agree that residents requiring translation only get half of the allotted time to make their points. He said the new city services allow for immediate translation.

The Wyoming City Council was first asked to consider a resolution of support for drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants at their Feb. 3 meeting.

Without licenses, undocumented immigrants face barriers to medical care, job transportation and more, those who spoke said.

The following meeting on Feb. 17, Mayor Jack Poll said council would not be considering such a resolution because council doesnt take positions on legislation that is outside of our control.

Poll said he was willing to pen a personal letter of support for the proposed legislation to make drivers licenses available to undocumented immigrants. He said other council members in support could do the same.

Movimeniento Cosecha members say theyll continue to lobby for a resolution. Holt said as far as he is aware council is not going to take the issue back up.

This isnt really something thats in our bailiwick; This is clearly a state issue, Holy said of the licenses issue. As a city, its not our practice that we do resolutions . unless its something that is a direct issue to the services we provide.

Other Kent County elected bodies including, the Grand Rapids City Commission, the Grand Rapids Board of Education and Godfrey-Lee Board of Education, have issued various forms of support for the legislation introduced by Democratic state lawmakers last fall.

Related: Michigan bills would let residents apply for drivers licenses regardless of immigration status

Movimiento Cosecha GR is a nonviolent immigrants rights group fighting for permanent protection, dignity, and respect for all immigrants. The group sometimes uses disruptive tactics.

Among their other actions, the group pressured the Kent County Board of Commissioners in 2018 and 2019 to have the Kent County Sheriffs Office end its jail contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE let the contract expire in 2019 after the Kent County Sheriffs Office changed its policy for keeping people jailed at ICEs request. That policy change was in response to the detainment of a U.S. citizen by ICE.

Read more:

Grand Rapids settles for $190K with former Marine who was detained by ICE

After citizen detained, Kent County sheriff changes ICE-hold policy

Some Kent County commissioners sign mock agreement to end ICE contract

Immigrant rights activists protest outside Homeland Security office
Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  The Interior ministry of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) is studying with the European Union Delegation in Libya and the Office of the Organization for International Migration (OIM) the possibility of establishing an accommodation center for migrant children and vulnerable groups of women in the city of Misrata (220 km east of Tripoli) in coordination with the countrys official authorities
Iran Closes Schools, Takes Other Measures As Virus Toll Rises Further: 107 deaths, 3,513 infections

03/05/20

Source: RFE/RL

Iran has closed all schools and adopted a series of other new measures as it battles the worst outbreak of coronavirus outside of China. Health Minister Saeed Namaki told a news conference on March 5 that all schools and universities will remain closed until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20, and that checkpoints will be used to limit travel between major cities.



Official Iran's statistics on coronavirus as of March 4th

Infections: 3513

Deaths: 107

Recovered: 739

"People should not consider this as an opportunity to go travelling. They should stay home and take our warnings seriously," Saeed Namaki said at a televised press conference.



The moves come after authorities said the death toll in Iran from COVID-19, the illness sparked by the coronavirus had risen to 107, while the number of confirmed cases had reached 3,513.







Iranian police forces sanitizing city of Qom

(see more photos by ISNA)

The coronavirus has been found in almost all of Iran's provinces, President Hassan Rohani said on March 4, and many experts fear the real toll of both the dead and the infected could be much higher.



Friday Prayers in all provincial capitals this week have been canceled because of the outbreak.







People being screened for coronavirus in Orumiyeh, Iran

(see more photos by ISNA)



Namaki listed several measures that Iranians could take to help impede the spread of the coronavirus, including a reduction of the use of paper money.



He also said people should remain in their vehicles when filling up at the gas station and instead allow attendants to do the job.







Sanitization of the bazaar in city of Shiraz

(see more photos by ISNA)



In a sign of the growing nervousness across the region over the outbreak, Palestinian authorities on March 5 said the storied Nativity Church in the biblical city of Bethlehem, built atop the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely.



There have been more than 3,740 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Middle East, many of which have links to Iran.



The outbreak has disrupted Islamic worship throughout the Middle East.



Saudi Arabia on March 4 banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, which attracts millions of people each year.



The move expands a previous ban on foreigners visiting Mecca and Medina, home to the holiest sites in Islam.



COVID-19 has killed more than 3,000 people and infected tens of thousands more, mainly in China.



The disease has now spread to more than 60 other countries, leading to multiple travel and other restrictions.



With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, AP, Reuters, and CNN
Myanmar is restricting media access to the far western state of Rakhine where the military is fighting Arakan Army rebels.

Rakhine, Myanmar  I think I might have told you too much already. Someone will probably tell the government Ive been speaking to journalists, the shopkeeper told me.

We were in Maungdaw, a once-bustling town in the northern part of Rakhine state, Myanmar.

We looked around.

There wasnt anyone who stood out as secret police.

After all, its usually not difficult to pick them out. They are normally better dressed than villagers. A close-cropped haircut means they are most likely to be military intelligence. Sometimes theres a tell-tale sign- a walkie talkie.

But the shopkeeper was still worried. He wouldnt tell us his name or give us his phone number.

Villagers from Shwezar village were told to gather in a classroom so journalists could interview them. Many were reluctant to speak out in the presence of the police and officials [Cape Diamond/Al Jazeera]

We were on a government-arranged media trip to northern Rakhine. This was where the Myanmar military had launched a brutal crackdown on 25 August 2017, targetting the mainly Muslim Rohingya, an ethnic minority in Myanmar.

Soldiers and Buddhist mobs were accused of killing, torturing and raping Rohingya men and women. Homes were ransacked and set ablaze. The fires raged for days and could be seen from across the border in Bangladesh.

International medical charity, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) estimates at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the first month alone.

Genocidal intent

Nearly three-quarters of a million Rohingya fled to Bangladesh and remain there, languishing in camps. A UN fact-finding mission concluded in a report in September 2018 that the Myanmar government had genocidal intent against the Rohingya.

The Myanmar government has denied the accusations and defended the military operation as a legitimate response to attacks by Rohingya fighters from a small armed group, known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

Rohingya forced from their homes in ethnic rioting live in camps for displaced people. Some say the hundreds and thousands who fled to Bangladesh are better off because they can speak freely [Cape Diamond/Al Jazeera]

Since then, access to the area has been heavily restricted. Pre-arranged visits, accompanied by government minders are the only way foreign journalists can report from Northern Rakhine.

Our itinerary was fixed by the Ministry of Information.

We visited three Rohingya villages and were given between 30 to 45 minutes in each respectively.

In every village, Rohingya were gathered in a classroom for journalists to interview. And every time someone spoke, a government minder would film them or stand close by to eavesdrop.

We thought we would get people to speak to us more candidly if we could break away from the group and wander deeper into the village. But armed police insisted they would walk with us. For our safety, they said.

The other option was to hand out our mobile numbers to people.

Afraid to speak out

One man reached out.

We had spoken to him at one of the villages but were not naming him or the village to protect his identity.

Myanmar government officials offer cash to Rohingya to help rebuild homes destroyed in the brutal military crackdown nearly three years ago [Cape Diamond/Al Jazeera]

When we met him, he had told us he wasnt worried that violence could flare up again. But now, over the phone, he was telling us he had lied because he was afraid.

He said: Police used to arrest people who spoke to journalists or (the police) asked them for bribes.

The special branch police questioned me after I spoke to you. He asked me my name and what I told you.

On the day we left Rakhine state, another Rohingya called us on the phone.

He spoke of the desperation he felt, of how their rights were being stripped.

He said he was being pressured to accept the national verification card and made to say that no violence happened in his village in 2017.

He wouldnt say which village he was from and we have no way of verifying his story.

But its true the Rohingya are being coerced into accepting national verification cards.

Battle for citizenship

The Myanmar government says the cards are the first step towards citizenship, but critics argue the documents effectively identify them as foreigners. And few Rohingya are willing to accept them.

Rohingya children in Thet Kay Pyin camp take part in a traditional Myanmar game of chinlone, which uses a rattan ball [Cape Diamond/Al Jazeera]

Kyaw Min, a Rohingya politician in Yangon, explained to us:

(The) Rohingya understand the ulterior motive of the Myanmar government. Theyre forcibly degrading their citizenship status.

The Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, but the government does not recognise them as an ethnic group and considers them as migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

They are subject to government restrictions on travel, education, employment, even family planning.

The Myanmar governments narrative is that all is well in Rakhine. At one village, we were made to witness government cash being handed out to Rohingya families to help them rebuild their homes destroyed in the 2017 crackdown.

Officials told us theyre ready to receive Rohingya who want to return.

Theyve built shiny new reception centres near the border.

We even plan to open kindergartens, said Soe Aung, the Maungdaw district administrator.

Armed police stand guard near Padin village in Rakhine states Maungdaw township [Cape Diamond/Al Jazeera]

But two repatriation attempts, in January 2018 and August 2019 have so far failed because no one wanted to come back.

We cant say anything

The UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi recently said conditions are still not conducive for Rohingya refugees to return.

A Rohingya youth in Maungdaw told us those in Bangladesh may even be better off.

Physical conditions may be worse in the camps in Bangladesh. But at least they are freer there  they can speak up, he said. Here, we cant say anything.

Few think the situation in Myanmar will change anytime soon.

Khin Zaw Win, founder and director of think-tank Tampadipa Institute, blames the civilian government and military leaders for fanning racial and religious sentiments.

This kind of populist wave to get electoral support, its a very disgraceful thing, he said.

We probably might have to wait until the elections are over, number one. Im feeling that you might have to wait for another generation of leadership.
Days after the United States signed a historic initial peace deal with the Taliban, an old rivalry between neighbors Afghanistan and Pakistan is rearing its head.

The focus of the disagreement is the status of the Afghan Taliban. As Pakistani officials gloat over facilitating Washingtons agreement with the Taliban, some Afghan leaders are keen on painting the Islamist movement as Pakistani proxies.

But the Taliban appear keen on projecting themselves as a national liberation movement by highlighting their agreement with the United States as a validation of the movements stance that Washington occupied Afghanistan. Its renewed violence, continued status as a secretive militant organization, and deliberate ambiguity over relations with Islamabad is not helping its image or expanding its support base inside Afghanistan.

A war of words between Kabul and Islamabad precedes the intra-Afghan talks set to begin on March 10, according to the U.S.-Taliban deal signed on February 29. It has also highlighted how central resolving the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan is for establishing peace in Afghanistan through a negotiated solution between the Taliban and Afghan factions and leaders supporting the Islamic Republic or a Western-backed political system.

"Do they [Afghan leaders] prioritize Afghanistan's interests, or do they give their own personal benefits more importance? Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi asked journalists on March 1 in a jab at Kabul.

In a thinly veiled reference to the Afghan government, he warned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of spoilers.

"We cannot be in denial about this. There were spoilers, there are spoilers," he said. "In Afghanistan and outside. So you will all have to keep a close eye on those spoilers."

On March 3, Qureshi appeared to criticize Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for saying his administration has made no commitment to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

"The U.S.-Taliban agreement says there will be an exchange of prisoners," he said. "President Ghani should ask the U.S. for an explanation of the agreement."

Kabul countered quickly and encouraged Islamabad to move toward good neighborliness. Pakistan needs to take practical steps toward enhancing bilateral ties in various areas and refrain from making such irresponsible statements regarding the internal affairs of Afghanistan, read an Afghan Foreign Ministry statement on March 3.

Kabul warned such statements could create an environment of distrust that will prevent the neighbors from developing a bilateral relationship. Until such statements are avoided, taking effective steps toward consolidating bilateral relations will not be feasible, the statement said.

Speaking to a gathering in the eastern city of Jalalabad on the same day, Ghani called on the Taliban to sever ties with Pakistan.

When are you going to abandon Pakistan? he asked. If you want to talk to us about prisoners and want to have it as a precondition [before talks with the Afghan government], then we too have prerequisites.

For nearly a quarter-century, various Afghan leaders and governments have accused Pakistan of bankrolling the Taliban to create a client regime in Kabul. After the demise of the Taliban regime in the face of a U.S.-led military attack in late 2001, Western and Afghan officials blamed Islamabad for covertly supporting the reemergence of the hard-line movement as an insurgency in 2003. They viewed the support as a continuation of Islamabads policies since the 1970s, which prioritized support for armed Afghan Islamists to undermine secular Afghan nationalism. Islamabad has long viewed Afghan irredentist claims and Pashtun ethno-nationalism as existential threats.

While senior Pakistani leaders acknowledged housing Taliban leaders, all was not well between the insurgents and Islamabad. Over the years, many senior Taliban figures were killed or arrested in Pakistan. In May 2016, erstwhile Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed in the southwestern province of Balochistan. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the current top Taliban negotiator, was captured in the southern seaport city of Karachi in February 2010. Pakistan released him from detention at Americas request in late 2018.

After assuming power in September 2014, Ghani reached out to Pakistan. He argued that Kabul cannot reconcile with the Taliban until it sorts out relations with Islamabad, which in his view was waging an undeclared war against his country by supporting the Taliban insurgency.

This complicated history now looms large over the Afghan peace process. The disagreement between Islamabad and Kabul comes at a sensitive time for Washington. It has failed to reset historically fraught relations between the two neighbors but appears to recognize that doing so remains important for the fragile Afghan peace process and lasting stability in the region.

The United States commits to facilitate discussions between Afghanistan and Pakistan to work out arrangements to ensure neither countrys security is threatened by actions from the territory of the other side, a recent joint declaration by the United States and Afghanistan noted.

But Islamabad is opposed to such an approach and instead wants Kabul to focus on improving bilateral relations.

They should talk directly to Pakistan. The U.S. is planning to withdraw and we will always remain neighbors, Qureshi told Reuters. If I have an issue with Afghanistan, I will not ask Washington to play a role.

For now, Washington appears more focused on jumpstarting talks among Afghans. Days before March 10, there is still no clarity whether the Taliban representatives will talk to the representatives of the Islamic Republic.

The entire process is clouded by a controversy over the release of some 6,000 prisoners with the Taliban insisting Kabul release their 5,000 fighters and supporters in exchange for some 1,000 Afghan soldiers and government workers the insurgents are holding. But the Afghan government wants the issue to figure in its talks with the Taliban.

A rapid increase in Taliban attacks after the expiry of a weeklong partial truce this week appears to be Washingtons immediate worry.

"The upsurge in violence in parts of Afghanistan over the last couple of days is unacceptable, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on March 5. In no uncertain terms, violence must be reduced immediately for the peace process to move forward."

In Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad the U.S. peace envoy, is holding endless meetings with various factions and leaders in and out of government in a possible effort to unite them in talking to the Taliban.

We must act on all fronts to clear the road of obstacles that slow our progress toward intra-Afghan negotiations, he tweeted. I once again call on all Afghans to rise to the occasion, put country first and not to lose this historic opportunity.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration placed a new roadblock in front of the Gateway Tunnel Wednesday when Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said that a required environmental impact statement wont be coming any time soon.

The report already is more than two years past the Federal Railroad Administrations self-imposed March 2018 deadline, and Chao said it wont be completed as long as the new Hudson River tunnel fails to qualify for federal funding.

Thats news to people who work on this, said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who questioned Chao at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee.

Many of us believe that theres been a number of unjustifiable obstacles put in the way of the Gateway project and this is just one of them, Murphy told the transportation secretary.

Chao said the report must include the final details for the project, and transportation officials wont know that until all the funding is lined up.

Otherwise, its putting the cart before the horse, she said.

The Federal Transit Administration last month rated the tunnel project as medium-low, continuing to express concern with how New Jersey and New York will pay for their share of construction and making it ineligible for federal dollars.

Without the environmental statement, pre-construction work such as buying the necessary land, cannot be done.

Build Gateway Now Campaign Manager Brian Fritsch called Chaos explanation one of the Trump administrations most bald-faced lies to punish New York and New Jersey.

"It seems like there are a set of rules for other projects and another set for Gateway, said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Gateway Development Corporation.

Rep. Tom Malinowski, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the environmental statement for the Portal Bridge was completed long before the Federal Transit Administration changed its rating to medium-high, thus making that project eligible for federal funding.

This is obviously bogus, said Malinowski, D-7th Dist. This is obviously their latest excuse for not having a good explanation for sitting on this report for two years past their own self-imposed deadline.

NJ Transit and Amtrak officials said the environmental issues were totally separate from concerns about financing.

The purpose of an environmental impact statement is not to discuss funding, it is to discuss the environmental impact of a project, Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said.

Pressure to move ahead with Gateway intensified last month after a problem with an overhead wire caused Amtrak officials to close one of the 110-year-old tunnels, causing a commuting nightmare.

Chao told the subcommittee that the administration was working with Amtrak to figure out a way to fix the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in the existing tunnels while keeping them open. This would allow repairs to begin much earlier than waiting for the new Gateway tubes to be built.

She said they were working with experts at Cornell and Columbia universities, the same people who helped New York state develop a way to keep its L subway train running while making repairs to its tunnels.

We need to address the repair portion of the existing tunnel, Chao said. Thats totally separate from expanding the capacity. Those are two concurrent projects.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., said Chaos idea was absolutely ludicrous.

Her proposal does nothing for the congestion that is created there, said Watson Coleman, a member of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee. Her proposal to repair a tunnel while were still using it makes no sense. Its not reasonable, its not rational and we should not entertain it as an alternative.

There also was some good news for the Gateway project on Wednesday. Federal Railroad Administration officials issued an environmental assessment for the replacement of Amtraks two Sawtooth Bridges in Kearny. The spans, built in 1907, cross New Jersey Transit and Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) tracks. The public will have 30 days to comment.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook.

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Durst is on trial for a single killing: Bermans. But his wifes long-ago disappearance will not be forgotten. Nor will Blacks death in Texas. Prosecutors will argue that they are all connected  that Durst killed Berman because he worried she was about to tell investigators what she knew about his wife, and that he killed Black because his neighbor had discovered his true identity.
Sister Josephine Carey from Callan, who died recently was a member of the Sisters of Mercy community in Wexford and taught for many years in Wexford town and Rosslare schools as well as in Florida.

Born on November 13, 1932, a daughter of the late Denis and Brigid Carey of Callan, Co Kilkenny, she is survived by her sister Eileen and brothers Dan, Milo and Denis and was predeceased by her sister Dot.

Josephine was always immensely proud of her family and of her Kilkenny roots. She received both her primary and post-primary education in the Mercy schools in Callan and enjoyed a very happy childhood there with family and friends.

In 1950, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in Wexford dedicating her life to God. Her First Profession took place on June 25, 1953.

Josephine trained as a primary teacher in Careysfort College, Dublin from 1954 to 1956 and made her Final Profession on July 1, 1956. She taught at the Mercy school, Summerhill, Wexford until 1960, when she was asked to transfer to the Rosslare community and take up a teaching position in the local primary school.

As well as devoting her time and talents to teaching, she took charge of the Children of Mary and was also sacristan in the parish church. Over the years Josephine developed her love of crafts, art and music and enjoyed each of these pursuits.

In the late 1960s she taught in the Mercy school in St Johns Road before spreading her wings and heading off to join Mercy colleagues in Florida where she taught for two years. On her return to Ireland Sr Josephine taught again at Rosslare school from 1979 up to 1987. She returned to Wexford and taught in Johns Road up to her retirement.

She developed her love of art and tapestry and shared her talents in Clonard Parish and with Ross Tapestry in New Ross. She was one of the artists who helped create the beautiful Tapestry of Brigid which adorns the Day Chapel in Clonard Church.

Among her post-retirement interests were art, crafts, music, walking, set dancing and bridge. She also devoted some of her time to home visitation in her local area.

She loved being a member of the choir in Church of the Annunciation, Clonard and was proud to be a Minister of the Eucharist while her health allowed her to. She was an active member of the Retired Teachers Association and the Active Retired Group in Clonard Parish.

Family were important to Josephine and she loved visiting them and attending family celebrations. Her love of travel took her to many countries around the globe. She often recalled these trips and enjoyed sharing the happy memories.

Josephine had a deep faith and a strong love and appreciation of her Mercy calling.

Her daily prayer and devotion to the Eucharist supported her right up to the drawing of her final breath. She bore her final illness with courage and longed to go home to God and to be re-united with her parents, Denis and Brigid.

God called her home on November 9, 2019 and as she had requested, she was waked in Clonard Convent Chapel and then brought to her much-loved Callan to be interred with her parents.

SK
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Ro, the start-up that started out by shipping generic erectile dysfunction medicine, has a far bigger mission in mind.

The company has been quietly opening up pharmacies across the country in an effort to ship the most common generic medications at a flat rate that most Americans can afford. It's now testing a new medication-delivery service with a small number of its users that offers more than 500 generic medications for $5 per medication per month, according to a document seen by CNBC and a source familiar with the company's plans. The $5 price also includes shipping, and the company does not accept insurance. Ro plans to launch the program to everyone in the coming weeks, a person familiar with the company's plans said.

Until recently, pharmacists were banned from informing patients about a more affordable cash price that was available. President Donald Trump has moved to remove those "gag orders," but many pharmacists can still only talk to patients about their options if they're asked. All of that confusion has paved the way for start-ups like Ro and large retailers to offer consumers greater price transparency around their medications. Walmart offers $4 "lowest of" pricing on its website, and private companies like GoodRx offers discount cards to consumers who don't have insurance or have high-deductible plans.

Ro currently offers two brands catering to men and women called Roman and Rory, respectively. It's backed by more than $170 million in capital so far. It offers treatments symptoms like erectile dysfunction, hot flashes or hair loss, and it has doctors that prescribe medications for these patients virtually. Its drug prices will vary, according to the company's website, but the cost of the physician visit is $15.

The new offerings from Ro include some of the most commonly prescribed drugs by U.S. doctors such as Metformin for managing blood sugar, and Atorvastatin, which is routinely prescribed to people with high cholesterol, the document shows.

Ro has said that it does not take insurance, and instead asks consumers to pay out of pocket. That might be more expensive for people with high-quality insurance for some medications. But according to a 2017 New York Times investigation, it can often be cheaper to pay for prescriptions out of pocket.

"Offering the most affordable way to get life-saving medications delivered to your door brings Ro one step closer to our mission of becoming a patient's first call," said the company's CEO Zachariah Reitano, in an emailed statement to confirm the pilot program.

The company currently has three pharmacies it can ship from, which are listed publicly via state pharmacy boards. It is planning to expand to more than 10 by the end of the year, said a person familiar with Ro's plans. That might also make it competitive with Amazon-owned PillPack if the company moves to ship medications overnight and not just on a 30-day cycle.
Adrian Aiken, back center, raises her fist as protesters, including state Sen. Daylin Leach, bottom left, gather on the steps of the Montgomery County courthouse to protest the recent firings of top public defenders Dean Beer and Keisha Hudson. Read more

Protesters descended on Thursdays monthly meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, expressing outrage and demanding an explanation for the firing of the countys top two public defenders.

Dean Beer, the former chief defender, and Keisha Hudson, his deputy, were dismissed Feb. 26, triggering outcries from lawyers and social-justice organizations as well as state and local elected officials, all of whom saw the firings as retaliation for the defenders public call for court reform.

That response grew in volume on Thursday with a rally on the steps of the county courthouse by more than 100 people, and remarks from dozens who signed up to speak publicly at the commissioners meeting. They included State Sen. Daylin Leach, a Montgomery County Democrat who called on the three commissioners to respond beyond press releases and platitudes.

After listening to the public comments for two hours, Commissioners Valerie Arkoosh, Ken Lawrence, and Joe Gale said they would explore how to make the public defenders office an independent entity outside of government oversight, similar to the system used in Philadelphia.

Arkoosh and Gale said they were not reconsidering the decision to fire Beer and Hudson. Lawrence said only that he is in favor of cash bail reform, and wants to continue discussing the function and staffing of the defenders office.

Its critically important for me to get these policies enacted; we must have cash bail reform, and we must make sure that individuals who dont have other options feel safe and comfortable in the defense they are getting," Arkoosh said. "And there is no question in my mind that our public defenders should defend their clients with no second thoughts about their jobs.

Internal memos obtained by The Inquirer indicate that county officials had expressed frustration about Beer and his office in recent months. Their concerns reached a breaking point in February, when Beer filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit challenging bail and arraignment court practices. The suit was filed by the state chapter of the ACLU, the group that helped organize Thursdays protest.

The county executive instructed Beer to withdraw the brief, and he was subsequently fired.

John McMahon, a Norristown criminal defense attorney and former county prosecutor, on Thursday called those actions a poisonous spear thrust into the heart of our criminal justice system.

Your actions will have and have had a chilling effect on lawyers willingness to advocate on behalf of their clients, said McMahon, who with other lawyers on Thursday filed an identical brief in the ACLUs lawsuit. "You have sent a clear message. This is a gross violation of your oaths.

In a memo sent six days before Beer and Hudson were fired, County Chief Operating Officer Lee Soltysiak said Beer had previously forwarded him the brief for feedback, but filed it with the court before receiving that feedback. Soltysiak said the brief contained factual errors, and omitted references to ongoing efforts by the county to change the pretrial process.

Soltysiak praised Beer and his staff as being zealous advocates for those [they are] tasked with defending, and said their work was appreciated beyond measure. But Soltysiak also said Beer repeatedly failed to consult county officials before making decisions outside the scope of representing clients.

Soltysiak said Beers repeated inability to communicate with him, the commissioners, or the county solicitor before making decisions about reforms is deeply concerning.

At Thursdays meeting, Marissa Boyers Bluestine, assistant director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, said Soltysiaks understanding of a public defenders role was flawed. She called on the office to become independent of county government oversight.

Another role of a defender is to identify systemic issues to the justice system, Bluestine said. The criminal justice system needs balance. It cant be collaborative all the time.

Other public defenders from outside the county spoke up as well. Jack Fagan, a public defender in Bucks County, said the Montgomery County commissioners had made the work for Beer and Hudons subordinates much more difficult, especially when dealing with clients from marginalized communities.

Your actions have created a separate barrier for people who already believe we work with the district attorney, he said. They dont only have to get over that hurdle, but now also the hurdle that the defenders work for the commissioners.
Admission is free unless otherwise indicated.

John Straley presents the third book in his Cold Storage crime series, What is Time to a Pig? 7 p.m. Friday, March 6, Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton.

National Book Award-winning author Colum McCann discusses his new novel, Apeirogon, about two friends united by loss, with his brother, Ronan McCann. 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, Powells City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland.

Childrens entertainer Emily Arrow, now a Portland resident, presents her new picture book, Studio: A Place for Art to Start, with a storytime singalong and rhythm stick workshop. 11 a.m. Sunday, March 8, Green Bean Books, 1600 N.E. Alberta St., Portland.

Update: This event has been canceled. Rebecca Balcarcel reads from her middle-grade novel The Other Half of Happy, a Guatemalan American girls coming-of-age story. 2 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Green Bean Books, 1600 N.E. Alberta St., Portland.

Don Horn, founder and director of Portlands Triangle Productions, discusses Darcelle: Looking From My Mirror and The Many Shades of Darcelle: 50 Years of Fashion, 1969 Until Present, with Portlands Darcelle, the worlds oldest performing drag queen. 2 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Powells City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland.

Katie Grindeland discusses her novel about secrets, tragedy and obsession, The Gifts We Keep, winner of the 2016 Multnomah County Library Writers Project. 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 9, Troutdale Library, 2451 S.W. Cherry Park Road, Troutdale.

Oregon author Willy Vlautin discusses his novel Dont Skip Out on Me, about a young man wrestling with his identity. 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 9, Woodstock Library, 6008 S.E. 49th Ave., Portland.

Michael Christie presents his novel Greenwood, a saga of a familys rise and fall. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Powells City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland.

New York Times journalist Conor Dougherty presents Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America, a chronicle of Americas housing crisis from its West Coast epicenter. 7:30 p.m. March 9, Powells City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland.

An International Women's Day celebration features Cindy Williams Gutierrez reading from her poetry collection Inlay with Nacre: The Names of Forgotten Women, Portland writer Kate Gray reading from her poetry collection For Every Girl, and Gemma Whelan, artistic director of Portlands Corrib Theatre, reading from Emma Donoghues Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins, which Corrib is producing in April. 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, Annie Blooms Books, 7834 S.W. Capitol Highway.

Former U.S. Rep. Les AuCoin, D-Oregon, reads from his memoir, Catch and Release: An Oregon Life in Politics. 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, Broadway Books, 1714 N.E. Broadway, Portland. (Read The Oregonian/OregonLive review and columnist Steve Duins commentary.)

Update: This event has been canceled. Justin Farrell presents Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, Powells City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland.

Kim Stafford, Oregon Poet Laureate and founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, reads his poetry. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, Ledding Library of Milwaukie, 10660 S.E. 21st Ave., Milwaukie.

Portland children's author Jody J. Little reads from her new book Worse Than Weird, about a girls quest to win a citywide food cart scavenger hunt and its cash prize. 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, Annie Blooms Books, 7834 S.W. Capitol Highway.

Nina and Sonya Montenegro, Portland-area designers and makers, present their new book, Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts. 5 p.m. Thursday, March 12, The Cleaners at Ace Hotel, 1022 S.W. Harvey Milk St., Portland.

Children's book author Peter Reynolds presents his picture book Be You! in a benefit for the nonprofit Childrens Book Bank that also features childrens entertainer Emily Arrow. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, Children's Book Bank, 1950 N.E. Seventh Ave, Portland.

Katharine Coldiron presents her lyric novella about a girls love affair that turns ghostly, Ceremonials; Portland author Jackie Shannon Hollis reads from her memoir, This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love Story; and Portland author Claire Rudy Foster presents her new book, Shine of the Ever, featuring queer voices from 1990s Portland. 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12, Annie Blooms Books, 7834 S.W. Capitol Highway.

Anne Bishop presents the latest title in the Black Jewels fantasy saga, The Queens Bargain. 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12, Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton.

Update: This event has been canceled. Historian and journalist Adam Hochschild presents Rebel Cinderella: From Rags to Riches to Radical, the Epic Journey of Rose Pastor Stoke, about an immigrant sweatshop worker-turned-rich mans wife-turned social justice activist. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, Powells City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., Portland.

JP Gritton discusses his novel Wyoming, about a man mired in inertia, with Portland author Mat Johnson. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, Powells Books on Hawthorne, 3523 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., Portland.

awang@oregonian.com; Twitter: @ORAmyW

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A Turkish Airlines aircraft was flown back to Istanbul with no passengers on board on Thursday on orders from Singapore authorities after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane on Tuesday tested positive for coronavirus, Reuters reports.

The infected passenger was a French national traveling from London to Singapore, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, and the planes crew would be held in quarantine for 14 days as a precaution.

A Turkish aviation official told Reuters earlier that there were 143 passengers, three pilots and 10 crew members aboard the flight to Singapore. Last month, Nigeria said its first case of the virus entered the country on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, when a man traveling from Italy landed in Lagos.

The passenger diagnosed with coronavirus in Singapore is a French citizen. The person was a transit passenger going from London to Singapore. Our plane returned without passengers. The crew will be protectively held in quarantine for 14 days, Koca said on Twitter.

Singapores CAAS aviation regulator said that the pilots and crew of flight TK54 that arrived on Tuesday had been come into close contact with the passenger, but the aviation official said the crew tested negative for the virus in Singapore.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in contact with the Turkish Embassy, which has confirmed that the crew will be quarantined upon arrival at Istanbul, CAAS said.
AMSTERDAM, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonatype, the company that scales DevOps through open source governance and software supply chain automation, announced its EMEA and International channel partner program grew more than 100% in revenue over the last three years. The companys rapidly growing channel partner ecosystem, which has helped exponentially expand the reach of its automated DevSecOps platform, will be honored at Sonatypes Fourth Annual EMEA Partner Summit in Amsterdam.

Our relationship with our channel partners is an integral part of our continuous growth. Weve been privileged to work with best-in-class DevSecOps partners around the world who understand the importance of software supply chain management and are committed to helping companies better automate software development, said Wai Man Yau, VP & GM International at Sonatype. All of our partners play a vital role in the Sonatype ecosystem. The awards are a testament to their continued contribution to the company and were excited to celebrate and recognize their ongoing dedication.



Winners of the 2020 Sonatype EMEA Partner Awards include:

For DevSecOps stakeholders, its vital to comprehend the risks of modern software development practices and how to immediately address them. Sonatype helps us solve this problem for our clients by enabling us to bring unrivaled intelligence on open source components directly into their application technology stacks, said Barry de Wahl, Managing Director at 9th Bit Consulting. The Sonatype team goes above and beyond to help us educate the African market on the importance of managing software supply chains. Thus, our customers are increasingly interested in the current state of and best practices for secure application development.

The news of Sonatypes International channel partner growth comes on the heels of a banner 2019 for the company, which included receiving a majority investment from Vista Equity Partners. Sonatype has consistently been lauded as one of the fastest growing companies, with annual revenue growth close to 250% over the past three years. More than 60 of the Fortune 100 companies depend on Sonatypes Nexus products and open source software solutions to automate the modern software supply chain including 8 of the top 10 US and European banks.

Sonatype is the worlds premier provider of open source health and hygiene data, called Nexus Intelligence. This data is aggregated from a vast number of public and private sources utilizing sophisticated machine learning and artificial intelligence. It is then curated with human expertise and infused into a suite of Nexus products to help software engineering teams make better decisions, innovate faster, and rest comfortably knowing that their applications always consist of the highest quality open source components.

Sonatype is continually looking to grow its partner ecosystem. To learn more about becoming a Sonatype partner or to see who the company is working with, visit https://www.sonatype.com/partners.

About Sonatype

Sonatype is the leader in software supply chain automation technology with more than 350 employees, over 1,000 enterprise customers, and is trusted by more than 10 million software developers. Sonatypes Nexus platform enables DevOps teams and developers to automatically integrate security at every stage of the modern development pipeline by combining in-depth component intelligence with real-time remediation guidance. For more information, please visit Sonatype.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Scotlands former first minister will see his legacy decided in a court of law.

Glasgow, United Kingdom  Alex Salmond, Scotlands former first minister, and a man who shook the very foundations of the 300-year-old union with England, has rarely shunned the political limelight.

But the former leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) finds himself the subject of a very different kind of attention on trial in Edinburgh on attempted rape and sexual assault charges.

The 65-year-old, who led the Scottish independence campaign that came close to victory in 2014, has strenuously denied all allegations of criminality  but the trial, which begins on March 9, is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated court cases in recent British history.

Intense media interest in the expected four-week trial is largely down to Salmonds seven headline-grabbing years at the helm of the Scottish government from 2007 to 2014, during which, say many observers, he changed the face of the Scottish political scene.

He gave the SNP credibility, which is what people always had doubts and criticisms about, said Simon Pia, a former Scottish Labour Party press adviser.

Salmonds 2007 Scottish Parliament election victory saw the SNP secure power for the first time.

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But he established that for them as first minister and as the dominant political figure in Scotland, added Pia.

Salmond was born in 1954, when any talk of a Scottish parliament was fanciful.

After he graduated from the University of St Andrews, he began a career in economics. In 1987, he was elected to Westminster as an SNP MP, where he cut his political teeth.

SNP electoral success at the Scottish Parliament  which opened in 1999  came for the then-party leader in 2007, and again in 2011, when Salmond secured an unprecedented majority. This, despite an international outcry two years earlier when his government freed Libyan Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, from his Scottish jail on compassionate grounds.

Salmond led Scotland to the brink of independence in 2014 [File: David Moir/Reuters]

In 2014, he took Scotland to the brink of independence, but resigned that same year as SNP leader and Scotlands first minister after Scots rejected statehood by 55-45 percent in a referendum.

Alex Salmond, along with Nigel Farage, may, from a historical perspective, be able to claim to be one of the early 21st centurys most influential UK politicians, argues Tim Bale, a professor of politics at the Queen Mary University of London.

By banging the drum for independence and by taking advantage of the bully pulpit provided by the setting up of the Scottish Parliament, [Salmond] turned independence from a pipe-dream into a serious possibility  one that doesnt look as if its going away anytime soon.

Yet talk of comparing Europhile Salmond and right-wing Eurosceptic Farage, who, as a member of the European Parliament (MEP), was seen as instrumental in securing Britains recent departure from the European Union, does not add up for many pro-Scottish independence supporters.

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I think the only valid comparison between Salmond and Farage is that they both changed the political weather over the course of their careers, pro-independence blogger James Kelly told Al Jazeera. But in every other sense, the two are poles apart. Salmond is a mainstream social democrat  [who] was elected to lead a national government twice.

A fiery debater  who showed little mercy to his political opponents  he was nevertheless criticised for his handling of Scotlands economic case for independence during the 2014 campaign.

Probably his greatest [failure] was his lack of attention to detail on the currency question, Pia tells Al Jazeera, of Salmonds widely ridiculed pledge that Scotland would retain the UK pound after independence.

Out of office, Salmond, who is married to a woman 17 years his senior, again secured a seat at Westminster in 2015, but sensationally lost it in the 2017 general election. Since then, he has courted controversy by hosting a talk show on the Kremlin-backed Russian broadcaster RT.

But, while his political legacy is secured, his personal legacy will now be decided in a court of law.

Follow Alasdair Soussi on Twitter: @AlasdairSoussi
A Tennessee man who served as a guard in a Nazi concentration camp at Neuengamme has been sent back to Germany.

Friedrich Karl Berger was ordered by judge Rebecca L. Holt on Thursday to return to his home country, where he is still a resident and continues to receive a pension 'for wartime service'.

The now 94-year-old was said to have been 'willing' to work at the subcamp in Meppen, where prisoners were held during the winter of 1945 in 'atrocious' conditions.

Widower Berger, who came to the US in 1959 with his wife and daughter and has two grandchildren, told The Washington Post: 'After 75 years, this is ridiculous. I cannot believe it. I cannot understand how can happen in a country like this. Youre forcing me out of my home.

'I was 19 years old. I was ordered to go there.'

It was not clear why Berger now faces court action or what German authorities will do on his return to the country. DailyMail.com has contacted the Department of Justice for comment.

Friedrich Karl Berger was said to have been 'willing' to work at a Neuengamme sub camp. The main concentration camp in Hamburg is pictured

Prisoners were held in Neuengamme during the winter of 1945 in 'atrocious' conditions

Berger is said to have been 'part of the SS machinery of oppression that kept concentration camp prisoners in atrocious conditions of confinement', according to Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski.

The court heard that Berger, who came to the US legally, admitted that he guarded prisoners to prevent them from escaping.

And with the advance of Allied forces Berger even helped guard the prisoners during their forcible evacuation to the Neuengamme main camp after the Nazis abandoned the sub camp at Meppen.

The two-week move, in March 1945, claimed the lives of some 70 people.

Berger was removed from the US following a two day trial under the 1978 Holtzman Amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act.

He was said to have 'never requested a transfer from concentration camp guard service' and continues to receive a pension from Germany based on his employment there, 'including his wartime service'.

Prisoners at the Neuengamme sub-camp near Meppen, Germany included 'Jews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, French, Italians, and political opponents'.

Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski said in a statement: 'This ruling shows the Department's continued commitment to obtaining a measure of justice, however late, for the victims of wartime Nazi persecution.'

Immigration and Customs Enforcement assistant director David C. Shaw said: 'This case is but one example of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's commitment to ensuring that the United States will not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals.

'We will continue to pursue these types of cases so that justice may be served.'

SS guards at the Neuengamme concentration camp celebrate Christmas in 1943

With the advance of Allied forces Berger even helped guard the prisoners during their forcible evacuation to the Neuengamme main camp, pictured, after the Nazis abandoned the sub camp

The case was initiated by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions, a program set up 'to detect, investigate, and remove Nazi persecutors'.

In a statement online the DOJ states: 'Since the 1979 inception of the Justice Departments program to detect, investigate, and remove Nazi persecutors, it has won cases against 109 individuals.

'Over the past 30 years, the Justice Department has won more cases against persons who participated in Nazi persecution than have the law enforcement authorities of all the other countries in the world combined.

'HRSPs case against Berger was part of its ongoing efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute individuals who engaged in genocide, torture, war crimes, recruitment or use of child soldiers, female genital mutilation, and other serious human rights violations.'
North Chinas Tianjin and the city of Anyang in Central Chinas Henan province both reported two new cases of the highly transmissible omicron variant over the weekend. Both cities have launched new rounds of mass testing and designated more Covid-19 risk areas to control the spread of the virus

Jan 10, 2022 06:18 PM
Russian air strikes Thursday killed at least 15 civilians including a child in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a Britain-based war monitor said. The strikes after midnight targeted an area where displaced Syrians had gathered outside the town of Maaret Misrin in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An AFP correspondent saw the bodies of some of the victims wrapped in thick winter blankets at a local hospital. A rescuer carried in the body of a baby girl, her mouth filled with grey debris and her pink pyjamas caked in dust. At the site of the strikes, two large one-storey out-buildings lay mostly in rubble near green orchards. The strikes destroyed the poultry farm where the displaced families had been living. Dozens of surviving white chickens picked through the dust, as rescuers operated bulldozers to comb through the debris. The Observatory said the toll was likely to increase as many wounded were in a critical state. Moscow-backed regime forces have since December waged a deadly battle against the jihadist-dominated Idlib region, causing almost a million people -- mostly women and children -- to flee their homes and shelters. Even before that offensive, Idlib was home to three million people, around half of them already displaced from other parts of the war-torn country. The Observatory says it determines what plane carried out a strike according to flight patterns, as well as ammunition and aircraft involved. The strikes comes as the leaders of Russia and Turkey meet in Moscow to discuss the situation in Idlib, where Ankara backs some rebel groups and has become directly involved in fighting in recent weeks. Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression on anti-government protests.
New Vancouver office of global integration and API management specialist Yenlo will support growing customer demand in Canada and expand on the companys presence in Europe, Asia and the United States

Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Vancouver, Canada, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global integration specialist Yenlo today announced that it has opened an office in Vancouver, Canada. Until now, the Canadian market was served from Yenlos Seattle office in the United States. The new Vancouver office will enable Yenlo to deliver first-class development and operational services to customers in Canada and more easily support growing demand for its solutions across the country. The move also extends the worldwide presence of Yenlo, a WSO2 Premier Certified Partner and WSO2 Value-Added Reseller (VAR) with offices in Europe, Sri Lanka and the US.

The Canada office will be led by Erik Assink, managing director of Yenlo North America, who observed, Today, we have impressive customers in Canada, especially in the public transportation, government and financial markets. Opening the Vancouver office will help us to become more connected with our existing Canadian customers and better understand the needs of enterprises to better serve them.

Erik added, We have been impressed by the quality of support and friendliness we received from Canadian government officials in helping us to establish our business. It is clear that Canada believes in the economic value of stimulating the technology sector, and we are happy to be a part of the community.

Canada and the Netherlands, where Yenlo is headquartered, have a dynamic partnership based on political, investment, trade and historical ties. Yenlo has received encouragement and support from The Canadian Embassy in extending its operations to Canada.

We are pleased that Yenlo has opened an office in Vancouver to better serve customers in Canada. The entry of a company like Yenlo, which specializes in leading IT technology, into the Canadian market will play a valued role in contributing to economic growth and strengthening the bond between Canada and the Netherlands, said Melanie ter Meulen, trade commissioner of Investment/Digital at Global Affairs Canada.

Story continues

With local offices across the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Yenlo is well positioned to serve customers around the globe 24/7. Yenlo has more than 12 years of expertise in bringing agility to enterprises by delivering superior professional services based on deep expertise. These services range from enterprise and solution architecture to software development, operational support and sales of WSO2 subscriptions, training, and certification programs. These are complemented by Yenlos pre-built solution-as-a-service offering Connext , a fully managed integration platform as a service.

About Yenlo

Yenlo is a global integrator and specialist in enabling digital transformation with open source and agile technology. Yenlo is the most advanced Premier Certified Integration Partner and official Value-Added Reseller (VAR) of WSO2. Our business is founded on the belief that enterprises need to regain their agility and become digital agencies to optimize their customer intimacy; achieve operational excellence; or add new services, products, or business models. We believe this agilityin technology, knowledge and financecan be created by applying an open source-first, API-first, and cloud-first strategy.

For more information, visit www.yenlo.com , or call +1 855 936 5655.

Trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Yenlo

Tamara de Lange

Office: +31 20 2700 700

tamara.de.lange@yenlo.com


By KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press

BOISE  Idaho last year was the fastest-growing state in the nation, with close to 37,000 new residents boosting its population to nearly 1.8 million.

In the past decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the deeply conservative state has seen a population jump of more than 200,000. Studies indicate many have come from liberal-leaning California, Oregon and Washington.

But are those new residents bringing blue-state politics? Or are they Republicans fleeing the coast for conservative Idaho?

An answer could emerge Tuesday when Idaho holds its presidential primaries. Democrats are using a primary for the first time after having used a caucus in 2016 to pick Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton. President Barack Obama handily won the Democratic contest in Idaho over Clinton in 2008.

President Donald Trump is expected to have little difficulty winning the Republican primary or the state in the November general election. The last time Idaho voted for a Democratic presidential candidate was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Still, officials say switching to a Democratic primary this year could significantly increase the number of participants and play a role in the outcome.

Former vice president Joseph Biden visited Idaho in August. Sen. Elizabeth Warren had scheduled a visit Saturday, but she ended her campaign Thursday.

"We hope that Idaho continues to grow in diversity and political affiliation, and that will strengthen our party and candidates," said Lindsey Johnson, spokeswoman for the Idaho Democratic Party.

Jaclyn Kettler, a Boise State University political scientist, said it appears Democrats, in general, are moving to urban areas and Republicans to more rural areas, continuing the urban-rural divide between Democrats and Republicans prevalent in states in the U.S. West.

"We've definitely seen some areas like Boise becoming bluer in the last few years," she said. "More conservative voters are moving into Canyon County and northern Idaho."

Yet Democrats see the possibility of a bluish tinge appearing in Idaho following its 2.1% population increase last year. The House, for example, went from 11 to 14 Democrats in the 2018 election. Democrats flipped four urban district seats, but lost an urban district in northern Idaho after the incumbent Democrat ran for governor.

Voter-driven ballot initiatives have also become a major focus in the state. After years of inaction by Republican lawmakers, Idaho residents in 2018 with 62% approved an initiative expanding Medicaid, a move opposed by conservative lawmakers.

In response, Republicans in the House and Senate last year tried to make the initiative process nearly impossible to head off future left-leaning measures such as raising the minimum wage and legalizing marijuana. But Republican Gov. Brad Little vetoed the legislation amid concerns a federal court could rule such restrictions unconstitutional and dictate the state's initiative process.

Overall, though, Republicans hold all five statewide elected offices, including governor, and hold super-majorities in both the Idaho House and Senate. Both of Idahos U.S. House seats and both U.S. Senate seats are also occupied by Republicans.

Democratic House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel of Boise said hes not sure which way the in-migration is tilting, but he thinks it will be a wash.

GOP Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill of Rexburg, meanwhile, noted that for the most part, Republicans are unconcerned about a possible change in demographics because it appears most of those moving to Idaho tend to vote Republican.

"It's hard to know for sure, but sometimes we kid about people coming from more liberal states," said Hill, who is wrapping up 20 years as a state senator after the Legislature adjourns this spring. "One of the reasons they came was to get away from that."

Pedestrians and diners enjoy sunny weather in Boise. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler)Keith Ridler / AP

Idaho voters can currently register or switch parties right up to the presidential primary. Legislation will prevent that from happening in future primaries, however.

Idaho holds its state primary on May 19, the same day as Oregon. This year, the primary will include a U.S. Senate seat, both U.S. House seats, and all 105 seats in the Legislature.

-- The Associated Press
Twitter has revealed a new version of tweets, named "fleets", which disappear after they are posted.

The temporary messages are also intended to be more private, since they cannot be engaged with in public and in direct messages.

It comes as users complain that tweets are too public and permanent. A number of third-party services already offer the ability to delete tweets some time after they are posted, but "fleets" builds that into the app and offers extra ways of keeping messages hidden.

The messages can only be viewed if users navigate to someone's profile and click on their avatar. In that respect, they are most similar to Snapchat and Instagram's highly successful Stories feature, which allows users to post messages that are only available for 24 hours.

The feature is currently being tested in Brazil on Android and iOS but is expected to roll out to other countries if successful, said Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

"People often tell us that they don't feel comfortable Tweeting because Tweets can be seen and replied to by anybody, feel permanent and performative (how many Likes & Retweets will this get!?)," he tweeted.

"Fleets are a way to share fleeting thoughts. Unlike Tweets, Fleets disappear after 24 hours and don't get Retweets, Likes, or public replies - people can only react to your Fleets with DMs.

"I know what you're thinking: "THIS SOUNDS A LOT LIKE STORIES!". Yes, there are many similarities with the Stories format that will feel familiar to people.

"There are also a few intentional differences to make the experience more focused on sharing and seeing people's thoughts.

"This is a substantial change to Twitter, so we're excited to learn by testing it (starting with the rollout today in Brazil) and seeing how our customers use it."
CAMBRIDGE  A 74-year-old pedestrian who was struck by a pickup truck when she stepped into a street on Sunday morning has died.

Juzhen Feng, of Cambridge, was brought to Massachusetts General Hospital with serious injuries after the crash, that occurred at about 8:15 a.m. on Memorial Avenue, Massachusetts State Police said.

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, police said.

When troopers from the Boston barracks arrived, they found Feng trapped under a parked vehicle. She was extricated and brought to the hospital by ambulance, 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.
A medical staff member collects samples from Chinese paramilitary police officers to be tested for COVID-19, in Shenzhen, China, on Feb. 11, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Fearing Coronavirus Outbreak Among the Ranks, Chinese Military Isolates Officers at Their Residences

A large number of Chinese military officers have been forcibly isolated since the end of January to ensure that they wont be infected with the novel coronavirus, insiders have told the Chinese-language Epoch Times.

Family members can only visit them twice a week to deliver food and exchange clothes, said a source who lives within an apartment complex in the Haidian district of Beijing thats reserved for ranking officers within the air force, retired officers, and their families.

The officers, who serve as aides to high-ranking air force leaders, are now being held within a cordoned-off, centralized area in the apartment complex located on No. 7 Kunminghu South Road. No one other than the officers is allowed to enter or exit the area.

[Family members] are not allowed to have direct contact with the officers. They pass items through an iron door, the source said.

Military Apartment Complex

He explained that the officers have been required to isolate themselves so they and their superiors are kept safe from the virus.

Top Chinese Communist Party officials such as Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, and top military generals typically have subordinates assigned to them for their everyday needs, such as driving them around, flying their private airplanes, and doing their shopping.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said military officials believe the outbreak cant be controlled before May, so those in isolation wont be allowed to go back home before then. Meanwhile, the officers and their families have been instructed not to divulge anything about the isolation measures or the outbreak, he added.

A car is entering the military apartment complex at No. 7 Kunminghu South Road in Beijing, China in March 2020. (Provided to The Epoch Times by insider)

Another source, who lives at another apartment complex for military officers in Haidian, told The Epoch Times on March 3 that there are currently more than 2,000 retired senior Chinese officials and officers living in his complex. Their movements are also being restricted in order to prevent the virus from spreading to them.

At the front gate, security guards have begun screening our body temperatures since the middle of January. From January 25, the Lunar New Year, the complex began restricting entry. Nannies who come from other cities are not allowed to enter the area, he said.

Since Feb. 25  residents are required to hold a pass to enter and leave their building. Each household gets one pass.

The source, who said he has colleagues and friends who live in other military apartment complexes in Haidian, says they have told him that their residential areas have similar restrictions.

Some dont allow residents to go out shopping. They deliver food to the front door, he said.

Outbreak Among Military Members

Officially, the Chinese regime has denied that any members of the military have been infected.

At a press conference on March 2, Chen Jingyuan, an official within the Central Military Commission, the Partys top agency for overseeing military affairs, said that there have been no infections among the 10,000 or so military medical staff who have been dispatched to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Chinese central government published Chens speech after the press conference, but deleted it hours later, leaving only Chens photo on its website.

Previously, official media of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) have reported that some officers were being isolated, but didnt provide further details.

The PLA Daily reported on Feb. 17, Some commanders and soldiers are currently being isolated [due to the virus].

It also mentioned Yu Songqiu, captain of the Type 054A missile frigate Changzhou (NATO codename Jiangkai II), whos been in isolation since he returned from his hometown to his military camp on Jan. 29. Its unclear whether hes tested positive for the virus.

On Feb. 18, the PLA reported on its official online video platform that 12 military officers, including a quartermaster named Li Yalei, have been placed under isolation management. The officers are responsible for providing safe food supplies and safe meals for an air force unit stationed at Chinas Central Theater Commandwhich includes Hubei Province, where the viruss spread is most severe.

The Hong Kong-based NGO Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported that according to its insiders in China, dozens of soldiers have been infected with the virus, including a soldier stationed at the Chinese naval destroyer Rizhao and a sailor stationed at the aircraft carrier Shandong.

About 100 soldiers at the Shandong are now being quarantined.
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden is dispatching rival-turned-surrogate Amy Klobuchar to Michigan on his behalf days before the March 10 primary election.

Bidens campaign announced Klobuchar, a Minnesota senator who exited the presidential race last week, will visit Detroit, Southfield and Grand Rapids in the next several days. The visits come as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also plans rallies in Detroit and Grand Rapids to make a final push to attract votes before polls open next Tuesday.

Klobuchar is scheduled to make a labor visit in Detroit on Friday, March 6. Klobuchar will host a Women for Biden event in Southfield with Fems for Dems, a grassroots political organization founded in 2018. People who wish to attend the Southfield event can RSVP online here.

Klobuchar will also speak at an event in Grand Rapids on Saturday, March 7. RSVP online here.

Biden is also planning to visit Detroit on Monday, March 9. His campaign is holding a private fundraiser in the state earlier in the day.

Biden picked up the endorsement of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hours before Klobuchars visits were announced.

Sanders and Biden are tightening their focus on Michigan as the primary enters a new stage. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., dropped out, effectively making the race a binary choice between the two men.

Read more on MLive:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorses Biden, joining campaign as a national co-chair

Bernie Sanders plans rallies in Detroit, Grand Rapids before Michigan Democratic primary

Elizabeth Warren tells Michigan shes the woman to beat Donald Trump at Super Tuesday campaign rally

What happens if I voted for someone who dropped out of Michigans presidential primary?

What Michigan voters need to know about absentee ballots for March 10 primary
Wednesday, 4th March

German Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan)

Spanish Services PMI (Feb)

Italian Services PMI (Feb)

French Services PMI (Feb) Final

German Services PMI (Feb) Final

Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Feb) Final

Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan)

Friday, 6th March

German Factory Orders (MoM) (Jan)

The Majors

It was a bullish day for the European majors on Tuesday, with the EuroStoxx600 rising by 1.37% to lead the way. The CAC40 and DAX30 saw more modest gains of 1.12% and 1.08% respectively.

Support for the European majors kicked in from the open as investors responded to the talk of fiscal and monetary policy support.

G7 nations were set to have a call on Tuesday evening to discuss and agree on how to tackle the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy.

The news had given the majors had found strong support early in the session before they pared gains later in the day.

Following on from the RBA rate cut ahead of the European open, the FED delivered an emergency rate cut later in the day. The FED cut rates by 50 basis points, a move that had been expected to come at the FOMC meeting later in the month.

For the markets, the focus on central banks and governments shifted focus away from the spread of the coronavirus on the day.

Ultimately, however, the gains were modest, with the promise of fiscal policy support unlikely to translate into immediate action.

The Stats

It was a relatively busy day on the Eurozone economic calendar on Tuesday. Economic data included prelim February inflation and January unemployment figures for the Eurozone.

While the Eurozones unemployment rate held steady at 7.4%, which was in line with forecasts, inflationary pressures softened in February.

According to Eurostat,

The annual rate of inflation softened from 1.4% to 1.2% in February, according to prelim figures.

Prices for food, alcohol, & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in February, up from 2.1% to 2.2%.

There was also support from services, with the annual rate up from 1.5% to 1.6%.

Non-energy industrial goods prices increased by a more modest 0.5% (+0.3% in January).

Energy prices fell by 0.3% (+1.9% in January), which led to the softer headline number.

The core annual rate of inflation picked up from 1.1% to 1.2%, with consumer prices rising by 0.2%, month-on-month.

Story continues

Looking at the unemployment figures, according to Eurostat,

The Netherlands reported the lowest unemployment rate of 3.0%, while Greece (16.5%) and Spain (13.7%) had the highest.

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 13 Eurozone member states, while holding steady in Germany.

The unemployment rate increased in Estonia, Slovenia, Portugal, Lithuania, and Luxembourg.

Greece registered the largest annual fall in unemployment (18.6% to 16.5%), followed by Cyprus (7.6% to 6.0%).

There were no stats out of the U.S to influence later in the session, leaving the FEDs emergency rate cut and updates from the G7 to influence.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: it was a particularly bearish day for the auto sector. Daimler led the way down, sliding by 4.18%, with BMW and Continental falling by 2.98% and by 1.45% respectively. Volkswagen saw a more modest loss of 1.10% on the day.

It was another particularly bearish day for the banks, as the markets responded to the FED rate cut and the promise of support from the ECB. Commerzbank fell by 1.83%, with Deutsche Bank sliding by 5.29%.

Deutsche Lufthansa managed to reverse Mondays losses, with a 4.42% gain on Tuesday.

From the CAC, it was another bearish day for the banks. BNP Paribas fell by 1.48%, with Credit Agricole and Soc Gen seeing heavier losses of 2.34% and by 3.16% respectively.

It was a mixed day for the auto sector, however, with Peugeot rising by 1.01%, while Renault ending the day down by 2.34%.

Air France-KLM found much-needed support, rising by 1.92%.

On the VIX Index

The VIX rose by 10.17% on Tuesday. Partially reversing a 16.68% slide from Monday, the VIX ended the day at 36.8.

In the early part of the day, the U.S majors had found support, with the promise of fiscal and monetary policy support.

The markets had anticipated a FED rate cut at the next FOMC, however, and not an emergency rate cut on Tuesday.

While the 50 basis point rate cut supported riskier assets immediately after the announcement, demand for Treasuries jumped later in the day.

The U.S majors coughed up early gains as uncertainty over the economic outlook plagued the markets, leaving the S&P500 down by 2.81% on the day.

The Day Ahead

Its a busy day ahead on the Eurozone economic calendar. Key stats include service sector PMIs for Italy and Spain and retail sales figures for Germany and the Eurozone.

Finalized service and composite PMI numbers for France, Germany and the Eurozone will also influence.

We would expect retail sales figures and the Eurozones Composite to have the greatest impact on the day.

February numbers have yet to fully reflect the effects of the coronavirus on the private sector, however, so any positive numbers should have a relatively limited impact.

From the U.S, we expect Februarys ADP Nonfarm Employment Change and ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI to also provide direction.

Outside of the numbers, there will be more chatter from governments and central banks and updates on the spread of the coronavirus to distract.

In the futures markets, at the time of writing, the DAX was up 2 points, with the Dow up by 234 points.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

More From FXEMPIRE:
Anirudh Rastogi and Ratul Roshan

March 4 was a historic day for tech-enthusiasts in India. The Supreme Court of India declared the April 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notification, prohibiting entities regulated by it from facilitating banking transactions relating to virtual currencies, unconstitutional. The RBI had prohibited virtual currencies purportedly seeking to protect the integrity of the Indian market, the interests of the common investor and preventing money laundering.

Since December 2013, when the RBI issued its first caution against virtual currencies to March 4, things have come a long way. The ban detrimentally impacted crypto-exchanges in India, causing most of them to wind up operations. Some of the leading exchanges of the time even struggled to gather resources to keep up the fight. The ban also discouraged blockchain related-innovation generally and caused money and talent to flee the country to more conducive jurisdictions such as Singapore, Malta, Estonia and Dubai.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the notification achieved its desired end-goal. The notification only banned the use of banking channels for transactions involving cryptocurrencies, leading investors to continue trade in cryptocurrencies from foreign sources or over-the-counter in cash.

The judgment is definitely a cause for celebration. The world has followed these proceedings closely over the course of the past two years, waiting with bated breath to tap into Indias 1.2-billion-strong market, because tech-policy in India is likely to influence policy elsewhere.

As of today, the RBI notification stands quashed, which means that nothing stands in the way of banks providing their services to crypto-exchanges and other ventures dealing in cryptocurrencies. This is certain to provide respite to crypto-ventures within India and more looking to enter it. The handful of remaining crypto-exchanges in the country may finally resume their operations.

That said, we cannot overlook two facts: first, the crypto-market has been decimated for the large part; and second, the judgment paves the way for the revival of the cryptocurrency ecosystem in India only theoretically. Whether or not it will be catalytic to the crypto-industry will have to be seen.

The judgment has not spoken about the wisdom of allowing or disallowing trade in cryptocurrencies at a policy level; it has also not said that the RBI does not have the power to regulate trade in cryptocurrencies. Instead, the court has observed that the blanket-ban proposed in the notification is disproportionate to the assessed threat posed by them. The court only found a problem with the proportionality of the move.

This hurdle may be overcome by the government by drafting a more nuanced law, to restrict trade in cryptocurrencies. While it is likely that regulators will be more cautious about any such move, there is nothing to rule out the possibility.

There is also the concern of banks avoiding business with crypto-ventures, even if only by way of abundant caution. While they are not held back by any legal restrictions, they are well aware of the mood of the RBI and the Indian government. One must sympathise that banks have already been through one cycle of turmoil on account of the April 2018 notification and would want to avoid a deja-vu at all costs.

Banks are aware that the Government of India is still not completely comfortable with cryptocurrencies, and, therefore, they may hedge against any future law which throws the regulatory landscape into a flux again. Banks globally have been suspicious of cryptocurrencies for other reasons such as the heightened risk of money laundering, the complexity of the KYC process, and not to mention the threat of competition from the cryptocurrency industry.

Summarily, practical challenges remain and doing business in this industry will continue to be challenging in the long run. India has already lost time, money and talent, and lags in the race to adopt cryptocurrencies and blockchain. While this judgment brings much needed short term respite, its impact in the long run may be tricky to adjudge. Should the government want to undo what our industry has lost, it would be a good step to first clarify its thinking on the subject and inspire confidence in the industry to take a bet with cryptos once again.
Giving back to the community is one of our top priorities as a company, and Lawrence Hall does so much to make the Chicago area a better place to live.

Stratosphere Networks has announced it will sponsor Lawrence Halls annual Lucky Charm Cocktail party for the fourth consecutive year. The Irish-themed event will take place on Thursday, March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Troquet River North (111 West Huron Street) in Chicago.

The evening will include food, drinks and raffle prizes. For supporters who cant attend the party, raffle tickets are available for purchase separately. All proceeds will go to Lawrence Hall, a Chicago social services organization focused on helping abused and neglected youth and their families. The organization has delivered high-quality therapeutic care and worked to reduce violence in the Chicago area for more than 150 years.

Stratosphere has a well-established relationship with Lawrence Hall and has sponsored the annual Lucky Charm event since 2017, in addition to supporting the organizations Annual Fall Fete. Stratosphere Networks CEO Steve Melchiorre also serves as a member of the Lawrence Hall Board of Trustees.

Were always happy to show our support for Lawrence Hall and the work they do helping at-risk youth, Melchiorre said. Giving back to the community is one of our top priorities as a company, and Lawrence Hall does so much to make the Chicago area a better place to live.

Stratosphere Networks provides best-in-class managed services (including managed IT, co-managed IT and managed cybersecurity services) and trusted advisor services to businesses across all industries. The company is dedicated to empowering clients with exceptional service delivered from a state-of-the-art Network Operations Center (NOC) and Security Operations Center (SOC) staffed with tech experts.

To learn more about this years Lucky Charm Cocktail Party and/or to purchase tickets, please visit Lawrence Halls website or contact Moira at mtuffy@lawrencehall.org.

About Stratosphere Networks

Stratosphere Networks provides comprehensive managed services  including managed cybersecurity, managed IT and co-managed IT services  and trusted advisor services to businesses across all industries. Our team of IT experts strives to empower clients with exceptional service from our state-of-the-art Network Operations Center and Security Operations Center. The company has earned recognition as a leader in the realm of IT managed services, receiving accolades such as the Channel Partners 360 Business Value award, the MSPmentor 501, Crain's Best Places to Work in Chicago and more. Visit http://www.stratospherenetworks.com for more information.

For more information contact:

Lori Leonardo

847-440-8608

LoriL@stratospherenetworks.com


What if you get stuck on the highway in a storm? Here are some tips
Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers on Thursday took out a protest march here over violence in the capital demanding an investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

Former Tripura Assembly Speaker Pabitra Kar alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were responsible for the "genocide".

Speaking to ANI Pabitra alleged, "The genocide had been done under the cognizing of the BJP government and the RSS. A lot of people have lost their lives and properties."

"During the violence, for 48 hours, there was no action by the home ministry. Police was a mute spectator of the riots," he alleged.

He demanded an investigation into the matter under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

"The victims of violence should be given compensation and those responsible for the mayhem should be punished," he said.

Former Lok Sabha MP Sankar Prashad Datta also termed the violence as pre-planned. "The situation which arose in the capital was pre-planned and propagated by the RSS. They deliberately stood in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) while a large number of people are protesting against it. In order to disturb the democratic movement, the RSS people created riots in the city," he alleged.

At least 47 people were killed and more than 200 were seriously injured in the violence that rocked North-East Delhi recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 12:19:29|Editor: ZD

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OTTAWA, March 4 (Xinhua)-- Canada's military has shifted into a mode of "pre-pandemic planning" against the COVID-19 spread, Global News reported Wednesday evening.

A military order for all Canadian Armed Forces members said Wednesday that it is now moving into the pandemic alert and preparedness to shield against the potential spread of COVID-19 across Canada and its ranks.

Commanders must now assess vacation requests on a case by case basis as well, and the military will reimburse a member's cancelled vacation, the order said.

Other changes to Canadian Armed Forces operations include an increased protection to supply chains, and potential cordons that may limit movement. Commanders have been warned to reconsider large gatherings among its forces.

On Wednesday morning, the Canadian government announced the creation of a new cabinet committee on COVID-19.

The committee is to meet regularly to ensure government leadership, coordination, and preparedness for a response to the health and economic impacts of the virus.

In the past days, Canada confirmed two to four new COVID-19 cases every day. It reported six new cases Tuesday, the highest number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began, bringing the total to 33 in the country.
The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), otherwise known as BBI Reggae, received a shot in the arm Wednesday after the High Court in Nairobi dismissed a case filed by ThirdWay Alliance leader Dr Ekuru Aukot.

The former presidential hopeful, who recently failed with his Punguza Mzigo Initiative, was seeking to declare the BBI taskforce illegal.

Through his lawyer Elias Mutuma, Aukot argued that the BBI taskforce members had not been vetted, therefore, the task force was unconstitutional.

But in his ruling, Justice John Mativo said that the President was within his rights to form the BBI team. He noted that the taskforce passed the legality test as there was no contradiction in the provisions of Articles 132 and 132 of the constitution.

I note that the gazette notice factored in public participation and in saying that everything that the President does must be subjected to public participation will be unnecessary constraining his constitutional functions, said Justice Mativo.

He added: There is nothing before me to show that the President acted in bad faith. The president cannot be subjected or questioned on how he exercised his Executive powers.

Justice Mativo further said that the court cannot entertain such an application.

On the issue of alleged misuse of funds, Justice Mativo said Dr. Aukot did not provide evidence to prove his allegations.
The International Energy Agency plans to revise down its oil-demand forecasts next week because of the spreading coronavirus.

I am going to announce it Monday morning in Paris, IEA chief Fatih Birol told a Congressional hearing in Washington on Thursday. The impacts are already severe mainly because the transport sector is heavily affected.

Last month, the Paris-based adviser to industrialized nations warned that the virus could curb annual growth in oil consumption to the lowest since 2011, but still called for 800,000 barrels a day of growth. Other analysts are now estimating that demand will contract, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicting that consumption could shrink this year for only the fourth time in almost 40 years.

Birols appearance before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee came on the same day that an OPEC meeting in Vienna paved the way for a production cut of 1.5 million barrels a day, which still needs to overcome Russian opposition. The hit to demand has already seen prices slump around 23% so far this year.

The IEA will set out two scenarios when it updates forecasts next week, one of which is a base case that will reflect the current impact. We will have also a worse case because we may well see that this situation may go global beyond China and this may well affect energy markets, especially oil markets, substantially, Birol said.

In written testimony to the committee, Birol said its already clear that the outbreak is negatively affecting global economic activity and that the IEA is monitoring the situation extremely closely.

Birol said recent supply losses -- from Libya, Venezuela, and Iran - would have delivered painful shocks to the world economy were it not for the U.S. shale revolution. Under one scenario laid down by the IEA, higher U.S. output reduces the market share of OPEC members and Russia to 47% of total oil production in 2030 from 55% in the mid-2000s.

However, Birol cautioned that the shale sector wouldnt be spared in the event of a prolonged plunge in prices due to the virus.
Employees produce medical masks at Madaran Medical Manufacturing Company in Robat Karim district of Tehran, Iran on March 4, 2020. Factories in Iran work 24 hours a day to fulfill masks need due to coronavirus. Anadolu Agency

Global cases: More than 95,200 according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization

Global deaths: More than 3,270 according to the latest figures from the WHO The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. All times below are in Beijing time.

8:00 pm: Italy extends measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus

As well as closing schools and universities, Italy has introduced a wider range of measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus. These include the suspension of public and private events that entail any public crowding, as the government advises that people keep a meter's distance from eachother. The government has also said that Serie A football championship and competitive sporting events will take place behind closed doors until April 3; it also advised that the elderly or those with underlying health conditions should stay at home. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's plan also envisages a 50% increase in intensive care beds, and a 100% increase in respiratory and infectious disease wards, newspaper La Repubblica reported.  Ellyatt

7:49 pm: HSBC employee in London has tested positive for coronavirus

An employee in HSBC's research department in London has tested positive for coronavirus, the bank confirmed Thursday. The employee informed the bank at the weekend and staff who came into contact with him have been told to work from home.  Ellyatt

7:05 pm: Iran reports 3,513 infections and 107 deaths and coronavirus

Iran has updated its latest coronavirus numbers, with 3,513 people infected with the virus and 107 deaths, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur announced on state TV on Thursday, Reuters reported.  Ellyatt

6:28 pm: Iran sets up checkpoints between cities; closes schools and universities

Iran's health minister says authorities will begin manning checkpoints to limit travel between major cities amid the virus outbreak, the Associated Press reported, as it emerged that schools and universities are to be shut until March 20.  Ellyatt

6:18 pm: Hit to airlines from coronavirus could reach $113 billion, industry body says

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that the financial impact of the coronavirus on the global air transport industry could be over $100 billion. The IATA now sees 2020 global revenue losses for the passenger business of between $63 billion and $113 billion, depending on how far the virus spreads. British carrier Flybe announced early Thursday that it was going into administration.  Ellyatt

5:48 pm: Italy may seek suspension of EU budget rules with 5 billion euro ($5.6 billion) virus package

Italy may ask for a temporary suspension of European Union budget rules as it struggles to contain a coronavirus epidemic, the deputy economy minister said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Laura Castelli told Il Messaggero newspaper that the government was considering increasing the amount of money it planned to spend mitigating the crisis to 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) from a previously announced 3.6 billion. She said Europe needed to be more flexible with its strict stability pact budget deficit rules.  Ellyatt

5:27 pm: Makeshift hospital in Wuhan reportedly warns of increasing relapses in discharged coronavirus patients

Jiang'an hospital in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the coronavirus' spread, warned Wednesday of increased cases in which discharged patients were subsequently re-diagnosed with the disease, according to a report in The Paper, a state-funded online news platform. The hospital is one of at least 17 makeshift, or "cabin," hospitals built to ease the pressure on the city's severely inadequate medical facilities.  Wu

5:18 pm: England's chief medical officer strikes pessimistic tone over UK outbreak

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has said the country is now trying to delay the spread of the virus rather than trying to contain it. Speaking to the government's Health and Social Care Committee on Thursday, Whitty said trying to contain the spread of the virus was "pretty optimistic" now and that there was community transmission taking place in Britain.  Ellyatt

5:08 pm: Germany says total number of cases rises to 349

The total number of coronavirus cases has risen in Germany to 349, according to the Robert Koch health institute. North Rhine-Westphalia remains the worst affected region with 175 cases.  Ellyatt

4:45 pm: South Korea reports an additional 322 cases of coronavirus

South Korea reported 322 more cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, Reuters reported, taking the total tally to 6,088 after 438 new cases were reported earlier in the day.  Ellyatt

3:57 pm: China's commerce ministry says difficult for Q1 imports, exports to avoid volatility

The work rate for important foreign trade enterprises in China has resumed at various levels, according to Li Xinggan, director of the department of foreign trade at the Ministry of Commerce. In Zhejiang and Tianjin, the work rate is 100%; for Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Shandong and Chongqing the rate has topped 70%, Li said, according to a CNBC translation of his Chinese remarks. First-quarter trade data is always affected by the Lunar New Year, he said, but this year, due to the additional impact of the virus, "it will be difficult for imports and exports to avoid volatility." Li added the Commerce Ministry has noted international cuts to global growth forecasts, but still believes the global market demand structure is relatively stable.  Cheng

2:38 pm: China's finance ministries allocated $16 billion for virus prevention

As of Wednesday, all levels of finance ministries in China have allocated 110.48 billion yuan ($16 billion) for virus prevention and control, Vice Finance Minister Xu Hongcai said at a press conference. China reported 139 new confirmed cases on Thursday. (see 8:28 am update)  Cheng

2:27 pm: UAE could ask returning travelers to home quarantine

United Arab Emirates' health ministry said travelers returning to the country may be asked to stay at home as a preventive measure, in case they became infected during their travels, according to the government news agency. If a person does get sick, they would be taken into isolation at health facilities. As of Mar. 4, the UAE had 27 confirmed cases, including instances of local transmission, according to the WHO.  Roy Choudhury

2:18 pm: Travelers to Thailand are getting mixed messages on restrictions

Thai authorities have been sending conflicting messages as they attempt to contain the outbreak  Thailand has at least 43 confirmed cases. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook post that all visitors from "high-risk zones" would be required to quarantine themselves for 14 days, according to a Bangkok Post report. The post, which was quickly deleted "without explanation," reportedly mentioned Singapore, Japan, China, and South Korea. A day later, the Singapore branch of the Tourism Authority of Thailand said in a Facebook post that it has "not received any official government announcement on the quarantine/restriction for visitors from Singapore traveling to Thailand."  Huang

1:42 pm: 96 countries and territories have banned travelers from South Korea

As many as 96 countries and territories have imposed entry restrictions or tougher quarantine measures on travelers coming from South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported citing the foreign ministry. As of 9 a.m. local time, 36 countries and territories, including Singapore and Hong Kong, imposed entry bans on those who had traveled to South Korea in the last 14 days, Yonhap said. The number of cases in the country surpassed 5,000 in a very short period of time, prompting worries over Seoul's ability to contain the outbreak. (see 9:29 a.m. update)  Roy Choudhury

1:33 pm: Japan's AnGes teams up with Osaka University for vaccine development

Japanese biopharmaceutical company AnGes said it is working with Osaka University to jointly develop a coronavirus vaccine. Anges shares jumped more than 18% in afternoon trade. There have been at least 317 domestic cases, including 30 patients who tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms, according to a Wednesday update from Japan's health ministry.  Roy Choudhury

12:21 pm: China considers donation to WHO

China is considering donating money to the World Health Organization, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu said Thursday. He also said China is pushing ahead with necessary assistance for countries with urgent needs, such as South Korea, Iraq, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.  Cheng

12:00 pm: Facebook confirms a contractor in Seattle tested positive

A contractor based in Facebook's Stadium East office in Seattle has been diagnosed with the virus, the company confirmed. "We've notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety," Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said. The person was last in the office on Feb. 21. Facebook closed the office immediately until Mar. 9 and, following updated guidance from authorities, it has encouraged employees in Seattle to work from home till the end of the month.  Roy Choudhury

11:35 am: Another Princess Cruises ship may have been affected

Princess Cruises said it had been notified by the U.S. CDC that the agency is investigating a small cluster of COVID-19 cases in Northern California among guests who sailed on its completed Grand Princess Mexican voyage roundtrip to San Francisco from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21. That followed after one of the guests died almost two weeks after disembarking. The ship, on a current voyage to Hawaii with a stopover at Ensenada, Mexico, has been ordered to return to San Francisco. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press briefing that the ship is currently off the coast and its arrival ashore will be delayed to "provide ample opportunity for the CDC, partnership with Coast Guard and with state health officials, to conduct tests because we have a number of passengers and crew members that have developed symptoms on this cruise ship." Earlier, Newsom declared a state of emergency in California. (see 8:10 am update)  Roy Choudhury

11:26 am: CoinDesk says it is moving forward with a major cryptocurrency event of the year in May

CoinDesk said it is moving forward as planned with Consensus 2020 and Blockchain Week NYC due to happen in May, and that it will monitor the situation on a daily basis until then. If the event is canceled due to guidance from health authorities and governments, attendees would receive a full refund on their ticket purchase. If an international participant is unable to attend due to travel restrictions, their tickets would also be refunded.  Roy Choudhury

People walk through Manhattan with surgical masks as fears of the coronavirus spreading through the U.S. increase on March 04, 2020. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

10:09 am: Microsoft tells Bay Area and Puget Sound employees to work from home

The tech giant is encouraging employees in California's Bay Area and the Puget Sound area in Washington to work from home for the next few weeks. More than a third of Microsoft's 151,163 employees work in the Puget Sound area as of Dec. 31. Earlier this week, Microsoft canceled a conference it had planned to hold in the region later this month.  Roy Choudhury

10:03 am: Apple joins other big tech names and drops out of SXSW

Apple confirmed it will no longer attend the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, as companies continue to implement measures to reduce the impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on their operations. It had planned to premiere new shows for its Apple TV+ service and host a panel. Apple joins other companies including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Intel that have already pulled out of the conference.  Leswing

9:29 am: South Korea reports 438 new cases, 3 additional deaths

The total number of confirmed cases in South Korea is now 5,766, including 35 deaths, according to the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak jumped in recent weeks, with most cases reported in the city of Daegu and surrounding areas. Many of the infected are affiliated with a secretive religious group, which is being sued by the mayor of Seoul for "murder, injury and violation of prevention and management of infectious diseases."  Roy Choudhury

9:07 am: US airlines cut flights, reduce spending amid falling air travel demand

JetBlue Airways said it is reducing capacity by approximately 5% in the near term to "address the fall in demand," and will be monitoring booking trends to determine if further reductions need to be made. The airline also announced other measures aimed at preserving cash: They include reducing hiring for frontline and support center positions, limiting non-essential spending and considering voluntary time-off programs. United Airlines also said it will reduce the number of April flights and suspend hiring and salary increases.  Roy Choudhury

8:54 am: Australia reports second death

A 95-year-old woman at an elderly care home in Sydney died on Tuesday. Her passing marked the second virus-related fatality in Australia, where there are at least 41 confirmed cases of infection, according to the health ministry. Health Minister Greg Hunt told local media on Thursday that three other people at the same elderly care home were diagnosed with the infection. "The Chief Medical Officer is preparing additional advice today for sharing with aged care facilities," Hunt said, according to a transcript of an interview on the health ministry's website.  Roy Choudhury

8:28 am: China reports 139 new confirmed cases, 31 additional deaths

China's National Health Commission said there were 139 additional cases and 31 new deaths as of Wednesday. All of those fatalities occurred in Hubei province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak. To date, there have been a total of 80,409 confirmed cases on the mainland, with 52,045 people discharged and 3,012 dead.  Roy Choudhury

8:10 am: California declares state of emergency after coronavirus-related death

California declared a state of emergency after a coronavirus-related death in the state. There are currently at least 53 confirmed cases in California. Earlier on Wednesday, local health officials in California announced the state's first COVID-19 death in Placer County, bringing U.S. fatalities to at least 11. "The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," said Governor Gavin Newsom. The emergency proclamation includes provisions to protect people against price gouging, particularly for medical supplies.  Bhattacharjee

7:56 am: Moody's says challenges ahead for Chinese regional and local governments

China's regional and local governments (RLG) will face significant funding shortfalls this year as the virus outbreak is set to further pressure already slowing revenue growth, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report. "We expect the coronavirus outbreak will result in lower RLG revenue growth, although policy measures by the central government should support RLGs through higher transfers and bond quotas," Jack Yuan, an assistant vice president and analyst at the firm said. Most Chinese provinces have lowered their GDP growth targets for 2020, the ratings agency said.  Roy Choudhury

7:31 am: Australia expects a 0.5 percentage point hit to Q1 GDP

Australia's Treasury Department predicted the virus outbreak will shave at least 0.5 percentage point off economic growth in the three months ending in March, Reuters reported. The preliminary estimate took into account the impact on tourism, international education exports, and some exchange-rate effects, but did not account for any supply-chain disruptions or broad impacts, the news wire said. That appeared to be in line with the central bank's prediction for a noticeably weaker Q1 growth. Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed its cash rate to 0.5% and Governor Philip Lowe said the coronavirus outbreak "is having a significant effect on the Australian economy at present, particularly in the education and travel sectors."  Roy Choudhury All times below are in Eastern time.

5:15 pm: DHS employee tests positive for coronavirus

A Department of Homeland Security employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, DHS press secretary Heather Swift said in a statement Wednesday. "Late last night, DHS headquarters was alerted to a situation where one of our contracted medical professionals conducting screenings at LAX international airport had tested positive for COVID-19," the statement said. "This individual is currently under self-quarantine at home with mild symptoms and under medical supervision. Their immediate family is also under home quarantine."  Bhattacharjee

5 pm: NIH official questioned about WHO mortality rate

NIH official Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers the mortality rate for COVID-19 could change depending on how many people ultimately fall ill and die from the virus. World health officials said Tuesday that the current mortality rate was around 3.4%, significantly higher than previous estimates. "As a group, it's going to depend completely on what the factor of asymptomatic cases are," he said, adding the more asympotmatic cases, the lower the mortality rate. "What we're hearing right now on a recent call from the WHO this morning is that there aren't as many asymptomatic cases as we think, which made them elevate, I think, what their mortality is," he said. "I'm torn. If we get enough data to have a big [numerator] it's gonna be bad news for us."  Hirsch, Higgins

4:53 pm: House passes $8.3 billion emergency spending plan
The difficulty of calculating the viruss fatality rate.

With the numbers of coronavirus cases soaring and experts putting out varying estimates of death rates, it can be hard to keep track of what all the numbers mean.

To help, an editor on our science team, James Gorman, tracked down a mathematician who uses math to understand outbreaks of diseases like Ebola, SARS, influenza and now the coronavirus, or Covid-19: Dr. Adam Kucharski at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Here are selections from their edited, condensed exchanges by phone and email.

Image Dr. Adam Kucharski. Credit... Tom Jamieson for The New York Times

To understand the case fatality rate, can we just look at the total number of deaths and the current number of cases?

The problem with just dividing the total number of deaths by the total number of cases is that it doesnt account for unreported cases or the delay from illness to death. The delay is crucial: If 100 people arrive at hospital with Covid-19 on a given day, and all are currently still alive, it obviously doesnt mean that the fatality rate is 0 percent. We need to wait until we know what happens to them eventually.

Any deaths will be people who got sick two to three weeks ago, so its not simply deaths at the moment divided by cases at the moment. Plus some cases might be missed.

Does the latest estimate of a 3.4 percent fatality rate globally make sense?

Early on, people looked at total current cases and deaths, which, as I said, is a flawed calculation, and concluded that the case fatality rate must be 2 percent based on China data. If you run the same calculation on yesterdays totals for China, you get an apparent CFR (case fatality rate) of near 4 percent.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-05 00:42:26

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 4, 2019 / LOOP Insights Inc. (TSXV:MTRX) (the "Company" or "Loop"), announces that, pursuant to its Stock Option Plan, it has granted stock options to directors, officers and a consultant of the Company to purchase an aggregate 1,070,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $0.15 per share which expire on February 27, 2025.The Company also announces the resignation of Greg Vance from its Board of Directors. The Company would like to thank Greg for his service and wishes him well in his future endeavors.About Loop Insights Inc.Loop Insights ( TSX.V: MTRX) is a technology company that has developed a unique automated AI marketing platform that is leveling the playing field for bricks and mortar retailers in their battle with online digital competition. Loop gives brands and retailers the capability to inter-connect their physical and digital ecosystems by using the Loop device that can be plugged into any point of sale environment, independent of hardware or IT networks, thus enabling rapid deployment and global scalability. By using Loop's "Bricks and Clicks Solution", it is management's belief that retailers and brands will be able to transform the way they conduct their business. Retailers and brands benefit from making real-time, data-driven decisions that help them curate unique personalized customer experiences in stores, a capability that previously did not exist.For more information, please contact:Loop Insights Inc.Soy Garipoglu, Manager, IRT: 778-990-8985E: ir@ loopinsights.ca CHF Capital MarketsCathy Hume, CEOT: 416-868-1079 x 231E: cathy@ chfir.com Website: https://www.loopinsights.ai/ Facebook: @LoopInsightsTwitter: @LoopInsightsLinkedIn: @LoopInsightsForward-Looking Statements/Information:This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information, including statements regarding Loop's business and technology; the ability of Loop to engage with industry participants to achieve its goals; the development of Loop's technology; and the viability of Loop's business model. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Loop's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, and competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although Loop believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, Loop does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of Loop should be considered highly speculative. There can be no assurance that Loop will be able to achieve all or any of its proposed objectives.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE:LOOP Insights Inc.
Nearly three quarters of all dogs suffer from an anxiety disorder and can even mirror conditions their owners have like OCD and ADHD, a new study shows.

Finnish researchers from the University of Helsinki sent surveys to the owners of almost 14,000 canine companions as part of the study into dog mental health.

They found 73 per cent show some form of anxiety disorder and the related anti-social behaviour such as barking or aggression that go with it.

The biggest cause of stress for dogs is loud noise - mainly from fireworks and thunder - but they were also affected by other dogs and even people.

There are differences between breeds; for example Lagotto Romagnolos are most likely to fear thunder while Spanish Water Dogs are most likely to fear strangers.

Scroll down for video

Finnish researchers from the University of Helsinki sent surveys to the owners of almost 14,000 canine companions as part of the study into dog mental health

The analysis into dog mental health is the largest of its kind in the world and found dogs are developing similar personality issues to humans.

Sometimes these traits are developing in tandem, with the dog and owner showing signs at around the same time.

Paper author Milla Salonen, a doctoral candidate, at the University of Helsinki said: 'As in dogs, so in humans. This was new and surprising.

'We discovered an interesting connection between impulsiveness, compulsive behaviour and separation anxiety.

'In humans, OCD often occurs together with ADHD, but this is the first time the same has been seen in dogs.'

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CAUSES OF ANXIETY IN DOGS? In total, 72.5 per cent of dogs showed problematic behaviours, including aggression and fearfulness. Noise sensitivity was the most common anxiety 32 per cent were fearful of at least one noise

26 per cent were afraid of fireworks, specifically Fear was the second most common anxiety, found in 29% of dogs 17 per cent were afraid of other dogs

15 per cent are afraid of strangers

11 per cent are afraid of new situations Advertisement

Mental health problems are rife across all breeds of dog - with almost a third sensitive to at least one noise - and more than a quarter afraid of fireworks specifically.

This was followed by a dread of other dogs - or being approached by human strangers and then a fear of surfaces and heights.

Noise phobias, and especially fear of thunder, increased with age - as did being terrified of heights and walking on surfaces such as metal grids or shiny floors.

Corresponding author Professor Hannes Lohi, also of the University of Helsinki, said concerning behaviours occur in 'most pet dogs.'

The researchers looked at 264 different dog breeds overall as part of the study, with 51 per cent female. Ages varied from 10 weeks to 17 years and 10 months.

Younger dogs more often damaged or urinated on items when left alone - and were likelier to be inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive.

The authors of the research paper found younger dogs also chased their tails more.

Males were more likely to be aggressive, hyperactive or impulsive, and females were more likely to be fearful when suffering from anxiety.

Although all showed some anxiety, differences were identified between breeds.

The team asked participants about the prevalence of seven characteristics in dogs.

They found 73 per cent show some form of anxiety disorder and the related anti-social behaviour such as barking or aggression that go with it. The biggest cause of stress for dogs is loud noise, but they were also affected by other dogs and even people

These included sensitivity to sound, including thunder, fireworks and shots; fearfulness related to humans, other dogs and unfamiliar locations, among others; and fear of various surfaces and heights.

The others were an inability to concentrate and impulsiveness; compulsive behaviour; aggressiveness; and separation anxiety.

Lagotto Romano, Wheaten Terrier and mixes of the two breeds with other dogs were the most noise sensitive.

On the other hand, Spanish Water Dogs, Shetland Dogs and mixed breeds were the most fearful, the authors discovered.

One in nine Miniature Schnauzers were aggressive towards strangers, compared to fewer than one in 250 Labrador Retrievers.

Younger dogs more often damaged or urinated on items when left alone - and were likelier to be inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive

'The problems appear to be quite breed-specific,' Lohi said of the characteristics.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BREEDS? Lagotto Romagnolo were the most likely to have a fear of thunder and a Labrador Retriever the least likely

were the most likely to have a fear of thunder and a Labrador Retriever the least likely Spanish Water Dogs had the biggest fear of strangers with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier the bravest

had the biggest fear of strangers with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier the bravest Rough Collies had the biggest fear of surfaces and heights with a border collie the least scared

had the biggest fear of surfaces and heights with a border collie the least scared Mixed breed dogs were the most hyperactive and least attentive

were the most hyperactive and least attentive Rough collies were the least hyperactive and Spanish water dogs the most attentive

were the least hyperactive and Spanish water dogs the most attentive Miniature Schnauzers were the most aggressive towards strangers and a Labrador Retriever the least aggressive

were the most aggressive towards strangers and a Labrador Retriever the least aggressive Staffordshire Bull Terriers are the most likely to chase their tail and the Lagotto Romagnolo are the least likely

are the most likely to chase their tail and the Lagotto Romagnolo are the least likely Wheaten Terriers are the nosiest dogs with Smooth Collies the quietest Advertisement

'For example, in Border Collies we observed more obsessive staring and hunting of light or shadows, behaviours that occurred more rarely in all other breeds,' said Lohi.

'One of the biggest differences was identified in fearfulness related to unfamiliar human beings.'

An example of this comes from the Spanish Water Dog, which was 18 times more timid than the bravest breed, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

The aim of the work is to boost canine welfare, Salonen explained.

Fearfulness and sensitivity to noise can cause intense stress in dogs and behavioural problems may result in the owner abandoning the animal.

'Our findings indicate unwanted behaviour seems to be inherited, which means, through careful breeding that relies on suitable behaviour indicators, the prevalence of such behaviour traits could be decreased,' said Lohi.

'This would improve the quality of life of not only the dogs, but their owners too.'

The study may also shed light on what underlies human mental illnesses as physiologically and behaviourally, dogs are similar to us.

What is more, anxiety disorders are occurring naturally in dogs who also share the same complex social environment with humans.

'With the help of this project and data, we will continue investigating how good a model species the dog is in research focused on human mental health problems.

'Our previous genetic research pointed to the same gene loci, at least in terms of fear,' Lohi concluded.

The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
A John Lewis store in London, UK. (Claire Doherty/Sipa USA/PA)

John Lewis Partnership has cut its bonus payout to staff to the lowest level in almost 60 years as profits continue to slide.

John Lewis Partnership, which owns the John Lewis department store and Waitrose supermarket, said staff would receive 2% of salary as a bonus this year, down from 3% last year.

It marks the seventh year in a row that John Lewis has cut staff bonuses and the lowest bonus since 1953. The award was as high as 18% in 2011.

The bonus cut came as John Lewis Partnership reported a 23% slump in profits to 123m. Sales fell by 1.5% to 11.5bn ($14.7bn).

Chair Sharon White said it was a weaker performance than we had hoped for, driven by significantly reduced profitability in John Lewis. She said the bonus payout was prudent and affordable and would still allow the business to invest.

John Lewis Partnership staff should also brace for cuts, White warned. The head office will be slim[med] down and some stores will be closed. The group didnt give any guidance on the number of job cuts or store closures but said Waitrose stores in Helensburgh, Four Oaks, and Waterlooville will close later this year.

These decisions are never taken lightly and every Partner who wishes to stay in the Partnership will be actively supported to do so, White wrote.

White announced a strategic review alongside the results, aimed at reversing the profit slump. She promised to improve John Lewiss homeware range and boost online sales. Further details of the turnaround plan will come later this year.

All of us are aware of the challenges in retail, White wrote in a letter to staff. New technology means that shoppers have never had so much choice, value and convenience.

Like other department stores, John Lewis has struggled as retail sales have increasingly shifted online to one-stop-shops like Amazon. Waitrose is also facing competition from the likes of Ocado (OCDO.L), which used to partner with the supermarket but has now partnered with rival Marks & Spencer.

Story continues

White said any turnaround strategy could take three to five years to pay off.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK
Yes, you heard it right! Anirudh finally agrees to perform all the post-marriage rituals with Bondita. Whereas he has not accepted Bondita as her wife yet.

Barrister Babu: Anirudh married Bondita as she was forcefully getting married to an old man who dies inside the mandap while getting married. In the end, Bondita was forced to become a Sati. Anirudh was against this idea of ruining Bonditas life at such a young age.

Anirudh tried to oppose the villagers and eventually ended up getting married to Bondita. Now Anirudh is devasted as he has lost her childhood love Sudamini since he is married to Bondita now and he disagrees to complete the post-marriage ritual.

Bondita is missing her home and wants to visit her family, but she cant leave her laws house unless she and Anirudh perform the post-wedding rituals. Anirudh feels bad for Bondita and at last, agrees to complete the rituals for the sake of Bondita.

Also Read: Mujhse Shaadi Karoge: Shehnaaz Gill cries, threatens Shehbaaz to chuck him out from the show, watch video

Anirudh has definitely agreed to perform the post-wedding rituals but he has not accepted Bondita as his wife yet. He is still devastated Sudamini is no longer by his side. Bondita is totally unaware of this as she is just a small child.

Also Read: Patiala Babes: New twist, Khatri questions Kammos character

Barrister Babu is a family drama television serial telecasted on Colors TV. Aura Bhatnagar plays the role of Bondita Roy Chaudhary and Pravisht Mishra plays the role of Anirudh Roy Chaudhary in the daily soap. The series premiered on 11 February 2020 and has completed 18 episodes till now. The show is telecasted from Monday to Friday at 8:30 PM on Colors TV.

Also Read: PM Narendra Modi calls off Holi milan in shadow of coronavirus, advises caution

It will be very interesting to see how the post-wedding rituals are performed and when will Anirudh accepts Bondita as his better-half.

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
Bengaluru: A dowry harassment and criminal assault case has been booked against former Flipcart co-founder and young tech industrialist Sachin Bansal by his wife Priya Bansal at the Koramangala police station.

Police registered cases under the Indian Penal Code and Dowry Prohibition Act on February 28. The complainant Priya Bansal also alleged torture by his parents and brother.Priya Bansal alleged that not only had Sachin tortured for dowry before marriage, but also mental and physical torture by him continued from 2008 to the present day. "I have been forced to transfer my property to the name of my husband. When I rejected the idea, Sachin assaulted me. His parents and brother also pressurised me to bring dowry," she stated in the complaint.

Priya Bansal further alleged that Sachin Bansal also sexually harassed her sister when she was in Delhi. Police said that though there is mention of this incident in the FIR, appropriate sections have not been applied yet.

Police have registered case under IPC 498 A (dowry harassment) and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

Priya Bansal explained that she married Sachin Bansal in 2008 as per the wishes of elders in Chandigarh. Sachin's parents have demanded dowry and gifts before marriage. She had also mentioned that her parents had spent Rs 50 lakh on marriage. Sachin had also got Rs 11 lakh for car before the day of wedding, she alleged.

DCP South East Srinath Mahadev Joshi stated that a case has been registered in Koramangala police station and further action would be taken based on the basis of investigation of the case.

Deccan Chronicle has reached out to Sachin Bansal this morning on WhatsApp, mobile phone and SMS for his response, which is awaited. It will posted when received.
March 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Export Development Canada is promising greater transparency in the way it discloses rejections related to corruption and financial crimes. https://tgam.ca/2VEPKln

** Ontario Premier Doug Ford said mining in the remote Ring of Fire region would add C$9.4 billion ($7.04 billion) to the province's gross domestic product. https://tgam.ca/2PKp52M

NATIONAL POST

** Canada's Suncor Energy Inc said it expects to spend next six years before regulators on its Base Mine Extension project, which it doesn't expect to begin operating until 2030. https://bit.ly/32NZDi5

($1 = 1.3351 Canadian dollars) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
A former funeral director has admitted to forging death certificates for 13 people who were still alive so he could receive payouts from their insurance companies.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former funeral director has admitted to forging death certificates for 13 people who were still alive so he could receive payouts from their insurance companies.

Mike Knysh, the former owner-operator of Knysh Funeral Chapel, was set to stand trial in April, but instead entered guilty pleas to the offences Tuesday in Winnipeg court.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Mike Knysh, the former owner-operator of Knysh Funeral Chapel, pled guilty to forging death certificates for 13 people who were still alive Tuesday in Winnipeg court.

Prosecutors stayed 11 additional counts of fraud.

Knysh, who operated locations both in Winnipeg and Beausejour, was arrested in April 2018 following a year-long investigation by the Winnipeg Police Services financial crimes unit.

Court heard between 2004 and 2014, Knysh forged death certificates for 13 living customers, which he then filed with two insurance companies, Assurant Life of Canada and Foresters Financial.

"As a result of filing these forged statements, the accuseds company received funds from the insurance companies to pay the funeral expenses of these 13 individuals," Crown attorney Mandy Ambrose told Queens Bench Justice Chris Martin.

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An investigation was opened after Winnipeg police received a tip from someone within the funeral services industry, financial crimes unit Sgt. Shaun Veldman said at the time of Knyshs arrest.

Veldman said the investigation was long and complex and primarily spearheaded by a single investigator.

"(These investigations) are difficult in that they take time," he said. "They require a lot of interviews and dealing with different agencies, different entities And then getting authorization from the court to get records, and all that just takes time."

Knysh Funeral Chapel in Winnipeg, previously located on the 600 block of Fife Street, was licensed with the Funeral Board of Manitoba, the provincial regulatory body for the industry, from 1998 to 2012.

The Beausejour location was in operation from 2012 to March 2013, when it was destroyed in a fire.

Knysh will return to court for sentencing on April 14. He remains free on bail.
A 74-year-old woman in western Switzerland has died after contracting the new coronavirus, the countrys first death from the rapidly spreading disease outbreak, regional police said on March 5.

The woman had been hospitalized at Lausannes University Hospital in the canton of Vaud since Tuesday, police said. She was a high-risk patient suffering from chronic disease, authorities added.

In Switzerland, 58 infections have been confirmed so far. The country has frequent exchanges with neighbor Italy, where around 3,100 people have been diagnosed with the disease and 107 died, as well as France and Germany, where coronavirus cases have also been reported.

Swiss health authorities said on Wednesday that so far mostly young people had contracted the disease in Switzerland, but were likely to pass it on to older people who are more at risk.

The Swiss government has banned events and gatherings of more than 1,000 people and advised people to keep their distance, avoid shaking hands, and refrain from the traditional Swiss triple-kiss greeting.

Companies like UBS and Nestle have imposed travel bans, while fragrance maker Givaudan on Wednesday opted to shutter a site near Zurich because an employee contracted the disease.

By John Miller and Silke Koltrowitz
Samsung is continuing its success story after more than a decade in Vietnam. Photo: Le Toan

The South Korean conglomerate plans to start construction of the largest R&D centre in the country in Hanoi, even though its construction ceremony is likely to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Over the past couple of years, Samsung has shifted the bulk of its device production to India and Vietnam, and there have been no reports of these units being affected by the health crisis, as opposed to other big tech groups such as Apple. Samsung has insisted that all operations in Vietnam continue as usual.

The large-scale R&D centre will further reinforce Samsungs commitment to do business in Vietnam. Under the plan, the group expects to provide 3,000 local jobs.

Huge investment from Samsung was previously pumped into the northern province of Bac Ninh, then the group rented 2,000 square metres in Hanois PVI Building to develop Samsung Vietnam Mobile R&D Center, contributing a vital role in Samsungs global R&D activities.

The new centre will become the largest for the tech giant in Southeast Asia, becoming a leader towards researching, deploying, and applying new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In addition, the centre will also be a place to train high-tech human resources and especially technologies such as AI and big data.

Along with a focus on complexes in the northern province of Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh, Samsung is focusing on R&D activities such as those at Samsung Electronics HCMC CE Complex in Ho Chi Minh City, where home appliances such as washing machines are manufactured.

Samsungs strong commitments in R&D activities are reaffirming Vietnam as a key destination for international enterprises global production bases.

The country is witnessing similar activities from other enterprises. German technology group Bosch boasts two R&D centres in Ho Chi Minh City, demonstrating its strong commitment to invest further in Vietnam which the company believed will soon become a regional R&D hub.

Besides those, US-based Qualcomm and Grab are also reportedly in discussions for further advances in this area.

Vietnam is trying to lure in high technologies and research in an attempt to create a new role for itself in the context of Industry 4.0.

Notably, the Politburos Resolution No.50-NQ/TW issued last August on directions for improving institutions and policies to enhance the quality and effectiveness of foreign investment co-operation to 2030 sets incentives for strategic investors and multinational groups that wish to invest in national key projects and high-tech projects.

Vietnam targets attracting up to $200 billion, equal to $40 billion per year, in registered capital during 2021-2025; and $300 billion, equal to $50 billion per year, during 2026-2030. Disbursed investment capital will hover around $100-150 billion during 2021-2025, and $150-200 billion during 2026-2030, according to Resolution 50.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced it is accepting bids for a river tubing concession in the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park.

This comes a year after it decided not to renew a concession agreement with Delaware River Tubing, Inc., which continued to operate on the river during the summer of 2019 despite the lack of an agreement.

Greg Crance of Delaware River Tubing said he intends to continue offering tours this summer. Crance, who has operated a hotdog stand on a platform stationed in the middle of the Delaware River since 1987, said his tubing company will reopen this May.

Were not going away, Crance said. But were struggling when we used to be thriving. Now were barely surviving, strictly because of (the state).

The state DEP did not respond to a request for comment.

Crance, said I dont know and I dont care" when asked what impact another tubing company operating on the same stretch of river would have on his business. Crance added that other outfitters have utilized the river and coexisted with the business in the past.

The Alexandria Township-based company, which won the New Jersey Governors Tourism Award in 2011 and again in 2017, received dozens of citations from State Park Police while operating last year.

Under its prior concession agreement, the tubing company had been able to access State Park land to drop off and pick up customers along the river. The company received fines between $1,000 and $4,500 for each violation for using state-owned lots to pick up and drop off tubers, for using state-operated parking areas and launching its support boats into the river without a boat pass, according to the state DEP.

It also was fined by Alexandria and Kingwood townships, whose officials claimed the tubing company was not following local ordinances.

The state is asking bidders to submit a completed pre-qualification application, as well as a bid proposal form, by noon on March 31 to be considered for a concession. Bid applications will be evaluated by a committee that will include participants in the agencys Natural and Historic Resources Offices.

Delaware River Tubing is not allowed to apply for a bid both because its prior agreement with the state was terminated and because it owes New Jersey $43,000, according to the DEP.

Crance described the concession opportunity as extremely disgusting.

It really highlights the depth of (the states) corruption," Crance said.

Delaware River Tubing continues to contest the citations issued by State Park Police on the grounds of the public trust doctrine, Crance arguing that the state doesnt have the authority to restrict the business from State Park lands because the Delaware River is, by federal statute, a public navigable waterway.

According to Crance, a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday in the Hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington.

Caroline Fassett can be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.

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A puppy has been reunited with his owner after it was stolen in the street at knifepoint.

The British bulldog named Spot was found wandering in the street after he was snatched in Orpington, south-east London, on Tuesday morning.

The week-old puppy was taken during an alleged armed robbery in Lullingstone Crescent at around 8.50am, Scotland Yard said.

Spot and his owner - a man in his early 30s - were approaching the junction with Grovelands Road when two men jumped out of a white Mercedes CLA Sport, the Metropolitan Police said in an earlier appeal.

Spot has been reuinted with his owner / PA

The driver of the car produced a knife and threatened the victim before stealing the puppy and fleeing in the car, the force said.
Adopt the ArtsBlack Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith will be honored at the 2020 Sound & Vision gala and awards ceremony, scheduled for May 12 in Los Angeles.

The gala, which will be held at The Avalon Theatre, is the eighth intallment of an annual benefit concert hosted by Adopt the Arts, a music-and-arts education organization co-founded by former Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum.

Smith and Butler, along with acclaimed visual artist Shepard Fairey, will be recognized at the event for their "meaningful impact on our culture through their music and art."

The night will also feature performances from GN'R guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, Metallica's Robert Trujillo, Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, Velvet Revolver's Dave Kushner, Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, The Cult's Billy Duffy and Ozzy Osbourne's Ordinary Man producer and guitarist Andrew Watt.

"Doing these annual events for Adopt the Arts are always rewarding with so many great artists stepping in to help out," says Sorum in a statement. "I'm very grateful for all of my musician and artist friends who I've met throughout my career that believe in this organization."

He adds, "I feel this year might be our best yet with the great Chad Smith and Geezer Butler along with the incredible Shepard Fairey as our honorees. This show is going to Rock!"

Previous honorees have included ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, late Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, Cheap Trick's Robin Zander, ex-Deep Purple bassist/singer Glenn Hughes, Sammy Hagar and Moby.

For more info, visit AdopttheArts.org.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
ITHACA, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. ("Odyssey" or the "Company"), a semiconductor device company developing innovative high-voltage power switching components and systems based on proprietary Gallium Nitride (GaN) processing technology, announced today that Rick Brown, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO, will attend and be available for one-on-one meetings at the 32nd Annual Roth investor conference.

Fund managers interested in speaking with Odyssey can email oneononerequests@roth.com to set up a meeting with Rick Brown at the event.

The Roth Conference Main Event will be held March 15-17, 2020 at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, California.

Odyssey is currently developing its innovative and disruptive technology to produce GaN-based high voltage switching power conversion devices and systems that may quickly supplant silicon carbide (SiC) as the dominant premium power switching device material.

GaN-based systems outperform silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) based systems due to the superior material properties of GaN. To date, processing challenges have limited GaN devices to operating voltages below 1,000 V. Odyssey has developed a novel technique that will allow GaN to be processed in a manner that, for the first time, will make production of high voltage GaN power switching devices operating above 1,000 V viable.

The Company recently acquired a 10,000 sq. ft. facility complete with a mix of class 1,000 and class 10,000 clean space as well as tools for advanced semiconductor development and production. It is ideal for compound semiconductor device development and small-scale production with a wafer capacity exceeding 10,000 wafers/year. With the acquisition, the Company can significantly accelerate the development of its disruptive GaN power-switching transistor products operating above 1,000V.

The premium power switching device market - which is described as applications where Si systems perform insufficiently - is projected to reach over $3.5B by 2025 and is currently dominated by the semiconductor material SiC. This growth is largely driven by the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and the growing number of installations of renewables such as solar and wind power as well as increased demand for more efficient industrial motor drives.

About Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.

Odyssey is developing disruptive proprietary technology that will allow for gallium nitride (GaN) to replace silicon carbide (SiC) as the leading high voltage power switching semiconductor material. Based in Ithaca, NY, the Company operates a 10,000 sq.ft. semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility complete with with a mix of class 1,000 and class 10,000 clean space as well as tools for advanced semiconductor development and production. Odyssey also offers a world-class semiconductor device development and foundry service, filling the gap between university labs and large-scale wafer foundries. For more information, please visit https://www.odysseysemi.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without limitation, risks relating to the results of our research and development activities, including uncertainties relating to semiconductor process manufacturing; the early stage of our GaN-based technology presently under development; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights that are valuable to our business, including patent and other intellectual property rights; our ability to successfully market and sell our technologies; the ability to achieve high volume manufacturing and the size and growth of the potential markets for any of our technologies, the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our technologies and our ability to raise funding to support operations and the continued development and qualification of our technology.

In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements regarding future events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or privately any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.

Richard Brown, Ph.D., CEO

607-351-9768

rick.brown@odysseysemi.com

SOURCE: Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579167/Odyssey-Semiconductor-to-Attend-the-32nd-Annual-Roth-Conference-March-15-17-2020
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

A cruise ship is being held off the coast of Central California Thursday morning to test passengers for the coronavirus, after a 71-year-old passenger from a previous voyage died from the illness and at least one other became infected. The ship is banned from docking in San Francisco or other ports until passengers have been assessed.

A dozen crew members and 11 passengers aboard the Grand Princess had symptoms that could be coronavirus, flu or the common cold, health officials said. The ship is carrying about 2,500 people and half are from California.

The state is using U.S. Coast Guard helicopters to fly about 100 COVID-19 testing kits out to the ship, which won't be allowed to dock until the test results are completed, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

The tests will be conducted at an East Bay laboratory in Richmond, said Newsom.

The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers, Newsom said.

Princess Cruise said in a statement, "Out of an abundance of caution, all guests who have been identified for testing have been asked to remain in their staterooms. We will continue to proceed under the guidance of the U.S. CDC and local authorities.

The deceased 71-year-old patient had underlying health conditions and died at a hospital in Roseville in Placer County, near Sacramento. He may have contracted the infection while on the Grand Princess in February when it traveled round-trip from San Francisco to Mexico last month, authorities said.

Another passenger who contracted the COVID-19 virus was in stable condition at a hospital in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco.

The passenger contingent includes 62 guests who were on the cruise to Mexico but stayed aboard the Grand Princess for a current cruise to Hawaii. Those passengers were told to stay in their staterooms until cleared by medical staff, according to a message to guests Wednesday from Dr. Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for Princess Cruises.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is working with California authorities to contact other passengers from the previous trip, CDC Director Robert Redfield said Wednesday at a White House briefing.

"Were at the very beginning of that, looking at the manifest to make sure that we understand who has gotten off the cruise and where they got off the cruise, Redfield said.

The cruise company also operates the Diamond Princess, which docked in Japan in January. Dozens of passengers contracted the virus. Hundreds of passengers were flown to U.S. military bases to be quarantined until tests cleared them.

ALSO: Are children at a lower risk for coronavirus complications?

The announcement came as California became the third U.S. state to declare a state of emergency over the virus, after Washington and Florida.

Newsom said California is particularly focused on senior centers, nursing homes and other care facilities where people live together in light of the outbreak in Washington state that has already killed 10 there.

Six new California cases were confirmed, including a medical screener at Los Angeles International Airport who was said to have mild symptoms and was under quarantine at home.

It was unclear if the screener contracted the virus through their work at the airport or from so-called community transmission, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. No travelers screened at the Los Angeles airport have tested positive for the virus.

California has had 53 confirmed cases of coronavirus. While most people have shown mild symptoms, such as fever and a cough, health officials on Wednesday confirmed that California had the first fatal case in the U.S.

In all, more than 94,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, with more than 3,200 deaths. WHO reports that the COVID-19 virus is more fatal than the common flu.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.

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African nations are looking to drive economic development to ensure a better future for their citizens.

One example of such a country is Kenya, which has developed the Kenya Vision 2030 development plan.

This plan seeks to create a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030.

Kenyas Big 4 Agenda has also been designed to develop the countrys economy and one of its pillars involves the revamping of the countrys manufacturing sector.

The goal of this is to increase the manufacturing sectors contribution to Kenyas GDP from 9.2% to 20% by 2022.

This will accelerate economic growth, create more jobs, and reduce poverty within the country.

However, this sector is currently small relative to other sectors like agriculture and services, and its share of the Kenyan GDP has declined over the years.

To support the growth of the Kenyan manufacturing sector, innovative approaches have been investigated and identified.

Investigating the Kenyan manufacturing sector

ERP provider SYSPRO and Strathmore University partnered to investigate the current state of the manufacturing industry in Kenya, as well as to determine what innovations and technologies could boost the sector moving forward.

Historically, reasons for Kenyas manufacturing sectors poor performance included a lack of access to an effective labour force, insufficient infrastructure, political uncertainty, corruption, and a poor business environment.

However, more recently, issues have included electricity issues, a lack of finance, and perceived competition from the informal sector are also among the biggest obstacles facing the sector.

Analysis of various manufacturing businesses found that manufacturing businesses were operating using outdated technologies, with siloed value chains, and suffering a lack of skills  both managerially and at a technical level.

For this reason, The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) launched the Manufacturing Priority Agenda (MPA) to work out where investment is needed in terms of skills and the creating of a beneficial environment for smaller manufacturing enterprises.

Technological issues

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) comprise two thirds of all Kenyan manufacturing firms.

Most of these businesses have not been able to access the full benefits technology provides them  largely due to the costs involved.

This means that these manufacturing businesses are using outdated systems and technologies, and as a result they cant keep up with modern global standards.

Some companies, however, were able to modernise their equipment and systems to keep up with global standards across the board.

Modern technologies are becoming cheaper and more efficient  allowing businesses with less capital to still access the immense benefits of high-quality manufacturing technologies.

For example, SYSPROs ERP systems are specialised for individual manufacturing industries and offer great value.

They are accessible to Kenyan manufacturing businesses and can help these firms take their processes to the next level in terms of long-term financial and productivity benefits.

Another issue faced by Kenyan manufacturing firms, however, is that they dont have a strong relationship with the technology sector  meaning they are unable to access important technological assistance to deal with problems unique to Kenya such as an unstable power supply.

Research and results

The research team in this study surveyed 96 manufacturing businesses in 12 sectors and three Kenyan counties.

Some key insights include the following:

Only 10.3% of the surveyed manufacturing businesses had fully automated systems; the rest were either completely manual, or only partially automated.

The most important benefit these businesses wanted from automation was increased business efficiency.

The main barriers to automation include high software costs and a lack of technical skills to implement automation.

34% of manufacturing businesses surveyed had no ERP installed.

View the below infographic for more insights.

The importance of an ERP

One standout result from the survey was that over a third of the businesses did not have an ERP installed.

ERPs offer large production advantages to manufacturers, particularly due to how they can provide businesses with a comprehensive view of their various business processes.

Without ERP systems, Kenyan manufacturers are significantly hampered relative to their international competition, who through using ERPs, have fully-automated systems and get the additional benefits of reduced production costs and increased productivity.

These were two of the biggest themes that those surveyed identified as being important to their businesses.

If your manufacturing business does not have an ERP installed, you should consider implementing one  as it will save your business money and improve efficiency via the automation of various tasks.

To download the full report, click here.
Thursday, March 5th, 2020 (9:44 am) - Score 8,381

Were receiving quite a few reports from Virgin Medias UK cable broadband ISP and TV customers (including business clients  other ISPs will be impacted), specifically those resident along the south coast of England (Dorset, Hampshire etc.), which claim that a major service outage is occurring in that area.

The reports are currently quite sporadic, with some claiming that the issue started at around 11:30pm last night (and it hasnt been back up since) and most others only spotting the problem since waking up this morning at around 7am. We did attempt to check Virgin Medias service status page with a few postcodes but it is also faulty and returning a not at all ironic message of Oops somethings broken.

Sadly Virgin Medias Twitter and Facebook pages have yet to be updated with a general statement, although some of their staff have said this in response to individual complaints: We are aware of an issue affecting services for customers in Southampton and some surrounding areas. We are working to fix the issue as quickly as possible and apologise for any inconvenience (note: the issue is impacting a much wider area than just Southampton).

A number of other sources have alleged that the problem may be caused by a breakage on two of the operators key fibre optic cables for their access network (Entanet points the finger at cables 96f and 160f). On top of that its further claimed that this might have even been cut by Virgin Medias own team during Planned Works  ref: C01096591 (we are trying to verify those reports).

According to some of Virgin Medias business clients, engineers are at the location and fibre splicing is already taking place. Apparently 2km of new cable will be needed to replace the existing 96f (critical services on the 160f cable should be back online sooner, we hope).

UPDATE 10:01am

Some of the operators business clients are confirming that the outage began before midnight last night (11:45pm seems to be an agreed time) and that other ISPs, such as Sky Broadband, are likely to be affected. One has expressed surprise that so many services have been hit by a single point of failure.

The official statement given to us by Virgin Media is sadly identical to the one that their support staff have been repeating above. Meanwhile theyve yet to put a general notice on their Twitter or Facebook pages.

UPDATE 12:27pm

The impact of the problem is also being felt in parts of Somerset and Wiltshire.

UPDATE 12:48pm

Surprisingly Virgin Media have yet to post a central public update to their social media channels (their service status page also continues to be offline), although we are hearing that some customers are slowly coming back online and there is a community forum post about it.

Sadly this isnt the first time that Virgin has dropped the ball when it comes to keeping their customers informed about a major outage (or in this case, failing to keep them informed). We also note that their outage appears to be affecting the Southern NHS.

Some of our services do not have access to phone or e-mail due to a Virgin network issue. Virgin media are working to restore services asap. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. https://t.co/GREkN481Vb  Southern Health NHS (@Southern_NHSFT) March 5, 2020

UPDATE 4:49pm

A Spokesperson for Virgin Media has just told ISPreview.co.uk: The issue impacting services for customers in Southampton and some surrounding areas has been fixed and services have been restored. We apologise for any inconvenience experienced while services were disrupted.
Dr Jeremy Samuel Faust, emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, said people should not be anxious about the outbreak

A leading Harvard doctor has claimed that coronavirus isnt anywhere near as fatal as people fear, saying the real death rate is less than 1 percent - far lower than the World Health Organizations alarming figures of 3.4 percent.

Dr Jeremy Samuel Faust, emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, said people should not be anxious about the outbreak and stop hoarding food and masks in preparations to self-isolate, in a post he penned for Slate.

Initial reports suggested about two to three percent of people who get the disease will die, similar to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic which wiped out over 50 million people worldwide.

The World Health Organization has upped the figure further to 3.4 percent.

While directors of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given a lower rate of 1 percent.

However, Faust said that the real case fatality rate, known as CFR, is actually lower than each of these reports.

He said that looking at the Diamond Princess ship gives a better indication of how fatal the disease is than global statistics, because it provided a controlled environment to study how the disease spread.

A quarantined boat is an idealif unfortunatenatural laboratory to study a virus. Many variables normally impossible to control are controlled, wrote Faust.

The doctor slammed the frightening numbers for the global death rate of coronavirus which are not only conflicting, but massively overstate the risk to people

We know that all but one patient boarded the boat without the virus. We know that the other passengers were healthy enough to travel. We know their whereabouts and exposures.

Around 705 passengers out of the 3,711 on board the boat caught coronavirus.

More than half did not show any symptoms or signs of illness.

Six people from the boat have died, giving a death rate of 0.85 percent, Faust said.

However, he added that not a single death among passengers has been in a person under 70, showing the rate is lower still in younger cases.

Faust said that looking at the doomed cruise ship, which became a hotbed for the infection, provides more realistic figures of how fatal contracting the disease is. Around 705 passengers out of the 3,711 on board the boat caught coronavirus but only six have died, giving a death rate of 0.85 percent

The data from the Diamond Princess suggest an eightfold lower mortality amongst patients older than 70 and threefold lower mortality in patients over 80 compared to what was reported in China initially, he wrote.

But even those numbers, 1.1 percent and 4.9 percent respectively, are concerning. But theres another thing thats worth remembering: These patients were likely exposed repeatedly to concentrated viral loads (which can cause worse illness). Some treatments were delayed. So even the lower CFR found on the Diamond Princess could have been even lower, with proper protocols.

He also cast doubt on the death toll in China, saying it is impossible to know how many people in China were already ill before being infected with the virus  and how many actually died of coronavirus and not a similar illness.

He also pointed out that 25,000 people die in China every day, while just 25 coronavirus deaths have been reported per day in the country at the height of the outbreak.

The doctor slammed the frightening numbers which he said are not only conflicting, but massively overstate the risk to people.

People are pictured wearing masks in New York on Tuesday. Faust also goes on to raise doubts over the death toll reported from China. He said it is impossible to know how many people in China were already ill before being infected with the virus  and how many actually died of coronavirus and not a similar illness

A woman wears a protective mask at a local market on Wednesday in Beijing. Faust points out that 25,000 people die in China every day, a high proportion of which is due to respiratory diseases which show symptoms similar to coronavirus

He pointed out that 25,000 people die in China every day, a high proportion of which is due to respiratory diseases which show symptoms similar to coronavirus.

Figures from China show that just 25 of the typical 25,000 daily deaths were from coronavirus at the peak of the outbreak and many of the deaths were of individuals in the same age groups and in the same areas where the deaths from respiratory diseases was already high.

Most were older patients in whom the chronic diseases listed above are prevalent. Most deaths occurred in Hubei province, an area in which lung cancer and emphysema/COPD are significantly higher than national averages in China, a country where half of all men smoke, wrote Faust.

How were doctors supposed to sort out which of those 25 out of 25,000 daily deaths were solely due to coronavirus, and which were more complicated?

Coronavirus is a relatively benign disease for young people and, though it is dangerous for the elderly and chronically ill, the dangers are far lower than people think, Faust said.

Fausts claims may provide welcome relief as fears over coronavirus have been spreading faster than the disease itself.

Eleven people have now died from coronavirus in the US and the number of confirmed cases has soared to more than 150.

Ten of the deaths have occurred in Washington state while California recorded its first death on Wednesday, among an elderly patient with underlying health conditions who is thought to have been exposed on a cruise ship from San Francisco to Mexico in early February.

At least six of the 10 deaths in Washington are linked to the senior living facility, Life Care Center, near Seattle, where most residents are elderly or have chronic conditions.

Faust said the heightened risk for old people means the priority should be protecting these people.

People are pictured stockpiling supplies in a store in Los Angeles last week. Eleven people have now died from coronavirus in the US and the number of confirmed cases has soared to more than 150

Instead of stockpiling food, Faust said the public should be helping the elderly and infirm

Shelves where disinfectant wipes are usually displayed are nearly empty at a Target store in Novato, California on Monday. Sales of hand sanitizers alone were up 73 percent in the four weeks ending February 22 compared to the same period a year ago, according to market research firm Nielsen

He encouraged the public to focus on nursing homes and hospitals, where the old and ill reside rather than places like schools where healthy individuals are far more likely to survive.

Instead of stockpiling food, he said the public should be helping the elderly and infirm.

His comments come as panic buying across the US has ramped up in recent weeks, with anxious shoppers loading up on essential items such as bottled water, toilet paper, disinfectant, tinned food and cleaning products to prepare for the possibility of having to self-isolate.

Sales of hand sanitizers alone were up 73 percent in the four weeks ending February 22 compared to the same period a year ago, according to market research firm Nielsen.

Most if not all pharmacies and supermarkets have been out of face masks for more than a month, with little hope of restocking anytime soon as the US faces a shortage.

However, while hand sanitizer and face masks are flying off the shelves, Faust also warns that these are not effective in curbing the spread of the disease.

He wrote: (Yes, just wash your hands).
Ukraine plans to bring home nearly 200 people as part of the subsequent exchange of detainees with Temporarily Occupied Territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This was announced by Secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksii Danilov, Ukrainian Radio reports.

"The exchange lists are submitted, the exchange is constantly being agreed on, there is a separate group that deals with this issue. We are willing to take our prisoners back home. We are talking about almost 200 people," Danilov said.

He also commented on the scandal of the listing of persons who cooperated with the militants and abused the detained Ukrainians.

"This is a difficult question, I want to be cautious about it. Today, we have complicated processes where a person says something and then it is not completely confirmed ... People who have tortured and killed have no right for amnesty. We cannot amnesty killers. No one will ever forgive us, Secretary of the Security and Defense Council said.

As we reported earlier, according to Ukraine's ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko, the exchange of prisoners will happen before the Normandy format meeting.

"We are talking about a significant number of people. The president said today that we plan to exchange up to two hundred people, that is a lot. In fact, it's an almost all-for-all exchange," he said.
The attorney said Tansey was hospitalized for psychological treatment after the attack, which he said aggravated the trauma he experienced during his two tours of duty in Afghanistan. Tansey served in the Marine Corps for five years and was deployed in Afghanistan as a military vehicle operator from 2012 to 2013, according to a Marines spokeswoman. He rose to the rank of corporal before being discharged in 2013, the spokeswoman said. His LinkedIn page says his most recent employment was at an asphalt paving company in Arlington Heights.
Sharon Kleyne, Founder of Bio Logic Aqua Research

Air Date: 2 March 2020

Guest: Andrew Sherman, Partner in Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day and Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University.

https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/122055/my-harvesting-intangible-assets

International water evaporation researcher Sharon Kleyne believes that better education about intellectual property values (IP) will vastly improve global health and strengthen the U.S. economy.

I have spent thirty-five years studying the behavior of our health, says Kleyne, host of the internationally syndicated The Power of Water & Your Health sponsored by Nature's Tears EyeMist on VoiceAmerica and produced by Rose Hong, founder and director of Global Dragon TV in Washington, D.C., and I discovered that life is water. Life began with water. Water gives you the time to have eternity. Water invented you! Your life depends on your organs consisting of certain percentages of water. This, of course, makes all human beings water IP. I was shocked, adds Kleyne, to discover how many people dont know about IP. IP is written into the Constitution!

Andrew Sherman, bestselling author and partner in the Washington, D. C. office of Jones Day agrees. Yes, the Founding Fathers gave us a gift, says Sherman. IP laws are built into the Constitution. IP is also intellectual capital, intellectual assets and intangible assets.

Sherman, a veteran of thirty-three years as a transactional lawyer, noticed in time a seismic shift in our economy away from tangible assets (products, inventory, machinery) to intangible assets (buying brands, licensing, innovation). He also notices that many CEOs are focusing on the wrong things. CEOs need to be irrigating with a different kind of hose rather than putting out fires all the time, says Sherman. Then our economy will be growing at 4% to 5%, I promise you. Right now, using water as an example, were in one big global firefighting mindset, and thats not the best use of our resources.

Kleynes brother, M.B.A. School of Business at Wharton Ron Cowin, a global human resource development expert, head of human resources for Honeywell worldwide and an executive with the conference board before he passed away, taught her about IP values when she was launching her research center, Bio Logic Aqua Research Water Life Science. He encouraged her to strive for low debt and concentrated IP. Today, Kleyne points to 5-year- term golden parachutes through which the highest executives were rewarded at the expense of funding company innovation that would grow confidential IP. That shift away from the importance of IP impacts every level of the economy, right on down to the kitchen tables across America, warns Kleyne.

Sherman concurs, adding that activist shareholders are now expecting their leaders to be irrigators, to drive research and development and realize greater IP values and profits. Yet 98 percent of boards across America are focused on the wrong things, on crisis management, litigation, and not on developing and protecting IP.

In his new book, The Crisis of Engagement, Sherman zeros in on what he sees as the biggest threat to IP values and the U.S. economy. Innovation, says Sherman, most often happens incrementally by the average employee in a company. Its not always the Ph.D or scientist who is paid a lot of money to innovate. Sometimes the best ideas are at the middle or lower levels of a company, but only if your people are interested in what the company does and only if theyre engaged and aligned with the values of the company.

Citing a recent Gallup study, Sherman says he was devastated to learn that 51% of the American workforce considers itself disengaged, while an additional 20% admits to feeling highly disengaged. This is a failure to create a necessary culture of innovation. Employee disengagement is too high.

Kleyne notes that this situation is a far cry from the days when the Mars candy bar was invented by an employee; post-its, too. Even the Big Mac was invented by a recently deceased franchise owner in Pittsburgh.

HR people are not being invited into the innovation discussions like they should, adds Sherman. People event things, not machines.

Kleyne and Sherman agree that better education about IP is necessary. Kleyne cites the lemonade stand movement in schools across America that teach children how to become entrepreneurs, competing and creating business plans. She urges new technology education for children and young people now before it is too late.

*

If you would like to listen to the talk radio program organized by program director Rose Hong of Global Dragon TV featuring Andrew Sherman, bestselling author, partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day and Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University and Health Olympics new water technology educator and evaporative dry eye researcher Sharon Kleyne as they discuss intellectual property values, innovation, corporate cultures, education, water and evaporation, follow this link:

https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/122055/my-harvesting-intangible-assets

If you would like to watch a very brief, entertaining educational film that demonstrates the application of the new Dry Eye Solution technology Natures Tears EyeMist, sponsor of Sharon Kleynes talk radio program, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0gOr8TB45U
Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) said the operations of the company in March, 2020 have been impacted due to supply disruptions of certain critical components for production of BS-VI vehicles on account of outbreak of Coronavirus in China and fire at a plant of a major supplier which is estimated to result into reduction in production / sales volume of the company (Automotive Division) and Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturer, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, by around 12,000 units in the month of March, 2020.

Reliance Industries (RIL) informed that Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), a subsidiary of RIL, has acquired 7,86,191 equity shares representing 100% of the equity share capital of Shri Kannan Departmental Store (SKDS) for a consideration of Rs 152.5 crore.

Maruti Suzuki India partnered with HDB Financial Service, a leading NonBanking Financial Company, to provide customized and attractive car loans for customers. The tie up will facilitate loans for both new and used cars.

HDFC reduced its retail prime lending rate on housing loans by 5 basis points with effect from 9 March 2020. The change will benefit all existing HDFC retail home loan customers.

Allcargo Logistics said that the company has received SEBI approval on its open offer to acquire approximately 3.17 crore shares or 26% stake in Gati at Rs 75 a share. On full acceptance of the open offer it will take Allcargo's stake in Gati to 46.83%. The open offer is expected to be launched in March 2020 and closed by April 2020.

Bank of Baroda said Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) affirmed its domestic and foreign bank long term and short term deposit ratings of Baa3, stable/P-3, and Bank of Baroda (London)'s foreign currency senior unsecured rating of Baa3, stable. Moody's has also affirmed the London branch's foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating of (P)Baa3. At the same time, Moody's has downgraded BOB's Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA to ba3 from ba2.

Tata Steel said that a meeting of the committee of directors will be held on Monday, 9 March 2020, to consider and approve the issuance of unsecured Non-Convertible Debentures on private placement basis

Indusind Bank said that a meeting of the board of directors of the Bank will be held on 9 March 2020 to consider and approve raising of funds

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coronavirus outbreak hit at the busiest time of year for crayfish exporters, around the lucrative Chinese New Year festivities in February, when lobsters are in high demand.

It is estimated just under 400 tonnes of lobster were not caught because sales to China collapsed due to the virus.

New Zealand fishers had already paid to catch those 400 tonnes at $50 a kilo, because the right to catch fish costs money, under a system known as ACE, or Annual Catch Entitlement. This is part of the quota management system.

To alleviate those losses, after consultation with the industry the government yesterday announced it would allow fishing companies to carry forward 10 per cent of the unused catch entitlements to next year.

The Rock Lobster Industry Council's chief executive, Mark Edwards, says while this did give the industry some certainty, a large number of ACE owners would be "bitterly disappointed" to be told they would have to forfeit significant amounts of unused ACE already paid for.

The government announcement meant that more than 290 tonnes of unused ACE will be forfeit with the attendant loss of $34 million in export revenue and further direct losses when the cost of ACE is written off, Mark says.

"These losses will compound the financial hardship faced by many small businesses including the inability to service debt, possible foreclosure and loss of property and vessels," he says.

Last month, the government said it would allow lobsters sitting in holding tanks on land and in pots at sea, which were now surplus to requirements, to be released back into the wild, providing they met specific criteria.

Mark says many fishers had been holding off making a decision on whether to release fish while they waited for yesterday's announcement.

It would likely force some operators to try and cut their losses by opting to use their current entitlements before they expired - despite the very poor market returns, he says.

"There are overseas frozen tail markets for example, but they return about a third of what the export returns would have been in the Chinese market," he says.

The Minister of Fisheries, Stuart Nash, says the decision to move forward with a 10 percent rollover of this year's uncaught rock lobster entitlement took many factors into account.

"I do understand that for a number of cray fishermen this is really tough times, obviously they haven't got cash flow coming in, we thought we sort of got the balance right in terms of sustainability but also helping the industry."

Stuart says there was support available for affected business and workers through Inland Revenue and the Ministry for Social Development.

"If you require some measure of tax relief I would call the Inland Revenue, or I would go into your local WINZ office to see, again what can be done there," Nash says.

He says the disruptions to the sector had prompted him to question the industry as to why it had placed all its reliance on one export market.

"When 98 percent of rock lobsters go to one country and the predominant number of these are for one festival, then they do leave themselves exposed."

-RNZ/Maja Burry
Five overground workers of Hizbul Mujahideen were arrested after police busted a terror module in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Thursday.

The module was active in Mardwa area of the district, they said.

Mohmmad Yaseen, Zakir Hussain, Gulam Hassan, Mohmmad Iqbal and Bashir Ahmed were arrested on Wednesday, the officials said, adding that they were being interrogated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yesterday during remarks at the AIPAC annual conference, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referred to the recent publication by the UN Human Rights Office of a database of companies that operate in the West Bank. Pompeo defined the report as a real threat that only serves to facilitate the BDS movement and delegitimize Israel. Pompeo declared that the United States will take actions on behalf of the members of our business community that are being threatened by this release.

The UN Human Rights Office on Feb. 12 published a database of 112 companies that operate in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The vast majority of the listed companies provide basic goods and services to the people living in these disputed territories.

The database was originally slated to be released in March. However, it appears the United Nations released it early as part of its effort to counter the Trump administrations new Middle East peace plan. The plan seeks to legalize Israels control over some of the territory it conquered in the 1967 Six Day War and has controlled ever since.

As Pompeo pointed out, the release of the database is also designed to do one more thing: to give a boost to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign that seeks to wage an economic war against Israel. The database is deliberately designed to assist their efforts to deter businesses from working with Israel.

The best evidence that the UN Human Rights Council does not seek to act against foreign occupation of lands, but against Israel, is the fact that the database collects information on activities only in territories controlled by Israel, and not all territories regarded by the United Nations as under occupation. Indeed, the list does not include companies operating in Russias occupations in five regions in neighboring countries. Nor does it include businesses in Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara, Kashmir, Nagorno-Karabakh, to name just a few. The list immediately lacks credibility because it ignores these conflicts.

The UNs selective outrage and discrimination is best exemplified in their blacklist of leading international tourism services companies, such as Airbnb, booking.com, and TripAdvisor. These same companies offer services in other disputed territories and areas under occupation, but are subject to no UN condemnation for this activity.

Here the contrast in the UNs policies is extraordinary: these same companies offer services in the settlement projects of other disputed and occupied territories but are subject to no condemnation for this activity. Most of Israels settlements are on public lands, and the tourism services are offered there for new homes built after Israels conquest of the territory. However, in contrast, in other conflict zones Airbnb, booking.com, TripAdvisor openly advertise homes and services in the homes of actual refugees.

In fact, these sites advertise specific dwellings that belonged to Azerbaijani refugees driven from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory under Armenian occupation since the early 1990s. Some of the original property owners have identified their homes in advertisements placed by Armenian settlers on Airbnb and other tourism sites.

Armenia has an extensive settlement project in its territories of Azerbaijan that it occupies. However, in contrast to Israels control of the West Bank, where the Palestinian population has been able to stay in their homes, Armenia expelled over 700,000 Azerbaijanis when it invaded the territories. This happened in 1992-1994, not generations ago. Armenias expulsion of the Azerbaijanis is the largest population expulsion in Europe since the end of World War II, yet is hardly known in the international system.

If the UN Human Right Office indeed wants to promote peace and be taken seriously as such, it should include in in the UN Human Rights Office database the business activity of all occupied territories and protracted conflicts. This would be a sign that it is truly interested in solving territorial disputes everywhere, not just one.

In fact, when it issued its blacklist, the UN Human Rights Office may have inadvertently opened the flood gates. In todays interconnected world, aggrieved parties are keenly aware of developments in other protracted conflicts. They will want to know why the worlds most prominent multilateral organization is willing to apply sanctions in one protracted conflict, but not others. The UN Human Rights Office must now be prepared to explain why some occupations are inconsequential, but only Israels control of the West Bank is deserving of a blacklist.

Brenda Shaffer, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Svante Cornell is the director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president at FDD, which recently published a monograph titled, Occupied Elsewhere: Selective policies on Occupations, Protracted Conflicts and Territorial Disputes. The views expressed are the authors' own.
Even James Bond is not immune to the coronavirus. On Wednesday, MGM and Universal Pictures announced that they will postpone the release of the next Bond film, No Time to Die, in response to public-health concerns about the recent COVID-19 outbreak. The filmwhich will serve as 52-year-old Daniel Craigs swan song as 007was slated to premiere March 31 in London, with a U.S. release date of April 10. It will now be released on Nov. 25.

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The coronavirus, which has been linked to more than 3,000 deaths globally, has prompted the closure of theaters in Italy, Korea, and China. China, where the disease is thought to have originated, is the second biggest movie market in the world, behind the U.S. Like every other global company, were looking at the marketplace and were trying to understand where the markets are down, an MGM spokesperson told CNN, adding that it was really an economic decision more than anything else.

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On Monday, several popular Bond fan sites published an open letter entitled No Time for Indecision addressed to the films producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, expressing concerns about risks associated with the premiere: With the Coronavirus reaching pandemic status, it is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of canceling publicity events. The letter makes a strong case for postponing the release, citing a recent 99.7 percent drop in Chinese box-office sales, and invoking lines from past Bond films to appeal to the studios conscience: Even if there are no legal restrictions on cinemas being open, to quote M in Skyfall, how safe do you feel? *

It would seem that the letter worked. No Time to Die is the first major Hollywood film to change its American release in response to the coronavirus. Whether other studios will follow suit remains to be seen.
While some countries are taking a stand against the use of facial recognition on the grounds of privacy invasion, Russia is taking the opposite view. A court in Moscow has ruled that the city's use of facial recognition does not violate the privacy of citizens.

Activists had hoped the courts would ban the use of the technology, which was rolled out in the city throughout 2019 -- the system cost at least 3.3 billion roubles ($50 million) and comprises more than 105,000 cameras.

The system -- which remained operational throughout the legal proceedings -- is now being used to ensure people are observing coronavirus quarantine, as well as to identify individuals at mass events and protests.

The case against Moscow's Department of Technology (DIT) was filed by lawyer and activist Alena Popova, who had a previous lawsuit dismissed on the same grounds. As Reuters reports, the outcome of this case has disappointed those concerned with the country's civil rights. "This ruling shows there are no legal defenses for facial recognition complaints," said Popova's lawyer, Kirill Koroteev.
HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cannafloria Essentials, the hemp-infused wellness collection of bath, body, and aromatherapy products from prolific manufacturer Aromafloria, announces an exclusive partnership with Universal Companies as its official distributor in the spa market.

This innovative product line contains an expertly developed blend of hemp seed oil and terpenes found in Cannafloria's proprietary THT (Thera Hemp Terpenes) technology, and targeted essential oil blendsa trifecta that is redefining the restorative properties of aromatherapy. This partnership will allow consumers to take part in the therapeutic experience of plant-based topicals with the helping hands of trained spa professionals.

The joint mission of this partnership is being at the forefront of the cannabis movement by letting consumers experience the mood-modulating benefits of the plant's compounds. Two forces have come together to enable spa-goers to combine skin care and beauty within as a holistic approach to wellness. Providing these unique products to dedicated spa professionals across the country allows for the power of education and experience to shine through. This is a union meant to deliver the mission of Cannafloria Essentials to consumers who seek uplifting encounters within the spa sector.

The partnership between Cannafloria Essentials and Universal Companies derives from two female-driven legacy brands continuously breaking barriers in the wellness world. A pioneer in the cannabis beauty sector, CEO of Aromafloria Wellness Brands, Sharon K. Christie has been devoted to sharing the plant's benefits throughout her 30-year career as a pharmacist, chemist, and aromatherapist.

Cannafloria Essentials' brand extension into the spa market is a logical next step for the integration of cannabis in the spa industry. Consumer interest has been on the rise, with more consumers adding self-care and spa treatments into their health regimes. "My goal is to not only help consumers achieve balance and wellness, but to be a resource that helps to provide a deep understanding about the powerful synergistic effects of hemp and aromatherapy," says Christie. "This alliance is an incredible opportunity to grow the cannabis market in the spa sector, giving consumers the chance to experience the mood-modulating benefits of my products first-hand. Neuroscience is validating that our wellness is determined by our mood."

Founder and Chairwoman Marti Morenings leads from a place a passion, inspiration, and mindfulness. "Spas are at the front and center of the 4.5 trillion wellness economy. Our partnership with Cannafloria gives us an opportunity to reach millions of consumers who are looking to their spa practitioners for self-care advice," says Morenings. Renowned for its commitment to providing quality product and service education for over 35 years, Universal Companies remains a trusted spa industry provider. She believes that this union among two leaders with great respect for one another and the industry, will help to spread the word about hemp seed oil and terpene benefits for overall wellness.

The Cannafloria Essentials collection is being distributed by Universal Companies to spas that wish to offer clean, cruelty-free hemp-infused sustainable beauty in their retail boutiques. The collection features seven aromas or "moods" to boost any mindset and nine formulations, including all-natural, CBD-free body lotions, bath fizzes, bath milks, sugar scrubs, aromatherapy roll-ons, and inhalation pouches. Universal Companies also plans to offer Cannafloria Hemp CBD Infused Booster Oil in the near future. This backbar product will allow spa professionals to personalize each client's wellness experience.

For more information about Cannafloria Essentials spa distribution, please contact Universal Companies at 800.558.5571.

About Cannafloria Essentials

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Butte-Silver Bow commissioners said Wednesday night they are still getting educated about the consent decree and are in no rush to approve the plan for future cleanup of mine pollution on the Butte Hill.

They also acknowledged that the citizens they represent have concerns and questions that should be answered before any council vote.

Dozens of residents packed council chambers to hear more about the plan, and some hoped to voice their concerns later Wednesday night

I think they are starving for information also, Commissioner John Sorich said in acknowledging the crowd.

The consent decree is the legal document that spells out the work needed to clean up areas that include Uptown, Walkerville, a portion of the Flat, parts of Blacktail and Silver Bow creeks, South Montana Street to Big Butte and the upper and lower west sides of town. It also lays out the responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency, Atlantic Richfield, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Butte-Silver Bow.

County administration officials back the plan and now want the 12-member Council of Commissioners to make Butte-Silver Bows approval official before the plan is turned over to a federal judge whose OK would make it binding. Its not clear when the council might vote.

There had been earlier talk of the council voting on the consent decree by early March, but controversy over plans for storing more mine waste near a south Butte neighborhood and other public concerns put a pause on such a quick decision.

Negotiations on the consent decree over the years were shielded from the public, and the proposed expansion of mine waste near the Timber Butte neighborhood only came to light when the proposed consent decree was made public. That raised concerns that other parts of the plan were buried in the lengthy document.

County Chief Executive Dave Palmer opened Wednesday nights meeting by telling the packed room that there was misinformation going around that commissioners would vote this night.

That is not the case, he said, adding it was up to the council to decide when to vote. He suggested the council could stretch its consideration into April or beyond.

County Superfund Coordinator Jon Sesso echoed that sentiment, saying he and others who helped negotiate the plan were now passing the baton to the countys governing body.

Officials with the EPA, governors office, and Atlantic Richfield said they hoped the council would ultimately OK the plan but the timetable was up to commissioners and the agencies and company were ready to answer any questions and address any concerns.

Betsy Smidinger, EPAs Region 8 Superfund chief, said the EPA supports the current consent decree and reiterated details of what it encompasses..

Sesso presented the work outlined in the consent decree to commissioners, even though many had attended previous public meetings on the plans.

Commissioners themselves said they were only in an educational phase at this point and were in no rush to make a quick decision.

Commissioner Michele Shea said she planned a meeting on the consent decree in her council district and encouraged other commissioners to do the same so citizens could weigh in and ask questions in a setting less formal than council meetings.

Council Chairman John Morgan said there were hopes a vote could happen in April but it might take longer. Regardless, he encouraged fellow commissioners and the public to look closely at all the information out there now.

Now is the time to look at this and really dive into it, Morgan said.

It was clear that many people in attendance were hoping to address the council, but public comment was deferred until after the presentation of the issue, which was continuing two hours after the meeting started.

Then after the presentation, County Attorney Eileen Joyce said that comments could not be heard Wednesday night on the matter. Her reasoning was that neither noticed comment period  the one for comments on the consent agenda or the comment period for items not on the agenda  technically applied to the Superfund presentation, which was on the agenda but not the consent agenda.

Former District Court Judge Brad Newman, who was expecting to comment, strongly suggested to the council that it schedule a public meeting as soon as possible to take comments from the public to the whole council.

That suggestion was met with silence.

The council has traditionally allowed anyone to comment on any subject at the end of council meetings.

Reporter Mike Smith of The Montana Standard contributed to this report.

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Kolkata, March 6 : Claiming that mass marriage was against the culture of tribals, Jharkhand Disom Party members on Thursday staged a demonstration close to the venue of such a ceremony attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Gajole of Malda district.

JDP state President Mohan Tudu alleged that the tribal girls were lured to tie the knot in the state organised mass marriage ceremony with the promise of funds under Rupashree - a welfare scheme under which the Banerjee government hands out Rs 25,000 to women at least 18 years of age and whose family income is not more than Rs 1.60 lakh per annum.

"Mass marriage is alien to tribal culture. How can a government organise it?," asked Tudu.

After some time, the police swung into action and detained Tudu and his associates. They were taken to Gajole police station.

The JDP had also demonstrated during a similar ceremony organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad in Malda district last month. The JDP activists had even clashed with VHP workers.
In the crisp 8 a.m. morning air, signs of life returned Thursday morning to Forest Hills Elementary School.

Just days before, the school was cordoned off to the public while cleaning crews in hazmat suits moved through the campus to sanitize it. The Lake Oswego school was closed after a school staffer tested positive for coronavirus nearly a week before.

But Thursday, the school hummed with energy as iconic yellow buses circled the front of the building and a stream of parents arrived to drop their kids off at school. Staff gathered outside to greet students.

The closure was the result of the official arrival of the coronavirus in Oregon, garnering media attention and setting in motion the response apparatus of health and government officials.

Days later, officials, teachers and parents struck an optimistic note as the school opened its doors.

Were feeling great," said Lisa Rulis, whose son Cole, 8, attends third grade at the school. The superintendent and school have been very great about communicating with us, and I feel good about the steps theyve taken. We love the school.

Lisa Rulis walks her son Cole, 8, to Forest Hills Elementary School March 5, 2020. The school reopened following a brief closure after an employee contracted coronavirus.

Some parents expressed pragmatism about the return to school and the risk the virus poses.

Theres always a concern with your kid getting sick, now theres just something else to worry about, said Danielle Gausted, whose son attends Forest Hills elementary. She believes the virus has been circulating in the community for a while.

Danielle Gaustad walking her son Ayden to school at Forest Hills Elementary School March 5, 2020. The school reopened following a brief closure after an employee contracted the coronavirus.

Kids have to go to school, Gausted said. We cant keep them home forever.

District administrators and state officials said the coronavirus patient, the first to be recognized in Oregon, had limited contact with children and teachers. Still, the school had been closed since officials announced the employees presumptive coronavirus diagnosis Feb. 28.

Superintendent Lora de la Cruz said at a news conference early Thursday that the school has dedicated resources to sanitizing the campus and provided support to step up hygiene and healthy practices to help protect against the virus. The school has also begun developing contingency plans in the event online learning becomes necessary.

At this time we have not seen any new cases of COVID-19 in our community," de la Cruz said. "We dont know if weve seen the last of COVID-19, but I will say we are committed to staying on top of any new developments on behalf of our community.

The school serves 430 students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Administrators have said that the few people who had contact with the sick employee were asked to stay home for two weeks and monitor themselves for symptoms of the virus.

School officials estimate that attendance Thursday when the school reopened was 81%only slightly lower than the average of 89.5%.

Before the school reopened, a commercial cleaning crew scrubbed all of the schools desks, chairs and other hard surfaces. The Lake Oswego school district cleaned and sanitized all 11 of its campuses "in an abundance of caution, said Mary Kay Larson, director of communications for the district. The estimated cost of the cleanups is at least $100,000.

The district worked with Clackamas County and Oregon Health Authority to develop a plan to ensure the school was safe. The closure meant teachers had to adjust lesson plans without access to many materials.

Because we didnt learn of the COVID-19 case until well after school let out on Friday, we were unable to prepare teachers or students for the closed days, said Mary Kay Larson, district communications director in an email. With the deep cleaning and disinfecting of the school, teachers and staff could not return to their classrooms to retrieve anything, including instructional materials, until this morning.

Larson said administrators have been updating the districts existing pandemic flu plan from 2009 to incorporate more current guidelines provided by the CDC.

Officials have said they do not know how the school employee, who has not been identified, contracted the illness. A person who lives with the employee later also tested positive for coronavirus, officials said.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

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Good day,

Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) CEO JJ Ruest said he expects the company to bounce back in the aftermath of weeks of rail blockades  likening their impact to November's strike.

Ruest told BNN Bloomberg that the blockades will hurt CN, but that he remains confident in meeting its 2020 outlook.

CN is in the process of ramping up freight service after shutting down its eastern Canada network in response to the blockades, which were established to protest a pipeline's route through an indigenous group's territory.

Ruest suggested that the effects may be similar to those CN experienced in November 2019, when rail workers went on strike for eight days, reducing capacity by 90%.

The strike "was quite significant to CN results, and we might be on that kind of scale," Ruest said.

Did you know?

FreightWaves LIVE is coming to Toronto on Sept. 17. It marks the first international stop for the freight industry's hottest conference. The lineup already includes big names in the transportation and logistics industry including Jacques DeLarochelliere, president and co-founder, ISAAC Instruments and Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, host of the "Lets Talk Supply Chain" podcast and blog.

Quotable:

"Mexico keeps growing far above Latin America as a whole."

 David Geisen, CEO of Latina American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre on its plans to invest $420 million in Mexico in 2020.

In other news:

Massachusetts bill would eliminate the sales tax on new trucks

A bill in the Massachusetts House of Representatives would offer a significant boost to the transportation industry by eliminating the sales tax on purchases of new trucks. (StreetsblogMASS)

Coronavirus keeping millions of China's trucks off the road

Half of China's 30 million trucks aren't in service because of the coronavirus epidemic. (The Wall Street Journal)

Federal court rules owner-operator had obligations to former carrier

A federal court in the Northern District of Georgia ruled that an owner-operator breached its duties to its former employer when it shifted trucking companies because of a non-compete clause. (Lexology)

Story continues

New Jersey troopers pull trucker to safety before rig explodes

Two New Jersey state troopers managed to get a truck driver out his cab moments before his rig exploded after an accident. (Fox Business)

Final thoughts:

The weeks of rail blockades across Canada generated a great deal of talk about the threat to the economy and supply chain.

The impacts were real and severe, especially for intermodal trucking companies and some ports such as Halifax. Grain shipments also took a large hit, too.

But Canadian economists have said the impacts will be temporary. Bigger concerns loom due to coronavirus, which is hitting West Coast ports, and a much larger cloud of mounting consumer debt.

Hammer down, everyone!

Image Sourced from Pixabay

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
He's the Australian actor who rose to fame after starring as Billy Hargrove in the Netflix hit Stranger Things.

And Dacre Montgomery led the celebrity arrivals at Cartier's Into The Wild launch in Melbourne on Thursday.

The Perth-born actor, 25, took the event's name to heart, donning a safari-inspired khaki button up shirt, white pants and $1,005 Tod's leather sneakers.

Safari chic! Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery (pictured) donned a khaki ensemble as he led the celebrity arrivals at Cartier's Into The Wild event

Caressing his perfectly groomed beard, Dacre flaunted his gold Cartier bracelet and matching large gemstone ring.

His model girlfriend Olivia Pollock styled a matching linen khaki ensemble, dressed in an asymmetrical tank top and frayed-edge maxi skirt.

The 21-year-old kept her blonde locks loose, looking every bit the natural beauty with a soft pink lip and subtly lined eyes.

Into the wild: Caressing his perfectly groomed beard, Dacre flaunted his gold Cartier bracelet and matching large gemstone ring

Loved-up duo: The actor, 25, took the event's name to heart, donning a safari-inspired khaki button up shirt and white pants. His model girlfriend Olivia Pollock (right) styled a matching linen khaki ensemble, dressed in an asymmetrical tank top and frayed-edge maxi skirt

Also in attendance, Teresa Palmer stunned in a black lace frock, which featured collar detailing and sweetheart neckline black bodysuit.

The 34-year-old Australian actress delivered a pop of pink with muted rose lips and Champagne-toned glittery eyes.

The Warm Bodies star kept her beach blonde hair loose, but tucked carefully off her face to highlight her gold dangling earrings.

Awesome foursome: Also in attendance, Teresa Palmer (second from left) stunned in a black lace frock, which featured collar detailing and sweetheart neckline black bodysuit. Pictured alongside Dacre, Asher Keddie and Olivia De Jonge

Stunner: The 34-year-old delivered a pop of pink with muted rose lips and Champagne-toned glittery eyes

She also styled a gold bangle on top of her lacy long sleeves and draped a pendant necklace over the dress.

Meanwhile, Offspring star Asher Keddie delivered an androgynous chic edge to the celebrity arrivals, donning a pin-stripe black pantsuit.

Pulling her blonde locks into an artfully frazzled low bun, the 45-year-old styled the flattering ensemble with a gold ring, bangle and drop pendant necklace.

Blonde bombshells: The Warm Bodies star (left) kept her beach blonde hair loose. Meanwhile, Offspring actor Asher Keddie (right) delivered androgynous chic to the celebrity arrivals

Menswear chic: Pulling her blonde locks into an artfully frazzled low bun, the 45-year-old styled the flattering ensemble with a gold ring, bangle and drop pendant necklace

The age defying actress kept her makeup simple, with a nude pink lip and light blush to her defined cheeks.

Rebecca Harding, who is dating Andy Lee, attended the high-end occasion solo, donning a minimalistic black midi-dress with an asymmetric pleated frill detail.

The 28-year-old model styled the simple ensemble with glittery silver heels, flaunting her Cartier jewellery as she tucked her dark-blonde hair behind her ear.

Simple ensemble: Rebecca Harding, who is dating Andy Lee, attended the high-end occasion solo, donning a minimalistic black midi-dress with an asymmetric pleated frill detail
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says local governments will be allowed to join the states effort to reach a legal settlement with the opioids industry after Fridays deadline, but hes still urging officials to move quickly.

Time is of the essence and March 6 was chosen as the date for Ohios communities to make a decision on whether to join (Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine) and me in moving forward as One Ohio," Yost said in a statement released Wednesday. We wont shut the door on communities that need to take formal action after March 6 to join us, but the time to act is now.

Yost and DeWine have agreed on a proposed plan on how to divvy up settlement money the state might receive from drug companies from lawsuits filed over the opioid crisis. However, the plan needs more widespread support among local government leaders.

Yost told the Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday that we dont have enough to get to the table to reach a settlement. He tells the Dispatch he remains optimistic enough townships, cities, counties and villages will join. Elyria City Council on Monday voted to support the effort, according to the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

There is little time to waste, Yost said.

Every day that passes is one more day that companies can settle with someone ahead of Ohio, Yost said in his statement. "Our risk goes up as we get closer to New Yorks trial date of March 20. Now is the time for Ohio to come together and do whats right for our citizens. One Ohio is the best choice for all Ohioans.

Cities and counties throughout Ohio have filed suit against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies over their role in precipitating the opioid crisis that led to a wave of death and addiction here and across the country. Cuyahoga and Summit counties have settled some of their cases, which are among the thousands of lawsuits consolidated before a federal judge in Cleveland.

The negotiations for the plan between Yost, DeWine and attorneys for local governments were ongoing for months and come after the attorney general made arguments in court that his office should administer all of the money that results from settlements and court judgments in the opioid cases from Ohio. Elected officials leaders have balked at those arguments.

The plan is detailed in a proposed memorandum of understanding and details how money would be split throughout the state. In its current form, local governments would get 30 percent of the money, the state would get 15 percent, and the remaining 55 percent would be for a foundation that would pay for addiction treatment programs.

Read more:

Cuyahoga, Summit counties opioid trial against pharmacies moved to November

Gov. Mike DeWine, seeking to ease tensions in opioid litigation, holds talks at mansion with AG Yost, local leaders

Four drug companies reach $260 million settlement to avoid first federal opioid trial in Cleveland

Ohio AG Dave Yost again seeks control of opioid litigation, asks appeals court to halt first federal trial
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Over 2,000 outsiders occupied two schools for 24 hours and indulged in rioting in northeast Delhi, the Delhi Minorities Commission said on Wednesday.

The minorities panel termed the communal violence as one-sided and well-planned, stating that maximum damage had been inflicted on Muslim houses and shops.

Its chairman Zafarul Islam Khan and member Kartar Singh Kochhar, who visited the violence-affected areas on Monday and interacted with people, said police should be held accountable for use of schools by rioters.

How did the goons reach this place? A mob of 2,000 was allowed to stay for more than 24 hours and execute its plans, Islam said.



ALSO READ | BJP looks to dispel CAA fear among Muslims in northeast-Delhi

The panel also termed the compensations by the Delhi government as inadequate. The two schools allegedly used by the rioters  Rajdhani Public School run by Faisal Farooq and DRP Convent School run by Pankaj Sharma  are located in Shiv Vihar and share a wall.

At Rajdhani School, driver Raj Kumar told the commission that 500 people wearing helmets barged into the premises at around 6.30 pm on February 24.

They had arms and giant catapults which they used to throw petrol bombs from the rooftop to other houses across the road, a statement by the panel said.

ALSO READ | 35 mohalla clinics to provide round-the-clock aid to those injured in Delhi riots

At DRP School, guard Roop Singh told the commission that 1,500-plus people stayed there for over 24 hours. He and his family slipped away through a rear door to save themselves.

Goons got help from locals



Rajdhani School shared a photo of the mob which had occupied it with the panel, showing the goons wore helmets to and cover their faces.

ALSO READ | Concerned about potential impact of Citizenship Act: UK government on CAA

The panel indicated that the rioters used to go out in small trucks in shifts of 2-3 hours each time to carry out looting and arson. They had locals helping them, it said.
The timing of the recall of the Ethiopian envoys in Cairo and Khartoum cannot be overlooked given the latest developments with the GERD, an Ethiopian source told a local newspaper

Ethiopia has recalled eight ambassadors back to Addis Ababa, including the ambassadors to Cairo and Khartoum, Ethiopian newspaper Addis Standard reported on Thursday.

The newspaper did not state a reason for the recall, only saying that Ethiopian ambassador to Cairo Dina Mufti and ambassador to Khartoum Shiferaw Jarso were recalled along with the ambassadors in Brussels, London, Rabat, Algiers, Canberra and Havana.

Addis Standard quoted a source at Ethiopias ministry of foreign affairs as saying that "the timing of the recall of the Ethiopian envoys in Cairo and Khartoum cannot be overlooked, as both posts are considered extremely crucial given the latest developments with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The report speculated that there could be a possible reshuffle, and that "all eyes are on who will assume the positions in Brussels, Cairo and Khartoum."

Over the past week, tensions escalated between Egypt and Ethiopia after Addis Ababa withdrew from the latest round of US-sponsored discussions aimed to resolve the dispute, and pledged to start filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before reaching a final deal with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia hopes the $4.8 mega project will make it Africa's biggest power exporter. Cairo, however, fears the dam, which is under construction near Ethiopia's border with Sudan, would significantly diminish its water supply from the Nile, its major source of freshwater.

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World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Program Director Michael Ryan, left, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, second from left, and WHO Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove attend a daily press briefing. AP-Yonhap





By Dr. Hakim Djaballah







Conspiracy theories and misinformation on this newly discovered coronavirus keep emerging and many stories have already been debunked. These are a few examples.







Right-wing groups believe China intentionally made the virus to unleash it on the rest of the world, seeking economic dominance and supremacy; except it prematurely released it on its own soil and failed to contain it.







Avid science-fiction followers believe the SARS-CoV2 virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which happens to be several kilometers from the now infamous Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China. The virus must have felt that the wet market was a better place to hang out than a highly secure research laboratory, with all the comforts it offers.







More recently, U.S. President Trump said the virus would die once the weather warms up. Then his chief of staff added that the coronavirus was the hoax of the day; rallying the President's supporters to speculate that the virus was a hoax created by the opposition to hurt him in the coming presidential elections.







Scanning social media revealed even more intriguing theories, confirming that the human mind can be very creative, for some people, who could easily become the new Agatha Christie of their generation.







Even the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to combat misinformation, asking for help from Google and Facebook. These two combined giants of information could not even stop political misinformation; how could they stop misinformation about a virus?







The most damaging conspiracy theory is that cats and dogs, our beloved furry companions, have the SARS-CoV2 virus and can infect their owners, leading some barbaric individuals in China, Hong Kong and other Asian countries to drop these poor animals to their deaths from high-rise buildings, poison them, starve them and, in a few what may be termed "slightly-more-humane" cases, abandon them on the streets.







Even at the verge of adversity, when our best weapon should be compassion, some people remain cruel to these innocent animals with no voices and no one to protect them; their actions merely a response to propaganda and misinformation on social media.







Chinese President Xi Jinping tours a military facility for anti-coronavirus measures. Xinhua-Yonhap





All the misinformation trails seem to be fueled by China's censorship of information to educate the world on this crisis, with some crossing into the WHO's rhetoric. What is China hiding? Authoritarian regimes thrive on controlling the message, but how about the WHO?







Some important dates to remember:







Dec. 30, 2019  The brave ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang raises the alarm about a possible outbreak in Wuhan of an illness that resembled SARS.







Dec. 30, 2019  The WHO's regional office apparently is made aware of an unknown virus causing several pneumonia-like symptoms in Wuhan on the very same day  a coincidence?







Jan. 3, 2020 - The intimidation and censorship protocols, to control the message, are activated by Chinese authorities, with accusations cast of "making false comments" and having "severely disturbed the social order" as a warning to other doctors, scientists, and healthcare workers to keep quiet.







Jan. 7, 2020  The Chinese authorities confirm the identity of the new virus as a coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV.







Jan. 11, 2020  The Chinese authorities announce the first death from COVID-19  a 61-year-old man from Wuhan, who apparently visited the Huanan seafood market.







Jan. 29, 2020  WHO's director general meets China's president, who comments that "WHO experts visited Wuhan in central China where the virus first broke out." The public is not aware of any such visit.







Feb. 7, 2020  Dr Li, 34, dies after becoming infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus.







Feb. 9, 2020  An advance team heads to China to investigate the SARS-CoV2 crisis as part of a WHO-China joint mission.







Feb. 28, 2020  The report of the WHO-China joint mission is released to the public.







The much-anticipated report appears to have been written on cue for the message, and it must have been read and approved by the WHO leadership for its public release. If this is the case, it provides some concerns about the independence, transparency and expertise of this organization.







We had hoped for this joint mission to provide new information and shed some light on the outbreak in China, to help us prepare for the virus' evolution, understand its modes of transmission, and how to update healthcare protocols in real time as it is spreading from one country to the next at an alarming rate.







The epidemiological curves and the reported routes of transmission, for the same coronavirus originating in China, do not explain the trends we are observing in South Korea, Italy, Iran, and the rest of the world. Household transmission, as an example, cannot be a major route, otherwise the number of confirmed cases in China would have been in the millions and not thousands.







A more cryptic mode of transmission is emerging on the West Coast of continental USA, with experts believing that an outbreak may already be in progress in Washington State, with confirmed cases not connected to direct travel to China.







Another serious case in Davis, California, is puzzling doctors who are trying to figure out where a particular patient could have contracted the SARS-CoV2 virus; the patient has neither traveled to China nor been in close contact with anybody who had recently been to China or any other affected areas.







In China, the first clinically diagnosed case was on Dec. 2, 2019, with the first confirmed case on Dec. 8 in Wuhan; but the Chinese government only announced the first death on Jan. 11. In view of the SARS-CoV2 high contagion rate, there is an unexplained lag on the part of the Chinese government with hardly any reported cases or deaths. We ought to have seen an upward curve in the earlier weeks of December of newly infected patients.







COVID-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, according to WHO's own definition. However, the authors of the report kept referring to COVID-19 as both the virus and the disease. In one case, COVID-19 is redefined as a zoonotic virus, and in another, it is a newly identified pathogen.







Although WHO's own head of the emerging diseases and zoonoses unit was an integral member of this expedition, it is regrettable and unfortunate that such unavoidable mistakes could happen, at a time when WHO is seemingly fighting misinformation.







The report confirms that the outbreak could not have started at the Huanan seafood market. A critical missing piece is, however, detailed information on patient zero and the sequence of the virus from this patient; without this information at hand, frankly, the utility of this write-up when we are at the verge of a potential global pandemic is not that helpful. Some of the information in the report was already known to the public.







The Chinese government stated that the first fatality was a 61-year-old man from Wuhan and the WHO report describes an autopsy performed on a 50-year-old man also from Wuhan. It is not clear if this could be the same patient as no additional information was provided on both. Could one of them be patient zero?







The WHO-China joint mission could have begun as early as December 2019. This "cryptic killer" has already travelled the world. It is now out there in our communities and that means everybody is at a risk of being infected. The world expects the highest standards, but WHO has let the world down. No time for praise, rather a call for resignations.







For an organization, seemingly fighting misinformation, WHO seems like it is also fueling it  releasing an incomplete report that is raising more questions than providing answers, and begging the question on China's secrecy and WHO's mission.







With the timely release of this report and on its message nonetheless, a new narrative is calling for the world to give China credit for its containment efforts, adding that the world should judge China with more common sense and less ideology. Well, common sense dictates that if you break it, fix it.







China has in a way unleashed a "cryptic virus" on humanity, allowed infected Chinese citizens to freely travel the world, threatened whistleblowers, deported foreign journalists, censored the flow of information and failed to warn us on time; all of these measures were for the sole purpose of controlling the message and protecting China.







In the year of the Rat, the late Dr. Li's words, "If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, I think it would have been a lot better," sums up China's gift to the world.











Dr. Hakim Djaballah is an Algerian-born American molecular pharmacologist and technologist with expertise in virology and oncology. Dr. Djaballah is a thought leader on drug discovery and development and sits on several advisory boards. He is the co-founder, president and CEO of Keren Therapeutics, a startup company dedicated to the science of aging. Formerly, Dr. Djaballah was the CEO of the Pasteur Institute in Korea, a transnational research institute with a focus on infectious diseases and oncology. Prior to his move to South Korea, Dr. Djaballah was affiliated with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, USA. MSKCC is the oldest cancer treatment and research institution, founded in 1884. Dr. Djaballah holds a BSc degree from the University of Birmingham (England) and a doctorate degree from the University of Leicester (England). To date, Dr. Djaballah has published more than 96 articles, book chapters, and reviews. He is an inventor on several patents, a founder of two biotechnology companies, and the recipient of the 2007 Robots and Vision User Recognition Award.


Dallas, TX, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Female entrepreneurs and longtime friends Carla Cole and Samantha Adviento are joining forces to bring Legit. Texas. Barbecue. to their El Paso community.

While Carla and Samanthas husbands Sebastian Cole and Norberto Adviento are away on rotation in Afghanistan, the two are currently preparing to lead their barbecue business together by attending Dickeys in-house training program, Barbecue University.

Cole and Adviento have already set their sights on expanding Dickeys barbecue offerings to a nearby military base to serve active duty members directly at the bases postal exchange, which houses a food court, retail stores and a movie theater.

We are excited to have two, empowering entrepreneurs join our family in Samantha and Carla who share Dickeys passion for serving those who serve us and offering our communities delicious, high-quality barbecue, says Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

The two plan to open their first El Paso location this spring and offer Dickeys full array of authentic, slow-smoked barbecue classics. Dickeys delicious Texas-style meats are smoked on-site and are complemented by an array of savory sides with recipes that have been passed down by generations.

To learn more about franchising with Dickeys, visit Dickeys franchising page or call 866-340-6188. Find your nearest Dickeys Barbecue Pit location here.

Follow Dickeys on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Download the Dickeys App from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

About Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the worlds largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. For the past 79 years, Dickeys Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests Legit. Texas. Barbecue. At Dickeys, all our barbecued meats are smoked on-site in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickeys proudly believes theres no shortcut to true barbecue and its why they never say bbq. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and wholesome sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded worldwide with 2 international locations in the UAE and operates over 500 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickeys won first place on Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and was named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur in 2018. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Franchise Times, The Wall Street Journal, QSR Magazine, Forbes Magazine and Nations Restaurant News. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com.

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The Senate passed its bill earlier this year without any debate, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed. So it was surprising that the Senate plunged into a long, emotional discussion when it took up the House bill Wednesday. In the end, the Senate amended the House bill to match its own version and passed it on a party-line vote.
Image: Getty

Joe Biden said things are looking awful, awful good in his Super Tuesday victory speech after he surged to frontrunner status in a Democratic primary race that has been transformed.

The former vice president declared this campaign is taking off, and told those who have been counted out and knocked down in life this campaign is for you. He was even able to laugh off yet another gaffe when he mixed up his wife Jill Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens on stage  the kind of mistake that just a week ago would have been used by critics to suggested he has lost a step or two.

Mr Biden criticised Donald Trump, saying the president has no compassion and views honour and respect as weaknesses. He doesnt believe were beacons of the world, the former VP said of Mr Trump, underscoring his campaigns major theme that he is best-suited among all Democrats to beat the incumbent in a head-to-head race.

Mr Biden surged to a lead in the all-important Democratic delegate count, but he must still defeat Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who was the frontrunner until Tuesday night when he won only three states.

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloombergs exit and his endorsement of Biden means that all the moderates are gone and they have all endorsed the former vice president, said Brad Bannon, a Democratic political strategist. The Tuesday results put Biden in the drivers seat but there have been so many twists and turns that it would be a mistake to rule Sanders out. Voters like to build up frontrunners and then they take delight in knocking them down.

Here are five things that Mr Bidens big night mean for the 2020 race.

Wheres Hunter?

As Mr Biden and Mr Sanders get set for a two-candidate fight for the Democratic nomination, expect the president to ramp up his attacks on the longtime Delaware senator after focusing on Crazy Bernie for weeks.

But Mr Trumps rhetoric probably wont be limited to Sleepy Joe.

The president also has attacked Hunter Biden, the son of the former vice president. It was the sons seat on a Ukrainian energy companys board while his father was leading the Obama administrations anti-corruption push there that Mr Trump asked the countrys president to look into.

Story continues

Testimony during the House impeachment inquiry by current and former administration officials stated the president made a $391m (305m) military aid package contingent on the announcement of an investigation of the Bidens.

Mr Trump has asked Wheres Hunter? on Twitter and at political rallies. His campaign even sold Wheres Hunter? T-shirts. The answer appears to be in Los Angeles. Painting.



Bernie bro

The president has been trying for a year to paint all Democrats as radical and extreme and socialists. He has described Democratic politicians like Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Mr Biden as standing by while progressives like Mr Sanders have taken over their party.

At a campaign rally on Friday night in South Carolina, Mr Trump conducted a poll of his supporters, asking whether Mr Sanders or Mr Biden would be easiest to beat. Mr Sanders won. It was a continuation of Mr Trumps almost daily advocacy for the self-described democratic-socialist, tweeting frequently that the establishment wing of the party will stop at nothing to block him from becoming the nominee.

You see whats happening, right? Its being rigged against [Mr Sanders], the president said on Monday night at a campaign rally in Charlotte. Its sad, its being rigged against crazy Bernie.

But Mr Trumps Bernie bro act appears to have backfired.

He crushed Mr Sanders first in South Carolina, site of a Friday night Keep America Great rally, then on Tuesday in North Carolina, which hosted a Monday night rally.

But, as always, those results did not cause the president to change tactics. He took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to paint Mr Sanders as the victim

Wow! If Elizabeth Warren wasnt in the race, Bernie Sanders would have EASILY won Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas, not to mention various other states, Mr Trump tweeted. Our modern day Pocahontas wont go down in history as a winner, but she may very well go down as the all time great SPOILER!



Head-to-head

Although the presidents words suggest he would prefer to run against Mr Sanders, polls suggest his odds of winning another term are about the same against each leading Democrat.

Recent national polls conducted by Fox News and Yahoo give the Vermont senator a seven-point and six-point lead, respectively, over the president. The same polls give Mr Biden an eight-point and nine-point advantage nationally over Mr Trump in a head-to-head race.

In key swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Mr Sanders leads the president by a few percentage points  but within the margins of error. The same polls in the same states show the former VP tied with the 45th chief executive.

One Democratic strategist, however, said Mr Biden is attracting a mix of voters that would probably give him a better chance in the general election. This is the winning coalition from 2018 and Obama years: African-American and suburban voters, the strategist said.

Mr Trump is watching those polls carefully, and hes mindful that he has to put his 2016 Electoral College map back together again  a needle he must again thread. That includes Pennsylvania.

The president returns to the Keystone State on Thursday night for a town hall event hosted by Fox News, his preferred cable network and one that gets massive ratings among conservatives as he looks to drive up turnout among that bloc to offset Democratic turnout in urban areas.



Impeachment on a loop

After Senate Republicans acquitted Mr Trump on two House-passed impeachment articles, the presidents approval rating rose to record highs.

Although it has fallen over his uneven handling and downplaying of the coronavirus threat, should Mr Biden become the nominee, expect the president to use the Ukraine matter as a bludgeon against him.

In fact, as he tries to soften up Mr Biden in hopes of running against the socialist, Mr Trump is likely to start talking about his impeachment and Ukraine a lot more as the two Democrats battle it out.

But some Democratic strategists are suggesting the issue is a loser for the president.

Definition of a bad day at the WH: You buy a freakin impeachment to try and stop @JoeBiden and now hes resurgent!, David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, tweeted on Wednesday.
An Emergency Department Nurse during a demonstration of the Coronavirus pod and COVID-19 virus testing procedures set-up beside the Emergency Department of Antrim Area Hospital, Co Antrim in Northern Ireland. Photo: Michael Cooper/PA Wire

ANOTHER seven people have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the Republic to 13.

Among those is a case of coronavirus that has been detected for the first time in a patient who had not travelled overseas.

In total 13 people have now been diagnosed with coronavirus in the Republic.

Four of the new cases are men from the east of the country and are linked to travel from northern Italy.

Two of the newly-diagnosed patients are females in the west of the country and are associated with close contact to already-known cases in Co Clare.

A person in Cork has contracted the virus - but unlike other Irish cases they have not been to northern Italy in recent weeks.

It is also believed the person was not in contact with any of the existing known cases. This raises the spectre of community spread of the virus.

One health source indicated the latest case may indicate that the virus has been undetected within the community in Ireland for some time before the first case was confirmed.

Cork University Hospital (CUH) has now displayed 'infection outbreak' signs and warned that visitors are not allowed within specific sections of the hospital.

It is understood the detection involves a Corkman.

He was being treated for a separate and unrelated health condition at CUH.

All those who were in close proximity to the patient in CUH will now have to be traced and tested.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) said the restrictions at CUH were in accordance with infection control protocols.

"This is in the interest of patient care and in order to prevent infections within the hospital."

However, the CUH emergency department remains open and routine ward operations are continuing as normal.

All outpatient appointments at the hospital that were scheduled for tomorrow have been cancelled.

"All patients will be rescheduled as soon as possible. Cork University Hospital apologises for any inconvenience this may cause to patients," a hospital spokeswoman said.

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There were already six confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic - two in Dublin and four in Clare.

All four in Clare involve members of the same family.

An adult in the family worked within the health sector.

All Irish cases up until now had been linked to travel to northern Italy which has experienced Europe's highest concentration of virus cases.

In all Irish cases, the patients are responding well to treatment.

Multiple suspected cases in Cork and Kerry over the past three weeks have tested negative for the virus.

The Cork detection came after doctors were investigating why the patient, who was being treated for a long-term health issue, was still unwell despite specific medications being administered.

One theory is that he had come into contact with a person who had returned from Italy and was carrying the coronavirus but had dismissed it as a cold or flu.

The HSE said this evening that they are rapidly trying to identity anyone the patients may have had contact with and to provide them with advice about how to prevent it spreading further.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, said: "Ireland remains in containment phase with just one case of community transmission. This is, however, a rapidly evolving situation. Public health doctors are working hard to ensure our containment measures are operating effectively.

"Most people who become infected with Covid-19 experience a mild illness and recover, but it can be more severe for some.

"However, this will need a national effort. Every individual needs to be aware of how to protect their own health and the health of others."

Independent.ie has learned that Trinity College sent an email to staff and students tonight to inform them that there had been a confirmed case of coronavirus on campus.

In a separate development, a Cork private hospital has also banned all visitors from its campus.

The Mater Private Cork posted a note on social media advising that visitor access was now being restricted "in the interest of patient safety."

In a statement, the Mater said it was acting in the best interests of its patients.

"Mater Private Cork is not a designated receiving hospital for suspected or confirmed cases of novel coronavirus - the designated hospitals in Cork as per HSE and HPSC are CUH and the Mercy hospital," it stated.

"As a precaution, on the advice of experts and in the interest of patient safety, Mater Private Cork is restricting visitor access until further notice.

"All patient appointments will continue as normal."
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Bells University of Technology (BUT), Ota, Ogun State, have signed an agreement to join forces on various aspects of agropreneurship development.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed last week in Ota, will see IITA and BUT collaborate on the establishment of an Incubation Hub in Ota to cater for the youths in Agropreneurship. The two institutions also agreed to make BUT a Centre and Agricultural Station for farmers in Ota metropolis and environs, to articulate on-farm challenges, joint research and engage in feedback on relevant solutions.

The deal also includes the development of an Agroprenuership curriculum with input from the already established MBA program in Agriculture run by IITA with the University of Ibadan, as well as the facilitation of joint research and grant proposals by experts on both sides.

According to Dr. Kenton Dashiell, IITAs Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, the MoU provides a linkage to foster cooperation for the development and implementation of collaborative programs including technical backstopping to BUTs Centre for Agricultural Technology and Entrepreneurial Studies (CATES) that will equip graduates with theoretical knowledge and practical skills in agriculture and entrepreneurship.

He added that Nigeria and Africa as a whole would benefit hugely from the partnership between IITA, which in the past 50 years, has been generating agricultural innovations to address hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation in Africa; and BUT, Nigerias first private University of Technology which provides an enabling environment for effective learning and teaching, applying the results of cutting-edge research in science and technology for human wellbeing and the development of the society.

BUT will also leverage on IITA programs such as the IITA Youth Agripreneur (IYA) program aimed at addressing widespread youth unemployment using agriculture; and the Start Them Early Program (STEP), designed to take agribusiness studies to primary and secondary school students, he added.

Prof. Jeremiah O. Ojediran, BUT Vice Chancellor, described the MoU with IITA as a dawn for a new era for the university and the country to harness the international expertise of IITA.

The partnership between IITA and BUT was initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and IITA Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga as a shared vision to fast-track the transformation of agriculture in Africa.

The signing of the MoU was witnessed by high level officials including Dr Alfred Dixon, IITA Director for Development & Delivery; Dr Chrys Akem, Coordinator, IITA-African Development Bank-funded Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT); Dr Christian Fatokun, IITA Scientist; Sore, Sougrynoma Zainatou, IITA Head of Capacity Development Office; Godwin Atser, IITA Digital Extension & Advisory Services Specialist; Ezinne Ibe, Project Administrator; Adetola Adenmosun, representing IITA-ENABLE TAAT. On the BUT side were BUTs Registrar, Mr. Lamidi Tafa; Bursar, Mr Sina Adepoju; the Acting Director of CATES, Dr. J. A. Daramola, other faculty members of CATES and Administrative Staff.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 05

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Latvia already has examples of successful investment from Azerbaijan in wholesale trade and in the future the country would like to attract more investors to its ports and logistic hubs, Latvias Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dainis Garancs told Trend.

"The Latvian companies are already doing business in Azerbaijan in fields like transport and logistics, mechanical engineering, ICT, food production, architecture, design, construction, chemical, pharmaceutical industries, tourism etc. We would like to expand this cooperation exchange. Promising area is green technologies where Latvia has well-developed expertise and knowledge. We are interested in increasing mutually beneficial investment exchanges. Investment in small and medium-sized business could bring a lot of benefit to our economic relations," said the ambassador.

Talking about bilateral trade, he noted that the main categories of goods exported from Latvia to Azerbaijan currently are food products, construction and building materials, wood products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

"We are also very glad to see fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan in our supermarkets. However, the current bilateral trade volume (7.75 MEUR in the first half of 2019) does not reflect the actual economic potential of our countries. One of the embassys priorities is to encourage our entrepreneurs to look for new opportunities and to facilitate further contacts between businesses," said Garancs.

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Follow the author on Twitter:@Lyaman_Zeyn
"At long last, Ghana, your beloved country, is free forever."



Those were the words of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on the declaration of the country's independence in Accra, Ghana.



Ghana is scheduled to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of its independence from Britain, come March 6, 2020.



Ahead of the national celebration slated for Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Capital, Tema-based Delhi Public School DPS International on Wednesday, March 4, held a colourful where it celebrated this year's independence day in grand style.



The celebration held at the school's campus brought together teachers and students.



There were cultural dances, and songs performances from the students to commemorate the day.



There were solidarity messages which drew attention to the fact that Ghanaians should change their mindset and begin to think positively.



Director of Mukesh Thakwani, pointed out the significance of celebrating Ghanas independence annually at DPS International.



He encouraged all and sundry to develop a positive mindset about Ghana and to contribute to its growth and development.



Mr. Thakwani also said we should promote made in Ghana goods and materials. All children came to the event in African attire to promote local culture, tailors and designers



The Principal of DPS International, David Raj, played a crucial role in organising the event.



About DPSI Ghana



DPS International Ghana was founded in September 2010 by renowned Indian industrialist and philanthropist, Mukesh Thakwani, under the aegis Delhi Public School  a chain of schools all around the globe known for its holistic education.



Mr. Thakwani's mission is to champion the cause of education in the West African sub-region, by providing a world class educational system.



DPS International Ghana is affiliated to the University of Cambridge International Examinations and Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi (CBSE).

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Security Advisor (NSA) on Thursday said that if police fail to enforce laws then democracy fails.

"Law making is the most sacrosanct job in democracy. And you are the enforcers of that law. If you fail to enforce laws, democracy fails. Law is as good as it is executed on the ground," Doval said while addressing young police officers in Gurugram.

"You have to first identify the problem, define the problem, and find ways of solution, think how technology can be used. A beat constable should get technology gadgets," he said.
A 36-year-old man has died of respiratory failure in Wuhan, five days after being discharged from one of the makeshift hospitals built to contain the outbreak, according to a report by Shanghai-based news portal The Paper.

The report, which was later removed, said Li Liang had been admitted to the hospital  built to treat patients with mild and moderate symptoms  on February 12, according to his wife, surnamed Mei. He was discharged two weeks later with instructions to stay in a quarantine hotel for 14 days.

Mei said her husband was not feeling well two days after leaving the hospital, with a dry mouth and gaseous stomach. On March 2, Li said he felt sick and was sent to a hospital, where he was certified dead that afternoon.

The death certificate of Li Liang, the recovered Covid-19 patient who has died in Wuhan. Photo: Handout

The death certificate issued by the Wuhan health commission said the direct cause was Covid-19, and listed respiratory blockage and failure as the symptoms which could have led to his death.

The Paper also reported that Fangcang Hospital  one of Wuhans makeshift facilities  issued an emergency notice on Wednesday that said more discharged patients had been readmitted after falling ill again. The hospital will begin conducting antibody tests on all patients before discharge from Thursday, to ensure they are fully recovered.

Japan orders quarantine for China, South Korea arrivals

Japan will quarantine all passengers arriving from China and South Korea from next week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday.

We will strengthen immigration quarantines on people from the two countries, Abe told a cabinet-level task force meeting on the virus.

We will ask them to stay in designated areas for two weeks and not to use public transport, Abe added, saying the measures would come into force from March 9.

Minimise use of paper money, Iran says

Irans health minister encouraged the public to reduce its use of paper money because it was helping the spread of the new coronavirus.

Saeed Namak also said authorities would begin manning checkpoints to limit travel between major cities in the Islamic Republic.

Story continues

He said that schools and universities would remain closed through Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20.

People should stay in their vehicles at petrol stations and allow attendants to fill their petrol tanks to avoid the spread of the virus.

Xi Jinpings state visit to Japan postponed

In the first official confirmation that the coronavirus outbreak will disrupt China's diplomatic agenda, Tokyo said Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan  planned for early April  had been postponed.

Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the delay would not affect relations between the Asian neighbours. Both countries had agreed to prioritise the fight against the coronavirus and a new itinerary would be arranged, he said.

Special clinic for recovered patients

A rehabilitation clinic for recovered Covid-19 patients opened on Thursday at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Wuhan.

The clinic will provide specific services to patients who are in isolation after their discharge from hospital. At present, recovered patients can consult doctors via the internet with delivery services for their medicines.

The clinic will mainly prescribe Chinese herbal medicines and also follow up with discharged patients and provide face-to-face consultation in the future. Zhang Qing, from the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said patients highly recognised the effectiveness of herbal medicines.

Strict measures continue in Wuhan

Wuhan party chief Chen Yixin said on Wednesday the battle of Wuhan had entered a critical stage and ordered an inspection of people from other parts of the country still stranded in the city. Strict measures should remain in place, he said.

The situation facing epidemic control in Wuhan is still complicated. We will not be able to contain the spread if we do not impose unified strict measures, Chen said, according to the social media account of the Communist Party politics and law commission.

China reports 139 new infections

Mainland China reported 139 new cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on Thursday, up from 119 a day earlier, as well as 31 new deaths.

The National Health Commission said 134 of the new infections were in Hubei, epicentre of the outbreak, with 131 in its provincial capital Wuhan. All of the latest deaths also occurred in the province.

As of Wednesday, 80,409 people had been infected on the mainland, and 3,012 have died. Some 52,045 patients had recovered from the disease. The commission also said there had been 20 imported cases  a worrying development for China which has prompted some cities to introduce quarantine measures.

China recognises whistle-blower doctor

China has included the whistle-blower doctor Li Wenliang, who died of Covid-19, among a group of people recognised for their help in the fight against the epidemic.

Li, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, warned a group of medical school classmates on December 30 about an outbreak at his hospital in Wuhan of a mysterious viral pneumonia resembling severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 813 worldwide.

Li, who died on February 7, was among 506 health care and response workers recognised by the National Health Commission on its website on Thursday.

Singapore research highlights need for disinfectant

New research from Singapore indicates patients with the deadly coronavirus extensively contaminate their bedrooms and bathrooms, underscoring the need to routinely clean high-touch surfaces, basins and toilet bowls.

The virus, however, was killed by twice-a-day cleaning of surfaces and daily cleaning of floors with a commonly used disinfectant  suggesting current decontamination measures were sufficient as long as people adhered to them.

The research letter was published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association following cases in China where the pathogen spread extensively through hospitals, infecting dozens of health care workers and other patients.

California declares emergency after first death

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a statewide emergency after its first fatality from the new coronavirus  the first death to occur in the US outside Washington state.

The 71-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions, died at a hospital in Roseville, near Sacramento, health officials said.

He is believed to have been exposed to the virus during a cruise on board the Grand Princess  a sister ship to the Diamond Princess, where more than 700 passengers tested positive for Covid-19  which travelled from San Francisco to Mexico from February 11-21.

Health authorities are looking for other passengers from the cruise who may have had close contact with the man, as well as a previous patient from the Bay Area linked to the same ship.

The emergency declaration was intended to help procure supplies quickly, Newsom said, adding that California currently had 53 reported cases.

Nationwide, nearly 130 people, including repatriated citizens, have so far been reported to be infected, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states, according to the latest CDC figures published on Wednesday.

Switzerland reports first coronavirus death

A woman in western Switzerland has died after contracting the new coronavirus, the countrys first death from the rapidly spreading disease outbreak, regional police said on Thursday.

The woman, 74, had been hospitalised in the canton of Vaud since Tuesday, police said. She was a high-risk patient suffering from chronic disease, authorities added.

UAE tells residents not to travel over virus

The United Arab Emirates on Thursday warned its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing worldwide coronavirus outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines.

The warning from the countrys Health and Community Protection Ministry comes as its capital, Abu Dhabi, sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from hard-hit Hubei province in China to a quarantine set up in its Emirates Humanitarian City. They include citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Health officials warned that those travelling abroad could face quarantine themselves at the discretion of authorities. The UAE is home to some 9 million people, with only about 1 million estimated to be Emirati citizens.

The UAE is home to Emirates, the government-owned airline based at Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest for international travel. Abu Dhabi also is home to Etihad, the countrys national carrier. Both airlines have encouraged staff to take time off as international travel has dropped due to the virus.

Schools out for 290 million students

Almost 300 million students worldwide face weeks at home, with Italy the latest country to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus.

Unesco said 290.5 million children in 13 countries were affected, while a further nine nations have implemented localised closures. The global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education, Unesco chief Audrey Azoulay said.

Italy on Wednesday ordered schools and universities closed until March 15, ramping up its response as the national death toll rose to 107, the deadliest outbreak outside China. South Korea  the country with the largest number of cases outside China with nearly 6,000  has postponed the start of the current term until March 23.

In Hong Kong schools are closed until at least April 20, while in Japan nearly all schools are closed after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for classes to be cancelled through March and spring break, slated for late March through early April.

Some 120 schools closed in France this week in areas with the largest numbers of infections. In Germany, the health minister said the outbreak was now a global pandemic  a term the World Health Organisation has stopped short of using  meaning the virus is spreading in several regions through local transmission.

Kim Jong-un sends message to South Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed hope that neighbouring South Korea will overcome the coronavirus outbreak, in a letter sent to President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday.

Kim also voiced concern over his South Korean counterparts health, and discussed his view of the situation on the Korean peninsula, Yoon Do-han, Moons senior press secretary, said on Thursday.

South Korea, which has the biggest coronavirus epidemic outside China, with 6,088 confirmed cases and 40 deaths.

Around 60 per cent of confirmed cases have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Koreas fourth largest city, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Every day is sad and tough like a war. But our Daegu citizens are showing surprising wisdom and courage, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin told reporters on Thursday.

The South Korean government also declared a special care zone around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250km (155 miles) southeast of Seoul, promising extra resources such as face masks and warning people from travelling there.

Gyeongsan has recorded a spike in new cases, including at a nursing home. Similar zones have been declared around neighbouring Daegu city and Cheongdo County.

Two more cases at US base in South Korea

US Forces Korea (USFK) has reported two new cases, bringing its total to six among soldiers, employees or people related to the roughly 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. Despite the new cases, USFK has resumed sending troops to bases in Daegu and surrounding areas, according to military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Commanders believed the bases were protected from the outside population, and that troop rotations were needed to maintain readiness in the face of continued threats from nuclear-armed North Korea, the newspaper reported.

First local transmission death in Australia

Australia has recorded its second death from the coronavirus  the first from a local transmission  and warned on Thursday the crisis would subtract at least half a percentage point from its economic growth in the current quarter.

The death of a 95-year-old woman, who contracted the disease from a worker at her aged care home in Sydney, takes the number of infections in Australia to 52. The majority contracted the disease aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship and were evacuated back to Australia for treatment. The country's first fatality was a 78-year-old Perth man who contracted the virus on the ship and died in Australia.

Concerns are growing in Australia that the illness may spread more rapidly as people in at least five of the confirmed cases contracted the virus locally.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy said it was too early to determine the long-term economic toll of the outbreak, but it would have an immediate and significant impact. At this stage we expect the virus to detract at last half a percentage point from growth in the March quarter 2020, he said.

First human transmission in New Zealand

New Zealand confirmed a third case of Covid-19, and what is believed to be its first case of human-to-human transmission on Thursday. The patient is an Auckland man in his 40s with close family members, also New Zealand residents, who recently returned home after visiting Iran.

There is what appears to be a clear link with travel to Iran by a close family member. Our view remains that with continued vigilance the chance of widespread community outbreak remains low, the country's ministry of health said.

The latest patient is in self-isolation at home. Other family members had previously been unwell but had now fully recovered and were self-isolating, the health ministry said.

Singapore turns Turkish Airlines plane around

Singapore authorities ordered a Turkish Airlines aircraft to fly back to Istanbul without any passengers on Thursday, after a passenger who arrived on board the plane on Tuesday tested positive for coronavirus.

Singapores aviation regulator said the three pilots and 11 other crew of flight TK54 were on the return flight to Istanbul, where they would be placed in quarantine. Meanwhile, authorities in Singapore have begun tracing passengers on the flight who may have had contact with the infected person.

Singapore has 112 confirmed cases of coronavirus but about 70 per cent of patients have recovered.

Australia bans South Korea arrivals

Australia will ban the arrival of foreigners from South Korea and conduct enhanced screenings of travellers from Italy to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Morrison said Australia would also extend its travel ban on foreigners arriving from mainland China and Iran. It affords the best protection and enables us to slow down the rate of transmission, he said.

Second flight from Iran arrives in Gansu

A second chartered flight carrying 163 Chinese citizens from Iran arrived in Lanzhou in northwest Chinas Gansu province on Thursday afternoon, the official Gansu Daily reported.

The passengers were transferred to the quarantine centre in the city for medical observation for at least 14 days. Their arrival came a day after 146 Chinese citizens flew in on another chartered flight from Tehran to Lanzhou.

As of Wednesday, Gansu province had reported 91 coronavirus cases and two deaths.

Additional reporting by Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

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Harassment of journalists and other government critics has increased in Prime Minister Narendra Modi tenure, said Freedom House, a US government-funded NGO, in its global freedom of democracies report.

In the report titled, 'A Leaderless Struggle for Democracy', Indias overall score in global freedom dropped to 71 out of 100 in 2020 as against 75 in 2019. The country scored 34 out of 40 on political rights and 37 out of 60 on civil liberties. In Internet freedom, Indian scored 55 out of 100.

The report covered developments in 195 nations and 15 territories from January 1 to December 31, 2019.

In the executive summary of the report, the NGO stated: India maintains a robust electoral democracy with a competitive multiparty system at the federal and state level, though politics are marred by corruption.

It stated that the constitution of India guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and religion, but harassment of journalists and other government critics has increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as have religiously motivated attacks against non-Hindus.

Certain minority groupsnotably Muslims, scheduled castes (Dalits), and scheduled tribes (Adivasis)remain economically and socially marginalised despite general legal equality and, in some cases, affirmative-action programmes, it added.

The report acknowledged that elections and selection procedures are 'free and fair', but stated that the Election Commissions decisions concerning the timing and phasing of national elections, and allegations of selective enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, which regulates politicians campaign behaviour and techniques, suggested bias toward the BJP.

On the freedom of media, the report said, Private media are vigorous and diverse, and investigations and scrutiny of politicians are common, but there have been escalating attacks on press freedom under the Modi government.

The report dubbed judiciary as independent of the political branches of the government.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will visit Kansas City, Missouri, next week ahead of the Missouri Presidential Primary on March 10. Sanders will be at the Midland Theatre, 1228 Main St., on Monday, March 9.

BERN CONCERN?!?!

Three Reasons Why Bernie Should Worry The Most Diverse Field in History Has Come Down to This Democrats Fall in Line Let's Get to Know Our New Democratic Front-Runner, Joe Biden Joe Biden Watches the Map Go His Way The fight for the Democratic presidential nomination is now a two-man race. On Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen.

Feel The Bern Again

Sanders campaign hatches comeback plan After facing questions for weeks about whether Sanders would shift his message to broaden his base, Sanders' campaign co-chair, Rep. Ro Khanna, said his candidate will work to appeal more to older voters and mainstream Democrats.

Maybe Bernie Won Super Tuesday After All?!?!?

Karl Rove's Super Tuesday takeaway: Bernie Sanders won the biggest prize Fox News contributor Karl Rove said on Wednesday that former Vice President Joe Biden's Super Tuesday success does not rule out a possible comeback by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Grumpy Old Men

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders set for battle of the 'ages' The race for the Democratic presidential nomination turned into a sprint between two septuagenarians Wednesday following Joe Biden's 10 wins in Super Tuesday's 14 state primaries, leaving Bernie Sanders as his only viable challenger. Biden, declared the winner in Maine Wednesday afternoon, roared ahead in the contest for delegates who will choose a presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

Let's not forget that last time around he garnered TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SUPPORTERS in a rally that was the highlight of the 2016 election season.More:Doors open at 11:30 a.m.A few more links for context . . .Developing . . .
The Coronavirus outbreak has not just created panic but also giving birth to a lot of myths around the virus.

Earlier, there were claims about the incident being cited in a 1981 novel, titled "The Eyes of Darkness" written by best-selling US author Dean Koontz. The novel mentions Wuhan-400, a biological weapon created in a laboratory, wiping out a large number of people.

Now, another iconic book is being reported to have predicted the ongoing outbreak in the past.

"The Stand", an epic horror-fantasy by Stephen King, has attracted all the attention for its detailed description of what happens in society after an accidental release of a strain of influenza.

The strain, modified for biological warfare, ends up resulting in an apocalyptic pandemic and kills over 99% of the worlds population.

Netizens have linked the COVID-19 virus to the fictional super-flu in Kings 1978 novel. This has brought the book back into the conversation.

This is not it.

Various other pandemic novels are being talked about for their descriptions of similar situations.

These include Michael Crichtons "The Andromeda Strain", Robin Cooks "Outbreak", Max Brooks "World War Z" and "The Zombie Survival Guide".

In fact, the Emily St. John Mandels "Station Eleven" in 2014 also mentions about a deadly plague, known as the "Georgia Flu".
British filmmaker Ken Loach uses cinema to express his commitment to social issues like poverty, labour rights, homelessness and the working class, even war. In his latest film Sorry We Missed You  recently screened at Zawya cinema, having been part of the third El Gouna Film Festival and Zawyas own Panorama of European Film  Loach takes on capitalism anew. His last film, I, Daniel Blake (2016), won the Palme dOr at Cannes Film Festival. He had won the same award ten years before for The Wind the Shakes the Barley (2006). 



Widely known for social realism, Loach was born in 1936 and started his career as an actor in theatre companies, directing his earliest work for the BBC. For nearly 50 years he has made films, including such classics as The Angels Share (2012), Route Irish (2010), The Navigators (2001), Land of Freedom (1995), Riff-Raff (1991), Poor Cow (1967). 



With an engrossing dialogue showing the strength of Paul Lavertys screenplay, Loachs new film  set in Newcastle  opens with a meeting between the middle-aged protagonist Ricky Turner (Kris Hitchen) and Maloney (Ross Brewster), manager of the delivery storehouse in which Ricky hopes to find employment. Maloney firmly states that you dont get hired here, you come onboard, we like to call it onboarding. You dont work for us, you work with us. You dont drive for us, you perform services. Theres no employment contracts, there is no performance targets, you meet delivery standards. Theres no wages, but fees. No clock in, you become available. 



The words have a pleasant ring in Rickys ears as he has been desperately searching for a job so he can continue to support his family alongside his wife Abby (Debbie Honeywood), who have a teenage son, Seb (Sebastian, played by Rhys Stone) and an 11 year-old daughter Liza Jane (Katie Proctor). Abby is a care worker for the elderly working around the clock hurrying from one appointment to the other whether in the suburbs or in the city, with the little car she relies on being her only convenience. 



But due to their huge debt and Ricky being forced to either use his own van or rent one from the company at an exorbitant rate, Abbey sells her car to pay a 1,000 deposit on a new van. Depriving him of workers rights, the gig market approach to employment gives Ricky a sense of freedom and responsibility that soon turns into a kind of enslavement, however. Soon he faces the fact thayt he is fined if he doesnt show up or loses a package or his tracking device.



Abby is seen raising Liza by phone, as it were  setting time limits for computer use and giving her instructions on how to prepare her food  since she cannot be home, while Seb doesnt respond to her calls. Meanwhile she is being treated worse and worse by the elderly people she cares for at her job, denied her overtime pay.



Though drained and depressed, both parents feel guilty about not spending time with their children. Seb is a graffiti artist with a penchant for violence, he misses school and eventually is suspended, leading to clashes with his father. Liza suffers from her parents absence. Nonetheless there are two warm scenes: a day Liza spends with Ricky as she accompanies him on his work journeys (something Maloney promptly advises against); and a family gathering over Indian takeaway (distributed by one of Abbys patients).



Ricky had dreamt of buying a house before that became impossible with the financial crash of 2008, and now his dream is fading as he is repeatedly fined for missing work to help his son out of trouble, picking him up from the police station. But, traced by his tracking device, he suffers abuse from the customers and informed he will have to pay for what he lost when he got mugged while lying in hospital. 



There is a Sorry We Missed You form in case Ricky doesnt find the client home to receive the package, but it is the same piece of paper on which he writes a message for his wife when he sneaks out of the house to go to work in spite of his injuries: Abby dont be mad, I will be fine. In the closing scene, led by Seb, the whole family gathers round the truck to stop Ricky from going to work, but he still manages to slip away in reverse gear, leaving them in shock on the street. 



The film was nominated for the Palme dOr, the British Independent Film Award and a number of other prizes at the Chicago and Hamburg film festivals. It and won the Audience Award at San Sebastian International Film Festival. 

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Russian air strikes Thursday killed at least 15 civilians including a child in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a Britain-based war monitor said. The strikes after midnight targeted an area where displaced Syrians had gathered outside the town of Maaret Misrin in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An AFP correspondent saw the bodies of some of the victims wrapped in thick winter blankets at a local hospital. A rescuer carried in the body of a baby girl, her mouth filled with grey debris and her pink pyjamas caked in dust. At the site of the strikes, two large one-storey out-buildings lay mostly in rubble near green orchards. The strikes destroyed the poultry farm where the displaced families had been living. Dozens of surviving white chickens picked through the dust, as rescuers operated bulldozers to comb through the debris. The Observatory said the toll was likely to increase as many wounded were in a critical state. Moscow-backed regime forces have since December waged a deadly battle against the jihadist-dominated Idlib region, causing almost a million people -- mostly women and children -- to flee their homes and shelters. Even before that offensive, Idlib was home to three million people, around half of them already displaced from other parts of the war-torn country. The Observatory says it determines what plane carried out a strike according to flight patterns, as well as ammunition and aircraft involved. The strikes comes as the leaders of Russia and Turkey meet in Moscow to discuss the situation in Idlib, where Ankara backs some rebel groups and has become directly involved in fighting in recent weeks. Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression on anti-government protests. White Helmets rescuers carry bodied of civilians killed in reported Russian air strikes on northwestern Syria
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 18:47:53|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui on Thursday expressed appreciation for the Mongolian government and its people's support for China's fight against COVID-19.

"We are happy that no cases of coronavirus have been reported in Mongolia. We are ready to cooperate with the Mongolian side to maintain its coronavirus-free status, coordinate the prevention measures and win a complete victory over this virus," Chai said at an event held to thank the Mongolians at the Chinese Embassy here.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in China, Mongolian leaders, representatives from various sectors, students and even children have been expressing solidarity with China in its battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The Mongolian government has donated 200,000 U.S. dollars toward China's epidemic control efforts, and the country's President Khaltmaa Battulga, as the first foreign head of state to visit China since the COVID-19 outbreak, has offered a donation of 30,000 sheep to China during his recent one-day visit there.

As more Mongolians wish to donate money and prevention supplies to China, the Mongolian government last month launched a nationwide campaign called "Emotional Support to an Eternal Neighbor."
Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty

A Manhattan lawyer who contracted the 2019 novel coronavirus was in critical condition Wednesday, and his wife, son, daughter, and several neighbors were infected, too.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the new casesbringing New Yorks total number of confirmed patients to 11were all linked to attorney, who lives in Westchester County. Cuomo has said that the man had an underlying health condition, putting him at increased risk for severe infection.

The infected lawyer checked into a suburban hospital on Feb. 27 with respiratory problems and was reportedly diagnosed four days later. He remained in critical condition at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan, according to health officials. The firm was said to be a boutique seven-lawyer practice in Manhattan located across 42nd Street from Grand Central Terminal, where the initial patient reportedly commuted on the Metro-North Railroad from a home in New Rochelle.

Were dealing with a coronavirus epidemic, said Cuomo. We have a bigger problem, which is a fear pandemic, and the anxiety here is outpacing the reality of the situation.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Cuomo said the mans 20-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter were also confirmed cases and that they would remain quarantined at their home in New Rochelle.

I am shocked about this news, said Hilary Kolodin, a former client of the infected attorney, whose identity has not been released by authorities. [He] is a wonderful family man and person and treated what was a very emotional and personal case with amazing care and insight. He got me through the worst time in my life, and my heart is broken that he and his family are going through this.

I am heartbroken for him and his wife and kids, she added.

Another woman, the first case in New York, was previously reported to be in self-isolation at home after returning from travel abroad in Iran.

Officials at Yeshiva University confirmed early Wednesday that the lawyers college-age son had tested positive for the virus, and that they had begun their own countermeasures.

Story continues

We have unfortunately received news this morning that our student has tested positive for COVID-19, the private university announced on Wednesday morning in a press release. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family as well as to all those affected. The school said it would cancel all classes on Wilf Campus in Washington Heights on Wednesday but that no other operations would change.

We understand that the recent news is concerning, and we wanted to reassure you that we have been working closely with NYC health officials and outside specialists, all day and through this evening, to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of our community, said a statement from the school.

Meanwhile, the attorneys teenage daughter reportedly attends SAR Academy and High School in the Bronx, which has been shut down out of an abundance of caution, according to the citys health authority.

The source of the COVID-19 infection is unknown, said a release from New York Citys Health Department. The Health Department has provided onsite guidance at all three locations and will be tracking close contacts of the family. Disease detectives from the Health Department are identifying anyone who had close contact with these three individuals for coronavirus testing.

Westchester County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler on Tuesday directed Young Israel of New Rochelle, the synagogue the lawyers family reportedly attended, to halt all services immediately and for the foreseeable future over potential exposure.

Congregants of the Temple who attended services on February 22, and a funeral and a bat mitzvah at the temple on February 23 must self-quarantine until at the very earliest March 8, said a press release from the county department. Those who do not self-quarantine will be mandated to by the county department of health to do so.

Cuomo reiterated on Wednesday that officials expect many more confirmed cases in New York, but that was no reason to panic. By definition, the more you test, the more people you will find who test positive, he told reporters.

As Oren Barzilay, President of FDNY EMS Local 2507, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday: Everybody knows that New York City is the capital of the world.

We have a lot of people on our transit system day-in and day-out, so the probability of cross-contamination is very high, said Barzilay. Should this not be controlled in the near future, we are anticipating that more people will be infected with this.

As of Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported 129 cases in the United States, of which 80 were picked up through the public health system in 13 states. (The agency has noted states may be able to confirm additional cases before reporting them to the federal government.) The remainder of cases were related to State Department-chartered planes from the viruss epicenter in Wuhan, China, or the disastrous Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. Ten people had died in the United States as of early Wednesday, and public health emergencies were declared this week in Washington State; Florida; Bexar County, Texas; and Los Angeles County, California.

Local health officials in New York, for their part, promised transparency in the days to come.

Now, more than ever, New Yorkers must come together as a city to limit the spread of COVID-19. If you have symptoms like cough, fever, or shortness of breath, call your health-care provider, NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a statement. The Health Department will do everything in our power to minimize the disruption caused by this evolving situation, and we will continue to communicate openly and honestly with New Yorkers.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Though not much has been revealed about the character, there have been suggestions that the story of Malik is inspired from certain actual events.

Fahadh Faasil, who surprised all with another scintillating show in the recently released Trance as a pastor, plays Sulaiman in Malik.

The new poster of Malik, written and directed by Take Off director Mahesh Narayanan, has the actor in a fresh avatar.

In his latest interview with The Hindu, Fahadh has explained that, Malik is the story about Sulaiman, who stood up for others.

Thats why I believe the story has to be told, says Fahadh in the interview. He adds that while many say that the incident that we talk about in the film was communal, it wasnt. Interesting, did you say? We do agree as well.

Malik is all set to release soon.
* Turkish and Russian leaders to discuss conflict in Syria

* Turkey backs rebels, while Russia supports Assad's army

* Ceasefire agreement likely in Moscow, Turkish official says

By Orhan Coskun and Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA, March 5 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan flew to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin over a potential ceasefire in Syria's Idlib, where their militaries are facing off in a war that has displaced nearly a million people in three months.

A senior Turkish official told Reuters that a ceasefire was likely to be finally agreed at the meeting, after weeks of diplomacy failed to halt fighting between Turkey and allied Syrian rebels and Russian-backed Syrian government forces.

"Political diplomacy will be more determinant today than military diplomacy," the official said.

Russian air strikes have propelled a push by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces to retake the last large rebel-held territory in the northwest.

That has sparked what the United Nations says may be the worst humanitarian crisis in a nine-year war that has driven millions from their homes and killed hundreds of thousands.

Turkey, which has the second largest army in the transatlantic NATO alliance, has funnelled troops and equipment into the region in recent weeks to resist the government advance and avoid a wave of refugees over its southern border.

The fighting has killed some 60 Turkish troops since early February and raised the prospect of a direct clash between Russia and Turkey, which operate on opposing sides of the front lines.

MORE CIVILIANS DIE

A Turkish security official said overnight clashes were "low in intensity for the first time in a while" ahead of the Moscow meeting, but Idlib residents reported heavy shelling by Turkish troops and air strikes by Russian and Syrian forces.

At least 16 civilians were killed when Russian air strikes hit a gathering of internally displaced people near the town of Maarat Misrin in Idlib, according to civil defence workers helping clear the rubble and search for survivors.

Story continues

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the strikes hit civilians sheltering in a farm.

Two witnesses also reported seeing more Turkish military reinforcements deploying into Idlib.

The Turkish defence ministry said in the last 24 hours it destroyed four tanks, five rocket launchers and a dozen military vehicles in artillery and air strikes.

Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees and says it cannot handle more. To extract more funding and support from Europe over Idlib, Ankara said it would not abide by a 2016 deal in which it stopped migrants crossing into the European Union in return for billions of euros in aid.

Erdogan, who was due to meet Putin at 1100 GMT, said on Wednesday he expected his talks with Putin to reach a rapid ceasefire in northwest Syria.

Turkey wants Russia to "use its influence to ensure the attacks stop, a ceasefire is established and the Sochi agreement is re-established," another Turkish official said of the 2018 deal signed by Moscow and Ankara establishing a demilitarized zone on the edge of the Idlib region.

The official added that U.S. counterparts on Wednesday pledged Washington's "unconditional" support for Turkish military and humanitarian activities in Idlib.

James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative for Syria who met Turkish officials on Wednesday, told a conference in Istanbul on Thursday that while the United States supports Turkey, it still has "very serious concerns" over Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defences last year. (Additional reporting by Eric Knecht in Beirut, Daren Butler in Istanbul, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dominic Evans)
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Ordinarily, Chuck Schumer is the very model of a rational, calculating politician who does things for deliberate strategic reasons. So what in the world was he thinking when he stood in front of the Supreme Court building during oral arguments on an important abortion case and threatened two conservative justices by name?

Schumers language was so extreme as to be almost bizarre: I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.

It immediately backfired on Schumer. Chief Justice John Roberts  rightly, in my view  issued an unusual public statement repudiating the attacks: Statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous, he wrote.

Schumer is too smart not to have seen this coming. After all, in the past, Roberts issued a statement defending the judiciary and implicitly rebuking President Donald Trump after he referred to Bush judges and Obama judges. Schumers foray was far more challenging to judicial independence.

That leaves the question of Schumers intent.

My guess is that Schumer is trying to motivate the Democratic base to start caring more about Supreme Court appointments and therefore to donate money so that Democrats can try to win back the Senate, without which even a Democratic president will not be able to make any Supreme Court appointments. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh arent just any two conservatives. Theyre Trumps two Supreme Court appointees.

Schumer presumably picked the day the abortion case was being argued to make his threats because he was aiming to create headlines that would remind Democrats of the reality that Trump has appointed justices who could change the fundamental balance of the court.

If Im right about Schumers motives, the ploy was intended to focus attention on the Trump-appointed justices and to adopt a newly combative attitude that would help Democrats win back the Senate.

Story continues

Its a good idea for Democrats to start caring a lot more than they traditionally have about Supreme Court appointments. It would be great to motivate Democratic base to care about winning back the Senate.

But the way Schumer has gone about it is entirely wrong  and he ought to apologize for his statement and change his rhetoric immediately.

The first problem with Schumers attack is that the judiciary really is a vulnerable institution, and never more so than under the Trump administration. Its wildly irresponsible for the Senate Minority Leader  or for any politician  to threaten judges of any rank.

The institutional capacity of the judiciary isnt built on any coercive power. Thats why Alexander Hamilton famously called the judiciary the least dangerous branch. The courts dont have guns to enforce their rulings. The only reason that the executive or legislative branches do what the judges say is that there is a carefully built norm of respect for the rule of law that says they should.

Trumps specialty is unsettling the unwritten norms that keep our constitutional democracy going, especially those norms connected to the rule of law. When he undercuts the judiciary, hes doing it in order to weaken the courts legitimacy so that he can get away with flouting the law and the Constitution.

When Schumer adopts Trumpian tactics, he contributes to undercutting the judiciary. Worse, he signals to ordinary people that both parties think its fine to undercut judicial power.

That is how norms get destroyed. First one side treats them as nonbinding. Then the other side says fine, Ill do it too. Then the norm is gone.

Thats why Roberts was completely correct to respond to Schumer. As Chief Justice, Roberts is trying to defend the legitimacy of the institution he leads. And hes doing the best he can under tough circumstances.

That leads me to the second major problem with Schumers attack: It alienates Roberts at exactly the moment when Democrats need him the most. Robertss position in the current abortion case before the court is genuinely unknown. He dissented when the court decided the same issue 5-3 against Texas a few years ago. But Roberts cares about precedent, and he wont want it to look like the court changed its stance simply because Gorsuch and Kavanaugh replaced Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy.

Even Robertss comments during oral argument suggested he was thinking seriously about the precedent issue. For that matter, so did Kavanaughs. We dont know yet how either will rule.

Schumers attacks unfortunately increased the possibility that Roberts might join the other conservatives and reverse the abortion precedent. Robertss objective is that the public not see the courts as purely partisan. But if Democrats are going to see them that way regardless, and try to push around judges to boot, why bother?

Does Schumer really want the justices to take an important step towards overturning Roe v. Wade? Maybe that would motivate Democrats to care about the Senate and the court. But the human cost is far too high, and risk far too great. Schumer is playing with fire. He shouldnt.

To contact the author of this story: Noah Feldman at nfeldman7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah Green Carmichael at sgreencarmic@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.


By Jung Min-ho







A pet dog in Hong Kong has contracted COVID-19 from its owner in what could be the first known human-to-animal transmission, local health authorities said Wednesday.





The Pomeranian is now under quarantine after repeated tests confirmed a "low-level infection" of the virus, though it shows no symptoms of the disease, a spokesman for Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.





The results conflict with the World Health Organization's (WHO) official stance that "there is no evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus."





However, the spokesman stressed there is no evidence that pets could pass the virus to their owners.





"Apart from maintaining good hygiene practices, pet owners need not be overly concerned and under no circumstances should they abandon their pets," he said.





Further tests will be conducted on the dog; it will not be released from quarantine until the rest results are negative.


At least nine people, including four foreign tourists, who were suspected to have contracted coronavirus were quarantined in different parts of Rajasthan on Thursday, health department officials said.

A British couple and their Indian driver were quarantined at the MDM Hospital in Jodhpur on Thursday after they showed symptoms of the coronavirus.

One employee of a hotel in Jaisalmer where a group of Italian tourists had stayed has also been quarantined.

Two tourists, one from Sri Lanka and one from Malaysia were hospitalized.

In Alwar, three persons were kept in isolation at the government hospital after they showed symptoms of the virus.

Till now, an Italian couple have tested positive for coronavirus and are in the isolation ward at the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences in Jaipur.

The couple was part of a group of 15 Italian tourists who travelled across six districts of Rajasthan from February 21 to 28.

Meanwhile, six Ramada Hotel staff has tested negative for coronavirus, said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health department.

The Italian tourists had stayed in the Ramada Hotel in Jaipur. After the couple tested positive, blood samples of the staff were taken for testing. The reports of staff at hotels in Jhunjhunu, Bikaner and Udaipur have also tested negative.

Singh said the health department has made a list of 215 people with whom the Italian tourists came in contact during their week-long sojourn through six districts of Rajasthan. These people are being screened and samples are being taken, he said.

Singh said so far 247 samples have been received of which 239 have been tested and 8 are under process. Only 2 have tested positive so far.

Jodhpur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Balwant Manda said the British couple had reached Jodhpur from Jaipur by taxi on Wednesday night and were checking into a hotel. The hotel staff informed the health department officials who screened the couple and the driver.

Dr Manda said the couple had cold and cough and they along with the driver were put in the isolation ward in the hospital. Their blood samples were taken last night and sent to Jaipur and the report will be in soon.

Kota Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr BS Tanwar said , Two foreigners have been found in Kota of whom 1 tourist of Malaysia has been admitted in the Government Hospital of Kota today for screening.

Presently, we cannot call the foreign tourists as Coronavirus suspects. We have admitted them for screening, he said. Samples of tourists were taken and sent to Jaipur, he said.

In Alwar, three locals who had returned from Nepal and Saudi Arabia have been kept under observation after symptoms of the virus were noticed.

Alwar CMHO said two of the men had returned from Nepal while one had returned from Saudi Arabia one day back. They had gone to the government hospital on Thursday morning for a check-up and were kept under observation by the hospital.

However, the three men gave doctors the slip in the afternoon and went home. Later, health department officials went along with police and convinced the men to return. They were then kept in the isolation ward of the government hospital.

Jaisalmer CMHO Dr BK Barupal said an employee of the hotel where a group of Italian tourists had stayed had cold and cough and he has been put in the isolation ward at the government hospital. His blood sample has been sent to Jaipur and the report is expected on Thursday, he said.

Health department officials on Thursday carried out door to door surveys to identify any potential coronavirus patients in a 3 km radius of tourist spots at Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jhunjhunu, Udaipur and Jaipur which were visited by the Italian tourists who have contracted the coronavirus.

The health department has already screened the staff and sanitized the rooms at the hotels where the tourists stayed.

The health department officials carried out door to door surveys in the places the tourists visited to identify any potential coronavirus patients and also asked people to be vigilant and report to the department if they showed any symptoms.

Jaisalmer CMHO Dr Barupal said the Gadisar Lake, Fort and Katuwa Haveli which the tourists visited have been disinfected and people who came in contact with the tourists are being screened.

Udaipur collector Anandi said the administration was screening people within a 3 km radius of the tourist spots visited by the Italians. She said the health officials were carrying out IEC activities and telling people to contact the health department in case they had any symptoms of the virus.

In Bikaner too, the health department officials carried out fogging at the Junagadh Fort and the Chhatris which the tourists visited. Teams carried out surveys within a 3 km radius of the tourist spots and asked people to be vigilant and report any symptoms.
One of the biggest world cruise liners in the world, the Grand Princess, is pictured in a file photograph. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

Cruise Ship Held Off California Coast Over Link to Possible Coronavirus Cluster

California officials are blocking a cruise ship from docking in San Francisco after a passenger from the ships previous voyage died on Wednesday.

The Grand Princess went on a 10-day roundtrip to Mexico in mid-February before picking up new passengers and leaving for Hawaii. It was on its way to Ensenada in Baja California when a patient who was on the previous voyage died from the virus, prompting the ship to head back to California.

The ship, which was originally scheduled to dock on March 4, is now being held about a day off the coast, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference late Wednesday.

The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers, he said.

Some 60 people who were on the trip to Mexico are on the new cruise and all will be tested. Eleven passengers and 10 crew members were showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the disease the virus causes, as of Wednesday evening, officials said.

The CDCs laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus in a file photo. (CDC via AP)

Test kits are being flown to the ship and samples will be quickly ferried to the state laboratory in Richmond to confirm or rule out the suspected cases. That process was expected to be completed by Thursday night, according to Newsom.

Discussions are ongoing with federal officials and the ship could be directed to a port other than San Francisco, Newsom said. The ship has thousands of passengers on board, as well as crew members.

Well provide as much time as needed to secure the safety of everyone on board, secure their health, and then more broadly that potentially could be impacted by thousands of people disembarking and then going to many ports of calls, through airports large and small, not only through the state of California but throughout the United States and throughout the rest of the world, he said.

Two passengers from the previous voyage have already tested positive for the new virus, including the elderly patient who died. Officials in Placer County, where the death occurred, said that it was monitoring 10 workers from Kaiser Permanente Roseville and five emergency responders who were exposed to the patient before the case was placed in isolation.

The other patient is in Sonoma County and is very difficult condition, Newsom said.

Three packs of filtration masks are displayed at Marin Ace Hardware in San Rafael, California, on March 2, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Officials across the country are working on getting in touch with passengers who were on that voyage, which departed San Francisco on Feb. 11 and returned on Feb. 21. By one estimate, over 50 percent of the 2,500 passengers on that cruise live in California. Officials have the manifest and are working with local health departments to locate the individuals. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is working on the same process for passengers who live outside the state.

The ship is operated by Princess Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Corp. The company also owns the Diamond Princess, the ship that was quarantined in Japan last month before becoming one of the largest clusters of coronavirus cases in the world.

Officials of the company said in a letter Wednesday to passengers that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 currently on board but that the CDC has identified fewer than 100 passengers and crew members who will be tested before the ship arrives in San Francisco. Those people have experienced flu-like symptoms.

All the passengers and crew identified for testing were restricted to their cabins for the time being.

You may order room service while you wait for the medical screening to be completed, and we apologize for any inconvenience, Dr. Grant Tarling, the ships chief medical officer, told passengers.

The scheduled Grand Princess voyage slated to start on March 7 was canceled and all passengers were receiving a full refund of the cruise fare and airfare, along with a cruise credit.
Zaky: Attorney says transferred to Tora Prison in Cairo Prison has a section for political detainees

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 5 - In Egypt Patrick George Zaky has been transferred from the prison in Mansura to Tora Prison in Cairo, said one of his attorneys, Walid Hassan, without specifying in which section - that for common or political detainees - Zaky was placed.



The Egyptian student at the University of Bologna was arrested in Egypt on charges of subversive propaganda on Facebook.



The hearing to extend his pre-trial custody, scheduled thus far for Saturday, will therefore take place in Cairo, Hassan told ANSA by phone.



The 27-year-old's attorneys had complained about his detention in Mansura, a city 2.5 hours (140 km) north of Cairo, because although Zaky's family is originally from the town on the Nile Delta and still has a house there, they now live in the Egyptian capital.



It is currently unclear whether the hearing on the possible 15-day extension of Zaky's pre-trial custody will take place as scheduled on Saturday or will be postponed to a different day, Hassan said. (ANSAmed).




Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden will today tell the BBC it must do more to get in touch with the whole of the United Kingdom after it missed key political trends like the backing for Brexit.

In his first speech since he took over from Nicky Morgan last month, Mr Dowden will make clear that he wants the corporation to move beyond a narrow urban outlook.

While singling out the global respect the BBC commands, comparing its reputation to the NHS, he will warn that institutions have to change if they want to retain support and relevance.

ecretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden arrives to attend a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on February 25, 2020 in London. In his first speech since he took over from Nicky Morgan last month, Mr Dowden will make clear that he wants the BBC to move beyond a narrow urban outlook

He will say that without genuine diversity of thought and experience the BBC will miss whats important to people and seem distant and disengaged.

Mr Dowden will add the corporation must reflect all of our nation, and all perspectives.

He will also raise the issue of whether the corporation has guarded its unique selling point of impartiality across all of its output.

The Culture Secretarys comments come after the BBC has in the past been accused of being slow to pick up on the public mood on issues like immigration and the growing support for Brexit.

Addressing industry leaders from media, telecoms and technology, Mr Dowden will ask whether the BBC is ready to embrace proper reform to ensure its long term sustainability for the decades ahead.

The Government is currently consulting on whether to decriminalise licence fee evasion, which will be followed by a new licence fee settlement and mid-term charter review in the coming years.

John Cleese, Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs are pictured in a still from the Fawlty Towers TV series. Mr Dowden will add the BBC has helped build our British sense of self through shows such as Fawlty Towers, Gavin and Stacey and Blue Planet, which brought generations together

The BBC is also taking on responsibility for funding free TV licences for over-75s.

The Government has suggested that the licence fee could be scrapped at the end of the charter in 2027.

Mr Dowden, speaking at the Media and Telecoms 2020 & Beyond conference, will say that in the world of increased choice from the likes of Netflix and YouTube, the BBC needs to focus even more strongly on relevance and representation.

But he will say that the corporation is cherished and it would be crazy to throw it away.

He will add that the BBC has helped build our British sense of self through shows such as Fawlty Towers, Gavin and Stacey and Blue Planet, which brought generations together.
The Toyota logo is seen during the first press day of the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, on Oct. 2, 2018. (Reuters/Benoit Tessier)

Toyota Recalls 3.2 Million Vehicles Worldwide Over Fuel Pump Problem

WASHINGTONToyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it is now recalling 3.2 million vehicles worldwide to address a fuel pump issue that could result in engine stalling.

The Japanese automaker first said in January it would recall 696,000 U.S. vehicles with a fuel pump that may stop operating and lead to stalling of the engine. Dealers will replace the fuel pumps with new ones.

Toyota said the recall now covers 1.8 million U.S. Toyota and Lexus vehicles in total in the United States, including older vehicles from as far back as the 2013 model yearand more than 1 million vehicles than it announced in January.

The added models under recall are:

2013-2014 Model Year Lexus GS 350;

2013-2015 Model Year Lexus LS 460;

2014 Model Year Toyota FJ Cruiser, Lexus IS-F;

2014-2015 Model Year Toyota 4Runner, Land Cruiser; Lexus GX 460, IS 350, LX 570;

2015 Model Year Lexus NX 200t, RC 350;

2017 Model Year Lexus IS 200t, RC 200t;

2017-2019 Model Year Toyota Sienna; Lexus RX 350;

2018 Model Year Lexus GS 300;

2018-2019 Model Year Toyota Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra; Lexus ES 350, GS 350, IS 300, IS 350, LC 500, LC 500h, LS 500, LS 500h, RC 300, RC 350, RX 350L.

The automaker told the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January it was aware of 66 field reports and 2,571 warranty claims that relate to fuel pump failures in the vehicles initially recalled.

Owners have complained of rough engine running, engine not starting and loss of power while driving at low speeds. Toyota said the reports occurred more commonly in areas of the southern U.S. with warmer climates.

Owners can call Toyota at 1-800-331-4331, Lexus at 1-800-255-3987 or go online at nhtsa.gov/recalls to enter your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or license plate information and find out if your vehicle was recalled.

By David Shepardson

The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
A stocks price-to-sales ratio reflects how much investors are paying for each dollar of revenues generated by a company.



If the price-to-sales ratio is 1, it means that investors are paying $1 for every $1 of revenues generated by the company. So, it goes without saying that a stock with a price-to-sales below 1 is a good bargain, as investors need to pay less than a dollar for a dollars worth.



Thus, a stock with a lower price-to-sales ratio is a more suitable investment than a stock with a high price-to-sales ratio.



Price-to-sales is often preferred over price-to-earnings as companies can manipulate their earnings using various accounting measures. However, sales are harder to manipulate and are relatively reliable.



When considering valuation metrics, price-to-earnings ratio has always been the obvious choice. This is because calculations based on earnings are easy and come in handy. However, price-to-sales has emerged as a convenient tool to determine the value of stocks that are incurring losses or are in an early cycle of development, generating meager or no profits.



While a loss-making company with a negative price-to-earnings ratio falls out of investor favor, its price-to-sales could indicate the hidden strength of its business. This underrated ratio is also used to identify a recovery situation or ensure that a company's growth is not overvalued.



However, one should keep in mind that a company with high debt and low price-to-sales is not an ideal choice. The high debt level will have to be paid off at some point, leading to further share issuance, rise in market cap and ultimately a higher price-to-sales ratio.



In any case, the price-to-sales ratio used in isolation cannot do the trick. One should also analyze other ratios like Price/Earnings, Price/Book and Debt/Equity before arriving at any investment decision.



Screening Parameters



Price to Sales less than Median Price to Sales for its Industry: The lower the price-to-sales ratio, the better.



Price to Earnings using F(1) estimate less than Median Price to Earnings for its Industry: The lower, the better.



Price to Book (common Equity) less than Median Price to Book for its Industry: This is another parameter to ensure the value feature of a stock.



Debt to Equity (Most Recent) less than Median Debt to Equity for its Industry: A company with less debt should have a stable price-to-sales ratio.



Current Price greater than or equal to $5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.



Zacks Rank less than or equal to #2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.



Value Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a Value Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best opportunities in the value investing space.



Here are seven of the 23 stocks that qualified the screening:



Macy's, Inc. M, through its retail stores and Internet websites (macys.com and bloomingdales.com), trades in a wide range of merchandise, including mens, womens and childrens apparel and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and other consumer goods in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Value Score of A. It has a 35 year EPS growth rate of 7.5%.



Janus Capital Group, Inc JHG is an asset management holding entity, providing services to institutional, retail clients, and high net worth clients. It manages separate client-focused equity and fixed income portfolios, as well as equity, fixed income and balanced mutual funds for its clients. It invests in public equity and fixed income markets, as well as real estate and private equity. This Zacks Rank #1 company has a Value Score of A. The 3-5 year EPS growth rate for the stock is estimated at 12%.



Rocky Brands RCKY is a manufacturer and seller of footwear and apparel in the United States, Canada and internationally. It sells products under the Rocky, Georgia Boot, Durango, Lehigh, Creative Recreation and Michelin brands. The stock currently has a Value Score of B and a Zacks Rank #1.



PG&E Corp. PCG is the parent holding company of Californias largest regulated electric and gas utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The utility generates revenues mainly through the sale and delivery of electricity and natural gas to customers. It engages in the business of electricity and natural gas distribution, electricity generation, procurement, and transmission, and natural gas procurement, transportation and storage. The utility also operates hydro-electric, nuclear and fossil fuel power plants. The 3-5 year EPS growth rate for the stock is estimated at 2.5%. The stock currently has a Value Score of B and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



First Horizon National Corporation FHN is a financial services company based in Memphis, TN. It is the holding company for First Tennessee Bank and FTN Financial. First Tennessee Bank offers deposit products, loans, investments, insurance, financial planning, trusts, asset management and cash management services in Tennessee. FTN Financial provides capital markets and investment banking services. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Value Score of B. The 3-5 year EPS growth rate for the stock is estimated at 8.1%.



Zaandam, the Netherlands-based Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. ADRNY was founded in 1887 and operates retail food stores primarily in the United States and Europe. The company offers supermarket, superstore, online shopping, online grocery shopping, small supermarket, convenience store, drugstore, wine and liquor store, online shopping for general merchandise, compact hyper and supermarket, and hypermarkets store formats. This Zacks Rank #2 companys 35 year EPS growth rate is expected to be 4.7%. The stock has a Value Score of A.



THL Credit, Inc. TCRD is a business development company specializing in direct and fund-of-fund investments. The fund seeks to invest in debt and equity securities of middle market companies that require capital for growth and acquisitions. Such investments may include PIPES, acquisition, market or product expansion, recapitalization, debt securities, warrants, preferred stock, high-yield bonds, private equity investments and securities of public companies that are broadly traded and others. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Value Score of B.



You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.



The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your trial to the Research Wizard today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.



Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.



Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.



Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



First Horizon National Corporation (FHN) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PCG) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Macy's, Inc. (M) : Free Stock Analysis Report



THL Credit, Inc. (TCRD) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Rocky Brands, Inc. (RCKY) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Ahold NV (ADRNY) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Janus Capital Group, Inc (JHG) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
DES MOINES  The Iowa Senate voted 44-3 Wednesday to strengthen the states animal cruelty laws.

Senators forged a compromise that downgraded a provision of House File 737, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=HF%20737 which made a first offense of animal torture a felony.

Instead, the bill establishes the crime as an aggravated misdemeanor that also would require a special sentence requiring a convicted offender to undergo one to three years of supervision and counseling.

This is a huge step for the state of Iowa, and it will take us from the bottom of the rankings on animal abuse laws, said Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, the bills floor manager.

Second and subsequent animal torture charges would be a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison plus a special sentence.

Other provisions enhanced current penalties for animal abuse and neglect and changed some definitions in current law that make it difficult for law enforcement to charge individuals with criminal offenses.

There has to be criminal intent, Zaun told his Senate colleagues during floor debate.

In the past, lawmakers have been hesitant to strengthen the states animal cruelty laws, primarily due to concerns raised by farmers and organizations that represent them. They raised the concern that any attempt to strengthen animal cruelty laws could create burdensome regulations on livestock farmers.

Lawmakers say they have addressed those concerns in the current proposals by writing the legislation to specifically address pets, or their legal term, companion animals.

And the proposals would amend a portion of state law that is different from the one that deals with livestock.

We cant fix bad people, but I think we can go a long ways toward dealing with these issues and keeping the animal agriculture business out of it, said Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway.

Lawmakers said they worked with all stakeholders to draft a proposal all parties would be comfortable with.

Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, voted for the bill but expected legislators would be working on the issue in future years to address possible unintended consequences of the legislation, which now goes back to the Iowa House for consideration.

This is needed in my community. Its gotten out of hand, and we need to send a signal, said Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines. Its been very embarrassing that Iowa was 49th in the country in rankings of animal protection laws.

Legal smoking age

Also Wednesday, the Senate approved a measure that would put Iowa code in line with a new federal law by raising the legal smoking age to 21.

The federal government in January made it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. The previous limit was 18.

The measure passed with strong bipartisan support, 43-6. It now heads to the House for consideration.

Democrats attempted to amend the proposal to also ban the sale of vaping products to anyone under the age of 21. Republicans ruled the proposed amendments not relevant to the legislation and thus not eligible for consideration or a vote.

Solar energy

Also, senators sent Gov. Kim Reynolds two bills dealing with solar energy and county zoning issues.

Senators voted 48-0 to accept House changes on legislation directing the Iowa Utilities Board to study the value of solar as a part of the states energy menu.

Senate File 583 https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=SF%20583 was approved without opposition after the controversial changes in the Senate version were replaced by a study in seven years, or whenever distributive generation reaches 5 percent of the electric market in Iowa.

This is good legislation. Its good for our economy, its good for the environment, its good for the people of Iowa, said Sen. Eric Giddens, D-Cedar Falls, who noted the compromise made a flawed bill into a great bill that will strengthen the solar industry in this state.

It will strengthen the solar industry in this state, make distributed solar installations more affordable for homeowners, businesses and farmers, Giddens said.

The bill would establish alternative billing methods, such as net billing and inflow-outflow billing, according to architects.

Groups representing utilities, the solar industry, solar users and installers, and pork producers met over the interim to hammer out their disagreements with outstanding results, backers said.

Sen. Michael Breitbach, R-Strawberry Point, said rate-regulated utilities in Iowa will buy and sell electricity with private customer-generated electricity, and all existing customers operating under the current net-metering arrangement will be grandfathered into the new system.

This gives certainty to solar customers, he said.

Under the legislation, the Iowa Utilities Board will hire an independent third party to establish the value of solar  adjusted each year with a cap so rates only go up or down by 5 percent annually.

County zoning

On a separate issue, senators voted 37-11 to send the governor House File 2512, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=HF%202512 a zoning limitations bill that would have implications for Johnson County and could affect other county zoning plans in the future.

Current law exempts certain buildings used for agricultural purposes from county zoning ordinances. HF 2512 https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=hf2512 would prohibit a county from requiring an application, approval or payment of a fee for the exemption to apply to land, farm barns, farm outbuildings, or other buildings or structures that are primarily adopted for use for agricultural purposes.

Backers of the bill said Johnson Countys ordinances are more restrictive than state law and reasserts the state has control over agriculture.

Provisions of the measure also would require that all members of a county planning and zoning commission be residents of the unincorporated area of a county.

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Linkedin Hyonhee Shin (Reuters) Seoul, South Korea  Thu, March 5, 2020 19:38 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068a2610 2 World outbreak,North-Korea,kim-jong-un,South-Korea,Moon-Jae-In,coronavirus,COVID-19,Wuhan-coronavirus Free

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a letter expressing hope for South Korea to overcome a coronavirus outbreak, President Moon Jae-in's office said on Thursday, as the South battles the biggest epidemic of the disease outside China.

The two sides' exchanges have ground nearly to a halt after the North closed borders and temporarily shut a joint liaison office in a border city to avert an outbreak, while the South added 438 infections on Thursday to swell its tally to 5,766.

In the letter delivered on Wednesday, Kim voiced concern over Moon's health, and expounded what he described as his "honest view and position" regarding the situation on the Korean peninsula, Moon's office said, without elaborating.

"Chairman Kim wished to console our citizens who are fighting the coronavirus," Yoon Do-han, Moon's senior press secretary, told reporters.

"He said he believes we will win, and hoped the health of southern compatriots will be protected."

Moon responded with a letter of thanks, Yoon added.

The rare message came less than two days after Kim's sister, Yo Jong, issued a statement attacking Moon's office for criticizing a military drill by the North.

North Korea had resumed missile testing on Monday after a three-month pause, prompting Moon's office to urge a halt.

Kim Yo Jong, who is also a senior official of the North's ruling party, said the exercise was not meant to threaten anyone, deriding Seoul for what she called "perfectly foolish" words and acts.

North Korea has not confirmed any virus infections, but state media said people showing symptoms faced a month in quarantine, while further "high-intensity" measures included stricter checks in border areas, at airports and sea ports.

Moon offered to help the North's prevention efforts, but Pyongyang has not responded, officials said.
International Music Promotion: Launching Your Next D.I.Y. Global Campaign

What does worldwide really mean when it comes to reaching listeners? While major streaming services have international reach, there are other companies outside that US that are often much more popular, and not promoting your music on these services could mean youre missing out.

Guest post by Kevin Cornell of TuneCore

If youve been distributing your music using TuneCore, you already know that we send your songs to over 150 digital music stores and streaming platforms worldwide. But how often have you thought about what worldwide really means when it comes to reaching fans?

One scroll through our list of digital stores should be all you need to see, specifically, where in the world your music has the possibility of being discovered. While some stores like Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music are used by fans all over, there are platforms and stores that service listeners in specific countries, and theyre all growing increasingly popular as the world continues to adopt streaming.

But if your promotional efforts are limited to the borders of your country, you could be holding yourself back.

Think about it: the average DIY press pitching campaign usually entails finding the most influential blogs/media outlets, and maybe some less popular but super-specific sites that cover the genre played by the artist reaching out for coverage. Given that the artist speaks English and is aware of these blogs in their home country, it makes perfect sense to be trying to reach readers of those sites.

As they do more campaigns for each new release, maybe the artist is adding new smaller blogs or sites here and there to their spreadsheet.

Not often enough, however, are these new additions based outside of their country (or a handful of certain countries with large music markets). If a site on the other side of the world youve never necessarily read yourself is covering the kind of music you play and release, why wouldnt they be worth sending an email to? International promotion is just another step in building a more robust album or single campaign.

Google Is Your Friend

OK, so youve got this far and realized how many French, Korean, German, Indian, Nigerian and Brazilian blogs you could have sent your last release to during your press pitching. But where do you start?

As simple as it might seem, Googling these new outlets is really your best first step. Just like you likely had to do for some of your local blog picks, its just about finding the right phrases to search for.

Using phrasing like best German music blogs, as generic as it sounds, might yield some helpful lists or Reddit threads  but youll still want to make sure these blogs are covering the kind of music youre pitching. After all, theres no point in wasting both your time and the editors time pitching your heavy metal single to an EDM-focused site.

Another trick you can apply is updating your search settings to search from a different region. On your Google search results, you can select Settings (to the bottom right of the search bar), and scroll down to Region Settings:

Play around with this as much as you like  different phrases will yield different results, and you might just find some gold if you keep digging around.

TuneCore Sales Reports Are Also Your Friend

Chances are if youve been using TuneCore to sell your music online, youve also taken a peek at your Music Sales reports. In your dashboard, you can explore how your songs have been performing by country. This is the perfect launchpad off which to begin allocating your international promotion efforts!

If youre a U.S.-based artist, its likely youll see that country up top of the list in terms of streams and downloads. But as you scroll down, what territories jump out at you?

This section of the sales report has been helping TuneCore Artists decide where to tour and where to pitch for years, but it goes overlooked by many. Even if youre only seeing 40 or 50 streams in a country youve never traveled to, its a start.

Just like Spotifys list of cities where your music is most popular, these figures can be mentioned in your pitch to an editor. Highlight your growing popularity in a new area and show off how personalized that pitch email really is.

Dont Be Afraid of Rabbit Holes

The worst part about building a media list is the amount of time and effort required before you even pitch. The best part about it, however, is you really only need to do the majority of grunt work once.

If youve built a media list, you know that its pretty easy to lose hours going down rabbit holes of lesser-known blogs and websites. Its amazing how many folks are dedicating their time to the mission of spreading great independent music, isnt it?

Well, now that youre going on your international press research journey, why not let yourself go down similar rabbit holes?

A helpful tip for finding potential writers/outlets to cover your tunes is simply changing up your territory settings and searching for articles covering releases by similar sounding/comparable artists. I recommend going for more niche/lower profile artists  for instance, a lot of people write about major releases by artists like Kendrick Lamar and Tame Impala. Just because you consider major artists to be influences or sound alikes, try to narrow it down to more independent artists to reference so writers have a more specific idea of your sound when they receive your email. If a writer is covering a more niche artist youd compare yourself to, it might be easier to make the connection.

Dont Let Language Barriers Be Pitching Barriers

Ok, so at this point you might be wondering how in the world youre going to pitch to be featured in a foreign-language site/blog if you dont speak the language its written in. Fair!

Normally I wouldnt personally recommend using something simple and free like Google Translate when it comes to something major like re-branding a website, communicating en masse, or anything fan-facing where you want to convince people that you speak the language youve translated your copy to.

However, using Google Translate for pitch emails to a select group of outlets and editors isnt a bad idea.

My reasoning here: Google Translates results may convey the main point of what youre trying to express, but chances are it will read as unnatural/sloppy, robotic, or overly formal. But making the effort to write to some international editors in their native tongue might be enough for them to consider you  maybe you can even add a note like: P.S.  I used Google Translate for this email, so apologies if my grammar seems a bit messy  just hoping to reach new fans in [insert country]. Thanks for understanding!

As for research, once again, dont be intimidated by the challenge of finding new international outlets. Thankfully, if youre searching for blogs in a country that are typically in a language you dont speak, a lot of times you can let the browser translate it for you  even if the translations are a little choppy, they should be good enough to get you to the submissions/contact information needed to make the pitch.

Those are some general tips for getting started on your next single, album, video or tour press campaign on the international level. Depending on your genre and where youre at in your career, youll likely find yourself tweaking some of this stuff as you go  and thats encouraged!

The only thing worse than worrying if you said the right thing in your pitches is worrying if you said it to enough writers and editors to make an impact. Plus, you never know which country your next burgeoning fan base resides in!

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Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are on a three-day visit to Ireland where they met the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. According to media reports, during his first day in Ireland, Prince William jokingly said that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus. Prince William also said that the coronavirus outbreak is being hyped as it doesn't seem that dramatic to him as how it is being portrayed in the media.

Read: Barack Obama Urges People To Take 'stay Calm', 'listen To Experts' Amid Coronavirus Scare

During their three day visit to Ireland, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited incredibly scenic Howth taking in sweeping views of the Irish coastline on the famous cliff walk. The Duke and Duchess also visited Extern Charitys Savannah House, which helps vulnerable young people aged 10-17 to develop vital independent living and social skills. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge received a warm welcome from President Michael D. Higgins and Mrs. Higgins on their first day in the country.

Back in Co. Dublin, The Duke and Duchess visited incredibly scenic Howth this sunny afternoon, taking in sweeping views of the Irish coastline on the famous cliff walk #RoyalVisitIreland pic.twitter.com/aSGCL7DtBD  British Embassy (@BritEmbDublin) March 4, 2020

Read: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, German Airline Lufthansa To Ground 150 Flights

As per reports, there are currently 85 active cases of coronavirus in the United Kingdom, out of which 34 cases were reported in the last 36 hours. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Tuesday outlined plans to tackle the virus outbreak in the country after the number of positive cases rose in the country. The risk level in the continent was increased from moderate to high and people are being advised to avoid going to public places.

Read: Amid Coronavirus Scare, OPEC Officials Avoid Hugs Or Handshakes And Greet With Their Feet

Coronavirus outbreak

The new coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has claimed more than 3,200 lives across the globe and has infected over 95,000 people since December 2019. According to reports, at least 268 people have died outside mainland China, which makes it the worst disease outbreak in the 21st century. The virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, where animals were being traded illegally. Hubei province in China has been most affected by the contagious disease, which is also the epicentre of the virus.

Read: 'No Inappropriate Ads': Twitter Takes Steps To Prevent Misinformation On Coronavirus

Image Credit: @KensingtonRoyal/Twitter
A few days before the New Hampshire primary vote, midway through a speech at a packed town hall in Nashua, Andrew Yang began to talk about data.

Specifically, the industrial-scale harvesting of private data that is at the heart of todays biggest and most profitable tech companies. We produce an enormous outflow of information that is taken from us, often without our consent, and monetized, said Yang.

But then he swerved. Instead of issuing the call-to-arms implicit in the Data as a Property Right plank of his presidential platform, Yang launched into a pitch for what he called a Data Dividend: a monthly, thousand-dollar check that he saw as a way to remunerate citizens for their loss of privacy at the hands of unaccountable Big Tech overlords. (This was Yangs Freedom Dividend by another name; both refer to a proposed Universal Basic Income (UBI) that was at the center of the campaign until Yang dropped out after the New Hampshire vote.)

Related: Yang 2020 and the Search for the Next Crypto Candidate

If you received a Data Dividend, how much of it would stay right here in Nashua? he asked the audience. Most of it, right? Maybe not all of it  you might get your own Netflix password.

The line got a laugh, one of several that afternoon. (Yang was easily the funniest of the Democratic candidates.)

The use of data harvesting as a set-up for UBI  suggesting the system cant be changed, so you might as well take a cut  might have surprised those most familiar with the details of Yangs platform. That platform includes a large section on data and tech that understands them as moral and political issues. Its an incredibly detailed program  including The right to download all data in a standardized format to port to another platform  but the fact that he largely ignored it on the stump tells you much about the issues low-profile on the campaign trail.

It took a bit of searching at the rally to find anyone who felt strongly that the issue deserved more serious treatment. That person was a 50-something local podcast host and former PBS programmer named Larry Rifkin. An undecided voter, he described Yang as an interesting guy and felt strongly the tech and privacy issues were getting short thrift on the trail.

Story continues

Related: Pete Buttigieg Was Silicon Valleys Favorite

Everybody sees privacy as an individual right issue, but it should be framed as a social issue, said Rifkin. Were giving away our rights, as Ralph Nader has said, one disclaimer at a time. Modern life requires us to be online and pass through these digital gates. How do you live in this age unless you give away these rights? Who can we question? We need to broaden this conversation.

He said he supported Elizabeth Warrens calls to dismember Facebook on anti-monopoly and public-interest grounds, but was careful to say not every tech-related issue requires a federal sledgehammer.

When you look at the power Facebook has amassed, and their cavalier attitude to real problems, theyve shown they should be broken up. But all the big tech companies are different, Rifkin added. Some require oversight, others need to be herded a bit. So far, Congress has proven to be way out of its depth  it doesnt even know what to ask, let alone what to safeguard.

***

Its been a long seven years since NSA contractor Edward Snowden blew the roof off the U.S. governments far-reaching and unconstitutional surveillance program. The revelations were followed by a steady drip of stories about data breaches exposing Americans to various forms of manipulation and theft, capped by the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal. Around the time of Donald Trumps election, the large plurality of Americans who once believed technology firms were a positive force in American life disappeared. By early 2017, the percentage of the population with a sunny view of Big Tech had plummeted 22 points from recent highs to 50 percent.

That this anxiety and concern was not much in evidence in New Hampshire, however, suggests a reckoning may not be on the horizon.

To find the possible outlines of this reckoning, it was necessary to dig into the platforms of the candidates. Along with Yang, the most detailed reform programs  covering everything from the digital divide to online privacy  belongs to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The latter is running on a plan to not only rein in the power of Facebook and others, but is calling for an $85 billion public investment in public broadband.

In Berlin, the capital of Coos County in New Hampshires Great North bordering Canada, I met a Warren supporter and former computer fraud investigator named Kathleen Kelley. She was well-versed in Warrens tech platform, which she described as a source of the candidates appeal amid a crowded Democratic field.

I am increasingly concerned about privacy, Kelley, 64, told me over coffee one morning at a cafe in the shadow of the White Mountains. Facebook seems to know what Ive seen, and said  even recommending things that I was just thinking about. I have Siri at home, and it knows my patterns: when I come home, what music I like, what news I listen to. Its a little scary. Im at the point, with Amazon and others, where Im asking, How big is too big? I think we need to talk about that, just as we broke up the Ma Bells years ago, which led to innovation. Good things could come out of reducing their power over the economy and our private data.

A small but active segment of the Democratic base has lost patience with Congress altogether.

As a resident of a remote community, Kelley was impressed with Warrens focus on bringing public broadband to rural communities. This is an infrastructure and development crisis across the country. According to Pew, one in five American students cant finish homework because of lack of internet access. A full quarter of rural Americans say internet access is a major problem. And while views on the governments responsibility for fixing this are mixed, there is overwhelming public support for government action to override large commercial providers seeking to block the emergence of local solutions.

To see what this crisis looks like, Kelley directed my attention to the other end of the Granite State, where the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border town of Royalston, Mass., has emerged as a perfect test case for the programs advocated, however quietly, in so many Democratic platforms.

***

Midway between the primary circus of Manchester and the technology hub of Boston, is Royalston, a farming town. Until five years ago, one-sixth of the towns 1,200 residents were without high-speed internet, because it did not make economic sense for the towns commercial ISP to service them. This was unacceptable to a Royalston resident named Jon Hardie, a 70-something veteran community organizer, entrepreneur and computer enthusiast. With a small grant from the state, he launched an initiative to build a community-owned fixed LTE wireless network that could service the entire town  including the otherwise cut-off residents. The project was successful, and serves as a beacon for those who believe powerful community-owned WiFi networks are not only possible, but much cheaper and resilient than the fiber cables preferred by commercial operators.

The major vendors cherry-pick high-density population areas, and to heck with people in rural areas, says Hardie, who has expanded his project into a network of 42 rural communities in the region. Corporations are putting a huge amount of pressure on state legislatures and agencies to prevent local communities from building their own networks. We invited Sprint and Verizon to our towns, but we said you gotta do the rural schools, fire and police and municipal offices. They said no. Here in Royalston our network serves 600 homes and 1,200 people for $1.4 million, when the fiber cost would be $3.5 million.

Hardie declined to discuss his voting preference in the election, but he speaks a language that resonates strongly with that found in Bernie Sanderss platform on internet access: public investments, social goods, climate resilience, and community organizing. Indeed, Sanderss platform includes a plank, High Speed Internet Access for All, that lines up exactly with the vision and details of Hardies initiative. Sanders is calling for $150 billion to be invested, as part of the Green New Deal, in infrastructure grants and technical assistance for municipalities [and] states to build publicly owned and democratically controlled, co-operative, or open access broadband networks [that are] resilient to the effects of climate change.

Unique among the Democratic candidates, Sanders also supports breaking up ISP and cable monopolies, unwinding anticompetitive mergers and barring ISPs from providing content.

How do you we deliver rural healthcare and education without information? Like health care, you have to subsidize it, Hardie told me, echoing another of Sanderss signature policy ideas. State support and community ownership is a winning combination for high-speed internet in rural America. Fiber is expensive and susceptible to bad weather in an age of increasing climate volatility. The government should be investing in the lowest cost, highest performance tech. It used to be $1,000 a meg, now its a couple of bucks. The cost will continue to fall, especially in the Southwest where solar can power the community-owned systems. This is not what the companies want to hear, because it keeps revenue streams out of their hands.

***

Few of Sanderss supporters may understand the technical details of building resilient community internet networks, but those I met in New Hampshire thought it a no-brainer the state should be more involved in the sector.

A public option for the internet that runs like a local utility is a great idea, said Mark Grueter, a Lyft driver and out-of-work academic that I met at the Sanders rally in Manchester on the night of the vote. Other countries do it and the results are usually better than what we have in the States. The corporate monopolies in this country dont come close to delivering the best service at the best price. I think the candidates should be talking about it more.

Grueter also said breaking up Facebook, and possibly other tech giants, was a good idea deserving of close consideration for the Democratic Partys 2020 platform. They are the new robber barons, he said. It started off as an innovative sector, but now its just so oppressive. I havent used Facebook in a long time. I hate how everything you do online requires a Facebook account, like Facebook is the gatekeeper for participating in the modern world. Its a very alienating time. Social media companies should be held accountable for misinformation. I mean, whats the counterargument? That its a free speech issue? Its ridiculous.

Up in Berlin, Kathleen Kelley was also worried about bad information, which like high-speed internet can be worse in rural communities. We dont have newspapers up here, like so many places, so people are getting their news on Facebook, Reddit or Instagram, and how much of that is wrong or false? I try to figure out what is true, but sometimes I get fooled and have to stop myself, she said. I dont think were teaching our children how to filter information. We need education. When I sub at schools I see kids using Wikipedia, or open-source information. Is that all true?

Rifkin, the podcaster at the Yang rally, said education and individual responsibility are ultimately the most important lines defense. He mentioned that he was currently reading Rana Foroohars book about Google and data harvesting, Dont Be Evil, and he had recommended it on his show, American Trends.

Unfortunately, so much falls to us as individuals, and we choose to go into these dens, because we feel comforted, or feel backed up in our prejudices, said Rifkin. I want more cautionary alerts, maybe not regulation. Its just a very strange time in this countrys public life.

* **

On the sub-freezing night of Feb. 7, groups of supporters behind every candidate lined the street outside of St. Anslem College, site of the final Democratic debate before the vote. Among the clusters of machine-made signs for Elizabeth, Amy, Pete and Bernie was a dozen or so homemade signs decrying the capture of government by special interests. At their lead was Brain Beihl, director of the Concord, N.H.-based non-profit Open Democracy. The group is best known for its founder, Doris Granny D Haddock, who at the age of 88 began a two-year trek from California to D.C. to rally support for campaign finance reform. When I asked Beihl what Granny D, who died in 2010 at age 100, would think about the unique kind of power now wielded by Big Tech  in D.C., in our living rooms, in our minds  he said that any solutions and reforms will only be possible after curtailing their power over regulators and Congress.

If you want to rein in these tech companies, its the same as dealing with climate and health care and education  none of it is gonna happen until we get campaign finance fixed, he said. They are big-time lobbyists now. If you want to regulate or reform them in any way, start with their ability to buy influence.

A small but active segment of the Democratic base has lost patience with Congress altogether, and believes that the fight should be taken to the streets  in particular, the streets outside of Mark Zuckerbergs two Bay Area mansions.

A week after the primary, an alliance of media advocacy and human rights groups  led by Global Exchange and Media Alliance  held protests outside of the Facebook CEOs private residences in San Francisco and Palo Alto, demanding the company follow Twitters lead and ban political ads. (Google has instituted a partial ban focused on targeted ads; YouTube has announced a plan to remove misleading election-related content). Twice in January, the groups protested outside Facebooks headquarters in Menlo Park, and on February 21 unfurled a Truth Matters human billboard outside of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Redwood City. Since January, more than 88,000 people have signed two petitions related to the campaign, called Wake the ZUCK Up!

Facebook has been concealing its vast profits from sabotaging democracy under a fig leaf of free speech, said Tracy Rosenberg, one of the organizers. It refuses to take responsibility for lies, hate and disinformation that could jeopardize the integrity of the 2020 elections. The company is also all too happy to profit from micro-targeting that directs disinformation at vulnerable communities and hides it from everyone else.

The sense of urgency animating the direct-action campaign is clear enough to comprehend: The president has shown no interest in investing in public broadband, breaking up monopolies, or making an issue of data and privacy. If he is reelected, with or without the help of Facebook, Americans can forget about the sensible reforms and proposals being put forward by the Democratic candidates to expand access to the internet while at the same time reigning in the giants that control it.

Alexander Zaitchik is a freelance journalist living in New Orleans. He is the author, most recently, of The Gilded Rage: A Wild Ride Through Donald Trumps America.

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Ghanas quest for independence was preceded with a lot of struggles, including the Christiansborg Crossroads shooting incident of February 28, 1948.



Following the shooting incident, there were agitations against the colonial authorities for the political and social injustices inherent in the colonial system.



This led to the arrest of the leaders of the group, popularly known as the Big Six, including Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who were sent to Kumasi.



The government had assumed that the Big Six  Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, William Ofori Atta, Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah and Edward Akufo-Addo, were responsible for the February 28 disturbances.



They were subsequently detained in Kumasi as a way of quelling further disturbances in the capital, Accra.



However, when the British government learnt that there were plots to storm the prison in Kumasi, the six were separated, with Nkrumah sent to Lawra.



Before their release in April 1948, there had been a series of demonstrations for their release.



Lawra



While at Lawra, Dr Nkrumah was detained for about eight weeks in a single structure near the residence of then Governor in the Lawra District.



Lawra and the present Upper West Region, which were both part of the Northern Territories, did not have much to say in the governance as they were considered a protectorate.



The area was generally quiet, hence the choice of the place to detain Dr Nkrumah when the British administrators could no longer contain the sustained pressure mounted by the Ghanaian elite.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling Donald Trump's contention that Barack Obama's administration shut down a White House team focused on countering global pandemics "just not right."

The California Democrat on Thursday listed a number of virus-related matters on which her caucus wants more answers from the administration after top Trump aides, including Vice President Mike Pence, briefed them on Wednesday. She also criticised Mr Trump for a string of misleading and false statements about the coronavirus outbreak.

"That's just not right," she said at the top of her weekly press conference.

She spent several minutes defending the Democratic Obama administration over a remark Mr Trump made Wednesday during a meeting with airline executives who came to the White House eager for Mr Trump and his health team to avoid urging people to forego air travel.

"The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we're doing," the president said on Wednesday. "And we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more rapid and accurate fashion."

No federal health or White House official has been able to pinpoint just what rule the president was referencing. Ms Pelsoi noted the lack of corroboration.

She read a quote from the office of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander in which, in her words, saying "there was no such rule change."

In fact, it was the Trump administration in May 2018 that nixed a National Security Council team led by Navy Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer that was charged with a number of public health matters, including pandemics.

The national security health team was axed as part of a NSC shakeup orchestrated by former national security adviser John Bolton, whom Trump fired last year over policy disagreements over Syria, Iran, North Korea and other hotspots.

Mr Trump frequently blames missteps on others, especially Democrats, and has yet to admit a major mistake on the federal coronavirus response.

But he is eager to soak in any credit that might boost his re-election bid.

"With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths," the president tweeted Thursday as new cases were announced on US soil. "We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!"

Minutes later, about a mile away on Capitol Hill, Ms Pelosi said she is pleased "the reality is in the public domain," referring to how the White House pandemic team was shut down. She also called on officials to work at "recognising we were on a path that was not working" while also putting more effort into "not blaming others."

In yet another sign of just how little the two parties agree on, Ms Pelosi defended the Obama administration's handling of the ebola crisis, calling it "picture perfect" and applauding Mr Trump's predecessor's decision then to "put scientists in place so we could really evaluate the epidemiology."

But back in 2014, citizen Trump was a frequent critic of how Mr Obama responded to that outbreak. In a 28 October tweet that year, the then-New York real estate executive and reality television host tweeted this: "President Obama strongly considering a plan to bring non-U.S. citizens with Ebola to the United States for treatment. Now I know he's nuts!"
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 00:06:50|Editor: huaxia

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Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan speaks at a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, March 4, 2020. Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Wednesday that the ministry is equipping public hospitals all over Lebanon to receive further possible COVID-19 cases. (Photo by Bilal Jawich/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Wednesday that the ministry is equipping public hospitals all over Lebanon to receive further possible COVID-19 cases.

"We are equipping public hospitals in a way that would allow us to isolate an increasing number of people if needed," the minister told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of a press conference held at the health ministry.

Hassan noted that Lebanon has been doing great efforts in preventing the spread of the virus and has so far succeeded in containing the disease.

The minister said that Lebanon is cooperating with China in fighting against the virus.

"China has offered needed medical tests to help in detecting the virus," he said, praising the active role played by the Chinese ambassador in Lebanon in this regard.

Lebanon has so far registered 13 COVID-19 cases.
Last week, dozens of advocates from various groups packed SEPTAs board meeting to send a unified message. They went to tell SEPTA theres one policy change that would immediately improve the customer experience, enhance equity within the system, and lay the groundwork for an efficient, robust transit network: Eliminate the burdensome cost of transferring from one public transit vehicle to another.

After three years of advocacy from 5th Square, our focus on winning free transfers for every rider is coming to a critical point. SEPTA is expected to propose changes to its fare structure by the end of March, and we want to see it commit to abolishing this counterproductive penalty once and for all.

When SEPTA charges a fee to transfer, thats an unfair burden for all whose homes arent on the same route as their job, family, school, grocery store, doctors office, or place of worship. Instead of enabling riders to use SEPTA as a true network, we have a fragmented system where countless riders stay on longer bus trips because they cant afford the transfer fee.

The transfer fee is a penalty. It is outdated, a legacy rule when public transit was split among multiple private operators. Thats why nearly every peer agency across the country has already eliminated them. A 2019 Pew Trust report found that even while paying a discounted fare with SEPTA Key, the $3 total fare for a trip with transfer is higher than the equivalent trip in other major cities: Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.

The transfer penalty hurts the poor. The Pew report also found that the transfer penalty disproportionately affects low-income riders in North and West Philly. It especially hurts commuters who work outside Center City and University City, because they are more likely to be dependent on SEPTA to get to those jobs.

The transfer penalty is burdensome for families. Councilmember Kendra Brooks pointed out during her campaign that in a city where young children are required to pay full fares, paying extra to transfer means it can actually be cheaper for families to hail an Uber or a Lyft than to take transit.

In contrast, free transfers will improve ridership. With bus ridership in free fall over the last four years, nearing a 20-year low, SEPTA needs to take immediate action to turn things around. Free transfers allow for a more efficient system; this is crucial in light of SEPTAs upcoming Comprehensive Bus Network Redesign. Those long, redundant bus routes designed for a one-seat ride also cost a lot for SEPTA to operate. They are existing resources that could be reallocated to improve bus service to underserved neighborhoods around the city, feeding into faster subway/El service and dependable crosstown routes.

As noted in the Philadelphia Bus Network Choices Report, produced for SEPTA by transit planner Jarrett Walker, The most efficient and effective network is one in which passengers are encouraged to change buses as needed to reach their destinations most quickly. ... Changing buses is an activity that SEPTA needs to encourage, it makes no sense to charge extra for it.

Free transfers have the support of city government. Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, from the 3rd District, advocated for eliminating the transfer penalty at the hearing, while proposing a reduced-fare program for low-income riders and free rides for children under 12. Mike Carroll, a SEPTA Board member and the citys deputy managing director for the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability, echoed the call for free transfers and noted its inclusion in Mayor Jim Kenneys CONNECT plan.

SEPTA should include in its fare proposal an unlimited number of free transfers within two hours from first tap, covering the majority of trips. Every rider should be able to access the whole city on one fare.

Dena Ferrara Driscoll is the chair of 5th Square a statewide PAC focused on issues around land use, mobility, and the built environment. She lives in South Philadelphia with her family. @bikemamadelphia

Daniel Trubman is a Philadelphia resident and organizer with 5th Squares transit committee. @dmtrubman
Julie Tambussi of Savvy + Co. Real Estate, Charlotte, North Carolina, has completed the T3 Fellows executive management program for real estate broker/owners as a member of the Spring 2020 class.

The MBA-like program delivers a year-long curriculum focused exclusively on business-specific solutions for the residential real estate brokerage industry, and it is delivered through an extensive one-on-one mentoring schedule, in-person mastermind workshops and monthly web conferences.

The curriculum covers all vital aspects of building and expanding a real estate brokerage business. It specifically focuses on growing brokerage revenue by recruiting the agents that best fit each company; improving profitability by increasing agent sales; creating powerful branding and marketing programs; and leveraging lead generation and conversion for more sales.

"Growing a brokerage or team into a substantial and thriving business is a complicated challenge and undertaking that, while the industry itself is shifting, makes the task extremely complicated, says T3 Sixty President Jack Miller. The brokers and teams who participate in the T3 Fellows program are preparing themselves to maximize the opportunities that exist in the market, added program director, Dean Cottrill, President, Brokerage Consulting Division. Its easy to see why Julie is such a strong leader for her organization. She is creating results for the agents that work for her, and she is committed to improving their business at a very high level, bringing about a win-win for her and her associates.

The 2020 program is supported by Jonathan Kauffman of Nest Realty, who serves as a T3 Fellow mentor. Mentors are practicing brokers who operate some of the most highly regarded and innovative brokerages in the country and share firsthand experiences with program participants.

About T3 Sixty

Exclusively serving the residential real estate brokerage industry, T3 Sixty provides real estate CEOs, business leaders, association and MLS executives, brokers and high-performance teams the knowledge, best practices and support to grow their businesses. The company does this through management consulting, training and in-depth research and quality publications, such as its hallmark Swanepoel Trends Report, an annual analysis of the top trends shaping the industry for the next 18 to 24 months. The firms consulting divisions include brokerage, technology, merges and acquisitions, and associations and MLSs. Find out more at T360.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A New York City public school teacher who traveled to Italy last month during the mid-winter recess will undergo testing for the coronavirus, or COVID-19, according to a recent report.

According to THE CITY, the teacher will undergo testing after experiencing possible symptoms of coronavirus. She told THE CITY that she spent several days in a classroom last week with students before showing any signs of a potential infection. She said she was turned down by a doctor after seeking a coronavirus test on Monday.

The teacher -- whose identity and school affiliation have not been released -- is currently under self-quarantine for two weeks, according to the report.

During a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the teacher would soon be tested, and school officials said the school where she teaches would be deep cleaned." THE CITY reported that officials also said the citys Health Department disease detectives would visit the school.

If the teacher tests positive for coronavirus, the city Department of Education (DOE) said all children in her class and educators in close contact with the teacher would be tested, according to THE CITY. Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza said there has been no indication of any students showing coronavirus symptoms.

THE CITY reported that four other city public school teachers who reported they traveled to areas with high threat levels of the coronavirus are displaying potential symptoms and have reached out to the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). The union told teachers to seek medical treatment, the report said.

Until Wednesday, the DOE had only issued coronavirus precautions related to travel in China. De Blasio said at the press conference that school officials are drafting protocol for staffers who recently visited other affected countries beyond China, including Italy, Iran and Japan.

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

CLEANING PROTOCOLS

New York City education officials are working to acquire disinfectants that specifically kill the coronavirus, while paying special attention to certain school common areas during daily cleanings.

According to the DOE, school bathrooms are required to be fully stocked with soap and paper towels, and the agency has already ordered disinfectants approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that kill the coronavirus specifically.

Custodial engineers have received guidance on daily cleaning with special attention to horizontal surfaces in school buildings common areas, classrooms and bathrooms, as well as frequently contacted items. The DOE said it will be surveying every custodian about their supplies inventory and will conduct Systems Quality Controls to ensure that new cleaning protocols are being implemented.

During a press conference Monday, Cuomo said the state will be instituting the new cleaning protocols in schools and public transportation, using a disinfectant.

The MTA is stepping up its cleaning efforts in an attempt to curtail the spread of the potentially deadly virus. The agencys mass transit divisions -- New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Access-A-Ride, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North -- have significantly ramped up the frequency and intensity of their sanitizing efforts, using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed disinfectants.

Many will use bleach, which is a good protocol in the flu season anyway, said Cuomo. So, if people smell  it smells like bleach  when you get on a bus or when a child goes to school, its not bad cologne or perfume. It is bleach.

The Department of Transportation (DOT), responsible for maintaining and operating the Staten Island Ferry, is stepping up its cleaning efforts in an attempt to curtail the spread of the potentially deadly illness.

The DOT will maintain its around-the-clock cleaning of the St. George and Whitehall ferry terminals, with preparations being made to provide supplemental cleaning on the boats throughout the day, according to the agency.

While New York City schools are taking precautions when it comes to the novel coronavirus, there are still no plans to close schools.

There are no plans to close schools at this time, and any changes will be determined by public health experts, DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson told SILive.com on Wednesday.

CASES IN NEW YORK

According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, there are 11 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State.

Cuomo said the states second confirmed coronavirus case is a 50-year-old attorney who works in Manhattan and lives in New Rochelle, N.Y. Four additional coronavirus cases were announced to be tied to the man, which include his wife, two of h

During a press conference Monday, Cuomo said the state will be instituting the new cleaning protocols in schools and public transportation, using a disinfectant.is children, and his neighbor who drove him to the hospital.

On Wednesday evening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said another five patients have tested positive, bringing the state total to 11. One new person who had close proximity to the second confirmed coronavirus case in New York tested positive for the virus.

Then, the new mans wife, two sons and daughter also tested positive, Cuomo said. The two children attend Westchester Torah Academy, which will be closed at least until Friday.

The first confirmed case in the state was announced Sunday. A 39-year-old health care worker living in Manhattan who traveled to Iran was diagnosed with coronavirus, and officials said the woman has respiratory symptoms that are mild.

RECENT CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

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It was 50 years ago when Sarah Jaeger first put her hands in clay.

And since that point, its been a consuming passion that has shaped her life.

The Helena ceramic artist was recently named 2019 Montana Potter Laureate by Montana Clay, an organization of fellow professional ceramic artists.

This whole designation has been an honor, she said.

What makes the potter laureate from Montana Clay so meaningful to me, she added, is that the recognition comes from my peers, my clay family.

For those who have been Sarah Jaeger fans over the years, they have likely seen a change in her art in recent times.

Instead of the porcelain bowls and cups she threw on her potters wheel, she now creates earthenware plates.

I went to a different clay and a different way of making pots and to a different firing temperature.

Its very, very low tech, she said. I became a beginner all over again.

Her nature-inspired decorative designs have likewise changed.

Both her earlier work and her recent plates sport colorful leaves and flowers in joyous colors.

Its been 2  years since I began this work, she said.

The changes in technique are the result of a health issue affecting her motor skills that began in 2013.

I could no longer do what I had done.

They still have not given it a diagnosis, she said in an IR interview at her dining room table last week, speaking with the help of a boogie board electronic writing tablet that she uses to write out sentences that are too hard for her to say.

They have put it in a category, but it has no name, she said. Its in the same category of diseases as what struck physicist Stephen Hawking.

Im in good company, she joked.

Its taken 3 years to figure out how to live with this disease.

But live with it, she does -- continuing to make pottery and to be active in the community.

Jaeger, who earned an English literature degree at Harvard College, took her first clay class there.

I just turned 71 and took my first clay class at 21 -- thats a lifetime.

It was apparently love at first touch.

That was the beginning of the end, she smiled.

I took to clay because it was nonverbal and tactile, she said. I think that was part of the initial attraction.

The decision to be a potter evolved during her 20s, she wrote in an online article at the website Field Guide for Ceramic Artisans.

In her early 30s, she studied ceramics at Kansas City Art Institute, earning a BFA, and was a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts from 1985-1987.

It took nearly a decade after her Bray residency to fully launch her career, she wrote.

Once you are on the path, you do what you need to do.

And so, she has.

And others have long admired the path shes taken.

She was the recipient of the 1996 Montana Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship and the 1991 Emerging Talent Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.

In 2006, she was a United States Artists Target Fellow, and in 2007 she was one of the artists profiled in the PBS documentary Craft in America.

Missoula ceramic artist Alison Reintjes nominated Jaeger for the potter laureate honor, and said that in many ways, I think of this as a lifetime achievement award.

When Reintjes lived in Helena, there were a handful of artists who particularly stood out for their support of the younger generation of artists, she said, and Jaeger was definitely one of them.

She has been really generous with her time and her knowledge.

I love the fact that she has really been the peoples potter in Helena.

When you go into the home of anyone in Helena who is connected to the ceramics community, theyre going to have a Sarah pot on their shelves.

She makes super strong work, and shes always been and continues to be productive.

Josh DeWeese, the former Archie Bray resident artist director and a Montana State University art professor, has been Jaegers friend since 1983, when they were both students at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Ive always had nothing but respect for Sarah and her work, he said.

Her heart was completely devoted to (the) idea of making strong, utilitarian pots.

She also embodied the idea of the village potter, he said, creating art in her home studio and then opening it up to the community for her annual sales.

She made gorgeous utilitarian pots for years. They were just beautiful. People loved having those pots in their homes.

Shes still making some really beautiful work, he said. The transition thats happened is just nothing short of a miracle.

She didnt give up at all, shes just transformed her life.

I cant talk deeply enough of how much I love Sarah and how important she is to our community. So, I think this award for her is just spectacular."

Shes truly deserving.

We are honored to be able to have someone like that in our state to call a potter laureate.

Both DeWeese and Reintjes noted their respect for Jaegers lifestyle, as well.

Ive always admired her balance, Reintjes said, speaking of Jaegers devotion to art but her time spent outdoors and volunteering with Prickly Pear Land Trust.

I have been the poster child and advocate for accessible urban trails, said Jaeger of her most recent PPLT focus.

Even though my health and mobility have changed, I am the same person, and art and nature are as important to my life as ever.

Her speech difficulty has been the hardest part, she said. But I have tried not to waste too much energy on me being frustrated.

My motto is adapt or die, she said, and Im not dead yet.

It seems like the best way to live the life Ive been given, she added. Its more fun than being frustrated or feeling sorry for myself.

In the face of the illness thats struck her, its almost like its fueled a fire within her to be a more diverse and broad advocate for the various things Prickly Pear does, said PPLT Executive Director Mary Hollow.

She has been a fierce advocate and has helped the land trust internally to be thoughtful in developing trails that are ADA accessible.

All of Jaegers current artwork is donated to nonprofits for fundraisers, particularly PPLT and the Holter Museum of Art.

Its become harder for her to speak, said Hollow, but when Sarah speaks -- people listen. Its the most beautiful thing to watch the room grow silent.

The gravitas she has with the staff and board -- she absolutely lives and breathes the organization in what we do and who we are.

Shes so deeply thoughtful and such a committed conservationist in every way. Its such an honor to work with her.

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By Sarah Young and Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Flybe collapsed on Thursday after a plunge in travel demand, making the long-struggling regional airline one of the first big corporate casualties of the coronavirus outbreak.

The failure of an airline that connects all corners of the United Kingdom with major European destinations not only puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but could also see some airports struggle and regional economies hit.

"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," Flybe said after the government walked away from a rescue package agreed in January.

Airlines around the world have been cancelling flights and warning of a hit to profitability after coronavirus first emerged in China, hitting flights across Asia, before it spread to Europe and beyond.

British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air and United Airlines are among those warning on the impact of a virus that looks set to hit the industry harder than the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Flybe's collapse will also cause more problems for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had promised to "level up" Britain by investing in regional transport links.

His government had agreed a rescue deal for the 41-year-old airline in January, saying it was important to maintain connections across the country for its eight million passengers. It said on Thursday there was nothing more it could do.

"We are also urgently working with industry to identify how key routes can be re-established by other airlines as soon as possible," Transport Minister Grant Shapps said.

Scotland's Loganair, another regional airline, has committed to maintaining 16 Flybe routes, a junior minister told parliament, adding that the government "stands ready" to support regional airports by working with industry to keep others going.

But while some Flybe routes might be attractive to airlines with smaller planes like Loganair, many do not have enough passengers to attract airlines like easyJet and Ryanair, which operate bigger planes, aviation expert John Strickland said.

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"There will be some routes which will get left uncovered because they simply are too small and not economically viable unless they're flown as subsidised routes," Strickland said.

Flybe, the largest independent regional airline in Europe, operated between 81 airports and was owned by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

The owners said they had ploughed more than 135 million pounds ($174 million) into the business in the last 14 months, including around 25 million pounds pledged in January.

FINANCIAL TROUBLE

January's rescue deal had seen the government agree to match the owners' support for Flybe with a potential loan, a deferral of taxes and a review of local flight tax rules.

That briefly formed part of Johnson's plan to try to boost the regions of Britain beyond London. Without Flybe though, some regional airports like Exeter, Birmingham and Southampton will have much poorer connections.

However, rival airlines complained that the state should not prop up failing companies and environmental campaigners argued any move to reduce the cost of flying did not fit with the government's aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Flybe's 68 aircraft flew to airports including Belfast City in Northern Ireland, Jersey in the Channel Islands, Birmingham in central England and Scotland's Inverness and provided more than half of UK domestic flights outside London.

The pilot's union said airline staff had been betrayed by the owners and the government.

In a sign of the ripple effect the virus can have, Britain's biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster ITV warned on Thursday its advertising revenue had already been hit by travel companies pulling spending.

Stobart and Virgin Atlantic said they were deeply disappointed with the outcome.

"Sadly, despite the efforts of all involved to turn the airline around, not least the people of Flybe, the impact of COVID-19 on Flybe's trading means that the consortium can no longer commit to continued financial support," they said.

It is the second major British airline to go bust in six months after the world's oldest travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed in September, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.

The country's broader airline strategy was also thrown into disarray last week when a court ruled a plan to expand Europe's biggest airport Heathrow was unlawful.

($1 = 0.7755 pounds)

(Writing by Sarah Young and Kate Holton in London, additional reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Alexander Smith and Mark Potter)
The T Cell Receptor Sequencing Kit (TCRseq Kit) allows users of Berkeley Lights platforms to more efficiently identify, recover, and sequence T cells of interest

EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Berkeley Lights, a leader in cell selection, launched their new T Cell Receptor Sequencing Kit (TCRseq Kit). The TCRseq Kit enables users of Berkeley Lights' Beacon and Lightning instruments to recover functionally validated T cell receptors (TCRs) from a cell sample that has as few as 10,000 input cells. The TCRseq Kit enables Berkeley Lights platform users to first characterize the T cell function using the Berkeley Lights Cell Therapy Development Suite and then only sequence the T cells that matter. This therefore functionally replaces existing methodologies that require re-expressing hundreds of TCRs in the hopes of identifying the rare sequence that imparts an ideal specificity.

"We're excited to announce the launch of the TCRseq Kit, an advanced tool that enables recovery of alpha/beta chain sequences specific TCRs from single cells and increases TCR recovery to over 70%," said John Proctor, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Marketing at Berkeley Lights. "We are building a Cell Therapy Development Suite of tools to help our customers better characterize T cells with the Beacon and Lightning instruments."

After performing a T cell functional assay on the Beacon or Lightning instrument, the user selects single human T cells of interest and exports them from the company's OptoSelect chip to a well plate. Using reagents provided in the TCRseq Kit, RNA from single T cells is recovered and V(D)J regions of the TCR alpha and beta chains are amplified. The resulting cDNA is ready for the user to index and sequence using sequencing platforms. The TCRseq Kit includes reagents and protocols for processing up to 192 single human T cells.

The TCRseq Kit is available for purchase now. You can find more information here: https://www.berkeleylights.com/applications/t-cell-functional-analytics

About Berkeley Lights

Here at Berkeley Lights, we think cells are awesome! Cells are capable of manufacturing cures for diseases, fibers for clothing, energy in the form of biofuels, and food proteins for nutrition. So the question is, if nature is capable of manufacturing the products we need in a scalable way, why aren't we doing more of this? Well, the answer is that with the solutions available today, it is hard. It takes a long time to find the right cell for a specific job, costs lots of money, and if you have picked a suboptimal cell line, has a very low process yield. Berkeley Lights has the complete solution to find the best cells by functionally screening and recovering individual cells for antibody discovery, cell line development, T cell analysis, and synthetic biology. Our proprietary technology and Beacon and Lightning platforms accelerate the rate you can discover and develop cell-based products in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of conventional, legacy research methods. Using our tools and solutions, scientists can find the best cells, the first time they look. For more information, visit www.berkeleylights.com.

Berkeley Lights' Beacon and Lightning instruments and the TCRseq Kit are: For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100171/Berkeley_Lights_Logo.jpg
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: On a day when Intermediate examinations commenced, Income Tax sleuths cracked the whip on corporate colleges by carrying out surprise checks in various branches of Narayana and Sri Chaitanya Junior Colleges in the city on Wednesday.

According to sources, the I-T officials reached the corporate offices of Narayana and Sri Chaitanya at Benz Circle and Mahatma Gandhi Road around 8 am.

The officials reportedly examined various records pertaining to the college management including admission procedure, students strength, fee structure and taxation.

During the raids, the I-T officials also seized important records from the colleges and scrutinised them. Apart from that, the special teams of I-T department also inspected the college campus at Tadigadapa and Edupugallu.

It was learnt that the I-T sleuths have carried out surprise checks in the wake of protests by the student unions across the State against the irregularities by private junior colleges like exorbitant fee, lack of proper records pertaining to the revenue expenditures among others.

28,713 students took exam in Prakasam district

Ongole: Around 28,713 first-year students attended their first paper on Wednesday at 90 examination centres across the district. Around 1,666 students were absent. Intermediate Board district regional inspection officer (RIO) VV Subba Rao visited Saraswati College Center, Sri Chaitanya and Andhra Kesari Vidya Kendram examination centres
Every time I get introduced as the most powerful woman in the United States, I almost cry, because Im thinking, I wish that were not true,  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters. I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States, and we came very close to doing that  [a] woman who was better qualified than so many people who have sought that office and even won it.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - An exclusive group of accredited individual investors, investment advisors, family offices, institutional investors and hedge fund industry experts met at the prestigious Albany Club yesterday to hear some of Canada's brightest and best hedge fund managers address the key issues on investors' minds as they consider using hedge funds as replacements for, and/or complements to, other investments in their portfolios.

Annually, Alternative IQ produces the CHFA Winners Showcase event as an opportunity for investors and their advisors to hear from Canada's award-winning hedge fund managers. Given recent turbulence in the equity markets, this year's Winners Showcase was very timely. "Increasingly, discerning investors are turning to hedge funds to access investment strategies and manager skill not available in traditional, long-only asset management," commented Julie Makepeace, Managing Director at Alternative IQ, the producer of yesterday's conference.

Presentations were made by 6 award-winning hedge fund managers:

Rob Anton, Managing Director and Partner, Next Edge Capital

(1st Place Winner in 2019 for Best 1-year Return in the Global Macro/Managed Futures/Multi-Strategy category)

Jay Bala, Co-Founder, CEO and Senior Portfolio Manager, AIP Asset Management

(1st Place Winner in 2019 for Best 1-year Return, Best 3-year Return and Best 5-year Return in the Private Debt category)

James Cole, VP and Portfolio Manager, Portland Investment Counsel

(1st Place Winner in 2019 for Best 5-year Return, 2nd Place Winner for Best 1-year Return and 3rd Place Winner for Best 3-year Return in the Equity Focused category)

David Jeffrey, Portfolio Manager, MMCap Asset Management

(1st Place Winner in 2019 for Best 3-year Return in the Equity Focused category)

Sean Kallir, Portfolio Manager and CIO, HGC Investment Management

(1st Place Winner in 2019 for Best 1-year Return, Best 3-year Return, Best 5-year Return, Best 3-year Sharpe Ratio, and Best 5-year Sharpe Ratio in the Market Neutral category)

Timothy Shiu, Chief Investment Officer, Lumen Asset Management

(Winner in 2019 for Best 5-year Sharpe Ratio in the Equity Focused category)

"Investor Inquiry" Panel Q & A:

Each hedge fund manager briefly discussed their firm and winning investment strategy and then faced a panel of investment experts:

Loren Francis , VP and Principal, Highview Financial

, VP and Principal, Craig Machel, Director & Portfolio Manager, Richardson GMP

in an interactive discussion designed to examine each fund in a way that is useful to investors considering diversifying and adapting their portfolios with investments that perform different roles and achieve different risk and return objectives.

The MC and Panel Moderator for this, 'by invitation only', event was Brooke Biscoe, Vice President, Business Development, Fundata Canada which, along with Newsfile, sponsored the conference.

For more information about this event, please contact:

Julie Makepeace

Managing Director, Alternative IQ

jmakepeace@alliancesalesandmarketing.com

416-906-3782

and visit: http://alternativeiq.com/

About Alternative IQ: Alternative IQ is the producer of the annual Canadian Hedge Fund Awards program, the annual Winners Showcase events (which present Managers of the award-winning hedge funds to investors), and various other programs and publications serving the hedge fund industry in Canada. Alternative IQ is a division of Alliance Sales and Marketing, Inc.

About the Annual Canadian Hedge Fund Awards: The Canadian Hedge Fund Awards have a two-fold objective: first, to celebrate the talent and accomplishments of Canada's hedge fund industry, and second, to draw attention to Canada's hedge funds by raising the awareness of that expertise in the media and among the wider investment community.

The 2020 CHFAs will be held at One King West Hotel in Toronto on Tuesday, October 20th.

- 30 -

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53171
[March 05, 2020] AccuReg Appoints Industry Veteran as New CIO and Chief Product Officer

FRANKLIN, Tenn., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AccuReg, a healthcare technology solutions company offering a full suite of front-end revenue cycle management solutions for hospitals, announces Blair Baker has joined the company as chief information officer and chief product officer. In his dual role, Baker will lead strategic technological development for the company's patient access SaaS solutions. His contributions will also enhance the company's technology development capabilities and ensure its industry-leading software continues to solve hospitals' ever-evolving need to eliminate denials, decrease cost to collect, provide accurate patient price estimates, increase POS cash collections and improve patient engagement and satisfaction. Baker has been a catalyst for product innovation nd a driver of strategic expansion for industry-leading companies such as Omega Health Systems, CareMedic, HTP, Medhost, RelayHealth and Change Healthcare. Most recently, Baker served as senior vice president of product and development at Concert Genetics, connecting providers, laboratories and payers to the Genetic Health Information Network.



"Blair's depth of expertise is unmatched working with hospitals across the country to realize the significant financial benefit that comes from focusing on the front-end of the revenue cycle. His deep understanding of the value of our product, combined with his proven leadership experience, is a tremendous asset to our organization," said Paul Shorrosh, AccuReg Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Our customers recognize us as the market leader in patient access and Blair will be instrumental in helping us continue to provide innovative solutions our customers use to improve their financial outcomes and patient experience." "AccuReg has a unique combination of experienced healthcare leadership and innovative technology capabilities that will enable tremendous growth in the patient access market," Baker said. "I've been part of several organizations focused on patient access, but none are better positioned to provide solutions to industry challenges and their relentless passion for delivering high-quality, customer-focused solutions is impressive."

AccuReg, named to the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies for the second time in 2019, is experiencing rapid growth as hospitals increasingly realize it is significantly more cost effective to make improvements in patient access versus later in the revenue cycle. Baker's experience defining product direction and requirements, vision, engineering and delivery will help spearhead the rapid development of the company's suite of products. About AccuReg: AccuReg helps hospitals reduce costs, maximize cash collection and revenue and enable price transparency by providing transformative patient access solutions. Its cloud-based integrated suite utilizes automation and artificial intelligence to improve revenue capture and the patient financial experience. By combining an exception-based workflow, a continuous learning QA rules engine, intelligent eligibility and benefit validation and complete prior authorization management, AccuReg predicts and prevents denial-causing issues at the front of the revenue cycle where cost is significantly lower than the traditional resource-draining back-end approach. AccuReg also helps hospitals achieve the price transparency patients want with accurate out-of-pocket price estimates and payment processing. For more information, visit www.AccuRegSoftware.com. Media Contact: Philip Betbeze, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/accureg-appoints-industry-veteran-as-new-cio-and-chief-product-officer-301017226.html SOURCE AccuReg

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In the film industrys fast-changing response to the coronavirus thats now affected the entire planet, the decision by United Artists, Universal, and EON to shift No Time to Die to November from its April 10 domestic release date is the biggest news so far. And it wont likely be alone. As always, the fates of distributors and theaters are intertwined. But even as all parties suffer losses, the impacts could be different.

No Time to Die producers announced a delay for their latest James Bond movie, which could cause major headaches for exhibitors who might find it difficult to fill the gaps. Disney has reconfirmed it is going forward with Mulan (domestic March 27, timed for maximum impact around school vacations and Easter), despite the complete closure of the China market during the crisis.

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If any film was going to move, it was No Time to Die. The traditional Bond release pattern, which goes back decades, is to treat the film as an international event with simultaneous launches. April also placed No Time to Die outside the usual late-year, holiday, or summer playtimes that films of this size and scope generally prefer. Moving it to November is a return to normal, not a case of punting into the great unknown.

However, coronavirus is itself a great unknown, and there are many more studio blockbusters that could be affected. Top films are dependent on foreign results, and parallel releases are the norm.

In the U.S., so far it has been business as usual. When it comes to going to work, school, sporting events, shopping, church, and, yes, movies, the public doesnt seem to be changing its behavior. In fact, with the potential of curtailing travel, its possible that outside activities near ones home might see a short-term boost.

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Elsewhere, the impact is already being felt. China, of course, has shut down cinemas for more than a month, upending a slew of local-holiday releases at what is usually the biggest time of its year. France, somewhat harder hit than the U.S. so far (for being much closer to the epicenter of northern Italy), has postponed at least two major March releases, Miss and Bronx. South Korea has seen the suspension of both major domestic and foreign titles. Japan is similar.

Before Disneys Mulan, Paramount has A Quiet Place Part II. John Krasinskis sequel to his 2018 sleeper ($188 million domestic/$341 million worldwide) opens in most territories the week of March 20. It is not a pricey film (the original was $17 million), but it has a strong profit potential and could be Paramounts second big hit for early 2020: Thats a date the studio wants to keep. Assuming it still goes out as scheduled, it could be a test for the viability of staying the course.

As of now, the horror sequel is still set for France; Italy is now mid-April. And that might be where it stays. There is less risk involved, and its imminent date makes a shift more difficult  a factor that might argue for any studio filmgoing holds.

It gets dicier for the $200 million+ Mulan. Disney already has lost three top Asian territories for its planned worldwide release in late March, and its carefully planned global marketing would be tough to postpone.

But if theaters close in more places, postponing the release on a case-by-case basis could make sense. With some of its strongest dates most at risk, the temptation to do so might be stronger.

On the other hand: If top titles drop out, that could create opportunity for those that remain. Within hours of the Bond announcement, Universal moved DreamWorks Animations Trolls World Tour up a week to April 10 worldwide.

Independent and specialized companies face a different challenge. They are largely dependent on domestic exhibition, and they are more vulnerable; some would sustain major losses if forced to pivot on marketing and theater bookings. However, they also could take advantage of more openings and demand for their films (that is, presuming theaters stay open).

But what about the theaters? A studio can delay an opening. But when that happens, exhibitors are left with barren shelf space and with losses that may be impossible to recoup.

The best short-term gauge as to how theaters will handle this is seen in Seattle, the site of several deaths and a higher number of virus cases. All national chains as well as independent theaters operate there and remain open, with no sign of pressure to shut down.

They arent oblivious to the threat. Exhibitor trade group NATO (which represent top chains and many other theaters, but provides information to all) put out a list of suggestions that emphasized employee issues (legal as well as heath and hygiene concerns), familiarity with local guidelines, and financial preparation.

In the meantime, they are at the mercy of their suppliers. Yes, top movies would come back. But it could start a domino effect of other dates changing, or top titles going head to head cutting into each other.

Unless an expanded outbreak occurs in some areas, figure that theaters will hold on, playing what they can. This weekend featured two outside-the-box titles in the box-office top 10 (Manga adaptation My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising and Impractical Jokers); these could offer an example of how alternatives could fill some of the gaps.

Ultimately, so much is out of their hands. The reality is that there is little they can do but react.

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Fortune telling. You might imagine a woman in a shawl peering over her glowing green ball in some ramshackle tent at the back of the local fair when the words come to mind. In some cases, this could be a rather accurate depiction, (although her predictions may not be).

In others, however, reality may be different.

Some soothsayers may not have had a crystal ball in their lap, but somehow they came up with precise and correct predictions of what was to come. How did they do it? Foretelling the future remains a pseudoscience, if you can even call it that, and how some people have accurately predicted major events in history remains a puzzle.

Who are they and what did they see? Check out this group of impressive prophets throughout history, and draw your own conclusions.

The Pythia

Lycurgus Consulting the PythiaI. mage credit: Eugene Delacroix / Public domain

Predicting the future is not something that is native to modern times. Many cultures have practiced the act in one form or another throughout history, and ancient Greece was no exception. The Pythia was the priestess who prophesized at a place called Pytho. This began around the 8th century BC as the Oracle of Delphi. The Pythia did so in a sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Apollo.

It is said that this priestess, who was chosen from among a group of priestesses at the temple, had to dedicate herself to being the Pythia exclusively and give up any and all family obligations once selected. People seeking her counsel brought the priestess offerings of money and sacrificed animals for her words. She was known to go into a frenzy while predicting things like wars, political moves and solutions to national problems.

Nostrodamus

Also known as Michel de Nostredame, this famous fortune teller really went all-out. He published a book back in 1555 in France that claimed to predict numerous future events through poems. Some people say there is nothing to them, and that when translated properly, they show the reader vague predictions that can be very loosely interpreted and applied to many things.

Others, however, say the man was a genius with a clear gaze into the future.

What did he predict? Some say Nostrodamus foretold the great fire of London that took place in 1666, the French Revolution, Louis Pasteurs work as the godfather of vaccines, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, JFKs assassination and September 11th, 2001, to name a few. Not bad for one mind and one book.

Daniel Dunglas Home

Daniel Dunglas Home. Image credit: Wikimedia.org

Daniel Dunglas Home was alive in the 1800s in the United States and made his name by healing the sick and communicating with the dead families and friends of his clients.

Home was originally from Scotland but moved to the United States as a child, and went onto become a well-known physical medium and self-professed clair-voyant who gained fame with the elite on the east coast. He was famous for his so-called ability to let spirits speak directly through him. He also gained a following for his ability to levitate. Tables would dance in his presence, and history has it that he is said to have even levitated his own body to the ceiling in some seances. Many called Home a fraud steeped in trickery, but others backed his act, claiming it to be tried and true magic.

Edgar Cayce

Have you ever felt really connected with the world? Has it ever happend while you were sleeping? You may have found a friend in Edgar Cayce. In fact, he felt so at home while in a self-induced sleep state that he claimed his subconscious mind would actually leave his body and travel to the land of the spirits. Here, it would collect knowledge about the future. It would then bring this back to the land of the living, where he would pass it onto his clients.

Some say Cayce predicted the stock market crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression. He is also said to have foretold World War II, the shifting of the Earths magnetic poles, the collapse of the Soviet Union and an alliance occurring between the United States and Russia.

Jean Dixon

Jean Dixon. Image credit: Wikimedia.org

Jean Dixon began her career as an astrologist writing in a syndicated column in newspapers in the 1900s in the United States. She wrote several best-selling books, including an astrological cook book and horoscopes for animals. Like many other modern-day psychics, Dixon famously predicted president John F. Kennedys assassination. She also advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII, and gave advice to Richard Nixon while in office, in the face of terrorism on U.S soil. Dixon had a wide audience. According to Oprah, she foretold her huge career and fame to come in a conversation back in 1977.

Baba Vanga

Baba Vanga. Image credit: www.republicworld.com

Do you think you need a great pair of eyes to see what others cannot? Perhaps it depends on your definition of sight.

One the most famous clairvoyants in Bulgaria was Baba Vanga, or Grandmother Vanga. Born with proper eye sight, she is said to have gradually lost it after suffering through a large natural disaster best described as a tornado. She says it lifted her up and threw her a great distance. The injuries she sustained when hitting the ground caused her to slowly lose her eyesight.

Babb Vanga is said to have predicted 9/11, Brexit, Thailands tsunami of 2004, future time travel in 2304, Trump and Putins lives being in danger in 2020, and terrorism acts by Muslim extremists to name a few events. Was she truly gifted with intelligence beyond that of the rest of us, or just a wild imagination?

As it is with all other fortune tellers, psychics, clairvoyants and mediums, it is impossible to prove concretely whether she was truly gifted or not. Extremely precise predictions remain elusive, but many of general statements have come true.

What do you think, truth or fiction? The answer, at least for the moment, seems to lie in the mind of the listener.
The Karnataka government has advised city-based companies to allow their employees to work from home if they have flu-like symptoms.

"Those employees having flu like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette," the Health Department said in its advisory.

The advisory asked people to avoid non-essential travel to COVID-19 affected countries and refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan.

"Employees other than those restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Maccau, Veitnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry," the advisory read.

READ | Coronavirus Scare: UP Sets Up 18-member Committee To Monitor Situation

The government advisory also mandated employees arriving through all international flights entering lndia from any port to furnish duly filled self-declaration form, including personal particulars - phone numbers and address in India, and travel history to health officials and immigration officials.

It also appealed to promote regular and thorough hand washing at work places and keeping sanitising hand rub dispensers (alcohol-based) in prominent places and provide access to places where staff can wash their hands with soap and water.

Companies have been asked to promote good respiratory hygiene and ensure the availability of surgical masks and paper tissues at workplaces only for those who develop a running nose or cough at work along with closed bins for their hygienic disposal.

Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner B H Anil Kumar chaired a meeting on Wednesday regarding the preparedness to deal with coronavirus.

READ | Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, German Airline Lufthansa To Ground 150 Flights

READ | WB BJP Unit Distribute Masks With 'Save From Coronavirus Infection, Modi Ji' Printed On It
The test reports of 68 people who had come in contact with the Italian couple, who tested positive for the new coronavirus earlier this week, have come out negative, a senior health department official said on Thursday.

Jaipur: The test reports of 68 people who had come in contact with the Italian couple, who tested positive for the new coronavirus earlier this week, have come out negative, a senior health department official said on Thursday. Test results of eight more people are awaited, the official said.

As many as 229 people were found to have come in contact with the Italian tourists who visited Jaipur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jhunjhunu, and Jaipur. Of them, samples were collected from 76 people.

"Sixty-eight have tested negative and test reports of eight samples are yet to come," said Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh.

He said 247 samples have been collected in the state so far and 239 samples have been tested. Barring the Italian couple, the test reports of all others (except 8 which are under process) are negative, he added.

The Italian couple are admitted to an isolation ward in SMS Hospital in Jaipur.

While the 69-year-old man tested positive for the virus on Monday, his wife tested positive the next day.

Singh said the situation was reviewed with health department officials on Thursday.
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JCDecaux SA: proposal for conversion to a European Company

Paris, March 5th, 2020  JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, has announced the decision of the Executive Board, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, to submit a proposal to its shareholders for its conversion to a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE), at the next Annual General Shareholders Meeting, to be held on May 14th, 2020.

Used by a growing number of companies across Europe, SE is a legal status recognised in all EU countries. This change of status would reflect the Groups international reach, particularly in Europe, where it is present in 23 of the 27 EU countries and the world leader in outdoor advertising.

The plan would have no impact on the governance or activities of JCDecaux SA, nor would it impact the stock market where JCDecaux is listed, but would align the Groups legal organisation with its economic and social situation. With almost 52% of its workforce based in Europe, the Group is deploying significant shared resources across the continent (particularly in France, Germany, Spain), in order to support its R&D policy, data and programming strategy and supply chain during its digital transformation.

Converting to a European Company would change the companys legal status but would not impact the existing rights of shareholders and stakeholders or affect the location of the companys head office in France. The procedures applicable to social dialogue within JCDecaux SE will be discussed with social partners over the coming weeks.

The conversion plan will be submitted during the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of JCDecaux SA, scheduled for May 14th, 2020.

Key Figures for JCDecaux

2019 revenue: 3,890m

Present in 3,890 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants

A daily audience of more than 890 million people in more than 80 countries

13,210 employees

Leader in self-service bike rental scheme: pioneer in eco-friendly mobility

1 st Out-of-Home Media company to join the RE100 (committed to 100% renewable energy)

Out-of-Home Media company to join the RE100 (committed to 100% renewable energy) JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and Euronext Family Business indexes

JCDecaux is recognised for its extra-financial performance in the FTSE4Good index and the MSCI and CDP A List rankings

1,061,630 advertising panels worldwide

N1 worldwide in street furniture (517,800 advertising panels)

N1 worldwide in transport advertising with more than 160 airports and 270 contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (379,970 advertising panels)

N1 in Europe for billboards (136,750 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Europe (636,620 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Asia-Pacific (260,700 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Latin America (69,490 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in Africa (22,760 advertising panels)

N1 in outdoor advertising in the Middle East (15,510 advertising panels)

For more information about JCDecaux, please visit jcdecaux.com .

Join us on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram and YouTube .

Communications Department: Agathe Albertini

+33 (0) 1 30 79 34 99  agathe.albertini@jcdecaux.com

Investor Relations: Arnaud Courtial

+33 (0) 1 30 79 79 93  arnaud.courtial@jcdecaux.com

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The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the police to publish on its official website details of all unidentified bodies, brought to government hospital mortuaries following the riots in northeast Delhi, along with their photographs.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and I S Mehta issued the direction while hearing a habeas corpus plea by a man seeking the whereabouts of his brother-in-law who went missing during the recent riots in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law.

The court also directed the police, represented by Delhi government standing counsel (Criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain, to make "all out efforts" to locate and produce before it the missing person -- Hamza.

During the hearing, Mehra told the court that the Delhi government will facilitate the petitioner -- Ansari Mo. Arif -- to visit all the hospital mortuaries where bodies of people who died in the riots have been placed.

"The Delhi Police is also directed to publish the details of all the unidentified dead bodies that are lying in the various hospital mortuaries -- both under the control of the Centre and the Delhi government -- along with photographs and other details, including specifics of post-mortem and DNA samples, on their official website," said the bench.

With the directions, the bench listed the matter for hearing on Friday to be taken up with other similar matters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON  Republicans are wielding the power of their Senate majority to intensify an election-year investigation of Hunter Bidens work for a Ukrainian energy firm, putting new scrutiny on the son of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the former vice president re-emerges as President Trumps chief rival for the presidency.

In elevating questions about the younger Mr. Bidens work in Ukraine, Senate Republicans are effectively picking up where the president left off last year when he pressed the countrys leaders to investigate the Bidens, an effort that led to his impeachment in the House on charges that he abused his power by seeking foreign help in the 2020 election. It is part of a broader attempt by his allies on Capitol Hill to breathe fresh life into politically charged inquiries into issues that have preoccupied Mr. Trump.

Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, plans to hold a vote next week despite Democratic objections to issue a rare Senate subpoena to Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian official who worked for Burisma, the energy firm. Mr. Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that he would release an interim report this spring summarizing what Republicans had learned from months of quiet queries.

For now, Republicans insist Burisma is a matter of longstanding interest unrelated to Mr. Bidens presidential candidacy, and no evidence has emerged to suggest that either Biden acted improperly. But Mr. Johnson acknowledged that his investigation could affect the election and said that was as it should be.




Australia plans to impose a temporary entry ban on foreigners from South Korea on Thursday, the country's embassy in Seoul said, as the number of COVID-19 infections here reached 5,766.







Seoul's foreign ministry called in Australian Ambassador to South Korea James Choi apparently to lodge a complaint over the entry ban.







The Australian Embassy said that the entry ban will go into effect at 7 p.m. (Korea time) and that the country will review whether to continue the ban in the next seven days. It explained the measure "affords best protection to slow the rate of transmission in Australia."







"The new measures include an entry ban on non-Australian citizens travelling from the ROK for seven days from 9 p.m. tonight  Australian Eastern Time which will be reviewed in seven days," the embassy said in a statement. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, Republic of Korea.







The move came as Seoul has been stepping up diplomacy to prevent what it calls excessively restrictive measures against Korea. Currently, 96 countries and territories are imposing entry bans or stricter quarantine procedures for people from South Korea.







Australia also decided to raise its "travel advice" for South Korea to Level 3 in the four-tier system, urging its citizens to "reconsider your need to travel."







In addition, it decided to raise the advice level for Daegu  the epicenter of the outbreaks  to Level 4, which means "do not travel" there. (Yonhap)


On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had a message for Donald Trumps two nominees to the Supreme Court as the court heard oral arguments in a landmark abortion case that threatens one of the underpinnings of Roe v. Wade. I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! Schumer warned of the pairs jurisprudence since arriving on the bench. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

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By Wednesday afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts had the Supreme Courts press office issue a stunningly rare and stinging rebuke under his signature:

Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

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If Schumers repudiated words sounded at all familiar to you, or to the chief justice, it might be because at his confirmation hearing, then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh turned to the Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee and pledged as follows:

Since my nomination in July, theres been a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything, to block my confirmation. You sowed the wind for decades to come. I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwind.*

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The upshot here is that Schumer didnt necessarily start this fight and maybe the guy whose honor Roberts just jumped in to defend bears some responsibility for the threatening rhetoric. Since striding onto the national stage, Roberts has claimed the mantle of being the balls-and-strikes guy at the high court. This is one of those instances, though, in which Umpire Roberts clearly can only see one side of the plate. To his credit, he has, on occasion pushed back against some of Trumps most extreme efforts to upend our democratic institutions and pushed back against a few of the presidents worst threats to the judicial branch, most notably when Trump implied last year that judges appointed by Barack Obama were illegitimate. We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, Roberts said at the time. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.

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But Robertswhose entire daily life has been reduced to a Shakespearian tragedy in which he must pretend to float above the sordid reality of trashed institutions and shattered judicial norms while at all times secretly rooting for the team that wears the MAGA jerseyshas drawn a truly terrible card in this whole constitutional poker game called the Trump presidency. Its been a pickle, but for the most part, even through the living hell of the impeachment trial and the dramatic end of the last term, hes managed to thread a sort of pox-on-both-your-houses needle when constitutional players behave in an unseemly manner. Indeed, if Wednesday mornings arguments in June Medical serve any kind of predictive value, Roberts was again caught between the rock that is his careerlong desire to overturn Roe and the hard place that was the staggeringly garbage legal arguments from counsel representing Louisiana in its efforts to help him achieve it.

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Still, it beggars belief that the same chief justice who stood by silently at Trumps direct attacks at federal judge after federal judge, and hit snooze last week at presidential attacks on Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor and on Amy Berman Jackson as she is poised to sentence Roger Stone, is going to fire up the creaky old Supreme Court teletype machine to rebuke Chuck Schumer for saying the same thing Brett Kavanaugh said a little more than a year ago.

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Maybe the whole threat of whirlwinds is somehow less threatening when its coming from a federal judge and directed at Senate Democrats than it is in a speech coming from a Senate Democrat directed at federal judges. Or maybe a threatening speech from a judge is somehow less threatening after he wins lifetime tenure? Anyone else in America could be forgiven for not recognizing that Kavanaughs threats in 2018 were almost word for word repeated by Schumer on Wednesday. But for a chief justice who prides himself on minimalism, humility, and a robust grasp of both history and the long game, the choice to rebuke only one judicial critic in this context puts the lie to the whole project of soaring neutrality and the grim calling of pitches. Threats are threats, whirlwinds are whirlwinds, and judges remain in daily fear of public revolt. All of them, male and female, district court, and the guy who sits next to you. Singling out only the threats that happen on your front steps doesnt make you neutralit makes you parochial, and in the worst possible way.
A deep-sea scientific mission to uncharted depths in the Maldives and Seychelles will gather valuable data to support the Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean action and train local scientists.

The newest Commonwealth member country, Maldives, has joined Seychelles to launch a major joint scientific expedition to investigate unexplored depths of the Indian Ocean.

The ground-breaking multidisciplinary research mission, known as 'First Descent: Midnight Zone', was officially launched at the Commonwealth headquarters at Marlborough House.

Led by the UK research institute Nekton, the goal is to boost the sustainable governance of Seychelles and Maldivian waters, including the protection of 629,000 km2 of ocean.

It supports the Commonwealth Blue Charter - a shared commitment by member countries to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and overfishing.

Minister for Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture of the Maldives, Zaha Waheed, said: It is vital to comprehensively understand what lies beneath our waters in order for us to be informed enough to take necessary actions towards a healthy and prosperous ocean.

This mission will, for the first time, show a glimpse of what the deep sea features and the biodiversity it holds. It will also contribute to the wider goal of marine spatial planning and ocean governance.

A 50-person crew will set sail on 16 March, using the world's most advanced deep-diving submersible, equipped with a suite of research tools including sensor and mapping technology.

The data they collect will help countries define conservation and management priorities and map out marine protected areas. It will also help measure the impact of climate change and human activity in the area.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: We cannot protect what we don't know and we cannot govern what we don't understand. With 95 per cent of the ocean still unexplored by humans, we are only just beginning to grasp its profound influence on life, including its effect on global climate and ecosystems.

It is pleasing to see the commitments of our Commonwealth Blue Charter leading to such far-reaching and innovative science-backed ocean action in, with and for our member countries.

The expedition will focus on undersea mountains or 'seamounts' in the Midnight Zone - depths from 1,000 to 4,000 metres, where biodiversity peaks. This zone holds critical indicators to measure the impact of the climate crisis, fisheries management, heat absorption, acidification, ocean carbon cycle, and plastic, agricultural and industrial pollution.

The damage or overexploitation of seamounts can have widespread consequences on ocean health, food security, and other benefits the ocean provides, such as the discovery of new medicines.

Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Seychelles, Alain Decormamond said: "Seamounts form some of the most fascinating and richest locations in our waters and beyond in the wider Indian Ocean. We are therefore looking forward to exploring even deeper depths of our ocean to have a better understanding of natural characteristics and richness of these locations.

The mission's principal scientist Lucy Woodall from the University of Oxford added: We find the greatest biomass in the upper few hundred metres of the ocean, but the peak of biodiversity is in the greater depths, in the Midnight Zone, from 1,000 to 4,000 metres. That said, less than 300 of 170,000 known major seamounts found in this zone have been researched to date, and they remain one of the least researched parts of the ocean.

Nekton is also working with Commonwealth countries to develop the tools, skills, knowledge and networks to sustainably manage the ocean. Seychellois and Maldivian scientists will join the expedition to conduct pioneering research into their national waters. This is supported by training programmes, research grants and fellowships with the University of Oxford.

Seychelles champions the Commonwealth Blue Charter action group on marine protected areas. To date, 13 countries have stepped forward to lead on 10 topics they identified as priorities.

For updates on the expedition, visit nektonmission.org

For more information about the Commonwealth Blue Charter, visit bluecharter.thecommonwealth.org

Notes to Editor

The Commonwealth Blue Charter

The Commonwealth covers a third of the world's coastal oceans, 45% of coral reefs and the majority of the world's big ocean states and territories. Forty-seven out of our 54 countries have a coastline, and three of the remaining landlocked states border great lakes. The Commonwealth Blue Charter is a landmark agreement that engages all 54 Commonwealth countries to commit to actively co-operating to solve ocean-related problems and meet commitments for sustainable ocean development. Visit our website to learn how to join action groups.

Seychelles

The Seychelles Blue Economy Strategic Roadmap and Plan has been developed and implemented by the Government of Seychelles in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat. A key component of this, the Seychelles' Marine Spatial Plan, is being undertaken in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. By March 2020 this will result in the sustainable management of all the Exclusive Economic Zone including 30% within the newly formed Marine Protected Areas (445,000 km2 of 1,336,559 km2). The implementing partner for the expedition is the Ministry for Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Seychelles champions the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Marine Protected Areas.

Maldives

Maldives Blue Prosperity Programme is being undertaken by the Government of the Maldives in partnership with the Blue Prosperity Coalition and the Waitt Institute. The Programme begins in 2020 with a goal of the sustainable management of the Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zone including a spatial target of at least 20% within newly formed Marine Protected Areas (184,000km2 of 923,000km2). The implementation partner for the expedition is the Ministries of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture. First Descent: Midnight Zone is the third of four expeditions being undertaken in Maldives in support of Maldives Blue Prosperity. #KanduFalhuDhiraasaa and #NooRaajje

First Descent: Midnight Zone

First Descent is a series of missions undertaken by Nekton in partnership with Governments in the Indian Ocean region. Beginning in Seychelles in 2019, the Mission concludes with a State of the Indian Ocean Summit in October 2022 to deliver scientific consensus on the state of the Indian Ocean and to galvanise 30% protection by 2030. Each mission combines national commitments to ocean protection, marine spatial planning, applied research to inform ocean policy, inspirational communications to strengthen the public support for political action and investments in capacity development to create a legacy of long-term sustainable ocean governance. #MidnightZone #First Descent

Seamounts

Seamounts are undersea mountains formed by volcanic activity. Scientists estimate there are at least 100,000 seamounts higher than 1,000 meters around the world. Recent estimates suggest that, taken together, seamounts encompass about 28.8 million square kilometres  a surface area larger than deserts, tundra, or any other single land-based global habitat on the planet. Seamounts attract an abundance of marine life, many of which are endemic to individual locations. Seamounts are productive fishing grounds for more than 80 commercial species worldwide.

Nekton

Nekton is an independent not-for-profit research institute working in collaboration with the University of Oxford and is a UK registered charity. Nekton's purpose is to explore and protect the ocean. Nekton's missions are supported by a unique alliance of 40 business, government, academia and civil society partners uniting behind a common purpose to explore and conserve the ocean. They include:

Mission Partners (2): Omega, Kensington Tours

Strategic Partners (8): The Commonwealth; Teledyne Marine, Sonardyne (Official Subsea

Technology Partners), Caladan Oceanic (Expedition Partner), Associated Press (Official News Agency Partner), Inmarsat (Official Satellite Communications Partner), Blue Prosperity Coalition, Waitt Institute (Maldives Blue Prosperity).

Collaborating Partners (17): CEFAS (Subsea Research Equipment); Deep Sea Power and Light, Paralenz, Bowtech (Subsea Camera & Light Partners); Triton (Submersible Partners); Priavo Security (Maritime Security); Technicolor, AXA-XL & Encounter EDU (Education); University of Oxford; Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology  IMarEST; EYOS Expeditions (Logistics); Great Campaign (UK Government, Foreign & Commonwealth Office); Ocean Unite, Helly Hansen (Apparel), IUCN, Project Zero, Sky Plc.

Founding Partners of Nekton (3): AXA-XL, Garfield Weston Foundation, Kensington Tours.

Blue Prosperity Coalition

The Blue Prosperity Coalition is a global coalition of NGO's, academic institutions, and foundations working together to promote growth and prosperity while empowering sustainable management of marine resources and ecosystems. The coalition assists committed governments in developing and implementing sustainable marine spatial plans to protect the environment and improve the economy at the same time. Primary members in the Maldives partnership include Waitt Institute, National Geographic Pristine Seas, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Nekton. #BlueProsperity

Waitt Institute

Established by Gateway, Inc. co-founder Ted Waitt in 1993, the Waitt Institute, partners with committed governments to develop and implement comprehensive, science-based ocean management plans that benefit both the economy and the environment with the ultimate goal of sustainable, resilient, and thriving seas that benefit all.

Digital Newsroom

For additional media materials including b-roll, launch video, still images, briefing notes and press releases, please visit Nekton's digital Newsroom .

Hashtags

#commonwealth #bluecharter #nekton, #firstdescent #midnightzone #seychelles #maldives #oneoceanoneplanet #30x30 #KanduFalhuDhiraasaa
Bose Ogive Niyonkuru, a 15 year old Rwandese learner strolls back into the class after a short break to enjoy the warmth of the sun and kick off the chills from the cold weather. Born and grewn up in Kenya, Bose learns alongside Kenyan at Kabiria Primary School, one of the 17 public schools that admits refugees and recently received desks from UNHCR, thanks to donations from The Big Heart Foundation.

My dream is to become a journalist

Initially, Bose was learning in an exclusive refugee school, but was yearning to study in a public school to improve her learning skills, especially English.

My dream is to become a journalist, says Bose, Thats why I needed to improve my English.

Her parents fled from Rwanda before she was born. The last born in a family of three children explains that her desire is to document stories of vulnerable people so that they can find help and hope.

I want to write stories about displaced persons and visit camps to help in fundraising for vulnerable refugees..

Bose Ogive Niyonkuru, a Rwandese refugee with her Kenyan classmates, Lydia Wanjiru and Emmanuel Osindi, schooling Kabiria Primary, a public school in Nairobi.  UNHCR/Caroline Opile Learners in class two at Kabiria Primary school, one of the crowded classrooms with more than 100 pupils. Refugee students in primary level 4 with their headteacher at Kabiria Primary, one of the public schools in Nairobi that admit refugees.  UNHCR/Caroline Opile Alice Mogeni, the headteacher of Kabiria Primary School in Nairobi sits in one of the classrooms that received desks from UNHCR.

With a broad smile, Bose is appreciative of the UNHCR gesture to donate desks to her school that has more than 2,000 students, 91 of whom are refugees. She notes that the desks have reduced congestion in the classrooms especially for the standard 8 class.

Lydia Wanjiru, a 15 year old Kenyan student concurs that it was an honor to receive additional desks from UNHCR.

Some people did not have desks, but now we can write and sit comfortably

Wanjiru, who dreams of being a surgeon happily recounts her experience learning with refugees.

Refugees are kind and helpful to us, I enjoy learning with Bose.

The desks have reduced congestion in the classrooms

Bose is one of the refugee students who receives school uniforms from UNHCR through its education partner, Francis Xavier Project to ensure that she does not drop out of school.

Alice Mogeni, the head teacher, has been teaching in the school for 13 years. She notes that the Kenyan funded school accommodates very desperate children in need from the catchment area in Dagoretti Sub County in Nairobi. Majority of the children who need additional support are refugees.

Refugee students are humble, hardworking and obedient, says Alice. Most of refugees in Kabiria primary school are qualified to join national secondary schools.

With the additional desks, she has been able to provide a dignified learning space for children.

Alice goes beyond her call of being a teacher and follows up on the refugee children that complete primary school education to ensure that no one left behind. She mobilizes other teachers to assist in paying school fees for refugee children in need, in order to ensure them to join secondary school.

Refugee and Kenyan students at Kangemi primary school in Nairobi, one of the schools that receives urban refugees in Nairobi. UNHCR/Caroline Opile A new classroom was commissioned in Kangemi primary school with desk donations UNHCR with funding from The Big Heart Foundation.  UNHCR/Caroline Opile Refugee students at Kangemi Primary School that will be sitting for the national exams in 2020. The deputy teacher, Victoria Kioko is their greatest motivator to dream and be the best  UNHCR/Caroline Opile

On another part of town, a calm and serene environment ushers one into Kangemi primary school. Its one of the public schools in Nairobi that also received a donation of 36 desks.

The deputy teacher, Victoria Kioko who has taught for 12 years remains grateful for the desk donations.

With the desk donations, the school commissioned a new classroom for standard 8 pupils to reduce classroom congestion and provide a conducive learning environment for students as they prepare for national primary examinations in 2020.

UNHCR recently provided more than 600 desks to urban schools to enable Kenyan and refugee children learn in a safe and comfortable environment, thus improving access to education in primary schools. Kenya continues to host close to 500,000 refugees, 16% of whom are in urban areas, majority being school going children.

With the desk donations, the school commissioned a new classroom

The need for inclusion of refugees in the services provided by the host country cannot be overemphasized. Education remains one of the key areas for both UNHCR and the Government of Kenya, says Margaret Njayakio, UNHCRs Assistant Education Officer.

The refugee children in urban areas attend public schools funded by the Government of Kenya with the support from UNHCR. The schools are often congested, yet there is always room for one who dreams for a better future.

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Our constantly shifting business environment has dramatically changed every business' approach to governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). M&A's today are fast, furious, and frequent; compliance regulations and their accompanying audits are multiplying worldwide; financings are more complex and demand a high level of transparency; legal risk is everywhere.

This new world is reflected in the exponential growth of the GRC software market, which is predicted to reach $64.6 billion by the year 2025. Concerning yourself with GRC is more than a business best practice. It's something that can impact almost every area of your business. In multiple ways, paying attention to GRC can be the foundation of your business success.

Be responsive to opportunity

Your business needs to be due diligence ready at all times so that you can take advantage of every opportunity. That means having your documents close to hand so that you can find the right ones in a single click and share them securely on request. ContractZen's features, like advanced OCR and metadata search, visual and automated metadata tagging, virtual datarooms that serve as a central data repository, and simple email or drag-and-drop upload capabilities, mean that your documents are stored securely but accessible instantly.

When you can find the data you need quickly and easily, you won't miss out on expansion opportunities because of inaccurate information. Keep on top of contracts with automated reminders before they are due for renewal, so that you have time to renegotiate and shop around if desired. Consult the right contracts to check terms and pricing and get a better deal.

Improve security and compliance

Security and compliance are growing concerns in the business world. Anti-money laundering laws have become stronger, and banks and financial institutions are quick to enforce them. The last few years have seen the introduction of GDPR and CCPA, alongside other international privacy legislation, at the same time as the cybersecurity threat has mushroomed. Compliance and tax audits come at the drop of a hat, so keep your house permanently in order.

Keeping your business data safe from malicious actors means retaining strong control over access to your sensitive documents. In 2018, 28% of data breaches were caused by internal actors, so all the firewalls in the world won't help if you're not sure who has access to your data or where it's stored. Your security is only as good as your document tracking and access control, so it's vital to pick a GRC solution with user permissions that are quick and easy to use. Sometimes, companies need to hire a new employee just to handle user permissions. If user permissions are too complex to turn on and off easily, they'll speedily fall out of sync with your current business situation as you forget to onboard new employees and close off access to someone who was recently fired.

Assess risk to make better business decisions

Your ability to assess risk correctly rests on possessing all the relevant data to gain a 360-degree understanding of your business situation. When your documents, business data, contracts, minutes, financial documents, etc. are all fully organized, you'll be able to make better informed, data-driven decisions that improve business performance.

At a time when the stakes are high, decisions have to be made quickly and risk needs to be qualified. It's more important than ever to keep control over your business data. With 47% of employees believing that business decisions are not based on data, it's vital to demonstrate that you are thoroughly in command of your business information.

Increase productivity

All too often, more business data means more time wasted searching for the right dataset. The average knowledge worker still spends approximately 30% of their time looking for information, but you'd prefer your employees to carry out work tasks instead of hunting for the resources they need to continue their project. Using virtual datarooms, powerful search, and metatagging to keep all your documents organized and searchable allows employees to be more productive, and reduces frustration at spending ages looking for the right file.

Other GRC tools like e-signatures and document collaboration ensure that you keep track of the process of creating, editing, and signing contracts, streamline workflows, and improve governance. Meeting management software provides a better audit trail on meetings, helps you follow up on tasks more effectively, and makes sure everyone knows what they need to do.

GRC is no longer something you can ignore

If you've been sidelining GRC in your organization, make 2020 the year that changes. Adopting platforms that place excellent data search, document organization, access controls, meeting management, and other advanced tools at your fingertips enables you to meet and exceed your business GRC requirements. A high awareness of GRC helps ensure that you can correctly assess risk, don't miss out on business opportunities, maintain a high level of security and compliance, and improve productivity around your entire organization.
www.brucemuseum.org

The Fred Elser First Sunday Science family series at the Bruce Museums Seaside Center at Greenwich Point Park will explore microbes as sentinels of water quality in Long Island Sound on Sunday, April 5.

Each drop of water in Long Island Sound hosts a diverse microbial community, the center says on its website. Knowing which microbes thrive in different portions of the Sound helps to evaluate the impact of natural and human-led changes on these environments.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Thursday stated that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks on the violence in New Delhi are "driven by his own political agenda" and are "factually incorrect".

READ: India Rejects Turkey Poking Nose In J&K, Tells Erdogan 'Understand Pak Terrorism Facts'

Kumar downplays Erdogan's comments

During the weekly press briefing, Kumar said, "The comments by the Turkish President are factually inaccurate and are driven by his political agenda. We do not expect such irresponsible statements from a Head of State."

In February, Erdogan had expressed his affection for Pakistan and said that the country stands by them. He also raised Kashmir and the pressure faced by Pakistan from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and said, "In order for the Kashmiri people to look at a safe future together with their Pakistani and Indian neighbours, it is imperative to solve the problem through dialogue and on the basis of justice and equity, but not through collision. Despite the resolutions adopted by the UNSC, Kashmir is still besieged and eight million people are stuck in Kashmir. They cannot get out."

READ: 'Take Appropriate Measures': India To China On Detained Pak-bound 'Da Cui Yan' Vessel

India retorted sharply then as well, stating that the country is once again interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. "India rejects all references to Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. We call upon the Turkish leadership to not interfere in India's internal affairs and develop a proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region."

READ: Russia-Turkey Talks A Last Chance To Avert Idlib Calamity

At the press briefing, Kumar also stated that the India-EU summit which was scheduled to be held later this month will now be rescheduled because of the coronavirus outbreak

He also added that Modi will be visiting Bangladesh to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman later and that visit has not been called off.

READ: Erdogan: Turkey Cannot Endure New Wave Of Migration
Government Contracting Officers Will Journey to Cheyenne for GRO-Biz Conference

Contracting officers from various government agencies across the region will be coming to Wyoming, looking to buy products and services from small-business owners.

The GRO-Biz Conference, scheduled Wednesday, March 25, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center in Cheyenne, is Wyomings premier government contracting event. Attendees will have the chance to meet one-on-one with representatives from several government agencies and learn how to expand their market with government contracting. Registrants also will gain access to two preconference workshops and a networking reception March 24.

This event is organized for Wyoming entrepreneurs by the Wyoming Procurement Technical Assistance Center, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network.

Rob Watson, from Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., will offer a keynote address and meet with entrepreneurs throughout the event. Other agencies that will be in attendance include the U.S. Forest Service, Wyoming Air National Guard, the Bureau of Land Management, F.E. Warren Air Force Base and the National Park Service.

Several big-name speakers also will be on hand to present educational sessions, with two separate tracks for beginners and current government contractors. There will be several networking opportunities to speak with procurement representatives; other small-business owners; experts with Wyomings various entrepreneurial support organizations; and sponsors such as the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Triple A Building Services Inc., Visit Cheyenne, Trihydro Corp., Bairco Construction Inc., Manufacturing Works and the Better Business Bureau.

Last year, the federal government spent more than $330 million in Wyoming. Many of those contracting opportunities are set aside for small businesses.

To learn more or to register, visit www.wyomingsbdc.org/grobiz. Cost for the event is $65 if you register by March 13. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
These clips are being shared across social media by people heartbroken over this suffering and are evidence that the Iranian regime has committed the most egregious crime by hiding the outbreak and preventing victims from getting proper treatment.

The regime officials have admitted that they were aware of the coronavirus outbreak for weeks before they actually announced it. This delay in admitting the outbreak until after two people had died was to ensure that the regime looked strong abroad by having a big turnout in their anniversary celebrations and their elections. After all, what projects strength more than risking the health of all Iranians?

Now, those affiliated with the regime have been tested for the coronavirus and had their workplaces closed for cleaning or to prevent the spread. Anyone else, which means the public, is given no preventative measures unless theyre prepared to pay big, which they cannot afford.

The regime, fearing new protests over the fact that theyve condemned so many Iranians to death through their secrecy around the disease, have decided to try and hide information about the disease some more.

Theyve arrested two reporters for covering the story of Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar being tested for coronavirus under intensive care. While other members of the regime are claiming that reports of widespread infection are fake news, like Hamid Emadi Kouchak, the head of Khomeini Hospital Infectious Diseases Department.

He said: The reason that people suddenly fall has nothing to do with coronavirus, these people faint and this can happen to everyone during the day and we must not attribute all of it to coronavirus.

This attitude shows that the regime cares less about protecting the people than protecting themselves from the peoples anger.

The main opposition movement the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has reported 1300 deaths from the coronavirus in Iran as of writing this, including at least:

300 in Qom

215 in Tehran

100 in Mazandaran province

70 in Rasht

60 in Mashhad

54 in Gorgan

45 in Arak

45 in Kermanshah

43 in Isfahan

39 in Karaj

38 in Shiraz

23 in Khorramabad

23 in Kashan

20 in Qazvin

16 in Iranshahr

12 in Lahijan

12 in Boushehr

10 in Dastgerd

10 in Zahedan

S ix in Astaneh

Read More:

Iran: A Coronavirus Worse Than the Coronavirus

Coronavirus in Iran; Shocking Speech by Dr. Behrouz Kalidari in Isfahan
File Image: Harish Salve (left)

Amid sporadic protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) across India, and days after northeast Delhi witnessed violence over the contentious Act, renowned Supreme Court advocate Harish Salve said he fails to understand why the Act is being condemned as discriminatory.

In an opinion piece titled CAA is necessary in The Times of India, Salve argued that the Citizenship Amendment Act is neither discriminatory nor unconstitutional.

Writing that in any country which is governed by the rule of law, citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, naturalisation, or by acquisition of territories, Salve said, Those who enter a country without its permission are illegal citizens and are liable to be deported.

I fail to understand how a law which is designed to confer the benefit on an identified class of persons, and which identification is based on a rational criterion, can be condemned as being discriminatory on the ground that the legislation could have created a wider class Salve added.

Saying that the principle of equality does not mean that every law must have universal application, the advocate said even the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to interfere and left it for the government to decide which policy is best for India.

Pointing out that the avowed objective of CAA is to confer Indian citizenship upon members of minority communities who hail from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Salve retorted, Do we really need proof that minorities are persecuted in these Islamic republics? How can Parliament be faulted for coming to a conclusion that such minorities in the three named neighbours need to be protected?

On the argument that CAA is unconstitutional, Salve said that it is the Indian Constitution that confers special rights on religious minorities. The renowned advocate said that if the ambit of the law was broadened to include Muslims, we could as well do away with our borders.

On the purported speculation that the act is an intention of the government to get rid of Muslims in India, Salve clarified, The Prime Minister has denied it.

Although, he said, If any procedure put in place requires Muslims alone all over India to prove their citizenship in a manner more onerous than that applicable to any other community, such a procedure would be unconstitutional.
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In global health, it's important that women have an equal opportunity to have their voices heard in setting agendas and designing interventions. Not listening to women can mean that important contributions are missed. Women play a crucial role in delivering important health services and are the backbone of health.

In today's episode of Pasha, Rhoda Wanyenze, Dean of Makerere University School of Public Health, discusses how crucial it is for women to be acknowledged in global health issues.

Photo: By Leonie Broekstra. African nurse is drawing blood from an African male for blood tests. Shutterstock

Music Happy African Village by John Bartmann, found on FreeMusicArchive.org licensed under CC0 1 .

Umlungu by John Bartmann, found on FreeMusicArchive.org .

By Ozayr Patel, Digital Editor
Data can make hard conversations easier, and few conversations have been as difficult as the one around climate.

It was important to us  as, respectively, Texas state climatologist and the CEO of a non-profit organization focused on Texas future  to bring a new lens to this issue. We wanted to take a data-driven look at extreme weather trends to get insight into the future that Texans need to prepare for.

The data shows that Texas climate has been changing. Thats the conclusion of a scientific report by Texas A&M University researchers, funded in part by Texas 2036, that observed and analyzed historical meteorological and climate data for Texas.

If, as expected, current trends continue, our changing climate will pose more challenges to Texans living here in 2036  the year Texas turns 200  than today in several ways:

The number of 100-degree days will double over the next couple of decades.

The expected average temperature in 2036 will be about 3 degrees warmer than the average over the last half of the last century.

By 2036, extreme rainfall is expected to be 30-50 percent more frequent than the 1950-1999 average, causing more flooding  especially in Houston and other Texas cities where impervious surfaces increase rainwater runoff intensity.

Higher temperatures and increased rainfall variability will cause more intense droughts.

For some parts of the Texas coast, the storm surge risk may double by 2050 due to sea level rise and more intense hurricanes.

This data, which is consistent with data produced by climate prediction models widely used by scientists, shows that as Texas prepares to add 10 million more people by 2036 and build an economy with 7-8 million more jobs, Texas policy makers and business leaders need to prepare for a future that looks different from the past.

Big cities like Houston need to prepare for more frequent episodes of extreme rainfall and flooding, as the city is doing through its recently released Resilient Houston plan. At the same time, rural communities in West Texas should plan for more intense droughts.

Our growing state needs to leverage this data  and our innovation, talent and leadership  to strategically plan for what a changing climate will mean for our water supply, infrastructure and economy. Given the long-term horizon of 2036, our strong economy can help position us for the future as we rethink everything from growing crops to creating resilient infrastructure to pre-empting new government budget problems.

At the same time, we can harness the states vast leadership and expertise to slow or even reverse these trends. Yes, Texas leads the nation in carbon emissions  largely because we have played such a vital role in supplying energy to the nation and the world. But we are also the worlds epicenter of energy innovation.

Already, business leaders in Houston and elsewhere across our state are thinking comprehensively about economically productive ways to position Texas for a low-carbon future. President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank Rob Kaplan told the Houston Chronicle recently: Its unusual to find a company that is not thinking about (the energy transition). Its happening faster than people think.

In recent years, Texas has experienced the worst one-year drought of record, its wettest year, its costliest hurricane and its highest storm rainfall total. To extend its prosperity into future generations, Texas has both the responsibility to prepare for extreme weather, and the opportunity to lead on innovations that the world needs to address coming climate challenges.

The data is in: our growing population and thriving economy will face more extreme weather by our states bicentennial. So, the question is, what are we planning to do about it?

Nielsen-Gammon is a Regents Professor at Texas A&M University; he was named state climatologist by then-Gov. George W. Bush in 2000. Spellings is president and CEO of Texas 2036, a statewide non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization, funded by individuals, institutions and businesses. She also served as U.S. Secretary of Education for President George W. Bush.
Venezuelan political leader Juan Guaido lashed out Wednesday against officials loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, who deny any role in armed threats days earlier against him at a violent opposition street march.

"Assume your responsibility," Guaido said during a session of the National Assembly. "Don't be cowards."

His remarks followed a weekend confrontation in the central city of Barquisimeto, where opposition leaders say roughly 200 armed civilians loyal to Maduro called "colectivos" and government security forces brandished weapons and opened fire to intimidate marchers led by Guaido.

The day ended with a 16-year-old boy being shot in the leg, while others with Guaido reported being roughed up and robbed of their cell phones.

"They are already saying that it's a false positive, a show!" said Guaido referring to what the socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello said during his press conference.

According to Guaido, the government is trying to distance itself from who he says are responsible for the incident.

"I do not buy the story that they are separated, I do not buy the story that they are from different sides, no sir!"

The confusing incident is believed to be the first time pro-government vigilantes have aimed a weapon at Guaido, who the U.S. and more than 50 other countries recognize as Venezuela's rightful leader following Maduro's re-election in 2018 in a race the opposition says was marred by irregularities.

Guaido has called for a demonstration on March 10, when the opposition will attempt to retake control of their legislative building in the center of Caracas.

Armed civilians and security forces have forcefully blocked opposition lawmakers from entering the building since January.
New Delhi: International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 across the globe. Also known as the International Working Women's Day, this is the day when you take some time out and celebrate the joy of womanhood and for the men, you can make the women around you feel special and loved. The essence and spirit of being a woman should be celebrated on this day, and what better way to start your day by reading some of the most inspiring quotes.

Here's the compilation of top quotes and messages by powerful women in the world which will encourage you to make bold choices and stand by them.

To our lovely ladies out there, wishing each one of you a very Happy Women's Day.
Twice as many Virginia voters cast absentee ballots compared to the March 2016 Democratic primary.

Analysis by VPAP shows that as of Monday, nearly 55,000 voters had cast absentee ballots, compared to a total of 26,000 in March 2016. Roughly 70% of those votes were cast by people over the age of 41, according to VPAP.

Virginias primary kicked off Tuesday without significant issues at polling places, state elections officials said. Roanoke County and the city of Petersburg experienced power outages Tuesday, but no voting was delayed as a result, Virginia Elections Commissioner Chris Piper said.

Ive worked in Virginia elections on and off since 2003, but I will say, in all of those years, I have not experienced a more smooth election, Piper added. This is a real credit to the election officials out there in the field.

Piper said that despite rumors of massive absences among poll workers due to COVID-19 concerns, the state did not receive messages from localities about shortages.
Meanwhile, UW Health said Wednesday it is limiting reuse of provider masks or allocating one mask per patient with symptoms to help conserve supply, which has been challenged nationally by COVID-19 and seasonal flu. The organization is also using video visits to limit contact between providers and patients with symptoms.

UW Health has established a COVID-19 hotline, at (608) 720-5300. Public Health Madison and Dane Countys COVID-19 information line is (608) 243-0587.

Fund cuts may hurt

Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said state health departments have been preparing for outbreaks like this for years, though funding declines in recent years may have reduced capacity.

We do have some concerns that this could become overwhelming, Plescia told reporters at the National Press Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Plescia said the next few weeks should determine whether COVID-19 will spread in the U.S. as much as it has in other places, such as China, which has reported more than 80,400 cases and more than 3,000 deaths. China has the vast majority of cases and deaths.
The start of oil production in December is expected to nearly double the countrys gross domestic product in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund, and multiply in years to come.

Instead, the winner-takes-all attitude that has marred the elections is weighing heavily on Guyanas economic prospects as it enters the oil age, said Ralph Ramkarran, a prominent local statesman who led a largely Quixotic campaign for a small multiethnic party.

The thinking here is, why share when youre winning? he said. Until thats fixed, it will remain a place of suspicion and economic underdevelopment.

The stakes could not be higher.

Exxon started production in December, and although the payoff in 2020 will be a trickle relative to what will come, it is expected to elevate oil income this year to a third of all government revenue, surpassing all of the countrys traditional exports combined, according to the I.M.F.

By the end of the decade, the countrys output will reach 1.2 million barrels a day, according to estimates by the oil consultancy Rystad. That would mean Guyanas production would overtake the current output of its neighbor, the declining oil giant Venezuela.

The economic decisions taken by the next government will largely determine whether the former British sugar-growing colony is able to harness its oil wealth for national development. But neither major party has offered a plan for the nation.
A 'heroic' Chinese doctor who was punished for sounding the alarm over the coronavirus outbreak before it spread has been awarded by Beijing after he died of the deadly disease.

Dr Li Wenliang, 34, lost his life to the killer infection last month having contracting it from a patient.

His death caused an uproar among the country's social media users who criticised their government of controlling freedom of speech and trying to cover up Dr Li's passing.

Dr Li Wenliang, 34, who died of the coronavirus last month after being punished for sounding the alarm over the outbreak has been given the honourable title of 'an advanced individual'

China's central government today gave the late medic the honourable title of 'an advanced individual' to praise his works in fighting the virus.

'[Our country's medical workers] consider assuring people's life safety and bodily health as the highest mission, carry forward the heroic spirit of unstoppable resilience, face danger fearlessly and rush to the front line of the control and prevention of the epidemic without a doubt' an official notice praised while announcing the decision.

Dr Li's name was buried in a list of 472 medical workers who were also honoured for their contributions during the health crisis. Among them, 34 have died.

Officials also declared 113 medical teams as 'advanced collectives'.

'[We hope] the honoured collectives and individuals will cherish the honour, make unremitting efforts and deliver new contributions,' said the statement jointly issued by the National Health Commission, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security as well as National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

A woman cries while paying tribute to Dr Li in front of Wuhan Central Hospital on February 7

Flowers are put in front of Wuhan Central Hospital by Wuhan mourners on February 7 after the hospital declared Dr Li dead. The card that comes with the flowers carries a message reading 'the long night is about to arrive. I, from today, will begin to be on watch as long as I am alive'

Dr Li, an ophthalmologist, caught the public's attention after he was reprimanded by police and accused of spreading 'fake news' for warning on social media of 'SARS at a Wuhan seafood market' on December 30.

Dr Li's post came two weeks before coronavirus broke out in the city of 14 million which has been locked down since January 23.

He was among eight doctors who were dubbed 'rumourmongers' by Wuhan authorities and investigated.

His original messages, sent to about 150 medics on popular messaging platform WeChat, read: 'Seven confirmed SARS cases were found in Huanan Fruit and Seafood Market.'

It continued: '[The patients] were in quarantine in the Houhu Branch of our hospital.'

He announced on January 31 through social media that he was hospitalised on January 12 after treating one patient who had coronavirus but did not show any symptoms.

One day later, he said he was tested positive for coronavirus.

Mourners pay their respect to the doctor during a vigil ceremony in Hong Kong on February 7

A person wearing a mask attends a vigil for Dr Li in Hong Kong on February 7 after he died

Dr Li, an ophthalmologist from the Wuhan Central Hospital, was among eight doctors who were dubbed 'rumourmongers' by Wuhan authorities and investigated by police. They had sent warning messages on social media about 'SARS' in a market days before the outbreak began

Dr Li's original messages, sent to about 150 medics on popular messaging platform WeChat, read: 'Seven confirmed SARS cases were found in Huanan Fruit and Seafood Market. Pictured, people mourn Dr Li in Hong Kong, China, on February 7

Dr Li was pronounced dead in the wee hours of February 7 by his workplace, Wuhan Central Hospital, hours after it had denied reports from state media of the medic's passing.

The denial, or cover-up as some accused, sparked an outpouring of anger from the Chinese people who took their outrage to the Chinese social media platforms.

'He wasn't allowed to speak. He wasn't even allowed to die,' wrote one person on popular messaging app WeChat as she commented on a circulating notice which allegedly instructed all media outlets to suppress the coverage of the passing of Dr Li Wenliang.

'Dr Li Wenliang was only allowed to "die" after most web users had gone to bed,' condemned another person on Twitter-like Weibo.

Dr Li's death was first reported by state newspaper Global Times at around 9:30pm local time on February 6 through Weibo.

The post gathered tens of thousands of comments in a matter of minutes, but was later removed by the newspaper for unspecified reasons.

The coronavirus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,440 worldwide

Outside China, more than 70 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected. The picture shows two tourists wearing face masks while holding a tourist map in Piazza Duomo in Milan, one of the worst-hit cities, on March 5

A health worker is pictured taking the body temperature of an Iraqi passenger returning from Iran, which has the second highest death tolls, at Najaf International Airport on March 5

Another two people have tested positive for coronavirus in New York City, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 13. A woman in a mask is pictured on the New York City subway

The Wuhan Central Hospital then claimed that Dr Li was in critical condition and still being revived.

Within half an hour of the announcement, the hospital received nearly 500,000 comments on its social media post, many of them from people hoping Li would pull through.

The hospital declared his death at 3:48am local time on February 7.

His family was subsequently paid 90,000 after Beijing ruled his death a 'workplace injury'.

There were similar conflicting reports over the death of Dr Liu Zhiming, who was the head of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital and died of the coronavirus at the age of 51 on February 18.

At least 26 Chinese medical workers have died while working to curb the virus outbreak, which started late last year in the central city of Wuhan.

Among them, 13 lost their lives after contracting the infection on the line of duty, according to Chinese news outlet Caixin.

So far, the coronavirus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,440 worldwide.

Outside China, more than 70 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.
Middle Eastern carriers cargo volumes decreased 1.4 per cent in January and capacity increased by 2.9 per cent compared to the year-ago period, according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).



Against a backdrop of operational and geopolitical challenges facing some of the regions key airlines, seasonally-adjusted freight volumes ticked down in January, but a modest upwards trend has been sustained. However, given the Middle Easts position connecting trade between China and the rest of the world, the regions carriers have significant exposure to the impact of COVID-19 in the period ahead.



Airlines in Asia-Pacific and Europe suffered sharp declines in year-on-year growth in total air cargo volumes for the month, while North American and Middle East carriers experienced a more moderate decline. Latin America and Africa were the only regions to record growth in air freight demand compared to January 2019.



The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in cargo tonne kilometers (CTKs), decreased by 3.3 per cent in January, compared to the same period in 2019.



"January marked the 10th consecutive month of year-on-year declines in cargo volumes. The air cargo industry started the year on a weak footing. There was optimism that an easing of US-China trade tensions would give the sector a boost in 2020. But that has been overtaken by the COVID-19 outbreak, which has severely disrupted global supply chains, although it did not have a major impact on Januarys cargo performance. Tough times are ahead. The course of future events is unclear, but this is a sector that has proven its resilience time and again, said Alexandre de Juniac, Iatas director general and CEO.



Cargo capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), rose by 0.9 per cent year-on-year in January 2020. Capacity growth has now outstripped demand growth for 21 consecutive months.



It is unlikely that the COVID-19 outbreak had very much to do with Januarys weak performance. Lunar New Year in 2020 was earlier than in 2019. This skewed 2020 numbers towards weakness as many Chinese manufacturers would be closed for the holiday period. February performance will give a better picture of how COVID-19 is impacting global air cargo. - TradeArabia News Service
The Rialto, which has been coined the Jewel of Joliet, opened in 1926 and was originally a vaudeville movie palace, a place for people to gather and enjoy the movies of the day. Its architecture is ornate and grand, inspired by some of the of the most famed structures in the world, including the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles near Paris and the Pantheon in Rome.
The Colorado Springs Airport said Wednesday that it plans to add extra hand sanitizing dispensers, increase cleaning and maintain a three-month supply of hygiene products to combat any potential spread of the coronavirus.

The changes come after 11 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19  the viruss official name. Pikes Peak officials have said residents remain at low risk for contracting the disease that has sickened more than 80,000 people worldwide and caused nearly 3,000 deaths since it broke out in China.

Still, the Colorado Springs Airport will be adding strategically installed hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the airport, a news release said Wednesday.

Airport custodial staff will also increase cleaning, the statement said. Health officials have warned that the virus can be spread through touching tainted surfaces and then touching ones eyes, mouth or possibly eyes.

The airport statement said staff will continue to educate our passengers and employees on the importance of thoroughly washing their hands with soap regularly for at least 20 seconds, utilize our hand sanitizer dispensers, cough and sneeze into their elbow, and limit physical touch such as hugging or shaking hands.

The coronavirus can spread through person to person contact within 6 feet of someone with a confirmed infection, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said.

Fear and uncertainty about the virus have left some local grocery chains and pharmacies reporting a shortage of or limitations on sanitation and cold-fighting supplies.

Sales of hand sanitizers in the U.S. were up 73% in the four weeks ending Feb. 22 compared with the same period a year ago, according to the Nielsen market research firm.

In light of the local shortage, we have worked with our vendors to maintain a three-month supply of cleaning and hygiene supplies on-hand, and have a system in place that will prevent the airport from being impacted by the current shortages that the public may be experiencing locally, the Colorado Springs Airport statement said.

The Denver International Airport said it will attack the spread of coronavirus with the same approach.

With no confirmed cases of the virus in Colorado, Denver International is not one of the 20 airports being screened by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the virus. Still, the airport plans proactive steps to prevent people from getting sick.

We are actively monitoring and assessing the potential impacts of the coronavirus and working closely with our local and federal partners and our airlines to reduce the risk to our passengers, airport CEO Kim Day said in a statement. While we are providing hygiene assistance for our passengers, we strongly urge everyone to follow guidance  including normal best practices to prevent the spread of germs.

The airport will install sanitary wipe dispensers in jet bridges so passengers can sanitize their plane seats. The airport will also add more adding more hand-sanitizer dispensers and increase the frequency and intensity of janitorial work.

Theyll also swing through security check points, to treat screening bins with powerful antimicrobial technology.

As in Colorado Springs, Denver Airport officials will push passengers to wash their hands with soap regularly for at least 20 seconds and to cough and sneeze into their elbows.

All of these are easy and effective ways to avoid contracting or transmitting common colds, flu and other viruses, the airport said in a statement.

In Colorado, 23 people have been tested for the virus, all of which returned negative. Nine test results are still pending.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has called the risk to the state low.
Irans ambassador to Croatia met with the countrys Health Ministry officials and the anti-coronavirus office in Zagreb, Trend reports with reference to IRNA.

Parviz Esmaeeli met with Assistant Health Minister Vera Katalinic-Jankovic and one of the members of office for fighting coronavirus.

Describing the most recent information about the coronavirus and the measures taken in Iran, Esmaeeli said that the virus is not a tool for having negative advertisement against a country; it is a public threat and the world community should unite to act against it.

Esmaeeli said the world should act in the framework of the international health instructions.

Referring to the health infrastructure of Iran, he said the World Health Organization said that Irans equipment to fight the virus is at the level of the international body and has repeatedly hailed Iran for eradicating polio, measles, and rubella.

He said that the government and the people of Iran are fighting the disease unanimously and with high spirits, adding that Iran welcomes consultations and experience sharing from friend countries and international organizations.

He also said that the sanctions of the US in Iran are inhumane and slow down expanding of medical infrastructures, and limits patients access to medicine and medical equipment.

He thanked the WHO and some countries for helping Iran in helps for detecting and treating the disease.

Katalinic-Jankovic said that she has seen Irans effectiveness and professionalism and has faith in the medical system of Iran.

On Wednesday, the head of the Iran's Health Ministry's public relations office, Kianoush Jahanpour, said that the coronavirus death toll mounted to 92 in Iran out of the total figure of 2,922 people who have been affected by the virus.

Jahanpour said 552 people have recovered from the virus and dismissed from hospitals.

Iran has temporarily shut down schools, universities, and other education centers, and cancelled all the public gatherings like concerts and sport events to help curb the disease.

He also urged the people not to make trips and to cancel all the gathering.
The government has given the go-ahead to State Bank of India (SBI) and other financial institutions to take over capital-starved Yes Bank, and an announcement is likely to be made soon.

New Delhi: Shares of Yes Bank zoomed 27 percent on Thursday amid reports that the government has given the go-ahead to State Bank of India and other financial institutions to take over the capital-starved company.

#MarketAtClose | Yes Bank surges 26% on reports of govt forming SBI-led consortium for stake buy pic.twitter.com/p4fEtCigpZ  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 5, 2020

The scrip advanced 25.77 percent to close at Rs 36.85 on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 29.35 percent to Rs 37.90. The scrip witnessed a sudden rise after hitting a 52-week low of Rs 28.05.

At the NSE, it gained 26.96 percent to close at Rs 37.20.

The company's market valuation rose by Rs 1,926.49 crore to Rs 9,398.49 crore on the BSE.

In terms of traded volume, 433.87 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE and over 78 crore shares on the NSE during the day.

The government has given the go-ahead to State Bank of India (SBI) and other financial institutions to take over capital-starved Yes Bank, and an announcement is likely to be made soon, highly placed sources said on Thursday.

The sources said the government has cleared a plan for an SBI-led consortium to acquire a controlling stake in the bank.

Shares of SBI also closed 1.05 percent higher at Rs 288.30 on the BSE. During the trade, it hit a high of Rs 298.25 and a low of Rs 270.10.

"As per media reports, SBI has been told to invest as a lead in a consortium in Yes Bank. Though we may see a big spike in price of Yes Bank and negative reaction in price of SBI, we recommend caution to retail investors," Abhimanyu Sofat, Head of Research, IIFL Securities.

The critical thing to watch would be percentage dilution of equity taking into consideration the conversion of existing bonds issued by Yes Bank into equity, he said.

In a clarification to stock exchanges on reports that the government is said to have approved SBI's plan to buy stake in Yes Bank, the state-owned lender said it would disclose developments, if any, as per Sebi regulations.

"... we will abide by the timelines under Regulation 30 of SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015 in disclosing the developments, if any in the matter to stock exchanges," it added.

Yes Bank said it would like to clarify that as on date, the bank has not received any such communication from RBI or any other government or regulatory authorities or from the SBI.

"... we are unaware of any such decision. Therefore, we are not in a position to comment on such news item," Yes Bank said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

The bourses had sought clarification on the reports.

Yes Bank, which is grappling with bad loans, is looking to raise fresh capital but the plans are facing uncertainties.

It has also delayed announcement of December 2019 quarter results due to the ongoing crisis. Meanwhile, the BSE banking pack depicted a mixed trend, with Kotak Mahindra Bank rising 2.74 percent, RBL Bank 1.93 percent, IndusInd Bank 0.79 percent and HDFC Bank 0.23 percent, while City Union Bank fell 1.66 percent, ICICI Bank 0.74 percent, Axis Bank 0.66 percent and The Federal Bank 0.42 percent.
A person has been detained in Jammus Samba for allegedly passing vital information to Pakistan, sources said on Thursday. Pankaj Sharma was working as an operative of Pakistani intelligence agencies, they further added and was in touch with his handlers for the past few years.

Sharma sent photos and videos of vital installations, mostly located in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir to his handlers in Pakistan in lieu of monetary gains, the sources said. He used social media to share the content, they further said, adding that Sharma has confessed to the charges during interrogation.

Sharma told investigating agencies that he shared photos of some bridges on the national highway in border areas to his handlers in Pakistan, the sources said. He received money in return in two bank accounts which reportedly belong to him.

The bank account of Sharma is being analysed for suspicious transactions and investigations are underway, they added.

An espionage racket consisting of seven Indian Navy officials and a Hawala operator was busted in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam last year, which houses the Eastern Naval Command. Intelligence agencies suspected that the accused passed information on naval operations to Pakistan.

The men accused of spying were nabbed in a joint operation by the Andhra Pradesh intelligence police and the Naval Intelligence in coordination with central intelligence agencies on Friday.

An alleged operative of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Mohammad Parvez, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 2017. Parvez had honey-trapped an army jawan in Jaipur using a fake identity and collected confidential and strategic information and passed it on to the ISI.

A senior police officer from Jaipur said Parvez was a member of a sleeper cell module in Delhi and was acting on commands of the ISI operatives.
ALTON  Two people were arrested Thursday morning following a police pursuit through Alton.

Alton Deputy Police Chief Marcos Pulido said his department received a call at 11:04 a.m. of a domestic disturbance in the 1000 block of Alton Pointe. Shortly afterwards, two suspects fled the scene in a Kia sedan that was determined to be stolen from Bellefontaine, Missouri.

Pulido said that, during the chase, the Kia crashed into a womans car near the intersection of Oakwood Avenue and Tulane Street in Alton. Pulido said the woman appeared to have suffered minor injuries, but declined medical transfer to a hospital.

Following the crash, the two suspects in the Kia fled on foot and were pursued by Alton Police. Pulido said the two were arrested near a creek; it was learned the driver was wanted on other warrants.

The names of the suspects were not available Thursday afternoon. Formal charges are expected Friday.
LOS ANGELES  While insisting that a policy that has forced 60,000 asylum seekers to wait in Mexico violates United States law, a federal appeals court on Wednesday granted the Trump administrations request to keep the Remain in Mexico restrictions in effect until March 11 for review by the Supreme Court.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its decision last week that the policy violates both United States and international law, stating that the policy is causing extreme and irreversible harm.

However, the court temporarily stayed its injunction against enforcing the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols after the government warned that the order could prompt thousands of migrants to try to enter the country and overwhelm the southwestern border.

If the Supreme Court does not grant the governments request to take up its appeal of the Ninth Circuits injunction, the appeals courts original decision will take effect on March 12, although only in the border states within its jurisdiction, California and Arizona.
While many of the Married At First Sight newlyweds have been dogged by scandal, Ivan Sarakula and Aleksandra Markovic have quietly gone from strength to strength

And during filming in October, they proved themselves the most genuine couple in the experiment by doing something the others rarely did.

They spent quality time together without any producers or camera crews around, heading out for a low-key date in Sydney like any ordinary couple.

True love! During filming in October, Married At First Sight's Ivan Sarakula and Aleks Markovic went out on a date in Sydney without any producers or camera crews around

Their spontaneous outing, which saw them take a train from Wynyard to North Sydney, wasn't part of the show or any pre-arranged activity.

According to an onlooker, they seemed 'loved-up' and 'genuine'.

As they waited on the platform together, the real estate agents chatted and playfully mimicked each other's movements.

On the right track: Their spontaneous outing, which saw them take a train from Wynyard to North Sydney, wasn't part of the show or any pre-arranged activity. Pictured on October 20

They were both dressed casually for the outing, with Ivan stepping out in black shorts, a grey T-shirt and sneakers.

He also added a preppy touch by tying a white sweatshirt around his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Aleks opted for black shorts, a zip-up hoodie and platform sneakers.

Getting away from it all: They were both dressed casually for the outing, with Ivan stepping out in black shorts and a grey T-shirt. Meanwhile, Aleks wore a zip-up hoodie and white sneakers

She styled her long brunette hair in a high ponytail, and also carried a small black handbag over one shoulder.

After meeting at the altar on MAFS, Aleks and Ivan have emerged as one of the show's most stable couples.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
MANILA, Philippines  A Guinean national, who allegedly attempted to enter the country by passing himself as a Portuguese, was barred at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente identified the foreigner as Fatoumata Tanou Diallo, 38. She was arrested on Tuesday, March 3 upon her arrival at NAIA Terminal 1 from Incheon, South Korea.

BIs Intelligence Division chief Fortunato Manahan, Jr. said the suspect assumed the identity of her sister, Ruguiato Djalo.

During inspection, our officer noticed that Diallos facial features did not match with the picture in the passport she was carrying. She also failed to present other identification cards, or any proof of her admission and departure from South Korea, Manahan said in a statement.

The BI said Diallos real identity was later revealed when she surrendered her Republique de Guinee passport.

Manahan said Diallo has been returned to her port of origin, and was included in the immigrations blacklist, banning her from re-entering the Philippines.

Djalos Portuguese passport was subsequently confiscated for eventual turnover to the Portuguese Embassy.

Morente then warned foreign nationals against attempting to deceive immigration officers.

Our officers have undergone forensic training. They are trained to detect fraud. Deceiving our officers will only get you in trouble, he said.

The post BI nabs Portuguese at NAIA appeared first on UNTV News.
TOKYO  For nearly a month, as the coronavirus has threatened the health and economy of Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been almost invisible.

Public health officials, not Mr. Abe, became the face of government ineptitude when a troubled quarantine of a cruise ship led to hundreds of infections on board and the risk of further cases on shore. Those officials have also been left to explain why the governments testing for the virus has been stuck at around 900 patients a day, even as neighboring countries test up to 10,000.

In the past week, a backlash from an angry and confused public has finally forced Mr. Abe to take more of a front-line role, but his clumsy efforts have only succeeded in deepening the biggest political crisis of his more than seven years in office  the longest tenure of any Japanese prime minister.

Mr. Abes approval ratings have plummeted to the upper 30s in some polls. Last weekend, after he held his first news conference on the crisis  a scripted affair with prearranged questions that left Japanese journalists shouting at him for answers  Twitter was flooded with over a million posts demanding his resignation. Two days before, after weeks of inaction, he had blindsided parents by asking the nations schools to close for a month, sending many scrambling to find child care.
City Hall seen from inside the Centre Square lobby at 1500 Market on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Although city residents are used to corrupt officials, we should start highlighting the good ones, writes Blair Glencorse. Read more

The list of corrupt public servants in Philadelphias recent past is a long one  from former State Sen. Vince Fumo, to former District Attorney Seth Williams, to former State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell. Misuse of campaign funds, questionable real estate deals, tax evasion, parking ticket fixes  there seems to be no facet of municipal life that has not been undermined by a deep lack of accountability.

With all of this, it is easy to be despondent about the state of our governance.

Putting bad actors in jail is critical for the rule of law, of course, but it does not create much hope, nor does it give us a sense that the future could be different. We have seen around the world that when a culture of corruption exists, one corrupt individual is simply replaced by another.

So what can we do? To make progress, we need to rethink the narrative. Over time, incentivizing good behaviors leads to much better outcomes than punishing bad behaviors. So instead of just catching people doing the wrong thing, we need to catch people doing the right thing.

One way to do this is to very publicly call out people with integrity and celebrate them like rock stars or athletes. Imagine an Oscars or an MVP Award, but for honest public servants.

Doing this has three important effects. It begins to shift norms, so others see that being honest can lead to public recognition. It creates role models, which encourages young people with integrity to enter government and work on behalf of their communities. And it begins to rebuild trust between people in power and citizens, which we need now more than ever.

So this week, Accountability Lab, the Philadelphia Citizen, WURD Radio, SEAMAAC, and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey kicked off Integrity Icon Philadelphia, the first-ever campaign to find, celebrate, and support the most honest public servants in Philly. Any one of Philadelphias nonelected 30,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees qualifies.

Anyone can nominate an Integrity Icon for the next six weeks. After, we will make short films about the top five, and ask Philadelphians to vote for their favorite ahead of a glitzy red carpet event for the winners. We will then work with the Icons to push for greater integrity within government.

There is a lot we can learn about all of this from elsewhere. Integrity Icon has seen some dramatic impact around the world. In Mali, a former winner was made minister of justice after becoming an Integrity Icon; in South Africa, a winning policeman was asked to join a national government ethics committee; and in Nepal, young people tell us they are now joining government because they have been inspired after watching the Icons on television.

This has taught us that we need to recognize good people, lift them up, and support them to do even more of what they do. Because they exist everywhere, and they can make real change.

At a time when a lack of integrity seems to be rampant, we need to lead with our values and be for something, not just against something. Isnt it time Philadelphia moved from the collective Philly shrug in the face of corruption, to a Philly plug for honest public servants?

Blair Glencorse is the executive director of Accountability Lab (@accountlab). Follow Integrity Icon Philly on Twitter and Instagram: @integrityiconph.
WASHINGTON - The surprising retirement announcement Thursday of a judge on an influential appeals court in Washington gives President Donald Trump another opportunity to make his mark on the federal judiciary.

Judge Thomas Griffith told court officials that he plans to retire in September just two months before the 2020 presidential election. The announcement clears the way for Trump to add a third judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which has been a pipeline for nominees to the Supreme Court.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the Trump administration have pushed through a record number of appeals court judges, and McConnell has signaled that the practice will continue.

"They will do whatever they can to fill it," said Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution, who tracks judicial nominations. "I suspect they will be confirming judges even after Election Day."

McConnell famously blocked President Barack Obama's 2016 Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, refusing to consider it until after that presidential election. But the Senate leader has said he would help Trump fill a vacancy on the high court in 2020 if there is an opening.

"The Leader's motto for the year is 'leave no vacancy behind,' " McConnell's spokesman Doug Andres said Thursday.

The vacancy on the D.C. Circuit means Trump will be able to shape the future of the court, which has ruled on a set of separation-of-powers cases involving access to Trump's financial and tax records, congressional subpoenas and administration policies.

Trump has named a record 51 judges to the nation's 13 circuit courts, one step below the Supreme Court. Two of his nominees already serve on the D.C. Circuit - Gregory Katsas, Trump's former deputy legal counsel, and Neomi Rao, who led the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

The White House declined to comment on how quickly it would move to nominate Griffith's successor.

Griffith, 65, was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush and is a former Senate legal counsel. His announcement surprised colleagues at the courthouse, where he has served since 2005.

Griffith's letter informing the president of his plan to leave the court, rather than take a reduced caseload, did not include a reason for his retirement. He was sitting on a three-judge panel Thursday morning and did not respond to a request for an interview.

Griffith wrote the majority opinion last week in the House lawsuit seeking to enforce a subpoena for Trump's former White House counsel Donald McGahn. Griffith sided with the Justice Department, finding that the court had no authority to intervene in a political dispute between the legislative and executive branches.

"We cannot decide this case without declaring the actions of one or the other unconstitutional, and 'occasions for constitutional confrontation . . . should be avoided whenever possible,' " Griffith wrote.

He is also considered the pivotal vote in a separate pending case from House Democrats seeking access to secret grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. That ruling could be issued at any time.

Griffith was one of the featured speakers at an event last month celebrating Garland's tenure as chief judge. Griffith spoke soon after Trump criticized the judge presiding over the trial in Washington of the president's confidant Roger Stone ahead of his sentencing.

Griffith praised Garland and alluded generally to the political pressures on the courts.

"As it turns out," he said, "the rule of law is a fragile possibility that needs protection from partisans and demagogues."
[March 05, 2020] Bourne Partners and The Emerson Group Form Daybreak Consumer Care to Build Global Consumer Healthcare Company

Bourne Partners, a healthcare-focused private equity investor and investment bank, is investing in a joint venture with The Emerson (News - Alert) Group, an international consumer products equity organization, to build a global consumer health and wellness platform focused on acquiring and commercializing branded, over the counter ("OTC") medications and personal care brands. This new venture, known as Daybreak Consumer Care ("Daybreak"), seeks to unite Bourne's market expertise, product acquisition track record, and platform capabilities with The Emerson Group's strategic relationships, substantial sector knowledge, and diverse value-added services for consumer companies. Daybreak will focus on acquiring other consumer healthcare companies and strategically-aligned brand portfolios. The combined track record and industry expertise of Bourne Partners and The Emerson Group provides a unique operating and investment platform. "We value our relationship with Bourne Partners," said Scott Emerson, President of The Emerson Group. "Bourne Partners has proven transactional experience across pharma and consumer health. Formalizing the relationship with Bourne is a reflection of our belief that the partnership can provide real solutions to consumers who need effective OTC treatments and desire high quality personal care products. We look forward to working with the Bourne team to build this company, deliver value to our retail partners and, most importantly, the end consumer." "We have known of The Emerson Group and its outstanding reputation for many years up and down the value chain. We have built a great relationship between two entrepreneurial organizations that will only continue to grow," said Bourne's Founder and CEO, Banks Bourne. "With Bourne's transacton and investing expertise, coupled with Emerson's world-class strategic brand activation capabilities, we believe Daybreak will have the opportunity to scale and execute to achieve our ambitious goals. Throughout our firm's history, we have partnered with nearly all of Big Pharma as acquirers and stewards of legacy brands. Our goal with this new joint venture is to deploy up to $500 million or more of equity into this platform over time. We are excited to bid on companies and assets across the globe in combination with our domestic, international, and global partners."



About Bourne Partners Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Bourne Partners is a financial services firm specializing in the pharma, pharma services, OTC, and consumer health sectors. The firm offers investment banking and advisory services, and through Bourne Partners Strategic Capital ("BPSC") sources and executes direct private equity investment transactions in Bourne's key focus areas. As owners and operators with over 20 years of experience, BPSC has investment, strategic, and operational experience in companies ranging from $10mn to $3bn in equity value. In some companies, BPSC was the sole equity investor. In larger platforms including Covis Pharma, Millicent Pharma and PAI, BPSC partnered with Cerberus Capital Management, The Carlyle Group and Enhanced Healthcare, respectively. BPSC employees and partners invest a substantial amount of personal capital into each transaction to ensure true alignment of interests between investors, management and other stakeholders. BPSC seeks to add value to its partner companies and fund investments by applying its network of strategic relationships (both private equity and industry relationships), advisory and consulting expertise, and operating experience to generate a positive outcome for management, employees, and investors.

About The Emerson Group The Emerson Group is a consumer products equity organization singularly focused on brands reaching maximum potential, who connects over-the-counter health and beauty brands to loyal shoppers. The Emerson Group specializes in strategic planning, category assessments, due diligence, acquisition, and feasibility studies. The Emerson Group also provides the efficient logistics infrastructure necessary to build brands, and offers data and shopper insights for making connections between brands and their target consumers. The Emerson Group leads the industry as a retail partner of choice and provides advanced analytical tools and research for proprietary insights. With over 25 years of experience, The Emerson Group is able to identify opportunities and activate plans that improve sales fundamentals and brand performance. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The Emerson Group has long-standing connections to a strong voice with major and regional retailers and is able to provide expertise, competency, and leadership in sales and support to retail partners and clients. They ensure over-the-counter health and beauty brands are given the attention they deserve. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005062/en/

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Washington, March 5 : US President Donald Trump spoke with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the phone during which the two leaders discussed the recently inked US-Taliban deal, said the White House.

The two sides discussed agreed on the need for the Taliban to continue to reduce violence for long-lasting peace in Afghanistan, Xinhua news agency reported citing the White House as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

The leaders urged the Taliban to participate in intra-Afghan negotiations with the Afghan government which is likely to take place on March 10.

Trump and the Qatari Emir also discussed bilateral and regional issues, including the need for all parties to take steps to resolve the Gulf dispute, the White House noted.

Trump's call came one day after his phone conversation with a senior Taliban leader, which he described as "very good".

The US and the Taliban inked the historic deal on February 29 which will see the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and raising hope for lasting peace in the conflict-stricken country.

However, fights resumed within days after the signing ceremony as the Taliban insurgents conducted deadly attacks in Afghanistan and the US forces there responded with a defensive airstrike on Wednesday.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

A War Crime Advocate pushing for the creation of a War and Economic Crimes Court, Emmanuel Savice, upon his release on Wednesday after he was arrested during a protest march on Tuesday at the Capital Building in Monrovia, is accusing the state security forces of torture and severe beatings.

The Capital Building in Monrovia is where Liberian lawmakers promulgate laws that affect the lives of all citizens.

According to him, he was beaten mercilessly by EPS and turned over for unknown charges.

In an earlier post on his Facebook page this is what he wrote:

Thanks to every one of you that is standing for JUSTICE. At the moment, lam still being detained at the LNP headquarters. I was beaten mercilessly by EPS and turned over for charges. I am presently at the LNP The beaten style included putting a blanket around my face to step on my side of my ears while been kick by many of the EPS Securities.

Representatives from the House, my lawyer and a UN representative is seeking my release to go to the hospital.

My wallet and my phone was taken away. A total of 1,800 stolen from me. All this for the fight for War and Economic Crimes Court."

This is what he said also after his release:

"LNP has done its investigation and see no reason to charge me as instructed by the EPS. I am now a free man continuing War and Economic Crimes Court advocacy. All this would not have been possible had it not been for your support.

Thank you all for spreading the news of my arrest, your prayers, and personal messages. My family and I are indebted to you for sending your thoughts my way. LUJA will take the fight to the Legislature and the President to establish the WCC and the ECC. God bless you all. On my way for a CT scan."

The March was organized and led by the Liberians United for Justice and Accountability (LUJA) and the Coalition for Justice (CJL), in collaboration with several other civic and human rights organizations.

The protest drew hundreds of thousands of justice and victims campaigners from across the length and breadth of Liberia to remember the more than 250, 000 innocent Liberian citizens who were murdered and senselessly killed during Liberia's back to back 14 years civil war.

According to the organizers of the March for Justice and Accountability, the principal objective of the protest march was to engage the lawmakers and push for the passage of a Bill on the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court, which is currently lingering in the House and needing two-thirds support from lawmakers for its passage.
A new group formed by Uber, community advocacy groups and others has come out against Mobility Data Specification, the popular system for opening two-way communication between mobility companies and local government. Communities Against Rider Surveillance (CARS) announced its existence Feb. 27 with a press release calling MDS a dangerous technology that makes it easy for local governments to track peoples personal movements through cities.The technology, which consists of APIs, is an effort the Los Angeles Department of Transportation began in 2018 with an eye toward emerging mobility options such as self-driving vehicles. But soon, companies such as Bird, Lime and Ubers JUMP started putting their shared electric scooters in urban areas  leading cities such as Los Angeles to look for new ways to regulate and analyze them.So LADOT, with participation from several other government entities, used MDS to start collecting data from companies and communicating rules to them: speed limits, parking restrictions, etc.The idea was to benefit cities by giving them tools to ensure safety and equity while simultaneously benefiting companies by a standard, uniform method of identifying the rules of the places they operate in. In fact, LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds toldthat some scooter companies have suggested MDS to local officials when expanding into new cities.But Uber, which has loudly resisted new regulations in recent years, sued the city in an attempt to avoid handing over its data. The city suspended Ubers permits for electric bikes and scooters.CARS, which also includes groups such as Mi Familia Vota and the LA-based community action group CDTech, is arguing that MDS could violate riders privacy.Imagine your personal movements being tracked by the government, said CARS spokesperson Keeley Christensen in the press release. Every time you visit the doctor, have a date or go to the gym, a government record would be created. Thanks to MDS, this scenario could soon become a reality.The statement cited fears that even data that doesnt include a riders name or other personally identifying information can still be matched to them. Other mobility and privacy advocates have raised that concern before  that location, patterns or other information could help reveal whose data is whose  but others have suggested possible workarounds, such as randomly shifting locations by a certain distance or aggregating numbers.Even so, many have raised the possibility that any data collected could end up in the hands of federal officials who could use it for, among other things, deportation. Or, as CARS outlined in its statement, perhaps governments could use the data to impose fines for taking the wrong route. Or perhaps businesses could identify rivals acquisition plans.The CARS website also calls for more input from citizens, greater transparency over how the data is used and for the public sector to limit how it shares the information it collects.The code for MDS is open source and available for review on GitHub.
Investigation into the cash-



for-job scam in Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) has revealed the involvement of 20 candidates who paid money to the accused officials, the state assembly was informed on Thursday.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu, while responding to a question by Congress MLA Ninong Ering, disclosed that the Special Investigation Cell (SIC) of the state police identified the accused candidates who paid money for selection in the skill test.

"Investigation is going on by the SIC and the government has constituted a two-member committee comprising principal resident commissioner of Arunachal Bhavan, New Delhi, Jitendra Narain and state PWD and Home commissioner Kaling Tayeng to thoroughly enquire and find out lapses in the exams conducted by the board," Khandu said.

The chief minister said that the committee has been asked to submit its report to the chief secretary within 21 days and the government would take action against the accused officials.

"We have learned a lesson and hopefully the new team of the Board will work to bring back its lost glory. It is very unfortunate that a scam surfaced in the APSSB which is a matter of great concern for the entire state," Khandu said.

Following allegations of malpractices, a case under was registered on February 16.

The SIC has so far arrested five persons, including APSSB under secretary Kapter Ringu and two data entry operators in connection to the case.

The APSSB has decided to cancel the examination and a new date for the examination would be notified soon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The enforcement of the EVFTA will spur on new investment from European nations, Photo Le Toan

Magdalena Krakowiak, head of Public Affairs & CSR at Polands pharmaceutical firm Adamed RO Vietnam is upbeat about the European Parliaments recent approval of the deals. In 2017, Adamed Group spent $50 million acquiring a controlling stake in Davipharm Co., Ltd., to capitalise on Vietnams fastest-growing pharmaceutical. Davipharm manufactures 300 medicinal products in most therapeutic classes.

For Adamed and the whole pharmaceutical industry, the move means that Vietnamese consumers have privileged access to European medicines. Likewise, EU drugs producers will have greater access to Vietnams fast-growing market. With the EVFTA in effect, about half of EU pharmaceutical imports will be duty free immediately, with the rest exempt from duty after seven years.

Vietnams pharmaceutical market still only meets 52 per cent of the market demand contributed mostly by generic drugs, said Krakowiak. The new FTA will bring fair and equal access to the market, enabling EU investors to further expand their business and thus allowing foreign investors to meet the strong growth of the pharmaceutical sector.

According to Krakowiak, it also aligns some standards and puts pressure on speeding up lengthy processes. For example, if the approval process of the medicine (the granting of a marketing authorisation) takes more than 24 months, there will be an extension to patent protection of up to two years.

Another very important change for the industry is regulatory data protection to pharmaceutical products for five years. The EVFTA also includes vital provisions on environmental protection and labour rights, which are fundamental for Adamed as a socially responsible company.

However, the recent vote is not the end of the process. Now smooth implementation is needed so that companies and consumers on both sides can unlock the full potential of this agreement, said Krakowiak.

In another case, Nguyen Chi Thanh, deputy general director of French garment firm Scavi JSC, said that the company is expected to gain a competitive edge from the EVFTA. Scavi is working with 20 European companies, making up two thirds of its total partners and customers. Exports to the EU currently account for over 55 per cent of the groups total revenue. Currently, Scavi has five factories in Vietnam and one in Laos.

However, Scavis export products to the EU are subject to high tariffs of 8-12 per cent, depending on each product type. Under the trade agreement, the EU will eliminate duties for some sensitive products in the textile sector over a five-year period, which will bring more benefits to manufacturers like Scavi.

Thanh added that Scavi has stepped up its game to boost export products to the EU market and compete with its rivalries there. The company is expected to gain a competitive edge with an EVFTA roadmap to reduce 20 per cent tariffs each year after the deal takes effect. The company will raise investment to improve product quality as well as create added value for partners and customers to capitalise on new opportunities arising from the trade agreement.

The EVFTA will allow Vietnam to import fabrics from South Korea. This will open up more choice and create favourable conditions for Scavi to source new materials as well as ramp up manufacturing and exports to the EU.

According to a study by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), 80 per cent of 130 European businesses surveyed believed the EVFTA will have either a significant or moderate impact on their business in the medium term. Meanwhile, over 80 per cent believed the deal will make Vietnam more competitive, while 72 per cent said it will help the country to become a hub for European business in the ASEAN region. Meanwhile, 80 per cent also said the EVFTA will improve Vietnams competitiveness compared to other countries such as China, Japan and South Korea.

According to Vietnams General Statistics Office, bilateral trade between Vietnam and the EU last year hit $56.5 billion in 2018, with $41.7 billion of that comprised of Vietnamese exports to Europe, and $14.8 billion of European exports to Vietnam. Under statistics from Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment, investors from 23 out of 27 EU member states have registered around $24 billion into more than 2,200 projects over the past 28 years.

The EVFTA will raise investment from the EU across all sectors and industries, as the gradual elimination of tariffs and barriers to trade will open up Vietnams markets and make it more attractive to investors from the EU, said the EuroChams chairman Nicolas Audier.

Of particular interest will be the countrys service sector and government procurement since, in the EVFTA, Vietnam has gone over and above the World Trade Organization baseline and opened up additional sectors for investment.
(Alliance News) - Premier Oil PLC reported on Thursday a year of significant progress, though higher charges have led to a decline in profit.

Premier's revenue climbed 13% in 2019 to USD1.58 billion, but pretax profit fell 35% to USD102.5 million due to USD757.9 million of depreciation, depletion and amortisation costs, much higher than a year before.

Production in 2019 averaged 78,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day, at the upper end of guidance. This is 2.6% lower than 2018's figure, and in 2020 Premier sees production between 70,000 barrels a day and 75,000 barrels a day.

However, this does not include any potential contribution from acquisitions in the UK North Sea. In early January, Premier announced the USD820 million purchase of the Andrew Area and Shearwater assets from BP PLC as well as an increased stake in its existing Tolmount asset.

Well over half of Premier's production in 2019 came from the UK North Sea, though it also had producing fields in Pakistan, Vietnam, and Indonesia, though Pakistani assets were sold in March 2019.

Premier reduced net debt at the end of 2019 by 15% year-on-year to USD1.99 billion, and a focus going ahead will be to keep trimming this figure. Free cash flow in 2019 was a "record" USD327 million, 30% higher than 2018.

"2019 was another year of strong operational and financial delivery by Premier with significant progress made against the company's strategic objectives," said Premier.

"Commodity prices were slightly weaker during 2019 driven by global trade tensions and ongoing concerns about the balance of supply and demand. Despite this, the group reported record free cash flows and increased net profits."

Looking ahead, the Tolmount project is on track for first gas by the end of 2020, underpinning Premier's medium-term growth plans.

Premier also noted the steep fall in the oil price so far in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, commenting: "The current volatile macro environment serves to highlight the importance of the business being sustainably free cash flow positive and ensuring that future growth can be funded through the commodity price cycle without compromising the balance sheet.

"The group's immediate priority remains to reduce its debt levels and covenant leverage ratio towards 1 times, a process which will be accelerated by the acquisition of the UK assets announced post period-end. At the same time, Premier will continue to maintain its capital discipline investing selectively in new international projects and exploration to create material value for all of its stakeholders over the longer term."

Shares were 5.2% lower on Thursday morning in London at a price of 74.96 pence each.

In a separate announcement, Premier said Elisabeth Proust will be joining as a non-executive director. She has spent 35 years at French oil major Total SA, including being managing director of Total's UK, Indonesia, and Nigeria subsidiaries.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Raising concerns over deadly Coronavirus disease, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Jayadev Galla on Thursday said that there is a need to understand the economic impact of COVID-19 on India.

"We need to understand what is going to be the economic impact of coronavirus on our country. People are expecting a global economic impact," said Galla in the Lok Sabha.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday confirmed that 29 were tested positive for Coronavirus in the country till March 4.Speaking at the Rajya Sabha, Vardhan said: "Till 4th March, there have been 29 positive cases of Coronavirus in India. I am daily reviewing the situation. A Group of Ministers is also monitoring the situation." The Union Minister also spoke on revised travel advisory issued by the government and said: "All arriving from abroad, including the United Nations officials and others exempted from visa restrictions, will also undergo airport screening."He added that self-declaration forms are mandatory for all passengers arriving from abroad.

He informed that border crossing in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal are also being monitored by specific teams.

Giving details of the evacuation of Indian citizens by Air India and Indian Air Force, he said: "The government is also monitoring matter of Indians stranded in Iran."

"More than 9,200 calls have been attended on the helpline number on Coronavirus," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two giraffes were caught in a heavyweight challenge, going neck to neck in a fight for dominance.

The two mammals were spotted swinging their heads towards each other and circling each other as if they were dancing  but it turns out they were confronting each other.

Brant Bady, 60, a retired civil servant from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, captured the footage while on a safari in Kenya and Tanzania.

The two giraffes were captured challenging each other. Brant Bady, 60, a retired civil servant filmed the video while on a safari in Kenya and Tanzania

The pair playfully swung their heads at each other and circled each other in a movement that made them appear to be dancing, but they were actually confronting each other

Footage shows the pair lightly hitting each other's bodies with their heads and walking in circles.

The two giraffes exchange about a dozen blows.

Mr Bady said: 'My guide George and I were motoring around the savannah in a land cruiser in search of photo-ops and came across these two male giraffes doing their "dance".

'The "dance" is a ritual for dominance between the males - but in this case more playful which is the norm.

'It is often practised by males who are just coming into adulthood, just before they leave the herd to strike out on their own.

'However, when the males are in rut, it can turn very serious and deadly.

Mr Bady, who captured the video, said the dance is a 'ritual for dominance between the males', but added: 'In this case more playful which is the norm'

'It took a few minutes of observation and them turning in circles for me to figure out that it was actually two males challenging each other, rather than a male and female in some kind of mating display.

'But it turns out that, for giraffes, "necking" is not a romantic behaviour at all.'

The necks of male giraffes are the strongest and most manoeuvrable weapon the animals have, with bulls usually taking it in turns to try and deliver a knockout blow which can sometimes be heard up to a kilometre away.

The beasts have been known to go toe-to-toe until one causes serious injury or even a gruesome death.
The (NGT) on Thursday directed Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to constitute special purpose vehicle within two weeks for exhaustively monitoring all issues relating to the rejuvenation of river Yamuna.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice AK Goel said that the functions of SPV entity will include ecological restoration of the flood plain zones, setting up of bio-diversity parks, artificial wetlands, phytoremediation of drains at the river mouth locations, maintaining the vigil and undertaking flow measurement, creating ecological services, removing encroachments and undertaking other activities including riverfront development.

The NGT also said that the special entity may also take steps to attract and educate the citizens and nature enthusiasts for nature-related activities, including building environmental temper amongst the citizenry, without in any manner causing any damage to the flood plains.

After observing that report of the Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) which highlights inadequate progress in compliance of orders of the Tribunal dated September 11, 2019, the bench directed all concerned authorities in Delhi, Haryana and UP to take further action expeditiously on the issues of sewage management, industrial pollutants, solid waste management and other issues, as per laid down timelines and to pay compensation wherever timelines have not been met which may be ensured by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The bench said Delhi Government may set up within two weeks from today an 'Integrated Drain Management Cell' (IDMC) under the Chief Secretary for remediation and management of all drains of Delhi.

It further directed that IDMC may prepare and execute an action plan on the subject of 'Alternate Technologies for Management of Waste Water in Drains' after appropriate techno-economic evaluation at its end in the light of reports of the CPCB referred to by the YMC.

The bench said: "A joint Committee comprising CPCB, NMCG, NEERI, IIT Roorkee and IIT Delhi may assess damage to environment, in monetary terms after the date of order of this Tribunal January 13, 2015, on account of degradation of river Yamuna, by continued inaction of the authorities in Delhi, Haryana (from Hathnikund till entry in State of UP), UP (upto Mathura), within three months from today. CPCB will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The Committee will be at liberty to take such assistance from any individual(s)/institutions as may be necessary."

It also added that once setting up of SPV for River Front Management and constitution of IDMC as a single agency for remediation and management of all the drains in Delhi takes place, it should be possible for such SPV set up by the DDA and the Chief Secretaries of Delhi, UP and Haryana to directly monitor further steps, extensively laid down in the order of this Tribunal dated September 11, 2019, and the present order, in a time-bound manner.

The bench further said that Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) may accordingly submit its final report on the status of compliance as on April 30, before the next date so that thereafter monitoring of progress of rejuvenation of river Yamuna and related issues is taken over by the SPV and the Chief Secretary, Delhi, by constituting an appropriate effective institutional mechanism directly under him for exhaustively monitoring all issues relating to rejuvenation of river Yamuna.

The bench said that it will also left open to the Chief Secretaries of UP and Haryana to have their own appropriate mechanism for monitoring. The Chief Secretaries of Delhi, UP and Haryana may place the mechanism so evolved before this Tribunal before the next date.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on May 14.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

The Deputy Central Regional Captain of NPP Loyal Ladies, Madam Eva Cofie has inaugurated the Agona East Constituency branch of NPP Loyal Ladies to intensify campaign for Victory 2020 with a call on them to respect rank and files of the party.

Inaugurating the Loyal Ladies leadership at Agona Mankrong Junction on Sunday, the Deputy Captain stressed the need for Loyal Ladies across the country to abide by the Constitution of the party and adhere to it accordingly.

"Loyal Ladies is a Wing under the bigger umbrella, the New Patriotic Party. We consist of young women who fall under the Youth Wing of the NPP, so we perform our duties in accordance with the rules and regulations of our Great Party.

Loyal Ladies are not in competition with any wing especially the Women's Wing.

As women, we pay Homage to our Women's Wing. We work hand in hand with them because we're all working towards victory 2020 for His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and the NPP Parliamentary Candidates, we are not autonomous"

Captain Eva Cofie noted that the Central Regional Chapter of Loyal Ladies was establishing branches in the all the 23 Constituencies to boost Election 2020 campaign

" We want to establish all the branches before the NPP primaries so as to take off fully with our Parliamentary Candidates in the Region.

NPP Loyal Ladies has done it before and we are going to repeat it on December 7,2020 General Elections. Four More For Nana To Do More"

The Agona West Constituency Chairman, Mr. Sam Essandoh while congratulating the Ladies called for hard work and dedication to duty.

He assured them of readiness of the constituency executives to support their programmes and activities to ensurevictory 2020

The Constituency Chairman disclosed that campaign for Election 2020 had started in the constituency noting that NPP was posed for Total victory in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections

Agona East Commander of NPP Loyal Ladies, Issabel Kwakwa said the over 300 membership was working vigorously canvassing for votes adding they have won many voters for NPP assuring the party hierarchy of massive voter turnout for President Akufo Addo and the NPP

In a related development 30 supporters of opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Mankrong Junction who call themselves 'Pataase Boys' have defected to the NPP citing the brilliant performance of H. E President Akufo Addo led NPP government as their basis for the defection.

Professor Kwesi Yankah, Minister of State In-charge of Tertiary Education who is also NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Agona East Constituency welcomed the defectors.

He commended them for taken such a bold decision to join the winning team assuring them of his maximum support.

" Am happy that you have now seen the light. You are warmly welcome to the New Patriotic Party.

I know you are joining us at your own will. Thank you for choosing NPP ahead of your NDC. We give you all the needed support to canvas for voted especially in our Moslem Communities"

The spokespersons for the defectors, Mr. Aremeyaw Mohammed and Ahmed Issa said they decided to join the NPP because of the number of policies and interventions that has been put in place to better the lives of the people

Agona East District Chief Executive, Hon. Dennis Armah Frimpong noted that the district will work with all the wings in the party to achieve the needed results.

" With Professor Kwesi Yankah as our Parliamentary Candidate, victory 2020 is assured

We are going to capture the Agona East Parliamentary Seat and win massively for President Akufo Addo as well"
San Francisco, March 5 : At a time when the world is reeling under the threat of coronavirus, Google-owned YouTube has reportedly started demonetising videos about the deadly virus and creators are not too happy about it.

"For today's video, I won't be directly commenting on the recent health related news because A, I am not a health care professional, and B, I don't need my video demonetized," said Linus Sebastian, host of Linus Tech Tips, according to a report in The Verge on Wednesday.

The popular video sharing platform has demonetised videos about sensitive subjects in the past as well.

The company's advertising guidelines state that sensitive topics -- usually a recent event with a "loss of life, typically as a result of a pre-planned malicious attack" -- are normally not suitable for advertising.

These videos are allowed to stay on the platform; they just can't make money from YouTube's built-in ad service, the report added.

According to the video-sharing platform, coronavirus outbreak is now being considered a sensitive topic.

"As such, all videos focused on this topic will be demonetized until further notice," Tom Leung, product officer at YouTube, said in a recent video.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 15:13:36|Editor: xuxin

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A staff member wearing a face mask pushes the shopping carts outside a supermarket in Los Angeles, California, the United States, March 4, 2020. California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, hours after the first death caused by the disease was reported in the U.S. state. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

LOS ANGELES, March 4 (Xinhua) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, hours after the first death caused by the disease was reported in the U.S. state.

"The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Newsom said in a statement. "This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly."

According to the Proclamation of a State Emergency issued by the authority, the state government will take measures to make additional resources available and formalize emergency actions on battle against COVID-19.

The emergency proclamation included provisions that protect consumers against price gouging, allow for healthcare workers to come from out of state to assist at health care facilities, and give healthcare facilities the flexibility to plan and adapt to accommodate incoming patients.

Newsom on Tuesday announced the release of 21 million N95 masks to address shortages caused by COVID-19. Earlier this week, the state secured the capacity to test thousands of specimens from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to expedite testing.

The proclamation also noted that personal protective equipment is "one of the most effective ways to preserve and protect" healthcare workforce and "is not necessary for use by the general population."

Wednesday's move came as the number of positive cases in California rose and following one official COVID-19 death, Newsom said at the press conference, adding it was also prompted by a cruise ship being held off the coast of California because several passengers and crew members had exhibited coronavirus symptoms.

Health officials believed the patient who passed away Wednesday morning in Placer County may have been infected sometime between Feb. 11 to Feb. 21, during international travel on the Grand Princess cruise ship that departed from San Francisco to Mexico.

The cruise ship then went on to Hawaii, with many of the same passengers who were on the Mexico trip with the Placer County patient and the same crew, Newsom said, adding that testing kits are being flown to the ship and administered with help from the CDC.

Newsom said the state is particularly focused on senior centers, nursing homes and other care facilities where people live together, in light of the outbreak in Washington state that has already killed 10 there.

California had confirmed 53 cases as of Wednesday, and more than 9,400 people are in home monitoring across 49 counties, the governor said. Experts predicted that the number of infections would increase.
Are the Welsh Conservatives really heading for 20 seats in the Assembly?

Wales Online reports that according to the latest polling figures, the Tories could be on track for what is effectively a three-way tie at the next Assembly elections in 2021.

According to analysis by Professor Roger Awan-Scully, the projections would produce the following seat totals: Labour 21; Conservative 20; Plaid Cymru 18; and the Liberal Democrats on one. He notes:

Any such outcome would, of course, be by some way Labours worst-ever Assembly election result, and the best-ever one for both the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. It would also generate a very interesting environment in which to try and form a post-election Welsh government.

For what its worth, it seems increasingly likely that such an outcome would yield at least an attempt at a working relationship between the Tories and Plaid. A deal with the Nats is the whole object of the Tories Assembly strategy, such as it is, and my sources suggest back-channels are being opened up even if Adam Price, the current Plaid leader, is deeply opposed.

Needless to say, taking a third of the seats in the Assembly would be a turn-up for the Conservatives. But amongst Welsh Tory MPs there is some scepticism about the plausibility of this outcome  and even if it does come about, it could potentially pose the Party a serious dilemma.

This is because, as I have written on previous occasions, there is a deep split in the Tories electoral coalition in Wales between those who vote for it consistently and another group, hundreds of thousands strong, which only turns out for Westminster contests. The net result is that the Party is consistently Wales second-strongest in national elections, but bumps along at the same level as Plaid in devolved ones.

Securing 20 seats suggests that Paul Davies campaign will manage to unite what we might call the British/Right vote (that turns out for Assembly contests) to an unprecedented extent, depriving challengers such as Abolish the Assembly of the space they need to establish a foothold and start trying to activate devosceptic Tories. But how will such a collection of voters react if the result is a deal with an explicitly left-wing and Welsh nationalist party?

In other news David Melding, one of the most Welsh-nationalist of all the current Assembly group and a supporter of a federal UK, is stepping down at the next election.

Meanwhile defenders of the Assembly have once again highlighted how absurd it is to accept their counsel that making concessions is the way to see off nationalism. When it comes to a movement they actually want to defeat  Abolish the Assembly  their prescriptions are straight out of the Brit Nat playbook: offer your opponents no constitutional quarter and ramp up efforts to promote cultural identity. The Prime Minister should play close attention to Professor McAllisters recommendations.

Carlaw talks immigration with Johnson

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has met the Prime Minister to discuss how the Government could make its proposed new immigration system more responsive to Scottish interests, according to the Daily Telegraph.

We noted last week that the Tories north of the border seemed to have adopted somewhat contradictory positions, with the leadership striking a belligerent tone whilst other figures, such as Adam Tomkins, took a more conciliatory line which emphasised the Governments assurances that Scottish concerns would be taken into account.

Although the current proposals likely give ministers as much flexibility as they could need to cater to specific regions or sectors, a visible adaptation of the plan in response to Carlaws lobbying would be an obvious way to demonstrate his influence over the UK party (and the utility of a strong Scottish Conservative party). Meanwhile the SNP have produced a report suggesting that freedom of movement could be retained for Scotland even after Brexit.

..as SNP make trouble over the Protocol

Meanwhile there are stirrings of fresh trouble over the Irish Protocol after the Scottish Government sought clarity over whether or not it would be responsible for implementing it. The BBC reports a Northern Irish minister claiming to have been told by a Scottish counterpart that they would not accept new checks at Scottish ports.

This comes as the EU is growing increasingly concerned about the Governments refusal to commit, even in private, to enforcing the controversial customs border inside British territory. Stephen Farry, the newly-elected Alliance MP for North Down, told a debate in London that even the most far reaching deal you can imagine wouldnt completely obviate the need for checks  meaning the only way the Government could avoid them would be to resile from the Protocol.

In other news, the Government also told Brussels that it would be prepared to deploy the Royal Navy to prevent European vessels illegally fishing British waters after Brexit.

Jewish community urge Plaid to drop candidate

The Welsh Nationalists have been urged to drop a candidate who was previously suspended from the party for making antisemitic tweets, Wales Online reports.

It says that senior members of the Jewish community want Plaid to block Sahar Al-Faifi  who enjoys the support of Leanne Wood, the ex-leader of the Nationalists  from standing for the Assembly next year.

Although she has taken antisemitism training, and Plaid are currently standing by her, her critics are concerned that she has offered, and apparently not retracted, public support for Hamas.

Baillie strikes unionist line in Scottish Labour election

One fascinating by-product of Labours various elections is the visibility of splits between more committed unionists, such as Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips, and the peddlers of devocrat orthodoxy such as Keir Starmer.

Inevitably, this has now reached the Scottish Deputy contest. Jackie Baillie, the acting leader, has launched a scathing attack on her opponents for proposing that Labour should support an SNP bid for a re-run of the 2014 independence referendum should the separatists win another Holyrood majority next year.

Labour faces a dilemma in Scotland, where it needs to try and win back voters who have defected to the Nationalists (or the Greens) without ceding its remaining vote, which as a natural consequence is much more unionist, to the Conservatives.
Ravi Zacharias asks for prayers amid 'severe pain' following back surgery

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Ravi Zacharias has asked supporters to continue praying for him after he underwent back surgery, revealing hes been experiencing severe pain amid a challenging recovery process.

In an update posted on social media, Zacharias wife, Margie, thanked those who prayed for her husband following his emergency spinal repair surgery last month. However, she revealed the healing process has been much slower than expected for the 73-year-old head of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Ravi is progressing in his healing, but at a much slower pace than he had expected based on his past experience (perhaps since he is 18 years older now than when he had his previous back surgery, the healing takes more time), she wrote.

His pain continues to be severe, especially during the night, which makes the nights very long and difficult. We are thankful that Ravi has the expertise of two pain management doctors, including his brother Ramesh, but even so it is a little bit of trial and error.

Margie asked supporters to continue praying for her husband, especially his nights, adding, This is a challenging time, and there is still a long way to go before he will be able to pick up his itinerary.

Thank you again for your love and caring for Ravi and our family. Your prayers and encouragement mean the world to us, she concluded.

Zacharias underwent back surgery on Feb. 20. In an earlier update, the apologist revealed he has a history of serious back issues and had previously undergone two surgeries, the first of which resulted in 18 good years in which he said the Lord brought him comfort and strength.

Its time for a serious repair job that will take me off the road for close to eight weeks, he shared. The surgeon has said he will have to remove two of the screws that are loose and anchor my fractured sacrum in two places to the pelvis. Thats in lay language, but I have the best of doctors and surgeons who have loved this ministry and want to see me positioned for the distance.

The speaker and author said he will be recovering until the beginning of April and said he anticipated some days of pain and struggle.

Ezekiel asks the question, Can these dead bones live? The answer is a resounding Yes as God breathes new life into them, he concluded. The Lord has never forsaken me and He is by my side. I am a blessed man. As I recover, I will pray, read, and write.

As a result of his surgery, Zacharias canceled several upcoming speaking engagements, including an appearance at the NRB 2020 Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, last week.

Abdu Murray, senior vice president with RZIM, attended NRB in Zacharias' absence. A former Muslim, Murray shared a message titled Seeing the Sun Through Fog during NRBs opening session on Feb. 25.
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at an abortion rights rally outside of the Supreme Court as the justices hear oral arguments in the June Medical Services v. Russo case in Washington on March 4, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

McConnell: Schumers Threats Against Supreme Court Justices Astonishingly Reckless

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumers (D-N.Y.) threats against two Supreme Court justices were astonishingly reckless and dangerous, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) charged on the Senate floor on Thursday.

I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions, Schumer said on March 4 in a speech to pro-abortion activists outside the Supreme Court in Washington. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh sit on the nations highest court.

After being admonished by Chief Justice John Roberts, Schumer claimed he was referring to Republican senators instead of the justices he named.

Schumer prompted a crowd of left-wing activists to boo two of the associate justices, as though Supreme Court Justices were professional athletes and Sen. Schumer were jeering from the stands, McConnell said in Washington a day after the comments were made. The Republican senator then quoted the threat his Democratic counterpart made.

There is nothing to call this except a threat and there is absolutely no question to whom it was directed, McConnell said. He literally directed the statement to the justices by name and he said, quote, if you go forward with these awful decisions, which could only apply to the court itself.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to media after the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment, at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 5, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

McConnell said the fact the rally was outside the justices workplace contributed to the seriousness of the situation.

If any American had these words shouted at them from the sidewalk outside their office they would hear those threats as personal and most likely they would hear them as threatening or inciting violence, McConnell alleged.

Schumers comments were astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible, McConnell said. He then said he agreed with Roberts, who called them dangerous. No matter the intention, words carrying the apparent threat of violence can have horrific, unintended consequences, the Republican said.

Roberts said in a statement on Wednesday: Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

Schumers Response

Schumer was not threatening the Supreme Court justices but referring to the political price that Republican senators will pay for confirming Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the court, a spokesman told The Epoch Times.

Responding on the Senate floor, Schumer said McConnell made a glaring omission in his speech. He did not mention what the rally yesterday, my speech, or the case before the court was about: a womans constitutional right to choose.

Schumer said he was fighting for womens right to choose to get an abortion.

I feel so passionately about this issue, and I feel so deeply the anger of women all across America about Senate Republicans and the court working hand-in-glove to take down Roe v. Wade, Schumer said.

Schumer said he is angry.

I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didnt come out the way I intended to. My point was that there would be political consequencespolitical consequencesfor President Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court, with the newly confirmed justices, stripped away a womens right to choose, he said.

Of course I didnt intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise.

Critical Response

The comments drew widespread criticism, including from harsh critics of Republicans.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor, called the remarks inexcusable.

Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh attend the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Feb. 5, 2019. (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

I hope the Senator, whom Ive long admired and consider a friend, apologizes and takes back his implicit threat. Its beneath him and his office, Tribe, who frequently criticizes McConnell and President Donald Trump, said in a statement.

Neal Katyal, a lawyer who has presented cases to the Supreme Court, and another frequent critic of Republican leaders, also called on Schumer to apologize. We shouldnt let Trump destroy decorum and respect across the board, he wrote on Twitter.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among the lawmakers issuing statements condemning the remarks, calling them outrageous.

Schumers angry words  have no place in our political discourse, Kay James, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, added in a statement.

Hes trying to impose his will through intimidation, but our nations leaders should never threaten others. Its time to let our Supreme Court justices do their job, she said.

McConnell on Thursday highlighted past statements from Democratic lawmakers questioning the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and trying to influence justices into voting for their preferred outcome on cases.

I would suggest my Democratic colleagues spend less time trying to threaten impartial judges and more time coming up with ideas that are actually constitutional, he said. The silver lining of Schumers statement, he said, was a reminder to people of the importance of judicial independence.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.
CAIRO  Ever since reports emerged about the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the implications of such a project on Egypts water share, there has been a parliamentary tendency supported by the state to enact laws aimed at rationalizing water consumption with the aim of confronting the water shortage plaguing the country.

The Egyptian House of Representatives is to pass legislation in the coming period in line with the states vision to rationalize water consumption and counter the effects of GERD. Chief among these is the Irrigation and Water Resources draft law, Hisham el-Hosary, a member of parliament and head of the parliamentary Agriculture and Irrigation Committee, told Al-Monitor over the phone.

He said that parliament has been discussing this bill recently and is to pass it within two weeks. The government had submitted the bill in August 2018.

Hosary explained that the draft law will optimize the use of existing water resources, develop the irrigation system, tackle the encroachments on the Nile, impose harsher penalties on violators and use groundwater more effectively.

He added that these new laws come due to the states great interest in plans to rationalize water consumption, in light of the population increase and the resulting decrease in the per capita water share. Egyptians, he said, tend to consume water for useless purposes such as spraying streets and washing cars.

According to Hosary, the new laws seek to impose heavy penalties on individuals who use water irresponsibly, in a bid to manage the current water share more effectively. He noted that the issuance of the Agriculture Law in 2018 was the first sign of the states plans to overcome water shortages, as it provided for the reduction of the cultivation of water-intensive crops, most notably bananas, rice and alfalfa.

On May 21, 2018, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued Law No. 34 of 2018, which amended the Agriculture Law No. 53 of 1966, after it was approved by the House of Representatives. These amendments give the ministers of agriculture and irrigation new powers, the most important of which is the prohibition of cultivating water-intensive crops in specific areas.

This law also stipulates that the minister of agriculture and land reclamation, in coordination with the minister of water resources and irrigation, issues decisions defining areas for the cultivation of specific agricultural crops. It also imposes a prison sentence of no more than six months in case of violation and a fine ranging between 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($192) and 20,000 pounds ($1,280) per acre.

The law obliges violators to eliminate the infringement at their own expense.

The state is in dire need of these laws, especially after the Renaissance Dam negotiations have stalled and reached a critical level. The government is launching campaigns aimed at educating citizens about the importance of rationalizing water consumption, and these laws are receiving widespread support from the state because of their importance, Hosary said.

On Feb. 26, Ethiopia announced that it would not attend the signing session of the Renaissance Dam Agreement, which was scheduled for Feb. 27-28 in Washington. Egypt signed the agreement alone and issued an official statement on March 1, in which it accused Addis Ababa of deliberately skipping the meeting to impede the course of negotiations.

Egypt is trying to avoid a major water crisis by issuing such legislation. Its share of the Nile has been reduced by 5 billion cubic meters in 2019 and is expected to further decrease with the completion of the construction of GERD, according to Hosary.

In July 2019, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Ati announced a nationwide state of emergency and said that several violations related to rice cultivation have been reported. This came in the framework of reducing this agriculture due to its heavy dependence on water.

On Feb. 6, the Fayoum Directorate of Agriculture organized a training course in the field of the rationalization of irrigation water use.

Rabih Mostafa, head of the directorate and undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, highlighted the need to rationalize the use of water in agricultural activities and noted that the ministry has developed a plan to address the challenges of water shortage and rationalize its consumption for agriculture purposes through the use of modern farming methods such as greenhouses and modern irrigation methods such as dripping and sprinkling.

Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal said on April 22, 2018, in a session dedicated to discussing the agriculture law, We must take into consideration water poverty in Egypt.

On Jan. 1, Abdel Aal discussed with Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly the ministrys plan of action to rationalize water by reducing the cultivation of rice crops and applying modern irrigation techniques in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ammar Ali Hassan, professor of political science at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor over the phone that he believes the government is fully entitled to raise awareness of the need to rationalize water consumption and impose laws that punish wasting water.

However, he also stressed the need for a decisive stance on Ethiopias construction of the dam and the fact that it chose to overlook the rights of Egyptians and the severe implications of the dam on Egypt.

Hassan added that rationalizing water and enacting laws to prevent wasting water is a good thing, but this does not justify the government's inaction as far as GERD negotiations are concerned.

Citizens should not bear the cost of the states mismanagement of the dam issue, let alone its inaction in defending the rights of Egyptians as far as water security is concerned, he concluded.
DUBLIN, March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automotive Electrical Products - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The worldwide market for Automotive Electrical Products is projected to grow by US$30.9 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 5.3%. Lighting Equipment, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 6.1%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$31.6 Billion by the year 2025, Lighting Equipment will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 4% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$1.1 Billion to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$870.2 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Lighting Equipment will reach a market size of US$1.3 Billion by the close of the analysis period.



As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 8.6% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$9.3 Billion in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.



Competitors identified in this market include, among others,

Automotive Lighting Reutlingen GmbH

BBB Industries LLC

Continental AG

Delphi Automotive PLC

Denso Corporation

East Penn Manufacturing Company Inc.

Exide Technologies Inc.

Federal-Mogul LLC

BERU

FIAMM Energy Technology SpA

GS Yuasa Corporation

Hella KGaA Hueck & Co.

Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas Inc.

Ichikoh Industries Ltd.

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Limited

Johnson Controls Inc.

Koito Manufacturing Company Ltd.

NGK Spark Plug Co. Ltd.

OSRAM GmbH

Osram Sylvania

Philips North America Corporation

Remy International Inc.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Stanley Electric Co. Ltd.

Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.

TE Connectivity Ltd.

Valeo SA

Yazaki Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/sduf6s

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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Linkedin Peter Hutchison (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States  Thu, March 5, 2020 22:05 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068a543d 2 World michael-bloomberg,Joe-Biden,US-presidential-election,US-presidential-race,politics,Democratic-party,Super-Tuesday Free

US media tycoon Michael Bloomberg quit the Democratic presidential race and endorsed frontrunner Joe Biden on Wednesday, after blowing more than half a billion dollars on a gamble that failed to inspire voters.

The billionaire had bet his White House run on Super Tuesday but failed to win any of the 14 states up for grabs on the most important day in the primary season.

A lack of charisma, limping debate performances, controversy over "stop and frisk" policies when he was New York mayor, and allegations he tried to buy the ticket were seen as having conspired to tank his candidacy before it ever got off the ground.

Inescapably, his poor showing left him facing mounting pressure to clear the way for fellow moderate Biden, who emerged as the newly-resurgent frontrunner following a string of victories Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, Bloomberg took the cue and bowed out. He later thanked his supporters and 2,000 campaign staff, fighting back tears at one point.

"I entered the race for president to defeat Donald trump, and today I am leaving the race for the same reason because staying in would make it more difficult to achieve that goal," he said.

"After yesterday's results, the delegate math had become virtually impossible, and a viable path to the nomination just no longer existed.

"Defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it, and after yesterday's vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and great American Joe Biden," he added.

Trump himself had a typically scathing appraisal of the performance by his rival New Yorker, who will now be throwing potentially bottomless funding behind Biden.

"This has been the worst, and most embarrassing, experience of his life," tweeted the president, who mercilessly attacked Bloomberg during his short-lived campaign, belittling him with the nickname "Mini Mike."

"I could have told him long ago that he didn't have what it takes, and he would have saved himself a billion dollars, the real cost," Trump said in another post.

"Now he will pour money into Sleepy Joe's campaign, hoping to save face. It won't work!"

'Boring'

Bloomberg was snubbed by voters despite one of the most expensive presidential runs in US electoral history, including an advertising blitz that dominated TV networks, news websites and social media sites.

The 78-year-old gambled on Super Tuesday after deciding to skip the first four voting states, but all he picked up was a consolation victory in American Samoa, a territory in the Pacific.

Bloomberg, who only entered the race in November, spent millions of dollars per delegate that he won.

"He bet that his immense wealth would in essence buy him the nomination and he was wrong," Baruch College professor Doug Muzzio told AFP.

His ads were still running on major television networks after his announcement that he was dropping out.

Bloomberg had pitched himself as the best centrist candidate to defeat Trump, touting his commitment to fighting climate change and gun control.

But he was forced on the defensive over accusations he had made inappropriate comments to women at his company.

Voters also punished him for poor performances on the stump and on live debates performances in Nevada and South Carolina.

When it came down to it, the billionaire candidate "did not connect with people," said Muzzio.

"Mike Bloomberg is dull, boring, technocratic and uninspiring," he summed up.

"Stop and frisk," which Bloomberg oversaw when he was New York mayor and defended until late last year, also hampered his appeal among African-Americans and Latino voters.

The policy indiscriminately targeted minorities.

"It was always going to hurt him," Columbia University professor Lincoln Mitchell told AFP.

"It dovetailed with another narrative criticism of Bloomberg: that he governed New York with the interests of the wealthy in mind, and never really understood what it might be like to be a person of color."
YEREVAN.  168 Hour daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Hraparak newspaper, citing its sources, had informed that the RF [Russian Federation] authorities have made a decision to restrict the entry of Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] presidential candidate [and incumbent FM] Masis Mayilian to Russia for five years. The newspaper had asked the RF in Armenia for clarification (). The Russian Federation Embassy in the RA, however, had refused to give a clear answer, saying: "We don't comment."

168 Hours sources, however, assure that the RF authorities have not only made a decision to restrict Masis Mayilian's entry to Russia for five years, but also insist that even if Masis Mayilian is elected Artsakh president, that ban will remain in force, and Masis Mayilian will not be able to visit the RF.

According to our sources, the reason for making such a decision is Mayilian's close Western ties, which are being expressed during this period, also with open support from the pro-Western representatives in the RA power.
10 p.m. The City of Houston announced its first presumptive positive case of COVID-19, marking five total cases identified in the Houston area.

All five cases are part of the same group that traveled to Egypt and returned in late February. The cases now include four in Harris County, and one in Fort Bend County.

In the city's case, a man between 60 to 70 years old is experiencing "mild symptoms." He is currently self-quarantined at home. In a news release, the city said there is still no evidence of community spread.

The health department is working to identify other people potentially exposed to the virus.

"The patient knew to monitor for symptoms and quickly sought medical care when he started feeling ill," said Dr. David Persse, local health authority for the Houston Health Department. "His quick action and the response of the public health system signifies that the potential for public exposure in Houston is minimal."

9:40 p.m. Harris County health officials late Thursday announced an additional presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in the county.

There are now three confirmed cases in Harris County, along with one case in Fort Bend County. The new case involves a man between 60 and 70 years old. The man is from an unincorporated area in northwest Harris County. He is hospitalized in stable condition.

Officials said the case is related to three cases previously uncovered in Harris and Fort Bend counties. Those patients had all traveled together to Egypt before they tested positive for COVID-19 upon their return, officials said.

9:20 p.m. The Ion, the entity renovating the former Midtown Sears building into a hub for Houston's new Innovation District, has canceled plans to attend the South By Southwest technology conference in Austin over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, its chief executive said Thursday.

Sharing a Houston Chronicle column calling for the cancellation of SXSW on Facebook, Ion CEO Gabriella Rowe cited the safety of her staff and startups who might visit the Ion at the conference. Rowe also said in the post that the Capital Factory, the Austin-based accelerator that recently acquired Station Houston, had also decided to pull out of SXSW.

In a statement on the Austin Startups website, CEO Josh Baer said that his company was canceling a "Capital Factory House" at the event "out of an abundance of caution."

8:50 p.m. The Houston Independent School District is suspending perfect attendance guidelines for all students this year amid the new coronavirus outbreak, according to a statement from the district.

Perfect attendance for the 2019-20 school year will be recognized through March 6, 2020, the district announced. For high school students, attendance criteria for final exam exemptions will be suspended for Spring 2020, the district said.

The district has not detected any positive cases of COVID-19 among students and staff.

"Staff and students returning from countries identified in the CDCs travel warnings should notify their campus and self-quarantine at home for a period of 14 days, returning only when symptom-free," the district said. "Absences for these students will be marked excused. Staff members who self-quarantine will need to follow normal absence-reporting procedures."

7:30 p.m. University of Houston students are being reminded about contingency plans should the campus close in an emergency.

Blackboard, the website used by UH students for their homework and grades, on Wednesday sent out an alert, "Academic Continuity in the Event of an Extended Emergency." It contained instructions on how classes would move to an online format if the campus should close.

The alert did not mention the new coronavirus.

Its the universitys responsibility to have continuity plans in place for all aspects of operations, said Mike Rosen, Associate Vice Chancellor/Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications at UH. This type of planning becomes deployable in any number of situations. No way to tell right now whether we would have to activate for COVID-19 but were in the business of preparedness.

With that, regarding COVID-19, we are closely monitoring, proactively planning, providing updates to our community and working closely with state and local agencies, he added.

6:30 p.m. Rice University officials say 14 doctoral students, faculty and staff are in self-quarantine away from the university campus because of direct contact with the employee who tested positive for COVID-19.

The employee is one of two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Harris County. A third case has been reported in Fort Bend County. All three patients traveled together to Egypt and returned in late February, Harris County health officials said. The trip was not related to the university, according to a spokesman.

The university said all of its self-quarantined students, faculty and staff have been notified of the positive test. None have reported symptoms.

Rice officials said university police learned of the case on Feb. 29 and took immediate action. The staff member has had no direct contact with undergraduate students, classrooms or residential colleges since the employees return to Houston on Feb. 20, according to a university investigation.

University officials said it has no plans to suspend campus operations or classes.

Rice University is, however, suspending all university-sponsored student travel and spring break trips to foreign countries until the CDC lifts travel restrictions related to new coronavirus. They also canceled sponsored travel for faculty to countries listed on the CDCs restricted travel list and created a travel registry that requires all students, faculty and staff who have gone outside the United States to document their international travel.

5:40 p.m. During a news conference Thursday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the three patients diagnosed with the new coronavirus in both Harris and Fort Bend counties had traveled together to Egypt.

She said one of the two Harris County residents diagnosed with the new coronavirus is an employee at Rice University. The Harris County patients, between 60 and 70 years old, are currently in local hospitals in stable condition, she said.

Dr. Umair Shah, Harris County Public Health Executive Director, said his team is thoroughly investigating who all three patients may have contacted upon their return in late February. He emphasized that the patients were exposed overseas and not Harris County.

"We are in the process of doing all the contract tracing..identifying any point in time where these three individuals went from non-symptomatic to actually having symptoms and determining who those individuals came into contact with," Shah said.

Hidalgo said it's still unclear how many people were on the trip to Egypt. Investigators have received different answers during interviews, she said.

2:50 p.m.: Local officials have confirmed two cases of the new coronavirus in Harris County.

Officials said the two cases, confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are travel-related and there is not evidence of community spread. The patients are a man and woman living in unincorporated northwest Harris County.

Harris County officials emphasized that more than 80 percent of people who have contracted COVID-19 worldwide have experienced mild to moderate symptoms and will fully recover.

People at higher risk for serious complications are the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, the county statement said.

Dr. Umair Shah, Harris County Public Health Executive Director, added that the local health authority has been preparing for a positive case in Harris County since January.

2:30 p.m.: Six sites in Texas  Houston, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Lubbock and Fort Worth  are now able to test for the new coronavirus, Gov. Greg Abbott said at an afternoon press conference.

The states lab response network will be fully online by the end of the month.

###

New students hoping to enroll in Fort Bend or Pearland ISDs will go through a screening process, in which a school nurse will ask a series of questions. New students will not be allowed to attend classes until they are cleared by the nurse and public health officials, district officials wrote.

Multiple school districts have created websites dedicated to their evolving responses to the new coronavirus.

1:20 p.m.: Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that public health officials are testing other cases and urged residents to continue taking precautions after a 70-year-old Fort Bend County man tested positive for coronavirus.

Right now, we know the origins of this one case, Hidalgo said. We have other cases we are testing. Eventually, the reality of it is one of them is going to come back positive at some point.

There have been no confirmed cases yet in Harris County, Hidalgo said.

Local authorities have a limited ability to process tests for coronavirus, said Dr. David Persse of the Houston Health Department. He asked health professionals to refrain from testing residents without a legitimate reason to believe they could have contracted the disease.

At Ocean Palace in Asiatown, city leaders gathered for a lunch meeting with Mayor Sylvester Turner and Fire Chief Sam Pena.

Pena said the man diagnosed in Fort Bend was traveling with two others when he was exposed to the virus. He said it was his understanding that the companions are self-quarantining.

City Councilwoman Tiffany Thomas, state Rep. Gene Wu, Public Safety Director George Buenik and several department heads also attended the lunch.

At the restaurant, Turner took his personal bottle of sanitizer and said he does not go anywhere without it. He shared some with Pena and Buenik before they dug into their dim sum.

1 p.m.: Pearland ISD will adjust its attendance policy after a Fort Bend County resident was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

The district will suspend perfect attendance rules for the rest of the school year and exam exemption criteria related to attendance for spring tests, Superintendent John P. Kelly said. That means if students need to be exempt from a spring exam, they can be.

Most of Pearland is in Brazoria County, with parts in Harris and Fort Bend counties. No school districts in Fort Bend or Pearland ISD have canceled classes or suspended operations.

###

The Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, a major aerospace industry conference expected to draw 1,600 attendees to The Woodlands, has been canceled, organizers announced Thursday.

Staff will reimburse 90 percent of registration costs, minus a 10 percent processing fee, due to concerns over the spread of the virus.

Petitioners are calling on South by Southwest organizers to cancel next weeks festival in Austin. So far, major tech companies including Apple, Facebook, Intel and Twitter have pulled out with days to go.

Earlier this week, CERAWeek, one of the nations largest oil and gas conferences, scrapped its 2020 conference in Houston. CERAWeek was set to draw more than 5,000 attendees from more than 80 countries.

10:15 a.m.: Fort Bend County officials are setting up a phone bank in the Rosenberg Annex to answer residents questions. County residents can call 281-633-7795 for more information.

At least one meeting was underway in the morning to discuss the new case. Staff were waiting to see if reinforcements were coming from state government offices in Austin, and epidemiologists had began contacting the patients close contacts  family and friends  to advise a 14-day self-quarantine.

The investigation is underway, said Yaneth Calderon, spokeswoman for the countys health and human services department. Theres a science to this. Theres a method to the madness.

Fort Bend residents arent panicking yet.

Morris Towns left an LA Fitness in Sugar Land, where the gym has offered hand sanitizer, wipes and cloths to stay clean.

I dont think its anytime to be fearful, Towns told the Houston Chronicle. That doesnt mean you have to be lax. You should still wash your hands. If youre sick, stay at home.

9:55 a.m.: In a show of support for Asiatown businesses that have reported declining sales and fewer patrons as coronavirus concerns spread, Mayor Sylvester Turner will take his staff to lunch Thursday afternoon.

Turner said the outing was planned before Fort Bend county officials announced the positive test.

Lets not be paralyzed by fear, the mayor said. We have to continue to move forward.

The Houston Health Department is working with regional and federal health authorities, but Houston residents should not panic, he said.

I think every day were working to be more prepared, Turner said.

8:30 a.m.: The Houston Health Department can now test up to 350 suspected coronavirus cases with a kit from the Centers for Disease Control.

The public health lab at the department will conduct testing for 17 counties in Southeast Texas. The test comes with the capability for 700 specimens, but healthcare providers may send two samples per possible case, said Porfirio Villarreal, a Houston Health Department spokesman.

We were practicing when the tests came out, and a real sample came in so we tested it, Villarreal said.

The kit evaluates nasal swabs, mouth swabs and secretions from the patients throat.

Harris County officials will hold a press conference Thursday to discuss the case and the countys testing capabilities.

8 a.m.: A 70-year-old Fort Bend County man has been diagnosed presumptive positive for COVID-19, the new coronavirus, Fort Bend County Health and Human Services confirmed Wednesday evening.

County officials said the man had recently traveled abroad, is currently hospitalized and in stable condition. They declined to say where he traveled and is being treated.

Fort Bend HHS was notified of the case at 4 p.m. Wednesday and is investigating who he may have been in close contact with since returning.

The Houston Health Department diagnosed the case and sent samples onto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for further testing.

Federal authorities are still testing nasal swabs and other specimens from a researcher at Rice University who returned to Houston on Feb. 20 and may have been exposed to a possible coronavirus case while traveling abroad.

Six University of Houston students and faculty members are self-quarantined after returning from trips to South Korea and Italy.

Read here for more coverage of the coronavirus from the Houston Chronicle.

Staff writers Todd Ackermann, Zach Despart, Taylor Goldenstein, Emily Foxhall, Julian Gill, Rebecca Hennes, Brooke Lewis, Dylan McGuinness and Shelby Webb contributed to this report.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu


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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 22:51:35|Editor: zh

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan are in close communication regarding the timing of President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

While China and Japan are making all-out efforts to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, both sides agreed that it must be ensured President Xi's visit shall come at the most opportune time with the right conditions and atmosphere to achieve a complete success, spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a daily news briefing in response to reports that the visit may not materialize this spring.

"Upon agreement, the two sides will maintain close communication regarding the timing of the visit," Zhao said.
After the Super Tuesday votes are all tallied, the Democratic Party may have just made the smartest and most strategic moveever.

Before South Carolina voted on Saturday, frontrunner Sen, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., seemed all but assured of the nomination. But former Vice President Joe Bidens Carolina firewall held and Tuesday night was a Biden clean sweep of all but the most-left leaning of states.

STOCKS SOAR AS BERNIE SANDERS SUPER TUESDAY DUD BOOSTS HEALTH CARE

Even former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was convinced by the Super Tuesday results. On Wednesday morning he decided he would rather not waste another half a billion dollars in his quest to win the nomination.

What the Democratic establishment has realized in the last week was a simple truth. Most of America is not ready to embrace Sanders platform of socialism. And whether they realized it or not, America could not afford a President Bernie Sanders.

It is often easy to get behind someone who runs a campaign focused on the little guy, the forgotten, the disadvantaged and marginalized.

The champion of such noble purposes then creates a movement, not just a campaign, centered around taking down the unfair and unequal ultra-wealthy and the bad corporations who do not pay their fair share.

Young voters hear the promises touted by this candidate of free health care as a right, free four-year college education and forgiveness of their student loan debt which has become a massive burden and they are ready to fight for the cause.

WHAT BLOOMBERG'S MASSIVE CAMPAIGN SPENDING WOULD COST THE AVERAGE AMERICAN

Like others before him, throughout history, Sanders has made his plans sound fair by explaining that the wealthy and the greedy corporations will bear the costs of this free expansion of government-provided and government-run programs.

But what are those costs, really?

During a recent interview on "60 Minutes," Sanders was specifically asked by Anderson Cooper if he knew what the total price tag was for all his proposals and he responded, No, I dont. Well, I cant  you know, I cant rattle off to you every nickel and every dime.

Story continues

THE 2020 CANDIDATE THAT WALL STREET WANTS TO WIN

Think about that for a moment. Sanders is a revolutionary candidate who proposes moving the country to a single-payer medical system, canceling the existence of private health insurance completely (something that would affect over 180 million Americans), wants to massively increase the corporate tax rate (along with his plan to increase taxes even more based on the wage differences between the corporate CEO and the lowest-paid worker), along with the nationalization of public college and universities through taxpayer-funded education  and he doesnt know the total cost of his plans?

WARREN ASSESSING PATH FORWARD AFTER SUPER TUESDAY LOSSES

Several different analyses have been performed looking at Sanders proposals and all conclude roughly the same thing: Sanders plan will cost America an additional $50 trillion in just the next 10 years alone (Yahoo Finance estimates $4.9 trillion per year, the Washington Post says $5.46 trillion per year, and the Progressive Policy Institute reports $5.3 trillion per year).

Sanders says that the wealthy and corporations will pay more to cover his programs but is there enough wealth in America to afford $50 trillion in additional spending every 10 years. No!

According to the Brookings Institute, total net worth (total assets minus total liabilities) of all Americans was just $98 trillion in 2018.

Lets look at American incomes: In 2016, the top 1 percent of Americans, about 1.4 million taxpayers, earned over a combined $10.2 trillion before taxes. They paid more taxes than the bottom 90 percent of earners combined  paying 37.3 percent of all federal taxes versus 30.5 percent paid by the bottom 90 percent of the entire country.

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In 2019, the federal government spent $4.45 trillion. Add in the cost of Sanders programs, at an additional $5 trillion per year, and you have a projected budget of $9.45 trillion, or 92.6 percent of what the top 1 percent of Americans earned.

U.S. corporate net income (after current taxes) was just over $2 trillion in 2018.

This means that, if you add the net corporate income to the incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans, you will have a total income pool of $12.25 trillion against a budget of $9.45 trillion or 77 percent of total taxable income from the evil corporations and top 1 percenters.

But, as we saw with the exodus of the wealthy out of France due to the countrys wealth tax (since canceled) and with Apples decision to move their international headquarters from Ireland to the Channel Island of Jersey to avoid the EU/Irish tax crackdown, when you tax job creators at anything approaching these levels, they will simply leave America.

Obstructive tax policies never deliver the tons of new tax revenue projected, as people and corporations always will adjust where and how they earn money.

This ultimately leads to a total government takeover of industries, resulting in an overall downward decline in the quality provided to the masses of such industries  just ask the Canadians why they come to America for medical treatment  a country just over 10 percent the size of our population.

Throughout history, overzealous tax policy/seizures on corporations and the wealthy have always led to the failure of those regimes who promised to make everything fair and equal for those left behind.

And really, it is simply a matter of common sense. When you take away a person or a businesss financial incentive to earn money they wont.

Rebecca Walser is a tax attorney, a certified financial planner, and the author of Wealth Unbroken, who specializes in the strategic planning of maximizing lifetime wealth while minimizing tax through her practice, Walser Wealth Management.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

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Schools across the country are beginning to shut down over fears of the novel coronavirus, but the Centers for Disease Control is urging administrators not to shut down school automatically.

The CDC's guidelines for schools recommend shutting down schools in consultation with health officials only when there is a confirmed case of coronavirus in the community.

At the Menlo School in Atherton, California, where tuition is $50,000, the school was closed on Wednesday through the weekend after a staff member had contact with a relative who tested positive for coronavirus.

'The School is working closely with the San Mateo County Department of Health and the CDC,' the Menlo School said in a statement.

Menlo School in Atherton, California shut down on Wednesday through Monday after a staff member had contact with a relative who tested positive for coronavirus.

California now has 53 confirmed cases and the state's first confirmed death due to coronavirus.

Meanwhile, in New York, a fast-spreading virus hot spot has prompted the closure of a public school district in upscale Westchester County.

Hastings-on-Hudson School District will shut down on Thursday and Friday after a parent of a child in the district entered a location that had been closed due to contact with a person under quarantine.

In Georgia, a home studies program in Cherokee County is temporarily closing after one of its students was diagnosed earlier this week with coronavirus.

The private school, Living Science Home Studies, is for home-schooled students.

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the private Saint Raphael Academy will remain closed another week after a faculty member tested positive for coronavirus.

Students who were in contact with the faculty member during a trip to Europe will be under self-quarantine from Wednesday until March 13, said Principal Daniel Richard in a statement to parents Wednesday.

Hastings High School in Hastings-on-Hudson will shut down on Thursday and Friday after a parent of a child in the district entered a location that had been closed due to quarantine

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the private Saint Raphael Academy will remain closed another week after a faculty member tested positive for coronavirus

However, some schools in areas with no confirmed cases of coronavirus have also shut down in spite of the CDC's guidance.

For communities that don't have a confirmed case, the CDC said schools should review and update their emergency plans, emphasize hand-washing, communicate with local health departments and review attendance policies.

In Idaho, two school districts shut down on Monday for cleaning and disinfecting, even though the state has no confirmed cases.

The precaution was taken after students from an affected county in neighboring Washington state had visited the Idaho schools for a jazz festival. A classmate of one of the visiting students from Washington tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend.

Some schools are shutting down despite health officials saying it wasn't necessary.

Bothell High School, located north of Seattle, shut down schools for cleaning for two days last week because a family member of an employee was quarantined for potentially having the virus. That person ultimately tested negative.

Following the rapid rise of community spread cases, or cases that are contracted through unknown local contacts rather that international travel, U.S. schools have had to move quickly to assess their plans in the event of an outbreak.

Nationwide, more than 130 people have so far been infected, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states. Most of the deaths have so far been in Washington state, with most of the victims residents of a nursing home.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  President Rodrigo Duterte is unlikely to make a hurried decision on the fate of Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs in the country, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Thursday.

"When the President decides on something, he has goods to back up his decision. If he has not received a comprehensive report on these illegal practices, you cannot hurry him up," he said in a press briefing.

"If there is anything wrong with the system on POGO then we have to review it, evaluate it, and then streamline it, improve it and all the agencies involved must do their jobs so any corruption, unlawful acts can be either neutralized or completely stopped," he added.

On Tuesday, Panelo said Duterte may temporarily halt POGO operations  the same way he ordered a stop to lotto games over "massive corruption."

The President's slow action on the matter is a departure from his quick order last year to declare the suspension of all gambling operations granted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

On July 26, 2019, Duterte gave law enforcers only 24 hours to remove all PCSO gambling schemes such as lotto, Peryahan ng Bayan, and small town lottery in public places. He even ordered the arrest those who will violate this order.

After five days, Duterte ordered the lifting of the suspension on lotto operations, claiming that it is less prone to corruption compared with other gaming activities.

Duterte 'never soft' on China

Meanwhile, Panelo refuted Senator Richard Gordon's claim that the President has been "too soft" on China, paving the way for money laundering activities, among other alleged POGO-related crimes in the country. He reasoned that economic benefits brought by the industry should not be ignored.

"You must remember that POGO is giving us 17 billion in the last three years. Prior to this, we are only receiving 57 million in online gambling," he said.

"The President is never soft on anything that relates to national interests. He is a very decisive President," Panelo claimed.

"If you can stop all these illegal practices, then POGO is good," he added.

On Tuesday, Gordon bared that 47 people, mostly Chinese nationals, arrived in the Philippines from September last year to last month carrying $447 million or 22.7 billion, citing information from the Bureau of Customs. He said the huge amount brought in during that six-month period could be linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators in the country.

China last week began its own crackdown on its nationals working for the Philippines, following other reported violations including the online sex trafficking scheme and the controversial airport payoff pastillas plot.

Over 27 billion worth of tax liabilities also remain uncollected from the POGO sector, the Bureau of Internal Revenue earlier said.
Bernie Sanders fans are agog and depressed at Super Tuesday results that have completely deflated the Sanders campaign and made Joe Biden a front-runner in the nominating process. That rat Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar and the big wigs at the DNC orchestrated the timing of dropouts and endorsements to maximally help Joe Bidens once moribund campaign. Then the stock market rallied, and the bastards had the gall to even tell the public it was because of Sanderss demise.

So Sanders fans are calling it a coup. Its true that upwardly mobile Dem moderates have rallied around Biden. But thats not why the Sanders campaign is on a glide path to destruction. It wasnt a coup that did them in, it was a proletarian revolution.

The argument that Sanders was electable rested on him building on top of the work he did in 2016. In the primary against Clinton, he won states such as Minnesota, getting 61 percent against Clintons 38. His strong groups were young voters of all kinds, and he was running away with non-college-educated white voters, a group that Clinton bled to Trump in the general election. In the intervening years, Sanders did lots of leg work visiting Hispanic parts of the country, particularly in California. And Hispanics started coming over to him, which was crucial for his victories in Nevada and California. He really did do better among Hispanics this time.

But, just as Clinton crushed Sanders in the South, where Black voters predominate, so too did Joe Biden. In South Carolina, Biden won churchgoers and women. He won older voters, and he did especially well among black voters, winning that group by a 44-point margin. He even won those who said the economic system needs an overhaul and among voters who favor single-payer health care, suggesting that Sanderss platform barely even registered among voters.

But the really ominous trend for Bernie Sanders is that his coalition is shrinking in the matchup against Joe Biden. Minnesota switched to a primary from a caucus system, and Biden won 38 percent to Bernies 29 percent; he also won non-college voters over Bernie 41 to 36. And crucially, he won white non-college graduates (fully 40 percent of Minnesotas electorate) 44 to 32.

Story continues

So its true that Amy Klobuchars and Pete Buttigiegs endorsements are consolidating upwardly mobile suburban voters for Biden, particularly women. But the more sobering truth is that Bernies coalition is shrinking, and the great proletariat  Americas working families  are defecting to Joe Biden. The Minnesota and Oklahoma results suggest something about where states such as Michigan will go in the rest of the race; it wont help Bernie if Biden softens him up across the Midwest.

Instead of being seen as an ideological candidate, Bernie is favored most by young college graduates who feel strained, and by voters in the Northwest, where there is a tradition of prairie socialism. The revolution of a multiracial working class that Bernie talks about swept across the country on Super Tuesday. It chose Joe Biden.

More from National Review
Explained: The mockery of justice in the Nirbhaya case

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 05: There has been an absolute mockery of justice in the Nirbhaya case, with the four convicts filings appeals one after another separately. The loophole in the law, which bars the hanging of convicts separately has been made use of in this case.

On Wednesday, the President rejected the mercy petition by Pawan Gupta and this led the Tihar jail authorities to seek a fresh death warrant against the four convicts.

On September 13 2017, the trial court sentenced the four, Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay to death. Following the confirmation of the sentence by the trial court, the four preferred an appeal in the Supreme Court, which rejected their plea on May 5 2017.

Will Nirbhaya's killers hang in the next 14 days?

Mukesh and Vinay filed their review petitions separately in 2017. After their pleas were rejected in 2018, the same year, Pawan and Akshay moved the SC seeking review. On January 7, the trial court fixed the date of execution for January 22.

Mukesh then filed a curative petition on January 9, which was rejected. He then filed a mercy petition with the President of India, which was rejected on January 17.

The law states that once a mercy plea is rejected the convict be given 14 days time. The date of the execution was then fixed for February 1. The date had to be deferred as Vinay filed a mercy petition. The trial court then set March 3 as the fresh date for execution. On March 2, Pawan filed his mercy petition, but the same was rejected.

The Delhi Prison Rules do not permit separate hangings. Further the Delhi High Court had said that since the fate of the convicts has been decided by a common order and judgment at every stage from the trial court to the Supreme Court, the death warrants have to be executed together and not separately. On March 5 the SC will hear the Union Government's plea against this order of the Supreme Court.

Explained: Why has the UN approached the Supreme Court

The question now is will the execution take place now that the legal remedies have been executed? The rejection of a mercy plea can be challenged in the form of a write petition alleging procedural irregularities. Akshay and Vinay have these options and they could take this last resort to delay the hanging.
A man was found shot to death outside a west Houston home early Thursday morning, police say.

Officers were called to an apartment in the 12600 block of Ashford Meadow Drive around 12:20 a.m. to a reported shooting. When they arrived, they found Marcus Bert, 32, lying lifeless in front of an apartment door, according to Houston Police Department Homicide Detective Kyle Heaverlo.

MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Drug-dealing barber orchestrated deadly shooting over stolen pot

What led to the gunfire is not clear, Heaverlo said.

Detectives hope to utilize the apartments surveillance cameras to help track down the killer.

Anyone with information is urged to call HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Health authorities working to track down people on the same flight as a Queensland man infected with novel coronavirus have been delayed as the federal government is yet to hand over a flight manifest.

The 26-year-old man from Logan, south of Brisbane, flew into Brisbane airport on February 26 from Iran.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Credit:AAP/Dan Peled

"He had been unwell prior to catching that flight from Iran, which means weve asked the national incident room for the manifest of the flight he was on so we can contact-trace the people who were sitting two rows in front of him, two rows behind, and to either side," Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the manifest was yet to be handed over to contact tracers.
The full court in all their divine regalia assembled in the Hall of Justice where towering walls of sacred glyphs soared to the ceiling far above, a shimmering golden sea of human dreams. Osiris presided on his golden throne. To his right sat Isis on her throne and to his left sat Horus on his. Thoth, the Scribe of the Gods, sat cross-legged a short distance away, the Book of All open on his lap. Ranged along either side of the great hall were rows of chairs, gilded in the purest gold, awaiting those destined for salvation. Since time immemorial, said Osiris, commencing the proceedings, it has been determined that the souls of humankind shall follow their bodies like a shadow through their days upon the earth, then pass beyond, across the threshold of death, bearing their deeds and intentions embossed on their naked shrouds. After great deliberation, it has been determined that this is the hour of truth and, thus, the court shall now convene for a lengthy journey. Osiris then nodded to the young Horus who announced in a sonorous boom: King Mena!

In Naguib Mahfouzs novel, Before the Throne (1983), all the rulers of Egypt, from Mina to President Anwar Al-Sadat, were summoned before the great court to recount their deeds. The novel is long, intentionally so, because it covers millennia in the relationship between Egypts rulers and their subjects and between Egypt and its neighbours. Egyptian history has brought rulers to account for 5,000 years. The Osirian faith prevailed during 3,000 years of this history, Christianity for several centuries and then Islam for the many centuries since the Arab Muslim conquest. But the court was not interested in a rulers religion but rather in the fact that he was an Egyptian who lived his whole life in Egypt and dedicated himself faithfully and courageously to protecting the Egyptian people and their welfare. The ancient Egyptian faith had the magnanimity to accept diversity in the religions that accepted monotheism and were grounded in nobility of conscience. If the verdicts passed on the pharaohs of the Old, Middle and Late Pharaonic kingdoms harked back to Osirian laws, since Muqawqis came to Egypt the judgements were based on the recommendations handed down by an imagined court of a later faith.

The court could issue three types of verdicts: the ruler could be granted immortality and join the court, he could be pronounced guilty and condemned to a hellish afterlife, or he could be sent to the tomb of the inconsequentials. Many rulers were admitted to the ranks of the immortals. Either their accounts of their glories and services to the country and its people spoke for themselves, or Isis intervened, citing the testimony of one of her children and pleading sympathy for the ordeal the ruler endured in his struggle to do what was right. Naturally, she had no mercy for those who rebelled and betrayed her trust. After Sadat is admitted to the immortals in Before the Throne, Isis addresses them: Let each of you pray to his god to bestow on Egypt the wisdom and strength to remain an eternal beacon of guidance and beauty, after which all allowed to remain in the great hall bowed their heads in prayer.

The novel bears all the hallmarks of Naguib Mahfouzs art. But were not here to discuss the craft of this Nobel laureate or literature in general, but rather the political element in this work and, specifically, politicians in power. Its subject is the Egyptian state from antiquity to modern times. At the moment of the trial of Sadat, it brings all Egyptian leaders into the court, whether known for their might, their justice or their advocacy of integrity. Naturally, Mina, Tutankhamen and Ramses II are present. So too are Saad Zaghloul and Mustafa Al-Nahhas. Gamal Abdel-Nasser defends his place among the immortals and expresses his dismay at what came after him. This is not the only Mahfouz novel that draws comparisons between Egypts rulers. In Qushtumur (The Coffeehouse), coffeehouse denizens have their say and Akhenaten, Dweller in the Truth speaks of relations between power and the people, a subject that is given a different treatment in Children of Gebalawi and Harafish where power turns more concrete or metaphysical.

Mohamed Hosni Mubarak had been in power for some time when Before the Throne appeared in bookstores. He would leave power three decades later, in 2011. Those 30 years placed him alongside Ramses II and Mohamed Ali in terms of longevity as head-of-state, but he is the only Egyptian leader to endure nine years of actual trials after leaving power.

Mubarak had many honourable virtues, not least the military ones. He was a model Egyptian soldier: courageous, capable, patriotic, self-sacrificing. He served in active combat, as a pilot in 1956, 1967 and 1968-1970, and as an air force commander in the October 1973 War. After that, Sadat chose him from among all other military commanders to serve as his vice president, during which period he trained in diplomacy, politics and political sagacity. While Mubarak, after coming to power, remained committed to implementing the peace agreements with Israel, he refused to give the Israelis room for evasion. When Taba came under contention, he did not hesitate to fight the complex and critical arbitration battle to the end. He won. Not a single centimetre of Egyptian territory remained under occupation. But Mubarak did not eliminate war as a political option. His courageous decision to participate in the war to liberate Kuwait reflected a transformation in Egyptian relations with the Gulf states. Not only had Egypt proven itself a reliable partner in war, it had acquired the diplomatic clout to serve as a mediator in the Khufous crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This was consistent with an important tenet in Egyptian strategy: Egyptian-Gulf relations needed to be strong in the face of regional and international challenges.

As Mubarak stands before the throne he will also be able to offer abundant evidence of infrastructural development in a country in which infrastructure had deteriorated to the point of near collapse during the two decades since the June 1967, when development ground to a halt. Most likely, he will also explain his economic policies which, after a period of wavering, settled on the need for economic structural reform, which included shifting the geo-economic keel outward from the eternal Nile through the deserts to the shores of the Red Sea and Mediterranean.

Naturally, he had his flaws. He hesitated too long before resolving on reform and, when he did, he was perhaps too cautious, which left many gaps in the economy. These were exploited by money management firms and the Muslim Brotherhood who ran them as they leveraged themselves back into politics behind the facade of the Wafd Party or the Labour Party. All this created a brew in which terrorism could and did rear its head. However, Mubarak ultimately prevailed in the round of the 1990s, making it possible to set Egypt on course to serious reform. The revolution came anyway, and now historians will have their say. But there is no doubt that Mubarak was true to his word, an Egyptian to the core, and a patriot devoted to serving his nation and its people. May he rest in peace.

The writer is chairman of the board, CEO and director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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GREENWICH, Conn., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Prostar Capital ("Prostar") announced today that its newly acquired GTI Statia ("GTIS") storage terminal will invest up to $100 million to expand and upgrade operating capacity to meet demand from new and existing customers.

GTIS is one of the largest independent crude and refined product storage terminals serving the US Gulf Coast, Latin American and Caribbean markets. Since Prostar acquired the asset in July 2019 from NuStar Energy LP, its focus has been on ensuring the continuation of high-quality service to customers, which include some of the world's largest oil producers and traders. Prostar has put in place an industry-leading senior team, including Walter Wattenbergh, previously CEO of LBC Tank Terminals, as Chairman of GTIS, and John Roller, previously of NuStar, as President and CEO.

Prostr's focus is now on executing its capital investment plan for the terminal, driven by demand from new customers to capitalize on emerging regional and global trends in the oil market. The plan involves the investment of up to $100m over the next two years on tank upgrades, jetty and marine infrastructure improvements allowing GTIS to continue to operate at the highest safety standards and provide superior service to its customers. The upgrades will further GTIS's role as a major provider of make- and break-bulk services to customers looking to move crude oil by VLCC in and out of the US Gulf Coast as well as to end markets in the Asia-Pacific. The improvements will also allow GTIS to continue to provide bunkering services to cruise and cargo customers throughout the Caribbean. The capital investment plan aims to improve infrastructure flexibility, a critical factor for storage operators in enabling the transition to low-sulfur marine fuel dictated by new IMO 2020 regulations.

"Now that our senior leadership team is established, we are very pleased to commence our capital investment plan for GTI Statia," said Steve Bickerton, Senior Managing Director of Prostar Capital. "These improvements are a critical component of our investment rationale and will allow us to modernize the terminal while continuing to provide outstanding customer service and deliver attractive returns for our investors."

"We're proud to be supporting the local Statia team with the investment of new capital into a business that is critical to the local and regional economy," added Steve Bickerton, Senior Managing Director at Prostar.

"Our plan allows the facility to focus on being a leading terminal operator and will leverage our strategic vision to enhance the service, quality and value of the business" said John Roller, President and CEO of GTI Statia. "We are committed to the long-term success of the facility and are excited to be embarking on this next phase of development in partnership with Prostar."

Prostar, a private investment firm focused on midstream energy infrastructure assets, acquired GTI Statia because of its many key strategic advantages, including its location at the crossroads of the global and regional oil trade, long-term customer relationships with major global oil traders, a strong local operations team, and a highly flexible infrastructure that allows for capacity expansion to meet expected growth opportunities.

About GTI Statia

GTI Statia ("GTIS") is one of the largest independent crude and refined product storage terminals serving the US Gulf Coast and Caribbean markets comprised of 60 commercial tanks with a total storage capacity of 14 million barrels (2.3 million m3) and extensive marine infrastructure that can accommodate berthing fully-laden ULCC and VLCC vessels. The Terminal is strategically located at the crossroads of global and regional trading routes well-positioned to serve expected increased U.S. import and export volumes. GTIS is one of three storage terminals in Prostar's Global Terminal Investments Ltd. ("GTI") platform, the largest dedicated private investment firm-backed storage platform globally with more than 24 million barrels (3.7 million m3) of underlying storage capacity.

About Prostar Capital

Prostar Capital is a private investment firm established in 2012 to invest in global midstream energy infrastructure assets that it believes are strategically positioned to serve growing global energy demand. The firm invests in assets that are focused on the gathering, processing, storage, transmission and distribution of energy. Prostar's management team is comprised of experienced professionals with decades of real asset investment and operational expertise. Prostar operates from offices in Greenwich (CT), Sydney, and Hong Kong. For more information, visit Prostar's website at www.prostarcapital.com.

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Anna Hakobyan, wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia, attended a concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Armenian-American diplomatic relations at Washington National Cathedral, as reported Anna Hakobyans Spokesperson Hasmik Harutyunyan.

On March 4, an unprecedented multimedia-concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Armenian-American diplomatic relations was held on the sidelines of the Armenian Odyssey: Color of Pomegranate Festival and organized by the Embassy of Armenia to the United States of America, in partnership with PostClassical Ensemble.

According to Harutyunyan, among the attendees of the concert, the guest of honor of which was wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia Anna Hakobyan, were US Congressmen, top government officials, ambassadors accredited to Washington DC, leaders of church dioceses, benefactors, as well as members of Armenian American organizations, political parties and the Armenian community.

The concert began with a performance of the song Dle Yaman by proclaimed dudukist Jivan Gasparyan.

In his speech, Ambassador of Armenia to the United States of America Varuzhan Nersisyan particularly emphasized the selection of the venue for the event and recalled that US President Woodrow Wilson is buried there. The Ambassador stated that Woodrow Wilsons humanitarian activities pave the way for recognition of the Armenian Genocide a century after the genocide and expressed gratitude to the attending Congressmen and their colleagues who voted in favor of the resolutions for Armenian Genocide recognition.

Talking about the velvet, non-violent revolution that took place in Armenia, Ambassador Nersisyan stated that Armenias democratic advancement served as a new impetus for the deepening and strengthening of Armenian-American relations.

Afterwards, Nersisyan gave the floor to US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce, who touched upon Armenian-American diplomatic relations, stated that culture plays a special role in this context and attached importance to the current level of cooperation in education and science.

During the concert, PostClassical Ensemble was accompanied by famous cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan and dudukist Jivan Gasparyan Junior. The music was accompanied by Kevork Mourads multimedia illustration devoted to Sayat-Nova, and the composer of the music composed especially for this concert is famous composer Vache Sharafyan.
Phillipsburg Mall is under contract to be sold to a developer who wants to demolish it and construct an 852,000-square-foot warehouse.

Lopatcong Township Council got its first look Wednesday night at the proposal for the 72-acre property that extends into Pohatcong Township.

The developer, St. Louis, Missouri-based CRG Integrated Real Estate Solutions, heard concerns from council members about yet another warehouse adding more trucks to the region's roads.

Council took no action on the proposal, which would need zoning relief before it can be approved, officials said.

Councilman Joseph Pryor recited the list of warehouses being built nearby, including Bridge Development Partners' 975,761-square-foot warehouse also fronting on Route 22 that is part of a proposed six-warehouse complex totaling 3.85 million square feet on former Ingersoll Rand property Lopatcong shares with Phillipsburg. Another 511,000-square-foot warehouse has been approved but not yet built, and officials have a request for sewer capacity to serve a 592,000-square-foot warehouse, Pryor said.

"All of which are ahead of you in the development process," Pryor told CRG and its representatives. "The existing traffic is going to have three more warehouses on it before you even break ground and that's a concern."

Add in truck traffic coming through Lopatcong to Interstate 78 from Jaindl Land Co.'s proposed warehouse development on 585 acres in White Township and Lopatcong Councilman Lou Belcaro said he sees a "big concern."

"We've been trying to maintain diversity and a balance of development," Pryor said, pointing to the township's master plan. "I have a concern as a councilman about being a town of 3,000 units surrounded by a bunch of warehouses."

CRG Senior Vice President and partner Frank Petkunas declined to speak to reporters following Wednesday night's warehouse plan presentation.

The developer's traffic engineer said the mall redevelopment would add 17 tractor-trailers during the morning peak traffic hour and nine tractor-trailers during the evening peak hour, and noted that most tractor-trailer drivers try to avoid peak hours. Overall traffic is projected to increase by 60 trips during the morning peak hour on weekdays through Saturday while decreasing by 250 trips during the evening peak hour on weekdays and by 1,600 trips during Saturday peak travel, according to the traffic engineer. Plans call for retaining the mall's ring road that provides access throughout the property.

Mayor Jim Mengucci said in his experience, he's never known what to expect from traffic projections until a development is up and running.

"You're going to have a lot of trucks dumping out on that area within a mile," he said of CRG's proposal paired with the Ingersoll Rand redevelopment.

"I'm just, at least personally, I'm not liking it," Mengucci said, noting the renderings presented look "very nice."

I just, I dont know, I just have some doubts with the zoning and everything else, he continued. I have some concerns.

The future of the mall as a retail destination has long been in doubt, following the closure and demolition of the Sears and Bon-Ton anchor stores. Smaller retailers were asked in December to begin terminating their leases and leave within 30 days, and all have left except for five set to close between last month and April.

CRG's proposal would retain about 100,000 square feet of retail in the existing Kohl's and restaurants along Route 22, all of which are on properties that have been divided off from the mall itself, according to Wednesday's presentation. The property breaks down into 33 acres in Lopatcong and 39 acres in Pohatcong.

CRG has developed about 187 million square feet of projects worth $11 billion, Petkunas said. Locally, the company is building a 450,000-square-foot warehouse outside Bath.

Its clients include consumer goods companies like Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy and Williams Sonoma, though no tenants have been announced for the proposed mall redevelopment, according to the presentation.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
CALGARY  Its been a rough few days for North Americas busiest supervised drug-use site.

Auditors came knocking with questions about the one-storey brick building in Lethbridge, Alta., this week, asking about what the a provincial associate minister described as disturbing allegations of financial irregularities.

Then, on Thursday, the Alberta government revealed that a long-awaited report has found that supervised consumption sites are having a negative impact on their communities.

Its a finding critics fear will be used as justification to move or shutter such facilities, which have been the subject of fierce public and political debate in this province for months.

Im deeply troubled by some of the findings of the report, Albertas associate minister of mental health and addictions, Jason Luan, told reporters at a news conference in Calgary.

What we see is a system of chaos.

The Lethbridge site, which opened in March 2018, is run by the non-profit group ARCHES. It has said it averages 663 visits a day  more than the busiest such sites in Toronto or Vancouver.

The operation has been Ground Zero in the debate over harm reduction and drug-consumption sites in Alberta, a fight that has been put into stark relief since Jason Kenneys United Conservatives took power last year. Kenney has publicly linked supervised consumption sites to increases in crime and social disorder.

The province tasked an eight-person panel last year with assessing the impact that drug-consumption sites were having on the communities they are in and the businesses they are near. That mandate was widely criticized for its narrow scope, though the government has countered that it is already aware of the benefits of harm reduction.

On Thursday, the government released the panels report.

It found that since the sites opened that theres been a negative impact overall, said Geri Bemister-Williams, who co-chaired the panel.

The committee heard from 19,000 Albertans that social disorder was up, needle debris was an issue, businesses were negatively impacted, and safety around the sites was a concern. Other issues raised included data recording, lack of consultation, lack of referrals to addictions treatment, and homelessness.

Bemister-Williams said debris  needles, garbage and feces  were front and centre in complaints about the supervised consumption sites.

There wasnt a day when we were doing our tour that we didnt hear the word feces and garbage and debris.

The report also says that while no deaths have occurred inside the sites, that deaths in the surrounding areas are up. They couldnt conclude whether the people dying were users of the sites.

Except for Edmonton, stakeholder feedback predominantly suggested that the SCS have had a negative social and economic impact on the community, the report states.

The government says it will study the newly released report before announcing its next steps.

The panellists found issues with the recording and reporting of information by the operators of supervised consumption sites, such as differing definitions of what constitutes an opioid overdose reversal.

Bemister-Williams said the committee found it was rare that medical intervention cases resulted in naloxone or calls to EMS. She said adverse events were often reported as overdoses, and the term reversal was often used for a simple administration of oxygen.

This leaves the public with an inference that without these sites, thousands of people could fatally overdose or no longer be alive, she said.

The panel submitted its report to the government in December. Committee members included Edmontons former police chief, Rod Knecht, as well as experts in addiction, mental health and economics.

Stacey Bourque, the executive director of the ARCHES, has previously told the Star about facing deep divisions in her community over the sites work.

On Thursday, she would not comment on the audit but said her organization is complying.

Bourque did, however, take issue with the questioning of her sites work.

She said that of the more than 3,300 medical interventions staff have performed at the Lethbridge site in two years, more than 3,000 were overdoses.

In some cases, just oxygen is enough to reverse the overdose without naloxone, she said, while in more severe cases naloxone and emergency responders are necessary.

Bourque said individual sites may have different reporting processes or definitions, but that doesnt mean they are reporting incorrect data.

Were not just throwing oxygen on people for no reason, she said.

Supervised drug sites have been studied in the past and are known for reversing overdoses and saving lives.

An August report from the Alberta Community Council on HIV said the sites reversed more than 4,000 overdoses since they opened in Alberta, according to data provided by the sites themselves.

Heather Sweet, Albertas Opposition critic for Mental Health and Addictions, agreed that a better system for data recording could be developed, but balked at the suggestion that administering oxygen wasnt reversing an overdose.

If someone is given oxygen after they have consumed a substance, it is saving their lives, she said. They have stopped breathing, which means they need support.

Sweet, employed as a social worker before getting elected, urged the minister not to shut down any of the sites.

If he shuts these sites down, people are going to go to the streets and theyre gonna die, she said.

The report also found that methamphetamine use has gone up significantly since the sites opened. Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer said that means the sites arent addressing what they were opened for, which is the opioid crisis.

Bourque said she rejects the idea that supervised consumption sites cause drug use.

She said about 40 per cent of the drug use at the Lethbridge site is methamphetamine, and more than half is opioids. But many clients use both, she said, and those who use meth still need clean needles. And, fentanyl is being cut more and more into meth, she said  people dont know what theyre buying.

For Karen Lamola, the findings of the report were familiar.

Lamola is the director of social affairs for the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association in Calgary. She said her organization has been told that since the opening of the Calgary site there has been more needle debris, more crime and more disorder.

Before the site opened, Lamola said her association was in support of the site. But after it opened, she said, citizens noticed a concentration of these issues. She said she thinks that if more supervised consumption sites opened across the city  like the model in Edmonton, which has multiple sites  that could help mitigate citizens concerns while also continuing to address the opioid crisis.

In an emailed statement, the Edmonton police said that based on their observations and data, Edmontons supervised consumption sites have not increased crime or disorder in the surrounding community.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, meanwhile, tweeted Thursday in support of adding more supervised consumption sites.

Outside the building in downtown Calgary on Thursday where the reports findings were announced, local physician Bonnie Larson and University of Calgary researcher Rebecca Saah held signs in favour of the sites.

Larson said the majority of her patients struggle with addiction, many to opioids, and she believes supervised consumption sites are essential to keeping her patients alive.

However, she said she doesnt have much hope for the sites under the UCP government.

I think the writing was on the wall from the very beginning, she said.

This government has never been supportive of harm reduction ... including supervised consumption services.

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The Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department Doesn't Have Coronavirus Tests - Or Know When It Will Dr. Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City Health Department, says his office currently has no kits to test for possible cases of the new coronavirus. That's despite an announcement Tuesday evening from Vice President Mike Pence, who said "any American can be tested" for the virus.

Time For Leadership Arrives

Doctor calls for "leadership" amid coronavirus crisis California health officials are rushing coronavirus testing kits to a cruise ship docked off-shore. A passenger who had disembarked within two weeks prior died on Wednesday, becoming the state's first coronavirus-linked fatality. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to try and rush federal and state efforts to contain the virus.

Around The World

India identifies 29 coronavirus cases as global infections top 94,000 A spike in novel coronavirus in India has prompted concerns that the world's second-most populous country could face its own outbreak of the deadly virus, which to date has infected more than 94,900 people and killed at least 3,283 worldwide.

CALI STATE OF EMERGENCY!!!

California Declares State Of Emergency After 1st Coronavirus Death In The State Topline: California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after the state reported its first coronavirus death, making it the third state to declare an emergency in response to the disease. The first patient who died was an elderly adult with underlying health conditions in Placer County, which is north of Sacramento.

Hope For COVID-19 Fight

Amid growing coronavirus cases, another number increasing: recoveries It only took a few days for the Wisconsin patient to get over the fever and a cough - and feel well enough to get out of bed and back to normal life: shop for groceries, hang out in a coffee shop, maybe see a new movie.

Prez Trump Disputes Numbers

Trump disputes WHO's 3.4 percent global death rate for coronavirus President Trump Donald John Trump As Biden surges, GOP Ukraine probe moves to the forefront Republicans, rooting for Sanders, see Biden wins as setback Trump says Biden Ukraine dealings will be a 'major' campaign issue MORE on Wednesday disputed the death rate of the coronavirus as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), calling the 3.4 percent figure "really a false number."

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the U.S., it's clear that local officials aren't really serious about getting Kansas City ready for an urgent threat that has already killed thousands of people across the globe.Fact: Viruses don't care about silly election 2020 politics, American culture war distractions or even that precious "momentum" which distorts nearly every conversation regarding Kansas City's future.Seriously, whilst TKC haters claim we're "fear mongering" it's important to prepare and merely suggest that locals need to at least consider the possibility that upcoming B-Ball games and gatherings might have to suffer as the rate of infection in the U.S. continues to rise. Sadly, all that we've seen from "many" sides of this health crisis is that the danger to the public has been politicized and innocent people asImportant local example revealing that KCMO is behind the curve when it comes to developing a plan . . .More context from better news sources acorss the nation and around the globe . . .Developing . . .
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A man, not the Bay Area resident we spoke to, is seen wearing a mask in Shanghai, China, on March 4.

HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images

A Bay Area resident visited Kunming in China's Yunnan province 979 miles southwest of Wuhan, where COVID-19 originated, on January 25 in the midst of the coronavirus disease outbreak.

Despite it being Chinese New Year, he said the streets were completely empty and the effects of the virus seemed to worsen each day, with businesses closing and stores running out of stock.

He was never tested for the virus nor exhibited symptoms, but he took the CDC's advice and became one of the thousands to self-quarantine with his wife and son for 14 days in his Cupertino home after returning on February 2.

Seeing how differently the Chinese and US governments each handled the virus convinced him that he feels safer in China than he does on American soil.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It was a strange sight in Kunming, China, for Chinese New Year.

The 40-day event celebrates the beginning of the new year in the traditional Chinese calendar. Also known as the Lunar New Year Spring Festival, 3 billion trips are made throughout China during the holiday and many in the country typically are off work. It's a time to spend with family and is a cause for celebration.

But for a 36-year-old UX designer from Cupertino  who requested to stay anonymous but whose identity was verified by Business Insider  who visited China from January 25 to February 2, it was a ghost town. The streets were empty, and many opted to stay indoors, the man told Business Insider over the phone.

The US citizen and Bay Area resident of 20 years, along with five relatives including his wife, also hunkered down in a relative's home throughout their visit as COVID-19 gripped the country and would later spread across the globe.

COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus, started in Wuhan in China's Hubei province 979 miles northeast of Kunming and began to spread across China and into other parts of the world. The virus has now infected 94,000 people and has killed more than 3,200, with most cases in China. The US has reported at least 130 cases, at least 80 countries beyond China have confirmed cases of the virus, and travel restrictions have been put in place in an attempt to contain the disease.

Story continues

The Bay Area resident that Business Insider spoke to returned to the US on February 2, the same day that a new restriction was put into place advising all returning US citizens from mainland China to undergo a two-week self-quarantine. The resident said he may have been on the first flight whose passengers were told to do so. He would become one of the initial 5,400 Californians asked by officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days, the presumed maximum incubation period. If he had returned from China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, the quarantine would have been federally mandated.

There are now more than 8,000 Californians that were asked to self-quarantine in an attempt to monitor their health status and potentially contain the disease. The concept of voluntary self-quarantining  also known as self-isolating  is also being put into practice by others across the country and the world out of precaution, whether the subject is exhibiting symptoms or not. For example, a Brooklyn man who had returned from Japan with symptoms but was denied a CDC test for the virus quarantined himself in his one-bedroom apartment for 14 days, as Business Insider's Morgan McFall-Johnsen reported. Subjects remain indoors with limited ventures into the public, stock up on food, and work from home if they are able to.

The Bay Area resident completed his self-quarantine on February 17, but the virus still heavily concerns him, as does his experience in China. While he was there, he said things seemed to get worse every day as the virus took hold of the country and stoked fear in the public.

"I was almost afraid I couldn't come back," he said.

A 'surreal' Chinese New Year

chinese new year

Xinhua/Liu Xiaochuan via Getty Images

In his passport, a photo of which he shared with Business Insider, stamps indicate the Bay Area resident's entry into China on January 25 and his exit on February 2.

He flew out of San Francisco International Airport on January 23 with his wife and son. At the time, the panic surrounding the coronavirus had not yet taken hold in the US. As of January 20, there were 217 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease and three confirmed deaths, all in China.

In China, he said precautions were already being taken. He flew Cathay Pacific Airways, a Chinese carrier, and flight attendants donned masks.

Instead of a direct flight to Hong Kong as was previously scheduled, the plane was diverted to Hosaka, Japan, so that crew members could disembark. But while stopped there, Japanese officials boarded the plane and took every passenger's temperature before continuing on to Hong Kong, according to the man.

Once in Hong Kong, he missed his connecting flight and had to stay in the city for a day, and also went through immigration which took more time.

At the airport in Hong Kong, he said locals were wearing masks. Just a couple of days earlier, news had begun circulating about the virus that had originated in Wuhan, and he said Chinese residents remember what it was like experiencing the SARS outbreak in 2003.

He eventually landed in Kunming, China, in the Yunnan province, which sits about 979 miles southwest of Wuhan. And he said it was immediately clear that it wasn't the usual atmosphere for a Chinese New Year.

"You could already tell that it was not the usual," he said.

He said it was "a surreal experience." Businesses were shutting down, lots of people wouldn't go out, and hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, and face masks were out of stock in some stores. Throughout his visit in Kunming, he said things seemed to get worse every single day.

"Whatever you see on those videos, it was exactly like that," he said of video clips depicting cleared-out streets in China.

He said a Walmart and a Carrefour were open, as well as some corner stores.

He and his family remained inside a relative's home the entire visit.

He told Business Insider that he traveled to China to celebrate the Chinese New Year but also to visit a sick relative with late-stage cancer.

The relative was taken to the hospital during his visit. But the virus required the full attention of medical staff, who the man said didn't have the bandwidth to treat her.

They returned home with the sick relative, and she died shortly after.

The Bay Area resident said the people who arrived to transport the body to the morgue wore hazmat suits in light of the spreading virus. There was also a government-mandated cremation order in place for families to see to within 12 hours of a loved one's death, which he said he and his family followed.

He said around that time was when the Chinese equivalent of the Homeowners Association, or HOA, started posting information about the ongoings inside the community that he was visiting, including who was opting to self-quarantine.

And then things started getting worse towards the end of his trip.

There were checkpoints at every highway exit, and the streets were completely empty.

coronavirus airport Hong Kong

AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

According to a February 7 Business Insider report, the virus had infected more than 31,000 in China and had killed more than 630 people by then.

The man said he flew Cathay Pacific directly from Hong Kong to SFO on February 2. When he was checking in for his flight, the plane status said it would be at full capacity. But when he boarded, the plane was half-empty.

At the airport in Kunming, he said there were large infrared portals checking people's temperatures. He and his fellow passengers received full-body checks.

But he said it was when he arrived back to the US at SFO  and he saw how the virus was being addressed  that "the alarm bells" sounded.

"They literally had no idea what they were doing," he said. One airport official even admitted that since things had escalated so quickly, they were in disarray.

Passengers deboarded the plane, he said, and no one was recording temperatures. One of the symptoms of the disease is a fever, though cases have also been found to be asymptomatic. He also said no one was wearing masks.

It took him hours to go through the immigration process, the temperature-taking, and the paperwork. The man said the paperwork that the CDC gave him was handwritten and then photocopied.

Since he nor his family members exhibited any symptoms or felt sick, they were not tested for the coronavirus disease. Those that had returned from China were taken from the immigration gate to a designated area to have their temperature taken.

"That's when the CDC got involved," he said.

Officials asked returnees for some personal information and then gave them info cards about how to self-quarantine for 14 days.

If the resident Business Insider spoke to had returned from China's Hubei province, he would have been given a government-mandated quarantine. But what he was given instead was a verbal recommendation to stay home and avoid going in public for 14 days. CDC officials also told him, should he visit a primary care doctor, to give them the info card.

Then they had to wait in "the little black room" in the airport typically used for passengers with visa problems. Everyone that came from China was held there for a period of time, he said.

The Bay Area resident said immigration officials didn't wear any sort of protection, like masks, and they were impatient with people, telling them to stop asking questions when they inquired about the status of their wait time.

"It was really not a good experience at that point," he said.

After four hours, he made his way with his wife and son to his two-bedroom home in Cupertino. He returned to the US right when health officials began asking returning US citizens to self-quarantine for 14 days. The action went into effect on February 2 at 2 pm PT  his flight landed at 3 pm.

"If I had landed two hours earlier, I wouldn't have had to self-quarantine," he said.

'I don't think this quarantine was effective at all'

The first step was to stock up on supplies.

He said he bought food, water, and only some vegetables since they wouldn't last. He had his dad deliver fresh vegetables and fruit one day during his quarantine.

There was plenty of living space in his family's two-bedroom house for him, his wife, and his son. He, a UX designer for a mid-size company in the Valley, worked remotely out of his home, something he said his company was very understanding about.

His son's school, however, needed some convincing to excuse his absences. The man wished to keep his son at home for the 14-day quarantine as well. But he said when he called the school, they told him his absences wouldn't be excused and his son should attend, despite his visit to China.

The family returned to the Bay Area on a Sunday, and the following day his son went to school. It was only after his son spoke to classmates about his trip abroad that worried parents started asking questions regarding why he was allowed to be around other kids. His son remained at home after attending school that one day.

"If we had the virus, it would have already been out," the man said.

He said the CDC did not contact him once during his quarantine to check in on his and his family's health.

"I'm seeing reports now that the CDC is monitoring, but what are they monitoring?" he said.

He left the house six times during the 14-day period. Cabin fever certainly set in for the family of three, but it was manageable. "It was like living at home," he said.

His son spent his time playing video games. The man said he wanted to be honest with him when explaining the disease and its global impact.

"You don't want to sugarcoat it," he said.

'I don't feel safe coming to work'

He completed his quarantine on Monday, February 17, and he said he feels concerned about how the virus is being handled.

A Chinese-American, he said he hasn't experienced any blatant hate directed toward him. But he wears a mask when he goes out in public and said he receives worried glances at the grocery store, with people avoiding him. And he said friends of his that are also in the Bay Area Chinese community have experienced racism from others.

His company was understanding about him working from home for two weeks, but he said he doesn't see his coworkers grasping the gravity of the situation. He spends his workday in the office now.

At the airports in China, the man said he saw officials and passengers wearing masks and taking precautions. And when he landed at SFO, he experienced disorder as airport officials attempted to get their bearings as the virus spread.

"As someone who was in China during the initial outbreak/lockdowns and restrictions and seeing the situation develop here in the US I am 100x more concerned for my own safety during this crisis than I ever was in China," he told Business Insider in a message.

There are now 130 confirmed cases in the US across 16 states, including New York and Washington State. There are cases of "community spread" in the US, meaning patients are contracting the virus despite not traveling outside the US. And CDC test kits for the virus are limited.

"We're the richest country in the world," he said. "We should be the most prepared."

Read the original article on Business Insider
STURTEVANT  Hopeful job applicants covering a wide range of ages and backgrounds descended upon Fountain Banquet Hall Wednesday afternoon for the 2020 Spring Job Fair.

Seventy employers registered for the annual event, which filled the hall at 8505 Durand Ave., and was hosted by The Kenosha News and The Journal Times.

Employers looking for people ranged from Amazon to the U.S. Postal Service and other government agencies.

One employer with a large presence in southeastern Wisconsin and Racine County during the past three years was Hoffman Construction Co. of Black River Falls.

Hoffman has been a large part of both the Foxconn Technology Group and Interstate 94 projects, including the frontage roads.

Ian Johnson, human resources manager for Hoffman, said the company has had 200 to 300 workers in this area at any given time.

Our footprint is here right now; we have a lot of work, he said. Weve been here about three years now, and were going to be here as long as theres work.

Jobs are available now, Johnson said. We have people who maybe dont want to travel anymore, so they hang it up, or maybe they go with local contractors.

Those jobs include heavy-equipment operators, laborers and flaggers, he said.

Were a union contractor, Johnson said, and equipment operators can earn $32 to $39 per hour.

Most people start as laborers, and when they prove themselves, Hoffman will try to get them into the four-year apprenticeship program with the hope that they may eventually become a company foreman.

SkipperBuds, the marine company based in Winthrop Harbor, Ill., was another company seeking to fill a wide range of positions, both at the headquarters and its numerous marina operations.

Wide age range

Job fair applicants ranged in age from teens to people at least in their 60s.

Eddie Moore of Racine, 63, was there wearing his jacket from his career with the U.S. Navys Military Sealift Command. The Park High School graduate retired in August 2018 after a 30-year federal career.

Moore was looking for a part-time job in warehouse materials handling.

At the opposite end of the age spectrum was 13-year-old Jaden Ludwigson, an eighth-grader at Starbuck Middle School. Neatly dressed in a tie and vest, he was there seeking a summer job  possibly something involving music or in the restaurant business.

Jeff Hess of Mount Pleasant, 53, was downsized out of a 30-year job at Jensen Metal Products, 7800 Northwestern Ave., Caledonia, where he was a welder. He is currently living on his unemployment checks since being let go in November.

I want to try something different after over 30 years of doing that, Hess said.

He had in mind working with his hands, such as driving a forklift or handling materials. At that point, Hess had visited the Factory Cat and Uline exhibits and thought they both looked promising.

Kendee Hickman, recruitment coordinator with Sysco of Wisconsin, finished talking with Rex DuBois of Kenosha and then talked about the companys needs here.

Sysco, a marketer of foods and related materials to business and institutional food service operations, was looking for truck drivers and business-to-business salespeople, Hickman said. Syscos local operation is based at 1821 S.E. Frontage Road, Mount Pleasant.

Hickman said truck driver positions are one of the hardest positions for the company to fill.

But, theres really good money to be made being a truck driver, she said. And for us, were local, so youd be home every night. Theres really, really good benefits: We have 401(k); we have stock options.

So, its hard to fill, but once we find somebody whos really dedicated, they seem to stay for a while.

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NatGeo WILDs The Incredible Dr. Pol really is a remarkable vet. His show has a strong following because of his can-do, energetic attitude. Not much stumps the doc.

Dr. Jan Pol of The Incredible Dr. Pol | Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

One of the very few limitations Dr. Pol has, he admits, is his color-blindness.

The doctor met the challenge of learning English

Arriving to the United States in 1961, Dr. Pol, like so many others, could not yet speak English. He met that challenge head-on. The 77-year-old just made himself learn it. Having his American wife, Diane, by his side made learning it even easier.

In his memoir, Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow, Dr. Pol described his first time on an airplane as he left the Netherlands to come to America.

Like most of my classmates, that was my first time on an airplane. While for many people the concept of going to live in America might be exciting or scary, the Dutch are pretty stoic; we tend to accept things as they happen without showing a great deal of emotion.

Dr. Pol took to his new homeland quickly and before he knew it, was speaking the local language just as swiftly.

It took eighteen hours to fly from Amsterdam to Detroit. We arrived in the middle of August. I spoke a passable British English. We were told that within three months, we would be dreaming in English, but for me, it was only two weeks.

Dr. Pol has adapted to becoming an almost instant TV personality

Thirty years into his private practice in Weidman, Michigan, fame came calling at Dr. Pols doorstep.

His son, Charles, had been working in L.A., when he had the idea of developing a reality show around his veterinarian dad. Dr. Pol couldnt imagine who on earth would want to watch him stick his arm into cow after cow, but he went along with it.

Its an incredibly adaptable person -especially someone whos already been doing things a certain way for 30 years  who will have an open mind to allowing cameras and chaos into their everyday lives.

I agreed to let his camera crew follow our staff for a few days, still wondering if anyone was going to watch. It turned out Diane and I raised a smart son, Dr. Pol writes in his book.

How color blindness affects his practice

As stated, Dr. Pol is color blind, and particularly has trouble with the colors green and brown. He hasnt allowed this to slow him down in his work as it just requires confirmation from whoevers around him to help him with anything he might have trouble reading the color on.

He writes about this challenge, I have always had a hard time learning from books. Show me how something is done and Ill remember it. Show me a surgery one time and I can do it the next time. What made it even more difficult for me was the fact that Im color-blind. That made pathology especially hard. I couldnt make the diagnoses that were based on the color of the tissue.

In the clinic, then, the doc has one of the staff help him out with microscope slides.

. . . we now have a very good microscope with a camera on it, he wrote. But for me, there are things I cant do under a microscope because Im color-blind  I have to get the slide ready and ask someone else to look at it for me.

Read more: The Incredible Dr. Pol: The Countries His Show Is Popular In May Surprise You
WASHINGTON  Texans will have another two months to pick a Democrat to run against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn after a Super Tuesday vote tally that lasted nearly 24 hours ended in a runoff between former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar and longtime state Sen. Royce West.

Texas voters stuck with two of the more moderate candidates in the race  a seasoned politician in West, who has served for 27 years in the state Legislature, and a political newcomer in Hegar, who despite having never won an election has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Hegar drew more than 22 percent of the vote and was the clear leader in a crowded field of candidates who had little statewide name recognition, polling showed. West pulled in more than 14 percent and finished second, edging out Austin labor organizer Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, who conceded Wednesday evening.

I am humbled and grateful for the support I have received from across the state, West said in a statement in which he also thanked his Democratic opponents for their ideas and energy. I believe we are well-positioned to win the runoff. The runoff is a brand new day.

West throughout the campaign has leaned on his experience in the Republican-dominated Legislature, while touting support from the majority of his Democratic colleagues there. Hegar, meanwhile, has run as a gritty newcomer and decorated veteran who challenged federal restrictions on women in combat. She raised more than $3 million over the course of the primary race.

We are walking into the runoff in the strongest possible position, thanks to the army of people across the state who have come together and all put an oar in the water and all pulled in the same direction, Hegar told a crowd of supporters as results rolled in Tuesday night.

For subscribers: Five takeaways from Super Tuesday in Texas

Whichever candidate emerges from the May 27 runoff will face Cornyn, who easily fended off four primary challengers and has more than $12 million on hand.

Still, Democrats hope they can build on the momentum from Beto ORourkes narrow loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. For months theyve pointed at polling indicating many Texans either dont approve of the job Cornyns doing or dont know who he is.

In his victory speech on Wednesday, Cornyn cast the looming Senate race as the referendum of our lifetimes as he seeks to brand the Democrats as too extreme and refers to them as socialists.

But neither West nor Hegar has endorsed policies such Medicare For All or the Green New Deal pushed by the left wing of the party, for instance.

For subscribers: Five takeaways from Super Tuesday in Texas

West, 66, runs a Dallas-based law firm that does work for local governments. He has served 27 years in the state Legislature, time he has said his service in the Legislature has been spent readying myself for this moment. Among his supporters is Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who served in the Texas Senate with West.

West, who would be the first black senator from Texas, won Dallas County by a wide margin  with some 44 percent of the vote  and also carried Tarrant County, with 23 percent. Hegar, meanwhile, easily won Harris and Travis counties.

Hegar, 43, has built a career writing and telling her story of being shot down and wounded in Afghanistan, suing the Pentagon and lobbying Congress to scrap restrictions on women in combat. The story was told in a three-minute video that went viral as she launched her 2018 campaign for Congress, drawing national attention to her 2018 race against U.S. Rep. John Carter. The Distinguished Flying Cross recipient also now has a deal with Netflix for a biopic that could drop in the middle of her Senate run.

ben.wermund@chron.com
An Allahabad-bound passenger was apprehended at Delhi airport for allegedly carrying five live bullets in his bag, a senior official said on Thursday.

A Central Industrial Security Force official deputed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport detected bullet-like objects while checking the luggage of the Indian national, Chander Mohan Bali, around 1 pm on Wednesday, he said.

"Five live bullet rounds of 7.65 mm calibre were recovered from the passenger who was supposed to take an Air India flight to Allahabad," the official said.

The traveller was not allowed to board the flight and was handed over to Delhi Police as he could not produce any document for carrying the ammunition, he added.

Carrying arms and ammunition inside an airport terminal area or an aircraft is banned under Indian aviation laws.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, March 5 : Reliance Jio has proposed to TRAI that wireless data prices are gradually increased to Rs 20 per GB from Rs 15 per GB currently, after six to nine months while suggesting floor rate for data prices.

While advocating for TRAI's intervention to prescribe floor price for wireless data service, Jio said voice tariff should continue under forbearance as before as the same will affect the masses and will be difficult to implement.

In its response to the consultation paper of TRAI on 'Tariff issues in Telecom Services', the company said the typical Indian consumer is very price sensitive and target floor price should be implemented in 2-3 tranches so as to minimise the impact of increase in tariff.

It further said once data floor price is implemented, it should be uniformly implemented across all tariffs and applicable to all segments -- individuals and corporates.

The Mukesh Ambani company said the data floor price should also cover the bundled tariffs with clearly defined elements.
McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates attorney Lisa McPherson I believe this is one of the most important cases that McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates has ever handled."

Accidents involving large trucks are three times more likely to be fatal than a regular collision, and the vast majority of those killed are passengers of other vehicles. McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates recently won $5 million in a trial verdict after a young mother, her husband, and their seven-month-old baby were killed after being struck by a semi-truck on I-95.

The victims of the crash were driving back to Canada after taking a family vacation to Disney World. While traveling on I-95 in South Carolina they came across road work signs, according to court documents filed under case number 4:15-cv-02773-PHH in Charleston County.

After they came to a complete stop with traffic in front of them, a tractor-trailer crashed into the back of their vehicle. The driver never attempted to hit the brakes and had his cruise control set to 70 miles per hour  far above the speed limit allowed in a road work zone, the court documents state.

Crystal Cross was killed alongside her infant son Greysen and her husband Jeremiah.

The 18-wheeler knocked the vehicle quite a distance, and it burned. All three of them were killed. After hitting it, the truck went on to hit another vehicle and those two occupants were also killed, said McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates attorney Lisa McPherson, who represented the estate of Crystal in the trial.

I believe this is one of the most important cases that McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates has ever handled and certainly one of the most compelling, because of the death of this entire young family, said McPherson.

The case was tried by jury in Charleston County, under case number 4:15-cv-02773-PHH. The jury found 70% fault against the truck driver and 30% against the trucking company that employed him.

A total of $5 million was awarded to the estate of Crystal Cross. The estates of her husband and son, both of which were represented by another law firm, were awarded a collective $12 million.

While McPherson acknowledges that no amount of money can ever compensate for the tragic loss of a young family, she believes the verdict sends a message about necessary regulation and monitoring of these huge vehicles and their drivers.

Lisa McPherson and her colleagues at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates are committed to fighting for accident victims in the state of South Carolina. The firm possesses the resources needed to battle insurance companies who are trained to delay, deny, and defend. Its team of lawyers are eager to help injured victims of automobile crashes receive fair compensation.

About McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates

With offices in Aiken, Camden, Columbia, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, and Sumter, the personal injury attorneys at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates are ready to serve you. The firm specializes in all areas of personal injury, including automobile accidents, defective products, medical malpractice, workers compensation, and wrongful death. To learn more about the firm, or to receive a free case evaluation, call 1-803-590-9243.
The collapse of Flybe means the loss of 81% of George Best Belfast City Airport's flights on at least a temporary basis.

Its the worst setback for George Best Belfast City Airport of recent times  not to mention the inconvenience to passengers on its 14 routes.

The airport last faced a crisis on this scale in 2010 when Ryanair announced it was leaving after continued delays in the prospects for a runway extension, which the airline regarded as crucial to its future there. Ten years on, the runway remains the same length and Ryanair is now based at Belfast International.

But only five routes were lost at that point, which flew 800,000 passengers  whereas last year Flybe flew around 1.6 million people in and out of Belfast on 14 routes.

Read More

One industry watcher reflects a sense of inevitability about last nights news, remarking:

Over the last 20 years, Flybe has been mainly loss-making, and only really turned a profit in the too rare boom times.

Its cost base was too high for the markets it operated in and against the proper low-cost players like easyJet.

Belfast City Airport has said its been in talks for some time with airlines who could potentially plug the gaps on at least some the routes.

The collapse of Flybe has been well-signposted so the airport will have been planning for this for some time.

Aer Lingus Regional has been touted as one potential saviour, and even Ryanair could make a limited return  but of course the runway size will remain a sticking point.

In the past easyJet has also tested the water on a London Luton route from Belfast City, and could make a return on other routes.

Flybe has pointed to the impact of coronavirus on bookings as the straw that broke the camels back.

But the fact that coronavirus has led to airlines cancelling flights on other routes could in theory led to move availability of their planes to pick up on routes left by Flybe.

The more profitable ones like Belfast to Manchester, London City and Glasgow will gladly be taken up. London City is a particularly useful link for the business community as its only a short distance from the centre of London.

But its likely that others such as Newquay in Cornwall will be beyond rescue. At Southampton, 93% of flights are operated by Flybe  making it even more dependent on the airline than Belfast City. But what could save Southampton is that its a useful destination for cruise passengers who can hop on a ship from there.

So while the collapse of Flybe means inconvenience and hassle for its stranded passengers, it probably hasnt caught Belfast City Airport on the hop.
A dog, not the pet testing 'weak positive', is pictured wearing a mask in Changchun in the Jilin province of China on 4 March. (Getty Images)

A dog in Hong Kong found to have traces of the coronavirus is thought to have picked it up from its owner.

The quarantined Pomeranian tested weak positive via nasal and oral-cavity samples taken on 27 February, 28 February and 2 March.

Read more: Top doctor expects the coronavirus to peak in the UK in two-to-three months

Experts have stressed there is no evidence pet animals can be a source of infection.

One noted detecting the presence of the virus is not the same as a real infection, with the dog showing no signs of ill health.

The coronavirus could have been shed from human contact [and] ended up in the dogs samples.

People are pictured wearing masks in Bethlehem on 5 March. (Getty Images)

The coronavirus strain Covid-19 emerged at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city Wuhan at the end of last year.

It has since spread globally to at least 60 countries, with more than 96,700 confirmed cases.

While mainland China has the bulk of the incidences, with over 80,400 patients, cases have been plateauing over the past few days.

Outside of China, South Korea has the most cases, with more than 6,000 patients and 35 deaths.

It is followed by Italy, with over 3,000 patients and 107 fatalities.

Read more: Coronavirus 'could spread in faeces and urine'

Out of at least 13,000 tests, 90 have come back positive in the UK.

One British man died after catching the coronavirus aboard the quarantined hotbed Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Globally, the death toll has exceeded 3,200.

While it may sound alarming, research suggests four out of five cases are mild, while more than 53,600 patients have recovered.

Can you catch the coronavirus Covid-19 from your pet?

The School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong, and the World Organisation for Animal Health unanimously agreed the dog has a low-level of infection and it is likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission.

The Pomeranian belongs to a 60-year-old woman with confirmed Covid-19, Science Alert reported.

Story continues

There is currently no evidence that pet animals can be a source of infection of Covid-19 or that they become sick, said a spokesperson from Hong Kongs Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

The dog has not shown any signs of disease related to Covid-19.

In humans, the infection triggers flu-like fever, cough and breathlessness.

Severe cases can lead to pneumonia.

We have to differentiate between real infection and just detecting the presence of the virus, said Professor Jonathan Ball from the University of Nottingham.

I think its questionable how relevant [the dog case] is to the human outbreak as most of the global outbreak has been driven by human-to-human transmission.

We need to find out more, but we dont need to panic.

I doubt it could spread to another dog or a human because of the low levels of the virus.

The real driver of the outbreak is humans.

Warning against mass hysteria, Professor Ball previously said: The fact the test result was weakly positive would suggest this is environmental contamination or simply the presence of coronavirus shed from human contact that has ended up in the dogs samples.

Read more: Coronavirus death rate higher than previously thought, WHO says

The British Veterinary Association compared Covid-19 to fellow coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2002/3 outbreak.

Were aware during the Sars outbreak a small number of cats and dogs tested positive for the virus, said its president Daniella Dos Santos.

These animals did not transmit the virus to other animals of the same species or to humans.

We are particularly keen not to cause any unnecessary concern that could lead to pet abandonment.

We would emphasise that at the moment, there remains no evidence that pet animals can be a source of infection of Covid-19 for humans or other animals, or that they become sick.

The dog, and another in quarantine that tested negative for the virus, will be swabbed again before being released.

Although experts have stressed this dog is unlikely a cause for concern, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department added animals coming from households with confirmed patients should still be quarantined.

Pet owners should also wash their hands before and after handling their furry friends, as well as their food and supplies.

The department is also urging the public not to kiss their pets.

Apart from maintaining good hygiene practices, pet owners need not be overly concerned and under no circumstances should they abandon their pets, said its spokesperson.

This comes as 10 Daily reported a veterinary clinic in Sydney is receiving calls from anxious members of the public asking it to euthanise their pets.

If a pet shows clinical signs, please do not take it to the vet; call your vet practice for further advice, said Dos Santos.

This mimics recommendations to call your GP surgery, rather than going to the clinic, to avoid spreading a potential infection in the waiting area.

A dog is pictured wearing a paper cup 'mask' in Beijing on 4 February. (Getty Images)

What is the coronavirus Covid-19?

Covid-19 is one of seven strains of the coronavirus class that are known to infect humans.

Others include the common cold and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), which killed 858 people during its 2012 outbreak.

Most of those who initially caught Covid-19 worked at, or visited, the wet market in Wuhan.

The main method of transmission is thought to be face-to-face via infected droplets coughed or sneezed out by a patient.

Pneumonia can come about when the infection causes the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs to become inflamed and filled with fluid or pus.

The lungs then struggle to draw in air, resulting in reduced oxygen in the bloodstream.

Without treatment the end is inevitable, said the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Deaths occurs because of asphyxiation.

Covid-19 is thought to have started in bats before jumping into humans, possibly via snakes or pangolins.

There is no specific treatment, with care being supportive while a patients immune system works to fight off the infection.

Officials recommend regular hand washing and social distancing to stem Covid-19s transmission.
LISLE, Ill., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CTS Corporation (NYSE: CTS) announced today that as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak the Company is assessing the impact on its full year 2020 sales and adjusted diluted EPS guidance provided on February 4, 2020. The outbreak is having a material unfavorable impact on our first quarter results. The situation continues to evolve, and we are currently unable to quantify the full year financial impact.



Our teams at our China facilities are diligently working to get back to normal operations. However, the potential impact of further outbreaks, logistics, and customer schedules make it difficult to forecast demand.

Our first priorities are the safety of our employees and the supply of product to our customers. Our thoughts are with the individuals who are most directly affected by the outbreak, and we are taking steps to ensure the safety of all of our employees, said Kieran OSullivan, CEO of CTS Corporation. We know first quarter results are being negatively impacted, and we are still assessing the impact over the balance of 2020. We currently expect first quarter results to be in range of $95 to $105 million for sales and $0.15 to $0.23 for adjusted diluted EPS. We will provide an update to our annual guidance in our first quarter earnings release.

About CTS

CTS (NYSE: CTS) is a leading designer and manufacturer of products that Sense, Connect, and Move. The company manufactures sensors, actuators, and electronic components in North America, Europe, and Asia, and provides engineered products to customers in the aerospace/defense, industrial, medical, telecommunications/IT, and transportation markets.

For more information, visit www.ctscorp.com .



Safe Harbor

This document contains statements that are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, any financial or other guidance, statements that reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events, and any other statements that are not based solely on historical fact, including, without limitation, the estimated impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our results of operations. Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations, certain assumptions and currently available information. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof and are based on various assumptions as to future events, the occurrence of which necessarily are subject to uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are made subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those presented in the forward-looking statements, including uncertainties around the duration and severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and its ultimate impact on our business and results of operations. Many of these, and other, risks and uncertainties are discussed in further detail in Item 1A. of CTS Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update our forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof, including market or industry changes.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted earnings per share is a non-GAAP financial measure. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is diluted earnings per share. CTS adjusts for these items because they are discrete events, which have a significant impact on comparable GAAP financial measures and could distort an evaluation of our normal operating performance. With respect to CTS adjusted diluted EPS guidance, it is not possible, without unreasonable effort, to identify the amount or significance of these items that may impact future GAAP diluted EPS, and therefore, CTS is unable to provide a reconciliation from GAAP diluted EPS to adjusted diluted EPS.

Contact

Ashish Agrawal

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

CTS Corporation

4925 Indiana Avenue

Lisle, IL 60532

USA
The "fever" to destabilise a state government rises when Rajya Sabha elections are due, the said on Thursday, accusing the of abducting 14 of its MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

Three Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant in the state and they are currently held by Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP).

"Ever since the has come to power at the national level, the democracy of the country is being finished in every state one by one. It started with Arunachal Pradesh," senior leader told a press conference.

The BJP's policy has always been to ensure that states do not get any government except that of the party, he said.

"Where ever other parties have made governments, their (BJP's) aim has been to destabilise them. This fever to destabilise state governments rises when the Rajya Sabha elections are due," Azad said.

The efforts in Madhya Pradesh to break the government is not new, "we condemn it, we will raise it in Parliament", he said.

"We have never done of this kind where we scare and intimidate people to join us," he said.

leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the "abducted 14 MLAs".

"Eleven mafias have been identified and are being reigned in by the Congress. They had been active for 15 years. Vyapam scam was unravelling. So this is a conspiracy to bring the Madjya Pradesh government down," he said.

"Who paid for the charter plane to abduct the MLAs? Who paid for the five star hotels?," Surjewala asked.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "Sinister design of BJP in breaking state governments, they have hatched a plan to dig the grave of democracy in the country."



"By doing this heinous activity they want to destabilise the Congress regime. They are putting pressure on Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh by adopting a carrot and stick policy," he said.

Chowdhury urged all opposition parties to unite against the "authoritarian" government.
Medical workers in protective gear talk with a woman suspected of being ill with coronavirus at a community health station in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province on Jan. 27, 2020. (Chinatopix via AP)

COVID-19: Accurate Information Is Critical in Formulating Public Health Actions

WHO is putting lives at risk by blocking Taiwan from coronavirus discussions

Commentary

Today, truth and facts are valuable but contentious commodities. Every day we hear information that could turn out to be fake news and are presented with alternate facts. We are bombarded with endless information, including rumours and lies, from both traditional and new social media sources. Political calculations and objectives manipulate information. Most people find it hard to decipher and many give up.

Into this reality has crept a novel coronavirus from China.

COVID-19 is a serious global challenge with significant economic consequences and the possibility of a dangerous global health crisis. Thousands have been infected worldwide; many have already died in China and the number of deaths globally is rising.

One of the most significant problems is the absence of information and some false information coming out of China, where a lack of transparency is normal. Withholding or reshaping information is a problem with authoritarian governments. Unfortunately, the experience with China is being mirrored in Iran, where secrecy fuelled the spread of this pathogen and its transport across borders.

What do we know so far? We have a lot of scientific pathological information provided by China about the virus that appears to be accurate. There are accurate testing methods, but neither the method of propagation nor the natural history of the disease is fully understood. There is supportive therapy and work being done on specific treatments and prevention. It is impossible to know how contagious the disease is or its mortality without knowing the number of cases that are mild or asymptomatic as well. Information obtained covertly from China suggests a significant gap or disinformation on the timeline and medical history of COVID-19.

Accurate information is critical to formulate public health actions that need to be taken besides the standard advice to wash hands, avoid touching your face, and coughing/sneezing into the elbow. People with suspicious symptoms should not attend a medical treatment location without warning them in advance so that the appropriate isolation measures can be made ready. Self-quarantine after returning from China or other locations where there is community spread is being recommended by most authorities. One would be wise to apply the advice from health authorities.

So far, the risk to Canadians remains low. Canada has improved its readiness after learning from SARS. Clear thinking, asking the right questions, and getting accurate information is imperative for both individuals and authorities. Canada should have an information hotline to answer any questions. A good step has been Ottawas move this week to create a new Cabinet committee to tackle the coronavirus, aimed at improving coordination and preparedness.

The situation is very fluid, and we must adapt and be able to change course quickly. The best information is likely from the World Health Organization (WHO)even if it is influenced by Chinas incomplete reporting.

WHO Marginalizing Taiwan

This is not the time to isolate parts of the world or its citizens from urgent health information. Why should we be concerned about Taiwan? Separated from China by the Taiwan Strait, it is claimed by China. There is significant travel between Taiwan and China and between Taiwan and the rest of the world. The Taoyuan Airport is the 11th largest in the world measured by number of passengers.

However, as the Chinese communist regime has blocked Taiwans membership in or association with WHO, Beijing wouldnt allow Taiwan to be involved in any discussions about COVID-19. Barred from a WHO emergency meeting on Jan. 30, 24 million Taiwanese people close to the epicentre of COVID-19 virus had no representation to, nor official information from, the organization.

Taiwans government is democratic and a strong defender of human rights. It is Canadas 12th largest global trading partner. Excluding Taiwan from contact with WHO makes COVID-19 more dangerous for its nationals and the rest of the world.

Graeme Barber MD FRCS(C) is a retired vascular surgeon and associate professor at the University of Ottawa. He is a Canadian committee member of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China.

David Kilgour, a lawyer by profession, served in Canadas House of Commons for almost 27 years. In Jean Chretiens Cabinet, he was secretary of state (Africa and Latin America) and secretary of state (Asia-Pacific). He is the author of several books and co-author with David Matas of Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for Their Organs.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Singapore created more jobs than expected last year  but replicating that performance has become harder now with the coronavirus outbreak, the country's manpower minister said on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian economy added a total of 63,200 jobs in 2019, according to preliminary data released by the manpower ministry. That's the highest number of jobs created since 2014, the data showed.

"Even in 2019, we were looking at a more uncertain outlook and as it turns out, 2019's employment growth was very strong," Josephine Teo, Singapore's minister for manpower, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Thursday.

"But coming into 2020, especially with the COVID-19 outbreak, I think everyone is not so sure whether we can sustain the momentum. I think it's best not to expect that it will be so," added Teo, who's also Singapore's second minister for home affairs.

The tiny Southeast Asian country, with a population of 5.7 million, was among the earliest locations outside China to report cases of the coronavirus disease.

As of Wednesday noon, Singapore confirmed 112 cases of the coronavirus disease, of which 79 have been discharged from hospitals, according to the Ministry of Health. The country hasn't reported any deaths.
Increasing alarm over the coronavirus relentless spread outside of China sparked another global sell-off in markets on Thursday, with new cases and deaths on the rise across the world  including within the United States.

As Italy, South Korea and Iran grapple with mounting casualties, the World Health Organizations director called on all governments to pull out all the stops to beat back the virus. Globally, cases have exceeded 96,000, with more than 3,200 deaths reported.

More than 160 confirmed cases in over a dozen U.S. states have been reported, resulting in at least 11 deaths  the latest infections surfacing in New York and New Jersey. Meanwhile, California declared a state of emergency in the wake of its first death, with Florida and Washington State also raising the red flag.

Both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly passed an $8.3 billion supplement to fund its response to the coronavirus outbreak, sending the bill to President Donald Trumps desk. Around $3 billion of that is earmarked for vaccine development, with a number of companies ramping up efforts to develop testing and treatment.

Howard Forman, a doctor and professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told Yahoo Finance the virus outbreak is novel, with data coming in in real-time.

That means we dont have a very good sense for simple things like lethality, its infectiousness and its current prevalence in the population, he told On the Move on Thursday.

With people getting increasingly panicky, its becoming harder and harder to reassure them when we see, every day, tens, if not dozens, of cases now coming out, Forman added.

Coronavirus toll rises around the world

Vice President Mike Pence, whos heading up the Trump administrations response to the coronavirus, flew to 3M (MMM) headquarters Thursday to meet the maker of the highly sought-after N95 face masks. The company was asked by the administration to produce 35 million more masks per month to meet growing demand.

Meanwhile, companies like Gilead Sciences (GILD), Quest Diagnostics (DGX) and Labcorp (LH) are pushing to accelerate the timetable for new testing and treatment methods.

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Gilead is rolling out its clinical trials globally, with more sites to be announced soon.

Quest announced on Thursday it will be ready to test samples sent to its California lab by March 9  with more locations rolling out the capability soon, while Labcorp announced its test was ready for physicians to order Thursday evening.

The announcements could help the administration meet its goal of 1 million tests available by the weekend, as Pence acknowledged on Thursday that the worlds largest economy doesnt have enough tests to meet demand.

In a press briefing after meeting with Congress Thursday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, flanked by top health officials, said the goal of 1 million tests (or individual samples) would equate to about 400,000 people.

At an event hosted by lobbying group PhRMA Wednesday, Gilead CEO Daniel ODay said there is still no indication of the cost of the antiviral treatment, remdesivir, but it has taken 10 years and billions of dollars to produce.

Its very difficult to talk about pricing until you know what value this medicine may, or may not, bring to patients and societies, he said.

Expectation of a severe disruption as testing questions mount

Markets tumbled on Thursday, with conferences and large public events being sharply curtailed, or cancelled altogether. Analysts are becoming more pessimistic about the prospects for growth this year, as China remains hampered by the virus  even amid falling infection rates  and the U.S. at the tip of the iceberg.

If you believe the market... there is an expectation of a severe economic disruption coming in the form of school closures, no large gatherings, widespread business closures, and everything else, veteran market analyst Jim Bianco told The Final Round on Wednesday.

He estimated the S&P 500 Index could fall by an additional 20% from Wednesdays closing levels. Yet some stocks, such as pharma and food companies, are seeing a bump from the outbreak, amid panic buying of key consumer staples.

Testing has been hampered with faulty reagents in the Centers for Disease Controls kits, which have been sent to state and public health labs around the country.

According to the Association of Public Health Laboratories, there are 67 public health labs in 45 states able to test for Covid-19. It is expecting 13 more online soon, each able to conduct 100 tests per day.

The cost for running one specimen is about $300, but with startup costs it could be $900 per specimen, for public health labs conducting the CDC test. But that number would decrease as volume increases.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised about whether private insurers will cover the price tag associated with commercial testing.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma explained that the lab test is deemed an essential health benefit  which means Medicare, Medicaid and individuals on the Affordable Care Act marketplace will likely not have to pay.

New York and Washington have required insurers that they have regulatory oversight of to waive all costs.

Late Thursday, one insurer announced it would cover the tests free of charge.

Cigna (CI) said it will waive co-pays, coinsurance or deductibles for customers enrolled in employer-sponsored plans in the United States, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and the Individual & Family plans available through the Affordable Care Act.

Self-insured plans, or Administrative Services Only (ASOs), will have the option to opt in, the insurer said.

The announcement followed an earlier message from the national insurance trade group.

"We will cover needed diagnostic testing when ordered by a physician, the American Health Insurance Plans announced on Thursday.

We will take action to ease network, referral, and prior authorization requirements and/or waive patient cost sharing, the group added.

There is no information yet on what commercial tests will cost.

The CDC kits are free, so being tested in a state or public health lab rather than a physicians office or a hospital will ensure no out-of-pocket cost. Clinical facilities, like hospitals or doctors offices, are likely to charge for the visit as usual, experts said.

Anjalee Khemlani is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @AnjKhem

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
60m for Senegal

Yves F5PRU / 6W1TA in Senegal has been informed by ARTP, the Senegalese Telecom Regulatory Authority, that the new WRC-15 Amateur Secondary Allocation 5351.5  5366.5 kHz is now allowed in the country.

The IARU Region1 bandplan should be used with a maximum power limit available of 15W EIRP.

Yves has been living in Senegal for 18 months. He is mainly QRV around 5354 kHz in CW mode and sometimes on 5357 kHz FT8 Mode. He lives near Dakar and although he suffers from QRM early evenings, this lessens later on in the night.

Paul G4MWO
Its wide service portfolio and extensive network of service channels position the company as a one-stop-shop in the mechanical seals market

SANTA CLARA, California, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the global mechanical seals market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes John Crane with the 2019 Global Market Leadership Award for leading the market with 25.6 percent of global shares. Leveraging its industry expertise, John Crane has developed end-to-end solutions that empower customers in process industries to achieve operational excellence that results in maximum business impact. It has established a major presence in high-growth industries such as unconventional upstream oil & gas production, petrochemicals, liquefied natural gas (LNG), pharmaceutical, mining, food and beverage, chemical, pulp and paper, water and wastewater, and power generation.

"John Crane is present in more than 50 countries, with more than 200 facilities and support by more than 230 sales and service center locations. In 2019 alone it opened four service centers in India, Ireland, Qatar, and South Korea, as well as a super service center in India," said Anand Mugundhu Gnanamoorthy, global research unit leader. "For the past three years, John Crane's year-over-year growth has surpassed the market average."

In April 2019, John Crane released the world's first single-use cartridge seals, which are specially designed for wet applications and to reduce installation time by more than 50 percent. It also recently released its Predictive Diagnostic System to provide real-time health assessments and predictive diagnostics for mechanical seals.

"Leveraging machine learning and Artificial Intelligence through many customer pilots, John Crane is driving Agile development towards a leading-edge diagnostic solution for the mechanical seals market, providing critical services to several process industries," noted Gnanamoorthy. "Considering the demand for different applications for seals, end users prefer to partner with a company that can offer unique metallurgical and technological specifications for all their applications, and John Crane addresses this demand with its extensive product portfolio, application expertise, and distribution channel presence."

The company complements its solid product development strategy with mergers and acquisitions that extend its competitive advantage. For instance, it acquired Seebach GmbH in 2018 to align with the company's continued focus on filtration to provide additional products and service support to end user customers, and to increase its market presence in high growth segments such as energy and petrochemicals. In 2019, John Crane acquired Advanced Diamond Technologies to help improve the efficiency of seal performance.

John Crane has established itself through the outstanding service portfolio and rapid customer response via a global network of service personnel. While other companies use one or two service channels, John Crane has at its disposal a dedicated sales force, 17 super service centers around the world, 230 service center locations, and a large network of distributors. These channels enable it to quickly dispatch the required personnel and replacement parts directly to customers' worksites, ensuring minimal plant downtime.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan bestows this award upon the company that demonstrates excellence in growth and customer value. Attaining loyal customers who became brand advocates allows the company to grow and achieve a market leadership position. By committing to the customer at each stage of the buying cycle and continuing to nurture the relationship, this Award recognizes a company's increased market share over time.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Kristen Moore

P: 210.247.3823

E: kristen.moore@frost.com

About John Crane

John Crane is a global leader in rotating equipment solutions, supplying engineered technologies and services to process industries. The company designs and manufactures a variety of products including mechanical seals and systems, couplings, filtration systems and predictive digital monitoring technologies. John Crane customer service is accessed through a global network of more than 200 sales and service facilities in over 50 countries. Fiscal year 2019, revenue was greater than 1.2 billion USD (945m). John Crane is part of Smiths Group, a global leader in applying advanced technologies for markets in threat and contraband detection, energy, medical devices, communications, and engineered components.
YEREVAN -- Former Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian has been charged with embezzling more than $2 million worth of state funds during his tenure.

Ohanian was banned from leaving the country while awaiting trial, a spokeswoman for the state investigation service told RFE/RL on March 4.

The spokeswoman, Marina Ogandzhanyan, added that the investigation is ongoing as measures are being taken to clarify the entire circle of persons involved in the case, which related to the sale of government property at below-market prices.

Ohanian served as defense minister from 2008 to 2016.

He is also under investigation for possible unlawful actions during events in March 2008 when 10 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters following a disputed presidential election.

Ohanian rejects the allegations in both cases.

He is among dozens of former officials, including former President Robert Kocharian, who are facing different charges and are awaiting trial.

Kocharian denies wrongdoing.

Former President Serzh Sarksian, who succeeded Kocharian, is being investigated for allegedly embezzling about $1 million in state funds and abuse of power.

Protests erupted in April 2018 after Sarksian reneged on a promise not to become prime minister following two consecutive presidential terms.



Under the rule of Sarksian and his former allies, critics said they have trampled on democracy, and engaged in large-scale corruption and state mismanagement.

They deny those allegations.

With reporting by Reuters
(Newser)  After allegedly murdering at least 13 people, former police officer Joseph DeAngelo is now trying to save his own life. Lawyers for the alleged Golden State Killer say he has offered to plead guilty to the 26 charges against him as long as he receives a life sentence instead of the death penalty, the New York Times reports. In a court motion filed in Sacramento County Superior Court this week, public defenders Joseph Cress and Alice Michel said they were entering not guilty pleas "against defendant's desires." DeAngelo "is 74 years old," they wrote. He has offered to plead to the charges with a lifetime sentence."

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DeAngelo is also believed to have committed at least 50 rapes, along with kidnapping and weapons offenses, in the 1970s and 1980s. He was arrested in 2018 after police compared DNA from crime scenes to information submitted to genealogy websites. He is accused of committing crimes in six countiesSacramento, Contra Costa, Orange, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Venturaand his defense lawyers argue that it would be fairest to have a separate trial in each one, KCRA reports. In this week's motion, they said they would prefer to "reach a resolution of the case that avoids a trial, satisfies all parties, and provides a more immediate resolution of the case." Prosecutors say "nothing has changed" since they announced last year that they were seeking the death penalty. (Read more Golden State Killer stories.)
By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - Worry that oil producing heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia were headed for a stalemate on production-cut talks sent crude prices lower on Wednesday, amid data showing U.S. output at a new record high.

West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude prices, settled down 40 cents, or 0.8%, at $46.78 per barrel.

Brent, the London-traded global benchmark for crude, settled down 73 cents, or 1.4%, to $51.13

Crude prices began the day up on reports that oil producers gathered in Vienna under the OPEC+ alliance would agree to a total production cut of at least 1 million barrels per day from this quarter onward to mitigate some of the demand destruction to energy from the novel coronavirus outbreak. Adding to a prior deal in December, OPEC+ would be removing a total 3.1 million bpd, or 3.1% of global supply, from the market if those reports proved true.

Yet Bloomberg reported by midday that Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak had left Vienna, ahead of Fridays all-important meeting with the Saudis and the customary news conference that would announce the new deal. Bloomberg did not provide details but CNBC reported that while the Saudis had an appetite for higher oil prices, Moscow was perfectly happy with crude futures at between $50 and $60.

Every oil trader has his finger on the buy or sell button watching this OPEC meeting, said John Kilduff, founding partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. A deal to cut another 1 million bpd or more means a buy and a no-deal means sell. For now, everyone assumes its a sell.

WTI and Brent futures rose as much 2% earlier in the day and remained up after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a positive inventory report for crude and fuel stockpiles in the country for a third week running.

The EIA said crude stockpiles rose by 785,000 barrels for the week ended Feb. 28, the EIA said. That compared with expectations for a build of 2.64 million barrels, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com.

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Gasoline stockpiles fell by 4.34 million barrels, versus forecasts for a decline of about 2.1 million barrels. Distillates inventories dropped by 4 million barrels, compared with expectations for a drawdown of 1.93 million barrels

While the stockpile numbers looked good, the EIA also took some of the shine off its inventory report by announcing that crude output in the worlds largest oil producer, the United States, was estimated to have reached a record high of 13.1 million barrels per day last week. The prior all-time high was 13 million bpd, achieved in December.

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A Jewish woman filed a lawsuit against her former New Jersey school district Wednesday after she said officials failed to protect her from endemic anti-Semitism."

Students at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology drew swastikas in notebooks and read Mein Kampf in public, according to the lawsuit. One posed for a photograph next to the words, I h8 Jews. After her parents complained, the woman became a pariah, the complaint said, while school leaders were deliberately indifferent to her plight.

The state attorney generals office previously found reasonable suspicion that the district overseeing the Sandy Hook school broke New Jerseys anti-discrimination law.

The complaint named the Monmouth County Vocational School District, its board of education and school leaders in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

Im forever saddened that this happened to me, but I have grown to accept that my family and I did the right thing by reporting it," the 18-year-old said in a message sent by her lawyer, Eric Hecker. He asked that the former students full name not be used to protect her privacy. She is no longer at the academy.

"I am trying to move forward but this will always be something I carry, she said.

In a statement, District Superintendent Timothy McCorkell said the school had appropriately disciplined the students involved with the I h8 Jews photo.

Soon after that photo was taken, the school consulted with the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey. The South River-based nonprofit recommended curriculum about Jewish history and hate speech.

Ongoing education is crucial in situations like these, said Lisa Karasic, a spokesperson for the federation. Both for students and educators.

Many students at the academy were later enrolled in programs about the Holocaust and cultural competency, McCorkell said, in line with recommendations made by the state attorney general.

The District is confident in the legal process and that the facts will support our position, he said, referring to how the district responded to the original complaints.

He added that the school investigates every bias allegation and is committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students.

The states investigation continues. In December, the head of the civil rights division, Rachel Apner, formally joined the complaint.

A spokesman for the state attorney generals office said the district and investigators were talking, but declined to comment further.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.

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BOSTON  Riding a late-moving surge that stretched from the South, East Coast and into the Midwest, Joe Biden upended the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in one night and supplanted Bernie Sanders as the front-runner.

Defying polls that showed him trailing less than a week ago, the former vice president dominated Super Tuesday and racked up wins in 10 of 14 states, building a lead in delegates over Vermont's independent senator, who had seemed poised to build an insurmountable lead himself.

The turnaround suddenly puts Sanders on his heels. To make up his deficit, he needs to win states by wide margins to limit the delegates Biden could accumulate in those same states.

And the map works against him.

Biden could be favored in three of the four largest states that vote Tuesday: Missouri (68 delegates), where a poll in January showed him leading by 25 percentage points and a poll in February had him up 5 points; Mississippi (36 delegates), which has a large African American population and where Hillary Clinton clobbered Sanders 82%-17% in 2016; and Michigan (125 delegates), which Sanders narrowly won in 2016, but a poll this week showed Biden 6 percentage points ahead even before his Super Tuesday resurgence.

There are spots of hope for Sanders, an anti-establishment democratic socialist who campaigns on a political revolution.

Sanders, who outperformed Biden in the West, leads polls in Washington (89 delegates), which votes the same night. He could fare well in North Dakota and Idaho, but those states have just a combined 34 delegates.

"He'll keep going on, but last night was pretty decisive in terms of reaction to Bernie Sanders as the potential nominee," said Joe Trippi, a longtime Democratic campaign operative. "I'm not sure how or where Bernie can turn it from here. That does not mean that he won't try and that it won't be a long, hard fight. But in the end, I don't see where the window turns for him."

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The race arguably gets even tougher for Sanders on March 17 in primaries in three large states, each with hundreds of delegates at stake: Florida, 219 delegates; Illinois, 155; Ohio, 136; and Arizona, 67.

Biden holds double-digit polling leads in Florida, where Sanders lost by more than 30 percentage points to Clinton in 2016 and where his comments about Fidel Castro complicated his outlook. The other leading candidate in Florida, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, dropped out of the presidential race Wednesday and put his support behind Biden.

A poll last month had Biden trailing Sanders by 8 percentage points in Illinois. It was taken at the peak of Sanders' national lead after Biden's early stumbles. Illinois and Ohio have sizable African American voting populations, and black voters have overwhelmingly supported Biden in earlier races. Biden led in Arizona in polls taken last fall, but the race has changed considerably, and Sanders could get a boost from Latino voters, who have backed him heartily in other states.

Michigan could be Sanders' best shot to climb back

Sanders' next campaign stops include rallies in Phoenix on Thursday, Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday and Saturday, and Rockford, Illinois, next Tuesday.

Michigan presents Sanders' best shot to change the trajectory of the race, according to Matt Grossman, a political scientist at Michigan State University, given the senator's 50%-48% victory over Clinton there four years ago and the demographics of the state.

"He's going to be expected to have a good showing," Grossman said. "And I think because he won last time and this is a general election swing state that it will be the main story, and the expectation is Sanders needs to win."

Grossman said two factors could hurt Sanders' chances  the lack of a competitive Republican primary that attracted some potential Clinton voters in 2016, and evidence that suggests Sanders is doing worse among white working-class voters than in 2016 but better among Latino voters. He called that a "bad trade in Michigan."

"If the election were held today, (Biden's) certainly the favorite (in Michigan)," Grossman said. "However, seven days, as we just learned this last week, is a long time. So there is still an opportunity for Sanders to shift the narrative."

Biden's big night came thanks to last-minute voters coalescing around his campaign after his blowout win in South Carolina on Saturday that solidified him as the main challenger to Sanders. It brought exits and endorsements from Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, as well as Rep. Beto O'Rourke. D-Texas, a onetime presidential contender.

The former vice president dominated among Democrats who voted on Election Day rather than early. He won Massachusetts, Minnesota and Maine where he didn't have organized campaigns, never visited and ran no television ads. Particularly troubling for Sanders: He lost three states  Minnesota, Oklahoma and Maine  that he carried in the 2016 primary.

Above all, it was Biden's strength among African Americans  the most reliable constituency in the Democratic coalition  that gave him landslide wins in South Carolina, then Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. He won more than 60% of votes from African Americans, exit polls found.

After falling far short with black voters against Clinton in 2016, Sanders tried to make inroads in the African American community. But Biden's commanding wins demonstrated a personal political brand  one tied to his association with Barack Obama  that was underestimated in the news media.

Sanders: A race about 'which side are you on?'

Sanders has an enormous campaign war chest, the product of an unmatched grassroots fundraising machine, to mount a campaign for the long haul. He has an enthusiastic base of young voters and liberals in his corner.

But after winning popular votes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, Sanders hoped for a big win in delegate-rich Texas and a landslide in the biggest draw, California, where his campaign invested enormous resources. He ending up losing Texas to Biden and won California but led by less than 10 percentage points.

From his campaign headquarters in Vermont, Sanders said Wednesday, "What this campaign is increasingly about is, which side are you on?" He described his campaign as an unprecedented operation powered by everyday people and Biden's as one bankrolled by the "corporate world." Despite trailing Biden in delegates, he said he and Biden go forward "neck-and-neck."

Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, take the stage during a Super Tuesday rally at the Champlain Valley Expo March 3 in Essex Junction, Vt.

His remarks echoed his election night speech in which he looked ahead despite his disappointing Super Tuesday, insisting he has "absolute confidence" he will win the nomination. He doubled down on his lines of attack against Biden.

Sanders slammed Biden's vote for the Iraq War, efforts to cut Social Security and other social programs, support of NAFTA, views on health care and taking campaign contributions from 60 billionaires.

"Does anyone seriously believe that a president backed by the corporate world is going to bring about the changes in this country that working families and the middle class and lower-income people desperately need?" Sanders said.

Asked whether he has to win Michigan, Sanders said his campaign is going in with the "expectation and hope" he will win: "Michigan is obviously an enormously important state, a state I feel very comfortable in." He said Biden's support of trade agreements such as NAFTA will be among the issues he pushes in Michigan.

In contrast, Biden signaled where he intends to exert most of his attention  President Donald Trump.

Biden made only a couple of clear references to Sanders during his speech to supporters in California. He said the party needs "a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat" as the nominee.

"People are talking about a revolution. We started a movement," Biden said in another dig at Sanders. "We've increased turnout. The turnout turned out for us! That can take us to a moment where we can do extraordinary, extraordinary things."

He framed himself as the candidate who can not only beat Trump but win Democratic control of the House and take back the Senate. He said the next president has to unite the country. Though Democrats must beat Trump, he said, they can't "become like him."

"We need a president who can fight," he said. "Make no mistake I can fight  but we need as badly someone who can heal."

Reach Joey Garrison and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Super Tuesday: Bernie Sanders faces tough road now trailing Joe Biden
Salman Khans much-awaited film Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is in the production stage at the moment and the next sequence in the shooting schedule was to be filmed in Thailand. As per reports, the film had some action thriller scenes to be shot in some well-known locations across Thailand.

However, in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the filming locations pose a threat to the health of the cast and crew. Thus, the shoot stands canceled until further updates from the production company.

Salman Khan starrer 'Radhe' shoot canceled in Thailand due to coronavirus outbreak

Salman Khans Radhe will be out in the theatres on Eid 2020. Reportedly, the movie has Disha Patani in the lead role. A picture of the Muhurat Puja (marking the beginning) of the production was also shared on Disha Patanis Instagram. However, further filming has been reportedly canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. As per reports, Thailand health officials have reported one fatality out of the 47 coronavirus positive patients.

Also Read | Salman Khan Clears Air On Radhe Being A Sequel Of His 2009 Eid Release Wanted

A spokesperson revealed that they do not want to risk the health of the cast and crew by getting in close proximity to regions affected with the coronavirus. As per reports, the filming and other production activities will be continued in locations around Mumbai.

Salman Khan has urged fans through his social media to take adequate safety precautions. He asked his fans to use Namaste, Salaam as greeting gestures to avoid any unwanted contact.

Salman Khan 's message for fans amid coronavirus outbreak

Also Read | Disha Patani And Her Crew Chant "Radhe Radhe" In This Fun BTS Video

Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is a crime action drama helmed by Prabhu Deva. Radhe will be released on Eid this year, clashing with another big banner film -- Akshay Kumars horror thriller Laxmmi Bomb. Radhe will also star Randeep Hooda and Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles.

Also Read | Salman Khan Wishes To Bring Chulbul Pandey, Kick's Devil & Radhe Together In One Frame

Also Read | Is Disha Patani Worried About Being Overshadowed By Radhe Co-star Salman Khan?

Salman Khan starrer Radhe's Thailand shoot cancelled amid coronavirus outbreak

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.
She launched her own swimwear brand, GAL Floripa, last year.

And Alessandra Ambrosio was her own best advertisement as she hit the beach for a swimwear photo shoot Riviera Maya, Mexico on Wednesday afternoon.

The model, 38, flaunted her incredible physique in a white one-piece with a sexy plunging neckline teamed with an open brown jacket.

Wow! Alessandra Ambrosio was back doing what she does best as she hit the beach for a swimwear photo shoot Riviera Maya, Mexico on Wednesday afternoon

The brunette beauty wore her locks swept up into a messy bun, while highlighting her striking good looks with a soft pallet of make-up.

Alessandra could be seeing practising her best poses and taking advice from her team, before slipping into another scanty ensemble.

The mother-of-two looked sensational in a striped top teamed with a pair of tiny chocolate brown bikini bottoms, while lounging on a wooden beach chair.

Smiley: Alessandra could be seeing practising her best poses and taking advice from her team, before slipping into another scanty ensemble

The inspiration behind the brand according to the website is the relationship between Alessandra and co-founders Gisele Coria and Aline Ambrosio.

During her hugely successful career she modelled for high-profile brands such as Armani exchange, Next, Christian Dior and Ralph Lauren.

Alessandra's former workplace, Victoria's Secret is in hot water over allegations of 'misogyny and harassment' at the lingerie company.

Sultry: The mother-of-two looked sensational in a striped top teamed with a pair of tiny chocolate brown bikini bottoms, while lounging on a wooden beach chair

The Model Alliance advocates for the protection of models and claims the 'culture of misogyny, bullying, and harassment' was 'even more egregious and more entrenched than previously understood.'

They've now written two open letters to CEO John Mehas; the second was published yesterday.

Signatories of the letter include catwalk stars such as Christy Turlington Burns, Iskra Lawrence, Edie Campbell, Amber Valletta and Felicity Hayward.

Hot water: Her outing comes as 100 other models signed an open letter to the CEO of Victoria's Secret accusing the company of fostering an environment of 'misogyny, bullying, and harassment' (L-R Models Lily Aldridge, Adriana Lima, Elsa Hosk, Alessandra and Taylor Hill in 2016)

Models who have worked with Victoria's Secret such as Karen Elson and Caitriona Balfe also co-signed the document.

Alessandra Ambrosio was not one of the 100 nor were many of the VS big wigs like Giselle, Miranda Kerr, Behati Prinsloo, Kendall Jenner or the Hadid sisters. Alessandra was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2004-2017.

On a personal front, the Brazilian beauty, who is dating Nicolo Oddi, is mother to two children from her 10-year relationship with fiance Jamie Mazur, they also share daughter Anja, 11.
One more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad in the national capital region, taking the total number in the country to 30 so far, official sources said on Thursday.

The patient is a middle-aged man with a recent travel history to Iran, they said.

Amid rising cases of coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels, stating cases of community transmission have been observed.

As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 30, including 16 Italian tourists. The figure includes the first three cases reported from Kerala last month who have already been discharged following recovery.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- After spending weeks cloistered in two different coronavirus quarantines, a Syracuse couple is finally home.

On Tuesday, Cheryl and Paul Molesky flew from Texas -- where theyve spent the past two weeks stuck in a quarantine -- back to Syracuse. Theyre now home, Cheryl Molesky said Wednesday afternoon, and working to call and catch up with their family and friends.

The Moleskys vacation was cut short last month after COVID-19, a deadly coronavirus, broke out on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan.

The couple -- along with their brother- and sister-in law, Pete and Cindy Molesky, of Rome -- spent close to two weeks quarantined in their cabins while the cruise ship was docked in Yokohama Bay, Japan.

After two weeks, the U.S. government flew the Moleskys and over 300 other Americans back to the United States. Half of the group was then put in a quarantine on the Lackland Air Force Base while the rest were taken to Travis Air Force Base in California.

The Moleskys, along with about 120 others, spent over two weeks at Lackland. They were finally released to return home Tuesday.

The couple chronicled their time in the two quarantines in a video diary on YouTube. Their videos have been viewed thousands of times.

COVID-19 has spread to at least 72 countries and sickened over 90,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. So far, at least 3,112 people have died.

Twelve people in Onondaga County are being quarantined at home after returning from China, the county announced Wednesday.

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.

Have a tip, a story idea or a comment? You can reach me at shouse@syracuse.com | text/call (315) 466-4160 | Twitter | Facebook
Washington: First Joe Biden won big on Super Tuesday. Then came his wonderful Wednesday.

The former vice-president's blessed run continued thanks to billionaire Michael Bloomberg's decision to drop out of the Democratic presidential race.

After spending more than $US500 million ($755 million) on political advertising, Bloomberg's presence on the ballot lasted just a single day. He didn't win a majority of delegates in any Super Tuesday state, although he did crush the competition in the far-flung territory of American Samoa (population 56,000).

Bloomberg's departure cements Biden, once and for all, as the only moderate candidate left in the Democratic race - and the clear favourite to take on Donald Trump in November.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 06:20 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20685738b 1 City Jakarta-traffic,ERP,electronic-road-pricing,procurements,tender,PTUN,lawsuit,Court Free

The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has ruled against the city administration in a lawsuit related to the procurement of the long-awaited electronic road pricing (ERP) system by ordering it to resume the ongoing tender process.

Governor Anies Baswedan halted the tender process in August last year because of alleged maladministration and he planned to start the process from square one.

This prompted a telecommunications infrastructure company, PT Bali Towerindo Sentra, which participated in the pre-bidding process, to file a lawsuit with the PTUN against the city administration in September last year, demanding the city revoke the cancellation.

The PTUN ruled in favor of the company on Tuesday.

[The court] grants the plaintiffs request for the administration, revoking a letter announcing the cancellation of the bidding process for the electronic road pricing system, presiding judge M. Arif Pratomo said in the ruling, as published on the courts website.

The bench also restricted the Jakarta administration from calling for new tenders rather than resuming the ongoing process.

"The defendant is prohibited from taking any actions [] that could cause loss for the plaintiff, such as reopening tenders for the electronic road pricing system," according to the ruling.

Read also: Despite numerous delays, ERP still feasible: Expert

Jakarta Legal Bureau head Yayan Yuhana refused to comment on the ruling. "I haven't read the verdict. I haven't updated [my information]," she said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The ERP system was first proposed to the administration in May 2005 to overcome acute traffic problems in the capital. Then-governor Sutiyoso said in 2007 the system would be a suitable replacement for the three-in-one car-sharing practice, which was deemed ineffective for easing congestion.

The system, however, had experienced several setbacks over the decade because of multiple changes to provincial leadership.

Governor Anies consulted with the Attorney Generals Office (AGO), asking for a legal opinion on alleged maladministration during the tender process. The AGO recommended the city administration cancel the bidding on the grounds that the mechanism in the tender process is not in accord with requirements.

Two firms that received prequalification as potential vendors, Norwegian Q-Free and Swedish KapschTrafficCom, withdrew from the tendering, leaving one Indonesian company, PT Bali Towerindo Sentra, the only remaining potential vendor. The foreign firms supplied ERP technology during a trial in 2014.

At the time, Q-Free said in a statement that its decision to withdraw "is a consequence of the continued uncertainty regarding the tendering timeline, project structure and financing and project profitability". (nal)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Defense of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili.

The development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia in various fields, including in a military one was hailed at the meeting.

The sides emphasized the importance of key energy projects the two countries are jointly involved in. The significance of the successful realization of the Southern Gas Corridor was also underlined at the meeting.

The sides noted that the economic cooperation and investment making between Azerbaijan and Georgia contribute to the development of bilateral relations.
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Linkedin Lim Jang-won (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network)  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:42 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20687b208 2 Entertainment seungri,K-pop,#KPop,Big-Bang,military-service Free

Seungri, formerly of boy band Big Bang, will begin his mandatory military service on Monday.

According to reports, Seungri will go through a five-week training program at the 6th Infantry Division in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province. This is the same training facility bandmate Taeyang began his enlistment at in March 2018. Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, enlistment ceremonies have been suspended until further notice.

Some of Seungris close associates posted pictures of what seemed to be Seungris farewell party. DJ Glory of the label Natural High Records, of which Seungri was the head, posted on his Instagram Story a cake with 18 in candles, posting Cheer up for 18 months. A photo of Seungri saluting also went online.

Seungri was sent a notification of his mandatory service on Feb. 4, amidst an ongoing trial on several charges, including overseas gambling and arranging prostitution. The ongoing trial will be handed over to the military court system.

We will work with the Prosecutors Office to have a fair and consistent trial. We will consider civil court results and progress in the case in conducting the trial, the Military Manpower Administration had said in February.

Seungri will serve 18 months and seven days, with his discharge slated for Sept. 16, 2021.

Topics :

This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
Approximately 250, mostly students, listened as panelists Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, former RNC chairman Michael Steele, former DNC chairman and Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, Cook Political Reports Amy Walter, and Brunswick Group partners Patti Solis Doyle and Jonathan Burks dished on the Democratic primaries and the possibility of unseating Donald Trump.

The press is no longer the gatekeeper, said Haberman. We are just covering whats in front of us and the voters are going to do what theyre going to do with it.

The panel agreed that the power of national parties and the media are being challenged by new technologies that allow politicians to take their case directly to the people.

(L to R) Mo Elleithee, GU Politics Executive Director - Moderator; Jonathan Burks, Brunswick Group Partner, former GU Politics Fellow; Patti Solis Doyle, Brunswick Group Partner; Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.), former Governor of Virginia; Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee Chairman; Maggie Haberman, New York Times White House Correspondent; Amy Walter, Cook Political Report National Editor

Politics has changed, said Solis Doyle. The way we measure politics, the metrics by which we measure, thats different. We cant measure accurately anymore. The way we receive information has changed; the way we disseminate information has changed.

Solis Doyle, a veteran presidential campaign strategist, and Burks, former chief of staff to Speaker Paul Ryan, are recent additions to Brunswicks D.C. office.

The Road to 2020 discussion was held Feb. 26 at Georgetown University's Copley Formal Lounge. Brunswick partnered on the event with the school's Institute of Politics and Public Service.

A recording is available here.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

The government has approved the State Bank of India's (SBI) plan to lead a consortium and purchase stake in Yes Bank, Bloomberg reported.

SBI has also been given the green signal to choose members of the consortium, sources told the news agency.

The announcement is expected soon, the report added.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Representatives for Yes Bank and SBI have not yet responded to BloombergQuint's requests for a comment.

Yes Bank had in September 2019 announced a $2 billion capital raising plan.

Shares of Yes Bank jumped 17 percent following the report, while SBI's shares fell 5 percent.

Commenting on the development, former Indian Banks' Association (IBA) chief executive VG Kannan told CNBC-TV18 that the stake purchase by SBI should not be seen as an acquisition but rather an investment. Banking regulators won't allow substantial stake acquisition in another bank, he added.

In January 2020, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar had said I have a feeling that it (Yes Bank) will not be allowed to fail.

The exchanges had sought a clarification from SBI and Yes Bank in the matter and the following is the response from the banks:

Yes Bank: "In the said matter, we would like to clarify that as on date, the Bank has not received any such communication from RBI or any other the Government or Regulatory authorities or from the SBI and we are unaware of any such decision."

SBI: "We will abide by the timelines under Regulation 30 of SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015 in disclosing the developments, if any in the matter to Stock Exchanges.

This copy has been updated with the banks' response to the exchange
Public gatherings to celebrate Holi are being cancelled across Noida and Greater Noida amid coronavirus scare in the region, resident welfare associations (RWAs) said on Thursday.

The Associations have cancelled scheduled programmes, joint lunches and celebration events like rain dance that was expected to be attended by thousands across Noida, Greater Noida and Greater Noida (West), alias Noida Extension.

"We have cancelled Kavi Sammelan (poetic symposium) and Holi Milan (Holi gathering) programmes scheduled for March 7. This has been done based on recommendations from health care experts who have suggested that mass gatherings should be avoided," said K K Jain, general secretary of the Federation of Noida RWAs (FONRWA).

Jain said 110 RWAs are attached with the FONRWA at present and around 5,000 people were expected to attend the programme.

Rajeev Singh, president of the Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Association (NOFAA), said they too have cancelled major Holi celebration programmes as people got more worried about the coronavirus.

"Earlier it was a wait and watch situation but eventually we had to cancel events. We had planned rain dance, water-filled rubber pools for exciting celebration of the festival. There was also a joint lunch planned for our members but all that stands cancelled now," Singh told PTI.

He said the NOFAA has 71 apartment owners association as its members and each society has an average of 200-250 flats.

"On a conservative estimate, we have over 50,000 people that are members of the NOFAA and we were expecting a huge gathering. But people are increasingly growing worried about the coronavirus outbreak and we have respected their feelings and decided not to hold these events," Singh added.

In Greater Noida (West), the Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA) announced the cancellation of a mass gathering it had planned to celebrate Holi.

"As a responsible association, we have decided to cancel the events for which we worked hard. But since it is not advisable for people to gather at one place due to the coronavirus, we have decided to cancel it as of now," said Abhishek Kumar of NEFOWA, which has around 50,000 members.

So far nobody has tested positive for the COVID 19 in Noida but samples of at least 55 people were sent for examination till Wednesday. These samples included three children and three adults who had come in contact with an infected man based in Delhi who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Thursday also clarified that no orders were issued for closing down schools and appealed to the people to not panic.

A man from neighbouring Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has also tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of such cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has signed a Rs 1,200 crore deal with the US for buying anti-missile protection suites for the two new Boeing 777 VVIP planes that will be used to ferry the President and the Prime Minister

New Delhi: India has signed a Rs 1,200 crore deal with the United States for buying protection suites to protect the two new Boeing VVIP planes from missile attacks that will be used to ferry the President and the Prime Minister.

"The missile protection suites on the two Boeing-777 extended range planes to be codenamed 'Air Force One' would provide it the capability to fend off any missile attacks," government sources told ANI.

The foreign military sales deal between the two governments was signed around the two-day visit of US president Donald Trump to India, sources said.

The self-protection suites for the Indian planes include infrared and electronic warfare countermeasures suites, countermeasure dispensing systems, and missile warning sensors.

The two planes are expected to arrive in India by the middle of next year to begin the VVIP duties.

Indian Air Force officials have made several visits to the Boeing facility where they get regularly briefed about the facilities being created in the aircraft and the progress made in this regard.

Due to the presence of the sophisticated equipment including missile protection suites and ownership by the Indian Air Force, the planes will have military classification. The ownership of the planes was earlier with Air India, which was maintaining the VVIP fleet using four Boeing 747 planes.

The sale of the sophisticated suites to India was cleared last by the American administration and their Defence Security Cooperation Agency has said the missile defence system deal would facilitate a more robust capability into areas of increased missile threats on the planes.

During the visit by President Trump, India and the US had signed deals for the 24 MH60 Romeo multirole helicopters for the Navy and six new Apache attack choppers for the Army. (ANI)
The leaders of Turkey and Russia met in Moscow on Thursday in a bid to ease tensions that have threatened to bring their two countries into direct conflict in Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would be looking for Russia's Vladimir Putin to agree to a rapid ceasefire in Idlib, the northwestern province of Syria where Ankara is battling Moscow-backed regime forces.

Intense fighting has killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in Idlib in recent weeks, as Ankara for the first time launched a direct offensive against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

At the start of the talks, which were still underway at 1430 GMT, Putin expressed his regret over the recent killing of Turkish troops in an air strike, saying the Syrian army had not known of their location. He said he hoped their talks would help avoid a repeat of that situation.

Erdogan upped the stakes last week, demanding Europe support his efforts in Syria and prompting a new migration crisis by opening Turkey's border with Greece to refugees and migrants.

[I hope] there will be a ceasefire swiftly established in Idlib, Erdogan said Wednesday ahead of the talks.

Ankara wants Assad's forces to cease an assault on Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria, and pull back behind lines agreed under a 2018 deal with Russia brokered in Sochi.

Turkey has long backed certain rebel groups against Assad, but its priority now is to stop another influx of refugees, as close to a million civilians in Idlib have been displaced by the regime's latest assault.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the two leaders would discuss the causes and effects of the crisis and joint measures they could agree to defuse it.

But Moscow  which launched an air campaign in support of Assad in 2015  will be keen to send a message that Turkey cannot stand in the way of Syria eventually retaking full control of its territory.

There might be a ceasefire announced after the talks between Putin and Erdogan but it'll be for show, a Western diplomat told AFP.

Story continues

I believe Putin will tell Erdogan that's it for his actions in Syria.

Trading accusations

The Kremlin sees Russia's campaign in Syria as a key victory of Putin's foreign policy, with clout and military bases in the country that establish Moscow as a major player in the Middle East.

Experts say Putin is not looking for a full confrontation with NATO member Turkey but also will not back down.

Victory in Syria has become a matter of prestige for Russia  and for Putin personally, said Yury Barmin, a Middle East analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council.

Despite supporting opposing sides in the war, Russia and Turkey have worked closely to try to resolve the nine-year conflict and avoid direct confrontation between their forces.

But that relationship has been strained in recent days, with the two sides trading accusations of violating the Sochi deal, which created a buffer zone and allowed for the deployment of 12 Turkish observation posts.

Ankara says Russia is not fulfilling part of the deal that guaranteed no attacks on Idlib and the status quo on the ground.

Moscow says Turkey is violating the deal by supporting illegal armed groups and has accused Turkish forces of mingling with terrorists who are legitimate targets.

In the latest salvo on Wednesday, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the fortified positions of terrorists have merged with the Turkish observation posts deployed under the Sochi deal.

Migrants mass on border

Turkey said Wednesday that at least two more Turkish soldiers had been killed in Idlib, after 34 died in an air strike last week blamed on Damascus.

Turkey officially declared an operation against the Assad regime over the weekend, named Spring Shield.

It has since downed three Syrian warplanes and killed dozens of regime soldiers and allied fighters  mostly through drone strikes  according to monitors.

Erdogan warned Europe on Wednesday that it must support Turkey's political and humanitarian solutions in Syria if it wants to avoid a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis.

Thousands of migrants have massed at the Turkish-Greek border since Erdogan gave them the green light to try to enter Europe, leading to clashes with Greek police.

Turkey hosts some four million refugees, most of them Syrians but also many Afghans and Iraqis, and Erdogan's move has sparked concern in Europe of a renewed influx of migrants.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Fittingly for a region where maladies flourish, everyone in Latin America seems to have a remedy for the spread of the coronavirus. A Venezuelan lawmaker recommends pepper and honey with a twist of lemon. Other sois disant healers swear by avocado tea with mint. For the Global Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, an evangelical order in southern Brazil, theres no prophylactic like the power of God.

All the better for coronavirus, which thrives amid crowd-sourced misinformation. The Brazilian health ministry, encouragingly, launched a website to dispel such charlatanism, while the Chilean fact-checking outfit El Poligrafo has taken aim at the fast spreading fakery.

Since Covid-19 surfaced in Latin America in January, the effects have so far been mild. As of March 4, there were three confirmed cases in Brazil, five in Mexico, 10 in Ecuador and a handful elsewhere in the region, none of them fatal. Several hundred other suspected cases are under investigation. Its a cold. Well get past this, Brazilian health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said recently, presumably to steady public nerves.

Yet underplaying the menace to a region known for precarious health care, a rash of red tape and markets tied umbilically to the wobbling global economy is also misguided. Signs of economic setback already abound. Analysts reckon the virus and its knock-on effects will weigh on already wan regional prospects. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the seventh straight year of torpid growth for Latin America and the Caribbean. Goldman Sachs just downgraded its projections for Brazilian growth this year from 2.2% to 1.5% and from 1% to 0.6% in Mexico.

The fallout for public health is likely to be worse. Coronavirus is just the latest arrival among a host of pathogens against which most regional officials are already overmatched. As Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, recently warned. [T]he impact on health services may be significant with the possibility that health services may become overwhelmed, including high demand for specialized hospital services such as intensive care.

Story continues

Latin Americas biggest country is a test case. Brazil is no stranger to debilitating diseases. Its highly trained researchers and clinicians are accustomed to identifying and treating emerging contagions, including devastating mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika*, chikungunya and four strains of dengue, plus resurgent yellow fever. Within 48 hours of the first confirmed coronavirus infection, Brazilian scientists had sequenced the genome of the strain carried by the stricken patient.

Yet even as officials scramble to respond to a possible new outbreak, old scourges rage and many of them, sadly, no longer seem to galvanize public attention. Brazil has a pile-up of health problems, from dengue fever to resurgent measles. Now comes coronavirus, and we are obliged to redirect resources, which are already thinly spread, says Ligia Bahia, a physician who teaches public health at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil led a spike in dengue infections across the region last year, reporting more than 2.2 million reported cases (70% of the Latin American total), 789 of them fatal. More than 94,000 cases new cases were reported in just the first five weeks of 2020. Whats worse, this years offending serotype has been out of circulation since the mid- to late-2000s, leaving a generation of Brazilians with no prior exposure suddenly vulnerable.

HIV has also made a comeback, led by youths who  thanks ironically to past medical advances  no longer fear dying and cant be bothered with condoms. After pioneering treatment with antiretroviral medications through the 2000s, Brazil saw the number of new infections surge 21% from 2010 to 2018, even as the disease retreated across Latin America. Add to those miseries the federal governments faith-based health dictums which preach that the best prophylaxis is chastity  a doctrine the managing obscurantists drove home last December by firing the health ministrys foremost expert on sexually transmitted diseases lest her initiatives offend families.

Brazil eradicated endemic measles in 2015. Now its back, imported by desperate refugees trying to escape the imploding Venezuelan economy, but also enhanced by a new anti-vaccine movement which has weakened protection. Measles killed 14 people last year and claimed its first victim in 2020 in Sao Paulo last month.

Urban disarray further weakens Brazils defenses. About 100 million Brazilians (48% of the national population) live in homes with no sewage collection, the Rio de Janeiro consultancy Inter.B found. Unsurprisingly, from 2016 to 2017, more than a third (34.7%) of the countrys 5,570 townships were afflicted by sanitation-related epidemics or preventable illnesses such as intestinal worms and chronic diarrhea, the study reported.

Brazil is regressing in public health, said Inter.B president Claudio Frischtak, a former World Bank economist and specialist in public policy. We have approximately seven million substandard homes, 28% of the total, jumbled in cramped, high-density urban areas with a lack of basic public services, a perfect ecosystem for transmittable disease.

By rights, Brazil ought to be well placed to manage even the most daunting health emergency. The sick and injured may be whisked to public hospitals and treated free of charge under the vaunted universal health care system, called the Unified Health System (SUS). In practice, its a logistical and managerial nightmare, plagued by scarce resources and epic queues. Patients frequently languish and sometimes die of treatable ailments while awaiting care in the emergency room.

SUS is a brilliant system that Brazilians should be proud of, but its overburdened, said Denise Garrett, a Brazilian physician and vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute. People cannot rely only on public health infrastructure, she said, but must know how to protect themselves, avoid unnecessary exposure (so much for the famous Brazilian double-kiss greeting), and work from home when ill, which is not a custom in the Brazilian labor market.

When the system is overloaded, everything becomes more difficult. Especially when all the science points to the probability that this disease is not a one-off, but will likely continue to circulate, Garrett said. We are going to see this problem come and go.

Nothing could be more inviting for a new contagion. We are dealing with a lot of unknowns all at once, said Frischtak. In theory, our health system is equipped to deal with an outbreak, but how it would unfold is still very abstract. What is our real capacity to deal with a great number of patients all at once, and how will the population react in an emergency? We need to count on a lot of luck.

Luck and a steady supply of hand sanitizer, which thanks to rippling panic is as scarce these days as miracle elixirs and prayers are abundant.

To contact the author of this story: Mac Margolis at mmargolis14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gibney at jgibney5@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Mac Margolis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin and South America. He was a reporter for Newsweek and is the author of The Last New World: The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Hong Kong authorities have warned people to avoid kissing their pets, so as to avoid the risk of contracting Covid-19 (coronavirus).

The Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department issued the advisory days after a dog and its owner tested positive for the virus.

The authorities, however, cautioned the public and those with pets not to panic and abandon them.

The dog had repeatedly tested weak positive for coronavirus after its owner was infected with Covid-19. But the dog itself was not showing symptoms, authorities said.

Experts at the animal agency had unanimously agreed the results suggested the dog had a low-level of infection and it is likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission.

Unknown pattern

The pattern of spread of the new coronavirus outbreak is still under research as there is yet no concrete information about the disease.

The pattern of transmission has been suspected to be from a species of bats to humans, and human to human.

Meanwhile, medical experts, including those from the World Health Organization (WHO), have been investigating the case to determine if the dog was actually infected or had picked it up from a contaminated surface.

Pet

The UN health agency had earlier said while debunking myths around the disease that there is no evidence that animals like dogs or cats can be infected with coronavirus.

While this is the first pet/dog reported with a trace of the disease, the dog has been quarantined for further observation.

While the information tells us that the dog has a low-level of infection members of the public should note that the dog is showing no symptoms whatsoever. We have been informed that the dog is currently very healthy and doing well at the quarantine centre, the authorities said.

The animal was first tested on February 26 and showed low levels of the virus the following day. Tests were repeated on February 28 and March 2, returning weak positive results.

It was in quarantine and would continue to be tested until it returned a negative result, and could be returned to its owner, the department said.

The world organisation for animal health also emphasised there was no evidence pets spread the disease, or even get sick themselves.

There is no justification in taking measures against companion animals which may compromise their welfare, it said.

However, Hong Kongs department of agriculture said, Pet owners need not be overly concerned and under no circumstances should they abandon their pets. 

Hong Kong is one of the countries with early cases of the outbreak, imported from the mother country, China. About 103 people have so far been infected with Covid-19 and thousands are in self-quarantine.

The authorities advised pet owners to adopt good hygiene practices (including handwashing before and after being around or handling animals, their food, or supplies, as well as avoiding kissing them) and to maintain a clean and hygienic household environment.
Gardai are investigating reports of a suspicious approach towards a male teenager in Castleconnell, Co Limerick.

Specially trained gardai have been speaking to the 16-year old male who reported the matter two weeks ago, after informing his mother.

The mother, who said she did not wish to be identified, said her son was walking a very short distance from his home to a friends house in the village on February 23, when he was warned by a group of local youths that a man was acting suspiciously in the area.

It was a Sunday evening, two weeks ago, around 7pm, my 16-year old, 6 ft 1 inch tall rugby-playing son was walking up the hill in Castleconnell, and this purple jeep pulled up beside him, and a man rolled down the window and he said, your mam has been in an accident and I got a phone call to come and collect you, the woman explained.

So my son said to him, Ive just been with my mam and shes fine, and the man drove off down the street.

I called gardai and they sent two lovely officers out to us and they sat with my son and spoke to him and asked him had he any description of the man and the vehicle.

The woman said her son described the man as being in his late 50s, of heavy build, with a rural accent, dark curly hair.

It is not known if there was anyone else in the vehicle at the time.

Detectives have visited premises and homes in the village to harvest CCTV footage in the hope it may yield useful footage.

The woman warned other parents to be vigilant and to remind their children, no matter how old of the potential dangers of walking alone.

A garda spokesman confirmed an investigation was underway into the alleged incident.

Gardai are investigating a report of a suspicious approach to a male youth (16 years) that is reported to have occurred in the Castle Court area of Castleconnell, Limerick, on February 23 at approximately 7pm, said the spokesman.

Anyone who may have information in relation to this alleged incident can contact Castleconnell Garda Station on 061 377 105."

No other offence occurred and enquiries are ongoing.
Egizbaev was a dogged investigator who reported on corruption cases in government, the Customs Service, various ministries, public-land distribution, and even a scheme at local cemeteries.



Just weeks before his death, Egizbaev received the Golden Pen award from Kyrgyzstan's Independent Union of Journalists.



In February 2018, he documented a $100 million corruption scandal that caused a newly modernized thermal power plant in Bishkek to break down during the coldest spell of the winter -- leaving many residents of the capital without heat or electricity for days.



In 2016, a video produced by Egizbaev and RFE/RL's Mykola Nemchenko won the prestigious Webby People's Voice Award given out by the New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS).



The video told the story of a disabled teenager's daily trip to school in a wheelchair along a rugged path and his elation when a local NGO gave him an all-terrain vehicle that he could operate himself to make the journey.



The Investigative Journalism Foundation, created in tribute to Egizbaev, established an annual prize in his name for the best journalistic investigation in Kyrgyzstan.
By Trend





Azerbaijan has all financial and technical capabilities and human resources to fight coronavirus, said Ibadulla Agayev, the chief epidemiologist of the Health Ministry.

He made the remarks at a conference dedicated to coronavirus at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Trend reports.

Talking about the work to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Azerbaijan, Agayev said that the work of the Republican Center for Control of Particularly Dangerous Infections in this direction was highly appreciated by foreign experts.

Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Academician Irada Huseynova said that this event was organized on the initiative of the President of the Academy, Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev. She spoke about the proactive measures taken by the state to prevent the spread of the disease.

Huseynova gave detailed information about viruses, their origin, occurrence and spread, as well as the fight against infectious diseases.

According to her, 93,574 people were infected with the COV?D-19 coronavirus in 81 countries.
Two Bay Area schools have announced that they are closed for the rest of the week due to concerns that staff members may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus.

San Jose's Action Day Primary Plus announced in a letter to parents Thursday that its Moorpark campus would close until Monday out of caution after a teacher at the school tested positive for the virus.

The teacher has not been at work since Feb. 26 and continues to receive medical care, according to a spokeswoman for the school.

"Out of an abundance of caution, and for the safety and well-being of our community, we have closed our Moorpark facility for the remainder of the week to conduct a deep cleaning," school site supervisor and senior director Jenna Valadao said in a statement. "We have been, and will continue to be, in close contact with the Santa Clara County (Public Health Department). Our other nine facilities are not currently impacted and remain open to students and staff."

The Oakland Unified School District's superintendent's office also announced Wednesday that Aspire Monarch Academy will close Thursday and Friday to determine the risk factor of a teacher who may have been exposed to the virus.

The exposure has yet to be confirmed but the school "elected to take a conservative approach," according to the district.

District officials also said they are preparing contingency plans depending on the recommendations from local public health officials, including potentially canceling large gatherings, extracurricular gatherings, field trips and temporarily closing a school or multiple schools. Public health officials have not advised the district to take such steps, to this point.

Santa Clara County public health officials have confirmed 11 cases of novel coronavirus. Alameda County has seen at least one confirmed case of the virus, to date, in Berkeley.

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.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on March 5 reportedly said that the nation will quarantine all passengers from China and South Korea in a bid to contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. According to an international media outlet, the measure will take effect on March 9 and last through March 31. While speaking to a Japanese media outlet, Abe said that the visas that have already been issued to people from the two countries will be further suspended.

Shinzo Abe said, We will strengthen immigration quarantines on people from the two countries. We will ask them to stay in designated areas for two weeks and not to use public transport.

As per reports, the Japanese government is also considering an entry ban on visitors from parts of South Korea and Iran. China, the epicentre of coronavirus, has by far the largest number of infections and South Korea and Iran, on the other hand, has also seen a surge in recent days. The number of confirmed cases in Japan has reportedly reached 331 with six deaths.

READ: Facebook Closes Seattle Office After One Of Its Workers Tested Postive For Coronavirus

READ: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, TDP MP Questions Parliament On Impact Of Virus On Economy

Death toll worldwide surpasses 3,000

Governments worldwide have stepped up efforts to halt the spread of the virus. Several countries including the Philippines and Hong Kong have also scrambled to seal their borders with South Korea as a containment measure to restrict South Korean travellers. The Philippines imposed restrictions on travellers from South Korea and barred Filipinos from touring to the East Asian nations amid the outbreak, confirmed media reports.

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across more than 70 countries since December 2019. As per reports, the total number of confirmed cases within China has reportedly hit nearly 80,000 and more than 96,000 worldwide. According to reports, the death toll in China has also surpassed 3,000 and the National Health Commission also confirmed more than 160 new cases. The death toll due to the deadly virus across the world also mounted to 3,304.

(With PTI inputs)

READ: Now, Rajasthan MP Seeks Probe On 'whether Coronavirus Originated From Sonia Gandhi's Home'

READ: Final Rites Of Kerala Man Who Tested Negative For Coronavirus Held With Safety Precautions
"Scooter clutter" has been a concern amplified by media reports in urban areas where micromobility has entered the landscape, with large numbers of dockless scooters and shared e-bikes on city streets and sidewalks. But a recent study finds that motor vehicles are still the main offender by far when it comes to blocking access by other travelers.

Research co-authored by Nicholas Klein, assistant professor of city and regional planning at Cornell University, offers data on the impacts of scooters and bikeshare vehicles in five American cities.

The research is translatable and replicable, to help inform cities' efforts in reimagining public streets and sidewalks. Some cities are considering new parking regulations and seeking other planning and policy solutions for these shared scooters and bikes, which have been introduced to more than 100 cities since 2018.

A paper, published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, investigated scooter, bike and car parking behavior in Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco and Santa Monica, California; and Washington, D.C. The research was led by Anne Brown of the University of Oregon School of Planning, Public Policy and Management.

Researchers collected 3,666 observations of e-scooters, bikes, motor vehicles and "sidewalk objects" such as sandwich boards. Research assistants recorded parking behavior on both sides of a busy commercial corridor for three days, eight hours each day. They observed parked cars, scooters and bicycles, as well as sidewalk furniture including advertising, construction materials and sidewalk-mounted elevator or stair-access doors.

The study found that parking noncompliance rates across the five cities were far higher for motor vehicles (24.7% of 2,631 motor vehicles observed) than for micromobility vehicles (0.8% of 865 scooter and bike observations).

Food delivery and ride-hailing vehicles accounted for a disproportionate number of improper parking incidents impeding access or mobility for other travelers, Klein said. Most of these violations occurred while dropping off or picking up people or food, including double parking, occupying "No Parking" or restricted areas and blocking driveways.

The findings suggest that the presence of micromobility companies and other technology-enabled transportation services should motivate cities to rethink their parking policies, the researchers said.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  A federal jury in New Mexico has convicted a Minnesota man accused of impersonating a U.S. Border Patrol agent last year.

Prosecutors say 45-year-old James Christopher Benvie of Albany was found guilty Tuesday of two counts and faces up to three years in prison on each count.

His sentencing date hasnt been set yet.

According to public court records and evidence at trial, Benvie was a leader and spokesperson for a group of vigilantes who established a camp at the Southwest border in New Mexicos Dona Ana County.

Many members of the group wore badges, camouflage and other military-style clothing, often covered their faces with masks and carried pistols and assault rifles.

Prosecutors say Benvie misrepresented himself as a Border Patrol agent when stopping immigrants he suspected of crossing into the United States illegally.

Prosecutors say Benvie and other group members stopped six women and children from El Salvador last April 15 and four adults and three children two days later without any legitimate law enforcement authority.

They say Benvie interrogated the immigrants both times before turning them over to actual Border Patrol agents.
Washington: Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her "plan for everything" and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans.

The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldn't win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

The person wasn't authorised to speak about Warren's intentions and talked to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Warren's exit extinguished hopes that Democrats would get another try at putting a woman up against President Donald Trump.

Warren said she was not ready to endorse either of the remaining candidates -- Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders.

"Not today," Warren told reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when asked if she was ready to endorse fellow progressive Sanders or the moderate Biden. "We don't have to decide that this minute," she said. "I want to take a little time to think a little more."

For much of the past year, the Massachusetts senator's campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. She was squeezed out, though, by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance.

Warren never finished higher than third in the first four states and was routed on Super Tuesday, failing to win any of the 14 states voting and placing an embarrassing third in Massachusetts, behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sanders.

Her exit from the race following Senator Amy Klobuchar's departure leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. It was an unexpected twist for a party that had used the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, just two years ago.

Warren's campaign began with enormous promise that she could carry that momentum into the presidential race. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan's Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

She had a compelling message, calling for structural change to the American political system to reorder the nation's economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2 per cent wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than $50 million that prompted chants of Two cents! Two cents!" at rallies across the country.

Warren, 70, began her White House bid polling near the back of an impossibly crowded field, used wonky policy prowess to rocket to front-runner status by the fall, then saw her support evaporate almost as quickly. Her candidacy appeared seriously damaged almost before it started after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry.

Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didn't stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as Pocahontas."

Warren also lost her finance director over her refusal to attend large fundraisers, long considered the financial life blood of national campaigns. Still, she distinguished herself by releasing dozens of detailed proposals on all sorts of policies from cancelling college debt to protecting oceans to containing the coronavirus.

Warren also was able to build an impressive campaign war chest relying on mostly small donations that poured in from across the country -- erasing the deficit created by refusing to court big, traditional donors.

As her polling began improving through the summer. Warren appeared to further hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, weren't ambitious enough to roll back Trump's policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling.

And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the U.S. House in 2018.

But Warren couldn't consolidate the support of the Democratic Party's most liberal wing against the race's other top progressive, Sanders.

Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a Medicare for All program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the Green New Deal while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Warren's poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates when she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she'd have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All.

Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she'd work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years.

In the meantime, she said, many Americans could choose to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House.

After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldn't win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

(With inputs from AFP)
MOSCOW - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that "all the eyes of the world are turned to our meeting", referring to talks at the Kremlin between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the current crisis in Idlib, Syria.



"The situation in Idlib is very tense and I am certain that the decisions we make will serve to alleviate the tension," Erdogan said during a ceremonial greeting with Putin prior to the talks.



"Our relations have reached a peak, above all in the sectors of defence and trade, and they continue to develop. We believe we must make further progress in this sector," Erdogan said.



Putin expressed to Erdogan his "deepest condolences for the death of your troops in Syria", referring to "dozens" of Turkish soldiers who were killed in a Syrian airstrike because "no one knew they were there".



Putin said the crisis in the province of Idlib is "so serious" that direct talks are needed between the two leaders.



"The loss of human lives is always tragic," Putin said.



"Unfortunately, as I said earlier in a phone call, no one, including Syrian troops, knew about their position," he said.



He said he hopes relations between Russia and Turkey, important for both, aren't destroyed by the crisis in Idlib.
US military body armor will soon be fitted with sensors capable of detecting if the soldier has been exposed to a potentially harmful blast.

Each service member receives three gauges, one for the helmet, chest and shoulder, which light up to indicate if the wearer needs medical attention.

The sensors are designed to measure the blast overpressure wave, which is done in pounds per square inch (PSI) - one to four PSI is green, four to sixteen is yellow, and greater than sixteen is red.

Approximately 58 military units with 12 to 36 service personal have been given a total of 4,408 sets of B3G7 sensors (BlackBox Biometrics 7th generation blast gauges), Business Insider reported.

The program was developed in response to the January Iranian missile attack on the US in Iraq that left 110 US troops with mild traumatic brain injuries, however, initial reporters determined there were no injuries.

Scroll down for video

US military body armor will soon be fitted with sensors capable of detecting if the soldier has been exposed to a potentially harmful blast

Officials have been working on this project for about 20 months and is testing the technology a s part of the Combat in training Queryable exposure/Event Repository (CONQUER) program.

Kathy Lee, the special assistant for TBI matters for the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told reporters Wednesday: 'What these blast gauges read is the blast overpressure wave, which is measured in pounds per square inch or PSI.'

'So, we're getting PSI values from three different places on wearable sensors that the service member has.'

Blast pressure is the pressure caused by a shock wave, which is created from a sonic boom or explosion.

The sensors have three different alerts that light up after an explosive event  green, yellow and red.

Each service member receives three gauges, one for the helmet, chest and shoulder, which light up to indicate if the wearer has been involved in an incident

The sensors are designed to measure the blast overpressure wave, which is measured in pounds per square inch (PSI) - one to four PSI is green, four to sixteen is yellow, and greater than sixteen is red

When a soldier finds themselves involved in a blast the sensors will indicate if they may have been harmed in anyway.

One to four PSI is green, four to sixteen is yellow, and greater than sixteen is red.

The sensor, which is wireless, is charge via a small USB port and encased in an impact resistant casing.

Joseph Ludovici, the principal director for military community and family policy, told reporters at the Pentagon recently: 'It's three sensors that you can wear under your body armor that will detect whether you were exposed to a blast event.'

He continued to explain that symptoms are not always immediately presented, 'if your tracker shows that you were exposed to a blast event, then we're going ahead and evaluating those folks to see whether they have traumatic brain injury.'

The program was developed in response to the January Iranian missile attack on the US in Iraq that left 110 US troops with mild traumatic brain injuries, however, initial reporters determined there were no injuries (pictured)

The sensors are still in the testing phase, which is currently being conducted in a training environment.

Military officials are also testing the technology to evaluate the impact of certain weapons and munitions.

However, they expect to begin using the sensors in operational environments in the next 18 to 24 months.
Theres nobody in Longford who doesnt appreciate the work that St Christophers Services do and the lads of Brave Giant are the first to point that out when it comes down to it.

Ross McNerney, Podge Gill, Emmett Collum and Mark Prunty have always received support from the staff and service users at St Christophers, so when they were asked to do the organisation a solid and perform a gig in New York, they said yes without hesitation.

We got the call last year from Martin Mulleady. He rang Podge to see if we would do it, Ross McNerney told the Longford Leader last week.

Theres no one in Longford that doesnt appreciate St Christophers and the work they do.

And theyve supported us from day one. Even when we launched our debut album in the Backstage Theatre, a load of the staff and students were in the crowd and loads of them came to see us at the Marquee in Drumlish too.

So when the name St Christophers was mentioned, it was a no brainer. We see it as a way of giving back to the people who have supported us for so long, he said.

Brave Giant released their debut album, White Pink + Blue in October with an intimate gig at the Backstage Theatre giving the people of Longford the opportunity to hear it live first.

That was followed by an Irish tour which ended with their biggest headline show to date in the Olympia Theatre.

This will be the bands second time to perform in New York but their first time since releasing their debut album, so theyre really looking forward to it.

We were in New York once as a band, Ross explained.

Theres a huge Irish contingent in New York but theres also a huge Longford contingent over there and it will be great to celebrate Longford out there.

We cant wait. We have loads of friends out there too, so it will be great to see them and for them to come and see us play.

And theyre planning to make a little holiday out of it, staying in New York to enjoy the whole weekend of Longford festivities and to see the St Patricks Day parade on Tuesday, March 17.

Read more: Big Apple to stage eagerly awaited fundraiser for Longford's St Christopher's Services

The gig is on the Saturday (March 14), so well fly over on the Friday and then well cross our ts and dot our is on the Saturday morning, with sound and stuff for the gig. Then well fly home a day or two after St Patricks Day. Being there on Paddys Day will be great, said Ross.

The gig itself will take place in The Chelsea Bell, a pub on 8th Avenue in New York.

The pub is owned by Ballinalee man, Brendan Donoghue, who was eager to offer his support to St Christophers Services.

Tickets are currently available via Brave Giants Instagram page and the Chelsea Bell website, for anyone who is planning a trip to New York on St Patricks Day.

It should be a great night. We cant wait, Ross explained.

The band has a number of singles as well as their own debut album, which has received incredible feedback since its launch.

And, with such a wide audience expected to attend the New York gig, theyll most likely perform a few of the firm favourites, as well as some of their new stuff.

Well play some of our old stuff and some of our new album. We havent been to New York in two years so they havent seen us play some of the older stuff, said Ross.

But an event like this doesnt just happen. There are a lot of people behind it.

Wed like to thank anyone who made this possible - in particular Martin Mulleady who initially contacted us and Niall Mulleady.

And wed like to thank Brian and Michael Ganly who have put sponsorship towards getting us over there and the sound for us.

The gig kicks off from 8pm on Saturday, March 14, with Brave Giant taking to the stage in aid of St Christophers Services.

The band will play until approximately 11.30pm and will be followed by DJ Shaz who will entertain the crowds from 11.30pm until late.

Admission is $50, which includes two drinks and food. All proceeds will be donated directly to St Christophers. There will also be a major raffle on the night, with great prizes up for grabs.

Anyone thinking of heading to New York can purchase tickets via www.thechelseabell.com or see the link on Brave Giants Instagram profile.

Read more: President of Longford Association in New York Patrick Yorke immensely proud of Irish roots
"These entrepreneurs have strong backgrounds and great ideas," said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. "I look forward to welcoming them into our community."

Throughout the next three months, the selected startups will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Plug and Play's global network of corporate partners, venture capitalists, alumni, and industry leaders. Each company will be invited to private deal flow sessions, networking events, mentor sessions, and more to increase their chance to land exclusive pilots, POCs, new customers, and investment. There is no equity requirement for startups to participate.

Graduation for these batches will commence May 5-7th at Plug and Play's Spring Summit 2020. Apply to attend: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/events/spring-summit-2020/

Plug and Play has also released its 2019 Company Performance Report. To see their new programs, locations, investments, and more, read the full report: https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/2019-report/

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 25 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 300 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

Media Contact

Allison Romero

[email protected]

(408) 524-1457

SOURCE Plug and Play

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Leflair seems to be unable to pay its debts

About 500 suppliers of the newly closed e-commerce platform Leflair are on the edge because the firm has yet to pay out $2 million it owes.

Leflairs office (Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh City) were submerged in silence in the morning of March 4. About 10 suppliers were waiting for the documents of debt reconciliation but no one welcomed them.

According to the buildings receptionist, in the recent two weeks, no staff members came to work, while suppliers have been arriving in mounting numbers to demand their dues.

Total lack of satisfactory answers

In a meeting with partners on March 2, Pierre Antoine Brun, co-founder and COO of Leflair, said that the company holds a total of $2 million in debts towards 500 suppliers. However, the company's account had less than $50,000 at the moment.

98 suppliers owed a total of VND40 billion ($1.74 million) gathered at the office on February 26 to work with the firm and authorities. Kim Dang, director of a company specialised in shoe supplies, was deeply unsatisfied with the results of the meeting.

Zing.vn quoted Dang as saying that the e-commerce platform has delayed paying for a great number of shoe orders since November. The two months before the Lunar New Year was peak shopping season. So, when they [Leflair] urged me to supply more goods, I had no reason to doubt them. I was very busy at the time and was too careless to check our cashflows since November. Leflair owes us VND140 million ($6,090)."

The legal representative of Leflair has never come out, and sending emails or calling them on the phone is useless. Co-establisher Pierre, despite working with us, could not offer a satisfying answer. I don't feel respected, Dang added.

A group of suppliers lodged complaints against Leflair and its two co-founders to the Investigation Police Department, the Supreme Peoples Procuracy of Vietnam, Vietnam Immigration Department, and the Consulate General of France in Vietnam.

Falling behind with salary and customer orders

Along with suppliers, many customers and employees have been left hanging since the company halted operations. A 35-year-old customer said that she has yet to received her goods ordered from Leflair despite having made full payment.

I made three orders worth VND2.5 million ($108.70) from Singapore on February 11 and 21. The previous orders were performed very well, so I initially thought this delay was due to the COVID-19. However, to my surprise, there is no way to contact Leflair to ask about my order, she said.

Meanwhile, a former employee of Leflair said that the firm still has not paid her February salary and she did not get her bonus for the Lunar New Year, and the cash prize for high productivity in December.

She also revealed that on December 25 Leflair fired 50,000 workers without compensation because they were running out of capital. At the time of officially closing, the company had about 100 employees in Vietnam and 40 in the Philippines.
The document is in the second reading now

Open source

Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Dmytro Razumkov has closed the morning plenary session of the Verkhona Rada. 112 Ukraine TV channel broadcasted the event live.

The Parliament continues to look into the amendments to the draft law on land market in Ukraine. As for March 4, the lawmakers considered 2897 out of 4018 amendments. The document is in the second reading now; the MPs have been working on it for more than two weeks in a row.

The lawmakers also consider decrees on parliamentary hearings on the topics of shaping the poverty level, state politics in terms of sustainable development of Ukraine and the implementation of anti-corruption politics in Ukraine.

MPs offer changes to the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the provisions concerning crimes in the area of service activity.

The Parliament also plans to ratify the Framework Agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Denmark on common conditions and procedures, organization events and financial conditions of implementation of Danida Business Finance in Ukraine.

The MPs are supposed to get back to teh session hall for the evening session slated for 4 p.m. Thursday.
The North East Line train network. (FILE PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE  The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will launch a one-year pilot for priority cabins on the North East Line (NEL) trains at the end of this year.

Under this initiative, the two centre cabins on each NEL train will be designated as Priority Cabins for vulnerable commuters such as seniors, expectant mothers, wheelchair users, persons with disabilities and parents with young children.

The initiative was announced by Baey Yam Keng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary of State for Transport, during his ministrys Committee of Supply debate in Parliament on Thursday (5 March).

Commuters in these cabins, which will be located near station lifts where possible, are encouraged to give way to the more vulnerable commuters, he said. The idea for this initiative came from various public engagements done to better understand commuters needs.

The priority cabins will feature prominent visual cues and signage that encourage commuters to allow vulnerable commuters to board and alight first, give up their seats to those who need them more and keep the wheelchair spaces free.

Commuters will also be informed of the new initiative through video clips and station announcements which will be played at all NEL stations. Customer service officers will also be on hand to help guide commuters.

The initiative stemmed from feedback received during public consultations for the Land Transport Master Plan 2040 and the Family Friendly Transport Advisory Panel.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

Johor-Singapore rapid rail link project remains suspended till end-April: Khaw



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Castro, Divisadero, Financial District, NoPa, Union Square

Here's the latest in SF food news. In this edition, a steakhouse reopens after its move in Union Square, a Castro-based taqueria debuts and a new pizzeria is headed to the Divisadero corridor.

Openings

Union Square

Tad's Steakhouse (38 Ellis St.)

As we recently reported, Tad's Steakhouse recently relocated from 120 Powell St. to 38 Ellis St., after 65 years of business.

The steakhouse, which closed at its original location in October, will debut in its new home this Saturday, March 7, said Phineas Ng, who owns the business with his 90-year-old mother, Nancy, and his brother, Stephen.

It had originally planned to open in November, but unspecified delays slowed it down. "[But] the delays are finally over!" Ng said via email.

In addition to its classic lineup of broiled steaks, Tad's will add new menu items like wings, a certified Angus ribeye, and a fried chicken sandwich. It's also made some updates to house recipes like hamburger steak and Tads steak chili, and is adding all-day breakfast to the mix.

Unlike the original, he new location also has a full liquor license. For now, it will serve classic cocktails such as martinis, Negronis, and bloody marys, but Ng said he hopes to launch a specialty cocktail menu soon.

Saturday's grand opening will be from 5 - 11 p.m. After that, Tad's regular hours will be 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Castro

Taco Boys (2312 Market St.)

Photo: Alisa Scerrato/Hoodline

Taco Boys is now open in the former Tacos Club location at 2312 Market St. (at Noe St.), which quietly closed in December after six years in the neighborhood.

The new taqueria is owned by twin brothers J.B. and J.J. Fasail; J.J. also recently took over neighboring smoke shop Koheba (2310 Market St.)

As the name suggests, Taco Boys serves Mexican food with a focus on burritos, such as a french fry-stuffed California burrito or a "surf and turf" burrito that combines shrimp or fish with a meat option.

Story continues

Photo: Alisa Scerrato/Hoodline

Other menu items include chimichangas, tacos, flautas, carne asada fries, build-your-own burrito bowls, and more. The restaurant is also working on transferring Tacos Club's beer and wine license.

Taco Boys plans to be open daily from 11 a.m. til midnight, and is exploring adding a walk-up window to the space. If allowed, it would provide late-night window service Friday through Sunday, until 3 a.m.

Divisadero

Louie Louis Pizza (559 Divisadero St.)

Photo: Alisa Scerrato/Hoodline

After encountering landlord issues, four-year-old Seniores Pizza closed its Divisadero location (559 Divisadero St.) in January and moved to the Lower Haight, where it recently reopened in the former Volare space (456 Haight St.)

However, its former space didnt sit empty for long. Tipster Sean S. alerted us to a beer and wine license application for "Louie Louie Pizza" at the address. The new owner is Joseph Dabit, who's also behind Cup A Joe Coffeehouse on Sutter Street.

The move is actually the second time around for Dabit: longtime Divisadero residents may recall him as the owner of Acme Burgerhaus, which closed at 559 Divisadero in 2014.

Weve reached out to Dabit about what he's planning for his return to the space, and will provide updates once they become available.

Thanks to tipster Sean S.! If you've seen something new (or closing) in the neighborhood, text your tips and photos to (415) 200-3233, or email tips@hoodline.com. If we use your info in a story, we'll give you credit.
MINEOLA, N.Y., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hanover Bancorp, Inc. today announced the promotion of Brian K. Finneran to President of the Company and its Hanover Community Bank subsidiary. In addition, Mr. Finneran will continue to maintain his role as Chief Financial Officer of the Company and the Bank. Mr. Michael Puorro, who previously served as President of the Company and the Bank, will continue to serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank.



In announcing the promotion, Mr. Puorro stated: Since joining Hanover in 2017, Brian has demonstrated his strength and talent in managing the Company as well as serving as CFO. This change formalizes our management structure, and will allow me to concentrate more on strategic planning and transactions, including planning for our Initial Public Offering.

Mr. Finneran joined Hanover Community Bank in 2017 and served in the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Finneran has responsibility for all facets of financial management including budgeting, strategic planning, treasury and asset/liability management, tax and investor relations. In previous assignments, Mr. Finneran has also worked extensively with institutional investors in raising capital and disposing of problem assets. Prior to joining Hanover in 2017, Mr. Finneran was the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and member of the Board of Directors at Suffolk Bancorp (SCNB) from 2012-2017. Prior to his tenure at SCNB, Mr. Finneran was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at State Bancorp, Inc. from 1990 until its sale to Valley National Bancorp in 2012. Mr. Finneran is the past recipient of the SmartCEO Magazine Executive Management Award in the CFO category, and he is also a former Long Island Business News CFO of the Year award winner. Mr. Finneran is a Certified Risk Professional with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Baruch College and an MBA in Finance from Pace University.

Investor and Press Contacts

Michael P. Puorro, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

mpuorro@hanoverbank.com
NEW ORLEANS, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits:



Sterling Bancorp, Inc. (SBT)

Class Period: 11/17/2017 - 12/8/2019 or shares issued either in or after the November 2017 Initial Public Offering.

Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 27, 2020

SECURITIES FRAUD, MISLEADING PROSPECTUS

To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/new-york-se-stl

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (MGPI)

Class Period: 2/27/2019 - 2/25/2020

Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 28, 2020

SECURITIES FRAUD

To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-mgp-ingredients-inc-securities-litigation

If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact us toll-free (844) 367-9658 or visit the case links above.

If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.
A WAR veteran from Watlington has died.

Ken Cook, who was 95, passed away at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Mr Cook, who was registered blind, was well-known around Watlington and led its annual Remembrance Sunday parade through the town.

He collected for the Poppy Appeal for more than 40 years and also took part in the remembrance parade at the Cenotaph in London last year and in 2018.

He was also a regular visitor to Icknield Community College in the town, where he spoke to the students about the importance of the appeal.

Mr Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1942 when he was 18. He was in a convoy of motor gunboats that carried out anti-submarine patrols and mine sweeping in the Mediterranean. He took part in various missions during the Second World War, including the invasion of Anzio in Italy in 1944. He left the navy in 1946.

In 1977 he helped save the Watlington branch of the Legion when it was on the verge of closing.

Mr Cook, who lived in Orchard Walk, lost his sight late in life due to macular degeneration, a leading cause of sight loss in older people.

He started receiving support from the charity Blind Veterans UK in 2016.

In January last year his portrait was painted by artist Mark Draisey and went on display in the town.

It depicted him with his medals while collecting for the Poppy Appeal and was on display at the Bella Luce lighting shop in High Street.

At the time Mr Cook said it was a great honour and privilege to be painted.
Manama

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Daij Al Khalifa, has briefed the ambassadors accredited to Bahrain on the most important steps the Kingdom has so far taken to confront Coronavirus (COVID-19). Present at the meeting were Lt Col Dr Manaf Al Qahtani, Infectious Diseases Consultant and Microbiologist at the BDF Hospital and Member of the National Task Force for Combating COVID-19.

Dr Shaikha Rana outlined the important initiatives and precautionary steps taken by Bahrain since the outbreak of the virus in China to boost awareness among Bahraini citizens, both in the Kingdom and abroad, as well as residents. She spoke of the necessary prevention measures to avoid infection and curb the virus spread and talked about the most important action taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the national campaign to combat COVID-19.

In this respect, she cited the ministrys publication of educational materials and its notification of all citizens, both in the Kingdom and abroad, through its social media accounts, including Twitter and Instagram, and the accounts of Bahrains diplomatic missions abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Follow-up Office set up a round-the clock hotline (17227555) to respond to all public inquiries as well as hotlines at all the diplomatic missions abroad to ensure that all queries are answered and assistance provided at all times, Dr Shaikha Rana added.

Lt Col Al Qahtani briefed the diplomats on the time sequence of the medical and logistical decisions and measures taken by Bahrain to combat the virus. The National Task force for Combating COVID-19 followed the directives of the Executive Committee, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, who ordered the formation of a task force, headed by Chairman of the Supreme Council for Health, Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, to tackle the situation, Lt Col Al Qahtani said.

The ambassadors expressed their thanks and appreciation to Bahrain for its considerable efforts. Meanwhile, an official source of the Saudi Ministry of Interior has stated that based on the keenness of the Kingdoms government to support global efforts and international organisations, especially the World Health Organisation (WHO), to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), as an extension of its decision to suspend entry for the purposes of Umrah and visit of the Prophets Mosque temporarily from outside the Kingdom, its decision to suspend entry of tourist visas to people from countries where the spread of the novel coronavirus is dangerous and the suspension of the use of national identity cards for Saudi and GCCs citizens to and from the Kingdom.

Based on the recommendations of the committee concerned to follow up the developments of the situation of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), it was decided to suspend Umrah temporarily for citizens and residents in the Kingdom, provided that this decision is reviewed continuously and the implementation of it stops whenever the reasons that called for it are negated.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), this preventive decision is among precautionary measures that the Kingdoms government has consistently taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic and prevent its access to the Two Holy Mosques, which are witnessing a permanent and intense flow of human crowds, which makes the issue of securing these crowds of utmost importance. It also comes in line with the precautionary measures taken by Saudi authorities to prevent the spread of the virus in the Kingdom and to complement the efforts that have been taken, aiming at providing maximum protection for the safety of citizens and residents.
Olivia Attwood launched into a foul-mouthed rant on her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, after a fan accused her of using too much lip filler.

As the erstwhile Love Island star, 28, waited for a laser hair removed appointment, she shared a direct message sent to her from one of her fans, who urged her stop enhancing her lips  sparking a series of impassioned videos.

Accusing middle-aged women of being the main culprits when it came to criticising her looks, the TV personality urged her followers to 'mind [their] own f**king business' as she insisted that they had no right to an opinion on her appearance.

Scroll down for video

Hitting back: Olivia Attwood launched into a foul-mouthed rant on her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, after a fan accused her of using too much lip filler

In footage recorded in her car, she said: 'Im not gonna sit here and pretend that I am someone that suffers with trolling, because I actually feel like, compared to a lot of people, Im very lucky in that sense.

'But this s**t grinds my gears so f**king bad. I must see these kind of messages more than anything. And they're so good, because theres always a backhanded compliment in there.

'And its always unfortunately a middle-aged woman. I hate to stereotype, but it always, always, always, is. And maybe the reason I dont get that much trolling is because I always will message people back.

Messsage: As the Love Island star, 28, waited for a laser hair removed appointment, she shared a direct message sent to her from one of her fans, who urged her stop enhancing her lips

Critics: Accusing middle-aged women of being the main culprits when it came to criticising her looks, the TV personality urged her followers to 'mind [their] own f**king business'

DM: Before launching into her video rant, the reality star shared a screenshot of the message

'You dont know what I need, and also its none of your f**king business! If I want my mouth to look like a swollen b***hole, that is my choice. Dont tell me, "Youre pretty, you dont need [it]"

'F**k off! F**k off, get on with your day, get out of my DMs, thats its it. So anyone else thats got any like, "You dont need those hair extensions" B***h, you dont know what I need. F**k off!'

Reiterating her message that fans should mind their own business, she continued: 'We live in this climate where everyones so bothered by what everyone else is doing.

'I have never looked at someone, even someone thats screwed themselves up massively with surgery, if thats what they want, get on with it. Its doesnt affect my day. If that makes them happy, who cares?

Bothered: Reiterating her message that fans should mind their own business, she continued, 'We live in this climate where everyones so bothered by what everyone else is doing'

Laser: After her impassioned videos, she shared footage of herself getting laser hair removal

Off limits: The blonde TV personality also insisted that her status as a public figure doesn't give others the right to comment on her appearance

'Why is everyone so bothered about what other people look like? And just because youve put a compliment at the end, it doesnt mean that what you said in the beginning isnt rude and hurtful. Just keep it moving, saddos.'

She also insisted that her status as a public figure doesn't give others the right to comment on her appearance, as she added: 'And dont say, "Youve got a following, youve been on TV, so we all get an opinion on the way you look"

'No you dont! You can get an opinion on some stuff  what I do or what I say, bring it on. I love it. But what I do to my face and body, just p**s off!'

In the message in question, the follower wrote to Olivia: 'Please stop with the lip fillers. Ur not a duck. Ur so pretty already and U dont need them.' [sic]

Romantic: The fan had commented on a picture of Olivia with her fiance Bradley Dack, which she shared after they returned to the same place in Dubai where he'd proposed to her

Clearly irked, the reality star wrote back: 'Mind your own f**king business!! And keep your opinions to your self!' prompting the response: 'Real unclassy as always. Unfollowed. Thanks.'

The fan had commented on a picture of Olivia with her fiance Bradley Dack, which she shared at the start of the week as they returned to the same place in Dubai where he'd proposed to her.

Captioning the image, which showed the lovebirds relaxing together in the sunshine, she wrote: 'So last time we were here... you asked me to marry you, now the question is .. how has that questioned aged for you pal?

'All jokes aside, you are an annoying man child and a grumpy wheel chair passenger lol.. but not a day goes by when I dont feel grateful for having you in my life and making me feel a love I didnt even know existed... thank you for the best holiday.'

Feeling hot: Olivia recently set pulses racing by sharing saucy pictures of her working some angles for a holiday snap from Dubai

Olivia found fame during the third series of ITV reality show Love Island, and has since gone on to star in The Only Way Is Essex and Celebs Go Dating.

Earlier in February, Olivia revealed she had to take a social media break after former Love Island host Caroline Flack's tragic death.

During a heartfelt video explaining her decision to quit social media for a few days, Olivia revealed that Caroline reached out to her when she was 'getting so much heat' during her time on the ITV2 series three years ago.

Sharing their first messages on Instagram before becoming friends, Olivia penned: 'Message to my sister/best mate when she was looking after my account when I was in the villa,' followed by a tear and broken heart emoji.

Stunning: The former Love Islander, 28, looked sensational, wearing nothing more than a strappy triangle bikini as she climbed onto her bed for the quick photoshoot

The exchange saw Caroline reach out to Olivia's family, who were managing her account while she was in Love Island, she said: 'I just think she's strong and I know what it's like to deal with that online stuff ... always support my girls x.'

Olivia's family messaged back with: 'Thank you so much for all your support! Means so much to all of us supporting Olivia,' followed by a heart emoji.

In her heartfelt video, Olivia admitted she had to take a break from social media as it was getting 'a bit too much'.

Olivia lamented the fact that everyone is quick to 'jump on social media' and 'start pointing the finger, blaming each other', but asked where all this support was when Caroline needed it.

If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.
Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia moved on Tuesday to tighten its borders amid the growing global threat from the coronavirus.

The Kingdom, which has reported only one case of the infection, barred people from other GCC countries from entering Saudi Arabia for 14 days after returning from areas where the virus is present. Travelers from another Gulf state must spend 14 consecutive days in that country and show no signs of the coronavirus.

Saudi citizens or residents entering from a GCC country must inform authorities in the Kingdom of any travel outside the GCC in the preceding 14 days. Everyone entering by land, including the Bahrain causeway, will be screened.

Saudi Arabia announced its first coronavirus case on Monday - a Saudi who had traveled from Iran via Bahrain over the King Fahad Causeway. Iran has one of the worst outbreaks outside of China, where COVID-19 originated.

A Saudi Ministry of Health spokesman on Tuesday said the infected person was in a stable condition and is being monitored by medical staff.

Some 70 people who had been in physical contact with the person are now in quarantine.
Just earlier this week, Facebook had announced Project Lightspeed for their mobile Messenger app, overhauling it to make it faster, smaller and simpler. Now, Facebook has begun testing a macOS client of the Messenger, available on the Mac App Store in a few countries like France, Australia, Poland, etc.

The macOS app of the messenger offers most of the same features as the mobile app like texting, sharing files, emoji support, voice and video chat along with group chats, voice video calls. For the dark-mode enthusiasts, Facebook has also added a dark theme that will go along with dark mode on the macOS.

Apple offers two methods for developers to code mobile apps into a macOS compatible which are known as Electron and Catalyst. Facebooks Messenger has been built with Electron which is a popular way of coding web apps into macOS apps. A Facebook spokesperson stated that Messenger app for macOS is currently being tested in a few countries with no date for wide-rollout yet.

Source
Since the first Delhi person tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) on Monday, Delhi governments infectious disease control cell has been working overtime to look for the people he came in contact with before being sent to the isolation facility at Safdarjung hospital on Sunday.

Coronavirus Spread in India: Track Live Updates

The task force set up by the government has traced 92 contacts of this man so far, of which 14 people live in Delhi.

For the other 74, the government has contacted the respective states to follow up. Six others from the family, who were living in Agra, also tested positive and are also in the isolation facility at Safdarjung hospital.

Apart from that, the state and the district level task force have also been involved in tracing the contacts of the group of Italian tourists who travelled to Rajasthan.

Since the people tested positive, we have sanitised all the hotels that they were in and also informed the hotels of infection control measures. We have also sensitised our own staff members, said a government official on condition of anonymity.

Till the morning of March 4, over 1.2 lakh passengers from 12 countries had been screened at the Delhi airport.

Since the screenings began, 152 persons were found to be symptomatic and were admitted to either of two nodal hospitals in Delhi - Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung hospital. So far, 118 of them have tested negative and one positive.

In Delhi, 33 people were under hospital isolation till March 4, pending test results. Of them, 10 had been admitted to the hospitals on Wednesday.

Apart from the two designated hospitals, which together have the isolation capacity for 130 persons, the state government has also asked 25 other hospitals to strengthen their isolation facility and arrange for necessary logistics.

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Sharing data from cases in South Korea and Italy, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx said that nobody in South Korea under 30 years had died from COVID-19.

Sharing data from cases in South Korea and Italy, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx said that nobody in South Korea under 30 years had died from COVID-19.

The median age of those who succumbed was 81 and the median age for those who became ill was 60 years, she said.

"This data is reassuring but it has also caused us to focus on those Americans who may be most vulnerable", Birx said, explaining the US government strategy.

Birx and others leading the US response underlined the "significantly greater risk" to the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions like heart disease, diabetes and people recovering from cancer.

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most patients with confirmed COVID-19 have developed fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness, which include cough and difficulty in breathing.

Globally, more than 92,000 people have tested positive and 3,100 have died, the vast majority of them in China.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration greatly relaxed testing rules allowing anyone who has symptoms like a fever, cough or breathing difficulty to receive a test if a doctor agrees.

"Ultimately, our objective is that any American is able to go to their doctor and any lab and get the coronavirus test," Vice President Mike Pence said at a White House briefing on Wednesday.

The US government is saying 1.5 million tests will likely be possible this week in hospitals.

In addition, Pence said "every state health lab and University lab can now conduct a coronavirus test".

"Our objective, as quickly as possible, is to have the tests commercially available, where your doctor or pharmacy can perform a test," Pence said.

On Wednesday, key lawmakers in the House and Senate scrambled to push through $8.3 billion in emergency funding to battle the virus that has killed more than 3,000 across the globe.

The Senate is likely to pass the measure on Thursday which more than triples Trump's funding request.

Cases in New York grew from one to 10 in the space of one night. A lawyer in his 50s is said to have infected nine others in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle in Westchester County, a popular residential location for convenient public transport connections into midtown Manhattan.

California, Washington and Florida have declared emergencies. Some Seattle area schools have closed, many schools around the US have begun testing viability of remote learning, workers of every creed are on edge, anxiety and the smell of disinfectant is virtually everywhere.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As more cases of the deadly novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, continue to be reported across the world, its important to know the symptoms.

The outbreak first started in Wuhan, China, but cases have been identified in a growing number of other locations internationally, including the United States. According to the World Health Organizations (WHO) situation report, there are 90,870 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide as of Tuesday morning, which includes 80,304 confirmed cases in China and 64 confirmed cases in the United States.

Reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe sickness and death for confirmed COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. Symptoms may appear from two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

The WHO reported that common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

The CDC recommends calling a health care professional if you develop symptoms and have been in close contact with a person known to have coronavirus, or if you have recently traveled from an area with widespread or ongoing community spread of the illness. Call ahead before you go to a doctors office or emergency room, and tell staff about any recent travel and your symptoms.

Its important to monitor your symptoms, according to the CDC. Seek prompt medical attention if your illness is worsening.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness, such as coughing and sneezing.

CASES IN NEW YORK

According to Cuomo, there are 11 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State.

Cuomo said the states second confirmed coronavirus case is a 50-year-old attorney who works in Manhattan and lives in New Rochelle, N.Y. Four additional coronavirus cases were announced to be tied to the man, which include his wife, two of his children, and his neighbor who drove him to the hospital.

On Wednesday evening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said another five patients have tested positive, bringing the state total to 11. One new person who had close proximity to the second confirmed coronavirus case in New York tested positive for the virus.

Then, the new mans wife, two sons and daughter also tested positive, Cuomo said. The two children attend Westchester Torah Academy, which will be closed at least until Friday.

The first confirmed case in the state was announced Sunday. A 39-year-old health care worker living in Manhattan who traveled to Iran was diagnosed with coronavirus, and officials said the woman has respiratory symptoms that are mild.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  The Philippine National Police deputy chief for administration, PLGen Camilo Cascolan, will be officer-in-charge as PGen Archie Gamboa recovers from a helicopter crash, a Cabinet official said Thursday.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano told CNN Philippines Thursday he appointed the PNPs second-in-command to head the police force while Gamboa is on non-duty status.

Gamboa said in a video from his hospital bed that he intends to go back to work on Monday.

Sa ating mga kababayan at lalo na sa ating kapulisan ako eh lumabas ngayon dito para ipakita sa inyong okay ako, hindi naman ako nasaktan, he said in the video.

[Translation: To our countrymen and especially the police force, I am coming out with this to show to you that Im okay, I wasnt hurt.]

Gamboa, his spokesperson PLtCol Bernard Banac and four others have minor injuries after the newly-acquired 435-million Bell 429 chopper they were in got caught in a high-tension wire due to limited visibility and crashed in a residential area in Laguna province, south of Manila.

PNP comptrollership chief PMGen Joevic Ramos and PNP intelligence director PMGen Mariel Magaway are in critical condition, according to acting PNP spokesperson PMGen Bong Durana.

While Magaway and Ramos are still in the hospital, PBGen Ronnie Olay is taking charge of the PNP comptrollership and PBGen Jesus Cambay will head the police intelligence office. Durana, meanwhile, temporarily reprises his role as spokesperson as Banac recovers.

Top cop turned senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who visited Gamboa at the hospital, said the PNP chief seems fine, aside from a swollen right hand, minor injuries on the face and abrasions on the body. Banac is also mostly unscathed, except for some bruises on the face.

The PNP and the Interior Department are conducting investigations on the crash.
Rivals endorse Cawthorn in runoff

Madison Cawthorn, who finished a strong second in the Republican primary for the 11th Congressional District, on Wednesday announced the support of four Republicans who finished behind him and confirmed that he will call for a runoff.



I am calling for a runoff, he said. Theres no doubt in my mind the people of Western North Carolina are sick and tired of watching the politicians trying to force their will upon us and every single vote that was cast against Lynda Bennett was a vote against what Mark Meadows has done.

Republicans in the race were furious that Meadows endorsed Bennett, a close friend of him and his wife, after telling other candidates he would not endorse anyone in the primary.

I think everybody respects Mark Meadows and the work they do but nobody wants a coronation in this country, Cawthorn said. I think hes a rally great man. I think hes done a great job for us but I do believe putting his weight behind Bennett was inappropriate.

Cawthorn, 24, and Bennett will meet in a runoff May 12. Bennett did not return a phone call seeking comment on the runoff and the remarks of Cawthorn and others about the congressmen's actions.

Two candidates, Joey Osborne and Dillon Gentry, announced their endorsement of Cawthorn on Wednesday and state Sen. Jim Davis confirmed that he is committed to helping Cawthorn in the western counties. Vance Patterson also is endorsing Cawthorn.

Davis told me he doesnt believe incumbent politician should be endorsing anyone so hes not endorsing because of that fact, but he does say he will support, not endorse. Hes staying true to his word by not endorsing anybody. He has said he will support me and help me out by garnering support in the seven western counties he represents in the state Senate.

Davis has served in office for 20 years  10 as a Macon County commissioner and 10 in the state Senate, and was the only candidate among 20 from four parties that had served in elective office.

From the time that I filed I thought I was the most qualified candidate but the voters didnt agree, Davis said. It shows that a lot of money and the endorsement from Mark Meadows make a big different. My wife and I figure its a sign from the Lord to slow down and thats what I plan to do. He confirmed he will support Cawthorn.

Yes, Im going to help  introduce him to people in the west, he said.

Like at least two other Republicans in the primary, Davis said it was inappropriate for Meadows to endorse Bennett, especially after he told people that he wasnt going to do it.

Cawthorn said he thought his ability to clearly articulate a conservative vision is the difference between him and Bennett.

In a primary runoff were speaking to the exact same crowd, he said. I believe Mrs. Bennett and I share a lot of the same views when it comes to policies. We want conservative government. What I believe the people are going to have to decide is who do they think is best going to be able to executive that vision. Im uniquely qualified to do that better than her. Mainly because I can garner the support of the American people behind a certain bill. Im able to articulate time-tested truths of conservative in a way that everyone understands in a simple and digestible way. Ive faced diversity so I know when I face opposition of the D.C. club I know I wont buckle.

Osborne said Cawthorns youth and enthusiasm make him a strategic choice for to serve in Congress.

After having the privilege of getting to know Madison and learning of his determination,

enthusiasm, skillset, knowledge and ability, I have no doubt that he is by far the best candidate

for the seat, he said. Madison Cawthorns future in government and beyond is extremely bright. Like the slate of young Federal Judges so strategically nominated by President Trump to preserve conservatism and democracy in America, Madisons role in Congress will be no different. He easily has the potential to serve, promote and protect conservative causes for fifty or more years. Electing Madison Cawthorn to the U.S. Congress in 2020 is an extremely strategic move that those of us who are committed to the preservation of true conservatism must seize upon.

Gentry, 27, of Banner Elk, also endorsed Cawthorn.

As of now, it appears there will be a runoff I will gladly throw what little weight I have behind Madison Cawthorn for Congress, Gentry said. Cawthorn, he said, represents the new generation of conservatives needs someone to look to and show them its ok to think outside the mainstream; outside what your professors and intolerant peers want you to believe. We need someone that understands the challenges faced on the digital public square, that understands how these platforms work, how to utilize them, and how to ensure the new information distribution systems arent fully lost to the left forever, shutting out dissenting rational voices.

Gentry added: The truth of this election is this: Madison is the only candidate that can accomplish what needs to be done. We need someone in that seat that is more than a placeholder, more than someone that just wants their ego inflated and to be invited to elitist dinner parties.
At 08:40 am, Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were trading 10 points or 0.09 per cent lower at 11,237, indicating a flat start for the Indian market on Thursday.

Here's a look at the top stocks that may trade actively in today's session -

Bank of Baroda: Global rating agency Moodys has downgraded Bank of Baroda (BoB)'s baseline credit assessment (BCA) from ba2 to ba3 on weakening asset quality and further risks from the deteriorating operating environment in India. The agency said deterioration in asset quality poses risks to BoB's profitability and capital.

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea: The government on Wednesday asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay remaining AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay, PTI reported quoting sources.

L&T: Construction and engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is set to reduce its debt by Rs 30,000 crore in the next financial year by selling its entire stake in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (IDPL) and Nabha Power, and transferring its stake in Hyderabad Metro to an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT).

Adani Ports: The company's board has approved interim dividend of Rs 3.2 apiece.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M): In a regulatory filing, the company informed that the automotive industry and the operations of the Company in the automotive sector have been adversely affected by the general economic slowdown through the Financial Year 2019-20 and BS-VI transition related challenges during the last 3-4 months. Further, outbreak of coronavirus in China and Occurrence of fire at a plant of a major supplier of the Company at Chakan estimated to result into reduction in production / sales volume.

Reliance Industries: Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited ('RIL' or 'the Company'), has acquired 7,86,191 equity shares representing 100 per cent of the equity share capital of Shri Kannan Departmental Store Private Limited (SKDS) for a consideration of Rs 152.5 crores.



DLF: The company will meet on March 7 to consider and approve the proposal of offering NCDs worth Rs 1,000 crore.



The comopany has fixed March 17, 2020 as the Record Date for ascertaining entitlement of the equity shareholders for the payment of Interim Dividend of Rs. 4.50 per Equity Share of Rs 2.

Indusind Bank said that a meeting of the board of directors of the Bank will be held on 9 March 2020 to consider and approve raising of funds



Tata Steel: The Company is scheduled to meet on March 9 to consider and approve issuance of unsecured Non-Convertible Debentures on private placement basis.




The Bihar minister



Krishnandan Prasad Verma on Thursday announced in the Assembly that the state government will hike "according to its capacity" pay scale of the contractual teachers, and appealed to them to end their strike keeping in mind the examinations and evaluation works.

Around 4.5 lakh contractual teachers of the government schools are on indefinite strike since February 17 in support of their eight-point demands that included the one seeking "equal pay for equal work".

They are protesting under the banner of Bihar Rajya Shikshak Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti (BRSSSS), Patna.

Stating that the government has been revising their pay from time to time, Verma asserted that the state government is not against them, and rather working for their interest, while appealing to end the agitation.

"I want to make an appeal through the House to the striking teachers to end their strike and join teaching work. The state government will hike their pay scale according to its capacity. It will also bring some improvements in their service conditions," Verma said.

The minister said this while giving reply to the house debate on the budgetary demand of Rs 35191.04 crore of his department for 2020-21 fiscal.

Shiksha Mitras, who were getting Rs 1500 per month stipend in 2003 and 2005, were appointed as teachers on fixed pay of Rs 4000 and Rs 5000 (for trained) by Nitish Kumar government in July 2006 with retirement age of 60, Verma said.

Their salary was revised from time to time making it Rs 9000 and Rs 10,000 per month (for trained), he added.

The government implemented pay scale of Rs 5200-20,200 for contractual teachers along with other facilities of DA, HRA, annual increment for them, the minister said, adding these teachers are getting more than Rs 29,000 per month from a monthl payment of Rs 1500 in 2006.

Even the apex court had ruled against teachers seeking "equal pay for equal work" stating that neither teachers' rights violated nor they have been discriminated.

Stating that government has accorded foremost priority to in the state, Verma said high schools will be made operational in all the 8386 panchayats of the state from April 1, 2020.

Bihar has become the first state to start "books bank" in the country, he said, adding that 30-35 per cent of children are given books from the bank which help in printing less number books for students.

While the cut motion moved by RJD member Lalit Kumar Yadav was rejected, the House passed the department budget by voice vote.

The opposition not satisfied with the government's reply staged a walkout.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday (March 5, 2020) assured that the government was taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in India. In the past few days, there has been a surge of COVID-19 cases with cases reported from Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Hyderabad.

While giving a statement at the Upper House of the Parliament, the minister informed that so far a total of 29 people have tested positive for the virus who being monitored and are reported to be stable. The number includes the three initial cases in Kerala who have since recovered and have been discharged.

He claimed that his ministry was constantly reviewing the evolving scenario and also the Cabinet Secretary was taking regular reviews with all related ministries of Health, Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Civil Aviation, Home, Textiles, Pharma, Commerce and other officials including with State Chief Secretaries.

The BJP leader said that timely travel advisories were issued as and when the situation on the global scale demanded it and that even now the advisories are getting revised, accordingly.

"Passengers coming to India are being screened regularly and as on March 4, a total of 6241 flights have been screened covering a total of 6,11,167 passengers. Teams of Specialist doctors were sent to all the airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in the attached hospitals," he said.

Screening of passengers has also been initiated in 12 major seaports and 65 minor ports in the country to identify passengers and crew coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic. As on March 4, as many as 16,076 persons have been screened at the ports.

He mentioned the two special Air India flights between Delhi and China's Wuhan on January 31 and February 1, 2020 that brought back a total of 654 passengers including 647 Indian citizens (including two Indian Embassy officials who were on the ground in Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation operation) and 7 Maldivian nationals.

"These evacuees were kept in Army Quarantine Centre at Manesar and ITBP Camp at Chhawla. All these evacuees were tested after 14 days and on

being found negative, discharged on February 18, 2020," he said.

Talking about the Indian pilgrims and students stranded at Tehran and Quam cities in Iran, Harsh Vardhan said the government is following up with Iranian authorities for the well-being of the Indian citizens and to execute an evacuation plan as per need.

As on March 3, the total number of cases in China is 80,270 while the number of deaths is 2,981.
Bengaluru, March 5 : City police arrested an Ayurveda doctor for raping his girlfriend in a hotel room and blackmailing her later to end the relationship, a police official said on Thursday.

"We have arrested Deepak Rathee under IPC Sections 376 for raping and blackmailing his girlfriend," Bengaluru South Division Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohini Katoch Sepat told IANS.

Rathee, 25, was pursuing a post graduate Ayurveda course at Government Ayurvedic Medical College near Anand Rao circle and was in a relationship with the girl.

He took his girlfriend to a hotel room in Jayanagar on the premise of discussing an important matter on February 16 and raped her. The doctor booked the hotel room in the girl's name.

Later, after raping his girlfriend, Rathee promised her that he will marry her next year after convincing his parents but was actually avoiding her.

In an attempt to get rid of the girl, Rathee followed the girl on February 23 and even filmed her when she was in the washroom, so that he could threaten her and easily end the relationship.

He also deleted all the data which may point to a relationship between the two and also grabbed her phone and deleted photographs.

Sepat said Rathee, hailing from Gurugram in Haryana, has been remanded in custody.

"Due procedure has been followed and the girl was sent for a medical test. She is from Bengaluru and lives with her parents," added Sepat.
(Natural News) A top health official in the United States has announced that should the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) become an actual pandemic, then all travel restrictions will become irrelevant.

Dr. Anthony Fauci reportedly told CNBC that once the novel disease goes rogue and starts spreading within community hotspots all over the place, you may as well give up on trying to keep infected persons out of the country because you cant keep out the entire world.

When you have multiple countries involved, its very difficult to do, he added amid worry by the Trump administration that the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) has probably already taken hold here in the U.S. In fact, its almost impossible.

According to Dr. Fauci, when the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) was primarily just in China, the U.S. and other countries still had a period of time, temporary to try to prevent it from coming here. The most obvious way to do this was to impose travel restrictions from all offending areas.

However, now that the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) is on every continent, and spreading like wildfire here in the U.S. in places like Washington state and California, all bets are off now that the window of opportunity to contain it has closed.

Dr. Fauci believes that communist China has been very efficient and effective at containing the disease there, despite new cases emerging daily in the epicenter of Wuhan. Chinas draconian lockdowns and city shutdowns, he further says, are helpful, though he believes that the U.S. would never adopt such methods itself.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses how communist China is currently the worlds biggest bully that must be defeated for the preservation of freedom:

A commercial vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) wont be publicly available any time soon

While its certainly possible that the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) will eventually fizzle out on its own, especially with the arrival of the spring season, nobody knows for sure how the situation will transpire seeing as how this novel disease has never before been observed, and thus remains an anomaly in terms of how it will behave before all is said and done.

The wild card here is that this is a brand-new virus, this novel coronavirus, and we do not know if its going to diminish as the weather gets warm, says Dr. Fauci. We cant count on that.

In case youre not familiar with him, Dr. Fauci is in charge of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This departments job is to prevent, diagnose and treat established infectious diseases, including other emerging diseases from the past such as Ebola and Zika.

According to Dr. Fauci, human clinical trials for a new Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) vaccine could begin in as little as six weeks from now, assuming everything goes as planned. However, this will be a phase-one trial, meaning by the time a commercial vaccine is released it will no longer be applicable to this current outbreak.

Most government officials seem to be in agreement at this point that the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) is rapidly becoming a global pandemic. They say that its only a matter of time before the virus really picks up speed in terms of spread here in the U.S., and that the White House is currently trying to divert about $2.5 billion in additional funding for a public health response.

Dr. Fauci says that this $2.5 billion is a mere down payment, and a start, but that more funds will be needed in the future to really tackle it.

For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

CNBC.com

NaturalNews.com
Alphabet Incs Google on Thursday joined Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp in recommending employees in the Seattle area to work from home, after many were infected with the coronavirus in the region.

Seattle in Washington state has been most affected by the virus in the United States. Ten people have died out of 39 cases of infections through community transmission of the virus.

A Google spokesperson said the company made the decision after consulting with public health officials.

Seattle-headquartered Amazon recommended employees in the area to work from home through the end of the month, after an employee at its South Lake Union office complex in the city tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Facebook on Thursday said it would shut its Seattle office until March 9 after a contractor at the location was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

The companies work-from-home recommendation will affect more than 100,000 people in the Seattle area, as both Microsoft and Amazon employ over 50,000 each. Facebook employs more than 5,000 in the area and Google about 4,500, according to media reports

Seattle health authorities have urged companies to allow their employees to work from home as much as possible, stagger shifts to ease commuter congestion on public transportation, and avoid large work-related gatherings.

The epidemic has shown no signs of slowing, and so far killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, mostly in China, where it originated in December.

Separately, retailer Walmart Inc said on Thursday it was restricting all international travels to business-critical trips, and travels within the United States to essential operations for its associates.

It also canceled its U.S. Customer Conference, scheduled for the following week in Dallas .

Walmart said it expected travel guidelines to be in place for at least the months of March and April.

Big tech companies have also been dropping out of several conferences and calling off corporate events as the virus spreads.

The epidemic has led to the cancellation of major industry events including Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Facebooks F8 conference in San Jose.

Microsoft said on Wednesday that some essential employees should continue to go to their work locations and that the company would follow government guidelines for disinfecting its sites for essential personnel.
By Donald Kirk





WASHINGTON  What's Kim Jong-un think he's doing popping off missiles when his people are suffering in their usual enforced silence?



The official photograph of Kim gloating with delight over the latest missile launch did not exactly cover up the fears of his regime. There, a few feet behind him, was one of his generals wearing a black mask. Kim himself no doubt has one too, but he couldn't be seen showing his concern by wearing it for the state media.



The order to shoot a pair of projectiles into the ocean may not have been such a big deal except for one thing: It revealed the weakness of a regime and a leader obsessed with the need to show off his deadly toys in the face of impending disaster. No, Kim is not about to lose his job in an overdue "people's uprising," but he does have to keep hungry folks in line while thousands have come down with the mysterious bug and millions are scared as hell it could happen to them.



We would hope that most North Koreans have face masks like the one the general had on in the photo, but it's a safe bet there are not enough to go around. No doubt many are making do with pieces of cloth. Anyway, masks aren't guaranteed to protect anyone. All manner of medical gizmos and gadgets, antibiotics and the doctors and nurses to administer them have to be available. Up North, that stuff is just not there for most people.



North Korea "lacks the infrastructure to fight a pandemic," writes Sue Mi Terry, one-time CIA analyst, now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Its public health system is underdeveloped and dilapidated; its hospitals are barely functional and are void of medicines," she says in a devastating piece on Foreign Affairs. "North Korea spends less on health care than any other country in the world (under $1 per person per year) ..."



It's interesting that Kim ordered the first missile test in more than three months right after South Korea's President Moon Jae-in called for cooperation between South and North to combat the virus. A splendid notion. Logical. Sensible. No way, of course, would Kim cooperate. Not at the risk of a bunch of strange busybodies traipsing around the countryside seeing how people were doing.



In Kim's fantasy world, missile tests offer an antidote to calamity. Evans Revere, a former top diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Seoul, believes they carry a message for Washington as well as Seoul. In an email, he cites the testing as "(1) NK's way of reminding us they are there, (2) a demonstration that they can deal with COVID-19 and deal with us simultaneously, and (3) a reminder that they have laid out their 'new path' and intend to follow it."



Fair enough. Just one thing Kim may not understand. President Donald Trump isn't listening. He's not bothering about his friend in Pyongyang. He's totally caught up in this year's campaign for re-election. "Trump has all but given up on NK," Revere states in another message, while Trump and Moon both "feed off the illusion of denuclearization that they have created."



Trump has been so thoroughly fooled by the whole Korean problem that he would probably like to forget Korea entirely. Behind a smokescreen of statement-making, he's gotten nowhere with Kim in three meetings, and he's also annoyed America's ally, South Korea, by demanding an impossible sum for the privilege of hosting U.S. forces. You can't be sure U.S. and South Korean negotiators will come to terms before the funding stops and the U.S. begins laying off several thousand Koreans working on U.S. bases.



The whole show contrasts sadly with the optimism generated when Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, descended on the PyeongChang Winter Olympics more than two years ago bearing a letter from Big Brother setting in motion all those summits, three between Moon and Kim, two between Trump and Kim, plus the Trump-Kim love-in on the North-South line in Panmunjeom last June. Yo-jong was such a sweetheart, an angel of peace, but now she's claiming the North has to test its hardware for defense against the South's military buildup, including exercises with the hated Americans.



Little Sister's appearance at the opening of the PyeongChang Olympics, right behind Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, seems so long ago. Does Big Bro now have her dashing all hope? Truly, the more things change, the more they stay the same.





Donald Kirk (www.donaldkirk.com) has been covering the ups and downs of the North-South confrontation for decades.


In a bid to contain the spread of



coronavirus, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday directed all city schools to inform students about dos and don'ts during a possible outbreak.

Acting the Union government's guidelines, the civic body's officer has written to principals of all the civic primary, secondary, private aided and unaided schools on the issue.

In the letter, school principals have been directed to inform students about symptoms of the virus and precautions they need to take.

The schools have been informed to create awareness about the symptoms of the virus that include fever, cold and cough, the letter stated.

As a precaution, students need to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, avoid contact with people suffering from cough or cold and steer clear of crowded places, the letter stated.

According to the BMC, as of now no one has tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai, while nearly 70 people are quarantined at civic-run Kasturba Hospital in the city.

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

A group of state legislators on Thursday called on Verity Health Systems to reverse its decision to close Seton Medical Center in Daly City, arguing that the closure will make it harder for nearby residents to get to a hospital.

State Sens. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, and Assemblymembers Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, released a joint statement about the hospital's possible closure, which could come as soon as next week.

In addition to requesting that Verity Health Systems change its decision about the hospital's fate, the legislators argued the company did not follow state law that requires 90-day notice when closing an emergency room.

"Verity Health System's decision to close two facilities will have a terrible impact to our communities in the southern portion of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County," the four legislators wrote in their statement. "With COVID-19 posing a public health challenge and our homelessness crisis worsening -- both of which are increasing trips to the ER -- the closure of Seton Medical Center in Daly City is a huge problem for the community."

Verity Health declared bankruptcy in 2018 and worked for much of 2019 on a sale agreement with the consultant group Strategic Global Management that may have kept the health care company solvent.

That deal did not get done by its December deadline, however, and Verity Health appeared to pivot to shuttering some of its facilities, including a hospital in Los Angeles and Seton Coastside in Moss Beach.

The closure would force the roughly 27,000 people who use Seton Medical Center each year to travel further for urgent medical care, which could ultimately lead to overcrowding at nearby hospitals. The group of legislators also noted that the closure would make it harder to treat homeless residents and current and future cases of novel coronavirus.

Nurses represented by the California Nurses Association plan to hold a news conference and rally Friday morning to stop the medical center's closure. San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa, Daly City City Councilwoman Pamela DiGiovanni and Colma Mayor John Goodwin are expected to join the demonstration.

"With reports of a dangerous pandemic that is rapidly growing across California and poses a significant threat to our community, it is unconscionable that we could be facing the loss of our hospital with almost no public notice," Seton Medical Center intensive care nurse Phoebe Minkler said.

Officials with Verity Health Systems were not immediately available to comment on the possible closure.

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.
In its recent submission to the TRAI, Vodafone Idea flagged the 'deep financial distress' in the telecom sector, reflecting in unprecedented decline in revenues.

New Delhi: Troubled Vodafone Idea has warned that the Indian telecom market may move towards a position of "virtual monopoly" if TRAI does not intervene in tariff fixation, while Airtel has cited "huge existential and financial crisis" to bat for fixation of floor price for two years.

Jio has termed the fixation of floor price for data services as "vital" for the health of telecom sector, and urged TRAI to continue the policy of forbearance for voice services, which it said is the preferred telecom service of the subscribers at the bottom of the pyramid.

Jio further said hike in floor price should be undertaken gradually and be fixed at Rs 15 per GB for now  against the prevailing Rs 9 to 12 per GB  and taken to Rs 20 per GB after six to nine months depending on the data consumption growth.

In its recent submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Vodafone Idea confronted with Rs 53,000 crore in AGR dues, of which it has so far only paid 7 percent  flagged the "deep financial distress" in the telecom sector, reflecting in unprecedented decline in revenues.

Over the last three years, half a dozen operators have exited by either merging their businesses with existing Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) or declaring bankruptcy, Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) rued.

"If the existing financial stress in the sector is not addressed within a short period, it could result in further bankruptcy and exit of TSPs from the market, leading to a state of virtual monopoly and absence of fair competition in the market," VIL said in its written submission.

The telco's comments were in response to TRAI's consultation paper on 'Tariff Issues of Telecom Services'.

Making a strong case for TRAI intervention, the company said to address the current financial stress, floor price must be considered for pure data plans, metered data plans and bundled usage plans; and fixed subscription charges for voice only, data only or voice and data subscribers.

Floor price should also be considered for unlimited usage plan on voice (say plan with 1,000 minutes limit) or data which will construe as a bundled plan; and off-net outgoing calls.

"Subject to above, other services, including on-net voice may continue to be under forbearance," Vodafone Idea said.

VIL said that among the telecom companies in the market, the public sector operator has been provided a significant financial assistance to sustain itself.

In a commentary which clearly underlines extent of the crisis in the sector, VIL said there is a "very strong likelihood" of further exits in the Indian telecom sector, and therefore it is likely that India may move towards a position of virtual monopoly.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has said the industry is facing a huge existential and financial crisis, caused by cut throat competition due to 'below cost' pricing, and that operators have "bled".

The operators have a choice of raising tariffs unilaterally to correct the situation, but that is "easier said than done" given the extremely competitive nature of the market.

Airtel believes the industry needs an unprecedented intervention in terms of orderly conduct of the players.

"The only way to realise this orderly conduct for now is through the fixation of floor tariffs," it said.

Airtel said that after two years, however, the industry must go back to tariff forbearance.

"Our recommendation is to therefore have a clear time bound floor price which migrates back to forbearance at the end of two years. We believe that once industry health is restored, the Indian consumer will be well served by the innovation that tariff forbearance naturally provides," it said.

The Sunil Mittal-led company said the industry requires over Rs 1 lakh crore (excluding spectrum) in just 18-24 months to expand existing networks.

"For operators to themselves act sensibly and raise tariffs is very difficult given the brutal competitive intensity. We, therefore, believe that a temporary intervention by TRAI for a two year period so as to ensure orderly conduct has become essential to restore a dying industry," Airtel said.

The most critical need for the industry is to restore the financial health, Airtel said, adding that in its estimate even after the recent tariff hike of December 2019, the company will need an additional ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) of Rs 80 for 15 percent return on capital employed.

It said that there should not be any specific floor price for voice and voice price may be kept under forbearance.

"While we have recommended voice to be under forbearance, there are bundled packs which have unlimited voice. Hence, there will be a requirement to add a voice price component, in order to arrive at the overall floor tariff," Airtel said responding to Trai's question on whether there should be a limit on telcos to offer free off-net calls.

Airtel has recommended including Rs 60 per month towards voice charges in case of bundled pack with unlimited voice.

"No limit to be applied on TSPs to offer free off-net minutes. Any charging of calls, outside the unlimited bundle pack, may be left to the discretion of the operator given the broader over-arching recommendation of tariff forbearance on voice," it said.

It has opposed any need for price ceiling, citing among other factors the competitive market.

Jio, on the other hand, has said that fixation of floor price for data services is vital for maintaining the health of the telecom sector and delivering best value to Indian consumers.

"We therefore submit that the data floor should be fixed on the basis of realized revenue from data services. As mentioned by the Authority, the realized revenue ranges from Rs 9 to 12 per GB. The authority should target to improve the realisation at least to Rs 20 per GB," Jio said.

Floor should be prescribed for data service for all categories that is corporate, consumer and segmented, it said.
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.
Lockdown is a Hopeless Life Imprisonment Situation for Wuhan Residents

Location: Wuhan, Hubei

Date: Feb. 28, 2020

Quarrels broke out at a local community in Wuhan. Local residents argued that the residential lockdown is worse than a life prison sentence and leaves people without hope.

Video One

Female 1:

(I know) its dangerous.

Female 2:

Enough, enough. Reducing the outing time is to decrease the risk, do you understand that?

Whats there to argue about?

Can it solve the problem?

Video Two

Male1:

This is a general rule of Wuhan.

Not targeting any particular person.

Look, this uncle just wanted to buy flour.

But we didnt let him go out.

Male 2:

Let me put it this way.

You also know.

Policy, what about policy?

Shouldnt it abide by the law?

Right?

Female 3:

How is this different from a jail?

Male 2:

What is Article 83 in the Constitution?

What does it say?

Personal freedom.

Go look at the central document.

Female 2:

Then our epidemic will get worse.

Thats why such a measure is adopted.

Male 2:

The epidemic is severe, lock down everyone to kill it.

Kill everyone in Wuhan.

When Wuhan people are all killed, theres no epidemic.

The epidemic will disappear if all 10 million people are killed.

Believe it or not.

I can tell you.

When People in Wuhan are all dead, it will be gone.

Female 2:

Cant talk nonsense like that.

Male 2:

Yeah, you know not to talk nonsense.

You lock it up at home and starve it to death.

In my understanding.

There are contradictions on both sides.

Right?

But the constitution says to guarantee personal freedom.

Female 3:

This is absolutely unreasonable and illegal.

Male 2:

You set the restriction for a period of time.

You restrict a period of 7 days

Female 3:

It leaves no hope.

Male 2:

It is 7 plus 7 plus 7 plus 7.

An endless addition.

What is this pattern?

Its a pattern to make up for the dead.

Theres no way out.

For one, the epidemic is not under control.

The measure is to restrict personal freedom,

To control the outbreak.

This is the last resort.

But it keeps dragging on again and again.

Theres only the beginning.

But theres no end to it.

Can the people accept it?

It cant be that in order to control the epidemic,

You can do whatever you want.

right?

We need a reasonable,

Suitable,

Legal way.

To protect people

of their given rights and certain interests,

In controlling the outbreak.

Perhaps if Im jailed now,

It might be better than what it is now.

First of all,

I dont have to pay for meals.

Because I am in jail.

Secondly, the inmates get the mandatory exercise time.

Now we dont even get that kind of leisure.

Are we given any hope?

Can you tell me when the sun will rise?

No!

You keep saying,

The sun is almost up.

When?

Dont know.

Well see.

We are working hard.

Working hard to lock us up at home.

This is so-called working hard.

I dont think so.
According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the ELISpot and Fluorospot Assay Market was valued at USD 123.5 million in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 408.8 million by the year 2026, at a CAGR of 15.9%. ELISpot, also known as Enzyme-linked immune absorbent spot and Fluorospot, are assay methods used to detect cytokine secretion in samples, including blood plasma, serum, tissues, and others. The technique is antibody-based, wherein the microplates used in the assay are covered by specific antibodies that detect significant proteins from the sample. The ELISpot and Fluorospot are used on a regular basis in various research institutes for cytokine detection and analysis secreted by single cells.

Request free sample of this research report at: https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/2697

The rise in the research and development in the vaccines sector is expected to drive the market majorly. Rising prevalence of infectious diseases that can be detected using ELISpot and Fluorospot assay methods is also a driving factor for the market. For instance, according to the estimates given by the World Health Organization (WHO), around 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years, and now these diseases threaten the health of millions of people in the world. Moreover, the epidemics of infectious diseases worldwide affect around 3 to 5 million people annually and cause severe illness. Various companies have invested in the R&D sector to improve the assay techniques and to gain reliable results. Moreover, the rising cases of chronic disorders and increasing awareness about the diagnosis of chronic diseases are expected to propel the demand extensively. There is a significant increase in healthcare expenditure in developing countries, which could contribute to the growth of the industry.

North America dominates the ELISpot and Fluorospot market owing to the increasing number of manufacturers, spread of infectious diseases, improved health care infrastructure, and the development of various new products. Increasing the production of innovative products and the growth of manufacturers in their countries has led Europe to progress its global presence in the ELISpot and FluoroSpot industry supported by mergers and acquisitions that are increasing the global presence of European markets.

Some major restraints for the industry include limited availability of the reagents necessary for using the assay methods and high sensitivity of the techniques. Moreover, other efficient methods, which serve a similar purpose as ELISpot and Fluorospot assay methods, may also restrain the market.

Further key findings from the report suggest

Different companies continue to be leaders since the introduction of ELISpot and Fluorospot assay techniques. For instance, Oxford Immunotech is the leading company in the market. The company has established itself across the globe and used various strategies to improve its presence in the market

The analyzers segment is widely driven due to the company called Cellular Technology Limited (CTL), which is the first company to introduce analyzers in ELISpot in the market. It has been a leading player in the industry since then.

Many technological advancements have led the market toward growth. For instance, in 2018, Mabtech launched an analyzer called IRIS analyzer, which is a 4-color fluorospot and ELISpot reader.

Also, in 2018, in the assay kits sector, Mabtech introduced a human IL3 ELISpot kit. Such advancements continue the growth of the company in the market

The major players in the market include Oxford Immunotec, Cellular Technologies, Mabtech, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Abcam, Bio-Techne, U-Cytech Biosciences, Lophius Biosciences GmbH, and Biotech Investissement Group.

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For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data has segmented the ELISpot and Fluorospot assay market on the basis of product, application, end use and region:

By Product (Revenue in Million USD; 20162026)

Assay Kits B cell assay T cell assay

Ancillary products

Analyzers

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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020

Aviation experts commended the governments decision to charter a wide-body aircraft from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia as a presidential aircraft for long-haul flights considering that President Joko Jokowi Widodo is not known to frequently visit foreign countries that require long-range aircraft.

Currently the presidential aircraft is a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) 2 which is based on a Boeing 737-800 commercial aircraft, and is currently undergoing routine maintenance.

A picture circulated recently on social media showing one of Garudas Boeing 777-300ER sporting the red and white presidential livery. The picture prompted speculation that President Jokowi would fly in a new presidential aircraft.

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No detention centre is coming up in Maharashtra in connection with the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the legislative council on Thursday. Deshmukh gave this information in a written reply in response to a question by Sharad Ranpise (Congress).

Mumbai: No detention centre is coming up in Maharashtra in connection with the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the legislative council on Thursday. Deshmukh gave this information in a written reply in response to a question by Sharad Ranpise (Congress).

"No detention centre is coming up anywhere in the state in connection with rolling out of the CAA and NRC," he told the Upper House.

However, in the past, the Union home ministry asked the state government to set up a temporary facility to house foreign nationals awaiting deportation, he said.

The Union home ministry directed the state, in a letter dated 10 September, 2014, and a manual dated 9 January, 2019, to set up a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals who have completed their jail terms and were waiting for deportation, Deshmukh said.

Those foreign nationals who have served their jail sentences after conviction will be kept in such a detention centre until their nationality is proved and they are deported," the NCP minister said.

There are directives for constructing a temporary detention centre at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. The government has also requested the CIDCO (a state-run city planning agency) to allot three acres of land for setting up a permanent infrastructure for the same, Deshmukh said.

All three ruling coalition allies  the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP  have opposed the proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens), an exercise that seeks to create a record of bonafide Indian citizens and identify illegal migrants.

However, last month the government told Parliament it has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide NRC.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has already said his government will not allow the NRC to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions".

But Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, has supported the CAA, which seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees who have fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan because of religious persecution.

However, his allies Congress and the NCP have opposed the amended citizenship law, calling it discriminatory and violative of the Constitution.

The CAA and NRC measures, along with the NPR (National Population Register), are facing opposition from various quarters, including some political parties.
Understanding the coronavirus can be complicated enough when you're an adult. The numbers shift by the day, concern continues to escalate and news and social media updates are often conflicting. But explaining it to your kids? That can be even harder.

Coronavirus is probably the first outbreak theyre hearing about, said Alexander Yudovich, a pediatrician at Houstons Pediatric Associates. They were probably not aware of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 or swine flu in 2009.

To explain coronavirus without frightening children, Yudovich said its important to stay calm, informed and reassuring.

Your kids should not live their lives in fear of getting sick, Yudovich said. Coronavirus is no more infectious than any other virus.

Here are some of the answers he suggests parents provide for common questions kids may ask:

What are the symptoms?

Most people get flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty breathing, which can appear two to 14 days after exposure. Coronavirus is not as easy to contract as other common viruses, but it has a higher mortality rate.

The general mortality rate for the flu is 1 in 10,000. With coronavirus, the mortality rate estimated by the World Health Organization, as of now, is as high as 3 percent, Yudovich said.But coronavirus is not airborne like the measles, for example, which you can get just breathing the same air.

Instead, the virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person through respiratory droplets. One of your mucosal surfaces, like your mouth or nose, would come in contact with someone elses saliva, Yudovich said.

What type of precautions should you take?

Yudovichs recommendations start with good hand hygiene: Remind kids to wash their hands frequently, for at least 20 seconds. And try not to touch your face or put your hands in your mouth.

Maintaining healthy habits that support your immune system, such as eating well and not sharing food and drinks, and covering coughs and sneezes with the crook of your elbow are also on his list. If you do use your hand, then go wash it after.

Houston public schools echo Yudovichs advice on the districts recently-launched blog dedicated to coronavirus updates, adding suggestions about disinfecting high-touch objects and surfaces including desktops, doorknobs, restroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards and tablets.

Is it okay to travel?

For kids over age 10 and adults, Yudovich is not discouraging domestic travel or trips to Canada or Mexico.

Of the amount of time youve spent on an airplane, how many times have you gotten sick? Yes, its easier for it to happen in a small enclosed space, but, again, coronavirus is not airborne and you need to wash your hands.

Yudovich does not, however, recommend travel for small children, who can be difficult to continuously monitor. I have a 4-year-old. I dont trust her to not rub her eyes. I would not travel with her right now, he said.

Travel is off-limits to six countries currently on the U.S. travel restriction and warning list  China, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Italy and Hong Kong.

Stay informed

Staying updated on the coronavirus outbreak is important, as is where you get your news.

The coronavirus outbreak is a great lesson for kids in the social media age. But there is a literacy that needs to be taught to children. Yudovich said. Be careful of Facebook and social media posts. Make sure the things you're reading are factual by going to a reputable source.

marcy.deluna@chron.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:16:14|Editor: huaxia

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GUANGZHOU, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Days after Chinese company Xinbao shipped out a batch of OEM products including coffee machines and ice makers in February, it receives a thanks letter from General Electric Company (GE), praising its on-time delivery.

As one of the world's largest suppliers of household appliances, Xinbao Electrical Appliances Holdings Co., Ltd in Foshan, southern China's Guangdong province, occupies a 10 percent share in the global market, while its star product, coffee machines, could hit 40 percent in the global market. Its early resumption weighs a lot in the global supply of household suppliance.

As global market shows a sign of worry that China-made products may not be able to meet global demand amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese government and local companies are stepping up efforts to perish this thought.

"Many overseas clients are anxious, and they have been contacting us frequently to get information on resumption of production," said Ray Zeng, chairman of the company.

Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus this year, millions of Chinese workers returning to their hometowns have to extend the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, and many factories and businesses did not restart until Feb. 10 or even later.

"Collecting staff's information, sending charter buses to take employees back to work and seeking help from other suppliers, we are doing what we can to fulfill clients' orders despite the virus," Zeng said.

The company's honest move won not only a letter of thanks from its American business partners but also brought it more orders.

"We have received more overseas orders in the following two months compared with last year, and the new orders are scheduled to be fulfilled in May," said Zeng. "We are now managing to restore our capacity and recoup losses in February."

Xinbao is just an epitome of China's move to deal with severe challenges posed by the deadly virus and maintain the stability of the global supply chain.

China is implementing targeted policies and taking solid actions to ensure epidemic prevention while resuming production to meet global supply.

Galanz Enterprises Co., Ltd, another Foshan-based company, a major microwave producer, has promised to never delay or call off delivery amid the epidemic.

"No matter how difficult it is, the delivery has to be conducted because we shall be responsible for all the clients," said Liang Zhaoxian, the chairman of Galanz.

To honor its promise, the company resumed production on Feb. 10 after taking a series of unprecedented strict prevention measures including temperature checks at least twice a day and washing hands six times a day.

According to the chairman, to further deal with the shortage of line workers, the company has mobilized more than 160 managerial staff to work on the production line.

"For the time being, the production efficiency has increased by 30 percent compared to the early start of the resumption, and daily capacity is expected to go back to normal soon," said Li Feng, vice chairman of the company, who also serves as stand-by line staff amid the epidemic.

Apart from being honest and efficient, Chinese companies have also been highly flexible and adaptive when facing the crisis.

As the world's largest producer of plastic air-conditioner vane, Foshan-based Guangdong Sunwill Precision Plastic Co., Ltd export about 30 million sets every year, accounting for one-third of the global share.

According to Mo Qiyan, the chairman of the company, after the suspension of the branch company in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, the company has relocated production materials and accessories to other offices to ensure production and delivery.

"Instead of increasing the ex-factory price due to the epidemic, we finished our deliveries without considering the loss," Mo said. "What surprised us is that we actually received more global orders this year."

For Mo, the virus is not just a threat or a crisis, but also a test to China's supply chain and Chinese companies' ability to survive the risk.

Mo said that the shortage of labor amid the epidemic activates more Chinese enterprises to focus on further industry upgrading.

Mo's company has now invested more than 40 million yuan (about 5.72 million U.S. dollars) in automation equipment, and the workforce is expected to drop by 1,000 without reducing the capacity.

"As more Chinese companies improve intelligent manufacturing, we will strengthen the ability to withstand the risks," Mo said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 05:51:24|Editor: huaxia

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A paramedic works in a tent outside the Brescia Civilians Hospital in Brescia, Italy, March 3, 2020. (Xinhua)

In addition, there have been 107 deaths, up from 79 fatalities communicated Tuesday, while another 276 patients have recovered, up from 160 recoveries a day before.



ROME, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2,706 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy since the epidemic first broke out, up from 2,263 cases on Tuesday evening, the Civil Protection Department said Wednesday.

In addition, there have been 107 deaths, up from 79 fatalities communicated Tuesday, while another 276 patients have recovered, up from 160 recoveries a day before, said Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli.

"There are 1,346 patients hospitalized with symptoms, 295 are in intensive care, while 1,065 are in isolation at their homes," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

According to a Civil Protection Department breakdown, the majority of infections (1,497) and deaths (73) occurred in the northern Lombardy region, where the epidemic first broke out on Feb. 21.

The northern Emilia-Romagna region was next in the official tally with 516 cases and 22 deaths, followed by Veneto at 345 cases and six deceased, according to the Civil Protection Department breakdown.

Also on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Minister of Education Lucia Azzolina announced in a joint televised press conference that all schools and universities across Italy will be shut down until March 15.

"Given that the epidemiological situation is changing rapidly, we have decided, as a precautionary measure, to suspend educational activities ...beginning tomorrow until March 15," said Azzolina.

"This is because our national health system... risks becoming overloaded," Conte explained.

Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the prime minister of Italy, announced on the same day that public guided tours of the palace are suspended starting March 4 until further notice. 
Chennai, March 5 : A 13-year-old schoolgirl was attacked by a jilted lover here who attempted to slit her throat, police said.

The girl is now out of danger and recovering in hospital.

Twenty-six-year-old Nithyanandan was arrested for attacking the eighth class girl, police said.

The girl was admitted to a government hospital on Wednesday and is out of danger.

According to police, Nithyanandan was bothering the girl who lived near his home. However, the girl refused his advances.

On Wednesday after she returned from school in the afternoon the accused again accosted her.

Upset at the rejection, he tried to cut her throat with a knife. Hearing her cries, people nearby rushed in and saved the girl while Nithyanandan fled.

The accused was later caught by the police.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli (right) greets opposition politician Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad (left) by tapping their feet together in Zanzibar, Tanzania on March 03, 2020.

Italy is set to release new rules in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which includes advice telling people to avoid shaking hands or hugging.

The country is one of the worst hit from the flu-like virus outside of China, with a death toll of 107. The government is planning to close movie theaters and ban public events across the country in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Countries with more tactile greetings have also been forced to forego tradition for hygiene reasons. A Maori tribe in the New Zealand capital of Wellington has restricted its "hongi" greeting, where people press their noses together and touch foreheads, reported Radio New Zealand on Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Health & Prevention also advised its citizens, via an Instagram post, to avoid traditional nose-to-nose greetings.
Vietnamese fishermen missing following South Korea blaze

by Quy Nguyen

March 05,2020 | Source: VNE

A search is underway for five Vietnamese fishermen and one South Korean after their vessel caught fire in waters off Jeju Island.

Jeju Coast Guard said a fire broke out on the 29-ton ship at around 3:18 a.m. Wednesday in waters near Jeju Island, with eight fishermen onboard, including three South Koreans and five Vietnamese, Vietnam News Agency reported.



Two South Koreans have been rescued so far, with search operations still underway.



Adverse weather conditions have hampered efforts to put out the fire and find the missing, officials said.



Vietnam Labor Management Board in South Korea confirmed the information, stating the youngest among the five missing Vietnamese is 23 and the oldest 45.



Jeju Coast Guard subsequently provided the names and personal identification details of the fishermen to Vietnamese authorities.



South Korea has emerged as one of the biggest markets for Vietnamese labor in recent years. There are around 48,000 Vietnamese working in South Korea.

Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.
Samsung launched the Galaxy M31 smartphone in the M Series in India last week as the successor of the M30s with upgraded cameras, Android 10 out of the box and 6GB RAM as a standard. Specifications look great on paper. Is the phone worth the price of Rs. 14,999? What do you have to compromise in this phone? Let us dive into the review to find out.

Box Contents

Samsung Galaxy M31 smartphone 6GB RAM, 128GB storage version in Space Black

2-pin 15W (9V-1.67A / 5V-2A) fast charger

USB Type-C Cable

Quick Start Guide and Warranty information

Display, Hardware and Design

The new Galaxy M31 comes with a 6.4-inch Full HD+ Infinity U display with a resolution of 10802340 pixels at about 402.6 PPI, aspect ratio of 19.5:9, same as the M30 and the M30s. The display looks bright, thanks to 420 nits brightness, offers good color reproduction and the sunlight legibility is good as well, thanks to AMOLED panel, it offers true blacks. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Similar to the other Samsung phones, there is Blue light filter that is said to reduce eye strain by limiting the amount of blue light emitted by the screen, You can set it for sunrise to sunset and also set a custom schedule. You can change font size and style and select apps that you want to use in the full screen aspect ratio. There is also dark mode, which can be enabled by turning on night mode, which looks great on the AMOLED screen. The phone doesnt have DC dimming or low brightness anti-flicker mode that is present in some AMOLED screen phones in the price range. I didnt notice any screen flicker issues in low brightness on the M30s.

It doesnt have notification LED, but there is Always on display with tap to show option that shows the AOD screen for 10 seconds after you tap the screen. You can also set a schedule. There are a lot of options to choose from such as clocks, GIF or you can download any AOD from Themes section.

On the top, there is an 32-megapixel camera in the notch and the earpiece is present on the top edge.

There is also a tiny space in the top left corner for the proximity sensor and the phone also has an ambient light sensor, which the M30 and the M30s lacks. It has gyroscope and magnetic sensor, otherwise known as magnetometer for VR, but it doesnt have a notification LED. There is a small chin below the screen, similar to most phones with a notch.

The phone has shiny plastic frame which feels a bit cheap, however it doesnt slip out of your hands easily. On the right side, there is a power button and the volume rockers. On the left side there is a single tray that houses dual nano SIM slots and a microSD card slot that accepts cards up to 512GB. At the bottom, there is a 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C port, loudspeaker grill and the primary microphone.

It is a good thing that Samsung has provided dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots when there are a lot of phones that come with hybrid SIM arrangement.

On the back, there is a quad camera module arranged in a rectangular array. There is single LED flash next to the camera module, and a fingerprint sensor next to it. Even though the phone has a huge 6.4-inch screen, it is compact to hold. It is 8.9 mm compared to 8.8mm M30s and weighs 191 grams, compared to 188g M30s. The plastic back attract fingerprints and smudges easily and is also prone to scratches on day-to-day use. It is recommended to get a case since Samsung doesnt provide one in the box. Overall the build quality is average compared to Samsungs A series phones. It is not splash resistant like some phones in the price range.

Camera

It has a 64-megapixel rear camera with Samsung GW1 ISOCELL Bright sensor, 0.8m pixel size and f/1.8 aperture, PDAF along with an 8-megapixel 123-degree ultra-wide lens with f/2.2 aperture, a 5-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.2 aperture and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with f/2.2 aperture. The phone has a 32-megapixel camera on the front with Sony IMX616 sensor with f/2.0 aperture. There is Live Focus that makes use of the 5-megapixel depth sensor. You can also adjust the bokeh effect before or after the shot. There is selfie portrait option for the front camera that uses software to blur the background. There is also a wide-angle option for the front camera.

It has Auto mode, Food, Night, Panorama, Macro, Pro, Live Focus, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion and Hyperlapse as well as Pro mode to adjust ISO, white balance and exposure manually, but you cant adjust the shutter speed or focus. You can choose 64MP option from the aspect ratio settings on the top. It also has AR stickers that lets you add stickers. It also has scene optimizer, which is AI mode that automatically detects 20 modes.

There is partial Cam2API support and there is no RAW support for Exynos devices. I tried some APKs for Exynos, which crashed.

Coming to the image quality, daylight shots are good, and the camera captures a good amount of detail, creates well exposed photos with good dynamic range and detailing, and dynamic range can further be improved enabling HDR mode from the settings, which automatically turns on HDR when needed. Even though the phone has a 64-megapixel sensor, the final output has 16-megapixel resolution, which is common in phones with large sensors.

Autofocus speeds are fast and accurate. Macro shots are good as well, and there is a dedicated macro mode, but there is no touch to focus option in this mode. Live focus is good at detecting edges, and the wide-angle lens is useful in several places. Even though the edges look a bit curved due to the lens, Shape Correction is automatically applied that automatically crop the edges, still some images look a bit curved at the corners, which is common in wide-angle lenses. Low-light performance is decent, which can be improved further with Night mode that offers more details, but you need to keep your hand steady, since it takes two to three seconds to process. However, images shot using night mode are zoomed, and are captured in 8-megapixel resolution compared to 16-megapixel. 64-megapixel shots have good amount of details, but it takes time to process and is about 10MB in size. Images with flash is good even in closeups and is not over powering.

The 32-megapixel front camera is good in most case. Wide-angle mode takes images in 12-megapixel resolution after pixel binning, while the normal mode takes images in 8-megapixel. Software blur in the live focus mode doesnt have good edge detection since it blurs some parts.

Check out some camera samples (Click the image for the full resolution sample).

It can record videos at maximum 4K resolution at 30 fps. There is also 1080p 30fps both in main and wide-angle camera, but there is no 1080p 60fps option, which is a restriction due to processor. It can shoot slow motion at 720p at 240fps and there is also super slow motion, which shoots an 8-second video with 6 seconds of slow motion, and also lets you add custom music for the slow motion part. You can also enable EIS for 1080p videos. Video quality is good, and the audio crisp since it has a secondary microphone. Check out the video samples below.

Software, UI and Apps

Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 10 with Android security patch for February 2020. On the top of Android 10, it has Samsung One UI 2.0, which brings several features, but it still doesnt have screen recording option.

The advanced features option has Games Launcher that gathers your games downloaded from Play Store and Galaxy Apps into one place for easy access, smart pop-up view, smart capture, direct share, motion gestures like lift to wake, double tap to wake, smart stay, easy mute by putting your hand over the screen or turning your phone face down, one-handed mode that lets you use the phone easily with one hand, finger sensor gestures to open and close the notification panel using the fingerprint sensor, palm swipe screenshot capture, swipe to call or send messages. Panic mode lets you Send SOS message by pressing the Power key three times and more.

The Device maintenance option lets you manage your devices battery life, storage, RAM usage, and security all in one place. Out of 128GB (UFS 2.1) in our unit, 111GB is free. Out of 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, about 5.5GB is usable and 3GB is free when default apps are running in the background. Since this has UFS 2.1 storage, we got sequential read speeds of about 487MB/s.

Apart from the usual set of utility apps and Google Apps, the smartphone comes with Facebook app, Netflix app and Microsoft App OneDrive. You get option to install apps when you are setting up the phone, which you can choose not to. As a part of cost-cutting, the Samsung Galaxy M series phones dont have Samsung Pay, Samsung Pass, Secure Folder, Bixby Voice/Vision, Samsung Cloud, Kids Mode, Easy Mode and Samsung Knox.

Fingerprint Sensor and Face unlock

The fingerprint sensor is present on the back, similar to most Samsung phones. It immediately unlocks phone just by keeping your finger so that you dont have to press it. You can add up to 3 fingerprints, and adding fingerprint is easily with few swipes. It has support for Face recognition, which doesnt work well if the lighting is poor in the room, if you are hats, or use heavy makeup, but it is quick to unlock the phone. It also asks if you are wearing sunglasses and says, if you wear sunglasses most of the time, put them on for better results.

Music Player and FM Radio

YouTube Music is the default music player. It has equalizer, Dolby Atmos, UHQ upscaler, Surround and Tube Amp Pro sound effects that can be enabled from the settings. All these improve the audio when listening through earphones. It has FM Radio support with support for recording. That said, audio through third-party headphones is good. Loudspeaker output from the mono speaker is good as well.

The phone comes with Widevine L1 support out-of-the-box so that you can enjoy HD content on Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps.

Dual SIM and Connectivity

The connectivity options include, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz) with VoWiFi for Jio and Airtel, Bluetooth v5 and GPS with GLONASS. It has support for USB OTG. It has 4G connectivity with support a lot of bands and has Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) support for Reliance Jio, Airtel and more.The dialer and messaging have familiar UI. Since this is a dual SIM phone, you get option to select either SIMs when calling or sending text message. Moving on, the call quality is good, and we did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume was loud. Speaker output during calls were good as well.

Performance and Benchmarks

It is powered by Exynos 9611 Octa-Core (Quad 2.3GHz A73 + Quad 1.7GHz A53) SoC , same as the M30s. The performance was smooth during daily usage, and enabling reduce animations from the settings improves it further, since it reduces motion effects on the screen, such as when the apps are opened or close. RAM management was good as well.

With the Mali-G72MP3 GPU, the gaming experience was good. PUBG Works in HDR, but there are frame drops. Other mid-range games were smooth without much frame drops. The phone doesnt get heated up on normal usage, but it is slightly warm when gaming. Check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.

As you can see the scores, it is clear that the SoC is placed towards the end compared to other Snapdragon SoCs, and the Exynos struggles in GPU scores, which we felt when gaming if you play games in high settings.

Battery life

The 6000mAh battery offers brilliant battery life that lasts more than a day with heavy use. With average use it lasted close to two days. I got about 8 hours of screen on time during my use with use of camera and social apps mostly on Wi-Fi and occasional 4G use for 2 days. Adaptive battery saving and other options will let you increase the battery life, but the performance might be affected.

In our One Charge rating, the Samsung Galaxy M31 scored 18 hours 49 minutes, which is slightly better than the M30s, which might be due to Android 10. Samsung has offered USB Type-C and 15W fast charging, while some offer 18W, 20W and even 30W charging. Charging with the bundled charger takes over 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach 100% from 0%, and 0 to 50% took about an hour, which is decent for a phone with a 6000mAh battery.

Conclusion

Overall, the Galaxy M31, is a good upgrade to last years M30s at competitive starting price of Rs. 14,999. It has upgraded cameras, while retaining the same AMOLED display and the huge 6000mAh battery, and most importantly comes with an ambient light snesor for brightness adjustment. Average low-light camera performance, plastic body and lack of Samsung Pay, Secure Folder, Samsung Knox are few things that needs to be compromised.

Competition

At the same price, the Redmi Note 8 Pro offers slightly better cameras and a better gaming experience. The POCO X2 is that costs slightly more offers 120Hz screen.The realme 6 that will be launched this week should be in the similar price range offering 90Hz refresh rate screen.

Availability

The Galaxy M31 comes in Ocean Blue and Space Black colors, is priced at Rs. 14,999 for the 6GB RAM with 64GB storage and Rs. 15,999 for the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version. It will be available from Amazon.in starting from today, March 5th.

Pros

Good FHD+ Super AMOLED display

Good battery life

Good cameras

Dedicated Dual SIM and microSD Slots

Cons

Plastic back is prone to scratches

No screen recorder yet

Average low-light camera performance
What scientists term interoceptive electrical signals is believed to be spiritism/superstition; prophecy by religious/ superstitious (believers) people. Both have a tendency to hijack your free will. Therefore, you may not be free and your decicion isnt made out of free will. But decisions (variants) are to be made out of free will. For instance, a signal from the stomach could prompt people for a snack. Is this interoceptive electrical or spiritual? 

This paper talks about political decision ; what informs people as such ; a) ethnic  tribal sentiments , b ) partisan, c ) cronyism, d) superstition, e) identification with the aggressor, f) free will g ) no idea ?

Scientists claim breathing patterns, and specifically exhaling, could be used to predict when a decision is made  although not what it will be.

The concept of free will is one of the most difficult philosophical questions.

The concept of free will is fundamental to human society  Our legal systems are dependent on it  but neuroscientists have struggled to identify it in human brain.

Modern scientists pose a profound philosophical problem; if the laws of physics govern the brain electrical activity then how can free will actually exist?

And if free will doesnt exist, how can individuals be held accountable for their activities - (both here on earth and after as some believers believe).

Arguably, the latter is the philosophy of believers attributing everything and all to a God who will sit in state to pronounce judgment as they profess. Thus, believers are grossly irresponsible to their acts of omission and commission. For instance, God is good, all the timeall the time, God is good, God knows why, he gives and takes back  they claim.

Scientists believe that brain signals known as readiness potential (RP) proceed not only voluntary movements but also the intention to move, are one of the strongest arguments against the existence of free will.

Did you choose your faith? Having the opportunity what would you have become? Why are you a sympathizer of the political party?

Other researchers have countered that RP signals may simply be an artifact of measurement and not actually which determine the choices we believe we make.

Now, new research from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has investigated the origin of RP signals themselves. The EPFL

Hopes that the origin of the RP could provide some insights into how the human brain actually comes to form decisions and exercise choices.

The study published in the journal Nature Communications, the research suggest that the origin of RP signals and the free will is linked to breathing.

The regular cycle of breathing is part of mechanism that leads to conscious decision  making and acts as free will. Moreover, we are more likely to initiate voluntary movements as we exhale  EPFL researchers.

The legal system is based on people being accountable for their actions. Must people be accountable for their political actions and/ or inactions?

Olaf Blanke, EPFL Foundation Bartarelli Chair in cognitive Neuroprosthetics and the papers senior author said the findings suggest acts of free will are affected by other systems of the human body.

He says Acts of free will are hostage to a host of inner body states and the brains processing of these internal signals .  Interestingly, such signals have also been shown to be of relevance for self  consciousness , Mr. Blanke noted.

It might not be just breathing either. RP signals from the stomach could potentially drive the human desire to hunger after particular foods. This is what drives people into religion, traditional- cultures and customs, politics, and media business under guise of serving their people, nation and country.

The gut  mind connection is an active field of research and intercoceptive messages ( political, religion/ superstition, traditional  cultures and customs, paparazzi ) sent to the brain certainly impact food cravings.

Politics, religion/ superstition, traditionalism, paparazzi and political terrorism crave for FOOD based on propaganda, deception and blatant lies as well, as sabotage! In Ga language noko fio! 

But for now, the latest EPFL research only improves predictions of indulgence in that craving (FOOD) and not what you will actually crave.

In conclusion, I suggest, having the ability to think critically in free will and to make well  informed decisions as to who gets the nod to be elected into public office as an MP (member of parliament) and President to truly serve Ghana is hijacked by ethnic- tribal sentiments, extreme partisan politics, cronyism, superstition (doomsday election prophets, fetish priests/priestess), media corruption and political terrorists. Why? Simply because, the nation lacks critical minds!

FLOATING VOTERSASSOCIATION (FloVA) offers:

Comprehensive Voter Education ( CVE) to empower the electorate FloVA deal to negotiate our votes with political parties in a legal  binding social contract to deliver on time - bound

If you have been impacted by this file, you may please, register with us, donate or support FloVA to achieve its aims and objectives. You may contact listed address or visit http//: www.flovagh.org (soon -2-log-on)

NB: The commentator, KKO is a free  thinker, and an advocate of human security.
Wearing green in Ireland might not be groundbreaking, but wearing The Vampire's Wife certainly is for Kate Middleton. The Duchess of Cambridge visited the Guinness Storehouse's Gravity Bar during her tour of Ireland where she was all smiles, joking with fellow guests and sipping on a tall glass of stout - and her look was refreshingly youthful.

To continue her green theme for the Cambridges' tour of Ireland, Catherine wore an iridescent emerald metallic silk The Falconetti Dress ($2,076) by edgy British brand The Vampire's Wife that is currently available for preorder. She paired the on-trend midi dress with Manolo Blahnik BB Dark Green Velvet heels ($695), her Wilbur and Gussie Charlie Gold Glitter Classic Clutch ($315), and passed season earrings from H&M. If Kate's The Vampire's Wife dress looks familiar, then you're absolutely right. A very similar dress by the brand was worn by fellow royal Princess Beatrice to the wedding of Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling in September 2019.

Ahead, a closer look at Kate's emerald green look.

Related:

Kate Middleton Channeled Blair Waldorf in This Velvet Headband, and We're Sure She'd Approve
BRUSSELS, March 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday recommended that European Union finance ministers start a disciplinary procedure against Romania over the country's excessive budget deficit that last year exceeded the EU limit of 3% of gross domestic product.

The Commission wants the ministers to ask Romania to reduce the budget gap below 3% by 2022 at the latest and take effective action towards that goal by Sept. 15.

The recommendation sets out a path for the reduction of the headline deficit to 3.6% of GDP in 2020 from 3.8% last year, then 3.4% in 2021 and 2.8% in 2022.

Should Romania fail to comply with the deficit reduction goal without a good reason the Commission can move to freeze EU structural funds for the country aimed at equalising living standards across Europe - a sanction that has already been used against Hungary in the past, but which is unlikely anytime soon.

Romania's government, which is facing local and parliamentary elections this year, plans to enforce an already approved 40% hike in all state pensions from September. The Commission has warned the hike will take the country's deficit to 6.1% in 2021.

"We have been negotiating with the European Commission for the last three months," interim Finance Minister and designated Prime Minister Florin Citu said.

"Romania has a sustainable and credible deficit reduction plan fully accepted by the European Commission," he said. (Additional reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest; Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
An Indonesian maid was jailed for two years in Singapore Thursday for giving money to an Islamic State-linked terror outfit blamed for a string of attacks in her home country. The affluent city-state is home to over 250,000 maids from neighbouring Indonesia, and has seen a string of cases where foreign domestic helpers have allegedly been radicalised. Anindia Afiyantari donated Sg$130 (US$94) last year to charities used as fronts by Indonesia-based Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), described by prosecutors as among "the most dangerous terrorist organisations" in Southeast Asia. It has been blamed for attacks, including the stabbing of President Joko Widodo's chief security minister Wiranto and deadly suicide bombings at several churches. "The accused's actions of plotting to finance terrorist acts... strike at the very heart of Singapore's harmony," prosecutors said, according to court documents. The 33-year-old -- who earned Sg$600 a month -- was introduced to radical religious teachings by other Indonesian domestic helpers in Singapore. As well as donating to charities, she uploaded videos of bombings and killings by the Islamic State group on Facebook and created new accounts when her posts were blocked, prosecutors said. The jihadists controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria until their defeat last year. Two other Indonesian maids were jailed in Singapore last month -- one for 18 months and the other 45 months -- after pleading guilty to charges of financing terrorism. mba/sr/fox FACEBOOK
Her mum is Isabella Rossellini, her grandma was Ingrid Bergman, so Elettra Wiedemann Rossellini was born to be an icon. But a more down-to-earth life beckoned. She tells Hattie Crisell why shes swapped the catwalk for the chicken run on her family farm

Left: Elettra modelling the new Weekend Max Mara On Set collection. Right: Elettra aged five with her mother Isabella in a 1989 campaign for the same brand

I've had models reschedule interviews before, but Elettra Wiedemann Rossellinis reason for postponing is a new one for me. Im sorry  I ended up taking a three-day breadmaking class, she says when we speak the following week.

Im running my family farm in Long Island now, and were going to try to get bread off the ground. I couldnt really find anybody to make it, so I decided to do it myself.

Its an unconventional start, but then Elettra is not a typical model  just as her mother, Isabella Rossellini, has never been a typical model or actress, nor her grandmother, Ingrid Bergman, a typical movie star. Yes, she is the face of a new campaign for Weekend Max Mara. In fact, she spent over a decade posing for the fashion industrys most celebrated photographers  but at 36, shes got other matters on her mind.

I dont consider myself a model any more, so when the phone rings and its Weekend Max Mara on the line, Im very happy  but thats not something thats happening a lot in my life. Ive made space for new things.

She doesnt just mean carbs. A significant focus is her toddler son, Ronin, two, whose father is Elettras partner of five years, Pretty Little Liars actor Caleb Lane. The campaign shoot, which took place on a beach outside Rome, was Elettras first work trip without Ronin. It was a pleasure to spend time with everybody and get a little mummy break, but I wont lie  I think every mum feels the pull.

The photographs show the mother of one, willowy and graceful, wearing a collection created by the great costume designer Gabriella Pescucci.

The new collection, shot on a beach near Rome, is by costume designer Gabriella Pescucci: She grew up with my whole family, says Elettra, so we had a big dinner together, the Italian way

Its very clean and simple but also impactful, and I could see that it was the hand of somebody who had a lot of experience in costume, she says. Its almost old-Hollywood glamour in style, with nipped-in dresses and coats and white cropped trousers; the model looks the part too, her hair swept up in a beehive. The standout element of the collection is a print used throughout: oversized, beautifully illustrated seashells.

I loved that Gabriella had chosen these quirkier prints, says Elettra. I felt like it was something that a woman of any age could wear, because she had trod the line between doing classic cuts, well-tailored, with these prints that made them feel youthful and joyful as well. It exuded a sense of humour that I think Gabriella very much has as a person  shes a very funny woman.

The Oscar-winning costume designer (for The Age of Innocence in 1993) is also a family friend  part of what sounds like a sprawling network that Elettra (who grew up in New York but speaks fluent French and Italian) has in Europe. I think it was fun for Gabriella to get to know me, because she knows my whole family  my aunts and uncles  going back to when they were kids in Rome. We had a big dinner with a bunch of other people from Weekend Max Mara, the real Italian way.

While its not the first time Elettra has modelled for the brand, she doesnt remember her previous shoot; after all, she was only five years old at the time, and posing alongside her mother. Shes been raised in a family with no shortage of style icons.

Strong, elegant women are on both sides of my family, maternal and paternal, she reflects. They really taught me about simplicity and functionality. The women of my family dont think that in order to be elegant, you have to be in a gown with high heels. They think that a white shirt and black trousers are elegant My paternal grandmother [Ingrid Bergman], her entire wardrobe was just black clothes. So they taught me about keeping things very simple.

Elettras grandma Ingrid Bergman in 1956

Looking at Elettras life, you might also conclude that she learned from her mother to develop multiple strings to her bow.

Isabella was a successful model, a US Vogue cover girl, when she made her move into acting. She showed herself to be equally distinctive and talented on screen, in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her. She even received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Crime of The Century in 1996. But that wasnt the final stop on her trajectory; subsequently, she bought an organic farm in Long Island, New York, which her daughter is now working on, and earned a masters degree in animal behaviour and conservation.

So its no surprise that while Elettra was enjoying her own successful modelling career, she was also studying for a masters in biomedicine at the London School of Economics (LSE). At the LSE I started researching food policy and food technology, and it just struck me as really interesting, she says. A lot of what I was working on were very dense, theoretical papers, but when I started looking at all of that theory through the lens of food, which was something that I was interacting with on a daily basis  to survive  it just opened up this rabbit hole. Her dissertation explored the future of feeding urban populations in light of climate change; she gained a distinction.

My grandma Ingrid showed me that elegance is about keeping things very simple

From there, she returned to New York and launched a pop-up restaurant at fashion week, followed by a cookbook  Impatient Foodie  and her own chic cookery video series. Studying for my masters led me down a road I didnt expect  its had a clear ripple effect across my whole life for the past decade, and Im very glad, because I love the fashion industry but I also really love the food industry, and its been nice to float between the two.

Now recipe writing and work in front of the camera have taken a back seat in her life. As well as the bread course, in recent years Elettra has studied medicinal herbology and  following her own struggles with breastfeeding  trained as a lactation consultant.

Having moved to Long Island when Ronin was born, the bulk of her attention is now geared towards running her mothers farm. Her Instagram, for the most part, is not fashion shoots and evening gowns: its mud-smeared selfies, freshly harvested veg and, yes, now baguettes too.

Elettras plan is ambitious: she wants to turn the farm into a flourishing business on all fronts, hiring it out for events and photo shoots as well as supplying the local community with produce. My mum has done a tremendous job, over the past six years, of turning this land into a place that has infrastructure, water and electricity, she says. My job now is to take the reins from my mother, who is always travelling and very busy, to focus on growing the farm. We have a childrens festival there every year and we want to make it more of a destination. So Im managing all of that  as well as apparently now baking for 50 people.

It seems idyllic but exhausting  and, indeed, Elettra sounds a bit frazzled. But its refreshing to speak to a campaign star who is so unafraid of getting her hands dirty  literally. Will there be another recipe book, more media appearances? Maybe one day, she concedes, but for now Im just on a very steep learning curve.

For details of Weekend Max Mara On Set by Gabriella Pescucci, go to gb.maxmara.com
Riyadh, March 5 : The Saudi-led coalition has announced that it had foiled an attempted "terror attack" on an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea.

The attack, occurring 90 nautical miles southeast of Yemeni Nishtun port, was thwarted on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency quoted the coalition's spokesperson Turki Al Maliki as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

He said that the attack was carried out by using four remote-controlled unmanned boats loaded with explosives.

The naval threat to the global energy security, sea lines of communication and international trade has evolved into a strategic threat to international security, Maliki said.

He added that the coalition would continue to implement all necessary measures to eliminate any threats in the coalition's area of naval operations, while calling on international partners to intensify efforts to counter these threats.

Last month, the coalition had announced the foiling of an attempted attack in the southern Red Sea by the Houthi militia in Yemen.

It also announced the death of three Egyptian fishermen in an accident when their boat hit a sea mine reportedly planted by the Houthis in the Red Sea.
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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has told its residents, including British expats, not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

The nations Health and Community Protection Ministry delivered the warning on 5 March, reports AP.

Officials said that anyone who travelled abroad could face quarantine themselves upon their return.

Two major airlines are based in the UAE: Emirates, which is government-owned and flies out of Dubai International Airport, and Etihad, the flag carrier for Abu Dhabi.

Both have already been hit hard by reduced demand for flights due to the virus, which has spread to 85 countries and killed more than 3,200 people worldwide.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

Emirates has asked staff to take unpaid leave for up to a month after cancelling flights to Iran, Bahrain and most of China because of coronavirus.

Considering the availability of additional resources and the fact that many employees want to utilise their leave, we have provided our employees the option to avail leave or apply for voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time, chief operating officer Adel al-Redha said in a statement.

Etihad has taken a similar stance, asking some staff to bring forward their leave from later in the year to combat a reduction in operations.

An Etihad spokesperson told Gulf News that the airline has asked cabin crew members to consider bringing forward paid leave from later this year to April, due to changed demand caused by the Covid-19 virus.

The airline added: Global restrictions on travel and re-timing of events have caused many passengers to change their travel arrangements, and the airline is among many realigning resources to accommodate these changes.

The latest UAE travel advisory is likely to have an even bigger impact on the two international carriers.

It comes as the International Air Transport Association (Iata) releases its estimate that the coronavirus outbreak could cost the aviation industry as much as $113bn (87.47bn) this year  almost quadruple its previous forecast.

The industry body had previously estimated that the deadly bug would cost the industry $29.3bn (22.68bn) in terms of lost revenue, but this was based on a scenario where the impact of coronavirus would be largely confined to markets associated with China.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 5, 2020 - 13:50 | All, Japan

Police investigated a record number of domestic violence cases in Japan in 2019, marking the 16th consecutive year of increase, an official report showed Thursday.

The total stood at 9,161, up 73 from the previous year, while the number of consultations to police officers across the country about potential domestic violence also rose to 82,207, up 4,725, according to the report from the National Police Agency.

(A woman speaks of her husband's domestic violence towards her and his abuse towards their children during an interview in Tokyo in June 2019.)

Among the investigated cases, 8,168, or about 90 percent, were assaults, including those that did not result in injuries. There were also 3 cases of murder and 110 cases of attempted murder, the report showed.

Among the consultations, about 80 percent of the alleged victims were women, and about 80 percent of the alleged assailants were men. But the number of male victims rose to 17,815, tripling from 5,971 in 2014.

For both suspected victims and assailants, those in their 30s stood out, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total. The number of consultations over stalking stood at 20,912, down 644 from 2018, while that of stalking cases in which the police launched investigations totaled 2,355, down 109, according to the report.

An NPA official said the decreases might be attributable to stricter regulations and a growing sense among people to obey them.

Restraining orders were issued in a record 1,375 stalking cases after a 2017 amendment enabled Japanese police to issue them without first issuing a warning. Subsequently, the number of warnings dropped to 2,052, down 399.

The NPA also said younger people were increasingly falling victim to revenge pornography.

It said there were 1,479 consultations over the crime, up 132 from the previous year, while the number of cases they investigated was 261, up 8.

Of the victims, who were mostly women, in the consultations, 637 were in their 20s, up 122, and 376 were under 20, up by 24. The number of victims in their 30s and 40s declined.
A mother-of-three accused of murdering a man in a knife attack has had her case adjourned after a judge was told she was too unwell to attend court.

Christina Anderson (38) is charged with murdering father-of-seven Garreth Kelly (39), who died after he was stabbed in a housing estate in west Dublin last week.

Mr Kelly had been trying to start his car to go to work when he sustained fatal wounds and died on the street.

Ms Anderson was remanded in custody in her absence yesterday by Judge Colin Daly at Dublin District Court.

The accused, of Brownsbarn Wood, Kingswood, is charged with murdering Mr Kelly on February 25.

Yesterday was her second court date on the charge.

Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher told Judge Daly he appeared for Ms Anderson, who was in custody and not present in court.

"There is a note to say she is unwell, judge," he said.

Detective Sergeant Dara Kenny told the court the investigation file was being prepared and asked for a further two-week adjournment.

Mr Kelleher said that on the last date, the court had ordered reports and asked if it could be clarified whether this was a psychiatric or psychological report.

Flanked

Judge Daly said the order was for the accused to be medically and psychiatrically assessed and for a separate psychiatric report for the court.

He remanded Ms Anderson in her absence to appear before the court again on March 18.

When she first appeared in court last week, Det Sgt Kenny said Ms Anderson made no reply when charged and was handed a copy of the charge sheet.

Ms Anderson sat with her head bowed throughout last week's brief hearing, in which she was flanked by six prison officers.

Her husband had been present on the last date and had listened to the proceedings from the back of the court.

Mr Kelly, originally from Tallaght but who had been living in Clondalkin, was believed to have been staying with his partner at another house in the Brownsbarn estate at the time of the incident.

His car would not start when he came out to go to work at 7am, and he was working on the engine when he sustained stab wounds.

His body was removed to Dublin City Morgue for post-mortem examination.

His Skoda was examined at the scene before it was taken away for further investigations.

Mr Kelly's funeral will take place tomorrow.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghanas leading homeopathic healthcare centre, End Point Homeopathic Clinic, Dr. Kofi Adu Boateng, has built a 6-classroom Day Care centre for the Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Education  Winneba (UEW).

Dr. Adu Boateng who is an alumnus of University of Education (UEW) identified one of the biggest problems facing students who become mothers while studying at the university; and that was female students dropping out of school by virtue of becoming mothers because they had nobody to take care of their new-born babies while they attend lectures.

At the 9th anniversary of the institutions Childhood Care Education Students Association of Ghana (CCESAG), an event he chaired, Dr. Boateng promised to help solve the problem by building a day care centre for the Department to enable mothers who double as students leave their kids to be taken care of at the on-campus Day Care centre.

True to his words, Dr. Adu Boateng has single-handedly funded the construction of the Day Care Centre furnished with an office, a resource centre, and toilet facilities to its completion.

According to the multiple award-winning medical practitioner and philanthropist, its his wish to see many women pursue higher education. He said one of the hindrances to women achieving this feat is as a result of childbirth, even for those who are already studying in tertiary institutions.

In most cases, the moment a female student gives birth, she is presented with the difficult choice of truncating her studies to take care of her child. This doesnt help. I thought of a way to put an end to this, and one of the ways is building this Day Care centre. Once a student gives birth, her ward can be at the centre while the mother concentrates fully during lectures, he added.

Dr. Boateng who regards the Day Care Centre to be his small contribution to solving a bigger nationwide educational problem mentioned that this is my alma mater and with time, I will even do more to help with the education of those who will also pass through this place.

Dr. Adu Boateng is a donor to many Ghanaian charitable organisations and also operates an in-house charitable initiative of reaching out and helping the poor in society.

Recently, he donated several items including bags of rice, cartons of milk, washing powder, toiletries, cooking oil, diapers, and drinks amounting to thousands of Ghana cedis to the families of children living with cerebral palsy and also made a donation of Ghc 15,000 to the YOA Foundation to support the children living with cerebral palsy.

During the same time, he also helped in freeing 20 inmates from the Nsawam Prisons who had been sentenced for committing minor offences like dumping of refuse and urinating at unauthorised places by paying their fines for them.

---GhanaCelebrities.com
The personal information of 900,000 Virgin Media customers was left exposed online for 10 months enabling a third-party to access the data, it has emerged.

The company said the breach did not happen due to a hack but occurred because its database was incorrectly configured, allowing unauthorised access.

The information in the database did not include passwords or financial details but did contain names, email addresses, phone numbers and details of customers' contracts with the service.

However, the independent company that alerted Virgin to the breach found details that linked some customers to 'explicit websites', it told MailOnline.

Virgin Media is blaming the error on the negligence of a staff member who did not follow correct procedures.

The information was accessible from April 2019 until February 28, 2020.

The personal information of 900,000 Virgin Media customers was left exposed online for 10 months enabling a third-party to access the data. The company said the breach did not happen due to a hack but occurred as the database was incorrectly configured

Virgin Media CEO Lutz Schuler said the company recently became aware of the issue and immediately shut down access to the affected database.

Speaking at a media conference in London, Schuler said: 'There is no evidence that the data taken has been used in the wrong way.

'We want to avoid any panic.

'We all have enough on our plate with coronavirus at the moment but we have to be open about it,' said Schuler, who said he would apologise to customers for the breach.

The company, which is conducting an ongoing investigation, said it believes the database was accessed at least once but does not know the extent of the access or if any information was used.

'Protecting our customers' data is a top priority and we sincerely apologise,' it said.

'We are now contacting those affected to inform them of what happened.'

Virgin is now urging its customers to remain cautious before 'clicking on an unknown link or giving any details to an unverified or unknown party'.

The Financial Times reported that this breach affects about 15 percent of Virgin Media's paying customers, including some with Virgin Mobile.

However, data from non-customers could have also been included that came from 'refer a friend' promotions.

Virgin Media is Britains second-largest broadband company and owned by billionaire John Malones Liberty Global, according to The Financial Times.

The vulnerability of the customer data was first discovered by information security provider TurgenSec, as reported by the FT and confirmed to MailOnline by the company.

'The breach was discovered by TurgenSec as part of a routine sweep of databases,' a spokesperson at TurgenSec told MailOnline.

'Despite reassurance issued that protecting our customers data is a top priority we found no indication that this was the case.

'This wasnt only due to a simple error made by a member of staff incorrectly configuring a database, as has been stated.

TurgenSec added that information was in plaintext and unencrypted  which means anyone with a web-browser could clearly view and potentially download all the data without needing any specialised equipment or hacking techniques.

'It is regrettable that the company is shifting blame to a member of their staff, when they should have had a mature DevSecOps methodology that routinely looks for, identifies and mitigates these errors before a customers data is exposed.'

Virgin Media is blaming the error on a staff member not following correct procedures. The information was accessible from April 2019 until February 28, 2020

With almost one million customers affected, the breach is deemed one of the largest by a UK firm in recent years.

'This data breach has exposed the data of almost a million Virgin Media customers and whilst no financial details or passwords were included, those customers are likely to be worried,' said Adam French, Which? consumer rights expert.

'It is vital that Virgin Media continues to provide clear information on what has happened.

'For anyone concerned they could be affected, it's good practice to update your password after a data breach.

'Also, be wary of emails regarding the breach, as scammers may try and take advantage of it.'

Virgin Media spent Thursday morning apologising to customers for an outage, which it fixed later in the afternoon

Virgin said that online security advice and help on a range of topics is available to customers on its website.

It says it has contacted all the affected individuals with advice on what to do next.

Virgin Media customers were hit earlier with another disaster on Thursday, as many of them were left without internet.

Customer reports of broadband problems surged overnight before reaching a high of around 4,300 by 11am, according to independent outage monitor website Downdetector.

Home and business users alike have been affected by the outage, which appears to have affected Southampton and surrounding areas particularly badly.

The network operator is scrambled to investigate the cause of the dropout and said it fixed the issue at around 4pm on Thursday.
BOUQUETS>> To the folks who made it possible for Charlie Schulz to fulfill his dream of being a bartender.

For as long as Charlies family can remember, a Deepwood news release stated, Charlie has wanted to be a bartender.

And on March 1 at Ballentine Restaurant in downtown Willoughby he was.

Sponsored by the Deepwood Foundation, for three hours guests were Living the Dream with Charlie.

The well-attended event also included a happy hour, a 50/50 raffle and Schulzs own signature drink, the Charlies Lemonade.

Born with developmental disabilities, Schulz is indicative of the affirmative work Deepwood does to integrate differently challenged individuals within everyday settings and environments with a level of independence.

Schulz has received services through the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood since age 6 and later graduated from LCBDD/Deepwoods Broadmoor School. This year marks the 13th year Schulz has worked with LCBDD/Deepwoods Community Employment Services.

When Charlie was born, we were told that Lake County provided the best services for individuals who had developmental disabilities, his mother Mary Schulz said. The Deepwood Foundation really does make dreams come true. We are so excited to watch Charlie live his dream.

Charlie is a true go-getter and currently cleans for the Willoughby Brewing Company and the 1899 Pub in downtown Willoughby, Director of Community Employment Services for LCBDD Bob Fratino said. Charlie has always dreamed of being a bartender, so this will truly be a dream come true for him.

Were grateful for the opportunities Deepwood works to provide for folks like Schulz in our community, and hope he keeps chasing all his dreams.

BOUQUETS>> To Finnigan, the 2-year-old bernedoodle who made the most of his 15 minutes of fame with his appearance on TV as Good Morning Americas Pet of the Week.

Finnigan brought his owners Teddy Dellas and Meghan Sluzynsky of Lake County along with him on the journey to New York City where he was recognized for his big heart and work as a therapy dog.

We were nervous, but luckily all the people that we had been interacting with were so nice and gave us really good advice to just focus on the anchors and they let us know that there were backup plans upon backup plans if God forbid something happened, Sluzynsky said. We were just more concerned about accidentally becoming a meme.

An appearance on Good Morning America was not the only excitement for the pair that week. Many friends back home were surprised to notice a new ring on Sluzynskys left hand when the segment aired.

When we got engaged that Thursday night we only told our immediate family, but then on Friday once we were on TV we started getting texts from a lot of friends asking about the ring, so it was a cute way for people to find out, she said.

Keep up the good work, Finnigan, and congratulations to and Dellas and Sluzynsky.

BRICKBATS >> To two Ohio teens who police say stole a hearse  with a body inside  for a quick joyride before crashing into a utility pole.

The two teenagers hijacked the vehicle last month after finding the keys in the ignition outside a funeral home, according to Columbus police.

Fortunately it wasnt worse, Bob Spears, owner of Spears Funeral Home told WSYX. Its scary to me that someone would steal a car right in front of us.

He added, The disrespect is appalling.

The two teens hit another vehicle with the hearse after witnesses saw them doing donuts in a school parking lot nearby.

Spears said the funeral had already taken place for the individual in the casket and the body was scheduled for cremation. There was no serious damage to the body or casket.

The hijacking and crash came a day after a thief stole a hearse  also with a body inside  for a wild ride that ended with a police chase and crash on a busy Los Angeles freeway.

They should be ashamed of themselves.
A three-year-old girl taught to laugh off the sound of shelling in war-torn Syria has left with her family and started a new life in neighbouring Turkey, her father said Wednesday. Salwa crossed the border with her parents last week at the invitation of the Turkish state, her father Abdullah al-Mohammed said. The little girl rose to fame last month after a video was circulated on social media of her and her father laughing at bombardment in embattled northwest Syria. Her father said he was delighted Salwa would now be able to lead a quiet life in Turkey, away from the "disturbing sounds". "Her future here -- after she starts kindergarten and then school -- will definitely be better than if she had stayed somewhere at war," the 32-year-old said. In the video widely shared last month, he asks his only daughter if the whizzing sound they can hear outside is a plane or a mortar. "A mortar," the three-year-old answers. "When it comes, we will laugh," she says before -- at the sound of a blast outside -- breaking into a giggle that endeared her to millions. Mohammed says he is happy he will no longer have to invent games to gloss over the horrors of Syria's nine-year civil war. "At least now I won't have to lie to her," he told AFP by telephone from the border region of Hatay, where he is now looking for a job. - 'In a safe place' - A Russia-backed military offensive on Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib since December has forced almost a million people -- more than 60 percent of them children -- out of their homes and shelters. Many have sought refuge in areas along the Turkish border, but Turkey -- already hosting 3.6 million Syrian refugees on its soil -- has been reluctant to allow any more through. Though he is one of the lucky ones, Salwa's father said the departure was bitter-sweet. "I'm happy we are in a safe place and that we managed to flee the bombardment, but I'm also annoyed and sad that I had to leave my country," he said. Mohammed escaped his hometown of Saraqeb late last year as regime forces approached. He and his family then found refuge in the town of Sarmada further north, where an AFP correspondent met them in February. The most recent escalation of violence in Idlib has killed more than 470 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says. A new report this week found that fighting in the area has rendered large parts of the region uninhabitable. The charity group Save the Children has warned that, even in the case of an immediate ceasefire, it would take "months if not years" to rebuild destroyed civilian infrastructure and create the trust for communities to return.
BOISE, Idaho  U.S. authorities are asking Yellowstone National Park tourists to review their vacation photos to see if they can spot any clues about two missing children whose mother has been brought back to Idaho to face charges.

Lori Vallow was arrested in Hawaii last month and charged with felony child abandonment. Her 7-year-old son, Joshua JJ Vallow, was last seen Sept. 23 and his big sister, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, was last seen Sept. 8  the same day the family went on a day trip through the popular park.

Police in the small town of Rexburg, Idaho, where the children were last known to be living, have said they strongly believe that Joshua and Tylees lives are in danger. They also say Vallow, 46, and her husband, Chad Daybell, have repeatedly lied about the childrens whereabouts.

The bizarre case spans several states, includes investigations into three mysterious deaths and touches on rumors of Vallows and Daybells apocalyptic religious beliefs.

Vallows estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother Alex Cox in Phoenix last July. Cox, who said the shooting was in self-defense, died of unknown causes in December.

In August, Vallow moved from Arizona to Idaho, where Daybell lived with his wife, Tammy Daybell. She died in October. Her obituary said the death was from natural causes, but law enforcement became suspicious when Chad Daybell married Vallow just two weeks after Tammys death.

Tammy Daybells remains have been exhumed, but the autopsy report has not yet been released. Toxicology results on Cox also are not public yet.

Law enforcement escorted Vallow back to Idaho on Thursday and shes due in court Friday. Vallows attorneys, Brian Webb and Edwina Elcox of Eagle, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Rexburg Police Department and the FBI are asking anyone who visited Yellowstone on Sept. 8 to share any photos or videos of their trip with law enforcement.

Investigators are particularly looking for anything that may show Vallow, her brother, Cox, the children or a silver 2017 Ford F-150 pickup with Arizona license plate CPQUINT, which the group was driving in Yellowstone, according to an FBI statement.

Law enforcement is seeking photos and video which may have captured images of these persons and the vehicle, or images of crowds and other park visitors where these individuals may be present, the statement said.

Photos and video can be uploaded at FBI.gov/Rexburg.

Investigators are preparing in case of a break in the case: The FBI brought a mobile command unit to Rexburg on Monday. The command center, which is similar to a large recreational vehicle outfitted with crime processing equipment, is providing logistical support to local authorities.

Rexburg police first questioned Vallow and Daybell about the missing kids in late November, but when detectives returned the next day, the couple had left town. They asked Hawaii authorities for help finding them.

Vallow reportedly believes she is a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christs second coming in July 2020, according to divorce documents that Charles Vallow filed before his death.

She and Daybell were both involved in an Idaho-based group that promotes preparing for the biblical end times.

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Linkedin Ellen Wulfhorst (Thomson Reuters Foundation) New York, United States  Thu, March 5, 2020 17:00 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206895b4a 2 Lifestyle gig-economy,workers,workers-protection,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,outbreak,COVID-19,health Free

Uber driver Saibou Sidibe will roll down a window, offer a tissue and reach for hand sanitizer if a passenger sneezes or coughs, but those are his only concessions to coronavirus.

"We know the fear exists, but there's no panic, and we're still working," the New York driver told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "We cannot stay home and we have to take care of the family ... we need to make money."

Independent messengers, food deliverers and drivers like Sidibe are forced by the nature of their jobs to interact with people from across the globe, and the coronavirus threat could deal them - and the gig economy as a whole - a devastating blow.

Covid-19, which has been found in some 80 nations, spreads primarily through tiny droplets coughed or sneezed from an infected person and inhaled by another, and vigilant hygiene can prevent transmission, health experts say.

"Aside from workers in the healthcare industry, of course, one might argue that many gig workers will find themselves on the frontlines of this virus," said Erin Hatton, a labor expert at The State University of New York at Buffalo.

Staying home is hardly an option for gig workers who would lose income and lack paid sick leave, said Arran Stewart, co-founder of job.com, an online recruitment platform.

"Gig workers are notorious for working while they're unwell," said Stewart.

"These companies have an obligation to communicate effectively to their workforce what they need to do to protect themselves and to protect the people and customers that they interact with."

Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft, food deliverers DoorDash and Caviar and others have provided advice from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as telling drivers to wash their hands and keep their vehicles clean.

"We are always working to help ensure the safety of our employees and everyone on the Uber platform, and we continue to be concerned by the ongoing spread of coronavirus," said Uber, with nearly 5 million drivers in dozens of countries.

The coronavirus threat makes the gig business vulnerable overall, Stewart said.

"The danger is if one case happens that is at all related back to gig workers," he said.

"People will stop taking Ubers and Lyfts unless they know there's some policy in place and make sure they're not about to be jumping in a cab and a ride where they might face getting ill."

The situation underscores the need to classify gig workers as employees eligible for sick pay, labor advocates say.

More than one in 10 US workers relies on the gig economy for primary income, according to the Gig Economy Data Hub, a US project that provides information about gig work.

California enacted the first US law this year making it tougher for companies to classify workers as contractors, but it faces legal and political challenges.

The US labor agency said in 2019 that Uber drivers were independent contractors who set their hours, own their cars and can work for competitors.

France's top court on Wednesday granted an Uber driver's request to reclassify him as an employee of the company.
TORONTO - Officials in Ontario are reporting a new case of the novel coronavirus that they say is linked to a cruise ship that left San Francisco in early February.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - Officials in Ontario are reporting a new case of the novel coronavirus that they say is linked to a cruise ship that left San Francisco in early February.

Peel Public Health says the man in his 60s from Mississauga, Ont., was a passenger on the Grand Princess cruise ship and returned to Canada on Feb. 28.

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 CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

He is now considered the 23rd case of COVID-19 in the province.

The agency says the man was assessed at a local hospital before being released into self-isolation.

News from Peel region came after Ontario's chief medical officer of health announced two other new cases of the virus on Thursday.

Dr. David Williams says those cases are a woman who returned to Kitchener, Ont., from Italy and a man who returned to Toronto from Iran.

Williams says everyone who has tested positive for the virus has been isolated.

"Overall, the containment continues well," Williams said. "The risk of transmission in Ontario is low."

The latest cases involve a woman in her 50s who went to Grand River Hospital's emergency department in Kitchener, Ont., on Tuesday after returning from Italy. She was sent home and remains in self-isolation with mild symptoms.

"It has been determined that she had mild symptoms on flights from Milan to Lisbon, and then Lisbon to Toronto," said Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the acting medical officer of health for the Region of Waterloo.

In the other case, authorities said the man in his 60s went to the emergency department at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre on Saturday. He was also sent home and remains in self-isolation, authorities said.

Williams said the province continues to increase its testing capacity and is developing guidance for groups holding large public gatherings to minimize risk.

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He cautioned against fears that people should stock their homes with supplies in the event they are required to self-isolate, saying there is a "middle ground" to be found.

"Back in the time of SARS, we had well over 20,000 people that went into self-isolation," he said. "During that time, people did not run out of things in the household. Neighbours helped out because that is the Canadian way."

Williams said Ontario will not experience a situation like that which in occurred in Wuhan, China, where the entire area was locked down with little access to transportation or supplies for weeks on end.

"That would not be our approach here," he said. "If you're in isolation and there's something you need, let us know. We can help you out in that situation. You're not on your own."

Williams said Ontario's first four cases of the coronavirus have all been resolved, with those patients twice testing negative for the virus at least 24 hours apart.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in their final rounds of royal engagement before they finally say goodbye to royal life on March 31, 2020.

The 38-year-old former actress is due to attend the Mountbatten Music Festival for Royal Marines and International Women's day celebration this weekend.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also scheduled to attend the Commonwealth Service on March 9, but if the coronavirus infections continue to spread, there is a big possibility that the event may be cancelled.

As of writing, there are a total of 87 cases in the U.K., 36 of those are new, according to The Independent. There has also been one fatality.

If cases spike suddenly, their engagements will be moved and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's last day at The Firm will be delayed.

The couple felt that it would be better to leave their son Archie Harrison in Canada because of concerns about the coronavirus. The spread of COVID-19 has caused the couple to fear about global travel.

In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock still has not cancelled mass gatherings to contain the coronavirus, but they have not ruled it out in the future.

While most of the cases in the U.K. are expected to be mild, Secretary Hancock warned that the disease could bring huge economic and social consequences if millions of workers have to stay home, schools are closed and big sporting events are cancelled.

Sad Queen

It is not known if Archie's grandma Queen Elizabeth II is aware of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's supposed coronavirus concerns, but she was reported to be "very sad" that she and the rest of the royal family will not see more of Archie.

According to the Sunday Times, the 93-year-old head of monarchy and her husband, Prince Philip, only met their eighth great-grandchild in May 2019 when he was two days old.

It was also believed that the baby Sussex had little contact with his cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth was spotted wearing gloves to hand out honors at Buckingham Palace.

According to royal experts, the Queen's move was just a "sensible precaution" against the coronavirus.

CNN reported that it has been a decade since the Queen of England wore gloves at an investiture. The news portal added that the gloves she wore appeared much longer than the ones she has previously been photographed wearing at other engagements.

Because Queen Elizabeth II is a couple of weeks away from her 94th birthday, she is at an age when she is susceptible to such a virus.

Prince William's Not So Cool Joke

However, while the Queen and the U.K. is in a state of panic, Prince William does not seem to be so concerned about the coronavirus.

He and his wife, Kate Middleton, are currently in Ireland for an official tour.

The couple spoke with a National Ambulance Service paramedic and sipped one of their world-famous beers before making a joke about the coronavirus.

In a video obtained by The Telegraph, Prince William told first responders, "By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus. Sorry!"

According to the couple, concerns about the deadly virus have been blown out of proportion, saying, "I bet everyone's like, 'I've got coronavirus. I'm dying,' and you're like, 'No, you've just got a cough.'"

Prince William also asked if the media's depiction of the fast-spreading infection had been dramatic, saying, "Does it seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little hyped up, do you think, by the media?"
Australias financial services organisations are in the spotlight right now for customer experiences, and what they can do to improve and regain customer trust.

Digital and technology capability, along with a healthy and privacy-minded approach to customer data, are key elements in this mix, making the role of the technology leader a vital one in creating customer-first banking experiences.

During this weeks Salesforce World Tour, technology chiefs from three of Australias financial institutions participated in a panel to discuss what it takes to tackle the very real challenges of being more customer-led, and key learnings theyve picked up along the way.

Shake up your internal workforce operating model

NAB head of technology-broker aggregation, Stam Gonopolous, said four key areas were in the spotlight as the group brought 2800 instances of Salesforce CRM instances and data systems into one to improve the broker and end-customer experience. Called Podium, the platform integration was a job that commenced three years ago and incorporated six months worth of migration work, including complex data migration and consolidation.

The first and most important element was a hefty focus on the internal workforce and building their skillsets to manage the transformation program of work from within.

We used some specialists where required, but this was about us focusing on internal teams, engineers and making sure they developed, Gonopolous said. Once the program is over, you want to leave that legacy behind and have people maximising your investment.

NABs adoption of Agile in the years prior to the CRM program of work was also a key way of accelerating the change program. This saw NABs technology operating model shift, with staff working on the CRM work restructured and stacked into squads incorporating delivery, infrastructure, operations and develops team.

This meant they built it, owned it and ran it as a concept, Gonopolous said. We also introduced a three-way leadership model. This meant you were very clear with a delivery owner looking after the project side, a product owner and a technology owner. Together, you are empowered to make decisions and move forward. It wasnt a decision by governance or committee, it was three people united, deciding what is right for the platform.

On the engineering side, this also allowed the NAB team to focus on getting those technical things right as it worked to overcome things like product limitations.

We adopted a shift-left mentality, so we tested in as early in the lifecycle as possible and automating where we could. We also put in the right monitoring tools, Gonopolous said.

And the result? We are now in a state where we can maximise investment we made and deliver features at pace with brokers, keeping up with the market as well as compliance, Gonopolous said.

Foster a continuous user and customer engagement loop

For Gonopolous, another major part of getting things right was engagement with both business owners (the brokers) and end customers  lots of it and early on.

A big thing we did which proved to be successful was not only interviewing and surveying brokers, but also getting them into the office as part of an ongoing working group, he explained. The brokers and their representatives had a say, they influenced our roadmap and made decisions. Wed show them proof of concepts and theyd assess if it was right or wrong. The feedback loop was really important throughout the program.

We also focused on the broker experience  a key pivot point. There are so many organisations that would see this as a difficult tech problem and go down the route of tech remediation only. That would have solved the organisation problem but its not good for the owner. So we pivoted to a broker-experience first approach, mapping out that experience.

We want it to be a good journey for them and improve the way they operate.

Determine your course of platform action

Over at Peoples Choice Credit Union, transformation lead for digital and technology programs, Sean Cummins, is one year into a journey to put members at heart of what the financial services providers does. And that meant members had to be the North Star, followed by technology and digital capability.

We made a conscious decision to go operating model first. That helped us keep focus on members as we did the more technical implementation, he said.

The credit union also separated underlying tech and member experience, something Cummins said allowed flexibility to meet changing and evolving member needs. This has seen the highly configurable front-end experience decoupled from the more laboured back-end systems, which play an instrumental role in ensuring customer data is managed, secure and available.

When were talking about experience, we want to be flexible in what that is. Consumer expectations are changing by the minute, you have great stuff happening with competitors; fintechs popping up, delivering new experiences to market. We are trying to keep pace with that, he said.

If we hardcode that experience into what is a bulky back-end system, its not to say we cant do change, but it creates lengthy change windows we want to avoid. We want to respond to real-time feedback and innovation, so when members ask for a desire experience we can respond to that.

Get staff in the mindset of the customer

At Athena Home Loans, chief technology officer, Peter Georgiou, said its constantly striving to put customer experiences front and centre with every staff member. One way is through a customer insights Slack channel, its most popular, where all customer verbatims are shared and discussed.

From the really early days, his technology team has also taken its sprint showcase concept and maxxed it out across the business through weekly showcases, and often demos products from the point of view of the customer. Athena also gets customers in talking to company about their experiences and conducts direct research.

We never miss any opportunity to highlight that across the company, Georgiou said. You have to start with yourself. Think about every action you do  whoever you interact with is your customer or user. That helps you put yourself in someone elses shoes.

Tackle the question of trust

Panellist agreed trust is a vital part of how each financial institution needs to design the experience. With open banking not too far away, and as the data marketplace expands rapidly and being consumed more readily, trust will become even more important.

We are continually looking at consent, identity and frictionless experience in everything we do, Cummins said.

Trust is multi-faceted, however, and includes broader industry conditions, community expectations of any business and how it acts today, and assurance that the experience and services provided have integrity, are secure, and available and responsive to a customers needs. Whats more, customers expect their feedback will be acted on. Its this all three panellists agreed theyre building into experience design.

But what can happen if you focus too much on trust is you create friction  a no-no when it comes to improving customer experiences.

When trying to building trust in, that can come in heavy, be intrusive on experience, you might be so secure a customer cant use the platform, Cummins said. A frictionless experience from a security perspective is therefore what were looking for. Were fortunate many technologies available today have that in-built  look at biometrics in phones, for example.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission recently closed a Southeast Side bar over a licensing issue.

Twin Sisters' Cantina was shut down because the business allowed its bond to expire, according to Raul Salinas of the TABC.

The bar also had a number of alleged violations  including drug possession by an employee  but the expired bond was the reason for the closure.

Bars are required to maintain a bond that assures their behavior. Twin Sisters, located at 1701 S. Hackberry St., received several warnings from the commission but failed to renew its bond.

"They have a deadline. They're notified numerous times that they need to reinstate their bond. And they didn't," Salinas said. "Its pretty much cut and dry as far as the requirement for the licenses."

READ ALSO: Now closed: Mos Irish Pub bar and restaurant at San Antonios Alamo Quarry Market

To re-open, the owners will have to apply for a new license. The commission would take their history into consideration and has the authority to protest, or challenge, the issuance of a new permit.

According to Salinas, Twin Sisters had three open violation cases: an incident at the bar that resulted in serious bodily injury, an assault that did not result in serious injury and drug possession by an employee.

The investigations into those cases were complete and pending in the commission's legal department.

David Martinez, an Army veteran, and Israel Castro, who served in the Navy and had experience in the brewing industry, partnered to launch the bar in 2018.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read him on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy
Parking your truck is becoming a tighter squeeze.

Across America, the drive for bigger vehicles is bumping into physical limitations. SUVs and pickups are getting so large that theyre struggling to fit into some home and parking garages and public parking spaces.

Homeowners may need to think twice about purchasing larger vehicles, while parking lot operators are starting to charge oversize fees to accommodate behemoth SUVs and trucks.

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SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition and pickups like Fiat Chryslers Ram are examples of popular vehicles that have grown in size in recent years, testing parking limitations.

When Kristen Trevino moved to her new home in the Dallas area recently, she ran into a problem.

Her 2016 Ford F-150 did not fit in the garage. Undeterred, she bought the 2019 model. That one also didn't fit.

Its too tall. Its too long, she said. Now she keeps it parked in the driveway.

Her next-door neighbor has an F-150, as well, and has just enough room in his garage.

He can squeeze his in, she said, but added that it hits his front wall and just barely clears the door.

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Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, said the trend is becoming a problem. They are very difficult vehicles to maneuver and park.

Take Tesla's Cybertruck. The massive stainless-steel-bodied electric pickup made its debut at a media event in November, as CEO Elon Musk bragged that the Cybertruck would be the fiercest and most efficient pickup on the market when it arrives in late 2021. Commercial demand, he said later, has already exceeded expectations.

But some fans who are interested in the Cybertruck are worried they wont have enough room for it.

Story continues

Jim Griffin is Exhibit A. The Pennsylvania resident recently placed a $100 refundable deposit to secure his place in line for the Cybertruck. But hes not sure hell follow through with the purchase after reading chatter online about the vehicles immense size.

Theyre like, This thing is massive and it wont fit in your garage, he said. Thats when I said, Hold on a second here, timeout. This thing may not fit.'

And fitting the pickup into his garage is a dealbreaker.

Nowadays, there's people buying Dodge Rams, Ford pickups that dont fit, and theyll park them outside, he said. The difference here is this is an electric vehicle and  you need to plug it in. Im not gonna spend $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 on a vehicle and then have to run an extension cord outside the garage or an outside outlet.

Pennsylvania resident Jim Griffin's Honda Pilot barely fits in his garage, so he's concerned that the Tesla Cybertruck won't fit if he decides to purchase one.

Parking any vehicle in the driveway or on the street exposes it to potential damage from weather, vandalism or theft.

The Cybertruck is so big that it might be classified as a medium-duty pickup if its batteries tip its total weight above 8,000 pounds, said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at research firm IHS Markit.

After a Tesla blogger posted a video simulation showing that the Cybertruck may not fit in some garages, Musk tweeted that the company is weighing some adjustments in response to the concerns.

We can prob reduce width by an inch & maybe reduce length by 6+ inches without losing on utility or esthetics, he said.

We can prob reduce width by an inch & maybe reduce length by 6+ inches without losing on utility or esthetics. Min height is below 75 inches when air suspension set to low. Will post exact number soon.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2019

Tesla engineers are also fitting the Cybertruck with an air suspension, he said. That would allow owners to lower the vehicles height to fit into a garage.

Would your garage fit the Tesla Cybertruck?

Home garages vary in size. Common sizes for newly constructed two-car garages include a number of dimensions: 18 feet wide and 20 feet deep; 20 feet by 20 feet, 22 feet by 22 feet and 20 feet by 22 feet, according to garage builder Danleys. But some garages, including older ones built in an era of smaller vehicles, can be even smaller.

At 231.7 inches long, the Cybertruck would have only about 8 inches to spare in a 20-foot-long garage. Better be a great parker to squeeze that one in.

Its not the only vehicle thatll have trouble fitting in. At 225.7 inches long, the recently redesigned and lengthened 2021 Chevrolet Suburban would technically fit into a 20-foot-deep garage, but itll have only 14.3 inches to spare.

Cause I drive a Jeep and it doesnt fit in my garage   thesmurfkilla69 (@ThEsMuRfKilLa69) February 1, 2020

No biggie, my F250 doesn't fit in my garage either  Tom Mueller (@lrocket) December 9, 2019

Yeah crew cab diesel. And it doesnt fit in my garage. I think its 7 ft 4 to the top of the cab  Matthew Wethington (@Slow30) November 19, 2019

Even if the biggest SUVs and pickups can technically squeeze in, many homeowners pack shelving, tools and other items into their garages, reducing the amount of space to store their vehicles.

Griffin, for example, said he has some laundry equipment in one part of his garage.

If you look at like a Suburban or a Ford Expedition nowadays, theyre huge and Im not so sure they would fit, he said. I even looked at one of those once and Im not so sure.

The next-generation Suburban is gonna be so big  my wife drives one  youre not going to be able to park it in the garage, said Jeff Dyke, president of Sonic Automotive, one of the largest automotive dealership networks in the U.S. The Tahoe is the new Suburban, and the new Suburban is a school bus.

But its what Americans want, he said. Gas prices are low, theyre reasonable, and the countrys in love with SUVs.

Oversize fees for parking

While home garages are getting tighter and tighter, public parking garages and public parking spaces are also feeling the pinch.

Who among us hasnt been driving through a shopping center parking lot and seen massive SUVs and pickups hanging several feet past the end of the space?

The parking spots arent big enough, Sonic Automotives Dyke said. The parking garages arent big enough to deal with all the cars that are coming out.

Dallas area resident Kristen Trevino's 2019 Ford F-150 pickup does not fit in her garage so it is parked on the driveway.

Trevino, the Dallas area resident whose F-150 doesnt fit into her garage, said shes personally experienced the frustration associated with the size of her pickup.

My truck is really big, she said. Trying to maneuver into a space totally sucks. If you go to the mall and its really crowded, looking for a spot is a huge factor. I really have to spend time searching.

At parking garages, its particularly problematic if they have low-hanging ceilings and tight turns.

Parking.com, the consumer brand of publicly-traded parking and transportation provider SP Plus, is beginning to adjust its business to deal with larger vehicles. The company is already charging oversize fees for large SUVs and trucks in some lots, particularly in New York, said Jeff Eckerling, chief growth officer of SP Plus.

He said the company may need to consider going further if vehicles keep getting bigger.

We would have to look at what our rates are and what we charge for those vehicles, he said. If youre at a surface lot, we could (say) that if youre parking and your vehicle goes over two spaces, we could charge you for two spaces.

For SpotHero, an app that sells parking at more than 7,000 locations throughout the country, oversize fees are currently limited largely to New York, where about 11% of vehicles must pay extra.

Now, some New York lots are starting to charge super oversize fees, which applies to truck-based SUVs and pickups, while the oversize fees are applying to crossovers.

In the rest of the country, parking operators could take a page out of the New York playbook and start to charge an oversize fee for bigger vehicles, said Elan Mosbacher, senior vice president of strategy and operations at SpotHero.

While larger vehicles may pose some inconveniences, Americans dont seem too bothered by it overall, at least if the vehicles being introduced by automakers are any indication.

In fact, several recent announcements suggest vehicles are likely to continue getting bigger. General Motors announced that it will revive the mammoth Hummer as an electric pickup truck under the GMC brand. Ford is also poised to show off a redesigned F-150 later this year, and its likely to be bigger than the previous generation.

George Augustaitis, director of automotive industry and economic analysis at Cargurus.com, speculated that Ford may even consider bringing back the Excursion nameplate as the biggest SUV in its lineup despite the fact that the Expedition has grown significantly in recent years.

Everythings getting bigger, he said.

We never quite know where the end is going to be, IHS analyst Brinley said. People buy what they want to use. Whatever their personal reasons are, however it fits in their life, theyve decided its worth it to them. Thats not critical, its just a fact.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bigger SUVs, pickups outgrow garages, parking spaces
The appointment of Professor



Baldev Bhai Sharma, reportedly having an RSS background, as vice-chancellor of a journalism and mass communication university in the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh has triggered a controversy.

Sharma took charge as VC of the Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism and Mass Communication here on Thursday amid protests by a section of students in the varsity premises.

Shortly after the formation of the Congress government in the state in December 2018, the then vice-chancellor of the university, Maan Singh Parmar, had resigned. Since then, the post had been lying vacant.

An advertisement for appointment of a new VC was issued in April last year.

On March 3, Governor Anusuiya Uikey, who is also chancellor of state universities, appointed Sharma to the post, a senior official here said.

Sharma, who was a professor at the Central University in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, had been associated with newspapers like 'Dainik Bhaskar', 'Amar Ujala', 'Swadesh and RSSs mouthpiece Panchjanya.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had expressed displeasure over his appointment.

Replying to a query over the appointment, Baghel had said, the Governor has done her job and now the state government will do its work.

According to officials, the state government is likely to bring an amendment in laws to reduce powers of the chancellor (Governor) related to state universities.

Sharma, after taking charge amid protests by students affiliated to the NSUI, told reporters that such incidents (protests) should not happen in universities.

The NSUI is the student wing of the Congress.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP said the appointment has been made not on the basis of ideology but eligibility.

"The state government should respect the federal structure. Words used by the Chief Minister regarding the Chancellor (Governor) cannot be accepted in a democracy," saidstate BJP spokesperson Sanjay Shrivastav.

The VC's appointment has been done as per laws, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DOJ backs Kentucky wedding photographer suing over local LGBT ordinance

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The U.S. Department of Justice has sided with a Kentucky-based photographer suing a city over an ordinance that compels her to service same-sex weddings.

The Justice Department announced last Thursday that it filed a statement of interest brief on behalf of Chelsey Nelson in her legal battle against Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government Ordinance  92.05, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other things, for public accommodations.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, the statement of interest supports the plaintiffs request for a preliminary injunction and argues that the government cannot force a photographer to service same-sex weddings.

The central question presented in this case is whether the government can compel a wedding photographer to photograph, provide photography editing services for, and blog about weddings of which she does not approve, and does not wish to photograph or to promote. The answer is no, states the introduction of the brief.

Just last year, in fact, the Eighth Circuit held that Minnesota could not force wedding videographers to film weddings that they did not wish to film.

Eric Dreiband, assistant attorney general for the DOJ Civil Rights Division, said in a statement last week that the ordinance violates Nelsons First Amendment rights.

The First Amendment forbids the government from forcing someone to speak in a manner that violates individual conscience, stated Dreiband.

The U.S. Department of Justice will continue to protect the right of all persons to exercise their constitutional right to speech and expression.

Last November, Nelson filed a lawsuit, being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases.

The suit was a pre-enforcement challenge, as Nelson has not yet been charged with violating the ordinance or punished by the government for refusing to photograph a same-sex wedding.

Artists shouldnt be censored, fined, or forced out of business simply for disagreeing with the governments preferred views, said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson in a statement last year.

On countless other topics, photographers and other artists can freely choose the stories they tell. Chelsey simply asks for the same freedom.

Chris Hartman of the Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky-based LGBT advocacy group, told WDRB in an interview last November that he considered the lawsuit a fishing expedition and tantamount to a frivolous lawsuit.

They are throwing spaghetti at the wall, the Alliance Defending Freedom, to do whatever they can to try to attack LGBTQ rights anywhere they can in the nation, said Hartman at the time.

Last August, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit sided with a Christian couple in Minnesota who did not want to film gay weddings due to religious objections.

The panel concluded that the Minnesota Human Rights Act violated the First Amendment rights of Carl and Angel Larsen of Telescope Media Group.

Circuit Judge David Stras, author of the court opinion, wrote that antidiscrimination laws, as critically important as they are, must yield to the Constitution.

Indeed, if Minnesota were correct, there is no reason it would have to stop with the Larsens. In theory, it could use the MHRA to require a Muslim tattoo artist to inscribe My religion is the only true religion on the body of a Christian if he or she would do the same for a fellow Muslim, or it could demand that an atheist musician perform at an evangelical church service, wrote Judge Stras last year.
Gardai are investigating a three-vehicle crash in Co Limerick last night in which a man in his 60s was fatally injured.

The crash happened on OCurry Street, Limerick last night at approximately 9.40pm.
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is seen on a communications device in London, Britain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twenty Republican and Democratic U.S. senators came together on Tuesday to urge British lawmakers to reconsider their government's decision to allow China's Huawei [HWT.UL] to be among the suppliers for the country's 5G mobile telephone network, the latest salvo in U.S. opposition to the plan.

"Given the significant security, privacy, and economic threats posed by Huawei, we strongly urge the United Kingdom to revisit its recent decision, take steps to mitigate the risks of Huawei, and work in close partnership with the U.S. on such efforts going forward," the senators said in an unusual letter to members of the House of Commons.

The letter was signed by one fifth of the 100-member Senate, including Chuck Schumer, the chamber's Democratic leader, Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Mark Warner, the panel's Democratic vice chairman.

A bipartisan group of 42 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a similar letter in January.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government's decision in January to allow Huawei a limited role in its 5G mobile telephone network has put pressure on the traditionally close U.S. relationship.

The two countries are preparing to negotiate a trade deal that Britain hopes will be one of the biggest prizes from its departure from the European Union.

Washington has sought to convince allies to bar the Chinese company from their networks, warning that its equipment could be used by China for spying. Huawei has repeatedly denied the espionage allegations.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Good morning and welcome to On Politics, a daily political analysis of the 2020 elections based on reporting by New York Times journalists.

Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday.

Bernie Sanders just cant have nice things. For a few weeks, he sat happily at the top of the polls, holding a steady lead over Joe Biden while the moderate Democratic candidates fought among themselves. But after Bidens win in South Carolina, the party establishment rapidly circled around him  and moderate voters followed suit. The result was a series of Super Tuesday victories that look only more commanding as you dig deeper into the data.

And yesterday, still reeling from the rout, Michael Bloomberg exited the race, leaving Biden with a path cleared of moderate foes as he looks ahead to another voting-heavy week.

Bloomberg made history without winning a single primary (though, OK, he did win the American Samoa caucuses)  by running the most expensive self-funded campaign ever, spending $558 million of his money on ads alone and eschewing charitable donations. Ultimately, despite dwarfing his opponents in terms of airtime, he was unable to resonate with voters, or to overcome a pair of debate performances in which he often failed to parry his rivals attacks.

I am cleareyed about our overriding objective, and that is victory in November, Bloomberg said in his campaign-ending speech. I will not be our partys nominee, but I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life. Bloomberg immediately endorsed Biden, and he signaled that hed keep using his fortune to topple President Trump.

The question now for Biden is whether his strength on Super Tuesday was steroid-induced  pumped up by the endorsements of Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Harry Reid, Jim Clyburn and others  or if it represented a durable base of support that he can carry through to the nomination, and on to November.

If it does hold together, heres what Bidens winning coalition looks like: It is older, moderate, suburban and heavily African-American. He may have to work harder to bring young people, liberals and Latinos into the fold.

Those three voting groups mostly went to Sanders on Tuesday, but not enough of them cast ballots to put him over the top in most states. Of course Im disappointed, he told reporters in Vermont. He admitted that his push to drive a surge in turnout among young people and Latinos had not panned out. In fact, as Lisa Lerer pointed out in last nights newsletter, it was in the pro-Biden areas  particularly suburbs and African-American neighborhoods, and particularly in Southern states  that turnout tended to jump far above 2016 levels.

Biden made note of this in his own remarks on Wednesday, at the W Hotel in West Beverly Hills, Calif. Im especially proud that our campaign is generating so much enthusiasm, driving up voter turnout all across the nation, he said. This idea that we didnt have a movement  look at the results. Look at whos showing up.
Boris Johnson led the UK's Conservative Party to its biggest victory in a national election since the days of Margaret Thatcher by persuading voters in former industrial heartlands to vote Tory for the first time.

Johnson promised to "get Brexit done" after years of political gridlock and duly delivered on January 31, when Britain formally left the EU. But if he is to retain support in some of the poorest parts of the country, he must now address the grievances of those who feel economically marginalised.

As the face of the campaign to leave the EU, Johnson skilfully harnessed anger over almost a decade of cuts to public services and erosion of living standards to build support for Brexit.

Now he has promised to "level up" struggling regions, leaving no doubt Britain is about to open the spending taps. The only question is by how much.

The answer will be contained in the boxy red briefcase finance minister Rishi Sunak will carry into Parliament on March 11, when he presents the administration's first budget.

Britain is headed for the biggest fiscal stimulus since the early 2000s, when the Labour Party was in power. The expectation is that its budget deficit is set to increase significantly from the 44bn (50bn) or so estimated for the current fiscal year. Investors appear sanguine about the prospect, with yields on government bonds close to record lows.

For now, Johnson is basking in a "Boris bounce". His election win removed the crippling uncertainty over Brexit, buoying confidence among businesses and consumers.

If Johnson gets it right, the budget could buttress the economy at a challenging time, as the spreading coronavirus roils global markets and Britain begins the enormous task of negotiating a trade deal with the EU. If talks fail, the country will once again face a disruptive rupture with its largest trading partner.

Politically, the budget could also help bolster Johnson's power. It is early days, but he has a huge 80-seat majority in the Commons, and Labour is still reeling from its worst election result since 1935.

The Conservatives inherited a budget deficit equal to 10pc of gross domestic product, the highest in British peacetime, when they took office in 2010 in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The shortfall is now just under 2pc. But the squeeze, amounting to more than 100bn of spending cuts and tax increases over the course of a decade, has been brutal. The National Health Service and education were protected, but few other areas escaped.

Johnson's budget is expected to target areas such as the north-east and midlands with billions for infrastructure, on top of money already pledged for public services such as schools, hospitals, and policing.

Johnson inevitably invites comparisons with Donald Trump. Both rode waves of popular discontent and stand outside the fiscally conservative traditions of their own parties. The fiscal boost being prepared in the UK could exceed that in the US in 2018, which the International Monetary Fund estimates at around 1.3pc of GDP.

But there are key differences. The Trump stimulus cut taxes more than it increased spending, and the effect was immediate but short-lived. Officials had hoped businesses would use their tax savings to increase investment, but so far this hasn't been the case.

Johnson's budget, with its emphasis on capital spending, may take longer to feed through. Infrastructure projects take time to come onstream, and some proposals could fall by the wayside.

However, investment ultimately delivers a greater economic impact than tax cuts, not least because wealthier individuals often save rather than spend their tax windfalls.

Growth in Britain is expected to slow this year but rebound in 2021 and 2022, with robust government spending and investment.

Johnson is hoping the momentum extends as far as the next general election in 2024, when voters will decide whether the new prime minister has lived up to his promises.

Bloomberg
The previous sanctions period is expiring on March 15, 2020.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, or COREPER, has approved the prolongation of sanctions against 175 individuals and 44 organizations for another six months over the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty.

"The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the EU has approved the prolongation of sanctions against 175 individuals and 44 organizations involved in undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Representative of Ukraine to the European Union Mykola Tochytskyi said on Facebook on March 4. "This decision is especially valuable on the eve of the 6th anniversary of the occupation of Crimea and demonstrates the EU's unity in the non-recognition policy. We look forward to further practical steps by the EU and in response to the launch of Russia's rail link with occupied Crimea."

Read alsoEU to prolong Russia sanctions over Crimea annexation  journalist

As UNIAN reported earlier, the corresponding sanctions were first introduced in 2014, and they were prolonged every six months.

Also, the list of individuals under sanctions was replenished with new names due to the ongoing violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The last time the sanctions were extended for six months on September 12, 2019, until March 15, 2020.
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Searchlight Resources Inc. ("Searchlight" or the "Company") (TSXV:SCLT) is pleased to announce that arms' length creditors of the Company have agreed to accept 6,281,260 common shares in lieu of cash to settle $314,063 in outstanding liabilities. The common shares will be issued at $0.05 per share.The conversions are subject to TSXV approval, and if obtained Closing will take place immediately thereafter.About Searchlight Resources Inc.Searchlight Resources Inc.is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V: SCLT). The corporate strategy of the company is:to explore and develop opportunities in safe, low risk jurisdictions. The Company holds claims in Saskatchewan and Ontario, Canada.to target known highly productive geological belts, including the Flin Flon - Snow Lake Greenstone Belt and the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.to acquire high quality projects, close to infrastructure, focusing on road access.to work closely with stakeholders, including First Nations, Metis, local and provincial governments and local contractors to advance mineral exploration and development in a safe and environmentally sound manner.Searchlight holds a portfolio of gold, cobalt, copper, vanadium and specialty metal projects from grassroots stage to advanced exploration and NI43-101 resource development.On behalf of the Board of Directors,"Stephen Wallace"SEARCHLIGHT RESOURCES INC.Stephen Wallace, President, CEO and DirectorContact:Searchlight Resources Inc.Investor Relations(604) 331-9326info@ searchlightresources.com Forward-Looking StatementsInformation set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.SOURCE: Searchlight Resources Inc.
We need a president who will show up and fight for Michiganders, and @JoeBiden has proven time and again that he has our back, Whitmer said on Twitter. I am proud to both endorse him and announce that I will be joining his campaign as a co-chair.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday asked the Indian government to confront what he called "extremist Hindus and their parties", saying the hearts of Muslims all over the world are "grieving" over the recent communal violence in Delhi.

His remarks comes two days after India summoned Iran's Ambassador Ali Chegeni in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over the "unwarranted" comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif over communal violence in the national capital.

"The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India's isolation from the world of Islam," Khamenei tweeted.

Khamenei, who controls all major security and foreign policy decisions, tweeted in English, Urdu, Persian and Arabic along with a photograph of a child grieving over the body of a man who was killed in the recent violence in Delhi.

In a tweet on Monday, Zarif said Iran condemned the "wave of organised violence against Indian Muslims" and urged Indian authorities to "not let senseless thuggery" prevail.

Next day, India summoned Iranian Ambassador Chegeni and conveyed to him that Zarif's "selective and tendentious" characterisation of incidents in Delhi are not acceptable.

The ties between India and Iran have been on an upswing over the last few years.

Notwithstanding US sanctions against Iran, India has been maintaining cordial relationship with Tehran and have been actively involved in development of the strategically located Chabahar port in the Gulf nation.

Zarif visited India in January in the midst of Tehran's escalating tension with the Trump administration over the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Sulemani in a US military strike in Iraq.

The national capital witnessed horrific violence last week following clashes between supporters and those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act. According to authorities, at least 42 people were killed in the violence.

Massive protests took place across India in the last two months over the new law with the opposition parties and rights groups terming it as violative of founding principles of Indian Constitution.

According to the law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution will be given Indian citizenship.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kanye West has gone out West. The rapper, music producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur known for his real estate holdings in Calabasas has also made some major land grabs in Wyoming.

Last year, the husband of the reality TV star Kim Kardashian West made headlines when he purchased Monster Lake Ranch, 11 miles outside of Cody, WY. Since renamed West Lake Ranch, the $14 million property of 9,000 acres includes a restaurant and saloon, an event space, office building, horse barns, and a shooting range.

West struck again a few months later and picked up another property in the town of Greybull, WY. The $14.5 million ranch, on 6,713 acres, includes heated helicopter pads and walk-in saunas, TMZ reported. A source told People that Kanye, 42, intends to use the space for his "Sunday Services."

West has made no secret of his affection for Wyoming. He recorded part of his ninth studio album, Jesus Is King, in Cody. Hes purchased an additional 11 acres of commercial property within the town. And the New York Times reported hes looking to produce his Yeezy fashion line there, even moving some of his team to the Cowboy State. The man known as Yeezus also apparently started to build an amphitheater in Wyoming, but the construction had to pause for lack of proper permits.

West is in fine company when it comes to his choice of Wyoming. Charlie Powers, listing agent for Powers Land Brokerage, notes that the town of Cody has long attracted a lot of net worth up here. Bill and Melinda Gates have a ranch nearby, as does Ron Simek, co-founder of Tombstone Pizza.

But the area has long been known for roping steers rather than recording.

Ranching and farming is a lifestyle choice, Powers says. They choose it. People in ranches, they like the beauty and they like the outdoors. And they like the lifestyle that it affords them.

He noted that the area has a mix of both working cattle ranches and recreational ranches, where the only work required is to just look out your window and enjoy the view.

The Times added a healthy dose of skepticism in reporting that the mercurial star would be putting down roots in the state.

It can be hard, with Kanye West, to separate concrete plans from jokes, fancies, or outlandish aspirations," it commented. "For now, the people of Cody have to wait and see what develops.

Should the multihyphenate mogul want to put down more roots in Wyoming, we've spotted seven options for additional plots he can add to his Western empire.

So slip on your cowboy boots, press play on "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," and have a look at what West could buy...

Price: $6.9 million

Cool ranch details: With 833 acres, Bull Creek Ranch captivates the Western soul. There are views of the Absaroka Range and Carter Mountain, and the ranch includes a haymaking operation. Along with nice homes, the grounds include incredible infrastructure, hay barns, equipment shops, and irrigation, plus proximity to millions of acres of public wilderness.

Bull Creek Ranch realtor.com



Price: $5.2 million

Cool ranch details: Located a mile west of Dubois and 80 miles from downtown Jackson Hole, the Warm River Ranch sits on 1,559 acres. There's a five-bedroom home with private Wind River frontage, direct access to the national forest, and a cow/calf operation.

Dubois, WY realtor.com



Price: $5.5 million

Cool ranch details: The 950-acre working cattle ranch features two log homes, a guesthouse, horse barn, utility buildings, indoor arena, ponds, views, and wildlife.

Cody, WY realtor.com



Price: $22,975,000

Cool ranch details: A river runs through it. The legacy Wyoming ranch has been owned by a Texas family as a retreat and wildlife sanctuary for over 40 years. With over 20,000 acres, the land includes 11 miles on both sides of the Laramie River and features world-class fishing and hunting. Known locally as the elk sanctuary, its rarely been hunted. Elk, pronghorn antelope, white-tailed and mule deer, bears, and mountain lions inhabit the land. Trout and walleye can be caught in fishing pools on the enormous spread.

Laramie, WY realtor.com



Price: $24,450,000

Cool ranch details: With nearly 300 acres of Wyoming landscape and proximity to Jackson Hole, the ranch has a 6,000-square-foot residence with six bedrooms. Walls of glass provide incredible views from every room. The property also includes a day lodge with commercial kitchen, haybarn, and 120 acres of fenced pasture.

Thayne, WY realtor.com



Price: $3,960,000

Cool ranch details: This place is worthy of a magazine spread. Recently featured in Elle Decor, Shaw Ranch has it all. Spread over 230 acres at the foot of Wind River Range, the hobby ranch includes a riding arena, three ponds, a heated barn and hayloft, and one exquisite log home. The 8,639-square-foot main residence includes cherrywood floors and cabinets, two wet bars, a home theater, and walls of windows.

Shaw Ranch realtor.com



Price: $2.8 million

Cool ranch details: Welcome to the Double Rainbow Ranch. The recreational paradise on 360 acres features a log home, manager's home, a trout-filled lake, and access to thousands of acres of public forest. Custom-built in 2001, the Alpine log home has a vaulted two-story living room with a large river rock fireplace and offers privacy along with breathtaking views of wildlife.

Double Rainbow Ranch realtor.com

The post Wild, Wild Kanye West: For Kanye Stans, These 7 Ranches in Wyoming Are Yeezus-Worthy appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Vietnams tourism industry will diversify products and find new markets after the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreaks roll back.

A view of Cat Ba island

Cooperating with partners closely, sharing risks and finding effective initiatives are what some travel enterprises are doing in the context of the coronavirus epidemic.

Chairman of Viking Travel Company Tran Xuan Hung told Hanoitimes that the company will work closely with local partners to make tour prices more competitive as well as allow their customers to cancel tours 48 hours before the departure time.

A lot of new air routes have been launched, giving us great opportunities to promote inbound and outbound tourism, Hung said, hoping that the tourism industry would soon recover when the coronavirus epidemic subsides and ends in next couple of months.

While some other enterprises are struggling and laying off workers, Viking Travel plans to recruit new employees and train them to meet the companys requirements. If previously many jobs were outsourced because a lot of things needed to be done at the same time, now, they will be carried out by employees of the company, Hung added. We will build our operating system and new programs, as well as improve product quality to prepare for the recovery of the industry.

Phung Quang Thang, director of Hanoi Tourist Company, told local media: Its time to join hands to overcome common difficulties. From now on, we will enhance training for staff, plan new products and focus on promoting virus-free destinations. When the epidemic ends, we will start over for breakthrough development.

Number of international tourists to Vietnam (Unit: thousand)

Viking Travel and Hanoi Tourist Company are two typical cases who actively find opportunities in the context of a decline in growth for the whole tourism industry. Earlier, in late February, the Vietnam Tourism Association (VTA) made a debut of a tourism stimulation alliance as well as in collaboration with Vietnam Airlines launched the "Hello Sun" program to promote Vietnam as a safe destination amid fear of the new coronavirus disease.

The VTAs Vice Chairman Vu The Binh spoke at the launch: We are aware that we cant stand still to wait until the end of the epidemic and for tourists to come back. We should take the initiative to deal with these difficulties now and prepare for the development of the national tourism industry.

The program will connect hundreds of businesses across the country to work together, offering visitors with fresh and safe travel experiences. The program is part of the tourism stimulus plan with the message "Vietnam is safe" being launched from March to August 2020.

To cope with the impacts of the new coronavirus epidemic, the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) of Vietnam recommended that the tourism industry needs to find new markets to reduce risks. Europe and Australia should be the targeted markets in the future. As such, visitors from the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada would be able to enjoy visa exemption up to 30 days with unlimited entries.

Statistics from the General Statistics Office showed that in February, tourist arrivals from Europe increased by 6.1% including Russia (19.4%), the UK (1.5%), France (2.8%) compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the growth in foreign arrivals was the lowest in the past four years and the most significant drop was seen in the number of tourists from Asia (down 27.2%), mostly from China (down 62.4%), South Korea (down 16%), Malaysia (down 3.7%) and Singapore (down 18.9%).

Facing such difficulties, provincial authorities have also made adjustments to plans on domestic tourism promotion and diversifying foreign markets in 2020. Danang is carrying out a project to restructure the tourism industry and the municipal Party Committees program on developing high-end tourism services and resort real estate products.

Another province, Thua Thien Hue also has taken a range of solutions to restructure the tourism market while also launching stimulus packages to overcome difficulties due to the epidemic, according to the Thua Thien Hue Tourism Association. Hanoitimes

Nhat Minh

Vietnam vows to restructure tourism markets Shifting to promote tourism in Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand and India during and after the Covid-19 epidemic, applying visa waivers, and developing suitable products are the main goals of the tourism industry.
[March 05, 2020] Virginia Middle School Student Earns Honor of Naming NASA's Next Mars Rover

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The name was announced Thursday by Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, during a celebration at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia. Zurbuchen was at the school to congratulate seventh grader Alexander Mather, who submitted the winning entry to the agency's "Name the Rover" essay contest, which received 28,000 entries from K-12 students from every U.S. state and territory. "Alex's entry captured the spirit of exploration," said Zurbuchen. "Like every exploration mission before, our rover is going to face challenges, and it's going to make amazing discoveries. It's already surmounted many obstacles to get us to the point where we are today  processing for launch. Alex and his classmates are the Artemis Generation, and they're going to be taking the next steps into space that lead to Mars. That inspiring work will always require perseverance. We can't wait to see that nameplate on Mars." Perseverance is the latest in a long line of Red Planet rovers to be named by school-age children, from Sojourner in 1997 to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed on Mars in 2004, to Curiosity, which has been exploring Mars since 2012. In each case, the name was selected following a nationwide contest. The contest that resulted in Alex's winning entry of Perseverance began Aug. 28, 2019. Nearly 4,700 volunteer judges  educators, professionals and space enthusiasts from around the country  reviewed submissions to help narrow the pool down to 155 semifinalists. Once that group was whittled down to nine finalists, the public had five days to weigh in on their favorites, logging more than 770,000 votes online, with the results submitted to NASA for consideration. The nine finalists also talked with a panel of experts, including Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division; NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins; rover driver Nick Wiltsie at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California; and Clara Ma, who, as a sixth grade student in 2009, named Curiosity.



Up until two years ago, Mather was more interested in video games than space. That all changed in the summer of 2018 when he visited Space Camp in Alabama. From his first glimpse of a Saturn V  the rocket that launched the Apollo astronauts to the Moon half a century ago  Mather became a bona fide space enthusiast, checking NASA.gov daily, consuming astronaut autobiographies and even 3D-printing flyable model rockets. When the call went out for students to propose a name for NASA's new Mars rover, Mather knew he wanted to contribute. "This was a chance to help the agency that put humans on the Moon and will soon do it again," said Mather. "This Mars rover will help pave the way for human presence there and I wanted to try and help in any way I could. Refusal of the challenge was not an option."

Along with forever being associated with the mission, Mather will also receive an invitation to travel with his family to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to witness the rover begin its journey when it launches this summer. While Mather has received NASA's grand prize in this competition, NASA also is acknowledging the valuable contributions of the semifinalists whose entries were among the top ones considered. "They came so far, and their expressive submissions helped make this naming contest the biggest and best in NASA history," said Glaze, who also attended the event Thursday. "So, we decided to send them a little farther  314 million miles farther. All 155 semifinalists' proposed rover names and essays have been stenciled onto a silicon chip with lines of text smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair and will be flown to Mars aboard the rover." NASA's Perseverance rover is a robotic scientist weighing just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). Managed for the agency by JPL, the rover's astrobiology mission includes searching for signs of past microbial life. It also will characterize the planet's climate and geology, and collect samples of Martian rocks and dust for a future Mars Sample Return mission to Earth, while paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. "When word went out during the naming event here at JPL, I took a moment to look around the auditorium," said John McNamee, project manager of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL. "I saw all these dedicated men and women who for years have invested the full measure of their intellect and stamina into the most technologically advanced rover mission in history  and I saw a lot of smiling faces and high-fives. Perseverance? You bet, that is a worthy name that we can be proud of as the first leg of a sample return campaign." Perseverance currently is undergoing final assembly and checkout at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's targeted to land on Mars' Jezero Crater a little after 3:40 p.m. EST (12:40 p.m. PST) Feb. 18, 2021. The rover naming contest partnership was part of a Space Act Agreement in educational and public outreach efforts between NASA, Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, and Future Engineers of Burbank, California. Amazon Web Services is an additional prize provider for the Mars 2020 naming contest and will provide Alex and his family a trip to see the launch. Mars 2020 is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis program. For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ Follow the Perseverance Mars rover's official accounts and get answers to your questions about the mission at: https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere and: https://facebook.com/NASAPersevere For more about NASA's Moon to Mars plans, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virginia-middle-school-student-earns-honor-of-naming-nasas-next-mars-rover-301018586.html SOURCE NASA

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Not that female directors should be expected to bring only overtly feminist stories to the stage. The lovers of Pelleas et Melisande have a timeless quality, like the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde, which the playwright, Maurice Maeterlinck, drew on heavily. His play, which premiered in 1893, is less often seen these days than the opera that Claude Debussy based on it, but the director Julie Declos has come up with a convincingly graceful production at the Theatre de lOdeon.

The challenge lies in Maeterlincks symbolist style, which resists psychological realism at every turn in favor of evasive dialogue and sibylline details. A prince, Golaud, happens upon Melisande in a forest. She is lost, and there is a crown at her feet, which she begs Golaud to leave behind. Where does she come from? What happened to her? The two characters promptly marry, and we never find out.

The central, forbidden love story, between Melisande and Golauds brother, Pelleas, is hardly even articulated. When they first meet, she simply loses her wedding ring in a fountain  a silent acknowledgment that the wheels of their doomed relationship have been set in motion.

Declos directs with restraint, working hard to sustain Maeterlincks dreamlike tension. The initial encounter in the forest is filmed and projected on a screen, and Golaud and Pelleass family castle is represented by a mostly empty two-tier set. Light is a central symbol in the text, and Mathilde Chamouxs shadowy lighting leaves the lovers nearly in the dark at key moments  a counterintuitive yet effective choice.

It is refreshing, too, to see the cast strip back the stereotypical gestures of onstage romance and aim for stillness. Looking apathetic is rarely a quality onstage, but Alix Riemer, as Melisande, manages to project detachment without being bland. She seems to grasp her love for Pelleas, played by Matthieu Sampeur, only at the last possible moment, and after Golaud kills him, she convincingly suppresses any memories of the event. Regardless, she dies of a broken heart.
The mother of December 2012 gang-rape victim has said that the biggest victory would be when the tormentors of her daughter will be hanged.

Today, a new date has been given because all remedies have been exhausted. I hope that this date is final and they are hanged and my daughter gets justice. There is an end to everything... this is the end of them, said Asha Devi.

Still, till the time they are not hanged we are ready to fight with them. The biggest victory would be when they are hanged, she added.

A Delhi court on Thursday issued a fresh death warrant - the fourth in the case - ordering the convicts should be hanged on March 20, at 5.30 am. The court order came after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition filed by one of the convicts Pawan Gupta. With this, the legal options available to all the convicts were exhausted.

Asha Devi had thanked the President for rejecting Guptas mercy petition.

The trial court had on February 17 issued a fresh date, March 3 at 6 am, for the execution of death warrants for the four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) - in the case.

The execution of their death warrants has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies. All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together.

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. Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused.

One of thw accused Ram Singh committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile was released in 2015 after three years in a correctional home.
MOSCOW  After six hours of talks at the Kremlin, the presidents of Russia and Turkey on Thursday announced what they said was a deal to halt fighting in the Syrian region of Idlib, calming a volatile conflict that had pushed the two countries to the brink of open war.

They said the agreement included a cease-fire that would come into force in Idlib, the last stronghold of Syrian rebels, at midnight. The agreement also included joint patrols by Russian and Turkish troops of a seven-mile wide corridor along a highway that runs through Idlib eastward from the Mediterranean coast toward the border with Iraq.

Idlib, in northwestern Syria, has been the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks as the Russian-backed forces of Syrias president, Bashar al-Assad, have moved to expel the last rebels. The fighting there last week killed at least 34 soldiers from Turkey, which supports the rebels, and has sent hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing toward the closed border with Turkey, which is already hosting more than three million Syrians.

We do not always agree with our Turkish partners in our assessments of what is happening in Syria, but each time at critical moments, relying on the achieved high level of bilateral relations, we have thus far managed to find common ground on the disputed issues that have arisen, and come to acceptable solutions, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said late Thursday in the Kremlin, standing alongside Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Thats what happened this time too.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Rescuers searched through shattered Tennessee neighborhoods for bodies Tuesday, less than a day after tornadoes ripped across Nashville and other parts of the state as families slept. At least 25 people were killed, some in their beds, authorities said.

The twisters that struck in the hours after midnight shredded more than 140 buildings and buried people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements. The storms moved so quickly that many people in their path could not flee to safer areas.

It hit so fast, a lot of folks didnt have time to take shelter, Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said. Many of these folks were sleeping.

The governor declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts. An unspecified number of people were missing.

Early findings by National Weather Service survey teams indicated that the damage in Nashville and Wilson County to the east was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, the agency said.

One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile (16 kilometer) stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown. It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church. Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) path of destruction in Putnam County, wiping some homes from their foundations and depositing the wreckage far away.

Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable. More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged, forcing Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.

In Putnam County, 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of Nashville, houses and businesses were completely flattened. In one neighborhood, volunteers found five bodies. Neighbors and sheriffs officers were still looking for two more.

Nashville residents walked around on streets and sidewalks littered with debris, in neighborhoods where missing walls and roofs left living rooms and kitchens exposed. Mangled power lines and broken trees came to rest on cars, streets and piles of rubble.

We are resilient and were going to rebuild, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said.

During Gov. Bill Lees tour of Putnam County, homeowners dug through debris, trying to salvage any items not destroyed. One young woman held up a clean green blouse while standing on a second floor of a home that had no roof.

President Donald Trump spoke with the governor by phone and pledged federal assistance, the White House said. Trump also announced plans to visit the disaster area on Friday.

In Nashville, the twisters path was mostly north and east of the heart of downtown, sparing many of the citys biggest tourism draws  the honky tonks of Broadway, the Grand Ole Opry House, the storied Ryman Auditorium and the convention center.

Instead the storm tore through the largely African American areas of Bordeaux and North Nashville as well as neighborhoods transformed by a recent building boom. Germantown and East Nashville are two of the citys trendiest hotspots, with restaurants, music venues, high-end apartment complexes and rising home prices threatening to drive out longtime residents.

The dogs started barking before the sirens went off. They knew what was coming, said Paula Wade, of East Nashville. Then we heard the roar  Something made me just sit straight up in bed, and something came through the window right above my head. If I hadnt moved, I wouldve gotten a face full of glass.

The roof came crashing down on Ronald Baldwin and Harry Nahay in the bedroom of their one-story brick home in East Nashville. We couldnt get out, Baldwin said. And so I just kept kicking and kicking until we finally made a hole.

The roaring wind woke Evan and Carlie Peters, also in East Nashville, but they had no time to reach the relative safety of an interior bathroom.

Within about 10 seconds, the house started shaking, Carlie Peters said. I jumped on top of the ground. He jumped on top of me. The ceiling landed on top of him.  were grateful to be alive.

With more than a dozen Super Tuesday polling places in Nashvilles Davidson County damaged, voters were sent to other locations, some of them with long lines. Election officials in Putnam County advised voters in eight precincts with damaged polling locations to vote at the main election office in Cookeville.

Hours later, a judge ruled that some Tennessee polls must extend voting hours after four Democratic presidential candidates sued to keep the polls open, a Democratic party spokeswoman said.

Lee said he observed numerous examples of people coming together to help one another. In the worst of circumstances, the best of people comes out, and thats what were seeing, he said.

Just as the governor stopped by to tour the devastation in Putnam County, a van of longtime customers at a local eatery _ who proudly stated they ate there every morning _ arrived to help clear debris.

In the small town of Baxter, Mike Stephens was awakened when a big tree crashed through the roof of his house. He started cleaning up as soon as the sun rose. He cut up one tree and had help from a neighbor with a backhoe and a man who stopped by with a chainsaw.

Ive only met him once, and he just happened to show up while were out here, Stephens said of his neighbor. And then this other guy he just happened to stop by. I dont know him.

Wayne Stephens, a technician at a local car dealership, had Tuesday off from his job. With no damage to his home, he got in his truck with his chainsaw. Hes not related to Mike Stephens and had never met him. He said he only wanted to help as much as I can.

About the photo: A man looks over buildings destroyed by storms Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee early Tuesday, shredding buildings and killing multiple people. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
When the latest James Bond flick, No Time to Die, hits theatres this April November, you'll likely see not-so-subtle shots of Nokia's latest slate of phones. You'll also get the chance to see the company's first 5G phone in a commercial Nokia brand owner HMD Global plans to release on March 8th.

No Time to Die

The advert will feature Lashana Lynch's character, 00 agent Nomi, completing a mission with the help of the company's new phone, which HMD Global plans to detail on March 19th. Besides its new 5G-capable phone, HMD Global says we can expect to see the Nokia 7.2 and 3310 make appearances in the upcoming movie. What the company hasn't said yet is if 007 himself will use a Nokia phone.

If you've followed the Daniel Craig's run as the super spy, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Ahead of the release of Spectre in 2015, Sony wanted to pay Craig $5 million to pose for photos with the company's Xperia Z4 phone in hand. Craig, however, wasn't too keen on the idea, and was famously paraphrased in a leaked email as saying, "James Bond only uses the 'best...' the Sony phone is not the 'best.'"

If Craig does end up using a Nokia phone in No Time to Die, it would be -- at least as far as phones are concerned -- a fitting conclusion to his tenure as James Bond. In his first outing as 007, 2006's Casino Royale, Craig used a Nokia 8800. With No Time to Die slated to be his fifth and final outing, it would be a bit like the hero coming home to the place where it all started.
KABULThe U.S. conducted Wednesday its first airstrike against Taliban forces in Afghanistan since signing an ambitious peace deal with the militant group.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a tweet the defensive strike was the first U.S. attack against the militants in 11 days. He said the attack was to counter a Taliban assault on Afghan government forces in Nahr-e Saraj in the southern Helmand province.

Leggett added that Taliban forces had conducted 43 attacks on Afghan troops on Tuesday in Helmand. According to a spokesman for the provinces governor, Omer Zwak, at least two police officers were killed and one other wounded in the Washir district of southern Helmand.

Leggett called on the Taliban to stop the attacks and uphold their commitments based on the peace agreement signed on Feb. 29 between their leaders and U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Doha, Qatar, which lays out a conditions-based path to the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday he spoke on the phone to a Taliban leader, making him the first U.S. president believed to have ever spoken directly with the militant group responsible for the deaths of thousands of U.S. troops in nearly 19 years of fighting in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Interior Ministry says four civilians and 11 troops were killed Wednesday in a wave of Taliban attacks across the country in the past 24 hours.

According to ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, Afghan forces killed at least 17 Taliban during these clashes.

The Afghan Defence Ministry earlier said seven soldiers were killed when the Taliban attacked a checkpoint in northern Kunduz province.

Kandahar police spokesman Jamal Naser Barekzai told The Associated Press a police officer was killed and one wounded in a string of Taliban attacks across the province.

The Taliban have not claimed responsibility for any of these attacks so far or commented on the U.S. airstrike Wednesday.

However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the AP Wednesday a week of reduction in violence that started midnight on Feb. 21 had ended.

Based on the U.S.-Taliban deal, peace negotiations between the warring Afghan sides are supposed to begin on March 10. However, the Afghan government has already rejected releasing Taliban prisoners ahead of launching the talks, a precondition which the militants say was part of the U.S. agreement.

Leggett said U.S. forces are responsible for defending their Afghan allies according to agreements between U.S. and Afghan governments.

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The aviation industry was already grappling with the worldwide grounding of Boeings 737 Max, which has been out of service for a year after two deadly crashes. Losing that one plane sapped some airlines of expected growth, forced them to cancel thousands of flights and resulted in billions of dollars in losses.

The more fundamental issue posed by the coronavirus  that large swaths of the traveling public may simply stay off planes for the foreseeable future  is a far greater threat. Though still in its early stages, there are concerns that a prolonged disruption could do lasting economic damage. Commercial aviation, like the internet, is part of the connective tissue of the global economy.

In little over two months, the industrys prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse, said Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association, which forecast the potential revenue drop of more than $100 billion. The rapid shift in fortune is almost without precedent, he said.

Around the world, there were signs that global air travel was increasingly grinding to a halt. On social media, travelers shared images of planes devoid of passengers. Others posted photos of empty airports and tarmac workers wearing full-body protective gear in major hubs like New Delhi, Zurich and Istanbul.

Kristi Faulkner, president of Womenkind, an advertising agency, said she was planning to attend Shoptalk, a major conference for retail brands, in Las Vegas. On Thursday, when the conference was postponed, Ms. Faulkner tried to call Delta Air Lines, but a message informed her that there was a three-hour wait to speak to a representative. If she was not traveling in the next 72 hours, the message said, she should call back another day.

How could they not be prepared for an onslaught of concerned travelers? she asked. The phone lines are jammed.

Dolly Meckler, a social media strategist, flew from New York to Los Angeles on Wednesday after taking meetings and visiting family. Half my flight was empty, she said, noting that many passengers were using wipes to disinfect their seats. A lot of us in the main cabin had our own rows.
SPRINGFIELD  A state lawmaker is defending his bill to let barbers, cosmeticians, hair braiders and nail technicians work without a state license.

Illinois requires people to obtain a number of hours of training and continued education to get a state license. Cosmetologists are required to get 1,500 hours of education, the same for a barber license. An esthetician license requires 750 hours. The requirement is 350 hours for nail technicians, and 300 hours for hair braiding. There are other regulations for salons and barbershops.

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said his House Bill 5558 would allow those practicing various jobs in the cosmetology arena to do so without a license, as long as its publicly posted theyre not licensed. He said the idea came about after he got his hair styled by his go-to stylist.

And shes not licensed to do a straight razor shave so I have to go back and get an appointment from someone else for a shave, Skillicorn said. Yet she knows what shes doing. Shes already trained as a cosmetologist. Shes licensed. Shes gone to school, but because of the current licensing in Illinois she has to go back to school for many, many hours, repetitive schooling that she already has just to get that one certification for a straight razor shave.

He said that wasnt fair to his stylist, nor was it fair to consumers. He said the measure was designed to eliminate barriers to entering the workforce.

Frankly, we need to get more people in the trades, and why would we want to exclude people from the trades? Skillicorn said. These are good-paying jobs. These are good careers. Why dont we open the door for young people to get involved and work their way up the ladder?

Opponents of the bill include the American Beauty Show, an association for the cosmetology profession. The group said the measure would negatively affect public safety and consumers.

Skillicorn disagreed.

If its less safe, that gives the people, the consumers more reasons to go to a licensed person, so it really doesnt to that, Skillicorn said. It really just opens the door for entry-level jobs and apprenticeships.

Others worry the measure would devalue the industry, but Skillicorn said it was about free markets and consumer choice.

People who do not trust the free market, they have an inherent distrust of freedom itself, he said.

House Bill 5558 remains in the House Rules Committee.
Share Market Update: Snapping bearish trend, Sensex and Nifty closed on a bullish note on Thursday, tracking positive market sentiments from overseas on growing signs of a coordinated response to the rising number of COVID-19 infections worldwide. Backed by heavy buying pressure in pharma stokcs, BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 61 points higher at 38,470 and Nifty50 ended 18 points higher at 11,269. Domestic equity market opened higher, following global equities over speculation that BoE will follow the US Fed with an emergency interest-rate cut, while South Korea said its seeking a $9.8 billion extra budget to help businesses. IMF has also announced stimulus worth $50bn. Although market erased initial gains after one fresh case of coronavirus infected was reported in the country. With this, around 30 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in India, including 16 Italian tourists.

Here's a look at the live updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today:

Closing Bell

4:00PM

Snapping bearish trend, Sensex and Nifty closed on a bullish note on Thursday, tracking positive market sentiments from overseas on growing signs of a coordinated response to the rising number of COVID-19 infections worldwide. Backed by heavy buying pressure in pharma stokcs, BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 61 points higher at 38,470 and Nifty50 ended 18 points higher at 11,269.

Domestic market traded bullish although erased initial gains after one fresh case of coronavirus infected was reported in the country. With this, around 30 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in India, including 16 Italian tourists.

Pharma stocks top gainers today

12: 40 PM

Barring shares of Piramal Enterprises that fell around 0.3%, all the 9 other healthcare shares were trading higher on Nifty Pharma, that was up 0.78% at 8,200.

On Nifty Pharma, Cadila Healthcare was the top gainer, rising 4.7%, followed by 2% gain in Divi's Laboratories. Biocon gained 1.68%, while Dr Reddy and Sun Pharma were up 1%. Aurobindo Pharma, Cipla and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals gained in the range of 0.2% to 0.8%.

Shares of Divi's Laboratories, Biocon and Dr Reddy Labs were closing near their respective 52-week highs on NSE today.

On a similar note, S&P BSE Healthcare traded at 14,194, rising 0.81%, with 20 of 30 scrips trading in the green. On the BSE sector index, IOL Chemical and Shilpa Medicare rose over 5% each, followed by 4-5% gains in Cadila, Marksans Pharma and Panacea Biotec. Albert David, Laurus Labs, and Granules India gained around 3% each.

Pharma stocks shine amid rising Coronavirus cases in India

YES Bank share price rises 27%

12:00 PM

YES Bank share price rose in early trade today amid a report the government has asked State Bank of India (SBI) to form consortium for buying stake in the private sector lender. Share price of YES Bank rose 27% to Rs 37.90 compared to its previous close of Rs 29.30 on BSE.

Rupee today

11: 30 AM

The Indian rupee continued its downward journey on Thursday, sliding another 5 paise to trade at 73.44 against the US dollar amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit started the session on positive note but soon nervousness surrounding coronavirus gripped the forex market sentiment, pulling the rupee down to 73.44 against the previous day's close of 73.39 a dollar.

Market Update

11:00 AM

According to traders, investors were hopeful that the collective efforts of global governments and central banks would cushion the economic fallout of coronavirus.

Top gainers/ losers

10: 30 AM

HUL, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Nestle India, TCS and Asian Paints were among the top gainers, while ICICI Bank, L&T, PowerGrid, NTPC and Reliance Industries were trading in the red.

Virus will correct the Valuations: Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities

10: 15AM

Commenting on the weak market trend due to coronavirus in the recent weeks, Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote has suggested,"Markets would broadly be driven by the virus and global sentiment. While it is impossible as well as futile to predict the pangs of the market, it is wise to rely on the wisdom of Sir John Templeton during this bloodbath: 'The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to Buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to Sell.' Hence, investors should cherry pick quality stocks in a staggered manner as every dip seems to be a good buying opportunity."

FII/ DII on Wednesday

10: 10 AM

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 878.38 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 764.13 crore on Wednesday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

Oil today

9: 50 AM

Oil prices moved higher on Thursday gaining back from yesterday's low as rise in crude inventories was smaller than expected. Brent Crude traded at $51.86 per barrel, up 1.43%.

Global market cues

9: 40 AM

Asian stocks extended a global equity rally tracking overnight gains seen in DOW Jones and after IMF announced $50bln aid package to combat coronavirus. US markets rallied yesterday as investors cheered and gave thumps up to Joe Biden's popularity in U.S. Presidential primaries. Further, emergency US spending bill of $8bn to combat the impact of the corona-virus added to signs of support from policy makers around the world.

SGX Nifty traded flat with negative bias at 11,235, down 0.11%. US Futures (Dow Jones) traded at 26808, down 157 points or 0.58%.

European markets closed higher after US Fed cut interest rates in a surprise move which stirred hopes of a similar move from other central banks.

Rupee opens lower

9: 35 AM

Rupee opened lower on Thursday at 73.37 per US dollar compared to Wednesday's close of 73.20.

Pharma stocks top gainers

9: 35 AM

Shares of pharmacuetical companies such as Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy were trading as top gainers on NSE on Thursday's trading session, tracking gains from the overseas trend, amid the virus scare that has infected over 94,240 people globally and caused 3,220 fatalities worldwide.

Coronavirus Update

9: 30 AM

India Inc has pulled up all its defences. Multiple companies have asked its employees to work from home, while many have issued travel restrictions. A Paytm employee who had travelled from Italy has been detected with COVID-19. The company has asked the team members of the employee to get themselves tested.

Meanwhile, the state governments are also pulling up their socks to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the country. Around 29 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in India, including 16 Italian tourists.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said that he would not be participating in the Holi Milan festivities this year. Following his announcement, a bunch of ministers said that they too would refrain from participating in the events.

Coronavirus outbreak LIVE updates: Benjamin Netanyahu asks Israelis to adopt 'namaste' as greeting

Opening Bell

9: 20 AM

Equity market indices Sensex and Nifty reversed trend and traded 0.55% higher on Thursday, tracking positive market sentiments from overseas, on growing signs of a coordinated response to the rising number of COVID-19 infections worlwide. Backed by heavy buying pressure in pharma stokcs, BSE 30-share S&P Sensex traded 184 points higher at 38,604 and Nifty50 rose 55 points higher at 11,305.

Global cues

9: 10 AM

Domestic equity market opened higher, following global equities over speculation that BoE will follow the US Fed with an emergency interest-rate cut, while South Korea said its seeking a $9.8 billion extra budget to help businesses. IMF has also announced stimulus worth $50bn.

Central banks all over the world, including Reserve Bank of India have indicated possible rate cuts due to the economic fallout of COVID-19. Cases of coronavirus is reportedly rising much more rapidly outside China than within the country.

The World Bank on Tuesday aslo announced an initial $12 billion in immediate funds to assist countries grappling with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak that has spread quickly from China to over 60 countries.

Stocks to watch today on March 5

9: 00 AM

Maruti Suzuki, Allcargo Logistics, Bank of Baroda, GMR Infra among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Thursday's trading session

Stocks in news: Maruti Suzuki, Allcargo Logistics, Bank of Baroda, GMR Infra and more

Last Close

8: 45 AM

Equity market resumed selling streak and closed 0.55% on Wednesday, as market sentiments turned negative upon rising number of COVID-19 infections in the country. Backed by heavy selling pressure in media, metal and banking stocks, BSE 30-share S&P Sensex closed 214 points lower at 38,409 and Nifty50 ended 49 points lower at 11,254. Domestic equity market opened higher, although gave up initial gains following reports that suggested 15 Italian nationals who came from Jaipur were tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total infected number of cases to 28.
Jahnvi Kapoor and her father Boney Kapoor were recently in Chennais Mylapore to attend a prayer meet after Sridevis second death anniversary.

Taking to Instagram the Dhadak actor shared a number of pictures in which she can be seen wearing a pink saree which she paired with a golden half sleeves blouse. She captioned the photo as, Wish u were here

A fan page shared an inside image of the prayer meeting. In the image one can see late Sridevis photo with a garland of white flowers.

54-year-old passed away on February 24, 2018 in a Dubai hotel after she accidentally drowned in the bathtub.

Remembering her late mother on her second death anniversary, Jahnvi shared a monochrome picture from her childhood. In the photo both the mother and daughter can be seen hugging each other on a couch.

The picture which has got over 8 lakh likes till now was captioned as, Miss you everyday

Janhvi Kapoor made her Bollywood debut in July 2018 with the film Dhadak, just months after Sridevi's tragic death.

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Winger Teddy Thomas has been dropped for France's Six Nations trip to Scotland this weekend after question marks regarding his defensive ability, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) announced on Thursday, Thomas, 26, who has started all of les Bleus' matches as they sit at the top of the table, was included in a 14-man group released from the national set-up and will not travel to Edinburgh for Sunday's match. The Racing 92 man was substituted after 66 minutes during the victory over Wales on February 22 and French newspaper L'Equipe gave him a 4 out of 10 rating for his performance in Cardiff. Thomas was one of eight players who were temporarily suspended by the FFR after the last visit to Murrayfield in 2018 following a late night out in the Scottish capital. Hooker Camille Chat, who missed the win at the Principality Stadium with an injury returns to the wider 28-man squad. Fabien Galthie names his side to face Scotland on Friday, with a fourth victory ensuring a tilt at a first Grand Slam since 2010. France's Teddy Thomas has scored 11 tries in 19 Tests but will miss out on the trip to Scotland this weekend
YEREVAN, 5 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 5 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.48 drams to 479.60 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.40 drams to 535.91 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.06 drams to 7.23 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 7.33 drams to 619.74 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 431.23 drams to 25316.5 drams. Silver price up by 7.05 drams to 265.99 drams. Platinum price up by 244.60 drams to 13522.9 drams.
SITEKI  Despite that the country has not yet recorded a case of coronavirus, Chinese businesspeople in Eswatini are already feeling the effects of the global outbreak of the deadly virus.



As the pandemic deepens across all major continents, forcing the cancellation of flights and limitations in movements of people, Chinese nationals doing business in Eswatini have not been spared from the effects of the outbreak.



This publication understands that the businesspeople have a challenge visiting families in China due to the cancellation of flights and the limitations in movements of people in most countries.



Exposing



Other locally-based Chinese businesspeople are reportedly scared to travel home as they risk exposing themselves to the deadly virus.

Instead, they are said to prefer remaining in the country up until the global curfew is lifted and the outbreak is brought under control.



Lin Binzhong, who runs businesses around Siteki town, said he did not know of any businessperson from Mainland China who had visited their families following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

He said as businesspeople from Mainland China, they stay connected through popular mobile phone messenger application; WhatsApp.



We have a WhatsApp group. All people from China, including those in Matsapha and Manzini, we talk(sic), said Binzhong.

He said in the group, they discussed mainly the coronavirus these days and other relevant business matters.

He said in their discussions, they advised those who recently visited China to report to local health authorities and to remain indoors.



Binzhong said he last visited his family in July 2018.

He said he did not visit his family often because he had businesses in Siteki and the fact that he resided with his wife and children.

He said even if he would have wanted to visit his family back home, it would be difficult since most flights in and out of China had been cancelled.



He stated that other locally-based businesspeople from China, who had planned to visit their native country, had been forced to cancel their plans.

When asked if his business had been affected by the outbreak, Binzhong answered to the negative.

He said he sourced his stock from South Africa.



Binzhong runs a hardware and furniture shop.

Meanwhile, on February 14, 2020, the country was sent into panic mode when the Ministry of Health pronounced that there was a suspected case of the coronavirus.



In a statement, Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula said the suspected case (person) had travelled to Mainland China and returned to the country on February 6, 2020.



Examination



Blood samples of the suspected person were sent to South Africa for examination and the results were negative, much to the relief of the public.



It is pleasing to report that the results were negative for Covid-19 (coronavirus). It is further pleasing that the patient is recovering well and responding to treatment. This experience has assisted in shaping up our preparedness and response plan as we ensure that emaSwati are safe from this global health threat, read a statement by Dr Magagula.



The suspected case of coronavirus in the country made headlines in several media outlets in the region and abroad.

On another note, drills have been held in some health care facilities and selected ports of entry to train health care workers and paramedics on how to evacuate and isolate people suspected to have contracted coronavirus.



Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi explained that the purpose of the drills was to prepare health care workers for a possible outbreak of the deadly virus.
Black Expert Will Lead Community Education Push That Could Be Statewide Model

Cherina Betters has been named chief of Equity and Access for San Bernardino County Schools. In her new position, she will represent 33 school districts and more than 400,000 students.

Her new duties will include, working to forge strong relationships with parents and community members, as well as serving as the equity lead to promote positive learning outcomes for all students, according to the San Bernardino County School Superintendents office.

She starts her new job  a role some education stakeholders hope would be elevated to a statewide model for California  on April 13.

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Los Angeles, San Diego and neighboring Riverside Counties all have similar programs that involve engaging students and parents to become part of a supportive network that contributes to improving the academic success of all students.

Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction, has begun assessing those programs, too.

San Bernardino County Superintendent Ted Alejandre is confident that Betters will succeed in her new role.

Betters has extensive experience in our region in supporting students, schools and districts in the areas of equity and access, Alejandre said. With our office, she will lead efforts to close achievement, equity and opportunity disparities among student groups  with attention to cultural, racial, language and socio-economic differences.

Betters has a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Social Justice from California State University, San Bernardino, and previously worked for the San Jacinto Unified School District and Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District.

At Cal State, San Bernardino, Betters was named Outstanding Doctoral Student and defended her dissertation titled, Bridge Over Troubled Water: Creating an Ecology of Transformative Care for Students At Risk of their Promise.

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Betters appointment to serve as a liaison between the school district and community comes at a time when California is trying to find ways to close a troubling achievement gap between White Students and their Black and Latino counterparts.

Hardy Brown, former president of the San Bernardino County school board, says hes excited that policy makers in Sacramento and school districts across the state are studying the model and weighing its merits.

The Superintendent and San Bernardino County board is proud to continue growing the impact on our cradle to career roadmap by targeting equity and the success of all students, said Brown.

In San Bernardino County, African Americans make up about nine percent of the population and live in some of the most underserved census tracts. Among Blacks, both the poverty rate (25.7 percent) and the unemployment rate (14.3 percent) are well above the state averages.

Only 21 percent of African American adults are college-educated.

Brown says the board has been working with the countys African American task force to find practical solutions for helping Black kids improve their test scores and academic performance.

This just adds to the research weve been doing around these issues, says Brown.
A day of tactical workshops for startup founders, entrepreneurs and small-business owners will be a key part of the DownRiver 2020 forum.

The event  slated for May 14  will feature a series of topical workshops, noteworthy speakers and a panel discussion. There also will be discussions on the future of the Richmond regions innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

DownRiver will give participants an opportunity to connect with other entrepreneurs.

Activation Capital, a nonprofit associated with the Virginia Bio+Tech Park in downtown Richmond, is sponsoring the DownRiver event that brings together those involved in Virginias entrepreneurial ecosystems for a day of networking, learning and collaboration.

DownRiver will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Studio Two Three at 3300 W. Clay St. in Scotts Addition. Plans also call for events to be held at other locations in Scotts Addition.

Tickets are $50 or $25 for students who must show a school identification at registration.
The Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual "Salute to Education" to honor system-level, building-level "Teachers of the Year," a 22-year tradition. Teachers from the Bradley County and Cleveland City School Systems were celebrated, surrounded by their families, peers, educational administrators and community leaders, with a Chamber maximum capacity crowd.



Education is one of the cornerstones of a growing and vibrant community, states Sherry Crye, director of workforce development for the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce. It is also a vital part of all economic and community development  the two key missions of the Chamber.

This tradition is a hallmark of the workforce development initiatives which pays tribute to the educators in the community.



Educators left the reception, hosted by the Education and Workforce Development Committee, with a gift from the Chamber-member sponsors who contributed money, gift cards and prizes.
Iran to overcome coronavirus crisis ASAP, President Rouhani says

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 4, IRNA -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that Iran will handle the coronavirus crisis at the earliest.

Addressing the cabinet session in the capital city of Tehran, Rouhani added that Iran will resolve the crisis with the help of its healthcare professionals.

He went on to say that the country will solve the problem with reliance on firm determination and cooperation of its people as soon as possible.

He also expressed the hope that the problem to be removed leaving least damage.

President Rouhani also complained over the malevolent states who are taking advantage of coronavirus outbreak, adding that they seek to get peace as well as trust from Iranians.

The states disseminate false opinions and fake news; he said underlining from the onset of the disease the Ministry of Health was told to make all statistics and information available to the public.

Those who imposed sanctions on pharmaceutical drugs and foods took the most vicious action against the Iranian nation in the past two years, he underscored.

They appeared in the guise of sympathizing with Iranians, he said reiterating lift the imposed sanctions if you truly care about Iran.

Rouhani called on the states to apologize to the Iranians over their previous mistakes, pointing out that Iran's nation is quite aware that you are not telling the truth.

He thanked the counties that have contributed to deal with the coronavirus.

Reportedly the total number of Iranians with coronavirus infection has reached 2,922 and some 92 people have died and 552 others have recovered so far.

7129**1430

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 13:42:27|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 4, 2020 shows cartoons on the wall of a corridor at the Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. Dalian's oysters and Wuhan's hot-dry noodles, as well as the Dalian Railway Station and Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower, lovely cartoon pictures drawn on the ward wall of the makeshift hospital in Wuhan have gone viral online. The pictures are signature snacks and landmarks of the Chinese cities of Dalian and Wuhan. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

DALIAN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Dalian's oysters and Wuhan's hot-dry noodles, as well as the Dalian Railway Station and Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower, lovely cartoon pictures drawn on the ward wall of a makeshift hospital in Wuhan have gone viral online.

The pictures are signature snacks and landmarks of the Chinese cities of Dalian and Wuhan.

Liu Yu, a post-90s nurse in Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, is one of the artists of those more than 30 wall paintings. She is also one of the 500 medical personnel sent to Wuhan from Dalian on Feb. 8 to aid local colleagues to treat patients and contain the virus spread there.

"I started to draw a cartoon on the corridor wall of ward A2 in Leishenshan. That helped me relieve pressure after a day's work," said the nurse. "More and more colleagues and patients come to see those pictures. I never expect them to become so popular."

Liu's first cartoon tells a story about Dalian's oysters and Wuhan's hot-dry noodles. Personified oysters encourage hot-dry noodles to stay strong with the message: "Wuhan, please hang on!"

"I used the signature snack of my hometown to show our support for the virus-hit Wuhan," said Liu.

Many of Liu's colleagues who used to draw pictures and write words on their protective suits to cheer up each other and patients also join her.

Doctor Wang Wei from Dalian drew a picture of the Dalian Railway Station and Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower. "They symbolize the 'heart-to-heart' solidarity between Dalian and Wuhan people."

Among those wall paintings, the one that touches Wang and other medical staff most is a portrait of Zhong Nanshan, a renowned Chinese respiratory specialist, with the words: Wuhan is a heroic city, and people of Hubei and Wuhan are heroic people.

"Everyday, we are impressed by the heartwarming and strong Wuhan people," said Liu. "I still remember the first day when I arrived at Leishenshan Hospital. A local shuttle bus driver made a deep bow and expressed appreciation toward us."

Tiger Beach Ocean Park, Xinghai Square... Pictures of famous tourist attractions in Dalian have emerged on the drawing wall in recent days. "This is a travel itinerary we make for patients. I hope they can visit these famous scenic spots in my hometown after they recover," Liu said.

"When I drew the Yellow Crane Tower, I made a decision that I would visit the tower and enjoy the beautiful scenery of this heroic city after the epidemic ends," said Wang.
CORNING, Calif. - Students in Corning are asking the city council to consider a ban on tobacco flavored products. Now the City of Corning is looking into a possible ban.

Corning City manager Kristina Miller says the City Council directed staff to look more into it.

Banning tobacco would be great because I feel like this is an invitation for kids to try this candy-flavored product, said Angel Ramirez, a resident of Richfield.

A California Health Kids Survey revealed that in 2019, 22.8% if kids in Tehama County reported using tobacco flavored products.

Miller says, once staff completes their research, they will bring their findings to the council.

Corning High School students gave a presentation of the effects of tobacco flavored products at last weeks city council meeting.
Governments around the world have been issuing hygiene advice to try and stem the spread of coronavirus.

In the UK, for example, the government has recommended regular hand washing of 20-second periods using soap and water or hand sanitiser.

US advice recommends avoiding close contact with people who are sick, not touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Dr Sara Cody touches her mouth after advising against it. (Twitter)

However, the difficulty of abiding by such advice has been highlighted in a video of a US health official.

The clip shows Dr Sara Cody, director of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, giving a speech about coronavirus in which she advises against touching your mouth.

Dr. Sara Cody, director of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department finds out how difficult it is to follow her own hygiene advice over coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/JVeD7RVyuH  Martin Williams (@Martin1Williams) March 5, 2020

Dr Sara Cody, the director of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, told reporters last week: Today, start working on not touching your face because one way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose or eyes.

Moments later, however, Dr Cody can be seen to then touch her own mouth and lick her finger in order to turn a page on the notes shes holding.

It comes as US president Donald Trump joked that he hadnt touched his face as the virus spreads.

And I havent touched my face in weeks, weeks, he told the press.

I miss it.

There are now more than 96,000 confirmed coronavirus cases around the world.

80,000 of those are in mainland China while South Korea has confirmed 6,000 and Iran has officially reported 3,500.

In Italy, more than 3,000 cases have been reported while Germany, France, Japan, Spain, the US, Singapore and Hong Kong have all declared at least 100 cases.

The UKs latest figures are due to be updated later today, with Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty saying coronavirus will cause some deaths in the UK.
A Kilkenny man is playing his part in rejuvenating a historical Tipperary landmark.

The Kickham Tree, over the Kilkenny border outside Mullinahone, under which distinguished author, Charles J Kickham sat, was removed in 1992 for safety reasons and is now set to make a spectacular comeback.

Coon native and Teagasc expert, Michael Somers has been working with the local community to bring plans to fruition.

A carbon copy of the original Kickham Tree is to be created and planted at Gurteen on the approach road to Mullinahone from Fethard.

Locals have just embarked on an ambitious plan to promote the scenic spot outside the village at Gurteen, where the stately row of trees is steeped in Kickham folklore.

The heritage project is designed to have a significant environmental, cultural and tourism impact on the village of Mullinahone by highlighting the Kickham folklore intrinsic to the village.

By the end of March tree expert, Michael Somers will go through the delicate process of creating a new Kickham Tree which will have the same genetic make up as the original.

An attempt can be made to create a new Kickham tree because of the presence of an ash tree at Gurteen which survived the ash dieback disease that hit Ireland in the early 1990s when up to 70% of the ash trees that died in Ireland were within a 10 mile radius of Mullinahone.

The sturdy survivor was planted opposite the original Kickham Tree and both were in rows of trees planted by the Bryan family at Gurteen 200 years ago.

Michael Somers believes that the tree he will use to create a new Kickham tree is an ideal specimen for the process.

This ash tree we are going to use is up to two hundred years old. The tree has no blemish, no discolouration, and there must be a reason it survived the ash dieback and we hope it is the perfect tree from which to attempt this process of creating a new Kickham tree, said Michael Somers.

To create the new tree Michael will try two different techniques.

Before the end of March Michael will cut a shoot off the surviving ash tree at Gurteen and graft it to a new root stock and that will be allowed mature in a laboratory.

He will also take a tissue sample out of the tree bud and grow that in agar in the lab.

In three years time they hope to have a new Kickham Tree and more ash trees with the same genetic make up.

While they are waiting for that process to take its course, locals John Bermingham, Jim White and Denis Morrissey will proceed with other elements of the plan to enhance Gurteen.



The hedgerows on both sides of the road at Gurteen are being cut back and laid by hedgerows expert Eoin Donnelly.

That work is underway and already there is a noticeable change in the appearance of the area with a new view of Slievenamon emerging, more light has been created and the habitat for birds, mice and shrews will be improved as the hedge is rejuvenated.

The third element of the plan is the landscaping of both sides of the road that will allow drivers to pull in or pedestrians to walk and read about Kickham in a safe environment.

The existing pier structures at Gurteen will be taken away and more space will be created.

A commemorative symbol will be erected to mark the legacy of the Bryan family.

The area will be a fitting and lasting tribute to Charles Kickham. The story of both the Bryans and Kickham will form part of an event which will take place during heritage week on the banks of the Anner at Crocanoir, John Bermingham said.

It is a project that John Bermingham , Jim White and Dennis Morrissey are behind and they have been supported by Donal Mullane of Teagasc and by heritage officer Rosin OGrady of Tipperary County Council.

The three neighbours came together to honour the memory of a local family, the Bryans.

They lived at Gurteen for many centuries through several generations. The family line came to an end with the death of the brothers Basil and Austin. The Bryans left a legacy to the local community through the seeds they planted several hundred years ago and we are honoured as a group to remember what they did for this community, Jim White said.

The three phases are sponsored by Tipperary County Council, Teagasc and FBD Trust.

Michael Somers loves these kind of heritage projects and he believes this one will be of enormous benefit for the environment and Mullinahone.

Some great fish have come from small ponds. Every village has its own identity and something very special to offer and Kickham is unique to Mullinahone, he said.

This is a very simple project that will achieve a lot for this community, he said.

Donal Mullane, Teagasc, said it was fantastic news and that the whole project was a very positive one. John Bermingham warned said the project would take time.

We will end up with a much nicer place, it will act as a focal point where people will engage about the history of Kickham, about Slievenamon and the Bryan family.

We need to promote the area and the unique history associated with it, John insisted.
China's newly commissioned destroyer, frigate achieve battle readiness

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/4 19:48:40 Last Updated: 2020/3/4 20:48:40

Two recently commissioned warships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy are now ready to do batte after passing an all-subject training examination, the Navy announced on Wednesday, as experts said the service has done well in its sailor training program while receiving more and more warships.

The PLA Northern Theater Command Navy recently organized a three-day-long, all-subject training examination at sea featuring two recently commissioned warships simultaneously, and the two proved to be combat-ready, according to a statement the PLA North China Sea Fleet released on its Sina Weibo account on Wednesday.

The two warships are Type 052D guided missile destroyer Guiyang and Type 054A guided missile frigate Zaozhuang, which both joined military service in February 2019, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.

During the training examination, which aimed to test the warships' capability to deal with multiple types of threats at the same time and emergency situations, the two ships formed a flotilla with other vessels and sailed into a designated area in the Yellow Sea, CCTV said.

Other surface vessels, submarines, fighter jets, early warning aircraft, helicopters, observation stations and jamming units also participated either as support units or mock enemies. Dozens of combat scenarios were simulated, including aerial targets interception and anti-submarine, CCTV reported.

Guiyang and Zaozhuang achieved combat readiness in only a year, and other Chinese warships took even less time, meaning the Chinese Navy is training new sailors at an astonishing speed, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Wednesday.

China has been building more warships to develop its navy, but these new ships must be operated by capable sailors, the expert said, noting that the Navy's training program has kept pace with the construction of warships, and the Navy's overall development is progressing smoothly.

"The situation of having more new ships but without enough capable operators will not occur to China," the expert said.

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(Photo : Screenshot From Unbox Therapy YouTube Page) Samsung Galaxy s 20 Ultra

Samsung has just recently released a new phone model called the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra--it is quite a gorgeous device from the design, the build, the specs, and the camera performance. But the only downside is that it costs $1,400!!! Besides, the OS update may kill the beauty of this phone in a matter of time anyway.





Why the pricing?

It seems like the pricing is due to the increasing manufacturing costs. The prices of other products like the Samsung Galaxy s 20 Ultra have gone way up, but this does not seem like quite a reasonable move because most people buy Samsung because of its affordability and not just because of the phone itself! If Samsung is trying to compete with the high-price phones like the ones from Apple, Samsung should at least offer something that lasts longer and has also massively improved specs.

Read Also: [Watch] This One Magic Trick Will Declutter Your Apple iPhone News!

The $1000 price mark has not yet been a comfortable benchmark

So far, the Apple iPhone X was the only successful phone to make it past the $1,000 price tag, and while Android was deemed cheaper and affordable, the Samsung Galaxy S8 was still able to sell at about $720. What experts have been pushing is that Apple has the right to charge this price while Samsung does not.

The difference between the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the iPhone X is that the iPhone X uses the latest version of the iOS while the Galaxy S8 is already running on an 18 month Android 2018's Pie which has no plans on updating to the Android 10 despite being capable of doing so! It seems like Samsung is trying to phase out this product while surprisingly, Apple is still pushing their iPhone X.

Why the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is not worth investment to some?

When you buy this product on the market for $1,399, you might expect proper aftercare and that you will be able to use this phone for quite a while, but the sad truth of the fact is that the guaranteed OS upgrades during the whole lifecycle of the phone are only two years! You will only be given two years to enjoy the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra before your Operating System becomes obsolete.

Samsung Galaxy S8 longevity is still not worth it

Always put into mind if you are thinking of buying the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra that you are paying twice the price of the Samsung Galaxy S8! The logic is simple, why buy the new Ultra for $1,400 with an OS that will only be supported for two years when you can buy two $700 phones over four years?

Read Also: Third-Party Ads Show Up on Samsung's $1,400 Dollar Galaxy Z Flip

Samsung has been trying to compete with Apple when it comes to luxury phones heavily, but with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy s 20 Ultra, maybe they are pricing a bit too high for an OS that is only going to be supported for two years.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
2020 marks Gomos fourth consecutive year on the Training Industry list of the worlds top eLearning authoring tools Gomo Learning is a leader in the learning technologies market and has earned a place on Training Industrys Top 20 Authoring Tools List due to its extensive feature set, strong content capabilities and continual growth in the industry.

Gomo, the cloud-based, multi-device eLearning authoring and delivery tool, has once again been honored on the Training Industry Top 20 eLearning Authoring Tools list. The award recognizes Gomos leadership and innovation in the eLearning authoring tools market, achieved through a broad and high-quality set of features and capabilities.

This is Gomos fourth consecutive appearance on the annual Training Industry list. The list aims to inform professionals about the best and most innovative providers of authoring software in the marketplace.

Were delighted to have once again been included in Training Industrys eLearning Authoring Tools list, said Gavin Beddow, Gomos Managing Director. Gomos continued presence in the category demonstrates that the team continues to grow and innovate with the tool year after year.

He went on to add, Our focus on creating a tool that combines responsiveness and ease of use while still providing a powerful set of options for advanced learning designers has benefited countless clients, including LOreal, Shell, Domestic & General, British Airways, WhatsApp and the World Health Organization.

Gomo is a 100 percent cloud-based product that allows for full cross-team collaboration on responsive, mobile-first HTML5 eLearning courses. Content built in Gomo can be delivered to and updated on a wide range of environments and devices. xAPI compatibility ensures that whatever your analytics and tracking requirements, youll be able to understand the impact of your courses.

Criteria for inclusion on the 2020 Training Industry Top 20 eLearning Authoring Tools Companies List is based on:



Leadership and innovation of authoring tool.

Breadth and quality of authoring tool features and capabilities.

Company size and growth potential.

Quality and number of clients.

Awards, recognition and competitive differentiation.

Gomo Learning is a leader in the learning technologies market and has earned a place on Training Industrys Top 20 Authoring Tools List due to its extensive feature set, strong content capabilities and continual growth in the industry, says Ken Taylor, president of Training Industry, Inc. The organizations on the Top 20 List provide strong and innovative capabilities to ensure organizations have the tools and features they need to easily create and design impactful training materials.

Global organizations choose the Gomo Learning Suite for the creation and delivery of their mission-critical eLearning projects, says Danielle Draewell, market research analyst at Training Industry, Inc. Gomo provides a leading HTML5 eLearning authoring, delivery and analytics suite. Gomos product embodies the functionality and capability required by todays modern learning organizations.

This years full list of Training Industrys Top 20 Authoring Tools Companies is available here.

For more information on finding and getting the most out of the authoring tools currently on the market, read our 6 Steps to eLearning Authoring Success ebook.

About Gomo

The Gomo learning suite provides multi-award-winning products that allow you to create, deliver, update, and track beautiful multi-device eLearning. With Gomo Authoring, you can create truly responsive and adaptive HTML5 content that looks perfect on all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. With Gomo Delivery and Analytics, you can get content into the hands of learners instantly via websites, direct link, the Gomo LMS wrapper, social media, and moreall with full xAPI analytics.

With an ever-growing client base including the BBC, British Airways, BT, Centrica, General Electric, HSBC, LOreal, Royal Mail Group, Shell, Sony, Squarespace, TDK, Vodafone, Weetabix, WhatsApp, the World Health Organization and many more, Gomo is quickly becoming the established choice for global organizations seeking collaborative, future-proof and responsive HTML5 multi-device eLearning.

Gomo is part of Learning Technologies Group plcs award-winning group of specialist learning technology businesses.

For more, visit gomolearning.com.
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The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the coronavirus a global health emergency in recognition that the disease risk no longer is confined to China.

United Nations member countries may decide to close their borders, cancel flights, implement special screenings at airports, or take other steps in response to the notice.

U.S. health officials earlier this week announced they would fast-trackwork on a coronavirus vaccine, with the goal to have an early-stagetrial within three months. That timeline is consideredoptimistic, and even if the work proceeds apace, a phase 1 trial is still a long way from avaccine ready for mass deployment, the National Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases, an agency within the Department of Health and HumanServices, has emphasized.

It could take a year or even longer before any vaccine is released for widespread use.

That is likely of little comfort to those in the Chinese city ofWuhan, which is ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak and essentially has been quarantined. As of this week, the virus has killed106 people in mainland China, and it has infected nearly 4,700 peopleworldwide, including in the United States.

The Chinese government rapidly constructed a1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan as a way to contain and treat patientssuspected of contracting the virus. Named the Wuhan HuoshenshanHospital, it reportedly is a 25,000-square-meter facility purpose-built to address thisoutbreak. The goal of the Chinese was to have the hospital finishedand operational in just 10 days.

A second and even larger facility, the Leishenshan Hospital, also is under construction, and the goal is to have that building finished in just 15 days.

Medieval Measures

Essentially locking down an entire city or region isnt exactly a newtactic, and it certainly is not effective. When the Black Death spread during the Middle Ages, it was commonplace for port cities tobe closed to ships suspected of coming from infected areas.

In the 14th century, Venice was among the first cities to formalize suchmeasures, closing the citys waters to suspected vessels, and evensubjecting travelers and nearly all ships to 30 days of isolation.

The period was extended to 40 days, which led to the term quarantine.

Sadly, those efforts generally were unsuccessful, and it is unclear if amodern quarantine would have any better success. However, this weekthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans toavoid all nonessential travel to China and extended its travel warningfrom Wuhan to the entire country.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The effectiveness of this move currently is being debated, said Mariea Snell, assistant director of Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at Maryville University.

At this point, the recommendation is that travel be limited, as therisk is considered to not outweigh the benefit at this point, she told TechNewsWorld.

Modern air travel exponentially increased the spread of influenza eachyear, based on a study by Chong and Chung, originally conducted in 2012 and updated in 2017.

Air travel restrictions should become apriority when flu or other potential pandemic could occur, the researchers recommended.

Some companies are heeding such advice. Apple CEO TimCook on Tuesday announced restrictions on employee travel andeven took the drastic measure of shutting down one store in China.

The question is whether restricting travel and utilizing quarantinepractices be effective at curbing the spread of infection.

Recent studies indicate that it may not be as beneficial asoriginally thought to be, Snell said.

We learned a lot from theSARS and Ebola outbreak in this regard. While it may slow it down, itwill not eliminate it, she noted.

The best way to prevent the spread ofillness is to wash your hands, and stay home if you are sick, Snell said.

Detection Technology

Aside from quarantines, efforts to halt the spread of disease include screenings. It has gotten far easier to determine if someone is contagious and carrying an illness through various methods of detection, which can be as simple as taking temperatures and observing individuals for symptoms.

A helpful way that technology can and is being used to stop thespread of illness is the use of public health surveillance data, noted Snell.

The effectiveness can be hit or miss, however, largely depending on the virus.

In the case of the coronavirus, scientists say that the viral sheddingperiod  period when you are contagious  can occur up to a weekbefore you start to show symptoms, Snell explained.

Given this, using technology to detect infection  like fever  would notbe very effective at preventing the spread, she noted. This can behelpful during acute illness, but it would not catch all infected people.

Predictive Technology

Technology isnt just used just to determine if someone is ill, however.Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning now are beingused to predict where an outbreak might occur  or even moreimportantly, where it might spread.

One such effort is an early-warning system that utilizes artificialintelligence and machine learning, as well as natural language processing, totrack more than 100 infectious diseases, developed by the Canadian firm BlueDot.

The program is designed toread from more than 100,000 articles in 65 languages, and the data then iscompiled to determine the potential for the spreading of diseases. Itwas used earlier this month to track the coronavirus and then predictwhere it might spread.

Considering the coronavirus is a global disease, AI hasnt done agood job stopping it  but a much better job in tracking it, said RogerEntner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics.

However, it could take time to refine any AI to be truly successful.

AI could certainly help, but its early days for AI yet, and thisvirus is moving faster than it would probably take to set up a good AImodel and train it on the right data set, cautioned Roger Kay, principalanalyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

More important is to execute existing protocols rigorously, liketracing contacts and quarantining and treating infected people, hetold TechNewsWorld.

Crowdsourcing Disease Tracking

A number of crowdsourcing methods could be effective in tracking the spread of disease.

People are also using cellphone data to track population movement andhow they interact, noted Snell.

This helps understand or predict where disease may spread so thatscientists and healthcare providers can take a proactive approach,she added.

Social media is another promising avenue.

Algorithms have been set up to detect certain buzzwords like flu orfood poisoning to detect and track possible large-scale outbreaks,noted Snell.

Connected World

The ease with which so many people can jet set around the world for businessmeetings, conferences, trade shows, vacation and other occasions also hascontributed to the spread of contagious diseases.

Perhaps some of those occasions for travel eventually could transition to virtual reality or augmented reality experiences  both to save moneyfor the participants, and to keep big gatherings  such as the annual CESor the Davos political gathering  from becoming ground zero fora pandemic.

Not everyone is sold on that idea, however, and convincing attendees ofthose shows  not to mention the exhibitors  could be an uphillstruggle.

The moment we have to do AR/VR in a response to a pandemic, then weare so deep in trouble not even AR/VR can save us, ReconAnalytics Entner told TechNewsWorld.

In the end, there is no substitute for meeting someone in person,shaking their hand and looking them in the eye  AR/VR cant do that,he added.

Virtual conferences are already happening for cost reasons, of course.

The only issue is you cant get people to sit through three days ofcontent on a virtual connection  it just doesnt work, observedKay.

Networking is an important part of conferences, but if you dont needto do business development, there is no reason not to get the contentin a format like a TED talk, and there are lots of software tools forconferencing at various levels, he added.

Much of what one can learn or needs to learn from majorevents or trade shows can be done through technology, maintained Snell.

Virtual events or trade shows can deliver the information in a waythat is safe and cost-effective, she noted.

We can integrate discussion in an online platform and share thelatest information on products, as well as view presentations from ourhome or office, Snell suggested. Utilization of this technology forevents such as these should be industry standard as we try to navigatethese global health concerns.
RBI Deputy Governor has decided to step down by March 31 due to ill health, three months before the end of his extended one-year tenure.

While the Reserve Bank has accepted his request to be relieved by March 31, the same has to be accepted by the Cabinet as well, which is likely to happen any day given his health condition, a person in the know of the development said.

His one-year extension was to end on July 3.

RBI spokesperson Yogesh Dayal refused to confirm or deny the development.

Sources said, despite ill health, the senior most deputy governor at the RBI was planning to leave by end-April, but the deteriorating health did not allow him. So he has asked for an early retirement.

The 62-year-old has been in-charge of the key supervisory and regulatory functions at the Mint Road and it was this powerful position that led the government to offer him an extension given the mess in the banking system.

The RBI's supervisory and regulatory powers came under criticism after IL&FS, one of the largest NBFCs went belly up in September 2018. And then came the scam at the city-based Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank in September 2019. Both incidents dented the image of RBI's regulatory prowess.

After being appointed as the deputy governor on June 28, 2016 for a three-year-term, Vishwanathan has served under three governors -- Raghuram Rajan, Urjit Patel and Shantikanta Das.

Before the elevation, he was an executive director of the central bank.

Born in June 1958, he did his Master's in economics from the Bangalore University and joined the central bank in 1981. In July 2019, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet re-appointed Vishwanathan for one year till July 3, 2020.

If the resignation is accepted by the Cabinet, Vishwanathan will be second deputy governor to leave after Das took over as the governor in December 2018. Deputy Governor Viral Acharya left in June 2019.

As deputy governor, Vishwanathan is heading the departments of banking regulation, co-operative banking regulation, non-banking regulation, Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation, the financial stability unit, and departments of inspection, risk monitoring and also the secretary's department.

Before he became the deputy governor, he was on a three-year deputation to the Bank of Mauritius, the central bank of Mauritius, as director of supervision.

An RBI observer said his departure will pose a challenge for the central bank to navigate the key supervisory and regulatory functions in one of its most difficult times.

He was one of the key supporters for governor Patel in getting the crippled state-run under prompt corrective action framework as also sending the largest defaulters for bankruptcy through the February 2018 circular (which was struck down by the Supreme Court last April).
By PTI

MUMBAI: No detention centre is coming up in Maharashtra in connection with implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed NRC, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the legislative council on Thursday.

Deshmukh gave this information in a written reply in response to a question by Sharad Ranpise (Congress).

"No detention centre is coming up anywhere in the state in connection with rolling out of the CAA and NRC," he told the upper house.

However, in the past the Union home ministry asked the state government to set up a temporary facility to house foreign nationals awaiting deportation, he said.

The Union home ministry directed the state, in a letter dated September 10, 2014, and a manual dated January 9, 2019, to set up a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals who have completed their jail terms here and were waiting for deportation, Deshmukh said.

Those foreign nationals who have served their jail sentences after conviction will be kept in such a detention centre until their nationality is proved and they are deported," the NCP minister said.

There are directives for constructing a temporary detention centre at Nerul in Navi Mumbai.

The government has also requested the CIDCO (a state-run city planning agency) to allot three acres of land for setting up a permanent infrastructure for the same, Deshmukh said.

All three ruling coalition allies -- the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP -- have opposed the proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens), an exercise that seeks to create a record of bonafide Indian citizens and identify illegal migrants.

However, last month the government told Parliament it has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide NRC.

ASLO READ: Pleas challenging CAA to be heard after Sabarimala reference case, says Supreme Court

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already said his government will not allow the NRC to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions".

But Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, has supported the CAA, which seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees who have fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan because of religious persecution.

However, his allies Congress and the NCP have opposed the amended citizenship law, calling it discriminatory and violative of the Constitution.

The CAA and NRC measures, along with the NPR (National Population Register), are facing opposition from various quarters, including some political parties.
Parliament plans to ban the use of phones by legislators in the House during proceedings.

According to Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the use of phones during proceedings is fast becoming a huge distraction to the business of the House.

Speaking in Parliament today, Thursday, March 5, 2020, Mensah Bonsu said, the ban will be enforced as soon as the new Standing Orders of Parliament are approved.

We proposed that in the next Parliament, once we accept the review standards, no Member of Parliament will be allowed to bring a cell phone to the House. We need to demonstrate seriousness. When the President of the House is talking, members will be fidgeting with their phones.

When the Minister responsible for Finance comes here, members will be fidgeting with their phones. When Ministers are providing answers in the House, members will be fidgeting with their phones. It does not tell a good story about us, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu who is also the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs bemoaned.

Aside concerns over the use of phones by MPs in the House, the Speaker of Parliament Prof. Mike Oquaye has on several occasions complained about MPs seeming apathy to the work of Parliament as they continue to absent themselves for sittings.

Ministers of State who double as Members of Parliament were the worst culprits of absenteeism without permission during the First and Second sittings of the Seventh Parliament, 2017.

The Ministers, including deputies, absented themselves from at least 15 sittings without the permission of the Speaker of Parliament.

This was contained in a report by Odekro; a civil society organization focused on activities of the legislature.

According to the report, the guilty MPs consisted of 18 Ministers and 21 Deputy Ministers.

citinewsroom
Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc on Thursday joined Microsoft Corp in recommending employees in the Seattle area to work from home after several people in the region were infected with the coronavirus.

Seattle in Washington state has been most affected by the virus in the United States. Ten people have died out of 39 cases of infections through community transmission of the virus.

Amazon, which is headquartered in Seattle, recommended employees in the area to work from home through the end of the month, after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.

The employee worked at Amazon's South Lake Union office complex in Seattle. Two other company employees in Milan, Italy, were also infected.

Facebook said on Thursday a contractor at its Seattle office was diagnosed with the coronavirus and that it would shut the location until March 9.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19," a company spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

The companies' work from home recommendation will affect more than 100,000 people in the Seattle area, as both Microsoft and Amazon employ over 50,000 each. Facebook has more than 5,000 employees in the area.

Seattle health authorities have urged companies to allow their employees to work from home as much as possible, stagger shifts to ease commuter congestion on public transportation and avoid large work-related gatherings.

The epidemic has shown no signs of slowing, with deaths mounting globally. It has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, mostly in China, where it originated in December.

Big tech companies have also been dropping out of several conferences and calling off corporate events as the virus spreads. Apple and Netflix on Wednesday dropped out of SXSW conference to be held later this month, citing virus concerns.

Microsoft said on Wednesday that some "essential" employees should continue to go to their work locations and that the company would follow government guidelines for disinfecting its sites for essential personnel.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5) Lawmakers on Thursday expressed concern over the growing number of crimes allegedly involving Chinese workers, saying its high time for the Philippine government to commence its own crackdown on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO)-related cases.

Speaking to CNN Philippines The Source, House committee on defense vice chairperson Ruffy Biazon signified the need for a united task force one he recommended should be headed by the countrys top security officials.

Get these agencies together, organize them, give them that particular mandate with regard to being on the lookout. Agencies concerned with national security should be on top of that particular group, Biazon said, hinting that National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. may be the one to spearhead the proposed committee.

The governments task force on POGO was formed last year comprising of officials from the Finance Department (Bureau of Internal Revenue), the Labor Department, the Immigration Bureau, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, among others.

Biazon, however, said the agencies have been too compartmentalized with their own mandates, thus letting the cases take a backseat in the priority list.

There should be inter-cooperation from the perspective especially when you talk about border. Its about national security. They should be operating among and between themselves, the solon added.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has opened its initial inquiry on the POGO-related crimes in the Philippines, including the controversial money laundering scheme. Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the panel, earlier revealed that 47 individuals, mostly Chinese nationals, arrived in the Philippines carrying $447 million or 22.7 billion.

RELATED: Dirty money laundered in PH because Duterte admin is 'too soft' on China  Gordon

China last week began its own crackdown on its nationals working for the Philippines, following other reported violations including the online sex trafficking scheme and the controversial airport payoff pastillas plot.

Over 27 billion worth of tax liabilities also remain uncollected from the POGO sector, BIR earlier said.

Making a mockery of PH laws

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Benny Abante likewise called for a total ban of the POGO industry in the country, urging President Rodrigo Duterte to immediately act on the matter.

As we're investigating it, we're requesting the President to act on it now. Because wala na eh, niloloko na tayo dito (theyre already fooling us), Abante said in the same interview.

He also took a swipe at the erring Chinese workers, saying that they have been mocking the Philippine laws.

I think these people are making a mockery of our laws. Napakadali sa Pilipinas (its easy to get past this in the Philippines) so they can do what they want to do. One of it is our fault. Money can do anything, money talks.

Biazon shared the sentiment, saying the country has consistently been on the losing end with its warm welcome on foreign workers. He claimed some POGO workers have attempted to use the same Taxpayer Identification Number, and that the proliferation of the gaming industry has posed a negative impact on the local real property sector.

Malacanang earlier said the President may order to stop all POGO operations, amid the rising and wide range of crimes supposedly linked to the industry.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Kazakhstan has temporarily suspended import of some fruits from China as a result of systematic detection of quarantine goods in imported volume, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans Ministry of Agriculture.

The import has been suspended starting from March 2, 2020. The prohibited goods list includes stone, pome and citrus fruits.

In accordance to the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures Ministrys department has sent a notification on violation of international and unified quarantine phytosanitary requirements for goods import to the General Administration of Customs of China, the report said.

As a result of the investigation Chinese party revealed that the systematic violations were due to the fact that certain orchards did not carry out necessary preventive measures.

Kazakhstan and China continue road cargo turnover notwithstanding the coronavirus outbreak.

Thus, 5,626 cargo vehicles crossed Kazakhstan-China state border in January 2020, which is 3 percent more compare to the same period of last year.

The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 3,000. Over 95,000 people have been confirmed as infected.

Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects. In mild cases, according to the Chinese authorities, treatment takes about a week, in severe cases - two or more.

Chinese health authorities say that the majority of the people who have died were either elderly or had underlying health problems.

Aside from Mainland China, the cases of coronavirus spreading have also been confirmed in other countries.

Several countries are developing a vaccine against the new virus.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
Myanmar: More than 60% of mangroves has been deforested in last 20 Years

March 05,2020 | Source: Eurasia Review

Mangroves account for only 0.7 per cent of the Earths tropical forest area, but they are among the worlds most productive and important ecosystems. They provide a wealth of ecological and socio-economic benefits, such as serving as nursery habitat for fish species, offering protection against coastal surges associated with storms and tsunamis, and storing carbon. While many countries have established legal protection for mangroves, their value for sustainable ecosystem services face strong competition from converting the land to other more lucrative uses, particularly for agriculture. In the past decade, studies have shown that mangrove deforestation rates are higher than the deforestation of inland terrestrial forests.



New research from the National University of Singapore (NUS) provided additional support for this, with results showing that mangroves deforestation rates in Myanmar, an important country for mangrove extent and biodiversity, greatly exceed previous estimates. The research, led by Associate Professor Edward Webb and Mr Jose Don De Alban from the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, was published online in the journal Environmental Research Letters.



Drastic mangrove deforestation



Using satellite images and multiple analytical tools, the NUS team was able to assess the extent of mangrove in 1996. The researchers then followed the fate of every 30-metre x 30-metre mangrove image pixel for 2007 and 2016. The teams estimates revealed that in 1996, Myanmar had substantially more mangroves than previously estimated. However, over the 20-year period, more than 60 per cent of all mangroves in Myanmar had been permanently or temporarily converted to other uses. These include the growing of rice, oil palm, and rubber, as well as for urbanisation. Although fish and prawn farms accounted for only a minor amount of mangrove conversion, this may change in the near future. These competing land cover types are commercially important, but incompatible with mangrove persistence, said Mr De Alban.



Urgent need for mangrove protection in Myanmar



With the loss of nearly two-thirds of its mangroves, there is a need for the Myanmar government to develop holistic strategies to conserve this important habitat. This is particularly important as Myanmar strives to become more integrated into the regional and global markets for agriculture and aquaculture products. The fate of mangroves in the country will be tied to the strength of policies and implementation of conservation measures. Through proper long-term planning, management and conservation, this resilient ecosystem can recover and be maintained for the future, shared Assoc Prof Webb.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman on March 4 criticized Bahrain for not cooperating in repatriation of 1300 Bahraini tourists and pilgrims from Iran where coronavirus infections are on the rise by the day.

In a statement on Wednesday, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said the Iranian Foreign Ministry has taken measures and made arrangements in order to repatriate foreign citizens to their countries as a precautionary and preventative action against the coronavirus outbreak.

Unlike many other regional countries, Bahrain has not taken any steps to take their citizens back and even not accepted the proposals made to it by some people", the Foreign Ministry Spokesman said.

Calling the behavior of the Bahraini government towards its nationals irresponsible, Mousavi said there are around 1300 Bahraini citizens in Iran now who came for pilgrimage and tourism who have had to have a long and unwanted stay because their situation is being neglected by their government.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain has engaged in a years-long crackdown on all dissent since its 2011 Arab Spring protests, which saw its majority Shiite population demand greater political freedoms. Militants have launched small, sporadic attacks in the time since which Bahrain security forces blame on Iran. Thousands of Bahraini Shiites visit Irans holy cities of Mashhad and Qom every year.

All consequences of the delay [in the repatriation of Bahraini nationals] lies with the government of Bahrain, Mousavi said.

The tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia has been hard-hit with coronavirus cases and shut down flights to halt the spread of coronavirus.

The majority of infections in Persian Gulf countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Oman have been diagnosed in people returning from Iran or who came into contact with those who had been there. According to Bahraini officials all of the 17 people infected with coronavirus until February 25 had returned from Iran.

On February 29 Bahrain 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. According to Bahraini officials of the nearly 2300 people who had returned from Iran in February only 310 had called authorities and undergone testing for coronavirus.
[March 05, 2020] Molina Healthcare Supports the Kentucky Primary Care Association With a $100,000 Donation

Molina Healthcare recently donated $100,000 to support the expansion of the Kentucky Primary Care Association's (KPCA) 'Connecting Kids to Coverage' program. The program empowers certified "eligibility assisters" who work in local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) to help children and families that are eligible for KCHIP/Medicaid enrollment. The donation will enable four clinics across the Commonwealth to provide outreach and supportive services to over 5,000 uninsured children in need. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005783/en/ Molina Healthcare presents $100,000 donation to support Kentucky Primary Care Association's "Connecting Kids to Coverage" program. From left to right, Michael Easterday of Molina Healthcare; David Bolt, chief operating oficer of Kentucky Primary Care Association; Jack Miniard, Clover Fork Clinic; Dwayne Sansone of Molina Healthcare and Rachael FitzGerald, chief development officer of Kentucky Primary Care Association. (Photo: Business Wire)



"Molina is honored to team up with Kentucky Primary Care Association to fulfill our shared mission of increasing access to quality health care for those in need," said Dwayne Sansone, Molina Healthcare of Kentucky. "Through this program, families and children receive personal assistance with navigating the complex health care system while simplifying the enrollment process. As a result, beneficiaries have an opportunity to better control their personal health care and that of their families, which is critical to achieving an acceptable quality of life."

"Kentucky Primary Care Association is grateful to Molina Healthcare in their generosity to increase access to health care for children and their parents," said David Bolt, chief executive officer of Kentucky Primary Care Association. "Our children are our future and we all need to focus on their well-being." The KPCA program is designed to help families that qualify for KCHIP/Medicaid have access to education and personal support in order to enroll. Many of the people it serves may lack access to education and resources, have fallen out of KCHIP/Medicaid coverage or lost their eligibility due to the process burden. Additionally, many families in rural communities need this type of support. Currently KPCA has 14 other member clinics who successfully outreach as Certified Assister Counselors in the communities they serve, and it has shown to be the best form of proactive assistance rather than waiting until the patients turn up at the clinics. Both the KPCA/KHBE 'Region 8 Assister' Program and the CMS funded 'Connecting Kids to Coverage' have been successful in linking KCHIP/Medicaid eligible beneficiaries with coverage. Molina's donation will support Monticello Medical Associates in Monticello, Bluegrass Community Health Center in Lexington, Helping Hands Healthcare Clinic in Elkton and HealthPoint Family Care in Covington. About Molina Healthcare Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, provides managed health care services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare served approximately 3.3 million members as of December 31, 2019. For more information about Molina Healthcare, please visit molinahealthcare.com. About Kentucky Primary Care Association The Kentucky Primary Care Association is a membership organization of Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics and other organizations interested in increasing access to quality integrated primary care in Kentucky. They provide services to almost 25% of the medical population and serve as the safety net health system for the underserved and uninsured. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005783/en/

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Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in New York City.

First public school district in New York closes in response to COVID-19

Read the full story on ABC New York, WABC.

MTA worker assaulted at Brooklyn subway station; delays on 2, 5 trains

Read the full story on ABC New York, WABC.

Queens would see 12,000 new affordable apartments by decking over Sunnyside Yard

Read the full story on Gothamist.

Thief steals Volvo from NYC woman feeding stray cats

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
With cases of coronavirus steadily increasing across the country, there has been a surge in demand for masks, hand sanitisers, disinfectant wipes and common medicines, including paracetamol and Vitamin C tablets across the country.

Delhi, where 22 of the 27 people currently suffering from Covid-19 are being treated (of the remaining five, two in Hyderabad have tested positive in initial tests and are awaiting confirmation from the National Institute of Virology in Pune) saw a rush for these. Many pharmacists in Delhi said they have run out of masks and hand sanitisers in the last three days.

Three others, who were Indias first cases of Covid-10, all from Kerala, have since recovered.

At the Apollo pharmacy in Vasant Kunj, pharmacists said people are placing orders for as many as 500 to 600 units of hand sanitisers at a time. Chanchal Singh, the pharmacist, said, We have completely run out of stock of masks and hand sanitisers. We are not selling disinfectant wipes and suggesting that people buy online till we get fresh orders.

Both masks and hand sanitisers were still available on online platforms, including Amazon and Flipkart, on Wednesday evening.

Pharmacists in other localities said that they are seeing brisk sales of masks, hand sanitisers and some medicines. Dikshaya Mishra of Fortis HeathWorld in Khan Market said, Besides masks and sanitisers, a large number of people are also buying Vitamin C tablets. The demand for paracetamol is as usual. 

Krishna Dutt Tiwari, a pharmacist in Mayur Vihar, said that people are particularly asking for N95 and N99 masks.

Atul K Nasa at the Delhi Drugs Control department has issued an advisory to pharmacists to keep adequate stock of masks and hand sanitisers and distribute them judiciously to customers. He has also warned them against overcharging or hoarding.

In Agra, too, where six of the cases were detected (the patients were moved to Delhi for quarantine), theres been a rush for masks and sanitisers.

People are ready to pay ~500-1000 for N-95 masks and shopkeepers are flooded with calls from customers, asking them to arrange for the masks.

Chander Pahuja, a wholesale dealer in the citys Fuvarra market, said, We are getting many calls and requests from customers about N-95 masks. Buyers from government offices, hotels and private hospitals are coming to inquire about them. Masks are in short supply as some traders have begun black marketing.

Doctors in Agras SN Medical College and district hospital have expressed concern over the scarcity of N-95 masks. There is similar concern at health centres.

A doctor in SN Medical College said on conditions of anonymity: We are the ones who interact with the patients directly but we are working without masks. The medical college administration and district administration should provide masks to all residents and senior residents.

Doctors said there is no need to stock up medicines and masks. Mostly, people need reassurance and fact-based information. I tell them theres no need to stock up on medicines and masks, but that all children should be taught hand washing and coughing etiquette, where they should cough in into their sleeve [elbow] and not the palms, said Dr Anupam Sibal, a senior paediatrician and group medical director, Apollo Hospitals Group.

Dr BK Tripathi, professor of medicine at Safdarjung hospital, said that people have started hoarding masks. They should know using a mask is not recommended. WHO says that a mask is only needed for healthcare workers who are coming in contact with the positive patients... The others do not need it, he said.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Dutch prosecutors on Thursday demanded a life sentence for an alleged terrorist accused of opening fire in and around a tram in the central city of Utrecht last year, killing four people and wounding three more.

In a statement summing up their case, prosecutors said the defendant, 38-year-old Gokmen Tanis, a Dutch man of Turkish descent, fundamentally eroded the feeling of security for many people in the Netherlands with his attack.

Prosecutors say Tanis walked into a tram, pulled out a pistol with a silencer attached, and started shooting passengers from close range on March 18 last year while shouting Allahu akbar or Allah akbar. Three passengers were killed.

Prosecutors say he then jumped out, walked past cars stopped at traffic lights and shot a motorist, who died some 10 days later.

Thea Terpstra, whose brother Rinke was killed in the shooting, had watched the proceedings as the trial opened Monday from the public gallery, sitting a few meters (feet) behind the suspect.

I want a life sentence. Preferably a double life sentence, but that doesnt exist here, she said outside court.

During his trial this week, Tanis was removed from court for showing disrespect to judges, families of his victims and even for spitting at his court-appointed lawyer. He steadfastly refused to answer any questions put to him by the presiding judge.

Prosecutors said that while tests had established that Tanis had a personality disorder and low IQ that could lead to mitigation of any sentence, his acts and total absence of remorse led them to ask for the most serious sentence available under Dutch law.

Judges are expected to hear submissions from Tanis lawyer before retiring to consider a verdict.

The Dutch terror threat level in Utrecht was briefly raised to the highest level and people were warned to stay indoors as police swarmed through the city hunting down the shooter. Tanis was arrested in Utrecht hours after the shooting.

Prosecutors said last year that he confessed to the shooting and left a hand-written note in a getaway car that said in Dutch: Im doing this for my religion. You kill Muslims and you want to take our religion away from us, but you wont succeed. Allah is great.

Prosecutors last year described Tanis as a repeat offender, a drug user and difficult person, but said their previous investigations had not uncovered evidence he was plotting a terror attack.

Statements from family members read out in court cast him as a part-time Muslim who would sometimes drink alcohol, take drugs and gamble.
The Australian National University has ramped up its financial assistance for international students affected by the coronavirus travel restrictions, announcing $5000 grants for those stranded offshore for the start of semester.

As universities grapple with the educational and financial consequences of the ongoing travel ban  which has prevented 100,000 Chinese students from arriving in Australia for the start of the academic year  ANU has moved to boost assistance for hundreds of affected students.

ANU has announced increased financial assistance for students affected by the coronavirus travel ban. Credit:Louie Douvis

The university will provide a one-off $5000 bursary to assist with costs incurred because of the Australian governments coronavirus measures, including quarantine, travel and accommodation.

The bursary is open to ANU students impacted by the mainland China travel restrictions and who couldnt arrive at the university in time for the beginning of semester (February 24, 2020) but are still enrolled on June 3, 2020, deputy-vice chancellor Professor Grady Venville said in an email to students.
BEIRUT - An airstrike on a rebel-held village in northwest Syria hit a poultry farm where several displaced families were sheltering early Thursday, killing at least 15 people including children while wounding several others, opposition activists said.

The activists blamed Russian warplanes for the strike on Maaret Musreen village, which is home to thousands of internally displaced people.

The strike came hours ahead of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the escalation in Syrias northwestern Idlib province, which comes amid a monthslong Russian-backed Syrian government offensive there.

As the meeting got underway, Turkey announced that another Turkish soldier was killed in an attack in Idlib on Thursday, raising the number of Turkish soldiers killed in the past 36 hours to three.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by the fighting in Idlib  Syrias last remaining rebel stronghold  and hundreds have been killed. Many of the displaced have fled north toward the sealed border with Turkey.

Turkey and Russia are the two main power brokers in Syria and each supports rival sides in the nine-year conflict.

Violence worsened in Idlib in recent weeks, with Turkey sending thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents holed up there. But Erdogan hasnt been able to halt Syrian President Bashar Assads offensive, which began in early December.

Syrian and Turkish troops have engaged in deadly battles, leaving at least 59 Turkish soldiers dead since the beginning of February as well as scores of Syrian soldiers. Direct fighting between Turkish and Syrian government forces had previously been rare throughout the war.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursdays airstrike hit a poultry farm used as a settlement for internally displaced Syrians, killing 15 people including women and children. It said 18 others were wounded.

The oppositions Syrian Civil Defence group, also known as the White Helmets, blamed Russian warplanes for the strike as well. They said 14 people were killed, including five women and two children.

A young man who said he survived the attack told The Associated Press he was inside a building with his father when the airstrike hit. He suffered a minor injury to his face. He said he called out and searched for survivors, and that an ambulance arrived at the same time as his father made it out of the destroyed building.

Paramedics were seen removing debris before dawn Thursday, using flashlights to reach some of the victims buried under the rubble. Chickens could be seen in the vicinity as rescue operations took place, according to Associated Press video.

Photos of the strike posted by the Civil Defence showed paramedics using a bulldozer to remove a ceiling that had apparently collapsed on top of people. Civil Defence said it had finished recovering bodies from under the rubble by Thursday morning.

Step news agency, an activist collective, said 16 people were killed, including five children, and 18 others were wounded.

Discrepancies on casualty figures are not uncommon in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria.
It is an unlikely friendship that grew out of grief and has become a source of support and activism in the aftermath of the Boeing 737 MAX Ethiopian Airlines crash one year ago

It is an unlikely friendship that grew out of grief and has become a source of support and activism in the aftermath of the Boeing 737 MAX Ethiopian Airlines crash one year ago.

Nadia Milleron lost her daughter Samya, 24, in the crash and Zipporah Kuria, now herself 24, lost her father Joseph Kuria Waithaka.

The two are now close friends after teaming up to campaign for improved aviation safety in the wake of the disaster on March 10 that killed 157 people.

Milleron, from Massachusetts, is the niece of famed US consumer activist Ralph Nader, while Kuria is the daughter of a British family of Kenyan origin.

Also part of their closely-bonded group is Milleron's son Tor Stumo, 21.

"We are family now, bonded by blood and by loss," Kurai told AFP as the trio walked together on a sunny winter's day through Times Square and Central Park in New York.

"I think every time we feel a bit lost, we lose a bit of hope, we look at each other and we know we are not in it alone," Kurai said.

Emotions are high, and the three often veer between tears and smiles, comforting each other affectionately.

Milleron said they hoped that "by helping each, supporting each other and understanding each other, we could prevent other families to go through what we are going through."

Milleron and Kurai have become formidable activists, taking to the corridors of power to campaign for their common cause.

In Cologne, Kurai pressed European aviation regulator EASA to independently inspect the MAX before clearing it for a return to service.

And in Washington they lobbied regulators and politicians, attending congressional hearings where pilots and aviation experts accused Boeing of cutting corners on safety in the rush to develop the MAX as a rival to an Airbus plane.

'Frustration and impotence'

Nadia Milleron, her husband Michael Stumo and their son Tor were among the first families at the crash site after flying to Addis Ababa immediately from the US.

"We went through a phase where we thought that they were survivors and they weren't," Tor recalled of those horrific days.

"Then we thought we could get her body back and then we learned that there were just remains smaller than fingers, and then we learned that we couldn't even get those remains.

"And months later, the whole feeling there was helplessness and ignorance and frustration and impotence."

Samya's grave is in Massachusetts, but her family say about one-third of her remains are left in the Ethiopia soil that the plane plunged into at high speed.

'Close to my dad'

Milleron and Kurai first met in October in Ethiopia. Kuria, who was born in Kenya but emigrated aged nine with her family to Britain, helped Milleron navigate byzantine African administration.

They next met in December at congressional hearings in Washington.

And Kuria, who created a website for victims' families, was in New York to hook up again and spend a week with Milleron and her family at their home in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

"Going to Samya's home I think will be another opportunity to get to know her a bit more," Kuria said. "It will also bring me closer to my dad because she was close to him when they died."

Samya Stumo had been working for ThinkWell, an NGO backed by Bill Gates focused on health care in developing countries.

She was on her way to Kenya to meet colleagues when the plane went down. It was the second 737 MAX plane to crash within five months, partly due to faulty software -- and the model has been grounded ever since.

Waithaka, 55, a former probation officer in Hull, England, had returned to Kenya in 2015 to work with communities on agriculture techniques to boost their food supply.

Milleron, Kurai and Stumo have chaneled their grief and anger into activism, lobbying for better safety standards and to overturn US deregulatory policies that contributed to the MAX tragedies.

"I gave Samya everything that I had to give her," Milleron said.

"And so it's nice that I can connect with a young lady, who is also trying to make a good difference in the world and make her father's death not in vain."

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Cascade Elementary School students show their poster to cheer on China's fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, in the town of Orem in the U.S. state of Utah, on Feb. 7, 2020. (Photo by Zheng Yamin/Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Fifty 4th-graders from Cascade Elementary School in the town of Orem made their home state Utah in the western United States very proud recently, when Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter in reply to the many Happy Chinese New Year cards they all sent him.

"Cool! I can invite President Xi to eat doughnuts together if he visits Utah in the future," said 9-year-old Sarah, while some of her classmates noted that they would rather invite the Chinese president to come ski in the Beehive state.

"We are so proud. It's big news here," said Cascade Elementary School Office Secretary Marci Nichols.

The idea of writing to the Chinese president came from those students and was supported by their Mandarin teacher Zheng Yamin, who also gives lectures on Chinese culture and festivals at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Utah's capital.

"I love the kids," she told Xinhua about her students. "They are so eager to learn and love many things about Chinese culture."

Their favorite things? "Pandas," she laughed. "And Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings)."

Believing that writing letters to China can enable the students to apply their Chinese language skills to real-life situations, she suggested they become pen pals with people in China, an idea the students happily embraced.

"I was very surprised when the kids suggested, 'Why don't we write to someone really important? Like President Xi!'" She told Xinhua.

Days before the Spring Festival, her students wrote Chinese New Year greeting cards to Xi in Chinese, told him about their Chinese language studies and personal hobbies, and expressed their love for the Chinese culture, as well as their hope for a chance to visit China.

Everyone was flabbergasted when Xi wrote back.

"Dear Boys and Girls," he wrote to them. "I am so happy to get the lovely cards from you on the Chinese New Year. I have read them all. Thank you for the wonderful thought."

In his reply letter dated Feb. 15, Xi told the children that like the United States, China is a big country, that the Chinese civilization has a history of more than 5,000 years, and the Chinese people are as warm-hearted and friendly as the American people.

"I've been to the United States multiple times, but not yet to Utah. I hope there will be an opportunity for me to be there and, if so, to visit you all in person," the president said, adding that he is also fond of reading and sports.

His letter delighted the faculty, staff and students of the elementary school.

"It's an amazing thing for our students to get a personal letter from the president of China," Cascade Elemantary School Principal Darrin Johnson enthused. "President Xi said he hopes to visit us here one day, but we also hope to follow up with a visit of our students to China next year so they can see for themselves how interesting and beautiful China is."

"I think it's a great honor. The Chinese president is incredibly busy, running a country and dealing with the new coronavirus," added Johnson. He appreciated Xi for taking time out of his busy schedule to write to the students.

In his letter, Xi also praised the children for the fluency of their Chinese language skills and for being able to write Chinese characters so beautifully.

"By learning it, you may know more about Chinese history and culture," Xi noted. "I hope you will keep at it, make even bigger progress and become young 'ambassadors' for Sino-American friendship."

"I wish you all happiness, health and progress in the new year," Xi concluded his letter. "You're most welcome to visit China."

Utah is a sparsely-populated state in the western United States but surprisingly forward-looking on education. State lawmakers created 12 years ago a comprehensive language immersion program for Utah's entire public-school system featuring several languages, including Mandarin Chinese.

The program begins in first grade with 6-year-olds and carries on all the way through to the graduating high school seniors around 18 years old.

"They were ahead of their time," Principal Johnson said of Utah's public officials and school administrators. "And the immersion program is run in an exciting and fun way."

The learning program impacts all their courses. For half a day, every day, students are taught every subject in Mandarin -- science, math, social studies and so on, and then switch to English for the other half of the day.

Zheng keeps her students up to date on current events and the school recently posted a video on its Facebook page of the children singing a song that sends hope and well-wishes to the brave citizens of China's Wuhan city who are fighting the novel coronavirus.

"We love our Chinese immersion program. We are wishing the people of China our best. We hope that you are able to overcome the virus quickly," Cascade Elementary School wrote this week on the school's Facebook page.

Established in 1967, the public school is one of the first schools in Utah to offer a Chinese immersion program, which involves more than half of its students. In total, Utah now teaches one-fifth of all Chinese language learning public school students in the United States.

The state's Chinese immersion program began in 2009 and is now available in 76 elementary and secondary schools.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

No fatal case as a result of coronavirus has been observed in Azerbaijan, Member of the Operational Headquarters created under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers in connection with coronavirus Yagut Garayeva said.

Garayeva, who is also the head of working group dealing with infectious diseases of the Administration of the Regional Medical Divisions (TABIB), made the remark in Baku at the briefing held in connection with coronavirus, Trend reports on March 5.
March 05 : Punjabi sensation Gippy Grewal just took to his social media and praised the Aamir Khans next outing Laal Singh Chaddha, called it as one more master piece in making, which has paid due respect to Turban.

Aamir Khan will be seen playing a Sardar in the forthcoming Hindi remake of Hollywood drama, Forrest Gump, which starred Tom Hanks and Robin Wright Penn. The Hindi version also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and the film is helmed by Advait Chandhan.

Gippy Grewal, who visited the sets of Laal Singh Chaddha and met Aamir Khan, praised the actor and film on his social media. He shared a picture with Aamir Khan and wrote a beautiful note, which read, Yesterday I visited on set of Lal Singh Chadha. Aamir Bhaji showed me some of scenes and songs of Lal Singh Chadha. What a performance, another master piece on the way

Director Advait Chandhan done a fabulous job. Especially they have given a huge respect to Turban. Being Punjabi I appreciate and thanks from core of my heart to entire team of Lal Singh Chadha for giving a huge respect to our pride Turban. Lets wait to enjoy Christmas with master piece and thanks to Aamir Bhaji for giving such a warm gesture. I am really blessed to have friend, mentor like Aamir Bhaji. Love u Bhaji @_aamirkhan #advaitchandan #lalsinghchaddha #gippygrewal

Meanwhile on the work front, Gippy Grewal is promoting his next release, Ik Sandhu Hunda Si, which also stars Neha Sharma, making her Punjabi debut.
Learning Tools

New Resource Aims to Educate Students, School Communities on Coronavirus

Discovery Education has released new resources aimed to help teachers educate students on the Coronavirus. The company also launched new content on a wide rage of other topics for its Discovery Education Experience and its Science and Social Studies Techbooks.

For the Discovery Education Experience, the company added a new Viruses and Outbreaks channel. The new channel offers timely updates regarding the Coronavirus, content describing what a virus is, information on how infectious diseases spread as well as essential guidelines for staying healthy, this channel directly links classrooms to the news shaping our world today. Discovery Education Experience is a learning platform that offers curriculum, content and personalized teaching strategies for educators. The content is available to all users of Discovery Education's resources, as well as schools that are not customers but that are being impacted by closures related to Coronavirus.

According to a statement released by Discovery March 5:"For U.S. schools or school systems that are not currently using Discovery Education resources, but are experiencing closures due to the Coronavirus, we are offering free access to Discovery Education Experience through the remainder of the school year. To request access to Discovery Education Experience, principals and superintendents of affected school or school districts are encouraged to email Discovery Education at [email protected]."

The resources are also available to the communities those schools serve: "We have worked with our content partners to make the Viruses and Outbreak Channel available to the communities our U.S. school systems serve so that parents, caregivers and other adults have the same access to the materials children are being taught in schools. If you are a Discovery Education partner and are interested in obtaining a login for the Viruses and Outbreak Channel that you can send to members of your community, email [email protected]."

The company also released updated content for its Techbooks and Discovery Education Experience, including:

Election 2020, which offers updates on the 2020 election, profiles of candidates and historical content related to elections in the United States.

Earth to Luna!, an animated resource for the Science Techbook and Experience focused on K2 education.

A new interactive Periodic Table of Elements.

Professional Development tools for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

A spotlight on George Washington.

The Tech Interactive: Tech for Tomorrow Virtual Field Trip, in which students travel virtually to The Tech Interactive, a world-famous science and technology center in San Jose, California, and explore the centers science labs, hands-on activities, and design-challenge experiences, and takes students on a road trip through Silicon Valley to meet STEM professionals working in tech, according to Discovery.

Resources for Womens History Month, including profiles of remarkable women in history and contemporary society illustrate the impact of women in politics, STEM, the arts, sports, and beyond.

Details about all the new resources can be found at discoveryeducation.com.
Over Christmas I went back to Wuhan. I returned to Ireland before the epidemic broke out. One week after I came back, Zhong Nanshan announced that there had been human-to-human transmission of the virus. That was right before the Lunar New Year. The Spring Festival gala organized by my schools Chinese Students and Scholars Association was scheduled for two weeks after I returned. I was a volunteer, and I wasnt sure if I should go. I sent a message to the chairman of the association, who reassured me. He said I should come since my quarantine period was over. But during the event, I could still sense murmurings of concern. It is human nature to feel afraid, but this still made me feel lonely and sad to be in a foreign land.
One of our most important factors in making this decision and bringing this recommendation to you is that Cancun already has an active sister cities commission," Fuhrer said. "When we have two active and engaged sister cities commissions, that is the foundation of a positive, productive and inclusive relationship that we hope to have with Cancun.
Receives bids for 6.45 lakh shares

The initial public offer (IPO) of Antony Waste Handling Cell received bids for 6.45 lakh shares today, 5 March 2020, as against 48.2 lakh shares on offer, as per the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) website data at 17:30 IST. The issue was subscribed 0.13 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 4 March 2020 and it will close on Friday, 6 March 2020. The price band has been fixed at Rs 295 to Rs 300 per share.

The company on 3 March 2020 raised Rs 60.94 crore from anchor investors, ahead of its initial share sale. The company allotted 20.65 lakh shares at a price of Rs 295 per share to a total of 3 anchor investors, viz. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vantage Equity Fund and 238 Plan Associates LLC, which received 65.6%, 18% and 16.4% of the total anchor portion, respectively.

Incorporated in 2001, Antony Waste Handling Cell is one of the top five players in the Indian MSW (municipal solid waste) management industry with an established track record of 17 years, providing full spectrum of MSW services which includes solid waste collection, transportation, processing and disposal services across the country, primarily catering to Indian municipalities. It is among the key players in landfill construction and management sector with in-house expertise for landfill construction along with its management. The company has also entered into the waste-to-energy (WTE) segment which is at the top of the MSW value chain.

The company is currently undertaking projects for the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the Thane Municipal Corporation, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation, the Mangalore Municipal Corporation and the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority. It is also currently undertaking a project for Jaypee International Sports. As of 1 January 2020, its consolidated fleet consisted of 1,089 vehicles and 6,579 full-time employees. There were 17 ongoing projects.

The IPO consists of two parts, i.e., offer for sale (OFS) of 57 lakh equity shares by existing share holders (private equity investors) and fresh issue of equity shares aggregating upto Rs 35 crore. The OFS of up to 57 lakh equity shares comprises up to 13,90,322 equity shares by Leeds (Mauritius); up to 20,85,502 equity shares by Tonbridge (Mauritius); up to 7,69,917 equity shares by Cambridge (Mauritius); and up to 14,54,259 equity shares by Guildford (Mauritius).

The company proposes to utilize the net proceeds (from fresh issue of equity) towards reduction of the consolidated borrowings of the company by infusing debt in its subsidiary AG Enviro Infra Projects for repayment and prepayment of portion of their outstanding indebtedness to the extent of Rs 30 crore and general corporate purposes.

Antony Waste Handling Cell reported net profit of Rs 27.78 crore and net sales of Rs 218.62 crore in the six-months ended September 2019.

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Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., speaks during a Bloomberg event on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020.

Microsoft is encouraging employees in two areas hit by the coronavirus to work from home if they can for the next few weeks. The new rules affect the Puget Sound area in Washington that includes Microsoft's headquarters and California's Bay Area.

Several technology companies have been putting provisions in place to keep work going while trying to minimize exposure to the coronavirus, of which there are at least 93,000 cases, according to the World Health Organization. The COVID-19 virus was identified in Wuhan, China, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Consistent with King County guidance, we are recommending all employees who are in a job that can be done from home should do so through March 25," Microsoft executive vice president Kurt DelBene wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. "Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite. Please let your manager know that you will be working from home, so all our teams remain well coordinated."

The new direction applies through March 25, DelBene wrote.

Employees who need to be on site, like those who staff retail stores and data centers, should go to work as usual, except those who are over 60, pregnant or have a compromised immune system or health condition, wrote DelBene, who cited information from Washington state's King County, where Microsoft is headquartered. Such people should consult with their managers, and sick people shouldn't come in, he wrote. Prolonged interaction with others in close proximity should be limited, he wrote.

Microsoft is suggesting that people postpone trips to its Puget Sound and Bay Area campuses unless they are essential, and all business travel that isn't essential in areas the coronavirus is affecting should be canceled, DelBene wrote.

More than one-third of Microsoft's 151,163 employees work in the Puget Sound area as of Dec. 31, according to the company's website.

Earlier this week Microsoft announced the cancellation of a conference that it had planned to hold in the Puget Sound later this month. Facebook and Google have canceled developer conferences that had previously been scheduled. And Amazon and Google have sought to prevent certain employee travel. On Wednesday videoconference software company Zoom said it has told employees as its San Francisco headquarters to work from home. On Monday San Francisco-based Twitter advised employees to work from home if they can.

King County and San Francisco have both declared a state of emergency.

WATCH: School superintendents on coronavirus precautions
NTPC informed on Thursday (5 March) that the Government of India (GOI) sold 3.12% stake of the company via CPSE ETF.

The Government of India divested 30.87 crore equity shares, or 3.12% stake held in NTPC on 3 February 2020. It was an off market sale by the Government of India to Nippon Life India Asset Management India, the asset management company of the CPSE ETF mutual fund scheme.

Post disinvestment, the Government of India holds 51.02% stake in NTPC from 54.14% held earlier. The disclosure was made during trading hours today, 5 March 2020.

NTPC's consolidated net profit rose 22.4% to Rs 3,179.06 crore on a 0.3% fall in net sales to Rs 25,412.39 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

NTPC is a maharatna company operating in the power generation business. The principal business activity of the firm is electric power generation through coal based thermal power plants. It also engages in the business of generation of electricity from hydro and renewable energy sources.

Shares of NTPC were down 0.05% at Rs 107.95.

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A legislative effort to let communities opt out of a proposed southeast Michigan transit millage was scuttled in the Michigan House this week.

The House was initially scheduled to take up the bill Tuesday afternoon. But several hours into legislative session, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, said in a statement he was setting the issue aside because the proposals in front of us do not work for everyone.

Several representatives and community leaders wanted to find a way to opt their communities out of a transit plan and reform the current system," he said. But unfortunately every plan on the table had the potential unintended consequences of making property tax increases more likely in other areas of the state.

Rep. Diana Farrington, R-Utica, was the lead sponsor on the latest iteration of the plan, which would have let counties opt out of proposed regional transit plans, place a 3-mill cap on regional transit millages and ensure tax revenue generated by the Regional Transit Authority would not be captured by other local taxing authorities.

She told reporters the effort ultimately didnt have the votes needed to pass among House Republicans, noting some members were concerned taxpayers in some communities would be paying for transit without seeing the benefits of those services.

Leaders from Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Washtenaw counties havent fully agreed on regional transit plans for several years, and Farringtons legislation was the latest attempt to find common ground on amending a 2012 law that formed the Regional Transit Authority.

The continued lack of consensus could stymy efforts to bring another regional transit plan before Southeast Michigan voters.

A $5.4-billion plan proposed in 2018 that would have added a plethora of bus and train routes across the four counties never made it to the ballot - and a similar 1.2-mill plan from 2016 was rejected by voters. Both plans called for a variety of services like express bus routes, traditional bus services and commuter rails.

Related coverage:

Counties could opt out of regional transit plan under new bill

Lower fares approved for Ann Arbor-Detroit hourly bus service

Design revealed for new Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority buses

Washtenaw, Wayne and Oakland counties look to exclude Macomb in transit vote
A Co Antrim council is still seeking guidance on the "rights" of registrars to refuse to carry out same-sex marriages - even though its registrars have no concerns

A Co Antrim council is still seeking guidance on the "rights" of registrars to refuse to carry out same-sex marriages - even though its registrars have no concerns.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has been advised it is entitled to "oblige its registrars to perform same-sex marriages".

After seeking legal advice, the council was also told it "would not be discriminating against staff by asking them to perform this role".

The advice concluded the new regulations "did not provide exception for registrars to refuse to marry same-sex couples if they had objections to doing so".

At a meeting of Mid and East Antrim Council in Ballymena on Monday, TUV councillor Timothy Gaston reiterated an earlier proposal that council write to Stormont's Department of Finance - which deals with marriages - requesting guidance.

However, the council's chief executive Anne Donaghy said: "I can assure you that the registrars are being supported fully and are content with the position. The concern of members is now resolved."

She agreed to write to the minister but insisted there is "no issue to be resolved".

The council had already agreed at an earlier meeting to seek the guidance of Stormont's Department of Finance and committee to seek their "thoughts regarding models adopted in different countries, such as Australia".

In a previous debate behind closed doors, Mr Gaston proposed, and DUP councillor Andrew Clarke seconded, that council opts to give registrars free choice.

Mr Clarke has said he hoped a "conscience clause" could be introduced into the same-sex marriage legislation.

"I would certainly be in favour of an approach that is tolerant to everybody, as there is no provision for conscience," he said.

"I think we need to be sympathetic to members of staff who have worked here for a long time and are being asked to do something different.

"I think these are the sort of problems which arise when legislation is forced through Parliament in 15 minutes."

Last month, the first same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland took place between Robyn Peoples, from Belfast, and Sharni Edwards, from Brighton, at a ceremony in a hotel in Carrickfergus.
By ANI

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) has registered over 2,100 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) outside of China, whereas the total number of infected people has exceeded 12,600.

The WHO, in its new coronavirus disease situation report, said that the number of confirmed cases outside of China had risen by 2,103 to 12,668 in 76 countries, according to a media report.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus outbreak - Italy closes schools as death toll hits 107

It said the death toll outside of China had gone up by 48 to 214.

While Spain, Chile, Poland, Hungary, and the Faroe Islands have reported their first cases of coronavirus, the number of people infected in Iran has increased from 2,336 to 2,922, with the death toll reaching 92.

ALSO READ: 290 million students out of school as global battle against epidemic intensifies

A dog of an infected person in Hong Kong has tested positive for the disease, which means the virus is likely to be transmitted from humans to animals. Hence, all pets of coronavirus patients in Hong Kong will now be quarantined for two weeks, starting Friday.
He said the fire department, hospital and the city's safety committee are meeting on a weekly basis to determine if there are any new recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control to guard against the disease that they should implement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was out in front of the Supreme Court wildly threatening justices in defense of the sacrament of abortion today. Chief Justice Roberts has denounced Schumers threat as dangerous and irresponsible. In response, Schumer has explicated the gist of what he said in terms inconsistent with his words (Its a reference to the political price [Republicans] will pay for putting them on the court and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.)

Having fallen for what I believe to be a hoax Schumination over the weekend, I offer the ocular proof below. Impacting
Need a budget-friendly new spot? Though apartment hunting can be challenging, don't despair just yet  there are deals to be had. So what does an affordable price on a rental in University Place look like these days  and what might you get for your money?

Walk Score indicates that the neighborhood is very walkable, is great for biking and offers many nearby public transportation options. It also features median rents for a one bedroom that hover around $1,500, compared to a $1,195 one-bedroom median for Houston as a whole.

A look at local listings in University Place via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide offers an overview of what price-conscious apartment seekers can expect to find in this Houston neighborhood.

Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

2399 Maroneal St.

Listed at $910/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom short stay condo, located at 2399 Maroneal St., is 39.3% less than the $1,500/month median rent for a one bedroom in University Place.

Amenities offered in the building include a swimming pool and an elevator. Also, expect hardwood flooring in the condo. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

2515 Shakespeare St.

This one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, situated at 2515 Shakespeare St., is listed for $1,025/month.

You can expect a dishwasher in the unit. For those with furry friends in tow, this rental is pet-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

2475 Underwood St.

Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo at 2475 Underwood St., which is going for $1,050/month.

Amenities include in-unit laundry and a walk-in closet. Pet owners, take heed: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental.

(See the full listing here.)

5162 Morningside Drive

Finally, there's this short stay condo with one bedroom and one bathroom at 5162 Morningside Drive, listed at $1,100/month.

In the unit, expect a dishwasher and hardwood flooring. Pet owners, take heed: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Building amenities include garage parking and a swimming pool. There's no leasing fee required for this rental.

(See the listing here.)

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, get free local real estate marketing ideas and tools for agents, brokers and more.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
As coronavirus cases rose further in India, the central government on Thursday made COVID-19 free certificate mandatory for travellers from Italy and South Korea.

According to the additional travel advisory issued by the central government, on Thursday, the passengers travelling from Italy and South Korea who want to enter into India will have to present a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19.

"In addition to visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from and having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries," the Health Ministry on Thursday said in a statement.

The new regulation will be enforced from Tuesday March 10. It is however a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.

The first case of COVID-19 was reported from Wuhan city of China last year. Since then the dreaded virus has spread to more than 60 countries across the globe and has now entered India with 29 confirmed cases.

The symptoms of COVID-19 are cold, cough, pneumonia and shortness of breath.
Gwendolyn Briley-Strand first came to Auburn about 25 years ago.

When the actress visited what was then called the Harriet Tubman Home on South Street, the gate was open. But no one was there, she said. So Briley-Strand walked the grounds, alone with her thoughts about the American icon who once owned the property. She took a deep breath, trying to imagine what life was like for Tubman when she walked those same grounds.

Briley-Strand has been back to Auburn several times since. But Saturday will be the first time the actress performs her one-woman show, "Harriet Tubman: The Chosen One," in the city the icon called home for the second half of her life. The show, which will take place in the Cayuga Museum's Carriage House Theater, is one of several events celebrating Tubman during the city's first Harriet Tubman Weekend. It takes place in advance of March 10, the day Tubman died at her South Street home in 1913 at an age somewhere between 90 and 95.

The show sees Briley-Strand portray 13 characters, and use costumes, props and scenery. The Fordham-trained actress, who has performed in theater, TV and film for more than 30 years, takes the audience on a journey with Tubman leading escaped slaves through the Underground Railroad. She's brought the show to 32 states and Canada over the course of 30 years, she said.

Many of those shows have been in schools. Briley-Strand believes the show can educate because it asks the audience to use their imaginations  just as she did at Tubman's residence 25 years ago.

"People have a tendency to learn more when our history becomes three-dimensional, rather than reading dates and facts off a page. So I ask them to imagine what it'd be like to be a runaway fugitive trying to get to freedom," she said. "I love when my audience members say 'I was exhausted,' because I want them to feel like they're on this journey with me."

Briley-Strand said she began conceiving "Harriet Tubman: The Chosen One" after college. She auditioned to portray Tubman in a historical performance, so the actress began researching her subject and her "amazing legacy." As she did, Briley-Strand considered writing a book. But someone with her theater company suggested writing a show, instead. And what the actress thought would be something to occupy her when she couldn't find work has since "blown up." Lately, Tubman's profile has as well, culminating in the release of "Harriet," the first movie about her, in November.

For those new to Tubman, like Briley-Strand once was, she hopes her show familiarizes them with the qualities that made Tubman capable of achieving what she did.

"She had a tenacity about her, a steel in her spine. She believed that freedom was a right. And she hated the institution of slavery, but she didn't hate the people who enslaved her," she said. "It's because of the love she had for God. She was a person who didn't just believe in God, she believed God, and there's a difference."

Harriet Tubman Weekend schedule

Friday, March 6

 Screenings of "Harriet": 1 and 7 p.m. at Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange St., Auburn. The 2019 biographical film about Tubman stars Cynthia Erivo, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her role. Actress Laureen Smith, who portrayed suffragist Martha Coffin Wright in the movie, will introduce the 7 p.m. screening. Admission free and open to the public. Call (315) 253-6669 or visit auburnpublictheater.org.

 Opening ceremony and reception: 5 p.m. at the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center, 25 South St., Auburn. With Mayor Michael Quill and Auburn City Council. Free and open to the public. Call (315) 258-9820.

 Harriet Tubman National Historical Park tours and other First Friday events: 5 to 8 p.m., downtown Auburn. Ranger Kim Szewczyk will lead tours of the park, 180 South St., Auburn. Free and open to the public. For a full list of First Friday events, see page C5 or visit facebook.com/equalrightsheritage.

 Rochester R&B and soul artist Danielle Ponder performs: 7 p.m. at Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange St., Auburn. Ponder has opened for George Clinton, Ledisi and The Roots, and also organizes and speaks for marginalized communities while working on issues like education funding, women's rights and criminal justice reform. Tickets $10. Call (315) 253-6669 or visit auburnpublictheater.org.

You decide: New Seward museum exhibit throws visitors into unsolved mystery AUBURN  Almost 160 years ago, a 9-year-old girl was left at 33 South St. in Auburn, the hom

Saturday, March 7

 Tours of "Forged in Freedom: The Bond of the Seward-Tubman Families" and meet "Harriet" actress Laureen Smith: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Seward House Museum, 33 South St., Auburn. Interactive exhibit explores connection between the families through a girl who may have been Tubman's niece. Smith will be at the museum at 11 a.m. Free and open to the public. Visit sewardhouse.org or call (315) 253-1283.

 Harriet Tubman National Historical Park tours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 180 South St., Auburn. Ranger Kim Szewczyk will lead tours. Free and open to the public. Call (315) 882-8060.

 "Honoring Harriet" vendor showcase and special program featuring Sean McLeod of the Harriet Tubman Freedom Musical Festival, the Harriet Tubman Singers with Perform 4 Purpose and guest speaker Andrea DeKoter, acting superintendent of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park: showcase at 10 a.m. and program at noon at the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center, 25 South St., Auburn. Visit facebook.com/equalrightsheritage.

 "Harriet" screenings: 3 and 7 p.m. at Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange St., Auburn. The 3 p.m. screening will be preceded by panel with Tubman descendants moderated by actress Laureen Smith. Free and open to the public. Call (315) 253-6669 or visit auburnpublictheater.org.

 Gwendolyn Briley-Strand presents "Harriet Tubman: The Chosen One": 7 p.m. at the Cayuga Museum Carriage House Theater, 203 Genesee St., Auburn. Tickets $10. Visit cayugamuseum.org or call (315) 253-8051.

'A homecoming': As acting superintendent, DeKoter overseeing Auburn's Tubman park AUBURN  Andrea DeKoter had a busy first day as acting superintendent of the Harriet Tubman 

Sunday, March 8

 Harriet Tubman National Historical Park open, with archaeological dig for children: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the park, 180 South St., Auburn. Tubman interpreter Gwendolyn Briley-Strand will be on site, and a park ranger will lead the dig. Free and open to the public. Call (315) 882-8060.

 Syracuse Gospel Music Workshop directed by Dr. Joan Hillsman presents "The Life of Harriet Tubman: A Spiritual Journey Through Music": 2 p.m. at Willard Memorial Chapel, 17 Nelson St., Auburn. A concert of several genres of gospel music, including spiritual, traditional and contemporary selections. Presented by the Harriet Tubman Boosters. Admission $10. Visit willard-chapel.org or call (315) 252-0339.

Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.

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A student was caught with drugs stored inside his bottom moments after entering a trance music festival.

Julian, 21, was at Sydney's Transmission Festival on February 8 when police noticed he was attempting to avoid drug detection dogs.

Julian, from Bexley in the city's south-east, was pulled aside by police and immediately admitted he had drugs on him.

The pills were wrapped inside of a condom that he then had to remove from his anus in order to surrender it to police (stock)

He removed 0.6grams of MDMA capsules concealed in a condom inserted in his bottom and handed them to police, according to the Wentworth Courier.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of concealing and possessing the drug.

His lawyer John Vizonne told Burwood Local Court on Tuesday it showed 'somewhat stupidity' on his client's behalf that he went to such extreme efforts for the pill.

Mr Vizonne said his client was a fourth-year university student who hoped to land a career in marketing and travel to the United States.

Julian was placed on a conditional release order for 18 months and no conviction was recorded.

Magistrate Alison Viney slammed Julian for his actions.

'It constantly amazes me that people (who) have some academic intelligence in their day to day (life) make such silly, silly mistakes,' Ms Viney said.

Julian made a statement to Daily Mail Australia through his lawyer Mr Vizzone from Vizzone, Ruggero and Twigg Lawyers.

Julian wanted to make it clear that was happened was a one-off incident.

'He has learned his lesson from the ordeal and he now wants to focus on his studies and future career and put this behind,' Mr Vizzone said.
They all rose to prominence following their appearances in the Love Island villa.

And Love Island Samira Mighty was proudly displaying her toned abs in yellow snakeskin co-ords on Thursday, as she joined co-stars Laura Anderson and Gabby Allen for the launch of Sam Bird's new single in London's Hard Rock Hotel.

The reality star, 23, looked sensational in her colourful ensemble as she joined Laura, 30, in an expletive branded t-shirt with a fuchsia pink skirt, and Gabby Allen, 26, in a fun black and orange mini dress.

Stylish: Love Island Samira Mighty was proudly displaying her toned abs in snakeskin co-ords on Thursday as she attended the launch of Sam Bird's new single in London's Hard Rock Hotel

Statement: She was joined by Laura Anderson, 30, who displayed her bronzed pins in a fuchsia pink mini skirt, while Gabby Allen, 26, (right) in an oriental-inspired dress

Samira proudly displayed her toned figure by teaming a black and yellow snakeskin crop top with matching trousers.

The reality star finished her look with black thin-strapped heels, and her dark tresses styled into a sleek ponytail.

Meanwhile Laura displayed every inch of her bronzed pins in a tiny fuchsia pink mini skirt and a black t-shirt, which was simply emblazoned with the lewd term 'F**k.'

Glamorous: Gabby put on a leggy display in a black satin mini dress with an orange oriental print, teamed with chunky black boots

Fun: Laura was reunited with her former Love Island co-star Adam Collard, and the pair were seen larking about outside the single launch

Dynamic duo: Laura and Gabby displayed their close friendship as they headed out of the launch together

Standing out: Also at the event were TOWIE star Chloe Sims and her stylish sister Demi, who channelled urban chic with their looks

Gabby also looked effortlessly chic in a black satin mini dress with an orange oriental-style print, and completed her look with black leather platform boots.

The stars came together to support their former co-star Sam, as he attempted to launch a music career with a solo single.

Also at the event were TOWIE star Chloe Sims and her stylish sister Demi, who channelled urban chic with their looks.

Hard to miss: Demi opted for a black crop top and leather shorts, with a matching black coat draped over her shoulders

Casual: Chloe sported an oversized black jacket emblazoned with the work Queen, and a racy black PVC mini dress

Party girl: Chloe added to her edgy look with narrow-framed black sunglasses as she displayed her racy PVC dress while leaving Sam's single launch

Sexy bomb: Demi displayed her amazing abs in the revealing black crop top and leather shorts as she headed out of the launch party

Cheeky: Adam couldn't hide his delight as he exited the party with both Chloe and Demi on either arm

Chloe, 37, sported an oversized black jacket emblazoned with the work Queen, and a racy black PVC mini dress.

Meanwhile Demi, 23, opted for a black crop top and leather shorts, with a matching black coat draped over her shoulders.

Fellow Love Island hunk Wes Nelson also enjoyed an evening solo without his girlfriend Arabella Chi, and opted for a white Dior hoodie and comfortable black jeans.

Relaxed: Fellow Love Island hunk Wes Nelson also enjoyed an evening solo without his girlfriend Arabella Chi
In response to increasing cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Northern Arizona University is making changes abroad and in Flagstaff, a location local experts say is not immune to the virus.

The universitys annual spring forum held Tuesday was shifted from a presentation on the status of the school to its preparedness efforts regarding the virus, presented by a panel of university leaders and partner organizations including Coconino County, Northern Arizona Healthcare and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

According to County Epidemiologist Matthew Maurer, there are no current or suspected cases of COVID-19 in Coconino County.

Like other local organizations, NAU has a task force in Flagstaff monitoring the outbreak and creating emergency plans for its Mountain Campus. Staff are working to increase cleaning efforts, refill all hand sanitizing stations and post informational materials in residence halls and around campus. Faculty have been asked to transfer class material to Blackboard, the universitys online learning system, in case classes need to be moved online.

NAU abroad

In a letter to the campus community Monday, NAU President Rita Cheng announced NAU has required all students studying abroad in China, South Korea and Italy to return to the U.S., following level 3 travel advisories from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. State Department.

A level 3 travel advisory suggests potential visitors reconsider travel. China was escalated to a level 4  do not travel  on Feb. 2.

Daniel Palm, Associate Vice President of NAUs Center for International Education (CIE), said during the forum that all eight NAU students in China had left the country by Feb. 4, transferring to other international schools or online programs. All seven students in South Korea are planning to return to the U.S. in the next few days and one student has already returned from Italy.

It is important to note that, at this point, the majority of NAU students returning to the United States from Italy, South Korea and China are not returning to Flagstaff, but choosing to either study abroad in another location or returning to their homes in other U.S. cities, Palm said. Students are being provided educational options online or during the coming summer session to assist them in staying on track to a timely completion of their NAU degree.

Only one student returning from China was required to self-quarantine upon returning to their home in the U.S. on Feb. 5, CIE officials said in an email to the Arizona Daily Sun. The student is now in good health.

Some NAU students whose international programs were suspended were given funds by their specific study abroad program for return flights to the U.S. For those who were not, NAU provided up to $500 for a change fee or new ticket. Individual programs also refunded students tuitions and fees, the email said. For programs where students pay tuition to NAU instead of to their host school, officials said students would likely not have to pay any additional educational costs to transfer to a different program.

Arizona State University and the University of Arizona have similarly suspended all university-related travel to China, South Korea and Italy. UA has also restricted travel to Iran because of an outbreak there.

As of Feb. 21, the only confirmed Arizona COVID-19 case  a male with ties to ASU who had recently traveled to Wuhan, China  had recovered and was released from isolation, ASU reported.

Palm said Tuesday the NAU team is currently evaluating NAU-sponsored spring break trips to locations including Japan, Ecuador and Costa Rica. More information on the status of summer trips is expected to be released within the next two weeks.

[Were] really doing our best to delay as long as possible to make those decisions to be considerate not only of the finances of students, but also the possibility of hopefully allowing those experiences to go forward when possible, Palm said.

Local threat

To prevent a more prevalent but similar illness to COVID-19, throughout the forum officials begged attendees to get their flu shot. They agreed the new virus does pose a threat to Flagstaff, though.

Right now, its kind of hard to set the odds, but I personally think were going to have it in Flagstaff and so we need to be ready for that, said Paul Keim, executive director of NAUs Pathogen and Microbiome Institute and Regents Professor of Biological Sciences.

Keim said stopping COVID-19 would require either the majority of the worlds population to be infected and develop an immunity or the creation of a vaccine, which he expects is still a year from being finalized.

The vaccine can become very important, but we need to slow the pandemic down in order for us to get those 12 months, 18 months, to get that vaccine developed, Keim said.

State officials expressed a similar expectation of more COVID-19 cases closer to home in a briefing Monday by Governor Doug Ducey and Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), who said more cases can be expected because the criteria for testing has been expanded by CDC. The statewide risk is still low, though.

I want to assure everyone that the public health system in Arizona is well-prepared to respond to the spread of COVID-19 in Arizona, Christ said, noting ADHS can now test up to 450 samples a day.

Current actions

CDC advises the public to take preventative actions, such as covering the nose and mouth and washing hands often, to stop the spread of germs.

During the forum, panelists advised attendees not to purchase masks unless they are sick.

A surgical mask is going to give you peace of mind, but its not going to protect you, and if you are going to go on Amazon and buy 95 masks, were going to run out, so we want to keep those for healthcare workers, said Joel Terriquez, the Medical Director for Infection Prevention at Northern Arizona Healthcare.

As the situation with the virus continues to change, Dave Engelthaler, director of TGen North, encouraged forum attendees to rely on CDC, World Health Organization and other credible sources to avoid spreading misinformation related to COVID-19.

Unlike coronavirus right now, we can vaccinate against fear, he said.

TGen has created a test that could rapidly diagnose coronavirus. Though still awaiting approval, Engelthaler said as early as the end of the week, TGen could begin assisting with community screenings and in a few weeks, it could begin to help hospitals with their testing.

NAU has set up a webpage to share information specific to COVID-19. For more information, visit nau.edu/coronavirus/ or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/.

Kaitlin Olson can be reached at the office at kolson@azdailysun.com or by phone at (928) 556-2253.

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Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi on Thursday said that the Supreme Court should issue guidelines for fast-track justice for rape victims.

"As the execution date of my daughter's rapists was postponed again and again, people began losing trust in our judicial system," Asha Devi said.

She also said that to keep the hopes on the judicial system alive, the SC should bring guidelines to help "families of rape victims get justice on time".

On advocate AP Singh seeking more time by claiming that another mercy petition of a convict, Akshay Singh Thakur, is pending before the President, Asha Devi said, "Advocate AP Singh has nothing to say in the court, hence, he speaks nonsense outside the court. He is trying to mislead people to gain sympathy."

Earlier today, a Delhi court scheduled the hanging of the four rapists for March 20 at 5:30 am. This is the fourth death warrant issued for the execution of the convicts in the matter.

By now, mercy petitions of all the convicts in the case have been rejected by the President.

The case pertains to the brutal gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student, came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' or the fearless, in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. Nirbhaya 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.)
By Trend





New large-scale investment projects are planned to be launched in Georgia, especially in the fields of energy, logistics, real estate and manufacturing that will promote increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the next several years in the country, Produce in Georgia Agency told Trend.

"We expect that in the short and medium term, perspective and existing investors will continue reinvesting in Georgia contributing to stable FDI inflow", said the representative of agency.

According to the agency, in the long-term period, priority of Georgian government is to attract quality investments in the real sectors of economy, implement investments in the high-tech fields and apply the knowledge and technologies.

The government takes active steps to attract investments in the high value-added sectors, which will contribute to the acceleration of net export-driven economic growth and reduction of external vulnerability, the agency said.

"Hence, it is important to increase not only the volume of FDI, but the share of quality, high-tech and knowledge transfer-based foreign investments in the total FDI as well", said the representatives of agency.

As the agency noted, government of Georgia actively works to raise awareness about Georgia as a great destination for companies from all around the world, whether its to enter the regional market, the European or Asian markets.

The Produce in Georgia program was created in the summer of 2014 to stimulate local production and offers two main incentives: financial resources and infrastructure (land, buildings, etc.). In April 2017, the agency of the same name was created, which combined all state programs aimed at promoting the business sector and economic development of the country.








05.03.2020 LISTEN

Chairman Nii Nortei Omaboe, Chief moderator, Mr Ade Sawyerr, Mr King Quarcoo, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure to be with you in this Hall in Balham this evening, and I am very grateful to the three named gentlemen for inviting me to share some thoughts with you today on the topic of the rights and problems associated to Ga lands and in my opinion search for what should be good Land Policies for GaDangme's in the 21st Century.

It is heartening to know that there are concerned leaders and citizens in our midst willing to come together, sit together, listen together and perhaps later on share, discuss, and look at ways in which we could all help as individuals to move our community and country forward in this regard.

Therefore the big question before us this evening then is what is the theory of rights in land, and what if any, of those rights, exist within Ga lands.

Furthermore, in order to understand the rights and problems associated with Ga lands to date, it is also necessary to examine the origins of the Ga state and its institutional failures that ensued with the introduction of the institution of private property which de-legitimized community ownership of the Ga society and subsequently deprived the inhabitants of the Ga state of their ownership and rights to their lands.

What constitutes Rights?

The discussion that follows is more on the theoretical discourse on the genealogy of rights and how the land/property rights are derived. Robert V. Andelson gives a detailed account of what are the primal rights; and starts thus:

A right is a relationship between value and obligation. It is the claim that value be respected. This claim has an objective pole and a subjective pole. The former is the demand that value be respected in things external to us. The latter is the demand made upon our total being by potentialities that lie within us. The internal potentiality for the fulfilment of a destined end rightly demands nurture and renders doubly grave obligation for a positive response towards the realization of that end

.

Andelson's definition of rights may seem to be a discourse into abstractness, but the view of this paper is that it lays a good ground for the understanding of land rights. Andelson continues to argue that a right is value's corresponding claim to external freedom to perform that function. This relationship in which respect for value finds expression is freedom and this freedom is the primal right from which others spring.

Such rights are human rights, land rights, right to freedom of expression right to the ownership of property etc. But whoever wants these rights to be attributed to them, they must accept their correlative obligations. That is they must show a willingness to abide by the regulating principle of reciprocity. For this reason, a right is a functional relationship between value and obligation. If rights are severed from their concomitant responsibility they become void.

Rights do not exist in a vacuum. They have to be contextualised within a framework or order within which they are recognised and given force. In this framework rights are indivisible and not hierarchical. Why?

Rights do not admit hierarchical arrangement, since at the bottom they are one. Neither, for the same reason, can they conflict with one another. Only freedoms which are reciprocal require for their realisation the violation of other freedoms. Where there is a conflict between apparent particularizations of reciprocal freedoms, close analysis will reveal that one or more of the competing particularizations are non-reciprocal and therefore false. The framework in which rights are contextualised is therefore very important. It must be geared to the whole human situation in order to ensure that no person is treated arbitrarily. The framework should provide a terrain or what has been called level playing ground in which all men and women are capable of standing in permanent and voluntary relations with one another by the principle of reciprocity.

From the above discourse we can say that land rights are expressed in a relationship between a person and an object of ownership, the obstruction or interference with that relationship would constitute a taking and compensation would be required for direct losses flowing from the taking. This relationship derives from the right to observance of contracts and the right to ownership of labour products. Contract in a way is a form of association.

The right to land (or property rights) is, therefore, one of the fundamental human rights. It is the right of a human being to have access to national resources, and to own land/property anywhere inGhana. But this right is justified if and to the extent that it conduces to the general welfare of society

In the contemporary world the following are some of the examples of the constitutional prescriptions that declare that property rights should be exercised with the objects of ensuring social function and rendering it accessible to all:

Germany: property imposes duties; its use should also serve the public well being

Greece: Rights deriving from (property) may not be exercised contrary to public interest.

Ireland: The exercise (of property rights) ought to be regulated in civil society.

The proposal of a Model Constitution seems quite explicit that an absolute land right or private ownership of land and natural resources is not admissible as a right. That is, these lands are extended to those who, having the freedom to the use of the land and national resources, also accept its obligations and are not apt to threaten its existence. That is exclusive tenure should indemnify those who are thereby dispossessed, e.g. through relief in taxation. As indicated earlier all rights become void if severed from their concomitant responsibilities. One of these responsibilities is to act as trustee for the rights of the unborn. This is because there is a natural and social legacy to which general posterity has an indefeasible claim. Andelson sums this claim as follows:

Nature and freedom together constitute an entailed estate, the principal of which no generation may legitimately squander. When present property is purchased at a price which will hang like a millstone around the neck of future generations, a gross betrayal of stewardship has been committed.

The argument is that land/property rights must be properly balanced with equity and basic human needs. This brings us back to the issue we raised earlier. That is, establishing the broad zone of interaction between the individual interest and public interest and reconciling the different rights.

There is nowhere in the land domain where this conflicting interaction between individual land rights and interests and public interest is more pronounced than in the area of compulsory acquisition of land and compensation for land in Accra. It is also in this domain where human rights and trusteeship are violated with impunity.

Let us now look at how this theory relates to Ga lands in its historical context.

The transformation of property rights in the Ga state.

As Firman Sellers states in her book the transformation of property rights in the Gold coast, she defines property rights as the power to limit the ability of other persons to enjoy the benefits to be secured from the use and enjoyment of material good. The enforcement of those rights gives one actor, the rights-holder, the economic profit from a given source. It also gives that actor the power to exclude all others from using that resource in any capacity. As we can all see this is in conflict with the theory of rights that has been described above that there is no hierarchy in the rights to land.

She further states that the transformation of property right redistributes both wealth and power. The process is inherently prone to conflict. Individuals and groups in society likely will mobilize to articulate a new, definition of property rights that are favourable from a distributional point of view (and so claim a privileged place in society), or defined against a change in the already favourable status quo. These people may lobby state actors directly to capture the state's coercive power and enforce their preferred property rights system. Or, they may seek to create an alternative source of authority, enforcing property rights privately or at a local level. In either case, the subjects' actions are a crucial determinant of which property rights system is enforced, and whether that system is secure. The state alone does not dictate the outcome.

The transformation of property rights is a product of the interaction between state and society. State rulers create or manipulate political institutions to pursue their own goals. Individuals in society compete within the shadow of those institutions to secure a privileged share of society's resources. Combined, the two groups' actions determine both the structure of property rights and the degree to which those rights are enforced.

The transformation of property rights to land in the Gold coast, nowGhana, vividly illustrates these theoretical propositions. Throughout the Gold Coast, the imposition of colonial rule coincided with a rapid appreciation in land values. Officials of the colonial state announced that they would uphold customary land tenure and delegated enforcement powers to the chiefs of the Colony's many traditional states. These mandates established the framework within which indigenous actors battled one another to claim the now valuable resource by redefining property rights to land.

Under colonial rule, indigenous actors fought to re-invent tradition. They struggled to articulate a distributionally favourable version of customary land tenure and enforce it within the traditional state. Their efforts in conjunction with and in response pronouncements, determined whether-and which property rights were enforced. Now to understand how these rights existed with in the Ga state we need to examine the origins of the Ga state.

The Origins of the Ga State

It is extraordinarily difficult to construct an image of the Ga state prior to colonial rule, both because the Ga have been in contact with the Europeans since the 17th century and because the traditional state structures have been profoundly changed by the institutions of indirect rule. Anthropologists believe that the Ga state was originally little more than a loose federation of independent republics, all united in military alliance. Most of these republics lie in the area now known asAccra. Each republic possessed a stool; but, in contrast to that of the neighbouring Akan states, the Ga stool was a symbol of military power, rather than a symbol of government. The stool's occupant, the Ga Mantse, served as an honorary military leader and did not exercise any real political power.

Ga land tenure likewise differed from the Akan model. The Ga are generally believed to practice patrilineal inheritance, whereas for the Akan the system is matrilineal. Moreover, all Ga Land was vested in the lineages who first occupied the land, rather than in the stools.

According to Ga customary law, each member of the lineage can claim rights of usufruct over some portion of lineage land. If that person dies or cannot use the land productively, then the land that he or she had held, along with any improvements made upon it, ordinarily reverts to the lineage. Under some conditions, however, the family member might be allowed to claim the family land as personal property that he or she can sell or deed to others.

The management and allocation of lineage land are undertaken by that lineage's principal members who are elected by all family members; and by a family head, elected by the principal members. The family head oversees the use of family lands. He or she decides who may use which tract of land, how the proceeds from the land will be distributed amongst family members, and how the land can be developed. The family head also decides when family member can claim private rights to family land, and when family land can be sold to non-members.

The imposition of colonial rule altered the institutions of the traditional state. In so doing, colonialism shaped the strategies that indigenous actors would adopt in their battle to claim economic and political resources. The passage of the Native Jurisdiction Ordinance in 1878 transformed the loose federation of Ga republics into a rigid hierarchy. The NJO divided the independent republics into 10 divisions; two divisions were further divided into a number of quarters, the divisions in Accra was known as Ga Mashie and outside Accra were known as leeward Ga.

Equally important, the NJO elevated the office of mantse, giving its occupant full authority over all other traditional offices. Each division was thus governed by a mantse, and the state as a whole was governed by the Ga Mantse, the paramount chief. With later ordinances, the individual mantsemei were empowered to forge state councils and native tribunals through which they issued statements of customary law and arbitrated local disputes.

These political changes were paralleled by extensive economic change. The Ga state encompassedAccra, a thriving urban centre. In conjunction with the Native Jurisdiction Ordinance, the British designatedAccrathe administrative capital of the Gold coast colony. The British decision caused the value of Ga land to increase. Ga land had long been valued as a site for commercial trade and some farming; but now, the land acquired additional value as the site for government buildings, residential construction and increased levels of the commercial (and later industrial) enterprise.

The commercialisation of Ga lands provoked an intense battle among indigenous actors to claim more exclusive rights to the land. Whoever secured such rights would garner considerable economic wealth: the rights-holder would receive the compensation payments made by colonial officials when the colonial government appropriated Ga land; and the rights holder would receive the profits from the private investment he or she made on surrounding land.

Colonial institutions propelled the battle to appropriate this new wealth into the traditional state. Ga residents  both elite and non elite sought to secure a favourable share of that wealth by re-inventing customary land tenure. Throughout the period of colonial rule, different groups would argue simultaneously that customary law invested ownership of all Ga lands in private individuals, extended families, divisional stools and paramount stool.

Ga residents sought to enforce their claims by reinventing the institutions of the traditional state. The Native Jurisdiction Ordinance transformed traditional institutions into repositories of political power. Whoever gained control over those institutions would be in a position to enforce his preferred version of customary land tenure.

The changes wrought by colonial rule ignited a prolonged battle to control the definition of tradition in the Ga state. The fluid situation we have over Ga lands inAccranow is as a direct result of these changes.

The Ga elite's effort to enforce a family cantered definition of customary land tenure disinherited both the Ga chiefs and a substantial portion of the Ga citizenry. In 1921, representatives of this disadvantaged group (called Manbii) mobilized to articulate a different, more distributionally favourable definition of customary law. They failed in their efforts.

The descendants of the Reindorf family were prominent members of the Gold Coast elite. Family members aggressively pursued new economic opportunities and embraced the external trappings of western society, yet they maintained close and active ties to the traditional state from which they descended.

The Reindorf family's response to the commercialization of land in the Ga state reflects the incentive structure created by the institutions of indirect rule. Given the British determination to uphold traditional institutions, and given the Africans' fear that Europeans would purchase all land were it offered for sale, the Ga elites could not demand the privatization of land. Instead, the Ga elites sought to strengthen their rights over land (and thus further their economic pursuits) by reinventing tradition.

First, the members of the Reindorf family defended a version of customary law that vested all land in the extended family, rather than in the divisional or paramount stools. Second, the family members manipulated the family history so as to narrow the boundaries of the extended family and reduce the number of claimants to family land. Third, the Reindorfs struggled to enforce their preferred version of custom by re-inventing the institutions of the traditional state. They sought to gain control of over the Ga mantse, or paramount chief, because the Mantse had the authority to arbitrate all land disputes brought before the Ga Native Tribunal.

It is estimated that millions of hectares representing a substantial part of Ga lands were expropriated in freeholds by the Ga elite through their political power and wealth during the colonial period. In consequence men, women and children of the Ga mashie area of the Ga state were at independence technically landless.

The collapse of indirect rule and the transition to independent government altered the framework within which property rights were enforced.

In recent times land acquisition is governed by State lands act and according to the state lands act 1962 (act 125), any land  stool, family, private may be compulsorily acquired where the government considers it in the public interest. An executive instrument must be published specifying the site, land dimensions, and time of acquisition. The act is specifically aimed at extinguishing all prior interests and encumbrances on the land. Once applied, the only right remaining to previous holders is lump-sum compensation currently determined and processed by the land valuation board. Conflicts over claims of interest or disagreements over the level of compensation are to be taken to the state lands tribunal, whose decisions are appealable to the Court of Appeal.

In addition to the state lands act, section 7 of the administration of lands act, 1962, provides a facility by which the administration and management of stool land may be vested in the state in trust for the stool concerned. Looks good on paper but we all know that is not the practice especially inAccraover Ga lands. While conveyance of freehold title is permitted in the case of private land or freehold, there is some confusion over the transfer of family land. The Koforidua lands secretariat presently treats transfers of family lands as stool lands requiring a lease and concurrence as technically, under the existing constitution; private transfer of family land is illegal. The regional lands secretary in Koforidua mused that further court cases are likely to occur as a result of this confusion, with individuals desiring title to family lands suing the government. The body of law that governs land rights, land markets, lease terms, rental prices, compulsory land acquisitions for the public domain, and land registration relevant to the Accra peri-urban economy is in its own right impressive, yet not without weaknesses. Ambiguity over whether family lands are or are not to be treated along with stool lands under the general rules governing customary tenure are creating uncertainties regarding which rights are held, and which government provisions apply.

Based on further reconnaissance visits throughout the peri-urban area of Accra in 1993 and 1994, four contextual situations were observed that reflect varying degrees of tenure security or conflict associated with land access and transfers:

T1 Type I. Land transactions under customary tenure occur expeditiously and generally without serious disputes over land among households within the community. Communities widely disseminate the proceeds of land sales to residents through cash transfers, land allocations, or community improvements.

T2 Type II. Proceeds from land sales are not widely distributed to residents, but rather benefit the chief or other influential families in the community.

T3 Type III. Customary tenure systems exhibit conflict or stress; serious disputes are present or at risk between neighbouring or competing stools or families.

T4 Type IV. The central government through compulsory acquisition acquires stool or family land and allocates land to outsiders at subsidised prices. Rates of compensation negotiated between the government and the community, however, are subsequently not paid by the government causing resentment and welfare loss in the concerned community. Serious disputes arise between local authorities and central government.

T5 Type V. Community lands are registered, and the government plays a positive role in protecting the land rights of its citizens.

Four research sites have selected that exhibit to greater or less degrees one or more characteristic of the above typologies:

1 Gbawe and Amasaman (T1, T3, and T5). Gbawe village, located roughly 9 miles from Accra, represents the customary land tenure system at its best. Once a small village, it has now been entirely engulfed by the wave of residential settlement moving outward fromAccracity. Village lands have been sold by the chief to outsiders investing in residential improvements. But unlike some chiefs inAccracity, the traditional authority has been using the earnest or drink money obtained in land transactions to make infrastructural improvements in the area and to help Gbawe residents. Amasaman is a medium-sized village located on the Accra-Nsawam road about 14 miles from Accra city and 7 miles north of Gbawe. Residential developments are emerging in the area, but the village is also a site of commercial pineapple production. Both sites in the Greater Accra region.

2 Ofankor (T2 and T4). ThevillageofOfankoris a site where the government has acquired a substantial portion of the village landholdings through administrative edict and allocates land for residential development. Ofankor is located just west of Nsawam/Kumasi road north of Accra.

3 Ashongman (t1, T4, and T5). In the Atomic Energy residential area, a tacit dispute has arisen between the government and a chief over the right to allocate residential land. These two areas are adjacent to each other in the northern suburbs ofAccra.

Gbawe, in the far western suburbs of Accra, and Amasaman are located nearest to the urbanAccracentre. Gbawe has already been entirely engulfed by the residential influx. Ashongman and Ofankor, both near Gbawe are suffering duress, the former from a poorly functioning customary land market, and the latter from state intervention in the control of land assets.

54 years on from independence, land sales in the peri-urban area of Accra; represent an important source of revenue for the community. Many millions of cedis are earned in some years depending on the number of plots sold. While constitutional provisions stipulate that a fixed percentage of ground rent collections are to be returned to the stool, no funds have been paid to the stool for some years now. The stool has asked for the funds on various occasions but has been informed that no money is available. Gbawe's residents are unhappy with this, but communities generally feel helpless in challenging government.

Way forward

It is widely acknowledged amongst our cultural Diaspora that, while the land is of vital concern to almost everyone, it is also a highly sensitive subject and therefore, best left well alone by all but the most daring or, some would say the foolhardy. I think perhaps, now is the time to think in terms of a Citizens' Constitutional Forum for tackling difficult issues like this in the interest of public education both for the actual and potential landlessness in the Ga traditional areas.

Land is a highly politicised in the way it is treated in the national debate, but it is too important a subject to just be left to the politicians. This is not to say that we should take it out of politics altogether because, at the end of the day, it is the politicians who have to decide on land policies, and after a long hard look, look at whether we should in fact run a workshop on land, I believe it is now time to take the bull by the horns and do so.

Time is of the utmost urgency, and we have set the discussion on this agenda this particular weekend. We should plan the workshop in such a way that it will include Ga chiefs and leaders, Ga members of parliament, Ga academics and most important of all Ga landowners, tenants, growers and agricultural workers and members of the business community (including private housing developers). We should also consider the implications of land policy for the tourist industry.

A well known American once said, The life of the Nation is Secure only while the nation is Honest, Truthful and Virtuous. I believe that this quotation applies as much to the land issue as it does to other issues of public policy, probably more so. We need to be honest with each other and with the nation if we are to develop sensible and sustainable land policies that add to the prosperity of the nation.

The land issue is fraught with serious stumbling blocks, which we must overcome in order to reach a solution for future generations. Firstly, we need to recognise that land is a divisive issue not only between communities but among indigenous Ga's also. The distribution of productive land amongst indigenous Ga's is uneven, and changing circumstances have placed significant pressure on those families that lack sufficient land to sustain a livelihood.

Secondly, we need to tackle the chronic lack of foresight and political will that undermine effective resolution of looming land problems. Absence of forward planning and consensus in the case of expiring leases is also a problem.

Land is an emotionally charged issue whose air of mystique acts as an impediment to rational discussion. While it would be naive to think that you could take politics out of the land issue, politicians have been all too ready to perpetuate the prejudices of their constituencies, rather than articulate a clear vision that would take the nation forward as a whole.

Maybe we need as Gadangmes, to form a Ga Native Land Trust Board through which all land and land sales have to be registered.

The other major players will be the Chiefs. Their collective leadership will be critical in providing the impetus for goodwill and understanding that must necessarily accompany major changes to land policy. We must remind them that those who desire to rule, says Aristotle, must first submit to be ruled. The chiefs, too must submit themselves to discipline

We need to address a resettlement programme with more vigour and compassion. The unabated and haphazard expansion of squatter settlements in peri-urbanAccrawill, if not managed properly, inevitably lead to social tensions. It is no coincidence that this urban drift has accelerated at a time when infrastructure development in rural areas has been given low priority, and rural dwellers, particularly the young, have opted for education and employment opportunities in the larger centres.

Having looked at some of the dimensions of the current debate, I would like to suggest a few ideas of my own, not as radical as Ade will have you believe but as a way forward to formulating sensible policies on land.

1 If we must accept that we cannot remove politics and tribe from the debate, let us at least resolve to treat each other with a reasonable level of civility and goodwill. This should begin in my view with parliament which is responsible for setting the tone for the national debate, and which should therefore encourage thoughtful consideration of the issues at hand.

2 The constitution must be amended so that we are compelled to reach a consensus by a two thirds majority on Land issues. A bipartisan approach therefore becomes necessary.

3 Any changes to land policy should be fair and equitable to landowners and tenants alike and must take into account the broader national interest over the medium to long term

4 Rather than expect a quick fix we need to address fundamental questions of land ownership and administration and do so within the overall objective of realising the productive potential of the land.

5 Every stakeholder is entitled to a voice in the process of consultation and negotiation, particularly landowners, tenants and Chiefs (council of chiefs).

6 Landowners must be in a position to make informed choices about the future development of land, based on sound and objective advice.

7 Policymakers need to determine and promote a national strategy for the revival of the rural sector. We need to take a significant leap forward in sustainable commercial production accompanied by necessary developments in infrastructure.

8 Last but not least NATIONALIZATION OF ALL GHANA LANDS

By that I mean the abolition of freehold tenure is called for (i.e. the fee simple estate and the absolute proprietorship estate). This does not mean the abolition of individual tenure or ascertainable rights of access in land. Nor does it entail the nationalization of land as such (which would mean a communist type of ownership).

Since the freehold estates now existing in Accra are unlimited in scope and duration in favour of an individual proprietor, their abolition would mean the freeing of land from the shackles of both individual and chieftaincy caprice and pave the way for a dynamic redistribution of land in the future. Freehold title could then be replaced by a well-worked out system of leasehold title. This system will vest the government with greater control over all land inGhana. It would allow the government through the instrumentality of law to suppress the quantum of interests in land (reduce the size of individual landholding) in favour of the redistributive and re-allocation needs of society. The structure of and normative content of this framework of land ownership is a matter suited for a more detailed and researched study.

Conclusion

Land is definitely life, more so in a third world country like ours. Any policies that would lead to the ejection of man from his source of life into a world of uncertainty and homelessness are intrinsically flawed and inherently dangerous. Ghana has followed some such policies. Land tenure reform in the direction of guaranteeing more universal access to land is, therefore, called for.
Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her plan for everything and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, days after the onetime front-runner failed to win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

Washington: Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her plan for everything and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, days after the onetime front-runner failed to win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

For much of the past year, her campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. But once voting began in February, she never found a reliable base of supporters as Democrats coalesced around Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, her progressive rival, and former vice president Joe Biden, who established himself as the leading centrist in the race.

I refuse to let disappointment blind me  or you  to what weve accomplished, Warren told her campaign staff on a call Thursday. We didnt reach our goal, but what we have done together  what you have done  has made a lasting difference. Its not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters.

Warrens exit leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. That is a frustrating twist for a party that once boasted the most diverse presidential field in history and harnessed the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, in 2018.

Despite Warrens disappointing finish, she offers the potential of a coveted endorsement to Sanders and Biden, who are effectively the last candidates in the Democratic contest. She spoke with both men on Wednesday, according to their campaigns. She hasnt made a decision and is assessing who would best uphold her agenda, according to a person familiar with her deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

In an interview after Warrens departure was announced, Toni Van Pelt, the president of the National Organization for Women, urged her not to back Sanders.

She has a lot of leverage right now. We do trust her to make the right decisions on how to proceed. But wed like her not to rush into this, Van Pelt said. We think that our constituents, our members, will not necessarily think of Sanders as the best choice. We wouldnt have the Violence Against Women Act if it wasnt for Bidens leadership. So, we know that hes performed. Sanders doesnt have a record. Hes really, as far as we know, done next to nothing for women and for our issues and for the things that are our priorities.

Warrens campaign began with enormous promise. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattans Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

She had a compelling message, calling for structural change to the American political system to reorder the nations economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2% wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than $50 million that prompted chants of Two cents! Two cents! at rallies across the country.

Warren hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, werent ambitious enough to roll back President Donald Trumps policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling. And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the US House in 2018.

But there was also tumult, notably after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry. Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didnt stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as Pocahontas.

Warren couldnt consolidate the support of the Democratic Partys most liberal wing against Sanders.

Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a Medicare for All program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the Green New Deal while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Warrens poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates in which she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if shed have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All. Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that shed work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years. In the meantime, she said, many Americans could choose to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House. After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldnt win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

Warren got a foil for all of her opposition to powerful billionaires when former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg entered the race. During a debate in Las Vegas just before Nevadas caucus, Warren hammered Bloomberg, and the ex-mayors lackluster response touched off events that ended with him leaving the race on Wednesday.

For Warren, that led to a sharp rise in fundraising but didnt translate to electoral success. She tried to stress her ability to unite the fractured Democratic party, but that message fell flat.

By South Carolina, an outside political group began pouring more than $11 million into TV advertising on Warrens behalf, forcing her to say that, although she rejected super PACs, shed accept their help as long as other candidates did. Her campaign shifted strategy again, saying it was betting on a contested convention.

Still the longer Warren stayed in the race, the more questions she faced about why she was doing so with little hope of winning  and she started to sound like a candidate who was slowly coming to terms with that.

Im not somebody who has been looking at myself in the mirror since I was 12 years old saying, You should run for president, Warren said aboard her campaign bus on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. I started running for office later than anyone who is in this, so it was never about the office  it was about what we could do to repair our economy, what we could do to mend a democracy thats being pulled apart. Thats what I want to see happen, and I just want to see it happen.
The men promised a life abroad.

They demanded -- and got -- tens of thousands of dollars in dowry.

Then they left, abandoning their wives, and sometimes children, in India, as they settled in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

But now those wives are fighting back.

In a pink-walled room of a government office in Punjab they spend their days cancelling the passports of runaway husbands.

They've created what the regional passport chief describes as a 'terror' in several foreign countries.

All photographs: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

Women, who claim to have been abandoned by their NRI husbands, take part in a protest outside the regional passport office in Jalandhar. It all began when several women started approaching regional passport chief in Chandigarh, Sibash Kabiraj, with their pleas for help. Kabiraj knew that passports of men who've misled their wives can be suspended or cancelled, though it requires a lot of paperwork. So he explained passport law to the women, gave them a room with a computer, printer and fax machine, and told them if they would do the paperwork, he would sign it. In the past year-and-a-half, the women have managed to suspend more than 400 passports and revoke 67 others, says Kabiraj.

Amritpal Kaur, left, looks at Reena Mehla, right, while she cries remembering her husband, who she says abandoned her and left for the US after a few years of marriage. Kaur and Mehla work together at a desk in the regional passport office in Chandigarh. Mehla knows shes defying traditions back home, where married women dont leave the house without male relatives or have a separate identity. "Even our soul is not allowed, because a husband is everything. A husband is like God," she says.

Satwinder Kaur, whose husband abandoned her in 2015 and settled in Poland, speaks on the phone as she sits with her family in the courtyard of her house in the village of Toosa, south of Ludhiana. Kaur says her neighbours and even relatives call her banj, or 'rotten womb'. "In my own house, I was called that," she said.

Satwinder speaks to a woman who visited her to ask for advice on a personal issue. Every day, women with husband problems pile into Satwinder Kaur's family courtyard in a village surrounded by mustard fields.

Satwinder reacts during a court hearing after a judge postponed the trial, as her in-laws got a stay order over the warrant of possession of the house, in the lower court at Jagraon. She has filed 11 court cases against her husband.

Sarbjeet Kaur sews a garment at her house in Gurdaspur. In 2015, her husband Daler Singh who is in Canada asked for divorce. Daler went abroad when Sarbjeet was pregnant with her daughter. She sold her jewellery, borrowed money from her parents and pawned her cousins'. aunts' and friends' jewellery too to help him go to the US and then Canada. Initially, he did send some money back, but only for his parents. He also stopped sending the school fees of their daughter in 2016. Sarbjeet had to sell her furniture so that her daughter could finish a term at the school before she moved her to a new, cheaper one. Next year, she sold the gold earrings her parents had given to her daughter again, for her school fees. These days, Sarbjeet stitches salwar kameez and simple dresses on a pedal-operated machine beside her bed to earn money.

Sarbjeet Kaur's mother gives money to pay for her daughter Ekampreet's school fees at their house in Mukerian, Punjab.

Ekampreet, 10, laughs with her mother Sarbjeet at their house in Gurdaspur. Kaur and her daughter live at their in-laws house after the court granted permission for them to stay there.

Baljit Kaur, 43, who is a policewoman, sits next to her mother on a bed on the verandah at her mother's house in the village Khara, Punjab. Baljit married at the age of 39 in 2014 and her in-laws demanded a huge dowry. She also gave cash to her husband, who went to the US a month after the marriage. He even asked for money from there but Baljit refused and they've been locked in the legal battle ever since. "We are like dead bodies walking. We have no place in society. We cannot live and we cannot even die," said Baljit, an assistant sub inspector in the Punjab police. Kaur's mother passed away last year.

Palwinder Kaur, left, and Satwinder Kaur, right, speak to a woman who says she has been abandoned by her husband, in the village of Toosa.

Manjit Singh, the station house officer at the NRI police Station, and Sarabjeet wait for a victim who had come to lodge a complaint against her NRI husband, in Gurdaspur.

Neelam, a woman abandoned by her NRI husband, reacts during a protest in Jalandhar.

Abandoned women protest in Jalandhar. In all, more than 5,000 women have filed abandonment complaints with the ministry of external affairs.
VH1s Love & Hip Hop has tapped a new person to host their reunion specials and they are no stranger to reality television. The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Celebrity Apprentice alumna Claudia Jordan is reportedly set to be the new reunions host.

Claudia Jordan | Leon Bennett / Getty Images

Heres where you may recognize Claudia Jordan from

Jordan, a former beauty queen who won Miss Rhode Island USA, appeared in several small roles in television and film before she landed a role as a model on The Price Is Right and later on Deal or No Deal.

In 2009, she was cast in the second season of Celebrity Apprentice. After her appearance on the competition series, she co-hosted the Miss Universe pageant that same year. She later returned to the franchise in 2013 for Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars. Jordan would go on to become a well-known radio host.

In 2014, she was cast as a new housewive on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She only remained on the show for one season. Shortly after her stint on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, she starred in the short-lived TV One reality series, The Next :15.

She is reportedly taking the hosting reins from Nina Parker

Page Six is reporting that Jordan will begin hosting the Love & Hip Hop reunion specials. The specials air after the conclusion of the regular season and are often presented in two hour-long parts.

Apparently, Jordan is currently in Atlanta taping the reunion special for Love & Hip Hop: Miami, which is being recorded at Tyler Perry Studios.

She posted on Instagram that she was at Tyler Perry Studios but did not disclose why. When a fan asked her if she was there to host the reunion, she remained coy on the subject.

Jordan also hosts Out Loud with Claudia Jordan on the all-new streaming service, Fox Soul.

Nina Parker, the prior host for the reunions, is a reporter, correspondent and anchor for E! News. She is the co-host of E!s Nightly Pop and an E! News correspondent who appears on E!s Daily Pop, E! News, Live From E! on Facebook, and E! Live from the Red Carpet.

Love & Hip Hop: Miami and Love & Hip Hop: New York are currently on the air. Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta returns to VH1 soon.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Double Wing Brewing Co. and Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. were honored in the New York International Beer Competition.

Double Wing of Madison was named Ohio Brewery of the Year while Thirsty Dog was tabbed Ale Brewery of the Year.

Double Wing also won a prestigious double gold, one of only three awarded. Judges lauded the brewery's Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout category. To earn a double gold, judges must be unanimous in their opinion.

More than 600 beers were submitted to the competition, which was held in February. It is a trade-buyer-only judging panel that takes into consideration style, taste and price.

In the Irish-Style Red Ale, $10 and less category, Thirsty Dog won gold for its Irish Setter Red. Rail Dog won silver in the Kellerbier/Zwickelbier, $10 and less category. The brewery also took home a pair of bronze medals, with Labrador Lager in the Dortmunder/Export or German-Style Oktoberfest, $10 or less category, and 12 Dogs of Christmas in the Herb and Spice Beer, $11 to $15 group.

Double Wing's Bourbon Barrel Aged Peanut Butter Coffee Blond Ale took home a bronze in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer, $11 to $15 category.

Other Ohio breweries earning honors:

 Twin Oast Brewing Co. of Port Clinton - Ohio German-Style Brewery of the Year.

 Municipal Brew Works - Barley Wine Brewery of the Year.

 Moerlien Lager House - Cincinnati Brewery of the Year.

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A British lorry driver has been arrested in Morocco after trying to smuggle 100,000 face masks worth 2.6 million out of the country, reports suggest.

The trucker was held in the Port of Tanger Med, a cargo port located about 25 miles east of the Moroccan city of Tangier, according to local reports.

The unnamed driver was planning to take the face masks back to the UK so he could sell them for 30 euros, or 26, each following shortages and price hikes caused by coronavirus fears, local media reports.

He was yesterday arrested by customs officers, website le360.ma stated, and is currently believed to be in police custody, although there has been no official comment from the authorities.



On Monday, a Moroccan man living in Italy who is currently at a hospital in Casablanca became the first case of coronavirus in the country.

Investigations are underway at several hospitals across Spain following the theft of thousands of face masks after price hikes and shortages caused by the deadly outbreak.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
One of the most important aspects of YouTube is its recommendation engine, as the vast majority of views and watch time come from suggested content, rather than direct traffic. The platform does a good job of determining which videos would be relevant to a given user, but when it comes to news and fact-based videos, conspiracy theory content can find its way in. As of January of 2019 -- and after facing public backlash -- YouTube promised to curb the amount of conspiracy videos it pushes to users. A study published by the University of California, Berkeley states that these efforts do seem to be working, and that their analyses show a 40% reduction in the likelihood of YouTube suggesting conspiracy-based content.

The team trained its computers by having them analyze hundreds of conspiracy and non-conspiracy videos, helping them "learn" how to differentiate between the two. Once they were trained, the computers analyzed eight million recommended videos over the course of one year. Unfortunately, they were unable to classify the videos by actually watching them -- instead they used transcripts, metadata (titles, descriptions and tags), the top 200 comments of each video and the perceived intent of those comments. Depending on the contents of each of these sources, the videos would be classified as either conspiratorial or not.

The researchers considered conspiracy theory videos as those which cover secret plots by those in power, ideas that are contrary to scientific consensus and views that are not backed by evidence or are unfalsifiable. These include both harmful conspiracies like those that state that mourning Sandy Hook family members are actually "crisis actors," as well as the relatively innocuous ones, such as the assertion that the Mothman caused the collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

The results show that there has been a dramatic reduction in the amount of conspiracy theory videos that YouTube serves to its users. However, the study did not use an actual user account during the analysis. Rather, all content was viewed in a "logged out" state. This may have had a major impact on results, as watch history is an important factor in how YouTube determines which videos to suggest to a logged-in user.

Diving into the content of the videos shows that YouTube may be selective in which conspiratorial subjects it suppresses. The rate at which climate change denial videos are being suggested hasn't changed much, while the aforementioned Sandy Hook videos have been noticeably reduced. While leaving the judgement over what constitutes a harmful conspiracy to YouTube's employees could be a problem, one could argue that suppressing conspiracy theory videos across the board could also be an issue. Non-harmful conspiracies can be fun -- the strange antics of Andrew W.K. come to mind -- and, after all, several conspiracy theories, such as MKUltra and Project Sunshine, turned out to be true.

On a broader level, these conspiracy theory videos are a problem because YouTube is becoming an increasingly popular source for news and facts -- the platform has two billion active users every month -- as well as its monopoly on the longform social video market. As such an active platform, bad actors are more frequently leveraging YouTube as a forum for social engineering, disinformation and misinformation.
By Jan Wolfe and Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday issued an unusual statement criticizing what he called 'dangerous' comments made by top U.S. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer about two conservative Supreme Court justices appointed by President Donald Trump

By Jan Wolfe and Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday issued an unusual statement criticizing what he called "dangerous" comments made by top U.S. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer about two conservative Supreme Court justices appointed by President Donald Trump.

Schumer had earlier in the day assailed justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, saying they "won't know what hit" them if they rule in favour of abortion restrictions.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts said in a statement.

Roberts has previously criticized Trump for his negative comments toward judges who have ruled against his administration.

Schumer's remarks, made during an abortion rights rally held while the nine-member court heard arguments in a major abortion case from Louisiana, were criticized by conservative allies of Trump.

In his speech, Schumer noted that this was the Supreme Court's first major abortion case since Trump appointed Kavanaugh in 2018 and Gorsuch in 2017. The crowd jeered when Schumer mentioned the names of the two conservative justices.

Republican-led state legislatures are "waging a war on women," Schumer said, by passing restrictive abortion laws.

"I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh - you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions," Schumer told the cheering crowd.

Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said by email the senator was referring to the "political price" Republicans will pay for putting Kavanaugh and Gorsuch on the court and "warning that the justices will unleash (a) major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision."

Democrats have criticized Trump's frequent attacks on the U.S. judiciary and individual judges including the one who presided over the trial of his longtime adviser Roger Stone.

Trump on Feb. 25 turned his ire on liberal Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, calling for them to recuse themselves from any cases involving him or his administration.

Roberts did not issue a statement on that occasion.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham and Cynthia Osterman)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Inspectors observed one employee chewing over a open food container while stirring the contents and one employee mixing food without a hair restraint at a Houston restaurant last week, according to health inspection records.

At a second Houston restaurant, inspectors observed employees at a sushi area preparing food with their bare hands, the records show.
PHOENIX  Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally has introduced long-promised legislation aimed at reducing drug prices, particularly for seniors on Medicare, as she ramps up a tough election campaign in which health care is likely to figure prominently.

McSallys bill, introduced late Tuesday, opens the door to allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices for some drugs, which Republicans have long resisted. But Democrats say it falls far short of delivering the sort of drug price relief that Americans need.

McSally told reporters Wednesday that her willingness to accept some level of price negotiation is a little edgy and somewhat controversial among Republicans, but Im not interested in us sitting and staring at each other and knowing what we disagree on.

McSallys bill would end a prohibition on Medicare negotiating drug prices, but only after a drugs original patent has expired. She says that would maintain the financial incentives for pharmaceutical companies to take expensive bets on drug research.

Her bill also would cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $3,100 a year and allow people to buy drugs from Canada in some circumstances. It seeks to curb the ability of drug companies to extend patents with minor tweaks to the drug in order to forestall generic competition.

McSally said her bill is based on the art of the possible and seeks to advance ideas she believes can garner enough support to pass, though no other lawmakers had signed on to her proposal.

She acknowledged that her legislation doesnt address the launch prices for drugs.

Democrats have blasted McSally for her repeated votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and have made no secret of their plans to lean heavily on the issue in the election. Shes likely to face Democrat Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut who is married to former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt.

Honest Arizona, an anonymously funded political nonprofit that is attacking McSallys health care record, said her proposal gives too much power to drug companies.

Instead of backing a real bipartisan solution, Martha McSally wrote a bill for political cover that strengthens those corporations power over Arizonans, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Phoenix Democrat and board member for the organization, said in a statement.

The McSally legislation joins a variety of proposals in Congress aimed at reducing drug costs. Democrats are pushing for a House-passed measure that has a $2,000 cap on drug costs for seniors on Medicare and imposes more aggressive controls on drug prices.

Kelly has supported the Democratic drug-pricing legislation, which has not advanced in the Republican-led Senate.

___

This story has corrected the description of Honest Arizona to a political nonprofit.
A former West Australian police officer has appeared in court accused of drugging and raping a number of women he met through online dating sites.

The 50-year-old Kelmscott man was arrested at his current workplace and charged with more than 100 offences against eight women on Wednesday, ranging from stupefying in order to commit indictable offence and aggravated indecent and common assault, to aggravated sexual coercion and aggravated assault causing bodily harm.

The charges also include 32 counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent and 34 counts of sexual penetration without consent.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fronted court on Thursday in a high-vis shirt and spoke only to acknowledge each charge before being remanded in custody to appear at a later date.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ledzokuku, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye believes Ghana is well prepared to deal with a possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID 19).

Ghana served as the Command Centre for medical response to Ebola in the sub-region with officials at the time indicating that the country recorded no case.

Contributing to deliberations on the disease in Parliament on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, Dr. Okoe Boye said because Ghana handled Ebola between 2014 and 2016, the country is equally poised to avert the spread of Coronavirus.

He disclosed that Ghana actually recorded and treated an Ebola case at the height of the epidemic in West Africa that claimed many lives across the globe.

Dr. Okoe Boye, therefore, allayed the fears of Ghanaians insisting that the countrys preparation mechanisms are proof that Ghanas susceptibility to a Covid 19 outbreak is minimal.

This country treated Ebola when a case was presented at the Emergency Unit of Tema General Hospital. So I have to tell you that my colleagues who received training just like how doctors are now receiving training for Coronavirus were able to handle this case in such a way that, not even one person got infected although we sadly lost the patient. But we pride ourselves in the fact that because of the preventive measures, nobody contracted the disease. Mr. Speaker, any country that was ready to handle the Ebola case can handle Coronavirus.

The Ministry of Health is set to receive an additional GHS11 million to help it prepare and contain an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, should it surface in the country.

Sector Minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu made this known when he briefed the media on the state of the country's preparedness on Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

According to him, the Ministry is still in talks with the Finance Ministry on getting more resources at its disposal.

We had an initial budget of GHS35 million, got seed money of GHS 2.8 million and we have an indication of an additional GHS11 million. Aside from these two tranches, the Finance Minister has met with Bank of Ghana where we also met with them to discuss a comprehensive budget with the view of trying to get more resources to put at our disposal towards this fight, said the Minister.

The Minister of Health has also said the government is setting up a 100-bed capacity facility in a remote area to serve as a centre for quarantining persons with suspected coronavirus infection.

According to him, the facility will be ready in two weeks' time.

He further outlined other new measures the government has put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus into the country.

For surveillance, we have inducted and circulated Covid-19 case definitions to regional and lower levels. We have also adopted a Cobid-19 investigation form which is currently in use. The national rapid response team has been activated. The national-level training for rapid response teams and local health workers on severe respiratory illnesses has been done. Training of regional and district rapid response teams has been planned for execution.

The Ministry of Health is set to receive an additional GHS11 million to help it prepare and contain an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, should it surface in the country.

Already, President Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed his satisfaction with the measures Government has put in place to deal with the threat of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

citinewsroom
Leticia Hidalgo smears her face with sunscreen and walks steadily across the weedy wasteland she has come to know as one of Mexico's killing fields.

Frustrated with a lack of response from authorities, retired school teacher Hidalgo has taken a years-long quest for her missing son into her own hands, learning to use a drone to search for traces of his body.

Mexico has been overwhelmed by an escalation of narco violence that has left more than 60,000 people missing since 2006.

Hidalgo's son Roy is one of them, and she believes he could well be here, somewhere beneath the scrubland at her feet, in what she calls a likely "place of extermination." Roy Rivera was kidnapped the morning of January 11, 2011, by armed men who came to the family home in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon.

Some of them wore police uniforms. He and his brother tried to fend off the men with a knife while Hidalgo called for help from a balcony.

She sees that moment as the end of her innocence.

Now this courageous 57-year-old has turned into an amateur detective, armed with a drone and a burning passion to find her son's remains.

"We are going to first fly the drone to find points of interest," she says to the man beside her, a special prosecutor for missing persons, Eduardo Saucedo. Police officers stand in the background, supervising the search of the four-hectare area of land at Salinas Victoria municipality.

At 57, Hidalgo has become an expert in drone flying, because she has had to.

Her plan here is to create an "orthomosaic map"-- a photo representation of the area that provides detailed information and helps identify variations in the surface, such as discolorations, depressions or small hills, which could indicate the presence of a body.

She and Angelica Orozco, a volunteer from the United Forces for Our Disappeared organization in Nuevo Leon, will later be able to compare information from the drone with Google images to gauge recent activity at the site.

Rivera, who was studying philosophy and literature, was about to turn 19 when he was kidnapped. Hidalgo describes him as a "a shy but affectionate" young man.

Before paying the ransom, Hidalgo managed to talk to her son on his cellphone, then use its GPS signal to track the phone on her computer.

But one day, Roy's signal went out. Fearing the worst, she decided to learn other sleuthing techniques, this time how to look for signs of shallow graves.

She learned how to drive metal rods into the ground, pull them up and smell the hole in the earth to try to detect decaying corpses buried below.

She even contacted a treasure hunter to teach her how to detect metals.

"Sometimes we also find cartridges" of bullets, she said.

In the end she teamed up with other victims' relatives to buy the drone.

In an initial review of more than 200 images taken by the drone, they discover some new clues.

"Here you see a path that leads to a clearing," Hidalgo says, pointing to one of the images on her laptop screen.

"This white area here might be rocks, but it is rare to see them in clusters," said Hidalgo, who sighs from time to time as she looks at the photos.

Thousands of calcified body parts have been discovered on the site in past searches, but this is the first time they have used a drone to look for clues as to what might lie under the surface.

Hidalgo says this "was probably a place of extermination." "The hundreds of thousands of body parts they have found here, have been on the surface," she said.

Thanks to the drone, the anthropologists will now "have a broader, sharper aerial vision... it is not necessary to spend hours, man, getting sunstroke by walking around." Saucedo says there is evidence that kidnap gangs had killed their victims and disposed of their bodies here. They incinerated their corpses and scattered their remains or buried them in shallow graves, anything to complicate efforts to find and identify them.

Fernando Gonzalez, an independent forensic anthropologist, suspects that a house on the property could have been the place where the bodies were incinerated.

In Nuevo Leon, "nobody has ever looked for human remains as we are doing now," said Hidalgo.

"But it also gives me a feeling of helplessness to know that even with all this, we still cannot find Roy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / MCTC Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK:MCTC), a cannabinoid and hemp extract science forward company developing infusion and delivery technologies announces today it has received an initial order from Sinister CBD, LLC for sales and distribution of its Hemp You Can Feel Coffee product line, the industry's first 100% natural hemp extract and CBD coffee to be shipped in 100% compostable single-serving coffee pods. The new product line is based on the Company's patent-pending Hemp You Can Feel infusion technologies, which are free of all chemicals, emulsifiers and surfactants.

Under the terms of the binding agreement, MCTC will private label its coffee products under the Sinister CBD brand name and other brands to be included in subsequent orders. The initial order is for hemp extract infused coffees packaged in single-serving coffee pods in 100% compostable packaging, including the coffee pod and the lid. MCTC expects to begin deliveries under the order during the month of March 2020.

"Hemp You Can Feel Coffee is a revolution in hemp and CBD infusion products," commented Arman Tabatabaei, Chief Executive Officer. "Based on only the finest ingredients available anywhere in the marketplace, Hemp You Can Feel Coffee starts with ultra-premium organic coffee infused with our all-natural, patent-pending dual infusion process. 100% organic green coffee beans are imported from South America directly onsite and we supervise the roasting, grinding, CBD infusion and packaging right at our facility. We then package everything onsite in 100% compostable containers, including the pods and the lids. This green-bean-to-packaged product approach allows us to produce a superior product. We welcome Sinister CBD to the Hemp You Can Feel Family."

The Company is utilizing its unique CBD infusion process for Hemp You Can Feel Coffee and all of its upcoming product offerings. Based on only natural ingredients, like trace amounts of organic vegetable oils, honey, and agave, the Company invented a unique process for all-natural CBD infusion using no chemicals. The Company has recently filed six patents on cannabinoid and hemp extract technologies and delivery systems. MCTC is currently working with patent counsel to protect various other aspects of its other new technologies and plans additional patent filings over the coming months.

About MCTC Holdings, Inc.

MCTC Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a: Cannabis Global) is a Delaware registered, fully reporting and audited publicly-traded company. With the hemp and cannabis industries moving very quickly and with a growing number of market entrants, MCTC plans to concentrate its efforts on the middle portions of the hemp and cannabis value chain. The Company plans to actively pursue R&D programs and productization for exotic cannabinoid isolation, bioenhancement of cannabinoids and polymeric solid nanoparticles and nanofibers for addition into consumer products and for dermal application. The Company was reorganized during June of 2019 and announced its intent to enter the fast-growing cannabis sector and its intent to change its corporate identity to Cannabis Global. The Company is headed and managed by a group of highly experienced cannabis industry pioneers and entrepreneurs.

More information on the Company can be viewed at www.CannabisGlobalinc.com.

For more information, please contact:

Arman Tabatabaei

IR@cannabisglobalinc.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as "anticipate", "seek", intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-k, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov.

SOURCE: MCTC Holdings, Inc

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579190/MCTC-and-Sinister-CBD-LLC-in-Distribution-Agreement-for-All-Natural-Hemp-Infused-Coffee-Pods-with-Hemp-You-Can-FeelTM-Infusion-Technology
Lucy Kocharyan, a journalist from Armenia, was one of the few to receive the 2020 International Women of Courage Award of the US Department of State. The award was personally handed to her by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and First Lady Melania Trump, the Voice of America reports.

Kocharyan is the journalist who posted on Facebook the stories of Armenian women subjected to violence. According to Lucy, the reaction of the Armenian society, however, was mostly negative.

Armenian Prime Ministers wife Anna Hakobyan, who is in Washington DC on a one-day working visit, was also present at this event at the Department of State. According to Lucy Kocharyan, Hakobyan's presence there was a pleasant surprise for her.

Lucy Kocharyan, the first woman to represent Armenia who has received this high award from the US Department of State, notes that voicing this issue can play an equally important role in resolving it.
New Delhi, March 5 : The Supreme Court on Thursday said the petitions challenging Citizenship Amendment Act will be taken up only after arguments in the Faith Vs Right to Pray gets over in the Sabarimala temple matter.

The hearing on petitions connected with Sabrimala was likely to begin from March 16. The apex court observed that Centre is yet to file a response on the matter.

A bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant told senior advocate Kapil Sibal about their decision, as he insisted to fix a date of hearing on the CAA matter.

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the top court that the Centre would be filing a reply most likely by next week.

A nine-judge bench is examining various religious issues, including the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple besides in mosques, along with practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community, and the entry of Parsi women, who have married outside the community, in Temple of Fire.
With the country bracing itself to tackle fresh cases of Coronavirus, Keralas efforts to successfully combat the disease may prove handy. It has effectively contained the virus so far and nursed back the first three patients reported in the country, all medical students who returned from Wuhan in China. The states efforts were lauded by all including virology experts. What exactly did Kerala do? Ten points to know:

1.Intensive surveillance at all airports: In January first week, the state had alerted its health staff after China complained to the WHO about high incidences of pneumonia. Screening started at all four airports. Ambulances and health workers were ready at airports. All those who had returned from China were put under special observation. Designated health workers, trained in barrier nursing, reviewed their health situation every day.

2.Effective contact tracking: When the first case was reported on January 30, health workers fanned out and quarantined all who had come in contact with the first patient. The state declared a calamity after two more cases were confirmed. Announced that if China-returnees dodged surveillance it would be treated as a crime. More than 5,000 people were quarantined in their homes and suspected people were kept in isolation wards for a few days.

Also read: With 33 in isolation, a look at how Delhi is battling coronavirus crisis

3.Awareness creation: People were told about the situation and asked to be vigilant. People were advised not to participate in big gatherings for the time being. Schools and colleges were advised to put a break on study tours and excursions. In many schools students were given enough lessons and simple tips on preventive measures like hand washing and covering the face while sneezing.

4.Health protocol in place: All health institutions like labs, clinics, private hospitals and others were strictly told to go by protocols. Breath analyser tests of police and others were discontinued. Mental health teams were floated to deal with those quarantined. Intensive announcements through print and electronic media were made on dos and donts.

5.Strict quarantine: Those who came in contact with primary patients were quarantined for 28 days, though the WHO prescribed only two weeks incubation period. Those quarantined were taken care of appropriately. Their health situation was regularly monitored. Many people sought counselling.

6.Grassroot planning: The state was on battle-mode once students started arriving from China. Rapid response teams comprising grassroot Anganwadi and Asha workers, para medical staff, local body members and doctors formed under the DMOs. At least two hundred isolation wards were ready in a few days with trained health workers. Primary health centres were strengthened and leaves of health staff cancelled

7.Check on rumour mongers: There was a proper check on social media to rein in rumour mongers. Ten cases were registered in two weeks and some people were arrested also. This helped avert panic.

8.Old Nipah lessons came handy: Nipah was more dangerous with 70 per cent mortality rate while COVID has 2 per cent. The state had controlled the Nipah outbreak two years ago though it claimed 17 lives. Some of the lessons and protocols came handy for Kerala.

9.Involvement of private hospitals: Many private hospitals pledged support to the government. During Nipah also, some private medical practitioners helped the government to solve the puzzle. A Malayalam movie Virus about the Nipah outbreak was a big hit portraying the role of some of them prominently.

10. Review meets twice a day: In the initial days, state health minister K K Shailalaja camped in some of the districts where patients were admitted. There were two review meetings every day and experts given a free hand to deal with the situation. Despite the stellar role many experts say the state needs a Plan B which focuses on mitigation. They emphasized a long-term strategy for this saying such viral outbreaks can be frequent in the coming days.

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LONDON, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The UK's Cyber Defence Alliance, has formed a partnership with Anomali to enhance cybersecurity capabilities and automate the secure and meaningful sharing of threat intelligence with its banking members.



The goal of the partnership is to strengthen member banks abilities to act against organised cyber-crime groups that carry out repeated attacks on banks and the wider financial sector in the UK and Europe.

Anomali is a leader in intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions with over 1700 organisations globally using the Anomali platform.

Steven Wilson, CEO of the CDA, said:

The CDA are pleased to partner with Anomali to offer our member banks tools that allow analysis and sharing of large amounts of threat intelligence data from multiple sources. The protection of our financial institutions and customers is enhanced through sharing information on threat across multiple organisations. The CDA collaboration with Anomali develops our ability to analyse multiple data sets allowing resources to be focused where they are of greatest benefit to protect against attacks, and pursue those groups who cause the greatest harm.

Hugh Njemanze, CEO of Anomali, said:

The problem of how to address cyberthreats is compounded by the overwhelming volumes of data about them, confusion over which security solutions are effective, and shortages of cybersecurity professionals. The work that the CDA does for its banking members, supported by best-in-class technology and intelligence solutions like Anomali, arms those members with the intelligence they need to better protect their businesses against cyberattacks.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anomali

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anomali/

Blog: https://www.anomali.com/blog

About the Cyber Defence Alliance (CDA)

The Cyber Defence Alliance (CDA) is a non-profit public private partnership that works collectively and collaboratively across the financial sector and law enforcement to pro-actively share information to fight cybercrimes and threats. They analyse information turning it into actionable intelligence for industry and law enforcement.

The CDA is led by industry for industry, with the rationale that an attack against one bank is an attack against all and that security is not a competitive advantage. The cornerstone of the CDA is trust and trusted relationships, which leads to the sharing of information and resources.

Their mission is to support the sector to proactively detect, deter, disrupt and stop emerging threats, to share resources/expertise and knowledge to increase maturity levels and resilience and to support law enforcement action against criminal networks threatening the industry and its customers.

About Anomali

Anomali delivers intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions. Anomali Altitude platform solutions include Anomali ThreatStream, Anomali Match, and Anomali Lens. Private enterprises and public organizations use Anomali to harness threat data, information, and intelligence to make effective cybersecurity decisions and detect and respond to threats. The Anomali partner program provides access to threat feeds from all layers of the web and delivers seamless integrations into leading security infrastructure technologies. The Anomali Threat Research Team provides actionable threat intelligence that helps customers, partners and the overall security community to detect and mitigate the most serious threats to their organizations. Anomali customers include many of the Global 2000 and Fortune 500, and large government and defense organizations around the world. Founded in 2013, it is backed by leading venture firms including GV, Paladin Capital Group, Institutional Venture Partners, and General Catalyst. Learn more at www.anomali.com .

Anomali Contact:

Haylee Hewlett

News Media Relations

haylee@anomali.com



CDA Contacts

Moustafa Fadel Ahmed

+44 202035369

Moustafa.Fadel@cda.financial


U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette will visit North Dakota in May for the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and plans to include Coal Country as part of his trip, North Dakota Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer announced this week.

The conference is held every year, alternating between sites in Bismarck and Regina, Saskatchewan. This year's conference is May 19-21 at the Bismarck Event Center.

The details of Brouillette's focus on Coal Country during his trip are still being worked out.

"We appreciate Secretary Brouillette's commitment to come to North Dakota's coal country and to work with us to ensure that coal is fairly valued as a reliable source of baseload power," Hoeven said in a statement.

"Baseload power" is a term often used in conjunction with coal-fired power plants because the facilities run most efficiently when they are operating near their maximum capacity the majority of the time, providing a constant output of power. That stands in contrast to wind farms, which generate electricity only when the wind blows.

Hoeven's office said the senator has been pressing federal regulators on the baseload issue, seeking a better way for it to be valued in power markets.

Nationally, a number of coal mines and power plants have shuttered over the past few years as abundant natural gas and renewable energy emerge as competitors.

North Dakota's lignite coal industry has stayed fairly resilient in light of the changing energy landscape, though it does feel the same pressures as coal in other states. For example, Great River Energy is weighing changes to its Coal Creek plant near Washburn. The facility is the largest coal-fired power plant in North Dakota. Also, Montana-Dakota Utilities has announced it will close its coal-fired units at Heskett Station north of Mandan and add another natural gas unit at the site.

Meanwhile, wind energy has boomed in North Dakota over the past 15 years. More than 2,000 wind turbines are scattered throughout the state in dozens of wind farms, according to data from the North Dakota Public Service Commission.

Hoeven and Cramer recently introduced an amendment to repeal a tax credit that benefits wind farms. The "production tax credit" was set to expire in 2019 but Congress late last year extended it until the end of 2020. The credit applies to wind farms for which construction begins this year.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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Lake Mary, Fla., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CentralSquare, a leader in public sector technology, announced today that multiple customer agencies have received National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) certification from the Criminal Justice Information Services Division agencies in Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin. The certification was issued following a review by each states Criminal Justice Information Services Division which determined that these agencies implementation of CentralSquare Records Enterprise met all required criteria in the areas of system compatibility, responsiveness, statistical reasonableness and satisfactory error rate. Each agency is the first in its state to achieve certification of its web-based CentralSquare Records Enterprise platform and joins a network of more than 1,000 NIBRS-certified agencies using the CentralSquare platform in dozens of stateswith more to come in the countdown to meet the FBI deadline.

The FBI is retiring the summary-based reporting system and will transition to a NIBRS-only data collection in 2021. As a result, law enforcement agencies are being encouraged to start implementing NIBRS now. To become NIBRS certified, public safety agencies must submit incident-based data for a designated, consecutive period of time and meet several criteria, including following technical specifications, demonstrating ability to liaise effectively with the state agency and the FBI, submitting data that is statistically reasonable and sustaining an error rate of less than a designated percent for three separate, consecutive data submissions, among other requirements. CentralSquare Records Enterprise returned a 0% percent error rate on its data submission.

Summary crime data reports have historically lacked information about the victim and offender, the relationship between them, the location where the crime took place and a host of other contextual variables, resulting in inconsistencies when reviewing individual incidents. For example, in a summary report, agencies have been required to date to list only an incidents top offense, meaning if an armed robbery and homicide occurred, only the homicide would be listed. NIBRS captures details of every reported crime incident, including circumstances and contextual items which can provide more useful statistics to analyze and develop strategies for reducing crimes and victimization.

Offering the most comprehensive NIBRS-proven records management system on the market, CentralSquare leverages more than 20 years of NIBRS expertise to help ensure our partner agencies meet the 2021 deadline, said Steve Seoane, CentralSquares president of public safety. Its our privilege to work with our public safety partners in Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin, among the rest of the network of NIBRS-certified agencies using the CentralSquare platform. As a result of NIBRS, law enforcement will be able to dig deeper into the root causes of crime and victimization, which will lead to helping build safer communities across America.

CentralSquare Records Enterprise is a cloud-based records management solution that allows personnel to enter information once and share it across the entire suite of software, including 911, Computer Aided Dispatch, Mobile and Jail. CentralSquare continues to work with its agency partners to roll out additional NIBRS certifications across the United States.

Throughout the year ahead, CentralSquare will continue to provide insights and best practices for public safety agencies who are currently undertaking the transition to NIBRS. Individuals involved in the transition process are encouraged to visit the digital magazine GovThink for more information.

About CentralSquare

Formed by the merger of Superion, TriTech along with Zuercher, and the public sector and healthcare business of Aptean, CentralSquare is an industry leader in public safety and public administration software, serving over 7,650 organizations from the largest metropolitan city to counties and towns of every size across North America. Its technology platform provides solutions for public safety, including 911, computer-aided dispatch, records management, mobile, citations, evidence management and corrections. For public administration agencies, CentralSquare provides software for finance, human capital management, payroll, utility billing, citizen engagement, asset management, regulatory compliance and community development. For hospitals and clinicians, it provides patient information, compliance, and analytics software. CentralSquares broad, unified and agile software suite serves 3 in 4 citizens across North America. More information is available at CentralSquare.com
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post)  Thu, March 5 2020

Indonesias top oil company is looking to relocate a US$13.9 billion project over 2,000 kilometers away due to prolonged land acquisition problems at the original site.

State-owned oil company Pertamina is conducting a study into moving its oil refinery and petrochemical plant project from Bontang city in East Kalimantan to Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatra.

The plan follows the expiration of an agreement between Pertamina and Omani energy firm Overseas Oil and Gas LLC (OOG) to develop the facility in Bontang, where the enterprises face land acquisition problems. The one-year deal between the two enterprises ended December last year.

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Troops may someday deploy wearing small devices to help determine their risk of developing a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

A blast sensor called the BlackBox Biometrics Blast Gauge, placed on a service member's chest, shoulder and helmet, can document the pounds per square inch (PSI) of force they are exposed to over time, a Defense Department official said Wednesday. The device is the size of a small pager, 2 inches by 1.5 inches.

Overall data can be viewed later by computer, but users can quickly see the approximate PSI they have experienced by looking at what color light the device is displaying: The green light is triggered by 1 to 4 PSI; amber at 4 to 16 PSI; and red at greater than 16 PSI.

The B3G7 blast sensor. (Defense Health Agency)

"They're going to give us environmental exposure data in a quantifiable way that we can document and have and continue to learn about how those thresholds impact an individual," former Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center director Kathy Lee said during a roundtable Wednesday. "I'm sure you've probably heard many times in this world of concussion care that there really is no 'silver bullet' -- one thing."

Related: Still Misunderstood: How Traumatic Brain Injuries Affect America's Veterans

While the DoD touted the "success" of its diagnostic testing after 110 service members sustained TBIs in the Iranian airstrike on Al Asad Base, Iraq, in January, it's still trying to find the most objective way to diagnose a mild TBI.

The current DoD definition of TBI requires an exposure event, in addition to the patient displaying some kind of altered consciousness, such as memory loss or feeling dazed. Researchers are looking into biomarkers and chemical imbalances to show the presence of a TBI, but how should the DoD determine which exposure cases warrant a TBI test?

Nearly 60 military units, each consisting of 12 to 360 troops, are currently wearing these blast sensors during training exercises, and the pilot program will follow them into deployment. Officials did not specify which military services were included in the program but said a total of 4,408 sensor sets are currently in use.

The DoD will release the results of the test sometime between mid-2021 and 2022, Lee said.

The first couple attempts tested by the DoD were static, battlefield sensors to measure whether a service member was exposed to a concussive blast, but these new body-worn sensors promise an individualized look at how exposure events affect people.

The DoD has already created an automatic TBI check if, among other scenarios, a service member is within 50 meters of a blast.

"We need to explore all these facets to try to understand the relationship, cause and effect relationship or simply relationships or linkages between environmental exposures such as blast overpressure to health and performance indices," Lee said.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the sensor device and clarify its size.

-- Dorothy Mills-Gregg can be reached at dorothy.mills-gregg@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DMillsGregg.

Read More: This Institute Is Offering Free TBI Treatment for Vets with 'Bad Paper' Discharges
A man was fatally shot in southern Alabama early Thursday following an attempted traffic stop and subsequent pursuit.

Dale County sheriffs Chief Deputy Mason Bynum said a deputy about 12:20 a.m. tried to conduct a traffic stop on East Main Street in the town of Ariton. The driver, wanted on an outstanding felony warrant, refused to stop and the chase was on.

The fleeing motorist lost control of his vehicle near the intersection of Highway 231 and Highway 123, Bynum said. As the deputy approached the vehicle, the suspect brandished a gun and the deputy fired.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released pending notification of his family.

The sheriffs office was assisted by multiple agencies, including state troopers, Ozark police, Ariton Fire and Rescue and ALDOT. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys State Bureau of Investigation is taking over the probe, as is standard procedure with officer-involved shootings.

No law enforcement officers were reported injured. Bynum said the deputy will be placed on leave pending the investigation which is departmental policy.
Carrie Symonds is the 'queen' of Downing Street and 'rules the roost' when it comes to the Prime Minister's personnel decisions, sources told Tatler magazine.

Unnamed sources close to the couple, who are expecting their first child together this summer, spoke to the society bible about how Miss Symonds' influence over her future husband extends far beyond his wardrobe, hair, or drinking habits.

Here, in an extract from the article shared with FEMAIL, which appears in full in the April issue of Tatler, sources point to how Miss Symonds, 31, a savvy political operative in her own right, seems to have played a role in shaping the careers of those in her inner circle, including Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak and Zac Goldsmith.

As one puts it: 'Who she trusts and who has her ear is hugely important. If you are a cabinet minister trying to survive, you'd do well to start getting on with her.

Carrie Symonds wields significant power when it comes to the Prime Minister's staffing decisions, a source told Tatler magazine. Pictured, the couple together in September 2019

The tabloids often talk, somewhat predictably, about the 'taming' effect she has had on Boris.

He stopped drinking during the election campaign, apparently on her instruction. She made him lose weight, go vegan (briefly), spend more time outdoors and clip his wild hair. Friends scoff at such analysis. 'As if that's all she does!' exclaims one.

Another explains that, while Dominic Cummings, Boris's key adviser, may be the driving force behind government policy, 'Queen Carrie' rules the roost when it comes to personnel.

The queen of No. 10: Miss Symonds, a savvy political operative in her own right, has been able to help shape the paths of her inner circle, dubbed 'FOC's', for Friends of Carrie

'The cannier people in No 10 have figured out that she is a non-negotiable factor as far Boris is concerned,' he says. 'Anybody who comes after the queen isn't going to get very far.'

The FOC's  Friends of Carrie  now find themselves in charge of the country. Carrie was Sajid Javid's spad [special advisor]: he became chancellor of the exchequer.

Read the full feature in the April issue of Tatler available via digital download and newsstands now

Rishi Sunak, her ally, catapulted to chief secretary to the Treasury, then chancellor when Javid resigned.

Zac Goldsmith, her close friend and fellow eco-warrior, lost his seat in Richmond last year, despite Carrie's campaigning on his behalf, but has been given a seat in the House of Lords, so he can continue as environment minister.

Nobody would suggest  heaven forbid!  that these FOCs didn't deserve their appointments. But it seems naive to say that their closeness to Carrie had nothing at all to do with their advancement.

'Who she trusts and who has her ear is hugely important,' says a No 10 source. 'If you are a cabinet minister trying to survive, you'd do well to start getting on with her.'

Read the full feature in the April issue of Tatler available via digital download and newsstands now.
The Supreme Court on Thursday commuted the death sentence of a convict in the 2011 Chhattisgarh triple murder case to life imprisonment and said that the convict should be kept in jail for at least 25 years.

A three-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran, and MR Shah commuted the death sentence of convict Manoj Suryavanshi.

A Bilaspur court had on May 5, 2013, sentenced Suryavanshi to death for murdering and hiding the bodies of three children in 2011, a decision which was upheld by the Chhattisgarh High Court on August 8, 2013.

The three children, namely Vijay Dhiver (8), Ajay Dhiver (6) Sakshi Dhiver (4), were found dead in a field in Bilaspur district on February 11, 2011.

A special leave petition was filed in the Supreme Court in the matter on September 9, 2013.

Suryavanshi was working as a labourer at the house of Shivlal Dhiver, the complainant and father of the victims, when his wife -- Sumrit Bai -- went missing. Suryavanshi suspected that she had eloped with the younger brother of Dhiver, following which he killed the children.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five persons, including four children, were killed and eight were injured in rain-related incidents in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.

All deaths occurred in Khyber Pakthunkhwa, most of which were due to roof-collapse incidents, a Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) official said.

In the first incident, three children of a labourer were killed when the roof of his house collapsed in the morning in Takhtbai tehsil, which is nearly 70 km from provincial capital Peshawar.

The labourer's wife and three other children were injured in the incident.

In another roof collapse incident, an eight-year-old boy died in Qudrat Abad village.

A woman and two other children were also injured in the incident.

All the injured have been shifted to the tehsil headquarter hospital, the PDMA official said.

A woman died after lightning struck her home in Swat district late last night, the PDMA official said.

Three other houses were damaged due to the rains.

PDMA and Rescue 1122 officials were on alert and teams have been sent for relief works, the official said.

KPK is in the grip of torrential rains for the last 24 hours.

Heavy rains are predicted till Saturday, triggering fears of flash flooding and landslides.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The iPhone Night Mode photography competition was announced in early January and the winners were official announced on Tuesday March 3 after extensive judging.

The six winning photos were picked by a panel of judges that included Tyler Mitchell who photographed Beyonce for Vogue and former TIME contributing White House photographer Brooks Kraft.

The winners have all had their photos features on the Apple website, its Instagram account and on billboards worldwide - including the London Tube.

Of the photo showing the Russian truck in the snow by Konstantin Chalabov, Apple VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller said it was a super-dramatic image.

'It could be the opening shot of a great Cold War spy movie. It challenges us with intriguing questions  Where is the driver? Where are they going? Why stop out here?

'A cool mist permeates the blue Russian hillside and snow-covered ground, framing the lonely vehicle with bright red lights that hint at an unknown danger.'

Ruben P. Bescos of Pamplona, Navarra, Spain captured an almost biblical like scene.

'The crackly details on the foreground rocks add to the story of the long and difficult journey ahead for these pilgrims before they reach their holy site,' said Schiller.

Chinese photographer Alexvi Li said: 'The ground in the photo reveals beautiful texture when shooting against the light. The simple composition quickly draws viewers into a story, while delivering good image quality.'
People blocked Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Thursday for several hours to protest against the suspicious death of a truck driver in south Kashmir, officials said.

Truck driver Partap Singh of Jhajjar Kotli area of Jammu district was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Khudwani belt of Kulgam district on Wednesday, they said.

People, including truck drivers and several relatives of the deceased, blocked the road for several hours by keeping the body in the middle of the highway and staging a sit-in protest there, they said.

Alleging that Pratap Singh was murdered in Kashmir, they demanded a high-level probe into his death by a special police team.

The protests and blockade for over six hours led to a heavy traffic jam on the highway, they said.

Authorities including police reached the spot and assured protesters of a thorough probe into the death, only after which they cleared the road to allow resumption of the traffic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Mom Genes Fight PPD Destigmatizes Silent Disease in New VideoCHAPEL HILL, NC / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Postpartum depression (PPD) is the No. 1 cause of maternal mortality from suicide. PPD can have a range of dangerous consequences and is widespread, affecting one in seven mothers. Yet, symptoms don't need to be life-threatening to be serious. Feeling down, sad or broken, emotionally detached, highly anxious, or doubting one's ability to mother one's child are all signs of PPD that require help.The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) wants to combat this silent threat. In a new video, they are asking 100,000 moms who currently have or have had PPD symptoms in the past to participate in the Mom Genes Fight PPD research study. The campaign works to identify a genetic marker that may explain why some women get PPD and others don't."Postpartum depression is a very common medical complication of childbirth that can be devastating; but far too often goes undiagnosed or inadequately treated," said Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, one of the study's co-principal investigators, chair of the UNC Department of Psychiatry and director of the UNC Center for Women's Mood Disorders.Dr. Meltzer-Brody continued, "The Mom Genes Fight PPD research study examines why some women are at greater risk for PPD than others by examining their genetic signature or mom-genes.' We want to change how we detect mothers who are suffering in silence. Eventually, our goal is to help find a cure and identify ways to prevent PPD, and improve treatment outcomes." Calling All MomsThe Mom Genes Fight PPD study isn't just for new moms, but for all mothers whether their child is a newborn or 50 years old. It asks these women who've had PPD symptoms in the past or present to see if they qualify for the research.How to ParticipateWomen can visit www.MomGenesFightPPD.org to download an app to see if they are eligible by taking a brief and validated clinical assessment on it. Women who meet the study inclusion criteria and consent to participate are mailed a spit kit to provide a saliva sample. Paid postage is included, making it even easier to help.Celebrities & Women Inspiring WomenFrom PPD support groups to mom-influencers to celebs like Alanis Morissette and Catherine Reitman of the Netflix show Workin' Moms, women across the country are sharing their important reasons for joining the research study by using #MomGenes. The personal stories also help destigmatize the disease, showing those who are suffering that they are not alone.Creation and promotion of the campaign, Mom Genes Fight PPD, is a pro bono effort by WONGDOODY, an award-winning creative agency and human experience company. For more information about the research study, visit the website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.About Mom Genes Fight PPDMom Genes Fight PPD is a global collaboration between UNC researchers and an international group of academic clinicians and scientists committed to understanding the interaction of genes and the environment - aimed at predicting which women are at risk for PPD. By August 2020, UNC has a goal of getting 100,000 mothers to participate in the study.About WONGDOODYWONGDOODY is a creative firm and human experience company internationally recognized for branding, retail, and consumer insights. By observing human behavior, analyzing data, and leveraging its agile-insights platform, WONGDOODY builds and evolves experiences as markets and consumers change.The company has offices in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. Clients include Amazon, Cisco, adidas, Honda, and a wide range of Fortune 500 companies. WONGDOODY is frequently voted as a "Best Place to Work", and has more than 50 percent of its leadership positions held by women.CONTACT:WONGDOODY, Andrea Wedderburn, andrea.wedderburn@wongdoody.com 206.694.2131SOURCE: WONGDOODY
Vodafone Ukraine has extended its branding and access partnership with Vodafone Group.

While the Ukrainian operator is owned by Azerbaijans Bakcell after being sold by Russias MTS in December 2019, it provides services using the Vodafone brand via its partnership agreement. Vodafone Partner Markets has agreements with 28 companies across 43 markets.

The deal also grants it direct access to Vodafone Groups procurement and roaming services. By extending the agreement, Vodafone Ukraine will be able to cooperate with the group further on consumer and enterprise products; for example, its IoT managed connectivity offering, which uses Vodafone Groups international IoT platform.

A statement from Vodafone Group noted that this could lead to future cooperation on smart city solutions and public service digitalisation in Ukraine. The group confirmed that it was ready to offer operational and strategic support going forward.
MANILA, Philippines  The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee expressed dismay with representatives of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for not acting promptly on the alleged suspicious entry of foreign money into the country.

I dont see any enthusiasm on the part of AMLC to make this thing work. In the meantime, we are losing. We dont know where the money is going, said Committee Chair Senator Richard Gordon during the hearing on Thursday (March 5)

The issue stemmed from a report by Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rey Guerrero cited by Senator Gordon who revealed some millions of dollars being sneaked in by various syndicates managed by Chinese nationals.

According to AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Atty. Mel Racela, about US$336 million worth of foreign currencies was brought into the country in 2019.

Broken down in different denominations, such amount was allegedly declared as business profits, foreign exchanges, savings, Casino payouts and salary or compensations.

Gordon cited reports that from September 2019 to March 2020, about US$633 million in foreign currencies were brought into the country.

The senator suspected that much of this amount was brought into the country through the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).

But the AMLC argued that they needed to prove first if certain amount of money was acquired illegally through investigations and verification from their foreign counterparts before they declare violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

But Gordon said the AMLC should have alerted the law enforcement agencies like the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at the same time with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in any event of a suspicious entry of bulk of money into the country.

Talo kayo. Talo ang gobyerno, (Its your loss. Its the governments loss), Gordon exclaimed.



Gordon revealed that an alleged syndicate named Rodriguez Group composed of 23 individuals of mixed nationalities  Filipinos, Chinese, Indian and Singaporean nationals  was able to bring in about US$283 million dollars or about P14 billion.

Story continues

The senator said the government should track where these huge sums of money are going as it can be used to fund terrorist activities or to bribe government officials like in the so-called pastillas bribery scheme which involves immigration officers.

The AMLC was created to protect us from illicit money coming here and allow us to prevent drugs and terrorism, said Gordon.

Now kung inalam ninyo, dapat tayo magdududa na milyon-milyon na pera na pumapasok diyan. Saan galing ang pera na iyan (Now, if you had investigated, you shouldve been suspicious of the multi-million cash coming in. Where did it come from?), Gordon said.

The AMLC admitted that they have identified a total of P17-B worth of POGO transactions as suspicious.

But Racela confessed it is a big challenge to the agencys capability to fully investigate the operations of the internet-based POGO industry in the country. MNP (with reports from Harlene Delgado)

The post Senate lambasts AMLC over billions of dirty money entering PH appeared first on UNTV News.
One of Canadas largest real estate investment trusts has launched a new framework to provide transparency in their green bond issuance and reporting processes.

RioCan REIT has announced the establishment of its green bond framework  the first REIT in Canada to do so. Under the framework, RioCan said that it intends to use the net proceeds from the issuances of green bonds to finance eligible green projects  including green buildings and investments that support procuring energy from renewable sources.

Read more: RioCan REIT expands its commercial presence in Toronto yet again
Still, his move may reflect what exit polling showed following Super Tuesday, which propelled Biden to front-runner status. In those results, Biden gained significant support in suburban areas, which can be decisive in statewide contests in part due to the influence of socially moderate women. With older, more established voters, those suburbs are unlikely to back the agenda of Sanders, a Democratic socialist.
Details added (first version posted on 18:55)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4

Trend:

The operational headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers has disseminated another statement in connection with coronavirus, Trend reports on March 4 referring to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Azerbaijan is ensuring the return of its citizens who are in Iran, the statement said. In this regard, the appeals of Azerbaijani citizens received through the hotlines of the embassy in Tehran and the consulate general in Tabriz are registered.

The citizens return through a special corridor at border checkpoints at the predetermined time, the message said. For this purpose, citizens who have arrived from Iran at the Astara border checkpoint are temporarily accommodated and are provided with all necessary conditions.

In accordance with the established schedule, 276 people returned to Azerbaijan and were transported to the quarantine zones by the special vehicles, the statement said. Azerbaijani citizens arriving from Iran are on a quarantine for a period from 14 to 29 days. All citizens are required to comply with the quarantine regime.

For additional information, it is recommended to appeal via the hotlines created at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran and the consulate general in Tabriz, the statement read.

After registration of appeals, Azerbaijani citizens are planned to be transported by planes and across the land border through a special customs corridor.
The future of wealth management is increasingly going to be led by financial planning professionals with a diverse background, which is why we have made a commitment to diversity as part of our mission to be the wealth management firm of choice.

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (Mercer Advisors), a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firm, today announced the recipients of the Mercer Advisors Scholarship, a specially designed educational grant designed to support students participating in Diversity and Inclusion programs at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

Allison Cherna and Zoey Zhou both were awarded $2,500 scholarships to help fund their student careers at the prestigious UCI Paul Merage School of Business. These outstanding students were selected from a very competitive field based on their academic achievements and active participation in diversity programs.

We are delighted to support the educational efforts at UCI to groom the next generation of financial planning professionals, said Dave Welling, CEO of Mercer Advisors. The future of wealth management is increasingly going to be led by financial planning professionals with a diverse background, which is why we have made a commitment to diversity as part of our mission to be the wealth management firm of choice.

The Mercer Advisors Scholarship is part of Mercer Advisors award-winning InvestHERs womens initiative which focuses on Mercer Advisors mission to develop the next generation of women advisors, while also becoming the wealth management firm of choice for women investors by focusing on their specific needs, goals, and objectives.

InvestHERs has been a terrific program to support the academic endeavors of outstanding student leaders, while also creating awareness of the financial planning profession as a top career choice to foster the continued growth of independent advice, said Kara Duckworth, CFP, Managing Director of Client Experience and Co-Lead of the InvestHERs program at Mercer Advisors. Congratulations to this years scholarship winners and we look forward to following their careers.

Allison Cherna is a business administration student at UCI, with a goal of pursuing becoming a financial advisor as her career choice. Zoey Zhou is also a business administration student at UCI, interested in obtaining her MBA and then returning to China to start a wealth management firm.

About Mercer Advisors

Established in 1985, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (Mercer Advisors) is a total wealth management firm that provides comprehensive investment management, financial planning, family office services, retirement benefits and distribution planning, estate and tax planning, asset protection expertise, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (RIA), majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, one of the largest Registered Investment Advisers and financial planning firms in the U.S. with over $18.5 billion in client assets. Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has over 400 employees, and operates nationally nearly 50 offices across the country. For more information, visit http://www.merceradvisors.com.

About The Paul Merage School of Business

The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine offers four dynamic MBA programs  plus PhD, specialty masters and undergraduate business degrees  that prepare business leaders for our digitally driven world. Through our programs, students acquire the exceptional ability to grow their organizations through strategic innovation, analytical decision-making, digital information technology and collaborative execution. While the Merage School is relatively young, it has quickly grown to rank consistently among the top five percent of all business programs worldwide through exceptional student recruitment, world-class faculty, a strong alumni network and close relationships with both individual business executives and global corporations. Additional information is available at merage.uci.edu.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Thursday that more than 200 people are infected with coronavirus in the country, and 12 people have died of the respiratory disease it causes, COVID-19.

Some 70 of those U.S. cases are in Washington state, which has become a hotspot in the global outbreak.

Vice President Mike Pence, whom president Trump named coronavirus czar, today said "we don't have enough test today" to meet imminent coronavirus screening needs.

"The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed and sent to President Donald Trump an $8.3 billion funding bill to help state and local governments combat the spreading coronavirus, as public health experts outlined efforts to rapidly accelerate testing for the disease," Reuters reports late this afternoon:

By a vote of 96-1, the Senate approved legislation that was overwhelmingly passed on Wednesday by the House of Representatives. Republican Senator Rand Paul, who objected to spending the money without first reducing federal spending elsewhere, was the lone dissenter. Trump is expected to sign the bill into law so that the billions of dollars can flow toward developing vaccines against the highly contagious coronavirus and aiding international efforts to control transmission. Trump initially requested $2.5 billion, with much of that coming from previously appropriated funds.

the stories around authorities in the US failing to test for the coronavirus are just astonishing https://t.co/Ries8858DO pic.twitter.com/4t8tg0Rkaw  Rob Price (@robaeprice) March 5, 2020

NEW: Washington state asked the U.S. stockpile for respirators and face masks to fight coronavirus outbreak. The response they got raises concerns about one of the biggest gaps in U.S. preparedness. w @goldsteinamy https://t.co/SV3TnpkB6M  LenaSun (@bylenasun) March 5, 2020
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday amid the ongoing tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the Trinamool Congress government in the state.

According to sources, during the meeting being held at the initiative of the governor, he is likely to discuss law and order and other "critical" issues with Shah.

The meeting comes within a week of Shah's visit to Kolkata, where at a rally he had expressed "anguish" over the law-and-order situation in the state.

Dhankhar has been engaged in a bitter acrimony with the West Bengal government over a host of issues since assuming charge in July last year.

The governor "will avail the opportunity of this meeting by apprising the Union Home Minister about various issues that are relevant and critical to governance in the state. He would obviously advert to areas of concern as also of challenge," according to a Raj Bhavan statement.

Dhankhar, who will meet Shah for the first time after assuming the office of the governor, has time and again expressed concern over the "worsening law-and-order situation" in the state. He has called for a violence-free civic poll which is hust round the corner.

The TMC leadership declined to comment on the meeting, but said that those who are expressing concern over the law-and-order situation in the state should first take care of Delhi where communal riots have left 42 people dead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On the eve of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo anniversary, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick fired a salvo at Land Commissioner George P. Bush over the $450 million plan to overhaul the sacred Texas icon, saying the project is badly off track.

In a news release posted Thursday on his campaign website, Patrick joined a chorus of other critics in opposing the relocation of the 1930s Alamo Cenotaph, an important part of the plan.

And he went one step further, saying the overhaul and a planned museum and visitor center should focus only on the famed battle, reopening a touchy subject.

The Alamo conservation and restoration must focus on the battle itself, not the 200-year history of early Spanish settlement in Texas, his statement reads.

WIN TICKETS: Spurs Nation is giving away four box seat tickets to the March 22 home game

He makes no mention of the post-Alamo history in the Alamo Plaza area in front of the Alamo, including the civil rights milestone reached when the lunch counter at the Woolworth department store was peacefully integrated in 1960, putting San Antonio briefly in a national spotlight.

The overhaul plan now underway is the product of a 2015 agreement between the city, state and private philanthropists to transform the plaza. It was developed after extensive public and private meetings, heated debate and more than a few protests and involved often tense negotiations among the project managers, Native American and African American groups, local and state preservationists, including the Conservation Society of San Antonio, and other community groups.

For the past five years, Commissioner Bush has worked diligently to bring all parties to the table to reunite the Alamo Battlefield for the first time in history, said Land Office spokeswoman Karina Erickson in response to Patricks comments Thursday. Throughout this entire project, the Alamo plan has continuously been fine-tuned and developed.

On ExpressNews.com: Alamo remembered on battle anniversary

As we move forward with phase one of the plan, Commissioner Bush will continue to demand that the focal point be the battle of 1836 and the Defenders who gave their lives against a government that became tyrannical in their pursuit for control.

While the primary focus has been on restoring as much of the original grounds and buildings of the Alamo as possible, the goal of the different groups has been to preserve traditions that have evolved around Alamo Plaza such as Fiesta parades and include stories of all involved ethnicities and the many periods of history at the site.

There is now general agreement that the overhaul project, in some way, needs to take into consideration events that occurred before and after the 1836 battle, but Patricks comments Thursday has stoked new tension.

Relocating the Cenotaph is one area that continues to be controversial. The Texas General Land Office, headed by Bush, still must obtain a permit for the move from the Texas Historical Commission, which delayed a decision at its last meeting and is scheduled to take it up again when it meets in Houston on March 24-25.

The plan calls for repairing and relocating the crumbling 56-foot-tall monument, which honors nearly 200 Texian and Tejano Alamo defenders killed in the siege and battle for Texas independence from Mexico.

Organizers plan to move the structure as early as this spring, as part of the first phase of the project, a city-funded $15 million renovation, including closure of streets and planting of trees on the plazas south end by the historic Menger Hotel.

The monument would move about 500 feet south of its current location, to the place where a 1970s gazebo stands now. That would provide open space for interpretation in the plaza of the Alamos nearly 300-year history, including the mission era. Supporters note the monument was not there during the 1836 battle and is in the way of restoring the area to how it was when the battle occurred. The new location also would better spotlight the monument, they say.

But critics say the Cenotaph should be repaired in place where it has stood, near the center of the mission and battle site, since it was built in the late 1930s.

Members of the historical commission said after meeting in a closed session in January that they wanted information on alternative sites for the Cenotaph that might put the monument in a better spatial relationship with the Alamos iconic mission church.

Thursday, Patrick noted that Proposition 7, which asked whether Texans should protect and preserve all historical monuments  such as the Alamo Cenotaph passed with a 97 percent vote in Tuesdays Republican primary.

Patrick said the proposition, which is non-binding, would prohibit the removal of historic monuments in Texas, including the Cenotaph. But the proposition did not address relocation; it did, however, say Texans should oppose any reimagining of the Alamo site.

On ExpressNews.com: City panel approves Cenotaph relocation

Patrick said the state has wasted significant public dollars on designs which most Texans would immediately reject. He called for the Land Office, which is partnering with the city and nonprofit Alamo Endowment in the project, to release all designs for the plaza, including recent renderings, to the media and the public.

Erickson noted that the renderings, including the later iteration of the plan, are available on SaveTheAlamo.org and that more will be added as they become available.

City Councilman Roberto Trevino defended the plan, saying it was produced by a team of eminent design professionals and shaped and approved through a vigorous public process that included more than 200 public meetings.

The actions of this process have been transparent, adhere to the vision and guiding principles, and have provided a clear communication to the public for what the expectations are for this monumental project, Trevino said.

The projects guiding principles include interpretation of the mission and post-battle eras of the site. But Patrick argued that theres no need to go into the 1700s Spanish colonial mission era at the Alamo; the history of that era, he said, is already impressively depicted by the federally run San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

His insistence on keeping the anachronistic Cenotaph where its located notwithstanding, Patrick states that a restored Alamo Plaza should resemble, as closely as possible, the actual fort as it was in 1836.

Patrick called for efforts to recreate features of the 1836 mission-fort, including its main south gate and west wall; wooden palisades extending from the Alamo church where David Crockett is believed to have fought; a room by the south wall where Jim Bowie died; and the headquarters of Alamo commander William Barret Travis. He also wants the original second story of the Long Barrack reconstructed.

For now, the Alamo project lacks most of those features, but includes recreation of Travis quarters and a cannon station at the forts southwest corner, where an 18-pounder was fired at the start of a 13-day siege.

For its part, the Land Office thanked Patrick.

As an avid history buff and longtime Alamo aficionado, the Lieutenant Governors guidance and counsel is appreciated, Erikson said, adding that Patrick brings up many great ideas  ideas that are already incorporated in the Alamo Plan, including the intent to restore the Alamo church and battleground to the 1836 time period, Erickson said.

In closing, Patrick issued a thinly veiled threat.

If the General Land Office cannot handle this important job, and to date it does not appear it can, I will recommend we identify another entity to provide oversight, Patrick said.

While Patrick has no authority to make such a change personally, he could use his position, one of the most powerful in Texas politics, to push legislation to make the switch.

The Land Office hasnt been in control for very long; the Texas Legislature transferred custodianship of the Alamo from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, who had been charge of it for more than 100 years, to the Land Office in 2011. At the time, the Land Office was led by Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. He kept the DRT on as state-contracted operators of the site.

Later, after Bush took office, he terminated the contract with the Daughters in 2015, and the Alamo Endowment assumed control of daily operation through its subsidiary, the Alamo Trust.

A 50-year lease authorizing the Land Office to maintain and operate part of the city-owned Alamo Plaza as a historic site took effect last year.

Patrick and Bush had initially agreed on funding improvements at the Alamo, and the Legislature approved a total of $100 million in 2015 and 2017 for the project.

But their relationship turned sour last year. Patrick issued a news release in December accusing Bush and the Land Office of belittling anyone who disagrees with the Alamo redesign.

The city has committed $38 million to the project, and the Alamo Endowment has said it will privately raise about $200 million for an Alamo museum.

Patricks latest release went out a day before the anniversary of the early morning battle on March 6, 1836. All 189 Alamo defenders whose names are known were killed or executed afterward.

Four ceremonies are scheduled Friday at the Alamo for the battle anniversary, starting with Dawn at the Alamo at 6 a.m. It will be livestreamed on the Alamo Facebook page. Other ceremonies are set for 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
Dallas & Minneapolis, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In recognition of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month this March, LERMA, a Dallas-based next-generation communications agency dedicated to creating disruptive and impactful content for multicultural America, is proud to announce the #SafeWordColonoscopy campaign. The awareness campaign, which began on March 1, uses magical acts, radio public service announcements (PSAs), billboards and social media to spread the word about the importance of people getting colonoscopies to save lives.

LERMA created the campaign for Minneapolis-based Colon Cancer Coalition in an effort to encourage preventive colon health. The campaign is centered around the word, colonoscopy, to increase awareness that the magical word can save lives.

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in America, said Flor Leibaschoff, director, brand creative at LERMA, who lost her brother to colon cancer late last year. The #SafeWordColonoscopy campaign is a powerful way to highlight the importance of colonoscopies. As an ad agency, LERMA knows the power of raising awareness through joint efforts like the #SafeWordColonoscopy campaign, and we hope it will help to save lives.

The campaigns radio PSAs include individuals who are in challenging situations, and use the safe word, colonoscopy to get out of the bind. In one PSA, a secret agent is discovered during a stakeout and says colonoscopy to get rescued.

In partnership with Match.com, which owns OurTime, a dating app for mature men and women, the campaign features social media posts that seek to make #Colonoscopy a trending topic. Examples of the content include, Whats your sign? Oh, Im colonoscopy too. or What are you doing on Friday? Lets colonoscopy.

The #SafeWordColonoscopy campaign is also showcased on a video billboard in Times Square (1500 Broadway), New York City. The 10-second message will be shared a minimum of three times each hour 22 hours a day throughout Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and into April.

Following the magic theme, the Academy of Magical Arts is collaborating on the noble cause by allowing two magicians, Norberto Jansenson and Hillel, to perform at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles. The magicians attempt daring performances and replaced their usual magical word with colonoscopy as part of their acts. One example includes HillelMr. Balloon ManTM, who, for the first time in his 30-year career, writes colonoscopy, instead of help, to be rescued from inside of a balloon with little air.

Nine in 10 people survive colon cancer when the disease is detected early with a colonoscopy, said Erin Peterson, communications director at the Colon Cancer Coalition. "Unfortunately one in three Americans of screening age have not been screened for colorectal cancer. The #SafeWordColonoscopy campaign is an exciting campaign for us. Its cutting edge, eye catching, and humorous, helping people relax about this subject and making it easier for individuals uneasy about screening take the necessary steps to potentially save their life."

Colorectal cancer screening should begin for most average risk adults at age 45 and earlier for those with family history or other risk factors. In addition to a colonoscopy, many screening options are available including several tests that can be done in the privacy of your own home. Colonoscopy is the only screening test that can also prevent colorectal cancer by removing pre-cancerous lesions, or polyps, at the time of the test, preventing cancer. Colorectal cancer is extremely treatable when diagnosed in the earliest stages. Individuals of all ages experiencing symptoms should talk with their doctors about screening options right for them.

RO2 Media was a strong partner to the campaign, donating significant media exposure for the #SafeWordColonoscopy efforts.

For mor information about the campaign, or to find information about colorectal cancer symptoms and screening options, visit ColonCancerCoalition.org/SafeWord.

About LERMA

LERMA is a Next Generation communications agency that is at the forefront of business trends, technological advancement, and consumers ever-changing relationship to brands. For the past 10 years the agency has made clients and their brands win in the U.S. marketplace by uncovering untapped business opportunities, establishing meaningful connections, and developing creative that is loud and clear. That is, creating meaningful communications that disrupt convention and have a clear and relevant message for consumers. The agencys work includes award-winning campaigns for Keurig, Dr Pepper, The Home Depot, BanCoppel, Ocean Spray and Southwest Airlines.



About Colon Cancer Coalition

The Colon Cancer Coalition is based in Minnesota and dedicated to encouraging screening and raising awareness of colorectal cancer. The organizations signature Get Your Rear in Gear and Tour de Tush event series are volunteer-driven in communities throughout the United States. In 2019, the Colon Cancer Coalition granted over $1 million dollars to local communities to build and sustain programs promoting early prevention, screening, as well as patient support efforts for those living with this disease. By making the words colon, colorectal and colonoscopy a part of the everyday language, we believe we can overcome the fear and decrease deaths from this largely preventable cancer. For more information visit ColonCancerCoalition.org.

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Bigg Boss 13 contestant Rashami Desai has been enjoying her time after her return from Bigg Boss. From going on trips to having live chats with her fans, Rashami Desai has been quite vocal about her opinions. Recently, she revealed something personal in an interview. Read here

Bigg Boss 13 contestant Rashami Desai is currently enjoying her time to the fullest. This will not be wrong to say that the hottie had a memorable journey in the house and handled all the obstacles and accusations with utmost dignity and honesty. Though, for all the other contestants it was just a game but for Television queen Rashami Desai it was a rollercoaster ride between her personal and professional life.

Recently, while giving an interview to a media portal, Rashami Desai revealed about her past relationship with Nandish Sandhu and how that phase of her life affected her. She revealed she had gone through a physically abusive relationship and urged people to take stand against the wrong. She revealed that after suffering a lot, she finally filled divorce as she felt that it was just dragging a lot.

She added saying that though she suffered a lot and also put a lot of effort to fix all the problems, nothing came under her control and she finally had to quit her marriage. She also revealed that Nandish and she still meets and has a cordial relationship now.

Also Read: Bigg Boss 13: Mahira Sharma catches Goa Beach Tik Tok fever after Shehnaaz Gill and Shefali Bagga, performs it with Tony Kakkar

This will not be wrong to say that it takes a lot in order to be a great actor. From suffering from personal problems to maintaining a good relationship with everyone professionally, an actor has to overcome a lot of things.

Also Read: Himanshi Khurana teases fans by sharing small glimpse of Asim Riaz, Jacqueline Fernandez Holi special music video, watch

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One Ukrainian Soldier Killed, Four Wounded In East Of Country

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service March 04, 2020

One Ukrainian soldier was killed and four were wounded during an artillery attack on March 3 in the eastern part of the country, where a conflict with Russia-backed separatists is in its sixth year.

Ukraine's military reported that mortar rockets were fired on Ukrainian positions and high-caliber machine guns were also used.

Fifteen Ukrainian service members were killed in January-February this year and more than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict since March 2014.

The war in Ukraine has uprooted more than 1.5 million people from their homes in the easternmost regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The conflict started after Russia invaded and occupied Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in early 2014.

Russia denies involvement in the eastern Ukrainian conflict and insists it is a civil war.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/one-ukrainian- soldier-killed-four-wounded-in- east-of-country/30468254.html

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

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Evidence has shown the disease has been transmitted through the respiratory tract and there is the possibility of viral mutation.

This means the virus is contagious and can spread from person to person by inhaling, coughing or sneezing via droplets.

Symptoms include fever, coughs, chest tightness, runny nose, headaches, shortness of breath, chills and body aches.

Serious cases can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure and even death.

So far there isnt a treatment for the new virus.

However, scientists have identified markers, allowing health care professionals to make a quicker diagnosis of those infected.

Other doctors have had success fighting the infection using powerful antiviral medicines used to treat HIV.

Coronaviruses are named after the spikes that protrude from their membranes, like the suns corona.

Because SARS and MERS proved deadly, the emergence of a new coronavirus has been treated with caution.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 06:37:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is planning to send three private tourists along with a professionally trained commander to the International Space Station (ISS) in the second half of 2021.

SpaceX inked a deal with Houston-based startup Axiom Space on Thursday to enable their first fully-private human spaceflight mission to the ISS.

The travel will allow the crew to live aboard the ISS and experience at least eight days of microgravity, according to Axiom Space.

Tickets may cost around 55 million U.S. dollars, and one seat is already booked, according to The New York Times.

This is the second contract SpaceX grabbed as it reached an agreement with Space Adventures on Feb. 18 to launch private citizens on Crew Dragon spacecraft into an Earth orbit higher than ISS between late-2021 to mid-2022.

Space Adventures has previously arranged eight orbital trips to the ISS for seven wealthy customers, using Russian Soyuz space capsules.

In March 2019, SpaceX's Crew Dragon completed its end-to-end unpiloted flight test to the ISS and back to Earth. Musk, SpaceX founder, said in January 2020 that the first crewed mission for the U.S. space agency NASA is expected to take place in the second quarter of this year.

As to Axiom Space, it plans to offer professional and private astronaut flights to ISS at a rate of up to two per year.

Also, NASA selected Axiom's proposal to attach its space station modules to the ISS beginning in the second half of 2024.
If Bernie Sanders was starting to have doubts, he was not displaying them.

Tonight I tell you with absolute confidence: We are going to win the Democratic nomination, he told supporters on Tuesday night, his face fixed into a frown. Were going to win because the people understand it is our campaign, our movement, which is best positioned to defeat Trump

He added: You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics.

Yet millions of people on Tuesday night disagreed with the Vermont senator. While polls in California continue to be counted, we know at least 4,477,262 voted for the same old kind of politics on Super Tuesday when they cast their ballots for Joe Biden, handing him at least 433 delegates.

By contrast, Sanders, who had gone into the race as the de facto frontrunner after wins in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, received the 3,647,154 votes, bringing his delegate hall to 380.

It may be, by the time the counting is done, the 78-year-old Sanders emerges with a similar delegate haul to the 77-year-old Biden. What is certain is that momentum lies with the younger man.

On Wednesday morning, Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who spent $500m of his own money to insert himself into the democratic process, said he was dropping out and endorsed the former vice president.

Ive always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it, he said. After yesterdays vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.

By contrast, while there is pressure on progressive Elizabeth Warren to end her campaign, it is unclear if she would endorse Sanders, Biden or neither.

The battle for the nomination is far from over. There are many more states to vote. Is there anything Sanders could do to stop the surge of the centrist establishment politician many of his supporters have little time for?

The issue has always been about electability and that is because of Donald Trump, said Jeanne Zaino, Professor of Political Science at Iona College in New York.There was a realisation among many Democrats that for all his flaws Joe Biden was probably the best chance. But certainly Bernie Sanders was not a viable option for beating Trump.

She added The more Trump tweeted about Bernie being robbed it became clear he does not want to run against Biden.

Ms Zaino said Mr Sanders could try to expand his appeal by diluting some of the policies many believe to be too progressive  Medicare For All and free college education  but that he was unlikely to do so.

Those things he wont do and because of that its going to hurt him in terms of getting the nomination, and even if he gets it he wont win in those swing states that decide to hold their nose and vote for Trump, she said. Its just not possible.

Data collated by Politico suggests Biden won the support of large swatches of the electorate, as he claiming victory in ten states, compared to four for Sanders.

A week ago in South Carolina, Biden managed to secure 61 per cent of the American American vote. On Super Tuesday he repeated similar figures in North Carolina (62 per cent, Alabama (70 per cent) and even Virginia.

It said while Sanders won college-educated white Democrats in Vermont and two states with significant early voting, California and Colorado, Biden swept at least nine other states among that group of voters.

Super Tuesday: Jo Biden talks about campaign turn-around

Meanwhile, Biden won non-college-educated white voters in eight Super Tuesday states, compared with four for Sanders. Politico said many of Sanders strongest performances were in places where early voting took place.

As a result, they may have failed to reflect the major shake-up that followed Bidens landslide win in South Carolina last weekend, which in turn led Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to drop out and back Biden.

On his plus side, Sanders continued to secure the support of younger voters and Latinos, two groups that helped him win his own blow out in Nevada last month. Yet, those people did not turn out in enough numbers to win Texas, a huge, diverse state and the second most sought-after win in terms of delegates, other than Texas.

Sanders has consistently promised hed expand the Democratic electorate by motivating millions of young people and new voters to show up at the polls. It hasnt happened, said Larry Sabato, professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

And if it hasnt happened now, its unlikely to occur in a general election after he has a billion dollars of negative ads dropped on him by the Trump campaign.

Asked whether Sanders was capable of diluting his stance on issues such as universal health care, he said: Sanders cant afford to compromise on Medicare for All. I doubt hes going to pull back from much of anything.

On Wednesday, Sanders not appear to be backing down.

In comments to supporters in Vermont, but directed at Biden, he said a presidential campaign funded by the rich could not produce president who put working people first

Are you on the side of working people, and are you willing to stand up against the greed and corruption of the corporate elite, he said.

Or are you on the side of the billionaires and corporations that are trying to buy the election?
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday slammed as "reckless" a ruling by the International Criminal Court authorising a probe into the possible war crimes by the US and other forces in the Afghan war.

The Hague-based court ruled on Thursday that its chief prosecutor can open a wide-ranging investigation of possible war crimes in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan government forces and the US troops.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) overturned on appeal a previous decision to block the investigation.

The actions of the Taliban, the Afghan government and US troops since May 2003 are expected to be examined.

"This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution, masquerading as a legal body," Pompeo said.

"It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan the best chance for peace in a generation. Indeed, the Afghan government, itself, pleaded with the ICC to not take this course. But the ICC politicians had other goals," he said in a statement.

The ruling comes despite strong opposition from America, which is not a signatory of the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens.

The Afghan government has also opposed the probe but is an ICC member state.

The United States is not a party to the ICC, and will take all necessary measures to protect its citizens from this "renegade, so-called court", Pompeo said.

"This is yet another reminder of what happens when multilateral bodies lack oversight and responsible leadership, and become instead a vehicle for political vendettas. The ICC has today stumbled into a sorry affirmation of every denunciation made by its harshest critics over the past three decades," he said.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has been seeking a formal investigation into the alleged crimes since 2017.

This will be the first investigation opened by the ICC involving the US troops.

The ruling comes less than a week after the US and the Taliban signed a landmark peace deal that calls for the full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan within 14 months and for the Taliban to disavow terrorist groups.

The deal was signed with the Taliban last Saturday after more than 18 years of conflict.

Last year, the Trump administration imposed travel restrictions and other sanctions on ICC officials.

US President Donald Trump has also pardoned troops prosecuted in America for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 5-year-old boy who participated in "Dress As Your Favorite Person Day" decided to dress as his school security officer.

Easton Blocker arrived this week to Bobby G. Lester Elementary School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, in a uniform that matched Officer Jeffery Cross. Mom Lauryn Blocker said it was Easton's idea from the very start.

"He's infatuated with Officer Cross," Blocker, a mother of three from Jacksonville, told "Good Morning America." "He will tell you, 'That's my best friend!'"

Blocker said she went out and bought a yellow t-shirt for Easton and pasted "Junior Security" on it in vinyl letters.

PHOTO: Easton Blocker, 5, arrived in March 2020 to Bobby G. Lester Elementary School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, in a uniform that matched Officer Cross. (Jenai Campbell)

More: 76-year-old volleyball referee bursts into tears as teams surprise him with car

Cross, who's been working for school security since August, said he was shocked that Easton chose him to dress up as him.

PHOTO: Easton Blocker, 5, arrived in March 2020 to Bobby G. Lester Elementary School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, in a uniform that matched Officer Cross. (Lauryn Blocker)

More: 80-year-old crossing guard 'speechless' as children surprise him on birthday

"Most of the scholars are expected to dress as their teachers or fellow classmates," Cross, a 35-year-old father of one told "GMA." "Easton, ever since the first day of school, he comes up and hugs me. He's adorable. He has a very fun, high-spirited personality."

PHOTO: Easton Blocker, 5, arrived to Bobby G. Lester Elementary School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, in a uniform that matched Officer Jeffery Cross. (Lauryn Blocker)

Blocker invited Cross to her home Wednesday to play kickball with Easton. She said she was happy to transform Easton into the beloved guard for a day.

PHOTO: Easton Blocker arrived to Bobby G. Lester Elementary School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, in a uniform that matched Officer Jeffery Cross. Mom Lauryn Blocker said it was Easton's idea from the very start. (Lauryn Blocker)

"For someone who my son looks up to so much I'm going to say, 'Hey, this is how much he adores you.'"

Kindergartner dresses as school security officer for 'Dress As Your Favorite Person Day' originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan has decided to step down by March 31 due to ill health, three months before the end of his extended one-year tenure. While the Reserve Bank has accepted his request to be relieved by March 31, the same has to be accepted by the Cabinet as well, which is likely to happen any day given his health condition, a person in the know of the development said. His one-year extension was to end on July 3.

RBI spokesperson Yogesh Dayal refused to confirm or deny the development. Sources said, despite ill health, the senior most deputy governor at the RBI was planning to leave by end-April, but the deteriorating health did not allow him. So he has asked for an early retirement.

The 62-year-old has been in-charge of the key supervisory and regulatory functions at the Mint Road and it was this powerful position that led the government to offer him an extension given the mess in the banking system.

The RBI's supervisory and regulatory powers came under criticism after IL&FS, one of the largest NBFCs went belly up in September 2018. And then came the scam at the city-based Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank in September 2019. Both incidents dented the image of RBI's regulatory prowess.

After being appointed as the deputy governor on June 28, 2016 for a three-year-term, Vishwanathan has served under three governors -- Raghuram Rajan, Urjit Patel and Shantikanta Das.

Before the elevation, he was an executive director of the central bank.

Born in June 1958, he did his Master's in economics from the Bangalore University and joined the central bank in 1981. In July 2019, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet re-appointed Vishwanathan for one year till July 3, 2020.

If the resignation is accepted by the Cabinet, Vishwanathan will be second deputy governor to leave after Das took over as the governor in December 2018. Deputy Governor Viral Acharya left in June 2019.

As deputy governor, Vishwanathan is heading the departments of banking regulation, co-operative banking regulation, non-banking regulation, Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation, the financial stability unit, and departments of inspection, risk monitoring and also the secretary's department. Before he became the deputy governor, he was on a three-year deputation to the Bank of Mauritius, the central bank of Mauritius, as director of supervision.

An RBI observer said his departure will pose a challenge for the central bank to navigate the key supervisory and regulatory functions in one of its most difficult times.

He was one of the key supporters for governor Patel in getting the crippled state-run banks under prompt corrective action framework as also sending the largest defaulters for bankruptcy through the February 2018 circular (which was struck down by the Supreme Court last April).
Insurance giant Aviva saw operating profits increase to the highest level ever in 2019, it revealed today.

They rose to 3.2billion on the back of growing premiums and improved profits in its General Insurance and Life Insurance divisions.

The results came as a relief to the FTSE 100 company, which saw its share price rise 3.4 per cent in morning trading, after a weeks-long slump caused by flooding in the UK and the coronavirus outbreak.

Aviva has saved 72million in savings so far of its 300million cost reduction programme

Aviva's total present value of net business premiums (PVNBP) jumped by almost 200million to 9.3billion in 2019, with life PVNBP jumping 12 per cent to 45.7billion, with 1.2bilion growth in Europe and 300million growth in China.

Corporate and other costs also fell by a third to 129million from 193million as Aviva began the first stage of its 300million cost reduction programme.

Around 72million in savings were made in 2019, partly from cutting employee numbers by 4 per cent, while the firm predicts it will achieve half its savings target by the end of the coming year.

Chief executive Maurice Tulloch, who took over the running of the firm in March, said the business had made 'good progress, but there is much more to do.'

In a video posted on Aviva's website, Tulloch remarked: '2019 was a good year for Aviva. It was a bit of a galvanising year as we started to make lots of changes...And we generally saw decent growth amongst all our businesses.'

He said improved results were down to three factors: the separation of Aviva into five businesses to improve accountability: investments, savings and retirement; UK life; general insurance; Europe life; and Asia life.

Chief executive Maurice Tulloch has acknowledged that storms Ciara and Dennis, along with the Covid-19 virus, are creating major challenges for Aviva

This was a controversial move for many of Aviva's board members as it diverted from the insurer's original plan to separate its general insurance and life insurance arms. The initial deal would have likely added billions to the firm's stock market value.

The other two reasons he gave were the company's strong focus on its core insurance business, and simplifying services for the customer.

Tulloch acknowledged however that storms Ciara and Dennis, along with the Covid-19 virus are creating major challenges for Aviva: 'Its early days yet, and certainly, theres an awful lot of global uncertainty around it,' he stated.

The business received almost 13,000 customer calls after the storms, which has cost them 70million in claims so far.

It emphasises that staff are working 'around-the-clock' to help customers affected by the events and have provided emergency payments and temporary accommodation to some.

As part of the group's savings plan, which was announced in June, it has already slashed around 1,200 of its 1,800 scheduled redundancies.

Aviva - which employs around 30,000 staff in total - said at the time that savings will also be made across central costs, contractor and consultant spend, reduction in project spend, and in other areas.

Mr Tulloch also revealed a structural shake-up in November and plans to sell off its Hong Kong arm, but said it would keep businesses in Singapore and China.
A police jawan was injured in an



attack by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place late Wednesday evening at a weekly market in Orchha village, located around 350 km from the capital Raipur, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI.

A team of the District Force was deployed to ensure security at the village market.

When the patrolling team was withdrawing from the spot after the market closed, some Naxals dressed as villagers suddenly attacked head constable Ramprasad Bhagat with an axe and robbed his Insas rifle, Garg said.

Before the other policeman could understand the situation, the rebels fled the spot, he said.

The security personnel could not open fire on Naxals in view of the safety of villagers present in a large number at the market, the official said.

Police teams have launched a search operation in the area to trace the attackers, he said.

The injured policeman was admitted to a local hospital where his condition was reported to be out of danger, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anna Arnold's "The Savior"

Stellar African American Artists Alumni Exhibition at Case showcases diverse voices

Cleveland, Ohio - You CAN touch the art at the African American Alumni Art show at Case Western Reserve University. At least some of it.

This isnt like any other art show, says artist and assistant curator Georgio Sabino III as he hands me traditional ceremonial stick from West Africa.

Its not a stand out just because you are allowed to touch some of the pieces.

The alumni show is a unique collection of varied and diverse African-American visions the likes of which is rarely seen: men and women; younger and older; painters and fabric artists and photographers and mixed media and much more.

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Georgio Sabino III's "Pop Culture vs Pop Art: 2020 - 2030 LeBron James Campbell's Soup"

What we all have in common is our ethnicity, says Sabino. We are all African-American, but with different backgrounds.  . And we all share a commitment to showing how traditional African art is communicated today.

The African American Artists Alumni Exhibition showcases the relationship between the African-American ancestral traditions and symbolism and how they are reflected in current cultural expressions. Also on exhibit is the ethnographic arts collection of Tim Shuckerow, Case Western Reserve University Director of Art Education/Art Studio  the art you are allowed to touch

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Tim Shuckerow's West African Ethnographic Arts Collection

All of the artists are graduates of Cases Art Education program except Sandra Noble, who is a professor. They include Napoleon Dismuke, Jerome White, Danny Carver, Sabino, Sandra Noble, Anna Arnold, Gina Brent, Travis Williams and Tucker White.

Mixed in between the artists works are numerous pieces from Shuckerows West African collection.

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Jerome White's "Devine Persepctive"

Tying the past and present together, most of the artists in the show include an African mask of themselves they made while in Shuckerows program.

Works range from Anna Arnolds bold multi-colored portraits of Jesus and Muhammad Ali to Sandra Nobles fabric art which pays homage to African textile while remaining fresh and modern; Sabinos manipulated photos that honor to Lebron and other cultural heroes with bright, neon musical swirls; and Jerome Whites provocative and poetic oil paintings that merge African imagery with modern American figures. Also featured is Nigerian artist/storyteller, Bodunde Motini.

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Sandra Noble's "Sistas"

The show will close Friday with a reception from 5 to 10 p.m. and panel discussion on the Value of African American art in todays contemporary culture from 7 to 8 p.m. at the CWRU Art Studio Gallery, 2215 Adelbert Road, Cleveland.

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ACM publishes new journal on the Internet of Things

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, today published the inaugural issue of ACM Transactions on Internet of Things (TIOT). The new ACM journal features novel research contributions and experience reports in several research domains whose synergy and interrelations enable the Internet of Things vision. TIOT focuses on system designs, end-to-end architectures, and enabling technologies, and publishes results and insights corroborated by a strong experimental component.

Few recent innovations promise to be as transformative to the way we live and work in the 21st century than the Internet of Things (IoT), a rapidly growing network of computers, mobile devices, physical objects embedded with sensors and processors, software, and a worldwide communications infrastructure that connects it all together. The Internet of Things connects billions of devices that collect and share data, while integrating the physical and digital worlds.

"The reason there has not been a single publication that can serve as a standard for the community is because the IoT is a synergy among several research domains and incorporates a broad range of multidisciplinary topics," explains TIOT Co-Editor-in-Chief Schahram Dustdar, Technical University of Wien. "ACM has taken the leadership in developing this new journal as a way to bring together professionals working in disparate fields related to the Internet of Things. TIOT is envisioned as one publication that will cover the entire spectrum of IoT technologies, from hardware devices up the application layer."

TIOT welcomes papers on a diverse array of topics including low-power wireless networking, embedded systems, data streaming architectures, data analytics and machine learning, cloud and edge computing, service computing and middleware, security and privacy, and social computing.

"In addition to its large breadth of scope, another defining element of TIOT is that the results and insights reported in it must be corroborated by a strong experimental component," added TIOT Co-Editor-in-Chief Gian Pietro Picco, University of Trento. "We also especially welcome experience reports about the use or adaptation of known systems and techniques in real-world applications. Researchers and practitioners are very interested in insights that they can put into practice in their day-to-day work."

The premiere issue of TIOT reflects the futuristic innovations already woven into the fabric of the Internet of Things, as well as the editors' goals for the publication to reflect a broad scope and rigorous experimental validation. The first issue includes articles on kinetic-powered wearables, smart lights, authentication, gait recognition technology and research on IoT architecture.

"ACM has always been on the leading edge of providing the field with the most comprehensive publications on emerging technologies, and TIOT is no exception," added ACM Director of Publications Scott Delman. "Although the emergence of the Internet of Things is a relatively recent phenomenon, it is shaping the computing field and daily life in profound ways. We thank our Co-Editors-in-Chief Schahram Dustdar and Gian Pietro Picco for establishing an editorial vision for the publication that captures the complexity of the IoT, and for assembling a superb team of associate editors. We believe TIOT will be the gold standard for research publications chronicling the Internet of Things."

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In addition to Co-Editors-in-Chief Dustdar and Picco, the TIOT editorial board includes 22 associate editors representing academia and industry, drawn from countries around the world, including Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
An Iranian news agency on Thursday reported that the sanctioned Mahan Airline has continued its flights to China despite the government ban on February 14. The airline is widely blamed by the Iranian public for the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran.

The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday morning titled its article, Story of Continuation of Mahan Flights to China but a few hours later altered both the text and the headline which now quots an official of the Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) saying, We Are Only Bringing Medical Equipment.

Based on flight information from Shanghai Airport, ISNA said Mahan W577 from Tehran, a scheduled flight, was going to arrive in Shanghai at 9:55 local time.

Mahan airline is partly owned by the Revolutionary Guard. It was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2011 for supporting the Revolutionary Guard's Qods [Quds] Force.

On December 11, 2019, the Treasury Department designated three of Mahan Air's general sales agents based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong for "facilitating the Iranian regime's support to proxy militias".

In response to ISNAs question about the continuation of Mahan flights to Shanghai on Thursday the Spokesman of Irans Civil Aviation Organization Reza Jafarzadeh said the flights are only cargo flights, not passenger flights. Mahan Airline can not have any flights without the permission of CAO, he said.

After the cancellation of flights [to China] Mahan Air has no flights to China unless it is approved by authorities, with the permission of CAO and careful supervision of the Ministry of Health, Jafarzadeh was quoted by ISNA as saying and claiming that the flights were only for delivering Chinas humanitarian aid including coronavirus test kit, medical equipment and material for medical and other factories.

The Civil Aviation Organization Spokesman, however, did not specify what kind of authorization and by who has made the Thursday flight to Shanghai possible.

Reports of continuation of Mahan Air flights to China despite the ban have drawn criticism from lawmakers and the public.

On February 2 the Chinese envoy in Tehran posted photos of a meeting with Hamid Arabnejad, the CEO of Mahan Air, on Twitter and said the Iranian Airline CEO had announced willingness to continue cooperation with China".
CARLINVILLE  The Macoupin County Sheriffs Office is investigating four suspected arsons Wednesday near Carlinville and Mount Olive.

At about 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, a deputy on routine patrol found hay bales on fire north of Carlinville, according to Macoupin County Sheriff Shawn Kahl.

Later Wednesday morning, deputies reponsded to a hay bale fire north of Mount Olive. While investigating that fire, deputies discovered a third fire north of Mount Olive around 12:15 p.m.

At 1:44 p.m., deputies were at the scene of a fourth fire Wednesday north of Carlinville, at Richie road and Welton Cemetery Road.

At that first Mount Olive fire Wednesday, police identified a suspect vehicle  a white Ford pickup truck with a chrome gril, a damaged front license plate and a board in place of a tailgate. Two men reportedly were seen in the truck.

On Feb. 26, the Kahl and the Illinois State Fire Marshals Arson Division announced that multiple barn fires in the county were being investigated as possible acts of arson. The fires were handled by the Carlinville, Gillespie and Northwestern Fire Protection Districts.

Anyone with information about the fires or the truck is asked to call the Macoupin County Sheriffs Office at 217-854-3135.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 14:06:51|Editor: huaxia

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TIANJIN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- North China's Tianjin Municipality has launched a direct cargo truck service to Europe, providing strong logistics support for production resumption of enterprises amid the novel coronavirus epidemic.

A cargo truck loaded with aircraft parts departed from Tianjin on Wednesday and will arrive in Germany after traveling over 10,000 km in about 14 days.

The cargo truck takes less than half of the transportation time of China-Europe freight trains and costs 40 percent less than air freight, according to Dai Daobin, general manager of Sino-Europe Trucking (Tianjin) Logistics Service Co., Ltd.

Affected by the epidemic, many overseas air cargo and sea cargo routes have canceled or reduced transportation services to China. The logistics company decided to open the cargo truck service to provide support for more companies to lower logistics costs and resume production.

The company will open such cargo truck service to more countries along the Belt and Road, and further reduce the journey time to better serve Chinese and European enterprises.
BERLIN, March 4 (Reuters) - Germany has close economic ties with Russia and could use this leverage to pressure President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's involvement in Syria, its defence minister said on Wednesday.

Escalating military action in Syria's northern Idlib region, where Russia is backing an offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's army and Turkey is supporting rebels, risks direct confrontation between the two major foreign powers.

German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told RTL/n-tv private television that Germany had broad commercial ties with Russia and had already used sanctions in the Ukrainian conflict to show that Russia cannot get away with everything.

"And this is the question now which also needs to be raised regarding Syria," she said, noting that Germany must show Russia that "we are pretty much aware of what it is doing in Syria."

Russia's support for Syria's armed forces has been instrumental in turning the war in favour of Assad.

Kramp-Karrenbauer repeated her proposal to set up safety zones in north Syria to protect civilians, adding that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was trying to convince Putin to support that. One million people have fled recent fighting in Idlib.

If all relevant players in the region backed the creation of such safety zones, German and other European forces could be asked to protect those areas, the German minister added.

But the most realistic scenario was a safety zone in which the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would be in charge, she said.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Putin were due to meet on Thursday to seek ways to stop the fighting.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, accounts for about 10% of Russia's imports and is also an important export market, mainly for Russia's natural gas and oil. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 12:40:20|Editor: ZD

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WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who won most states in critical Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries, grabbed the endorsement of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race, on Wednesday.

Bloomberg's decision came after a disappointing finish in the Democratic primaries on Tuesday, in which he only won American Samoa.

"I'm a believer in using data to inform decisions. After yesterday's results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible -- and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The billionaire entrepreneur, who made a late entry into the presidential race last year and has spent over 500 million U.S. dollars on advertising, also said that he's glad to endorse Biden, a moderate political veteran who won 10 of the 14 states voting on Tuesday.

A champion of progressive policies, including Medicare for All, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont finished second but scored a major win in California, the state with the most pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to be held in July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Biden, in a tweet on Wednesday, thanked Bloomberg for his endorsement.

"This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics," Biden added.

David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, said Bloomberg's departure "was expected."

"He's a flinty-eyed realist and the numbers weren't there," said the former chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. "The big news was his quick pledge to back Biden, with all the material support that implies. It could turn out to be one of the most meaningful developments of 2020."

Sitting President Donald Trump, who is projected to easily win the Republican Party's primaries on Tuesday, weighed in on Bloomberg's exit and lashed out at Biden with a series of tweets on Wednesday.

But he also acknowledged Biden's victory on the Democratic side, calling it a "great comeback," when speaking to reporters at the White House.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are still in the Democratic primary race, as a Biden-Sanders matchup took shape.

"Last night, we fell well short of viability goals and projections, and we are disappointed in the results," Warren campaign manager Roger Lau wrote in an email to staff. "This decision is in her hands."

Speaking to a press conference at his campaign headquarters in Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday, Sanders predicted that he and Biden would be "basically neck and neck" for the remainder of the primary, while accusing the former vice president of running a campaign "obviously heavily supported by the corporate establishment."

"Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country. And Joe and I are running very different campaigns," Sanders said. "My hope is that in the coming months we will be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have."

Biden struggled through the Democratic primary's early races, but he won a commanding victory in South Carolina late last month, where he was powered overwhelmingly by the support of African American voters.

Riding on the momentum, Biden was also boosted by a wave of big-name endorsements shortly before Super Tuesday, including several former Democratic presidential hopefuls in this cycle, paving the way for his strong resurgence.

Responding to Sanders' criticism, Biden said on Wednesday that "the establishment are all those hardworking, middle class people, those African Americans ... they are the establishment."

The next Democratic primaries will take place on March 10 for voters of six states to cast ballot for their preferred presidential candidate this year.

The Super Tuesday Democratic primary decided over 1,300 pledged delegates to the DNC, or roughly a third of the total. Typically, a candidate is only eligible to receive a share of the pledged delegates at stake if they win at least 15 percent of votes cast in a primary or caucus.

To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the DNC, which election officials said must be at least 1,991 delegates.

Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, tweeted on Wednesday that there are "many important contests still ahead."

"Everyone should see by now that uncertainty is the only certainty," Zelizer stressed.

The Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for a second term during August's national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 3.
Corrections and Clarifications: An earlier version of this story didn't provide full details about the eligibility and scope of the credit offered.

Wells Fargo is offering its customers a $5 credit for using digital wallets like Apple Pay at the banks ATM within the next year, according to a report from the website 9to5 Mac.

The company said it is conducting a targeted campaign to bring awareness to a specific set of customers on digital wallet use. The promotion is only available to customers who received an email from Wells Fargo, the bank said. And it is not only reserved for those customers who use Apple Pay. It's for all digital wallets.

The promotion comes as Wells Fargo was one of the first banks to support ATM withdrawals through Apple Pay in 2017. Other banks like JPMorgan Chase have followed suit in recent years.

Your debit card is already in your digital wallet, so why not use it to easily get cash  and do more  at a Wells Fargo ATM?, Well Fargo says. And now, when you access a Wells Fargo ATM using your debit card in your digital wallet for the first time, youll earn a $5 statement credit.

Apple: If your iPhone was slowed down by Apple 'Batterygate', you might be able to get piece of a $500-million settlement

Apple watch shopper's guide: What you need to know before buying

The advantages of using Apple Pay instead of a credit card with the embedded chip. (

Customers will be given a $5 credit that will be posted to their primary linked account when they access a Wells Fargo ATM. The bank says it could take six to eight weeks for the statement credit to be posted to an account.

To claim the $5 credit, customers will need to visit a Wells Fargo ATM, tap with Apple Pay from either an iPhone or Apple Watch, enter their debit card PIN and complete an ATM transaction or select an ATM service, 9to5 Mac explains. The promo is valid until March 5, 2021.

Business debit cards arent eligible for the offer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Apple pay: Get $5 credit when you use payment method with Wells Fargo
The tourism industry in Northern Ireland is set to take a 1m hit in the first quarter of this year as it feels the effect of the coronavirus, an industry body has said.

The Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance (NITA) said that the affect had been "minimal" so far but it was "hard to say" what it could look like in the next month if the virus continues to impact travel.

It estimates that the hotel cancellations represented around 1% of total bookings and these had mainly come from the Asian market which makes up around 2% of the tourism industry here.

The Marine Hotel in Ballycastle said it had cancellations of more 100 bed nights and over 5,000 of lunch business, which works out at around 13,500 in potential earnings lost so far.

It said the cancellations had come from accommodation group bookings from China and Italy as well as 'lunch stop' bookings for lunches for day trips along the coast.

Hastings Hotels confirmed it was also experiencing a loss in business, particularly from the Asian market.

Traditionally January to March are the quietest in the tourism calendar. We are now seeing cancellations well into the summer season which will impact significantly on cash flow and reserves NITA chief executive Dr Joanne Stuart

NITA called for Economy Minister Diane Dodds to support action to "protect the summer holiday season for the local 1bn tourism industry", as it announced a Coronavirus Summit for its members on Tuesday.

Dr Joanne Stuart, NITA chief executive, said that the majority of businesses in tourism are SMEs and will not have the financial reserves to see them through this year. "It is also imperative we develop initiatives to support tourism organisations financially," she added.

"Traditionally January to March are the quietest in the tourism calendar. We are now seeing cancellations well into the summer season which will impact significantly on cash flow and reserves.

"Failte Ireland are currently investing significantly more than Tourism NI and are running a promotional campaign for 40 weeks compared to our 12 weeks. We need to increase our marketing effort in GB and Ireland which will require additional investment to raise awareness of the great experience visitors from GB can have in Northern Ireland, right on their doorstep.

"We are confident that once the coronavirus recedes, tourism will bounce back, as it did following the SARS outbreak in 2002/2003, but it is imperative that Government puts plans and initiatives in place to provide support for our tourism businesses during this difficult time."

Hastings Hotels said it had increased marketing efforts within the local, UK and Irish markets to "do our best to counteract" the decrease in bookings from further afield.

Colum McLornan, co-owner of the Marine Hotel, said that the Executive should look to support the industry in "what's going to be a very difficult summer".

He said: "Increasing overseas marketing spend at the moment is a waste of spend as no one is booking. A temporary reduction in VAT could help local tourism business in attracting the UK and Ireland market.

"As more UK/Irish people decide to stay at home we 'hope' we see a increase in business from these markets to make up for some of the losses from our international clientele."

Mr McLornan is also managing director of Friendship Travel, which he said is "experiencing cancellations for travel in the coming weeks and new bookings have dried up completely".

Meanwhile, Oasis Travel said that business had slowed, but a lot of people were changing their holidays rather than cancelling them.

"People have been changing holidays until later in the year to see how it develops," said Brendan Mallon, retail development manager at Oasis Travel.

"A majority of suppliers have changed the rules so they are allowing customers to change travel plans without the amendment fees they would usually charge.

"Plenty of people still travelling but Italy been hit fairly hard as far as cancellations go."
It's the biggest party in Sydney, so why didn't Kyle Sandilands - the king of Sydney radio - attend the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras last weekend?

The shock jock's absence raised eyebrows among industry observers, who noted that it was unusual he wasn't on KIIS FM's float in the parade.

Kyle was instead in Los Angeles, where he broadcasts from several months of the year and owns a $5million house.

No-show: Radio executives are said to be 'very upset' with Kyle Sandilands (second from right) after he didn't fly back to Australia last weekend for Mardi Gras, where KIIS FM had a float in the parade. Pictured at the 2018 Mardi Gras with newsreader Brooklyn Ross (left), co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson (second from left) and then-girlfriend Imogen Anthony (right)

Perhaps because Kyle wasn't attending, his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson didn't either.

A source told Daily Mail Australia that executives at KIIS FM's parent company, ARN, were 'very upset' by the situation, given the fact KIIS was featured prominently in the parade and is an official Mardi Gras media partner.

But the network has since clarified that Kyle was 'never required' to be there, despite having attended in previous years.

Overseas: Kyle was instead in Los Angeles, where he broadcasts from several months of the year and owns a $5million house. Pictured in his LA studio this week

ARN's National Content Director, Duncan Campbell, said: 'Kyle was never required to be on the KIIS Mardi Gras float this year, as such he was in LA as planned.'

KIIS FM's float featured lesser known drive time presenters Will McMahon and Woody Whitelaw as marquee stars instead of Kyle and Jackie O.

Daily Mail Australia understands that while KIIS FM is an official media partner of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, it was not part of any agreement that Kyle and Jackie would have to attend.

On The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday, Kyle alluded to having had a 'fight' with ARN bosses - but it's understood this was about sick days and had nothing to do with Mardi Gras.

Absent: While KIIS FM is an official media partner of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, it was not part of any agreement that Kyle and Jackie (pictured) would have to attend. However, a source has claimed radio executives were nonetheless disappointed

Kyle has been broadcasting from a studio in LA since early February. He often interviews celebrities there, and spoke with supermodel Tyra Banks on Thursday.

It's possible that he decided to stay in the U.S. because his personal life has been making headlines in Australia recently.

His girlfriend, Tegan Kynaston, pleaded guilty on January 21 to slapping a policewoman during a public spat with her boyfriend the previous month.

She is seeking to have her case dealt with under mental health provisions. If successful, this means she may not receive a criminal conviction.
This past week several people called my attention to a post by Scott Johnson on his influential PowerLine blog that addressed the literary relationship between Barack Obama and his radical friend, Bill Ayers.

In the post Johnson spoke of his high regard for David Garrows staggeringly researched 2017 Obama biography, Rising Star. Without resolving all mysteries, Johnson writes, [Garrows] scholarship belies the notion that [Dreams from My Father] was ghostwritten by Bill Ayers or other such collaborator.

Johnson emailed Garrow to follow up on the authorship question, and Garrow responded, 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.

I do know where the Ayers stuff got started because I started it with a major assist from American Thinker on these pages on October 9, 2008. I never said Ayers wrote Dreams, but I presented overwhelming literary forensic evidence that Ayers, a skilled writer and editor, helped Obama shape Dreams.

I did not advance this theory casually. I understood then what Obama biographer David Remnick would later affirm, namely that my theory, if ever proved true, or believed to be true among enough voters, could have been the end of [Obamas] candidacy.

My research on this topic, aided by several helpful literary detectives, culminated in my 2011 book, published by Simon & Schuster, Deconstructing Obama. I think I can safely assume Garrow has never read it. I would invite those curious about the evidence to read the book or even to read the preliminary article cited above.

That Garrow does not know the source of a theory he dismisses offhand as beyond loony is, unfortunately, altogether typical of establishment political writers. His airy dismissal, in fact, reinforces the theme of my forthcoming book Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency.

In the book, I use the phrase samizdat -- Russian for underground press -- to describe the loose coalition of conservative blogs, online publications, talk radio shows, and legal monitors such as Judicial Watch that challenged the Left -- and, occasionally, the responsible right -- for control of the Obama narrative.

For eight-plus years, the samizdat broke virtually every major unflattering story about Obama and his presidency, some of which the major media grudgingly confirmed, some of which they continue to suppress. In the book I tell how the individuals in question managed to break these stories out. In every case, as you might imagine, the samizdat journalists were met with condescension, if not outright contempt, from the major media.

Obamas biographers were among the more contemptuous. Curiously, the four major biographers are all named David -- Mendell, Remnick, Maraniss, and Garrow. The last three are Pulitzer Prize winners. To his credit, Garrow was the only one of the four who refused to prop up what Remnick called Obamas signature appeal: the use of the details of his own life as a reflection of a kind of multicultural ideal.

The story Obama told about his happy multicultural family at the conventions was pure fiction. According to Garrow, Obamas mother, Ann Dunham, and Barack Obama Sr. never chose to live together at any time following the onset of Anns pregnancy. Garrow quotes approvingly one unnamed scholar to the effect that Obama Sr. was no more than a sperm donor in his sons life. All of this was common knowledge in the samizdat as early as 2008, but it came as news to many of Garrows readers in 2017.

Like his fellow Davids, however, Garrow has no use for information gleaned from the samizdat, especially information I introduced. On the subject of the Obama poem Pop, for instance, Garrow notes, Most commentators presumed that Obama had written about his grandfather, Stan Dunham, not Frank Marshall Davis.

This much was true, but hostile critics, Garrow continues, insisted the poem was about Obamas bi-sexual Communist mentor, Davis. The hostile critics Garrow cites in the footnotes are historian Paul Kengor and me.

Instead of giving me credit for being the first to decode Pop, Garrow describes me in the footnote as someone who is cited with the greatest reluctance. What I did to deserve this slight is left unsaid, especially since Garrow knows I nailed the identity of Pop two years before anyone in the mainstream media did, including the other Davids.

As to Bill Ayerss involvement in the writing of Dreams, Garrow does not even deign to dismiss the possibility. He has a discovery of his own, namely that outside literary help came from a law school buddy of Obamas named Rob Fisher. This is an important find if for no other reason than it undercuts Obamas 2008 boast to a crowd of schoolteachers, "I've written two books. I actually wrote them myself."

An established economist before starting law school, Fisher became good friends with Obama at Harvard. There, they co-authored a manuscript that perhaps prophetically was never finished. One completed chapter dealt with the always sexy topic of plant closings.

The quest is to develop guidelines, they wrote, on how politically progressive movements can use the market mechanism to promote social goals. Garrow quotes the unfinished manuscript extensively. Its style is wonkish and ungainly throughout.

Sentences like the following suggest that one author wrote as awkwardly as the other: While Yuppies can afford the expensive frivolities provided by The Sharper Image, others receive insufficient nutrition to allow their minds to develop properly.

I do not question Fishers involvement. Obama needed all the help he could get. What I do question is Fishers ability to provide the poetry, the rage, the postmodern rhetoric, and the Homeric structure that inspired Oona King of the London Times to overpraise Dreams as a beautifully written personal memoir steeped in honesty.

Garrow seems to dismiss my thesis for no more substantial reason than his belief that Dreams was already in galley form when Barack and Bill first get to know each other. Garrow traces the first meeting of these two gentlemen to a breakfast some time in early 1995. He bases this timing on the suspiciously well-remembered account of a common friend who claims to have introduced them.

Garrow, however, has a problem with chronology. He writes that Obama took six weeks off from his law firm job in late spring 1994 to finish Dreams. He needed time to complete the books third section, the one on Africa. Garrow claims Obama worked largely from letters he sent in 1988 while in Kenya and retrieved from his girlfriend at the time, Sheila Jager.

David Maraniss told a different story in his 2012 bio. According to Maranisss source, Crown editor Henry Ferris, Obama made an additional trip to Kenya for further research. Obama confirmed this trip when interviewed by Marannis. Garrow makes no mention of this mysterious trip, which would have taken place in 1994. No one else does either. Like much in his life, Obama appears to have made it up.

A more likely possibility is that Obama lied to Ferris about the trip. Instead of going to Kenya, Obama may have contented himself with going to the local library and pillaging the memoirs of longtime Kenya resident Kuki Gallmann.

This is the theory proposed by tireless researcher Shawn Glasco. He was intrigued by the many words and phrases in Dreams that also appeared in Gallmanns book, African Nights, which was published in 1994. These include Baobab [a tree], bhang [cannabis], boma [an enclosure], samosa [a fried snack], shamba [a farm field], liana [a vine], tilapia [a fish], kanga [a sheet of fabric], shuka [decorative sashes], and many, many more.

Based on Garrows imprecise timeline, Obama flew to New York to hand the completed book off to Ferris no later than early June 1994. In other words, he spent six weeks to finish the last third of the 400-page book between late spring 1994 and early June 1994, which is, in fact, late spring.

In his 2009 book, Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage, celebrity biographer Christopher Andersen offers a much more credible account of how Obama managed to finish a project that hung over his head ever since he finished law school.

According to Andersens two sources in Chicagos Hyde Park, Obama found himself deeply in debt and hopelessly blocked. At Michelles urging, Obama sought advice from his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers. Noting that Obama had already taped interviews with many of his relatives, both African and American, Andersen elaborated, These oral histories, along with his partial manuscript and a trunkload of notes were given to Ayers. Andersens six-page account makes sense, logically and chronologically, but Garrow fully ignores it.

Andersen is a best-selling, mainstream author. He even appeared on MSNBCs Hardball to discuss the book. Said Chris Matthews at the end of the interview, Youre amazing, successful guy. You have a winning streak here. Matthews likely did not read the book. Garrow did read it and cites the book in the footnotes but, oddly, not on the subject of authorship.

Garrow nonetheless offers some valuable insights into the Ayers-Obama relationship, insights that I believe strengthen my thesis. Once Ayers helped launch Obamas political career in 1995, Garrow writes, Barack and Michelle began to see a great deal more of not only Bill and Bernardine [Dohrn] but also their three closest friends, Rashid and Mona Khalidi and Carole Travis."

According to Garrow, the three couples attended "almost nightly dinners together up until the time Obama ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004. This information, of course, makes complete hash out of Obamas infamous claim during a 2008 debate that Ayers was just a guy who lives in my neighborhood.

Khalidi, a radical Palestinian, begins his 2004 book, Resurrecting Empire, with a tribute to his own literary muse. First, chronologically and in other ways, writes Khalidi, comes Bill Ayers. Unlike the calculating Obama, Khalidi had no reason to be coy about this relationship. He elaborates, Bill was particularly generous in letting me use his familys dining room table to do some writing for the project. Khalidi did not need the table. He had one of his own. He needed help from the skilled neighborhood editor and writer who obviously could and would provide it.

There is nothing loony about Bill Ayers helping a good friend finish his book. That is what Ayers did. He was grooming Obama for higher office and was savvy enough to keep his writing relationship with Obama under wraps. Being a friend of a terrorist, Ayers knew, would not exactly help Obamas career.

Jack Cashills most recent book, a political thriller called The Hunt co-authored with Mike McMullen, is available wherever you buy books. For a signed collectors edition, see www.TheHuntBook.com.
Businesses are likely to suffer tax payment difficulties as the coronavirus spreads, Revenue officials now fear.

It is understood some firms are already experiencing cashflow problems as a result of the virus outbreak, and the Revenue Commissioners are set to issue advice to those affected, to engage in early talks to keep their tax compliance record on track.

They will be advised to send in their tax returns on time and engage early if they run into or are facing difficulties to avail of phased payment arrangements.

The economic fallout from the virus is also hitting wholesalers importing school supplies, toys and household goods from China, who are considering layoffs. Those who import up to half their stock from the source of the outbreak have been seeking advice as supplies dry up after factories halted production.

"The wholesalers are under pressure at the minute," said Isme chief executive Neil McDonnell.

"One wholesaler who will be stocking out has been asking about laying people off and has been trying to find alternative suppliers at trade shows in the UK."

Ryanair has already told staff that layoffs may be on the agenda after asking them to volunteer for unpaid leave after bookings plunged.

A private memo to Cabinet this week raised fears of an economic shock. But even after six cases of the virus in the Republic so far, most staff are working as usual unless they show symptoms of the virus.

Where this has happened, remote working has allowed multinationals to maintain a semblance of 'business as usual'. Most of Google's 8,000-strong workforce, and staff at Twitter and Indeed have been asked to work from home while they deep cleaned their offices after some workers displayed flu-like symptoms. This has hurt a lot of small coffee and sandwich suppliers.

The experience has allowed the tech giants to monitor productivity in case of a bigger outbreak.

But there are many employers including nursing homes, pubs, restaurants and hotels who cannot offer the working from home option, and it is questionable how long the high-tech giants could operate with a remote workforce if the virus takes hold here.

In a worst-case scenario across the water, the UK government has estimated that one in five workers could be off sick with the virus at the height of an epidemic.

Britain's battle plan for dealing with a worst-case scenario also promises to overhaul its sick pay rules.

There has not been a similar approach here yet.

However, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said staff who are not actually sick but advised by medics to self-isolate will get illness benefit.

However, no payment is made for the first six days of illness for those claiming the State benefit.

Siptu economist Michael Taft yesterday described the State's sick pay system as "anaemic".

Last night general secretary of the Irish Congress of Tradue Unions (Ictu), Patricia King, wrote to the Taoiseach seeking state payments for workers who can't afford to self-isolate as they have no sick pay scheme at work.

"Put bluntly, some workers through no fault of their own may simply be unable to afford to self-isolate," she said in the letter.
Shocking footage has emerged of a woman snatching a 24-pack of toilet paper from a distracted shopper.

The man with the stash of toilet paper was arguing with another customer inside the Sydney supermarket when the ruthless shopper charged towards him.

While the man has his back to his stash, the woman quickly swipes one of his packs.

Before the man has time to stop her, she had stormed off down the aisle.

He can then be seen grabbing his remaining packs of the high-demand product.

The footage comes as Australians raid supermarket shelves, stripping them clean of toilet paper. They have been driven by fears of a global coronavirus pandemic.

Toilet paper companies Kleenex and Sorbent have assured customers they are working to kep up with demand.

However, shoppers are continuing to pile up their trolley's with any rolls they can get their hands on.

On Wednesday a woman allegedly pulled a knife on another customer during an argument over toilet paper at a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney's west.

Amid the chaos, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken out and encouraged Australians to go about their business as usual.

CHEEKY: A woman was caught snatching a 24-pack of toilet paper from another customer

Mr Morrison said he had consulted with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, with the fallout affecting global supply chains and consumers 'panic buying' as the crisis continues to escalate.

Last week the Government initiated its Emergency Response plan, meaning the health sector is working to prepare for an outbreak, however, at this stage it does not mean a lot for the general public.

Under a worse-case-scenario public gatherings will be cancelled, people will have to work from home and aged care homes will be placed into lock down.

A man can be seen with 10 packets of toilet paper piled into a trolley as shoppers scramble to get their hands on the product

Experts have advised residents to prepare but not panic.

University of Queensland virologist Ian Mackay suggested buying 'a few extra non-perishable items' when doing your weekly shop, ABC reported.

John Robertson, the CEO of organisation Foodbank Australia recommended grabbing a few tins of soup, pet food and baby formula.

Other recommended items to keep in the house include matches, batteries and a torch.
Coronavirus is now a reality in India, with 29 cases confirmed all over the nation by the first half of Thursday. Stars and filmmakers across Bollywood and the southern film industry have united to spread awareness about the disease and stop panic on social media.

Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu shared a list of dos and don'ts on Instagram story. The list includes observing good personal hygiene, frequently washing hands with soap, covering one's mouth while sneezing and coughing, refraining from consumption of raw or undercooked meat, refraining from travelling to farms, live animal markets or where animals are slaughtered.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has suggested avoiding handshake or hugging. He has insisted on traditional Indian ways of greeting like salaam and namaste. Sharing Salman's post on Instagram, actress Bipasha Basu wrote: "With Awareness and good hygiene we can fight anything. Well said @beingsalmankhan."

Not mentioning coronavirus directly, director Rohit Shetty has reposted nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar's post pertaining to "Common sense to deal with uncommon threats" on Instagram. The post offers tips like having amla daily, consumption of turmeric milk at night, hot water bath with neem leaves, washing hands before eating and refraining from shaking hands. Veteran actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha took to Twitter to spread awareness through a series of tweets. In one tweet, he has appealed to all to stop rumor mongering. "From #SafdarjungHospital & to all other hospitals. The fear that has gripped the city/nation should be cleared out by the media who can play an important role by preventing outright negative & fake news. Rumour mongering must stop. Media can be positive & responsible in these fearful & stressful times. They can also be very helpful in keeping the matter calm & fruitful. #CaronaVirus"

from #SafdarjungHospital & to all other hospitals. The fear that has gripped the city/nation should be cleared out by the media who can play an important role by preventing outright negative & fake news. Rumour mongering must stop. Media can be positive & responsible in these  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) March 5, 2020

Advising all to drink hot water in another tweet, he wrote: "This time, the Wuhan virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed at a temperature of 26-27 degrees. Therefore, drink more hot water. You can tell your friends and relatives to drink more hot water to prevent it. Go under the Sun. It has been cold recently, and drinking hot water is also very comfortable. It is not a cure and is good for the body. Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink ice, remember!"

This time, the Wuhan virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed at a temperature of 26-27 degrees. Therefore, drink more hot water. You can tell your friends and relatives to drink more hot water to prevent it. Go under the Sun. It has been cold recently, and drinking hot  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) March 5, 2020

Director Ram Gopal Varma took to Twitter to sarcastically express: "If there are much lesser number of cases in India, it either means we are just plain lucky or that coronavirus doesn't like Indians much."

If there are much lesser number of cases in India , it either means we are just plain lucky or that coronavirus doesnt like Indians much  Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) March 4, 2020

Director Anubhav Sinha also shared the same point as Ram Gopal Varma that the number of cases in India is very low and requested everyone not to panic.

He tweeted: "Influenza kills more people every year. We are panicking because we think this shit is new and there is no cure for it. But the truth is that the mortality rate is very low. So... #DontPanic #Corona BUT #TakeCare."

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri tweeted: "A doctor told me that people who stay too much in central AC environment have a higher chance of catching Corona Virus than those who stay in open and natural environment. By that logic urban areas are more susceptible than villages."

Follow @News18Movies for more 
A worker shields a patient on a stretcher being taken to an ambulance at the Life Care Center of Kirkland in Washington state on Feb. 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Washington and NY State Officials Optimistic About Hospital Capacity to Treat Coronavirus

As coronavirus deaths in the United States rose to 12 on March 5, the majority of which were in Washington state, that states health department said its hospitals have the capacity to deal with the crisis.

Hospitals all have differing capacities for accepting patients. There are many hospitals in Washington equipped to accept patients with infectious diseases, Danielle Koenig from the Washington State Department of Health told The Epoch Times in an email.

The reason some COVID-19 cases were sent to Spokane [Providence St. Joseph Health] last month is because that hospital is one of 10 in the nation with a highly specialized setup, she said.

In an effort to reduce the burden on hospitals, public health officials in Washington state have asked that people who believe they may have the virus to first get tested by their health care provider and self-isolate at home, instead of heading straight to an emergency room, Koenig said.

King County and the state have both identified or set up isolation facilities where people who are mildly sick or are recovering can stay to free up hospital capacity for those who need it most, she said.

On March 5, at least 230 known coronavirus cases were reported from 20 states, while five among the dead had a connection to a single placethe Life Care Center, a long-term nursing home in a Seattle suburb.

Life Care Center of Kirkland in Washington state on Feb. 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

In New York, the number of cases of infection rose to 22 on March 5 and the State Health Department told The Epoch Times that its preparing to monitor its hospital capacity over the crisis.

The Department has implemented a process to monitor hospital capacity including tracking the number of vacant hospital beds, number of isolation units, as well as emergency department activity, spokesperson Jill Montag said.

The Department will continue tracking these measures and will continue working with the hospital community to ensure continuity of health care services, she said.

Montag said the health department maintains a stockpile of medical equipment that includes personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and antivirals.

During the current COVID-19 response, the Department has already supplied hospitals across the state with N-95 respirators and other PPE to help mitigate any supply shortages currently being realized due to COVID-19, she said.

Capacity Varies From State to State

While officials expressed confidence in dealing with the crisis, one expert said hospital capacity varies from state to state, and there are marked differences between preparedness in urban and rural areas.

If the number of coronavirus patients requiring in-hospital care is low or moderate, owing to containment of the spread of the disease through better monitoring and in-home quarantines, most hospitals will be able to manage demands on them, Alan Sager, director of the health reform program of Boston Universitys School of Public Health told The Epoch Times in an email.

But even this will vary enormously from state to state. Oregon and Washington are the two lowest states in acute hospital bed/population ratios. Californias also near the bottom, he said.

Sager noted that there are 800,000 licensed beds in the United States and the average daily census of occupancy in 2018 was 507,700.

That suggests almost 300,000 empty beds on an average day, ready to serve patients. But thats not so, he said.

The 300,000 empty beds are not staffed, and hospitals would have to persuade RNs [registered nurses] to work overtime or hire more RNs to care for patients.

Sager said this may further vary as the bed occupancy is higher on weekdays and during the winter, but lower during the summer and weekends.

Many years, hospitals are stretched to capacity in some parts of the nation by the winter flu. Will they have the capacity to stretch further to care for patients with breathing or other problems stemming from coronavirus that cant be managed safely at home? he said.

In rural areas, the situation is further worrisome, since hospitals have historically been clinically and financially stressed, Sager said.

The two stresses are connected. Many rural areas have been losing doctors to relocation, retirement, and death; too few doctors have replaced those departing. Without doctors to admit and care for patients, hospitals suffer declines in delivery of needed care, patients, and revenue, he said.

Sager expressed optimism, however, saying that the $4 trillion spent on U.S. health care in 2020 is five times higher than defense spending this year and is sufficient to pay for health care for everyone.

Its time to make sure that money is spent wellto do as much as possible to protect the health of the public from infectious diseases and all the other ills that can afflict humans, he said.
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Linkedin Orhan Coskun and Tuvan Gumrukcu (Reuters) Ankara, Turkey  Thu, March 5, 2020 18:01 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20689b633 2 World Russia-meddling,Erdogan,Vladimir-Putin,Turkey,Syria,Syria-cease-fire,Syria-war Free

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan flew to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin over a potential ceasefire in Syria's Idlib, where their militaries are facing off in a war that has displaced nearly a million people in three months.

A senior Turkish official told Reuters that a ceasefire was likely to be finally agreed at the meeting, after weeks of diplomacy failed to halt fighting between Turkey and allied Syrian rebels and Russian-backed Syrian government forces.

"Political diplomacy will be more determinant today than military diplomacy," the official said.

Russian air strikes have propelled a push by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces to retake the last large rebel-held territory in the northwest.

That has sparked what the United Nations says may be the worst humanitarian crisis in a nine-year war that has driven millions from their homes and killed hundreds of thousands.

Turkey, which has the second largest army in the transatlantic NATO alliance, has funneled troops and equipment into the region in recent weeks to resist the government advance and avoid a wave of refugees over its southern border.

The fighting has killed some 60 Turkish troops since early February and raised the prospect of a direct clash between Russia and Turkey, which operate on opposing sides of the front lines.

More civilians die

A Turkish security official said overnight clashes were "low in intensity for the first time in a while" ahead of the Moscow meeting, but Idlib residents reported heavy shelling by Turkish troops and air strikes by Russian and Syrian forces.

At least 16 civilians were killed when Russian air strikes hit a gathering of internally displaced people near the town of Maarat Misrin in Idlib, according to civil defense workers helping clear the rubble and search for survivors.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the strikes hit civilians sheltering in a farm.

Two witnesses also reported seeing more Turkish military reinforcements deploying into Idlib.

The Turkish defense ministry said in the last 24 hours it destroyed four tanks, five rocket launchers and a dozen military vehicles in artillery and air strikes.

Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees and says it cannot handle more. To extract more funding and support from Europe over Idlib, Ankara said it would not abide by a 2016 deal in which it stopped migrants crossing into the European Union in return for billions of euros in aid.

Erdogan, who was due to meet Putin at 1100 GMT, said on Wednesday he expected his talks with Putin to reach a rapid ceasefire in northwest Syria.

Turkey wants Russia to "use its influence to ensure the attacks stop, a ceasefire is established and the Sochi agreement is re-established," another Turkish official said of the 2018 deal signed by Moscow and Ankara establishing a demilitarized zone on the edge of the Idlib region.

The official added that US counterparts on Wednesday pledged Washington's "unconditional" support for Turkish military and humanitarian activities in Idlib.

James Jeffrey, the US special representative for Syria who met Turkish officials on Wednesday, told a conference in Istanbul on Thursday that while the United States supports Turkey, it still has "very serious concerns" over Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defenses last year.
LEXINGTON, Mass. and AMSTERDAM, March 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- uniQure N.V. (QURE), a leading gene therapy company advancing transformative therapies for patients with severe medical needs, today announced that it will participate in the following upcoming conferences in March:



Cowen 40 th Annual Health Care Conference, March 2  4, Boston, MA.



 Matt Kapusta, chief executive officer at uniQure, will be presenting a corporate update today, March 3, at 9:20 a.m. ET. The live webcast of the corporate update can be accessed through the link displayed in the Investor section of the uniQure website. The webcast replay will be available for at least 72 hours following the live event. Members of uniQures management team also will participate in one-on-one investor meetings throughout the day.



Gene Therapy for Blood Disorders Conference, March 3  5, Boston, MA.



 Sander van Deventer, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president, research & product development at uniQure, will present Evaluating Immunogenic Responses in Systemic Administration: Determining the Right Dose on Wednesday, March 4, at 3:45 p.m. ET.



 Eileen Sawyer, Ph.D., vice president, global medical affairs of uniQure, will participate in a panel discussion: Assessing the Commercial Realities of Launching Gene Therapies in the Blood Disorder Space, on Wednesday, March 4, at 9:15 a.m. ET.



BioCapital Europe by LSP, March 12, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.



 A corporate update will be presented by Christian Klemt, chief accounting officer of uniQure, on Thursday, March 12, at 9:30 a.m. CET.



2020 Summit Meeting on in vivo Gene Therapy and Editing Presented by Chardan, March 23  24, Miami, FL.



 Sander van Deventer will present on the Companys clinical development for hemophilia B on Monday, March 23, at 2:20 p.m. ET, and participate in a panel discussion on AAV gene therapy March 23 at 3:45 p.m. ET.



4 th Annual Gene Therapy for Rare Disorders 2020 Summit, March 30  April 2, Boston, MA.



 Alex Kuta, Ph.D., executive vice president operations at uniQure, will present Extracting Meaningful Data from Clinical Trials to Present to Regulatory Agencies on Tuesday, March 31, at 2:30 p.m. ET.



Clinical Biomarkers & World CDx Europe 2020 Conference, March 31  April 1, London, U.K.



 Astrid Valles-Sanchez, Ph.D., senior scientist at uniQure will be presenting Translatable Biomarkers in Gene Therapy for Huntington Disease: Innovative Approaches & Learnings from Pre-Clinic to the Clinic on Tuesday, March 31, at 3:30 p.m. GMT.



 In addition, she will participate in the panel discussion Precision Medicine Beyond Oncology on March 31, at 4:30 p.m. GMT.

Story continues

About uniQure

uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy  single treatments with potentially curative results. We are leveraging our modular and validated technology platform to rapidly advance a pipeline of proprietary gene therapies to treat patients with hemophilia B, hemophilia A, Huntington's disease, Fabry disease, spinocerebellar ataxia Type 3 and other diseases. www.uniQure.com

uniQure Contacts:
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray cited Prime Minister Narendra Modis example to ask people for subdued Holi celebrations and avoidance of large gatherings as precautions to contain coronavirus on Thursday. He, however, added that there was not a single case of coronavirus in the state and therefore there was no need to worry.

Thackeray was replying to concerns raised by MLAs who asked the government to take the outbreak seriously.

There is no need to be afraid of the situation as of now. We dont have a single coronavirus positive case in Maharashtra. But we will have to take all the precautions for the next 8-10 days, the chief minister said.

Uddhav said he prayed that coronavirus virus was burnt in the Holi fire, however, he advised caution to the people of the state citing Prime Minister Narendra Modis example.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that he will not be participating in Holi celebrations this year. We also have to make Holi celebrations as limited as possible. After the swine flu outbreak, we had avoided Dahi Handi celebrations in Mumbai and around, Thackeray said, adding, I pray coronavirus gets burnt in Holi fire.

Apart from the PM, home minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda, too, have announced they wont celebrate Holi in view of the coronavirus spread in India.

Uddhav said the government was taking all the precautions to avoid any outbreak in the state, including directing all the private hospitals to prepare isolation wards to deal with any situation.

We have started testing passengers of all international flights. The conservancy staff has been provided all the safety gear so that they do not get affected. Five-star hotels have also been directed to ensure medical tests of all guests, the chief minister said.

He also announced plans to undertake an awareness campaign to spread information about dos and donts to fight coronavirus.

A total of 30 positive cases of coronavirus have been detected in India so far.

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And then there were three.

After a frenzied four days that completely upended the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, the remaining primary voters in the United States were on Wednesday left with three viable choices (down from more than 25 one year ago) for the candidate they want to face President Donald Trump in the November general election  Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.

After an abysmal showing on Super Tuesday, in which he managed to carry only the US territory of American Samoa, billionaire Michael Bloomberg exited the race and endorsed Biden on Wednesday morning, saying it was clear that remaining in the race would make his ultimate goal of defeating Trump more difficult.

Elizabeth Warren huddled with advisers on Wednesday to determine if there was a reason to stay in the race after her wipe-out on Tuesday. She did not win a single state and finished in third place, after Biden and Sanders, in her own home state of Massachusetts.

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who won a delegate in the caucuses in American Samoa, is technically still in the race but currently polling at about 1 percent nationally.

While Biden won 10 of the 14 Super Tuesday states, including delegate-rich Texas and a broad swath of the South, Sanders demonstrated his strength by winning California, the nations biggest state.





Sighs of relief

Establishment Democrats were breathing a sigh of relief on Wednesday.

What we faced a week ago was the moderate-progressive movement or base in Virginia splitting four ways among Democratic contenders, said Congressman Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat who supports Biden. Im really encouraged by it, and I feel much more optimistic now about being able to keep the House, take back the Senate and win the presidency.

Sanders and his supporters showed no signs of surrender, insisting that he can energise enough young voters to drive the party to a victory in the general election.

The American people have got to understand that this is a conflict about ideas, about a record, about a vision of how we go forward, he said at a news conference in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday.

Congresswoman Primila Jayapal, a Democrat who co-chairs the House progressive caucus and who has endorsed Sanders, said that as the race narrows to a two-person contest, Sanders will do more to reach out to black, Latino and older voters.

For Bernie Sanders, he is going to have to figure out how to reach out to older voters and to black voters to build the kind of coalition that is now required in a two-person race, because its a very different race, Jayapal said.

The Sanders campaign sees Biden a vulnerable with a number of key constituencies, Jayapal said. Biden is not winning any Latino voters so he is going to have some challenges, she told reporters at the US Capitol.

Echoes of 2016

The Sanders-Biden race as it is now unfolding has echoes of Sanders face-off in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, another moderate candidate who was deemed a safer choice until her stunning loss to Trump in the general election. Unfortunately for Sanders, his path to victory in 2020 is riddled with the same stumbling blocks that tripped him up in 2016.

For one thing, the calendar of primaries ahead  Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Idaho, and Washington on March 10th, and Florida, Illinois and Ohio on March 17th  is dominated by states that Sanders, with a few exceptions, lost to Hillary in 2016.

Another Achilles heel for Sanders in 2016, his lack of support among black voters, was apparent in Tuesdays results as well. Biden swept the Southern states where African-American voters make up a big chunk of the Demcratic base, garnering as much as 72 percent of the black vote in Alabama and 60 percent in Virginia, according to exit polls.

The bright spot for Sanders was the Latino vote, which he handily carried in places where it matters. In California, Sanders won 49 percent of Latino voters to Bidens 19 percent, and in Texas he won 39 percent compared with Bidens 26 percent.

The revolution on which Sanders has hung his candidacy, however, one that promised a surge of passionate young voters, didnt materialize Tuesday. The turnout was there, especially in Virginia which saw record numbers at the polls, but the votes were for Biden, not Sanders.

According to exit polls conducted by Edison Research, not a single state saw an increase in young voters share of the electorate on Tuesday.

Joe Biden addresses supporters as his wife Jill looks on at his Super Tuesday night rally in Los Angeles, California [Mike Blake/Reuters]

Ukraine makes a comeback

Biden is far from running away with the race, though, and has his own baggage that will weigh him down if he wins the nomination.

At 77 years old, he is hardly the picture of youthful exuberance (Sanders is 78) and is prone to frequent gaffes at which Trump frequently pokes fun. When Biden took the stage in Los Angeles on Tuesday night to celebrate, in fact, the first thing he did was accidentally confuse his wife and sister.

Then, there is Ukraine. All-but-ignored by Trump and the Republicans when Biden was foundering, questions about his dealings, along with those of his son, Hunter, in that country have already resurfaced. On Wednesday, Republicans in the US Senate announced a new phase of their investigation into the matter, which was litigated at length during the impeachment trial of the president in January.

A remaining wildcard in the race is whether Bloomberg, who spent more than half a billion dollars of his own money on his run, will turn his massive campaign operation towards the Democrats larger goal of defeating Trump in November.

Bidens deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said Biden is thrilled to have Bloombergs support. But she said conversations about what Bloombergs endorsement means in practice are ongoing.

To secure the nomination, Sanders or Biden will need to claim 1,991 delegates, a majority of the 3,979 pledged delegates available this primary season.

Votes were still being counted Wednesday, but by most tallies, Biden had racked up 566 delegates, Sanders 501 and Warren 61. The numbers are expected to shift as new states report their numbers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 22:33:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RIGA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Motorists from many regions of Latvia blocked roads with their automobiles and tractors on Thursday in protest against a municipal reform planned by the Baltic nation's center-right government coalition, local media reported.

The protests on Latvia's roads were staged as lawmakers started hearing a bill on the reform intended to reduce the fragmentation of the country's administrative map by merging several small municipalities into larger ones in order to consolidate resources.

According to the original plan, proposed by the Regional Development Ministry, the number of Latvia's municipalities would have been reduced from 199 to 35. But later the government agreed to add one more municipality and allowed three more cities to remain as separate municipalities without merging them with their respective surrounding districts.

The reform plan triggered the motorized demonstration, which was staged in at least 20 districts and two cities.

With 40 local governments' support, protestors drove their vehicles at the speed of 10 km per hour, honking their horns.

Police who monitored the protest acknowledged that the motorists complied with traffic rules and the protest passed off peacefully without incidents.

Meanwhile, around 200 people with posters in their hands gathered outside the parliament building in Riga to express their opposition to the controversial reform. Residents of Latvia's northwestern port city of Ventspils, for instance, demanded an autonomous status for their city.

The municipal reform bill's passage through parliament is likely to be a time-consuming process. But lawmakers want to adopt all the necessary legislation by May 2020, before the next municipal elections.
A cruise ship with about 2,500 people on board is being held off the coast of California at San Francisco after a former passenger died from coronavirus.

The 71-year-old had taken a cruise on the Grand Princess from San Francisco to Mexico but then died two weeks after returning to Placer County, near Sacramento, California health officials said. He had underlying health conditions.

The ship had travelled on to Hawaii and then returned to California and is now being held off the coast so federal health officials can screen passengers and crew members.

Sixty-two people who were on the cruise with the victim and remained with the ship have been confined to their cabins for testing.

The Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge as it arrives from Hawaii in San Francisco / AP

Hours after the persons death was announced, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency in response to the coronavirus, which he said has resulted in 53 cases across the nations most populous state.

The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus, Mr Newsom said in a statement.

He added that said the cruise ship would not be allowed into port until passengers had been tested for the virus.

We are holding that ship off the coast, Mr Newsom said.

California governor Gavin Newsom / AFP via Getty Images

The US death toll from coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles, while Seattle-area health officials discouraged social gatherings amid the nations largest outbreak.

Six new coronavirus patients were confirmed in Los Angeles County, public health officials said.

One was a federal contractor who may have been exposed while conducting medical screenings at Los Angeles International Airport, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported.

Three others likely were infected while travelling recently to northern Italy, one of the areas hardest hit in the global outbreak. Of the six in Los Angeles County, only one has been hospitalised. The other five are recovering in home isolation.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 under the microscope / National Institutes of Health/AF

The greater Seattle region represents the biggest concentration of cases detected in the United States from a virus that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, mostly in China, where the epidemic originated in December.

With most of the Seattle-area cases not linked to travel or exposure to people who might have been infected abroad, that means the virus has gone from being an imported phenomenon to taking up residence in Washington state, health officials say.

At least 18 cases, including six deaths, were connected to a long-term nursing facility for the elderly, called LifeCare Center of Kirkland, in a Seattle suburb.

Seattle health authorities urged a number of measures for curbing further spread of the disease, including recommendations for anyone aged 60 and older and individuals with underlying chronic health problems or compromised immunity to stay home and away from large gatherings and public places.

They also urged companies to allow their employees to work from home as much as possible, stagger shifts to ease commuter congestion on public transportation and avoid large work-related gatherings.

The distancing measures that were recommending are essential because we need to slow the spread of the disease to the point where we are able to continue to handle the load, said Patty Hayes, the public health director for Seattle and King County.

A growing number of U.S. companies are adopting such steps. On Wednesday Microsoft asked its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and in the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25.

Vice president Mike Pence attended a conference with a potential coronavirus victim / AFP via Getty Images

In New York state, the number of cases rose to 10 on Wednesday. Three family members and a neighbor of a lawyer who was previously identified as infected tested positive. The neighbors wife and three of his children have also contracted the virus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

About 1,000 people in suburban Westchester County, where the two families live, were under self-quarantine orders because of possible exposure, Cuomo said.

We are, if anything, being overcautious, he said.

AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, said Wednesday that people in a group from New York that attended its 18,000-person policy conference in Washington, D.C., this week potentially had been in contact with an individual who contacted the coronavirus before the conference.

Dozens of Congress members attended the conference, as well as Vice President Mike Pence.

As the world tries to tackle and contain coronavirus US lawmakers reached bipartisan agreement on an $8.3 billion emergency bill to help fund efforts to contain the virus. The bill garnered enough votes to pass in the House of Representatives.

More than $3 billion would be devoted to research and development of coronavirus vaccines, test kits and therapeutics. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the fast-spreading illness.

The administration is working to allow laboratories to develop their own coronavirus tests without seeking regulatory approval first, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said.

The latest data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention listed 129 confirmed and presumed cases in the United States, up from the previous 108. They were 80 reported by public health authorities in 13 states plus 49 among people repatriated from abroad, according to the CDC website.
The show must go on.

And it is at movie houses and live theaters across the Portland area even as public concern about the coronavirus outbreak spreads. Venues say they are staying up to date on the latest from the Oregon Health Authority and are implementing basic plans for increased cleanliness to blunt the virus spread. These measures include:

Staff being instructed to wash their hands more often and more vigorously than usual;

Hand-sanitizer dispensers placed prominently around the building;

Frequent cleaning of surfaces with disinfectant, especially those in high-touch spots like door handles, sink faucets and handrails;

Management is encouraging employees who are feeling under the weather to take paid sick time.

Portlands Centers for the Arts -- the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Winningstad Theatre, Keller Auditorium, Newmark Theatre and Brunish Theatre -- is also sanitizing its buildings each day via an electrostatic disinfectant sprayer. The popular Disney musical Frozen opens at the Keller Thursday.

Seeing as the first COVID-19 case in Oregon popped up just a week ago, its too early to know if the coronavirus is going to significantly undercut theaters bottom lines.

So far it has not impacted attendance at all -- last night we had over 300 people for Clueless and the night before we had 275 people for B Movie Bingo, Hollywood Theatre executive director Doug Whyte said in an email. And yesterday The Killer with John Woo sold out in 7 minutes! So it appears people are still up for going out to the movies!

Showcasing classic movies is a long-standing tradition at Hollywood Theatre -- which could end up protecting its business during this uncertain time. Production on the next Mission: Impossible movie shut down in Italy, which is dealing with one of the worlds worst coronavirus outbreaks. And the release date of the latest James Bond movie has just been pushed back from April to November, its producers stated, after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace.

For now, however, few such disruptions have reached the Portland metro area.

The Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) kicked off Thursday with one workshop cancellation because of a participants inability to travel. Otherwise, the festival is off and running. PIFF says it has implemented recommended protocols, and it points out that Portland Art Museum, where many festival events take place, already features sophisticated UV filtration to protect artwork.

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Some local venues recognize that the public-health situation is fluid, and so they are being open-minded about refunds and rescheduling. PIFF, for example, offers a phone number for questions about ticket exchanges (503-221-1156). And Portland Center Stage at The Armory told customers Thursday that if they dont feel well enough to come to the theater, our staff is ready to assist you to find another day to attend. There will be no additional fees for ticket exchanges.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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NXTsoft is pleased that our OmniConnect solution will offer BankLabs an expedient way to connect their construction loan automation solution with the financial institutions for which it was designed, providing meaningful lower operational cost with this enhanced automation.

NXTsoft (http://www.nxtsoft.com), a company focused on delivering secure data solutions to the market space announced today a partnership with Little Rock, Arkansas based BankLabs (http://www.banklabs.com). BankLabs delivers market-leading construction loan and payment software as well as other products that generate new fee income, attract deposits and create new loan volume for institutional lenders.

BankLabs will utilize NXTsofts OmniConnect API Suite to offer secure, direct integration into core banking general ledger systems for real-time distribution of construction loan funding. This integration with the OmniConnect API Suite will offer BankLabs customers an automated service to reduce human error associated with manual entry or general ledger adjustments.

NXTsofts OmniConnect solutions provides BankLabs an array of data integration points to best serve the industry with end to end digitization of processes, said Matt Johnner, president and co-founder of BankLabs.

BankLabs is one of the many market leaders that NXTsoft is partnering with as they continue to successfully execute a strategy of API and data access outside of the traditional LOS markets.

NXTsoft is pleased that our OmniConnect solution will offer BankLabs an expedient way to connect their construction loan automation solution with the financial institutions for which it was designed, providing meaningful lower operational cost with this enhanced automation, said Rich Longo, president of NXTsofts Omni platform.

About NXTsoft

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., NXTsoft focuses on secure data-centric offerings that help companies secure, connect and optimize data. The companys Omni platform is focused on API data access and conversion or migration solutions for financial institutions, while the ThreatAdvice platform provides cybersecurity solutions for companies and organizations of all types. For more information visit http://www.nxtsoft.com, email info@nxtsoft.com or call 1-800-915-3381.

About BankLabs

The mission of BankLabs is to reimagine banking products for the future through community-oriented technologies that create new fee income, attract deposits, expand loan opportunities and differentiate the financial institution from competitors. BankLabs believes that community banking is a way of doing business, not a size, location or traditional definition. For more information, visit http://www.banklabs.com.
Democrats Medicare for All Plans Would Explode Program Plagued by Waste, Corruption, Inefficiency

WASHINGTONWhen Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) promised to bring in 135 million people into Medicare for All at no cost to them within 100 days of being inaugurated as president, she was just one of her partys multiple White House aspirants touting dramatic expansion plans for Americas 55-year-old federal health care program.

Warrens proposal, like that of her campaign rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), would require a total reorganization of Americas $3.6 trillion health care system. It would guarantee comprehensive, government-funded and -managed health care, while eliminating private health insurance programs.

Other Democrats, such as former Vice President Joe Biden, would allow private insurers to continue in business, but would set up a single-payer public option as an alternative.

Medicare cost taxpayers more than $583 billion in 2019, while Medicaid (including the Childrens Health Insurance Program) added another $399 billion. All of the Democratic presidential candidates plans would require additional spending, with some estimates as high as $38 trillion.

Americans have debated the merits and demerits of Medicare and its Medicaid subsidiary since 1965, but one thing has been clear for decades: Waste, fraud, and inefficiency are hallmarks of government-run medical care.

An Epoch Times review of reports by the Office of Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the period Feb. 20March 2 found the following headlines:

That those five examples are illustrative and not outliers is seen in the fact the problem became so pervasive that federal officials were forced in 2007 to create the Medicare Fraud Task Force (MFTF) to combat waste, fraud, and inefficiency in the program. The MFTF includes federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Since its inception, the MFTF has filed 2,829 indictments and generated nearly $3.5 billion in investigative receivables, that is, fines, repayments, and restitutions.

Three years after MFTFs establishment, little progress was seen as CBS News 60 Minutes reported that Medicare provides a rich and steady income stream for criminals who are constantly finding new ways to steal a sizeable chunk of the half-trillion dollars that are paid out each year in Medicare benefits. In fact, Medicare fraudestimated now to total about $60 billion a yearhas become one of, if not the most, profitable crimes in America.

And the Medicare crime wave goes on.

Robert Moffit, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and member of the Maryland Health Care Commission, is a former deputy assistant secretary for legislation at HHS, where he wrestled with the major problems afflicting Medicare and Medicaid.

Asked March 4 by The Epoch Times about the endemic corruption in the program, he pointed to three factors:

First, Medicare (and Medicaid to a lesser extent) is the largest payer in the American health care system. So it is a natural target of the criminal element.

Second, the Medicare payment system, governed by thousands of pages of rules and regulations, is enormously complex and is thus equally difficult to comply with on the part of practitioners and to police on the part of Medicare officials.

This byzantine system provides the perfect paperwork jungle cover for bad actors, and also ensnares honest practitioners in clerical errors and mistakes. Much of Medicares waste is not fraud, but improper Medicare payments to practitioners and medical institutions.

Third, because the Medicare system is basically a claims-paying, or government check-writing operation, those writing the checks are not directly impacted financially from either improper payment or their failure to effectively police waste, fraud, or abuse.

On the latter factor, Moffit added that in that case, Medicare is exactly unlike a private health insurance company where there is a powerful economic incentive to police the system and to monitor claims, for administrative failure directly impacts the companys bottom line.

Overall, Moffit characterized Medicares corruption and inefficiency problems as a failure of administration, and this failure of administration incurs an administrative cost, though government officials never categorize the tens of billions of dollars lost annually through waste, fraud, and abuse as an administrative cost, and it doesnt show up on the Medicare books as an administrative cost. But it is.

Medicare for All would magnify those costs, according to Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute, who told Congress in 2019 that the new single-payer system still would require many of the same administrative functions as any insurance system:

Physicians, hospitals, labs, and other service providers would have to be approved and payment rates set. The government would need verification that approved services were actually provided, and there would need to be an even greater need for safeguards against fraud and abuse.

Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc
While the world grapples with the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, it seems Indian politicians have their own opinions about preventing the COVID-19 virus.

From associating coronavirus with mental health disease to coming up with cow urine as a solution to it, Indian politicians have crossed all bars with their assumptions about the epidemic.

'Gaumutra' and 'Gobar' to cure Coronavirus

Assam BJP MLA Suman Haripriya on Monday made a bizarre statement concerning the cure of coronavirus, which has left everyone bewildered.

"We all know that cow dung is very helpful. Likewise, when cow urine is sprayed, it purifies an area... I believe something similar could be done with 'gaumutra' and 'gobar' to cure Coronavirus (disease)," she said during a discussion on smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh during Special Mention on the first day of the budget session of the Assembly.

No Non-Veg, No Coronavirus

While the international health communities have been hell bent on trying to find a precise solution to the COVID-19 virus, the the National President of All India Hindu Mahasabha sees the virus as an "avatar to punish non-vegetarians".

"Corona is not a virus, but avatar for the protection of poor creatures. They have come to give the message of death and punishment to the one who eats them," said Swami Chakrapani further stating that the avatar is of Lord Narsingh.

He even had a solution to the epidemic and urged Chinese president Xi Jinping to "create an idol of Corona and seek forgiveness" and all non-vegetarian Chinese populace "pledge of not harming any innocent creatures in future, then the anger if Corona will come down".

He assured that Indians who "worship Gods" and are "believers of "Gau Rakshak" are immune to this disease.

Sonia Gandhi caused Coronavirus?

On Thursday the Parliament saw a furor after a Rashtriya Loktantriya Party MLA from Rajasthan alleged that coronavirus may have stormed from the 'house' of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

"There should be a probe to find out if the spread of the virus originated from Sonia Gandhi's home," Hanuman Beniwal remarked.

The comment follows the return of Rahul Gandhi from Italy and the detection of 28 cases of coronavirus in the country, including 16 tourists from Italy.

Avoid Mental Illness, Avoid Coronavirus

While speaking at the Yog Mahotsav event in Rishikesh on Sunday and emphasizing on the importance of yoga, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that coronavirus can be prevented by overcoming 'mental illness'.

Speaking to the gathering he said, "The world needs to be free of illnesses of the body and mind. If one overcomes mental illness, then one can avoid diseases such as blood pressure, heart attack, kidney failure, liver issues and even the coronavirus."

In another incident, the chief minister has even said "not to panic" over the spreading of any disease.

Rahul Gandhi must Undergo Screening

While Rahul Gandhi led a delegation to the riots-hit North East Delhi, BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri took a dig at the Congress leader asking whether he underwent a screening post his return from Italy, since the Europeon country has seen a massive outbreak of the virus.

"I don't know if he was checked at the airport. Before going among the people, he should first tell whether he underwent medical checkup for detection of coronavirus. It is important for the safety of the people," Bidhuri said.

Meanwhile, India is on high alert after the number of coronavirus cases rose to 30, including the Italians touring Rajasthan, said the government, adding that all international passengers will now be screened at airports as concerns mount over the spread of the respiratory infection.
HARTFORD  Women die in Connecticut from pregnancy-related issues at a rate less than New York State, but twice that of Massachusetts, and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams joined Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday to call for more support, discussion and action.

For the first time in history, women are more likely to die during childbirth than their mothers did, Adams told about 300 health professionals in the Connecticut Convention Center. Maternal mortality rates in this country are way too high. Thats not a world I want to live for my 10-year-old little girl.

While the national mortality rate for childbirth is 14.4 per 100,000 population, Connecticuts is 13.2 per 100,000. Massachusetts rate is 6.1 and New York, 21.6. That means youve got a long way to go, Connecticut, said Adams, an anesthesiologist on his second day of public events in Connecticut.

He warned that marijuana is the illicit drug most used by pregnant women, and there is increasing evidence of danger. Marijuana is everywhere, he said. Some dispensaries, far too many, are even recommending marijuana for women suffering from morning sickness.

Mental health issues that arise after delivery contribute to mortality, as well as heart and hypertension that are more acute in minority communities.

Adams said that with even higher rates among ethnic and racial minorities, the need for action is overdue. He quoted U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics that indicate 31 percent of maternal fatalities occur during pregnancies; 36 percent die during the births of children or the week after; and 33 percent die between eight days and the first year after birth.

African American women die at a rate three-to-five times that of whites.

Whos checking on mom during that time? Adams asked of the last statistic. Nobody. We really need to lean into that space and not forget that a third of these deaths occur after we discharge mom from the hospital. The good news is that 60 percent of maternal deaths are preventable. We can do something about it.

Renee D. Coleman-Mitchell, commissioner of the state Department of Health, joined Lamont in announcing a new Gold Ribbon Commission on Maternal Health with the goal of reducing the mortality rate and facilitate maternal health and reducing infant mortality.

Maternal and child health is a true indicator of how well our country, our state, our towns and cities are doing, Coleman-Mitchell said. This is the opportunity. The goal will be to bring everyone together and coordinate the efforts in this state.

I see these disparities across the state, Lamont said. I think about some of the disparities we have in education. We have too many people still being left behind. This commission is going to be a priority for us.


Paris (France)  March 4, 2020 - At its meeting on March 4, 2020, the Board of Directors of Sanofi decided to propose, at the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for April 28, 2020, the appointment of two new independent directors, Rachel Duan and Lise Kingo, as well as the ratification of the appointment by co-optation of Paul Hudson and the reappointment of Laurent Attal, Carole Piwnica, Diane Souza and Thomas Sudhof. Claudie Haignere's term of office, which expires at the end of the next General Meeting after three full mandates, will not be renewed. In addition, Suet-Fern Lee, after serving on the Board of Directors for the last 9 years, has declared her intention to retire and as a consequence to resign from her directorship before the said meeting.

Rachel Duan is currently Senior Vice President of GE and President & CEO of GE Global Markets, where she is responsible for driving GE's growth in China, Asia Pacific, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Rachel Duan joined GEs Corporate Audit Staff in 1996. She then held several management positions, including Lean Six Sigma, sales and marketing at GE Plastics in China and the Asia-Pacific region. She became President & CEO of GE Advanced Materials China in 2006 and then of the Asia Pacific region in 2008. In 2010, Rachel Duan was appointed President & CEO of GE Healthcare China and President & CEO of GE China in 2014, becoming the first native Chinese woman to hold this position in GE's largest market outside the United States. She was promoted to her current role in January 2019.

A native of Shanghai, Rachel Duan holds a bachelor's degree in economics and international business from Shanghai International Studies University and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States. Throughout her career, she has worked and lived in the United States, Japan and China.

Lise Kingo is currently* CEO & Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, a position she has held since 2015. The UN Global Compact is the worlds largest corporate sustainability initiative uniting business to create a better world through universal principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Story continues

Lise Kingo began her career in 1986 in business-to-business advertising at JP Bureau in Copenhagen and joined Novo Industries (now Novo Nordisk after the merger with Nordisk Gentofte) in 1988, where she remained for 26 years. She served as Chief of Staff, Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Management team since 2002, where she was instrumental in defining Novo Nordisk's sustainable business strategy. Prior to 2002, she held various positions in Novozymes, Novo Holding and Novo Nordisk, including internal audit, compliance, people & organization, branding and sustainability.

A native of Denmark, Lise Kingo holds a bachelor's degree in Religions and Ancient Greek Art from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Economics from the Copenhagen Business School and a master's degree in Responsibility & Business from the University of Bath in the UK. Lise Kingo is also certified as a director by INSEAD in France. Throughout her career, she has held positions in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands and the United States.

* Lise Kingo will be stepping down from her post as CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact in June 2020. Assuming election to the Board, she will not sit at Board meetings until she has separated from the United Nations.

The arrival of Rachel Duan and Lise Kingo allow to deepen the skills of the board of directors in the knowledge of emerging markets, especially China as well as in Social Responsibility. The Board of Directors is therefore continuing to adapt the profiles of its members in line with the Group's strategic needs. said Serge Weinberg, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The composition of the Board's specialized committees will be reviewed at the end of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for April 28, 2020.





About Sanofi







Sanofi is dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges. We are a global biopharmaceutical company focused on human health. We prevent illness with vaccines, provide innovative treatments to fight pain and ease suffering. We stand by the few who suffer from rare diseases and the millions with long-term chronic conditions.







With more than 100,000 people in 100 countries, Sanofi is transforming scientific innovation into healthcare solutions around the globe.







Sanofi, Empowering Life





Media Relations Contact

Quentin Vivant

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 77 46 46

mr@sanofi.com





Investor Relations Contact

Felix Lauscher

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 77 45 45

ir@sanofi.com





Attachment
'Suicide Prevention Committees' To Form In Iranian Universities

03/05/20

Source: Radio Farda

Student suicides have prompted authorities to form prevention committees.





An official of a university in the Iranian capital Tehran has said that the Ministry of Science has ordered universities to form committees to prevent suicides and "harmful behaviors" in all universities.



Gholamreza Latifi, Student Affairs Deputy of Allameh Tabatabai University told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Wednesday that his university has already formed such a committee.



According to Latifi the most common harmful behaviors prevalent among students are drug abuse and smoking. "If a student is proved to be an addict he will be deprived of living on campus," Latifi was quoted as saying.



There is no official statistics on the prevalence of suicide among university students but several cases have been reported by the media lately.

In December 2019 four male and female students died under suspicious circumstances in Shahid Chamran and Jondi Shapour universities of Ahwaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province.



The deaths of these students was not publicly announced but according to unconfirmed reports they had committed suicide.



Statistics on suicide in Iran are not published regularly but in 2019 an official of the Health Ministry said about 100,000 attempted suicides had been reported in one year.



According to Maryam Abbasi who is in charge of the Suicide Prevention Program of the Health Ministry, more people commit suicide in the western regions of Iran. She also said the number of attempted suicides increased from 94 to 125 in 100,000 between 2015 and 2018 while annually five in 100,000 died of suicide in the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014 the suicide rate of Iran was 5.3 in every 100,000 people. In that year, the rate of suicide based on gender was 3.6 for women and 7 for men. Seasonally, most suicides occurred in summer with the rate of 35.2% of all suicides; 13% higher than any other season.



WHO statistics say 800,000 die due to suicide every year in the world but there are indications that each adult who dies by suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide.
(TNS)  Washington state has an opportunity to create a groundbreaking privacy law, placing guardrails around facial-recognition technology and giving consumers control over personal information collected online.As passed by the Senate, Bill 6281 could be a standout accomplishment of this years Legislature. It would increase consumer protection and enable the Attorney General to enforce violations, while providing clear guidelines and responsibilities for companies handling large amounts of personal data.Unfortunately, key sections of the bill were altered in the House Committee on Innovation, Technology and Economic Development, making the bill unacceptable and less likely to become law.Washingtonians should have more control over personal data collected by online companies. The bill would ensure they have access to this data and enable them to correct inaccurate information, request deletion and opt out of targeted advertising and other monetization of their data.Providers of facial-recognition technology would be required to open their services up for third parties to evaluate accuracy and identify whether they unfairly treat different populations. If unfairness is established, the bill requires providers to mitigate the problem.The bill also requires public notice when facial-recognition technology is being used. It prohibits sharing of such data with law enforcement unless consumer consent is provided or disclosure is required by a court warrant, needed for an emergency response or to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.The House changes to the bill severely undermined a compromise, reached over two years of negotiations with the business community, to balance the need for privacy safeguards and consumer rights with a predictable regulatory and business climate for innovation.Under the original Senate version, the state AG was given authority to enforce the law on behalf of Washington residents. The House version allows private parties to enforce the law, potentially creating a flood of litigation.This is a particular concern for smaller companies that dont have resources to litigate hundreds or thousands of challenges by individuals. Newspapers such as this one are also concerned that the new law could be weaponized. It could enable organizations to retaliate for stories they dont like by mustering hundreds of individual lawsuits against a newspaper.None of these details diminish the importance of protecting consumers with a strong law, and creating high standards for providers of facial-recognition technology. But the version of 6281 passed by the House is worse than no bill at all.The substitute version of 6281 advanced to the Rules committee. Its cornerstone feature  placing enforcement with the Attorney General  should be restored and affirmed before the bill is finalized.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 25 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
T he number of coronavirus cases in the UK has reached 116 after 29 new infections were announced today.

The Department of Health and Social Care announced 25 new cases in England, while there were three cases in Scotland confirmed this morning and a further case in Wales detailed this afternoon.

Some 18,083 across the UK have been tested for Covid-19 so far.

There are 25 cases in London, health authorities added.

Workers, some wearing protective face masks, cross London Bridge / REUTERS

In a statement, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said: As of 9am this morning, 25 further patients in England have tested positive for COVID-19. 17 were diagnosed who had recently travelled from recognised countries or from recognised clusters which were under investigation.

Eight contracted the virus in the UK and it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.

This announcement follows the largest day-on-day rise yesterday when 36 new cases were confirmed in the UK, 34 in Britain and two in Northern Ireland.

Ahead of the latest daily figures being published, chief medical officer Chris Whitty told the Commons health and social care committee: Im expecting the number only to go up.

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

Health authorities in the UK have ramped up their efforts to contain the outbreak as the number grows.

There are now also more than 95,300 cases worldwide and more than 3,200 people have died.

The Government has a four-pronged strategy against coronavirus: contain, delay, science and research, mitigate.

We are mainly in the second stage at this point in time, Professor Whitty told the MPs, explaining there would be a gradual shift between phases.

Coronavirus: UK moves to 'delay phase'

Downing Street later said it would publicly announce when the battle plan formally moves into the second stage.

Thirteen out of the 87 cases in the UK, as of yesterday, are understood to be in London. Kings College Hospital in south London confirmed two recent patients had tested positive for Covid-19, with some staff told to self-isolate.

The Government scientific advisory committee was meeting today to give the latest update on measures which could be taken to combat the virus.

Boris Johnson talks coronavirus prevention on This Morning

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told ITVs This Morning: They range from things like stopping public gatherings, sporting gatherings, closing schools and so on. Quite draconian stuff, to more targeted interventions.

We will see what the scientists advise. These guys are brilliant, they are epidemiologists who understand behavioural psychology of the population but at the moment what they are telling me is that actually slightly counter-intuitively things like closing schools and stopping big gatherings dont work as well perhaps as people think in stopping the spread.

Our advice on school closures remains exactly where it was. We dont think at the moment schools should be closing.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock later told business chiefs at a conference in London that they should allow workers to self-isolate, even though it could leave their companies with sick pay bills. Its in the employees interests, its in your interest and its in the national interest, he said.

Listen to today's episode of The Leader podcast:

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Later in the day, the competition watchdog has warned retailers and traders they must not try and take advantage of people concerned about the outbreak of coronavirus.

Officials at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said they would take strict action and said anyone trying to inflate prices could be prosecuted.

The CMA also said it would consider writing to the Government to implement pricing measures for certain products if problems arise.
Happy couple Jeff Goldblum and Emilie Livingston attended the launch party for American Vanity Skincare at Hollywood's Sunset Tower on Wednesday.

The actor, 67, and his wife, 37, looked besotted as they led a host of celebrities and industry leaders into the Sunset Boulevard venue.

Jeff embodied his 'cool dad' reputation by rocking up in a fitted leather jacket layered over a starry graphic shirt.

Loved up: Jeff Goldblum, 67, and wife Emilie Livingston, 37, looked besotted as they attended the launch party for American Vanity Skincare at Hollywood's Sunset Tower on Wednesday

The Jurassic Park star accessorised in typical Goldblum fashion with his pronounced glasses frames and a black velvet fedora.

And dancer Emily looked elegant in a loose fitting pleated midi dress with some frilly detailing.

The former Olympian let her lengthy auburn locks flow down gently over her shoulders in loose waves.

Perfect pair: Jeff embodied his 'cool dad' reputation by rocking up in a fitted leather jacket layered over a starry graphic shirt

She used a minimal palette of make up and nude lip to help accentuate her natural beauty.

And with their two children, Charlie, four, and River, two, at home during the event, the pair were able to let their hair down an enjoy a worry-free night.

Jeff wed his beloved Emilie back in 2014, having previously been married to Thelma and Louise star Geena Davis in 1987 and actress Patricia Gaul in 1980.

He will be back: Last year, it was confirmed that Goldblum would, once again, reprise his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm for the third Jurassic World installment

Last year, it was announced that Jeff would reprise his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm, once more, for the the third Jurassic World installment.

American Vanity Skincare, which has been described as 'the next chapter in self-care science-based luxury CBD skincare', attracted an array of industry insiders for their launch event.

PR guru Rembrandt Flores, who is working with the brand, was on hand to welcome guests including Raissa Gerona, CBO of e-commerce site Revolve.

Powerful pair: Company co-founders Mary Nguyen and celebrity esthetician Veronica Barton-Schwartz were also spotted wearing stunning looks at their party

Star arrival: Dear White People actress Logan Browning also made her mark at the event in a stunning static-design midi dress and matching scarf; seen with Rembrandt Flores

Dear White People actress Logan Browning also made her mark at the event in a stunning static-design midi dress and matching scarf.

The star also tested out some of the new products available available at the launch.

Company co-founders Mary Nguyen and celebrity esthetician Veronica Barton-Schwartz were also spotted wearing stunning looks at their party.

Industry insiders: PR guru Rembrandt Flores, who is working with the brand, was on hand to welcome guests including Raissa Gerona, CBO of e-commerce site Revolve

Beauty: The star completed her stunning wintry outfit in a pair of white ankle boots

Dazzling: Jewellery designer Anita Ko wrapped up warm in a faux-fur coat and diamond earrings for the event

Bridal designer Mary glistened in a semi-sheer gown with frilly detailing over a pair of sparkly tight-fitting leggings.

She wore her luscious long black locks down over her shoulders, and kept accessories to a minimum.

Veronica went with more formal attire, rocking a slightly oversized midnight blue jacket and matching suit pants.

The beautician had her beautiful auburn locks in gentle waves.

Welcome in: Hair stylist to the stars Clyde Haygood parties with guests at the west Hollywood event

Arrivals: Make It or Break It star Cassie Scerbo sported a pinstripe jacket layered over a stringy bra and thigh-hugging trousers
WARREN, MI  Art Van Furniture will close all its company-owned stores after liquidation sales set to begin on Friday, March 6.

The Warren-based furniture retailer was founded in Detroit in 1959. Rumors began to circulate in February that owner Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, a private equity firm, was looking to sell the company or file for bankruptcy.

Liquidation plans were announced Thursday morning. The liquidation will begin Friday at all company-owned Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep, and Scott Shuptrine Interiors in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri, a company news release said. Eight Wolf Furniture stores in Maryland and Virginia will be liquidated.

There are 97 locations in Michigan. Twenty of the total 190 stores are franchise locations, situated in the Upper Peninsula, Alpena, Mount Pleasant and Owosso in Michigan and in Indiana, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Despite our best efforts to remain open, the companys brands and operating performance have been hit hard by a challenging retail environment, Diane Charles, Art Van Furniture spokesperson, said in a statement. We recognize the extraordinary retail, community and philanthropic legacies that Art Van Furniture has built for decades in the community.

Levin & Wolf Furniture stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania are expected to be sold to former Levin president and owner Robert Levin, the release said.

The company has about 3,700 employees and nearly 200 stores operating under the brands Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep, Levin Mattress, Levin Furniture, Wolf Furniture, Scott Shuptrine Interiors and Gardiner Wolf Furniture.

Art Van was founded in 1959 by Art Van Elslander who opened the first store on Gratiot Avenue and 10 Mile Road in Detroit. He died in 2018. In 2017, the company was sold to Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners.

READ MORE:

Michigan-based Art Van Furniture exploring option of sale, possible bankruptcy

Michiganders top 10 consumer complaints of 2019 revealed
DALLAS, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Neighbor.com, the self-storage marketplace disruptor, launched today across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, creating a sustainable alternative to traditional self-storage that enables local residents to rent out extra space in their homes to their neighbors. Neighbor's shared storage marketplace brings inexpensive, safe and accessible storage options to one of the nation's largest storage markets while empowering DFW residents to make thousands of dollars per year in passive income.

"Texas is the second largest self-storage market in the United States, so it's fitting that Neighbor's peer-to-peer storage marketplace has grown organically in Dallas, where many homeowners are looking for reliable passive income, and renters want to save an average of 50% on storage," said Joseph Woodbury, CEO and co-founder of Neighbor.com. "Neighbor.com has been rapidly expanding by word of mouth across the U.S., but now is the right time to build out our community management team in Dallas to bolster access to storage for one of the most in-demand storage regions in the country. This team, along with our increased investment in new front- and back-end technologies will ensure DFW residents continue to have unmatched access to safe and affordable storage options."

Neighbor brings the peer-to-peer shared marketplace concept to the under-innovated $40 billion self-storage industry, connecting "renters" in need of storage space with "hosts" in their neighborhood who are willing to lease extra storage space in their home or garage. This lets renters store anything from boats to furniture to boxes of extra stuff in nearby basements, sheds and garages for half the cost of traditional storage options. The income to hosts is both recurring and dependable  some hosts make as much as $25,000 per year doing little to no work  setting it apart from other gig solutions. In Dallas, hosts are insured by a $1 million liability guarantee while renters are backed by an industry leading $25,000 guarantee that covers all items stored through the platform.

"Texans spend almost $5 billion on self-storage each year, and the Neighbor marketplace is fundamentally designed to put some of that money back in the pockets of storage renters, as well as storage hosts," said Colton Gardner, Head of Operations at Neighbor. "From single parents using Neighbor to pay down their mortgages to young professionals paying off their student loans, it's tremendously rewarding to hear how Neighbor's simplified passive income model is impacting the lives of people across the country. Homeowners in the DFW metro area pay some of the nation's highest property taxes, and we are already seeing how Texans in the area are alleviating some of that cost burden, while providing affordable and reliable storage for their neighbors."

Following the January announcement of its Series A funding, led by marketplace visionary Andreessen Horowitz, Neighbor's launch in Dallas includes a full marketing and awareness campaign across the DFW area. Under Neighbor Head of Marketing Preston Alder, the company is also building out a team in Dallas that can bring a personal touch to the Neighbor community, while ensuring hosts and renters get the most out of their shared storage agreements.

About Neighbor.com

Founded in 2017, Neighbor is a peer-to-peer self-storage company based in the Silicon Slopes of Lehi, Utah. The company connects people who have unused space in their homes, garages or apartments to renters who are looking for affordable storage. Neighbor benefits renters by providing safer, more accessible storage for half the price of a traditional self-storage unit, while giving hosts the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars per year from their empty space. Neighbor's team helps keep the connection safe, easy and friendly and provides an unprecedented $25,000 renter guarantee for items stored and a $1 million host liability guarantee so that good neighbors everywhere can help each other out. Learn more about Neighbor at neighbor.com.

Media Contact:

Mark Newman

[email protected]

914.396.4105

SOURCE Neighbor
A 15-year-old who identifies as non-binary was tormented and abused by a Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 counselor in a Bethlehem Area School District school, according to a federal lawsuit.

The student has gender dysphoria, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court. Thats a conflict between a persons physical or assigned gender and the gender with which they identify, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

The student identifies as non-binary and transgender and wishes to be referred to with the pronouns they, them and theirs instead of she, her and hers, the lawsuit says.

Randy Herzon, a counselor with Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, allegedly told the student I am from a generation that does not believe in these pronouns and told the students parent, She is setting herself up for a difficult life, the lawsuit says.

The student lives in the Northampton Area School District but attends classes in a program offered by Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 at Freedom High School in Bethlehem Township, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says the childs educational program is rife with discrimination, transphobia and bigotry so severe and pervasive as to render it inaccessible to non-binary students.

After Herzons comments the student cried and later committed self-harm and contemplated suicide, the lawsuit says.

An investigation by Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 did not reveal any insensitivity toward the student, according to attorney John E. Freund III. He represents both the Bethlehem Area School District and Colonial Intermediate Unit 20.

Moreover, the law does not appear to have evolved to the point where discrimination based on gender orientation itself creates a viable cause of action," Freund said. The fact that we will defend these legal cases on the basis of the law and the facts, should in no way be interpreted as an absence of or lessened respect for diversity and the dignity and equal treatment of all students.

Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy noted the student isnt a Bethlehem Area School District student and the district should not be liable for the claim.

The defendants in the lawsuit are the Bethlehem Area School District, Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, Herzon and social worker James McDonald. McDonald is accused of failing to appropriately train Herzon.

The student is identified as Roe in the lawsuit. It was filed by the students parent, identified as Jane Doe. The abuse is alleged to have taken place in 2019 when the student was 14 and then turned 15.

The students gender identity should be kept private, according to attorney Justin F. Robinette of Philadelphia. The student could suffer retribution if identified, so the students name and address were withheld by Robinette.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
As Joe Biden racked up a string of unexpected victories in Super Tuesday primaries, he began to stitch together the kind of political coalition that had eluded his candidacy for months: a broad assembly of voters with the collective power to potentially defeat President Donald Trump in November.

Biden's strong showing among African-Americans, suburbanites and moderate white voters - spanning geographical regions and drawing from a surge in turnout - boosted confidence among Democrats that the former vice president could soon win a Democratic race that voters have turned into a contest over which candidate is best positioned to beat Trump.

Biden, who won primaries in Texas, Virginia and eight other states on Tuesday, alluded to his burgeoning coalition during his victory speech Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

"Our campaign reflects the diversity of this party and this nation, and that's how it should be," he told supporters. "Because we need to bring everybody along, everybody. We want a nominee who will beat Donald Trump, but also keep Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the House, and win back the United States Senate."

His surprise overnight elevation to delegate leader pleased moderate Democrats and unnerved some Republicans who had expected Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, to come out in front after 14 states voted on Super Tuesday.

The results also harked back to the 2018 midterm elections, in which Democrats won back the House and prevailed in several competitive gubernatorial races by capitalizing on disdain for Trump among moderate and suburban voters, combined with high turnout among members of the Democratic base.

Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., who flipped a Republican congressional seat in 2018, said Biden's string of victories was reminiscent of his win in a district containing the suburbs of Charleston.

"A lot of folks who came out and supported us are the same ones who came out and supported him," said Cunningham, who endorsed Biden.

In a campaign where electability has been a major theme, Biden has taken to calling himself an "Obama-Biden" Democrat and pledging to rebuild the kind of diverse electorate that helped former president Barack Obama secure two terms.

But with Sanders capitalizing on energetic crowds and support from many young voters, Obama's coalition has not fully rallied behind Biden, said Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report. While Biden has trailed Sanders among young people and Hispanic voters, he has quickly put together an emerging coalition that capitalizes on the strong anti-Trump sentiment among black voters and suburban women, she said.

"Every campaign should have its own coalition that is organic for the candidate and is the right coalition for the moment," Walter said. "These suburban voters who in years past would split their votes more evenly between Democrats and Republicans, are now coming out overwhelmingly against Trump."

Virginia, where voters showed up in record numbers for Tuesday's primary, is a case in point.

Roughly 1.3 million Virginia voters cast ballots, about 21 percent of the electorate, according to an analysis of unofficial results by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. That's up from the previous record of about 986,000 votes and 18 percent of the electorate in 2008, when Obama was challenging Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination.

"The interest...in defeating Donald Trump is so intense that it's almost unprecedented," Richmond political scientist Bob Holsworth said.

Biden was the beneficiary of the Virginia groundswell, easily beating Sanders and three other hopefuls.

"It's just extraordinary. In the commonwealth of Virginia, folks are fired up. They want to beat Trump," former governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said in an interview. He pointed to massive jumps in turnout in the once-purple District of Columbia suburbs, which he said reflected "the intensity of the anti-Trump feeling in northern Virginia."

Cities with large African-American populations also registered strong gains, with black voters accounting for a quarter of all ballots cast.

Biden also prevailed in Minnesota, Massachusetts and across the South, building on a swift-moving series of events in which two of his main moderate challengers dropped out of the race and endorsed him before Tuesday.

The endorsements by former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., combined with Biden's resounding win Saturday in South Carolina, had an impact. Voters who decided late heavily backed Biden, according to exit poll results.

While Biden came away from Tuesday's primaries with the most delegates, the contests revealed some of the challenges he faces as he tries to secure the nomination and pull together a fractured party.

He was trailing to Sanders in the country's most populous state, California, as votes were still being counted, and continues to lag with Hispanics and younger voters. It's also not clear how Biden would win over the liberal wing of the party, which has supported Sanders' agenda advocating more sweeping changes.

But Biden's victories also brought into sharper relief Sanders' failure to deliver on his pledge to drive a surge in turnout among young people and disaffected voters he claimed would power his campaign to a revolution-style victory.

Sanders on Tuesday acknowledged that he was disappointed in the turnout figures.

"I will be honest with you, we have not done as well in bringing young people into the political process," he told reporters in Burlington, Vermont. "It is not easy."

According to exit polls, about 1 in 8 voters in Super Tuesday states were 18- to 29-year-olds, compared to 3 in 10 who were 65 or older.

Republicans were quick to point out that Biden entered the race last year as a presumed leader, only to falter due to uneven performances on the campaign trail and lackluster fundraising.

"Just a few days ago, Democrats had left Joe Biden for dead because they realized he was a terrible candidate. Nothing has changed," said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh. "He's still a terrible candidate and we still don't know if he'll be President Trump's opponent."

Trump and his campaign have sought to interfere with the Democrats' primary, openly pushing for a protracted fight between the party's liberal and moderate wings that could last through the nominating convention in July.

Sanders said Tuesday he planned to move forward with his campaign, and attacked Biden as a member of the "establishment" who has voted for bad trade deals.

A drawn out Democratic battle over delegates and party rules would allow Trump to continue his attempts to build his coalition ahead of the general election. Trump, who spoke to the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit on Wednesday, has been making a public appeal to minority voters to back his campaign.

Some younger Latino voters, who have backed Sanders overwhelmingly, distrust Biden because of the high number of deportations that took place during the Obama administration, said Stephen Nuno-Perez of Latino Decisions, a nonpartisan polling firm that focuses on Latino political and social attitudes and that has done work for Democratic organizations.

Exit polling suggested that Biden won the votes of roughly 70 percent of black voters in Virginia and Alabama, and did nearly as well in North Carolina and Texas, getting roughly 60 percent of the vote. Biden also won in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Darren Peters, who worked on the presidential campaigns of Bill and Hillary Clinton, said Biden's strong showing with black voters in Southern states could help him if he becomes the party's nominee.

"It shows an ability to galvanize the kinds of constituencies that are going to be needed to win in a general election," he said, highlighting the importance of the black vote in key swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

While some Democrats have wondered if Biden, a familiar face with a long track record, would lose in the same way as Hillary Clinton, Biden drew broader support in North Carolina and Virginia than Clinton did in 2016. Clinton won 86 percent of Virginia precincts and 65 percent of North Carolina precincts in 2016. Biden won 93 percent of precincts in both states.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who ended his presidential bid last year, said Trump should be nervous about Biden's ability to "connect with the Whole Foods moms and the suburban women" who may have voted Republican in the past but have been turned off by the president's divisiveness.

"I think there's a silent majority of people who want Donald Trump out of office," he said. "They don't want to have heated discussions with people about it. They don't want to get in fights with people about it. They don't want to be on social media about it, but they're appalled at his behavior."

- - -

The Washington Post's Lenny Bronner, Paul Kane and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
The result is not ideal, but its a first step, Jackson said Wednesday. When lead is found, the first step usually is to shut an affected water fountain off, she said. Within Indianas Republican-dominated legislature, its very hard to get any bill heard, let alone get it passed, she said.
Eight months into his job as city manager for the City of Rio Rancho, David Campbell has resigned, citing personal circumstances, the city announced Wednesday.

His resignation is effective March 4.

Mayor Gregg Hull and Deputy Mayor and City Councilor Bob Tyler are recommending that Deputy City Manager Peter Wells serve as acting city manager, according to a news release issued by the city.

The Governing Body will consider Wells appointment at its March 11 meeting. Afterward, the city says it will begin the recruitment, selection and hiring process for a new manager.

Campbell began serving as Rio Rancho city manager on July 1, 2019. Before that he was director of the City of Albuquerque Planning Department.
A group of local environmental activists wants San Antonio voters, not the City Council, to decide the fate of a popular program geared toward protecting the regions primary source of clean water.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff want to redirect $40 million from a 1/8-cent sales tax that funds the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program and the construction of linear parks and creekways annually to instead pay for better bus service and other public transportation initiatives.

A Nirenberg-backed proposal would continue the aquifer program with other city funds for another 10 years, but with about half of its current funding.

The tax for the aquifer, parks and creekways would be allowed to expire and not be placed on the ballot for voters to renew. Instead, San Antonio voters would decide in November whether to use the tax to fund expanded public transit.

That push has made some area environmentalists uneasy.

Theyve warned that tampering with the programs funding could hinder protection efforts and risk polluting the aquifer. Activists point out the program is popular with voters, who have passed the sales tax that funds it four times since 2000 by healthy margins.

The public does not understand that, unless council takes action to put something on the ballot, they will not have the chance to vote for reauthorizing those two really popular programs, said Annalisa Peace, executive director of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.

On ExpressNews.com: Troubled Waters: San Antonio weighs the cost of preserving its water supply

A coalition that includes members of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Sierra Club and Linear Creek Trails Advisory Board this week unveiled a counterproposal: let voters decide whether to continue funding aquifer protection and linear parks and creekways. The measure would extend the sales tax for two years, rather than five as it has been done in the past.

Doing so would generate $36 million a year to be split between both programs through 2022, the groups estimate. It also would buy time for Nirenberg and other officials to find a way to fund aquifer protection at its current levels, Peace said.

Nirenberg has pushed a city staff proposal to pay $109 million over 10 years to continue the aquifer program. Thats enough to meet the citys water needs through 2070, a recent city-commissioned study says.

The money would fund the programs operations and pay down debt used to buy conservation easements that prevent development over sensitive areas in and around Bexar County that recharge the aquifer. Since 2000, the program has protected about 160,000 acres.

Under the city proposal, Bexar County would pick up a portion of the cost of building linear parks and creekways.

The City Council is slated to vote on the plan in April.

Any proposal that does not direct the available sales tax to mobility would deter our effort to bring dependable transit to our community, Nirenberg said in a statement Thursday. City staff has presented a solid, sustainable, and secure plan for funding the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program now and in the future, and I will be urging City Council to support this plan.

On ExpressNews.com: Officials: San Antonio should continue managing Edwards Aquifer program, not give it to SAWS

A degree of uncertainty has clouded the aquifer protection programs future since Nirenberg and Wolff homed in on the tax that pays for it as a key potential funding source for transportation initiatives outlined in the ConnectSA plan.

That proposal calls for about $1.4 billion in new spending on transit initiatives over the next five years.

Nirenberg has been adamant that the aquifer program should continue in some form. For months, he pushed for the program to move to city-owned San Antonio Water System  where CEO Robert Puente said it could survive, though at about half the cost.

That push followed an unsuccessful one by San Antonio River Authority General Manager Suzanne Scott for that agency to adopt the program with a property tax increase. Board members killed the idea in November.

Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio city government and politics. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports
Offensive: Syrian army soldiers firing a weapon as they advance on the town of Kfar Nabl in Syria. Photo: Reuters TV

Turkey said that two more of its soldiers were killed in a Syrian government attack in north-western Syria, as steady clashes between the two national armies continued to rack up casualties.

Turkey has sent thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents holed up there, but hasn't been able to stop the Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to retake the Idlib province.

A Syrian opposition war monitor said nine Syrian soldiers were also killed in Turkish drone attacks in the north-western area.

The Turkish Defence Ministry's statement said that the latest Syrian attack on its troops also wounded six soldiers. It did not provide further details.

The assault came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to depart for Moscow where he says he aims to broker a ceasefire in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Turkey and Russia are the two main power brokers in Syria and each of them supports rival sides in the nine-year conflict.

"We expect to reach a shared view of the cause of the current crisis, its consequences and agree on a set of measures to overcome it," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said about the upcoming meeting with the Turkish leader.

Russian officials have said they hold Turkey responsible for the collapse of a ceasefire agreement reached in Sochi, Russia, in 2018. They say Ankara has failed to honour the deal and rein in militants who continued attacking Syrian and Russian targets.

Earlier yesterday, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov assailed Turkey for shielding "terrorists" in Idlib, a statement that reflected Moscow's forceful posture ahead of the Syria talks.

In a statement, he said that under the 2018 agreement with Russia, Turkey was obliged to ensure that militants in Idlib pull 15-20km away from the de-escalation zone along with their heavy weapons.

Instead of that, he argued, al-Qa'ida-linked militants "and other terrorist groups pushed moderate rebels north toward the border with Turkey".

He also assailed the West for turning a blind eye to Turkish military action in Syria "in violation of international law" and treating Turkish threats to destroy Syrian army units as a "legitimate self-defence".

Syrian opposition activists reported intense clashes near the government-held town of Saraqeb that sits on a major highway that links Syria's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Turkish drone attacks near Saraqeb killed nine Syrian soldiers.
(Natural News) If the Yellowstone Caldera, probably the worlds strongest supervolcano, suddenly erupted, it would be unlike any eruption people have experienced. For comparison, some of the strongest volcanic eruptions ever recorded were the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption and the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption. The Pinatubo eruption was so powerful that it cooled the planet by 1.8 degrees for several years. The Tambora eruption, meanwhile, reduced global temperatures so much that large scale famines occurred throughout the world the following year. Not only that, but the eruption also triggered snowfall in New England in June. The year was so terrible that 1816 is forever known as the Year Without a Summer.

The modern Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) places the Pinatubo and Tambora eruptions at levels 6 and 7 respectively. If the Yellowstone Caldera were to explode, however, it would be ranked at a level 8 or even higher. This eruption would spew ash across almost the entirety of the United States. It would damage buildings, smother crops and shut down power plants, creating an unmitigated disaster that could lead to the deaths of thousands. Heres what you can do to prepare for a similar eruption. (h/t to TheSurvivalistBlog.net)

Before the eruption

Do research into your immediate environment and figure out if you live in a high-risk area for volcanic eruptions.

Local authorities may have evacuation procedures in place for some kind of natural disaster. Figure out their emergency procedures and learn where the shelters are, if there are any.

Create and practice evacuation plans. You will all need to learn where to evacuate and how to communicate with family during emergency situations.

Early warning notifications can save your life. Make sure to activate them on your smartphone so that you can bug out quickly and efficiently.

Stock up on emergency supplies  food, water, medicine and protective clothing such as industry-certified N95 face masks that can keep out volcanic material. Dont forget to make copies of family, legal and financial documents and bring them with you when you bug out.

If you have a medical condition, such as persistent breathing problems or lung disease, a volcanic eruption will be exceptionally terrible for you. Consult with your healthcare professional to figure out any precautions you need to take to deal with volcanic material.

During the eruption

If your primary threat is ashfall, stay indoors. Close any vents in your home and seal off your windows, doors, chimneys and any cracks and crevices where volcanic debris can enter. (Related: Think you can survive a volcanic eruption? Heres what to expect.)

If youre outside during the eruption, protect yourself against ashfall. Wear clothing that can cover every part of your body, such as hoodies, and cover your face with glasses, goggles and N95-grade face masks.

If you still have access to communications services, such as through your smartphone, radio or TV, keep yourself updated. You will need as much information as you can get.

If your area has ordered a complete evacuation, bug out immediately. The best way to keep yourself safe from a volcanic eruption is to be as far from the volcano as possible. Once its safe to leave or once the authorities in your area order a complete evacuation, pack up and head out as soon as possible.

While youre evacuating, be sure not to travel downwind or downstream of the volcano. Ash and other debris can be guided by the wind and waterways can turn into lahar streams, a deadly mixture of boiling lava, volcanic ash, mud, rock and water.

After the eruption

Once the eruption ends, the ash and other volcanic material may still be in the air or on the ground. Dont risk getting contaminated by wearing protective clothing and face masks. Pets are more sensitive to ashfall and volcanic debris, so you may have to keep them indoors for the time being.

Reach out to your family and friends. Call, text or chat with them on social media to check up on them. Knowing theyre safe can go a long way with improving your mental state.

If you stayed at home during the eruption, or if youve come back home once the all-clear signal has been given, take care to remove the ash build-up from your roof. Ash is a lot heavier, especially when it piles up and it can place an incredible amount of strain on your roof. As safely as you can manage, sweep or push off the ash from your roof.

A volcanic or supervolcanic eruption is certain to be a terrible disaster. However, preparing for it isnt impossible. If you start investing both time and money in survival supplies and bug out plans now, you may be better prepared for when the eruption happens.

Sources include:

Vox.com

USAToday.com

Volcanoes.USGS.gov 1

TheSurvivalistBlog.net

Volcanoes.USGS.gov 2
The Democratic campaign for president took another wild and unexpected turn, dramatically lifting the candidacy of former US vice-president Joe Biden and suddenly putting the onus on Senator Bernie Sanders to demonstrate he can expand his base of support.

The Democratic contest has been transformed almost overnight from one with many candidates and no clear alternative to Mr Sanders into a head-to-head battle that pits a populist insurgent preaching revolution and democratic socialism against an establishment-backed politician calling for modest change and civility and claiming greater electability against President Donald Trump.

There are few commodities more valuable in political campaigns than momentum, and, right now, Mr Biden is blessed with it in abundance for the first time in his campaign.

Mr Biden had a noticeable deficit in money and organisation in the Super Tuesday states compared with the well-resourced and well-organised Sanders.

The rapid consolidation around Mr Biden has given him what Mr Sanders' money and ground game could not produce, and the latest results put the former vice-president in position to compete on at least an even basis with the senator from Vermont for supremacy in the contest to become the party's nominee.

For the foreseeable future, the calendar will not get easier for Mr Sanders. In coming weeks, the states holding contests, with some exceptions, were ones he lost to Hillary Clinton four years ago.

And in some of the states he won in 2016, the shift from caucuses to primaries could hold down his delegate totals even if he were to win again.

The prospect of Mr Sanders emerging with a sizeable lead in delegates after Tuesday's voting, something that had sparked fears among establishment Democrats that he could be on an unstoppable march to the nomination, began to melt away as the returns came in, with a growing possibility Mr Biden would be more than competitive by the time all votes were counted.

Results from California, Super Tuesday's biggest prize with 415 delegates, came in slowly yesterday morning, with Mr Sanders leading and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg and Mr Biden trailing. That state, more than any other, was considered the key to Mr Sanders' hopes of expanding his delegate total and indeed he went on to take it.

Texas, where 228 delegates were at stake, was a state he hoped to win thanks to anticipated support among Latino voters. But after starting the night behind, Mr Biden went on to take the state.

Results from across the country underscored how rapidly fortunes were moving against Mr Sanders. In Vermont, where he won more than 85pc of the vote in 2016, he was in the low 50s.

In Colorado, he won the caucuses in 2016 with nearly 60pc of the vote. On Tuesday, he was winning with less than 40pc.

Days ago, many thought Mr Sanders could win Minnesota over Senator Amy Klobuchar. On Tuesday, the state fell into Mr Biden's column. Mr Biden also won Massachusetts, a state thought to be in competition between Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Mr Sanders sounded a defiant note when he addressed supporters in Burlington, Vermont.

He vowed to wage a fierce fight for the nomination and predicted he would prevail and go on to defeat Mr Trump in November.

Former New York mayor Bloomberg spent roughly half-a-billion dollars with a plan to make his mark on Super Tuesday.

However, other than a victory in American Samoa, he ran poorly virtually everywhere. And yesterday he pulled out to announce he would be backing Mr Biden.

Ms Warren hoped to win her home state and pick up delegates elsewhere but she too was struggling to hit the threshold to qualify for delegates, though she has pledged to continue her campaign through to the convention.

Overall, it was Mr Biden's night, and the final delegate numbers are certain to reflect the changed circumstances.

Mr Sanders' victory in Vermont was expected, though he will not win all 16 delegates as he did four years ago. In addition to Colorado, he also won Utah.

Mr Biden's victory in Alabama was expected, based on his strength among African Americans, but his victories in Virginia and North Carolina were hardly a given just days ago.

Mr Sanders had competed hard in both and pre-weekend polls - which lost their validity after South Carolina - had shown a potentially close outcome. Mr Biden also took Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, the latter a state Mr Sanders won in 2016.

South Carolina provided a shot in the arm for Mr Biden's candidacy that no one could have predicted, shifting the terrain overnight. The results prompted Ms Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg to end their campaigns, and their immediate endorsements of Mr Biden accelerated the consolidation.

There were other elected and former elected officials who joined the Mr Biden team at the same time. Collectively, they sent a signal to the many voters who had decided not to support Mr Sanders but were uncertain where to put their allegiance.

Establishment Democrats who a week ago were worrying about how quickly the field might shrink rushed to embrace Mr Biden. ( Washington Post)
Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost are correct that Ohio will be devastated without the Affordable Care Act (ACA)s protections, but instead of limiting their concern to one group, they should be standing up for all Ohioans (Ohio AG Dave Yost to ask U.S. Supreme Court to keep part of Obamacare intact, cleveland.com, March 2).

Pre-existing condition protections are the most popular part of the ACA, but salvaging these will provide little relief to the 741,000 Ohioans who will lose coverage altogether if the law is overturned. Ending the ACA would double the number of uninsured people in Ohio.

No one will be immune. Overturning Medicaid expansion forfeits our most critical tool in combating the opioid crisis, which has hit Ohio communities particularly hard. Ohio stands to lose $4.4 billion in revenue that will force cuts to other services. Even if pre-existing condition protections are retained, patients would face arbitrary lifetime limits, junk insurance plans that dont cover essential benefits and higher prescription drug costs.

Without the ACA, hundreds of thousands of people may not be able to afford testing, vaccines or treatment for the looming coronavirus pandemic that could cause massive disruption.

We need elected leaders who will stand up for health care unconditionally, not just when its politically popular.

The Rev. Marcia Dinkins,

Dayton
Two dependents of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) personnel have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of USFK-related infection cases to six, the military said Thursday.



The fifth patient is a dependent of an active duty service member and the sixth is the spouse of a U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee, both based in the southeastern city of Daegu, according to USFK.



Daegu, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, has been the heart of South Korea's COVID-19 outbreak, with the number of patients in the city skyrocketing due to a cluster of infections centered on the Shincheonji religious sect.



The fifth patient had been in self-quarantine since Feb. 26 and had not had contact with any other USFK-affiliated person since going into quarantine, it said.



"KCDC and USFK health professionals determined contact tracing was not necessary due to the patient's quarantine measures and lack of interaction with others," it said. KCDC stands for the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



The sixth patient had been in self-quarantine since Feb. 28 and her spouse is now under self-quarantine at their off-post residence as a precautionary measure. The military said she did not have contact with USFK affiliated personnel other than her spouse.



USFK remains on "high" risk level peninsula-wide and is implementing all appropriate control measures to help mitigate the spread of the virus to protect the force, it said.



As of Wednesday, South Korea had reported 5,621 cases of the new coronavirus, including 35 deaths. (Yonhap)




Five people who have returned from Malaysia, Singapore and Baharain have been kept under observation, officials from Medical and Health Dept of the state said.

Nodal officer for coronavirus in Visakhapatnam Pardhasarathi said, "Three persons of a family who returned from Malaysia and Singapore and two others from Baharain have been kept under observation in hospital."

"Samples of 5 persons sent for tests," he added.

Airport officials said that a total of 4,300 people were screened at Visakhapatnam airport after coronavirus outbreak in china.

More than 94,000 people worldwide have been infected with the novel strain of the coronavirus, the vast majority of them in China where the outbreak originated. More than 3,200 people have died, but 51,000 have recovered after being treated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The makers of new James Bond film, "No Time To Die", have postponed the release of the much-awaited Daniel Craig-starrer to November this year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries, including the US, Italy and Iran.

"No Time To Die", which is the fifth and final appearance of Craig as the iconic British spy, was earlier scheduled to hit the screens in the UK on April 8 and in North America on April 10.

According to the official James Bond Twitter account, "No Time To Die" will now be released in the UK theatres on November 12, followed by a November 25 release in the US. Dates of worldwide theatrical release will be announced in due time.

"MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of 'No Time To Die' will be postponed until November 2020.

"The film will be released in the U.K. on November 12, 2020 with worldwide release dates to follow, including the US launch on November 25, 2020," the statement by the makers read.

The announcement comes days after two of the most popular James Bond fan sites -- MI6 Confidential and The James Bond Dossier -- urged the studios behind the new film to delay the release in the wake of the outbreak.

According to Deadline, "No Time to Die" will now face off on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with Warner Bros' Will Smith-starrer "King Richard", Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon", and Sony's comedy "The Happiest Season".

In view of the increasing number of coronavirus cases worldwide, many production banners such as Paramount Pictures have halted production on their films, with Disney Plus cancelling its Europe launch event and Amazon Studios pulling out of its participation from the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival.

The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400.

By the end of Wednesday, there have been 12,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus outside China, with over 214 deaths, statistics from the World Health Organisation showed Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A table quiz is being held in the Gavs Bar, Kenagh this Friday, March 6 at 8.30pm.

Cash prize for the winning table, with a raffle and prizes to suit every taste - 40 for a table of 4  all are welcome to attend.

Monies raised will go to Temple Street Childrens University Hospital.

Temple Street Foundation exists to support the vital, life-saving work that happens in Temple Street - every minute of every day.

Charles Harrison explained, Sick children need great care right now  and thats why we are committed to supporting the hospital so that it can continue to save little lives. Every single day, hundreds of sick children and their worried families come through the doors of Temple Street in need of world-class medical care.

We raise the funds needed to ensure that these children have access to the very best pediatric equipment, facilities and supports when they need it most.

Charles added, With your help, we can continue to transform the lives of Irelands sickest children.

Those wishing to support the event can contact Charles Harrison on 086 2508 786.
This satellite image provided by NASA, Jan. 4, shows wildfires in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. Climate change raised the chances of Australia's extreme fire season by at least 30 percent, according to a study released Wednesday, by climate scientists at the World Weather Attribution group. / AP-Yonhap



PARIS (AFP) - Man-made climate change made the unprecedented fires in Australia at least 30 percent more likely, scientists said Wednesday, cautioning that their models can't keep pace with ever-growing extreme weather events.



The blazes in late 2019-early 2020 destroyed more than 20 percent of all Australia's forests, devastated local communities and killed tens of millions of animals.



Experts at the World Weather Attribution service, which says it provides the means to make clear connections between greenhouse gas emissions and impactful extreme weather events, said the fires were made far more likely due to extreme heat and drought linked to global warming.



Their models confirmed that a lack of rainfall and higher temperatures in 2019, compared with 30 years ago, increased the likelihood of widespread blazes by at least 30 percent.



They found that heat waves in Australia are now 1-2 Centigrade hotter than in 1990 and said the true risk increase could be "far greater" than that predicted by traditional climate modelling.



"Extreme fire weather such as we had the last few months causing disastrous bushfires is getting worse due to anthropogenic climate change," Geert Jan van Oldenborgh from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and lead study author told AFP.



"The problem is that climate models are not good enough to compute exactly how much worse because they under-estimate the influence of greenhouse gases.



"It is at least 30 percent (increased likelihood), it could be much more."



Prime Minister Scott Morrison came under fire from green groups last year for saying there was no link between greenhouse gas emissions and the fires, which burned for months across much of Australia's southeast.



Friederike Otto, from the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, said there was no doubt that carbon emissions  which have already warmed Earth more than 1C since pre-industrial times  had contributed.



"Facing fires like this the question is not just if climate change is having an effect on fire, but how climate change is affecting what I've just experienced," said Otto, a lead study author.



Australia experienced an exceptionally hot and dry summer  with some months as much as 3C hotter than the historical average.



Much of the country was rendered more combustible by a long-term trend that sees less rainfall over the southeast due to temperature disruption in the Indian Ocean.



For Michael Mann, director of Penn State University's Earth and Environmental Systems Institute who is on sabbatical in Australia, reliance on modelling risked vastly under-estimating the role climate change is playing in individual weather events.



"Current generation climate models are simply not up to the task of extreme event attribution," he told AFP.



"They are not capturing key atmospheric mechanisms behind these extremes that are almost certainly being influenced by climate change."



He said it was "no coincidence" that Australia experienced its worst ever fires during a record-breaking heat wave.



"Climate change has played a key role here, and whether or not current generation climate models are up to the task of identifying this is somewhat irrelevant," Mann added.






NEW YORK, March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Tupperware Brands Corporation ("Tupperware" or the "Company") (NYSE: TUP). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Tupperware and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On February 24, 2020, post-market, Tupperware issued a press release announcing that the Company will be unable to timely file its annual report for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2019. Tupperware also announced that it expects 2019 net earnings per share ("EPS") "in the range of breakeven to $0.34 versus $3.11 in the prior year[,]" and adjusted EPS of $1.35 to $1.70. Tupperware stated that its financial results were affected by "financial reporting issues" concerning the Company's Fuller Mexico beauty brand and that the Company is "conducting an investigation primarily into the accounting for accounts payable and accrued liabilities" at Fuller Mexico. Additionally, Tupperware announced that it "is forecasting a need for relief concerning its existing leverage ratio covenant in its $650 million Credit Agreement dated March 29, 2019 [], to avoid a potential acceleration of the debt, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company." On this news, Tupperware's stock price fell sharply during intraday trading on February 25, 2020.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 9980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

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New book tells of early Antarctic explorations, continent's connection to climate

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Antarctica is a cold, desolate place, inhospitable for human habitation. Yet humans have been intimately connected to the continent since long before they ever set foot there.

A new book by Gillen D'Arcy Wood - a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign English professor with an interest in earth sciences and climate change - tells the tales of the first explorations of Antarctica, interwoven with the story of its geological history and framed by the current threat of climate change and the deglaciation of the continent. "Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice" is published by Princeton University Press.

The literature of Antarctic exploration is focused on the well-known early 20th-century expeditions by Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen and their race to the South Pole. Wood writes about the first explorations 70 years prior, in the late 1830s and early 1840s, by Charles Wilkes, Jules Dumont D'Urville and James Clark Ross. The 19th-century expeditions have been neglected in popular history, he said, but "these expeditions were both first and last - the first to penetrate the Antarctic continent and the last hurrah of the great age of exploration."

The American expedition led by Wilkes was one the last of the great sailing ship expeditions to circumnavigate the globe, Wood said. The expeditions set in motion a century and a half of scientific research on the continent. Wood compares them to early space travel.

"These voyages really were like the moonshot of the 19th century," he said. "They sent the most advanced ships with the best technology, and the best and most highly experienced naval men to explore the continent, knowing they were sending them effectively into another world in the hopes they would bring back discoveries that would advance humankind."

Wood didn't want to write just an exploration narrative, though. He looked at the environmental history of Antarctica through the eyes of its first explorers.

"I wanted Antarctica to be the main character. The explorers are the lens for a book that is principally about the continent itself," he said. "It's a human story of an encounter with a strange, magical, forbidding, alien land."

Antarctica once was a warm, humid, forested continent, home to reptiles and mammals until ice took over 34 million years ago, he said.

"The glaciation of Antarctica set the global thermostat for us and our evolution," Wood said. "It's crucial for the Earth we inhabit. We are, in an ecological sense, intimately tied to Antarctica."

The continent currently is viewed as a threat, with melting glaciers producing a sea level rise and an existential challenge to civilization, he said.

To research the book, Wood read hundreds of scientific papers and - because he was writing about seagoing voyages - took a five-week trip by boat to Antarctica from southern Chile, skirting the continent's ice pack and traveling along West Antarctica to the Ross Sea, then on to New Zealand.

"It was interesting to experience Antarctica as my characters did, on board, in very inhospitable conditions with almost nowhere to land and with constant threats from wind and ice," he said.

During the trip, Wood flew by helicopter over the Ross Ice Shelf, mountains and glaciers. It was only from the air that he grasped the enormity of the amount of ice on the continent.

"The ice is rising from the ground to the peaks of a mountain range, and that is just one mountain range. There are all these peaks and valleys, and you can begin to extrapolate how much ice is locked up," he said, noting that 70% of the Earth's fresh water is held in glaciers. "It really brought out what that abstract number meant physically, to have an entire continent given over to mile-high ice. It's an extraordinary thing."

Wood experienced the disorienting nature of the light and landscape when he visited Antarctica. The palette of blue and white with the light reflecting off the ice and the extremely dry, clear air produce optical illusions such as false horizons and mirages.

"Objects appear to be dramatically closer than they are," he said. "This is something the first explorers found. Sailors swore they saw a coast, they started to chart it and then it would vanish."

One of the most fascinating aspects of researching the book was learning about the deep ocean and its effect on climate, Wood said.

"The Antarctic Ocean produces this enormous deep ocean stream of cold water, with enormous energy that propels itself northward and helps drive the major currents of the Earth's oceans," he said. "It's the channeling and funneling of cold and warm water that drives jet streams and creates climate conditions around the globe. Antarctica is the home for that."

The region is also known for extremely rough seas and frequent storms. Wood devoted a section of the book to storms and the winds created by the continent's ice plateau.

"These are the strongest, most violent winds on Earth," he said. "It's something the explorers faced. The American expedition skirted the coast with the fiercest winds on the continent. One of the stories I tell is their encounter with this storm and how they managed to survive."

Wood is the associate director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment and the director of its Environmental Writing Program, as well as the Langan Professorial Scholar of Environmental Humanities in the English department. One of his previous books, "Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World," published in 2014, dealt with the rapid climate deterioration set in motion by the massive 1815 eruption of an Indonesian volcano.

###

This story has been published on: 2020-03-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
We don't have to call it " Mars 2020 " anymore.

NASA's next Mars rover  a life-hunting, sample-caching robot scheduled to launch this summer  is officially called Perseverance, agency officials announced today (March 5).

The new name suits the car-size rover and its groundbreaking mission nicely, NASA officials said.

Video: Watch NASA unveil the Perseverance Mars rover's name!

More: NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance in pictures

"There has never been exploration  never, never been making history  without perseverance," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said during a name-unveiling ceremony today.

"Perseverance is a strong word," he added. "It's about making progress despite obstacles."

The kids are all right

Artist's illustration of NASA's 2020 Mars rover, now officially known as Perseverance, on the Red Planet. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Like all of NASA's previous Mars rovers, Perseverance was named via a nationwide student competition. The contest kicked off last year and drew 28,000 essay submissions from K-12 students, NASA officials said.

This huge initial pool was culled to 155 semifinalists, which were whittled further to nine finalists this past January. Those nine included three proposals from each of the three age categories (grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12). The finalist monikers, and the kids who proposed them, were:

Endurance, K-4, Oliver Jacobs of Virgina.

Tenacity, K-4, Eamon Reilly of Pennsylvania.

Promise, K-4, Amira Shanshiry of Massachusetts.

Perseverance, 5-8, Alexander Mather of Virginia.

Vision, 5-8, Hadley Green of Mississippi.

Clarity, 5-8, Nora Benitez of California.

Ingenuity, 9-12, Vaneeza Rupani of Alabama.

Fortitude, 9-12, Anthony Yoon of Oklahoma.

Courage, 9-12, Tori Gray of Louisiana.

NASA encouraged the public to vote for their favorite of these final nine, but the decision ultimately was made by Zurbuchen.

As the proposer of the winning name, Mather, a seventh grader at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, will get a free trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch Perseverance launch in July.

Mather read his winning essay during today's event and said he has a love of space and science that he plans to carry through his entire life.

"I want to go to college, get a degree in some form of engineering or science  space engineering and astronautics sound good right now," he said today. "And then, after that, go work at NASA as an engineer."

Looking for signs of life

Perseverance will land inside Mars' 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater in February 2021, kicking off a $2.5 billion mission to search for signs of ancient Red Planet life  the first time a NASA surface craft has actively hunted for possible Martians since the twin Viking landers did so from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s.

Jezero is a great place to do this work, NASA officials have stressed. The crater harbored a lake and a river delta billions of years ago, meaning that life could have both flourished there and left lasting evidence of its existence. (Here on Earth, river deltas are great at preserving biosignatures, mission team members have said.)

The rover will look for signs of life on-site, using its powerful seven-instrument suite. But Perseverance will also collect and cache several dozen samples of pristine, promising Mars material for future return to Earth, where scientists can continue the hunt using advanced equipment in labs around the world. Those samples could be here as early as 2031 , if all goes according to plan.

Perseverance will do a variety of other work as well, from characterizing Jezero's geology to helping pave the way for human exploration of Mars, which NASA aims to achieve in the 2030s. For example, the rover has a ground-penetrating radar instrument that will look for deposits of subsurface water ice  a valuable resource for astronaut pioneers. And another instrument will demonstrate the production of oxygen from the thin, carbon dioxide-dominated Martian atmosphere .

That's not the only technology demonstration flying on the mission. Perseverance is also carrying a small helicopter scout , which will make brief sorties to show that rotorcraft can indeed explore the Red Planet air.

Perseverance also has 23 cameras and two microphones, potentially allowing us to hear the sounds of Mars for the first time ever. (Two previous NASA Mars craft, the Mars Polar Lander and the Phoenix lander , also carried microphones. But the Mars Polar Lander crashed, and Phoenix's microphone was never turned on.)

Related: How NASA's next Mars rover will hunt for alien life

A naming tradition

NASA has let schoolkids name all of its Red Planet rovers to date.

NASA's first-ever wheeled Mars explorer, Sojourner, was deployed from the Pathfinder lander in July 1997. Sojourner was named by Connecticut 12-year-old Valerie Ambroise in honor of 19th-century abolitionist and activist Sojourner Truth.

Sofi Collis, a third grader from Arizona, won the competition to name Spirit and Opportunity, twin NASA rovers that landed on Mars three weeks apart in January 2004. And the car-size Curiosity rover , which has been exploring the Red Planet's Gale Crater since August 2012, was named by Kansas sixth grader Clara Ma.

Perseverance's body is modeled on that of Curiosity, and the new rover will employ the same sky-crane descent and landing system as its predecessor. And the link between the two missions goes deeper than that; Perseverance aims to extend work done by Curiosity, which determined that Gale Crater was capable of supporting Earth-like life long ago.

Zurbuchen acknowledged the ties between the two missions and stressed that their names go together well, too.

"Perseverance and curiosity together are what exploration is all about," he said.

Mike Wall is the author of " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook .
PARIS  Twice a year, the luxury fashion houses of the world present their ready-to-wear clothing for the coming season. This creates an international traveling circus of retailers and reporters, high-spending customers and Instagram influencers, executives and a small army of public-relations professionals, many traveling from New York to London to Milan and finally to Paris.

This year, the caravans arrival in Milan in mid-February intersected with an outbreak of Covid-19, the new coronavirus, in Italy, then the country worst hit by the illness outside of Asia.

And so, a thousand or so very well-clad people wondered for a few weeks: Would they become a global public health menace, a vector of transmission from the elite front rows of fashion shows to the world at large?

The final leg of this monthlong tour arrived for a week in Paris starting on Feb. 24. On the first day of shows, the number of reported cases of coronavirus in France was just 14; by the last day, there were more than 200, and the country had banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people in confined spaces.
Women suffering from endometriosis have an ally on Capitol Hill: Last week, Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer's amendment to double federal research funding for endometriosis to $26 million was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Finkenauer, 31, who has endometriosis, publicly shared her experience with the condition on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in early March.

Working through severe pain is part of life for millions of women all over this country, and it is time we stand up and fight for them, Finkenauer said at the time. Increasing funding for studying endometriosis and treatments for the condition is a "game changer" for women, Finkenauer said.

Endometriosis occurs when uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus and forms cysts. Women with the condition often experience pain, nausea and infertility. As many as 11% of American women ages 15 to 44 have it, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office on Womens Health. Diagnosis of endometriosis can take up to 10 years, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

What it's like to suffer with endometriosis

Karen Hashley knows all too well how debilitating endometriosis can be. Four years ago, Hashley was in San Francisco for work when a jolt of pain in her abdomen caused her to double over and hyperventilate. While Hashley was used to sharp cramping from her periods, this felt worse. At the emergency room, doctors performed an ultrasound and discovered a large cyst on her left ovary that caused it to twist, whats known as torsion.

When she followed up with her gynecologist, the doctor suspected Hashley had endometriosis. Suddenly, there was an explanation for the cyst and years of pain she experienced.

It took 20 years to be diagnosed, the 35-year-old from Brooklyn told TODAY. If I had known what was happening I could have managed my symptoms. There was a lot of suffering in silence.

Story continues

Ever since she got her first period, Karen Hashley experienced painful cramping and nausea. When she was 31, she finally learned endometriosis was to blame. (Courtesy Karen and Carla Hashley)

Starting with her first period at 11, Hashley experienced heavy flow, nausea, fatigue, insomnia and back pain. While the symptoms originally started around her period, as she aged, the pain and nausea became near constant. In middle school when she complained about her horrible periods, she was told menstruation felt awful for every woman.

It just got normalized, she said. I just started being like, OK I guess this is what its like to be a woman  It never was right but I just thought it was my lot in life.

Related:

Her doctor confirmed her diagnosis via surgery  currently, the only way to properly diagnose endometriosis  and removed cysts on her ovary, bowel, bladder and behind her uterus. Like most women living with endometriosis, she wished she had known sooner.

That's why Hashley decided to participate in the ongoing ROSE (Research Outsmarts Endometriosis) study, conducted by Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health in New York. Launched in 2016, the study aims to discover what causes endometriosis and if a better treatment can be developed. After Hashley signed up, she encouraged her identical twin sister, Carla, to join as well.

When Karen Hashley enrolled in a study looking at women with endometriosis she encouraged her identical twin sister, Carla, also to join. At the time, they didn't know Carla also had endometriosis. (Courtesy Karen and Carla Hashley)

Endometriosis is so prevalent but it's still under-funded and under-talked about, she said. I want to help the conversation.

What is being done about endometriosis?

One of the biggest problems is the seven- to 10-year delay in diagnosis, Christine Metz, professor at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, told TODAY. If women can get a diagnosis much earlier, they will get treatment earlier, and earlier treatment will reduce the pain and suffering.

And, earlier detection could potentially lead to better treatments. Right now women with endometriosis have few medication options and often resort to surgery.

It's a little bit sad there is no cure for endometriosis and there is no known way to prevent endometriosis, Metz said.

In 2016 Karen Hashley had surgery for endometriosis and suspected her twin sister Carla might also have it. It wasn't until January 2020 that Carla underwent surgery for the condition. (Courtesy Karen and Carla Hashley)

Metz is one of the researchers in the ROSE study. They are collecting blood and saliva from women with endometriosis, those without it and those who suspect they have it but haven't been diagnosed.

We believe that collecting menstrual effluent (waste) and the way we're studying endometriosis is going to give us a better insight," Metz said.

They suspected that women with endometriosis have menstrual blood that differs from women without it. Their early results with a small group of participants show there is a difference.

There are markers  found in women with endometriosis, Metz said.

This new study will include teens and women in menopause as well as women who have other gynecological problems, such as uterine fibroids.

Can we predict endometriosis in women who haven't undergone the diagnosis? Metz asked. Thats our ongoing study.

They hope that theyll be able to develop a test to effectively diagnose women with endometriosis without surgery, since that is currently the best method for diagnosis.

In July, the group published a study in the Frontiers in Reproductive Health that further bolsters their research aims. The study shows that intrauterine inflammation not just pelvic inflammation contributes to endometriosis, making it more likely that menstrual blood will be an effective, noninvasive way to detect the condition.

Helping others

When Carla joined the study she didnt have endometriosis. Like her twin sister, Carla had bad cramps throughout her life but figured they were normal.

It was just like low-key pain in my lower right side, the 35-year-old from Washington, D.C., told TODAY. I never told anybody about it because I didnt think about it.

After Karen was diagnosed in 2016, Carla went to her doctor and asked to be evaluated for endometriosis. But the doctor said she was fine. A few years later, she visited her sister's doctor.

She was like, Well even if I didn't know your identical twin I would say you probably have endometriosis, Carla recalled the doctor saying.

Participating in the ROSE study allows twins Karen and Carla Hashley to help other women who have endometriosis. (Courtesy Karen and Carla Hashley)

In January Carla underwent surgery, which confirmed her diagnosis. Doctors also discovered the cause of her right side pain: The endometriosis tethered her ovary to her pelvic floor.

She, too, views her role in the study as a way to help others.

Karen and I both had symptoms as teenagers and could have been diagnosed 10 to 15 years ago, she said. Participating is my way of fighting for women's voices in health care and research, knowing that so many voices are left out.

This story was updated on August 4, 2020 to include the federal government's increased funding to endometriosis research, and further developments in the ROSE study.
SAN FRANCISCO  Anthony Levandowski, a former star Google and Uber engineer who helped pioneer self-driving cars, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday after a court ordered him to pay $179 million to Google over a contract dispute.

The damages stemmed from an arbitration case between Google and Levandowski. The engineer had for years worked on self-driving cars at Google before leaving to create an autonomous vehicle startup in 2016 and then later joining ride-hailing giant Uber.

An arbitration panel had ruled in December that Levandowski and another colleague, Lior Ron, had engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by secretly poaching away Google colleagues to join the startup. On Wednesday, a San Francisco County court confirmed the arbitration panels decision that Levandowski pay $179 million to Google.

In his filing for bankruptcy protection, Levandowski said he had $50 million to $100 million in personal assets, which would not be enough to pay the damages to Google.

Uber declined to comment, as did Levandowskis lawyer. In a statement, Waymo, the self-driving car company that was spun out of Google, said, We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our confidential information is protected as we build the worlds most experienced driver.

The substantial damages and bankruptcy filing are another ignominious chapter for one of Silicon Valleys onetime brightest technologists.

Levandowski had been paid handsomely for his years of work at Google and had a close relationship with Larry Page, a founder and former chief executive of the search giant. But the relationship changed when Levandowski left Google and took some of the companys self-driving talent with him to found Otto, a self-driving truck startup. Levandowski later sold Otto to Uber for more than $600 million.

His good fortune soon ran out. In 2017, Waymo  the newly christened self-driving company spun out of Google  sued Uber and Levandowski for theft of trade secrets, accusing the two of conspiring to steal years of autonomous vehicle research to bolster Ubers own self-driving program. Uber and Waymo eventually settled, with Uber handing Waymo roughly $245 million in Uber stock.

But it was not over for Levandowski.

In August, federal prosecutors charged him with 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets from Google, a case that is still open.

At the same time, Google pursued its own case against Levandowski for poaching employees, resulting in Wednesdays ruling.

Its unclear if Levandowski will have to pay, given that his employment agreement with Uber stated it indemnified him. In a securities filing this week, Uber left the question open.

While Uber and Levandowski are parties to an indemnification agreement, whether Uber is ultimately responsible for such indemnification is subject to a dispute between the company and Levandowski, Ubers filing said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
WASHINGTON  President Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner is selling his stake in Cadre, a New York-based real estate start-up that has sought to profit from a special tax break included in the package Mr. Trump signed into law in late 2017.

In selling his stake, Mr. Kushner also took advantage of a special federal program that would allow him to defer paying income taxes on any gain on his investment in Cadre, which he helped found in 2014.

As of last year, the venture had moved in at least four cities  including Los Angeles and Nashville  to invest in real estate projects in so-called opportunity zones, which were created by the Treasury Department in 2018 under a provision of the 2017 tax law that was intended to encourage new investment in low-income neighborhoods.

But a spokesman for Mr. Kushner said he was selling the stake in Cadre, valued on his financial disclosure form at between $25 million and $50 million, because his involvement with the firm was complicating efforts to bring in new investors  potentially including money from abroad  given Mr. Kushners White House work on international affairs.
 Close US Surgeon General celebrates Donald Trump's health amid coronavirus outbreak

Donald Trump has spent his Monday attacking former President Barack Obama and the fake news media for its coverage of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, claiming the stock markets morning plunge was the result of negative news coverage.

After spending a weekend golfing with Washington Nationals players, the president lambasted Barack Obamas administration and compared the coronavirus to the common flu. US health officials began to warn that older Americans and people who are sick may be at risk of contracting the illness, as at least 30 states confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the stock market took a major hit on Monday morning as fears of a potential global pandemic continued to grow, causing trading to be temporarily halted for the first time since 1997.

Coronavirus fears and a crash in oil prices sent a shudder through financial markets on Monday, with stocks plummeting so fast on Wall Street that they triggered the first automatic halt in trading in over two decades.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 7.8 percent, and European markets entered a bear market, registering their heaviest losses since the darkest days of the 2008 meltdown, as the damage mounted from the crisis that has closed factories, schools and stores and led to travel bans and unprecedented quarantines.

Recommended Stock market has worst day since 2008 meltdown

"The market has had a crisis of confidence," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird.

The market slide came as Italy, the hardest-hit place in Europe, began enforcing a lockdown against 16 million people in the north - a quarter of the population - with masked police officers and soldiers checking travellers' documents. The turmoil is expected to push Italy into recession and weigh on the European economy.

In the US, a cruise ship with a cluster of coronavirus cases that forced it to idle off the California coast for days arrived at the port of Oakland as officials prepared to start taking passengers to military bases for quarantine or get them back to their home countries.

The Grand Princess had more than 3,500 people aboard - 21 infected with the virus.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

The escalating crisis combined with an intertwined development - plummeting oil prices - to drag down the market. The price of oil sank nearly 20% after Russia refused to roll back production in response to virus-depressed demand and Saudi Arabia signalled it will ramp up its own output.

While low oil prices can translate into cheaper fuel, they wreak havoc on energy companies and countries that count on petroleum revenue, including the number one producer, the US.

Additional reporting by Associated Press. Read The Independent's live updates as they came in below:

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A commercial property of Nirav Modi is located at the Peninsula Business Park in Lower Parel area of Mumbai and two commercial ones are at Kohinoor City in suburban Kurla.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has attached three out of four properties of fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi for the recovery of property tax worth Rs 9.5 crore pending against them, a civic

official said on Thursday.

Since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in the process of auctioning four properties of the businessman, including three commercial and a residential one, the civic body has also written a letter to the agency asking to pay property tax dues as early as possible.

A commercial property of Nirav Modi is located at the Peninsula Business Park in Lower Parel area of Mumbai and two commercial ones are at Kohinoor City in suburban Kurla.

Besides, the residential property is located at Kalina, a senior civic official said.

Property tax worth Rs 9.5 crore is outstanding against the four properties, the official said, adding that they have already attached three properties  two commercial and one residentialand the process of attachment of the fourth is in process.

He also said that they have pasted the tax notice on the businessman's property in Lower Parel.

The official said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has the first claim on the proceeds from auction of Nirav Modi's properties, and the ED has given a "positive" response to their claim about property tax.

The ED earlier registered a money laundering case against Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi for allegedly defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 13,600 crore.

The BMC has decided to seize the movable properties of all defaulters for the recovery of pending property tax, apart

from launching an awareness drive last month.

It is first targeting commercial properties for the recovery of tax, and will then move to residential and individual properties, the official said.

The civic body can even seize valuables, including air-conditioners, television sets and furniture, from defaulters if they fail to pay their tax dues.

Since 2016, the BMC has been disconnecting the water connection of defaulters for three weeks to recover tax dues,

besides sealing lifts and entrance of the properties.

Earlier, during the presentation of the budget for FY21, the BMC commissioner said tax worth around Rs 15,000 crore was pending against various properties in the city.

In 2019-20, the BMC targeted to collect Rs 5,015.19 crore worth property tax, but till November last year it managed to collect tax worth only Rs 1,387 crore, the official said.

The state government has already announced a property tax waiver for homes measuring less than 500 sq ft. Hence, the property tax revenue is likely to go down.
The Federal Government has urged Australians to take up craft and board games to cope with boredom in the event of coronavirus quarantine.

An official document offers various tips on ways to cure the 'boredom, stress and conflict' of being stuck at home for 14 days.

The advice is buried within the government's official guidance for home isolation.

Crafting and other art activities are high on the list of suggested activities for bored Australians in home quarantine (stock image)

The recommendations follow tips on monitoring symptoms and basic hygiene during home quarantine.

'Don't rely too heavily on the television and technology,' the document reads.

'Treat quarantine as an opportunity to do some of those things you never usually have time for, such as board games, craft, drawing and reading.'

The government also suggests arranging to work from home and having children's homework delivered.

It advises to keep active in home quarantine, with recommendations to do yoga, dance, watch exercise DVDs or walk around the backyard.

An official document offers various tips on ways to cure the 'boredom, stress and conflict' of being stuck at home for an extended period of time

Meanwhile, the government on Thursday extended its travel ban to include South Korea to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with the number of cases across the country continuing to rise.

The government has also imposed additional health screening and temperature testing at airports for arrivals from Italy.

'We have got ahead of it early and we intend to stay ahead of this,' Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Canberra on Thursday.

Multiple government agencies gather beside buses to take Australian evacuees from the coronavirus-struck cruise ship Diamond Princess after they arrived on a Qantas flight from Japan at Darwin International Airport in Darwin, Thursday

There have been two coronavirus-related deaths out of the 57 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

The government has urged families not to pull their loved ones out of nursing homes, despite a staff walk-out at Sydney's Dorothy Henderson Lodge.

Health Minister Greg Hunt says nursing homes are still the safest place for elderly Australians who need care.

Worldwide, the coronavirus has spread to 80 countries, with 95,000 confirmed cases and 3250 deaths.

A family of evacuees make the most of their situation at the Christmas Island Australian Immigration Detention Centre on Wednesday as they wait out their quarantine
The Idaho Suicide Prevention Day at the Capitol is a special day for all who have a connection with or a personal story around the topic of suicide. Attendees will meet with their legislators to share their stories about why they participate in this advocacy effort, giving a human face to this important public health problem. Advocates hope that by sharing their stories, they will help lawmakers understand that investments in mental health and suicide prevention can save lives.

AFSP Idaho Chapter advocates are part of a larger national movement of AFSP volunteer advocates who will visit state capitols across the United States in 2020 to bring best practices in suicide prevention to legislators and their staff. To learn more about AFSP's advocacy efforts, visit here: https://afsp.org/our-work/advocacy/.

On average, 132 Americans died by suicide each day in 2018, and upwards of 90% of those individuals had a diagnosable mental health condition at the time of their death. AFSP volunteers will urge state lawmakers to be the voice for the thousands of residents across the state affected by mental health conditions and suicide each year.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, with a Public Policy Office in Washington, D.C. AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Related Links

https://afsp.org


Boston Celtics wing Gordon Hayward is likely out for Fridays game against the Utah Jazz according to Brad Stevens, who spoke with 98.5s Zolak and Bertrand on Thursday.

Hayward suffered a knee contusion against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday when Daniel Theis fell backward into his leg. Hayward remained on the court for the rest of the first half, but he was ruled out for the second half after the break. He didnt travel to Cleveland for Bostons back-to-back on Wednesday evening.

After Tuesdays game, Hayward told reporters his knee was sore, but added, I think it will be fine.

The Celtics were also without Jaylen Brown in Cleveland. Brown strained his hamstring, and according to Brad Stevens, he is expected to miss at least a week.

Marcus Smart earned a fine, but not a suspension for accosting an official after the Nets game. He played on Wednesday and pitched in a pair of big fourth-quarter baskets as the Celtics held off the Cavaliers.

The Celtics got a huge performance from Jayson Tatum to help lift them over the Jazz when the teams last met on Feb. 26. Tatum missed Tuesdays game against the Nets with an illness but returned to drop 32 points against the Cavaliers.
Coronavirus: What We Need Is Rational Prep, Not Irrational Panic

Commentary

As COVID-19 sweeps the globe, many of us wrestle with whether to cancel our trips to Florida or cruises in the Caribbean. First-world problems to be sure. Having food, water, and sanitation puts those of us in the West in a much better position to fend off any pandemic, real or not.

If we knew for sure that COVID-19 killed as many people as MERS ( around 34 percent) or even SARS (around 10 percent), most of us would just stay home. But this novel coronavirus seems to kill only around as low as 1 to 2 percent of its victims, much like seasonal influenza. And most of the victims are old and sick. This still warrants some worry, but for most people, COVID-19 seems to be less of worry than it could have been.

But given that we still dont know for sure, what, practically, should we do? Should we cancel our plans for March break, stockpile non-perishable food items, and buy as many N95 masks as we can find?

You could choose to buy a full-face respirator for close to $200. Online retailers offer many different options for less expensive masks when you buy in bulk. N95 masks filter 95 percent of particles, and the masks are not resistant to oil (N). Most sources suggest that they remain effective for 8 hours of continuous use.

But dont waste your money. These masks work best with fit-testing. Just buying a box from Amazon doesnt guarantee that the mask will work for the shape of your face, or those of everyone else living in your home. Furthermore, properly fitted masks only protect against material that you breathe in. You need other protection for your eyes. Sitting on a nine-hour flight to Europe under an N95 mask probably offers more of a false sense of security, at best. It is certainly better than nothing if you happen to be involved in resuscitating a sick person mid-flight, but for the average afebrile person sitting beside other average afebrile passengers, it doesnt make a ton of sense.

Well, what about food? Should we hoard beans and bologna in case the supermarkets run out? Many Canadians, especially those living in rural communities, live with the chance of either getting snowed-in for a few days in the winter or losing power for a few days at any time of the year. As such, they always keep a small stock of non-perishable items in the cupboard. And they know how to make water last and the fridge stay cold for as long as possible if the power goes out.

These are good, practical skills regardless of the latest panic or pandemic. Having enough beans, rice, and pasta to last a week just seems like good common sense. You dont need to start stockpiling because of COVID-19, but being prepared should be a normal feature of living in most of Canada.

Regardless of what you decide, masks and stockpiling food dont represent expensive decisions. But what should you do about your plans for March break? Someone told me this week that they cancelled their cruise and lost over $1200. After the debacle with Diamond Princessthe coronavirus-stricken cruise ship quarantined in JapanI would find it hard to tell people that there is no evidence whatsoever to worry about cruise ships. Having said that, does it make sense to cancel your $10,000 trip to Disneyland? Probably not. Unless you planned a vacation to someplace like northern Italy, where there is already a COVID-19 outbreak, you can probably keep your plans, with a few provisos.

Public health officers love to close things down, for good reason. Putting a cruise ship or hotel in quarantine is not that hard to do and doesnt invite too much political backlash. In crises most people react with, Dont just stand there, do something! However, doing something might protect the public health professionals more than the people in quarantine. Regardless of whether the decision to quarantine a whole cruise ship is the right course of action, you want to protect yourself from being one of the people put into quarantine.

So avoid containable crowds of vacationers, for example, cruise ships or all-inclusive resorts in higher-risk areas. A resort in Hawaii or Cancun probably carries next to no risk, but it still offers public health officers the chance to shut it down if the need arose. Vacationing away from crowds and outside of places that can be easily quarantined seems to offer a worry-free vacation opportunity.

Assuming you avoid places with outbreaks, such as those in Italy and Iran, healthy people should be fine on vacation. Just remember to wash your hands, avoid touching your face, eat and sleep well, and get vigorous exercise. Older people with chronic health concerns should probably delay their vacations until we learn more.

Buying expensive masks that dont fit doesnt make sense. Keeping a small stockpile of non-perishable food always makes sense, regardless of COVID-19. Irrational panic never helps, but rational preparation always makes sense.

Shawn Whatley is a physician, past president of the Ontario Medical Association, a blogger at ShawnWhatley.com, and a Munk Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. He is the author of No More Lethal Waits, a guide to reducing wait times and increasing efficiency in hospital emergency departments.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Nobody wants to be the last to die for a causeespecially an evil one.

When I was in Iraq, and later in Afghanistan, I would occasionally ponder a question that is likely eternal among combatants: Who will be the last to die in this war? I was too narrow in my thinking, as I considered only Americans and only the U.S. Army.

I was reminded of that a few weeks before writing this column by the discovery of an American warship sunk by a U-boat near the end of World War IIthe patrol boat Eagle-56. Found in 2018 and confirmed by the U.S. Navy in July 2019, Eagle last appeared on the surface on April 23, 1945, just a few miles off Cape Elizabeth, Maine. At 12:14 p.m. on that clear and cold day, it blew up amidships and almost instantly sank. All but 13 of its 62-man crew died in the attack. Initially ascribed to a boiler explosion, it took years of patient research for a historian to track down the truth.

This time, I thought to wonder about the enemy. The U-boats fate was easier to determine. U-853 did not reach the end of the war eitherironic for a boat the crew had confidently nicknamed Der Seiltaenzer (The Tightrope Walker). U-853 was the last German submarine sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic. It went down in about 125 feet of water, roughly four-and-a-half miles east of Block Island, Rhode Island, near the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Indeed, it is today one of the more popular wrecks upon which scuba divers descend along the East Coast. I know the place well, as I have sailed those waters and passed directly over the wreck.

Almost immediately after Eagles sinking, a warship practicing antisubmarine drills in the area thought it had found a U-boat and attacked. It failedin part because along that part of the coast you can get to deep water fairly quickly. We will never know exactly what route U-853 took from the mid-coast of Maine down to Rhode Island waters, but it was almost certainly a slow, creeping voyage. Once U-853 slipped past that first ship it probably headed south-southeast to even deeper water. Swinging wide around the shoals at the southern elbow of Cape Cod, its new snorkel allowing the crew to run the engines at night and recharge the batteries for the next daylight period, the U-boat likely averaged around 4 to 7 nautical miles per hour.

All that is sure is that on the afternoon of May 5, 1945, U-853 was submerged near the entrance of Narragansett Bay. That is where, sometime between 5 and 5:30 p.m. (accounts differ), the unfortunate collier ship SS Black Point ran afoul of the U-boat, sealing both their fates. Very shortly after one of the U-boats torpedoes downed Black Point, killing 12, a U.S. Coast Guard frigate and two destroyer escorts swarmed the sub in shallow waters. Above them were at least two U.S. Navy antisubmarine blimps. The end was obvious, and U-853 and the remains of its crew lie on the seabed as silent testimony.

Here is where the tragedy rests: None of the men who went down that day, on either side, should have died.

The day before the attack, Grand Admiral Karl H. Donitz, Nazi Germanys leader after Hitlers suicide, broadcast an order to all U-boats at sea: Cease fire at once. Stop all hostile action against Allied shipping.

History is imprecise. It must be, especially in war, when so many witnesses to events die. We cannot know if U-853 took its crew of 55 to the depths because the message never reached the sub, or because its allegedly glory-hound commander ignored the order.

It sucks to be one of the last to die for any cause. To die for an evil one, or just one mans ego, raises the loss to another level.

Robert Bateman, a former Airborne Infantry Ranger and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, has taught military history at West Point and at George Mason and Georgetown universities.

This article was published in the April 2020 issue of World War II.
HFF

Hilltop Residential, a Houston-based multifamily investment company, hired an executive to lead its expansion into the Southeastern U.S., with a focus on the Georgia and Florida markets.

Craig Marbach joins the company as executive vice president from Venterra Realty Management, where he led the acquisition of 11,198 units through 40 deals in the Southeast. The Atlanta native also directed more than $500 million in sales.
Press Release

March 5, 2020 Senate panel urged to probe alleged irregular use of DICT's P300-M intel funds Senator Leila M. de Lima has sought for a Senate inquiry into the alleged irregular use and disbursement by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of its PhP300-million confidential and intelligence funds. Last Feb. 12, De Lima filed Senate Resolution 321 urging the appropriate Senate committee to look into the possible misuse and alleged irregular disbursement of the DICT's confidential, intelligence and extraordinary funds purportedly for surveillance in 2019. "There is (a) need to determine the propriety of appropriating confidential and intelligence funds, which are given to agencies involved in protecting national security and upholding peace and order, to the DICT," she said. Last Feb. 3, DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio resigned from his post after he divulged the lack of transparency in the disbursement of the department's confidential, intelligence and extraordinary funds amounting to some PhP300 million. According to him, these funds were released in three tranches - PhP 100 million each on Nov. 8, Dec. 3, and Dec. 17 last year - as a "cash advance for confidential expenses in connection with cybersecurity activities." The Commission on Audit (COA) has reportedly flagged down the alleged irregular releases of these funds from confidential expenses. Only the first disbursement has been reportedly liquidated so far. These cash advances done during the last quarter of 2019, according to COA Audit Observation Memorandum 2020-001 issued last Jan. 20, left the DICT with "very little time in accomplishing its desired cybersecurity programs." The lady Senator from Bicol explained that the Senate need to ascertain the extent that these confidential and intelligence operations do not violate the country's laws on data privacy and much less, violate the rights of due process. "The Senate, in the exercise of its oversight function, is now duty-bound to scrutinize how DICT made use of its confidential and intelligence funds, especially since such function is clearly absent in its mandate under the law," she said. "If unchecked, confidential and intelligence funds, can be subjected to massive corruption due to its limited transparency. This, it must be strictly monitored and implemented in accordance with law," she added. Last month, De Lima supported Senate Resolution 310 reviving the Senate Select Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Confidential Funds tasked to scrutinize the government's use and disposal of intelligence, confidential and extraordinary funds. In July 2019, she has also filed Senate Bill 377 which seeks to create a Joint Congressional Intelligence Committee (JCIC) to ensure that government agencies are accountable to the use of intelligence and confidential funds entrusted to them. Under SB 377, all entities of the Philippine government which conduct intelligence activities and receive intelligence funds must keep the JCIC fully informed of all its intelligence activities, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity and any significant intelligence failure. Once enacted into law, the measure mandates concerned government offices to obtain a signed letter from the President, or from the respective head of the constitutional body in cases involving entities enjoying fiscal autonomy, specifically authorizing the proposed intelligence activity before any amount is disbursed and expended for the proposed intelligence activity.
Reuters

By Mathieu Rosemain and Dominique Vidalon

PARIS (Reuters) - France's top court has recognised the right of an Uber driver to be considered an employee, a ruling that could upend the U.S. firm's business model and potentially require it to pay more taxes and benefits such as paid holidays.

The decision by the Cour de Cassation could also have ramifications for France's wider "gig economy", as other taxi and food delivery apps from Deliveroo and Just Eat-Takeaway to UberEats rely heavily on self-employed riders to conduct their business without having to meet a range of employee costs and benefits.

The Cour de Cassation upheld a previous decision by a court of appeal, saying the Uber driver could not qualify as a self-employed contractor because he could not build his own clientele or set his own prices, making him a subordinate of the company.

"When connecting to the Uber digital platform, a relationship of subordination is established between the driver and the company," the court said in a statement.

"Hence, the driver does not provide services as a self-employed person, but as an employee."

The decision could pave the way for other drivers to ask for a reclassification of their work relationship with Uber, which, under the current framework, does not pay a wide range of taxes that fund France's welfare system.

"It's an entirely different business model (for Uber)," said Cedric Jacquelet, a partner at Proskauer law firm in Paris.

"It requires much more legal and human resources, at a much higher price," he added, saying that Uber might now review the conditions under which its drivers perform their service so that they can no longer claim to be employees.

The decision also follows a series of legal challenges to Uber and similar companies from Brazil to Colombia and the United States itself.

California, where Uber is based, recently passed a law aimed making it harder for apps to classify their workers as independent contractors rather than employees..

"The ruling does not reflect the reasons why drivers choose to use Uber: the independence and freedom to work if, when and where they want," Uber said in a written statement.

"Over the last two years weve made many changes to give drivers even more control over how they use Uber, alongside stronger social protections," it added, noting the court's decision would not lead to an automatic reclassification of drivers.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Mark Potter and Nick Macfie)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Estelle Lamoureux, Chair of Education for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and for the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on March 4, 2020. (NTDTV)

WINNIPEG, CanadaKindness and human rights are what many around the world admire about Canadian culture. So its fitting that Manitoba resident Estelle Lamoureux not only expressed her concern for a persecuted group portrayed in Shen Yun Performing Arts, but also recognized those positive traits in traditional Chinese culture itself, which the performing arts company is working to revive.

The curtain rose for the last time this season on New York-based Shen Yun on March 4, 2020, at Winnipegs Centennial Concert Hall where Lamoureux and fellow audience members were whisked away to ancient Chinese villages and heavenly realms of Chinese lore. Lamoureux is the Chair of Education for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and Chair of Education for Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties. She has devoted herself to spreading awareness of human rights around the world after a career that included being the principal of a high school.

[Shen Yun] is beautiful. Its very emotional in very many ways, Lamoureux began. Because its a storytelling aspect to it that creates, as if youre going into this on stage with the dancers. So I thought it was very moving in many ways.

And also, I think it depicts some of the struggles that Chinas currently encountering. And that, you know, there are human rights violations. And we have to be aware of that and to support the Falun Gong that are here [in Canada] and make sure that they know that they have friends in us. So I think thats very important. So that was it was very good.

Why Shen Yun Cant Be Seen in China

In Shen Yuns effort to bring back traditional Chinese culture from the brink of extinction, their artists have adopted a personal spiritual discipline in their daily lives that enhances their energy, expression, and even their stage presence, they say. Its known as Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) and its an ancient style of meditation that teaches truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Unfortunately, it is severely persecuted in China today by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which views its free-thinking and return to moral values as a threat to its own official atheism as well as to its legitimacy and power. In Shen Yuns roughly 20 vignettes per production, some storytelling dances depict the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners and the compassion they exhibit despite the brutality.

Despite the real-life drama between good and evil unfolding, audiences overwhelmingly say that Shen Yuns performance is uplifting and hopeful, an observation that Lamoureux herself made. She also commented on the way that Shen Yuns artistic director chose colors in order to invoke beauty and happiness.

Well, I think [Shen Yun] is just a joy. Theres a lot of joy in it, and a lot of color. And color  brings emotion. And the choice of color with the green, the pinks, the orange, the whites, brings joy. So I think in that way, it was uplifting. So in that way, its emotional. I think it was beautifully done, she said.

Shen Yun Brings Back the Beauty

Chinas 5,000 years of civilization was a profoundly spiritual one, filled with a variety of spiritual disciplines and acknowledgment of a Creator who will one day return to earth for all mankind. Lamoureux enjoyed the journey through the culture that Shen Yun provided and wished it would have lasted longer.

Shen Yun, she said, made it clear why their performance cant be seen in China today: The CCP seeks to wipe out traditional Chinese culture, while Shen Yun brings back the beauty and the caring and the emotional aspect of the ancient traditional dance of China. So its beautiful, she said.

Overall, Lamoureux enjoyed the spiritual content in the performance and thought the belief in the connection between heaven and mankind was well developed. It was very visual, because [Shen Yun has] definitely incorporated that of the divine spirituality of it through imagery and through the incredible graphics that [they] have, she said.  That was beautiful  part of the whole productionit was very well done.

When we were walking out, we said we felt as if we could leap out of our seats! And then we realized we couldnt, because were not trained. But we felt very energized by [Shen Yuns performance]. It was very good, she added.

Lamoureux, an educator of human rights, pointed out a few lessons that she said shell take away from the nights performance.

It just brings us a different understanding of where [different cultures] come from. So I think it  increases inclusivity. So I think thats the important part of it, she said.

To be open to different cultures, to be accepting. And to understand, some journeys are very different from other journeys, and that we should be very open and accepting of everyone, she said.

With reporting by NTD Television and Brett Featherstone.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
Chinese men fish as watchtowers are seen on the North Korean side of the Yalu River just north of Dandong, in China's Liaoning Province, on Nov. 20, 2017. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

With North Korea Border Shut Over Coronavirus, China Warns Citizens to Keep Away, or Else

SINGAPORE/SEOULChinese authorities have told people to stay away from the border with North Korea, which has banned people from China to keep out the coronavirus, or risk being shot by North Korean guards, residents of the area said.

Residents said the warning came in a printed notice that Chinese authorities in the area issued this week, the latest indication of how seriously North Korea takes the threat of the virus.

Close allies China and North Korea share a 1,400-km (880-mile) frontier that is especially porous in winter, when rivers separating the countries freeze, allowing people to cross.

Residents of the Chinese cities of Jian and Baishan were warned that people who get too close to the border might be shot, according to three people who received the notice, which was reviewed by Reuters.

Were told that we may get killed if we get too close to the border area, said one restaurant owner in Jian, which is separated from North Korea by the Yalu River, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

Residents are prohibited from fishing, grazing livestock or throwing trash near the river, according to the notice issued this week.

North Korea asked China to tighten border controls to avoid its citizens getting shot and killed as North Korea had raised its coronavirus threat assessment to its highest level, it said.

The public security organs will monitor the border 24 hours a day and anyone found will face administrative detention by Chinese police, authorities said in the notice, which was seen by Reuters.

Violators will be shot, it said, meaning by North Korean guards.

A Jian propaganda official, who declined to be identified, confirmed by telephone that the citys border control office issued a similar warning in a text message.

During the epidemic prevention period, any activities including fishing on the Yalu River or shouting to North Koreans across the river are strictly prohibited, the office said in the message, although it stopped short of warning of shots.

The official said the wording on such messages may have gone too far in some areas. Reuters could not reach city officials in Baishan. It was not clear if other cities issued such warnings.

Chinas foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Entry Bans

Isolated and impoverished North Korea has imposed strict entry bans during past global epidemics, including a 2014 ebola outbreak.

North Korea has not reported any coronavirus cases, but experts say its measures in recent weeks go beyond those it took previously.

North Korea moved quickly to restrict travel and trade from China, where the coronavirus emerged late last year.

Most flights and trains in and out of North Korea have been restricted, foreign diplomats in Pyongyang were quarantined for a month, and authorities have cracked down on cross-border smuggling.

South Korea, separated from the North by the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), has reported nearly 6,000 cases.

In January, North Korea told travel agencies that it was closing its borders to travelers from China, Reuters reported, cutting off one of its few sources of external revenue.

It is unclear how much trade continues, but sources who work near the border have said much of the official and unofficial trade was affected. Activists who work with North Korean refugees trying to leave through China said the border lockdown has made an already dangerous journey nearly impossible.

At the border crossings, personnel in charge of inspection and quarantine are discharging their duty in a responsible manner to completely keep the virus from spreading to the country, the Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency reported last month.

By Keith Zhai and Josh Smith
VICTORIA - A woman in her 80s with a presumptive case of the novel coronavirus is in critical condition at a Vancouver hospital.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

British Columbia has confirmed its ninth case of COVID-19 in a man who returned from Iran last week. Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, says the man in his 50s and began to feel ill after he returned home to the Fraser Health region, which is near Vancouver. Henry is shown in this January 28, 2020 file photo with British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

VICTORIA - A woman in her 80s with a presumptive case of the novel coronavirus is in critical condition at a Vancouver hospital.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said Wednesday the woman developed symptoms a couple of days after returning from Hong Kong and India about one week ago.

It is the 13th case of COVID-19 in British Columbia, bringing Canada's total number of infections to 34.

Henry said the woman was part of a group tour in India alongside other Canadians who returned to regions outside B.C. Efforts are being made to identify and contact the people involved in the tour group, she said.

Provincial Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix speak to the media at the B.C. Legislature on Wednesday, March 4, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner

"We're looking for who else was in that group," Henry told a news conference. "What kind of exposures they might have had."

She said there have been only a few reported cases of COVID-19 from India.

"The timing of her symptom onset is much more likely to be related to Hong Kong," Henry said.

She said the woman, who also has other health issues, started feeling tired after her arrival in B.C. She called her family physician and shortly afterwards was transported by ambulance to the Vancouver General Hospital's emergency department, Henry said.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the woman is getting the best care available.

"Our hearts go out to the family and we are doing everything we can to support this patient and all of the patients dealing with the consequences of COVID-19," he said.

Among the 12 other people in British Columbia who have tested positive for the virus, Henry said four have fully recovered and three no longer have symptoms but remain in isolation.

The remainder are considered to be in stable condition and are also in isolation at home.

"The risk is changing day-by-day globally and we are continuing to monitor carefully," Henry said.

"Within British Columbia the risk still remains very low in the province and in Canada the risk remains very low."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.
Ducatis are insanely beautiful and their styling is really impressive.

17 years ago when Ducati launched its first Multistrada, it seemed that it was as close to off-road as Ducati would ever get, but with time it just got better and better. And almost after two decades, Ducati gave an impressive update to its new and improved Multistrada line-up and gave us 1260 Enduro, just like its road-biased sibling the Ducati Multistrada 1260S. If we can define this bike in more simple terms, it is a bike that Ducati have pointed squarely at the dirt. We recently got a chance to ride the updated Enduro on curvey roads to see if it ticks all the right boxes?

Deign

Let us start this topic with a fact, when it comes to design, Ducatis are insanely beautiful and their styling is really impressive and the Multistrada Enduro is a great example of the synergy between form and function. One may assume a purpose-built adventure tourer should look like an ungainly mass of exposed frames and other odd body panels. Its signature LED headlamp, fairing, beak, deeply scooped seat and sleek tail section are reminders that a globetrotting motorcycle can look good. And this is without taking away any of the long-distance comforts youd expect from an ADV.

Enhancement

One of the major change that Multistrada received is the 1,262cc, Testastretta DVT V-twin engine, which it borrowed from Multistrada 1260, that is capable of producing 158 hp of power and 128Nm. Its heart also received full torque curve and a renewed chassis for greater ease of riding at low speeds or when manoeuvring, which gives an improved performance. The engine offers 85 per cent of its peak torque output between 4,000 and 6,500rpm. To give you a perspective, were talking about offering the peak torque of a litre-class superbike, just 4,000rpm onwards, which sounds crazy! Throttle response has been smoothened further to let you put all the power down easily. Of course, electronics have been tweaked as well. Theres four riding modes, Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro which can tailor your riding experience depending on the conditions.

Performance

For those who want to use it as a commute, the relaxed throttle response in Urban mode, along with the engines stronger mid-range torque (between 4,000rpm-6,000rpm) helps in everyday city traffic. Touring mode is ideal for long journeys, while Sport makes this Multistrada think its a sport bike built to set lap times. As soon as you open throttle, its L-Twin engine will blow your mid. Why? Well there are plenty of reason, such as , character, power, manouvering abilties, relentlessness, precision, balance and control in eating many kilometer at high speeds. But, when you find yourself wandering down a trail, the Enduro mode just transforms the motorcycle  and how! It instantly feels easy to ride as the throttle response feels crisper and more measured, making it easier to control what the rear wheel is doing. And in case you get a little ham-fisted, the electronics cast such a wide net that you dont spend half the time fretting about dropping the bike. This is especially good for someone cutting their teeth on the enthralling world of trail/off-road riding.

Verdict

Riding this bike reminds us of what made us like motorcycles in the first place. The combination of all-day comfort, true sportbike performance, ability to explore in the dirt, and little touches of Italian style make the Ducati Multistrada 1260 enduro a machine worthy of any adventure tourers consideration. At `19.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), The Multistrada 1260 enduro is sure a little expensive ADV when you compare it to its competitions, but the ride quality it provide it sure worth every penny. The Multistrada 1260 Enduro has managed to ups its game a couple of notches. Engine performance is excellent, on and off-road, while the revised gearing and quick shifter help immensely. Overall, the motorcycle looks stylish, is very powerful, brilliant handling on the tarmac and could go places where most motorcycles won't dare to.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 06:33:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Close to nine out of 10 men and women around the world hold some sort of bias against women, according to new findings published Thursday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The first UNDP Gender Social Norms Index analyzed data from 75 countries, which are collectively home to more than 80 percent of the global population, and found new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality - potentially forging a path forward to breaking through the so-called "glass ceiling."

According to the data, almost half of those polled feel that men are superior political leaders, while more than 40 percent believe they make better business executives and are more entitled to jobs when the economy is lagging. Moreover, 28 percent think it is justified for a man to beat his wife.

"We have come a long way in recent decades to ensure that women have the same access to life's basic needs as men," said the head of UNDP's Human Development Report Office, Pedro Conceicao, acknowledging that "we have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent since the year 1990."

However, he said that "gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality."

The analysis also highlighted a bias shift in some 30 countries, revealing that while some show improvements, attitudes in others appear to have worsened in recent years - signaling that progress cannot be taken for granted.

"The fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices," Conceicao noted.

The new analysis shines a light on why enormous "power gaps" continue between men and women in economies, political systems and corporations, despite tangible progress in closing gender inequalities in developmental areas, such as education and health as well as in removing legal barriers to political and economic participation.

UNDP gave the example that while men and women vote at similar rates, only 24 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women and there are only 10 female heads of government out of 193 member states.

Furthermore, women are paid less than men working the same jobs and are much less likely to be in senior positions.

According to the data, less than 6 percent of chief executive officers in the U.S. stock market index S&P 500 companies, are women. And while they work more hours than men, their work is more likely to be unpaid care labor.

"The work that has been so effective in ensuring an end to gaps in health or education must now evolve to address something far more challenging: a deeply ingrained bias - among both men and women - against genuine equality," said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, adding that "current policies, while well intentioned, can only take us so far."

UNDP said that 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25), the most visionary agenda on women's empowerment to date and called on world leaders to accelerate action to meet global targets on gender equality.

The UN agency is urging governments and institutions to utilize new policies to change these discriminatory beliefs and practices through education, and by raising awareness and changing incentives.
It may officially be winter but it feels more like spring in Los Angeles.

Sophie Turner and her husband Joe Jonas were enjoying the sunshine as they took a stroll in the hip Los Feliz neighborhood.

The 24-year-old Game Of Thrones star and the 30-year-old musician stopped at a juice bar for a healthy treat.

Legs for days: Sophie Turner, 24, showed off her long legs while out with her husband Joe Jonas on Wednesday as they took a stroll in LA's hip Los Feliz neighborhood

Sophie highlighted her long legs with her flowing powder blue dress, which featured a frilly collar and pleated sleeves.

The 5ft9in beauty added a fierce pair of black Vagabond combat boots and carried a black handbag, and her wavy blonde locks fluttered in the breeze, framing her aviator-style sunglasses.

Joe looked stylish in a black Louis Vuitton shirt, which was half fashion logo and half planetary designs.

He also wore charcoal jeans, gray sneakers and midnight blue Ray-Ban Wayfarers.

Out of this world: Joe looked stylish in a black Louis Vuitton shirt, which was half fashion logo and half planetary designs

Blue mood: Sophie highlighted her legs with her flowing powder blue dress, which featured a frilly collar and pleated sleeves

The couple's outing comes amid reports that Sophie is expecting their first child.

'The couple is keeping things very hush hush but their friends and family are super excited for them,' a source told Just Jared last month.

The potential pregnancy also seems to have affected the Dark Phoenix star's clothing.

'Sophie has decidedly been choosing outfits to wear on and off the red carpet to accommodate her changing body,' said another source.

The couple are expecting a child in 'the middle of the summer,' according to Us Weekly.

Breezy style: The 5ft9in beauty added a fierce pair of black Vagabond combat boots and carried a black handbag, and her wavy blonde locks fluttered in the breeze, framing her aviator-style sunglasses

Juicing for two: The two were headed to a juice bar for a healthy treat, amid reports that Sophie is expecting their first child

Sophie and Joe originally tied the knot in a surprise ceremony at Las Vegas' A Little White Wedding Chapel on May 1, 2019, immediately after the Billboard Music Awards, which were held the same day.

They tried to make the ceremony as fun as possible with ring pops in place of wedding bands and an Elvis impersonator as officiant.

The couple's secret nuptials didn't stay secret for very long, though, as their DJ pal Diplo live-streamed the entire ceremony  without their permission.

Joe seemed pretty chagrined as he admitted that his parents found out about the wedding before he ever told them thanks to the internet.

'They did find out online,' he explained on SiriusXM's Hits1. 'They have an amazing restaurant in North Carolina and I think, like, a couple of their staff walked up and were, like, "Congratulations! I saw. And then they had to find out.'

Secret ceremony: Sophie and Joe originally tied the knot in a surprise ceremony at Las Vegas' A Little White Wedding Chapel on May 1, 2019, immediately after the Billboard Music Awards, held the same day

Having a blast: The low-key ceremony featured an Elvis impersonator as officiant and ring pops for wedding bands, but their parents found out when their DJ pal Diplo live-streamed it; shown in January

Though they've refrained from commenting on Sophie's pregnancy, she and Joe added fuel to the reports when they went shopping for baby clothes on Monday.

The couple stopped by a baby supplies store and perused the tiny outfits before making a purchase.

Their shopping trip would have been unimaginable to Sophie years earlier, when she was decidely anti-Jonas Brothers.

She revealed in her Elle cover story earlier this week that she blamed the American boy band for breaking up the rock band Busted.

The distrust arose after the Jonas Brothers covered Busted's hit Year 3000 shortly before the English group broke up.

'It was all the Jonas Brothers' fault. So we hated them,' Sophie joked.

Stocking up: They've refrained from commenting on Sophie's pregnancy, she and Joe added fuel to the reports when they went shopping for baby clothes on Monday; shown March 2

Mini shopping trip: The couple stopped by a baby supplies store and perused the tiny outfits before making a purchase; pictured March 2

Despite her reservations, Sophie was willing to meet him in public.

'I expected him to show up with security and everything. I thought he would be such a d**k,' she admitted.

'I took all my guy friends with me to meet him, because in the back of my mind I was worried he could be a catfish, or... I don't know what. I just wanted my guy friends with me. I had my rugby boys. I was safe.'

Joe's low-key entrance seemed to have raised him in Sophie's estimation.

'The best thing was that he didn't bring security. He brought a friend and they drank just as hard as the rest of us. I remember us two spending only a couple of minutes on the dance floor, and then we found a space in the far corner and we just talked,' she remembered.
The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday, rejected the appointment of a former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, as the new Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party.

The party, in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti by its state Publicity Secretary, Ade Ajayi, also described as null and void the decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) on the matter.

Our attention has been drawn to a statement purportedly signed and released by the National Publicity Secretary of our great party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, on March 4, in which he announced the nomination of former Oyo State Governor, Sen. Isiaka Ajimobi as the Deputy National Chairman (South), among other vacant positions.

We wish to categorically state here that the statement is a fraudulent assertion.

We recall that the South-West caucus of the party met in Lagos on January 31 and mandated its state chairmen and other members of the caucus to meet and decide on the matter.

The South-West caucus of the party met accordingly on February 4 at Osogbo, the Osun State capital and it was inconclusive.

How can the party now issue a statement on March 4 that a decision was taken on Jan. 14?

READ ALSO:

As far as the Ekiti APC is concerned, our nominee for the vacant position of the Deputy Vice Chairman (South) is Sen. Gbenga Aluko and we have not ceded our right to the position, the statement said.

The party said that it was unfortunate that the NWC could still go ahead to usurp the position of NEC, which it said, was the only body empowered by the partys constitution to ratify nomination of candidates.

We recall that the same NWC wrote to the leadership of the South-West caucus sometimes in February to forward the name of their nominees to fill the vacant position.

How come then that the decision for ratification was taken on January 14? Meanwhile, one should ask: whose prerogative is it to ratify the nomination? Is it that of NWC or NEC?

From the provisions of the APC constitution, it is clear that only NEC can ratify such nominations. Suffice, therefore, to say that the purported ratification by NWC of Ajimobis nomination is an effort in futility, it said.

The party also recalled that an aggrieved aspirant to the contentious vacant position had instituted an action at the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti, praying against any nomination or announcement of anyone to fill the vacant position, pending the determination of the suit.

According to it, all the parties to the suit have been duly served, including the office of the National Chairman.

Issues have also been joined by parties, meaning that the principle of lis pendis is already in place.

For anyone to go ahead to take any decision or action while the matter is pending before a court of competent jurisdiction will not only amount to overreaching the court, but contempt and nullity of the purported action and decision.

Whatever decision taken during the pendency of the matter is also a nullity, the party said.

It added that having considered the whole issue, it was clear that the position of deputy national chairman (south) of APC was still vacant and whatever nomination and announcement that might have been made was nothing more than a nullity and exercise futility.

(NAN)
Abuse campaigners want Cork University Hospital to end its shocking silence over the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in an all-male room.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland CEO Cliona Saidlear and Corks Sexual Violence Centre founder Mary Crilly say CUH needs to acknowledge the mistakes it made.

The hospital also needs to make a public assurance it wont happen again. And, they say, hospital chiefs need to explain what changes they have implemented since the teenager was assaulted.

CUHs lack of any substantial comment and relative silence about this case is shocking, given what happened, says Ms Crilly.

Ms Saidlear said: I appreciate they say they have reviewed admission protocols, but they need to be saying much more than that.

She also said acting Health Minister Simon Harris should ask HIQA to investigate child safeguarding at the hospital.

To date, hospital chiefs have only said they have reviewed their admission protocols since the sexual assault.

CUH has refused to say what changes it has brought in since the sexual assault in 2018, despite unprecedented criticism from Judge Sean O Donnabhain.

He questioned how a vulnerable young girl was placed in a ward with Andrew ODonovan, from Butlersgift, Drimoleague, County Cork.

He has a schizophrenic condition and had been attending mental health services since the 1980s yet CUH staff placed him beside the young girl, who was admitted with serious injuries.

"You have to question in circumstances like this what management was doing, said the judge in his summing up at ODonovans sentencing hearing last month when he got an 18-month suspended jail term.

There appears to be no system of management or supervision. Ms Saidlear said: The hospital should acknowledge they did something wrong, and tell people what they have done to fix this.

"They failed to properly risk assess this situation despite knowing this mans medical condition. The hospital management should come out and publicly account for what exactly they have done since this incident happened.

The judge held them to account in the courtroom and I have to wonder, how at least have they responded to what he said?

She added: They need to give assurances because this all about trust. There are survivors of sexual abuse that are going in and out of hospitals all the time. They are not only vulnerable because they are ill, but they are also vulnerable because they have a history of sexual abuse. They need to know that they are safe.

Ms Crilly said: This whole case has appalled me. Even if the man didnt have a history of mental illness, that girl shouldnt have been put in with the men.

A child is a child and a child shouldnt be put in an adult ward. The hospital needs to come out and make an assurance that this incident will not happen again. I dont understand why they have not done so already."

CUH were asked for comment.
In this Jan. 30, 2020 file photo, Kashmiri journalists browse the internet on their mobile phones inside the media centre set up by government authorities in Srinagar, Kashmir. Indian authorities on Wednesday, March 4, temporarily revoked a ban on social media sites and restored full internet access in disputed Kashmir for two weeks, seven months after they stripped the restive region of its statehood and semi-autonomy and enforced a total communications blackout. (AP)

SRINAGAR: Exactly seven months after the government imposed a complete communication blackout as part of its security lockdown ahead of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and the bifurcation of the state of J&K, the authorities on Wednesday partially lifted the ban on the use of social media by people in what is now the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

However, curbs on high-speed 3G and 4G Internet services have been extended till March 17.

s regards service to pre-paid SIMs card, service providers have been asked to provide access only after SIMs are verified as per norms applicable to post-paid connections.

The 2G, synonymous with slow Internet, was earlier restricted to 1,674 white-listed websites approved by the government. Through a series of orders issued by the home department from time to time, service providers were not allowed access to any social media applications allowing peer-to-peer communication and Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications.

There is no such mention in the latest order issued by principal secretary, home department, Shaleen Kabra, in winter capital Jammu on Wednesday.

The order, however, says that in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State (read Union Territory) and for maintaining public order the Internet speed will continue to be restricted to 2G only. While the post-paid SIM card holders shall continue to be provided access to the Internet, these services shall not be made available on pre-paid SIM cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for post-paid connections, the order adds.

It further says that Internet connectivity shall continue to be made available with Mac-binding on fixed line connections.

Kabra said that the access and communication facilities provided by the government through e-terminals and Internet kiosks apart from special arrangements for tourists, students and traders will also continue.

He asserted that the fresh order has been issued upon regular assessment of impact of the directions for regulation of the telecom services on the overall security situation and maintenance of public order and-taking note of the position brought out in the reports of the law enforcement agencies, while keeping in view the aspects of reasonability of restrictions with regard to the principle of proportionality and consideration of available alternatives.

The Jammu and Kashmir police had a couple of weeks ago launched a tough campaign against those using VPNs to access social media platforms to spread rumours, glorify terrorists and their activities and try to create law and order problems in the Union Territory and beyond.

In fact, the police detained several people for questioning after they allegedly misused social media. The police sources had said that more than one thousand social media profiles were under scanner for spreading false information and propagating violence.

The Cyber Cell of the J&K police had last month registered an open First Information Report (FIR) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against propagation of false information.

Director general of police Dilbag Singh had issued a stern warning against those people using VPNs to access social media platforms to spread rumours and try to create law and order problems.

People who are disseminating fake and false news and anti-India propaganda aimed at disturbing law and order and promoting terrorism will be taken to task soon, he had said.

In its January 14 order, the J&K home department had imposed ban on all except (later raised to over 1,600) white-listed websites vetted by it after it restored the 2G internet services across the UT. But the diktat almost failed as a vast majority of the subscribers and other users were accessing also those websites which did not figure in the Home Departments white-list, mainly social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, through VPNs.

The authorities had separately asked the telecom companies and other service providers to buy and install required equipment immediately to block the access by their subscribers to all those sites which do not figure in the Home Departments whitelist. The service providers had said that the process of installing firewalls is underway.

The government had enforced a complete communication blackout across J&K as part a slew of stringent measures initiated ahead of its stripping the state of its special status and splitting it up into two UTs on August 5 last year. The ban on the use of phone and internet services was lifted gradually, however.

In January this year, the government allowed mobile data services and internet access through fixed lines across the UT. Also the 2G mobile services were restored in the remaining eight districts of the Valley. This service was made available in the Valleys two districts-Kupwara and Bandipore- and also throughout the Jammu region of the UT earlier. However, as per an order issued by the UTs Home Department, the internet speed was restricted to 2G and limited only to the white-listed sites. The order said, Access will be limited only to white listed sites and not to any social media applications allowing peer to peer communication and Virtual Private Network applications.

However, more and more people quickly switched to VPNs which not only allowed them to bypass censorship but also keep all online activities confidential and this in turn made a mockery of the official ban. A similar situation had surfaced in April 2017 when the government had imposed a blanket ban on 22 social media sites including Facebook, Twitter.com and WhatsApp in the Valley for a period of one month. Subsequently, the ban on these sites was lifted.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

The official visit of the delegation led by Georgian Minister of Defense Irakli Garibashvili to Azerbaijan starts on March 5, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Within the visit, the Georgian delegation will hold a number of meetings in Azerbaijan.

The visit will last until March 6.

Azerbaijan and Georgia have developed successful cooperation in many areas including energy, trade and other sectors of economy.

Georgia exported goods worth $43.98 million to Azerbaijan in January 2020. On an annualized basis, Georgias exports to Azerbaijan grew by 27.6 percent.

During the reporting period, Georgia imported products worth $58.7 million from Azerbaijan.

The trade turnover of Georgia with Azerbaijan in January 2020 amounted to $102.74 million.
COVID-19 has been accompanied by a conspiracy theory outbreak, not just on social media, on mainstream outlets, too.

Two months after China first reported a deadly outbreak of a new type of coronavirus, the topic continues to dominate headlines the world over. The virus has now infected more than 95,000 people in 79 countries and killed more than 3,200.

The diseases rapid spread has been accompanied by an outbreak of false claims and conspiracy theories on social and mainstream media, allowing misinformation on the origins of the virus and hoaxes on cures to travel as fast as the infection.

One study by the US State Department, reported on by the Washington Post, said roughly two million tweets touting conspiracy theories about the virus  such as claims it was caused by a bioweapon  had been posted outside the US over the three-week period when the disease began to spread outside China.

According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), such claims hamper the effort to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

At WHO, were not just battling the virus, were also battling the trolls and conspiracy theorists that push misinformation and undermine the outbreak response, he told reporters on February 8.





Fear, rumours, and prejudice

A group of 27 scientists from eight countries, including the US, Malaysia and Australia, also condemned misinformation around the virus, saying in an open letter on February 19 that conspiracy theories suggesting COVID-19 does not have a natural origin do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus.

Some analysts say it is unsurprising false claims over the virus have flourished, mainly because it is a new strain about which little is known.

An outbreak like this has many uncertainties, and when people dont have answers, and scientists are not able to give them all the answers and assurances they need, they are likely to start speculating, explained Marina Joubert, a senior science communication researcher based in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Also, understandably, people are scared and the images of people wearing masks and large cities that are deserted, cause further anxiety, she added, referring to lockdowns imposed in several Chinese and Italian cities in an effort to contain the outbreak.

Andrea Kitta, associate professor at East Carolina University in the US, said the narrative patterns of conspiracy theories surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak was identical to those in past epidemics.

In previous pandemics like HIV or H1N1, there have been similar conspiracy theories on bioengineering, plots to cull certain populations, or that its linked to eating and sanitation habits, she said.





A widely circulated theory linked the virus to a video of Chinese woman eating bat soup, which was shared widely on social media and eventually picked up by mainstream media sites including Russian state-owned network, RT, and British tabloid Daily Mail.

It later emerged that the clip was of a well-known Chinese vlogger eating the soup in Indonesia in 2016. While scientists believe bats are a carrier for the new virus, they suspect it may have jumped to humans via another animal host.

The bat soup claim is just one of the many reports linking what Chinese people eat to the new outbreak, and one among many peddling racially charged claims.

Some of the stereotypes that have emerged are that Chinese people are dirty and that they eat weird things. When we dont have the information we need, we tend to speculate, but unfortunately, thats also where our inherent racism and bias starts to come into play. We do this to make ourselves feel safe, but its really problematic, said Kitta.

Such claims can be dangerous and have been linked to attacks and discrimination against Chinese nationals and people of Asian origin in countries such as Italy and against people evacuated from China in Ukraine.

What worries some observers is not just misinformation on social media but that some of these claims have made their way into more mainstream outlets, including in Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US.

In the early days of the outbreak, a columnist for popular Saudi newspaper al-Watan suggested on February 2 that the new coronavirus was part of an effort by Western pharmaceutical companies to profit by selling vaccines for it, while another columnist for the Syrian official al-Thawra daily wrote on February 3 that the virus was part of an economic and psychological war on China waged by the US.





Similar claims were also aired on Russias state-run Channel One. And on February 5, a news anchor suggested US President Donald Trump was to blame, linking the word corona, which means crown in Russian, to beauty pageants Trump used to preside over.

In the US, right-wing media have also peddled conspiracy theories of their own, with the Washington Times saying on January 24 that the new coronavirus may have originated in a lab linked to Chinas covert biological weapons programme, a theory later backed by Republican Senator Tom Cotton.

Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio host, said the coronavirus was being weaponised as yet another element to bring down Trump.

Geopolitics also played a role in the type of misinformation being spread, according to some analysts.

Had the virus originated in a country not so significant, it would have been treated and seen in a different light, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political scientist and director of the Institute for Science and International Security, in Bangkok.

China has issues with a lot of countries, including economic rivalry and geopolitical tensions with the US. It is dominant globally, and Chinese tourists are the number-one source for a lot of Asian countries. All of this has impacted the way the pandemic has been reported.

An article in Foreign Policy magazine on January 24 said Chinese President Xi Jinpings political agenda may turn out to be a root cause of the epidemic and that his multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative has made it possible for a local disease to become a global menace.





Bat soup and bioengineering

Amid what WHO has described as an infodemic, social media companies have taken some steps to combat misinformation about the COVID-19 outbreak. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have announced measures to steer users looking for information on the coronavirus to credible sources, such as the WHO.

But tech companies should do more, said Jonathan Corpus Ong, associate professor of global digital media at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US.

Were engaging with this health epidemic at a different time from previous outbreaks like SARS or swine flu. In recent years, a lot of health disinformation and insidious fake news have been able to thrive online.

This pandemic hits us at the moment when theres much more rumour-mongering. Plus, there are many social media influencers who have been trying to promote various kinds of products. This is quite tough to challenge and combat, he said.

Its important for conspiracy theories to be removed from online platforms sooner than has been. Claims around bat soup and bioengineering, for example, are still accessible, he said. Also, theres been too much focus on nudging to legitimate information and not enough focus on taking down hate speech and slur.

Meanwhile, pressure is also growing on mainstream journalists to ensure fair and reliable coverage.

Joubert, the science communication researcher, said: I think many of the major media organisations have done a great job of providing updates responsibly and to put experts forward to speak to the public. Unfortunately, some smaller newspapers and radio stations may be guilty of helping to spread misinformation.

She added: The mass media should play an even bigger role in making people aware of misinformation and why it is so important to be critical, and think rationally when we consume information, especially in the online world.
CNN contributors weigh in on the Super Tuesday results -- and what they portend for the Democratic presidential primary. The views expressed in this commentary are their own.

Frida Ghitis: The #Joementum is real

As Super Tuesday voters made their choices, the victories started stacking up for former Vice President Joe Biden, in one of the most remarkable and sudden political resurrections in recent memory. By the time results started coming out from the middle of the country, two trends became evident. First, Biden's South Carolina momentum was not a fluke.

The victory he crafted with the support of African Americans in the South propelled him forward, and Biden was able to win unexpected contests in other parts of the country -- even if the demographic makeup looked nothing like the South.

Just as strikingly, another phenomenon became apparent. It wasn't just Biden winning. Sanders started sliding -- not only compared to Biden, but also compared to his own performance in 2016 when he ran against Hillary Clinton. In some states where Sanders ended in first place, where Biden had all but conceded, Sanders produced much weaker results than he and the pundits expected.

A shocking result came in Minnesota. That was the state that Sen. Amy Klobuchar was supposed to win, before she fell on her sword as part of the perfectly choreographed series of endorsements that came just in time for Super Tuesday. With Klobuchar out in her home state, Sanders was widely expected to win there. Biden hadn't even campaigned in Minnesota. Sanders had crushed Clinton there in 2016 by a 62 to 38% margin in the states' caucus. But Biden surged to victory this time.

Sanders won Colorado, but again he did it by a much smaller margin than four years ago. Texas, until just a few days ago, was expected to bring a Sanders landslide. It has turned into a hard-fought battle.

The reason for the parallel trends became apparent when both Biden and Sanders spoke to their supporters. Sanders launched a ferocious attack against Biden. In contrast, the former vice president, exuberant with joy, invited everyone to join his movement.

Biden's wide embrace beats Sanders' narrow appeal, especially for voters eyeing November.

The race is far from over, but the momentum -- or #Joementum, in Twitter-speak -- is clearly with Biden. A late bloomer to be sure, he may have peaked at just the right time.

Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to the Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis.

Scott Jennings: Four takeaways (so far)

A few things jump out at me as we wait (and wait and wait) to see who wins California and Texas on Super Tuesday, and reflect on the apparent irrelevance of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada:

The power of earned media: As pointed out by veteran Republican communicator Brendan Buck, earned media is king in presidential politics. And Joe Biden's win in South Carolina provided the kind of restorative therapy that clearly made a huge difference for Biden. The brighter the lights, the less the TV ads matter. At this level, you just can't top the sort of earned media Biden received from his Palmetto State win -- and the subsequent endorsements of his vanquished rivals and Democratic Party leaders. Color this pundit surprised and humbled: I was certainly wrong about where I thought his campaign was going. His team deserves credit for actually understanding how to hold a firewall and then build on it. Biden's campaign really had the stink of death about it after the first three contests, and his turnaround is an unprecedented and remarkable. Mike Bloomberg learned a $500 million lesson tonight. Dems defragged their hard drive: Unlike the Republicans scrambling to beat Donald Trump in the 2016 GOP primary, establishment Democrats consolidated around Biden in a serious and meaningful way at just the right moment. Interestingly, the alternative to Trump in 2016 ended up being Ted Cruz, who wasn't exactly an establishment favorite. In this year's iteration, you have a true establishment vs. outside choice within the Democratic primary. It is premature to write off Sanders at this point (the way we were writing off Biden the other day!), but clearly momentum has shifted. Can Biden hold it? Sanders, after all, has plenty of money to keep going. The focus on African-American voters is critical now and later: black voters are clearly driving Biden's resurgence, but the question later will be how the eventual Democratic nominee does with that demographic versus Donald Trump. Two things to watch: turnout and support levels. Hillary Clinton suffered mightily because African Americans didn't turn out for her in 2016, and President Trump's campaign believes they've made real inroads among black men over what the typical Republican presidential nominee would expect. Old vs. young. Hispanics vs. African Americans: Come the fall, Democrats may face a critical reckoning, as there are massive gaps in who is supporting Biden and Sanders. Older and African-American voters support Biden; younger and Hispanic voters prefer Sanders. Whoever gets the nomination will need to recapture and motivate those blocks that supported the other guy or face a similar reckoning as Clinton in 2016.

Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor, is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a former campaign adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell. He is a partner at RunSwitch Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky. Follow him on Twitter @ScottJenningsKY.

Aisha Moodie-Mills: Black voters matter

Joe Biden is poised for bin wins on Super Tuesday, thanks to the overwhelming support of black voters who make up a significant portion of the electorate, particularly in the South. Building on his sweep of South Carolina last weekend, he's handily won Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee-- and I suspect he'll do well in Arkansas as well.

Tonight's results affirm that the pathway to the Democratic nomination runs directly through the black community. Candidates who are unable to break through to black voters just aren't viable contenders despite how great they might be on issues of racial justice and regardless of how many endorsements they receive from black influencers.

Take Elizabeth Warren, for example, who literally has a comprehensive plan to address everything, including a host of issues that disproportionately impact black people. Even though she amassed an impressive list of endorsements from black leaders -- from Black Womxn For to the founders of Black Lives Matter -- she's been unable to break through to black voters in any contest thus far.

Bernie Sanders -- despite performing well overall -- will likely hit a wall tonight because he too has been unable to draw a significant portion of black voters, even as he's captured the hearts and imaginations of black youth. Warren and Sanders' passion and policies just aren't translating with the folks who cast their ballots on primary day. Why?

The reality is that relationships matter more than being right. Sure, Warren and Biden, and all the other Democratic candidates in this primary, are on the right side of the issues that matter to black communities. But black voters know Joe Biden, and they love him largely because of the goodwill he amassed as the affable wing man to our first black President.

But that's not all: I was in South Carolina last week and heard several times from voters who planned to vote for Biden, "We know Joe Biden. He came down here and worked with us before there ever was a Barack Obama." That makes sense, Biden has had a long career, and has been around longer than almost everyone else in the race.

Those relationships built over decades foster trust. He may not be as well-versed on issues of racial justice as other candidates, but black voters know Joe Biden and clearly, that is more than half the battle.

Aisha Moodie-Mills, a CNN political commentator and former president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. Follow her on Twitter @AishaMoodMills.

Sarah Isgur: A brokered convention looks less likely

Were predictions of a brokered convention too hasty?

As of 24 hours ago, most pundits agreed that no candidate looked likely to get to the 1,991 pledged delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. This would have meant that Democrats wouldn't have had a nominee until July and only then after a messy, multi-ballot process that would have given the 771 superdelegates an outsized role in determining the eventual nominee. Any outcome of a brokered convention was sure to divide the party only months before the November general election.

But what a difference a day makes: The night was still young and Joe Biden had already won Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee with numbers that signaled overwhelming support from the African American community, the backbone of Democratic support, and a convincing edge with the college-educated suburban vote that Democrats need for November.

In terms of sheer numbers, Texas and Californiastill to come at this writing-- are critical to see how this race will play out. But if reports are true that Mike Bloomberg's advisors are pressuring him to drop out of the race after tonight, this could quickly become a two man race. There's still about 60% of the delegates up for grabs in the coming weeks and months, and that should be enough to avoid that second ballot in July.

Sarah Isgur is a CNN political analyst. She has worked on three Republican presidential campaigns and is an adjunct professor at George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Raul Reyes: Do voters want a revolution -- or a restoration?

Speaking at a rally in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declared, "It's a good night! They don't call it Super Tuesday for nothing!" With results still coming from the western states, one thing is clear: It has certainly been a good night for Biden. Just a few weeks ago, his candidacy seemed to be on life support, and there was speculation that he might have to drop out of the race. Now, his political resurrection is complete.

Three key states give a good picture of the fluidity of the race. Biden won the Minnesota primary, no doubt benefiting from Amy Klobuchar's exit from the race and her subsequent endorsement. Four years ago, the state was Bernie Sanders territory, yet that was not the case tonight. This time around, the former vice president also likely benefited from the state switching to a primary rather than caucuses.

In Colorado, Sanders again won a state in which he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016. In Texas -- at this point in the evening -- Biden seems to be on track to at least blunt Sanders' momentum in the Lone Star State. It is to Sanders' great credit, though, that he has energized Latino voters nationwide. Just as African American voters powered Biden's comeback in South Carolina, Latino voters are poised to remain an integral part of Sanders' base (evidence: his win in Nevada).

Looking ahead, this race is shaping up as two clear choices for Democratic primary voters. Sanders is offering a reshaping of what he sees as our country's broken and inequitable institutions. Biden is promising a return to an era when lawmakers on both sides of the aisle could work together. The question for voters is whether they want a revolution -- or a restoration.

On another note, Tuesday was not a good night for Michael Bloomberg. His whole campaign was built around the idea that Biden would falter, and then the former New York City mayor would help save the day for Democrats. But Biden has not faltered -- so where does that leave Bloomberg? The billionaire needs to set aside his ego and his wallet and consider whether he wants his ultimate role in this race to be that of a spoiler.

Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and a member of the USA Today board of contributors. Follow him on Twitter @RaulAReyes.

Joe Lockhart: The South delivers big for Biden

Ever since the polls closed in South Carolina Saturday night the political debate has been dominated by this question: how big a bounce is Joe Biden getting from his blowout victory there? Tonight Virginia -- and North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee -- told us that that bounce was big. But like many things in the race, it's not as simple as it looks.

Just last week, the race in Virginia had tightened, and some polls showed Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders trading the lead from day to day. But the only poll that really matters comes on primary day, and those voters delivered Biden big victories.

Virginia, for one, was in many ways set up structurally for Biden. Exit polls show that nearly 50% of voters made up their mind in the last few days, a big plus for him after his South Carolina win. But among black voters, so far solidly in the Biden camp, the majority said they made up their minds before the start of February.

Virginia also had no early voting. In neighboring North Carolina, similar to Virginia in demographics, about a third of voters cast their ballots before today, starting last Friday.

Watch tonight for the difference in margins in Virginia from North Carolina. They will give us insight into the impact of early voting, voting before South Carolina, that will be a big question as we look west to the big prize tonight, California.

Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton's administration. He co-hosts the podcast "Words Matter."

Nayyera Haq: Alabama shows Biden can build bridges

No one expects a Democrat to win Alabama in the general election, but the Democratic primary in the state tells a different story - one that bodes well for former Vice President Joe Biden. While the Heart of Dixie qualifies as Trump country politically and socially, black voters make up 54% of the state's primary electorate and their turnout recently helped elect Democrats in local races.

Alabama Senator Doug Jones credited his special election victory in 2017 to the support of 96% of African-American voters who turned out to vote for him, many of whom also identified as evangelical. In 2018, Montgomery, a city synonymous with racial tension and considered the birthplace of the civil rights movement, elected its first black mayor.

Democrats identifying as moderates cite Jones as the prime example of how the party can win votes away from Republicans in the November presidential election; Biden's victory in a state like Alabama indicates there is a significant Democratic population looking to the 2020 race to heal America.

Biden's record and message of building bridges hits the sweet spot between black voters and socially conservative, religious voters of all demographics who are using their votes not only to reject Trump policies, but also reject radical social change.

Nayyera Haq is a host on SiriusXM Progress and CEO of an international communications firm. She served in the Obama administration as a senior adviser in the State Department and a senior director in the White House. Follow her on Twitter @Nayyeroar

Ian Sams: Bloomberg's bad bet

It certainly looks like Michael Bloomberg's experiment has failed.

Super Tuesday was supposed to be the former New York mayor's triumphal entry into the presidential race, the opening salvo in a primary strategy so unorthodox it had never been tried before. Behind hundreds of millions in advertising, Bloomberg chose to bypass the first four states on a gamble that he could outspend his Democratic rivals in key March states and emerge victorious.

In Tuesday's early results, Bloomberg's plan has apparently flopped.

Two key contests in the South reveal the scope of his problems: Virginia and North Carolina.

In both, former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner the minute that polls closed. But beyond the outcome, the results portend something worse for Bloomberg.

In Virginia, he reportedly spent nearly $6 million in advertising alone, yet he will not meet the 15% threshold to receive any delegates. In North Carolina, where he spent nearly $13 million on ads, he is hovering right around that threshold.

Meanwhile, Biden is thundering to big victories in spite of spending a fraction of that. How did he do it? He won the South Carolina primary. Then he forced his moderate rivals out of the race. Then he got their endorsements. And all of it has dominated the news for the past three days.

Momentum is everything in this race, and earned media -- the press coverage you receive in a campaign -- is proving the most valuable currency a candidate can have. Narratives continue to supersede ad spending, field organizing, rallies, and all the old metrics.

Bloomberg will earn some delegates in states like California and Texas, and he may try to cling to those as rationale for continuing his run. But Super Tuesday is likely to show he will trail Biden and Bernie Sanders by a steep delegate margin, effectively ensuring there is no real path to a pledged delegate lead for Bloomberg.

He has tough decisions to make about whether to continue his campaign in the hours and days ahead, but one thing is clear: his multimillion dollar bet that Super Tuesday would deliver him big wins and a breakout moment turned out to be a bust.

Ian Sams is a Democratic strategist with experience on seven state and federal campaigns. He was most recently national press secretary on Sen. Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.

Van Jones: Super Tuesday leaves us with a lover and a fighter -- we need both

On the strength of one night in South Carolina, Joe Biden is back in the race after Super Tuesday. While Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg picked up delegates, neither had the big night they needed to take over one of the top two spots. That leaves us with a Biden vs. Bernie Sanders race.

Everyone is pointing to Biden's strength with African-American voters, but based on returns across the Super Tuesday states, I see a generational divide that points to real challenges for both candidates. There is tremendous passion on both sides. Biden resonates with older African-American voters, especially older African-American women. They have gone to a lot of funerals. They have buried children. They have buried spouses. They understand that he understands. And they have not moved in their support for him.

But there is a younger generation, one that feels very real pain and frustration. They see a system that is rigged against them and feel like no one wants to fight for them -- except perhaps Sanders. Sanders' sense of urgency appeals to them. They see willing to fight for them.

We are left with two candidates with distinct strengths and flaws. Sanders could win the young Obama voters of color who did not vote in 2016. Biden could combine older African Americans with Obama-Trump white voters.

Sanders would come to Washington D.C. ready to fight for those younger voters. Biden would come ready to build the bridges that older voters long for. One is a fighter who seems unwilling to love, and the other a lover who seems unprepared to fight. The problem is that to piece the country back together, you need to be able to do both.

One of these candidates is going to have to show an ability to expand their appeal. The one who does it first will likely win the nomination.

Van Jones is CEO of REFORM Alliance and co-founder of #cut50, a bipartisan criminal justice initiative of the Dream Corps. He is also the author of "Beyond the Messy Truth: How We Came Apart, How We Come Together." In 2009, Jones worked as the Green Jobs Adviser in the Obama White House.

Jen Psaki: After Super Tuesday, these talking points should go

After Joe Biden's huge win in South Carolina on Saturday night, the big question was whether that support from African Americans would repeat in other states, and whether he would be able to parlay that momentum into wins in other states. So far, the answer to both questions is yes.

There are also a few talking points that have been frequently used that should be thrown out now, including:

1. "Iowa and New Hampshire determine the direction of the primary." After Biden finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire, the collective wisdom was that he would hang in just to make it to Super Tuesday and then drop out. As it turns out, when states that look like the Democratic electorate vote, the results can change the trajectory of the race.

2. "Enthusiasm is a direct indication of support at the voting booth." Senator Sanders has built an impressive campaign apparatus with effective online fundraising, a huge volunteer base, and rock star like rallies. This has not translated -- so far -- to an expansion of the electorate or dominance in the primary.

3. "Biden's support is a result of the coalescing of the Democratic establishment." There is no question that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar's support and apparatus helped Biden in her state, and the endorsement of former US Rep. Beto O'Rourke's may be helpful in Texas. But unless the "establishment" is a new term for the African American vote, this is completely off base.

Jen Psaki, a CNN political commentator, was the White House communications director and State Department spokeswoman during the Obama administration. She is vice president of communications and strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Follow her at @jrpsaki.

Jeff Yang: Biden owes Warren for Bloomberg's poor performance

Joe Biden brought his juice from South Carolina into Super Tuesday, as late-breaking voters went in his direction. In Texas, nearly 50% of Biden voters made up their minds in just the last few days. Some 64% of voters in Virginia did the same. And in Minnesota, this was 59% of voters, with an additional 44% deciding just today after yesterday's late withdrawal of Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Bernie Sanders' hopes of a dominating lead coming out of this 14-state primary night were crushed.

Joe has the mo; less clear is whether he can keep his mojo going as the map expands into the industrial Midwest and big Eastern states, where Sanders has strong beachheads among white working class and Latino voters. Meanwhile, the harsh reality of the momentum-driven electoral map hit my preferred candidate hard.

Elizabeth Warren had hoped to come out of the night with a few hundred delegates and the chance to break a media narrative that had prematurely written her off after the misbegotten Iowa primary. That looks unlikely. But at least she's likely scored another set of billionaire antlers for her trophy collection. It's hard to imagine Mike Bloomberg continuing the race beyond today after his disappointing (and absurdly expensive) Super Tuesday outcome. If Warren hadn't handed Bloomberg his silk shorts at the Nevada debate, this might well be a very different looking race.

Jeff Yang is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion, a featured writer for Quartz and other publications, and the co-host of the podcast "They Call Us Bruce." He co-wrote Jackie Chan's best-selling autobiography, "I Am Jackie Chan," and is the editor of three graphic novels: "Secret Identities," "Shattered" and the forthcoming "New Frontiers.

SE Cupp: The Utah surprise and California's riches

While Utah doesn't get as much attention as California and Texas on Super Tuesday -- it offers just 29 delegates versus a combined 643 from the top two -- it may give a unique look at the eventual Democratic nominee's ability to take dissatisfied Republican voters away from President Donald Trump. As Associated Press reporter Lindsay Whitehurst says of Trump's domination of red states elsewhere, "his powers just don't work as well here."

Maybe that's why the state was one of the few bright spots for Michael Bloomberg, on a night of huge disappointments. While Bernie Sanders, who won the state in 2016, took first place, Bloomberg finished second ahead of Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. The one-time Republican campaigned in Utah in February and spent money on ad buys there.

We'll learn more from exit polls, but Utah may portend a willingness, at least among some conservatives, to vote for a Democrat this time around.

Meanwhile, over in California, Sanders expectedly performed well in the delegate-rich state, but....

It's worth pointing out that just last week, his lead in California was double-digit. A CNN poll had Sanders at 35% among likely Democratic primary voters, Elizabeth Warren at 14% with Joe Biden in third at 13%. That gap closed significantly tonight.

Granted that poll was before South Carolina. Biden's domination there on Saturday changed the whole game, not only resurrecting a flailing campaign but shifting the momentum and narrative his way. People like a winner, and clearly Biden showed he could be one -- that buoyed his campaign all over the country.

SE Cupp is a CNN political commentator and the host of "SE Cupp Unfiltered."

Errol Louis: Democrats voted for their party

The Empire struck back.

On Super Tuesday, Bernie Sanders learned the hard way that when you dismiss, insult and challenge the so-called "Democratic establishment," sooner or later the party faithful will respond.

"We're not only taking on the corporate establishment, we're taking on the political establishment," Sanderstold cheering supporters in Vermont. "You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics. What we need is a new politics that bring working class people into our political movement."

That verbal backhand slap at Democratic leaders has long been a standard part of Sanders' stump speech. He says it at rallies, in press interviews, on the floor of the US Senate and anywhere else people ask for his opinion.

Sanders' supporters love to hear it. But on Super Tuesday, from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest, Democratic base voters said to Sanders: enough already.

Biden relied on the traditional backbone of the Democratic Party: the network of political clubs, labor unions, churches and low-level local officials who gather and grow the party by registering new voters and urging people to the polls every election season. These are the people who get turned off Sanders' constant talk about how rotten the party is and how everything about it must change.

As Biden told his supporters: people don't want a revolution, they want real results. And in state after state, they decided that Biden and not Sanders can deliver the goods.

States as varied as Massachusetts, Alabama and Minnesota all swung in Biden's direction, giving him enough support to make him the party's actual or near front-runner for president.

Biden's next challenge will be to swiftly build a national campaign infrastructure that is capable of delivering on the high hopes his Super Tuesday wins will create among Democrats eager to select a candidate to take on President Donald Trump in the fall.

Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton's administration. He co-hosts the podcast "Words Matter."

Alice Stewart: Biden's campaign is no longer on life support

While this race is far from over, Biden's sweep of much of the Bible Belt (and then some) on Super Tuesday puts him on path to be the most viable candidate against President Donald Trump in November.

Biden's strong showing is testament to his ability to consolidate the Democratic Party in an effort to block the democratic socialist policies of Senator Bernie Sanders.

Democrats are understandably concerned about down-ballot races if Sanders ends up at the top of the ticket. Americans do not want his far-left policies.

Exit polls show that voters decided on Biden late, signaling that his South Carolina victory provided a much-needed wind for his sails. Endorsements from South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, former challengers Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Kloubchar were also big factors.

A moderate voice like Biden, with a unified party, is the best option for Democrats. Bringing the party together is a vital building process. Biden continued to make a call for unity during his speech, saying "there's a place for you in our campaign."

That being said, President Trump has the power of incumbency, an energized base and a strong economy, all of which make him difficult to beat.

Alice Stewart is a CNN Political Commentator, Resident Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy Institute of Politics, and former Communications Director for Ted Cruz for President.
EDMONTON, AB, (March 5, 2020), March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- All Weather Windows retains its Platinum Club status for another year as part of Canada's Best Managed Companies. Platinum Club status membership is exclusive to Canada's leading organizations that have been named Best Managed Company for seven years or more. All Weather Windows is proud to have achieved this status for 12 years running.

Sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith's School of Business and TMX Group, Canada's Best Managed Companies recognizes excellence in private Canadian-owned companies that demonstrate sustained growth, strong financial and management performance, and overall organizational success. Platinum Club membership is the program's highest recognition.

"As a recipient of this status for 12 years in a row now, we continue to realize the significance that this best-in-class achievement represents, said Richard Scott, All Weather Windows President, and CEO. "We are very proud of this recognition and know we could not have achieved this without the hard work and dedication that our employees bring to work with them each day. We also congratulate all the other recipients of this award as we know what it takes to win this year over year".

Established in 1993, Canada's Best Managed Companies program is one of the country's leading business awards programs that recognize Canadain companies that have implemented world-class business practices and created value in innovative ways. Applicants are evaluated by an independent judging panel on how they address various business challenges, including new technologies, globalization, brand management, leadership, leveraging and developing core competencies, designing information systems and hiring the right talent to facilitate growth.

This year's winners of Canada's Best Managed Companies award, along with the Gold Standard winners, requalified and Platinum Club members will be honored at the annual Canada's Best Managed Companies gala in Toronto on April 1, 2020.

ABOUT ALL WEATHER WINDOWS

All Weather Windows is Canada's largest privately-owned window and door manufacturer. Launched in 1978 in a 10,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Edmonton, Alberta, the company has since expanded services to all of western Canada, two commercial offices, All Weather Windows Glass, and close to 800 dealers across the country. With a combined capacity of over 300,00 square feet, our manufacturing plants produce a full range of award-winning, energy efficient, sustainable and weather-resistant window, door and glass products for dealers, builders, contractors, developers, and homeowners. Accolades for the company include ENERGY STAR Canada's Sustained Excellence Award in 2018 and Manufacturer of the Year four times in the last seven years. All Weather Windows give back generously to the communities in which they operate, working closely with non-profit organizations.

www.allweatherwindows.com

CONTACT: Glenda Checkley All Weather Windows 5874893119 gcheckley@allweatherwindows.com
Three of the total 16 persons



currently kept in isolation wards in parts of Maharashtra have tested negative for novel coronavirus, while test reports of thirteen others are awaited, the state health department said on Thursday.

Of the 16 persons, 12 are in Mumbai, three in Nashik and one at Nanded. They were quarantined as they had fever, cold and cough, it said.

Three of them have tested negative for the infection, but they continue to be kept in the isolation wards, while test reports of 13 others are expected soon, the department said.

Since January 18 this year, total 187 people have been quarantined in Maharashtra, of whom 174 have tested negative for the infection as per the reports of Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV).

So far, 69,502 travellers from 12 coronavirus-affected countries, have been screened at Mumbai international airport as per the guidelines of the union government, it said.

"Screening will also be started at Pune and Nagpur airports now," the release said.

The department's field surveillance found that a total 474 people arrived in the state from coronavirus-affected areas and 295 of these people have completed 14 days long follow-up, it added.

Rubbishing reports about some persons getting infected by coronavirus in Lonavala and Solapur, the health department appealed to the people not to believe in rumours.

Meanwhile, state Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta on Thursday conducted district-wise review of preparations to tackle the coronavirus threat. He held a meeting with all the district collectors and regional collectors through video conferencing.

"The government machinery should not get scared of coronavirus, but necessary precautions should be taken," he said during the meeting.

He said people should stay away from attending social programmes.

Presently, passengers arriving from 12 coronavirus- 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.

All travellers from the Wuhan city of China are being isolated and tested, irrespective of whether they show any symptoms for coronavirus infection are not, the department said.

All travellers coming from other affected countries have been asked to observe home isolation for two weeks from their date of departure from the affected country. They are being followed during this period by local health authority daily for health status, it added.

Those who are suspected to have contracted the deadly infection are sent to isolation facilities for treatment.

Field surveillance is also actively going on all across the state in search of people coming from the coronavirus-affected areas, the department said.

Apart from Mumbai, Pune and Thane, passengers are also being monitored in Gadchiroli, Nanded, Buldhana, Nagpur, Wardha, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Amaravati, Palghar, Jalgaon, Chandrapur, Nashik, Solapur and Satara districts, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Boden, Sweden--(Newsfile Corp. - March 4, 2020) - Hydro66 Holdings Corp. (CSE: SIX) (OTCQB: HYHDF) ("Hydro66" or the "Company"), the ultra-low emissions cloud infrastructure provider, is delighted to announce a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) cloud computing customer, offering services from their award-winning Boden data center. Puzl, an Estonia-based AI company brings a new technical and economic proposition to the AI community - container as a service cloud computing at a market beating price.

Nik Paushkin, founder and CEO of Puzl said "It's increasingly obvious that all industries must take advantage of AI and ML (Machine Learning) or fall behind more nimble competitors. However, there are significant barriers for all except the most expert developers to do so. Puzl are democratising and simplifying the user experience with 'GPU as code', bringing a new price point and container-based functionality to the general developer community."

Estonia is rapidly emerging as the AI centre of Europe with strategic government support and funding for numerous public and private sector initiatives. These include prediction modelling for road traffic, job seekers, healthcare needs and many more.

David Rowe Hydro66 CEO said "Our Enterprise-grade facility in the north of Sweden is an ideal location for High Performance Computing activities with our combination of industry leading ultra-low carbon emissions and attractive pricing models. Puzl are a highly innovative AI infrastructure company that we believe are set to grow rapidly with their containerised software driven platform and an ideal fit for our hugely scalable facility in Boden."

About Puzl

Puzl is a new-generation Container as a Service platform, resulting from their vision on cloud computing. Puzl empowers a true cloud usage "pay only for running containers" model, without any VM layer or cluster administration, but with access to scale GPU clusters via Kubernetes API. With a few clicks in a simple GUI, developers can train and deploy AI and ML models using many popular frameworks such as TensorFlow, Pytorch or Keras.

Story continues

To learn more about Puzl, please visit https://puzl.ee/ or email contact@puzl.ee.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Paul Morrison

Chief Commercial Officer, Hydro66

paul.morrison@hydro66.com

Jason Atkinson

Director, Corporate Development

jason.atkinson@hydro66.com

About Hydro66

Hydro66 owns and operates an award-winning colocation data center in Sweden specializing in High Performance Computing ("HPC") hosting. The Company hosts third party IT infrastructure, utilizing 100% green power, at amongst the EU's lowest power prices and within an ISO27001 accredited facility.

Hydro66 is uniquely positioned to capitalize on opportunities in blockchain infrastructure as well as the traditional Enterprise colocation data center market. The Company provides truly green power at a leading price, purpose-built space and cooling, telecoms, IT support services and 24/7 physical security in their facility in Boden, Sweden. www.hydro66.com

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53145
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology leaders regard the United States as the most promising market for developing disruptive technologies, with more than twice as many saying it's ahead of China and India, which tied for second in KPMG's 2020 Global Technology Industry Innovation Survey.



The finding is one of several insights in a new report based on the survey of 810 technology industry leaders globally. Report: https://info.kpmg.us/techinnovation/tech-hubs.html



"We believe that survey respondents perceive the current U.S. stance on technology and intellectual property, as it pertains to China, means that China must now spend more time and resources to develop its own domestic innovation ecosystem," said Tim Zanni, KPMG Global and U.S. Technology Sector Leader.



When considering the most promising country for developing disruptive technologies with a global impact, 28% named the U.S. and 13% named China and India. The 15-point gap more than doubled last year's differential with China, while India leaped from sixth a year ago to tie for second. Rounding out the top five countries, Japan and the United Kingdom tied for fourth.

New Cities Rise in Hub Rankings

KPMG's study revealed which cities, in addition to presumed global leader Silicon Valley/San Francisco, will be leading technology innovation hubs over the next four years. Singapore, seventh last year, leaped to the top of this year's global rankings. Singapore offers an advanced IT infrastructure, strong government support and IP protection laws, and a deep pool of talent. London moved up one notch to second. Tel Aviv, 15th last year, rocketed to third place. Bengaluru ranked 9th, jumping from 18th a year ago.

The top five U.S. cities in this year's global rankings, excluding Silicon Valley/San Francisco: New York placed fifth globally after topping the global list a year ago when it rode a wave of investment announcements from Google, Amazon, and Apple. Austin, U.S. number two, came in 11th globally, Boston landed 12th globally this year, followed by Chicago, tied for 13th with Berlin, and Dallas at 19th.

2020 Top 20 global city rankings outside Silicon Valley/San Francisco

(2019 Top 20 in parentheses, NR = not ranked in the Top 20)

1. Singapore (7)

2. London (3)

3. Tel Aviv (15)

4. Tokyo (3)

5. New York City (1)

6. Shanghai (5)

7. Beijing (2)

8. Seoul (8)

9. Bengaluru (18)

10. Hong Kong SAR, China (12)

11. Austin (9)

12. Boston (9)

13. Berlin (11) and Chicago (20)

15. Frankfurt (NR)

16. Mumbai (NR)

17. Shenzhen (NR)

18. Montreal (NR)

19. Dallas (NR)

20. Taipei (5)

Silicon Valley's stronger position

Only 37% of respondents, compared to 58% last year, said it was likely the innovation center of the world would move from Silicon Valley in the next four years. One possible explanation: the U.S stance to keep more proprietary knowledge and intellectual property within the U.S. will make it even harder for a city outside the U.S. to overtake Silicon Valley as the innovation center in the next four years.



The top two reasons the 37% believed Silicon Valley would lose its top position:

The innovation/entrepreneurial infrastructure of other cities will match or exceed Silicon Valley.

The rise of the gig economy and virtual collaboration tools enable innovation anywhere.

The cost of doing business, cost of living, and congestion, ranked last.

About the research

The 2020 KPMG Technology Industry Innovation Survey, in its eighth year, consisted of 810 technology leaders (54% C-level executives) across twelve countries. The online survey was conducted from December 2019 to January 2020.

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's independent member firms have more than 219,000 professionals working in 147 countries. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.

SOURCE KPMG LLP

Related Links

http://www.kpmg.com/us


The Supreme Court Thursday said it would examine the legal issue arising out of the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on whether there could be separate hanging in a case where there are more than one death row convicts.

"The question is whether there can be separate hanging or whether it has to be simultaneous. We will go into it," said a three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi.

The apex court said this while hearing an appeal filed by the Centre and the Delhi government challenging the February 5 order of Delhi High Court which had said that the four Nirbhaya case convicts have to be executed simultaneously.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre and Delhi government, told the bench that these convicts have taken justice delivery system for "a ride" and made a "mockery" of it by adopting delay tactics.

The execution of death warrants of these convicts have been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting their legal remedies.

Mehta, who said "credibility of the system is at stake", informed the bench that a trial court has fixed March 20 as the date of execution of the four convicts who have exhausted all their legal remedies.

The bench, also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna, posted the plea for arguments on merits on March 23 and made it clear that no adjournment would be given.

About 30-minutes before proceedings commenced in the top court, a trial court here issued fresh warrants with March 20, 5.30 am, as the date for the execution of the convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh(31).

During the arguments, Mehta said there was no statutory provision which stipulates that convicts have to be executed simultaneously and as per the law, only trial of a case has to be conducted simultaneously.

"Today, there are four convicts in this case. Tomorrow, there may be a case having 10 or 20 such convicts and they may again delay the execution by moving separate forums at different time," he said, referring to the tactics adopted by the convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

Mehta said pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay against rejection of their mercy petitions by President has already been dismissed by the apex court.

"For Mukesh and Vinay, we should be permitted to execute them. There is no need to give any further time to them," he said, adding, "This is not our anxiety to hang somebody. No body like this. Our anxiety is that credibility of the system is at stake".

He said the two other convicts -- Akshay and Pawan -- will now file pleas in the top court challenging rejection of their mercy petitions and in this case, the authorities should be allowed to execute Mukesh and Vinay.

"It is de-humanising to keep them under such threat," Mehta said while referring to the fact that Mukesh and Vinay have already exhausted all their remedies.

When the bench said it would hear the matter on merits on March 23, Mehta said, "These convicts have taken the system for a ride. Please say that whosoever of them want to file for whatsoever remedy, they should do it before March 20".

To this, the bench said, "We will not say this. We will hear the matter on March 23".

At the outset, advocate M L Sharma, representing Mukesh, said he wanted to file a counter affidavit in the form of an application and raise some crucial issue related to the case of Mukesh.

"It (application) is frivolous and vexatious. Mr Sharma says that Mukesh was being represented by lawyer Vrinda Grover and she had not done her job in collusion with the state. I must say that Vrindr Grover has done her best in the case," Mehta told the bench.

Hearing Mehta's submission, Justice Banumathi said, "Mr Sharma, clients will come and go but your brother and sister colleagues will always be here. You cannot file a counter-cum-application. You can file counter affidavit only".

"It is uncharitable to make such remarks," the bench said.

During the arguments, Mehta said that the high court had on February 5 given one week to the convicts to exhaust all their remedies but the trial court kept on extending the date of execution without any jurisdiction.

"Once the high court said one week, the time can be extended by the high court or the Supreme Court. Trial court has no jurisdiction to extend the time," he said, adding that it was "disturbing".

Justice Bhushan said that trial court had to extend the date of execution as mercy petition of convicts were pending with the President at that time.

Advocate A P Singh, appearing for Vinay and Akshay, said that Tihar jail is totally silent about pending mercy plea of Akshay as the petition which was rejected by the President was "incomplete".

"Do not make a mockery of the system," Mehta told Singh.

At the fag end of hearing, Sharma claimed that Mukesh was "compelled" to file his curative petition in the top court despite the fact that there is no limitation on filing it.

The bench told Sharma that all curative petitions have already been rejected in the case.

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 had 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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Kolkata Police on Thursday



apprehended one more person for allegedly raising the provocative slogan, "desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maro..." (shoot the traitors), during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally here, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven.

Mukesh Singh was arrested from Chakraberia area of South Kolkata early in the morning.

"Singh was seen in the group of people who were raising the slogan on Sunday. We have arrested him," a police official said.

Like the six alleged "BJP supporters" earlier nabbed in this connection, Singh has been booked for promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, committing public mischief, he said.

The Kolkata Police arrested Prasanta Sarkar, Sandeep Sonkar and Sujit Barua in the past three days in connection with the case after they were identified from video footage.

Among the three arrested earlier, two -- Pankaj Prasad and Surendra Kumar Tewary -- have been remanded to police custody, while Dhruva Basu was granted bail by a city court on Monday on grounds of age and ill health.

The state BJP leadership has been denying the involvement of any party worker in the incident and termed it as the "handiwork of the ruling Trinamool Congress".

The men shouted the slogan while they were passing the Maidan Market in downtown Esplanade en route to the rally venue at nearby Shahid Minar ground on Sunday.

There has been a controversy over the raising of such slogans by BJP workers and leaders 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.)
MANILA, Philippines  Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday blasted the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for its position to push for the continued operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) despite the problems and gambling-related crimes brought about by its operation in the country.

During Thursdays probe of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the alleged influx of dirty money in the country, Drilon expressed his dismay over PAGCORs position to keep offshore gaming operations open so as not to miss out on income opportunities.

I am disappointed at the statement today of Pagcor, saying that we are in favor of POGOs continuing its operation because of the income earned. That is a shortsighted statement, he said.

The social problems that POGO has brought to our country is not worth the regulation fees you get from Pagcor. Let me tell that to your face, he added.

Drilon said the country has seen increases in the number of crime incidents, prostitution cases, illegal workers and the amount of foreign cash allegedly connected to illegal activities since POGOs were allowed to operate in the Philippines.

Citing figures from the risk assessment conducted by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the senator underscored the 63 casino-kidnapping related cases from 2017 to 2019, which victimized Chinese businessmen engaged in online gaming.

AMLC Executive-Director Mel Georgie Racela confirmed they monitored P14 billion worth of transactions that were related to suspicious POGO activities from January 2017 to October 2019. These include drug trafficking-related activities and swindling.

More or less 10 cases of POGO-related homicide cases were also reported by the Philippine National Police, as well as increase in the number of operations against prostitution dens involving foreign nationals which resulted in the arrest of suspects, mostly Chinese citizens.

When quizzed on how much POGO contributes to the Philippine economy, PAGCOR said it collects P7 to P8 billion from fees and licenses from offshore gaming firms.

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Drilon said the fees generated by PAGCOR are less than one-third of one percent of the countrys economy.

For P8 billion that you get from fees, you are saying that they should be here? That statement, I must say, is a stupid statement. Basta may pera na pumasok, all these evil things we tolerate, Drilon said.

PAGCOR also admitted there are about 120 non-licensed POGOs illegally operating in the country. AMLC, on the other hand, reported that in 2019 alone, 200 internet-based POGOs illegally serviced online gaming operations.

Is it worth all these problems that we face? The P8 billion income generated by PAGCOR from POGOs is nothing compared to the social problems brought about by POGOs, Drilon said.

All these things happened since POGOs came into our shores. What benefits are we talking about? he added.

Drilon said that all these social problems that the country is facing today are enough basis to ban POGO operations in the country.

It is a policy issue. To us, the policy should be to terminate these POGOs because of all these nefarious activities that we see today, he reiterated.

The post Drilon blasts Pagcor for backing continued POGO operation in PH appeared first on UNTV News.
A prominent Sikh priest who was paralyzed during a mass shooting at a suburban Milwaukee temple in 2012, a hate crime in which six other people were killed, has died from his injuries.

The priest, Baba Punjab Singh, 72, died on Monday as a result of complications from a bullet wound to his head, said the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, which ruled Mr. Singhs death a homicide.

His death stirred painful memories of the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, where a white supremacist with a semiautomatic handgun burst into the sprawling complex and opened fire before he was killed by the police.

Mr. Singh was shot in the cheek and the bullet exited through the back of his head, leaving him with an anoxic brain injury and unable to breathe on his own, according to the medical examiners report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 01:34:17|Editor: huaxia

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BUCHAREST, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A 71-year-old man from northern Romania tested positive on Wednesday with COVID-19, becoming thus the second confirmed case of the day and the sixth so far in the eastern European country.

The patient returned from Lombardy last Friday and was in self-quarantine. All infected people so far in Romania can be traced back to Italy.

The man showed up Monday at a local hospital in Suceava with fever and chills, and was immediately hospitalized, according to the Strategic Communication Group, a government agency authorized to publish official public information.

According to the same source, an epidemiological inquiry has now been launched to establish contacts.

Romania confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus last Wednesday after a 20-year-old Romanian was infected by a visiting Italian.

As of Wednesday, 35 people are currently in institutional quarantine in Romania nationwide, and 10,771 are monitored at home.

Romania has frequent people exchange with Italy. As of 2019, over 1.2 million Romanian citizens are living in Italy -- the largest Romanian immigrant population in any country, also the largest immigrant group within Italy. Enditem
Reliance Industries informed that its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) has acquired 7,86,191 equity shares representing 100% of the equity share capital of Shri Kannan Departmental Store (SKDS).

The scrip was currently trading 0.81% higher at Rs 1350.

RRVL has acquired the stake for a consideration of Rs 152.5 crore, the company said in an exchange filing made after market hours yesterday.

SKDS, incorporated on 15 September 1999, is engaged in the business of retailing fruits & vegetables, dairy, staples, home & personal care and general merchandise to consumers. SKDS currently operates 29 stores across Coimbatore and nearby areas with a retail area of over 6 lakh square feet.

SKDS reported revenue from operations of Rs 415 crore, Rs 450 crore and Rs 481 crore and net profit of Rs 2 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore in FY2018-19, FY2017-18 and FY2016-17, respectively.

The aforesaid investment will further strengthen the group's retail operations and presence in the state of Tamil Nadu and will further enable retail and new commerce initiatives.

RIL added that no governmental or regulatory approvals were required for the said investment. The investment does not fall within related party transactions and none of RIL's promoter / promoter group / group companies have any interest in the transaction.

Reliance Industries (RIL) is engaged in refining, including manufacturing of refined petroleum products, and petrochemicals, including manufacturing of basic chemicals, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, plastic and synthetic rubber in primary forms. The company's segments include refining, petrochemicals, oil and gas, organized retail and others.

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

March 5, 2020 Statement of Senator Joel Villanueva on the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on POGOs The P8 billion in collections from POGOs by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) pales in comparison to the P50 billion in uncollected taxes of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the P14 billion in suspicious transactions monitored by the Anti-Money Laundering Council. To say that the economic benefits, which is minimal and negligible at best, are justification enough to keep POGOs in Philippine shores is flimsy and myopic. PAGCOR, the state gaming regulator, cannot simply shift the blame to other agencies for their shortcomings, particularly tax collection. We remind PAGCOR that it's their responsibility to ensure the entities they regulate comply with prevailing rules and regulations of our country. They are the regulator of POGOs. They should be responsible for the actions of the companies and individuals they regulate. Just look at the number of estimated illegal POGO firms here. Having about 200 illegal POGOs--even more than the 61 PAGCOR-licensed POGOs--is a clear indication that state gaming regulator cannot handle the regulation of POGOs. We're dumbfounded that POGO firms continue to sprout despite the prevailing ban implemented by PAGCOR. We are aghast by the fact that the P7 billion in net financial flows in the banking system covers a period of three years, an important detail withheld by the AMLC when it testified before to the Senate Committee on Labor last Feb. 11, 2020. Is this deliberate to help cover up the real negative impact of POGOs in our country? We remind the AMLC and our other resource persons that all their statements have been made under oath. One basic fact is undeniable: allowing the continued operations of POGOs are already causing issues on peace and order situation in the country, as well as our economic stability, among others. Last year, authorities arrested 6,678 illegal foreign workers at legitimate POGO firms. Our Committee also found that immigration officers allowed the entry of 733 international fugitives in 2019. US$447 million in cold cash were allowed to be brought into the country. At least P1 billion have been collected from the Pastillas scam by unscrupulous immigration agents. The writing on the wall is clear for everyone except PAGCOR. It is high time that PAGCOR act like the state gaming regulator it is chartered
Washington, D.C., March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island against the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), as well as the heads of those agencies. The suit challenges the agencies unconstitutional and statutorily unauthorized effort to force fishing companies to pay for a new agency enforcement program. NCLA represents Relentless Inc., Huntress Inc., and their related company, Seafreeze Fleet LLC, in this facial challenge to DOC/NOAAs newly promulgated rule.

The at-sea monitor mandate for the nations Atlantic herring fleet violates the U.S. Constitutions Article I, and the agencies have exceeded the bounds of their statutory authority because Congress never allowed these agencies to create or to require the industry to finance at-sea monitors or an at-sea monitoring program in the Atlantic herring fishery.

The New England Fishery Management Councils Industry-Funded Monitoring Omnibus Amendment (IFM Amendment) and the February 7, 2020 Final Rule created the requirement to increase monitoring in some fishery management plans and assess the amount and type of catch and more precisely monitor annual catch limits. But NCLA contends the federal agencies attempt to fund their operations through this mandate, outside of Congressional appropriations, violates the U.S. Constitution. In addition, it violates the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA)meant to protect, manage, and grow the U.S. fishery resources.

Relentless and Huntress own fishing vessels (F/V Relentless and F/V Persistence) equipped with unique at-sea freezing technology, which allows their fleet to stay longer at sea than other ships in the Atlantic herring fishery and provides their vessels flexibility in what catch it harvests during a fishing trip. The MSA does not contemplate or even use the word at-sea monitor and does not require any ships to pay for such monitors. But under the IFM Amendment and the Final Rule, Relentless and Persistence would be forced to carry a herring at-sea monitor employed by a NOAA-approved or certified private companyeven on trips that do not land herring. Thus, Relentless, Huntress, and Seafreeze will be subject to disparate treatment including higher costs relative to the rest of the Atlantic herring fleet. The IFM Amendment and the Final Rule would also force these small commercial fishing companies to enter a market for at-sea monitors that they do not wish to enter.

Agencies cannot be allowed to fund themselves without authorization from Congress. Congress appropriated funds for observers, and NOAA has to make do with those funds. Among other problems, NCLA believes that mandating small commercial fishing businesses to pay for the Atlantic herring at-sea monitoring program is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of government power.

NCLA released the following statements:

NCLA filed this case on behalf of our clients because the Administrative States effort to fund itself, completely outside Congressional appropriations and authorization, must be stopped. These runaway agencies cannot create an off the books source of funding when Congress has already decided how much money to give them.

 John Vecchione, NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel

The livelihoods of Americas herring fishermen and the industry are at stake here. We cannot allow these agencies to assume power that Congress did not grant them. NCLA will continue working to stop agencies from violating peoples civil rights with unlawful mandates that threaten to ruin entire industries. This regulation should be thrown back into the sea.

 Kara Rollins, NCLA Litigation Counsel

ABOUT NCLA

NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.



For more information visit us online at NCLAlegal.org.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted the nation will have a female president  as she reflected on 'misogyny' she said may hold back women candidates and encouraged them to plan their political moves years in advance.

The nation's first female House speaker was reflective when asked Thursday about Sen. Elizabeth Warren's withdrawal from the race for president. She is the last major female candidate still in the race, although Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is continuing her run against Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

'I think the American people are ready,' she said when asked if the nation would elect a woman president. 'I never thought we would have a woman speaker of the House before we had a woman president. This is a marble ceiling its not a glass ceiling,' Pelosi said.

'I think the American people are ready' for a woman president, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday

She rattled off the names of several women who ran this year, only to drop out: a list that includes Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar.

'All of them helped be trailblazers for a woman. And maybe one of them will be that person in another election several years from now,' she said.

'She led the way for these women to go,' Pelosi said of Hillary Clinton, calling for women to be 'preparing for' a run, not just running because there is an opportunity.

'I do think theres a certain element of misogyny that is there,' she said, discussing the factors that may be in play.

The nation's first female House speaker was reflective when asked Thursday about Sen. Elizabeth Warren's withdrawal from the race for president, speaking at length about the forces at work

Pelosi spoke as Senator Elizabeth Warren announced the suspension of her race in the Democratic primary for President outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Sen. Kamala Harris of California showed her skills in early debates, but her campaign fizzled long before the California primary

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota scored some strong debate performances, but dropped out and endorsed Joe Biden in the primary before her state voted

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign failed to get off the ground despite her coming from a major state

STILL IN IT: Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) holds a Town Hall meeting on Super Tuesday Primary night on March 3, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invoked the nation's highest 'glass ceiling' after her 2016 race failed

'I dont know whether men think about being president from the day they are born and start running,' she wondered. 'I dont know that women do that  maybe they should?' said Pelosi.

She said she achieved her own powerful post not by using arguments that a woman should get it but by focusing on effectiveness.

She rejected the notion that Americans concluded that a woman can't beat Trump, a candidate who thrives on attacks.

'I dont think so. I think anybody can beat President Trump,' she said.

Pelosi pointed to previous comments that Democrats will 'madly embrace' whoever is the nominee. 'This week I say we will madly elbow-bump,' she quipped, pointing to the coronavirus-prompted more hygienic greeting.

Pelosi said whenever she is introduced as the nation's most powerful woman 'I almost cry because I wish that were not true,' in a reference to the presidency. I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States, and we came very close to doing that,' she said, referencing Hillary Clinton.

'Its a competition. You run and you make your pitch and people respond to it,' she said, noting she was soon heading out to Georgetown University to talk about women and power.

She said the female candidates ran with knowledge and purpose. 'They connected well with the American people,' she said.

Of the remaining major candidates, Biden and Sanders, Pelosi said: 'People knew them best.'

'We do believe that when women succeed, Americans succeeds,' she said.
The anti-corruption agency, ICPC, has explained how it prevented 201 federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) from padding a total sum of N41.9billion in the national budget.

This was disclosed via a statement posted on the ICPC Twitter handle on Wednesday.

Do you know that ICPC prevented N41.98 billion from taking flight through corruption as padded personnel cost of some MDAs in 2019? the post read.

President Muhammadu Buhari in June last year signed a total spending of 8.92 trillion for the 2019 budget, from the 8.83 trillion proposal he had presented in December 2018 to the National Assembly.

The amount reflects a net increase of about 90.33 billion made by the National Assembly.

The overall budget comprises MDAs budgetary allocations which usually come under either capital or recurrent expenditure.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported in February how the ICPC prevented over 200 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from squandering N41.98 billion unspent funds last year.

But the ICPC in its statement revealed how it prevented the MDAs from squandering the amount.

Olusegun Adigun, the ICPC head of planning, research and review department, said, the Commission was able to recover such amounts through its System Study and Review process.

The SSR is one of the preventive measures designed by the Commission to reduce the scourge of corruption across all MDAs.

The Commission said about N41.9 billion was added to the budget as personnel cost of some government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Mr Adigun said the SSR was able to prevent and recover the huge sum of bloated personnel expenditure from the agencies.

When the current board came on board, the board directed that the Commission should carry out a personnel cost and capital development cost of MDAs and we were able to cover about 201 MDAs, he said.

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And in the course of the exercise, we were able to restrain the sum of N41.98 billion in 2019 which would have gone to the covers of unscrupulous government officials. That was what we were able to achieve under the SSR process.

The Commission said the monies were enough to construct 774 standard primary healthcare centres and 8,809 boreholes across the country.

Do you know that ICPC prevented N41.98 billion from taking flight through corruption as padded personnel cost of some MDAs in 2019? To find out this and more, tune in to todays edition of Corruption Must Go! on NTA Network and NTA International. Time: 3.30pm#DoTheRightThing pic.twitter.com/Ipx1cBKhOr  ICPC Nigeria (@ICPC_PE) March 4, 2020

Did you know that the N41.98bn discovered through ICPC's System Study & Review padded into personnel costs of some MDAs in 2019, is enough to construct 774 standard primary healthcare centres across the country, to enable rural dwellers access primary healthcare services?  ICPC Nigeria (@ICPC_PE) March 5, 2020

Did you know that this same amount can sink at least 2 boreholes in each of the 8,809 electoral wards across the federation to provide rural people with potable drinking water? Find out more in the latest edition of our TV programme Corruption Must Go!https://t.co/E7bgBF5mMj  ICPC Nigeria (@ICPC_PE) March 5, 2020


By Park Moo-jong





So many Koreans, including myself, are now under "house arrest" to maintain a social distance aimed at keeping away the rapidly spreading new coronavirus, without knowing when it will end.



Being isolated, either willingly or reluctantly, gives plenty of unearned personal time, paradoxically. The favorite things to help kill our time at home may be watching TV, internet surfing or listening to music.



Writing this biweekly column at home, I am listening to Antonin Dvorak's symphony "From the New World" simply known as the "New World Symphony." What attracts me personally is the intro of the fourth movement of the masterpiece the Czech composer (1841-1904) wrote in 1893 in America, the new world for him.



Eighty-two years later, John Williams composed the score of Steven Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster "Jaws" featuring the thrilling shark theme which interestingly sounds like the intro of the last movement of Dvorak's New World.



President Moon Jae-in, now beleaguered by the relentless coronavirus and various national difficulties, said in his inaugural address on May 10, 2017: "My heart is burning with enthusiasm to create a country that we have never experienced before. My head is now filled with blueprints for ushering in a new world characterized by unity and coexistence." Many people listened with hope, and they still remember.



What a coincidence! The term "new world" is making headlines across the world. The Shincheonji Church, a religious cult, which has been at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak here, means "new world church."



The Shincheonji Church, branded as heretical by Protestants here, is indeed to blame for the spread of the virus. About 60 percent of confirmed patients whose number topped 6,000 Thursday are connected to the cult.



Founder Lee Man-hee and the organization apologized Monday for the role played by his followers in the virus crisis, saying that many people have been infected, though it was not intentional. "We did our utmost but were unable to prevent it."



Actually, the group and Lee have been responsible "to some extent" for contributing to the rapid spread of the virus by failing to provide a full list of its members to the authorities.



But who should be blamed fundamentally for the failure to enact early-stage containment of the epidemic that started in Wuhan, China? It's the Moon government's excessively low-key attitude toward China, apparently in attempts to not ruffle the feathers of President Xi Jinping ahead of his possible visit to Seoul in the first half of the year.



At the very start of the epidemic, the government, ignoring the repeated calls of scientists and medical doctors, and did not close the door to Chinese nationals. Without distancing China, the government instead chose the social distance of its own people.



Rather, almost all the people in the ruling camp, including Moon, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, lawmakers and Cabinet members, have been on an all-out attack labeling Shincheonji as the main culprit of the outbreak.



Many people feel that the government is passing the buck for its failure to prevent the epidemic in its early stages, making the cult a scapegoat. Even Mayor Park filed a complaint with the prosecution against Shincheonji's top brass "for murder, injury, and violation of prevention and management of infectious diseases."



Instead of his legal action, which many legal experts doubt holds any legitimacy and effectiveness, the mayor and City Hall have to exert themselves in taking every measure to help contain the virus in the mega city with a 10-million population.



As Moon promised, Korean people are now living in a country, namely a new world that they have never experienced before.



The new term, "Korea-phobia," hurts the people's spirit. More than 90 countries have banned or restricted the entry of Koreans. Korean travelers and residents abroad are swallowing insults. The very country that produced BTS, Oscar winners and top digital devices is being "unwelcomed" across the planet.



What has made people most angry was the bizarre scene of the presidential couple laughing their heads off during a luncheon with Bong Joon-ho, this year's Oscar-winning director of "Parasite," Feb. 20, the day when the number of confirmed cases started to snowball with 104.



By the way, Moon has declared a war against the epidemic. The people are fighting the disease in their own ways under the guidance of medical experts.



The epidemic is not a political issue, but a national health emergency. Leaders in the government and political world should concentrate on preventing the spread, not on winning the upcoming April 15 general election.



We, Koreans, are the people who made their country as it is now from Japanese colonial rule and the ashes of the devastating Korean War, whoever their presidents were. It is not the president who creates a new world the people have never experienced, but the people themselves.





Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.


MUNSTER  A vehicle crashed into Munster Gyro Wednesday evening and four people were sent to the hospital, including three customers.

At 5:55 p.m., firefighters were called to Munster Gyros at 8307 Calumet Avenue, said Munster Fire Chief Dave Pelc.

A Munster officer had approached the vehicle, a silver Ford SUV, which was stopped in the 8200 block of Calumet Ave. facing southbound, Munster police Lt. John Peirick said.

The driver was not alert at first but as the officer tried to get his attention, the man became alert and accelerated at a high rate of speed. The driver first hit Miss Print, a business at 8244 Calumet Avenue, and caused damage to the front of the building.

The vehicle continued driving across Calumet Avenue and struck Munster Gyros, driving inside the building's dining area, Peirick said.

Three people in the restaurant were injured and taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.

The condition of the driver, who was taken to a hospital by ambulance, is unknown at this time.

John Spanos, co-owner of Munster Gyros, said he was in the kitchen when it happened.
Her new miniseries details an alternate history of the United States in the 1940s in which the anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh won the presidency and partnered with Nazi Germany.

Winona Ryder was fittingly dressed in black for the premiere of the chilling HBO limited series The Plot Against America on Wednesday in New York City.

The 48-year-old actress was joined by her co-stars on the show, including John Turturro, 63, and Zoe Kazan, 36.

Back in black: Winona Ryder looked classy in all-black at the premiere of her new HBO miniseries The Plot Against America in New York City on Wednesday

Winona looked effortlessly elegant in her black dress, which featured long sleeves and nearly reached to the ground.

She rounded out her ensemble with a chunky pair of black boots, and she had her brunette locks styled straight and draped down her back.

The Age Of Innocence star also made a small tribute to the late Philip Roth, who wrote the novel The Plot Against America.

Though she appeared to be carrying a hardcover copy of his book The Great American Novel (1973), she had hollowed out the book and placed a denim clutch between the covers.

Covered up: Winona looked effortlessly elegant in her black dress, which featured long sleeves and nearly reached to the ground

Memorial: She paid tribute to the late Philip Roth by hollowing out a hardcover copy of his 1973 book The Great American Novel and placing a denim clutch between the covers

Winona plays one of the main roles in the adaptation of Roth's 2004 novel.

Roth, who died in 2018, wrote the critically acclaimed book from his viewpoint as a child in the early 1940s, but in an alternate history in which the anti-Semitic aviator Charles Lindbergh was elected to the presidency, denying Franklin D. Roosevelt a third term.

Rather than entering the Second World War, Lindbergh strikes up an alliance with Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, and Jews living in the US are subjected to an organized campaign of discrimination and displacement.

HBO's new adaptation was created by The Wire's David Simon and Ed Burns and will premiere on March 16.

Winona plays Evelyn Finkel, who marries Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (played by John Turturro, a collaborationist who is a supporter of Lindbergh.

John beamed at the premiere while wearing a black suit and going tie-free.

Alternate history: Roth's The Plot Against America (2004) is part memoir of his life as a child and part alternate history, in which the anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency in 1940

Timely: Winona stars as Evelyn Finkel, who marries Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro), a collaborationist who supports Lindbergh even as he allies with Nazi Germany

Low key: John beamed at the premiere while wearing a black suit and going tie-free

Fast friends: Winona and John looked like old pals as they hit the red carpet

Actress Zoe Kazan glowed at the premiere in a lustrous olive dress.

She wore her blonde hair in a blunt cut bob with prominent bangs, as well as a pointy pair of black heels.

She stars as Elizabeth "Bess" Levin, the mother of the stand-in for Roth's character who has to keep her family together even as they're ostracized by society.

Zoe also posed with her co-star Morgan Spector, who plays her husband, Herman Levin.

He rocked a thick beard and a stylish blue tuxedo with black lapels.

Shimmering: Actress Zoe Kazan glowed at the premiere in a lustrous olive dress

Chic: She wore her blonde hair in a blunt cut bob with prominent bangs, as well as a pointy pair of black heels

Tough position: She stars as Elizabeth "Bess" Levin, the mother of the stand-in for Roth's character who has to keep her family together even as they're ostracized by society

On-screen couple: Zoe also posed with her co-star Morgan Spector (R), who plays her husband, Herman Levin

Dapper: He rocked a stylish midnight blue tuxedo

Stylish: Morgan's suit featured black lapels, and he sported a thick beard

Morgan was joined by his wife, Vicky Christina Barcelona star Rebecca Hall.

The English actress was dressed in a patterned black dress and wore her dark hair in a wavy bob.

Broadway star Michael Cerveris rocked a tan jacket with a black shirt and jeans.

Numb3rs actor David Krumholtz wore a powder blue suit, while his wife Vanessa Britting had on a red leopard printstyle dress.

Cute couple: Morgan was joined by his wife, Vicky Christina Barcelona star Rebecca Hall

Stunning: The English actress was dressed in a patterned black dress and wore her dark hair in a wavy bob

Casual: Broadway star Michael Cerveris rocked a tan jacket with a black shirt and jeans

Beaming: Numb3rs actor David Krumholtz wore a powder blue suit, while his wife Vanessa Britting had on a red leopard printstyle dress

Costumer designer and stylist Jeriana San Juan put on a stylish display in a scarlet coat with a black collar decorated with floral designs and a white shirt with matching jeans and boots.

Actress Kristen Sieh complemented her with a white tank top with a frayed hem and scarlet slacks.

Ben Cole and Caroline Kaplan posed together on the red carpet as the villainous couple of Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

He wore a smart charcoal suit with a slim black tie, while she glowed in a gold dress.

David Simon, the show's co-creator, looked dapper in a black pinstripe suit and a pink shirt.

He's best known for creating The Wire and The Deuce for HBO, as well as for writing the book that was the basis for NBC's long-running crime series Homicide: Life On The Street.

THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA SET TO AIR ON SKY ATLANTIC AND NOW TV THIS AUTUMN

Woman in red: Costumer designer Jeriana San Juan put on a stylish display in a scarlet coat with a black collar and a white shirt with matching jeans and boots

Unmissable: Actress Kristen Sieh complemented her with a white tank top with a frayed hem and scarlet slacks

Villainous couple: Ben Cole wore a charcoal suit while Caroline Kaplan had on a lustrous gold dress. They play Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh
New York, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "C-Reactive Protein Testing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Assay Type, By Detection Range, By Disease Area, By End Use And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05868761/?utm_source=GNW



The global C-reactive protein testing market size is expected to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 1.3% during the forecast period. Several studies have shown the role of C-reactive proteins as an inflammatory marker in gastrointestinal diseases. This has accelerated the reliance on these proteins for the diagnosis of a disease like Crohns disease and acute pancreatitis. The initiatives undertaken by government agencies to increase awareness as well as uptake of point-of-care are factors driving the market.



The rising prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases coupled with subsequent demand for robust disease testing protocols has driven the market to a considerable extent.POC based CRP testing within healthcare settings and among patients drives market growth.



For instance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended the usage of POC CRP testing in primary care for adult patients diagnosed with respiratory tract infections.



Increase in funds and investments for research entities that are engaged in performing research activities in this area, boost market progression. The National Institute for Health Research, the Wellcome Trust, and the Department for International Development are among the few funding agencies engaged in supporting C-reactive protein tests related research activities.



Further key findings from the report suggest:

 Immunoturbidimetric assay segment accounted for the maximum revenue share in 2019 and is anticipated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period

 This is attributive to the introduction of less expensive automated and highly sensitive immunoturbidimetric assays that have a wide measuring range for CRP levels

 High sensitivity C-reactive protein accounted for the major revenue share in 2019 owing to their efficiency in delivering results with high accuracy as compared to the conventional assays

 CRP is one of the important biomarkers that play a direct role in promoting vessel damage, vascular inflammation, and other clinical cardiovascular events

 This has resulted in the high adoption rate of these tests for the detection of cardiovascular diseases, as compared to other disease areas

 The high usage rate of these tests within clinical settings is attributive to the largest revenue share of clinics due to an increase in the number of patient visits in clinics

 The clinics, including physician offices, outpatient clinics, and community health centers conduct these tests at an affordable cost in minimal time, resulting in the largest share

 North America dominated the C-reactive protein testing market due to the presence of agencies, such as the American College of Cardiology Foundation, which raises awareness for the preliminary screening of inflammatory disorders, thereby positively influencing the uptake of these tests

 Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR owing to the ongoing research studies pertaining CRP testing in the Asian countries, which promotes the adoption of these tests in this region

 Quest Diagnostics, Siemens, Danaher, Abbott, Roche, and Thermo Fisher Scientific are some key companies operating in the market

 These companies are expanding their product portfolio and distribution network through partnership and agreement models to reinforce their market presence

 For instance, in May 2018, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics signed an agreement with Sentinel Diagnostics to develop CRP Ultra (MP) Assay for future CRP testing in hospitals and laboratories.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05868761/?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.



__________________________
OTTAWAThe Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has cleared another legal hurdle.

The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to hear five challenges from environment and Indigenous groups from British Columbia.

Some had wanted the top court to consider whether the Liberal cabinet violated the Species at Risk Act when it decided to approve the pipeline expansion a second time in June 2019, arguing the project would harm the highly endangered southern resident killer whales.

The Federal Court of Appeal had overturned cabinets first approval of the pipeline in 2018, citing insufficient consultation with Indigenous Peoples and a failure to take the impacts on marine animals into account.

After another round of Indigenous consultations and a second look at marine impacts, cabinet gave a second green light, but the same Indigenous communities and environment groups that successfully challenged the approval in 2018, filed new appeals of the approval in 2019.

The Federal Court of Appeal heard  dismissed last month  appeals from Indigenous communities about whether there had been enough consultation, but had declined to hear arguments from the environment groups.

B.C. Nature, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, the Squamish First Nation and a group of four young people then asked the highest court to do it instead. These are the cases the Supreme Court chose not to hear.

As usual, the Supreme Court did not give any reasons for its decision released Thursday.

Misty MacDuffee, a conservation biologist and program director with Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said the legislation aimed at protecting at-risk species requires governments to ensure endangered populations are protected.

There are fewer than 75 southern resident killer whales left and MacDuffee said they would be harmed by the noise from the expected increase in oil tankers carrying diluted bitumen due to the expanded pipeline.

MacDuffee said there is currently no technology in existence that can reduce the impacts that noise from the boats would have on the whales, which means forging ahead with the pipeline is inconsistent with upholding the legislation.

The effects have to be mitigated for the project to proceed and none of that has happened in Trans Mountain, MacDuffee said earlier this year.

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Alfa Romeo isnt the first brand you think of when it comes to lightweight performance sedans. But the Italian automaker is looking to flip that narrative with the arrival of the Giulia Quadrifoglio GTA.

Lighter, faster, and more powerful than any version of the Giulia Quadrifoglio, the Giulia GTA  it stands for Gran Turismo Alleggerita or Grand Touring Lightened  represents a complete makeover of the Giulia sedan.

Significant changes can be seen in the exterior, interior, and drivetrain departments, so much so that youd be excused for thinking that Alfa Romeo has lost its marbles and has decided to dive in the deep end of the performance sedan pool. Not that were complaining; the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA has the vibe of a king slayer. It certainly looks like one.
Anders Bering joins Mars to lead Government Relations Service Centers, Public Policy and International Government Relations teams

MCLEAN, Virginia, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mars, Incorporated announced today a new senior hire and addition to the Corporate Affairs Leadership Team. Anders Bering will join the business as Vice President, Global Public Affairs, leading lead Mars' Government Relations Service Centers in Washington, D.C., Brussels, Beijing and Moscow, and Public Policy and International Government Relations teams.

Andy Pharoah, Mars Global Vice President for Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, said: "I'm delighted to welcome Anders to our Mars Corporate Affairs Leadership Team. As the dynamics of global policy continue to shift around us, it's more important than ever that businesses like Mars are working proactively to create the world we want tomorrow. With his significant experience leading government relations and sustainability initiatives for Carlsberg, Anders will bring a valuable, holistic perspective as we continue strengthening our global corporate reputation."

In this position, Bering will be responsible for establishing public policy positions and public affairs strategies, driving stakeholder and influencer engagement on a number of issues ranging from climate action to human rights to trade. He will be based in McLean, Va., and will report to Andy Pharoah.

Bering said: "I am extremely pleased to join the Mars team to support the company's leadership in sustainability and inclusive business growth. Mars' position as a family-owned company with a history of innovation and an increasingly diverse portfolio shows how long-term decision-making and strategic partnerships can make of a century-old business more relevant than ever."

Bering most recently served as VP Corporate Affairs for Carlsberg Group, which he joined in 2011 and was responsible for the global Corporate Affairs function, covering internal and external communication as well as government relations and sustainability. Additionally, Bering was part of the management team in the Group's Danish subsidiary, Carlsberg Denmark, and represented the Group in several internal and external boards. Before joining Carlsberg Group to establish and lead their Corporate Affairs function, Bering worked for the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs as well as for the European Commission in Belgium.

Bering holds a BA and a MS, both in Political Science, from the University of Copenhagen. He has also completed graduate studies at Boston College and executive management education at The Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With more than $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world's best-loved brands: M&M's, SNICKERS, TWIX, MILKY WAY, DOVE, PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, WHISKAS, EXTRA, ORBIT, 5, SKITTLES, UNCLE BEN'S, and COCOAVIA. Mars Associates proudly take care of half of the world's pets through our nutrition, health and services businesses such as Banfield Pet Hospitals, BluePearl, Linnaeus, AniCura, VCA and Pet Partners. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles - Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom - inspire our more than 125,000 Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae attends a cabinet meeting in Seoul, Thursday. She ordered the prosecution to issue a search warrant for the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. / Yonhap



By Kim Se-jeong



Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl are at odds over an investigation into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is viewed as the "culprit" for the exponential increase of coronavirus cases in Korea.



While Minister Choo is pushing Yoon to request a search warrant for the sect's offices, Yoon is taking his time.



On Wednesday, the Daegu District Prosecution's Office refused to ask a court for a search warrant filed for by the local police, for the second time following a similar filing Monday. Last month, the Daegu Metropolitan Government filed a criminal investigation request against the sect.



"It's yet unclear whether the sect deliberately didn't submit a full list of its members. We need more time to decide if a search is really necessary," the prosecution was quoted as to why it didn't request the warrant.



On Monday, Choo ordered the prosecution to consider the option, and pushed the prosecution again Wednesday.



Those who want Shincheonji to be scrutinized believe the sect was deliberately slow in handing out a full list of its members and then omitted many names, slowing down the government's critical quarantine measures.



According to a recent survey, 86 percent of respondents wanted the prosecution to investigate the sect.



Last week, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon filed for a criminal investigation against the sect's founder, Lee Man-hee, accusing him of committing homicide through willful negligence. Also, a group of former Shincheonji members did the same, demanding that Lee be detained.



Fights between Choo and Yoon are not new.



Over the last few months, the two have been at odds over "prosecutorial reform" undertaken by Choo on behalf of President Moon Jae-in.



Although Yoon was appointed by Moon, the chief prosecutor is now viewed as a "spoiler" for investigating corruption cases involving the President's aides. Choo is seeking to weaken Yoon and the prosecution's power by reassigning prosecutors and introducing new rules that would make the job of the prosecution more difficult.


Former State of Origin star Carl Webb, 38, has been diagnosed with early-onset motor neurone disease

Former State of Origin star Carl Webb, 38, has been diagnosed with early-onset motor neurone disease.

Queensland Rugby League broke the tragic news on its website on Thursday.

Born in Mt Isa in west Queensland, the footy hero played 187 NRL games for the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland Cowboys and Parramatta Eels.

Motor neuron disease is a rare condition that damages the nervous system.

Gorden Tallis used to play for Brisbane and Queensland with Webb called him a 'champion bloke'.

'He was so powerful and explosive as a player, he was the strongest guy I've ever seen in the gym,' he told Fox Sports.

'Then he went to the Cowboys it was totally different, he really hit his straps there.

'He was so explosive, but more importantly he's a really good fella, he's a champion bloke. If you played with him, you'd love him.'

Webb had an 11-year career and also played for the Indigenous All Stars.

Friends and fans wrote messages of support on Twitter.

Carl Webb of the Cowboys is tackled by Steve Price of the Warriors during the round 23 NRL match between the Warriors and the North Queensland Cowboys in 2006

'Our thoughts are with Carl,' Queensland Maroons wrote.

'Thinking of you mate. Keep fighting,' radio presenter Darryl Brohman said.

'Sad to hear,' a fan replied.

South African rugby union player Joost van der Westhuizen died from the degenerative disease last year in 2017.

AFL player Neale Daniher and British league player Rob Burrow are also battling with the condition.

Webb married Renee Marsterson in 2008.

Carl Webb tussles with Luke Bailey after a high tackle in the first half of Sate of Origin 1 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane in 2005
By Emma Thomasson

BERLIN (Reuters) - German fashion house Hugo Boss <BOSSn.DE> warned on Thursday that the coronavirus will have a significant impact on its first-quarter results, with sales falling particularly in Asia, but also in other key markets.

Hugo Boss said it expects a gradual normalization by the middle of the year and forecast that currency-adjusted sales will rise from zero to 2% for the full year, including a single digit decline in Asia/Pacific.

Its shares were up 0.3% by 1119 GMT, making them one of the few gainers on the German mid-cap index on Thursday as analysts said the full-year outlook was better than expected given the circumstances and the company hiked its 2019 dividend.

Asia/Pacific contributed 15% of the retailer's sales in 2019, making Hugo Boss less exposed than other luxury brands like Burberry <BRBY.L>, but the region was its fastest growing, expanding 5% and at double-digit rates in mainland China.

After a very encouraging start to 2020 in the region, Hugo Boss now expects significant sales losses as more than half its 150 points of sale in China have been closed since the end of January, with shopper numbers well down at those still open.

It said there was a "noticeable decline" in sales in other key markets too.

Chief Executive Mark Langer told journalists that the first quarter hit was in the low single-digit million euros, while there was no significant negative impact on the supply chain.

It forecast 2020 earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) of 320-350 million euros ($356-$390 million) after a 4% fall to 333 million euros in 2019 as it invested in sprucing up its store network.

Hugo Boss cut its 2019 earnings forecast in October, citing weak demand in the United States and Hong Kong, but it then went on to report better than expected fourth-quarter sales growth, helped by strong demand online and at its renovated stores.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson and Anneli Palmen; Editing by Michelle Martin and Elaine Hardcastle)
Cheap flights, hotels and services, as well as empty destinations and an extended school break for children seem like all the right factors for a great holiday.

Illustrative image -- File photo

However, everything has a price, and the price for such great travel deals is the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives worldwide.

Despite the increasing numbers of infections and deaths being impossible to miss on TV and social networks, many don't want to miss the opportunity for a cheap holiday to destinations assumed to be unaffected by the virus.

Have you ever imagined a return flight from Hanoi  HCM City costs just more than VND2 million (US$86) or from Hanoi  Da Nang is as cheap as about VND1.5 million ($65)? says office worker Le Thanh Huyen in Hanoi.

All the services are cheap. Just log on to websites specialised in accommodation like Agoda or Booking, special discounts are on offer, from 30 to 50 per cent. Restaurants are also offering reasonable prices to attract customers.

But the thing I like most is that the tourist attractions which used to be packed with tourists now seem so quiet and peaceful.

After considering all factors, including the epidemic, Huyen and her family decided to have a three-day holiday to Quy Nhon in the central province of Binh Dinh.

To be honest, I didn't see anything to be afraid of. Instead, we enjoyed our trip with a lot of sunshine, empty beaches and delicious cheap seafood, she recalls.

People exercising more caution about the virus might choose a one-day holiday to destinations nearby using their personal vehicles.

My children started to get bored after three weeks staying at home, says a mother of two, Nguyen Thuy Duong from Hanoi.

We chose a safer way for a holiday that does not demand much travelling to public places like airports or train stations. It took us about 30 minutes to drive to Ecopark located 15km from central Hanoi.

I think there is little chance that we could be infected because we did not contact many people in the open space and fresh atmosphere of the park. My children had the opportunity to freely play and run around, which they could not do if locked in our apartment, Duong says.

Vietnams tourism sector has been severely affected by the epidemic.

In the past two months, the room occupancy rate at hotels and resorts nationwide has fallen 20-50 per cent compared with the same period last year while the number of international tourists is forecast to drop 60 per cent in March.

To cope with the problems, the Vietnam Tourism Association recently established an alliance of stakeholders, experts and enterprises to develop the national tourism industry.

Many enterprises have agreed to collaborate with the alliance to launch a tourism campaign. For example, many hotels have offered discounts from 20 to 50 per cent and some airlines have agreed to slash ticket prices by 20 to 30 per cent.

In previous epidemic outbreaks such as SARS and H5N1, the co-operation between ministries and related associations to reduce prices and taxes effectively revived tourism. I believe that this time is similar  the fear will fade away when people gradually realise that it is not too formidable and especially that Vietnam has effectively controlled the epidemic, says Tran The Dung, vice director of The He Tre Travel Limited Company in an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

However, not all people are tempted by cheap flights or tourism services. The issue of whether we should take the chance to travel during this sensitive time has sparked a heated debate online.

It is reasonable to travel at this time  long school closures, cheap air tickets, cheap hotels, cheap food, few tourists, writes Facebook user Khai Tran, but I dont want this vacation to be my last, do you understand?

Another user, Han Phuong Nga, argues that the movement between different areas is a factor impacting epidemic control because it is hard to determine if someone is incubating the virus.

"Everyone one should try a little bit for the sake of themselves and the whole community, she adds.

I cannot understand why people still take their children on vacation during this epidemic period, while schooling has been delayed and people have been advised against travelling to avoid gatherings for proper control of COVID-19 and to soon resume normal activities, writes netizen Thuy Phuong.

According to Dr William Brian McNaull, Medical Director of Family Medical Practice Hanoi, people should keep all travel to a minimum.

With the spread of the disease outside of China especially into (South) Korea, I think it's not wise to travel either within Vietnam by plane or abroad especially to other East Asian and other Southeast Asian countries.

"Going to areas within Vietnam that have been virus free is reasonable. But the overarching idea is not to travel at all and stay away from large groups of people.

"Vietnam has done a very good job keeping the disease from spreading within the country because of diligent controls and quarantine. We all need to work together to contain this disease and one of the best ways is to stay at home and not travel extensively.

To tourists who have already planned trips, the doctor highly recommended wearing masks and washing hands frequently especially after contacting other people.

If you develop a fever and/or respiratory symptoms and especially if you come from China and Korea, go immediately to one of the Ministry of Healths designated hospitals in Vietnam for testing and possible quarantine, he says. VNS

Luong Thu Huong

Air tickets more affordable amid travel fears Airfares are now more affordable for people who want to travel. The coronavirus outbreak has hit the civil aviation industry hard, so air ticket prices have edged down.
RUDYARD TWP, MI -- A 17-year-old student at Rudyard High School was arrested Wednesday after school officials discovered an imitation handgun in his backpack. The administration detained the student after it was alerted the student threatened to shoot another student and shoot up the school, according to a Facebook post from the Chippewa County Sheriffs Officer.

When police arrived at the school, the student was taken into custody and lodged at the Chippewa County Correctional Facility on a probation violation. Additional charges are expected to be brought against the student, but have not been announced. Police say an investigation is ongoing and a report will be filed with the county prosecutor.
Coronavirus news live updates: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that primary classes, that is up to Std 5th, in all private and government schools will be suspended from tomorrow, March 6. More than 16,076 passengers and crew member aboard 452 ships from China have not been allowed to disembark at Indian ports to check the spread of coronavirus in the country. All assistance is being provided to crew, passengers in case of sickness as per WHO norms, an official told PTI. Earlier today, one more case of coronovirus has been confirmed in Ghaziabad. The patient has travel history to Iran. Meanwhile, authorities in Srinagar have isolated 5 more suspected cases.

As cases of COVID-19 see a rise globally, India has placed around 25,000 people suspected of possible contact with patients under observation. Even the famous Taj Mahal has been put under heavy screening. Security personnel are screening visitors with thermal guns. External minister S Jaishankar has said that India is sending a team of medical professionals to Iran for help. Reportedly there are 1,200 Indians stranded in Iran now. The Health Minister has also said that the biggest concern right now are the Indians stuch in Tehran and Quam. Moreover, the government is constantly in touch with the Indians who are in China.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: How do I check if I have been infected?

Also read: Coronavirus: Delhi tops people under surveillance; crisis in Kerala, Punjab too

Also read: Coronavirus update: Over 11 lakh screened people at border check posts

Follow the live updates on coronavirus news here:

8:50 pm: Lufthansa cancels all flights to Israel till March 28 due to coronavirus restrictions.

8:44 pm: Rajasthan has declared that two cases in the state have tested positive for coronavirus, whereas reports for 8 samples are still awaited. The state declared that it has collected 247 samples, out of which 239 samples have been tested.

7:33 pm: Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be closed for public from March 7 o avoid any large gathering of people, in view of coronavirus outbreak.

Continuing the precautionary measures at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Mughal Gardens will be closed for public from March 7 to avoid any large gathering of people, in view of COVID-19 #CoronaVirus. pic.twitter.com/Fkqxs1VkeW ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

7:31 pm: Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla reviewed screening of people coming from neighbouring countries through land borders in view of coronavirus outbreak. He held a video conference with officials from different states and security agencies.

Ministry of Home Affairs: Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla reviewed screening of people coming from neighbouring countries through land borders in view of #coronavirus, today. He held a video conference with officials from different states & security agencies. pic.twitter.com/MFy0arqsqa ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

7:26 pm: Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain listed precautions against coronavirus and steps his company has taken to check the spread of the deadly pathogen.

I believe that health & safety of everyone should be the top most priority for all companies. If you have any more suggestions, please let me know.



My advice

a) Drink lot of water

b) Wash hands regularly

c) Avoid handshake. Go w/ #Namaste

#Corona #Virus #CoronaVirusinIndia https://t.co/uOGazlg2AM Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) March 5, 2020

6:42 pm: Maharashtra government launches dedicated helpline number '020-26127394' for coronavirus.

6:40 pm: Greece confirms 21 new coronavirus cases among travellers who had recently returned from a pilgrimage to religious sites in Israel and Egypt, reported Reuters.

6:34 pm: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has people of the state not to hold unnecessary gatherings during the festival of Holi and remain cautious for the next 10-15 days in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Yesterday, PM Narendra Modi had said that he will not attend Holi gatherings.

Thackeray further added there is no need to panic and the government is alert.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray: Municipal corporations & administration of the state are on alert. We have to be more careful in next 10 to 15 days. It is advised to avoid big gatherings during Holi as already requested by PM Modi. pic.twitter.com/qxebeUCIAq ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

6:29 pm: BMC Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said that additional isolation wards will be set up at all major hospitals like Lilawati, Jaslok, Hinduja, Saifee, Railway Hospital, MBT, if needed.

6:25 pm: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched 24x7 helpline number '1916' to report coronavirus cases in the city.

Mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launches 24x7 helpline number '1916' to report #CoronaVirus cases in the city. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/UKJHPHD3yl ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

6:21 pm: First coronavirus case emerges in Egypt. The patient had travelled back from Europe.

6:21 pm: South Africa has confirmed its first coronavirus case.

5:54 pm: Coronavirus update: Death toll in US hits 11; nursing home under investigation

Federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus as the US death toll climbed to 11, including the first fatality outside Washington state.

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died.

The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

(Associated Press)

5:49 pm: Coronavirus news: 14-bed isolation ward set up at Hindurao Hospital: North Delhi Mayor

An isolation ward containing 14 beds has been set up at NDMC-run Bara Hindurao Hospital here for coronavirus patients, North Delhi Mayor Avtar Singh said on Thursday. Nodal officers have been deputed at Hindurao and Kasturba Hospital to report on coronavirus cases. A core team has been formed to review the situation, he said.

"A 14-bed isolation ward has been set up at Bara Hindurao hospital. A total of 3,000 N 95 masks have been distributed in the hospital. At zonal levels, deputy health officers have been deputed as nodal officers," the mayor said.

Singh appealed to people to refrain from shaking hands and hugging others and instead greet each other with folded hands. The traditional Holi function scheduled to be held at mayor's residence on March 7 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, he added.

The hotels under North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) area have been directed to report arrival of foreigners, Singh further said.

(PTI)

5:44 pm: On reports that 495 Iranian tourists are untraceable, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that till now the ministry hasn't received any info about it from Iranian Embassy. "Some Iranian tourists who're in India had come here before coronavirus outbreak and they can't return as no flight is operating between the two countries at present," Kumar said.

MEA on reports that 495 Iranian tourists are untraceable: Till now we haven't received any info about it from Iranian Embassy. Some Iranian tourists who're in India had come here before #CoronaVirus outbreak&they can't return as no flight is operating b/w 2 countries at present. pic.twitter.com/Pyb6A0RlhT ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

5:30 pm: IN PICTURES: Truckers from Pakistan being scanned for COVID-19 at Attari

Ministry of Home Affairs: Truck drivers from Pakistan being scanned at Attari for #COVID19. The Government is ensuring constant vigilance and continuous monitoring to prevent the spread of #CoronaVirus. pic.twitter.com/w0zuy8g2Ev ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

5:12 pm: No coronavirus patient found in Bihar till now, states Mangal Pandey, Bihar Health Minister.

5:12 pm: Coronavirus update: Mumbai's civic authority Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is keeping a close eye on people who arrived from virus affected countries.

Talking to India Today TV, a BMC official said, "More than 300 travellers from affected countries are being monitored telephonically to check for development of coronavirus symptoms."

5:10 pm: A look at self-reporting form travellers from coronavirus-affected countries need to submit before entering India.

4:55 pm: Coronavirus cases spike in central city of Wuhan

Mainland China reported a rise in new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Thursday, reversing three straight days of declines, because of a spike in new infections in Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.

Mainland China had 139 new confirmed cases as of Wednesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said, bringing the total accumulated number of cases to 80,409. Authorities reported 119 new cases the previous day and 125 the day before that.

The increase was driven by more cases in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have emerged in a market late last year.

Wuhan's new infections climbed to 131 from 114 a day earlier. There was no immediate elaboration and health officials were due to hold a briefing later in the day.

(Reuters)

4:52 pm: A 16-year-old Indian girl in Dubai has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed infection cases in the UAE to 28.

4:43 pm: Indian junior archery team has pulled out of the upcoming Asia Cup world ranking tournament being held in Bangkok, Thailand over coronavirus fears.

4:40 pm: Sikkim Govt has suspended issuing 'Inner Line Permit' from today till further orders. Decision has been taken by the authority after 30 positive cases of #CoronaVirus in the country. Buses are now plying only for domestic tourists from Sikkim Nationalised Transport in Siliguri.

4:38 pm: Two pending samples sent from Telangana to National Institute of Virology in Pune tested negative: State Health Minister E Rajender.

4:34 pm: 15 new coronavirus deaths reported in Iran. Death toll rises to 107.

4:20 pm: Coronavirus impact: India-EU Summit called off

On health authorities's advice, the bilateral summit between India and the European Union at Brussels has been rescheduled, informed Minister of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

Raveesh Kumar, MEA: The decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the EU & India who share same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon. #CoronaVirus https://t.co/0HMEiYePfg ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

4:18 pm: To prevent spread of coronavirus, all primary schools in Delhi to remain closed till March 31, says Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia: From tomorrow, all such schools(upto class 5th) both government & private to remain shut till March 31, in view of #CoronaVirus pic.twitter.com/qlj8NWP6rl ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

4:08 pm: Prices of Penicillin G, a key raw material imported from China by some of the Indian antibiotic makers, see a price increase of over 50 per cent.

4:06 pm: Coronavirus impact: Delhi govt suspends biometric attendance

The Delhi government on Thursday advised head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

"A letter has been written to principal secretaries, secretaries, autonomous bodies and municipal corporations for the suspension of biometric attendance in view of coronavirus threat," the official told PTI.

One more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad in the national capital region, taking the total number in the country to 30 so far, official sources said on Thursday.

(PTI)

4:01 pm: "To prevent coronavirus spread, 16,076 crew, passengers aboard 452 ships from China not allowed to disembark at Indian ports. All assistance is being provided to crew, passengers in case of sickness as per WHO norms," an official told PTI.

3:58 pm: Jammu: Escaped coronavirus patients brought back

Two coronavirus patients fled from the hospital they were lodged in. They were later brought back.

"Two coronavirus suspects who fled from hospital have been brought back within hours. There is nothing to worry now. We are on alert," informed Sunanda Raina, Principal of Government Medical College, Jammu.

3:54 pm: Coronavirus impact: Food prices decline in February after four months of rise

World food prices slipped in February, ending four months of successive increases, with the spread of coronavirus dampening demand for some products, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food priceindex, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals,oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 180.5 points last month, down 1.0 per cent on January.

(Reuters)

3:50 pm: Dogs, cats can't transmit coronavirus: Hong Kong govt

Pet cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus on to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. That's the conclusion of Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department after a dog in quarantine tested weak positive for the virus February 27, February 28 and March 2, using the canine's nasal and oral cavity samples.

A unidentified spokesman for the department was quoted in a news release as saying. "There is currently no evidence that pet animals can be a source of infection of COVID-19 or that they become sick."

Scientists suspect the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease originated in bats before passing it on to another species, possibly a small wild mammal, that passed it on to humans.

However, experts from the School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) have unanimously agreed that the dog has a low-level of infection and it is "likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission".

(Associated Press)

3:43 pm: Switzerland reports first coronavirus death

A 74-year-old woman in western Switzerland has died after contracting the new coronavirus, the country's first death from the rapidly spreading disease outbreak, regional police said on Thursday.

The woman had been hospitalised at Lausanne's University Hospital in the canton of Vaud since Tuesday, police said. She was a high-risk patient suffering from chronic disease, authorities added.

In Switzerland, 58 infections have been confirmed so far. The country has frequent exchanges with neighbour Italy, where around 3,100 people have been diagnosed with the disease and 107 died, as well as France and Germany, where coronavirus cases have also been reported.

(Reuters)

3:31 pm: Coronavirus reaches Srinagar, 5 suspected patients kept in isolation

Health authorities in Kashmir have kept five persons with a recent history of travelling to coronavirus-affected countries in the isolation ward of the SKIMS hospital here after they showed symptoms of the disease, officials said on Thursday.

"We have kept the five persons in the isolation ward at the SKIMS hospital in Soura," they said.

The officials added that samples of the suspects were collected and sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Of the five, one had travelled to Thailand while two had been to Iran, they said, adding that the remaining two had a recent travel history to the epicentre of COVID-19 in China's Wuhan.

(PTI)

3:28 pm: Enough bulk drugs for three months: Chemicals Minister Gowda

Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Sadanand Gowda on Thursday assured there is no shortage of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for at least three months. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are the raw materials required to produce medicines. They are also referred to as bulk drugs.

"There is no shortage of any APIs for next three months. There is some confusion about supply and availability of medicines. We have got sufficient medicines and sufficient APIs. For another three months, there is no shortage (of raw material) for manufacturing pharmaceuticals," Gowda said during a conference at Gandhinagar.

Initiatives are being taken to open API manufacturing parks in different parts of the country to reduce dependency on China, said Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya.

(PTI)

3:25 pm: First coronavirus death reported in Switzerland.

3:12 pm: Official sources have confirmed one more case of coronavirus in Ghaziabad. The patient has travel history to Iran. This takes the total number of confirmed cases to 30.

3:12 pm: IPL expects smooth start despite COVID-19 epidemic

Indian Premier League (IPL) is expecting to overcome the novel coronavirus threat and go ahead as scheduled. Just over 60 players from cricket nations such as Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean islands will fly to India for the T20 extravaganza, and the reported positive cases of coronavirus in all these countries is next to none.

"The IOC is saying Olympics in Tokyo will be held as per schedule. IPL is a minuscule tournament in that regard. If Olympics can be held, there's no reason why IPL can't be held," an anonymous BCCI official told PTI.

2:53 pm: IN PICTURES: Awareness programme on coronavirus at Golden Temple, Amritsar

Punjab: State government organises an awareness camp on #Coronavirus at Golden Temple in Amritsar. pic.twitter.com/Jldz7JazmC ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

2:21 pm: COVID-19 update: "In addition to Visa restrictions already in place, passengers traveling from/having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries. This will be enforced from 0000 Hrs of 10th March, 2020 and is a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside," stated the government in a release.

2:20 pm: Indian student in Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. The total cases of coronavirus in UAE has reached 27 so far.

2:19 pm: Bosnia has confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The state media reported that the case was confirmed but there were no details available immediately.

2:15 pm: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray asked people not to panic over the coronavirus situation. He added that the next eight days are crucial and said that he would pray that the virus gets burned in the Holi fire.

2:10 pm: "There's a real opportunity for India to get back in the race," said Anand Mahindra.

Should get our competitive juices flowing.The garment export business was ours to lose& unfortunately we did lose it. But as global customers begin to see the benefit of diversifying their supply chains post COVID-19, theres a real opportunity for India to get back in the race https://t.co/2nAla3Raxl anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 5, 2020

2:00 pm: A Turkish Airlines aircraft was flown back to Istanbul from Singapore without any passengers on board. A passenger who had arrived on the plane on Tuesday was tested positive for coronavirus.

1:50 pm: "It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis," said Rahul Gandhi.

The Health Minister saying that the Indian Govt has the #coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Capt of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable.



It's time the Govt made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 5, 2020

1:45 pm: China allocates $16 billion to fight coronavirus. The government expects the outbreak to temporarily affect its revenues but also expect it to ease as the economy recovers.

1:40 pm: Six people who came from China have been tested negative for coronavirus. Jharkhand government is keeping a close vigil as a lot of people from the state fo to Dubai, China for employment.

1:30 pm: California declares emergency as 11 people die of coronavirus in the US. "The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," said California Governor Gavin Newsom.

1:25 pm: S Jaishankar said that the government is constantly monitoring the progress in Iran.

Group of Ministers constantly monitoring progress. Understand the concern of families.

Keep faith. Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2020

1:23 pm: External minister S Jaishankar said that a team of medical professionals will land in Iran from India today. They expect to establish the first clinic in the city of Qom by evening. "Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities," he said.

1:17 pm: The Health Minister said that a major area of concern right now is Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Tehran and Quam, Iran, which have been heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak. "Government of India is following up with Iran authorities for their well-being and to tie up evacuation as per need," he said.

1:14 pm: "The Indian Embassy and Consulates are also in regular contact with the Indian Community in other parts of China and is keeping a constant track of their well-being," said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

1:11 pm: Greece reported its tenth case of coronavirus on Thursday. The country ordered the closure of schools and banned public gatherings in three districts in the west of the country from Thursday as a precautionary measure.

1:09 pm: Indonesia has decided to ban entry and transit of foreign visitors who have spent 14 days in cities hit by coronavirus outbreaks in Iran, Italy and South Korea, starting March 8, the country's foreign minister said on Thursday.

1:05 pm: South Korea declared a "special care zone" on Thursday around a second city hit hard by the coronavirus. The South Korean government declared a "special care zone" around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250 kms southeast of Seoul, and warned against travel there, as per Reuters.

1:02 pm: TDP MP Jayadev Galla in Lok Sabha said in Lok Sabha that people need to know if there will be any impact of coronavirus on the economy. " People are expecting a global economic impact," he said.

1:00 pm: Officials use thermal gun at Taj Mahal to screen visitors for coronavirus.

12:51 pm: Health authorities in Hong Kong have confirmed that a pet dog, a Pomeranian, belonging to a coronavirus patient has been infected. It is the first reported case of human-to-animal transmission of coronavirus. The pet dog was tested "weak positive".

12:47 pm: "There is only one virology institute in Pune. It is not enough. We should have this institute in different zones of the country," says DMK MP Kanimozhi.

12:44 pm: Foreign visitors banned at Mathura's Vrindavan Iskcon Temple. "Due to #Coronavirus, we've requested foreign devotees not to visit the temple for the next two months. If they want to visit the temple, they will have to produce the medical certificate to prove that they are not infected," said Saurabh Das, PRO of the temple.

12:40 pm: Navneet Ravi Rana, an independent member from Maharashtra, on Thursday asked a question in Lok Sabha wearing a mask. Rana asked a question about the supply of power.

12:30 pm: A suspected case of coronavirus has been reported in Mumbai. The airport screened 2,285 passengers who arrived today from 12 countries. So far, 59,654 passengers have been screened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj airport in Mumbai.

12:20 pm: Ministers arrive at the parliament sporting masks. The parliament security personnel have also been spotted wearing gloves and masks. Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Gupta writes to RS Chairman asking for coronavirus screening equipment.

12:18 pm: A total of 39 samples were collected at the Mandawa Hotel. The Italian group stayed in Jhunjhunu district. However, only 6 were symptomatic as per ICMR guidelines. All have been tested negative. They will be under watch for 14 days and will be tested if they show symptoms.

12:12 pm: COVID-19 update: Govt has busted the myth that alcohol prevents coronavirus. "Drinking alcohol does not protect you from nCoV," stated PIB.

#PIBFactCheck



Another misinformation on #Coronavirus circulating on social media asserts that consumption of

alcohol prevents #Coronavirus infection.

This rumour is #Fake! Drinking alcohol does not protect you from #nCoV infection.

Read: https://t.co/uJ0bgK0wen pic.twitter.com/xlMkVkgR8X PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 5, 2020

12:10 pm: Meanwhile, Italy has shut down all schools and colleges as the death toll reaches 100.

12:09 pm: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said that coronavirus has spread to almost all the provinces of the country. The country has so far reported 92 deaths.

12:04 pm: A school in Agra with a student who was high-suspected of coronavirus has been closed. The school underwent sanitisation. All in-school exams that were scheduled for the day have been postponed.

12:01 pm: An European Union official in Brussels has tested positive for coronavirus. The official had returned from Italy on February 23 and started showing symptoms on February 29.

11:55 am: Saudi Arabia has suspended the year-round Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina over fears of coronavirus. The decision will be reviewed regularly till the situation normalises, state media reported.

11:45am: National Congress Party (NCP) MP Vandana Chavan, on Thursday said in Rajya Sabha, "There is misinformation being spread on coronavirus while some leaders are talking about how gaumutra and cow dung cakes can cure coronavirus. This should not happen". Immediately, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu interrupted her, saying, "That is upon people to believe or not".

11:43am: Apple Inc is pulling out of this month's South by Southwest music and tech festival amid the coronavirus outbreak. The South by Southwest music and tech festival, set to be held in Austin, Texas. Facebook Inc had said earlier this week it would not participate in the festival, Reuters reported

11:40am: "Sale of meat, semi-cooked meat and fish has been banned in open areas in the Lucknow district to ensure that coronavirus does not transmit through meat. Hotels and restaurants have been asked to ensure cleanliness and hygiene," district magistrate Abhishek Pathak said.

11:20 am: Dr Harsh Vardhan said that 6,11,176 passengers have been screened at different points.

11:15 am: "Total 29 cases reported out of them 3 are from Kerela who have been released. One more has tested positive in Delhi, who has a travel history to Italy. Group of Ministers is constantly working on it. PMO is directly monitoring this issue. We started action on coronavirus preparedness from Jan 17," said Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

10:57 am: Security staff at the Parliament seen wearing disposable gloves and masks.

Delhi: Two security staff at the Parliament seen wearing disposable glove and mask, as a precautionary measure against #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/KbnZbqUgdn ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

10:52 am: The Sikkim government has said that over 4.06 lakh passengers arriving in the state have been screened so far for coronavirus infection, but no positive case has been detected. A total of 69,734 vehicles have been stopped for checking at Utteray, Ramman, Rangpo, Reshi and Melli checkposts and 4,06,993 passengers screened for symptoms of coronavirus, but no positive case has been found in Sikkim till date, a statement issued by the state health department said.

10:45 am: Telangana High Court has allowed parties to be absent from the court hearings. The court has also decided to distribute homeopathy pills to prevent coronavirus.

10:35 am: Around 23 more samples have been sent from Agra and Lucknow after the screening of 49-50 cases. Few tourists had applied for screening.

10:30 am: Over 25,000 passengers are under the scanner of the Health Ministry due to their possible contact history with coronavirus. Delhi, Kerala and Punjab account for over half of these cases. However, only 37 of them have been hospitalised through integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) network, till March 3

10:21 am: The death toll has crossed 100 in Italy.

#BREAKING Italy coronavirus death toll passes 100: official pic.twitter.com/58jVynH3aV AFP news agency (@AFP) March 4, 2020

10:17 am: Coronavirus takes its toll on the aviation industry. All the flights of Flybe, one of UK's biggest airlines have been grounded.

#UPDATE One of Britain's biggest airlines, Flybe, has collapsed, with all its flights grounded, as the #coronavirus epidemic takes a heavy toll on airlines around the worldhttps://t.co/uDVP3fP9e5 pic.twitter.com/Hz19evZavq AFP news agency (@AFP) March 5, 2020

10:15 am: Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will make a statement in Lok Sabha at 12 pm today.

10:10 am: The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities. The total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance.

10:05 am: Karnataka government has asked companies to let emmployees with flu-like symptoms to work from home. "Those employees having flu like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette. Employees other than those restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Maccau, Veitnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry," the advisory read.

10:00 am: A family of three who arrived in Vishakhapatnam from Malaysia has been shifted to the AP Chest Hospital quarantine ward. They were detected with mild fever upon arrival. Two more people who arrived from Bahrain have also been quarantined. The samples have been sent to Hyderabad and Pune for tests.

9:50 am: The UN has estimated the trade impact of coronavirus on India to be around $348 million. India figures among the top 15 economies most affected as slowdown of manufacturing in China disrupts world trade, according to a UN report.

9:43 am: The Italian nationals who were quarantined at the Chhawla camp have been moved to Medanta hospital on request of the government. They were quarantined at the ITBP facility earlier.

9:41 am: Three people have been admitted at the Bidar Institute of Medical Science in Karnataka. One of the patients is software engineer who returned from Norway. The other two are a father-son duo who returned from Qatar.

9:39 am: West Bengal BJP members distributed masks with 'Save from Coronavirus infection Modi ji' written on them.

9:34 am: UN economists announced a likely $50 billion drop in the worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Citing the China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), Pamela Coke-Hamilton, who heads UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities, said that it had fallen to 37.5 - a drop of about 20 points the lowest reading since 2004.

9:30 am: The death toll in the US has increased to 11. A Facebook employee has been detected with coronavirus.

9:25 am: Around 8 per cent of Iranian MPs at the Parliament have been detected with coronavirus.

9:20 am: Samples collected from Fortis Hospital Jaipur reveal that the Italian citizen taken for treatment and the Ramada Hotel Jaipur staff member have tested negative for coronavirus.

9:15 am: A Chinese man locks himself in his flat in Greater Noida. He believes he has COVID-19. Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava says, "Several tests have been conducted on him. He does not have any problem."

9:05 am: Microsoft asked many of its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25. "Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite," Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene told employees in a blog post.

9:00 am: Ministry of Home Affairs has said that India is well prepared to tackle the threat of coronavirus.

India is well prepared to prevent the spread of #COVID19india.



All landports under MHA have fully equipped medical teams present across States to screen all incoming passengers from neighboring countries.@MoHFW_INDIA Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) March 4, 2020

8:58 am: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his countrymen to adopt namaste instead of handshake.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt the Indian way of greeting #Namaste at a press conference to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gtSKzBDjl4 India in Israel (@indemtel) March 4, 2020

8:54 am: "We have taken all precautionary measures, got 12 isolation rooms and a designated team that can handle cases if any. We have an adequate stock position. Last month, we had 10 suspects who tested negative," said R Jayanthi, Dean of Rajiv Gandhi Govt General Hospital in Chennai.

8:50 am: An employee of Hotel Rang Mahal in Jaisalmer has been admitted with suspicion of coronavirus. The Italian tourists who were tested positive for coronavirus had stayed at the hotel. The employee has been admitted at the government hospital in Jaisalmer.

8:40 am: COVID-19 update: Medical bulletin till 6 pm on March 4.

Cumulative number of passengers from 12 specified countries and found residing in Uttar Pradesh - 2303

Symptomatic contacts hospitalised today (2 from Agra at the Safdarjung hospital)

Symptomatic passengers hospitalised today (5 in Lucknow)

Asymptomatic contacts hospitalised today (4 from Agra at Safdarjung Hospital, 6 from Noida at Gautam Buddh Nagar and 5 at Bulandshahr district hospital )

6 samples sent to NIV Pune for confirmation

157 samples found negative

Total number of symptomatic travelers identified in UP till date - 105

Total travelers screened at airports - 7,684

Travelers screened at border check posts - 9,90,297

Villages at Nepal border where sensitisation meetings were held - 1,765

8:35 am: Collectors of Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur have been asked to follow precautions regarding the Italian visitors' travel. They have been asked to do the following:

1. Bus to be disinfected, driver and cleaner to be home quarantined for 14 days.

2. Disinfection and enlisting of guests in these rooms (get health information and advice home isolation for 14 days for all guests in those rooms)

3. Enhanced surveillance in all the tourist spots/places visited including resturants and awareness campaign.

4. Setting up of control room

8:30 am: A hotel in Agra has been asked to stop booking for guests further till it is sanitised completely by authorities as they believe that coronavirus-affected tourists stayed in the hotel recently.

8:25 am: IRDAI has asked insurance companies to design policies to cover coronavirus. "For the purpose of meeting health insurance requirements of various sections, insurers are advised to design products covering the costs of treatment for coronavirus," IRDAI said.

8:20 am: The Health Ministry has issued an advisory for schools regarding COVID-19.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress claims the four remaining MLAs, including three from the party, who were allegedly lured by the BJP along with four others, have reiterated complete loyalty to the Kamal Nath government on Thursday. The MLAs will return to the state later today, it added.

Party said MLAs Bisahulal Singh, Hardeep Singh Dung and Raghuraj Kansana, were traced to Bengaluru, the capital of the BJP ruled state Karnataka, on Wednesday.

We are in touch with all the MLAs. They are expected to reach their respective destinations in Madhya Pradesh today, MP Congress media in charge Shobha Oza said.

She said the MLAs made it clear that they had complete faith in the leadership of chief minister Kamal Nath and that there was no question of them supporting the BJP in any circumstances.

The Congress MLAs couldnt be reached for their comments, however, the fourth missing MLA, an independent, Surendra Singh Shera, said he was in Bengaluru with his family.

I dont have any knowledge about any other MLAs. I came to Bengaluru with my family as I have to consult some doctors for the treatment of my daughter. I will be returning after a couple of days, he said.

Shera has been loudly demanding a ministerial berth and claimed Kamal Nath was yet to honour his words.

My support is to the Congress government right from day one. This is despite the fact that the ministers in the Kamal Nath cabinet dont listen to my demands for development work in my constituency. This is true that chief minister Kamal Nath had assured me that he would induct me in his cabinet but he is yet to honour his words.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh named five BJP leaders he claimed were behind the alleged horse-trading attempt.

Those in BJP responsible for horse-trading include Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Narottam Mishra, Sanjay Pathak, Vishwas Sarang and Bhupendra Singh.

State BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Bajpai said Digvijaya Singh was in the habit of making allegations without any proof.

Digvijaya Singh is in the habit of naming people without any evidence. till date he has not come out with an iota of evidence to corroborate his charges. There are CCTv cameras at airports and hotels but he doesnt have a single photograph to show any BJP leader with any non-BJP MLA, not to say of any alleged attempt for horse-trading, said Bajpai.

Bajpai added that Digvijaya Singh has been accused by his own party colleague and forest minister Umang Singhar of orchestrating all this drama to get a repeat nomination for Rajya Sabha in April.

Congress has 114 MLAs in the Madhya Pradesh assembly that has an effective strength of 228. The party is supported by six other MLAs  two from Bahujan Samajwadi Party, one from Samajwadi Party and four independents. The BJP has 107 MLAs
Rev. Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji religious sect, expressed remorse Monday that so many patients were tied to his church. If he apologized to the Korean people of his own free will, I respect his choice.



However, I fear and suspect that he did it under duress. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and other members of the governing Democratic Party of Korea have filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee and other Shincheonji leaders "for murder, injury and violation of prevention and management of infectious diseases."



One of my professor colleagues sent a text, which I wholeheartedly agree: "This recent move to prosecute church leaders for murder seems outrageous. They may be guilty of violations of the infectious disease act or some other crimes related to negligence or withholding information. But going after them for murder is a political stunt and politicized crime. If I have a seasonal flu and go out into the world and someone catches it from me and dies  am I now subject to a murder charge?"



From my understanding, a few members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus were simply doing what most other Korean churches and businesses do: visiting their branches in China, including in Wuhan.



Unfortunately, like many Wuhan residents, a few contracted the COVID-19 and, unknowingly, spread it to others. The greater fault lies in health authorities in Hebei Province and Beijing, which censored early information of the virus. A more open, transparent government response would have allowed Korean citizens and foreigners to protect themselves from infection.



In Korea, leaders of progressive parties are blaming an unpopular religious sect, and conservative party leaders blame Chinese people. We should stop playing the politicized blame game, focus on containing the epidemic, and ensure that the authorities, whether in China or elsewhere, do not repeat the mistake of censoring vital information.



Secondly, Beijing's repression of religious organizations and foreign missionaries has simply driven them underground. Seoul should not repeat the same mistake of persecuting religious followers and alienating them from our society. Respecting religious freedom is the liberal-principled and pragmatic approach to help patients and contain the epidemic.



Joseph Yi

Associate professor of political science

Hanyang University

Seoul








This is the hilarious moment a show-off teen tries to do a 'parkour' front flip off a bench - but ends up flat on his face as the bench COLLAPSES underneath him.

Jordan Mackay, who was just 15 when the video was filmed, can be seen leaping onto the park bench with a determined look on his face, as he stretches up his arms to launch into a flip.

But instead, the teen got an unexpected shock - when the square bench gave way beneath him, sending him sprawling onto the grass.

Two friends stood by and filmed the cringeworthy moment that wooden planks from the bench went flying into the air, before sailing down onto Jordan and hitting him in the face.

But Jordan, now 19, from High Wycombe, Bucks., said that ultimately, he and his friends were left laughing about the incident, and he got straight back on his feet and ran off.

Jordan said: "When the bench gave way we were all shocked but ultimately just laughed at the whole thing.

"The fall itself didn't hurt - the board which flew up did hit me in the face, but no serious injuries sustained from that, just a scratch.

"I used to do a lot of stuff like that because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger - but I don't do it so much anymore."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 07:21:12|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group have pledged to provide billions of dollars of emergency financing for member countries that could seek support in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, stressing the need to help the most vulnerable.

"We know that the disease is spreading quickly. With over one-third of our membership affected directly, this is no longer a regional issue -- it is a global problem calling for a global response," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Wednesday at a joint press conference with World Bank Group President David Malpass.

The IMF is making available about 50 billion U.S. dollars through its rapid-disbursing emergency financing facilities for low-income and emerging market countries, Georgieva said, noting that 10 billion dollars of that is intended to support the poorest members at zero interest.

The World Bank, meanwhile, has announced that it will provide an initial package of up to 12 billion U.S. dollars in "immediate support" to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"What the World Bank is doing is working to provide a fast, flexible response based on developing country needs," Malpass said at the press conference. The support would include emergency financing, policy advice, and technical assistance, he said, adding that it will prioritize the poorest countries and those at high risk with low capacity.

"Our biggest challenge right now is handling uncertainty," Georgieva told reporters. "We also know that it (outbreak) will eventually retreat, but we don't know how fast this will happen."

"Under any scenario, global growth in 2020 will drop below last year's level," she said. In February, the IMF already revised down 2020 global growth to 3.2 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower from its January projection. Dropping below last year's level (2.9 percent) means further downgrading of global growth forecast.

The growth projection for China this year will also be lower than the latest forecast, the IMF chief said, while noting that she is encouraged that roughly 60 percent of production has restarted in China, and more progress is expected in the next few weeks.

Georgieva said the current situation is "particularly challenging for countries with weaker health systems and response capacity -- calling for a global coordination mechanism to accelerate the recovery of demand and supply."

The number one priority in terms of fiscal response, she said, is ensuring "front-line health-related spending" to protect people's well-being, take care of the sick, and slow the spread of the virus. Second, macro-financial policy actions may be required to tackle the supply and demand shocks.

Noting that adequate liquidity will also be needed to offset financial stability risks, the IMF chief welcomed the statement of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations that finance ministers and central bank governors are "ready to cooperate further on timely and effective measures."

In a joint statement issued after an emergency conference call Tuesday, the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors said that "given the potential impacts of COVID-19 on global growth, we reaffirm our commitment to use all appropriate policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable growth and safeguard against downside risks."

"The situation is evolving rapidly and we should stand ready to provide a more forceful, coordinated response if conditions require it," Georgieva said.
First case of Coronavirus in Europe was in Germany, not Italy, according to US medical journal.

A 33-year-old German man may be the first European to have contracted the Coronavirus, or Covid-19, and the first to have transmitted it in Europe, according to a report in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The case, referred to as "Patient 1", was recorded in Germany on 24 January - a month before the first case in Italy - according to a letter by German doctors published in the US medical journal on 5 March.

The report has been widely reported today in Italy where the first case of locally-transmitted Coronavirus was reported in Codogno, in the northern Lombardy region, on 21 February.

However news of the German Coronavirus infection on 24 January was reported four days later, on 28 January, by British newspaper The Guardian, which described it at the time as the "first human-to-human transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus in Europe."

In addition to identifying Germany as the first country in Europe to register a transmitted case of Coronavirus, the American scientific study illustrates the potential of transmission by people who are asymptomatic.

Referring to the US study, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports that the German man began to suffer from breathing difficulties and a high temperature on 24 January, however three days later his condition had improved sufficiently for him to return to work.

Before becoming sick the "otherwise healthy businessman" had attended a meeting near Munich, on 20-21 January, during which a female colleague from Shanghai was present. The woman, who stayed in Germany from 19 to 21 January, showed no signs of being unwell until she fell ill during her flight home.

On 26 January the woman was diagnosed positive with Coronavirus upon which she informed her colleagues in Germany.

Tests were carried out on the Germans with whom she had been in contact, including the 33-year-old man, who tested positive for the Coronavirus but was asymptomatic. Three colleagues who had contact with the 33-year-old tested positive.

The New England Journal of Medicine states: "However, it is notable that the infection appears to have been transmitted during the incubation period of the index patient, in whom the illness was brief and nonspecific."
GENEVA (dpa-AFX) - STMicroelectronics (STM) said it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in French Gallium Nitride innovator Exagan. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. As per the deal, STMicroelectronics could acquire the remaining minority stake in Exagan 24 months after the closing of the acquisition of the majority stake. The transaction is funded with available cash. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TOPS Software We are delighted to be recognized as a five-time winner in the Florida Community Association Journal. Receiving this award based on the votes of those whom we strive to serve in the industry makes this five-time win even more special. - Mike Hardy, President & CEO

TOPS Software, LLC, the leading provider of community association management (CAM) software, has been honored for the fifth year in a row as a recipient of the Florida Community Association Journals (FLCAJ) Readers Choice Award. TOPS Software was named a Platinum Level Winner in the Technology & Communications category.

TOPS Software President & CEO, Mike Hardy said, We are delighted to be recognized as a five-time winner in the Florida Community Association Journal. Receiving this award based on the votes of those whom we strive to serve in the HOA and condominium association industry makes this five-time win even more special. TOPS works hard to deliver the best solutions for this industry, and this honor reinforces that were fulfilling our brand promise.

The FLCAJ has been providing news and information to the operators of homeowners associations, condos, cooperatives, and other multi-unit communities since 1987. For the past seven years, the FLCAJ has held its annual Readers Choice Awards to honor service providers that primarily work with community associations.

This year, FLCAJ received over 550 nominations and tallied 8,500 votes during the seventh annual Readers Choice Awards. Winning service providers were honored in one of four tiers, based on the number of votes received: Diamond (top), Platinum, Gold, and Silver.
Two people in San Francisco  a man in his 90s and a woman in her 40s  have tested positive for the coronavirus, city officials said Thursday.

The diagnoses represent the first reported cases of the virus in San Francisco. Several coronavirus patients have been transported to and treated at San Francisco hospitals, but those patients were not city residents.

Both patients, whose names are not being released to protect their privacy, were tested for the virus Wednesday after presenting pneumonia-like symptoms linked to the virus in accordance with testing guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Both patients are receiving treatment inside of isolated rooms at two separate San Francisco hospitals. Officials at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital notified staff members that the hospital had at least one patient who had tested positive for the virus. The notice said that any staff members who comes into contact with or provides care to the patient would be contacted about monitoring.

We have been planning for this for weeks, and so we are prepared as a city, said Mayor London Breed. Breed declared a state of emergency for San Francisco on Feb. 25 in an effort to ramp up the citys efforts to prepare for and confront local cases. The city activated its emergency operations center to focus its response to the virus in late January.

The man, who is in serious condition, suffered from underlying health issues. The woman is in fair condition, said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the citys health department.

Neither patient had a history of travel to places with confirmed coronavirus cases, nor did they knowingly come into contact with anyone diagnosed with the disease. City officials said the cases are likely indicative of a community spread of coronavirus.

All appropriate precautions for the patient, visitors and hospital staff are being taken, Colfax said.

San Francisco began testing for coronavirus locally  rather than sending test kits to the CDC in Atlanta for analysis  on Monday, allowing health officials to get results within one to two days, rather than a week.

San Francisco officials, alongside health and emergency management personnel at the state and federal levels, are also closely monitoring the condition of travelers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is currently at sea, but could anchor at San Francisco.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus aboard the ship, but Mary Ellen Carroll, director of the citys Department of Emergency Management, said the CDC was administering tests Thursday, with results expected early Friday.

There are nearly 2,400 passengers aboard the ship and over 1,000 crew members. Of those, 35 people have shown flu-like symptoms at some point during the ships 15-day trip, but but some had recovered, Carroll said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The ship was 100 nautical miles off shore, northwest of Santa Cruz as of Thursday afternoon, according to Vessel Finder, which tracks ship locations.

If coronavirus cases are confirmed aboard the ship, the CDC and Coast Guard would determine where to send the vessel.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for California over the virus on Wednesday in the wake of the death of a 71-year-old Placer County man, who had taken an earlier cruise on the Grand Princess from San Francisco to Mexico, where he likely contracted the virus.

The man  and another former passenger from Sonoma County  did not get diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, until Monday, 10 days after they left the ship.

Carroll said the city was working to contact any San Francisco residents who might have been on the same trip as the man who died.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
Gbajabiamila said: We are happy that we have a good team to work with. You are the unsung heroes, people dont get to hear about what you do, unlike some other well-known Commissions but I believe that as we go along, people will realize how important you are.
CBS News

An Idaho woman who is allegedly part of a "doomsday cult" will face charges for the disappearance of her children after being extradited back to her home state in Idaho.

Lori Vallow faces several charges surrounding the disappearance of her two children, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow.

Charges include two counts of felony abandonment in the disappearance of the children, who went missing in September 2019.

This is the first step in the courthouse in Idaho which would trigger a cascading series of events in the legal process, said CBS News Legal Analyst Rikki Klieman.

Ms Vallow is being held on $5m (3.8m) bail according to Kauai police, after being arrested on a warrant issued in Idaho, according to CBS.

Divorce documents filed by Ms Vallow's late estranged husband before his death allegedly said that Ms Vallow was part of a cult that promotes preparedness for a biblical apocalypse.

Ms Vallow reportedly believes she is a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020.

Former Idaho attorney general David Leroy spoke to CBS about how highly unusual the case is.

This is a very atypical defendant and a very unusual case, he said.

The implication of a parent who will not cooperate in disclosing their location ... is that something very untoward has happened to these children.

An investigation into the missing children started after a welfare check by police in November.

JJ's grandmother, Kay Woodcock, told CBS News that she believes Ms Vallow will be held accountable.

In February, Ms Vallows husband Chad Daybell, who was found in Hawaii with the mother, refused to answer questions from a reporter on the whereabouts of his step-children.

The 47-year-old and Mr Daybell left Idaho for Hawaii where she was arrested last month. However, police have said that the childrens whereabouts will not be determined in light of the absconsion.

The children were last seen in Idaho and there is no indication that they are on Kauai, police said in a statement, according to CBS.

Story continues

There has been no sign of life of the children since September. A photo on Ms Vallows iCloud account showed Tylee Ryan visiting Yellowstone National Park. Investigators are focusing on the nature reserve where they say the children visited on 8 September last year.

The FBI asked other people who had visited Yellowstone to submit photos or videos that might help. Ms Vallow, the children and their uncle Alex Cox were travelling in a silver ford F-150 pick-up truck, the agency said.

Ms Vallow's former husband died under suspicious circumstances and it is thought the deaths could be linked to a wider narrative.

CBS reported that Mr Vallow was shot by his brother in law, Alex Cox, who then died of unknown causes in December.

The government may want to use this case in order to get them to fess up some information about all of those other suspicious deaths, Ms Klieman said.

Read more

Julian Assange blocked from seeing evidence over extradition to US
Major changes to federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations have been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review after two years of revisions and thousands of public comments.

Jim Mullen, Acting Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), announced the progress today at the annual meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association in Orlando, Florida.

"We think it is a very big deal," Mullen said in an interview with FreightWaves at the conference. "It's essentially the last stage in the final rulemaking process." The data sent to OMB, Mullen said, "strongly suggests modifications in the final rule, and the core basis of this effort is to provide greater flexibility to drivers but at the same time ensuring, if not improving, their safety."

One thing Mullen would not say, however, is which of the proposals first suggested by FMCSA in its original notice of proposed rulemaking is making it into the final proposals sent to OMB.

FMCSA issued an initial Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in 2018 that generated over 5,200 comments on potential revisions to the HOS rules to "alleviate unnecessary burdens" placed on truck drivers following the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.

The next step in the process  a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), issued in August 2019  generated another 8,000 public comments and presumably is the basis for the final rule sent to OMB.

The NPRM laid out five key proposed changes:

Increasing flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by tying the break requirement to eight hours of driving time without an interruption for at least 30 minutes and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on-duty, not driving status, rather than off-duty.

Modifying the sleeper-berth exception to allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods: one period of at least seven consecutive hours in the sleeper berth; and the other period of not less than two consecutive hours, either off duty or in the sleeper berth. According to the proposal, neither period would count against the driver's 14hour driving window.

Allowing one off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than three hours, that would pause a truck driver's 14-hour driving window, provided the driver takes 10 consecutive hours off-duty at the end of the work shift.

Modifying the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.

Changing the short-haul exception by lengthening the drivers' maximum onduty period from 12 hours to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

Image Sourced from Pixabay

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A pandemic is an epidemic of disease that has spread across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or worldwide. Pandemics are states of disease that sharply increase in populations around the world with infections taking place more or less simultaneously.

Diseases and illnesses like the Spanish Flu, Asian Flu, Cholera, Ebola, the Bubonic Plague, Black Death and others have all wreaked havoc on societies while killing millions of people, and with the new development, Covid-19 seems to be following in the same line.

When pandemics are mentioned, some people seem to have the notion that it will just be the shutting of borders, building walls, cancelling all air travel and quarantining entire nations indefinitely but that is entirely incorrect.

Containment attempts can slow down an outbreak and buy time to prepare, but if a pandemic hits, by definition, containment has failed and further attempts will be pointless, if not counterproductive.

Below are some pandemics that have shaken/caused serious panic in the world.

1 1968 Flu Pandemic (H3N2 virus)

Referred to as the Hong Kong Flu, the 1968 pandemic was caused by an influenza, A H3N2 virus comprised of two genes from an avian influenza A virus, including a new H3 hemagglutinin, but also contained the N2 neuraminidase from the 1957 H2N2 virus. It was first noted in the United States in September 1968. The estimated number of deaths was 1 million worldwide and about 100,000 in the United States. Most excess deaths were in people 65 years and older. The H3N2 virus continues to circulate worldwide as a seasonal influenza A virus. Seasonal H3N2 viruses, which are associated with severe illness in older people, undergo regular antigenic drift.

2. Asian Flu



The Asian Flu was a category 2 flu pandemic outbreak of avian influenza that originated in China in early 1956 lasting until 1958. It originated from a mutation in wild ducks combining with a pre-existing human strain. A vaccine for H2N2 was introduced in 1957, and the pandemic slowed down. In its two-year spree, Asian Flu travelled from the Chinese province of Guizhou to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. Estimates for the death toll of the Asian Flu vary depending on the source, but the World Health Organization places the final tally at approximately 2 million deaths, 69,800 of those in the US alone.

3. Sixth Cholera Pandemic (1910-1911)

Cholera broke out 27 times during the hajj at Mecca from the 19th century to 1930. The sixth pandemic killed more than 800,000 in India. The Sixth Cholera Pandemic was also the source of the last American outbreak of Cholera (19101911) when the steamship Moltke brought infected people from Naples to New York City. American health authorities, having learned from the past, quickly sought to isolate the infected, and in the end, only 11 deaths occurred in the U.S. By 1923 Cholera cases had been cut down dramatically, although it was still a constant in India.

4. The Back Death

The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence, the Great Plague or the Plague, or less commonly the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. From 1346 to 1353 an outbreak of the Plague ravaged Europe, Africa, and Asia. Thought to have originated in Asia, the Plague most likely jumped continents via the fleas living on the rats that so frequently lived aboard merchant ships. Ports being major urban centres at the time, were the perfect breeding ground for the rats and fleas, and thus the insidious bacterium flourished, devastating three continents in its wake.

5. Plague Of Justinian

The Plague of Justinian (541542 AD) was a pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and especially its capital, Constantinople, as well as the Sasanian Empire and port cities around the entire Mediterranean Sea, as merchant ships harboured rats that carried fleas infected with the plague. Thought to have killed perhaps half the population of Europe, the Plague of Justinian was an outbreak of the bubonic plague that afflicted the Byzantine Empire and Mediterranean port cities, killing up to 25 million people in its year-long reign of terror. The Plague of Justinian left its mark on the world, killing up to a quarter of the population of the Eastern Mediterranean and devastating the city of Constantinople, where at its height it was killing an estimated 5,000 people per day and eventually resulting in the deaths of 40% of the citys population.

6. Ebola

Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) or simply Ebola, is a viral haemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses. Four of the five known Ebola viral strains cause Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), which has killed thousands of people in sub-Saharan African nations since its discovery in 1976. The deadly virus is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it was first reported and is classified as a CDC Biosafety Level 4, a.k.a. BSL-4, making it one of the most dangerous pathogens on the planet. It is thought to spread through close contact with bodily secretions. EHF has a 50 to 90 per cent mortality rate, with a rapid onset of symptoms that start with a headache and sore throat and progress to major internal and external bleeding and multiple organ failure. Theres no known cure, and the most recent cases were reported at the end of 2012 in Uganda.

7. Marburg

Marburg hemorrhagic fever (Marburg HF) is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both humans and non-human primates. Human infection with Marburg virus disease (MVD) initially results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies. It was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Marburg HF is caused by the Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (or, animal-borne) RNA virus of the filovirus family. The five species of Ebola virus are the only other known members of the filovirus family. The Marburg virus is also BSL-4, and Marburg hemorrhagic fever has a 23 to 90 per cent fatality rate. It is spread through close human-to-human contact and symptoms usually start with a headache, fever, and a rash on the trunk, and progress to multiple organ failure and massive internal bleeding. The first people infected had been exposed to imported African green monkeys or their tissues while conducting research. There is no cure, and the latest cases were reported out of Uganda at the end of 2012.

8. SARS

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory illness, a highly contagious, serious and potentially life-threatening form of pneumonia caused by a coronavirus called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). It was first reported in Asia in February 2003. The illness spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia before the SARS global outbreak of 2003 was contained. Since 2004, there have not been any known cases of SARS reported anywhere in the world. SARS killed 774 people between November 2002 and July 2003.

9. Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria that generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. TB has always been a permanent challenge over the course of human history, because of its severe social implications. It has been hypothesized that the genus Mycobacterium originated more than 150 million years ago. In the Middle Ages, scrofula, a disease affecting cervical lymph nodes, was described as a new clinical form of TB. The illness was known in England and France as kings evil, and it was widely believed that persons affected could heal after a royal touch. In 1720, for the first time, the infectious origin of TB was conjectured by the English physician Benjamin Marten, while the first successful remedy against TB was the introduction of the sanatorium cure. The famous scientist Robert Koch was able to isolate the tubercle bacillus and presented this extraordinary result to the society of Physiology in Berlin on 24 March 1882. In the decades following this discovery, the Pirquet and Mantoux tuberculin skin tests, Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin BCG vaccine, Selman Waksman streptomycin and other anti-tuberculous drugs were developed.

10. Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in almost 70 locations internationally, including in the United States. The virus has been named SARS-CoV-2. On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concernexternal icon (PHEIC). On January 31, 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nations healthcare community in responding to COVID-19. Since its outbreak, over 96,642 cases have been recorded with over 3,308 deaths and the toll keeps increasing.

***

Source: PM News
Two weeks ago, in the bowels of a Las Vegas casino, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont confronted the president of MSNBC, Phil Griffin, with a stern demand: Be fair to me.

Sanders, fresh off his victory in the New Hampshire primary, was fed up with what he considered unfair treatment by the cable network that is required viewing for many Democratic voters. He chided Griffin before abruptly ending their discussion, according to two people briefed on the exchange.

What a difference a Super Tuesday makes.

By Wednesday night, hours after Sanders suffered a string of defeats to his chief rival, Joe Biden, MSNBC viewers were greeted with the sight of Sanders sitting for a live interview with the networks most influential host, Rachel Maddow, whose program the senator had avoided since July.

Good to see you, Rachel, Sanders said, grinning.

It was a striking turnaround by the senator, whose allies often hold up MSNBC as Exhibit A of the corporate media that Sanders likes to condemn. His campaign agreed to the Maddow interview after digesting Tuesdays results, prompting the anchor to rush to Burlington, Vermont, in time for the 9 p.m. Eastern time broadcast.

Now Sanders campaign is in final discussions with MSNBC to appear on the network for a prime-time town hall before the next round of primary voters go to the polls on Tuesday, according to a person briefed on the discussions.

It would be Sanders first MSNBC town hall in nearly four years. The network had a long-standing invitation, but the senator  whose campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, once dismissed the networks coverage as terrible  had declined the offer until now.

Sanders sudden embrace of MSNBC seemed to signal a newfound need to engage with a broader swath of a Democratic electorate that is rapidly coalescing around his opponent.

And it was an unlikely turn for the cable network just days after one of its longtime stars, the anchor Chris Matthews, was forced to resign.

Once a beloved safe space for Trump-weary Democrats seeking solace in the monologues of Maddow and Lawrence ODonnell, MSNBC has faced ire from the activist left throughout the 2020 campaign. These critics have faulted the networks stars for advancing an establishment view, citing former Republicans like Joe Scarborough and Nicolle Wallace, a former spokeswoman for George W. Bush and Sarah Palin.

MSNBC says the network covers the Democratic field fairly, not fawningly, and rejects any claims of anti-Sanders bias.

But Sanders supporters and other Democrats critical of the partys moderate wing complain that MSNBC is out of step with the current state of Democratic politics. Some MSNBC anchors who have warned against socialist policies  Matthews, for instance, suggested a socialist leader would order executions in Central Park  have been dismissed as elites standing in the way of progress.

When Matthews, in a clumsy on-air exchange, compared Sanders victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi invasion of France, it caused a firestorm. Aides to Sanders, who had family members killed in the Holocaust, savaged Matthews, and the anchor later apologized.

The party is split between progressives and moderates, and thats the tension were seeing at a channel that appeals to Democrats, said Andrew Heyward, a former president of CBS News who teaches at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

MSNBC has been comfort food for people who are very upset with the Trump era, Heyward continued. It gets much more complicated when you have to think about the alternative.

Plenty is on the line: In the Trump years, MSNBCs net advertising revenue has nearly tripled, to $614 million last year from $212 million in 2014, according to Kagan, a media research firm. MSNBC also raked in $546 million in profit versus the $181 million it made in 2014, Kagan said.

Fox News faced a similar problem in 2015, when another populist candidate, Donald Trump, shocked establishment Republicans and openly mocked the networks stars.

Trump feuded with anchor Megyn Kelly and even boycotted one of the networks debates. Fox News commentary gradually moved Trumpward, jettisoning traditional Republican regulars like George Will and hiring pro-Trump opinion hosts like Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin.

As Sanders notched victories in the early-voting states, it seemed like MSNBC could be heading toward a similar intraparty dust-up.

In Las Vegas last month, Sanders complaints to Griffin, the MSNBC president, were so animated that afterward, the senators wife, Jane Sanders, offered conciliatory words to the network executive, according to the two people briefed on the exchange.

And Sanders supporters might have found some grist for their complaints on Tuesday, when MSNBC featured Biden allies like Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. That guy literally saved the Democratic Party, James Carville told viewers, speaking of Clyburns endorsement of Biden ahead of the South Carolina primary.

But Sanders tough night on Tuesday  and Bidens comeback  could begin a new phase in the relationship between the candidate and the network.

In her interview in Burlington on Wednesday, which took up the whole show, Maddow challenged Sanders about his poor showing with African American voters Tuesday and asked how he planned to improve turnout among his supporters. She also expressed her gratitude to the senator for appearing on the show.

Thanks for coming to Vermont, Sanders replied gamely.

Of course! Maddow said. Any excuse.

Then it was time for the anchor to exert her networks influence on a different candidate.

We are also trying and doing our damnedest to get an interview with Vice President Joe Biden, who is the other front-runner in this campaign, who I have not yet talked to over the course of this campaign, Maddow told her viewers. And would really love to.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
At 4:50 a.m. one day in the middle of January, Valarie Smith was getting ready to clean yet another wide-body jet that had arrived at Los Angeles International Airport.

A year into her night-shift job, Smith knew the choreographed routine by heart. Picking up trash, wiping down seats, carrying out used blankets and pillows. This time, nerves got the better of her. Smith had heard of the emerging virus that was sickening people in China, so she asked her supervisor if the plane had come from Asia.

I wanted to know if this jet had come in contact with coronavirus, and he just said he would never put anyone in jeopardy, says Smith, 51. I felt nervous. My boss and I had words.

Daily developments on coronavirus: Get all the news and updates delivered to your inbox

Smith and her team cleaned the jet, armed with protective clothing, as well as gloves and masks. The unease stalks her daily.

This is your health," she says. "Everybodys nervous.

As the COVID-19 virus spreads in the USA and around the world, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage people to work from home as a way to help cut back contagion.

Daily coronavirus updates: Get them in your email. Sign up here

Not only do most U.S. workers not have that luxury  29% have the option to work remotely, according to Labor Department data  many have frontline exposure to the virus because their jobs put them in front of people.

Airport workers, bus drivers, homeless shelter volunteers, teachers, medical professionals  the list of jobs that a work-from-home order would not apply to is vast. Interviews with representatives from some of those groups reveal a simmering level of concern for worker safety as COVID-19 cases and deaths increase.

That concern was heightened Wednesday after Department of Homeland Security officials announced that a medical screener working at the Los Angeles airport last month tested positive for the virus after attending to passengers, some of whom had arrived from China. The screener caught COVID-19 despite wearing protective gear, DHS officials said.

Story continues

If we see a full-on pandemic, there have to be national solutions put in place to protect workers and the general public to make sure peoples livelihoods arent destroyed, says Steve Smith, spokesman for the California Labor Federation. Officials are starting to say avoid crowds or being in close contact with people, but we have a lot of workers in that exact boat.

Workers such as Maureen Dugan, a 31-year nursing veteran who works for the hospital associated with the University of California-San Francisco. Dugan says she is alarmed at the lack of communication and training for nurses as California grapples with COVID-19, which has stricken 58 people and sent 8,700 into self-quarantine.

Our administrators say theyre planning, but nurses are left out of that planning, says Dugan, who is on the board of the California Nurses Association. If nurses arent safe, how are patients going to be safe? We just want to be properly trained, communicated to, supported and have protective equipment.

A nurse wears a protective facemask as she speaks with patients on March 4 at the Housing Establishment for Dependant Elderly People in Brest, France, amid the continuing spread of COVID-19.

That in part means N95 masks, which can help shield those near virus carriers but are in short supply globally partly because of a slowdown at Chinese factories. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the state received CDC approval to access in critical cases a stockpiled reserve of 21 million N95 masks.

University of California-San Francisco spokesperson Kristen Bole responded to questions about Dugans concerns with a statement that said, in part, that the hospital does not as a matter of course notify staff when we receive patients with infectious diseases if they are not involved in the patients care.

However, all staff caring for COVID-19 patients are properly trained and are fully informed of their patients illness and condition, the statement read.

How much does a coronavirus test cost? Fact check of COVID-19 medical bills finds that online rumor of a $3,000 charge is false

Coronavirus could be drivers' next fare

What if someone carrying the virus  perhaps without knowing it, since reports suggest that some COVID-19 carriers show no symptoms  steps into your workplace on a daily basis?

Thats the predicament for bus drivers such as Roger Marenco, whose election to lead San Franciscos Transport Workers Union 250A temporarily put him behind a desk.

This is the big talk of the town, if not the nation, but for us bus drivers especially so since we have one of the most dirty jobs, says Marenco, who has driven buses and trolleys. Were exposed to anything and everything entering the bus, from people with mental issues to people who are truly ill.

Tyler Goodwin, a utility service worker for King County Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, deep cleans a bus as part of its usual cleaning routine at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base on March 3. Buses are deep cleaned every 30 days but the transit authority said it planned to ramp up efforts to super clean buses to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Bus drivers are among those with jobs that require contact with the public for hours each day.

Marenco says drivers have come into the job healthy, and in a few years, they have illnesses theyve never had before. He says he is at a loss as to how his colleagues can protect themselves from COVID-19, noting that one photo making the rounds on driver Facebook pages shows one driver wearing what looks like a gas mask in preparation for his route.

Some officials now are saying a mask wont even help, Marenco says, echoing the surgeon generals plea for citizens to stop buying masks as they dont prevent infection and are needed by health care professionals.

So they tell us to wash our hands a lot, but I worry there, too, he says. A lot of our guys have routes that get delayed and run late, so if they have a minute they just dig into their backpack and grab their lunch without washing. Its scary.

Coronavirus questions answered by a doctor: Should I panic? What are best prevention steps?

In some cities, officials deploy teams of hazmat-suited cleaners to wipe down public transportation to try to stem the spread of COVID-19, as well as reassure passengers. New Yorks Metropolitan Transportation Authority cleans buses, subway cars and stations, reminding riders to wash their hands often and cover their coughs and sneezes.

We want New Yorkers to know that were doing everything possible to keep our customers safe, MTA CEO Patrick Doyle said Tuesday.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers Duane Clark, left, and S. Williams sanitize surfaces at the Avenue X subway station March 3 in Brooklyn, N.Y. The MTA stepped up efforts to sanitize cars and stations as fears mount over the coronavirus.

Biohazard experts familiar with viruses

Little surprise the phone has been ringing off the hook lately at the Brighton, Colorado, offices of Rocky Mountain BioHazard, which specializes in medical decontamination and crime scene cleanup.

Requests for tips and service quotes come in from airlines, customer-support call centers, libraries and homeless shelters, says company co-founder Donnie Lamirande.

Its the fear and uncertainty, but we try and keep things on an even keel, she says. When we freak out, you should freak out.

The COVID-19 outbreak in the USA has not tripped Lamirandes freak-out meter. Though the companys services can often involve everything from a wipe-down of all surfaces to a chemical fog spray, she says in this case, frequent hand-washing and basic hygiene will go far in limiting the virus spread.

In Boston, the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter isnt taking any chances. It brought in an outside contractor to regularly deep clean the facilities, in addition to installing hand-washing stations with soap, water and sanitizer.

Workers remind clients to visit an onsite health clinic if they show any symptoms, says Lyndia Downie, president of the 670-bed shelter.

As with any health threat, we are concerned about our staff, guests and tenants and will be closely following this outbreak and putting as many precautions in place as possible, she says.

The Denver Rescue Mission, which has nine locations across Colorado, hands out gloves and masks to anyone coming in coughing or sneezing. Denver Rescue Mission CEO Brad Meuli says staffers who don't feel well are encouraged to stay home.

For workers at the shelter  like many people whose jobs involve serving the public  their armor against COVID-19 amounts to a combination of good protective habits and a fatalism born of dedication.

Its not like our folks arent used to facing the possibility of getting sick every day, Meuli says. These folks are really committed people. You have to be.

Airplane cleaner Smith considers herself a committed employee. She was upset when her supervisor at JetStream Ground Services questioned her dedication after she expressed concern about boarding a plane whose originating city was a mystery.

"I try not to worry about it or get upset about it, but I feel like management looks at those of us who show concern differently," Smith says. Emails, as well as a message left with Jupiter, Florida-based JetStream Ground Services, were not returned.

After the rapid spread of COVID-19 since Smith nervously boarded that plane a couple of months ago, many airlines have cut back or canceled flights from China and other heavily affected countries. That doesn't totally allay her concerns.

"I have to go home to my husband and kids, who are worried about me but also about themselves naturally," she says. I like my job, it pays the bills. But I dont want my life at risk."

Follow USA TODAY national correspondents @marcodellacava and @TrevorHughes

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus US: Airport workers, nurses worried about COVID-19 spread
LATEST NEWS: Fort Lee man, 32, is first to test positive for virus in state.

New Jersey likely has its first confirmed case of the coronavirus, the governors office announced Wednesday night.

The patient, a man in his 30s, has been hospitalized since Tuesday in Bergen County following a presumptive positive result of the coronavirus, which causes the illness COVID-19, Gov. Phil Murphy and acting Gov. Sheila Oliver said.

The announcement did not name the hospital or say if the man had traveled recently.

The presumptive positive result came from a test done by the state Department of Health, according to the governors office. It now goes to the federal Centers for Disease Control for confirmatory testing.

My administration is working aggressively to keep residents safe and contain the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey, Murphy said in a statement.

We take this situation very seriously and have been preparing for this for weeks, the governor added. I urge residents to remain calm and use resources from the New Jersey Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control to prepare and prevent the spread of infection.

Oliver is serving as acting governor as Murphy recovers from surgery to remove a likely cancerous tumor. Murphy is expected to spend the next few days in the New York City hospital where he was treated.

Our administration has been coordinating across all levels of government, and with our federal partners, to ensure that we are active and engaged with preparedness and response plan, Oliver said in a statement.

Health officials are working to trace close contacts of this individual and is taking appropriate public health actions, the governors office said.

Tonight, Acting Governor @LtGovOliver and I are announcing the first presumptive positive case of novel coronavirus, or #COVID19, in New Jersey. The individual, a male in his 30s, is hospitalized in Bergen County and has been hospitalized since March 3rd. pic.twitter.com/E2QtB1Wzut  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 5, 2020

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said any positive case of novel coronavirus is concerning, but added most New Jersey residents are at very low risk of contracting the virus.

At least nine people tested negative for the coronavirus in New Jersey in recent weeks. But Murphy and other officials warned Monday that the virus was likely to spread to the state.

There are more than 93,000 cases worldwide and more than 3,100 deaths from COVID-19, mostly in China. The virus has infected more than 120 people in the U.S. and killed 11.

Earlier on Wednesday, New Jerseys Department of Health announced the state will receive another 500 kits from the federal government this week to test for COVID-19. The CDC also said New Jersey is set to receive $1.75 million to go towards the states response to the virus.

The development also comes the same day Congress approved an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat the virus.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan emergency legislation to immediately address the coronavirus outbreak and help keep North Jersey families safe, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., said in a statement. This bill provides emergency funding for a robust response to the crisis, including support for state and local health agencies, and vaccine and treatment development.

The bill still needs to be voted on by the U.S. Senate before it heads to the president.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.
Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli's health condition is normal a day after he underwent his second kidney transplant surgery, hospital officials said on Thursday.

The 68-year-old prime minister has started taking liquid and soft food items, they said, adding the transplanted organ has already started functioning.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokharel, who visited Oli at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, told journalists, "The doctors attending him (Oli) told me that they even served a cup of tea to the PM in the morning."



The prime minister's niece Samikshya Sangraula donated one of her kidneys for the procedure.

This was Oli's second kidney transplant. The first was performed in India in 2007, after both his kidneys failed.

He has been visiting hospitals abroad for health check-up ever since.

Oli also underwent an appendicitis surgery in November last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The governors of the South-South states on Thursday announced their resolution to establish a regional security outfit to stem increasing criminal activities in the region.

The move follows a similar decision by the South-west states, which has set up Amotekun to tackle insecurity in the area. The South-east states have also announced plans to set up a similar body.

The Niger Delta governors, who met Thursday in Asaba, Delta State, also resolved to insist on full implementation of the 13 per cent oil derivation and to adopt a regional approach in tackling coronavirus, otherwise known as Covid-19.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, the chairman of South-South Governors Forum, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, said that BRACED Commission, the economic think-tank of the region, had been mandated to work out the details of the proposed security outfit.

According to him, the commission will brief the governors on the details of the outfit at their next meeting to be held in Port Harcourt in May.

We also took other decisions concerning Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the need to insist that 13 per cent Derivation must first be taken out of the funds that come from oil before the rest of the funds is shared at FAAC.

The 13 per cent is supposed to be for the oil-producing states and that has not been the situation for a very long time and we agreed as governors, to take up this matter at the appropriate levels, Mr Okowa said, according to his media office.

We also took a decision on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the need to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute the Advisory Board of the Commission because it has a major role to play, though in an advisory capacity.

This is because we believe that there is a need to reposition NDDC to take on regional projects rather than small projects, and this we are going to pursue as quickly as possible, he said.

He stated that though no case of coronavirus had been reported in the region, it was necessary for the governors to collectively be prepared on how to tackle it when it occurred, adding that action was also being taken over Lassa Fever epidemic.

Consequently, Mr Okowa said that the Commissioners for Health in the six states of the region, who are experienced in medical protocols, will need to meet.

I am aware that individual states have taken steps to tackle this outbreak but the six commissioners from the South-South States are going to meet almost immediately to take a further look into how to contain these diseases, especially Lassa Fever.

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They are also to look into how to tackle the issues collectively of the Coronavirus in case it extends to our region. At the moment, we do not have any case of it in the South-South, but it is important that we prepare ourselves in case of any spread in our region.

So, the commissioners will meet and share ideas on how best to tackle these diseases.

The forums chairman also disclosed that the governors had decided to revive BRACED Commission, established 10 years ago but which had been dormant for some years.

According to him, we have decided to provide the necessary logistics for the commission to function properly, because the commission as established, is to help us (South-South) to look into issues of regional economy.

We need to develop our region collectively instead of working as individual states.

A lot has been done in the past in terms of documentation and we have agreed to resuscitate it with the headquarters in Port-Harcourt, Rivers, Okowa added.

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers and his counterparts of Edo, Godwin Obaseki; Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom and Duoye Diri of Bayelsa attended the meeting.
United Airlines passengers reacted with fury when it was revealed Biscoff cookies were being taken off its complimentary snack menu and replaced with Oreo Thins.

Travellers took to Twitter to lament the switch, with one saying they never wanted to fly with the carrier again as a result.

But the Chicago-based airline has performed a U-turn, promising the spiced caramel flavour snacks will be returning to flights.

United Airlines has performed a U-turn by promising that Biscoff cookies will be returning to its complimentary snack menu

The carrier says the cookies will be returning to flights from May 1

It took to Twitter to announce that Biscoff cookies will be back on the menu from May 1.

It wrote: 'Internet, we won't go baking your heart. We have an ongoing rotation of snacks... so here's how the cookie crumbles for this round.

'Oreo Thins = on board March 1. Biscoff = comes back May 1. Stroopwafel = here always.'

And after the announcement, United customers spoke of their joy on social media.

Vanessa Coria wrote on Twitter: 'Sometimes when the internet speaks, companies listen. I truly only eat Biscoff cookies when I fly. They're a tasty treat I look forward to while on travel! Smart backtrack @united...'

Ladyksr added: 'Hi @united... thank you for bringing back Biscoff cookies and considering our concerns.'

United Airlines made the announcement that Biscoff cookies would be returning to menus on Twitter

While Jacob Schaffhauser said: 'Thank God. Thought I had to give away all my miles and start flying another airline #biscoff.'

However, it is not the first time that United Airlines has reinstated items to its menu after a social media outcry.

In 2018, it said it would be removing stroopwafels, a sweet Dutch snack, off its menu from its early morning US domestic services.

Customers reacted with fury to the news with one tweeting 'shame on you' at the carrier and another saying 'you can lose my suitcases but don't take my stroopwafel'.

After the announcement on Twitter, United customers spoke of their joy on social media

But in January 2019 they had cause to celebrate after United announced it would be making a comeback in the snack rotation.

The removal of tomato juice caused a similar furore.

Flyers lamented the loss of the fruity beverage, but just a day after the controversy, the drink was reinstated.

This pattern may lead some to wonder whether it's all just a publicity stunt...
Prince Charles appeared in high spirits as he was greeted by well-wishers waving the Welsh flag as he arrived at the University of Oxford today.

Charles, 71, was handed a bunch of daffodils as he arrived at Jesus College, in a belated St David's Day celebration.

The prince met students, staff and College Fellows at Jesus College before going on to meet the sixth Chair of Celtic, Dr David Willis.

As he made his way through the excited crowds, the royal, who donned a grey suit underneath a smart beige coat, was also offered daffodils in honour of St David's Day which was celebrated by the college last week.

Prince Charles, 71, was offered daffodils as he greeted students, staff and College Fellows at Jesus College in Oxford today

The royal carried a black umbrella over his head as he spoke outside the college. The treats were handed over as a belated St David's Day celebration

Despite the rain, the prince, who carried a black umbrella over his head, did not let the wet weather dampen his day as he spoke with the school children outside the historic establishment and shook their hands.

His Royal Highness later met with the new Chair of Celtic Dr Willis, who was previously a Reader in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, and college alumni inside the dining hall at the college.

The Jesus Chair of Celtic, which was established in 1877 at the world renowned university, is the only professorship in Celtic studies at an English university.

The academic's appointment comes after a 3.25 million fundraising campaign to reinstate the position following an eight-year hiatus, with the previous Chair of Celtic Professor Thomas Charles-Edwards serving from 1997-2011.

The prince appeared in high spirits as he spoke with well-wishers outside the college on Thursday

Prince Charles made his way through the crowds before going on to meet the sixth Chair of Celtic Dr David Willis

The prince, who is expected to visit Kellogg College where he will receive his honorary Bynum Tudor Fellowship, greeted the crowds outside Jesus College

The royal spent time in conversation with Professor Jonathan Michie (pictured left) during his visit to Kellogg College in Oxford

While inside the hall, the prince was greeted by a choir and was also able to view the 14th century medieval manuscript The Red Book of Hergest- a collection of Welsh poetry and prose.

The prince is also expected to visit Kellogg College while in Oxford where he will receive his honorary Bynum Tudor Fellowship after being elected for the award in November 2019.

After accepting his award last year the prince said: 'It gives me great pride and pleasure to accept the Bynum Tudor Fellowship this year, and I would like to express my particular gratitude to Kellogg College in presenting me with this significant honour.'

Professor Jonathan Michie presented the Prince of Wales with a certificate after being awarded the Bynum Tudor Fellowship. Pictured: Prince Charles with Jonathan at Kellogg College in Oxford

Prince Charles (pictured) gave a speech, revealing that he was filled with great pride and pleasure to accept the Bynum Tudor Fellowship

The 71-year-old appeared in good spirits as he shared a joke with students during his visit to Kellogg College in Oxford. Pictured: Prince Charles talking to those gathered at the institution
NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WHP Global ("WHP" or the "Company"), a leading New York-based brand acquisition and management firm, today announced an additional $150 million equity commitment from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. ("Oaktree"), following Oaktree's initial $200 million commitment. WHP today also announced the closing of its acquisition of men's fashion brand Joseph Abboud.

WHP launched in 2019 and has more than $1.4 billion in retail sales across its portfolio of brands, including Anne Klein and newly-acquired Joseph Abboud, which will become an anchor brand in WHP's fashion portfolio. WHP will focus on driving the Joseph Abboud brand's growth with key partners, including Tailored Brands in the U.S. and Canada, and Onward Kashiyama in Japan, while adding new global partnerships across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Yehuda Shmidman, WHP Chairman and CEO, commented, "WHP Global was established to acquire large-scale and well-known consumer brands with strong growth prospects in international and digital markets. Succeeding in that mission is made possible through the tireless work of our team, our relationships with a broad network of business partners, and our partnership with Oaktree. We're pleased to have completed two major transactions in less than a year, and we look forward to continuing the momentum for the balance of 2020."

"We increased our commitment to WHP because we believe the Company is strongly-positioned to take advantage of attractive acquisition opportunities in the market," said Thomas Casarella, Managing Director at Oaktree and a founding member of the WHP Board of Directors. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with Yehuda and the team as we build the platform."

In addition to Oaktree's commitment, WHP Global received a $10 million commitment from Platform Founder Group LLC, owned in part by Yehuda Shmidman and WHP's management team.

Financing for the Joseph Abboud acquisition was provided by BlackRock.

About WHP Global

WHP Global is focused on the future of brand management. The New York-based firm specializes in acquiring global consumer brands and strategically investing in high-growth distribution channels and global digital commerce platforms, in addition to introducing new product categories that are relevant to today's consumer. For more information, visit www.whp-global.com.

About Oaktree

Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $125 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2019. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in credit, private equity, real assets and listed equities. The firm has over 950 employees and offices in 18 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit Oaktree's website at www.oaktreecapital.com.

SOURCE WHP Global

Related Links

http://www.whp-global.com


The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have completed their first official royal tour of Ireland.

The couple spent three days in Dublin, surrounding counties and Galway, making a series of diplomatic and charitable visits.

They began their tour in Dublin, meeting the president and the prime minister and attending a reception at the Guinness Storehouse, where they sipped pints.

On day two, they stayed in Dublin, visiting charities including Jigsaw, and heading out to the shops with residents of Savannah House in County Meath.

William and Kate attended a reception on Wednesday night in the Museum of Literature, where the duke gave a keynote speech on the future of the UK and Ireland.

On their final day, the royals were able to indulge their competitive streak, having a go at hurling at the Gaelic Athletic Association Club in Galway.

Here are 15 of the best pictures from the historic tour.
Golden, CO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A change in chemical composition enabled scientists to boost the longevity and efficiency of a perovskite solar cell developed at the U.S. Department of Energys (DOEs) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The new formula enabled the solar cell to resist a stability problem that has so far thwarted the commercialization of perovskites. The problem is known as light-induced phase-segregation, which occurs when the alloys that make up the solar cells break down under exposure to continuous light.

Now that we have shown that we are immune to this short-term, reversible phase-segregation, the next step is to continue to develop stable contact layers and architectures to achieve long-term reliability goals, allowing modules to last in the field for 25 years or more, said Caleb Boyd, lead author of a newly published paper in Science titled "Triple-halide wide-bandgap perovskites with suppressed phase-segregation for efficient tandems. Boyd and co-author Jixian Xu are associated with University of Colorado-Boulder Professor Michael McGehees research group, which investigates perovskites at NREL.

Additional NREL scientists who contributed to the paper are Axel Palmstrom, Daniel Witter, Bryon Larson, Ryan France, Jeremie Werner, Steven Harvey, Eli Wolf, Maikel van Hest, Joseph Berry, and Joseph Luther.

Perovskite solar cells are typically made using a combination of iodine and bromine, or bromine and chlorine, but the researchers improved upon the formula by including all three types of halides. The research proved the feasibility of alloying the three materials.

Adding chlorine to iodine and bromine created a triple-halide perovskite phase and suppressed the light-induced phase-segregation even at an illumination of 100 suns. What degradation occurred was slight, at less than 4% after 1,000 hours of operation at 60 degrees Celsius. At 85 degrees and after operating for 500 hours, the solar cell lost only about 3% of its initial efficiency.

The next step is to further demonstrate accelerated stability testing to really prove what might happen in 10 or 20 years in the field, Boyd said.

The new formula created a solar cell with an efficiency of 20.3%.

Silicon remains the dominant material used in solar cells, but the technology is approaching its theoretical maximum efficiency of 29.1%, with a record 26.7% established to date. But putting perovskites atop a silicon solar cell to create a multijunction solar cell could boost efficiency and bring down the cost of solar electricity. NREL scientists were able to create a tandem perovskite/silicon solar cell with an efficiency of 27%. By itself, the silicon solar cell had an efficiency of about 21%.

DOEs Solar Energy Technologies Office funded the research.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When Syracuse police found officer Nikki Hendrixs stolen gun, it was in a kitchen trash can in a home on Syracuses South Side.

How detectives found the gun, which went missing in the 100 block of Burdick Avenue on the citys North Side in November, is laid out in court documents filed against Yasire A. Boatman, 20, of Syracuse.

Boatman has yet to be charged with stealing the gun, but has been accused of possessing the gun by police.

At 11:31 a.m. on Feb. 26, police responded to a call about a menacing, Syracuse Police Officer Nancy Armbruster wrote in a felony complaint filed in City of Syracuse court.

Boatman had threatened a woman at the address, Armbruster wrote.

I should cap her (expletives), Boatman is accused of saying to the woman as he showed her a gun in his waistband.

Detectives later came back to a house at 123 McKinley Ave. with a search warrant, court records said.

They found five bags with marijuana, each weighing about an ounce, Syracuse Police Officer David Craw wrote in court records. In all, officers found 138.8 grams of marijuana, they said. Officers also found digital scales, packaging materials and a grinder, Craw wrote.

In the kitchen trash can, police found a Ruger model P95, which is a 9mm-caliber gun, which had a proper magazine, a detective wrote.

Alongside the Ruger, detectives found Hendrixs Smith and Wesson Model M&P .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition, a detective wrote.

Hendrixs gun was stolen from her car during a string of overnight burglaries in the 100 block of Burdick Avenue on Nov. 2, police said at the time. The eight-year Syracuse police veteran told police she remembered locking her car, according to Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski.

Boatman was charged with attempted murder in December 2018 following a shooting at Tommys Bar at 901 Butternut St. in October 2018.

According to court records, Boatman was convicted of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on Jan. 22.

He was charged with the following after police found the officers gun:

Two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon

Two counts of criminal possession of a firearm

Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon

Fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property

Second-degree menacing

Fourth-degree criminal possession of marijuana

Unalwful possession of marijuana

Boatman is being held without bail, according to inmate lookup records.

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.

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The Bombay High Court on March 5 dismissed a petition filed by Chanda Kochhar against her termination as the managing director and chief executive officer of the ICICI Bank.

A division bench of Justices NM Jamdar and MS Karnik accepted the bank's contention that Kochhar's petition was not maintainable as the dispute was contractual and concerns a private body.

The bank's counsel Darius Khambata had earlier argued that a judicial review cannot be incurred under Article 226 of the Constitution, which empowers high courts to issue directions, orders or writs in such a matter.

The bank sought dismissal of Kochhar's petition.

Kochhar was terminated from the ICICI Bank months after she voluntarily left the second largest private sector lender.

The high profile former banker moved to the high court on November 30, 2019, challenging the termination of her employment by the ICICI Bank.

She contended that the bank also denied her remuneration and clawed back all the bonuses and stock options between April 2009 and March 2018 for her alleged role in granting out of turn loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon Group which benefitted her husband Deepak Kochhar.

Chanda Kochhar's counsel Vikram Nankani earlier argued that her termination came months after the bank approved her voluntary resignation on October 5, 2018, and therefore, the termination is "illegal, untenable, and unsustainable in law".

The ICICI Bank then filed an affidavit, contending that the reliefs in the petition are not maintainable and it deserves to be dismissed as ICICI is a private bank and is administered under the Companies Act, not the state or its agency.

Khambata argued that ICICI is a private banking company and Kochhar's petition seeks to contest what are purely private contractual terms.
Cleveland, Ohio  For the second year, the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) are partnering up to give one local filmmaker $25,000 in production support as part of the IF/Then shorts program pitch competition.

Six finalists have been selected to pitch their short documentaries, which all have cultural and political relevance to the region at the festival. Each team will have seven minutes to present their project to a jury of filmmakers, industry leaders and programmers.

Cleveland natives Chris Webb and Conrad Miles won last years pitch. They will return to CIFF this year for the world premiere of their film, The Session.

This group of filmmakers, along with the topical and stylistic range of the selected projects, is reflective of the diversity of the American Midwest, said Amy Hobby, Executive Director at Tribeca Film Institute in a statement.

The pitch is open to the public and will take place in the English Oak Room at Tower City Center at 11 a.m. on April 5.

Finalists (descriptions provided by TFI):

A PEACEFUL PLACE

Director & Producer: Paul Szynol Producer: Rise Sanders-Weir Location of Production: Michigan A Marine Corps veteran struggles with PTSD and the American judicial system.

COMRADES OF THE MIDWEST Director: Hao Zhu Producer: Tyler Hill Location of Production: Iowa The American Midwest is home to more than 30,000 Chinese international students, among them hundreds of LGBTQ+ individuals. Coming from a society that suppresses their true identities, they are challenged, but optimistic, as they adapt to a new environment that celebrates who they are.

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL Directors: Naeema Torres and Amber Love Location of Production: Illinois Oral histories are woven together to examine the legacy and unresolved future of the decaying Crenshaw House - also known as The Old Slave House - in Equality, Illinois, a place of haunting and mystery surrounding its role in the slave trade.

MEMORY CAMP Director: Suzanne Jurva Producer: Daniela Cortes Location of Production: Wisconsin Memory Camp is a cinema verite short film that follows the story of families attending Americas first overnight wilderness camp for people with memory loss and dementia. By inspiring awe through nature, creativity and spirituality, Memory Camp is the story of how people overcome the limits of their diagnosis to thrive with the help of a supportive, caring community.

RIGHT TO FLOURISH Director: Elizabeth Scheltens Producer: Anita Kwan Location of Production: Ohio When a group of Toledo, Ohio residents gets fed up with their polluted drinking water, they get a crash course in political organizing and learn just how difficult it can be to change the status quo in a state where industrial agriculture is king. This film brings together activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians to ask a fundamental question: In an age of global climate change and economic uncertainty, who has the right to flourish?

TO BE RECONCILED Director: James Christenson Producer: Brennan Vance Location of Production: Minnesota As Carlos fights a zero-tolerance immigration system and the relentless threat of deportation, he reflects upon faith, recovery, redemption and the possibility of being indefinitely separated from his family.
Mr. Trump has already demonstrated an affinity for legal pressuring. His recent tirade against Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg for being critical, demanding that they recuse themselves on all Trump related matters, betrays an impulse for turning the justice system into a support system.

The subsequent step in autocratic legalism is to use and abuse the law to target critics. This, too, is commonplace today among many countries with democratically elected presidents. In Russia, Vladimir Putin uses anti-corruption campaigns to arrest critics who accuse him of corruption. In Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has removed elected mayors after accusing them of terrorism. And in early February, the ruling party of Poland, another country in the process of democratic backsliding, passed a law allowing politicians to fine and fire judges whose rulings they consider harmful. Analysts think this law will be abused by the executive branch to turn the legal system into a weapon against critics.

Mr. Trump has engaged in smear campaigns against his critics since Day 1, often questioning their precise legal standing. Barack Obama is the liar under oath (in reference to his birth status), Hillary Clinton is the crook (referring to her emails) and Joe Biden is the corrupt one (his dealings in Ukraine).

It seems that Mr. Trump has already used more than tweets to target enemies. Even before his interference in the Stone case, the administration was already pressuring the Justice Department to go harsh on an investigation of the former deputy F.B.I. director Andrew G. McCabe. Mr. Trump disliked Mr. McCabe for investigating Russias role in the 2016 elections.

The United States is obviously nowhere near the dangerous point of using the law to target dissent systematically. To get to this level, more is needed than just a bigmouth president and an enabling ruling party. In Hungary, for instance, President Viktor Orban achieved autocratic legalism after overhauling the Constitution, changing voting rules in Parliament, gaining control of the entire bureaucracy, undermining the autonomy of regional and local governments and scoring impressive electoral victories at the polls. In Venezuela, the state benefited from controlling the media, which helped to minimize debate on these attacks.

This aggressive type of autocratic legalism is not here yet. But the first steps have been taken. There is a reason for its appeal. The duality of autocratic legalism  impunity for loyalists, legal pressure on the opposition  is a useful tool for illiberal presidents because they desperately need the public to turn the attention the other way. By saying that the other side is worse, they can achieve this. If they can prove it with the law, even better.

And once underway, autocratic legalism is hard to stop. By definition, the court system becomes disarmed. Public outcry can help slow down autocratic legalism, but only to a point. While a massive letter-writing campaign in 1937 helped convince some senators to defeat President Franklin Delano Roosevelts bill to pack the Supreme Court, it is unclear that Mr. Trumps supporters in Congress today would budge. The main recourse left is therefore elections. Public outcry against autocratic legalism can work, but only if translates into punishing votes against enablers.

Javier Corrales, a professor of political science at Amherst College, is the author, most recently, of Fixing Democracy: Why Constitutional Change Often Fails to Enhance Democracy in Latin America.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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Two members of a 'Thak-Thak' gang were arrested for allegedly snatching a bag of cash and jewellery worth lakhs from a car in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar after spilling oil on the vehicle's bonnet, police said on Thursday.

Abhinav (19) and Chandan (22), both residents of Madangir, were identified with the help of CCTV footage and arrested on Wednesday, they said.

The incident took place on Monday, police said.

"The two were nabbed on Wednesday evening from M B road where a trap was laid near a market," Atul Kumar Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said.

With the arrest, 10 other cases of theft have also been worked out, the police said.

A "Thak-Thak" gang usually distracts the driver of a vehicle on some pretext and steals valuables, the officer said.

Gold ornaments, cash, stolen mobile phones and the motorcycle used in commission of crime was also recovered, the police said.

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

A 37-year-old wheelchair-bound patient at San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center has sued the hospital and the city over alleged abuse and neglect, attorneys for the patient said Wednesday.

The lawsuit filed by Omar Abdullah in San Francisco Superior Court on Feb. 24 is at least the third filed against the city-owned nursing and rehabilitation hospital in the wake of mistreatment revealed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health last year.

Abdullah is one of 23 patients for whom the department announced in June that it had found evidence of verbal and physical abuse, privacy violations and sedation with drugs that had not been prescribed.

His lawsuit claims that he was kicked, sexually abused, photographed while partially undressed and chemically restrained with non-prescribed medications at various times. Abdullah has cognitive impairment and depends on the hospital staff for assistance with activities of daily life, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit includes claims of abuse, negligence, assault and violation of privacy, and asks for compensatory and punitive financial awards.

Two similar lawsuits were filed in superior court in January by other patients.

Brent Andrew, a spokesman for the city's public health department, said he could not comment on the litigation.

He said the California Department of Public Health has now certified that the hospital meets state standards.

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.
SPRINGFIELD  Baystate Medical Center will continue to screen patients suffering from respiratory problems for the new type of coronavirus, which continues to be rare in Massachusetts.

However, any testing to confirm the virus must be done by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state Department of Public Health has also recently received approval to conduct the tests, hospital officials said Wednesday.

While the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has said the risk remains low in Massachusetts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that an outbreak in the United States remains possible, said Dr. Sarah Haessler, Baystate Health epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has been spreading across the world, is a new version of a large family of viruses known as coronavirus that cause symptoms of the common cold. But when animal coronaviruses infect humans  which is what is believed to have happened  they can cause more severe respiratory diseases, officials said.

The good news is that while the virus can be deadly, the vast majority of patients who develop this new coronavirus will have mild symptoms. However, older adults and persons with other underlying medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, could be at greater risk for more serious complications, Haessler said.

The latest data shows there have been 128 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the U.S. Cases include a student from Boston who fell ill in January after visiting Wuhan, China, where the disease is believed to have originated. This week the Department of Public Health reported there is a presumptive case of the virus in a woman in her 20s who had been on a school trip to Italy. That case, which has not been confirmed by the CDC through testing, is in Norfolk County. Both people are under home quarantine and are recovering.

About 94,250 cases have been reported worldwide and 3,198 people are believed to have died.

The symptoms of COVID-19 can include a fever, cough, respiratory distress and shortness of breath and can be confused with types of flu. More severe symptoms are pneumonia, severe respiratory distress and kidney failure, hospital officials said.

At Baystate Health, we are staying well-informed and ensuring preparations are in place to care for any patient that comes to us for care. We continue to screen patients arriving to our Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers for a history of travel from China, Italy, South Korea, Japan, or Iran and/or contact with a known person with the virus. We continue to follow guidance from the CDC and the DPH to test and appropriately isolate patients if they were to seek care, Haessler said.

Patients who seek treatment at Baystate Health for respiratory symptoms are evaluated for viral infections with a nasal swap that can detect 20 pathogens. While it cannot detect the new coronavirus, the test can determine if the person is infected by a different virus, officials said.

Most people get infected with one or more of these common coronaviruses at some point in their lives. To be clear, the virus causing COVID-19 is not the same as these common coronaviruses. COVID-19 is a new coronavirus from an animal reservoir that had not been previously identified, Haessler said.

We are pleased that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has now received approval to begin testing for COVID-19, which means that the Massachusetts DPH will no longer have to wait for confirmation from the CDC and patients and their healthcare providers will receive the results of tests much sooner, Haessler said.

People should take precautions to prevent the disease including washing their hands, covering their mouths and noses with a tissue if they cough or sneeze, staying home if sick and avoiding touching their faces.
Schools from Dundalk town and neighbouring areas came together last week for a special workshop organised by Clean Coasts to promote the "Think Before You Flush" campaign. Schools including CBS Primary, Scoil Bhride, St Josephs N.S. and Knockbridge N.S. are among the local schools who took part.

Each school is currently participating in the Green Schools Programme and are working on themes such as Litter and Waste, Marine and Water.

Supported by Irish Water and hosted by Louth County Council, the workshop focused on presentations and practical activities about water and marine topics including biodiversity and how human behaviour impacts our coasts and the environment.

The "Think Before You Flush" campaign highlights the importance of not using your toilet as a bin. The toilet can be seen as a gateway to the sea. During beach cleans the Clean Coasts staff and volunteers find sewage related waste such as wet wipes and cotton bud sticks, these have been flushed down a toilet and made their way to the beach.

When the 3 Ps (pee, poo and paper) are flushed down the toilet they travel along the sewer network to wastewater treatment plants where they can be safely removed.

However, everyday people flush thousands of items such as wet wipes, cotton bud sticks, nappies and cotton wool pads down the toilet instead of putting them in a bin. Flushing these items can have a negative impact on internal plumbing in homes and businesses, the wastewater network and our marine environment.

Elaine Doyle, Clean Coasts Campaigns Officer said:

Sewage related litter is one of the categories of waste we find on our beaches, however its presence is preventable through some simple measures. Through the "Think Before You Flush" campaign we are working with Irish Water to change the nations flushing behaviour which will make a difference to our coastal environment.

At the workshop, Jenny Lawlor, Senior Communications Officer for Irish Water spoke to students about the negative impact flushing inappropriate items down the toilet has on the public water network and at treatment plants.

She said, Irish Water remove thousands of blockages from the sewer network every year and they are usually caused by items such as wet wipes, cotton bud sticks and sanitary items being flushed down the toilet. We are delighted to work with Clean Coasts on this campaign that highlights the damaging effect inappropriate flushing has on our wastewater network and environment.

The Think Before You Flush campaign is operated by An Taisces Clean Coasts programme in partnership with Irish Water. For more information visit www.thinkbeforeyouflush.org.
APALACHIN, N.Y. -- New York State Police are still searching for a Glen Aubrey woman who was reported missing on Sunday, police said.

Police have yet to find Casie Weese, 37, who went missing near Main Street in Apalachin on Sunday.

On Tuesday, police used the underwater recovery teams to search the Susquehanna River and Apalachin Creek, state police said. The state polices aviation unit and drones were used by troopers to view the area in which Weese went missing from the air.

The search area has included the area along Main Street, State Route 434 and the surrounding streets and terrain, police said.

Six different New York State Police departments and five other law enforcement organizations or fire departments helped the search, police said.

Weese, who is from Glen Aubrey, was last seen at a party with her husband around 1:20 a.m. on Sunday, police said. Ronnie Weese, her husband, told police their car broke down on Main Street, the two got into an argument and Casie walked away, according to state police.

When state police interviewed Ronnie Weese, troopers said they saw a spare tire on the car. They also said Ronnie Weese has been cooperating with the investigation.

Ronnie Weese told state police he asked his daughter to call 911 to report her mother missing after she did not return home later Sunday.

Casie Weese was last seen walking east on Main Street, away from the car and away from the party they had just left, a trooper said. State police do not know exactly where on Main Street the car broke down, but they believe it may have been just east of a bridge near Apalachin Creek, Trooper Aga Dembinska.

State police did not say what the couple was arguing about or whether they had been drinking alcohol at the party before Casie Weese disappeared.

Weese is 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighs about 100 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a black and white checkered jacket, jeans and black Ugg boots.

State police ask anyone with information to call 607-561-7400.

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.

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Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said he has got news reports that Congress MLA Hardeep Singh Dang has resigned, but has not yet received any formal communication in this regard from him.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said he has got news reports that Congress MLA Hardeep Singh Dang has resigned, but has not yet received any formal communication in this regard from him. Dang's purported resignation letter is making rounds on social media and efforts to contact him for confirmation proved futile.

According to Congress sources, Dang is among four MLAs allegedly taken away by the BJP to Bengaluru. However, the BJP has denied the Congress charge of poaching its MLAs.

"Hardeep Singh Dang is an MLA of our party. I have received news reports about his resignation. However, till now I have not received any letter in this regard or held discussion with him or personally met him.

"Till I speak to him in this regard, it is not proper to say anything further," Nath was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his media coordinator Narendra Saluja.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath: I have received information about Hardeep Singh Dang's resignation. I have not yet received any letter from him or discussed the matter in person. Until I meet him personally, making comments over it will not be appropriate. (file pic) https://t.co/mnHKrOizfe pic.twitter.com/JY2G0hJ0zL  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati, too, said he has not received any resignation letter from Dang, the MLA from Suvasra in Mandsaur district.

I have received news of Hardeep Singh Dangs resignation. He has not handed over the resignation letter in person to me. Whenever he will do so personally, I will consider it as per the rules and take necessary action," Prajapati said.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker, NP Prajapati: I have received the news of Hardeep Singh Dang's resignation. He has not tendered his resignation to me in person. When he submits his resignation to me, I will consider it as per the rules & take necessary action. (file pic) https://t.co/mnHKrOizfe pic.twitter.com/KplyfWy8Pp  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020



In his purported resignation letter, Dang has alleged he is feeling neglected since the last 14 months and no minister is ready to do work related to his constituency. The letter, dated 5 March, is addressed to the Assembly Speaker.

The people of Suvasra have elected him twice. Fourteen months have passed and I have been neglected. No minister is ready to work. "Middlemen and corrupt persons are sitting in the government. I have to make many rounds of Bhopal for peoples minor works, but nothing happens," the letter said.

I am the only (Congress) MLA from the Ujjain division and from the Mandsaur parliamentary constituency, but neither I have been made a minister nor any development work is taking place in my area," it further said.

Reacting to the development, state BJP president V D Sharma said, "Not only public, but even Congress MLAs are suffering under the Kamal Nath government.

"MLA Hardeep Singh Dang has resigned because he was not able to get common people's work done by this government which is sunk deep into corruption."

The Congress has alleged that in order to topple the 14-month-old Nath government, the BJP has "abducted" MLAs of the ruling party and its allies.

However, the BJP has denied the charges and termed the current crisis as a result of infighting and dissatisfaction among Congress legislators.
Oregon health authorities want to ensure individuals who are tested for coronavirus face no charges, a top official told lawmakers Wednesday.

Only 48 Oregonians have been tested through Wednesday, with an additional 13 awaiting results. But public demand for the state-rationed tests is expected to skyrocket after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention loosened its guidance to allow for wider testing based on doctors requests.

Lillian Shirley, director of public health for the Oregon Health Authority, told lawmakers Wednesday that the state is working to limit testing costs for individuals.

Right now, Oregon has obtained about 1,500 tests from the CDC. Individuals who already have been checked using those tests have not been charged, she said.

Shirley said the state is now working with Medicaid and insurance providers in Oregon so there will be no copays, there will be no charges for future testing.

Shirley did not provide additional details about how the state would ensure that happens, and lawmakers didnt press for assurances. Her comments seem geared not toward the state-controlled tests but the eventual distribution of commercial tests, which the federal government has said will eventually become available for wider use.

Shirley made her statements to lawmakers during a joint meeting between the House and Senate human services committees. One of Gov. Kate Browns aides expressed similar sentiments earlier this week.

Tina Edlund, Browns health policy advisor, wrote in an email Monday that its worth exploring waiving co-pays and deductibles for these tests.

Edlund was responding to Chuck Sheketoff, the former executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. Sheketoff told Edlund he knew someone who was worried she could not afford a coronavirus test because of a high-deductible health plan.

Sheketoff shared the email exchange with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Cost should not be an obstacle to getting needed tests, Edlund wrote. Im looking into what might be possible.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Vonovia SE (DAIMF), a German residential property company, announced Thursday that it entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Bien-Ries AG. The transaction is scheduled for completion in early April after approval by the antitrust authorities. Vonovia expects the project developer with a focus on the Rhine-Main region will complement the development business in Germany as part of BUWOG. Bien-Ries is currently running 11 projects with a total of around 2,500 planned residential units. It is planned that around 900 apartments in the current pipeline will be transferred to Vonovia's portfolio as rental apartments after completion. The focus of the projects is in the Rhine-Main region, where Vonovia has around 27,500 apartments. Wolfgang Ries, board member and co-founder of Bien-Ries said, 'We are pleased that with the sale to Vonovia we are ushering in the next phase in the company's development and at the same time offering our employees security.' In Germany, Vonovia shares were trading at 52 euros, down 2.15 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
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Linkedin Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 12:34 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206871bee 1 People ananda-sukarlan,Spain,contemporary-classical-music,Queen-Sofia-Prize,composer,#music,#people,#entertainment Free

The first leg of the Rapsodia Nusantara concert tour in Makassar, South Sulawesi, had just come to an end early last month when pianist and composer Ananda Sukarlan got a phone call with a request he could not decline.

He had to return to his second home in Spain to chair a jury panel for the Reina Sofia Award for Music Composition, the biggest classical music award in Europe named after the Queen Mother Sofia.

Ananda said he wouldnt mind postponing a tour covering Surabaya in East Java, Bali and Jakarta to honor the Queen Mother Sofia, who had supported his music and Spanish classical music in general.

Her Majesty came to my concerts before she abdicated. We had some discussions and she had great new ideas of how music could serve the disabled and also as a form of diplomacy and communication, the maestro, who lives with Asperger syndrome, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday via text messages from Spain.

The warm relationship was not the only reason for his appointment as the presiding jury member.

Ananda is also known as a major influence in Spanish contemporary classical music, directing its path into a fusion of two musical cultures.

The 2001-2005 work of Jesus Rueda, the most prominent living Spanish composer for the piano, for instance, showed some Indonesian elements, such as his Sonata No. 2 Ketjak.

Another composition with a heavy Indonesian sound can be found in David del Puertos Symphony No. 2 Nusantara & Violin Concerto released in 2017.

The Reina Sofia Awards jury comprises Rueda, Anandas friend of 20 years, Spanish composer Juan Cruz-Guevara, Fabian Panisello from Argentina and world-renowned African music ethnomusicologist Polo Vallejo.

Announcing the judging results on Sunday, their choice went to Valencia-born Carlos Fontcuberta, 43, who will receive the Queen Sofia Prize of 35,000 euro (US$39,000).

According to Spanish news outlet La Vanguardia, the award was sponsored by the Ferrer-Salat Foundation, a company engaged in pharmaceuticals and philanthropy.

Queen Mother Sofia, whose husband King Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014, will present the prize in the coming months after winners in other fields of art are chosen.

The award is held annually to develop talents in literature, visual arts, film and classical music.

During judging for the classical music category, which started on Feb. 28, Ananda said the jury had selected the best four works and unanimously found that Fontcubertas composition titled "Trencadis" has a strong identity and fresh music structure.

I admired the originality of the music structure, which works well; [its] not just about being new and sounding different. The other members of the jury said, Well, obviously, he could apply the trencadis structure brilliantly. And I was so embarrassed because I didnt know what that word meant at that time.

Trencadis is a Catalan word, the language used in northeastern Spain, for broken tile mosaics  a visual art technique used by modernist architect Antoni Gaudi.

Anandas unfamiliarity with Catalan was not his only awkward moment as he also became the receiving end of jokes among jury members regarding a statement made by an Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) commissioner who claimed that women could get pregnant from swimming in the same pool as men.

It had gone viral worldwide and would have been a heavy burden for me should I have picked the wrong winner, he quipped.

The Rapsodia Nusantara tour will feature Ananda and 17-year-old Michael Anthony, a blind pianist with autism, who was discovered at the Ananda Sukarlan Award piano competition a few years ago. In Makassar, South Sulawesi they shared the stage with the provinces 17-year-old musical prodigy, Vivienne Thamrin.
With the March-end deadline for the biggest-ever amalgamation scheme is approaching, ten state-owned banks on Thursday announced swap ratios for the proposed mergers.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) in a regulatory filing announced the share exchange ratio in accordance with the scheme of amalgamation, as it is set to merge Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI) into itself with effect from April 1.

PNB's board in its meeting on Thursday has approved for amalgamation of OBC and UBI, Punjab National Bank said in a BSE filing.

According to the swap ratio, 1,150 equity shares of PNB are to be exchanged for every 1,000 equity shares of Oriental Bank of Commerce, while 121 equity shares of PNB are to be swapped for every 1,000 equity shares of UBI.

A Grievance Redressal Committee headed by Vijay Kumar Vyas, retired judge of Rajasthan High Court, has been set up to address the grievances of shareholders. The committee is intended to address those shareholders who either individually or collectively hold at least 1 per cent of the equity capital of any of PNB, OBC or UBI; or 100 shareholders acting collectively, of any of PNB, OBC or UBI.

"The board of directors of the bank...have fixed Wednesday, March 25, 2020, as record date for issuing and allotting equity shares of the PNB to the shareholders of OBC and UBI as per the share exchange ratio," PNB said in the filing.

Meanwhile, Andhra Bank on Thursday also announced the swap ratio for its merger, it said in a filing. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank are to be amalgamated into Union Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2020.

Andhra Bank said, "Further, the board of directors of the bank at its meeting held on March 5, 2020, has approved the equity share exchange ratio for amalgamation of Andhra Bank into Union Bank of India for 325 equity shares in Union Bank of India for every 1,000 equity shares in Andhra Bank."



Union Bank in a separate exchange filing said its board at its meeting on Thursday has also approved the equity share exchange ratio. It includes 325 equity shares of Union Bank of India for every 1,000 shares in Andhra Bank and 330 shares in Union Bank for every 1,000 equity shares in Corporation Bank.

Also, for Syndicate Bank's merger into Canara Bank, the share swap is 158 equity shares of Canara Bank for every 1,000 equity shares of Syndicate Bank.

The lenders in their respective filings to the exchange said their boards have approved the amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank.

For these two banks, an expert committee (Grievance Redressal Committee ) is to be headed by K N Keshavanarayana, former judge of the High Court of Karnataka, to address the grievances of minority shareholders.

Meanwhile, Allahabad Bank on Thursday also said that as per the its amalgamation into Indian Bank, its board of directors approved the swap ratio.

It said, "115 equity shares of Rs 10.00 each of Indian Bank (transferee bank) for every 1,000 (one thousand) equity shares of Rs 10.00 each of Allahabad Bank (transferor bank)."



The Union Cabinet on Wednesday had okayed the amalgamation of 10 public sector banks to create four large state-owned lenders with effect from April 1, 2020.

According to the mega consolidation plan, OBC and UBI will merge into PNB; Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India; and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank.

After the mergers, there will be seven large public sector banks (PSBs) and five smaller ones.

Last year, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda. Prior to this, the government had merged five associate banks of SBI and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with the State Bank of India.

The anchor bank Punjab National Bank will become the country's second largest bank, with business size of Rs 17.94 lakh crore, after SBI which has business of over Rs 52 lakh crore.

Bank of Baroda will become the third largest bank, followed by Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, and Indian Bank.

The other PSBs are Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and Punjab and Sind Bank.

Stock of PNB on Thursday closed at Rs 44.90 on the BSE, up 1.01 per cent from the previous close, while Union Bank of India's shares jumped 8.25 per cent to Rs 39.35 apiece. Canara Bank rose marginally by 0.40 per cent to close at 139.45 apiece.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TOKYO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IBS Software, a worldwide leader of SaaS solutions to the aviation industry, has announced a contract with Japan Airlines (JAL) for the implementation of iCargo, a comprehensive cargo sales, inventory and reservations system that manages air cargo operations and movement globally and powered with business capabilities that are tailored for the unique Japanese Air Cargo market.

JAL will replace multiple legacy systems with IBS's iCargo Terminal Operations solution for Japan, the workhorse that will manage the entire operations process covering the import, export, transfers, warehouse operations and airports operations across the network. Along with significant savings in legacy system maintenance costs, JAL will also benefit from major efficiency improvements through the iCargo solution. iCargo is the industry leader in Japan and the only non-Japanese system in this market today that has full Japanese Customs NACCS reporting capabilities. The real time availability of operational information through iCargo also helps generate actionable intelligence to understand the overall utilization of assets and thereby improve operational efficiencies.

iCargo is an integrated solution that supports the end-to-end business functions such as cargo reservations, rating, manifesting, import & export operations, warehouse management, revenue accounting, air mail handling and revenue management of cargo carrying airlines and ground handlers. iCargo follows the air cargo industry best practices and is fully compliant with global industry standards and initiatives such as Cargo iQ, C-XML, OneRecord, e-AWB and e-Freight in general.

IBS offers enterprise class availability of the iCargo business solution to all its customers with the solution hosted in IBS's data centres around the world. Deployed globally with many of the world's leading airlines and ground handlers, 5 of the top 15 global cargo airlines have deployed iCargo to manage their air cargo business.

"JAL is an iconic name in the airline industry and we are proud to welcome them to the iCargo community. Their aim is to drive efficiency improvements and iCargo, the leader and IT platform of choice for airlines especially in the Japanese market, will help their transformation into digital freight," said Ashok Rajan, Senior Vice-President & Head, Cargo & Logistics Solution Business, IBS Software.

About Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines (JAL) was founded in 1951 and became the first international airline in Japan. A member of the oneworld alliance, the airline now reaches 405 airports in 66 countries and regions together with its codeshare partners with a modern fleet of 238 aircraft. Awarded as one of the most punctual major international airlines and a certified 5-Star Airline by Skytrax, JAL is committed to providing customers with the highest levels of flight safety and quality in every aspect of its service, and aims to become one of the most preferred and valued airlines in the world.

About IBS

IBS Software is a leading SaaS solutions provider to the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations for customers in the aviation, tour & cruise and hospitality industries. IBS's solutions for the aviation industry cover fleet and crew operations, aircraft maintenance, passenger services, loyalty programs, staff travel & air-cargo management. IBS Software also runs Demand Gateway, a real time business-to-business and business-to-consumer merchandising and distribution platform providing hotel room inventory, rates and availability to a global network of hospitality companies and digital sales channels. For the tour and cruise industry, IBS provides a comprehensive customer-centric, digital platform that covers onshore online and onboard solutions. IBS Software operates from 11 offices across the world. Blackstone is a shareholder in IBS Software. Further information at https://www.ibsplc.com/.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099333/IBS_Software_iCargo_Japan_Airlines.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/708528/IBS_Logo.jpg
Siddharth Banerjee has stepped down from his role at Facebook India sources have confirmed to Adgully. Facebook India and Banerjee refused to comment, however, industry sources confirm that today was his last day at the company.

He had joined the organisation as Director - Global Sales Organisation in January 2019. He was responsible for partnering businesses to help them to achieve strong business outcomes by leading the verticals, agency relationships and solutioning teams for Facebook India.

Banerjee has more than 18 years of experience in two of the most competitive industries Telecom and FMCG / CPG. Before joining Vodafone, he spent 13 years in Unilever, where he worked across Country P&L roles and Global / Regional Brand Marketing roles, with rich exposure across Developing & Emerging Markets. His last role in Unilever was as the Country Marketing Director/CMO and a member of the Management Committee at Unilever Sri Lanka. He has lived & worked across India, Singapore, the UK and Sri Lanka.

Banerjee is an alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow & holds B.A. Economics (Honours) and M.B.A degrees from the University of Delhi.
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New Delhi, March 5 : As the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus increased in the country, the Delhi government on Thursday decided to close all primary schools here till March 31.

Informing about the decision, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted: "As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, the Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20." The decision comes in the wake of increasing cases of coronavirus being detected in India. As of Thursday, Health Minister told Parliament that at least 28,529 persons were brought under community surveillance and are being monitored." Earlier on Tuesday, the Shriram Millennium School in Noida decided to postpone its annual examination and close the school temporarily, following a parent of one of its student testing positive for COVID-19.

Several other private schools in Noida and Delhi have already announced closure of schools for several days as a precautionary measure.
A new report has said that even when the fighting is concluded, large parts of northern Syria will still not be habitable for civilians reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Fighting in northwest Syria has rendered large parts of the region uninhabitable for civilians now crammed into an ever-shrinking area where conditions are dire, says a report released Wednesday.

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiatives Signal Program analysed satellite imagery of towns and camps in Idlib province, where the Syrian regime has been pressing a devastating offensive since December.

In the areas examined, the researchers estimate that nearly one-third of buildings have been significantly damaged or destroyed, said a statement released with the report, which Harvard produced with Save the Children and World Vision.

With most of these areas inhabitants having fled before or during the offensive, the destruction of homes and vital civilian infrastructure will make it nearly impossible for families to return in the near future, the statement added.

The satellite imagery analysed in the report shows agricultural fields filling up with camps for the displaced in a matter of months, as well as levelled villages and towns.

Regime and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes have clawed back significant territory since December, triggering a massive exodus of a scope yet unseen in the nine-year-old Syrian conflict.

Routing bombing of schools and hospitals has forced civilians to flee town after town, heading towards the Turkish border. Some three million people are now trapped in the ever-shriking enclave in dire conditions.

The area still controlled by Turkish-backed rebels is roughly the size of Majorca and is the last major opposition bastion in Syria.

Targeted civilian infrastructure

In the best case scenario, which is an immediate ceasefire, it will take months if not years to first physically rebuild the destroyed civilian infrastructure and then rebuild the trust for these communities to go back home, Save the Children spokeswoman Joelle Bassoul said.

A report released Monday by the UN Human Rights Councils Commission of Inquiry on Syria suggested the regime had intentionally targeted civilian infrastructure to scare the population away and facilitate its military reconquest.

Attacks carried out by pro-government forces targeted civilian infrastructure, including specially protected objects, the UN commission said.

As a result, civilian areas were rendered uninhabitable, it added, citing the key Idlib province towns of Maaret al-Numan and Khan Sheikhun.

It said the levelling of certain towns was carried out in an apparent effort to accelerate capture of strategic motorways.

More than half of the nearly one million people displaced over the past three months are children, tens of thousands of whom are sleeping rough in the bitter cold.

The presidents of Turkey and Russia, the two main foreign brokers in a conflict that will enter its tenth year this month, are due to meet in Moscow on Thursday and may discuss a ceasefire.

The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The governments controversial mass badger culls will be phased out and replaced with wildlife vaccines in a change of strategy in efforts to save cattle from bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

Ministers say they will not only order schemes to inoculate more badgers, but also improve testing of cows to catch the disease earlier and begin trials of a vaccine for cattle.

Wildlife conservation groups welcomed the move, which they said would prevent the largest slaughter of a protected species in living memory and would be better for taxpayers, farmers and animals.

Some 60m has already been spent killing more than 100,000 badgers since the culls began in 2013, according to the Badger Trust. More than 30,000 bTB-infected cattle are slaughtered each year.

Dairy farmers have vigorously defended the culling in areas where bTB is prevalent, but critics say the extermination campaign drives surviving badgers away and spreads the disease to new locations.

In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-2.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-1.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-3.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-4.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-5.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-6.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-7.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-rx.jpg Rex Features In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls 14-badger-pa.jpg PA In pictures: Protesters demonstrate against badger culls badger-cull-10.jpg PA

Ministers said they would reserve the right to start new culls if evidence suggested badgers were spreading the bTB.

The badger cull has led to a significant reduction in the disease as demonstrated by recent academic research and past studies, said environment secretary George Eustice, adding the insidious disease caused considerable trauma for farmers.

But no one wants to continue the cull of this protected species indefinitely so, once the weight of disease in wildlife has been addressed, we will accelerate other elements of our strategy including improved diagnostics and cattle vaccination to sustain the downward trajectory of the disease.

Under the new plan, killings will be halted in areas where the official four-year intensive culling schemes have ended.

Rosie Woodroffe, a biologist at the Zoological Society of London, said the announcement was outstanding news but culling could not end immediately because training people to give vaccines would take time.

Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, said the government had finally accepted that the mass destruction of badgers was not the solution to lowering TB in cattle.

The government are right to state that far too much emphasis has been based on killing badgers by the farming industry and too little effort had been made to improve biosecurity, introduce risk-based trading and tighten cattle movement controls, he added.

He said the changes would also offer the government a reason to end live exports because some countries do not accept vaccinated animals.

Last year researchers at the University of Surrey created a test that distinguishes between vaccinated cattle and those infected.

Now, blood tests called gamma interferon tests will be used alongside skin tests to try to identify and remove infected cattle from herds.

Zoe Davies, of the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition, whose members include the RSPCA, said: There is a lot to like in these proposals. [They] should help tackle the disease more effectively and avoid thousands of badger deaths.

Improved testing should reduce the main spread of the disease from cow to cow. But the government must ensure these moves are implemented quickly, rather than wait an indeterminate period for the weight of disease in wildlife to fall.

The announcement follows a review of its culling policy by Sir Charles Godfray, which in 2018 concluded that that badger culling can have a modest effect in reducing cattle TB, but only if unacceptable numbers of animals were killed.

Prof Godfray, from Oxford University, said it was wrong to put all the blame on badgers and to use them as an excuse not to make hard decisions in the dairy industry.

Intensive culls currently cover 57 per cent of Englands high-risk area for the disease, and environment department chiefs say cattle vaccination could become a powerful tool in the battle against the disease once its safety and efficacy has been approved. The governments goal is to eradicate the disease by 2038.

The main criticism of the Godfray review was that the government has focused too much on wildlife in its bovine TB approach, so todays welcome words must be followed by a rapid shift in approach if this disease is to be eradicated, said Ms Davies.

UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: While there is no single way to combat this damaging and complex disease, cattle vaccination will be a new tool for our multi-pronged approach to tackle it and importantly prevent it, providing vital support to our farming communities.

The latest government figures show the number of new incidents of the disease in herds in England was down by nine per cent in the year to November 2019.

Carrie Symonds, partner of prime minister Boris Johnson, has been a prominent campaigner against badger culls, and cattle farmers claim she unfairly influenced a decision to deny a culling licence in Derbyshire. The case goes to review in court next month.

NFU Deputy President Stuart Roberts said: The NFU has always been absolutely clear that any move away from an intensive culling policy  whether thats in five years, 10 years or longer  should not be rushed, and sufficient science and evidence must support any such move.

In areas where TB in badgers is endemic, we must retain culling as a vital tool enabling industry to get on top of the disease quickly and reduce further transmission.
LOS ANGELES, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- California Credit Union is inviting all Los Angeles county teachers who have an innovative class project idea to apply for a credit union grant through its bi-annual Teacher Grant program.

The California Credit Union program is available to full-time classroom teachers in Los Angeles County who are looking to fund special classroom learning opportunities for their students. The project should have clearly defined learning objectives tied to students' academic needs, display creativity, and benefit a significant number of students. Ten California Credit Union grants of $500 each will be awarded to Los Angeles and Orange county teachers in late April in the spring program.

"California Credit Union's roots are in serving the education community, and we are honored to continue our tradition of support through our Teacher Grant program," said California Credit Union President/CEO Steve O'Connell. "We hope this program will help bring these teachers' visions for a special class project to life and inspire our students. We encourage any teacher who has an exciting project idea to apply for one of our grants."

Interested teachers can find more information and apply online at ccu.com/teachergrantprogram. The application deadline is April 10, 2020.

Since the creation of the program in 2012, California Credit Union has awarded $105,000 in teacher grants to benefit students across Southern California. The bi-annual program offers up to 20 grants in the spring and fall to teachers across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. Schools benefiting from last year's program used the funds towards initiatives such as special education, robotics, biotechnology, environmental science, and the arts.

About California Credit Union

California Credit Union is a federally insured, state chartered credit union founded in 1933 that serves public or private school employees, community members and businesses across California. With more than 165,000 members and assets of $3 billion, California Credit Union has 25 branches throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The credit union operates in San Diego County as North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union. California Credit Union offers a full suite of consumer, business and investment products and services, including comprehensive consumer checking and loan options, personalized financial planning, business banking, and leading-edge online and mobile banking. Visit ccu.com for more information, or follow the credit union on Instagram or Facebook @CaliforniaCreditUnion.

SOURCE California Credit Union

Related Links

http://www.ccu.com


[March 05, 2020] Tanca.io has launched a face recognition solution using artificial intelligence via mobile devices

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanca.io - an online human resource management platform in Vietnam launches AI face recognition technology via mobile devices or CCTV. This is a solution that helps businesses improve employee safety during the time of Covid epidemic 19. Quan Tran, the founder of Tanca.io, said that the AI facial recognition technology is applied to smartphones, tablets, and cameras. Accordingly, an employee can use their phone to time attendance via GPS and take pictures of faces. The AI compares the employee's image taken and their original image on the system to verify the attendance. Alternatively, businesses can install the Tanca app on any mobile device such as a tablet in front of the company's doors. When employees enter the office, they can check in via this device without touching it Face recognition technology is also integrated on the CCTV by the Tanca team. The system will automatically identify employees when come in/out and automatically notify via mobile phone to employees.



The idea of using face recognition to record in / out is not new, but this is the first time an HR software in Vietnam has applied this technology. "Since finger machines pose risks of exposure, non-touch solutions will be more efficient and safer in the current context," Quan said. According to Quan, about 40% of Vietnamese businesses are using finger machines, the remaining businesses use book timekeeping or do not have the optimal timekeeping method. Tanca's solution not only introduces a new way to replace the finger machines but also helps other businesses to have a new way of managing their employees. Currently, Tanca.io's technologies run online, so this solution helps many businesses manage their employees in real-time. Any time they can know the situation of the number of employees at the company and employees also have their timesheets immediately.

The need to find new solutions at this time is also increasing. For example, the need for online training, digitizing documents in businesses and remote working tools. Quan said many of Tanca customers have asked his company to promote digitizing documents of their businesses. to remove the office paper. This is also one of the "non-touch" solutions for papers and documents on many levels. About Tanca.io: Tanca.io is a Vietnamese technology startup focused on developing human resource management platform on cloud computing. Tanca provides this solution to more than 500 customers in Vietnam and is applied in 15 industries. Tanca is based in Ho Chi Minh City and has ambitions to become the leading human resource management platform in Vietnam in the next 2 years. Tanca also received the Vietnam Talent Award - a prestigious award in the field of IT in Vietnam when this award celebrated 15 years last year. Website of Tanca: https://tanca.io/ Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200305/2739487-1 SOURCE Tanca.io

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05.03.2020 LISTEN

Chances of two New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Aspirants to contest the Partys upcoming parliamentary primaries in the Tano North constituency of the Ahafo region are uncertain as party faithful contest their eligibility.

Last Friday, some NPP party faithful petitioned the partys vetting committee and challenged the eligibility of Mrs Emelia Konadu and Mr Theophilus Gyamfi Bonsu from contesting the parliamentary primaries.

The aspirants appeared before the committee to be cleared to contest the parliamentary primaries with Mrs Freda Prempeh, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency.

If they are not cleared, then Mrs Freda Prempeh, who is the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, will contest the primaries unopposed.

The leadership of the NPP has set April 25, this year, to conduct the partys primaries to elect various parliamentary candidates for Election 2020.

In an interview with Newsmen Duayaw-Nkwanta on Tuesday, Mr Gabriel Ankomah, the Tano North Constituency Secretary of the NPP said the vetting committee, chaired by Mrs Rita Talata Asobayire, the First Vice-Chairperson of NPP received 21 petitions and eight petitions against Mrs Konadu and Mr Gyamfi-Bonsu respectively.

He said the 11-member vetting committee was shocked and surprised because some of the petitions against the aspirants had to do with criminalities, and the committee has launched investigations into it.

Other members of the committee include Nii Laryea Squire, NPP Deputy General Secretary, Henry Nana Boakye, NPP National Youth Organiser, Mr Owusu Sekyere, NPP Ahafo Regional Chairman, Mr Gausu Mohammed, NPP Ahafo Regional Secretary and Mr Atta Atuahene, NPP Ahafo Regional Research and Election Officer.

The remaining were Nana Afodour Bonsu, NPP Tano North Constituency Chairman, Mr Charles Yaw Prempeh , and Margret Sarkodie, Council of Elders and Mr kakari Appau, the constituency research and elections officer.

Mr Ankomah who said he was also a member of the vetting committee, indicated more than 602 delegates in the constituency, were expected to cast their ballot during the parliamentary primaries.

They are made up of five deleagtes each from the 110 polling stations, 25 electoral area coordinators, 16 constituency executives, five council of elders and five patrons as well as the MP for the area.

Mr Ankomah said some of the delegates had traveled, while some were demised, which was an indication that the voters would reduce.

He explained that the NPP cherished its internal democracy and would do all things possible to strengthen and consolidate it, but added the Party would also ensure members and parliamentary aspirants did not breach the NPP constitution.

Mr Ankomah urged the petitioners to exercise restraint as the party investigate the allegations, assuring that any aspirant who would breach the constitution and found wanton would be disqualified from contesting the parliamentary primaries.
J.M. Wilson has promoted Kyle Bryson, to senior transportation underwriter in its Portage, Michigan, office. Bryson is responsible for quoting new and renewal Non-Fleet Trucking (1-10 units) and serving independent insurance agents in Michigan.

Bryson first joined the JM Wilson team during the summer of 2016 as a transportation Intern. Upon graduating from Olivet College, with a degree in Insurance and Risk Management, he was hired on full time as a transportation underwriter, the position he would hold until his promotion.

Founded in 1920, J.M. Wilson is a managing general agency and surplus lines broker providing independent insurance agents access to specialty markets.

Source: J.M. Wilson

Topics Underwriting Michigan
Six years ago, the first Piano Day was declared to celebrate the virtues of the keyboard instrument. Four years ago, with the event gaining popularity around the world, Hungary also joined in.

This piano festival takes place on the 88th day of each year - the number of keys on the keyboard (although in leap years like 2020 it takes place on the 89th day). This will be Mupa Budapest's second time hosting the events held in the Hungarian capital.



At this year's concerts being presented from early afternoon to late evening in various spaces around the building, the sound of the piano will be supplemented by the music of the human voice and other instruments.



In addition, all of the performances of the compositions in the programme will be Hungarian premieres, and all of the international guest artists will be making their Hungarian debuts.



The concerts making up Budapest's celebration of Piano Day 2020, which was established at the initiative of Nils Frahm, one of the contemporary fixed stars of meditative electroacoustic music based on classical and minimalist foundations, and the artists performing them, will all be firsts in one sense or another, and most of the events will feature duos.



The Hungarian performers opening the programme will be coordinating their openness in an improvised fashion: the pianist vaghy already associates the vibrations produced by the 88 keys of the piano with electronic music.



Adding to this will be the cellist Endre Kertesz, a musician familiar from a number of line-ups. Representing Sweden will be Jakob Lindhagen and Vargkvint: when they join forces, these two artists from different career paths - the former is also known for his film music, while the latter's album from last year was inspired by the ocean - prove to be inventive instrumentalists, even introducing a singing saw into their music.



What makes the piano/ambient/electronic chamber pop of Tom Adams memorable is his falsetto voice, while the German piano/cello duo CEEYS stand out with productions embellished with vintage socialist-era instruments from the two brothers' youths in East Germany.



The closing concert will be performed by Italy's Luca D'Alberto, who can only rarely be tempted to stray from his homeland. With two guest artists joining him, his electroacoustic programme promises to be a grand and complex experience.



Programme:

4 pm: Jakob Lindhagen & Vargkvint

5 pm: Vaghy & Endre Kertesz

6 pm: Tom Adams

8 pm: CEEYS / Luca D'Alberto



Date and time:

Sunday, 29 March, from 4 pm



Tickets:

from 2,500



Venue:

Palace Of Arts

1095 Budapest, Komor Marcell u. 1.



Photo courtesy of the organisers
New Delhi/Tehran, March 5 : Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday threatened to isolate India over the killing of Muslims in the recent Delhi communal riots.

Khamenei's reprimand came after New Delhi, a few days ago, lodged its protest against Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's tweet in which he condemned "the wave of organized violence against Indian Muslims". The cleric conveyed the threat to India through his Twitter page too.

"The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India," he tweeted. The government of India, he said, "should confront extremist Hindus and their parties and stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India's isolation from the world of Islam." Khameini used the hashtag #IndianMuslimsInDanger. Hundreds of Muslims liked and retweeted his tweet within hours.

Interestingly, India shares a good relation with most Sunni countries in the world.

The Shia-dominated Iran has been frequently expressing hostility towards India ever since the latter strengthened its strategic ties with Tehran's archrivals, the US and Israel, in the last six years. Relations have also been under strain after India stopped buying rude oil from Iran to avoid penalties that President Donald Trump imposed on the US allies that trade with the Islamic Republic.

Last year, massive protests broke out in Tehran after oil prices shot up enormously. After the Iranian government crackdown on protestors and censored the press, the protest soon turned into a country-wide agitation demanding regime-change.

Around 1,500 protestors were killed and thousands were tortured and arrested, as per several estimates. The Islamic republic, under Sharia law, has death penalty for apostasy, imprisonment of women for not wearing 'hijab' (head covering) and other severe punishments for defying religious rules.

Early this year, after the US killed Iranian revolutionary guard and spy chief Qasem Soleimani in an air strike in Iraq, the ties between Tehran and Washington descended to a new low. In retaliation, Iran struck on a US military base in Iraq and claimed to have killed several American soldiers. It also shot down a Ukrainian plane killing over 170 civilians but later claimed that it was an accident.

Soon after the first state visit of US President Trump to India last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif made scathing comments on the communal riots in Delhi over Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The recently enacted law, CAA fast tracks citizenship of persecuted religious minorities of three Islamic theocratic countries neighbouring India --Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The CAA triggered widespread violent protests in India, with the opposition calling it discriminatory against Muslims. During Trump's visit, several parts of Delhi, the epicentre of violent protests against the CAA, erupted in communal riots. Over 50 people of both Hindu and Muslim communities were killed along with some security officials too.
Harvey Weinstein underwent surgery last night to have a heart stent put in and has now been transferred to Rikers Island.

The 67-year-old was convicted of third degree rape and criminal sexual assault on February 24 and has been in Bellevue Hospital ever since.

He had been due to go to the North Infirmary Command at Rikers, which is for high profile inmates and inmates with health issues, when he was diverted to the hospital after the guilty verdict.

Weinstein had complained of high blood pressure and heart palpitations.

A source close to him confirmed to DailyMail.com on Thursday that he underwent a four-hour surgery on Wednesday night to have the stent put in and that he had departed for North Infirmary Command at around 2pm.

An ambulance believed to be carrying Weinstein was later seen pulling up at the infamous prison with its emergency lights on.

Weinstein was convicted of rape on February 24. He is due to be sentenced next week

An ambulance believed to be carrying Weinstein was later seen pulling up at the infamous prison with its emergency lights on

Weinstein was found guilty of raping actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006.

He was acquitted of rape in the first degree and of two counts of predatory sexual assault which related to the two incidents.

He now faces a minimum of four years in prison, but may be put behind bars for up to 29.

After the guilty verdict, his lawyer Donna Rotunno told DailyMail.com he was scared of the prospect of never being free again.

Weinstein has always denied sexual misconduct and has vowed to appeal his conviction.

More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, but only two have had their claims prosecuted.

Weinstein is also still awaiting a case in Los Angeles.

Weinstein will be held in the North Infirmary Command at Rikers until his sentencing next week

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)

Weinstein was originally supposed to go straight to Rikers Island immediately after his February 24 conviction, but he was detoured to Bellevue Hospital after complaining of high blood pressure and heart palpitations.

He was at the hospital for more than a week until doctors deemed him healthy enough to be moved to Rikers.

Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala, who visited him at the hospital Thursday morning, said his client is 'obviously not the picture of health'.

In addition to the heart issues, Weinstein's lawyers have said he was also dealing with the ramifications of unsuccessful back surgery in December, stemming from a car crash last summer, and a condition that requires shots in his eyes to forestall blindness.

Weinstein used a walker to aid his movement in and out of the courthouse.

In addition to the heart issues, Weinstein's lawyers have said he was also dealing with the ramifications of unsuccessful back surgery in December, stemming from a car crash last summer, and a condition that requires shots in his eyes to forestall blindness. Weinstein used a walker to aid his movement in and out of the courthouse during the trial

Weinstein was en route to the notorious Rikers Island jail after his conviction when he was rerouted to Bellevue Hospital (pictured) with high blood pressure and heart palpitations

Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala (pictured), who visited him at the hospital Thursday morning, said his client is 'obviously not the picture of health'

WHAT'S WAITING FOR WEINSTEIN AT RIKERS Weinstein arrived at Rikers on Thursday afternoon after doctors at Bellevue Hospital deemed him healthy enough to transport. He will be held at the jail's North Infirmary Command - a pair of dank buildings that house sick inmates and those with enough notoriety to require protection from their neighbors. Weinstein was assigned inmate number 06581138Z and will likely wear a tan jumpsuit to indicate he has yet to be sentenced. It was not clear in what kind of room or cell he would be held. Most North Infirmary Command inmates are housed in bunk rooms with up to 40 or so patients, which have beeping hospital machines to monitor vital signs. But Weinstein could end up in a private or semi-private cell, as often happens with inmates who might be threatened by others. A former jail official predicted he will snag a double-size, private cell with his own television, shower and bathroom. Located partly in the jail's original hospital building, the North Infirmary Command is not much of a respite, according to people who have worked there. 'It's not the cleanest,' said Malissa Allen, a mental health counselor who has treated inmates at the infirmary. 'It's a very old jail. A lot of people complain about the smell. It has the old basement smell.' Advertisement

Weinstein was photographed for the first time since his conviction inside his room at Bellevue Hospital over the weekend.

The photos, obtained by Pix11 and shared with DailyMail.com, showed the 67-year-old sitting alone hunched in a leather chair with his head in hands while watching TV.

A source told the outlet Weinstein was allowed to roam freely inside the hospital, where he was under around-the-clock protection from Department of Correction Emergency Service Unit officers .

'He is being treated like any other person,' the source said, adding that he was walking with the aid of a wheelchair.

The source said it's very clear 'Harvey does not want to go to Rikers.'

Weinstein was accused of getting special treatment 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.

A spokesperson for the mogul, Juda Engelmayer, sought to dispel rumors that Weinstein's diversion to hospital had 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.'

Weinstein was photographed for the first time since his conviction inside his room at Bellevue Hospital over the weekend

He was seen sitting alone hunched in a leather chair with his head in hands while watching TV

When he arrives at Rikers, Weinstein will be assigned inmate number 06581138Z. He will likely wear a tan jumpsuit to indicate he has yet to be sentenced.

Weinstein's lawyers asked that he be sent to the jail's North Infirmary Command - two dank buildings that house sick inmates and those with enough notoriety to require protection from their neighbors.

An attorney for Weinstein reminded Judge James Burke of some of her client's ailments, noting he takes several medications and requires injections in his eyes to forestall blindness.

It was not clear in what kind of room or cell Weinstein would be held at the North Infirmary Command.

Most inmates are held in bunk rooms with up to 40 or so patients, which have beeping hospital machines to monitor vital signs.

But Weinstein could end up in a private or semi-private cell, as often happens with inmates who might be threatened by others.

A former jail official predicted he will snag a double-size, private cell with his own television, shower and bathroom and possibly a phone, too.

'It's like a little hotel, like your own little apartment,' the former official told the New York Times. 'You have everything you need. It's very isolated. It's a way to guarantee his safety.'

Housed partly in the jail's original hospital building, the North Infirmary Command is not much of a respite, according to people who have worked there.

'It's not the cleanest,' Malissa Allen, a mental health counselor who has treated inmates at the infirmary, said in an interview. 'It's a very old jail. A lot of people complain about the smell. It has the old basement smell.'

'I would think if you had to be at Rikers Island, you might prefer the infirmary,' Lisa Pelosi, a criminal defense lawyer in New York, said in an interview. 'But it is definitely not a pleasant place.'

The sprawling 400-acre jail complex, which first opened in 1932, is located on the East River between Queens and the Bronx, sitting in the shadow of the glittering Manhattan skyline Weinstein is accustomed to enjoying from the comfort of his apartment and now-shuttered offices in Midtown.

Nicknamed Gladiator School, Torture Island and the Guantanamo of New York - Rikers has long been plagued by gang violence and allegations of corruption and human rights violations so severe that Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed in 2017 to close it down within a decade.

When he arrives at Rikers, Weinstein will be assigned inmate number 06581138Z. He will likely wear a tan jumpsuit to indicate he has yet to be sentenced

Weinstein's lawyers asked that he be sent to the jail's North Infirmary Command (labeled 2 above), which is comprised of two dank buildings that house sick inmates and those with enough notoriety to require protection from their neighbors
A general view of Sydney University campus on April 6, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. Brendon Thorne | Getty Images

Australian universities have allowed some students from mainland China to circumvent travel restrictions and return to study. But critics say that practice may inevitably import the infectious coronavirus to local campuses. The country last month banned the entry of most non-resident foreigners, who left or transited mainland China within 14 days prior to their arrival. The decision came as fears over the new flu-like coronavirus spread beyond China  where most of the cases and deaths have occurred  to more than 60 countries worldwide. At least 93,000 people have been infected globally, and more than 3,000 people have died so far. Due to the government ban, many Chinese students were left stranded outside Australia, just as the new academic year started in February.

Australia is, in effect, outsourcing its quarantines to other countries that have not been consulted over this and in some cases are not prepared for it. Salvatore Babones associate professor at the University of Sydney

To circumvent the ban, some students traveled to a third country where they spent 14 days in self-quarantine before entering Australia. In some cases, universities have provided financial assistance for students to make those trips, while others provided online study resources for students unable or unwilling to return because of the restrictions.

An 'unconscionable' practice

That practice raised concerns this week after a 20-year-old student at the University of Queensland tested positive for the disease. The student from China had traveled to Dubai for at least two weeks before entering Australia on Feb. 23. He became unwell two days later, according to the Queensland health ministry. Authorities were said to be looking into where he may have contracted the infection. Media reports said that many students who were supposed to "self-quarantine" themselves in a third country had been out and about in public. "It is unsustainable but  more importantly  unconscionable for Australia to be encouraging students to take an end run around travel restrictions by traveling to a 'third country,'" Salvatore Babones, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, told CNBC.

The Government has never encouraged students from mainland China to see out a 14-day period in a third country, as they could be impacted by future travel restrictions put in place by those countries. Dan Tehan Minister for Education, Australia

Babones, who is also an adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies think-tank, said students are mostly coming in through Thailand, and also through Dubai, Malaysia, and Japan. Both Thailand and Australia have reported more than 40 confirmed cases of the new virus. Babones said the practice of having students self-quarantine in a third country, may inevitably import the virus to Australian universities and leave students who get infected in transit stranded in another country. "Australia is, in effect, outsourcing its quarantines to other countries that have not been consulted over this and in some cases are not prepared for it," Babones said.

Australian Minister for Education, Dan Tehan, told CNBC that the safety of Australians is the government's number one priority and that it has always acted on the advice of the medical experts. "The Government has never encouraged students from mainland China to see out a 14-day period in a third country, as they could be impacted by future travel restrictions put in place by those countries," Tehan said in a statement. "However, there is nothing within Australia's current travel restrictions to stop them (from) doing so." Australian universities told CNBC that they are following government guidelines and travel directives to decide which students they allow back onto campus.

Billion-dollar loss and more

Education is one of the main sectors in Australia that experts, as well as the central bank, say would be most affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Chinese students make up the largest portion of international students in Australia, accounting for about 0.6% of the country's GDP. Data from the education department showed that in 2019, there were more than 261,000 Chinese nationals enrolled in local educational institutions at various levels. In the higher education sector, 37.3% of foreign enrolments were from mainland China. Babones said that Australian universities are more exposed to the China market than institutions in other countries  nine of the country's leading universities rely on Chinese students for a combined 2.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.85 billion) per year in tuition revenue. If the virus epidemic peters out by mid-year and accounting for numbers of students still caught offshore, those institutions would likely suffer a combined A$1 billion revenue loss, and half of that would be concentrated at Sydney's three urban universities, he added.

The International Education Association of Australia warned of a hit between A$6 billion and A$8 billion if Chinese students are unable to attend the first term, the Financial Times reported. IEAA did not respond to CNBC's request for comments. Moody's said last month the impact on Australian universities would remain manageable if the virus was contained within the next few months. A longer outbreak has the potential to "materially dent revenue and cash reserves," it said.

What the universities are doing

From helping affected students to transit via a third country to providing a plethora of online learning resources, some universities told CNBC how they were addressing the travel restrictions. Western Sydney University said it offered affected students a one-off $1,500 Australian dollars ($993) contribution to offset expenses if they chose to transit in another country. Australian National University said all affected Chinese students  about 4,000 of them  would be able to seek up to A$5,000 in reimbursement for costs incurred due to the travel ban if they remain enrolled after Jun. 3. The university is also providing financial assistance for students who undertake remote participation in the first semester. The University of Sydney said it has made available online supported learning for 800 courses and deferred the start of the semester for a small number of courses at the business school. Around 14,000 of its students from China remain overseas. The University of Melbourne said it is offering support grants of up to A$7,500 to help affected students with unanticipated expenses incurred due to the travel ban.

A customer walks past empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Brendon Thorne | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Apple and Netflix have followed Facebook and Twitter by pulling out of the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, later this month.

All four firms justified their decision not to attend by citing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, which has so far seen more than 160 confirmed cases and resulted in 11 deaths in the US.

Netflix's withdrawal means that five film screenings and a panel will be cancelled, while Apple's SXSW events included the world premiere of new series set to come to Apple TV+ later this year.

The organisers of SXSW have so far refused to cancel or postpone the multimedia festival, despite the high-profile withdrawals.

A petition calling for the festival to be cancelled has received more than 45,000 signatures on Change.org since it was set up last week.

"I believe that having an event like this is irresponsible amid an outbreak," stated the petition's founder, who claimed it will contribute to the spread of the deadly virus.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

The festival, which is scheduled to take place on 13-22 March, updated its website on Monday to provide attendees with additional information about the decision to not cancel.

Safety resources were provided, urging attendees to wash their hands, cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing, avoid touching their eyes, and to not attend the event if feeling unwell.

SXSW also acknowledged the Change.org petition but said that it would be following the advice of health authorities rather than the public.

"SXSW is working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event," the organisers said.

"As a result of this dialogue and the recommendations of Austin Public Health, the 2020 event is proceeding with safety as a top priority."

There have been 11 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Texas, though the Austin Department of Public Health said in a statement that the threat was currently not a high one.

The latest guidance, published on 28 February, stated: "While we expect to experience an increased number of cases in the United States, the current risk of person-to-person spread in our community remains low."
Latest Updates

Last updated: Dec. 7, 2021  (2 p.m. MDT)

Ver informacion mas reciente en espanol

COVID-19 Information

Members of the campus community who test positive for COVID-19 are encouraged to fill out the self-reporting form.

Please wear masks while on campus and be respectful and supportive of your fellow Wildcats as to their decisions to wear or not wear masks. More information is available on the face coverings page.

Weber State is requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, except for concurrent enrollment students and students who qualify for an exemption, for the 2022 spring semester. Vaccination clinics are currently being offered. Visit the vaccines page for more information.

COVID-19 tests for symptomatic individuals are available at the WSU Ogden campus. More information is available on the testing and safety page.

Do not come to campus when sick, practice good hygiene, stay 6 feet apart when possible and wear face coverings if you're not vaccinated.

Classes

Weber State is offering a variety of face-to-face and virtual classes. Our intent is to offer many options that meet students where they are.

In order to provide everyone with a more traditional college experience this semester, it is important that we continue to: Get vaccinated Maintain physical distance Wear face coverings (if not vaccinated) Keep classroom and office spaces clean Practice good hygiene Stay home when sick



COVID-19 Case Count

(Last updated: Jan. 7, 2022)

WSU posts the weekly COVID-19 case count every Friday (except for university holidays), as well as adding to the cumulative total. These numbers reflect people who reported a positive COVID-19 test to Weber State after having been on one of our campuses in the 14 days prior to testing positive.

Last seven days: 20

Last 14 days: 23

Cumulative total since Jan. 1, 2020: 976

WSU COVID-19 Case Count Timeline

Community Research Extension COVID Data Dashboard

This website is not intended to be all-encompassing and should not be considered to be providing medical or legal advice. In all instances, you should consult with a relevant expert for guidance specific to your circumstances.
South Africa has confirmed its first coronavirus case after a 38-year-old national tested positive.

The national had recently just returned with his wife from Italy.

South Africas health minister, Zweli Mkhize, confirmed the case. He said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of Covid-19 has tested positive.

Mr Mkhize said the patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were a part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in SA on March 1.

The patient consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough. The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab.

The patient has since been self-isolating since he consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, he added.

Mr Mkhize further said, the tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from NCID. The doctor has been self-isolated as well.

The couple also has two children. The Emergency Centre (EOC) has identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor, he added.

According to South Africas Time Live, more light will be shed on the case in a media briefing after a slated parliamentary debate$.

Other Cases

South Africa is the fifth African country to confirm a case of coronovirus. Other countries are Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia and Senegal.

In Egypt, two cases have been confirmed with the first case confirmed on February 14.

Egypts health ministry said that both patients are foreign nationals.

Algeria, the second African country to confirm a case, made its first confirmation on February 26. Algeria has recorded the highest number of cases in the continent at 17. Nine new cases were discovered on Wednesday.

Nigerias first case was confirmed on Thursday after an Italian national tested positive for the virus.

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Tunisia also has one case which was confirmed on March 2 after a Tunisian national returned from his visit to Italy last week.

Senegal confirmed two cases on Wednesday and confirmed two more earlier today.

Officials say there is a total of 27 cases in Africa.

According to the CNN, more than 3,300 people have been killed by the novel coronavirus which has hit more than 80 countries.
Laura Weiss / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

The Fairfield University Bookstore in downtown Fairfield is welcoming back Fairfield/Trumbull School of Music student musicians, as well as a few cuddly friends from Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo, in a free afternoon childrens event on Saturday, March 28.

Bookstore community partners, Dan and Tracy Carlucci of Fairfield/Trumbull School of Music and Jim Knox, curator of education at Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, are teaming to host Zoo Music Story Time, geared for ages 3 and older.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  Hundreds of Filipinos are among those on another cruise ship quarantined for possible coronavirus infection, this time off the coast of California, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Thursday.

Duque said there are around 500 Filipino crew members on the MV Grand Princess, the ship that US officials stopped from returning to San Francisco after a passenger on a previous trip died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The ship traveled between San Francisco and Mexico in February. It then left San Francisco for Hawaii on another cruise. A passenger on the first trip to Mexico - a 71-year-old man with underlying health conditions - died of COVID-19. There are 62 passengers on the ship who sailed on the San Francisco-Mexico voyage and remained onboard for the cruise to Hawaii, CNN reported.

Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are still verifying details about Grand Princess and authorities have not received any request for Filipinos to be fetched from the cruise ship.

The quarantined vessel is currently carrying 2,500 people with 11 passengers and ten crew members showing symptoms, said California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom has since declared a state of emergency to trace people who came in contact with the victim who died.

The MV Grand Princess is under Princess Cruises, the same company that owns another cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, Japan for COVID-19 outbreak. At least 706 people on that ship in Yokohama were infected and six died, according to the global trracking by the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Princess Cruises said it is working with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assist its guests and to track people who made contact with those who became ill.

From the Diamond Princess, 445 Filipinos were brought home to the Philippines and were quarantined in Tarlac.

The government said it is still waiting for the test results of two people quartined in Tarlac who have shown flu-like symptoms. However, seven others who also previously showed symptoms already tested negative.
Maharashtra: New rules for redevelopment of gaothans and koliwadas to allow 7-13 storey towers

by Chaitanya Marpakwar

March 05,2020 | Source: Mumbai Mirror

The residents can decide to preserve the colonies as they are, go for repairs and expansions if they so wish, or opt for redevelopment. Mumbai could be in for a new spurt in construction with the BMC ready with its Special Development Control Rules (SDCR) for gaothans and koliwadas. Mumbai has over 200 gaothans and koliwadas  a majority of them at prime locations  and the special DCR could interest a lot of developers. Gaothans (small villages) and koliwadas (fishermens enclaves) are the oldest settlements of Mumbai and were left out of the redevelopment boom because their residents had objected to being categorised as slum-dwellers and the development control rules gave them a raw deal.



The Special DCR, however, gives them the freedom to decide the fate of their settlements. The residents can decide to preserve the colonies as they are, go for repairs and expansions if they so wish, or opt for complete redevelopment. Under the third option, the residents will be allowed to build mid-rise buildings  7 to 13 storeys  by either going for self-redevelopment or by tying up with a builder. In either case, they will be allowed to sell excess inventory in the open market to raise funds for the redevelopment. For areas like Worli and Juhu koliwada, this could mean a massive building potential. Koliwadas and gaothans that have been designated heritage precincts - Khotachiwadi and Bandra Village - will have stricter restrictions on land use and will not be allowed to tinker with the original character of the settlement. Koliwadas are out of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms but redevelopment of gaothans, which fall under CRZ, will have to follow the norms.



Urban Design Research Institutes Pankaj Joshi, who worked with the BMC to frame the Special DCR, said the focus was on making the residents of gaothans and koliwadas the masters of their fate. This cooperative model is based on self-redevelopment and will give the community control over its land. The Special DCR will actually be very democratic and the consent of the residents will be required for choosing what category they want for their gaothan or koliwada, Joshi said. Ujwalla Patil, chairperson, Koliwada Gaothan Vistar Kruti Samiti, said in most cases residents are likely to vote for self-redevelopment.



We will only sell flats to the residents of koliwadas and gaothans. We will ask the government to give us aid to finance the redevelopment, Patil said. She said the selfredevelopment model has already been tried at Mahim koliwada with encouraging results. Joshi said the special DCR goes beyond houses and allows residents to plan infrastructure for fishing, storage spaces and even restaurants and cafes. The idea is to make koliwadas and gaothans financially sustainable and preserve the community, he said. A draft of the special DCR was submitted to Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Wednesday. Shiv Sena member of Parliament from southcentral Mumbai Rahul Shewale, who has been pushing for the redevelopment of gaothans and koliwadas, said: The redevelopment of gaothans and koliwadas is a pressing issue. Since they are the original sons of the soil, redevelopment of their homes is a priority. Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Thursday said that he has accepted the draft Special DCR in principle. This is the way forward for the development of koliwadas and gaothans. We will execute a pilot project soon, he said.
Live TV debates and discussions never stay as calm as they should. They either get heated up on unnecessary arguments, or turn into hilarious memes.

One such TV debate in Pakistan has turned up into a joke after one of the esteemed panelists fell off the chair.

The incident occurred during a live show on channel Dunya News. Anchor Syeda Ayesha Naaz had invited four panelists to discuss Imran Khans governance. One of the panelists was delivering his viewpoint on the topic of debate Pakistani citizens' dissatisfaction over the ruling government when he suddenly fell of the chair.

The live show host paused for a second and quickly announced an advertisement break in the debate.

People couldnt control their laughter on the incident.

 Abhijeet Kumar (@abhigma) March 1, 2020

Lo karlo baat.  COLPS57 (@premsehgal55) March 2, 2020

ban plastic chair  Rishabh Raj (@rishabhraj75) March 1, 2020

Hahahaha! Thakur tu giyo!  Mayank Chawla (@TheMayankChawla) March 2, 2020

This is funniest thing I have seen in a while https://t.co/SmMOBcOHqk Rahul D /  /  (@rdalwale) March 2, 2020

Well, this is not the first time when such an incident occurred during a live show. Last year, another Pakistani panelist fell off chair during a broadcast on GTV.

The analyst, Mazhar Barlas had participated in a live debate. The incident occurred on September 16.
Listen, kid, I dont know what to tell you. This is not an inspiring letter.

In the 2016 presidential election, I stood at the voting booth with you strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn and voted for a woman. You were only two weeks old, and I could still barely walk, but I eagerly hobbled to those polls. It meant so much to finally be voting for a woman president. Hell, yes!

I cant wait until you grow up, I thought optimistically, and I get to tell you that you were with me as I voted for the first female president.

The results came in: hell, no! Daughter, I wept in the kitchen late on election night. The following day was one of the gloomiest in my life.

I was heartbroken that my hopes were trashed in 2016  I was heartbroken because now my hopes are your hopes. As your mother, its my duty to tell to you that you can do anything you want with your life, whether that means becoming a teacher or a pilot or, indeed, the President of the United States. But 2016 felt so fraught  a lot was going on in that election. We all know that Hillary Clinton faced whopping amounts of sexism, but could sexism be blamed entirely for her loss? I held out hope for 2020. For me, for you.

Fast-forward to today, when the eminently qualified female candidate Elizabeth Warren has dropped out of the presidential race. Im not a professional political strategist, but I imagine she dropped out because she calculated that it was impossible to win. Let me say that again slightly differently: a more-qualified woman who ran a great campaign with dignity and respect, who sincerely apologized and owned her missteps, found it impossible to win the primary.

I wanted to tell you that a woman can do anything, but today I find myself asking, I dont know  can a woman be president? Of course a woman is able to be president, but will our country vote for a woman president? Is this question walking down the same treacherous road as the awful electability question? Its a chicken-or-the-egg question, right? Women are only electable if you vote to elect them  but how can we vote to elect a female president when nobody believes a female president is electable?

Daughter, I am slamming my head on my desk.

What I can tell you for sure is this: as a woman, youre damned if you do, and damned if you dont. You can be head and shoulders above all your male opponents and watch them get the job, again and again and again. I expect itll take a few years before youre old enough to read this, and when you do  I hope it feels quaint. I hope it feels like ancient history, and we're up to our ears in female leaders. I dont know if it will be.

As I said at the beginning, this is not an inspiring letter. I'm sorry, daughter.
Shenzhen, China  State-run media, catering associations and citizen organisations have sprung into action in China in the past week, with a new target in their campaign against the coronavirus: communal eating.

Whether hot pot, soups or a range of other dishes, campaigners want diners to reconsider the practice of taking food from communal dishes with their own individual chopsticks amid concern it might be helping the virus to spread.

The campaign comes even though the World Health Organization (WHO), China Center for Disease Control and China National Health Commission have remained on the fence about the subject, with the WHO citing lack of direct evidence as the main reason for not issuing any public warning.

Some pathogens [or] germs can be transmitted by the sharing of utensils, Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the WHO, told Al Jazeera.

The risk of spreading COVID-19 through sharing of utensils is not yet known, but plausible based on current knowledge.

Tests needed

Dr Danielle Anderson, a leading virologist studying COVID-19 disease at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, told Al Jazeera that without direct evidence, it was difficult for official bodies and scientific organisations to be so direct, but the practice was probably not a good idea.

We can speculate that the virus can be spread on utensils due to the saliva, but without actually testing [or swabbing utensils], we cant give a definitive statement, she said.

WHO has cited the lack of direct evidence as the main reason for not issuing any public warning on communal eating [File: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP]

Sharing food [utensils] during meals would aid in transmission of nCoV and I would recommend against doing so, she added.

Other medical experts agree.

The virus can be transferred from saliva to chopsticks to the common dish, and depending on the temperature, the virus would survive to be transferred to the next person via their chopsticks, Ronald St John, former director general of the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Public Health Agency of Canada, told Al Jazeera.

St John had helped manage Canadas response to the 2003 SARS outbreak.

A health expert warned that sharing food [utensils] during meals would aid in the transmission of the coronavirus [File: How Hwee Young/EPA]

The grassroots action in China is being pushed by the Peoples Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, along with local health commission bureaus, restaurant groups like the Guangdong Catering Service Industry Association.

Civilisation organisations, such as the Guangzhou Civilization office, are usually responsible for campaigns against spitting in public, improper queueing, or littering.

Unfortunately, this is very common, Chen Xi, president of the China Health Policy and Management Society, told Al Jazeera regarding the practice, which is common not only in China but also in other parts of Asia.

Sharing dishes with ones own chopsticks should be recommended against.

Use serving chopsticks and spoons

Dubbed the war against the epidemic at the tip of your tongue  a campaign for use of public chopsticks, the organisations are encouraging people to use serving chopsticks and spoons at the table, whether eating at home or outside, to prevent further spreading of the virus and ensure the safety of diners once restaurants begin to open again.

Significant evidence has already accumulated on family clustering of coronavirus cases, and there have been several anecdotal incidents reported where entire families became ill after sharing common meals over the Lunar New Year period when the outbreak first hit.

The WHO acknowledged in late February that recent studies had shown between 78 and 85 percent of confirmed cases in the provinces of Guangdong and Sichuan were among family clusters [File: China Daily via Reuters]

The WHO acknowledged in late February that recent studies had shown between 78 and 85 percent of confirmed cases in the provinces of Guangdong and Sichuan were among family clusters  meaning family members transmitted the virus to one or more other family members through close contact.

Transmission could take place in a variety of ways in such cases, and not only through chopsticks repeatedly used to take food from common dishes  in a sense a smorgasbord of possible factors.

Its possible that close proximity of shared living spaces, and frequent contact with contaminated surfaces and so on, shapes communal risk and clustering of disease, and thus these moments of eating and sharing are considered a part of the broader ecology of risk, Adia Benton, a medical anthropologist from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, told Al Jazeera.

Changes in cultural practices

Benton has studied how cultural practices changed during the Ebola crisis in West Africa, where burial services, hugging and handshaking, and eating and butchering customs were altered, sometimes significantly.

Some of it required mere modification that was amenable to peoples needs and wishes, but others required jarring, sweeping changes, Benton said. It seems to me that Chinese people, especially in the most affected areas, have had to abruptly change a lot of things in their daily lives.

Those changes are likely to continue and could be solidified by local regulations, particularly for a catering industry concerned about people being wary of returning to restaurants even once they are allowed to reopen.





Not only have media and social organisations begun to launch these campaigns to encourage people to adopt the use of serving utensils, local governments are springing into action as well.

The island province of Hainan, also a favourite tourist destination, and a leader in partnering with the Peoples Daily on the campaign, has begun to impose rules for restaurants that require diners to use serving utensils at their tables.

Several cities in southern Guangdong province have also begun to adopt similar measures as has the metropolis of Shanghai.

Guangdong Catering Service Industry Association declined to comment to Al Jazeera about why it has joined the campaign, stating that it did not accept interviews.

In the far western province of Gansu, capital city Lanzhou has also encouraged the use of serving utensils, with dozens of other cities across the country beginning to follow suit.

Seems like common sense to me, St John said. Just like its not a good idea to share toothbrushes in the family.

Additional research assistance by Zhong Yunfan.








More Oregonians with coronavirus symptoms can be tested for the potentially deadly disease following changes Wednesday to federal eligibility guidelines.

Patients with symptoms such as fever, cough or trouble breathing are now eligible for testing  with a doctors approval.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the change following a pledge Tuesday by Vice President Mike Pence to expanding testing nationwide.

But its not clear yet what that means in Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority hasnt announced specific rules about who should be tested.

The CDCs announcement seemingly sent officials scrambling to update their own rules about eligibility. Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and epidemiologist, said the state was working on changes as of 12:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Were in the process here in Oregon of working on some guidelines that we can provide to health care providers so they can do whats best for their patients, the people in front of them, so that we can test those who are most at risk and help protect the health of Oregonians, Sidelinger said in a video posted to social media.

Those guidelines should be out momentarily, or soon.

Four hours later, in response to inquiries from The Oregonian/OregonLive for the states new guidelines, the health authority emailed a link to the CDCs new guidance.

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Sidelinger had welcomed the testing eligibility changes by the CDC earlier in the day and said state officials were acting with diligence.

We have a team of public health officials working very hard right now to say, What does that look like in Oregon, and how can we best use this flexibility to protect the health of Oregonians and identify whats happening here in Oregon? Sidelinger said.

Until now, the CDC had recommended testing only people with COVID-19 symptoms who traveled to a foreign country with an outbreak or had been in close contact with someone confirmed to have the disease.

The CDC also recommended testing for people with severe respiratory symptoms who were hospitalized with no underlying diagnosis.

Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday wrote a letter to Pence urging flexibility in testing, echoing calls from across the country to expand who is eligible.

Its unclear how Oregons guidance might differ from the CDCs. Pence, in his announcement, was clear that any American can be tested, no restrictions, subject to doctors orders.

Federal officials expect doctors will be able to order commercial coronavirus tests instead of relying on state labs. But mass production of such tests could be weeks away.

The state of Oregon currently has about 1,500 tests.

The only testing so far has been by the health authority, under existing restrictions on who can be tested. As of Wednesday night, 48 people had been checked, with three identified as being infected and 45 negative. An additional 13 tests were pending.

State officials have acknowledged that hundreds of Oregonians could already be or have been infected.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
Tourism and hospitality companies are co-ordinating efforts to roll out stimulus packages to boost domestic tourism amid a decline in business caused by the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Foreign tourists in Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

More than 50 travel firms and more than 40 cities and provinces have joined the stimulus campaign launched by the HCM City Tourism Association last week.

More than 50 travel firms and hotels in the central coastal city of Nha Trang have agreed to reduce tour prices by 30-40 per cent and room rents by 50 per cent, Hoang Van Vinh, chairman of the Nha Trang- Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, said.

Le Quoc Trung, deputy general director of the Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, said the company would join the campaign and offer a discount of 40 per cent on rail fares throughout this year.

Vietnam Airlines has agreed to reduce fares by 30-60 per cent on most routes for travel companies participating in the campaign.

Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific Airlines and Bamboo Airways will offer discounts of 50 per cent.

Nguyen Ngoc Tan, general director of Saco Travel, said his company would offer a 40 per cent discount on all domestic tours.

Nguyen Thi Khanh, deputy director of the association, said a number of tour packages by road and by air would be available at 15-18 per cent and 22 per cent discounts respectively as a result of the reduction in fares and room rates.

In the coming weeks, more companies are expected to participate in the campaign, raising the discounts on tour prices to at least 30 per cent, she said.

It is essential to focus on the domestic market to revive the tourism sector, which has been badly disrupted as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, she said.

The Vietnam Administration of Tourism on Tuesday (Feb 25) urged tourism management agencies, tourism associations and businesses in the industry to join its domestic and international stimulus campaigns.

The domestic campaign will take place nation-wide from March to August with a focus on summer tours. The international campaign will begin in April and run until the end of the year, with a focus on Southeast Asia, India, Russia, Australia and Europe.

The Vietnam Administration of Tourism is carrying out marketing and promotional activities to underline Vietnam's reputation as a safe travel destination, hoping to speed up the recovery.

The Vietnam Tourism Association last week created an alliance of tourism industry players in an attempt to revive domestic travel by providing promotions and improving tours.  VNS

Alliance launched to stimulate tourism demand in Vietnam The Vietnam Tourism Association (VTA) debuted a tourism demand stimulus alliance on February 21 in an effort to help shore up Vietnams tourism industry, which has been strongly affected by COVID-19 outbreak.

Covid-19 could lead to restructuring of Vietnam tourism industry The Ministry of Planning and Investmetn (MPI) estimates that Vietnams tourism sector may lose $2.3 billion worth of revenue from foreign investors if Covid-19 lasts until the end of Q1 and $5 billion if it continues through Q2.
Company kicks off 2020 with major new hedge fund client and initiatives to help financial institutions build and deploy secure, modern workspaces

NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Glue42, the company that delivers simplified desktop experiences to financial institutions globally, today announced a confident start to 2020 in its pursuit to help buy and sell side institutions build modern workspaces. The company signed a major hedge fund to help the firm build its next generation trading platform and onboarded two new partners.

The new collaborations are a testimony to Glue42's workspace vision and how enabling the rise of task-oriented applications, standardization and the re-use and migration of legacy applications are paramount to defining future interaction styles between humans and their desktop tools.

James Wooster, COO, Glue42, said, "To help firms succeed in delivering their digital transformation projects in 2020 and beyond, we are enabling financial institutions to embrace the reality of legacy applications while preparing for future innovation. Rewriting legacy systems is not always necessary and existing applications can be re-used without compromising the user experience. At the same time, we also want to ensure that new applications do not become the legacy applications of tomorrow and our users' financial desktops and processes remain state of the art."

One of Glue42's latest clients embracing this approach to build its next-generation trading platform is a top five, global investment firm. By using a workspace approach, new and old applications can be integrated together for the first time while minimizing the use of valuable screen real-estate. On these desktop spaces, traders and portfolio managers can run instances of the core trading applications and have access to an ecosystem of user-centric applications all of which can share data and functionality with each other.

By using Glue42, the fund's development teams are able to develop and deploy new applications faster, while ensuring all applications continue to work together seamlessly. Ultimately this leads to increased productivity and compliance, and the ability to innovate in the search for alpha.

In addition to new client implementations, Glue42 has collaborated with Scott Logic, a UK-based software consultancy and Luxoft, a DXC Technology company, to focus on digital transformation services and software engineering to scale and address the demand for Glue42's enterprise edition, and continue its quest to modernize the financial workspace.

"The onboarding of the global fund and new partners underlines what many independent analyst firms have been saying for some time; Glue42 is the most advanced desktop integration platform available today," said Leslie Spiro, CEO, Glue42. "We are also stepping up our collaboration with FINOS as we continue to help extend standards such as FDC3."

Glue42 will be at Trade Tech Paris (21-23 April) and will participate in a panel conversation on digitizing financial organizations at Fintech Connect Toronto (20-21 May).

About Glue42??

Glue42 enables organizations to build intelligent desktops that support configurable workflows between web and desktop applications. Its integration platform seamlessly and securely orchestrates UI and data and leverages opensource initiatives such as FINOS FDC3 to reduce application delivery times and accelerate time to value. The company is based in London, New York and Bulgaria. With over 24K licenses, its solutions are deployed at tier one financial institutions across the world.

https://glue42.com/why-glue42/

Contact on behalf of Glue42?

Tinne Teugels?

RISE-?

Email:? tinne@risethrough.com ?

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/926435/Glue42_Logo.jpg
Queen Elizabeth has requested that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make an appearance at the upcoming Commonwealth Day service. The event will likely be the couples last before their exit from the royal family becomes official at the end of the month. While fans are looking forward to seeing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in action, Her Majesty did not invite Prince Andrew to the event.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth requests Prince Harry and Meghan Markle return to the UK

For the past few months, Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have been laying low in their temporary home in Canada. The two have been busy working behind the scenes, mainly to iron out an exit agreement with the rest of the royals.

A few weeks ago, Queen Elizabeth released a statement confirming that the couples departure will be official on March 31. After that, Harry and Meghan will continue their new lives in North America while working to become financially independent from the crown.

Buckingham Palace confirm that The Queen will be joined by Prince Charles, Duchess of Cornwall, the Sussexes and Cambridges for @wabbeys #CommonwealthDay service on March 9, which will include a reflection by @anthonyfjoshua and performances from @CraigDavid and @alexandramusic. pic.twitter.com/h4cNvv6esq  Omid Scobie (@scobie) March 2, 2020

But before all of that happens, the two are scheduled to attend a handful of events in the UK at the beginning of March. This includes being present for the annual Commonwealth Day service, which his being held inside Westminster Abbey.

Queen Elizabeth reportedly requested their presence for the event. Other senior members of the royal family are also expected to make an appearance, including Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.

But there is one person missing from the exclusive guest list.

Queen Elizabeth allows Prince Andrew to skip the Commonwealth Day

According to Hello Magazine, Andrew has taken part in the Commonwealth Day service in the past. Last year, for example, he showed up to the event with Queen Elizabeth, arriving alongside her in the same car.

But this year, Prince Andrew was not invited to attend the event at all. Buckingham Palace has not issued a statement about why Andrew is skipping the event, though it likely has something to do with his recent decision to step down.

In 2019, Andrew faced backlash for his connections to the former financier turned pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. One of Epsteins victims has accused Andrew of sleeping with her when she was underaged.

What explains Prince Andrews rehabilitation and Harrys vilification? Misogyny | Arwa Mahdawi https://t.co/mkzk4MFyum  Mpy (@pottery281) February 23, 2020

In an ill-fated attempt to clear his name, Andrew did an interview last fall. The move backfired on the royals and led to Andrews resignation, but not has not appeared to damage his relationship with Queen Elizabeth.

I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission. I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure, he stated.

Will Prince Andrew ever return to his royal duties?

In his official statement, Prince Andrew revealed that he is willing to cooperate with the authorities and help with their investigation as much as possible. Although he stepped away from the royal spotlight, Andrew is still expected to join the royals for major events.

This includes joining Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family for engagements like Remembrance Sunday, Royal Ascot, and Trooping the Colour. Andrew still holds many of his old military titles, so it makes sense that he should take part in some of these events.

Prince Andrew reportedly allowed supermodel Caprice Bourret to sit on his mothers royal throne in Buckingham Palace in 2000 when the two briefly dated. https://t.co/it5HURlg5M  The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 1, 2020

As time passes, it is possible that Andrew will slowly work his way back and start doing engagements for his patronages. That said, he is still dealing with the fallout from the sex scandal and might never recover from it.

Andrew may not have been invited to the upcoming Commonwealth Day service, but fans are looking forward to seeing Harry and Meghan return to action.

Queen Elizabeth reunites the royal family

In what is going to be one of their last public engagements on behalf of Queen Elizabeth and the royal family, Harry and Meghan are set to attend the Commonwealth Day service on March 9. A slew of royals will be at the event, but all eyes will be on Harry and Meghans reunion with William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

The Sussexes were at the event in 2019, and Meghan was actually pregnant with her son, Archie Harrison, at the time. Sadly, Archie is not expected to join Harry and Meghan during their stay.

Some events to look forward to this March:

 3-5: #RoyalVisitIreland

 9  Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey

 17  The Irish Guards' St. Patrick's Day Parade (*possible)#DukeofCambridge#DuchessofCambridge pic.twitter.com/XGXhMef227  Team Cambridge (@TeamCambridgePH) March 1, 2020

Harry has already been in the U.K. for several weeks fulfilling a handful of events that were already on his schedule. This includes a stop in Scotland for a summit and recording a song with Jon Bon Jovi for his Invictus Games initiative.

Queen Elizabeth has not commented on the reports surrounding the upcoming service.
New Delhi, March 5 : Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar urged people to take the 'namaste' route instead of shaking hands. He also asked Indians not to panic in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Greet people by not shaking hands but by Indian namaste," said the minister. The government is requesting people to minimise direct body contact.

Javadekar added, "Fear has gripped the world because of coronavirus. But let us not panic. But we have to be cautious. And simple preventive steps will protect you." He also requested people to contact doctors the moment they have fever or caught a cold.

His I&B Ministry was entrusted with the job of dissemination of information after the high level meeting by PMO on Wednesday.

Javadekar's request to take refuge in Namaste found resonance with the Delhi government on Thursday suspending biometric attendance in its offices that requires touching.

Coronavirus, named COVID-19 by the WHO, has infected over 90,000 people across the globe. The outbreak of the new strain of viruses was reported from China. It spread to more than 60 countries and now has entered India with 29 positive cases, including one in Delhi.

The symptoms of coronavirus included cold, cough, pneumonia, other flu-like manifestations and shortness of breath.
(@FahadShabbir)

Syria has not committed any hostile acts against Turkey, and there is not reason for there to be friction between the two neighboring countries, President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2020) Syria has not committed any hostile acts against Turkey, and there is not reason for there to be friction between the two neighboring countries, President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday.

"What hostile act, major or minor, has Syria committed against Turkey? There is none.

There are Syrian-Turkish marriages, there are families and common interests. This interpenetration of cultures has been historically contingent, which is why it is illogical to have serious disagreements between us and them," Assad said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 tv channel.
Cloud Summit was to be held in Miami Beach, Florida from May 12 to 14. (Photo | Cloud Blue)

Chennai: One after another, tech companies have been cancelling their major events in the United States over fears of the fast-spreading coronavirus COVID-19. After the Mobile World Congress, Game Developers Conference, Facebooks F8 Developers Conference and Google I/O meet, now Cloud tech company Ingram Micro Cloud has cancelled this years global Cloud Summit.

Cloud Summit, which began in 2009, annually brings together innovators and problem solvers in the cloud technology space.

The event was to be held only in May but the company has decided to take abundant precaution and postpone it. Without announcing the exact dates, Ingram Micro Cloud said on the Cloud Summit website that the conference which was to be held in Miami Beach, Florida between May 12 and 14 will be held early next year.

It merely pointed registrants to the Cloud Summit FAQ site for questions related to rescheduling of the event.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 19:46:18|Editor: xuxin

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WINDHOEK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Namibian cabinet on Thursday announced a final plan to take up its full complement of shares in the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Minister of Information and Communication Technology Stanley Simataa said the Namibian government has decided to fully subscribe to the AfDB.

The announcement came after Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein attended a recent AfDB board meeting.

"The cabinet took note of the approval by the AfDB on the seventh general capital increase of the bank and the consequent notification period for subscription," Simataa said.

Simataa added that the move to take up the full complement of shares offered to Namibia at AfDB will ensure the country secures its investments through subscription to the bank as well as benefit from the bank's loan schemes.

The Namibian government, Simataa said, has been accessing credit lines from the AfDB in the past few years.
LAS VEGAS, NV, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- International Spirits & Wellness Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS: ISWH) (ISWH or the Company), an emerging diversified leader in the health and wellness space, is excited to announce that the Company has now begun the process of establishing licensed business operations in the Home Healthcare marketplace in New Mexico, Arizona, and Florida. The Company is already licensed to do business in Nevada and Texas.



This announcement is pursuant to the Companys prior communication detailing its expansion outside of the state of Texas in its Home Healthcare division.

The Company currently offers home healthcare services in several major cities in Texas, including Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso. It has now begun the process of establishing home healthcare operations in Nevada (Las Vegas and Reno), New Mexico (Santa Fe), Arizona (Phoenix), and Florida (The Villages).

"Home Healthcare has been responsible for the bulk of our revenues over the past three quarters, and we are uniquely well positioned to expand further to meet this dramatic new need," commented Alonzo Pierce, ISWH President. "The emergence of COVID-19 as a burgeoning pandemic, now beginning to surge as an outbreak in the US, represents a critical opportunity for this Company to step up to the plate and deliver much-needed services to a wider consumer base. This is a move we had been planning as of late 2019. But the anticipated jump in demand for home healthcare due to the COVID-19 outbreak has moved up our timeline and we are working to get up and running in these new communities as rapidly as possible."

According to management, demand for home healthcare services is set to surge to unprecedented levels over coming months, propelled by three main groups:

People with healthcare needs unrelated to COVID-19 who want to avoid the risk of contracting the disease through exposure to traditional healthcare locations (hospitals, urgent care clinics, doctors offices, etc) that present a higher risk of contagion due to treatment of other patients suffering from the disease, People in high-risk demographics (such as the elderly and/or those with heart disease, diabetes, or hypertension) who have not yet contracted COVID-19 and would like support, counseling, and prevention services, and People who have tested positive for COVID-19 and need experienced healthcare support to manage and care for symptoms during incubation and recovery, where symptoms are not severe enough to warrant inpatient care.

According to leading Harvard epidemiologist, professor Marc Lipsitch, as expressed in The Atlantic on February 24 , as many as 40 to 70 percent of the world's population may become infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 within the next 12 months. Other leading epidemiology experts have made similar predictions, implying a dramatic jump in the number of cases of COVID-19 across most communities in the US over the next 12 months, before an effective vaccine can be created, tested, approved, and mass manufactured.

The Company currently has a large staff of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) capable of providing basic care to patients outside of traditional medical care facilities across Texas. In the course of this expansion to new locations, the Company plans to seek out and hire many additional CNAs who live in and around these new areas of service in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida.

We believe we can get up and running in some place like Reno or Phoenix, or any of these new areas, very quickly, continued Pierce. We selected these areas in part because we know they come ready-made with a sufficient established population of trained and certified healthcare workers motivated to engage additional employment and provide more care in their communities. By tapping these workers and expanding our operations, we will be able to drive value for our shareholders by delivering much-needed care and services as the coronavirus outbreak intensifies.

About ISWH: ISWH is a global brand management holdings company with diverse operational interests, including commercial-stage operations in the spirits, CBD, and home healthcare markets, and development-stage operations in the logistics and supply chain and renewable energy markets.

Based in Nevada, the Companys expertise lies in the strategic development and aggressive early growth of its brands and the establishment of these brands as viable and profitable as an incubator. ISWH nurtures emerging brands through critical stages of market development, including conceptualization, go-to-market strategy, supply chain and logistics engineering, integrated marketing, and distribution. ISWH is creating and managing brands across a spectrum of disruptive industries. The Company has now established itself as a health and wellness leader with a focus on reshaping the CBD products and home healthcare markets through state-of-the-art technology and execution. The company has also partnered with Bengala Technologies to develop and commercialize enterprise and B2B software technology products targeting the logistics and supply-chain marketplace with VOLUM.

Forward Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could", "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements so as to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com).

Contact:

For Additional Investor Information:

ISWH

info@isbg.global
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Zalemark Holding Co. Inc. (OTC PINK:ZMRK), the Co-CEO Ms. Xia Wu proudly received congratulation letter from University of Toronto Alumni Relations. The letter states that "Your achievements bring honour to our University, and we take pride in your accomplishments and leadership." Ms. Wu thanked the school for recognizing her efforts and would like to extend the wishes to all members of the company for great team works. Zalemark Holding Co. Inc. will continue to make great strides, and will always operate ethically, and fairly. Management of ZMRK appreciates its Shareholders and will continue to provide updates.

*Safe Harbor Statement Information in this press release may contain 'forward-looking statements.' Statements describing objectives or goals or the Company's future plans are also forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the financial performance of the Company and market valuations of its stock, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the 'Safe Harbor' provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks relating to the ability to close transactions being contemplated, risks related to sales, acceptance of Hypertension Diagnostics Inc.'s products, increased levels of competition, changes, dependence on intellectual property rights and other risks detailed from time to time in Hypertension Diagnostic Inc. periodic reports filed with the regulatory authorities.

Contact: info@zalemark.com

SOURCE: Zalemark Holding Co. Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579266/Zalemark-Holding-Co-Inc-OTC-ZMRK-Announcement-to-All-Shareholders
The letter showed a glimpse of Biju Babus courage when he surreptitiously flew Ram Manohar Lohia (who was then underground) from Delhi to Calcutta.

Bhubaneswar: As Odisha on Thursday observed the 104th birth anniversary of former chief minister late Biju Patnaik in a grand way, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to remember the legendary statesman with a classified document which showed a glimpse of his courage and excellence.

Prime Minister Modi tweeted a letter of the Intelligence Bureau dated September 27, 1945 noting that Biju Babu (Biju Patnaik) worked tirelessly for Indias progress and pioneered the development of Odisha.

The document of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) stated how its deputy director (A), G. Ahmed vouched to bring back Biju Patnaik into Indian National Airways because of his magnificent flying skills.

The letter showed a glimpse of Biju Babus courage when he surreptitiously flew Ram Manohar Lohia (who was then underground) from Delhi to Calcutta.

The IB letter mentioned: It can be argued that Patnaik may still be a danger so long as conditions on our eastern border do not return to normal  but that would be to state a hypothetical risk. In the circumstances we do not feel that we can urge, on strong security grounds, that Patnaik should be prevented from flying."

Flying is Patnaiks normal way of making a living and we should prefer to see him employed rather than idle, IB deputy director G. Ahmed wrote in the letter.

He added that The Indian National Airways (INA) can be persuaded through Mr Cambridge, the Managing Director not to take Patnaik back. But if the INA do not re-employ him, Tatas probably will, because he is an excellent pilot.

Born on March 5, 1916 at Odishas Cuttack city, Biju Patnaik was a top pilot. He played crucial role in the countrys freedom struggle. During the war with China, he flew cargo planes to some high-sensitive border areas which other piolots feared to venture. Besides, he also played an active role in Indonesias freedom struggle.

Patnaik also served as defence adviser to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The towering leader, who was also an established industrialist, also served as chief minister of Odisha twice - first from June 23, 1961 to October 2, 1963 and second from March 5, 1990 to March 15, 1995.

The great leader was known for establishing village industries, bringing sweeping reforms in the three-tier panchayati raj system. He amended gram panchayat law to give 33 per cent reservation to women.
The El Nido area is a showcase of the Philippines' geological and biological diversity.

Travellers looking to visit the Philippines can rejoice in some outrageously cheap flights on offer in a flash sale to rival all flash sales.

Between March 3rd and March 5th, Cebu Pacific is selling one-way flights to Manila for less than $200, and you can return for less than $100!

For travellers leaving from Melbourne the fares start at $139, while travellers from Sydney can nab their flight for as little as $159.

Travel dates must lie between September 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021.

Cebu Pacific is offering the flights as international travel nose dives. Photo: Getty Images

Return flights from Manila in the same period can be picked up for as little at $115 from Manila to Sydney and $91 to Melbourne.

Yep, you could get a return fare for an impromptu holiday for as little as $230.

Cebu is encouraging flyers to indulge in the island havens the south-east Asian nation has to offer.

Surf destination Siargao is one of the places the airline hopes tourists will visit. photo: Getty images

From Manila the tropical paradise that is Palawan, or surf central Siargao are just a hop, skip and a jump away.

The sale comes as international travel is in decline due to the Coronavirus.

While travel is currently not among our top priorities, a holiday in 2021 but be exactly what you need.

With the sale expiring in 24 hours we suggest you dive for your credit card before all these budget fares are snapped up.

Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.
Across Texas, patience was required to vote on election day, as long lines led to long waits at the polls.

In Bexar County, officials attributed the delays to technical glitches and confusion over voting rules.

We had people going back to the polls and wanting to cancel their early voting ballot because the candidate they voted for in early voting had just dropped out, Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said. That occurred in a number of our poll sites. That threw judges for a loop.

This week, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota both left the Democratic presidential race within a day of one another. Changing early votes after a candidate drops out is not allowed in Texas.

Another source of delay: people who tried to register to vote on election day. Thats also not allowed in Texas.

In addition, mix-ups with new printers caused snarls of voter traffic at about 50 local polling sites.

In the morning, there was a lot of confusion, Callanen said. When they got there, they had just plugged things into the wrong printer port.

The waits were even worse in other urban centers. Voters in the states largest counties stood in line for hours after polls closed at 7 p.m., waiting for their chance to cast a ballot.

Under state law, anyone who has gotten in line by the time the polls close must be allowed to vote, no matter how long it takes. In extreme cases, such as at Texas Southern University in Harris County, voting didnt wrap up until 1 a.m.

Ive been working in Texas politics since 2002 and have never seen or heard of anyone having to wait for more than six hours to vote, said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, a nonprofit that runs a nonpartisan voter protection program. There werent lines that long in the Obama/Clinton primary or even in any general election.

Election officials and voting rights advocates are trying to determine what caused the excessive waits. Large turnout might have been one cause.

As of the latest report, Texas saw hundreds of thousands more voters this election  with 1.8 million in the Democratic presidential primary alone, up from 1.4 million in 2016. Thats a 26 percent increase in voters.

Turnout in Bexar County was 22 percent of registered voters, or 253,071 people  a relatively high turnout for a primary, but not a record. That was set in 2008, when Barack Obama first ran for president. Thirty-two percent of the countys registered voters  275,016 people  cast ballots in that years primary.

Four out of five of the states largest counties, including Bexar, moved to allow countywide voting centers in 2019. The centers allow voters to cast ballots at any polling location, no matter where they live. The sites are intended to increase turnout by making voting more convenient.

The consolidation has contributed to the loss of 750 polling places statewide since 2012, a 2019 report states. Theres also a learning curve as voters grow accustomed to the new locations and shed old habits.

This year, Bexar County had 280 polling sites, four fewer than in November.

The countywide voting centers have made casting ballots easier for many, but they also might have caused voter jams at certain sites, San Antonio political consultant Christian Archer said.

Thats the good news, is the turnout, Archer said. There was monster-level turnout. They might have to work out some bugs, but it paid off in voter numbers.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said counties will need to assess high-traffic locations and make adjustments in time for the November general election, when higher turnout and lack of straight-ticket voting is expected to cause long lines.

Just like in real estate, its all about location, location, location, Rottinghaus said. Finding the right location for a vote center is the most important factor in making them work properly.

In several large counties, including Harris and Tarrant, primaries were not held jointly by the two major parties. The two must agree whether to run their elections together and use the same check-in tables and machines  or conduct separate primaries.

With such high turnout on the Democratic side yet equal numbers of machines in both parties primaries, it meant Democratic voters often were stuck waiting in line. Republican voters had little to no wait, and machines on their side went unused.

Bexar County narrowly avoided such a predicament.

In December, Bexar County Republican Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm threatened not to sign a resolution permitting joint primary elections unless officials eliminated the countywide voting centers. But Brehm, who earned enough votes Tuesday to make it into a runoff, later relented.

Common Cause and the Texas Civil Rights Project point to state government as the root cause of voting delays on Super Tuesday. Gutierrez said other states offer counties more financial support for conducting elections.

This wasnt something isolated to TSU in Houston or Travis County. We were definitely seeing really long lines all over the state, which to me points to a bigger systemic problem that Texas just doesnt do much to make it easier for Texans to vote, Gutierrez said. The easiest solution to the excessively long lines we were seeing would be for Texas to allocate more resources to things like voting machines and election workers.

In Bexar County, poll watchers were forced to wait on Super Tuesday  for election results. The software that collects voting data for election administrators crashed three times, Callanen said.

About 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, election officials were preparing to post vote totals for the countys early-voting period, which ran from Feb. 18-28. The software, which was processing 122,159 early votes, began running slower, then suddenly stopped.

After repeated failures, officials decided to release the early votes in two separate reports  one showing results for in-person early voting, the other for mail-in ballots.

It came together throughout the night, but not in the format that everyone was used to, Callanen said. People had to do their own math. And thats not how weve always produced things.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan has decided to step down by March 31 due to ill health, three months before the end of his extended one-year tenure. While the Reserve Bank has accepted his request to be relieved by March 31, the same has to be accepted by the Cabinet as well, which is likely to happen any day given his health condition, a person in the know of the development said.

His one-year extension was to end on July 3.

RBI spokesperson Yogesh Dayal refused to confirm or deny the development.

Sources said, despite ill health, the senior most deputy governor at the RBI was planning to leave by end-April, but the deteriorating health did not allow him. So he has asked for an early retirement.

The 62-year-old has been in-charge of the key supervisory and regulatory functions at the Mint Road and it was this powerful position that led the government to offer him an extension given the mess in the banking system.

The RBI's supervisory and regulatory powers came under criticism after IL&FS, one of the largest NBFCs went belly up in September 2018. And then came the scam at the city-based Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank in September 2019. Both incidents dented the image of RBI's regulatory prowess.

After being appointed as the deputy governor on June 28, 2016 for a three-year-term, Vishwanathan has served under three governors -- Raghuram Rajan, Urjit Patel and Shantikanta Das.

Before the elevation, he was an executive director of the central bank.

Born in June 1958, he did his Master's in economics from the Bangalore University and joined the central bank in 1981. In July 2019, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet re-appointed Vishwanathan for one year till July 3, 2020.

If the resignation is accepted by the Cabinet, Vishwanathan will be second deputy governor to leave after Das took over as the governor in December 2018. Deputy Governor Viral Acharya left in June 2019.

As deputy governor, Vishwanathan is heading the departments of banking regulation, co-operative banking regulation, non-banking regulation, Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation, the financial stability unit, and departments of inspection, risk monitoring and also the secretary's department.

Before he became the deputy governor, he was on a three-year deputation to the Bank of Mauritius, the central bank of Mauritius, as director of supervision.

An RBI observer said his departure will pose a challenge for the central bank to navigate the key supervisory and regulatory functions in one of its most difficult times.

He was one of the key supporters for governor Patel in getting the crippled state-run banks under prompt corrective action framework as also sending the largest defaulters for bankruptcy through the February 2018 circular (which was struck down by the Supreme Court last April).
Appointment

5 March 2020

Carl returns to Remington Hotels after serving as Senior Vice President for FelCor Lodging Trust and Senior Director, Construction and Planning at Phoenix American Hospitality. Carl previously assumed the role of Vice President of Purchasing and Project Management for Remington Hotels from 1995 until 2006.

Carl received his Bachelor of Science in Hotel/Motel Administration and Management from Penn State University. Carl's role of Senior Vice President of Facilities and Capital Strategies is new to Remington Hotels. Bringing over 30 years of hospitality experience, Carl will be overseeing capital planning, automated project management programs, service and maintenance agreements, disaster response and training and development programs for engineers, among other duties. Link to high-res headshot.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:49:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LONDON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- More than 227,000 cases of child abuse in England and Wales were recorded by police in the year ending March 2019, but an official study revealed Thursday the majority of cases remain hidden and don't enter the criminal justice system.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said around one in 25, which is 4 percent, of the identified cases of child abuse offences resulted in a criminal charge or court summons.

Crimes ranged from child rape or sexual offences, illegal images of children to child neglect or assault.

The ONS report also showed the number of suspects referred by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision fell by 22 percent in the last year.

"While not all cases continue through the criminal justice system, almost 4 in 5 of child abuse-flagged CPS prosecutions were successful in securing a conviction in the year ending March 2019," the ONS said.

Almost half of child abuse offences recorded by the police do not proceed further through the criminal justice system because of evidential difficulties. This includes worries that the process would be too distressing, or a fear of being judged, or offences might have been committed by someone close to victims and they may not have wished the police to take action against them.

The ONS said this reflects the challenges involved in investigating child abuse offences.

"We see similar trends in figures for sexual offences. Of course, both crimes are particularly sensitive in nature and some have occurred a long time in the past making them more challenging to investigate," said Meghan Elkin, head of the ONS Center for Crime and Justice.
FBI Arrests Military Translator on Espionage Charges

By Masood Farivar March 04, 2020

An American military translator based in Iraq has been arrested and charged with passing the names of intelligence assets to a Lebanese national with suspected ties to the Hezbollah terror group, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, formerly of Rochester, Minnesota, was arrested by FBI special agents on February 27 at a U.S. special operations base in Irbil, Iraq, where she had worked as a contract translator since December. She faces charges of delivering defense information to aid a foreign government and was scheduled to make her first appearance in federal court Wednesday afternoon in Washington.

In a statement, Pentagon press secretary Alyssa Farah said the department was aware of the charges against Thompson and that it was "taking all necessary precautions, including protection of U.S. forces." The company that had apparently hired her as a contract linguist for the U.S. military declined to comment.

According to the Justice Department, an FBI investigation leading to Thompson's arrest showed that she had used her top secret U.S. government security clearance to access dozens of classified military computer files on human intelligence sources over a six-week period beginning December 30, a day after U.S. strikes against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq.

The files included "true names, personal identification data, background information and photographs of the human assets, as well as operational cables detailing information the assets provided to the United States government," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Romantic interest

An FBI search of Thompson's living quarters on February 19 found a handwritten note in Arabic with classified information that she intended to pass to the unidentified Lebanese, according to court papers. In interviews with FBI agents after her arrest in Iraq, Thompson claimed to have had a romantic interest in the man and to have passed along the information at his request.

The note found under a mattress included names of human assets and instructions that an individual affiliated with a terrorist organization being targeted by the United States be warned. Thompson later told agents that she relayed the information "by memorizing the classified information that she had viewed, writing it down and then using the video feature of a secure direct messaging application on her cellular phone to transmit her notes of the classified information to the co-conspirator."

An emergency search warrant served on an unidentified service provider the day before her arrest turned up further evidence of her alleged crime: an image of an "apparent screenshot" of Thompson's video chat with the man during which Thompson is holding a note that identifies a human source by name, according to court documents.

Thompson told FBI investigators the target of her romantic pursuit was influential because his nephew worked for Lebanon's interior ministry. She described Hezbollah as "bad," and said that that Hezbollah members were "terrorists" and that they "kill people."

The group was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in 1997.

Thompson's national origins and date of immigration to the United States could not be immediately determined. According to her LinkedIn profile, she attended the Arabic University in Beirut from 1977 to 1979 and received her GED from Rochester Community College in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1991.

Began work in 2006

Beginning in 2006, she started working as a translator and cultural adviser for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan and then in Iraq again, all through U.S.-based contractors. During more than three years in Iraq in the 2000s, she participated "in hundreds of combat patrols to assist coalition leaders in their engagements with key Iraqi leaders," General David Petraeus, then the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, wrote in a glowing 2010 "letter of endorsement" posted on Thompson's LinkedIn page.

While serving in Afghanistan, Thompson, who went by "Mary," "provided essential information to the theatre-level command which affected policy and operations throughout the country," Petraeus wrote, recommending her for a job as a leader of a U.S. military "human terrain team" or as a cultural adviser.

Since 2016, Thompson has been employed by Worldwide Language Services to work as an "Arabic linguist" for U.S. special forces in Syria, according to her LinkedIn profile. The Fayetteville, North Carolina, company bills itself as a "leading international organization that has provided elite operational combat interpreters and translators to support U.S., allied and coalition forces for two decades."

Robin Dickenson, human relations director for the company, declined to comment on Thompson's employment status.

Lynn Davis contributed to this report.

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Top diplomat was credited for Iran-Iraq ceasefire and for running against Peruvian president, Alberto Fujimori in 1995.

Javier Perez de Cuellar, the two-term United Nations secretary-general who brokered a historic ceasefire between Iran and Iraq in 1988, and who came out of retirement to help re-establish democracy in Peru, died on Wednesday, Perus foreign ministry said. He was 100.

His son, Francisco Perez de Cuellar, said his father died at home of natural causes.

Born in Lima in 1920, Perez de Cuellar served as the UNs fifth secretary-general between 1982 and 1991, following a long diplomatic career.

Javier Perez de Cuellar was an outstanding Peruvian, a full-bodied democrat, who dedicated his life and work to making our country great, tweeted Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra late on Wednesday.

Perez de Cuellar had a long diplomatic career that brought him full circle from his first posting as secretary at the Peruvian embassy in Paris in 1944 to a later job as Perus ambassador to France.

When he began his tenure as UN secretary-general on January 1, 1982, the little-known Peruvian was the compromise candidate at a time when the UN was held in low esteem.





Serving as UN undersecretary-general for special political affairs, he emerged as the dark horse candidate in December 1981 after six weeks of deadlock between UN chief Kurt Waldheim and Tanzanian Foreign Minister Salim Ahmed Salim.

Once elected, Perez de Cuellar quickly made his mark.

Disturbed by the UNs dwindling effectiveness, he sought to revitalise the world bodys faulty peacekeeping machinery.

Shaking up the house

His first step was to shake up the house with a highly critical report in which he warned: We are perilously near to a new international anarchy.

With the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and with conflicts raging in Afghanistan and Cambodia and between Iran and Iraq, he complained to the General Assembly that UN resolutions are increasingly defied or ignored by those that feel themselves strong enough to do so.

The problem with the United Nations is that either its not used or misused by member countries, he said in an interview at the end of his first year as UN secretary-general.

During his decade as UN chief, Perez de Cuellar would earn a reputation more for diligent, quiet diplomacy than charisma.





In July 1986, Perez de Cuellar underwent a quadruple coronary bypass operation, putting in question his ability to do a second term. From the outset, Perez de Cuellar had insisted that he would be a one-term secretary-general.

But he did come back for a second term after a groundswell of support for his candidacy, including from then-US President Ronald Reagan, who  in the words of the UN chiefs spokesman  expressed his personal support for the secretary-general.

All told, Perez de Cuellars diplomacy helped bring an end to fighting in Cambodia, the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

Shortly after midnight on January 1, 1992, he walked out of UN headquarters to his waiting limousine, no longer the secretary-general but having attained his final goal after hours of tough negotiations: a peace pact between the Salvadoran government and rebels.

After leaving the UN, Perez de Cuellar made an unsuccessful bid for Perus presidency in 1995 against Alberto Fujimori [File: Pedro Ugarte/AFP]

After leaving the UN, Perez de Cuellar made an unsuccessful bid for Perus presidency in 1995 against the authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, whose 10-year regime crumbled in November 2000 amid corruption scandals.

At the age of 80, Perez de Cuellar emerged from retirement in Paris and returned to Peru to take on the mantle of foreign minister and cabinet chief for provisional President Valentin Paniagua.

His impeccable democratic credentials lent credibility to an interim government whose mandate was to deliver free and fair elections. Eight months later, newly elected President Alejandro Toledo asked him to serve as ambassador to France.

Perez de Cuellar was married to Marcela Temple. He had a son, Francisco, and a daughter, Cristina, by a previous marriage.

His funeral will be held at Perus foreign ministry on Friday.
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territory - Palestinian officials on Thursday closed the storied Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem indefinitely over fears of the new coronavirus, weeks ahead of the busy Easter holiday season.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman has her temperature checked as she enters the Palladium Shopping Center, in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Iran's supreme leader put the Islamic Republic's armed forces on alert Tuesday to assist health officials in combating the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the deadliest outside of China. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territory - Palestinian officials on Thursday closed the storied Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem indefinitely over fears of the new coronavirus, weeks ahead of the busy Easter holiday season.

The announcement by the Palestinian tourism ministry threatened to devastate the vital tourism industry in the town where Jesus is believed to have been born. The spread of the virus across the Middle East has already disrupted worship at other major holy sites.

Iran, the epicenter of the virus in the region, announced that it would set up checkpoints to limit travel between major cities and urged citizens to reduce their use of paper money to help slow the outbreak, which has killed at least 107 people in the country.

Iranian state TV also reported that Hossein Sheikholeslam, a 68-year-old diplomat who was an adviser to Irans foreign minister, died of the coronavirus.

A Muslim prays from a hotel overlooking the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Health Minister Abdel-Fattah Mashat was quoted on the state-linked news site Al-Yaum saying that groups of visitors to Mecca from inside the country would now also be barred from performing the pilgrimage, known as the umrah. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

In addition, Iran's state-run media said that Mohammad Sadr, a member of the country's Expediency Council and a senior adviser to the foreign minister, has been infected. Another member of the council, which advises Iran's supreme leader, died earlier this week after falling ill with the new virus, which has sickened a number of Iranian officials.

The Church of the Nativity was closed after suspicions that four Palestinians had caught the virus, prompting a flurry of measures that included banning all tourists from the Israeli-occupied West Bank for an unspecified amount of time and shutting down other places of worship in Bethlehem for two weeks.

The Palestinian health ministry later said a total of seven Palestinians from Bethlehem have tested positive for the virus, the first cases reported in the Palestinian territories.

It said the seven worked at a hotel where a group of Greek tourists stayed during a tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories in late February. The tourists tested positive for the virus after returning to Greece.

Built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born in a manger, the Church of the Nativity is one of several tourist and holy sites to shut their doors over concerns about the virus, which has infected tens of thousands of people and killed more than 3,000 globally.

A woman wearing a face mask and gloves crosses an intersection in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. With deaths spiking in Iran and Italy and infections spreading quickly through Europe, the Mideast and the Americas, countries were considering new drastic measures to curb the new coronavirus that first emerged in China. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Just before 4 p.m., a bearded clergyman walked outside and locked the church's wooden door with a large key. A team of workers dressed in white overalls arrived with jugs of cleaning materials and walked through a side entrance to disinfect the building. Tariq al-Ali, one of the workers, said it was the second time his team disinfected the church.

We have disinfected many institutions in the past week. We are under pressure, he said.

Saif Saboh, a Palestinian tour guide, said a number of groups had cancelled visits in recent days. He said he has stopped shaking hands or getting too close to tourists. I'm terrified," he said. Any tourist could be infected.

The virus has disrupted Muslim worship across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia banned pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca, while Iran has cancelled Friday's Islamic prayers in major cities. Iraq cancelled Friday prayers in Karbala, where a weekly sermon is delivered on behalf of the country's top Shiite cleric.

The Church of the Nativity receives some 10,000 tourists a day, according to Palestinian officials, and is expected to welcome tens of thousands of visitors during the Easter season.

In this picture taken with a slow shutter speed, far smaller crowds than usual of Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The coronavirus outbreak disrupted Islamic worship in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia on Wednesday banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, while Iran canceled Friday prayers in major cities. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Elias al-Arja, the head of the Bethlehem hotel owners union, angrily accused authorities of caving in to panic. This will cause huge damage to the economy. We have 3,000 workers in the tourist sector and they will all go home. Who is going to feed their families? he said.

Anton Suleiman, the mayor of Bethlehem, acknowledged the economic impact, but said public safety is the most important thing to us.

In Iran, Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced his country's latest restrictions, saying schools and universities will remain closed through Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20. We will strictly control comings and goings, he said.

More than 3,740 cases have been confirmed across the Middle East. Iran and Italy have the worlds highest death tolls outside of China.

The U.S. official focused on Iran, Brian Hook, said Thursday the U.S. offered humanitarian assistance to Iran to help them deal with the outbreak, but "the regime rejected the offer."

People visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Palestinian authorities said the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built atop the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely due to coronavirus concerns. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Hook, speaking at a news conference in Paris, also said the U.S. has asked Iran to release American detainees "on medical furlough" over fears the coronavirus may be infesting the country's prisons.

Israeli officials said they were working closely with their Palestinian counterparts to contain the virus. COGAT, the Israeli defence body responsible for Palestinian civilian matters, said it had delivered 250 test kits to the Palestinians and was co-ordinating joint training sessions for Israeli and Palestinian medical workers.

For the time being, other major places of worship in the Holy Land remained open. Israeli officials said there were no special precautions at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, though hand sanitizing stations were placed at the site.

In this time of distress, there is nothing more appropriate than coming to pray at the Western Wall," said Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi who oversees the site.

The nearby Al Aqsa mosque compound was expected to welcome 50,000 worshipers for Friday prayers. The Islamic Waqf, which administers the site, said the buildings have been disinfected and the sermon would be brief.

Israel, which has 17 confirmed virus cases, has taken strict measures in a bid to stave off an outbreak, including banning the entry of visitors from around 10 countries.

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On Thursday, German airline Lufthansa said it and its Austrian and Swiss subsidiaries were cancelling flights to and from Israel for three weeks starting Sunday because of the restrictions.

Israeli airline El Al, which has cancelled dozens of flights to countries with outbreaks, announced Wednesday that it was laying off 1,000 employees.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government will set up an emergency cash flow assistance fund for businesses deemed essential to the economy. It was not immediately clear if that would apply to El Al.

Earlier on Thursday, the United Arab Emirates warned citizens and foreign residents not to travel abroad, The country is home to two major long-haul airlines, Emirates and Etihad, which have encouraged staff to take time off as foreign travel has dropped due to the virus.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, Josef Federman and Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem, and Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.
Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will hear, after Holi break, the petition filed by Sara Abdullah Pilot, sister of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, challenging his detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978.

The matter was listed before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra today but could not be taken up as Justice Mishra was hearing a Constitution bench matter.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sara Abdullah Pilot, mentioned the matter before the bench, following which Justice Mishra told him that the matter will not be taken up today.

Sibal requested the court to take up the matter as soon as possible as it is a habeas corpus case.

The court said that it will hear the matter post the Holi break.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration, in an affidavit on Monday, told the apex court that Abdullah has been "very vocal critic" of abrogation of Article 370 and his presence would pose an "imminent threat to public order" and objected to the petition filed by Sara.

The plea filed by Sara Abdullah Pilot, Omar's sister and the wife of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, said the order of detention is manifestly illegal and there is no question of him being a "threat to the maintenance of public order".

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had on February 5 invoked the stringent Public Safety Act against the former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and other top leaders in the erstwhile state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. charges two Chinese nationals with helping North Korea steal millions in cryptocurrency Picture illustration of a small toy figurine and representations of the Bitcoin virtual currency displayed in front of an image of China's flag

By Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department charged two Chinese nationals with laundering more than $100 million in cryptocurrency on behalf of North Korea, in court filings that detail Pyongyang's use of hackers to circumvent sanctions.

According to an indictment filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., and unsealed on Monday, the two Chinese allegedly laundered cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers between December 2017 and April 2019, helping to hide the stolen currency from police.

These defendants allegedly laundered over a hundred million dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency to obscure transactions for the benefit of actors based in North Korea, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement.

In a related civil forfeiture complaint also unsealed on Monday, Justice Department lawyers said they had seized some of the roughly $250 million that they said North Koreans hackers stole from a virtual currency exchange in 2018.

Those funds were then laundered through hundreds of automated transactions designed to prevent investigators from tracing the funds, the complaint alleged.

At least some of those funds were eventually used to help pay for the infrastructure in North Korea used to launch cyberattacks, according to the documents.

The same North Korean hackers were linked to a November 2019 attack on a South Korean virtual exchange that netted the hackers more than $48 million in stolen cryptocurrency.

"The hacking of virtual currency exchanges and related money laundering for the benefit of North Korean actors poses a grave threat to the security and integrity of the global financial system," U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea of the District of Columbia, said in the statement.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke off funding for Pyongyangs nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

North Korea has generated an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs using "widespread and increasingly sophisticated" cyber attacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, a confidential United Nations report said last year.

Story continues

The U.N. experts said North Korea's attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges allowed it "to generate income in ways that are harder to trace and subject to less government oversight and regulation than the traditional banking sector."

At the time, North Korea denied those U.N. allegations, calling them a "fabrication" aimed at tarnishing the country's image.

The United States last year charged American digital currency expert Virgil Griffith with helping North Korea use cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to evade U.S. sanctions, after he attended a 2019 North Korean cryptocurrency conference.

Prosecutors said he and other conference attendees had discussed how cryptocurrency technology could be used by Pyongyang to launder money and evade sanctions.

Griffith's lawyer has rejected the charges.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Michael Perry)
A Welsh teacher who became the first British man to contract coronavirus has revealed what it feels like to be infected with Covid-19.

Connor Reed, 25, caught the strain while teaching English at a foreign language in a school in Wuhan - the epicenter of the outbreak - at the end of November.

Setting out how symptoms developed in the Daily Mail, he said at first he put his bleary eyes down to a cold and continued to go to work.

However he soon developed a sore throat and tried to combat the illness by making hot toddies - a concoction made up of whisky, honey and hot water.

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. 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The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

Despite appearing to make a recover over the next few days, by day seven he said he suddenly ached all over and suffered from a thumping headache, burning eyes and a hacking cough and was forced to take the day off work.

Speaking about his declining health on that day he said: "The symptoms hit me this afternoon like a train and, unless theres an overnight miracle, I will not be going to work tomorrow. Its not just that I feel so ill  I really dont want to give this flu to any of my colleagues."

By day 12 his symptoms got worse and he decided to try to "survive a taxi journey" to hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

"I've had a relapse. Just as I thought the flu was getting better, it has come back with a vengeance," he said.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 under the microscope / National Institutes of Health/AF

"My breathing is laboured. Just getting up and going to the bathroom leaves me panting and exhausted. Im sweating, burning up, dizzy and shivering. The television is on but I cant make sense of it. This is a nightmare."

He was prescribed antibiotics but did not take them over fears he would become resistant, instead relying on steam inhalation and rest.

On day 22 he said: "I was hoping to be back at work today but no such luck. The pneumonia has gone  but now I ache as if Ive been run over by a steamroller.

"My sinuses are agony, and my eardrums feel ready to pop. I know I shouldnt but Im massaging my inner ear with cotton buds, trying to take the pain away."

Wuhan, China: Convention Centre turned into a hospital for Coronavirus 1 /16 Wuhan, China: Convention Centre turned into a hospital for Coronavirus The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center on February 4th.2020 in Wuhan.Hubei Province,China. Wuhan epidemic prevention headquarters started converting three existing venues, including a gymnasium and an exhibition center, into hospitals to receive patients infected with the novel Coronavirus Getty Images Reuters AP REUTERS AP Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AP AP AP AP

After days of ill health he finally felt better on day 24 in what he describes as his "hallelujah" moment.

He found out on day 52 via a hospital notification that he had coronavirus.

At the time, to be honest, I didnt even know what coronavirus was at that point, he told ITVs This Morning over a feed from Wuhan earlier this week.

So it doesnt matter at that stage. I got sick, I got over it and thats the way I look at it.

Speaking about the current atmosphere in Wuhan, Mr Reed said people remained under quarantine, with citizens unable to buy items from shops.

Each community has a community manager and then you contact them and then they purchase things for you, he said.

One person from each household is not allowed to leave for three days, and that person must be registered and have their ID cards with them.

It is quite scary because normally the streets are bustling with people. There are people dancing and singing on the streets, its normally a very jovial place.

But at the moment it is very dead and you can feel the atmosphere thats happening.

Across the world, the number of people killed worldwide by the virus now exceeds 3,000 and there have been almost 90,000 confirmed cases.

While most patients only have mild symptoms, Covid-19 appears to be much more deadly than seasonal flu.
An international team of scientists led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has launched a comprehensive overview of all proteins expressed in the brain, published today in the journal Science. The open-access database offers medical researchers an unprecedented resource to deepen their understanding of neurobiology and develop new, more effective therapies and diagnostics targeting psychiatric and neurological diseases.

The brain is the most complex organ of our body, both in structure and function. The new Brain Atlas resource is based on the analysis of nearly 1,900 brain samples covering 27 brain regions, combining data from the human brain with corresponding information from the brains of the pig and mouse. It is the latest database released by the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) program which is based at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Sweden, a joint research centre aligned with KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm University and Uppsala University. The project is a collaboration with the BGI research centre in Shenzhen and Qingdao in China and Aarhus University in Denmark.

"As expected the blueprint for the brain is shared among mammals, but the new map also reveals interesting differences between human, pig and mouse brains," says Mathias Uhlen, Professor at the Department of Protein Science at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Visiting professor at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and Director of the Human Protein Atlas effort.

The cerebellum emerged in the study as the most distinct region of the brain. Many proteins with elevated expression levels in this region were found, including several associated to psychiatric disorders supporting a role of the cerebellum in the processing of emotions.

"Another interesting finding is that the different cell types of the brain share specialised proteins with peripheral organs," says Dr. Evelina Sjostedt, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and first author on the paper. "For example, astrocytes, the cells that 'filter' the extracellular environment in the brain share a lot of transporters and metabolic enzymes with cells in the liver that filter the blood."

When comparing the neurotransmitter systems, responsible for the communication between neurons, some clear differences between the species could be identified.

"Several molecular components of neurotransmitter systems, especially receptors that respond to released neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, show a different pattern in humans and mice," says Dr. Jan Mulder, group leader of the Human Protein Atlas brain profiling group and researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet. "This means that caution should be taken when selecting animals as models for human mental and neurological disorders."

For selected genes/proteins, the Brain Atlas also contains microscopic images showing the protein distribution in human brain samples and detailed, zoomable maps of protein distribution in the mouse brain.

The Human Protein Atlas started in 2003 with the aim to map all of the human proteins in cells, tissues and organs (the proteome). All the data in the knowledge resource is open access allowing scientists both in academia and industry to freely use the data for the exploration of the human proteome.

###

The main funding for the research was provided by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

Publication: "An atlas of the protein-coding genes in the human, pig and mouse brain". Evelina Sjostedt, Wen Zhong, Linn Fagerberg, Max Karlsson, Nicholas Mitsios, Csaba Adori, Per Oksvold, Fredrik Edfors, Agnieszka Limiszewska, Feria Hikmet, Jinrong Huang, Yutao Du, Lin Lin, Zhanying Dong, Ling Yang, Xin Liu, Hui Jiang, Xun Xu, Jian Wang, Huanming Yang, Lars Bolund, Adil Mardinoglu, Cheng Zhang, Kalle von Feilitzen, Cecilia Lindskog, Fredrik Ponten, Yonglun Luo, Tomas Hokfelt, Mathias Uhlen, Jan Mulder. Science, online 5 March 2020, doi: 10.1126/science.aay5947.

Brain Atlas: https://www.proteinatlas.org/brain
05.03.2020 LISTEN

The vetting of parliamentary aspirants in the Northern Region for the upcoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) primaries on April 25 has ended in Tamale, with all 22 aspirants contesting the NPP seat in nine constituencies taking their turns in the vetting process.

The two-day exercise saw aspirants from, Saboba, Yendi, Gushegu, Kpandai, Savelugu, Nanton, Bimbila, Wulensi and Tolon partaking in the process.

Speaking to the media, the National Organizer for the NPP, Sammy Awuku described the process as successful but indicated that the committee will forward the regional report to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for the final decision to be taken.

He, however, noted that aspirants who have been accused of wrongdoing have been given the opportunity to purge themselves.

Im extremely delighted that the Northern aspirants impressed the vetting panel. All those who were accused were also offered the opportunity to clear themselves of the various accusations. Its been like that in every region weve been to. So petitions are not new to this process. However, it is the accused persons ability to speak to the issue and give his side of the story. That also helps us to know the decisions to take, he indicated.

Meanwhile, Citi News sources revealed that the vetting committee has given 24 hours to one of the aspirants contesting the Yendi seat, Baba Osman Daney, a former accountant at the Bursary Department of the Northern Regional Coordinating Council to provide a clearance letter from the Regional Coordinating Council where he was alleged to have transferred some GHS100,000 into his personal account through fraudulent means.

Mr. Osman, however, claims he has paid back the amount hence the committee demanding from him, documents to authenticate his claims.

---citinewsroom
PORTLAND, Maine, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rarebreed Veterinary Partners, a technology-enabled animal health startup based in Portland, Maine, announced today that it has acquired Maine Veterinary Medical Center (MVMC), a specialty/referral hospital offering advanced medical care for pets, including neurology, internal medicine, oncology, ophthalmology, surgery, rehabilitation, emergency care and critical care. Deal terms have not been disclosed.

MVMC employs 150 veterinary professionals, including 21 specialty doctors and is located in a 20,000-square-foot hospital in Scarborough, Maine. The state-of-the art facility includes a newly completed 2,500-square-foot intensive care unit and a large collection of advanced veterinary medical equipment, including Maine's only veterinary MRI and fluoroscopy suite.

"Our entire team is thrilled that MVMC's leadership believed in Rarebreed and chose our model over other bidders offering more money," said Rarebreed CEO Dan Espinal. "This partnership puts Rarebreed on the cutting edge of veterinary medicine and gets us into the specialty business."

As part of the deal, 21 MVMC doctors and a collection of staff will take ownership in the company, along with Rarebreed, which acquired the majority share.

MVMC chief of staff Ezra J Steinberg, VMD, DACVS, noted that MVMC met with multiple potential partners before choosing Rarebreed. "A primary reason for selecting Rarebreed is their commitment to preserve local control and offering equity to interested doctors and staff," said Dr. Steinberg. "The ownership aspect of this agreement is really exciting because it means that our staff will get to participate in the economic upside of the business."

Rarebreed Captures New Investment

Since its founding in 2018, Rarebreed has grown to 450 employees, with $40 million in revenue. In February 2020, the company announced it had raised $42 million in two rounds of equity financing including investments by Caremi Partners Limited and Northwood Ventures LLC.

Rarebreed is focused on taking care of the people who take care of animals with the goal of becoming the employer of choice for those dedicating their professional lives to veterinary care. Rarebreed accomplishes this by bringing industry leading benefits to bear, including outsized parental leave, pet medical benefits, and best-in-class healthcare benefits for anyone working more than 30 hours a week. Rarebreed invests in business operations and a technology backend that provides deep analytics into the practice.

Media Contact:

Dan Espinal, CEO Rarebreed

EM: [email protected]

PH: (207) 747-4183

SOURCE Rarebreed Veterinary Partners

Related Links

https://www.rarebreedvet.com/


The HSE is concerned that inappropriate postings on social media have come close to identifying people and could make other people reluctant to come forward to be tested for coronavirus.

The health authoritys chief executive, Paul Reid, said the authority had received information about a social media post of someone who was being tested in the community for the virus.

Thats what we want to avoid. Its stigmatising areas; its stigmatising schools; its stigmatising people, Mr Reid told a media briefing.

It is not where we need to end up in this process. Thats what we are trying to protect against.

Mr Reid said the authority had to find a balance between what was right for the wider public good and respecting the privacy of people who had tested positive for the virus.

Where people need to know and are involved directly they will be contacted very rapidly, he said.

Mr Reid said the authority was taking steps every day to make sure public health teams had sufficient resources and that had involved bringing in extra staff. We will continue to deploy the appropriate staff anywhere across the health service for this phase and for any phase we enter.

HSE national director of communications, Paul Connors, said they had made some complaints to social media about postings, particularly where they were egregious.

The social media platforms had been quite responsive and he hoped they would have more engagement in the future.

We have seen some really, really inappropriate postings going up there, which gets pretty close to identifying individuals and that we would find to be posing a particular problem for us, said Mr Connors.

Mr Reid said Ireland remained in the containment phase but the situation had become very challenging.

It had been decided this week to invest 20m to increase the number of intensive care beds across the acute hospital system.

Mr Reid said 20 additional intensive care unit beds could be in place reasonably quickly and five more would be added in the medium term. It also involved a further investment in the national isolation unit at the Mater University in Dublin.

Also, the provision of extra beds over the winter period would be extended.

Mr Reid said they had also invested at least 20m in the purchase of equipment  13,500 kits had been distributed to GPs and the HSE was continuously making sure they had a good steady supply. Ventilators had also been purchased to support the acute hospital system.

The HSE was also looking at vulnerable groups and seeing what supports they can provide to those people.

Mr Reid said it was an unprecedented situation but the health authority wanted to ensure that there was no public panic or, equally, a level of complacency.

However, they needed the public to treat the situation very seriously and act on all the advice given.

Specialist in public health medicine, Dr Sarah Doyle, said they expected that coronavirus would be spreading within the community within weeks.

As they moved into the next phase, everybody infected, even those with mild symptoms will need to be self-isolate.

They may feel they are fit to go to work but they are a risk for the spread of infection, said Dr Doyle.

Each and every one of us needs to think about what that means for us.

Everybody needs to think about how this will impact their school, their work, and what they could do within those settings to prevent the spread of infection.

Because the only way were going to protect ourselves is by protecting all of us.

Dr Doyle said she could not indicate how many people so far had been asked to self-isolate.

Many people are being asked to self-isolate for the protection of public health.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:09:44|Editor: xuxin

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BANGKOK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday welcomed groups representing farmers, civil society and independent entrepreneurs to make use of the government's latest program called "Have Problems, Consult the PM," to voice their grievances and problems directly to him.

"The 'Have Problems, Consult the PM' program was initiated by me, especially the present economic woes, drought and many other issues," said Prayut, assuring all that the government is working hard to alleviate their hardships.

"By meeting with the people and hearing their problems directly, the government will then be able to get first-hand information, and hopefully we can then find remedies to mitigate their problems," said Prayut.

The first session for the people to tell their problems to the premier will begin next week.

Prayut said he will decide whether the forum will be held every Thursday.
Federal immigration agents arrested a man in front of San Franciscos Hall of Justice this week, prompting outrage from the citys public defender and district attorney.

The man, identified only as a San Francisco resident, was in front of the criminal courthouse at 850 Bryant St., on his way to a hearing, when agents took him into custody on Tuesday, according to the public defenders office and the mans attorney, Emi MacLean.

MacLean declined to name the man on Thursday or give details about his arrest but said hes detained at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility in Bakersfield.

He is a longtime resident of San Francisco who was showing up, as he should, to a criminal court appearance, said MacLean, who called the arrest outrageous.

Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the man is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has three felony convictions for second-degree burglary and multiple arrests on his record. The agency said it issued several detainers, a request to hold the man, with local law enforcement following his arrests but that they were ignored, allowing the man to be released back into the community.

ICE did not name the man.

His arrest revived the debate over sanctuary jurisdictions and how far they should go to protect undocumented immigrants. San Francisco officials have said they refuse to cooperate with ICE or honor detainers, a decision that has made the city a focal point of the national immigration debate.

A detainer or immigration hold  which differs from a judicial warrant  is a written request by ICE to a local jail or law enforcement agency to detain an undocumented immigrant arrested on criminal charges for an additional 48 hours after his or her release.

The intent is to give ICE time to arrest the individual and begin deportation proceedings, but some courts have deemed the tactic unconstitutional.

This follows the arrests of at least two immigrants at the Sonoma County Superior Court last month, which outraged politicians and community advocates who say courthouses must be deemed safe spaces. They fear these arrests will deter immigrants from reporting crimes or acting as witnesses in criminal cases.

This is likely the first time ICE has arrested someone at a San Francisco courthouse, officials said. ICE has said it has federal authority to make arrests as it sees fit, no matter the location. The agency has criticized sanctuary jurisdictions such as San Francisco for protecting undocumented immigrants, arguing they are compromising public safety.

Criminals like this individual are released to re-offend again and again, ICE San Francisco Field Office Director David Jennings, said in a statement Thursday.

A simple phone call to ICE to arrange the secure transfer of such individuals would serve the hard-working residents of the city far more than a misguided sanctuary policy that, as proven here and numerous times in the past, goes to great lengths to protect criminals under the guise of protecting the citizenry.

Local law enforcement arrested the man at least seven times in the past five years, according to ICE. The agency issued eight detainers for the man  most recently in October  but they were ignored, ICE said.

The Trump administration said it will ramp up arrests as it continues to crack down on illegal immigration, particularly in jurisdictions that do not cooperate with ICE. Its unclear if the courthouse arrests are part of this increased enforcement.

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.

Its showing the increasingly lawless behavior of immigration authorities, MacLean said. Its the reason why in San Francisco and in many other jurisdictions theres been a strong statement that ICE is not welcome here.

The agents did not have a judicial warrant, a violation of state law, the public defenders office said.

California law explicitly forbids a civil enforcement agency, including ICE, from making a civil arrest without a warrant outside a courthouse, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said in a statement. ICEs illegal conduct undermines community trust and public safety. This type of action scares people  including victims, witnesses, the accused, or those participating in treatment  and deters them from coming to court.

Raju said his office will provide immediate and zealous representation to anyone subject to such illegal activity.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin also condemned the action.

ICE actions in or near our courthouses deters people from accessing our justice system, making us all less safe, he said.

The public defenders office said it plans to hold a news conference on the steps of the Hall of Justice on Monday and share more information about the case.

Tatiana Sanchez and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @TatianaYSanchez
President Nana Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 paid a working visit to some key health facilities to assess the countrys preparedness for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

He was accompanied by minister in charge of the health sector, Kwaku Agyeman Manu.

They visited the Tema General Hospital, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and the Kotoka International Airport.

READ ALSO: Accra High Court charges Kwesi Nyantakyi with fraud

At the Kotoka International Airport, all passengers are screened using thermal scanning devices at the airport, and passengers are also required to fill a health declaration form.

"A holding room at the airport, which is to be utilised to hold suspected COVID-19 cases, has been established, Akufo-Addo stated.

He also noted that the hospitals designated as treatment or isolation centers are all ready in the event of any positive cases.

In briefing the president on the process one goes through upon arrival at the KIA, Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Ltd, Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, said all passengers are screened using thermal scanning devices. And also to fill a a health declaration form.

The President was made aware of the fact that the emergency response team at the hospitals has been activated, with basic medical checks undertaken on every patient who visits the hospital.

If there is any positive indication of the contraction of a disease, we keep you and we make arrangement for the patient to be transported to this centre. We conduct a test, which involves taking samples and sending it to Noguchi. To date, we have tested about seventeen people who fitted into the case definition. However, luckily, none of them tested positive, President Akufo-Addo was told.

READ ALSO: Aspiring NPP official dupes Ghanaians at Jubilee House; vanishes with GHC100,000

In briefing the President, the Minister of Health stated that public health emergency management structures at all levels, i.e. national, regional, district have been activated and placed on high alert, in addition to the holding of National Technical Co-ordinating Committee meetings.

On his part, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, Healthcares Minister told President Akufo-Addo that 40 suspected coronavirus cases have been reported and tested.

All forty (40), he stressed have tested negative for COVID-19 from Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that in his quest to win political power, John Dumelo, NDCs parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency went on a door-to-door campaign on the University of Ghana campus in Accra.

The actor, turned politician has intensified his campaign ahead of the parliamentary polls in December 2020.

He has been doing all sorts of things to win the hearts and minds of electorates in the constituency.

"I will score President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo 0/100" - Market woman reveals | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Deputy Attorney General alleges Mahama is Government Official 1 in Airbus scandal

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
President Donald Trump has fired back at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over remarks he made about Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch on Wednesday.

Trump was responding to Schumer's remarks at a rally outside the high court while a high-profile abortion case was being argued inside.

'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' Schumer said, naming the two Trump appointees, according to video of the rally available online.

'It's a disgrace that he was able to say that,' Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening. 'That was a terrible thing he said  I was amazed by it.'

President Donald Trump has fired back at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over remarks he made about Supreme Court Justices

'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' Schumer said at this rally

The abortion case in front of the Supreme Court is the first to be heard since Donald Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch (left) and Brett Kavanaugh (right) as justices

Trump said that Schumer had delivered his remarks to a 'on the streets in front of a rough crowd' and that if a Republican had said something similar they would 'see very bad things happen.'

Earlier, Trump tweeted: 'This is a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court by Schumer. If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW!'

'There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!' Trump tweeted.

The justices are currently weighing a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

A federal judge found that just one of Louisiana's three abortion clinics would remain open if the law is allowed to take effect.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who in 2018 rebuked Trump for the president's criticism of an 'Obama judge,' had jumped to his colleagues' defense after Schumer's remarks.

'Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous,' Roberts said in a statement.

'It's a disgrace that he was able to say that,' Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity (above) on Wednesday evening. 'That was a terrible thing he said'

In a statement, Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman criticized Roberts, saying that 'to follow the right wings deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said' shows the chief justice 'does not just call balls and strikes.'

Goodman said Schumer's comments 'were a reference to the political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.'

He noted that the chief justice remained quiet in recent weeks when Trump questioned the impartiality of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.

In the Hannity interview, Trump also addressed the Democratic presidential primary, saying that he blamed Senator Elizabeth Warren for Senator Bernie Sanders' relatively poor showing on Super Tuesday.

Trump also addressed the Democratic presidential primary, saying that he blamed Senator Elizabeth Warren (above) for siphoning votes from Senator Bernie Sanders

'Bernie Sanders, if he were able to convince Elizabeth Warren to endorse him or even to drop out, he would have won a lot of the states last night,' Trump said.

Trump said that if he faces Joe Biden in the general election, he will make Biden's son Hunter and his dealings in Ukraine a major issue.

The president was impeached, and later acquitted, for pushing Ukraine to investigate the Biden family's alleged corruption in the country, where Hunter Biden held a lucrative board seat on a gas company.

'That will be a major issue in the campaign, I will bring that up all the time because i don't see any way out,' Trump said. 'I don't believe they'll be able to answer those questions, that was purely corrupt.'
The Kremlin has officially confirmed that tomorrow Vladimir Putin will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will pay a working visit to Russia. The leaders of the two countries will discuss the problems of the Syrian settlement, taking into account the current aggravation of the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

The orientalist Andrei Ontikov commented on the upcoming talks to Vin an interview with estnik Kavkaza: I would like to hope that it will be possible to agree at least in some particulars, because in my opinion it is impossible to agree on a comprehensive solution to the Idlib issue. We can agree on freezing the situation and suspending the fighting "However, the suspension of hostilities will be a concession on the part of Russia, which should receive something in return."

"The Turks looked at the Sochi agreements, at the Astana agreements as agreements that allowed freezing the situation in Idlib for an indefinite period, and in Russia they looked at these agreements as documents that would allow Idlib to return to the control of the Syrian authorities," the expert noted.

Regarding the role of the United States, Ontikov recalled: The Syrian conflict began with the actions that the United States took: supporting the so-called peaceful opposition, peaceful protesters (although they were not peaceful at all). The American role in the UAR is extremely negative from the beginning. If we talk about Idlib , then the Americans will not take any active steps to support Turkey, they will express concern about what is happening, they will say that they support Turkey, but only in words, since the Americans have two goals in Syria: the exploitation of oil x deposits and Israeli security. Idlib does not refer to one or to the other end. The only thing that the Americans will try to do is make great confusion, a greater discord in Russian-Turkish relations and to try to exploit the situation around Idlib to reinforce these contradictions. "

On the sidelines of the press conference The escalation of the conflict between Turkey and Syria: how the aggravation in Idlib will affect Russian-Turkish relations, Ontikov also noted that now the Americans are in areas east of the Euphrates, they feel quite calm there, while Russian and American normal coordination is established, they are sympathetic to the conditions in which they work. About two or three weeks ago, an American patrol drove in the area of the city of El-Kamyshly, deviated from the route for some reason and drove into the village of Harbat-Khamo, where it was attacked by the local population. The situation was developing quite seriously. As a result, the Americans got in touch with the Russian group, our military police drove up, and this whole situation was resolved. And if the Americans "get" into the Idlib zone, then coordination will be disrupted. "

Speaking about the EUs position, the expert expressed the opinion that Europeans look at what is happening only from the point of view that Turkey is blackmailing Europe with the refugee problem: This blackmail is an attempt to connect Europeans and form a front to put more pressure on Russia.
MBABANE  Eswatini Medical Christian University (EMCU) employees have engaged in a picket over salary reviews.



The picketing happened at the institutions premises yesterday. It occurred hardly a week after University of Eswatini (UNESWA) employees engaged in their own picketing over deductions of monies from their salaries which were not then remitted to the intended financial services providers.

The UNESWA employees claimed that the university was deducting money from their salaries with an intention to service their personal loans and policies. However, they alleged that the money was never remitted to the relevant financial organisations.

The EMCU employees, who are members of the National Workers Union of Swaziland Higher Institutions, (NAWUSHI) highlighted that their gripe was that they had no standard salary structure ever since the tertiary institution started operating.



determine



A salary structure or pay scale is a system that employers use to determine an employees compensation. It takes into account things such as merit, length of employment and pay, compared to similar positions.



In an interview with NAWUSHI Acting General Secretary Lee Madinane, he disclosed that last year the universitys administration hired a consultant to formulate the salary structure which was expected to be implemented at the beginning of the financial year.

But it has dragged for far too long despite engaging with management. However, as a union, we came to a point where we resolved not to fight with management but accept the structure as is and have one which would be reviewed so that our university could also reach the standards of other universities like UNESWA, Madinane highlighted.



articulated



He, however, disclosed that the university hired lecturers and paid them varying salaries between E20 000 to E30 000. He articulated that their grievance was not with the institutions administration but with government.



The acting general secretary said the challenge they had was that they could not communicate effectively with government. So the only way to communicate with government is to engage in a picket, he said.



He expressed that the Ministry of Education and Training disregarded them as employees of higher institutions because the matter had been reported to the ministry in August last year but there was no response.

Meanwhile, EMCU Executive Director Sipho Vilakati confirmed that there had been no salary structure ever since the tertiary institution started its operations.



appropriate



Its true, up to now we do not have an approved salary structure. This is because it must be approved by the appropriate government structure since we are a parastatal, Vilakati said.



He explained that the university drafted a document and negotiated with the union (NAWUSHI) and then it was submitted to the appropriate structures in government last year.

Vilakati added that the institution was still awaiting a response from the ministry.

On the other hand, Principal Secretary (PS) in the ministry of Education and Training Bertram Stewart said he would find out from management today regarding the scope of the salary structure. The PS was queried if the university submitted a request for the ministry to approve employees salary structure. In the event that it did, Stewart was asked what the hold-up was in approving it.
OTTAWA, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leonovus Inc., ("Leonovus or the Company") (TSXV: LTV) (OTC: LVNSF) today announced the signing of a Letter of Intent ("LOI") on February 27, 2020 to purchase PureColo Inc ("PureColo"). PureColo is a Canadian colocation (or "colo") company with headquarters at 390 March Road, Ottawa, Ontario. As of fiscal year-end, December 31, 2019, PureColo generated unaudited revenues of $265,439 and net losses of $241,298 with total net assets of $412.972. PureColo customers are typically on three-year agreements. February 2020 monthly recurring revenues were $32,000, and the Company expects a year over year growth rate of 45% and MRR to exceed $50,000 per month by the end of 2020 along with positive EBITDA.



Under the terms of the LOI, Leonovus will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of PureColo (the Proposed Transaction). The targeted closing date of the Proposed Transaction is May 1, 2019 (the Closing Date).

The purchase price is $3,000,000 (the Purchase Price) plus the assumption of debts of approximately $500,000. The Purchase Price will be paid as follows:

(a) On the Closing date: a. Cash in the amount of $2,100,000; and b. the issuance of $900,000 in Units (as defined below); (b) a contingent equity payment of 70% of the Units (as defined below) issued on closing and the remaining 30% held in escrow by counsel to the Company, 50% of which will be released upon PureColo achieving quarterly revenues exceeding $300,000 and 50% of which will be released upon PureColo reaching quarterly revenues exceeding $400,000 before December 31, 2021 (the Contingent Equity).

Closing of the Proposed Transaction is conditional upon Leonovus completing a concurrent private placement to raise a minimum of $5,000,000 (the Offering). The Offering will be a non-brokered private placement or rights offering of units (the Units) issued at a price to be set based on market conditions. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (a Common Share) and one warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.10 for eighteen (18) months following the Closing Date. Once the price of the shares for the private placement is finalized, the Company will issue a news release with the Unit pricing details.



The Proposed Transaction is also conditional on the completion of due diligence, approval of the TSXV, obtaining any necessary consents, execution of employment agreements with key employees, and other conditions typical for transactions of this nature. The Proposed Transaction is not a Non-arms length Transaction. No finders fee is payable on the closing of the Proposed Transaction.

A colocation data centre, like the one operated by PureColo, permits customers to co-locate their IT infrastructure alongside those of other customers. It is considered a step between customers managing their own servers on-premises and moving their apps and data to the cloud. Adding Leonovus Vault and Smart Filer technology further differentiates the services of the colo by allowing customers to analyze their data and optimize where it is stored while ensuring it remains both available and secure.

Why is Leonovus adding colocation to its business strategy?

The advent of 5G wireless, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning is driving the need for Edge Computing (the processing and storage of data close to where it is generated and consumed). These activities are fundamentally changing the location of data centres and introducing the need for services in those data centres/colocation facilities. By adding colocation services to the Company, Leonovus will benefit from new streams of revenues. Additionally, it will own a distributed network of facilities it can use to offer software and infrastructure services for customers of the colo as well as third parties.

Due to integration and connectivity, colocation and/or cloud ecosystems will be critical for future corporate infrastructures. All workloads are not equal, and proper placement is key to unlocking their true potential to the business. Infrastructures are dynamic and must be able to change quickly, as markets and providers change Edge and IoT deployments that are stretching infrastructures, shifting priorities and adding complexity.

We believe that with transformative technological advancements growing the need for Edge Computing, there is a compelling opportunity for small, nimble colocation centres with value-added services such as Leonovus Vault and Smart Filer technology, said Michael Gaffney, Leonovus Chair and CEO.

"We have started discussions with potential lead/strategic investors to finance this transaction and provide additional working capital for the Company. The Company expects that it will offer current shareholders a Rights Offering, which is then followed by a Private Placement. PureColo not only offers Leonovus immediate incremental revenues, but it also provides direct access to many potential new customers, which should decrease the length of the sales cycle and reduce selling expenses. Proceeds from the financing will be used to complete the purchase of PureColo, provide working capital and assist in the creation of a second colocation facility, said Gaffney.

Three years ago, PureColo made a strategic shift from building yet another classical Data Center in a crowded market to addressing the requirements of customers with specialized needs in secondary markets, said Rainer Paduch, PureColo, President and CEO. This shift showed us that customers were dissatisfied with high network latency, too many router hops and a high cost for basic infrastructure. Paduch also added that We at PureColo are excited to be working with Leonovus to address another hurdle introduced by cloud computing. This is the high cost of basic storage and transit fees. The Leonovus products will give our customers greater architectural flexibility and much lower infrastructure costs."

All dollar amounts in this news release are in Canadian dollars.

About PureColo

The PureColo founders are data centre experts who have built and managed hundreds of thousands of square feet of white space across Canada. PureColo started colocation operations in 2017, in a 5,000 sq. ft facility in Kanata Ontario and it intends to disrupt the self-serve colocation market with a no-frills, carrier-neutral, wholesale priced model combined with decades of experience delivering to this industry. PureColos vision is to be a leading supplier of carrier-neutral data centres across Canada, starting with the Nations Capital. Currently, there are twenty customers including, major telecom carriers, managed service providers, multinational corporations and product development companies.

About Leonovus

Leonovus is a software provider that offers storage solutions that allow organizations to embrace cloud storage securely, simply and cost-effectively while giving them the flexibility to deal with the ever-evolving cloud storage landscape.

Designed with the IT manager in mind, Leonovus Vault uses patented algorithms to analyze, classify, encrypt, shred and spread data across a network of on-premises, hybrid or multi-cloud storage nodes  allowing for the most secure yet internally accessible form of object-based data storage across the entire solution. The advanced geo-distributed architecture minimizes latency, optimizes geo-availability, reduces remote backup costs and meets data sovereignty requirements. With its software and hardware agnostic design, Vault provides petabyte scalability. It allows the enterprise to use its existing idle storage resources, extend the useable lifespan of depreciated resources and improve the enterprise's overall ROI.

Leonovus Smart Filer is an information lifecycle management (ILM) solution that analyzes existing file storage and extends its capacity automatically and transparently. According to customer-defined policies, infrequently accessed files are automatically removed from high-cost, high-performance primary storage, and placed in secondary or cloud storage, without any changes to how users and applications access them.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding the anticipated closing of the acquisition of PureColo or concurrent financing, potential benefits to adding colocation business, potential growth for the market for colocation.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this news release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement publicly, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
LONDON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Elsevier report, released to coincide with International Women's Day, shows participation of women in research is increasing, but inequality remains for publication outputs, citations, awarded grants, collaboration and perceptions.

The Researcher Journey Through a Gender Lens examines research participation, career progression, and perceptions across the European Union and 15 countries1 globally in 26 subject areas. The analysis is based on Elsevier Scopus data and was further informed by experts from around the world who advised on the report's development, including the research questions, methodologies and analytics.

The report shows that the overall gap between men's and women's participation in research is shrinking: the ratio of women-to-men researchers in nearly all regions studied increased by approximately 20 women for every 100 men in 20142018; compared with values observed in 1999-2003. However, the report also finds that geographic and subject area inequality still exists.

Highlights from the report

Women represent an increasing share of all authors, but men still outnumber women in all countries/regions studied, except in Argentina , where 51 percent of publishing researchers are women (between 2014-2018). Japan shows the lowest share of women among authors (15 percent between 2014-2018).

, where 51 percent of publishing researchers are women (between 2014-2018). shows the lowest share of women among authors (15 percent between 2014-2018). Women are most highly represented among earlier career authors and in the life and health sciences; notably in nursing and psychology women represent the majority of authors.

Men are better represented among authors with a long publication history, across all subject areas within the physical sciences and as last and corresponding authors.

Generally, men publish more, and publish more internationally than women, are awarded more grants than women, and apply for more patents than women.

On average, men have a higher citation impact for their first author publications than women.

Both men and women tend to collaborate preferentially with authors of the same gender

Across all subject areas and geographies, men tend to have more co-authors than women, with the gap widening as publication history increases.

Researchers' perspectives about the role of gender in academia are largely guided by their perception of how fair the academic system is and the level of importance they place on gender diversity.

The report is Elsevier's third Gender Report and reaffirms the company's broader commitment to gender inclusion and diversity as a member of the global research community and in support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Other actions that Elsevier has taken in recent years include refinement of key processes, principles and systems to support robust research in the most equitable and inclusive way. For example, the company targets greater gender diversity for its journal editorial boards, reviewers and invited conference speakers. Elsevier has also enhanced editorial policies and guidance to authors on reporting about sex and gender in research studies and the use of inclusive language across its portfolio of journals.

Today, Elsevier also announced the launch of its Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, with the participation of pre-eminent research leaders and co-chaired by Kumsal Bayazit, CEO of Elsevier, and Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet.

The independent, multidisciplinary Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board will work towards lasting solutions that promote inclusion and diversity across disciplines, collaborating with the research community to drive long-term, measurable change. Initial areas of focus include participation, gender in science and career progression. The Board aims to address these areas with standards, best practices and evidence-based initiatives that drive unbiased, robust decisions on how research is conducted through to improvement of gender equity in research funding, peer review, publication and career opportunities.

Founding members

Kumsal Bayazit, CEO of Elsevier; co-chair Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board

Dr. Gary Darmstadt , Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health and Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine in Stanford University School of Medicine

, Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health and Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine in School of Medicine Prof. Sarah Hawkes , Director of the Centre for Gender and Global Health, Professor of Global Public Health at University College London

, Director of the Centre for Gender and Global Health, Professor of Global Public Health at University College London Prof. Richard Horton , Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet , honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the University of Oslo ; co-chair Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board

, Editor-in-Chief of , honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the ; co-chair Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board Prof. Helena Legido-Quigley , Associate Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore and Lecturer Global Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

, Associate Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and Lecturer Global Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK Dr. Elizabeth Pollitzer , Founder and Director Portia Ltd .

, Founder and Director . Prof. Londa Schiebinger , John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science at Stanford University , and Director of the EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment

, John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science at , and Director of the EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment Prof. Martina Schraudner , Head of Fraunhofer Center for Responsible Research and Innovation and Professor for Gender & Diversity in Organisations at TU Berlin

, Head of Fraunhofer Center for Responsible Research and Innovation and Professor for Gender & Diversity in Organisations at TU Berlin Dr. Miyoko Watanabe , Executive Director at Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and Vice President of the Science Council of Japan .

, Executive Director at Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and Vice President of the Science Council of . Prof. Tom Welton , Professor of Sustainable Chemistry at Imperial College London and President-elect of the Royal Society of Chemistry

, Professor of Sustainable Chemistry at Imperial College London and President-elect of the Royal Society of Chemistry Dr. Nieng Yan , Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University

Commenting on the Gender Report and the launch of the Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, Kumsal Bayazit, CEO of Elsevier, said: "There has been important progress in gender balance in research over the recent decades and it is encouraging to see from our report that women are closing the gender gap globally. However, our latest findings also indicate persistent areas of gender inequality, so we have more work to do to address issues that span diversity and inclusion in research. There is no single solution here, it will take all parts of the research ecosystem to come together and focus on making progress to drive lasting change.

"I am excited about the launch of our Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, bringing together distinguished leaders from across the international research and health community to examine how we can unleash the full power of academic and applied research by consciously eliminating barriers around gender, age, and nationality, among others.

"The Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board will use data-driven insights to identify areas of need and opportunity to drive targeted action and to inform policy. We hope to work with all stakeholders, including funding bodies, governments, and institutions worldwide that share our goal of advancing science and improving health outcomes through greater diversity in research."

Notes for editors

1 Countries/region covered in report: USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, EU28, Portugal, Spain, UK, France, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Australia, Japan.

For all information related to the Gender Report, including infographics and an interactive world map for data per country/region studied, please visit the Report Hub.

More information about Elsevier's Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board can be found here.

Elsevier has an ongoing commitment to promoting gender diversity and advancing gender equity in global research. The Researcher Journey Through a Gender Lens, is its third report on gender and research and is a follow up to Elsevier's Gender in the Global Research Landscape report, published in 2017, and it reflects Elsevier's commitment to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 5, to "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" and the Global Research Council's Statement of Principles and Actions Promoting the Equality and Status of Women in Research.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians to find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, we have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, we're committed to bringing that rigor to a new generation of platforms. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, 39,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com

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Media contacts

Sacha Boucherie

Elsevier Communications, Europe

[email protected]

+31 6 3066 7129

Chris Capot

Elsevier Communications, US

[email protected]

+1 917 704 5174

Jason Chan

Elsevier Communications, APAC

[email protected]

+65 9177 8358

Esra Erkal

Elsevier Global Communications

+44 7500 992819

[email protected]

SOURCE Elsevier
'Message of unity' not helpful for virus fight



Imprisoned former President Park Geun-hye has delivered a message of unity to her supporters and conservative voters. The move is politically significant in that the ballooning outbreak of the new coronavirus is weighing on the Moon Jae-in administration with the crucial general election only six weeks away.



In a handwritten letter made public by her lawyer, Wednesday, she showed her clear intention to influence the election. Her message may be encouraging for the "Taegeukgi Unit," a group of die-hard Park supporters and loyalists who have been holding street rallies demanding her release from prison, and calling for the impeachment of Moon. But it is a tricky question whether it will have the desired effect on the upcoming election considering her weakened political influence since her impeachment in 2017, and the absence of a powerful, charismatic conservative leader who can unify conservatives and gain the confidence of swing voters.



In the letter, Park said all conservatives should rally around the existing "giant" opposition party, referring to the United Future Party (UFP), and firmly join together to make the Republic of Korea a better country. "I will be with you," she wrote.



Park is certainly a symbolic figure for conservatives. Many of them still remember the victories the conservative party earned in major elections thanks to her. But she is no longer the "Election Queen."



So when UFP leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, who served as prime minister under the Park administration, described Park's letter as a "delightful gift" to conservatives, saying "her words are worth their weight in gold," it was also in a sense a moment of truth. Under Hwang, the party has repeatedly vowed to overcome the legacy of the jailed former President, but it has been proven that Park is still a major factor for the party. Rather, Hwang is apparently using her influence to consolidate his position. This is not desirable for the future of the UFP because Hwang's expression of "loyalty" to Park will certainly be a divisive factor for conservatives after the election.



Putting aside a controversy over whether the revelation of Park's letter was a violation of the Election Law, Park deserves criticism for her attempt to influence voters. It is not helpful at all for UFP members who are seeking to run in the April 15 polls. There are also suspicions that she may have written such a letter to divert public attention from mounting rumors about her possible ties to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive cult that has been at the center of the rapid spread of the new coronavirus in Korea.



Some politicians claimed Park's letter was tantamount to a declaration that the UFP is her party and that she will resume her political activities. It came as a surprise to many, but what was more surprising was UFP Chairman Hwang's eulogizing her. This cannot be good news for the party.


Newscity

Governor: Sheriffs Will Enforce Red Flag Law

Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the so-called red flag gun bill into law and said that any sheriff who refused to enforce it should resign.

According to KOAT, Lujan Grisham said the bill will be a useful tool in the battle against gun violence and will save lives. But concerns have been raised over whether the state's sheriffsmany of whom opposed the billwill enforce the law.

On the final day of this year's legislative session, the governor reportedly said, We will hold them accountable in the same way they hold their communities accountable.

Last week, during a signing ceremony, Lujan Grisham said sheriffs should be allowed the opportunity to voice criticism of legislature, but that they still must enforce it. If they really intend to [not enforce the law], they should resign as a law enforcement officer and leader in that community, she said.

New Mexico Sheriffs Association President Tony Mace of Cibola County said the new law goes too far and he will not be enforcing iteven if a judge orders it. We dont work for the governor, we dont work for the Legislature, he said. We work for the people that elected us into office.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales says he plans to enforce the law. Once the law is enacted, we have our roles as sheriffs to enforce all laws and uphold the constitution, and that's what we do. And I know what my role is as a sheriff, Gonzales said. But Gonzales told reporters he wished more sheriffs had been consulted while the bill was being written. This is in stark contrast to a position he took last year, when he said he was declaring Bernalillo County a Second Amendment sanctuary county.
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WASHINGTON  The U.S. Army will give an update on the efforts to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak in the Pentagon briefing room Thursday.

The officials are expected to discuss progress on the vaccination effort. The military said it's working on a vaccine for the coronavirus with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The flu-like virus  which has already killed nearly 3,350 people and infected roughly 96,800 people around the world  is emanating from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the largest of all geographic combatant commands.

Last month, the U.S. military said a soldier based in South Korea was the first service member to test positive for the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19. Earlier this week, the nation's top military officer downplayed concerns about the virus, saying its impact within the U.S. military "is very, very minimal."

"Right now the overall broad impact to the uniformed U.S. military is very, very minimal. It's not to say that it's zero, but it's very minimal, very few cases diagnosed, etc.," U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday during a Pentagon news briefing.

"That's not surprising because we have a young demographic, healthy demographic, lots of immunizations, so on and so forth," he said, adding that the department has postponed joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula.

Milley also added that the coronavirus had not yet impacted the military's global supply chain.

There have been at least 11 deaths in the United States from the coronavirus, according to the CDC and state health officials.

The novel strain of coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, has roiled markets and led governments to take drastic actions as it rapidly spreads across the globe. The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a multibillion-dollar spending package to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

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Aprille Canniff, a deputy sheriff and member of the Air National Guard currently living with her wife and ninja cat in Virginia, where she enjoys fishing in her free time, has completed her new book Trust: a riveting crime drama she wrote while deployed in Afghanistan.

Aprille writes, In the military and in law enforcement, the line between right and wrong is clear. Who you trust absolutely has never been questioneduntil now.

"Air Force Security Forces Master Sergeant Alex Thomas just got back from a rough deployment and already has a new assignmentto train a new team in everything she knows. Much to her dismay, her new team is not military but members of the Boston Police Department. When she finally meets them, she realizes why the military and local law enforcement dont team up. Officer Jen Miceli doesnt play by the rules and is all too willing to take risks. The two women are locked in a battle of the wills, but when the team comes across a large stash of weapons and drugs, their world is turned upside down by who it implicates. As members of the Boston PD are ambushed and friends are fighting for their lives, Alex must find a way to complete the mission and keep her team alive.

"What do you do when the lines that you have always counted on become blurred? When you dont know who to trust?

Published by Page Publishing, Aprille Canniffs engrossing book is a fast-paced and suspenseful novel for avid crime fiction readers.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Trust at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
The violence in north-east Delhi last month was one-sided, well-planned and maximum damage was inflicted on Muslim houses and shops with local support  these are some of the findings published in a fact-finding report prepared by the Delhi Minorities Commission on Wednesday.

The commission, which is a statutory body set up under the Delhi Minorities Commission Act, 1999, also said in its report that residents of the Khajuri Khas locality told them that violence erupted after a speech by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra on Sunday, February 23.

Mishra did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking his response to the findings of the report.

In its two-page report, which HT has reviewed , the commission further spoke about how mobs used cooking gas cylinders to heighten the impact of the arson incidents, and looted most homes and shops which they eventually torched.

The report, which will be published on the commissions website, appreciated the role of the police in rescue operations during the communal violence, even as Delhi Police has drawn flak from several quarters regarding the way the law and order situation was handled.

The report also suggested that the Delhi government should increase the compensation to help the victims of last weeks violence, which has claimed at least 47 lives and left 422 injured. At least 28 of the 41 identified among the deceased were Muslims.

It is our assessment that the violence in north-east district of Delhi was one-sided and well-planned in which maximum damage was inflicted on Muslim houses and shops with local support. Without massive help these people will not be able to rebuild their lives. We feel that the compensation announced by Delhi government is not adequate for the purpose, the conclusion of the report read.

The commissions chairman, Zafarul Islam Khan, said that the team -- he and commission member Kartar Singh Kochhar -- visited several violence-affected localities which include Chand Jafrabad, Chand Bagh, Brijpuri, Gokalpuri, Mustafabad, Shiv Vihar, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura and Khajoori Khas. They visited all schools and mosques which were damaged in these localities.

The report has been prepared on the basis of the field visits by the member of the commission, he said.

On February 26, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed outsiders and political and antisocial elements for the violence, and urged Union home minister Amit Shah to bring in the army if needed and impose curfew in all violence-hit areas in north-east Delhi.

On February 27, the chief minister announced a slew of relief measures, which include food, rehabilitation, compensations and ex-gratia financial aid for the victims. By Tuesday night, the government had received more than 1,000 application for compensations and released around 40 lakh as ex-gratia relief, senior government officials said.

The Delhi government did not respond to the findings of the commission.

The north-east district administration has also set up 18 teams led by sub-divisional magistrates for a damage assessment survey. So far, these teams have recorded damage done to as many as 946 properties - which include residences, shops as well as vehicles which were ransacked and torched  and the numbers are likely to go up as the final report is prepared, senior officials in the district magistrates office said.

However, the governments interim report on damage assessment, which HT has seen, does not mention names or faiths of the victims whose properties were damaged.

Khan further said, Residents in several localities told us that violence started late in the night of 23 February, shortly after the threat and ultimatum of Kapil Mishra.

On February 23, a protest was organised against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Jafrabad neighbourhood. Mishra attended it, and gave the police an ultimatum to clear the sit-in demonstration site in three days.

This was a day before US President Donald Trump was in India for a two-day visit.
SPRINGFIELD  The City Council on Monday will consider approving $1.7 million to buy body cameras and related equipment for the citys police force.

The approval of the funds will allow the city to finalize a contract with Getac Video Solutions of Bloomington, Minnesota, as the selected vendor for the body camera program, said Ryan Walsh, Police Department spokesman. The city announced the selection of Getac in January.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno urged the council to approve the funding.

In support of Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and our brave and dedicated men and women in blue, the funding for this vitally important program is of the utmost priority for my administration, Sarno said in a statement Thursday. "Once implemented and put into service, this will provide yet another tool for our police department to utilize and will continue to enhance and build mutual respect and trust with all of our Springfield community.

Sarno and city councilors have pushed for the camera program, saying it will benefit police and the community in increased transparency and accountability, city officials said.

Clapprood said the program will begin with a working group of 10 officers, who would then help train other officers.

Officials hope to begin the program rollout in April, outfitting all of the departments officers by the end of the year. The department has about 500 officers including patrol officers and supervisors.

The cameras will trigger automatically, via Bluetooth technology, when an officer activates a cruisers emergency lights. Officers can also turn on the cameras manually, police said.

The city reached agreements for the camera program with the Springfield patrolmens union and the police supervisors association.

Getac was chosen from 10 companies submitting competitive bids to supply the equipment.

The city has received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to help pay for the program.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m at the council chambers at City Hall.

Related Content:
As the number of coronavirus cases increases in the US, there is another number also on the rise: patients who have recovered.

There are currently more than 200 cases of the highly-contagious disease in at least 18 states, and 11 deaths.

But at least 15 people in six states are said to have made full recoveries including six in California, four in Nebraska, two in Illinois, and one each in Arizona, Washington and Wisconsin.

And it seems to be a trend across the globe. Of the 97,841 people to have fallen ill worldwide, 53,786 - more than half, or 55 percent - have recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

As of Wednesday, 15 Americans in six states have recovered from coronavirus. Pictured: Medics wheel out a person on a stretcher from the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a nursing home linked to several cases in Washington state, March 4

Those recovered include six patients in California, four in Nebraska, two in Illinois, and one each in Arizona, Washington and Wisconsin. Pictured: An equipment service worker for King County Metro sprays a disinfectant, throughout a metro bus at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base, March 4

In the US, there are more than 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths, one in California and 11 in Washington

When a patient tests positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, they are either isolated at home or in the hospital until they test negative.

This helps prevent the virus from being spread to others in the community.

'Recovery really depends on where in the spectrum they land,' Dr Nasia Safdar, the medical director of infection control and prevention at UW Health, who treated the Wisconsin patient, told DailyMail.com.

'If youre critical, you may be in ICU, you might be in rehab.;

She says several swabs have to show that a patient is negative before they are released from isolation.

Worldwide, there are more than 97,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 3,300 deaths

How long someone needs to remain in isolation before they test negative can vary.

One patient in Humboldt County, California, was allowed to go home after nine days while the first patient in Illinois was released from isolation after about three weeks.

In the case of the Wisconsin patient, he or she recovered from the fever and cough symptoms within a few days.

Dr Safdar said that the patient felt well enough to go about daily activities, but need negative test before being allowed to be released.

In fact, researchers have found that 80 percent of people who fall ill will develop mild symptoms, with some never showing symptoms.

'When people [contract coronavirus[, they might feel better in a few days but they should be prepared and should not go about daily activities,' Dr Safdar said.

Health experts say 80% of people who fall ill will develop mild symptoms, with some never showing symptoms, and recover fairly quickly. Pictured: People in masks shop at Costco in Brookl

Medics load a person into an ambulance the Life Care Center of Kirkland,

And similar recoveries have been happening around the world.

There are now more patients in China have recovered from the illness than there are people who are still infected there.

According to China Global TV Network, as of Monday, at least 52,100 people, or 63 percent, have recovered from the virus.

By comparison, there about 28,400 existing cases in the county where COVID-19 first appeared.

And in South Korea, which has second highest number of cases, 47 people were discharged on Tuesday, the most for the country in one day.

At least 88 people have fully recovered, according to Yonhap News.
A new draft law that could make it easier for foreigners to gain permanent residency in China has stirred up a torrent of xenophobia online.

The proposal, released by the justice ministry last week, has been gathering billions of views and a flood of angry posts on social media, targeting Africans in particular.

"China's forty years of family planning policy does not make it a place for foreign trash to soar," wrote one user on the Twitter-like platform Weibo, referring to the one-child birth limit China imposed between 1980 and 2016.

The person went on to use racist language against black people, saying: "Our common Chinese ancestry will not be tainted by Africans."



Some Weibo-users posted videos of black people apparently committing crimes in China, while a campaign to encourage Chinese women to date Chinese men, under the hashtag "China girl", had 240 million views as of Thursday afternoon.

Another widely-shared post on Weibo read: "China is not an immigrant country."



A hashtag related to the law has gained more than 4.8 billion views.

The law -- open to suggestions from the public until March 27 -- proposes allowing foreigners' dependants to apply simultaneously for permanent residency, as well as relaxing education and salary requirements.

State media said less than one percent of foreigners in China have permanent residency.

The draft bill comes at a time when China is seeking to expand its global influence and attract foreign exchange and investment.

Its massive Belt and Road infrastructure investment project has funded thousands of lucrative scholarships for students from developing countries. But there have been points of tension, including a crackdown on illegal immigrants in commercial hub Guangzhou's "Little Africa" which left many complaining of hard treatment from authorities.

There are also long-standing anxieties about perceived preferential treatment for foreigners in China, especially international students.

"For a long time, some foreigners in China have secretly received 'superior treatment' as citizens," wrote Hu Xijin, editor of the nationalistic Global Times.

Heather Li, a China-Africa business consultant, said she was "really shocked" by the extent of the online racism.

She used to tell her African friends that many Chinese people were friendly and curious about their culture, despite their occasional encounters with prejudice.

"But after seeing it on Weibo, I realised there was so much more to it, because people were using very strong language and really disrespecting people from other races," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain has said he is ready to surrender in connection with an FIR registered against him over violence in Northeast Delhi. Hussain also said that he has filed an application for surrender before a Delhi court.

I am not at fault. I had called the police multiple time on February 24. I had left the area that day. The violence broke out on February 25, Hussain told TV channel India Today. My Allah knows I am not guilty.

There is no other option, but to surrender, he said further. He also said that he is available for all kinds of tests, including a narco-analysis.

Hussain also said that he is staying near Delhi. He reiterated that he was rescued by the police on February 24 and left the area with his family.

Hussain was suspended by the AAP after the family of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official accused him of murdering the 26-year-old. The official Ankit Sharmas body was found in a drain in Chand Bagh, one of the worst-affected pockets of Northeast Delhi during violence.

Sharmas family claims that Hussain incited the mob which had caught Sharma and killed him.

The police had, meanwhile, issued a clarification after users on social media claiming that a police team rescued Hussain and his family from their house in Chand Bagh during the riots.

The Delhi Police had eaelier said that Hussain is absconding along with his family members and has switched off his cellphone. The last known location of his cellphone was near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, an investigator associated with the case said, asking not to be named.
English French

TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Defining Moments Canada/Moments Determinants Canada has announced the hiring of Jenifer Terry(nee Sguigna) as their new Executive Director.



Defining Moments Canada has launched numerous successful education projects, commemorating key events in Canadian history including The 1919 flu pandemic and D-Day, with plans for a new project marking the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and the end of the Second World War. As the company continues to expand its project offerings, Program Leader Neil Orford is pleased to announce that Jen will be joining the team as the Executive Director.

Jenifer Terry has an ambitious and inspiring vision for the future of Defining Moments Canada. Her vast experience as a Public Historian in the field of educational programming and commemoration are an ideal fit to lead Defining Moments Canada. I am extremely pleased to have Jenifers extraordinary talents guide our projects from hereon  she is the best in her field! (Neil Orford)

Jen earned an MA in Public History from Western University and has worked with national heritage organizations including Canadas History and Historica Canada. Most recently, she lead Canadian programming and outreach for the Juno Beach Centre Association. From 2014-2020, she developed and implemented special fundraising campaigns, oversaw donor relations, managed government-funded projects including From Vimy to Juno, and coordinated national educational programming, including the JBCAs Summer Institute and Battlefield Tour for Educators.

Im really looking forward to continuing Defining Moments Canadas excellent work of providing resources to our educators and pushing the boundaries of history education. Weve got exciting projects and partnerships in the works, and Im thrilled to have the opportunity to solidify Defining Moments Canadas place in the heritage education realm in Canada. Jen will begin in position on 24 February 2020.

Defining Moments Canada/Moments Determinants Canada is the shared vision of Neil Orford and Blake Heathcote, creators of a new and innovative way to teach and commemorate Canadas history using twenty-first century digital tools and storytelling skills. It has previously carried out national commemorations of the 1918-1920 Spanish flu pandemic in Canada and the 75th anniversary of D-Day  Juno75. In 2020, Defining Moments Canada will lead the national digital commemoration for VEDay75, in partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada. Work has also begun on INSULIN 2021, a national commemorative project taking place 2020-2023 which will spotlight the stories of Canadians associated with the discovery, production and distribution of Insulin between the years 1920-1923, principally the enormous legacies of the Researchers based at University of Toronto, Connaught Laboratories, like those of Drs. Frederick Banting and Charles Best.

For more information, digital images, or to set up an interview, please contact:

Neil Orford, Program Leader

neilorford@canhist.ca | 519-217-0402

Jenifer Terry, Executive Director

jterry@canhist.ca | 519-709-1987




[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

PLATFORM 2020 at Danspace Project (March 6, 6 p.m.; March 9-10, 7 p.m.). On Friday, as part of Platform, an annual ideas festival, this years curator, Okwui Okpokwasili, again presents Sitting on a Mans Head, a four-hour ritual/performance of communal accountability, with Peter Born and participants from a rotating group of artists (the show is sold out; visit Danspaces website for instructions on how to get on the wait list). On Monday and Tuesday, the choreographers Meryem Jazouli, who is based in Casablanca, Morroco, and Nacera Belaza, who was born in Algeria and now lives in France, share a program. Jazoulis work, Folkah!, draws from folk dances of the Sahara, while Belazas La Procession is a piece shaped each night by audience participation.

866-811-4111, danspaceproject.org

RIVERDANCE at Radio City Music Hall (March 10-12, 7:30 p.m.; through March 15). This Irish dance spectacle, which debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and is now an international phenomenon, returns to New York on a triumphant 25th-anniversary world tour with its flashy version of Irish history and mythology. Remarkable soloists and a large, talented ensemble execute rapid-fire footwork in tight formation and glittery costumes to rousing music, sometimes tinged with melancholy as the story follows heroes of Irelands past, the countrys relationship to nature and hardships like the famine of the 1840s. The anniversary performance can also be seen on the big screen at cinemas across the country on March 15.

866-858-0008, riverdance.com

SCOTTISH BALLET at the Joyce Theater (March 10-11, 7:30 p.m.; March 12-13, 8 p.m.; through March 15). This classical company, now 50 years old, also has a robust contemporary side. Both are on display in an evening called This Is My Body , which consists of two works that accentuate these sides. Angelin Preljocajs MC 14/22 (Ceci, est mon corps) takes its cue from the Last Supper and casts 12 strapping men as apostle-like figures in a sensuous, virile work that worships the male form. It is paired with Sibilo by the companys artist-in-residence, Sophie Laplane. It, too, is a celebration of the bodys beauty and virtuosity, with an original score by Alex Menzies and permission granted to the dancers to be both silly and serious.

212-242-0800, joyce.org

TABAIMO AND MAKI MORISHITA at Japan Society (March 6-7, 7:30 p.m.). Tabaimo, a celebrated Japanese contemporary artist, creates videos featuring fantastical animated worlds that constantly transform in unexpected, playful ways. They can be brilliant backdrops for dance, as in the new work Fruits Borne out of Rust, a multimedia dance performance conceived and directed by Tabaimo and choreographed by Morishita, with live musical accompaniment. The performer Chiharu Mamiya moves with subtlety and intensity as she responds to the shifting projections that place her alternately in an apartment, a birdcage and among tatami mats that consume her.

212-715-1258, japansociety.org
He hobnobbed with scientists, politicians, academics and a prince, but Jeffrey Epsteins brief cohabitation with a former cop  and alleged quadruple murderer  is the subject of a secretive legal drama playing out in, of all places, White Plains, New York.

Much of it is happening behind closed doors.

The ex-cop, Nicholas Tartaglione, was briefly Epsteins cellmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center after the financier was arrested on sex trafficking charges. During that time, depending on which news reports you find credible, Tartaglione either attempted to kill Epstein or prevented Epstein from killing himself the first time he tried suicide.

Facing a potential death sentence, Tartaglione is now fighting in court for access to surveillance video showing what happened in the cell and how staff responded to it. He also wants his legal team to have walk-through access to the cell. His team feels it will help him present mitigating factors if he is convicted.

The problem with that is the notorious prison is currently on lockdown due to contraband issues. There were rumors that somebody recently smuggled in a gun.

While investigating those rumors, prison staff found a ton of contraband, a source told the Daily News.

The visit to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan  now synonymous with Epsteins high-profile subsequent hanging  was supposed to have been arranged before Wednesdays court hearing in White Plains, north of New York City.

But U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, who had held off earlier on formally ordering it, was told by the defense team about the lockdown, dating back to Feb. 27.

The investigation is expanding not contracting, warned Anthony Ricco, one of the lawyers representing Tartaglione.

It meant that the defense team will have to wait longer before getting the OK from corrections officials so the judge can authorize a requested visit.

Nicholas Tartaglione

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the alleged quadruple murderer was paired up in a cell with Epstein, possibly the nations most famous prisoner, when Epstein was found incapacitated last July 23 in what was reported to be a suicide attempt. (For reasons equally unclear, Epstein was taken off suicide watch soon afterward and was found dead in his single-inmate cell on Aug. 10.)

Story continues

Some news reports immediately after the initial incident cited unidentified sources suggesting Tartaglione tried to kill Epstein, possibly to prevent him from testifying about the financiers friends and associates. Epstein rubbed shoulders with Prince Andrew of Great Britain, former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump and numerous other people of influence.

Tartagliones chief defense lawyer, Bruce Barket, strongly denied that his client harmed Epstein and demanded to both tour the cells and see video that he said will show his client tried to save Epstein during the financiers abortive suicide try.

Barket believes the video would shed light on the behavior of his client and officers during the incident.

How the law, the press and his victims finally caught up with Jeffrey Epstein

But the Bureau of Prisons, after saying it had located the video, later said it had not and that it was inadvertently destroyed. Barket asked Judge Karas in late January to hold a hearing on circumstances surrounding the destruction of evidence needed for Tartagliones defense.

That decision did not happen Wednesday because it is now on hold until the judge conducts a daylong closed-doors hearing on April 30 to determine if Tartagliones defense team faces a conflict in defending him.

Its unclear how Epstein-related events factor into the matter. There is at least some overlap because the court has delayed the request to hold a hearing on the missing video footage, which was the latest in a string of embarrassments for the Bureau of Prisons, assailed and ridiculed for failing to prevent Epsteins death.

The Epstein events have complicated both the defense and prosecution of Tartaglione, who after nearly four years in jail looks nothing like the Hulk-like bodybuilder he once was. Bald and dressed in blue prison scrubs, he blew a kiss to a handful of gathered supporters when led into the courtroom.

A good part of the pretrial activities have involved closed-court proceedings, and little has been revealed about the potential conflict in his defense.

In fact, the judge in January appointed a person to serve as a firewall, receiving sensitive information from the defense and prosecutors that wont be shared with either.

Karas in January described the proceedings as unprecedented and as being in uncharted territory. He began Wednesday afternoons open proceedings in a similar fashion.

I dont even know where to begin, he told the small army of gathered lawyers, asking them to quickly clear away vanilla, or simple, issues.

That public part of the hearing lasted about 45 minutes, then the court was emptied of reporters and Tartagliones supporters in order to move into closed proceedings that lasted even longer.

Before closing the courtroom, the defense and prosecutors sparred over transcripts of information found on a cellphone that Tartaglione had illegally in jail.

Barket argued previously that some of the communications found on it might be subject to attorney-client privilege and should be kept out of the court record.

Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, held a news conference Monday, July 8, 2019, announcing that multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein had been charged with sex trafficking of underage girls in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.

A government attorney, Thomas J. Wright, said a transcript had been prepared documenting the information found on the phone, and another for information found on the phones SIM card, which is a portable memory chip that stores information and identifying information about the phones user. The phone had nine separate text threads involving Tartaglione described as of little interest to the case.

But Tartagaliones attorneys succeeded in having the judge allow them to forensically analyze system files on the phone to ensure there are no sensitive texts or emails that might have been missed or hidden in the garble of file data.

In a perfect world, the phone wouldnt be an issue in the case, Barket said.

In a perfect world he wouldnt have used the phone, Karas shot back.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered a stay till March 18 on the Union home ministrys Leave India notice served to Kamil Siedczynski, the Polish student from Jadavpur University (JU).

The notice does not mention any specific event. It says Siedczynski has been found to have engaged in anti-government activities and has thus committed visa violation.

The notice was served days after the student took part in a rally against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Kolkata on January 21.

Siedczynski is pursuing a Masters degree in comparative literature at JU and his final semester is approaching. He was supposed to leave on or before March 10 as the notice served to him on February 24 by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Kolkata gave him 15 days to leave India.

After hearing a petition on Thursday, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of the Calcutta high court reserved his order till March 18 and asked the government not to act on its notice till then.

The student told the court through his counsel that he only accompanied his friends from JU to a rally but never took part in any political activity or make any statement against any law.

Opposing Siedczynskis plea, counsel for the Centre told the court that a foreigner holding a student visa cannot challenge a law of the country.

The judge heard both sides and reserved his order.
ProudLiving Companies is celebrating International Women's Day this year by honoring its female staff, shown above. (Photo courtesy of Andy Foster.) History may demonstrate that men have often been the face of the real estate industry, but these women are, and will continue to be, essential assets to our companys success, said T.J. Caleca, president and founder of ProudLiving Companies.

ProudLiving Companies, a New Jersey-based real estate company with a mission of long-term neighborhood revitalization, is celebrating International Womens Day this week by honoring its female employees, who make up over 50 percent of ProudLivings management and back office staff. The company, which also employs people in a variety of positions across operations and field work, plans to recruit more women in 2020.

History may demonstrate that men have often been the face of the real estate industry, but these women are, and will continue to be, essential assets to our companys success, said T.J. Caleca, president and founder of ProudLiving Companies. They deserve to be recognized, as they are the backbone of this company. We are proud to acknowledge their contributions this Womens Day.

Among ProudLivings staff is New Jersey native, Isabel Hayden, who serves as the head of charitable advancements for the companys community-oriented nonprofit, ProudLiving Foundation. Hayden oversees all efforts pertaining to local events  including coat and toy drives. Over the 2019 holiday season, ProudLiving Foundation donated 1,000 Thanksgiving turkeys in a partnership with five New Jersey cities and hosted a winter coat and toy drive to provide extra assistance for local families.

There is a considerable learning curve with opening and effectively maintaining a foundation, said Hayden. ProudLiving has instilled confidence in me, and we continue to invest in individuals  like me  who had no prior experience in real estate but wanted a chance.

Valery Vargas, operations manager at ProudLiving, came to the company with little real estate experience but has since accumulated five years of industry expertise. Due in part to on-the-job training from ProudLiving, Vargas successfully invested in her own two-family property in 2019.

Ive learned so much from working with ProudLiving, said Vargas. When I started, I didnt know what a lease looked like  fast forward to now and I navigate the property management realm with confidence.

ProudLivings female staff also includes Carmen Lugo, a Newark resident and the companys director of property management. Outside of work, Lugo spends free time volunteering within her community and has credited her altruistic drive to ProudLivings focus on personal and professional growth. She now offers women interested in real estate sound advice:

I suggest hitting the ground running. Dont be afraid to be assertive. Oftentimes in this space, thats how you achieve your goals, she said.

A part of ProudLivings wider collaborative vision is its work with partner, Nana Duncan, originally of Ghana, who is a crucial resource for the companys development arm.

We view real estate development as a powerful tool to build communities, promote equity and improve quality of life, said Duncan. To that end, we participate in projects that aim to address health, safety and environmental issues, and general community welfare.

According to Caleca, the partnership with Duncan has significantly transformed ProudLivings entire development process.

What we have achieved in such a short period of time is indicative of Nanas value, said Caleca. Her no excuses attitude and commitment to excellence is a driving force of the overall success of ProudLiving, particularly what we will develop over the next two to five years.

According to Caleca, ProudLiving Companies continues to stress upward mobility among its entire workforce, offering numerous positions for those of all backgrounds and experiences. The company also prides itself on providing professional development opportunities for its staff and holds team-building activities throughout the year. Employees can also directly impact various communities across New Jersey via charitable events.

Overall, ProudLiving Companies owns and manages over 1,000 multifamily units in northern New Jersey. The company has also acquired over 4,000 new construction units in its pipeline. Several projects are scheduled to break ground in 2020.

About ProudLiving Companies

ProudLiving Companies is a vertically integrated owner and manager of real estate. Focused on multifamily and mixed-use real estate in New Jersey, the company seeks to acquire deep value-add real estate assets and dramatically improve them. ProudLiving currently owns and manages more than 1,000 apartment units and is always seeking attractive acquisition opportunities. Recently, ProudLiving collected enough land to develop over 4,000 new construction units that are scheduled to break ground in 2020. The company prides itself on taking on previously neglected real estate assets and developing their full potential. ProudLiving also continues its relentless pursuit of being the bar in which social responsibility and continuous professional achievement are measured, following President and Founder T.J. Calecas mentality of, Just do more. For more information visit http://www.proudliving.com.

About International Womens Day

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. International Women's Day (IWD) has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific. For more information visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com.
Netflix and Apple are the latest companies to pull out of South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, over fears about the spread of the coronavirus.

Variety reported late Wednesday night that streaming giant Netflix is canceling five film screenings and a panel for its upcoming series #BlackExcellence.

The news came after tech giant Apple canceled scheduled premieres for its Apple TV Plus original documentary Beastie Boys Stories from director Spike Jonze as well for animated musical series Central Park and the docuseries Home.

Also scrapped is a discussion of Apple's docuseries Little America with show creators Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, according to Variety.

Apple announced Wednesday it is pulling out of South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, due to coronavirus fears, canceling premieres for AppleTV originals including the Spike Jonze documentary Beastie Boys Stories. (Beastie Boys are pictured in 1987)

A couple of hours later, streaming service Netflix also indicated it will not participate in the week-long festival, canceling five screenings and a panel discussion, according to Variety

SXSW begins on March 13 and runs until March 22 and organizers insisted Wednesday that the event will go ahead despite the absence of some of the advertised contributors and exhibitors.

'Right now there's no evidence that closing South by Southwest or other activities is going to make this community safer. We're constantly monitoring that situation,' Mark Escott, the interim medical director and health authority for Austin Public Health, said at a press conference.

To date, there are 11 confirmed cases of people with coronavirus in the Lone Star State.

Netflix and Apple are just the latest in a string of big names to decide not to attend.

Late Tuesday, Amazon Studios announced it would no longer be participating and all events and activities planned for the Amazon brand would no longer take place.

Other companies to cancel over coronavirus include Twitter, Facebook, Intel, Vevo and Mashable.

Late Tuesday, Amazon Studios announced it would no longer be participating. Other companies to cancel over coronavirus include Twitter, Facebook, Intel. Vevo and Mashable

SXSW begins in Austin, Texas, on March 13 with organizers insisting Wednesday that it will take place despite concerns the thousands of attendees could help spread the COVID-19 virus

A Change.org petition calling on South By Southwest organizers to cancel the event had more than 46,000 signatures Wednesday night.

Signatories are concerned that bringing thousands of people from all over the world together in Austin could contribute to the spread of the virus known as COVID-19.

Texas currently has 11 confirmed cases of the disease.

The U.S. death toll from coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles.

California recorded its first death from the virus while 10 people have died in Washington state.

On Wednesday Microsoft Corp asked its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and in the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25.

Producers of the 25th James Bond movie No Time To Die have announced the film's release will be delayed from April to November 'after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace'

It followed an open letter posted by fan website MI6-HQ which said it was time for MGM and Universal 'to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of cancelling publicity events' (pictured, woman in mask walks past No Time To Die poster in Bangkok)

Meanwhile, producers of the 25th James Bond movie No Time To Die have announced the film's release will be delayed from April to November.

It came 'after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace' by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

It followed an open letter posted by fan website MI6-HQ which said it was time for MGM and Universal 'to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of cancelling publicity events'.

Publicity tours for Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 in China, South Korea and Japan had already be scrapped and fears had been expressed about the movie's March 31 world premiere to be held at London's Royal Albert Hall which can seat more than 5,000 people.

Disney postponed the Chinese premiere of its live-action remake of Mulan. More than 70,000 Chinese theaters have been shuttered for several weeks, devastating the world's second largest movie market. The coronavirus is predicted to cost the film industry $5 billion

The global coronavirus outbreak is predicted to cost the film industry $5 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter this week.

More than 70,000 Chinese theaters have been shuttered for the past several weeks, devastating the world's second largest movie market.

The growing spread of the virus in Italy, South Korea, and Japan is only intensifying bottom-line worries.

As of Wednesday evening, the virus has infected more than 95,300 people in at least 78 countries, per The New York Times.
Kevin Holland of Invest NI with Michelle O'Neill, Arlene Foster and Rob Smale of Sensee.

Sensee, which provides customer support for insurance firms, has announced 300 new call centre roles in Northern Ireland, which allow staff to work from home.

Invest NI has provided 900,000 of support towards the jobs, which the company intends to create by 2022 as it continues to grow its business.

It's the first time the London-based firm has invested in Northern Ireland.

Sensee works with many well-known brands, including Bupa, Hastings Direct and Allianz, providing service and support for their customers.

Roles include agent, manager and support levels with an average salary of around 19,000 a year, representing 5.8m in additional salaries in the economy.

Rob Smale, Sensee chief operating officer said the positions offered security of full employment contracts, guaranteed hours and flexibility.

"There's also no commuting, saving our people time and money, and a social element that creates great teamwork and companionship," he said.

Our skilled home-based service advisor team work for well-known brands on an outsourced basis, either as continuously available resources or to handle peaks in customer demand. Currently we employ about 700 staff across the UK, all of whom work from home.

Our home-based advisor services are also attractive to businesses in all sectors, from healthcare to financial services and retail, with the great attitude of our homeworking team providing excellent customer service. It also reduces the carbon footprint and aligns with their corporate social responsibility aspirations."

The First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill welcomed the multi-million pound investment.

Arlene Foster said: We are delighted today to announce 300 new jobs for Northern Ireland. Uniquely these are not limited by geography, they are accessible to everyone no matter where they live.

The home-based work opportunities span a range of roles, including agent, manager and support levels, contributing over 5.8 million in additional salaries to our economy.

As an Executive we are committed to strengthening our economy and commend Invest Northern Ireland for their work to secure this significant investment.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill added: We are committed to working together to bring about prosperity for all our people. Creating employment opportunities is an important part of this, as is working to remove the barriers faced by many people to get into employment. This includes people with disabilities or caring responsibilities.

These new jobs with Sensee provide a real option for people right across the north who will benefit from home working and give them an opportunity to get in to paid work and improve their quality of life."

Economy Minister, Diane Dodds added: The contact centre industry is experiencing a lot of change and the home working model is gaining traction with more companies.

"As well as offering flexible working for staff this approach benefits the environment including reduced energy use and costs. It will also open up rural communities providing employment opportunities for those not able to travel to work. These benefits directly align with many of our Programme for Government objectives.

Sensee is looking to fill the 300 positions over the coming months. Recruitment and training are both completed on-line and candidates can apply at: www.sensee.co.uk/ni-jobs
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 22:09:52|Editor: Xiang Bo

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NAIROBI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's tourism and hospitality industry players on Thursday expressed concern and fear of losses due to the outbreak of COVID-19 should it not be contained.

The Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers CEO Mike Macharia said that they are seeking to establish how they can respond to the crisis should a case be reported in any of the establishments and how to disseminate information that is factual without necessarily creating panic.

Macharia in a joint statement issued in Nairobi urged hoteliers to evaluate the overall impact of the virus on the businesses to help craft post-crisis strategies.

Italy, one of the biggest source market for tourists, with chartered planes landing twice in Mombasa, has been the hardest hit European country.

Early this week, the government said it would be suspending flights to the Coast from the north of Italy, Verona and Milan.

Macharia said surge in cases in other parts of the world and Africa is causing deep unease in the Kenyan hospitality industry.
Social activist Harsh Mander filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking action against leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their hate speeches leading up to communal riots in Delhi. The top court, however, refused to hear the case until the matter of Manders alleged derogatory comments against the judiciary is sorted.

Akhilesh Mishra, former director of BJP governments online citizen engagement initiative MyGov India, referred to the same comments in a tweet. Mishra shared the affidavit filed by DCP Delhi police (legal cell) against Harsh Mander in the Supreme Court. The plea, apart from alleging that Mander made derogatory remarks against the top court, claimed that he instigated the violence. Mishra wrote, The wheels of justice have started turning. All those who plotted to unleash violence on the streets and subvert Indias democracy will have to face justice.

The wheels of justice have started turning. All those who plotted to unleash violence on the streets and subvert Indias democracy will have to face justice. The preferred hit man of Sonia Gandhi since many years, Harsh Mander, will now face action. pic.twitter.com/OQ4RFt2mWC  Akhilesh Mishra (@amishra77) March 4, 2020

OpIndia penned an article on Manders speech that sparked controversy. The right-wing website wrote, Watch: Supreme Court did not save secularism in Ayodhya, so now the time has come to hit the streets Harsh Mander inciting mob violence

Watch: "Supreme Court did not save secularism in Ayodhya, so now time has come to hit the streets" Harsh Mander inciting mob violence https://t.co/hgnroDOfSs  OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) March 4, 2020

Rahul Kaushik, who describes himself as swayamsevak on Twitter, shared a part of the speech in question and asked, Any doubt whos vitiating atmosphere & creating anarchy in the country?

In the video, Mander can be heard saying, This fight will not be won in the Supreme Court. We have been observing the Supreme Court since some time now in the cases of NRC, Ayodhya and Kashmir. Supreme Court has failed to uphold humanism, equality, and secularism. We will keep trying in the Supreme Court, it is our Supreme Court, but the decision will neither happen in the Parliament nor in the Supreme Court. What will be the future of this country  you all are the youth  what sort of country do you want to leave for your kids  where will this decision happen? One, it will happen on the streets, we have come out on the streets  the video is stopped mid-way.

"Ab faisla Sansad me ya Supreme Court me nahi hoga. Supreme Court ne Ayodhya aur Kashmir k mamle me Secularism ki raksha nahi ki. Isliye ab faisla Sadkon per hoga" Harsh Mander tells to a cheering mob. Any doubt who's vitiating atmosphere & creating anarchy in the country? pic.twitter.com/9cGNh9KNro  Rahul Kaushik (@kaushkrahul) March 3, 2020

Several others claimed that Mander instigated violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted the clip and attributed the following words to Mander  Now the decision will not be taken in the Parliament or the SC. SC did not protect secularism at the time of Ayodhya and Kashmir which is why the decision will now be taken on the streets.

[Translated from:     SC    SC        secularism          ]

    SC    SC        secularism           This man Harsh Mander, who wrote the draconian CVB, is in HC to get FIRs against people for hate speech... And a judge gave him midnight hearing! pic.twitter.com/zrXYyBxfE3  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 4, 2020

Based on Malviyas tweet Free Press Journal wrote an article titled, SC didnt defend secularism, we have to make decisions on the streets: Activist Harsh Mander stirs controversy. The BJP IT cell chiefs tweet was also featured in a Hindi report by Zee News and a Marathi report by Lokmat. Others associated with the BJP who shared the video were Haryana IT cell head Arun Yadav and Karnataka tourism minister CT Ravi.

Clipped video

Harsh Manders speech that stirred controversy was made on December 16, 2019, at Jamia Milia Islamia. The address focused on how every Indian has equal rights in the country. It was made after students were thrashed by Delhi police inside the university campus. At 3:40 minutes into the speech, Mander said, Those who claim to take your rights away from you, in response to them, a wave of protests have started in the country, and these protests are to save our constitution, and the soul of the constitution which is love and friendship, and which is why we all are out on the streets and will continue to do so. This fight will not be won in the Parliament because political parties who call themselves secular have no moral courage left in them to fight. This fight will also not be won in the Supreme Court

The above excerpt was said right before the part which is viral.

What will be the future of this country  you all are the youth  what sort of country do you want to leave for your kids  where will this decision happen? One, it will happen on the streets, we have come out on the streets, but even beyond the streets, theres another place where this decision will take place. Which is the place in which this fight will eventually be decided? That is in our hearts, in my heart, in your heart, we have to give a response  if they want to fill our hearts with hate, if we respond with hate, hatred will become deeper  was Manders statement, starting at 5:25 minutes, after his address was abruptly stopped in the viral clip.

He continued to say, If someone is attempting to bring darkness to the country, and we also do the same in order to fight, then the darkness will only become more severe. If theres darkness, then the only way that can be fought is by lighting a lamp. And if theres a huge storm, we will light a lamp against the darkness. The only answer we have to their hate is love. They will resort to violence, they will instigate us to indulge in violence but we will never carry out any violence. You must understand that it is their plan to instigate you towards violence so that when we commit 2% violence, they respond with 100%. We have learnt from Gandhi Ji how to respond to violence and injustice. We will fight with non-violence. Anyone who instigates you toward violence or hatred, they are not your friends.

Quite evidently, Mander was not instigating violence but advocating for a non-violent approach to fight injustice. Karwan e Mohabbat also tweeted the relevant portion where the context of his speech hasnt been distorted.

Since @harsh_mander is trending on Twitter and the honourable Supreme Court has shown interest in this speech, here it is for all to hear.

And be inspired by. https://t.co/6qVnXYAglN  Karwan e Mohabbat (@karwanemohabbat) March 4, 2020

Therefore, a clipped video was presented by members of the BJP and amplified by certain media outlets to portray that Harsh Manders reference to coming out in the streets promoted violence. Contrary to claims, the social activist said that people need to come out to protect the soul of the Constitution, which was founded on the ideals of love. He also stated that people can only be won over by love, not hate and the only way to fight injustice is through non-violence.

(This article was first published on AltNews website and was reproduced here through special arrangement.)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Winter may not be officially over just yet, but spring arrived early in Starbucks stores in the United States on Tuesday with the launch of three new iced beverages.

The trio of drinks includes the Iced Golden Ginger Drink, Iced Pineapple Matcha Drink and Nitro Cold Brew with Salted Honey Cold Foam.

The Iced Golden Ginger and the Iced Pineapple Matcha are coconut milk iced drinks inspired by Venice Beach, Los Angeles and the California sun. The new coconut milk beverages have a tropical twist -- featuring flavors like matcha, turmeric, pineapple and ginger.

The Iced Golden Drink is described as a sunny beverage that features ginger, pineapple and turmeric flavors, shaken with coconut milk and ice.

Its vibrant color and sunny flavors make you think of springtime, said Kris Murray, product specialist for the Starbucks Beverage Research & Development team.

The Iced Pineapple Matcha Drink, made with premium matcha green tea with flavors of pineapple and ginger, is shaken with coconut milk and ice.

Iced Pineapple Matcha Drink is the perfect blend of pineapple and matcha with a hint of coconut, Murray said. At first sip, you get some of that pineapple flavor complimented by the coconut milk, with matcha and ginger flavors really shining through at the end.

The Nitro Cold Brew with Salted Honey Cold Foam was designed to complement the smooth flavors of nitro cold brew, topped with a salted honey cold foam and a stripe of sweet and salty toasted honey.

New food and ready-to-drink beverage items are also in stores, along with a cheerful collection of spring merchandise.

Starbucks is now offering two new, protein-packed breakfast wraps. The Bacon, Sausage & Egg Wrap includes double-smoked bacon, sausage, cage-free scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and sous vide potatoes wrapped in a flour tortilla.

The Southwest Veggie Wrap combines cage-free scrambled eggs, black beans, sous vide potatoes, cotija cheese, pico de gallo, and jalapeno cream cheese wrapped in a salsa tortilla.

In January, Starbucks announced its first new beverages of 2020 that are all non-dairy drinks. The Almondmilk Honey Flat White and Coconutmilk Latte are now available at participating Starbucks locations in the United States and Canada.

The Almondmilk Honey Latte combines shots of Blonde Espresso with a honey blend and steamed almond milk -- finished with the Flat Whites signature dot of foam, according to Starbucks.

The Coconutmilk Latte was created using shots of Starbucks Blonde Espresso combined with steamed coconut milk and finished with a strike of cascara sugar.

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With the Supreme Court of India ruling to overturn the Reserve Bank of Indias directive against cryptocurrencies, stakeholders of the cryptocurrency sector in India have largely shown optimism towards embracing a new investment avenue. Startups and exchanges, which have been under lockdown and stuck in a legal battle against the RBIs directive, are back in business, and this by itself makes for a positive impact under gloomy economic conditions. It is this that might just be the biggest win for India from the SC verdict  a new investment avenue away from the ongoing stock market volatility.

Growth potential

The swing of fortune in the Indian cryptocurrency sector is being reflected in cryptocurrency prices as well. On Monday, March 2 at 6PM IST, the price of one bitcoin was Rs 6,35,351.96. Today, at 6PM IST on March 5, the price of bitcoin had risen to Rs 6,69,550.03  a 5.4 percent increase within a span of four days. While not being conclusive, this offers an indication of what this sector may have to offer potential investors, and the modular nature of crypto-coins is an added bonus.

As Dr. Garrick Hileman, head of research at Blockchain.com, told News18, The argument that bitcoin and other digital assets dont have legitimate utility and value is a harmful myth. The ecosystem of users has grown from thousands of pioneers to over 30 million people today  phenomenal growth that significantly outpaces the early internets growth rate (approximately 2x faster).

He further adds, Given Indias population of over 1.3 billion and need for more forms of accessible, digital payments, India is well-positioned to be a leading country, and possibly even the world leader, in the use of cryptocurrencies.

Return of the investors

The opening of new investment avenues is what cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets and other facilitators in India would be looking forward to, in the coming days. Nischal Shetty, founder and CEO of WazirX, states that his company saw a near-immediate impact of the Supreme Court ruling in terms of traffic on his crypto trading platform. What happened after the ban was the shutting down of a lot of exchanges. A lot of users stopped being involved in crypto altogether for years, due to the ban. Soon as the SC ruling came in, we saw a rush of people reactivating their accounts, by the thousands. We also had many new users signing up on our platform since many of their old platforms had shut down, said Shetty to News18.

The big advantage now is that users can now sell their crypto investments and get the cash directly into their bank accounts.

Shettys startup WazirX was acquired by Binance, deemed the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, back in November last year. While this allowed interested individuals to transact in INR on the Binance fiat gateway, the erstwhile norms in India meant potential investors held back, despite global big guns looking at India actively. Even withdrawing money from crypto investments was a major obstacle, since direct withdrawal to banks were prohibited. The big advantage now is that users can now sell their crypto investments and get the cash directly into their bank accounts. Previously, they had to use P2P mediums, which were three-party systems, and hence rather inconvenient, adds Shetty.

The mood is echoed by Sathvik Vishwanath, founder and CEO of Unocoin, a leading Indian crypto trading platform. We used to have about 25,000 active users per day, with more than 2,500 KYC (know your customer)-verified signups. We presently have 1.3 million users, and anticipate to see at least 100,000 new users every month, starting a few months from now. (In terms of active users) it would just be a matter of a few months before we start seeing similar traction (as before) again, says Vishwanath, affirming that mainstream investment in crypto assets is not a matter of if, but when.

Safety measures

However, many experts still believe that while cryptocurrencies may be looked at by investors as a new avenue owing to the volatility in the stock exchanges today, it is crucial for potential investors to be very careful before pledging their money. While the recent upsurge of interest may see an initial boon, cryptocurrencies also have an issue of volatility of their own.

G.V. Anand Bhushan, partner and Chennai head of general corporate affairs at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. (SAM), opines that this itself may lead to initial investment coming in only from a select few, until everyone understands the new investment arena properly. Bhushan states, There is high volatility in the values of cryptocurrencies. For example, in the last three years alone, the value of a bitcoin has fluctuated between highs of above Rs 9 lakhs and lows of Rs 2 lakhs. I dont see this being used by average users who have only recently discovered equities and mutual funds, and may not be comfortable with this much market volatility. Crypto is more likely to catch the attention of HNIs (high net-worth individuals) rather than the average retail investor, due to its risk profile.

I dont see this being used by average users who have only recently discovered equities and mutual funds, and may not be comfortable with this much market volatility.

Cyber risks play a big part in mainstream investors being wary of cryptocurrencies, and the issues are real. However, there are general guidelines that should be followed, making for good stepping stones towards building investment in cryptocurrency. Michael van de Poppe, CEO of BonSanca and a regular trader at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, has a general advisory that everyone can (and should follow).

Customers have to secure themselves through potential cyber security risks. This means using 2FA (two-factor authentication) for your exchanges and not using the mobile phone you regularly use  an offline phone is sufficient. The reasoning is simple  if you get sim-swapped or someone steals your phone, they have a chance to access the exchange and your funds. Further, use a complicated password, and do not use the same password for every exchange. Finally, dont have all your coins on one exchange. This is a significant risk, as the exchange usually doesnt provide you keys for the coins. If the exchange gets hacked, youll lose them. Keep a large amount of the coins outside the exchanges, on secure offline wallets, says van de Poppe.

Making new avenues

With this ruling, India seems to be ready for promoting a new investment avenue, and stakeholders in Indias crypto story are cautiously optimistic of the opportunities that the sector represents. Unocoins Vishwanath is opined towards the optimistic side of the scale. He states, There was a huge influx of users during the last quarter of 2017 and first quarter of 2018. The crypto prices also peaked out during this period and most of the investment people did got locked down as there was no bank support to liquidate it. Now the supreme court has ruled the case in the favor of industry, the crypto investors should find such investments to be both promising and liquefiable. The verdict also helps clear the uncertainty in the space which should boost the crypto adoption in India.

SAMs Bhushan has a more balanced outlook towards this sector, and states that there are two sides to the coin. At its peak, it was estimated that there were over a billion dollars in monthly trades in India alone. However, the regulatory environment has stalled the growth of this space, with a number of exchanges also closing. In light of the recent judgement, and with the possibility of a more favourable regulatory regime, it will be no different for crypto or the trading exchanges as well.

Both regulation and innovation in technology among Indias massive and thriving developer community would contribute towards making new avenues as far as cryptocurrencies and India are concerned.

However, he also adds, Cryptocurrencies have been used for many unlawful activities in the past, and the challenge ahead would be to strike a balance between innovation and the need to regulate these newer technologies.

Dr. Hileman of Blockchain.com believes that both regulation and innovation in technology among Indias massive and thriving developer community would contribute towards making new avenues as far as cryptocurrencies and India are concerned. As he says, It will be exciting to see a deeper convergence between the world of cryptocurrencies and Indias technology ecosystem. The cryptocurrency space is where new blockchain technologies are first developed and tested, and the most talented blockchain developers have gravitated to working on public cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.

However, plenty would depend on the regulations that India would adopt. Regulation is a key variable in determining the pace a countrys citizens will adopt cryptocurrencies. If regulators overseeing cryptocurrencies are pro-innovation  like the UKs investment in understanding the ecosystem  adoption can be accelerated, says Dr. Hileman.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday accused opposition parties of spreading falsehood that the proposed 11 medical colleges in Tamil Nadu would benefit only students of other states, saying only 15 per cent of seats have been allotted under the 'all-India quota'.

After laying the foundation of a new medical college in the district, he said the remaining 85 per cent would be allotted to students from Tamil Nadu.

"Some in the opposition party are spreading false information that the new medical colleges in the state will benefit students of other states. No, it is not. Only 15 per cent of seats in medical colleges are allotted to them. The remaining 85 per cent are kept for students hailing from Tamil Nadu," he said.

It was also possible to accommodate students from Tamil Nadu even under the 15 per cent all-India quota, he claimed.

Tamil Nadu will have a large share in the number of medical colleges in the country, Palaniswami said, adding there were only 1,945 medical seats till 2011.

The late Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa created an additional 885 medical seats, he said.

"After her demise (in 2016), this government following the path laid by her and managed to get an additional 350 medical seats last year. From the new 11 medical colleges, there will be creation of another 1,650 seats," he said.

"In total this government has added 2,000 new medical seats. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Health Minister (Harsh Vardhan) on behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu for granting to set up 11 new medical colleges in the state," he said.

Palaniswami said a detailed project report on constructing check-dams across river Cauvery was under preparation to address the water crisis during summer season in Namakkal district.

On initiatives taken for the development of the district, he said land acquisition was going on for the Namakkal bypass.

He said the government has made a request to the Centre to convert the existing road connecting Namakkal with Tiruchirappalli into a four-lane road.

"The project is under consideration with the Centre," he said.

Palaniswami said linking of Godavari-Cauvery river was a dream project of the AIADMK and assured once it gets implemented the State will get its adequate share of water from river Godavari.

"This government will take all possible steps to ensure that there is no water shortage in the state", he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

Trend:

Specialized centers for coronavirus monitoring will be created in Baku and Azerbaijani regions, Chief Infectiologist of Azerbaijan Jalal Isayev said, Trend reports.

He made the statement at the briefing on the topic of coronavirus in Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.

He added that citizens will be tested via special algorithm in these centers.

"Those who will be tested positive for coronavirus will be kept for quarantine in these centers and will also undergo treatment there," Isayev said.
China has condemned a Fox News presenter's 'arrogance', 'prejudice' and 'ignorance' after he said Beijing should apologise over the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 3,300 people worldwide.

Jesse Watters, who hosted an American talk show, made the comments half-jokingly as he said 'I'd like to just ask the Chinese for a formal apology'.

He continued: 'This coronavirus originated in China, and I have not heard one word from the Chinese. A simple "I'm sorry" would do. It would go a long way.'

US presenter Jesse Watters (pictured in 2017) said: 'I expect a formal apology tomorrow. Doesn't matter if it comes from [President Jinping] Xi or the embassy.' China's President Xi is pictured inspecting a centre for disease control and prevention in Beijing on February 12

Other participants of the programme, called The Five, chuckled when the commentator launched the rant on Monday.

Mr Watters added: 'I expect a formal apology tomorrow. Doesn't matter if it comes from [President Jinping] Xi or the embassy.'

Most of the five-member panel laughed again.

When Mr Watters' co-host Dana Perino asked him 'what if the outbreak started here', he claimed there was a reason why the epidemic had started in China.

He said: 'Because they have these markets where they're eating raw bats and snakes.

'They are a [sic] very hungry people. The Chinese communist government cannot feed the people.

'And they are desperate. The food is uncooked. It's unsafe. That is why scientists believe that is where it originated from.'

He concluded: 'And according to The New York Times, Dana, the Chinese government has been very deceitful and deceptive in communicating the extent of the infections to the world.

'So, as I said, tomorrow I expect an apology.'

Mr Watters also accused that the virus originated in China 'because they have these markets where they're eating raw bats and snakes'. Chinese experts claim that humans caught the virus from animals sold as food at a wholesale seafood market (pictured) in Wuhan, central China

Chinese workers wear protective masks and suits before entering the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan to carry out thorough disinfection works on March 4

Hazmat-clad cleaners are tasked to sanitise stalls and safely dispose of the remaining stock

Beijing did not respond to Mr Watters' demand on Tuesday. However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs today lashed out at the American presenter.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Ministry, blasted the host's remarks as 'ridiculous' and 'laughable'.

'They completely exposed his arrogance, prejudice and ignorance towards China,' Mr Zhao said at a daily press briefing.

The spokesperson stressed that epidemic diseases were the common enemies of mankind and patients in all countries were victims.

He said: 'The World Health Organization has repeatedly stated that stigmatisation is more dangerous than the virus itself.

'At this time, individual people spread such illogical remarks, what are their motives?'

Zhao Lijian (pictured on February 24), a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, labelled Mr Watters' remarks 'ridiculous' and 'laughable' at a press briefing on Thursday

Globally, the deadly virus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,400

Mr Zhao added that there was no basis for China to formally apologise because there was no confirmed conclusion yet on the origin of the virus.

He argued: 'In 2009, the H1N1 influenza outbreak in the United States spread to more than 214 countries and regions.

'In that year alone, [it] caused at least 18,449 people to die. Did anyone require the United States to apologise?'

The spokesperson concluded by praising his country's preventative measures.

He stated: 'The Chinese strength, Chinese efficiency and Chinese speed have been widely praised by international communities during the control and prevention efforts of this epidemic.

'The Chinese people have made enormous sacrifice and contributions for the sake of the health and safety of people from countries around the world.'

MTA, the public transport authority of New York City, has stepped up disinfecting and cleaning subway stations, cars and buses amid the coronavirus outbreak in the densely populated city

There are now 165 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US. Eleven people have died

A woman in a mask gets on the New York City subway on Wednesday. There are now four confirmed cases of the virus in NYC

Mr Zhao's statement came as two more people tested positive for coronavirus in New York City, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 13.

One of them is a woman in her 80s, and the other is a man in his 40s. No other information was given. Both of the new cases are in the ICU.

There are now 165 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States and 11 people have died of the disease in the country.

Globally, the deadly virus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,400.

Scientists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention claim that humans caught the virus from animals sold as food at a wholesale seafood market in Wuhan, a city in central China.

It is not clear which animal was carrying the virus, but the market was home to stalls trading dozens of different species, including rats and wolf cubs.

Outside China, more than 70 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.
The cross-border police investigation into the campaign of violence against the directors of Quinn Industrial Holdings have this morning arrested four members of the same family.

This is the second tranche of arrests to be made in the massive probe involving the gardai and the PSNI since the abduction and torture of QIH director Kevin Lunney last September.

The Irish Independent understands that three members of the same family were arrested early this morning by the PSNI in Co Fermanagh while a fourth member of the same family was arrested by gardai in Co Cavan.

The PSNI arrests, of two men, aged 23 and 61, and one woman, aged 61, were on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to cause Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent and assisting offenders.

They have been taken into custody at Omagh police station where they are being questioned by detectives.

In Cavan, An Garda Siochana this morning arrested a man in his 30s for an offence contrary to section 72 Criminal Justice Act 2006. He is currently detained at Cavan Garda Station under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

This mornings operation marks a new phase in the investigation as gardai have made major progress in the case including uncovering the money trail used by Border gang boss Cyril McGuinness .

Senior criminal McGuinness was nicknamed Dublin Jimmy and died last November during a police raid in the UK.

The Irish Independent recently revealed that the discovery of a number of bank accounts that were used by bogus front companies set up in the Republic on behalf of McGuinness may also lead directly to the mysterious paymaster who paid McGuinness to orchestrate the campaign of violence.

The arrests also come in the wake of an attempted arson attack at the home of a relative of one of the QIH directors in Co Fermanagh last month when two men tried to set fire to a truck and a jeep which were parked near a family home.

However the would-be arsonists were disturbed and sped off before any damage was done and the incident was captured on CCTV.

Security chiefs fear that the incident marked a resumption of the violence against the QIH executives which had ceased following the abduction and torture of Kevin Lunney last September.

There had been quiet optimism that the campaign of intimidation would end permanently following the death of McGuinness, the criminal who had been orchestrating the campaign of intimidation and violence at the behest of the so-called paymaster .

In January senior gardai informed the five directors of QIH who have been targeted  including Kevin Lunney  that the threat level against each of them is as high as it has ever been.

The joint investigative team was established in November and according to both the PSNI and gardai, it is working efficiently on the investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Julie Mullan from PSNIs Criminal Investigation Branch said: "The arrests today show the close working partnership between the PSNI and An Garda Siochana and our determination to bring those responsible for this heinous crime before the courts.

Chief Superintendent John O Reilly, Cavan/ Monaghan Garda Division added: "Todays arrests demonstrate An Garda Siochanas ongoing commitment, working closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and is a further significant step to ensuring that the perpetrators of this vicious attack will be brought to justice.
NASA Mars mission now has a name  Perseverance. The path-breaking mission will land on Mars in early 2021, and will remain on the red planet for about one Mars year, or 687 Earth days. During this time, it will collect data that will attempt to identify traces of ancient life on Mars, test new technologies that may one day sustain life on Mars, and also collect the first rock samples that will be brought back to Earth from Mars. To take on these tasks, Perseverance has been earmarked for launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida between July 17 and August 5, and is scheduled to land on Mars on February 18, 2021.

The NASA Perseverance rover features many new technology breakthroughs made by the space agency in a bid to improve the rover's ability to navigate the Martian surface. Of many critical elements in the mission, the Mars 2020 mission will see Perseverance to attempt producing oxygen from the carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere, or what remains of it. The rover also has a new, intelligent landing technology integrated in its computers, which will enable it to take photographs of the surface while landing, identify the topography of its terrain, compare it to pre-installed orbital maps, and divert its landing process if necessary.

Call me Perseverance.I'm headed for Mars: driven to search for signs of ancient life, test new tech to help future human explorers, and collect the first rock samples for future return to Earth.Follow me. Let's go. https://t.co/7w3rbvbyoL#Mars2020 NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) March 5, 2020

Furthermore, Perseverance is enabled to capture the first audio samples from Mars, with multiple onboard microphones programmed to record the sound of the rover's descent to the surface, and also the workings of the rover. It will also undertake the first ever drilling procedure on Martian surface, procuring rocks from Mars and storing it in order to bring it back to Earth. To support all of these ventures, the Perseverance rover now gets a new set of wheels that come with a modified shape that maximises rover performance, offers better traction to help climb steeper slopes and are more durable on overall terms.

An illustration of all the scientific equipment that will be on-board NASA's Perseverance rover slated to land on Mars in February 2021. (Image: NASA)

The NASA Perseverance rover will be the first to bring back a chunk of Martian rock to Earth, and also record audio from the Martian surface.

Interestingly, NASA hosted a 'name the rover' contest for school students in USA, the prestige of which was won by Virginia-based seventh grade student Alexander Mather. Following the announcement of its official name, Twitter has been abuzz with anticipation of what the mission would bring to the table. NASA has been keeping busy of late, recently flagging off its latest recruitment drive for new astronauts as part of the Artemis generation of space missions.

The programme, which is slated to receive applications through March 31, aims to add to the present roster of 48 astronauts, and will include members who would represent mankind's return to the lunar surface for the first time since the much-romanticised Apollo moon missions of the 1970s. With missions to the moon and Mars scheduled through 2030, it is an exciting time for observers of space advancements, and answers that Perseverance can bring to the table.
Britain will face 'lots of consequences' if it chooses to walk away from post-Brexit trade talks with the EU, Brussels' negotiator Michel Barnier warned today.

After four days of talks with a UK team led by David Frost he told a press conference that the UK could not expect 'business as usual' after December if it refuses to give ground.

The two sides have squared off against each other over a wide range of issues, with Mr Johnson tying the UK in to walking away without an agreement by June if there appears to be no progress.

At the end of the first week of talks in Brussels on a free trade agreement, Mr Barnier said reaching a deal would be 'challenging'.

'That has a lot of consequences that we have to prepare for. It will not be business as usual. It will be very, very different,' he said.

At the end of the first week of talks in Brussels on a free trade agreement, Mr Barnier (pictured today) said reaching a deal would be 'challenging'.

The two sides have squared off against each other over a wide range of issues, with Mr Johnson (pictured today) tying the UK in to walking away without an agreement by June if there appears to be no progress.

'The definitive changes which will happen because of the decision of the United Kingdom and the difficulties which will be linked to that, my impression is they are very often underestimated.'

Key sticking points in EU trade talks Level playing field The UK insists it wants an off-the-shelf free trade agreement, similar to that the EU struck with Canada. This would mean shunning almost all tariffs and quotas, and potentially bolting on preferential access for financial services. Crucially, it would not involve the UK aligning with EU rules or obeying legal edicts from the bloc's judges. However, Michel Barnier has said the Canada model is not appropriate as the UK is geographically closer to the EU and the competition issues are different. He insists that there must be a 'level playing field' for trade, with the UK following Brussels' standards. Fishing The EU is determined to keep access to UK waters after December 31. France is particularly keen to ensure that its fishermen have generous quotas when Britain leaves the EU Commons Fisheries arrangements. But Boris Johnson has said: 'British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats.' Food standards Mr Johnson and Donald Trump have vowed to push for a quick Transatlantic trade deal. However, the US is likely to demand concessions on better access to lucrative UK food markets in return for good terms in other areas. The EU is trying to thwart the discussions by insisting the UK must stay tied to its food standards rules. The Elgin Marbles The EU negotiation mandate includes a stipulation Britain should 'return unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin'. The passage is thought to refer to the Elgin Marbles, ancient Greek sculptures taken to Britain more than 200 years ago and now on display in the British Museum. Greece has been vocal about demanding the marble sculptures, once situated in the ancient Greek Parthenon temple, are returned to Athens. Downing Street has insisted the future of the marbles is 'not up for discussion as part of our trade negotiations'. Advertisement

Last week Boris 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.

The differences include robust provisions on the so-called level playing field which guarantees fair competition between EU and British companies after Brexit, he said.

Another friction point is the fact that Britain wants a separate deal on fisheries to be renewed every year, something Barnier called impractical.

He added London was seeking a series of separate deals, while the bloc wanted a one overarching agreement, which would also give the EU's top court, the European Court of Justice, a final say on the interpretation of EU laws.

He also said London refused to sign up to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr Barnier today warned that Britain's demand to leave the bloc's collective fishing rights agreement would be impossible to implement.

'The United Kingdom does not want the fisheries agreement to be part of our economic agreement, it wishes to negotiate reciprocal access to British waters and European waters on an annual basis, which, and I can say this as a former fisheries minister amongst other things for my country, it's not practicable,' he said.

'There's hundreds of species, a hundred species or so. What we can do with Norway on five species simply isn't possible for 100 species.'

Mr Barnier said that from January 1 there would be customs formalities between the EU and the UK, UK financial institutions would lose their automatic passporting rights and British certification would no longer mean industrial goods could be marketed in the EU.

'Our differences come as no surprise, especially after only one round of negotiations, but some are very, very difficult,' he added.

'However, I continue to believe that we can reach a good agreement for both sides. These past few days have been constructive.'

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The UK is committed to the European Convention on Human Rights and to protecting human rights and to championing them at home and abroad.

'But we believe that this does not require an additional binding international legal commitment.

'How the UK gives effect to its long-standing, strong human rights protections is a matter for the UK as an autonomous country.

'In the same way, it's a matter for the EU and its member states to give effect to their own human rights protections according to their own legal orders.'

A UK Government spokeswoman said: 'We have just concluded the first round of negotiations, and are pleased with the constructive tone from both sides that has characterised these talks.

'This round was a chance for both sides to set out their positions and views. Following detailed discussions, we now have a good idea where both parties are coming from.

'These are going to be tough negotiations - this is just the first round. In some areas there seems to be a degree of common understanding of how to take the talks forward. In other areas, such as fishing, governance, criminal justice and the so-called 'level playing field' issues there are, as expected, significant differences.

'The UK team made clear that, on 1 January 2021, we would regain our legal and economic independence - and that the future relationship must reflect that fact.

'We look forward to continuing these talks in the same constructive spirit when the parties meet again in London on March 18.'
(Natural News) As Bayer continues to try to clean up the mess of lawsuits stemming from the destruction that Roundup has wreaked on human health and the environment, its chairman and a key figure in the firms takeover of Roundup manufacturer Monsanto, Werner Wenning, will be leaving his post. According to a company announcement, Wenning will step down next month.

Shares of Bayer have dropped by roughly 25 percent since August 2018. That was the month that they lost their first lawsuit claiming that Roundup causes cancer. Bayer acquired Monsanto in a $63 billion takeover deal, and theyve been fighting expensive lawsuits related to Roundup and other Monsanto products ever since.

In a statement, the 73-year-old chairman said that he felt they were making progress in dealing with the firms legal woes and that it was therefore a good time for him to step down. He added that he had planned to step down last year when he turned 72, which is the boards recommended age limit, but he had been asked to stay on as the firm weathered a legal storm.

His successor has been named as Norbert Winkeljohann, a former head of the PricewaterhouseCoopers European audit firm who has been on the supervisory board of Bayer since 2018. He will step into the role after Bayers annual shareholders meeting takes place on April 28.

Lawsuits continue to pile up

Winkeljohann has his work cut out for him as the firm faces nearly 43,000 plaintiffs in the U.S. alone in lawsuits related to Roundup that could cost the company as much as $12 billion to settle.

A state court jury awarded a groundskeeper suffering from cancer that he says is related to glyphosate exposure with nearly $300 million in damages in the first Roundup lawsuit in August 2018, although a judge later reduced the award to $78 million. Two cases that followed saw similar verdicts and expensive payouts, and the company is appealing in all three of the cases.

Shareholders have been unhappy with the way Bayer is handling the issue and many feel they underestimated the risks of buying Monsanto. Last years annual general meeting saw unprecedented disapproval aimed at top management. Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann became the first CEO of a big German firm in decades to lose a confidence vote by shareholders last April as the first Roundup trial losses started rolling in. He faces another shareholder vote next month.

Roundup isnt the only problem Bayer will have to pay for

In addition to a growing number of glyphosate-related lawsuits, Bayer is also facing suits related to Monsantos dicamba products. The herbicide is prone to drifting onto nearby crops, many of which havent been engineered to resist it, thereby destroying the crops and in some cases, farmers livelihoods as well.

There are already more than 140 lawsuits in the works related to the issue, with one recent case seeing a Missouri peach farmer awarded $265 million by jurors in a federal court. The verdict prompted a sharp 3.3 percent drop in trading, the biggest one the firm had seen in more than four months.

Bayer will also have to contend with thousands of lawsuits that claim the company hid the safety risks of its birth control device Essure. The first case related to that device will go to trial this month. Theyre also facing lawsuits from various cities who allege Monsanto contaminated their waterways with toxic chemical compounds known as PCBs.

The firm recently announced it would strengthen the external oversight of the due diligence carried out when making deals in an attempt to appease shareholders. They said an independent expert would be reviewing Bayers rules governing how they scrutinize major deals, with the results scheduled to be published later this month.

Sources for this article include:

Reuters.com

Fortune.com


BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - United Airlines Holdings Inc. said its plans to reduce domestic as well as international flights amid weak demand as the coronavirus epidemic is spreading across the world.



United's Chief Executive Oscar Munoz, and Scott Kirby, the CEO designate who will take over in May, reportedly said in a letter to the employees that domestic service would be reduced by about 10 percent and international service by about 20 percent in the month of April. Latin American service will be reduced by 5 percent. There may be similar cuts in the month of May as well, the company said.



The airline also announced a hiring freeze through June 30 except for critical positions, and said it will ask workers in the United States to take voluntary unpaid leave, starting immediately. However, the company does not plan layoffs.



United Airlines said it will temporarily ground an unspecified number of planes.



The company's announcement came after many airline chief executives met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at the White House to talk about the COVID-19 scenario. The Government is seeking the airlines' help to find out travelers who would have been in contact with COVID-19 -infected people.



After the meeting, Trump said that the virus is affecting the airline business.



Germany's Lufthansa also announced its plans to ground 150 planes due to weak demand from the virus outbreak.



Today, UK airline Flybe said it stopped its operations and went into administration. The already-struggling airline grounded all its flights particularly impacted by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.



United and many airlines across the world have already suspended flights to mainland China, where the outbreak emerged.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Coffs Harbour has been crowned Aussie Town of Year by travel booking website Wotif.

The idyllic seaside resort, in New South Wales, took the top spot followed by Mackay and Airlie Beach, in Queensland, which came in third and fourth respectively.

While the Sunshine State dominated the list with four towns overall, South Australia , the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania failed to make the top ten.

Australia's most famous tourist destinations including Byron Bay, Sydney and Melbourne, also failed to get a mention.

Coffs Harbour in New South Wales has been crowned the Aussie Town of Year for 2020 by travel booking website Wotif

Mackay in Queensland was the second best town according to the travel company. It is home to subtropical rainforests

Airlie Beach in Queensland came in third. It is a favourite for international tourists and is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

Coffs Harbour City Mayor, Denise Knight,was thrilled with the result and said the coastal town was 'the most beautiful place in Australia'.

The town is halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and is the home of the famed 'Big Banana'.

Airlie Beach was named Queensland's top town and is a favourite for international tourists and is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

Mackay, located at the centre of the Queensland coast, was the winner of the awards in 2018 but dropped to fourth place in this year's awards. It is home to subtropical rainforests national parks.

Cairns was the northern state's third winner and is known for its access to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast was ravaged by bushfires this summer is the fourth best town in Australia

Cairns in Queensland was named as the fifth best town in Australia. It is known for its access to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest

Port Fairy on the west coast of Victoria won the top spot for 2019, but has since dropped to number six in the 2020 awards

Top 10 Wotif Aussie Towns of the Year 1. Coffs Harbour, NSW 2. Mackay, QLD 3. Airlie Beach, QLD 4. Batemans Bay, NSW 5. Cairns, QLD 6. Port Fairy, VIC 7. Albany, WA 8. Katoomba, NSW 9. Margaret River, WA 10. Maroochydore, QLD Advertisement

Bushfire-ravaged towns Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast and Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, also made the top ten.

Out-of-control fires destroyed swaths of the Blue Mountains in December.

One firefighter said the conditions around Katoomba and Lithgow were the 'most tying I've ever experienced'.

The once-picturesque southern destination of Batemans Bay went up in flames on New Year's Eve.

Both blazes were extinguished during downpours in mid-January but homes, wildlife and thousands of hectares of bushland were destroyed.

An overwhelming number of local travellers were keen to show their support by holidaying in areas both directly and indirectly affected by the bushfires.

A total of 91 per cent of people who take holidays are going to make an effort to visit destinations in Australia affected by bushfires.

Albany in Western Australia is the states oldest European settlement. It marked the last port of call for troopships leaving Australia in WWI

Katoomba came in at number eight. Out-of-control fires destroyed swaths of the Blue Mountains in December last year

Albany and the Margaret River region are three hours away from each other and were Western Australia's top towns.

Albany is the states oldest European settlement. It marked the last port of call for troopships leaving Australia in WWI.

The Margaret River region is known for its wine and beaches.

Wotif data showed a resurgence in domestic travel, with 41 per cent of Aussies committed to travelling more in Australia this year compared to 2019.

Wotif Managing Director Daniel Finch said: 'During what is an incredibly tough time for many parts of the country, this year's awards are more relevant than ever, as a way of recognising the hard-working tourism operators and local businesses.'

Port Fairy on the west coast of Victoria won the top spot for 2019, but has since dropped to number six.

After the announcement accommodation bookings for the fishing town increased by 85 per cent.

A record $77.5billion were spent on domestic travel last year.

The Margaret River region in Western Australia is known for its wine and beaches and landed number nine in the awards
For several years Apple is mulling shifting its production outside China. The trade war between U.S.-China and the coronavirus outbreak seems to have forced Apple to think about decentralizing its supply chain. The Cupertino company was looking towards establishing a supply chain in India. However, Apple was dismayed with the results and seems to have put India plans on the backburner. An extensive report by TheInformation sheds light on Apples quest for setting up a supply chain in India.

The Reasons

Apple knew that its reliance on China was not healthy. As the trade war with China escalated, Apple started looking out for setting up the supply chain in countries other than China. In this case, Apple either had to absorb the increase in price due to newly imposed tariffs or pass it on to customers. Either way, it would eat into companies profit. Now the coronavirus outbreak has further dampened Apples prospects as many factories in China are shut down. Apple also went on to say that it will miss revenue guidance for Q1 2020.

Stepping into India

Apple started out in India by assembling older models like the iPhone SE and now the iPhone 7. The assembly of older iPhone models in India was assigned to Taiwanese supplier Wistron. In 2019 Foxconn agreed to assemble iPhone XR in a factory situated on the outskirts of Chennai, India. Even after a year most of the parts needed for iPhone XR assembly are still procured from China. Whereas Indian suppliers are mostly tasked with packing materials, batteries, and phone chargers.

Apples India plan seems to have not gotten too far. The company has 135 suppliers operating in China as opposed to just 7 in India.

The Challenges

The Cupertino company cites a slew of challenges that stopped it from ramping up production in India. Apparently it realized that the manufacturing sector in India was underdeveloped as opposed to China. Furthermore, bureaucratic hurdles and protectionist trade policies further played spoilsport. According to the report, a majority of smartphone component manufacturers in India have Asian or European roots.

The report also mentions how India has failed repeatedly when it comes to establishing a smartphone manufacturing ecosystem. Nokia had set up a manufacturing plant in Chennai and had lured many foreign component makers. However, in 2014 the company closed its plant amidst a tax dispute with the Indian government.

Smaller suppliers have an interesting perspective. They claim that the government offers incentives to larger suppliers like Foxconn while smaller component manufacturers dont receive any support. That apart, Apple is not doing a great job when it comes to convincing suppliers about moving to India.

What next for Apple in India?

Apple has had its own share of problems in India, especially with the Indian government. In the past, it has absorbed additional tariff that was imposed on printed circuit boards with chips. Adding salt to the injury, the Indian Government is apparently thinking of increasing tax on PCB-As.

Despite all the bottlenecks, Apple is continuing to assemble the iPhone in India. The local manufacturing has allowed the company to cut back on the cost due to import tariffs. Lastly, the first Apple Store in India is expected to be opened by the end of 2020.

[via TheInformation
The nine-minute animated short film Kitbull may not have won an Oscar this year, but the nominated projectfrom Pixar writer/director Rosana Sullivan and producer Kathryn Hendricksondid manage to bring San Francisco's Mission District into the spotlight.



The short film is about the unlikely friendship between a stray kitten and an abused pitbull (try not to cry), who find each other in the neglected yard of Mission dwelling. The quick picaresque takes them around 24th and Mission streets and through the neighborhood's graffiti-painted alleys before culminating in an adorable final scene atop Bernal Heights Park. For inspiration, the creators needed only to look in their own backyards.

Sullivan, a graduate of University of San Francisco, moved with her family to the Mission nearly two decades ago, well before all the hipsters did; Hendrickson landed in a place on Capp Street when she moved to the city in 2013.



"One of my favorite aspects of the Mission is just wandering around, looking at the murals, stumbling across the hidden gemslittle stores and local shopsthere's just a lot of that that brought life into our work," says Sullivan.

But, Hendrickson chimes in, an extra degree of attention was brought to the project in order to depict the neighborhood from an animal's eye view: "Our art team took selfie sticks around at cat level so we could see what the Mission would look like from a cat's perspective."

When the Kitbull team pitched the short to their full-time employer, Pixar, their plan was perhaps a bit unorthodox: Rather than opting in for the studio's famous tech-forward approach, Sullivan and Hendrickson wanted to make a fully 2D-animated project. The studio gave them the green light, but with a catch: The picture, which would be made under Pixar's SparkShorts program, would have to be done in six months at a fraction of the typical budget.

Sullivan, who had spent much of her spare time just like the rest of uswatching addictive cat videos onlinewas ready. "It started as a way to destress after work," she says. "I would watch these cat videos, and I really just wanted to draw this silly little kitten with an arched back, cat-crab walk, and I wanted to explore more realistic animal movements."

The sketches developed into a story around a theme of connectionwhat does it look like when two beings, who've never engaged before, open their eyes and hearts to each other? In Kitbull, the homeless kitten and the poor battered dog both metaphorically and literally lick each other's wounds.

Enjoy the film!
Mondays Australian Story profiles Vicky Xu, a Chinese-born journalist and comedian paying a high price for dissent

There are very few Chinese journalists in Australia who openly criticise their government and even fewer working simultaneously on the comedy circuit which might help explain the growing media profile of Chinese national Vicky Xu.

When the 25-year-old arrived in Australia in 2014 on a university gap year she was a patriot, loyal to her countrys communist government.

But then everything changed.

Ms Xu is now an outspoken critic and has found herself at the centre of an increasingly heated debate over the Australia-Chinese relationship.

Im definitely considered provocative at times. The label anti-China has been put on me by certain people. I dont see myself that way, she said.

Unrelenting in her pursuit of stories about the mass detention of the Uyghur community in China and other human rights issues, Ms Xu says her work has put her on the Chinese governments radar to the point where she feels it is no longer safe to return home.

Vickys in a sensitive position. Shes exposed China to a lot of scrutiny at great personal cost says Damien Cave who employed Ms Xu at The New York Times Sydney bureau.

The personal cost of her work has also complicated family relationships.

My Dad has stopped speaking to me. I couldnt help but feel that its my fault I am in this situation and I put my family in this situation, Im gonna be guilty about this forever, says Ms Xu.

Now working as a researcher with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Ms Xu was the lead author of an explosive report released this week which claims that Uyghurs are being forced into factories in around China to manufacture goods for brand names such as Apple, Adidas, Nike and BMW.

Producer: Jennifer Feller

8pm Monday on ABC.
(Newser)  A New Hampshire man who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after traveling to Italy was instructed to self-quarantine. Instead, he attended an event on Friday, authorities have revealed. The unidentified hospital employee traveled to White River Junction, Vermont, for an invitation-only social event related to the Dartmouth Business School, and authorities are now recommending all other attendees of that event self-quarantine for two weeks, Time reports. Authorities also revealed a second New Hampshire man has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel 2019 coronavirus, and is believed to have contracted it from the man who broke quarantine. It is not clear whether transmission took place at the Friday event.

story continues below

"An investigation of those who were in close contact with that individual is underway and all close contacts have been notified," Dartmouth says in a statement, adding that no students are believed to have been in contact with the New Hampshire patient. The man works at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the hospital has identified staff that could have been exposed there, but it says it is not aware of any patients that might have been exposed. Vermont health officials say there are currently no confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, and the Vermont venue where the Friday event took place has been sanitized, it announced on Facebook. Meanwhile, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has issued an official order of isolation for the man who broke quarantine. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Thursday, March 5th, 2020 (11:25 am) - Score 6,459

Mobile operator Three UK has today announced that after 9 long years their CEO, Dave Dyson, is to step down from his role for personal reasons. Replacing him will be the current CEO of Three Ireland, Robert Finnegan, who from 30th March 2020 will act as CEO for both operators (talk about a workaholic!).

The move could almost be described as the end of an era for Three UK, except for the fact that Dyson will continue to serve in all of his current Board roles and as a senior executive resource to Threes parent company CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings (aka  CK Hutchison Group Telecom or simply CKHGT).

In todays statement Three UK said that one of the groups core objectives has been to move progressively towards a greater alignment of Three Group Europes businesses and platforms. With the merger between Three and O2 in Ireland nearly completed, and the opportunity to appoint a new CEO of Three UK, now is the time to take the next step towards greater alignment.

Meanwhile Robert has been Three Irelands CEO since the companys launch in 2005, growing the operators market share from 1% to 36% in that time.

Canning Fok, MD of CKHGT, said: We are always looking to create competitive advantages that support our growth aspirations. 5G is an exciting opportunity for both businesses and its a good time to pool our resources across the UK and Ireland to do that. I would like to thank David for his significant contribution as the CEO of Three UK and I look forward to continuing to work with him both in his Board roles and as a senior executive resource to CKHGT going forward.

Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three Ireland, said: With the integration of the Three and O2 business in Ireland largely complete, we now have a solid platform to look at the next phase of our development. Collaborating more and progressively aligning operations and platforms with Three UK is an obvious opportunity and I am excited to be taking on this challenge as the CEO of both operations.

End.
The saying, "Never let a good crisis go to waste", will sadly be true of companies that take advantage of coronavirus fears to work staff harder or gouge consumers.

No business should underestimate the potential of COVID-19 to push the global and Australian economies into recession if supply chains remain cut and customers panic; or the need for employees to be flexible and help affected companies through the crisis.

Coronavirus deaths reach two in Australia. Credit:AAP

Large companies seem to be acting quickly and responsibly. The banks, with federal government jawboning, passed on this weeks interest rate cut in full. The big supermarkets are managing a crazy spike in consumption of essential items. Qantas commendably organised rescue flights for Australians from Wuhan.

But what happens if COVID-19 takes longer to contain than expected, the World Health Organisation declares a pandemic and the economic contagion of the outbreak  increasingly evident in service industries  spreads to more sectors?
Ideally, you are your members primary financial institution. Whether its checking, savings, starting a college fund, buying a new car, or purchasing their dream home, you want your members to come to you first. If youre having issues with member loyalty, here are a few reasons your members may not have the desire to give you repeat business

Your employees arent living your brand: Your brand is more than a recognizable logo. Every one of your employees should be a living, breathing example of your brand. Well, you know what? Sometimes employees suck. Obviously, every employee wont be perfect, but you should try to hire employees who fit the mold of your brand and generally love going above and beyond to make a difference in your members lives.

F is for Facebook: While Facebook does start with an F, you probably want your social accounts to be more associated with the letter A. An A+ would be even better. When was the last time you checked the DMs on your credit unions social accounts? You probably get messages from members daily, and if youre not responding, then youre making your members feel unimportant. Whether its a serious inquiry or not, you need to be there when your members need something. And that doesnt just mean at your front counter or by the phone. Checking your social accounts often is the only way to make sure youre everywhere your members are.

You need to upgrade: Gen Z is starting to graduate from college. That means they are entering the workforce. And that means that all millennials are part of that workforce. How satisfied do you think these two generations are with the products and services your credit union offers? These generations are completely immersed in technology, so its time to get with the program. If you dont have the money to upgrade your mobile app and website, you better find it somewhere, because you can bet that banks will have all the bells and whistles available. Mobile deposit matters now more than ever.
Representational picture

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the social network is stepping up its efforts to combat novel coronavirus-related misinformation by giving the World Health Organization (WHO) free advertising.

Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook account that the company is working with national health ministries and global organizations like the WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF to get out timely and accurate information on the virus.

Zuckerberg said Facebook will also give support and millions more in ad credits to other unspecified organizations.

Facebook has previously taken other measures to fight virus hoaxes and misinformation, including removing false claims and conspiracy theories and showing users a pop-up directing them to the WHO or their local health authority for the latest information.

A Beijing-based intensive care doctor now working in Wuhan  the city at the epicenter of China's coronavirus outbreak  says designated hospitals in the city are seeing an increasing number of empty beds after a large number of virus patients were discharged.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Du Bin added, however, that there's always the possibility of another spike in new cases.

Du on March 4 said that a major cause of deaths in younger patients may have been the prolonged application of certain high-dosage treatments that ended up causing more harm than good.

Cao Bin, a doctor specializing in respiratory research who is also currently in Wuhan, told reporters, The war is not over. Cao said Chinese researchers have led initial clinical trials of two antiviral drugs and will soon share the results of the trials with the World Health Organization.

Germany has joined several other countries in banning the export of medical equipment such as respiratory masks, gloves and protective suits in most cases. Germany, like other nations, has faced a shortage of such equipment as concerns over the widening coronavirus outbreak have mounted. In Germany itself, 240 infections have been confirmed so far.

Germany's interior ministry said Wednesday that exemptions from the export ban will be allowed only under strict conditions, such as for concerted international aid actions. Russia's government on Wednesday banned the export of masks, respirators and other protective gear along with anti-virus medicines until June 1. It also noted that the ban doesn't cover humanitarian aid.

The Ministry for Industry and Trade said the move is intended to prevent an artificial deficit of protective goods, which are being increasingly sold abroad as global demand has soared.

The Czech government also said it is banning exports of respirators and will start regulating their sale at home, saying it needs them for health workers and others. The Czech Republic has five confirmed cases of the new virus.
The coronavirus epidemic could rob passenger airlines of up to $113bn (100bn) in revenues this year, an industry body warned, more than three times a projection it made just two weeks ago as the virus continues to spread around the world.

The warning from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) came as British regional carrier Flybe became the first big casualty of the slump in travel demand due to the crisis.

Norwegian Air also scrapped its profit forecast for 2020, while US budget carrier Southwest predicted a $200m to $300m hit to its first-quarter operating revenues.

There are lots of airlines that have got relatively narrow profit margins and lots of debt, and a cash flow shock like this could certainly send some into a very difficult situation, IATA chief economist Brian Pearce said.

In a sign of the difficulties this is creating for airlines, a Turkish Airlines jet was flown back to Istanbul without any passengers on board on orders from Singapore after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane tested positive for the virus.

The latest IATA estimates equate to a drop of between 11% and 19% compared with its 2020 industry revenue forecast in December.

IATA said its lower forecast was based on the virus being contained in current markets with over 100 cases as of March 2, while the higher estimate was based on a broader epidemic.

Both scenarios assume there will be a recovery by late summer.

The failure of British regional airline Flybe comes less than two months after a rescue deal for the company was agreed by its owners and the UK government.

Its collapse came a day after Ryanair CEO Michael OLeary told Reuters it was inevitable the coronavirus crisis would lead to airline bankruptcies.

Norwegian Air said it would cancel 22 long-haul flights between Europe and the US from March 28 to May 5.

Analysts say few airlines are likely to remain unscathed, as both business and tourist travel is being affected.

The drop-off in bookings to Italy is even worse than we have observed in the past for some of the most disruptive events such as terror attacks, data firm ForwardKeys said.
The death toll in the violence in north-east Delhi violence has gone up to 53, hospital officials said on Thursday.

The Guru Teg Bahadur hospital reported six more deaths earlier today, taking the death toll from 38 to 44. Five deaths were reported from the RML hospital, three at LNJP hospital and one at Jag Pravesh Chandra hospital.

The dead included a Delhi Police head constable and a staffer of the Intelligence Bureau.

Earlier on Thursday, suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain was arrested as he reached a Delhi court to surrender in connection with an FIR registered against him over violence in north-east Delhi. He was taken into custody by Delhi Polices Crime Branch.

Hussain has been named in the FIR filed by the family of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer, who accused him of murdering he 26-year-old. The official Ankit Sharmas body was found in a drain in Chand Bagh, near Hussains house.

Clashes had broken out in north-east Delhi last week between groups supporting the amended citizenship law and those opposing it. Over 300 people were injured in the violence during which houses, commercial establishments and vehicles were torched and incidents of stone-pelting were reported from localities like Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar and Jafrabad.

At a press conference earlier this week, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said 79 houses and 327 shops were completely gutted in arson during the communal violence in northeast Delhi last week.
Socialists Target Louisville City Council: Conquering the South Seat by Seat

Commentary

The countrys largest Marxist organization, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is running two comrades for the Louisville, Kentucky, City Council elections this coming Nov. 3.

These races should not be seen in isolation, but as part of a wider Marxist strategy to gain influence in the U.S. South.

The DSA and their allies in the pro-China communist group Liberation Road are targeting southern electoral races at every level. Their strategy is to gain power in local city councils across the South to consolidate local power and become competitive in statewide races. If the Marxists can turn only two or three southern states blue, the far-left and their Democratic allies will rule the United States in perpetuity.

DSA comrade Ryan Fenwick, a Louisville attorney, is running as a Democrat against an incumbent in Council District 10. When Fenwick ran for the Louisville mayoralty in 2018, he was heavily defeated. With more name recognition and an energized team of Louisville DSA comrades behind him, he has a much better shot this time around.

Comrade Robert Bell is running in the open 4th District race against several competitors. Bell, a teacher and community organizer, supports a Green New Deal for Louisville, Public Ownership of Utilities, Expanded Free Public Transit, Housing as a Human Right, Improving Access to Medical Care, Reproductive Justice, Ending Food Insecurity, and Creating a Solidarity City, according to a Progressive Candidates Facebook post.

Louisville DSA has more than 100 comrades. If Fenwick or Bell, or both, win the May primary, the DSA will likely call in doorknockers from Lexington, Bowling Green, and southern Indiana to help out. If the races look winnable, the DSA has nearly 60,000 members nationwide to draw on for donations and phone-banking assistance.

Liberation Road also has a strong presence in the city. They also work closely with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a far-left community organization with several thousand members and branches across the state.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth helped defeat Republican Gov. Matt Bevin last year, so winning a couple of Louisville City Council races is well within reach for the local Marxist forces. Louisville is already dominated by the Democratic Party. If the Marxists gain a stronghold on the city council, expect both city and statewide politics to continue veering left.

Liberation Road turned Virginia blue in 2018 through their mass voter registration organization New Virginia Majority. Kentuckians for the Commonwealth works with New Virginia Majority in the State Power Caucus, an alliance of more than 20 organizations with a goal of mobilizing a mind-numbing 40 million new voters against President Donald Trump in the November elections.

Liberation Road recently started a new organization, Richmond for All, to influence politics in that city. In last years elections, the DSA elected one of their comrades, Michael Payne, to the Charlottesville City Council.

In North Carolina, the DSA has run several council candidates in the last two election cycles. In Durham, the Liberation Road front group Durham for All helped elect the majority of the city council and the mayor of Durhamthe states largest city.

In Alabama, the DSA helped elect their endorsed candidate Randall Woodfin to the Birmingham mayoralty in 2017.

Liberation Road (then known as Freedom Road Socialist Organization) elected Marxist radical Chokwe Lumumba to the mayoralty of Jackson, Mississippi, in 2013, but he died unexpectedly only six months into his term. So Liberation Road came back in 2017 to elect his son Chokwe Antar Lumumba to carry on his fathers work.

Lumumba, Jr. wants to make Jackson, Mississippi, into the most radical city on the planet.

In Georgia, the DSA elected their comrade khalid kamau to the South Fulton City Council in 2017. The DSA also helped elect their friend 26-year-old rapper, Ph.D. student and openly queer black woman Mariah Parker, to the Athens county commission in 2018. Parker ran on a progressive platform that put racial and economic justice center stage and won by 13 votes, according to In These Times.

Deeply Republican Tennessee is also being heavily targeted by the Marxists.

Liberation Road has organizations in Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, and Chattanooga plus a training school, The Highlander Center, situated close to Knoxville. The DSA has chapters in all those towns plus Johnson City and Murfreesboro.

Working through their City Council Movement/Knoxville for All, the Knoxville Marxists elected DSA comrade Seema Perez to the Knoxville City Council in 2017. They elected another DSA comrade, Amelia Parker, in 2019, and only just missed out with Liberation Road member David Hayes.

In Nashville, which already has a radical-heavy city council, Liberation Roads Nashville Justice League endorsed 15 Metro Council candidates, some of whom were successful.

DSA Nashville founding member Sean Parker won the Metro Council seat for District 5.

In black majority Democratic-controlled Memphis, Liberation Roads Memphis for All and the local DSA have endorsed several city council, Shelby County Commission, and mayoral candidates in the last two election cycles. Most have failed, but the DSA and Memphis for All-endorsed Michalyn Easter-Thomas did win Memphis City Council District 7 in 2019, and Lee Harris became Shelby County mayor in 2018.

DSA and Liberation Road are building a southern counter state to challenge the Republican dominance of the region. County by county, state by state, the Marxists are building their power in the South, while Republicans focus their attention on the Midwest. Several high minority population southern states are trending blue and could easily flip to the Democrats in the next two to three election cycles.

Liberation Road and DSA are working tirelessly to accelerate that process. The Republicans need to stop taking the South for granted before its too late. If the Republicans lose the South, the hard-left takes America.

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker, and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics. He is best known for his book Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress and his similarly themed documentary film Enemies Within. His soon-to-be published book is White House Reds: Communists, Socialists & Security Risks Running for U.S. President, 2020.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Flybe website stops working as company set to go into administration

The website for Flybe - one of Britain's biggest airlines - has stopped working as the company is expected to go into administration.

The website shows an error message, which says the link is "no longer live".

Flybe planes at airports including Edinburgh were not being refuelled this evening, and engineers were being laid off, according to the Press Association.

Speaking earlier, Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, said it would be a "devastating blow" if the company collapsed, adding: "The airline provides important connections to and from parts of the UK where other viable options often don't exist."

Flybe employs around 2,000 people and is the only airline that serves some of the UK's regional airports.

The company had made a renewed plea for ministers to provide emergency financial support.

The company's situation was made worse by coronavirus, which prompted a "collapse" in bookings, one insider said.
A drug discovery scientist typically screens up to 10,000 compounds in the early stages of developing one FDA approved drug. During this high-throughput screening, candidate compounds are initially tested on cell and tissue samples.

Such experiments are conducted using so-called multi-well plates where each of the wells acts as a test tube. Much of the initial screening process is automated - but one big exception is retrieving the cell and tissue samples from multi-well plates, typically 96 or more wells per plate, for further analysis in a microscope for histological analysis.

Now, Purdue University researchers have developed a collapsible basket technology to help speed up the process of retrieving the cell and tissue samples for histology analysis. This will significantly accelerate the analysis process when drug discovery scientists are developing new medicines or when health care professionals are searching for the best drugs for a given patient.

Our collapsible basket array technology has big advantages for drug discovery and personalized medicine. With our collapsible basket array, cells and tissue now reside in fluid permeable microcontainers submerged in the wells of the plate. Microcontainers are attached to a flexible grid. That grid conforms in size not only to the well plate but also to a much smaller histology cassette where cells and tissue much reside for microscopy analysis." Thomas Siegmund, professor of mechanical engineering in Purdue's College of Engineering

Siegmund said that with this new device the Purdue researchers not only contribute to a speed-up of process of creating new drugs by removing a time-consuming process step, but also reduce the error rate during tissue and cell transfer.

The Purdue technology is particularly compatible to an emerging technology for cell biology, pharmacology, toxicology and personalized medicines - 3D cell culture, where cells grow in 3D configuration better mimicking patient tissues. The 3D cell cultures can give scientists a much more accurate analysis of drug reactions in the body.

"There is increasing scientific interest in 3D cell cultures derived either from one particular cell type, called spheroids, or from natural and intentional mixtures of multiple cell types, known as organoids," said Bumsoo Han, a Purdue professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering and program leader of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research.

George Chiu, a Purdue professor of mechanical engineering and member of the team, said, "Our technology is designed to overcome the obstacles with the handling and analysis of 3D cultures. Those processes are typically laborious, mostly manual and with a low throughput. Increasing throughput can benefit both drug discovery as well as personalized medicine."

The Purdue collapsible basket array is designed to be reconfigurable for high throughput culture and histological analysis, which involves studying the tissue and any associated diseases. Scientists and doctors often use such analyses to study patients with cancer to better examine tumors.

The National Cancer Institute funded the initial work on the technology.

The research team is working with Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technology. The office recently moved into the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District.

The researchers received support from the Trask Innovation Fund, a development program established to support projects that advance the commercial value of Purdue intellectual property. The fund makes awards twice a year to aid faculty and staff with their patented innovations that are being commercialized through OTC.

The researchers are looking for partners to continue developing their technology. For more information on licensing and other opportunities, contact Patrick Finnerty of OTC at [email protected]
C lergy in London were today advised that ill parishioners should not drink from the chalice during Holy Communion.

Archdeacon of London, the Venerable Luke Miller, said: Should a communicant feel ill or not wish to drink from the chalice then he or she ought to receive the consecrated bread alone.

He added: There is no need at this stage to cease offering the chalice to the congregation, though this is being kept under review.
New Delhi, March 5 : Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan here on Thursday chaired a meeting with Delhi-NCR private hospitals for engaging them for coronavirus management as the number of cases is on the rise in the country.

"It's time for public and private sectors to come together and work as an alliance for collective efforts towards COVID-19 management," he said.

The discussion included preparedness in terms of bed capacity of hospitals for infected cases, isolation wards, protocols for sample collection and testing, protocols for outdoor patients.

The meeting discussed "to create a pool of beds in private hospitals," said a Health Ministry statement. NITI Aayog would support the Ministry and the private hospitals in doing so, it added According to the Ministry, 35 labs have been identified across the country for collection and testing of samples. The number of such labs would be increased to 100 plus, it said.

The hospital representatives spoke about various outreach initiatives made by them for enhancing awareness among the hospital staff. They also volunteered to help raise awareness among people through their own efforts.

It was decided that a common communication in terms of coronavirus management should be maintained.

V.K. Paul, Member (Health) at NITI Aayog, and Heath and Family Welfare Secretary Preeti Sudan also attended the meeting.

Owners and heads of private hospitals, including Medanta, Apollo Hospitals, Max Hospitals, Fortis Hospitals, Cygnus Healthcare, Artemis Hospitals, Metro Hospital, Paras Hospital, Sarvodaya Hospital, VPS Healthcare, Nayati Hospital, Faridabad-based Asian Hospital, FICCI and IMA attended the meeting.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
NORRISTOWN  Norristown police are asking for the publics help in locating a missing teenager.

Janaya Holloway has been missing since February 28, 2020. She was last seen wearing black Adidas pants, a black short sleeve shirt, and white coat with fur on the hood.She is 55 and approximately 150-160 lbs.

If anybody has seen Janaya Holloway or knows her whereabouts please contact Norristown Police at 610-270-0977 (Inc #20-969) or Philadelphia Police Department.
Three Russian passenger planes flying domestic routes on Thursday were targeted with anonymous bomb threats while airborne, local media said.

Anonymous messages were passed to emergency services and a Moscow airport warning that the planes had a bomb on board, Russian agencies said.

One plane was flying from Saint Petersburg to the Crimean city of Simferopol for Rossiya airline, Interfax agency reported.

Threats also targeted Aeroflot planes flying from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport to the northwestern city of Syktyvkar and the Siberian city of Omsk. Crews opted not to divert the planes, which landed safely at their destinations, and no bombs were found on board.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the security services were working to identify the culprit.

"Let's hope that sooner or later they will be caught and punished in accordance with the law," Peskov told reporters.

A spokesman for Sheremetyevo airport refused to comment to AFP on the bomb threats and spokespeople for Russia's Transport Police said they were unaware of the incidents.

On Tuesday, two Russian planes flying to Moscow from the far eastern city of Vladivostok and the Siberian city of Novosibirsk made emergency landings while en route due to anonymous bomb threats.

In recent months Russia has seen a raft of bomb hoaxes that forced the evacuation of courts, schools and malls.

The warnings of planted bombs, all of them false, have been sent to numerous Russian cities, targeting the capital in particular.

Authorities have so far appeared unable to find who is behind the threats, even after months of disruption to public life.

The false threats have been linked to a blackmail scheme demanding the Bitcoin virtual currency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Cook County Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced a fifth Illinois resident has tested positive at the IDPH laboratory for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Cook County resident is in his 20s and flew into Chicago OHare Airport earlier this month after traveling to Italy. The individual acquired the infection while in Italy and is hospitalized at Rush University Medical Center in isolation. Public health officials are identifying and contacting all close contacts.

The specimens have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmatory testing.

The state of Illinois is working around the clock to contain COVID-19 and educate the public, said Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The CDC has confirmed one of the recent presumptive positive cases and awaiting results on the other case. Both remain in home isolation and are doing well.

At this time, officials say the exposure route for the third and fourth cases is not known. Both individuals recently traveled to another state, but health officials have not been able to link them to a COVID-19 confirmed case in Illinois or the other state. Therefore, because IDPH has been unable to identify a point of exposure for these two cases, IDPH believes it is possible these cases may be due to community transmission in Illinois.

While we expect to see additional cases, we are not seeing widespread transmission of the virus in Illinois and we believe the risk to the general public remains low, said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.

Illinois two previously confirmed cases have both recovered. Public health officials continue to monitor individuals throughout Illinois who have a history of travel to an affected area or who have had close contact with a confirmed case.

Illinois was the first state to be able to test for COVID-19 and IDPH continues to test for the virus in all three of its laboratories - Chicago, Springfield, and Carbondale.

For information about how you, your school, your workplace, and your community can prepare, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html. For general questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
[March 05, 2020] Regions Foundation Announces $150,000 Commitment to Tennessee Tornado Relief; Disaster-Recovery Services Announced by Regions Bank

The Regions Foundation on Thursday announced a commitment of $150,000, including immediate grants to nonprofit organizations, in support of tornado recovery in Middle Tennessee. Additionally, Regions Bank announced a series of disaster-recovery financial services to help people and businesses amid the recovery from the March 3 tornado. "Regions has served the people and businesses of Middle Tennessee for many years, and we are committed to working hand-in-hand with our customers and communities throughout the recovery," said John Turner, Regions President and CEO. "Our hope is that the grants we are announcing today, and the disaster-recovery financial services we are putting in place, will help make the recovery easier for our neighbors in need. Our team will stand with Middle Tennessee in the days, weeks and months to come as our neighborhoods and communities recover and rebuild." The Regions Foundation is a nonprofit initiative of Regions Bank that supports community investments. Organizations that will be supported by initial grants from the Regions Foundation include: Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee: Immediately after the tornado, the Community Foundation activated its Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to support nonprofits working in areas that face a long and difficult recovery. The Emergency Response Fund works to "connect generosity with need" and delivers crucial financial backing that empowers the nonprofit community to meet local needs. A Regions Foundation grant of $50,000 will help fuel these efforts. Cookeville/Putnam County Tornado Relief Fund: Some of the hardest-hit areas are east of the Nashville Metro. In Putnam County, the Cookeville/Putnam County Tornado Relief Fund has been established to receive donations and deliver support to people within the immediate area. As part of the Regions Foundation's initial response to the tornado, a $25,000 grant will be issued to the Relief Fund. Additional grants totaling $75,000 or more will be issued by the Regions Foundation to various organizations as longer-term needs are identified in the coming weeks. Altogether, grant totals from the Foundation are expected to reach $150,000 or more. Disaster-recovery financial services1 offered by Regions Bank for a limited time in affected areas6 include: ATM Fees for non-Regions customers will be waived at ATMs within the affected areas for 15 days 3

Regions customers will be refunded for fees charged for the use of oher banks' ATMs for 15 days 3

Personal and business loan payment assistance 2

Business loan payment deferrals available up to 90 days 2

Payment extensions for current credit card holders 2

No check-cashing fee for FEMA-issued checks

Regions Mortgage Disaster Relief Purchase and Renovation loan programs

One penalty-free CD withdrawal 4

0.50% rate discount on new personal unsecured loans5 (effective beginning March 6, 2020)



Regions also offers an online Disaster Resource Center through Regions.com, which provides contact numbers and other helpful information to help customers with specific needs.

Hundreds of Regions associates live and work in Metro Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The Regions Associate Relief Program, which is administered by a nonprofit third party, is offering financial assistance to Regions associates impacted by the tornado. About Regions Financial Corporation Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $126 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation's largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,400 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com. About Regions Foundation Regions Foundation supports community investments that positively impact the communities served by Regions Bank. The Foundation engages in a grantmaking program focused on priorities including economic and community development; education and workforce readiness; and financial wellness. The Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation funded primarily through contributions from Regions Bank. 1Offers are available for a limited time and only to individuals and businesses affected by the March 3 Middle Tennessee tornado, may be subject to other exclusions and restrictions, and are subject to change without notice. All loans and lines, deferrals, extensions or forbearances are subject to required documentation and credit approval. Residency restrictions may apply.

2Subject to credit approval. Interest will continue to accrue during the period that the payment is skipped or deferred. For installment loans, deferring or skipping payment may extend the maturity of your loan but will not automatically extend any optional insurance. Forbearances, skipped payments, and deferrals generally (a) vary by customer, (b) postpone-rather than forgive-certain payment obligations, and (c) require payment in full of the postponed payments at the end of the forbearance or deferral period, in addition to any other amounts that come due, unless you make other arrangements with Regions to resolve the delinquency.

3Customers who use foreign ATMs may be charged an ATM service fee by the owner of the ATM.

4The no-penalty offer allows customers to make one partial or complete withdrawal without penalty. The penalty-free withdrawal must be made more than seven days after the issue date or the most recent renewal date (whichever is later). Any other withdrawals will be subject to penalties.

5Applications submitted online are not eligible for the loan rate discount. Loans opened in a Regions branch are eligible for the discount effective March 6, 2020.

6ZIP codes in Davidson, Putnam, Wilson and Carroll Counties covered by offers include: 37011, 37013, 37070 - 37072, 37076, 37087, 37088, 37090, 37115, 37116, 37121, 37122, 37136, 37138, 37184, 37189, 37201 - 37222, 37224, 37227 - 37230, 37232, 37234 - 37236, 37238, 37240 - 37244, 37246, 37250, 38201, 38220, 38235, 38258, 38317, 38318, 38321, 38324, 38342, 38344, 38348, 38387, 38390, 38501 - 38503, 38505, 38506, 38544, 38545, 38548, 38574, 38582 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005259/en/

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Admitting you need to divorce is not an easy decision. Many people feel trapped in loveless or abusive relationships as the financial burden of a divorce may be too costly - even if the decision to split is the right one.

The average legal fees for divorce amount to 8,926 in Britain but can jump to more than twice that amount to 18,269 if you live in London, according to a financial settlement divorce survey conducted by law firm Seddons in 2017.

Three years on, these figures are likely to have grown.

The cost of divorce is often a deterrent for couple even if they're stuck in unhappy or abusive relationships.

These costs can be hard to stomach and it can be particularly hard those with little to no income or who have suffered domestic or economic abuse.

The good news is that there are several ways to pay legal fees.

Here, This is Money runs through 12 potential options to make the burden of legal fees and other divorce costs less onerous.

1. Borrowing from friends or family

Georgina Rayment head of family law at Prettys says you can draw up a legal contract to pay back your friend or family member if they help fund your divorce

This is a common way of paying for legal costs upfront.

If you're going to approach a loved one about helping out with legal costs be honest with them about when you'll be able to repay them.

Georgina Rayment head of family law at Prettys, advises: 'Disagreements, and any subsequent litigation, can drag on for months or years.

'If a friend or family is loaning money, make sure the lawyer gives a robust worst case scenario cost estimate so that everyone is aware of how much may need to be found to conclude the case.'

To ensure there's trust, get a legal document drawn up outlining the amount borrowed and repayment terms.

Rayment adds: 'The court do not have to factor in the sum owing as a genuine liability, yet the borrower will still need to repay it.

'It is preferable, and protects all involved, if a simple loan agreement is drawn up by a lawyer so that it can be produced to the court.

'The lender is protected because they have a document to enforce and it is therefore in their interest to arrange for the legal documentation.'

2. Legal aid

Legal aid is rarely available now for divorces because it was scrapped back in 2013.

Before the change was introduced, people with no or little income could apply for legal aid to help fund divorces.

Legal aid is still available in certain cases to people who suffer at the hands of domestic violence, abuse or child abuse.

However, proving abuse can - unfortunately - be a challenge.

Emine Mehmet, child care director of Duncan Lewis Solicitors says: 'You have to give one of the prescribed forms of evidence. It's not just a case of one call to the police.

'Some people may not have the proof as the very nature of relationships may be that they were unable to get it.'

Legal aid was scrapped back in 2013 but it's possible to still apply for it in certain cases

3. Getting funding from support groups

If you've experienced economic abuse you may be struggling financially and not able to start divorce proceedings as a result.

There are a number of charities and organisations that can offer you funding, provide you with debit information and advice, such as Buttle UK, St Andrew's Society for Ladies in Need and the Heinz, Ann and Carol Kroch Foundation.

For a full list of organisation and funds that can help go to the national poverty charity Turn2us' website or contact Citizens Advice.

How to get help if you're a victim of abuse In an emergency situation call the police on 999 Freephone the 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline (in partnership with Refuge and Women's Aid): 0808 2000 247 Men's Advice Line: 0808 801 0327 Civil Legal Advice: 0345 345 4 345 Source: Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA)

4. Applying to reduce court fees

If you are on benefits, have little or no savings or little or no income you could slash your court or tribunal fees.

There are certain eligibility criteria, such as not having more than 3,000 in savings and investments if you're under 61 and earning less than 1,245 if you have a partner.

The divorce court fee costs 550 but if you have no money or are on a low income then you can apply for a fee remission.

5. Getting a free legal consultation

Find out from a law firm if they offer an initial free consultation. They may offer this to new clients thinking of going through a divorce.

But this may come with some restrictions. For example, London based law firm Vardags offers a free consultation to those with family assets over 1million or if the combined family income is above 150,000 per year.

The alternative is to track down your local law centre. Law centres are independent and operate on a not-for-profit basis. You can find your local centre on lawcentres.org.uk.

Last month Emine Mehmet, Dalston based child care director of Duncan Lewis Solicitors (pictured), set up a pro bono legal advice clinic for victims of abuse along with councillor Lakmini Shah from Newham Council and the University of East London

6. Pro bono help

Some lawyers will take on cases on a 'pro bono' basis  meaning they will work on divorces for free.

The best time to find out more is during pro bono week, which takes place in November every year in the UK.

However, some law firms offer pro bono services throughout the year.

For instance last month, Mehmet launched a pro bono surgery along with councillor Lakmini Shah from Newham Council and the University of East London.

The law clinic offers legal advice to vulnerable members of society who may not be able to afford it.

Family lawyers attending the clinic advise on a range of matters, including: divorce, dissolution of a civil partnership, financial provisions and non-molestation injunctions.

7. DIY online divorce

Divorcing online has become easier and cheaper over the years.

What is economic abuse? According to Dr. Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, founder and chief executive of charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) explains that domestic abuse and control takes many forms. She defines economic abuse as one partner seeking to sabotage or control the other's personal finances. 'These include basic needs such as feeding themselves, clothing children, home and car finance. 'Restricting control to finances is one of the easiest forms of abuse as it leaves no marks. It can even extend to taking out debt in your name. It's also easy to do economic abuse post separation as passwords can be easily guessed.' She adds that it's difficult in such situations for spouses to leave as perpetrators often put them in lots of debt with no access to money. She advises women to call the National Domestic Helpline or contact organisations that specialise in helping people suffering from abuse such as Women's Aid.

Many providers, including family lawyer for the rich and famous Laura Wasser are now offering such a service.

Wasser, who's represented celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds and Maria Shriver, will soon make her digital divorce platform itsovereasy.com available to a UK audience.

Typically, these online divorce services charge a fixed fee (plus VAT).

Co-op Legal Services, for example, offers a solicitor managed fixed fee divorce package which costs 375 or 450 inclusive of VAT provided it's an uncontested divorce.

The fee is agreed upfront before any work starts. The service includes a follow up call with a divorce solicitor, professionally prepare papers, support from a divorce solicitor.

Tracey Moloney, head of family law at Co-op Legal Services says: 'We have worked with the courts during 2019 and helped them with testing the online service to upload a divorce petition.

'It's less onerous than it used to be. You don't need legal advice.

'If you have no money and both agree to divorce that's the avenue that's open.

'It's doing very successfully. Go to Gov.uk  here the court has guides and lots of things you can download and they have taken out legal jargon and straightforward.'

8. A Sears Tooth Agreement

According to Stowe Family Law, a Sears Tooth agreement is 'a deed that assigns a client's settlement to the solicitor to enable them to cover the costs incurred in acting for the client and out of which they will be paid first and in full, when the case is over'.

In other words, once the divorce is finalised and you get any settlement from splitting the assets of a house, for example, you can pay your legal costs from that.

This type of arrangement has to be disclosed to the court and any other parties in the divorce.

Not many lawyers offer this option of payment because they point out that they're not in the business of lending money.

But it's worthwhile to ask your legal professional if they will do this or if there are any other options available to you as they may work together with other organisations that may provide funding.

A lawyer will probably outright refuse to structure payment in this way if a case is particularly complex or risky.

You may not be on speaking terms but it is possible to convince your ex to pay for the divorce

9. Funding from your ex

This may be a surprising option but getting your ex to fund the divorce may be one way to ensure that the process goes smoothly without incurring massive amounts of debt.

'Restricting control to finances is one of the easiest forms of abuse as it leaves no marks Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs

If you don't feel up to asking your ex for the money a carefully crafted legal letter from your lawyer may do the trick.

Emma Gill, head of Vardags in Manchester says: 'There's multiple ways to do this and the first way is to simply ask.

'One of the biggest consequences if they don't do it is to make a specific cost application, which allows you to ask the court to get the wealthier spouse to pay for the legal fees.'

Gill points out that that getting a legal services payment order can be a costly endeavour and will put most spouses off protesting paying for the other party's costs.

10. Borrowing money

It's possible to borrow money in order to pay for legal fees. You could borrow from a credit union, get a low-rate personal loan or use a 0 per cent credit card.

This should be a last resort option, as you do not want to be lumbered with a debt you cannot afford to repay.

There are also specific divorce loans offered by certain lenders, such as Rhea Family Finance and Iceberg Client Credit.

Find out from your solicitor if they recommend any specific providers. These companies will typically release the funds directly to your lawyer.

It's important to find out what kind of interest and other associated fees will be charged if you take out this type of loan.

It's not uncommon for people to turn to loan options such as credit cards, personal loans and divorce loans to finance their split

Caroline Elliott, partner in the family law team at law firm, Shakespeare Martineau says there can be drawbacks to these types of loans.

Elliott says: 'They have to be certain that there's money so they are interested in the bigger cases so if you're an ordinary family then they may not be interested.

'They charge interests comparable with credit card rates. It's not ideal as it's an expensive form of finance.'

11. Legal expenses insurance cover and call centres

Legal expenses insurance may come as a bolt on perk as part of your home or car insurance policy.

While they usually don't cover divorces, they could offer a call centre that you can contact for legal advice.

This may help to save you some time and money if you're stuck with a particular problem in the divorce process.

12. Support from your trade union

Amy Dawber from law firm Slater and Gordon says some trade unions offer support to their members to help them access family law advice.

'It can vary depending on which union you are with, but some have advice lines set up and others will offer services such as free consultations or reduced hourly rates with specialised lawyers.

'We work with several trade unions who offer various methods of support, such as a free consultation or a percentage off our costs.

'Our family lawyers frequently advise union members on areas such as divorce and financial settlements, children disputes and injunctions.

'In the first instance you should check with your union about what they can offer you, with details often being advertised on their websites.'
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 11:32 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20686e2e0 1 City Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,observation,coronavirus,surveillance,precaution,COVID-19,RSUP-Persahabatan Free

Persahabatan Central General Hospital (RSUP) in East Jakarta has admitted 31 patients for close observation amid rising concerns over a possible outbreak following the first two confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Indonesia.

Read also: Suspected COVID-19 patient in South Tangerang put under surveillance

At the moment, there are 21 patients [being monitored] and 10 under close observation [surveillance], while we await [their] results from the Health Ministrys Health Research and Development Agency, RSUP Persahabatan director Rita Rogaya said on Wednesday during a press conference at the hospital, as quoted by antaranews.com.

Rita said the patients under surveillance were those showing symptoms such as fever, coughing, a sore throat and difficulty breathing or other respiratory problems, and had recently come into close contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Read also: Think you know how to wash your hands? Doctors say use this method at 9 specific times

The patients under general monitoring showed lighter symptoms, such as fever, coughing and sore throats, but had no recent close contact with a confirmed case.

We do not use the term suspected here. The difference [between surveillance and monitoring] is only if [the patient] has had recent [and] close contact with anyone who is COVID-19 positive, said Rita.

The 31 patients are in isolation at the Pinere building of the hospital. (gis)
A resident (center L) receives a bag of food over a wall in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 3, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Everythings Fake: Top Chinese Official Heckled by Sealed-In Wuhan Residents During Visit

Residents in the coronavirus epicenter of Wuhan who have been sealed inside their buildings for more than a month have adopted a new way to vent their frustrations.

During a March 5 visit to a residential compound in the central Chinese city by a team of officials, including Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, locals greeted them by yelling complaints from inside their buildings.

Its fake, everythings fake! One woman shouted out her window, according to a video provided by a neighbor.

The vegetables we commoners eat are all overpriced, someone else shouted in another video, which has since circulated on Chinese social media.

Many other residents joined in the shouting, which didnt end until the officials, who all were wearing masks and black or pink jackets, exited the neighborhood in the Qingshan district.

One man, who filmed another video from the building above the officials, was impressed by the number of people who joined in the protests from their windows.

Normally, you dont see a soul, the man said in the video.

The residents shouts seemed to have an effect on the inspection team, which appeared to include more than 40 members. The video showed them pausing in front of the mans building and talking among themselves for roughly a minute before moving on.

On WeChat, a major Chinese social media platform, people bemoaned their struggles and expressed outrage toward local property management officials.

Grocery items and other necessities have become scarce in Wuhan since the government sealed the buildings on Jan. 23. Residents have been primarily relying on neighborhood committees and group buying for daily items. Depending on the district, residents only may be able to leave their home once every three days for groceries, or not at all.

In a WeChat group chat seen by The Epoch Times, a resident said that on the day of the visit, property management wouldnt let the residents of the building go downstairs. They said that management also arranged for volunteers to pretend to deliver food to them. That led residents to voice their grievances, the person wrote.

In a message that immediately followed, the person said that local officials were admonished for the incident.

As a result, a large number of neighborhood committee officers have come to collect feedback door-to-door in our community, the person wrote.

Reports from Chinese state media corroborated the information.

Sun ordered provincial and city officials to get a thorough understanding of the situation, and a meeting was convened between local officials and the outbreak response agency about four hours later, according to Xinhua, a state news agency.

Residents delivering foods over a wall closing off a street in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province on March 3, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

In a separate conversation, a local resident explained that all officials could see during their brief inspection tour was fake, while inside the residential buildings, the hallways are filthy and cluttered.

Many Chinese netizens applauded the residents show of defiance.

This is an unconventional way to defend your rights during the outbreak, one person wrote on Chinese social media.

Unveiling emperors new clothes on the spot, another said.

Zhang, a Wuhan resident, said that the Chinese Communist Party prioritizes maintaining its power above all else. Zhangs first name is being withheld for her safety.

What saddens my heart the most is that the outbreak control measures are purely a form of repression, she told The Epoch Times. Without freedom of speech, and without letting the majority know the truth, its basically anesthetizing people and forcing people to comply.

Pan, a father of two in Wuhan, hasnt been able to leave his apartment since his father was diagnosed with the disease and local officials sealed his door.

Being short on cash, and with food prices skyrocketing, he wondered how many more days he could carry on.

Even if I want to go begging for food, I wouldnt know where to go, Pan said.

Zhang said the officials heavy-handed approach in containing the virus is against human nature.

They would rather let people starve to death at home, she said.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

Fears of imminent apocalypse tend to be midwives to absurdity. The stockpiling fever that has gripped various populaces in response to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has taken various forms. Pandemic pantries are becoming the norm, suggesting that hoarding in the crisis tends to be a precursor to petty crime.

In the United Sates, the price of hand sanitizers has risen by 73 percent in dollar value since February 22. A Nielsen report on these trends reads glumly: Consumers around the world are actively stockpiling emergency supplies as concerns grow that the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) could become a worldwide pandemic. But the focus of such purchases lies beyond such supplies, including basic foodstuffs, including canned goods, flour, sugar and bottled water. Non-food essentials also feature in buying behaviour, including first aid-kits.

One item has risen in prominence in the purchasing schedule. A visit to various shopping outlets in Australia  at least in cities  will greet the customer with shelves emptied of toilet paper. The phenomenon struck the BBC as amusing enough to run an image of a toilet roll emptied of paper with the question: Does this strike fear into your heart?

Australias chief medical officer, Dr Brendan Murphy, did his bit, albeit a touch officiously, by suggesting that such empty lavatory rolls were not to be feared. We are trying to reassure people, he told Australian parliamentarians, that removing all the lavatory paper from the shelves of supermarkets probably isnt a proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time.

This fevered rush prompted a veteran journalist of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to issue a curt reminder. Most, if not all, toilet paper is made in Australia. It is NOT imported, tweeted a grumpy Michael Rowland. The manufacturers are ramping up production to replenish shelves stripped bare by panic buying. Australia will not run out of toilet paper. So everybody can calm down.

Not quite everybody. On social media, the viral nature of COVID-19 trends alongside that other viral spread: the hashtag. These include #toiletpapergate, #toiletpapercrisis and, as of today, #toiletpaperemergency. Limits on the number of rolls have been imposed in some supermarket chains. Woolworths has capped the limit at four to, in the words of a spokesman, ensure more customers have access to the products. The limit would help shore up stock levels as suppliers ramp up local production and deliveries in response to higher than usual demand.

One contributor to a Facebook group page made her feelings clear about the whole business. So I just went to Woolies (in Perth), wrote a troubled Amy Bainbridge on Mums Who Budget & Save, and found theres a 4 packlimit on toilet paper during this shortage. Our store only had a few 4 roll Kleenex $7 packs which I had to succumb to due to 6 kids! An Aldi Mums Facebook group was filled with indignation. Panic buying causes hysteria, observed one furious contributor. People who really need these products wont be able to get them because of this madness.

As tempting as it would be to see Australians as being idiosyncratic in this regard, other countries affected by COVID-19 have also gone on the toilet paper purchase spree. Over the weekend, shoppers descended upon Costco, WinCo and Fred Meyer in Oregon on hearing word that COVID-19 cases had been found in the Portland area. For David Dunstan, manager of Tigard WinCo foods the purchasing patterns seemed odd. Honestly  theyre just stocking up, preparing for the end of the world.

In Japan, toilets for customers are replete with threatening language promising to punish the paper pinchers. Restrooms have been closed. The country had descended, wrote a hyperbolic correspondent for the Financial Times, into Lord of the Flies-style depravity. A country proud of its chatty, multi-functional toilets, the envy of the world, is taking a battering in image. The authorities, from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe down, are not deemed credible. On this matter, went the view of one shopper as noted by the FT, we cannot trust Abe. He says Japan is self-sufficient in toilet paper, but anyone can see the shops are empty.

In Hong Kong, toilet paper larceny has made a very public appearance. Three masked men took some HK$1,600 worth of toilet paper last month  some 600 rolls in 50 packets in Mong Kok. This is a senseless act, a grave spokeswoman for the Wellcome store chain explained to journalists, and we are shocked. The fact that the items were toilet paper would not necessarily lead to a lenient appraisal of the court. Whether it is money or toilet paper being robbed, opined barrister Albert Luk Wai, thats not the most important consideration by the court.

Be it heists, panic buying, the emergence of pandemic pantries, the coronavirus phenomenon is itself becoming merely a part of various other outbreaks. Consumers irrational behaviour, Allen Adamson of New York Universitys Stern School of Business tells us tritely, will certainly do more damage than reality will. The reaction to COVID-19 threatens a slowing economic growth, disrupting supply chains and perpetrating a shortage of necessaries. But most disturbing of all, it has nourished the undergrowth of suspicion against fellow human and the authorities.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the Chinese ship which was recently seized by India in February has been found carrying equipment which has 'military applications'. The Ministry also said that India's concerns on the issue have been conveyed to the Chinese side and hopes that the Chinese government will take appropriate measures to ensure that the Chinese entities do on engage in activities that can contribute to 'proliferation'.

'The item has been seized as per our legal procedure'

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "Our authorities had detained a Chinese vessel Da Cui Yun when it berthed in Kandla Port in early February, as it had misdeclared the item that is was carrying. Our examination has revealed that the item is an autoclave that is controlled under our Dual-Use Export Control lists. Therefore the item has been seized by our authorities as per our legal procedure."

He added, "It has also been ascertained by our examination that this item has military applications. We have conveyed our concerns on this issue to the Chinese side and have highlighted that as a friendly country the Chinese government will take appropriate measures to ensure that the Chinese entities do not engage in activities that can contribute to proliferation."

An autoclave is a pressure chamber to carry out various industrial and scientific processes. It has been certified as a dual-use" item, which means it can be used for civilian and military purposes.

Autoclave seized not for military use: China

Meanwhile, China said on Thursday that the industrial autoclave seized from a Pakistan-bound Chinese ship at the Kandla port is a heat treatment furnace shell system and not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control as alleged by the Indian officials.

Asked about reports that officials of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) confirmed that the industrial autoclave seized from the Chinese ship 'Da Cui Yun' can be used for the "manufacture of very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it is not for military use.

READ | MEA dubs USCIRF's remarks on Delhi Violence 'incorrect', lists efforts to restore normalcy

"China has noted the relevant reports. As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling the international non-proliferation obligations and international commitments," Zhao said. "After seeking the information, we know that this item is actually a heat treatment furnace shell system, produced by a private company in China. This is not for military use and it is not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control," he said.

READ | UNHRC intervention on CAA: MEA asserts sovereign right, makes locus standi argument

Reports said the ship bearing Hong Kong flag was detained by Customs at Kandla Port in Gujarat while en-route to Port Qasim, Karachi, on February 3. The cargo of the Chinese ship has been offloaded and kept in a godown at the port.

READ | MEA summons Iranian envoy over Foreign Minister's tweet on Delhi riots; lodges protest

READ | MEA shuts down misinformation on Delhi violence, takes indirect jibe at Bernie Sanders

(With agency inputs)
Thursday, March 5, 2020

"Super Tuesday has fundamentally altered the race for the Democratic nomination", says Dr. Louis Perron, an internationally renowned political consultant based in Switzerland. According to Perron, it is now basically a choice between two candidates, Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, with Biden now being the frontrunner. According to Perron, this has been a race with many twists and turns, and there might be more to come. But for now, it's fair to say that Biden pulled off the comeback of the year last Tuesday. It also looks like Democratic primary voters are not looking for a revolution, just somebody who can beat Donald Trump.

Perron analyzes that Sanders obviously has a base of very energized supporters and has raised tons of cash. This being said, Sanders has talked a lot on the campaign trail about the need of putting together a multiracial and multigenerational coalition. He spoke a lot about the biggest turnout in history that is necessary to beat Trump. But so far, both hasn't really materialized according to Perron. Sanders' appeal to black and female voters seems limited.

How will this continue? According to Perron, there is a possibility that the two candidates will slug it out state by state, delegate by delegate. The reality of U.S. primary campaigns is that most candidates who have money (and Sanders has) continue the fight. There are some more primaries in big states coming up. Michigan, Washington, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia will all vote this month. Perron assumes that Sanders will continue for at least a while.

Perron points out, however, that Democrats allocate their delegates proportionally. This has two important consequences: One, it might take a long time (or be impossible) for a candidate to reach the 1'991 pledged delegates needed to win the nomination in the first ballot. And second, once a candidate has a lead, it is difficult to overcome that lead absent a collapse of the frontrunner. At the time of writing, Biden leads Sanders in the delegate count 566 to 501 (they are still counting some votes in California and Colorado).

Mike Bloomberg invested hundreds of millions of dollars into an advertising campaign. Garnering somewhere between 8% to 21% of the vote depending on the state, Perron says that the former Mayor of New York couldn't be happy with his return on investment. Businessman that Bloomberg is, he drew the right conclusion and dropped out of the race. As for Elizabeth Warren, things look pretty dire. She just badly lost her own home state finishing third behind Biden and Sanders.

Looking ahead to the general election, Dr. Perron thinks that Joe Biden would definitely be eligible for centrist voters in view of his positioning as a mainstream Democrat. But he also sees some major liabilities with his candidacy. To begin with, Perron reminds that Biden actually had wanted to retire back in 2008 after losing the primary to Barack Obama. "In that respect, the problem is not that Biden is 78 years old. The problem is that he looks, talks and behaves like at least a 78-year-old", says Perron. It also has become clear during the primary campaign that Biden has a hard time saying "I'm sorry". For somebody who has a record of many decades to defend, that will be a problem. In other words, and similar to Hillary Clinton, Biden is a very traditional candidate and Dr. Perron is not yet convinced that Trump can be beaten by running a traditional race.

While Biden might still be the best bet for Democrats at the moment, the situation doesn't reflect well on the Democratic Party. It used to be open for new faces, says Perron. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are all examples proofing the point. The succession to the throne is a deeply un-American thing, and when Democrats proceeded in that manner with Hillary Clinton and Al Gore, it hasn't worked out well for them. The good news for Democrats is that regardless of who they nominate, Trump remains to be a vulnerable incumbent. At the moment, his job approval rating stands at 45%, which Dr. Perron sees as clearly under water for an incumbent president.
Mumbai Police arrested seven persons, including an IndusInd Bank employee, on Tuesday in Nallasopara shortly after they tried to hack into a Tata Sons account that had Rs 200 crore.

The seven people were arrested from the parking area of a mall in Nallasopara at around 5:30 pm. The police also confiscated a tablet connected to a keypad, nine mobiles and a Tata Sons account statement, according to a report in Mumbai Mirror.

The seven accused as identified by the Nallasopara unit of the Palghar Crime Branch are - IndusInd account executive Tasleem Ansari, tech expert Anant Bhupati Ghosh, Naseem Yasin Siddiqui, Gunjeev Shamjibhai Barayya, Saroj Ramniwas Chaudhary, Satish Ajay Gupta, and Anand Pandurang Nalawade.

Assistant Inspector Siddhwa Jaybhaye told the news daily that the seven people have been booked under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code.

Also Read: 'I will never do anything to hurt you or your family': Ratan Tata in letter to Pallonji Mistry in 1991

The news report added that the initial probe into the matter indicated that the seven accused were planning to transfer Rs 150 crore in three tranches of Rs 50 crore each and transfer the amount to a bank account in Nagaland.

However, the police refused to divulge the details of the Nagaland account citing an ongoing probe into the matter.

Meanwhile, an officer privy to the police operation told the news daily that the gang was caught basis a tip-off followed by a team tracking the movements of the gang members for a few days.

"There was a lot of chatter online between the group members and calls back and forth that we had managed to tap into. They were looking for a hacker with a proven track record. But, when they could not find one, they decided to do it themselves using the insider information Ansari had provided them," the officer said.

Also Read:Tata Sons to hike Tata Chemicals stake to 25.26 per cent by acquiring shares from group firms

The targeted account of Tata Sons was located at the Chembur branch of IndusInd Bank. The bank account which was a fixed deposit one had been inactive for some time. Ansari had told his accomplices that the withdrawals from the account will not be detected. The officer further told the news daily that the IndusInd Bank has been informed about Ansari's arrest.

Oddly, two of the gang members - Naseem Siddiqui and Anand Nalawade had started a micro-finance company in Vashi just two days before they were caught. The company was named Limra Inc Micro Finance Company with an office in Sector 17.

According to the cops, Naseem was the mastermind behind the whole plan and he was also in touch with his contact based in Nagaland. He also promised his Nagaland-based contact a 20% commission.

Also Read:NCLAT strips Tata Sons off private company status
A measure that would tax San Francisco landlords who leave storefronts vacant too long appeared to have the necessary two-thirds majority to win, but with thousands of ballots still uncounted, elections officials said it was still too close to call.

Proposition D, which would levy a vacancy tax on landlords who keep stores empty for more than six months, was winning 68.04% to 31.96%. It needs only 66.7% to win, but as of Wednesday night there were still 112,000 ballots that had not been counted, enough to change the result, San Francisco Department of Elections officials said.

The uncounted ballots include 86,000 mail-in ballots and 26,000 provisional and conditional voter registration ballots.

It was one of two San Francisco measures that remained in limbo a day after the polls closed. Proposition E, which would tie allowable office construction to the amount of affordable housing built in the city, needed a simple majority to pass and had 54.7% of the vote by Wednesday night, but elections officials said there were still too many uncounted ballots to certify the result.

Prop. E had 55 % of the vote before the mail-in ballot count began, officials said.

Proposition D was put on the ballot by Supervisor Aaron Peskin in an effort to curb storefront vacancies dotting San Francisco streets. It would tax the owners of properties left empty for more than 182 days in more than 30 neighborhood commercial corridors in the city, including Union Street, West Portal and Haight Street starting in 2021.

Peskin said he wanted to pressure bad actor landlords to entice tenants into filling the vacant spaces.

He claimed the measure would create incentives for landlords to reduce rents and raise an estimated $300,000 to $5 million a year, which would go into a new small-business assistance fund.

Opponents, including the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, called it a punitive measure that would not fix the actual cause of vacancies, including high rents citywide, the high cost of labor, lengthy permitting times and tight restrictions on where retail is allowed.

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.

There were 817 empty stores in the city at the end of 2019, according to a survey.

The other measures on the San Francisco ballot passed by wide margins.

Proposition A, an $845 million bond measure for building repairs and equipment at City College of San Francisco got 70% of the vote; Proposition B, a $628.5 million bond measure to pay for seismic upgrades at public-safety infrastructure in the city, picked up 81%. Proposition C, which extends retiree health benefits to 25 city employees added to the city payroll after the collapse of the San Francisco Housing Authority, won with 68% of the vote.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @pfimrite
Eight years of warnings that Britain's worst sex offender Joseph McCann should be kept in prison were ignored before his 37-rape rampage including on a 11-year-old boy, it was revealed today.

Probation staff first expressed concern about the danger of letting McCann back on the streets in 2011, a damning Ministry of Justice report published this afternoon has said.

And between 2017 and his release from prison in error in February 2019 there were eight occasions where keeping him in jail was considered but dismissed, a Government investigation has found.

Eight weeks after he was freed without a parole board hearing he launched a two-week rape-and-kidnap rampage where he abducted, raped and assaulted 11 victims aged between 11 and 71 in Watford, and the North West in April last year.

There was a 'repeated failure' by probation officers to recall the serial rapist despite concerns being raised by other professionals, today's Ministry of Justice report said.

McCann was handed 33 life sentences and jailed for a minimum term of 30 years in December last year - one of his victims told The Sun today: 'This coward should not have even been walking the streets at the time these offences happened, but was only doing so as a result of an outrageous and avoidable failure in the justice system.'

Evil sex beast Joseph McCann launched a two-week rape-and-kidnap rampage after he was released from prison in error last year

Joseph McCann (pictured on CCTV while on the run having bought petrol and condoms ) went on a two-week raping spree in 2019 - eight weeks after being let out of prison without a parole hearing

His 2019 crimes horrified Britain - but it has since emerged that there were at least eight chances to keep him in jail over fears he would commit sexual offences

McCann had been freed despite being subject to an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence for a burglary armed with a knife in 2008.

He was in and out of jail until he was released after serving half of his three-year prison sentence for burglary in February 2019 - without having to face a parole board hearing despite his IPP status.

He was seen by probation officers 10 times in two months after his release from prison before he went on his spree of sex attacks.

How McCann was twice released from prison despite a judge finding he was 'dangerous' 2008 - Joseph McCann threatened to stab an 85-year-old man in his home. He told the elderly man 'give me money or I will knife you' before taking his wallet and banking papers. He was jailed for an indeterminate term and told he cannot apply for parole for two and a half years. Early 2017 - McCann is released on licence by the parole board. Late 2017 - While on licence, he commits a burglary and is returned to prison on a three-year sentence. February 2019 - McCann is wrongly released without having gone before the parole board. Instead, he is released automatically half way through his three-year jail term. April and May 2019 - McCann goes on two-week rampage of rape, sexual assault and kidnap. Advertisement

He had left prison in February 2019 and last saw a probation officer on April 19, three days before he committed his first rape.

A probation officer said McCann had attended the Watford probation office, where he was served with a warning for failing to disclose a new relationship under the terms of his licence because of his history of domestic violence.

McCann was 'not happy' about it and when his new fiancee's parents found out about the condition, they broke off the relationship because they thought he was a sex offender.

The review found he should have been recalled to prison after he committed a burglary while on licence for an earlier offence.

Instead, he was handed a fixed prison sentence and released automatically halfway through, without Parole Board involvement, in February last year.

McCann had been given an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) in 2008 after admitting breaking into and burgling the home of an 85-year-old man.

The terms of that sentence meant the Parole Board had to decide if it was safe to release him once his tariff expired.

Following his release on licence in 2017, McCann committed the second burglary and should have been recalled to prison.

But he was remanded into custody and then given a three-year determinate sentence, which did not take into account his earlier offending.

Today's MoJ report said: 'The most significant practice failure was the repeated failure to recall Joseph McCann or to reflect critically on earlier decisions not to recall him, in the face of both court and prison staff communicating their concern'.

Described by his sentencing judge as a 'classic psychopath', the 34-year-old convicted burglar had been freed after a probation service error two months before he embarked on the cocaine and vodka-fuelled rampage.

A review carried out by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and published on Thursday said: 'From the point where McCann was arrested for burglary in 2017 to the point of his release, there were eight occasions where recall was considered or the recall decision was questioned.

'These all represented opportunities to recall.

'If the probation service had recalled McCann he would not have been released until the Parole Board was satisfied his release could be managed in the community.'

The findings have prompted the department to ask chief inspector of probation, Justin Russell, to carry out an independent review of the National Probation Service's management of McCann and how the process of recalling offenders to prison is working.

Probation officers must be 'more inquisitive' instead of taking criminals who claim they've gone straight at 'face value', a report warned in January.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation says too many staff are not investigating what is going on 'behind the scenes' when they meet offenders.

The warning follows the case of London Bridge attacker Usman Khan, who persuaded officials he was not a risk before stabbing two people to death in November. HMIP found repeated examples across England and Wales of probation officers failing to ask sufficiently thorough questions.

HM Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell also raised the prospect of an internal review into the case of Joseph McCann, who committed a string of sex attacks on women and children after being released from jail in error.

The probation service does not usually publish the results of such investigations, but Mr Russell said there was a 'strong argument there is a public interest' to do so in McCann's case.

'We need staff to demonstrate a more inquisitive approach rather than taking things on face value,' a senior probation inspector warns in his report. '[Staff] should take a more proactive approach to investigate what's going on behind the scenes.'
MARION, Ala.Della Simpson Maynor remembers the mounted police officer cracking her elbow with a baton. She recalls the panicked marchers unable to escape the onslaught, and the scuffle between officers and a young church deacon who was trying to protect his mother and grandfather. Most of all, she remembers the gunshot.

Two weeks before Bloody Sunday  the clash in Selma on March 7, 1965, that helped propel passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965  there was a march in this small town 30 miles away.

What happened in Marion is now a less-familiar episode in the civil rights movement, a footnote in the textbooks. But the blood spilled here would send hundreds of people from Marion and the surrounding county to Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where history was made.

Starting the story in Selma is like reading a book by starting in the middle and not going back to the beginning so you can get the total picture of what actually happened in 1965, said Perry County Commissioner Alfred Turner Jr. Without the events occurring in Marion, theres no way you would have gotten the same results or the optics of Bloody Sunday.

The protest in Marion was sparked by the arrest of a minister who was leading efforts to register Black people to vote. It ended with the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Black church deacon, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by a state trooper.

As the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday approaches, people here say they want the full story remembered.

___

The road to Marion, and eventually to Selma, began at the White House months before.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, his lieutenant Andrew Young and other activists sat down with President Lyndon Johnson after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson told Dr. King, `I know you need voting rights. I wish I could do it, but I just dont have the power, Young recalled, adding Johnson seemed depressed.

When they left, King said, Weve got to figure out how to get the president some power, according to Young, who would go on to become a congressman, Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador. I said, `That Nobel Prize you won didnt come with an army.

Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference chose to throw its support behind the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and local groups that had been focusing on voter registration in Alabama, where they were holding protests, sit-ins and boycotts.

The Rev. James Orange of the SCLC organized protests in Marion and Perry County, and hundreds of people were regularly arrested and jailed. When students began skipping school to join the marches, authorities arrested Orange on Feb. 18, 1965, for contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Former Perry County Circuit Clerk Mary Moore, a second-grader at the time, said the arrest was hypocritical on the part of the white authorities, noting that Black students back then often missed school because farmers needed them to pick cotton.

Rumours circulated that Orange would be lynched behind bars. That was by no means a far-fetched fear.

Black folks in jail ended up dead. Thats the way it was then, said 83-year-old Elijah Rollins, then owner of one the towns funeral homes. It was just tradition.

Townspeople planned a night protest march from Zion Methodist Church to the jail on the next block. State and local police were waiting for them outside, where the streetlight was either shot out or turned off. With darkness came chaos.

Rollins had skipped the church meeting but heard the commotion, and when he went outside, a lot of people were getting the hell beat out of them.

Maynor, then 14, watched as a pastor started off the protest by kneeling to pray, as was customary. Police officers told him to get up and clubbed him when he didnt, she said. When I saw that, I was terrified, she recalled. Seconds later she was hit as she raised her arm to protect her head. An officer on horseback was whaling down on me.

They didnt know what your age was. They didnt care. They swung at everybody, she said.

Somewhere in the melee, Cager Lee, 82, and his daughter Viola Jackson were attacked by police. Lees grandson, Jimmie Lee Jackson, came to help them and grappled with officers inside a local hangout, Macks Cafe.

A few minutes later you heard the gunshot, Maynor said.

Jackson had a stomach wound and was taken to the Black hospital in Selma, where he died eight days later. Rollins, who heard him screaming in pain two days before, picked up the body.

SCLC and local leaders began talking almost immediately about taking his body from Marion to Alabamas capital, Montgomery, but that idea was abandoned. They decided to lay Jackson to rest at a Marion-area cemetery at a funeral attended by King himself, and later march to the capital from Selma, a more logical staging point.

We will take this problem to Montgomery and leave it on Wallaces doorstep, King told Young, referring to Alabamas arch-segregationist governor, George Wallace.

Plans were made for the 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, but on the day chosen, King was back home in Atlanta, and the federal observers who normally shadowed him and presumably would have served as a deterrent against violence werent there when hundreds of marchers with backpacks gathered at the bridge.

State troopers and local police were waiting for them and attacked with clubs and tear gas.

A terrified Terrance Chestnut, 6 at the time, was there with his father, Selma civil rights attorney J.L. Chestnut Jr.

I saw a cop hit a guy across the jaw with a billy club. I could hear the crack, he said. It was a really bad scene, something I dont care to remember but something I cant erase from my mind. 

The TV footage and other images from that day shocked the country and helped lead to the landmark federal law protecting the right of African Americans to vote.

The Marion marchers would not recognize the community leadership now.

The state trooper who shot Jackson, James Bonard Fowler, was prosecuted decades later by Perry Countys first black district attorney. Fowler pleaded guilty in 2010 to manslaughter and served five months in jail. The mayor, police chief, sheriff and numerous other public officials in Marion and Perry County also are African American.

A marble monument to the civil rights movement has been erected in front of Zion Methodist with the names of the people who participated in those protests. The county jail where Orange was held is closed, but there are plans to turn it into a museum. On the courthouse square is another monument, telling Jacksons story and adding Marion to the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. It was put up in 2015.

In a letter to the Department of Interior supporting Marions inclusion, Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama cited the role Jacksons death played in the Selma march, saying that nearly 300 of the more than 500 people who participated on Bloody Sunday were from Marion.

They paved the way and gave the push to change the world, said Marion Mayor Dexter Hinton.

In the years afterward, Jacksons mother was never right again after Jimmie was killed, said his cousin Fairest Cureton, 63.

Jimmie was one of the nicest, most mannerable persons that I knew. He always had a smile on his face, said another cousin, 76-year-old Julia Cash, and what was most impressive is he always took time for older people.

In fact, according to his family, Jackson was too sick to come to the church meeting that night in Marion but drove his grandfather and mother there and was waiting to take them home.

As for Orange, he went on take part in the Bloody Sunday march and spent his life fighting for civil rights and others causes, believing in this thing called equality, said his daughter, Jamida Orange. He died in 2008.

If anybody tells you it was anything but the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson that provoked that Selma-to-Montgomery march, she said, they are doing a revisionist history.

 Associated Press researchers Rhonda Shafner and Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report.

 Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
He made a lot of calls, Parent said, and heard from a court official that runs Odyssey, the Lake County Court electronic case filing system, that the only way that they could make this happen is for a room full of people to do nothing daily but do this," meaning reallocate cases.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused Russia of violating the Treaty on Open Skies, saying Moscow has been blocking the United States from conducting flights over the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad and near Georgia, which are permitted by the agreement.



"We've also been denied access to military exercise overflights," Espert told a congressional hearing on March 4. "I have a lot of concerns about the treaty as it stands now."



Signed by 34 nations including Russia, the 18-year-old treaty aims to increase international stability by allowing signatory nations to conduct surveillance flights over one anothers territories to observe military installations and other objects.



The Wall Street Journal reported in October that President Donald Trump had signed a document signaling his administration's intent to withdraw from the treaty, the latest in a series of major arms control and disarmament accords that are on the verge of collapse.



The administration, however, has yet to announce any plans regarding the treaty.



Esper told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Moscow has been cheating on the treaty "for many years."



We need to speak out more clearly about Russian noncompliance, he said.



Esper told the panel that he raised the matter at last month's meeting of NATO defense chiefs.



"This is important to many of our NATO allies, that they have the means to conduct the overflights," he said.

'Out Of Date'



Some U.S. lawmakers and military officials have voiced allegations that Russia was conducting overflights of U.S. territory using advanced camera technology that were more intrusive than past flights.



U.S. administration officials did block a Russian plane using that technology from flying in 2016. Officials later relented, though another delay was imposed at the behest of Republican lawmakers in 2018.



In September 2018, after Russia complained about U.S. delays in allowing the Russian flight, Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a vocal opponent of the treaty, raised the issue of Russian restrictions.



"The Open Skies Treaty is out of date and favors Russia, and the best way forward is to leave it," he said.



The treaty is one of several arms control agreements that are on the verge of collapse, or have already collapsed. After years of accusations toward Moscow, the Trump administration last year pulled out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.



And the New START treaty, which puts limits on the entire nuclear arsenals for both Russia and the United States, is due to expire in 2021, unless the two sides agree to extend it.

With reporting by AFP, The Washington Times, and The Wall Street Journal
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 16:01:17|Editor: xuxin

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ULAN BATOR, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government has recently begun distributing livestock feed among the herder population in the areas heavily hit by extreme winter weathers, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday.

"A working group led by Deputy Prime Minister Ulziisaikhan Enkhtuvshin has recently decided to distribute a total of 2,303 tons of grass to herders in six provinces, namely Arkhangai, Bulgan, Orkhon, Zavkhan, Khuvsgul and Uvs," the ministry said in a statement.

In addition, more than 2,000 tons of fodder have been provided in the provinces at discounted prices, the ministry said.

The assistance has come as part of the efforts to survive the extreme cold winter known as "Dzud" in Mongolia. Currently, around 60 percent of the nomadic country is still snow-covered, according to the agriculture ministry.

Mongolia's dzud refers to a frigid winter that comes after a dry summer and causes the death of a great number of livestock due to starvation or cold weather. In 2016, the dzud killed more than 1 million livestock animals nationwide.

Livestock husbandry is Mongolia's economic pillar, supporting the livelihood of nearly 40 percent of its nomad population.

Official data show the landlocked East Asian country has more than 230,000 herder households with livestock. The livestock population totaled 70.9 million by the end of 2019.
Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged on Thursday there were not enough tests available to meet the demand amid a coronavirus outbreak spreading in the US, after previously saying every American can be tested for the deadly illness.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Pence said: "We dont have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward."

But just yesterday, the vice president  who Donald Trump tasked with overseeing his administrations response to the outbreak of the deadly illness  reassured Americans that anyone would be able to get tested regardless of whether they had health insurance.

"With regard to the cost, let me be very clear," Mr Pence said on Wednesday at a White House briefing. He then said the Health and Human Services Department "has designated the coronavirus test as an essential health benefit."

"That means by definition, it's covered in the private health insurance of every American as well as covered by Medicare and Medicaid," the vice president said.

The vice president seemingly walked back those comments after meeting with health officials at the White house, as well as attending a visit with a company that makes face masks being used to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Pence said federal officials would lean into the battle against the Wuhan coronavirus after the death toll rose to more than 3,200 worldwide, with the majority of those cases occurring in China.

You should know were ready and were going to continue to bring the full resources of the federal government to bear to confront the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, he said.

Mr Pence also told Americans they have no need to buy a mask unless they are already ill.

That messaging appeared to echo Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who told Fox News: My advice to folks: Stop buying masks if youre part of the general public. Leave them for the health care providers so they can take care of people who are sick.
The turmoil caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has already clobbered the global equity market. Consequently, the airline industry has been in deep crisis as global carriers are witnessing a steep decline in passenger demand, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.



Evidently, the Zacks Airline industry has declined 25.4% year to date compared with the S&P 500 Indexs drop of 7.1%.





Global Airline Industry on the Decline



The global airline industry is facing multibillion-dollar losses due to the outbreak, which is significantly affecting global bookings. Per a report by Financial Times, the rapid spread of coronavirus through Europe and the United States has dealt a heavy blow to the airline industry. Carriers around the world are cutting routes, freezing pay and using smaller aircraft to cope with a further slump in bookings.



Major carriers, such as the British Airways, Lufthansa and Dutch Carrier KLM, to name a few, have grounded several aircraft and extended flight cancellations till late April to virus affected nations like China, Italy, South Korea and Iran. China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have been the worst affected so far, as both were forced to reduce capacities to 200,000 seats a week.



Per a recent prediction by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the outbreak is expected to result in a 13% decline in passenger demand in 2020 for airline operators in the Asia-Pacific region. It further expects global demand for air travel to fall 4.7% during the year.



Consequently, the global airline industry is anticipated to witness a $29.3-billion revenue loss in 2020, led by the coronavirus catastrophe. However, figures might worsen, given the pace at which the virus is spreading globally.



U.S. Airline Stocks Under the Gun



Considering the aforementioned situation the airline industry is facing and its bleak outlook, let us focus on some major U.S. airline stocks, which have suspended flights lately. Therefore, these stocks are likely to witness heavy revenue losses in the near term, thanks to the epidemic.



Recently, per a Forbes report, United Airlines UAL reduced its flight frequencies to Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka and extended its temporary suspension of flights to China through Apr 30. Further, toward the end of February, the airliner withdrew its 2020 guidance due to the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus spread to other parts of the world, its duration and its effect on overall air travel demand.



American Airlines AAL has also suspended flights to China, Hong Kong, Seoul and Milan until late April. Meanwhile, Delta Airlines DAL suspended flights to China and South Korea.



Hawaiian Airlines, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings HA, has also announced a temporary suspension of flights to Seoul through Apr 30 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases within the nation.



Notably, shares of these U.S. airline companies have been under pressure and have consequently plunged on a year-to-date basis compared with the S&P 500 composite indexs performance.

Story continues





Whats Ahead?



Situations concerning the COVID-19 virus may worsen in the upcoming months, as the virus has recently made its way to the North American continent. Per a report by CNN Health, the virus has already spread in 15 states in the United States, affecting more than 100 people. In case of a failure of preventive measures, this outbreak could turn out to be disastrous for U.S. airline stocks, as demand for domestic flights would be disrupted severely.



Additionally, this could lead to U.S. airline companies witnessing a decline in passenger footfall as the peak seasons of spring and summer approach. In such a case, revenues will take decline further due to lower domestic and Trans-Atlantic bookings.



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Bernie Sanders stirring ride toward the presidency may be near its end. (Or not. More on that later.)

Hes lost the lead and his strategies are paying diminishing returns. It has been a great trip, as one said in the 1960s, his formative era (and mine)  and whether it ends now may not matter that much.

Thats because being president comes with strict limits. Noam Chomsky was once asked, during the Reagan years, how left wing U.S. voters should vote. He said it wasnt terribly important. If I was president, he mused, as the audience cracked up at the thought, then explained how little he could get passed, given the systemic constraints of wealth and power.

This would apply to a president Sanders  a Chomskyesque figure. The long march through the institutions could only get started under him. Yet Sanders has already transformed the eventual possibilities.

He did it by showing generations of discontented youth that you can do more than protest: Occupying Wall St., marching against war, etc. You can enter institutions like mainstream parties and fight over them  without ditching your radicalism.

You dont have to become a young fart like Buttigieg. With luck and work, you may even win. That transformation will take longer than Bernies lifetime, whether hes president or not. So his main work may already be done.

Not just that. He finally ended the Cold War, by running as a socialist and not being instantly vapourized. That was never a real war; it was an ideological crusade against ideas and options. Now more U.S. youth lean to socialism than capitalism, and Bernie marks the spot. That, too, is transformative.

Most shocking has been his frankness on foreign policy. When challenged for praising Cubas literacy program  the global standard for such projects  he didnt cower as generations of U.S. progressives have. He replied in his combative Brooklyn way. He doesnt prattle on about the always noble, if occasionally failed, ideals behind U.S. behaviour. He doesnt even flinch at criticizing Israel.

Yah, but hes losing now, right? Faltering, Id say, but not due to his beliefs. They didnt sink him in 2016 or since  despite massive blackouts and derision from the mainstream media. Thisd be no time to lose your nerve.

I happened to leave the room during the latest debate as he spoke on foreign policy. On CNN afterward, they made it sound like hed flipped out, regressed to the 60s, and started shouting, Up against the wall, motherf----s. When I checked the clip, it was a calm statement that the U.S. isnt immune to criticism for anti-democratic coups in Chile or Iran. I cant see that sort of thing doing him in with voters. It hasnt till now.

At any rate, the charge against him hasnt been that voters reject him over his views. Its that they fear other voters will, making him unelectable.

Whys it still not quite over? The resurrection of Bidens candidacy shifts the calculus. Everyone else has dropped out and its effectively a two-person race.

Till now, there would likely be no first ballot majority at the convention; then, the unelected party hacks and apparatchiks called superdelegates can jump in and simply crown Joe or Bloomberg on ballot two. But with just two remaining, it becomes mathematically easier to forge a majority on the first ballot, giving Bernie at least a shot at reversing it all again, as Biden just did.

What if he loses? IMO, Sanders has always been a pragmatist, he wouldnt have got this far as a socialist, if he wasnt. (Even Lenin decided that what the Russian Revolution needed was a dose of capitalism!)

Sanders hung in last time till he got Hillary Clinton to move her platform much farther left than she wanted, then campaigned for her. He has a good relationship with Biden that may yield some effects. Biden himself is such a crock  his only appeal to his big backers is hes pliable and not Sanders  that hell need any and all help.

If Sanders troops stay in for that fight, it wont be for him, or the party (which he still hasnt joined), but for the future, and their chance to shape it.

Rick Salutin is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. He is based in Toronto. Reach him on email: is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. He is based in Toronto. Reach him on email: ricksalutin@ca.inter.net

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HARTFORD  As many as 700,000 state residents could obtain less-expensive health care coverage under this years version of the state-administered public option for small businesses, nonprofit agencies and unions.

Its a modified version of a plan that Democrats rolled out last year, only to see it blow up at the end of the legislative session as private heath insurers objected and one of them, Cigna, the Bloomfield-based giant health management company, made veiled threats to leave Connecticut.

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo on Thursday joined Democratic lawmakers, business owners and doctors in supporting the bill during a public hearing before the General Assemblys Insurance and Real Estate Committee. Republicans, insurers and the states largest business organization opposed the bill.

Lembo said that at a time when unemployment is low, many jobs have either no insurance benefits or offer health plans with unacceptably high deductibles that become obvious only when employees need the coverage.

The official term, and I hate to say this in this building, is crappy coverage, Lembo told the committee. Whats the quality of those jobs? Lembo asked. Theyre horrible.

Under the proposal, the voluntary program would be available through Lembos office, offering participants the states buying power to cut costs. If not this, then what? Lembo asked Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, ranking member of the committee, who stressed that he is skeptical that a government program could improve on the private sector in a state famous for its insurance industry.

The Connecticut economy has failed to perform for the middle class, Kelly said during a 45-minute review of the bill with Lembo. Kelly stressed that the states version of the federal Affordable Care Act hasnt been good. The experience in Connecticut has been the two largest tax increases and the middle class is screaming.

Former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy did enact two large tax increases, though not the largest in state history, and the tax increases were overwhelmingly unrelated to Obamacare.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said that better health coverage could help revive the states economy. There is no more critical issue today, Looney said during a news conference prior to the committee hearing. This is something thats holding the state back.

State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, co-chairman of the committee, called this years version new and improved plan. He said Gov. Ned Lamont, whose support last year was mixed, seems open, although he has recently indicated that he has problems with the bill. Hes interested in having more discussions, Lesser said.

I think we can get him to yes, Lembo said.

Chris McClure, a spokesman for the governors budget office, said Thursday Lamont remains committed to reducing the costs of health care, as indicated in one of his early executive orders to study cost issues, plus drug reimportation through Canada and cost containments.

The rising cost of healthcare is an issue that hits countless families across our state, McClure said. At this time, the most important thing we can to improve America's health care system is to reduce the underlying cost of care, without compromising its high quality.

Under the proposal, new participants would become a third platform under the Connecticut Partnership plans that are administered by the state to cover employees of municipalities and local school boards. Lembo believes that participants can get lower prices because the profit incentives of private insurance, as well as highly paid executives, would be taken out of the equation.

Dr. Robert McLean, a New Haven rheumatologist who is national president of the 159,000-member American College of Physicians, said universal access to affordable health care has been the organizations goal for the last 30 years.

There are actually two pathways that can get us to achieve such a system, McLean said. A public option to be offered along with regulated private insurance, or a single-payer finance system. So I am absolutely delighted that the public option is being introduced in this bill here today. The status quo has led to ever-increasing premiums, deductibles, co-payments and surprise bills.

The industry continues to object. The proposal could jeopardize as many as 25,000 Hartford-area health-related jobs, said Steve Jewett, spokesman for a coalition of insurance groups.

We want to keep Connecticut the insurance capital of the world, Jewett said. The proposed state government option bill will only put those jobs at risk and few people believe that state government will be more efficient in running Connecticuts healthcare system. As a state, we need to stay competitive and support the growth of the health industry here, which includes pushing back against legislation that says government run health care is a better model.

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association also testified against the legislation.

Lembo admitted the current form of the bill needs revisions before the end of the legislative session on May 6. And Kelly, the ranking Republican, said some reform may be in order.

I believe if there is one issue at the top of the minds for all voters, its health care, Kelly told Lembo. I am going to keep an open mind, but I want to get more detail. As a Republican I have an innate contempt for government, but at the same time I have similar questions about corporate America.

kdixon@ctpost.com
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday apparently accused incarcerated Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti - former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir - for fueling unrests of 2010 and 2016.

A few politicians (in Kashmir) are still under detention. They are the same people whose activities fueled 2010 and 2016 summer unrest in Kashmir, said BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul. Although he did not take any specific names, Koul's words appear to be targeted towards Abdullah and Mufti.

National Conference president and former CM, Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar, also a former CM and PDP president and another former CM Mehbooba Mufti are undergoing detention since August 5 last year when the Center abrogated J&Ks special status under Article 370.

While Omar was chief minister when 2010 unrest happened in which over 120 protesters were killed, Mehbooba was ruling J&K during 2016 unrest in which over 100 protesters died while fighting pitched battles with security forces on the streets of Kashmir.

These leaders were at the helm when 2010 and 2016 unrest took place, Koul said. Asked when would be they released, he said, If they would be released now, there are fears that Kashmir may again witness unrest. So, the system will take a call about their release at an appropriate time when it would feel that things are completely normal.

Koul also announced that on March 7, Prime Minister will address people of south Kashmirs Pulwama district where Minister of State for Jan Aushadi Yojna will also be present. On the occasion, the party also announced its Nou Sanz (a new beginning initiative) to reach out to the people across J&K to get the firsthand account of their grievances.


Salman Khan is undoubtedly one of the most popular actors of Bollywood. The actor has a huge fan base and with his upcoming movie Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, he is sure to impress and entertain the audience yet again.





But the latest news around the actor suggests something interesting is in the pipeline. According to our sources, Salman Khans production house is developing a three-part franchise inspired by Harrison Fords Indiana Jones series. Indiana Jones is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton Indiana Jones Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology who is an adventure seeker that began in 1981. The popular action hero, Fords character will only be used as a reference point according to the source. The source also added that Salman Khan will be playing the lead in the trilogy, that'll be produced by his production house, Salman Khan Films. Well, this has surely got us excited to watch Bollywood's Bhaijaan in this avatar, that about you?
Health & Wellness

By Ls Cohen Published: March 05 2020

Unidentified 42-year-old man is hospitalized.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the first confirmed case of coronavirus on Long Island has been identified in Nassau County. The governor outlined the current statistics for the state saying that New York now has 22 confirmed cases statewide with 11 new positive tests since yesterday. Of the new cases:

8 are in Westc hester, all mild or no symptoms

2 are in NYC, both individuals hospitalized

1 is in Nassau County, a 42-year-old man, also hospitalized

The name of the hospital where the Nassau County man went was not immediately available.

Related story: Long Island hospitals have said they are prepared for a coronavirus outbreak.

To allay fears, the governor also said in a tweet that 80% of the people who get the coronavirus will self-resolve.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone released a statement today saying that all departments within Suffolk County conducted a tabletop exercise regarding the Coronavirus.

The training event allowed us to assess and evaluate preparedness, run through possible scenarios, and ensure each department is familiar with procedures and protocols so that we can guarantee our response is as efficient and effective as possible. As this situation continues to evolve, Suffolk residents should know that the County Government is doing everything possible to confront and contain it.

Related story: Long Island companies said they are grappling with the effect the outbreak is having on business.

NYS Senator Chuck Shumer also announced that New York State will be getting $33 million in emergency Federal funding to fight coronavirus as part of an $8 billion emergency spending bill passed in the Senate. The funds will cover lab testing, virus monitoring, infection control and mitigation, virus preparedness, reimbursements for local hospitals and agencies dealing with coronavirus.

This is a breaking news story and we will continue to monitor for updates.
On March 4, Jozwiak said asset freezes on former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytskiy would be removed.

Brussels-based RFE/RL journalist Rikard Jozwiak has said the European Union prolonged sanctions against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his allies.

"The misappropriation sanctions against Yanukovych and 9 others have now been officially prolonged by EU ministers. Two removed," he wrote on Twitter on March 5, 2020.

The misappropriation sanctions against #Yanukovych and 9 others have now been officially prolonged by EU ministers. Two removed. #Ukraine#Russia#Crimea  Rikard Jozwiak (@RikardJozwiak) March 5, 2020

However, the report does not name former officials, off of whom the restrictions have been removed.

On March 4, Jozwiak said asset freezes on former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytskiy would be removed.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the EU on March 6, 2014, froze assets of former Ukrainian officials who had been in office during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency over misuse of public funds and human rights violations.

Last time the sanctions were prolonged for 12 months in March 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:18:47|Editor: xuxin

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JAKARTA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Indonesias Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said here on Thursday that the country will increase the number of sea toll routes to 26 as they give many benefits.

The government will give a tax allowance and a longer tax holiday to industries that are built in eastern areas of Indonesia to meet the needs of those areas. So that there would be not too many shipments from Java Island (in the western part of the country) to reduce costs, the senior minister told reporters after attending a limited meeting at the presidential office in the countrys capital city of Jakarta.

According to Pandjaitan, Indonesian President Joko Widodo had decided that the tax allowance and tax holiday would be given earlier to industries built in eastern Indonesia.

"Thus the new routes would reduce shipments of goods from western Indonesia. This year, the subsidy for the project would amount to around 400 billion Indonesian rupiahs (some 28.1 million U.S. dollars)," he noted.

There would not only be one but two or three agents that would distribute goods so that there would be no monopoly by one company, the coordinating minister was quoted by the Indonesian Cabinet Secretariat as saying.
Soldiers sandbagging flood-hit areas are getting just 1.85 per hour before tax in overtime payments and those who have to come into barracks to provide support services get no extra allowance.

The Aid to Civil Authority Allowance is paid to soldiers when they are called out by city or county councils to deal with emergencies, such as flooding, or heavy snowfalls.

The allowance for 24 hours is 44.78, working out at 1.85 an hour before tax.

Newly elected TD Cathal Berry, who is a former second in command of the elite Army Ranger Wing (ARW), said those drafted into barracks to provide logistical support and food for the troops get no overtime payment.

He said the "derisory overtime allowance" provided to those who are sandbagging "just shows the level of disrespect for the Defence Forces from institutional Ireland".

"Nobody would work for that kind of money. Its insulting, but they have no choice, they have to do it," Mr Berry said.

The main flooded areas are in Limerick, parts of Clare and around Athlone.

"A lot of soldiers working out of Limerick are living in the Clonmel area. They were sent to Limerick when the barracks closed in Clonmel. Many troops stationed in Athlone are living in areas where other barracks closed, such as Mullingar, Longford and Cavan. This is why people say they cant afford the fuel to travel to work," Mr Berry said.

"Not only are they not being paid a normal salary but its costing them money to travel into work," he added.

PDForra, which represents enlisted personnel, has claimed that some soldiers are sleeping in their cars because they cannot afford to travel home at night.

Mr Berry has been campaigning to get proper pay and allowances for members of the Defence Forces, who are the lowest paid of all public servants.

He said there now seemed to be cross-party support to provide members of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps with a proper level of core pay.

The Defence Forces get paid for a 40-hour week. On top of this, it is compulsory for members to do 24-hour duties on occasion. For this, they get 3 per hour for weekdays and 4 at weekends, before tax.
NATIONAL

An article on Wednesday about a Supreme Court case challenging the independence of the director of a government agency created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act misstated the agencys name. It is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.

An article on Wednesday about an annual town meeting in Jericho, Vt., misstated the number of delegates Senator Bernie Sanders won in Vermont. It was 10, not 16. The article also misstated the age of Deborah Waterman, a town resident. She is 71, not 77.

BUSINESS

An article on Wednesday about recent commercial real estate transactions misstated the street in the address of the medical/dental co-op where office space was sold. It is East 60th Street, not East 61st Street.

An article on Wednesday about Chinese factories whose production has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak referred incorrectly to the relationship between Fitch Ratings and India Ratings and Research. The companies are independently operating parts of Fitch Group; India Ratings and Research is not a unit of Fitch Ratings.
Just before 2 p.m., an officer with the Maryland Natural Resources Police was driving on the ICC when he saw the odd-looking traffic stop, police said. The car to the left of the Audi  an orange Toyota Scion, with red and blue flashing lights in the front windshield area  was blocking the flow of traffic, police said in court records.
LONDON  The International Criminal Court ruled on Thursday that its chief prosecutor could open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan including any that may have been committed by Americans, a step that infuriated the Trump administration.

The ruling by an appeals court in The Hague reversed a lower courts decision that had halted an inquiry into the behavior of forces from the United States, which does not recognize the courts jurisdiction. Washington revoked the visa of the courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, last year after she had signaled her intentions to pursue the case.

The decision on Thursday is the first by the ICC involving U.S. forces. The ICC was established more than 15 years ago to seek justice for victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to reporters in Washington, called the ruling a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable, political institution masquerading as a legal body.

He reiterated that the United States was not a party to the treaty that created the ICC, and that we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, unlawful, so-called court.

Having spent years collecting information on the Afghanistan war, Bensouda requested permission to open an investigation into claims of war crimes and crimes against humanity attributed to U.S. military and intelligence forces, the Taliban and Afghan forces.

The prosecutor has said that the court had enough information to prove that U.S. forces had committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, and later in clandestine CIA facilities in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

The wide-ranging investigation would also look into allegations against the Afghan government forces, which are accused of torturing prisoners; as well as those against the Taliban and anti-government forces.

The ruling came days after the United States signed a deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan after nearly two decades of conflict.

Elian Peltier and Fatima Faizi are New York Times writers.
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By William Schwartz | Published on 2020/03/04

On March 4th the North Korean news agency website Uriminzokkiri published a short opinion piece criticizing South Korean media depictions of North Korean life. Though no specific titles were mentioned, the piece described the media as a reactionary provocation that depicted a false image of living conditions in North Korea.

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The chief specific complaint levied against South Korean media in this regard was the overemphasis on military culture, and the implication that change moving toward reunification must be unilateral. This defies the official North Korean policy on reunification as a collaborative civilian-led process, which is also the current official policy of South Korea.

The piece does not mention any specific titles. However, the references to reunification and military culture suggest "Ashfall" is the most likely film being discussed. "Ashfall" depicts a ruined, dysfunctional North Korea in the aftermath of a national disaster and ends with South Korea magnaminously working to rebuild a unified Korea with no mention being made of North Korea's prior authority.

Ironically, in "Ashfall"'s internal continuity, the South Korean military is not portrayed as particularly trustworthy or competent. One major plot point also revolves around South Korean personnel effectively being subservient to the authority of the United States military, an issue that is ultimately left unresolved in the film's generally upbeat ending.

"Crash Landing on You" is another likely reference, which deals with the piece's discussion of falsehood and imagination in media construction. "Crash Landing on You" alleges to show a realistic picture of life in North Korea for its South Korean audience and has been praised for this among defectors. However, the Uriminzokkiri piece accused such depictions of being overly black-and-white, exploiting the problems of the common people for commercial purposes.

Written by William Schwartz
Dublin, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Level Sensor Market by Type, Application, and End Use: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



According to the report, the global level sensor market was valued at $4.44 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $7.36 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 6.5% from 2019 to 2026. In 2019, Asia Pacific dominated the market, contributing more than a 53.5% share of the overall revenue, followed by North America.



Factors such as emerging advancement of level sensors, rapid adoption of industrial automation, and rise in use of level sensors in the energy & power industry drive the market. However, lack of precision and accuracy of level sensors and increase in the adoption of electric vehicles hamper the market. Furthermore, the growth in the use of level sensors in the residential sector is expected to create lucrative opportunities for level sensor market during the forecast period.



Continuous level sensors are installed to measure the level within a specified range and determine an exact amount of substance. They are used in applications such as deriving flow rates, inventory management, batching, and dosing processes and provide safety and easy installation. Further, advancements and developments of continuous level sensors has constructed robust and more accurate designs for low maintenance and better reliability than previous versions.



The contact level sensor segment accounted for a significant share of the overall level sensor industry in 2018. This is attributed to the precision and low cost of these sensors in industrial applications. However, the non-contact level sensor segment is estimated to grow significantly at a CAGR of 8.2% during the level sensor market forecast period, due to increase in installation of non-contact level sensors, as many renowned companies are launching advanced technology non-contact level sensors.



Among various regions, Asia-Pacific is expected to be the major revenue generator in 2019 and is expected to maintain its dominance in the overall level sensor market size. This is attributed to the rise in industrial sector and its automation and act as major level sensor market trends globally.



Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the fastest rate throughout the level sensor market analysis period, China in this region witnessed the highest demand for level sensors, due wide presence of semiconductor companies in the country and stringent government regulations associated with level sensors. Moreover, enhancement in industrial autonomy and increase in expenditure in the emerging markets such as Latin America and the Middle East to meet demand for exponentially growing economies in these countries have strengthened the level sensor market growth. Furthermore, technological advancements for cost-effective and high precision applications in these nations offer lucrative opportunity for the expansion of the level sensor market share.



Key Findings



In 2018, the contact level sensor segment dominated the market in terms of revenue, owing to its cost-effectiveness compared to continuous level monitoring.

The point level sensor segment accounted for the highest share of the market in 2018 with $2.62 billion, growing at a CAGR of 8% from 2019 to 2026.

The energy & power industry generated the highest revenue, accounting for $1.1 billion in 2018.

Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the market, garnering 23.6% of the share during the forecast period.

Key Topics Covered



Chapter 1: Introduction



Chapter 2: Executive Summary

2.1. Key Findings

2.1.1. Top Impacting Factors

2.1.2. Top Investment Pockets

2.2. CXO Perspective



Chapter 3: Market Overview

3.1. Market Definition and Scope

3.3. Key Forces Shaping Level Sensor Market

3.3.1. Moderate Bargaining Power of Suppliers

3.3.2. Moderate Threat of New Entrants

3.3.3. Low Threat of Substitutes

3.3.4. Moderate Intensity of Rivalry

3.3.5. Moderate Bargaining Power of Buyers

3.4. Pricing Analysis

3.4.1. Pricing Analysis of Product, by Region, 2018 & 2025

3.5. Patent Analysis

3.5.1. By Region (2012-2017)

3.6. Market Dynamics

3.6.1. Drivers

3.6.1.1. Emerging Advancement of Level Sensors

3.6.1.2. Rapid Adoption of Industrial Automation

3.6.1.3. Increasing Usage of Level Sensors in Energy & Power Vertical

3.6.2. Restraints

3.6.2.1. Lack of Precision and Accuracy of Level Sensors

3.6.2.2. Increasing Trends Towards Electric Vehicles

3.6.3. Opportunities

3.6.3.1. Growth in Usage of Level Sensor in Residential Vertical



Chapter 4: Level Sensor Market, By Type

4.1. Overview

4.2. Contact Level Sensor

4.3. Non-Contact Level Sensor



Chapter 5: Level Sensor Market, By Application

5.1. Overview

5.2. Point Level Monitoring Level Sensor

5.3. Continuous Level Monitoring Sensor



Chapter 6: Level Sensor Market, By End-use

6.1. Overview

6.2. Automotive

6.3. Aerospace & Defense

6.4. Energy & Power

6.5. Healthcare

6.6. Industrial

6.7. Others



Chapter 7: Level Sensor Market, By Region

7.1. Overview

7.2. North America

7.3. Europe

7.4. Asia-Pacific

7.5. LAMEA



Chapter 8: Competitive Landscape

8.1. Introduction

8.1.1. Market Player Positioning, 2017

8.2. Market Share Analysis of Top Players, 2018 (%)

8.2.1. Vendor Share Analysis, By Geography

8.3. Top Winning Strategies

8.3.1. Top Winning Strategies, By Year

8.3.2. Top Winning Strategies, By Development

8.3.3. Top Winning Strategies, By Company

8.4. Product Mapping of Top 10 Player

8.5. Competitive Dashboard

8.6. Competitive Heatmap

8.7. Key Developments

8.7.1. New Product Launches

8.7.2. Other Developments



Chapter 9: Company Profiles: Auto Makers

9.1. ABB Ltd.

9.2. Ametek Inc.

9.3. Emerson Electric Co.

9.4. Endress+Hauser Management AG

9.5. Honeywell International Inc.

9.6. Siemens AG

9.7. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited

9.8. TE Connectivity

9.9. Texas Instrument

9.10. Vega Grieshaber KG

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6pd8im

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, is a man of means. Some even suggest he is the richest man in the world.

Certainly he is in possession of several public personas.

Clad in traditional Arab robes and keffiyeh, he presents himself as the potentate of a tiny desert kingdom. Then there is the Savile Row-suited visionary who has built a 21st century city of skyscrapers not so much on sand as superlatives.

In his tweeds, whether it be on the gallops at Newmarket or his vast Scottish shooting estate, the sheikh is every inch the sophisticated European country gentleman. He is a friend of our Queen, with whom he shares a passion for expensive horse flesh.

He is a prolific, self-published poet. He is a philanthropist without equal. He wants to send an Emirati spaceship to Mars.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan attend the Investec Derby Day horse racing meet on June 5, 2010 in Epsom

But yesterdays sensational evidence from a London courtroom has suggested another and altogether less flattering version of this royal chameleon  the autocratic if not abusive husband of six wives and father of more than 20 children.

For all his estimated fortune of up to 14billion, Sheikh Mohammed has been reminded  once again  that one thing you cannot buy is a good reputation.

How badly the latest allegations of the sheikhs authoritarian approach to family life will damage his long and mutually beneficial relationship with the United Kingdom remains to be seen.

He has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in property and business interests here. He has also given huge amounts to good causes. Such figures are a measure of how far he has come from when he was a little boy, racing bareback on horses along the beach next to a Gulf fishing village called Jumeirah.

When he was born in 1949, Dubai was still a British protectorate. He was the third son of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al-Maktoum, Dubais ruler from 1958 until his death in 1990.

View on Beach Palace of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai

During his fathers reign the emirate was gradually modernised. This process was accelerated when in 1966 oil was discovered. Dubai began to boom. In 1968 the British withdrew from East of Suez and the United Arab Emirates which included Dubai, emerged three years later.

Like many male children of Gulf rulers Sheikh Mohammed was sent to Britain for part of his education. At the age of 17 he attended the Bell Educational Trusts school in Cambridge.

Newmarket, that mecca of the horse racing world, was only a few miles away. A love affair was kindled which would eventually see the establishment of his Godolphin racing empire in the town.

In his autobiography Sheikh Mohammed recalled a frugal student existence: I used to eat chicken only once a week and skip lunches at times to buy coffee for my friends or, most importantly, purchase a train ticket so I could go to watch the horse races that I love.

He then attended the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot (which was closed in 1972 and its responsibilities transferred to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst) and passed out with the sword of honour for the best foreign student.

After pilot training in Italy he returned to the Gulf and was made head of both the police and the local defence force. When the UAE was formed he became its first Minister of Defence. His interest in aviation saw the launch of Emirates airways in 1985  now one of the biggest airlines in the world.

In 1995 he was made Crown Prince and de facto ruler, succeeding his brother Maktoum to the throne in 2006.

By then the economic miracle that is the modern Dubai was well under way. It had taken shape under his own auspices  and tight control. If Dubai was to outlive its reliance on oil and become the business and leisure hub of the Gulf, if not the whole of the Middle East, it would have to be noticed. Sheikh Mohammed achieved this with a number of spectacular projects.

There was the sail-shaped hotel Burj Al Arab, off the same Jumeirah beach where he once raced horses, described as the worlds most luxurious.

The portfolio includes horse racing operations in Ireland, the US and Australia, a 385million 500ft superyacht (pictured), a fleet of private jets, including at lest one Boeing 747, and more than 100 supercars

In 2010 he opened the Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest building. The sheikh relaxed visa rules for educated Western expats and allowed the consumption of alcohol in the many resorts and hotels. This was no Saudi Arabia.

As the majority shareholder of Dubai Holding  the emirates investment vehicle  much of the income from these ventures flowed into his own coffers. He and his three brothers are said to each make $1million (770,000) a day from its oil wealth alone.

And a considerable chunk has been invested in his lavish life in the UK. He bought the Longcross estate near Chertsey in Surrey several decades ago. It is now thought to be worth around 75million.

He also owns the 63,000-acre, 30-bedroom Inverinate estate in the Scottish Highlands and an 85million townhouse in Kensington, west London. The portfolio includes horse racing operations in Ireland, the US and Australia, a 385million 500ft superyacht, a fleet of private jets, including at lest one Boeing 747, and more than 100 supercars.

Princess Haya is pictured with her husband Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum at Ascot Racecourse in 2008

Not all was conspicuous consumption. In 2007 Sheikh Mohammed announced what was then perhaps the biggest philanthropic donation in history. He would give $10billion (7.7billion) to set up an educational foundation named after himself. On a smaller scale, in 2017 he gave the Cornish village of Godolphin Cross 100,000 to buy a community hall. Yet a shadow had begun to grow over this splendour, generosity and  along the tourist beaches of Dubai  superficial hedonism.

A series of human rights scandals have rocked Dubai and the UAE. Homosexuality is still illegal and punished with severity.

Free speech is limited and some 250,000 migrant unskilled workers are said to live in conditions which are less than humane.

The UAE has also been a major participant in the brutal war in Yemen which has killed thousands of civilians.

Campaign group Human Rights Watch says any attempt to paint the UAE government as tolerant is laughable.

Society is patriarchal to the point of oppression.

Yesterdays decision by a London court lifted the veil.

For the worlds richest man, such scrutiny is bad business.
New Delhi, March 5 : Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi has appointed Ramya Haridas, MP from Alathur in Kerala, as National Secretary of the Youth Congress in a major organisational reshuffle besides appointing five general secretaries, 40 secretaries and five joint secretaries in the youth wing.

Haridas was in the news when she complained of being heckled by BJP MP Jaskaur Meena.

Speaking to IANS, the first-time MP said "I am surprised and will work for the party to strengthen the organisation." "Congress interim President has approved the proposal of the appointment of National General Secretaries, Nation Secretaries and Joint Secretaries of the youth Congress," a release from K.C. Venugopal said.

The party's youth wing which have been on the forefront of the opposition on the streets has lost its sheen since the introduction of the election system in the organisation, said a former office bearer.

Rahul Gandhi had introduced election system in the youth organisation when he took over as General Secretary in-charge of the Youth Congress and had roped in K.J. Rao a former Election Commission advisor for party polls.

The organisation has some familiar faces including four from Chhatisgarh who were part of the research team in the state - Deepak Mishra, Kulisha Mishra, Shahid and Milind Gautam. Spokesperson Amrish Ranjan Pandey has been elevated as secretary.
Danish English

5 March 2020

NOTICE CONVENING THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

OF ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S

The annual general meeting of shareholders is hereby convened to take place on



Wednesday, 1 April 2020 at 3:00 p.m.

at Roskilde Kongrescenter, Mllehusvej 15, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.





Registration for the general meeting must take place no later than Friday, 27 March 2020 either electronically via the shareholder portal on www.rockwoolgroup.com/shareholder or by returning the completed registration form to Computershare A/S.

During the annual general meeting coffee and cake will be served.

The general meeting will be transmitted in full directly via webcast in Danish and English. The webcast and further information is available at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm . The webcast will only include the platform and rostrum. Information on collection and processing of personal data in connection with the annual general meeting is available on the companys website www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm .

The agenda for the annual general meeting is as follows:

The board of directors report on the companys activities during the past financial year. Presentation of annual report with auditors report. Adoption of the annual report for the past financial year and discharge of liability for the management and the board of directors. Approval of the remuneration of the board of directors for 2020/2021. Allocation of profits according to the adopted accounts.

The board of directors proposes a distribution of dividends for the financial year 2019 of DKK 32.00 per share of a nominal value of DKK 10. The dividend will be distributed on 6 April 2020 after approval by the general meeting.

6. Election of members to the board of directors.

According to the Articles of Association all members of the board of directors elected at the general meeting resign each year. Members of the board of directors are elected for the period until the next annual general meeting.

Board member Henrik Brandt has informed the board of directors that he will not seek re-election to the board at the annual general meeting.

The board of directors nominates the following board members for re-election: Carsten Bjerg, Sren Kahler, Thomas Kahler, Andreas Ronken and Jrgen Tang-Jensen.

The board of directors proposes that Rebekka Glasser Herlofsen is elected as new member of the board of directors.

A description of the background of and the offices held by each candidate proposed for election by the board of directors, including the board of directors reasons for the nomination, are enclosed in appendix 1 and are available at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm .

Subject to election of the above candidates, the board of directors expects to appoint Thomas Kahler

as Chairman and Carsten Bjerg as Deputy Chairman. Thomas Kahler will resign from his position as Senior Vice President, Systems Division if re-elected.

7. Appointment of auditors.

The board of directors proposes re-election of PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab as auditor of the company.

8. Proposals from the board of directors or shareholders.

Proposals from the board of directors:

8a. Authorisation to acquire own shares.

The board of directors proposes that the general meeting authorises the board of directors to allow the company to acquire own shares during the period until the next annual general meeting, i.e. class A shares as well as class B shares, of a total nominal value of up to 10% of the companys share capital, provided that the price of the shares at the time of purchase does not deviate by more than 10% from the most recent listed price.

8b. Approval of new remuneration policy for the board of directors and registered directors.

The board of directors proposes that the general meeting approves the new remuneration policy for the board of directors and registered directors.

The proposed new remuneration policy is enclosed as appendix 2 and is available at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm .

If the new remuneration policy is approved, section 17 of the Articles of Association on overall guidelines for incentive-based remuneration will automatically be deleted and subsequent Articles will be renumbered accordingly.

Proposals from shareholders:

8c. Assessment of environmental and community impacts from siting of manufacturing facilities and use of water.

Proposal from shareholder Timothy L. Ross:

So that shareholders can understand and manage risk more effectively, a shareholder proposes that Rockwool prepare and publish an assessment, above and beyond existing disclosures and those required by law, of the results of company policies and practices to minimize the adverse environmental and community impacts, particularly to children, from the companys siting of its manufacturing facilities as well as from the use, storage, and discharge of water associated with its manufacturing processes, and the risks of adverse regulatory and permitting outcomes with respect to the Companys current or planned use, storage or discharge of water impairing the Companys current and scheduled investments in its facilities. Such assessment should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting confidential information.

The shareholders supporting statement for the proposal is included in the complete proposals for the general meeting.

The board of directors position:

The board of directors appreciates the concerns expressed by the shareholder, while noting this proposal is identical to the one submitted last year and reiterating that it believes that the company adequately discloses relevant risks and material impacts via its Annual Report and Sustainability Report. The board of directors further notes that the company observes local and national regulations when locating new manufacturing facilities. As the shareholders proposal specifically addresses discharge of water associated with manufacturing processes, the board of directors emphasises that there are no production process waste water discharges into waterways or the ground at any of the companys manufacturing facilities.

Hence, the board of directors does not support the proposal.

Any other business.

Share capital, voting right and adoption requirements

At the time of convening the general meeting, the companys share capital amounts to a nominal value of DKK 219,749,230, divided into a class A share capital of a nominal value of DKK 112,316,270 (11,231,627 shares of a nominal value of DKK 10 each) and a class B share capital of a nominal value of DKK 107,432,960 (10,743,296 shares of a nominal value of DKK 10 each). Each class A share of a nominal value of DKK 10 entitles to ten votes, and each class B share of a nominal value of DKK 10 entitles to one vote according to article 9.b of the Articles of Association.

Shareholders are entitled to vote, if they on the record date, Wednesday, 25 March 2020, are registered in the companys register of shareholders or have given notice to the company of a change of ownership, which the company has received for the purpose of registration in the register of shareholders, but which has not yet been registered according to article 9.c. of the Articles of Association, and who have requested admission cards or submitted absentee votes in due time.

All proposals on the agenda may be adopted by a simple majority vote.

Admission cards

As last year the company will issue electronic admission cards. The electronic admission card(s) will be sent to the email address provided by the shareholder in the shareholder portal and which has been registered in the register of shareholders. Shareholders must bring the admission card(s) to the general meeting, either electronically on a smartphone/tablet or in a print version. Shareholders also have the option to collect admission card(s) at the registration counter at the entrance to the general meeting upon providing proper proof of identification.

At the registration counter, shareholders will receive a printed ballot for the general meeting upon providing admission card(s) or proof of identification.

Shareholders wishing to attend the general meeting must request an admission card no later than Friday, 27 March 2020. Admission cards can be obtained as follows:

electronically via the shareholder portal on www.rockwoolgroup.com/shareholder by using the password and deposit account information sent directly to all registered shareholders or NemID; by returning the completed registration form to Computershare A/S, Lottenborgvej 26 D, 1st floor, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby. The registration form has been sent to all registered shareholders, who have requested it, and is also available at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm ; or by contacting Computershare A/S by phone, (+ 45) 4546 0997 (weekdays between 09:00 and 15:30 (CET)) or by email, gf@computershare.dk .

Proxy

A shareholder may utilise his/her voting rights by proxy, provided that the proxy holder substantiates his right to attend the general meeting by presenting an admission card and a dated proxy form in writing. The proxy form is available at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm , and can also be obtained from Computershare A/S.

Computershare A/S must receive the completed proxy form no later than on Friday, 27 March 2020. The proxy form may be sent in writing by ordinary mail or electronically via the shareholder portal on www.rockwoolgroup.com/shareholder .



Absentee votes (voting by correspondence)

A shareholder may exercise his/her voting rights by submitting an absentee vote. A form for submitting absentee votes may be obtained at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm , and may also be obtained from Computershare A/S.

Computershare A/S must receive the absentee votes no later than Monday, 30 March 2020. Absentee votes can be sent in writing by ordinary mail or electronically via the shareholder portal on www.rockwoolgroup.com/shareholder .

Publication of documents

The notice including the agenda, the complete proposals, information about voting rights and capital structure at the time of the notice convening the annual general meeting, the audited annual report, the form of proxy and absentee votes as well as information on handling of personal data in connection with the annual general meeting will be available at the companys website, www.rockwoolgroup.com/agm , in the period from the publication of the notice and until and including the day of the general meeting.

Questions

The company encourages all shareholders to actively take part in the annual general meeting, by providing questions to the companys management on any matters that may require clarification.

Up until the day before the general meeting the shareholders can submit questions in writing to the company regarding the agenda or documents for the purpose of the general meeting.

Yours sincerely,

ROCKWOOL International A/S

On behalf of the board of directors

Henrik Brandt, Chairman of the board of directors

Attachment
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the Constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'

IMAGE: A protest against the CAA in New Delhi. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

Rahul Mukherji has previously taught at the National University of Singapore, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Hunter College - City University of New York and the University of Vermont. His two most recent books include Globalization and Deregulation: Ideas, Interests and Institutional Change in India and The Oxford India Short Introduction to the Political Economy of Reforms in India.

"Was the Constitution, after all, not about We the People?", Professor Mukherji asks Aditi Phadnis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stormed back to power in 2019 -- despite poor economic performance, a badly managed slowdown and high unemployment -- on the back of nationalist appeal.

Is it all catching up with the Bharatiya Janata Party now?

Are street demonstrations on diverse issues a manifestation of economic discontentment?

Economic discontent is a background condition that is adding fuel to the fire of student movements and other spontaneous movements.

To JNU, Jamia, Aligarh, and various other university campuses have now been added the IITs and IIMs -- the issue of economic distress cannot be underestimated.

Onion and vegetable prices that have driven a surge in the consumer price index, joblessness, even the worry that banks may put a limit on withdrawal, is bringing Hindus and Muslims together on the platform of economic distress.

Prashant Kishore of the Janata Dal-United) was the first to point out that the National Register of Citizens will divide India on a class basis because of the transactions costs associated with the NRC.

After all, did not the Assam NRC leave a lot of Hindus out?

If the economy had been in a better shape, the protests could be muted. It is possible that Hindu-Muslim polarisation would have been even greater in that case.

To add fuel to fire, the government is behaving as if the dismal rate of growth, and the disgraceful unemployment and consumption statistics are not a matter of fact.

The prime minister and his colleagues pretend that all is well.

Often statistics are sought to be hidden from the public gaze.

But citizens must worry, when onion prices and joblessness are at an all-time high, the government is only withholding statistics and praising its own performance.

Many who voted the BJP now feel the pinch, be it construction work, delayed MGNREGS payments, or factory or corporate job losses.

It is noteworthy that 250 million Indians went on strike on January 8.

Many students who are now opposing the government would have also voted the BJP thinking that the prime minister would deliver on his long-standing promise: Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas.

The strategy of distracting citizens with Pulwama, Balakot, Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC has begun to boomerang in the face of poor governance. The BJP is losing state-level elections when just a few months ago it seemed that the BJP would sweep the country.

At that time, Mr Modi went all the distance to bat with the idea that national and the state-level elections should be held at the same time.

Was India going to turn into a kind of 'hybrid democracy' like Bangladesh with no Opposition?

This optimism of the ruling party was somewhat overturned when it could not form the government in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra is an important state considering its size and wealth.

Soon thereafter, the BJP lost Jharkhand.

The fact that the BJP government was not working for forest rights of the tribal people did not help.

No one is complaining about electronic voting machines any more.

It seems voters in India are casting their ballot on clear economic issues in many states.

When we attempt to study 'the crowd' in the demonstrations going on all over India, we find there is little in common among it.

It is not the Navnirman movement; nor is it the Naxalbari uprising. There are young people from (relatively) wealthy families as well as the middle class and the poor.

There are Muslims protesting as well as Hindus.

How do you read it?

These current protests are neither like the Navnirman movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan nor the Maoist revolt in Naxalbari. What was common to all these movements was political leadership.

And, there were parties behind these movements.

In the case of the movement led by JP, his towering and uncompromising Gandhi-like presence was a pole star.

Today's women and youth are openly expressing themselves in favour of an alternative idea of inclusive India.

Muslim women in Shaheen Bagh, many of them housewives devoid of high academic credentials, could teach scholars a lesson or two in political representation.

They are saying that the Muslim in India is an Indian who will not tolerate the status of a second class citizen.

It is an affront to Indians if they have to produce special certificates to prove their identity under the threat of NRC.

Once upon a time the slogan was 'quit India today it is 'hum dekhenge! (we will see!) and 'kagojamra dekhabo na (paper, we shall not show!)'

The protests in Jamia and JNU have turned into nationwide campaigns. There are a number of causes to struggle for. If higher education can be free in Germany why not in India?

Who will take care of the poverty-stricken and talented youth who must contribute to the country's well-being?

Should academic institutions be autonomous or should they be ruled by a party-State reminiscent of ones in many former Communist and authoritarian regimes?

The manner in which recruitment, appointments and the fees in JNU were sought to be managed -- along with caricaturing it as an enemy of the nation -- it was clear that JNU was the target of the ruling dispensation.

If JNU is such an evil institution, then one must also acknowledge the two alumni in the Cabinet and numerous civil servants who run the country, apart from its profound contribution to the life of the intellect.

Not only is the current Nobel Prize winner an alumni, scholars in JNU have contributed to the way India has debated its problems, and some even hold chairs in the world's renowned universities.

The idea of India is much deeper than what political parties with anointed leaders can imagine.

For example, Swami Vivekananda, the patron saint of the Indian renaissance, contended that the Indian tradition was so inclusive that Hinduism was not just about toleration but assimilation as well.

His remarks at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 was the boldest expression of the cosmopolitan view at that time.

He articulated the Vedantic ideal lived and experienced by his Master Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa -- all paths no matter how contradictory they may appear -- all lead to the same goal.

The next generation that produced Gandhi, Tagore and Azad practised the cosmopolitan version of Hinduism and Islam.

The idea of living with, accepting and learning from diversity is an integral part of national identity that cannot easily be challenged.

It is the people of India who are batting for this idea of India -- cherished by the founding father and inscribed in the Constitution drafted under the leadership of Dr Ambedkar.

These spontaneous protests devoid of political calculation and expressing the will of the people hold substantial promise for the people of India.

Those very persons for whom the Constitution was made wish to abide by it.

They foresee the threats posed by an alternative idea of India.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi with Union Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo

What do we know about spontaneous, leaderless, organisation-less movements?

Is Indian democracy and the Indian State resilient and flexible enough to absorb this challenge?

We do not know much about spontaneous leaderless movements like the ones described above.

One would worry that these causes may not last in the absence of political parties and leadership that naturally gives shape to social movements.

There is a positive side too.

Political calculations that drive parties do not always reflect citizen needs.

Opposition parties are sometimes confused regarding whether or not this overt support for the millennial idea of India will boomerang against them.

After all, there could be a silent majority that might vote the BJP with even greater fervour if it buys into Hindutva nationalism as a harbinger of long-term progress for the majority population of Hindus.

In this respect, it is truly remarkable that the people of India are leading the polity where political parties often fear to tread.

Was the Constitution, after all, not about We the People?

The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the Constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.

Do established political parties need to change the way they mobilise in the face of spontaneous protest? Just when they thought they had cracked the social media tool? But the story seems to have gone beyond.

Political power has batted for all kinds of ideas -- such as those that produced the Hindu rate of growth, as well as, those that led to the most remarkable growth surge.

India suffered substantial poverty and governance challenges.

In response, politics and the state unleashed the rights-based approach to compensate the poor.

Politics was leading from the front, reading the aspirations of the poor and of those who create wealth for the country.

That politics is missing today.

On the one hand, Hindutva nationalism seeks to alter the millennial idea of India, while on the other, the upholders of the dominant millennial tradition who can contribute to the inclusive character of India so prominent in its federal character, seem to have lost the verve to lead from the front.

The people could lose despite their toil if politics did not find a way of incorporating them.

This is a serious challenge where the promise of social mobilisation must meet with politics that protects and uplifts the character of our Constitution.
Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

BART trains were recovering from major delays Thursday afternoon due to reports of a small trackside fire between Balboa Park and Daly City, officials said.

The delays were affecting the San Francisco Line in the SFO, Millbrae, Daly City and East Bay directions, and officials said Muni buses and trains were offering service to riders between the Daly City and Embarcadero stations.
Jammu and Kashmir High Court has sought the Centre's response on a plea filed by a Budgam resident regarding the evacuation of Jammu and Kashmir students and others from coronavirus-hit Iran.

The High Court, on Wednesday, directed the administrations of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to ensure the setting up of proper isolation and quarantine facilities besides testing laboratories for prevention of the novel coronavirus disease.

The bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajesh Bindal made secretaries of the ministries of External Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, and Civil Aviation, chief secretaries and commissioner secretaries of Health and Medical Education Departments of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh respectively as party respondents.

According to the court's directions, the Ministries of External Affairs, Health and Civil Aviation are required, through the Indian Embassy in Tehran, Iran and their offices, to ensure the availability of the required materials including masks, medication and essential commodities including food etc. to all Indians especially the students, who are stated to be stranded there.

They will further identify the protocol to be followed, examine the mode to forthwith implement the same and take steps for the evacuation of the Indian students in Iran.

The High Court directed the administrations of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to identify and ensure creation of proper facilities for isolation and quarantine in the Government and private sector, testing laboratories as well as availability of health care and medication for prevention of the COVID-19 disease and treatment of the persons infected/carrying the infection.

They were further directed to take immediate steps for acquisition of and to ensure availability in sufficient numbers and quantity of N-95 (or any other recommended) masks, for the public and separation kits for all medical personnel and staff.

The High Court directed the respondents to file a status report on or before March 12 which has been listed as the next date of hearing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Elizabeth Warren attracted big crowds. She won rave reviews in nearly every debate. Her organization was second to none. She developed plans, a strategy and a message. Yet when voting started, she not only lost, she lost by a lot.

Now as Warren, who ended her presidential campaign Thursday, decides which of two male candidates to endorse, her supporters are left to contemplate a factor that many believe contributed significantly to her loss: She's female.

"Gender in this race, you know, that is the trap question for every woman," Warren told reporters gathered outside her house Thursday. "If you say, 'Yeah, there was sexism in this race,' everyone says, 'Whiner!' And if you say, 'No, there was no sexism,' about a bazillion women think, 'What planet do you live on?' "

It felt like an echo from 2016, when a high-profile female candidate with strong qualifications fell short, and the loss renews questions about the perceptions of women in American politics and if, or how, those perceptions can be changed.

It's not that Warren ran an error-free campaign. She had to apologize for previous claims of a Native American identity, struggled to explain her health-care plan and how it would be paid for, and her efforts to bridge the party's liberal and centrist camps fell flat.

But her male counterparts made big mistakes as well. And Warren was among six accomplished women who got little traction in a party that recaptured the House in 2018 with a record number of female candidates, elevated a woman as House speaker who regularly goes toe-to-toe with President Donald Trump, and ostensibly has a new sensitivity to gender issues.

The exit by Warren, who spent much of 2019 leading in many polls, was a reminder of four years ago, when Hillary Clinton's loss sparked a national debate over whether a woman could ever win election to the country's highest political office. Her departure came just days after another prominent female senator, Amy Klobuchar, dropped out.

"Women will not be perceived by some as electable until we're elected," said Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to former president Barack Obama and a friend of Warren's. "I often say progress always seems impossible until it's inevitable. There was certainly a time when our country might have thought that an African-American man was not electable. And what happened? We just kept trying."

After campaigning energetically for more than a year, Warren finished no higher than third in any primary or caucus, and on Tuesday, she finished behind former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders in her home state of Massachusetts.

Voters repeatedly told Warren's campaign workers that Clinton's shocking loss to Trump had spooked them, suggesting they blamed it Clinton's gender, rather than other factors like her moderate ideology failing to excite the Democratic base.

Warren's campaign tried a variety of tactics to win support from voters who embraced her policies but could not quite believe that enough people would choose her over Trump, which her staff referred to as the "electability problem."

She held massive rallies in New York, Seattle and St. Paul, Minnesota, intended to showcase her popularity. She disassembled a billionaire presidential candidate on a debate stage, effectively ending former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's White House bid, partly as a way to show how she'd potentially eviscerate Trump in the fall.

Her campaign trained volunteers about how to talk about what aides called the "elephant in the room" when they campaigned door-to-door.

Warren herself on occasion sought to defuse the issue by speaking about it bluntly.

"Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they have lost 10 elections," Warren said during a January debate. "The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women, Amy and me!"

None of it worked.

"We're comfortable with women leaders in the abstract," said Jennifer Palmieri, who was Clinton's communications director in 2016 and has written two books on gender in politics. "But once they actually start winning or getting close to power, that is when all of the sexism and unconscious gender bias kicks in."

She recalled hearing Democrats four years ago talk about how they disliked Clinton but adored Warren. Once Warren was poised to take power, however, new questions arose about whether she lacked some intangible attribute needed to win the White House, Palmieri said.

"It's an unsatisfactory answer for people because it sounds so ridiculous to say, but we are not comfortable with women having very big ambitions," Palmieri said.

Clinton's defeat in 2016 devastated her supporters, and Warren's withdrawal was similarly greeted Thursday with disappointment and frustration.

"The best candidate of them all had to quit," former tennis star Martina Navratilova said via Twitter. "She had a plan for everything with one major thing missing - the 'right' sex... Let's be real. This is not playing the gender card, it's just a fact."

Warren's withdrawal also prompted other leading women in Washington to reflect on why the "highest and hardest" glass ceiling that Clinton once talked about was still intact.

"Every time I get introduced as the most powerful woman in the United States, I almost cry, because I'm thinking, 'I wish that were not true,' " House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. "I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States, and we came very close to doing that - [a] woman who was better qualified than so many people who have sought that office and even won it."

Pelosi added that she believes there is "a certain element of misogyny" preventing women from rising.

Still, the Democratic primary has been unusually complicated this year, and many argue that other factors besides sexism were at play in Warren's fate. Her initial strategy rested on quickly consolidating the left, for example, but many liberals, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were more drawn to Sanders' brand of fiery socialism.

Then Warren sought to present herself as a bridge-builder, challenging the notion that there were only centrist and a liberal "lanes" in the primary. "I thought that wasn't right, but evidently I was wrong," she said Thursday.

Warren was the remaining woman among a group that included Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., along with self-help guru Marianne Williamson. Only Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, remains in the race, but she lags far behind Biden and Sanders.

The next big task facing Warren is deciding whether to endorse another candidate. She would have to choose between the two men remaining, both who whom have had their own issues with treatment of women.

On one side is Sanders, an ideological ally whose leadership style and management ability are questioned by many in Warren's orbit. In 2016, Sanders faced complaints about how women on his staff were treated, and he ultimately apologized for that.

Or she could back Biden, who some women have accused of inappropriate touching, and who and has ties to the same corporate interests she reviles. She also could decide not to endorse.

Both camps have been reaching out to Warren's team in some fashion since Wednesday, when she signaled she was reassessing her candidacy.

At a news conference Thursday outside her home in Cambridge, Warren told reporters she would not immediately make an endorsement in the presidential race but may do so in the future. She urged people to "take a deep breath" before moving on and pledged to keep battling for middle-class families.

"I have to think a lot about where is the best place for me to go to keep fighting those fights," Warren said. "My job is to fight them as smartly and effectively as I can."

Warren initially kept her messaging about gender low-key when on the campaign trail: She made "pinkie promises" with young girls who came to her town halls, for example, telling them she was running for president "because that's what girls do."

But late last year, as she lost some momentum and the number of women in the field dwindled, Warren began to talk more directly about gender, focusing on the wave of women who "came off the sidelines" after Trump's inauguration and helped elect female candidates to Congress and other offices in 2018.

In January's Democratic debate, moderators poked at a dispute that had been brewing for days between Warren and Sanders over a private meeting in 2018 during which Sanders reportedly said a woman could not win the presidency.

Onstage, Sanders flatly denied making any such remarks. "How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could not be president of the United States?" Sanders said.

Warren, who insisted she was "not here to try to fight with Bernie," said she disagreed with Sanders - suggesting he had in fact made those remarks - adding that she wanted to address head-on the question of a woman's electability.

In February, Warren was asked whether she thought women were judged by a double standard on the debate stage.

"This is what women face all the time - it's always 'too much of this' or 'too much of that,' " Warren told MSNBC. "But you put your head down, do your job and you keep on going. Or, you might say, 'We persist.' "

The "persist" slogan reflected her self-described identity as a relentless fighter who never gives up. In 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned Warren that she was violating Senate rules during a floor speech, saying: "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." Warren and her supporters eagerly seized on the phrase.

And last month when a group of women decided to form a super PAC to support Warren's candidacy, the crusader against big money used gender as a reason to accept the help of a committee that could raise unlimited amounts of cash.

"We reached the point a few weeks ago where all the men who were still in this race and on the debate stage all had either super PACs or they were multibillionaires," Warren said, explaining her reversal. "It can't be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don't."

Warren's super PAC spent more than any of the other Democratic candidates's outside group this year. Ultimately, it didn't make a difference.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Wagner and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.
Water woes and a lack of funding are among the many problems said to be affecting residents 
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The much-reviled Plan 2014, blamed by many Lake Ontario shoreline residents for leading to record floods over the past three years, will be the focus of an international study.

The International Joint Commission said it will spend $3 million to investigate possible improvements that could be made to Lake Ontario outflow regulation activities.

The commission and scientists have said the problem on Lake Ontario isnt the plan, but record rainfall in 2017 and 2019 that overwhelmed the commissions ability to let water out of the lake. After protests from residents and a lawsuit from New York state, however, the commission decided to conduct the study.

Plan 2014 went into effect in January 2017, just as record rain and snow melt were beginning in the Lake Ontario watershed. In 2019, all the Great Lakes reached record levels, and so did the flow of water into Lake Ontario via the Niagara River.

The IJC oversees the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, which decides how much water to release from the Moses-Saunders dam at the lakes eastern end. A subcommittee of that board, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Committee, will conduct the study, expected to take 18 months to two years.

The IJC is committed to making this an open and transparent review," said Jane Corwin, the U.S. co-Chair of the IJC, in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, praised the plan when it was announced in 2016, but now says she she supports the review.

Additional study of the implementation of Plan 2014 is needed to address significant water level concerns, Stefaniks statement read.

Lake Ontario remains higher than normal, despite record outflows this winter through the dam. The IJC has told residents to expect more flooding this year.

READ MORE

Is Plan 2014 getting a bad rap for Lake Ontario flooding?

Water is flowing out of Lake Ontario at record pace. So is the water flowing in

Lake Ontario water level remains high, residents worry about more spring floods
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 06:23:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The agreed-upon cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey went into force at midnight Friday in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

Russia and Turkey agreed Thursday on a cease-fire in the de-escalation zone in Syria's Idlib, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan which lasted for about six hours.

The cease-fire becomes effective from 00:01 on Friday, according to the protocol read after the talks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The agreement comes after direct confrontation between Turkey and Syrian forces took place several times in Idlib over the past two months since the Syrian forces launched a campaign against the Turkey-backed rebel groups in Idlib.

The Syrian army started the operation in Idlib after Turkey failed to live up to previous pledges made during the Sochi agreement in 2018 between Russia and Turkey.

Under the previous deal, the rebels should have withdrawn from certain areas around the M5 and M4 highways in northern Syria.

Turkey was also supposed to disarm ultra-radical rebel groups in certain areas in Idlib, which didn't happen.

The current cease-fire was seen as a chance to quell the recent confrontation in Idlib, mainly to allow humanitarian help for Syrian refugees who left their areas during the recent military showdown.

However, it's not yet clear whether the current cease-fire would hold.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said minutes before the cease-fire that shelling was still taking place by the Syrian forces on rebel areas and by Turkish forces on the Syrian government forces in Idlib.
A Chinese man locked himself up in his flat in Greater Noida since he suspected he had coronavirus. However, a medical officer later said he was tested negative.

The residents of the society where the man lives reached out to a nearby hospital after they came to know that the man was a suspected coronavirus patient. Later it was found that he was not infected with COVID-19. The Chinese man works with Oppo in India.

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak LIVE updates: Family of 3, 2 others quarantined in Vizag

Gautam Budh Nagar Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava said, "Several tests have been conducted on him. He does not have any problem".

On Wednesday evening, Paytm stated that one of their employees in Gurugram has been detected with coronavirus. "As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately. We have also advised all our colleagues to work from home for a couple of days while we get our offices sanitised. However, there will not be any impact on our daily operations and Paytm services will continue as usual," the company stated.

Meanwhile, the confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached almost 30 in India. Whereas in China, the death toll due to coronavirus has crossed 3,000 and total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400.

Also read: Coronavirus update: CBSE allows sanitisers, masks in exam centres

Also read: Coronavirus: Delhi tops people under surveillance; crisis in Kerala, Punjab too
HARTFORD  Even Joe Bidens biggest fan in Connecticut was surprised by the former vice presidents showing in Super Tuesdays 14-state showdown.

Surveying the wreckage of other Democratic campaigns, including the withdrawal Wednesday morning of former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, Gov. Ned Lamont said he now expects Biden to make both fundraising visits and campaign stops in the run-up to the states April 28 primary.

Hes a good man, Lamont told reporters in the Capitol. I supported him very early on because he gives us the best chance to unite the Democratic party. And more importantly he gives us the best chance to unite the country. Im very happy the way the last 72 hours has gone.

Lamont last month campaigned for Biden in New Hampshire, more than two weeks before the win in the South Carolina primary turned Bidens campaign around.

Biden won Texas, Tennessee and other southern states, solidifying a campaign that sputtered early, was the focus of attacks by President Donald Trump during the impeachment process in Washington, and lagged far behind U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who still won in California Tuesday night.

I figured it was going to be an uphill climb, Lamont said. He was outspent by Bernie 25 to 1. Outspent by Mike 100 to 1 and people believed in him, and especially since South Carolina things took off.

Lamont said he is negotiating with the Biden campaign on scheduling campaign stops and fundraisers before the April 28 Connecticut primary, when 60 state delegates are at stake.

Donald Trump knows that this guy is a tough competitor because people believe in him, and he believes in them. He knows who they are and they know who he is. I think thats his big advantage. We thought, of my God hes been doing this forever thats a disadvantage. I think in this case people like the fact that he is someone they can trust.

Bloombergs Connecticut campaign folded up his tent at about 10:30, when his state communications director released a statement supporting Biden.

Im a believer in using data to inform decisions, Bloomberg said. After yesterdays results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible - and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists. But I remain clear-eyed about my overriding objective: victory in November. And so while I will not be the nominee, I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life. Ive always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterdays vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.

State Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, a Bloomberg supporter because of the former New York mayors national campaign for gun safety, said Wednesday that he is now in Bidens camp too. Hes the one we need to bring the nation back together, said Godfrey, a member of the General Assembly since 1989.
NGOs Urge South Korean President Moon to Focus More on North Korean Human Rights

Eugene Whong 2020-03-04 -- A coalition of NGOs recently sent an open letter to South Korean President Moon Jae In, urging his administration to stop ignoring North Korea's human rights abuses.

The letter, dated Feb. 21, was written by the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (INCK) on behalf of 69 organizations and seven concerned individuals from 23 countries. It said that the South Korean government should "clarify and strengthen" its position on promoting North Korean human rights.

The letter criticized two specific decisions of the Moon government.

"In November, your government decided to withdraw from co-sponsoring a resolution in the UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] condemning the human rights situation in North Korea, despite supporting every past annual resolution since 2008," the letter said.

"The same month, your government made a decision to deport two North Korean fishermen accused of murder to face a substantive risk of torture and possible death in North Korea. Your government has not provided adequate explanations regarding either of these events," it added.

The Moon government has been taking criticism not only for these actions, but also for not pressing North Korea on human rights issues in recent negotiations.

A Financial Times report from Nov. 2018, shortly after the third inter-Korean summit that year, noted that critics thought Moon was focusing too much on trying to get North Korea to denuclearize and open up through normalization of relations and economic integration, and "betraying his political convictions" as a former human rights lawyer by ignoring "ignoring the severe deprivation and abuse suffered by millions of North Korean citizens."

Those voices have only gotten louder since 2018.

The opposing view is that human rights abuses in North Korea must be downplayed in order to get Pyongyang to the negotiating table in the first place, and keep it there, but the NGOs feel this is the wrong approach.

"President Moon Jae-in and his government should stop appeasing Kim Jong Un with the unfounded expectation that it will induce him to engage in dialogue," said Eun-Kyoung Kwon, secretary general of ICNK, in a statement published Tuesday by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.

"Reducing the pressure on North Korea is a betrayal of the long-suffering North Korean people. The South Korean government needs to re-commit to promoting and protecting those most at risk in North Korea," Kwon added.

In the open letter, the NGOs criticized a November statement from Seoul's foreign ministry explaining why South Korea did not agree to sponsor the UNGA resolution, calling it "troublingly innocuous."

"The ROK government will continue efforts to promote the human rights in the DPRK through peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," the ministry said in November.

"In our view, actual improvement of human rights cannot be accomplished just by promoting peace, dialogue, or development projects. Discussing North Korea's human rights record and pressuring the North Korean government to respect the freedom and dignity of all people in North Korea and fulfil its obligations as a member of the international community are necessary practical elements in negotiations, whether on economic issues, security matters, cultural exchanges, or any other matter," the NGOs said.

The NGOs also noted that they were aware that North Korea becomes hostile when criticized on human rights issues, but said that removing pressure from the equation would likely do nothing to solve these issues.

"We urge you take corrective action and clarify what steps South Korea is taking to support protecting human rights in North Korea. We urge you to sponsor this year's UN HRC resolution on North Korea in March, and re-join co-sponsoring states at the UNGA resolution on North Korea in November," the NGOs said.

"In your negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, we ask you to include discussions on human rights issues and call on his government to expand cooperation with UN mechanisms, including acknowledging the mandate of Tomas Ojea-Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, as well as that of the OHCHR [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] Seoul office,"

In the HRW statement, HRW's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said that not confronting North Korea on its human rights reputation was "morally irresponsible and strategically unsound."

Weakening pressure on Kim Jong Un only rewards his bad behavior and fails to improve the dismal human rights conditions in North Korea," Robertson added.

HRW also quoted Christian Solidarity Worldwide's Benedict Rogers, who said, "True peace on the Korean peninsula can only come when the basic human rights of the North Korean people are respected, so it can't be in South Korea's interest to ignore the terrible crimes against humanity the North Korean regime committed."

"If he wants to achieve progress, President Moon should put North Korea's human rights crisis at the center of his diplomatic agenda and restart his work with the international community to end impunity and protect human rights."

Among the 69 signatory organizations to the open letter were Human Rights Watch (HRW), The 88 Project, Amnesty International, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), and No Chain.

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Alexei Brovarnik has quickly gone from American citizen to an American hero.According to a video Loren Goldstone posted on Instagram earlier this week, Alexei -- who officially became a U.S. citizen in January after moving from Israel -- saved a man who was drowning in the water during the couple's vacation in Nassau, Bahamas, this past weekend.The video shows Alexei leaping into action and pulling a limp person out of the ocean, as a cameraman cheered him on and thanked him."SENSITIVE MATERIAL! MAY BE HARD TO WATCH!...READ WHOLE CAPTION... My husband was watching a guy who was beyond intoxicated, who was with his 'friends' who just stood there and watched!" Loren captioned the startling video."The man went into the water and about drowned! As you can see, Alex is dragging out his unconscious body while his 'friends' did nothing! We are meant to be in a place in time for a reason!"Alexei apparently pulled the lifeless young man back to shore, where a crowd gathered around as the star tended to him."Alex and his friend Sean were meant to be at this beach, at this exact time because if not, who knows what could have happened! My husband saved a mans life today! And I couldn't be more proud, yet not surprised at the same time!" Loren continued in her Instagram post."Meanwhile you can see this guys 'friends' standing there and then walking away! NOT ONE OF THEM went in the ambulance with him either!"She added, "It goes to show you may think your friends are your friends, but God forbid something bad happens, would [they] help you or just stand there and watch you fall?! Always trust your instinct! Please share this for awareness and KNOW YOUR LIMITS!"Based on the comments that poured in about the video, the person who nearly drowned was taken to the hospital after the incident and survived.Loren and Alexei appeared on Season 3 of , followed by the first two seasons of : Happily Ever After?.The couple just celebrated Alexei's American citizenship in January after Loren said they had spent years filling out applications, waiting, working hard and having patience.Loren and Alexei, who currently reside in Florida together, are expecting their first child The TLC couple, who have been married for over four years now, announced Loren's pregnancy in late October 2019. Two months later, Loren and Alexei shared they have a baby boy on the way who is due in May 2020.Loren and Alexei met on her birthright trip to Israel. She was the staff leader and Alexei was the medic, and she found him "incredibly handsome."The pair kept in touch once Loren returned to the United States, and then she visited him five times in one year -- which resulted in an engagement.Once Alexei got approved for the K-1 visa and traveled to America, the couple got married during his 90-day visit in September 2015. They also subsequently had a second ceremony in Israel in July 2016 so both of their families could celebrate.Loren and Alexei appeared on : Pillow Talk when the franchise's seventh season was airing on TLC.The fourth season of : Before the 90 Days just premiered on the network late last month.Want spoilers? Click here to visit our Spoilers webpage!
Cisneros hopes to give parents a supportive system that lets them choose their childrens educational environment, public, private or home school.

Parents are primarily responsible for educating their children, and I think they know best what a good education is, he said.

He also wants to strengthen economic development efforts.

Because we have so many large businesses in our community, we should always be thinking of how we compete with neighboring states," he said.

Along with making sure Muscatine and Fruitland dont lose workers to Illinois or other states, he wants to keep unnecessary regulations down. This will allow businesses to be more adventurous in what they do, and let them grow, he said.

Cisneros has been a Los Angeles park ranger, former board member for Community Action of South East Iowa and the Iowa State Extension office of Muscatine County, Red Cross volunteer, and church council member for Chapel of Praise Church. Hes a commercial truck driver and a member of the Muscatine County Judicial Magistrate Appointing Commission.

Cisneros believes his experiences in different jobs and areas will fit the job.
There is no escaping the debate over economic development subsidies. Even as Gov. Ned Lamont has enacted a turnaround of policies that showered millions of dollars on companies that were thinking of coming to or staying in Connecticut under his predecessor, Dannel Malloy, the question of how to best lure businesses to the state remains central to our economic future.

A recently released audit of the state Department of Economic and Community Developments handling of loans and grants during Malloys tenure ought to prompt a serious rethinking of such policies.

The auditors questioned the forgiveness of some $23 million in loans. They raised issues with interpretations of rules regarding job creation requirements. They showed that companies may have received more in aid that they should have been eligible to see.

None of this reflects on the Lamont administration. The audit covers the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years and includes $112 million in grants and $324.5 million in loans to 576 companies. DECDs strategy has changed under Lamont and his economic development commissioner, David Lehman, who have said policies that provide large subsidies to companies for their location decisions are counterproductive and their success is difficult to quantify.

But its a debate the state cant fully leave behind. As long as other states are in the business of offering tax breaks, loan forgiveness and other perks, Connecticut cant turn its back completely on the process. As the competition for a second Amazon headquarters in 2018 showed, every jurisdiction in America, Connecticut included, is willing to roll out the red carpet under the right circumstances.

DECD officials said the audit was an important step in establishing a new system. I think this kind of underscores the point its time to move to something simpler and more transparent, Lehman told the CT Mirror.

Despite its middling job-creation record since the end of the Great Recession, Connecticut has had some successes in the competition for major employers over the years. The move from Arizona to Stamford of Henkel, a German manufacturer of soaps and other products, was a major win. Keeping Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford was perhaps the most vital job-creation victory for the state in the past decade.

But the overall numbers dont lie. Despite a robust subsidies regime under Malloy, Connecticut has barely reached prerecession levels in the private sector, and has yet to reach pre-2008 levels overall due to a decline in public-sector jobs. Connecticut simply cannot compete on cost with much of the country, leaving most subsidies as a money-losing gesture to companies that make decisions on other factors altogether.

Connecticut has many selling points, including a highly educated workforce and excellent quality-of-life rankings. It will never be inexpensive to do business here. State leaders need to understand what makes Connecticut desirable and focus on those factors, not obsess over measures where we cant compete.

The Lamont administration, to its credit, appears to understand that. The path to a better economic future for Connecticut is not through subsidies and loan forgiveness.
Photograph: Scott Heins/Getty Images

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has undergone heart surgery, a little over a week after being convicted of rape at his New York criminal trial.

He is preparing to be moved to the hospital wing of Rikers Island jail in the city, before his sentencing on March 11, when he is facing a potentially lengthy prison sentence.

The former head of Miramax and the Weinstein Company had surgery and a heart stent fitted while he has been at a secured facility in Bellevue hospital in Manhattan. The news was first reported by the New York Post and confirmed to the Guardian by a spokesman for Weinstein on Thursday.

Accusations against Weinstein of decades of sexual abuse of aspiring young female actors sparked the #MeToo movement and eventually landed him in court, where a New York jury found him guilty of two of the five charges related to sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour he faced.

The conviction on the two charges would bring a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum of up to 25 years.

After his conviction, he was taken to Bellevue instead of Rikers reportedly because he suffered heart palpitations and high blood pressure.

Related: Rikers Island, Harvey Weinstein's new home, is a byword for prison brutality

The surgery took four hours on Wednesday, the Post reported. His condition has stabilised, facilitating plans for him to be transferred to Rikers, where city inmates are commonly detained while awaiting trial or sentencing.

He also faces charges in Los Angeles and is under investigation in London, involving similar alleged crimes. Weinstein pleaded not guilty at his New York trial and has consistently denied any non-consensual sex.

Weinstein is due to be transferred to the secure North Infirmary at Rikers.
WASHINGTON  The coronavirus outbreak is threatening to cause a historic drop in global oil sales, potentially resulting in the first annual decline in demand since the financial crisis and recession of more than a decade ago.

Both the Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs and the research firm IHS Markit predicted as much this week with IHS forecasting crude demand will decline by 3.8 million barrels per day over the first three months of 2020, which would be the largest drop in history and another blow to Texas oil industry. The Norwegian consultancy Rystad issued its own dire forecast on Thursday, estimating that oil demand plunged by 4.6 million barrels a day in February.

This is a sudden, instant demand shock  and the scale of the decline is unprecedented, said Jim Burkhard, vice president and head of oil markets at IHS Markit.

The viruss potential to upend global energy demand has roiled commodity markets. Oil settled at $46.78 a barrel Wednesday in New York, down 40 cents on the day. Oil is down more than 20 percent from the beginning of the year, when it was trading about $60 a barrel.

And with coronavirus now spreading to countries around the globe, fear is building that energy demand could fall much further. Flights are being canceled in Europe, while schools are closed in Japan and towns quarantined in Italy.

Today, OPEC and its allies are set to meet in Vienna to consider further cuts to production in another effort to lift prices.

Saudi Arabia is calling for a production cut of more than 1 million barrels a day to offset the impact of coronavirus on the global economy and energy consumption, but other leaders of the so-called OPEC+ group, which includes Russia, have yet to agree.

So far, the hit to demand mostly has come in China, where government officials have ordered residents in some regions off the road, crashing fuel demand to near zero, said Ann Louise Hittle, head oil market analyst at research firm Wood Mackenzie.

But its unclear whether such a demand hit would come in other countries, where governments dont maintain the same degree of authority.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

People literally couldnt drive in Hubei (province in central China) unless they had permission, Hittle said. I dont think were going to see that in northern Italy. Its not like the government there can do that.

While most everyone in the oil sector is predicting a sharp decline over the first three months of the year, there is disagreement over the degree and longevity of the slide. Wood Mackenzie, for example, forecasts demand will rebound and increase by 400,000 barrels per day during 2020.

And for now, many analysts are predicting the slump in demand will end over the next few months, as health officials bring the pandemic under control.

We assume this peak impact applies to February and March before gradually subsiding to zero by the end of June, said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James. Obviously, the situation remains fluid, especially as it relates to impact outside Asia.

The fear coronavirus is breeding is evident at OPEC headquarters in Vienna, where officials have barred journalists from entering out of fear of further spreading the virus. OPECs gatherings are typically major media events, as oil minsters from the Middle East and Russia trade quips on the worlds energy markets.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

For now the debate on how drastic a cut OPEC should make continues, with production already at a 17-year low, according to IHS Markit. On Tuesday, OPECs Joint Technical Committee suggested cutting supply an additional 600,000 to 1 million barrels a day during the second quarter, delegates said.

But there is concern that might not even be enough, with the possibility a lack of action could cause crude prices to resume last weeks decline  the steepest weekly drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

The price seems to have stabilized because [investors] expect OPEC to do something, Hittle said. But if this goes on and (GDP takes a hit) its going to be a more severe impact on price.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter: @osborneja
T he Duchess of Sussex is to make her first official public appearance in the UK since she and Prince Harry announced they are stepping back from royal duties.

Meghan will join her husband, the Duke of Sussex, at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London on Thursday evening.

The event celebrates the achievements of wounded, sick and injured servicemen and women who have taken part in sporting and adventure challenges.

It will be the couple's first joint official royal engagement since announcing their decision to step down from royal duties.

Meghan and Harry greet fans in Melbourne, Australia, in October last year / Getty Images

Former actress Meghan opened up about her struggles with royal life in an ITV documentary filmed on their Africa tour in the autumn.

She said she had tried to cope with the pressures by putting on a "stiff upper lip" but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.

"It's not enough to just survive something, that's not the point of life. You have got to thrive," she added.

Meghan told presenter Tom Bradby: "Not many people have asked if I'm OK."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are stepping away from royal life / PA

The Sussexes attended the previous annual Endeavour Fund Awards ceremony in February 2019, when the duchess was heavily pregnant with Archie.

They were last seen together on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London.

There they thanked the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent.

Harry pictured as he returned to the UK for the first of his public events since he and his wife Meghan Markle announced their plans to step away from the royal family / SplashNews.com

A summit of senior royals was later convened by the Queen at Sandringham to discuss the issue, with Harry sitting down for talks with his grandmother, father the Prince of Wales and brother the Duke of Cambridge.

It was eventually announced they would give up royal duties, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, no longer be known as HRHs, and their lives as working royals would end on March 31.

Harry will give a short speech, and the Sussexes will hand out the awards, as well as attending a pre-ceremony reception.

The four awards are: Recognising Achievement Award, Celebrating Excellence Award, Henry Worsley Award and the new Community Impact Award.

The Endeavour Fund is a body set up by the Royal Foundation to finance inspiring sporting and adventure projects aiding the recovery of veterans.

Thursday's engagement is part of a final run of official appearances by the couple.

The day after the awards ceremony, Harry will join Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton at the official opening of the Silverstone Experience, a museum about British motor racing.

Harry and Meghan will attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall on March 7 and the following day the duchess will mark International Women's Day.
A group of 11 high school girls from the Girls Inc. IMPACT program will be attending The Color Purple at the Tivoli Theater, thanks to the support of The Color Purple and the Tivoli Theatre Foundation. The girls are thrilled for the opportunity to witness this Tony Award-winning Broadway hit here in Chattanooga.



What an inspiring way for these girls to experience the history and appreciate what pioneers such as Celie Johnson have done to pave the way for all girls today, says Kristen Bowers, IMPACT program coordinator. The strength of young Celie Johnson through her adversities is sure to resonate with our girls. I hope each of them is able to see in her own capabilities to stand up for themselves and have a voice, regardless of their color.



"As part of the Girls Inc. IMPACT program, girls develop and share peer-to-peer presentations that focus on healthy relationships and behaviors and overcoming adversity," officials said. "Witnessing this moving revival of an American classic comes at a pivotal time for these women as they are finding their voices and becoming leaders and advocates among their peers."



The Tivoli Theater Foundation is committed to providing access to the arts and the world-class performances taking place at the Tivoli Theatre, said Nick Wilkinson, executive director of the Tivoli Theatre Foundation. We are proud to partner with our friends at The Color Purple and support Girls Inc. and the work of their Impact program helping girls to become leaders in their communities and peer groups.




ONTARIO, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP (MWA)  an Inland Empire-based firm specializing in matters including consumer class actions and catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death, filed a class action lawsuit against St. Joseph Hospital Orange, St. Joseph Health, and Paratus Partners LLP (the St. Joseph Defendants) on March 4, 2020 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint seeks to represent all Medicare recipients against whom the St. Joseph Defendants have asserted liens beyond Medicare reimbursement rates.

When healthcare providers contract with government insurance programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, they collect only the agreed-upon reimbursements from those programs. "Balance billing," or collecting the contractual reimbursement and then billing the patient for the remainder of what the hospital decides to charge for its services, is illegal. But this is what the St. Joseph Defendants have done to the plaintiff and what is believed to be many similarly vulnerable California citizens.

In the case described in the complaint, the plaintiff was struck by an automobile while crossing the street. She suffered through an intense recovery period, and now faces years of additional therapeutic recovery. The accident has had a severe impact on her ability to care for herself and has unavoidably increased her cost of living. Nevertheless, St. Joseph retained third-party agent Paratus Partners LLC, an aggressive debt collector, to recover additional funds from the plaintiff above and beyond the agreed-upon Medicare reimbursement rates. After discovering that the plaintiff had entered into a settlement with the driver who injured her, the St. Joseph's Defendants sent letters to the plaintiff claiming that she owed the St. Joseph Defendants nearly $200,000. In cases such as these, the St. Joseph's Defendants know or should know they are not entitled to obtain additional funds above and beyond Medicare reimbursement, but the complaint alleges that they assert these liens in bad faith to force the plaintiff (and others like the plaintiff) to settle the improper liens.

"Healthcare already comes to many as an economic hardship, but especially so when unforeseen accidents occur," commented Founding Partner Richard McCune, who leads the firm's class actions practice. "Victims end up in the emergency room to be treated for life-threatening injuries, then undergo prolonged hospital stays, all through no fault of their own. We cannot allow health providers to exploit these situations for their own economic benefit beyond their contracted or statutory rights. We intend to help our client stop this misuse of lien rights in personal injury settlements and protect her and other vulnerable individuals from similar abuses."

About McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP: The largest consumer firm based in California's Inland Empire region, McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP has a deep history of success for its clients, including a $203 million verdict against Wells Fargo Bank, recovery of over $1 billion for its clients, and over 100 contingency cases with recovery of $1 million or more. MWA maintains offices in Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Desert, and Irvine, California, and supports its national practice with offices in Illinois and New Jersey. For over 30 years, MWA has successfully represented clients in serious cases. Visit mccunewright.com for more information.

Media Contact:

Devin Texeira

(909) 233-7787

[email protected]

SOURCE McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP

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Birds swarmed over a Texas parking lot on January 8, perching on the cars in a scene worthy of Alfred Hitchcock.The unnerving sight was captured by Kenna Mitchell outside the Stonebriar Mall in Frisco.The footage shows birds perched atop parked cars, while others circle above in the foggy evening sky.We went to Stonebriar Mall just after dusk and the entrance by the Cheesecake Factory was overrun with thousands of birds, she told Storyful.These grackles were perched on cars, in the trees, and swarms were everywhere you looked. Other people in the lot were just amazed at the sheer number of birds, Mitchell said.Very loud and very gross, but still quite a site to see! Definitely in need of a car wash now! she added. Credit: Kenna Mitchell via Storyful
A hero dog saved a young girl from armed burglars despite being shot twice, according to reports.

Starlet the two-year-old Yorkie is said to have taken bullet to a front and a rear leg while protecting the girl, whose exact age is not known.

The robbers - who were filmed breaking into the property in Atlanta, Georgia, by a smart doorbell - fled the scene after they were reportedly confronted by the pet.

Aunt Dion Ewing told WGCL about how the incident unfolded while her niece was home alone with Starlet.

She said: "My niece got an alert on her phone about somebody approaching.

The little girl saw two men approach the house through a camera, and saw as they tried to break in.

Ms Ewing added: The other partner turned around and started kicking it from the back and he kicked it about two times and then the back came open. The door came open.

Once the pair made it inside two shots were fired at the dog, she said.

The pooch is said to have stayed on the offensive while the little girl managed to escape through the garage.

"But as she was running out, the one who had the gun asked the other one if they wanted them to shoot her," Ms Ewing continued.

"They were chasing her out and the dog was chasing behind them. Even after being shot."

The pair of burglars ran off after their ordeal with the pocket sized watchdog, who is hobbling but on the mend.

A post on the South Fulton Facebook page said: "On 25 February at 3pm, the City of South Fulton Police Department responded to a suspected burglary where the suspect(s) fired shots into a residence located in the 6300 block of Polar Fox Ct.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:01 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206873419 2 News Ritz-London,Hotel,Britain,London,luxury-hotel Free

Several bids of more than 1.0 billion ($1.3 billion, 1.2 billion euros) have been received as offers to buy London's Ritz hotel, co-owner Frederick Barclay said on Wednesday.

The luxury hotel in an 18th century Grade II-listed building overlooking Green Park in central London was put on the market last year.

Barclay, who has owned the property with his twin brother David since 1995, said "there have been a number of competing offers for this first-class hotel in excess of 1 billion".

"I have no doubt that such offers will be considered so that the Ritz is sold at the right time and for a proper price. There is no place for any sale at less than full value."

Media reports have said bids for the 136-room hotel of about 700 million were less than hoped for.

Potential bidders reportedly include a private investment group representing prominent Saudi families.

Frederick Barclay said there was "no place for any sale at less than full value".

Read also: Yours for $1 billion only: The glamor of the London Ritz

The billionaire brothers were worth 8 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2019.

As well as the Ritz, their empire includes the Daily Telegraph newspaper and the Spectator magazine, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his name, and retail operations.

But the pair, who live in the Channel Islands, have been at the center of a public family feud after claims Frederick Barclay and his daughter were secretly recorded at the Ritz by a nephew.

British media reports this week said the bugging came against a backdrop of family infighting over the direction of their business interests and assets.

The High Court was told the listening devices provided confidential business information.

Frederick Barclay said in his statement that he was "deeply shocked and saddened about recent events involving unethical conduct and intrusion" into his privacy.

"I hope we can get these family matters resolved so that we can all move on."
In this March 3, 2020 photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) speaks during a primary election night rally, at Eastern Market in Detroit. Read more

This time last year, the Democratic presidential field was shaping up to be the most diverse in history, with contenders who were men and women and black and white and Latino and straight and gay and baby boomers and millennials.

This week, save for one long-shot candidate, its down to two septuagenarian, heterosexual white men vying to take on another septuagenarian, heterosexual white man.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, once seen as a strong contender to win the Democratic presidential nomination, on Thursday announced shes suspending her campaign, dealing a gut punch to her supporters, especially women who saw Warren as a candidate with whom they could identify. Many of those voters felt rejuvenated by the political gains women made in 2018, thinking 2020 might be their shot at seeing a woman in the Oval Office.

Among the top-tier contenders who arent white men, Warren held on the longest.

Now, for some Democratic women, the newly winnowed field feels like a letdown that evokes similar feelings of sadness and defeat to when Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party, lost in the general election in 2016.

Many of us werent surprised to see a well-qualified woman yet again finish behind men, said State Rep. Leanne Krueger (D., Delaware), who endorsed Warren. But it was still disappointing to see it.

Krueger and other Warren supporters are trying to figure out whats next in their quest to see the highest glass ceiling broken. Ahead of the Pennsylvania primary, still nearly two months away, some say they plan to vote for Bernie Sanders, whose progressive message and stance on universal health care align closely with Warrens. Some will vote for Joe Biden because, they surmise, his moderation might play better in the general election and deliver Democrats the best chance to defeat President Donald Trump.

Other voters in Pennsylvania are waiting to see whos chosen as a running mate  a woman has also never served as vice president  while they grapple with the anger and disappointment of watching their chance to see a woman win the presidency slip away for the second time in four years.

Jada Gossett, a 24-year-old Drexel graduate who lives in Upper Darby, supported both Warren and Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator who dropped out the day before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden. Gossett said shell likely vote for Sanders come the Pennsylvania primary, but shes not jazzed about it.

More upsetting, she said, is that  save for Tulsi Gabbard, who has won just one delegate thus far  women and people of color are gone from the race.

Any opportunity to diversify the field and empower people who have not previously had such kind of power makes a difference, Gossett said. I just dont see why we need another old white guy whos out of touch and who has never experienced any real kind of systemic hardships."

In assessing why the field was whittled down mostly to men, Gossett and others blamed a variety of factors, sexism and misogyny chief among them.

I think, for lack of a better way to phrase it, I think its because shes a woman, said Morley McCaul, a 24-year-old Warren supporter who lives in West Chester. She hasnt gotten enough media attention. Shes been tossed out.

Research shows that while few voters admit they wouldnt vote for a woman for president, sexism and gender-based stereotypes permeate the campaign trail, whether its in the language used to describe female candidates  unlikable, shrill, overly ambitious  or the constant questioning of their electability.

Speaking to reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, Warren briefly addressed what role gender might have played in the race and promised shell "have a lot more to say on that subject.

If you say, Yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says, Whiner, and if you say, No, there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think: What planet do you live on?' " she said.

 READ MORE: Democratic women in a Pennsylvania swing county are united  in anxiety and fatigue

Monica DAntonio, a Democrat who lives in West Norriton, said she guessed some voters felt a man might be better suited to stand up to Trump in a head-to-head, never mind that some of the most headline-grabbing debate moments were from Warren and Klobuchar. She also defended supporting female candidates with the same or better qualifications as the male candidates.

Were 51% of the population, DAntonio said, and Im sort of tired of hearing people say, Oh, youre just voting for her because shes a woman, as if its not important to represent 51% of the population.

DAntonio, 39, who sits on the board of the Norristown Area School District, said she isnt certain whom shell vote for in Pennsylvanias April 28 primary but plans to support whichever Democrat takes on Trump.

She also hopes Sanders and Biden wise up and pick a woman running mate.

Both men have been tight-lipped about whom they might select to run alongside them, but among the oddsmakers and the pundit class, women and people of color top the lists. Several of the names bubbling up are women who themselves ran for president, including Warren, Klobuchar, and Sen. Kamala Harris, as well as former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Maybe if Biden is the nominee and he chooses a woman to be the vice president, I think thats more of an evolution, said Kathy Harrington, 58, of Coopersburg and the first vice chair of the Lehigh County Democratic Committee. Then people get used to a woman in the upper echelons of power.

Beth Finn, who campaigned for Warren for months and hoped to represent her as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, said there must be a woman on the ticket alongside whichever Democrat wins the nomination for the sake of the country.

Finn, 43, who lives in Philadelphias Washington Square West section and last year lost a City Council bid, said she hopes women continue to run for president, because every crack we put in the glass ceiling gets us closer.

Finn hasnt decided whom shes going to vote for in the primary and is waiting to see what Warren and her campaign say. During the emotional news conference Thursday, Warren declined to endorse Biden or Sanders. She said the field narrowing to two men was "one of the hardest parts about dropping out.

And all those little girls," she said through tears, "are gonna have to wait four more years.
Thousands more people across California and the nation will be tested for the new coronavirus in the coming days  including many passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is being held at sea off the coast of California, after three previous passengers tested positive for the virus. San Francisco also announced Thursday that two people in the city, with no travel history, had tested positive.

If the experience of earlier coronavirus patients with lab testing is any indication, some may soon receive confusing results.

Rick Wright, a Redwood City resident whos been self-isolating at home since being released from UCSF last week, has taken seven coronavirus tests over the past two weeks that have yielded different results: negative one day, positive the next, positive a couple days later, negative the day after that, and then inconclusive. Additional tests he took this week came back both negative and positive; he will be tested again next week. Wright has not shown any symptoms of the virus. He was among the passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were evacuated from Japan and quarantined at Travis Air Force Base.

Wright is not the only confirmed coronavirus case whose test results came back different within a short span of time. A woman evacuated from Wuhan, China, who was quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio was released this week after testing negative twice, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a subsequent test came back positive, and authorities had to put her back into quarantine and trace the people she came into contact with during the time she was out. The California Department of Public Health said that as of Thursday, 516 people in California had been tested. The state on Thursday had the capacity to test 6,000 people, and that number was expected to increase to 7,400 on Friday with the arrival of additional tests from the CDC.

San Francisco said Thursday that it has the capacity to test 600 people, but it did not reveal how many have been tested already.

Experts say the conflicting results are probably not because the test itself is inaccurate, but rather because the virus can sometimes appear stronger in a specimen from one part of the body, like the lower respiratory tract, than in a specimen from another part of the body, like the nose or throat  or vice versa. The coronavirus test can be done using a sample from the nose, throat or phlegm coughed up from the lungs.

There might be extreme virus in one part of the body but not the other ... because of the way the disease is progressing in that individual, said Kelly Wroblewski, director of infectious disease at the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Because it is a new virus and a new test, medical experts are still trying to determine when exactly is the best time to start testing people, and how often subsequent tests should be done.

Shedding the virus  viruses in cells replicating and becoming detectable by lab tests  can happen at different rates at different times. Someone in the very early stages of infection may not test positive even though they have contracted the virus. And as the infection progresses, the amount of virus in the body may fluctuate.

That its there one day, gone the next and gone the third day could reflect real differences in shedding in the patient, said Dr. Art Reingold, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. It could be your immune system, or the amount of virus you have goes up and down.

And, as is the case with lab testing of any kind, there is the possibility of lab error or a bad sample.

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.

Frankly, to someone who thinks about these things in the context of diagnosing stuff, these are all pretty common issues, and not unique to this virus, Reingold said.

Still, it poses a challenge to public health officials when they are trying to determine when a patient is clear to be released from a mandatory quarantine, or free to leave the house if theyve been self-isolating at home.

The way coronavirus tests are being done is called a test of cure  a patient gets tested repeatedly until they consistently show negative results. This is also the way TB patients get tested before they can be released from isolation, Wroblewski said. This kind of testing is more difficult than, say, a more clear-cut flu test, especially when its being done for an emerging infectious disease whose behavior is still a bit of a mystery.

Normally, when you test someone for flu, its diagnostic  if its negative, its negative, she said. Youre not going to get these serial tests to get cleared. When youre in containment phase and youre trying to isolate people who might be transmitting the virus, youre using diagnostic tests very differently than you do under normal circumstances. Its challenging.

More Information How many coronavirus tests are available? Testing capacity nationwide is growing each day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending more tests to local health departments, and more state and local labs are starting to process the tests - which was previously done only by the CDC. Also, the Food and Drug Administration is overseeing efforts by commercial test manufacturers to make their own coronavirus tests. FDA officials anticipate that labs will have the ability to test 75,000 people by the end of the week. UCSF Medical Center is expecting to receive CDC tests next week, and estimates it will be able to test 30 to 100 people a day. See More Collapse

Chronicle staff writer Mallory Moench contributed to this report.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
The Xbox Series X is going to be a beast. On paper, its sheer power blows away most gaming rigs today -- but what does that mean for PC enthusiasts? To be honest, there's still plenty we don't know about the Series X or what the state of PC hardware will be later this year. But based on Microsoft's spec dump last week, we can start making some educated guesses.

Xbox Series X

The Series X will feature an AMD Zen 2 CPU and an NVME SSD, giving it modern processing capabilities and fast storage to reduce load times. But really, its AMD RDNA2 graphics card is the true star of the show -- and notably, it's something PC gamers can't even buy yet. It's capable of 12 teraflops of computing power, meaning it can crunch through 12 trillion floating point operations a second. That's about twice as fast as the Xbox One X, the fastest console currently on the market, and around three times speedier than the PlayStation 4 Pro.

That's a performance leap we'd expect in next-generation hardware -- what's even more remarkable is that the Series X's GPU is also significantly faster than the vast majority of PC video cards today. It's only bested by NVIDIA's 14.2 teraflop RTX 2080 Ti, a card that's beyond most gamers' budgets at around $1,200. PC players typically aim for more affordable GPUs, like AMD's Radeon RX 5700 and NVIDIA's RTX 2060 Super, which go for around $300 and $400, respectively. And while those cards are pretty capable on 1080p and 1,440p monitors, they can't reliably hit the 4K/60FPS benchmark Microsoft is aiming for with the Series X.

So should you just throw away your gaming rig and replace it with a Series X? Probably not. But Microsoft's new console does signal a shift in the modern gaming world, one where PC players don't always have the hardware advantage. It's a bit of a throwback to the mid-90s, when the PlayStation was delivering 3D graphics before most PCs could handle it.

Story continues

So I'm sure you're wondering, how will the PlayStation 5 compare? At this point, we only have broad sketches from Sony: it says the system will also have an AMD Ryzen CPU and RDNA GPU, but we don't know how similar they'll be to the Series X's hardware. We also know it'll feature faster load times than the PS4, thanks to SSD storage.

Notably, both next-gen consoles will support hardware accelerated ray tracing, giving you more realistic lighting and reflections. On PCs, only NVIDIA's RTX lineup supports that today. And turning on ray tracing can lead to a significant performance hit on games that really lean on it, like Control. It'll be interesting to see if AMD's revised RDNA architecture handles ray tracing more efficiently than NVIDIA's hardware.

The real question with the Xbox Series X: How much will all of that power cost you? We can only guess at the moment. The original Xbox One launched at $499 with the ill-fated Kinect accessory, while the PlayStation 4 was $100 less. That price difference, and a better library of exclusives, was enough to give Sony an early lead this generation.

The Xbox One X was also $100 more expensive than the PlayStation 4 Pro when it launched, though that difference was a bit more excusable since Microsoft was aiming at enthusiasts. I wouldn't be surprised to see Microsoft stick with the $499 price, but given the rising costs of computing hardware in general, plus the positioning of the Series X towards enthusiasts, it could conceivably reach up to $550 or even $600.

Sony, meanwhile, has been cagey about saying anything about the PlayStation 5's costs. That console is rumored to have a slightly slower GPU than the Series X, so it could conceivably come in a bit cheaper. But again, we really don't know. Microsoft is also reportedly planning a more affordable and less capable next-gen console, code-named Lockhart, that could be an easier entry point for people who don't care about native 4K gaming.

One thing that PCs gaming will always have a significant advantage over consoles though, is: flexibility. You can always slap a new video card, RAM and storage into a gaming rig when it gets a little long in the tooth. But, consoles are frozen with the hardware they ship with. That's what pushed Microsoft and Sony to release the One X and PS4 Pro in the middle of this console generation -- those original consoles simply couldn't keep up with the fancy new 4K TVs consumers were buying. As powerful as the Series X will be, it'll never be something you can open up and tinker with. So rest easy PC gamers, your rig still serves a purpose.
MENLO PARK, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To further address the needs of its clients, global consulting firm Protiviti has expanded its geographical footprint, opening an office in Zurich, Switzerland and adding two offices in Germany, located in Dusseldorf and Berlin. Protiviti already has two offices in Germany, in Munich and Frankfurt am Main. The new offices enable Protiviti to serve global clients with operations in the region as well as local companies.

"Protiviti's expansion in Europe reflects the dynamic nature of the business and regulatory environment there," said Andrew Clinton, executive vice president of international operations, Protiviti. "We're committed to expanding our resources in the region to ensure we can continue providing the expertise and insights our growing number of clients need to be compliant, stay ahead of business disruption, transform and face other complex issues in today's marketplace with confidence."

The Protiviti office in Zurich is led by Country Market Leader for Switzerland Dr. Milena Danielsen; the offices in Dusseldorf and Berlin are led by the Country Market Leaders for Germany, Alix Weikhard and Boris Walther, respectively. All three leaders and their teams have extensive cross-industry experience in risk management, regulatory compliance, internal audit, technology, cybersecurity, business performance improvement and digital transformation.

About Protiviti

Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti and its independent and locally owned Member Firms provide clients with consulting solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, analytics, governance, risk and internal audit through its network of more than 85 offices in over 25 countries.

Named to the 2020 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, Protiviti has served more than 60 percent of Fortune 1000 and 35 percent of Fortune Global 500 companies. The firm also works with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go public, as well as with government agencies. Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half is a member of the S&P 500 index.

Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services.

SOURCE Protiviti

Related Links

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(CNN)  The last Ebola patient being treated in the Democratic Republic of Congo went home from a treatment center on Tuesday, according to the World Health Organization, a significant step in the countdown to declaring an end to the world's second-deadliest outbreak of the disease.

The woman was released from the center in Beni town, one of the hotspots of the recent outbreak, which began August 2018, the agency said in a statement.

On Tuesday, WHO Africa region tweeted a video of health care workers singing and dancing with the patient as many gathered at the center to celebrate her release from the hospital.

It added that 46 people who had come in contact with the patient are still being monitored for Ebola symptoms.

While praising the "tireless efforts" of agencies in the the fight to tackle the outbreak,WHO regional director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti called for caution and vigilance.

"It is not yet the end of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We must stay vigilant in the coming weeks and beyond," Dr. Moeti said in the statement.

The WHO estimates that 2,226 people were killed in the current outbreak in Congo -- its tenth since the virus was discovered in 1976.

The 20-months-long outbreak was worsened by armed conflict and violence in Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces in which health workers died.

At least 11, 300 people were killed in the largest Ebola outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016.

In February, four countries in Africa: the Democratic Republic of Congo; Burundi; Ghana and Zambia licensed an Ebola vaccine. More countries will be added to the list, the WHO said.
Abu Dhabi Ports announced today its collaboration with a global commercial vessel designer and tugboat leader, Robert Allan Ltd., to develop the worlds first fully unmanned autonomous commercial marine tugs.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005413/en/

Capt. Maktoum Al Houqani, Chief Corporate Authority Officer, Abu Dhabi Ports, and Mike Fitzpatrick, President and CEO of Robert Allan Ltd. sign the landmark agreement, in the presence of H.E. Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development, Cabinet Member, and Chairman of Federal Transport Authority - Land and Maritime, at the International Maritime Organization gathering in London. (Photo - AETOSWire)

Once developed, the tugs will join SAFEEN, Abu Dhabi Ports maritime service arm, which maintains an expanding fleet of world-class service vessels. One of the primary advantages of the innovative design includes greater capability, as shifting the human element from on-board to on-shore, will allow such vessels to operate in far more adverse weather conditions. Furthermore, the new technology will help increase efficiency and enhance operational safety.

Abu Dhabi Ports will work closely with one of Canadas oldest privately-owned Naval Architectural and Marine Engineering firms on the research and development of remotely-controlled marine tugs that will be fully unmanned, and be able to operate within a wide spectrum of autonomy.

The two entities have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect at the International Maritime Organization gathering in London.

His Excellency Falah Mohammad Al Ahbabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Ports said: In line with our leaderships guidance, this agreement marks a milestone in our digital transformation, and confirms our commitment to ensure the Emirate of Abu Dhabi strengthens its reputation as a leading centre for digital innovation regionally and globally. Its a top priority for Abu Dhabi Ports to lead the charge towards digitalising the regions maritime operations, and we are committed to providing a pioneering model for the sector. Adopting digital solutions and keeping up with the changing demands of global trade have proven to be key drivers for economic growth and are integral towards achieving our goal of being a smart port.

Developing solutions and building strategic partnerships with industry experts will help achieve a paradigm shift in maritime operations worldwide, and globally in line with the directives of the leadership."

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Abu Dhabi Ports Group CEO, said: Our cooperation with Robert Allan to develop a new generation of tugboats equipped with superior capabilities and modern technologies, reflects our commitment to ensuring that the infrastructure at Abu Dhabi Ports is at the cutting edge. We are engaged to provide smart and innovative digital solutions to the marine trade and port community, and to our valued customers. This agreement marks another qualitative addition to our digital armoury that will enhance performance efficiency, productivity, transparency, and safety, as well as reduce costs. Continuing our investment in technology and advanced infrastructure ensures the growth and sustainability of our business, and increases our contribution towards the diversification of Abu Dhabis knowledge-based economy.

Commenting on the MoU, Mike Fitzpatrick,President and CEO of Robert Allan Ltd., said: We are excited to cooperate with Abu Dhabi Ports in this initiative, which provides us with an optimal opportunity to develop the worlds first fleet of remotely-operated tugboats for the commercial sector. The unique aspect of this project is the active participation of all the various stakeholders in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, which should ensure that we can progress smoothly from construction of the vessels to commercial operations.

Robert Allen Ltd. has been working on solutions to the technical challenges of an unmanned tugboat for several years now, but we were somewhat stalled in progressing to a commercial construction without an opportunity like this with Abu Dhabi Ports.

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005413/en/



Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/52169066/en
Photo: Harper Collins

Last October, Oprahs Book Club chose My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell as its March pick, positioning it to be one of the biggest debuts of the year. A few months later, amid a heated controversy surrounding its January pick, American Dirt, they abruptly dropped it.

When the book club first contacted Russells publisher to inform them of the pick, My Dark Vanessa, a propulsive read about a relationship between a 15-year-old and her high-school English teacher, had already secured a seven-figure advance and blurbs by superstar authors, including Stephen King. Oprahs selections continue to be one of the best ways to get people to buy books in the increasingly uncertain business of publishing. (American Dirt, despite its controversy, has sat on or near the top of the Times best-seller list since its publication.) Russells publishers decided to move the books release back from January to March to accommodate the clubs schedule. Then, in late January, as the pushback to Oprahs selection of American Dirt was gathering momentum, a minor controversy surrounding My Dark Vanessa sprang up on Twitter. It was after that, a spokesperson for Russells publisher, William Morrow, confirmed that Oprahs team said they would not be moving forward with the pick. Publishers Lunch first reported the news earlier this week.

Leigh Haber, the books editor for O magazine, declined to discuss the book clubs rationale for choosing to drop My Dark Vanessa. But she did suggest that, moving forward, they hoped to avoid books that provoked controversies that might overwhelm the book clubs discussion. We want to be sure that Ms. Winfrey continues to pick books she is passionate about, but we also want to be really mindful that the selection process doesnt create noise around the book that will drown out the discussion of the book itself and prevent her from being able to focus on whats in the book and the author, Haber said.

The controversies around the American Dirt and My Dark Vanessa vary in significant ways, but in the swirl of tweets and subtweets, the two stories were conflated, which may have influenced Oprahs decision to drop the book. The book club took heat after Oprah announced that her choice for January was American Dirt, a novel about Mexican migrants written by a white woman. Like My Dark Vanessa, American Dirt had also secured a seven-figure advance, and many in the book world accused the author, Jeanine Cummins, of perpetuating racist stereotypes, cultural appropriation, and profiting off of a trauma shed never experienced. Oprahs selection arguably turned the controversy into a national conversation, and eventually, American Dirts publisher canceled the book tour, citing threats to booksellers and the author. Oprah didnt change her selection. A few days later, she posted a video to her book clubs Instagram account noting the outpouring  of very passionate opinions, and announcing that she intended to address the concerns of the Latinx community at her upcoming televised book club meeting this month, where she hoped to bring people together from all sides to talk about this book, and who gets to publish what stories.

Meanwhile, My Dark Vanessa, was swept up in a parallel drama. On January 19, a writer named Wendy Ortiz tweeted: [C]ant wait until February when a white womans book of fiction that sounds very much like Excavation is lauded. Ortiz, who is Latinx, is the author of a 2014 memoir about a teenage girls relationship with her English teacher, and her followers were quick to suggest that Russell had co-opted her book, and was yet another example of the publishing industrys long history of valuing white voices and disregarding others. Russell didnt plagiarize Ortiz, and the controversy eventually subsided, even as the anger over American Dirt continued to gather momentum.

Im truly surprised that Oprah pulled her pick of My Dark Vanessa, said an industry insider familiar with the situation. The controversy about American Dirt, which is legitimate, is a completely separate situation than the My Dark Vanessa controversy, which was a few days of Twitter drama that was quickly resolved.

In an interview with the Associated Press after the book club meeting dedicated to American Dirt, Oprah lamented the way the controversy shifted the conversation away from the book itself  instead, the discussion had focused on the lack of diversity in the publishing industry and who has the right to tell certain stories. This has taken up a lot of my energy, a lot of her (Cummins) energy, and its taken away my attention from why people want to read books, Oprah said. She added that she planned to anticipate potential backlashes in the future so that she would not be forced to wade into that water again. (On Friday, Oprahs book club discussion of American Dirt will be out on Apple TV+.)

Haber echoed her bosss perspective. The controversy surrounding American Dirt, she said, inhibited the conversation about the contents of the book. What Oprah wants to do is to pick books shes passionate about, and to help facilitate important conversations around them. In the future, she added, We are going to be very cognizant of wanting the selections not to create noise around the book that prevent her from discussing the book. For now, the book club has no pick for March.

Were disappointed with the decision but were thrilled that My Dark Vanessa is resonating in such a powerful way with readers, a spokesperson from William Morrow said in an email, noting that the book, which will be released next week, is still the No. 1 Indie Next pick, No. 1 Library Reads pick, and the Amazon Best Book of the Month pick.
Massachusetts marijuana regulators voted unanimously on Thursday to consult the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey about an ongoing lawsuit between the city of Cambridge and Revolutionary Clinics, a marijuana business.

Cambridge has a Cannabis Business Permitting Ordinance, which includes a two-year moratorium during which only certified economic empowerment applicants would be able to receive a Cannabis Business Permit for a retail dispensary. The ordinance is the citys attempt to ensure people of color and those negatively affected by the war on drugs have a fighting chance in the states marijuana industry, which already has barriers like access to capital.

Revolutionary Clinics has been selling medical marijuana in Cambridge since 2018 and wants to co-locate the business, adding adult-use marijuana sales. The marijuana company filed a civil suit in October, challenging the validity of the permitting ordinance.

In January, a Middlesex Superior Court judge agreed with the marijuana companys motion for preliminary injunction and ordered that the city could no longer enforce the moratorium or take any action to prevent Revolutionary Clinics from applying to convert its location into a co-use medical and adult-use marijuana dispensary.

The city is seeking a stay of the preliminary injunction decision, and Revolutionary Clinics is seeking a finding of contempt. Cambridge has filed a petition seeking review by a civil justice of the appeals court of the preliminary injunction decision, which Revolutionary Clinics has opposed. Additionally, the city has filed a notice of appeal.

The City has lawfully exercised its rights to appeal the decision of the Superior Court and to seek a stay of the Superior Courts decision pending the outcome of the appeal, reads a notice on the Cambridge city website. The City stands by its pleadings in this case and looks forward to the Courts consideration of these issues. The City will abide by the decisions of the Courts in this matter.

A hearing to consider the requests is scheduled for April 13.

At the Cannabis Control Commission meeting Thursday, regulators and the commissions general counsel discussed movement in the case.

General Counsel Christine Baily told the commissioners that options to address the litigation include consulting with the attorneys generals office about what steps it can take, which could include filing a letter or amicus brief. Another option, she said, would be for the commission to intervene as a party.

Commissioner Shaleen Title suggested that the commission move forward with consulting with the attorney generals office.

This should be considered in the context that the commission was required under the law to grant priority to both groups, medical dispensaries and economic empowerment applicants and we intended to grant them on an alternating basis if complete applications were submitted from both groups, she said, adding that as a policy, the commission decided it would not hold up one group that had completed applications if there were no completed applications from the other group.

And so, there has been a very lopsided disparity between the two groups. Since the beginning, its been lopsided, she said. Before Thursdays meeting, there were 193 registered marijuana dispensary priority applications granted and 8 economic empowerment applicants granted.

Title noted that the courts decision on the injunction was based on its view that Cambridges ordinance appeared to conflict with the CCCs method of giving priority review to economic empowerment applicants.

A motion to move to consult with the attorney general about potential options regarding filing a letter or brief on the narrow topic of our regulatory intent, regulations, how theyre playing out in practice and guidance or other relevant materials and come back to the commission for further discussion was unanimously approved by the commissioners.

Last month, the city of Cambridge said it would wait for the issue to play out in court before entering into new host community agreements with applicants. However, the city then reversed its decision and is now accepting new applications for host community agreements.

Following the meeting, Hoffman said he was grateful for municipalities like Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Holyoke and others that have considered how they can promote equity in the cannabis industry.

I encourage all cities and towns to consider what they can do to help the state meet its equity objectives, Hoffman said. I wont comment on how cities and towns should do it. Thats really up to the cities and towns.

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.

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Vietnam has to take its Covid-19 prevention to a higher level, given that new infections are still possible, a top health official says.

By Thursday morning, the novel coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 had spread to 84 countries and territories, showing a rapid increase in both the number of infections and deaths.

Under such circumstances, Vietnam has to get ready for the situation of having more infections even after it has stayed clean for 22 days, says Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.

"Vietnam must turn to a higher stage of preventing and fighting against Covid-19, a stage that would be drastic and more comprehensive," Long said.

He expressed high appreciation of steps taken so far along the nation's borders to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

What happened on Wednesday when a Japanese passenger tested positive for the virus after having transited in Ho Chi Minh City was a typical example of Vietnams efficient response, he said.

The entire Covid-19 prevention and fighting system had taken immediate action to quarantine all passengers on the flight that had departed from Cambodias Siem Reap. The flights crew and everyone at HCMCs Tan Son Nhat Airport whod come into direct contact with the Japanese passenger had also been quarantined with haste, Long noted.

The process of finding the six co-passengers of the Covid-19 positive Japanese had also been made in line with the quarantine protocol, he said.

The six people have been identified as a Vietnamese, three French citizens, who had left for Bangkok, an Australian and a Filipino who had returned to their home countries. All trips were made within Wednesday night.

The Vietnamese passenger is now quarantined in a hospital while the family of that person is being closely monitored at home in District 1.

The French citizens had stayed in a hotel on Pham Ngu Lao Street in the district until Wednesday night before leaving. Six hotel employees have been quarantined while the hotel has been disinfected.

Cambodia border

For the higher level of epidemic prevention, Vietnam has turned its quarantine policy to the stage of making a health declaration at all border gates with Cambodia.

Starting Thursday, Vietnam started a Cambodian form for making electronic health declarations, which has been added with Cambodian, South Korean and Italian versions aside from the Vietnamese and English ones.

During their check-in procedures to enter Vietnam, each passenger can use their smartphone to either scan a QR code or directly access a web page to enter the system.

As of Thursday morning, Vietnam had 92 people quarantined on the possibility they could be carrying the novel coronavirus, up 15 cases over Wednesday.

All those who are returning to Vietnam from stricken areas or have had direct contact with returnees from stricken areas and show Covid-19 symptoms will be quarantined, as per the Health Ministrys guidelines.

As of now, there are 16,191 people placed under medical monitoring in Vietnam after returning from stricken areas or coming into direct contact with returnees from stricken areas but have not shown any symptoms.

The global Covid-19 death toll had climbed to 3,287 as of Thursdays afternoon. More than 3,000 of these have occurred in China, followed by Italy with 107, Iran with 92 and South Korea with 35. The U.S. has reported 11 deaths and Japan 12, including six on a cruise ship.
ARLINGTON, TX  Ivan Pudge Rodriguez guarded home plate for Texas Rangers for more than a decade.

Now a likeness of the Hall of Fame catcher will do so permanently.

The Rangers unveiled a statue of Rodriguez, widely regarded as one of the best defensive catchers of all time, on Wednesday. The seven-foot tall bronze statue is appropriately positioned in front of the home-plate entrance of the new Globe Life Field, which is now 98 percent complete.

Having my statue outside this ballpark for years to come is a dream, Rodriguez told MLB.com. I started in the old ballpark [Arlington Stadium] and I played in the two ballparks before we built this beautiful facility. Now having my statue in the new ballpark, sitting in the home-plate area for life, is a dream.

No one better to watch over HP. pic.twitter.com/x0950cuVKJ  Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 4, 2020

Rodriguez is in the Rangers Hall of Fame, a 14-time All-Star, 13-time Gold Glover and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1999.

He signed with the Detroit Tigers in 2004, becoming the first major free agent of the era to come to the rebuilding club, which went 43119 in 2003. The Tigers made the World Series two years after Pudge arrived in Detroit.

According to MLB.com, the statue was originally commissioned during Rodriguezs time in Texas. It housed at Rodriguezs home in Florida, but it was put in storage after the home was sold. Conversations to have it moved to the new stadium with other statues of Rangers greats began more than a year ago.

The statue depicts Rodriguez with his catchers gear on, sitting on one knee. His nickname Pudge is written across the chest protector.

The Rangers will play their first game at the park March 23 with an exhibition against the St. Louis Cardinals.
SAN FRANCISCO  At Facebook on Thursday, the questions from spooked employees came thick and fast.

The evening before, the social network had disclosed that the coronavirus had been diagnosed in a contractor in its Seattle office and had said all employees in that city should work from home until March 31.

Other Facebook employees, some of whom had recently traveled for work, soon began asking their managers and one another: Who was the contractor? Had that person been near them? And what did that mean for their work?

That same alarm has now spread through other companies around the world, despite escalating efforts by many of the firms to deal with disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak that started in China. Microsoft, Amazon, Ford Motor, CNN, Citigroup and Twitter have put employees through work-from-home drills, dusted off emergency-response plans and ordered increasingly stringent safety measures to protect their workers.

Even so, the coronavirus has moved faster than their preparations. Amazon said this week that two employees in Europe, who had been in Milan, were infected with the virus and that one employee at its Seattle headquarters had tested positive for it. HSBC said on Thursday that the coronavirus had been diagnosed in an employee at its global headquarters in London. And AT&T said a retail employee at one of its stores in San Diego had tested positive.
Two senior Moscow managers at Glencore have left the commodity trader for their own start-up that will trade energy resources and supply equipment in Russia, sources in the industry told Reuters today.

The two managers, Vladimir Scherbak and Svetlana Astakhova, have worked for many years at Glencores energy desk in Moscow, and according to Reuters sources, they have quit Glencore by mutual consent.

The departure of the two veteran executives, who quit with a dozen other Glencore employees, is not expected to impact the oil trading business of the Switzerland-based commodity giant in Russia, according to a source at a Russian oil firm who spoke to Reuters.

The Russian oil company typically communicates and works with Glencores desk in London, which manages all the business with the oil trading firm, the source told Reuters.

Glencore trades oil and oil products produced by the Russian oil companies, including the biggest producer, Rosneft. The oil trading firm is also a partner of RussNeft, another Russian oil producer.

Scherbak, who left Glencore for his joint start-up with Astakhova, is a member of the board of directors of RussNeft. Scherbak has been employed in various roles at the representation of Glencore (Switzerland) in Moscow since 1998, according to RussNefts website.

Scherbak and Astakhova are owners of the newly set up company Alliance Industry Group, according to the company database SPARK Interfax cited by Reuters. The company has three units, one of whichSeveroproekt-Servicehas a website which explains that it is an integrated engineering company that operates and provides maintenance for power plants based on GE Jenbacher gas engines and Cummins diesel generators.

The start-up Alliance Industry Group was founded in November last year, according to the company database quoted by Reuters. The new company has the same company address as the Moscow office of Glencore, according to the SPARK Interfax database.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
After losing control of the city to the regime, opposition forces launched an assault to retake control of Saraqeb and the strategic highways reports Zaman Al Wasl.

On Wednesday, Syrian opposition forces on Wednesday launched a major attack to retake the strategic city of Saraqeb, just two days after its fall to the Syrian regime, opposition activists said.

From six axes, the Syrian National Army began its battle to repulse regime forces and allied Shiite militias from the town that sits on a major highway that links Syrias two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Turkish drone attacks near Saraqeb killed nine Syrian soldiers.

A day before the planned meeting between the leaders of Turkey and Russia to discuss the escalation in Idleb, Ankara seems stubborn and no concessions have been offered since its smart missiles and armed drones have been rocking the regime army bastions.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said about 2,500 regime troops have been killed in three weeks and tens of tanks and missiles batteries have been destroyed and bombed out of service.

On Monday, Syrian state-run news agency SANA said regime forces had wrested control of the city back from the rebels and pledged to confront the flagrant Turkish aggression.

The town has changed hands more than once. Syrian forces, backed by Russia, entered Saraqeb and established control over it on Feb. 8, 2020, before being pushed out by Turkish-backed armed opposition groups on Feb. 27, 2020, according to Al-Jazeera.

Turkey said that two more of its soldiers were killed Wednesday in a Syrian regime attack in northwestern Syria, as steady clashes between the two national armies continued to rack up casualties.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The panic-buying frenzy sweeping Australia has hit the town that is home to the country's only toilet paper production facility.

Shelves across Australia are being stripped bare of supplies as people stockpile toilet paper, tissues and long-life foods amid coronavirus fears.

But despite living next to a factory owned by tissue-product company Kimberley Clark (KCA), residents in Millicent, about 400km south-east of Adelaide, have begun hoarding toilet paper themselves.

Local IGA manager Christine Gibbs said the store's orders have skyrocketed to keep up with demand.

Millicent, about 400km south east of Adelaide, is home to the only Kimberly Clark production site (pictured) in Australia

'We're hoping that our supplier will be able to meet our demand. But it's not only us, it's going to be all supermarkets [ordering],' she told ABC News.

Although the factory is walking distance from the IGA, toilet paper orders must be sent to suppliers in Adelaide first before it is delivered.

'The truck pretty much leaves from where KCA is and drives straight past here, goes to Adelaide, picks it up and drives back,' she said.

The multinational's South Australian site produces popular brands Kleenex, VIVA, Scott toilet tissue/ facial tissues, and Kimberley-Clark Professional products.

Millicent Mill is the only KCA production facility left in Australia after the company closed Ingleburn Mill, in Sydney's south west, in July last year.

Ms Gibbs said budget packets of lavatory rolls, of quantities 32 and up, have been among the biggest sellers.

The multinational's South Australian site (pictured) produces popular toilet paper brand Kleenex

The cost of the items, she said, is also a factor, as many premium brands in smaller packages are still available for sale.

Eudunda Farmers Managing Director Alistair Schuller, who oversees 16 Foodland stores in regional SA, said selective buying may represent household incomes.

'Maybe those more socio-economic well-off areas are stockpiling and those other areas are just buying as they need it,' he said.

It comes as Kleenex and workers at the Kimberly-Clark mill assured Australians production has been revved up to meet consumers' demands.

A picture of a Woolworths in Millicent shows the extent of the toilet paper panic-buying crisis at the heart of the manufacturing hub

'It's flat out, it's flat out but you know, we'll do anything for Australia. These times call for desperate measures so we're working around the clock and that's just how it is,' one worker told Seven News.

'It's going well, business as usual - it's not easy in there but we rock up every day and we do our thing. We'll just keep doing what we gotta do.'

Earlier this week, Woolworths placed a four-pack per customer limit on the bathroom item to 'ensure more customers have access to these products'.

Other stock being collected include hand sanitiser and tinned goods, dried pasta, and rice.

As of Friday, there have been 63 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia including two deaths.

Worldwide there have been more than 95,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across 84 countries, including at least 3,254 deaths.
A spokesperson of the company said that they have told their employees to work from home till they sanitize the offices.

The total number of known coronavirus cases in India rose sharply to 29 on Wednesday, including 16 Italian tourists who had tested positive for the disease as well as an employee of a digital payments company who had travelled to Italy.

On Monday, the worlds second-most populous country had only six reported cases of coronavirus, but it is one of the places U.S. intelligence agencies are most closely monitoring due to fears over how it would cope with a widespread outbreak.

Authorities are increasing screenings at airports and border crossings, and urging citizens to avoid large crowds.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would not attend celebrations for the Hindu Holi festival, scheduled to be held across the country next week.

Experts across the world have advised reducing mass gatherings to avoid the (virus) spread, Modi said in a tweet on Wednesday. Hence, this year I have decided not to participate.

An employee of Paytm - an Indian payments company whose parent firm is backed by Alibaba and SoftBank - who had vacationed in Italy and is based in Gurugram near New Delhi tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesperson said late on Wednesday.

We have also advised all our colleagues to work from home for a couple of days while we get our offices sanitized, the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that daily operations and services would not be impacted.

Paytm has six offices around New Delhi, employing more than 3,000 people.

Screen all international passengers

An Italian visiting the western desert state of Rajasthan was among those who had tested positive earlier.

And on Wednesday, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said 15 of 21 tourists from Italy - Europes worst-affected country - who had been taken to a quarantine facility on the outskirts of New Delhi had tested positive for the virus.

Their Indian driver was also placed in quarantine.

Indian stock markets slid nearly two percent after the government disclosed the rise in cases, before paring losses late in the day.

Vardhan said authorities were taking extra precautions against the spread of the virus after the sharp rise in cases.

We will now screen all international passengers. We will not limit our screenings to 12 countries as we did earlier, Vardhan told a news conference.

More than 93,000 cases have been reported worldwide, and several thousand have died from the flu-like coronavirus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and has since spread to more than 80 countries.

India, the worlds largest supplier of generic drugs, has curbed the export of pharmaceuticals due to fears of coronavirus-related shortages and this has caused panic in Europe, the head of the countrys top pharmaceuticals export group told Reuters on Wednesday.
OAKLAND (BCN)

An Oakland measure that would raise $21 million annually for parks maintenance, homeless services and water quality improvements was slightly above the two-thirds majority it needs for approval in election results that were tabulated early Wednesday morning.

But the fate of Measure Q remains unclear because many ballots still need to be counted.

A spokeswoman for the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office said late Wednesday afternoon that 250,000 ballots remain to be counted countywide, although she didn't say how many of those were cast in Oakland races.

Currently, 66.76 percent of the votes that have counted were in favor of the measure and 33.24 percent were against it. The spokeswoman said election results won't be updated until Friday afternoon.

Measure Q would impose a parcel tax of $148 per single-family residence annually for two decades. Supporters say 64 percent of the money the measure would raise would pay for parks, landscape maintenance and recreation, 30 percent for homeless services, 5 percent for water quality projects and litter removal and 1 percent for auditing and evaluating the measure.

Measure Q was supported by grassroots parks advocates, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, City Council members, the League of Women Voters and others. The measure was opposed by a coalition of landlords and taxpayer organizations.

"Once again, people's faith in their local government and community led initiatives remains strong," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said. "Oaklanders are passionate about our parks and compassionate about our unsheltered. Thank you to all the hard-working volunteers who showed up for Oakland."

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.
W.Va. governor signs law requiring doctors to help babies born alive after abortion

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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill Monday that requires abortionists and doctors to provide medical care for babies who survive an abortion.

At a ceremonial event held at the Governors Reception Room in Charleston, Justice signed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act into law.

In a statement released Monday, Justice referred to the legislation, which passed the Senate and House with overwhelming support, as an absolute no-brainer as far as Im concerned.

Ive said for a long time, even back before I took office as governor, that I would support measures like this because every human life  born or unborn  is precious and truly a gift from God, he said.

Its unbelievable that we even have to go through this process for something that seems like its just common sense. But at the same time, we should be really proud that were defending the lives of our most vulnerable. To God above, that baby is worth it.

West Virginians for Life President Wanda Franz celebrated the news, telling LifeNews.com that she was thankful for the passage of the bill.

This new law puts teeth in our state legal system to make it possible to report and prosecute these cases. The people of West Virginia want these infants to be protected, she stated.

The measure was not without its critics, among them being Dr. Jen Villavicencio of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, an organization that has advocated for abortion on demand and abortion for minors without parental consent.

Villavicencio told the Register-Herald Reporter in January that she was concerned about how the legislation would be enforced if enacted.

I'm worried about how it's going to be interpreted and what's going to happen  if someone delivers a very early pre-term infant, said Villavicencio. There's no chance of resuscitation, but is somebody going to say that maybe there was? Even though scientifically that's not the case?

Last year, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a similar bill in his state, arguing that the legislation was not needed given preexisting law.

Its important to protect the lives of all children, and laws already exist to protect newborn babies, Cooper said at the time.

Instead of passing unnecessary legislation for political purposes we need to move on from divisive social issues and focus on the needs of North Carolina families: education, health care and good-paying jobs.
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The name was announced Thursday by Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, during a celebration at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia. Zurbuchen was at the school to congratulate seventh grader Alexander Mather, who submitted the winning entry to the agency's "Name the Rover" essay contest, which received 28,000 entries from K-12 students from every U.S. state and territory.

"Alex's entry captured the spirit of exploration," said Zurbuchen. "Like every exploration mission before, our rover is going to face challenges, and it's going to make amazing discoveries. It's already surmounted many obstacles to get us to the point where we are today  processing for launch. Alex and his classmates are the Artemis Generation, and they're going to be taking the next steps into space that lead to Mars. That inspiring work will always require perseverance. We can't wait to see that nameplate on Mars."

Perseverance is the latest in a long line of Red Planet rovers to be named by school-age children, from Sojourner in 1997 to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed on Mars in 2004, to Curiosity, which has been exploring Mars since 2012. In each case, the name was selected following a nationwide contest.

The contest that resulted in Alex's winning entry of Perseverance began Aug. 28, 2019. Nearly 4,700 volunteer judges  educators, professionals and space enthusiasts from around the country  reviewed submissions to help narrow the pool down to 155 semifinalists. Once that group was whittled down to nine finalists, the public had five days to weigh in on their favorites, logging more than 770,000 votes online, with the results submitted to NASA for consideration. The nine finalists also talked with a panel of experts, including Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division; NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins; rover driver Nick Wiltsie at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California; and Clara Ma, who, as a sixth grade student in 2009, named Curiosity.

Up until two years ago, Mather was more interested in video games than space. That all changed in the summer of 2018 when he visited Space Camp in Alabama. From his first glimpse of a Saturn V  the rocket that launched the Apollo astronauts to the Moon half a century ago  Mather became a bona fide space enthusiast, checking NASA.gov daily, consuming astronaut autobiographies and even 3D-printing flyable model rockets. When the call went out for students to propose a name for NASA's new Mars rover, Mather knew he wanted to contribute.

"This was a chance to help the agency that put humans on the Moon and will soon do it again," said Mather. "This Mars rover will help pave the way for human presence there and I wanted to try and help in any way I could. Refusal of the challenge was not an option."

Along with forever being associated with the mission, Mather will also receive an invitation to travel with his family to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to witness the rover begin its journey when it launches this summer. While Mather has received NASA's grand prize in this competition, NASA also is acknowledging the valuable contributions of the semifinalists whose entries were among the top ones considered.

"They came so far, and their expressive submissions helped make this naming contest the biggest and best in NASA history," said Glaze, who also attended the event Thursday. "So, we decided to send them a little farther  314 million miles farther. All 155 semifinalists' proposed rover names and essays have been stenciled onto a silicon chip with lines of text smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair and will be flown to Mars aboard the rover."

NASA's Perseverance rover is a robotic scientist weighing just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). Managed for the agency by JPL, the rover's astrobiology mission includes searching for signs of past microbial life. It also will characterize the planet's climate and geology, and collect samples of Martian rocks and dust for a future Mars Sample Return mission to Earth, while paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

"When word went out during the naming event here at JPL, I took a moment to look around the auditorium," said John McNamee, project manager of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL. "I saw all these dedicated men and women who for years have invested the full measure of their intellect and stamina into the most technologically advanced rover mission in history  and I saw a lot of smiling faces and high-fives. Perseverance? You bet, that is a worthy name that we can be proud of as the first leg of a sample return campaign."

Perseverance currently is undergoing final assembly and checkout at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's targeted to land on Mars' Jezero Crater a little after 3:40 p.m. EST (12:40 p.m. PST) Feb. 18, 2021.

The rover naming contest partnership was part of a Space Act Agreement in educational and public outreach efforts between NASA, Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, and Future Engineers of Burbank, California. Amazon Web Services is an additional prize provider for the Mars 2020 naming contest and will provide Alex and his family a trip to see the launch.

Mars 2020 is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis program.

For more information about the mission, go to:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

Follow the Perseverance Mars rover's official accounts and get answers to your questions about the mission at:

https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere

and:

https://facebook.com/NASAPersevere

For more about NASA's Moon to Mars plans, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


They said I was unable to take care of myself, and I was delusional because I wanted to run for president, she said. Actually, I never thought of this whole running-for-president thing until I was in there. And everyone in the loony bin was all, Yay, Bonnie for president! and I went with it. I thought it was funny.
Women who chair clinical departments at public medical schools are paid an average of 88 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, or about $70,000 to $80,000 less per year, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and UC San Francisco report.

The disparity remains regardless of the womens academic productivity, specialization and years on the job.

These women are at the top of their game, said Eleni Linos, MD, MPH, a professor of dermatology at Stanford. They are skilled leaders, outstanding managers and experienced negotiators who have reached top positions in their medical schools. Gender pay gaps are often blamed on womens personal choices to reduce work hours or leave the workforce, household responsibilities, childcare or suboptimal negotiation skills. This study challenges these traditional explanations because our sample of medical department leaders have navigated these complex challenges and broken through the glass ceiling. Yet they are still paid less than their male peers when controlling for many factors. Our study shows the pervasiveness of gender inequities at all levels of academic medicine.

Linos shares senior authorship of the study, which was published March 2 in JAMA Internal Medicine, with Christina Mangurian, MD, professor of psychiatry at UCSF. Michael Mensah, MD, MPH, a former medical student at UCSF who is now a psychiatry resident at UCLA, is the lead author of the study.
CALGARY, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Crescent Point Energy Corp. ("Crescent Point" or the "Company") (TSX andNYSE: CPG) is pleased to announce the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has accepted its notice to implement a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") to purchase, for cancellation, up to 36,884,438 common shares, or seven percent of the Company's public float, as at February 28, 2020. The NCIB is scheduled to commence on March 9, 2020 and is due to expire on March 8, 2021.

Purchases of Crescent Point's common shares under the NCIB may be made through the facilities of the TSX, the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and alternative trading systems by means of open market transactions or by such other means as may be permitted by the Canadian Securities Administrators (the "CSA") and under applicable securities laws, including by private agreement pursuant to issuer bid exemption orders issued by applicable securities regulatory authorities. The price the Company will pay for any common shares will be the market price at the time of purchase or such other price as may be permitted by the CSA. Any private purchase made under an exemption order issued by a securities regulatory authority will generally be at a discount to the prevailing market price.

Crescent Point believes share repurchases provide an accretive form of returning capital to shareholders at current share prices.

In connection with the NCIB, Crescent Point will enter into an automatic purchase plan ("Plan") with its designated broker to allow for purchases of its common shares during internal blackout periods. Such purchases would be at the discretion of the broker based on parameters established by the Company prior to any blackout period or any period when it is in possession of material undisclosed information. Outside of these periods, common shares will be repurchased in accordance with management's discretion, subject to applicable law. The Plan has been reviewed by the TSX and may be terminated by Crescent Point or its broker in accordance with its terms or will terminate on the expiry of the NCIB.

As of February 28, 2020, the Company had a public float of 526,920,557 common shares and 527,722,179 common shares issued and outstanding. Crescent Point will not acquire, through the facilities of the TSX, more than 956,312 common shares during a trading day, being 25 percent of the average daily trading volume of the Company's common shares on the TSX for the six calendar months prior to the date of approval of the NCIB by the TSX (being 3,825,250 common shares), and, in addition, will not acquire per day on the NYSE more than 25 percent of the average daily trading volume for the four calendar weeks preceding the date of purchase, subject to, in both cases, certain exceptions for block purchases.

The actual number of common shares that will be repurchased under the NCIB, and the timing of any such purchases, will be determined by Crescent Point on management's discretion, subject to applicable securities laws. There cannot be any assurances as to how many common shares, if any, will ultimately be acquired by the Company.

Forward-Looking Statements and Other Matters

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and "forward-looking information" for the purposes of Canadian securities regulation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). The Company has tried to identify such forward-looking statements by use of such words as "could", "should", "can", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "intend", "projected", "sustain", "continues", "strategy", "potential", "projects", "grow", "take advantage", "estimate", "well-positioned" and other similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.

In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, among other things, to the Company's normal course issuer bid, the use of cash flow to fund purchases under the NCIB, the process the Company plans to follow to evaluate purchases under the NCIB, and the expected benefits to shareholders associated with the NCIB and the Plan and its operation.

All forward-looking statements are based on Crescent Point's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the assumption was made. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this report should not be unduly relied upon. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which could cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated, expressed or implied by such statements, including those material risks discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2019 under "Risk Factors," and in our Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019, under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information".

Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Crescent Point's operations or financial results are included in Crescent Point's reports on file with Canadian and U.S. securities regulatory authorities. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed herein or otherwise. Crescent Point undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required to do so pursuant to applicable law. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Crescent Point or persons acting on the Company's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CRESCENT POINT ENERGY, PLEASE CONTACT:

Brad Borggard, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and Capital Markets, or

Shant Madian, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

Telephone: (403) 693-0020 Toll-free (US and Canada): 888-693-0020 Fax: (403) 693-0070

Address: Crescent Point Energy Corp. Suite 2000, 585 - 8th Avenue S.W. Calgary AB T2P 1G1

www.crescentpointenergy.com

Crescent Point shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPG.

SOURCE Crescent Point Energy Corp.

Related Links

http://www.crescentpointenergy.com


This is the heart-breaking moment a little boy in China kissed a portrait of his mother at her funeral without realising that she had died while fighting the new coronavirus outbreak.

The child's mother, a 26-year-old village doctor, was killed in a traffic accident when she was on her way to perform health checks for locals to curb the epidemic.

She left behind two young sons, aged three and one, and her husband said he did not know how to break the tragic news to the children.

Chen Jian, a village doctor in southern China, died last month while on her way to give health checks for locals to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Her three-year-old son did not know that she had died at her funeral. He gave a kiss to his mother's picture to show his love for her

Ms Chen dedicated herself to preventing the spread of the coronavirus in Cuntian Village, which has more than 12,000 people. She was on her way to take the body temperature of residents when she lost her life in a road accident on a precarious mountain path in Yiliang

When the three-year-old was asked by his father to burn paper money to mourn his deceased mother, he said 'happy birthday, mum' thinking the ritual was to celebrate a joyful event.

And when the boy attended his mother's funeral procession, he gave a peck on his mother's picture to show his love for her.

The late doctor, named Chen Jian, worked for the village clinic of Cuntian in Yiliang County, Yunnan Province.

She died last month after losing control of her moped on a precarious mountain path while travelling to the locals' homes for door-to-door health checks.

Her story was revealed by local news website Yunnan Net yesterday.

According to the report, Ms Chen dedicated herself to preventing the spread of the coronavirus in Cuntian Village, which has more than 12,000 people.

Among all of the residents, around 3,000 of them had just returned from other Chinese cities when the outbreak took hold of Wuhan.

Therefore, Ms Chen and her five colleagues were in charge of monitoring the health of the newly arrived residents as well as promoting healthcare knowledge in the far-flung community.

Members of a medical team who are tasked to transfer suspected or confirmed novel coronavirus patients to designated treatment sites are pictured disinfecting themselves next to an ambulance in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan Province, on February 9

Members of a medical team transport a man in a wheelchair in Kunming on February 9

People wearing face masks scan a QR code to submit their personal information while security volunteers check their temperatures outside a grocery market in Kunming on February 24

On February 12, Ms Chen left home in the morning on her electric moped to attend an anti-coronavirus meeting in her clinic, which is situated around 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) away.

She then left the clinic with a colleague to take the body temperature for the residents. To save time, Ms Chen carried her co-worker, Chi Huanqin, on her moped.

The accident occurred around noon when Ms Chen and Ms Chi came to a sharp downhill U-turn and Ms Chen failed to stop her moped despite repeatedly slamming on her brakes. The pair were flung off the vehicle and landed on a stone tablet two metres (6.5 feet) away.

Ms Chen landed on the stele on her head and Ms Chi landed on Ms Chen's back.

They were rushed to nearby Kuixiang Town Clinic by onlookers.

Ms Chen, who was more seriously wounded, was declared dead by doctors two hours later after emergency treatment failed.

Meanwhile, Ms Chi was transferred to the Yiliang County People's Hospital for further treatment and was informed of Ms Chen's passing on the way.

City authorities around China have demanded citizens wear masks while out as a basic measure to prevent coronavirus. The picture shows people travelling on the train in Shanghai

Italy is one of the most-affected countries outside China, with a total of 3,090 cases, including 107 deaths. People are seen above wearing medical face masks on the streets of Rome

Upon hearing the news, Ms Chi cried: 'We have not been able to have a break for months. I dreamt of [Ms Chen] these few days, and we were even working in my dreams.'

Ms Chen's husband, Zhou Yu, struggled to accept the fact that his wife had died. He said he, his wife and their children had not had a chance to sit for a family photo.

Mr Zhou wished that he could have fought the coronavirus on behalf of his partner.

He wrote 'why it wasn't me who had to carry the burden' when he informed his relatives of the details of Ms Chen's funeral.

To help the family through the difficult times, Yiliang County Health Commission paid Ms Chen's family one million yuan (111,580) in recognition of the doctor's 'sacrifice' during the fight of the epidemic, according to an official notice.

Mr Zhou said he had not thought about how to use the money, but would likely spend it on his sons' education.

At least 26 Chinese medical workers have died while working to curb the virus outbreak, which started late last year in the central city of Wuhan. Among them, 13 lost their lives after contracting the infection on the line of duty, according to Chinese news outlet Caixin.

So far, the new coronavirus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,440 worldwide.

Outside China, more than 70 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.
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Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Thu, March 5, 2020 15:05 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068851d0 1 Business agriculture,carrots,vegetable,farmers,West-Java,JICA Free

A public-private partnership has allowed farmers in Ciwidey in Bandung, West Java, to reap better profits from selling Japanese vegetables.

The region's farmers are now harvesting Japanese kuroda carrots, which are sold in supermarkets for around Rp 38,000 (US$2.69) per 800 grams compared to Rp 4,000 per kilogram for regular carrots, said Setia Irawan, the CEO of farmers cooperative-cum-Islamic boarding school Al Ittifaq.

He said the demand for the carrot variety in Al Ittifaq could reach 5 tons per week throughout the year. The cooperative has planted the variety for about two years.

"If demands can always be met, it will improve the social and economic conditions for thousands of farmers," Setia said on Tuesday at a media presentation in Bandung.

Setia's cooperative is among the beneficiaries of Indonesia's cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Indonesia Japan Horticulture Public-Private Partnership Project (IJHOP4).

Plans for the IJHOP4 started in 2016 and were rolled out in 2017. It involved 1,396 farmers in Bandung regency, West Bandung, Bogor, Sukabumi, Cianjur and Garut between 2017 and 2019.

The project aims to improve cultivation techniques, optimize local supply chains, facilitate links with modern markets and improve farmers financial access, IJHOP4 project team leader Nishimura Tsutomu said at Al-Ittifaq on Tuesday.

Read also: Government pushes for diversified agricultural investments away from palm oil

Aside from kuroda carrots, farmers in the targeted areas have also been cultivating momotaro tomatoes, nasu (Japanese eggplant) and mizuna (Japanese mustard greens), among other varieties.

"We try to help core farmers' groups so that they can have the important achievement of taking their product to the modern market," he said.

Japan-Indonesia joint consumer goods company Calbee-Wings has also participated in the initiative, using locally sourced potatoes to make its potato chips, its executives said on Wednesday.
An Australian brand is enjoying global success after supermodel Kendall Jenner posted about her 'love story' with their swimwear.

Kendall posted on Instagram to share a series of pictures featuring a baroque-print bikini from the Australian label Sommer Swim, and it wasn't long before the $168 style was being snapped up around the world.

While Kendall chose to wear the Xena Baroque Halter Top ($104) in a bandeau style, the bikini is designed to also be worn around the neck as a halter-style.

An Australian brand is enjoying global success after supermodel Kendall Jenner (pictured) posted about her 'love story' with their swimwear

Kendall posted on Instagram to share a series of pictures (pictured) featuring a baroque-print bikini from the Australian label Sommer Swim, and it wasn't long before the $168 style was being snapped up around the world

Kendall often wears swimwear that costs around $500, but the beauty of Sommer Swim is that styles start from just $89 for a bikini top and $79 for bottoms.

You can also find an array of stylish one pieces for around the $149 mark.

Sommer Swim has become a favourite brand for a host of well-known celebrities over the years.

Some of these include Kourtney Kardashian, Sofia Richie, Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, who made the label go global when she wore the Gisele top and Iman bottoms on the beach in 2017.

The brand was founded by Anna-Maria Sommer (pictured), 36, who said the 'timeless swimwear can take you from lounging poolside at a beach club in Ibiza one summer to swimming in the ocean at Sydney's Bondi Beach the next'

Sommer Swim has become a favourite brand for a host of well-known celebrities over the years including Sofia Richie and Kourtney Kardashian

The brand was founded by the Bali-based woman, Anna-Maria Sommer, 36, who said the 'timeless swimwear can take you from lounging poolside at a beach club in Ibiza one summer to swimming in the ocean at Sydney's Bondi Beach the next'.

'I didn't immediately set out to start a swimwear label, I guess it more just progressed to that,' Anna-Maria previously told FEMAIL.

'Living in a creative place like Bali really inspired me and I began to explore different ideas. I was playing around with designing some suits but in the first year it was more of a hobby and I didn't take it too seriously.

'In the second year I felt a little more comfortable and rather than designing what I thought other people wanted to wear I came up with suits I wanted to wear myself and I was a little surprised and also flattered that this was when things really started to take off.'

What sets Sommer Swim bikinis and swimsuits apart from the plethora of swimwear available is the fact that the brand uses the highest quality Italian Lycra to make their designs

Suits are designed in flattering cuts to suit the feminine figure, while Sommer Swim also looks to include unique colours and designs that means you'll be wearing them year in year out

What sets Sommer Swim bikinis and swimsuits apart from the plethora of swimwear available is the fact that the brand uses the highest quality Italian Lycra to make their designs.

Suits are designed in flattering cuts to suit the feminine figure, while Sommer Swim also looks to include unique colours and designs that means you'll be wearing them year in year out.

These days, the brand is worth well over $1 million and Anna-Maria said: 'The brand's net worth is sitting in seven figures which is really humbling and just motivates us more as a team to keep improving and bringing our customers new and exciting products'.

Last year while on holiday, Kendall took to Instagram to share a photo of her in a Peony bikini, which is a Queensland-born brand founded by Becky Morton

This isn't the first time that Kendall has turned to an Australian swimwear brand.

Last year while on holiday, the model took to Instagram to share a photo of her in a Peony bikini, which is a Queensland-born brand founded by Becky Morton.

Others who have worn Peony in the past include Bella Hadid and actress Margot Robbie.
As the cradle of high fashion, Paris gave the world designers like Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, who in turn gifted the world some of fashion history's most enduring iconography, including the LBD, or little black dress.

But there are two other French figures who don't get nearly as much credit in the fashion and retail world as they should, given that they are probably more relevant to the average household than Chanel and Dior.

At Le Bon Marche department store in Paris, which was founded in 1852 and holds the title of the oldest and longest-running department store in the world, Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut pioneered retail concepts many people probably take for granted.

The husband and wife team were revolutionary in this fast-changing industry called retail.

The practice of returning merchandise for a refund? Le Bon Marche lays claim to the concept.

Mail order catalogs a la Ikea and J. Crew?

In fact, the Boucicauts published the world's first department store catalog and included fabric swatches for customers to select the color and material of their attire. They enabled  and empowered  shoppers to customize their designs.

And the modern, now-ubiquitous practice of free delivery for purchases of $25 or more? You could say Le Bon Marche was a forerunner in that department as well, introducing home delivery 160 years ago for mail orders costing over 25 francs.

While the retail industry has changed a great deal since 1852, Le Bon Marche has maintained a strong foothold, evolving in response to industry changes and shoppers' proclivities.

Revolutionizing the way we shop

It's a Saturday afternoon inside the ladies' department of the luxury department store on Paris's Left Bank, and shoppers are performing time-honored rituals: sifting through designer dresses, flipping over price tags and holding blouses up their necks to inspect their reflections in the mirror.

Customers looking for a deal rummage through the sales racks; the tactile ones run materials through their fingers, while window shoppers with no agenda waltz through the store, letting their gazes take in the goods.

It's a common enough scene that could be replayed across town at Galeries Lafayette, Printemps or any other department store, in any other city in the world.

Except that, were it not for the trailblazing concepts pioneered at Le Bon Marche, today's contemporary shopping experience might not be as easily recognizable.

For starters, let's begin with the one-stop shop. Finding everything from trousers to bedsheets and dishware to hairdryers and lipstick under one roof was an idea popularized in large part at Le Bon Marche under the Boucicauts' leadership.

In the 19th century, if you needed an umbrella, you went to a shop specializing in umbrellas. Same for women's clothing or shoes.

Most shops specialized in one single item, explains Elena Fertil, Le Bon Marche's head of cultural events, and all merchandise was stocked behind the counter.

While this way of procuring items may sound romantic, it was also a bit tedious.

"The customer saw nothing. If they needed pink sheets, they would have to ask the sales clerk who would then pull out the closest thing they had to pink sheets," Fertil said.

When Aristide joined the small shop on the corner of rue du Bac and rue de Sevres in 1852 as a partner with the Videau brothers, he introduced modern, little-known practices that brought merchandise out into the open for customers to browse and touch. He also attached a fixed price to the goods.

"Before, prices were at the discretion of the sales clerk, so the same product could be sold for two different prices to two different clients," Fertil explained.

Previously, when customers walked into a shop, it was understood they would walk out with a purchase. But at Bon Marche entry was "free."

Customers were invited to enter and browse at their leisure. No purchase necessary. And if they had buyer's remorse  too small, too big, too expensive  they could exchange or return the item for a full refund.

Goods were also priced at a smaller profit margin (bon marche is French for a "good deal") but inventory turnover was high.

A gathering space for the female bourgeoisie

Along with rewriting the codes of commerce, the store would become a "haven of freedom and pleasure" for Parisian women of the bourgeoisie, writes Monica Burckhardt in "Le Bon Marche Rive Gauche: The Invention of the Department Store," published in 2013 and commissioned by Le Bon Marche.

There, monied wives could spend an entire day daydreaming and socializing, independent of their husbands.

"Back then, cities were men's spaces," adds Jan Whitaker, a consumer historian from North Hampton, Massachusetts who authored the 2011 book "The World of Department Stores."

"If you were an upper middle-class woman, the streets were a vulnerable place to be. So department stores became women's spaces, and that was really significant."

The business model was much the same then as it is now: to get as many people of the socio-economic spectrum through the door as possible  and get them to stay.

"It was luxury for the masses," Whitaker said. "These were grandiose buildings that lower classes would otherwise never be invited into. The fact that they could go in there freely and that somebody would wait on you was not something to be taken for granted."

Patrons of the arts

The Boucicauts also understood the importance of customer loyalty and time spent inside the store.

After buying out the Videau brothers and taking complete ownership in 1863, the couple expanded the space and added new features and services that were deemed game changers at the time: a reading room for waiting husbands, a salon offering complimentary food and refreshments, billiard room, hairdressing salon, travel office and live concerts events.

Another claim to fame? Gustave Eiffel was one of the contributing engineers who helped design the building's steel structure.

But one of the Boucicauts' biggest legacies, which is given special honor to this day, is their support of the fine arts.

Avant-gardists, the couple opened an art gallery in 1875 within the department store, offering artists who had been turned away by the Paris Salon  the official art exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris  a home for their works and a large public audience, Burckhardt wrote.

Stroll through the store today 145 years later, and you'll note that paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures  a contemporary art collection curated over the last 30 years  line store walls and are placed strategically amidst the luxury goods.

In 2016, the store invited Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei to launch a new art program, designed to pay homage to Aristide's creation of the annual White Sale in January.

As the story goes, Boucicault was walking around, despondent at seeing the shop so empty following the Christmas holidays. After looking out the window and seeing it snow, he decided to pull out all the white merchandise in the store and hold a big sales event, Fertil explained.

In a nod to this tradition, the store launched a program inviting international contemporary artists to create customized pop-up installations for Le Bon Marche every January.

Their only request? That it center around the color white. Everything else is carte blanche, as they say, for the artists.

"These exhibits are really meant as a gift to our visitors," Fertil said. "The idea is that by strolling through the Bon Marche, they'll be moved by the artist's vision. Some loyal customers come every year to seek out our exhibits, but we know that others who've come just to shop may be pleasantly surprised to discover expositions like these."

The rebranding of Le Bon Marche

Today, Le Bon Marche bills itself as the small, big department store, a play on words in French (le petit grand magasin). Compared to Printemps (which was founded by a former Bon Marche employee) and Galeries Lafayette, arguably the most beautiful of the three, Le Bon Marche is more manageable in size and conducive to slower paced "promenades" or strolls.

"It's designed to inspire people to amble through the store like we do in Paris streets, to discover new things, be surprised, to stop, enjoy a coffee and relax," added store style director Jennifer Culliver.

Indeed, like the streets of Paris, to stroll through the department store is to stroll by architectural gems, most notably under the dozen skylights originally designed to corral a flood of natural light into the store and help spotlight the merchandise.

Today, Boucicaut's understanding of lighting and product marketing is an indispensable part of retail layout and design.

After being acquired in 1984 by the LVMH group, Le Bon Marche was rebranded to target the high-end luxury market.

The department store now stocks some of the world's most exclusive luxury brands, but also tries to stay relevant by sourcing new and emerging brands and striking exclusive collaborations with designers, Culliver says.

In-store customization services invite shoppers to personalize their sneakers and denim; cooking classes and demos are held regularly throughout the year; and artists are invited to host talks with the public.

All strategies are aimed at attracting foot traffic, at a time when e-commerce and online retail giants like Amazon have completely altered the way consumers shop.

Department stores in the US are floundering, but Le Bon Marche hopes to lure some of these international visitors inside its doors for a different kind of shopping experience.

Unlike Macy's, the well-known US department store which has been closing its doors around the country, Le Bon Marche isn't fighting to stay alive.

The competition isn't suffering either: Galeries Lafayette opened a new location on the Champs-Elysees last year, while LVMH is resurrecting heritage building La Samaritaine this spring as a mixed-use development that will give the city a new luxury department store.

Whitaker points out that what saves heritage department stores like Le Bon Marche from becoming obsolete is one key demographic.

"Tourists are so important for the survival of department stores in Europe. These are people who have the time to explore and leisure money to spend."

The-CNN-Wire &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed his son-in-law, Bashir Jamoh as the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.

Recall that it was reported the President approved the appointment of Bashir Jamoh as NIMASAs boss to replace Dakuku Peterside whose tenure ends on the 10th of March 2020.

Also Read: Fani-Kayode Celebrates Obasanjo Ahead Of 83rd Birthday

Reacting to this development, the former minister mocked the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who is an ally of the immediate past DG of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside.

Fani-Kayode went on to accuse the President of nepotism, while he also mocked the Presidents supporters in the South.

See his tweet below:
The Delhi High Court Thursday said to a media house, desirous of interviewing the four death-row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, "do not encourage them" as they have made a "mockery of the system".

"They have made a mockery of the system. Please do not encourage them," the court said.

The observation by Justice Navin Chawla came while hearing the media house' plea for permission to interview the four convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- who are to be hanged on March 20.

The media house, in its petition, has also challenged the Tihar Jail's rejection of their application seeking permission to interview the four death row convicts.

It has also claimed the purpose behind the interview "was to have a deterrent effect on such crimes in the future".

It said the application for permission was moved before the prison authorities on February 25 and it was denied by the Tihar Jail on February 27.

The court listed the matter for hearing on March 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Arya Dipa and Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:15 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20688e9e3 1 National Husein-Sastranegara-Airport,coronavirus,COVID-19,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Bandung-West-Java,Singapore,Kuala-Lumpur,seat-occupancy-rate Free

The seat occupancy rates of airlines that offer flights to Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia have fallen by 50 percent amid fears of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Husein Sastranegara Airport general manager Andika Nuryaman said the majority of airlines serving international routes had cut their flight frequency.

Airlines have suspended their flights because of a low demand for flights to Bandung from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and vice versa, Andika said on Tuesday.

Of three airlines that offer flights to Bandung from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and vice versa -- SilkAir, AirAsia and Malindo Air -- only SilkAir is continuing to operate the routes.

Read also: Airline fares cut to boost sales amid COVID-19 scare

Meanwhile, AirAsia and Malindo have suspended their services. This significantly limits flight options from Bandung to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

There are only three flights a week, Andika said, referring to the SilkAir service that is still available. However, he added that SilkAir had not given any guarantee that it would maintain the service in the future.

Passengers are afraid of going to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Therefore the airlines have suspended their flights because of the low demand, said Andika.

He went on to say that the decreasing passenger loads on international flights had been predicted in January, when the news of confirmed COVID-19 cases broke globally.

The passenger load has decreased by 50 percent, he said.

Read also: It affects our revenue: Garuda Indonesia suspends more flights as coronavirus spreads

Air Asia denied, however, that it had suspended its flights between Bandung and the two cities.

Flights between Kuala Lumpur and Bandung are operating normally, while the number of flights between Singapore and Bandung are only being adjusted on certain days according to demand, Air Asias Head of Communication Baskoro Adiwiyono told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

He added that the airline would inform affected customers any time a flight schedule was changed.

Andika said the airport had conducted proper screening of incoming passengers to prevent the virus from entering the city.

The airport, in cooperation with the Port Health Office, had installed a body thermal scanner for the passengers, he added,

Passengers are also required to fill in a health alert card to declare if they have any symptoms.

If the monitor detects [any symptoms of COVID-19] in a passenger, [the ground officers] will direct them to an isolation room, said Andika, adding that the screening device provided information on body temperature as passengers walked through the scanner.

Passenger loads on domestic flights remain high.

Read also: Bali quarantines nine foreign tourists who sat next to NZ COVID-19 patient in airplane

On Wednesday, the airport served 40 domestic flights connecting Bandung with Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandar Lampung, Pangkal Pinang, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Semarang, Bengkulu and Tanjung Pandan.

As part of the countrys efforts in mitigating the virus spread, West Java governor Ridwan Kamil has ordered related agencies to closely monitor all flights as well as reconsider available routes on international flights.

Ridwans order refers to the provinces plan to welcome 10 people from Terengganu, Malaysia to two schools in West Java on March 20. Meanwhile, some schools in the province had also planned to conduct a study trip to Bali, he added.

I prefer to cancel those plans. If they are not urgent, just cancel, Ridwan said. (gis)

Editor's note: This article has been updated with a statement from Air Asia.
St. Paul Lutheran Celebrates 95th Anniversary

In 1925, St. Paul Lutheran Church was established to minister to African Americans in Los Angeles. Nearly 100 years later, the fellowship continues to thrive as a beacon of light in the West Adams District.

The Rev. Dr. S T Williams, Jr., the pastor of St. Paul, and the congregation, will celebrate the 95th anniversary of the church on Sunday, March 8, at 11 a.m., in the edifice located at 3901 W. Adams Blvd., in L.A. Inviting the community to attend, he said that the anniversary theme is Search My Heart, O God based on Psalm 139:1-10. The Rev. Kenneth Davis will be the guest preacher.

According to Williams, the observance illustrates the memberships endurance and commitment to serving Christ and His people. St. Paul was intentionally planted to minister to African Americans and for us to continue to exist and survive in L.A. is a great celebration of the churchs journey, he said. I have been the pastor since 2005 and it has been enjoyable to see a congregation say that we have a purpose, we have a mission and we need to be in this community.

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Williams served 23 years as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy and led four Lutheran parishes before accepting the call to be the pastor of St. Paul. During his tenure, the church has continued to strengthen its internal ministries to enrich the lives of the members as well as developing innovative programs to meet the needs of the community.

We are always thinking of creative ways to do outreach and evangelism, said Williams, who noted that St. Paul operates a pre-school ministry, offers homeless referrals, conducts foster care youth programs, distributes food and clothing during the holidays and offers other services to improve the quality of life for local residents.

His experience in working with both small congregations and mega-churches across five continents has aided his success at St. Paul and was likely a factor in his recent appointment as vice president of the Pacific Southwest Division of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

As for the future, Williams said, We want to better serve this area and we encourage the community to worship with us and let us know how we can help with their spiritual growth. We are a family church and we have a lot to offer in terms of ministry.

To learn more, visit stpaulluteranla.org or view the worship services on YouTube and Instagram.
"Hair Love" pulled at heartstrings and took home an Oscar for best animated short for the film's portrayal of a black father learning how to do his daughter's hair.

"I was coming across a lot of viral videos about African American fathers that were doing their daughters' hair," director and filmmaker Matthew Cherry told "Good Morning America" in a Jan. 16 interview before his Oscar win. "I just wanted to normalize it and kind of shine a light cause oftentimes black men get a bad rap in not being involved in their kids' lives, and I really wanted to showcase a strong black family unit and show that dads are present."

"Good Morning America" caught up with several "girl dads" who are making "Hair Love" magic happen in real life.

These dad influencers are sharing their hair journeys with their daughters on social media and trading stories, tips and lessons in Facebook groups, and redefining fatherhood in the process.

Matt Prestbury, founder of the Black Fathers Facebook group, said that he wanted to create a quality space to bring black fathers together where they can talk openly, share stories and give advice.

Junior Rivera, @_jrrivera

PHOTO: J.R. Rivera, a high school teacher in Miami, Fla., does his 2-year-old daughter Azariah's hair in the morning. (Courtesy J.R. Rivera)

Junior Rivera is a high school math teacher, author and motivational speaker from Fort Myers, Florida. At home, he's a single dad to a 4-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter.

"I have really connected and bonded with my daughter, [by] doing her hair, teaching her how to get dressed, and [how to] say her ABCs, and learn the colors -- all of those things," said Rivera. "[As a 'boy dad'], you already know how to be a boy, you once were a boy. But when it comes to being a 'girl dad,' that is a totally different, delicate approach.  They tug on your heart and make you operate in a totally different manner."

Recently divorced, Rivera said he became a single dad right before his daughter, Azariah, turned 1 and wanted to share his experience with other "girl dads" -- especially single dads.

Story continues

"It was time to step to the plate: Either learn to do hair or start paying for it or she is going to school and not looking very presentable," said Rivera, who turned to his sisters, aunts, cousins to help. "I'm an ex-professional athlete and knowing that without the reps, you'll never get results that you want. [At first] I had to do her hair over like three or four times, so she had to deal with me being that intensive, just trying to get things right and perfect my craft."

MORE: 'Hair Love': What to know about the Oscar-winning animated film

Eventually, Rivera said he learned the right products and the right brushes to achieve different textures. He said he wants other dads to overcome any gender stigmas and be comfortable doing hair too.

"I am a firm believer that a father is a daughter's first love and if she can't see that I love her beauty and that I love the natural look in her hair  I think I've done a disservice as a father," Rivera told "GMA." "I truly believe fathers have to step into that role early on, and start building them up before this world tries to break them down."

Treach Hill, @breeze_n_dad

PHOTO: Treach Hill styles his 7-year-old daughter Breeze Hill's hair in Aurora, Ill. The father and daughter have thousands of followers on Instagram where they share videos of Hill doing her hair. (Courtesy Treach Hill)

Treach Hill lives in Aurora, Illinois, with his wife and their 7-year-old daughter, Breeze.

He too said he's bonded with his daughter by doing her hair.

"I used to be that guy to leave it to my wife and let her do [our daughter's] hair," said Hill, who started doing her hair at age 3. "Then one day, I was by myself at home and I said, '[Breeze] can't walk outside just looking [like that]. So let me just try to help her out.'"

The moments have been particularly meaningful because Hill lost his own father five years ago.

"[When I lost my father], it made me look and say, 'OK, I need to be a better father. Let me try to be a better father,'" said Hill. "I want [my daughter] to be like, 'Dad, knows how to do everything.'"

MORE: A cut above: Why this Delaware principal opened a barbershop inside his school

Although he has stepped into the hair-role as a father, Hill said he has a deep appreciation for his wife and the other women in his life. It was his wife's idea to start posting videos of his daddy-daughter hair moments on social media, which have gone viral.

Like a lot of dads out there, Hill said he saw himself reflected in "Hair Love."

"[When I saw 'Hair Love'], it was like actually watching myself in the video," he said.

His advice to other dads: "Be the dad you want to be, be a good dad. Stereotypes will be stereotypes in whatever culture -- that's how I look at it."

Lufrey Jonas

PHOTO: Lufrey Jonas does his 14-year-old daughter Arielle's hair in Baltimore. (Courtesy Lufrey Jonas)

Lufrey Jonas, a father of three from Baltimore, said doing his 14-year-old daughter Arielle's hair has made him a better dad.

"When I'm doing hair, we spend that time together. To me, it's a bonding time," said Jonas. "We talk about different things, things we may not normally talk about on a busy day."

MORE: Black Girls Cheer: How a mom's social media group sparked a movement

Jonas, a member of the Black Father Facebook group, said he's tried to teach his daughter to be proud of who she is and her natural hair.

"Also, it's just a feeling to be able to prep her hair, wash it, blow dry it -- it gives me a good feeling," Jonas continued. "I want her to be proud of who she is, the hair that grows out of her scalp, and [I want to] help her grow to be a positive and wonderful woman who appreciates her natural self."

Editor's note: This was originally published on March 5, 2020.

These girl dads are making 'Hair Love' magic in real life originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Parents claim that a cell phone keeps their kid safe, but I'd argue it rather disconnects and distracts. Here's why kids should leave their phones at home.

With a new school year beginning, many children are heading off to school with cell phones in their pockets. I hear about these phones from my young, technology-deprived children, who come home wondering why they cant also have an iPhone with cool games on it.

My reasons dont change; in fact, I become more certain and committed to my anti-phones-for-young-kids beliefs the more I read and hear. I tell my kids, who are seven and four, that they can have a cell phone when theyre old enough to buy it and pay for a monthly plan themselves. That will be a while yet.

Why do my husband and I insist on such an old-fashioned, unpopular approach to cell phones?

Cell Phone Self-Control

First of all, I dont think that young kids (I'm talking about those in elementary school) possess the self-control not to engage with their cell phones while attending school. School is the all-important purpose of their lives right now, so why would I give them any device that would make it harder than it already is to learn? No matter how mature a child may be, the temptation of technology is hard to resist; we Millennial adults should know that better than anyone else. Its easier not to place that burden on my kid at all, rather than expect him to know how to handle it. Says Canadian non-profit research group, Media Smarts, Even if a student does not own a phone themselves their presence in the classroom may cause distraction.

Distracted Learning

Second, teachers dont need more distractions in the classroom. Their job is hard enough. A 2015 research paper by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics found that student test scores improve by 6.4 percent when cell phones are banned at schools and that there are no significant academic gains when the ban is ignored.

Is It Fair?

Third, some people argue that allowing cell phones in schools equalizes the playing field, but I disagree. The Mayor of New York is one such person, having lifted a ten-year ban on cell phones in schools in March 2015, with the noble intent of reducing inequality. The Centre for Economic Performance has found this reasoning to be flawed:

Low-achieving students are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones, while high achievers can focus in the classroom regardless of the mobile phone policy. This also implies that any negative externalities from phone use do not impact on the high achieving students. Schools could significantly reduce the education achievement gap by prohibiting mobile phone use in schools, and so by allowing phones in schools, New York may unintentionally increase the inequalities of outcome.



Encourage Social Interaction

Finally, why would I give them something that makes it more difficult to connect with other students? Go to any public place and youll see the majority of people huddled over their miniature screens, lost in a private online world. I want something different for my kids. I want them to be forced to interact with fellow students, to make new friends, to engage in conversation, to play physically, to learn how to read facial expressions. I also want my kids to be able to approach adults, even strangers, and ask for assistance if they need it  without relying on a cell phone and me to get them out of a bind.

Media Smarts found that 20 percent of grade 4 students and half of grade 11 students sleep with their phones in case they receive a message in the night. Even 35 percent of students worry that they spend too much time online, which should be setting off parents alarm bells right now. A big part of teaching digital literacy should be teaching our children when and how to turn off their phones, put them away, and leave them at home -- or not even giving them to our young kids, which is my preferred approach.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in Ankara a few days ago, Head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev said.

During the meeting, the Turkish foreign minister called on the OSCE Minsk Group to work more actively towards the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ganjaliyev said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the conflict must be resolved within Azerbaijans territorial integrity, Ganjaliyev said. Following this meeting, by making unintelligible statements, the Armenian political circles showed negative attitude towards the meeting between the Turkish foreign minister and the co-chairs.

As the elected representative of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, I state that Turkey is one of the members of the OSCE Minsk Group and it is not surprising that a meeting was held between the Turkish foreign minister and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region said.

By making a significant contribution to security and progress both at the international and regional levels, Turkey is extremely interested in resolving conflicts," Ganjaliyev said.

The panic in the Armenian political circles that arose after the abovementioned meeting, in fact, shows that they are not interested in resolving the conflict and are trying to continue following aggressive policy, Ganjaliyev said.

"The destructive position of the political circles of Armenia is directed against the settlement of the conflict, the termination of occupation and the establishment of peace in the region, Ganjaliyev said.

As the elected representative of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, I reiterate that the only obstacle to the peaceful coexistence of both communities is the presence of the Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijani lands, head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region said.

After the Armenian armed forces are withdrawn from the Azerbaijani lands and the Azerbaijani population returns to its lands, there will be no problems for its peaceful co-existence with the Armenian community within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan," Ganjaliyev said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
The Enneagram is the hottest thing in personality types right now, and military spouses are nothing if not trendy.

The Enneagram model has nine numbers, each showing how that personality type views the world. Ideally, these numbers and personality types give followers opportunities for personal development and help in understanding other types.

Sounds kinda hokey, right? Well, I thought so too. Then, I took the test, discovered I am an 8, and the whole world made sense.

Kind of.

You see, 8s are referred to as "The Challenger," someone who is powerful, dominating, self-confident, decisive, willful and confrontational. Even better, one graphic on Instagram showed how people view taking the Enneagram test, and for 8 it was simply, "No."

So, when I took it and typed myself as an 8, I felt justified in my response. And now every time someone I know reveals their number, I can immediately see it.

What would each of these Enneagram types look like when we apply them to military spouses? Read on.

Type 1: The Reformer

The military spouse who always exhibits self-control, maintains the perfect PCS binder and brings reusable bags to the commissary every time. Type 1 military spouses make you a better person just by being around them.

Type 2: The Helper

This military spouse takes care of everyone else. They are generous, caring and live to please others. They bring baked goods to the family readiness meetings and always have an encouraging response on Facebook groups.

Type 3: The Achiever

This military spouse is driven and success-oriented, which is why having them on the ball committee is a win-win for everyone. And if you have a goal, find a type 3 military spouse to hold you accountable.

Type 4: The Individualist

This military spouse likes to hide that they are a military spouse because "dependent" is not a term they like to use. They're sensitive and dramatic, and are usually artistic. They also don't mind being alone, so you may need to take time to pull them out of their shell.

Type 5: The Investigator

If you have an upcoming PCS, a question about pay and benefits, or need to find a regulation to support your cause, talk to this military spouse. They always have a stack of great books to read and tons of useful things at the ready.

Type 6: The Loyalist

If you're having a rough deployment or a bad day, find your type 6 military spouse. They are encouraging and responsible and always have cute mugs to drink tea out of while they listen to you pour your heart out. They're also the perfect person to call at 2 a.m. when your child wakes up sick because you know they have medicine on hand.

Type 7: The Enthusiast

This military spouse is the one you go to for fun! They are spontaneous, fun-loving and versatile. They know all the fun spots in town to find a new hobby and love to travel. If there's a party in need of livening up, make sure this military spouse is on the guest list.

Type 8: The Challenger

This military spouse is someone you definitely want around for the tough conversations. They aren't afraid of confrontation -- even with their spouse's boss -- and they are decisive. You'll never need to worry about 30-minute-long conversations about where to go for dinner, they aren't easily offended and you can rely on them when things are going wrong.

Type 9: The Peacemaker

When you need someone to listen, reassure and agree with you, find your type 9 military spouse friend. They're the ones who will do yoga with you because you asked and encourage you to bring your slippers over to their house for tea.

There you have it: the Enneagrams as military spouses. Have you taken the Enneagram test yet? Do it! It's fun and eye-opening as you look at your relationships inside and outside of the military community.

Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life

For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox.

--Rebecca Alwine can be reached at rebecca.alwine@monster.com.
Press Release

5 March 2020

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee - The Canadian hotel industry recorded mostly negative year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 23-29 February 2020, according to data from STR.

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In comparison with the week of 24 February through 2 March 2019, the industry reported the following:

Occupancy: -1.6% to 59.1%

Average daily rate (ADR): +0.6% to CAD150.37

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -1.0% to CAD88.80

Among the provinces and territories, Nova Scotia experienced the largest decrease in occupancy (-6.2% to 55.4%), which resulted in the steepest decline in RevPAR (-6.1% to CAD68.89).

Manitoba posted the largest drop in ADR (-0.4% to CAD126.40) and the second-steepest decreases in occupancy (-5.5% to 64.5%) and RevPAR (-5.8% to CAD81.47).

Prince Edward Island saw the only double-digit increases in occupancy (+23.9% to 37.1%) and RevPAR (+26.3% to CAD42.60).

Quebec registered the highest lift in ADR (+6.2% to CAD157.20).
These are the desperate scenes from a sprawling migrant camp taking root on the Turkish-Greek border yesterday.

Athens said the number of attempted illegal crossings had surged to 35,000 in a week as Turkey was accused of using the migrants as pawns.

As tents were pitched at Pazarkule on the Turkish side of the border, there were fears the camp might turn into a Calais Jungle-style settlement.

A migrant family stands in front of their tent at a makeshift camp inside Pazarkule border gate yesterday in Edirne, Turkey. Thousands of refugees and migrants have flocked to the Greece, Turkey border after Turkey announced that it would open border gates for a period of 72 hours to allow refugees to cross into European countries after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian air raid in Idlib

Aerial photo taken from a helicopter shows migrants lining up for food at the Turkey-Greece border near Pazarkule, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Mariam, seven, and her brother Ahmad, four, from Syria sleep in an old market as they wait to cross into Greece and the European Union yesterday in Edirne, Turkey

Greek officials believe the Turkish authorities have bussed thousands of migrants to the shared border while encouraging them to storm it.

The EU has sent 100 border guards to bolster the 530-strong force already in place.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened his countrys borders at the weekend, sparking the new migrant crisis.

Refugees and migrants walk as they carry some food and water at a makeshift camp inside Pazarkule border gate yesterday in Edirne, Turkey

A family sits beneath a makeshift tent near the Pazarkule border gate yesterday in Edirne, Turkey

Migrants light a fire on the bank of the Tunca river as they try to enter Europe at the Turkey-Greece border, near the Pazarkule crossing gate in Edirne, Turkey today

Migrants light a fire on the bank of the Tunca river as they try to enter Europe at the Turkey-Greece border, near the Pazarkule crossing gate in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A woman works outside her tent at a makeshift camp inside Pazarkule border gate yesterday in Edirne, Turkey

The EU is urging Mr Erdogan to stick to a treaty signed in 2016, under which Ankara, inundated by four million refugees and migrants, received billions in aid money in return for stemming the flow of people to Europe.

Clashes have escalated amid reports of Greek border police using live ammunition, blank rounds, tear gas and stun grenades to deter migrants.

Greece said that migrants were being manipulated as pawns by Turkey in a bid to exert diplomatic pressure.

The situation threatened to escalate further last night as Ankara said it would deploy special forces along the border to stop Greek guards pushing back people trying to cross.

Migrants light a fire on the bank of the Tunca river as they try to enter Europe at the Turkey-Greece border, near the Pazarkule crossing gate in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Refugees and migrants sit and chat in front of their plastic tent at a makeshift camp inside Pazarkule border gate yesterday in Edirne, Turkey

A woman looks at her child in front of her plastic tent at a makeshift camp inside Pazarkule border gate yesterday in Edirne, Turkey

A woman stands in front of her plastic tent at a makeshift camp inside Pazarkule border gate yesteday in Edirne, Turkey

It came as Mr Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday agreed a ceasefire between their two sides forces in Idlib, northern Syria, which could help de-escalate the migration crisis.

Mr Erdogan has been seeking support from European allies in a bid to hold on to Idlib, the last opposition-controlled region in Syria, but his calls have so far fallen on deaf ears.

It prompted him to throw open his borders to put pressure on European leaders.
Blida, March 05, 2020 (SPS) - Sahrawi students in Algeria expressed, on Sunday in Blida, their attachment to the fight to wrest their right to liberty and independence and recover the sovereignty of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (RASD) across all of its territories.

Students declared on the sidelines of the festivities celebrating the 44th anniversary of the proclamation of the SADR, hosted by the "Saad Dahleb" university that they were "optimistic about the outcome of the Saharawi question, especially after the last decisions taken during the 33rd African Union (AU) summit held on February 10 in Addis Ababa and the 15th congress of the Frente POLISARIO held for almost three months.

In this context, Sid Mehdi Chemat, member of the office of the Sahrawi student center in Algeria indicated "there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon announcing the settlement of the Sahrawi question soon. There is no choice for the international community, except to play its role to allow the Saharawi people to have their right to self-determination, "he said.

Organized on the initiative of the "Chahid Zerka Hamoud" section of Sahrawi students in Algeria, the celebration of the 44th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (RASD) at the "Saad Dahleb" university in Blida notably included holding exhibitions highlighting the Sahrawi culture and its political and diplomatic struggle.

Algerian and Saharawi students from numerous national universities occasionally attended communications highlighting the solidarity and brotherhood binding the two peoples, in addition to the screening of a documentary film on the history of the Saharawi cause. SPS

125/090/TRQ
The Houston suburbs' top alcohol-selling bars and restaurants generated $5,096,944 in total beverage receipts in December 2019, according to data provided by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Using this data, Chron.com compiled the No. 1 alcohol seller in each Houston suburb during the month of December, which is the most recent data available by the Texas Comptroller. Only bars and restaurants were included in this list.
Singapore's candidate defeated China's on to win a leadership contest at the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as Beijing continues to jockey for control and influence at the U.N.



Daren Tang, 47, who is the current CEO of Singapore's intellectual property office, now looks set to take over from Australia's Francis Gurry as head of WIPO.



China's Wang Binyang -- who would have been the first woman to hold the post -- had been among five shortlisted candidates for the post, but Tang beat Wang by 55 committee votes to 28. His appointment must still be approved by the U.N. agency's general assembly, but this will likely be a formality.



The campaign for WIPO chief saw top U.S. officials speak out against China's candidate on the grounds that Beijing has stolen intellectual property in the past.



WIPO has a large income generated by corporate fees for its patent and trademarks registration service.



China's ambassador in Geneva Chen Xu denied that the result was a defeat for the Chinese government, which has been actively extending its overseas power and influence since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.



"The whole process, I think, is a very strong indication of Chinas readiness to make more contributions to the international community," Chen told reporters, adding: "We tried our best."



James Pooley, deputy Director General for Innovation and Technology Sector at WIPO, told RFA that China's massive infrastructure investment program in developing countries in recent years has made it far easier for Beijing to lobby to support its own interests in international bodies.



He said China has reproduced its lobbying and vote-seeking strategy across a number of international organizations, with considerable success.



China has now seen its nationals rise to the top job in four U.N. agencies: Qu Dongyu at the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO); Fang Liu at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); Zhao Houlin at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); and Li Yong at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).



Fox guarding the henhouse

Last month, Peter Navarro, assistant to the U.S. president for trade and manufacturing policy, wrote that China is continually jockeying for control of the U.N.'s specialized agencies.



"Chinas WIPO gambit is part of a broader strategy to gain control over the 15 specialized agencies of the U.N.," Navarro wrote in the Financial Times on Feb. 23.



"China already leads four of the U.N. specialized agencies while no other country leads more than one, and Chinese nationals hold the number two post at seven of them, including WIPO," he said.



He said it would have been a "terrible mistake" to give control of WIPO to a representative of China, given Beijing's record with intellectual property (IP).



"Chinese IP theft costs the American economy between U.S.$225 billion and U.S.$600 billion annually," Navarro wrote.



Richard Gowan, who represents the International Crisis Group at the United Nations, said China's control of the FAO last year had come as a nasty shock to Washington, which had then lobbied hard against Wang Binying during the WIPO selection process.



Requests for comment to the Chinese embassy in the U.S. and the foreign ministry in Beijing had met with no response at the time of publication.



But Chinese officials have hit out in the past at the U.S.' own lobbying activities as "arrogant suppression of China for narrow political purposes."



Pooley said China had proposed opening a WIPO office in Shanghai, raising concerns about the security of top secret patent documents under the International Patent System, which receives more than 250,000 patent applications a year.



He said the applications contained some of the most valuable secrets in the world, and that global trust in China's ability to safeguard intellectual property is too low for it to lead WIPO. The plan for the Shanghai office was later shelved.



'Track record of molding the U.N. agenda'

A senior White House official told RFA that Beijing's campaign to take control of WIPO is part of its bid to "reshape the international system to accommodate its political and economic interests."



"Chinese Communist Party officials in these leadership roles are not independent and have a proven track record of molding the U.N. agenda to serve [Beijing's] interests," the official said.



"In service of this strategy, [China] has consistently sought to trade financial incentives for votes, offering bribes and cancelling debt for countries that support them."



China last year forgave Cameroons debt the month before the country withdrew its candidate to head the FAO, and threatened to cut off key exports from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay if those countries did not back Qu, who now heads the body, the Washington Post reported on .



The paper said China is the sole contributor to the U.N. Peace and Development Trust Fund, which gives Chinese officials four of the five steering committee seats. The Fund advises the U.N. secretary general on which projects to fund, allowing Beijing to lobby for its Belt and Road international infrastructure investment program, the paper said.



Hong Kong current affairs commentator Simon Lau said China has also begun to implement its international influence strategy at the U.N. Human Rights Committee and -- notably given the current COVID-19 epidemic -- at the World Health Organization (WHO).



"Trump himself has criticized the U.N. Human Rights Committee for ... allowing the Chinese Communist Party and Russia to control its response to human rights violations," Lau told RFA. "These aren't isolated incidents: they are state policy."



"A few years ago, China began to promote the idea of a Chinese solution to international disputes ... and refers to the hegemony of the U.S., while they claim to be all about peaceful negotiation," he said.



He said Beijing's influence has been quite audible in the response of the WHO to China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.



"Every time the Director General of the WHO comes out to say something about the current global spread of the epidemic, he has to praise Xi Jinping," Lau said.



"If we are already seeing this happening at the WHO, then perhaps we will also see praise for China's intellectual property protections ... around the forthcoming Sino-U.S. intellectual property negotiations?"



Reported by Jane Tang for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Lau Siu-fung for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Everyone who has seen a hummingbird hawk-moth feed will never forget it again. The little moths look like hummingbirds when they hover in the air in front of a flower and dip their proboscis into the nectary with great precision. They particularly like to visit geraniums, but also head for many other flowers.

However, hummingbird hawk-moths should not take too much time in their search for the nectary, because hovering costs a lot of energy. So they have to be efficient. But how do hummingbird hawk-moths manage to get to the nectar as quickly and accurately as possible?

"Colored patterns on the flower faces help the hummingbird hawk-moth navigate," says Dr. Anna Stockl from the Biocentre of Julius-Maximilians-Universitat (JMU) Wurzburg in Bavaria, Germany. The researcher wants to understand how these small insects visually recognise such patterns and process them in their nervous system. She is also working on other projects that focus on the processing of visual stimuli in insects. Financial support for these projects is provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Volkswagen Foundation.

Looking forward to the exchange with other fellows

With her research program for the coming years, the Wurzburg-based scientist has applied to the Young Academy of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. With success: On March 1, 2020, she will be accepted into this circle of outstanding young researchers - initially for three years, with the option of an extension for another three years. This membership come with a scholarship of 12,000 euros per year.

"It is a great honor for me to be accepted into the Young Academy," says Anna Stockl, "and I am very much looking forward to the exchange with my fellows. In our highly specialized job we easily get lost in our little scientific bubble." The Young Academy provides an excellent opportunity to broaden one's horizon by interacting with researchers from many different disciplines.

Currently Anna Stockl is the only scholarship holder from JMU. But two other Wurzburg researchers are among the alumni of the Young Academy: Cynthia Sharma, who now holds the Chair of Molecular Infection Biology at JMU, and Dr. Michael Hudecek, who leads a research group on cancer immunotherapies at the Wurzburg University Hospital.

Anna Stockl's career

Anna Stockl is fascinated by insects because comparatively few nerve cells in their brain are able to control very complex behaviour. In addition, she has an "incurable addiction for observing neurons live in action," as she writes on her website. This "addiction" began in Grunstadt, in the German region of Palatinate - during her school days there she spent several months learning about the human eye and retina in a focus project.

As her scientific training went on, the "addiction" became more intense. Anna Stockl investigated the visual systems of a wide variety of animals - mice, fish, leeches, jellyfish and hawkmoths were among them. She studied biology and neuroscience in Heidelberg and at LMU in Munich; for her doctoral thesis she went to Lund University in Sweden. "I had already met my supervisor Eric Warrant when I was a bachelor's student, during an internship at the Vision Group in Lund," says Stockl.

Science communication is fun

In her dissertation, she examined elephant hawk-moths. These striking pink-green moth can not only navigate, but even perceive colors in starlight. Anna Stockl described how the moths achieve this: they do not only rely on their excellent eyes, but also sum neural information in time and space in their brain. "You can compare this to a camera: The elephant hawk-moths extend the exposure time and enlarge the pixels," the JMU researcher explains.

There is no better way to describe it - thus it is fitting that Anna Stockl has been awarded the KlarText Prize for Science Communication 2017 by the Klaus Tschira Foundation. She also took part in the Science Slam 2019 of the JMU alumni office, where she explained her research in an understandable and entertaining way to a lay audience.

"I always thought it important to explain what I am investigating. And I really enjoy taking a creative and sometimes a little crazy approach to explaining science," says Stockl. It is also important for her to give back to society that finances her research in this way - "especially because I don't work on application-oriented questions, but I conduct basic research."

###
More than 40 sickened, 2 killed by contaminated drug at Villahermosa hospital

Villahermosa, Tabasco  The head of the National Human Rights Commission has ordered an investigation into the sickening of more than 40 people in a Villahermosa hospital, two of which have died, after being administered heparin sodium.

The 42 affected patients were administered contaminated or expired heparin sodium. So far, two patients have reportedly died at the Hospital Regional de Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

The incident occurred March 1. Maria del Rosario Piedra Ibarra, head of la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH) has ordered the initiation of an ex officio complaint to investigate alleged human rights violations.

Maria del Rosario Piedra Ibarra

Upon learning of the facts through the media on March 1, the national ombudsperson ordered that deputy visitors, lawyers and medical experts move to the hospital to help the sick and their families.

The agency reports that at least 42 people were affected by the application of sodium heparin used for hemodialysis treatment and as a result, two have died while others remain in intensive care.

On Tuesday, the hospital released a statement about the death of two patients due to the supply of a contaminated drug, noting that the contaminated product corresponds to lot C18E881 with expiration of January 2021. Their investigation includes the detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Personnel of the office of the CNDH in Tabasco have been present at the hospital where they were attended to by the director who indicated that they were attending to 22 patients under observation and four in intensive care who were affected by the medication.
The Augusta, Ga., Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) cut the time it takes to process its annual census of residents experiencing homelessness from between 30 and 90 days down to minutes by replacing a traditionally manual task with technology.

Like many municipalities, Augusta had relied for years on volunteers with paper and pens to conduct these so-called point in time counts, which take place nationwide at the end of January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires continuums of care -- federally funded regional or local organizations that oversee homeless services -- to conduct PIT counts at least biennially to determine funding levels.

For the 2019 count, Augusta switched from paper to digital tools from Simtech Solutions. Now, volunteers use the Counting US app -- usually on their own mobile devices -- to enter data on the number of people experiencing homelessness they see during the count period and to surveys some of them, asking questions about age, health and veteran status, for example, to give the local and federal government a better picture of trends in homelessness.

The transition was disruptive. It was game-changing from 2018 to 2019, said Daniel Evans, community development manager at HCD.

Volunteers download the app from the Apple App or Google Play stores, register for an account and enter a region-specific setup key to have their account associated with their regions data store. After entering in this unique key, the Counting Us app is automatically configured with the survey questions and geographic boundaries for the region. The app uses conditional logic to control the questions displayed, which helps enumerators stay on track and avoid errors.

We can prevent bad data from even existing, said Matt Simmonds, the companys president. You cant be 17 years old and be a veteran. You cant be 8 years old and be a parent.

Data is stored locally only when the mobile device is not connected to the internet. When it is connected, the data flows from the app to Simtechs PIT regional command center, where its incorporated into dashboards, reports and maps. Administrators can click on map layers to see counts by city, county, ZIP code or census tract. They can also find out how many surveys were conducted within a specific region and run a HUD PIT report for the selected locations.

You dont know what you dont know, so back in the paper survey days, when someone from an agency or a group of surveyors brought me a stack of surveys, and they said, Its all good, I said, OK, great, Evans said. With the command center functionality from Simtech, were actually able to see the surveys from the users as they come in, so I can look in there and say, Hey, Ms. Hartman, Im seeing that you submitted 14 surveys, but you had 17 people enrolled in your program that night. What happened?

Whats more, each survey is geotagged so that officials can see which areas have been covered and where volunteers linger. All data can be exported in CSV format, and reports can be published as PDFs.

Each survey is geotagged and date and time stamped and includes the name and contact information for the volunteer who collected the information, Evans said. This enables count administrators to monitor the count in real time and reach out to volunteers if they leave their designated coverage area or if there are any questions about the information that was submitted.

PIT count reports are due to HUD in April, but with the technology, the day that we close the account, were able to give an unofficial estimate, he added. I knew it was 560 people the day it closed because the results were right there in a nice, pretty printout. It comes out in a PDF with charts on it and broken down by subpopulations.

Other communities are applying technology to their PIT counts. King County, Wash., used an app for the first time this year, as did the Southwest Arkansas Partnership. The San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless teamed this year with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department and Chula Vista Police Department to fly drones over large areas to find homeless encampments before volunteers set out on their counts.

The Ohio Balance of State Continuum of Care was another of the 44 communities that used Simtechs tools for the 2020 count. It also uses Tableau Software to create maps of the data, including color coding counties to show higher concentrations of homeless populations and the number of homeless households. Hovering a mouse over each county pulls up details such as how many individuals have mental illness or a substance abuse disorder.

Los Angeles County uses technology to do more than submit data to HUD. Last December, it stood up an online, interactive map that shows hot spots among its 88 cities with high rates of people experiencing homelessness and pins representing shelters, safe parking lots for people who live in their vehicles, supportive housing, winter shelters, family hotels used for crisis housing and interim housing in development or under construction. It went public Dec. 10, 2019, and had gotten more than 25,600 views as of Feb. 19.

To build the Los Angeles County Homelessness & Housing Map, Steven Steinberg, geographic information officer for the county, and his team used PIT data plus about a dozen other datasets from at least five departments. The first step was getting it all into the same format -- most of the data arrived by email in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Now, a data work group is creating standards and formats so that when departments share their data, its coding and structure are consistent, he said, adding that the ultimate goal is to automate the process so that as data updates, so does the map.

I think the real value that we were able to bring to the table came with the visualization of the data, Steinberg said. Its one thing to look at a list of numbers of people experiencing homelessness, and addresses and census areas that theyre located in, but that doesnt really give you a picture of where theres an alignment or misalignment of those data with other resources that are serving that community.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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Russian, Turkish leaders meet in Moscow, with aim to stop clashes between Turkish and Syrian government forces.

The Turkish and Russian presidents are meeting in Moscow for talks over a ceasefire deal amid intensifying fighting between Turkish and Syrian government forces in Syrias northwestern Idlib province.

Last week, Turkey and fighters aligned to it launched a military operation in the region after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air attack by the Russia-backed Syrian army.

Two Turkish soldiers died and several others were wounded on Wednesday in a fresh Syrian assault, which prompted Ankara to retaliate by striking military objectives.

On Thursday, Russian air raids in Idlib killed 16 civilians, according to Syrian civil defence group, the White Helmets, while Turkish defence ministry said 184 Syrian government forces were killed in the last 24 hours.

Ankara says its army downed three Syrian planes, destroyed hundreds of vehicles and equipment, and killed more than 3,000 government soldiers since the operation was launched on February 27.

According to the United Nations, since December, one million people, mainly women and children, have fled fighting in Idlib, after the Syrian government launched a military assault in the last opposition-held stronghold in the country.

Thursdays meeting in Moscow takes an even more crucial turn as it becomes a ground for salvaging a deteriorating relationship between two economic partners.

Before his visit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he expected the talks with his counterpart Vladimir Putin to result in the rapid achievement of a ceasefire.

Russia, meanwhile, will try to maintain a tricky balance between sparing Turkey while supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

This is still in play and Moscows main goal will be to force Ankara to accept a new reality on the ground that Syria will not roll back to previous positions, said Marianna Belenkaya, an expert on the Middle East and fellow at Carnegie Moscow Center think-tank.

Both parties will have to give in on something in order to broker a ceasefire, and for Russia, that means guaranteeing to Turkey that the Syrian offensive will stop soon.





Muhittin Ataman, an Ankara-based Turkish professor of international relations, said the problems in Syria until now have been resolved through meetings between the two leaders.

The bureaucratic and diplomatic talks before that did not make much progress in the previous years. This includes the 2018 Sochi agreement, Ataman told Al Jazeera.

And at the point we are at right now, particularly on the ground in Syria, this meeting seems to be the last hope for both sides to resolve the crisis, he added.

Both sides are unhappy with each others efforts to implement the Sochi agreement on Syria signed in September 2018, which created a de-escalation zone with 12 observation towers around Idlib.

Regarding the deal, Russia accuses Turkey of not doing enough to separate moderate rebels from terrorists. They say the operation they launched in December is aimed at clearing terrorists from the region, in line with the 2018 deal.

Ankara says Moscow breached the ceasefire agreed upon in 2018 numerous times, including their latest offensive, and is not doing enough to rein in Damascus.

The Hayet Tahrir al-Sham armed group, a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is considered a terrorist organisation by Russia and Turkey, controls a large portion of Idlib.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin knows the meeting will be difficult but hopes new agreements will be found in the Sochi framework.

Land control

As the fighting goes on in the strategic town of Saraqeb, about 30km (19 miles) east of the city of Idlib, land control is, and will be, key.

I expect Putin and Erdogan to reach agreements, said Anton Mardasov, a non-resident expert of the Russian International Affairs Council, for instance, the introduction of a buffer zone in the area of the M4 and M5 motorways and, possibly, of Turkish posts.

Putin first turned down a meeting with Erdogan in January.

In February, Ankara announced a four-way meeting scheduled for March 5 with Frances Emmanuel Macron, Germanys Angela Merkel and Putin.

Five days later, Kremlin brushed the idea off, stating that Putin had other plans for March 5  before effectively saying he would meet Erdogan.

We are at a point that the Turkish-Russian relations might be harmed fundamentally in a way that is hard come back from, unless there is a decrease in tensions, added Ataman, the Turkish analyst.

This [if a solution is not reached in Moscow] would further complicate the Syrian crisis, and risk the deals made between the two sides on the ground up until today. Turkeys military success and the large losses recorded by the Syrian government forces in the last few days are also likely to influence the course of talks in Moscow.

Russia controls the Syrian airspace and wields economic leverage in the region. It signed a mega defence system deal last year with Ankara. Moreover, Moscow is helping Turkey build the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, as well as Gazproms flagship TurkStream gas pipeline.

Moscow aims to pressure Turkey into taking active measures about the rebels in Idlib, said analyst Anton Mardasov.

International affairs expert Fyodor Lukyanov recently wrote in the Russian press, Both sides are not linked by mutual interests or trust, but by the impossibility to achieve their goals without the other partys cooperation.

Most Russian analysts, therefore, believe that cooler heads will prevail and that an understanding will be found, preventing direct confrontation.

Russia and Turkey simply cannot afford it [confrontation], said Belenkaya.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has doubled the institution's fee for prospective students set to join in the academic year 2020-21.

JNU has also incremented its one-time medical fee from a mere Rs 9 to Rs 1,000. These increases in fee come at a time when the institution is already embroiled in student protests against fee hike.

The fee for the MPhil and Ph.D. programs, which was Rs 295 per semester till this year, has been increased to Rs 780 per semester. In the same vein, the fee for undergraduate and postgraduate students has also been incremented from Rs 283 per semester in AY 2019-2020 to Rs 768 per semester AY 2020-21. GST is not included in these figures.

The JNU Student Union (JNUSU) has been fighting a case in the Delhi High Court over the hostel fee hike by the administration in 2019. JNUSU had taken the step of going to the courts after months of protests both in and outside the university. The Ministry of Human Resource Development was forced to intervene and hold meetings with the students to negotiate.

About the fee hike, JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh has said, "This will be fought again. The JNU community needs to unite to stop this." Till now, Dean of Admissions Deepak Gaur and Registrar Pramod Kumar have not made any statements regarding the fee hike.

JNU is not the only institution where the fee has been incremented in the last few years. The students of the Indian Insitute of Mass Communication (IIMC) have also been protesting against a fee hike that was announced last December.

Several IITs also protested against the 900% fee hike that was supposed to come into effect from November 26. In December, the government had put a hold on the fee hike in IITs.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Five quarantined in Vizag on arrival from Malaysia

Also Read: Coronavirus scare: UP sets up 18-member committee to monitor situation
Yemen: UN Population Fund stresses women's needs, amidst world's worst humanitarian crisis

4 March 2020 - Intense clashes in Yemen's Al Hazam City, this month have caused massive displacement with an estimated 1,800 families forced to flee their homes, according to a flash update from UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA.

The new fighting exacerbates displacement caused by renewed clashes involving pro-Government forces and Houthi rebels around Marib, Sana'a and Al Jawf Governorates, which forced 5,000 families to flee their homes, according to a situation update from UNFPA, the UN Population Fund, which focuses on sexual and reproductive health.

Yemen is the world's largest humanitarian crisis and displaced persons remain in need of protection, shelter and lifesaving health services.

Amid reported airstrikes, massive displacement was reported from Al Hazm District, which has been hosting thousands of civilians on the run from parts of Al Jawf and Marib Governorates. On 1 March, a reported 2,100 displaced families reached Marib, where they are being hosted by local communities.

Three-quarters of displaced are women and children

In the past three years, nearly 4.3 million people have been displaced in Yemen, about half of whom are women, with 27 per cent below the age of 18.

"Women and children make up almost 76 per cent of displaced persons in Yemen, and amid all the hardships, women have remained strong and resilient. In most cases they have been the ones carrying the burden of providing for their families", said Nestor Owumohangi, UNFPA Representative in Yemen.

Conflict escalation and the ensuing humanitarian crises have further weakened the position of women and girls in Yemeni society, says UNFPA. The result has been the near erosion of protection mechanisms for women, increasing their risk of abuse and violence.

UNFPA mobile protection and reproductive health teams have been deployed to provide critical maternal health services, psychological first aid and transit kits, identifying the most vulnerable women and girls and referring them to relevant services.

Losing access to education

With limited shelter options, displaced women and girls tend to suffer most from lack of safe spaces and limited access to basic services. Notably, displaced girls are more likely to lose access to schooling as families with limited resources deprioritize their education. An estimated 48% of Yemini women are illiterate and child marriage continues to be a common practice.

UNFPA is working to empower women and girls through safe spaces and mobile clinics in affected regions. By providing access to reproductive health services and psychosocial support, women receive life-saving assistance, whether they are displaced, on the move or caught in the frontlines of conflict.

Since mid-January, over 3,600 newly displaced households (25,000 individuals) have been identified as needing emergency relief. Mobile reproductive health teams continue to be deployed by UNFPA partners in Marib to serve newly displaced persons in collective sites. To date, over 4,400 displaced persons have received essential reproductive healthcare, with others referred to relevant services.

UNFPA the only source for reproductive services

UNFPA remains the single source of reproductive medicines, supplies and services for the country amid obstacles and challenges. With only 35 per cent of maternal health facilities currently functioning, investments are needed in strengthening the health system.

"Since the war started, health providers have not been receiving salaries," explained Dr. Afrah Thabet, a Yemeni obstetrician stationed with UNFPA in the country. "We keep training them to provide minimum services for reproductive health. With the current situation in the country, we are trying our best to make sure that women are able to access commodities, medications and maternal health services they urgently require."

Our colleagues at UN News Arabic interviewed Dr. Thabet last month, and you can find the story here.

In 2019, more than 3.5 million people in Yemen received lifesaving emergency packages and reproductive health and protection services through the support of UNFPA. More than 116,000 safe deliveries were facilitated and an estimated 30,000 survivors of gender-based violence received care.

'Deprived of a childhood'

Among those reached is Hana'a, a displaced woman whose last name has been omitted for her safety and protection. At the request of her parents, Hana'a was married to a wealthy man twice her age, when she was just 15 years old.

"I was deprived of an education and a childhood," she explained. "I was taught to be a 40-year-old woman trapped in a 15-year-old's body."

Her husband lost his job when they were displaced and was later imprisoned. To support her family, Hana'a started baking and selling traditional pastries. She now lives with her five children in a single room, where they eat, sleep and bake.

Business start-up 'has given me hope'

With the help of a UNFPA-supported business start-up programme at a safe space, Hana'a was granted a micro-loan to help her grow her baking business.

"The programme has given me hope, a fresh start for a new life" Hana'a said. "I am willing to work alone to build a better future for my daughters, a better one than I had."

Safe spaces foster a sense of security and solidarity, allowing for the identification and support of survivors of gender-based violence while mobilizing and empowering women such as Hana'a psychosocially and professionally. For survivors of gender-based violence, livelihood and skills training provides an entry point for services, eliminating stigma and facilitating community outreach.

UNFPA supports 46 women and girls safe spaces across the country, two of which are in Marib and one in Al Jawf. Visits to these spaces have increased by 50 per cent in the past month.

To reach women and families in need, UNFPA takes a number of customized approaches. In remote villages, mobile teams provide in-home services, including maternal health, family planning services and psychosocial support to women and girls who cannot afford to pay for transportation to hospitals.

To date, the mobile teams have assisted over 5,500 individuals with reproductive health and protection services in Marib and Al Jawf following increased displacement.

"As much as food and shelter is essential, what determines women's life or death in a crisis is their ability to access basic reproductive health and protection services on time," explained Mr. Owumohangi. "Our greatest success has been in making sure that these unique needs of women and girls have not been overlooked in the world's largest humanitarian crisis that is happening in Yemen."

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No detention centre is coming up in Maharashtra in connection with implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed NRC, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the legislative council on Thursday.

Deshmukh gave this information in a written reply in response to a question by Sharad Ranpise (Congress). "No detention centre is coming up anywhere in the state in connection with rolling out of the CAA and NRC," he told the upper house.

However, in the past the Union home ministry asked the state government to set up a temporary facility to house foreign nationals awaiting deportation, he said.

The Union home ministry directed the state, in a letter dated September 10, 2014, and a manual dated January 9, 2019, to set up a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals who have completed their jail terms here and were waiting for deportation, Deshmukh said.

Those foreign nationals who have served their jail sentences after conviction will be kept in such a detention centre until their nationality is proved and they are deported," the NCP minister said.

There are directives for constructing a temporary detention centre at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. The government has also requested the CIDCO (a state-run city planning agency) to allot three acres of land for setting up a permanent infrastructure for the same, Deshmukh said.

All three ruling coalition allies -- the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP -- have opposed the proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens), an exercise that seeks to create a record of bonafide Indian citizens and identify illegal migrants.

However, last month the government told Parliament it has not taken any decision on preparing a nationwide NRC. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already said his government will not allow the NRC to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions".

But Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, has supported the CAA, which seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees who have fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan because of religious persecution.

However, his allies Congress and the NCP have opposed the amended citizenship law, calling it discriminatory and violative of the Constitution.

The CAA and NRC measures, along with the NPR (National Population Register), are facing opposition from various quarters, including some political parties.

Image Credits: PTI
Now that hes in charge, Mr. Calhoun has become more willing to openly criticize Mr. Muilenburg. He said the former chief executive had turbocharged Boeings production rates before the supply chain was ready, a move that sent Boeing shares to an all-time high but compromised quality.

Ill never be able to judge what motivated Dennis, whether it was a stock price that was going to continue to go up and up, or whether it was just beating the other guy to the next rate increase, he said. He added later, If anybody ran over the rainbow for the pot of gold on stock, it would have been him.

Mr. Muilenburg declined to comment.

Mr. Calhoun and the rest of Boeings board never seriously questioned that strategy, in part because before the first Max crash off the coast of Indonesia in October 2018, the company was enjoying its best run in years. Whats more, the board believed that Mr. Muilenburg, an engineer who had been at Boeing for his entire career, was so deeply informed about the business that he was a good judge of the risks involved in ramping up production.

If we were complacent in any way, maybe, maybe not, I dont know, Mr. Calhoun said. We supported a C.E.O. who was willing and whose history would suggest that he might be really good at taking a few more risks.

It was only after the Max was grounded last March following a crash in Ethiopia that Mr. Muilenburgs optimistic approach became viewed as a liability. Airlines grew livid after he repeatedly voiced overly optimistic timetables about when the Max would return to service. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Stephen Dickson, was so frustrated that he reprimanded Mr. Muilenburg in a private meeting and publicly told F.A.A. employees to resist pressure from the company.

They felt like they were being pushed into a timeline, Mr. Calhoun said of the F.A.A., adding that the regulator was never there alongside of us, but apparently our team didnt quite come up to grips with that.

One of Mr. Calhouns initial tasks as chief executive was to go on an apology tour, holding a series of what he called greet-and-mend opportunities. The first stop was the White House.
Popular Nigerian actor, Yul Edochie, has taken to Twitter to advise men who are yet to get married.

The actor pointed out that getting married to a career-driven woman and planning to tie her down is disastrous.

Sharing on Twitter, he also pointed out that men should get married to the woman that fits in their plans.

READ ALSO  I Didnt Kneel When I Proposed To My Wife  Yul Edochie (Video)

Yul wrote in part: Dont marry a career lady and force her to stay at home. You fail am bros

See His Post Here:
TipRanks

One thing is certain already: the market environment for 2022 will not be the same as that in 2021. This may or may not be good for investors, per se, but like every shift in market conditions, it will present opportunities for those prepared to grasp them. Some factors are just reruns. COVID is rearing its ugly head again, threatening us with lockdowns and shutdowns. Thats running against the grain of a resurgent economy, an economy that is trying to gain more traction  but its facing headwi
The Mathematics teacher of a private school in Bhubaneswar was arrested on Thursday on charges of molesting a class 7 student of the school.

According to the police, the accused teacher Sanjay Patnaik, who teaches mathematics in the private school in old town area of Bhubaneswar had allegedly molested the girl and even issued death threats.

On March 3, the mother of the girl had lodged a complaint that Patnaik was sexually harassing her daughter for the last four months. The teacher had allegedly kissed and hugged her. On raising an alarm, the victim was given an invitation of a trip to Puri, said the public relations officer of Bhubaneswar commissionerate of police.

The police said following the initial investigation, the victim was sent for medical examination. A case under Section 354, 506 of IPC and Section 10/12 of thePocso Act as well as Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act has been lodged against the accused. He was later remanded to judicial custody after his bail petitions were rejected by a court.

However, soon after the arrest of the maths teacher, the school authorities and some parents came forward in his support. Academic head of the school, Basanti Mishra said the allegations of molestation were baseless. The maths teacher is innocent and there are vested interests involved to defame the school. The girl had taken admission in the school recently and her fees were pending. As the maths teacher was in charge of the fee collection he had reminded the girl to clear the dues. One can check the CCTV footage to know the truth, said Mishra.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun bangs a gavel at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting in Daegu, Thursday.



Manufacturing, distribution to be controlled



By Lee Kyung-min



The government will ban the export of face masks from today, as part of emergency measures to curb the continued spike in their prices and a shortage of what many consider a daily necessity to prevent any further spread of the coronavirus here, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday.

The measures will remain effective until June 30.

The government will control the manufacture and distribution of the masks to help guarantee their availability at an affordable price to those in need.

"The country's mask manufacturers are bracing for weeks of overnight work to meet the rapidly increasing demand," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a Cabinet meeting in Daegu, Thursday.

"The government will implement all measures possible to help the public feel that masks are being made available fairly to those in need."

The administration plans to ease rules on daily mask manufacturing limits and the market supply of melt-blown fabric  the raw material needed to make masks.

It said that this will prevent further shortage-induced price hikes, and help increase the daily combined output of the country's 140 mask manufacturers to nearly 11 million  almost double the 6.5 million, Jan.30.

To prevent hoarding, maximum weekly purchases will be strictly limited to two per person starting March 9, using an electronic purchase and storage system run by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Purchases will be prohibited without an ID.

Those whose year of birth ends in either one or six can buy them on Mondays; two or seven on Tuesdays; three or eight on Wednesdays; four or nine on Thursdays and five or zero on Fridays. People that did not buy masks on weekdays will be allowed to do so on weekends.

For the remainder of this week, however, people will be able to buy up to two each over the three-day period. Hoarded masks seized by the investigative authorities will be immediately released for sale at pharmacies, post offices and Nonghyup Bank's Hanaro marts nationwide  places that will not implement profit margin-oriented price hikes.

The first to receive the masks will be those in regions hit hardest by the virus spread and infections, as well as medical, quarantine and disinfection professionals and the underprivileged.

Meanwhile, the export ban comes after the government instituted a strict measure to limit the export of masks to 10 percent of the domestically produced maximum, Feb. 26.

The limit, which was introduced to help increase the domestic circulation of masks, came after an earlier measure Feb. 5 to criminally punish mask hoarders failed to either stabilize supplies or normalize the nearly four-fold increase in the price of single-use masks.

Under the revised law, the "illicit mass purchase" of face masks is punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won ($18,000).

A recent National Tax Service investigation showed that a group of online sellers that hoarded masks, and brokers that exported them overseas netted hundreds of millions of won in profit.

Most of these middlemen and brokers are said to have bought masks for between 300 won and 800 won each and sold them for up to 5,000 won. Some are still being sold at over 6,000 won online.
Churches are warning worshippers that they should stop shaking hands during 'The Peace' and avoid kissing the cross during Good Friday services in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The Catholic Church, Church of England and The United Reform Church have all issued guidance on dealing with the outbreak as confirmed cases continue to rise across Britain.

Churchgoers will see changes to their traditions of worship in the coming weeks, and if the outbreak worsens, could see Easter masses cancelled entirely.

The Catholic Bishops Conference has told parishes in England and Wales to suspend congregations if there are a large number of cases of the virus in the local community.

They advised against the tradition that sees many Roman Catholics mark Jesus' death on Good Friday by kneeling and kissing the cross.

Churchgoers will see changes to their traditions of worship in the coming weeks, and if the outbreak worsens, could see Easter masses cancelled entirely. Pictured: Holy Communion at the Church of St Stephen Walbrook, London

Anyone administering communion has been instructed to avoid placing the wafer directly on the tongue

Other measures include stopping communion being distributed from the chalice and the removal of holy water from stoups.

Church of England guidance, updated daily, said they parishoners with coughs and colds should not accept the communion cup and avoid shaking hands to offer the sign of peace.

It also says hand sanitisers should be available in all churches, and intinction - the dipping of bread in the wine - is not recommended.

In addition, anyone administering communion has been instructed to avoid placing the wafer directly on the tongue.

Church of England guidance, updated daily, said they parishoners with coughs and colds should not accept the communion cup and avoid shaking hands during the Peace

The Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Revd James Newcome, who is the lead bishop on health care, told the Church Times: 'Chaplains have an important role in supporting a sense of calm in hospitals and reassuring staff as well as patients.

The Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Revd James Newcome, who is the lead bishop on health care

'They also need to reinforce the essential message we are trying to get across to all our parishes: hygiene is fundamental; the importance of hand washing and common sense in terms of contact with other people if there is any hint or evidence of coronavirus symptoms.'

The United Reformed Church is also is offering prevention advice to congregations around the UK on the coronavirus outbreak.

It said medical advice has been sought from Thrive Worldwide, which advises the URC on ministerial health issues,

Thrive Worldwide said: 'Churches should already be following best hygiene practices that include advising members who are unwell to stay at home, or those with coughs and sneezes to refrain from handshaking.

'It is also best practice for churches to have hand sanitisers available for members and visitors to use.'

Ministers today launched an advertising blitz featuring a dirty door handle, amid frantic efforts to halt the rise of coronavirus in the UK.

It was confirmed this afternoon that there are now 115 coronavirus cases in Britain

BEWARE DOOR HANDLES, AD CAMPAIGN WARNS Ministers have launched an advertising blitz featuring a dirty door handle, amid frantic efforts to halt the rise of coronavirus in the UK. The huge public information campaign will urge the public to wash their hands whenever they arrive somewhere. The drive is designed to change people's attitude to hygiene, amid fears the killer infection could become a seasonal problem. The ad campaign warns that the coronavirus virus can live on hard surfaces for hours Health chiefs decided to use the door handle picture after tests showed 96 per cent of people remembered the poster because of the disgust factor. In comparison, only 85 per cent could recall a poster that simply told people to wash their hands, The Times reports. A Government source told the newspaper: 'Just information works on a cognitive level. But disgust works on an emotional level.' Advertisement

It was confirmed this afternoon that there are now 115 coronavirus cases in Britain.

The huge public information campaign will urge the public to wash their hands whenever they arrive somewhere.

The drive is designed to change people's attitude to hygiene, amid fears the killer infection could become a seasonal problem.

Professor Whitty, who is leading the fight against the disease on British soil, also repeated this morning that there is no need for stockpile of food or medicine.

'There is no need at this stage to be stocking up on anything,' he told MPs.

'This is going to be a long period, there is going to be a lead time before the actual serious take-off of this comes, which we will be able to indicate, and obviously we are working with all the supply chains - in the case of our own department, looking specifically at health products.

'So, there is nothing in the current environment that would rationally lead someone to want to go out and stock up on stuff.'

Mr Johnson said the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) was considering a range of options to delay the spread of the disease.

'At the moment what they are telling me is, actually, slightly counter-intuitively, things like closing schools and stopping big gatherings don't work as well perhaps as people think in stopping the spread,' he said.

'One of the theories is perhaps you could take it in on the chin, take it all in one go and allow the disease to move through the population without really taking as many draconian measures. I think we need to strike a balance.

'I think it would be better if we take all the measures that we can now just to stop the peak of the disease being as difficult for the NHS as it might.'
Lucknow: The district administration in Lucknow is visible in the alert regarding the coronavirus. People are being advised to be vigilant with the coronavirus. Fogging has been ordered in cowsheds. Scanning and monitoring has started in hospitals including airports. The whole country is alert about the coronavirus. So far, 29 positive cases have appeared, in which three patients from Kerala have been cured. During this, the district administration has been alerted in Lucknow. Surveillance at the airport has been increased with the closure of unlicensed meat shops. Apart from this, the helpline number has also been released.

Let us tell you that in the order issued like the DM of Lucknow, it has been advised to be vigilant with the coronavirus. With this, unlicensed meat shops and open meat sellers have been banned immediately. With this, fogging has been ordered in gaushalas. Scanning and monitoring have been started in hospitals including airports. In his order, the DM has informed that the passengers and tourists coming from outside are being scanned and monitored. If a passenger is found symptomatic, he is immediately placed in the isolation ward. With this, the helpline number has been released. This is 0522-2622080 and mobile number 7839700132. This will help immediately.

At the same time, corona was confirmed in less than 5 patients on 1 March, which has increased to 29 by the night of 4 March. Out of this, 3 patients from Kerala have been successfully treated. That is, there are 26 patients in which the coronavirus is present at this time. The number of suspects is also increasing continuously. Two different people from Thailand and Malaysia have been admitted to the hospital in Surat, while in Ahmedabad, a woman has been admitted to the hospital due to suspicion. Apart from these, four suspected cases of coronavirus have been reported in Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh. Recently, 14 patients suffering from Corona from Italy have been admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram from ITBP Camp, Chawla in Delhi. If seen, its outbreak is being seen all over the world.

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Small business groups are urging the government to consider stimulus measures and concessional loans, as the coronavirus epidemic starts to have a greater impact on some sectors of the economy than the bushfires.

Small business ombudsman Kate Carnell said Australian small businesses had already been struggling before the virus hit.

Sohini Trivedi serves a client at one of Ottoman3 Brow Bar's three Melbourne locations. The owner of the business says it has experienced a 15 per cent drop in sales. Credit:Simon Schluter

"It has the potential to be worse than the bushfires and, in a lot of areas, it already is," she said. "For small businesses that were already doing it pretty tough between bushfires and floods and drought, this is just really hard."

Ms Carnell said while business was booming for those selling specific goods, such as toilet paper and hand sanitiser, a broader downturn was being felt across the small business sector.
Baby boomers are being urged to avoid travelling overseas as mounting evidence suggests they are among the most likely age group to experience severe illness if they fall ill with coronavirus.

Global scientific literature is increasingly pointing to people aged 60 and over, especially those with underlying chronic illnesses such as heart or lung diseases, as being at the highest risk of critical illness and death from COVID-19.

Travelling overseas could be off the boomer bucket list, for a while at least. Credit:iStock

Early studies have also suggested older men are at greater risk, but scientists are yet to determine why.

As Australia watches ominous scenes of the global outbreak unfolding from afar, images of some of the world's busiest tourist attractions show them eerily deserted.
Kim Kardashian West returned to the White House on Wednesday with women she recently helped free from prison.

The reality TV star lobbied for the early release of three female prisoners jailed for drug-related and white collar crimes.

In February, Donald Trump agreed to cut short the sentences of the women; Crystal Munoz, Judith Negron and Tynice Hall.

Today Alice, Crystal, Judith, Tynice and I, along with the @cut_50 team will be at the White House bringing light to these women and discuss more change that our justice system desperately needs! Kardashian West tweeted on Wednesday.

The women freed were suggested by Alice Johnson, a 63-year-old woman who was granted clemency by Trump in 2018 after Kardashian West lobbied the White House for her release.

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Ms Johnson was given a life sentence after being convicted for a non-violent drugs incident in 1996.

Kardashian West, who revealed last year that she was training to become a lawyer, shared the stories of each of the women she helped free on Twitter.

Tynice Hall was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a first time non violent drug conspiracy, the 39-year-old wrote.

Her boyfriend at the time used her house for his illegal drug activities. She was only 22 years old when she went to prison and left behind a three-year-old son.

Kardashian West explained that the other two women, Ms Negron and Ms Munoz, were also both mothers at the time of their convictions.

President Trump commuted the sentences of three really deserving women, Kardashian West added in a subsequent tweet.

I didnt hear much about it in the news so I wanted to share with you their stories! I have the pleasure of spending the day with these women today along with @AliceMarieFree who helped to pick these women.

Ivanka Trump also met the three former female prisoners and shared a photograph of herself with them and Kardashian West on Twitter.

In April 2019, Kardashian West revealed she was studying to become a lawyer and planned to take the bar by 2022.

Speaking to Vogue, to the entrepreneur, whose father Robert Kardashian was famous for being OJ Simpsons defence attorney, explained she decided to embark on her new career after her successful appeal to Trump regarding Ms Johnsons clemency.
Joe Biden and James Clyburn. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Theres a general consensus that a lot of Joe Bidens success on Super Tuesday is attributable to James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip from South Carolina. A U.S. representative since 1993 and the highest-ranking black official in Congress, Clyburn is regarded as something of a kingmaker whose endorsement is one of the Democratic primary seasons most coveted. The weekend before Saturdays Palmetto State contest saw a surge of momentum favoring Bernie Sanders; the Vermont senator was fresh off a decisive victory in the Nevada primary and seemed poised to cement his dominance when California, Texas, and 12 other states voted the following week. He trailed Biden in the polls in South Carolina but the margins were narrowing, and his front-runner status seemed all but assured. Then Clyburn endorsed Biden and the former vice-president won big in South Carolina. Bidens victory was so commanding that it prompted three of the seven remaining candidates to drop out, two of whom swiftly endorsed him, and drove a dramatic and unprecedented realignment of voters behind his campaign just in time for Tuesdays elections.

It was a storybook turnaround, and Establishment Democrats seemed to be thrilled by the result. That guy literally saved the Democratic Party, longtime operative James Carville remarked of Clyburn. You brought me back, Biden told Clyburn this weekend, thanking him for his cosign. The South Carolina congressmans cachet is hard to dispute: According to USA Today, citing exit polls, 47 percent of South Carolina Democratic primary voters said that Clyburns endorsement was an important factor in their decision to support Biden; 24 percent said it was the most important factor. For the congressman, his blessing was merely a well-timed public manifestation of a decision hed long ago made in private. Ive known for a long time who I was going to vote for, Clyburn told USA Today.

But now that Clyburn has made his choice and much of South Carolinas electorate  and those in most of the Super Tuesday states  has followed suit, the congressman is, in his own words, tasked with [protecting his] investment. Ill go wherever he ask [sic] me to go, with him or without him, Clyburn has said of the former vice-president. Thats meant making the media rounds to share his thoughts about how Bidens campaign might improve and generally make the case for electing a man who is 77 years old and seems to increasingly have trouble forming coherent sentences. Such an effort prompted the following remarks from Clyburn on MSNBC on Tuesday:

I  thought that [Biden] needed to have speechmaking  more feeling than just laying out policy. Joe Biden has a tremendous record. He has a tremendous history. Hes just a good guy. And I said when I made my endorsement: I know Joe. We know Joe. But most importantly, Joe knows us.

To summarize, Clyburn is arguing that Bidens public addresses need to be more emotionally rousing than policy focused. This may be sound advice in an election where galvanizing voters to beat Sanders, a noted firebrand, and eventually Trump, a voluble egotist who lavishes himself with rallies as a kind of periodic treat, will be at a premium. But its also rarely been Bidens problem.

On the contrary, an excess of feeling is the lifeblood of his campaign. His policies, such as they are, are milquetoast appeals to moderation in the face of impending catastrophe  vows to compromise on legislation with Republicans, despite their demonstrated commitment to steamrolling democracy in the interest of partisan advantage; refusals to fight for free health care for all in the name of preserving private insurance, despite the rampant horror stories of insulin rationing and deferred emergency-room visits that prevail among the tens of millions of uninsured or underinsured Americans.

But where his policies underwhelm  and, indeed, most voters would be hard-pressed to name a single one  his campaign has found incredible success drawing on voters emotional attachment to what they think he represents: a return to the sociopolitical norms that were so rudely disrupted by Trumps election. Were in a battle for the soul of America, Bidens campaign site reads. The idea is that Trump took something away from us  an ill-defined feeling that were not actually the America that he suggests we are. Biden is offering nothing more ambitious than returning things to the way they used to be.

This pitch has trouble withstanding scrutiny. The norms to which Biden hopes to return us are perhaps best encapsulated by his own recent promise to billionaire donors that no ones standard of living would change should he win the White House. Its a vivid illustration of one of Trumps most notable accomplishments: convincing large swathes of the public that a system which produced historic levels of wealth inequality, financial crises on a scale not seen in decades, a rapidly unfolding climate cataclysm, and the globes highest incarceration rate doesnt need a dramatic overhaul  simply a person in the drivers seat who isnt him. But more relevant to the immediate requirements of running a campaign and winning an election, the feeling of reassurance derived from familiarity that Biden generates is at odds with his own conduct. Hes flailed in debates, losing track of his own thoughts mid-sentence and cutting himself off prematurely when he realizes his argument is going nowhere. His tendency to ramble and wax poetic about the old days has caused him to speak fondly of working cordially with segregationists.

Voters have nonetheless found comfort in Bidens promises to make things normal and familiar again. But despite Clyburns insistence that we know Joe, this isnt the Biden weve come to know. The man who eviscerated Paul Ryan in the 2012 vice-presidential debate is gone. The senescent shell of that man, wholl take the debate stage in Arizona next week, is Americas savior only by the most acrobatic stretches of the Democrat imagination. But Clyburn is right that leaning into feeling is Bidens best bet. The former vice-presidents lackluster fundraising has meant he was unable to spend much on ads or establish campaign field offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Minnesota, Oklahoma, or Tennessee. He won them on Super Tuesday anyway. Its hard to explain this by means other than voters imagining a Biden who no longer exists. This isnt unheard of in an election, but its especially risky here given its distance from reality.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 05: European Union Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speaks during a conference after the first round of UK-EU negotiations in Brussels, Belgium on March 05, 2020.

There are "serious" divergences between the U.K. and the EU regarding the new trade deal that is due to be implemented by the end of the year, the European Union's chief negotiator said Thursday.

Officials from Brussels and Westminster had their first post-Brexit discussions this week in the Belgian capital. Their aim is to establish a new commercial relationship as well as new security agreements before the end of 2020. However, after four days of talks, they still seem far apart on what they want their new relationship to look like.

"To be completely frank with you  there are many divergences and they are very serious divergences, which is probably quite natural after a first round of negotiations," Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexit chief, told reporters.

The differences revolve around competition rules, fisheries and future oversight of the U.K.-EU relationship, Barnier explained. However, Barnier also told reporters that a trade deal is still possible, but only if there is mutual respect and no reneging on previous commitments.

A spokesperson for the British government later confirmed the significant differences between the two sides, according to Reuters, adding that the talks were going to be tough but had begun with a constructive tone.
A New Brunswick mayor says he isn't overly worried about a group of high school students travelling to Italy, a European country which has been hardest hit by the coronavirus in recent weeks.

A group of close to 30 students from Sussex Regional High School are visiting southern Italy this week for March Break.

"It's quite possible where they go in Italy, they may not have any risk of exposure that's any greater than someone who was in say, Toronto or Vancouver."

The group of students were supposed to travel to Milan and Venice in northern Italy. Instead they were forced to stay in Florence and Vatican City, 250 and 530 kilometres south of Venice.

Just days before the week-long trip, teachers and group leaders considered cancelling it altogether. The day students were set to leave, the group was also considering travelling in Germany instead.

"They're taking a chance, they've looked at the odds and they've decided to take the trip and it was their decision to make," Thorne said.

Thorne said he's also hopeful the group of students will self-monitor once they return home on Saturday and visit a doctor as soon as possible if they need to.

"I'm sure their parents will be watching it quite closely."

What's wrong with travelling to Italy?

Italy has seen its virus caseload explode since the first positive COVID-19 test was registered in northern Lombardy on Feb. 19. Since then, more than 3,000 people in Italy have tested positive, and 107 people have died. Italy is the epicentre of Europe's outbreak.

Italy's education minister confirmed reports Wednesday that universities and schools will close from Thursday until March 15 because of the outbreak. All sporting events in the country must take place without fans present until April 3, the government announced.

Italian media say the government has ordered schools nationwide to close for the next two weeks to limit the spread of the coronavirus, but the country's education minister says a final decision on the closure has not yet been confirmed.

Story continues

State-run RAI, the ANSA and LaPresse news agencies reported Wednesday that Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had agreed on the closure during a cabinet meeting. But Education Minister Lucia Azzolina told reporters that nothing is final yet.

What happens when students return?

Upon any traveller's return to Canada, Dr. Cristin Muecke, New Brunswick's acting chief medical officer of health, said the Canadian Border Services Agency will screen people and provide appropriate advice based on the traveller's current health and travel history.

She said actions could include immediate medical assessment, advice to self isolate at home for 14 days or self-monitor for 14 days.

"At the current time, travellers returning from Italy are being advised to self-monitor, but this could change," she said in an emailed statement to CBC News.

The federal government has issued several advisories since the outbreak started and is advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to northern Italy because of COVID-19.

'We can't get scared of everything'

This is the first time 17-year-old Izaac Dalling has travelled outside North America.

Before the Sussex student left for Italy, his father, Harold Dalling, advised him to take precautions about the COVID-19 outbreak and to enjoy his trip.

"We can't get scared of everything that happens, we've still go to live life and move on," he said. "The world can't just stop."

Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images

Dalling said discussions are continuing to take place between group leaders about any potential quarantine or changes to travel plans while students are abroad.

"They're making adjustments along the way as best they can," he said.

Students return to New Brunswick on Saturday.

Who's in charge?

The trip to Italy was organized by teachers and parents through EF Educational Tour Canada.

It is not district or school sanctioned, according to Anglophone School DistrictSouth superintendent Zoe Watson.

CBC News has asked for an interview with the well-known tour company about the specific trip to Italy but did not receive a response.

In an emailed statement, the company said they are closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and are "in constant communication with our offices around the world, and are actively following the guidance of all relevant health authorities."

The statement went on to say that EF Tours is also working with their groups, schools and individual families to provide "flexible options" for tours that have already been booked.

A slight detour

Patrick MacDonald, a Grade 12 student at Harbour View High School in Saint John, was scheduled to fly to Italy and Greece over March Break.

Before they were set to depart, he said students and chaperones heard the trip may be cancelled.

Instead, students from Harbour View and Simonds High School in Saint John, have travelled to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein.

Students also travelled through France, which has 212 confirmed cases, and four deaths from COVID-19. President Emmanuel Macron warned that the health crisis could last several months.

Patrick MacDonald/Submitted

That trip was also organized by EF Educational Tours Canada.

Over text message Wednesday afternoon, MacDonald admitted he was a bit nervous about his trip abroad and the COVID-19 outbreak. He's been making sure to frequently wash his hands and avoid touching his face, advice he received from his mother, who's a registered nurse.

"The situation seems well controlled and panic is minimal," he said.

New Brunswick universities have been monitoring the situation and reviewing travel programs.

Some students at the Universite de Moncton were supposed to participate in the Paris SMT World Tourism Expo this month. But the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus epidemic.
It's not everyday that policemen are the ones trapped and need help but it happened two 3 of them in Lucknow. How? Well, they took a seized vehicle for a ride. The owner found them and locked them in! Sounds like a movie right? But it's not.

Using a tracking system, owner stopped the SUVs engine and locked it. The cops were stranded inside for 2 hours.

They were 'rescued' after police officials requested the owner to let them out. So what had happened? The SUV was seized and brought to Gomti Nagar Police Station because of a scuffle between different parties. When the matter was resolved, the owner Akhand Singh was asked to collect it.

But when he reached to take it, it was missing. He tracked it on his app and found moving almost 143 kilometers away from Lucknow in the Lakhimpur Kheri area. He locked it through his app and the cops were trapped as a result.

Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey did not look at the incident lightly. An investigation is being launched into the matter.

Hopefully these guys have learned their lesson and shall not do it again.


Ground-breaking gene therapy has been used for the first time to treat a person with severe haemophilia in Ireland.

With advances in gene therapy, it is hoped that haemophilia, an inherited bleeding disorder, will no longer be a lifelong disease.

The Irish Haemophilia Society said the recipient, who wants to remain anonymous, received the therapy as part of a clinical trial.

There is currently no cure for haemophilia but patients can be treated with an intravenous clotting factor.

Gene therapy provides patients with haemophilia a new working copy of the genes for clotting factor protein.

The Irish person who has severe Haemophilia B received the Factor IX gene therapy intravenously to the liver and it started to produce the missing clotting factor.

Irish Haemophilia Society chief executive Brian OMahony said: This is a momentous occasion for the haemophilia community in Ireland.

In the past, viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C decimated the haemophilia population in Ireland through contaminated blood, said Mr OMahony.

It is ironic that a virus could now be the delivery system which offers the best hope of a practical cure for severe haemophilia he stated.

Haemophilia gene therapy trials use a virus called adeno-associated virus (AAV) to get the gene into the body.

AAV are small viruses that are not currently known to cause disease but can cause a very mild immune response.

The gene therapy used in the trial has been found to increase the Factor IX level in the blood from less than 1% to between 33% and 51% in a small number of individuals treated.

This transforms their quality of life from having severe haemophilia to mild haemophilia or no haemophilia.

It is hoped that the effect of the gene therapy infusion will last for many years and possibly for a lifetime, Mr OMahony said.

Dr Niamh OConnell from the National Coagulation Centre in St Jamess Hospital said the gene therapy was one of several active trials in novel therapies for haemophilia in Ireland.

The gene therapy was infused in the Clinical Research facility in St Jamess Hospital that is co-funded by the Wellcome Foundation and the Health Research Board. Its director, Prof Martina Hennessy, said other trials were planned.

We hope this expertise also leads to other Irish patient groups being able to access potentially life-changing treatments in the future.
Calling the conduct of some Congress members in Lok Sabha as "unprecedented", the BJP on Thursday welcomed the decision to suspend seven "unruly" members of the opposition party from the House for the remainder of the session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said his party has requested Speaker Om Birla to set up a panel to look into the continuous "indiscipline" by Congress members.

"Snatching papers from the Speaker's table is utmost disrespect to the Chair. We condemn this," he told reporters.

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the "unruly" behaviour of the Congress MPs was "unprecedented", and it would have shocked the country's founding fathers.

"We welcome the decision to suspend the unruly Congress members," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Parents are shelling out millions of dollars to bail their children out of overseas misadventures, and often never get it back.

Almost 60 per cent of young Australians admitted begging for cash when they ran out on holiday due to disaster or just poor planning, a survey found.

The Bank of Mum and Dad is already the fifth-biggest home loan lender in the country with $92 billion spent on helping kids get their first property.

Natalie Evans, 29, said she had borrowed well over $10,000 from her generous parents in Melbourne when she went broke overseas.

Natalie Evans, 29, said she had borrowed well over $10,000 from her generous parents in Melbourne when she went broke overseas

'There have been lots of loans from the bank of mum and dad. I don't even know how many,' she admitted to Daily Mail Australia.

The well-travelled schoolteacher said almost every time she went overseas through her 20s she ended up calling her parents to ask for money.

'I was terrible at knowing how much everything would cost and my money never lasted as long as I thought it would,' she said.

'I always end up needing something to get me through to the end.'

Ms Evans' parents were never pleased to be relied upon for extra funds, but would always give in to a sob story.

'I get a lecture, especially the last couple of years now that I'm working full time, but they always help me out in the end,' she said.

'They say I need to start being better with money, manage my expenses, plan my trips better and have emergency savings.

'Sometimes I'd email them because i was too scared to hear the lecture.'

The Bank of Mum and Dad is already the fifth-biggest home loan lender in the country with $92 billion spent on helping kids get their first property

Ms Evans admitted to being poor at managing her travel funds, but was also extraordinarily accident prone.

When she was in London in her early 20s she fell off a mezzanine on to a wine glass that punctured her abdominal wall and needed surgery.

She couldn't work for two months and needed thousands from her parents to make up for it.

Another time in 2016 she needed $1,000 for a ticket home when her credit card was swiped in Peru and a huge bill run up, and last January she left her phone and card in a taxi in Dublin, then had her wallet stolen in Amsterdam two days later.

Ms Evans admitted she needed to account for such disasters with emergency funds and perhaps subconsciously wasn't disciplined enough because she know her parents would bail her out, but she was trying to do better.

'I'm trying to have bigger savings, and be more realistic about how much I need for where I want to go,' she said.

'I've gotten better at paying them back as I've gotten older, I wasn't very good at it when I was younger.

'Appreciate that you're lucky to have parents who will help if you get into trouble because a lot of people don't.'

Ms Evans said almost every time she went overseas through her 20s she ended up calling her parents to ask for money

Ms Evans admitted to being poor at managing her travel funds, but was also extraordinarily accident prone - often getting injured or having her wallet lost or stolen overseas and needing help from parents to get home

The survey by Compare the Market found 58 per cent of Australians aged 18-35 had asked their parents for money, with one in 10 of them needing more than $2,000.

This would add up to millions of dollars a year for parents with extensive overseas travel now the norm for young Australians.

Twenty to per cent were so badly organised they were out of cash within two weeks of leaving home.

The most common reason, 46 per cent, was unexpected expenses arising, followed by running out of money at 44 per cent, and a further 17 per cent realised they were unable to afford the cost of living.

Almost half admitted they still hadn't paid their parents back - 29 per cent had at least repaid some of it but 16 per cent never paid a cent.

Parents are doling out even more money to help their kids buy their first home with a survey by Mozo revealing an average family is putting up $73,522 towards a deposit.

The Bank of Mum and Dad has loans of $92 billion out - slotting in between ANZ's $246 billion and ING's $50 billion

This is a 41 per cent jump compared to two years ago when it was $65 billion - while some of the big four banks cleared billions of debt.

'The Bank of Mum and Dad has become an essential player in our nation's housing market,' Mozo director Kirsty Lamont said.

Research revealed 64 per cent of parents dipped into their own savings to come up with the funds for their child's home loan deposit, 34 per cent cut back on expenses and 16 per cent used cash from their home's equity

Many parents didn't expect to get the money back, but among those who asked for repayments, 19 per cent said they hadn't yet paid a cent

The research revealed 64 per cent of parents dipped into their own savings to come up with the funds, 34 per cent cut back on expenses and 16 per cent used cash from their home's equity.

Allowing adult children to live at home rent-free was most popular way of providing assistance, with 43 per cent of Australian parents doing so.

A further 32 per cent said they gave money directly for a deposit, 14 per cent acted as a guarantor, and 10 per cent assisted with home loan repayments.

A quarter of parents who signed as a guarantor regretted it as their children defaulted on the mortgage and left them holding the bag.

'Many parents are feeling the pressure to help their children purchase their first property and for some, this is causing a real strain,' Ms Lamont said.

'Especially when they find themselves working for far longer than they'd envisioned or repayment deals are reneged on.'

Many parents didn't expect to get the money back, but among those who asked for repayments, 19 per cent said they hadn't yet paid a cent.

'With one in four parents providing assistance are at risk of financial hardship, the path to property ownership is less than rosy for many families,' Ms Lamont said.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Budapest, Hungary  Thu, March 5, 2020 08:26 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20685f279 2 World #Hungary,#coronavirus,Iran,student,Slovenia Free

Hungary and Slovenia reported their first confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday in two Iranian students and a third patient who recently travelled back from Morocco via Italy.

"Two patients have been taken into medical care due to coronavirus infections," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook video message.

"Two foreigners, students studying in Hungary, Iranians, they are currently symptom-free it seems, but confirmed as infected," he said.

Dr Janos Szlavik at the Central Hospital of Southern Pest told reporters at a news conference that both patients had visited family in Iran recently and that their roommates were being taken into quarantine.

Authorities were making efforts to establish their travel history within Hungary and who they had been in contact with, Szlavik said.

In neighbouring Slovenia, Health Minister Ales Sabeder told reporters the country's first case involved a "patient, aged around 60 who returned from Morocco via Italy" a few days ago.

The patient had visited a family doctor before being tested and was currently in hospital in the capital Ljubljana, he added.

While caseloads have steadily declined in the virus epicentre China, infections and deaths are rising in Asia and Europe, with cases appearing in new countries almost every day.

More than 90,000 people have been infected and around 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, the vast majority in China where COVID-19 first emerged late last year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has so far stopped short of declaring a pandemic, though has said the world must prepare for the possibility.

The virus has reached over 80 countries and territories around the world, with South Korea, Iran and Italy emerging as hotspots outside China.
STRASBOURG, France and PHILADELPHIA, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynacure, a clinical stage drug development company focused on improving the lives of patients with rare and orphan disorders, today announced that the first patient has been dosed with DYN101 in a Phase 1 / 2 study called 'Unite-CNM'. This milestone marks the first time any company has dosed a CNM patient with an antisense medicine.

DYN101 is an investigational antisense medicine designed to modulate the expression of dynamin 2 (DNM2) for the treatment of Myotubular and Centronuclear Myopathies (CNM). CNMs are serious, rare, life-threatening disorders that affect skeletal muscles from birth. Centronuclear Myopathies affect between 4,000 and 5,000 patients in the EU, US, Japan and Australia1. DYN101 is being developed in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, the leader in RNA-targeted drug discovery. Preclinical efficacy observed in multiple mouse models of the disease gives confidence in the ability to demonstrate potential disease-modifying results in humans.

"We are committed to providing CNM patients and their families with a therapeutic solution to treat this devastating, progressive muscle disease. Today, we are pleased to have made progress toward this goal with the first dose of DYN101 in a patient in our Phase 1 / 2 'Unite-CNM' study," said Chris Freitag (M.D.), Chief Medical Officer of Dynacure. "We look forward to gaining valuable clinical insights from this study and we expect to report interim results from 'Unite-CNM' in 2021."

Nicol Voermans (M.D. PhD), Neurologist Radboud University Medical Centre (the Netherlands) commented, "The start of clinical evaluation of the effect of DYN101 in patients greater than 16 years of age with X-linked and autosomal dominant CNM is a promising advancement in the treatment of CNM. This is the only trial providing therapeutic hope to this population of CNM patients."

"This clinical trial, based on Ionis' technology platform, is the first investigational study testing an antisense medicine to treat Centronuclear Myopathies," said Brett Monia (Ph.D.), Dynacure's board member and Chief Executive Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. "Dynacure's approach has the potential to provide therapeutic benefit to a wide range of CNM patients by modulating DNM2. We look forward to continue our fruitful collaboration with Dynacure."

About the Phase 1 / 2 Study 'Unite-CNM' (DYN101-C101)

'Unite-CNM' (DYN101-C101) study is a multicenter, ascending dose study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy of DYN101 in approximately 18 patients greater than 16 years of age with X-linked (XLCNM) or autosomal dominant CNM (ADCNM). Enrolled patients will have a run-in period or be rolled over from an ongoing natural history study, sponsored by the Institute of Myology in France, which includes 60 subjects that have XLCNM or ADCNM. While the Phase 1 / 2 study will primarily focus on finding an optimal dose of the drug via safety, tolerability and after 12 weeks of treatment, multiple domains of efficacy will also be assessed in an exploratory analysis, which include muscular function, respiratory function and muscle strength. After completing the Unite-CNM study, Dynacure expects to investigate a potentially registration-directed Phase 2 / 3 study (all age groups) that would include US and European sites.

More information can be found at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04033159?term=dynacure&rank=1.

About Centronuclear Myopathies

Myotubular and Centronuclear Myopathies (CNM) are serious, rare, life-threatening disorders that affect skeletal muscles from birth. CNMs derive their name based on the central location of the muscle fiber nucleus, which is an abnormal finding observed in muscle biopsies. The disease is driven by mutations in multiple genes including MTM1, DNM2 and BIN1 and Dynacure scientists have discovered the link between an increase in DNM2 and the direct cause of the disease (Cowling et al 2014 JCI). There are many genetic forms of CNM including X-linked recessive (XLCNM/ Myotubular Myopathy), autosomal dominant (ADCNM), and autosomal recessive (ARCNM), which are all associated with poor prognosis. Centronuclear Myopathies affect between 4,000 and 5, 000 patients in the EU, US, Japan and Australia1.

About DYN101

DYN101, an investigational antisense oligonucleotide using Ionis' proprietary antisense technology, is designed to modulate the expression of dynamin 2 (DNM2) for the treatment of Myotubular and Centronuclear Myopathies (CNM). Preclinical studies have demonstrated that DYN101 has the potential to be disease modifying in CNM, with compelling preclinical efficacy in treating animal models of XLCNM and ADCNM2,3. Prevention and reversion of the disease was observed with a clear dose-dependent improvement in whole body strength and mice survival.

The development plan for DYN101 was designed to be very broad and it is the only known program being investigated for most CNM populations, XLCNM and ADCNM. DYN101 has been granted Orphan Drug designations by the US FDA and EMA.

About Dynacure

Dynacure is a clinical-stage drug development company focused on improving the lives of patients with rare and orphan diseases. The Dynacure team leverages its proven track record in rare disease drug development to build a pipeline of novel drugs. Dynacure is developing DYN101, an investigational antisense medicine designed to modulate the expression of dynamin 2 for the treatment of Myotubular and Centronuclear Myopathies, with Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Dynacure is also building a complementary research portfolio targeting other orphan disorders. The company maintains its headquarters in Strasbourg, France and a corporate office in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Dynacure's investors are Andera Partners, Bpifrance, IdInvest, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Kurma Partners and Pontifax.

For more information, please visit www.dynacure.com.

SOURCE Dynacure

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BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cielo, the world's leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner, announced the acquisition of AsiaNet China, an RPO, executive search, recruitment, and payroll (HRO) business based in Shanghai.

"There's major demand for RPO in the China market," said Sue Marks, Cielo Founder and CEO. "This acquisition builds on our existing capability in China to better serve our regional and global customers. We're also excited about the skills and capabilities of our new team members. We've worked closely with AsiaNet China since 2018, and we have great respect for their business, their leadership and their reputation for delivering positive results for their clients."

AsiaNet China was founded by Daniel Liu in early 2000 and has offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Hong Kong. They serve customers across a range of industries including engineering, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, supply chain, infrastructure, construction and properties, automotive and technology. AsiaNet China and Cielo currently partner to provide in-country support to various Cielo clients.

"Joining Cielo strengthens our capabilities in both RPO and executive search," said Daniel Liu, CEO and founder of AsiaNet China. "Further, it significantly increases our ability to serve international companies and sizeable Chinese enterprises in the Greater China Region. We are excited to continue producing great work for our current clients, as well as Cielo clients in China."

The acquisition of AsiaNet China gives Cielo a significant foothold in China, with the addition of three offices in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. The two companies will combine their Hong Kong operations into one office. The new presence and local capability enable Cielo to respond to growing demand for its RPO services in the country, benefiting existing Cielo clients and better positioning the company to win global customers.

The AsiaNet China team will operate under the Cielo brand name, with existing team members continuing to support current clients. This acquisition marks Cielo's latest investment in growing its global footprint. Over the last year, the company has expanded its delivery centers in Manila and Buenos Aires and added offices in Paris and Cologne.

About Cielo

Cielo is the world's leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner and industry innovator delivering RPO, Total Talent Acquisition, consulting and executive search services in 100+ countries. We design comprehensive, people-centric solutions and leverage Cielo TalentCloud - our award-winning technology suite featuring CRM, AI, automation and analytics capabilities - to help our clients find, attract and hire the specific talent to move their businesses forward. To learn more, visit cielotalent.com.

CONTACT:

Matt Quandt

(262) 439-1673

matt.quandt@cielotalent.com

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Dulquer Salmaan, the charming young actor is currently on a high with the success of his latest release, Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal. The actor made a comeback to Tamil cinema after a short gap with the romantic thriller, which has been receiving positive reviews from both the audiences and critics.

Recently, Dulquer Salmaan opened up about his favourite Tamil films, to the much excitement of his fans. The actor, who was promoting Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal in a chat show hosted by a popular online media, was asked to name his favourite Tamil films of recent times. Dulquer Salmaan, who closely follows Tamil cinema, named Super Deluxe, 96, and Visaranai as his favourites.

The netizens are totally impressed with Dulquer Salmaan's choice of films. As we all know, the Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal actor does not believe in any success formula and prefers films that stand out with the theme, narrative, and performances.

Super Deluxe, which is a hyperlink film that features Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, Samantha Akkineni, Ramya Krishnan, Mysskin, and so on in the lead roles, is directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja. The movie, which earned rave reviews from both the audiences and critics and has been considered as one of the finest Indian films of 2019.

96, on the other hand, is one of the most celebrated love stories of Tamil cinema in recent times. The movie, which featured Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan in lead roles, is directed by Prem Kumar. 96 earned highly positive reviews and earned the cult status among the audiences. The songs from the movie are still the top favourites of the music lovers.

Visaranai, the crime thriller which is based on the novel Lock Up, is directed by Vetri Maaran. The movie, which received wide critical acclaim and several awards and accolades, was India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language film at the 89th Academy Awards.

Also Read:

Gypsy Critics Review: Here's What Film Journalists Feel About The Jiiva Starrer

Rashmika Mandanna To Romance Suriya In Aruvaa?
President Nana Akufo-Addo at a ceremony in Accra today has laid the foundation stone at the site at Ridge, marking the start of the construction of the National Cathedral.



Addressing attendees of the ceremony at the construction site, President Akufo-Addo said he is determined to lead efforts aimed at ensuring the completion of the project in fulfillment of his pledge to God prior to the 2016 general elections.



It may be recalled that President Akufo-Addo during the launch of the National Cathedral Fundraising Campaign said he promised to build such an edifice should he win the elections.



Rather, and again like Solomon on that occasion, the building of the National Cathedral is to serve as a gesture of thanksgiving to God for his blessings, favour, grace and mercies on our nation, and to give me an opportunity to redeem a pledge I made to Him before I became President, he said back in 2018.



However, the Cathedral and its relevance or otherwise have sharply divided opinions in Ghana. A lawsuit challenging state involvement in the construction of the controversial edifice was also thrown out by the Supreme Court.



Presenting the 2020 budget in Parliament Wednesday, November 13, 2019, the Finance Minister spoke of its relevance.



Mr. Speaker, the interdenominational National Cathedral that will be located in the heart of the capital stands to help unify the Christian community as a place of worship and promote the national conversation on the role of faith in building Ghana. With the participation of various churches in the administration of the Cathedral, collective ownership of the project by the churches is envisioned" Ken Ofori Atta opined.



President Akufo-Addo cutting sod finally for the construction of the edifice on Thursday said: As I indicated on 6th March 2017, upon completion, the National Cathedral is certainly going to be one of the iconic structures of the African Continent. Since gaining our freedom from the colonial power sixty-three years ago on the 6th of March 1957, Ghana has so far been speared civil war, famine, and epidemics.



We are certainly no better than the other nations in our neighborhood who have been confronted with these challenges. I believe it is by the grace of God that we have been preserved and sustained. The construction of the Cathedral will be an act of thanksgiving to the Almighty for His Blessings, Grace, Favour, and Mercies on our nation. Secondly, President Akufo-Addo said seventy-one percent of the Ghanaian people adhere to the Christian religion grouped under the various persuasions of the Christian Faith. The interdenominational National Cathedral will help unify the Christian community and thereby help promote national unity and social coercion President Akufo-Addo added.



The cathedral will have chapels and a baptistery, a music school, an art gallery, and a Bible museum.



The design for the cathedral was unveiled by President Nana Akufo-Addo, in March 2018.



Meanwhile, actual work on the project is expected to begin on Friday, March 6.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Sydney public schools have been failing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of government funding, with some individual schools sitting on the equivalent of more than $4000 per student, newly released figures show.

One primary school in Blacktown, which was given $2.3 million in so-called Gonski funding to address disadvantage in 2018, had $665,400 in government money left at the end of that year, equating to almost $5000 per student.

Another high school in Parramatta, which was given almost $3 million in Gonski money, had $3700 per student left at the end of the year, while a high school in the inner west had $3500 per student left over. Only three schools overspent their budget.

At the end of 2018, $1.3 billion had been left unspent by public schools, including $665 million in government funding and $635 million of money raised by the community.
Mumbai, March 5 : "Made In Heaven" star Arjun Mathur says he has turned vegetarian for the sake of climate.

"There is nothing more important in this world at this point, or any other point, than to be conscious of the environment. Changing climate has been a very natural force but I think it is being accelerated to levels that have been unprecedented by humans and by the so called progress of human race," Arjun told IANS.

"Personally, I try to implement small changes in my life whether it's like composting the garbage or separating it, walking where ever I can and turning vegetarian. I've been vegetarian for the last 5 months. Eating non-vegetarian food is the biggest contributor for the destruction of this planet. You can just vegetarian and do your bit," he added.

The actor expressed his views on the sidelines of screening of Sony BBC Earth's docu-series "Climate Change - The Facts".

Actor Gautam Rode also shared his views about climate change.

"Being conscious about the environment is the most important thing. It is really common that taps are left running uselessly, the electricity is on all the time, lot of plastic is used and because of the availability of these things, now, we need to take special care of our environment. Also, the first thing that comes to my mind from eco-friendly fashion is -- eco-friendly bags. Lots of people, lots of shops have started keeping them and avoiding plastics. It's important for us to use them as well," he said.

To which, Raj Singh Arora added: "As an individual, I use public transport, pool cars and specially prefer cars that run of CNG. Recently I bought a new house, which is very minimalistic and my consumption is very little. As a human being, these are my personal choices which are environmental and which could be looked at as a simple choice. The less you consume, the happier you are as a person. We all need to make a conscious choice." Debina Bonnerjee also shared: "Speaking of combating climate change at an individual level, I have my YouTube channel Debina Decodes, where in I talk about the changes that we can just bring about in our home to help the environment, help ourselves for a better future for a better living. I think sometimes I am on the repeat mode, but I can't stop talking about stop using plastic and aluminum, start using metal and glass bottles. These are small daily habits we can adapt at an individual level." Narrated by David Attenborough, "Climate Change - The Facts" premieres on March 7 on Sony BBC Earth. It highlights the truths behind climate change.
Former United Nations secretary-general, Javier Perez de Cuellar, is dead.

Mr Perez de Cueller died on Wednesday, aged 100, his son said, according to the UN website.

He was known for his peace-making efforts, which included brokering a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war.

Mr Preze de Cuellar served as UN secretary-general from 1981 to 1991 when he was often described as a pacifist by vocation and nature.

My dad died after a complicated week. He died at 8:09 pm tonight (0109 GMT Thursday) and is resting in peace, his son Francisco Perez de Cuellar told RPP radio.

He played a crucial role in ending the Iran-Iraq war, securing the release of American hostages held in Lebanon and in peace agreements in Cambodia and El Salvador, the UN said.

The current UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was profoundly saddened at the passing of his predecessor.

I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Perez de Cuellars family, the Peruvian people and so many others around the world whose lives were touched by a remarkable and compassionate global leader who left our world a far better place, he said.

Lost Victory

Mr. Perez de Cuellar was lauded by his countrymen as one of the most illustrious Peruvians of his era.

A veteran diplomat, lawyer and professor, he is the first and only Latin American to hold the top UN job so far.

READ ALSO:

In 1995, he lost a presidential election to the countrys former leader, Albert Fujimori.

During the election, Mr Perez de Cuellar won only 21.8 percent of the vote, while Mr Fujimori who got 64.4 percent became the president.

In 1997, informants revealed that Mr Perez de Cuellar had been subjected to systematic surveillance and phone tapping during the campaign, ordered by the head of Mr Fujimoris intelligence services, Vladimiro Montesinos.

After the failed regime of Mr Fujimori in November 2000, Mr Perez de Cuellar became head of a government of unity and national reconciliation.
J&K scam: Backdated gun licences issued by District Magistrates under CBI scanner

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 05: Investigators are looking at the role played by some former District Magistrates who had allegedly issued back dated licences. The move comes following the arrest of IAS officer, Rajeev Ranjan in connection with one of the country's biggest gun licence scam.

It may be recalled that in 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said that during the last 15 years, DM's serving in different districts of Jammu and Kashmir had issued 3,69,191 gun licences.

The investigators would question some gun dealers who allegedly paid off the DMs to obtain gun licences for individuals. The DMs who are now serving in various departments would also be questioned in connection with the case.

The CBI has arrested two former DMs, three IAS officers, while placing under the scanner several other gun dealers. The CBI is probing the role of the IAS officers and fun dealers. A CBI source told OneIndia that one IAS officer had issued a licence from the back date after he was transferred as district magistrate from a district in Kashmir.

3 hawala operatives under ED radar in J&K Cricket Association scam

The CBI had earlier this week arrested two former DMs of Kupwara in connection with case.

Ranjan was posted as the additional chief executive officer, Metropolitan Regulatory Authority, Jammu. He was arrested in connection with the gun licence case and remanded in CBI custody for 10 days. Following this development, Ranjan was suspended with effect from February 29.

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Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 11:56 [IST]
For the first time since their announcement in January of stepping back as the senior members of the royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan will appear together at an official engagement on March 5. As Queen Elizabeth II's grandson and Meghan are officially known, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attend an awards ceremony for wounded service personnel, which will also be one of their last before they quit as working members of the royal family on March 31.

While Harry remains a Prince, they have agreed to not use the HRH titles; His or Her Royal Highness, and will not use royal in their branding even though they said there was no jurisdiction by the monarchy or the government to stop them from using the word overseas. Since the shock announcement of January, that couple wishes for a progressive new role, they have spent most of their time in Canada. Meghan's last official engagement was the visit to the Canada House in London just days before the announcement on January 8.

Read - Prince Harry And Bon Jovi Recreate Beatles Iconic Cover, Netizens Delighted

Archie will be in Canada

As the Duchess of Sussex will be in Britain this week for the last round of royal engagements, reports have stated that Meghan 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, Archie will be in Vancouver with his nanny and Meghan's close friend, Jessica Mulroney.

Read - Canada To 'soon' Stop Providing Security Funding To Prince Harry, Meghan

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.

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".

Read - Prince Harry Asks People To Call Him 'Harry,' Days Before 'Royal Exit'

Read - After Prince William, Duchess Of Cornwall Becomes Second Royal To Joke About Coronavirus

(With agency inputs)
When Shannon Rubio and her husband began thinking about putting their Spring-Klein home up for sale, they had no clue where to start.

The Rubios last sold a home in the early 2000s, when their three sons were still young. As much as they loved the community and their two-story house, they were empty nesters who wanted to retire somewhere else.

In the spring of 2019, the pair drove around Lake Conroe in search of a quiet neighborhood and spotted the perfect one  new construction that was getting the finishing touches  in the Woodforest community in Montgomery.

We came up here to Montgomery and put earnest money down on the house, Rubio said. And I said, we better figure how to sell our house.

Experts said Houston is a sellers market, where demand for homes is outgrowing the amount available.

Open House is a Houston How To series from the Houston Chronicle on learning to buy and sell a home for the first time. Here are three routes you can take to put your home on the growing Houston real estate market.

A listing agent

Real estate agents can put your home on the market and guide you through the process of selling, which many say is easier than trying to buy a house for the first time.

An established agent or broker will be able to gauge the going rate for homes in the area more accurately than a person who puts a home up for sale themselves (although not always. See: a home in Eastwood was initially listed for $1 million, while its neighboring listings went up in the $300,000 to $500,000 range.)

PURCHASING A HOUSE: First-time homebuyers, here are 6 tips from Houston real estate professionals

Paulette Tate, a Cypress-based Realtor at Martha Turner Sothebys International Realty, said that first-time sellers should come armed with questions and a list of necessary fixes and improvements theyve made. They can expect realtors to drill down on the most important things, like the state of the HVAC system and roofing problems.

You either get it up to standards or take a lower price for the property, Tate said.

Why an agent or a broker? They can dedicate all of their time to arranging showings and tours, tracking paperwork and double-checking all the necessary disclosures.

Plus, agents can put much more thought into countering lowball offers.

Research suggests that sellers who use an agent end up selling for more profit for homes than people who dont, and thats even after paying commission, said Lindsey Lombardi, a spokesperson for Zillow.

Most Houstonians choose to sell with a real estate agent. You should try and find a realtor who has a Real Estate Negotiation Expert certification from the Real Estate Business Institute, meaning they have additional certifications in trying to negotiate for top dollar on a house.

The home seller will pay the full commission for both their listing/seller's agent and the buyer's agent, but the amount and how it's split will vary depending on what each agent asks for in costs.

iBuyers

Companies like Opendoor and Offerpad are known as iBuyers, online brokerages that snap up homes with cash offers, few questions asked.

The appeal to homeowners is that they can unload the property without dealing with the headaches of staging a home, entertaining multiple offers and making repairs, said Cortney Read, a spokesperson for Offerpad.

They also make offers near-instantly, rather than waiting for a potential buyer to bite.

As her husband drove around Montgomery County looking for a new house, Rubio sat in the passenger seat and flipped through Zillow listings on her iPad. A pop-up on the screen beckoned her to see how much she could get for their house if they sold through the real estate company.

The next morning, she began filling out a form on Zillows site to get more information. Within minutes, a representative called. The next day, Zillow made her an all-cash offer.

I had a range for the offer I needed to be in and they were in that range, Rubio said. They canceled on a painter who was coming to freshen up the house after the iBuyer told them they would take care of maintenance.

Seven weeks later, the couple closed on their home and moved into their new house.

The appeal of an iBuyer for Rubio and many consumers is that companies will take over the hard stuff. For the Rubios, who both travel for work and own three dogs, they were unsure when they would fit in time for showings and an open house. It also provided the capital they needed to make a down payment on their new home.

It removes any contingency to be able to move forward on another home, Read said.

MORE HOW TO: Ready for rodeo? Heres what you need to know

Homeowners in Katy, Copperfield, Jersey Village and Spring are some of the most active iBuyer sellers, according to Offerpad data. The iBuyers usually spring for certain types of homes and pay median prices for the area  usually single-family, suburban houses valued between $100,000 and $500,000. Offerpads average home, for example, is about 2,200 square feet, have more than three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.

While the fee paid to an iBuyer varies, it is generally in the 7 to 10 percent range, experts said.

But most people who sell to places like Offerpad and Zillow are not first-time sellers, Read said.

For sale by owner (FSBO)

If youre feeling particularly brave, and want to minimize the costs associated with selling a home, you could put your property up for sale yourself.

That requires an owner creating the property description, taking their own photos and in the case of some listing sites, taking videos and making 3D tours online, Lombardi said.

By not going through an agent or an iBuyer, you maximize the amount of money that comes back into your bank account.

The estimated costs may be in listing your home, if you do that in addition to putting up yard signs and advertising on social media. FSBO homes cannot be listed on Multiple Listing Services (MLS) sites like the Houston Association of Realtors, but can be put on sites like Zillow. (Some services require a flat fee for listing the home.)

You save on fees by not having to pay for a sellers agent commission, but you will spend some time negotiating with the buyers agent to determine their cut of the sale.

Real estate experts say this isnt for the faint of heart, though. Between advertising a home and filling out all the necessary documents and disclosures, its easy to accidentally miss out on something.

Nationally, homes put up as FSBO pull in far less money, according to a 2018 study from the National Association of Realtors. A typical home sold through an agent raked in $265,500, while a comparable FSBO home sold at an average of $200,000. (This suggests it negates the amount youd likely pay in commission.)

FSBO homes also take longer on average to sell when compared to homes sold by realtors.

In part one of "Open House," the Houston Chronicles series on first-time homebuying, learn from Houston How To about the real estate agents, mortgage lenders and escrow officers who will help you on your property buying journey.

In part two: How a prospective homebuyer can get their finances in order and what financial programs can make owning your own place more affordable.

In part three: What to look for once youre finally ready to check out homes.

In part four: Closing and escrow, the most important part of the purchase.

In part six of the Houston Chronicles series on first-time homebuying and selling, real estate experts talk with Houston How To about tips on getting the most money out of a sale, when to sell and how to make a listing appealing.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu
Courtesy photo

Cheryl Creuzot will be the first African-American woman to serve on the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority, according to a news release from the city of Houston.

Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston City Council voted Wednesday to approve the nomination of Creuzot, who is a business and civic leader. She will be the first African-American female port commissioner in the nearly 116-year history once she is sworn in.
Workers review video monitoring from around the city at a Homeland Security-financed center in South Philadelphia. Read more

Two years ago, when then-Philadelphia homicide detective Philip Nordo was accused of making secret cash payments to an imprisoned informer, Police Commissioner Richard Ross faced a dilemma: what to do with the officer while the investigation played out.

His solution: assign him to a surveillance camera monitoring unit which happens to sit squarely in the midst of a highly sensitive, federally funded, Homeland Security intelligence-sharing center.

The location seems to have become the departments holding place of choice for officers on restricted duty, having been deemed, at least temporarily, unfit for street duty because of pending criminal charges or a checkered past.

There now, for instance, is James Pitts, a former homicide detective who has been accused of forcibly coercing false confessions from multiple defendants.

Ross says assignment to the camera unit affords a low-risk way to get work from accused officers still on the payroll. Critics, however, contend the practice is a possible security risk, given the units proximity to scores of local and federal agents handling sensitive investigative information. The department typically has not notified its partners when transferring compromised officers to the facility.

This is the last place you should put an officer who has been credibly accused of lying or tampering with evidence or abusing peoples rights, said Mary Catherine Roper, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. I would rather have them do nothing.

Ross, in an email, defended the practice as an efficient use of the officers, who, he said, work under stringent supervision, and have no access to data or information systems.

This has been a practice since 2012, he wrote. Since that time, to our knowledge, there have been no issues regarding officers accessing sensitive information, or utilizing the cameras for dubious purposes.

Still, the practice of assigning officers under a cloud of suspicion to the center troubled University of Nebraska Omaha criminal justice professor Samuel Walker.

Their integrity is suspect, said Walker, adding they need to be put in places where they can do the least possible harm.

He noted that many departments detail such officers to the records room.

Records is good. Dealing with file folders is good, he said, but the camera-monitoring room is a terrible thing to do.

Michael Chitwood Jr. is a former Philadelphia police officer who now serves as sheriff of Volusia County, Fla., which includes Daytona Beach. Chitwood, whose namesake father is Upper Darbys police chief, said finding an appropriate assignment for an officer accused of wrongdoing is not an easy problem. It gets to the heart of the criminal justice system.

Chitwoods advice for police commanders is to assign such officers as far away as you can from any sensitive units. "Ive paid them to stay home, he said.

It is a perennial issue in Philadelphia where a strong police union makes it difficult to dismiss officers, even those with records checkered enough to leave them unwanted as witnesses in criminal cases.

It was revealed last year that the District Attorneys Office maintained a list of officers seen as too compromised by past misconduct to be used as witnesses in trials. There were 66 officers on the list at the time. Nordo was on the list before he was ultimately fired in September 2017. He was charged last month with sexually assaulting witnesses in cases he was handling.

In a brief interview at his home four days before his arrest, Nordo confirmed that he had been posted at the intelligence facility a little while. He then closed the door on this reporter.

Over the years, the department has assigned accused officers to the impound lot, a check-in room for officers testifying in court, and an office answering calls about minor traffic accidents.

According to Ross, the Real Time Camera Center, which monitors surveillance cameras throughout the city, was added to the list seven years ago.

The center is set in a corner of a vast, open, warehouse-like space in South Philadelphia that houses the larger Delaware Valley Intelligence Center (DVIC).

The DVIC is a collaboration among local and federal law enforcement agencies in Philadelphia and 11 surrounding counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. It is one of 79 so-called fusion centers in the United States and U.S. territories created in concert with the Department of Homeland Security. Seen as an intelligence-sharing operation, DVIC allows Philadelphia police and other local departments to interact with analysts from an array of federal agencies, including Homeland Security, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Coast Guard.

The Philadelphia Police Department deploys 135 staffers to the intelligence center, which is located in the 2800 block of South 20th Street. The Delaware County District Attorneys Office, the ATF, the FBI, and Homeland Security each provide one full-time analyst. The federal government annually contributes $2.5 million in funding; Philadelphia ponies up almost another $1 million for maintenance and other expenses.

Philadelphia Chief Inspector Daniel MacDonald, who oversees the DVIC, said a goal of the intelligence center is to build relationships between the various agencies represented.

The first time we work together shouldnt be when theres a crisis, MacDonald said.

Real Time Crime Center, where officers on restricted duty work, includes a glass-enclosed section that houses camera monitors. Up to a dozen officers, not all on restricted duty, can work there. Others in the unit sit at a bank of computers nearby, close to some of the city and federal analysts stationed in the intelligence center.

In addition to monitoring the cameras, officers on restricted duty staff the entrance to the facility, checking staff credentials and escorting visitors into the DVIC.

During a visit this month to the camera center by an Inquirer reporter and photographer, there were two restricted duty officers working in the enclosed area. They were being managed by two supervisors  a sergeant and lieutenant. MacDonald said he made sure there was overkill with supervision for the restricted-duty officers.

Officers on restricted duty have limited computer access to police intelligence. For instance, they do not have access to tracing tools for cell phones, license plates readers, and a variety of other sophisticated tracking software.

For all of that, the department has typically not notified other DVIC agencies when it places compromised officers in the camera unit.

SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel 3rd, for instance, learned of the assignments only when asked about them by a reporter. He said he was surprised that problematic officers would be sent to the site and stressed that he assigned only his best analysts to work at the intelligence center. He stopped short, however, of criticizing Ross.

Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association, said that although there is no requirement for police to tell law enforcement partners about the backgrounds of officers they send to fusion centers, I certainly hope they would.

Ross said his department was not obligated to notify other agencies of the specifics of its staffing but would most certainly discuss the issue with any agency that was partner with the city at the DVIC.

Ross, in his email, indicated he understood the criticism of his decision to place officers on restricted duty in the DVIC, and remained open to reconsidering it.

We are aware of the perception that this practice may create, he wrote, and as is the case with all of our policies and procedures, we will continue to evaluate the effectiveness and propriety of our current method of operation.
SMITHSHIRE, Ill., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- USA-Containers, LLC, has been assisting numerous food banks throughout the country by donating labor and selling refrigerated (reefer) containers at reduced rates. These refrigerated containers help food banks by providing large, mobile spaces to collect or transport food donations.

USA-Containers, with decades of experience in the shipping container business, is taking the initiative in various communities throughout the US. By making refrigerated containers more accessible to local food banks, these not-for-profit organizations can expand their operations and receive or distribute donations to more areas than ever.

"We are always looking for more ways to contribute to the community," Mike Alecock, owner of USA-Containers, had to say about the recent refrigerated container sales. "We try to stay involved locally as a family-owned business. So, having the chance to reach out to more communities beyond our own has been a rewarding experience for us."

Refrigerated containers are typically utilized by restaurants and food distributors and are helpful for numerous temperature-controlled applications. For food banks, reefer containers help to transport perishable goods and allow organizations to expand their radius to more neighborhoods in need.

USA-Containers delivered two refrigerated containers to food banks in 2019: Second Harvest Food Bank in St. Joseph, MO, and Easter Illinois Food Bank in Champaign, IL. In 2020, two more food banks received these reefer storage units: Forever Fed in Woodstock, GA, and the Salvation Army in Detroit, MI.

If you head up a food bank yourself or have questions regarding the other products offered by USA-Containers, you can visit the USA-Containers website at https://www.usa-containers.com/.

USA-Containers, LLC, with over 35 years of experience in the shipping container business, sells and designs custom made containers throughout the United States. From basic storage to customized portable offices, and everything in between, USA-Containers makes products to fit clients' needs. In addition to buying and selling shipping containers, USA-Containers rents out dry and refrigerated containers. You can contact them today at 866-884-6859. Also, they are located at 1069 Township Rd 1950 East, Smithshire, IL 61478.

PR Contact: Chris Malone

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SOURCE USA-Containers, LLC

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New York, March 5 : Senator Elizabeth Warren is preparing to quit the Democratic race for the party's presidential nomination setting the field for a straight contest between centrist former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-declared socialist.

Warren, who is from the party's left wing, was going to announce her withdrawal after faring poorly in the primaries - the intra-party elections - to select the candidate to confront President Donald Trump in the November elections, several media reports quoting sources in her campaign or close to her said on Thursday.

While an ideological consolidation is taking place in the party, it was not certain who she would back after backing out of the contest even though she is ideologically closer to Sanders with whom she has clashed.

Three moderate candidates - Senator Amy Klobuchar, former small-town Mayor Pete Buttigieg and billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg - have quit the race and endorsed Biden after poor performance in the party polls.

Another candidate, hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, has also pulled out.

Of those who have shown up nationally, only Hindu American member of the House of Representatives Tulsi Gabbard remains in the race, although she has polled around one per cent or less of the votes in the 18 states where the party polls have been held.

She is a leftist and was Sanders's supporter in 2016.

The quest for Democratic nomination is now confined to two septuagenarian white men, Biden, 77, and Sanders, 78, all the women, except Gabbard, and non-whites having left the race.

Senator Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican African descent, showed early promise and fared well in party debates but quit in December even before the party polls got underway.

Biden, who performed poorly in the first two party polls leading to questions about his viability, made a stunning comeback after the primary in South Carolina and the 14 on Tuesday, winning ten of them.

Sanders was shown ahead of him in national opinion polls and in many of the 14 states, but won only in four states.

The final blow for Warren was losing in even her home state of Massachusetts on Tuesday.

Many in the Democratic Party establishment and moderates fear that if Sanders were to be the party candidate in November he might lose because of his self-declaration that he is a socialist and also take down Congressional candidates belonging to the party.

That has led to the other moderates dropping out to back him.

Warren has accused Sanders of telling her that a woman does not have a chance of winning the presidential election and both clashed publicly over this. Sanders has denied saying it, Hillary Clinton was the first woman presidential candidate of a major party in 2016, but lost to Trump.

Warren has toned down some of her left-oriented stands, declaring herself a "capitalist" and backing down on proposals for a government monopoly on healthcare by offering a role for private insurers.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
Sara Ali Khan Shares Birthday Post For Brother Ibrahim; Gets Brutally Trolled For Wearing A Bikini
India said on Thursday it has seized dual-use equipment that experts had determined had military applications from a Pakistan-bound Chinese merchant vessel and asked China to ensure its entities dont engage in activities that could contribute to proliferation.

Earlier in the day, Chinas foreign ministry had contended the equipment seized by Indian authorities from the Hong Kong-registered ship, Da Cui Yun, wasnt meant for military use and was not a dual use item.

The ship was detained by Indian customs at Kandla port on February 3 while on its way to port Qasim in Karachi. The action was taken on the basis of an intelligence tip-off. The vessel was allowed to proceed to Pakistan on February 20 after the equipment with civilian and military use was seized.

Our authorities had detained a Chinese vessel Da Cui Yan when it berthed in Kandla port in early February, as it had mis-declared the item that it was carrying. Our examination has revealed the item is an autoclave that is controlled under our Dual Use Export Control lists, said external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

We have conveyed our concerns on this issue to the Chinese side and have highlighted that as a friendly country, the Chinese government will take appropriate measures to ensure that Chinese entities do not engage in activities that can contribute to proliferation, he said.

The autoclave was seized by Indian authorities in line with the countrys legal procedure, Kumar said. It has also been ascertained by our examination that this item has military applications, he said.

Hindustan Times first reported the seizure of the equipment, which can be used in making very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets. Experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) confirmed the autoclave had military applications.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a regular news briefing on Thursday that the equipment was a heat treatment system, which is not a dual use item under non-proliferation controls followed globally.

The ship was stopped by Indian authorities at Kandla port after the crew is said to have declared the autoclave as an industrial dryer:

After seeking the information, we know this item is actually a heat treatment furnace shell system, produced by a private company in China, Zhao said. This is not for military use and it is not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control.

He added, As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling international non-proliferation obligations and international commitments. Zhao contended the Chinese ships owner had declared the item truthfully and there was no concealment and forced declaration.
Students wear masks as prevention against coronavirus at the Bengaluru City Railway Station, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. (PTI)

Bengaluru: In view of a coronavirus positive case being reported in Hyderabad, the Karnataka government has directed schools in the state to ensure that symptomatic students and teachers who have signs of fever, cough, cold and upper respiratory tract infections do not attend.

The circular further bars schools from conducting picnics in susceptible areas.

Schools have been asked to conduct awareness sessions on Covid-19 every Monday with prior information to the health department so that health staff can provide health education materials.

Jawaid Akhtar, additional chief secretary to the Karnataka government on health and family welfare and the Medical Education Department has issued an advisory to IT/BT company employees and staff to refrain from travelling to COVID-19 affected countries like China, Iran, Republic of Korea, ltaly and Japan.

Any passengers who have visited the affected countries in the last 14 days and have arrived in Karnataka have eto report to the Health Department. lf he/she has to travel again from Bengaluru to other places, he/she has to take permission from the Health Department or he/she has to intimate the concerned officials of the Health Department, the advisory says.

Advisory for employees

Employees other than those from restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, lran, ltaly, Hong Kong, Macau, Veitnam, Malaysia, lndonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry.

Employees arriving on international flights entering lndia from any airport are required to furnish a self declaration form (including personal particulars - phone numbers and address in lndia) and travel history to health officials and immigration officials.

Those employees having flu like symptoms may be allowed to work from home.
Jennifer Devine is angry about losing a local program that reduced her familys cost of licensed child care by $12 a day, and she questions whether a new provincial tax credit will fill that gap.

Peels program was easy to understand and now the province is adding another change, the Mississauga mother said. I dont even know how much the tax credit will be worth for us.

Devine is among about 12,000 parents in Peel who will see their fees jump by as much as $275 a month on May 1 when the region ends its child care affordability program due to provincial funding cuts.

But many parents may be able to recoup some or all of that increase through Ontarios new CARE child care tax credit when they file their 2019 taxes, said Olivia Nunes, Peel Regions acting director of early years and child care services.

The program end date ... was selected to align with the introduction of the provincial child care tax credit in an effort to mitigate the impact to parents, Nunes said in a statement Wednesday.

Devine, whose middle-income family doesnt qualify for a child care subsidy, said the regional program for parents who pay full fees allowed her to put her 2 1/2-year-old son Declan in regulated care without sacrificing our quality of life.

The programs demise means Devine and her husband Kevin Besley will see their monthly child care fees rise from about $700 to almost $1,000, an increase that will cost them $3,024 a year.

A calculation by the provinces independent Financial Accountability Office, requested by the Star, shows her familys tax credit would be about $2,500  about $500 less that what she was getting from Peel.

In the legislature Wednesday, NDP child care critic Doly Begum slammed the Ford government for making life more difficult for Ontario families.

The cost of child care here in Ontario is out of control. Parents across the province are often spending more on child care than their mortgages or rent, she said.

Conservative cuts mean that Peel Region has had to cancel their reduced child care fees initiative  a program that many families rely on to make ends meet, said Begum (Scarborough Southwest).

Education Minister Stephen Lecce blamed the previous Liberal government for the high cost of child care and said the Progressive Conservative governments tax credit will make child care more affordable for more than 300,000 Ontario families.

Unlike any political party in this province, we are supporting a tax credit directly to working parents, putting money in their pockets to make the best decision for their childs future, up to 75 per cent of child care expenses, he said.

However the Financial Accountability Office in September said the $390 million CARE credit  aimed at offsetting child care expenses for children under age 16  would provide an average of just $1,300 a year to eligible families, with most of the money going to upper-income households.

Under Peels program, which began in January 2018, parents with children under age 4 in full-time care were eligible for a fee reduction of $12 a day or $3,024 a year.

Children in part-time care were eligible for a $6-a-day cut in fees, or $1,512 a year.

Nunes said $5.4 million in provincial funding cuts to Peel this year meant the region could no longer afford to offer the program.

The region is working on a revised affordability strategy but is waiting on provincial multi-year funding to ensure the new program is sustainable for Peel families and child care providers, she said.

Peel has among the highest child care costs in the country with average annual fees of about $26,760, or about 35 per cent of median household income, according to the region.

At least six Ontario municipalities launched local affordability programs with funding from the three-year bilateral child care agreement the province signed with Ottawa in 2017, said Carolyn Ferns of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child care.

All but two  Hamilton and Windsor  have ended their programs due to Ford government child care cuts of almost $49 million this year, she said. And Hamilton and Windsor have notified parents their programs may be also be at risk.

If you live somewhere like Peel, housing costs are high, living expenses are high and child care is just through the roof, said Ferns. These programs were meant to be doing something for full-fee-paying families. And now they have nothing.

Ontarios new child care tax credit only covers annual costs of up to $8,000 for kids under age 7  much less than what many parents in the GTA pay for infant, toddler and preschool care, she noted.

Municipalities were committed to increasing their fee reduction programs as senior government funding increased, Ferns said.

Shifting provincial child care funding into tax credits for any type of care, including nannies and camps, will do nothing to support high-quality licensed child care and chronically underpaid early childhood educators, she added.

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The age of movie stars is all but over. As recently as the early 2000s, all a studio needed was a famous movie stars face on a poster or name above the title to secure a $100 million hit. But times have changed, and audiences today respond more to a franchise or brand than any particular star. That being said, even older screen icons remain just as captivating as ever. Take Harrison Ford, for instance.

The actor, of course, earned instant legend status with the unforgettable roles of Han Solo in Star Wars and Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Though he revisited them both several times over the years, Fords career hardly needed a boost. With his star firmly in place, no one expected him to join another franchise. But recent headlines have fans thinking twice.

Harrison Ford poses for a portrait | Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Harrison Ford recently praised the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Indiana Jones 5 has been in the news a lot lately, mostly because of behind-the-scenes shake-ups. Now even Steven Spielberg  who directed all previous entries  has stepped aside, presumably so James Mangold can helm the next film. After the response to 2008s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this update caused quite a stir among fans.

Yet, through it all, Ford has maintained the whole team is waiting until Indiana Jones 5 is ready before moving forward. The actor knows whats at stake with the next entry. In fact, he name-checked the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an example of how to keep fans excited about a film franchise.

Naturally, seeing the words Harrison Ford and Marvel in the same headline got some fans thinking. If Ford admires what Marvel has accomplished, could he join the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some point? After all, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige clearly has powerful methods of persuasion  and Disneys bottomless wallet  at his disposal.

Would he be up for playing a Marvel hero or villain in an upcoming film?

If Ford ever does hop into the MCU, he wouldnt have to go very far. Both Indiana Jones and Star Wars are the property of Disney-owned Lucasfilm. And if Indiana Jones 5 continues to take a while to fall into place, the House of Mouse could leverage this opening to convince Ford to journey into the MCU.

We dont see him suiting up necessarily. But Ford would be perfect as a central heros mentor or as a one-off villain. Marvel has a long history of bringing in older, often Oscar-winning or nominated movie stars to play such roles. Even back in 2008, Oscar winner Jeff Bridges served as the archetype for this type of casting. In Iron Man, he played both the mentor and the villain opposite Robert Downey Jr.s Tony Stark.

Ford would be especially well-suited to lend some gravitas to the inevitable X-Men and Fantastic Four reboots. Just picture him showing up in a supporting role as either the anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly or Franklin Storm, father of both Sue and Johnny Storm. Suddenly, the notion of Ford sharing the screen with some Avengers doesnt sound so far-fetched.

Harrison Ford might not be willing to commit to another franchise role

In the past decade or so, Ford has been casually touring his filmography with one franchise return after another. Since 2008, hes reprised three of his most famous roles: Indiana Jones, Han Solo, and Rick Deckard. At this point, the only one he seems interested in playing again is Indiana Jones, whenever that happens.

Ford has popped up in cameos or small roles in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, The Expendables 3, and The Secret Life of Pets 2. But with Indy as the only exception, he doesnt seem like much of a franchise guy. So its unlikely he would want to play a pivotal Marvel character such as Charles Xavier, as one Redditor suggested. But getting Ford to pop in for a single film feels much more doable.

The actor doesnt necessarily seem averse to jumping into a franchise sandbox for a bit. He just doesnt want to be tied down to a decade-long contract. Remember, the actor famously wanted Han Solo to die midway through the original Star Wars trilogy. We cant blame him, but wed still love to see him in the MCU sometime. With Marvel Studios gearing up to release four Marvel movies each year, perhaps the stars will finally align.
The LEVA Mazaya Centre Hotel will turn off its lights for an hour at 8.30pm on Saturday 28th March in support



(TRAVPR.COM) UAE - March 5th, 2020 -

The LEVA Mazaya Centre Hotel will turn off its lights for an hour at 8.30pm on Saturday 28th March in support of Earth Hour to raise awareness about climate change and significance of renewable energy. During the hour, guests and employees of the hotel will come together in a symbolic ceremony whereby the hotel will switch off all non-essential lights and appliances.

More than 7,000 cities in 180 countries are expected to take part in Earth Hour which is now the worlds largest movements for the environment, engaging millions of people globally.

Mr. JS Anand, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LEVA Hotels & Resorts, said, At LEVA we understand that only through sustained efforts can we contribute to long-lasting and tangible environmental initiatives. In line with our corporate social responsibility we are committed to reduce our carbon footprint and are glad to support this exceptional initiative that is observed worldwide. It is one of the most powerful environmental campaigns that has been instrumental in mobilizing global action on raising awareness about climate change and how reduction of energy consumption can significantly cut down carbon emissions. We are proud to be part of it.

Superbly located between Al Wasl Road and Sheikh Zayed Road, LEVA Mazaya Centre is a deluxe 4-star hotel, situated only 20 minutes-drive away from Dubai International Airport. Part of a mixed-use development that includes Al Mazaya Shopping Centre and residential spaces, LEVA makes for an ideal address for both business and leisure travellers in Dubai. Blending fresh and purposeful spaces with comfort, the beautiful property is a statement in style and enjoys close proximity to some of Dubais biggest leisure attractions and business landmarks.

Connect with LEVA Hotels & Resorts on @LEVAHotels #LEVAHotels #LEVAHotelsAndResorts

About LEVA Hotels & Resorts

LEVA Hotels & Resorts is a dynamic lifestyle hotel brand uniquely positioned in the upscale and midscale segments offering a fresh perspective on hospitality. It attracts travellers who want to be immersed in vibrant spaces while enjoying world-class comfort and engaging service at affordable price points. Derived from the Latin word Levatio meaning comfort, LEVA Hotels & Resorts boasts a unique portfolio of 4 complementary and well differentiated hospitality brands aimed at delivering greater value to guests with a balanced lifestyle and solid return on investment for owners. At every level, LEVA is focused on the essentials that turn the mundane into memorable. For more information visit www.stayleva.com

For Media Contact:

Hina Bakht

Managing Director

EVOPS Marketing & PR

M: +971 50 6975146 | T: +971 4 566 7355

Hina.bakht@evops-pr.com

www.evops-pr.com

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According to Senator Panfilo Lacson, 2,000 to 3,000 members of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army may be in the Philippines, information that must still be validated by the countrys intelligence services. Police held Chinese nationals with PLA identity cards among their possessions.

Manila (AsiaNews/Agencies)  A good number of members of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) are in the Philippines, said Philippine Senator Panfilo Lacson (pictured), information that must still be validated by the intelligence committee.

The information I shared with Senator [Richard] Gordon that a good number of PLA [members] is subject to validation, and were talking here of 2,000 to 3,000; thats the number mentioned to us, Lacson told reporters at the Senate.

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is the combined Armed Forces (land, sea and air) of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Lacson suggested taht it is possible that PLA soldiers are here on an unknown mission, whose exact purpose remains a puzzle.

Previously, Senator Gordon had warned that Chinese couriers brought more than US0 million into the country between December 2019 to February this year and that this money could be laundered, or could be used to fund a "fifth column. ", i.e. a group of people secretly working for the enemy.

Gordon further noted that the discovery of PLA identification cards on Chinese suspects should be further investigated.

The senator was referring to the fact that last week, Philippine police arrested two Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in the death of a man, Yin Jian Tao, who was shot inside a VIP room of a restaurant in Makati City. The two were found carrying PLA identification cards.
Bloc stands by Greece and accuses Ankara of using migratory pressure for political purposes, a charge Erdogan denies.

European Union countries offered more money for border policing in Greece and humanitarian aid in Syrias Idlib, but they were in a bind over Turkey as they sought to avert a mass influx of refugees and migrants.

EU interior ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday for emergency talks, to be followed by a meeting of foreign ministers on Thursday and Friday, as some 25,000 refugees and migrants gather on the Greek border, seeking to cross into Europe.

That came after Turkey  citing the latest fighting in Syria  backed away from a 2016 deal with the bloc to keep refugees and migrants away from Europe.

In a joint statement, EU ministers recognised the increased migratory burden and risks Turkey is facing but also denounced Turkeys use of migratory pressure for political purposes.

This situation at EUs external borders is not acceptable, they said, in calling on Ankara to stick to the 2016 pact.

Speaking in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Europe had to support Turkeys political and humanitarian solutions in Syria if it wanted to resolve the situation.

Government spokesman Ibrahim Kalin denied this was blackmail.

Our objective by opening the doors was not to create an artificial crisis, to place political pressure or to serve our interests, he said, but Turkeys capacity has a limit.

Greek riot police used water cannon and tear gas on Wednesday against refugees and migrants at the frontier, but Greece denied claims by Turkey that it killed at least one person trying to enter the country.

Turkey is not an enemy, but people are not weapons either, the EUs top migration official, Margaritis Schinas, said in explaining that 700 million euros worth of extra EU funding for Greece would fortify the blocs external border there.

The EU is also preparing to offer 60 million euros in new humanitarian aid to Idlib, diplomats said. The city has been the latest flashpoint in the nine-year-old war in Syria, where Russia-backed Syrian forces fight rebels supported by Turkey.

Humanitarian efforts to support nearly one million people who fled the fighting have been overwhelmed, said the UN aid chief, Mark Lowcock.

EU member states are divided over Turkey.

Greece and Cyprus have pushed a tough line, but others are willing to offer further aid to support some 3.7 million Syrian refugees stranded in Turkey, on top of the six billion euros already granted in 2016.

The EU is desperate to avoid any repeat of 2015 and 2016, when more than a million refugees arrived on its soil, overwhelming security and welfare systems and increasing support for eurosceptic and nationalist groups across the bloc.

But EUs ties with Turkey, a NATO ally, are strained over human rights and security issues, as well as Ankaras hydrocarbons drilling in the east Mediterranean.

Human rights groups decried Athens hard-nosed acts on the border and its decision to suspend accepting asylum claims, but the EU expressed solidarity with Greece.

The right to asylum does not mean that Erdogan can send how many migrants he wants into the European Union, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told journalists on Wednesday.
In the wake of coronavirus threat, the Delhi government on Thursday ordered the closure of all primary schools in the state till March 31.

All government, aided, private, MCD and NDMC schools will remain closed till March 31 to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID- 19 among children.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia tweeted, As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20.

As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) March 5, 2020

In India, 30 positive cases have been reported so far, including 16 Italian tourists.The virus has claimed over 3,000 lives all over the world besides infecting more than 90,000 people.

Also read: Coronavirus threat reschedules India-EU Summit, PM Modi cancels visit: MEA

Earlier on Thursday, the Delhi government advised head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system.

A letter has been written to principal secretaries, secretaries, autonomous bodies and municipal corporations for the suspension of biometric attendance in view of coronavirus threat, an official told PTI.

Also watch: 29 coronavirus cases in India; PM Modi monitoring situation: Harsh Vardhan

A resident of Mayur Vihar was the first positive case reported in Delhi who infected six of his family members in Agra. 88 people who were in contact with the patient are under observation, the government said.

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(Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @jwdew) (Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @engadget)

Nokia partners up with James Bond actress Lashana Lynch to unveil their very first 5G phone. As James Bond once again prepares to come out of retirement one last time this will be the fifth and final installment of Daniel Craig which promises to be a memorable one indeed.

Read More About: READ! Coronavirus Has Two Strains Which Will Make it Even More Difficult to Contain Since The Other Half Doesn't Know They Are Infected Until It's Too Late

The latest installment and the last one for actor Daniel Craig to play the part of Double 007, No Time to Die, will hit theatres now in November instead of the planned release date of April due to the coronavirus. You will most probably be treated with Nokia's first 5G phone in the movie since it will be used by the companions of the super-spy.

The Commercial In Question

The featured commercial will, of course, feature Nokias 5G phone and the beautiful Lashana Lynch's character in the movie, 00 agent Nomi. Who completed a mission using the assistance of Nokia's new phone, HMD Global has plans to explain more of the device on March 19th. As amazing as the commercial is we still do not know if it's just agent Nomi who is going to use the device but what about the main protagonist?

Read More About: 10 Ways to Greet Someone in Style Without Getting Sick From Deadly Coronavirus

What Phones Be Featured In The Movie

HMD Global has told the press that the Nokia 7.2 and 3310 will make guest appearances in the upcoming James Bond movie. The Nokia 7.2 comes with a powerful processor, storage capacity for the modern age, camera to be envious but unfortunately lacks in the battery department that only has about 3,500 mAh5, thankfully supports USB-C charging. As for the 3310, this is the updated version from the widely popular 3310 way back in the year 2000. Maintaining the design but making it possible to do modern things with the phone but still, overall a good phone to have and own for nostalgia purposes or maybe for your kids, who knows.

via GIPHY

Trouble in Paradise?

If you will watch this movie in November, you are a fan of James Bond films and you should also know that he only uses the best of the best. Funny thing though, Sony reportedly wanted to pay Craig $5 million to pose for some photos with the Xperia Z4 in hand. Craig, however, declined. To add insult to injury a leaked email stating that "James Bond only uses the 'best...' the Sony phone is not the 'best.'" Talk about a big oof!

If ever Craig uses a Nokia phone it would be put his last James Bond appearance come full circle as his first-ever appearance as the iconic protagonist in 2006's Casino Royale, he used a Nokia 8800. Talk about a fitting end for his time as the super-spy.

Read More About: Guide to Proper Smartphone Cases Cleaning to Prevent Spread of Germs and Virus Like Coronavirus

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Most of this shows videos are projected on a loop, which you can look at freely, but two are projected at set times and can only be seen from the beginning. (Guards are stationed at the entrances; both are about 25 minutes and run on the half-hour.)

One of those is the murky, claustrophobic, absolutely relentless Western Deep (2002), hands-down Mr. McQueens greatest work in either art or cinema. Commissioned for Okwui Enwezors now legendary Documenta 11 exhibition of 2002, Western Deep drives us into the underworld of the global economy, via a descent into the worlds deepest mine, the TauTona goldmine near Johannesburg.

Its first shot unspools in near darkness, as we go down with the miners down a near-infinite elevator, espying their faces only in flashes, listening for minutes to the screech and rattle of the machinery. (Long takes are a McQueen signature, preserved in Hunger and 12 Years a Slave.)

This is the heart of darkness, retained in South Africas post-apartheid state. Beneath the earth, the miners hazardously loose gold from the mine walls, but we see their labor only in flashes, whatever their headlamps allow. Mr. McQueens cuts are awkward and disjunctive, plunging us in and out of the mine; the sound oscillates between the clatter of the mining equipment and an even more disturbing silence.

At last, surfacing, we behold a terrifying (and unexplained) sequence of dozens of miners stripped to their boxers, performing calisthenics as doctors pace alongside, intercut with a blinking red light and a horribly loud buzzer. We learn nothing of these mens lives, nor, for that matter, of the profits of the mining company.
Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, is seen after his arrest in April 2018 in California

Golden State Killer suspect Joseph DeAngelo has made a surprise offer to plead guilty in the serial killer case if prosecutors take the death penalty off the table.

'Mr. DeAngelo is 74 years old,' his defense wrote in a motion filed this week. 'He has offered to plead to the charges with a lifetime sentence.'

DeAngelo is charged with 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping in the Golden State Killer's sick spree of violence in northern California in the 1970s and 80s.

Investigators believe he committed some 50 rapes and hundreds of home invasions. The statute of limitations has expired on those crimes, however, making them impossible to charge.

He was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence, but has so far indicated no willingness to accept a plea deal.

DeAngelo is arraigned in a Sacramento courtroom in April 2018. A court filing this week indicated that he has offered to plead guilty in the case

DeAngelo was living quietly in this Citrus Heights home when he was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence

Prosecutors are seeking death in the case in spite of Governor Gavin Newsom's moratorium on executions, which had already been rare in California.

The state last executed someone in 2006, and has a backlog of more than 700 killers on death row.

A capital trial, which would follow a lengthy preliminary hearing in May, could cost taxpayers an estimated $20 million.

The Sacramento County public defender's office, which represents DeAngelo, has quietly been reaching out to the families of the victims in the case to test their willingness to accept a plea deal from the accused serial killer.

'Criminal cases often take many years to resolve by trial. The trial process is often very stressful for victims and their families,' the office wrote in a letter to victim families, KOVR-TV reported.

Prosecutors are seeking death in the case in spite of Governor Gavin Newsom's moratorium on executions, which had already been rare in California

'This particular case is exceedingly complex due to the number of charged crimes and the diverse locations of the charged crimes. We would like to reach a resolution of the case that avoids a trial, satisfies all parties and provides a more immediate resolution of the case.

'Such a resolution would hopefully provide closure for you. If avoiding the trial process appeals to you, we hope that you feel comfortable providing your input to both the District Attorney and the defense team,' the letter continued.

The daughter of one the Golden State Killer's victims told the CBS affiliate that she was open to the idea of a plea bargain to end the long ordeal, but wanted more information first.

Joseph James DeAngelo is currently being held without bail in the Sacramento County Main Jail.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as he arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 28, 2017.

Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Image via AP

President Donald Trump on Wednesday rebuked Democrats after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared to criticize two justices on the Supreme Court.

"This is a direct & dangerous threat to the US Supreme Court by Schumer," Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday. "If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW!"

A week prior to Trump's criticism, the president also lambasted two liberal justices and demanded them to recuse themselves from any of his ongoing legal trials.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday rebuked Democrats after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared to criticize two justices on the Supreme Court.

"This is a direct & dangerous threat to the US Supreme Court by Schumer," Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday. "If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW!"

Trump suggested in a separate tweet that Schumer was "threatening the Supreme Court" and that he "must pay a severe price."

Speaking to a crowd in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Schumer was describing a nearby, opposing rally as "the bad guys" and referenced Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

At the time, the justices were presented with an oral argument asking whether doctors at abortion clinics in Louisiana would be able to have local hospital admitting privileges. Chief Justice Roberts is expected to be the swing vote in conservative-majority panel.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer said, amid cheers from the crowd. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

"We will tell President Trump and Senate Republicans, who have stacked the court with right-wing ideologues," Schumer added. "That you will be gone in November, and you'll never be able to do this again."

Story continues

The remarks immediately attracted scrutiny, prompting Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts said. "All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."

A week prior to Trump's criticism, the president lambasted two liberal justices and demanded them to recuse themselves from any of his ongoing legal trials.

"'Sotomayor accuses GOP appointed Justices of being biased in favor of Trump,'" Trump quoted Fox News host Laura Ingraham in a tweet, referring to Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Ingraham was commenting on Sotomayor's dissent to a recent ruling about migrants and their residency status.

"This is a terrible thing to say," he added in his own remarks. "Trying to 'shame' some into voting her way? She never criticized Justice Ginsberg when she called me a 'faker'. Both should recuse themselves on all Trump, or Trump related, matters."

In 2016, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg described Trump as a "faker" and said she could not "imagine what the country would be  with Donald Trump as our president."

Ginsberg later apologized and called her comments "ill-advised."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Full disclosure up front: This is an "okay, Boomer" story. But you young 'uns should still read on. You might learn a little something.

If you were a boy growing up in the 60s, action figures were the "must-have" toys. GI Joe was king, of course. But when the space race gripped the world, Major Matt Mason took center stage.

READY TO LAUNCH: Got what it takes to be an astronaut? NASA is hiring.

Major Matt was introduced by Mattel in 1966. He was an astronaut who lived and worked on the Moon. Back then, astronauts were American heroes. Every boy (and quite a few girls) wanted to be one. Major Matt Mason helped them fuel their fantasy. Houston Chronicle designer/ illustrator Ken Ellis even drew a recreation of himself as a young boy clutching his Major Matt while watching the Apollo 11 splashdown following the first lunar landing.

Once the space race died down, and little boys grew-up, Major Matt was retired to toy boxes, attics, and eventually the trash. A few managed to survive in collections, kept by kids who refused to let him be lost in space.

Recently, Houston Chronicle Tech Blogger Jay Lee dusted off an old Major Matt Mason and put the figure back into action. "One of my regular readers is one of the flight directors for the International Space Station," Lee told me. "He thanked my for some recent computer advice and offered to give me and my wife a private tour of the ISS Mission Control Center."

MISSION MOON: Apollo 11 lunar landing leaves lasting legacy 50 years later

Lee accepted the offer, and decided to bring Major Matt Mason along for a photo op. "The staff seemed amused by this, but it didn't really seem to garner that much attention." The pics he shot were a flashback for anyone who had a Major Matt as a child.

"I became aware that Ken was a huge Major Matt Mason fan and later learned that he lost his collection as a child after his house was looted after the hurricane in 1970," said Lee. "That made me take a look through some boxes where I found the pieces to the set I mailed to him at the Chronicle."

When Ken got Jay's gift, he immediately came up to me to show me what he got. It reminded me of Christmas morning, when you ran to the neighbor's house to show-off what Santa brought you. Yup, some boys never grow-up. We hope you enjoy the photos from Major Matt's NASA visit as much as we did.

Danny Hermosillo is the Sr. Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1| Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

The Armenian Armed Forces have once again committed a provocation by flagrantly violating ceasefire on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border, Trend reports referring to the press service of Azerbaijans State Border Service.

On March 5, at 19:10 (GMT +4), Azerbaijani border guard, soldier Orkhan Pashazade was injured as a result of sniper shelling in the direction of Gushchu Ayrim village of Azerbaijans Gazakh district. He was immediately taken to the Gazakh Diagnostic Center, but doctors could not save his life.

Responsibility for the killing of a soldier of the State Border Service, who was guarding the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, is on Armenian political and military leadership.

In connection with the incident necessary measures are being taken.
Brewdog adds Scottish Shochu to its spirits collection

Brewdog Distilling has created its own version of the popular Japanese drink Shochu, with "a Scottish twist.

Inugami Scottish Shochu, which is subtly laced with galangal root, ginger and Scottish rhubarb, is currently available at Shochu lounge at Roka restaurant until March 27, when it will be available from the distiller and brewers website and all UK Brewdog bars.

According to the company it is best served like they do in the Izakaya bars in Japan, in a highball with sparkling water, loaded with ice.

Inugami is name after the vengeful dog spirits found in Japanese folklore. Wild Scottish birds are found on the Inugami Shochu bottle keeping the wild dog in check, ready to be unleashed on a new generation looking for lighter, brighter drinks with a crisp bite.

Inugami joins LoneWolf gin, Rogue Wave vodka, Five Hundred Cuts botanical rum and Zealots Heart gin.

Shochu is described as a light, delicate drink that is loved in Japan and relatively unknown outside of Asia. It is distilled (unlike sake, which is fermented) and it can be made from a range of locally available ingredients.

The base flavours range from rice, barley, buckwheat and even sweet potato.

Inugami Scottish Shochu is made from malted wheat, barley and rice with a touch of molasses for fruitiness. It has some subtle flavours of rhubarb, galangal root and ginger to give the drink a more complex flavour.

Related articles:
An Oregon woman diagnosed with COVID-19 while on a cruise ship in Japan is now clear of the disease and reunited with her husband after a nearly monthlong stay in a hospital in Tokyo.

In a word, Rebecca Frasure of Forest Grove described how she feels to be out of quarantine, free of the disease and ready to return home: Amazing,

Two back-to-back tests finally showed no coronavirus in her system.

Frasure, who works for a medical health plan in Oregon, and her husband, Kent Frasure were on a cruise in Asia aboard the Diamond Princess in early February when Japanese officials learned that 10 people on the ship had the new coronavirus. The Frasures and the rest of the passengers had to stay put in their rooms while health officials tested passengers.

Rebecca Frasure tested positive and was isolated in a hospital room in Tokyo, where she stayed from Feb. 6 to March 4.

Now, the Frasures will be able to return to the United States next week. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Rebecca Frasure that she has to wait an extra five days after the day that doctors collect the last throat or nasal swab that tests negative for coronavirus.

Kent Frasure, an Intel technician, never tested positive for the virus, even though he shared a suite with his wife. He was let off the ship Feb. 23 after waiting out a quarantine.

While Kent Frasure was at a Tokyo hotel, paid for by the Diamond Princess company, he had to report two temperature readings a day to the CDC. Because he registered a slight fever, he had to go to a hospital, where he was treated as if he had the virus. He was allowed to leave the hospital after he tested negative three times.

The coronavirus outbreak has escalated dramatically since the couple became the face of Oregons coronavirus ordeal.

There is now one confirmed and two presumptive cases in Oregon, with a geographic spread that officials say means there could be hundreds of other cases in the state. The first confirmed case is a Washington County resident who works at a Lake Oswego elementary school, the second person is a family member of the first and the third is a casino worker in Umatilla County.

Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter:

Email:

-- 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.
PAZARKULE, TURKEYTurkey accused Greece of opening fire at migrants trying to cross the border, killing at least one, as Athens dismissed the charge as fake news and worries grew that Europe is about to face a new version of a migration crisis it thought it had solved.

The rush of news left the European Union scrambling for solutions on Wednesday.

The governor of Turkeys border city of Edirne, near the zone of clashes between the migrants and Greek security forces, said one migrant was killed and five were wounded by gunfire.

All six victims are reportedly male, but their identities were not immediately known, the governor said in a statement.

The dead person was hit in the chest. The Greek border police used rubber and live bullets along with gas, stun and smoke grenades, it added.

In Athens, government spokesman Stelios Petsas dismissed the report and accused Turkey of fabricating fake news.

Thousands of migrants are stranded on Turkeys land border with Greece ever since Turkey on Friday said it would no longer stop them from trying to reach Europe.

But the move was met by a harsh response from Greece, which does not want a repeat of the last migration crisis that peaked in 2015-16.

Greek security forces have been firing tear gas at the migrants trying to cross the land border between Kastanies and Pazarkule nearly every day since Turkey flung the border gates open.

At Kastanies, on the Greek side of the border, the military allowed reporters one hour of access to the restricted zone on Wednesday.

A dpa reporter saw police in riot gear launching tear gas at migrants as they moved toward the border fence and barricades. The migrants threw some of the still-smoking missiles back, along with stones.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised not to move to re-establish border controls for migrants until his conditions are met.

This refugee influx will continue until a new constitution, based on Syrias political unity and territorial integrity, is drafted and free elections are held ... and a new government is formed, he said on Wednesday.

If they want to solve the issue, European countries should support the political and humanitarian solution Turkey is trying to achieve in Syria.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Turkey of blackmailing Europe by sending refugees to the Greek border.

This migratory pressure is organized, Le Drian told the Senate in Paris. It is organized by President Erdogans regime as a form of blackmail against the European Union.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, after meeting Erdogan and other officials over two days, said the bloc can work with Turkey to address the conflict in Syria, but warned that Ankaras decision to open its borders to Europe undermines trust.

On the agenda was further EU assistance to help Turkey address the challenges stemming from the situation in Syria, according to an EU statement. The EU, in turn, expects Ankara to deliver on its obligations under the 2016 EU-Turkey migration deal.

According to Greek sources, some 12,500 migrants were massed across the border, with the biggest flashpoint in the area of the Kastanies-Pazarkule crossing.

This has sent the EU scrambling for measures to prevent a new surge of migrants, four years after a collapsing deal with Turkey hugely curbed the number of people making it into the bloc.

In Brussels, EU interior ministers held emergency talks and agreed the bloc should take all necessary measures to protect its border in accordance with EU and international law, according to a joint statement.

A small demonstration of some 350 people assembled outside, holding signs reading Refugees Welcome and Protect humans, not borders.

EU top officials and member states have stood resolutely by Greece in the past few days, despite accusations of heavy-handed tactics from rights groups and NGOs.

Luxembourg and Finland have offered to take in 100 and 175 vulnerable people, mostly minors, from Mediterranean countries.

Many in the EU worry about a repeat of Europes 2015-16 migration influx, which triggered a populist backlash and gave rise to anti-EU forces.

The flaring crisis at the Turkish-Greek border also exposes a broader rift between member states on how to deal with migration.

Efforts to overhaul the blocs outdated asylum rules have led nowhere, with EU capitals fiercely divided on whom to take in and how to distribute them.

European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who oversees migration affairs, said Wednesday he hoped the new pact could be unveiled within a few weeks.

EU border agency Frontex is preparing to deploy further equipment to the Greek border, while Athens can expect up to 700 million euros in additional EU funding.

EU member states offered support for Greeces border effort. Germany is to send 20 police officers and a helicopter, while Polands Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski declared readiness to send 100 border guards and 100 police officers to Greece.

Greece was also taking steps on its other flank, in the Aegean, and is set to accelerate the deportation of migrants still arriving on the islands.

Since Sunday, Athens suspended asylum applications for a month and plans to expel all those arriving in the meantime with an expedited procedure.

Read more about:
The leaders of Turkey and Russia will meet in Moscow in a bid to agree a deal that avoids further escalation of conflict in Syria.

Faced with mounting losses of his troops in Syria's Idlib province and a potential wave of refugees fleeing the fighting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eager for a ceasefire, and Russia's Vladimir Putin is ready to bargain.

With a looming new migration crisis at Europe's borders, all eyes will be on Moscow, where the two main power brokers in Syria will see if they can hammer out yet another deal carving up northern Syria, tailored to their own agendas.

Whatever deal they can work out, it is likely to only bring a temporary halt in the punishing Moscow-backed onslaught by the military of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which threatens continued suffering for the three million people trapped in Idlib.

Vladimir Frolov, an independent Russian foreign affairs analyst, said: "The main problem in Idlib is the desire of Assad to establish full control of the area and block the border with Turkey, while also having pushed three million of the Sunni population, unfriendly to Assad, out onto Turkish soil."

The fight in Idlib, the last opposition-controlled region of Syria, has already been catastrophic for the population. Nearly a million people have fled their homes since December 1, when the latest government offensive began, in the biggest single wave of displacement since Syria's civil war began nine years ago. With nowhere to go, many have gathered at the border with Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees and has refused to let new ones in.

It has also brought Turkey, a Nato member, dangerously close to war with Russia.

In the past month, Syrian and Turkish troops have repeatedly clashed on the ground and in the skies, killing scores on both sides. For Turkey, which sent thousands of troops to Syria in the past few weeks, the intervention has been disastrous with 58 Turkish troops killed in the past month, including 33 in one air strike last week.

Mr Erdogan has opened Turkey's borders with Greece, declaring he would no longer hold back migrants and refugees wishing to go to Europe. Some European leaders have accused him of using refugees to blackmail the West into backing Turkey.

Analysts say the move showed Mr Erdogan's desperation, especially after failing to get the desired assistance from Nato, and is likely to backfire as dramatic scenes reminiscent of the 2015 migrant crisis play out at the gates of Europe.

As his isolation deepens, Mr Erdogan is likely to settle for less than what he aspires to at the talks. Asked about his expectations, he told reporters that the main topic will be to "rapidly achieve a ceasefire in the region".

Moscow also appears keen on restoring some kind of status quo in Idlib.

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We expect to reach a shared view of the cause of the current crisis, its consequences and agree on a set of measures to overcome it."
Although Im disappointed by the Super Tuesday performance of the candidate that I supported in the California presidential primary, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), my advice to voters who are not enthusiastic about the remaining contenders, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) or former Vice President Joe Biden, is to not lose sight of the bigger goal: defeating President Trump.

So whether you see yourself as being moderate or progressive, remember that the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee will need the support of everyone in the Democratic Party (and many who identify as Independent) in order to end the tenure of a deceitful and vindictive man-child who is destroying our countrys three co-equal branches of government.

Evelyn Bridgewater, Berkeley

Lack of awareness

Regarding Students protest to save university (March 3): We need much more information than the article had. First, enrolling and teaching in a school with steeply dropping enrollment shows, unfortunately, a lack of awareness about what it really costs to maintain a school. The problem did not occur overnight; the school needed urgent action years ago.

What happened to the more than a thousand additional students who as little as four years ago attended? Have they gone to local community colleges or state schools, or did they drop out? Notre Dame de Namur University has been more than a school; it has been a family support for many students, especially for those first in their family to attend college. This schools problem should highlight the need for greater support for education for each student. If the ultimate outcome ends up being sale of the university property for a housing development, we will suffer the irony of people having to get their education elsewhere before moving here.

Pam Rolph, Pacific Grove

Presidential test

Regarding Tired of buffoonery (Letters, March 4): Yes, presidential candidates should be required to release tax and health records. I would also suggest that they be required to pass a test, similar to the one applicants for citizenship are given, which would include questions regarding the candidates knowledge of the Constitution, public health and education and perhaps a bit of geography.

Shouldnt our president provide evidence of even a little knowledge about how our country and the world operate before we put them in the White House?

Phyllis Dulaney, San Mateo

Strange turnaround

A week ago, former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign was sputtering. It had no energy and little enthusiasm at his campaign appearances. The times I watched Biden he seemed confused, speaking too fast and mixed up mid-sentence. To all appearances, a politician whose time has come and gone. Now, Bidens campaign is on fire, receiving three endorsements from candidates who suddenly dropped out. Resounding victories in Southern states have put him in the lead for the Democratic nomination. All of this is very strange. Did I miss the big speech that seemingly overnight charmed and convinced the undecided Democratic voter? Are Democratic voters objectively scrutinizing this candidate? I dont think so.

Charles Birimisa, Watsonville

Wasted fortunes

Michael Bloomberg suspended his campaign after spending half a billion dollars for a sole victory in American Samoa. American politics has reached a new low when billionaires like Bloomberg and Tom Steyer can waste fortunes on ill-timed campaigns intended only to assuage their own egos. If only they would have thought to give just a fraction of their monies to homeless shelters, children, schools or similar community programs always in need of more support.

Phil Reinheimer, Penn Valley

DNC should wake up

So the Democratic establishment believes former Vice President Biden is more likely to defeat President Trump in November than Sen. Bernie Sanders is. Biden is establishment politics: safe, take small, easy steps and dont stir the waters or upset the status quo. Build on Obamacare, (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010) dont spend too much money and turn back the clock to the era of former President Barack Obama. Biden is not Obama, far from it. I believe Biden is a repeat of Hillary Clinton, and how well did that work out? Democratic National Committee, voters, wake up!

Laurie Peckham, San Rafael

Rethink SMART rail

Voters dealt a punishing blow to the North Bays commuter rail system on Tuesday, rejecting an early renewal of the sales tax that funds SMART. Although The Chronicle recommended approval, Santa Rosans and Marinites had lost confidence in the board, including David Rabbitt, Debora Fudge and, in particular, Shirlee Zane. Moreover, the arrogance and incompetence of General Manager Farhad Mansourian has only fueled this lack of confidence.

While we want and need coherent mass transit, an expensive, single-lane boutique railroad that only directly connects to Golden Gate Transit in San Rafael and will not connect to San Francisco needs to be rethought. There is no way to recoup our losses so far, but perhaps with a new board and management team this may still work.

Gary Sciford, Santa Rosa

Recognize the sacrifices

I want to thank Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar  both, in my opinion, superior to the two remaining Democratic candidates  for taking one for the team. Their sacrifice deserves recognition, either as vice-presidential nominee or a prominent position in the cabinet. We cant ignore these two intelligent, well-spoken voices for meaningful progress!
A t a literary festival last autumn, a speaker I shared the stage with told the audience there was no need for feminism in Western societies, adding: America is not Afghanistan.

I have heard this kind of talk before. When I was based in Istanbul, a female researcher visiting from the US told me she wasnt a feminist, but said it was understandable that I was one, since I lived in Turkey. What she ignored is that patriarchy is universal. There is no doubt it is far more dreadful and desperate in some parts of the world. But what it means is that gender awareness and a struggle for a more equal and fair society is needed everywhere. And this should be a cause for everyone.

The patriarchy makes women unhappy. But it also makes men unhappy  especially young, disempowered men, or men who do not conform to existing definitions of masculinity. To be a feminist means defending their rights too.

In the early 2000s, optimists would tell us tomorrow will be better than yesterday, and thanks to digital technology democracy would spread everywhere. Now we know better. We have too much information, less knowledge and even less wisdom. If we continue to learn nothing from history, generations could repeat their grandparents mistakes.

If all this is true, we women need to be more concerned  East and West. Because whenever populist nationalism, political isolationism and, eventually, authoritarianism are on the rise, so is sexism. The first people to lose their rights are women and minorities.

When asked why there werent more women in his cabinet, Hungarys Viktor Orban said few women could handle the stress of politics. Recently, gender studies were banned in Hungarian universities. Its women are encouraged to have four children via a lifetime income tax exemption. Orbans interest in controlling womens productivity is closely tied to his anti-immigration stance.

Then there is Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. A politician who once told a congresswoman, I am not going to rape you because you are very ugly. A father who said, I had four sons, but then I had a moment of weakness, and the fifth was a girl. A father who said he would rather see his son die in a car accident than see him date a man.

Then there is the ultra-conservative group Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard), in Spain. They painted buses with pictures of Hitler, wrote #StopFeminazis on them and drove them around ahead of International Womens Day.

The demise of democracy often starts with language. Spains far-Right Vox party talks of gender jihadism or supremacist feminism. Not only is this unfair, it is also dangerous. Jihadism is a real threat. It kills people. So does white supremacy. To ignore this, and accuse womens rights activists of the very things they are against, is an attempt to distort truth itself.
NORTH BRANFORD  The temporary closure of four bathrooms is just the latest in a series of maintenance issues at North Branford High School, where the building is more than 50 years old and struggles with climate control, a broken elevator and basement flooding.

Administrators had to close the bathrooms after students flushed electronic cigarettes down the toilet, clogging a pipe, according to Superintendent of Schools Scott Schoonmaker. Because of the age of the pipes, segments have sunk below the others, making it possible for items to settle and get stuck, he said.

The school worked with Sanitrol Services to address the issue, and the bathrooms are ready to reopen, Schoonmaker said, adding that there is no health risk to students.

Mike Pascucilla, director of the East Shore District Health Department, said he has been in touch with Schoonmaker about the matter. Though the department did not send staff to the school  Pascucilla said they have to strategically allocate resources in light of the coronavirus threat  it determined that the situation was under control and asked the superintendent for a report.

Although the bathroom pipes may be unclogged, other concerns about school facilities linger, and the town is weighing whether to renovate or construct a new building.

Shawna Papa-Holzer, chairwoman of the Board of Education, said the board has long been advocating for a new school.

NBHS offered tours this week, enabling residents to see the problems firsthand.

Lily Blomster, a high school senior who led a tour Wednesday night, said the bathrooms also are riddled with broken locks. Students use chewing gum to keep the door on one stall shut, she said.

Parents on the tour also saw windows insulated with duct tape, a wide crack in a classroom wall, exposed pipe in the wall of the boys locker room and an elevator with an out-of-order sign.

The elevator has been broken for about 10 months, Schoonmaker said. Its age makes it difficult to fix and the school had to retrofit parts for it, Schoonmaker said.

Though he hopes the elevator will be back up and running this month, it already has caused scheduling issues, Schoonmaker said.

When a student in her English class was injured, the entire class had to move to a downstairs room because of the broken elevator, Blomster said.

Flooding in the basement  which is completely unusable  is also a frequent problem, according to Schoonmaker, who said the school uses a sump pump to control the flooding.

Whats more, students face irregular temperatures because of the schools structure and insulation. Some areas overheat, while others get very cold, Blomster said

In the winter, youll see people with blankets everywhere, said Julia Ricardo, a senior who led the tour with Blomster.

Bob and Ellen Maley are two North Branford parents who attended Wednesday nights tour. Their son, an eighth-grader, is set to attend the high school during the next school year, Ellen Maley said.

I think we need to process this a little bit, Bob Maley said after the tour. The number of broken doors and windows surprised him, he said. He said he wondered whether the school district did enough work on upkeep.

Regardless, Bob Maley wants to see the town get a new high school, he said. Not only would it improve the quality of student education, but it would also help attract new people to town and increase property values, he said.

Schoonmaker described the situation as a constant battle and said the school administration does its best to keep up with maintenance with the resources it has. When youre patching a 56-year-old building, youre always chasing the next problem.

I give our kids and our staff credit for their perseverance, the superintendent continued.

And despite all the problems that worried them, Ellen and Bob Maley also felt there was something special about the school.

You walk into the classrooms, and they might be cold but ... you can tell the teachers are invested in the students, Ellen Maley said, noting the many decorations on classroom walls.

But a new building would enhance the learning experience, she said.

Bob Maley said he was impressed by the fact that although the students who gave the tour are seniors slated to leave next year, they still care about the school.

The Maleys are certain they will send their son to the high school next year.

Wed rather see the town improve than walk away from it, Bob Maley said.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9350
"If they want to give us more money, that's okay; we'll take more money," Trump said during a press briefing last week .

But Trump said he was not opposed to spending more to fight the virus, which has killed at least 11 people in the U.S. so far .

The bill, which includes more than $3 billion in vaccine research and $2.2 billion in prevention and preparedness efforts, far exceeds the $2.5 billion proposal that the White House put forward last week.

Only one senator, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the supplemental aid bill.

The Senate on Thursday passed a multibillion-dollar spending package to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The bill will now head to the White House, where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it.

A House Democratic aide told CNBC that the supplemental funding bill includes:

More than $3 billion dedicated to the research and development of vaccines, as well as therapeutics and diagnostics;

$2.2 billion in public health funding to aid in prevention, preparedness and response efforts  including $950 million to support state and local agencies;

Nearly $1 billion to go toward medical supplies, health-care preparedness, Community Health Centers and medical surge capacity, and

$1.25 billion to address the coronavirus overseas.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other lawmakers hope to push the legislation through to Trump before the week's end, stressing the urgency of securing funds to fight the virus.

Health officials have warned that the coronavirus is on the verge of becoming a pandemic, and a slew of new cases have been confirmed in the U.S. in recent days.

The disease, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, has killed more than 3,200 people around the world and infected tens of thousands more, prompting wild market fluctuations and drastic government actions.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., had suggested that the Senate might opt to pass the bill by unanimous consent in order to speed up the process. But McConnell's office confirmed to CNBC on Thursday morning that the Senate would hold a roll-call vote, requiring a 60-vote threshold for passage.

Paul, the only senator to vote against the bill, had put forward the only amendment to the legislation. Paul's amendment sought to offset the costs of the coronavirus spending by cutting funding for certain international programs.

"I support our government's efforts to fight the coronavirus," Paul said in a statement earlier Thursday. "We also owe it to the American people to do it in a way that avoids piling billions more in debt on their backs."

The Senate voted 80-16 to table  essentially, to kill  Paul's amendment prior to voting on the spending bill itself.

Paul's office did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the senator's decision to vote against the emergency coronavirus funds.

The spending plan also allows an estimated $7 billion in low-interest Small Business Administration loans to affected small businesses, the aide told CNBC.

The House aide added that the emergency bill provides more than $300 million to "help ensure that, when a vaccine is developed, Americans can receive it regardless of their ability to pay."

The question of affordability has reportedly been a sticking point in negotiations. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar came under fire last week after declining to guarantee to lawmakers that a vaccine would be affordable for all.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The number of Ohioans under public health supervision for the novel coronavirus rose from 212 to 255, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

This number reflects travelers referred to ODH for monitoring, including travelers who have finished their self-monitoring home quarantine, health officials said. These people are not showing signs of the illness, called COVID-19.

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ohio, health officials said, but three people are under investigation, which means they are being tested. This number increased by two since Wednesdays report.

Persons under investigation (PUIs) have symptoms of respiratory illness and have either traveled to China or been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 within 14 days of the onset of the symptoms, the state health department said. A swab is taken from the patients nose or throat and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. State health departments will soon receive their own testing kits.

There are seven Ohioans who previously tested negative for coronavirus.

Summa Health also announced Wednesday the opening of a 24/7 call center to address questions and concerns regarding coronavirus. The call center number is 234-867-6314, and it will be answered by nurses who can discuss travel risk and provide the most up-to-date information from the CDC, Summa said.

At this time, the coronavirus is not spreading widely in the United States, and the immediate health risk is low for the general public, according to the CDC. However, the CDC advises all Americans to prepare for the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak in their communities.

Ohioans should stay calm, take preventive and preparation measures, stay aware of what is happening in their communities, and seek credible sources of information, read the ODH website.

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness with symptoms similar to those of the flu  fever, cough and shortness of breath  that has sickened thousands across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. There is not yet a vaccine, nor are there any medications approved to treat it, the CDC said.

Here are the latest numbers: ( Source: CDC as of March 5)

Countries with confirmed cases: 77

U.S. states reporting cases: 13

Total cases in U.S.: 99

Total deaths in U.S.: 10

Read more coronavirus coverage:

Should I cancel my trip? Experts say it depends.

Masks not necessary, hand washing is best

Berea grad calls for empathy

Another Ohioan tested negative for coronavirus; health officials urge caution

Protecting patients, health care workers priorities as Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth and UH prepare for coronavirus

Inside the coronavirus outbreak: Former Clevelander gives account of daily life in Shanghai

Ohio economy could feel impact if Chinas coronavirus outbreak continues much longer

Novel coronavirus less deadly than past epidemics, local experts say
Technavio has been monitoring the plant-based meat market and it is poised to grow by USD 3.17 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 17% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005530/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Plant-based Meat Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Moving Mountains Foods, The Kraft Heinz Co., The Tofurky Co. Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and Unilever Group. are some of the major market participants. Although the new product launches will offer immense growth opportunities, increasing consumption of animal meat will challenge the growth of the market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

New product launches have been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, increasing consumption of animal meat might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report

Plant-based Meat Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Plant-based Meat Market is segmented as below:

Type

Plant-based Beef

Plant-based Chicken

Plant-based Pork

Others

Geographic segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40724

Plant-based Meat Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our plant-based meat market report covers the following areas:

Plant-based Meat Market Size

Plant-based Meat Market Trends

Plant-based Meat Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies growth of private label brands as one of the prime reasons driving the plant-based meat market growth during the next few years.

Plant-based Meat Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the plant-based meat market, including some of the vendors such as Moving Mountains Foods, The Kraft Heinz Co., The Tofurky Co. Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and Unilever Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the plant-based meat market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Plant-based Meat Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist plant-based meat market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the plant-based meat market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the plant-based meat market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of plant-based meat market vendors

Table of Content

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Value chain analysis

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market outlook

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE

Market segmentation by type

Comparison by type

Plant-based beef Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Plant-based chicken Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Plant-based pork Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by type

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Increasing number of M&A and strategic partnerships

Growth of private label brands

Celebrity endorsement

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Beyond Meat, Inc.

Gathered Foods Corp.

Impossible Foods, Inc.

Maple Leaf Foods, Inc.

Monde Nissin Corp.

Moving Mountains Foods

The Kraft Heinz Co.

The Tofurky Co. Inc.

Tyson Foods, Inc.

Unilever Group

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005530/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
Scottish airline Loganair is taking on two former Flybe routes from Belfast City Airport to Aberdeen and Inverness, it has been announced.

The airline announced plans to take up 16 routes across the UK in a move that will add 400 new flights each week.

A special recruitment line for former Flybe employees has also been opened for up to 100 employees hoping to work with Loganair.

Loganair has said the new routes, from existing Loganair base airports at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Newcastle, will be launched over the next six months, with some starting as early as March 16 and some of which are already on sale.

It's after Belfast City Airport's chief executive said a number of airlines are interested in taking over the routes served by regional carrier Flybe, which collapsed into administration.

Loganair took over a route from Londonderry to London Stansted in February 2019 after Flybmi collapsed. They also operate a route to Glasgow from the city.

The airline suspended flights between the city and Manchester less than six months after introduction due to a drop-off in bookings.

Flybe, Europes largest regional airline, accounts for 80% of routes out of the airport, with 14 UK destinations. Its collapse left the airport serving just four other destinations.

Have you been affected by the collapse of Flybe? Contact us digital.editorial@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The airline announced in the early hours of Thursday it had ceased trading with immediate effect and that administrators had been appointed. Crisis talks were held throughout Wednesday to try to secure a rescue package, but no deal was agreed.

Belfast City Airport chief executive Brian Ambrose said it was "a difficult day" for staff.

"We were talking to a number of staff last night after they came off shift and they said they're going home to let their families know they've lost their jobs - so for the Flybe staff who are wonderful people and for the customers who rely on the service, it's a difficult time," he said.

"What I want to relay is that we're confident we will rebuild that network, two-thirds of a passengers are dependent on Flybe, they've been in difficulty for a while and we've been working to try and support them but in parallel, we've been looking at alternatives."

Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: "The collapse of a long-standing airline like Flybe marks a desperately sad day, especially for the airlines dedicated team of employees and for customers facing disruption to their journeys.

"By stepping in quickly with a comprehensive plan, Loganair is aiming to maintain essential air connectivity within the UK regions to keep customers flying, and to offer new employment to former Flybe staff members who are facing an uncertain future today."

Expand Close The flight departure boards showing cancelled flights at Belfast Airport as Flybe, Europe's biggest regional airline, has collapsed into administration. PA Photo. Picture date: Thursday March 5, 2020. See PA story AIR FlyBe. Photo credit should read: David Young/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp The flight departure boards showing cancelled flights at Belfast Airport as Flybe, Europe's biggest regional airline, has collapsed into administration. PA Photo. Picture date: Thursday March 5, 2020. See PA story AIR FlyBe. Photo credit should read: David Young/PA Wire

He said the move to take on the routes is the outcome of several weeks of planning. Mr Hinkles advised customers with a Flybe booking including onward travel with airlines including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines to contact their travel agent to rebook with Loganair.

Read More

Speaking on Thursday morning, Mr Ambrose said: "In the last 24 hours we've had interest in all of our route network, for some of the larger routes we've had interest from multiple airlines so I'm confident within the next days and weeks we'll be announcing backfill on a number of those routes. It's just a matter of how quickly airlines can get aircraft available," he said.

Belfast City Airport has been through this process before, he said.

We're confident we'll build the business back to where it was Brian Ambrose

"When BMI failed they were 40% of our business so this is significant but any business works if there's a demand for their product. The feedback we've been getting since we made the investment in the last 18 months from our customers is that they absolutely love the product we have here. The airlines [...] they believe there's a market here to be served.

"We're confident we'll build the business back to where it was at about two and a half million passengers but we see prospects beyond that."

The Economy Minister Diane Dodds said she deeply regretted the collapse of the airline.

"In January, the UK Government announced that it had reached an agreement with the shareholders of Flybe, who had agreed to put more money into the business, on the basis that there will be reviews into both Air Passenger Duty and Regional Air Connectivity," she said.

Almost the entire population of NI travel through Flybe routes at Belfast City Airport Gavin Robinson MP

"These are being led by the Treasury and the Department for Transport (DfT) respectively. I am deeply disappointed that this agreement has not been able to secure the survival of the company," she said.

She said her department will be working closely with the Department for Transport in London to assist with the repatriation of Northern Ireland passengers.

The East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said the public demand is there for flights from Belfast.

"Almost the entire population of NI travel through Flybe routes at Belfast City Airport on an annual basis so there is an attractiveness to other airlines," he said.

"The government has been engaged in a regional connectivity strategy and I'll be saying very clearly in Parliament today that this is a huge test for government, they can't sit back on air passenger duty and regional connectivity and have issues like this arise with Flybe and do nothing."

Sinn Fein MLA Caoimhe Archibald said it was a sad and difficult time for workers and a "huge blow" to the economy.

"My thoughts are with Flybe workers and their families today who will be left devastated and plunged into uncertainty about what the future holds for them," she said.

Ulster Unionist MLA for East Belfast Andy Allen said it was important the Executive stepped in.

"Now that devolution has been restored, it's important that local departments work together to do everything possible to support those workers who have lost their jobs," he said.

"On top of uncertainty over Boris Johnsons Irish Sea Border we need to send a strong signal to the airline industry of the importance of the UK internal market - now is the time for the Chancellor to scrap Air Passenger Duty."

John Stewart MLA, Ulster Unionist Economy spokesperson, called on the Westminster government to preserve as many routes as possible, especially those travelling to London airports.

Read More

The Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said he would work with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to help restore the "key routes".

Very sad to hear about @FlyBe - understand the impact this will have on staff & recognise the importance of those key routes for Belfast and wider connectivity in Northern Ireland. I will be working urgently with @grantshapps, industry & the Executive to help all those affected. https://t.co/gctfvELM2Z  Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 5, 2020

All Flybe flights and those operated by sister airline Stobart Air have been cancelled, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. Flybe was bought by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital in February 2019, after running into earlier financial problems.

In a statement, Flybe chief executive Mark Anderson said the company had made every possible attempt to avoid collapse but had been unable to overcome significant funding challenges.

The UK has lost one of its greatest regional assets, Mr Anderson said.

Flybe has been a key part of the UK aviation industry for four decades, connecting regional communities, people and businesses across the entire nation.

I thank all our partners and the communities we have been privileged to serve. Above all I would like to thank the Flybe team for their incredible commitment and dedication.

This is a very clear reason why Air Passenger Duty needs to be scrapped immediately. Colin Neill

Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton said the collapse will have a "hugely negative" impact on Northern Irelands air connectivity.

The company said all Flybe flights were immediately grounded and advised all passengers not to travel to airports unless alternative flight arrangements had been made.

"I know that the team at Belfast City Airport will work hard to find new airlines for these key routes and Belfast Chamber urges Government at all levels to support them to ensure that our connectivity, which is so important to business and especially tourism in our city, isnt harmed by the unfortunate collapse of FlyBe," he said.

Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster Colin Neill said there will be a knock-on effect for tourism.

"This sounds alarm for our pubs, restaurants and hotels at a time when Coronavirus is compounding the sectors problems," he said.

"Great Britain is our largest tourism market and without that regional connectivity, the hospitality sector is going to take a real hammering. Our only hope in the short term is that other carriers can increase capacity so that visitors can come here and not be put off by Flybes collapse.

"This is a very clear reason why Air Passenger Duty needs to be scrapped immediately and we call on the Chancellor to wake up to this grave situation and cancel APD in his Budget only a week away."


MORE: Coronavirus patient in Fort Lee is a healthcare employee from New York City, mayor says

A 32-year-old man from Fort Lee in Bergen County is the first person in New Jersey to be diagnosed with coronavirus, the boroughs mayor told NJ Advance Media on Thursday.

The unidentified man was being treated for the illness at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he arrived on Tuesday and was placed in isolation, according to Mayor Mark Sokolich.

Its a presumptive-positive test for coronavirus that was performed by the hospital, Sokolich said, adding that officials are waiting for the Centers for Disease Control to confirm the diagnosis.

Sokolich said the man is in stable condition and that officials were hoping to interview him Thursday morning at the hospital to find out where he was before apparently contracting the virus.

The mayor said the man has no school-age children but he did not know his occupation.

Were hoping to interview him and get more information this morning, Sokolich said. Our entire community is hoping this man has a fast, painless and speedy recovery.

In an email to Hackensack University Medical Center staffers, Chief Physician Dr. Daniel W. Varga said the man is resting comfortably and doing well. Varga confirmed the patient is in isolation, has been placed on restrictions with regard to visitation and that the hospital is complying with all CDC guidelines.

A patient at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck is also under observation and suspected of having coronavirus, hospital officials told NJ Advance Media on Thursday.

A person is under investigation (at the hospital) for coronavirus, said Jessica Griffin, a spokeswoman for Holy Name.

In a Nixle alert on Thursday, Sokolich said a local task force made up of the governing body, police chief, health officials and other community leaders would keep the public updated.

Providing you with accurate and updated information is critical to effectively addressing this health crisis, Sokolich said. Fort Lee is in constant contact with federal, state and county agencies and we will update our local websites as regularly as needed to provide you with the most current information available.

In an email late Wednesday, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said all county agencies are addressing the situation.

I have been in contact with Mayor Sokolich and have offered the full support of county government, Tedesco said.

Our Bergen County Health Officer has been in contact with the local health officer offering any assistance they made need," Tedesco said. "I have been in contact with the Governor Phil Murphys office and will continue to do so.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said any positive case of novel coronavirus is concerning, but added most New Jersey residents are at very low risk of contracting the virus.

At least nine people tested negative for the coronavirus in New Jersey in recent weeks. But Murphy and other officials warned Monday that the virus was likely to spread to the state.

There are more than 93,000 cases worldwide and more than 3,100 deaths from COVID-19, mostly in China. The virus has infected more than 120 people in the U.S. and killed 11.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
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After President Trump named Vice President Pence last week to lead nations battle against the coronavirus, many in the media decried the choice because supposedly Mike Pence doesnt believe in science. How could he? Hes a Christian. So the logic goes.

They mock along the lines of: Maybe he just wants to pray the virus away.

The late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel quipped, Why is Mike Pence in charge? What is his plan to stop the virus, abstinence?

Writing for mediaite.com (2/26/20), Reed Richardson noted, President Donald Trumps decision to task Mike Pence with heading up the federal governments coronavirus response triggered an immediate backlash as critics noted the vice presidents record of doubting scientific evidence and his role in exacerbating an HIV outbreak in Indiana while he was governor.

Richardson argues that Pence allegedly did a poor job in quelling the HIV outbreak in Indiana because for two days, he cancelled a needle exchange program and supposedly during those two days, the HIV infection rates exploded. After praying about it, Pence relented. An explosion of new cases in just two days?

Meanwhile, Richardson has compiled many comments from those criticizing Trumps choice of Pence for this fight. Included in the criticisms is that he doesnt believe in climate science. Why should he? Man-made catastrophic climate change is a hoax.

Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted against the choice of Pence: Trump's plan for the coronavirus so far:Have VP Pence, who wanted to pray away HIV epidemic, oversee the responseDisgusting.

Another socialist, Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commented: Mike Pence literally does not believe in science. It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic.

One critic tweeted: America is a driving force in fighting epidemics, and now the director of that fight is Mike Pence, a guy whos [sic] scientific knowledge consists of how many times you have to pray before youre cured of being gay.

An M.D. remarked, Trump names Mike Pence as the Coronavirus Czar rather than CDC Director Robert Redfield or Surgeon General Jerome Adams. A physician should be in charge of the nations coronavirus response, not some dude who quarantines himself from other women when dining out.

It seems like most of the criticisms are that Pence is unqualified to head up this task force because he is a devout Christian. Therefore, the same people who argue that a man can give birth are pro-science, while because of his Christianity, Mike Pence is supposedly anti-science.

The canard that Christians are somehow anti-science is astounding. After all, Christian invented modern science. As the great astronomer Johannes Kepler put it, the scientist is a priest of the Most High God, thinking His thoughts after Him. A rational God had created a rational world, and it was the scientists job to try and discover Gods laws in nature.

The founder of every major branch of science was created by a Bible-believing Christian of one stripe or another. I highlighted this in a previous post. As the great evangelical thinker, Dr. Os Guinness, once told me, Actually, many of the earliest, and some of the very greatest of scientists have been people of enormous faith.

Daniel Lapin is an author and an orthodox Jewish rabbi. He once told me in an interview about the impact of Christianity on the world, Sir Isaac Newton wrote far more on faith, theology and religion than he wrote on gravitation. And there is a reason for that. Once we are given a clue, wait a second, In the beginning, God created heaven and earth, then that tells me that one way I can get to know God better is by studying heaven and earth. And thats why, until relatively recently, all the great scientists were also great Christians.

Lapin also said, If you look at the last thousand yearsninety-eight percent of all the major technological scientific medical advances took place again, lets face it, under Christendom: they were in Christian countries.

As D. James Kennedy and I noted in our book, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?: Both Alfred North Whitehead (18611947) and J. Robert Oppenheimer (19041967) have stressed that modern science was born out of the Christian world view..Whitehead [in his 1925 book, Science and the Modern World] said that Christianity is the mother of science because of the medieval insistence on the rationality of God.

The arguments that Mike Pence is disqualified from serving as the top executive to fight the spread of this virus because of his Christian commitment makes no sense.

Pence has a good record of mobilizing people to work together for the common good and to do so in a humble attitude of servant leadership.
[March 05, 2020] Galaxy Z Flip - "Back In Stock"

Limited Quantities of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Back In Stock March 6 MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - After selling out on its first day of sales, consumers eager to get their hands on the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip are in luck as the device will officially be back in stock, in stores and online, March 6th in limited quantities. "The demand for this device truly exceeded our expectations, and we're pleased to release a new batch of Galaxy Z Flip devices to Canadians tomorrow," says Jennifer Safruk, VP, Mobile Business, Samsung Electronics Canada. The Galaxy Z Flip is created for those who see technology as a way to express themselves. Designed for ultimate portability, Galaxy Z Flip folds into the size of a wallet, so you can easily it it in your pocket or bag. For more information about Galaxy Z Flip, please visit https://www.samsung.com/ca/smartphones/galaxy-z-flip/



About Samsung Electronics Canada Inc. Samsung Electronics Canada inspires Canadians to reach their full potential through a transformative ecosystem of products and services that deliver innovation and distinct design to every aspect of their connected lives. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, virtual reality and wearable devices, tablets and digital appliances. In 2019, Samsung was ranked as one of Canada's "Most Admired Brands" in Leger's Corporate Reputation Study." "Best Global Brands" list. Dedicated to helping make a difference in the lives of Canadians, Samsung's award-winning corporate giving initiatives support public education and health-related issues in communities across the country. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com/ca .

SOURCE Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.

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Former UN Secretary-General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, who brokered a historic ceasefire between Iran and Iraq in 1988 died on March 4 at the age of 100. His son, Francisco Perez de Cuellar reportedly said that his father died at home in Peru of natural causes.

Perez was born in Lima in 1920 and he served as the UN's fifth secretary-general between 1982 and 1991. He had a long diplomatic career that brought him full circle from his first posting as the secretary at the Peruvian embassy in Paris in 1944 to a later job as Peru's ambassador to France. He was also the Peruvian Prime Minister and was the one who came out of retirement to help re-establish democracy in Peru.

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra in a tweet said that Perez was an outstanding Peruvian, a full-bodied democrat, who dedicated his life and work to making our country great.

READ: Donald Trump Says haven't Touched My Face In Weeks Amid Coronavirus Dread

Perez also served in embassies across Europe and Latin America and at the UN he presided over the influential Security Council and as a special representative, he brokered a peace deal between Greece and Turkey as well. He had also helped to end hostilities in Western Sahara, and civil wars in El Salvador, Cambodia and Nicaragua. He has also received honorary doctorates from nearly 40 universities around the world.

'Profoundly saddened'

UN Secretary-General Guterres, in a statement, said that he was 'profoundly saddened' by the news. Guterres said, His tenure as Secretary-General coincided with two distinct eras in international affairs: first, some of the iciest years of the Cold War, and then, with the ideological confrontation at an end, a time when the United Nations began to play more fully the role envisaged by the founders.

He further added, Mr. Perez de Cuellar played a crucial role in a number of diplomatic successes  including the independence of Namibia, an end to the Iran-Iraq War, the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, the peace accord in Cambodia and, in his very last days in office, a historic peace agreement in El Salvador.

"He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world."



-- @antonioguterres on the passing of former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar https://t.co/GA1djrowKz pic.twitter.com/wiYbdDPQ1X  United Nations (@UN) March 5, 2020

READ: UK: 40 Foot Huge Sinkhole Appears In Playing Field, Officials Close It Later

Several other UN officials along with UN Sri Lanka also paid their condolences.

Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former @UN

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar. As a young woman working with the United Nations in the late 1980s, I was very inspired by his mild manner, his humility and his massive achievements.https://t.co/Il2QlFdRWw pic.twitter.com/2ouYhoM5la  Inger Andersen (@andersen_inger) March 5, 2020

Thank you for your leadership

Javier Perez de Cuellar

Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/SQNw9SsdmV  Toby Lanzer (@tobylanzer) March 5, 2020

United Nations in Sri Lanka is saddened to hear of the passing of our former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar. We send our condolences to his family, Peru and the @UN family. https://t.co/sPuHs3pjTZ pic.twitter.com/jrKsOxz5wK  UN in Sri Lanka (@UNSriLanka) March 5, 2020

READ: North Korea's Kim Expresses Condolences Over Virus In South Korea

READ: Prosecutors Urge Denial Of Early Prison Release For Madoff
Because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth - Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Reading the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and comprehending the stories that exist in-between the lines that Gabo wrote, are two completely different entities. Riddled with shades of fatalism, fantasy, cruelty and heroics, the works of Marquez take on a new identity with every fresh read - taking on the hues of the readers perception and imagination.

Born Gabriel Jose de la Concordia Garcia Marquez on March 6, 1927, the novelist, short-story writer and screenwriter, affectionately called Gabo or Gabito, was born in Aracataca, a small Colombian town on March 6, 1927.

The eldest of 11 children of Luisa Santiaga Marquez and Gabriel Elijio Garcia, a telegraphist and a wandering homeopathic pharmacist, Gabo won the 1982 Novel Prize in Literature.

The author had one of the most iconic feuds in literary history. The rivalry between the Colombian writer and the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa is well documented.

Onetime best of friends, the feuds had all the elements of a literary classic, accusations of betrayal, jealousy and adultery, and a brutal encounter over 31 years ago when things turned bloody with Vargas Llosa punching him in the face.

Above all, it was Marquez who introduced the masses to magical realism  which is a blend of fantastic elements into portrayals of daily life that made the extraordinary seem both routine and normal.

From the condemned lives in Macondo, to the sense of romance in Of Love and Other Demons or the fiery passion exemplified in Love in the time of Cholera, the works of Gabo are marked for their memorable quotes and thoughts. Heres looking at a few:

...time was not passing...it was turning in a circle...

It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.

A true friend is the one who holds your hand and touches your heart

He was still too young to know that the hearts memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.

He dug so deeply into her sentiments that in search of interest he found love, because by trying to make her love him he ended up falling in love with her.

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The works of Garcia Marquez go beyond boundaries and realms. Yes, they are fantastical, but often embody several truths about the human condition. His works portray the magical in reality, turning them from being something prosaic into a thing that is ephemeral.

One Hundred Years of Solitude: Published in 1967, the novel tells a multi-generational story of the Buendia family, whose patriarch founded Macondo, a fictitious town in Colombia. The novel is known for its elements of magic realism and is considered to be Garcia Marquez magnum opus.

Love in the Time of Cholera: The 1985 novel traces the journey of love between Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. The novel is partly based on the love story of Garcia Marquez parents. It is considered to be a non-traditional love story in that the protagonists find love in their 70s when their contemporaries are dying around them.

Of Love and Other Demons: The book is based on a legend the author was told by his mum when he was a teenager. The 1994 novel deals with the life of a Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles, the daughter of a Marquis. In the novel, her hair is never cut and is promised to the saints. She contracts rabies but was believed to be a miracle-worker, with long flowing copper hair that continues to grow after death.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: The novella by Garcia Marquez, published in 1981 tells the story of the murder of Santiago Nasar by the Vicario twins in a non-linear manner.

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No One Writes to the Colonel: The novella is the story of an impoverished and retired colonel who is a veteran of the Thousand Days War. The novella sees him still hoping to receive the pension he was promised some 15 years earlier.

Garcia Marquez had once said the novella was inspired by his grandfather, who was also a colonel and never received the pension he was promised.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores: The novella that was originally published in Spanish in 2004. It sees a nonagenarian journalist seeking sex with a young prostitute, who is selling her virginity to help her family. However, instead of just engaging in a sexual activity, for the first time in life, he discovers love.

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(Natural News) During a recent press conference, President Trump issued a plea to the pharmaceutical industry to speed up its efforts to unveil a new vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19).

The Trump administration says that Big Pharma needs to pick up the pace in unleashing the next chemical laden jab for the latest worldwide crisis, emphasizing that having to wait up to 18 months for a coronavirus vaccine to gain approval is unacceptable.

Trumps announcement came just 15 minutes before American ally Saudi Arabia announced its first known case of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), which is believed to have come from Iran via Bahrain.

As all of this is happening, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is considering the issuance of a possible emergency declaration in response to new evidence of community spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) here in the United States.

FEMA officials say theyre preparing for an infectious disease emergency declaration to be issued by President Trump that would allow the federal agency to provide disaster relief funding to both state and local governments.

While Trump is insistent that Americans have nothing to worry about concerning the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), he has yet to inform the American public about how to protect itself against the virus, either with antiviral drugs or more natural antiviral substances like vitamin D. In fact, almost nobody in any position of authority has made one single mention about preventative measures other than for people to wash their hands.

There was once a time when the federal government urged Americans to take precautionary measures on their own to prevent infection from outbreaks. But today, the only message being conveyed is to just sit tight and let the government handle it  and when has that ever led to positive results?

The presidents failure to communicate with the American public about tried-and-true methods of naturally boosting immunity is nothing short of disappointing, but its hardly surprising.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses three natural molecules that can help to fight the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) pandemic:

Oops: CDC releases woman with novel coronavirus in Texas

Over in the Lone Star State, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reportedly released a woman from quarantine who tested twice negative for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), only to later test positive in another test result received by the federal agency.

Unfortunately, after the persons release, the CDC received the results of another test that showed a weakly positive confirmation of the virus that causes CoVid-19, stated Ron Nirenberg, the mayor of San Antonio.

Up in Seattle, at least four additional people have died from the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), bringing the total number of deaths in the U.S. to at least six. Five of these deaths occurred in King County, with the remaining fatality being reported in Snohomish County.

This concerning uptick in both deaths and new cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) has many people worrying that medical martial law could be on the way not just in Washington state but throughout the country as authorities seek to contain it.

There are already thousands of infections across America which have not yet been tested  all by design, of course, as the CDC withheld testing kits from hospitals and local health officials across the country, writes the Health Ranger.

By our best estimates, there are currently between 5,000 and 10,000 infections in America, mostly along the West Coast (Seattle and Northern California) with new outbreaks taking place in New York City, Miami, Chicago and other major cities.

To keep up with the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

CNBC.com

NaturalNews.com
Consultation on the potential closure of a school campus in Co Armagh was not unlawful, a High Court judge has ruled.

Mr Justice Huddleston rejected a challenge to a process carried out by the Education Authority (EA) into the future of Craigavon Senior High School.

The school operates across two sites in Lurgan and Portadown as part of the Dickson Plan in the area, which involves deferring academic selection to the age of 14.

Last year the EA launched pre-publication consultation on a development proposal to close the Lurgan campus and accommodate all 620 pupils on the Portadown site.

The controversial plans, which were to have come into effect by this September or as soon as possible thereafter, were opposed by some parents.

Proceedings were launched by the mother of a teenager with health and learning difficulties who expected to go on to attend the Lurgan campus.

She claimed her child could not be bussed to the Portadown site if facilities were located there.

The court heard 1,154 respondents to the pre-publication consultation disagreed with the development proposal, while 177 backed the plans.

Due to the legal challenge the EA withdrew the development proposal and suspended the public objection period to await judicial determination on the process.

Lawyers for the mother who took the case argued that the process was unlawful on a number of grounds, including procedural unfairness and issues around the Dickson Plan.

Ruling on the case, Mr Justice Huddleston said some of the issues had been rendered historic by the shelving of the development proposal.

But he still had to decide on the legality of the steps taken on the potential move to close the Lurgan campus.

The judge concluded: "I do not consider that the consultation process, on the facts of this case, was unlawful and/or to have been vitiated by what has occurred."

He also raised the possibility of the process now recommencing.

"In moving forward I venture to suggest that the starting point may well be for the Department (of Education) to clarify its policy position on the Dickson Plan more fully, and with the re-introduction of the Executive that perhaps is now a more realistic possibility," he said.

"That would then inform the foundation of future consultation and might better inform the EA and those living in the Craigavon area, and provide a sounder basis upon which such a consultation might be conducted."
Diona Bueno said she sensed her sons presence on the other side of the door, waiting for her. The grieving mother was standing at the spot where Kenneth Paterimos was fatally stabbed last month outside Richards Bar in West Town. After demanding justice for his killer, she announced her plan to go inside and pray Tuesday evening. But Bueno couldnt get inside.
Ramezan Pourghassem, the head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces counter-intelligence branch and former deputy communications minister, died in Saris Khomeini Hospital, while Ahmad Tuyserkani, an advisor to judiciary chief Ibrahim Raisi, has also died.

Others reported to be infected with the coronavirus include Reza Rahmani, Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade in Iran, and Hossein Sheikholeslam, advisor to the mullahs Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

One doctor told the regimes state TV: The virus will reach everyone the bad news is that if we dont listen to the instructions provided, the situation may get completely out of control.

The regime, which is only reporting 92 deaths and 2,822 infections, has canceled all Friday prayer gatherings for the second week running. One resident of Talesh, in northern Iran, pointed out that had the regime imposed a quarantine of the virus epicenter Qom before the election and provided the basic healthcare supplies (i.e. gloves, masks), the virus could have been stopped before it got this far.

Even MP Shahabedeen Beemeghdar appeared to agree, condemning the Health Ministry for not distributing hygiene and medical products to pharmacies and the regime as a whole for not grounding flights to and from China or quarantining Qom. While MP Bahram Parsai admitted that the regimes death and infection toll should not be believed.

Former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian, the first deputy speaker of the regimes parliament said Tuesday: We should have quarantined the city of Qom from day one This disease is not a joke Hospitals are overflowing and there is no room for more patients, and it will get worse day by day. The economy and everything will be ruined. This is no joke. What would have happened if they shut down the country for 15 days? If we did so on day one, it would not have spread to the entire country The numbers given are not real, because several patients have no symptoms. We find 95 people and two dies, then we say 2 have died out of a 100, while it may be that only 2% of 10,000 have died.

Even the state-run media are criticizing the regime for their handling of this issue, which has led to hospitals declaring emergencies, victims being buried in unmarked graves, and criticism from the World Health Organization.

Still, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that this was not such a major catastrophe or exceptional, but merely a passing issue. He claimed that the regime has been keeping the public informed and that other countries were downplaying the virus.

Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi responded: The only thing that matters for this regime and its officials is to keep their grip on power. Peoples lives, health, and resources have no value for the ruling mullahs. The Iranian people have suffered the greatest damage and losses under their rule, as a result of external wars, domestic repression, poverty, unemployment, and illnesses.

Read More:

Coronavirus in Iran; Shocking Speech by Dr. Behrouz Kalidari in Isfahan

Shocking Confession of Iranian Regimes Secrecy Over the Coronavirus / Two Doctors Die in One Night
A brewing crisis in the Madhya Pradesh Congress seemed to have blown over on Wednesday after six of the eight lawmakers supporting the party, which alleged they had been held captive by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a Gurugram hotel, returned to Bhopal and pledged their continued support to the Kamal Nath government.

The Congress claimed that its government, which accused the BJP of trying to poach its supporters, was safe.

Congress media in charge Shobha Oza said the party was in touch with three other lawmakers  two from the Congress and one independent who were in Bangalore.

She also said two Congress MLAs, who were in Delhi, would return later on Wednesday evening.

After returning to Bhopal, the six legislators said they went to Delhi for some work and still supported the state government. The MLAs who returned were the Congresss Aindal Singh Kansana and Kamlesh Jatav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)s Sanjeev Singh Kushwah and Rambai Singh Parihar, lone Samajwadi Party MLA Rajesh Shukla, said Congress spokesperson Syed Zaffar.

Three more MLAs, Congresss Bisahulal Singh and Hardeep Singh Dung and an independent MLA, Surendra Singh Shera, are yet to come. We are in touch with them. They are in Bengaluru, Zaffar said.

I am a Congress MLA, not a BJP MLA. I dont know who spread rumours that BJP leaders took me to Delhi, Kansana said.

Kushwah, Shukla and Parihar said they still supported the Congress, which has 114 legislators in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, with an effective strength of 228.

Six others  two Bahujan Samaj Party, one Samajwadi Party and four independent MLAs  are supporting the government. The BJP has 107 MLAs.

Chief minister Nath accused the BJP of trying to destablise the Congress government and added that he had proven time and again that the Congress enjoys a majority in the assembly.

The BJP doesnt believe in democracy, said Nath.

They believe in plotting, conspiracy and money power. Thats why it wants to grab power while hatching a conspiracy with the help of mafia money power, he alleged.

Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Congress government was stable and completely secure, accusing the BJP of trying to poach the party legislators.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, Deepak Babaria, claimed that the crisis is over as the legislators came back.

One more experiment of the BJP to destabilise the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has miserably failed, he said.

The drama started when senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member,Digvijaya Singh, on Tuesday night accused four state BJP leaders of holding eight lawmakers, including three from the Congress, captive in a hotel in Gurugram.

He also released a video of two ministers in the state government, Jaivardhan Singh (his son) and Jitu Patwari, trying to enter the hotel on Tuesday night to meet the legislators.

The two were able to meet BSPs Parihar and bring her back.

Singh alleged that the ministers were not allowed to enter the hotel by Haryana police personnel and named senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including former minister Narottam Mishra of being behind the poaching attempt.

This was after Anand Rai, a whistleblower in the so-called Vyapam scam that involved irregularities in entrance examinations, college admissions and recruitments, tweeted a video showing Mishra talking about toppling the Congress government by offering money to disgruntled lawmakers of the Congress and other parties supporting the state government. Mishra termed the video a fake.

In the evening, the forest minister in the Kamal Nath cabinet, Umang Singhar, tweeted that the episode was linked to a fight over a Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh that is due to become vacant.

The government of Honble Kamal Nath is completely secure. This is a fight to enter Rajya Sabha. Rest, you people are wise enough, he tweeted.

Digvijaya Singhs Rajya Sabha term ends in April.

The Congress is confident of winning two of the three seats that are due to fall vacant although the BJP has claimed it would easily win one seat and insisted one more would be a tough contest.

Commenting on Singhars tweet, BJP MLA and spokesperson Rameshwar Sharma said: It means he (Digvijaya Singh) himself projected his MLAs as saleable and thus blackmailed his party for the Rajya Sabha [seat].

Oza dismissed the speculation as scandalous.

She said it was because of the alertness of Congress leaders including chief minister Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh that the BJP hadnt succeeded in destabilising the government.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP national vice-president, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Union rural development minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, had a long meeting with other party leaders, after which they claimed that the BJP had no role in play in the alleged poaching attempt.

I have stated earlier also that we dont want to get involved in any such activity but if the government falls on its own due to inner conflicts we cant help it, Chouhan said.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said, If BJP wanted to form its government in this manner it could have done so immediately after state assembly elections results when the Congress was short of majority.

Political analyst Girijashankar said: The onus lies on Digvijaya Singh to prove with evidence that the BJP leaders were involved in horse trading against the Congress since he was the first to talk about horse trading and then made efforts to foil it. If Singh fails to provide evidence, obviously fingers would be raised against him from the BJP or from within his own party Congress, as Umang Singhar has done.

(With inputs from HTC in New Delhi)

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Spains top diplomat Wednesday brushed aside an alleged maritime conflict with Algeria after Spanish media indicated that last year Algiers defined its maritime borders which have encroached some Spanish islands.

Arancha Gonzalez Laya was in capital Algiers where she met with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and her counterpart Sabri Boukadoum, to discuss regional and Sahel issues.

A diplomatic dust-up has birthed between the two countries after several media last month indicated that Algeria last year unilaterally redefined its maritime borders without informing Spain.

The redefinition which extends to Spanish Baleares Islands now encompasses Spanish Cabrera Island. Laya in reaction to the reports did not confirm the Algerian move adding that it was a presumption.

The foreign minister at a press conference said both countries agreed that no country takes unilateral action.

I would like to be clear on the maritime borders issues on which Algeria and Spain are 100% in agreement. We have no dispute in defining our maritime borders, she said.

The two countries have the rights to define their maritime borders in accordance with the UN rules.
Europes largest regional airline Flybe has collapsed into administration, sparking fierce condemnation from unions and politicians.

The carrier narrowly avoided going bust in January but continued to lose money since then.

A drop in demand caused by the coronavirus made a difficult situation worse for Flybe, an airline source told the PA news agency.

Among its routes, the airline flew from Dublin, Belfast City, Cork and Ireland West in Knock to regional airports in England, Scotland and Wales.

Ireland West alone stands to lose three routes, to Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.

"We regret the loss of Flybe, which has played an important role over the last ten years in providing important access to the West of Ireland with flights to and from Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester and our thoughts are with Flybe staff whose jobs have been affected by todays news," said Donal Healy of Ireland West Airport.

Flybe announced in the early hours of Thursday it had ceased trading with immediate effect and that administrators had been appointed. Dublin Airport was listing flights to Exeter, Southampton as cancelled on departures boards this morning.

Crisis talks were held throughout Wednesday to try to secure a rescue package, but no deal was agreed.

All Flybe flights and services operated by partner airline Stobart Air from the Isle of Man, Belfast, Edinburgh and London Southend have been cancelled. Flybe was bought by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital in February 2019, after running into earlier financial problems.

Stobart Air also operates Aer Lingus Regional services on a contract basis, however these services are unaffected.

"It is business as usual, a Stobart spokesperson told the Irish Independent.

In a Flybe statement, chief executive Mark Anderson said the company had made every possible attempt to avoid collapse but had been unable to overcome significant funding challenges.

The UK has lost one of its greatest regional assets, Mr Anderson said.

Flybe has been a key part of the UK aviation industry for four decades, connecting regional communities, people and businesses across the entire nation.

I thank all our partners and the communities we have been privileged to serve. Above all I would like to thank the Flybe team for their incredible commitment and dedication.

The company said all Flybe flights were immediately grounded and advised all passengers not to travel to airports unless alternative flight arrangements had been made.

Unions and politicians have reacted angrily over the collapse of Flybe  which had a staff of around 2,000  just weeks after the company narrowly avoided going under.

Oliver Richardson, national officer for major airline industry union Unite, told the PA news agency: Unite members and the entire staff at Flybe, will be feeling angry and confused about how and why the airline has been allowed to collapse.

It is simply outrageous that the government has not learned the lessons following the collapse of both Monarch and Thomas Cook that the much promised airline insolvency review has still not materialised.

While other European countries are able to introduce measures to keep airlines flying when they enter administration, the UK remains unable or unwilling to do so.

Andy McDonald, Shadow Transport Secretary, said the loss of Flybe would cause real anxiety throughout the country.

He said: The Civil Aviation Authority is sadly very well practised, following the collapse of Monarch and Thomas Cook, at responding to airline failure and looking after passengers. No doubt they will do that once more.

Yet again more airline workers face an anxious future and the Government has to respond and provide them with all necessary support.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted it was very sad Flybe had gone out of business after serving passengers for four decades.

He said the Government was urgently working with the airline industry to identify how key routes can be re-established by other airlines as soon as possible, and would be working with Flybe staff to help them find new work in travel or other industries.

Government staff will be on hand at UK airports ready to assist and were working with airline, train and bus operators to help people find alternative ways home. (2/4)  Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 5, 2020

We are also urgently working with industry to identify how key routes can be re-established by other airlines as soon as possible. (3/4)  Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 5, 2020

UK Civil Aviation Authority chief Richard Moriarty said: This is a sad day for UK aviation and we know that Flybes decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its employees and customers.

We urge passengers planning to fly with this airline not to go to the airport as all Flybe flights are cancelled.

For the latest advice, Flybe customers should visit the CAA website or the CAAs Twitter feed for more information.

Flybe has entered administration.



All Flybe flights are cancelled. Please do not go to the airport as your Flybe flight will not be operating.



For flights operated by franchise partners, passengers should make contact with their airline.#Flybe pic.twitter.com/O9vQ7mvnR8  UK Civil Aviation Authority (@UK_CAA) March 5, 2020

Flybe also operated a number of codeshare partnerships with international airlines. If you have an international ticket you should make contact with that airline to confirm your travel arrangements.

A spokesman from the Department for Transport said government staff would be on hand at all affected UK airports to assist Flybe passengers in making alternative arrangements.

The vast majority of Flybe routes are served by different transport options, and we have asked bus and train operators to accept Flybe tickets and other airlines to offer reduced rescue fares to ensure passengers can make their journeys as smoothly as possible, the spokesman said.

We know this will be a worrying time for Flybe staff and our Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service stands ready to help them find a new job as soon as possible.

We are working closely with industry to minimise any disruption to routes operated by Flybe, including by looking urgently at how routes not already covered by other airlines can be re-established by the industry.
Fisherwomen create Moroccos first female artisanal fishing cooperative

March 05,2020 | Source: Yabiladi

Artisanal fishing is no longer a male-dominated job. In Belyounech, a group of Moroccan women has set up the countrys first artisanal fishing cooperative, American news agency Associated Press (AP) reports.



"We live in the sea and if we separate from it, we will die like fish. The sea is my entire life and that of my children and the people of the village", Fatima Mekhnas, president of the Belyounech cooperative, told AP.



The residents of Belyounech who previously worked in Ceuta were forced to take up the tradition of their grandfathers. "I was a house cleaner and a nanny in Ceuta. I worked for families for 20 euros a day and made a comfortable living. But when the border was closed, I just stayed home for years and years, watching the sea from my window", Khedouj Ghazil, a member of the cooperative, said.



These women first started repairing the nets and cleaning the boats before thinking of creating their cooperative. The latter was launched in March 2018 "giving women all the necessary training so they can fish safely and professionally and know how to keep themselves from harms way", Thami Mechati from the National Maritime Popularization Center in Laarache said.



Fatiha Naji says she was "forced to become a fisherwoman" and was "insulted" after her husband lost his job as a street vendor when the border closed. "Men didn't like the fact that a woman is at the sea fishing", she told AP.



"Working in the sea is not easy but it is what my sisters and I love. It is finally coming true", Fatima Mekhnas added.

 Yabiladi.com 2002 - 2017

Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.
And while this season her time as editor may be up, shes not about to let any of that go. Just because Im no longer at Scarlet, she proudly says, doesnt mean Im ever going to stop fighting for women!

Stream brand new episodes of The Bold Type here, same day as the US, only on Stan.

Buffy Summers  Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Credit:Stan

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller) is a typical Californian high-school student, more concerned with fitting in and having fun than planning for the future.

Oh, and she also just happens to be The Chosen One, the latest in a long line of butt-kicking, charge-taking, monster hunting women who keep the world safe from the forces of evil.

Possibly one of the most-empowering series ever created, Buffy The Vampire Slayer has become a legacy in its own right, praised for showing a fearless female when the 90s stereotype could be less flattering.

Check outevery episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer here.

Diana Trout  Younger

Credit:Stan

While were quick to get swept up in the double life of 40-year-old Liza (Sutton Foster) who is busily trying to hide her age from her colleagues, her boss Diana (Miriam Shor) is embracing hers.

Shes the perfect example of a woman who is absolutely confident she is the best at what she does, no matter what her age  and look out anyone who thinks otherwise. Single, stylish and with some of the best lines in the Stan series, she well and truly steals the show.

Every episode of Younger is now streaming, only on Stan.

M  James Bond

Credit:Stan

Superspy James Bond might get the cars, the gadgets and the adventure-packed assignments, but he only gets them if M, his boss, sees fit to give them to him.

And since 1995s Goldeneye, M (Judi Dench) has been a woman who demands and commands Agent 007s respect. Through seven Bond films, M proved a brilliant tactician and selfless leader, and more than an equal for her best agent.

Watch every James Bond film here on Stan.

Credit:Stan

The successful and driven founder of her own high-end tech company, Joan (Lauren Graham) is the perfect boss.

Sure, she might be more than willing to fire series star Zoey Clarke (Jane Levy) if she thinks shes not serious about her career, but the songs only Zoey can hear reveal a sensitive and often lonely side that reflect a woman who will promote and mentor her if she thinks Zoey is being serious and maybe even become her friend along the way.

The brand new series Zoeys Extraordinary Playlist is now streaming, only on Stan.

Olivia Moore  iZombie

Credit:Stan

After being turned into a zombie at a party gone (hilariously) wrong, former medical student Liv Moore (Rose McIver) finds that eating human brains keeps her relatively normal.

It allows her to access the knowledge and memories of the brains previous owner, and (naturally) she uses her new power to solve the mysteries of their deaths while she hunts for a cure to her newfound reality, always making sure she stays the hero of her own story.

Watch every episode of iZombie here, only on Stan.

The Doctor  Doctor Who

Credit:Stan

Since 1963 and through thirteen different bodies, alien adventurer The Doctor has been keeping an eye on planet Earth to make sure the nastier elements of the universe leave us in peace.

Now regenerated for the first time into the body of a woman, the fight goes on and shows the world that gender does not define us. Its a new wardrobe, but the same mission  she is The Doctor and shes here to help.

Check out 11 series of Doctor now streaming on Stan.
Two northern New Mexico men and a woman have been arrested in what is a horrific kidnapping and attempted murder plot as described by New Mexico State Police.

Brenton Rael, 47, of Petaca, and Kevin Gonzales, 41, of El Duende, and Leann M. Romero, 27, of Santa Cruz, are each facing felony charges of kidnapping, assault (with intent to kill) and tampering with evidence among other charges stemming from an incident that took place last weekend.

According to State Police, officers responded to a call from the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo police department about 2 a.m. Saturday in reference to a 27-year-old woman who claimed she had been kidnapped at gunpoint off Taos Lane in Espanola. The woman said she had been placed in a vehicle, blindfolded, beaten by Rael and choked by Romero before being taken to Gonzaless residence in El Duende north of Espanola.

At the home, the victim was stripped, doused with bleach and injected with heroin, according to State Police, and then taken to a bridge off U.S. 74 and pushed into either the Rio Chama or Rio Grande.

The woman floated down the river and was able to make it to the riverbank, then crawled out and walked to a nearby residence and called police, according to a NMSP news release.

Meanwhile, State Police obtained a search warrant for Gonzaless house where they found a bag of clothing and human hair belonging to the victim, as well as tape and a bandana that may have been used to blindfold or muzzle the victim, and a bottle of bleach.

A State Police spokesman said the bleach may have been used in an effort to eliminate DNA evidence.

Rael was arrested without incident on Monday, according to a State Police news release, and was booked into jail in Tierra Amarilla.

Gonzales is not mentioned in the news release, but it is clear from court documents that he is accused of being involved in the kidnapping, and State Police confirmed to the Journal that the search warrant was executed at his home.

Court documents show that Gonzales was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, heroin. He was arrested Saturday and was booked into the Tierra Amarilla jail.

Gonzaless prior criminal record consists of mostly minor traffic offenses, according to online court records.

Additional felony charges were brought against Rael on Tuesday. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, heroin and methamphetamine.

Rael has previously been charged with multiple drug possession and trafficking offenses.

Romero was arrested Wednesday afternoon, State Police said. She was additionally charged with two counts of aggravated battery and one count of conspiracy. She has faced prior felony charges for drug possession, including twice last year.

A Rio Arriba magistrate judge accepted a motion by the First Judicial District Attorney to have arrest warrants sealed in the case until further notice because the case was still being investigated.
Coronavirus is a new type of disease spreading from person-to-person, although it's currently unknown how easily or sustainably this virus is moving between people. Investment markets have recently experienced increased volatility, with positive and negative fluctuations often linked to the status of the coronavirus outbreak. Stock market volatility has increased after cases grew in Italy, Iran, and South Korea. Investors have become concerned the disease has spread many miles from its Wuhan, China origination point.

Over the years, we've seen many outbreaks, and the frightening thought of an epidemic can cause the imagination to run wild. Do we think the outbreak could slow economic growth as travel, large gatherings, and non-coronavirus medical initiatives are paused? Yes, and there's a reasonable chance that will happen. But while investors should take precaution and prepare accordingly, the new outbreak's medical novelty doesn't necessarily translate to a new investment rulebook.

One resource to anticipate the impact of this outbreak comes from American Funds' deep economist team, who offer the following summary:

 The coronavirus outbreak will likely stunt global economic growth in the near term. American Funds elaborates: "It's likely global economic growth will experience a V-shaped recovery characterized by slower growth in the first half and a significant acceleration in the second half of the year. The U.S. economy will probably follow the same course."

 Our economists expect a V-shaped rebound in the second half of the year.

 As with past outbreaks, markets are expected to power through it over the long term.

If American Funds' view holds true, this doesn't sound very apocalyptic. While the long history of outbreaks were frightening in the moment and affected patients and families in a way that invoked sorrow, inevitably, they also invited their own "but what if?" questions to investors. Fortunately, apocalypses just don't occur very often.

As a counterpoint to the litany of worrying headlines, plotting past epidemics against a global stock market growth chart provides perspective. A Feb. 24 analysis by the Schwab Center for Financial Research plotted the experience of the SARS outbreak, another full-fledged coronavirus, along with 12 other frightening epidemiological events.

Using the MSCI World stock index as a backdrop, we see a rally after the SARS outbreak (clearly, SARS did not cause the subsequent rally, but it didn't prevent it either). While an epidemic may seem like an obvious reason to exit the investment markets, in the case of SARS, it ultimately led to regret for those who sat out. Looking at the chart below, we see this was not an unusual event; in fact, all outbreaks have powered through over the long term, just as American Funds' economists suggest.

So what should individuals do?

SYM is tasked with updating our views and potentially our investment positioning in light of large-scale events such as the current coronavirus outbreak. We're committed to ongoing diligence to uncover any facts that would motivate a responding tactic on our clients' behalf. We also aim to communicate well when we investigate something that seems big but we conclude that we should stay the course. For now, it seems we should stay the course.

With that said, some feelings can't, and probably shouldn't be, reduced to a bullish or bearish conclusion.

Our hearts go out to the families who are suffering and worried, and we hope that outbreak containment and treatment success are swiftly delivered.

While we are not medical experts, the CDC provides some helpful tips including tips for travelers. For our expat clients who are reading this abroad, we request you pair the CDC's guidance with local public health resources.

The CDC's coronavirus prevention and treatment guidance: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html

The CDC's travel warning with regard to the coronavirus: wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/novel-coronavirus-china

Brad Duling, certified financial planner at SKYm Financial, authored this column as part of the Midland Daily News' Community Connections initiative.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Elizabeth Warren's departure from the Democratic presidential race has removed any competition Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders faced for progressive voters.

But that doesn't mean he'll automatically get her supporters.

Though Sanders shares the Massachusetts senator's liberal ideology and her efforts to rein in the reach of corporations, her supporters tended to be college-educated women who backed structural changes rather than the political "revolution" Sanders consistently champions.

The areas she did well in during an otherwise disappointing Super Tuesday included upscale suburbs of Northern Virginia, the Raleigh Durham, N.C., area and Nashville, Tennessee.

And some Warren supporters remain angry at Sanders for not getting out of the race in 2016 and endorsing Hillary Clinton sooner than he did, and for allegedly telling Warren in December that a woman could never win the presidency  a claim he characterized as "ludicrous."

Youth absence: Many young voters sat out Super Tuesday, contributing to Bernie Sanders' losses

I dont know that Sanders is the second choice of Warren's voters, said Matt Dallek, a professor of political management at George Washington University. I dont necessarily see her withdrawal helping Sanders very much, if at all.

Warren told Rachel Maddow in an interview on MSNBC Thursday night that she had a short conversation with Sanders about the viciousness of some of his supporters. Many have attacked the Massachusetts Senator for not dropping out earlier to endorse Sanders before Super Tuesday, where he fell short in several states.

We are responsible for the people who claim to be our supporters, she said.

A Morning Consult survey conducted this week found that 43% of Warrens supporters backed Sanders as their second-choice candidate compared to 36% who chose former Vice President Joe Biden. The poll of Democratic primary voters, collected before former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropped out and endorsed Biden, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Story continues

Democratic presidential candidate Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren announces the suspension of her presidential campaign in front of her Cambridge, Massachusetts home on March 5, 2020.

But the survey indicates Warren, who had won 65 of the 1,284 delegates already awarded, could give either candidate a significant boost if she decides to endorse.

"Not today," she responded when asked if she would announce her support for one of the frontrunners . "I need some space around this and we're going to take a little time to think a little more."

Biden has won slightly more delegates than Sanders so far in the race for the nomination.

Speaking from his home town of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders made an appeal to Warren voters.

I would simply say to her supporters out there, of whom there are millions, We are opening the door to you. Wed love you to come on board. Together, I think we can win this primary process. Together we can defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of America'," he said.

Bloomberg backing: Bloomberg ends his bid for the Democratic nomination, endorses Joe Biden

Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said Warren's exit also should not be seen as a boon for Sanders. But elections have consistently shown when a candidate drops out, their backers don't necessarily flock to the person who closest aligns with their first choice's policies.

"Its about personalities," Sabato said. "The followers of one candidate cannot be moved en masse to another."

One day before Warren announced she was suspending her campaign, Travis Akers, a U.S. Navy veteran and gun control activist who endorsed Warren, wrote on Twitter that he was going to vote for Biden if Warren officially drops out.

"We are at a moment in our lifetime where the person at the top of the ticket matters more than any other time," he tweeted Wednesday. "I, quite frankly, believe that if Bernie Sanders were that person, not only do we lose to Trump, but down ballot candidates in toss up states will [be] damaged as well."

In addition, Sanders could be hurt by the way some of his aggressive supporters, known as "Bernie Bros," went after Warren when she was in the race.

Actress Yvette Nicole Brown, a Warren supporter who announced on Twitter she'll be voting for Biden, said Sanders backers flooded her with replies on social media attacking her choice.

When a Sanders supporter tweeted to Brown saying "Bernie is closer to Warren on the issues" and that "big structural change" won't happen under Biden, Brown responded: "With respect, Bernie is NOTHING like Liz when it comes to decency and temperament."

2020 Democratic Primary Election Results | USA TODAY

Not all Warren supporters will be going to Biden though.

Comedian Phillip Henry, who supported Warren, tweeted Thursday that he'll be voting for Sanders because of his progressive policies.

"Id encourage anyone else who supported Warren to do the same," Henry wrote. "Assess the privilege you have if you can change your vote from progressive to center overnight."

The departure of Warren and, earlier this week, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar effectively ends the possibility of a woman winning the White House in 2020.

With Biden and Sanders duking it out to face President Donald Trump in November, the only female still in the race is Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard who has won only two delegates.

Teri Finneman, author of Press Portrayals of Women Politicians, 1870s-2000s, said the narrative that Warren took progressive voters away from Sanders is sexist when no one is discussing that Sanders took voters away from her.

"The word choices are making her be the problem, her being the spoiler, her taking away from a male candidate in what should be his place in the sun, instead of the other way around," she said. "People seem to think that sexism has to be just completely obvious and out there when really it's the subtleness of the sexism, that is the biggest problem."

Contributing: Will Cummings, Savannah Behrmann

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elizabeth Warren's exit: Does it help campaign of Sanders or Biden?
What is the worst thing in the world for women and girls? War, said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the calculation more frankly. War is what steals rights and the future. So ending the war is the best gift we could give women and children. Everyone is concerned about the Taliban approach to these issues. So we need to see all Afghans and friends of Afghans remain engaged.
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Air cargo carrier signs multi-year deal with Accuity to optimise its sanctions compliance and export control programs

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 4 March 2020 - Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, announced that it is working with Accuity, the leading global provider of financial crime compliance, payments and Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions, to help automate and streamline its regulatory compliance screening operations, increase efficiency and improve the speed of service to its customers.





Left to right: Henrik Ambak (Senior Vice President, Cargo Operations Worldwide, Emirates), Daniel Hewitt(Regional Head, MENA, Accuity), Trevor Howard (Manager, Standards and Operational Safety, Emirates SkyCargo)





Emirates Sky Cargo has implemented Firco Trade Compliance, an Accuity solution that efficiently screens shipment documentation (such as airway bills) against sanctions, dual-use goods and regulatory watch lists, within a single interface.





The new solution enhances Emirates SkyCargo's current process, enabling the business to automate approximately 6 million compliance checks each month. This will significantly improve efficiency, while enabling Emirates to uphold the extremely high compliance standards that sit at the heart of its ethos.





Henrik Ambak, Senior Vice President, Cargo Operations Worldwide, Emirates, said: "Our top priority is to continue to adhere to regulatory requirements and manage our screening obligations accurately. Working with Accuity has enabled us to screen our very high volumes of shipments more efficiently, ensuring that we comply with all international regulations."





Firco Trade Compliance is an award-winning solution that was originally developed to enable banks to detect sanctions risks in trade finance transactions. Through collaborative innovation with clients, Accuity has adapted the offering to cater to the freight industry's large-scale and highly complex operational requirements.

Story continues





Cargo operators are responsible for conducting due diligence on the parties and items involved in every shipment they facilitate. This includes verifying the legitimacy of the sender and recipient, checking for dual-use or controlled goods (for example, those that could have a military purpose), and ensuring the shipment is not going to or coming from a prohibited location.





Emirates will now be able to screen shipment documentation against a variety of regulatory lists, such as the OFAC sanctions list and the EU dual and controlled goods list. Firco Trade Compliance also allows the analysis of bespoke datasets so, for example, Emirates will be able to screen goods against an endangered wildlife list, all within the same system.





"Emirates SkyCargo is firmly committed to the prevention of illegal wildlife trafficking and with the functionality of the Firco Trade Compliance system, we will now also be able to more effectively identify any wilful mis-declaration of wildlife goods that are shipped illegally," commented Ambak.





Sophie Lagouanelle, Vice President, Financial Crime Screening, Accuity, said: "This project marks a significant milestone for Accuity in our strategy to expand our screening offering to the cargo industry. By working in close partnership with Emirates SkyCargo, we are redefining best practice and setting a new standard of compliance for other cargo operators to follow."





Notes to editors:

About Emirates SkyCargo:

Emirates SkyCargo is the freight division of Emirates. With an unrivalled route network, we connect cargo customers to more than 155 cities across six continents and operate in many of the world's fastest developing markets. Our cargo hold capacity comprises Emirates' fleet of more than 270 aircraft, including 11 Boeing 777 freighters.





Emirates SkyCargo operates state-of-the-art cargo facilities at its dual hub locations in Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC), with cargo being moved 24/7 by truck between the two airports via a bonded virtual corridor.





Emirates SkyCargo has developed transportation solutions for specific verticals including pharmaceuticals and perishables. More details at www.skycargo.com





About Accuity:

Accuity offers a suite of innovative solutions for payments and compliance professionals, from comprehensive data and software that manage risk and compliance, to flexible tools that optimise payments pathways. With deep expertise and industry-leading data-enabled solutions from the Firco and Bankers Almanac brands, our portfolio delivers protection for individual and organisational reputations.





Part of RELX, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries, Accuity has been delivering solutions to banks and businesses worldwide for 180 years.
A coalition of local groups is asking the city to stop hosting the Border Security Expo at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center every year.

About a dozen protesters from different groups  including the Southwest Workers Union, RAICES and the Brown Berets  attended their third City Council late Wednesday to oppose the event.

Its a contradiction that we have this repressive arm of immigration enforcement hosting a convention here within a city thats supposed to be a compassionate city, said Govanni Reyes, a member of About Face: Veterans against the War.

The groups plan to rally outside the convention center next Wednesday, the expos first day. The groups also have asked in an open letter for the city to stop hosting the event. Its unclear what the legal implications would be if the city broke the contract.

The conference draws federal contractors from across the country who set up exhibits of their latest border technology - from cutting-edge firearms to drones with migrant-sensing detectors.

The opening keynote on Wednesday will be delivered by Robert Perez, deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The closing event is on a shooting range: This is your chance to get up-close and hands-on with the latest fire range products and technologies, the security expo advertises on its website.

On ExpressNews.com: At Border Security Expo, contractors hawking drones, night-vision goggles

The opposition groups argued the convention represents a immigration-industrial complex where the government and its contractors make money off of harming immigrants.

They said the council hasnt responded to the open letter they sent.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg had no comment.

A petition against the Border Security Expo was posted on MoveOns website and has garnered more than 360 signatures.

Im concerned that its being held in the Henry B. Gonzalez Center when he was one of the politicians that fought the hardest for immigrant rights and for Latino and Hispanic people here in San Antonio, said Debbie Hernandez, of the nonprofit RAICES. Its a giant, white supremacists slap in the face.

The event is run mostly by former Homeland Security officials, some who now have high-powered jobs in the private sector. Its fifth time it has been been held in San Antonio.

sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF
Classical music group the Priests, the Very Reverend David Delargy, the Reverend Eugene OOHagan and the Reverend Martin OOHagan are given their MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) medals by the Prince of Wales during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London. Picture date: Thursday March 5, 2020. See PA story ROYAL Investiture. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Classical music group the Priests, the Very Reverend David Delargy, the Reverend Eugene O'Hagan and the Reverend Martin O'Hagan are given their MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) medals by the Prince of Wales during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London. Pic: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Singing trio The Priests have received their MBEs at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Fr Eugene O'Hagan alongside brother Fr Martin O'Hagan and their friend, Fr David Delargy, were rewarded for their services to music and charity in Northern Ireland.

They said they were "hugely honoured" to have been nominated. On Thursday they were awarded medals by the Prince of Wales. Eleven years after signing a recording contract with Sony, the classical music sensations - who are all full-time clergymen - have enjoyed a remarkable chart-topping musical career on both sides of the Atlantic. The multi-platinum sellers' first album in 2008 sold more than three million copies, making it the fastest-selling classical debut of all time. In 2018 The Priests performed at the Festival of Families concert for Pope Francis in front of an audience of 75,000 people in Dublin's Croke Park.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are in the middle of a historic trip to Ireland. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are touring the country for three days after what has been a very busy 2020 so far. With the pair reuniting with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for their final royal engagement next week, here is a look at how the couples Ireland visit will make history.

Kate Middleton and Prince William | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Prince William and Kate Middleton tour Ireland

William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, flew to Ireland on March 3 and are staying in the country until March 5. During that time, they will make stops in Dublin, County Kildare, County Meath, Galway, and County Kildare.

The mission of the trip is to show how much Britains relationship with the Republic of Ireland has improved over the past decade. In fact, Kensington Palace has confirmed that the main themes of the tour are reconciliation and remembrance.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will undertake an official visit to Ireland between Tuesday 3rd March and Thursday 5th March, at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the statement revealed. The visit, which will see Their Royal Highnesses spend time in Dublin, County Meath, County Kildare and Galway, will highlight the many strong links between the UK and Ireland.

The palace went on to say that Prince William and Kate will be exploring a variety of Irish cuisine and culture throughout their stay. The two are also emphasizing the importance of strong communities, both in the city and in the countryside.

The Foreign Office requested the Ireland tour, which is the first of its kind since Queen Elizabeth visited the region in 2011.

The Cambridges will make history on their tour of Ireland

Back in 2011, Queen Elizabeth visited the Republic of Ireland in what was the first tour of the country by a British monarch in 100 years. According to Express, King George V was the last one to stop in Ireland way back in 1911.

At that time, Ireland was still in the UK and the countrys relationship with Britain was a lot different from modern times. Prince William and Kate are clearly following in Queen Elizabeths footsteps in what will be yet another historic trip to the country.

Following Her Majesty The Queens historic visit in 2011, the visit will also focus on the relationship between the two countries, and build on the theme of remembrance and reconciliation.

Prince William, of course, will one day sit on the throne, so visiting Ireland now could open the door for future trips when he is the ruling monarch.

It also shows that the relationship between the two nations has definitely improved over the years and that the royals are committed to fostering that bond in the years to come.

Prince William and Kate Middleton prepare for a big reunion

Once they return from their historic tour of Ireland, William and Kate will be reuniting with Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in what might be the last time we see the couples together for a while.

The Cambridges and the Sussexes are scheduled to attend the Commonwealth Day service, which is being held inside Westminster Abbey next week. This will be the first time Prince Harry and Meghan have appeared with other members of the royal family since their dramatic exit in January.

Once the event is over, Harry and Meghan are expected to return to Canada to continue their new lives outside of the royal spotlight. Their exit will become official at the end of the month.

Prince William and Kate, meanwhile, will continue their work as senior members of the royal family. This includes numerous public engagements in the coming months as the royals do their best to move past Megxit.

Royal watchers get an adorable pic of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis

While fans wait for the big reunion, Prince William and Kate recently shared a super cute photo of their children during their recent trip to Wales. The pair visited the region in honor of St. Davids Day, and during a stop at Tata Steel, their children were given a set of toy dragons.

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus  Wishing you a very happy St Davids Day to all our Welsh followers! the couple captioned the post.

The Cambridges were not the only royals who mentioned St. Davids Day on social media. Queen Elizabeth also got in on the fun and shared a throwback pic of her visit to North Wales in 2010.

Prince William and Kate have not commented on their upcoming reunion with Prince Harry and Meghan. Their departure has caused a lot of issues within the ranks of the royal family and has also required the Cambridges to increase their workload.
OTTAWA - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, king among leaders of the conservative movement in Canada, is endorsing Erin O'Toole to lead the federal party.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Erin O'Toole addresses the crowd at a federal Conservative leadership forum during the annual general meeting of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative party in Halifax on February 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

OTTAWA - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, king among leaders of the conservative movement in Canada, is endorsing Erin O'Toole to lead the federal party.

His seal of approval comes as O'Toole revs up efforts to catch up to Peter MacKay, whose leadership campaign has now raised upwards of $1 million in his quest to win the contest.

While MacKay has also secured endorsements from many current Conservative members of Parliament, Kenney's endorsement was one of the most coveted in the leadership race.

Though now premier of Alberta, Kenney served as an MP from 1997 until 2016 and was instrumental in expanding the current Conservative party, especially among suburban Canadians.

His efforts saw the Tories steadily make their way from a minority government in 2006 to a majority in 2011.

Both O'Toole and MacKay sat in cabinet with Kenney in that majority government, and Kenney said Thursday it is O'Toole who has what it takes to lead the Conservatives to power again.

But he also took a dig at a remark MacKay made after the last federal election, when he called current party leader Andrew Scheer's socially conservative values a "stinking albatross." Scheer's inability to pacify voters worried about what he might do with power overwhelmed the Tory message, MacKay said in October.

Peter MacKay addresses the crowd at a federal Conservative leadership forum during the annual general meeting of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative party in Halifax on February 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

"No one will have their deeply held beliefs dismissed as 'stinking albatrosses' under Erin O'Toole's leadership," Kenney said in an email sent to party members and circulated by the O'Toole campaign.

"Erin O'Toole respects the breadth of our big tent coalition."

When Stephen Harper stepped down as party leader on election night in 2015, after the Tories lost power, Kenney's was among the first names floated to replace him.

But he ultimately decided to head to Alberta to try to unite the conservative parties there. He succeeded, won the leadership race for the new party and then won election as premier of the province.

His roots in conservative politics are as deep as his Rolodex is thick  Kenney's help spooling up organizational and fundraising efforts for O'Toole could make a huge difference in his campaign.

In the email, Kenney spoke approvingly of some of the ideas O'Toole has put out so far.

"I have been impressed by his deep understanding of the challenges faced by the West and our energy industry," Kenney wrote.

"He understands the need for a common-sense balance between creating good resource jobs while protecting the environment."

Next week, O'Toole is set to unveil a full policy document. He teased some of the ideas Thursday, including invoking the notwithstanding clause to enact mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes and illegal handguns.

Mandatory minimums were a hallmark of justice legislation under the previous Conservative governments, though many have been overturned by the courts as unconstitutional, hence the required use of the notwithstanding clause to restore them.

MacKay was justice minister in the Harper government, and spoke out forcefully against Supreme Court and lower court decisions overturning the sentencing provisions.

MacKay has spent the last few days campaigning on Kenney's turf in Alberta. Friday, he moves his campaign onto Scheer's territory of Regina, where he'll give a speech to the Regina Chamber of Commerce.

It's the first time he'll speak to a crowd outside the grassroots meet-and-greet circuit that's been the mainstay of his and other leadership campaigns.

His campaign says the speech will be broad and give some hints of the policy proposals he'll put forward in the weeks ahead.

Only MacKay and O'Toole are officially on the ballot for the leadership race so far, having raised the entire $300,000 fee and obtained the 3,000 signatures the party demands.

Six other candidates are still trying to meet those requirements and have until March 25 to do so.

Party members elect a new leader on June 27.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 08:03:33|Editor: huaxia

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With COVID-19 counter-measures rolled out across the country, people are returning to work. Let's follow one man's trip back to his factory in south China.
Scientists say they have used the gene editing tool CRISPR inside someone's body for the first time, a new frontier for efforts to operate on DNA, the chemical code of life, to treat diseases.

A patient recently had it done at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for an inherited form of blindness, the companies that make the treatment announced Wednesday. They would not give details on the patient or when the surgery occurred.

It may take up to a month to see if it worked to restore vision. If the first few attempts seem safe, doctors plan to test it on 18 children and adults.

'We literally have the potential to take people who are essentially blind and make them see,' said Charles Albright, chief scientific officer at Editas Medicine, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company developing the treatment with Dublin-based Allergan.

'We think it could open up a whole new set of medicines to go in and change your DNA.'

Dr Mark Pennesi, who leads OHSU's involvement in the trial (center right) looks on as staff at school's Casey Eye Institute perform the first-ever in vivo CRISPR gene edit procedure on a patient who had an inherited form of blindness (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/OHSU via AP)

Dr Jason Comander, an eye surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, another hospital that plans to enroll patients in the study, said it marks 'a new era in medicine' using a technology that 'makes editing DNA much easier and much more effective.'

Doctors first tried in-the-body gene editing in 2017 for a different inherited disease using a tool called zinc fingers.

HOW DOES CRISPR DNA EDITING WORK? The CRISPR gene editing technique is being used an increasing amount in health research because it can change the building blocks of the body. At a basic level, CRISPR works as a DNA cutting-and-pasting operation. Technically called CRISPR-Cas9, the process involves sending new strands of DNA and enzymes into organisms to edit their genes. In humans, genes act as blueprints for many processes and characteristics in the body  they dictate everything from the colour of your eyes and hair to whether or not you have cancer. The components of CRISPR-Cas9  the DNA sequence and the enzymes needed to implant it  are often sent into the body on the back of a harmless virus so scientists can control where they go. Cas9 enzymes can then cut strands of DNA, effectively turning off a gene, or remove sections of DNA to be replaced with the CRISPRs, which are new sections sent in to change the gene and have an effect they have been pre-programmed to produce. But the process is controversial because it could be used to change babies in the womb  initially to treat diseases  but could lead to a rise in 'designer babies' as doctors offer ways to change embryos' DNA. Source: Broad Institute Advertisement

Many scientists believe CRISPR is a much easier tool for locating and cutting DNA at a specific spot, so interest in the new research is very high.

The people in this study have Leber congenital amaurosis, caused by a gene mutation that keeps the body from making a protein needed to convert light into signals to the brain, which enables sight.

They're often born with little vision and can lose even that within a few years.

Scientists can't treat it with standard gene therapy -- supplying a replacement gene -- because the one needed is too big to fit inside the disabled viruses that are used to ferry it into cells.

So they're aiming to edit, or delete the mutation by making two cuts on either side of it. The hope is that the ends of DNA will reconnect and allow the gene to work as it should.

It's done in an hour-long surgery under general anesthesia. Through a tube the width of a hair, doctors drip three drops of fluid containing the gene editing machinery just beneath the retina, the lining at the back of the eye that contains the light-sensing cells.

'Once the cell is edited, its permanent and that cell will persist hopefully for the life of the patient,' because these cells don't divide, said one study leader not involved in this first case, Dr Eric Pierce at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

Doctors think they need to fix one tenth to one third of the cells to restore vision. In animal tests, scientists were able to correct half of the cells with the treatment, Albright said.

The eye surgery itself poses little risk, doctors say. Infections and bleeding are relatively rare complications.

One of the biggest potential risks from gene editing is that CRISPR could make unintended changes in other genes, but the companies have done a lot to minimize that and to ensure that the treatment cuts only where it's intended to, Pierce said.

Dr Andreas Lauer, right, prepares to perform the procedure, which will replace faulty DNA in the unidentified patient's eye with healthy genes

He has consulted for Editas and helped test a gene therapy, Luxturna, that's sold for a different type of inherited blindness.

Some independent experts were optimistic about the new study.

'The gene editing approach is really exciting. We need technology that will be able to deal with problems like these large genes,' said Dr Jean Bennett, a University of Pennsylvania researcher who helped test Luxturna at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In one day, she had three calls from families seeking solutions to inherited blindness.

'It's a terrible disease,' she said. 'Right now they have nothing.'

Dr Kiran Musunuru, another gene editing expert at the University of Pennsylvania, said the treatment seems likely to work, based on tests in human tissue, mice and monkeys.

The gene editing tool stays in the eye and does not travel to other parts of the body, so 'if something goes wrong, the chance of harm is very small,' he said.

'It makes for a good first step for doing gene editing in the body.'

Although the new study is the first to use CRISPR to edit a gene inside the body, another company, Sangamo Therapeutics, has been testing zinc finger gene editing to treat metabolic diseases.

Other scientists are using CRISPR to edit cells outside the body to try to treat cancer, sickle cell and some other diseases.

All of these studies have been done in the open, with government regulators' approval, unlike a Chinese scientist's work that brought international scorn in 2018. He Jiankui used CRISPR to edit embryos at the time of conception to try to make them resistant to infection with the AIDS virus.

Changes to embryos' DNA can pass to future generations, unlike the work being done now in adults to treat diseases.
The civil aviation ministry on Thursday said the expenditure incurred for CISF security at various airports stood at Rs 1,632.85 crore up to January in the current fiscal.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is deployed at 62 airports, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

In the current fiscal up to January, the expenditure incurred for deploying CISF at various airports stood at Rs 1,632.85 crore, he said in a written reply.

He also said an amount of Rs 1,964.32 crore has been collected as Aviation Security Fee (ASF) up to January in the current financial year.

ASF is levied on each embarking passenger at airports but there are also exemptions.

"Currently, ASF is collected in a central pool and the proceeds are used to meet CISF expenditure at all airports," Puri said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As WiT (Web in Travel) Middle East prepares to return to Dubai on April 7, it is clear the winds of change blowing through the regions travel market have intensified with the opening up of Saudi Arabia in full swing, the continuing migration of consumers to mobile and, of course, the building up to WorldExpo 2020 in Dubai.



A slew of initiatives has been put in place by Saudi Arabia under its Vision 2030 programme, which includes freeing up of visa regulations, pumping in hundreds of billions of dollars in tourism investments and infrastructure development, ramping up of tourism and promotional activities to tell the world about its attractions and giving travellers reasons to visit.



The Saudi government wants tourism to contribute 10 per cent to GDP by 2030 (from the current 2 per cent), which means attracting 100 million annual visits, up from about 40 million currently, creating more than $100 billion of tourism spending and attracting 30 million pilgrims.



Tarique Khatri, executive vice president, Centre of Excellence, Seera Group, a leading Saudi Arabian-based travel brand founded more than 40 years ago, flagged the opening up of the kingdom as a leisure destination as the most exciting development happening in the region.



The recent launch of tourist e-visas for leisure travellers marks a significant milestone for the kingdom and the wider region and with 350,000 issued in Q4 of 2019. The trend is certainly going into a positive direction for Saudi Arabia. With the focus on Saudi Vision 2030 to boost the tourism industry by promoting both inbound and outbound travel services, Saudi Arabia is positioned to become one of the worlds leading tourism destinations.



In preparation for the future, Seera has been transforming fast, changing its name from Al-Tayyar and launching the kingdoms first DMC (destination management company), Discover Saudi, a SR500 million ($133 million) investment. Currently, only 2 per cent of inbound trips are for leisure and Discover Saudi will offer curated experiences for international and domestic travellers as well as services for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims and business travellers.



Stuart Crighton, CEO and founder of Cleartrip, also singled out the opening up of the Saudi domestic travel market and investments that will position the kingdom as one of the most unexplored tourist destinations as one of the most exciting developments in the region.



Beyond Saudi Arabia, Wego, a leading Middle East travel brand, is seeing high growth rates across the region. CEO Ross Veitch said: At Wego, we're seeing increased interest in the markets of the Mena region from global online travel players looking to tap into the high growth rates, high travel frequencies and large basket sizes that are typical of the Mena region.



It is also seeing online travel bookings continuing to migrate from the web to native mobile apps following a trend we've seen played out in China and other mobile first markets, said Veitch, who co-founded Wego as a travel search engine for South-east Asia in 2005. His views were echoed by Crighton who called out emergence of mobile as the dominant search and book tool for travellers across the region as a key trend to watch.



Tourism boards from around the world are beginning to realise just how exceptionally high-yielding Gulf travel markets can be and that digital marketing and digital partnership are the most effective ways to activate these demographically young travellers, added Veitch.



Agreeing about the potential of the outbound market in the region, Khatri said: Outbound leisure tourism is ever on the rise, especially among the younger generation of travellers from the region who are keen on new destinations. They are more adventurous, have the funds and are travelling more frequently than ever before.



At the same time, however, he has also noticed a trend towards more consideration of budgets. Low to mid-range -star hotels have increased in popularity as budget-minded travellers are seeking no frills accommodation. Mid-range and budget hotels offer authentic stays that are easy on the pocket and leave more room for in-destination spend.



Crighton is looking forward to World Expo 2020, which will be held in Dubai from October 20 to April 10, 2021. Organisers have set a target of 25 million visits, with 70 per cent of visitors coming from outside the UAE.



Crighton said: The GCC is one of the most exciting travel markets in the world as we are seeing a transformation of buyer behaviour from luxury to affordability that is creating a large opportunity for OTAs to cater to a new emerging middle class traveller. We are really excited to see WiT back in the region again. A lot has changed in the last 12 months which makes attendance a must for anybody interested in the Middle East travel story.



Veitch added: I'm most looking forward to reconnecting with all of Wego's friends and partners across the industry and to swapping notes with other people who are building online travel businesses focused on the region.



Khatri commented: We are excited about WiTs Middle East edition as it brings together some of the brightest minds in the travel industry to discuss real opportunities and challenges. Key stakeholders in the ecosystem are given an excellent platform to showcase thought-provoking, quality content and we, as a travel organisation, make invaluable connections every year. - TradeArabia News Service
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said an Indian medical team will reach Iran during the day and the authorities here are working on the logistics with their Iranian counterparts for the return of the Indians stranded there in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Jaishankar said the Indian medical team was likely to set up its first clinic at Qom by the evening to start screening for coronavirus.

"Update for Indians stranded in #Iran and for their families: Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities," the minister said in a tweet.

"Group of Ministers constantly monitoring progress. Understand the concern of families. Keep faith," he said in another tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dangelis Chambers, 29, of Urbana sits with his attorney during the first day of testimony in his trial on charges of first-degree murder Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana.
BLOOMFIELD, Conn., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cigna (NYSE: CI) customers will have access to coronavirus (COVID-19) testing, as prescribed by health practitioners, and the company will waive all co-pays or cost-shares to help fight the rapid spread of the virus in the U.S. and for its globally mobile customers.

"During this time of heightened concern, Cigna's role is clear. We will do everything we can to help contain this virus, remove barriers to testing and treatment, especially for seniors and people who are chronically ill, and give peace of mind to those we serve," said David M. Cordani, president and chief executive officer, Cigna. "This is another example of how, every day, we strive to stand by our customers through their life and health journeys."

Current testing is available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is being offered at no cost. Testing is expected to expand shortly as more commercial testing becomes available at a designated lab approved by the United States Food & Drug Administration. Cigna has committed to covering the medical test similar to a preventive benefit for fully-insured plans, thereby waiving co-pays, coinsurance or deductibles for customers. This includes customers enrolled in Cigna's employer-sponsored plans in the United States, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and the Individual & Family plans available through the Affordable Care Act. Organizations that offer Administrative Services Only (ASO) plans will also have the option to include coronavirus testing as a preventive benefit.

Procedure codes for health care providers are expected to be available April 1, 2020. Cigna is standing up a 24/7 customer resource center specifically dedicated to help customers with any administrative barriers related to coronavirus-related claims.

Recognizing that health outbreaks can increase feelings of stress, anxiety and sleeplessness and in some cases, loss, Cigna is also staffing a second phone line for customers. This 24-hour toll-free telephone help line will connect customers and caregivers directly with qualified clinicians who can provide support and guidance on coping and resiliency.

Any individual who suspects they may have been exposed to the coronavirus or is exhibiting symptoms should consult with their health care provider to make the appropriate testing recommendation, in line with CDC guidelines.

To mitigate exposure risks, customers are reminded that telehealth options are available for seeking on-demand medical attention, as appropriate. To access telehealth options, visit mycigna.com and select the "Connect Now" button on the home page to talk with a doctor or nurse any time day or night.

About Cigna

Cigna Corporation is a global health service company dedicated to improving the health, well-being and peace of mind of those we serve. Cigna delivers choice, predictability, affordability and access to quality care through integrated capabilities and connected, personalized solutions that advance whole person health. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Express Scripts companies or their affiliates, and Life Insurance Company of North America.

Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other related products including group life, accident and disability insurance. Cigna maintains sales capability in over 30 countries and jurisdictions, and has more than 170 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ellie Polack

860-902-4906

[email protected]

SOURCE Cigna

Related Links

http://www.cigna.com


This was the largest verdict yet for these C-8 contamination cases, said Jon Conlin, principal attorney at Cory Watson. The Abbotts can never have true justice, but the jury told DuPont that it could no longer escape responsibility for its decades of dumping C-8  at least for these two victims."

A Columbus, Ohio, jury has found DuPont responsible for cancer caused by PFOA (also known as C-8), awarding $50 million to a man and his wife after the man suffered two bouts of testicular cancer that he claimed were caused by water contaminated from the companys decades of dumping these forever chemicals into the surrounding communities.

Travis Abbott and his wife, Julie, of Pomeroy, Ohio, sought justice and compensation for damages after he lost both his testicles to cancer. Mr. Abbotts cancer also metastasized, resulting in multiple invasive surgeries.

Attorneys Jon C. Conlin, F. Jerome Tapley, Nina Towle Herring, Mitchell Theodore, Beth Chambers, and Brett Thompson represented the plaintiffs and secured a unanimous $50 million verdict on behalf of the Abbott family.

This was the largest verdict yet for these C-8 contamination cases, said Jon Conlin, principal attorney at Cory Watson, a firm representing hundreds of people who were poisoned along the Ohio River.

The Abbotts can never have true justice, but the jury told DuPont that it could no longer escape responsibility for its decades of dumping C-8  at least for these two victims, Conlin said.

The jury deadlocked for a second couple, Angie Swartz, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and her husband, Teddy, of Gallipolis, Ohio. The Swartz case was the top selected defense choice to bring to trial, and yet DuPont failed to convince the jury the company should prevail on even that claim.

This verdict told DuPont it should get used to ever-increasing litigation costs and jury awards as long as it refuses to step-up and fairly compensate all the men and women it poisoned, Conlin said.

According to court records, DuPont improperly dumped C-8 into the air, drinking water, soil, and Ohio River for years from its Washington Works plant just outside Parkersburg, West Virginia. The dumping of this cancer-causing chemical ultimately resulted in a 2004 class action settlement that established special legal rights for approximately 80,000 affected people in six water districts next to, and downstream from, DuPonts plant.

C-8 (or PFOA) is in the family of PFAS chemicals that have been recently discovered at dangerous levels in communities across the country. These manmade chemicals are known for building up in the bodies of exposed people and persisting in the environment for up to a million years, giving them the label forever chemicals. The drinking water in the Mid-Ohio valley was contaminated with PFOA starting in the 1960s while DuPont used it to make Teflon, as dramatized in the 2019 film Dark Waters and 2018 Netflix documentary, The Devil We Know.

Our firm is willing to fight for our clients until the very end, Conlin said.

The verdict was announced on March 2, 2020.

The case is Swartz, et al. v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., S.D. Ohio, Case No. 2:18-cv-136, and Abbott v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., S.D. Ohio, Case No. 2:17-cv-998.

About Cory Watson Attorneys

Cory Watson Attorneys is a nationally recognized personal injury and environmental tort law firm with offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, and Nashville, Tennessee. The firm has recovered more than $2.7 billion for clients across the country. Cory Watson attorneys are frequently at the forefront of major class actions and multidistrict litigations involving dangerous pharmaceuticals and product liability, and are often appointed to leadership positions in national cases. Firm practice areas include Personal Injury, Product Liability, Class Action, Asbestos, Business & Commercial Litigation, Dangerous Pharmaceuticals, Defective Medical Devices, and Environmental/Toxic Torts. To learn more, visit CoryWatson.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Uzbekistan is expanding bilateral cooperation with Team France Export organization, in trade and digital economy sphere, Trend reports via Uzbek media.

The delegation of the Uzbekistans Embassy met with Jean-Michel de Bellerive, director of Team France Export, an organization which promotes the export potential of Aquitaine region.

The French side noted active implementation of modern information and communication technologies in production, saying that a lot of enterprises are operating on principles of digital economy.

Following the meeting, an agreement has been reached to organize Bellerive's visit to Uzbekistan, to get acquainted in detail with the investment and export potential of the country, as well as to hold a presentation on Uzbekistan at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Toulouse with the participation of representatives of leading companies of the two countries.

Aviation and space are the forming areas of Toulouse Metropolitan Area. There are about 1,200 enterprises operating in these areas, employing over 90,000 people. There are about 20,000 commercial organizations in the region of Aquitaine in the sphere of tourism, where 73,000 people work. Tourism accounts for 10 percent of Aquitaine's total GDP and contributes 14 billion euros annually to the region's budget. Agriculture is also another developed area.

Metropolia is a leader in wine-growing, beekeeping, poultry farming, sheep breeding and the cultivation of bio-products.

Aquitaine is the French region created in accordance with the territorial reform of the French regions in 2014 as a result of the merger of Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitous-Charente regions. The official date of new region's formation is January 1, 2016.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday registered a new money laundering case against Naresh Goyal, former chairman of the grounded Jet Airways. Goyal who was earlier being probed by the ED in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) will now be investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The fresh case filed by the ED is basis an FIR registered by the Mumbai Police earlier on the charges of cheating a travel company.

According to sources, the FIR filed by the police is based on a complaint by Mumbai-based Akbar Travels which named Naresh Goyal and wife Anita Goyal for allegedly cheating the travel company to the tune of Rs 46 crore. Mumbai Police had filed the case following instructions from the court.

Also Read: ED raids Naresh Goyal's premises in Delhi, Mumbai over alleged FDI violations

Sources also said that the ED carried out searches at Goyal's residence and recorded his statement as well.

In the FEMA case, the federal probe agency's investigation revealed that Naresh Goyal could be the beneficial owner of several bank accounts abroad having huge deposits. On the face of it, these transactions entail numerous violations under FEMA.

ED's probe under FEMA is basis complaints and intelligence inputs it received from several sources.

"Naresh Goyal also indirectly controls various entities abroad some of which are in tax havens. Preliminary investigations done so far indicate that Naresh Goyal has structured various tax-evading schemes involving its domestic companies and the companies in foreign tax jurisdiction, thereby siphoning off huge amounts in foreign jurisdictions through dubious and fictitious transactions," the probe further said.

Also Read: ED grills former Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal for 8 hours in fund diversion case

According to ED, these fraudulent and inflated payments seemed to have been made to some of these foreign companies under several airline lease agreements, aircraft maintenance agreements, etc.

"Huge amounts appear to have been sent abroad by way of inflated commission to its own group entity in Dubai, which acted as airline's exclusive overseas General Sales Agent (GSA)," an officer investigating the FEMA case said.

Naresh Goyal's business empire comprises 19 privately-held companies, of which 14 are registered in India and five are registered outside the country.

Goyal had stepped down as chairman of the airline in March 2019. Jet Airways shut operations on April 17 after it ran out of cash leading to thousands of employees losing their jobs.

Also Read: Jet Airways crisis: Naresh Goyal, wife stopped from flying abroad at Mumbai airport
Yves here. When Alternet and a sane conservative like Jonathan Turley agree on something, you know its a real issue. Chuck Schumer grandstanding about Roe v. Wade on the Supreme Court steps wasnt just a stunt:

Schumers threat to the Court that you will pay the price is a direct attack on the integrity of our courts. I criticized Trump for his reckless comments about the courts. Where is the chorus of condemnation of Schumer? Schumer sounded more like a stalker than a statesman.  Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 4, 2020

Some key issues about abortion keep being ignored. In every other advanced economy that has legalized abortions, the right is enshrined in legislation, not subject to the vagaries of legal interpretation. The price of doing it that way means making some compromises to with the right to life types, and theyve typically meant limiting abortions in all but cases where the mothers life is threatened to the first trimester. Feminists could have gotten this done during Peak Womens Lib, in the early-mid 1970s, but put all their political chips on trying to get an Equal Rights Amendment. And back then, evangelicals werent much of a political force.

In addition, it rarely goes mentioned that in the heartlands, the right to abortion is close to non-existent for the lower middle class and poor due to cost, scarcity of clinics, and the inability to take time off from work.

By Cody Fenwick. Originally published at Alternet
Children have more self-control when they are cooperating rather than working alone, a new study suggests

Imagine youre a young child and a researcher offers you a marshmallow on a plate. But theres a catch: If you can avoid eating the marshmallow for 10 minutes while no one is in the room, you will get a second marshmallow and be able to eat both. What would you doeat the marshmallow or wait?

This is the premise of a famous study called the marshmallow test, conducted by Stanford University professor Walter Mischel in 1972. The experiment measured how well children could delay immediate gratification to receive greater rewards in the futurean ability that predicts success later in life. For example, Mischel found that preschoolers who could hold out longer before eating the marshmallow performed better academically, handled frustration better, and managed their stress more effectively as adolescents. They also had healthier relationships and better health 30 years later.

For a long time, people assumed that the ability to delay gratification had to do with the childs personality and was, therefore, unchangeable. But more recent research suggests that social factorslike the reliability of the adults around theminfluence how long they can resist temptation. (If children learn that people are not trustworthy or make promises they cant keep, they may feel there is no incentive to hold out.)

Now, findings from a new study add to that science, suggesting that children can delay gratification longer when they are working together toward a common goal.

In the study, researchers replicated a version of the marshmallow experiment with 207 five- to six-year-old children from two very different culturesWestern, industrialized Germany and a small-scale farming community in Kenya (the Kikuyu). Kids were first introduced to another child and given a task to do together. Then, they were put in a room by themselves, presented with a cookie on a plate, and told they could eat it now or wait until the researcher returned and receive two cookies. (The researchers used cookies instead of marshmallows because cookies were more desirable treats to these kids.)

Some kids received the standard instructions. But others were told that they would get a second cookie only if they and the kid theyd met (who was in another room) were able to resist eating the first one. That meant if both cooperated, theyd both win.

To measure how well the children resisted the temptation, the researchers surreptitiously videotaped them and noted when the kids licked, nibbled, or ate the cookie. If children did any of those things, they didnt receive an extra cookie, and, in the cooperative version, their partner also didnt receive an extra cookieeven if the partner had resisted themselves.

Results showed that both German and Kikuyu kids who were cooperating were able to delay gratification longer than those who werent cooperatingeven though they had a lower chance of receiving an extra cookie. Apparently, working toward a common goal was more effective than going it alone.

For children, being in a cooperative context and knowing others rely on them boosts their motivation to invest effort in these kinds of taskseven this early on in development, said Sebastian Grueneisen, coauthor of the study.

Grueneisen said that the researchers dont know why exactly cooperating helped. It could be that relying on a partner was just more fun and engaging to kids in some way, helping them to try harder. Or it could be that having an opportunity to help someone else motivated kids to hold out. Or perhaps feeling responsible for their partner and worrying about failing them mattered most.

Whatever the case, the results were the same for both cultures, even though the two cultures have different values around independence versus interdependence and very different parenting stylesthe Kikuyu tend to be more collectivist and authoritarian, says Grueneisen. This points toward the possibility that cooperation is motivating to everyone.

I would be careful about making a claim that this is a human universal. But our findings point in that direction since they cant be explained by culture-specific socialization, he says.

This would be good news, as delaying gratification is important for society at large, says Grueneisen. Achieving many social goals requires us to be willing to forego short-term gain for long-term benefits.

Further testing is needed to see if setting up cooperative situations in other settings (like schools) might help kids resist temptations that keep them from succeedingsomething that Grueneisen suspects could be the case, but hasnt yet been studied. Or if emphasizing cooperation could motivate people to tackle social problems and work together toward a better future, that would be good to know, too.

Cooperation is not just about material benefits; it has social value, says Grueneisen. In situations where individuals mutually rely on one another, they may be more willing to work harder in all kinds of social domains.

Jill Suttie, Psy.D., is Greater Goods book review editor and a frequent contributor to the magazine. This article was originally published by the Greater Good online magazine.
HSBC has evacuated a floor of its headquarters in London after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.

A staff member who works on the 10th storey of the Canary Wharf office  where the banks research division operates - has been diagnosed with Covid-19.

About 100 people were sent home on Thursday morning after HSBC learned about the coronavirus case at its global headquarters, according to Financial News.

The 10th floor and communal areas of the London skyscraper will be deep-cleaned, the bank has confirmed.

We have been informed that one of our employees at 8 Canada Square has been diagnosed with Covid-19, HSBC said in a statement.

Colleagues on that floor, and others who came into contact with him, have been advised to work at home.

HSBC said the employee with coronavirus has self-isolated and is under medical supervision, and the bank was working closely with health authorities.

Based on medical and official advice the building remains open and operates as normal, the company's statement added.

Our first priority and concern is the health of our employees and customers  and we are encouraging our colleagues to monitor their health carefully and stay at home or call a doctor if they feel unwell.

There have been 90 confirmed cases of coronavirus  a flu-like disease that can develop into pneumonia  across the UK.

Englands chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, warned this week that a Covid-19 epidemic was looking likely.
PHOENIX, March 4, 2020 -- African immigrants have significantly lower rates of risk factors for heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases compared to blacks from the Caribbean and African Americans, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2020. The EPI Scientific Sessions is a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians.

Black Americans experience more heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases compared to white Americans, which is likely due to higher prevalence of risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and others. However, this might not be true for black Americans who have more diverse ethnic backgrounds or who have emigrated from Africa or the Caribbean.

"Prior research into heart disease racial disparities typically has studied only African Americans or has grouped U.S. and foreign-born blacks without considering ethnicity, birthplace or other factors," said lead study author Diana Baptiste, D.N.P., R.N., C.N.E., assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland.

Researchers studied 82,000 non-Hispanic blacks and 370,000 whites who took part from 2010 through 2018 in the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative, in-person survey conducted yearly in Spanish and English. The researchers found differences among the three different ethnic classifications for black Americans and compared them to whites for all four heart disease risk factors studied: high blood pressure, diabetes, excess weight and smoking.

"The study shows that race alone doesn't account for risk factor differences between blacks and whites," said Baptiste. "Among all the groups, African immigrants, who have the highest degree of African ancestry, had the lowest burden of risk factors."

Using statistics from 2018, the study found the prevalence of:

High blood pressure was 17% for African immigrants; 32% for Afro-Caribbeans; 42% for African Americans and 34% for whites;

Smoking was 5% for African immigrants; 8% for Afro-Caribbeans; 18% for African Americans and 16% for whites.

Diabetes was 9% for African immigrants; 19% for Afro-Caribbeans; 15% for African Americans and 10% for whites; and

Overweight/obesity was 60% for African immigrants; 68% for Afro-Caribbeans; 76% for African Americans and 66% for whites.

The study also accounted for socio-economic factors and found that African immigrants were the most likely to be college educated, yet the least likely to have health insurance:

40% of African immigrants had a college education, compared to 26% of Afro-Caribbeans, 21% of African Americans and 36% of white Americans.

However, only 76% of African immigrants had health insurance, compared to 81%, 83% and 91% of Afro-Caribbeans, African Americans and white Americans respectively.

The findings suggest that environmental, psychological and social differences could help account for differences in cardiovascular risk factors. "We were quite surprised by the stark differences in socioeconomic factors among the black ethnic groups," Baptiste said.

Baptiste and her colleagues have been advocating that subgroups of U.S. blacks be defined separately in medical research. "Cultural and genetic influences, along with social factors such as wealth and employment, marital status, how people are educated and where they live and work, can affect risk and how it is managed, and ultimately health outcomes," she said.

The number of black immigrants in the U.S. has roughly doubled in the past 40 years, according to the Pew Research Center. "Much of the diversification of the black population has occurred in and around major metropolitan cities. We need to account for these shifts in our research and care for our patients, and in our training of health care professionals," Baptiste said.

"Our results suggest that although racial disparities in heart disease risk factors exist, ethnic disparities among blacks need to be addressed to ensure that health care delivery and public health strategies are properly tailored to these populations," Baptiste said.

"The strength of the study was the amount of data available for a large group of people. However, only 5% of the study group were African immigrants and only 8% were Afro- Caribbeans, so it is not possible to extrapolate these findings to the U.S. population of black Americans or people of African ancestry in general. For example, African immigrants in this study tended to be younger and better educated, which correlates with better heart health. That doesn't mean it would be true for the hundreds of millions of people living in Africa or in the Caribbean, " said Ivor Benjamin, M.D., FAHA, immediate past-president of the American Heart Association and director of the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

"The findings from this study are intriguing, but African Americans still make up the vast majority of black Americans in the U.S., and we need to do a better job of making sure all Americans have access to health insurance, healthier food and safe places to be physically active," said Benjamin.

Cardiovascular disease kills more than 100,000 U.S. black Americans each year. An estimated 90% of heart attacks, strokes or other cardiovascular events in blacks are due to elevated or borderline cardiovascular disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, diabetes, excess weight/obesity and smoking, compared with a rate of about 65% in whites.

###

Co-authors are Ruth-Alma N. Turkson-Ocran, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., F.N.P.-B.C.; Oluwabunmi Ogungbe, M.P.H., R.N.; Binu Koirala, Ph.D., M.G.S., R.N.; Lucine Francis, Ph.D., R.N.; Erin Spaulding, B.S.N., R.N., Ph.D.; Cheryl Dennison Himmlefarb, R.N., A.N.P., Ph.D.; and Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, Ph.D., M.H.S., R.N. FAHA. Author disclosures are in the abstract. The study did not receive any external funding.

Additional Resources:

Downloadable multimedia related to this news release is on the right column of the link https://newsroom.heart.org/news/heart-disease-risk-profiles-differ-widely-among-african-americans-blacks-from-the-caribbean-and-african-immigrants?preview=5e58618e96be8d8934b1cf756f4ca959

American Heart Association News Release: Low-dose Aspirin May Not Help African Americans Prevent Heart Attack

American Heart Association News Release: High Levels of Chronic Stress Linked to High Blood Pressure in African Americans

For more news from AHA EPI Lifestyle Conference 2020, follow us on @HeartNews #EPILifestyle20.

Statements and conclusions of study authors that are presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Association policy or position. The Association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at https://www.heart.org/en/about-us/aha-financial-information.

The American Heart Association's EPI | LIFESTYLE 2020 Scientific Sessions is the world's premier meeting dedicated to the latest advances in population-based science and will be held March 3-6 in Phoenix, Arizona. The four-day conference will feature nearly 600 compelling scientific presentations to promote the development and application of translational and population science to prevent heart disease and stroke and foster cardiovascular health. The theme of this year's conference is Promoting Cardiovascular Health Across the Lifespan: How Do We Live Healthier, Longer? and is presented in collaboration with the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health and the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. Follow the conference on Twitter at #EPILifestyle20.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
(Kitco News) - Fortuna Silver Mines, Inc. (NYSE: FSM; TSX: FVI) reported Thursday that the company has received a stay of execution preventing Mexican authorities from canceling the concession for the San Jose mine until the court makes a decision on the cancellation procedure over a disputed royalty.

In late January, the company said the government had threatened to cancel the concession if Fortuna did not make a payment over the disputed royalty by mid-March. At the time, Fortuna said authorities were seeking $30 million plus the value-added tax.

Fortuna subsequently initiated legal proceedings against the Direccion General de Minas (DGM) to contest the procedure taken by the DGM to cancel the concession if the royalty and VAT were not paid before March 15.

The company said the District Court in Mexico City this week granted a permanent stay of execution, which protects Fortuna from cancellation of the concession until a resolution by the court is reached on the legality of the cancellation procedure.

The timing of a decision by the court at first instance in this action against the DGM is uncertain and may take several months, Fortuna said in a prepared statement. In the event that the company is unsuccessful in these proceedings, it may appeal. If ultimately the company does not prevail, it may be required to pay the disputed royalty in order to preserve the mining concession.

Fortuna previously reported that in 2017, the Mexican Geological Service (SGM) advised the company that a previous owner of one of its San Jose mineral concessions had granted SGM a royalty of 3% of the billing value of minerals from the concession. Fortuna has argued that no royalty is payable, citing legal opinions from three independent law firms. So in 2018, Fortuna initiated administrative and legal proceedings against DGM to remove reference to the royalty on the title register.

In our view, this should alleviate fears that FVI would have to make an ~$30M payment (plus VAT) by March 15, said BMO Capital Markets. That said, it will be up to the courts to decide on the final outcome of the dispute (unless a negotiated solution is reached first).
Last month, Australian model Elyse Knowles enjoyed a road trip from Melbourne back to her home in Byron Bay, where she witnessed the devastating affects of bushfires on communities in the South Coast of New South Wales.

The 27-year-old appeared on The Morning Show on Thursday to encourage others to 'holiday in Australia' to help those areas get back on their feet.

'It really did cut quite deep going through these towns, talking to the community there... and most importantly finding out how we can help,' she told hosts Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur.

'They really need our help!' Elyse Knowles (pictured) appeared on The Morning Show on Thursday to urge others to holiday at struggling rural communities effected by recent bushfires

'Get the campervan out or get in the car and go stay at a caravan park because they really need our help,' she urged.

'They need us to buy food, stay in accommodation and have fun. (Australia) is a beautiful country and we need to enjoy it'.

The Myer ambassador also shared a series of stunning photos that she took on the trip with her boyfriend Josh Barker.

'They need us to buy food, stay in accommodation and have fun': Elyse revealed she'd recently taken a road trip from Melbourne to Byron Bay to find out first hand what those communities needed to get back on their feet

In one photo, the blonde beauty stood at the welcome to New South Wales sign at the border where the paint had melted off after an inferno passed through the area.

Another image showed Elyse sitting on top of a large burnt log observing the damaged bushland around her.

She also shared a picture of her partner Josh in their van with the burnt forest in the background and the orange sun in the sky.

Devastating: Elyse shared a series of photos she'd taken from the road trip, including this image of her sitting on top of a large burnt log observing the damaged bushland around her

Elyse had recently shared the images to Instagram where she further encouraged her followers to vacation locally.

'This week we are travelling from Melbourne to Byron along the South Coast observing, supporting and appreciating all the hard work that has gone into saving our country,' she captioned the post.

'@AUSTRALIAN communities need us. Let's holiday here this year,' the model added.

The recent Australian bushfire crisis left a total of 28 people dead, more than 2,000 homes destroyed and an estimated billion animals killed.
TikTok has been forced to issue a safety warning after a viral prank caused serious injuries to users of the popular app.

The Skull-Breaker Challenge has already led to one teenager in the UK being hospitalised with a severe spinal injury, while another in the US suffered a seizure and concussion.

The prank involves two people standing either side of a target and sweeping their legs from underneath them when they jump, causing them to hit the back of their head on the floor.

TikTok encouraged users to report any content that looks questionable in order to prevent it from spreading online.

The safety of users is our top priority at TikTok, and we do not allow content that encourages or replicates dangerous challenges that might lead to injury, TikTok said in a post to its website.

Nobody wants their friends or family to get hurt filming a video or trying a stunt. Its not funny  and since we remove that sort of content, it certainly wont make you TikTok famous.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

TikTok has taken down many of the videos showing people taking part in the Skull-Breaker Challenge, however some continue to be shared on platforms like YouTube.

Since launching in 2016, TikTok has amassed more than 800 million users around the world, largely from a younger demographic. Many of those taking part in the latest trend appear to be under the age of 18.

Prosecutors in Camden County in New Jersey have charged two teenagers with aggravated assault after they allegedly injured another minor by taking part in the challenge.

Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill Mayer issued a warning to parents of children who use TikTok.

Please talk to your children about the potential consequences when you participate in a challenge or online trend, she said.

While the challenges may seem funny or get views on social media platforms, they can have serious and long lasting health consequences.

The school district where the incident took place also sent a letter to parents warning them of the extreme unintended outcomes of the TikTok challenge.

Recently, a few CHPS students attempted to replicate pranks or challenges they saw on TikTok, and other platforms, resulting in classmates being injured  physically and emotionally, Cherry Hills Public Schools superintendent Joseph Meloche wrote in the letter.

Often, children act impulsively and without considering the consequence of their actions. If your child has an electronic device, ask them to share what apps they are viewing and using.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Should I cancel? Should I go?

Would you go?

That last question, I can answer  I am going. Not to Italy or Japan, but I am traveling out of the country this month to visit my daughter in Ecuador, a country that has seen a handful of cases of novel coronavirus, called COVID-19.

As for whether you should go  I cant answer that for you, although maybe I can help you answer it for yourself.

In recent days, Ive heard from numerous readers, family and friends affected by this combination global health crisis/global travel crisis.

The U.S. Travel Association announced this week that international inbound travel to the United States will fall 6% over the next three months  possibly more  the largest decline since the 2008 financial crisis. Other countries will likely experience a much more dramatic drop off.

Just this week, Ive heard from:

A friend who was planning to chaperone the Beachwood High School orchestras trip to Italy this month, which was canceled last week. She and her son are both upset, in part because they are receiving only a partial refund for the trip, which was set to start in Milan.

My brother, concerned about traveling this month to visit his son, studying abroad in Germany, where there are more than 200 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

A colleague, who is postponing a planned honeymoon to France because of the virus.

Ive also heard from a reader who canceled a trip to Seattle, one who is worried about an upcoming trip to London and another who is concerned about a Caribbean cruise in April.

I understand the anxiety. But I also think we travelers need to consider our options rationally.

Travel, particularly international travel, has always involved some risk. The State Department reported that 724 Americans died of non-natural causes in 2018, with auto accidents as the top cause of death. Those numbers dont include natural causes like heart attacks, the flu and other illnesses.

Yet I also understand that fear isnt always rational. And if youre so nervous about your trip that you wont be able to enjoy it, then maybe you shouldnt go.

But Im going.

For one thing, Im outside the demographic group that is most affected by the coronavirus  that is, the elderly and those with underlying health problems. If I were to contract COVID-19, chances are good that I might not even know it or the illness would be relatively mild.

In addition, the risk in the country where Im touring is relatively low. The World Health Organization and the New York Times report seven cases of COVID-19 in Ecuador, with a risk of community spread. Travel recommendations include avoiding contact with sick people while Im there, washing my hands often, paying attention to my health for 14 days after I return home, and not traveling while Im sick.

Ive heard I may be subjected to a temperature screening upon arrival at Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito. So I will make every attempt to stay healthy before I go.

As for avoiding germs on my flights: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes, most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on airplanes. (Although, I think, we all have a story that at least anecdotally contradicts this.)

I wont be traveling with a face mask, but I did buy travel insurance. It does not, however, cover cancellation due to the coronavirus.

I bought it because I have older parents, and want the flexibility of canceling if something happens to one of them; because the trip required a substantial nonrefundable payment; and because I want health insurance while Im traveling in a place with a health-care system I dont know much about. Obviously, I hope I dont need it.

Am I a little nervous? Sure, but more because Im traveling for the first time to South America, to a region with which I am utterly unfamiliar. Honestly, Im more worried about the high altitude and petty crime in Quito than I am about getting sick.

Mostly, Im excited about seeing my daughter, whom I havent seen in two months, and about exploring a completely new place with her.

Excited  thats how we should all feel as we prepare to travel the world. And thats how well all feel again, Im certain.

Travel tips in the age of coronavirus

From the CDC:

Avoid contact with sick people.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.

Clean your hands often by washing them with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60%95% alcohol. Soap and water should be used if hands are visibly dirty.

It is especially important to clean hands after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.

Also:

If youre traveling abroad, find out whether your health insurance covers you while overseas (Medicare generally does not). If not, consider buying travel health insurance to cover you in the event of illness or injury overseas.

Consider, too, adding coverage that includes medical evacuation coverage, which will pay to bring you home if you get sick or injured. Many bundled policies include both basic health and medical evacuation coverage, as well as cancellation insurance (though generally not for coronavirus concerns).

Travel with alcohol-based hand sanitizer and wipes, and consider wiping down surfaces like airline armrests and tray tables. It wont hurt, said Dr. Robert Salata, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals. He doesnt recommend face masks, which he said are not effective at stopping the spread of the disease.

Read more coronavirus coverage:

Should I cancel my trip? Experts say it depends.

Masks not necessary, hand washing is best

Berea grad calls for empathy

Another Ohioan tested negative for coronavirus; health officials urge caution

Protecting patients, health care workers priorities as Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth and UH prepare for coronavirus

Inside the coronavirus outbreak: Former Clevelander gives account of daily life in Shanghai

Ohio economy could feel impact if Chinas coronavirus outbreak continues much longer

Novel coronavirus less deadly than past epidemics, local experts say
A dog wears a mask at Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port in Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 23. Yonhap



By Jung Min-ho



As fears of the new coronavirus continue to spread in Korea, more people have started wearing face masks.



Some people even make sure that their dogs and cats are also covered. But can they be infected with the virus and possibly pass it to their owners?



According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the answer is no  at least for now.






Bhopal, March 5 : Suspense prevailed late on Thursday evening over the resignation of Congress legislator from Mandsaur, Hardip Singh Dung, who is among the four MLAs allegedly kidnapped and kept in Bengaluru.

While the resignation has been news since early evening through the social media, the Principal Secretary to the State assembly, A.P. Singh said: "I have learnt about it only through media. His letter had not reached the secretariat till the evening. Dung has switched off his mobile phone and the Speaker N.P. Prajapati informed later in the evening that the resignation has not reached him." Chief Minister Kamal Nath has also denied having received the resignation letter, though it was on the social media." The Congress office has also claimed there is no word from Dung though two letters on his letterhead addressed to the Speaker and the Chief Minister are on social media.

The resignation letter points to several issues concerning the party, the main being the lack of communication between the chief minister and the party workers.

The party insiders admitted many failures on the part of the leadership. They said senior leaders would soon meet to address them and hoped they would convince Hardip Singh to stay put in the legislature party.

The party may relieve Kamal Nath as PCC chief and elect a new leader. Hardip Singh had in a video message released through social media claimed he would remain in the party. "I would die a Congressman," he was quoted as saying.

Last word is yet to be heard on the MLAs kidnapping drama more than 24 hours since "blowing over" of the crisis.

The script kept unfolding till well past midnight on Wednesday in Bhopal. The number of MLAs having returned from Gurugram kept changing.

Some party spokespersons said the television channels asked them for voice over at 2 am and they did not know the exact figure. Chief Minister Kamal Nath kept postponing his Press briefing.

The party has gone through similar convulsions earlier. The chief minister's cool response on Wednesday suggested the crisis was superficial with most members having come back to Bhopal.

Of the 10 MLAs said to have been held hostage in a hotel in Manesar near Gurugram six were reported to have been brought back on Wednesday evening.

Four others including close supporters of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh -- Bisahu Lal Singh, Raghubir Sigh Kansana and independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera were still in Bengaluru. Shera said he was in Bengaluru with family. No offer was made to him and he was not "up for sale". No one could buy him, said Shera.

Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of offering Rs 25 to 35 crore to Congress MLA's and that the saffron party was giving Rs 5 crore in advance and the remaining amounts in parts.

He put on record what was already in public domain since the past few months. The BJP leaders have also said it in so many words that all they need is a signal from the top leaders to topple the Kamal Nath government which is still short of majority in the assembly.

His specific charge on Monday was the former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his senior colleague Narottam Mishra. Incidentally, Mishra travelled with Digvijaya Singh last week in a train upto Dabra near Gwalior before breaking journey for Guna.

Digvijaya Singh's re-nomination for Rajya Sabha is under consideration. His arch-rival within the party Jyotiraditya Scindia is the contender for the other seat Congress hopes to win.

For the seriousness of the charges the BJP leaders' response was curiously casual. Narottam Mishra said: "I would not like to take Digvijaya's charges seriously. He is known to be in the news through such tactics." Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan went public through a Twitter post saying: "Telling lies to cause sensation is an old habit of Digvijaya Singh. He must have done it this time to pressure the government for some unfulfilled wish. It is hard to know what goes through his mind which is never free from kinky thoughts." Digvijaya Singh's allegations would have incurred a defamation suit in normal circumstances.

But there is a serious angle to the whole sequence of charges and counter charges.

The new state president of the BJP was in Bhopal today to meet the party MLAs one on one. And the BJP has been pointing to the many areas of disagreement among the Congress legislators. Many senior party MLAs have been openly demanding ministerial berths.

Kamal Nath had held out hope for such possibility some time ago. The Scindia faction which has at least nine MLAs has been complaining about the overbearing attitude of the bureaucracy.

In an embarrassing situation during the previous cabinet meeting, the Government had to back out on expanding the liquor vend network in the city after several ministers shot it down.

There is speculation over Rajya Sabha seats.

Of the three seats falling vacant from MP quota, Congress can safely win two. But it plans to split the opposition to win the third one too. The BJP had done this to embarrass by fielding the third candidate two years ago. The Congress can try to pay the BJP back in the same coin.

The other issue is about the by-elections for Agar-Malwa and Joura constituencies. If the Congress wins both by-elections it will earn a simple majority in the house.
On March 5, two months after the events of December 1989 that toppled communism in Romania, a vestige of the late regime, a bronze statue of Vladimir I. Lenin, on the esplanade before in front of the Casa Scanteii, today's Casa Presei Libere, was removed from its pedestal.

Since February, several dozen people had protested the presence of V.I. Lenin there, calling it an anachronism after the December Revolution, sticking posters to the statue's pedestal that demanded the removal of this symbol of communism. On March 2, 1990, a news story put out by the Rompres National News Agency was saying: "On March 2, 1990, on the pedestal of the statue of Lenin, who for decades would cast its massive shadow on the background of the Romanian Press House, father Grecu Sorin Paul of Rosiorii de Vede entered a hunger strike demanding the removal of this 'bastion of communism' and replacing it with a large cross in memory of the December 1989 heroes of the nation." He was on hunger strike for 72 hours.Therefore, at a meeting of the Provisional Council of National Union, on March 2, 1990, a decision was made to remove the statue.The seven-meter high bronze statue of the Soviet leader was the work of sculptor Boris Caragea and was unveiled on April 21, 1960. The date had not been chosen by chance. On April 22, 1960, it was the 90th birth anniversary of the late Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924). Erected on a red granite base, the architects Horia Maicu, Nicolae Cucu, Iulian Namescu were in charge of systematising the site.The press back then was reporting: "From 11:00 o'clock yesterday, our beautiful Capital has a monument. A monument in front of the imposing building of Casa Scanteii, depicting the great and beloved leader of the international proletariat, the maker of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union and the Soviet State (...) The monument, made by sculptor Boris Caragea, shows Vladimir Ilyich Lenin looking in the distance towards the shining horizons of communism (...) ". "Attending the unveiling of the monument were comrades Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica, Gheorghe Apostol, Emil Bodnaras, Petre Borila, Nicolae Ceausescu, Alexandru Draghici, Alexandru Moghioros, Leonte Rautu, general of the army Leontin Salajan, Stefan Voitec, Ion Gheorghe Maurer." ("Scanteia,' April 22, 1960).On March 3, 1990, 30 years later, the operation of displacing the statue of Lenin from its base started in the presence of hundreds of people, as well as of Romanian and foreign press reporters. The work was carried out with difficulty, as the statue was weighing seven tonnes and had been secured in place by means of metal bolts that were one with the concrete in the base.A Demag-type crane with a lifting force of 36 tonnes and a trailer towed by a tractor came to the scene. The operations of placing the crane but also the technical operations of displacement from the pedestal, of translation and deposition on the means of transport were coordinated by specialists from the Group of Bucharest Communal Management Companies. They paid special attention to maintaining the integrity of the base, avoiding as much as possible the breaking of the granite plates imported from Sweden, which had a special value.After a continuous effort day and night, on Monday, March 5, 1990, at 22:00hrs, the statue was taken down. After another 30 minutes, the technical means that transported it left Piata Presei Libere, headed for the workshops of the Visual Arts Fund. After a while, the statue was stored in the park of Mogosoaia Palace, where it remained for over 20 years. Then Bucharest General Mayor Dan Predescu said that the base will be preserved for a monument of authentic artistic values.On May 30, 2016, a "Wings" monument was unveiled there, made by sculptor Mihai Buculei and dedicated to the fighters of the 1945-1989 anti-communist resistance in Romania and Bessarabia.The monument, three stylised wings made of stainless steel, weighs over 100 tonnes and it is over 20 metres high.
Margaret Walsh was at her cousins funeral when she fell

A woman who fell into an open grave at a funeral as she sympathised with the chief mourner has settled a High Court action for damages.

Margaret Walsh (77) sued the undertakers, gravediggers and the council that owns the graveyard in Balgriffin, north Dublin. The defendants denied her claims of negligence.

Ms Walsh, of Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, was attending her cousin's funeral nearly nine years ago when she fell into the grave and allegedly hurt her back, arm, hip and neck.

She claimed that earth started coming in on top of her during the incident on September 3, 2011.

It was claimed that Ms Walsh had to spend 10 days in hospital and a consultant doctor noted she sustained multiple soft tissue injuries.

When the case came before Mr Justice Michael Hanna yesterday, he was told it had been settled.

The judge was told the case could be struck out against all parties with costs against all the defendants except the graveyard owners, Fingal County Council. The details of the settlement are confidential.

Dangerous

Ms Walsh had sued undertakers Allied Funeral Services, trading as Stafford and Jennings, of North Strand Road, Dublin, and Allied Funeral Services Ireland Ltd, of the same address; Fingal County Council; and gravediggers Paul Tierney and Martin Molloy, trading as Tierney Molloy, of Killeek, St Margaret's, Co Dublin.

She claimed she was allowed to walk near the open grave when the defendants ought to have known it was unsafe and dangerous for her to do so.

It was further claimed there was a failure to provide a secure foothold and to properly guard or fence the open grave.

She also claimed the open grave created a trap for her.

Ms Walsh claimed she was sore around the thoracic region and lower back and was stiff and restricted in her left shoulder after the accident.

Her cheeks were also sore and she had been struck in the face by her handbag as she fell.

It was claimed that Ms Walsh was extremely emotionally upset and embarrassed by the incident.
Close

If you have been involved in a car accident that caused you injury, then you have a lot to deal with. There are important decisions to be made that will affect your ability to be compensated for your injuries and file claims to pay for medical expenses. Not many people plan for having to do this, but it's very important that you know the timeline of events that needs to occur once you have been involved in an accident.

When to contact an attorney

One of the most important steps in the entire process of dealing with an auto accident that ended in injuries is to contact your attorney to find out your options when it comes to recouping your losses and being compensated for your injuries and expenses.

When it comes to how soon should you contact an accident attorney, the answer is that you should contact your accident lawyer as soon as possible after your car accident. After you receive any necessary medical attention and gather your evidence, give your attorney a call right away. The sooner that you file a claim and get your lawyer involved, the better your chances are of receiving a favorable outcome.

What to do after an accident

Before you call an attorney about your injury and accident, there are some other steps that you will have to take. After any car accident, the most important thing that you should do is seek medical attention and call the authorities. Safety is the first concern and getting in touch with the right authorities is the first priority. Even if you don't think that your injuries from the accident are serious, it is still important to seek out medical attention. Many injuries that are sustained during a car accident will take a long time to show up and start to hurt. Seeking medical attention right away could prevent you from having a long-term sustained injury and could also help your claim.

When you do seek medical attention, you should be sure to keep any documentation or receipts that you receive when you seek that attention. This documentation will be important later on when filing a lawsuit or a claim request for compensation for your expenses. If you fail to seek medical attention or do not provide documentation of your expenses and procedures, then your claim could easily be denied, or you might not have enough proof to file a lawsuit to reclaim our losses.

Finally, you will want to gain any documentation or evidence that you can from the scene of the accident. You should take photos of all the damages and injuries that occurred as a result as well as the positions of the vehicles involved. Be sure to document everything about the scene. In addition, collect eyewitness accounts and contact information of those that were part of the accident or those that witnessed the accident. This information can help you later on when filing for a request for compensation. Be sure to also give the police officers all of the information that they request when filling out their police report.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
We decided to add another general to the mix for people to hear more from the men who led soldiers and fought in the Civil War and were out in the battlefields, Stasukewicz said. It is fascinating to hear how one general was somewhere and how another was in a whole different state all fighting for the same cause and how they sometimes crossed paths. I also think Lincoln would be a whole different and new program on its own and its something we are are looking to do in the near future.
KAMPALA  The Tanzania government has said it is ready to allow Ugandan sugar imports on condition that it will only be a government-to-government arrangement.

Speaking after a two-day tour of Ugandan sugar factories on Wednesday, Mr Japheth Hasunga, the Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture, said the trading partnership will not be for private dealers.

We are satisfied with the current rate of Ugandas sugar production and we shall start with 30,000 metric tonnes, but that will depend on the prices, we dont know how much the factories will charge and then we shall place another order. We shall start business as soon as possible, Mr Hasunga said.

This comes after Tanzania locked out Ugandan sugar imports for more than a year. The visit of the Tanzania officials came following a meeting between Presidents Yoweri Museveni and John Magufuli.

Mr Hasunga resuming trading between the two countries is in line with promoting the spirit of the East African integration. He added there will be no change in Import Duty because all the goods being produced in East Africa have a rule of origin.

Ms Amelia Kyambadde, the Uganda Minister of Trade, said the trade deal is the best for Ugandan sugar.

The purpose of this visit by Tanzanias Agriculture minister is to establish whether we can do business together as two countries since Uganda has been declared a sugar surplus country. This in a way is to verify whether we have the capacity to sell to them, she said.

Related
First married lesbian bishop to lead church service to protest ban on gay partners at Anglican summit

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A married lesbian bishop will lead an inclusive worship service to protest a global Anglican leadership event that has banned same-sex partners from attending.

Last year, it was announced that same-sex spouses were not invited to the Lambeth Conference, a global Anglican bishops summit attended by some 1,000 bishops from 165 countries that takes places once every 10 years, and will be held in Canterbury, U.K., this summer.

The Right Rev. Mary Glasspool, assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese New York, and Mpho Tutu van Furth, daughter of famed anti-Apartheid activist Desmond Tutu, will oversee a service at a church in Canterbury in July.

Glasspool, the first married lesbian to be made bishop in the Anglican Communion, told The Guardian in an interview that she believed Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican church, had gone out of his way to uninvite individual persons in a breach of hospitality.

The LGBT+ community in the U.K. and other places might not understand that they are invited to celebrate at the Christian table, said Glasspool. We need to make it known that everyone is included  all are invited to this particular celebration.

Tutu van Furth, a former Anglican priest who stepped down from the church position after entering a same-sex marriage, told The Guardian that her sermon at the service will reflect Christian welcome and hospitality.

Jesus was always determined to make those who society sees as outsiders be insiders, added Tutu van Furth.

For the past several years, there has been a growing divide in the global Anglican Communion over the issue of sexual ethics, especially homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

The split has been largely found along regional lines, between increasingly theologically liberal churches in developed nations and growing theologically conservative churches in the developing world, especially the continent of Africa.

Last year, Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, announced that same-sex spouses were not going to be invited to the Lambeth Conference.

Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be  we are recognizing that all those consecrated into the office of bishop should be able to attend, wrote Idowu-Fearon in a blog entry at the time.

But the invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communions position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman. That is the position as set out in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

Idowu-Fearon went on to state that as a result it would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited to the conference.

News of the service headed by Glasspool and Tutu van Furth comes amid a YouGov survey which indicated that members of the Anglican Communion, at least in England, were becoming increasingly supportive of same-sex marriage.

In a survey conducted last month, YouGov found that 48 percent of self-identified Anglicans supported same-sex marriage, an increase from 38 percent in 2013, reported the Church Times.

The YouGov poll was commissioned by the Ozanne Foundation, a religious LGBT advocacy group, with respondents not indicating their level of religious practice.
The first time I ate at Belotti Ristorante, I was astounded. To my chagrin, I hadnt actually heard much about the place; in fact, I only stopped there because it was one of the few places on my scouting list that was actually open on a Monday night.

At the outset, the 4-year-old restaurant seemed like a normal neighborhood pasta joint, of which we have so many in the Bay Area. But my skepticism shattered as soon as I took my first bite of pasta. The casoncelli Bergamaschi ($16.25), thin half-moons filled with minced beef, prosciutto and pork shoulder, was extravagantly luscious, slipping past the lips with the ecstatic ease of a slice of ripe peach. It was perfect, if I dare call anything that.

Perfect is a dangerous word in criticism, but, I assure you, thats what this pasta is, within the limited scope of its ambition. The northern Italian style of cooking at Belotti isnt hoping to dazzle you with contemporary artistic influences; its not trying for a meta-analysis of the culinary world with even a wisp of irony. Instead, what youll find here is excellent technique and a soulful and nurturing experience, served with a grounding level of sureness.

The work of a team led by owners Joyce and Michele Belotti, the eponymous Belotti is a wonder.

The restaurant in Oaklands Rockridge neighborhood is casual and terribly tiny with just 40 to 50 seats  without a reservation, the wait for bar seats can peak at 1 hours on busy nights. But being a walk-in can be pretty great if you come with an open mind. Give your name and number to the host and while away the time at Pegasus Books or Market Hall. As waiting rooms go, those are two extremely pleasant options.

Plus, the best seats in the house are at the corner of the bar, where youll be served more efficiently and can watch people cook through a window into the kitchen. Its much easier to get the attention of your server at the bar, too, and in my experience, the vibe is friendlier than on the floor.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

So much about this place exists in defiance of whats trendy or expected for a young restaurant. Its interior has a basic, inoffensive color palette that one might find in any neighborhood coffee shop: reddish-brown wood paneling, solid blue-gray paint and black highlights. There are no ferns, no fancy tile, no indicator that the Belottis have any interest in what anyone else is doing right now. The menu may as well have been typed up in WordPerfect.

This aesthetic extends to the food. Salads, the most decorated class of dishes here, get tiny edible flower petals and just a bit of razzle-dazzle. Insalata golosa ($12.95), a lightly dressed clutch of spring mix topped with a dollop of whipped Gorgonzola, is as flashy as it gets. And the antipasto platter ($19.50) has its salami and prosciutto laid out in straight lines next to clear cheese piles: all practicality, and something youve probably seen before at a housewarming party.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Bowls of pasta are mainly just pasta  with nary a speck of minced parsley nor sea bean to vary their landscapes. Due to a dough packed with egg yolks, the pasta itself has a solar brilliance, and its often presented with sauces that have more flavor than color: beige rabbit sugo, gel-like beef stock reduction, anchovies dissolved into butter. Ive struggled to get attractive phone photos of every pasta Ive had; nothing made the cut for Instagram. I dont think our current level of camera technology is capable of measuring the intensity of these dishes.

Its that simplicity that makes each of the pasta dishes come off like a bold, catchy melodic line, as if Georges Bizet himself were rolling dough in the kitchen. The anchovy sauce in Belottis tajarin burro e acciughe ($15.75) is Cambodian prahok with the volume turned down a notch, and a sprinkle of Grana Padano cheese pulls out even more saltiness. Fingertip-size tortellini served in a three-meat brodo ($21.75) is strangely reminiscent of a bowl of Cheerios and just as comforting. A more balanced option on the menu is the ear-shape scarpinocc de Parr ($15.75), stuffed with bread crumbs and cheese and bathed in an aromatic brown butter and sage sauce.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

And a simple, beef reduction-glazed exterior hides the fact that the agnolotti di Lidia ($16.25) is a clown car of pastas, filled with a complex mixture of beef shank, flat iron, pork loin, sausage, escarole, spinach and Parmesan.

The menu has about a dozen varieties of pasta at a time, with a small amount of seasonal switching-up, so just order what looks good. I hear there are even more available at Bottega, Belottis retail offshoot. Throw in a vegetable side dish, too: The organic greens ($7.50) are quick-cooked with lemon, salt and shallot and are compatible with everything. (I like to use them to sop up whatever sauce is left in my pasta bowl.)

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Youll want red wine or an Aperol drink to pair with whatever pasta you get, and thankfully Belotti has lots of options for you. The bittersweet Aereoplanino di Carta ($14) with Aperol, bourbon, Amaro Nonino and lemon is one of my favorites. Think bitter or cutting when it comes to your drink; something to shove the salt and umami on your palate aside.

On my first visit, I went with the dining format suggested by the menu and ordered a dish from the Secondi section to follow the pasta. But the brasato ($28.75), a pile of braised flat iron steak and shredded hen of the woods mushrooms piled atop a cushion of organic polenta was just too much to deal with after the pasta bomb. The few bites I could muster were delicious, but I would have been happier if Id stopped at the Primi section. (Which I did during subsequent visits.) Most couples will probably be happy with a shared salad and two pastas, which would total about $50. That would explain the crowds.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Youll find out about desserts verbally from the staff, and theyre also quite simple. Finish with the vegan coconut sorbet ($6.50) or raspberry-glazed panna cotta ($8) if you want to end on a fruity note. Ending with a shot of something from the bars Amaro collection would also be a classy way to say goodbye.

Belotti is always busy, and I know this Johnny-come-lately review is only going to make it worse. Im sorry  food critics are demons in this way. But how often do I get to shower confetti onto something so, well ... perfect?
By PTI

CHENNAI: Superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday said he was 'disappointed' over a particular thing during his interaction with functionaries of Rajini Makkal Mandram, a forum founded by him to facilitate his political entry.

He, however, declined to specify what his disappointment was.

The top star, who is expected to foray into politics, said he recently told a delegation of Muslim religious leaders to hold a dialogue with the Centre over their concerns on the CAA and NPR and assured his support in their effort.

The RMM, which came into being in 2018 is a launch vehicle for the actor's political party.

Chairing a meeting of RMM district secretaries to discuss the launch of his political party and work that has already been done in this connection, Rajinikanth said he answered lots of questions from the functionaries.

Asked when he will launch his political party, he told reporters: "Only to discuss about all such things, I met the district secretaries after a year.

There were lots of questions and I answered them.

"We exchanged views on many things. They were all very much satisfied. But on a matter, I did not have much satisfaction. It was only a disappointment. I don't like to reveal what it is. I will tell you when the time comes."

Asked if his disappointment was a political disappointment or one related to the present political ecosystem, he said: "It is a personal (at the individual level) disappointment."

Even as the actor was answering the question following the interaction, his fans could be heard loudly asking when he was going to launch the party.

He described his recent meeting with Muslim religious leaders as "a very pleasant meet", and said they underscored that brotherhood, love and peace should prevail in the country.

"They said they are ready to do all it takes for peace and wanted my support. I said definitely I will be with them in their effort," he said.

The actor said he wanted the religious leaders, "not politicians," to hold consultations on their apprehensions over the CAA and the NPR and then meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shan.

Rajinikanth said he assured his support to Muslim leaders over efforts to have talks with the Centre and added that it will be a good course of action.

To a question on the possibility of him joining hands with his actor-politician Kamal Haasan, he said: "Only time will give an answer."

Asked about the growth of the Mandram's activities and interactions, the actor said it cannot be divulged.

On the 'disappointment' remark by the actor, political commentator Sumanth C Raman said, "it is very difficult to keep on prolonging the element of suspense," hinting at the actor's political entry expected by his fans for about 20 years.

Rajini Makakl Mandram was launched on January 1, 2018 immediately following the actor's announcement that his political entry was a certainty.

Rajinikanth had announced that he will launch his political party ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.
By Lefteris Papadimas and Bulent Usta

KASTANIES, Greece/EDIRNE, Turkey (Reuters) - Greece has repulsed nearly 35,000 migrants trying to cross onto its territory illegally since Turkey opened its border nearly a week ago, government sources said on Thursday, as it prepares to deport hundreds of others who made it through.

Thousands of migrants have made for Greece since Ankara said on Feb. 28 that it would let migrants cross its borders into Europe, reneging on a commitment to hold them on its territory under a 2016 deal with the European Union.

Ankara has accused Greek forces of shooting dead four migrants, a charge rejected by Athens, which says Turkish forces are helping the migrants to cross the border. Both sides used tear gas at the Kastanies border post on Wednesday.

Turkey's interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, visited Edirne province bordering Greece on Thursday and announced the deployment of 1,000 special police to the area to halt the pushback of migrants towards its territory.

Soylu, who said on Wednesday that Turkey was preparing a case at the European Court of Human Rights over Greece's treatment of migrants, accused Greek forces of wounding 164 people and pushing back nearly 5,000 into Turkey.

Greece on Thursday banned most vessels from sailing around the Aegean islands of Chios, Lesbos and Samos. They are all close to the Turkish coast and a regular target for dinghies packed with migrants trying to enter the EU.

Choppy seas discouraged dinghies from making the crossing on Thursday, though in the evening a boat carrying 42 mostly Afghan migrants reached Lesbos. The UN refugee agency handed out snacks and blankets to the group, which included about 10 children.

Lesbos already hosts more than 20,000 asylum seekers, many of them living in filthy conditions in overcrowded camps.

The situation at the Kastanies land border crossing in northern Greece was calm on Thursday.

Migrants, who include Syrians, Afghans, Pakistanis and Africans, huddled in tents and makeshift camps on the Turkish side of the border. Others stood in line to receive food packages from aid agencies.

Story continues

HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS

Greek border guards rebuffed nearly 7,000 attempts in the last 24 hours alone, taking the total since Feb. 29 to 34,778 and the number of arrests of those who got through to 244, the Greek government sources said.

Migrants who arrived in Greece illegally after March 1 will be transferred to the northern city of Serres and deported back to their own countries, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said late on Wednesday.

"Our aim is to return them to their countries," he told the Athens News Agency.

Mitarachi said migrants who entered Greece prior to Jan. 1, 2019 and are living on its Aegean islands would be transferred to the mainland in the coming days.

Athens announced on March 1 that it would not accept any new asylum applications for a month following the build-up of migrants at the border. This has triggered criticism from human rights agencies.

"It's very sad that we have seen again human beings treated as political weapons... This is unacceptable," said Francesco Rocca, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), on a visit to the border.

The U.N. migration agency, the IOM, also urged all countries to respect the migrants' human rights.

"... international legal obligations must be upheld, in particular with respect to those who may be in need of international protection," it said in a statement.

Greece and the EU accuse Turkey of deliberately goading the migrants to cross the border as a way of pressuring Brussels into offering more money or supporting Ankara's geopolitical aims in the Syrian conflict.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees and faces another influx amid increased fighting in northwest Syria, says it cannot take in any more people.

President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the migrant issue with senior EU officials in Ankara on Wednesday but his spokesman said the Europeans had made "no concrete proposition" on how to resolve the crisis.

(Additional reporting by Athens and Istanbul bureaux and by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; writing by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Gareth Jones)
GHD's foray into network automation wasn't deliberate, but it turned out to be a game changer. Five years ago, the global professional services company, which has 12,000 employees and 260 locations around the world, needed to add another 100 North American sites onto the network because of an acquisition. And time was of the essence.

C. Randy Taylor, global network manager for GHD, decided to get 50 of those sites on the network using traditional Cisco routers, switches and wireless technology. It took 18 months to implement those first 50 sites, and two technicians had to be present on site to bring up each one.

For the second 50 sites, Taylor took a different approach. Instead of the Cisco products, Taylor and his IT team went with Riverbed Technology's SD-WAN product, which is part of the company's SteelConnect solution. By using SD-WAN, they cut the implementation of the second 50 sites down to six weeks, and they didn't need to have a single technician on site.

"We were simply looking for an easy-to-deploy network solution rather than an automated solution," Taylor says. "At first, it was more about wanting something that integrated well with our other equipment and was backward compatible with what we had in place. But when we started using SD-WAN, we found that because of the automation built into it, we were able to configure everything in the cloud It's like we started out with automation almost by accident."

Once Taylor and his IT team got a taste of network automation, they didn't want to go back.

"Automation became a game changer," he says, noting that SD-WAN has been deployed to 145 of their sites, with the plan to replace Cisco equipment with Riverbed gear. "Network automation five years ago wasn't in our strategic plan. Today it is one of our three pillars."

Network automation is designed to streamline the maintenance of physical and virtual network devices. Enterprises are looking to reduce their dependency on manual methods, and automation can simplify repetitive IT processes, improve consistency across branches and geographies, lower operational costs, and reduce human errors. Enterprises are deploying automation technologies in various types of networks, across data centers, wide area networks (WAN) and cloud environments. Major players in the market include traditional network vendors such as Cisco Systems and VMware; IT management players including SolarWinds, Forward Networks and Micro Focus; and automation specialists and startups such as AppViewX and NetBrain Technologies.

It's a burgeoning field: MarketsandMarkets Research reports that the global network automation market is on track to grow from $2.3 billion in 2017 to an estimated $16.9 billion by 2022.

"Its a really exciting topic in the networking industry right now because the scale and complexity of networks is really greater than it ever was before," says Brandon Butler, senior research analyst covering enterprise networks at IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based industry analyst firm. "It's a revolution we're still in the early days of. There are more mobile workers out there, accessing high-bandwidth company apps from more diverse places. By 2025, there are going to be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices that enterprises are getting data and insights from. If your network is down, it touches everything in the company. Relying on manual, ad-hoc management isn't efficient, scalable or secure."

And while it's an exciting market, it really is in its infancy, according to Andre Kindness, principal analyst at Forrester, a Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm. He notes that enterprises might be automating firewall configurations or the monitoring of their switches and traffic. They might even be looking for security issues. But most are wading, rather than diving, in.

"Everybody will say they're doing it, but it's about the degree," Kindness says. "If you look at all the network operations, I think less than 1% is automated at this point."

Corralling a network with Cisco DNA Center

When Adventist Health West wanted to automate some of their network processes, the not-for-profit healthcare organization went all in with Cisco.

With 380 clinics, 24 major hospitals and 48,000 employees, managing the enterprise's network "can be a complete pain in the butt," according to Ed Vanderpool, IT technical manager at Adventist Health, based in Roseville, Calif. With all those sites to oversee, strict HIPAA regulations, sometimes different operating systems running in the same building, and what Vanderpool calls medical-device sprawl, he quickly needed to gain control of his network.

In 2018, Adventist Health decided to solve these problems by leaning into network automation. They had been using Cisco Prime, a network management system that the healthcare organization had "had around for a while," according to Vanderpool, who called it an early version of a management system that was slow and prone to fail.

Adventist Health first attempted to have its own people build the automation software they'd need, but quickly realized their development staff was too small for a job of that scale. Then Vanderpool found Cisco DNA Center, the network-management and command center for Cisco DNA, the company's architecture for enterprise networks. That was the impetus Vanderpool and the IT team needed.

"One thing it enabled us to do was build a configuration template and reuse it," Vanderpool says. "Our biggest thing had been wrapping our arms around configuration. Instead of me having someone dedicated to walking up to each device and adding updates and then verifying them, we could just set up a template that would reach out to a device, interrogate it, verify what's on it, and then update whats missing. Once it does that initial interrogation or check-in, if anything changes, it will tell you what changed and when. It's been a lifesaver."

Vanderpool, who went with Cisco after evaluating SolarWinds, says he also was drawn in by his ability to adopt Cisco DNA Assurance, which monitors his network equipment and connections, and gives him insights into what needs to be done. "You can see how connections are working. Switch levels. Router levels," he explains. "It's a great one piece of glass so you can see the health of your network."

Adventist Health had only used network automation for six months before it took a major leap and started working automation into their data-center network. Vanderpool adopted Cisco ACI, a policy-based networking solution that integrates hardware and software. It did much of the heavy lifting and allowed him to script most of the changes when he had to build out the network or a service.

"You need to connect part of the data center into the cloud? You're adding servers or services, or you're moving stuff? We can script all of that and verify it," he says.

And when Adventist Health was ready to replace its data center, "we scripted out the entire build," Vanderpool says. "It did 90% of it for us. It was the coolest thing in the world, but you could kill yourself with that kind of thing, too."

Indeed, Forrester's Kindness says some companies are taking a big risk when they dive into network automation by immediately taking on their critical data center.

"Companies should do something niche where there's the least chance of disruption," Kindness says. "Don't start out with automating a data-center network. That's the fabric of networks. There are so many dependencies. You can't pull one thread without affecting a lot of sections It's so difficult. It's overwhelming."

Vanderpool says he took the calculated risk because he had few other options. He was given three months to create a new data center  part of which would run in the cloud, and part would be built up in a new location.

"Our data center had been housed in the same building for 20-some-odd years. We'd gotten too big for it. It needed a new place. They came to us and said, 'We're moving.' At that point we had to move," Vanderpool says. "Without automation it would have been impossible. It would have taken us about a year, and it would have been very costly for our company."

Was he nervous?

"We were scared to death," Vanderpool says. "If it hadn't worked it wouldn't have put the company in a great place financially. They wouldn't have been closing hospitals, but it wouldnt have been good."

The "thorn" in Vanderpool's side, though, has been integrating Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), security-focused network administration, into their Cisco DNA Center. "It's difficult to connect them. If we could do that, we could automate ISE," he says.

Easing into automation with SolarWinds

Britton Starr, senior enterprise monitoring specialist at OneMain Holdings, Inc., knew he had to ease into the network automation waters. Working at a financial company, he has to remain laser focused on stability and avoiding undue risk. Starr also wanted to be more efficient with his time and resources when it came to managing the Evansville, Ind.-based consumer finance company's network, which spans 1,650 locations and 12,000 employees.

Starr had been using Kiwi CatTools, network automation and configuration management software, from SolarWinds. The problem was CatTools didn't integrate well with other pieces of his network, but that was an issue he could fix with a different set of tools from SolarWinds.

"We wanted to do more," Starr says. "We wanted to do automation in context. Doing an automated task is great, but knowing when to do it and how to do it is better. I wanted to look at configurations and know what devices were in compliance. Then if I need to make a change, I could choose a group and apply change to them. We wanted to deal with situations and not just a single task."

Starr pointed out the problems they had  pre-automation -- with changing an access control list (ACL), a network packet filter that can restrict, permit, or deny traffic. It was a complicated issue because there were a lot of restrictions on which technicians had the ability make configuration changes on specific devices. "Our department had increased from a few to maybe 20 people because there was so much work to do just to keep pace with that," he says.

To deal with this, Starr adopted SolarWinds' Network Configuration Manager, which enables him to write a script that notes which devices need to be updated and what needs to be added to the ACL. Because the software has a decision structure in it, any technician can run that template with the IP address they want to add, and it will apply the change to every single device.

"Boom! It's done," Starr says. "It would take somebody a few minutes that might have taken an hour-plus without automation. It's extremely helpful, honestly. Handling that ACL wasn't a good use of anyones time. You could get an intern to do just that, and it wouldn't be a good use of their time. It allows people more time to work on more complex engineering tasks rather than routine projects. And it eliminates the risk of errors, taking the guesswork and uncertainty out of it."

OneMain Holdings now uses five different SolarWinds products. One of Starr's favorite automation functions gives him a daily configuration change report.

"Every morning, I get a report that shows every configuration change on every network device in the past 24 hours," he says. "Out of our pool of 200 or 250 devices, I get a clear, distinct, easy-to-read report on what has been added and what has been removed. When something breaks, I can go to that report and see what changed last night. I'd pay twice as much for that its so helpful."

He also receives automated compliance-related reports, which are critical for a company in the financial industry.

"You can build reports to look for compliance drift," Starr says. "As people bring new devices online, we'll know if those configurations started in compliance. I dont have to guess. That report will tell me."

The biggest problem he's had adopting network automation is that writing the necessary scripts isn't a simple task. Starr says people give him the needed changes, and then he ends up building the scripts for them because not everyone can do it on their own. "The syntax wasnt immediately apparent," he says. "There's a learning curve to figuring out how to do that. Could it stand to be improved? Yah, I think so. But I've come to understand their design philosophy better now."

Expanding network automation at GHD

When GHD got 50 new sites up and running on its network using Cisco products, and then saw how much faster and easier it was doing another 50 sites with Riverbed's automation software, they initially left the Cisco equipment running where it was. They'd already paid for it, after all.

However, Riverbed's automation tools quickly became GHD's go-to product when networks at their international sites needed to be refreshed. Now they have plans to roll Riverbed technology out to every one of their 260 global sites by October of this year  and that includes removing the Cisco equipment and replacing it with Riverbed.

Initially, GHD's biggest challenge moving toward network automation was its members of its own IT team who didn't have any experience with automation. Taylor says that led to what he called "political and cultural challenges" over the first six months of adopting network-automation software.

"When you've got a team used to doing things one way, youre going to hit a fair amount of resistance," he says. "There was pushback in the idea that the technology wouldnt deliver everything it was promised to do. They were doubtful it would work. That shook itself out after people touched the technology and realized it really was working out. Now our staff is excited to work on this and have been trained in it."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani before a peace signing ceremony between the U.S. and the Taliban in Doha on Saturday. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/Pool photo via AP

The United States carried out its first air strike on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan since the two sides signed a troop withdrawal agreement on Saturday.

A US forces spokesman confirmed the incident in southern Helmand province, hours after President Donald Trump spoke by phone with chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund on Tuesday, the first known conversation between an American leader and a top Taliban official.

The Taliban fighters "were actively attacking an [Afghan National Security Forces] checkpoint. This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack," tweeted Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the US Forces in Afghanistan.

He said Washington was committed to peace but would defend Afghan forces if needed.

"Taliban leadership promised the [international] community they would reduce violence and not increase attacks.

"We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments," he said.

The air strike was the first by the United States against the Taliban in 11 days, when a reduction in violence agreement had begun between the sides in the lead up to Saturday's pact.

Since the signing, the Taliban had decided on Monday to resume normal operations against Afghan forces, though sources have said they will continue to hold back on attacks on foreign forces.

A Taliban senior commander in Helmand who declined to be named said a drone had targeted their position.

He added the group's senior leadership in Afghanistan had called an emergency meeting to discuss what he described as a "major violation" of the agreement.
Two men have been arrested in connection with a vehicle pursuit that ended at the AutoZone on San Bernardo Avenue.

READ MORE: Court records shed light on Texas Rangers' raid of Laredo attorney's office

Authorities identified them as Emiliano Contreras Jr., 24, and Albert Jimenez, 34.

Laredo police officers responded to a disturbance at about 11:27 a.m. March 4 in the 3900 block of Santa Rita Avenue. The caller stated that the suspect had left the scene in a silver 2012 Infinity M30.

Responding officers observed the suspect vehicle, attempted to stop it, but a chase ensued. During the chase, the driver, Contreras, lost control of his vehicle by the 3200 block of Santa Ursula Avenue.

He and another passenger, Jimenez Avila, abandoned the car.

Contreras was found inside the AutoZone on 3201 San Bernardo Ave. and taken into custody. Authorities also arrested Jimenez. Police said the Infinity was reported stolen out of Harris County.

READ MORE: Suspected drunk driver allegedly tried to bribe Laredo officer

Contreras was charged for evading arrest with a motor vehicle, evading arrest and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Contreras was also wanted for failure to appear in court for felon in possession of a firearm out of Harris County. Jimenez was charged with evading arrest.
Once upon a time in Egypt, likely sometime during the fourth or fifth century, some Christian monks were eating dates together. One of the brothers was ill and had a coughing fit that brought up phlegm. Some of it accidentally fell on another brother. The unlucky recipients initial impulse was to cry out in indignation, Stop! Dont spit on me!

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers tells us what happened next: To tame himself and restrain his own angry thought, he picked up what had been spat and put it in his mouth and swallowed it. Then he began to say to himself, If you say to your brother what will sadden him, you will have to eat what nauseates you.

Even in this Lenten season, when many Christians put ashes on their heads, this behavior seems extreme. Isnt it masochistic? How is anyone served by such a disgusting act of repentance and devotion? Other early Christian ascetics, too, were known for unusual feats. Simeon the Stylite sat atop a pillar for over 30 years. Others ate nothing but grass, confined themselves in tiny cells, lived among animals, or deprived themselves of food and other bodily necessities for extraordinary periods of time. In their own day as well as now, people have rightly questioned the purpose and spiritual value of these bizarre behaviors.

To us, suffering in general seems about as attractive as eating phlegm. Well do nearly anything to avoid it. But the monk in the original story has a different mindset: Hes more concerned with avoiding sin than avoiding suffering. Hating sin goes right alongside his willingness to suffer physical discomfort. If a monk hates two things, he can be free of this world, writes another monk. A brother inquired, What are they? He said, Bodily comfort and conceit.

These quirky early Christians were not making an argument about the causes of suffering. Their point was not that every instance of suffering could be traced to a specific act of sin in the sufferer. Job and the explicit teachings of Jesus (John 9:3) would have ruled that logic out. Instead, they were acknowledging the fact that sin breeds suffering as surely as murder leads to death (Romans 6:23). It hurts the sinner, and its effects ripple outward to impact untold others as well.

Perhaps appropriately, then, the way to healing from sin often leads through suffering, not around it. We follow Christ by taking up our crosses, not by averting our eyes, hands, and hearts from the pain of Golgotha.

The message of the ascetics is simple: Lament your sin, even though it hurts.

For these new martyrs, as they were often called, lamenting sin was not just an abstract ideal. It was a concrete command of God that took skill, diligence, and divine assistance to obey. Their starting assumption was that repentance should be the continual pattern of the Christian life, not an unusual aberration. In the words of one hermit, As the shadow goes everywhere with the body, so we ought to carry penitence and weeping with us everywhere we go.

Of course, theres more to the Christian journey than sorrow and tears. But if we want to make progress, well need to keep these with usat least until this life is over. No one is exempt from repentance. As another hermit put it, When God struck Egypt there was not a house that did not mourn. By that he means that sin and its effects are universal. We cannot delude ourselves by thinking that we stand squarely on the side of the victims. We are the Egyptians, every last one of us. The logs in our own eyes should be our first concern. Or in the words of yet another ancient Christian ascetic, Always look at your own sins, and do not judge anothers.

Article continues below

The desert fathers also address people who seem incapable of remorse or at least of external signs of it. When asked, Why is my heart hard, and why do I not fear God? one hermit recommends honest self-talk. They should remind themselves: Remember that you have to meet God. And one should ask probing, self-reflective questions: What do I want with people? Another hermit advises going straight to the top: Ask God to give you inner grief of heart and humility. Still another counsels patience and hope:

A brother asked a hermit, I hear the hermits weeping, and my soul longs for tears, but they do not come, and I am worried about it. He replied, The children of Israel entered the promised land after forty years in the wilderness. Tears are the Promised Land  it is the will of God that we should be afflicted, so we may always be longing to enter that country.

In other words, even the desire for holy grief is a step in the right direction.

Yet for all their emphasis on expressing sorrow over sin, the desert ascetics never regard this lament as an end in itself. Lament leaves gifts. As Abba Poemen said, Grief is twofold: it creates good and it keeps away evil. God works through our lament to realize what we pray for in the Lords Prayer: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matt. 6:13). Yes, it helps us avoid whats bad. But holy grief is also a creative act that leads us toward goodness.

The good it produces is multifold.

First, lament invites forgivenessnot just forgiveness in general but the very mercy of God. The desert father Hyperichius put it like this: The watchful monk works night and day to pray continually: but if his heart is broken and lets tears flow, that calls God down from heaven to have mercy. Psalm 51 echoes this message: For you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (vv. 1617).

Second, lamenting sin does not mean despairing of restoration. Despair is the work of the Devil. By contrast, godly grief gives rise to hope.

Finally, godly lament doesnt lead to morose isolation but rather binds us to both God and others. In the story of the monks eating dates, the phlegm was swallowed as a sign of love. And this, according to the desert ascetics, is the great secret of lamenting sin unto suffering. In the words of Mother Syncletica, those in lament are like people trying to light a fire. The smoke gets in their eyes, their eyes begin to water, but they succeed in what they want. It is written, Our God is a consuming fire [Heb. 12:29].



Grief and lament move us closer to the joy of our ultimate desire: the radiant glory of God himself.

The monk who swallowed phlegm was not doing something disgusting for its own sake. He was seeking (through an admittedly dubious method) to cultivate a greater sense of revulsion toward sin than toward the broken body of his brother. Why? His act was driven by a love of neighbor, yes. But it was ultimately motivated by his desire to conform himself to Christ Jesus who, when spat upon by his fellows, swallowed the suffering out of love.

Han-luen Kantzer Komline is an assistant professor of church history and theology at Western Theological Seminary.
People are the greatest value for the Foreign Ministry as each professional and energetic employee deserves decent and comfortable working conditions both at home and abroad, the minister says.

Newly appointed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has outlined five priority areas of work during his tenure.

"It is an honor, responsibility and opportunity for me. You heard the main words of the president: Ukraine's course in foreign policy remains unchanged. This, in particular, means that we continue to move to the EU and NATO," he wrote on Facebook, thanked President Zelensky and every MP who had supported his appointment.

"Literally five theses from me on my priorities in office: 1. Peace, security, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. 2. Economic diplomacy with a special focus on trade, attracting investment in Ukraine, and supporting industry. I see especially great opportunities in Southeast Asia, but we won't forget other parts of the world. Ukrainian diplomacy will also work where there are opportunities for Ukrainian businesses. 3. Public diplomacy so that the world was astonished about us and saw us not only as a victim of aggression, but also as an attractive country of opportunity. 4. Every Ukrainian is a drop in the ocean called 'Ukraine,' an integral part of our nation. Diplomats will do everything to make every Ukrainian proud of their Homeland, feel its support and protection, no matter where in the world they are. 5. I will actively encourage foreign Ukrainians not to sever ties with their Homeland. To motivate everyone who'd like to return home. To inspire anyone who is ready to be an advocate for Ukraine in their country of residence," he said.

Read alsoDmytro Kuleba tapped to head Ukraine's Foreign Ministry

A dialogue with parliament is very important in implementing these ambitious tasks, Kuleba added.

"I am always open to communication with lawmakers, and I am sure that we will hear each other," he stressed.

In addition, the minister said that people were the greatest value for the Foreign Ministry as each "professional and energetic" employee "deserves decent and comfortable working conditions both at home and abroad. "Everything will be Ukraine," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 4, Kuleba was tapped to head Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
(Alliance News) - Saga PLC on Thursday said the impact of coronavirus on its operations cannot yet be quantified, though it has already caused cancellations and lower bookings.

Folkestone, Kent-headquartered Saga provides financial services such as insurance to over-50s, though also runs holidays for the same age group.

Saga's Cruise business has forward sales for 80% of targeted revenue for its financial year ending January 2020, the company said, but there has been a higher level of cancellations following the coronavirus outbreak.

The firm's two most recent ship departures had occupation of around 80%. Saga's cruise ships all start and end at UK ports.

In the Tour Operations unit, there has likewise been a rise in cancellations and suppressed demand. Forward passenger bookings for its current financial year are 20% lower than last year.

However, Saga said that, given lower exposure to northern Europe and the Far East, it should be able to react to changes in demand.

The Insurance business has had a "robust" start to its current financial year, Saga said.

"The evolution of COVID-19 and the impact this will have on full year earnings for financial 2021 cannot be predicted with any certainty at the current time. While our Travel business will be impacted, the group expects the performance and cash generation of the Insurance business to be largely unaffected," said Saga.

"There are a range of actions the group can take to mitigate against weaker trading in the Travel business, such as the cost efficiency actions already underway and announced in the recent trading statement."

Saga also announced the sale of its Patricia Whites and Country Cousins businesses to Limerston Capital for an enterprise value of GBP14 million. Both units are introductory care agencies.

This is part of Saga's plan to sell non-core assets to reduce debt. As of January 31, net short-term bank debt was around GBP110 million, down from GBP148 million at July's end.

Saga will report results for this year ended January 31 on April 2. Saga shares were down 7.4% on Thursday morning in London at 22.90 pence each.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The President of the Association for Reproductive and Family Health, Oladepo Ladipo, has called for a ban on child marriage in Nigeria to reduce complications arising from childbirth by children, such as vesicovaginal fistula (VVF).

Mr Ladipo, who is an obstetrics and gynaecology expert, said child marriage contributes to the high maternal mortality rate in the country.

He spoke on Thursday at a one-day National Stakeholders Dialogue on Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) in Nigeria. The event was organised by the White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria in collaboration with the Department of Family Health, Federal Ministry of Health.

The dialogue was organised to review and discuss strategies and related indicators on EPMM and how they may advance maternal health in Nigeria.

Mr Ladipo said high maternal death rate should be recognised as an emergency by all levels of government in Nigeria.

Facilities needed to look after pregnant mothers must be put in place, equipped appropriately and we must ensure we have trained personnel to look after the pregnant mothers, he said.

There is also a need to improve health literacy in the country. The importance of citizens utilising government facilities should be highlighted and the facilities available in every community should be known by all citizens because sometimes, the government in their wisdom may put a facility in a community and it is underutilised, he said.

Mr Ladipo also advised against high-risk pregnancies  pregnancy below the age of 18 and above the age of 35, pregnancy occurring too often less than 18 -24 months, and frequent pregnancy.

He said family planning is an important strategy for reducing maternal mortality and the lowest hanging fruit that the government should grab.

Unfortunately, our contraceptive prevalence rate is shamefully low, about 12 per cent, and you can see the effect on the population, Mr Ladipo said.

Speaking at the event, the chairperson, White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria, Nanna Chidi-Emmanuel, said the dialogue was for the discussion and prioritisation of strategies and related indicators for the Nigerian context.

She said it is important that Nigeria is responsive to the emergency state of maternal mortality.

We have done all the paperwork and passed all the needed policy, resources are available but it is urgent that action must roll and therefore we must recognise that beyond the health sector, we must have a sector-wide approach, engaging all the sectors that tend to all the community, individual and the women, she said.

She said prevention is the most cost-effective intervention.

WHO strategies

Five years ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released strategies towards Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality(EPMM).

The framework describes 11 priority themes for EPMM, which originated from consultations with stakeholders around the globe. The consultations were conducted by the EPMM Working Group to guide the development of a comprehensive strategic framework needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goal targets for maternal mortality.

The strategies include empowering women, girls, and communities; integrating maternal and newborn health, protecting and supporting the mother-baby dyad.
When immunologist Dr. Wei Cao joined Baylor College of Medicine three-and-a-half years ago, her first project was to investigate how inflammation contributes to Alzheimer's disease.

"Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. The current understanding is that, in addition to having beta-amyloid plaques and tau protein tangles, the brains of patients with this condition have a marked inflammatory response, and that this inflammation might be more of a problem than protein aggregation itself," said Cao, associate professor of molecular and human genetics and the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor.

Inflammation in Alzheimer's disease involves the activation of two types of cells in the brain: the resident immune cells called microglia, and astrocytes, star-shaped cells that support neuronal functions. In addition, there are elevated levels of cytokines, molecules that are produced by immune cells to promote inflammation. But the question remained, how does chronic inflammation in brains with Alzheimer's disease lead to neuronal dysfunction and the consequent neurodegeneration and dementia?

Zooming into the brain

Amyloid plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease have a heterogeneous composition; for instance, some may also contain sugars, lipids or nucleic acids. Previously, Cao and her colleagues found that amyloid fibrils with nucleic acids, but not those without them, triggered immune cells in the blood to produce type 1 interferon (IFN). IFN is a potent cytokine produced when immune cells sense nuclei acids, such as those that come from viral particles, in their environment. IFN triggers a beneficial inflammatory response that is the first line of defense against viral infections.

"While it is best known for its ability to induce an antiviral state in cells, IFN is also involved in immune modulation and tissue damage associated with infectious, autoimmune and other conditions. But, until now, IFN has not been explicitly implicated in Alzheimer's disease," Cao said.

"In this project, we focused on what was going on in brains with Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Ethan R. Roy, a graduate student in the Graduate Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine at Baylor while he was working on this project. "We began by investigating whether microglia from the brain were able to respond to the amyloid/nucleic acid combination by producing IFN."

Roy looked at multiple Alzheimer's mouse models in the lab of Dr. Hui Zheng, professor of molecular and human genetics and director of the Huffington Center on Aging, who also is co-principal investigator of the study. Roy found that almost all the animals' brains in these models had plaques containing nucleic acids. "The composition of these plaques had not been well characterized before," Roy said.

IFN leads the way to synapse loss

Interestingly, Cao, Roy and their colleagues found that the same mouse brains that had amyloid plaques with nucleic acids also showed a molecular signature mimicking an antiviral IFN response. Further experiments revealed that nucleic acids in the plaques activated brain microglia, which produced IFN that in turn triggered a cascade of inflammatory reactions that led to the loss of synapses, the junctions between neurons through which they communicate. Synapse loss is a key part of neurodegeneration and can lead to memory loss and eventually dementia.

It is well known that synapse loss is directly mediated by the complement system, which is part of the immune system. It comprises a group of proteins that work together to clear microbes and damaged cells, but it also is involved in inflammation.

"Although we knew that complement activation triggered synapse loss, what we discovered was the chain of events that led to this outcome. The chain of events points to IFN-mediated pathways controlling complement activation," Cao said. "We found that blocking the IFN-triggered cascade of reactions significantly dampened microglia activation and reduced synapse loss in our mouse models, further supporting the leading role of IFN in this process."

This study provides a major advance in the understanding of a process that leads to neuronal damage, by connecting IFN, complement and synapse loss: IFN controls the expression of multiple components of the complement cascade and mediates synapse elimination in a complement-dependent manner.

Human connection

The researchers looked into human brains with Alzheimer's disease to see if they presented with characteristics that were similar to those they had observed in mouse models of the condition.

"We found that human brains with Alzheimer's disease have profound activation of the IFN pathway, suggesting that mechanisms similar to the one we found in mice may be involved in neuronal destruction in people with the disease," Roy said. "Further studies need to be conducted to evaluate this hypothesis."

This is important because it would lead to a better understanding of how the disease occurs and suggest novel therapies for this incurable disease.

The accumulation of amyloid plaques in human brains is known to poorly correlate with the severity or duration of dementia. There are people without signs of dementia who harbor significant amounts of both amyloid plaques and tau tangles in their brains, but remarkably lack the robust microglial activation and inflammatory response that is associated with loss of synapses and neurons. On the other hand, the brains of people with dementia linked to Alzheimer's disease present with amyloid plaques, tau tangles and inflammation that is involved in neurodegeneration.

"Our findings in mouse models suggest that it is plausible that plaques that accumulate in Alzheimer's disease patients and those in non-demented individuals differ in their content of nucleic acids. It is thus of great interest to examine more closely the molecular constituents of amyloid plaques in the brains of cognitively resilient individuals and compared them to those of Alzheimer's disease cases," Cao said.

This work also may provide new insights into the aging brain. Other work has shown that IFN also seems to participate in the normal aging process of the brain. Cao, Roy and their colleagues think it is also worthwhile to further explore the possibility of modulating IFN activity in aging populations.

###

Interested in all the details of this study? Find them in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Other contributors to this work include Baiping Wang, Ying-wooi Wan, Gabriel Chiu, Allysa Cole, Zhuoran Yin, Nicholas E. Propson, Yin Xu, Joanna L. Jankowsky, Zhandong Liu, Virginia M.-Y. Lee, John Q. Trojanowski, Stephen D. Ginsberg, Oleg Butovsky and Hui Zheng. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine; Harvard Medical School; University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Nathan Kline Institute, N.Y., and New York University Langone Medical Center.

The study was funded by NIH grants AG05758, AG032051, AG020670, AG054111, NS092515, AG051812 and AG054672. Further support was provided by the Robert A. and Rene E. Belfer Family Foundation, BrightFocus ADR A20183775, Cure Alzheimer's Fund and TBMM T32 training grant (ST32GM088129).
LINCOLN  Three people died Tuesday morning when a small plane crashed and burst into flames on Interstate 55 in central Illinois, state police said.

Mindy Carroll of the Illinois State Police said in a statement that all three occupants of the plane were killed in the crash in Lincoln about 8:49 a.m. The National Transportation Safety Board described the aircraft as a single-engine Cessna 172.
REDMOND (dpa-AFX) - Software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has asked its employees in Seattle and San Francisco area to work from home till March 25 due to concerns of ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Microsoft has also recommended that those who are feeling sick, have a compromised immune system, or have had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 should work from home. The company employs nearly 54,000 people in the Seattle region. 'Consistent with King County guidance, we are recommending all employees who are in a job that can be done from home should do so through March 25th. Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite,' said Microsoft Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene in a statement on Wednesday. There are currently more than 94,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 128 confirmed in the US. Microsoft also asked employees to suspend any business travel to the areas 'unless essential for the continuity of Microsoft.' It said employees should cancel non-essential travel to areas with active coronavirus cases, including most of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Record Label, Agency Travel Bans Slash SXSW Attendance

The music industry is eyeing a growing list of coronavirus related cancellations and carefully considering how to react.

On Wednesday, Miamis Ultra Music Festival scheduled for March 20-22 canceled over coronavirus concerns, and both Apple and Netflix joined Amazon Studios, Facebook, Vevo, Intel, TikTok, Twitter and others in backing out of SXSW.

All Eyes On SXSW

The music portion of SXSW does not officially begin until March 16th, and so far no major music company other than Vevo has officially announced that they will not be attending.

But multiple sources tell Hypebot that many are seriously considering backing out and companywide travel restrictions are already reducing participation without the need for a formal announcement.

No one wants to be the first, one music executive told Hypebot. What company wants to be remembered by SXSW as the one that led a stampede for the exit?

Company Travel Restrictions Grow

On Wednesday, booking agency CAA banned virtually all travel by its employees for at least two weeks, effectively making participation at SXSW virtually impossible. CAA agents have also been asked to hold virtual meetings instead of bringing clients to its offices.

Sony and BMG have banned all non-essential travel. While UMG and WMG have only banned international travel, but say they will widen the ban as needed. Kobalt and Concord have instituted similar restrictions.

Some managers are also reconsidering whether or not it is safe for their artists to perform at SXSW. Normally, these venues are very crowded and almost any kind of preventive measure is impossible, one manager told Hypebot. How can I guarantee my artists that they will be safe?

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Technavio has been monitoring the oil country tubular goods market and it is poised to grow by USD 13.5 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005538/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Oil Country Tubular Goods Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. PAO TMK, Tenaris SA, The Weir Group Plc, United States Steel Corp. and Vallourec SA are some of the major market participants. Although the increasing investments in upstream activities will offer immense growth opportunities, environmental concerns related to drilling will challenge the growth of the market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Increasing investments in upstream activities has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, environmental concerns related to drilling might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market is segmented as below:

Product

Seamless

Welded

Geographic Segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40761

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our oil country tubular goods market report covers the following areas:

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market Size

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market Trends

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies advances in OCTG as one of the prime reasons driving the oil country tubular goods market growth during the next few years.

Oil Country Tubular Goods Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the oil country tubular goods market, including some of the vendors such as PAO TMK, Tenaris SA, The Weir Group Plc, United States Steel Corp. and Vallourec SA. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the oil country tubular goods market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Oil Country Tubular Goods Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist oil country tubular goods market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the oil country tubular goods market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour

The growth of the oil country tubular goods market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of oil country tubular goods market vendors

Table of Contents

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Value chain analysis

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market outlook

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Seamless Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Welded Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Rise in deepwater and ultra-deepwater E&P activities

Declining prices of raw materials

Advances in OCTG

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

ArcelorMittal SA

Hunting Plc

JFE Holdings Inc.

Jindal SAW Ltd.

Nippon Steel Corp.

PAO TMK

Tenaris SA

The Weir Group Plc

United States Steel Corp.

Vallourec SA

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

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UPDATE: Experts now suggest properly washing your hands is more effective than homemade hand sanitizer

The coronavirus outbreak, which has so far infected more than 95,000 people and killed more than 3,000 worldwide (at least 11 in the U.S.), has spurred a run coronavirus prevention materials, i.e. surgical masks and hand sanitizer.

Some stores in New Jersey sold out these products quickly last week as concerned citizens aimed to combat unsanitary contact. The virus is spread through human-to-human interaction and respiratory droplets produced by coughing or sneezing.

If your local stores run out of hand sanitizer, can you make hand sanitizer at home?

Yes, it is safe and effective to make your own at home, Aline M. Holmes, a Clinical Associate Professor at the Rutgers University School of Nursing, told NJ Advance Media.

Homemade hand sanitizers can be effective if they are at least 60% alcohol, as CDC recommends, Holmes said.

To make your own hand sanitizer, here are the two ingredients youd need to mix together:

2/3 cup isopropyl alcohol 99% (rubbing alcohol)

1/3 cup aloe vera

You can find aloe vera at drug stores like CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens. Its also sold at places like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Walmart. If those places are sold out, you can try online retailers like Amazon and eBay.

As OregonLive reports, you may also add 8 to 10 drops of your favorite essential oil for fragrance. Stir the ingredients together until fully incorporated then store in a sealed container.

However, hand sanitizer isnt the most effective way to prevent illnesses like coronavirus.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can reduce the number of microbes on hands, but they do not eliminate all types of germs, Holmes said. Hand sanitizers are an adjunct to hand washing since actually washing your hands gets off the dirt, gunk, droplets, where the microbes are living. Hand sanitizers should not be the sole way to clean your hands  washing your hands for at least 20 seconds on a regular basis and using hand sanitizers when soap and water not available is best.

Tennyson Donnie Coleman may be reached at tcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @TennysonTV. Find him on Facebook. Have a tip? Let us know at nj.com/tips.

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Joe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over Bernie Sanders in a new national poll  the latest sign that the presidential race has dramatically swung his way since before Super Tuesday.

Biden leads Sanders 45 to 32 in a new Reuters / Ipsos poll released after he prevailed in 10 of 4 states on Super Tuesday and reshaped the race. Biden scored that performance after former rivals consolidated around his campaign end endorsed him.

Now, he and Sanders are preparing to battle in Midwest battlegrounds next week  in a clash that will determine whether they face a drawn-out slug-fest.

Less than two weeks ago, Sanders was holding an 11-point lead in the same survey.

Joe Biden has opened a commanding lead in a new national poll

There was more dramatic information out of Florida, where Sanders was already in trouble thanks to his comments defending aspects of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba.

Biden was at 51.5 per cent in a new St. Pete Polls survey, with Sanders way back at 14 per cent. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who dropped out and endorsed Biden, was at 10.5 per cent. The poll was conducted online rather than through automated telephone contacts with Florida voters.

The presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have each identified Michigan as their next critical battleground  with Biden hoping to take down Sanders in a state where he scored a critical win over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The next big battle is brewing in Michigan, which is among six states that vote March 10. The state has suddenly emerged as the next critical race for the campaigns to try to make a statement, now that Biden has suddenly received frontrunner status.

Sanders has planned more of his signature rallies for the state, with events planned in Detroit and Grand Rapids in the coming days. Biden is planning his own Detroit rally for the day before the state's primary, plus a fundraiser. He also has scheduled an event in Ann Arbor, where he wants to mobilize University of Michigan students with a get-out-the-vote rally.

Biden and Bernie Sanders are taking their campaigns across the country

Sanders was thrown off balance after Biden won 10 of 14 states on Super Tuesday

Sen. Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign Tuesday, but has yet to endorse

Biden is planning his own rally the day before the primary, plus a fundraiser.

Biden got a shot of momentum after his Super Tuesday victories, and has cleaned up in endorsements from his former rivals. On Wednesday he picked up the endorsements of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Michigan and Missouri are the biggest prizes on the electoral map on the 10th. The state also has symbolic power  it is one of a trio of traditionally Democratic stares where Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Biden on Thursday

Sanders scored a crucial win there in 2016 in what became his extended run against Hillary Clinton.

Biden, who ran up huge margins among African American voters in South Carolina and other southern states, wants to replicate his strategy. He also wants to make the state a proving ground for his case that he can take the fight to Trump over issues for working families.

Sanders is seeking reaffirmation for his own economic message, which on Wednesday included attacks on Biden for taking funds from billionaires and attacking his rival for backing the Wall Street bailout in 2008 and accusing him of favoring a 'dysfunctional and cruel' healthcare system.

A new Detroit News poll gives Biden a 7 point lead over Sanders, though the Vermont Senator led previously when an array of candidates were splitting the vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race Thursday after holding her Super Tuesday rally in Detroit.

'Michiganders have grit. Were tough. We know what its like to be overlooked and counted out. And we know that when you get knocked down, you pick yourself up and get back to work. Joe Biden has been right there with us in the tough fights,' Whitmer said in endorsing Biden.
Yoo Young-ha, former President Park Geun-hye's lawyer, holds up her letter from prison at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap



Jailed ex-president calls for unified conservative force to win April election



By Kang Seung-woo



Impeached former President Park Geun-hye's letter from prison is creating a buzz in political circles as she calls for a unified conservative bloc ahead of the upcoming general election.



While liberal parties denounce the move as "regency," it remains to be seen whether her call will really help the conservatives to intensify solidarity and win the April 15 poll.



On Wednesday, Park's lawyer Yoo Young-ha unveiled her handwritten letter asking divided conservatives, including her staunch supporters who are symbolized as waving the national flag, to come together around the "existing opposition heavyweight" and win the election because the current administration is incompetent, hypocritical and "self-righteous."



The "existing opposition heavyweight" apparently refers to the main opposition Unified Future Party (UFP), which was launched last month after a merger between the Liberty Korea Party and two minor conservative parties.



The UFP, which has roots in Park's Saenuri Party, welcomed the letter, describing it as a "righteous decision."



"I very much appreciate that Park made patriotic remarks urging the opposition bloc to join forces in order to withstand threats to liberal democracy," said Kim Hyong-o, the head of the party's candidate nomination committee, after the letter was made public.



Hwang Kyo-ahn, the UFP chairman who also served as prime minister and justice minister under the Park administration, said, Thursday, her letter was a pleasant present for those who hope 'democratic forces' will win in the general election.



"The message reminds us of the importance of unity to judge the Moon Jae-in administration," he told the party's Supreme Council meeting.



The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other liberal minor parties strongly criticized Park and the letter, claiming she is attempting to flagrantly meddle in the election with no regret for her wrongdoings.



"Park's prison letter is a terrible declaration of her political comeback," DPK floor leader Rep. Lee In-young said during a party meeting, Thursday.



"Rather than repenting her political corruption scandal, the former president has stepped up to divide the public again despite being impeached."



Lee also lashed out at Hwang, who said his party would live up to Park by snatching an election win. "Her remarks clearly show the creation of the UFP just amounts to nothing but the return of the Saenuri Party," he added.



Justice Party Chairwoman Rep. Sim Sang-jeung said her party will request that the prosecution investigate Park for violating Election Law.



"What is more ridiculous is the UFP's responses, which make them seem like they are engaging in a competition to show who is more loyal to Park," she said, adding that it is evidence proving that the UFP is becoming Park's party.



However, whether her letter can help ensure the conservative bloc a victory in the election remains to be seen, as unification with other conservative minor pro-Park parties may trigger conflicts in the nomination process.



Immediately after Park's letter was made public, the newly launched pro-Park Liberty Republic Party said it would "follow her wishes." However, it and the UFP are already showing conflict over how to process the candidate nomination if merged.



Some political analysts also predict Park's influence could drive centrist voters away from the conservative big tent and toward the ruling liberal bloc.



Park was sworn in as the president in 2013 and served until being impeached in 2017. She is serving a prison term of more than 20 years after being convicted of corruption.


The Air Force is establishing new criteria and re-opening the selection process for Space Command headquarters in what could be a setback for Redstone Arsenal and other sites named as finalists last year.

Redstone was named as one of six finalists to be the home of Space Command but a decision by the U.S. Department of Defense to revisit the selection process following complaints of the process being unfair and not transparent, Defense Sec. Mark Esper said at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Esper also said that an announcement on Space Command HQ  which Huntsville has been anticipating for months  will likely not be made until after the November election.

Air Force Sec. Barbara Barrett said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that the new criteria will be announced in the spring.

Huntsville leaders have been aggressive in their pursuit of Space Command headquarters and its standing as a finalist has been a recent bragging point for the Rocket City. Also on the list of finalists were four Air Force bases in Colorado as well as Californias Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The headquarters is temporarily located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

It's not immediately clear how revamping the selection process will affect the sites already deemed to be finalists. More than 40,000 people work at Redstone Arsenal, which is home to commands such as the Army Materiel Command, Missile Defense Agency, Army Aviation and Missile Command and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

The FBI is also growing its presence at Redstone, building a $1 billion campus that will eventually be home to more than 4,000 employees.

Space Command HQ could result in as many as 1,450 jobs for the selected site.

Under questioning at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday by Sen. Doug Jones, D-Birmingham, Esper said he made the decision to re-open the process.

"I heard from (House) members on both sides of the aisle that they felt that the process that had been run was unfair and not transparent and there were a number of complaints," Esper said. "So I directed at that time that we pause in place."

Esper went on to say he did not believe the process was "transparent enough, that enough states, members, etc., had a chance to participate."

In addressing Esper, Jones said you know a cynical person would, in todays world, think that there was some political electoral politics coming into play into this, because Congress has wanted to do this and weve been supportive but now were going to get delayed again in opening up this process.

Esper said that re-opening the selection process would likely push the final decision beyond the Nov. 3 presidential election.

I dont see anything being announced before the election, Esper said.
From January 12 to 13, the Japanese Economic, Cultural and Tourism Exchange Delegation, hosted by the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), visited Da Nang, Vietnam. On the occasion of the establishment of the Consular Office of Japan in the city, it was planned under the initiative of Nikai Toshihiro, Chairman of the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Association and Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, with the aim of promoting exchange between Vietnam and Japan. The delegation was joined by approximately 1,000 people from Japan, including from business circles, and numerous ranking officials from Vietnamese government, including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and numerous events were held with the aim of deepening exchange in the fields of economy and tourism. In line with the delegates' visit to Vietnam, JETRO held a ceremony for signing and exchanging MOUs between the countries and the Vietnam-Japan Promotion Seminar for Investment and Human Resource Utilization.

At the ceremony held on January 12, a total of 12 MOUscovering disaster prevention, tourism and interaction between local authorities in addition to the economic field, including human resource cultivation and expansion of investmentwere signed and exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Phuc, Chairman Nikai and JETRO Chairman and CEO Sasaki Nobuhiko. This was the fourth time for the ceremony to be organized by JETRO in the presence of Prime Minister Phuc since June 2017.

On January 13, the Vietnam-Japan Promotion Seminar for Investment and Human Resource Utilization was jointly held with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; and Immigration Bureau of Japan and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Viet Nam. In his opening remarks, JETRO Chairman Sasaki emphasized the geopolitical importance of Central Vietnam, which has been developing infrastructure as the point of origin of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and is growing as a gateway to ASEAN, and as well as the rise of its presence as an open innovation hub. Planning and Investment Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, who also delivered opening remarks, made a call for further investment by Japanese companies, stating that high quality investment contributing to the development of the Vietnamese economy and cultivation of human resources in particular is welcome. Representatives from the provinces of Nghean, Quangnam, Thanhhoa and Quangtri, as well as Da Nang City, participated in the panel discussion and publicized features and the attractiveness of Central Vietnam. The seminar was joined by over 400 Japanese business people, indicating a growing interest in doing business and utilizing human resources in the region, in the midst of deepening relations between the two countries.
Many companies are looking for ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus within their workforce by asking people to work from home. For example, Twitter has asked its entire workforce of 5,000 employees to work remotely for the foreseeable future.

Of course, if your company is considering sending everyone home to work for a few days or weeks, you're probably wondering whether you have the systems in place to make that happen. If that's you, the good news is that a few tech companies are offering their services to help you stay connected.

Here are five tech companies that are making it easier to work remotely, and are making their services more accessible to small businesses and organizations:

Microsoft

Microsoft has started offering a free trial of the premium plan for its Teams chat app, according to Business Insider. That trial will allow users to record meetings and take advantage of 1TB of storage, neither of which are available on the normal free version. Microsoft is making the extended premium trial available for six months.

Google

Google will allow free access to the enterprise version of Hangouts Meet to all G Suite and G Suite for Education users. That plan includes up to 250 users per call, the ability to record meetings, and livestream capabilities for up to 100,000 viewers until July 1, 2020.

LogMeIn

LogMeIn is making "Emergency Remote Work Kits" available for free for three months. Those kits are designed for nonprofits, schools, and health care organizations that aren't already customers. The company also says it will work with existing small-business customers to provide access during the same time period. The kits include GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar--where users can host presentations for up to 3,000 users--and LogMeIn, which provides remote desktop access from numerous devices.

Cisco Webex

Cisco is offering the free version of its Webex service with no time restrictions. In addition, it will allow up to 100 meeting participants and has added toll-free dial-in features with a 90-day license for businesses that are not already customers.

Zoom

Zoom already offers a free version of its videoconferencing software, but the company is currently working to test its network to "ensure maximum reliability amid any capacity increases, as uptime is paramount," according to a blog post from the company's CEO.
Avantcard, the Carrick-on-Shannon based consumer finance provider has formally been recognised as one of Irelands 'Great Place To Work' for the second year running.

The team celebrated with organisations from industries all across the country, at the annual Great Place to Work gala dinner held in Dublin on February 26.

The credit card and loan provider, headquartered in Carrick-on-Shannon, jumped up two spots to 12th in the overall ranking of the top 25 medium-sized companies.

Avantcard was also one of only 20 companies to be accredited as a Best Workplace for Women. This award recognises leading Irish organisations that not only foster a high-trust culture and great work environment for everyone in general but also creates a positive and supportive workplace for women in particular.

Helen Richardson, Avantcards Head of HR, said I am delighted that we have been recognised as one Irelands best workplaces again this year. Given that part of the assessment is based directly on feedback from our employees, we feel that it is a real endorsement of the value that we place on our staff. We are continually working to improve our workplace culture for the benefit of those who work for us.

We are also particularly proud of being included on the Best Workplaces for Women list for the first time. It is so important for us to continually foster a supportive culture where all employees, irrespective of their gender, can develop both personally and professionally while maintaining a positive work life balance.

This follows a winning streak for Avantcard last year where the team won several prestigious industry awards such as Consumer Credit Team of the Year for the third year in a row at the 2019 Credit Team of the Year Awards, along with being crowned the CCMA Contact Centre of the Year  Medium-sized Company, and with Industry Professional of the Year  Customer Service Advisor.

On the night, Avantcard was in good company with some of Irelands leading organisations, including other employers in the North West such Abbvie, Lotusworks, Tesco and Woodies.

Other local winners were: Abbvie  Sligo/Longford  Number 1 in large category and accredited as a Best Workplace for Women;

Woodies  Leitrim/Nationwide  number 15 in large category

Tesco;  Sligo/ Leitrim/Roscommon/ Longford/Nationwide  number 17 in large category and accredited as a Best Workplace for Women;

Aura Leisure  Leitrim/Nationwide number 22 in large category;

Lotusworks  Sligo  number 29 in large category;

Cathal Divilly, Partner at Great Place to Work Ireland, said The criteria to appear on the list is a massive achievement.

While attractive benefits packages will go some way towards employee satisfaction, the companies on this years list have realised that their unique and distinctive cultures are what will mark them out in a crowded market.

Overall, these companies are marking themselves out by providing a distinctive sense of meaning in both personal and organisational roles for their staff.
Over 240 isolation wards have been created across Uttarakhand and 50- ICU beds are ready in AIIMS Rishikesh in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Dr Amita Upreti, Director General of health services of the state said on Thursday.

"The government is taking all the measures to curb the disease and 241 isolation wards have been created across the Uttarakhand and 50 ICUs are ready in AIIMS in Rishikesh," she informed.

"Doctors posted at Indo-Nepal border are working 24/7. Strict monitoring being done especially for Champawat, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar dist. We always had buffer stock of medicines but now we have extra buffer stock for 2.5-3 months," she said.

"An ambulance has also been kept in reserve to take the suspected people to isolation wards," she added.

She said that teams of doctors are deployed at the airports.

"Apart from this, there are also teams of doctors at the state airports, so far 393 passengers have been monitored at the airports, in which 299 people were tested and sent home, 94 people were kept for testing," she said.

"N-95 masks have been provided to every headquarters in all districts. I have also directed that information about coronavirus be disseminated through cinema halls, TV channels, newspapers. Everything is under control," she added.

Meanwhile, four patients out of which two had travelled to Indonesia, one to Bahrain and one to China have been kept under observation in RIMS hospital in Jharkhand.

Dr Vivek Kashyap, Medical Superintendent of RIMS hospital said, "We've received 4 patients so far-2 of them had travelled to Indonesia, 1 to Bahrain and 1 to China. Their blood samples have been sent for test. They were showing symptoms like throat pain & body ache."

"But we have kept them under observation as the protocol permits. If they are tested negative they will be sent to home isolation," he added.

On the other hand Dr Viresh Bhushan, deputy civil surgeon in Haryana's Sirsa said, "A person with travel history to Italy had come to us 3 days back, complaining of cold and cough. He was kept in isolation ward. His sample was taken and sent for test. The results came in yesterday, it turned out to be negative."

"We had sent 3 samples so far, all of them tested negative," he added.

Globally, deaths due to COVID-19 have crossed 3,000. The deadly virus, that originated in China late last year, continues to spread around the world and has infected more than 90,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prosecutors said today they were investigating former Philippine President Joseph Estrada for allegedly plundering millions while in office.

Estrada, who left the presidential palace under the pressure of mass demonstrations on Saturday, has 10 days to file an affidavit in response.

While the top charge technically carries the possible death penalty, it was considered extremely unlikely that the former film star could face execution by lethal injection.

Government ombudsman Aniano Desierto told a news conference that the preliminary investigation would take 60 days and involve six charges: plunder, malversation (misuse of funds), violations of the anti-corruption law, perjury, bribery and possession of unexplained wealth.

Economic plunder is defined as stealing from the state. There are different categories, with different sets of penalties, depending on the amounts of money involved. The most serious is a capital offence.

At the time of his departure, Estrada was facing an impeachment trial on corruption charges. It was suspended last Tuesday when the entire prosecution team walked out after the senators acting as judges decided to bar access to bank documents contained in a sealed envelope.

The prosecutors claimed the documents would have proved Estrada enriched himself by millions of dollars during his term that began in 1998 and that the tribunals decision proved they would not be able to get a fair verdict.

The Senate decision sparked immediate non-stop protests that swelled daily.

Estrada reportedly tried to negotiate concessions before leaving the palace under pressure, with tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside after he failed to meet a deadline set by the opposition for him to go.

Desierto said investigators would use all of the proceedings at the Philippines first impeachment trial and would request access to the envelope in question.

Estradas legal status remained murky. He reportedly did not sign an official resignation when he left office and Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in to replace him.

No order was immediately issued barring Estrada from leaving he country, but his name was put on a watch list at the countrys airports.
Arrest made in

swiping of safe

A Jacksonville man has been arrested in the weekend theft of a safe from The HandleBar Pizza and Pub on South Main Street.

Jacksonville police arrested Austin D. Sims, 42, of 602 Jordan St. on a burglary charge. Sims was being held Wednesday in the Morgan County jail; bail had not been set.

Restaurant employees told police at 7:42 a.m. Sunday that someone had broken in overnight and stolen the safe.

 Marco Cartolano



Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Danielle L. Crawford, 21, of 202 Union St., Chambersburg, was arrested at 10:24 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of driving while license is suspended after being stopped at East Independence and Doolin avenues.

 A 16-year-old boy was cited on a charge of disorderly conduct-fighting at 8:44 a.m. Wednesday after an altercation at Jacksonville High School.

 Tafari K. Goddard, 18, of 619 Illinois Ave. was arrested at 10:25 a.m. Wednesday on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he threw items and hit a window at Garrison Alternative School at 936 W. Michigan Ave.

ACCIDENTS

 Cruzz R. Martinez, 22, of Jacksonville was cited on a charge of operating and uninsured motor vehicle after the car she was driving and one being driven by Allen H. Mallicoat, 68, of Jacksonville collided in the 1900 block of West Morton Avenue at 10:37 a.m. Wednesday.

Both drivers were taken to Passavant Area Hospital for treatment, according to police.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
Two aid agencies on Wednesday called on Cameroon's army and separatist fighters to halt attacks on civilians in a conflict between English-speaking separatists and government forces in a predominantly French-speaking country.

Rights groups have accused both sides of atrocities in a two-year conflict that has left more than 3,000 dead, closed schools and clinics and forced 700,000 people to flee their homes.

In a joint statement, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) called for both sides to respect international law and stop all attacks on civilians.

"The crisis destabilising the English speaking parts of Cameroon has taken a worrying turn, with an increasing number of reports of targeted attacks against civilians," the NGOs said.

"Survivors have shared testimonies of gruesome attacks that have left children orphaned, people homeless, and limited or cut off access to public facilities such as hospitals and schools."

Later on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian joined calls for a proper investigation into an alleged massacre in Ntumbo village in the anglophone northwest on February 14.

"It is absolutely essential we are told who did what," Le Drian said.

Human Rights Watch last month accused the armed forces in taking part in the killing of 21 civilians, including at least 13 children, in Ntumbo.

The army denied the claims and said the deaths were an accident after fuel supplies exploded into flames during a gun battle with separatists.

Aid agencies say they have faced threats and violence from both sides as they struggle to deliver help to those made vulnerable by the fighting.

"This crisis needs more attention," said Paul Taylor of the IRC.

"Aid agencies need additional resources to meet the needs of those displaced by this crisis, and all parties need to ensure that aid agencies are able to access those who are in desperate need of basic services."

English speakers account for nearly a fifth of Cameroon's population of 24 million, who are majority French-speaking.

Most of the anglophone minority live in two western regions called the Northwest and Southwest, which were once British colonies in West Africa.

Decades of grievances at perceived discrimination brewed into a declaration of independence in October 2017, which was followed by a government crackdown and a separatist insurgency.

The declaration has not been recognised internationally and President Paul Biya, in power for 37 years, has refused demands to return to a federal system.
Under the plan, 38 lenders of RCom can recover over 70 percent of their outstanding of Rs 33,000 crore secured debt

New Delhi: Reliance Communications' Committee of Creditors is believed to have approved insolvency resolution plan that will fetch lenders Rs 23,000 crore by selling its assets to Reliance Jio and UVARCL.

Banking Sources say almost all lenders vote in favour of resolution plans for Rel Comm, Rel Infratel & Rel Telecom Alert: CNBC-TV18 had reported earlier that Rel Jio had been declared H1 for Rel Infratel, UVARCL for RCom & Rel Telecom@_ritusingh pic.twitter.com/DRAcwfp8Eb  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 4, 2020

Under the plan, 38 lenders of RCom can recover over 70 percent of their outstanding of Rs 33,000 crore secured debt, an industry source aware of the development told PTI.

"The committee of creditors (COC) has approved the resolution plans of RCOM and its subsidiaries RTL and RITL with an absolute majority of 100 per cent by the lenders at the COC meeting, as against the mandatory requirement of 66 percent," the source said.

Lenders submitted claims of around Rs 49,000 crore in August of which Rs 33,000 crore estimated to be secured debt.

Reliance Jio and UV Asset Reconstruction Company Limited were the highest bidders for RCOM assets at the CoC meeting held on 13 January, 2019.

Jio had placed a bid of around Rs 4,700 crore for the tower and fiber assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), while UVARCL has made an offer of Rs 14,000 crore for spectrum, real estate assets, enterprise and data center businesses, held by RCom and Reliance Telecom Ltd.

In addition, the creditors will clawback the priority payments of Rs 4,300 crore made to Chinese (Rs 1,300 crore) and Indian lenders (Rs 3,000 crore).

"Loans of Chinese lenders will reduce by nearly 65 percent to around Rs 4,000 crore from around Rs 12,000 crore. This is the highest-ever recovery of dues by financial creditors in the telecom sector, which has seen the exit or shut down of 11 out of 12 telcos since 2012," the source claimed.

According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, the recovery to lenders in the case of Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel were 63 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

"The bidders have committed to pay 30 per cent of the proceeds of around Rs 7,500 crore within 90 days," the source said.

The resolution professional has to submit the plan before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday.

(Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost)
Naresh Goyal, Jet Airways (Image: Reuters)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started investigating certain financial transactions by Naresh Goyal, former Chairman of now-defunct Jet Airways, with a bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

An official of the UAE-based bank was also summoned and questioned by the agency in this regard.

Goyal's interrogation by the ED , which began in the afternoon on March 4, continued till late evening on March 5. A source told Moneycontrol that the questioning may go on till March 6.

Goyal has been charged with laundering Rs 2,000-3,000 crore overseas. Jet Airways took loans totalling around Rs 9,000 crore from various institutions and the ED suspects that more than 20-30 percent of this sum was laundered overseas.

The ED carried out raids and searches at 12 locations across Mumbai and Delhi in connection with the case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

ED had registered a case against Goyal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) earlier this week.

This after a court order directed the Mumbai Police to register a case against Goyal and his wife Anita under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly cheating Mumbai-based Akbar Travels of India to the tune of Rs 46 crore. The complaint was lodged by company CFO Rajendran Neruparambil.

Goyal and his wife were earlier questioned by the agency on multiple occasions for violations under FEMA.

In August 2019, the ED probed diversion of funds from loans borrowed by Jet Airways in the period of over a decade. Goyal and others had allegedly misused loans borrowed from various banks and diverted it to foreign countries through ghost companies.

Goyals statement was recorded by the agency at his Delhi residence. ED also raided the premises of Hasmukh Gardi, a close aide of Goyal.

Gardi was the promoter of Jet Airways for a long time and his company, Tail Winds Corporation, was floated by Goyal in the Isle of Man, Europe.

ED suspects that the initial funding to the company was done by some elements from the underworld.

Gardi's name also appeared in the 2016 Panama papers leak. He is also under investigation by the ED and Income Tax Department in a case filed under the FEMA and Black Money Act, respectively.

A source told Moneycontrol that Gardi owned around two dozen shell companies and his Carmichael Road premises were raided by ED sleuths on March 5.

The Serious Fraud of Investigation Office and Income Tax Department are also investigating Jet Airways in this matter. Goyal tried to flee the country but was detained at the airport.
WASHINGTON  Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her plan for everything and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans. The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldnt win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

Her exit essentially leaves the race for the Democratic nomination a two-man race between men in their 70s.

The Massachusetts senator hasnt endorsed Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden, the leading candidates. But she has talked to both campaigns in recent days and is assessing who would best uphold her agenda, according to another person who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The people weren't authorized to speak about Warren's intentions publicly and talked to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Warren's exit extinguished hopes that Democrats would get another try at putting a woman up against President Donald Trump.

For much of the past year, her campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. She was squeezed out, though, by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance.

Warren never finished higher than third in the first four states and was routed on Super Tuesday, failing to win any of the 14 states voting and placing an embarrassing third in Massachusetts, behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sanders.

Her exit from the race following Sen. Amy Klobuchar's departure leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. It was an unexpected twist for a party that had used the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, just two years ago.

Warren's campaign began with enormous promise that she could carry that momentum into the presidential race. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan's Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

She had a compelling message, calling for "structural change" to the American political system to reorder the nation's economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2% wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than $50 million that prompted chants of "Two cents! Two cents!" at rallies across the country.

Warren, 70, began her White House bid polling near the back of an impossibly crowded field, used wonky policy prowess to rocket to front-runner status by the fall, then saw her support evaporate almost as quickly.

Her candidacy appeared seriously damaged almost before it started after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry. Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didn't stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as "Pocahontas."

Warren also lost her finance director over her refusal to attend large fundraisers, long considered the financial life blood of national campaigns. Still, she distinguished herself by releasing dozens of detailed proposals on all sorts of policies from cancelling college debt to protecting oceans to containing the coronavirus. Warren also was able to build an impressive campaign war chest relying on mostly small donations that poured in from across the country -- erasing the deficit created by refusing to court big, traditional donors.

As her polling began improving through the summer. Warren appeared to further hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, weren't ambitious enough to roll back Trump's policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling. And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the U.S. House in 2018.

But Warren couldn't consolidate the support of the Democratic Party's most liberal wing against the race's other top progressive, Sanders. Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a "Medicare for All" program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the "Green New Deal" while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Warren's poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates when she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she'd have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All. Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she'd work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years. In the meantime, she said, many Americans could "choose" to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House. After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldn't win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

Leaning hard into the gender issue only saw Warren's support sink further heading into Iowa's leadoff caucus, however. But even as her momentum was slipping away, Warren still boasted impressive campaign infrastructure in that state and well beyond. Her army of volunteers and staffers looked so formidable that even other presidential candidates were envious.

Just before Iowa, her campaign released a memo detailing its 1,000-plus staffers nationwide and pledging a long-haul strategy that would lead to victories in the primary and the general election. Bracing for a poor finish in New Hampshire, her campaign issued another memo again urging supporters to stay focus on the long game  but also expressly spelling out the weaknesses of Sanders, Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in ways the senator herself rarely did.

Warren got a foil for all of her opposition to powerful billionaires when former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg entered the race. During a debate in Las Vegas just before Nevada's caucus, Warren hammered Bloomberg and the mayor's lackluster response touched off events that ended with him leaving the race on Wednesday.

For Warren, that led to a sharp rise in fundraising, but didnt translate to electoral success. She tried to stress her ability to unite the fractured Democratic party, but that message fell flat.

By South Carolina, an outside political group began pouring more than $11 million into TV advertising on Warren's behalf, forcing her to say that, although she rejected super PACs, she'd accept their help as long as other candidates did. Her campaign shifted strategy again, saying it was betting on a contested convention.

Still the longer Warren stayed in the race, the more questions she faced about why she was doing so with little hope of winning  and she started to sound like a candidate who was slowly coming to terms with that.

"I'm not somebody who has been looking at myself in the mirror since I was 12 years old saying, 'You should run for president,'" Warren said aboard her campaign bus on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, previewing a ceasing of campaigning that wasn't yet official. "I started running for office later than anyone who is in this, so it was never about the office  it was about what we could do to repair our economy, what we could do to mend a democracy that's being pulled apart. That's what I want to see happen, and I just want to see it happen."

She vowed to fight on saying, "I cannot say, for all those little girls, this got hard and I quit. My job is to persist."

But even that seemed impossible after a Super Tuesday drubbing that included her home state.

 The Associated Press
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, C.N. Ashwath Narayan arrived at Deccan Herald office where he spoke on the state budget that was announced on March 5.
(Natural News) Back in 2016, the mainstream media terrified pregnant women around the world with stories about a mysterious virus called Zika that they claimed caused severe birth defects in babies.

Government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), insisted that a virus which had been around for over a century without ever causing much harm, was suddenly causing babies to be born with shrunken heads.

At the time, President Barrack Obama asked Congress to allocate $2 billion for urgently developing a vaccine for this devastating new disease. Congress eventually agreed to throw $1 billion at the problem, but four years later, there still isnt a Zika vaccine, and despite the hysteria, babies are not being born with abnormally small heads.

Now, the Trump administration has asked Congress for $2.5 billion to fight the novel Coronavirus  labeled Covid-19  which the president says will be used in various ways, including for developing a vaccine.

There can be no doubt that Covid-19 is leaving a trail of destruction as it marches across the globe, and the government will certainly need to spend a great deal of money combating it and protecting American citizens.

That said, the Zika debacle serves as a warning that massive amounts of money can be wasted in trying to develop a vaccine that either ends up being unnecessary or simply never materializes. (Related: Coronavirus reaches MEXICO with first 2 confirmed cases.)

A lack of information

As noted by Dr. David Brownstein, writing for Health Impact News, there is a great deal we do not yet know about Covid-19. And we simply cannot view the information coming out of China as gospel.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that the mortality rate for the disease appears to be between 3 and 4 percent. But health officials from the organization have repeatedly stressed that this number could decrease dramatically as time passes.

The disease appears to cause very mild symptoms in the vast majority of cases, and for this reason there may be many, many people who have actually contracted the virus who simply are not aware of the fact. If, for example, the number of infected patients is actually far higher than reported, then the mortality rate could be considerably lower than it currently appears to be.

On the other hand, as time passes it could turn out that the virus is even more deadly than it currently seems to be.

We simply do not know. (Related: Coronavirus fears cause panic-buying among shoppers in Brooklyn and Queens in New York.)

Regardless of how lethal the disease turns out to be, health officials have warned that it might very well mutate and become even more deadly, making the pursuit of a vaccine even more difficult.

This is exactly what happened with the 1918 Spanish Flu  the deadliest pandemic in history, which claimed between 20 and 50 million lives. As reported by the History Channel, the Spanish Flu struck in two distinct phases:

The first wave of the 1918 pandemic occurred in the spring and was generally mild. The sick, who experienced such typical flu symptoms as chills, fever and fatigue, usually recovered after several days, and the number of reported deaths was low.

However, a second, highly contagious wave of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with fluid that caused them to suffocate. In just one year, 1918, the average life expectancy in America plummeted by a dozen years.

Clearly, a lot more information is needed about this disease to effectively develop a vaccine against it. In the meantime, the government needs to focus on the immediate needs of its citizens and preventing the spread of what could turn out to be an incredibly deadly pandemic.

Keep abreast of the latest developments at Outbreak.news.

Sources include:

HealthImpactNews.com

USAToday.com

History.com
A special court on Thursday refused to revoke the 'approver' status of Rajiv Saxena in the AgustaWestland case.

Enforcement Directorate had moved the court to revoke Saxena's approver status with the allegation that he had withheld information and did not make compete disclosure during the investigation.

The Dubai-based businessman was extradited to India on January 31 last year in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Authorities have charged a 27-year-old Friendswood woman with possession of a controlled substance after reporting that on Feb. 20 she was found in possession of 1.5 grams of heroin and a bottle of the anesthetic Xylocaine, according to documents from the citys police department.

An undercover officer who knew Marah Elizabeth Barthelmess had an outstanding felony warrant for possession of a controlled substance in Brazoria County reportedly saw her leave a residence and get into a vehicle in the 500 block of Brandywyne Drive, police said.

An officer in a marked Friendswood police unit stopped Barthelmess, confirmed her identity and took her into custody, according to the report. Asked if she was in possession of anything illegal, the suspect admitted stuffing heroin between the vehicles seat and console, the report said. The suspect also was found in possession of a bottle of Xylocaine and a marijuana grinder, police said. Bond for Barthelmess was set at $30,000.

Narcotics

Police charged a Houston man, 24, with marijuana possession after a Feb. 22 traffic stop for speeding in the 200 block of East Parkwood Avenue. The officer reportedly found marijuana, a digital scale, a grinder, a butane lighter, more than 100 small bags and a bong during a vehicle search. Bond was set at $20,000, police said.

Burglary

A resident in the 200 block of Dover Lane returned from an trip to find belongings missing from his home, according to a Feb. 17 police report. The victim believes entry into the home was gained through an unlocked window, police said.

A contractor arrived for work Feb. 18 at the newly constructed Blue Wave Car Wash in the 300 block of West Parkwood Avenue and found the business back bay door open and his equipment and tools missing, police said. A second contractor reported the theft of 52 spools of copper wire, according to police documents.

An installed sink faucet and shower head were stolen from a home under construction in the 2400 block of Morning Ridge Lane, according to a Feb. 18 police report.

A vehicles rear window was shattered in the 17000 block of Bougainvilla Lane, according to a Feb. 20 police report. Nothing was reported stolen.

Cash and jewelry were reported stolen Feb. 20 at Bay Meadows Apartments, 17201 Blackhawk Blvd., police said. The tenants left the apartment at 3:30 p.m. and returned at 5 p.m. to find the front door forcefully opened, according to the report.

Four vehicle burglaries were reported Feb. 22 at the Reserve at Autumn Creek Apartments, 3102 W. Bay Area Blvd., police said. Stolen items included purses, bags and change, according to the report.

Theft

A resident in the 300 block of Dawn Hill Drive said her son entered her home and took a computer out of her lap as well as her iPhone and iPad before leaving, according to a Feb. 18 police report. When asked to return the items, he refused, police said.

A bicycle and Razor scooter were stolen Feb. 19 from Enclave Apartments, 5000 Watkins Way, police said. The theft reportedly occurred between 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

A license plate was stolen from a vehicle in the 3700 block of Townes Forest Road, according to a Feb. 22 police report.

Fraud

A Friendswood man discovered unauthorized transactions on his business bank statement, according to a Feb. 19 police report. The charges allegedly were from a credit card associated with another banking facility. The victim believes the suspect may be a contractor hired by his company, police said.

Assault

A Friendswood man was charged with assault, family violence after a reported disturbance Feb. 19 in the 16900 block of Stardale Lane, police said. He allegedly assaulted his wife. Officers arrived to find a woman with a bleeding ear, according to the report.

Police charged a 15-year-old boy with assault, family violence after he allegedly sprayed his foster parent with pepper spray during an argument Feb. 23. He received an additional charge of criminal mischief after he reportedly destroyed the mounted camera inside the patrol unit during his trip to Galveston County Juvenile Detention Center, police said.

Driving while intoxicated

Police charged a 22-year-old Friendswood man with DWI Feb. 19 in the 100 block of East Castlewood Drive. An officer reportedly observed him swerving into the marked bike lane in the 500 block of East Parkwood Avenue.

A League City man, 44, was charged with DWI Feb. 20 in the 1600 block of FM 528, police said. He allegedly exited a parking lot at a high rate of speed and failed to yield the right of way to an oncoming motorist.

Police charged a Pearland man, 26, with DWI Feb. 22 in the 16100 block of Blackhawk Boulevard. He allegedly occupied two lanes and then stopped for no apparent reason. Once he began traveling again, he was clocked at 37 mph in a 20-mph zone, police said.

An Alvin woman, 22, was charged with DWI after she allegedly stopped at a green light, made a turn from the incorrect lane, ran a red light and failed to stop at a designated point Feb. 22 in the 1400 block of South Friendswood Drive, police said. She reportedly drove another quarter of a mile after the officer turned on his emergency lights.

Police took a Houston man, 36, into custody for DWI with a child under 15 after a traffic stop for speeding and expired registration Feb. 22 in the 300 block of South Friendswood Drive. Three children were inside the vehicle, police said.

A Webster man, 36, was charged with DWI Feb. 23 in the 3200 block of FM 528, police said. He reportedly had stopped in a moving lane of traffic.

Police charged a La Marque woman, 24, with DWI after a traffic stop for making a wide turn and weaving outside her lane Feb. 23 in the 200 block of West Edgewood Drive.

Public intoxication

Police charged a Friendswood man, 26, with public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 23 in the 100 block of North Friendswood Drive. He allegedly claimed he had taken prescription pills and smoked marijuana. Marijuana was found inside his vehicle, according to the report.

Weapons

Police charged a Houston man, 56, with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon after a traffic stop for an illegible temporary dealer tag Feb. 18 in the 300 block of South Friendswood Drive. The driver, on probation for a felony and in possession of a pistol, opened his glove box to retrieve his insurance paperwork and exposed a pill bottle with no label, according to the report. The bottle reportedly contained two pills. The vehicle had not been inspected since March 2018, and its registration had expired in February 2019, police said.

A 23-year-old Texas City man was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon after a traffic stop for a license plate violation Feb. 19 in the 3100 block of FM 528, police said. The officer reportedly observed a pistol on the floorboard during the stop and asked the driver and a passenger to exit the vehicle. The driver admitted to having narcotics in the vehicle, and a search yielded marijuana and the firearm, according to the report.

Tobacco

A 17-year-old Friendswood High School student was found in possession of an electronic cigarette on campus, according to a Feb. 19 police report. The student was caught skipping class and will receive a summons for municipal court, police said.

Two Friendswood Junior High School students were found in possession of e-cigarettes after a school official received a tip, according to a Feb. 21 police report. The 13- and 14-year-old students will each receive a summons for municipal court, police said.

Traffic

A League City man, 26, was charged with driving while license invalid Feb. 18 in the 100 block of East Castlewood Drive, police said.

Police charged a Richmond man, 24, with driving while license invalid and no insurance Feb. 21 in the 1200 block of West Parkwood Avenue.

Police charged a 21-year-old Manvel man with failure to stop and give aid after an officer reportedly witnessed an accident involving an injury Feb. 21 in the 600 block of East Edgewood Drive. The fleeing vehicle allegedly went off the road and drove in the grass to leave the scene. The officer caught up with the vehicle and took the driver into custody in the 5300 block of FM 2351, police said. The driver did not have insurance and his drivers license and vehicle registration were expired, according to the report. A vehicle search reportedly yielded synthetic urine and marijuana shake. Meanwhile, another officer checked on the disabled vehicle, police said. The injured driver was taken to the hospital for treatment, according to the report.

An Alvin man, 55, was charged with no drivers license, no insurance and possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop Feb. 23 in the 400 block of East Edgewood Drive, police said. He allegedly had an open container of beer and marijuana inside his console.

Other incidents

A 64-year-old Waco man was charged with failure to register as a sex offender after a traffic stop for failure to signal a turn Feb. 18 in the 3000 block of West Bay Area Boulevard, police said. The addresses on his Colorado drivers license and Texas identification card reportedly did not reflect the League City address he claimed. The officer checked the mans identifiers and discovered he had not filed the change of address required of sex offenders, according to the report. Bond was set at $20,000.

Twenty mailboxes were damaged along Blackhawk Boulevard between Laura Leigh Drive and Friendswood Link Road, according to a Feb. 20 police report.
The New Zealand Government has awarded the first of a series of contracts to gather 3D geographic data of more than half the country using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to create consistent digital 3D maps with very accurate elevation data.

Elevation data products created through the project will be freely available as open data through the LINZ Data Service, which has developed a specification for the data based on the US Geological Survey LIDAR Base Specification and the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) LIDAR Acquisition Specifications and Tender Template.

The minister for land information, Eugenie Sage, said the resulting maps would enable planners and investors to make well-informed decisions requiring landscape data, irrespective of regional boundaries. [This will be] particularly valuable in the agriculture and forestry sectors, she said.

How the LIDAR mapping data would be used

The minister for regional economic development, Shane Jones, said the data would be particularly useful for the primary sector, enabling better understanding of impacts on water catchments. It will also provide improved detail of soil mapping for better nutrient management, and comes with a much cheaper price tag than costly field surveys, he said. This data is also essential for better flood risk mapping, understanding the impacts of climate change, and improved environmental management.

He said the data would be of particular interest to small forest owners, giving them access to information previously available only to larger growers.

The government said homeowners would have be able to accurately determine their properties' exposure to flooding with accurate local elevation data, rather than relying on generalised models. This could be used in setting meaningful risk-based insurance premiums, and better informing property transactions, it said.

Rex Graham, chairman of the Hawkes Bay Regional Council, said the LIDAR data would enable the creation of 3D models of the landscape that would support the regions economic development. The LIDAR information will be used for land management decisions, roading design, precise understanding of sea-level rise impacts, stormwater design, and geohazard mapping including ground surface change, faults, liquefaction and slips, he said.

Southland Regional Council said the LIDAR data would enable it to better model coastal erosion, tsunami evacuation zones and landslide hazards. For territorial authorities, the information will assist with planning for new infrastructure like roads as well as maintenance and renewal programmes for existing infrastructure such as water pipes and bridges.

Environment Southlands director of policy, planning and regulatory services, Vin Smith, said the data would help individuals and businesses make better decisions about residential and commercial development, renewable energy generation and better manage activities such as on-farm nutrients and precision forestry spraying.

Eight councils are participating in the LIDAR project

The project, announced in October 2018, is being jointly funded by the regional councils in the areas to be mapped and by the government, which will tip in $14 million over five years through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF).

In May 2019, the Government announced eight regional councils, in partnership with their territorial authorities and others, had applied for funding under the scheme.

On 3 March it announced Marlborough, Tasman and Hawkes Bay as the first councils to co-fund contracts with aerial data suppliers. Five more regions (Bay of Plenty, West Coast, Waikato, Canterbury and Southland) are in negotiations with suppliers.

The eight regions will gather LIDAR data over the next three years covering over half of New Zealands land area. Some regions will be done sooner; for example, the flights to gather the aerial survey data is expected to be finished in May, according to Hawkes Bay Council. The data will then be processed, with final results in March 2021.

The LIDAR project will be managed by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), the government department responsible for geographical information and surveying, land titles, and managing Crown land and property.

Stuart Crosby, vice-president of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), the body representing regional councils, said the funding would smash the affordability problem that prevented smaller councils from undertaking such mapping and make it cheaper for both the private and public sectors to access the high-quality elevation data needed for good decision making.
Sen. Elizabeth Warrens departure from the presidential race Thursday wont just have an impact on who the Democratic nominee will be. It will have cultural reverberations as well.

Once again, America will not elect a female president this year. Instead, the Democrats choice is down to two white men in their 70s, one of whom will face off in November against another white man in his 70s.

Some women and advocates say Warrens gender played a part in her candidacys demise.

Its clear that women and people of color running for office are going to have to combat the unelectability myth, said Brenda Choresi Carter, director of the Reflective Democracy Campaign, which analyzes race and gender in politics, and the lead researcher of a recent study that concluded that white men have no electability advantage. Women, in particular, we will continue to answer questions about electability until one is elected.

There were clearly reasons for Warrens exit besides her gender  at one point last fall, she was leading in the polls. Her tailspin began when rivals pointed out that she supported the ambitious Medicare for All overhaul of the U.S. health care system without having a way to implement it, in contrast to her well-advertised plan to deal with virtually every other issue.

When the Massachusetts senator finally did come up with a plan, she lost some progressives because it allowed for Americans to keep their private health insurance, at least for a while. It was a key difference between Warren and the other candidate fighting for the Democratic left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

She never regained her footing. Despite having more than 1,000 staffers in 31 states, strong debate performances, grassroots financing that sidestepped private fundraisers and her well-outlined policy plans, she never finished higher than third in any state, including the one she represents in the Senate.

Warren said Thursday that she thought there would be room for her candidacy, which was somewhere between Sanders progressivism and former Vice President Joe Bidens more traditional liberalism. But evidently I was wrong, she said.

She also indicated, however, that maybe there was another reason she didnt have a clear lane.

Gender in this race, you know, that is the trap question for every woman, Warren said at a news conference outside her home in Cambridge, Mass. If you say, Yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says, Whiner! And if you say, No, there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think, What planet do you live on?

Warrens gender wasnt the main reason she lost, said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics, but it contributed to her downfall.

Women have to run two campaigns, Dittmar said. They have to first convince people that they are electable, that a woman can win. Then they have to convince people that theyre the best candidate.

Dittmar said Warren took much more heat from rivals and the media for not having a detailed health care plan than Sanders did.

He seemed to skate by without much backlash when he said (during a 60 Minutes interview last month), I cant rattle off to you every nickel and every dime, about how hed pay for his health plan, Dittmar said. That speaks to how women candidates need to be more qualified, more prepared and face more scrutiny.

Kathy Azada, 48, a creative director in San Francisco, said she empathized with Warren as she was challenged in ways Azada said men dont face. She voted for Warren and said every woman she knows did as well, but that after seeing Tuesdays results, I feel like, more than ever, that I live in a bubble.

Warren did well among college-educated voters  women in particular  but had trouble with other demographic groups. A Morning Consult poll in January found that 58% of Democratic voters believed it would be difficult for a woman to beat President Trump.

I think misogyny and sexism are part of it  and if you dont see that, I cant convince you, Azada said. If it was Edward Warren, who knows how it would have gone.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference in Washington that among male voters, theres a certain element of misogyny that is there. And some of it isnt really mean-spirited  it just isnt their experience. Many of them will tell you they had a strong mom, they have strong sisters, they have strong daughters. But they have their own insecurities, I guess you would say.

Warren said she hasnt decided whether she will endorse one of her former campaign rivals. A Morning Consult poll released Thursday found that 43% of Warren supporters said Sanders was their second choice, compared with 36 percent who said Biden.

Warren told her staff in a phone call that what we have done together ... has made a lasting difference. Its not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters  and the changes will have ripples for years to come.

Some of those ripples will be seen as the generation of young girls Warren interacted with on the campaign trail grows into voting age. The senator made pinky promises with them: She would interlock fifth fingers with girls and have them promise to remember that running for president is what girls do.

One of the hardest parts of this is all the pinky promises and all those little girls who are going to have to wait for four more years, at least, for a woman to be elected president, Warren said.

UC Davis sophomore Leah Kalish said Warrens journey from working-class roots in Oklahoma to Harvard professor and U.S. senator was inspiring for a 20-year-old woman. Her exit Thursday wasnt discouraging, said Kalish, who donated $60 to Warrens campaign.

It just exposed the reality that exists, Kalish said. She ran on a campaign that said, Dream big and fight hard. That will live on long after her.

So will the memory of seven women, four of them U.S. senators, being part of the original field of Democratic presidential candidates, said Stephanie Schriock, president of Emilys List, which raises money for pro-choice Democratic women running for office.

In its 35 years, Emilys List had endorsed only one woman for president, Hillary Clinton. On Monday, Warren became the second.

We love Hillary Clinton, but for years when you said woman leader, you thought of one person  her, Schriock said. What we saw in this campaign were really unique women who were very different from each other. So the next generation of women saw that, We dont all have to look the same.

Culturally, are we there yet? No, we still have a lot of work to do, Schriock said. But this was really a step in the right direction.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Dustin Gardiner contributed to this report.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Family & Parenting, Community, Charity & Cause, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island Published: March 05 2020

Celebrate Irish culture all month long at these St. Patricks Day parades happening across Long Island.

(Events are listed in alphabetical order by town name)

Bayport-Blue Point St. Patrick's Day Parade

Sunday, March 15 at 10 a.m.

Parade begins on corner Snedecor Avenue and Montauk Highway in Bayport and ends at Blue Point Avenue in Blue Point. Expect to see everything from pipe bands to community groups to leprechauns!

Brentwood St. Patrick's Day Parade

Saturday, March 21 at 1 p.m.

This parade's tradition is to take place the Saturday after St. Patrick's Day. It steps off at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Clarke Street and continues south and ends at Ross Memorial Park on Brentwood Road. For more information visit the event's page on Facebook.

Farmingdale St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 15 at 1 p.m.

Join the community for a great parade and fun day in downtown Farmingdale. Parade step off is at Northside School, then proceeds down Main Street to the Village Green.

Glen Cove St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 22 at 1 p.m.

The 32nd Annual Glen Cove St. Patricks Day Parade starts at Finley Middle School on Forest Avenue. It steps off at 1 p.m., following a route through downtown Glen Cove to St. Patricks Church.

Huntington St. Patricks Parade

Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m.

The 86th annual Huntington Saint Patricks Day Parade is one of largest and oldest Saint Patricks Parade on Long Island and features dozens of pipe bands. Begins at Route 110 and Broadway.

Kings Park St. Patricks Day Parade

Saturday, March 7 at 12 p.m.

Enjoy bagpipe bands, step dancers, floats, hundreds of marching community organizations, and a tribute to a Grand Marshal James Girvan. Starts at the corner of Lou Avenue and Pulaski Road.

Miller Place-Rocky Point St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 15 at 1 p.m.

The annual Miller Place-Rocky Point St. Patricks Day Parade draws tens of thousands of spectators each year. This is the parades 70th year. Come enjoy dancers, marchers, music, and more. Starts at Route 25A in Miller Place.

Montauk St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 22 at 12 p.m.

The Montauk St. Patricks Day Parade is considered New Yorks second largest St. Patricks Day parade and is celebrating its 58th year. It starts at Edgemere Road and then turns on Main Street.

Patchogue St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 22 at 12 p.m.

The annual St. Patricks Parade along Main Street follows the May The Road Rise To Meet Ye 5K that starts at 10 a.m.

Rockville Centre St. Patrick Parade

Saturday, March 21 at 12 p.m.

The Rockville Centre St. Patrick's Parade is one of the best-attended and supported parades outside of New York City and donates all net proceeds to charity. It starts at the Municipal Parking Lot on North Sunrise Highway.

30th Annual Ronkonkoma St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.

The 30th annual parade starts at the corner of Portion Rd and Patchogue-Holbrook Rd.

Wantaghs 2nd Annual St. Patricks Day Parade

Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.

The parade route starts at Wantagh High School and ends at Triangle Park Railroad Ave. Visit the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce website for more information.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:15:54|Editor: huaxia

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The Chinese medical team in Iran has set "an excellent example of 'peer-to-peer' experience sharing," Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, told a daily briefing in Geneva.



by Xinhua writers Wang Jian, Li Rui, Chen Lin

TEHRAN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Virus knows no boundaries, neither does the human heart. As the COVID-19 outbreak intensifies in Iran, China has provided assistance to the Middle East country's fight against the epidemic.

Since reporting the first two confirmed cases in the central city of Qom on Feb. 19, Iran has been witnessing a furious spread of the novel coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases in the country climbed to 2,922 as of Wednesday, 92 of whom have died.

As the sanctions-hit country faces mounting pressure, China sent a team of medical experts there, in addition to donating nucleic acid testing kits and medical supplies.

EXPERIENCE SHARING

The team comprising five experts from the Red Cross Society of China arrived at Tehran on Feb. 29. Upon arrival, the experts said they would like to quickly grasp the epidemic situation in Iran, exchange experience on combating COVID-19 with the Iranian side, and promote bilateral cooperation on medicine and health.

On Monday, the medical team met with the Iranian Red Crescent Society to discuss how to prevent and control the spread of the virus in the country.

Maria van Kerkhove(R), technical lead for the Health Emergencies Program of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 3, 2020.(Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

The Chinese team, along with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), also discussed the role of quarantine in controlling the epidemic with Iran's health ministry on Tuesday, China's Red Cross Society said.

The Chinese medical team in Iran has set "an excellent example of 'peer-to-peer' experience sharing," Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, told a daily briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

MUTUAL ASSISTANCE

When the COVID-19 epidemic broke out earlier in China, Iran offered support as well, including donating medical supplies.

The Azadi Tower is illuminated in red and golden stars to resemble the national flag of China in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 18, 2020, to show support to the epidemic-hit city of Wuhan in central China. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

On Feb. 18, Tehran's landmark monument, the Azadi Tower, was lit up in red, with words saying "Be Strong, Wuhan" and "Be Strong, China."

Following the COVID-19 epidemic, the first message of condolences China received from a foreign country came from Iran, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Feb. 28.

Iran has interpreted with real deeds the meaning of sharing weal and woe and being in the same boat, which China will always keep in mind, Wang noted, while promising continued assistance to Iran, including cooperation on epidemic prevention and control, medical treatment and in other fields.

Zarif said Iran appreciates China's positive achievements in fighting the epidemic and is grateful for the medical supplies and technical support offered by China.

GRASSROOTS EFFORTS

Besides aid at the governmental and institutional level, Chinese people are also offering help at the grassroots level.

A member of an online voluntary Chinese-Persian translation group works in Yining of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 3, 2020.

During the past few days, Chen Xirui has been busy translating Chinese videos about coronavirus control into the Persian language.

"Just want to do something for the Iranians in return for their kindness to me when I studied there," said Chen, who returned to China from Iran a year ago after finishing her postgraduate program in ancient Persian history at the University of Tehran.

She is now part of an online Chinese-Persian translation volunteers' group, recently initiated by a Chinese university student with the aim of sharing coronavirus-fighting knowledge with Iranians.

The group has attracted some 200 volunteers from both China and Iran.

Iranian college student Kosar Hasani said that many Iranian netizens expressed their confusion about how to protect themselves against the virus.

"That's why I joined this group, hoping to introduce China's experience to our country," she said.

Earlier this year, Ye Xiaoliang, a Chinese businessman in Tehran, bought a batch of face masks, intending to send them back to China.

However, as the epidemic broke out in Iran, he donated the masks to an Iranian department without hesitation, along with some testing kits he bought from China.

"I just do what I can," he said. "Nothing much, just for the friendship between the two countries."

Staff of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education arrange boxes of donated masks by China in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2020.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Besides Iran, China has been joining hands with some other countries to fight COVID-19 by donating medical supplies as well as sharing information and experience, among others.

Chinese Foreign Ministry and the National Health Commission on Tuesday held a video conference with health experts from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Turkmenistan and the secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to share China's anti-epidemic experience.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Tuesday that China would strengthen international and regional cooperation while continuing to fight the epidemic on its own territory.

China would timely share information and experience, as well as coordinate policies and resources with other countries and the WHO to help win the global war against the epidemic, he said. (Video reporter: Tang Jiefeng, Cao Peixian; Video editor: Chen Sihong.)
Javier Perez de Cuellar, a reluctant compromise choice for United Nations secretary general, who astonished the diplomatic world by brokering peace agreements in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America as the Cold War thawed in the late 1980s and early 90s, died on Wednesday at his home in Lima, Peru. He was 100.

His death was confirmed by the Peruvian foreign ministry.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar might have stepped out of a dusty 19th-century history book: an obscure, old-school career envoy who had long represented his native Peru at the United Nations and at embassies in Europe and South America without making waves. Diplomatic colleagues called him competent but colorless.

In December 1981, however, the Security Council ended a six-week deadlock by naming him the world organizations fifth secretary general  the first from Latin America, and everyones last choice, as one delegate put it. No one expected much, least of all Mr. Perez de Cuellar, who admitted that he was not considered the most exciting candidate.

But in two terms, from 1982 through 1991, he helped end a 10-year war between Iran and Iraq; secured the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan; wound down conflicts in Cambodia, El Salvador and Nicaragua; and shepherded Namibia to independence from South Africa. His United Nations peacekeepers won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize for work in Mozambique and Angola.
Gang activity in Dauphin and Cumberland counties doesnt observe municipal boundaries.

No gangs call Susquehanna Township home, but police say the municipality has been seeing increased gang activity, connected with Harrisburgs street gangs. And Steelton police say they have identified, for the first time, a gang based in the borough.

Farther from Harrisburg, the borough of Carlisle is not battling street gangs, but the quiet presence of nationally-affiliated gangs such as the Bloods and Crips, whose leaders come from cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.

Carlisle police Cpl. Jeffrey Kurtz said officers at times have seen members of larger, nationally-affiliated gangs move to the borough and recruit local young people to form a set to sell drugs. Right now the borough is aware of one such set with five to 10 members.

The new sets strategically dont make waves in the borough, Kurtz said. Police dont hear gang names or see graffiti or other obvious signs of gang activity.

"They dont boldly identify as Blood or Crip, and they dont run around together like that, because it would draw law enforcement attention, Kurtz said. When theyre down here selling crack, cocaine, heroin or whatever, theyre fully aware if they try to start rivalries and fights, that theyre going to get our attention.

In some of the more criminally-sophisticated local sets," the leaders switch out, working in the borough only four or five months and then moving on to a different area.

They do that to try to stay ahead of the law, Kurtz said.

When a big-city gang leader comes to the borough, the person often uses that image to gain clout, Kurtz said. Whereas the person may have been a low-level gang member in their big city, when they come to the borough, they become a bigger fish in the smaller pond. They often try to flaunt that tough-guy persona to draw in young soldiers and attract the attention of women, he said.

Theyll also use that to intimidate local users, he said.

A few years back, a high-ranking member of the Bloods gang was operating in Carlisle, Kurtz said, and other Blood members who wanted to come to Carlisle to sell drugs had to abide by his rules, even though they were in a different set, Kurtz said.

We knew we had Blood sets coming in from New Jersey and New York, but they still had to pay allegiance to this guy, he said. He settled all disputes...What he said was final."

If a dispute required some sort of retaliation, it would be discreet and targeted, Kurtz said, unlike some of the wild daylight shootings seen in Harrisburg, such as a shootout last week that left 74 shell casings in a neighborhood.

They were very careful not to let internal disputes draw our attention, he said.

When police crack down on gang leaders in Carlisle, the time the suspects spend in jail can have an unintended consequence of helping their recruiting efforts from a rich ground of potential associates, Kurtz said.

They can build relationships, alliances and enemies while behind bars. They establish future trade partners.

Kurtz said he could not think of any recent shootings or homicides in the borough that stemmed from gang activity. There have not been any home invasion robberies either, but Kurtz said its hard to know whether that means its not happening, or that victims simply arent reporting the crimes because of an illegal drug angle.

Thankfully, the average citizen is not affected by this other than through the normal crime patterns, Kurtz said. Were not seeing a big push or big problems.

Police officers who work in Cumberland County meet monthly with other agencies to share crime information, and meet quarterly with state police. Gang information can be shared at those meetings, or through the relationships those meetings have created among officers from different agencies.

We try to share information quickly, Kurtz said. We like to keep everyone informed.

Whereas gangs used to be mostly confined to a specific geographic area, technology advances and better mobility means gang members now can live anywhere. Some people who associated with gangs in a city can move into a suburb and maintain their connection, police said.

Susquehanna Township police said most of the gang activity they see extends from Harrisburg into the township.

The frequency has increased over the last several years, but that is within Dauphin County as a whole, said Susquehanna Township Detective Darryl Brown. Unlike the national gangs, our local gangs do not necessarily follow logo and colors, but they do flash the hand signs.

Drug sales are ingrained in the gang culture, Brown said, and some members join primarily to make money. But young people also join gangs for a sense of belonging, excitement, acceptance, and a sense of protection/security from the gangs, Brown said.

Upper Allen Police Chief James Adams said he was not aware of any gangs operating in the township. But he noted that gang activity from the city affects most Central Pennsylvania municipalities.

While we will not deny that we at times interact with a single gang member and/or a wanna-be gang member, there has been nothing to suggest true gang-related activity, he said, especially to the level that I understand the cities are dealing with on a regular basis.

In Steelton, police say they have identified one gang based in the borough that has 20 to 25 members.

Its kids who have been in trouble before, who met others, said Detective Sgt. Bill Schaub. Some live in Steelton or Swatara or Susquehanna Township. And they all come together through the common area of being arrested/detained.

In Schaubs 22-year career, he said he previously hadnt seen any such gang strongholds.

Before, they were all loosely affiliated, he said. Theyd changed names and gangs every four to five weeks. Its not like the stronghold were seeing now. Thats relatively new to the borough. I cant say theyre taking root, but they are more developed than in the past.

There havent been any gang-related shootings in Steelton, Schaub said. Instead, gang members mostly participate in crimes of opportunity, he said.

Swatara Township police Cpl. Isaac Levine said gangs arent exclusive to any municipality, not the city nor any township.

There are a distinct number of gangs, he said, while declining to provide a number. Suffice it to say, they are here.

Gangs never really go away, Levine said. Instead, they may simply change their name.

The members are mostly kids, who may change gangs due to ever-changing loyalty, he said.

Youths who claim gang membership fight a lot in school, he said. Their crimes on the street mostly involve drugs, guns and stolen vehicles.

While city gangs, and those in Carlisle, often focus on drug-dealing, Levine said his experience with gang members shows they are focusing on guns and stealing cars.

They all sell drugs, but its more for themselves, not for the gang to make money, he said. They are selling a lot of heroin. But they also do a lot of property crimes, a lot of stolen cars and guns. Thats their big thing. If you offered them $300 or a stolen car to roll around in, a lot of them would take the car. Its a pride thing.

The potential for violence and drug and property crimes are the biggest concern to Brown, of Susquehanna Township. There are a large number of cases getting referred to county investigators that are a direct result of this gang activity, he said.

The other concern," he said, "is the age range for the gang activity is very wide, and it is disheartening to see juveniles at such a young age exposing themselves to that lifestyle that could have permanent or long lasting effects that jeopardize their futures.

READ: Gangs of Harrisburg: Police battle daytime shootings linked to shadowy conflicts

READ: Harrisburg gangs linked to 15 shootings, 130+ bullets, 16 arrests in last year
Embattled Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards, who sued the Department of Building Inspection last month, has resigned.

The resignation comes a few weeks after Richards filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, alleging officials revoked permits on a building he co-owns to retaliate for his criticism of the department.

In a letter of resignation, Richards said that it was time to pass the torch to new commissioners.

He said that the lawsuit against the Department of Building Inspection would be time-consuming and that he wanted to get more involved in statewide housing policies.

I am very aware that seeing a lawsuit to a jury trial will take up a great deal of my time, he said.

The resignation comes amid a period of turmoil for the Planning Commission. The commission has two new commissioners. In February, South of Market activist Theresa Imperial joined the commission, replacing Myrna Melgar, who is running for the Board of Supervisors. Land use attorney Sue Diamond joined the board in November of last year, replacing Rich Hillis, who was recently appointed director of the Planning Department.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims that DBI officials brazenly retaliated against Commissioner Richards, a business in which he was an investor, and his business partner in a transparent attempt to silence his criticism and calls for investigation into perceived corruption.

The lawsuit comes five months after the city yanked nine permits on a four-unit building at 3426-3432 22nd St., a four-unit historic Italianate building owned by Richards and Noe Valley real estate broker Rachel Swann. Richards and Swann purchased the building for $2.7 million in 2017 and put it on the market for $7.88 million, after fixing it up and buying out longtime tenants.

The lawsuit alleges DBI officials revoked the permits after Richards blasted the department during a Planning Commission meeting in August for allowing work on an 18th Street building without the proper permits. At the time, Richards stated that he had lost faith in the department. Richards has frequently criticized the building department for what hes alleged is corruption and favoritism.

Rather than do what a good governmental agency should do when such claims are made  investigate and take steps to reform  DBI acted instead like a crook worried about being exposed, states the lawsuit.

While builders generally have 30 days to come up with a plan to correct violations before permits are revoked, in Richards case the notice of violation and the permit revocation both happened Sept. 30. Only one or two permits a year are ever revoked.

City Zoning Administrator Scott Sanchez, however, has said that the 22nd Street violations are serious and need to be corrected. This includes 14 windows installed in the rear of the building that dont conform to historic standards, four skylights added to the roof without permits, and exceeding parking limits. Marketing materials tout the propertys 12 parking spaces, but the city allows only six spots in the building.

Richards resignation was first reported by Mission Local. In his letter of resignation, Richards said that he hoped his lawsuit would help root out any corruption or abuses and restore confidence in the department.

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.

Richards, a retired tech executive, approached his role on the commission as a crusading neighborhood watchdog and seemed to work at it full time. He was a strong supporter of housing locally, but he also opposed statewide legislation that would make it legal to build multifamily housing in neighborhoods that are restricted to single-family homes.

San Francisco Housing Action Coalition Executive Director Todd David called him a mixed bag.

He could be very supportive of housing but too often he sided with the interests of wealthy homeowners rather than the needs of the city, said David. He opposed much-needed density on the west side and other low-density neighborhoods.

Jerry Dratler, a Richmond District resident who frequently opposes development, said Richards was a champion for city residents who feel that the city allows builders to ignore its planning and zoning rules.

Commissioner Richards contribution was really looking at compliance with the building and planning codes, Dratler said. He demanded that developers do what the law requires. He didnt look the other way and allow developers to get up before the Planning Commission and misrepresent their project.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
A whistle-blower who escaped a Chinese "reeducation camp" to reveal the horrors of life there after escaping to Kazakhstan is one of a dozen recipients of the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award (IWOC) for 2020.

Sairagul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh from China's northwestern region of Xinjiang was one of the first victims to speak publicly about China's "repressive campaign against Muslims, igniting a movement against these abuses," the State Department said in a statement announcing the award, presented annually to women from around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness, and willingness to make sacrifices for others, especially in promoting women's rights.

Sauytbay fled China in April 2018 and revealed in testimony at a Kazakh court that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang were undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of "reeducation camps."

Chinese authorities had forced her to train "political ideology" instructors for such reeducation camps, she said, giving her access to secret documents about what she called a state program to "reeducate" Muslims from indigenous ethnic communities.

"Her testimony was among the first evidence that reached the broader international community of the CCPs [Chinese Communist Party's] repressive policy, including both the camps and the coercive methods used against Muslim minorities," the State Department statement said.

The 12 women will be honored at a State Department ceremony on March 4.

Since the inception of the award in 2007, the State Department has recognized 146 women from 77 countries.

The 2020 awardees include Zarifa Ghafari, an Afghan journalist, who became mayor of Maidan Shar in the conservative Wardak Province, at the age of 26. Despite constant death threats and being forced to flee an angry male mob on her first day in office, Ghafari stayed in power and tackled many of her town's problems.

Jalila Haider, a human rights attorney from Pakistan known as the "Iron Lady of Balochistan," was chosen for the work of her We the Humans NGO, which has helped strengthen opportunities for vulnerable women and children.

The State Department also chose to honor Lucy Kocharian, an Armenian journalist, who has championed issues for children with mental health problems and has emerged as a leading voice in the fight against psychological, physical, and domestic violence against women and children.

Shahla Humbatova, one of a handful of lawyers in Azerbaijan who have been defending individuals facing punishment for exercising their fundamental freedoms was also honored.



The other seven recipients this year are Ximena Galarza of Bolivia, Claire Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso, Susanna Liew of Malaysia, Amaya Coppens of Nicaragua, Amina Khoulani of Syria, Yasmin al Qadhi of Yemen, and Rita Nyampinga of Zimbabwe.
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) received a Fleming Fund Regional Grant to increase the availability of high-quality data on the spread of antimicrobial resistance in the Asia region

The Asia Pacific region is vulnerable to the emergence and spread of AMR but there is little high-quality data available on the extent of its impact

Quality-assured data is essential for building tailored strategies for preventing the spread of drug-resistant infections

IVI is part of three active Fleming Fund Regional Grants to enhance surveillance and close gaps in confronting the growing challenges of AMR in low- and middle-income countries

March 5, 2020, SEOUL, Korea - The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the Technical University of Denmark's (DTU) National Food Institute announced today a joint effort to strengthen external quality assurance programs for diagnostic laboratories in Asia to confront the challenges of rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the region. The partnership was established following the award of a Fleming Fund Regional Grant with DTU as the lead grantee and will carry out the project under the name EQASIA (Strengthening External Quality Assurance for AMR in Asia).

It is crucial to address the quality of bacteriology diagnostics at the regional level to ensure generated lab data is accurate and comparable according to international standards. Although laboratories in the Asian region have made advances locally, the range of differing capacities and limited efforts at regional coordination signal the need for standardized regional external quality assurance (EQA).

Confronting AMR requires high-quality data and regional coordination.

Through EQASIA, the two institutes will map the coverage, availability and uptake of external quality assurance programs across reference laboratories with the overall aim of improving the quality of AMR surveillance data. Quality-assured data is essential for developing nuanced treatment guidelines and tailored strategies to prevent the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.

"Taking part in EQASIA is an ideal opportunity for us to ensure synergy with, and add impact to, our previous efforts to support AMR surveillance in the Asian region," said Dr. Marianne Holm, Epidemiology & Public Health Research Lead at IVI. "Assessing the full impact of AMR will require a harmonized effort between data collection and sharing, and regional and global policy-making."

Data collection and informed policy-making go hand in hand.

IVI is simultaneously leading two other Fleming Fund projects funded by the UK government to tackle critical gaps in AMR surveillance. An IVI-led consortium, which includes Brigham and Women's Hospital (WHONET), the Public Health Surveillance Group, and Oxford University's Big Data Institute, launched CAPTURA last year to expand the volume of historical and current data available on AMR and antimicrobial use in Asia.

Additionally, with the award of a Regional Grant for planning, policy and advocacy across the Asian and African regions, IVI is leading a consortium of the same partners engaged in CAPTURA to develop a framework for regional data sharing and analysis that will ultimately influence regional and global policies for sustained commitment to AMR control. This project, "Regional Antimicrobial resistance Data Analysis for Advocacy, Response and policy" (RADAAR), seeks to catalyze a sustained demand, among decision-makers, for high-quality information sharing and its use in policymaking.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the widespread and growing resistance to antibiotics largely due to frequent and inappropriate use, affects people everywhere, and in 2019 was designated a top 10 threat to global health by the World Health Organization. With these three AMR projects and a broader portfolio of vaccine programs underway, IVI remains committed to the belief that strong data, better policy, and vaccines will play integral roles in combatting AMR.

###

About AMR

According to the World Health Organization, AMR is one of the biggest threats to global public health; if current trends continue unabated, by 2050 there will be 10 million deaths annually and a yearly cost of $100 trillion dollars*. The 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) Report argued that putting resources into the containment of AMR - including surveillance - is one of the highest-yield investments a country can make to mitigate its impact.

* Source: Tracking Drug-Resistant Infections Globally: Final Report and Recommendations

About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a nonprofit inter-governmental organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, IVI was the first international organization hosted by Korea. IVI has 35 signatory countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) on its treaty, including Korea, Sweden and India as state funders.

Our mandate is to make vaccines available and accessible for the world's most vulnerable people. We focus on infectious diseases of global health importance such as cholera, typhoid, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, Group A Strep, Hepatitis A, HPV, TB, HIV, MERS-Corona Virus, as well as antimicrobial resistance. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int

For more information on CAPTURA and RADAAR consortium partners please visit:

About the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark

The National Food Institute is a leading international reference center for quality assurance in AMR (WHO Collaborating Centre for AMR and Reference Lab for FAO and EU). The genetic epidemiology unit carries out research using whole genome sequencing techniques (WGS) and has also been tasked by the Fleming Fund to establish WGS capacity for AMR surveillance across the African continent. As such, the institute is helping to set the international standard for the detection, surveillance and studies of the global spread of disease-causing microorganism and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

About the Fleming Fund

The Fleming Fund is a 265 million UK aid investment to tackle antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The programme is managed by the UK Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with Mott MacDonald, the Fleming Fund Grant Management Agent.

CONTACT

Aerie Em, Global Communications & Media Specialist

+82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int
(Alliance News) - David Stevens is to retire as chief executive of Admiral Group PLC, the motor insurer said Thursday, as it reported a "record" annual profit.

Stevens, a co-founder of Admiral in 1991, has been CEO since May 2016. He will retire from the role and as a director in 12 months' time.

Admiral has decided to replace him with Milena Mondini de Focatiis, the current head of Admiral's UK & European Insurance business. She will assume the role of CEO after the transition period.

Mondini de Focatiis first joined Cardiff-based Admiral in 2007 but has only been in her current position since July last year.

"It is hard to sum up the amazing contribution David has made to the group over the last 27 years. As one of the founders he has overseen the business grow from a standing start to become one of the UK's largest motor insurers, employing over 10,000 people, serving seven million customers and with a market value today of over GBP6 billion," commented Chair Annette Court.

"Having been through a comprehensive and robust succession process, the board is confident that in Milena we have a natural successor and a leader for the next generation. We have a wealth of management talent at Admiral and bringing this through has always been a central pillar to Admiral's management philosophy as the business evolves alongside its customers.

"Milena brings a deep appreciation of the special Admiral culture, entrepreneurial spirit, commercial track record and people development skills," Court added.

Turning to 2019 financial results, Admiral posted a pretax profit for the year of GBP522.6 million, which it said is a record. This is 10% higher than 2018, and meets guidance given by Admiral in February of between GBP510 million and GBP540 million of pretax profit.

Insurance premium revenue increased by 5.8% to GBP2.20 billion, with Admiral's net insurance premium revenue up 5.6% to GBP709.4 million. Net revenue rose 7.1% to GBP1.35 billion.

Admiral's customer numbers increased by 7% to just under 7 million, while UK insurance numbers rose 4% to 5.5 million and international customers climbed by 16% to 1.4 million.

Admiral is paying a 77.0 pence per share final dividend, which includes a 20.7p special dividend. The year's total is 140.0p, up 11% from the year before.

The company's return on equity was 52%, down from 56%, with the Solvency ratio post-dividend 190% from 194%.

Outgoing CEO Stevens said it was the first time pretax profit has topped GBP500 million, saying it was "another freight train year" for the company.

"This strong performance was due to contributions from businesses across the group. Particularly of note was UK Insurance (motor, household, travel), European insurance and Confused.com. Our Loans business continues to develop well and we continue to build this business with our usual cautious approach," he continued.

"We have encountered more challenges in the US, so we still continue to strengthen fundamentals there."

Chair Court added: "I am delighted to report another year of record profit in 2019 and a strong set of results."

Shares were 0.9% higher on Thursday morning in London at a price of 2,201.00 pence each.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
According to the statement, prior to that, they travelled to Italy

Open source

March 5, another two persons were hospitalized at the infectious ward of the hospital with suspicion of Covid-2019 in Ukraine's Chernivtsi. This was reported on the Facebook page of Chernivtsi Regional State Administration.

According to the statement, prior to that, they traveled to Italy. Their samples were submitted to Kyiv in order to be tested for coronavirus infection.

It is worth noting that Ukraine confirmed the first case of COVID-19 or coronavirus on March 3.

The case was spotted in the Chernivtsi region. A man returned to Ukraine from Italy and entered Ukraine through the border with Romania.

According to Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, the condition of the infected man is stable. The patient has no temperature and symptoms of pneumonia.

On March 4, it was reported that six more people were suspected, isolated and they were waiting for the results of the tests.

World Health Organization Representative Jarno Habicht stated that the WHO predicts the growth of the number of people infected with coronavirus in Ukraine.
International war crimes judges will rule on Thursday whether a probe into wartime abuses in Afghanistan will go ahead, including possible atrocities committed by US forces.

The International Criminal Court last year rejected a demand by its chief prosecutor to look into crimes committed in the war-torn nation -- an investigation also bitterly opposed by Washington.

The court's judges in The Hague are now set to decide on an appeal by prosecutors against the initial decision.

In 2006, the ICC's prosecutors opened a preliminary probe into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the central Asian nation since 2003.

In 2017, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked judges to allow a full-blown probe, not only into Taliban and Afghan government personnel but also international forces, US troops and members of the Central Intelligence Agency.

But pre-trial judges said it "would not serve the interests of justice" and that the court should focus on cases with a better chance of success.

While US officials hailed the decision, human rights groups said it was a blow to thousands of the victims -- and ICC prosecutors appealed.

Should Bensouda lose, she is allowed to ask again for an investigation if "new facts or evidence regarding the same situation" emerge, according to the ICC's statute.

Bensouda's move also unleashed a backlash from Washington, which in April last year revoked the Gambian-born chief prosecutor's visa as part of broader restrictions on ICC staff probing American or allied personnel.

Former national security advisor John Bolton warned in 2018 that the US would arrest ICC judges if the court pursued an Afghan probe.

The US has never joined the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens, saying it poses a threat to national sovereignty.

Washington argues that it has its own procedures in place to deal with US troops who engage in misconduct.

Afghanistan also opposes the inquiry, saying the country itself had "responsibility to bring justice for our nation and for our people".

The ICC's ruling comes days after Taliban militants killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a string of overnight attacks, throwing the country's nascent peace process into grave doubt.

Under the terms of a recent US-Taliban agreement, foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with Kabul.

A US-led force invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, targeting Al-Qaeda in the sanctuaries provided by the Taliban government.

Fighting has continued ever since -- last year more than 3,400 civilians were killed and almost 7,000 injured, according to data provided by UN agencies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus Diaries is a series of dispatches exploring how the coronavirus is affecting peoples lives. For the latest public health information, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website. For Slates coronavirus coverage, click here.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with David Sanders, the owner of Doomsday Prep, a company that sells prepper supplies and survival gear. The conversation has been transcribed and edited for clarity by Molly Olmstead.

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A lot of stock right now is on back order. Normally, you know, we dont have this back order issue at all, so this is something new that Im having to deal with. When my inventory of masks with filters come back in, that will be mid-March. Things for long-term food storage, depending on the product line, could be anywhere between four to six weeks. And what Ive seen from my suppliers, their supply chain has been affected as well.

Some of our bestselling stuff is typically long-term food storage. Weve also got a lot of survival kits. But recently, the gas masks and biohazards are what were seeing a lot ofall of our gas masks and the N95 respirators. Right now, we have [N95 masks] listed at $5.95. Thats all based on the suppliers Im working with. Ive read theres a couple of people in our space who are doing price-gouging. Obviously, thats very frowned upon from my thought process. These items are what their prices are.

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What Ive been doing this past week has been actively going out and searching for larger distributors that I can work with to have more inventory on hand. Id love to try to expand. Right now, my main focus, to do that, is just to try to find more suppliers.

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The other part of the day is just processing orders as they come in. Typically, thats a fairly heads-down role, but right now, its constantly interrupted with phone calls. People wanting to ask about inventory. Other questions that we get are about the coronavirus in general. I jokingly say were the coronavirus hotline right now. People just want to ask questions. And not to put people off from calling, but its just as easily solved with a quick Google search. Im probably spending over an hour a day on the phone. In the past, were talking a handful of calls in a month. Now were talking a handful of calls in between lunch and dinner.

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Ive actually exchanged, I think, up to 26 emails with a very nice lady from Texas. She was very concerned about her mask and wanted a guarantee on when she would receive it, and has checked consistently, on the hour, multiple times a day. So I understand that the concerns are very real.

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Content-wise, there are different players in the space. Some will post more things that are inflammatory. I feel like Ive done a really good job of not doing that in the past, and Ive always been purely informational. Its definitely [about] principle. Another thing: I dont want to be pinged or flagged by Google, or any other search engine, as an extremist site, or for sharing misinformation. So a lot of the articles that you see on the site right now are how to start a fire with a bow drill, how to open a can without a can opener. You know, the brand is Doomsday Prep, and it sounds very doom and gloom. But I feel like Im running the business in such a way that I can be a trusted voice.

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That takes me through most of my day, which ends anywhere between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Right now, I dont really have much time for anything else really. [When I get off work,] I get to see my wife and I get to see my kids. I would say one of the things thats really hard about being in this industry is I have to be in the trenches, with my ear to ground, and seeing whats happening. For the purpose of knowing what to provide and being that voice of what is actually happening. And theres a whole slew of terrible things. Things that are going on in the world that I really wish I wasnt as privy to or didnt have to spend as much time engaging with. So having that downtime to see my kids, I think that that definitely helps unwind.

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I jokingly call it calamity capitalism. Like, Im not trying to turn a profit on any kind of climate or world pain. Its definitely something that I have personally struggled with, but its a business. [And] if we can be there and be a source of truth and help you prepare by providing you gear and equipment that could be beneficial in various scenarios, I feel like thats a win.

The term [prepper] came into popularity with Doomsday Preppers, the National Geographic show. It showed a lot of eccentric individuals who had the means to do some really extreme forms of prepping. When really, what most people consider prepping is nothing more than what your great-grandparents did back during the Depression. Having stores of food. Having things ready if they were to need them or in times of need. Your neighbor next door may have, you know, six months worth of long-term food in their closet, but you dont see them modifying a bus into a bulletproof rolling tank or that sort of thing. Its more about general preparedness. Everyone likes to tell the joke of, Oh, everyones so eccentric. But when a world event happens, those are the people to ask for information. So its always good to know a prepper, but I guess its always better to be one yourself.
Turkish-backed militants attacked near Sheik Aqil storming the Syrian army positions by surprise reports Al-Masdar.

Turkish-backed militants launched a surprise attack in western Aleppo on Wednesday, targeting the Syrian armys positions near the town of Sheikh Aqil.

According to a report from this front, the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front, alongside Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, stormed the Syrian Arab Armys positions in western Aleppo, catching the Syrian troops off guard.

The report said the Turkish-backed militants have advanced in western Aleppo, but intense clashes are still ongoing between the latter and the Syrian Arab Army.

This new attack by the Turkish-backed militants comes just hours after they failed to retake the strategic city of Saraqeb and its surroundings.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
I was the type of student you might see on a 2020 university pamphlet: queer, Hispanic and Asian, a first-generation immigrant who made it in on the deans list. Someone who got in the right way. Im the student one could think deserved a spot in that elite university, instead of some celebritys child. But on nights when I felt in danger, alone or hungry, the only place I wanted to be was home.

In a study released by the Hope Center last year, 56 percent of the 86,000 students surveyed in 2018 said they faced housing insecurity in the previous 12 months, and 17 percent reported being homeless during that period. This was partly a result of the significant increase, reported last year by the Pew Research Center, in the admission of low-income and minority students when many universities are still designed with the most privileged in mind.

I was born in Mexico City to a Chinese mother and Mexican father who owned a small textile business, and I grew up comfortably middle class. My parents dreamed that I would someday receive an elite American education and saved everything they had to send my two siblings and me to college. We lived frugally, shopping for clothes only once a year and eating food past its expiration date  small sacrifices, we believed, for the opportunity to go to college in America. When I was admitted into N.Y.U., I jumped up and down on my living room couch and my parents cried tears of joy. We thought that the hardest part was over.

But paying more than $1,000 a month for university housing in Manhattan  on top of the hundreds of thousands we would already need to invest  did not make it into our calculations. I refused to ask my parents for even more money and was determined to figure things out on my own. In my desperation to find a place to live, I met Angel, my soon-to-be landlord and neighbor, online. He allowed me to move into his place for only a few hundred dollars a month paid in cash  a discount, he liked to say  because I was gay and Latino like him. He had lived on the Lower East Side before it turned into a frat house and had survived the worst of the AIDS epidemic. He saw friends and lovers, boys my age from whom the world had turned away, disappear into the earth.

We got to look out for our own kind, he liked to say.

The apartment itself was a mess, not surprising considering the citys public housing suffers from a $32 billion deficit. I spent many nights crying and trembling under layers of cheap acrylic blankets. I stuffed my ears with tissues to keep out the noise of an outdoor cat that yelled in perpetual heat. Tiny cracks in my window let in snowflakes that turned to small puddles on my cement floor.
Reports reveal that a bizarre ritual is undertaken by U.S. and Thai troops wherein they are cutting off snake heads, then drinking its blood at a training camp at Chanthaburi in southeastern Thailand.

For the soldiers engaged in this weird activity, it can be seen as disgusting. But said action is executed not without an explanation, and why it is done during their training with Thai soldiers.

U.S. troops are at Cobra Gold camp that has been held every year since 1982. The most recent one is held at the Chanthaburi camp.

In this exercise with Thai troops, U.S. soldiers are taught what specific plants to consume, how to survive on their own when isolated and unable to rejoin their squad.

Knowing the skills that soldiers need to survive in the wild jungle is a part of the training. Other survival skills taught by their Thai counterparts includes peeling skin from a gecko, then eating it alive, as nourishment without any food rations.

Ripping off snake heads, as a method to survive in extremely hazardous situations, to get nourishment is crucial. It might be one of the most vital things to do and stay alive, as their Thai instructors said animal blood will keep them hydrated, without any water.

US Army Brigadier General Josh Rudd said,"Cobra Gold is a tremendous opportunity to reinforce the relationship with the Kingdom of Thailand and the Royal Thai forces."

Also read: Coronavirus Effects: How it Harms Human Body Organs

The General stressed that the troops learn skills that will help them, and that the U.S. and Thai forces will benefit from the camaraderie as well.

This annual gathering wherein the U.S. and Thai soldiers cut off snakeheads, help fosters better communication too. It also teach U.S. troops jungle survival craft, but did not heed the warning about wild animals as a probable cause of the coronavirus.

By continuing the camp annual Cobra Gold training, the U.S. troops practice all the skill even the weirder skill sets for survival.

One most misunderstood aspect of camp Cobra Gold in Thailand is not eating geckos or drinking snake blood.

A crucial component is humanitarian causes other than just practice military activities. Many are too focused on the military aspect of the training.

To date, China does not allow the sale and consumption of exotic and wild animals since the Wuhan coronavirus might come from wildlife, which sparked the worst outbreak now.

In South Korea, a 23-year-old U.S. soldier was identified as a positive infection, and was placed into quarantine. The U.S. serviceman's wife contracted the virus.

The danger presented by the coronavirus even forced the U.S. and South Korean military to assess how to hold the joint military exercises there. With South Korea having a huge outbreak right now in Daegu city.

Addressing the wildlife ban is taken seriously, camp Cobra Gold did push through despite danger. So far, there is no reported positive infection at the Chanthaburi camp that has been heard off.

Still, the image of U.S. troops with Thai soldiers cutting off snake heads is just bizarre, and no other word can describe it.

Related article: South Korea Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs, Suspected Connection to Cult Leader

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Her portrayal of the 'embodiment of LA itself' has been well documented on set, and Thursday brought the wildest images yet.

Shameless actress Emmy Rossum was again seen on the set of her upcoming Peacock miniseries Angelyne, based on the life of the self-made celebrity of the same name who has become somewhat of an emblem of the pursuit for fame in Hollywood.

The on-set photos come at the same time Angelyne herself was spotted elsewhere in Los Angeles, California, stepping out of her famous pink Corvette in a matching skimpy ensemble.

She's out there: Emmy Rossum was again seen on the set of her upcoming Peacock miniseries Angelyne on Thursday, based on the life of the self-made celebrity of the same name

The real deal: Angelyne herself was spotted elsewhere in Los Angeles, California, stepping out of her famous pink Corvette in a matching skimpy ensemble

Emmy, 33, looked like a pink version of Barbarella on set on Thursday, dressed in a space-aged pink patterned metallic singlet with futuristic flourishes at the hips and a spider web-style cutout at the bust.

She paired the statement garment with thigh-high silver metallic stiletto lace-up boots, along with a glittery pink cape.

To top it all off, quite literally, Rossum donned a bejeweled tiara atop her enormous platinum blonde wig.

Angelyne herself, meanwhile, was seen elsewhere in the city, wearing her signature color in an outfit comprising a tight animal print mini dress, a pink blazer of a different shade, scarf, animal-patterned purse and black sunglasses.

Showing off: She was wearing her signature color in an outfit comprising a tight and very short mini dress, and a pink blazer of a different shade

On her feet, Angelyne wore open-toed wedges.

The star, who is either 70 years old and born in Poland or 62 and from Idaho depending on various online sources, is an executive producer on the Emmy-starring series, which the younger actress was excited to share on her social media last month.

Both Rossum and the woman she's portraying had the same dark red lipstick pout on Thursday, with the real Angelyne's eyebrows quite prominent above her shades.

Pink lady: Emmy looked like a pink version of Barbarella on set, dressed in a space-aged patterned metallic singlet with flourishes a the hips and a spider web-style cutout at the bust

Emmy also sported some gaudy jewelry as part of her costume, including a giant ring on her index finger and an upper arm bangle.

At one point, the Phantom Of The Opera performer was seen 'landing' in a flying saucer in the scene she was filming, as she then proceeds to drive off in a 70's Corvette with pink smoke coming out the back.

Angelyne, which will be released in four episodes, is set to premiere later this year on NBC's upcoming streaming platform, Peacock.

She comes in peace: At one point, the Phantom Of The Opera performer was seen 'landing' in a flying saucer in the scene she was filming

The inspired and the inspiration: Angelyne is an executive producer on the Emmy-starring series, which the younger actress was excited to share on her social media last month
The Chhattisgarh government on



Thursday said no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus has been reported so far in the state and all necessary measures have been taken to deal with any situation.

So far, 13 people from different districts were screened for possible exposure to the coronavirus infection and samples of nine of them tested negative, health officails said.

Samples of remaining four persons were sent on Thursday for examination to a Nagpur-based lab and their reports are awaited, they said.

So far, no confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in the state. Nine samples were sent for examination and of these, reports of all persons have been received and none of them tested positive (for COVID-19), Health and Family Welfare Minister TS Singh Deo told reporters this evening.

Local administration in all districts was closely monitoring the situation, the minister said, adding there was no need to panic.

Singh Deo this evening convened a video conferencing meeting with collectors, superintendents of police (SPs) and health officials of all 28 districts and took stock of preparedness to deal with any situation in the backdrop of reports of outbreak of the disease in different parts of the country.

Isolation wards have been set up in all district hospitals and officials have been asked to make people aware about them, he said.

In view of Holi next week, officials have been asked to advise people to take precautions while attending celebrations, the minister said.

"However, it doesnt mean people should stop playing Holi but they should stay alert," he said.

A Rapid Response Team (RRT) has been constituted in every district to act immediately after any suspected case of the virus infection is detected, Singh Deo said.

Meanwhile, a health official here in Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, said on Thursday that blood and swab samples of four more persons, including a woman, were sent to Nagpur to check for coronavirus infection.

Earlier, nine samples were sent and all of them tested negative for the virus, he said.

However, these people were kept in home quarantine as a precautionary measure, the official said.

The 13 persons, whose samples were taken, had recently travelled to coronavirus-infected countries, including China and Italy, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A brush fire that started Thursday afternoon near Springfield led to the evacuation of some residents in the Meadow Oaks neighborhood, a Sarpy County Sheriffs Office deputy said.

The neighborhood is south of Cornish Road near U.S. Highway 50 and the Platte River.

The Gretna Fire Department responded to a large grass fire about 12:05 p.m. near 168th Street and Buffalo Road, according to a Sarpy County 911 dispatcher.

Buffalo Road was closed from 168th to 180th Streets at 12:20 p.m. as the fire spread. Just before 1 p.m., Sarpy County 911 tweeted that evacuations were taking place in the Meadow Oaks neighborhood because of the brush fire.

The Springfield, Papillion, Bellevue and Offutt Fire Departments were called to help put out the fast-moving fire, the deputy said.

Chief Deputy Sarpy County Sheriff Greg London said just after 3:30 p.m. that the evacuation order had been lifted.

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Asserting that there was nothing



anti-constitutional in the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Thursday slammed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for opposing it.

Calling Owaisi "Instigator in Chief" and "Neo Jinnah", Patra accused him of wanting to score political brownie points on the issue.

Delivering a talk on 'Constitutional and moral imperatives of the CAA: Decoding the Polemics' organised by party's state unit here, the BJP leader stressed the need to explain the law to two people in Hyderabad Owaisi and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

"One is Instigator in Chief and he is not an ordinary person, he is Neo Jinnah. His (Owaisi's) right hand and accomplice (AIMIM leader Waris Pathan) said 15 crore people (Muslims) can be tough on 100 crore majority population.

But, did the Instigator in Chief regret for even 15 seconds?" he asked.

Claiming that CAA was not meant to take away the rights of anyone, he said it was to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"Being a barrister, is he (Asaduddin Owaisi) not able to understand what CAA is? Is he not able to understand that CAA is not anti-Muslim, and not in any way discriminatory? Is he not able to understand that CAA is constitutional?" he asked.

Patra alleged that Owaisi wants to divide the country and his political bread bakes.

Charging Owaisi with wanting to score political brownie points over CAA, the BJP leader said the AIMIM MP has no concern for India and that is the reason he was in Hyderabad to explain the truth.

On Telanagna government's decision to pass a resolution in the assembly against CAA, Patra said, "we will make him (Chandrasekhar Rao) understand by showing him all the relevant documents in a democratic manner."



Hitting out at Congress leaders, TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee and Left parties for their opposition to the amended law, he said all of them had earlier sought for granting citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

On the protests against CAA, he said, "this CAA we are discussing is the ninth amendment. There has never been ruckus earlier, but now there is and CAA is not the issue.. the fight going on now is agenda-driven."



On the killing of a policeman and an IB officer during violence in Delhi, Patra said, "the way they (protesters) are acting against the country's police, para-military force, working against country's system they are not protesters."



Condemning the riots in Delhi, Patra said Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Asaduddin Owaisi and others who "instigated" it should to apologise to the nation.

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

Marianne Williamson has called former Vice President Joe Bidens Super Tuesday win a Democrat coup after he won nine of the 14 states.

The spiritual guru and book author once had a podium on the Democratic debate stage to vie for her own opportunity to become president, but she dropped out earlier this year after failing to compete with the frontrunners.

In a now-deleted tweet, Ms Williamson, who has since put her support behind Bernie Sanders, expressed outrage over Mr Biden performing so well across America.

Jake Tapper referred to the resurrection of Joe Bidens campaign, she wrote, referencing the CNN anchor.

This was not a resurrection; it was a coup. Russiagate was not a coup. Mueller was not a coup. Impeachment was not a coup. What happened yesterday was a coup. And we will push back, she added.

Her tweet was later deleted.

Going into Super Tuesday, Mr Sanders was leading in the polls and expected to have an outstanding night with many predicting he would take the majority of delegates in states like Texas.

But voters witnessed a huge rally behind Mr Biden in the last couple days, all of which started when the former vice president won the South Carolina primary.

His win encouraged Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to both drop out of the race and endorse the moderate frontrunner. The endorsement of Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina also helped give Mr Biden a last minute boost before voters cast their ballot on Super Tuesday.

Marianne Williamson, who now supports Bernie Sanders, called Joe Biden's surge on Super Tuesday a Democratic

Frustrated Mr Sanders supporters have lashed out at the Democratic Party for what they believe is an attempt to stop the Vermont senator from taking the nomination.

Votes are still coming in from states like California and Maine, but Mr Biden looks to be the new frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination. Nine of the 14 voting states were confirmed for Mr Biden on Wednesday morning, and he still has a chance to pick up Maine.

His lead in the race could also increase significantly with the news Mike Bloomberg is dropping out and will endorse the vice president.

Story continues

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There's a key divide between Sanders and Biden and it's not healthcare
President Moon Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



President Moon Jae-in has received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offering consolation to South Koreans in their struggle with the COVID-19 epidemic, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday.



"On Wednesday, President Moon received a personal letter sent by Chairman Kim Jong-un. In the letter, Chairman Kim conveyed his message of comfort to the South Korean people who are battling against the outbreak of COVID-19, and expressed his confidence that they will prevail in this fight," presidential spokesman Yoon Do-han said during a briefing.

"Chairman Kim also conveyed his best wishes for the continued good health of the people in the South."



The letter also contained Kim's appreciation of the rapport he shares with Moon.



"Chairman Kim said he was worried about President Moon's health and also expressed his frustration that there wasn't much that he could do to help at this moment. In addition, Chairman Kim underlined his unwavering friendship and trust toward President Moon and said that he will continue to quietly send his best wishes for the President to overcome the COVID-19 hardship."



Kim's letter also touched on "thoughts and positions on the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula," but the presidential office did not elaborate.



Moon sent a response to Kim, Thursday, expressing his gratitude for the North Korean leader's letter, Cheong Wa Dae said.



It did not say how the letters were exchanged.



Kim's letter came just one day after his sister Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the first vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, issued a hostile statement toward Cheong Wa Dae's condemnation of an artillery exercise in the North.



"Such incoherent assertion and actions made by Cheong Wa Dae only magnify our distrust, hatred and scorn for the South as a whole," the statement said.



A day before the North fired two projectiles in its "exercise," Monday, Moon called on the two Koreas to work together to fight against the virus.



"I am looking forward to cooperation with North Korea on healthcare as well. The lives of the Korean people will be safer when the two Koreas can respond together when infectious diseases spread among humans and animals, and jointly cope with disasters and catastrophes in border areas, and climate change on the Korean Peninsula," he said during a speech to mark the March 1 Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule.



Pyongyang has not made any specific response to the proposal yet.
The price of lobster has dropped significantly in Australia due to the outbreak of coronavirus as China shuts its borders to exports.

Australia sends more seafood to China than to any other country, but due to the deadly virus stopping exports local suppliers are desperate to make up for lost sales.

Merivale executive chef Dan Hong said the halting of lobster exports meant local customers will pay less.

'China has stopped the export of all live lobsters into their country so our fishermen really need to sell their catch,' he said. The chef said the lower price of lobster was the 'only good thing to come out of the coronavirus'.

A western rock lobster usually sells for $48, but since the coronavirus are being sold for about $33, the ABC reported.

Australians can now enjoy delicious lobsters at an affordable price as China refuses to accept exports due to the killer virus

China makes up about 50 per cent of the seafood economy in Australia - but sales of lobster to Asia have been dropping since the start of 2020.

About 95 per cent of southern rock lobster in South Australia is exported to China.

Western Australia's $500million industry which exports 98 per cent of its produce and the South Australia industry which exports 95 per cent have been hit the hardest.

Matt Rutter from Australia's largest lobster exporter Geraldton Fishermen's Cooperative, said despite prices plummeting, it's not the lowest the industry has seen.

'At this stage it's very uncertain as to when the Chinese market will reopen,' he told ABC.

'The situation is continuing to evolve and with that comes a drop in prices.'
In 2017, AXA performed a similar merger for its life insurance operations in Indonesia.

According to MAGI compliance director Benny Waworuntu, returning AGIs business permit is the final administrative step in the merger of MAGI and AGI. He added that the merger will allow it to improve its services and reach a greater number of customers in Southeast Asias largest country, in terms of both population and land area.

AXA Indonesia is restructuring in order to focus on areas with greater opportunity in the general insurance market, such as marine, health, and lifestyle protection, the report said.

The OJK gave its approval to the MAGI-AGI merger in November 2019, with the companies launching the combination process the following month. The companies have assured its clients that all existing AGI policies remain valid after the merger, until their indicated expiration dates.
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GREENWICH  Navy Midshipman Elias Boyer from Greenwich participated in the spring Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps ship selection draft as a future member of the Surface Warfare Officer community.

More than 270 midshipmen from NROTC units around the country chose to serve as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipmen are ranked, according to their grade point average, aptitude scores and physical fitness.

NROTC has helped me by providing a variety of unique opportunities, said Boyer. Additionally, being in a NROTC unit with many hard-charging and motivated midshipmen has allowed me to work alongside and compete with incredible people. Theyve helped me develop my leadership skills, build self-discipline and motivate me to push myself academically and professionally.

According to their rankings, each midshipman provided a preference of ship or homeport to the junior officer detailer at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn. If these preferences were available, they were assigned as requested.

I am looking forward to getting to meet my division and to getting to apply the skills I have spent the last four years developing, said Boyer. I am also looking forward to joining the wardroom and getting to know my fellow junior officers.

Boyer, a 2016 Greenwich High School graduate, has selected to serve aboard USS Carl Vinson. Boyer is majoring in electrical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, Boyer will receive a commission as a Navy ensign and report aboard USS Carl Vinson as a surface warfare officer.

The SWO ship selection process is a great opportunity to have input in my career path, and I am excited to get to my first ship, added Boyer.

USS Carl Vinson is an aircraft carrier capable of deploying military aircraft from anywhere in the world. The ships homeport is Bremerton Wash.

Im a very detail- and data-oriented person, said Boyer. That, along with an engineering mindset are a large part of what Ill be bringing to the ship. I enjoy challenging myself, and always try to stay engaged.

With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the worlds international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy.

NROTC prepares our future Surface Warfare Officers with a foundation in leadership and ethics as well as basic training in five warfighting competencies; Firefighting, Damage Control, Seamanship, Watchstanding and Small Arms Handling and Marksmanship, all essential skills on a ship, said Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, commander of the Naval Service Training Command, which includes the NROTC Program. I am enormously proud of our graduating midshipmen for completing this demanding program, and look forward to them joining the fleet.
Washington's National Gallery of Art presents oil sketches from across Europe

No two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of all the world; and the genuine productions of art, like those of nature, are all distinct from each other, British landscape painter John Constable said.

Constable referred to natures only constant: change. An academic art studio can never simulate the way the light falls on the land at a particular time of day. Artists needed to go out and study nature for themselves.

In the late 18th century and across the 19th century, you simply were not an educated artist until you went to Rome and were steeped in ancient culture, ancient architecture, ancient sculpture, Renaissance and Baroque painting and architectureand increasingly, in the 1780s, and 1790s, going out into the Roman campagna [countryside] and recording the beautiful, magical light of Italy; the topography of the Roman campagna. Mary Morton said. Morton is the curator and head of the department of French paintings at Washingtons National Gallery of Art.

French landscape artist Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes further encouraged young artists to paint oils sketches outdoors with his influential treatise on landscape painting, published in 1800.

Study of a Tree in the Bois de Boulogne, circa 1790, by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard; 13 3/8 inches by 10 1/16 inches. Gift en lieu de succession by Jerome Binda, Tinos (Greece). (Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection, Paris)

Young artists traveled from European capitals such as Paris, Copenhagen, and Berlin to complete their art education by sketching the Roman countryside in oils: a tradition called plein-air painting (open-air painting.) These European artists plein-air paintings immortalized the Italian landscape, and in turn, Italytrue to its nature as a country steeped in ancient artistic traditionstrained some of Europes greatest artists outdoors.

The artists vigorously painted the mountains, valleys, rivers, waterfalls, and even erupting volcanoesquickly making note of every little thing between the earth and the sky. These oil sketches were not intended as detailed finished paintings but as studies or, as Morton describes them, field notes.

View of the Waterfalls at Tivoli, 1788, by Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas; 20 inches by 15 inches. Gift of Fern and George Wachter. (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Artists would circulate these sketches among one another, or archive the paintings in their studios. In the studio, artists would develop some of the oil sketches into finished works, or theyd return to the same site several times in order to make a more finished work, Morton explained via email. When these artists returned to their home countries, they referenced the oil sketches for fresh compositions, and they also continued the tradition of making open-air oil sketches focusing on their native landscapes.

Visitors can see Europes landscapes unfold through about 100 oil sketches in the exhibition True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 17801870, at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington.

The exhibits are from the NGAs collection and two European collections: the Foundation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection in Paris and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK. Morton curated the exhibition together with Foundation Custodia director Ger Luijten and the Fitzwilliam Museums keeper of paintings, drawings, and prints, Jane Munro.

The exhibition is a discovery of many things: outdoor oil sketches, lesser-known artists, and the beauty of Europe.

Rediscovering Plein-Air Paintings

Only over the last couple of decades has the tradition of oil sketching become more fully understood, Morton said. The curatorial team researched 17th- and 18th-century scholarship for the exhibition and also the work of the late Philip Conisbee who, from 1993 to 2008, was the NGAs senior European paintings curator.

All this history is discussed in the comprehensive exhibition catalog True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 17801870. In 1954, John Gere, a curator in the department of prints and drawings at the British Museum and specialist in old master Italian drawings, spotted some plein-air paintings at auction. This piqued Geres interest in the genre, and along with his wife, he started collecting these sketches, sparking a rediscovery of plein-air painting. Conisbee saw the collection at the Geres home and he began additional research.

In 1980, Conisbee wrote the exhibition catalog entries for the first comprehensive exhibition of plein-air paintings at the Fitzwilliam Museum, according to the exhibition catalog. For the next 40 years, he researched the plein-air tradition and built the NGAs collection of these works.

In 1996, he curated In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting at the NGA, the first American exhibition on the subject. True to Nature is a continuation of Conisbees work, featuring oil sketches he acquired during his time at the NGA, and new scholarship as well. The exhibition aims to increase understanding on this important, yet relatively unstudied, part of European art history.

Insights Into Plein-Air Painting

Some of the little details we discover can make these sketches all the more endearing and perhaps more relatable to our everyday life. For example, some of these works on paper have one edge thats clearly been cut with a knife. Just as we may sometimes divide and cut a piece of paper to write notes, some of the oil sketches appear to have been cut from the same sheet by the same artist. And we can imagine the artists preparing their materials: cutting the paper by hand, selecting brushes, and carefully packing the paint. Artists used animal bladders to store the paint or mixed a limited color palette to take with them.

Groups of artists ventured out into the countryside together across often treacherous terrain with their easels, paper, and paints in hand. Italian artist Giuseppe de Nittis traveled six hours every day to paint Italys most accessible volcano, Mount Vesuvius. He went part of the way on horseback and for the rest he was carried by a guide, explained Jane Munro from the Fitzwilliam Museum. He did, however, change his route after he felt the earth move, signaling a possible volcanic eruption.

Once on site, artists would have painted each sketch for a set amount of time. As part of their academic art training, they would have been familiar with the discipline of timed life drawings. Just as these artists were able to capture a life models pose in short, swift gestures with their charcoal or brush, so they applied the same spirit to capture natures nuances in oil. Each oil sketch is like a pantheistic reverie, Morton said.

Because these artists had formal art training, each sketch is a piece of nature thats been formalized aesthetically and made satisfying for them, because for the most part, most of these are for them, Morton said.

Rooftops by Frederik Niels Martin Rohde. Oil on canvas; 10 inches by 8 3/4 inches. (Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection, Paris)

Embracing Plein-Air Painting

The exhibition starts with two Italian regions, Rome and Naples, and then covers the rest of Europe. Spread over a total of five galleries, the sketches have been grouped by subject matter as the artists wouldve archived them in their own studios: There are rocks and caves, waterfalls, and volcanoes, to name a few of the 11 categories.

Nineteenth-century French landscape painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was a prolific plein-air painter who brought the tradition to France. As a traditionalist, Corot vowed to reproduce as scrupulously as possible what he saw in front of him. Corots oil sketch The Island and Bridge of San Bartolomeo, Rome, which is featured in the exhibition, attests to this. Corots teacher Achille Etna Michallon taught him to paint true to nature, and Michallon must have learned this from his teachers: neoclassicist Jacques-Louis David and Valenciennes.

Valencienness advice to artists was to always start with the sky when painting a vista. Artists could include a band of land as a guide to orientate themselves, but Valenciennes believed the sky set the tonality for the entire landscape, Morton explained.

Study of Clouds Over the Roman Campagna, circa 1782 to 1785, by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard; 7 1/2 inches by 12 5/8 inches. Given in honor of Gaillard F. Ravenel II by his friends. (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Valencienness British counterpart, Constable would have agreed. For Constable, the sky was of utmost importance. Its the key note, the standard of scale, and the chief organ of sentiment in a landscape painting, he said.

Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset, 18211822, by John Constable. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas; 8 inches by 10 3/4 inches. Gift of Louise Mellon in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Constable was obsessed with the sky. He read meteorological reports and would spend hours skying,a term he coined for watching and recording the changing skyscape. He annotated his sky studies with weather reports, the direction of light, and more meteorological information. Morton invites us to look at what Constable does with light in his paintings. At the exhibition, we could start with Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset.

Santa Trinita dei Monti in the Snow, 1825 or 1830, by Andre Giroux. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas; 8 11/16 inches by 11 13/16 inches. Chester Dale Fund. (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Santa Trinita dei Monti in the Snow by Andre Giroux is painted in a similar palette as Constables Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset. French students like Giroux, who were sponsored by the French government, stayed at the Villa Medici. Giroux painted the sketch straight from his bedroom window.

In the sketch, a snowy scene unfolds, and in parts Giroux used his finger to paint or scraped through the wet paint. Technical art historian Ann Hoenigswald discovered Girouxs creative mark-making as part of her study of each exhibit to understand more about how these plein-air paintings were rendered.

One of the two female painters featured is Louise-Josephine Sarazin de Belmont, a student of Valenciennes. Women were not yet permitted to study at art schools, so Valenciennes tutored them. Sarazin de Belmont generally began painting outdoors and then continued working on her paintings to sell on the Parisian art market, Morton said via email. Grotto in a Rocky Landscape  expresses the thrill of being inside the earth looking out, Morton said.

Grotto in a Rocky Landscape, sometime between 1790 and 1870, by Louise-Josephine Sarazin de Belmont. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas; 16 1/4 inches by 22 5/16 inches. (Private collection, London)

Sarazin de Belmont managed to create a huge sense of scale on the paper, which feels as if we are almost popping our head out into the paintings landscape. She used atmospheric perspective to achieve this: The background fades away while fresh color fills the fore- and middle ground.

French painter Jean-Charles Remond painted many plein-air oil sketches, but his finished painting The Eruption of Stromboli, 30 August 1842, was a commission from the Gallery of Mineralogy and Natural History Museum in Paris. Rich reds and darkness dominate the painting as lava spews from Stromboli.

The Eruption of Stromboli, 30 August 1842, by Jean-Charles Remond. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas; 10 1/4 inches by 14 7/16 inches. (Private Collection, London)

True to Nature

Jane Munro ponders who is true to nature? Are artists like Guiseppe de Nittis, who sketch volcanoes and predict the likelihood of volcanic eruptions by holding their ears to the earth to listen to the lava bubbling below, or are scientists such as physicist Luigi Palmieri, the director of the Vesuvius Observatory, who monitor the earth with their seismographs? We can wonder too.

A Study of Waves Breaking Against Rocks at Sunset, sometime between 1770 and 1837, by Baron Francois Gerard. Oil on millboard; 12 5/16 inches by 15 3/16 inches. (Private collection, London)

Morton referred to Baron Francois Gerards rather strongly colored painting full of a purple and red sunset as a wave crashes violently on the rocks. Theres no way you [can] paint a wave true to nature; youre going to paint the sensation of a wave, which is what Gerard has done, she said.

Each of these oil sketches is an artists conversation with nature, evoking the sensations and sentiments that were true to that artist at that moment in time.

The exhibition True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 17801870 is at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, through May 3, 2020. To find out more, visit NGA.gov

Information in this article is primarily from the audio of the press preview for True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 17801870 given by Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, at the National Gallery of Art. Jane Munro from the Fitzwilliam Museum also presented.
on Thursday suspended seven members for the remaining period of the for "gross misconduct" and "utter disregard" for House rules after they snatched papers from the Speaker's table.

As soon as the House reassembled at 3 pm following an adjournment, Meenakshi Lekhi, who was presiding the House, named Gaurav Gogoi, T N Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Manicka Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan, Benny Behanan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla.

Once a member is named by the Chair, he or she cannot attend the House for that day.

She said when the House was discussing the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, some members "forcefully" snatched and tossed papers from the Speaker podium.

"Such unfortunate incident has possibly happened for the first time in the parliamentary history...I condemn this behaviour," she said while naming the members.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi then moved a motion to suspend the members from the House for the remaining period of the

The motion was passed by a voice vote amid protests by opposition members.

"...that this house having taken serious note of gross misconduct of these members' utter disregard to the House and authority of the Chair and having been named by the Speaker resolve that these members be suspended from the service of the House from the remainder of the session," he said.

Lekhi then asked the seven members to leave chambers immediately and then adjourned the House for the day.

During this period too opposition members were in the Well.

proceedings were adjourned four times on Thursday as members demanded suspension of a Rajasthan MP over his controversial remarks against President Sonia Gandhi and her family members.

As the House met at 2 pm, Congress members stormed into the Well demanding suspension of Hanuman Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, a regional outfit from Rajasthan which is backed by the BJP, who made the remarks against the Gandhi family.

As Rama Devi, who was in the chair then, continued to run the proceedings of the House, Congress members intensified sloganeering saying, "Suspend the MP, Modi Sarkar shame shame'.

As the process of passing the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was underway, Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress was seen throwing papers kept on the Lok Sabha Speaker's podium.

Soon after, Rama Devi adjourned the House till 3 pm.
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Students of the Presidency University here on Thursday night blocked the city's arterial M G Road-College Street crossing to press for the demand of quick renovation of three dilapidated wards of the varsity's Hindu hostel.

One of the agitating students, Debabrata, said the blockade was also against the "autocratic dismissal" of eight casual staff of the hostel by the authorities as they had also supported the students' complaint about overcrowding in two wards of the hostel, which instead accommodate inmates of five wards, and lack of basic amenities in the hostel.

The blockade started at around 8 pm and continued even after midnight, police said, adding that the students sat on a part of the crossing which was cordoned off and vehicles moved along the rest of the stretch.

The students, numbering around 30, held placards, shouted 'azaadi' slogans and demanded that Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia meet them.

The VC had earlier been gheraoed by the students for two days in the first week of February and didn't visit the main campus at College Street ever since.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thirty cases of honeytrapping were registered in Rajasthan from December 2018 to January this year, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal informed the state assembly on Thursday.

He was replying to a question raised by BJP legislator Kalicharan Saraf.

Thirty cases of honeytrapping were registered in the state from December 2018 to January this year, Dhariwal said.

A total of 17 cases were registered in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Ajmer divisions from January 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020, he said.

Charge sheets have been filed in nine cases, investigation is pending in seven and the final report (FR) has been filed in one case, he added.

In Jaipur Commissionerate, nine cases of honey trapping were registered in the last two years. Nineteen people were arrested in six cases and charge sheets filed, Dhariwal told the House.

Investigation in two cases is pending and the FR has been filed in one case, he said.

Informing the House about the steps taken to curb such cases, the minister said an action plan and a standard operating procedure for investigation into such cases is being prepared to take action against 18 organised mafias.

Dhariwal said awareness campaigns are also being run by the home department to inform people about precautionary measures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 25-bed special facility with modern equipment to deal with coronavirus is expected to be completed in the next three weeks.

Government is funding the project with the support of the World Bank as part of measures to deal with the threat of the coronavirus outbreak.

Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu who gave details of the project in Parliament on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, said the plan is part of the renovation of the Debra ward at the 37 Military Hospital.

We are actually working with the World Bank to accelerate the rate at which we want to complete the Debrah ward at the 37 Military Hospital. We have three weeks for the contractor to handover the project to us.

The Ministry is also set to receive an additional GHS11 million to help it prepare and contain an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, should it surface in the country.

Kwaku Agyeman Manu said the Ministry is still in talks with the Finance Ministry on getting more resources at its disposal.

We had an initial budget of GHS35 million, got seed money of GHS 2.8 million and we have an indication of an additional GHS11 million. Aside from these two tranches, the Finance Minister has met with Bank of Ghana where we also met with them to discuss a comprehensive budget with the view of trying to get more resources to put at our disposal towards this fight, said the Minister.

More preparations

He again said the government is setting up a 100-bed capacity facility in a remote area to serve as a centre for quarantining persons with suspected coronavirus infection.

This he says, will be ready in two weeks' time.

Procurement of all regeantsfor confirmation of coronavirus cases is currently ongoing to support the two research structures. A quarantine centre has been established. Another remotely located 100-bed capacity facility is being secured for the purpose of quarantine for illegible persons and this will be ready for use in two weeks. We do not hope that we'll get to that situation, he told Parliament on Wednesday.

He further outlined other new measures the government has put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus into the country.

For surveillance, we have inducted and circulated Covid-19 case definitions to regional and lower levels. We have also adopted a Cobid-19 investigation form which is currently in use. The national rapid response team has been activated. The national-level training for rapid response teams and local health workers on severe respiratory illnesses has been done. Training of regional and district rapid response teams has been planned for execution.

Nana Addo expresses satisfaction with Ghana's coronavirus preparedness

Already, President Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed his satisfaction with the measures Government has put in place to deal with the threat of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Wednesday, 4th March 2020, when he paid visits to the Kotoka International Airport, the Tema General Hospital and the Greater Accra Regional Hospital.

Accompanied by the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, the President's first port of call was the arrival terminal of the Kotoka International Airport.

It was revealed by the Health Minister that several stakeholder engagements with the Ghana Airport Company Limited, Ghana Immigration Services, Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority, at all the country's ports of entry, have been held to strengthen Ghana's COVID-19 preparedness and surveillance.

The Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Ltd, Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, told President Akufo-Addo that, on arrival at the airport, all passengers are screened using thermal scanning devices at the airport, and passengers are also required to fill a health declaration forms.

---citinewsroom
Poor Bernie Sanders! The youth vote failed to show up for him. The youth vote always fails to show up  it will break your heart every time. Senator Sanders didnt lose to Joe Biden  he lost to Tinder, weed, and The Resident. The kids were doing themselves a favor  young people have more of a future for Senator Sanders and his coterie of socialist dingbat malefactors to ruin.

Arising from the tumult, triumphant, was the dotty figure of Joe Biden. Biden and Sanders vying for the Democratic nomination, Michael Bloomberg perhaps at least dreaming idly of a third-party run  as of today, the youngest man with a realistic shot of winning the 2020 presidential election is Donald Trump, 73 years of age.

What can we say for Joe Biden?

For one thing, he is not a socialist.







So, he is not a socialist.

What is he?

He is a vicious self-serving political hack, for one thing, one whose ambition leads him from time to time into shocking indecency. You may have heard that Biden lost his wife and daughter in a horrifying drunk-driving wreck, the fault of a monster of a man who irresponsibly drank his lunch, as Biden puts it.

Never happened.

Bidens wife and daughter did, in fact, die in a car wreck. That is true. It is not true that the driver of the other car was drunk, that he had been drinking, or that there was any reason to believe he was drunk or had been drinking  or even that he was at fault. The late Mrs. Biden drove into the path of [the] tractor-trailer, the police report says. But Biden, like every other third-rate ward-heeler of his ilk, thinks and speaks only in terms of good guys and bad guys, white hats and black hats  and if something bad happens to good people, then it must be because somebody in a black hat did something nefarious. The driver of that truck went to his grave haunted by Bidens lies, to the point where his children were forced to beg the vice president to stop defaming their late father. The casual cruelty with which Biden is willing to subordinate the lives of ordinary people to his political ambitions  for the sake of a petty tear-jerker line in one of his occasionally plagiarized stump speeches  is remarkable.

Story continues

But thats Joe Biden. Just a regular guy from Scranton who takes the train to work (with a 20-man security detail swarming the platform at every stop and the aisles roped off to separate him from the riffraff, as I have seen firsthand) whose kids ended up growing vastly wealthy from unpredictable business opportunities to which they had no especial claim beyond their proximity to political power.

Biden was protected by the Democratic political machine and then by Senate seniority; later, he was protected by the Obama administration and by protectors of the Obama administration. And so he continues doing the same things he always has done. Some of you may remember that Biden  who got into trouble for plagiarism back in the 1980s, when I was in eighth grade (and who already was running for president way back then)  was pillaging Margaret Thatchers speeches (and Neil Kinnocks, too, not that anybody remembers him) to flesh out one of his own orations. That was embarrassing. What is embarrassing is that he is still doing it, as the Washington Post reports, with his campaign stealing material for advocacy groups and presenting it as the work of his campaign.

That is a pattern. A man who can lightly misrepresent the circumstances surrounding the death of his wife and infant daughter is liable to be just as cavalier when it comes to, say, slavery, telling a largely black audience that Mitt Romney  Mitt Romney!  wants to put yall back in chains. (Oh, that yall!) Cynical doesnt begin to cover it.

One of the worst features of our political life is the ugly and dishonest fights we have over Supreme Court nominations  a habit that can be laid squarely at the feet of Joe Biden, who along with Ted Kennedy, that pillar of human decency, organized one of the worst smear campaigns in modern American political history against Robert Bork, whose great crime against humanity was taking the extremist position that the Constitution actually says what it says rather than what anybody with power wishes it would say at any given moment, and that the way to amend the Constitution is to amend the Constitution rather than having nine wizards in black robes pull previously undiscovered constitutional mandates out of the penumbras upon which they sit all day. Dont like the way Merrick Garland was treated? Mitch McConnell didnt start that game  he is just better at it than his contemporary Democratic colleagues are. For lying partisan viciousness in the modern mode, Joe Biden is your man.

He is a liar, a corruptor of institutions, and a grifter of the first order.

But hes not a socialist. Ill give him that.

More from National Review
The Punjab Police on Thursday claimed to have nabbed a criminal allegedly wanted in several cases, including murder and attempt to murder.

Senior Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Singh said Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Mall, was arrested from a local gym following an intelligence input.

Happy was produced in a court, which sent him to two-day police remand.

He was allegedly involved in the killing of a youth, Inderjit, in Mohali last year.

Inderjit was killed due to a minor brawl with Happy, who later hatched the conspiracy to kill him, police said.

Police had recovered 17 bullet shells, along with one live cartridge, from the spot where Inderjit was shot dead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Recently a member of the local expat community asked about what is the best value prepaid SIM card in Hungary. Here below are a few of the experiences shared by Xpats in the loop via XpatLoop's group on Facebook.

Casey Marshall further explains:

For someone living in Hungary and occasionally travelling to other countries in the EU. At least 5GB data per month.



Greg Brummel:

Not here. In Hungary they dont give free internet when you top up. Phone calls just got more expensive this month but I think everywhere because of Brexit or something. I got email from my UK phone company, minutes increased from 10p to 25p.



Miklos Quartus:

That's the UK's problem. Actually, within the EU phone calls have become cheaper than before, we can call anyone within the EU as he/she was in Hungary, by calling the same number. The receiver of the call can be anywhere within the EU. So receiving calls are free when roaming.



Akos Radvanyi:

I have Telenor Hello Data start, 4500ft/month, unlimited 4G (without speed restriction) in Hungary, almost 9Gb roaming in EU zone 1. Plus some minutes of talk. It's post-paid but without commitment. Though you can't sign up for it anymore.



They have these "home" 4G plans, available without commitment for 5000 ft you get 30Gb in Hungary, 30Gb night traffic, and 8.5Gb roaming zone 1. You can find it here.



You can also sign up for a 24 months commitment and they give the mobile router as a gift.



You can also get prepaid SIM cards and buy 3-5-etc Gb data allowance on demand at most carriers.



Miklos Quartus:

There are very good top-up SIM card options (i.e. no-contract) from Telenor hello and T-Mobile domino for you. Look for SIM cards with mobile internet data.



Normally they give you 3.5Gb or 4Gb for about ~4k forints per month (13 EUR).



Most of the data can be used within the EU as well while roaming, but not all, there maybe a top cap for that, sometimes 5 or 15Gb EU usage, check with them. If you exceed your data usage, you can top-up online and you'll get additional data as an extra ("kiegeszito / extra adatjegy").



Search for 'sim kartya mobil internet' in search engine.



Kimberley Pearson Marcali:

We used Telenor, you can choose various amounts of mins and gigs depending on your budget, but it worked easily when I travelled to the UK and Germany was able to use.



John Ondreasz:

Stay away from Telenor. Best bet is probably Vodafone, but Hungarian mobile companies are rip-off merchants.



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Kuala Lumpur/Mumbai: The ousting of Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose criticisms of India's policies in Kashmir damaged palm oil trade between the nations, has kindled hopes among Malaysian exporters for a rapid restoration of ties.

But political rhetoric alone will not restore full Malaysian palm oil flows to top market India any time soon, traders say: Palm prices within India are still too high relative to rival oils to encourage a sharp uptick in wholesale demand.

Malaysian supplies of palm oil to India have slowed to a trickle since Delhi adopted a hard-line stance after Mahathir criticised actions in Kashmir in September.

Exports to Malaysia's biggest customer for the last five years plunged 91 per cent in February to 29,269 tonnes from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv assessments.

In sign of how important it is to Malaysia to restore ties, within hours of the installation of a new prime minister on Sunday, a senior lawmaker expected to be in the new cabinet called for a "renegotiation" of relations with India.

Malaysian industry players welcomed the move, but Indian traders said prices must also fall further due to palm oil's relatively narrow price spread with rival oils.

The soybean-palm oil spread in India averaged Rs 3,929 ($53.42) a tonne from January through February, compared with Rs 13,150 ($178.79) a year ago, according to Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India data.

The narrow gap between soft oils and palm oil has been encouraging refiners to buy more soyoil and sunflower oil than normal," said BV Mehta, SEA executive director.

"A spread of less than $100 per tonne between palm oil and soft oil always makes imports of soft oil attractive for Indian refiners."

India's palm oil imports in the first quarter of the 2019/20 marketing year, which started on November 1, fell 14 per cent from a year ago to 2 million tonnes, while combined imports of soyoil and sunflower oil jumped 26 per cent to 1.36 million tonnes, SEA data showed.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Association  a group representing growers  is prioritising diplomatic efforts to woo India, chief executive Nageeb Wahab said.

However, Delhi will need to its soften its stance on Malaysia and the price differential between palm oil and soyoil will need to widen to get Indian buyers on board, Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics said.

Malaysia's benchmark palm oil futures have dropped more than 20 per cent since the start of 2020 to 2,478 ringgit ($594.96) on Thursday, retracting to November levels, as top buyers India and China slow purchases amid the coronavirus epidemic.
Photography by Jeremy Chua unless otherwise stated.

All tales of religion start with a good miracle storya narrative involving a report of supposed special divine action, as defined by theologians Wendy Cotter and Graham H. Twelftree.

For the Looi family, their embracing of Tibetan Buddhism came about when their father, the late Alvin Looi, once wheelchair-bound, started walking again miraculously.

But lets start at the beginning.

It is 1996. Alvin is 35 and working as a full-time jockey. Alvin has just been flung out of his horse. He is lying on the racetrack, his spine wrenched out of position. Three doctors from three different hospitals concluded he would never walk again.

My mum didnt want to give up, Jamie Looi, 36 and the eldest daughter, recalls. She believed there could be something that could make him better.

At that time, Jamies aunt was already a practising Tibetan Buddhist. She mentioned a healing lama in India who, after spending 30-years studying in a mountain retreat, became renowned for his healing practice. (Lama is the title for teacher in Tibetan Buddhism.)

After hearing about the healing lama, Jamies motherthe late Karen Limwasted no time in bringing her husband to the healing lamas monastery in Bangalore, India.

Jamies voice takes on a reverential tone as she narrates the events at the monastery.

My mum told me that every morning, for 30 minutes, the healing lama would recite mantras into an ordinary, white PVC pipe directed at my dads spine. There was nothing in the pipe. But at the end of the pipe, there would be smoke coming out, smelling like incense. After the healing session, the healing lama would also get monks to conduct prayer sessions for my dad. This went on every day for a week.

My dads life changed totally after that.

Upon his return to Singapore, Alvin quit smoking and drinking and became a devout Buddhist. Each morning, he would recite the Chenrezig (known locally as Guanyin) mantra and conduct water bowl offeringsa common Tibetan Buddhism offering that devotees carry out to shed their worldly attachments. Alongside his religious devotions, Alvin exercised daily to strengthen his body.

Story continues

Three months after the visit, Alvin defied all three doctors prognosis. He progressed from wheelchair to crutch, and eventually started to walk again.

No one can say for sure whether Alvins recovery was because of the healing lamas skills, his daily exercise, or a combination of both. The only certainty is that Tibetan Buddhism granted hope and peace to the Looi family at their bleakest moments.

Aware that her husbands convalescence bordered on the miraculous, Karen tried to downplay this aspect. Instead, in recounting the tale to people, Karen highlighted how the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism had completely turned Alvins life around for the better.

Such an approach struck a chord with people. Inspired by Alvins story, peoplefamily friends at first, then complete strangers who heard about the account through word of mouthapproached the Looi family to find out more about Tibetan Buddhism.

In 2002, after just a few weeks of hosting visiting lamas and welcoming curious strangers to her home, Karen decided to found Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling (GSDPL). (Gaden Shartse indicates that the centre is affiliated with Gaden Shartse Monastery in India, one of the three great Tibetan monasteries in exile. Dro-Phen Ling is a term that means a place to benefit sentient beings and was conferred on the centre by the 14th Dalai Lama himself.)

After Karen passed on, Ivan Looi, the youngest son of the family, decided to take over the reins and run GSDPL full-time, giving up a lucrative job in the investment banking industry.

My ex-colleagues think Im crazy, Ivan admits. Theyre earning at least a good amount right now. Recently, one of them even asked me to go back.

But I said I cant. I have to do what makes sense for the people. And Im actually happy here. 

Even though the number of people in Singapore who follow this particular school of Buddhism is not largeJamie estimates that Tibetan Buddhists make up only 2 to 3% of all Buddhists in Singapore she would definitely say it is growing. This guess is based on her observation that the attendance rates at prayer rituals GSDPL organises have been increasing annually.

The growing number of Tibetan Buddhist devotees in Singapore may come as a surprise to most of us. Influenced by Hollywood films such as Doctor Strangein which sorcerers clad in red robes conduct rites in temples that are a pale, but unmistakable, mimicry of Tibetan Buddhist oneswe may cultivate the misconception that Tibetan Buddhism is an anachronistic religion characterised by ancient prayer rituals and observances. That is hardly an appealing picture of religion to the modern (and some may say jaded) Singaporean today.

To be fair, such perceptions of Tibetan Buddhism are not wholly inaccurate. Just last November, GSDPL organised a three-day grand puja (puja means worship or reverence in Sanskrit, but is generally understood as prayer ritual) at Marina Bay Sands; its programme included rituals with elaborate names such as Powerful Tara Subduing King-of-Demon Grand Puja.

But the rituals that Tibetan Buddhists conduct are not that different from those of any other religion. Catholics conduct baptism, Mass, and confession; Muslims fast during Ramadan and carry out a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime; for Hindus, each day is devoted to a specific deity and different rituals are carried out depending on which day it is. In other words, it would be unfair to single out the frequency or prevalence of rites and rituals in Tibetan Buddhism.

Therefore, to think that Tibetan Buddhism consists only of blindly following elaborate pujas is to miss the forest for the trees.

In reality, Tibetan Buddhism involves the intense study of concepts like impermanence, selfhood, and, most fundamentally, how to behave compassionately towards all sentient beings. That is to say, practical ideas that can be applied in everyday life and appeal to anyone, regardless of background.

Case in point: monks in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries are simply university students in red robes. They spend their whole day from 8 AM to 12 AMreading religious texts, taking a break only to conduct short pujas, have meals, or carry out their chores. Their diligence is motivated by the monks belief that it is in understanding, and living according to, the precepts laid out in scripture that they can extricate themselves from the cycle of suffering.

As with any form of proper study, intense debatenot dogmatic adherenceis emphasised. After every teaching session held by a resident or visiting lama at GSDPL, Ivan holds a discussion session to consolidate viewpoints; the lamas in monasteries also have theological debates with each other over their daily readings, exploring competing interpretations in a manner not so different from university seminars.

Thus, the appeal of Tibetan Buddhismand, largely, of all forms of Buddhismlies more in its exploration of universal issues, such as how to live and relate to other living things, rather than in esoteric rituals.

In essence, Tibetan Buddhism is about love, compassion, and how to practise good deeds.

This is what Yulting Rinpoche, a revered lama of Tibetan Buddhism, tells me over Skype. Rinpoche also explains that Tibetan Buddhisms focus on this notion means that, aside from cultural and terminological differences, its basically the same as  the other schools of Buddhism, whether Theravada or Mahayana.

Let me give an example. Lets say noodles. You have Singaporean noodles. Japanese call the noodles ramen. And Italians, when they make it, they call it spaghetti. Even though the chef from different countries make noodles taste a bit different to fit the cultural needs of their society, what theyre basically making is noodles.

The reason why people turn to Tibetan Buddhism, as opposed to Theravada or Mahayana, then, largely boils down to personal reasons and is impossible to pin down to a single factor. For an analogy, think about why some prefer mee pok, some mee kia, some kway teow

Nonetheless, I talk to some regular devotees at GSDPL to find out what motivated them to follow Tibetan Buddhism.

Angela Quek, 25, initially harboured the same misunderstanding of Tibetan Buddhism that many of us haveas a p(r)ay-per-miracle religion, if I may put it a tad indelicately.

She says: To be honest, back then I had zero interest in Buddhism because my thinking was: Huh? Buddhist need to study one meh? I thought just go pray and get blessing and success in this life can already.

It was only after she spontaneously volunteered at a GSDPL-organised eventafter being brought there by a friendthat she started to read about and understand Buddhism more.

Today, Angela says that she practises Buddhism daily: I read dharma and Buddhist-related books and bring what I read into my daily life. For example, I wouldnt have been particularly kind to people on the MRT before. But now I spare an extra thought for them.

For Sim Mui Luang, who is in her mid-40s, it was the prominence of lamas, or spiritual mentors, in Tibetan Buddhism that drew her to the religion. I think I need a fully qualified guide on this journey, a person who only have our best interest in heart, she tells me.

In short, for some Tibetan Buddhists, its a chance encounter that blossomed into a lifelong commitment. For others, its a long, sustained inquiry into the different traditions of Buddhism before deciding to focus on Tibetan Buddhism.

Whatever their reason, one thingapart from their shared belief in the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, of courseunites all the devotees at GSDPL: the sense of camaraderie. All of them brought up the word family when sharing with me their experiences at the Buddhist centre.

Its like my family outside home, Joyce Sun, 29, enthuses. I always feel very happy to go there, even after a stressful week.

Wendy Lee, in her late 30s, describes the community at GSDPL as a closely knitted family  with the centre as a 2nd home.

Joel Ng, who is in his late 40s, is perhaps most fervent of all, typing his reply in capital letters:

[GSDPL] is FAMILY.

This may sound cliched, but to Jamie and Ivan, as Buddhists, they extend their concept of family not just to the community at GSDPL, but to all sentient beings.

We dont need people to be Buddhists and we dont need them to convert. Its more like how Buddhists concepts such as compassion and loving kindness can add happiness to their lives, even to people of other religions, Jamie says.

In fact, Ivan sees converting people to Buddhism as anathema to its fundamental principles: Making everyone a Buddhist will only create unhappiness. It totally contradicts the whole idea of loving kindness, which is the essential idea of Buddhism. As Buddhists, we are not so concerned with what religion you practise.

Then, Ivan unconsciously slips into the language of his previous jobbut in doing so, succinctly sums up the whole ethos of Buddhism: Our main KPI is whether people are happy.

This is a lesson they have internalised from Rinpoche, who, earlier that day, explained the fundamental tenets of Buddhismregardless of Tibetan, Mahayana, Theravada, or any other schoolto me in this way:

We have a tendency to label things as being Buddhist or not. But Buddhism is not something that you have to follow because it is said that. It is something that is logical and does not rely on superstition.

You can say that when someone is feeling compassion to somebody in pain, that person is practising Buddhism, in a way. He may not be a Buddhist, or believe in Buddhism, but he is basically doing what the Buddha has said, which is being compassionate and helping others.

If someone does this, its because were all humans.

This article provides a brief and simplified introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. If you are interested in finding out more about the religion, you can pick up a copy of Tibetan Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction at the library, or simply pay a visit to Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling (GSDPL) or any other Tibetan Buddhist centre in Singapore.

Let us know your thoughts on this article at community@ricemedia.co.

The post This Religion Doesnt Care What Your Faith Is, As Long As Youre Happy appeared first on RICE.
Super Tuesdays Verdict: The System Works

Commentary

The American political systemfor all its shabbiness, over-lubrication of money, and tendency toward really appalling histrionicshas been magnificently vindicated this week in its overall results, and in most of the details as well.

In 2016, there was a danger that the Republicans could fall into the hands of the far-right (does anyone still use the portentous phrase alt-right?), with some candidates pitching to the gun-happy corn-cobbers. Meanwhile, the avowed Marxist Sen. Bernie Sanders got about 45 percent of the primary votes while campaigning on a platform of authoritarian leftist regimentation, although certainly within a framework of free elections.

Sanders was like Salvador Allende until the Chilean leader started unilaterally amending the Latin American nations constitution (1972-3).

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton kept the battle between the 30-yard lines, and Trump, contrary to the immense psycho-terror campaign conducted by his enemies, has governed slightly to the right of center and well within sensible policy traditions.

He also has become the first important government leader in the world to make free-market inroads on the burgeoning crisis of the income-disparity gap. By incentivizing employment and the repatriation of jobs and capital, and drastically reducing illegal immigration of unskilled people, he has generated sharp reductions in poverty, the elimination of unemployment, and a greater percentage rise in the income of low than of high, income-earners.

The annual per capita GDP growth was 4.5 percent under Reagan, 3.9 percent under Clinton, 2 percent under George W. Bush, and 1 percent under Obama; the implications of this trend, as the conventional wisdom wallowed in a flat-lined new normal of low economic growth, was very ominous.

Crime has declined with poverty and Trump is the first president to make a serious contribution to penal reform at least since Lyndon Johnson. The First Step Act was the first step in reducing Americas obscenely high incarceration rates (six to 12 times as many incarcerated people per capita as the most comparable prosperous democracies: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom).

Moderation

Despite the acidulous histrionics, the nomination processes of 2016 and 2020 have been victories for moderation. Trump has taken complete control of the Republican Party, squeezing out Democratic look-alikes such as former Sens. Jeff Flake (Arizona) and Bob Corker (Tennessee), but also yielding nothing to the far right.

The current contest for the Democratic nomination, which a week ago appeared to be in a state of potentially acute disorder with an apparently high possibility of success for the Sanders Marxist option, was reduced to a three-man race on Super Tuesday. Then, Michael Bloombergs withdrawal on March 4, in Joe Bidens favor, was essentially an elevation of Biden to the nomination.

Sanders will go on raving about his movement (an unfortunate choice of words for both medical and historic reasonsdictators usually speak of the movement, i.e. Hitler), but mainstream Democrats, woolly and manipulable though many of them are, wont touch Sanders socialist confection, and hell settle down to being a Democratic faction-head, as with Henry Wallace, George Wallace, and Jesse Jackson. The Democrats are managing this without a heavy-handed intrusion of superdelegates, as was feared and, to some extent, occurred in 2016.

There cant be much suspense about the outcome of the next election. Biden has made common cause with the firearm confiscators (the regrettable reemergence of Beto ORourke in Texas), open borders advocates, late-term abortion enthusiasts (up to and including infanticide in some cases), and has bobbled the whole question of tax increases.

The country wont have it, and will not reward Trumps numerous successes with rejection. But no one really thinks Biden is an extremist, unlike Sanders, who raves out unutterable revolutionary nonsense to the adherents of his movement.

So, ineluctably, but faithfully, the system works; an effective and successful, if idiosyncratic and sometimes infelicitous president is rewarded, and the opposition remains loyal and sensible and rejects nasty political viruses and prepares for renovation.

The Democrats, even before they lose with honor in November, should be looking for attractive and alert younger leaders, as Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama were in their time. Biden is performing an important caretakers service and receiving the recognition as a nominee for a long career as a party journeyman, as Bob Dole and John McCain did for the Republicans (although they were more distinguished than Biden).

Hes holding the fort against barbarians, not lighting his partys way forward.

Biden Rejects Comey

Next to the sudden arrival of the Democratic nominating kaleidoscope at a plausible configuration, the most important political developments of the past week were James Comeys attempt to endorse Biden, and John Boltons assertion that his autobiography contains nothing that would lead anyone to find the president guilty of an impeachable offense.

Comey triumphantly tweeted his support of Biden, proclaiming the former vice presidents credentials as someone who would lead America out of the moral wilderness supposedly created by Trump. The Biden camp immediately disavowed the endorsement. How immense is the delusional height that Comey achieved in his corrupt abuse of his office and his purported location of a higher loyalty than to the Constitution he had sworn to protect?

Its clear, and has been recorded by the inspector general of the Department of Justice, that Comeys conduct was profoundly improper and almost certainly seriously unlawful, as he usurped the decision of whether to proceed against Hillary Clinton for her treatment of confidential emails and untruthful responses to Justice Department questions. He also foisted an investigation on the incoming president that he knew to be based on fraudulent allegations cooked up by a source paid by Trumps opponents (the Clinton campaign).

He and his equally sanctimonious and unscrupulous counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, must know he is likely to be indicted and that it will be heavy going. [Fitzgerald prosecuted the author for a rich variety of fantastic offenses, ultimately unsuccessfully] Comeys pious hypocrisy and presumption incites real concern about how so unsuitable a person was elevated to the potentially dangerous positions of deputy attorney general and later as director of the FBI. Bidens prompt rejection of his support is encouragingseveral years ago, he might not have acted so unambiguously.

Bolton was always hawkish, but has always been a man of integrity, and its heartening that despite his acrimonious departure from the White House, he remains so. Recall the absurd histrionics of the Democratic congressional leaders and of the infamous House impeachment managers, Adam Schiff (California) and Jerrold Nadler (New York), that issuing a subpoena to Bolton would bring down the president and that refusing it was just a Republican cover-up.

The president was charged with acts that arent impeachable and no probative evidence was adduced that he committed them anyway, but the Democrats in Congress and the media clung to the malicious fiction that a refusal to summon Bolton (after the Democratic House had failed to do so), spared the president severe embarrassment. It was all piffle and there was never a word of truth to any of it, but it is good to have Boltons confirmation of that.

Its been a good week for the Republic (and for both parties).

Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The country reported the highest number of deaths outside of China, as world steps up efforts to tackle COVID-19.

Italy reported 41 new deaths from coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 148, the second highest outside of China, where just over 3,000 people have died since the outbreak began in December.

The virus has reached all 22 regions of Italy, and prompted Rome to take unprecedented measures, including suspending all schools and universities and unveiling an $8.4-billion rescue plan.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom reported its first death from coronavirus on Thursday, an elderly person with underlying health conditions, while Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and South Africa reported their first cases.

In the United States, Congress has voted for a $8.3bn emergency funding package to fight the coronavirus as the death toll rose to 11.

Globally, more than 95,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the vast majority in China.

This is Joseph Stepansky taking over from Mersiha Gadzo in Doha.

Here are all the latest updates.

Click here for Friday, March 6 updates

Thursday, March 5

20 GMT  Palestinian govt confirms seven virus cases, declares two-week tourist ban

The Palestinian government confirmed the number of coronavirus cases in the occupied West Bank had risen to seven and declared a two-week ban on tourists visiting cities and sites including Bethlehems Church of the Nativity.

The health ministry said the cases had been confirmed in the Bethlehem area south of Jerusalem.

They are now being treated in quarantine, a statement from minister Mai al-Kaila said.

19:55 GMT  VP: US does not have coronavirus tests to meet anticipated demand

The US does not yet have enough coronavirus tests to meet anticipated demand, Vice President Mike Pence has said, adding that the Coast Guard has delivered tests to a cruise ship off the coast of California.

We dont have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate the demand going forward, Pence said during a visit to Minnesota.

As more Americans take an interest in this or have concerns about this, we want to make sure they have access to the coronavirus test as well and weve made real progress on that in the last several days.

19:50 GMT  Paris marathon postponed due to coronavirus

The Paris marathon has been postponed from April 5 to October 18 due to the coronavirus outbreak, organisers said on Thursday.

In order to avoid a late cancellation that would penalise the participants, we have, in agreement with the Paris mayors office, decided to postpone the Paris marathon to Oct. 18, Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) said in a statement.

19:20 GMT  US Congress passes $8.3bn emergency funding for coronavirus fight

The US Congress has passed an $8.3bn emergency spending bill to address the coronavirus crisis as infections spread to at least 14 states and deaths reached 11.

The Senate gave sweeping bipartisan support to the funding one day after the House passed the bill, so that it could be quickly sent to the White House for President Donald Trumps signature.

19:05 GMT  WHO Director General: This is not a drill

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the organisation is concerned that the level of political commitment in some countries do not match the level of the threat we all face.

On Twitter, he wrote: This is not a drill. Not a time to give up. Not a time for excuses.

We're concerned that in some countries the level of political commitment & the actions that demonstrate that commitment don't match the level of the threat we all face. This is

NOT a drill

NOT the time to give up

NOT a time for excuses

This is a time for pulling out all the stops  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 5, 2020

19:00 GMT  France reports three more coronavirus deaths, taking total to seven

Three more people have died from coronavirus infection in France on Thursday, taking the total to seven, while the number of confirmed infections rose by 138 to 423, a health official said.

A total of 23 people are in a very serious condition, health agency director Jerome Salomon said at a daily briefing about the virus.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a video on the Elysee palace website that it now appeared to be inevitable the coronavirus outbreak will develop into an epidemic in France

18:45 GMT  Saudi Arabia denounces Iran for accepting Saudi visitors amid coronavirus

Saudi Arabia denounced Iran for granting Saudi citizens entry amid the coronavirus outbreak and urged it to reveal the identities of all Saudi nationals who had visited since the start of February, a government statement said.

The statement, which cited an unnamed official, urged Saudi citizens who are currently in Iran or have returned recently to report their travel, promising if they did so in 48 hours they would not be subjected to a law forbidding travel to Iran, according to Reuters news agency.

18:30 GMT  New York state coronavirus cases double to 22

The number of people who have tested positive in New York state for the novel coronavirus has doubled to 22 after following a significant increase in testing, Governor Andrew Cuomo has said.

The number will continue to go up, Cuomo told a news conference. The more you test the higher number you will have.

18:15 GMT  Report: US Joint Chiefs of Staff creates 24/7 crisis management team

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body of military leaders that advises the White House, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, has set up a 24-hour team to track the global spread of coronavirus, according to a report by CNN.

18:00 GMT  Italy reports 41 new coronavirus deaths, bringing toll to 148

Italy has reported 41 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, its highest single-day total to date, bringing the number of fatalities in Europes most affected country to 148.

The number of cases also jumped by a new high of 769, reaching 3,858 over the past two weeks.

The latest figures mean Italy has the second most deaths behind China, where the new virus was first detected at the end of last year.

Very few people are seen in the area surrounding the Colosseum, which would usually be full of tourists, in Rome [Remo Casilli/Reuters]

17:40 GMT  First death in UK from Coronavirus

The UK has recorded its first death in the new coronavirus outbreak, Englands chief medical officer Chris Whitty said.

I am very sorry to report a patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died, he said in a statement, according to AFP news agency, adding the patient at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, west of London, was elderly and had underlying health conditions.

At least 115 people had been infected in the UK as of Thursday.

17:30 GMT  US govt to distribute enough test kits for 400,000 citizens: Official

US health officials have said they expect to be able to get enough coronavirus tests to public laboratories this week to test about 400,000 people, while acknowledging the challenge for doctors seeking to get patients screened for the disease.

Officials expect to ship additional test kits to cover between 1.5 and 1.7 million people by the end of next week, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters.

Right now, it is a challenge if you are a doctor wanting to get somebody tested, Azar said, following a briefing with lawmakers, adding that physicians could only reach out to a limited network of public health labs. That experience will get better over the next week, week and a half, two weeks. But do not be surprised if you hear concerns of doctors saying: I have a patient. I dont know how to get this done.'

A woman wears a facial surgical mask while riding the MARTA rail rapid transit system in Atlanta, Georgia [Erik S. Lesser/EPA]

17:20 GMT  WHO head: Epidemic can be pushed back with concerted approach

The epidemic of the coronavirus infection spreading around the world from China can be contained and controlled, the WHO has said, but only with a concerted response by all the worlds governments.

We are calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination, the WHOs director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a briefing at the UN health agencys Geneva headquarters.

Tedros voiced concern that some countries have either not taken this seriously enough, or have decided there is nothing they can do.

17:00 GMT  UK to prepare for significant spread of coronavirus: PM spokesman

UK officials will accelerate preparations for the next phase of the coronavirus outbreak, which they expect to spread in a significant way, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons spokesman has said.

It is now highly likely that the virus is going to spread in a significant way, the spokesman said, according to Reuters news agency. Officials will therefore accelerate work on preparations for the delay phase of the governments plan, focusing on steps we could take to seek to delay the spread of the virus.

16:50 GMT  Coronavirus shuts school attended by Swedish royals

An exclusive private school in Stockholm, which counts Swedish royalty among its pupils, closed on Thursday after a student tested positive for the coronavirus, the royal court said.

Attended by Princess Estelle, granddaughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and second in line to the throne, the Campus Manilla school draws its pupils from Swedens wealthiest families.

They have had a pupil at the school who has tested positive for the coronavirus, thats the reason they closed the school, the courts press secretary Johan Tegel told Reuters news agency. The princess is not the pupil who tested positive, Tegel said, adding only that she did not attend school today.

16:45 GMT  Coronavirus death toll in Italys Lombardy region rises to 98 from 73

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of a nationwide contagion, has risen over the past day to 98 from 73, a local official said on Thursday.

The latest national death toll figures are due to be released later in the day. On Wednesday the tally stood at 107.

16:35 GMT  WHO: North Korea still has no reported cases

Despite being in the heart of the coronavirus epidemic zone, North Korea still has no reported cases of the coronavirus, WHO official Mike Ryan has said.

Read more about the threat posed to North Korea by the coronavirus here.

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a health worker speaking to people about the coronavirus in Pyongyang [EPA]

16:30  GMT  WHO warns long list of countries not doing enough against coronavirus

The WHO has warned that a number of countries have not taken all the the steps needed to fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva he was concerned that a long list of countries were not showing the level of political commitment needed to match the level of the threat we all face.

16:20 GMT  NATO military HQ confirms first coronavirus cases

NATO said Thursday it had confirmed three cases of coronavirus linked to its military headquarters in Belgium  a civilian employee and two family members.

The employee had recently travelled to Italy. NATO said the employee and family members had not visited its Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) facility in Mons, southern Belgium, since returning from Italy.

There are three confirmed COVID-19 cases within our wider SHAPE community, NATO said in a statement. The cases were imported to Belgium following foreign travel and the affected individuals have not entered the SHAPE site since returning home.

16:15 GMT  Russia requires ships from Iran, Italy and South Korea to disinfect

Russia has required mandatory disinfection of ships arriving at the Black Sea ports of Novorossiiysk and Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka from Iran, Italy and South Korea because of the coronavirus, a document seen by Reuters news agency showed.

The branch of Rospotrebnadzor, the Russias consumer safety watchdog, has ordered port agents to arrange the disinfection of ships arriving from these countries before the border is opened in the city of Novorossiisk, the document showed.

Novorossiisk port is one of the biggest in the Black Sea. It handles grain, coal, mineral fertilizers, timber, oil and oil products, containers, food and chemical cargoes.

16:10 GMT  US envoy says Iran rejected coronavirus assistance offer

A US envoy has said Washington has offered humanitarian assistance to Iran to help them deal with their coronavirus outbreak but the regime rejected the offer.

In an interview, US special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said we asked the regime to identify what their needs are but Iran did not respond, according to the Associated Press news agency. He said the offer would stand.

Hook also said the U.S. has asked Iran to release all Americans from its prisons on medical furloughs over fears the coronavirus may be infesting the countrys prisons. He said five Americans are being held in Iran.

Members of a medical team spray disinfectant to sanitize outdoor place of Imam Rezas holy shrine, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Mashhad, Iran [Reuters]

16:05 GMT  US official says overall coronavirus mortality rates one percent or less

The best estimate of the overall mortality rate from the novel coronavirus lies somewhere between 0.1 percent and 1 percent, a senior US public health official has said.

Thats lower than youve heard probably, US Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir told reporters after briefing members of Congress, according to Reuters news agency. Many people dont get sick and dont get tested, he added. So probably for every case, there are at least two or three cases that are not in the denominator.

The World Health Organization has most recently put the death rate at 3.4 percent.

16:00 GMT  US: Seattle school district to close for two weeks

A school district north of Seattle with 22,000 students will close for up to two weeks because of coronavirus concerns.

All 26 schools in the Northshore School District will be closed for up to two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and protect vulnerable staff members, the districts superintendent said in a letter to parents, according the Associated Press news agency.

There have been at least 39 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Seattle area, with ten deaths.

Medics wheel out a person on a stretcher from the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases, in Washington state [Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]

15:50 GMT  Lufthansa suspends 7,100 flights in March, including to Israel

German airline group Lufthansa has said it is cancelling about 7,100 flights up to the end of March due to lower demand and the spread of coronavirus.

The group, which includes Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines, added it will reduce capacity by up to 25 percent, according to Reuters news agency. Among the affected flights are high-frequency connections in Germany and to Italy, which has reported thousands of coronavirus infections and is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world.

Lufthansa also said it will suspend all flights to Israel, starting on Sunday, until March 28.

15:45  North Korean leader sends get well soon message to South Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a letter expressing hope for South Korea to overcome a coronavirus outbreak, President Moon Jae-ins office has said, as the South battles the biggest epidemic of the disease outside China.

In the letter delivered on Wednesday, Kim voiced concern over Moons health, and expounded what he described as his honest view and position regarding the situation on the Korean peninsula, Moons office said, without elaborating.

Chairman Kim wished to console our citizens who are fighting the coronavirus, Yoon Do-han, Moons senior press secretary, told reporters. He said he believes we will win, and hoped the health of southern compatriots will be protected.

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a health worker speaking to people about the coronavirus in Pyongyang [EPA]

15:35  South African president says coronavirus will hurt tourism, economy

The spread of the coronavirus to South Africa will have a huge impact on travel and a negative impact on the already struggling South African economy, President Cyril Ramaphosa has

We will keep informing South Africans openly and transparently about a number of steps we will be taking because this will turn out to be a national crisis, the president said.

It will have a huge impact on travel, and a negative impact also on our economy.

15:25 GMT  France reports two more coronavirus deaths, taking total to six

French authorities have reported two more deaths linked to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, taking the total of deaths to six.

Authorities said in a statement France has also registered 92 new confirmed coronavirus cases, taking the total toll of cases to 377.

A woman wears a protective mask in light of the coronavirus outbreak in China as she walks at the Trocadero esplanade in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris [Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]

15:20 GMT  Coronavirus infections jump to 82 in the Netherlands

The number of patients infected with the coronavirus in the Netherlands has more than doubled to 82, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) has said.

The number of coronavirus cases in the Netherlands increased from 38 a day earlier. The countrys first infection was reported on February 27.

Sixty-nine patients were infected abroad or are had contact with confirmed patients. Of the new patients, two have been hospitalised. The other new patients are under home isolation.

15:15 GMT  Thailand announces compulsory quarantine for some locations

The Thai government has announced new compulsory quarantine measure for arrivals from four countries and two territories in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The move came as the Thai postal service began disinfecting all packages received from overseas, although the WHO has said it is safe to receive post from badly affected countries such as China.

The quarantine announcement, published in the official Royal Gazette , classified South Korea, China, Macao, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran as dangerous communicable disease areas.

15:00 GMT  US: Cruise ship with suspected cases held off San Francisco

An ocean liner that previously carried two passengers who contracted the coronavirus, one who later died, has been barred from returning to its home port of San Francisco from a voyage to Hawaii after at least 20 people aboard fell ill.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the cruise ship Grand Princess would remain at sea until passengers and crew complaining of symptoms that may be consistent with the coronavirus can be tested to determine whether they have it. Testing kits were being brought to the ship.

14:45 GMT  SA Health Minister warns virus will test health system

South Africas health minister has warned that the countrys health system would be tested by the coronavirus, after it earlier confirmed its first case.

Addressing lawmakers in Cape Town, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that South Africa was working with the WHO and other institutions to help diagnose the virus, called COVID-19, across Africa.

I think we need to be upfront about itOur system will be tested by the impact of coronavirus, he said, according to Reuters news agency.

14:30 GMT  Cases in Greece triple with links to pilgrim

Greece has said that 21 people linked to man who had tested positive for coronavirus after they all visited Israel and Egypt had themselves become infected.

The new cases brought the total in Greece to 31, and health ministry official Sotiris Tsiodras said a significant rise was expected in the coming weeks.

The 66-year-old man had recently returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt as part of a group. His wife also tested positive.

People wearing protective face masks are seen outside the AHEPA hospital, where the first confirmed coronavirus case was treated, in Thessaloniki, Greece [Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters]

14:15 GMT  UN concerned over Cyprus crossing closure

The United Nations has voiced concern over the disruption caused by the Republic of Cyprus governments temporary closure of several crossings on the divided islands ceasefire line over the coronavirus crisis.

Following the decision to temporarily close four crossing points along the buffer zone, UNFICYP is concerned by the ongoing disruption caused to people on both sides, the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus said in a statement. While the UN supports all effective measures to address any potential public health emergency, it is imperative for the two sides to coordinate closely in order to provide a comprehensive response.

The island is divided between the Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member state, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Ankara.

Tourists walk near the closed Ledra checkpoint at the UN-controlled buffer zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus [Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters]

14:00 GMT  Rugby: Italy versus England Six Nation games postponed

Englands final Six Nations matches against Italy in Rome next week has been postponed amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak, tournament organisers have said.

Six Nations notes the decree issued by the Italian Government with respect to all upcoming sporting events in that country, organisers said in a statement. The decision has now been taken to postpone the three matches between Italy and England (Mens, Womens, and U20) set to take place over the weekend of 13th/14th/15th March, with the intention to reschedule them at later dates.

Six Nations Statement on Italy V England games, weekend 13/14/15 Marchhttps://t.co/U9pas8oAvr  Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 5, 2020

13:45 GMT  #CoronaVirusSA trends worldwide after first case confirmed

The hashtag #CoronaVirusSA began trending worldwide after the first case was confirmed in South Africa.

Authorities said the infected 38-year-old man had recently traveled to Italy with his wife. A tracer team has been identifying anyone who had contact with the man and his personal doctor has self isolated, South Africas National Institute for Communicable Diseases tweeted.

Fam, I want you to be safe. Please follow the official govt account @HealthZA for accurate info on the #CoronaVirusSA updates. Be careful about not being driven to panic by clout chasers & keyboard doctors. We have to be responsible with the info we share!   Kgopolo Mphela (@PhilMphela) March 5, 2020

13:30 GMT  South Africa third sub-Saharan country to confirm coronavirus case

South Africas announcement that a case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the country makes it the third sub-Saharan country to report the infection.

Senegal has reported one case, while Nigeria has reported four, to date. Sub-Saharan Africa is considered high risk for an outbreak because of its close ties to China and weak health care infrastructure in many countries.

The Emergency Operating Centre (EOC) has identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor. The tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from NICD. The doctor has been self-isolated as well. #COVID19SA  NICD (@nicd_sa) March 5, 2020

In North Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have confirmed cases.

13:15 GMT  South Africa Health Minister: Citizens in China to be brought home

South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has said citizens currently quarantined in China will be returning home in the next few days.

Mkhize made the announcement shortly after the country confirmed its first case of the virus, a man who had recently travelled to Italy with his wife.

12:30 GMT  Netherlands braces for return of 900 students from Italian alps

Dutch health authorities said they were scrambling to put together a plan for the return of a group of about 900 students from a skiing trip in the north of Italy.

The trip by the youngsters, mostly in their early 20s, to the heart of Europes worst coronavirus outbreak has stoked fears of a wider spread of the virus in the Netherlands, where the number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday stood at 38.

We are working very hard to prepare for all different scenarios, local health authorities spokeswoman Hanneke Mensink told Reuters news agency.

These scenarios might include plans to monitor or test all students involved after their return.

A woman from the Netherlands and her friend from Britain stand next to the display flight information at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport [Nacho Doce/Reuters]

12:20 GMT  Egypt reports first case in an Egyptian national

Egypt recorded the first coronavirus case in an Egyptian national who had returned from Serbia via France, a joint statement from the health ministry and the World Health Organization said.

The North African country registered two cases before in foreigners, one of whom recovered and was released from quarantine.

12:06 GMT  Formal proposal to postpone matches shared: FIFA

FIFA shared a formal proposal to postpone upcoming matches in the Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers with relevant member associations.

For both FIFA and the AFC, the well-being and health of all individuals involved in football matches remains the highest priority, FIFAs statement read, adding that it will provide an update in the coming days following consultation with AFC member associations.

Other topics of discussion were the womens Olympic play-off between Korea Republic and China PR, as well as the AFC Futsal Championship Turkmenistan 2020, it said.

12:00 GMT  South Africa confirms first case of coronavirus

South Africas health ministry confirmed its first case of coronavirus in the country.

The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.

The couple returned to South Africa on March 1 and the patient consulted a private practitioner two days later with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough.

The patient has been in isolation since then as well as the doctor.

Travellers wearing protective face masks arrive from Shenzhen in China, at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa [Phill Magakoe/AFP]

11:33 GMT  New Delhi primary schools closed

All government-run primary schools in the Indian capital will remain closed until March 31 as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, the local education minister said.

11:17 GMT  US, Israel cancel military exercise

The US and Israel have scrapped the remainder of their joint military exercise Juniper Cobra 20 over the coronavirus outbreak, the US European Command based in Germany said.

The decision is in alignment with recent Israeli Ministry of Health guidelines on COVID-19, and a precautionary measure to ensure the health and safety of all participants, USEUCOM said in a statement.

10:54 GMT  Palestinian Authority issues foreign tourist ban

The Palestinian Authority ordered hotels in the occupied West Bank to stop receiving foreign tourists after four suspected cases of the coronavirus were found in Bethlehem.

The two-week restriction, announced by the Palestinian Tourism Ministry, goes into effect on Friday.

A visitor wearing a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus takes pictures in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Mussa Qawasma/Reuters]

10:44 GMT  Iran says deaths reach 107 amid 3,513 confirmed cases

Iran announced 15 deaths and 591 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 107 dead amid 3,513 infected cases across the country, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference.

10:30 GMT  Chinas Alibaba to offer $144m in subsidies as shopping suffers

Chinas Alibaba Group will provide one billion yuan ($144m) in spending subsidies for a March online shopping festival to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Alibabas announcement, made in a social media post, comes as the e-commerce giant wrestles with depressed consumer spending in China, which is in a state of semi-quarantine.

10:20 GMT  Iran closes schools, universities until March 20

According to Irans health minister, Iran will close schools and universities until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20 due to the coronavirus.

10:16 GMT  Bethlehem church to close

The Church of Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus will close after a suspected outbreak of the coronavirus, a church official said.

The Palestinian health ministry called for local churches, mosques and other institutions to close after a number of suspected cases at a hotel in the Holy Land city of Bethlehem.

Tourists visit the Church of the Nativity, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem, occupied West Bank [AFP]

10:15 GMT  Slovenia confirms first case

Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec said the first case of COVID-19 has been detected in Slovenia.

Slovenias Health Minister Ales Sabeder said the person detected with the virus had traveled from Morocco to Italy and then to Slovenia.

09:55 GMT  COVID-19 accompanied by conspiracy theories

Coronavirus rapid spread has been accompanied by an outbreak of false claims and conspiracy theories on social and mainstream media, allowing misinformation on the origins of the virus and hoaxes on cures to travel as fast as the infection.

One study by the US State Department, reported on by the Washington Post, said roughly two million tweets touting conspiracy theories about the virus  such as claims it was caused by a bioweapon  had been posted outside the US over the three-week period when the disease began to spread outside China.

Read more here.

09:37 GMT  Airlines could lose up to $113bn in revenue: IATA

Airlines could lose $63bn to $113bn in revenue for passenger traffic globally in 2020, depending on how the coronavirus spreads, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

IATA on February 20 estimated the outbreak would cost carriers $29.3bn in revenue.

09:35 GMT  Kuwait confirms two more cases

Kuwaits Ministry of Health confirmed two more coronavirus cases, during the past 24 hours.

The ministry said that the two cases came from Iran, bringing the countrys total number of confirmed cases to 58.

09:20 GMT  Germany reports 109 new cases in a day

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 109 within a day, a public health institute said.

As of Thursday morning, there were 349 cases across all but one federal state, up from 240 on Wednesday morning and compared with 262 on Wednesday afternoon, the Robert Koch Institute said.

The hardest-hit state is the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germanys most populous, with 175 cases.

09:15 GMT  More than 290 million students missing school: UN

More than 290 million students have been affected by school closures across 13 countries to curb the coronavirus outbreak, the UN said.

While temporary school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education, Audrey Azoulay, director general of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a statement.





09:06 GMT  Switzerland reports first death

A 74-year-old woman in western Switzerland has died after contracting the new coronavirus, the countrys first death, regional police said.

The woman had been hospitalised in the canton of Vaud since Tuesday, police said. She was a high-risk patient suffering from chronic disease, authorities said.

07:43 GMT  Bosnia and Herzegovina reports first two cases

Bosnia and Herzegovina has reported its first two cases of coronavirus, confirmed by the health ministry of Bosnias Republika Srpska entity.

Alen Seranic, the regional health minister said at a press conference that a middle-aged man, who returned to Bosnia a month ago from Italy where he works, has been infected with coronavirus as well as his child.

The man was confirmed earlier this week as having coronavirus. Hes currently in stable condition and is being kept in isolation in hospital in the city of Banja Luka.

Health authorities will test school children who have had contact with the infected child, as well as all other members of the infected family, he said. The school will be closed for the next couple of days.

07:36 GMT  Chinese President Xis visit delayed

Chinese President Xi Jinpings state visit to Japan has been postponed because as countries have agreed to prioritise the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, Japans top government spokesman said.

The Asian neighbours agreed that a new itinerary would be arranged at a better time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

Suga said the delay in Xis visit, which had been originally planned for early April, would not affect Japan-China relations.

06:42 GMT  Greece reports tenth case, shuts schools in three areas

Greece reported its tenth case of coronavirus. The person had recently returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt, health authorities said.

Greece on Wednesday ordered schools to be closed and banned public gatherings in three districts in western Greece from Thursday as a precaution after a person from the region tested positive for coronavirus.

The ban was in effect for 48 hours and subject to review, authorities said.





06:41 GMT  Italy may raise support spending to five billion euros

Italys government is likely to increase to five billion euros ($5.57bn) the value of measures to help the economy withstand the largest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe, Deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli said.

It is likely that the government will reach [five billion euros] Castelli said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero, adding that she thought it was necessary to raise the bar as much as possible.

Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri has promised tax breaks and other measures for the affected sectors worth 3.6 billion euros.

A government source told Reuters on Wednesday this may be raised to 4.5 billion, or 0.25 percent of GDP.

06:35 GMT  UAE advises against travel abroad

The United Arab Emirates has urged citizens and other residents to avoid travelling abroad because of concerns over a coronavirus, state news agency WAM said.

Authorities in the Gulf state may order medical checks on returning travellers and ask them to stay in isolation at home, pending the outcome, WAM said, citing a health ministry statement.

The UAE, which has closed schools and educational institutions for four weeks, said students and education workers would have to spend two weeks in home isolation on returning to the country.

06:30 GMT  IMF: Virus will slow global economic growth this year

The spread of the coronavirus will hold 2020 global output gains to their slowest pace since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday.

The IMF now expects 2020 world growth to be below the 2.9 percent rate for 2019 and revised forecasts will be issued in the coming weeks.

The IMF is making available $50bn in emergency funding to help poor and middle-income countries with weak health systems respond to the epidemic, Georgieva said after a call with the IMFs steering committee.

Read more here.

05:40 GMT  More people evacuated from Hong Kong

Hong Kong is evacuating more of its people from Wuhan where the coronavirus originated late last year.

The first group of evacuees arrived on Wednesday, after going through health checks before boarding. They will spend 14 days in quarantine.

Hong Kong is evacuating its citizens from Wuhan in China [Information Services Department, Hong Kong SAR Government/Al Jazeera]

05:20 GMT  Thailand reports four more cases

Thailand has diagnosed four more cases of coronavirus; an Italian man who arrived in the country on March 1, a Thai man who returned from Italy, a Chinese man who was in transit from Iran to China and was found to have the virus during screening. and a Thai student who had come back from Iran.

The country now has 47 confirmed cases.

04:35 GMT  Japans Anges to work on vaccine with Osaka University

Reuters is reporting that Japanese biopharmaceutical firm Anges will work with Osaka University on developing a coronavirus vaccine.

Anges says it will be a preventative DNA vaccine, according to Reuters, which also cites a professor at Osaka University saying such vaccines could be mass produced in a short period of time.

Researchers around the world have been working to develop effective treatments and vaccines since Chinese scientists first isolated the coronavirus genome back in January.

04:20 GMT  China, Hong Kong cautiously getting back to work

Al Jazeeras Divya Gopalan has been giving us an update from Hong Kong where she says there are now more people on the street, and more traffic than there have been in weeks.

China is also trying to get its people back to work after a prolonged shutdown to stop the virus from spreading.

The strict quarantines appear to be paying off in terms of lower numbers of daily confirmed cases, but there was a slight uptick in the data released on Thursday  139 new cases, compared with 119 the day before  and the country has revised its counting methods a few times.

China is far from out of the woods, Gopalan says. Its changed the way it tallies the numbers several times. At the moment, it does not include those who are asymptomatic  people who have the virus but are not showing symptoms.

03:52 GMT  UK airline Flybe collapses as coronavirus hits flights

Britains biggest operator of domestic flights, Flybe, has announced that it is grounding all its flights following a declaration of bankruptcy, as the coronavirus epidemic takes toll on airline companies worldwide.

All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect, said the airline, which employs an estimated 2,000 people.

02:45 GMT  Olympics will go ahead: Minister Seiko Hashimoto

Japans Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said on Thursday the country was still preparing for the Summer Games, which are due to start in July.

Cancellation or delay of the Games would be unacceptable for the athletes, Hashimoto told the Upper House budget committee. An environment where athletes can feel at ease and focus should be firmly prepared.

Hashimoto was speaking as the western prefecture of Shiga reported its first coronavirus case  a man in his 60s  and the countrys total number of cases rose above 1,000.

There has been speculation over whether the Olympics will be delayed amid the global coronavirus outbreak [Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters]

02:15 GMT  Australia announces second death; more travel restrictions

Australia says a second person has died from the coronavirus; an elderly woman who was diagnosed with the illness after a worker at the nursing home where she lived was confirmed to have the virus.

Most of Australias 52 cases are people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship which was quarantined off Japan, but the country has also introduced travel restrictions with a number of countries.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said non-Australians coming from South Korea would not be allowed to enter the country, while people arriving from Italy would have to go through enhanced screening.

A ban on visitors from China and Iran was also being extended, he said.

02:05 GMT  South Korea cases continue to climb

South Korea has just given its first update of the day on the coronavirus situation there. Its confirmed 438 new cases taking total infections to 5,766.

The Korea Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention also said three more people died from the virus, bringing the total to 35.

The US has also reported two more cases among the 28,500 soldiers stationed in the country, bringing the total to six.

01:55 GMT  Watchdog tells Qantas to improve cleaning standards

Australias national carrier has been told to spruce up its cleaning to ensure passengers are better protected from the coronavirus.

The Sydney Morning Herald says Safework NSW issued a notice to the airline on February 26 warning of an inadequate system of work used to clean planes that may have transported passengers with an infectious disease.

Qantas has been ordered to improve how it cleans its aircraft after a workplace safety inspection found the airline could be putting workers and passengers at risk of catching infectious diseases https://t.co/3gqjiXMczs  The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) March 4, 2020

01:35 GMT  Singapore delays flight after passenger confirmed with COVID-19

Singapores Transport Ministry grounded a Turkish Airlines flight on Wednesday after one of the passengers tested positive for the coronavirus.

TK54, a Boeing 787-9, arrived in Singapore from Turkey on March 3, but was delayed on the return leg after the case was discovered, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

(The) Ministry of Health has started contact tracing for flight passengers who may have had contact with the case while the case was infectious, it said.

Local media reported there were 220 people on the plane, which flew back to Turkey with crew but no passengers in the early hours of Thursday morning.

00:35 GMT  China coronavirus deaths exceed 3,000

Chinas National Health Commission has just released its daily update on the coronavirus.

It reported 139 new cases on Wednesday, compared with 119 the day before. That brings the total number of cases on the mainland 80,409.

The number of deaths rose to 3,012 after an additional 31 people died from the illness.

00:25 GMT  California declares state of emergency over virus

California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus after the state reported its first death from the disease.

Newsom told a media briefing the state had 53 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Governor @GavinNewsom today declared a State of Emergency to make additional resources available, formalize emergency actions already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, help the state prepare for broader spread of #COVID19, and more.https://t.co/J0edoIPlPu  Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) March 5, 2020

Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur opening todays blog.

A recap of Wednesdays developments:

The US Congress has approved emergency funding of $8.3bn to tackle the coronavirus with more than 100 people diagnosed with COVID-19 and 11 deaths. The upper house will vote on the measure on Thursday.

Other countries tackling more severe outbreaks of the disease announced new measures.

Italy, where the death toll has risen to 107, is closing schools and universities and no fans will be allowed to attend large sporting events.

Iran has banned top government officials from leaving the country. The vice president, the deputy heath minister and 23 members of parliament have all been diagnosed with the disease.

In Iraq, a second person died from COVID-19.

Click here to read all the updates from March 4.
Mumbai, March 5 : In a major setback to former chief of ICICI Bank, the Bombay High Court has dismissed her plea challenging her termination as the bank's Managing Director and CEO on Thursday.

A division bench comprising Justice N.M. Jamdar and Justice M.S. Karnik accepted the ICICI Bank's contention that the petition was not maintainable as it was a contractual dispute concerning a private body.

In her plea filed in November 2019, Kochhar had also challenged the private bank's actions seeking to recover various amounts towards the clawback of bonuses and stock options given to her between April 2009-March 2018 for her alleged role in extending loans of Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon Group which benefited her husband Deepak Kochhar.

Kochhar was sacked from the bank a few months after she voluntarily quit and later she challenged her dismissal in January 2019 while the mandatory 'prior sanction' was given by the Reserve Bank of India in March 2019.

Her lawyer Vikram Nankani had argued that the termination came months after the ICICI Bank cleared her voluntary resignation on October 4, 2018 and hence the subsequent termination was "illegal, untenable and unsustainable in law".

The bank's counsel Darius Khambata contended that the reliefs sought by Kochhar in her plea are not maintainable and must be dismissed as ICICI Bank is a private entity administered under the Companies Act and not the state or its agency.

Khambata pointed out that the delay in the RBI sanction was due to the pending submission report of the probe commission headed by retired Justice B.N. Srikrishna, and asserted that the termination of her service was legal with due procedures followed.

The bank said that the inquiry report revealed how Kochhar had not fulfilled her contractual duties, failed to disclose her personal interests through her husband who was a director of a firm being probed for illegalities along with the Videocon Group, which was against the Code of Conduct and applicable laws, rules and regulations.

The high-profile Kochhar was in the limelight for the 2012 Videocon Group loan and the subsequent developments pertaining to her husband's company NuPower which was the alleged beneficiary.
Subduction zones -- places where one tectonic plate dives beneath another -- are where the world's largest and most damaging earthquakes occur. A new study has found that when underwater mountains -- also known as seamounts -- are pulled into subduction zones, not only do they set the stage for these powerful quakes, but also create conditions that end up dampening them.

The findings mean that scientists should more carefully monitor particular areas around a subducting seamount, researchers said. The practice could help scientists better understand and predict where future earthquakes are most likely to occur.

"The Earth ahead of the subducting seamount becomes brittle, favoring powerful earthquakes while the material behind it remains soft and weak, allowing stress to be released more gently," said co-author Demian Saffer, director of the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences.

The study was published on March 2 in Nature Geoscience and was led by Tian Sun, who is currently a research scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada. Other co-authors include Susan Ellis, a scientist at the New Zealand research institute GNS Science. Saffer supervised the project and was Sun's postdoctoral advisor at Penn State when they began the study.

The researchers used a computer model to simulate what happens when seamounts enter ocean trenches created by subduction zones. According to the model, when a seamount sinks into a trench, the ground ahead of it becomes brittle, as its slow advance squeezes out water and compacts the Earth. But in its wake, the seamount leaves a trail of softer wet sediment. The hard, brittle rock can be a source for powerful earthquakes, as forces generated by the subducting plate build up in it -- but the weakened, wet material behind the seamount creates an opposite, dampening effect on these quakes and tremors.

Although seamounts are found all over the ocean floor, the extraordinary depths at which subduction occurs means that studying or imaging a subducting seamount is extremely difficult. This is why until now, scientists were not sure whether seamounts could affect the style and magnitude of subduction zone earthquakes.

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The current research tackled the problem by creating a realistic computer simulation of a subducting seamount and measuring the effects on the surrounding rock and sediment, including the complex interactions between stresses in the Earth and fluid pressure in the surrounding material. Getting realistic data for the model involved conducting experiments on rock samples collected from subduction zones by scientific ocean drilling offshore Japan.

The scientists said the model's results took them completely by surprise. They had expected water pressure and stress to break up material at the head of the seamount and thus weaken the rocks, not strengthen them.

"The seamount creates a feedback loop in the way fluids get squeezed out and the mechanical response of the rock to changes fluid pressure," said Ellis, who co-developed the numerical code at the heart of the study.

The scientists are satisfied their model is robust because the earthquake behavior it predicts consistently matches the behavior of real earthquakes.

While the weakened rock left in the wake of seamounts may dampen large earthquakes, the researchers believe that it could be an important factor in a type of earthquake known as a slow slip event. These slow-motion quakes are unique because they can take days, weeks and even months to unfold.

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Laura Wallace, a research scientist at UTIG and GNS Science, who was the first to document New Zealand slow slip events, said that the research was a demonstration of how geological structures in the Earth's crust, such as seamounts, could influence a whole spectrum of seismic activity.

"The predictions from the model agree very nicely with what we are seeing in New Zealand in terms of where small earthquakes and tremors are happening relative to the seamount," said Wallace, who was not part of the current study.

Sun believes that their investigations have helped address a knowledge gap about seamounts, but that research will benefit from more measurements.

"We still need high resolution geophysical imaging and offshore earthquake monitoring to better understand patterns of seismic activity," said Sun.

The research was funded by the Seismogenesis at Hikurangi Integrated Research Experiment (SHIRE), an international project co-led by UT Austin to investigate the origin of earthquakes in subduction zones.

The study was also supported by the National Science Foundation, the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and GNS Science.
The governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has ordered lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Ebonyi State University chapter, to call off its warning strike and return to their classrooms.

The governor warned further that failure to do so would lead to the withholding of their salaries and other entitlements.

Mr Umahi spoke in a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Kenneth Ugballa, on Thursday.

The lecturers had last week embarked on a strike which they tagged active non-compliance strike action.

The ASSU- EBSU Chapter Chairman, Ikechukwu Igwenyi, had said the union decided to embark on the strike because all efforts to make the school management listen to its demands have been unsuccessful.

All the efforts we have been making to ensure that there is effective communication between ASUU and the management has not yielded fruit and so we decided to embark on what we call active non-compliance strike.

Our work has so many facets. We render community services; we do research as well as teaching. So, we downed tools on teaching while we carry out our duties in the areas of research and community services, that is what we mean by active noncompliance, he explained.

But Mr Umahi, in the statement, disagreed with ASUU and urged them to call off the strike for the sake of the state.

The Governor of Ebonyi State has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of the University, Ebonyi State Chapter, to please, call off the strike and go back to work for the interest of the State.

The Governor noted that he has personally intervened on the affairs and welfare of ASUU workers in the State and only last year, a total of 1.5 Billion naira has been paid to ASUU by Ebonyi State Government for the accumulative demand of ASUU from the past administration, the statement said.

Mr Umahi said the demands by the lecturers are not enough reasons to embark on the strike action.

The statement highlighted that the government has gone through the issues between ASUU and Management and discovered that most of their demands are more political than genuine, hence, it does not see these demands as not enough reasons to make ASUU embark on any strike action.

The statement highlighted that as from Monday, March 9, anybody who has not done his or her BVN registration with their banks and is also not going to work, will not receive a salary.

Government, therefore, directs that such worker must leave the University and perhaps continue his or her strike action at home.

However, the government wishes to assure full protection of all academic workers of the University who wants to work, as Government will invoke every section of the law to protect such workers.

The statement said the governor has offered to mediate between ASUU and the Management of the school over the current misunderstanding and proffer a lasting solution.

The governor, however, warned that it would hold Mr Igwenyi responsible if there is break down of law and order in the institution.

Consequently Government will personally hold ASUU Chairman responsible for any form of public disorder or break down of law at the University as Ebonyi, the statement highlighted.

The statement reiterated the state governments commitment towards providing affordable and quality education in all tertiary institutions in the state and appealed to ASUU, EBSU Chapter to lend their support.

Mr Igwenyi told this reporter that he would issue an official reaction on the matter later, after discussing with his colleagues.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday confirmed 20 new cases of COVID-19 over 24 hours, bringing the United States total to at least 149.

At least 49 of those cases are people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, or the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the CDC said, adding that the data was current as of 4 p.m. Wednesday. At least 30 are travel-related infections, while 17 were caused by person-to-person spread. U.S. health officials are also investigating 53 other cases with no clear source of the infection, the CDC said.

The CDC said it's tested 1,526 people for the flu-like virus as of Wednesday. That does include testing being done at state and local public health laboratories, which began this week, the agency said.

Earlier in the day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed two new cases of COVID-19  a man and a woman with no known connection to other people who have the virus.

The World Health Organization is urging nations to "pull out all the stops" to fight COVID-19 as it continues to spread outside of China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
A dog has been quarantined in Hong Kong after it tested weak positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said on Wednesday. The pet dog - a Pomeranian - has been handed over to the Hong Kong Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).

Reuters

The Department of AFCD said, experts from different universities and World Organisation for Animal Health have agreed that It is likely to be a case of human to animal transmission.



The Department also told that although the pet dog has tested weak positive, it doesn't show any symptoms of the virus.

New measures put in place by Hong Kong's government on Friday, entail that all pets suspected to be infected with the coronavirus must be separated for 14 days. Two canines are already in isolation.

Reuters

The other dog in quarantine belongs to a second coronavirus patient. Authorities in Hong Kong said that they will continue to monitor the pet and return it to its owner when it tests negative for the virus.

AFCD official said, Apart from maintaining good hygiene practices, pet owners need not to be over concerned and under no circumstances should leave or abandon their pets.

The department has mentioned that they will closely monitor the canine and collect samples to confirm whether the dog has really been infected with coronavirus, or it's the result of environmental contamination of the dog's mouth and nose.

The overall confirmed cases of coronavirus in Hong Kong are 104 (in humans), and two deaths have been confirmed this month.
The ministry (MoST) made the announcement at the press briefing on March 5.

The kit is very important for the country, especially in case the epidemic breaks out on a wider scale. The global outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an insufficiency of medical materials and devices, including a kit for virus qualitative detection. The kit has proved reliable and safe for mass production, said Pham Cong Tac, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.

On March 4, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son signed Decision No.774/QD-BYT, allowing Viet A Corporation to begin large-scale production of the kit for qualitative detection of COVID-19.

Back in late January, after Vietnam detected the first case of COVID-19 infection, the MoST had an urgent meeting with senior experts and scientists to discuss the possibility of conducting a research on a kit for qualitative detection of the novel virus.

The search is made by the Military Medical Institute in co-operation with Viet A Corporation  a leading medical technology firm  is successfully done in two months, and on March 3 its results were approved by the national sci-tech council led by the Minister of Science and Technology.

Phan Quoc Viet, general director of Viet A Corporation, said that it has a daily production capacity of 10,000 units. If necessary, it can be increased by three times to meet local demand as well as for exports and international support.

According to the latest update from the Ministry of Health, by 6am of March 5, the world had 95,049 COVID-10 infected cases, including 80,269 in China and 14,780 in 81 countries and territories outside China. The fatal epidemic killed 3,252 people, including 2,981 people in China, and 271 others outside China.

World Bank to launch $12 billion support package for COVID-19 response As the COVID-19 has reached more than 60 countries, the World Bank Group is making available an initial package of up to $12 billion in ...

Vietnam suspends visa exemptions for Italian citizens The government has just issued Resolution No.23/NQ-CP on suspending visa exemptions for Italian citizens in order to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
For a guy who lives to be the Godzilla of the news cycle, youd think our president would have recognized a great opportunity when it was sitting right on top of his very great, stable genius brain. How did he miss an obvious motherlode of public attention, his for the taking, if only he had delivered the right State of the Union address?

Its a question that will be answered only in the fullness of time, by clinically-depressed historians, as they pick through the historical rubble of the current administration.

But let me offer a rough version of the stunning speech that would have outshone even his most outrageous presidential piffle of the past. I know thats a tall order, given the rich layers of putrid verbal lasagna already on record, but hear me out.

(Solemnly, he stands at the rostrum, surveying the faces in the chamber.)

New and improved Civicks 101 Your Turn: A handy guide to our fantastic new form of government. Absolutely fantastic. Everyone's saying so.

Madame Speaker; Mister Vice-President; members of Congress; my fellow Americans: I stand before you today to say without hesitation that the state of the union is strong. But before I talk with you about the many areas where America is demonstrating its strength, I want first to say something about the most powerful reason for the strength of our union. And that is that we are united as Americans. That we are united in the belief that the Founders created something magnificent, a model for the world, when they gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to fashion the Constitution. We, all of us, regardless of race or religion or sexual orientation, are united in our loyalty to our system of government, and united in a desire to protect it against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

That we often do not all agree on exactly how to enhance our union, on how best to improve the lives of our citizens, is a fact that is much less significant than our devotion to a system that allows for that peaceful disagreement. In our current political climate, very different ideas are vigorously advocated by the major parties and by independent political figures. But in the face of all the noise, all the disagreement and rancor, we must keep before our eyes the great truth that we are one nation.

Tonight, I do not shrink from admitting that I may in the past have been too willing to fan the flames of discord in the nation, using less than even-handed terms to describe some of my fellow Americans, and even allowing fabrications, vagaries or exaggerations to pass for truth. I have stoked the fears and resentments of many Americans, and have unfortunately brought the national discourse to new lows of civility and decency.

Though I have been very public in expressing my feeling of having been mistreated by the press and various elements of the government  feelings that I continue to insist are valid  I would like this evening to extend a hand to those who oppose me. I do not extend my hand in friendship; our differences are too great for that. But I extend it in hope and optimism, recognizing that there are great issues that today need addressing more urgently than ever, issues that can find resolution only through compromise and mutual cooperation.

Imagining the future: After the famous 5th Avenue shooting I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, okay, and I wouldnt lose any voters, okay? --Donald Trump

Okay, of course its all much too mature, statesmanlike, and presidential. But what a headline grabber. And there would be plenty of time to do a quick 180 to reassure his base that he hadnt suddenly become sane. You know: offer them a blast of bragging, lies, and exaggerations. The stuff everybody loves and respects so much.

(He pauses. A sly smile creeps onto his face. He shakes his head and chuckles.)

Look at you people! You should see your faces, folks. Its pretty funny, let me tell you. I mean, did you really think I meant all that stuff? You gotta be kidding. Like suddenly Im gonna make nice, and work with losers and scum, people who are a disgrace, who hate our country? I was playing you like a violin.

Your Turn: This American tragedy continues Even beyond the actual crime, theres the equally depressing spectacle of his glazed-eyed followers completely buying into this sleaze-o-rama.

The Dems just want America to be a communist country, like Venezuela. They want to take away all your guns and throw you in jail. They want terrorists and freeloaders and trans-genders with drugs to come across the border. They want to take away your hamburgers, kill your 401(k), force you to have health care, and limit the number of times you can flush the toilet, too! But I wont let em, folks. You remember how real Americans used to treat disgraceful people like this? Sure you do. Theyd knock the c*** out of em. Those traitors would be carried out on stretchers!

Now thats a president for the history books. Or at least for anthologies of mental illness case studies.

Moser lives in Napa and is the author of the memoir Seeking. He blogs at thisunholymess.com.
Vietnamese authorities have unveiled what they have known so far about the travel history of a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient as well as other passengers and crew who flew with the Japanese passenger to Ho Chi Minh City this week.

The Japanese national, together with 66 other passengers and six crew members, was on Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 from Siem Reap, Cambodia that landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City at 10:03 pm on Tuesday.

The Japanese then boarded a connecting flight, VN340, to Nagoya, Japan that departed at 1:19 am local time on Wednesday.

The person tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Japan with symptoms including a fever and coughing.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the infected Japanese occupied seat 33D on the VN814 flight and rested in a business lounge at the international terminal during his brief transit at the southern airdrome.

Regarding the other 66 passengers, 60 boarded connecting flights to other countries on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning, according to the Tan Son Nhat Border Police.

Among them, 50 flew to London in the UK, eight to Japan, and two to the southern South Korean city of Busan.

Six passengers, namely one Vietnamese, three French citizens, one Australian, and one Filipino, entered Ho Chi Minh City through immigration.

With the exception of the Vietnamese passenger, all five foreigners boarded flights to other countries on Wednesday.

Specifically, the Filipino national flew to Manila, the Philippines, the three French nationals flew to Bangkok, Thailand, and the Australian passenger returned to Australia.

None of them were quarantined during their brief stay in the southern metropolis.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese passenger is now being quarantined at an isolation camp in the city alongside the crew of flight VN814 and ground staff that have come into contact with passengers on the Cambodia-Vietnam flight.

The family members of the Vietnamese passenger are also under home quarantine.

The 12-member crew of flight VN340 from Ho Chi Minh City to Nagoya with the COVID-19-infected Japanese returned to Tan Son Nhat on flight VN341 with 73 passengers.

The plane landed at the Ho Chi Minh City-based airdrome at 1:55 pm on Wednesday.

Upon their arrival, 51 of the 73 passengers, the 12 crew members, and at least seven members of the ground staff were put in quarantine.

Meanwhile, the remaining 22 travelers went through transit procedures in a private line at Tan Son Nhat to board different connecting flights bound for the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

All planes commissioned for the aforementioned flights have been thoroughly disinfected.

Functional forces of Vietnam and Japan are currently working to clarify the travel history of the Japanese COVID-19 patient while he was in Cambodia.

Over 95,300 people have been infected and 3,285 killed globally by COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Over 1,000 infections have been confirmed in Japan, with 12 deaths, as of Thursday.

Vietnam requires a compulsory 14-day quarantine period for anyone entering the country with a recent travel history to areas affected by COVID-19.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
STAINES-UPON-THAMES, United Kingdom, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK), a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced publication of findings from a prospective, open-label pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) at high risk of chronic kidney disease progression.1 The study was published in Kidney International Reports, the journal of the International Society of Nephrology. IgAN, also known as Berger's disease, is a kidney disease that occurs when IgA deposits build up in the kidneys, causing inflammation that damages kidney tissues2,3

The study, titled "An Open-Label Pilot Study of Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone in the Treatment of lgA Nephropathy at High Risk of Progression," demonstrated that treatment with Acthar Gel resulted in a significant reduction in 24-hour urinary protein (P=0.007) with a stable estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (P=0.1)  a measure of renal function  following six months of treatment with 80 units twice weekly, and an additional six-month follow up. Elevated amounts of urinary protein (>1 g/24 hours) are associated with increased risk of progression to end-stage renal disease and up to 50 percent of patients with IgAN and proteinuria will progress to end-stage renal disease within 15 years.1 No patients discontinued the study due to side effects and there were no serious adverse events reported. Six patients were treated for infections. The most common other adverse events were injection reaction, muscle soreness, acne, hot flashes, anxiety and insomnia.1

Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) is indicated to induce a diuresis or a remission of proteinuria (excess protein in the urine) in nephrotic syndrome without uremia of the idiopathic type or that due to lupus erythematosus.4 Please see Important Safety Information for Acthar Gel below.

"IgAN is a clinically challenging immune-mediated kidney disease in which patients are at risk of rapidly progressing to end-stage renal disease, yet there are limited therapeutic options for the reduction of proteinuria in IgAN available to physicians and patients," said Tunde Otulana, M.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Mallinckrodt. "We are encouraged by these results and are committed to supporting additional research in this patient population with unmet needs."

Study Methods 1

The prospective, open-label study assessed 19 patients >18 years of age with biopsy-proven IgAN treated with Acthar Gel 80 units subcutaneously twice weekly for six months and followed patients for a total of 12 months.

Subjects were required to have a urinary protein >1 g/24 hours despite adequate renin-angiotensin system inhibition and eGFR >30 ml/min at enrollment.

The primary endpoint was: change in proteinuria and eGFR from baseline to 12 months. Complete response was defined as a 24-hour urinary protein <300 mg and 10 percent reduction in eGFR and partial response was defined as a >50 percent reduction in urinary protein and 25 percent reduction in eGFR.

The primary safety endpoint was incidence of infections (pneumonia, urinary tract infections and pyelonephritis) and rate of developing diabetes.

Key Findings 1

The study demonstrated a significant reduction in 24-hour urinary protein from mean 2.6 to 1.3 g (P=0.007) at 12-month follow-up after being treated with Acthar Gel.

Following treatment with Acthar Gel, patients had stable eGFR, a measure for kidney function (mean 65.5 to 61.1 ml/min, P=0.1).

Eight patients (42 percent) achieved partial remission (PR). There were no complete remissions. Of the eight patients who achieved PR, seven had proteinuria less than 1 g at 12 months, with a median 24-hour urinary protein of 625 mg (3441458 mg).

Fifty-three adverse events (AEs) were reported, including six infections (two viral and four bacterial) that were treated effectively with anti-infectives. No serious AEs were reported and no patients developed hyperglycemia.

Study Limitations 1

Results may not be solely attributable to Acthar Gel.

This study's small sample size and lack of a placebo group for comparison limit the ability to make associations between clinical outcomes and potential predictors.

Due to the limited follow-up, it is not known what long-term outcomes patients experienced, including changes in eGFR, which may occur over a longer period of time.

"Patients with IgAN are at risk of renal failure progressing to end-stage renal disease," said James A. Tumlin, M.D., FASN, Professor of Medicine at Emory University. "There is a great need to identify effective treatment options for these patients, and it's encouraging to see new research in this area of high unmet need."

About IgA Nephropathy

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is one of the most common kidney diseases.2,5 Also known as Berger's disease, IgAN is a kidney disease that occurs when the IgA deposits build up in the kidneys.2 IgA is an antibody produced by the body's immune system.3 Buildup of IgA antibodies results in inflammation that may hamper the kidneys' ability to filter wastes from the blood over time.5 While IgA nephropathy often progresses slowly over many years, the course of the disease can vary in each patient. Some patients may experience blood in their urine without developing problems, some may achieve complete remission, while others develop end-stage kidney failure.3,5 While there is no cure for IgAN, certain medications can slow its course.3,5 IgAN can occur at any age, although the first evidence of kidney disease most frequently appears when people are in their teens to late 30s.3 In the U.S., IgAN is twice as likely to appear in men than in women.3 While found in people all over the world, IgAN is more common among Asians and Caucasians.6

Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) is indicated for:

Treatment during an exacerbation or as maintenance therapy in selected cases of systemic lupus erythematosus

Monotherapy for the treatment of infantile spasms in infants and children under 2 years of age

The treatment of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis in adults. Controlled clinical trials have shown Acthar Gel to be effective in speeding the resolution of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis. However, there is no evidence that it affects the ultimate outcome or natural history of the disease

Inducing a diuresis or a remission of proteinuria in nephrotic syndrome without uremia of the idiopathic type or that due to lupus erythematosus

Treatment during an exacerbation or as maintenance therapy in selected cases of systemic dermatomyositis (polymyositis)

The treatment of symptomatic sarcoidosis

Adjunctive therapy for short-term administration (to tide the patient over an acute episode or exacerbation) in: psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, including juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (selected cases may require low-dose maintenance therapy), ankylosing spondylitis

Treatment of severe acute and chronic allergic and inflammatory processes involving the eye and its adnexa such as: keratitis, iritis, iridocyclitis, diffuse posterior uveitis and choroiditis, optic neuritis, chorioretinitis, anterior segment inflammation

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Contraindications

Acthar should never be administered intravenously

Administration of live or live attenuated vaccines is contraindicated in patients receiving immunosuppressive doses of Acthar

Acthar is contraindicated where congenital infections are suspected in infants

Acthar is contraindicated in patients with scleroderma, osteoporosis, systemic fungal infections, ocular herpes simplex, recent surgery, history of or the presence of a peptic ulcer, congestive heart failure, uncontrolled hypertension, primary adrenocortical insufficiency, adrenocortical hyperfunction or sensitivity to proteins of porcine origins

Warnings and Precautions

The adverse effects of Acthar are related primarily to its steroidogenic effects

Acthar may increase susceptibility to new infection or reactivation of latent infections

Suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-axis (HPA) may occur following prolonged therapy with the potential for adrenal insufficiency after withdrawal of the medication. Adrenal insufficiency may be minimized by tapering of the dose when discontinuing treatment. During recovery of the adrenal gland patients should be protected from the stress (e.g. trauma or surgery) by the use of corticosteroids. Monitor patients for effects of HPA suppression after stopping treatment

Cushing's syndrome may occur during therapy but generally resolves after therapy is stopped. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms

Acthar can cause elevation of blood pressure, salt and water retention, and hypokalemia. Blood pressure, sodium and potassium levels may need to be monitored

Acthar often acts by masking symptoms of other diseases/disorders. Monitor patients carefully during and for a period following discontinuation of therapy

Acthar can cause GI bleeding and gastric ulcer. There is also an increased risk for perforation in patients with certain gastrointestinal disorders. Monitor for signs of bleeding

Acthar may be associated with central nervous system effects ranging from euphoria, insomnia, irritability, mood swings, personality changes, and severe depression, and psychosis. Existing conditions may be aggravated

Patients with comorbid disease may have that disease worsened. Caution should be used when prescribing Acthar in patients with diabetes and myasthenia gravis

Prolonged use of Acthar may produce cataracts, glaucoma and secondary ocular infections. Monitor for signs and symptoms

Acthar is immunogenic and prolonged administration of Acthar may increase the risk of hypersensitivity reactions. Neutralizing antibodies with chronic administration may lead to loss of endogenous ACTH activity

There is an enhanced effect in patients with hypothyroidism and in those with cirrhosis of the liver

Long-term use may have negative effects on growth and physical development in children. Monitor pediatric patients

Decrease in bone density may occur. Bone density should be monitored for patients on long-term therapy

Pregnancy Class C: Acthar has been shown to have an embryocidal effect and should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus

Adverse Reactions

Common adverse reactions for Acthar are similar to those of corticosteroids and include fluid retention, alteration in glucose tolerance, elevation in blood pressure, behavioral and mood changes, increased appetite and weight gain

Specific adverse reactions reported in IS clinical trials in infants and children under 2 years of age included: infection, hypertension, irritability, Cushingoid symptoms, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, pyrexia, weight gain, increased appetite, decreased appetite, nasal congestion, acne, rash, and cardiac hypertrophy. Convulsions were also reported, but these may actually be occurring because some IS patients progress to other forms of seizures and IS sometimes mask other seizures, which become visible once the clinical spasms from IS resolve

Other adverse events reported are included in the full Prescribing Information.

Please see full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information.

ABOUT MALLINCKRODT

Mallinckrodt is a global business consisting of multiple wholly owned subsidiaries that develop, manufacture, market and distribute specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. The company's Specialty Brands reportable segment's areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology and ophthalmology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics and gastrointestinal products. Its Specialty Generics reportable segment includes specialty generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com.

Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELATED TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release includes forward-looking statements concerning Acthar Gel including its potential impact on patients and anticipated benefits associated with its use. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: satisfaction of regulatory and other requirements; actions of regulatory bodies and other governmental authorities; changes in laws and regulations; issues with product quality, manufacturing or supply, or patient safety issues; and other risks identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of Mallinckrodt's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, all of which are available on its website. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and Mallinckrodt does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

CONTACTS

For Trade Media Inquiries

Caren Begun

Green Room Communications

201-396-8551

[email protected]

For Financial/Dailies Media Inquiries

Jim Heins

H+K Strategies

212-885-0463

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Daniel J. Speciale, CPA

Vice President, Investor Relations and IRO

314-654-3638

[email protected]

Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. Other brands are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company or their respective owners. 2020 Mallinckrodt. US-2000135 3/20

References



1 Zand, L, Canetta P, Lafayette R, Aslam N, Jan N, Sethi S, et al. An Open-Label Pilot Study of Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone in the Treatment of IgA Nephropathy at High Risk of Progression. Kidney Int Rep, Volume 5, Issue 1, 58-65. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2019.10.007. eCollection 2020 Jan.

2 Schena FP, Nistor I. Epidemiology of IgA Nephropathy: A global perspective. Semin. Nephrol. 2018;38(5): 435442. doi: 10.1016/j.semnephrol.2018.05.013.

3 Wyatt RJ, Julian BA. IgA Nephropathy. N Engl J Med. 2013;368(25):24022414. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1206793

4 Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) [prescribing information]. Mallinckrodt ARD LLC.

5 Lafayette RA, Kelepouris E. Immunoglobulin A nephropathy: advances in understanding of pathogenesis and treatment. Am J Nephrol 2018;47(suppl 1):4352. doi: 10.1159/000481636.

6 Satpathy HK. IgA Nephropathy. In: Ferri FF, ed. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2013. 1st ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2012: 570571.

SOURCE Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

Related Links

http://www.mallinckrodt.com


Prominent Sri Lankan journalist Gihan de Chickera and Sajith Bandara, a young cartoonist, issued statements to the WSWS this week defending imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and endorsing the international campaign for his freedom.

They have condemned the attempt to dispatch Assange from Britain to the US, where he faces the prospect of 175 years imprisonment under the draconian Espionage Act. Their statements were made days after the first week of the British extradition court hearing, which began on February 25, and can only be described as a show-trial.

Chickera is a well-known journalist and cartoonist who has been working at the Daily Mirror, one of Sri Lankas highest circulation newspapers for more than fifteen years. He was awarded best cartoonist of the year in 2012 and has also acted in several Sinhala stage dramas.

Sajith Bandara has produced cartoons for the Mirror for several years.

We publish their statements below.

***

Gihan de Chickera: Julian Assange is an award-winning journalist who is being politically persecuted for doing his job. He is not a traitor, but an informer of the public.

He has exposed US war crimes through WikiLeaks, including video footage of civilians and journalists being gunned down by a US military helicopter in Baghdad. From 2006 to 2018, WikiLeaks has released hundreds of thousands of documents exposing a host of crimes and corruption.

But while the alleged perpetrators of these crimes remain free, Assange has been subject to continuous harassment. He now faces extradition to the US under espionage charges which carry a maximum 175-year prison sentence.

The Espionage Act was drafted in 1917 after the US entered the First World War, and has been used against many radical and progressive working class leaders. These include Bill Haywood of the International Workers of the World (IWW), Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist Party, labour activist Ralph Chaplin and political activist and writer Emma Goldman. Like Assange, these leaders were opposed to authoritarianism and imperialist war, and were targeted as a result. A century later, Assange faces a similar predicament.

South Asian journalists too have faced continuous oppression. In Sri Lanka, investigations into high profile cases like the Lasantha Wickrematunge murder and Prageeth Eknaligodas disappearance are at a standstill. And Kashmir has experienced an internet shutdown and media blackout. These are just a couple of examples among numerous cases.

In this light, it is heartening to see a growing global movement raising its voices in support of Assange. I join these voices in condemning the persecution of Assange, and call for his immediate release. He, and journalists everywhere, must be free to continue their work unhindered.

Sajith Bandara

Sajith Bandara: I strongly condemn the unjust imprisonment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange by the US and other imperialist powers, for exposing the truth of the imperialist war crimes that have been carried out on the pretext of eliminating terrorism.

I fully support the action of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site to defend and liberate him. He is a victim of imperialism.

The imprisonment of the Assange for fearlessly revealing the truth is a recent blow to the freedom of the press under capitalism.

Together with the world working class, we fight for all the social and democratic rights of the working class by supporting and defending Assanges actions against imperialist war.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sits outside its headquarters in Vienna

By Rania El Gamal, Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova

VIENNA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members struggled on Wednesday to win support from Russia to join them in additional oil output cuts in a bid to prop up prices which have tumbled by a fifth this year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A panel of several ministers from OPEC, Russia and other producers failed to clinch a preliminary agreement for additional cuts, OPEC sources said.

At the panel meeting in Vienna, the sources said Russia proposed keeping existing cuts by the group known as OPEC+ until the end of the second quarter.

Saudi Arabia wants extra cuts of 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for the second quarter while keeping existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd in place until the end of 2020.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who had held talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman earlier on Wednesday, left the meeting of the panel, known as the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, after three hours of talks.

Sources said Novak went to Moscow for more consultations and would return for the full OPEC+ meeting on Friday, while OPEC will hold its full ministerial meeting on Thursday.

"OPEC hopes for a cut bigger than 1 million but the challenge is still Russia," one OPEC source said.

When asked whether Wednesday's panel made a recommendation, the Saudi minister responded to reporters: "I want to keep you in suspense."

The Russian minister made no public statement before heading back to Moscow.

The talks in Vienna were following a familiar pattern to previous meetings. In the past, Moscow had initially been hesitant before ultimately agreeing to joint cuts with OPEC.

BURDEN OF CUTS

Benchmark Brent oil prices <LCOc1>, which had been up 2% earlier on Wednesday, were trading down 1% near $51 a barrel later in the day on news Russia was still resisting new steps.

At those levels, oil prices are too low for many OPEC states to balance their budgets, although Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the level was acceptable for Moscow.

Story continues

Moscow has said it is worried by the rise of shale oil in the United States, which is not part of OPEC. U.S. producers have boosted output at the expense of the group.

Sources had told Reuters earlier this month that OPEC could agree deeper cuts even without Russia.

But two OPEC sources said Riyadh did not want to carry most of the burden of cuts alone and was pressing Moscow to join in with a proper contribution.

"Cuts will need to at least be towards the top end of the range, as we see further downward revisions in demand growth as Covid-19 spreads," Warren Patterson from ING said in a note.

Existing cuts have not been enough to counter the impact of the coronavirus on China, the world's biggest oil importer, and on the global economy. Factories have been disrupted, fewer people are travelling and other business has slowed, driving down oil demand.

"Whatever action OPEC ultimately takes seems unlikely to produce the desired effect of rebalancing the market and substantially raising prices. Rather, the strategy today may be one of attempting to stem further bloodletting and hope demand recovery can be achieved later in the year," analysts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report.

(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Ahmad Ghaddar; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Edmund Blair)
This is like and airport, if the airport has slots for 8 a.m. until 11 pm at night and is obliges a plane to land at 6 a.m. or at two at dawn, it is landing at non-commercial hours. This is how a senior executive in the sector sums up the paralysis of textile production in China as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and the role of Bangladesh in the current circumstances.

Even more so, the coronavirus crisis is tensing the supply chain in Bangladesh when the country is at the brink of the monsoon season, a time at which occupational accidents tend to surge.

The paralysis of textile production in China since last January has caused large fashion groups, most of them European, to start looking at nearby markets, such as Turkey or Morocco, to stock up. However, large productions are reverting to Bangladesh, a market that accounts for 6% of world textile exports.

In 2018, China accounted for 37.6% of total textile exports and 31.3% of clothing exports, a long distance from the second largest global fashion exporter, the European Union. On the other hand, Bangladesh takes the bronze medal when it comes clothing exports, the Asian country accounts for 6.4% of global trade, according to the latest data from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Bengali market has continuously increased its sales abroad during the last decade, and in 2018 it saw a surge of 11%, to 32 billion dollars. It is closely followed by Vietnam, which covers 6.2% of clothing exports; India, with a 3.3% share, and Turkey, with 3.1%, Indonesia, Cambodia and the United States complete the board pie chart representing between 1% and 2%, respectively.

Production is moving to Bangladesh at the most crucial moment of Bengali weather, the pre-monsoon

Industry sources of the sector warn that production is moving to Bangladesh at the most critical moment of the Bengali weather, the pre-monsoon. The monsoon is a seasonal wind that is produced by the displacement of the equatorial belt and travels through Bangladesh from June to September, triggering floods every year that leave fatalities among the countrys population.

The extremely high temperatures of the pre-monsoon season end up affecting the workers, with factories pressured to respond to order with broken delivery times due to the Chinese crisis. Several executives specialized in sourcing admit the risk that this situation may result in work accidents.

All production has been compromised in a country that has a capacity limit, furthermore, it is already entering in dark side - explains a manager-; that is, they acknowledge production, but you dont know where they are going to produce it, because the factories are compromised, the slot is sold.

However, the same sources indicate that since the Rana Plaza catastrophe that took place in 2013 and left more behind more than one thousand dead the country is very controlled, while some groups have minimized their activity in the country.

A good example of this is Inditex. Zaras parent company currently has a small productive activity in Bangladesh: the country concentrates 6% of its suppliers and 4% of factories that work with Inditex in the world. The Spanish group has 114 partners in the country at the end of 2018, which in turn managed 296 factories. With the paralysis of China, Inditex is taking its production to Turkey, a country in proximity that offers faster response capacity.

In parallel, Primark concentrates 90% of its production in Asia. The Irish chain controlled by AB Foods, is also putting Turkey to the test, however, the high volumes and low prices it demands force the company to move its operations from China to other surrounding countries in the market, the main one being Bangladesh.

The time at which Bangladesh collapses, if it ever comes to collapse, there are no countries left in the world where manufacturing can occur, advises a director. However, all experts consulted warn that about the risk of shortage. If I am a company that has a high concentration of my production chain in China, 50% or 40%, the purchasing teams must now be at the point of collapse, because they can't find where to land the plane, they affirm.

The time at which Bangladesh collapse, if it ever collapses, there are no countries left in the world where manufacturing can occur, advises a director. Lets not fools ourselves, we are talking about moving billions of units, not millions, adds another; there is no production capacity in the world that can undertake this.

The fashion industry is one of the pillars of the Bengali economy. Garment alone employs 4.5 million people in the country, covers 84% of its exports and accounts for around 20% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Bgmea) encompasses around 4,500 factories that, according to the association, represent 100% of flat fabric garments, of which about half are knitted.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The San Francisco Unified School District announced Thursday that it will close Lowell High School after district officials learned that a student's relative was being treated for novel coronavirus.

District officials chose to close the school on Eucalyptus Drive "out of an abundance of caution and for the safety and well-being of our community" after learning of the student's relation to a coronavirus patient.

The student left Lowell High at lunchtime and, while not suspected of having the virus, is now in self-quarantine.

The district plans to release an update on the high school's status before Monday. Students who receive district transportation to and from school will remain on their regular schedule and will be dropped off at their regular time and schedule.

"This is an unfolding situation and we're working with the Department of Public Health, Department of Emergency Management and city partners to determine the next steps," the district said in a statement. "There is still a lot of information we do not have. We know that closing school is disruptive and we appreciate your understanding while we continue to gather facts."

District Superintendent Vincent Matthews and Board of Education President Mark Sanchez plan to hold a news conference at 3:15 p.m. to provide an update on the school's closure.

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.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu attends a news conference announcing Taiwan's decision to terminate diplomatic ties with the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, in Taipei, Taiwan. on Sept. 20, 2019. (I-Hwa Cheng/Reuters)

Taiwan Says China Forced Malaysian State to Ban Taiwanese Entry on Virus Fears

TAIPEITaiwans foreign minister said on Mar. 5 that the Chinese regime had forced the Malaysian state of Sarawak to reinstate a ban on travelers from the island as part of coronavirus control steps, saying Beijing was taking joy in the measures.

Taiwan says the World Health Organizations (WHO) inclusion of the island as part of Chinas virus area has mislead countries into believing the islands virus situation is as serious as Chinas.

Taiwan, which says it is an independent country and not part of China, has reported 42 cases and one death.

Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, has separate immigration controls from the rest of Malaysia. This week it included Taiwan as part of its ban on visitors from China, then removed it after Taiwan complained, according to Taiwans foreign ministry.

After talks, Sarawak in Malaysia recognized Taiwan isnt China & lifted its Coronavirus travel ban, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Twitter.

Guess what? China forced Sarawak into banning Taiwan again! China takes joy in shoving Taiwan around & then expects gratitude for its Wuhan sacrifice. Thats sickening.

Sarawak immigration authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The virus crisis has worsened already-poor ties between China and Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

Malaysia and Taiwan have close economic and cultural links, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

This is not the first time Taiwan has faced travel exclusions because of what Taiwan says is a mistaken link to China.

Vietnam and the Philippines both lifted flight or travel bans on Taiwan after Taipei complained. Taiwan has been less successful in the case of Italy, whose ban on Chinese flights includes Taiwan.

Taiwan is separately ruled from China, and China has no say in the islands health policy.

By Ben Blanchard
No new groundwater bores can be sunk on Mount Tamborine or Springbrook for a year while research into the extraction of millions of litres of groundwater by beverage companies is completed, the state government said on Thursday.

The immediate ban on new bores will not apply to farmers, households or schools.

A water carrier passes a tourist bus on Tamborine Mountain. No new underground water bores are allowed for 12 months while detailed studies are completed. Credit:Save Our Water - Tamborine Mountain

The Queensland government will partly fund detailed tests on the impact the extraction of groundwater by commercial bottlers such as Coca-Cola is having on the Gold Coast hinterland's reserves, which are used by houses, schools, businesses and farmers.

In December, residents called for a water emergency to be declared at Tamborine, describing the issue as "a moral dilemma" for the government.
Financial compliance specialist Cho Chang-hoon / Courtesy of himself



CEOs of financial firms urged to pursue 'optimal level of profits'



By Anna J. Park



Professor Cho Chang-hoon, 42, who currently teaches at Hallym University and KAIST Graduate School of Finance, is one of the nation's representative financial compliance specialists.



He spent almost a decade at the compliance department of Mirae Asset Securities, before he moved to academia. However, his interest in compliance started way before then  back in 1997 when he started a part-time job as a business-major college student at financial institutions on Yeouido, Seoul's financial district



"Soon after, the nation was going through the so-called IMF crisis. I vividly witnessed how financial companies were completely devastated during the economic crisis. That's when I first encountered the subject of compliance," Professor Cho told The Korea Times during a recent interview.



Naturally drawn to the topic, Cho decided to work at a securities company as a compliance officer, after earning his master's degree in financial management, to learn more about the subject. While he worked at the compliance department of a securities firm, he further studied law for his doctoral program. After earning a doctor's degree in law, he now focuses on teaching the subject of compliance at universities.



Simply put, the term "compliance" in the financial area refers to the supervision of management to ensure maintenance of the current legal system. Passive compliance means to ensure financial companies do not violate extant laws, regulations or guidelines of the financial authorities. While this passive compliance is more about the perfunctory function of a company, active compliance extends to the concept of ethical management.



"Most Korean financial companies' compliance departments remain at the level of passive compliance. If a company aims to execute active compliance, the company could face strong internal resistance, as business decisions based on active compliance could incur a profit loss," the professor explained.



Professor Cho added that the significance of compliance tends to be compromised, when facing maximization of corporate profits.



"Everyone knows compliance policies are important, as they reduce transaction costs and enhance social trust. Yet such importance could easily be compromised in the face of corporate profit. Thus financial companies need to ponder the optimal level of profit, instead of the maximization of profits, as more profit tends to be accompanied by more risks," the compliance specialist stressed, adding that one has to let go this in order to adhere to compliance.



He went on to criticize both the financial authorities and companies for the recent Lime and DLF scandals that inflicted damage to customers.



"Korea's representative financial laws, such as the Banking Act and Capital Market Law, are inclined to put a higher priority on protecting financial companies' smooth operation, rather than protecting individual investors," Cho said. "As the current law prioritizes activating the market, the authorities' supervision tends to be rather lenient."



In addition, Cho said there are numerous asset managers in Korea, yet they are inclined to have very weak internal control system, compared to that of banks or securities firms.



"Risky financial products made at low-quality asset managers were sold directly to consumers at banks and securities firms, without being properly filtered or scrutinized. That's because those firms were aiming to achieve maximum profits, instead of clearly assessing the risks those products entailed," he said.



That's why the compliance expert suggests the nation's financial companies consider an "allowance for ethical debt," a concept similar to an allowance for bad debt in banking  a valuation account estimating the amount of a firm's receivables that may be uncollectible.



"Just as banks have the system of maintaining an allowance for bad debt as risk management, I think financial companies also need to maintain an allowance for ethical debt, when they decide to sell high-risk products to consumers," he said, stressing such a practice would provide the firms a chance to ponder the optimal level of risk taking and profits, while protecting customers' interests.



"If companies were able to think about how much risk they can bear and how much of an ethical allowance must be accumulated before selling risky products, then they wouldn't have sold them so uncritically like they did in the DLF or Lime cases," he added.


Indian tax officials on Wednesday threatened to cut their workloads in protest over working conditions, a move that could dent New Delhi's tax collection just as the government scrambles to fill coffers before the fiscal year ends on March 31. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is pushing to shore up revenue as India's once-booming economy grows at roughly 11-year lows. Corporation and income tax collection for the current year is likely to fall for the first time in at least two decades, several senior tax officials have told Reuters. In a statement on ...
A Good Samaritan dog walker has been hailed a hero for helping police capture a wanted man on the Gold Coast.

Police have released incredible Polair footage of the dramatic arrest which unfolded on the streets of Mermaid Waters on Thursday morning.

Police were chasing an allegedly stolen white Toyota Hilux at the time.

Officers attempted to intercept the vehicle as the driver allegedly rammed a police car and reversed into another vehicle before driving off again.

The Good Samaritan who crash-tackled the offender to the ground has been hailed as a hero

The driver causes traffic chaos while fleeing the scene, driving on the wrong side of the road and into oncoming traffic at a roundabout.

Police deployed a tyre deflation device to stop the vehicle and the pursuit eventually ends nearby as the driver tried to flee the scene on foot.

But his freedom was short-lived and stopped in his tracks by a passer-by walking his dog along a nearby bridge, who crash-tackled the man to the ground.

A struggle ensues but the dog surrounds the pair to ensure the offender doesn't get away.

The Good Samaritan managed to detain the man on the ground until police arrived a short time later.

The dramatic incident unfolded on the streets on the Gold Coast on Thursday morning

Officers are captured high-fiving the Good Samaritan for his heroic efforts.

The alleged offender was taken into custody shortly afterwards without incident.

A 16-year-old female passenger in the allegedly stolen vehicle was also taken into custody.

The man, 40, was charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle, driving a motor vehicle without a licence, offences involving registration certificates, possession of dangerous drugs and possession of utensils.

He was refused bail to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on Friday.

The driver of the allegedly stolen white Toyota Hilux rammed a police car and reversed into another vehicle before fleeing the scene on foot. He was caught shortly afterwards

The offender tried to flee police but was stopped in his tracks of a passer-by walking his dog

Queensland Police are now on the hunt to track down the Good Samaritan dog walker, so he can be commended for his actions.

'Good police work with the help from a member of the public leads to man's arrest in Mermaid Waters today,' the police captioned the footage on social media, which has since gone viral online.

A Facebook post of the footage garnered more than 82,000 views almost 2,000 comments within an hour.

'That guy with his pooch and you police deserve a cold beer tonight...Well done Civilian Well done Police...Thanks for keeping us safe,' a woman commented.
According to local reports, police are investigating a home along the 10000 block of Canyon Country Court in South Reno, Nevada. (Google Maps)

Suspected Nevada Murder-Suicide Leaves 4 Dead, Including 2 Teens: Police

Police on Thursday said that four people, including two teenagers, were killed in a suspected-murder suicide inside a Reno, Nevada, house.

The four bodies were found during a police welfare check after friends and family were not able to contact a married couple and their two children, police told Fox11 in Reno.

The causes of death were not revealed. The identities of those who died were also not disclosed by authorities.

An investigation into the matter is underway, and investigators are attempting to obtain more details about exactly what happened, said Sgt. John Silver, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

We dont know what led up to this, Silver told the outlet. We didnt have prior calls or anything like that.

The two teenaged victims went to Damonte Ranch High School, said authorities. The Washoe County School District issued a statement about the deaths.

Two of our students died following a domestic situation in their home, Principal Darvel Bell said in the statement to parents, according to News4. Reno Police are investigating the case, and because this is an active investigation, I am not able to share any more details with you now.

Bell added that it has been such a difficult year for all of us, and I appreciate your extraordinary courage over these past few months.

Our counselors, district-level crisis team, and community partners will be on our campus tomorrow and will be providing any resources our students and staff members require. They will stay with us for as long as we need them. Counseling and emotional support of staff and students will be our top priority, Bell said.

According to local reports, police are investigating a home along the 10000 block of Canyon Country Court in South Reno.
T he EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned that it will not be "business as usual" between Britain and the bloc once the Brexit transition period ends.

At the end of the first week of talks in Brussels on a free trade agreement, Mr Barnier reiterated his belief that securing a deal by the end of 2020 would be "challenging".

His comments come after Downing Street said on Thursday that its stance on not seeking an extension to the Brexit transition period remains unchanged, despite the issues posed worldwide by the spread of coronavirus.

Today, Mr Barnier said there would be a "lot of consequences" if there was no agreement and the UK did not seek an extension to the transitional arrangements - something Boris Johnson has continually ruled out.

"That has a lot of consequences that we have to prepare for. It will not be business as usual. It will be very, very different," he said.

"The definitive changes which will happen because of the decision of the United Kingdom and the difficulties which will be linked to that, my impression is they are very often underestimated."

Boris Johnson has ruled out extending a transition period / UK PARLIAMENT and JOHN THYS / AFP

He said that from January 1 there would be customs formalities between the EU and the UK, UK financial institutions would lose their automatic passporting rights and British certification would no longer mean industrial goods could be marketed in the EU.

Mr Barnier said: "Our differences come as no surprise, especially after only one round of negotiations, but some are very, very difficult.

"However, I continue to believe that we can reach a good agreement for both sides. These past few days have been constructive."

Mr Barnier added: "I will just share with you two possible keys for success.

"Number one, not going back on our commitments. Number two, mutual respect. Let's avoid any misunderstandings."

Commenting on rows over independence, with the Government long insisting upon some level of divergence, Mr Barnier said the issue was how that

The EU chief negotiator said: "The UK has spent a lot of time this week insisting on its independence.

"Nobody contests the UK independence and we ask the UK to respect our own independence."

European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, right, speaks with the British Prime Minister's Europe adviser David Frost during the start of the first round of post -Brexit trade talks between the EU and the UK / AP

He added: "The real question here is what we do with our respective independence.

"Our common challenge is now, as two independent entities, to agree together on ground rules that make it possible to co-operate on trade and travel."

Mr Barnier also said an annual deal on fisheries between the EU and UK would be impracticable, adding that people involved in the fishing industry needed "predictability".

He also said other areas of divergence as well as fishing included the approach to criminal justice and so-called "level playing field" issues.

Mr Barnier said Britain's negotiator David Frost had confirmed the UK would respect all its legal undertakings in the Withdrawal Agreement - including those relating to the Irish border.

"This a condition for the trust that we need now to build our future partnership on a good basis," he said.

He said steps were being taken to ensure the talks could continue through the coronavirus outbreak.

"We will be taking all necessary precautions so that we can continue correctly with the negotiations and that we can protect the health of those involved," he said.

Mr Barnier said: "We opened 11 parallel negotiating tables.

"Covering all the subjects in the Political Deceleration, except foreign policy and defence.
Arjun Reddy Star Vijay Deverakonda Slips On His Way To The Jetty; Fans Blame Ananya Panday
Herbert Von Karajan Complete Decca Recordings 33 CDs, out now

Rating:

Herbert von Karajan, who died in 1989, shifted 200 million albums  an astonishing figure for a classical musician. Most music-lovers are familiar with his work with the Berlin Philharmonic during the last 30 years of his life, and these recordings are available either on Deutsche Grammophon or Warner.

Then theres the stuff he made in London for EMI during the Fifties with the Philharmonia, which he helped turn into arguably the finest recording orchestra in the world.

So its easy to overlook his work for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic from the late Fifties to the early Seventies, which now reappears in this unmissable box.

One of the attractions of this magnificent box is that there are eight complete operas (Herbert von Karajan, left, in black, conducting Luciano Pavarotti in La Boheme in Berlin in 1973)

Karajan was Austrian and worked regularly with the Vienna Philharmonic in both Salzburg, his birthplace, and Vienna from 1946  particularly frequently during his time as artistic director of the Vienna State Opera from 1957 to 1964, from which these recordings mainly date.

The set begins with a sonic spectacular: Karajans 1959 recording of Richard Strausss Also Sprach Zarathustra, the actual one used in Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey.

At that time, Decca was working regularly in Vienna with other conductors, of the stature of Sir Georg Solti, with whom it recorded the first studio Ring. So the engineers really knew how to capture the Philharmonics opulent and burnished sound in recordings.

IT'S A FACT A Buddhist, Karajan believed strongly in reincarnation and said he would like to be reborn as an eagle so he could soar over the Alps. Advertisement

They still sound fine today.

One of the many attractions of this magnificent box is that alongside some terrific orchestral recordings, there are eight complete operas, two of which  the Pavarotti La Boheme (1972) from Berlin and Madam Butterfly (1974)  have achieved legendary status.

The Leontyne Price Tosca (1962) and Carmen (1963) deserve equal reverence.

Karajan had an extremely wide repertoire, and some of the most enjoyable recordings here are of lighter stuff such as Peer Gynt, Giselle and the Tchaikovsky Ballet Suites, which sit alongside major symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms and others.

For me, the best of these is the only ballet he ever conducted live in Vienna, surprisingly enough Holsts The Planets suite. The frighteningly intense war-like march in Mars has, sonically, never been bettered, 60 years after it was set down.
Once the first and the largest distributor of home appliances, Nguyen Kim has lost its market share as its rival expanded too rapidly.

After five years of holding 49 percent of shares in Nguyen Kim, Central Group from Thailand has, through it subsidiaries, completed the takeover of the oldest home appliance distribution chain in Vietnam.





The value of the purchase of 51 percent of shares of NKT Technology Investment Development and New Solution JSC, the owner of Nguyen Kim, as reported by Central Retail, is VND2.6 trillion.



With the price, the value of Nguyen Kim chain with 70 shops is set at VND5.1 trillion, or $220 million. It is equal to 1/10 of the $2.1 billion worth of capitalization value of The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World).



The pioneer



The first Nguyen Kim shop opened in 1996 in HCM City.

Once the first and the largest distributor of home appliances, Nguyen Kim has lost its market share as its rival expanded too rapidly.

Nguyen Kim continued to hold its position as a pioneer in the next 20 years, during which it opened many shopping centers and set up retail websites. In late 2007, it opened its first shop in Hanoi.



In 2015, when it sold 49 percent of shares to Central Group, Nguyen Kim had 21 home appliance supermarkets throughout the country. At that moment, it held 12 percent of market share, higher than the 8 percent of Dien May Xanh and the 7.5 percent of Dien May Cho Lon.



In 2013, Nguyen Kim reported revenue of VND8.4 trillion and the figure rose to VND9 trillion in 2014. In 2014-2015, its revenue was stable at VND9.5 trillion.



The Gioi Di Dong began expanding its business rapidly with Dien May Xanh brand, developed from Dienmay.com.



In 2016, Dien May Xanh became the No 1 in the market with 16 percent of market share and 250 supermarkets. In 2017, Dien May Xanhs market share soared to 30 percent, equal to the total market share of all other retail chains.



The Gioi Di Dong has over 1,000 Dien May Xanh shops, holding 38 percent of market share after nine years of operation. Nguyen Kim has 70 supermarkets after 24 years of operation.



Nguyen Kim was inferior to Dien May Xanh in terms of online sales with 3 million visitors a month against 9-10 million visitors according to an iPrices report.



After the dissolution of VinPro in 2019, Nguyen Kim, Dien May Cho Lon and Dien May Xanh are now the three biggest retailers in the south. Meanwhile, in the north, besides the three big players, there are other well known names such as Mediamart, Pico and HC.



The electronics retail market value was VND45.5 trillion in 2019, according to GfK.

Chi Mai

Home appliance sector sees company withdrawals as competition increases On December 18, Vingroup announced its withdrawal from the retail sector. Adayroi, the e-commerce website, will merge with inID, while VinPro, the home alliance distribution brand, will be dissolved.
HARRISBURG, Pa., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today announced the return of more than $2 million in licensing fees to 1,117 municipalities in which licensees are located.

Twice a year, as required by law, the PLCB returns liquor license fees paid by PLCB-approved licensees to the municipalities that are home to those licenses. Municipalities have flexibility in allocating and spending the returned license fees to meet local needs.

The PLCB oversees the regulation of more than 15,000 retail liquor licenses statewide, including restaurants, clubs, and hotels. Licensees pay liquor license fees ranging from $125 to $700, depending on the type of license and the population of the municipality in which the license is located, as part of the annual license renewal or validation process, as well as in conjunction with approval of certain new applications.

The current dispersal period represents fees paid from Aug. 1, 2019, to Jan. 31, 2020. In all, 45 cities, 423 boroughs, and 649 townships will receive payments ranging from $25 to $820,950.

The complete list of license fee distributions by municipality is available on the PLCB website.

Over the last five fiscal years, the PLCB returned $22.4 million in licensing fees to local municipalities.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits  totaling nearly $18.5 billion since the agency's inception  are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn M. Kelly 717.783.8864

SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Related Links

http://www.lcb.state.pa.us


Nearly every time President Donald Trump has talked about a coronavirus vaccine, he has gotten a real-time fact check from a health expert sitting nearby.

So youre talking over the next few months, you think you could have a vaccine? Trump asked during a meeting with top health officials on Monday.

You wont have a vaccine, corrected Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar after some cross talk. Youll have a vaccine to go into testing.

All right, so youre talking within a year, Trump said moments later.

A year to a year and a half, interjected Anthony Fauci, a government veteran of disease outbreaks under six presidents.

At a time when the federal government is trying to carefully control messaging about the possibility of a cure for a disease that has already claimed the lives of 11 Americans, the presidents penchant for on-camera hyperbole has been a constant challenge.

Trump has long claimed to know more than the authorities on a long list of things  TV ratings, taxes, campaigns, firefighting, water management and Twitter, to name a few  but the stakes for his exaggerations have rarely been so high. Indicating that a cure might be around the corner may cause inadequate preparation for the possibility that the disease could spread more widely through the U.S.

I observe that the president has been listening, but since hes not a scientist I dont think he understands the nuances, said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. And besides, he has an understandable tendency to walk on the sunny side of the street.

The White House is known to control the information that comes across the presidents desk, and use visual aids to instruct him on foreign policy decisions or severe weather. But with the coronavirus  a disease even the nations top health experts admit is still quite mysterious  the president is learning about the science behind the virus as the experts are. And in the meantime, hes sharing some inaccurate theories and asking confounding questions about how a vaccine might work, all while the cameras roll.

Story continues

From left, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, attend President Donald Trumps coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on Wednesday.

Already, Trump has muddied the waters on the difference between a vaccine entering various trial phases and it being ready for widespread public use. While vaccines are able to be quickly developed by researchers, it takes time to get the vaccine on the market. Trump has also raised questions about whether a vaccine for the flu could work on this completely different virus.

You take a solid flu vaccine, you dont think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona? Trump asked.

No, a pharmaceutical researcher quickly replied.

And he's raised doubts about other aspects of coronavirus using language that scientists find troubling.

Appearing Wednesday night on Sean Hannity's Fox News show, Trump described the World Health Organizations official 3.4 percent coronavirus death rate as a false number based on a hunch. While the figure may eventually come down, as the current data may not include some undetected cases, it is not "false."

Trump explained it this way: If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better."

On vaccines specifically, though, the president has long been a source of dubious information. As a presidential candidate, Trump tweeted discredited theories that vaccines cause autism and also spouted the theory during a September 2015 debate.

Andrew Wakefield, the British doctor disciplined for fraud over his claim that the MMR vaccine caused autism, attended Trumps inauguration. A short time later, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also blames vaccines for many ills, said Trump had promised to establish a commission to investigate such theories  but nothing came of it.

Yet during last years measles epidemic  the worst in 27 years  Trump did urge people to vaccinate their children.

A senior White House official pushed back on the notion that the president was confusing important information, arguing that Trump was trying to clarify medical vernacular that might be unclear to the public.

Its not confusion, hes just asking questions, the official said. Theres just a lot of back and forth when youre talking about vaccines versus treatment.

Vaccine scientists have been amazed at the speed with which the National Institutes of Health and vaccine makers are assembling candidate vaccines to prevent coronavirus. While most vaccines take years or decades to develop, the 12-18 month scenario that Fauci has laid out is realistic, according to medical experts. Although its far from assured.

The concern we have is, 12-18 months may be too late, said Kathryn Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease expert, also at Vanderbilt. The bulk of the outbreaks could be over by then.

If conditions are desperate enough a year from now, the FDA might authorize use of a vaccine without incontrovertible evidence that it protects against disease.

But putting out a vaccine before its been tested in epidemic conditions could be risky, Edwards said. For instance, during tests of some earlier vaccines against SARS and MERS, which are similar to the recent coronavirus, some animals developed so-called immune enhancement, meaning they got sicker when exposed to the virus than unvaccinated animals. A similar phenomenon may have occurred in some children who were injected with dengue virus vaccines in the Philippines in 2018.

Several vaccines are being studied, but the one moving the fastest is produced by Moderna Therapeutics of Cambridge, Mass., with scientists from Faucis institute.

The first phase of the trial is set to be hosted at a Kaiser-Permanente research institute located in Seattle, but the outbreak of disease there has complicated the plan. The 50 or so study subjects will have to be carefully monitored to assure none of them is infected with the virus during the trial, which is aimed solely at confirming that the vaccine is safe , one scientist familiar with the trial said.

Trumps allies said the presidents rhetoric on a shortened vaccine timeline is helping accelerate the process.

If President Trump went by the old messaging playbook, we wouldnt see a coronavirus vaccine for years. Instead hes aggressively pushing the NIH, [the Centers for Disease Control], our top researchers and even private drug companies to get it done immediately, said Jason Miller, senior communications adviser on the 2016 Trump campaign.

And if President Trump ruffles a few feathers with his hyperbole in the pursuit of a cure to keep people safe, there will be zero complaints, he added. Good for him.
New Express Entry draw sees another 3,900 candidates invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence

New Express Entry draw sees another 3,900 candidates invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence CRS cut-off score increases by one point

New Express Entry draw sees another 3,900 candidates invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence CRS cut-off score increases by one point

Canada held a new invitation round through the Express Entry system on March 4.

A total of 3,900 candidates were issued invitations this round, with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score requirement of 471.

The cut-off score of 471 is an increase of one point over the previous draw on February 19, which had a minimum score of 470.

Two weeks ago, 4,500 Express Entry candidates received ITAs in the largest draw ever held by the Government of Canada.

Canadas Express Entry system manages the profiles of candidates for three of Canadas main economic-class immigration programs  the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.

Candidates are ranked based on a score awarded under Express Entrys Comprehensive Ranking System that considers factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and language ability in English or French.

A set number of the highest-ranked candidates receive an ITA for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws from the pool and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) aims to process applications for permanent residence within six months.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

In order to reach this years 85,800 ITA target for new permanent resident admissions, it appears the government started issuing larger numbers of invitations in every draw.

Todays draw is the 5th of 2020 and brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 18,700.

The tie break applied in the March 4 draw was February 24, 2020 at 06:02:57 UTC.

This means that all candidates with CRS scores above 471, as well as those with scores of 471 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before this date and time, received an ITA.

A number of Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams have been active in recent weeks.

Express Entry candidates who receive a provincial nomination are awarded an additional 600 points toward their CRS score and move to the front of the line for an ITA.

These 600 points are especially valuable to candidates with lower CRS scores who have yet to make the cut-off in a federal Express Entry draw.

Several Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams do not consider a candidates CRS score or have CRS requirements that are below the cut-off scores in federal draws.

Over the past two weeks, Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia have invited Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

The following are hypothetical examples of candidates who would have obtained an ITA in the March 4 draw:

Chloe is 29, has a bachelors degree, an advanced French language proficiency and has been working as a marketing consultant for 3 years. Chloe has never worked or studied in Canada, but she has a brother who is a Canadian citizen living in Alberta. Chloes CRS score of 471 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the March 4 Express Entry draw.

Geeta and Srinivas are married and are 29 and 37 respectively. They wrote the IELTS and Geeta scored an 8 in listening, a 7.5 in speaking and a 7 in writing and reading while Srinivas scored a 7 in each category. Geeta holds a masters degree and Srinivas holds a bachelors degree. They have been working as database administrators for the past three and five years, respectively. They entered the Express Entry pool with Geeta as the principal applicant. Their CRS score of 471 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the March 4th Express Entry draw.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved
Update: According to court documents, the case against Raguragavan Sreetharan was dismissed.

STAMFORD  The moment he walked off the commuter train early Tuesday evening, a New York City banker who lives in Stamford was charged with strangling his girlfriend, police said.

Raguragavan Sreetharan, 31, of Kane Avenue, was charged with attempted first-degree strangulation, second-degree strangulation, unlawful restraint and second-degree assault. He was released after posting a $50,000 court-appearance bond.

At his arraignment at the Stamford courthouse Tuesday, Judge Bruce Hudock issued a protective order against Sreetharan, forbidding him from possessing any weapons or communicating with the victim in any way.

Sreetharan declined comment on the case.

Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said the severity of the allegations demanded quick action by police officers on Tuesday afternoon.

A woman contacted police at about 3:15 p.m. after being encouraged by co-workers to report the abuse, Kennedy said. Three hours later, officers were waiting for Sreetharan at the Stamford station and took him into custody after he stepped off the train, Kennedy said.

We had to move quickly because there was such ongoing abuse, we had to put this together pretty quickly, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the case is still under investigation and because of that he was unable to release details.

But, he said, the woman experienced prolonged physical and emotional abuse by Sreetharan and the woman made allegations that Sreetharan abused her in the recent past.

Sreetharans attorney Allan Friedman said his client was a former U.S. Army lieutenant who served with honor in the Afghanistan War and has never before been arrested.

At first glance someone looking at the charges may see this as a very serious case, but the facts reported dont seem to warrant the charges, Friedman said.

Friedman said every defendant is assumed to be innocent.

Any criminal case is similarly an accusation. I want to highlight that we are only beginning our investigation into the matter, he said.

Friedman also said that while the felony charges should require elements including serious physical injury or the involvement of a dangerous weapon, this case has neither.

When the complainant made the allegations, the officer noted that she did not have a mark, bruise or injury on her of any kind. So whatever occurred in the prior month couldnt have been that serious if she did not have any mark at this time, he said.

But, Kennedy said, the woman had taken pictures of herself right after an assault that showed that the charges against him were warranted.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
Warbird Digest has just received the February, 2020 report from Chuck Cravens concerning the restoration of the Dakota Territory Air Museums P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. We thought our readers would be very interested to see how the project has progressed since our last article on this important project. So without further ado, here it goes!

Update

Wing work and fuselage systems installation again took center stage in the restoration effort this month. Much of the fitting of wing parts has been completed and in the coming weeks, the wing will be broken down for internal painting, final riveting, and assembly.

Fuselage Systems

Work on installing various systems in the fuselage continues. A few of the areas worked on in the fuselage were hydraulic lines, tail wheel lock system, and the fuel selector.

Wings

As wing assembly continues, parts are still under fabrication. Fitting various reinforcement plates related to the gun installation was part of this months restoration progress. Skin fitting for the leading edge has also begun.

Wing Gun Installation Parts

Southwest Pacific P-47 Combat Tactic

This month I thought it might be interesting to include some pages from an aerial combat tactics manual published by the Fifth Air Force in August of 1945. Margo Prudente, Major Bill Dunhams daughter, generously allowed us to scan this official Army Air Force manual.

The portion of the manual written by Colonel Edwin Doss, Commander of the 35th Fighter Group is reproduced here.

The 35th Fighter Group was the only Fifth Air Force group flying P-47D-23s in combat before very late August/early September according to what is legible in the 5th Air Force squadron history records.

That timeline makes it the most probable group for 42-27609s assignment because this D-23 arrived in Australia on May 8, 1944 and was taken out of service on September 18, 1944. It is one of the earlier Thunderbolts in the first production run of 800 P-47D-23RAs. The first D-23 is serial number 42-27389, making 42-27609 the 221st P-47D-23RA of that production run.

This booklet has been republished (ISBN-10: 1576380645) and also appears to have been used as a source for both Tony Holmes Twelve to One V Fighter Command Aces of the Pacific and in the book Fighter Combat Tactics in the Southwest Pacific Area by Ray Merriam.

And thats all for this month. We wish to thank AirCorps Aviation, Chuck Cravens (words and images) as well as John LaTourelle (images) for making this report possible! We look forwards to bringing more restoration reports on progress with this rare machine in the coming months.

Is the P-47 Thunderbolt your favorite airplane? Make sure to purchase issue #73 of Warbird Digest featuring the beautiful Dottie Mae
As the states top lawyer and the leader of the N.C. Department of Justice, the attorney general takes the leads on criminal and civil issues faced by the state of North Carolina.

ONeill has been the district attorney in Forsyth County since 2009, when then-Gov. Bev Perdue appointed him to fill out the term of Tom Keith, who retired after 19 years in office. ONeill has won re-election three times  2010, 2014 and 2018. He ran unopposed all three times.

In the 2016 race for attorney general, ONeill lost to Buck Newton in the Republican primary. In the general election, Newton narrowly lost to Stein.

ONeill, who has worked as a prosecutor for 23 years, said that his priorities, if elected, would be clearing the backlog of untested rape kits, defending death-penalty murder convictions and fighting the opioid and heroin epidemic.

The backlog of untested rape kits is totally unacceptable, ONeill said.

Death penalty cases must be pursued pursuant to the recommendations of the jurors and the presiding judges, ONeill said. If we are going to have a law supporting the death penalty on the books, then it must be pursued.
Supreme Court may consider hearing the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 after the conclusion of hearing in the Sabarimala case.

Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Central government on Thursday, told a bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde that Centre will file its reply within two days.

CJI Bobde asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal to mention the matter again after Holi break after Sibal mentioned the petitions for urgent listing.

Sibal said some interim orders are required in the case and a hearing of two hours may be required for arguments.

CJI Bobde said the Bench will consider its listing after the Sabrimala matter.

The apex court had earlier issued notice to the Central government seeking its response on the pleas challenging the CAA and Register of Citizens (NRC).

Over a hundred petitions have been filed in the apex court for and against the amended citizenship law, which is being protested against at several places across the country.

The amended law grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and took refuge in India on or before December 31, 2014.

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

The local ombudsman has knocked down as legal support of former Cebu City mayor Mike Rama the so-called Arias Doctrine. The ombudsman has just decided to indict Rama and four former members of the city's bids and awards committee in connection with a P25 million waste disposal contract in 2015.

Under the Arias Doctrine, laid down in Arias vs Sandiganbayan, a head of office "has to rely to a reasonable extent on his subordinates and on the good faith of those who prepare bids, purchase supplies, or enter into negotiations."

Rama directly contracted the project to Asian Energy System Corp., doing away with the bidding.

He couldn't, the Visayas ombudsman ruled in finding probable cause against Rama and the four others and recommending charges against them before the anti-graft court.

People talk about...

[1] WHY PH 'HAS NO CHOICE' ABOUT THE COUNTRY BECOMING A CHINA PROVINCE. Antonio T. Carpio, former senior associate justice of the Supreme Court, said the choice offered by President Rodrigo Duterte was "a Hobson's choice," meaning the Filipinos have no choice when Duterte challenged Filipinos to "choose to become a US territory or a province of China." His condition, if we can stand alone militarily, is an impossible condition based on the wrong facts, said Carpio in his March 5 column in the Inquirer.

[2] JUMPING SHIP OFF PDP-LABAN. The crisis seems to have shaken up the ruling party. Exits from the PDP-Laban must have so worried its leaders that it is now taking steps to slow down, if not stop, the defections. The latest defector is reportedly Biliran Representative Gerryboy Espina who has leaped to Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats. Something must be afoot in the House.

Turbulence in the House

Why did the comment of Representative Franco "Duke" Frasco light up the disagreement between him, as chairman of the Visayas Development Committee of the House, and Reps. Raul del Mar and Bebot Abellanosa, his fellow Cebuanos in Congress?

Story continues

If it were solely about the declaration of the stand of the bloc not having been authorized by the group, that wouldn't have set off much controversy.

A Cebuano journalist based in Manila says he suspects the talks about the coup against Speaker Allan Peter Cayetano fueled the hostility that "infected" even the Visayas bloc. The anti-Cayetano camp thought Frasco was persuaded to make the statement to help fortify the speaker's camp while the pro-Cayetano group thought Del Mar and Abellanosa were put up to it, the delivery of the privileged speeches, to erode support for the speaker.

Politics in a time of upheaval at the House where another speaker, Pantaleon Alvarez, was ousted in July 2018.

Humor on coronavirus

US President Trump said he expected a miracle about the virus Covid-19. It would just disappear, he said, like a miracle. A late-night show host commented, "I did that about Trump. Until now he has not disappeared."

At a press-con, on a health expert's advice for people not to touch their face, Trump said he has not touched his face "for weeks." Don't believe it, said another comic in his show's monologue, showing a close-up photo of the president's face, "Look at the makeup on his face." He couldn't have laid it on without using his hands.

Prince William during a royal visit to Dublin's Guinness Storehouse quipped to a health worker, "I bet everyone's like, 'I've got coronavirus, I'm dying,' and you're like, "No, you've just got a cough." In the same event, he said, "By the way, the duke and the duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus. Sorry."

Serbia's president and foreign minister implied that drinking alcohol could prevent the virus from spreading: it concentrates on the ones drinking and kills them.

***

Tell us about it.

[paseares1@gmail.com]
The financial impacts of novel coronavirus Covid-19 are well documented while the killer bugs adverse effects on education sector are yet to be assessed. Educational institutions in China, the epicenter of the virus, have switched to digital education on a massive scale to combat the virus.

Millions of students in schools, colleges and universities in China have missed classes and they are now trying to compensate for the lost classes through online learning.

Most of the educational institutions including medical universities, with big number of Indian students, have restarted e classes for the stranded students.

The University resumed classes from February 15. Every day teachers will send the link of a video group chat when the class begins. We have to join the link through which PDF copies of text books and videos of classes will be shared. We can interact with the faculty, clear doubts and it is just like a normal classroom. The link will be active for few minutes and those who fail to join the link at prescribed time will be marked absentees, said an MBBS student at Wuhan University from Kerala.

Since online learning resumed after the semester break, we didnt miss much classes. The only issue was that it took some time for us to get familiar with the distance education online learning system. All the 65 students in our class are attending the class, including those from other countries who are currently stuck in Wuhan. We have been told that online classes will continue until the situation is back to normal and flight services to China are restored, she added.

There are reports that even primary schools including have switched to digital learning to cope up with the unexpected crisis created by the epidemic. Earlier, state run news agency Xinhua reported that the Chinese government has launched a national cloud learning platform and started broadcasting primary school classes for the nearly 180 million students in the country. Even though all schools are closed students can still keep learning through this system.
As the world is battling with coronavirus outbreak, OPEC's secretary-general and Russia's Energy Minister have found an alternative form of greeting. A video posted by the organisation has surfaced online which shows secretary-general, Mohammad Barkindo and Russian minister, Alexander Novak chuckling and tapping each other's feet. The new form of greeting comes as a part of the organisation's precautions as they have been instructed to 'avoid handshakes and hugs'.

READ: Coronavirus Outbreak: Tech Giants Withdraw Into Shell

However, OPEC also posted another photo which showed Barkindo clasping hands with Nigeria's minister. The organisation also shared an advisory poster with a list of 'Do's and Dont's' to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. OPEC also said that number delegates attending this week's meetings would also be kept to a minimum and the journalists are also barred from the OPEC building.

OPEC in a Tweet said, Journalists will not be allowed on OPEC premises. Closed ministerial sessions will be held in the main Conference Room. The press conference being held via webinar and there will be no photo session.

Advisory: The @OPECSecretariat has taken a series of steps to prevent and mitigate the impact of #COVID-19 at our scheduled meetings this week. These follow advice from the @UN, @WHO and Austrian authorities. pic.twitter.com/lVwAd9yEW9  OPEC (@OPECSecretariat) March 4, 2020

READ: Netizens Turn To Bizarre Conspiracy Theories Around Coronavirus Outbreak

'Leg shake'

OPEC isn't the first to come up with an alternative form of greeting. A video surfaced online earlier this week which showed a man using 'leg shake' to greet his friends. Several internet users also pitched alternative ways to greet each other without the risk of contracting the deadly virus.

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across more than 70 countries since December 2019. As per reports, the total number of confirmed cases within China has reportedly hit nearly 80,000 and more than 95,000 worldwide. According to reports, the death toll in China has also surpassed 3,000 and the National Health Commission also confirmed more than 139 new cases. The death toll due to the deadly virus across the world also mounted to 3,283.

READ: Salman Khan Advices Fans On Coronavirus; Recommends 'Namaste' As Preferred Way To Greet
Flights to and from Findel to Manchester (UK) cancelled following budget airline closure.

Today's news that budget airline Flybe has gone into administration has left thousand of passengers stranded.

We are sorry to hear that @flybe has entered administration.

If you were due to travel with them today, please do not make your way to #luxairport. https://t.co/ctLvY4ugZc  Luxembourg Airport (@luxairport) March 5, 2020

Flybe's announcement to ground all flights now places some 2,000 jobs at risk.

The effects in Luxembourg are not drastic, at this stage with only one route being cancelled today (March 5).

Further details can be found here.
JP Morgan (JPM) has begun putting in place emergency risk management measures in London, amid fears about a possible coronavirus outbreak.

Sales and trading staff in the US banks markets team were told in a memo on Thursday that staff would be split between different offices from Monday.

JP Morgan executives said the decision was a precautionary measure to limit the number of possible infections in an outbreak. The split will also ensure the bank can continue to operate without disruption if there is an outbreak.

The JP Morgan building in the Canary Wharf financial district in London. (Brais G Rouco/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Dividing our workforce into different locations improves our ability to serve clients continuously while reducing the health risks associated with physical contact should a case arise, the memo said

JP Morgan employs around 16,000 people across the UK, with thousands at its Canary Wharf offices in London. The bank declined to comment on its contingency measures and the memo.

The precautionary measures came on the same day as HSBC sent some London staff home after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. The bank is deep cleaning part of its Canary Wharf office where the infected employee worked.

Big banks have been reviewing resilience plans in recent weeks to make sure they can continue to operate in the event of COVID-19 outbreak among staff. Mitigation plans include splitting up teams to ensure entire units arent taken out by an outbreak and ensuring staff can work from home. JP Morgan said in Thursdays memo it had been testing its resilience plans in New York and London.

Last week US oil giant Chevron, advertising agency OMD, and law firm Baker McKenzie all sent home London staff as a precaution after employees reported flu-like symptoms.

A total of 115 cases have been confirmed in the UK so far, with the total rising by 30 between Wednesday and Thursday.
Israel Should Worry: Democratic Presidential Candidates Cave to Socialists Over AIPAC

Commentary

The U.S. hard-left is well on the way to eliminating any remaining support for the State of Israel among the Democratic Party leadership.

A long-term campaign of persuasion, pressure, and intimidation has caused even comparatively moderate Democrats to distance themselves from the Jewish state. Israel, a major recipient of U.S. military aid, has long relied on bi-partisan support in the U.S. Congress. Given the rapidly increasing socialist influence at all levels of the Democratic Party, those days could be coming to an end.

The latest Democratic Party leaders to buckle under leftist pressure are now-former presidential candidates Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Both announced on Feb. 26 that they would not attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference due to be held March 1 and 2 in Washington, D.C.

Candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had already bowed out earlier in the week.

For decades, both leading Democrats and Republicans have attended the annual policy conference led by AIPAC. This snubbing of the premier pro-Israel event on the Washington, D.C., calendar by several Democratic presidential contenders is no doubt being noted with deep concern in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

According to Common Dreams, Jewish-led activist group IfNotNow credited its #SkipAIPAC campaignwhich its leading with MoveOn, Indivisible, and the Working Families Party   with convincing Buttigieg and Klobuchar to skip the conference.

Said IfNotNow co-founder Dani Moscovitch in a statement: This is a watershed moment and a major victory against the bigotry that AIPAC has legitimized for decades. 

Even moderates in the Democratic Party are now refusing to attend a conference by a right-wing lobby that allies with bigots just to shield the Israeli government from any consequences for denying the Palestinian people freedom and dignity.

Because of grassroots pressure, the tide is turning, IfNotNow tweeted.

Far-left journalist Glenn Greenwald said in a tweet that the shunning of AIPAC solidifies its status as a fringe, right-wing, radioactive rogue organization.

According to Common Dreams, MoveOn senior political adviser Dan Kalik stated:

Thank you Senators Warren, Sanders, and Klobuchar, and Mayor Pete for standing by your values and choosing to #SkipAIPAC. No candidates should be pandering to AIPAC, which spent millions in an attempt to defeat the Iran Nuclear Deal and continues to give a platform to Islamophobes and bigots.

IfNotNow was founded in 2014 after Israels successful Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas, a U.S. State Department-designated Middle Eastern terror group.

IfNotNow claims to consist of young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions to OPE.

In reality it is a hard-left anti-Israel activist group bent on ending U.S. military and economic support for one of this countrys most important allies.

It is time to end the blank check and for our tax dollars to stop funding the Israeli occupation, said IfNotNow leader Moscovitch in the aforementioned statement.

IfNotNow grew out of the Occupy Wall Street movement of 20112012. Many of its leaders were also active in Momentum, an activist training group with links to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (now known as Liberation Road), a post Maoist organization with ties to China, Cuba, and several foreign and domestic revolutionary movements.

Many of Momentums leading activists came out of Liberation Road and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-linked student groups, especially the Pennsylvania Student Power Network. Prominent Massachusetts IfNotNow members Rebecca Hornstein and Jonathon Feinberg are both well-known Road cadre.

IfNotNow has conducted multiple protests, sit-ins, and propaganda stunts against Israeli interests in the last six years. Like Liberation Road, IfNotNow operates an inside/outside strategy. The organization constantly tries to pressure the Democratic Party in an anti-Israel direction, while simultaneously trying to influence senior party figures from the inside.

In April 2016, Bernie Sanders first presidential campaign suspended IfNotNow co-founder Simone Zimmerman just two days after it hired her as an adviser, the Huffington Post reported.

Zimmerman sparked American Jewish outrage when a year-old Facebook post emerged in which she swore at Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and described him as arrogant, deceptive, cynical and manipulative, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Yonah Lieberman, who co-founded IfNotNow with Zimmerman and others, fired back, telling the Huffington Post:

The smear campaign being waged against Simone Zimmerman is a reflection of how out-of-touch the American Jewish establishment is with the Jewish community.  This is not the first sign of this disconnect  it just the most blatant example of the American Jewish establishment trying to intimidate and silence young people acting on the very Jewish values we were taught by our community.  The Jewish establishment wont stand for anyone criticizing Israel  no matter the truth or reason. When young Jews call for freedom and dignity for the Palestinians, the establishment can only respond with intimidation and fear.

Another IfNotNow co-founder, Max Berger, started a #IStandWithSimone hashtag campaign on Twitter.

In 2019, Berger also came under fire while working for the Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign as her director for progressive partnerships.

A 2013 tweet resurfaced in which Berger had stated I would totally be friends with Hamas.

Candidate Warren calmed the ensuing concern by assuring Jewish groups that Berger wouldnt be working on Middle East policy, according to Mondoweiss.

Berger had been involved in Occupy Wall Street and Justice Democrats, the organization that manufactured  DSA comrade and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Berger also has ties to the DSA and was consulted in the formation of Liberation Road satellite organization LeftRoots.

Both the DSA and Liberation Road are militantly opposed to Israeli government policy regarding the so-called occupied territories and support moves to economically and culturally isolate Israel.

Now this tiny group of radicals is able to shame Democratic presidential contenders into turning their backs on the Democratic Partys 70-year history of support for Israel.

Shame on Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar for buckling to pressure from the Anti-Israel far-leftor worse still covertly sympathizing with them.

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker, and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics. He is best known for his book Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress and his similarly themed documentary film Enemies Within. His soon-to-be published book is White House Reds: Communists, Socialists & Security Risks Running for U.S. President, 2020.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The moves come four years after Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed bipartisan legislation stripping cities of oversight of short-term rentals, saying he was promoting innovation and free markets. The law was promoted by lobbyists for Airbnb and other home-sharing apps.

On Wednesday, Rep. Isela Blanc, D-Tempe, told colleagues that things did not work out as advertised.

We might recall that Airbnb was sold as an idea to allow people who wanted to rent an extra room to make extra income, who maybe had that vacation home in Flagstaff, to rent the vacation home when they were not using it, she said. I can understand and respect that.

But the reality of preempting local regulations, Blanc said, created something quite different.

We have opened this up wide for investment companies, for investment companies outside our state to come into our state, purchasing up properties, she said.

Blanc said those who operate hotels are deciding to buy up apartments for short-term rentals, creating de facto hotels without having to deal with the requirements and tax obligations.
By Li Mengyuan

US President Donald Trump made his first official visit to India on February 24-25, during which the two sides inked an arms deal worth more than USD3 billion, whereby India will buy 24 MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters and six AH-64E Apache armored helicopters from the US. That Trump prioritized the arms deal over a trade deal with India revealed his America first philosophy behind the support for New Delhi.

Washington and New Delhi have had closer military cooperation in recent years in spite of their divergences on issues such as trade, religion, and ethnic minorities.

While defining China and Russia as its strategic rivals, the US views India as a pivot of its Indo-Pacific strategy and believes that incorporating more American elements into the Indian military will deepen the security cooperation mechanism among Washington, Tokyo, Canberra, and New Delhi.

The Indian government is faced with protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country. The support from US will not only give New Delhi more confidence at home, but also raise its international standing. Besides, India has always been trying to strike a relative balance when getting along withmajor countries, so the purchase ofa certain number of American weapons and equipment for the Indian troops that are mainly equipped with Russian pieces exactly embodies Indias pursuit of the balance.

Knowing so well with what New Delhi is thinking, Trump showered too much praise on India during his two-day visit, sparing no effort to curry favor with India.

India and Pakistan have had constant border disputes recently. Indias revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019 further exacerbated its conflicts with Pakistan in Kashmir. Moreover, India lost face after its aircraft was shot down during the February 27 air battle with Pakistan that year, and its navy wants to take more aggressive steps to dominate the Indian Ocean and engage in the South China Sea. Under such circumstances, the Indian military urgently needs to buy advanced weapons to reinforce its strength and deter potential rivals.

For instance, the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter that takes a major part in the latest US-India arms deal boasts all-weather combat performances and can be deployed on multiple types of naval vessels to perform diverse tasks, meeting the Indian navys demand for ship-borne helicopters. According to another source, the Indian military will also move faster to purchase the AIM-120 air-to-air missiles and the NASAMS-II air defense missile systems from the US. Its foreseeable that the US is going to help India compete with its regional rivals by hawking more tactical weapons to India.

When addressing a 100,000-people welcome rally in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on February 24, Trump said the United States should be India's premier defense partner, which sounded like a warning that India should further shake off its reliance on Russia for weapon imports.

Russian equipment consistently accounts for over 60% of Indias total weapon import and is more than four times the amount of American equipment. The latest purchase of five sets of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems cost more than USD5 billion. Yet India, which upholds weapon import diversification, wouldnt put all its eggs in one basket, so the American military industry finds its way to the Indian market.

Some media report that Washington and New Delhi are also in talks about a nearly USD10-billion equipment deal. This South Asian country is without any doubt an important arms market with great prospects for Trump, who has touted weapon export as his political achievement. Following the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018 and the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) in 2019, the US is likely to further deepen the military cooperation with India and export more weapons to it using technology transfer as a bait.

On the surface, Washington and New Delhi each get what they want through the arms deal, but we can well imagine how many benefits the India can really get under the America first policy. The affinity in appearance cannot hide their underlying interest divergences.
(Newser)  Super Tuesday was tough on Bernie Sandersbut Michigan? It could be the end. So argue David Siders and Holly Otterbein in a sobering analysis of the March 10 primary. "It was Michigan where Sanders engineered a primary day miracle four years ago, upsetting Hillary Clinton and imprinting his populist agenda on the industrial Midwest," they recall at Politico. At the time, Sanders could argue that his 50-48 victory made him at least marginally better with white, blue-collar workersa big win for the democratic socialist. But "one week from now, Sanders may not even win the state." To that effect, a Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll has him 7 percentage points behind Joe Biden in Michigan. And absentee ballots have him nearly 20 points behind.

story continues below

Why a must-win? Well, Michigan has a big haul of 125 delegates, making it "a critical general election state and an indicator to Democrats of a candidate's broader appeal," they write. "A loss there could significantly undermine [Sanders'] electability argument." Biden admittedly has little campaign presence in Michigan and only $500,000 in TV ads there, while Sanders is getting support from faith leaders in the state. So it does remain up for grabs. But if Biden wins, Greg Sargent at the Washington Post sees an ironythat Biden's surprisingly progressive agenda seems influenced by Sanders: "Biden winning in Michigan after embracing such an agenda would reflect the success of Sanders himself ... even as it would be dealing a serious blow to the case for Sanders' candidacy continuing." (Read more Democratic presidential primaries stories.)
It can be tough for working Americans to determine when to transition into retirement. There are several financial red flags that signal when stepping away from work might not be the best option.

Here are some signs you are not financially prepared to retire:

1. A high debt load.

2. No retirement spending plan.

3. Not accounting for health expenses.

4. Banking on Social Security.

5. No plan to pay off a mortgage.

6. No clear investment picture.

7. You're supporting kids.

8. Not considering extra expenses.

Among Americans who have retired, one in four felt they were not well prepared financially to step away from work, according to a 2019 poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Here is how to remedy these financial oversights and map out a retirement timeline you can logistically manage.

1. A High Debt Load

If you have a large amount of debt compared to your income, consider paying off pending balances before moving into the next phase. Say your monthly income is currently $5,000 and you pay $1,000 toward a credit card balance every month. If you get rid of the credit card debt, you won't need that extra $1,000 payment each month in retirement. This will free up your retirement income for other activities. Without debt payments to worry about, "the funds in your retirement savings will last longer," says Lisa Bamburg, owner of Insurance Advantage & LMA Financial Services in Jacksonville, Arkansas.

[See: 10 Costs to Include in Your Retirement Budget]

2. No Retirement Spending Plan

If you don't know the amount you'll need for living expenses in retirement, it is difficult to estimate how much of a nest egg you'll need. When thinking about your retirement lifestyle, "create a monthly budget," Bamburg says. "If you want to travel in retirement or spend more time with grandkids, you need to have an idea of how much that will add to your monthly spending." Once you've laid out a monthly budget, you can compare it to your investments and savings to see whether you have enough set aside to retire.

Story continues

3. Not Accounting for Health Expenses

If you plan to retire before age 65, which is when you'll become eligible for Medicare, you'll need a separate plan to cover your health costs during the interim. "Health insurance is incredibly expensive," says Logan Allec, a certified public accountant and owner of the personal finance blog Money Done Right. "Depending on your circumstances, health insurance could cost more than $1,000 a month."

Retiring at age 65 or older can bring its own set of health challenges. Medicare doesn't cover all medical expenses, so you'll want to factor health costs into your retirement budget. The list of health costs in retirement could include premiums, copays for doctor visits, home care, dental work and vision care, along with other expenses not covered by your insurance.

[Read: How Much You Will Get From Social Security]

4. Banking on Social Security

You can create a my Social Security account and get an estimate of the Social Security benefits you can expect to receive in retirement. Benefits are based on your work history and income. You may find that the benefits won't support the lifestyle you have planned in retirement. "What happens if Social Security benefits are reduced?" Bamburg says. "Your retirement plan needs to be more than Social Security."

5. No Plan to Pay Off a Mortgage

If you still have a mortgage on your home, check how many more years of payments you have on the loan. "A mortgage, as a recurring payment you'll face every month, will likely be your largest and most consistent expense," Allec says. "Until you have a plan for how you can handle your largest expense in retirement, it's not time to retire yet." You may decide to use some savings to pay off the home loan. You could also sell the home and downsize in retirement.

6. No Clear Investment Picture

If you have a number of investment vehicles, such as a 401(k) plan through work, an individual retirement account, stocks, bonds or real estate, you need to understand how they fit together to produce an income for your retirement years. "A collection of retirement savings is not a plan," says Jeannette Bajalia, founder and president of Woman's Worth in Jacksonville, Florida. "They are merely a series of financial products that you happen to own, and this doesn't guarantee retirement success." Sit down with a financial advisor to look at your investments and create a plan that can be used to fund your retirement years.

[Read: Medicare Out-of-Pocket Costs You Should Expect to Pay.]

7. You're Supporting Kids

If you still have children at home or in college, you may be spending funds every month to help cover their living expenses. Retiring and moving to a fixed income could cause a strain on your overall budget. "Retirement should be about you and being comfortable enough not to have to scrimp and worry about your children," Bamburg says. You may decide to wait a few years until your children are living on their own to retire. You could also opt to pick up a job in retirement to boost your income.

8. Not Considering Extra Expenses

Even with a crafted retirement plan, the unexpected could surface during retirement. Inflation might be higher than predicted, health care costs could rise more than expected or there could be an unforeseen house repair. "Make sure you account for the unknowns," Bajalia says. You might keep an emergency fund that can be accessed during the next few years. You could also set aside one retirement account that is easy to access for unexpected costs.





More From US News & World Report


Note: This is a full Taste Test review, with a star rating based on multiple visits.

With just 22 seats, The Magpie has to play restaurant Tetris to squeeze people in.

Move the solo guy from the two-seater to the bar, push two of those tables together and voila, table for four. Two couples whove never met? No problem: Instant double date at the table by the door.

So many people, so little space. Its a big problem to have, and its a good problem to have. And its not likely to let up. Because beyond The Magpies boutique coziness at Hackberry Market on the East Side stands chef Sue Kim, turning out Korean-inspired food with heart, soul, flavor and style.

Were accustomed to Korean food served with constellations of side dishes, to grilled meat cut with scissors at the table, to fire-breathing spice, to fried chicken and beer all around. Kim brings small-plate finesse to that broad-shouldered food.

In her hands, pork belly took a balanced stance between fat and lean, its crispy edges gilded with five-chili oil, fanned out over braised gai lan greens with peanuts and watermelon radish. Elegant is hardly ever an adjective for pork belly, but Magpie made it happen.

More Information The Magpie **  1602 E. Houston St., Suite 106; 210-389-1584, magpie.us Quick bite: Korean-inspired cooking in a modern 22-seat boutique space Hit: Banh mi toast, crispy pork belly, happy hour chicken bites Miss: Lamb skewers Hours: 4-10 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday Price range: Appetizers and small plates, $5-$13; entrees, $14-$19; desserts, $5-$9 Alcohol: Wine and beer **** Superior. Can compete nationally. *** Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. ** Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. * Good. A restaurant that we recommend. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time. Express-News dining critics pay for all meals. See More Collapse

Miss a review? Catch up with all our recent San Antonio restaurant reviews on ExpressNews.com

Kim took the Korean grilled rice cake called ju mok bap and formed it into a heart, held together with pickled plum and onion paste, finished with crumbled walnuts for a comfort food journey of taste and texture, with an optional pickled egg on the side. Korean pancakes called jeon made up a smart sampler plate of three silver dollar-size styles: funky kimchi, crispy lotus root and an eclectic green jeon made with Ecklonia cava algae with a lone curled shrimp  a true international house of pancakes.

Kim rolled up her sleeves for plates with working-class character, tossing pork ribs in spicy galbi chile sauce with potatoes, eggplant and gnocchi-style rice dumplings called tteok-bokki. That same robust aesthetic played into dak galbi ssam, a boneless half-chicken flamed on the grill, served with galbi sauce and lettuce leaves for wrapping. Magpies japchae noodles rang welcome Korean notes, a familiar toss of sweet potato glass noodles, spinach and carrots with a tiara of fried lotus chips.

During happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Magpie throws a chicken-and-beer party, with plates of boneless nuggets from plain to flamethrower fried light and crisp for $5 and select beers and wine from its small but well-curated list, which ranges from Beaujolais to Lambrusco and Belgian tripel ale to coconut cream stout.

Good food recognizes no borders, and Magpie is also a picture window on the wider world. Kim and her husband, Eugene Sanchez, have traveled the world since they met in 2006 in her native South Korea, where Sanchez was teaching English at the time.

Shes at home in the kitchen, having worked at the Michelin-starred Melisse in California and restaurants in San Antonio including Dough Pizzeria Napoletana and chef Andrew Weissmans Minnies Tavern. Sanchez, on the other hand, is a newbie to the restaurant life, a congenial scholar whos just a dissertation away from a doctoral degree in literature. But he handles the floor at Magpie with grace, greeting people and running food and waiting amiably for the shouty happy drunk guy to stop banging his big hammy fists on the counter.

On ExpressNews.com: Review: San Antonios late-night Arirang Korean restaurant a soulful dive

Magpies a full-contact sport in that regard. I sat 18 inches away from two people locked in loud mortal combat over who could say literally the most. The magpie  the bird, that is  might be a scrappy harbinger of good luck, but its also loud as hell. But thats the way of this place, sharing a brand new shopping plaza on the East Side with a butcher, a baker and a pizza pie maker.

Why open Magpie in this little windowbox of a space? Sanchez and Kim said it reminded them of cafes in South Korea. And it feels like some of the cool little spots in Los Angeles, where they lived for four years before coming to San Antonio. And because in this 22-seat boutique, as Kim said, I wanted total quality control.

She exerted that control with small plates like chicken-liver mousse all rich and brassy over house-baked baguettes and milk toast, punctuated with cornichons, pickled cauliflower and sour cherry gelee. Shrimp toast incorporated alabaster-colored shrimp sauteed in white wine and butter on milk toast with willowy flakes of fried onion waving in the breeze.

Even more intriguing, banh mi toast honored the Vietnamese classic sandwich with bulgogi pork, chicken liver mousse, carrots and herbs. With frenched bones rising like weathered pillars, grilled New Zealand lamb chops radiated just the right edge of grassy gaminess, and grilled salmon matched crispy, chile-basted skin with a featherlight coral core. Only a pair of minced lamb skewers went sideways, going rangy and dry as they missed their Mediterranean target.

The kitchen gave side plates their own share of creative attention. A Granny Smith apple salad crunched with pine-nut brittle. Brussels sprouts glowed with sweet-tart balsamic-pomegranate agrodolce. Tangy romesco sauce and roasted pepitas energized roasted cauliflower. Even simple French green beans came with almond puree and fennel pollen.

Now I have some bad news about The Magpie. All the food Ive mentioned here? It changes from week to week, moving on and off the menu with the same strategic finesse as the seating chart.

So much good food, such a small kitchen. Its a good problem to have.

Mike Sutter is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking
Wednesday, March 4, 2020

The Herman Trend Alert

March 4, 2020

A Vote for Normalcy in the United States

Most of these Herman Trend Alerts quote statistics and percentages and look at breakthroughs in technology or medicine or some other scientific development---trends or advancements that have global appeal and application. Plus, in the more than 20-year history of these Alerts, we have never overtly covered politics. But, yesterday (Tuesday) in the US, a remarkable political event took place and I wanted to talk about what led us to that point and what it means for the future of not only the US, but the other countries of the world as well.

Young People and Other Progressives Mobilized



Students and other young people were courted and won over by our candidate Bernie Sanders. He promises free college for all, student loan forgiveness, medical insurance coverage for all, and other very attractive, though very expensive social programs. Sanders, an avowed Democratic Socialist, is promoting societal agendas costing trillions of USD. Many have wondered if they could ever pass these expenditures through a house or senate vote, even if those bodies were led by Democrats.

A Last-Minute Shift fueled by this Fear



One major concern was (and is) a significant concern that Sanders at the top of the ticket would mean that the down-ticket races of senate and house seats would in jeopardy. Many current office holders up for re-election have expressed this fear. Poll after poll in the US has shown that that the number one issue for choosing a candidate for the Democratic electorate has been the ability to prevent President Trump from having an even more disastrous second term. As Bernie Sanders popularity emerged and the electorate realized he had the best chance of becoming the nominee, Joe Biden appeared to be the only viable moderate alternative to beat Trump. Beginning with Biden's huge win in the South Carolina primary election, moderate candidates, including Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, expressed their support for him. This momentum carried him to his victory yesterday.

Obama's Democratic Party



As Trump has dismantled the Obama legacy piece by piece, many Democrats have been saddened to watch this disintegration. Democrats have longed to have Obama back---or the next best, his former vice president. During impeachment proceedings, some of Trump's corrupt activities were exposed. However, supported by the Senate Republican Party fearful of the President's wrath, Trump was acquitted. A couple of patriots, notably Senators Mitt Romney and Doug Collins (a Democrat elected in a Republican district) were the only senators willing to stand up for the truth. Romney incurred Trump's anger and his promise to work to defeat him in his next election.

An Exhausted Electorate



The Democrats in the US have been dismayed to watch Trump's constant lying and bumbling through his presidency. In addition, the they have been exhausted by the bickering between progressives and the moderates.

It's Not Over, But . . .



Biden will emerge from this so-called Super Tuesday with a large number of delegates---more than Sanders---but not yet enough to win the nomination. The good news for Biden is that the next states' primaries, including Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana, are more conservative than many that happened yesterday. The somewhat bad news for Biden is that the high-population states of New York and Illinois are likely to go for Sanders. Our forecast is that this horserace is not over. However, I believe that ultimately Biden will be the Democratic nominee and that he will choose a woman as his running mate.

What this Election Means for the Rest of the World



Trump has been an unqualified catastrophe for the US State Department and its relationships with allies. He has systematically blown up relationships with our major allies and pulled out of almost every accord and treaty to benefit the US and the planet. The election of Joe Biden would mean a return to normalcy---the valuing of friends and the appropriate identification of enemies like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong un. For world leaders, it will mean the absence of terror that our president would inadvertently start World War III and a return to being able to believe what our president says. And for many of us who long for trust and integrity in our Executive Branch, it cannot come soon enough.

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Read this Herman Trend Alert on the web: http://www.hermangroup.com/alert/archive 3-4-2020.h tml

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 Copyright 1998-2020 by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. 336-210-3548 or http://www.hermangroup.com. To sign up, visit http://www.HermanTrendAlert.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc."
A bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature bans the use of smartphones and other electronic communication devices while driving, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) reported.

The APCIA supports legislation such as HB 1169, which is headed to Gov. Kristi Noem for her signature, that helps improve safety and saves lives.

With this legislation, South Dakota can join a growing list of states that are taking steps to address distraction-related motor vehicle crashes and fatalities, Steve Schneider, APCIA vice president, Midwest region state affairs, said in a media release.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia now ban the use of handheld devices while driving. According to a study conducted by the Georgia Legislature, in 12 states traffic fatalities decreased an average of 16 percent within two years of passing a handheld ban.

Schneider said the APCIA is urging the governor to sign the bill.

Source: American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA)

Topics Legislation Personal Auto South Dakota
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 01:21:20|Editor: huaxia

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TIRANA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria is ready to offer assistance to Albania over EU membership negotiations, said visiting Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Thursday at a joint press conference with his Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta.

Radev is paying a state visit to Albania on the invitation of his Albanian counterpart.

During their meeting, the two heads of state discussed the further development and deepening of bilateral relations, the good neighborly relations and traditional friendship between the two peoples, for the peace and security in the Balkan region, and for the process of Albania's integration into EU.

Speaking at the joint press conference, Radev underlined that the purpose of his visit to Albania is "to express support for the European path of Albania."

"My visit comes at an important moment for the perspective of the Western Balkans. We think Albania is ready to start membership negotiations with the EU. We understand the process is long and complex, but we are ready to offer our assistance," he added.

In relation to the economic development, Radev said that with President Meta "we discussed the possibilities of restoring Tirana-Sofia airline and maritime cooperation through ports."

Meta said he thanked Radev for Bulgaria's support and contribution following the earthquake that hit Albania on Nov. 26 last year.

Meta told reporters that with his counterpart they exchanged views on enhancing cooperation in the field of civil emergencies.

"During our meeting we also held talks about increasing cooperation in the field of education, especially exchanges between students, but also about strengthening relations in the field of culture and sports," Meta said, adding that "by cooperating in these areas, our relationships will be more tangible and successful."

The two presidents declared that their talks focused as well on the situation of migrants in the border between Turkey and Greece.

Meta emphasized the necessity to promote dialogue in order to avoid any incidents, whereas Radev stressed the need of an operational plan for border protection of the EU. Enditem
Pakistan on Thursday reported a fresh case of the deadly coronavirus, taking the total number of the COVID-19 infections in the country to six, a media report said.

The patient was identified as a 69-year-old man residing in Karachi's District East, Dawn reported.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed officials to trace and test all those who have been in contact with the patient, it said.

So far, no coronavirus related death has been reported in Pakistan.

Sindh and Balochistan province have already closed their schools and college after the deadly virus surfaced in the country.

Pakistan has also closed its border with Iran and Afghanistan, and authorities have screened 7,60,000 people for the novel coronavirus.

Chairing a meeting of the Coronavirus Emergency Core Group in Islamabad on Thursday, Prime Minister's Advisor on Health Zafar Mirza said over 7,60,000 people entering the country were checked at various entry points.

"The federal and provincial governments, as well as other institutions, are fully ready to meet the challenge and protect the people," he said.

The novel virus reportedly first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has claimed over 3,200 lives globally.

The World Health Organisation last week raised the 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.)
Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced a CUNA-supported bill Wednesday that would raise federal credit union loan maturity limits on non-mortgage loans from 15 to 20 years, the Expanding Access to Lending Options Act. CUNA wrote a letter of support of Scott and Cortez Masto Wednesday.

CUNA strongly supports efforts to raise the current 15-year limit for non-mortgages, and has called on both NCUA and Congress to make such a change.

We thank Sens. Scott and Cortez Masto for their bipartisan legislation that would open increased consumer access to safe and affordable credit union loan products, said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. By reducing barriers to credit for those borrowers seeking longer term loans, this legislation will help credit unions provide new opportunities for those seeking to write their own financial futures.

CUNA, along with the Carolinas Credit Union League and the Nevada Credit Union League, directly engaged with legislators on the importance of this bill. Scott announced the bill during last weeks CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) during a meeting with the Carolinas Credit Union League.
One person is dead and five others have been injured after a shooting at a party in California late Wednesday night.

A 23-year-old man was shot and killed at the party, and five others - including a 7-year-old girl - are being treated for gunshot wounds. The girl was shot multiple times. Their conditions are currently unknown.

The shooting happened during a celebration of life party for a man who was buried on Wednesday. The individual died in a car accident.

Police said the shooter had not been apprehended and have little is known about the suspect.

Tulare police Sergeant Ed Hinojosa described the scene to the Fresno Bee.

Recommended UPS employee arrested after threatening mass shooting

Upon arrival, the scene was chaotic. People were running in every direction, some trying to attend to family members who had been struck, Mr Hinojosa said.

Mr Hinojosa said the entire police department was contributing to the investigation. Though motives are currently unknown, he said there is some suspicion of gang activity.

We believe that it may be gang related, though its unclear of the affiliation, he said.
Prabhas, the most popular actor of South and actor called Bahubali, has been in a lot of discussions these days. He is currently busy shooting for his upcoming film. Prabhas has left for Europe for the shooting of his upcoming film 'O Dear'. He was also accompanied by some crew members of the romantic drama.

This South actor became the victim of accident during shooting

The 'Saaho' actor was seen wearing a mask at Shamshabad International Airport in Hyderabad. He was Qatar-bound. The precautionary measure is due to the fear of coronavirus which has gripped India badly in the last 48 hours.

This actor can get the right to remake 'Driving License'

According to media reports, the film's Europe schedule comes after a long schedule in Hyderabad in which Pooja Hegde and other Bollywood heroine Bhagyashree participated. Directed by Radhakrishna, the film has production design by Ravinder Reddy and VFX supervision by Kamal Kannan. Its release date is not yet official.

Shane Nigam row: Actor agrees to pay compensation to producers
File Image

Federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus as the US death toll climbed to 11, including the first fatality outside Washington state. Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said on March 4 an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died.

The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom late yesterday declared a statewide emergency due to coronavirus. Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies, and Hawaii also joined them on March 4.

Washington also announced another death, bringing its total to 10.

Most of those who died were residents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Vice President Mike Pence was expected to meet with Washington Governor Jay Inslee near Olympia today.

Seema Verma, head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out what happened and determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Last April, the state fined Life Care $67,000 over infection-control deficiencies following two flu outbreaks that affected 17 patients and staff.

An unannounced follow-up inspection in June determined that Life Care had corrected the problems, Verma said.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington came under pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and canceling large events.

While the state and Seattle have declared emergencies, giving leaders broad powers to suspend activities, they have not issued any orders to do so.

We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now, Governor Jay Inslee said.

Right now, we are deferring to the judgment ... of these organizations.

While some individual schools and businesses have shut down, the governor said large-scale school closings have not been ordered because there are so many ramifications for families and businesses, especially for health care workers who might not be able to go to work because of child care responsibilities.

Local and state health officials have not recommended school closings unless the schools have had a confirmed case of the disease.

School closures have been part of the pandemic response kit for a long time," said Dr Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County.

"We don't have strong evidence about how important school closures are.

Jennifer Hayles, 41, of Kirkland, said she was appalled that Inslee and health officials haven't canceled next week's Emerald City Comic Con.

The four-day cosplay and pop-culture event draws close to 100,000 people each year, and some participants, including D.C. Comics and Penguin Random House, have pulled out over the virus.

Hayles said she spent hundreds of dollars on tickets and other items related to the event but will have to skip it because she has a compromised immune system.

There's a lot of people who are talking about the economic cost of people forced to pull out of Comic Con, but if we have an explosion of cases of coronavirus, the economic cost is going to be much higher, Hayles said.

Comic Con's organiser, Reedpop, announced on March 4 that it would make an exception to its no-refunds policy for those who want their money back, but said it remained committed to holding the event unless local, state or federal officials change their guidance.

Lakshmi Unni said that she was keeping her son, an eighth-grader at Redmond Middle School in Seattle's eastern suburbs, home on March 4 and that she had urged the school board and principal to close.

Yesterday at least three kids were coughing, Unni said.

We don't know if they were sick with the virus, but if they do become sick, the chances of spreading are very, very high.

Some schools, businesses and other employers aren't waiting.

Seattle and King County public health officials urged businesses to allow employees to work remotely if possible, and the county said it will allow telecommuting for some of its workers for the next three weeks.

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle announced it is canceling events at the complex and requiring nonessential staff to work remotely at least through the end of the month to lessen the chance of infection among patients with weakened immune systems.

School officials in Renton, south of Seattle, announced that Hazen High School will close for the rest of the week after a student tested positive for the coronavirus.

Online petitions urged officials to close other schools on Seattle's east side.

The F5 technology company closed its 44-story tower in downtown Seattle after learning an employee had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

Outdoor recreation giant REI shut down its Seattle-area operations for two days as a precaution.
Update, 3:45 p.m. Thursday: New York State Police report 14-year-old located in good health.

Earlier report

WEST MONROE, N.Y. -- Troopers are working to find a 14-year-old boy who has been missing from Oswego County for nearly two weeks.

Trey Krenzer was reported missing by his family on Feb. 22, said the New York State Police. The missing boy -- called a missing/runaway person by the state police -- was last seen at his home on Pinecrest Drive in West Monroe, troopers said.

Trey weighs about 120 pounds, troopers said, and is 5 feet 8 inches tall. He has black curly hair, brown eyes and wears glasses, troopers said.

Troopers have asked anyone who knows where Trey is to call 911 or state police headquarters at (315) 366-6000.

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Have a tip, a story idea or a comment? You can reach me at shouse@syracuse.com | text/call (315) 466-4160 | Twitter | Facebook
Brussels: The European Union's executive aims to introduce laws to combat gender pay gap across the bloc for the first time ever in a bid to fight inequality and boost the economy, according to a document seen by Reuters ahead of official publication.

The European Commission will present on Thursday, Belgium time, a list of steps to promote gender equality in the 27-nation bloc. The strategy document said women in the EU earn on average 16 per cent less than men, perpetuating a pension disparity of 30 per cent between the sexes.

Equal pay? Credit:iStock

"Accumulated lifetime gender employment and pay gaps result in an even wider pension gap and consequently older women are more at risk of poverty than men," it read.

To alleviate that, the Commission will roll out "binding measures on pay transparency" this year, it said, adding that improving gender equality in the labour market would boost EU's GDP per capita by up to a tenth.
(Natural News) This is already the most frightening virus outbreak that we have seen in the past several decades, and it appears that it is just getting started. A week ago, there were about 3,000 confirmed cases outside of China and now there are more than 10,000. 4,812 cases have been confirmed in South Korea, 2,036 cases have been confirmed in Italy, and 1,501 cases have been confirmed in Iran at this point. Of course by the time you actually read this article those numbers are likely to be significantly higher. It is like we are watching a really bad Hollywood disaster movie play out right in front of our eyes, and so far every effort to contain this virus has failed. On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci stunned many people when he told NBC News that COVID-19 has likely reached pandemic proportions

(Article by Michael Snyder republished from TheMostImportantNews.com)

News of the additional deaths came after Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC News on Monday that the disease had likely reached pandemic proportions as 100 cases were confirmed across the U.S. Were dealing with an evolving situation. Were dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that has now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions, Dr Fauci said. If you look at multiple definitions of what a pandemic is multiple sustained transmissions of of a highly infectious agent in multiple regions of the globe.

Dr. Fauci is definitely not an alarmist, and for him to use the word pandemic is a major red flag.

Last week a lot of people were pointing out that not a single American had died from this virus yet, but now six victims have died in the state of Washington alone

Four more people have died of the coronavirus in Washington state, raising the death toll in the state and the nation to six, health officials said Monday. Jeffrey Duchin, a health officer in King County and Seattle, said at a news conference Monday that five of the deaths were people from King County and one was from Snohomish County, north of Seattle.

If you live in the Seattle area, you need to understand that you are in the middle of a crisis zone. As I discussed yesterday, it is likely that the virus has been circulating in that region for weeks, and each day the number of potential carriers will only get higher.

At this point, local officials are specifically warning everyone to avoid crowded settings if possible

To increase your chances of staying healthy, avoid crowded settings if possible, King County Public Health said on Twitter. Especially if you are over 60, or have other chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, or a weakened immune system. Theres particular concern about the spread of the virus in nursing homes. One such facility, Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, said in a statement that one of its residents and one of its associates have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The center is banning visitors for now.

And this doesnt mean that you will need to change your behavior for a few days or even a few weeks.

At a minimum, if you live in the Seattle area you are going to want to avoid crowded settings for the next several months.

Of course it is just a matter of time before other major cities are facing similar outbreaks. In recent days the number of states with confirmed cases has grown quite a bit larger

Arizona  1

California  20

Florida  2

Illinois  4

Massachusetts  1

New York  1

Oregon  3

Rhode Island  2

Washington state  18 (includes 6 fatalities)

Wisconsin  1

Unfortunately, this list probably only represents the very small tip of a very large iceberg. Up until just recently, the CDC was mandating that the only people that should be tested are those that have traveled to China or those that have had close contact with a known victim. By using such restrictive criteria, the number of Americans being tested was kept extremely low, and a lot of infected people slipped through the cracks.

Now this virus has escaped containment, and authorities are telling us that community spread is inevitable all over the United States.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to sweep across much of the rest of the planet like wildfire.

In Iran, the fact that a top adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei just died from the virus made headlines all over the globe

AN adviser to Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died of coronavirus, state media reported today. Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, died in hospital in Tehran as the pariah nation reels from a worsening outbreak that has left several senior officials in hospital.

But despite the fact that the number of confirmed cases in Iran is escalating at an exponential rate, and despite the fact that dozens of Iranians have already died, many Iranians continue to engage in the practice of kissing and licking Shiite shrines throughout the country

Videos spreading on social media are showing Iranians kissing and licking Shiite shrines throughout the country as many call to close the shrines amid a severe coronavirus outbreak in the Islamic Republic. The epicenter of the outbreak in Iran, Qom, is a religious city home to several shrines. The shrines remain open as some reports place the death toll in Iran in the hundreds.

Can you believe that?

We live at a time when it seems like much of the world has gone nuts. Most people believe whatever they feel like believing, and most people do whatever they feel like doing. But there are always consequences for our actions, and I have a feeling that this virus is going to spread particularly rapidly in the Middle East.

Here in the United States, it appears that this outbreak is far more extensive than we are being told. As the U.S. starts to finally ramp up testing, it is inevitable that a lot more existing cases will be found. In fact, in just a little while I will be posting an article on End Of The American Dream about an ER doctor in New York that is claiming that there is going to be thousands of confirmed cases inside this country by next week.

I dont think that it is going to happen quite that rapidly, but it appears to be inevitable that the number of cases is going to be steadily rising.

This is not a drill. This is an exceedingly dangerous virus that is killing people all over the planet, and we need to prepare for a scenario in which this crisis could extend for many months or even for several years.

Read more at: TheMostImportantNews.com
More than half of the planet's fresh water is in Antarctica. While most of it is frozen in the ice sheets, underneath the ice pools and streams of water flow into one another and into the Southern Ocean surrounding the continent. Understanding the movement of this water, and what is dissolved in it as solutes, reveals how carbon and nutrients from the land may support life in the coastal ocean.

Gathering data on the biogeochemistry of these systems is an undertaking of Antarctic proportions. Trista Vick-Majors, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University, is part of a team that gathered samples from the Whillans Subglacial Lake in West Antarctica and is lead author on a paper about the lake, recently published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

"Life is tough -- it can handle a lot," Vick-Majors said. "This paper is putting together what we know about the biology and how active it is under Antarctic ice with information about the composition of organic carbon in the lake."

Life beneath the ice puts up with a lot -- there is no sunlight and pressure from the ice above in combination with heat radiating up from the Earth's core is what melts the water to form the lake, so the temperature hovers just below freezing. Organic carbon, an important food source for microorganisms, is present in relatively high concentrations in Whillans Subglacial Lake, even if it lacks the verdant mess of a Midwest pond in late August. Instead, as cameras dropped down the borehole of Mercer Subglacial Lake (a neighbor of Whillans) reveal, the subglacial lake is dark, cold, full of soft and fluffy sediment, and lined with bubble-filled ice.

The lake bed looks more alien than earth, and studying extreme environments like this does provide insight into what extraterrestrial life could be like or how earthly life might survive in similar conditions. Not that humans, penguins or fish could handle it; life in the waters beneath Antarctica's ice is mostly microbial. They still show signs of life -- organic carbon and other chemical byproducts of living, eating, excreting and dying -- that Vick-Majors and her team can measure and budget.

Using mass balance calculations, the team's research shows that a pool of dissolved organic carbon in the Whillans Subglacial Lake can be produced in 4.8 to 11.9 years. As the lake fills and drains, which takes about the same amount of time, all those nutrients slip and slide their way to the ice-covered coast of the Southern Ocean. Based on the team's calculations, the subglacial lakes in the region provide 5,400% more organic carbon than what microbial life in the ice-covered ocean downstream needs to survive.

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"There's no photosynthesis under the ice in the ocean downstream of this lake -- this limits the available food and energy sources in a way that you wouldn't find in a surface lake or the open ocean," Vick-Majors said. "The idea is that these subglacial lakes that are upstream could provide important sources of energy and nutrients for things living in the ice-covered regions of the Southern Ocean."

While the Whillans Subglacial Lake on its own indicates that upstream nutrients may be an important factor, it is only a single source of data in an ice-covered complex of underground lakes, streams and estuary-like mixing zones that undergo seasonal and sporadic fluxes.

To expand their view, Vick-Majors and the rest of the team have been gathering data at other sites (Mercer Subglacial Lake was sampled by the SALSA team in early 2019), and doing so is no small feat. They make it happen with a hot water drill, a specially designed hose, a 10-liter water sampling bottle, some sediment coring devices, and a week of summery polar weather that can plunge to 20 below. The crew wears Tyvek suits and all equipment is thoroughly cleaned. They also filter the drilling water, run it past several banks of ultra-violet lights to knock down microbial contamination, and then heat it up to use the hot water to open an approximately 1000-meter borehole down to the lake.

"Some of that melted ice water, which has now circulated through the drill, is removed from the hole so that when the lake is punctured, water from the lake moves up into the borehole," Vick-Majors said, explaining that the crew has to keep the hot water from the drill separate from the lake water to keep their samples and the lake clean. "It takes about 24 hours to drill the borehole and we keep it open for a few days; gathering a single sample or letting down the cameras can take two hours or more, depending on the equipment."

And the hole keeps trying to refreeze. Plus, Vick-Majors is not a lone scientist; she is embedded in an interdisciplinary team and everyone needs access to the borehole for different experiments. But for all the tight logistics and cold toes, she says it's worth it.

"There is water and there is life under the ice," Vick-Majors said. "These can teach us a lot about our planet because this is a great place to look at somewhat simplified ecosystems, without higher levels of organisms. So we can answer questions about life that can be really hard to answer in other places."

The flip side is that physical-biological interactions can be still be complicated in these environments; the paper is step towards understanding them. The subglacial lakes of West Antarctica are almost otherworldly and simultaneously grant insight into the possibilities for exoplanet environments while revealing the deep, water-kept secrets of our own world.
Turkey failed to honor Idlib deal, allowed outposts to merge with terrorist fortifications: Russia

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 04 March 2020 7:43 AM

Moscow says Ankara has failed to live up to its commitments under a deal to enforce a demilitarized zone in Idlib, complaining that the Turkish military has allowed its observation posts to merge with terrorist fortifications in the northwestern Syrian province.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov blasted Turkey for amassing troops in Idlib and the Western countries for turning a blind eye to the unlawful military build-up.

"No one in the West notices the actions of the Turkish side, which, in violation of international law, has deployed a strike force the size of a mechanized division to Syria's Idlib," he said.

Terrorist fortifications have merged with Turkish outposts in Idlib, said the official, adding that "attacks and mass artillery fire on neighboring civilian settlements and the Russian airbase at Khmeimim turned from sporadic to daily."

"Amid the total cynicism and the West's fake concerns over the humanitarian situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone, only the Russian center for reconciliation of the opposing sides and the legitimate Syrian government deliver to the liberated areas all the needed assistance for local residents daily," he said.

"All of Russia's official requests to the UN and Western countries  who delivered humanitarian aid across the Turkish border and all of it went not to refugees, but to terrorists  remained unanswered. All we heard were the lamentations about the need to 'preserve the Sochi agreements at all costs,'" he added.

Kremlin hopes Putin, Erdogan can reach 'common understanding'

Meanwhile, the Kremlin expressed hope on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would agree on a set of joint measures regarding Idlib during their meeting on Thursday.

"We plan to discuss the Idlib crisis... We expect to reach a common understanding on the crisis, the cause of the crisis, the harmful effects of the crisis and arrive at a set of necessary joint measures," he told reporters.

Erdogan expects Idlib truce after Moscow meeting

Meanwhile, Erdogan said that he expects his talks with Putin to result in the rapid achievement of a ceasefire in Idlib.

He further called on European states to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in dealing with the Syria refugee issue.

"If European countries want to solve the migration crisis, they should support Turkey's political and humanitarian solutions in Syria," the Turkish president said.

He also claimed that since the beginning of the Idlib operation, Turkey has "neutralized" 3,138 Syrian troops and destroyed "151 tanks, 100 artillery units, three warplanes, eight helicopters, eight air defense systems, 10 ammunition dumps, 60 armored vehicles and 47 howitzers."

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, under which Ankara was required to establish observation posts in the militant-controlled Idlib and separate extremist terrorist from other armed anti-Damascus militant groups willing to engage in peace talks with the Syrian government.

Turkey was also obliged to take effective measures to ensure a lasting ceasefire in the region.

Currently, however, terrorists rule supreme in Idlib in quite close proximity to the Turkish troops. They also continue to target Syrian troops and allied Russian personnel.

Syria launched a counter-terrorism offensive in Idlib and neighboring areas last December, but the campaign coincided with a massive deployment of troops and military equipment by Turkey, which is evidently upset by changing conditions on the ground.

Last week, the Turkish government allowed the refugees to enter Europe, after accusing the Europeans of not doing enough to help with the refugee problem as well as its failing to have Moscow stop Damascus' advances in Idlib.

It came on the back of an airstrike by Syrian forces in Idlib that killed at least 36 Turkish soldiers, whom Russia said were "in the battle formations of terrorist groups."

Top EU diplomat visits Turkey, urges Idlib de-escalation

On Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met with Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu in Ankara to discuss the situation along the EU-Turkey border.

"Pressure and unilateral action are not an answer. We need to work hand in hand to address common challenges, for the benefit of both Turkey and the EU," Borrell tweeted.

He also sat down for talks with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and underlined the need for Idlib de-escalation.

Idlib is the only large territory in the hands of terrorists after the Syrian military managed to undo militant gains across the Arab country and bring back almost all of Syrian soil under government control.

Two more Turkish forces killed

In a development on the Idlib battleground, two more Turkish soldiers were killed and six injured on Wednesday as government forces pushed ahead with the liberation operation.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces had immediately retaliated and continued to strike targets.

The incident brought to 59 the death toll of Turkish troops in their Idlib operation, which began last month.

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Reuters

By Mathieu Rosemain and Matthieu Protard

PARIS (Reuters) - Huawei [HWT.UL] will build a factory in France regardless of the government's decision on whether to use its equipment in a new 5G network, an executive at the Chinese telecoms giant said.

The world's biggest telecom equipment maker said last week that it planned to build a manufacturing plant in France to ease worldwide concerns stoked by U.S. charges that Beijing could use Huawei's equipment for spying.

The Shenzhen-based group, which denies its equipment poses a security risk, is at the centre of a storm pitting the United States against China over 5G next generation mobile technology.

Europe has become a major battleground in this and France's cybersecurity agency is screening 5G equipment, including from Huawei, for deployment in its new network.

"The plant will be built in France, whatever the French government's decision, as it is part of our strategy," Huawei France's deputy chief executive Minggang Zhang told Reuters.

Huawei said last week it would spend 200 million euros ($223 million) in the first phase of setting up the mobile base station plant, whose exact location has not yet been announced.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday that the building of a Huawei factory will not influence the government's stance on the three main 5G equipment makers.

On paper, Huawei and its two European rivals, Nokia and Ericsson , are allowed to do business in France. But sources close to the French telecoms industry say they fear Huawei will be barred even if there is no formal ban.

Asked whether Huawei's project to build the plant and create 500 jobs could amount to blackmail to buy goodwill from the French government on the upcoming 5G tender, Le Maire said: "No one, and certainly not me, would give in to any blackmail whatsoever."

"The position that has been taken on 5G is very clear. We won't discriminate against any company, neither Chinese nor American. We are simply looking after our security and strategic interests," he added.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Matthieu Protard; Additional reporting by Bertrand Boucey; Editing by Jan Harvey and Alexander Smith)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Report Game Law Violations Anyone may report wildlife law violators anonymously by calling 1-800-25-ALERT (1-800-252-5378).

Rules and Regulations

Feeding of Wildlife

From March 1 through May 31, it is illegal to feed wildlife with grain, seed or manufactured animal feed outside the curtilage of the home (the area immediately surrounding a home or group of homes). This regulation does not apply to normal agricultural practices or food plots, or municipal areas not open to legal hunting or trapping.

No Pre-Season Calling

A person shall not mimic the sound of a turkey in an area open to turkey hunting and where turkeys are reasonably expected to be present from March 1 until the opening of the youth-only turkey season, and from the close of the youth-only turkey season until the opening of the state-wide turkey season. However, locating turkeys with an owl, crow, coyote, or woodpecker call is permitted when scouting.

Hunter Requirements

Adult Hunters: Unless exempt, all spring turkey hunters ages 16 and older must carry with them in the field proof of purchase of a valid Kentucky hunting license and a valid spring turkey permit. Short-term (1- or 7-day) hunting licenses are not valid for turkey hunting. The spring turkey permit is valid for the general spring season and allows a hunter to harvest up to the spring season bag limit of turkeys. Persons ages 16 and older may not hunt turkeys during the youth-only season.

Youth Hunters: Children ages 15 and younger may hunt turkeys during the youth-only hunting weekend and the general spring season. Visit our special Youth Turkey Weekend FAQs page to learn more about this hunting opportunity just for ages 15 and younger.



Youths younger than age 12 are exempt from license and turkey permit requirements. Unless exempt, all spring turkey hunters ages 12-15 must carry with them in the field proof of purchase of a valid Kentucky hunting license and a valid Spring Turkey Permit. Youths ages 12-15 are eligible to purchase a Youth Turkey Permit, which is valid for the harvest of one turkey during a license year. Youth hunters must abide by season bag limits and harvest restrictions. The resident-only Youth Sportsmans License includes two (2) Youth Turkey Permits.

Youth hunting licenses and permits are valid for the entire license year if they are purchased before the childs 16th birthday. Youths who hunt turkeys with a firearm must be accompanied by an adult who shall remain in a position to take immediate control of the firearm at all times.

Spring Season Bag Limits

A hunter may take a male turkey or a turkey with a visible beard. No more than one (1) bird may be taken per day. No more than two (2) birds may be taken per spring season. Any combination of male turkeys, or turkeys with visible beards, may be included in this two-bird season limit. Turkeys taken by youths during the youth-only season count toward their spring turkey bag limit.

Harvest Recording

All harvested turkeys must be logged and telechecked. See the Recording, Checking, Tagging and Transporting section of our site.

Caller/Assistant

Anyone may call turkeys, or assist in the hunt. Callers and assistants are not required to possess a hunting license or turkey permit, and may carry equipment while in the field.

Hunter Orange

Hunters are not required to wear hunter orange clothing during the spring turkey seasons. However, wearing an article of hunter orange clothing while carrying a harvested turkey is a simple and effective way to help prevent hunting accidents that can occur when a hunter is mistaken for game.

Possession of Live Wild Turkeys and Eggs/Release of Wild Turkeys

Due o the potential for spread of disease and genetic pollution, it is illegal to possess live wild turkeys. For the same reasons, domestic or pen-raised turkeys should not be released into the wild. It is also illegal to possess or attempt to hatch wild turkey eggs. It is further recommended that turkeys not be artificially fed during any time of the year. Providing standing corn, wheat or clover patches is a much better alternative.

Legal Spring Turkey Hunting Equipment

Hunters may only use the following to take turkeys during the spring seasons:

Breech-loading or muzzle-loading shotguns no larger than 10 gauge and no smaller than .410.

Breech-loading shotguns must be plugged to hold a maximum of three shells (two in magazine and one in chamber).

Lead or non-toxic shot no larger than No. 4.

Longbows, recurve bows and compound bows of any draw weight (no minimum).

Crossbows of any draw weight (no minimum) with a working safety device.

Non-barbed broadheads with a minimum cutting diameter of 7/8-inch, whether expandable or non-expandable.

Prohibited Spring Turkey Hunting Methods

A person hunting wild turkeys shall not:

Hunt over bait. An area is considered baited until 30 days after the bait has been removed. However, a person may hunt wild turkeys on an area where grain, feed or other substance exists as the result of a bona fide agricultural practice or manipulating a crop for a wildlife management purpose.

Use a dog during the spring season.

Hunt from a boat, or from any type of vehicle unless prescribed by regulation (see Hunting Method Exemptions in the General Information section of this guide).



Use or possess an electronic or digital calling device.

Harvest a roosting turkey.

Use live decoys.

Hunting Method Exemptions

The department grants exemptions to hunters with certain physical disabilities to hunt with a crossbow during archery-only seasons, or to use a stationary vehicle as a hunting platform. However, persons with qualifying physical disabilities must first have an exemption form completed and signed by a licensed physician certifying why the exemption is necessary.

Forms are available online or by calling the department. Go to Hunting Method Exemptions page for more information. A completed exemption form serves as the hunters exemption permit. It should not be returned to the department. Persons who obtain an exemption are still required to have the appropriate hunting license and permits, and must carry the signed exemption form with their hunting license and permits while in the field.

Concealed Carry Deadly Weapons Permits

Anyone who may legally possess firearms may carry firearms while hunting, but any firearms carried concealed must be done so pursuant to KRS 527.020.

Convicted Felons

A person convicted of a felony is prohibited from possessing or hunting with a firearm in Kentucky. The prohibition on handguns applies to those convicted after Jan. 1, 1975. The prohibition on other firearms applies to those convicted after July 15, 1994. See KRS 527.040 for more details, or contact your County Attorney.

Recording, Checking, and Tagging

All successful turkey hunters must follow the steps for recording, checking and tagging their harvest. See the Recording, Checking, Tagging and Transporting page for all info. View the County Code Numbers for Telecheck here.



Landowner Permission

A person shall not enter upon the lands of another to shoot, hunt, trap, fish or for other wildlife-related recreational purposes without the verbal or written permission of the landowner, tenant, or person who has authority to grant permission.



Those who fail to obtain permission are subject to arrest and prosecution.

Railroad tracks and rights of way are privately-owned property and permission to hunt, trap or fish must be obtained prior to entry.

Landowners are under no obligation to allow hunters to retrieve game or hunting dogs from their property.
BJP may bring a resolution supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in both houses of Maharashtra legislature on Thursday.

Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said that there is a lot of confusion in Maharashtra because different party leaders and ministers of the MVA government are giving contradictory statements about the CAA.

"This shall be cleared through a discussion of what exactly is the view of MVA government about the CAA. Some ministers of the MVA government are openly saying that they won't support CAA and they want to bring a resolution in the house against it. Some are even participating in anti-CAA rallies," Fadnavis said.

"Whereas, CM Uddhav Thackeray supported CAA several times and had said that there won't be any problems caused by CAA in the state. There is a lot of confusion among the leaders, and people of Maharashtra need to have clarity on it. So, we are of the view that this government must clear their stand on the floor of the house about what exactly is their view on CAA," he added.

Leader of Opposition in Council Pravin Darekar also said that the move will help in clearing the confusion created by contradictory statements of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders.

Several non-BJP ruled states have passed an anti-CAA resolution in their state assemblies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:33:09|Editor: xuxin

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MOGADISHU, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army (SNA) killed five al-Shabab extremists on Thursday in an operation in central Somalia's Hiraan region, a military official confirmed.

Salah Mumin Muse, commander of 27th Unit of SNA, told journalists that the government forces launched an attack on the militants in the El Ali area in the outskirt of BeledWeyne town, inflicting casualties on the militants.

"Our forces got intelligence of the militants' presence in the area and we moved towards them. There was stiff resistance from the militants but we overpowered them, killing five of them," Mumin said.

He added that the three government soldiers got injured during the operation.

"Government army attacked al-Shabab militants in the village, both sides exchanged heavy weapons which caused casualties on the warring sides," Khalif Afrah, a resident told Xinhua via phone.

Al-Qaida allied group al-Shabab also claimed victory from Thursday's fight, saying they had killed one soldier and injured three others.

Government forces have intensified operations against al-Shabab extremists in central and southern Somalia, but the militants still hold swaths of rural areas in those regions, conducting ambushes and planting land mines.
A mother who gave birth to quadruplets in July has wowed Instagram with eye-opening images taken before and after their arrival.

Influencer and mom-of-five Lindsay Hay, 28, from New Jersey, gave birth to the quadruplets in July 2019, however last month she shared the side-by-side images with her 222,000 Instagram followers to show just how much her life has changed since then.

In the first photo, a mirror selfie, Lindsay is seen showing off her enormous baby bump at 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant, while the second shows her holding all four of her babies - who are 30 weeks and 4 days old in the snap.

What a difference 30 weeks makes! Lindsay Hay, 28, from New Jersey, has wowed Instagram with before and after photos from her pregnancy with quadruplets

Growing strong! The influencer and mother-of-five regularly updated her followers with photos of her baby bump during her pregnancy, while opening up about the experience

Proud: Lindsay and her husband Syman welcomed their four babies on July 23, however she posted the before and after images last month

In the caption, Lindsay, who is married to an Australian, Syman, celebrated her 'in and out day', while opening up about how becoming a mother to the quadruplets has changed her life, both physically and mentally.

'I carried these sweet babies for 30 weeks and 4 days on the inside and here they are at 30 weeks and 4 days on the outside!' she wrote.

'Full hands, full heart is an understatement! They have surpassed every hope and dream I had envisioned during my pregnancy and even though time is passing quickly I know the best is yet to be.'

And while her body changed as a result of the pregnancy, Lindsay says that the experience also taught her a great deal about the 'strength' that she never knew she possessed.

'Behind these babies are new marks, rolls, and skin you cant see but they also came with new strengths I didnt have before either,' she shared.

'We have been so BLESSED and I wont ever let myself take this life for granted.'

Looking ahead: In her before and after post, Lindsay, pictured at 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant, said, 'Behind these babies are new marks, rolls, and skin'

Celebration: She added that the pregnancy helped her to see just how strong her body really is, writing that she learned about 'new strengths I didnt have before'

Happy: Lindsay and Syman, pictured three months after the birth, had struggled with fertility before finding out they were expecting quadruplets

It is not the first time that Lindsay has shown off her enormous bump; throughout her pregnancy, she regularly documented her growing tum, sharing updates with her followers about how she was handling her changing body.

While sharing images of her baby bump at 23 weeks, Lindsay shared that she had gained 35lbs and admitted that she was struggling with her stretch marks and the loss of her 'perfect' stomach.

However, she said that she was trying to embrace her feelings of excitement, after struggling with fertility.

'Spoiler alert: I have a stretch mark,' she wrote. 'Actually make that three.

'While I know what my body is doing is incredible, Im not ready for the sentimental comments just yet. I am having a vain moment and grieving my perfect stomach, ok?

'There was a time hubby and me wondered if Id ever have a pregnant bump again though so I truly am grateful and embracing it, but sometimes its hard and Im just keeping it real.'

At 26 weeks, she then revealed that she had gained 49lbs during her pregnancy, explaining that she was the equivalent of 'fifty weeks' pregnant, while joking that her stomach was covered with '500 stretch marks'.

Happy as can be: Lindsay, who also has a three-year-old son, Carson, confessed that there 'was a time hubby and me wondered if Id ever have a pregnant bump again'

Changes: During her pregnancy, she also opened up about her struggle to accept her changing body, admitting that she was worried about the loss of her 'perfect stomach'

'At this point my body seems to be handling the pregnancy well aside from the 500 stretch marks that have appeared out of no where and increased pelvic pressure,' she wrote.

'Theres also the modest 49 pounds Ive already gained or the fact that at 26+5 Im measuring FIFTY WEEKS.'

After the quadruplets were born on July 23, Lindsay revealed that they had all been delivered via C-section, sharing on Instagram that the procedure 'went perfectly', before revealing that the preemie babies all weighed between 3 pounds and 1 ounce and 3 pounds and 12 ounces.

'The birth was seriously the most incredible experience of my life and I was on the biggest adrenaline high imaginable,' she wrote.

'The C section went perfectly and we even had a clear drape so that once the handy work of the doctors was over we were able to watch the babies being pulled out and delivered.

'They all came out kicking and screaming and breathing on their own, and their cries alone made it all worth it.'

While the babies had to be kept in the NICU in the months after their birth, Lindsay revealed that she and Syman were able to bring daughter Madison and Caiden home on September 7, while Lucas and Grayson joined them two days later.
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. There are no novel coronavirus cases in Artsakh, the country's chief epidemiologist Karine Balayan told ARMENPRESS.

Monitoring continues in Artsakh both towards locals and tourists, she said, adding that they are closely cooperating with Armenias healthcare authorities.

Meanwhile, Artsakhs State Sanitary and Anti-Epidemic Inspection Agency Chief Ofelya Harutyunyan told ARMENPRESS that they have two suspected cases in the Martuni region. She said the two persons have arrived from Iran two weeks ago and have been under monitoring since because they have fever. They have been tested and the samples have been sent to Yerevan pending results. It may turn out to be the simple flu, but we have suspicions because theyve arrived from Iran, Harutyunyan said.

She said the persons are a husband and wife and are feeling well.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Reports that the Trimbakeshwar



Temple Trust has made it mandatory for devotees visiting the Trimbakeshwar temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva near here, to wear masks are not true, an official said on Thursday.

The temple administration has not made it mandatory to wear masks for devotees to enter the temple and take darshan of Lord Trimbakeshwar, Prashant Gaydhani, one of the trustees of Trimbakeshwar Devsthan Trust, said.

"However, it has made an appeal to devotees to take precaution to avoid spread of the coronavirus. We appeal to people to cover their faces with masks or handkerchief if possible. We also tell them not to spit, wash their feet cleanly and maintain cleanliness, Gaydhani said.

Many devotees from across the country and even from abroad visit the temple everyday in large numbers. We cannot make it compulsory for the devotees. Even providing masks to such a large number of devotees is impossible for the temple trust. On the contrary, devotees themselves wear masks voluntarily, he added.

However, the temple trust has made it compulsory for its staff to wear masks as a precautionary measure to avoid the spread of the disease, he said.

Meanwhile, a person who arrived here from Dubai four days ago was admitted in the isolation ward created at the Nashik district civil hospital on Thursday, health department sources said.

As he complained of cough and cold he was admitted to the hospital immediately. His throat swab samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune for examination, they said.

Earlier, three persons who had come from Italy, Iran and the US, were admitted to the hospital but as their test reports were negative, they have been discharged, the sources said.

However, they will be under observation for 14 days and their medical check-up will be done regularly, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A high-level meeting was held here



on Thursday to review the state of national highways in Maharashtra.

The meeting was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and state's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Maharashtra's Public Works Department Minister Ashok Chavan, Industries Minister Subhash Desai were also present for the meeting held at Sahyadri Guest House in south Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global Infrastructure Hub estimated that Vietnam needs to invest US$110 billion between 2021 and 2025 for infrastructure.

Vietnam needs to invest US$110 billion for infrastructure in the next five years.

Investors are seeing big opportunities to take part in Vietnams infrastructure developments as the government has announced plans to boost the construction of many mega infrastructure projects in tandem with streamlining policies to make it more attractive.

During a recent meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the construction of major infrastructure projects such as North-South Expressway, Long Thanh International Airport and a number of highways nationwide, as well as facilities in the power, water, traffic, and urban development sectors will be sped up this year.

A strong private sector involvement is expected in these projects, the PM said.

According to Datuk Abdul Aziz Kadir, chairman of network solutions provider Confexhub Group, in fact, though Vietnam has been known to be one of the nations with the fastest growing GDP in the world, it faces issues in both the quality and quantity of its infrastructure, which is far below the countrys needs.

Due to the big infrastructure needs, Vietnam has a strong project pipeline in roads, rails, bridges, public service infrastructure, urban transportation, and of course, the infrastructure for its ports and special economic zones, Kadir said.

Global Infrastructure Hub estimated that the country needs to invest US$110 billion between 2021 and 2025 for infrastructure.

Meanwhile, conventional funding sources from the state budget and official development assistance from bilateral and multilateral donors as well as government bonds cant afford the hefty costs. The country, therefore, will have to find other sources to fill the funding shortfall, which is projected at US$22 billion in the next five years.

Experts said that to meet Vietnams capital demand for infrastructure development, the country will need to leverage on domestic and international capital markets and attract foreign direct investment.

Increasingly, they said, the government has also sought privatization and divestment as a means to manage to the challenges of infrastructure financing.

The Vietnamese government is putting in great efforts to draw investment from the foreign private sector, to attract not only equity but also specialized technical knowledge into these projects. Ongoing regulatory reforms and the privatization of state-owned enterprises encourage the private sector to maintain and increase their existing level of investment in infrastructure in the country, Kadir said.

Strong law required

The government is drafting a law governing public private partnership (PPP) projects, which is expected to be an effective channel to fund the countrys infrastructure needs.

To make PPP projects more attractive to investors, experts said that the government must pass a strong PPP law, which needs to better mitigate the risk that the demand for an infrastructure project falls short of projections.

The PPP law should afford similar protection to other sectors, particularly transport. This can be achieved through minimum revenue guarantees or ensuring that availability payments extend automatically beyond the current ceiling of 5 years.

The government should also focus on enforcing the law as it is also another concern of investors for PPP projects. The current decree governing PPP projects provides more scope for using foreign laws to cover PPP contracts than the draft PPP bill. This is important as PPP projects entail complicated legal contracts, and investors rely on legal systems with deep case histories to interpret them.

In addition, termination risk must be addressed, experts said, explaining that once a project is built, investors need assurance that they will be repaid even if the government terminates the contract.

Without these changes, the new PPP laws success is uncertain, and projects tendered in the road and other sectors are likely to receive only limited interest from foreign investors, the experts noted. Hanoitimes

Anh Hong

Vietnam's PM orders ministries to study US$110 billion infrastructure investment projection An ADB expert's projection that Vietnam will need to invest US$110 billion in infrastructure development between 2021 and 2025 has led PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc to order relevant ministries to look into it in earnest.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 14:18:54|Editor: zyl

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CANBERRA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) said he was "discomfited" by the prime minister's use of images of defense force personnel in a video released during the bushfire crisis.

Defense department officials told Senate estimates on Wednesday that permission was neither sought nor given to use the images in the video, according to the Guardian report.

The video, released at the height of the bushfire crisis on Jan. 4, detailed the government's response to the fires -- including the callout of 3,000 ADF personnel to affected areas.

"Whenever the Australian Defence Force, or any other apolitical body, finds itself between political parties, I am discomfited," Angus Campbell, the chief of the Defence Force, said.

"I'm discomfited, but I didn't see ill intent in the actions. I appreciate that this conversation is an example of where the ADF does not want to be."

He said that he raised the issue with Prime Minister Scott Morrison personally within hours after learning about the published video.

It came at a time when Morrison was facing significant criticism over his response to the bushfires, after which he apologized for leaving Australia amid the fires on a family holiday to Hawaii.

Anthony Albanese, the leader of the Opposition Labor Party, said the prime minister "used defense force imagery to try to shore up what was flailing political support due to his lack of action during the bushfire crisis."
LineVision, Inc., a provider of solutions to monitor, optimize and protect the worlds critical energy delivery infrastructure, today announces the companys expansion into Europe and a partnership with the European Commission-funded FARCROSS consortium. LineVision will work with four FARCROSS utility participants in Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Austria to deploy advanced sensors and analytics for transmission line monitoring.

FARCROSS stands for Facilitating Regional CROSS-Border Electricity Transmission (FARCROSS) through Innovation and is connecting major stakeholders and demonstrating solutions across the energy value chain that unlock resources for cross-border electricity flows and regional cooperation. FARCROSS and the participating utilities are rolling out transmission line monitoring to safely and cost-effectively increase cross-border flows that will enable more renewable integration, increased grid security and reduced energy costs. The initiative is funded by the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, a financial instrument under the European Commission with nearly 80 billion of funding aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.

Europe is blessed with a rich mix of generation resources, but the free flow of energy is often limited by cross-border bottlenecks and congestion, said Nemeth Balint, head of high-voltage laboratory at The Budapest University of Technology and Economics and project lead at FARCROSS. For the European Union to meet its renewable energy goals, increase the security of energy supply and ensure economic efficiency of the regions grid, the EU needs advanced technologies to unlock incremental capacity on its cross-border electricity interconnections.

The FARCROSS project will deploy LineVisions V3 non-contact transmission line monitors on key cross-border lines to demonstrate how capacity can be increased on existing lines at a fraction of the time and cost of building new lines. The FARCROSS partners will analyze the initiatives work in transmission line monitoring and share best practices for standardization and improvements.

European utilities, faced with rapid renewables growth and obstacles to building new transmission lines, are at the forefront of adopting grid modernization technologies like advanced sensors and dynamic line ratings to improve the capacity and flexibility of their existing grid, said Hudson Gilmer, CEO and co-founder of LineVision. We are honored to partner with FARCROSS to showcase the value of transmission line monitoring and dynamic line ratings and work with FARCROSS utilities and members to establish a new model for how to optimize the capacity and flexibility of existing transmission assets.

LineVision, which has had an active presence in the European market since 2016, today is also announcing the opening of LineVision Europe BV to better serve the growing base of European utility clients. This expansion to Europe represents a new continent of operation for LineVision, which is currently deployed across North America, Oceania and Asia.

For more information on the FARCROSS project visit: https://farcross.eu/.

###

About LineVision

LineVision monitors, optimizes and protects the worlds critical energy delivery infrastructure with advanced sensors and analytics. LineVisions solutions provide electric utility and pipeline operator clients with previously unavailable visibility on asset health and safety for optimized asset management. For more information, visit http://www.LineVisionInc.com.

Contact:

Media Contact

Antenna Group for LineVision

Lisa Nash

linevision@antennagroup.com

(646) 883-4296

Company Contact

LineVision

Jonathan Marmillo

jmarmillo@linevisioninc.com

(484) 368-4630
LOS ANGELES, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LibraryBub is an industry first. Founded in 2015, it is dedicated to making vibrant connections between indie and small-press authors and an extensive network of libraries. Imbued with the enthusiasm and ambition of its founder, the bestselling author Alinka Rutkowska, the core commitment of the LibraryBub service, which has been working with all major libraries for four years, is to help librarians to identify acclaimed books from the independent publishing sector. Offering an extensive range of outreach and output, Rutkowska enables thousands of emerging authors to achieve publishing success.

The March list of remarkable books by self-publishing authors appears below. The selected publications have been praised by independent critics and are quickly proving popular with devotees and newfound readers alike. Some have already become Amazon best sellers in their particular categories. The cream of the selected books are award winners within the independent publishing sector. LibraryBub introduces thousands of librarians to bestselling and award-winning books from the independent publishing sector. These books hold immense potential for enhancing the lives of their readers. "My mother would take us to the library every Saturday," says award-winning YA novelist Louise O'Neill," and I would sequester myself in a little nook, completely captivated by whatever world I had found myself in that day. I was a child who needed to read; it was as important to me as food or sleep." Librarians enable writers to make that kind of difference to people's lives and LibraryBub CEO Alinka Rutkowska is delighted to support them in that role.

Below is March's selection by category.

FICTION

Literature & Fiction

Hell to Reality: one prisoner's journey by Jack Grylewicz ISBN: 978-0578218724

Puck by Kevin P. White ISBN: 978-1493573622

Mystery & Thriller

First Deceit (Book One of the Fatal Deceit Trilogy) by Henry Farley ISBN: 978-1943386666

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Encounters with Demons (Book One of the Brotherhood of the Beloved series) by P. A. Minyard ISBN: 978-1943386581

Demons at War (Book Two of the Brotherhood of the Beloved series) by P. A. Minyard ISBN: 978-1943386604

Demon Vengeance (Book Three of the Brotherhood of the Beloved series) by P. A. Minyard ISBN: 978-1943386710

The Phantom by Frank Settineri ISBN: 978-1644622766

Sorrowfish (Book One of the Call of the Lorica series) by Anne C. Miles ISBN: 978-0578612195

Young Adult

Ride the Universe by Mark Rues ISBN: 978-1733500005

NON-FICTION

Business

Designed to Win: what every business needs to know to go truly global (DHL's 50 Years) by Po Chung ISBN: 978-1943386505

Disruptive Leadership: 8 counterintuitive secrets for running a successful business by Christopher Catranis ISBN: 978-1943386468

Next Level Cybersecurity: detect the signals, stop the hack by Sai Huda ISBN: 978-1943386413

Next Level Selling: the definitive guide to closing high dollar deals by Tom Fedro ISBN: 978-1943386529

Shepreneur: business lessons for the determined female entrepreneur (I Can. I Will. Watch Me!) by Kristin Cripps ISBN: 978-1943386796

Supreme Leadership Mentors: top entrepreneurs' greatest business strategies by Alinka Rutkowska ISBN: 978-1943386765

Your VIP Biography: how to write your autobiography to land a Hollywood deal by Alinka Rutkowska, Kenneth Atchity ISBN: 978-1943386697

Why They Buy: a bullet proof method to closing any sale by David Fuess ISBN: 978-1943386321

Health & Fitness

The Pause to Relax, Ladies for Robust Heart Health: a guidebook for smart heart choices for health by Linda Penkala ISBN: 978-1977213327

Self-Help

You Are the Rock Star by Alexander Woodrow ISBN: 978-1732022010

The Self-Discovery Book (Book One of the Inner Self-Improvement series) by Michael Cavallaro ISBN: 978-1943386734

"My dream was to get my book Riding Out the Hurricane into American libraries," Irish author Maeve Mc Mahon explains. Delighted that through LibraryBub, more than 2,000 librarians have seen her award-winning book about Hurricane Katrina, she enthuses, "I'm so excited about the connections that will be made."

Librarians are asked to sign up for LibraryBub at http://librarybub.com/

Independent publishers should visit http://librarybub.com/authors/ to submit their books for consideration.

Media Contact:

Alinka Rutkowska

[email protected]

SOURCE LibraryBub
THERE ARE now nine confirmed cases of coronavirus on the island of Ireland and millions are being urged to take precautions as the virus, which started in China, spreads across the globe.

The death toll has crossed the 100 mark in Italy, which is the worst affected country in Europe.

Independent.ie took a look at the precautions which are being taken by government officials in Italy, the United Kingdom and Ireland itself as more cases of COVID-19 emerge.

Italy

Over 3,000 people have tested positive and 107 have died from the virus in Italy, according to the latest polls. The country is seeing the largest outbreak of the virus in Europe.

Workplace

Eleven towns have been put in lockdown and the Italian government is currently considering closing cinemas, theatres and banning public events that entail the concentration of people and do not allow for a safety distance of at least one metre.

Travel

Companies are also encouraging working from home and travel bans have been put in place, with work trips abroad postponed.

Patients will no longer be allowed to bring in their friends or relatives into hospital emergency departments and further restrictions will be put in place on visitors in retirement homes.

Education

Yesterday, the Italian government ordered all schools and universities nationwide to close until March 15.

Prime minister Giuseppe Conte said: We are focused on taking all measures for direct containment or delaying the spread of the virus.

The health system risks going into overload and we will have a problem with intensive care if an exponential crisis continues.

Isolation

People are urged to avoid going straight to the hospital or seeking the help of their doctor if they have symptoms. Instead, they are encouraged to self-isolate at home. The government has set up a coronavirus hotline for advice in English, Italian and Chinese.

Italian officials are advising that over 75s and over 65s with respiratory issues should stay at home and avoid social contact. Italians are also advised to keep one metre away from other people at all times and avoid kissing baci e abbracci, the famous Italian habit of kissing and hugging people upon meeting as well as avoiding drinking from other peoples glasses.

Read More

United Kingdom

As of today, more than 18,000 people were tested in the UK, of which 116 were confirmed as positive, an increase from 51 cases just two days ago. It has been confirmed that one person has died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, an elderly patient who had underlying health conditions.

Workplace

Closing workplaces is not recommended at the moment, even if a member of staff with confirmed COVID-19 has recently been in the workplace. Public Health England says there is no need to send staff home, as most possible cases turn out to be negative.

According to the BBC, oil company Chevron has asked 300 staff not to come into its office in London "for the time being".

Media communications agency OMD said an employee reported symptoms after returning from Australia with a flight connection through Singapore.

The firm said the chance that it was the coronavirus was minimal but that it was asking staff to work from home "as a precautionary measure, and until definitive results of the employee's coronavirus test is confirmed".

Education

So far, a total of 10 schools have been closed due to the coronavirus, with others advising their students to self isolate. However, these have all re-opened.

A school in Berkshire said that one of its staff had tested positive for the virus, later tweeting that it would close for a deep clean.

Travel and isolation

People are advised to stay indoors and avoid contact with people immediately if they have returned to the UK from Hubei in China, lockdown or northern areas in Italy, Iran and special care zones in South Korea, even if they do not have symptoms.

The UK government is carrying out enhanced monitoring in countries that have direct flights to the UK. Passengers will be told how to report any symptoms they develop during the flight, at the time of arrival, or after leaving the airport.

Ireland

So far, there are a total of thirteen confirmed cases in the Republic, including a family of four who recently returned from a trip in Italy. There are three confirmed cases in Northern Ireland.

The first diagnosis of coronavirus in a person who has hasn't travelled overseas or been in contact with any of the known cases has been confirmed in Cork.

According to the HSE, the risk of catching COVID-19 in Ireland is low to moderate and the public is urged to wash hands often, sneeze and cough into a tissue and to not touch face, mouth or eyes if hands arent clean.

Those who have symptoms and have travelled to an affected area are advised to avoid going to the hospital and to ring their GP first.

Education

Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed today there will be school closures arising from the four cases of the new coronavirus in Co Clare.

He said it is unclear how long they will close and in some instances it will be two weeks while in other schools it relates to one class.

Workplace

Thousands of Google employees continued to work from home today after fears that an employee showed COVID-19 symptoms.

It is not clear for how long this policy will remain in place and Twitter staff across the world were also asked to work from home in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

Travel

While there are no travel restrictions in place, the Department of Foreign Affairs strongly recommends that those travelling abroad obtain a European Health Insurance Card as well as comprehensive travel insurance.

The government is also advising against non-essential travel to northern Italy and China. Previously, this was limited to nine worst affected towns but this has now been extended to the four affected provinces.

Isolation

The Department of Health advises that any person who has traveled from an affected area in the last 14 days, or has been in close contact with a confirmed case in the last 14 days and is showing symptoms should immediately isolate themselves from others and contact their GP by phone.
However, the sanctions were lifted from Mykola Azarov and Eduard Stavytsky

Open source

On March 5, the Council of the European Union has officially extended the sanctions against former president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his allies as the website of the council reported.

The Council today decided to prolong for one more year until 6 March 2021 the existing asset freezes directed against 10 persons identified as responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds or for the abuse of office causing a loss to Ukrainian public funds, the message said.

Meanwhile, the EU lifted sanctions from two persons. Correspondent of Radio Liberty in Brussels Rikard Jozwiak reported on Twitter that the sanctions were not extended against former prime minister Mykola Azarov and ex-minister of energy Eduard Stavytsky.

The legal acts will be published in the Official Journal on 6 March 2020.

Initially, the sanctions were imposed in March 2014 and extended annually.

Earlier, it was reported that the European Union is preparing to lift sanctions against former members of the government since ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. Possibly, the sanctions can be lifted from ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, former Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov, former Minister of Revenue and Duties Oleksandr Klymenko and former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka.
South Africa: Improving the Post Office

The South African Post Office (Sapo) board has outlined a strategy aimed at improving services and building a sustainable service platform.

This will be done by, among others, fixing operations, driving down costs by reviewing current contracts, and implementing other cost containment measures, such as technologies to drive down security costs at branch level.

As part our fiduciary duty, the board has instructed management to review all contracts that are currently running in the Post Office. Most contracts run for three years and over such a long period, much can change, Sapo board chairperson Colleen Makhubele said on Thursday.

She was addressing media in Tshwane on the social grant payment system, strategic interventions on e-commerce, Sapo security-related matters, cost containment initiatives and other pertinent issues circulating in the media landscape.

The Auditor General (AG) findings on the Post Office indicated serious irregularities in some of the contracts.

Some contracts had retainers paid to several service providers without performing any duties and the scope was not clarified. Management must therefore make sure that every current contract continues to offer value for money, and that the services or goods procured through the contract are essential, Makhubele said.

If not, the contract pricing or conditions will be reviewed.

Makhubele emphasised the importance of staff reskilling and optimisation to improve productivity.

We need to automate the internal support functions. Manual processes, resulting in human error and irregularities in our Supply Chain Management processes, are delaying the implementation of our turnaround strategy, she said.

Makhubele noted that the Post Office is changing and the skill sets of its employees should also change.

A simple example is our plan to introduce maintenance teams. Where an ageing postman, for example, finds it hard to still complete his rounds, he can apply to be trained as an artisan, who will form part of a maintenance team for our buildings, she said.

The Post Office has shifted focus to improving its operations and customer relations in order to improve the customer experience to the Universal Postal Union standards, and to retain revenue through better service.

We have now brought an international tracking system into production. International items will keep their foreign tracking number in SA. Customers can follow the processing of their items all the way and processing is sped up significantly. This saves costs and our employees can be used much more productively, Makhubele said.

E-commerce with strategic countries

The Post Office has partnered with the Universal Postal Union for e-commerce, which integrates with the systems of other postal administrations including Egypt (North hub); Kenya (East); Ghana (West); SADC countries, BRICS countries and other global players.

We plan for the platform to serve as a springboard for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa, which will help them showcase and sell their products and services through all of Africa, Makhubele said.

The Post Office has already enlisted a number of local small businesses that will offer uniquely South African items.

Sapo is already active in the e-commerce field as a logistics fulfilment company.

We import up to 80 000 items per day from abroad through the postal system. Our online shopping platform will focus on all six types of e-commerce, namely business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer, consumer to business, business to administration and administration to administration, Makhubele said.

The Post Office has introduced deliveries to door for e-commerce parcels.

We have integrated our transport systems for logistics and international. In essence, where possible, a courier truck will transport e-commerce items. Because of this, our delivery standards have improved dramatically.

We now plan to introduce a GPS system to optimise routes for our drivers on their deliveries and introduce a card payment system, which customers can use to pay import duties where our drivers deliver a foreign parcel to them, Makhubele said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Tushar Burman

Im a bit late to the true wireless earbuds party, held back mostly by audiophile snobbery. But at some point I must accept that years of standing next to concert speakers was outstandingly stupid, that there is no cure for tinnitus and I cannot hear frequencies beyond 15,000 Hz. Thankfully, the Shanling MTW100 true wireless earbuds are just esoteric enough to keep me solidly hipster.

Shanling falls under the genre of Chi -Fi, a term used to describe Chinese hi-fi audio equipment; stuff that usually punches well above its weight class.

(Also read: Best affordable wireless earphones (neckbands/true wireless) under Rs 1,500 you can buy right now)

At Rs 5,999, Id say this is accurate for the MTW100. The earbuds are available in three colours and, curiously, two different driver options  one with dynamic drivers and the other with balanced-armature drivers. Ill let you Google the difference. I tested the balanced armature version in lurid red.

Convenience

The whole point of true wireless earbuds is their convenience. Theyre easy to carry around with their charging case and easy to use with no wires to tangle. Invariably, one will have to compare any TWS buds to the Apple Airpods, which brought the genre into the mainstream. The Shanling buds are decidedly less prominent when worn, or at least they would be if they werent this shade of red. Theyre small, well-shaped and seem to fit in my ears just fine. This is rare for me  most earbuds just drop out. Comfort was also good over long periods of wear.

As is the norm, the buds magnetically snap into place inside their charging case. Battery life is rated at seven hours for the balanced armature version, with an additional 24 hours provided by the case. That should be plenty for most. The case itself charges via USB-C, which is very welcome. The earbuds support SBC and AAC, but no fancier codecs. They sounded good through Android and Apple devices. Using Bluetooth 5.0, the rated range is 10 m, and our unscientific tests walking across the office confirmed this. Bluetooth connections tended to be pretty solid going through obstacles.

The case itself is pretty chintzy plastic, particularly the lid. I found it routinely annoying to open the case. Theres a tiny, barely visible divot in the plastic to indicate where to lift up, and I almost always had the thing turned the wrong way round. Its a minor niggle.

Sound

If youre familiar with balanced armature drivers, youll ask about bass. No, there isnt a great deal of bass. But what is there, is controlled and tight. Its just not going to excite you or get you on your feet. Additionally, youll want to ensure a nice seal in your ear if you want the best results. Headphonezone, who sent us the review unit, do supply Comply tips at added cost to help you along. With my ears and the supplied tips, the seal was iffy and even when pushed and held in place, the sound was fairly thin. Id have preferred some more authority in the presentation.

I tried these buds on a commute and theyre not great outdoors. The passive isolation is limited and you will tend to crank up the volume to hear the music properly. In quieter environs, its a nice, easy pair to listen to as long as youre not into more aggressive genres of music. This has been my experience with higher-end competitors as well, so well call it par for the course.

Caveats

We did experience some weirdness in the Bluetooth connections, specifically between the two earbuds. For one thing, pairing is best achieved if you remove both buds from the case at roughly the same time. It is otherwise possible to end up with only one working bud. The connection between the two also occasionally went down, and there were the odd pops and crackles related to connection.

While the touch controls on the buds are an elegant-looking solution, they aren't very easy to use in this case, or in many of the other competitors I've sampled. I needed to tap several times to get the intended effect, and I can never remember how many taps does what. Physical buttons are welcome, but even they are a compromise on TWS buds. I don't know if there's an ideal solution.

Yay or nay?

The Shanling MTW100 are solid performers at Rs 5,999 if youre not a basshead. Which, unfortunately, most of you are. The dynamic versions provide an option for the less hipster among you. Theyre a decent option at the price, but you can get louder and more aggressive options at lower prices these days. Ill stick to a decent pair of on-ears or over-ears personally. Theyre certainly nicer sounding than your typical Airpods or lookalikes.
Yet at no point did universities seem to consider slowing the flow of students into the Ph.D. pipeline. The opposite happened. In 1988, the number of doctorates in the humanities conferred was estimated to be 3,570, and it increased to 5,145 in 2018.

Tenured professors like having graduate students around. They teach the boring undergraduate sections for little or no pay and provide inexpensive research assistance. For many veteran scholars, training the next generation is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

There was another complication. In 1994, a new federal law outlawed the widespread practice of requiring professors to retire at age 70. The effects of this accumulated as the baby boom generation aged. The oldest tenured boomers turned 70 in 2016, just in time to not retire and not create room for millennials hitting the job market with newly minted Ph.D.s.

Consumer preferences also shifted. Stung by ever-rising tuition costs and anxious about a treacherous job market, many students left the humanities for more job-focused majors after the Great Recession.

All of this resulted in a severe misalignment of supply and demand. Universities had spent the better part of two decades training more people for jobs that universities simultaneously decided they didnt need, just as economic, demographic and legal conditions began further depressing the need for professors. Its no wonder that many humanities majors are using their considerable creative and rhetorical skills to liken their job searches to various post-apocalyptic imaginings.

As competition for tenure-track jobs becomes more fierce, only the graduates of top-ranked programs have a realistic chance, and even they increasingly settle for positions at less prestigious institutions that emphasize teaching and service over research. For example, the University of Michigans English department is ranked in the top 12 by U.S. News & World Report. Of the approximately 50 scholars who have graduated from the department and won tenure-track positions since 2008, only one is employed at a top 12 department, and that is Michigan itself.

Senator Sanderss proposed legislation would be a highly unusual federal intrusion in the way universities conduct their academic business, and would probably be attacked by the higher education lobby. Some have looked to the example of K-12 teachers, who have used mass strikes and protests to earn substantial wage increases in recent years.
Brown University professor Ashutosh Varshney speaks during a hearing of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2020. The commission is holding a hearing on how "citizenship laws are used to deny religious minorities the legal protections of citizenship, making them vulnerable to exploitation, discrimination, and mass atrocities." (AFP)

Washington: Experts warned a US government panel last night that India's Muslims face risks of expulsion and persecution under the countrys new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which has triggered major protests.

The hearing held inside Congress was called by the US Commission on International Freedom, which has been denounced by the Indian government as biased.

Ashutosh Varshney, a prominent scholar of sectarian violence in India, told the panel that the law championed by prime minister Narendra Modi's government amounted to a move to narrow the democracy's historically inclusive and secular definition of citizenship.

"The threat is serious, and the implications quite horrendous," said Varshney, a professor at Brown University.

"Something deeply injurious to the Muslim minority can happen once their citizenship rights are taken away," he said.

Varshney warned that the law could ultimately lead to expulsion or detention -- but, even if not, contributes to marginalization.

"It creates an enabling atmosphere for violence once you say that a particular community is not fully Indian or its Indianness in grave doubt," he said.

India's parliament in December passed a law that fast-tracks citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim minorities from neighboring countries.

Responding to criticism at the time from the US commission, which advises but does not set policy, India's External Affairs Ministry said the law does not strip anyone's citizenship and "should be welcomed, not criticized, by those who are genuinely committed to religious freedom."

Fears are particularly acute in Assam, where a citizens' register finalized last year left 1.9 million people, many of them Muslims, facing possible statelessness.

Aman Wadud, a human rights lawyer from Assam who traveled to Washington for the hearing, said that many Indians lacked birth certificates or other documentation to prove citizenship and were only seeking "a dignified life."

The hearing did not exclusively focus on India, with commissioners and witnesses voicing grave concern over Myanmar's refusal to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, the mostly Muslim minority that has faced widespread violence.

Gayle Manchin, the vice chair of the commission, also voiced concern over Bahrain's stripping of citizenship from activists of the Shiite majority as well as a new digital ID system in Kenya that she said risks excluding minorities.

More than 40 people were killed last week in New Delhi in sectarian violence sparked by the citizenship law.

India on Tuesday lodged another protest after the UN human rights chief, Michele Bachelet, sought to join a lawsuit in India that challenges the citizenship law's constitutionality.
The boss of ITV tonight described Caroline Flack's death as 'unbelievably tragic' and said that no one will ever know why she took her own life.

Speaking at a conference in London, Dame Carolyn McCall said that she was 'absolutely devastated' by the news of Flack's death and reaffirmed her network's commitment to focusing on duty of care for Love Island contestants going forward.

The Love Island host killed herself on February 15 just one day after she found out the Crown Prosecution Service was pursuing a court case against her.

The saga surrounding her court case saw her 'step down' from hosting Love Island.

Dame Carolyn said 'we can never know what is behind suicide' adding that 'it is a very, very complex thing'.

Caroline Flack's death has been described as 'unbelievably tragic' by ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall, after the Love Island presenter was found dead last month

Speaking at a conference in London, Dame Carolyn McCall (pictured in 2018) said that she was 'absolutely devastated' by the news of Flack's death and reaffirmed her network's commitment to focusing on duty of care for Love Island contestants going forward

Dame Carolyn told Enders and Deloitte's Media And Telecoms 2020 And Beyond conference: 'I think the thing about Caroline Flack is that ITV are absolutely devastated by what happened to her.

'So many people at ITV knew Caroline, including me, and it was unbelievably tragic. I think that we can never know what is behind suicide. It is not in any way simple. It is a very, very complex thing.

'We take advice from (mental health charities) Samaritans and Mind and we will continue to do that.'

Flack died at her east London home while awaiting trial on an assault charge, which she denied.

Dame Carolyn reaffirmed her channel's commitment to duty of care, highlighting its work with Dr Paul Litchfield.

The deaths of former Love Island contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, and The Jeremy Kyle Show guest Steve Dymond, prompted increased scrutiny on ITV over its aftercare.

Caroline Flack pictured leaving Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London in December 2019

The decision follows criticism over the CPS's handling of the case, including from Flack's boyfriend Lewis Burton (pictured together) who said he 'never supported' a prosecution

Dame Carolyn said: 'As far as duty of care is concerned, we are absolutely focused on making sure our duty of care is, for both our participants and for our talent, world class. We want to be best in class for that.

'I think because we reviewed Love Island last summer, so a few months before last summer's series, Paul Litchfield, who is the former CMO, works with us, and he made a whole load of recommendations which we have implemented, which is about aftercare, which is about casting, which is about a whole range of things - financial management, social media management.

'Social media is the thing that has gone absolutely ballistic. It has actually only happened in the last three years, because in the first two years (Love Island) was too small.

'It wasn't really a successful programme. It has only really made a big difference in the regionals three years ago on social media.

'We take that very serious and we are actually working with the industry on how we can share all of that and how we can learn and pool our resources, so we can learn from each other. So that is what we are doing.'

After ruling herself out of the race to succeed Lord Tony Hall as the BBC's director-general earlier in the day, Dame Carolyn said it would be 'fantastic' if the corporation was led by a woman.

'I think the BBC genuinely needs the best person for the job and if that is a woman that would be fantastic,' she said.

'But I think the BBC has a huge amount of work cut out for it and needs the very best person for the job.'

Flack (pictured) died at her east London home while awaiting trial on an assault charge, which she denied

Dame Carolyn's comments comes soon after it was revealed an investigation is to be launched into whether prosecutors were right to press ahead with Caroline Flack's 'show trial' following her death.

There will now be 'a post-case review panel conducted by a deputy chief crown prosecutor' to determine whether it should have pursued the case, a freedom of information request has revealed.

It follows criticism over the CPS's handling of the case, including from Flack's boyfriend Lewis Burton who said he 'never supported' a prosecution.

A spokesman for the CPS told the Mirror: 'The review will look at the general CPS handling of the case and, obviously, the decisions behind charging is part of that.'

In the days after her death Flack's management team described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with the case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

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

But he later spoke out in defence of Flack, saying she has become the subject of a 'witch hunt' following her arrest.

A member of Flack's management team said the CPS should 'look at themselves' and how they pursued a trial 'without merit' which resulted in 'significant distress to Caroline'.

It was also revealed earlier this week that the Metropolitan Police will not investigate officers over Caroline Flack's death after the watchdog said there was no 'causal link' between their actions and the tragedy.

Officers last had contact with the 40-year-old television presenter on December 13, 2019 when she was in custody following an alleged assault.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said there was 'no indication of a causal link - directly or indirectly - between the actions or omissions of the police and Caroline Flack's tragic death'.

The Met made a mandatory referral to IOPC in the wake of her death, but has confirmed today that no formal investigation is needed in to officers' contact with late TV presenter.
New Delhi, March 5 : The Congress reacted sharply to the suspension of seven of its MPs for the remaining session of the Lok Sabha on Thursday, with the party calling it a "sad day for Indian democracy" and one member terming it a "black day for the functioning of Parliament".

"This reflects the government's utter dictatorship as also the complete failure of the Hon'able Speaker in protecting the rights of the MPs in holding the government accountable to the law of this country as also to Parliament. What were these MPs doing? They were only demanding a discussion on the Delhi riots," said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

The opposition party said that these MPs were only questioning Home Minister Amit Shah's role or a deliberate conspiracy behind the Delhi violence that has claimed the lives of 52 persons till now.

"Why can't the Prime Minister and the BJP government answer? Is it now a crime to protest against intemperate and imbecile remarks made at the instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji by none other than an MP who is supporting the BJP, Hanuman Beniwal, who has lost his mental balance? I think this is a sad day for India's democracy," Surjewala added.

"... if the Prime Minister tramples upon India's Parliament and the rights of parliamentarians, you might as well throw out the entire opposition forever and hold a mock Parliament with your 'chelas and chamchas' (followers and flatterers)," he said.

Congress lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi, who was among those suspended for alleged misconduct, said: "Suspend me, but please discuss the Delhi riots tomorrow (Friday). Show your accountability towards the very people who voted for you. No matter our numbers my party @INCIndia derives its strength from our commitment towards Bharat Mata and we will continue to seek justice from PM Modi." Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, R Unnithan, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Benny Behanan and Manickam Tagore will remain suspended for the rest of the Budget session that ends on April 3.

They were suspended after some Congress MPs snatched a copy of a Bill, tore the papers and tossed them at Rama Devi, who was presiding over the Lok Sabha proceedings at that time.
Karnataka Budget 2020: Will CM Yediyurappa feel the pulse of people on his 7th budget?

India

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Bengaluru, Mar 05: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa who also doubles up as the state finance minister is all set to table his seventh budget in the Parliament today.

It is said that Yediyurappa is keeping irrigation and agriculture sectors as his top priority while tabling the budget.

Speaking to OneIndia, BJP Panellist and advocate, Vivek Subba Reddy said, "I think it will be a balanced budget with alot of investment oppertunies. This budget will also have the continuation of social and welfare schemes. Expansion of education is also expected in the budget."

"Bengaluru and Mysuru will be on CM Yediyurappa's radar. The state capital is expected to receive the suburban rails soon," the BJP panallist said.

Karnataka Budget 2020: Will CM Yediyurappa make it mandatory for his MLA, MLCs to adopt govt schools

Sreenath Seshadri, a BJP spokesperson said, "We are looking for a pro-people budget and there will be emphasis on the capital projects in the state. Secondly, Yediyurappa can feel a common man's pain so I am sure that farmers will be the beneficieries in this budget."

"We (BJP) know that by waiving off farmers loan will not help in a long term basis. Instead, we are keeping up the promises that we made earlier and fulfilling them. Providing incentives to the farmers will actually help them in a long term process as the central government is also providing them with better schemes," the BJP spokesperson added.

What had Kumaraswamy's government promised in his budget:

Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had announced Rs 34,000 crore farm loan waiver in his maiden budget. Liquor prices across all the categories were hiked by 4%, in an addition to the 8% hike that was implemented by Siddaramaiah on his budget. The tax rate on petrol and diesel were also raised from 30% to 32% and 19% to 21% respectively.

Nonetheless, household energy bills were also witnessed a raise as the tax on energy consumed was hiked from 6% to 9%.

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Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 9:52 [IST]
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Thursday, Jan 6th, 2022

The emergencies of climate and democracy are linked

By Mark Hertsgaard

A year ago today, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy were fleeing for their lives as a violent mob swarmed the halls of the US Capitol. With their personal safety at risk, the two most powerful Republicans on Capitol Hill at...
The media is flooded with reports of an increasing number of coronavirus cases and deaths from various parts of the world. While China was the epicentre of the epidemic, it has now spread to Europe, the United States (US), West Asia, and India. In February, several Indian students from Wuhan (China) were evacuated and quarantined. This was the first political response by the Government of India on the growing epidemic. Subsequently, a few cases have been detected and confirmed in several states, but they are mostly from urban areas. So far, there have been no deaths in India, but the fear is palpable among the middle and upper-middle classes, thanks to the media coverage of the coronavirus.

All epidemics evoke fear and panic since they result in fatalities. However, in its management, three elements need to be addressed: Science, common sense of the public health system, and political support from the government. There is a better understanding today about the virus, and the nature of the disease it produces. The current evidence suggests that around 80% of the infected cases are mild, 18% are severe, and only 2% require intensive intervention. Since there is no medication available, the cases need close monitoring, and treatment of secondary complications if the need arises. Special attention is needed for the elderly and other vulnerable sections of the population. So monitoring is key to containing the epidemic.

The Chinese data on coronavirus fatalities shows that a large proportion of fatalities has been among the elderly. The number of deaths is higher among elders, as compared to the young. Those with pre-existing conditions are much more at risk than others. This understanding is essential for the layperson so that they are informed about the nature of the disease, along with a rational public health system that can respond to containing the spread through monitoring and surveillance strategies.

We also need to learn from the strengths and failures of managing several viral influenza outbreaks in the recent past such as the avian and swine flu (H1N1) that has and continues to spread across the country.

Data from the National Centre for Disease Control shows that there have been 884 cases of H1N1 virus this year, resulting in 14 deaths. Of that, 70% of the cases are from four states. Tamil Nadu accounts for 172 cases, followed by Delhi (152), Karnataka (151) and Telangana (148). The fatality due to H1N1 is highest in Uttar Pradesh (51 cases and seven deaths), followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Health is a state subject and the response of the public health system needs political support. The contrast in response to a viral outbreak whether H1N1, nipah virus or coronavirus is seen in how UP and Kerala governments have responded to public health emergencies. In a recent speech, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath dismissed the problem of the coronavirus and advocated yoga as a way of overcoming it. It maybe worthwhile here to highlight that the number of reported cases and deaths due to swine flu in the state: There have been 884 new cases and 14 deaths in the state this year.

In contrast to UP, Kerala has managed to contain several outbreaks of the nipah virus effectively. The strategy to tackle the coronavirus in Kerala has involved isolation, quarantine and surveillance of positive cases in hospitals and the community. The Union government could take cues from Keralas strategy to control viral outbreaks. Clearly, there will be variations in effectiveness, since not all states have strong public health systems and the required political imagination and support to achieve what Kerala has been able to do.

The influenza season is back, but how prepared are we to handle the variety of cases? Experience of dengue, swine flu and other outbreaks shows that lack of preparedness and response from the public health system has resulted in panic, leading to a rush for testing and treatment in hospitals by people. While there are guidelines issued by the National Centre for Disease Control, its implementation and monitoring are poor in the public and private sector. Irrational use of drugs, testing and hospitalisation only add to the anxieties of patients.

An important aspect of the public health strategy to deal with epidemics is communication. The government must communicate with the general public and health personnel on the latest virus outbreak.

The government must have a nodal person who coordinates with the health ministry and can provide the relevant data and advice. This is lacking at present, and, as a result, the media often sensationalises the problem, making citizens anxious. In the absence of authentic information, social media becomes the main source of information and misinformation.

Rama Baru is professor, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The views expressed are personal
Closing the gender pay gap in the UK would raise female earnings by 93bn. (Getty)

The UK is being overtaken by greater improvements in female employment prospects in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, according to the latest ranking of international female economic empowerment in the workplace.

The Women in Work Index by professional services network PwC analyses female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries to create the annual ranking.

Despite remaining at number 16 on the list the UKs position has barely moved since 2000 when it was placed at number 17, even after improving its performance across all five indicators and performing above the OECD average.

Iceland claims the top spot, followed by Sweden, Slovenia, New Zealand and Luxembourg.

Read more: Global gender pay gap will take nearly 100 years to close

Canada is the top ranking G7 economy at number 11, followed by the UK, and the US in 20th place.

If the female employment rate across the OECD countries matched Sweden, OECD GDP would be boosted by more than 4.63tn ($6tn), according to the index. The UKs GDP would be lifted by 189bn if it matched Sweden.

The study indicates that closing the gender pay gap across the 33 countries would increase womens earnings by 1.54tn.

Its not all doom and gloom for the UK as regional inequalities in womens employment are declining, with every region except Scotland since last year. The advances are largely due to female labour force participation and full-time employment rate.

The South West was the UKs top region, improving on all indicators, while Northern Ireland jumped from 4th to 2nd. London came lowest due to poor female labour force participation and a high female unemployment rate.

Closing the gender pay gap in the UK would raise female earnings by 93bn  an increase of 20%.

Jing Teow, economist at PwC, said: Although progress has been made across both the UK and OECD, the rate of improvement is still slow, despite the prospect of huge economic gains from increasing female participation in the workforce.

Story continues

In order for these gains to be realised, businesses and governments need to work together to help get more women into work and ensure that there is a fair and equal pay structure. Its also crucial that women get the right opportunities to upskill in the face of increasing automation as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Read more: Women in the UK work for free for two months a year

The index highlights women in technology as an important area for improving female economic empowerment. Across the G7, the worlds seven largest advanced economies, women make up just 30% of the tech workforce, and even fewer women are in the top jobs in tech companies, despite technology being front and centre for businesses and wider society, according to the study.

Canada is the best performing G7 country in terms of gender representation and equality in the tech sector, with France in second place.

The UK is fifth in G7 for women in tech: its poor performance is driven by worse than average performance on all indicators except the share of women on boards in the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector.

The top 20 countries in the Women in Work Index Ranking. (PwC)

Laura Hinton, chief people officer at PwC UK, said: Technology is front and centre for businesses and wider society, so it's vital we take steps to make the industry as inclusive as possible. Its encouraging to see progress being made in opportunities for women across the UK as businesses invest across the country, but more needs to be done.

Read more: UK drops three places in annual global talent ranking

Long-term, targeted solutions will be vital in making changes sustainable. We know that in areas such as STEM women are under-represented. In order to build and sustain a pipeline of diverse talent, businesses need to work together to encourage girls at young ages through initiatives such as Tech She Can  a programme which inspires and educates young women to get into tech careers.

The study indicates that AI and new technologies, such as robotics, drones and driverless vehicles, could displace jobs for women, but can also create new ones.
Republicans took a strong first step in the primary election toward grabbing back at least some of the seven California congressional districts that Democrats flipped in 2018.

With millions of late-arriving mail ballots still uncounted from Tuesdays election, Republicans have so far combined for a majority of the votes in six of those seven districts. GOP candidates have solid leads in two of them.

The results show just how tough its going to be for Democrats to hang onto everything they won two years ago, when California victories helped them take back the House, said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University.

California is a blue state, but parts of it are purple, he said. It will be a difficult road for the Democrats to run the table again this year.

With all seven of those districts targeted by Republicans eager to regain control of Congress, Democrats may have to lower their expectations, McCuan said.

In November, a good night for Democrats may be winning four of those seats, he said.

Republicans were gleeful over Tuesday nights results.

In Orange County, GOP candidates were winning a majority of the votes in three of the four targeted districts. The primary numbers were a welcome salve to the embarrassment of the 2018 election, when Democrats swept to victory in all the countys congressional districts.

On Tuesday night, the waters of the blue wave began to recede ... and Republicans showed that we will take back Orange County, Fred Whitaker, chairman of the county GOP, said in a statement. The pathway to restoring the House of Representatives is through Orange County.

Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

That may be more confidence than the numbers warrant. Of those contested seats, only former GOP Assemblywoman Young Kim of Fullerton holds an actual lead over a Democratic incumbent. After losing a close race to Rep. Gil Cisneros in 2018, she leads him in the primary rematch, 51% to 48%.

In a two-person contest on the border of Orange and San Diego counties, Democratic Rep. Mike Levin of San Juan Capistrano was on top of Republican Brian Maryott, 53% to 47%. Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine had 48% of the vote against six GOP challengers, and Rep. Harley Rouda of Laguna Beach was leading Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel, 44% to 37%.

Collectively, however, Republicans were outpolling Democrats in both Porters and Roudas districts.

Until 2018, Orange Countys seats had been Republican for decades. GOP leaders argue that even with a competitive Democratic presidential primary, the fact that more Republicans turned out than Democrats is a positive sign for the enthusiasm of GOP voters.

Republicans made clear the type of races they plan to run in Orange County and throughout the state.

In congratulating Kim on her showing, Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that in November voters will reject Gil Cisneros and his highly unpopular socialist agenda. He likewise dismissed Levin as progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs acolyte.

In the Central Valley district where GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of Tulare got 59% of the vote, Emmet called Phil Arballo, who finished well behind the leader, a socialist Democrat who wants to do nothing but impeach President Trump and abolish private health insurance.

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Group / TNS

Tuesdays worst Democratic showing in a 2018 flip race was near Nunes district. Former GOP Rep. David Valadao held a 53% to 36% lead over Rep. TJ Cox of Fresno.

In 2018, Cox beat Valadao by fewer than 1,000 votes in a race that wasnt decided until a month after the election.

The other Democrat who flipped a Central Valley seat in 2018, Rep. Josh Harder of Turlock (Stanislaus County), finished first in his primary. But he and two other Democrats were collectively being outpolled by three Republicans.

Cox tried to put the best face on his showing, saying in a statement that were still in this fight as underdogs and that this race will be decided in November.

His assertion that Democrats will do better in the fall has been echoed by party leaders, who were quick to note that voters in California primaries tend to be older, whiter, wealthier and more Republican than those who turn out for elections in November.

In 2018, for example, Valadao steamrolled Cox in the primary, 63% to 37%, but Cox came back for the narrow victory in the general election. In all seven of the districts that flipped two years ago, Republicans saw their share of the vote decline in November.

But that GOP primary strength could come back to bite the Democrats in a May 12 runoff election to decide who will serve the remaining term of former Democratic Rep. Katie Hill of Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County), who resigned in November after admitting to a sexual relationship with a campaign aide.

Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith finished first in the primary contest for the November election with 30% of the vote and was followed by Republican businessman Mike Garcia with 26%. Smith did even better in the special election, finishing ahead of Garcia, 34% to 27%.

Since Smith didnt receive a majority, however, the pair will meet in the May runoff, which will be the only contest on the ballot. Republicans tend to be more likely to vote in such low-turnout elections, meaning Garcia could have the inside track on filling out the remaining months of Hills term.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
Growing up, my parents always told me get outside! Playing in the great outdoors was our favorite pastime  exploring the neighborhood on foot or bicycle, going to the local park or swimming pool and making up games along the way. We walked or biked to school, soaking in the sights and sounds along the way. I was raised in Texas, so I know how stifling hot the summers can get and how much fun we had despite the heat.

These days, unfortunately, many children are growing up without outdoor time, disconnected from the benefits of the natural world. Kids want to be outside but face challenges real or perceived including to safety, nowhere to go, fear of the unknown, lack of encouragement from parents or teachers, the draw of electronics, weather and more. This lack of connection has contributed to childhood obesity, lack of creativity, depression, and other social and physical issues.

In the early 2000s Richard Louv coined the term nature-deficit disorder to describe our childrens symptoms. Since then, the Children in Nature Network and many others have proven that kids who learn and play outdoors are happier, healthier and smarter; more well-adjusted to working with others and better problem-solvers  excellent characteristics for resilient children and our next generation work force.

Fortunately, in the Houston area, we are blessed with incredible natural resources. From the Gulf Coast to the piney woods, to our bayous and prairies, our area has some of the most diverse ecosystems found in any one place. Coupled with our public local, state, regional and federal parks and nonprofit-supported nature preserves protecting Houstons native beauty, our children and their families have many great opportunities to get outside to explore and play in nature.

Many of these amazing outdoor spaces also include opportunities for formal and informal education. Often free or at minimal cost, teachers can take their students on outdoor field trips, tailoring trips to their lesson plans and the required Texas Essential Knowledge Skills (TEKS). Making the deal even sweeter, teachers in fourth grade, Title 1 classes within Region 4 Education Service Center can receive transportation reimbursement for these field trips through Open OutDoors for Kids - Houston. OOK, a grant-funded initiative of the National Park Foundation, strives to connect children to nature, history and culture by eliminating barriers to field trip participation. Teachers easily book a field trip with one of many partners who provide a variety of curriculum-based natural, cultural and historical field trips correlated with TEKS.

In a story of grand collaboration, beginning in 2016, Big Thicket National Preserve joined forces with more than three dozen Houston-area public parks and nature preserves to facilitate OOK field trip experiences. The collaborative developed a user-friendly website that provides reimbursement instructions, a map of the field trip locations, a description of each site and coordinator contact information. Houstons Citizens Environmental Coalition now hosts the OOK field trip website, along with the Houston Environmental Resources Exchange (HERE), which provides free educational materials. Additionally, CEC hosts an event calendar all Houstonians can access for fun things to do and ways to help protect the environment.

Many folks dont know we have a National Park Service site within an easy 90-minute drive from Houston, preserving a grand stand of the vast piney woods once covering the entire southeast. They arent aware that our state, federal and locally funded parks and preserves provide excellent opportunities for never-ending, free day trips to explore the natural beauty of our area. Some are even unaware of the non-profit nature preserves in their own neighborhood, providing the unique chance to enjoy urban nature a mere walk or bike ride away from home.

As the wise Senegalese forestry engineer, Baba Dioum, reminds us, In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught. If we are to inspire our children to preserve and protect the environment for themselves and future generations, they must be connected to the natural world.

Our children are our future leaders. Whether they become teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, business leaders, mechanics or park rangers, all children need the opportunity to learn and play in nature so they love and appreciate our Earth, fighting to preserve and protect the ecosystems that give us all what we need to survive and thrive. Lets get all kids outside.

Luman is an environmental consultant in the area and past board member of the Citizens Environmental Coalition.
Apsana Begum made her maiden speech in the House of Commons, becoming the first hijab-wearing MP to do so. (ParliamentTV)

A Labour MP has become the first woman to address the House of Commons wearing a hijab.

Apsana Begum was elected as MP for Poplar and Limehouse in the 2019 general election.

She made her first speech on parliament on Thursday, taking part in an International Womens Day debate.

Begum paid tribute to her predecessor, MP Jim Fitzpatrick, before describing some of the rich history of womens struggles for social justice in her constituency.

She said: It is in this tradition of socialism, community solidarity and action that I now address the chamber today having been the first British Bangladeshi woman elected as secretary of the Tower Hamlets Labour Party, and now the first hijab-wearing member of parliament.

Apsana Begum spoke out against racism, and thanked her constituents in Poplar and Limehouse (ParliamentTV)

Begum went on: As someone who has first-hand experience of the rise of islamophobia over the past decades, it is alarming that racism, islamophobia and antisemitism in particular, are growing.

While the government continues to use hostile politics, which has resulted in the hostile environment for migrants that led to the Windrush scandal, we know that the fight for justice and change is not over.

Read more: MPs to get 2,500 pay rise from April

In February, Begum said she had experienced racism as an MP, after an ITV News poll revealed that more than half of Black, Asian and minority ethnic MPs have experienced racism or prejudice from fellow MPs.

She tweeted: Im glad to have participated in this survey and Ive had it despite being here only a few weeks so far.

Doorkeepers are really the best among House of Commons staff - they are absolute gems & perhaps they dont receive the recognition publicly that they deserve.

Read more: Jacob Rees-Mogg responds to claims parliament could shut for five months

Begum is backing Rebecca Long-Bailey as the next leader of the Labour Party, and Richard Burgon as deputy leader.

Growing up in a community that opposed the war - facing the racist & Islamophobic backlash on a daily basis - it is very clear to me: we must oppose illegal wars, imperialism & destruction.



This is one of the many reasons that I am supporting #Richard4Deputy@RichardBurgon https://t.co/qXNgpDlzk3  Apsana Begum MP (@ApsanaBegumMP) February 5, 2020

Long-Bailey and Burgon have been dubbed the continuity Corbyn candidates in the leadership elections, and have both been vocal in their support for the leader on the campaign trial.
Turkey and Russia reached agreement on a ceasefire in Syria's northwestern Idlib province to take effect at midnight, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday after talks with counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

"At 00.01 tonight, as in, from midnight, the ceasefire will be put in place," Erdogan said at a news conference after the summit.

"We agreed a joint document," Putin said, adding that he hoped it would "serve as a good basis for ending fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone and ending the suffering of the civilian population."

Erdogan added that Turkey reserves the right to "retaliate with all its strength against any attack" by Damascus despite the new ceasefire.

"The regime... is the one to blame for the breakdown of the (2018 Sochi) agreement," Erdogan said.
In an attempt to modernize Connecticuts first-in-the-nation Red Flag law, lawmakers are proposing a bill that would broaden who can request that guns be removed from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.

As effective as our law has been, its not as robust as we have seen in best practices in other states, said Rep. Steven Stafstrom, a Bridgeport Democrat and co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee. These are critical changes in order to make this law work better for us and for the state of Connecticut.

In 1999, Connecticut became the first state in the country to pass a red flag law. The statute allows certain officials to ask the court to remove firearms from those who could harm to themselves or others. Other states have followed suit over the past two decades, as mass shootings have proliferated across the country. Ten states adopted red flag laws following after the Feb. 14, 2018 slaying that ended the lives of 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

A 2017 Duke University study found that, between 2009 and 2013, Connecticuts red flag law prevented at least one suicide for every 20 gun seizures.

What weve done is look specifically at the other states that have passed risk warrant statutes in the past several years and look at the best practices for those and try to combine them into a bill that updates the existing law we have on the books, said Stafstrom.

Almost 2,000 risk warrants were issued in Connecticut between when the law was enacted in 1999 and August 2019.

Stafstroms bill would make several updates to Connecticuts law. First, it would expand the eligibility of those who could ask the court for a risk warrant. Currently, two police officers or a states attorney can seek a protective order. In Stafstroms proposal, one officer could make the request, as could a household or family member, or certain medical professionals like physicians or psychologists.

Another change would limit a person in crisis from obtaining a firearm. Stafstrom said the current law provides a mechanism for the court to remove guns that a person already owns.

But what about for the person who says, Im going to go out and buy a gun and kill myself? Stafstrom asked. If somebody is shown to be an imminent risk of harm to themselves or others, just because they dont currently possess a gun doesnt mean they wont go out to try to acquire one and use it.

The new proposal would also give judges more discretion in the length of each protective order. Stafstrom said under the current statute people dont have a way of getting their guns back before the yearlong warrant expires. His measure would indefinitely remove a persons guns, but allow individuals to petition the court to get for their firearms back after 180 days, and then every 180 days thereafter.

This would basically provide more flexibility to the judge in terms of the length of the order and the application process where you could get your firearm back earlier or if the order could stay in place after the year, said Stafstrom.

Members of several gun reform organizations also attended Wednesday mornings news conference. Stacey Mayer, from the Connecticut chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said updating the states Red Flag law will allow the state to remain a leader on gun reform.

Theyre all common sense updates to a law that has been proven to work already, Mayer said of the changes, but with these changes, will be even more effective, and can help save even more lives.

The bill will be up for a public hearing on March 11.
by Brendan Tuma | Padres Correspondent | Wed, Mar 4th 6:37pm EST

Blake Snell (elbow) is expected to throw a bullpen session on Friday. (Marc Topkin on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact:

Snell played catch on both Tuesday and Wednesday and will do so again tomorrow. Following Friday's bullpen the Rays will make a decision on whether he needs to throw another or if he can jump into game action. That decision will determine how quickly he can join Tampa Bay's rotation in the regular season. There remains a decent chance he doesn't miss much time at all.
Jacobs will provide technical advice and services across planning, system, design and delivery of the three ongoing projects. Improving connectivity between the major cities, the new high-speed railway lines are expected to increase capacity and resiliency in the railway system, create more sustainable travel and freight transport and, promote regional development and greater access to international markets.

"Jacobs has significant global experience supporting local authorities and regions in the planning and delivery of their large-scale high-speed rail initiatives," said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa Donald Morrison. "Sweden's vision for a new generation railway is an exciting opportunity to provide cleaner, faster transport capacity and connectivity in the regions, and stimulate economic development."

The Swedish Transport Administration is planning to develop new main lines between Stockholm-Malmo and Stockholm-Gothenburg  starting with the East Link for Jarna-Linkoping (approximately 150 kilometers), Goteborg-Boras (approximately 60 kilometers) and Hassleholm-Lund (approximately 70 kilometers). These initial projects can potentially form part of a 660-kilometer high-speed rail network with a cost estimated at $23.8 billion (SEK230 Billion, price level 2016-05) by Swedish Transport Administration, that will connect the southern parts of Sweden to create additional capacity and reduce inter-city journey times with fast and sustainable transport.

"Today, our main lines are overcrowded, and greater capacity will add to our sustainable transportation solutions," said Swedish Transport Administration Program Director Peter Uneklint. "Expanding the railway network will bring Sweden closer together and create new opportunities for people and businesses. We are looking forward to applying Jacobs' global experience in high-speed rail to support us in finding the right solutions for Sweden."

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of approximately 52,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. For a description of some additional factors that may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Item 1 - Business; Item 1A - Risk Factors; Item 3 - Legal Proceedings; and Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, as well as the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results, except as required by applicable law.

For press/media inquiries:

Kerrie Sparks

214.583.8433

SOURCE Jacobs

Related Links

http://www.jacobs.com


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The total confirmed number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in New York has risen to 13, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday morning.

There are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York City. One new patient is a man in his 40s, and one new patient is a woman in her 80s," de Blasio said.

Neither patient, according to de Blasio, had any connection to recent travel nor any of the other local individuals diagnosed with the virus  indicating further community spread.

Both people are currently hospitalized and in an intensive care unit. It wasnt immediately clear which hospital the patients are being treated in.

City disease detectives are tracing close contacts of both individuals and will ensure they are appropriately isolated and tested immediately, de Blasio said. We are going to see more cases like this as community transmission becomes more common.

Despite the recent stark case rise in New York, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to be prepared and vigilant, not alarmed," adding, "We are taking the same decisive steps in every case to shut transmission down: Isolate and test each suspected case, trace close contacts, and isolate and test them as well. "

However, with an influx of tests in New York, de Blasio is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase our supply of COVID-19 test kits and expedite the approval of any testing approaches developed by private companies.

Our single greatest challenge is the lack of fast federal action to increase testing capacity  without that, we cannot beat this epidemic back, he said.

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

The House of Representatives voted to pass a bipartisan funding package to address the coronavirus with the help of Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Now on its way to the Senate, the $8.3 billion package will be used for a robust response to what officials are calling a public health emergency.

The World Health Organization said there are over 95,200 confirmed cases globally. The Washington State Department of Health announced on Tuesday that 10 deaths have been confirmed in the state. One death has been reported in California, the states health department said Wednesday.
Reports have it that the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is at the presidential villa, Abuja for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The National Chairman of the ruling party has been engaged in legal battle in the last twenty-four hours, after being suspended by a Federal High Court in Abuja as the National Chairman, while being reinstated by a High Court sitting in Kano on Thursday.

Also Read: Court Sets Aside Oshiomhole Suspension Order

Oshiomhole told State House correspondents that he came to brief the president about the crisis in the party.
Customers look at the Apple's new iPhone 11 series smartphones in an Apple retail store on East Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Alex Ta | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

With the U.S.-China trade war last year and the outbreak of the new coronavirus, American technology firms Apple, Microsoft and Google have reportedly looked to move more production of their hardware products out of the world's second-largest economy. But reducing reliance on China won't be easy. "China manufacturing is far more embedded into American supply chains than ever before," Sean Maharaj, managing director at AArete, a global management consultancy.

Eyes on Vietnam, Thailand

Google and Microsoft are accelerating their efforts to shift production of hardware to other parts of Asia, the Nikkei Asian Review reported last week. The problem for all these countries is that moving supply chains quickly will be a tough task and China will still have to play a major role. That might mean mitigating risk is a lot harder. The Nikkei, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter, said Google is set to begin production of an upcoming low-cost smartphone, rumored to be called the Pixel 4a, in Vietnam as soon as April. The upcoming flagship smartphone will also be manufactured there in the second half of the year, according to the report. Google has also asked a manufacturing partner in Thailand to prepare production lines for its so-called smart home products, such as voice assistant-enabled speakers, Nikkei said. Meanwhile, Microsoft is hoping to start production in Vietnam in the second quarter for its Surface line of notebooks and desktop PCs, it added.

Both of these companies' hardware has been mainly produced in China until now. Microsoft declined to comment while Google did not respond to two requests for information when contacted by CNBC. Last year, Apple was reportedly looking to start a trial for the production of its AirPods in Vietnam and asked suppliers to look into moving 15% to 30% of production from China to other parts of South East Asia. Apple did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Components 'choke point'

To understand why, it's important to break down the manufacturing process. P.S. Subramaniam, partner in the strategic operations practice of Kearney, explains there are electronic components like displays and memory, modules such as cameras, and the assembly of the finished goods. Around 40% of finished goods come from China globally today and there is capacity in other areas of the world, Subramaniam said. So it's "easier (to) diversify away from China in the short term (3-6 months) for most companies which have well developed product and assembly process documentation," he added. Meanwhile, around 60% of modules are made in China. That's harder to move away "but still feasible", Subramaniam said.

Shifting manufacturing locations helps diversify risk but isn't a cure-all, and in fact could become a game of whack-a-mole. Bryan Ma VP of devices research at IDC

The components part is a bigger issue. "This is a singular choke point as components are a necessary ingredient in modules and finished goods assemblies. This is very hard to move as it requires entire ecosystems, Subramaniam told CNBC. Moving component manufacturing outside of China will also be difficult given how entrenched it is and how long it would take to build capacity in another country. "Some assembly could be moved elsewhere, but these production lines take time to set up, and moreover no other country has the supply of labor as China," John Harmon, senior analyst at Coresight Research, told CNBC. On top of that, suppliers for components that companies rely on will have their manufacturing in China. That could make any move for an American technology firm to diversify a much longer process. "Other suppliers Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese or Korean which have set up facilities around these manufacturing plants in China will have to also diversify, which would make this switch a little bit less quick," Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.

'Turning an aircraft around slowly'

AArete's Maharaj said that diversifying supply chains away from China can happen, though it will be slow. "This is like turning an aircraft around slowly," he told CNBC. "I think many companies have been seriously exploring supply chain risk mitigation strategies." "When corporations want to move quickly and make investments, they can. And, they work closely with local governments and businesses to make it happen," Maharaj said. "Given the above momentum  i.e. South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam etc.  this could all play out more quickly than we had initially expected." Ultimately though, moving some production out of China may not be something that reduces risk for companies significantly. "Shifting manufacturing locations helps diversify risk but isn't a cure-all, and in fact could become a game of whack-a-mole," Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC, told CNBC. "The coronavirus has already spread to other countries, while trade war tariffs similarly could've targeted other countries over time."
One of Frances vaunted high-speed trains derailed on Thursday morning on a trip to Paris, injuring 21 people including the driver, officials said.

The driver, who was seriously injured, managed to slam on the emergency brakes and bring the train to a halt.

It was the first derailment of a TGV train in nearly 40 years of commercial service.

Regional authorities said 20 other people also suffered injuries, some of them slight.

Train operator SNCF said they included the train conductor, who suffered a back injury.

Malgre cette sortie de voie, le TGV est reste debout. Les premieres constatations font etat dun bilan de trois blesses. Lagent de conduite du TGV, grievement blesse, a ete evacue par helicoptere.



2/6 pic.twitter.com/pKEHjHtkJu  Groupe SNCF (@GroupeSNCF) March 5, 2020

The train, carrying 300 passengers, was travelling from Colmar in eastern France to the capital and was racing along at 270kph (170mph) when it jumped the tracks.

The derailment opened a gash on the pointed nose of the sleek train, which stayed upright.

Its side was scratched and some windows were cracked.

The SNCF said it was the first time that a commercially-operated TGV train has derailed since the service was inaugurated in 1981, between Paris and the southern city of Lyon.

TGV stands for Train A Grande Vitesse, or high-speed train.

The seriously injured train driver was evacuated by helicopter.

Passengers told French media they felt a bang before the train slowed and stopped.

An investigation will determine whether the train struck an earth bank that collapsed close to the track.
(Kitco News) - Higher gold prices and improving investor sentiment weren't enough to counter fears of the spreading coronavirus as attendance at the worlds biggest mining conference dropped from the previous year.

Wednesday, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) said attendance at its 2020 mining conference totaled 23,144, down 10% from the previous year and the lowest attendance since 2016.

Kitco News reported on some of the empty booths noting that some companies were staying away from the conference because of the spreading coronavirus.

The usually packed investors exchange had a few vacancies this year, with some companies citing coronavirus concerns, #pdac2020 pic.twitter.com/Jj5ld7MBtJ  Michael McCrae (@michaelmccrae) March 1, 2020

Although attendance was down compared to previous years, Felix Lee, president of PDAC, said in an interview with Kitco News that he was pleased with the sentiment at the conference. He added that the Canadian mining sector is robust enough to meet all challenges.

The Canadian mining sector faces some difficult challenges but I am completely confident that the sector can continue to grow, he said. We have a habit of being able to remake ourselves when times are tough.

The conference was not without its significant announcements. Speaking for the second year in a row, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new incentive that makes it more affordable for Canadian miners to invest in zero-emission vehicles and automotive equipment.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister Greg Rickford announced Ontario will develop road access in northern Ontario to service First Nations communities and potentially develop the Ring of Fire project.

Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus ORegan, also announced the next phase of the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP).
The United Nations has been urged by farming groups to move away from the 'outdated' method of measuring greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.

Agricultural organisations from the UK and New Zealand have urged the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to use the 'more accurate' global warming potential (GWP) metric of GWP*, also known as GWP-we.

This metric measures the contribution of short-lived greenhouse gases to global warming, such as methane.

While GWP with a 100-year time horizon (GWP100) is the accepted metric for describing the warming impact of greenhouse gases, it is acknowledged to have shortcomings when it comes to the temperature response of short-lived emissions.

In their letter to the IPCC, industry groups say GWP* provides a 'more accurate measure' of the behaviour of methane in the atmosphere and its net contribution to global warming.

Signatories of the letter include the NFU, the National Sheep Association and Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

Using metrics that 'inaccurately' capture the contribution to warming of short-lived gases could 'lead to poor policy decisions', a statement by the organisations said.

They add that policy advisers need to reflect solutions that distinguish between the dynamics of biogenic methane and gases that persist in the atmosphere for long periods.

The statement said: "Given the scale of the climate change crisis facing the planet, it is vitally important that the best scientific information and tools available are being used to inform.

"The current measurements in use may not give an accurate reflection of agricultures true impact on global warming.

"Therefore the agricultural sector is keen to ensure that the industry is fairly viewed and the positive impact it can have on climate change is highlighted."
Soon I must attend to the delicate task of writing to my brother to say I wont be at my nephews wedding in Yorkshire this summer. How can I explain my flygskam (climate guilt associated with flying)? Its about a tonne of additional greenhouse gas pollution to fly each way across the Atlantic.

But I see worse coming. Oblivious of the climate crisis, the Ford government quietly accepts that Ontario will produce upwards of 200 million tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution over the next couple of decades from the electricity sector. Thats equivalent to 200 million flights over the Atlantic. Imagine the vapour trails.

Lets be clear. There is already too much heat-trapping greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Thats how a billion animals were incinerated in the recent holocaust in Australia. Every extra tonne will make wildfires worse, heat waves more deadly, hurricanes more destructive, more droughts, famine, extinctions and death. Were in a hole and should stop digging. Youd think the government would get hip to this.

Its been known for years that Pickering Nuclear will be retiring soon and Bruce and Darlington nuclear stations need work. Maybe its not as obvious, but some reflection might produce the insight that electricity demand will likely grow more than in recent years from electrification of transportation, buildings and industry, as required to achieve zero emissions.

Ontario cancelled 758 renewable energy projects. That wont reduce hydro rates. More sales volume would. Hydro rates are basically determined from total costs (almost all fixed) divided by sales volume. The electricity system in Ontario sells only about 60 per cent of what it is capable of. Electrification motivated by emissions reduction would reduce hydro rates; (almost the same total cost, much more volume, Business 101, check it out Doug and Greg).

But electrification makes sense only if it is clean. Fortunately, among all sectors, electricity is the easiest to make clean, because (1) there are so many clean ways to generate electricity, and, (2) it is under the direct control of the government.

Therefore, it should be the governments top priority to make electricity clean. That would exclude over-use of the provinces nine behemoth gas plants, hitherto mostly on standby, but about to be fired up to spew 200 million tonnes of CO2 through 2040, with no sign of decreasing even then.

This dash to gas may be why Enbridge doesnt mind despoiling Hamiltons environmentally sensitive Beverly Swamp by driving a giant pipeline through it.

It doesnt need to happen. Ontario could easily fully price carbon in its electricity planning and economic decision models. Then the true lowest cost plan would quickly become clean again. This would create good jobs locally, instead of bleeding money out of province to frackers in Pennsylvania. The old advertising jingle ee-lectricity, clean simplicity, would actually become true.

John Stephenson is a leader with the Citizens Climate Lobby, Toronto West, and has 45 years of experience in heavy industry and energy.

Read more about:
A man sought in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend at a South Side restaurant last week was found dead Tuesday in a wooded area not far from the scene, police said.

Andrew Munoz, 42, fatally shot Marisela Cadena, 43, sometime before 8 a.m. Friday at Subway, 11643 S.E. Loop 410, and then fled, San Antonio police said.

Cadena was taken to a local hospital where she died.

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Munozs body was found near Loop 410 and Roosevelt Avenue, police said. He had a gunshot wound to his head.

SAPD did not reveal who made the discovery Tuesday or how long Munozs body had been at the location.

Before his body was found, Munoz was considered armed and dangerous after he told family that he would not be taken alive, SAPD Chief William McManus said Monday.

McManus said Cadenas case was a frustrating example of domestic violence in San Antonio.

Marisela was abused, and she did everything she was supposed to do to try and get away from him, he said. The SAPD and the district attorneys office did everything we could to prevent this senseless death.

On ExpressNews.com: I fear for my life: San Antonio woman detailed domestic abuse prior to her death, court records show

Marta Pelaez, Family Violence Prevention Services CEO, said the chief went over the steps they took to help Cadena during a review of the case Wednesday.

Everything checked out, she said. They did everything in their power.

According to court records, Cadena and Munoz began dating about six years ago.

The string of domestic violence incidents allegedly began in June 2018. That month, he punched and scratched Cadena because she wasnt fast enough in handing him his ID, according to an affidavit.

In September 2019, Cadena said in the affidavit that she and Munoz were arguing about money when he grabbed her, pushed her into a closet and punched her in the head and stomach.

The key element is that domestic violence is progressive, Pelaez said.

Cadena reported the abuse to police who arrested him that month. He was released on a $3,500 bond and prohibited from contacting Cadena.

In November, Cadena broke up with Munoz, but reported that he continued to drive past her home, the affidavit said.

Domestic violence advocates warn that leaving a partner or spouse in an abusive relationship is often the most dangerous time.

The perpetrator says Ive invested time, emotions, even money to control you and make you my property and now youre going to leave me, Pelaez said. Thats threatening to the ego.

The mentality behind it, she says, is the thought that if youre not for me, you wont be with anybody else.

On Feb. 16, Munoz abducted Cadena from her home and kept a gun pointed at her head, she said. He threatened to shoot her hand saying she betrayed him, she wrote.

She told her daughter about the incident days later but said she kept talking to Munoz because she was afraid of him.

Cadena agreed to meet with Munoz four days before the shooting but avoided their encounter because she could hear something was wrong in his voice, the protective order said.

Police obtained a warrant to arrest Munoz for aggravated kidnapping two days before the fatal shooting.

Thats a big threat to him, Pelaez said. He was blaming her, and he wouldnt have it.

A caseworker had gone over a safety plan with Cadena and officers had checked on her numerous times Thursday at the restaurant, McManus said.

Both police and advocates said Cadena did the right thing by seeking a protective order from the Bexar County Family Justice Center.

Although Cadena requested the order two days before the shooting, it was not filed until Friday, hours after she died.

When that person is intent on causing harm, he is determined to go to the ultimate end, which is losing himself in the whole process, Pelaez said.

She said people who are concerned for their safety should go to the Battered Womens and Childrens Shelter, an option that police offers to victims of domestic violence.

The shelters location is kept secret, and many services are offered including counseling, housing, and legal services. People are not turned away or released prematurely, only until it is safe to return to the community.

I wish we could have saved her, Pelaez said, saddened by Cadenas death.

Police told Pelaez they offered to take Cadena to a shelter, but she declined.

Listen to police if they want to take them to the shelter, Pelaez urged. Nothing will happen to them at the shelter. Thats why we exist to save lives.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh



on Thursday accused five BJP leaders, including former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, of being involved in the alleged attempt to poach MLAs to pull down the Kamal Nath-led government in the state.

The BJP, however, hit back at Singh saying that he was lying, and maintained that the party had nothing to do with the developments.

In a late-night political drama in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, the Congress claimed that the opposition BJP took eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the Congress government.

On Thursday morning, the Congress held a press conference in New Delhi, in which it claimed that the BJP "abducted 14 MLAs" to bring down its government in Madhya Pradesh.

Taking it to Twitter on Thursday, Digvijaya held five BJP leaders including Chouhan, responsible for the recent "horse-trading" attempt.

"Horse-trading by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh has come to light. But their plans were not fulfilled. Thanks to all the MLAs," Singh said in a tweet.

"BJP leaders responsible for this horse-trading: 1- Shivraj Chouhan, 2- Narottam Mishra, 3- Sanjay Pathak, 4- Vishwas Sarang, 5- Bhupendra Singh," he said in another tweet.

"Modi-Shah ji, why are you looking for (black) money in other countries, it's in your party!" he added on the micro-blogging site.

Mishra, Sarang, Pathak and Bhupendra Singh were ministers in the previous BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

On Monday, Digvijaya Singh had alleged his party MLAs were being offered a "huge amount of money" by BJP leaders as part of their attempt to destabilise the Kamal Nath government.

The state BJP, however, termed this entire episode as the internal tussle of the ruling Congress.

Talking to PTI, BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal alleged, "Digvijaya Singh is speaking lies. The entire episode has exposed the internal tussle of Congress. None of the MLAs, allegedly involved in entire episode, have made allegations against the BJP."



"The BSP and SP MLAs as well as those belonging to the Congress, who returned from Delhi, have denied the charges of horse-trading," he added.

"This is a conspiracy hatched by the Congress, which stand exposed now. BJP has nothing to do as proved by the statements of the MLAs," Agrawal said.

In the 230-member Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs, followed by the BJP with 107. The simple majority mark is 116.

The Congress-led state government has the support of four Independent MLAs, two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislators and one of the Samajwadi Party (SP). Two seats are currently vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 42-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested in the hit and run of two marshals outside Manchester Superior Court on Tuesday.

One judicial marshal sustained serious, life-threatening injuries and the second judicial marshal sustained injuries. Both were treated at Hartford Hospital, where the seriously injured marshal remains under intensive care.

Jose Antonio Lopez was charged with first and second-degree assault, assault on a public safety officer, operating a motor vehicle while under suspension and evading responsibility.

He is being held on a $750,000 bond.

Lopez was informed inside the courthouse that he had an active arrest warrant for violation of probation.

Lopez subsequently fled the courthouse, entered his vehicle, and struck two judicial marshals while fleeing the scene.

Numerous witnesses, both civilian and judicial employees, remained on the scene and provided information to responding troopers and detectives.

Central District Major Crime detectives assumed control of the investigation and coordinated closely with Massachussets State Police and the Springfield and Wilbraham, Mass. police departments.

In the early morning hours on Tuesday, Massachusetts Violent Fugitive Task Force detectives located Lopez and took him into custody as a fugitive from justice on the outstanding, extraditable violation of probation warrants.

Massachusetts detectives conducted an interview with Lopez at the Hampden County District Attorney's Office, where he subsequently provided a written confession. Lopez was presented at the Hampden County court, where he waived extradition on the violation of probation warrants and was

He is scheduled to be arraigned at Hartford Superior Court on Wednesday.

In the meantime, an arrest warrant was obtained by Connecticut detectives for the Manchester incident. On Wednesday detectives arrested Lopez.
A screener at Los Angeles International Airport has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The CDC contract medical professional, who screened travelers arriving at the airport from China, was diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus on Tuesday, and has a mild case. They are in isolation, and their family members have also been tested. Los Angeles County now has seven coronavirus patients, with officials saying all of them were exposed to COVID-19 after coming into close contact with a person already infected.

On Wednesday morning, California announced its first death related to the coronavirus. An elderly person with underlying health issues died in Placer County, after likely being exposed to the coronavirus while on a Princess cruise from San Francisco to Mexico last month. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon, saying that by doing so, California will be able to get more equipment and services to fight the outbreak. There are more than 50 coronavirus patients in California across 12 counties.

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Elizabeth Warren is optimistic there will be a woman president soon: 'We persist'


Agartala (Tripura) [India], Mar 5 (ANI): Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers on Thursday took out a protest march here over violence in the national capital demanding an investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court.



Former Tripura Assembly Speaker Pabitra Kar alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were responsible for the "genocide".

Speaking to ANI Pabitra alleged, "The genocide had been done under the cognizing of the BJP government and the RSS. A lot of people have lost their lives and properties."

"During the violence, for 48 hours, there was no action by the home ministry. Police was a mute spectator of the riots," he alleged.

He demanded an investigation into the matter under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

"The victims of violence should be given compensation and those responsible for the mayhem should be punished," he said.

Former Lok Sabha MP Sankar Prashad Datta also termed the violence as pre-planned. "The situation which arose in the national capital was pre-planned and propagated by the RSS. They deliberately stood in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) while a large number of people are protesting against it. In order to disturb the democratic movement, the RSS people created riots in the city," he alleged.

At least 47 people were killed and more than 200 were seriously injured in the violence that rocked North-East Delhi recently. (ANI)


Mumbai, March 5 : "Divya Drishti" actress Parull Chaudhry and Kunal Thakur, who played Shahid Kapoor's on-screen friend in the blockbuster "Kabir Singh", have joined the cast of "Kasautii Zindagii Kay".

" 'Kasauti...' is my debut on television and it couldn't have been better, because this is a legendary show. I grew up watching this show. TV as a medium is new to me but it's great fun," said Kunal about "Kasauti...", which is a reboot of the 2001 show of the same name.

"On set, I am learning so many new things, the production people, director all are very nice and helpful. Working with Balaji Telefilms will give me a great exposure," he added.

Parull is also thrilled about joining the show. " 'Divya Drishti' wrapped up less than two weeks ago and I was holidaying in Kerala when I got a call from Balaji Telefilms, so I was finalised without any audition or look-test, based on a previous audition. In 'Kasauti...' I am playing Anurag's elder sister, Rakhi, who has returned from Canada."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 06:09:26|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker gestures at Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 4, 2020. (Photo by Fan Xianhai/Xinhua)

China's experience has shown fundamental measures do work to contain COVID-19, said an epidemiologist of WHO.

The World Health Organization is concerned that some countries have either not taken COVID-19 seriously enough, or have decided there's nothing they can do.

GENEVA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China's experience has shown fundamental measures do work to contain COVID-19, such as measures of identifying cases and contacts, as well as mobilizing population, an epidemiologist of the World Health Organization (WHO) noted here Thursday, calling on countries to make full use of them.

Deeply touched by the absolute drive of every person she met in China amid the epidemic, Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, told a daily briefing that everyone in China knows their role in the COVID-19 outbreak, adding they know how to protect themselves and their families, as well as what they need to do collectively to bring the epidemic under control.

WHO is concerned that some countries have either not taken COVID-19 seriously enough, or have decided there's nothing they can do, as the number of countries reporting cases keeps rising, especially those with weaker health systems.



Apart from China, Kerkhove noted, those fundamental measures are being used in other countries like Singapore and Vietnam as well, stressing "that is something every country can do".

Even if confirmed cases were reported in a country, it doesn't mean clusters or large-scale outbreak would be certain to occur, Kerkhove said, adding that it doesn't mean the epidemic would go out of control either. 
A Vietnamese song and matching dance about coronavirus prevention is going viral on Tik Tok, with fans across the U.S. sharing footage of themselves enthusiastically performing the hand washing routine.

Late night host John Oliver featured the 'Hand Washing Song' on his show Last Week Tonight, applauding Vietnam health officials for releasing the catchy PSA tune that warns the public about the coronavirus outbreak and how to avoid catching it.

'Vietnam made a song about washing your hands to prevent coronavirus infection and it absolutely slaps. That's a genuine club banger right there,' Oliver gushed on his show on Sunday.

'In fact people love that dance so much it became a Tik Tok dance challenge,' he added.

A Vietnamese song and matching dance called 'Ghen Co Vy' about coronavirus prevention is going viral on Tik Tok, with fans in the US posting themselves performing the hand washing dance. The viral dance was created by dancer Quang Dang (right) in collaboration with Vietnam's National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health

The song and dance spreads health tips on how to prevent the spread of the deadly virus

And Tik Tokers across the globe can't get enough, with many recreating the choreography and sharing it online

Jac Vanek of the podcast The Lady Gang performed herself doing the hand washing dance on Tik Tok

The song was made by lyricist Khac Hun and Vietnams National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health based on the pop hit 'Ghen' which means 'Jealous'.

The PSA song is entitled 'Ghen Co Vy', taking on a new meaning about coronavirus.

The chorus of the song says: 'We definitely have to be responsible to keep it from exploding/ Wash our hands, rub, rub, rub, rub evenly/ Do not touch eyes, nose, mouth/ And limit visits to crowded places/ Push back the virus corona, corona.'

A popular dancer in Vietnam named Quang Dang choreographed a fun dance with moves that match the lyrics, sparking the Ghen Co Vy Challenge and Coronavirus Dance Challenge on Tik Tok.

In his viral video he and a pal, both dressed in bright yellow, perform hand washing motions and peace signs.

Late night host John Oliver featured the 'Hand Washing Song' on his show Last Week Tonight on Sunday where he performed the move and praised the song as a 'club banger'

Dang's dance sparked the viral Ghen Co Vy Challenge also known as the Coronavirus Dance Challenge on Tik Tok. In his viral video he and a pal, both dressed in bright yellow, perform hand washing motions and peace signs

The chorus of the song says: 'We definitely have to be responsible to keep it from exploding/ Wash our hands, rub, rub, rub, rub evenly/ Do not touch eyes, nose, mouth/ And limit visits to crowded places/ Push back the virus corona, corona'

And Tik Tokers across the globe can't get enough, with many recreating the choreography and sharing it online.

Even a Tik Tok account for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies recreated the routine while educating followers on coronavirus prevention.

Dang says that The National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health asked him to come up with a dance to the song to spread the health tips and prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

Tik Tokers across the globe can't get enough, with many recreating the choreography and sharing it online

These Tik Tok users shared videos of themselves performing the viral hand washing dance

As of Thursday evening there are over 200 cases of coronavirus in the USA and 12 deaths

Dang said he came up with the choreography in just 15 minutes.

'I think the importance of the song and dance is the RIGHT information that they give to the audience,' he said to CBS.

'And the viral dance will help spread this information to the community. Especially the young people... they tend to not get the right information,' he added.

'In the dark days like this, Corona virus has made this world upside down. There are things like dance and music that make us look into the bright side of life, stay positive and connect people. This makes me love dance more than ever!'

UNICEF promoted the dance sharing it on Facebook saying: 'We love this handwashing dance from Vietnamese dancer, Quang ang. Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the first steps to protect yourself from #coronavirus.'

As of Thursday afternoon Dang's dance had 260K likes.
Eric Williams Photography

If you hear a sudden whoosh on the left side of your car when youre piloting that old jalopy up or down Central Avenue between Coors and Louisiana, it is most likely emanating from a passing ART bus.

The new Albuquerque Rapid Transit system, bugs and all, was put into service late last year. Moreover, the project has been in the news for more than four years. Years of thinking and planning came before that.

But the questionand certainly given the history, scope and initial outcome of the project, its an important one to askis how has the ART project in its current incarnation (up and running with various successes and challenges) affected business up and down its route along Central Avenue?

To find out, I brushed up on its ART history, read about the plans development under the Berry administration, took a ride on the fabled line and, most importantly, asked business owners, citizens and leaders how it has affected them economically lately and most of all, in terms of how they imagine the future of this city.

History

A quick tour through the history books, newspaper articles and city press releases reveals the following information about a rapid transit system now making its way through some of Burques most important economic areas on historic Route 66.

In 2004 the city saw the implementation of Rapid Ride, a fast bus line on Central that was supposed to be the precursor for a light rail system the city was then considering for Central Avenue. When that plan became economically and practically cumbersome, city officials began studying alternatives.

In 2011, the City of Albuquerque published a feasibility study into a program that would oversee the development of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan for the Central Avenue Corridor from 98th Street to Tramway Boulevard.

The project, outlined in the document by InfraConsult LLCnow part of HDRanalyzed potential impacts of such a project and the planning of the project itself, and looked at three areas that were determined by the reports author to represent the scope of services of such a rapid transit project. Those areas included background information about similar projects in Albuquerque, an evaluation of the Central Avenue corridor that such buses would run through and identification of a minimum operating segment of that corridor, initially defined as being on Central Avenue between Unser Boulevard SW and Tramway Boulevard NE.

The folks who penned this study first looked at two earlier public transit studies that the city reviewed in 2006; one was a rapid transit project alternatives analysis and the other was the now abandoned Modern Streetcar Project.

The report then resolves upon analysis of existing transit and traffic information about Central Avenue as well as the standard physical dimensions needed to run buses down the middle of Central Avenue.

At no time does the study discuss or approach the economic impact that such a system would have on the urban neighborhoods and retail areas where such a bus project would be centered.

After the report was deeply studied by city officials, an application for federal funding was made early in the year 2014, at the height of the Berry administrations aegis and influence over Albuquerque politics and policy.

On Feb. 9, 2016, the city announced that, Mayor Richard J. Berry received the news that the Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) has received recommendation of a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Small Starts Capital Grant to construct ART from Coors Boulevard to Louisiana Boulevard along the Central Avenue Corridor. When approved through the congressional budget process, the grant, along with money set aside by the City, gives the project more than $100 million for construction and beautification with anticipated completion in the fall of 2017.

Berry was very pleased with the outcome of the rapid transit projects efforts and was quoted as saying, Over the past three years, Albuquerque has undergone a very intentional process to study and garner feedback from the community on this revolutionary project, said Mayor Richard J. Berry. I am extremely pleased that the President has recognized this effort and the importance of this project by including Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) in his budget. I believe ART will set the standard for the nation for THE most effective and state-of-the-art Bus Rapid Transit system.

In the same press release, Bradbury Stamm, a local construction firm with deep ties to Mayor Berry, was named as the primary contractor for the project and construction soon commenced on the mayors dream project.

Protests ensued. A lawsuit to stop ART was put forth but also dismissed in mid-2016. Several planning and communications meetings held with the public under city auspices demonstrated the lack of public support the project had garnered, especially among business owners in the proposed ART corridor. Nonetheless, work on ART began in earnest in October 2016.

Economic Impact

By the time construction on the project began with the median and landscaping removal along the proposed ART route, the local media began investigating the impact that construction was having on local businesses along the route.

In early April of 2017, reporter Andres Del Aguila of the Daily Lobo reported on this previously unreckoned with aspect of the new rapid transit bus system. Though his report was limited to querying businesses in the university district, its a telling document that reveals the economic problems that the construction of the ART project would cause local businesses.

During ARTs construction, Del Aguila reported that Gyros, a local restaurant located near the ART bus stop on Central and Cornell, had experienced a 16 percent drop in business; according to the same reporter, Kellys Brew Pub up the street in Nob Hill near another ART stop, experienced a precipitous decline of 25 percent in daily business.

Earlier that year, the citys daily paper of record reported on similar issues. Jessica Dyer reported on one business near Old Town where the owner complained that ART construction had caused his business, a car wash, to suffer a decline of about $5,000 per month.

In 2018, Alibi reporter Carolyn Carlson reported that ART just wont go away. She then described one West Central restaurant owners response to the ongoing issue, writing One West Central Avenue restaurant owner made it clear how they feel about the ART project. The proprietor posted a sign in its parking lot that says ART parking is not allowed. We took that to mean they did not want folks parking their cars in their lot to jump on the new buses to go to another part of town while their car gums up their always popular parking lot.

Dr. Domingo Valles, who has a dental practice along the ART route on Edith and Central, was clear in his concerns about ART, past and present, saying, The initial construction of the ART project, in addition to the plumbing issues that were prevalent for a good year to a year and a half, severely injured our business and the surrounding businesses, to the point that we were very afraid for some time that we might go belly up. Following the completion of the ART project, we have not noted any change, either an increase or a decrease, in clientele. But it has all finally stabilized.

ART Today

To find out more about how ART, now running up and down Central Avenue, is continuing to affect local businesses and citizens in general, Weekly Alibi took to the streets of Burque with an open mind and a pen in hand.

After all, it must be admitted that the Keller administration has done much to ameliorate the issue, from re-thinking the original concept for electric buses to promoting the project as a way to revitalize an important part of the city.

Yet, some local business owners feel that ART continues to be responsible for a decline in their business, while others feel quite the opposite. Weekly Alibi found that the ART discussion among businesses along the buses route was about 50 percent in favor and 50 percent against.

When we walked by the two Greek restaurants whose owners were interviewed by the Daily Lobo nearly 3 years ago, both were still open for business and seemingly thriving. Kellys Brew Pub was filled up for lunch, too. A waitress our reporter briefly spoke withwho did not want to be named without her boss permissionsaid things were pretty much normal now, except for the occasional pedestrian incident.

Meanwhile up the road a bit, Lee, a spokesperson for Shogun Japanese Restaurant in Nob Hill told Weekly Alibi that there has been such a slowdown that she has had to curtail her advertising budget to accommodate the drop in revenue caused by ART. Lee told folks at the Weekly Alibi that since the ART buses started running, shes dropped 20 to 30 tables per day. She says she needs to fill at least 70 tables per day just to meet expenses.

Its ART, Lee said, continuing, All the businesses opening and closing [in Nob Hill] are not good for the business community.

Conversely, City Councilor Pat Davis, whose district includes much of the ART route, told Weekly Alibi, Although I was not on the Council when they approved the plan, we've all worked hard to move past the missteps and focus on what works. Today, the results speak for themselves: ART ridership is almost double early projections, more than 20 new businesses (including formerly closed ones that returned) have opened and more than 200 new condos units are going up. The road to get here was horrible, but Central is the place we want to be again and that's good for everyone.

Some business owners are more measured in their praise for something that they ultimately believe is here to stay. John Gonzales, owner of 2Gs Bistro in East Downtown, told this reporter, I own this property and the restaurant that was here before wasnt doing well and folded because of ART. They broke their lease and left. I had a classic spot, but I knew nobody was going to lease it during ART construction. We opened right in the middle of construction. There was a dump truck parked in front of the business for two weeks. There was no sidewalk. I can see why it took down businesses.

But Gonzales also remains optimistic, saying, Being the owner, I was able to keep overhead low and we just rode it out. End result: We have nine more parking spots in the area, Central is a single lane in each direction in this area, which prevents high-speed, 70 mile per hour traffic. The bus lanes are quite helpful and I feel safer crossing the street now. The sidewalks are wider and the lighting is much better at night. I think the end result is pretty positive. The political way they went about doing the whole stretch of Central at the same time was probably a bad idea though.

Gonzales concluded that if the city added the Sunport to the ART route, it would be a huge economic benefit to the city, adding more hotels and touristsand hence more revenueto the mix.

Before putting the done mark on this latest Alibi inquiry, our reporter phoned up City Councilor, ART advocate and new urbanist Isaac Benton for his take on things. He said, ART still requires considerable fine tuning, and the City is committed to that. Even as-is, the system provides many advantages such as much more frequent and predictable service, better security (with well-lit, visible stations, more security cameras and officers), new public utility infrastructure and street lighting along the route (useful whether or not you ride the bus), more convenience for bikes onboard, rapid-response pedestrian crossings at each station (useful whether or not you ride the bus), and an expandable system easily adaptable to evolving transit vehicle technology. The new (and future) dedicated river crossings for transit are key to the future viability of the West Side as its population continues to grow.

Like it not, it looks like the next bus has already arrived.
(BERGEN, Norway) - Today, the Holberg Prize--one of the largest international prizes awarded annually to an outstanding researcher in the humanities, social sciences, law or theology--named South African-born, Canadian and British feminist art historian and cultural analyst Griselda Pollock as its 2020 Laureate. Pollock is currently Professor of Social and Critical Histories of Art at the University of Leeds. This is the first time that the Holberg Prize is awarded to an art historian. Pollock will receive the award of NOK 6,000,000 (approx. GBP 500,000 / USD 650,000) at the University of Bergen, Norway, on 4 June.

Pollock is a world-leading figure in feminist, social, queer and postcolonial interventions in the histories of art and cultural studies, and she has influenced thinking on gender, ideology, art and visual culture worldwide for over 40 years. She will receive the Holberg Prize for her profound influence on art history, as well as on related fields--including feminist cinema studies, trauma studies, and Holocaust studies.

Pollock helped create feminist art history as an academic field in the 1970s and has remained a renowned authority in her field since then. Through the use of transformational concepts in her approach to art history and cultural studies, she has changed scholarly and curating practices. By re-thinking visual art through the entangled lenses of gender, class and race, Pollock has made visible the most ground-breaking works by artists who have otherwise been excluded from the canon of art history.

Describing the key purpose of her work, Pollock says: "I analyse and resist the injuries of class, race, gender, sexuality as they are inflicted through images and cultural forms such as media, cinema, art, literature and academic thought." "I have spent forty years creating new concepts with which to challenge art history's white patriarchal structure to produce ways of thinking about art, its images, its practices, its effects that are not about admiration of selective greatness," the Laureate explains. "Instead I seek understanding of the work that art does as representation and of how representations shape ideas about the world and who we are in it."

To date, Pollock has published 22 monographs, and four are forthcoming. She has edited 20 books and published hundreds of scholarly articles in journals and books.

Pollock's first major scholarly contribution was Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology (1981), co-authored with Roszika Parker. This was a radical critique of the discipline of art history and the selective art historical canon and its gendered structures. It has become a classic work of feminist art history, and it will be re-issued this year. The same intellectual radicalism and solid historical research are evident in her works on Bracha Ettinger (2011) and Charlotte Salomon (2018).

Her landmark book Vision and Difference (1988) performs a feminist analysis of the formation of modern culture. Translated into several languages, its theoretical and methodological daring has had profound international influence. Moreover, her articles and catalogue essays on artists such as Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois and Georgia O'Keeffe, Vera Frenkel and Aline Szapocznikow have helped transform the art historical canon for teaching and research.

Pollock has also been influential in film and trauma studies. A long-standing scholar of Hollywood cinema from the 1950s, she is currently writing a feminist study of the 'agency' and the 'image' of Marilyn Monroe. She is also recognized for her writings on the films of the great Belgian cineaste, Chantal Akerman. Psychoanalytical theories have been a critical resource throughout her career, leading to feminist contributions to the understanding of trauma through the close study of artworks created in the wake of devastating historical and personal experiences.

As part of her work on trauma, Pollock has edited the series 'Concentrationary Memories' together with Max Silverman. From this series, Concentrationary Cinema (2011), on Alain Resnais' Night and Fog (1955), was awarded the 2011 Kraszna-Krausz Prize for best book on the moving image. In 2018, Pollock combined her work on trauma and aesthetic transformation with her study of the cultural memory of the Holocaust in Charlotte Salomon and the Theatre of Memory. In this book, she offers a radically new analysis of a monumental modernist work, comprising 784 paintings produced in one year by a young German Jewish artist, who was murdered aged 26 in Auschwitz.

As well as being a prolific writer, Pollock has had a remarkable teaching career, and she has made a great effort to make her complex academic work accessible to a wider audience. Her commitment to feminist pedagogy and a critical arts education has attracted students and visiting researchers from across the globe.

"Griselda Pollock has always upheld the highest level of scholarship while challenging received wisdom and institutional hierarchies of thought and value," says Holberg Committee Chair Dame Hazel Genn. "For this she has been a beacon for generations of art and cultural historians."

Pollock completed her PhD from London University in 1980. She has taught at Canterbury College of Arts (1970-1972), Reading University (1972-1974) and Manchester University (1974-1977), and, since 1977, at the University of Leeds. There, she became Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in 1985, before becoming full Professor and Personal Chair in Social and Critical Histories of Art in 1990. She has been Visiting Fellow at the Getty Research Centre (2001 and 2003), Clark Art Institute (2011), Getty Visiting Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (2011) and Pilkington Visiting Professor at the University of Manchester (2011-2012). She has been awarded the first Fellowship of the Association of Art Historians for services to the discipline and its teaching.

In 2001, Pollock founded the Centre for Cultural Analysis, Theory and History, where she is still Director. The Centre is a transdisciplinary project connecting fine art, histories of art and cultural studies across the shared engagements with class, gender, sexuality, post-colonial critique and queer theory.

###

About the Holberg Prize

Established by the Norwegian Parliament in 2003, the Holberg Prize is one of the largest annual international research prizes awarded to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social science, law or theology. The Prize is funded by the Norwegian Government through a direct allocation from the Ministry of Education and Research to the University of Bergen. Previous Laureates include Julia Kristeva, Jurgen Habermas, Manuel Castells, Onora O'Neill, Cass Sunstein and Paul GIlroy. To learn more about the Holberg Prize and the call for nominations, visit: holbergprisen.no/en.
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Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:42 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20689295b 1 Business mask,panic-buying,coronavirus,exports,COVID-19,Trade-Minister-Agus-Suparmanto,erick-thohir,bpkn,consumer-protection Free

Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto has urged mask producers to halt the export of masks and cater to domestic needs first amid a spike in demand for the item in Indonesia.

The problem is, he said, that a number of producers have intentionally been holding back mask supplies and raising prices.

Read also: Kimia Farma puts in place mask and hand sanitizer rationing to ensure availability

"We urge them to increase production and fulfil domestic needs first [] We are calling on producers to not export [masks]," he told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday.

The minister's appeal follows cases of mask manufacturers who allegedly hoard or produce low-quality, high-price masks to tap into the recent skyrocketing price of masks following fears of a global spread of the novel coronavirus.

Customers in the country have been swarming supermarkets and drugstores for masks and hand sanitizers following President Joko Jokowi Widodo's announcement of the country's first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday.

Panic buying has triggered a price surge for the item both online and offline in the last two days. A box of face masks is now selling for an average price of Rp 300,000 (US$ 21)  a whopping 1,500 percent increase from the original Rp 20,000 per box.

The National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) chairman Ardiansyah Parman pointed out on Monday that culprits could be imprisoned for up to five years or face a fine of Rp 50 billion (US$ 3.53 million) for withholding an important product over a period time amid scarcity, quoting the 2014 law on trade.

Read also: We've found no violation: KPPU on skyrocketing face mask prices

"Don't try to find opportunities when the public is experiencing struggles," he said in a press conference. "Empathize with them instead."

On Wednesday, State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said during a state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma site visit in Jakarta that the firm has limited the number of masks and hand sanitizer available for purchase at its 1,300 stores nationwide.

The policy aims to ensure the products availability in the long run amid panic buying prompted by the COVID-19 spread in Indonesia.
Senator Warren acknowledges supporters as she arrives to speak to the media outside her home on Thursday 5 March: AP

Elizabeth Warren has officially announced she will be dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential race, but refused to endorse either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden right now for the nomination.

I will not be running for president in 2020 but I guarantee I will stay in the fight for the hardworking people across this country whove gotten the short end of the stick, she told reporters on Thursday outside her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home.

Her husband, Bruce Mann, stood behind the Massachusetts senator as she made her official announcement.

But when asked about if she would now offer up her endorsement to another candidate, Ms Warren did not indicate her future intentions.

I need some space, she said about the endorsement.

There will be no endorsement today, she said, but Ms Warren also did not close the door on potentially lending her support to Mr Biden or Mr Sanders.

During her short announcement, Ms Warren was candid about what she thought went wrong with her race. She believed, in part, the idea of only two lanes being open to voters was a problem.

I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is the incumbent for and theres no room for anyone else in this, she said.

I felt that wasnt right, but evidently I was wrong.

Ms Warren entered the race in February 2019 and made history as one of six female candidates up for nomination for president. Leaning on her progressive views, she took an early lead as one of the top candidates for the Democratic Party.

But her support started to slip when the former candidate was unable to distinguish herself successfully enough from Mr Sanders to drum up support from progressive voters.

The senator then saw her path to the nomination dwindle after the Iowa caucus, where she placed third. New Hampshire and Nevada followed closely behind, and Ms Warren dropped down to fourth. In South Carolina, she came in fifth.

Story continues

On Super Tuesday, Ms Warren was only able to pick up 35 delegates to join the 30 she already had, making it hard for her to compete against the two frontrunners.

Ms Warren was asked if she thought sexism played into American politics to this day.

Gender in this race, that is the trap question for everyone, the now former presidential contender said. If you say, Yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says, Whiner ... I promise you this, I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on.

If Ms Warren was to endorse anyone in the election, it would likely be Mr Sanders as they both sit on the more progressive side of the party. But in recent months, the senator has been more outspoken against her colleague to distinguish herself away from his own policies.

Endorsing the more moderate candidate, Mr Biden, remains unlikely.

I respect his years of service, she said on Monday night during a rally in Los Angeles about Mr Biden. But no matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating their fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment.

She added Mr Biden wanted to restore the world before Donald Trump.

The former vice president tweeted out his support for Ms Warren on Thursday after she dropped out of the race.

Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in peoples lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate, he wrote.

On Thursday, Mr Sanders also offered up glowing remarks about the senator following the news.

The reason her campaign ideals will remain viable for many, many years is she has changed political consciousness in America, which at the end of the day is the most important thing that any candidate could do, he told reporters.

The future of Ms Warrens political career remains uncertain, depending on if she wants to remain in her Massachusetts senator seat or attempt to move into a position within someones administration.

Read more

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Trump mocks Warren after she drops out, claiming she cost Sanders se

I campaigned for Warren  dont tell me to get over her dropping out
Pune: Suspected Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases are rising in city like the country. On Thursday, five new admissions were reported at Naidu hospital, citys only infection control hospital, as suspected Covid-19 infected patients. The five patients include a seven-year-old male child who started showing symptoms similar to the virus infection.

As per Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) health department, out of the five new admissions who had travelled to various countries, including the US, Italy, Korea, Germany and Sweden, four are male, including the child, and one female. The five admissions who were admitted on Wednesday were discharged by Thursday evening after their test results came out negative. The samples for the new admissions have been sent to citys National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

As of Thursday, Naidu has had 90 admissions and samples for all 90 suspected patients have been sent to NIV. Out of 90, five are currently admitted as of late Thursday evening in Naidu. Dr Sanjeev Wavare, PMC health official said, Apart from the child, the remaining are in the age group of 28-35. They had travelled to various countries and developed symptoms later on, so we have admitted them.

Currently, out of the 306 passengers who had travelled to affected countries and come to Pune, 125 are still under surveillance through telephonic supervision.
Yves here. Helmer is still keeping tabs on MH17 developments.

By John Helmer, Moscow. Twitter: @bears_with. Originally published at Dances With Bears

A new document, leaked from the files of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in The Netherlands, reveals that Dutch prosecutors told the Australian, Belgian and Ukrainian representatives on the team, that the US Government had not presented any satellite evidence of a BUK missile firing at Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. The aircraft was destroyed above eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

We havent received anything from them, one of the Dutch officials told the JIT, according to minutes of a meeting of JIT leaders on December 4, 2015. There were eight officials recorded at the meeting, four of them Dutch, two Belgians, one Australian, and one Ukrainian. The Malaysian Government, which is also a member of the JIT but refuses to endorse the Dutch allegations of Russian culpability in the shootdown, was reported to be absent from the JIT meeting recorded on February 12, 2016. The leaked document claims the Dutch had made unsuccessful attempts to connect both with Royal Malaysia Police and Malaysia Attorney-Generals Office.

The meeting was held at Dutch National Police Central Crime Unit at Driebergen. The Ukrainian official participated by video link to the Ukrainian Embassy in The Hague.

We should receive the official report from Dutch Military [Intelligence] on U.S. data by mid-March [2016), the JIT officials agreed. Then we can determine future actions.

The disclosure of their classified meeting record took place at a public briefing in London this week by Max van der Werff and Yana Yerlashova, the Bonanza Media partners in a long-running independent investigation of the MH17 crash.

The document provides evidence directly contradicting US Secretary of State John Kerry. He announced on July 20 and August 12, 2014, that he had seen US satellite imagery of the attack on the MH17 flight  the launch of a ground-based missile, its flight, and then detonation beside the civilian aircraft in flight. We picked up the imagery of this launch, Kerry announced on NBC television just three days after the crash. We know the trajectory. We know where it came from. We know the timing.And it was exactly at the time that this aircraft [MH17] disappeared from the radar. US officials have been unable to substantiate this in public or in the Dutch proceedings.

The leaked document also reveals that by February 12, 2016, no US satellite data had been handed over to the JIT. Seven months later, on September 21, 2016  another leak from JIT files revealed last week  the head of the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD, Major-General Onno Eichelsheim, reported to the Dutch prosecutors that the US and NATO satellite data shown to his agency revealed that no Russian BUK missile radar and launch units had crossed the border into Ukraine before or on July 17, 2014; no BUK missile radar targeting or firing on MH17 had been detected; and no identified Russian units on the Russian side of the border had launched missiles.

The JIT meetings reported in the leaked documents were regular sessions of the individual section officers in charge of different elements of the JIT investigation. They were led by Maartje Nieuwenhuis from the Dutch National Prosecutors Office, and Gerrit Thiry, a veteran Dutch police investigator. At least once before Thiry has attempted to suppress independent media reporting of the evidence the JIT has been gathering.

Read the document release by van der Werff and Yerlashova here.

The new leak reveals the JIT was afraid of the press, and agreed to thwart questioning. We expect pressure on providing new information, the JIT record noted. As a result of the misunderstanding in [Dutch] Parliament by media, journalists have been approaching the Australian Embassy [The Hague] directly asking about radar data issues. Embassy staff have been provided a standard response regarding AFPs [Australian Federal Police] active participation in the JIT and subsequent inappropriateness to comment further.

The Belgian representative at the meeting said: Belgium isnt experiencing issues with media attention. The Ukrainian representative added: They [Kiev] are not experiencing any media issues. The Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed the situation and there are no issues anymore.

Thiry has told the press there has been transparency in his investigation. Weve made some 80 international requests for mutual legal assistance. Theres nothing to complain about when it comes to cooperation in this area. Russia has always given us answers, even though they werent always exactly what we wanted and not always in the right format. We have to assess the value of everything were given  testimonials, photographs, audio, etc.  on the basis of an independent source. Thiry has said nothing about the failure of the US satellite data now revealed in the JIT record.

The record also reveals corruption among the Dutch police with access to the evidence gathered from the crash site in eastern Ukraine. According to the JIT meeting minute for December 4, 2015, the Dutch Police officer selling MH17 memorabilia has confessed after being arrested and has been disciplined via Dutch internal policing processes.

More troubling, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers working in the JIT have said privately, is suspicion of tampering with evidence and faking by the Ukrainians. According to the newly released record, the Dutch requested the Australian and Malaysian police to write a report which describes as best as possible the chain of custody for the 20cm piece of wreckage (W) found in between personal belongings. Request Australia and Malaysia attempt to establish the identity of the person who found W and see if they remember locating it and why it was placed in Box 2 with personal belongings (the piece wasnt embedded in anything). W arrived by truck in Box 2 from Kharkiv. No Netherlands staff can recall locating W or placing it in Box 2.

Without strict chain of custody, the AFP has conceded that allegations by Dutch and Australian politicians, and evidence presented to the media by the Dutch, may be inadmissible in the court trial, which opens next week in The Hague. The presentation in London by van der Werff and Yerlashova on Tuesday ran for just over two hours; excerpts of the new documents were presented and discussed at Minute 1:27:00. The five-page record of the December 2015 and February 2016 JIT meetings was drafted in English by an Australian police notetaker. For the full record, read Bonanza Leaks.

Max van der Werff and Yana Yerlashova. Source: https://www.youtube.com/

It is now certain that fifteen months after US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed there was US satellite evidence of direct Russian involvement in the shootdown, and after Dutch and Australian leaders repeated the claim, the JIT did not have the evidence. On July 20, 2014 Kerry had announced: We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory, he told the NBC Meet the Press programme. We know where it came from. We know the timing.And it was exactly at the time that this aircraft disappeared from the radar. We also know, from voice identification, that the separatists were bragging about shooting it down afterwards.

The audio tapes, to which Kerry was referring, have subsequently been proved by Malaysian and German investigations, and by reporting by van der Werff and Yerlashova, to have been Ukrainian fabrications. Fresh technical evidence was presented by Akash Rosen at the Bonanza Media briefing in London this week. Minute 44: 47.

On August 12, 2014, Kerry repeated his satellite evidence claim. US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed yesterday the Americans then saw the airline vanish from sight. It had 298 passengers and crew aboard including 38 Australian citizens and residents. This type of weapon, all the evidence of it was seen on our imagery, Mr Kerry said after the annual AUSMIN [Australia-US Ministerial Consultations] summit. We saw the take-off. We saw the trajectory, we saw the hit. We saw this aeroplane disappear from the radar screens. So there is really no mystery about where it came from and where these weapons have come from.

Left, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop briefing the press with Secretary of State John Kerry in Sydney, August 2014.

Kerry was lying; the Australians repeated the lie. The communique issued after their meeting wasnt as incautious: Both countries condemned Russias support for and enabling of the continued destabilisation of eastern Ukraine; destabilisation which led [sic] to the shooting down of a passenger airliner, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, killing all 298 on board.

Kerry was cautious himself in March 2016, when he received a letter from Thomas Schansman, father of Quinn Schansman, one of the victims on board MH17 and a dual US-Dutch citizen. Schansman had written to Kerry, requesting he confirm what satellite and radar data the US held. Kerrys reply was evasive.

Schansman was hoping for the US evidence to support an American court lawsuit he had filed for compensation for his sons death against two Russian state banks. Schansman later told Robert Parry, a US reporter: the message is clear: no answer on my request to hand over satellite and/or radar data to DSB [Dutch Safety Board] or public. This investigative work is not easy, Kerry had wound up his letter to Schansman on March 7, 2016.

Source: https://consortiumnews.com/

The JIT record now reveals that Kerry and the US Government were doing everything they could to prevent the investigative work reaching the conclusion there was no satellite evidence to substantiate the US allegations.

Source: https://drive.google.com/

These records show that at their meeting on February 12, 2016, the JIT officials agreed that the requested information identified in the December 4, 2015, meeting and including the US satellite data, was yet to be completed.

Instead, the only civilian satellite evidence which the JIT later said it has used, comes from the European Space Agency. In the JIT report of September 28, 2016, the Dutch said the European Space Agency (ESA) has aided the investigation team extensively in the search for relevant images from satellites. This has shown to be of great value: Not only did ESA obtain images of all relevant civilian satellites, but they also have experts who have assessed these images. The conclusions drawn by ESA confirm the conclusions of the investigation team with regard to the launch site.

Note that the JIT refers here to civilian satellites.

The leak last month from the JIT files of two reports from MIVD, the Dutch military intelligence agency, both dated September 21, 2016, has identified US and NATO military satelite intelligence (partner informatie) as the source for MIVDs conclusions that no Russian BUK missile radar and launch units had crossed the border into Ukraine before or on July 17, 2014; no BUK missile radar targeting or firing on MH17 had been detected; and no identified Russian units on the Russian side of the border had launched missiles. Read more.

Source: http://johnhelmer.net/

General Eichelsheim put his signature to these MIVD findings on September 21, 2016. The earlier JIT meeting record confirms the agreement between the Australians and Dutch that when they had Eichelsheims report of the US evidence, it would be transmitted to the JIT; and also that Eichelsheim or one of his MIVD officers would testify for the Dutch prosecution in court:

Source: https://drive.google.com/

On September 28, 2016, Fred Westerbeke, the chief Dutch prosecutor in charge of the JIT, made this announcement one week after Eichelsheims reports had been received. A journalist from the US-funded Radio Svoboda asked him (in Dutch) for a clear answer as to whether the satellite images from the Americans were used or notas I was unable to distill that from your presentation.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/ commencing at Min.1:03:41.

Westerbeke answered: What we have said is we have gotten access from the Americans to all relevant material they have available and that it contains a significant portion of state secrets. We were given access to the material through the MIVD and through a special officer of the district prosecutors office. In combination with that we have received a report from the US with conclusions based on that material. We can use that report in a criminal case, it is a part of the case and therefore constitutes evidence. Especially in combination with the possibility that the officer who has seen the underlying material can make a statement. It remains a state secret and is therefore not declassified, but we can now fully use it in the research.

Because the Dutch Criminal Code makes evidence given in secret inadmissible for a criminal prosecution, Westerbeke added: As far as the question about the state of confidential information is concerned, it will be some kind of a legal response, it is also a bit complicated It can be used as evidence, but in an indirect way, the way it has been agreed on for now. Namely, through a statement that will be given by the national officer anti-terrorism. The latter can then declare in court. However, that does not mean that the underlying material becomes available for the court itself or for the legal defense of any suspects  Minute 1:15:47.

In his analysis of the JIT presentation van der Werff commented in April of 2017: The circle can be closed this way. The United States in the background determines what evidence will or will not be used and which material remains unverifiable for third parties, lawyers of the suspects and even for the judges.

The JIT and MIVD files now show that Westerbeke was lying in public. With access to those files from the beginning, the Australian police working at the JIT had reason for the skepticism they revealed in private at many of Westerbekes public claims. Last December Westerbeke was removed from the JIT, and appointed chief of police at Rotterdam. It is not clear whether thats a penalty for his performance at JIT or a benefit for the criminal prosecutors in the courts of Rotterdam. This step is good news for the Rotterdam region, announced the city mayor. He is the right man in the right place to tackle the security issues in this region.
Two months after a U.S. drone strike killed a preeminent Iranian general, the Pentagon's top two military leaders said President Donald Trump made the right decision, one that has deterred Iran's terrorist activities in the region.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that it was the right call to kill Iranian Quds Force leader Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, describing him as a "terrorist leader of a terrorist organization that killed many, many Americans, wounded thousands more."

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, said she agreed with the decision to carry out the Jan. 2 missile strike on Soleimani's vehicle in Baghdad and asked Esper to talk about how the attack has affected Iran.

"It's now been two months. Can you share at all what you have seen?" McSally asked. "I believe we have heard from you and others that it was a body blow, the impact that that is having on Iran's terrorist activities."

Related: Number of Troops Diagnosed with TBI After Iran Missile Attack Rises to 109

Esper said it's clear that "taking him off the battlefield has set back the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and the Iranian government with regard to spreading their malign activity through the region."

"I think at the same action, we have restored deterrence to a degree," he said. "And so, for all those things, I still believe it was the right call made by the commander in chief."

Iran retaliated for the death of Soleimani by firing 15 ballistic missiles at Al Asad Air Base, an installation in Iraq that houses U.S. troops. There were no immediate casualties in the attack, but since then more than 100 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury from the concussive effects of the missiles.

At the hearing, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, asked Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley to reflect on the decision to carry out the strike on Soleimani.

"We all know General Soleimani wasn't in Iraq on vacation," Sullivan said. "He was there targeting the killing of more American service members, which he has a long history of doing."

Milley responded by saying, "I believe the intelligence was compelling; I believe it was imminent" of Soleimani's "command-and-control role and what he was about to do."

"I believe that I, Secretary Esper, the president and many others would have been culpably negligent had we not taken the action we did ... because I think many Americans would have died as a result," Milley added. "I believe it was the right thing to do then, and I still believe that. And I believe we contributed to reestablishing deterrence of aggressive action from Iran."

In the aftermath of the Soleimani strike, the Pentagon ordered thousands of soldiers and Marines to the Middle East to prepare for future Iranian aggression.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Thousands More US Troops Deploying to Middle East in Response to Iranian Threats
The FBI has released what are believed the be the last known photos of Lori Vallow's children at Yellowstone National Park in September in an effort to find out more about where they are.

The kids, Tylee and JJ, haven't been seen since September and Lori is refusing to answer questions about their whereabouts.

On September 8, she took the kids to Yellowstone. The FBI released photos of them together on that day with Lori and her brother Alex Cox, who died in mysterious circumstances in December.

They also shared photos of the car the family used, and are asking anyone who has their own images of the trip to submit them here.

Lori is currently being extradited from Hawaii, where she has been hiding out with her new husband, to Idaho, to face charges.

Tylee with JJ and their uncle, Lori's brother Alex Cox, who shot her estranged husband dead in July and who died himself in December in mysterious circumstances. This picture was taken at Yellowstone on September 9 and is believed to be one of the last of the kids

Lori with JJ, seven. Police now want anyone who has their own photos of the family to share them

The FBI released this appeal on Twitter on Thursday

On Wednesday, Vallow appeared briefly before a judge but she pleaded the fifth, refusing to speak for fear of incriminating herself.

She was then transported back to the jail, where she was seen being escorted in her orange prison jumpsuit, back inside.

At 10pm that night, she was photographed again at Lihue Airport on Kauai to begin her journey to Idaho.

She was wearing a souvenir hoodie from the island, leggings and sneakers. Vallow also had on her glasses.

Vallow and her husband are accused of lying to police about JJ and Tylee by telling authorities

Authorities tracked the couple down in Princeville, Hawaii, and served Lori with a court order on January 25 requiring her to physically produce the children to authorities in Idaho within five days.

This is the car the family used on the day of the trip. The FBI is pleading for help from the public

Lori failed to meet the deadline, prompting her arrest on February 20.

In addition to kids' disappearance, there have been multiple suspicious deaths in Lori and her husband's close circle.

It began in July, when her brother, Alex Cox, shot her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, dead in her home in Arizona.

At the time, they told police that he acted in self-defense.

In October, Chad's wife of 23 years, Tammy, died mysteriously.

He married Lori two weeks later in Hawaii.

Then, in December, her brother Alex Cox died in mysterious circumstances.

Tammy's body has now being exhumed for further testing. Authorities have not yet revealed the results of those tests.

Some in their family have suggested that Lori and Chad are part of a religious cult. He is a doomsday author, and she has spoken openly in the past about her faith.

Lori Vallow is transported through the airport in Kauai, Hawaii, in handcuffs before being flown back to Idaho to face charges over her missing kids

Earlier in the day, Vallow was pictured arriving back at jail after a brief court appearance where she pleaded the fifth

Seven-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan have not been seen since September. Police in the city of Rexburg, Idaho, have said they 'strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger'

Lori's estranged husband Charles Vallow (left) was shot dead by her brother Alex Cox in Arizona on July 11 . Chad's wife Tammy (inset) died in October. Cox (right) died in December

Now, the extended families of Tylee and JJ are pleading with her to tell them where the kids are.

DailyMail.TV's exclusive photos of the 51-year old doomsday author Chad Daybell show him visiting the Kauai Community Correctional Center on Tuesday

Rexburg police questioned Daybell and Vallow about the missing children in late November, and when detectives returned the next day for a follow-up interview, the couple had left town.

In December, Idaho authorities asked police in Hawaii for help finding the couple.

On January 26, Kauai police served a search warrant on a vehicle and condo the couple were renting in the resort town of Princeville.

Vallow reportedly believes she is 'a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020,' according to divorce documents Charles Vallow filed before his death.

She and Chad Daybell were involved in a group that promotes preparing for the biblical end times.

The prolific doomsday author opened up last Thursday, when he was approached by ABC News reporters at Lihue Airport in Hawaii.

'The kids are safe,' Chad said minutes before he boarded a flight back to Rexburg, Idaho. He declined to go into any further detail about where the children are.


Kim Jong-un sent a 'message of comfort' to the South Korean people who are battling against coronavirus. (AP)

Kim Jong-un has offered the hand of friendship to South Korea as the country suffers from a major coronavirus outbreak.

The North Korean leader sent South Korean president Moon Jae-in a message of comfort to the South Korean people who are battling against the outbreak of Covid-19, according to Moons senior secretary for public communication, Yoon Do-han.

See latest coronavirus news and updates

Kim expressed confidence that South Korea, which has confirmed over 5,000 cases of the illness, would prevail in this fight without fail and offered his unwavering friendship and trust.

The message is in stark contrast to Kims younger sisters recent comments to South Korea, after they protested against the Norths latest live-fire exercises.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (front right) talks to a president of Daegu Medical Center, You Wansik, at the Daegu Medical Center in Daegu, South Korea. (AP)

Kim Yo-jong is in charge of propaganda affairs for North Korea and has frequently appeared at her brother's major public events including summits with Donald Trump and other regional leaders.

But her statement carried by state media was the first of its kind and indicated a further elevation of her political status.

South Korean army soldiers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus on a street in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)

In the statement issued on Tuesday night, she criticised South Korea's presidential Blue House for expressing strong concerns over the North's firing drills and urging it to stop acts that do not help reduce military animosities.

Read more: Millions of children are currently out of school because of coronavirus

"As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware," Ms Kim said.

"They meant they need to get militarily prepared but we should be discouraged from military exercises.

Kim Yo-jong directed insults at South Korea on Tuesday. (AP)

"Such a gangster-like assertion can never be expected from those with normal way of thinking.

Describing the Blue House as "a mere child" and "a burnt child dreading fire", she questioned how its words and actions could be "so perfectly foolish in detail.

Read more: Here are the four phases of the government's coronavirus action plan

Story continues

Ms Kim did not name liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, whom she has met several times.

She only said: "The South side's response is so regretful and disappointing but it is somewhat fortunate that it was not direct statement of the president.

Read more: First Brit to contract coronavirus describes symptoms

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it has no specific comment on Ms Kim's statement.

But spokesman Yoh Sang-key said the two Koreas should maintain mutual respect while working toward establishing a peace on the Korean Peninsula.

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PASSING the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (Citira) is a crucial step to make the countrys business climate more competitive as the measure takes a back seat in the legislators priorities.

Tax expert Raymond Abrea reiterated the bill, once approved, will have a major impact on the Philippines competitiveness ranking.

The measure brings in a new tax incentive system seen to help draw in investments from abroad.

Abrea, senior tax advisor at Asian Consulting Group, said that Citira is really geared towards benefiting businesses.

It seems that our senators and congressmen overlooked our competitiveness ranking in drafting the Package 2 or Citira as it proposes reduction of corporate income tax from 30 percent to 20 percent by one percent every year until 2029, he told SunStar Cebu.

This means improving our ranking in paying taxes after 10 years, that is if other countries will not decide to further reduce their corporate income tax as Singapore is currently at 17 percent and the average tax rate in the Asean region is around 24 percent.

The tax analyst instead suggested that reduction of corporate income tax will be from 30 percent to 25 percent immediately and gradually to 20 percent rather than the one percent every year.

This is not just about revenue collections, but fair and efficient taxation, said Abrea.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, the first package of the governments tax overhaul program, was supposed to improve the countrys scores in paying taxes with the reduction of income tax return pages from 12 to four only.

But such improvement was offset by the 100 percent increase in documentary stamp tax which means higher cost in doing business, he said.

The Philippines made a remarkable progress in the ranking of the World Banks Doing Business 2020 Report from 124 rising by 29 notches and landing on rank 95.

According to the report, the country has made significant improvements in areas of starting a business, dealing with construction permits and protecting minority investors.

Story continues

The Department of Finance (DOF) said Citiras proposed incentives regime once approved by the Congress will keep the Philippines highly competitive compared with other Southeast Asian countries that also offer tax perks to investors.

Thailands tax incentives

In response to recent news that Thailand is offering its tax incentives to high-tech firms relocating from China, DOF Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the Philippines incentive system under Citira are at the very least at par with, if not more generous and competitive compared to, those of Thailand.

There is a recent report that Thailand is offering a 50 percent income tax discount for five years to qualified high-tech firms, subject to conditions such as a minimum level of investment of one billion baht (or around US$32.7 million) and investment commencement in 2021. Relocating companies to Thailand will face a 10 percent tax on net income, instead of the regular 20 percent tax, he said in a statement.

Aside from the Philippines talented English-speaking workforce and young robust market, which are the main attraction to investors, the competitive tax incentive system under Citira will help draw in investments that are coming out of China as a result of the US-China trade war, Chua said.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of ASAN Hayat complex in Tovuz.

The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the complex.

Assistant to the President - Head of the Department for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies of the Presidential Administration Fuad Alasgarov and Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ulvi Mehdiyev informed President Ilham Aliyev of the complex.

The head of state launched the complex.

President Ilham Aliyev viewed the innovations at the complex.

After reviewing the complex, the head of state met with ASAN xidmat employees and volunteers.

Objecting to the fact that a special chair was put for him, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- You have put such a special chair for me, but isnt there a simple one? Take it away. Such things are unacceptable. Categorically!

The head of state addressed the meeting.

Speech of President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear young people, it is a pleasure to see you. It is the opening of the ASAN Hayat Center in Tovuz. Congratulations on this occasion! While reviewing the center, I feel very happy because it is a reflection of many signs of our policy. ASAN xidmat is our intellectual product. The 18th center is starting to operate, and I personally attended the opening of all of them. Each time I am informed about new plans, new programs, new projects, including today.

ASAN xidmat is expanding its activities. Both the geographical coverage and the number of services are expanding. When we opened the first center, the number of services was fairly limited. Today, a total of 320 services are provided here in the ASAN Hayat Center in Tovuz, and the number of applications is gradually growing. In February, I participated in the opening of the ASAN Hayat Center in Kurdamir and at that time there were 36 million applications. It is the beginning of March now and the number of applications reached 37 million. In other words, the number of applications has increased by one million in less than a month. You are also well aware that the approval rating is 99.4 percent. I believe that this is the maximum possible result, and no other service can enjoy such approval. Why? I repeat  because ASAN xidmat is a reflection of our policy. The instructions I once gave are being rigorously fulfilled.

The vast majority of employees at ASAN xidmat are young people, representatives of a new generation. Here they provide services with a new outlook, new thinking, new culture. This is why ASAN xidmat is a very successful project, and this success is underpinned by both a sound policy and the effective work of those who organized this work. In a short time, we were able to create a revolution in the area of public services. Public services are always very problematic. There were many complaints related to this area back in the Soviet times. During the years of independence, too, bureaucracy, corruption and bribery in the field of public services were perceived as an everyday occurrence and, unfortunately, many people got used to that. Therefore, the launch of ASAN xidmat inspired great hopes. At the same time, it was somewhat surprising because this was really an innovation. Now that the 18th center is beginning to operate, I think everyone can see that this is not some kind of a private project. It is a new approach, a way of thinking, it is our policy. The transparency and culture of ASAN must be applied everywhere else. So ASAN xidmat has become an example for many areas. It is no coincidence that a similar project is being implemented in the field of social security  DOST centers are beginning to operate, which, like ASAN xidmat, will cover our entire country.

We have a fairly broad program related to ASAN xidmat centers. As I have already said, this is the 18th center, but their number will reach 27 in the near future. Centers will be built in Aghjabadi, Balakan, Nakhchivan, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran and Salyan, and two more in Baku. Of course, this process will be continued. Thus, people will be provided with better services. This center covers several districts with a population of 700,000 people. This is the second center in the western zone  the first, as I said, was opened in Ganja. The third center will also be opened in Ganja because there is a need for that. One of the advantages of ASAN xidmat is that there are no lines here. However, the demand in Baku is so high that we decided to open two more centers. In Ganja and Sumgayit, too, there is a need for a second center.

I should also note that other countries are studying our experience. ASAN xidmat has already been launched under the name ASAN in other countries. This was our condition because it is our brand, our intellectual product. Of course, we are ready to share our experience with any country and are doing that. Of course, we are glad that other countries are also using our experience.

International organizations are giving a high assessment to ASAN. The UN has acknowledged and awarded ASAN. All this, of course, is the result of the work done.

In this center, more than 200 jobs were created and a further 50 jobs for volunteers in ASAN xidmat alone. At the same time, 50 jobs were created at the ABAD factory at the first stage. By expanding its operations, ASAN also expands its functions. These centers are already functioning in the regions as community centers  cafes, discos, outdoor stages, cinemas. For example, there was no cinema in Tovuz before, i.e. in our time. And today there are two cinemas. All opportunities are available for young people to spend their leisure effectively.

Of course, the volunteer movement in Azerbaijan began with ASAN xidmat. Today, this movement covers other areas too. I have ordered to set up volunteer groups in state bodies. Volunteer groups have already been established in some ministries. Volunteers did a great job at the international events we hosted  the European and Islamic Games. But it was established at ASAN. Thousands of volunteers have already passed this school and taken a worthy place in life. I am sure that the youth working at ASAN xidmat, including volunteers, will have a bright future, as they are already engaged in very benevolent deed. This is multifaceted work involving direct contact with people, provision of assistance and service. At the same time, the centers have very progressive experience in terms of innovation. Therefore, I believe that this experience is indispensable for our youth to be able to build their lives in the future.

ASAN xidmat also has qualities inherent in our people. Our people have always been hospitable. And those applying here are guests. We have always treated our guests with great respect. The younger generation should also be brought up on these national values. The rules of cultured conduct, cultured treatment, cultured services  all this has deep roots in Azerbaijan. All this is reflected in ASAN xidmat in an organized form today. This generally has a positive effect on public relations. I am absolutely convinced that everyone who comes to this center will leave it with a feeling of satisfaction because, first of all, the building is beautiful, secondly, the conditions available, the workers smiling, the level of services provided, the efficiency, time saving and zero tolerance to corruption and bribery in ASAN xidmat. This should be the case everywhere. ASAN xidmat plays a special role in the fight against bribery and corruption in Azerbaijan because the services provided in these centers do not leave room for corruption and bribery. Therefore, we must fight this evil with the help of many tools  of course, administrative measures and penalties.

The operational measures that have recently been brought to the attention of all citizens, the exposure of corrupt officials, their unsightly acts  all this shows that measures to combat corruption and bribery are of systemic nature. If someone doesnt understand this, they should: the fight will be continued. Penalties must be applied in relation to criminals. At the same time, there should be systemic measures too. One of them, perhaps even the first, is the rules created in ASAN xidmat. There are no opportunities for that here. Young people are already being raised in this spirit. To be honest, friendly and always ready to help  all these are very important factors for the formation of people. Therefore, when speaking of ASAN xidmat, we should not be limited to the provision of services to people. This is a very serious movement that has a deeper and broader meaning, a movement that reflects our policy.

I have already said this but I want to say it again: when the first centers were opened, someone might have though that these were just public service centers. This is not true. Our intentions were completely different. It was an initiative that introduced novelty into our society, and it is already reflected in our lives. Azerbaijan is a leader in this area. The creation and exportation of intellectual products is already a reality today.

Of course, I want to reiterate this: having gone through an excellent school here, young people will occupy a worthy place in life and will make every effort to further develop our country. In order to achieve this, you must first of all be educated, competent and patriotic. I believe that these three main factors will protect Azerbaijan from all the troubles in the future, just as they are protecting us today. The developments in the world are unfolding right before our eyes these days. New hotbeds of conflict, new hotbeds of war, new waves of migrants, standoffs, protests, police arbitrariness, violence against peaceful demonstrators, arrests of thousands of demonstrators, their killing  all this is happening before our eyes in developed countries, not in some backward ones. There are reasons for this. This is caused by public discontent. This, too, has its own reasons. It is not only about material factors. Injustice, the gap between the government and the people, stratification, unresolved social problems  there are many factors. I do not want to list all of them. But the fact is that all this is a reality today. Against the background of this picture, there is calm, stability and development in Azerbaijan. Of course, these are our greatest assets and we won them ourselves, no-one helped us. In the most difficult days, no-one extended us a helping hand. I want young people to know this. We achieved everything on our own, thanks to our own courage and talent. There was a time when we did not have money. Then, in the early 1990s, the population of Azerbaijan was 8 million, of which 1 million were refugees and IDPs. There was no money, the economy was crippled and the industry was paralyzed. Tent camps, IDPs living in railway wagons, underneath them. We survived all this. But have a look! Today, thanks to our sound policies and stability, Azerbaijan occupies one of the leading places on a global scale in terms of development. Stability, calm, positive attitude in society  all these are Azerbaijani realities. There is regional development. Tovuz is far from Baku. But we see development in its example. Notice that gas supply rate today is 90 percent. The level of renovated roads is 90 percent. Drinking water has always been a major problem. For several years now, the problem of drinking water has been resolved in Tovuz. A modern hospital, modern dialysis and diagnostic centers, sports centers, parks, industrial enterprises. Today I attended the opening of the State Museum of Ashiq Art and the Carpet Factory. All this suggests that the regions of our country are developing. Young people must work hard in the future so that this development is sustainable and so that our independence is eternal. Therefore, I want to say once again: much as we repeat this, there is no harm  knowledge, literacy, patriotism, attachment to the motherland and national values should be above everything else. Our values have protected us as a people, as a nation from assimilation for centuries. The native language, our literature, art and national consciousness. We must not lose that under any circumstances, no way! As long as I am president, I will strive to fully establish these values, and for young people too. Because young people of today are naturally different from the older generation. And their interests are different. They have other methods of obtaining information. Many young people do not watch television. They have telephones in their hands and they get all the information from there. Sometimes young people live in a virtual space and remain a little aloof from real life. All this is natural, a picture of the present times, so to speak. But despite all this, our youngsters must be raised in the national spirit. They should know that they must be patriotic so that we continue to live as an independent country. Every young person must hold the flag of our country high, must respect national attributes and not fall under anyones influence.

For centuries, our people were part of other countries, empires, were denied independence, freedom, lived under the dictate of others. We have been living as an independent country for about 30 years and should live forever. We should never be a colony in the future. To do this, we must have economic strength, military prowess, moral power and values. This is and must be above everything else. Therefore, they are trying to do this today in different ways and under various disguises  they used to call it globalization, but this word has also been removed from dictionaries. Perhaps 10 years ago there was a tendency towards globalization, there was a popular belief that globalization would overcome borders, remove frontiers between nations, everyone would speak the same language and all people would have one mindset. A detrimental policy was pursued towards destroying national characteristics. It is still being pursued today, but under different names. Today, sometimes under the pretext of democracy, they try to subordinate countries. And this is done by countries that flagrantly violate democracy and human rights themselves, arrest journalists, make unreasonable charges, suppress and kill demonstrators, set dogs against them, trample people with horses, fire rubber bullets, hollow out eyes, use tear gas, and all this is obvious. This is being done by those trying to teach us a lesson in democracy. Speaking under the banner of democracy, they are trying to subordinate peoples and states, including us. Therefore, we are faced with pressure, slander and dirty campaigns because we do not bow our heads to anyone and never will. Our national pride and dignity are above everything else. Therefore, they are trying everything to lead young people astray because they know that young people are not shaped up yet, they are more demanding and intolerant of violations. And this is natural. This should be the case, but only for the benefit of the people and state, not for those sitting in another capital. Therefore, young people should know and correctly analyze all this. You should know that our main task is to strengthen independence, increase the power of the Azerbaijani state and preserve national qualities. It is in this spirit that those working at ASAN xidmat centers, including volunteers, are brought up. This is why I go back to the activities of ASAN xidmat centers, which are so highly praised by the people. Once again, I congratulate you on the opening of the center and wish you success. Thank you!




Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah. Ohio River at Cairo. Ohio River at Olmsted Lock and Dam. .Recent heavy rainfall and snow melt will continue to keep water levels on the lower Ohio River in or near minor flood this week. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov. && ...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Ohio River at Paducah. * WHEN...Until early tomorrow afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 39.0 feet, Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 7:00 PM CST Monday the stage was 38.6 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 39.0 feet tomorrow morning. - Flood stage is 39.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
(Newser)  Two teenagers were seriously injured when a driver enraged by damage done to his car during a "prank" struck an innocent group of pedestrians he wrongly believed were responsible, police in Northern California said. Two other teenagers had moderate injuries after the attack Saturday, the AP reports. The 18-year-old driver, Omeed Adibi, of San Mateo, was arrested, Burlingame Police Lt. Laura Terada said. Officers found the injured teenagers after responding to a report that an SUV had crashed into four teenagers walking on the sidewalk before driving off, Terada said. Two of the teens were rushed to Stanford Hospital with major injuries, while the other two were taken to San Francisco General Hospital with moderate injuries, Terada said. All four are from the city of San Mateo, the Mercury News reported.

story continues below

As emergency responders helped the four teens at the scene, Terada said, witnesses described the vehicle to officers and police quickly found it and the driver. Adibi was booked on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and driving under the influence, according to jail records. Adibi allegedly believed that the four teens had placed dog poop inside his car, WPIX reports, and wanted to get back at thembut it was actually his own friends who tampered with his car. "It was a case of mistaken identity," Terada said. As of Monday morning, both teens at Stanford remained hospitalized, Terada said; one is in critical condition. A third remains at San Francisco General with moderate injuries, while the fourth was released over the weekend. Adibi remains in San Mateo County jail on no bail status. (Read more California stories.)
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SEATTLE  A 7-Eleven at 4800 Erskine Way S.W. sold for over $2.9 million, according to King County records.

The buyer was Hall/Fish Investments of San Diego.





. . .
SHARON  All three village trustees whose terms expire this April are seeking re-election, but not without contention.

A newcomer to village politics, Marge Dreksler, has entered the race with a focus on transparency in local government.

Nearing the end of their current two-year terms, trustees Robert Sachs, Pamela Schutt and Robert Carlson all hope to continue on the village board, pledging to carry past knowledge over to new projects.

Dreksler, the sole challenger in the field, hopes to offer a fresh perspective on the seven-member board, noting that some incumbents have served two or three terms.

The top three finishers in the April 7 election will win two-year terms on the village board.

Dreksler, who worked in accounting and finance before retiring, said she wanted to run for trustee to be in a position where she can make residents aware of the various initiatives and projects going on in the village.

My goal is just to give a voice that will express the concerns and interests of the people who live here in town, rather than just the voice of the board, she said.

Dreksler said she often hears complaints from residents regarding board decisions that people were not aware of, and that as trustee she would work to ensure residents are aware of major decisions before the board votes.

Using social media posts, Dreksler said, she hopes to address an information vacuum surrounding village board occurrences and keep residents up to date on major events. She added while the village abides by the law in posting agendas, many residents rely instead on social media for information about the community.

In addition to sharing information about village board decisions, the retired accountant said if elected she would push for downtown business owners to take more accountability for the appearance of their storefronts.

I think the owners need to start taking a little more pride in their buildings downtown, and making them something people want to come and see, she said.

Carlson, who is seeking his fourth term in village government, said if reelected he will continue focusing on improving village infrastructure while ensuring taxes remain low.

Weve been working very hard the last couple of years on infrastructure, and Im happy to say things are getting done, he said. Our future looks bright around here when it comes down to that.

With limited capital, funding necessary repairs can be challenging, Carlson said, but he said he and other village workers are efficient about improving quality of life without breaking the budget.

This group that we have  the village administrator, the president and trustees  all know what the goal is, he said. We all work together as a team, and we do it very well. For everything weve spent over the years, weve spent it smartly.

Carlson, who previously served as village president, said his familiarity with the needs of residents makes him a strong candidate in the April 7 election.

Ive been around for a long time, and I pretty much know the ins and outs of what we need and what we dont need, he said. Weve done well with that, and we are going to keep striving toward those goals.

Schutt and Sachs could not be reached for comment.

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T he UK's response to the coronavirus will now focus on delaying its spread with the number of cases set to "only to go up", the country's Chief Medical Officer said today.

Professor Chris Whitty told the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, chaired by Jeremy Hunt, that he was expecting more cases to be announced today.

He added that the plan to combat Covid-19 was already moving from the first "contain" stage to the secondary "delay" stage.

Professor Whitty said: Im expecting the number only to go up, and there are now several  not large numbers  but several cases where we cannot see where this has come from in terms of a clear transmission, either because someone has come directly from overseas or because theyve had a close contact with someone who has recently returned from overseas."

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

There are now 90 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK after Scotland declared three more.

Overall, current figures show 80 cases in England, six in Scotland, one in Wales and three in Northern Ireland.

Access to critical care beds could be under the most pressure in the NHS as a result of the virus, Prof Whitty said.

The bit of the system which will come under pressure first will be those conditions that require people to have oxygen and particularly to have critical care beds, and that bit, I think, will come under pressure at quite an early stage if we have a high-end-of-the-range epidemic for this, he said.

MPs, led by former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, were questioning the Chief Medical Officer / Parliament TV

Prof Whitty added it would be lucky to get a vaccine for Covid-19 in the next year.

He said: I think  a year would be lucky to get this  so we will not have a vaccine available for the first wave if we have a first wave.
The US military linguist accused of keeping a list of secret informants hidden under her mattress and sharing those names with a romantic interest liked to the Hezbollah terror group appeared stone faced in court this week.

Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, appeared in Washington's federal court on Wednesday to face charges in an espionage case.

She wore a red cardigan and put her gray hair in a bun. She was not wearing handcuffs during the hearing.

Investigators said put at risk the lives of American military members and confidential sources and represented a significant breach of classified information.

Thompson, a contract translator, is accused of giving to the unidentified Lebanese man the names of eight US government sources including their true names, photos, background information, according to court documents.

She faces life in prison if it's found that the information she revealed led to the death of any informants. She's being detained until a hearing on March 11.

US military linguist Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, appeared stone faced in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, where she's accused of keeping a list of secret informants hidden under her mattress and sharing those names with a romantic interest liked to Hezbollah

Thompson, of Rochester, Minnesota, was arrested on February 27 at a US military facility in Irbil, Iraq, where she was assigned to a special operations task force.

She faces three charges of violating espionage laws. The Defense Department said it was aware of the arrest and is cooperating with the investigation into Thompson.

She researched and leaked the names during a six-week period from the end of December, when US airstrikes targeted Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and exacerbated relations between the two countries, through the middle of last month.

The Justice Department claimed on Wednesday that Thompson shared this list of named with Hezbollah Lebanese militant group backed by Iran.

Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department's top national security official, called the alleged conduct 'a disgrace, especially for someone serving as a contractor with the United States military. This betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished'.

'Thompson placed the lives of the human assets and U.S. military personnel in grave danger,' the Justice Department said revealing the charges.

The Justice Department said that during its investigation, it discovered audit logs showing a 'notable shift' in Thompson's network activity on the Defense Department's classified systems.

Mariam Taha Thompson appeared in Washington's federal court on Wednesday to face charges in an espionage case. Pictured is the Pentagon in Washington (file image)

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's powerful Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, delivering a televised address from an undisclosed location in Lebanon

The discovery came on December 30, a day after the United States launched air strikes against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and the same day that protesters there stormed the US Embassy in response.

Thompson looked up nearly 60 files on human intelligence sources she had no need to access, including their names, photographs and other personally-identifiable information, the department said.

In February, FBI agents searched her living quarters on the base and discovered a handwritten note written in Arabic under her mattress, according to a sworn statement from an FBI agent contained in a court filing.

The note had the names of US intelligence informants.

The note said these sources were collecting information for the United States, and suggested that their phones be monitored and their target should be warned, according to the sworn statement.

In subsequent interviews with the FBI, Thompson she waived her Miranda rights and told the agents she had passed along the information from the note to a Lebanese foreign national, according to the statement.

Fighters from the Lebanese Resistance Brigades (Saraya al-Muqawama al-Lubnaniya), a paramilitary group affiliated with Hezbollah, marching in the streets of Lebanon's southern suburbs last month

Court documents identify the person only as a co-conspirator whom Thompson had a romantic interest in.

She told the FBI she did not know if he was with Hezbollah, which was first designated as a terrorist group by the United States in 1997, according to the court filing.

To share the intelligence, Thompson claimed she had memorized the classified information, wrote it down and conveyed it to the co-conspirator through a secure messaging application on her phone, according to the filing.

She apparently later amended her statement, saying she was 70 percent sure she had not transmitted the note.

However, investigators said in the court filing they had developed solid evidence to suggest Thompson was sending the person details about the human intelligence sources, including information she wrote on a second Arabic note.

Iraqi security forces after Iraqi protesters stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad, protesting Washington's attacks on armed battalions belong to Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forcesin January

After the arrest, prosecutors say, Thompson acknowledged that she passed secret information to a man she was romantically interested in, but said she did not know that he had any affiliation with Hezbollah.

She instead said she thought he might have been tied to the Amal political party in Lebanon, though she later said she considered the groups to be the same.

Thompson told an agent, according to an affidavit unsealed on Wednesday: 'No, I don't know about Hizbollah. I hate Hizbollah.'

She described members of the group, which the US has designated as a foreign terrorist organization, as 'terrorists' and 'like the octopus. They can reach anybody'.

Thompson also told the agent that she passed along classified information by memorizing it, writing it down and transmitting it via the video feature of a secure messaging application on her cellphone.

One screenshot of a video chat the FBI says it obtained showed Thompson displaying to the Lebanese man an Arabic note describing the technique an informant had used to collect information, according to the affidavit.
Reno Omokri has taken to his Twitter page to query the Nigerian senate over its decision to approve President Muhammadu Buharis request for $22.7 billion loan.

Recall that on Thursday, it was reported that during plenary, the 9th Senate approved the request for $22.7 billion despite strong opposition from Senate Minority leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe.

Also Read: Senate Approves Buharis Borrowing Plan Of $22.7Bn

Reacting to this development, Reno Omokri in a series of tweet queried the Senate on how the intended loan and previous loans collected by the President has been beneficial to the citizens of Nigeria.

See his tweets below:

Nigerias foreign debt was $7 billion in 2015. It is $25 billion now. Today, the @NGRSenate approved General @MBuharis $22 billion loan request. It will push our foreign debt to $47 billion. Buhari is 77 (so he says). It is you and your kids that will repay it!#BuhariTormentor  Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) March 5, 2020

How has General @MBuharis previous loans benefited you ? How will his new $22.7 billion loan benefit you? $500 million for NTA which few Nigerians watch and nothing for schools for the 14 million out of school kids in Northern Nigeria. Very sad day for Nigeria!#BuhariTormentor  Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) March 5, 2020
By delaying puberty, the child and family gain time  typically several years  to explore gender-related feelings and options, according to the academys guidelines on caring for transgender children.

Under Schneltings legislation, doctors could have their licenses revoked if they treat anyone younger than 18 with such methods. Parents of children who receive the treatment could also be reported to the Department of Social Services for child abuse.

A second bill, sponsored by Rep. Suzie Pollock, R-Lebanon, would classify surgical or hormonal treatment for children as criminal child abuse.

Dozens of people came forward in opposition at Tuesdays hearing. Though witnesses often got less than a minute of speaking time each, the public testimony lasted well over an hour.

Many wiped away tears as they described the harm the legislation would cause. Some described their childrens anguish at being stuck in a body that felt wrong to them; some people described their own history of suicide attempts.

They pleaded and demanded that the lawmakers reject the plans.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Sallie Mae (SLM), formally SLM Corp., announced Thursday that Raymond Quinlan will step down from his role as Chief Executive Officer, effective April 20, 2020, after leading Sallie Mae for six years. Jonathan Witter, currently Chief Customer Officer of Hilton Worldwide Holdings, will succeed Quinlan as CEO and join the company's Board of Directors.Witter, an industry veteran, brings nearly three decades of executive leadership, banking expertise, and operational management to Sallie Mae. Meanwhile, Quinlan will continue to work with Witter and the company as Chairman of the Board to support in the transition until Sallie Mae's Annual Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled to take place on June 18, 2020. Sallie Mae's Board will appoint a new Chairman in conjunction with Quinlan's departure from the Board on June 18, 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The controversies surrounding the compilation of a new voters' register is far from over as the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has decided to go to court.



The Electoral Commission insists there is a need for a new register but the NDC and other stakeholders believe otherwise. According to the opposition party, everything the EC is doing is deliberately paving way for the ruling NPP to retain power.



Reacting to this on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr., described the new voters' register brouhaha as a storm in a teacup.



He disclosed that the 'intent' to compile a new voters register, started when Madam Charlotte Osei was the chairperson of the EC.



"Institutional memoryif the previous management had an intent of changing the voters' register, I think we dont go looking for personalities because as at June 30, 2017, the EC had begun to contemplate for a new register," he pontificated.



Meanwhile, he has commended the NDC for deciding to go to court.





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
New death warrants issued as 4 convicts exhaust legal remedies.

New Delhi: After exhausting almost all legal remedies, all the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case are due to be hanged till death in Delhis Tihar Jail at 5.30 am on Friday, March 20. Additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana on Thursday issued fresh death warrants after being told by the Delhi government that the convicts had exhausted all their legal remedies.

This is the fourth time that the court has issued death warrants against the four convicts. The first warrant for their execution was for January 22, the second for February 1 and the last one was for March 3.

Now, the only way to delay the hanging of the convicts is if the Supreme Court grants a fresh stay on their death warrants, which is possible only if one of the convicts  Pawan Gupta (25)  makes his case before the court that President Ram Nath Kovind had not applied his mind while rejecting his mercy petition on Wednesday. But similar pleas by the other convicts  Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31)  had earlier been rejected by the nations highest court.

The second remote possibility of getting a stay on the execution of the convicts is if their lawyers get relief from the Supreme Court, which at present is hearing a matter on whether death row convicts in the same case can also be hanged separately.

On Thursday, after fresh death warrants were issued against the convicts, Nirbhayas mother Asha Devi said: The morning of March 20 will be the morning of our lives... Our struggle will continue till they are hanged... If there is any chance, I want to see them (convicts) dying).

Lawyer A.P. Singh, who helped the four convicts in filing multiple petitions challenging the execution, termed the death warrants as a judicial killing. He said: Media pressure has already killed them. They have been killed four times with four death warrants. They have been hanged three times.

Even Nirbhaya (fearless), in her dying declaration made in front of a magistrate on December 21, 2012, eight days before she died, had stated: I want them (convicts) to be hanged so that no other criminal can do this kind of torture and ill-treatment to any other girl. In fact, such criminals should be burnt alive. On the fateful night, six men attacked Nirbhaya after she boarded a bus with a male friend. The two were returning after watching a movie at the Select Citywalk mall in Saket.

Of the six, one committed suicide inside Tihar Jail. Another was a juvenile who was let off after being sentenced to a reform home for three years, the maximum punishment for a minor.

In May 2017, the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence of the four convicts. The court called the crime as the story of a different world. If ever a case called for hanging, this was it, said the three judges, confirming the death penalty handed by two courts. The court referred to the dying declaration of Nirbhaya and said the brutal and demonic crime had been proved beyond doubt.

On Thursday, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice R. Banumathi said: The question is whether there can be separate hanging or whether it has to be simultaneous. We will go into it. The bench, also comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and A.S. Bopanna, posted the plea for arguments on merits on March 23 and made it clear that no adjournment would be given.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Delhi government, told the bench that these convicts had taken the justice delivery system for a ride and made a mockery of it by adopting delaying tactics. The execution of the death warrants of these convicts have been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting their legal remedies.

Mr Mehta, who said the credibility of the system is at stake, informed the bench that a trial court had fixed March 20 as the date of execution of the four convicts who had exhausted all their legal remedies. During arguments, Mr Mehta said there was no statutory provision which stipulates that the convicts have to be executed simultaneously, and as per the law, only the trial of a case has to be conducted simultaneously. Today, there are four convicts in this case. Tomorrow, there may be a case having 10 or 20 such convicts and they may again delay the execution by moving separate forums at different times, he said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assuring that the government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Titanic captain telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

Gandhi's remarks came after Vardhan's assurance in Parliament that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) in India.

"The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable," Gandhi said in a tweet.

"It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis," he said.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

The Health Minister saying that the Indian Govt has the #coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Capt of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable.



It's time the Govt made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 5, 2020

Gandhi has been raising concerns over the coronavirus infection since long.

In a February 12 tweet, he had said coronavirus is an extremely serious threat to "our people and our economy".

Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES | Ghaziabad man tested positive for COVID-19, total number of cases rise to 30

"My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical," he had said.

Earlier this week, Gandhi had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the detection of fresh coronavirus cases in the country, saying he should quit wasting India's time "playing the clown" with his social media accounts when India is facing an emergency.

With the message of "Here's how it's done", Gandhi had also tweeted a video of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressing Singaporeans on how to deal with the coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 29, including 16 Italians, the government had said on Wednesday, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.
South Africa: Coronavirus being handled with urgency, care: President

South Africans should not panic but rather be alert. That is the advice from President Cyril Ramaphosa following the announcement of the first case of the Coronavirus in the country.

The President has assured that government is and will continue to demonstrate urgency and caution as the country deals with its first confirmed case of Coronavirus.

The President on Thursday held an impromptu briefing shortly after landing at the Waterkloof Airforce Base in Pretoria.

The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, had earlier announced the first case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) just moments before a Parliamentary debate on South Africas readiness to deal with the virus.

On Thursday morning, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) had contacted the Minister after confirmation that a suspected case of COVID-19 had tested positive.

The patient is a 38-year-old male, who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on 1 March 2020.

The Minister then got in touch with the President, informing him of the news.

I informed him [Minister Mkhize] that he should go ahead and make the news public in Parliament so that South Africans are immediately informed, so as to avoid fake news spreading around the country, and also to have a level of transparency, said the President.

According to the Minster, the patient consulted a private general practitioner on 3 March with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough. The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab.

The patient has been self-isolating since 3 March. The couple also has two children.

A tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from the NICD. The doctor, who handled the patient, has been self-isolating as well.

The Emergency Operating Centre (EOC) has identified those who came into contact with the patient by interviewing the patient and doctor.

The NICD explains that in the instance of a traveller, people who are most at risk are the close contacts of the patients. The NICD has a definition of what constitutes a close contact. These people will be required to self-quarantine in their homes for 14 days. They will be monitored by the NICD medical staff to make sure that if they get any symptoms, they are rapidly tested.

The President said the immediacy with which the case is being dealt with shows that South Africa is ready to deal with the Coronavirus.

We are in constant contact with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and we also have South Africans who are working at the WHO, constantly keep us up to date about this virus.

We will keep informing South Africans very openly and transparently about the number of steps that we will be taking, he said.

President Ramaphosa appealed for calm as news of the virus spreads.

South Africans should not panic. We should be alert, so that if people show signs of some of the symptoms, they immediately are able to get medical assistance from all our medical care people - whether in the private or public sector, said the President.

South Africa now joins Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria as the African countries affected by the virus.

Plans are already afoot for the repatriation of South Africans from Wuhan City, Hubei province  the epicentre of the Coronavirus.

With the impact of the virus being felt globally, the President reiterated that South Africans must brace themselves.

It will have a huge impact on a number of things like travel. It will have a negative impact on the economy, which as we all know is in a precarious [state], said President Ramaphosa.

What is being done

The Department of Health has activated an emergency operations centre to deal with Coronavirus.

There is dedicated staff working exclusively on Coronavirus. Provinces have also activated outbreak response teams.

Hospitals in all provinces have been equipped and are prepared to receive potential Coronavirus cases. These hospitals have been identified as centres for isolation and treatment.

The department announced the following hospitals as centres for isolation and treatment of people infected with Coronavirus:

Polokwane Hospital in Limpopo

Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mpumalanga

Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, Steve Biko Hospital and Tembisa Hospitals in Gauteng

Grace Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal

Klerksdorp Hospital in the North West

Kimberly Hospital in the Northern Cape

Pelonomi Hospital in the Free State

Livingstone Hospital in the Eastern Cape

Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape



Reduce your risk

The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus.

Everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, include:

Washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Stay home when you are sick.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Cough etiquette involves maintaining distance, covering coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing and washing hands.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.



Take action if you had close contact with someone confirmed to have been evaluated for the virus.

Monitor your health starting from the day you first had close contact with the person and continue for 14 days after.

Watch for signs and symptoms such as fever, coughing, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

Other early symptoms are chills, body aches, sore throat, headache, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, and runny nose.

If you develop fever or any of these symptoms, immediately call your healthcare provider.

Before going to your medical appointment, tell your healthcare provider about your close contact with someone who is confirmed to have the Coronavirus.

This will help the healthcare providers office take steps to keep other people from getting infected as well as alert the Health Department or National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

 SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The total number of Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases reported in India has risen to 29 today after 15 people who were part of an Italian tourist group tested positive for the viral infection. 24 people including three Indians who were part of the group were taken to the quarantine facility of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chhawla near Delhi, where they tested positive for the virus.
A 36-year-old man from Kerala, who died after testing negative for coronavirus, was cremated after being wrapped in layers of white cloth and his family was not allowed to get close to his mortal remains.

The youth, who had recently returned from Malayasia had died at Kochi on February 29 after being admitted to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College hospital as he was running high fever.

State Health Minister K K Shailaja said though the man's samples had tested negative, further tests could not be done as he passed away.

"He was so tired, sinking and showed symptoms of infection", she said.

A medical official said though the man's two test samples were negative, as a safety precaution his body was covered as per protocol in layers of cloth and polythene and taken from Kochi to Payyannur his home town in Kannur district.

The man's family had been counselled about the protocol being followed, the official said.

According to hospital sources, the man had been suffering from pneumonia, he was diabetic and died due to multi organ failure.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
March 4, 2020

News

By Jim Garamone

Defense.gov

Guard Chief Stresses Strategic Use of Force, Parity With Active Force

The U.S. military cannot do its job without the capabilities inherent in the National Guard, Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel told the Senate appropriations defense subcommittee yesterday.

Lengyel, the chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the panel that the National Guard is not just a reserve, but an integral part of the military that enables the whole force to deter enemies and win the nation's wars if deterrence fails.

"On any given day, approximately 30,000 guardsmen carry out federal missions around the world, and an additional 10,000 guardsmen conduct state and federal missions within the United States and its territories," Lengyel said in a written statement to the committee. "National Guardsmen are part of an operational force nearly 450,000 strong that provides strategic depth to our nation's Army and Air Force."

While most Americans know the Guard for its role in aiding fellow Americans struck by disasters, the reason for the force is warfighting, pure and simple, the general said. "Being ready to fight and win America's wars drives our training, our equipment and maintenance requirements, and our recruitment efforts," Lengyel said.

From Africa to Afghanistan and from Europe to the Middle East, Lengyel said guardsmen serve alongside active duty personnel and bring their own unique expertise and experiences to complex problems of war and peace.

"Our current threat environment requires the National Guard to be prepared for complex, global operations in the most demanding conditions."

The National Defense Strategy requires a total force effort and National Guardsmen are adapting to the return of great power competition with China and Russia. "China and Russia are undermining the international order through various means, exploiting all domains to change the character of warfare," Lengyel said.

The component will shift focus, but it still must keep an eye on threats emanating from Iran, North Korea and violent extremist organizations, he said. "The changing and global nature of threats shape the warfight, and the National Guard is evolving rapidly to meet new demands," Lengyel said.

Great power competition requires units to be ready to conduct high-intensity combat operations. The Guard is the principal combat reserve of the Army and Air Force. The Guard provides strategic depth to support combatant commands.

The terror attacks of 9-11 shredded the myth of the Guard as "weekend warriors," Lengyel said. Since that day, more than 1 million Guardsmen have mobilized and deployed  many multiple times.

A traditional Guardsman drills one weekend a month and two weeks a year. This is the foundation of the force.

But the demands of the future will require more from service members. "In order to fully leverage readiness that lives in the National Guard and to empower our Guard men and women, mobilization requirements need to be predictable," Lengyel said. "This structure, predictable in time but geographically agile, will afford the DOD greater flexibility during this period of great power competition. This flexibility in employment also requires an enterprise approach to modernization of the total force in order to remain deployable, sustainable and interoperable with the active components."

To that end, the National Guard requires parity with active duty service members in training, facilities and equipment. "There is only one standard for readiness, and there should be only the highest standard for our equipment," the general said. "Without parity, we cannot integrate with the active components; if we cannot integrate, we cannot be the lethal force necessary to help deter, fight and win America's wars."

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The Politburo has enacted Resolution No.55-NQ/TW on the orientation of Vietnams energy development strategy until 2030 with a vision towards 2045, which features many catalysts designed to spur the growth of the energy sector.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh looks at fresh points in the new policy, highlighting the measures to increase the private sectors engagement in the course.

How significant is Resolution 55 in Vietnams current standing?

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan

The resolution holds great significance. Its enactment comes at the right time as this year is the final year in implementing Vietnams five-year socio-economic development plan and 10-year development strategy, as well as shaping the direction of the countrys development strategy in the next decade.

This period also marks Vietnams far-reaching efforts to broaden its engagement in the global economy. Vietnam has shifted from an underdeveloped into a developing country.

Amid robust development of diverse economic sectors, including industry, the country has become increasingly dependent on imported energy, while our primary energy sources increased sharply.

In this context, the country must work on a new energy plan, embedded in the national socio-economic development strategy, to lay out suitable policies and measures, thereby ensuring the sustainability of not only national energy security, but also other factors like national security and geopolitics.

In addition, the new strategy comes at a time when Vietnams development level is being heightened. Meanwhile, the current regulatory framework has exposed some limitations that hinder the energy sector development, energy security, and Vietnams sustainable development.

Above all else, there must be novel orientations that align with global proceedings to craft the countrys development journey.

Promoting engagement of the private sector into energy development is one highlight in Resolution 55. Based on its actual contributions to the power sectors development in the past years, what is the role of the private sector?

Private investors and businesses have had impressive results in the energy sectors development. For instance, up to 28 per cent of total power production comes from the private sector via diverse investment formats such as build-operate-transfer or independent power purchase contracts. The enactment of several new schemes and policies, such as new pricing schemes for solar and wind power, attests to the tremendous potential of the private sector in the development of Vietnams power sector.

As well as underlining important orientations, principles, and targets to remove barriers, the new resolution facilitates participation of all economic sectors, particularly the private one, into taking advantage of the countrys potential fields and areas, especially the local energy sector.

The resolution also clearly sets forth orientations for national sustainable energy development, focusing on developing suitable and diversified energy sources.

Alongside this, Resolution 55 highlights the balanced development of power sources, ensuring rational use and exploitation of local primary fossil energy sources, while giving further priority to renewable and gas-fired energy sources.

Significantly, the resolution stresses the need to further consider the establishment of renewable energy centres in suitable locations, ensuring that these centres leverage the benefits of technology, geographical position, and local potential.

Accelerating the equitisation and restructuring of state-owned enterprises in the energy field aims to attract private sector engagement. How is this working at present and in the near future?

In recent times, large state energy businesses like PetroVietnam, Electricity of Vietnam, and Vinacomin are living up to their role in the energy development drive. These groups have taken the initiative in the restructuring process, helping to ensure production and business efficiency and essential energy infrastructure for the country. Restructuring these business groups remains a big policy and a thorough target of the energy sector. Vietnam has been taking rational steps in restructuring the power sector, giving birth to a competitive power generation market and a competitive power wholesale market, laying the groundwork to formulate a competitive power retail market.

Power companies shall be gradually equitised, creating a transparent and competitive power market to benefit businesses across the board and local people alike. This also helps constitute a platform of smoothly-driven rules of the market economy, ensuring the effective performance of businesses from assorted economic sectors. In fact, many impediments have persisted during the equitisation of state corporations and groups in the past years. Efforts are being made to gradually perfect the regulatory framework.

Resolution 55, therefore, is expected to help push up state-owned enterprise equitisation and restructuring, and build the groundwork for effective operation of a competitive power market at present and in the future. VIR

Energy strategy fit for private backers Vietnam has enacted its strategic orientations for energy development through to 2030 and with a vision for the next quarter of a century, encouraging more of the private sector to develop for the future, and ensuring energy security.
Amid coronavirus scare, Telangana police on Thursday made an appeal to the people not to spread rumours on social media pertaining to the deadly virus. The officials further stated that those found guilty will be booked.

"People are requested not to spread rumours on Social Media and disturb normal tempo of life. The government of Telangana has been taking all measures required," said Mahender Reddy, DGP, Telangana.

The official also urged people to adhere to the advisory issued by the Medical and Health Department to prevent falling prey to the deadly virus.

"Follow the advisory issued by the Medical and Health Department strictly and help administration. Police are watching for miscreants spreading rumours on social media. Strong actions will be taken against such people," he added.

The Telangana police issued the advisory on March 4 in the wake of coronavirus positive case in Hyderabad. The rumours are being spread about the virus over social media platforms due to which there is a panic among people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Normally at this time of year, Michael Toniolos family and a dozen employees would be toiling away on their farm - pruning vines, ploughing fields and delivering their award-winning wines to customers near and far.

This year, however, he fears for the survival of his family winery and olive oil farm, founded nearly 50 years ago.

For 10 days, 12 days ... we sell nothing, said Toniolo, 50, who runs Parco del Venda with his father, wife and sister.

For a family-run farm, 15 days without business is a big problem, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

Vo, the small town in northern Italy where they live, about 70 km west of Venice, has been on lockdown since Feb. 23 in a bid by authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Italy is Europes worst hit country, with 107 deaths from the virus as of Wednesday and more than 3,000 cases occurring in 19 out of its 20 regions. It plans to close all schools and universities from Thursday to try to contain the outbreak.

Some 50,000 people in 11 towns in northern Italy - the hotspots where coronavirus cases were first detected - have been quarantined. Trucks can get in and out with essentials but police roadblocks keep everyone else inside.

My brain is not clear. Every day, I think about the problem and what we are going to do. But my brain is not in the wine but in the coronavirus, Toniolo said, adding that about 60 other vinters within Vo are in a similar position.

Some of Italys most famous foods, including wines and cheeses, come from the areas under lockdown, largely produced by small-scale farmers and vinters, according to Coldiretti, an agricultural lobby group.

The area is a rich agricultural producer with about 500 farms and some 100,000 cattle and pigs. But the quarantine has led to labor shortages and disruptions. [nL3N2AS533

Stefano Ciserani, a farmer with 250 dairy cattle near Lodi, some 30 km southeast of Milan, said construction of an animal enclosure has stopped because he cannot find workers.

We essentially produce milk that goes to the dairies in the area to produce the Grana cheese. Grana is a product that goes mainly to tourists. And without tourists and exports, even the Grana sector risks collapse, he said.

Toniolo said his biggest fear is fear itself. The virus does not affect food safety but producers are concerned buyers will shy away. Local media have reported instances of orders from affected regions being returned or cancelled.

One or two Italians clients, they tell me they dont want (my) wine because they have fear, he said.

We must explain that... Vo and the other places are ok. The wine is ok. We need work.
New Delhi, March 5 : As coronavirus cases rose further in India, the central government on Thursday made COVID-19 free certificate mandatory for travellers from Italy and South Korea.

According to the additional travel advisory issued by the central government, on Thursday, the passengers travelling from Italy and South Korea who want to enter into India will have to present a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19.

"In addition to visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from and having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries," the Health Ministry on Thursday said in a statement.

The new regulation will be enforced from Tuesday March 10. It is however a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.

The first case of COVID-19 was reported from Wuhan city of China last year. Since then the dreaded virus has spread to more than 60 countries across the globe and has now entered India with 29 confirmed cases.

The symptoms of COVID-19 are cold, cough, pneumonia and shortness of breath.
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Wednesday joined the growing number of U.S. companies asking employees to work from home in order to limit exposure to the spreading coronavirus outbreak, as it responded to cases near its Seattle headquarters and in California.

Microsoft asked many of its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25. "Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite," Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene told employees in a blog post.

The post said that some employees for whom "it is essential to be in the office or other work environments" - such as data center and retail employees - should continue to go to their work locations and that the company would follow government guidelines for disinfecting its sites for essential personnel.

Microsoft also asked employees to suspend any business travel to the areas "unless essential for the continuity of Microsoft." Microsoft also said employees should cancel non-essential travel to areas with active coronavirus cases - which includes much of Europe, Asia and the Americas - and that employees were not required to travel if they had concerns about doing so.

In the greater Seattle area, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 39 on Wednesday and 10 deaths, up from 27 cases and nine deaths a day earlier, the Washington State Health Department announced. The first death in California from the coronavirus was announced on Wednesday.

The Seattle area has the largest concentration of coronavirus cases detected to date in the United States. Several cases were connected to a long-term care facility for the elderly. Microsoft also implemented new guidelines for employees who do come to its offices. It recommended "limiting prolonged close interactions with people" by keeping in-person meetings as short as possible and staying at least 6 feet, or 1.8 meters, away from others.

Also read: Coronavirus claims 2 lives in US, authorities step up testing for virus

Also read: Wipro suspends employee travel to China, Hong Kong, Macau over coronavirus
Having food stamps offers Richard Butler a stability hes rarely known in his 25 years.

He was in state custody at age 2, spent his teen years at a Chicago boys home and jail for burglary, and has since struggled to find a permanent home.

The $194 deposited monthly on his benefits card buys fresh produce and meat.

It means the world to me, said Butler, who shares a one-bedroom apartment with two others. We can go without a lot of things, like phones and music. We cant go without eating.

But that stability is being threatened for people like Butler, who are able-bodied, without dependents and between the ages 18 and 49. New Trump administration rules taking effect April 1 put hundreds of thousands of people in his situation at risk of losing their benefits. They hit particularly hard in places like Illinois, which also is dealing with a separate, similar change in the nations third-largest city.

From Hawaii to Pennsylvania, states are scrambling to blunt the impact of the new rules, with roughly 700,000 people at risk of losing benefits unless they meet certain work, training or school requirements. Theyve filed a multi-state lawsuit, expanded publicly funded job training, developed pilot programs and doubled down efforts to reach vulnerable communities, including the homeless, rural residents and people of color.

Social service agencies say they wont be able to fill the gap, making increased homelessness and more hospital visits among the biggest concerns. Experts say theyve already seen troubling signs in some states.

This is a cascading effect, said Robert Campbell, managing director at Feeding America, a network of hundreds of food banks nationwide. It will increase demands on the emergency food system, food banks and pantries.

Currently, work-eligible, able-bodied adults without dependents under 50 can receive monthly benefits if they meet a 20-hour weekly work, job training or school requirement. Those who dont are are limited to three months of food stamps over three years.

However, states with high unemployment or few jobs have been able to waive time limits. Every state except Delaware has sought a waiver at some point, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The new rules make it harder to get waivers. Theyre the first of three changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which feeds 36 million people nationwide.

The Trump administration has touted the change as a way to get people working and save $5.5 billion over five years. Able-bodied adults without dependents are 7% of SNAP recipients.

But states fighting the change say that argument is misguided.

Not everyone is in a position to get a job tomorrow, and taking away access to food is only going to make that more difficult, said Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller. Were going to have more hungry people in the state.

Pennsylvania  where as many as 100,000 people could be affected  is working with social services groups to create 30 job training programs for SNAP recipients.

However, experts say work opportunities are limited.

More than half of SNAP recipients have a high school diploma, but about one-quarter have less, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Available jobs are more likely to have low pay, shifting schedules that might not offer enough qualifying hours and few benefits like paid sick leave.

Work requirements really dont really do much to affect the rate at which people are working, said Elaine Waxman at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization. If people can work and consistently, they pretty much are.

Some states are focusing on rural areas, which have less access to transportation and services.

Attorneys general in nearly 20 states and Washington, D.C., have sued to block the rules. They argue the changes will force people to divert their limited funds, leading to homelessness and health problems.

People with food insecurity spend 45% more on medical care annually than those who are food secure, according to a 2018 report by the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

In trying to deal with the volume of questions about the issue, Illinois has dedicated an email address just for the food stamps changes and hopes to add more job training.

Inspiration Corporation, a nonprofit, runs a training kitchen and restaurant out of a converted Chicago warehouse. It has proposed increasing its number of spots for SNAP participants from 35 to 45.

On a recent day, fractions used in measuring were scrawled on a white board near the kitchen, which serves Southern-inspired fare like grits.

Trainee Anthony Redmond, 44, started receiving food stamps when he was released from prison last summer. With the help, he was able to leave a halfway house and find his own place. After the training, he hopes to find employment and keep his benefits.

He dreams of opening a fleet of food trucks.

If you take something that a person really needs and depends on and they dont have any other life skills to get a job, to benefit their family, he said, its just going to cause trouble.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  Philippine National Police chief General Archie Gamboa, his spokesperson Lt.. Col. Bernard Banac and four others are safe, but two police generals are in critical condition after their chopper crashed Thursday morning in a residential area in Laguna.

Acting PNP spokesperson Maj. Gen Bong Durana said PNP comptrollership chief Maj. Gen. Joevic Ramos and PNP intelligence director Maj. Gen Mariel Magaway are in "unstable" condition and that the next 48 hours would be critical for them.

"Kaya nga po bugbugin po natin ng panalangin ang kanilang paggaling," Durana told reporters.

[Translation: That's why we're bombarding the heavens with prayers for their recovery.]

Magaway has been transferred to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa, while Ramos remains in the intensive care unit of Unihealth Southwoods Hospital in Laguna.

Ramos lost more than 20 percent of his blood, has traumatic brain injury, and has fractures in his skull, spine and leg.

Top cop turned senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who visited Gamboa at the hospital, said the PNP chief seems fine, aside from a swollen right hand, minor injuries on the face and abrasions on the body. Banac is also mostly unscathed, except for some bruises in the face.

While Magaway and Ramos are still in the hospital, Brig. Gen. Ronnie Olay is taking charge of the PNP comptrollership and Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay will head the police's intelligence office. Durana, meanwhile, temporarily reprises his role as police spokesperson as Banac recovers.

PNP deputy chief for administration, Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan, will be officer-in-charge as Gamboa recovers from a helicopter crash, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano told CNN Philippines Thursday.

The Bell 429 chopper carrying the four PNP officials, Gamboa's aide Capt. Kevin Gayramara, pilot Lt. Col. Ruel Zalatar, co-pilot Lt. Col Rico Macawili, and technician Senior Master Sgt. Louie Estona crashed in San Pedro, Laguna minutes after they took off past 8 a.m.

The officials had attended an event to turnover recovered impounded vehicles in the Laperal Compound in San Pedro.

Durana said Gamboa sustained wounds on his arm, while Banac has wounds on his face. He adds he was able to talk to the chopper crew and Gamboa's aide-de-camp.

The acting spokesperson said Gamboa, who is recovering in St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City, told him he is worried about his co-passengers.

"Ang concern ni Chief PNP ngayon ay 'yung safety and complete recovery ng iba pa niyang kasamahan," he said.

[Translation: The concern of the chief PNP is the safety and complete recovery of his colleagues.]

In a video shared to police reporters, Gamboa said from his hospital bed that he intends to go back to work on Monday.

The newly-acquired 435-million Bell 429 chopper got caught on a high-tension wire due to limited visibility because of the dust whipped up as the helicopter took off.

"'Yung field na helipad namin medyo pag-flight niya, nag-zero visibility. 'Yung chopper talagang sobrang alikabok, tumama po sa wires. 'Yun ang reason kaya bumagsak ang ating chopper ," PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HPG) Chief Col. Wilson Doromal told CNN Philippines.

[Translation: In the area of the helipad, they suddenly couldn't see much. The chopper was too dusty, it hit the wires that led to the crash.]

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the initial police report corroborate the accounts of the passengers, urging the public to refrain from speculating about the incident.

PNP and the Interior Department are conducting investigations into the incident.

CNN Philippines' Lara Tan, Xave Gregorio, David Santos and Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
As I watch American Jews move farther left  and farther away from their Jewish heritage and connection to Israel  I am reminded of the story of the Exodus. Moses ascended Mount Sinai in order to receive the Ten Commandments. During the forty days he spent atop the mountain, the Jewish people became fearful and distrusting and began worshiping a golden calf.

Today's Diaspora Jews are worshiping a different type of false idol. For eight years, it took the form of Barack Obama, but he was only representative of a progressive ideal for which Jews are constantly searching. Our history of slavery, torture, dhimmitude, persecution, and genocide has led to a people who desperately seek peace, obsess over "tikkun olam" and social justice, and worship at the Torah of Liberalism.

American Jews' fixation on every victim class but their own and social issues like abortion, climate change, gay "marriage," and immigration, and the Democrat Party to which they have been tethered for a century, is harming the survival of our people. While the United States holds the largest Jewish population outside Israel, our national population is minuscule  approximately 2%. Our power is not in our numbers, but in our voices  and our voices are becoming dangerously self-destructive.

There have always been Jews whose ignorant hatred for Israel and their own people have made them a danger to their own survival. The voices of the despicable Haaretz writer Gideon Levy, Professor Norman Finkelstein, the ultra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta, and anti-Zionists like Bernie Sanders are examples of Jews whose actions and statements demonize Israel. But there are many more Wicked Sons who, rather than recognize their responsibility as G-d's chosen people to work to ensure our survival in a world in which that survival is precarious, have instead chosen to work toward ensuring Israel's destruction.

Frighteningly, anti-Zionists are growing in number, in volume, and in threatening activities as they hide their Jew-hatred under the guise of criticism of Israel. What makes this growing anti-Semitism even more dangerous is not necessarily the troika of haters who now sit in Congress; the intersectionality of hate groups joining together to demonize, harass, and silence Jewish voices (Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, the LGBT movement, Students for Justice in Palestine, the Women's March); or the "Hamas-inspired" Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. A serious threat to our people emanates from the growing number of progressive Jews who not only give these haters cover for their devious and dangerous anti-Israel activities, but organize and participate in projects and pursuits aimed at Israel's destruction.

The number of Jewish groups that oppose the "occupation," deem Israel an "apartheid state," and empower Palestinian terrorism is growing exponentially while these groups also unite and organize among themselves and with other anti-Semitic groups that hate Jews and Israel. J Street, established under, and empowered by, Obama, a time when anti-Israel animus ran rampant throughout the White House and State Department, has become stronger and louder. It began with campaigns for candidates who criticized Israeli policy and expanded as part of the Obama Echo Chamber to sell the Iran deal to Americans, including through demonization of the Israeli prime minister. It now has a presence on college campuses; is organizing Birthright-type trips to Israel; and has successfully mainstreamed itself, making it a comfortable home for left-leaning Jews who know no better.

Last summer, IfNotNow appeared in the news as its young members joined and then disrupted Birthright trips to Israel, making pro-Israel students uncomfortable and sabotaging the efforts of the trips' organizers. INN's activities have expanded from focusing on "the American Jewish establishment's support for Israel's occupation" to "the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' support for the traditional US-Israel alliance." It is currently pressuring the Democratic candidates to discontinue U.S. aid to, and other support for, Israel.

Jewish Voices for Peace, a leader in BDS activities, "views itself as the 'Jewish wing' of the Palestinian solidarity movement" and seeks "to create 'a wedge' within the American Jewish community." Its anti-Semitic campaigns have expanded from local governments to college campuses where it works in lockstep with the violence, harassment, and intimidation tactics of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Students Association helping to marginalize Jewish students and their Zionist voices.

Two new groups are gaining attention. Judaism on Our Own Terms, an umbrella group of several progressive Jewish student organizations, works with the virulently anti-Semitic SJP to fight "white supremacy" on college campuses and bring BDS-supporters to colleges and universities. Progressive Israel Network, another new umbrella group comprising ten left-wing organizations, all of whose raison d'etre is the demonization of Israel, is running a slate of delegates to be elected to the World Zionist Congress in the hopes of influencing policy dangerous to Israel's survival.

Part of the problem is the inclusiveness of the organized Jewish community. The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations has at least two anti-Israel, BDS-supporting groups as members: Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu. Ameinu, along with other far-left Jewish groups that promote policies antithetical to Israel's survival, including Partners for Progressive Israel, is also a member of the American Zionist Movement. And for years, UJA Federations have allowed the pro-Palestinian groups B'tselem and New Israel Fund to march in the Israel Day parade despite their support for BDS and Palestinian terrorists. One of the most mind-boggling partnerships is the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, formed between the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Islamic Society of North America, a Hamas-funded Muslim Brotherhood front group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial.

Mainstream Jewish organizations are welcoming some of these haters into their big tent, remaining silent about the harm they are causing, or pretending their hate is not doing real damage to the Jewish people. The Conference of Presidents, UJA, the Anti-Defamation League, AJC, and AIPAC all garner huge and blind support from the American Jewish community. They have done nothing to stop the growing movement on the left, nor are they willing to admit that the most dangerous form of anti-Semitism may actually be coming from many of our own people.

Liberal Jewish professors, rabbis, and politicians are also enabling and furthering the growing anti-Semitism we see at home and anti-Israel animus across the globe. Whether speaking out against Trump's pro-Israel policies (his peace plan, Israel prohibiting Omar and Tlaib from entry, the movement of the embassy to Jerusalem, or the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria), failing to acknowledge or minimizing the dangers of anti-Semitism on the left, or supporting candidates who demonize the Jewish homeland, Jews are complicit in allowing this hatred to flourish. The newly formed Jewish Democratic Council of America, obsessed with hatred of Trump, went so far as to produce a dishonest ad calling him the "biggest threat" to Jews while continually attacking his pro-Israel policies and ignoring the real sources of anti-Semitism in the country.

With anti-Semitism rising at alarming rates both globally and domestically, Jews across the political spectrum must take a stand and fight everyone who seeks to harm them  including their own people. Unfortunately, we are not only failing to engage in the battle, but waving the white flag while the enemies in our midst grow in number and aggressiveness. We are once again failing G-d's test, and that never ends well. What will it take for us to wake up before it is once again too late?

Lauri B. Regan is the New York chapter president and board member of the Endowment for Middle East Truth and treasurer and board member of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.
Light pollution caused by the bright beams from ships is playing havoc with Arctic marine animals by masking natural light from the moon, stars and aurora borealis.

Studying the impact of light on marine life during the Arctic's long polar night, experts found that ships can disturb marine life up to depths of 650 feet.

Fish and the tiny zooplankton they feed on normally rely on subtle changes in natural light to guide their behaviour, but this is overwhelmed by artificial light.

The findings are relevant to vessels undertaking biological research or assessments of commercial fish stock, which could be influenced by the light pollution.

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Light pollution caused by the bright beams from ships is playing havoc with Arctic marine animals by masking natural light from the moon, stars and aurora borealis

The research was undertaken by biologist Jorgen Berge of the Arctic University of Norway, in Troms, and colleagues.

'For organisms that remain active in one of the last undisturbed dark environments on the planet  the Arctic Polar Night  the moon, stars and aurora borealis may provide important cues to guide distribution and behaviours,' he said.

The polar night occurs when the Sun never fully rises above the horizon.

'With a changing climate and increased human activities in the Arctic, such natural light sources will in many places be masked by the much stronger illumination from artificial light,' Professor Berge said.

The phenomenon has added to the survival problems already faced by seals, sea otters, whales and the prey they depend upon.

'Arctic marine life, down to 200 metres (656 feet) below the surface, is disturbed by artificial light from ships,' added Professor Berge.

The findings suggest that the light from ships is affecting population surveys during the weeks-long polar night, which may in turn be impacting sustainable management schemes to protect against climate change and other hazards.

Fish and the tiny zooplankton that they eat rely on natural light to adjust their behaviour and migration patterns  and follow subtle, natural changes in night-time light during the polar night.

However, the team found that artificial light can both disorient them and disrupt their ecosystems  although the exact effects of this impact remain poorly understood.

Studying the impact of light on marine life during the Arctic's long polar night, experts found that ships can disturb marine life up to depths of 650 feet

Professor Berge's team analysed how fish and zooplankton communities responded when exposed to artificial light during the polar night at three Arctic locations.

When a ships lights were turned on, their behaviour changed within five seconds  with creatures up to depths of 200 metres below the surface changing both their vertical positions and how they swam.

The team found that the impact differed at all three sites  with the most dramatic effect seen in the northernmost area, where the night sky is darkest.

The findings should be taken into account when conducting future scientific investigations during the polar night, the researchers said.

'Normal working light from a ship may disrupt fish and zooplankton [...] across an area of 125 square metres (410 square feet) around the ship,' added Professor Berge.

'We conclude that biological surveys in the dark from illuminated ships may introduce biases on biological sampling, bioacoustic surveys and possibly stock assessments of commercial and non-commercial species.'

Fish and the tiny zooplankton they feed on normally rely on subtle changes in natural light to guide their behaviour, but this is overwhelmed by artificial light. Pictured, echograms of the Arctic seas show how marine life is altered by the presence of artificial light

Animals, including humans, have evolved to grow accustomed to the rhythms of the natural lightdark cycle of day and night.

Artificial light at night is known to be harmful to our health  increasing the risk of obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other illnesses  but can now be found in almost every ecosystem.

Experts believe that it is having negative effects on many creatures including amphibians, birds, mammals, insects and plants.

Previous research had shown that light pollution can penetrate under the water, altering the habitats of fish living in shallow reefs near urban environments.

Light disrupts the normal cues associated with circadian rhythms, which guide the timing of migrations, reproduction and feeding.

Artificial light at night can make it easier for predators to find smaller fish prey and can affect breeding in reef fish.

The researcher's findings show that it is having even more far-reaching consequences than was previously thought.

'Artificial illumination at night is increasing annually by six per cent on average, thus becoming one of the fastest-spreading environmental challenges of the Age of Man, said Professor Berge.

'Lights from cities, coastlines, roads and marine infrastructures are visible from outer space. The study of environmental impacts of artificial light has been a rapidly growing field in recent years.'

'Artificial light will require special consideration for the sustainable management of Arctic and sub-Arctic regions.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Communications Biology.


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Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Las Vegas. Raku shakes up the Las Vegas dining scene with a 3rd restaurant opening in April Read the full story on Eater Las Vegas. Man critically hurt after being hit by car, Las Vegas police say Read the full story on Las Vegas Review-Journal. UNLVs Elijah Mitrou-Long not expected to play Thursday Read the full story on Las Vegas Review-Journal. Man drives 5 miles, crashes after North Las Vegas police shoot him Read the full story on Las Vegas Review-Journal. Garth Brooks to host 1st major concert at Allegiant Stadium Read the full story on FOX26. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

Chef Mitsuo Endo plans to open Raku Toridokoro, focusing on chicken.

A man is in critical condition after he was hit by a car in east Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

UNLV senior guard Elijah Mitrou-Long returned to practice Wednesday, but he is not expected to play Thursday in the Mountain West tournament.

A man who was shot by North Las Vegas police on Wednesday morning drove about 5 miles down the highway with a gunshot wound before crashing, police said.
ree candidates for dean of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture will visit Curtis on Wednesday for a seminar and public reception

Larry A. Gossen, Ph.D., is a state FFA adviser with the Nebraska Department of Education and is based in Lincoln. His career in agriculture education and FFA organizations spans over 40 years in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska.

The NCTA interview schedule for three candidate finalists was announced Monday by the NCTA dean search committee, led by Tiffany Heng-Moss, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Gossen will meet with NCTA students, faculty, staff, alumni and stakeholders during a series of meetings Tuesday through Thursday.

He will present a campus seminar from 3:45 to 5 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium of the Nebraska Agriculture Industry Education Center, Siminoe Drive and University Road.

A campus and community reception for Gossen will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Ed Center.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation has found

Seven News in Queensland has breached the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice in a story about local council misconduct.

A news report from May 2019 stated that a mayor was cleared of allegations made against him which the ACMA found to be inaccurate.

The statement referred to the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commissions decision not to investigate a matter referred to it by the Local Government Conduct Review Panel. However the regulator ruled a decision not to investigate is not the same as clearing a person of allegations.

The term cleared implies there had been a finding. This was not the case, ACMA Chair Nerida OLoughlin said.

Seven News in Queensland has a good record of compliance with industry rules but on this occasion, they have dropped the ball.

Its important for Australians to be able to have trust in the news programs they see on TV, and inaccuracies such as this erode that trust.

ACMAs report did not name the council nor mayor at the centre of the story.

As a result of the findings Seven will circulate a copy of the investigation to Queensland editorial staff and include the decision in training sessions.
Appointment

5 March 2020

Laurent has stepped up as general manager at Awei Pila, the Group's most exotic resort which is situated on a private island in the pristine Mergui Archipelago, one of the newest and most desired destinations in Southeast Asia.

Surrounded by a labyrinth of 800 islands, atolls and lagoons, the Mergui Archipelago was for decades off-limits, and has only in recent years become accessible to visitors.

Awei PIla is now in its second season (open October through May) and has been hailed by several international travel magazines as one of the destinations of the future. Its 24 yurt-like villas overlook a pristine white-sand beach and sapphire sea, and the resort recently opened the first scuba diving center in the region.

Despite its remote location, Awei Pila is able to cater to diverse and intrepid travelers with speedboat transfers from the port of Kawthaung in southern Myanmar. It recently opened a spa, and provides full-board stays with exquisite dining overseen by an experienced Italian chef.
Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport has received a message about a bomb aboard an Airbus A320 bound for Omsk, an emergency source said.



According to the source, soon after the plane had departed, the airport authorities received an anonymous message about a board planted onboard.



The crew decided not to divert the plane and continue the flight, TASS reported.



A law enforcement source said, that the plane would be checked upon arrival to Omsk. According to the source, the bomb threat is highly likely to be a hoax.
Police want to speak to these two males in connection with the assault. (Police)

Police have released CCTV images of four men they want to speak to after a student was allegedly beaten up by attackers who shouted coronavirus at him.

Jonathan Mok, 23, from Singapore, claimed he was set upon by a group of men and a woman as he walked along Oxford Street in central London on 24 February.

Trouble allegedly started when the group passed Mok, who has been studying in the capital for two years, and one made a remark about coronavirus.

Mok revealed his facial injuries in a Facebook post.

See latest coronavirus news and updates

Jonathan Mok, 23, was attacked on Oxford Street in London. (Facebook/Jonathan Mok)

On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police released CCTV images of four men they wish to speak to.

Detective Sergeant Emma Kirby said: This attack left the victim shaken and hurt.

Theres no room on our streets for this kind of violent behaviour and we are committed to finding the perpetrators.

I am keen to speak to anyone who has information about this assault. I would like to identify and speak to the four men pictured, who may be able to help me with our inquiries.

Read more: UK sets out 'battle plan' to try to contain spread of coronavirus

Police are also looking for this person in connection with the attack. (Police)

A CCTV image of another suspect. (Police)

In his account of the assault, Mok described how, as he turned to face the group, one of the men said: Dont you dare look at me, before launching an attack.

The student said: All of a sudden, the first punch was swung at my face and took me by surprise. When I was still shocked by the first hit, the guy delivered the second sucker punch.

By then, a few passers-by had stopped and one of them tried to reason with them that four on one was not fair.

The attackers friend tried to swing a kick at me as I was explaining to the passer-by that I hadnt done anything at all.

Read more: Community transmission of coronavirus already happening, warns chief medic

I tried to react in self-defence but couldnt do anything substantial because I was still recovering from a broken finger in my master hand.

The guy who tried to kick me then said I dont want your coronavirus in my country, before swinging another sucker punch at me, which resulted in my face exploding with blood (from my nose), where the blood was splattered all across the pavement.
Senchi also said it was wrong of the APC to have kept Oshiomhole as chairman after he was suspended by his state chapter of the party.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday (March 04, 2020) filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against activist Harsh Mander seeking the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against him for his alleged "derogatory remarks" making insinuations against the apex court and its judges.

The Police has claimed that Mander's speech not only instigated violence but also seriously brought judiciary to disrepute.

In a six-page affidavit Rajesh Deo, Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police, Legal cell claimed that Mander incited people to violence and his remarks were in contempt of the Supreme Court.

"It is submitted that I have come across a video clip showing Harsh Mander delivering a speech which is not only instigating the violence but is also seriously contemptuous as it makes derogatory remarks against the Supreme Court of India to a huge gathering of people," the affidavit read.

"This clip is freely available on social media. Harsh Mander is known for taking contemptuous stand and bringing the judiciary, as an institution and individual judges to disrepute," the affidavit said.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, while hearing the petitions filed by Harsh Mander demanding registration of FIR against BJP leaders who gave provocative speeches during Delhi riots, ordered that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Mander file a reply in the top court by Friday.

The affidavit was filed in pursuance to the order passed earlier in the day by the bench which has kept to itself the plea filed by Mander while transferring other petition related to the violence to the Delhi High Court.

The apex court had said that the affidavit along with transcripts of the alleged hate speech has to be served to Mander's counsel who had denied that the activist made any such statement.

The Supreme Court had ordered that the cases relating to violence in Delhi to be listed before Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 6th March. The CJI also asked the High Court to decide the matter as expeditiously as possible.

As many as 48 people died and more than 250 were injured in clashes in Delhi on Sunday (February 23) which continued unabated till Tuesday (February 25).

(With inputs from agencies)
Prince Andrew might be the most hated royal in the family right now, even though he has some stiff competition as long as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is still technically a member. But despite the Duke of Yorks many transgressions, theres one person who is sticking by his side no matter what: his mother, Queen Elizabeth.

Royal fans were shocked when Queen Elizabeth was spotted riding horses with Andrew on palace grounds mere days after he was officially fired from his royal duties. Most expected that Her Majesty would be furious with her son for bringing shame to the royal family. Obviously, they dont understand the very close relationship Prince Andrew and Queen Elizabeth share.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew, Duke of York | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth had Prince Andrew at a different stage of life

Prince Charles and Princess Anne were still young children when Queen Elizabeth took the throne. She quickly got to work filling the role she took so seriously, going on extended trips and leaving the children in the care of their nanny, often for months at a time. Charles has expressed his bitterness at being sent away to boarding school and ignored by his mother the queen most of the time.

But by the time Prince Andrew came along in early 1960, Queen Elizabeth was more settled in her role and confident in her abilities. The queen took off for a full 18 months after Andrews birth to spend time enjoying her new child.

Queen Elizabeth with her second son Prince Andrew|  Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Prince Andrew was Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philips love child

Plus, right before the queen announced her pregnancy, there were rumors that she and Prince Philip were having issues in their marriage. Royal experts say Andrews birth was proof of their commitment to each other.

Royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell told The Sun, The marriage had a rough spell but the birth of Andrew showed the Queen and Philip were back on an even keel. Andrew was known as the love child and he was named after Philips father Prince Andrew of Greece as a tribute.

She continued, explaining why Andrew would come to represent such an important moment in the queens family history. I think the special relationship began right there because the Queen always associated Andrew with the re-booting of her marriage and a happy time in her life, Campbell explained.

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward | Fox Photos/Getty Images

The queen always treated Prince Andrew like he was special

During Queen Elizabeths extended maternity leave, she rarely took her infant son out in public, which led to speculation that he might be deformed in some way. But really the queen was just keeping him all to herself  which makes you wonder how she could be upset with Prince Harry and Meghan for attempting to do the same with Archie.

Young Prince Andrew made his public debut at the annual Trooping the Colour celebration when he was 16 months old. He was christened shortly after. Rumor has it that Queen Elizabeth intentionally conceived Prince Edward to be a playmate for Andrew so he wouldnt be an only child, since his other two siblings were so much older.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew are still close today

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Their relationship changed over the years as Prince Andrew matured into a young man and then an adult, but one important fact remained the same: the queen always had a special place in her heart for Prince Andrew. Most royal experts believe he is her favorite child.

And thats precisely why she refuses to believe that he committed any crime beyond trusting Jeffrey Epstein too much and falling for his lies. Royal biographer Andrew Morton put it this way: With the Epstein scandal she  and the rest of the royal family  will take him at his wordThey will believe he had no idea about Epsteins true sick personality and his only mistake was to associate with him after he came out of prison.

After exploring the queens close relationship with her son, its easy to see why shed be spotted riding horses with him post-scandal. She still doesnt believe her precious Prince Andrew did anything wrong.
The major Asia-Pacific stock indexes surged on Thursday, following the lead of Wall Street on Wednesday, and in reaction to the announcement of a $50 billion aid package to combat the impact of the coronavirus by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Meanwhile, investors continued to monitor for developments on the coronavirus outbreak that has now spread worldwide, with more than 90,000 confirmed cases globally. South Korea reported 760 new cases and 3 additional deaths, bringing the nationwide total number of infections to 6,088.

On Thursday, Japans Nikkei 225 Index settled at 21329.12, up 229.06 or +1.09%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index closed at 26767.87, up 545.80 or +2.08% and South Koreas KOSPI Index finished at 2085.26, up 25.93 or +1.26%.

In China, the Shanghai Index settled at 3071.68, up 60.01 or +1.99% and Australias S&P/ASX 200 Index finished at 6395.70, up 70.30 or 1.11%.

Asian Markets Track Wall Street Shares Higher

Asia-Pacific stock markets edged up on Thursday, tracking a surge on Wall Street as robust U.S. economic data, more policy stimulus and Joe Bidens strong showing in the Democratic primary contests boosted investor sentiment.

Services sector activity in the United States jumped to a one-year high in February, data showed, and the House of Representatives passed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The prospect of the Fed starting a global easing cycle  and ramped up U.S. fiscal firepower to fight COVID-19 were catalysts for equity markets to front-run economic relief, Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist at Mizuho Bank, said in a note.

IMF Announces $50 Billion Aid Package

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced a $50 billion aid package Wednesday to help fight the coronavirus. Georgieva said on CNBCs Squawk Alley that the money is available immediately and is for low-income and emerging market countries. Most of the money will be interest-free, and countries do not need to have a preexisting program with the IMF to participate, she said.

Story continues

What were doing right now is reviewing country by country what are the financial needs, and engaging with these countries to make sure they are aware of this resource and we can immediately respond to them, Georgieva said. Were in an early stage of engagement, but I can assure you that we will act very quickly as requests come.

World Bank Approves $12 Billion in Emergency Financing to Help Poor Nations

The World Bank approved $12 billion in emergency financing to help poor nations with the health costs and economic impact of the outbreak, the organization said.

We are working to provide a fast, flexible response based on developing country needs in dealing with the spread of COVID-19, World Bank Group President David Malpass said in a statement.

Australias Trade Data Comes in Above Expectations

Australias January trade data released Thursday came in above expectations. The balance on goods and services came in at a surplus of $5.21 billion Australian Dollars on a seasonally adjusted basis, above expectations of a surplus of $4.8 billion Australian Dollars in a Reuters poll.

Additionally, the country warned on Thursday that the coronavirus crisis will deduct as at least half a percentage point from growth in the current quarter, according to Reuters.

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Linkedin Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin (Reuters) Seoul, South Korea  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:01 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068742d7 2 World #SouthKorea,#coronavirus,death-toll,lockdown Free

South Korea declared a "special care zone" on Thursday around a second city hit hard by the coronavirus and the US military confirmed two new cases among relatives of its troops in the country, which is battling the biggest epidemic outside China.

Australia became the latest country to impose travel restrictions on South Koreans, with almost 100 nations now limiting arrivals from the East Asian country which reported 438 new coronavirus cases on Thursday for a total of 5,766.

The South Korean government declared a "special care zone" around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250 kms (150 miles) southeast of Seoul, promising extra resources such as face masks and warning people from travelling there.

Gyeongsan has seen a spike in new cases, including at a nursing home. Similar zones have been declared around neighbouring Daegu city and Cheongdo County.

Around 75% of all cases in South Korea are in and around Daegu, the country's fourth-largest city, where the flu-like virus that emerged from China late last year has spread rapidly through members of a religious group.

"Everyday is sad and tough like a war. But our Daegu citizens are showing surprise wisdom and courage," Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin told reporters on Thursday.

Officials said hospitals in the hardest hit areas were struggling to accommodate new patients. Daegu city officials said 2,117 patients were waiting for rooms in the city.

Dozens of newly commissioned military nurses were due to begin work in Daegu on Thursday, the health ministry said.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported three more deaths from the virus, bringing the total in the country to 35.

NEW US CASES

US Forces Korea (USFK) reported two new cases, for a total of six cases in soldiers, employees or people related to the roughly 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

Despite the new cases, USFK had resumed sending troops to bases in Daegu and surrounding areas, according to military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Commanders believed the bases were protected from the outside population, and that the troop rotations were needed to maintain readiness in the face of continued threats from nuclear-armed North Korea, the newspaper reported.

Australia's move to ban the arrival of foreigners from South Korea is a blow to Seoul's efforts to prevent the United States from imposing such restrictions.

South Korean officials met the US ambassador in Seoul on Wednesday to urge the United States not to limit travel.

According to the US State Department, anyone with a fever of 100.4 F (38 C) is already banned from boarding direct flights from South Korea to the United States.

Korean Air Lines said on Thursday it would screen all passengers departing Incheon airport for high temperatures and reject those deemed a risk.

South Korea sent three "rapid response" teams to Vietnam on Thursday to assist more than 270 citizens quarantined in that country over coronavirus concerns, the foreign ministry said.
Thirty-two students from Madison Hughes English as a second language class at Beck Junior High never lived through 9/11. They are too young, but they have developed a much deeper understanding of kindness through studying it.

As flights were grounded after airplanes hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, 38 planes landed in Gander, Newfoundland, and swelled the towns population of about 10,000 residents by another roughly 7,000 people from around the world. After all the towns 500 hotel rooms had been filled, the community of Gander rallied around those unexpected guests, letting them sleep in schools and cooking them meals, serving them during a difficult time. In short, they treated them like family for up to five days until the air travel ban was lifted.

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Fast forward to a couple of years ago when Hughes got to see the musical based on the story, Come From Away. She held on to it, knowing there were lessons that could teach her future students.

Now, Hughes is a first-year teacher in the Katy Independent School District. As a project, she assigned her students that are from places like Venezuela, Mexico, Finland, Guatemala, Norway and China to pen letters in English  no easy task, she said  to the people of Gander. The letters thanked them for their wonderful example of love that they had shown toward people just like themselves in a place completely unfamiliar and new.

The Gander community responded to the letters and had them printed in multiple color copies with some to be kept on file in Gander and some for the students to treasure for years to come.

On Tuesday, March 3, the students traveled on a bus to see the musical playing at The Hobby Center in downtown Houston. Hughes said as the students watched, they seemed to be enamored with the show and moreover, the whole experience.

They were so excited, and they could not believe that it was happening to them, that they were there at The Hobby Center  Im sure it was probably surreal to see the story they played a part in years later, but to see it on stage and to be hearing it, the music, you could just tell on their faces that Wow.

Related: Two Katy ISD spellers hope for victory at regional bee

As a further surprise treat, the students were greeted in class the next afternoon with three special guests: Ganders former mayor during 9/11, Claude Elliott; Beverley Bass, American Airlines first female captain on a commercial aircraft, who happened to land in Gander that day; and her husband, Tom Stawicki, who supported their family while their mom was away. They all made time to say hello and answer questions from the eager students.

Elliott said managing the many cultures and languages could be tricky, but somehow they all got through it.

We had people in Gander from 95 countries, so you can imagine  one minute, youre a Newfoundlander, and the next minute after, youre a Texan. And then after that, you have someone from Africa or something like that.

Camila Aular is a seventh grader at Beck and said she really appreciated how Gander treated people that they didnt know at all and that were from many foreign lands.

In Gander, people gave blankets and food that they needed. And they didnt care where they were from, how they looked like, said Aular. She said things are different today and that not everyone is as accepting.

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A few months back Hughes sent a Facebook message to Bass to see if she could get some copies of her book, Me and the Sky: Captain Beverley Bass, Pioneering Pilot autographed. When Bass obliged, Hughes was grateful but said she had a dream about taking her students to see the musical that features Bass Gander story. Bass worked with the production company, so the students got to attend the musical as guests.

Hughes says she believes in dreaming large and putting in the effort to make it happen, and thats what she did. She plans to continue teaching the lessons of the Gander story for years to come.

We had no idea anything would come of a simple writing assignment for them. You know, most of the writing assignments that you do in school, you do them, Hughes said. And its fun, but projects are fleeting. So for us to do this project and for the letters to be sent to Gander to receive them and acknowledge to the kids, things just kept happening without any control.

Related: Katy ISD board taps local CEO to head bond committee

She said the first day of school, her students were just a group from many parts of the world, but at the play, you could see that they were a class that had formed as one.

They had to find a way to be successful, and I think without me having to say anything, the underlying tones of you know, kindness to strangers and accepting people from other cultures, celebrating other cultures for what they bring to the table, Hughes added.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
Several coronaviruses circulate worldwide and constantly infect humans, which normally caused only mild respiratory disease. Currently, however, we are witnessing a worldwide spread of a new coronavirus with more than 90,000 confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths. The new virus has been named SARS coronavirus-2 and has been transmitted from animals to humans. It causes a respiratory disease called COVID-19 that may take a severe course. The SARS coronavirus-2 has been spreading since December 2019 and is closely related to the SARS coronavirus that caused the SARS pandemic in 2002/2003. No vaccines or drugs are currently available to combat these viruses.

Stopping virus spread

A team of scientists led by infection biologists from the German Primate Centre and including researchers from Charite, the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, the BG-Unfallklinik Murnau, the LMU Munich, the Robert Koch Institute and the German Center for Infection Research, wanted to find out how the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 enters host cells and how this process can be blocked. The researchers identified a cellular protein that is important for the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into lung cells. "Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 requires the protease TMPRSS2, which is present in the human body, to enter cells," says Stefan Pohlmann, head of the Infection Biology Unit at the German Primate Center. "This protease is a potential target for therapeutic intervention."

Promising drug

Since it is known that the drug camostat mesilate inhibits the protease TMPRSS2, the researchers have investigated whether it can also prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2. "We have tested SARS-CoV-2 isolated from a patient and found that camostat mesilate blocks entry of the virus into lung cells," says Markus Hoffmann, the lead author of the study. Camostat mesilate is a drug approved in Japan for use in pancreatic inflammation. "Our results suggest that camostat mesilate might also protect against COVID-19," says Markus Hoffmann. "This should be investigated in clinical trials."

###

Original publication

Hoffmann, M et al. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 cell entry depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and is blocked by a clinically-proven protease inhibitor. Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.052

Contact and notes for editors

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pohlmann

Tel: +49 551 3851-150

Email: spoehlmann@dpz.eu

Dr. Markus Hoffmann

Tel: +49 551 3851 338

Email: mhoffmann@dpz.eu

Dr. Susanne Diederich (Communication)

Tel: +49 551 3851-359

Email: sdiederich@dpz.eu

Printable pictures: https://owncloud.dpz.eu/index.php/s/xfLpjcYeWoIreVa

Video: https://youtu.be/Ry9wPe3roP4

You will also find the press release on our website. Please send us a reference copy or link in case of publication.

The German Primate Center GmbH (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research conducts biological and biomedical research on and with primates in the fields of infection research, neuroscience and primate biology. The DPZ also maintains four field stations in the tropics and is a reference and service center for all aspects of primate research. The DPZ is one of the 96 research and infrastructure facilities of the Leibniz Association.
Srinagar, March 5 : Former J&K minister Altaf Bukhari on Thursday welcomed the lifting of curbs on social media networking sites in the Union Territory saying that the move has come as a good omen before the launch of his party scheduled in the next few days.

In a statement issued here, Bukhari said that he is happy for the development as the people especially the youth of J&K were feeling discriminated against in the absence of being connected with the outside world through the use of modern day technological facilities.

"I look at this development as a good omen for the launch of our party that is scheduled in the coming few days. Since lifting of curbs on social media was one of our demands submitted to the government, the people especially our youth now feel relaxed after rewiring with their friends and acquaintances across the globe," he remarked.

The former J&K minister, however, demanded the restoration of 4G services on phones and broadband services for optimum utilization of Internet facilities by the people particularly the businessmen and the student community.

Bukhari said that the Supreme Court's verdict on Internet restoration had brought relief to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who suffered tremendously because of the communication blockade for the last over six months.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court's verdict vis-a-vis restoration of fundamental rights of citizens of Jammu and Kashmir assumed much significance given the scale of loss suffered by the people especially in education, health and business sectors due to the continuous Internet shutdown. The government must honour the apex court verdict and implement the same in letter and spirit without any further delay," he added.

The former Finance Minister reiterated his call for the immediate release of three former Chief Ministers and other political workers who are detained in and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

"I don't think there is any reason or rationale behind continuing detention of the three former chief ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. Similarly, other political workers, who are in jails, should also be released to make the situation more conducive for political process in J&K, Bukhari demanded.

To win the confidence of the people of Jammu and Kashmiri, the government of India should accord a positive consideration to the other demands put forth by his delegation in the shape of a memorandum submitted to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir on January 7 at Jammu, he said.

"We are of the firm belief that economic development can take place only if there is normalcy and stability in the region. Need of the hour is to rebuild an atmosphere of trust and tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir. That can only happen when the main apprehensions among people of Jammu and Kashmir are allayed in a just and humane manner," Bukhari said while urging for implementation of his other demands at the earliest.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  The move of the Duterte administration to suspend loans and financial grants from states who called for a probe into the Philippines' drug war was only done out of "outrage," Malacanang admitted Thursday.

"That was made because of what these countries did when they passed a resolution condemning the war on drugs in this country. It was more of an outrage reaction," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.

"Having already expressed our stand on that, perhaps there is now a reason to change it," he said.

Malacanang issued Wednesday a copy of a February 27 memorandum which ordered all department secretaries, and heads of agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and state financial institutions to resume talks for signing loan and grant agreements. These pertain to agreements with countries that had voted for or co-sponsored Iceland's resolution urging the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to look into the killings and other alleged human rights abuses in the Philippines.

The memorandum, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea "by order of the President" is "effective immediately."

On March 2, the United States Embassy, through the US Agency for International Development, donated $37 million to the Philippines, one of the countries affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

There were 24 other countries who received this grant, but Panelo said he will verify whether this was what triggered the Duterte administration to finally resume accepting aid from other countries.

On July 11, 2019, 17 member states of the UN Human Rights Council voted to adopt Iceland's resolution calling for an investigation into the Philippines' drug war. On August 27, 2019, Malacanang issued an order stopping all negotiations for aid from Iceland and the 17 other states supportive of the UN probe.

These countries are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, UK, and Uruguay. Fourteen other nations, including the Philippines and China, voted against the conduct of a probe. The remaining 15 abstained.

Local and international human rights groups claimed that there were more than 20,000 extrajudicial killings under the admnistration's anti-narcotics campaign, something which the Duterte government has repeatedly denied.
Lompoc, CA, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

DenMat Holdings, LLC (DenMat), today announced that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Henry Schein Canada., a subsidiary of Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC), the worlds largest provider of health care solutions to office-based dental and medical practitioners. Under the new agreement, effective March 2, 2020, Henry Schein Canada will assume sales, customer service, and fulfillment activities for all DenMats professional products in Canada.

We are very pleased to be working with Henry Schein as our exclusive partner in Canada, said David Casper, CEO of DenMat. Its market-leading position and best-in-class customer service makes them the ideal partner for our dental customers and our company.

This new distribution agreement will complement DenMats existing sales team in Canada, who will continue to support the existing customer base while introducing new dentists to the companys wide range of restorative and preventive solutions.

Our team is very pleased that DenMat has chosen Henry Schein as its exclusive distribution partner. We are excited to expand our one-stop shopping experience for our customers with the full array of high-quality, innovative DenMat products, said Prashant Ohri, Vice President and General Manager of Henry Schein Canada. We look forward to working closely with DenMat to grow our mutual business in Canada.

About DenMat:

Since 1974, DenMat is a leader in high-quality dental products for dental professionals around the world. DenMat makes and assembles most of its products at its world headquarters on the Central Coast of California. DenMat offers three main product categories: Consumables, Small Equipment, and a Dental Laboratory. DenMat's consumables include brands that are known and trusted, including Fluoridex, Geristore, Core Paste, Tenure, Ultra-Bond, Infinity, Splash Max, Precision, Perfectemp, Atridox and LumiSmile White. DenMat's small equipment offering includes a broad range of products, including NV PRO3 and SOL soft-tissue diode lasers, the Rotadent power toothbrush, PeriOptix magnification loupes and lights, Flashlite curing lights and a full line of high-quality Hartzell hand instruments. DenMat is also home to Lumineers, the world's #1 patient-requested thin veneer, and Snap-On Smile, the life-changing removable appliance.

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Carol Newberry

Den-Mat Holdings, LLC.

800-433-6628

info@denmat.com


As scientists around the world work to better understand the COVID-19 disease, scientists in China believe they have discovered a mutation in coronavirus that is fuelling the global outbreak.

The deadly coronavirus has mutated into two strains, one of which appears to be far more aggressive.

Thats the preliminary findings from researchers at Peking University's School of Life Sciences and the Institute Pasteur of Shanghai in China, in a paper examining the origin and continuing evolution of whats been officially dubbed SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2).

Population genetic analyses of 103 SARS-CoV-2 genomes indicated that these viruses evolved into two major types, researchers wrote in the paper published in the National Science Review.

According to the study, scientists discovered the virus evolved into two major lineages, dubbed the S and L types.

Chinese meat vendors wear protective masks as they wait for customers at a local market in Beijing, China. Source: Getty

The S type is older, and thus considered the ancestral version, but accounted for about 30 per cent of cases. The L type, however, is more prevalent and accounts for about of 70 per cent of cases, researchers said.

The L type was more prevalent in the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan, the frequency of the L type decreased after early January 2020, researchers noted.

Human intervention may have placed more severe selective pressure on the L type, which might be more aggressive and spread more quickly.

The study sheds some light on how COVID-19 is evolving and suggests that more mutations could be possible in the future  a situation that could hinder efforts to find a vaccine.

According to the UKs The Telegraph, genetic analysis of a man in the US who tested positive on January 21 showed it was possible to be infected with both types.

However the researchers were quick to note that more research is needed to understand the significance of the studys findings and how SARS-CoV-2 differs from other coronaviruses.

Story continues

These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), they wrote.

COVID-19 so effective at transmitting

The discovery of what appears to be a mutation in the virus comes as cases continue to spread across the world, including Australia with new cases announced in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia on Thursday.

Professor Ian Mackay, virologist and associate professor at The University of Queensland, says its clear the COVID-19 disease isnt going away any time soon.

Well just see this virus bounce around, looking for new hosts, he told Yahoo News Australia.

I think what happens is the virus keeps spreading in countries, there are more and more hotspots outside of China, he said.

Were seeing exponential growth in a few countries around Europe, so it does look like its taking off.

This virus, I think, will stay with us because its so effective at transmitting  like the other four human coronaviruses we live with right now, he said.

Those cause relatively mild disease at the moment because weve lived with them for so long... this virus may settle down to be more like them, or it may not.

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.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members struggled on Wednesday to win support from Russia to join them in additional oil output cuts in a bid to prop up prices which have tumbled by a fifth this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. A panel of several ministers from OPEC, Russia and other producers failed to clinch a preliminary agreement for additional cuts, OPEC sources said. At the panel meeting in Vienna, the sources said Russia proposed keeping existing cuts by the group known as OPEC+ until the end of the second quarter. Saudi Arabia wants extra cuts of 1 million to 1.5 ...
CHICO, Calif. - Bryan Dawson pleaded guilty to "gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated" with an enhancement of leaving the scene of a crime.

Prosecutors said that Dawson was so drunk when the crime occurred, he did not realize he ran over anyone.

20-year-old Maria Flores was struck and killed when Dawson ran his car up on the sidewalk on Nord Avenue, in December of 2016.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in handing down the sentence, Judge Jesus Rameriz noted that Dawson already served a year in jail, expressed remorse, had no criminal history and was enrolled for two years in a residential treatment program for alcohol.

Ramsey thinks a state prison sentence would have been more appropriate.
President Donald Trump last week lashed out at MSNBC and CNN for trying to the make the coronavirus look as bad as possible.

Trumps supporters in the media told their audiences that news outfits were exaggerating the threat of the coronavirus to hurt his chances for re-election.

What nonsense.

The coronavirus is a big deal. How the U.S. responds to it deserves in-depth coverage.

This was the situation at the end of last week:

More than 80,000 coronavirus cases had been confirmed globally  the vast majority in China, where the virus struck in late 2019. Nearly 3,000 people worldwide had died from it.

Cases in Italy, Iran, South Korea and other countries stoked worries that the virus is continuing to spread and will severely damage economies around the world. That caused the stock market to tumble.

As of Saturday, 71 cases were confirmed in the U.S., including a death in Washington state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that many more cases were likely.

Its not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a news briefing early last week.

Her not if but when statement received wide coverage by the news media. Soon after, Trump posted a tweet that began, Low Ratings Fake News.

He went on to say that the MSNBC and CNN cable news channels are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible.

He misspelled coronavirus. To spell and pronounce it correctly, think corona (circle) and virus.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said the coronavirus, which attacks the respiratory system, is just a common cold.

He said members of the media would love for the coronavirus to be the deadly strain that wipes everybody out so they could blame Trump for it.

On the Fox News Channel, Sean Hannity lambasted the mob in the media and said news outlets failed to tell the public that the Trump administration has been aggressively responding to the corona outbreak for quite a while.

On Fox & Friends, the hosts said prominent Democrats and news organizations were over-playing coronavirus to hurt Trump.

They shouldnt make it political, said Ainsley Earhardt.

In a briefing at the White House, Trump announced that the governments response to the coronavirus would be coordinated by Vice President Mike Pence and not a public-health expert.

Before commenting on the coronavirus publicly, anyone in the federal government must clear it with Pence.

I wondered if he would facilitate or block the flow of information about the coronavirus to the news media and then to us.

Paul Janensch, of Bridgeport, was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University. Email: paul.janensch@quinnipiac.edu.
His leadership style is one that I aspire to each day, which is based on enduring compassion for those we serve, the innate desire to give back to the communities we love, and the determination to ensure that when our terms of office have ended, we have left the government better than we found it, Alsobrooks said in a statement.


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Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:22 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20687542f 1 National face-mask,coronavirus-mask-rush,Central-Java-Police,COVID-19 Free

Central Java Police arrested on Tuesday three residents of Semarang for alleged price gouging in the wake of the buying frenzy that erupted on Monday, when the country confirmed its first cases of COVID-19.

The three had reportedly been caught stockpiling face masks and hand sanitizers and reselling them at almost nine times the original price.

Central Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Iskandar F. Sutisna said on Tuesday that the police had arrested the three suspects  identified only as A, 45; M, 25; and AU, 45  who had been selling the marked-up products on Facebook, where they had also posted their contact information.

We have confiscated 4,000 face masks as evidence, as well as hand sanitizers. One box of masks originally costs from Rp 30,000 (US$2.12) to Rp 40,000, but they were selling [one] for Rp 275,000, Iskandar said.

People were rushing to look for face masks after the coronavirus [announcement] and they panicked when they couldn't find it at [stores], so they resorted to buying them from the suspects, he added.

The suspects have been charged under Article 107 of Law No. 7/2014 on Trade, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison sentence and a Rp 50 billion fine. They are also being charged with violating the 1999 Consumer Protection Law.

Meanwhile, Central Java Police general crimes head Sr. Comr. Budhi Haryanto explained that the police had tracked down the suspects through a cyber investigation based on reports from the public.

Read also: Surabaya Mayor Risma admits to hoarding masks 'since January' in anticipation of COVID-19 outbreak

He said several areas in Central Java, including areas along the North Coast (Pantura) Highway as well as the regencies of Brebes and Kendal, which had already run out of face masks and hand sanitizers.

Apparently, they have [sold out] because the hoarders bought them all, Budhi said.

We already have the names of more than five other face mask hoarders, he added, indicating that investigations were ongoing in other price gouging cases.

Budhi warned the general public to refrain from buying face masks in bulk with the intent to resell them at markup prices.

Please have more sympathy for the public. We will keep looking for hoarders because the President has instructed us to be strict toward them, he cautioned.

A buying frenzy gripped people all over the country on Monday afternoon following President Joko Jokowi Widodo's announcement of the first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in country. Stores reported that customers were buying up items ranging from instant noodles to face masks and antiseptic wipes.

Designated Case 1 and Case 2, Indonesia's first confirmed cases are a mother and daughter currently being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in North Jakarta. (dpk)
France finally delivered its three Harfang (Eagle) UAVs to Morocco in a $48 million sale that included ground support and maintenance equipment as well as extended tech support. Completing this sale took six years as Moroccan Islamic conservatives condemned the proposed deal because the Harfangs were actually an Israeli design renamed and modified somewhat for French service. The Israeli origins of Harfang were never a secret but few Moslem majority nations purchased Israeli military equipment. As a result of the criticism by Moroccan clerics and politicians, the Harfang deal was delayed but never canceled.

As Israeli-Arab relations improved, especially because of the growing Iranian threat against Gulf Arab states, official criticism of Israel in Arab states diminished. Commercial ties with Israel also increased. The Arab states were also out of patience with the Palestinians they had long supported diplomatically and financially. The Palestinians proved to be incurably corrupt and more dedicated to suicidal, and futile, attacks on Israel, and each other. In 2019 the Israeli prime minister met with Moroccan leaders and discussed several items of mutual interest and out of that came the decision to finally complete the Harfang deal with France.

After 2014 France continued to use the Harfangs alongside its new Reapers. While doing that the Harfangs had their sensors and electronics upgraded and when delivered to Morocco these UAVs to be formidable reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft. They are being used to monitor continued threats in southern Morocco from Polisario separatist groups who survive in refugee camps in neighboring Algeria. The Harfangs are well suited to monitor the southern borders and semi-desert areas of southern Morocco.

In 2014 France received its first two American Reaper UAVs and immediately put them to work. Since then another ten have been ordered and all have been delivered. These not only replaced older Harfang UAVs but were also being used more aggressively because the Reapers are armed while the Harfangs are not. France wasted no time in using the Reapers in place of their three Harfangs, which had been in service since 2008. In 2014 Morocco expressed an interest in buying the Harfangs. France and Morocco have long had good relations, especially in military matters. Morocco needed UAVs to patrol its vast desert borders, which have long been exploited by smugglers and a few Islamic terrorists. These days the threat is Islamic terrorists and drug smugglers, both of which Morocco wants to keep out. Morocco already has four Predator XP (the unarmed civil version) UAVs. The Harfangs can be armed but have never been equipped with weapons. The Reaper was designed with weapons use in mind and that is apparently one reason France switched to Reaper.

The Harfang was based on the Israeli Heron Shoval UAV, which in turn is very similar to the MQ-1 Predator and is selling well to foreign customers who cannot obtain the MQ-1. In addition to being one of the primary UAVs for many armed forces (Israel, India, Turkey, Russia, France, Brazil, El Salvador), the United States, Canada, and Australia have either bought, leased, or licensed manufactured the Heron. France has bought four Harfang ("Eagle") UAVs that were license built based on the Heron. These were used in Afghanistan, Libya, and Mali since 2010 and one was lost in Afghanistan during a landing accident.

The Heron Shoval weighs about the same (1.2 tons) as the Predator and has similar endurance (40 hours). Shoval has a slightly higher ceiling (10 kilometers/30,000 feet, versus 8 kilometers) and software which allows it to automatically take off, carry out a mission, and land automatically. Not all American large UAVs can do this. Both Predator and Shoval cost about the same ($5 million just for the aircraft), although the Israelis are willing to be more flexible on price. Shoval does have a larger wingspan (16.5 meters/51 feet) than the Predator (13.2 meters/41 feet) and a payload of about 137 kg (300 pounds). The French version costs about $25 million each (including sensors and development costs).

The MQ-9 Reaper is a 4.7 ton, 11.6 meter (36 foot) long aircraft, with a 21.3 meter (66 foot) wingspan that looks like the MQ-1 Predator. It has six hard points and can carry 682 kg (1,500 pounds) of weapons. These include Hellfire missiles (up to eight), two Sidewinder or two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two Maverick missiles, or two 227 kg (500 pound) smart bombs (laser or GPS guided). Max speed is 400 kilometers an hour and max endurance is 15 hours. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, to replace F-16s or A-10s in many situations.

Until 2014 demand for UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan was so great that the U.S. would not provide many Predators or Reapers, with or without weapons to foreign buyers. This forced foreigner to develop their own UAVs or seek them from the other major source of UAVs; Israel. But with the withdrawal of most American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan since 2011, its easier to get Predators and Reapers.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 17:37 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068984fc 1 City coronavirus-mask-rush,coronavirus,COVID-19,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,North-Jakarta,North-Jakarta-Police,police,face-mask,mask Free

Around 60,000 surgical masks confiscated from hoarders will be sold to the public, the North Jakarta Police said on Thursday.

North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Budhi Herdi Susianto said that the masks would be more useful if they were sold to the public rather than kept as evidence, especially given the publics fears about the spread of COVID-19.

Doing this means we are bending the rules a little bit here, but it is being done for the good of the people, Budhi said on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co.

Budhi said that the masks would, under the oversight of the police, be sold by the two people suspected of stockpiling them. The two have been told to sell the masks at regular prices.

The masks will be sold at Rp 22,000 [US$1.55] for a box of 50 masks, Budhi said.

He said everybody was welcome to buy the masks, but each buyer was limited to a maximum of 10 boxes.

Previously, the Jakarta Police also seized 350 boxes of face masks during a raid on the residence of a person suspected of stockpiling in Tanjung Duren, Grogol Petamburan, West Jakarta, in the wake of panic buying that hit the capital city on Monday following the announcement of the countrys first confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Panic buying has prompted a price surge for such items both online and offline in recent days, with a box of face masks now selling for an average of Rp 300,000 (US$21)  a whopping 1,500 percent increase from the original average of Rp 20,000 per box.

In response to the phenomenon, the National Police announced that it would bring those known to have hoarded masks and hand sanitizers to justice.

We are carrying out an investigation to sniff out any illegal stockpiling, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Argo Yuwono said. (gis)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 4

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

A delegation from Russia's Primorsky Region headed by Deputy head of the regional authority Konstantin Shestakov will visit Tashkent, Trend reports citing the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

In particular, bilateral negotiations and meetings are envisaged between the investment and foreign trade officials, transport, along with Uzbekazikovkaholding Company and private business of Uzbekistan, the report says.

It is planned to discuss issues of fruit and vegetables supply from Uzbekistan to Primorsky Krai, cooperation of wholesale and trade networks, development of transport and logistics cooperation in order to expand trade and economic ties.

Recently, Uzbek representatives stated at a meeting at the Consulate General of Uzbekistan in Novosibirsk that the country is ready to increase the supply of fruits and vegetables to Novosibirsk region.

It was reported a few days ago that President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti will also visit Uzbekistan these days.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
Ukraines low-cost airline SkyUp Airlines offers cheap tickets for flights to Prague (Czech Republic) and Tel Aviv (Israel). Flights are operated from Zaporizhzhia International Airport.

Take advantage of special fares for flights to Prague and Tel Aviv. A one-way ticket without luggage for Zaporizhzhia-Prague flight costs from UAH 1,243, Prague-Zaporizhzhia flight  from UAH 1,492; Zaporizhzhia-Tel Aviv flight  from UAH 2,050; and Tel Aviv-Zaporizhzhia flight from UAH 2,249, the airline's press service reports on its Facebook page.

The airline adds that a person can purchase tickets at a special price by March 11 and plan a trip until October 2020.

ish
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was missing from the House for the second consecutive day on Thursday, with BJD leader B Mahtab  who presided over the proceedings  saying Birla was saddened by the constant disruptions.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Thursday as vociferous protests and sloganeering by opposition parties over the Delhi violence disrupted proceedings for the fourth straight day.

Amid din, three questions were taken up during the Question Hour.

For the second consecutive day, Speaker Om Birla was not present in the House and the proceedings were presided over by Mahtab.

Before adjourning the Question Hour after about 15 minutes in the morning, Mahtab told protesting members that disruption does not bring credit to anyone.

Around 30 members, mostly from the Congress, were in the Well of the House shouting slogans and displaying placards and a banner, demanding resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah over the Delhi violence.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that three-fourth of the members want the House to function.

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said those at the root of division in the society are protesting. The government has taken action and is also ready to have discussion on Delhi violence on March 11, he said.

Mahtab also said the Speaker was saddened by happenings in the House, due to which he decided not to preside over proceedings.

As he was speaking from the chair, a Congress member was heard shouting, "you are not the Speaker".

If the government is ready to talk, then you should also talk and there is no point in creating ruckus. Both Delhi riots and coronavirus situation are important issues and there should be discussions on them, Mahtab told agitating members.
Russia hopes that those responsible for murdering Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov will be punished, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, TASS reports.

"We are keeping a close eye on this case and want to be sure that the masterminds behind the murder and the perpetrators will be found and punished in accordance with the law," he said.

The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on demand by Turkish prosecutors that five suspects in Karlovs murder case be acquitted. "We will not comment on the internal processes related to the judicial system, with state prosecution in Turkey, thats none of our business. The most important thing for us is to make sure that those who killed our ambassador are punished," he stated.

When asked whether Russias special services are working on the issue, Peskov refrained from comments. "I cannot tell you that, I have no information," he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday afternoon that the total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in New York has increased to 22.

At least three people are hospitalized among the newest cases, Cuomo announced at a press conference.

With these new cases we are doing the same thing as we have done with the other cases: Tracking down people who have had contact with the known positive #coronavirus cases," Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

"We are trying to contain as much as possible the spread of each case we find  but we expect more cases, he said.

UPDATE: NY now has 22 confirmed #Coronavirus cases statewide  11 new positive tests since yesterday.



Of the new cases:



-8 are in Westchester, all mild or no symptoms

-2 are in NYC, both individuals hospitalized

-1 is in Nassau County, a 42yo man, also hospitalized  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 5, 2020

The announcement comes hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the two additional New York City cases  a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s, which are included among Cuomos latest confirmed cases.

With an influx of tests required in New York, de Blasio asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase our supply of COVID-19 test kits and expedite the approval of any testing approaches developed by private companies.

Our single greatest challenge is the lack of fast federal action to increase testing capacity  without that, we cannot beat this epidemic back, he said.

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

The House of Representatives voted to pass a bipartisan funding package to address the coronavirus with the help of Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Now on its way to the Senate, the $8.3 billion package will be used for a robust response to what officials are calling a public health emergency.

The World Health Organization said there are over 95,200 confirmed cases globally. The Washington State Department of Health announced on Tuesday that 10 deaths have been confirmed in the state. One death has been reported in California, the states health department said Wednesday.
Maryland would have joined just a handful of states that broadly tax services: Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, Washington and West Virginia. Other states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, have tried to impose such a tax but have been mostly unsuccessful, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Advertising Research Center (WARC) has released the results of its second annual Creative 100, ranking the most creative agencies, networks and campaigns in the world. For the second year in a row, DDB Worldwide was ranked the #2 most creative agency network in the world.

Two DDB agencies were ranked among the world's top 10 individual creative agencies, with adam&eveDDB at #6 and Africa in Sao Paulo at #9, which is the first time the agency has been among the top 10. A total of five DDB agencies were ranked among the top 50 creative agencies, including DDB Chicago at #19, with DDB Paris (#12) and DDB Berlin (#38), both of which landed on this year's list, and all contributing to the network's overall success.

Thirteen DDB-created campaigns were among the most awarded campaigns of the year, eight of which were among the top 50. These include "Broadway the Rainbow" for Skittles (#6) from DDB Chicago; "The Uncensored Playlist" for Reporters Without Borders by DDB Berlin (#16); "My Life as an NPC" for Assassin's Creed (#28) and "Uber Toys" (#30), both from DDB Paris; "The Boy and the Piano" for John Lewis (#32) and "Trolling is Ugly" for Cybersmile (#41), both from adam&eveDDB; "Perussian Prices" for Plaza Vea (#50) from Fahrenheit DDB Peru and "TagWords" for Budweiser (#50) from Africa, Sao Paulo. DDB Dusseldorf and DDB Spain also created campaigns that were ranked among the Creative 100.

Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer of DDB Worldwide, said, "DDB represented 20% of the top 20 agencies in the world. From London to Sao Paulo, from Paris to Chicago, we couldn't be prouder of the range of clients or range of creativity that was celebrated this year."

DDB is a part of Omnicom Group, which was ranked the #1 Holding Company in the world by WARC this year for the second year in a row.

The WARC Creative 100 is one of a series of rankings that will be published by WARC, offering an independent industry benchmark for creativity, media and effectiveness. This year's WARC Creative 100 was compiled from global industry competitions, including Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, D&AD, London International Awards, and the One Show, along with regional competitions such as Adfest, Dubai Lynx, El Ojo de Iberoamerica, Eurobest, and Golden Drum.

Further details can be found at www.warc.com/rankings.

ABOUT DDB

DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com) is one of the world's largest and leading advertising and marketing networks. DDB has been named Agency of the Year numerous times by the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and the industry's leading advertising publications and awards shows. The Gunn Report has listed DDB as one of the Top 3 Global Networks for 12 of the last 15 years. The agency's clients include McDonald's, Unilever, Mars, Johnson & Johnson and the U.S. Army, among others.

Founded in 1949, DDB is part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE) and consists of more than 200 offices in over 90 countries with its flagship office in New York, NY.

ABOUT WARC

WARC is part of Ascential: the path-to-purchase company that combines intelligence, data and insights to drive growth in the digital economy. We do this by delivering an integrated set of business-critical products in the key areas of product design, marketing and sales.

For over 30 years WARC has been powering the marketing segment by providing rigorous and unbiased evidence, expertise and guidance to make marketers more effective. WARC services include 17,000+ case studies, 80,000+ best practice guides, research papers, special reports and advertising trend data, webinars, awards, events and advisory services; has 1,390 client companies, 25,500 active users in 100+ countries; collaborates with 50+ industry partners; has offices in the UK, US and Singapore.

Media Contact: Rahel Rasu, [email protected]

SOURCE DDB Worldwide
High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects everything from your arteries to your kidneys, from eyesight to sexual function. Among older adults, high blood pressure is also associated with cognitive decline as a result of interrupted blood flow to the brain, as well as strokes, heart attacks and impaired mobility.

A new Northwestern University-Tel Aviv University study has revealed that subjects who experienced relatively high blood pressure during young adulthood also experienced significant declines in cognitive function and gait in midlife (approximately 56 years old). The study cohort included about 200 young adults with an average age of 24 at the beginning of the study.

The research was led by Prof. Farzaneh A. Sorond and Dr. Simin Mahinrad of Northwestern University's Department of Neurology and Prof. Jeffrey Hausdorff of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, TAU's Sagol School of Neuroscience and Tel Aviv Medical Center's Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition, and Mobility at the Neurological Institute. The study was published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation in March.

"We find that the deleterious effects of elevated blood pressure on brain structure and function begin in early adulthood. This demonstrates the need for preventive measures of high blood pressure even at this early age," explains Prof. Hausdorff. "We know that poor gait and cognitive function among older adults are associated with and predict multiple adverse health outcomes like cognitive decline, dementia, falls and death. Our study shows that the time to treat high blood pressure and to minimize future changes in gait and cognition is much earlier -- decades earlier -- than previously thought."

In addition, the study suggests that gait impairment may be an earlier hallmark of hypertensive brain injury than cognitive deficits.

For the study, the researchers assessed the blood pressure, gait and cognition of 191 participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, a community-based cohort of young individuals followed over 30 years. In the last year of follow-up, gait was assessed using an instrumented gait mat; cognitive function was evaluated using neuropsychological tests; and the level of white matter intensity in the brain, a symptom of cardiovascular disease, was measured using MRIs. The impact of cumulative levels of high blood pressure was found to be independent of other vascular risk factors over the same 30-year period.

"Higher cumulative blood pressure was associated with slower walking speed, smaller step length and higher gait variability," Prof. Hausdorff says. "Higher cumulative blood pressure was also associated with lower cognitive performance in the executive, memory and global domains."

"Our takeaway is this: Even in young adults, blood pressure has significant implications, even at levels below the 'hypertension' threshold, and is important to assess and modify for future cognitive function and mobility," Prof. Hausdorff concludes.

###

American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's most influential, comprehensive and sought-after center of higher learning, Tel Aviv University (TAU). TAU is recognized and celebrated internationally for creating an innovative, entrepreneurial culture on campus that generates inventions, startups and economic development in Israel. TAU is ranked ninth in the world, and first in Israel, for producing start-up founders of billion-dollar companies, an achievement that surpassed several Ivy League universities. To date, 2,500 US patents have been filed by Tel Aviv University researchers -- ranking TAU #1 in Israel, #10 outside of the US and #66 in the world.
Programmer and entrepreneur Yevgeny Kaspersky can serve as an example of Russias tech pioneers, and is a leader in his field, Russian President Vladimir Putin told TASS in an interview for its project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin".



"We have Kaspersky. I believe that he is really good in his line of business," the Russian head of state said when asked whom Russia might offer up to be on par with Silicon Valleys Elon Musk. He added that Kaspersky was not the only frontrunner.



The president pointed out that the head of the Kaspersky Lab might have scored far greater achievements, if it hadnt come up against artificial hindrances in other countries.
A helicopter carrying the chief of police in the Philippines crashed on Thursday morning (March 5) leaving two other officers in a critical condition. The chopper was carrying Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Archie Gamboa and seven other high-ranking officials when it crashed shortly after take-off. They were on their way to a conference in Calamba, Laguna but went on a detour to San Pedro to inspect impounded vehicles. The two-year-old Bell 429 aircraft landed, then took off again, but lost control in poor visibility caused by dust from the ground and became entangled in overhead wires. The aircraft was split in two after the crash. PNP Director for Intelligence Police Major General Mariel Magaway and Director for Comptrollership Police Major General Jose Maria Ramos were rushed to hospital after the crash at 8am local time. "The are in a critical condition," Police Major General Benigno Durana Jr., chief of the PNP Directorate for Police Community Relations,said at a press conference. "They are being well-taken care of by doctors in Laguna. They will be mobilized and transferred to Manila.'' The five other injured policemen were stable. Gamboa was reportedly ferried out of the crash site conscious and made a thumbs-up sign as he was rescued out of the debris.
The suburbs of Charleston continue to add new rooftops, and retailers follow to supply products to new households.

That's why a Florida-based grocery chain is moving forward with plans for its 16th supermarket in the Charleston area.

Publix recently filed for permits from state environmental regulators to build a 51,454-square-foot store at 1612 Beech Hill Road across from the developing Summers Corner neighborhood south of Summerville.

Lennar Homes paid at least $26.1 million in 2018 for the 6,500-acre Summers Corner tract in southern Dorchester County. Up to 8,000 homes could one day be built on the large parcel. Several hundred are already on the ground.

Publix's notice to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control shows no affected wetlands on the 10.2-acre site targeted for the new supermarket, but it does include stormwater and wastewater permits that will be necessary.

The Lakeland, Fla.-based food chain paid $3.05 million for the property in 2017.

"At this time we do not have a confirmed opening date, but we are targeting 2021," a representative of Publix's real estate development office said in an email. "In perfect world conditions, it takes about nine months from start of construction to opening."

The new store will come after the company opened four new food outlets in the Charleston area in 2019, including Publix's small-format specialty GreenWise Market in Mount Pleasant.

Publix's new conventional supermarkets that opened last year included sites on Clements Ferry Road in Cainhoy Plantation in Berkeley County, on Folly Road on James Island and in the WestEdge development on the Charleston peninsula.

New threads

Weather has delayed the grand opening of a new retailer on King Street in Charleston.

Columbus, Ga.-based Salt Life will host the grand opening of its new store on Friday.

The event originally was announced for Thursday.

Lifestyle brand Salt Life, which specializes in clothing and other merchandise aimed at ocean enthusiasts, debuted Monday but will officially launch during a savings event 5-7 p.m. Friday at 316-A King St. The space was formerly occupied by clothing store 319 Men.

The King Street store is the ninth for the retailer that was acquired by Upstate-based Delta Apparel Inc. in 2013 for $22 million. Salt Life aims to open other brick-and-mortar retail stores over the next several years.

Charlestons King Street is a retail and cultural hub of this historic city, and we feel that our popularity with the district residents is an obvious addition to our growing brick-and-mortar portfolio," said Jeff Stillwell, president.

From its first offerings in 2003, Salt Life has grown with distribution in surf shops, specialty stores, department stores and sporting goods retailers.

The brands other retail stores are in Huntington Beach and San Clemente, Calif.; Jacksonville Beach, Daytona Beach, Tampa, Key West and Orlando, Fla.; and Columbus, Ga.

The new shop is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

In the bank

A salon venture launched 11 years ago will give a former bank building in Moncks Corner a makeover by mid-year, adding a sixth location in the Charleston region.

Cirque Salon Studios will launch a new venue this summer at 337 E. Main St. in a building the firm bought that once housed SouthCoast Community Bank, according to managing partner David Manzi.

After upgrades, Cirque Salon will occupy the second floor with 15 separate studios. The company currently has more than 165 salon professionals leasing individual spaces.

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Operators run their own businesses from five locations in downtown Charleston, Goose Creek, Mount Pleasant, Summerville and West Ashley.

Driving in

Land clearing has begun on Ladson Road for a new AutoZone automobile parts shop.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based retailer applied in December for permits to add a 7,381-square-foot store next to an existing Spinx gas station and convenience store at 3665 Ladson Road.

The corner site is on Palmetto Commerce Parkway across from Bojangles and the freshly opened Krispy Kreme. Coast Car Wash is being built next to the doughnut shop.

Rising tide

A Charleston-based beachwear shop is opening a fourth location this weekend.

Las Olas will launch at 10 a.m. Saturday at 2040 South Blvd., Suite 1, in Charlotte. The 1,480-square-foot space is in the Edens Group-owned Atherton Mill, where Charleston restaurants Indaco and Oku have outposts.

"Expanding to the Charlotte area has been a dream for many years now, where the demand for high-end mens and womens swimwear and comfortable sustainably-sourced clothing is very strong," said Daniel James, owner of Las Olas.

Las Olas operates other shops in downtown Charleston, Mount Pleasant and on Kiawah Island.

Sustainably sourced

A North Carolina-based grocery chain wants its customers to know the seafood it sells comes from sustainable sources.

Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion, part of Dutch firm Ahold Delhaize, recently joined the Ocean Disclosure Project, a global platform where retailers voluntarily share insight into their food-sourcing methods to ensure sustainability.

All seafood products sold in the grocer's more than 1,000 stores are fully traceable to the wild fishery or farm.

The ODP was created by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, a non-profit organization that works directly with the seafood industry to improve the sustainability of seafood.

"Its important to us that our customers know where their seafood comes from, so it only makes sense to join the ODP and make public the origin of wild-caught seafood sold in our stores," Food Lion President Meg Ham said.

Food Lion operates 11 stores in the Charleston region and 116 across South Carolina.

Book sale delayed

The Charleston Friends of the Library spring book sale that was set for Friday and Saturday at the Otranto Regional Library at 2261 Otranto Road in North Charleston has been moved to March 13-14 because of a staff-related issue.

More than 10,000 books, DVDs and CDs will be available at prices starting at $1 for paperbacks and $4 for hardbacks.

Organizers hope to surpass the $9,000 raised during last year's event. All proceeds support the county library system.

The event runs 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low -8F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low -8F. Winds light and variable.
US carries out airstrike on Afghan Taliban, days after signing 'peace' deal

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 04 March 2020 9:47 AM

The United States has conducted an airstrike against the Taliban militant group's positions in Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province, just days after the two sides signed a "peace" deal.

The Taliban militants "were actively attacking an (Afghan National Security Forces) checkpoint. This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack," Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the US Forces in Afghanistan, said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Leggett said the US was committed to peace but had the responsibility to defend its Afghan partners.

He also called on the Taliban to stop "needless attacks" and uphold their commitments, invoking the deal signed on Saturday in the Qatari capital, Doha.

At least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen were killed in a string of overnight attacks by the Taliban militant group in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Safiullah Amiri, the deputy head of the Kunduz provincial council, said on Wednesday that Taliban militants attacked at least three army outposts in Imam Sahib District of Kunduz the night before.

The Taliban militants have ramped up violence against Afghan security in recent days. Overnight on Tuesday, they carried out over a dozen attacks on Afghan military bases in 13 of the country's 34 provinces.

Despite the violence by the militant group, US President Donald Trump spoke with the Taliban's political chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Tuesday.

"We had a very good conversation with the leader of the Taliban today, and they're looking to get this ended, and we're looking to get it ended. I think we all have a very common interest," Trump said. "We had, actually, a very good talk with the leader of the Taliban."

A week-long truce between the Taliban, the US, and Afghan forces, which preceded the Saturday signing of the deal, was violated shortly after the agreement was signed.

The deal sets out a timetable for the foreign forces to quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to a pledge by the militants to hold talks with the Kabul government. The agreement calls for up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10.

The administration of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has since rejected that demand. Ghani said on Sunday that the issue had to be discussed as part of a comprehensive peace deal that includes the Kabul government.

The US invaded Afghanistan to overthrow a ruling Taliban regime in 2001. American forces have since remained bogged down in the country through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed in the war. Over 100,000 Afghans have also been killed or injured since 2009, when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.

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The fourteen Italians, who have tested positive for coronavirus, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon from an ITBP quarantine centre.

The hospital issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying these patients are housed on a completely separate floor, which has been quarantined and has no contact with the rest of the hospital.

There is a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear looking after these patients.All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor.

The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, the statement said.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre here on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus.

An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS medical college.

Officials on Tuesday said the foreigners have been sent to a private hospital in Gurgaon and a centre in the national capital while the Indians have been transferred to the Safdarjung Hospital.

Fourteen Italians and an Indian (driver), who were in the same group as the affected Italian couple, tested positive for the virus as per information provided by the Health Ministry.

The Italian tourists and three Indians were admitted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force centre in Chhawla on Tuesday.

The Centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane from China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alex Trebek marked his one-year battle against pancreatic cancer with candor about how hard it's been and a vow to keep going.

"I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one. There have been some good days, but a lot of not-so-good days," the longtime "Jeopardy!" host said in a video message posted online Wednesday. He's joked with friends that "the cancer won't kill me, the chemo treatments will," Trebek said.

Moments of pain and attacks of "great depression" caused him to wonder if he could continue the fight, he said.

"But I brushed that aside quickly, because that would have been a massive betrayal, a betrayal of my wife and soul mate Jean, who has given her all to help me survive," Trebek said. "It would have been a betrayal of other cancer patients who have looked to me as an inspiration, and a cheerleader of sorts, for the value of living and hope. And it would certainly have been a betrayal of my faith in God and the millions of prayers that have been said on my behalf."

He hasn't faltered in his work, continuing to host the "Jeopardy!" quiz show despite his cancer and even a nagging cold that was noticeable in recent episodes. His only on-air concession to the illness has been the wig that he acknowledged covers his treatment-induced hair loss.

 Associated Press

Twitter testing out disappearing tweets

Twitter is starting to test tweets that disappear after 24 hours, although initially only in Brazil.

The company says the ephemeral tweets, which it calls "fleets" because of their fleeting nature, are designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal tweets.

Fleets can't be retweeted and they won't have "likes." People can respond to them, but the replies show up as direct messages to the original tweeter, not as a public response, turning any back-and-forth into a private conversation instead of a public discussion.

Despite having high-profile users such as President Donald Trump, Twitter has lagged behind other tech powerhouses like Facebook and Google in terms of user growth and advertising revenue. Twitter is hoping that by offering disappearing tweets, people will be more likely to share casual, everyday thoughts.

The new feature is reminiscent of Instagram and Facebook "stories" and Snapchat's snaps, which let users post short-lived photos and messages. Such features are increasingly popular with social media users looking for smaller groups and more private chats.

Twitter said it may bring fleets to other countries depending on how the Brazil test goes.

 Associated Press

Iranian filmmaker summoned to prison

A lawyer for Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who just won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear, says he's been summoned to serve a one-year prison sentence.

Nasser Zarafshan told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Rasoulof's sentence came from films he made that authorities found to be "propaganda against the system."

Zarafshan said they would appeal the order, especially given the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in Iran. Authorities already sent 54,000 prisoners on temporary furlough over concerns about the virus spreading through the country's prison system.

There was no immediate state media report about Rasoulof's summons.

Rasoulof just won the Berlin Film Festival's top prize for his film "There Is No Evil."

Rasoulof wasn't there to accept the award Saturday due to a travel ban imposed on him by Iranian authorities.

 Associated Press

Bond film release delayed due to virus

The release of the James Bond film "No Time To Die" has been pushed back several months because of global concerns about coronavirus.

MGM, Universal and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on Twitter Wednesday that the film would be pushed back from its April release to November 2020.

The announcement cited consideration of the global theatrical marketplace in the decision to delay the release of the film. "No Time To Die" will now hit theaters in the U.K. on Nov. 12 and worldwide on Nov. 25.

The Bond films make a significant portion of their profits from international markets. The last film, "Spectre," made over $679 million from overseas theaters in 2015 with over $84 million of that total coming from China.

 Associated Press
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has expressed confidence that the Moscow talks on the situation in Idlib province are very important for the region, TASS reported.

"We were to hold this meeting in Turkey. However, because of your work on the amendments to the Constitution, we decided to accept your invitation and come here. Of course, todays meeting on Idlib is of great importance, because the situation in the region is very tense. I know that the world is closely following our negotiations today. I believe that our decisions and steps, which will be agreed on today, will ease the situation in Idlib," he said.

The focus of the talks between Putin and Erdogan is the situation in the de-escalation zone in Idlib. As Russian Presidents press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier, the Kremlin expects leaders to come to a common understanding of the causes and consequences of the Idlib crisis, as well as "a set of measures to end it." According to Peskov, Moscow stands for the territorial integrity of Syria and supports Damascus in the fight against terrorism, while maintaining a commitment to the Sochi accords and attaching "much importance on cooperation with our Turkish counterparts."

Relations between Russia and Turkey

According to him, relations between Turkey and Russia are at a peak and his goal is to strengthen those ties. Russia backs Syrian government forces in the Syrian conflict, while Turkey backs rebels fighting them.

Russia announced in September 2017 the conclusion of a deal with Turkey for the supply of S-400 worth $ 2.5 billion. The first deliveries began on July 12, 2019.

The launch ceremony of the TurkStream gas pipeline was held in January 2020.

By the way, Russian companies are building the first Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey.
CLEVELAND, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE: PH), the global leader in motion and control technologies, today announced that it will webcast a virtual meeting with investors and analysts on Thursday, March 12, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. A presentation will be followed by a question and answer session hosted by Parkers executive leadership.

The presentation will showcase Parkers transformation, highlight The Win Strategy 3.0 and purpose statement, and demonstrate the progress being made toward the companys fiscal year 2023 targets.

The webcast link for the live meeting will be accessible on the companys investor website: http://www.phstock.com , and will be archived for one year following the meeting.

Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 global leader in motion and control technologies. For more than a century the company has been enabling engineering breakthroughs that lead to a better tomorrow. Parker has increased its annual dividend per share paid to shareholders for 63 consecutive fiscal years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index. Learn more at www.parker.com or @parkerhannifin.

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She tied the knot with her toyboy lover back in October last year, four years after her first husband took his own life.

And Julie Graham has told how the 16-year age gap between her and husband Davy Crocket is 'irrelevant' during an interview on Thursday's Lorraine.

The 54-year-old Benidorm star opened up about her romance with Belgian Davy, 38, and revealed they 'don't even discuss' the age difference.

Unimportant: Julie Graham has told how the 16-year age gap between her and husband Davy Crocket is 'irrelevant' during an interview on Thursday's Lorraine

She explained: 'It's irrelevant, completely and utterly irrelevant, we don't even discuss it.'

The actress first met her now husband in Benidorm where he worked as a skydiving instructor.

And Julie admitted that Davy's romantic beach proposal didn't go quite as planned.

She said: 'He wrote 'will you marry me?' on the beach in pebbles with the girls, and forgot there was a tide!'

As Lorraine giggled away, Julie added that there was only a few pebbles left but it certainly was the thought that counted amid his romantic gesture.

The Doctor Who actress also revealed Davy asked Julie's two daughters for permission before propping the question.

'I couldn't have a marriage without their permission and Davy asked them, he didn't ask me' she explained.

She continued: 'When we were on holiday in Lanzarote and he took the girls aside and said, 'I'm gonna ask your mum to marry me, but I'm not going to do it unless I have your blessing.'

Newlyweds: The 54-year-old Benidorm star opened up about her romance with Belgian Davy, 38, and revealed they 'don't even discuss' the age difference

Not an issue: She explained: 'It's irrelevant, completely and utterly irrelevant, we don't even discuss it'

The pair have been together since 2016 and Davy lives with Julie at her home along with her daughters Edie May, 16, and Cyd Betty, 14.

Speaking to the Sun on Sunday in 2016 Julie was full of praise for Davy, saying: 'Hes just lovely, gorgeous and he makes me happy.'

She added: 'Meeting somebody was the last thing I wanted to do. I was adamant that I wanted to spend some time on my own.

'Although the year was very difficult in some ways, it has been really positive too.'

Julie's first husband of 13 years, Joseph Bennett, his own life on April 13, 2015.

Funny: Julie admitted that Davy's romantic beach proposal didn't go quite as planned. She said: 'He wrote 'will you marry me?' on the beach in pebbles with the girls, and forgot there was a tide!'

Sweet: The Doctor Who actress also revealed Davy asked Julie's two daughters for permission before propping the question

The Howards End actor was found hanged in Richmond Park, 70 miles away from their Brighton Home.

The 44-year-old was known for his role in The Bill, and met Julie when they worked together on a play in 2001.

Julie and Joseph, who had two children, met in 2001 while starring as brother and sister in a stage play.

They married the following year in a secret ceremony in Brighton in front of just two witnesses and honeymooned in Venice.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
A new investor is needed at the Bucharest Heavy Machine Works Company Doosan IMGB SA to continue operating, as it is unacceptable for the machinery there hauled away for scrap, Minister-designate of Economy, Energy and Business Environment Virgil Popescu said on Thursday at the end of the hearings in the Parliament's select committees.

"It is a private company that, unfortunately, did not honour the" gentlemen agreement" to keep operations running. We have a lever: they were exempted from paying the green certificates for a long time. We will follow if this exemption has materialized in investments, as it should have, and we'll see what measures we will take after we verify this," said Popescu.According to him, the company will have to return that aid, if it has not complied with the law."If they did not respect the destination of the money they obtained by the exemption from paying the green certificates, then they should repay them. I still hope they will find another investor who wants to continue, because it is unacceptable for those machines that are unique in Romania hauled away for scrap," said the minister.Employees protested in front of the Government headquarters on Tuesday against the intention of the Korean plant owner to close it and sell the land on which the industrial platform is located.The protesters call on the Government to intervene in order to save the company from shutting down.The president of the Independent Dreptatea Union, Alexandru Voicu, told AGERPRES on Tuesday that the Korean company intends to demolish the factory and sell the land on which the industrial platform is located.AGERPRES
Funding Metrics, LLC (the Company) announced today the closing of a new $100 million revolving credit facility with a multi-billion dollar institutional credit fund. The Company will use the funds to expand and accelerate the growth of its small business funding platform. Brean Capital served as exclusive financial advisor to the Company on the transaction.

We are very pleased to announce this new $100 million facility, which will allow us to significantly expand our ability to provide funding to the growing small business community across the United States, said Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Frascella. This new facility represents an exciting milestone in our continued growth. Funding Metrics has tripled its origination volume since 2017, totaling over $500 million since company inception. I am very proud of the robust funding platform our team has created, the strong relationships we have developed with our independent sales organization partners, and especially the trust placed in us by our merchants. Funding Metrics has created a best of breed technology based platform allowing most funding offers to be sent in under three hours.

Additional capital provided by the facility will allow Funding Metrics to capitalize on growth opportunities in 2020 and beyond as well as on the extensive infrastructure of people and technology it has built over the last few years. Mr. Frascella added, We look forward to additional submissions from the ISO network and funding the next wave of small business leaders nationwide.

About Funding Metrics:

Funding Metrics is a leading data and analytics driven online provider of funding for small businesses throughout the United States. The Company uses proprietary risk models combined with real-time cash flow data to evaluate business performance and provides growth capital for entrepreneurs in a fast and efficient way through its two online brands, Lendini and QuickFix Capital. Since 2014, the Funding Metrics has provided over $500 million in funding to more than 9,500 small businesses in all 50 states. The Company is headquartered in Bensalem, PA, with additional offices in Jersey City, NJ and San Jose, Costa Rica.

For more information, please visit: http://www.fundingmetrics.com

For more information/ questions/ interview requests / media inquiries, please contact:

David Frascella

Email: info@fundingmetrics.com | Phone: 855-212-6610
Witnesses, activists blame Russia for the attack that targeted a poultry farm in Maaret Misreen town.

Antakya, Turkey  At least 15 civilians have been killed in an air attack in Syrias northwest province of Idlib, civilians and civil defence teams said.

The attack took place in the vicinity of the Maaret Misreen town, north of Idlib city centre, overnight on Thursday and targeted a poultry farm where dozens of displaced Syrians had taken refuge.

At around 2:30am local time [23:30 GMT on Wednesday], Russian warplanes targeted the road between Maaret Misreen and Batinteh village, said Abedalrazzaq Zaqzooq, a hospital worker. As first responders and other civilians gathered around at the site, the Russian plane struck again.

Zaqzooq said at least 20 people were injured and taken to the medical complex in Maaret Misreen after eight missiles hit the poultry farm.

The most devastating image I saw with my own eyes was the arrival of two babies to the hospital, he said.

They were both under six months and were rescued from under the rubble but were pronounced dead at the hospital.

About 50 people were living on the farm. These families were displaced from Aleppos western countryside and southern Idlib  two territories that are now under the control of Syrian government forces.

Another witness, Ahmad Mimaar, told Al Jazeera that at least nine women were among those killed.

There were two Russian strikes, said Mimaar. We spent the morning retrieving people from under the rubble.

According to Mustafa al-Haj Yousef, head of the volunteer search-and-rescue organisation White Helmets in Idlib, most of those killed in the attack were women and children.

The number of casualties is expected to go up because some of those injured are in critical condition, Yousef told Al Jazeera. The regime is continuing its scorched earth policy with no regards to civilian lives.

Civilians dont have any faith in the political process any more. There has been many summits and talks and negotiations over the past nine years, but the reality on the ground is that the Syrian regime says one thing but continues to implement a military solution.

The attack came just hours before the presidents of Russia and Turkey meet in Moscow to discuss the deteriorating situation in Idlib and a ceasefire.

According to the White Helmets, 612 Syrian civilians have been killed by government forces and its allies since the beginning of this year.





Mimaar said he does not expect any productive outcome in Moscow.

There wont be a ceasefire until the Syrian regime withdraws from Idlib and observes the 2018 Sochi agreement, he said, referring to a deal between Ankara and Moscow that had designated the northwest province as a de-escalation zone.

Last week, Turkey launched a military operation dubbed Spring Shield in response to the killing of at least 33 of its soldiers by Russian-backed Syrian government forces.

Turkey, which supports some of the armed opposition groups, set up several observation points in Idlib that had repeatedly come under attack since the intensification of a military offensive by President Bashar al-Assads military and its allies last December.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the Syrian government to withdraw from Idlib as part of the Sochi agreement by the end of last month. However, the fighting has escalated, with Turkish forces downing at least three Syrian government planes over the past few days.

Meanwhile, two other Turkish soldiers were killed on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll since February to more than 50.

Low expectations

Yet Raja Androon, a 65-year-old Syrian woman from Idlib whose two sons were killed by Syrian government forces and now lives in Antakya, said she is not optimistic about the outcome of the talks.

The talks may result in less fighting, but Im not holding my breath for the Syrian regime to get out of Idlib, said Androon. I hope Idlib will come under autonomous rule, and not fall under Assads control.

Since last December, nearly one million civilians have been internally displaced to the border with Turkey, which the United Nations has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in Syrias nine-year civil war.

The majority have struggled to find adequate sheltering, and many families are forced to camp out in the open.

More than 300 civilians have been killed in the same period, the UN said.
Update Friday: Second person dies after rollover Clay crash; deputies identify 2 CNY men killed

Update: Route 481 North has reopened near Verplank Road in Clay.

CLAY, N.Y. -- One person was killed and another person was critically injured early Thursday morning after a car rolled over several times in Clay, deputies said.

Route 481 north was closed between Route 31 and Exit 13, the Phoenix/County Route 57A exit. It will remain closed until the Onondaga County Sheriffs Offices Accident Investigation Team finishes reconstructing the fatal accident.

The accident was reported at 1:44 a.m.

A vehicle rolled over several times on Route 481 near the Verplank Road overpass, said Sgt. Jon Seeber, sheriffs office spokesman. Two people were in the car, he said.

One person died at the scene, Seeber said. The other was rushed to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse with critical injuries, he said.

More information will be released when its available, Seeber said.

Deputies have asked anyone who witnessed the crash or has information about the crash to call the departments tip line at (315) 435-3051.

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.

Have a tip, a story idea or a comment? You can reach me at shouse@syracuse.com | text/call (315) 466-4160 | Twitter | Facebook
MIDDLETOWN  The Hamden police officer who briefly detained a missing Middletown man after he entered a womans State Street home the morning after he disappeared was issued a 20-day unpaid suspension from his job Thursday.

The whereabouts of Peter Recchia, 59, who went missing Oct. 3 and hasnt been seen since Oct. 4, are unknown.

The disciplinary action against Officer Stephen Phipps is the result of an internal affairs probe launched in October by the Hamden Police Department into possible mishandling of the case.

Hamden Deputy Police Chief John Sullivan said Thursday his department does not routinely talk about personnel issues, but did so in this case.

Officer Phipps was relieved of his duties March 5, and will return to work April 1. All Officer Phipps police powers have been suspended until he returns, Sullivan said.

A public hearing regarding the matter scheduled for Feb. 27 was canceled.

A Hamden woman called police Oct. 4 after Peter Recchia entered her home through an unlocked door in the early morning, Capt. Ronald Smith said in mid-October. The woman found Recchia sitting at her kitchen table and convinced him to leave the home, he added.

Authorities found Recchia walking south on State Street after the incident. The officer determined that Recchia wasnt a danger to himself or others. He was advised that he could leave, the chief said in October.

Recchia had not yet been reported missing at the time of the Hamden incident. The call to police came in at 4:15 a.m. Oct. 4, after he was spotted on camera passing by a State Street gas station. Middletown police issued a Silver Alert for him at about 8:30 p.m. that day.

The family has maintained throughout the ordeal that Recchia, who suffers from medical and mental health challenges, clearly was in need of medical attention after walking from Middletown to Hamden over a 15-hour period, according to his daughter Bunny Rodriguez.

For her part, Rodriguez is shocked at the results of the inquiry.

Recchias brother, Connecticut News 12 reporter Frank Recchia, said, Bunny and I are proud supporters of police. We thank every local, state and federal law enforcement official who has stood by us during this difficult time, and worked hard to help bring Peter home.

We salute Hamden police, in particular, for their amazing efforts to assist us. That said, if Hamden police have concluded that one of their officers, upon encountering Peter, could have handled the situation better, we stand by their determination and thank them for keeping us informed, he added.

Peter Recchia is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs around 150 pounds, and has gray hair, green eyes, and was wearing rectangular eyeglasses when he disappeared on foot that day. He was wearing a royal blue short-sleeved shirt, jeans, black belt and black sneakers, authorities said.

He was last seen by his daughter shortly before he disappeared. They texted at 7 a.m. that day, after the Hamden incident, Rodriguez said.

Police told Rodriguez her father indicated he was trying to save souls at the Hamden house he entered. It was his habit to walk around Middletown, talking to people about the Bible, she said.

While the family is still holding out hope theyll learn what exactly happened to Recchia, his daughter and brother have come to grips with the possibility he may never be found.

I know in my heart something happened, Rodriguez has said. I think it was an accident.

Its unlikely hes still alive, Frank Recchia told the press late last month.

There is a $1,000 reward for anyone with information that may lead to his discovery. People can message Rodriguez through the Help Us Find Bunny Rodriguezs Dad, Peter Recchia Pop-Pop  Facebook page or call Middletown police at 860-638-4000.
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Facio on Thursday became one of the first companies to release research on how the coronavirus is affecting the insurance industry, saying it was cutting insurers sales for this quarter, which a month ago it had projected to be robust, with a dramatic increase in claims payouts. Appears that the spread of the deadly coronavirus epidemic has exposed the real vulnerabilities of the insurance industry - the lack of ability to serve its customers.

The Insurance Cloud maker, which recently exposed its self-learning algorithm service to successfully replacing all insurance systems, and the only insurance service solution that is not dependent on human resources, reported in a statement that it has started implementing a work-from-home plans to allow insurers to completely automate the insurance policy operations, without the need of its employees to leave their houses.

The reasonable possibility for a prolonged period, in the near future, of emergency employment, and the need of the continuity of business services in isolated environments, which will at the same time damage service to the customer and the residual damages, is expected to result in a rush for digital insurance solutions to affect the bottom line in 2020.

The advantage of digital companies such as Lemonade Insurance advantage in their lean operation model which is based on self-service empowered by artificial intelligence, with a 2,500 policy employee ratio, with a relatively good automation index, while keeping the ability to provide good service also in emergency time.

The coronavirus crisis means that insurers will have to cut expenses, to cover the losses, including reducing the human resources and investment in technology while at the same time improving their operational efficiency. Facio Insurance Cloud is the only provider to offer that at the moment.

Facio said that the demand for its services has skyrocketed since the outbreak, providing self-managed online insurance services remotely.

Contact:

Lion Davidson

Research Team

[email protected]

SOURCE Facio Ltd
The Central Bank of Armenia has issued three collector coins.

Khrimyan Hayrik-200 (silver)

Mkrtich I Vanetsi Khrimyan (Khrimyan Hayrik, 1820-1907) is a public, political and cultural figure, Catholicos of All Armenians since 1893.

He received informal education at parochial schools on Lim and Ktuts islands in Lake Van (Vaspourakan Province, Western Armenia). He founded Armenian periodicals Artsvi Vaspourakan (1855) and Artsvik Tarono (1863), and established Zharangavorats schools (schools for clergymen) at Varagavanq Monastery and St. Karapet Monastery of Moush. In 1854 Khrimyan became a celibate priest (vardapet) and in 1868 he was consecrated as bishop. He appealed to the authorities of a number of European countries to settle the Armenian Issue diplomatically. In 1878 he headed the Armenian delegation at the Congress of Berlin. He supported the creation and operation of Black Cross and Protector of Homeland, underground organizations in Van and Karin, respectively, fighting for national liberation, for which he was exiled to Jerusalem. As the Catholicos of All Armenians, he continued his national liberation activities.

He authored books that tackled religious, philosophical, poetic and other relevant topics, by which he expressed the emotions and suffering of the people.

Obverse: the building of the Khrimyan Museum-gallery, a rosace, a fragment from the Metal scoop spring - monument (author - Areg Israyelyan), a behest by Khrimyan Hayrik and his signature.

Reverse: a portrait of Khrimyan Hayrik.

Designed by Eduard Kurghinyan.

Minted in the Lithuanian Mint

Face value 1000

Metal/fineness silver 9250

Weight 33,6

Diameter 40,0

Quantity 500

Edge ribbed

Quality proof

Jansem-100 (silver)

Jansem (Hovhannes Semerdjian, 1920-2013) is a French-Armenian painter, a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.

In 1922 Jansem emigrated with his family from Turkey to Thessaloniki and then to Paris. He studied at Montparnasse Free Academy, and in 1939 graduated from the Paris High School of Decorative Arts.

Jansem created dozens of artworks with national motifs, thematic groups of paintings and portraits. His distinctive works are realistic and penetrated with humaneness. Expressive light colors in combination with sensual drawing make faces and movements of the represented figures more impressive and help to go insight into the aura of painting.

Jansem was honored with a number of international and state awards, including Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots (2002) and Order of the French Legion of Honor (2003), Order of Honor of the Republic of Armenia (2010).

Jansems works are exhibited in many countries of the world. Many paintings are exposed in the National Gallery of Armenia, and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute exhibits the famous Genocide (1998-2001) group of paintings.

Obverse: a fragment from the Poppies (1982) painting.

Reverse: a portrait of Jansem and a fragment from the Woman in yellow (1968) painting.

Designed by Lusine Lalayan.

Minted in the Lithuanian Mint.

Face value 100

Metal/fineness silver 9250

Weight 28,28

Size 28,0 x 40,0

Quantity 500

Edge even

Quality BU

Jansem-100 (gold)

Obverse: a fragment from the Woman with Masks (1978) painting.

Reverse: a portrait of Jansem.

Designed by Eduard Kurghinyan.

Minted in the Lithuanian Mint.

Face value 10 000

Metal/fineness gold 9000

Weight 8,6

Diameter 22,0

Quantity 300

Edge ribbed

Quality proof
An Orangeman who took the Gospel to remote parts of Ireland "died doing what he loved most", mourners have heard.

Members of the Orange Order and Royal Black Preceptory were among mourners at the funeral service in Donemana of Ian Kennedy (67), who was the driver of a car which collided with a 4x4 vehicle in Co Cavan on February 28.

The crash also claimed the life of his passenger and fellow Christian outreach worker Joan McAlister from Portadown.

Mr Kennedy, who was a member of both Orange and Black institutions, was described by Rev Robin Stockitt as a man who was kind, considerate and who always put others first.

Rev Stockitt told the congregation gathered in St James' Church of Ireland how the death eight years ago of Mr Kennedy's wife Margaret, who had been among those injured in the Omagh bomb, had deepened his Christian faith and led him to join the Irish Evangelistic Band.

His sudden passing has left all of us shocked and distraught. He died doing what he loved most and Ian would be the first to say that he was ready to meet with Jesus Christ his saviour Rev Robin Stockitt

Rev Stockitt said: "In 1981 Ian met the love of his life, Margaret, at a dance hall and went on to marry her in 1982. Ian and Margaret spent 30 happy years together.

"Margaret was unfortunately caught up in the Omagh bomb in 1998 and suffered the after-effects of that trauma for the rest of her life. Some eight years ago Margaret passed away and Ian felt the loss of his wife very keenly.

"Ian would say that his Christian faith deepened during this period of grief and he dedicated the last seven years of his life to the service of God in the company of friends from the Irish Evangelistic Band."

Mr Kennedy was travelling with another member of the outreach group when the tragedy happened.

He was a generous-hearted man. Ian was a kind and considerate person. He always put other people ahead of himself. He was always there for everyone Rev Robin Stockitt

Rev Stockitt added: "His sudden passing has left all of us shocked and distraught. He died doing what he loved most and Ian would be the first to say that he was ready to meet with Jesus Christ his saviour."

The congregation was reminded how Mr Kennedy combined his love of music with his love of God.

Rev Stockitt added: "Ian loved music, especially the Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ronnie Greer. In later years he loved listening to Gospel music and playing his guitar.

"He was a generous-hearted man. Ian was a kind and considerate person. He always put other people ahead of himself. He was always there for everyone. Ian was a man of strong opinions. He travelled all over Ireland serving his saviour. Ian knew how much having Jesus in your heart could change and restore one's life and he wanted everyone to know the love and mercy of Christ."

Following the service, Mr Kennedy was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery.
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Good Morning America

The Biden administration's plan to send 500 million at-home tests to Americans for free is an historic undertaking, but one that will take weeks or months to fully execute, recently released contracts and interviews with seven test manufacturers suggest. Contracts for the first two batches of tests were announced on Friday, one for 13.3 million kits from a health technology company and another for an undisclosed amount from a distribution company in Virginia that had extras on hand -- all to be distributed in an effort to reduce the massive testing shortage in the U.S. Tests won't be available to be ordered through a government website until later this month, the official said, meaning it's unlikely the average American will get free tests delivered in time for the January peak of omicron cases predicted by most models.
The San Antonio crime story that gripped the city and had people siding between a wife and her husband and his mistress will be relived on national television Thursday on "The Dr. Oz Show."

Frances Hall was convicted of killing her husband, Bill Hall, during an October 2013 car chase on South Loop 1604 involving his mistress, Bonnie Contreras. "The Dr. Oz Show" describes that day's deadly encounter as "jealous wife chases down husband's lover in a car and he ends up dead" for the promotion of the episode titled "Deadly Collision." Frances Hall, who served two years and was released in 2018, will discuss the drama that unfolded surrounding her 32-year marriage that ended in her husband's death.

"Taunted with thousands of messages by her husbands mistress, a wife finally confronts her during a high-speed car chase," the show describes the October day's deadly confrontation between the three. "What happened next led to the death of her husband and a prison sentence for her."

FROM OUR SUBSCRIBER SITE: Frances Hall, convicted of killing husband 2 years ago, heads back to San Antonio

The jury handed down the lightest prison term possible  two years for murder and two for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for ramming her Cadillac Escalade into the Range Rover owned by the Halls but driven by Contreras. The sentences were served concurrently.

After the sentencing in a case that had so much interest presiding Judge Jefferson Moore had to allow the galley to spill over into the hallway, the decision was debated.

Some were glad Frances Hall would walk free after two years to reunite with her children and grandchildren, others felt she deserved a heftier punishment. Some also questioned why Contreras wasn't punished.

True crime junkies worldwide tuned into coverage of the case from "Dateline," "48 Hours" and "True Crime Daily" in the months and years following the case. On "Dr. Oz," Frances Hall will have the chance to talk about her motives, her arrest and what she wishes she could tell her husband.

"That I love him more than the day I met him, that I miss him tremendously. That if I could, Id take his place. You dont understand the void that I have. Im literally broken, Im lost," she tells the show's host, Dr. Mehmet Oz, in the promo.

"Dr. Oz" airs at 3 p.m. on WOAI.

Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye
Srinagar, March 5 : As the Jammu & Kashmir administration lifted the ban on social media and restored 2G mobile and broadband internet connectivity, people in the valley are now looking forward to the restoration of high-speed internet as well.

The impact of the government order is already visible on the ground.

There was a considerable decrease in the number of journalists at the state media centre on Thursday after the social media ban was lifted along with curbs on accessing websites.

"It is really a good move that curbs have been lifted on the social media, we welcome it," said Aaqib, a journalist. "It would be in the fitness of things if high speed internet is restored as well." The business community in Kashmir has also demanded the restoration of high speed internet for the revival of businesses.

"We are hopeful that the government restores high speed internet soon so that we are able to complete all our pending work," said a Srinagar-based businessman.

A day after J&K administration lifted the ban on social media, broadband internet services were restored in Kashmir on Thursday after seven months.

A government order on Wednesday had no mention of whitelisting of websites. The order is applicable till March 17.

Wednesday's order however said the J&K administration has extended the ban on high speed internet across the Union Territory till March 17. The order said the move is being taken in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of the country, security of the state and for maintaining public order.

"About mobile data services, the internet speed shall be restricted to 2G only. While the post-paid SIM card holders shall continue to be provided access to the internet, these services shall not be made available on pre-paid SIM cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for post-paid connections," the order said.

It said internet connectivity shall continue to be made available with Mac-binding.

Internet was suspended across J&K ahead of the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year. It was then restored in a phased manner.

The restoration of broadband and lifting of restrictions has brought much cheer to people across Kashmir.
A gunman opened fire on a party outside an apartment complex in Tulare, Calif., on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding five others, including a 7-year-old girl, according to the Tulare police.

The girl was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds at Valley Childrens Hospital, said Sgt. Ed Hinojosa, a police spokesman. Four other people were taken by ambulance to hospitals.

Little was known about the gunman, who opened fire around 10:20 p.m., Sergeant Hinojosa said. Dozens of people were gathered outside the apartment complex to celebrate the life of someone who had been killed in a car accident a few days ago, he said.

Someone walked up or drove up and started shooting into the partygoers, he said.

Tulare, in the Central San Joaquin Valley, is about 45 miles south of Fresno. It had a population of about 64,000 as of 2018.
Reuters

By Giulio Piovaccari

MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler defied fears over Italy's coronavirus outbreak to showcase an electric version of its 500 city car on Wednesday, as it strives to catch up with rivals in low-emissions driving while heading into a merger with Peugeot maker PSA .

Initially planned for the now-cancelled Geneva Motor Show, the presentation was held at an event in Milan - a rarity as large gatherings have been discouraged by authorities in most of northern Italy, which has seen Europe's worst virus outbreak.

With schools, universities and museums closed, and cafes forced to shut early for almost two weeks, the mood in Italy's financial capital is sombre, as it sits just 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the epicentre of the outbreak, where 11 towns are sealed from the outside world.

"We're here to show that FCA is close to Milan and to Italy," Olivier Francois, head of the Fiat brand and Fiat Chrysler Automobile's (FCA) Chief Marketing Officer, told a restricted audience of journalists, before a press conference at Milan's design museum, where chairs were placed a metre apart to comply with local authority health requirements.

"This car does not look at 2020, but to the next decade," he added.

After the cancellation of the Geneva show, most companies have turned to virtual events to present their latest models.

Italy's government is set to close cinemas and theatres and ban public events across the whole country to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, according to a draft decree drawn up on Wednesday.

The death toll from the virus rose to 79 on Tuesday and total cases in the country topped 2,500.

'CINQUECENTO'

The original 500 small car, launched in the late 1950s and known affectionately as the "Cinquecento", quickly become a symbol of Italian urban design.

The new electric 500 (BEV), which is part of a plan announced in 2018 to invest 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in Italy up to 2021, is the group's first major step into electric-powered driving.

FCA said the selling price for the cabrio launch version would be 37,900 euros in Italy, excluding government environmental incentives, though it added cheaper versions would follow. That compares with a starting price of 16,000 euros for a petrol-engine 500.

Competing electric cars include the Mini Cooper SE with a starting price of 33,900 euros in Italy and Peugeot's e-208, starting at 33,600 euros.

An early version of the electric 500 has been produced in the United States to comply with local authority rules on zero-emission cars. But in 2014 former CEO Sergio Marchionne asked customers not to buy that car as FCA was losing money on it, and said he hoped to sell the smallest number possible.

With a range of 320 kilometres, the new 500 BEV will be a totally different car, six centimetres longer, six centimetres wider and two centimetres taller that the petrol-engine version. It will be produced at FCA's Mirafiori plant in Turin.

Sales are expected to start in July, initially in Europe, with FCA hoping to sell 80,000 a year at full capacity.

FCA plans to have 12 electrified vehicles in its fleet by 2021. That includes both hybrid and full electric vehicles, new cars and electrified versions of existing ones, and light commercial vehicles.

The Italian-American automaker earlier this year started selling hybrid versions of the 500 and of its other small car, the Fiat Panda.

Its Jeep brand is also set to start producing hybrid versions of its Renegade and Compass models in the second quarter of this year, while its luxury Maserati brand plans to introduce hybrid and fully electric models this year or next.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

Iran has come up with new methods to export its products to Azerbaijan, spokesman for the Iranian Customs Administration Ruhollah Latifi said, Trend reports citing Customs Administration of Iran.

With the spread of coronavirus in Iran, neighboring countries impose restrictions on the borders with the Islamic Republic.

According to Latifi, Iranian trucks can deliver goods to Azerbaijan without entering the country, but on on the territory controlled by the customs.

"After the trucks unload cargo onto the trucks belonging to Azerbaijan on the border, Iranian trucks will turn back," said the official.

He went on to add that the trucks carrying Iranian products to Russia will be able to pass through Azerbaijan.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 3,500 people have been infected, 107 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 730 have reportedly recovered from the disease.

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.

The disease in the Islamic Republic has spread to nearly all 31 of Iran's provinces.

Following the reports of coronavirus spread in the Islamic Republic, several countries have taken measures, including closing borders and banning flights.

The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
Bethesda, Maryland (March 5, 2020) -- The world is bracing for the impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which has now spread to over 30 countries, infecting more than 80,000 people with over 2,600 deaths globally. A better understanding of how this virus is transmitted is key to preventing its spread.

In two new papers published online in Gastroenterology, investigators from China describe the impact of coronavirus on the digestive tract. Key findings:

A significant portion of coronavirus patients have diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and/or abdominal discomfort before respiratory symptoms.

Researchers recommend monitoring patients with initial GI distress, which will allow for earlier detection, diagnosis, isolation and intervention.

Viral RNA is detectable in stool of patients with suspected coronavirus; it is now clear that the virus sheds into the stool.

Viral gastrointestinal infection and potential fecal-oral transmission can last even after viral clearance in respiratory tract.

Prevention of fecal-oral transmission should be taken into consideration to control the spread the virus.

###

These papers will be published in the May print issue of Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. To access the full papers, please contact media@gastro.org.

COVID-19: Gastrointestinal manifestations and potential fecal-oral transmission

By Jinyang Gu, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Xinhua Hospital, China, et al.

https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(20)30281-X/fulltext

Evidence for gastrointestinal infection of SARS-CoV-2

By Fei Xiao, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, et al.

https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(20)30282-1/fulltext

Contact for media: Rachel Shubert, media@gastro.org, 301-272-1603

About the AGA Institute

The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to more than 16,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization. http://www.gastro.org.

About Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology, the official journal of the AGA Institute, is the most prominent scientific journal in the specialty and is in the top 1 percent of indexed medical journals internationally. The journal publishes clinical and basic science studies of all aspects of the digestive system, including the liver and pancreas, as well as nutrition. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Chemical Abstracts, Current Contents, Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus, Nutrition Abstracts and Science Citation Index. For more information, visit http://www.gastrojournal.org.

AGA is now on Instagram.

Like AGA and Gastroenterology on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter @AmerGastroAssn, AGA_Gastro.

Check out our videos on YouTube.

Join AGA on LinkedIn.
Paul and Molly Babineaux were facing a space dilemma.

They adored their Irish Channel home on Philip Street, but its 1,200 square feet was starting to feel a little tight, what with twin boys (now 3 years old) and Mollys father (Bill Pittman) also living there.

They considered adding a camelback, but weren't eager for another renovation, having just completed work on the house three years prior.

We knew we needed at least three bedrooms  our house just had two  and a different floor plan, so we started looking, said Molly Babineaux, a middle school history teacher at Isidore Newman School. Plus we wanted to stay in the Channel.

Thats what led the couple to try condo living. They found a three-story, three-bedroom condominium that  with 1,500 square feet of space  gives them extra room and an all-important third bedroom on a separate floor.

We really love the aesthetic of this place. Even though the Philip Street house is much more traditional and historic, the contemporary look of this place really appealed to us, Babineaux said.

The development at the corner of Ninth and St. Thomas streets comprises 12 multistory condos designed by the office of Jonathan Tate, an architect who lives with his family in the corner unit. Two of the dwellings are in a renovated warehouse that sets the overall scale for the site. The others are free standing and fit together like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. The asymmetrical roof lines, as well as the varying sizes and distribution of fenestrations, defy tradition.

One thing we really like about it is that each condo is a little different, Babineaux said. Some are just two stories and some are three. We went with a three-story one because my father lives with us.

Pittman, or Bobo as he is called by the twins, Shreve and Max, is an important member of the household. Retired from a nursing career, he takes care of the twins when their parents need extra hands, and he also manages the short-term rental property that the Babineauxs own.

At home on St. Thomas Street, Pittmans realm is the third floor of the condo, a sunny space with a southern exposure. Although there is no bath up there now, the immense attic space adjoining the stairwell could easily be converted to a bath or even another bedroom in the future.

I really like the fact that Jonathan (Tate) provided plans for how the attic space can be finished out if we want to do that, Babineaux said. Right now, we just use it for storage  its where we stash the boys toys.

The second floor accommodates the master suite plus the boys bedroom and bath, separated from each other by the stairwell. Sitting on the boys' beds now are quilts made by Molly Babineauxs mom, and stuffed bears they made while they were in Shreveport visiting grandparents over Mardi Gras.

We took them to a Build-a-Bear place, and wouldn't you know it? Each one built a Darth Vader bear and both bears make that heavy deep breath sound when you squeeze their paws. It's not really what you expect out of a teddy bear, noted Babineaux.

On the ground level, the living room, dining space, kitchen and a half-bath combine to make a welcoming environment.

Space is at a premium even if we do have more than we had before, so we've come up with a few space-saving strategies. One is simple  we push the dining table against the wall except when its dinner time  the boys bench gets stashed under it, Babineaux said.

Another strategy: They installed a tall shelving unit on the streetside wall of the living room that reaches almost to the ceiling (about 11 feet).

On the lowest two shelves, we keep the kids toys and other supplies, Babineaux said. Higher up is where we have breakable things and things that we like to look at, like a Newcomb pottery vase from Pauls mom and pretty porcelain and vases from the Sunday Shop on Magazine Street.

To ensure that the house never overflows with toys, the couple instituted early on a policy that the boys must return a toy to storage when they take one out to play with.

It keeps the toy experience fresh and really helps control clutter, Babineaux said

The galley kitchen features cabinets on opposite walls, separated by a 5-foot-wide passageway that leads to the back door. The dishwasher and sink are on one side, the range and refrigerator opposite.

Babineaux enjoys cooking when she gets home from work, so while she is preparing dinner, her husband and father take the boys outside, where they often meet up with other children who live in the complex for motorcycle races around the courtyard. Sometimes Alice Tallulah, the Babineauxs dachshund mix, joins the fun.

While the children play, grown ups come outside with a glass of wine or cocktail and catch one another up on things. We had no idea this place would be such a community, but I credit the design of the buildings around the central courtyard with helping to make it like this, Babineaux said.

When dinner's ready, everyone comes inside, sitting together at the dining table. After dinner, the boys are bathed, don fresh pajamas, and story time ensues.

That is Pittmans cue to put on his headphones and head upstairs to his third floor aerie for the evening. By 8 p.m., quiet prevails, with each of the condo's residents content in his own space.
Facebook will remove political ads posted on its service if they contain misinformation related to the coronavirus, a company spokesman told CNBC on Thursday.

Over the past few months, the company has come under heavy criticism for its policy to allow politicians to run ads on the social network even if they contain false information. The spokesman on Thursday, however, clarified that Facebook will not allow politicians to post ads with misinformation if it is related to the coronavirus.

The spokesman referred CNBC to a post published by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday regarding how the company is dealing with the global outbreak of the coronavirus.

"We're removing false claims and conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations," Zuckerberg wrote. "We're also blocking people from running ads that try to exploit the situation -- for example, claiming that their product can cure the disease."

The coronavirus has already had an impact on the company. Facebook on Wednesday announced that a contract employee based in Seattle had tested positive for the illness. The company has also pulled out of various conferences, and it also canceled F8, its annual software developer conference that had been scheduled to take place in San Jose in early May.

Around the world, there are now at least 91,300 cases of the coronavirus and there have been at least 3,110 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The Ballotpedia website, a compendium of election information nationwide, says that in 22 states, at least one political party conducts open primaries to nominate partisan candidates for congressional and state-level offices. Why not demand party membership of anyone who wants to influence that partys general election ticket? One rationale is that by encouraging everyone to participate in nominating candidates, open primaries encourage voters to also participate in general elections where officeholders are selected. Another rationale is that voters may care deeply about one or more specific contests, and should be able to winnow the candidates for that office.
In the wake of Coronavirus outbreak, as many as 66,977 travellers from 563 flights have been screened at Mumbai International Airport till March 4, as per Maharashtra Public Health Department on Wednesday.

As travellers coming from all Corona affected countries are being screened at International airports, Maharashtra has 454 travellers coming from Corona affected areas.

Till date out of 454 travellers, 293 have completed their follow-up of 14 days. Apart from Mumbai, Pune and Thane travellers are also monitored in Gadchiroli, Nanded, Buldhana, Nagpur, Wardha, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Amaravati, Palghar, Jalgaon, Chandrapur, Nashik, Solapur and Satara districts.

From January 18 till date, 167 symptomatic travellers have been isolated in identified isolation facilities. Out of them, 161 have been found negative as per the reports of Institute of Virology, Pune. Report of 6 persons is still awaited. At present, 9 travellers are still in the hospital, 7 at Mumbai and 1 each at Nashik and Nanded.

As per guidelines from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), all travellers coming from Wuhan city of China are being isolated and tested for Corona whether symptomatic or asymptomatic. "All travellers coming from other affected countries have been asked to observe home isolation for 2 weeks from their date of departure from the affected country while they are being followed during this period by local health authority daily for health status. If any of such under surveillance traveller develop symptoms, he /she is admitted at an isolated ward and tested at an identified laboratory," it said.

The state health department has appealed to use a mask, however, it said it is not essential for the general population to use masks at the current moment.

"Mask is a must for any person with a history of travel to affected areas or persons having contact with infected persons, those showing symptoms of the disease and medical staff.N 95 mask is only for medical staff treating patients," it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nu credit cards are being launched by Nubank in Mexico. Nu bank is a digital, Latin American bank that originated in Brazil with a value of $10 billion and is recognized for its fully-mobile bank and credit card.

Nu Bank decided to open a branch in Mexico as it is a state with no proper banking system and has a population of 36 million.

The famous fintech company in Sao Paulo has gathered a total of $820 million and over 22 million clients from all of its branches. 'Nu Credit' will be open for Mexican clients from 18 years old and above. After the company has announced its opening, over 30,000 clients waited in line.

David Velez, the CEO of Nu Bank, worked for Sequoia Capital, a Latin America investment firm, in 2013 before he founded his company. His partner was Cristina Junqueira and CTO Edward Wible. Throughout the years after Velez founded the company, he and his partners selected executives to work for the company.

Nu Bank opened its doors to Mexico because they consider that the Mexicans are inclined and eager to be able to control all their finances simply since they have been struggling in living in a civilization that uses cash to function but has a limited system in digital savings and have no companies to lend them money.

The no-annual-free credit card that will be offered to the Mexicans by the company could accommodate all the needs of the Mexican and free them from this struggle.

Mexicans below the age of 24 are usually take part in the digital world and people at that age 50% of the total population in Mexico so it is only good to offer and open the service to the people of Mexico.

The country has been going through the system of the legacy banking oligopolies and has only a few percentage of the Mexican population have acquired a credit card so the company grabbed the opportunity to boost their business and help with the development of the unbanked population.

Just like how it resulted in Brazil, the founder of the company believes that they would be able to acquire millions of clients.

The company is currently experimenting using two million clients who can meet the requirements and qualifications for their project on personal loans.

Nubank has already commenced the expansion of their company by offering services to clients who are entrepreneurs and have a small business in Brazil and has already launched a beta for the services.

In Velez's perspective, the launch of his company in Mexico will not affect the existing small banks of the country in any way and that he only aims to assist Mexico as they don't have advanced banking yet.

For the expansion and development, the company will be getting their capital from the $820 million they have raised but Velez hasn't decided to open the company to the rest of the world and wants to keep it that way for the meantime since they are grateful for the clients who have invested in their company for a long period of time already.

Nu Bank has been declared as the greatest digital bank in the world that is self-governing.
WASHINGTON  For all the fears of foreign sabotage and security lapses in voting machines, the biggest nightmares to confront election officials during the years biggest primary balloting on Tuesday mostly proved more mundane: unexpected numbers of voters, at polling places that were unprepared to handle them.

On a day when most voting went smoothly, the two largest states in the Super Tuesday elections, California and Texas, struggled with hourslong lines in some major cities and complaints from some voting-rights groups that officials were seeking to reduce turnout for political reasons.

The problems were particularly severe in Texas, a state with some of the nations strictest voting requirements and lowest voter turnout. In the most notorious breakdown, some voters at Texas Southern University, a historically black institution in Houston, waited as long as seven hours to cast a ballot.

Some critics complained on Twitter and elsewhere that the delays amounted to voter suppression in a state where Republicans have been frequently sued, sometimes successfully, for trying to minimize Democratic power. But Texas elections are tightly controlled by local officials, not state ones. And in big cities like Houston and Austin which had the biggest problems on Tuesday, those officials are Democrats with scant reason to depress turnout in Democratic urban strongholds.
Flipper up on Acacia Africa's 3-day Cape Town Marine Eco-tour, as you'll be giving a helping hand to the "Bronzies" and local eco-tourism.



(TRAVPR.COM) UK - March 3rd, 2020 - Flipper up on Acacia Africa's 3-day Cape Town Marine Eco-tour, as you'll be giving a helping hand to the "Bronzies" and local eco-tourism. Not a protected species and under threat from commercial fishing, the brave copper coloured whaler sharks are regulars on the specialist's Great White Shark cage diving experience - the Gansbaai based activity included in the city stay. An adventure that will allow you to see the softer side of the many graceful predators who share these waters, the excursion is led by a marine biologist - ongoing research gathered on every trip.

Acacia Africa will be supporting its local operator via social media from World Wildlife Day onwards - the aim to see eco-tourism and fishing activities separated by a small exclusion zone.

Arno Delport, Sales & Marketing Manager at Acacia Africa comments, "We believe that being in the presence of these sharks and observing their extraordinary behaviour has a profound impact on our view of what are essentially incredibly vulnerable creatures - "Bronzies" a near-threatened species. We might arrive as safari-goers, but ultimately, we become their ambassadors. By taking part in the activity we also make a small contribution to ongoing research in the area, the local operator's we work with having equal respect for the environment and its inhabitants - our partners founding the Dyer Island Conservation Trust"

Acacia Africa's 3-day Cape Town Marine Eco-tour from 410pp (two sharing) including all tour highlights, dorm accommodation (single, twin and doubles available on request), one airport transfer, Gansbaai transfers, services of a commercially licensed shark dive crew and Marine Biologist, and a visit to the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary. Excludes return flight. Daily departures, year-round.

Acacia Africa (020 7706 4700) SATSA membership No. 1931, Atta membership no. 20151 and ABTA No. W4093 PROTECTED.

Notes to Editors: Bronze whaler sharks or "Bronzies" are found in temperate waters and usually seen in active groups. Bronze whalers can grow up to 3.3m in length during its 25 to 30-year lifespan. They mature late, only able to reproduce at around 20 years of age making them a vulnerable species. They are considered near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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Keeping your hands occupied with a stress ball or other object can reduce instances of touching your face and minimize triggers, doctors said. Of course, dont forget to regularly clean and sanitize that object. If you dont have a stress ball to squeeze, mail to sort or laundry to fold, you could lace your hands together in your lap or find another way to actively engage them so you are not bringing them to your face as much.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 08:48:38|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writers Lyu Qiuping, Yin Siyuan

TIANJIN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- On hearing some 10,000 people were put under quarantine right on the other side of the river, township official Hou Yanmei in north China's Tianjin Municipality realized danger was imminent.

Hou, 50, is the deputy chief of Xiacang Township bordering Baodi District, where a cluster of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were reported.

By Tuesday, Baodi District reported 60 COVID-19 cases, almost half of Tianjin's total. Over two-thirds of the cases were related to the Baodi department store, ranging from customers, salespeople to their families.

Xiacang Township started shutting down its 67 villages with people guarding the entrances and measuring body temperatures on the Chinese Lunar New Year which falls on Jan. 25 this year. Officials including Hou patrolled the area to persuade villagers to cancel their door-to-door visits for New Year greetings.

Hou said these steps kept villagers on high alert and helped cut off the route of cross-infection.

The cadres were nevertheless unnerved upon hearing the news about the cluster of cases at the nearby department store.

"A news clip analyzing how the cases were tracked and finally connected to the store went viral, straining my every nerve," Hou recalled.

The township then combed all the villages, finding some 2,000 people who had been to Baodi around the Lunar New Year. An urgent task was to find out the close contacts who had been to the department store.

A village cadre told Hou a family of five in his village had lied about their whereabouts.

"They were reluctant to admit they had been to the store for fear of being discriminated against by the villagers," she recalled. "I understand their anxiety."

The family was quarantined for 14 days at home, with village cadres measuring their body temperatures twice a day and delivering fruits, vegetables and other necessities.

To avoid cross-infection, Party cadres and volunteers also ran errands for the villagers, buying vegetables and paying utilities.

To date, no COVID-19 cases have been reported in Xiacang Township.

Hou felt sorry for her daughter because the family's travel plans had to be postponed once again. Her daughter, a college student, seemed to have grown used to the disappointment as Hou is always busy.

"I felt very comforted when she came to hug me after a long exhausting day, and my husband always cooked something different for dinner, waiting for me to come back," she said with a smile.

For more than a month, Hou has not taken a day off, nor does she plan to.

"The villagers are about to start plowing. The winter wheat needs watering. We have to ensure agricultural production while continuing the fight against the epidemic," she said.
A Coalition of Civil Society Groups has rejected the Senates move to hold a public hearing on the controversial Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations; and for Related matters Bill, 2019 (SB. 132).

The bill was introduced in November last year by Muhammed Musa, a senator representing Niger East, to regulate the social media and curb fake news on the internet. Since then, the bill has continued to attract criticism from Nigerians and civil society groups.

This newspaper reported how Nigerians outcry killed such a similar Anti-Social bill introduced in 2015 during Senator Bukola Saraki-led 8th National Assembly.

The 9th Senate has slated March 9, for a public hearing on the bill.

It would be recalled that a town hall meeting was organised by AIT in February to discuss the feasibility of the two controversial bills sponsored by the two senators.

PREMIUM TIMES witnessed how the bill and its twin on Hate Speech sponsored by Mr Musas counterpart from Niger State, Sabi Abdullahi, were defeated by CSO groups and Nigerians in attendance.

The CSOs position

In a similar vein, the groups, 110 in total, on Wednesday in Abuja, said the bill is a resuscitation of an obnoxious bill that had been hitherto unanimously rejected by the people and should not be further considered for public hearing to be funded by tax-payers money.

The group added that such a bill is self-serving and politically motivated to police the internet and gag the freedom of expression.

Bukky Shonibare of Girl Child Africa, who read the signed stance of the 110 CSOs, argued that, It has been affirmed severally in various courts of law that the right to freedom of expression is a constitutional and fundamental right; inviolable under the 1999 constitution.

Section 17 (1) of the Constitution expressly states that: The State Social order is founded on ideals of Freedom, Equality and Justice, while in section 37, it protects The Privacy of Citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.'

The group, in its argument against the bill, referenced the statements of both President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, before the attempt to launch the bill in 2016 was eventually defeated.

Free speech is central to democratic societies anywhere in the world. Without free speech, elected representatives wont be able to gauge public feelings and moods about governance issues. As a key component of democratic principles, people in democratic societies are so emotionally attached to free speech that they would defend it with all their might, Mr Buhari was quoted to have said.

Mr Osinbajo, in his submission against the bill said he does not think that government regulation is necessarily the way to go, but I believe that we, as persons of faith and we, as leaders, and those of us who use the social media actively owe a responsibility to our society and to everyone else, to ensure that we dont allow it to become an instrument of conflict and instrument of war.

Despite the position expressed by the duo, media freedom in Nigeria remains under attack. This is eminent in the recent cases of arrests of journalists, bloggers, social media activists and other Nigerians.

This apparent executive plot pushing, manipulating and exploiting the Senate to regulate the social media and internet, will expose people to increased intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and exacerbate the growing attacks on journalists, human rights defenders and activists.

The National Assembly must immediately and publicly reject this illegal and unconstitutional bill (and) ensure full and effective compliance with Nigerias international human rights obligations and commitments. We, as people and civil society reject this bill as both politically motivated and self-serving, the coalition groups said.

Media beware

In an interview after the briefing, a programme officer of Amnesty International, Seun Bakare, quizzed the basis of the bill and whose interest it tends to serve more.

In his argument, he said passing such bill will worsen the countrys ranking on corruption index as those who govern and who do not want their actions screened or called to question by Nigerians, will use this to their advantage.

If we then choose to have a society where people cannot express themselves, the fear is that what we have in our hand is greater than we can imagine. If people do not have the right and freedom to express how they feel, it will lead to frustration. This is why this government must stop this bill.

We already have many laws in our books that will do exactly the same thing you want this law to do. And so, we do not need this bill and the Senate of Nigeria must understand that it does not serve its own purpose, it is supposed to be serving the purpose of the people that voted them in.

We dont need another legislation, what we really need is good leadership, he concluded.

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Another speaker at the press conference, Jude Illo (OSIWA), expressed worries over the impact such a bill would have on media houses, journalists, and other online users who make a living off the social platforms if implemented.

Every media house could be endangered by this bill. Imagine a situation where the government is in a position to determine what is false, and what is not false?

This bill did not define what false statement is, it left it to the intelligence of our Nigerian police to determine what is false and what is not false. Practically everything you write or upload can put you into trouble as long as that subject matter is on the internet. This is dangerous.

The bill is ambiguous. It talks about Nigerians relationship with other countries. It talks about ill-feelings, when (did) we start legislating feeling? It also tells you that when the Nigerian police, in their infinite wisdom, decides that what you have said is false and issue a regulation that either you retract or you provide what is the truth by their standards, you cannot go to court until you appeal to them to change their mind, he said.
Confidence in the Irish economy by the majority of Irish CEOs is at the lowest level since 2009.

Irish CEOs who believe the outlook for the Irish economy is favourable has fallen to just 16%, a drop from last year when the same figure was 57%.

The figures are contained in PwCs 2020 Irish CEO survey. While there was pessimism about the Irish economy, 67% of company heads are confident about their organisations future revenue growth.

Growth, however, remains on the agenda with many Irish CEOs believing their organisations will remain resilient for whatever the future holds.

A majority of CEOs (67%) are confident about their organisations revenue growth and nearly half of respondents (47%) plan to hire more people in the year ahead.

PwC Ireland Managing Partner Feargal ORourke said Ireland is bucking some global economic trends. "Our economy is performing well, unemployment is at almost record lows and foreign direct investment remains strong. But it is not surprising, given all that is going on globally that business confidence in Ireland has fallen so dramatically," he said.

This survey includes the views of 125 Irish CEOs in a study conducted in September and October 2019 and prior to Covid-19 having hit the general consciousness.

Irish CEOs have been more concerned than their global counterparts about the shortage of key skills for the past seven years. This year, 57% of Irish CEOs say upskilling employees is the most important action to close the skills gap in their organisation, up from 30% last year.

However, they are not making much headway in tackling the problem with only 12% saying they have made significant progress at establishing an upskilling programme that develops a mix of soft, technical and digital skills.

In relation to climate change, the survey found Irish CEOs are significantly more concerned about climate change risks and environmental damage (74%) than they were last year (56%),Kim McClenaghan, Partner, PwC Ireland Energy, Utilities and Sustainability Practice, said: Compared to a decade ago, when we last asked this question, Irish respondents are now twice as likely to agree that investing in climate change initiatives will lead to significant new product and service opportunities for their organisation."

"However, Global CEOs (63%) are much more likely to see the benefits - take for example China where this number is as 91%."

[
She recently returned from a lavish trip to Las Vegas.

And Molly-Mae Hague jetted off once again as she shared an Instagram of herself soaking up the sun in Ko Samui, Thailand on Thursday.

The Love Island star, 20, looked sensational as she donned a white bikini while lounging on a rattan swing.

Stunning: Molly-Mae Hague, 20, flaunted her incredible figure in a white bikini as she lounged on a swing during sun-soaked Thailand break on Thursday

Jet-ski setter: Molly threw her arms up in the air as she posed up a storm in a black PrettyLittleThing swimsuit

Molly stared off into the distance as she showcased her lithe figure in the white bikini top with gold-trimmed belt and a matching pair of high-waisted bottoms.

The chic white swimwear served to highlight the influencer's bronzed skin.

Molly coated her face in a generous layer of make-up for the snap, while her platinum tresses were styled into curls.

The star kept her fans updated on her trips, sharing images of herself, as well as videos of a jet-ski and beach BBQ.

Beach babe: The star kept her fans updated on her trips, sharing images of herself, as well as videos of a jet-ski and beach BBQ

In another snap, she posed up a storm on a jet-ski while rocking a black PrettyLittleThing swimsuit.

Molly's trip comes just days after she returned from Las Vegas, where she joined boyfriend Tommy Fury to watch his brother Tyson fight Deontay Wilder.

Ahead of boxer Tyson's clash, it was reported that Tommy, 20, was planning to pop the question to Molly-Mae - but despite his victory there is yet to be a question.

A source told The Sun: 'Tommy's serious about Molly and thinks proposing in Vegas surrounded by family will be the perfect time.

Cute couple: Molly's trip comes just days after she returned from a trip to Las Vegas with boyfriend Tommy Fury (pictured at January's National Television Awards)

'He's of the mind only to do it in Vegas if his brother Tyson wins his fight against Deontay Wilder tonight. He thinks it would be the perfect way to end the perfect day.'

The loved-up couple met on last year's season of Love Island and have been smitten ever since.

In a recent clip from his ITV documentary: The Gypsy King, Tyson, 31, jumped for joy when Tommy asked Molly-Mae to be his girlfriend on ITV's Love Island last year.

He jumped around his living room with delight alongside his equally-excited wife Paris, 30, who gushed: 'She's my new sister-in-law!'
NATICK, Mass., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Natick, Massachusetts based company Reliva  a premium CBD company led by 24-year CPG veteran Miguel Martin  recently became the number one-selling brand among CBD topicals.1* In the increasingly crowded field of CBD products, Reliva has emerged as an industry-leading brand, with its topicals now outselling leading competitors such as Hemp Bombs, Select CBD, and CBD Medic. Reliva's CBD cream currently ranks #1 in overall sales (and #2 $/ACV), while its CBD relief stick ranks #3 in overall sales, per IRI.

With interest in CBD on the rise throughout America, Reliva has positioned itself to fulfill an important public need for high-quality, responsibly-sourced CBD products. In addition to being offered for sale online, Reliva's CBD products are currently available in over 18,000 retail stores and enjoy exclusive distribution with many national retail chains. Reliva's CBD tincture, shot, and spray products all consistently rank within the top 10 in CBD products.

The CBD extract found in Reliva products is responsibly sourced from licensed seed-to-shelf hemp farms and subjected to rigorous third-party testing, which results in a certificate of analysis (COA) being issued for every batch of CBD extract that is utilized in the company's far-ranging product line. Reliva's CBD products are not released to market without passing this stringent testing protocol, and each product contains an item-specific batch code and expiration date, along with a scannable QR code that links consumers directly to the company's web site, which features COAs for every batch of product produced. For more information on the certificate of analysis offered by Reliva (including a database easily searchable by batch number), please visit www.relivacbd.com/about-reliva-cbd/certificates-of-analysis/.

Central to Reliva's retail success has been something that the company calls "the Reliva Difference," which embodies the overarching philosophy of the brand itself. Not only does this industry leader refrain from making outlandish therapeutic claims about its products, but they make no claims whatsoever; in fact, Reliva does not even allow customers to make such claims in their product reviews. Its firm focus on compliance carries over into every area of business  from rigorous product testing to an age-restricted web site and non-self-service retail displays and beyond  and reveals a company thoroughly dedicated to responsible, compliant marketing.

For more information, please see www.relivacbd.com

* Based on IRI Data.

SOURCE Reliva CBD

Related Links

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After years of patiently waiting for Gods timing, I have finally enrolled into a seminary to move onto the next chapter of my life in Gods calling to become a minister of his word.

I already knew that the seminary of my choice (located in Korea) was infamous for being academically rigorous, but little did I know of the actual intensity that was to come; and in consequence would change my perspective in Christian discipline forever.

This is SPARTA!

I grew up and went through school in New Zealand, so I had absolutely no exposure to Korean education culture, but I did hear stories about it as I was growing up. Korea, in general, is a highly competitive society and education is no exception.

Public high schools curriculum finishes at 10pm (crazy compared to NZs 3pm!) and students usually sleep on average of 3 to 6 hours for good 7 years just so they can get admitted to prestigious universities in order to pave for themselves a good career path.

This competitive culture is permeated throughout society and you can easily find people who are highly diligent, industrious and conscientious in whatever field they are involved in, and my seminary was no exception.

The motive in the seminary however was much different to those of the world. If regular people were hard working for their own glory, prosperity and fame; the seminarians and the professors were clearly driven for one purpose: the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom.

I went through a compulsory three-week intensive biblical Greek course in which we were made to go through a years worth of Greek course in just three weeks. I personally slept only 2 hours everyday for the first week and I forced myself to sleep a bit more (3-4 hours) for the rest of the course only because my health was rapidly deteriorating due to sudden lack of sleep and built up fatigue. This wasnt just me, the whole class pretty much studied like this for three weeks, and nobody quit until the end.

I truly felt like an unprepared ordinary soldier who just finished boot camp, going straight into Spartan level training.

But why do such a ludicrous thing to begin with?

That was my first thought from Day 1. I mean its pretty obvious that such an intensive course, where you have so much study load that you are forced to sleep for only few hours a day for three weeks, is not going to be the most effective nor is this good for the students health and well-being in general.

This seemed like a broken system and I felt hopeless as I thought of how Im just going to fail this course and will not be able to take my Greek II course in the upcoming first semester. Thankfully I wasnt the only one who felt hopelessly discouraged  the whole class did.

The professor, fully knowing our current state of morale (as the school ran this intensive course for more than three decades now), exhorted us with love as to why we ought to study harder and pour out ourselves in studying for the glory of God.

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in sage country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? (Hosea chapter 12, verse 5).

The professor reminded us that as we are comfortably sitting in our room with warm heaters and given the full privilege of being educated in the original language of the New Testament, some of our dear brothers and sisters in Christ were being martyred and persecuted for Christs sake.

He told us that as we are complaining of how overloaded we are with the word of God, there are hundreds of North Korean Christians just over the border that would give anything to have even a complete Bible.

This guy is being dead serious.

He was absolutely right, and I could tell he was being dead serious about it. I could feel that he himself lives such a dedicated and devoted life for Christ, gladly going without sleep and sacrificing all temporal things with singular purpose in mind: glorifying God and the expansion of His Kingdom.

I could finally see the true intent of this intensive course: set a new bar for the seminarians as to what extent we need to devote our lives for Christ.

I mean  of course I also knew that as Christians we ought to live a devoted and sacrificial life and I guess I somewhat claimed to live such a life to a certain extent, but I realized that in reality I was nowhere near being devoted.

I was so glad that through this experience, God has engraved in my heart a true biblical standard of devotion and sacrifice.

So, with such grace and mindset that I have received anew, I pray that I will violently march on and run this race with my eyes fixed on eternity, and on that day when I see my Lord face to face, I hope to limp towards him with my broken worn out body and cry out with tears running down my eyes:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me (2 Timothy, chapter 4, verses 7-8).
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  Police arrested two Chinese workers for a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) on Thursday on suspicion of kidnapping three of their fellow Chinese nationals in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

The alleged kidnappers were arrested in an operation at a house in Techwood Subdivision, in the city's Soong Village, a police report said.

The three Chinese victims were also rescued during the operation.

This is not the first time Chinese nationals and POGO workers were involved in a kidnapping incident in recent months.

In January, five Chinese suspects were arrested for the kidnapping of a female Taiwanese POGO worker in Makati City. In the same month, two Vietnamese women were rescued by authorities after they were abducted allegedly by Chinese nationals in Las Pinas City.

Senators have condemned the rising number of crimes committed by Chinese nationals in the country, including incidents of bribery and involvement in prostitution dens.

Senator Richard Gordon blamed the Duterte administration's "too soft" stance on China for the misdemeanor of its nationals but Malacanang maintained there is no special treatment for the Chinese. The President can also suspend POGO operations, the Palace said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said the crimes involving Chinese workers are just "isolated incidents." It also condemned "fake news" against China.

Cebu-based journalist Dale Israel contributed to this report.
Trenton Health Team, created in response to a local health care crisis, has expanded its mission over the past decade to address all the factorsmedical and socialaffecting community well-being through innovative programs and partnerships.

We will never get people healthy by just providing them with more healthcare, said Trenton Health Team Executive Director Gregory Paulson. Every aspect of a community affects health outcomespoverty, structural racism, food insecurity, trauma and other issues doctors and healthcare providers are ill-equipped to address.

THT began as the response to closure of Mercer Medical Center in 2006 and concerns about the effect on city residents. For the first time, Capital Health, St. Francis Medical Center, Henry J. Austin Health Center and the City of Trenton Department of Health and Human Services began collaboratingand in February 2010 that collaboration was incorporated as Trenton Health Team.

THT is making sure were all moving in the same directionlike rowers in a crew- to augment what we are each doing across the city. In doing so we can maximize manpower and resources to the best of our abilityespecially when resources are so limited, said Kemi Alli, chief executive officer at Henry J. Austin Health Center and a founding THT board member. THT is the heart of making this happen.

Over the years, THT has attracted more than $20 million in funding for programs serving Trenton residents and partnered with faith-based communities, barber shops and soup kitchens to screen for health issues, share information and encourage healthy lifestyles. THTs Community Advisory Board represents nearly 100 organizations, with CAB workgroups focusing on maternal health, safe communities and access to healthy food.

THT recently helped lead statewide effort to create Regional Health Hubs. As one of New Jerseys first health hubs, THT will expand its work with providers and community organizations to integrate, coordinate and align disconnected services.

THT is making sure were all moving in the same directionlike rowersso we can maximize manpower and resources to the best of our abilityespecially when resources are so limitedto augment what each other is doing, said Kemi Alli, chief executive officer at Henry J. Austin Health Center and a founding THT board member. THT is the heart of making that happen.

THT also has revolutionized how healthcare and social services interact through both cutting-edge use of health data and hands-on community meetings.

NowPow is an online tool that helps caregivers address social determinants of health-causes of health problems that are not medical. by making referrals directly to food pantries, legal services, faith communities and other social services in hope of mitigating conditions contributing to health concerns.

The Trenton Health Information Exchange (Trenton HIE) is a database allowing more than 1,250 clinical users across central New Jersey to share medical information about nearly 700,000 patients, leading to better coordinated healthcare, better informed clinical decisions, fewer repeated services and, ultimately, improved patient care.

Trenton Health Team is making it easier for those who care for the most at-risk patients to provide better care, said Robert Remstein, vice president of Accountable Care for Capital Health and a founding THT board member. The HIE leads to better patient care because we can investigate and see a patients historyand that can make a difference in a persons care.

Convening members of government agencies, nonprofits, health care and the community has revealed valuable perspectives and opportunities for innovationand will remain the mission of THT, Paulson said. Trenton is now a national model for integrated health and well-being services. As our nation continues debating the future of health care, lessons weve learned in Trenton over the past decade offer a way forward.
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Next month, in London, the doors of various retailers will be thrown open for a handful of workshops: Georg Jensen will bring a master silversmith over from Copenhagen to show how its flatware and accessories are made; Savoir will put those who make its cozy mattresses front and center; and Churchs will reveal how its cobblers repair shoes, demonstrating the footwears superior materials and construction in the process. After soaking up these behind-the-scenes moments, visitors will then consult with independent craftspeople and learn how basket weavers or milliners make their waresand their wayin 2020.

Its all part of London Craft Week, a festival in its sixth year. Theres a strong ecosystem for fine art and a gallery sector supporting it, but theres not really the same network for craft, says Jonathan Burton, Craft Weeks managing director. Many who produce extraordinary work struggle to find a market for it. That grind has spurred the creation of many organizations dedicated to preserving heritage crafts, such as Nordic Safeguarding Practices in Scandinavia, the American Craft Council in the US and the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA) in the UK. Some have even issued Red Lists, endangered-species-style lineups denoting crafts in danger of dying out in their respective regions. It allows us to shed light on the stories behind each craftthe people, their skills, their livelihoods, says Daniel Carpenter, a research manager at the HCA who oversaw the 2019 edition of its Red List. Despite such concerted efforts, a handful are on the threshold of extinction, with only a few individuals left to carry on their traditions. Here, Robb Report spotlights some of the last remaining artisans we have found in Italy, the UK and China. Their knowledge represents a piece of each regions tangible cultural heritage. At risk of disappearing are not merely beautifully handmade objects but also the tradition that once helped shape a people and history.

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If Rumpelstiltskins trick of spinning straw into gold sounds impressive, try spinning clam spit into a golden textile. For almost 50 years, Chiara Vigo has been making mollusk secretions into sea silk, an ancient textile that was once a favorite of Mesopotamian kings and Roman emperors for its sparkling hue and strong yet lightweight fibers. Every night in May, when the conditions promise to be just right, Vigo free dives in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of SantAntioco, the tiny Italian isle she calls homearound 100 dives all told, or as many as it takes to find enough tufts of solidified clam spit. Vigo is thought to be the last in the world who can spin it into sea silk.

Its a tradition practiced by the women in her family for generations, and Vigo, 65, learned the technique from her grandmother. I could never spend too much time in her shop, she says. I liked her world, and I agreed that the craft must be saved, so I refined my knowledge in the field of marine biology. Vigo worked at a local aquaculture plant, an experience that brought her up close and personal with the animal that makes sea silk possible: the Pinna nobilis, which is commonly known as the noble pen shell and can grow four feet tall. The creatures secretions, filaments that it uses to anchor itself to the seabed, are known as byssus, and only a true master can render silk from it. Even then, its an arduous task. After Vigo carefully harvests the byssus without harming the mollusksa 100-dive run will yield about 300 grams of raw materialshe keeps the hairy clumps in freshwater, which is changed every three hours, for 25 days. The knots are then combed out with a brush, a delicate step, as byssus can be up to three times finer than human hair. Then the filaments are twisted on a juniper spindle into silk thread and, from there, soaked with a trade-secret brew of lemon juice and algae. After, they shine like gold, and Vigo weaves it into fabric on a loom. She repeats these steps over and over, as theres typically very little yield per clam: The average noble pen shell will render a mere five centimeters of precious silk.

Yet despite the labor involved, Vigo refuses to cash in on her craft. Her grandmother insisted she take a sea oathprohibiting her from selling her workbefore embarking on her first dive. Instead, she gives the silk fabric, considered a good-luck charm, to the studio visitors she deems need it the most. What I have must be safeguarded, she says. I must keep it free from commercialization, just as my grandmother did.

Her craft is under threat not only because shes believed to be the last on earth to practice itneither of her two daughters has yet taken up the vocationbut also because its materials are endangered as well. A new pathogen has ravaged the noble pen shells numbers since 2016, landing the clams on the International Union for Conservation of Natures critically endangered list in December. But Vigo is not willing to compromise when it comes to finding the right apprentice. It cannot be entrusted to just anyone looking for work, she says. It requires your entire existence.

Vigo isnt the only one struggling to enlist a worthy student. On Italys mainland, another artisan finds the future of his lifes work in doubt. A master goldbeater, Marino Menegazzo has perfected a craft that is exactly as it sounds: He hammers gold ingots into sheets so fine they are a mere five-millionths of a centimeter thick. Hes the last person in Italyand, likely, in all of Europewho still makes gold leaves by hand (and hammer). That reality particularly stings for Menegazzo, 66, as he has always worked in Venice, a city that has a long history of goldbeaters. At one time, in the 17th century, more than 300 worked there, and their handmade leaf filled the citys palaces and mosaics. Menegazzos work can be found in the sinking city, too. Most notably, he hammered the gold for the archangel perched atop St. Marks Campanile. (His commissions are varied; Menegazzos handiwork can just as easily be found in cosmetic face masks and food decor the world over.) Today, his competitors press ingots with machines rather than by hand, a shortcut Menegazzo and his family are not willing to take.

My grandfather opened this laboratory in 1926, says his daughter Eleonora, who helps with the packaging and sales. What my father makes, its not like other gold. Here you buy a feeling, a soul. Its not a simple foil. She, her twin sister and her mother are all involved in some part of the business, but they have no interest or experience in goldbeating. Weve tried for many years to find someone who will learn, but its very difficult. You must have strength, coordination, memory and a passion for this work. If you dont love it, you cant do it. Its impossible.

Shes not kidding about strength. Making a leaf requires alternating between four heavy hammers, weighing 18, 13, 9 and 7 pounds each. Youll beat the metal for up to two hours (around 30,000 hammerings). At the end of your days labor, youll have just two to four leaves to show for it. And the hammering is just one of the steps in an already tricky process, which includes melting down a 24-karat-gold ingot, reshaping it in a small mold, feeding it through a roller and cutting it into stamp-size squares. Why go through the trouble? As per the Menegazzos, handmade leaf is finer and more resilient than industrial grade. Yet few appreciate the distinction. We havent seen much increased demand over the years, Eleonora laments. But were trying. My father wants to create a machine that can mimic his beating for us. Its this final admission that signals Menegazzos resignation to his handicrafts demise.

Its very difficult to learn or revive a craft based on resources alone. On a one-to-one, apprenticeship basis, you have someone to tell you where youre going wrong, says Carpenter. But, understandably, many cant afford to step away from their production and train somebody. Initially, at least, an apprentice is a financial hit. Its a big risk for a small business.

Difficult, yes, but not impossible. Thousands of miles away from Menegazzos and Vigos apprentice-less crafts, Beijing-based Zhang Xiaodong has fashioned himself the new master of a once-forgotten art, with only history as his teacher. His medium of choice is dragon-scale bookbinding, an ancient practice that dates to the Tang Dynasty but died out in the 17th century during the Manchu conquest. A work made with this method bears characteristics of both book and scroll: It can be rolled up, but unfurling it reveals bound pages. A sliver of a larger illustration is printed on the far right of each page, and the pages are staggered so that, when laid flat, these scales form the complete image, which can extend 100 feet or more. The books were valued among the elite of a thousand years ago, and Zhang arranges his modern-day works in a sculptural manner for exhibitions. The work blurs the lines between art and book, which I found quite interesting, says Ying Kwok, a curator who selected Zhangs Diamond Sutra for a 2018 show in Hong Kong. We had a demonstrator present it. He wore white gloves and used specific tools designed by the artist to flip the pages so that the intricate content could be fully appreciated.

Zhang mastered the technique only after a great deal of research. In particular, he studied at the Forbidden City Palace Museum, which houses one of the last remaining ancient dragon-scale books. The artist pored over the piece before attempting to replicate it, sourcing authentic materials such as rice paper, bamboo and wood. That level of precision is key: When cutting pages, an error of even one-hundredth of a centimeter can lead to misaligned pages. Zhang has made only a handful of dragon-scale books since he began in 2010, owing to the time each requireshis longest, at 1,766 pages, took him four years to complete. When I first heard of dragon-scale bookbinding, I didnt think of it as an ancient method but immediately thought of its future, says Zhang. I felt the arts vibrant energy.

Its a resurrection worth celebrating in a broader context as well, as bookbinding is one of the most endangered crafts globally. Once a revered practice, bookbinding by hand has been largely phased out in favor of machines that can churn out volumes much faster and cheaper. As a result, cities are lucky to have even one bookbinding artisan: Abd El-Zaher is the last shop in Cairo, Vo Van Rang is the sole practitioner in Ho Chi Minh City and Henry Bookbinding marks itself the last on Manhattans Lower East Side, once a thriving center of the trade. Humans have been making books by hand for millennia, and its terrifying to imagine that this art might die out during our lifetime, says Hugo Macdonald, who traveled the world speaking with various artisans for Useful/Beautiful, an exhibition on craft that he curated last year at the Harewood House in Leeds, England. Nothing can replicate a book thats been made by hand from scratch.

Like Zhang, Pedro da Costa Felgueiras taught himself his all-but-extinct craft. If anything, his mentors tried to un-teach him. When I first told one of my teachers about my lacquers, she said, Give them away. Thats so much work. Nobody wants to use them,  Felgueiras recalls. Thankfully, the London-based artist didnt heed his conservation-and-restoration instructors words, instead digging deeper into the world of paint pigments via A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing, from 1668. He then gathered raw pigments for his lacquers and paints to mimic the forgotten recipes used centuries ago. I think I got them because I was pushy, he says with a laugh. I just started experimenting, and it grew from there. I was completely hooked. His products, which are now used in high-end interior restoration, are not easy to make from scratch, though, and some pigments can be tricky to find, even for the enterprising Felgueiras. Only one man remains who stirs blue verditer for him, for instance. (Hes quite old now. I dont know where Im going to get it from when he dies.) Felgueiras grinds these pigments by hand, then adds some oil to make paints, creating colors that are more vibrant and last longer than anything youll find at the hardware store. (He disdainfully refers to modern-day colors as plastic.) Some hues, meanwhile, are lost to history, such as Indian yellow, which was made from urine extracted from cows that were fed exclusively mango leaves, or mummy brown, formulated by grinding up, yes, Egyptian mummies.

Ask most craft festivals what the big draw is for artisans and theyll tell you that, other than offering general exposure to the public, the events encourage new collaborations by bringing together independent makers and high-profile brands. Youve got people who have very traditional, very exceptional skills, says London Craft Weeks Burton. We look to see if there are opportunities for them to use those skills in a different context. Theres a might of creative collaborations that come out of it. People meet each other, they start talking. Success stories certainly exist (if not at Craft Week, then via other methods of discovery): Chanel, for instance, purchased Maison Lemarie, one of the last remaining decorative feather houses, in 1996, after years of successful collaboration. In addition, LVMH acquired Les Tanneries Roux, one of the last French workshops specializing in calf hides, in 2012, to bolster its leather offerings.

Angraves, a rattan-weaving workshop in Leicestershire, England, follows the saved-from-the-brink narrative. After almost 100 years in the wicker-furniture business, the family-owned company announced it was going under administration (a British version of bankruptcy) in 2010. Of its 35 employees, only 2 remained who knew the traditional techniques. Each had been practicing for more than 40 years. Then a longtime client, Lulu Lytle, a cofounder of furniture manufacturer Soane Britain, came to the rescue. I only realized how hard it was to find these weavers in Britain when I set out to buy an Edwardian rattan sofa, she says. A combination of fear of losing these specialists skills in England forever and, honestly, a need to fulfill client orders was the impetus. So I bought the raw materials and machinery from Angraves administrators and rebuilt the workshop. Now run by Lytle and Soane, Angraves remains the only British rattan workshop, preserving a craft that was intensely popular in England and continental Europe in the 19th century. The scarcity of its practitioners has something to do with the corner-cutting competition. Instead of using genuine rattan and shaping it by hand, larger manufacturers import cheaper material from abroad and bend it with machines. Angraves isnt the only one that has struggled: Erica Larsson is the last rattan weaver in Sweden, and Goh Kiok Seng and his son count themselves the only ones left in Singapore.

Creating a single rattan piece can take days, weeks, even months. When the raw palm arrives, it must first be soaked and steamed so that its soft enough to weave. Only once it dries does the material contract and hold its new form. It takes time and experience to understand the material and how it might bend before it breaks. Its rewarding but extremely labor-intensive, says Mick Gregory, one of the veterans. A U-shape sofa that Angraves made measured 34 feet, he recalls, and took two months to complete; a headboard for an American client took a month.

What Angraves doesnt have to worry about, however, is apprenticeship. Soane has introduced a mentorship program, which has encouraged new weavers to join up, effectively ensuring that the craft will survive another generation. A robust 14 weavers now staff the workshop. One of our team members came on only two months ago, says Gregory. I work alongside him very closely so that I might pass my knowledge on. The future of his craft depends on it.

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A patient with underlying health conditions has become the first person to die in the UK after contracting coronavirus.

The person, reported to be a woman in her 70s, had been admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on Wednesday night.

The trust said in a statement on Thursday evening: Sadly, we can confirm that an older patient with underlying health conditions has died.

The patient has previously been in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons, but on this occasion was admitted and last night tested positive for coronavirus.

A file image of the main entrance to Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading (PA)

The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the familys privacy.

Boris Johnson reacted by saying his sympathies are with the family of the person.

Speaking to reporters, he added: The situation is pretty much as it has been in the sense that we are still in the contain phase, though now our scientists and medical advisers are making preparations for the delay phase.

Prof Chris Whitty, Englands chief medical officer, also offered sincere condolences to the persons family and friends and asked that their request for privacy is respected.

This evening, @CMO_England confirmed that a patient in England who tested positive for coronavirus (#COVID19) has passed away.



The patient was being treated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital and had underlying health conditions.



For latest information:

 https://t.co/CZh5JdyN2Q pic.twitter.com/Fhg9QySJkB  Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) March 5, 2020

The patient is the second Brit to die from coronavirus, but the first in the UK.

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A man, who has not been named, died on board a quarantined cruise ship in Japan on Friday last week.

New coronavirus cases in the UK up to 9am on Thursday (PA)

Thursdays announcement comes after the Department of Health said the number of UK cases rose to 115 on Thursday.

However, the PA new agency reported the figure was 116.

Eighteen people have so far recovered from coronavirus in the UK, with 45 being treated at home.

Earlier on Thursday, Downing Street said it is highly likely that coronavirus will now spread in a significant way.

Prof Whitty has also clarified the advice that will be given to the public in the event of a significant epidemic.

He said at a press conference: In the long run, to be clear, if we were to get a significant epidemic our advice would definitely be stay at home.

It would not make any sense for people with mild symptoms to come into the NHS.

That would not benefit them and not benefit anyone else.

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The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists will be hosting the CannAtlantic Conference, a conference focused on discussing education, social inequalities and other challenges in the emerging legal cannabis industry.

The event is expected to take place in late September, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There will be sessions on prospective states in the Mid-Atlantic region, discussing the challenges of cannabis reform in their areas. Additionally, there will be an on-site expungement clinic as well as a medical marijuana doctor facilitating patient sign-ups.

Tickets to the next Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Detroit, Michigan April 1 are available now.

I want people to walk away inspired to learn more, and to connect with one another to build support systems that encourage each other to continue to learn; it could be something small as doing their own independent research, or getting involved in a local organization and having open and honest discussions about cannabis with their peers and local journalists," says Tauhid Chappell, medical marijuana patient and executive board member of the PABJ. Conscious conversations dont happen overnight, and by fostering relationships, especially between journalists and community members, during this kind conference it leads to a stronger understanding of whats at stake.

Image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga

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[March 05, 2020] Intracom Telecom's Advanced Radios Reinforce Morocco's Border Surveillance ATHENS, Greece, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Intracom Telecom, a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor, announced the supply of its market-leading Point-to-Point microwave (PtP MW) radio, OmniBAS, to the Border Management Programme for the Maghreb, funded by the EU. The company undertook the responsibility to deploy the products with local engineering and installation services. Through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the Border Management Programme for the Maghreb, implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), seeks to improve the Moroccan authorities' capacity to manage their borders, in order to protect vulnerable migrants, deal with irregular migration, and dismantle cross-border criminal networks. Intracom Telecom was selected for the provision of its reliable split-mount OmniBAS solution in order to strengthen the Moroccan authorities' capability to meet these challenges. The Programme is taking advantage of the system's unrivalled capabilities, unparalleled flexibility and outstanding performance to further improve communication and data transfer between the relevant authorities. The company's OmniBAS systems, consisting of high-performance indoor and outdoor (ODU) units, provide leading-edge modulation up to 4096-QAM for high throughput radio communications, support XPIC functionality and maximize the efficiency of the radio resources used. Christian Chatigner, Commercial Director of Intratelecom Morocco, stated: "Being aware of the heavy migration pressure in Morocco we know how important it is to offer solutions that would efficiently address the issue and support of the Border Management Programme for the Maghreb. We are glad to supply our technology that focuses on upgrading and supporting the Moroccan authorities' network, providing the proper management and control tools for border surveillance." John Tenidis, Marketing Director of Intracom Telecom's wireless solutions portfolio, commented: "Intracom Telecom's OmniBAS split-mount links are the ideal solution to strengthen border management and minimize or even eliminate eventually irregular migration, not only in Morocco but in any country that is facing similar issues. Company's solution has been widely deployed in Europe for critical communication networks and we are confident that we will address this challenging project successfully." About Intracom Telecom Intracom Telecom is a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor operating for over 40 years in the market. The company has become the benchmark in fixed wireless access and it successfully innovates in the 5G/4G wireless RAN transport and small-cell SON backhaul international arena. Intracom Telecom offers a comprehensive revenue-generating software solutions portfolio and a complete range of ICT services, focusing on IoT, SDN/NFV, Big Data analytics & data-driven intelligence, and Smart City solutions. Moreover, it addresses the Energy & Utilities industry, emphasizing on smart metering and end-to-end IT solutions. Intracom Telecom is also active in the defense systems sector providing security integrated systems for critical infrastructure protection and border surveillance. The company has extensive know-how and a proven track record in the market, serving fixed and mobile telecom operators, public authorities and large public and private enterprises. Intracom Telecom maintains its own R&D and production facilities, and operates subsidiaries worldwide. For more information please visit: www.intracom-telecom.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intracom-telecoms-advanced-radios-reinforce-moroccos-border-surveillance-301017217.html SOURCE Intracom Telecom

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THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CubicFarm Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) (CubicFarms or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has filed a preliminary short form prospectus (the Prospectus) with respect to an offering of common shares (the Offered Shares) in the amount of up to approximately $8,000,000 (the Offering). The Offering is being conducted on a best efforts agency basis under the terms of an agency agreement to be entered into between the Company and Raymond James Ltd. as sole bookrunner and co-lead agent with Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the Lead Agents) and Beacon Securities Limited (collectively, with the Lead Agents, the Agents). The Offering will be conducted in each of the Provinces of Canada. The price per Offered Share will be determined in the context of the market before filing the final short form prospectus.



The net proceeds from the Offering are expected to be used for research and development, working capital and capital costs in connection with the Companys new facilities in British Columbia and South Dakota.

The Company has granted to the Agents an over-allotment option, exercisable, in whole or in part, at the sole discretion of the Agents for a period of 30 days from and including the closing date of the Offering, to sell up to an additional 15% of the Offered Shares to cover the Agents over-allotments, if any, and for market stabilization purposes.

The Offering will be conducted in each of the provinces of Canada by way of a short form prospectus. The Company has applied to list the common shares issuable in connection with the Offering on the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV). A copy of the Prospectus is available under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The Offering is subject to certain customary conditions including, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSXV.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The Offered Shares to be issued pursuant to the Offering have not been, nor will be, registered under the Unites States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), and such securities may only be offered or sold within the United States pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws.

About CubicFarm Systems Corp.

CubicFarm Systems Corp. (CubicFarms) is a technology company that is developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary technologies enable farmers around the world to grow high-quality, predictable crop yields. CubicFarms has two distinct technologies that address two distinct markets. The first technology is its patented CubicFarm System, which contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops. Using its unique, undulating-path growing system, the Company addresses the main challenges within the indoor farming industry by significantly reducing the need for physical labour and energy, and maximizing yield per cubic foot. CubicFarms leverages its patented technology by operating its own R&D facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, selling the System to farmers, licensing its technology and providing industry-leading vertical farming expertise to its customers.

The second technology is CubicFarms HydroGreen System for growing nutritious livestock feed. This system utilizes a unique process to sprout grains, such as barley and wheat, in a controlled environment with minimal use of land, labour and water. The HydroGreen System is fully automated and performs all growing functions including seeding, watering, lighting, harvesting, and re-seeding  all with the push of a button  to deliver nutritious livestock feed without the typical investment in fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, field equipment and transportation. The HydroGreen System not only provides superior nutritious feed to benefit the animal, but also enables significant environmental benefits to the farm.

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information as such term is defined under applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements relating to obtaining all necessary regulatory approval and the approval of the TSXV, the listing of the Offered Shares and the use of proceeds from the Offering) constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company as well as certain assumptions including, without limitation, the ability of the Company to deploy the use of proceeds in the manner contemplated). Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Reference is also made to the risk factors disclosed under the heading Risk factors in the Companys Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2019 which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com and the factors discussed under the heading Risk Factors in the Prospectus.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Information contact

Kimberly Lim

kimberly@cubicfarms.com

Phone: +1-236-858-6491

www.cubicfarms.com


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 18:47:43|Editor: huaxia

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LOS ANGELES, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The release of the latest James Bond film "No Time to Die" has been postponed more than seven months, becoming the first major Hollywood film to change its release schedule in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In a statement on the film's official Twitter on Wednesday, the producers said "after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020."

The film will be released in Britain on Nov. 12, with worldwide release dates to follow, including the U.S. launch on Nov. 25, according to the statement.

"No Time to Die," with a reported budget of 250 million U.S. dollars, was originally set to be released in April.

The movie is the 25th instalment in the James Bond film series. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the spy film features Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond.

The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic is affecting Hollywood and the global film industry, forcing theaters to be shut down and events to be canceled in some countries and regions.
OTTAWA - Canadians can expect more disruptive protests if the federal government pushes forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion against the wishes of some of the Indigenous communities it will pass through, says a British Columbia lawyer and Indigenous negotiator.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A protester holds a placard as supporters of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs demonstrate at Macmillan Yard in Toronto, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. In the last month, Indigenous people across the country set up barricades on train tracks, roads and bridges, in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Nation hereditary chiefs, some of whom object to the construction of a natural-gas pipeline through their traditional territory. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

OTTAWA - Canadians can expect more disruptive protests if the federal government pushes forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion against the wishes of some of the Indigenous communities it will pass through, says a British Columbia lawyer and Indigenous negotiator.

In the last month, Indigenous people across the country set up barricades on train tracks, roads and bridges, in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Nation hereditary chiefs, some of whom object to the construction of a natural-gas pipeline through their traditional territory.

The conflict laid bare the fact that nearly four decades after treaty rights were affirmed in the Constitution, Canada has not figured out what the "duty to consult" Indigenous people on decisions that affect their rights really means.

Cynthia Callison, a negotiator for agreements among Indigenous peoples, governments and private sector developers, said while there are some distinct differences between the natural-gas pipeline and the Trans Mountain project, both projects have gone ahead despite the fact that not all Indigenous communities affected by the projects have given their consent.

Numerous elected band councils along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route agreed to the project and the B.C. government approved it. But it doesn't have the collective backing of the hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en, who claim authority over the traditional territory of their nation that isn't on a reserve.

"There will be conflict," said Callison, a lawyer and member of the Tahltan Nation in northwestern B.C. "They clearly don't have the support but they made a decision based on a model of risk  'Do we have enough Indigenous people that support this project?' "

Callison said the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets a standard for "free, prior and informed consent" from Indigenous Peoples for projects that affect their territories. At a Wet'suwet'en solidarity protest in Ottawa in late February, several protesters carried signs saying "consultation is not consent."

Callison said even if the courts agree that just consulting on a project is adequate in law, it is not in the spirit of reconciliation, or the promise of nation-to-nation negotiation between Canada and Indigenous Peoples, if a government or a company says it's OK to proceed without having secured consent.

Furthermore, said Callison, different nations will have a different thresholds for how many people have to agree, and every nation will have its own traditions about who gets to make that call, and what it considers acceptable accommodations for their concerns.

"You're not going to find a definitive checklist based on what needs to be done to get support from Indigenous people," said Callison. "If the company wants to rely on, or wants to risk going to court and having a court decide, that's not in the spirit of getting consent."

That lack of a clear road map is a major frustration for developers, said Calgary lawyer Maureen Killoran, who represents project proponents.

"When you can't really graph what the result should be if certain hurdles are cleared then that becomes very difficult for an investor or proponent to properly assess the risk of a project," she said.

The evolution of the duty to consult in Canada is still relatively short, most of it since the Constitution Act of 1982 recognized treaty rights in Canada.

Many court cases have looked at whether particular processes to consult Indigenous communities have been proper. Killoran said the courts have not reached consistent conclusions.

The process generally begins with the company seeking to build something, but courts have made clear that the government, not the third party, needs to fulfil the duty to consult.

The Trans Mountain expansion project will build a second, bigger oil pipeline roughly parallel to an existing one between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C.

In Trans Mountain's case, its previous builder Kinder Morgan Canada recorded 24,000 engagements with Indigenous communities in 2012 and 2013, before it officially applied to the National Energy Board to proceed with the expansion. The National Energy Board then undertook its hearing process, engaging with 131 Indigenous communities and organizations. Some of the conditions the NEB placed on the pipeline responded to Indigenous concerns.

Then in early 2016, a few months after the Liberals came to power, the government announced it was extending the consultation with Indigenous communities several months to make sure things were done properly. It would ultimately base its consultation on what the Federal Court of Appeal said the government did wrong when it approved a different pipeline, the Northern Gateway pipeline. The courts killed that project in June 2016.

When the federal cabinet approved the Trans Mountain project for the first time in November 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had done what was necessary. The government was so confident that in the spring of 2018 it bought the existing pipeline when Kinder Morgan Canada decided to walk away from it amid political turmoil.

But that confidence was misplaced: the Federal Court of Appeal said in August 2018 that the government sent in "note-takers" to hear Indigenous concerns without any real plan to do anything about them.

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The government then set out to do another round of consultations, hiring former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to oversee them in an attempt, once and for all, to get it right.

The communities that objected the first time still felt they hadn't been listened to, and that the government's process was a rubber-stamping exercise to appease the court. Last month, the Federal Court of Appeal disagreed, ruling the government had fulfilled its obligation.

The decision also said that while not all the concerns raised by the communities had been accommodated, requiring that would give the communities a "de facto veto" over the project and the law doesn't require that.

Killoran said the industry sees that decision as clear and hopeful. Callison said without consent, there will be more conflict.

"You need to have support from Indigenous people," she said. "If you're going to push ahead and rely on a consultative process or a consultative checklist that doesn't result in Indigenous people's consent it doesn't really matter what that process looks like."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Judge Raymond Fisher, whose rulings in two decades on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals enabled the press to witness executions from start to finish, upheld use of cigarette tax money for anti-smoking ads and allowed the government to conceal its reasons for putting people on the no-fly list, has died at age 80.

Fisher passed away Saturday. He was appointed to the San Francisco-based court by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and took senior status, with a reduced caseload, in 2013. His chambers were in Pasadena.

One of his rulings, in 2002, was the first by an appellate court to declare a constitutional right for news media and public representatives to view an entire execution, from the time the prisoner is brought into the chamber until death.

Officials at San Quentin had been allowing media representatives to enter only after guards had inserted needles into the inmate and left the chamber. But Fisher, writing for a three-judge panel, said full observation was essential for an informed public debate on whether executions were being carried out fairly and humanely.

Another ruling, in 2004, upheld Californias use of part of a voter-approved 25-cent tax on cigarette packages to fund an advertising campaign that portrayed tobacco executives as callous and immoral. Writing for a 2-1 majority, Fisher rejected tobacco companies claim that the ads forced them to subsidize messages that violated their free speech, saying the messages came from the state, not the companies.

Fisher generally sided with the courts liberal majority but was one of its more moderate members. His opinion in a 3-0 ruling in October upheld the governments largely secret criteria for the no-fly list that has kept tens of thousands of would-be travelers off commercial aircraft in the United States since 2001.

Fisher said the governments general explanations  such as concerns about one mans previous travels to Yemen, with a more detailed description in a classified filing to the court  were sufficient to protect their rights without revealing state secrets.

But in another airline-related case, he allowed three Bay Area men to sue American Airlines for disability discrimination in 2005 after the company withdrew their job offers to become flight attendants because they had failed to disclose their HIV-positive status. The court said the airline could seek medical information only after completing all other background checks and making a job offer, allowing applicants to decide whether to disclose personal information.

Fisher was born in Oakland and graduated from UC Santa Barbara and Stanford Law School. After two judicial clerkships, one of them for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, he practiced law privately in Los Angeles for 30 years and also served as president of the Los Angeles Police Commission from 1995 to 1997.

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.

Before his judicial appointment, he also was president of the nonprofit Constitutional Rights Foundation. While on the bench, he was a member of the U.S. Judicial Conference, the policy-making body for the federal courts, and also a member of the Ninth Circuits governing Judicial Council.

He was a model of judicial temperament and collegiality, the courts chief judge, Sidney Thomas, said in a statement. He was a close friend and colleague, who will be greatly missed.

Fisher is survived by his wife of 59 years, Nancy; a son, Jeff; a daughter, Amy; and four grandchildren.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
How the move will affect jobs here is not yet clear. Photo: Getty Images

Budweiser is moving Irish production from the Dublin home of Guinness to the UK as part of a distribution deal with Bulmers cider maker C&C.

C&C said it was acquiring rights to market the Budweiser Brewing Group's two key assets in Ireland - Budweiser and Bud Light - from Guinness parent Diageo. Terms were not disclosed but the deal becomes effective on July 1.

At that time C&C will begin distributing Bud and Bud Light across Ireland. Production of the brands will cease at St James's Gate brewery in Dublin.

Budweiser said production for the Irish market will be transferred to two breweries in Magor, south Wales, and Samlesbury, Lancashire, in England. Both facilities are operated by Bud's parent, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and already brew Bud and Bud Light for the British market.

C&C said its facility in Clonmel, Co Tipperary - where it chiefly makes Bulmers cider - would be responsible for kegging Bud imported from the UK.

Budweiser said most, if not all, would come from the Welsh brewery.

The jobs impact at Diageo and C&C was not immediately clear.

C&C said the Clonmel kegging activity may require no extra staffing.

Diageo said it did not anticipate job losses in Dublin, as the brewery pivots to increased production of other lager brands.

Bud's departure "will present an opportunity for Diageo to focus on growing our own newer wholly-owned brands, such as Rockshore and Hop House 13, whilst also focusing on our important business with Carlsberg", a Diageo spokesman said.

For the past decade, C&C has made and distributed other brands in Budweiser Brewing Group's portfolio - including Stella Artois, Beck's, Corona, Leffe and Hoegaarden - in the UK. Some is imported here.

Diageo has brewed Bud at its St James's Gate brewery for more than two decades.

Bud once held a fifth of the Irish lager market, but it has slid in popularity amid greater competition from micro-brewers and new market entrants.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry on Wednesday announced an amnesty scheme for Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) that will offer one-time settlement scheme for non-compliant LLPs, giving them one year more to submit their pending documents and immunity from prosecution for defaults.

According to a statement issued by the finance ministry, LLP settlement Scheme 2020 will remain open from 16 March till 13 June, 2020.

A large number of LLPs have remained non-compliant. As part of the governments constant efforts to promote ease of doing business, it has been decided to give a one-time relaxation in additional fee to the defaulting LLPs to make good their default by filing pending documents and to serve as a compliant LLP in future, the statement said.

A nominal additional fee of Rs 10 a day for the period of delay, in addition to any fee payable for filing of such document or return, needs to be paid.
A third candidate has emerged in the race for North Dakota superintendent of public instruction.

Underwood School District Superintendent/Activities Director Brandt J. Dick announced his candidacy on Thursday in a news release.

"It has been decades since a school superintendent has been in the role of ND State Superintendent," Dick said in his statement. "The value of having intimate knowledge of school district operations is critical to overall success of our schools in North Dakota, and the ability to retain quality staff at the school district and state level is vital."

Dick, a 49-year-old Munich native, has a 25-year career in education, including positions such as teacher, principal, activities director, superintendent and adjunct college instructor. He started at Underwood in 2011, and was dually the superintendent for Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock until 2014.

He is a member of several boards, including the North Dakota Association of School Administrators. He also has been one of several school district officials to join the Legislature's interim Education Funding Formula Review Committee to provide input.

Dick's announcement comes about a week after State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler's Feb. 26 arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. Baesler is seeking a third term and the Republican Party's letter of support for the job. Political parties issue letters of support for candidates for state superintendent, which is a nonpartisan position.

Baesler has said she intends to seek counseling and treatment and plead guilty to a drunken driving-related charge believed to be pending. She has been cited for care required.

She declined an interview with the Tribune on Thursday to discuss her arrest and decision to seek treatment.

Dick said he had been considering a bid before Baesler's arrest, which he said was "not really" a factor in his decision to run. He said he made his final decision earlier this week.

"It'll be up to the North Dakota voters to decide that whole process and I'll just leave it at that," he told the Tribune.

Dick said it would be "too early to comment in full" on whether he plans to seek a political party's letter of support for state superintendent. But he does plan to be on the June 9 statewide primary ballot, from which voters determine political parties' nominees for the general election.

Charles Tuttle also is seeking the state superintendent's job. He was an unsuccessful U.S. House candidate in 2018 and is seeking the GOP letter of support. He has said he intends to challenge Baesler on K-12 education issues rather than on her personal history.

North Dakota's state superintendent sits on a number of state boards, including the Board of University and School Lands, the Teachers' Fund For Retirement Board and the newly established Children's Cabinet and Commission on Juvenile Justice.

The superintendent also chairs the State Board of Higher Education nominating committee to recommend names for the governor's appointment.

The state superintendent's annual salary is $122,810, and goes to $125,880 on July 1.

North Dakota's Democratic-NPL and Republican parties will gather later this month for their state conventions, at which delegates will endorse candidates for state and congressional offices.

The filing deadline is April 6 for candidates to be on the primary ballot.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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A government official involved in the recall of defective Takata airbags has told an inquest he was aware through his job of the dangers the airbags posed, but when his own car was recalled in mid-2015 he received different information as a consumer.

The NSW Coroners Court is examining the death of Huy Neng Ngo, 58, who died in July 2017 when a defective Takata airbag in his Honda CR-V shot metal shrapnel into his neck in a minor crash at Cabramatta in Sydney's west.

Huy Neng Ngo died in 2017 when a defective Takata airbag inflated in his car.

The metal, about the size of a 20-cent piece, caused severe injuries which were later compared to a gunshot wound.

Deputy State Coroner Elaine Truscott is examining aspects of the death including the recall process, the risks posed by Takata airbags, and the regulatory provisions in place to deal with them.
As Union Cabinet relaxes norms for NRIs (non-resident Indians) to buy 100 per cent stake in the national carrier, sources in the aviation ministry confirm that two potential buyers have bought access to virtual data room that provides additional information on Air India, Air India Express and AISATS - the three entities that are up for sale.

Virtual data room, which also has draft share purchase agreement (SPA), can be bought by potential buyers of Air India on the payment of (non-refundable) fees of Rs 1 crore. So far, two bidders have bought access to this service highlighting their keen interest in acquiring Air India along with its subsidiaries. Virtual data room covers wider details about Air India and its subsidiaries which are not part of the EoI (expression of interest) document floated by the government in January.

"Interested bidders also have the option to access the virtual data room containing additional information about companies as well as the draft share purchase agreement prior to submitting the EoI," the sale document says.

On January 27, the government had released the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) inviting the EoI from prospective buyers of Air India and its two subsidiaries. Under the sale process, the government intends to sell 100 per cent stake in Air India and Air India Express, and 50 per cent stake in the ground-handling arm AISATS (Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited).

The whole transaction is divided into two stages. The last day of submitting the EoI is March 17, and qualified bidders will be notified on March 31. Recently, on March 2, the government announced that it is extending the date for submission of written queries (on PIM and SPA) to March 6 for the potential bidders. The initial deadline for submitting the queries was February 11. "This seems to indicate that the deadline to submit the EoI could be extended further," says the ministry official who didn't wish to be quoted. It's likely that the last date could now be extended to March 25 which would give more time to potential bidders, including NRIs, to study Air India's books and take a call.

Some reports suggest that entities like Tata Group, Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, Hinduja Group, low-cost carrier IndiGo and New York-based fund Interups are interested in acquiring the loss-making Air India. Tata Group has reportedly engaged the consultancy firm Deloitte to help it with the transaction.

This is the second attempt by the government to sell Air India in the past two years. Since it failed to attract any bidders in 2018, the government sweetened the deal this time. For instance, the government is open to sell 100 per cent stake and give full management control to the new owner which was not the case last time when it wanted to divest 74 per cent stake. Then, in the current sale process, the new buyer would be asked to absorb Rs 23,286.5 crore of debt and the rest of the AI's debt - that is about Rs 36,788 crore would be transferred to the special purpose vehicle Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL). This is a big relief especially because as per the previous EoI, the buyer had to take over Rs 33,392 crore of debt and liabilities as part of debt reallocation. In addition, the government has reduced the net worth eligibility of the bidder from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 3,500 crore. Also, the lead bidder in a consortium can have 26 per cent shareholding as against 51 per cent before.

Though Air India reported operating profits of Rs 177.2 crore during April-November 2019 period, it has been one of the worst affected airlines in India due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. That's because a bulk of the airline's revenues come from the international operations which has been curtailed significantly as almost 84 countries battle with coronavirus spread.

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HOLYOKE  A man wearing no pants accosted two teenage girls who were walking to school Thursday morning and started masturbating in front of them, police said.

Police are asking for help to identify the suspect, described as a white man in his 40s with blond or dark blond hair. He was wearing a plaid shirt and no pants and driving a blue Honda SUV with no license plates, said Police Lt. James Albert.

The suspect stopped the girls at about 8:50 a.m. at High Street and Worcester Place and asked the girls for directions to get onto the highway. The girls approached the car to talk with the man and realized he was masturbating while talking to them, he said.

They ran away and the man is believed to have turned onto Cabot Street and then Maple Street and was not seen again, Albert said.

The girls arrived at school and reported the incident to the school staff, who contacted the police. They were not injured but were very shaken and scared, he said.

The Holyoke Criminal Investigations Bureau, with assistance from the police school resource officers, are investigating. The Holyoke School Department has been told of the incident and is also assisting, Albert said.

Additional patrols are being added to the area and detectives are conducting additional canvassing for video evidence. Police are asking anyone who was in the area at the time and witnessed the incident, has video of the car around the time the girls were accosted, or has any information about the incident or can identify the man to call detectives at 413-322-6940.
Tehran, March 5 : Iran has said that the questions raised by the the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the country's nuclear activities lack legal basis.

Iran has "strong reasons" not to respond to "unprincipled questions and demands" by the IAEA, Xinhua news agency quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying to the media on Wednesday.

No country in the world has cooperated with the IAEA so much as Iran, Kamalvandi said, adding that Tehran has also provided "the most detailed" reports to the agency.

On Tuesday, the UN nuclear watchdog reportedly criticised Iran for "not answering questions about possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations in Iran".

The IAEA is using "bogus" intelligence by the Israeli spy services as the basis for its reports, Kamalvandi added.

In January, the Iranian government has announced that it would abandon the 2015 landmark nuclear deal, in response to the US drone attack that killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, adding that it will continue cooperating with the IAEA.

The historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal has been slowly crumbling since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in May 2018 and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, Press TV reported.

After months of gradual steps to reduce compliance, Iran announced on January 5 that it would take the fifth and final step in scale back its commitments under the nuclear accord to retaliate for Washington's departure.
A vulnerable young woman who came here from Africa as a teenager and spent about two years in direct provision has been so traumatised she still refuses to sleep in a bed, the president of the High Court has heard.

Her complex disorder involved intense fasting over three years, apparently for religious reasons, resulting in "alarming" weight loss requiring her to be tube fed at stages, while excessively lengthy periods standing up have resulted in her being treated for leg problems.

A psychiatrist said the woman, now aged 18, may have suffered trauma as a result of being physically abused by extended family members in her home country and possibly on her journey to Ireland.

She came here from Africa in 2015 with her mother and brother, who were not involved in the abuse, and lived with them in direct provision until she was hospitalised and made a ward of court in early 2017 due to serious concerns about her physical and mental health.

She has been some 18 months in a residential care unit where she has received therapies for what a child psychiatrist described on Thursday as a "complex" disorder difficult to categorise but involving trauma, behavioural and emotional issues.

"Her life has been very difficult, she was treated badly by people close to her and has had trauma, loss and uncertainty," the doctor said.

She developed some unhelpful but understandable behaviours in response, "does not fit neatly into a box" and her care involved "thinking outside the box".

Some progress has been made, including she will sleep sitting on a chair, is not fasting to the extent she had previously and has engaged with professionals, including her key worker and the psychiatrist, who was praised by Mr Justice Peter Kelly for the care and attention she has shown.

The case was before the judge on Thursday to consider future care as the woman is now an adult ward of court, having just turned 18.

The judge approved a care plan which involves responsibility for the woman's psychiatric treatment been transferred to an adult mental health services unit. The plan, depending on the woman's progress, is ultimately aimed at her living independently in her own apartment in the community with supports.

Her mother remains in direct provision while her brother lives independently. Both are supportive of the woman but she has said she does not wish to live with them.

The psychiatrist said the woman regards the care unit as a "refuge" and her understandable anxiety about leaving there may have contributed to a recent physical deterioration, including weight loss. It was hoped she would be able within a few weeks to spend occasional nights in her apartment, with staff supports.

David Leahy BL, representing the woman's interests, thanked the doctor for providing care based on "thinking outside the box".

When Mr Justice Kelly asked whether thee view was the woman's condition would improve, the doctor said the hope was, "down the line", she will not have to be a ward of court.

She is young, her condition is understandable given her experiences and she has skills to function independently but that "will take time", the doctor said. Her life may be limited in some respects but she has some academic ability, enjoys reading and discussing books, could probably take up some type of job and may return to academic education at a later stage.

In his ruling, the judge noted the "troubled" and "unusual" background. He also noted tube feeding had had to be re-introduced in recent weeks because the woman had reduced her food intake, although apparently not for religious reasons.

He made the orders sought, including for the woman's transfer to her apartment when that is considered appropriate.
Janani Suri and Malika Malhotra have won the inaugural award of the Indian Journalists Association (IJA) for Indian students producing the best content on a postgraduate journalism course in the United Kingdom.

Suri and Malhotra, who were students on the Cardiff Universitys MA International Journalism course, were declared joint winners for 2018-19. They were presented a cash prize of 250 pounds each and certificates during IJAs symposium here on The changing face of media on Thursday.

Academics at Cardiff universitys School of Journalism, Media and Culture  a leading centre in the field  said Suri and Malhotra demonstrated a high level of skill and potential in their projects on the course that combines theory and practice.

While Suri produced a portfolio of five print features on the #MeToo movement in India, Malhotra was chosen for her analytical television report on the development of Ganga river transportation and its impact on local communities.

Matt Swaine, course director of MA International Journalism, said: We are delighted to be working with the IJA on this award in what is the 50th anniversary of journalism training at Cardiff University.

Our department attracts ambitious journalism students from across the world and our two inaugural winners represent the very best of that group. We have seen some very impressive students from India, and this years joint winners explored issues of great importance and delivered in both broadcast and print formats, he added.

Naresh Kaushik, IJA president and senior BBC journalist, said: This is an annual IJA initiative to encourage Indian students of journalism coming to the UK, particularly at a time when the need for well-trained and impartial journalists has never been felt more.

The IJA symposium included contributions from journalists and experts, including Nic Newman of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Chris Morris and Samira Ahmed of the BBC, Mattia Peretti of the London School of Economics, Anushka Asthana of The Guardian, and Francesco Zaffarano of The Telegraph.

Established in May 1947 as a representative body for UK-based correspondents and journalists reporting on and covering India and South Asia-related issues, the IJA membership includes journalists from major news media outlets in the UK and India.

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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
In her lifetime, company Founder, Ms. Arden, succeeded in many "firsts," always breaking the metaphorical glass ceiling with each accomplishment. A suffragette herself, in 1912 she marched down Fifth Avenue aiding women's voting rights, handing out red lipstick to fellow suffragettes along the way as a symbol of solidarity. Today, the brand proudly follows in these footsteps by advocating for I am a voter .

Established by a woman, for women and part of the only beauty conglomerate in the world (Revlon, Inc.) led by a woman (CEO Debbie Perelman), Elizabeth Arden remains a fervent reinforcer of women's rights worldwide. The brand has upheld their originator's legacy over a century later with the recent $1 million March On pledge aiding UN Women, and continues their efforts today by executing this new, highly synergistic campaign promoting I am a voter .

"We are so thrilled to have fellow advocate and iconic beauty brand, Elizabeth Arden, support the I am a voter . movement leading up to the 2020 election. Ms. Arden used her voice and her brand to aid a cultural shift she believed in a century ago  and now they are leveraging their platforms to inform, empower and mobilize citizens to participate in our democracy," states I am a voter . co-founder, Mandana Dayani.

"Our founder was the original #girlboss. She used her voice and business acumen to help further women's rights in the United States," says Kiva Silberfeld, Vice President of Global Integrated Marketing Communications at Elizabeth Arden. "Now, by partnering with I am a voter ., we continue to uphold our creator's legacy by marching together to achieve one goal: change through the power of voting."

Through a 360-degree campaign spanning from March (Women's History Month) until Election Day in November, Elizabeth Arden will work to create awareness for the I am a voter . cause and their call-to-action (text VOTER to 26797) via a strategic rollout of consumer programming. To learn more surrounding the brand's retailer support, social media efforts and internal corporate endeavors please visit https://www.elizabetharden.com/i-am-a-voter.html.

@ElizabethArden

@IAmAVoter

#AlwaysArden

#IAmAVoter

About Elizabeth Arden

Elizabeth Arden has been empowering women and providing them with a diverse portfolio of products including efficacious, science-based skincare, signature fragrances and color cosmetics since 1910. A legendary innovator, she was ahead of her time with a holistic approach to beauty and skincare  these values remain at the heart of the brand over a century later. Today, the iconic brand is sold in 120 countries worldwide and proudly continues Ms. Arden's mission to both empower women as well as provide them with luxurious and high-performing products that leverage over 100 years of expertise. #AlwaysArden #IAmAVoter

About I am a voter.

I am a voter . is a nonpartisan movement reshaping the importance of civic engagement and beginning a cultural shift toward a new vision of voting. Our mission is to make voter identity mainstream, aspirational and an integral component of how anyone identifies themselves.

For additional information or press inquiries, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE Elizabeth Arden
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Thursday underscored the importance of police officers enforcing the law, asserting that Parliament was the supreme body to enact laws in a democracy but the strength of a democracy lies in enforcing the role of the law.

If you (cops) cant implement laws enacted in Parliament, what good are those laws? You are a law enforcement agency, NSA Ajit Doval told a conference of young superintendent of police organised by Haryana Police, police research body BPR&D and trade body FICCI.

Dovals statement comes against the backdrop of the communal riots in Delhi where the police leadership was seen to have failed to contain the violence in the initial few days that eventually led to the death of 47 people.

The NSA also called for a change in societys attitude but asked the police to take the lead. When people burn police vehicles, they are not really destroying police property but of the society.

There is a perception that the most neglected cant reach the police and its there only to serve a few. That needs to change. Here technologies like drones can help, he said, according to news agency IANS.

Doval also made a strong pitch for use of technology by the police force to change perception about itself so that its credibility remains unblemished.

Technology is a great enabler. When you induct technology, you enhance capabilities, he said.

But he stressed that adoption of technology should take into account requirements of cutting-edge level police officials rather than following the catalogue approach that adopts the available technologies rather than required ones.

Doval also referred to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj illustrate how leadership is essential to identify talent and providing training for realisation of the potential of people as Shivaji had done with Jiva Mallah. Empowering the last man, take the technology to the last man.

He also pitched for a fair police force that can integrate technology to serve the neglected.
DUBLIN, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Indonesia" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This HospeTrack is the largest database of hospital level medical equipment installed database, currently available on the market. It covers 48 countries with more added each quarter. The data is run through an update cycle each year.



The Indonesia Total Hospital & Medical Installed Base Mapping report was updated in 2020 and includes over 2,764 hospitals from the country with their health infrastructure detailed out.



Contents



1. Visualize and Map the Total Installed Base of the Country by Hospital

Monitoring & Access: ECG Machines, Holter monitors, Patient monitors, Ventilators, Anaesthesia machines, Stress Testing Machines

Surgical: C-Arms

Cardio: Echo, Cath Labs

Diagnostic Imaging: PET-CT, SPECT, CT Scanners, MRI Scanners, Ultrasound, X-Ray Machines, Mammography machines

Infant Care : Incubators, Radiant Warmers, Fetal monitors, Phototherapy Units, Infant Ventilators

2. Generate Targeted Leads Based on Current Care Area Focus of a Hospital

12 care areas tracked for each hospital

General Medicine, Gyn/Obs, Neurology, Internal Medicine, ER/Trauma, Pulmonology, GI, Cardiology, Oncology, Radiology, Ortho and Nuclear Medicine included in the report

3. Visualize the Current Health Resource Status of a Hospital

Total number of doctors by hospital

Total number of Radiologists by hospital

Total number of Cardiologists by hospital

Total number of internal medicine physicians by hospital

Surgeons, neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons by hospital

4. Comprehend Medical Services Potential Using Bed and Operating Rooms Data

Total bed size of a hospital

Number of ICU beds by hospital

Number of NICU, PICU beds by hospital

Number of Major and Minor Operating Rooms available per hospital

Total number of outpatient visits per hospital where available

Total number of inpatient visits per hospital where available

5. Understand and Identify Types of Hospitals

Hospitals by ownership type - public and private, corporate and missionary

Assess and differentiate based on size of hospital - Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Non-class hospital

Chart and map based on level of care - Primary, secondary and tertiary care

6. Create Opportunity Heat Maps

2,764 hospitals in Indonesia listed by city, region, latitude and longitude and Zip Code

listed by city, region, latitude and longitude and Zip Code Contact numbers available for 100% of the hospitals

Website links mentioned for hospital where available

7. Estimate Medical Device Penetration and Potential in the Country



Key Topics Covered



1. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Indonesia, Introduction



Introduction and guidance to HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence Data. Page allows user to access other sections in the Excel report.



2. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Indonesia, Guidance & Hospital Segmentation



Provides a brief methodology of research along with extensive detail around total coverage of hospitals in Indonesia, by type of hospital. Also provides detail on customer segmentation.

Figure 1: Percentage Coverage for all the Public and Private Hospitals in Indonesia , 2020.

, 2020. Table 1: Hospital/Customer Segmentation in Indonesia , by Type of Hospital, by Level of Care and Size of Universe, 2020

3. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Indonesia, Insight Summary

3.1 Total number of hospitals in Indonesia

3.2 Total number of hospital beds in Indonesia

3.3 Key hospital and installed base summary in Indonesia

Fig 2. Total Hospitals in Indonesia by Ownership Type, 2020

by Ownership Type, 2020 Fig 3. Total Care Areas or Hospital Departments in Indonesia , 2020

, 2020 Fig 4. Patient Monitoring IB Summary in Indonesia , 2020

, 2020 Fig 5. Hospital Distribution in Indonesia , 2020

, 2020 Fig 6. Total Hospitals in Indonesia by Type of Hospital, 2020

by Type of Hospital, 2020 Fig 7. Total Hospitals in Indonesia by Bed Size, 2020

by Bed Size, 2020 Fig 8. Total Core Installed Base Summary in Indonesia , 2020

3.4 IB Penetration Summary for Indonesia by Care Level of Hospital, 2020

Fig 9. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Ventilators, 2020

, Ventilators, 2020 Fig 10. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Incubators, 2020

, Incubators, 2020 Fig 11. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Radiant Warmers, 2020

, Radiant Warmers, 2020 Fig 12. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Fetal Monitors, 2020

, Fetal Monitors, 2020 Fig 13. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Phototherapy Units, 2020

, Phototherapy Units, 2020 Fig 14. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Infant Ventilators, 2020

, Infant Ventilators, 2020 Fig 15. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Anesthesia Machines, 2020

, Anesthesia Machines, 2020 Fig 16. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , C-Arms, 2020

, C-Arms, 2020 Fig 17. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , ECG Machines, 2020

, ECG Machines, 2020 Fig 18. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Holter Monitors, 2020

, Holter Monitors, 2020 Fig 19. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Stress Test Machines, 2020

, Stress Test Machines, 2020 Fig 20. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Echo, 2020

, Echo, 2020 Fig 21. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Cath Labs , 2020

, , 2020 Fig 22. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , PET/CT, 2020

, PET/CT, 2020 Fig 23. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , SPECT, 2020

, SPECT, 2020 Fig 24. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , CT Scanners, 2020

, CT Scanners, 2020 Fig 25. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , MRI, 2020

, MRI, 2020 Fig 26. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Ultrasound, 2020

, Ultrasound, 2020 Fig 27. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , X-Ray, 2020

, X-Ray, 2020 Fig 28. Installed Base Penetration in Indonesia , Mammography, 2020

4. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Indonesia, Installed Base Pivot Analysis



Provides a pivot chart to analyse data from the Installed base file. Allows users to identify and map account level statistics by care areas, type of ownership, by bed size, by level of care etc.



5. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Indonesia, IB Base File



Provides the raw data for all installed base equipment by account in Indonesia. Each hospital contains ownership type, hospital type, level of care, departments and care services provided in the hospital, installed base counts for patient monitoring devices, critical care devices and diagnostic imaging.



The worksheet also provides hospital demographics such as bed sizes, ICU bed sizes, NICU/PICU bed sizes, Operating Room counts, Total number pf physicians, specialists etc. GPS coordinates, zip codes, in-patient volumes, out-patient volumes and contact details of each hospital have also been provided.



Companies Mentioned



Draeger Medical

GE Healthcare

Heyer

Hostech

Allengers Medical System

Siemens Healthineers

Toshiba (Canon Medical Systems)

Philips Healthcare

Esaote S.p.A.

Euro Columbus

Hitachi Medical Systems

Mindray

Time Medical Systems

Samsung

GMM

Hologic Inc.

SIUI

Alpinion

Indoray

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/b0b965

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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Libyans rose up in the Arab Spring of 2011 to fight dictatorship. Their dream was to establish a civil, democratic state. The United Nations noted that the intent of its own support was to achieve "an immediate cease-fire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians.

Fast forward nine years. The United Nations is calling for a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed unleashed by Khalifa Haftar, once a henchman for former leader Moammar Gadhafi, after his military effort to stop our internationally recognized government from ushering in democracy. The difference today is that the United Nations has stood idly by for 10 months.

The United Nations helped create the Government of National Accord in 2015. The purpose was to establish an interim government to organize free and fair elections and a structure for a government that is permanent and democratically elected. We were on the brink of doing this with the support of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last April when Haftar launched his attack. Since then, Haftar has violated the terms of every cease-fire agreement he has been party to. Meanwhile the United Nations and world leaders continue to issue toothless statements of disapproval. These are backed by no real penalties, even for the most flagrant abuses.

The United Nations and global powers have passively watched as foreign states turn Libya into a battleground for proxy wars. Haftar is treated as a sort of equal to the legitimate Libyan government and is relied on to keep his word and to follow a cease-fire agreement. A lasting cease-fire wont come about willingly, however. Haftar and his foreign partners, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, seek to take control over Libya at any cost.

The United Nations suggests we plan still more talks. Yet every time Haftar signals his willingness to participate in a peace process, he later sabotages the process and its prospects entirely. That is what he did last year. It is also the pattern we saw in Moscow when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to broker a cease-fire. The GNA showed up and signed -- it was the right thing to do. Haftar came to Moscow, made a spectacle of himself, and left without signing at all.

While we were in Berlin for much-anticipated peace talks in January, eastern-based militias under Haftars command announced that they were "ready and determined" to continue the violence and carried out an offensive on our capital, Tripoli, with a series of attacks targeting civilians and our civilian airport.

World powers have repeatedly said that only a political solution will lead to lasting peace. Theyre right, but reaching that solution will require them to stop accommodating and cajoling Haftar. We cant keep repeating history, hoping that it will turn out differently.

Ending the killing and destruction in Libya has always been our goal. That is why we flew to Moscow and remained fully engaged throughout the Berlin process. However, there comes a time when reality must finally sink in. Its time for the responsible members of the international community to take decisive action, to work with only those Libyans who are sincerely committed to doing what it takes to find a peaceful end to the hell that Libyans have been living through. Its time for the UN Security Council to reach the long-overdue consensus needed to issue a resolution enforcing the agreements made in Berlin.

In February, a UN Security Council resolution was adopted, supposedly to call for a cease-fire and for support of the outcomes of the Berlin conference. The resolution aims for a three-track dialogue process covering military, economic and political dimensions. Haftars response was immediate: In less than 24 hours he continued the breech of truce, shelling areas in south Tripoli and killing at least four people, as well as targeting the airport.

Haftars war has done immeasurable damage to the economic stability and social fabric of Libya. It has intensified migration challenges for our European partners, led to a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups that create serious risks beyond our borders, and contributed to unstable global oil markets -- even more so after Haftar cut off oil production in the east. These threats will only increase as the conflict escalates and drags on.

It should not be forgotten that Libya has immense potential. The problems we face today can indeed be solved using political means, with great benefits to the international community. We have a young and well-educated population, as well as abundant natural resources. We are strategically located on the Mediterranean, nestled between Europe, Africa and the Middle East. However, any positive vision for Libya depends on what happens post-Berlin.

The longer the world tolerates Haftars attacks and belligerence, the further we get from a democratic future and regional stability.

We want peace now. Libyans have a right to live in a democratic state free from the threat of harm. To do that, the GNA needs to be able to rely on the international community to take responsible action.

Taher El-Sonni is the Permanent Libyan Ambassador to the UN. The views expressed are the author's own.
Its the least we can do, Martinez said. Theres been a cloud hanging over this office for years. Why hasnt anything improved? Why has there been all this mismanagement happening, and why hasnt it been addressed? We need to go one by one, and listen to people explain themselves.
Ashley Walters unveiled his six-month body transformation in a series of Instagram snaps shared onto his account on Wednesday.

The actor and musician, 37, went shirtless to display his toned upper body and impressive six-pack as he documented his fitness journey, months before returning to film the second edition of Netflix's Top Boy.

Dushane actor Ashley captioned the collage, 'the journey ends when you do. #alwayswinning' [sic], as he revealed he was encouraged to embark on a lifestyle overhaul after 'letting himself go'.

Before and after: Ashley Walters unveiled his six-month body transformation in a series of Instagram snaps shared onto his account on Wednesday (L last year, R in January)

In a recent interview with Men's Health, the screen star said he was required to train for his role as NCA detective Ronnie in Sky One crime drama Bulletproof, but took a break from his fitness schedule ahead of filming for the first series of the Top Boy's revived edition.

The Peckham native told the publication: 'I turned 30 a few years ago, and I realised my metabolism wasn't the same as before. Gradually I put on a lot of weight, but ideally my character in Top Boy let himself go in the beginning.

'I was doing Bulletproof before and I was training so hard, but three months before Top Boy I started to shoot Top Boy, I gained so much weight. I stuck to a lot of bad eating habits.'

Ashley - who has been teetotal for seven months - insisted he now 'loves' going to the gym as he credited his routine to becoming a 'calmer person'.

Training with a purpose: The actor and musician, 37, is set to return to film the second edition of Netflix's Top Boy

'The journey ends when you do': The Dushane actor went shirtless to display his toned upper body and impressive six-pack as he documented his fitness journey

On his grind: Asher D pictured in January during a gym session with personal trainer Marcelo Monaco (pictured)

'I was training so hard': The screen star said he was required to train for his role as NCA detective Ronnie in Sky One crime drama Bulletproof (pictured last year with Noel Clarke)

Mirrored lives: He took break from his fitness regime ahead of filming for the first series of the Top Boy, which worked in his favour as his character also 'let himself go' (pictured)

Focused: Ashley - who has been teetotal for seven months - insisted he now 'loves' going to the gym as he credited his routine to becoming a 'calmer person'

The So Solid Crew artist added: 'I spent the last six months grinding and working so hard, it's been painful. Now I'm in a comfortable zone where I can train in a relaxed state, and I don't feel too pressured to feel hard.'

Last month, Netflix revealed hit series Top Boy, starring the likes of Ashley as leading character Dushane and 2020 EE BAFTA Rising Star recipient Micheal Ward as Jamie, will begin filming this spring.

The production company revived the hit show late last year after Channel 4 decided to cancel the first two series, which originally aired in 2011 and 2013.

Exciting times ahead: Last month, Netflix revealed hit series Top Boy will begin filming this spring (Kano pictured as Sully and Ashley Walters as Dushane on the show)

Netflix wrote on its Facebook page: 'Confirmed: Season 2 of Top Boy is happening. Dushane, Sully, Jamie and Shelley will return. Stay tuned.'

The post also featured a picture of a script for the first episode, titled Killing No Murder by screenwriter Ronan Bennett.

The programme's Twitter account added: 'Were back. TOP BOY Season 2 begins filming this spring. @ashleywalters, @therealkano, @michealward and @littlesimz will return as Dushane, Sully, Jamie and Shelley. Stay tuned.'

Award-winning actor Micheal, 21, shared his delight at reprising his character - who was sent to prison at the end of the last series - as he said on Instagram: 'If you dont know, now you knowwwww...............

It's back! The production company revived the hit show late last year after Channel 4 decided to cancel the first two series (2020 EE BAFTA Rising Star recipient Micheal Ward as Jamie)

'Coming soon': The streaming service revealed the crime drama series took to Facebook to reveal the show will begin filming this spring

'Now you know!' Actor Michael, 21, (centre), who plays Jamie on the drama, shared his delight at the upcoming series (pictured with on-screen brothers, Hope Ikpoku Jnr as Aaron and Araloyin Oshunremi as Stefan)

'so happy I can finally share with you that weve been confirmed for another season and I cannot wait to start filming this for all of us. This is gonna be even more special than the first.' [sic]

Just weeks after its release in September 2019, Toy Boy became one of Netflix's most-watched shows.

Taking to their social media account at the time, the platform announced the news: 'Top Boy is living up to its name  after years away from our screens its back, and its been the most-watched title on @NetflixUK this week.'

The drama follows the story of Dushane and Sully (Kano), who lead East London's underground drug scene.

Impressive: Just weeks after its release in September 2019, Toy Boy became one of Netflix's most-watched shows

In season two, Top Boy introduced two junkies called Lee (Josef Altin) and Sarah (Isla Jackson-Ritchie), who were seen gaining the trust of their dealers.

However, the finale showed the duo being unveiled as undercover cops, before Top Boy's official Twitter shared a video of the clues that led to the shock moment - leaving fans in absolute bewilderment.

The duo suffered a few mishaps along the way, which proved that there was something more to their characters.

On one occasion, Sarah pretends to be drunk after chucking away some alcohol while walking through a council estate.

Shocking: However, the finale showed two junkies called Lee (Josef Altin) and Sarah (Isla Jackson-Ritchie) unveiled as undercover cops

In another scene, Lee ponders out loud 'how long they have to keep this up for' after being punched in the face.

It's only during the final scene, when they are seen sitting in the police station, where viewers realise they are undercover cops hoping to lock away Dushane and Sully.

Executive producer and chart-topping rapper Drake revealed he was inspired to work on the series after stumbling across the show in 2017.

The artist told the Hollywood Reporter at the time: 'That human element drew me in.

'I started just looking them up. Like, who are these people? Are these actors I should know? Are they just famous over there? I remember I hit Future, and I was just like, "This show is incredible."'
Iran will operate special flights between Tehran and New Delhi for evacuating the passengers stranded due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"From tomorrow, special flights will start between Iran and India for the stranded passengers. Over 2000 Indians are stranded in Iran. We can send them back to India only after the proper approval of Indian authority," an official in the Iran Embassy said on Thursday.

The official also asserted that Iran will send an empty flight to New Delhi on Friday to take back the Iranian nationals from India.

"Iran will send an empty flight to India (Delhi) tomorrow to take back the Iranian nationals from India to Tehran. one more flight will come to India a day after tomorrow to carry Indian equipment to Iran for stranded Indian nationals," the official said.

Earlier on Thursday, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said that the Indian fishermen stranded in Iran are in good health and the Indian Embassy in Iran has reached out to them for all possible help.

According to Iran's Health Minister Saeed Namaki, the total number of coronavirus cases in Iran has reached 3,513, while the death toll from the infection has risen to 107.

The Friday prayer has also been cancelled in all Iranian cities due to the 'fear of the coronavirus spread among worshipers,' Namaki said.

Iran is amongst the countries most affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  President Rodrigo Duterte will meet with business tycoon Manny Pangilinan, who had been one of the subjects of his tirades in recent occasions, his former aide Senator Christoper "Bong" Go said Thursday.

Go said the President did not intend to omit Pangilinan's name when he greeted guests in a speech he delivered during an inspection of a North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link project which is under Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation. The senator mentioned that the two shook hands during the event.

"'Di sadya na missed [niya] mention pero binati pa nga ni [President Duterte] at mag meeting sila," Go told CNN Philippines in a text message.

[Translation: He did not intend to miss mentioning his name. President Duterte even greeted him (Pangilinan) and they will have a meeting.]

Pangilinan, chaiman of NLEX Corporation that is controlled by Metro Pacific Tollways, was seated beside Duterte during the event.

Duterte had previously lashed out at the businessman and the Zobel family, which controls the Ayala conglomerate, over "onerous" concession deals with water companies. Concessionaire Manila Water scored an arbitral ruling last year which would see the government pay it back 7.4 billion in losses.

"Ang problema [The problem], Id like to tell you is the --- magsabi sila, 'Saan yung big fish?' [They will say 'Where is the big fish?'] Okay, Ill tell you. The big fish now? Si Ayala pati si Pangilinan [Is Ayala and Pangilinan]" said Duterte in a December speech. "And they corrupted the Filipino people. They signed an agreement, a contract, which was not shown to the country."

Manila Water has since said it will no longer collect the 7.4 billion while Pangilinan-led Maynilad said it will also no longer pursue the arbitral award they won in 2017.

Manila Water is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, while Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investments Corporation has a stake in west zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc.
LONDON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunkemoller, a leading European lingerie brand with over 900 stores across 22 countries, partnered with Insider to deliver fresh online experiences backed by the latest AI and multi-channel personalization technologies.

Insider will enable Hunkemoller's marketing teams to deliver tailored, more relevant and meaningful customer journeys across channels to drive digital growth and brand loyalty. Insider's feature-rich Growth Management Platform is already powering 600+ global brands including UNIQLO, Philips, Decathlon, Samsung , Toyota , Carrefour , MediaMarkt , Estee Lauder, Adidas, Levi's, Puma , GAP, Virgin , AVIS, Marks & Spencer, Avon , Nissan , BBVA, IKEA , and CNN .

During the first months of the partnership, Hunkemoller designed and delivered over 20 different personalization scenarios to their customers across channels, which proved to be highly effective. For example, Hunkemoller used Insider's social proof messaging technology to create a sense of urgency and helped shoppers build confidence by showcasing a given product's popularity-indicating the number of items left in stock, the number of shoppers looking at the same product or showcasing customers reviews. Not only has the incremental revenue for Hunkemoller improved significantly, but the ROI also reached 13X. As a result of the success, the partnership will be expanded to 10 more markets globally.

"During our initial conversations with the Hunkemoller team, we found out that driving digital growth through personalizing user experiences was high on the e-commerce agenda. We helped Hunkemoller accelerate the process and in only a matter of weeks, we have built and executed a solid plan with their e-commerce team that led to an ROI of over 13x. I believe this is only the beginning of this growth path as we will help this strong fashion brand grow in 10 more markets globally," said Bas Drogtrop, Country Manager for Benelux at Insider.

"Insider's broad array of off the shelf and personalized site enhancements, enabling us to quickly activate and test new functionalities, was the main reason to act as their launching partner in the Benelux. The results are great so far. Additionally, the cooperation has been very fluid and we are impressed by their ability to move fast. For that reason we have expanded this activity to multiple countries and are looking forward to continued success," said Bert Middendorp, Manager eCommerce for Hunkemoller.

Insider's Growth Management Platform works to unify customer data from across channels to segment and engage users through AI and predictive technologies. In this way, brands can engage users in real-time, based on historical, real-time and predictive data (i.e. Likelihood to Purchase, Discount Affinity, etc.) to deliver highly personalized experiences across web, mobile web, app, email, messaging apps and more. A key outcome of this is eliminating marketing waste and optimizing Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), ROAS (Return On Ad Spend), Conversion Rate, LTV (Lifetime Value) and other crucial marketing metrics.

Insider goes a step further to help brands with their simple and easy integration method. Completely removing the need for complex, multi-stage integrations and the need for dedicated IT teams; in an effort to remove marketing wastes.

About Insider

Insider Growth Management Platform (GMP) helps digital marketers drive growth across the funnel, from Acquisition to Activation, Retention, and Revenue. Leveraging real-time predictive segmentation powered by deep Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities, the Growth Management Platform empowers marketers to deliver personalized journeys across the web, Mobile Web, Mobile Apps, and Ad Channels. Built on a unified data layer, GMP is easy to implement and simple to use, avoiding the need for complex integrations and dependency on IT teams. Insider simplifies the life of digital marketers and helps them drive growth for their brands, with zero marketing waste.
NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambra Health , makers of the leading cloud-based, medical image management suite, today announced a partnership with Perspectum , a global leader in the development of medical image analysis technologies. Perspectum's flagship product LiverMultiScan, leverages Ambra Health's Cloud PACS to enable anytime, anywhere access to images and provide reliable, trusted cloud backup and archive to reduce business continuity risk.

LiverMultiScan is an FDA-cleared, non-invasive, quantitative imaging service, which can aid doctors in the diagnosis of liver disease with a safe, painless MRI scan. LiverMultiScan offers a high-quality method  using ground-breaking technology and rich visual images standardized across sites and manufacturers  to provide the clinician with measures related to the amount of fat, iron and fibro-inflammation in the liver. LiverMultiScan is delivered as a service after an activation protocol is enabled and does not require the purchase of any additional hardware or software.

By integrating Ambra Cloud PACS solution, physicians with LiverMultiScan enabled at their center can get access to images around the clock. Ambra Cloud PACS consolidates multiple imaging systems with one flexible, customizable, and low maintenance cloud storage platform that lets medical imaging be accessed securely anytime, anywhere.

"Early diagnosis and monitoring with quantitative non-invasive imaging are essential for patients and physicians to move away from the current dependency on liver biopsy," said Dr. Rajarshi Banerjee, CEO of Perspectum. "Our integration with Ambra Health ensures doctors have access to precision medicine for their liver patients, when and where they need it."

"Perspectum has created an innovative, non-invasive way for physicians to better diagnose liver conditions. Our partnership is a great example of improving patient care through imaging technology," said Andrew Duckworth, VP of Business Development at Ambra Health.

Those interested in learning more about Ambra Health's imaging solutions, including research capabilities, partnerships, and the new Gateway Directory can receive a live demo at Booth #3841 at the upcoming HIMSS annual conference on March 9 - 13 in Orlando, Florida. To make an appointment or for more detail, visit the Ambra Health website. Presentations scheduled at the HIMSS booth will also be available virtually via daily webinars from March 10 - 13 at 1 p.m. EST.

About Ambra Health

Ambra Health is a medical data and image management SaaS company. Intuitive, flexible, scalable and highly interoperable, the Ambra cloud platform is designed to serve as the backbone of imaging innovation and progress for healthcare providers. It empowers some of the largest health systems such as Memorial Hermann and New England Baptist Hospital as well as radiology practices, subspecialty practices, and clinical research organizations to dramatically improve imaging and collaborative care workflows. As expert partners, we listen to our customers, understand their needs, and apply our extensive knowledge to deliver innovative medical image management solutions for the future of healthcare, now. Discover what the Ambra medical imaging cloud can do for you at www.ambrahealth.com .

About Perspectum

Perspectum is a medical imaging company that was founded as a spin-out from Oxford University in 2012. We discover, develop and commercialize innovative solutions for the identification and monitoring of metabolic disease and cancer, delivered through software-as-a-service (SaaS). Perspectum has in-house capabilities covering the entire medical device life cycle, driven by a world-leading team of clinicians, engineers and scientists.

SOURCE Ambra Health

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https://ambrahealth.com


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:14:29|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales have picked up amid efforts to contain the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and strengthened consumer demand, an official said Thursday.

Average daily sales of 1,000 retail companies monitored by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) climbed 5.6 percent in late February from mid-February, the first increase since late January, MOC official Wang Bin told a press conference.

Auto sales jumped 14.8 percent from mid-February, while telecommunications gadgets and home appliances edged up 11.7 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively.

Effective epidemic prevention and control measures, work resumption on a larger scale, along with pent-up demand being released, have helped push up retail sales, according to Wang.

Market sales will continue to improve once the epidemic is contained, said Wang.
Head of Syria's Planning and International Cooperation Commission (PICC) Imad Sabouni (2nd L) and Chinese Ambassador to Syria Feng Biao (2nd R) sign an economic cooperation agreement in Damascus, Syria, on March 4, 2020. Syria and China signed an economic cooperation agreement on Wednesday. Under the deal, China made a donation that will be used to fund a series of humanitarian projects that will be agreed upon by both sides, according to a statement released by PICC. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Syria and China signed an economic cooperation agreement on Wednesday.

The agreement was signed by Syria's Planning and International Cooperation Commission (PICC) and the Chinese embassy in the capital Damascus.

Under the deal, China made a donation that will be used to fund a series of humanitarian projects that will be agreed upon by both sides, according to a statement released by PICC.

Imad Sabouni, head of the PICC, said the Chinese donations are of a great significance as they help in the tough situation that has resulted from war.

"In fact, this donation... aims to help the Syrian government and people to meet the humanitarian needs resulting from the current situation. Most of these donations will be used in humanitarian and environmental projects," Sabouni told reporters at PICC headquarter where the agreement was signed.

Sabouni, meanwhile, hailed the Chinese-Syrian relations as "special and historic."

For his part, Feng Biao, the Chinese ambassador to Syria, hoped that the cooperation between both countries will continue.

"I hope this cooperation will continue between both friendly countries, which have set up diplomatic relations since 1956," Feng said.
This article is part of the developing Coronavirus coverage, and may be outdated. Go here for the latest.

Now that we know that its bad to touch our faces, how do we break a habit that most of us didnt know we had?

Throughout the day, we touch a lot of surfaces  doorknobs, elevator buttons, subway poles  where viruses, including the new coronavirus, can linger for days. From there, microbes can piggyback on our fingertips to our noses, mouths or eyes, all of which are entry portals for the coronavirus, as well as other viruses and germs.

It took the coronavirus outbreak to make many of us aware of just how often we reach for our faces.

Its a very difficult habit to break because we all do it, and oftentimes were not even aware were doing it, said Dr. Vanessa Raabe, assistant professor in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Health.
A fresh case of coronavirus has been detected from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on Thursday afternoon. With this, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 30 in India.

The coronavirus patient from Ghaziabad is a middle-aged man with a recent travel history to Iran, according to PTI. Iran has been severely impacted. As on March 5, the deadly infection claimed 92 lives out of more than 2,922 cases in Iran.

The latest case of coronavirus in India, includes 16 Italian tourists, one Paytm employee as well as Kerala patients who have been discharged after they recovered.

Meanwhile, the health authorities in Kashmir have kept five persons with recent history of travelling to coronavirus-affected countries in the isolation ward of the SKIMS hospital after they showed symptoms of the disease, officials said on Thursday.

Of the five, one had travelled to Thailand while two had been to Iran. The remaining two had recent travel history to the epicentre of COVID-19 in China's Wuhan.

Also read: Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: Srinagar, Ghaziabad newest cities affected

Also read: Taj Mahal on coronavirus alert! Masked personnel, thermal guns welcome tourists

Also read: Coronavirus update: Cognizant shuts Hyderabad office, asks employees to work from home
In continuation of its expansion in South Asia, GoAir has announced its new direct flights from Delhi to Colombo. GoAirs maiden flights to the capital city of Sri Lanka will commence from 20th March 2020. The airline has introduced the new Delhi-Colombo-Delhi route with attractive return fares starting at Rs 14,019. GoAir currently has 116 direct flights from Delhi to domestic and international destinations and come 20th, this number will increase to 118.

Sri Lanka is the most sought-after destination in South Asia and GoAirs new flights will help Indian travellers visit the culture and flora and fauna of the country as well as explore the scenic streets and rich tradition of Colombo. The sales window is already open and tickets can be booked on www.goair.in, GoAir mobile app, and GoAir airport counters.

Speaking on the new flight announcement, Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, said: Our entry into Sri Lanka is in line with the growth strategy that we adopted since 2018 for international markets. India and Sri Lanka share a close relationship that goes beyond 2,500 years. There is a common interest of business, cultural, religious, and linguistic interaction between both countries. New Delhi - Colombo flights will help travellers explore the beauty and legacy of India and Sri Lanka, strengthening the bond of friendship between the two nations".

GoAir is the aviation foray of Indias 283-year-old Wadia Group that comprises leading brands including 156-year-old Bombay Burmah, 140-year-old Bombay Dyeing, 101-year-old Britannia Ltd., 65-year-old National Peroxide Limited, the decade-old Bombay Realty and many others. GoAir currently operates 300+ daily flights and the airline has carried 81.27 million passengers since its inception in 2005.

GoAirs daily flight (except Wednesday) G8 39 will depart from Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport at 10:35 hours (local time) and will reach Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo at 14:10 hours (local time). The return flight G8 40 will depart from Colombo at 15:10 hrs (local time) on all days (except Wednesday) and arrive in Delhi at 19:00 hours (local time).
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry choosing not to bring baby Archie to the UK for their final royal engagements would be 'spiteful and inconsiderate', a former palace press secretary has claimed.

The Duke of Sussex, 35, is currently in Britain and embarking on his final week of official engagements, and is about to move into a post-royal career similar to that of his mother, the late Princess Diana following her separation from Prince Charles in 1992.

He has been staying at Frogmore Cottage, the couple's home on the Queen's Windsor estate.

Meghan is due to join him for the Endeavour Fund Awards tonight, which recognises wounded, injured or sick military personnel and veterans who have gone on to use sport and adventurous challenges as part of their recovery and rehabilitation.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry choosing not to bring baby Archie (pictured as a family in South Africa last year) to the UK for their final royal engagements would be 'spiteful and inconsiderate', a former palace press secretary has claimed

As yet the duchess is yet to arrive in the UK - and she is expected to be without Archie, who turns one in May.

Dickie Arbiter, a press spokesman for the Queen from 1988 until 2000, said it would be a 'great pity' if the couple didn't bring their son to spend time with his family.

'I'm sorry, there isn't an excuse for not bringing him. After all, he's got to meet his family, his family are not going to get a chance to see him for quite some time, because Harry and Meghan are going to be in Canada or the United States,' he told Nine News Australia.

'There's always the excuse, "Well he's too young to fly"; babies fly all the time, they flew Archie down to Southern Africa in October for that visit, so it wasn't too far to take him there, so I believe that they should bring him.'

Harry, pictured with Archie in Canada over Christmas, has been staying at Frogmore Cottage, the couple's home on the Queen's Windsor estate, while in the UK for his final engagements

Dickie said it would be a 'great pity' if the couple didn't bring Archie to spend time with his family including the Queen and Prince Philip

Asked if it was 'spiteful' not to bring him, Dickie replied: 'Well it is spiteful, it's inconsiderate as well, and the Queen is going to be 94 in April, she's not going to be with us much longer.

'Prince Philip is going to be 99 in June, he's not going to be here much longer. You've got to be practical, he was in hospital at Christmas, he looked pretty frail when he came out, and he's up at Sandringham, nobody's seen him, and he is frail.

'People do get frail at that age and it would be a great pity if Archie wasn't brought over so that his great-grandparents could see him.'

Philip, 98, was last pictured being driven onto the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk for a shooting party in January.

Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family in January, and are now planning to split their time between the UK and the US.

Given Meghan and Harry (pictured in January) brought Archie with them to South Africa, Dickie said there is 'no excuse' not to bring him to the UK

Dickie said Prince Philip, pictured leaving the King Edward VII Hospital in London just before Christmas, is 'not going to be here much longer' after he was seen looking 'frail'

Dickie said Meghan is 'certainly taking the lead in everything', while Harry is 'following along'.

The Sussexes will also attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, which see the Royal Marines showcase their musicianship and pageantry.

The festival takes places over two days - March 6 and March 7 - at the venue in London, with Harry expected to attend the Saturday evening performance.

This event will also be Harry's last engagement as Captain-General of the Royal Marines, before he loses this title as he steps down as a senior royal.

Meghan is expected to undertake an engagement to mark International Women's Day on March 8, although no specifics have yet been revealed.

William and Kate (left) with Harry and Meghan (right) at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

Meghan and Harry are set to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey the following day, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Queen.

It will be the first time the Queen has seen Meghan since November last year when the couple travelled to Canada during their six week break.

At last year's event, Harry and Meghan were seated beside Prince Andrew, who has since left his royal duties after an interview about his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
A UK court on Thursday rejected for the fifth time the bail plea of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition to India on charges over the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case

London: A UK court on Thursday rejected for the fifth time the bail plea of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition to India on charges over the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.

Justice Ian Dove, who presided over the bail hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, also concluded that the 49-year-old jeweller continued to pose a risk of absconding.

This was the fifth attempt at bail by Modi, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year and is scheduled for an extradition trial between 11 and 15 May.

#JustIn | UK court rejects fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi's bail plea for fifth time pic.twitter.com/esjJJ9x3IF  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 5, 2020

He appeared via videolink from prison as his legal team offered a package of "stringent" bail measures, including bail security of 4 million pound, house arrest with a 24-hour electronic tag as well as a private security guard service and a strictly monitored access to gadgets and telephones.

"There are risks involved with this applicant and the question for the court is are those risks adequately guarded against, noted Justice Dove.

"My central concern of a risk of absconding are not obviated by the measures presented," he ruled, adding that he was unsatisfied with the arrangements presented to the court adequately contained the risks posed in the very "substantial case" of fraud and money laundering.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) barrister Nick Hearn, arguing on behalf of the Indian government, had reiterated that Modi continues to remain a flight risk and that any additional measures offered for his bail would not make a breach impossible.

Modi's barrister, Edward Fitzgerald, argued that an offer to pay for a security guard from a reputable crisis management company offered "house arrest with effective room arrest" at his luxury apartment at Centre Point in London.

He also sought to dismiss the CPS concern of Modi continuing to interfere with witnesses due to strictly monitored access to phones and gadgets.

While details of Modi's mental health were not discussed in open court, the court was told he suffers from depression and that his psychological condition was "deteriorating with the ever-increasing detention" since his arrest in March last year.

There have additionally been very disturbing number of physical attacks inside prison and he was told he was being set up for extortion, Fitzgerald added.

The judge said he had taken those factors into account but concurred with both Justice Ingrid Simler, who denied bail at the High Court last year, as well as Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, who had last refused Modi's bail in November 2019.

Modi observed Thursday's proceedings via videolink from prison and occasionally referred to some files before him.

Last week, he appeared via videolink from his prison before Judge David Robinson at the Westminster Magistrates' Court for his routine 28-day call-over remand hearing and will next appear before the magistrates' court on 24 March.

Modi was arrested on 19 March, 2019, on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on charges brought by the Indian government. During subsequent hearings, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.
[March 05, 2020] OANDA adds cutting-edge new Chasing Returns functionality to all platforms

LONDON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A global leader in online multi-asset trading services and currency data and analytics, OANDA has further strengthened its partnership with Dublin-based FinTech firm Chasing Returns in order to offer clients around the world an expanded suite of capabilities that utilise behavioural science research to help improve trading performance. The agreement further builds on the 2018 integration of Chasing Returns' risk management technology into OANDA's award-winning trading platform, which provided retail clients with access to the Trading Performance Management portal. Drawing on Chasing Returns' specialist understanding of behavioural science, the Trading Performance Management portal already provides an in-depth view into individual trading habits, enabling OANDA's clients to take immediate advantage of personal analytics to better understand their behavioural biases such as whether they are more successful on a particular day of the week or when trading a specific product. Now, under the new agreement, OANDA clients will also be able to access more advanced Chasing Returns features across the firm's entire suite of platforms - including the API and third-party platforms - such as: Gameplan Pro, which includes enhanced trading insights focusing on the psychological aspect of the individual trader's performance

A new goal-setting option that allows traders to set predefined targets to achieve their trading goals

PlayMaker, which enables traders to monitor risk in real-time and set predefined take profitand stop-loss levels

OANDA Performance Statements option that allows traders to keep daily records and download statements on demand that include Chasing Returns performance data and market insights alongside their account history



Mohsin Siddiqui , Chief Client Officer at OANDA. "We're delighted to have extended our relationship with OANDA, exploring new ways we can work together to help their clients succeed," said CEO of Chasing Returns Ann Hunt. "Based on behavioural science, our tools have been specifically designed to provide deep insights into individual trading strategies, providing a clear line of sight over when each individual is most - and least - successful, enabling them to enjoy a more objective view that could help maximise success. We hope this will help create a competitive edge in the trading strategies of OANDA clients all over the world."

Siddiqui continued, "We look forward to further building on the foundations of our partnership with Chasing Returns in the coming years to continue to make more insightful risk management tools available to our clients." About OANDA Founded in 1996, OANDA was the first company to share exchange rate data free of charge on the Internet, launching an FX trading platform that helped pioneer the development of web-based currency trading five years later. Today, the firm provides online multi-asset trading, currency data and analytics to retail and corporate clients, demonstrating an unrivalled expertise in foreign exchange. With regulated entities in six of the world's most active financial markets, OANDA remains dedicated to transforming the business of foreign exchange. For more information, please visit oanda.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. About Chasing Returns Irish FinTech Chasing Returns has its operating base in Dublin. Its products were first launched in 2016 and are currently deployed in 82 countries. Contact CEO Ann Hunt at [email protected] For more information, please visit chasingreturns.com. You can follow Chasing Returns on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200302/2733899-1 SOURCE OANDA

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Nigeria on Wednesday witnessed an additional 11 deaths from the ongoing Lassa fever outbreak, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has disclosed.

This brings the number of total deaths recorded from the ongoing outbreak to 132.

NCDC said in its situation report for last week that though cases are on a decline, Nigeria recorded 85 new confirmed cases and 11 deaths.

Nigeria in the last ten weeks has been battling the scourge of the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria.

Although news of the Lassa outbreak in the country has been overshadowed by the new coronavirus outbreak, Nigeria is still monitoring and responding to the disease.

NCDC said for the reporting week nine, a total of 421 suspected cases, 85 were confirmed and 11 deaths reported from 30 local governments in nine states.

These states are Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Taraba and Kebbi

It said the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 102 cases in week eight, to 85 cases in week nine.

Cumulatively

Cumulatively, for week one to nine, a total of 3054 suspected cases, 775 confirmed cases, nine probable and 132 deaths have so far been reported from 118 local governments in 27 states.

In comparison with previous year, there have been more suspected, confirmed and death cases reported for the same period this year.

Cumulatively from week one to week nine, this year, 3054 suspect cases, 775 confirmed and 132 deaths have been reported as against 1374 suspected cases, 420 confirmed and 93 deaths for the same period in 2019.

Of all confirmed cases, 73 per cent are from Edo (34 per cent ), Ondo (32 per cent) and Ebonyi (7 per cent ) states.

Also, the predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years and the male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:1.2.

One new healthcare worker was affected in Edo State in the reporting week. This brings the total number of health workers so far affected since the beginning of outbreak to 27.

Map showing confirmed Lassa fever cases by states. Picture credits : NCDC

Outbreak

Lassa fever has become an epidemic in Nigeria and with increasing cases during the dry season from November to May.

The vector of the disease is a rat specie called the multimammate rat. The virus is transmitted from the excreta or urine of the vector to humans, and humans and to humans which often propagate the disease.

Anyone suspected of being in contact with a Lassa patient needs to be presented to the health facilities within a period of 21 days.

Symptoms of the disease at early stages is similar to febrile illness such as malaria.

General symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, anus and other body orifices. It could also present persistent bleeding from sites of intravenous cannulation.

Early diagnosis and treatment increase a patients chances of survival.
As cases and concerns of the coronavirus spread across the greater New York City area, Metro-North commuters are keeping a close watch on the latest developments.

Their concern increased after it was learned that a 50-year-old New Rochelle, N.Y. man, who used Metro-North, tested positive for the coronavirus virus.

The mans wife and two of their children, a son and daughter, remain quarantined in their home in Westchester County. The man, a Manhattan attorney, has an underlying respiratory illness that could worsen the effects of the disease, and is in critical condition at a New York City hospital.

"I'm following the news very carefully ... if I see it's expanding, then I will stop non-essential business travel," said Mike Yavonditte, a Greenwich resident who commutes via Metro-North to Manhattan for his job as CEO of Yieldmo, a mobile advertising technology company. "If it reaches an inflection point, I will work from home and allow my employees to work from home.

Earlier this week, the MTA announced to combat spread of the coronavirus, it is going above and beyond cleaning and disinfecting its stations and trains.

Train cars and buses will be cleaned daily with the MTAs full fleet being cleaned every 72 hours, said Patrick Foye, chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Foye said ridership has not changed since late December when the coronavirus  formally known as COVID-19  was first identified in Wuhan, China.

"I think the MTA and Metro North are doing what they can. Their efforts to sanitize train cars, ticket machines and turnstiles are admirable, but none of that will stop airborne transmission [of the coronavirus]," said Jim Cameron, transportation columnist for Hearst Connecticut Media who founded the Commuter Action Group and was the former chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council. The responsibility still lies with individual commuters.

"I think you will see ridership decrease on Metro-North," Cameron added. "It's inevitable. I've already seen comments online from people who were upset that other commuters were coughing and hacking on trains."

Metro-North operates New Haven Line service for New York and Connecticut. The New Haven Line was used by 40.4 million people in 2016, according to the MTA. It also operates the Harlem Line, which serves New York and western Fairfield County.

"I'm paying much more attention to everything I would normally touch without thinking about, like the turnstiles," said Trent Janik, a New Canaan resident who uses Metro-North to commute to her job as vice president of operations and strategy for Tory Burch in Manhattan. "As soon as I get to the office, the first thing I do now is wash my hands. It's also the first thing I do when I get home at night.

"I haven't noticed a decrease in ridership yet, but I wouldn't be surprised it that begins to happen," Janik added. "More companies will probably have their employees work from home, if they are set up to."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 05:15:50|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in South Africa should not put the country in a state of panic, its Parliament said Thursday.

This came after Health Minister Zweli Mkhize reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus, officially named as COVID-19.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive, the minister said earlier on Thursday, putting the country on high alert.

The patient is a 38-year-old male who traveled to Italy with his wife, according to Mkhize.

"We welcome the swift action of the minister to take the country into confidence by briefing the media," said Sibongiseni Dhlomo, chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health.

According to Dhlomo, the minister assured lawmakers at a meeting on Wednesday that the government will be able to deal with any confirmed cases.

In light of the confirmed case, the Department of Health should strengthen its communication in updating South Africans in order to remove panic and anxiety, he said.

"We shall await the details of the situation as it unfolds, we need to have those who were with the man who is confirmed with the virus during his travel, to have them traced and protocols adhered to," said Dhlomo.

The COVID-19 patient and his wife, part of a 10-people group, arrived back in South Africa on March 1, according to the health minister.

The patient consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough, Mkhize said.

The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab. The patient has been self-isolating since March 3.

The couple also has two children. The Emergency Operating Center (EOC) has identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor.

The tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal Province, where the patient lived, with epidemiologists and clinicians from NICD, said Mkhize.

The doctor has been self-isolated as well, the minister said. Enditem
Twitter is testing a way for users to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours  similar to Stories products offered on rival social networks  in a push to encourage people to share more often on its service.

The San Francisco company calls these disappearing posts Fleets  short for fleeting tweets  and wants the tool to ease the pressure of online sharing. Similar to tweets, Fleets are text-first, but videos, GIFs and photos can be added.

Some of you tell us that youre uncomfortable to Tweet because Tweets are public, feel permanent, and have public counts, Twitter wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. We hope that people who dont usually feel comfortable Tweeting use Fleets to share musings about whats on their mind. The test is available only in Brazil.

CEO Jack Dorsey is under threat from activist investment firm Elliott Management Group, which wants to push him out of the top job. Dorsey has two jobs  he also runs payments company Square  and Elliott said he thinks Twitter needs a full-time CEO.

Twitter has also developed a reputation for moving slowly when it comes to launching new products and features. Its common for some ideas to percolate internally for years before they ever appear to Twitter users, a much slower cadence than other social media companies. Even expanding the length of tweets from 140 to 280 characters took years of debate and discussion inside the company.

The Fleets test provides at least the perception that Twitter is moving forward. Disappearing posts have become a popular way to share on competing social sites, including Instagram and Snapchat. More than 500 million people use Instagrams version of Stories, and Facebook executives have pointed to this as an important growth opportunity for the companys advertising business. Instagrams Stories feature already makes up about 10% of all ad spending on Facebook properties.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Its too soon to say whether Fleets will provide a similar opportunity for Twitter. The company has started testing features in public in recent years, often asking for user feedback before rolling something out more broadly. Its one of the ways Twitter tries to be more thoughtful about what it launches, but also slows down the process. Instagram, by comparison, unveiled its version of Stories to all global users at the same time in 2016.

Kurt Wagner is a Bloomberg News writer.
WASHINGTON  She didnt win the election. But Jessica Cisneros, a 26-year-old Laredo immigration attorney, had a message for moderate Democrats like U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who beat her by about 3,000 votes in the hardest-fought campaign of his 15-year congressional career: This is just the beginning.

We are going to keep fighting to create a more progressive and accountable Democratic party this year, Cisneros vowed during her concession speech on Wednesday. The fact that we were able to get within 3, 4 points just shows that theres so many people out there that share the same ideas and beliefs as we do.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Thats the message progressives up and down the ballot in Texas sent Tuesday. While they largely fell short on Super Tuesday  especially in Houston, the states largest population center where moderates still reign  they outperformed expectations in a state that has been a Republican stronghold for 25 years, where the conventional wisdom for Democrats has long been that a moderate message is best.

"I think the notion that only moderates can be elected in Texas is on shaky ground," said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist. "That appetite is there."

Bernie Sanders  an avowed Democratic socialist  pulled in 30 percent of the vote in the presidential primary and will leave Texas with a healthy chunk of its delegates.

Longtime labor organizer Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, an unabashed progressive campaigning on Medicare For All and the Green New Deal, emerged from a crowded field of Democrats on Wednesday still locked in a tight race to make the runoff in the U.S. Senate primary. And two candidates running to the left of longtime state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. forced him into an unexpected runoff to hold onto his Brownsville district.

For subscribers: Emboldened Democrats say its a myth progressives cant take Texas

There was an active sense that this was a heat check that was really amplified by the upswing in Sanders support that we saw in the run-up to the election, said Jim Henson, director of Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

Its meaningful that Bernie Sanders got the significant share of the vote here that he did in a Democratic primary in a multi-candidate race, Henson said. And there is clearly a constituency that is growing in the Democratic party that requires a more sophisticated look at the Democratic electorate in Texas than most people have been taking for the last generation.

As of February, just 27 percent of Democratic voters in Texas identified as moderate, according to University of Texas/Texas Tribune polling data that has been collected since 2008 when more than 50 percent considered themselves moderate.

Meanwhile, younger Latinos are more likely to identify as progressive, and are more likely to say theyll support progressive candidates. A recent University of Houston/Univision poll found strong support among Latinos for key planks of the progressive movement, such as Medicare For All. A growing share of Latino respondents said they were "certain to vote," with 73 percent saying it was "more important" to vote in 2020 than it was in 2016.

Sanders carried about 40 percent of the Latino vote in Texas, according to exit polls, and more than 60 percent of the youth vote. But voters under 30 were just 15 percent of those who turned out in the Democratic primary in Texas, according to those same polls.

Progressives saw big boosts in some of the states biggest counties, including Travis and Bexar, both of which went for Sanders.

But they still have at least one big problem: Houston, one of the states core economic engines, driven in large part by the oil and gas industry that progressive candidates have pitted themselves against.

For subscribers: Who won and lost in Harris County elections on Super Tuesday 2020

Sanders, a Green New Deal supporter who has vowed to ban fracking, lost by nearly 10 percentage points to former Vice President Joe Biden in Harris County, where election day voting helped vault Biden beyond Sanders statewide.

Moderates dominated the Senate race in Harris County, as well. Former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar took the top spot, with the second place split by former Houston congressman Chris Bell and former Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards  both of whom took donations from the fossil fuel industry that they promised to work with, if elected.

Tzintzun Ramirez, who campaigned on the Green New Deal, drew just 6 percent in Harris County. Her strong performance in Bexar and Travis counties, meanwhile, has her locked in a close race with longtime state Sen. Royce West for the second spot in a runoff with Hegar.

Harris is so big and includes so much of a land mass that people see the need to moderate views because there are so many perspectives, Rottinghaus said.

Its also a city that is driven primarily by industry and has a significant economic footprint in a bunch of different fields that needs to be part of how Democrats talk about Texas economic future, he said. Oil and gas is a big one.

Theres also the possibility that with President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, some Democrats who might favor progressive policies were instead seeking a more moderate voice as the candidate most likely to beat Trump.

I think theyre all running their own personal algorithms between those issues right now, said Sherri Greenberg, a former state representative and a professor at the University of Texas at Austins LBJ School of Public Affairs. Do I want a steady hand? Am I more concerned with a policy like health care? Do I want someone with a a history of getting things done?

Still, progressives say the primary showed a path forward.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who went to the polls in Texas yesterday and voted for populist progressives, said Zack Malitz, a Democratic consultant and veteran of Beto ORourkes 2018 Senate campaign, who advised Tzintzun Ramirezs campaign this cycle. They voted for the Green New Deal, they voted for Medicare For All, they voted to take on big banks.

Its really clear that progressives both need to fight to win more voters, but also that, if youre a Democrat, a progressive Democrat, thinking about whether to primary your member of Congress or your city council member or run for an open seat  theres clearly a constituency of Texas Democrats that will support you.

ben.wermund@chron.com
The government has so far received about Rs 26,000 crore from AGR payments, including adhoc/ buffer amounts given by telcos to meet any reconciliation differences with the telecom department

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay remaining AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay, according to sources.

The telecom department wrote to all telcos asking them to pay balance dues "without delay" and submit detailed bifurcation of payments (explanation of self-assessed amounts), which it said are necessary for proper reconciliation of legitimate AGR dues.

Sources say Telecom Dept (DoT) sends letter to all #telcos to submit supporting document on AGR (adjusted gross revenues) dues. DoT asks all telcos to either submit documents or pay the balance amount without any delay. @AnshuSharma02 reports. pic.twitter.com/lHHXcL29Kz  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 4, 2020



The government has so far received about Rs 26,000 crore from AGR payments, including adhoc/ buffer amounts given by telcos to meet any reconciliation differences with the telecom department.

However, the amounts paid by telcos is woefully lower than the DoT's Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) calculations, prompting the telecom department's latest move.

Sources privy to the development said that as the amount paid by telcos is based on their own self-assessment, the department has asked them to explain how they have arrived at the said calculation, and pay the balance amounts.

They said the letter was not in nature of a 'threat' but rather seeking an explanation for the basis of companies' calculations and asking for remaining statutory payments.

Bharti Airtel has submitted over Rs 18,000 crore to the DoT declaring that it has made full and final settlement towards its AGR liabilities but the amount is far less than Rs 37,500 crore (including Telenor) that the government estimates the company owes it.

It is pertinent to mention here that Bharti Airtel on Saturday said it has made payment of Rs 8,004 crore towards AGR dues to the government, an amount over and above Rs 10,000 crore it has already paid earlier. The amount of Rs 8,004 crore includes Rs 3,004 crore towards a full and final settlement on AGR dues based on self-assessment, and a deposit of buffer Rs 5,000 crore to cover the DoT's reconciliation differences.

Similarly, Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 2,197 crore in AGR dues, and earlier this week topped that up with additional Rs 2,000 crore to cover reconciliation differences, while DoT estimates its liabilities to be about Rs 14,000 crore.

VIL has so far deposited Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches to the DoT but is still assessing its full AGR dues. According to the government's calculation, VIL owes Rs 53,000 crore in such liabilities.

In all, 15 entities owed the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore in unpaid statutory duesRs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and VIL account for about 60 percent.

These dues arose after the Supreme Court, in October last year, upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

The Supreme Court last month rejected a plea by mobile carriers such as Bharti Airtel and VIL for extension in the payment schedule and asked companies to deposit their past dues for spectrum and licences.

Since the 14 February tongue-lashing that the Supreme Court gave telecom companies for missing its previous deadline of 23 January to pay past dues as well as the DoT for failing to enforce it, firms and the telecom ministry had been doing separate maths on the actual dues.
Egypt's embassy in Beijing evacuated on Wednesday three Egyptians who were stuck in China's Hubei province, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the Egyptian nationals were evacuated on an Emirati plane.

The three citizens had not joined a group of Egyptians who were evacuated from Hubei on 2 February due to Chinas heavy travel restrictions to control the outbreak of the coronavirus in the province.

Egypt's ambassador to China Mohamed El-Badry said in the statement that the foreign ministries of Egypt and the UAE are coordinating the evacuation of the Egyptian citizens with their embassies in China.

The Emirati government is using a special jet to evacuate from China 205 people from different Arab countries including Sudan and Egypt. The passengers will be housed in an Emirati quarantine hospital for at least two weeks.

According to the Egyptian embassy in Abu Dhabi, the three Egyptians are in good health and will remain at the Emirati hospital for no more than 25 days if they show no signs of infection.

According to the World Health Organization's daily report on the coronavirus situation, 67,332 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Hubei and the death toll in the Chinese province has reached 2,871 since the outbreak.

Three Egyptians contract coronavirus in Italy

In a separate statement on Thursday, the foreign ministry said that the number of coronavirus cases amongst Egyptian nationals in Italy has risen to three, adding that Egyptian authorities in the northern city of Milan are following their condition.

The first case, announced earlier this week, was treated at a hospital in Milan and then discharged to continue his treatment in home quarantine after his health improved and he was deemed stable.

Two other cases, an Egyptian couple who live in the city of Voghera, were confirmed after the man contacted the Egyptian consulate through its Facebook page and informed its staff that he and his wife were suffering from the coronavirus.

The man is receiving treatment at hospital because he is suffering from some health problems, while the woman is being treated at home and both are in "stable condition".

There are 560,000 Egyptians living in Italy, according to a 2017 census by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Italy is considered the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

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The International Criminal Court ruling paves the way for an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has authorised an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Afghanistan, which would include allegations against United States, Afghan and Taliban armed fighters.

The Appeals chamber considers it appropriate to  authorise the investigation, said presiding Judge Piotr Hofmanski on Thursday.

The decision, which comes days after the US and the Taliban armed group signed a peace deal, overturns a lower court decision and opens the way for prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to launch a full investigation, despite US government opposition.

The US is not a member of the Hague-based court.

Judge Hofmanski noted that Bensoudas preliminary examination found reasonable grounds to believe war crimes had been committed in Afghanistan, which is a member of the court, and that the court has jurisdiction.

Washington rejects the Hague-based courts jurisdiction, and last year, US President Donald Trumps administration imposed travel restrictions and other sanctions on ICC employees.

A pretrial panel last year had rejected Bensoudas 2017 request to open an investigation, arguing that the odds of success were low, given the passage of time, a lack of cooperation from Kabul and Washington, and the panels conclusion that it would not serve the interests of justice.

But Hofmanski said Bensouda should proceed and not limit her investigation to preliminary findings, as that would erroneously inhibit the prosecutions truth-seeking function.

Bensouda believes there are grounds to open an investigation into abuses committed between 2003 and 2014, including alleged mass killings of civilians by the Taliban, as well as the alleged torture of prisoners by Afghan authorities and, to a lesser extent, by the USs forces and its spy agency, the CIA.

Difficult road ahead

US forces have been fighting the Taliban armed group, which has waged an armed rebellion since it was toppled from power in a US-led military invasion in 2001.

The Trump administration signed a deal with the Taliban, aimed at ending the longest US war, on February 29.

The deal, signed in the Qatari capital Doha, will see the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from the country in return for a guarantee from Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used for attacks on US interests.





But Washington carried out an air attack on Taliban fighters on Wednesday after West-backed Afghan forces came under deadly attacks.

The violence has cast a pall on the nascent Afghan peace process, with the Taliban demanding that President Ashraf Ghani government should release nearly 5,000 prisoners agreed as part of the deal.

Ghanis refusal to release the prisoners has angered the Taliban, and likely put the so-called intra-Afghan talks slated for March 10 in jeopardy.

Speaking at a news conference at the US Department of State on Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said all sides should stop posturing and prepare for the intra-Afghan negotiations, including practical discussions about prisoner releases.

We know that the road ahead will be difficult. We expected it, we were right, Pompeo said.

The upsurge in violence in parts of Afghanistan over the last couple of days is unacceptable. In no uncertain terms, violence must be reduced immediately for the peace process to move forward,

The ICC, which began operations in The Hague in 2002, is a court of last resort for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity when committed by nationals of a signatory state, or if they took place on the territory of one of its member states.
Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu will later today, Wednesday, March 4, brief Parliament for the second time within a month over the preparedness of the country to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus has claimed several lives worldwide with confirmed cases in Senegal and Nigeria in the West African sub-region.

Mr. Manu is expected to give an update on the systems and measures put in place to deal with cases if need be.

Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu who announced the scheduled appearance of the Minister in Parliament said: Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday 4th March 2020, the Minister of Health will come to the House to update the country about the state of preparedness of the country as far as the development [coronavirus] is concerned. Admittedly, it cannot be said that the country has obtained 100 percent preparedness. But certainly, we are on high alert to track and trace any case that may occur in the country.

Per Ghana's preparedness plan , the state claims to have developed messages and education materials on the virus though they do not appear to be in circulation.

The plan also said radio and television discussions and engagements on the outbreak and Ghana's preparedness activities have been started and are ongoing but these too are not in mainstream media.

So far, the government's communication on the matter has focused on information on the evolution of the outbreak globally, clinical symptoms, directions on prevention and measures being taken within the country to early detect and manage possible cases.

Pressure group, OccupyGhana on Monday recommended seven ways Ghana could position itself to counter the outbreak of coronavirus.

The OneGhana Movement also expressed worry about the nature of Ghana's preparedness for a potential novel coronavirus case in Ghana. Entry point security

The Ghana Health Service is also said to be in the processes of shoring up Ghana's surveillance efforts at points of entry.

At the moment, Ghana's 14 approved entry routes are manned by health workers monitoring human traffic.

As far as Ghana's points of entry are concerned, the state has held stakeholder engagements with the Ghana Airport Company limited management and the Kotoka International Airport, Ghana Immigration Service, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Tema Port to strengthen surveillance systems. Coronavirus outbreak in China will adversely affect Ghana's economy  Analyst

A Health Economist at the University of Ghana, Dr. Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah says the coronavirus outbreak in China will adversely affect some sectors of Ghana's economy.

He explained that since Ghana does not have the capacity to produce some items it imports, the country stands at a high risk of having a negative net effect .

If you look at our relationship with China, our net effect will be negative because someone would argue that given that we import, and if import goes down, that will be good for us. But the point is that most of the items we import from China are items that we currently don't have the capacity in-house to be able to respond if there is a shortfall. So that is definitely going to be negative. Our economy in a substantial adverse is driven by the trade sector so if people who are not able to get to China and get their wares, what it means is that activities will slow down that will affect household income and local consumption and that will have a ripple effect on other sectors in the economy, Dr. Abekah-Nkrumah added.

Already, some spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai in Accra had earlier decried adverse effects the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China is having on their businesses.

The dealers said the outbreak of the virus has led to the shortage of some of their stock as their suppliers have suspended production due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

They said although there are alternatives to some of the products they import from China, the associated challenges have slowed down their businesses.

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The government has tapped Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to join a consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI) to buy stake and inject funds in beleaguered lender YES Bank, multiple people familiar with the matter told Moneycontrol.

If LIC, India's largest insurer, joins the consortium, it would be the second such instance in the recent past that it would have offered a lifeline to an entity starved of capital.

LIC, which is due to launch an initial public offering in FY21, owns 51 percent of IDBI Bank after a purchase from the government.

YES Bank, India's fifth-largest private lender, has for months struggled to find an investor willing to pump capital and help it fend off a crisis triggered by a sharp uptick in bad loans.LIC did not immediately respond to a query sent by Moneycontrol.

Bloomberg earlier reported about SBI's plan to pick up stake in the private lender.

On the SBI-LIC deal, YES Bank said that it has not received any such communication from the RBI or government. SBI said it will disclose any development to the stock exchanges.

YES Bank has been trying hard to raise a fresh capital of Rs 14,000 crore but in vain. The banking regulator has also found divergences in the bad loan figures reported by the bank.

When it comes to LIC, which is on a path to a FY21 initial public offering, it already holds 51 percent stake in IDBI Bank after it bought this stake from the government.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had in June 2018 made an exception when it allowed LIC to hold 51 percent in IDBI Bank. Insurance regulations state an insurer can hold only 15 percent equity stake in an entity to ensure there is no concentration of risks.

Even if LIC joins the SBI consortium, it will require an IRDAI permission to hold more than 15 percent stake in Yes Bank.

Though LIC has consistently denied being the 'white knight' and bailing out ailing entities, in the past the insurer has invested heavily in both IPOs of state-run entities as well as disinvestment programmes of the government.

Typically, LIC invests between Rs 50,000 crore to 55,000 crore in equities. While LIC maintains that it invests only in instruments based on a strategic call, it is a fact that the insurer has helped key divestments sail through.

However, the insurer's FY20 equity investment is likely to touch an all-time high. As of February 2020, LIC's equity investments have reached only 54.5 percent of this fiscals target of Rs 86,000 crore. The insurer has invested Rs 46,850.33 crore into equities between April 1 and January 31 (FY20).

LIC-IDBI Bank deal

In January 2019, LIC completed the deal with IDBI Bank and holds majority stake in the entity. However, the bank is still under prompt corrective action framework that restricts its ability to lend.

For Q3FY20, the bank reported a net loss of Rs 5,763 crore, widening on sequential as well as year-on-year basis despite sharp fall in provisions. Higher tax provision impacted profitability.

However, the bank's asset quality improved during the quarter with gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances falling 71bps QoQ to 28.72 percent. Net NPA also declined 72bps to 5.25 percent QoQ in same period.

On the other hand, LIC is also looking at options to unlock value in IDBI Bank.

"Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given us a 12-year period to bring down the stake in IDBI Bank to 15 percent. But we may not want to wait that long especially since we will also be listed. We need to look at options to unlock value," said LIC chairman M R Kumar at an event in February 2020.

However LIC will not be immediately offloading its stake in IDBI Bank. Sources said that the insurer is waiting for a better price because the acquisition price was more than the present value.

How will Yes Bank benefit LIC?

Though YES Bank is yet to declare its December quarter results, the private bank had posted a loss of Rs 600.08 crore during the September quarter, dented by higher provisions and one-time deferred tax assets adjustment with sharp increase in non-performing assets.

Net interest income during the quarter declined 9.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,185.91 crore, including the impact of around Rs 228 crore due to fresh slippages during the quarter.

Credit and deposits declined 6 percent each YoY while net interest margin also contracted 10bps sequentially and 60bps YoY to 2.7 percent in Q2FY20.

If a stake purchase is done by SBI and LIC, the immediate capital worries of the bank will be over. This will have to be followed up a cleanup of a balance sheet. Yes Bank's exposure to commercial businesses will also be looked at.

LIC will get access to the bank's 1,000 odd branches to distribute its insurance, pension and mutual fund products. However, the insurer will also have to infuse capital and train ground staff.

With LIC's listing just a few quarters away (as per goverment timelines), the insurer's investments will be under close scrutiny. If LIC invests into Yes Bank, the rationale behind this decision will be keenly watched by the market.

IRDAI's recent stewardship guidelines state that the strategy and reason behind key investments by insurance companies will have to be disclosed to the public. LIC's reasoning, in case the deal happens would be an interesting read.
The release of the James Bond film No Time To Die has been pushed back several months because of global concerns about coronavirus. MGM, Universal and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on Twitter Wednesday that the film would be pushed back from its April release to November 2020.

The announcement cited consideration of the global theatrical marketplace in the decision to delay the release of the film. No Time To Die will now hit theatres in the U.K. on November 12 and worldwide on November 25.

MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd  James Bond (@007) March 4, 2020

The Bond films make a significant portion of their profits from international markets. The last film, Spectre, made over $679 million from overseas theatres in 2015 with over $84 million of that total coming from China.

Concerns had already been brewing around the imminent release and the global outbreak. Publicity plans in China, Japan and South Korea had previously been cancelled. And on Monday, the popular James Bond fan site MI6-HQ published an open letter to the producers urging them to delay the films rollout.

Also read: Kareena Kapoor takes Taimur for an outing, he gives a shout-out to paparazzi Aye bhai log. Watch video

It is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of canceling publicity events, the letter said.

Hollywood film release and production schedules have already been affected by the outbreak. Last week, Paramount Pictures halted production on the seventh Mission: Impossible film, which had been scheduled to shoot in Venice, Italy. The studio also postponed the Chinese release of Sonic the Hedgehog.

The coronavirus outbreak emerged in China and has spread globally. In all, more than 94,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, with more than 3,200 deaths.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The Lok Sabha, on the basis of a voice vote, suspended on Thursday seven Congress members for disrupting proceedings of the Lower House of Parliament during the second half of the ongoing Budget Session that began Monday. The suspension is to last for the remaining duration of the ongoing session.

The move came two days after Speaker Om Birla warned both the treasury and the opposition benches for entering the Well of the House.

The suspension of members from the House is rare, although not unprecedented.

The seven suspended Congress MPs are Gaurav Gogoi (Kaliabor, Assam), Maickam Tagore (Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu); Gurjeet Singh Aujla (Amritsar, Punjab), TN Prathapan (Thrissur, Kerala); Behanan Benny (Chalakudy, Kerala), Rajmohan Unnithan (Kasaragod,Kerala) and Dean Kuriakose (Idukki, Kerala).

This is the first such suspension in the 17th Lok Sabha.

The drastic action may be part of the governments effort to get business done in the Lok Sabha, which has seen a series of disruptions, and not passed or discussed any legislations after reconvening, analysts said. However, it could well lead to more disruptions, with the Congress as well as other opposition parties seeing the suspension as disproportionate. The Congress, and other opposition parties, have been vocal in their demand for an immediate discussion on the communal riots in Delhi. The government has offered a discussion after Holi (March 10), but the Opposition isnt open to this.

The Congress has 52 representatives in the 543-member Lower House and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 303.

The immediate trigger for the suspension came ahead of the third adjournment of the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Rajasthan MP Hanuman Beniwal, a member of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, a BJP ally, made a comment about the Gandhi family and the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country. He wanted the Gandhis to undergo tests for coronavirus, saying 15 Italian tourists to India have already tested positive (actually, 16 have), referring to Congress president Sonia Gandhis Italian roots.

BJPs Rama Devi, who was in the Chair, continued to run the proceedings of the House, but Congress MPs intensified their sloganeering. Suspend the MP, Modi sarkar shame, shame, they shouted.

Congresss Kaliabor MP, Gaurav Gogoi, was seen throwing papers kept on the Lok Sabha Speakers table while the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was being passed.

Soon, the Chair adjourned the House till 3 pm.

As soon as the Lok Sabha reassembled at 3 pm, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who was in the Chair  Speaker Om Birla skipped the House proceedings for the second consecutive day as he is upset with repeated disruptions by the Opposition  named the seven Congress members for their unruly behaviour.

Once a Chair names a member, the person cannot attend the House proceedings on that day.

However, parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi immediately moved a motion to suspend these Congress members from the House for the remaining period of the Budget Session. The motion was passed by a voice vote amid loud protests by the opposition members.

...that this House having taken serious note of gross misconduct of these members utter disregard to the House and authority of the Chair and having been named by the Speaker resolve that these members be suspended from the service of the House from the remainder of the session, the motion read.

The members have been suspended under Rule 374 (A), which says that a member can be suspended from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session for disregarding the authority of the Chair or abusing the rules of the House by persistently and wilfully obstructing business.

Lekhi asked the seven Congress members to leave the Lok Sabha chambers immediately and then adjourned the House for the day.



The Congress alleged that the suspension was a dictatorial decision by the government aimed at weakening the Oppositions voice ahead of a debate over last weeks Delhi violence.Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it was a government decision and the Speaker was not involved.

What happened today is a tale of embarrassment in the history of Parliament, he told reporters soon after the suspension of the MPs.

He asserted that the Congress members had done nothing wrong, and claimed that the decision was motivated by revenge politics. Chowdhury alleged that the suspension was an attempt to weaken the party in the House as the government fears a discussion on the Delhi violence in Parliament.

Gogoi, who was among the suspended MPs, said, Suspend us for a year, but discuss Delhi riots and heal the wounds of the people.

However, the BJP welcomed the move and termed unprecedented the conduct of some Congress members in the Lok Sabha. Parliamentary affairs minister Joshi said his party has requested the Speaker to set up a panel to look into the continuous indiscipline by Congress members.

Snatching papers from the Speakers table is utmost disrespect to the Chair. We condemn this, he told reporters.

We will seek termination of the members membership. What the Congress did in Lok Sabha showed their utmost disrespect to the Chair, he said, refraining from naming anyone.

Constitutional expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achary said suspensions have taken place in the past too. Some kind of protests have always taken place in the House. There is a provision of summary suspension when the Speaker names the members. But it has never gone beyond suspension. In the past, talks between the government and Opposition would eventually result in the suspension being revoked, he said.

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the unruly behaviour of the Congress MPs was unprecedented and it would have shocked the countrys founding fathers.

Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said, In my long innings in Parliament, I have seen many such cases of the Chair suspending a member from the House. I have also seen that later the member regrets his decision and the suspension is withdrawn. We will appeal to the Speaker on revoking the suspension.

In the 16th Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 Congress members for five days for obstructing the proceedings of the House during the Monsoon Session in 2015.

She also suspended 45 members from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for repeatedly disrupting the House over their demands for a proposed dam on the Cauvery river and a special category status to Andhra Pradesh, respectively, during the Winter Session in 2019.

In 2016, Mahajan suspended the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member from Punjab Bhagwant Mann for the Winter Session after a Lok Sabha panel found him guilty of video recording Parliaments security processes.

Mahajans predecessor Meira Kumar suspended 18 Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh for the Winter Session in 2014 for creating a ruckus in the House over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of a separate state of Telangana.

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Wife of coronavirus (COVID-19) infected citizen of Chernivtsi is healthy, no symptoms of disease, Chernivtsi Regional State Administration reported.

"Citizen of Chernivtsi diagnosed with COVID-19, feels himself better. Wife of ill was isolated, her health is also satisfactory, there are no signs of disease," the administration wrote on Facebook.

The administration added that a news on COVID-19 infection of citizen of Chernivtsi in Rivne was fake.

Four other residents of Bukovyna were taken to an infectious disease department of the Regional Clinical Hospital with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection. Their material was sent to the virology laboratory of the Public Health Center for being tested for COVID-19.

The first coronavirus case in Ukraine was confirmed by a laboratory on March 3. A resident of Chernivtsi returned from a trip to Italy on February 29. His wife, who traveled together with him and stayed home in self-isolation upon the return, was placed under medical observation on March 3.
More than a dozen students and staff from a Massachusetts high school were asked to stay home over concerns about the coronavirus after they recently traveled to Italy, where the threat of the respiratory infection is growing.

The 15 students and three staff members from Old Rochester Regional High School in Marion had returned to the U.S. on Feb. 23 after traveling to southern Italy, according to a statement from Old Rochester Regional Superintendent Douglas White and Principal Michael Devoll.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not restricted travel to the region at the time of the groups trip, so the 18 individuals were able to return to school immediately after their visit, according to the statement. The agency has since advised travelers returning to the U.S. from China, Iran, Italy and South Korea, where the outbreak is most severe, to stay home for 14 days following the time they left the other country and practice social distancing.

This guideline retroactively includes the group of Old Rochester students and teachers, White and Devoll said in their statement.

Nobody from the the group is believed to be presenting symptoms of the virus, known as COVID-19. The students and staff will reach the 14-day mark on Sunday. They may be able to return to school Monday as long as they remain asymptomatic, the statement said.

The World Health Organization has confirmed 2,502 coronavirus cases in Italy. Eighty people have died in the country due to the illness, according to WHOs recent situation report.

Officials do not believe there is any cause for concern in the Old Rochester school community, though. The risk to residents in the commonwealth of contracting the illness remains low, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Healths website.

There has been one confirmed case of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, a University of Massachusetts Boston student, and another presumptive positive diagnosis made by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory, according to DPH.

The department recommended that schools continue educating people about good hygiene. Though no vaccine currently exists to protect against the coronavirus, individuals can take preventative measures.

Those steps include washing hands often and thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoiding touching ones eyes and mouth with unwashed hands, covering ones mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, staying home when sick, disinfecting touched surfaces frequently and avoiding sharing drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, dishes, towels or other items.

In addition, school facilities staff is vigilantly sanitizing the districts educational spaces as is standard practice during cold and flu season, White and Devoll said in their statement. School officials are in regular communication with state and local departments of public health and safety officials regarding COVID-19, and the district is following all recommended guidelines to ensure the safety of students and staff.

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Cadila Healthcare, part of the Zydus group, on March 5 announced that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved its medication Saroglitazar for the treatment of a liver disease called Non-Cirrhotic Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH).

NASH is a progressive disease, that starts with fat accumulation in the liver known as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). If left untreated it could progress to cirrhosis and liver failure. Liver transplantation is the only option for managing adva nced cirrhosis with liver failure.

Cadila estimates around 25 percent of the Indian population is at risk of developing NASH. Currently, there is no approved drug available anywhere in the world to treat the disease.

Saroglitazar was approved for NASH by the DCGI following a 52-week phase-3 liver biopsy trial. The company said the trial evaluated liver biopsies of patients and found a significant reduction in liver fat, liver enzymes and disease activity.

Sharvil Patel, Managing Director of Cadila Healthcare said the latest approval for NASH indication will help the drug gain more traction in the market as there is no drug available now.

At present, Saroglitazar rakes about Rs 50 crore in sales per year, with a growth rate of 30 percent.

Patel said around a million patients were treated with Saroglitazar in the last seven years and it was found to be safe and effective. The company is planning to initiate a phase-3 trial in the US in the next two quarters.

Cadila has already completed a Phase-2 clinical trial in the US establishing proof-of-concept that the drug works on patients and is safe. The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) held in Boston.

Patel said he is open to the idea of partnering or out-licensing the molecule in markets where the company has limited presence.

"Globally, the market potential for NASH treatment is estimated to be around $35 billion to $40 billion; we are looking to have a piece of that pie," he added.
Tokyo, March 5 : Domestic violence cases in Japan reached a record high in 2019, growing for the 16th consecutive year, police said in a report published on Thursday.

The authorities investigated some 9,161 cases of domestic violence last year, which marked a 73 percent rise compared to the year before, Efe news quoted the report as saying.

Out of the total number of cases investigated, 90 per cent involved assaults of some kind, including three murders and 110 cases of attempted murder.

Around 80 per cent of the domestic violence complaints received by the police were filed by women while the number of male complainants has also tripled compared to 2014 figures.

An official from Japan's National Police Agency told state media that the significant rise in these figures could be attributed to the implementation of stricter laws and growing social awareness over gender-based violence.

The police report also includes cases related to revenge porn, mostly affecting young people, in which the victims are threatened through publication of intimate videos and photographs.

The phenomenon has become increasingly common in the Asian country.

The police received 1,479 complaints about this kind of cases in 2019. The figure was more than the double compared to the year before while the number of police investigations went up to 261.

Most of the victims included women above twenty although around 376 cases involving minors were also recorded.

State media reported that the number of stalking cases under investigation touched 2,355, marking a drop of 109 cases from the figure recorded in 2018.

The number of inquiries registered by the police in cases related to stalking was 20,192, also a drop of 644 cases compared to 2018.
Vietnam IoT In Manufacturing Market By Component (Solutions, Services & Platforms), By Application Area (Asset Tracking & Management, Predictive Maintenance, & Others), By Vertical (Energy & Utilities, Oil & Gas, Electronics & Electricals, Automotive, & Others), Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024

New York, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Vietnam IoT In Manufacturing Market By Component, By Application Area, By Vertical, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05810984/?utm_source=GNW



Vietnam IoT In Manufacturing market stood at $ 1 billion in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 21% to cross $ 3 billion by 2024 on account of rising demand for industrial internet of things (IIoT), increasing adoption of smart sensors and beacons, growing adoption of IoT in supply chain, favorable government initiatives and rise in demand for analytics. Moreover, increasing penetration of IoT in various applications like energy & utilities, oil & gas, electronics and electricals etc., is further pushing its demand in the country. Additionally, surge in cloud platform adoption, advent of advanced data analytics and development of wireless networking technologies is likely to propel Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market during forecast period.

Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market can be broadly segmented into component, application area, vertical and region.In terms of application area, the market can be categorized into Asset Tracking & Management, Predictive Maintenance, Business Process Optimization, Logistics & Supply Chain Management and Real-Time Workforce Tracking & Management, Automation Control & Management and Emergency & Incident Management & Business Communication.



Among all, Business Process Optimization is expected to grow at the highest CAGR as it improves product utilization and enable value-added services in manufacturing sector.Based on components, the market can be segmented into solutions, services and platforms.



Solutions hold the highest market share and the segment is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period, on account of increasing equipment failure issues in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, companies are investing heavily and adopting IoT solutions for increasing operational efficiency and control.

The market of IoT in manufacturing in the country is gaining traction and is expanding to various regions such as Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam and Central Vietnam. Southern Vietnam is expected to witness growth during forecast period owing to rising penetration of the technology in this region.

Major companies operating in Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market recorded high sale volume in 2018 and the trend is likely to continue during forecast period as well. List of major players operating in Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market include FPT Corporation, Viettel-CHT Limited (Viettel IDC), CMC Corporation, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, KDDI Vietnam Corporation, Dai Viet Controls & Instrumentation Company Ltd, IBM Vietnam Co Ltd., SAP Asia (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, Fujitsu Vietnam Ltd., Hitachi Asia (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., Amazon Web Services Vietnam Company Limited, Robert Bosch (Vietnam) Co. Ltd., Cisco Systems Vietnam Ltd, Oracle Vietnam Pte Ltd. etc. Major companies are developing advanced technologies and launching new products in order to stay competitive in the market. Other competitive strategies include mergers & acquisitions and new product developments. For instance, in May 2019, Samsung SDS announced an investment partnership agreement with CMC Corporation for smart factory and cyber security sectors in Vietnam. Under the agreement, Samsung SDS will utilize CMCs strong sales channel to target market for their latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. The partnership will help CMC to strengthen its position and expand its business in Vietnam. Years considered for this report:

Historical Years: 2014-2017

Base Year: 2018

Estimated Year: 2019

Forecast Period: 20202024



Objective of the Study:



 To analyze and forecast the market size of Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market.

 To classify and forecast Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market based on component, application area, vertical and regional distribution.

 To identify drivers and challenges for Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market.

 To examine competitive developments such as expansions, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market.

 To identify and analyze the profile of leading players involved in Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market.

Some of the leading players in Vietnam IoT In Manufacturing market are: FPT Corporation, Viettel-CHT Limited (Viettel IDC), CMC Corporation, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, KDDI Vietnam Corporation, Dai Viet Controls & Instrumentation Company Ltd, IBM Vietnam Co Ltd., SAP Asia (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, Fujitsu Vietnam Ltd., Hitachi Asia (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., Amazon Web Services Vietnam Company Limited, Robert Bosch (Vietnam) Co. Ltd., Cisco Systems Vietnam Ltd, Oracle Vietnam Pte Ltd., etc.

The analyst performed both primary as well as exhaustive secondary research for this study.Initially, the analyst sourced a list of service providers across the country.



Subsequently, the analyst conducted primary research surveys with the identified companies.While interviewing, the respondents were also enquired about their competitors.



Through this technique, the analyst could include the service providers which could not be identified due to the limitations of secondary research. The analyst examined the product offerings, distribution channels and presence of all major service providers across the country.

The analyst calculated the market size of Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market by using a bottom-up approach, wherein data for various end-user segments was recorded and forecast for the future years. The analyst sourced these values from the industry experts and company representatives and externally validated through analyzing historical data of these product types and applications for getting an appropriate, overall market size.



Various secondary sources such as company websites, news articles, press releases, company annual reports, investor presentations and financial reports were also studied by the analyst.



Key Target Audience:



 IoT solution, service & platform providers

 Government bodies such as regulating authorities and policy makers

 Organizations, forums and alliances related to IoT market

 Market research and consulting firms

The study is useful in providing answers to several critical questions that are important for the industry stakeholders such as service providers and partners, end users, etc., besides allowing them to strategize investments and capitalize on market opportunities.



Report Scope:



In this report, Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market has been segmented into following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

 Market, By Component:

o Solutions

o Services

o Platforms

 Market, By Application Area:

o Asset Tracking & Management

o Predictive Maintenance

o Logistics & Supply Chain Management

o Business Process Optimization

o Real-Time Workforce Tracking & Management

o Others

 Market, By Vertical:

o Energy & Utilities, Oil & Gas

o Electronics and Electricals

o Automotive

o Healthcare, Pharma & Medical Devices

o Food & Beverages

o Chemicals & Petrochemicals

o Metal Processing

o Cement

o Semiconductor

o Others

 Market, By Region:

o Northern Vietnam

o Southern Vietnam

o Central Vietnam



Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in Vietnam IoT in manufacturing market.



Available Customizations:



With the given market data, we offers customizations according to the companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:



Company Information



 Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05810984/?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.



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Bhopal/New Delhi: Chief Minister Kamal Nath managed to ward off its biggest challenge in 14 months in office, foiling the BJP's attempt to topple the Madhya Pradesh government by buying out the ruling alliance MLAs.

Six out of the eight Congress Madhya Pradesh MLAs, who were allegedly held hostage at Gurugram overnight, were brought back to Bhopal on Wednesday, and taken off straight to the residence of Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

According to the Congress sources, among the eight MLAs who have been taken to Haryana, four are from the Congress, one is an Independent lawmaker, while the rest of them are from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP). Woman BSP MLA Rambai was allegedly manhandled when Congress ministers reached the hotel to meet her.

Currently, it seems difficult for the BJP to manage the numbers as defecting MLAs would have to resign if they were to back it during the next floor test of Rajya Sabha elections on March 26. Besides, return to the House is also not guaranteed to them in the consequent by-election.

With eight MLAs on its side, the BJP could only touch the figure of 113 as the two of its legislators, Sharad Kol and Narayan Tripathi, have already lent their support to the Congress. With independents and BSP and SP support, the Congress party still enjoys majority.

In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs, followed by the BJP with 107. The simple majority mark is 116. The Congress has come to power the state in 2018 after 15 years of BJP`s rule with the support of 4 Independents, 2 BSP and 1 SP MLA.

In a House of with effective strength of 228 after two seats fell vacant due to the death of incumbent MLAs, Congress is ahead with 114.

Earlier on Wednesday, Congress leader Jitu Patwari alleged that former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the "mastermind" of the "conspiracy" to bring down Kamal Nath-led government. He also asserted that there is no threat to the government.

"Rs 50-60 crores are being offered to our MLAs. Where did they get this money? Some of our MLAs are in Bengaluru but they are with us," Jitu Patwari told ANI, adding "When we went to the hotel, MLAs were beaten up."

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and his minister son Jaivardhan had also reached the Haryana hotel to meet the MLAs.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath told PTI, "Things are under control. There is nothing like that. The MLAs will come back."

Meanwhile, the MP government has ordered the closure of iron ore mines of mining baron and BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak, who, reportedly lured some MLAs to destabilise the Congress government in the state.

(With Agency Inputs)
[March 05, 2020] Propeller Announces New Machine Tracking System, DirtMate, That Collects Productivity Data in Real Time

DENVER, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Propeller, a global leader in drone surveying and 3D mapping solutions, announced that they are starting the beta phase for their new product, DirtMate, an innovative machine tracking system that delivers survey-grade progress and productivity data as often as users need it. Although every single worksite needs greater visibility into how they are progressing toward final design, the reality is, daily surveys are an impossibility for mostat least, until now. DirtMate sensors fill in the blind spots that occur between surveys with real-time data. After a quick, wireless installation, they get to work collecting RTK GPS and IMU information that is available for immediate access. And, the simplicity doesn't stop thereDirtMate sensors can run on solar power, or can be wired into the machine. The data stream feeds directly into the Propeller Platform, which converts the data into live 3D surfaces. Worksites can use this information to generate cut and fill heatmaps, utilization graphs, and progress-to-design measurements. For the first time ever, site supervisors know what headway their team is making, where it is being made, and have a timestamp of the exact moment the work was complete. DirtMate is your worksite, live. Suez's Hallam Road Landfill site in Australia is among the first to test DirtMate out in the wild. Just five months after installing DirtMate on 20 machines, they have been able to: measure volumes moved on a daily basis, quckly and cost-effectively.

optimize vehicle routes and improve the efficiency of vehicles working.

reduce reliance on contractors for progress data and started collecting the data themselves.

and, quickly identify traffic management issues, such as pinch points or areas of high risk, using the snail trail feature.



John Jones , the National Landfill Technical Manager for Suez Australia, is calling DirtMate, "a game-changer for landfill operations," and is in the process of recommending this machine sensor technology to the rest of the the global Suez Group. Suez Australia's recommendation marks the beginning of DirtMate's mission to land on every worksite across the globe, as well as an evolution from Propeller's past. It's a way of paving a new path toward something they call total worksite management, while still reaffirming their commitment to accuracy, support and industry focus.

In less than one week Propeller will begin their hunt for beta users at ConExpo, the largest construction trade show in North America, hosting over 2,800 exhibitors. "For us, DirtMate is a huge, proud moment, and in many ways, a culmination of our learnings from all our customers," says Rory San Miguel, Propeller CEO and co-founder. "Working to capture progress data from each machine, as the machine's active, is the natural evolution for us and our customers. They now have a single, simple place for all their worksite survey data." Interested in learning more? Come see DirtMate in action with live product demos in Las Vegas at ConExpo booth #S64807 in the South Hall. An entire team of DirtMate experts will be waiting to answer all of your questions about this cutting-edging machine sensor technology. ABOUT PROPELLER AERO Propeller's world-class drone analytics solutions help people measure and manage their sites themselves. Heavy civil construction and resources operations trust Propeller to track site changes safely and accurately, with 3D visual tools that everyone can use. Propeller gives teams the full picture, empowering people to go deeper, do more, and work together better. For more information on DirtMate: www.propelleraero.com/dirtmate Media Contact:

Bri Ivar

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/propeller-announces-new-machine-tracking-system-dirtmate-that-collects-productivity-data-in-real-time-301017403.html SOURCE Propeller

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Tragedy struck Tennessee on early Tuesday as a tornado wreck havoc leaving in its wake about 25 people dead. The Nashville tornado wrecked building and took down power lines as it struck the areas. This happened just before voting started in Super Tuesday primaries.

The twister's arrival and the devastation caused destruction as it hit at exactly midnight in Nashville, the country's music state capital. All over, there was rubble and all sort of damage caused by the tornado in the populated district.

The scene shows utter chaos as residents were running to save their lives while homes were crashing down around them. Power was cut in many homes and left many locals with shatter domiciles due to the fury of the tornado as it hit everything in its path.

Television crews were greeted by cars that were piled up as the tornado picked them up. Other damages were aircrafts in the airport that were all smashed against each other at Nashville's John C. Tune Airport.

The Nashville Police Department sent aerial photos of buildings and roofs that were torned. Although many homes were wrecked, some houses escaped destruction from the tornado.

Governor Bill Lee wrote on Twitter, "In the hours ahead, we will continue deploying search and rescue teams, opening shelters across the state, and sending emergency personnel to our communities hit hardest,".

Police reported that two of the dead victims in Nashville were struck by debris thrown about, resulting to their instant death.

According to John Cooper, the mayor of Nashville, there are 150 people sent to medical centres, and almost 50 building fell onto itself, Nashville is where the heart of the US country music is at.

Also read: U.S. Closes Border Bridge to Stop Migrant Surge from Mexico

President Trump said in a message that all will be done to help those who were affected by the tornado in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) told the press, a series of severe storms have run through Tennessee causing catastrophic damage to the major structures. These are buildings, roads, bridges, utilities and businesses that took the fury of the tornado, and were left in utter ruin as it passed.

According to authorities, the tornado damage was in the West and Middle Tennessee including downtown Nashville, where many were grossly affected by it.

A local resident related to the local Tennessean newspaper about what happened when the tornado struck. He said that after running out of the house, ten seconds later, his house exploded. The now homeless resident stand in front of his destroyed house.

John Cooper appealed on Twitter for assistance to Nashville and the devastated homesteads, saying that they are in need of help to get back up on their feet.

In a news conference, Cooper said that 15 voting stations had been damaged, which is less than 10% of the total. Tennessee is one of the 14 states to vote in the Super Tuesday primaries, wherein the winner will be the presidential nominee in November.

Many expressed concerns for the welfare of Nashville and other affected areas that were struck by the Nashville tornado. Any help given would be much appreciated by the residents.

Related article: Florida Cities With The Highest Crime Rates Ranked

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Appointment

5 March 2020

With a culinary passion that has fueled a 30-year career in the industry, Chef Stephen Alsop brings a diverse skill set and background to his role as executive chef at Origin Raleigh's onsite restaurant Good Day Good Night. Alsop developed a love for cooking as a child alongside his grandmother that has endured to this day. After receiving his culinary degree with honors from Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, Alsop went on to helm successful kitchens for both country clubs and hotels across the country before joining the team at Good Day Good Night.
New Delhi, March 5 : The Congress has alleged that the BJP is using various means to dislodge the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress has questioned the BJP over who is paying for the chartered flights and five-star hotels to house its 'rebel' MLAs.

The Congress has alleged that BJP is using money from the mining and liquor mafia.

"This is politics of poaching," alleged Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

The Congress alleged that in Madhya Pradesh this is the third attempt to destabilise its government and the MLAs have been kept in a BJP-ruled state.

"If BJP attempts this, the whole opposition will condemn it and we appeal to the people to stand with the Constitution. In Madhya pradesh and Rajasthan from day one the BJP is trying to destabilise the governments as Rajya Sabha election nears," alleged senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Congress' Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that from since last five years after the BJP came to power at the Centre the democratic set up of the states was being dismantled one by one starting from Arunachal Pradesh and then in Manipur and Goa.

He alleged the same happened in Jammu & Kashmir as Congress and NC wanted to form the government but BJP went with PDP. In Karnataka, the Congress-JD(S) government also fell last year.

The Congress has alleged that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has tightened the noose on the mining and liquor mafia and that is why the BJP is rattled and using its money power to book chartered flights and five star hotels for the 'rebel' MLAs, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

The Congress is cautious as its government in Madhya Pradesh is surviving on a very thin majority and the party cannot take any risk. The elections to the Rajya Sabha will be the first litmus test of the government.

Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, and the Chief Minister are fighting to keep the government safe. While the Congress has managed to "bring home" six of its MLAs and one BSP rebel MLA, six supporting legislators -- four independents, two from the BSP and one from the Samajwadi Party -- are still not traceable.

The current strength of the state Assembly is 228. The Congress has 114 and the BJP 107 members in the House. The Kamal Nath government is supported by four independents, two BSP members (one of them rebel) and one SP MLA.

If the four MLAs, who are still untraceable, including three of the Congress and one independent, switched sides then the Madhya Pradesh government will be in trouble. But if they resign from the House like in Karnataka, then the Congress government will survive.
Chennai, March 5 : The Madras High Court here on Thursday asked the police to arrest the agitators protesting without permission in the hosiery town of Tiruppur.

The court passed the order while hearing a case against the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) agitation in Tiruppur that was affecting traffic.

However, agitators in Washermanpet and Mannadi areas, demanding the Tamil Nadu government pass a resolution in the Assembly stating the CAA will not be implemented in the state, said the court order was applicable to protests in Tiruppur and not to them.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has said that the government is considering passing a resolution in the Assembly against the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
TUCSON, Ariz.  Multiple past studies have reported that, compared to whites, Native Americans have relatively high cigarette use, and this has contributed to speculation that Native Americans might be inherently prone to such use.

A new study at the University of Arizona College of Medicine  Tucson, however, found that after adjusting for differences in the income and education levels of the two groups, whites were more likely than Native Americans to use cigarettes daily, to consume larger numbers of cigarettes per month and to be nicotine dependent.

In these adjusted comparisons, the estimated percentage of daily cigarette users among whites was 15.3%, compared to 13.0% for Native Americans; the percentage of individuals consuming more than 300 cigarettes in the past month was 13.6% for whites, compared to 9.9% for Native Americans; and nicotine dependence was 10.3% for whites, compared to 7.1% for Native Americans.

The study, conducted by the Native American Research and Training Center (NARTC) in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, was published today in Drug and Alcohol Dependence (DAD). NARTC researchers analyzed data from a survey of more than 4,000 Native Americans and 160,000 whites from 2013 through 2017. Called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the survey was administered by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The research team included lead author James K. Cunningham, PhD, associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine and NARTC member; Teshia Arambula Solomon, PhD, associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine and NARTC member; and Jamie Ritchey, PhD, MPH, director, Tribal Epidemiology Center, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

Previous research, both in the United States and throughout the world, has shown that lower income and educational attainment are among the factors most strongly associated with cigarette use. Native Americans have the highest poverty rate of any major U.S. ethnic group, but their cigarette use levels typically have been reported without adjusting for income and education. This can leave the mistaken impression that being Native American itself means higher use.

Tobacco use and tobacco-related disease and deaths are intertwined with the poverty facing many Native Americans, Dr. Solomon said. A critical need exists to increase and improve Native American tobacco prevention and treatment programs, while also addressing poverty.

Despite lower cigarette use when income and education are considered, Native Americans are dying from cigarettes at a much higher rate than whites, Dr. Ritchey said.

The study noted that the smoking-attributable death rate for Native Americans has been estimated at 414 per 100,000, substantially higher than that for whites  264 per 100,000.

Beliefs such as Native Americans being distinctly prone to cigarette use are widespread but rarely tested, Dr. Cunningham said. In 2016, the studys research group debunked the Native American elevated alcohol use belief when they found that alcohol use among Native Americans was comparable to or less than that of whites.

The consequences of substance misuse are too serious to allow for myths and misinformation, Dr. Cunningham said.
The Home Office has been criticised for allowing thousands of child trafficking victims to fall through the cracks by failing to implement a policy designed to protect them for four years after it first pledged to do so.

The UKs anti-slavery tsar and various childrens charities have raised concerns about the unexplained and unjustifiable delay in the governments rollout of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) scheme, designed to provide specialised one-to-one support to the growing number of youngsters being identified as victims of exploitation.

More than 2,000 British children were referred to the Home Office as potential modern slavery victims in the year to September 2019  a 66 per cent rise on the previous year that is widely believed to have been driven by the growing number of youngsters exploited by county lines gangs.

In an interview with The Independent last week, independent anti-slavery commissioner Dame Sara Thornton said she had grave concerns about the rise in cases, and called for an overhaul of the current system of identifying and protecting young people who fall prey to this form of exploitation.

She also raised concerns about the lengthy delay on implementing the ICTG scheme, which was recommended in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and which ministers vowed to roll out across the UK in 2016.

In a letter dated 12 January to the home secretary, Dame Sara pointed out that currently only a third of areas are covered by the scheme. She added: Support for children who are amongst the most vulnerable victims should be prioritised and I would appreciate an update on the governments plans.

Dame Sara told The Independent she was yet to receive a response from Priti Patel nearly two months later.

She said: The government have promised that they will be rolled out. Theres been some good evaluation. Its a primary concern. This is something that was in the Modern Slavery Act five years ago, we still only have roll out in a third of areas and by all accounts the evaluation is that it works.

Catherine Baker, senior campaigns officer at child trafficking charity Ecpat UK, said the delay was unjustifiable when ministers had openly committed to tackling the issue.

After nearly five years since this provision for children was introduced in the Modern Slavery Act, the government is still withholding support to the majority of child victims. Many of these children have extremely complex cases and very high support needs and desperately need specialist support from a trusted individual, she added.

One child victim from the charitys youth programme explained how important an ICTG can be, saying: [She] helps me for everything. She helped me about hospital appointment, GP appointment, referring me to right people to get extra support. She helped me with immigration case, sending lots of emails and reports to social services etc. She is the most helpful person.

Azmina Siddique, policy and research manager at the Childrens Society, said the delay was simply not good enough. She added: The government vowed to start rolling out independent legal guardians in 2016 but four years later we are still waiting.

The delays mean too many children are falling through the cracks and not getting the help they need because they are in an area where the scheme does not operate.

Ms Siddique said her charity was also concerned the scheme in its current form did not do enough because it did not apply to unaccompanied refugee, migrant and asylum seeking children.

Our research and experience has shown that a lack of support can cause real harm to these young people  from higher chances of developing severe mental health issues to an increased risk of self-harming and even suicide, she added.

It is crucial they all have access to a trusted adult who will represent their best interests, help them to navigate complex immigration and criminal justice systems and ensure their voice is heard.

A Home Office review of the ICTA system  which is currently operating in Greater Manchester, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and throughout Wales  shows a total of 215 referrals were made to the service within the first year, a higher number than expected.

 ITV News takes a look at County Lines drug dealing

The review, published last year, showed the most common nationality of children referred into the service was British, at 37 per cent, followed by Vietnamese and Sudanese children. The most common primary types of exploitation for referrals into the service were criminal exploitation, sexual exploitation and labour exploitation.

A Home Office spokesperson said it was committed to rolling out the ICTGs nationally and confirmed that to date it had expanded the support to one-third of all local authorities in England and Wales.

A spokesperson added work to roll out ICTGs across the country was ongoing and would continue to be informed by both recommendations from the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and learning from the evaluations of the early adopter sites.
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday an $8.3 billion bill to combat the spread of the new coronavirus and develop vaccines for the highly contagious disease, sending it to the Senate for final passage, Reuters reported.

Reflecting the urgency among lawmakers to address the growing coronavirus crisis, the House voted 415-2 on the bill just hours after negotiators unveiled its contents.

A Senate vote was scheduled for Thursday.

It includes money to expand testing for the virus, which has infected at least 129 people in the United States. Two more deaths were reported on Wednesday, taking the U.S. toll to 11.

Under the bill, over $3 billion would be devoted to research and development of coronavirus vaccines, test kits and therapeutics. No vaccines or treatments for the virus are currently in place, but patients can receive supportive care.

In a bid to also help control the spread of the virus outside the United States, $1.25 billion would be available for international efforts.

State and local governments would receive $950 million to support their work in combating the respiratory disease.


Many of today's bionic limbs are "myoelectric," controlled by electrodes attached to theresidual limb that pick up impulses generated when the wearer consciously contracts that muscle. Those systems aren't without their challenges though, such as a disruption in the signal when the wearer sweats or the prosthetic and sensors shift around on the skin. Now, University of Michigan bioengineer Paul Cederna and his colleagues have developed what may be a more durable approach: they implant the wearer with new "minimuscles," tiny muscle grafts from their own tissue that are monitored by electrodes inserted into the skin. From Science:





The researchers isolate bundles of fibers from each of the major nerves in the arm and wrap each bundle in a chunk of muscle tissue roughly the size of a paper clip, often harvested from the thigh. The process basically creates a new set of finger muscles inside a person's forearm or bicep.





Because wrapping nerves this way also relieves certain types of pain common after an amputation, hundreds of people have already had the procedurebut without the wire implants that could record from the muscles to control a prosthesis. In a new study out today in Science Translational Medicine, Cederna and UM neural engineer Cynthia Chestek describe the first test of that control step.





In three participants with amputations at different points along the arm who already had muscle implants, wires inserted through the skin near the muscle grafts could easily pick up their electrical signals, the researchers report. Even with an amputation up near the shoulder, a computer could interpret which tiny muscles were contracting, and by how much, to isolate different intended movementsa flex of the pointer finger versus the thumb, for example.
CallTower is growing at an unprecedented rate with Microsoft Teams Direct Routing and Cisco HCS. The addition of Nick and Charles to our team is instrumental in our continued dedication to our channel partner success plan.

CallTower, a global leader in delivering cloud-based enterprise-class unified communications and collaboration solutions, is proud to announce that Nick Amelang and Charles Phaneuf will support strategic growth initiatives in the Southwest and Northeast Regions.

With more than ten years of strategic, result-oriented Channel experience and a record of excellence in leading business-growth initiatives, Nick will deliver his expertise as CallTowers Channel Director for Texas. As an effective communicator and presenter with excellent interpersonal, analytical and negotiation skills, Nick will be a key to strategic growth plans in Texas. Nick has held key Channel roles at Nitel and Hypercore Networks.

"CallTower's vision and expansive growth in the unified communications and collaboration industry is truly remarkable," says Amelang. "I am thrilled to be joining an organization that delivers Cisco, Microsoft, and CT Cloud-hosted voice solutions, all tailored to meet the needs of today's competitive global environment. They are not only differentiated by their ability to deliver ground-breaking solutions; they have exceptional technical and customer support."

With several years of experience in field sales, business development, technology and marketing, Charles Phaneuf joins the CallTower team as the Channel Specialist Northeast. With his strategic and multi-faceted background, Charles will provide additional support in the Northeast region to boost growth.

I am very excited to join the CallTower team and contribute to a growth-oriented company that is truly unique in the Unified Communications marketplace, says Phaneuf.

"We are thrilled to welcome Nick and Charles to the CallTower Team," says CallTower's Chief Revenue Officer, William Rubio. "CallTower is growing at an unprecedented rate with Microsoft Teams Direct Routing and Cisco HCS. The addition of Nick and Charles to our team is instrumental in our continued dedication to our channel partner success plan."

About CallTower

CallTower exists to enable people to easily connect to transact business communications. Since its inception in 2002, CallTower has become a leading provider of cloud-based, enterprise-class Unified Communications solutions for growing organizations worldwide. CallTower provides, integrates and supports industry-leading, cloud-based, Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions, including Cisco HCS, Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, Native Skype for Business, CT Cloud, CT Cloud Boost, CT Cloud Meeting powered by Zoom, Zoom Video Communications and Office 365 for business customers.

CallTower enhances our clients strategic and operational capabilities by integrating VoIP service, mobile applications, email hosting, unified messaging, instant messaging, audio, web and video conferencing, collaboration tools, contact center, cloud services and global network solutions into one reliable platform.


Minister for Equality Marks International Womens Day at Secondary Schools

Minster for Equality, Samantha Sacramento MP has today addressed year 13 students from Westside and Bayside School and the Gibraltar College at Westside School, to mark International Womans Day.

The theme for this year was Generation Equality and the Minister stressed that while there have a been a lot of advances, 50 / 50 equality does not yet exist but set the students the challenge to achieve it in their generation.

The Minister was followed by students representing the three institutions, Jeremy Victor, Macarena Sanchez Yague and Carmen Anderson who each delivered their interpretation of what Womens Day means to them and their aspirations for equality.

In keeping with the theme of promoting girls in STEM chosen by the Ministry of Equality this year, Marlene Dalli, the Ministrys policy Development Officer and also an accredited My Skills My Life trainer with WISE, delivered a My Skills My Life STEM workshop where students carried out a digital exercise and were able to explore the digital platform which included local female role models. This has been the first time that this workshop has been delivered outside the UK. Certificates for the training were presented by the Minister.

Minster for Equality said This event at schools has become a tradition and is now firmly embedded in the schools calendar. Highlighting issues of equality at an early age is important as it provides a solid foundation for development, our youngsters, as the next generation, have to be encouraged to make a difference and aim to achieve to equality. As always, I wish to thank the schools for working together with the Ministry for Equality on this important subject.
The trial of a man accused of murdering his wife during a family boating holiday on Fermanaghs Lower Lough Erne has heard that her lifeless body could be clearly seen just feet from their hire cruiser.

Dungannon Crown Court has already heard that Lu Na McKinney (35) was pulled from the lough close to Devenish Island in the early hours of April 13, 2017.

Her husband Stephen (43), now with an address in Castletown Square, Fintona, Co Tyrone, denies her murder.

A police constable with 15 years experience with the RNLI told the trial that, when the police launch the Lady Grey drew close to the moored hire cruiser, he could clearly see a black object in the water.

He said the weather was good  a moonlight night, calm waters, no rain.

He said that he could see a male, which turned out to be Stephen McKinney, standing wrapped in a red blanket while on the phone, and although he shouted at him twice, asking where has she gone in? he believed he got no reply from him.

I saw a black object in the water close to the rear stern of the boat. It was... it wasnt very large. I would say about a foot, two feet in diameter, as I could see... from experience I believed I could tell it was a person

At that point it was very close, or the black object was very close to the stern of the boat, the constable added.

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Asked if McKinney said anything at that stage, the officer said it was his belief or recollection he told him, its her. The constable said his voice was very quiet, it certainly wasnt excitable.

He said the brow of the Lady Grey was too high to effect a rescue attempt, so after manoeuvring the launch around, he was able to get on the jetty and then jump down to the McKinney cruiser.

Telling the court he had asked McKinney to move back, he added he could clearly see what he took to be a body, but could not reach it by hand.

So using a boat hook from the police launch, he was able to grab on to the hood of the object, before being able to reach down and get hold of the body.

He added, that with the help of a crewman from the RNLI, they were able first to lift Mrs McKinney onto the cruiser diving platform, and then on to the jetty. The officer said he checked for vital signs, but found none and then began CPR.

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The officer said Mrs McKinney was then rushed by boat to the Trory jetty where an ambulance transferred her to hospital.

On his return to the cruiser he told McKinney of his wife being taken to hospital and suggested he go with her, but he refused several times, before agreeing.

Under cross-examination by defence QC Martin ORourke, the constable accepted that he could not be sure the black object was indeed a body in the water, until he had retrieved it. He also said that Mrs McKinney had been floating in an upright position in the water.

Later the driver of the police launch said he too saw a body in the water while standing on the west jetty at Devenish Island by the moored hire cruiser.

He said his colleague with the help of one of the crew of the lifeboat, managed to lift Mrs McKinney out of the water. Afterwards, he was able to help lift her body on to the jetty.

The officer said that Mr McKinney was "pacing about to and fro in the cabin, and kept asking  'wheres Lu Na'. He said he told him that she had been taken away by another boat.

He said when the police launch first arrived, he thought that McKinney had said shes here... or... shes there.

The constable went on to add that to him, Mr McKinney was very calm, and like his colleague he also noticed two rectangular water containers, both of which appeared partially empty.

In cross-examination he agreed in his statement, made a few days later, he said he believed Mr McKinney may have been in shock as he was pacing up and down the rear of the boat area, and that he kept asking wheres Lu Na?

In a further statement, made in July, he agreed that when he said body was face down in the water, this was speculation, as he only realised it was a body when it was taken out of the water.

The trial continues.
Two weeks ago, in the bowels of a Las Vegas casino, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont confronted the president of MSNBC, Phil Griffin, with a stern demand: Be fair to me.

Mr. Sanders, fresh off his victory in the New Hampshire primary, was fed up with what he considered unfair treatment by the cable network that is required viewing for many Democratic voters. He chided Mr. Griffin before abruptly ending their discussion, according to two people briefed on the exchange.

What a difference a Super Tuesday makes.

By Wednesday night, hours after Mr. Sanders suffered a string of defeats to his chief rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., MSNBC viewers were greeted with the sight of Mr. Sanders sitting for a live interview with the networks most influential host, Rachel Maddow, whose program the senator had avoided since July.

Good to see you, Rachel, Mr. Sanders said, grinning.

It was a striking turnaround by the senator, whose allies often hold up MSNBC as Exhibit A of the corporate media that Mr. Sanders likes to condemn. His campaign agreed to the Maddow interview after digesting Tuesdays results, prompting the anchor to rush to Burlington, Vt., in time for the 9 p.m. broadcast.
The government of Central African Republic has recruited about 1,000 police officers to beef up security in the war-stricken nation.

The new officers attended a ceremony of the presentation of their countrys flag upon graduating after a 45-day training, Africanews reported.

According to Bruno Ouayalo, Director of the National Gendarmerie School, the ceremony allows, these young people to be able to start the second phase of their training as a pupil gendarme, which is professional training.

The CAR has been rocked by violence since 2013 when a coalition of mainly Muslim armed groups known as the Seleka overthrew Bozize  a former armed forces chief who had seized power 10 years earlier -prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militia.

Nearly a quarter of the countrys 4.6 million people have fled their homes due to the violence.

After Bozize fled, Seleka leader Michel Djotodia proclaimed himself president. Fierce fighting erupted between predominantly Christian and Muslim armed groups, prompting intervention by France, the former colonial power, under a United Nations mandate.

A UN force, MINUSCA, was deployed and a presidential election was held, which ended with victory for former Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadera.

Despite reserves of diamonds, gold, uranium, copper and iron, Central African Republic remains one of the worlds poorest countries. The CAR is in the bottom ranks, with Niger, on the 2018 UNDPs Human Development Index, which compares longevity, education, and income per capita.
Incheon City Government officials organize boxes of masks donated by the Chinese city of Weihai in eastern Shandong Province, Wednesday/ Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan City



By Kim Se-jeong



Many Koreans are reacting cynically to a series of face mask donations from China, blaming the Moon Jae-in administration for allowing a situation to develop where the country now needs to receive help from the very place the coronavirus originated. Korea has been grappling with a mask shortage as the number of infections has soared over the past two weeks.



In early February, the government donated masks to China to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak, but Korea now needs masks more than China does.



"China thinks I would feel thankful? Quite the contrary! If the Korean government blocked the Chinese at the airport when the outbreak was still new, we would not need this help," a Naver user with the ID g3x3**** wrote. "Still, it's not too late. The government should consider shutting down the border against the Chinese."



Others raised an issue with the quality of the donated product.






Pakistan's Christian and Muslim leaders are calling for justice for the killers of Saleem and for stopping violence against Christians.

Vatican News

Outrage and condemnation are running high in Pakistans Christian communities following the brutal murder of a 22-year old young Christian in Kasur district, in Punjab Province.

Saleem Masih was attacked whilst taking a bath in a tube-well pool belonging to an influential local Muslim landlord. Accusing him of polluting the pool water, his killers tortured him brutally causing multiple fractures and internal and external injuries all over his body.

The murderers kept him for about three days before returning the body to his family. Taken to a hospital in Lahore Saleem succumbed to death on 28 February after three agonising days.

Several Christian and Muslim religious leaders met in Lahore on Wednesday to address the issue and plan their action, the Vaticans Fides news agency reported.

At the meeting, chaired by Anglican Bishop Azad Marshal Raiwind of the Church of Pakistan, were present, among others, Father Francis Nadeem OFM Cap, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism (NCIDE) of Pakistans Catholic Bishops Conference (PCBC), Pastor Emmanuel Khokhar and Islamic leader Muhammad Asim Makhdoom.

All present "expressed deep regret" over the episode, a sign of widespread intolerance towards Christians, and also over the inaction of the police to prevent the crime and releasing the perpetrators soon after.

It is the state's responsibility to provide security to all citizens of the country without any kind of discrimination. All citizens, of all religions, are equal, contribute to the development of their beloved nation and deserve equal rights, Fr Nadeem told Fides. We are a nation and live under a single Constitution and a single flag. The state must enforce these fundamental principles," he added.

Bishop Azad Marshal declared he will file a First Information Report against the criminals and will not step back until the perpetrators receive the appropriate punishment.

The assembly of religious leaders expressed While expressing pain and bitterness at the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, the assembly of religious leaders also recalled the sufferings of Muslims in India, inviting both countries to avoid discriminatory laws and behaviour and respect the "principle of citizenship".

The assembly decided to appeal to human rights organizations of the world to take immediate action to stop violence against Muslims in India and against religious minorities in Pakistan. It also planned to appeal to the government of Pakistan take practical measures to avoid this type of incident in the future and bring the perpetrators of Saleem Masihs murder to justice and actively promote interreligious harmony in Pakistan. (Source: Fides)
[March 05, 2020] Avast CISO Jaya Baloo to Speak at Nullcon

PRAGUE and GOA, India, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in consumer cybersecurity products, will be speaking at Nullcon Goa 2020, in India, in a talk titled "Become a CISO & live life in the fast lane." Baloo will share her experience of Avast's "Abiss" security incident, provide strategies to keep an organization secure, and present Avast's bug bounty program. She will take the stage on March 6, 2020 at 12:00PM local time. Baloo's first action as Avast's CISO was to instigate an extensive investigation into suspicious behavior her team identified within the Avast network, later naming the case "Abiss." First steps included collaborating with the Czech intelligence agency, Security Information Service (BIS), as well as with an external forensics team to provide additional tooling to assist the CISO team's efforts to analyze the detected behavior. In her talk, Baloo will share her experience of her first days and months at global cybersecurity company Avast, which itself prevents attacks on hundreds of millions of users. Baloo will also address the creation of a sustainable, long-term strategy to secure an organization whose mission is to secure others. This includes the enhancement of the organization's awareness of threats against it, counter measurements and responsibilities, identifying vulnerabilities, and increasing overall security capabilities. Baloo suports collaboration with the security research community. This helps to detect vulnerabilities quickly in the software an organization provides, which in turns aids the creation and provision of more secure products. As part of this collaboration, Baloo will introduce Avast's bug bounty program to the Nullcon audience.



Media:

Please contact us if you are interested in an interview with Jaya Baloo: [email protected] About Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer at Avast:

Jaya Baloo is Avast's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and joined Avast in October 2019. Previously, Ms. Baloo held the position of CISO at KPN, the largest telecommunications carrier in the Netherlands, where she established and lead its security team whose best practices in strategy and policy are today recognized as world leading. Prior to this, Ms. Baloo also held the position of Practice Lead Lawful Interception at Verizon, and worked at France Telecom as a Technical Security Specialist.

Ms. Baloo is formally recognized within the list of top 100 CISOs globally and ranks among the top 100 security influencers worldwide. In 2019, she was also selected as one of the fifty most inspiring women in the Netherlands by Inspiring Fifty, a non-profit aiming to raise diversity in technology by making female role models in technology more visible. Ms. Baloo has been working in the field of information security, with a focus on secure network architecture, for over 20 years and sits on the advisory boards of the NL's National Cyber Security Centre, PQCrypto and Flagship Strategic. She serves on the audit committee of TIIN capital, a cybersecurity fund, and is also a member of the IT Committee of Sociale Verzekeringsbank. Ms. Baloo is currently a member of EU Quantum having been a member of the EU High Level Steering Committee for the FET Quantum Flagship from 2016 - 2017. About Avast:

Avast (LSE: AVST) is a global leader in digital security products. With over 400 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SE Labs, and others. Visit: www.avast.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avast-ciso-jaya-baloo-to-speak-at-nullcon-301016677.html SOURCE Avast

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Mike Bloombergs 500 million US dollar investment in his now-abandoned White House campaign was not entirely wasted.

The media mogul did manage to get 175 votes to win the Democratic contest in a group of Pacific islands with lush vegetation and stunning coastlines some 7,200 miles from where he once served as New York Citys mayor.

Mr Bloombergs lone primary victory in American Samoa, population 55,000, was an unorthodox and inauspicious culmination to a much-hyped but short-lived Democratic presidential campaign marked by unprecedented spending designed to make a splash in Super Tuesday states.

He did at least cause a ripple with his win in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Mr Bloomberg on Tuesday won half of the 351 Democrats voting in the American Samoa caucus, picking up five delegates before he dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden.

The Mike Bloomberg campaign is shown in the village of Nuuuli, near Pago Pago, American Samoa (Fili Sagapolutele/AP)

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who was born in American Samoa, received one delegate.

Mr Bloombergs decisive win over the local-born Ms Gabbard was startling, but the Hawaii congresswoman had a late start campaigning in the territory compared with the billionaire.

Thanks for your support, American Samoa! Together, we'll defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America. pic.twitter.com/dFqeO69Ejn  Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) March 4, 2020

Mr Bloomberg installed seven full-time staff members in American Samoa in recent weeks, more than any other campaign, and bought up billboards and ads on television, online, in print and on the radio, including Samoan language ads.

He even picked up an endorsement on Monday from Samoan Chief Faalagiga Nina Tuaau-Glaude, who cited Mr Bloombergs work spending millions to fight climate change that the chief says will be devastating to the islands.

Story continues

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard (Mary Altaffer/AP)

Patrick Tia Reid, a local Bloomberg staffer, said the campaign set up voter events where they pitched his policy plans to locals and helped organise a rubbish clean-up at a local coastal park over the weekend.

Mr Bloomberg tweeted a photo of two people in campaign T-shirts doing the work.

Our incredible team in American Samoa, who calls themselves Protectors of the Earth, not only got out the vote but took time out of their day to clean up a park, Mr Bloomberg wrote on Tuesday, hours before getting disappointing results in other Super Tuesday contests.

Nathaniel Savali, a Democrat and staunch Bloomberg supporter, said he was most impressed by Mr Bloombergs decision to place staff on the island and make a serious effort to win support.

They were mindful of our sensitivities to cultural preservation and relayed back to the campaign headquarters the concerns of our people, Mr Savali said.

They also offered solutions with the promise that the US territories would not be forgotten under a Bloomberg presidency.

Tony Langkilde, who helped campaign for Ms Gabbard, said her campaign began in earnest there just three days before Super Tuesday.

I got a call from Tulsis father in Honolulu, Mr Langkilde said.

We actually started Friday to work on a local campaign.

Our incredible team in American Samoa, who calls themselves "Protectors of the Earth," not only got out the vote but took time out of their day to clean up a park. Together, we will elect a president who believes in climate change. Thank you all for all that you're doing. pic.twitter.com/xDZRtTVMgi  Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) March 3, 2020

Mr Langkilde said he met with Ms Gabbards brother, who lives in American Samoa, and began putting together print and radio ads in both English and Samoan.

They printed shirts, visors and launched a social media campaign that Mr Langkilde said garnered a lot of attention.

Ms Gabbard sent a video to rally her supporters.

During the caucus, there were supporters there coming in to support a local girl, but its just that we started late, Mr Langkilde said.

If we started campaigning much earlier, I think the response would have been much greater.

It is not the first time the islands have delivered a win to someone other than the candidate who boasted a cultural link to the Pacific.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton gained Democrats support in American Samoa over Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii and whose roots supporters played up.

The islands between Hawaii and New Zealand include a land area roughly the size of Washington, DC, where tuna fishing and processing is a major driver of the economy and most residents are bilingual, Christian and Pacific Islander.

The territorys residents are US nationals but not citizens, which leaves them unable to vote in presidential elections but allows them to participate in presidential primary contests run by political parties.

Though no White House hopeful made a campaign stop in the islands and its capital of Pago Pago, at least an 18-hour flight from Washington, DC, Joe Biden visited four years ago.

While serving as Mr Obamas vice president in 2016, Mr Biden made a brief stop in Pago Pago while his plane was refuelling as he headed from Hawaii to Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Biden was met by a local delegation led by the governor, shook hands and posed for photos.

The 90-minute visit does not seem to have helped his campaign much four years later.

He came fourth in the territorys caucuses on Tuesday.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-05 06:02:03

Offering unparalleled end-to-end lawful intelligence

SS8 to Present Todays Lawful Intelligence Challenges

Keith Bhatia, Chief Operational Officer

+1-408-944-0250

info@ss8.com

SS8 Networks, a leader in Lawful Intercept and Monitoring Center platforms, today announced it will be an exhibitor and speaker at ISS World Middle East to be held March 9-11, 2020 at the JW Marriott in Dubai, UAE.

2020 has been described as the pivotal year for 5G, as more and more telcos deploy the new technology on multiple environments. SS8 has gained significant knowledge regarding how 5G will impact Lawful Intelligence platforms as a result of their recent field deployments and customer trials. While at ISS World MEA, SS8 plans to share some of that knowledge with Law Enforcement, Public Safety, Government and Intelligence Agencies.

On Monday March 9, SS8 will present Real World Interpretation of 5G LI Requirements and Implications for Carriers and LEAs With 5G. A session designed to discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with processing 100 times more data per target and the new level of requirements needed for Lawful Intercept solutions.

Additionally, on Wednesday March 11, SS8 will Present Changing Needs for LEAs with 5G, Location and Encryption. 5G will change the way we secure location-based data, as the traditional identifiers such as IMSI and IMEI will be replaced, complicating the 4G and 5G interoperability. SS8 will discuss this and other changes needed for LI platforms to successfully perform in 5G networks.

We are excited to be at ISS again and appreciate the opportunity to discuss the technology requirements needed for Lawful Intelligence implementation for 5G environments, said Dr. Keith Bhatia, Chief Operating Officer. At SS8 it is our mission to provide the most advanced Lawful Intercept, Intelligence and Monitoring Center platforms today, to assure a safer tomorrow. The ISS event helps us attain that mission.

About SS8 Networks

For over 20 years, SS8 Networks has been the leading lawful intelligence company. SS8 offers fully compliant intercept and monitoring solutions to help customers quickly identify, track and investigate connected devices and subjects of interest. SS8 is trusted globally by six of the largest intelligence agencies, eight of the 14 largest communications providers and five of the largest systems integrators. Visit us at SS8.com, follow us on Twitter @SS8, or on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005
A man disinfects the shrine of Saint Masoumeh against coronavirus in the city of Qom 78 miles south of the capital Tehran, Iran on Feb. 24, 2020. (Ahmad Zohrabi/ISNA via AP)

Iran Men Who Licked Holy Shrine Face Prison, Lashes: Official

After videos that purport to show people licking holy shrines in the Iranian city of Qom amid a COVID-19 outbreak, an Iranian member of Parliament said they could face prison time or floggings.

The videos, which were posted to social media, showed men licking and kissing a shrine in Qom and one in Mashhad. The Qom man says in the video that Im not scared of coronavirus. The other man says that the disease can go inside my body and others can visit it with no anxiety.

Other videos showed men licking and kissing the shrines.

But now, two men were arrested and face between two months and two years in prison and as many as 74 lashes, said Parliament member Nasan Nowrozi.

Those doing such unconventional acts are publishing fake and superstitious news against the officials in the country, he said, according to the BBC. Such people would face two months to two years [in] jail and up to 74 lashes as punishment.

A woman has her temperature checked and her hands disinfected as she enters the Palladium Shopping Center, in northern Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2020. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

Iran is in the midst of an outbreak that has left dozens of people dead and thousands infected. Its prompted officials to implement drastic measures, including the temporary release of 54,000 prisoners, the BBC also reported.

Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, who also posted the videos on Twitter, told the broadcaster that arresting these two people is not enough as the religious centers are still open in Qom and other cities where people are suffering from coronavirus.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday again denied a U.S. offer to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Our people are well aware that you are lying; you are not telling the truth, he said, according to the state-run Tasnim News Agency.

Experts have suggested that Iran is covering up the countrys true COVID-19s situation. Once it came in the full force, there also, they had a lot of compulsion to restrict the information related to that because they still had two days for the election, Asif Shuja from the National University of Singapores Middle East Institute, told CNBC earlier this week. That is why one can safely assume that the information that is coming out of Iran is not entirely to be trusted, he added.

While the city of Qom is the epicentre of #CoronaVirus in Iran, authorities refuse to close down religious shrines there. These pro-regime people are licking the shrines & encouraging people to visit them. Irans authorities are endangering lives of Iranians & the world pic.twitter.com/s9o6zYhzNQ  Masih Alinejad  (@AlinejadMasih) February 29, 2020

Officials in China, where the virus first emerged, have also been accused of covering up the true extent of the virus. Citizen journalists and human rights activists have said the Chinese Community Party has censored information and engaged in other draconian measures during the outbreak, while also questioning the regimes official narrative on how it initially spread.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Saudi officials announced they would temporarily bar foreigners from traveling to Mecca and the Kaaba, the black, cube-shaped structure at the center of the Hajj pilgrimage.
SAN DIEGO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- North Island Credit Union is inviting all San Diego County teachers who have an innovative class project idea to apply for a credit union grant through its bi-annual Teacher Grant program.

The North Island Credit Union program is available to full-time classroom teachers in San Diego County who are looking to fund special classroom learning opportunities for their students. The project should have clearly defined learning objectives tied to students' academic needs, display creativity, and benefit a significant number of students. Ten credit union grants of $500 each will be awarded to San Diego and Riverside county teachers in late April in the spring program.

"North Island Credit Union's roots are in serving our communities, and we are honored to continue our tradition of support through our Teacher Grant program," said California Credit Union President/CEO Steve O'Connell. "We hope this program will help bring these teachers' visions for a special class project to life and inspire our students. We encourage any teacher who has an exciting project idea to apply for one of our grants."

Interested teachers can find more information and apply online at northisland.ccu.com/teachergrantprogram. The application deadline is April 10, 2020.

Since the creation of the program in 2012, the credit union has awarded $105,000 in teacher grants to benefit students across Southern California. The bi-annual program offers up to 20 grants in the spring and fall to teachers across San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. Schools benefiting from last year's program used the funds towards initiatives such as special education, robotics, biotechnology, environmental science, and the arts.

About North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union

California Credit Union is a federally insured, state chartered credit union founded in 1933 that serves public or private school employees, community members and businesses across California. With more than 165,000 members and assets of $3 billion, California Credit Union has 25 branches throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The credit union operates in San Diego County as North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union. California Credit Union offers a full suite of consumer, business and investment products and services, including comprehensive consumer checking and loan options, personalized financial planning, business banking, and leading-edge online and mobile banking. Please visit northisland.ccu.com for more information or follow the credit union on Instagram or Facebook @northislandcu.

SOURCE North Island Credit Union

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The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has prompted calls to end handshakes, and Wednesday's Late Show helpfully highlighted some safe greeting alternatives.

The coronavirus "is now officially in 85 countries and it has over 95,000 confirmed cases  and it's the reason even white people have switched to the fist bump," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. He discussed New York's efforts to keep the virus off the subways then turned to dinosaur DNA found in Colorado, urging scientists to go full Jurassic Park. "I know we've seen the movies, I know how it's gonna end," Noah said, but "if my options are dying from coronavirus or a velociraptor, I know what I'm choosing."

Disinfecting subway cars just means "that puddle of urine you sat in is no more than three days old," Stephen Colbert shrugged at The Late Show. "Today, Trump met with airline executives and told them he's been following the coronavirus safety guidelines, and he admits it's been hard," joking he hasn't touched his face "in weeks." Colbert laughed: "You haven't touched your face in years  your face has been quarantined behind a thick layer of bronzer."

Politicians and public health officials are urging people to do is not touch their face, but they themselves are really bad at it, The Daily Show demonstrated.

Full Frontal's Samantha Bee showed how hard it is to not touch your face, using NSFW language.

"I think people are a little unprepared for the level of disruption that we are likely heading into," MSNBC's Chris Hayes told Colbert. Colbert asked what he thinks about the Trump administration's response.

"I have been speaking to experts for the last few days," Hayes replied carefully. "The response thus far has been a failure and has been terrible." Nobody believes the CDC's numbers, and "there has been a complete failure to deploy accurate, wide-scale testing at scale that is necessary to get your arms around the scope of the epidemic," he said. Making things worse, "the political leadership has sent the message, to the bureaucracy and to the public, they want this to go away, they don't want it to be a big problem, they don't want the markets to tank, and they don't want it to hurt the economy," when other countries have proved denial is "the worst thing you can do." Watch below.

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Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on the administrations religious liberty assault on LGBT rights, highlighting the alleged ways in which the Trump administrations expansion of religious-liberty protections has undermined the rights of same-sex couples and transgender people. The Democratic majority on the committee  which includes representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley  called four witnesses to discuss the administrations religious-liberty efforts and the supposed discrimination enacted by zealots in the name of their faith.

One could not help but notice that the committee, convened in opposition to religious zealotry, included four elected representatives who believe, as a matter of faith, that a man can become a woman just by saying so.

Instead of wading into the legal minefield of anti-discrimination law and attendant religious exemptions  that would be complicated!  the hearing was an exercise in low-grade biblical exegesis. Noted abortion exponent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for instance, claimed to offer the perspective of a woman of faith as she bemoaned the fact that religious faith was being weaponized and mischaracterized by those whose faith lead them to oppose the redefinition of marriage, or the permanent mutilation of children with gender dysphoria. In America, she said, the only time religious freedom is invoked is in the name of bigotry and discrimination.

Ocasio-Cortez proceeded to compare religious objectors to same-sex marriage to antebellum defenders of chattel slavery, proving, albeit unintentionally, just how useful the perspective of a veritable woman of faith would have been to proceedings where believers were wantonly compared to slaveowners.

It is deeply disturbing, a solemn Ocasio-Cortez continued, that the administration is advancing . . . the idea that religion and faith is about exclusion. In the sense that Ocasio-Cortez is using the word, all religions and faiths are about exclusion they make creedal and dogmatic claims that exclude, of course, rival creeds and dogmas. (Ocasio-Cortez should, if she is unconvinced, ask the nearest imam about the fate of infidels in the world to come.) The hearing itself was an exercise in exclusion  its very purpose was to advocate for the exclusion of religious business owners and medical practitioners from the marketplace if they refuse to compromise their consciences.

Story continues

The proceeding grew more grating when the committee majority called on Episcopal minister named Stan J. Sloan to testify. In his written testimony, Sloan claimed that Religious Liberty laws are not about religion, and they are certainly not about liberty as our countrys founders understood it. One struggles to think of a single Founding Father whose conception of liberty would have included forcing a baker to service a same-sex wedding in violation of his religious conscience, but perhaps the reverend has access to a heretofore unknown version of The Federalist Papers.

Sloan continued, writing that many so-called Christians . . . justify their own comfortable lives and their discriminatory practice through their religious faith. The simple fact, made obvious by the hearing, is that refusing a service on conscience grounds is anything but comfortable. Likewise, Sloan presents no evidence to suggest that these so-called Christians  a rather judgmental thing to say, Reverend  are misapprehending the clear, resolute teachings of the New Testament on sex and gender. He offers no evidence, of course, because no such evidence exists. Instead, the reverend seems to assume that any doctrine or dogma that frustrates the prevailing ethic of modernity  Be Nice  is not Christianity at all, and is merely the result of bigoted peoples creating reasons to justify their discriminatory practice and augment their comfortable lives.

To be frank, I dont think comfort is what Jack Phillips was after.

Sloan never directly defends the premise of his argument  that the Bible has nothing to say on matters of sex and gender that would frustrate modern libertines  because, of course, he cant. Instead, he relies on the calumnious insinuation that Christian surgeons who abstain from performing gender-reassignment surgery are in moral league with slaveowners. He writes:

The abuse of Christian Scripture and principles to justify prejudice is nothing new. The Book of Philemon was used by Christians to justify slavery during the Civil War and, again, to justify racial discrimination in the 1960s. It is my belief that those supporting so called Religious Liberty have chosen religion as the battleground for a parallel war of discrimination today. . . . any objective reading of Christian Scripture shows Christ himself as a man shunning zealots and embracing the marginalized as he focuses on justice and love.

It should go without saying that the fact that sharecroppers and segregationists once distorted a passage in a Pauline epistle does not imply that those whom the reverend deems so-called Christians are misinterpreting the clear teachings of the biblical canon on matters of sex and gender. Also  which Christian Scripture does the reverend have in mind that condones forcing religious surgeons to mutilate confused children under threat of litigation?

(Not to be a zealot.)

More from National Review
A former police officer who once shot two people dead in the line of duty has been charged with fatally shooting a next-door neighbor whom he had argued with for years over dog poop that was left outside.

NASA executive Michael Hetle, 52, of Springfield, Maryland, was arrested for the murder of 24-year-old Javon Prather on Tuesday.

Prather died after authorities found him shot on the 7700 block of Bedstraw Court around 4:50pm, authorities said.

Javon Prather, 24, who was fatally shot on Tuesday, had been a supermarket worker and a member of the Maryland National Guard. NASA executive Michael Hetle who also was a police officer, was charged in Washington State with fatally shooting Prather

Prather died after being found shot on 7700 block of Bedstraw Court around 4:50pm, authorities said. Investigators are pictured at the crime scene moments after the fatal shooting

Both men reside on Bedstraw Court, reports the Washington Post. Officers who arrived on the scene and treated Prather were unable to save him.

Hetle was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder, the Post reports.

The career civil service man is the executive officer to the associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, according to the space agency.

In addition, he conducts outreach for the directorate and 'interaction activities with all NASA field centers, industry, associations, academia and other government agencies.'

Hetle also had been an officer on the Bellevue Police Department, until his resignation in 2003, and had been involved in two fatal in-the-line-of-duty shootings.

In 2001, he shot dead an unarmed Latino man during a domestic violence call, and in 2000 he shot and killed an armed bank robbery suspect, the Post reported

Hetle was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in both cases, but the family of the unarmed Latino man filed a civil suit against him and the city. The family later settled the suit for $75,000.

NASA declined to comment on whether the agency was aware of Hetle's tenure with the Bellevue police, reports the Post.

Images (pictured) were posted on Twitter in memory of Prather, a supermarket worker who also was a National Guardsmen

Prather's mother says Hetle and her son had argued for years, citing the fights were over dog poop left outside, reports NBC4.

'He's been giving my son and his wife problems for a very long time,' Shavon Prather told NBC4.

Her son, a supermarket worker, had been a member of the Maryland National Guard.

His death was mourned by other service members, as well as Maryland Gov. Lary Hogan.
Staff at one of Sydney's top corporate law firms were evacuated over fears a chef in the building may have been exposed to coronavirus.

Clayton Utz staff and visiting clients were advised to leave the city building near Circular Quay and work from home on Thursday.

The office was cleared shortly after midday after it was learned a chef who worked in the building is married to the granddaughter of a 95-year-old woman who died of coronavirus on Tuesday in a Macquarie Park nursing home in Sydney's north.

Staff at one of Sydney's top corporate law firms were evacuated over fears a chef in the building may have been exposed to coronavirus . Clayton Utz staff and visiting clients were advised to leave the city building near Circular Quay and work from home on Thursday

The Bligh Street office, with a view of Sydney Harbour, is the workplace for 600 staff but it is not known how many of them were at the building this afternoon.

A Clayton Utz employee told Daily Mail Australia 'there was a slight evacuation'.

Robert Cutler, the chief executive partner of Clayton Utz, sent staff an email on Thursday advising them to work from home until coronavirus test results were known.

'It's unfortunate that we need to bring to your attention a potential COVID-19 virus risk,' he told staff in correspondence obtained by Daily Mail Australia.

'An employee  who has not been in the office today  may have been exposed to COVID-19 through a family member.'

Mr Cutler also told staff more test results would be needed to confirm the chef and his wife didn't have coronavirus.

The Clayton Utz office was cleared shortly after midday after it was learned a chef in the building is married to the granddaughter of the 95-year-old woman who died in a Macquarie Park nursing home in Sydney's north. Pictured is Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park

'That family member has been tested but the results are not yet known and won't be known until tonight at the earliest,' he said.

Clayton Utz's email to staff on coronavirus It's unfortunate that we need to bring to your attention a potential COVID-19 virus risk. An employee  who has not been in the office today  may have been exposed to COVID-19 through a family member. That family member has been tested but the results are not yet known and won't be known until tonight at the earliest. If the family member's test is negative, there will have been no exposure. If it is positive, further testing of the employee will be required. We'll communicate with you via email as soon as we have further details this evening. Due to the uncertainty and out of an abundance of caution we've made the decision to cancel the remainder of today and all sessions tomorrow. Your safety and well-being is of the utmost importance to us. We know many of you will still need to accrue your points and we'll be in contact with further information. We apologise sincerely for both the inconvenience and the concern that this announcement will cause. Regards Robert Cutler, Chief Executive Partner, Clayton Utz Advertisement

'If the family member's test is negative, there will have been no exposure.

'If it is positive, further testing of the employee will be required.'

The corporate law firm cancelled client events with the CEO planned for today and tomorrow.

'Due to the uncertainty and out of an abundance of caution we've made the decision to cancel the remainder of today and all sessions tomorrow,' Mr Cutler said.

'Your safety and well-being is of the utmost importance to us.'

A Clayton Utz spokeswoman confirmed a Sydney employee had notified his employer 'overnight that he may indirectly have been exposed to the virus'.

'He immediately self-isolated and we have taken a range of precautionary measures including asking our Sydney employees to work from home, and suspending an on-site client event,' she said.

'We will be updating our employees and clients once we know more this evening.

'Their health and safety is our priority which is why we've been pro-active in managing any potential risk.'

New South Wales Health confirmed on Wednesday night a 95-year-old woman died at a Sydney hospital after contracting coronavirus at BaptistCare's Dorothy Henderson Lodge Aged Care Centre at Macquarie Park, in the city's north.

Her death occurred on Tuesday - just two days after retired Perth travel agent James Kwan, 78, became the first Australian to die of coronavirus.

A 50-year-old woman who had been caring for the elderly victim at the Macquarie Park nursing home was infected last week, while two other residents were diagnosed and 11 others placed in isolation on Wednesday.
A group of scientists are warning that weather extremes in the future and growing demand could lead to a drop in power supplied from renewable energy.

In a new study, researchers considered how 13 extreme weather models would affect cities in Sweden. Their findings were recently published in Nature Energy.

Many scientists have partly blamed human activities for rising world temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events.

The worlds power systems are expected to face pressure as more of the worlds population chooses to live in cities, the study predicts. The United Nations has estimated that 68 percent of people will live in cities by 2050. That compares to about 55 percent who live in cities currently.

One of the biggest expected pressures to face power systems will be an increase in the use of air conditioning systems because of rising temperatures.

The research team created a series of climate models to predict how electricity demand was likely to rise and fall in 30 Swedish cities during severe weather events. The models showed "significant" breaks in system performance and a high risk of power blackouts.

Dasun Perera is with the Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology in Switzerland. He was a lead writer of the study. Perera said in a statement, We observed that current energy systems are designed in a way that makes them highly susceptible to extreme weather events such as storms and heat waves.

The researchers found that extreme weather will make it difficult to balance the demand for power with production. This will make it difficult to match the energy demand and renewable power generation, Perera said. Dealing with the effects of climate change is going to prove harder than we previously thought.

Perera told the French Press Agency AFP that extreme weather events could reduce the reliability of power supplies by up to 16 percent. This, he said, could easily lead to blackouts resulting in huge economic losses."

Perera said that energy experts do not consider the effects of extreme climate events when planning and designing energy systems.

In a separate article published in Nature Energy, U.S. and European researchers noted that traditional energy models often fail to consider extreme weather.

The researchers called on world governments to consider the short-term risks of extreme heat and cold when planning and building energy systems. They said the creation of such systems would require new thinking, new experiments, and, quite possibly, new combinations of tools.

The researchers added: "This is a tall order to be sure, but there is no risk in trying."

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Agence France-Presse, Nature Energy and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

renewable  adj. any naturally occurring kind of energy, such sunlight or wind

significant  adj. important or noticable

susceptible  adj. easily influenced or harmed by something

match  v. to be the same as

reliability  n. ability to be trusted or believed

order  n. a request for a wish to be fulfilled
Prosecution demands $4.5k fine for man accused of threats against Moscow judge

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

10:53 05/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 5 (RAPSI)  Prosecutors have asked Moscows Meshchansky District Court to fine a resident of town of Voronezh Mikhail Kvasov, who stands charged with murder threats to Moscow judge Stanislav Minin, 300,000 rubles ($4,500), according to a RAPSI correspondent.

On Wednesday, Kvasov confirmed his denial of guilt in court.

According to investigators, Kvasov has threatened to murder the judge of Moscows Tverskoy District Court Stanislav Minin.

During the pre-trial investigation, the defendant also did not admit guilt saying he had published the incriminating statement in support of rallies and did not imply to threaten the judge.




South Africa: SA on course to overhaul GBV shelters

South Africa has set on a path to improve the way shelters for survivors of violence are being run.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu says her department has started implementing the recommendations made in the report titled State of Shelters in South Africa.

The systemic investigative report, which was conducted and released by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) in 2019, revealed a number of weaknesses, including lack of funding for shelters and poor implementation of policies that are meant to guide operations at shelters.

Further, the report showed that there was no standardised approach to accommodate and assist survivors of GBV from the LGBTIQA+ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual and other diverse sexual orientations and gender identities] community. This often leads to discrimination and unfair treatment.

The report recommended that Social Development takes action to rectify these systemic weakness by, among others, finalising the policy aimed at ensuring fair treatment of victims from the LGBTIQA+, and setting a clearly communicated complaints process for survivors to report any discrimination on the part of a shelter.

It also recommended that the department, in consultation with key stakeholders, must set the educational requirements and core skills needed for workers at the shelters.

Zulu said R50 million has been allocated from the criminal asset recovery account to support shelters.

Its one thing to have shelters, its another to have shelters that are not really giving the necessary support. This means that people in those shelters need to be properly trained and the shelters must really respond.

Cabinet has also approved the publication of the Victim Support Services Bill for public comment. The bill will go a long way in addressing some of the problematic areas identified by the CGE, Zulu said.

The bill provides a framework to guide and inform the provision of integrated and multi-disciplinary services aimed at addressing the needs of victims of crime and violence.

It also serves as a guide for the effective management and regulation of services within the victim empowerment sector, and is a basis for the development of the victim empowerment legislation in South Africa.

The bill describes the target groups as women, children, older persons, people with disabilities, farm workers and dwellers, LGBTQI+, men and boys as victims, foreign nationals, people with albinism, and other victims of crime and violence.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille has also handed over six additional properties in the Western Cape and two in Gauteng to be used as safe havens for women and children, who are victims of abuse.

The facilities, which have been handed over to Social Development, will go a long way to help the department to better coordinate and strengthen the ongoing national efforts to respond effectively to gender-based violence and femicide.

The services to be rendered at the centres will include psychosocial support, healthcare and legal services, among others. The centres will be open and accessible 24 hours, seven days a week.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The greenhouse gas cap-and-trade bill that Oregon Republicans fled the Capitol in order to kill is on track to die Thursday unless the missing lawmakers return.

Republicans in the state Senate have shut down business for more than a week, denying Democrats the two-thirds quorum they need to vote on the climate change bill and other legislation.

Although the 35-day legislative session does not end until midnight Sunday, Senate Bill 1530 still needs to clear several procedural steps and a floor vote in each chamber in order to pass.

Lawmakers can speed up bill passage by suspending procedural rules, as they did after Senate Republicans returned from their second 2019 walkout last June. But Democrats said Wednesday they would only do so for all bills still in play  not just the budgets and other legislation Republicans might want to return and pass.

As a result, Thursday also likely spells the end of the line really for everything at this point, Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland and a longtime proponent of cap-and-trade, said on Wednesday.

Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, concurred. The Democrats are pretty strong about if theres a rules suspension its universal, Hass said on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Senate Republicans could not immediately be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon.

House Republicans have also been boycotting the Capitol for more than a week, even though it was unclear how quickly cap-and-trade would move to the lower chamber if enough Senate Republicans returned to allow it to pass. Senate President Peter Courtney D-Salem, has said his caucus has enough votes to pass Senate Bill 1530.

One Republican in each chamber has continued to attend all floor sessions, Rep. Cheri Helt and Sen. Tim Knopp, both of Bend.

Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, has said she would consider calling lawmakers back to Salem for a special session if the regular short session ends with most Republicans still absent. It remains unclear when that would be or what bills Brown might ask them to consider.

Lawmakers typically adjourn by passing a resolution ending the session sine die, Latin for without day.

Without at least two Republicans necessary to reach a quorum in each chamber, legislators face the highly unusual prospect that this years session will simply expire on its own.

Obviously, we cant pass the sine resolution without a quorum, Dembrow said.

 Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 02:54:44|Editor: zyl

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Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum (R) shakes hands with his Spanish counterpart Arancha Gonzalez Laya during their meeting in Algiers, Algeria, March 4, 2020. Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum on Wednesday denied the reports alleging that it has disputes with Spain over maritime borders. (Xinhua)

ALGIERS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum on Wednesday denied the reports alleging that it has disputes with Spain over maritime borders.

"The reports that alleged the two Mediterranean nations have had problems over maritime frontiers and islands are mere lies," Boukadoum said at a press conference with visiting Spanish counterpart Arancha Gonzalez Laya.

"Algeria is a peaceful country and does not have aggressive policy against anyone in the world, especially with neighboring countries, including Spain, an important and strategic neighbor," he added.

Speaking of Algeria's decision to demarcate its maritime borders two years ago, the Algerian top diplomat indicated that the 2018 presidential decree urged solving all maritime border problems with all countries through negotiations.

For her part, Laya said that Algeria and Spain "have no maritime border problems and both agreed 100 percent on this issue."

"The two countries have the right to define their maritime borders in accordance with the UN rules," the top Spanish diplomat said.

She added that the two countries have agreed on launching negotiation in the event of maritime zone overlap, and refraining from taking unilateral steps.
Amid the growing fears of the rapidly spreading coronavirus, Google Trends has shown that the number of searches for 'homemade hand sanitizers' have actually skyrocketed in the last few weeks. As the world tries to deal with and figure out the best way to protect themselves from the coronavirus, hand sanitizers have been flying off the shelves, forcing people to search alternate ways.

Alaska with most searches in the US

According to Google Trends, Alaska has the most number of searches in the US, closely followed by Vermont and Rhode Island. In the United Kingdom, Wales has the highest number of searches for homemade sanitizers followed closely by Northern Ireland and then England.

Read: Coronavirus Scare: Chemist Shops In Delhi Witness Surge In Demand For Masks, Sanitisers

Read: Coronavirus: CBSE To Allow Students To Carry Masks, Hand Sanitiser During Board Exams

According to reports, the sales of sanitizers have risen by 255 per cent in the UK alone which has prompted people to search about how to make sanitisers as they are not available in stores. But homemade sanitizers are not the answer for battling against coronavirus because as per reports, homemade sanitizer doesn't work and may even damage skin.



Washing hands with soap is more effective

While panic has gripped people across the globe leading to a scarcity of toilet paper and hand sanitizers, experts reportedly said washing hands with soap and water is more effective against coronavirus than hand sanitizers.

Read: Health: All You Need To Know About Hand Sanitisers And Their Application

Read: 5 Persons With Travel History To Coronavirus-hit Countries Kept In Isolation In Srinagar Hospital

But I will say this FACT: alcohol based hand sanitizer is absolutely effective in stopping the spread of disease when you don't have access to a sink. And washing your hands is the better option when it's available.  Erin Biba says WASH YOUR HANDS (@erinbiba) March 3, 2020

Not only should you wash you hands but wash your phone, your remote control, your sink handles and all your doorknobs. Theyre all germy and just nasty if you dont. Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open public bathroom doors after hand washing too.  Southern Artist and Democrat  (@sherrilee7) March 3, 2020




He is one of the four ministers who maintained at their posts

Denys Malyuska remains as a Justice Minister in the government of newly appointed Denys Shmygal. Here is some information about him:

Biography of Denys Malyuska

Denys Malyuska was born on November 19, 1981. He studied at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, graduating with a degree in Law. He also graduated from the University of London.

He worked as a lawyer, specializing in business regulation, dispute resolution and bankruptcy.

In 2010, Malyuska was appointed a private banking advisor to the World Bank Group. In this position, he provided technical support to the governments of Ukraine and the countries of Central Asia.

He was later elected Deputy Chairman of the Board of BRDO/ World Bank Group, an independent non-governmental think tank created by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and Western Partners: World Bank and the Government of Canada.

Denys Malyuska was elected MP during the previous parliamentary elections. He represents the 'Servant of the People' political party.

As we reported earlier, yesterday, on March 4, newly-appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal and members of his government took the oath.

The PM read out the text of the oath at the Verkhovna Rada after the support of the new composition of the Cabinet of Ministers by the majority of votes as 112 Ukraine informed.
Manama

Following an order by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, to distribute 5,000 housing units, in line with the royal directives, Housing Minister, Bassim Al Hamer, has announced that the Ministry has begun distributing the units of the first phase of the Al Ramli District housing project.

The minister asserted that the distribution of the Al Ramli projects units follows the opening of the Salman, Khalifa and East Hidd towns and the beneficiaries moving to live there, noting that those steps add to the governments achievements aimed at implementing His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifas order to build 40,000 housing units.

Mr Al Hamer stressed that the new towns are essential in the Housing Ministrys plan to implement the royal order to build 40,000 housing units nationwide, as well as those included in governments housing pledges in its current Action Plan, adding that the ministrys initiatives implemented in partnership with the private sector are endorsed by the government and contribute to honouring the pledges to provide 25,000 units.

The minister pointed out that the distribution of the units of the first phase of the Al Ramli District comes after the opening of the project by Deputy Premier and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Development and Infrastructure Projects, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, during the kingdoms celebrations of the glorious National Day, and the completion of the necessary infrastructure works. He affirmed that the Housing Ministry will carry on its efforts to implement HM the Kings order and the governments directives through more projects in Bahrains new towns, in addition to its endeavours to begin the construction of the East Sitra Projects units.

The Housing Services Directorate has requested the beneficiaries of the Al Ramli District project to report to the Ministry of Housing to finalise the necessary procedures.
airlines' grouping on Thursday said Air India's disinvestment process might be "quite difficult at this moment" amid the outbreak, which will hit the global market for Indian carriers as well as inbound tourist traffic into the country.

The outbreak, which has infected over 95,000 people and resulted in more than 3,200 deaths worlwide, is taking a toll on the global airline industry, especially due to travel restrictions.

Against this backdrop, Chief Economist Brian Pearce said, "I think it is going to be very difficult times for the (Indian) airlines".

"Clearly, the market for Indian carriers is going to be a lot weaker and inbound tourist traffic is going to be hit very hard by the effect of the crisis," he told PTI here.

According to him, there could be further consolidation of Indian airlines in the wake of the situation created by the outbreak.

"Privatisation of is a necessary step for the long-term for the Indian market," he said.

The Indian government plans to sell 100 per cent stake in loss-making and has issued an Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for the carrier's disinvestment.

Pearce said that Indian should see consolidation to sort out the privatisation but pointed out that equity markets are already quite weak at the moment. The industry is being hit by the shock of the coronavirus, he added.

"That makes it quite difficult at this moment," Pearce said in response to a question regarding Air India disinvestment.

On January 27, the government came out with a Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for Air India disinvestment. It has proposed selling 100 per cent stake in Air India along with budget airline Air India Express and the national carrier's 50 per cent stake in AISATS, an equal joint venture with Singapore Airlines.

This is the second attempt by the government in as many years to divest Air India, which has been in the red for long.

On Wednesday, the government permitted Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to own up to 100 per cent stake in disinvestment-bound Air India.

The Air Transport Association (IATA), on Thursday, projected that the airline industry could lose up to USD 113 billion in revenue this year due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The grouping's previous analysis, issued in February, put the lost revenues at $29.3 billion. This was based on a scenario that would see the impact of COVID-19 largely being confined to markets associated with China.

Since then, the coronavirus has spread to over 80 countries and forward bookings have been severely impacted on routes beyond China, said.

Speaking after a two-day workshop on COVID-19 here, Pearce said "limited spread" scenario implies a $63 billion loss of passenger revenue worldwide in 2020.

The "extensive spread" scenario implies a $113 billion loss of passenger revenue worldwide in 2020. The scenarios were based on markets with over 100 cases as of March 2, 2020.
Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court gave the green light Thursday for prosecutors to open an investigation targeting the Taliban, Afghan forces and US military and intelligence personnel for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The global court upheld an appeal by prosecutors against a pretrial chamber's rejection in April last year of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's request to open a probe in Afghanistan.

Pretrial judges last year acknowledged that widespread crimes have been committed in Afghanistan, but rejected the investigation saying it wouldn't be in the interests of justice because the likely lack of cooperation meant convictions would ultimately be unlikely.

That decision drew fierce criticism from human rights organizations who said it neglected the desire of victims to see justice in Afghanistan and effectively rewarded states that refused to cooperate with the Hague-based court.

Even though an investigation has now been authorized, it remains to be seen if any suspects eventually indicted by prosecutors will appear in court in The Hague both Afghanistan and the United States have strongly opposed the investigation and the U.S. government refuses to cooperate with the global court.

At a hearing in December, prosecutors argued that pretrial judges at the global court overstepped their powers in April last year when they refused to authorize an investigation. The appeals judges agreed.

The Appeals Chamber considers it appropriate to amend the appealed decision to the effect that the prosecutor is authorized to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, as well as other alleged crimes that have a nexus to the armed conflict in Afghanistan, Presiding Judge Piotr Hofmanski said.

After a preliminary probe in Afghanistan that lasted more than a decade, Bensouda asked judges in November 2017 to authorize a far-reaching investigation.

She said there is information that members of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence against conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan and other locations, principally in the 2003-2004 period.

She also said the Taliban and other insurgent groups have killed more than 17,000 Afghan civilians since 2009, including some 7,000 targeted killings, and that Afghan security forces are suspected of torturing prisoners at government detention centers.

Thursday's ruling comes days after an ambitious peace deal was signed by the US and the Taliban.

At a December hearing, the government of Afghanistan said it objected to the investigation and has set up a special unit to investigate war crimes. The ICC is a court of last resort that only takes on cases if domestic jurisdictions are unable or unwilling to prosecute.

There was no official U.S. delegation at December's appeal hearing, but President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, appeared on behalf of the European branch of the American Center for Law and Justice and told judges that the U.S. position wouldn't change.

He told appeals judges that it is not in the interests of justice to waste the court's resources while ignoring the reality of principled non-cooperation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Colors of Morocco was the name of the recent trip that immersed our tour group for 10 days in the northwest African country's deep history, varied geography, exotic sights and welcoming people.

I signed up for the trip with Plaza Travel in Latham and joined 18 other local people in early December as we visited Casablanca, Fez, the Sahara Desert and Marrakesh.

We visited the oldest university in the world, drove through the mighty Atlas Mountains, spent two nights in luxury tents in the Sahara Desert, visited a UNESCO World Heritage site, had fun at the bazaars in Marrakesh, marveled at the gorgeous tilework everywhere and enjoyed the delicious local foods.

Jean Gagnon, our travel group leader, was most personable and efficient and handled any situation. While in Morocco, we had a local guide throughout, who was invaluable due to his Arabic language skills and knowledge of local customs.

In Fez, we stayed at Riad El Yacout, a 16th-century traditional home  to me, it was a mansion  restored to provide luxury accommodation for tourists. It had spacious rooms, exquisite tilework and a most hospitable staff. It also had a swimming pool located in the riad, a totally indoors space with no roof above it, leading me to wonder if it had been added later. The living room had a fountain in the center and rose petals sprinkled on it, making the whole room fragrant. Since this was a central area  one we traveled between to get to our rooms, and one next to the dining room  we thoroughly enjoyed this perk.

We visited the oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world: the University of Karueein. It was founded by a woman, Fatima al-Fihri, in 859 in Fez. By comparison, the University of Oxford was founded in 1096 and Harvard University in 1636. It became one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the Muslim world. It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963, and women were first admitted into the university in the 1940s. The building has been expanded and embellished over the years and features rooms and courtyards with amazing woodwork, carvings, tilework and calligraphy.

We also visited a tannery and saw giant, deep vats containing dyes and liquids spread out like trays of watercolors. At closer look, we saw men were tending to the hides soaked in the vats. The tanneries process the hides of cows, sheep, goats and camels and turn them into high quality, unique leather goods including jackets, bags, shoes and slippers.

Would you believe the hides are soaked in a secret ingredient  pigeon poop! It contains ammonia that acts as softening agent to help the hides absorb the dye. The store we visited guaranteed it would custom make jackets for customers and deliver them to our hotel in six hours. A number of women in our group bought jackets, which were stylish and unique (and expensive).

We arrived at the luxury tents in Sahara Desert by Toyota RAV-4s around sunset. How those drivers found the campsite with no roads and no signs is beyond me. Oriental carpets laid out in a path to our tents welcomed us. Each tent had a bedroom and dressing room with stalls of flushing toilets and warm showers. The ceiling light was minimal (to me it was like having night lights), the nightstand light was good enough to read by. There was no heat in the tents and the desert temperatures dipped to below freezing at night but once we got under the bedcovers, we were cozy and comfortable. The dining tents had space heaters and I tried to get a seat near one each time. The food was brought in and the staff heated it and served it to us. How delicious the vegetable soup, warm beef and prune tagines and cinnamon rice tasted.

The next morning our vehicles took us to visit a farm, a music institute and a nomad family. We could see sand for miles and miles. The winds rippled the sand and created beautiful, artistic patterns.

In the evening, we went for a camel ride. Groups of four or five camels tethered together were waiting for us. The camel driver/leader helped us get on and led the camels in a gentle walk of about 40 minutes into the sunset and then back to our waiting cars. What an unforgettable experience.

In Marrakesh, as in many parts of the country, Jews and Muslims lived in harmony for centuries. Our guide told us they lived peacefully on the same street, did business together and intermarried. Most of Morocco's Jews left for Israel in the 1950s. Many reminders of their presence remain, including Star of David patterns on houses.

Another highlight was attending a cooking class at Amal Women's Training Center in Marrakesh. The center trains women and places them in businesses. We began by washing our hands in a beautiful trough sink with stunning tilework. We broke up into groups of four, each group cooking a different tagine: chicken, beef, lamb, fish, vegetarian. Each group had spices, vegetables and meat lined up on the table. Our chef showed us how to slice, chop and layer them in the beautiful tagine pots with their conical lids and we put each on individual little stoves. The chef served us mint tea while we waited for our lunch to cook. Fresh bread and a ginger-mint drink complemented our meal.

Food was delicious throughout  fresh baked breads at every meal, soup, appetizers, couscous, tagines. The meats are combined with prunes or apricots and the flavors blend great together. Influenced by French and Spanish cuisine, the breads are amazing. The croissants were usually about 2 inches square and had a bit of chocolate in one corner. Meals started with "salads" that we would call appetizers: olives, lentils, beets, carrots, zucchini and beans, along with bread. The hotels had elaborate buffets. We enjoyed fusion food one night at an Australian lady's place in the Marrakesh market. And Moroccan mint tea at every available occasion.

Our bus traveled through the mighty Atlas Mountains showing us snow, vegetation, rock formations, flocks of sheep, even a rainbow and villages of Amazigh people  often refered to as Berber, a term rejected for its negative connotations because its root is "barbarian."

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Oh, and the colors! From textiles to architecture to food, everywhere we turned we was vivid colors, an explosion of rainbows. Shades of turquoise and indigo pop up everywhere and are a welcome sight amid the browns and greens.

Our group also visited:

More Information If you go Royal Air Maroc flies from JFK to Casablanca in 6 hours Arabic is the main language but French is an official language and is used both in signage and spoken by many. In most restaurants and hotels, the staff spoke French and English. Our local guide spoke all three languages We visited: Casablanca, Fez, Sahara Desert and Marrakesh Cuisine: Baked goods, tagines, couscous and the mint tea stood out Most memorable: Accommodations in Fez, the Sahara experience, the mosque in Casablanca, a cooking class See More Collapse

The King Hassan Mosque in Casablanca, the third-largest mosque in the world, with its amazing architecture, minarets and tilework.

An argan oil women's co-op, where the women turned argan into soap, lotion, massage and cooking oils and nut butter.

A spice store where the knowledgeable merchants shared information about the benefits of seasonings like saffron.

The Jardin Majorelle with its giant cacti, fountains, indigo trim and a memorial to the legendary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

My roommate and I walked to the Hotel La Mamounia for afternoon mint tea and goodies. The hotel was named the Best Hotel in the World at the 2018 Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards.

Truly it was an enchanting trip.
WASHINGTON  The judge overseeing the congressional lawsuit seeking President Trumps tax returns said he would be interested in moving the case forward if House Democrats conceded one argument that is expected to be the subject of further appeals.

At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden suggested Democrats focus their case on the argument that they are entitled to the presidents returns under the tax code and abandon a claim based on subpoena powers that were called into question by a federal appeals courts dismissal last week of another congressional suit seeking the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn.

McFadden said he was not interested in deciding the two arguments piecemeal, noting that House Democrats have already said they will appeal the McGahn ruling to the full appeals court. The 2-1 majority in the McGahn case said the judiciary lacked the jurisdiction to decide a dispute between the executive and legislative branches.

We have a moving ball over there on McGahn, said McFadden, who was appointed by Trump in 2017. The judge asked both Democrats and the White House to agree by March 12 on how the case should move forward.

Further appeals in the McGahn case could drag on for months, and a lawyer for House Democrats told McFadden the case should be expedited.

This is a pressing investigation, the lawyer, Josephine Morse, said. The clock is running out on this Congress.

But she also suggested Democrats were unwilling to concede one of their arguments. They claim they are entitled to the presidents returns both under Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, which says the chairmen of the congressional tax committees can access any taxpayers filings, and their subpoena power.

David Michael Morrell, a lawyer at the Department of Justice representing the Trump administration, said the tax-return case should be halted until the McGahn appeals are exhausted.

For months, the House Ways and Means Committee has been locked in a battle with the Trump administration for the presidents personal and business tax returns, which Trump, in breaking with presidential precedent, has refused to release.

Laura Davison is a Bloomberg News writer.
British regional airline Flybe collapsed on Thursday after a plunge in travel demand, making the struggling carrier the industry's first big casualty of the coronavirus outbreak.

The failure of an airline that connects all corners of the United Kingdom with major European destinations not only puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but could also see some airports struggle and business travel restricted.

"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," Flybe said after the government walked away from a rescue package agreed in January.

Flybe's collapse also causes a problem for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had promised to "level up" Britain by investing in regional transport links.

The operator, described as the largest independent regional airline in Europe, carried around 8 million passengers a year between 81 airports and was owned by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

It becomes the first major airline to go out of business since the emergence of coronavirus, which surfaced in China last year and has since claimed around 3,000 lives. Airlines are racing to cut costs by cancelling flights to weather a downturn that has worsened since late February when Europe's worst outbreak emerged in Italy.

British Airways, easyJet, Lufthansa and United Airlines are amongst those announcing cost-saving measures.

FINANCIAL TROUBLE

Flybe was already in financial trouble and was rescued in mid-January, when shareholders agreed to invest more money alongside government support that was due to include a potential loan and a review of local flight taxes.

Johnson said in January that Flybe was important for Britain's transport links and that the government would do what it could to help the carrier.

A government spokesman said on Thursday it was working closely with the industry to reduce any disruption its routes.

"Flybe's financial difficulties were longstanding and well documented and pre-date the outbreak of COVID-19," the government said in a statement.

Johnson's government has a plan to try to boost regions of Britain beyond London. Without Flybe though, some regional airports like Exeter, Birmingham and Southampton will have much poorer connections within Britain and to Europe.

Flybe's network of routes, served by its 68 aircraft, includes more than half of UK domestic flights outside London. The pilot's union said airline staff had been betrayed.

Stobart and Virgin Atlantic said they were deeply disappointed that Flybe had been unable to secure a viable future. They said the outbreak of coronavirus meant the consortium could no longer commit to financial support.
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The SBI board has given the largest lender an "in-principle" approval to invest in the capital-starved Yes Bank.

The central board of SBI discussed the matter at a meeting on Thursday, it informed the exchanges. The announcement came hours after Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board. "The matter in regard to Yes Bank was discussed at the meeting of the central board of bank on Thursday and an in-principle approval has been given by the board to explore ...
05.03.2020 LISTEN

At the end of Part 1, the bank requested for authentic documents. I contacted Wendy and she sent me the first three documents (Deposit Certificate, Death Certificate, and Will Certificate). Together with the edited copy of my passport, I sent it to the invisible bank, after which I ignored them.

Remember: The entire goal of scam-baiting is to waste the scammers time. That made Wendy worried so she wrote to me.

Wendy:

Please I am worried because I have not heard from you for a long time please since I sent the documents to you.

Kaunda:

Sorry for the delay, was having delay in accessing my email. You know recently, there was a cable break. The West African Cable System together with the SAT3/WASC  lying in the Atlantic Ocean, it had a problem and that affected many networks in Ghana. Please ask Malam Yayha, I'm sure he also experienced that.

Please, I've sent all the documents to the bank, hoping to hear from them. But I'm a bit worried about the passport copy I sent them. I hope they will handle it with care so that it won't fall into the hands of bad people like scammers.

Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. I really care about you and I pray always so that this deal will go through. Such a beautiful lady should not be in the refugees camp.

Who is Malam Yahya?

He is one of the Managers of the Refugee camp he permitted me to access my email in his office computer twice a day, Please you can call me with the office number of Mallam Yahaya (+226 63 05 82 65) here in the refugee camp and ask of Miss Wendy Kipkalya Kones that stays in the female hostel room 12, block C. -Wendy said in one of her emails.

The bank acknowledged receiving the documents but there were few conditions to be met. This is captured in the banks response below:

1. That account of our late customer Mr. Kipkalya Kones, must be reactivated from been dormant to active because it is discovered that the account have been abandoned for a long time without movement of cash.

2. Note the reactivation of the account will be done in the name of the trustee.

3. The reactivation of the account will cost you any amount of your choice from $100.

MAKE THE PAYMENT WITH THE BELOW INFORMATION, THROUGH WESTERN UNION OR MONEYGRAM TRANSFER, THROUGH OUR BANK TREASURER INFORMATION

Receiver Name: Eshagha Magdaline

Country: Burkina Faso

City: Ouagadougou

Address: Avenue Dimdolobson, 01 BP 362, Ouagadougou Burkina Faso

Please note that this type of fraud is called advance fee fraud. The scammer will first present to you mouth-watering offer (in this case USD 5.5 million) but before you get it, you must pay a commission fee, or activation fee or commitment fee or whatever new name they prefer to call it (In this case USD 100.00). All they need is that small token, and then they disappear.

Now, let us get back to Wendy. I informed her about what happened when I went to the bank.

Kaunda:

Hi Wendy,

I just came back from Barclays Bank premises. I went to make the deposit but they are requesting proof of Payment.

I gave them the recipients details but that a transaction to activate account must be paid to bank directly, not individual.

I will be glad if you can link up with the bank to get me the proof of Payment document ASAP before I leave for Marbella, Spain. I will be attending 3 days conference of Publishers starting Friday, 7 Feb 2020.

I have not gone to any bank, and I am not going to any conference. I just need to create the impression that they are dealing with a tycoon. Just to lift their hopes high.

Wendy replied:

I called the bank manager and he said that you should contact him through his private email address [email protected]

Note: That brings another character into the equation, Dr. Faith.

Before I could even pull my chrome browser and write to Dr. Faith, he himself wrote to me, as captured below:

NOTE they are trying to prevent scam, which is the normal duty of a banker, note to avoid much question move to another bank and make the payment with the name Magdaline Kaunda

...Tell them that you wish to send this money to your sister or your wife so that they will not disturb you again ok.

Once again, I told Wendy what happened when I visited EcoBank to make the payment.

Kaunda:

Hi Wendy,

I just came out from Ecobank premises. They are also asking for the National ID of the recipient. Kindly inform Dr Faith to do that asap. I can wait 45min more around the bank before they close.

Alternatively, do you use mobile Money account? I could have sent the money via Mobile Account without going through any traditional bank.

Kindly plead with Malam Yahya to give you access to his computer, so we can complete this transaction before the [day] ends. As I said, will be leaving for Accra this evening.

Thank you.

Wendy replied:

My dear I just told him as you instructed me now and he said he will do that immediately I am so sorry for stressing you

On this note, we end the part 2 of this series. Watch out for part 3.

Author: Kaunda Ibn Ahmed (Online President, Republic of Ghana)

Remote.com.gh (Member, Institute of ICT Professionals, Ghana)

For comments, contact [email protected] or Mobile: +233 234 80 90 10
ISTANBUL - Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who travelled to the Turkey-Greece border on Thursday, said Turkey will send 1,000 special forces officers to the border with Greece to "avoid pushbacks" of migrants by Greek border police.



He said the officers will be "fully equipped" and will work the "entire border" along the Evros River (Meric in Turkish), which forms a natural border between Turkey and Greece.



On Wednesday, the Turkish government newly accused Athens of violent pushbacks of migrants, including with the use of "real bullets" that it said caused one death and five wounded.



The Greek government flatly denied any responsibility.

Soylu said Thursday 138,647 migrants are heading out of Turkey towards the Greek border in an attempt to enter the European Union, following the Turkish government's announcement that it would no longer stop migrants trying to leave the country. Soylu, on Wednesday said the number of migrants was 135,000. Athens confirmed a total of 24,000 attempted illegal migrant crossings at the border thus far.
Photo: Scott Robin Barbour/Getty Images

Please note the story youre reading was published more than a day ago. COVID-19 news and recommendations change fast: Read the latest here to stay up-to-date. Weve lifted our paywall on all essential news and updates about the coronavirus.

If you have flu-like symptoms and someone tells you to stay home, please: Dont go to that party. Even if its the most exciting night of your week, even if you wanted to catch up with a friend or get someones number or partake in a rousing game of darts. Do not attend. This is  it should go without saying  especially true if you suspect you have coronavirus.

This public safety announcement comes in the wake of reports about a male medical worker at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, back from a recent trip to Italy, who went to the hospital on Friday because he had a fever. The staff who checked him out did not test for COVID-19 at the time, but advised him to self-quarantine while they ruled out other flu and cold viruses over the weekend. But instead, three hours later, he went to a mixer for fellow doctors and Dartmouth students at a bar over the river in Vermont. Monday, he returned to the hospital and tested positive for coronavirus, and now everyone who attended the party or who went to the bar over the weekend is potentially at risk. A close contact of the unidentified patient has already tested positive for the virus, too.

In addition to questions about what in the world could have so important about the party that this feverish man attended it, the situation at Dartmouth brings up a very real issue in treating coronavirus. Before a person is officially diagnosed  when they typically receive a formal isolation order from their state government  enforcing quarantine is largely left to the honor system. No one is physically or legally forcing patients who exhibit symptoms into the recommended 14-day quarantine  which is a good thing, obviously, as the idea of some kind of enforced system for anyone who has a cough or fever is extremely terrifying. So it really is up to people to be vigilant about their own symptoms and to initiate the inconvenient but necessary 14-day self-quarantine, even if they are not totally sure how ill they are.

If you are having a party, simply gently remind your would-be guests: If you dont feel well, do not come. And if you are going to a party, ask yourself: Do I have a fever? Am I coughing? Did I go to Italy? And do the smart thing. Stay in and watch Contagion.
WASHINGTON  Facing a bipartisan backlash led by Republican lawmakers, the Trump administration is backing off a bookkeeping change that would have drastically cut federal funds for rural schools  at least for a year.

Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, will allow states to more easily qualify for funding under the Rural and Low-Income School Program, after hundreds of districts faced cuts when the department abruptly began using eligibility requirements it had not enforced in 17 years.

During a program review, the department discovered that schools had been receiving funding based on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals rather than poverty data from the census, as is required by law.

But Ms. DeVos determined that she had the authority to allow the use of alternative data for an additional year, said Angela Morabito, a department spokeswoman. The department has also proposed language for Congress to permanently change the data source in the law. We hope they act quickly, Ms. Morabito said.
EUGENE  Oregon opens spring practice Thursday and several players have a chance to gain or lose a lot over the next six weeks.

Several starting jobs are open, particularly on the offensive line, and new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead is installing his scheme.

Some spots will not be determined until the summer and fall camp, but many will be sorted out by mid-Aprils spring game.

Here are 5 Oregon players with the most to gain or lose during spring practice, with an emphasis on potential to see a dramatic move on the depth chart.

Gain: OL TJ Bass

One of Oregons two junior college transfers, Bass picked the Ducks over Auburn, among others. Both are going through massive offensive line overhauls this offseason. Bass will likely open spring on the second team but there is one starting job clearly up for grabs and depending how Oregon fills its center spot, Bass could benefit. At worst, he can prove himself worthy of being in the top eight by the end of spring and thats more or less what a JUCO transfer coming into such a situation has to aim for.

Gain: DEs Jake Shipley and Bradyn Swinson

Shipley and Swinson are both among Oregons early enrollees and both are on the edges of the defensive line. DJ Johnsons move to tight end creates a huge opening behind Kayvon Thibodeaux at defensive end. It was hardly a surprise, but Thibodeaux locked down a backup role by the end of spring a year ago. Shipley and Swinson are going to be vying for significant immediate playing time as well.

Gain: Stud ends Treven Maae and Isaac Townsend

Maae and Townsend didnt play while redshirting last season but could see jumps in action. Maae and Townsend will get the first shot at reps behind Mase Funa at Stud end. Strong-side linebackers like Adrian Jackson are also in that mix but provided hes healthy, Jackson is already in line to take over for LaMar Winston Jr. in that capacity.

Lose: LBs Andrew Johnson Jr. and MJ Cunningham

Johnson didnt play at all last season and between a rock and a hard place on the depth chart. He cant possibly challenge starters for time and freshmen are either here, in the case of Sewell, or arriving later in the case of Justin Flowe or Jackson LaDuke. Its now or never for Johnson to find a role.

With competition set to ratchet up in a big way when Flowe arrives Cunningham has to establish his spot on the depth chart now or risk being behind multiple less experienced players by the fall. The path is there for Cunningham to even compete with Sampson Niu for the starting job or contend for the No. 3 ILB reps. But if he doesnt lock down a role now then fall camp wont get any easier.

Lose: OG Sam Poutasi

Mostly due to time not being on Poutasis side, theres a sharp edge in terms of his possible roles. On one hand, if Alex Forsyth starts at center, Poutasi could win the starting job at left guard. Even if Forsyth stays at guard, Poutasi could push for the No. 3 guard spot. But if not, thats where he could lose significantly as Bass is also pushing for reps. The ceiling for Poutasi is a starting job. The floor is No. 4 guard. For a redshirt-senior, thats not an ideal place to enter ones last offseason.

Lose: P Tom Snee and K Camden Lewis

Simply a matter of needing to display consistency and assure the coaching staff they can be counted on when games arrive. Snee redshirted last season and was the short-yardage punter in 2018. Oregon needs him to be the full-time punter. If hes not ready to boom punts, the Ducks need to find another option in a hurry this offseason. Lewis is coming off an erratic freshman season, though he closed it stronger than he opened. But with a preferred walk-on kicker on the way, Lewis needs to ease any concerns. Last years offense but especially the defense, helped cover up glaring deficiencies in the kicking game, particularly in terms of field position.
Dominos Pizza said its operations in Ireland saw a strong first half followed by a weaker second half last year as revenues increased by 5.4% to 31.96m.

The company recorded a profit before tax for its UK and Ireland operations of 118.2m, up 1.4%.

Dominos Pizza is still trying to sell parts of its European businesses, months after announcing a deal for its Norwegian arm. Their outlets in Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland remain up for sale.

The company has 54 outlets in Ireland, four of which opened last year. Dominos highlighted a high turnover of labour and significant competition for delivery drivers as some of the challenges the business is facing.

they said food collection by customers remains an important growth area for their business and is a particularly important factor when considering the location and business case for new stores.

Collection now accounts for 31.0% of orders.

Chief executive David Wild said it is "difficult to determine" the potential impact of coronavirus, but it has put contingency plans in place.

Mr Wild told the PA news agency that the company has seen no impact yet, but is prepared for both positive or negative impacts on performance.

He said: "We havent seen an impact either way. But weve increased our inventory levels of frozen and ambient products in preparation.

"There are both reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic, but we are just focused on being the best prepared with can."
South Africa: President Ramaphosa congratulates Togo President on re-election

President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Togos President-elect, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, on his re-election as the President of the Republic.

Gnassingbe was re-elected during the presidential elections held on 22 February 2020.

President Ramaphosa also congratulated the people of Togo for conducting peaceful elections.

In this regard, he stated that the peaceful environment under which these elections were conducted signifies yet another positive step towards the deepening of democracy on the African continent, said the Presidency.

President Ramaphosa further assured the President-elect of his commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation between South Africa and Togo, and underscored the need for the two countries to work together to advance continental integration.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The global healthcare IT market is brimming with opportunities as health information technology has revolutionized patient care and healthcare services across the world. Healthcare IT provides secured sharing of patient information for healthcare providers to better manage patient care. Healthcare IT uses electronic health records (EHRs) in place of paper medical records to maintain patient health information.

Healthcare IT is an umbrella term that comprises an array of technologies to store, share, and analyze health information. It involves the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of information systems for the healthcare industry. Apart from improved medical care and lower costs, these systems that are automated and interoperable also optimize reimbursement for ambulatory and inpatient healthcare providers.

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Owing to its several advantages, more and more healthcare providers are employing health IT for improved patient outcomes. In addition, Health IT enables two-way communication. Patients can use health IT to communicate with their doctor, care giver to share information about health and act as per instructions to improve the quality of life. Health IT enables patient to be a part of the team that is in charge of their health.

The electronic health record (EHR) is the principal component of the health IT infrastructure. It allows doctors to track health information easily and enables them to access patient information out of their office. Apart from this, other vital components of the health IT infrastructure are personal health record and health information exchange. The inception of HITECH Act in 2009 has greatly influenced the implementation of EHR.

Global Healthcare IT Market: Overview

Healthcare IT solutions are being increasingly acknowledged for their ability to provide better data management, reduce medical errors, and cut down the healthcare costs. The advent of the cloud technology has further facilitated the exchange of data and real-time communication. Owing to their benefits, several governments worldwide are showing green lights to regulatory acts focusing on the adoption of advanced healthcare IT solutions. Thus, the global healthcare IT market is expected to tread along a phenomenal growth track with the rising awareness regarding their benefits.

The common modes of delivery of these solutions are cloud-premises, on-premises, and web-premises. The components used in healthcare IT are software, services, and hardware. There is a massive demand for software solutions such as hospital information systems, ambulatory care management systems, electronic health and medical record systems, and patient management systems from clinics and hospitals to deliver better patient care.

The research report is compiled using data from various paid and unpaid sources such as journals, presentations, and white papers. It presents an in-depth analysis of all the important parameters of the global healthcare IT market, including its dynamics, vendor landscape, and region-wise outlook.

Global Healthcare IT Market: Drivers and Restraints

Globally, governments are allocating large funds for the advancement of healthcare infrastructure. They, along with several private organizations, are emphasizing on improving the quality of care and clinical outcomes. This, in turn, is promoting the adoption of healthcare IT solutions worldwide. Moreover, the soaring need for managing regulatory compliance is working in favor of the global healthcare IT market.

Despite the cost-effectiveness, the high installation and maintenance costs of these solutions are hampering the growth of the market. Furthermore, the uneven regulatory environment in developed and developing countries is hindering the growth of the market. The dearth of skilled IT professionals in the healthcare sector is also keeping the market from realizing its utmost potential.

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Global Healthcare IT Market: Geographical Segmentation

The key regions studied in the report are Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. The domicile of a large number of IT giants along with the high adoption of smart technologies across healthcare infrastructure is making North America a prominent destination for key players in the global market. Strict legislative and accreditation requirements regarding healthcare coupled with stringent regulatory requirements regarding patient safety are propelling the growth of the region.

Asia Pacific is expected to rise at a tremendous CAGR during the review period. The growth of the region can be attributed to the rising consumer spending on healthcare, expanding medical tourism sector, and increasing government initiatives to create eHealth platforms. The growing adoption of healthcare IT solutions and increasing number of private hospitals in rural areas in countries such as India, China, and Taiwan are contributing to the growth of the region. Healthcare setups in the region are vigorously moving towards digitization to streamline workflow systems and ensure patient safety and care.

Global Healthcare IT Market: Competitive Landscape

With the immense growth prospects of the global healthcare IT market, a large number of new players are anticipated to venture into this market. Their participation and the presence of many established players is rendering the market highly competitive. Key players in the market are investing sizeable amounts in research and development of innovative products and services to consolidate their presence in the market. Several players are also focusing towards customization to cater to the specific needs of customers.

Some of the prominent global participants in the healthcare IT market are Athenahealth Inc., Epic Systems, GE Healthcare, McKesson Corporation, Philips, Siemens Healthcare, NextGen Healthcare Information System LLC, Allscripts, Cerner Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Carestream Health Inc., and Medical Information Technology Inc.

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Two airlines currently operating out of Belfast International Airport have moved to quell fears prices could be hiked as a result of Flybe's collapse.

Easyjet and Ryanair have told the Belfast Telegraph that prices won't increase as a direct result of Flybe entering administration..

Both airlines are offering reduced fares to passengers affected by the collapse of the crisis-hit airline.

A number of people on social media expressed concern that reduced travelling options could result in price hikes at other airlines.

The airlines insisted this was not the case.

An Easyjet spokesperson said that the company was "sorry to see the news about Flybe".

"We appreciate the anxiety that their customers will be facing now and are offering rescue fares of 65 to affected Flybe customers." the spokesperson said.

However, they did not rule out prices increasing due to demand.

We do not artificially increase prices, however our pricing is demand-led which means that prices rise as fewer seats are available to book," the spokesperson said.

A Ryanair spokesperson said "this is not the case, if anything it's complete opposite".

"We've released rescue fares to assist customers affected by Flybe ceasing operations," the spokesperson said.

"Ryanair has the lowest fares in Europe and with these rescue fares, theyve just got even lower."

The airline are offering rescue fares starting from 19.99 on five UK routes, including Belfast to London Stansted, which operates twice weekly, to accommodate customers affected by Flybe's collapse.

Ryanair's offer is available on flights until the end of April, but must be booked by midnight on Sunday.

Flybe operated 80% of the routes at Belfast City Airport before the firm's collapse.

Loganair have already stepped in to take over the airport's routes to Aberdeen and Inverness, while airport Chief Executive Brian Ambrose said the airport had interest from "multiple airlines" in taking over its other routes.

Flybe's demise was blamed in part on a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The airline was bought by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital in February 2019, after running into earlier financial problems.

All Flybe flights and those operated by sister airline Stobart Air were cancelled but some other airlines and all rail operators stepped in to offer help to stranded passengers and staff.
World Health Organization recommends to wet your hands with clean water, lather soap on every surface, scrub your hands together for at least 20 seconds, and rinse before drying

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World Health Organization recommends to wet your hands with clean water, lather soap on every surface, scrub your hands together for at least 20 seconds, and rinse before drying. We will tell you what to hum to make this process better.

So, coronavirus has already reached Ukraine. Despite the fact that the World Health Organization calls not panic, but to carefully observe elementary hygiene rules that should help prevent the infection of Covid-19, its efforts are not enough. American TV presenter Ellen Degeneres held a workshop for her viewers on proper handwashing. In addition to the WHO-approved technique that Ellen demonstrated in person, it is also important to follow a hygiene procedure of 20 seconds or more. According to the presenter, it's like singing Happy Birthday twice. But this song seemed boring to Internet users. For example, a small list of songs has already been posted on Twitter, the refrains of which last the required amount of time. We went further and collected 12 Ukrainian hits that are worth including or humming during washing your hands.

In the recent hit by Verka Serduchka Make it Rain Champagne, the chorus is played by three consecutive cries of the songs name. So, exactly 20 seconds elapse from the beginning of the first to the end of the last one. We turn on the water, wash our hands, and dance!

Pianoboy song Anything that doesn't kill you is suitable for antiviral hand hygiene. Here they have a certain irony.

The thematic song from could be found among early works of Iryna Bilyk  Francois  at the same time talks about how the coronavirus spreads around the world (via air travel), and helps to wash your hands properly for its prevention.

Sergei Babkin has a good composition against panic. It is called "Breath slowly." Wash your hands while listening to Evas and Adams.

The nostalgic Old Photographs of Scriabin band will not only touch your soul, but will also help get rid of the infection in your hands.

Nastya Kamensky with her I promise song promises that if you, coming from the street, wash your hands at least during the entire refrain, then you will significantly reduce the risk of infection.

The track of Tina Karol and Yulia Sanina Free not only complements the movie well, but also contains the refrain of the duration we need.

Karnas killer rock hit Party in Subcarpathia with its double chorus is also great for preventing Covid-19. The main thing is to shake your head less and rub your hands with soap more.

Let's go to the classics. Okean Elzys song Where We Are Not also suitable for fight against coronavirus.

Pavlo Zibrovs even more classic hit Khreschatyk not only shows in the video the main street of the capital in its retro way, but also has a certain anticoronavirus effect, if combined with the approach to the washstand.

Punk music, contrary to established stereotypes, can also help in the fight for hygiene. If you agree that the fragment with the words input-output is a verse, the incendiary Audio-Video and their Borsch is worthy to wash your hands.

And it would be illogical in the issue of combating Covid-19 to ignore the work of Hamerman Znyshchye Virysu (Hamerman lills viruses). The chorus of their Halves song is just enough to wash away all the viruses from your hands. Content 18+.
When startups set out to become the Uber for kids several years ago, they predicted parents would use them to ferry children to and from school and activities  but theyve since found a much bigger customer: schools.

The big picture: Companies like HopSkipDrive and Zum are getting much of their business from schools using their services to replace or supplement the traditional school buses, especially for students with special needs or for trips outside of existing routes.

How it works: These services typically employ contractors as drivers, but with a twist: Theyre required to have child-care experience and pass rigorous background checks, including fingerprinting. In short: theyre babysitters with cars.

Parents and schools can book and track rides through apps and dashboards. While parents pay per ride or via monthly subscriptions, some companies sign longer contracts with schools and districts.

Schools make up 80% of Zums business today, according to co-founder and CEO Ritu Narayan, and 70% of HopSkipDrives revenue, the company recently told TechCrunch.

Narayan adds that the two main issues with school buses is that they're either underutilized, or when they're full, children end up spending quite a lot of time en route.

What theyre saying: Garvey School District chief business officer Grace Garner told the Washington Post last year that her school district in Rosemead, California, saved more than half a million dollars in the first year of switching from buses to Zum, and cut down the commute of many special education students from 45 minutes to 15.

Between the lines: The success of these companies underscores the undeniable gap in transportation suitable for kids, especially in suburbs and other less dense areas where public transit may not be accessible or safe.

Yes, but: As with other ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, questions remain about how environmentally friendly it is to have private cars shuttling kids to and from school rather than a large bus.

Zum argues that its actually more sustainable because it offers a range of vehicle sizes including vans, replaces many instances where a parent would drive their child when school buses arent available or convenient, and that on average, each ride transports 2.8 kids.

That distribution is built-in because kids are going to the same school, says Narayan.

Be smart: These companies don't solve for the needs of teenagers, who want independence to get around, but may not be old enough to drive, have a license, or access to a car.

As some parents have admitted to Axios, they let their teens use Uber and Lyft despite both companies banning passengers under 18.

Go deeper:
Super Doctors Southern California Logo Dr. Swartout is honored to be named as one of Southern Californias Super Doctors this year.

Dr. Benjamin G. Swartout, a highly regarded facial cosmetic and reconstructive surgeon in Beverly Hills, has been recognized in the 2020 Southern California Super Doctors List, an award given to the areas top doctors in consumer-oriented medical specialties. The list of distinguished doctors was published last month in Super Doctors Magazine, which is distributed with the Los Angeles Times.

Dr. Swartouts selection was based on a nomination process, a Blue Ribbon Panel review, his professional achievements and independent research by MSP Communications. The list represents about 5% of all doctors in the area. It is the 13th year that the Super Doctors list has been published in Southern California and it is the third year that the recipients of the award will appear in Southern California Super Doctors Magazine.

Nationwide, Super Doctors lists in various regions showcase the best in consumer medicine. The Super Doctors represent a highly select and diverse group of doctors who demonstrate outstanding skill and attention to exceptional patient care. The award encompasses all consumer-oriented medical specialties, including oral surgeons in select markets.

The selection process includes a survey of doctors in order to create a pool of peer-recommended candidates. Each year, doctors are invited to nominate colleagues they know to be exceptional in their specialty. Those invited to nominate colleagues are asked which doctor they would choose if they needed medical care in a given specialty. Safeguards are put into place to ensure doctors do not self-nominate.

Once the peer survey is complete, research is conducted to further contribute to the pool of candidates. Medical databases, online sources, and publications are searched for doctors who have Star Search Credentials, or certain credentials, honors and professional achievements which help distinguish doctors from their colleagues. This process ensures that doctors in less visible or in extremely specialized areas of treatment have a fair chance at recognition.

Candidates are then evaluated on 10 factors, including years of experience, hospital appointments, fellowships, professional activities, leadership positions, academic achievements, board certifications, publications, and awards.

Once the candidates have been evaluated based on these factors, they are grouped into specialties and reviewed by doctors who have achieved the highest scores from the nomination and evaluation steps. These doctors make up a Blue Ribbon panel. Each of these panelists reviews and evaluates the nominees in their own area of practice.

Finally, the points are totaled from the nominations, research and Blue Ribbon panel review. The doctors who receive the highest scores are added to the Super Doctors list. This list makes up about 5% of the doctors in any given region. Dr. Swartout is honored to be named as one of Southern Californias Super Doctors this year.

Dr. Benjamin Swartout is a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon specializing in Otolaryngology, or head and neck surgery. He is a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, the American Academy of Otolaryngology, and the American Rhinologic Society. He has contributed to the development of rhinoplasty techniques to assist patients with their desired nasal shape and improved nasal breathing. He offers a wide range of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures at his LA practice.

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To schedule a consultation with Dr. Benjamin Swartout in Los Angeles, call (310) 274-6005 or visit https://www.lafacialplasticsurgery.com/.


DANBURY  Advocates will discuss gun violence on Friday afternoon, following the one-year anniversary of the U.S. House passing legislation expanding background checks.

U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will be joined at the round table by representatives from Newtown Action Alliance, Sandy Hook Promise, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action, Everytown, March For Our Lives and Project Longevity.
Renaissance man James Lipton wore many hats as an actor, theater, film and television director and producer, choreographer, author, playwright, lyricist, screenwriter, author, academic and even a pimp.

But it was his remarkably in-depth interviews on Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio" that cemented him as a Hollywood icon before he died Monday at age 93. The talk show, which doubled as part of the master's degree program at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University, saw several water-cooler moments throughout its 24 years, thanks to the host's signature and oftentimes shocking insight into his guests' craft and lives.

From the question that stumped Steven Spielberg to his tearful reunion with Bradley Cooper, here are some of Lipton's greatest hits.

Steven Spielberg (1999)

While discussing his 1977 sci-fi epic, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," Lipton stunned Spielberg with a thoughtful inquiry about the filmmaker's parents. In the film, aliens and humans communicate via a sequence of musical tones, generated by a computer.

"Your father was a computer scientist; your mother was a musician," Lipton ventured. "When the spaceship lands, how do they communicate?"

"That's a very good question; I like that," Spielberg said with a grin, before replying, "I'd love to say I intended that, and I realized that was my mother and father, but not until this moment. ... Thank you for that."

Paul Newman (1994)

In 1994, Lipton kicked off "Inside the Actors Studio" with none other than screen icon Newman, who served as president of the studio from 1982 to 1994. Together, the pair went behind the scenes of a number of Newman's projects, including "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Long Hot Summer" and "The Left-handed Gun."

Bradley Cooper (2011)

Lipton often said he most looked forward to interviewing one of his own students who had achieved enough success to come full circle on his show. That student ended up being Cooper, who could barely keep it together for his edition of "Inside the Actors Studio."

The "A Star Is Born" mastermind had appeared on the program in the past as a curious pupil posing questions from the audience to his acting heroes.

Dave Chappelle (2006)

Comedian Chappelle got serious while speaking with Lipton about his complicated road to fame and then-recent headline-making decision to walk away from a $50-million deal with Comedy Central.

"The higher up I went, the less happy I was," Chappelle said during the conversation. "Once you get famous, you can't get unfamous. You can get infamous, but you can't get unfamous."

James Lipton (2008)

In celebration of the program's 200th episode, Lipton put himself in the hot seat, inviting Chappelle back as his interviewer. Among other revelations, Lipton disclosed his favorite expletive  "Jesus Christ"  and that he once worked as a pimp in 1950s Paris.

Jack Lemmon (1998)

During a sit-down with Lemmon, Lipton referenced a scene from "Days of Wine and Roses," in which Lemmon's character, Clay, reveals he is an alcoholic. Another unexpected reveal followed when Lemmon interjected, "Which I am, incidentally."

When Lipton asked the actor to clarify whether he was "talking as Clay now or as Jack Lemmon," he responded, "No, as Jack Lemmon. I'm an alcoholic."

The interview marked the first time the movie star spoke publicly about his addiction.

Amy Poehler (2009)

Another great masterclass in comedy came from Lipton's conversation with "Saturday Night Live" alum Poehler, during which the host challenged his guest to perform a number of hilarious impressions, from Christopher Walken to Paula Abdul.

Robin Williams (2001)

Over the course of five hours, Lipton conducted a lively interview Williams, during which the late comedy legend showcased his signature quick wit and opened up about his personal struggles.

The extended segment also merited one of Williams' most enduring improv performances, prompted by Lipton, involving an audience member's pink scarf.

"For those of us who have not been blessed with your gift, how do you explain the mental reflexes that you deploy?" Lipton asked, inspiring Williams to launch into his routine. "Are you thinking faster than the rest of us? What the hell is going on?"

Julianne Moore (2002)

One of Lipton's most educational interviews was with Moore, who was happy to impart the most influential lessons she had learned from her various teachers and sweeping body of work.

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Amid coronavirus outbreak, South Korea reportedly designated the south-east city of Gyeongsan as a third 'specialised care zone' on March 5 as the number of cases continues to rise in the nation. According to international media reports, Gyeongsan consists half of the coronavirus cases as members of the city are linked to the Shincheonji religious group. The South Korean government has reportedly announced 145 new confirmed cases, taking the total to 5,766 in the country.

The South Korean authorities also designated Daegu and Cheongdo as 'special care zones' two weeks back. Prime Minister Chung-Sye-Kyun reportedly said that it was because these areas were experiencing difficulties due to a sudden increase in confirmed cases. The government reportedly also sent military medical staff in the two 'special care zones' for assistance.

READ: Lucknow DM Reviews Coronavirus Preparedness, Instructs To Conduct Regular Fogging In City

South Korea has already reported more than 3,000 deaths, most cases of the COVID-19 outbreak after mainland China. According to reports, the cases are also expected to surge with the ongoing screening of more than 2,60,000 people associated with Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The South Korean President Moon Jae-in also visited Daegu Medical Centre and held a meeting with officials at the Disaster Control and Safety Centre to discuss containment measures to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

READ: Coronavirus: Health Ministry Asks States To Form Rapid Response Teams To Stop Community Transmission

READ: Coronavirus: Foreigners With Travel History To Italy, S Korea Have To Submit 'negative' Certificate For Entering India

Several countries sealed border with South Korea

Several countries including the Philippines and Hong Kong have scrambled to seal their borders with South Korea as a containment measure to restrict South Korean travellers. According to media reports, John Lee, the security chief for Hong Kong said that Hong Kong has issued a red travel alert, therefore, anyone who resided in South Korea in last fortnight would be denied entry to international finance hub.

The Philippines imposed restrictions on travellers from South Korea and barred Filipinos from touring to the East Asian nations amid the outbreak, confirmed media reports. The partial ban was reportedly placed on South Koreas North Gyeongsang, one of the most impacted regions from coronavirus.

READ: Did Coronavirus Outbreak Shift Varun Dhawan's Wedding From Thailand To Rajasthan?

READ: Readers Claim Stephen King Predicted Coronavirus 16 Years Ago


WASHINGTON  The federal government will soon pour more than $8 billion into coronavirus testing, health care supplies, vaccine development and reimbursing state spending, after the U.S. Senate approved an emergency funding bill Thursday afternoon.

The bipartisan bill will send roughly $7 million to Connecticut, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, who helped negotiate it.

The bipartisan bill passed the Senate with one vote of opposition from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who wanted to make cuts to foreign aid in order to pay for the virus response. The bill will now go to President Donald Trump for a signature.

Republicans and Democrats need to be working hand in hand to be sure that our health care system has everything that it needs in order to test, identify and treat people, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. [The legislation is] going to make sure we have the funding necessary to develop a vaccine, that we have the money necessary to develop treatments, that local public health professionals arent left holding the bag financially.

The $8.3 billion coronavirus package Congress developed, contained more than the three times the funding the Trump administration requested to fight the global epidemic.

RELATED: At least 200 people in Connecticut monitored for coronavirus

Congressional leadership has also indicated that this bill could be just a first step  if the country needs more money for the coronavirus, theyre willing to appropriate more.

At least 18 states now have confirmed cases of the virus, COVID-19.

This bill pumps money into federal agencies that will then distribute it to state and local health officials, biomedical researchers, manufacturers and others on the frontlines of the coronavirus response.

We were notified just yesterday that the state has already received $500,000 that was specific for lab or surveillance activities and/or data collection, state Department of Public Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell said Thursday night. The more resources we can get, the better we can respond to the communitys needs.

The federal legislation allocates billions for research and development of vaccines and medical treatments for COVID-19. It also designates more than $2 billion to help states and local health agencies test for the virus, control the spread and treat the sick.

The legislation ensures that state and local governments will be reimbursed for coronavirus spending, something that has a been a source of anxiety for those governments as the outbreak spreads. It directs $950 million to support state public health activities, half of which must be allocated to states in the next month. These funds could be used to build or renovate state or local health facilities to better combat coronavirus.

It also allocates about $500 million for procuring of drugs, masks, personal protective equipment, and other medical supplies, which can be distributed to state and local health agencies that have shortages.

About a third of all the money in the bill will go toward vaccine and drug development and purchasing. More than $2 billion of the money will go to a federal biomedical authority charged with researching and developing these medicines, using where possible U.S. manufacturers. Roughly another billion will go to the National Institute of Health for vaccine development.

There will be $300 million saved for the government to buy, and then distribute, the vaccines and drugs as needed. The bill specifies that the vaccines and drugs developed through government-funded research must be available for government purchase at a fair and responsible price, to avoid price-gouging.

More Information Congress approved $8.3 billion for coronavirus. Where will it go? Over $2.2 billion for federal, state and local public health authorities About $3 billion for developing vaccines and medical treatments Over $500 million to fight the virus overseas About $500 million to buy drugs, masks and other medical supplies for states and local health agencies $264 million for U.S. diplomats and embassies around the world deal with virus $100 million for community health centers Permits about $7 billion in loans to small businesses, farms and non-profits impacted Source: House Appropriations Committee See More Collapse

It also allows the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to ensure these coronavirus pharmaceuticals are affordable to consumers. The department has already designed the coronavirus test as essential so it will be covered by private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, Vice President Mike Pence said.

Some Democrats still worry that some Americans will struggle with health care costs associated with the epidemic. Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Thursday he will push for legislation to ensure that Medicare covers the cost of the coronavirus vaccine. Medicare provides health insurance for seniors, who are most susceptible to the virus.

The bill passed Thursday also allows seniors using Medicare to access tele-medicine services for coronavirus treatment in their homes.

RELATED: Airlines battle coronavirus with cancellations, cleaning and screenings

It directs $100 million to community health centers so these smaller health clinics, that serve primarily low-income people in urban and rural areas, can adequately test and respond to the virus, although they lack the same federal emergency funding that hospitals can receive. There are more than 35 community health centers in Connecticut.

The bill also could enable the Small Business Administration to provide an estimated $7 billion in loans to small businesses, farms and non-profits that take financial losses as a result of the outbreak. Concerned about the economic effect of the coronavirus, the U.S. Federal Reserve already slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in an emergency cut on Tuesday.

Finally, the legislation also directs millions overseas to help other countries control their outbreaks and support U.S. embassies and consulates dealing with coronavirus abroad.

We need a global effort to stop a global pandemic, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. The investments are very well founded in global efforts.

emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: emiliemunson
BOSTON  When an employee of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire showed signs of possible coronavirus last week, a medical worker who had examined him told him to avoid contact with others, pending further tests. Instead, he went to a mixer at a crowded music venue.

Three days later, he was confirmed as the states first coronavirus case.

And now a second case has been confirmed  a close contact of the patients  raising new questions about what should happen when suspected coronavirus patients ignore requests to self-quarantine.

The man, who had come down with flulike symptoms after a trip to Italy, has now been officially ordered by New Hampshires health commissioner to isolate himself at home.

The individual is complying now, said Jake Leon, communications director for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

News that a health care worker could have exposed students at the event last Friday night, a mixer for doctors and Dartmouth College students, swiftly reverberated on the nearby campus.

READ MORE: Senate poised to send Trump $8.3 billion plan to fight virus

Students learned of a possible exposure in an email sent out by the university Tuesday, which revealed that a man who later tested positive for coronavirus had attended the mixer held for students at the colleges Tuck School of Business on Feb. 28. The event occurred on the same day that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued a new Italy travel advisory, warning all those who had recently been to the country to stay home and monitor their health for 14 days.

Across the country, thousands of travelers returning from places with substantial outbreaks of the virus have been asked to stay home and avoid contact with others for 14 days, a request that largely relies on the honor system. As the virus spreads, many worry that the recommendations are not always followed.

In the New Hampshire case, the man went to the doctor Friday with a fever and respiratory symptoms and was tested for a range of possible ailments, health authorities said. Doctors advised him to quarantine himself, but did not test him for coronavirus until Monday, after other viruses were ruled out. He arrived at the social event hours after the warning Friday.

Dartmouth College officials, in a message to students, said an investigation was underway to trace the close contacts of the individual, and said no Dartmouth students were considered close contacts to the patient at this time. It was unclear whether the second patient who tested positive had attended the mixer or was exposed at another time.

The general vibe is we are all pretty concerned that this medical professional showed up to the event, despite being told to self-isolate, said Christie Harrison, a first-year Tuck student who sang with the band that performed at the mixer Friday night. She estimated that about a hundred business school students attended, along with 30 or 40 resident physicians associated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, an academic medical center located near Dartmouth College.

We all were just excited to have one of the last few parties of the quarter and be off campus, Harrison said. She said investigators appear to have made efforts to trace those who interacted with the man at the mixer, and have asked them to self-quarantine. Those who did not interact with him, like herself, were simply told to monitor their health and alert authorities if they came down with symptoms, she said.

The college was really great at communicating all of that to us, in a timely manner, Harrison said. The college has been really transparent with us throughout the process.

Gunnar Esiason, a Tuck student who considered going to the mixer Friday night, but did not, said he nonetheless felt distressed about the potential exposures because he has underlying health issues. In my opinion, it is shocking that a health care worker would do this, if it is in fact true, said Esiason. He has since left campus and was planning to take exams remotely.

The mixer was hosted at the Engine Room, a music and comedy venue in White River Junction, just across the border in Vermont. According to a message on the clubs Facebook page, owners received a call from Dr. Benjamin Chan, an epidemiologist with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, informing them that an individual who tested positive for coronavirus had attended the event Friday night. Vermont health authorities had also been in touch.

The management said it was in the process of professionally cleaning the facility and had canceled at least three events that were to be held there this week.

Angry patrons wrote back on Facebook that the coronavirus patient should be jailed or fined.

But it appears that the patient was under no legal obligation to stay home at the time. Under New Hampshire law, a person who refuses to comply with a formal isolation order issued by the health commissioner is guilty of a misdemeanor. In other states, refusing to comply is a felony. But on Friday, the patient had not been diagnosed, and had merely been advised by a health care worker to stay home. The formal isolation order was issued after the mixer, after the patient was tested Monday and the results were determined presumed positive, state authorities said.

New Hampshire officials have made clear in their public statements that they feel the patient acted irresponsibly. But he does not appear to have broken the law.

You cant bring criminal charges for being a bonehead or just not doing what you were told was advisable to do, said Wendy Parmet, faculty director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University. Its not illegal to ignore the advice of your health care provider, or even the health department, until officials follow the particular procedures to issue a formal health order, and those procedures vary by state.

There is a downside to punishing a single individual in such a case, she said.

We certainly dont want people to think that they shouldnt get tested because if they do, theyll open themselves up to criminal liability, or a policeman at the door enforcing quarantine, she said. Those are consequences that deter testing, treatment and compliance.

The second New Hampshire patient who tested positive for coronavirus, also a man from Grafton County, is also under isolation at home.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Chinese officials expect government revenue and consumer demand to recover once the outbreak is curbed.

Various Chinese government entities have allocated 110.48 billion yuan ($16bn) in coronavirus-related funding as of March 4, Vice Finance Minister Xu Hongcai said at a news briefing on Thursday.

Of that amount, about 71.43 billion yuan ($10.3bn) has been used, leaving 39.05 billion yuan ($5.63bn) to spend, Xu said.

China would ensure the smooth operation of local governments amid the coronavirus outbreak and the finance ministry will ensure the funding needs of Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, Xu said.

He warned that the outbreak could temporarily affect the governments revenues but he expected the pressure on the governments fiscal position to ease as the economy recovered.

He added that Beijing would roll out targeted and phased measures to help virus-hit sectors, without elaborating.

The virus has also limited employees movements, caused blockages in international logistics and reduced global trade, especially of intermediate goods, said Li Xingqian, director of the foreign trade department at the commerce ministry in a separate media briefing on Thursday.

But consumer goods sales stabilised in late February as people gradually returned to work after efforts to curb the outbreak had succeeded in some places, Wang Bin, another commerce ministry official, said at the briefing.

Li said exporters are facing great difficulties maintaining orders, securing market share and delivering on their contracts, but fluctuations in trade growth, triggered by a public health emergency, are still within a reasonable range.

Amid concerns that the spread of the virus in South Korea and Japan could mean a second wave of disruption at Chinese factories, he added that imports of electronic products and parts  for which China relies heavily on its neighbours  have so far maintained steady growth.

National imports and exports have shown positive momentum as businesses reopen, said Li.

China has said it would study phased tax cuts to help struggling small- and medium-sized firms facing difficulties because of the outbreak.

China saw an uptick in new coronavirus cases on Thursday driven by more cases in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have emerged in a market late last year.

Some local governments were facing funding difficulties, said Liu Jinrun, an official at the finance ministry, during the briefing.

Xu said fiscal revenues in Hubei were relatively stable in January, but the situation worsened in February, when the province only had sporadic revenue.

He added that the ministry is stepping up transfer payments to local governments, especially those hit hard by the virus outbreak.
ATLANTA  Nathaniel Woods never pulled the trigger, but prosecutors said he was just as guilty as the man who did. He had been a mastermind, prosecutors said, luring police officers in Birmingham, Ala., into a house where three of them were killed.

A judge sentenced him to death, but as his execution neared on Thursday, Mr. Woods had a growing number of supporters arguing that there was no evidence showing he had plotted to ambush the officers.

Instead, his supporters claimed that Mr. Woods had been sent to death row based on a case rife with flaws and because of a practice in capital punishment cases that allows a defendant to be condemned without a unanimous jury decision  a practice that has been abandoned by every state but Alabama.

Mr. Woods was convicted in 2005, and at his sentencing prosecutors portrayed him as someone who hated the police. The officers widows said they believed that Mr. Woods ought to die, and all but two of the jurors agreed.
ROCKY HILL  Five veteran state prosecutors are vying to be the next top prosecutor in Bridgeport.

State Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald, the chairman of the states Criminal Justice Commission, announced Thursday that the five will be interviewed on March 19 and the next states attorney will be selected later that day.

The interviews are open to the public and will be held at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford beginning at 9:15 a.m. Following the interviews there will be a public comment session on the candidates and then the commission will make its choice.

Given the list of applicants Im confident that the commission will have no problem finding an excellent candidate, said John Smriga, who retired as Bridgeport states attorney on Feb. 1 following 10 years in the job.

The states attorney in Bridgeport is one of 13 states attorneys in the state and supervises more than a dozen prosecutors in two courthouses and a half-dozen inspectors. The yearly salary is $163,000.

The states attorney oversees the investigation and prosecution of all crimes committed within the judicial district, which includes Bridgeport, Fairfield, Trumbull, Easton, Monroe and Stratford.

Candidate C. Robert Satti Jr. currently serves as second in command of the Bridgeport Judicial District and is the most experienced prosecutor in the state with 40 years in the states Division of Criminal Justice. During that time, he has prosecuted more than 150 serious felony cases, including Richard Roszkowski, who was sentenced to death by a jury for the 2006 murders of a mother, her young daughter and a Milford landscaper in Bridgeport. Roszkowski was later resentenced to life in prison after the death penalty was eliminated by the state legislature.

In 2017, Satti was selected to serve on a hearing at Guantanamo Bay Navy base in Cuba for an al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan, Abd al Hadi al-Iraqi, who allegedly led insurgents who set roadside bombs and carried out suicide attacks and ambushes that killed American troops and CIA contractors, and targeted other U.S.-allied troops and civilians.

Satti, who also serves on the Milford zoning board, is the son of legendary New London prosecutor C. Robert Satti Sr., who successfully prosecuted serial killer Michael Ross, the last man to get the death penalty in Connecticut.

Senior Assistant States Attorney Joseph Corradino has served as a prosecutor in Bridgeport for 30 years. During that time he prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including Russell Peeler, a local drug baron convicted of ordering the deaths of a woman and her 8-year-old son to protect his drug empire, Christopher DiMeo, who murdered popular Fairfield jewelers Kim and Tim Donnelly, and Kyle Navin, who murdered his parents and buried their bodies in Weston.

Corradino is a retired major in the Connecticut Army National Guard, where he served as judge advocate and supervised a legal staff. He is a former co-chair of the New Haven charter revision commission.

Colleen Zingaro grew up in Norwalk and comes from an extensive legal background.

Her mother was one of the first women to graduate from Georgetown Law School. Her father, John Vallerie, was a prosecutor before serving as Norwalks probate judge for 12 years. Her sister is a state prosecutor working in the Stamford court.

Zingaro, who is married to a lawyer, was an advocate for domestic violence victims before becoming a state prosecutor 18 years ago. She spent a majority of her career in Danbury, where she prosecuted a number of murder and sexual assault cases.

A prosecutor in Bridgeport for the past five years, she successfully prosecuted a man for raping a transgender student last year.

Prosecutor David Applegate has a taste for cold cases.

A state prosecutor for 14 years, he spent three years as a member of the states cold case task force. In his past two years as a prosecutor in Bridgeport, Applegate has spend a lot of time researching cold cases here while taking on a number of serious felony prosecutions.

Applegate is currently prosecuting Dale LaPrade, the former manager of a Bridgeport cemetery accused of digging up old graves at the cemetery to make room for new ones and tossing the bones in the woods.

Stacey Miranda has been prosecuting serious felony cases in New Haven for 15 years.

Last year she prosecuted the high-profile case of an East Haven mother accused of killing her two young sons with an overdose of antihistamine.
She joined the cast of Married At First Sight as an intruder on Monday, walking down the aisle with charity owner Drew Brauer.

But it looks like KC Osborne may be heading for heartbreak at her first commitment ceremony, which airs on Sunday night.

In a trailer for the episode, the 31-year-old dance teacher struggles to speak as she tearfully bares her soul in front of the relationship experts.

Turmoil: In a trailer for Sunday's commitment ceremony, Married At First Sight intruder KC Osborne struggles to speak as she tearfully bares her soul in front of the relationship experts

KC, who recently moved back to Australia after 10 years living in Los Angeles, weeps: 'I sat there so quiet and listened to everyone else...'

Her 'husband', who is an aspiring musician, tries to calm her down as she becomes overwhelmed by the experiment.

MAFS fans can expect several bombshells at the commitment ceremony, as the couples continue their rocky paths to true love.

Upset: KC, who recently moved back to Australia after 10 years living in LA, weeps: 'I sat there so quiet and listened to everyone else...' She is then comforted by her 'husband', Drew Brauer

Stacey Hampton and Michael Goonan appear to have made progress after his cheating scandal with Hayley Vernon.

In a surprise twist, law graduate Stacey admits that she 'loves' her unfaithful partner.

Meanwhile, Josh Pihlak fights back tears as he faces the reality of his failing marriage to Cathy Evans.

'At the start it was unreal, to see where we are now is...' he tells the group.

Drama! MAFS fans can expect bombshells at the commitment ceremony, as the couples continue their rocky paths to true love. Pictured: Stacey Hampton and Michael Goonan

On a happier note, the second intruder couple, Elizabeth Sobinoff and Seb Guilhaus, appear to be finding their feet.

'I believe the experiment can work. You learn so much about yourself,' Elizabeth says.

At the end of the trailer, relationship expert John Aiken reminds the couples they need to be raw and honest at this stage of the experiment.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine

Done: Josh Pihlak fights back tears as he faces the reality of his failing marriage to Cathy Evans
Madhya Pradesh is one of the 19 Indian states severely affected by high fluoride content in drinking water with as many as 140 habitations where water quality is affected by excess fluoride.

By Sahana Ghosh

Pinky Alawa and Sapna Rawat cautiously approach a woman drawing water from a hand-pump in the hilly part of central India, in Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh.

The pump is marked with a prominent yellow ring, an indication of water that has fluoride at concentrations much higher than the average value (1.5 mg per litre) in the district dominated by indigenous populations.

The yellow marker was painted on the handpump in Rajawat village by Alawa and Rawats batchmates, who make up the 65 students of Masters in Social Work (MSW) programme at Alirajpur Post Graduate College, trained by Columbia University researchers, as part of their citizen science approach to map fluoride levels in the water.

Since September 2019, students have been putting science into action to test the fluoride levels in water sources, as a part of their courseworks annual mandatory internship. A blue ring indicates water is safe for fluoride.

Alawa and Rawat, who are from the district, start a casual conversation with the woman drawing the water from the handpump marked yellow.

They ask her a bunch of questions  whether she uses the water for consumption, why does she use it for consumption even though the pump is marked unsafe and probe her awareness on the issue of fluoride.

They discovered that some of their batchmates had visited the homestead in front of which the handpump stands, tested the fluoride level and had informed the person who was available at that point in time to refrain from using the water from that hand pump for consumption and opt for a neighbouring blue-ringed pump instead.

However, the message was not passed on to the rest of the family by the person. Most of the community members are away in their farmlands during the day so we can speak to only those who are at home. On several occasions, we have approached the community members when they are on their farms. We are shooed away with abuses or we are mistaken for mechanical repair workers or plumbers. Villagers often ask us to fix broken pipes!, Pinky Alawa told this visiting Mongabay-India correspondent with a chuckle.

Pinky Alawa and the group move on to speak to men in the homestead. Upon requesting them to consider using the neighbouring blue-marked hand pump for drawing water for consumption, the students are met with vehement protests. The man they are talking to refuses to go to the water source that is five minutes away by foot.

Eventually, they manage to calm him down and unveil posters on health effects of excess fluoride and bring out their fluoride testing kit to show the colour changes to drive home the message.

This is all in a days work for 27-year old Pinky Alawa and her batchmates, who undeterred by abuses and glares, have become the fluoride warriors of Alirajpur block in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

The batch comprised 60 percent women students, a metric that worked in their favour while communicating the problem and solutions to the women in their communities who were principally responsible for managing water in their household.

With fluoride testing kit and reagents stowed in their backpacks, these science detectives investigate water samples, conduct surveys, digitally document location-specific data, and communicate the issue of fluorosis, an acknowledged major public health problem in the state.

From evidence to communication

The handpump in Rajawat is one among the 2000 handpumps and water sources monitored and marked by the students across 70 villages in Alirajpur block of the namesake district. About ten percent of the water sources tested positive for more than permissible levels of fluoride.

Long-term ingestion of large amounts of fluoride can lead to dental and skeletal fluorosis. Symptoms include staining and pitting of the teeth, joint problems, and abdominal pain and vomiting. Madhya Pradesh is one of the 19 Indian states severely affected by high fluoride content in drinking water with as many as 140 habitations where water quality is affected by excess fluoride.

The government has done a great job of drilling and providing handpumps in most locations. However, many of the hand-pumped wells have high levels of fluoride in their water. Tackling this issue involves both science and social science, said Radhika Iyengar of Columbia Universitys Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), who led the project.

Iyengar and social science experts from CSD and a team of scientists from the universitys Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory worked with district collector of Alirajpur, Surabhi Gupta and local partners India Natural Resources Economics and Management Foundation (INREM), Mahashakti Seva Kendra and Pratham, to crystallise this marriage of science and society.

Because of the citizen science approach, we now have a map which is very interactive and everyone, all the stakeholders, can see what is the extent of this problem. Before coming to the solution we need to understand the whole issue, explained Iyengar.

Sunderrajan Krishnan of INREM Foundation believes collaboration between academics, government and civil society is critical to address problems of water contamination such as fluoride. Getting citizens to be more vigilant, contribute data and having students as data producers and messengers are excellent learnings from Alirajpur, one that could be scaled up to any other place in India, Krishnan said.

Data empowering young women

Lex van Geen, a geochemist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who is associated with the project, worked on refining the field testing idea and the procedure involving smartphones that the students can use.

Based on his experience of working on arsenic across Bangladesh for kit-based sampling, van Geen said lab-based measurements may not make it back to the well-owner whereas potable field testing kits can provide immediate access to the data to the well-owners.

If the kit works reasonably well and if the contaminant concentrations span a wide range, then even some imprecision relative to the lab is less important than the fact that the result is inexpensive to obtain and immediately available in the field, van Green said.

Access to data was also empowering for Alawa and Rawat. By showcasing real-time evidence (water samples changing colour on testing positive for excess fluoride) and maps Pinky Alawa said she was able to get her point across in her community.

People took us (young women) more seriously when we started going out on the field with the maps and kit. They could not snub us once they saw the extent of the problem, said Alawa.

From a diffuse and poorly understood problem, the student project, said Lex van Geen, defined the fluoride in water problem, much more precisely and is allowing action.

Its only really a handful of villages, where most of the high fluoride wells are located. This precise information can help the public health and engineering department (PHED) plan targeted interventions. We havent solved it, but at least people know where the safe wells are, van Geen said.

Lex van Geen said the high fluoride in Madhya Pradesh is unlikely to have anything to do with human activities  it is a natural process. Exactly what that process is in Madhya Pradesh and how it compares to other regions affected with fluoride (e.g. Rajasthan) would require additional measurements  pH, conductivity, calcium concentrations etc., he explained.

According to an iteration of Madhya Pradesh State Action Plan on Climate Change, groundwater is in a critical condition across the state, most affected being the western parts where Alirajpur is located. The action plan notes that though State Water Policy 2003 mentions that groundwater should be explored only for drinking purposes, lack of adherence is often observed.

District-wise groundwater balance data indicate high levels of groundwater abstraction in the western and north-western districts compared to the eastern and south-eastern districts, where groundwater potential developed, is only a tenth of the utilisable reserves, the plan states.

In the last 25 to 30 years the villages have shifted to groundwater extraction through wells and hand pumps for their domestic purposes. Compared to the 30 percent urban water supply met out with groundwater, a massive 70 percent of the rural water supply is dependent on the same source, the plan adds.

Citizen science and community engagement

During their field-based training workshop in September 2019, the researchers also cleared the air on fluorosis. Many had seen browning of teeth, especially of children in their villages. Some believed that the browning was caused by intake of tobacco, while others thought that it was caused by irregular brushing of their teeth.

We didnt know what fluoride was and why it was harmful in excess. In my own village, the tubewell near my house has high levels of fluoride. Once I found out I refused to consume the water from that source. My husband now fetches water for cooking and drinking from another area that is far off and has good water quality, a five-month pregnant Alawa said.

For many women, including Alawa and Rawat, this was the first time they spoke publicly. Women and men were equally eager to use science to understand the issue, observed Iyengar.

During our workshops, we noticed that women spoke very little in class and asked almost no questions. It was very difficult to figure out whether they understood the procedure. But on the field, the girls took charge and were able to confidently explain the problem, said Iyengar.

For Sapna Rawat, communicating the issue was easier with women. In our communities, there is a serious problem of alcoholism and you would find men sprawled up in fields in a drunken state. Caster and gender barriers thwart preventive measures, Rawat lamented.

According to Tanusree Paul of the Centre for Womens Studies at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, a gendered critique of the national water policies of India indicates that these fail to appropriately reflect gender concerns in water but plenty of empirical experiences show that womens active participation is the key to successful water resource management.

In India, the National Water Framework Bill 2016 emphasises on providing uniform national legal framework to manage water in a better and efficient way. Fortunately, it does talk about unique needs of women in the context of project planning and management and emphasises on involving women in planning and implementation of water projects in the context of participatory irrigation management. Thus, this could become a potential tool for addressing gender concerns in water, Paul told Mongabay-India.

Brenda Dobia of Western Sydney University, Australia, who specialises in education for sustainability, ecopsychology, community engagement, and participatory research methods and was not involved with the project, hopes that this initiative also opens the way for the social work students to become advocates for sustainability in their ongoing work.

Issues of water quality and availability make disadvantaged communities the most vulnerable. Providing women and men in these communities with the tools to monitor their own water is really crucial. A human rights perspective on water emphasises that water monitoring should empower communities by sharing the kind of knowledge, delivered in an accessible way that enables collective action for water safety and security. Since women carry the burden of providing water to families, access to safe water in close proximity to their homes is a particular issue for them.

Spending more time per day fetching water increased Indian womens risk of delivering a low birth weight baby, according to a study that said two hours was the median time women trekked to collect water.

The students are now planning a slew of communication strategies with the district administration even as the fluoride warriors gear up to take on the role of mentors to expand the project to other blocks in Alirajpur as well as to the adjoining Jhabua district.

We are figuring out a solution together with the students, the administration and the community. We can do supply dropping of technology, we can talk of policy, but lets figure out a solution which can be locally developed and locally maintained, added Iyengar.

At the outset, on Indias Republic Day (January 26) this year, the fluoride warriors showcased a tableau on the fluoride issue in Alirajpur.

District Collector Surabhi Gupta wants to use the geo-referenced data to conduct health camps in the stretches that have wells marked yellow.

It is not just an issue of access to safe drinking water but we have to also look at the nutrition intake aspect because people consume food that comes from crops that are grown with the help of irrigation and that water also likely contains fluoride, Gupta said.

And in backward districts, women are still not very aware and empowered and this is one opportunity where they can explore new roles for themselves, Gupta added.

This story is supported by the Solutions Journalism Network LEDE fellowship, aimed at spreading solutions journalism around the globe.

***

This article was originally published on Mongabay.com. Mongabay-India is an environmental science and conservation news service. This article has been republished under the Creative Commons licence.
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss AG (HUGSF.PK) reported Thursday that its fiscal 2019 net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent company declined to 205.11 million euros from last year's 236.15 million euros. Earnings per share were 2.97 euros, down from 3.42 euros last year. Consolidated net income excluding the impact of IFRS 16 was 212 million euros, down 10 percent. Operating result or EBIT fell to 344.50 million euros from last year's 346.81 million euros. The company said the weak earnings mainly reflected lower than expected sales growth, increased markdown activity - particularly in North America, and additional investments in retail business. Group sales increased to 2.88 billion euros from 2.80 billion euros last year. Further, the company proposed dividend of 2.75 per share for the year, up 2 percent from last year. Looking ahead, Chief Executive Officer Mark Langer said, 'I am very confident that, together, we will achieve our targets for 2020 and beyond.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
China to continue to work for peace, development in Middle East: envoy

OTTAWA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China has been committed to contributing to peace, security, and development in the Middle East, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu said here Wednesday.

China has made positive contributions to maintaining peace and security in the Middle East according to the UN resolutions and desires of countries in the region, Cong told Xinhua on the sidelines of the two-day Ottawa Conference on Security and Defense which began on Wednesday.

"We facilitate peace and dialogue among parties and play a positive and constructive role for the settlement of regional hotspot issues including those related to Palestine, Syria, Iran and South Sudan," the envoy said.

China, as the second largest contributor to the UN budget, has so far dispatched over 1,800 peacekeepers to the Middle East. China has also conducted escort missions in the Gulf of Aden for over a decade, making important contributions to safeguarding security in the region, Cong said.

Last year, China hosted the first Middle East Security Forum with Middle East countries in Beijing, calling on countries to reject the old-fashioned Cold-War mentality and put in place a new security mechanism that underpins common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.

China has provided some 2 billion yuan (about 287 million U.S. dollars) in aid for regional countries including Palestine and Syria, said the diplomat.

"China will firmly build peace, facilitate stability and contribute to development in the Middle East," Cong said.

The Ottawa conference gathered more than 400 representatives from 20 countries, including Canadian Armed Forces Chief of Defense Staff Jonathan Vance, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command head Philip Davidson and U.S. Defence Under Secretary Ellen Lord.
MCLEAN, Va., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mars, Incorporated announced today a new senior hire and addition to the Corporate Affairs Leadership Team. Anders Bering will join the business as Vice President, Global Public Affairs, leading lead Mars' Government Relations Service Centers in Washington, D.C., Brussels, Beijing and Moscow, and Public Policy and International Government Relations teams.

Andy Pharoah, Mars Global Vice President for Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, said: "I'm delighted to welcome Anders to our Mars Corporate Affairs Leadership Team. As the dynamics of global policy continue to shift around us, it's more important than ever that businesses like Mars are working proactively to create the world we want tomorrow. With his significant experience leading government relations and sustainability initiatives for Carlsberg, Anders will bring a valuable, holistic perspective as we continue strengthening our global corporate reputation."

In this position, Bering will be responsible for establishing public policy positions and public affairs strategies, driving stakeholder and influencer engagement on a number of issues ranging from climate action to human rights to trade. He will be based in McLean, Va., and will report to Andy Pharoah.

Bering said: "I am extremely pleased to join the Mars team to support the company's leadership in sustainability and inclusive business growth. Mars' position as a family-owned company with a history of innovation and an increasingly diverse portfolio shows how long-term decision-making and strategic partnerships can make of a century-old business more relevant than ever."

Bering most recently served as VP Corporate Affairs for Carlsberg Group, which he joined in 2011 and was responsible for the global Corporate Affairs function, covering internal and external communication as well as government relations and sustainability. Additionally, Bering was part of the management team in the Group's Danish subsidiary, Carlsberg Denmark, and represented the Group in several internal and external boards. Before joining Carlsberg Group to establish and lead their Corporate Affairs function, Bering worked for the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs as well as for the European Commission in Belgium.

Bering holds a BA and a MS, both in Political Science, from the University of Copenhagen. He has also completed graduate studies at Boston College and executive management education at The Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With more than $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world's best-loved brands: M&M's, SNICKERS, TWIX, MILKY WAY, DOVE, PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, WHISKAS, EXTRA, ORBIT, 5, SKITTLES, UNCLE BEN'S, and COCOAVIA. Mars Associates proudly take care of half of the world's pets through our nutrition, health and services businesses such as Banfield Pet Hospitals, BluePearl, Linnaeus, AniCura, VCA and Pet Partners. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles  Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom  inspire our more than 125,000 Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

SOURCE Mars, Incorporated

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The test reports of 68 people who had come in contact with the Italian couple, who are among the 30 coronavirus cases in India, have come out negative, a senior health department official said here on Thursday.

Test results of eight more people are awaited, said Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh.

As many as 229 people were found to have come in contact with the Italian tourists who visited Jaipur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur.

Of them, samples were collected from 76 people suspected to have been infected by the virus. "Sixty-eight have tested negative and test reports of eight samples are yet to come," Singh said.

The Italian couple are admitted to an isolation ward at SMS Hospital in Jaipur.

After initial testing at SMS Hospital, samples of the husband-wife duo were sent to NIV-Pune for confirmation. The Pune institute confirmed them as coronavirus cases.

Singh said all samples collected from the hospital staff and the staff of the hotel they stayed in Jaipur have tested negative.

However, as per protocol, they will be under watch for 14 days. If they show symptoms of the virus infection, they will be tested again.

Singh said 247 samples have been collected in the state so far and 239 samples have been tested. Barring the Italian couple, the test reports of all others (except 8 which are under process) are negative.

He said 26,456 passengers of 180 flights have been screened for symptoms of coronavirus at Jaipur international airport so far.

Singh said the situation was reviewed with health department officials on Thursday. National Health Mission Director Naresh Thakral, CEO of state health insurance agency Suchi Tyagi and other officials were present in the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a lively Muslim quarter of Nanchang city, a sprawling Chinese factory turns out computer screens, cameras and fingerprint scanners for a supplier to international tech giants such as Apple and Lenovo.

Throughout the neighborhood, women in headscarves stroll through the streets, and Arabic signs advertise halal supermarkets and noodle shops.

Yet the mostly Muslim ethnic Uyghurs who labor in the factory are isolated within a walled compound that is fortified with security cameras and guards at the entrance.

Residents of the Hui Muslim ethnic minority walk in a neighborhood near an OFILM factory in Nanchang in eastern China's Jiangxi province. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Their forays out are limited to rare chaperoned trips, they are not allowed to worship or cover their heads, and they must attend special classes in the evenings, according to former and current workers and shopkeepers in the area.

The connection between OFILM, the supplier that owns the Nanchang factory, and the tech giants is the latest sign that companies outside China are benefiting from coercive labor practices imposed on the Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group, and other minorities.

Over the past four years, the Chinese government has detained more than a million people from the far west Xinjiang region, most of them Uyghurs, in internment camps and prisons where they go through forced ideological and behavioral re-education.

China has long suspected the Uyghurs of harboring separatist tendencies because of their distinct culture, language and religion.

When detainees 'graduate' from the camps, documents show, many are sent to work in factories.

A dozen Uyghurs and Kazakhs said they knew people who were sent by the state to work in factories in Chinas east, known as inner China--some from the camps, some plucked from their families, some from vocational schools.

Most were sent by force, although in a few cases it wasn't clear if they consented.

Workers are often enrolled in classes where state-sponsored teachers give lessons in Mandarin, Chinas dominant language, or politics and 'ethnic unity.' Conditions in the jobs vary in terms of pay and restrictions.

At the OFILM factory, Uyghurs are paid the same as other workers but otherwise treated differently, according to residents of the neighborhood.

They are not allowed to leave or pray, unlike the Hui Muslim migrants also working there, who are considered less of a threat by the Chinese government.

Nanchang is a large city in Jiangxi province, more than 2,000 miles away from Xinjiang province in the China's northwest, where many of the country's Uyghurs live

'They dont let them worship inside,' said a Hui Muslim woman who worked in the factory for several weeks alongside the Uyghurs. 'They dont let them come out.'

'If you're Uyghur, youre only allowed outside twice a month,' a small business owner who spoke with the workers confirmed. (Names of those interviewed near the factory are not disclosed out of concern for possible retribution.) 'The government chose them to come to OFILM, they didnt choose it.'

The Chinese government says the labor program is a way to train Uyghurs and other minorities and give them jobs.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday called concern over possible coerced labor under the program 'groundless' and 'slander.'

Because of restrictive policies, Muslim workers are only allowed to wear religious head coverings outside the OFILM factory in Nanchang. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

However, experts say that like the internment camps, the program is part of a broader assault on the Uyghur culture, breaking up social and family links by sending people far from their homes to be assimilated into the dominant Han Chinese culture.

'They think these people are poorly educated, isolated, backwards, cant speak Mandarin,' said James Leibold, a scholar of Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

'So what do you do? You "educate" them, you find ways to transform them in your own image. Bringing them into the Han Chinese heartland is a way to turbocharge this transformation.'

OFILMs website indicates that the Xinjiang workers make screens, camera cover lenses and fingerprint scanners.

Who are the Chinese Muslims? Muslims are not a new presence in China. Most of China's Muslim communities, including the Hui, Uighurs and Kazakhs, have lived in China for more than 1,000 years, according to fact tank Pew Research Center. The largest concentrations of Muslims today are in the western provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu. A substantial number of Muslims live in the cities of Beijing, Xi'an, Tianjin and Shanghai. Chinese Muslim men take part in gathering for the celebration of the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, or the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice, at the Niu Jie mosque in Beijing, China They make up about two per cent of the 1.4 billion population in China. However, as the country is so populous, its Muslim population is expected to be the 19th largest in the world in 2030. The Muslim population in China is projected to increase from 23.3 million in 2010 to nearly 30 million in 2030. Those who grow up and live in places dominated by the Han Chinese have little knowledge about Islam - or religions in general - thus view it as a threat. Beijing's policymakers are predominately Han. At the same time, radical Muslim Uighurs have killed hundreds in recent years, causing China to implement even more extreme measures to quash potential separatist movements. Uighurs in particular have long been used to heavy-handed curbs on dress, religious practice and travel after a series of deadly riots in 2009 in Urumqi, according to the Financial Times. Schoolchildren were banned from fasting during Ramadan and attending religious events while parents were banned from giving newborns Muslim names such as 'Mohammed' and 'Jihad'. Certain symbols of Islam, such as beards and the veil, were also forbidden. Women with face-covering veils are sometimes not allowed on buses. Unauthorised pilgrimages to Mecca were also restricted. Advertisement

It touts customers including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG and Huawei, although the AP had no way to track specific products to specific companies.

Apples most recent list of suppliers, published January last year, includes three OFILM factories in Nanchang.

Its unclear whether the specific OFILM factory in Nanchang, visited twice for this story, supplies Apple, but it has the same address as one listed.

Another OFILM factory is located about half a mile away on a different street. Apple did not answer repeated requests for clarification on which factory it uses.

One of Beijing's five Apple stores, where iPhones using components sourced from OFILM are sold. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In an email, Apple said its code of conduct requires suppliers to 'provide channels that encourage employees to voice concerns.'

It said it interviews the employees of suppliers during annual assessments in their local language without their managers present, and had done 44,000 interviews in 2018.

Lenovo confirmed that it sources screens, cameras, and fingerprint scanners from OFILM but said it was not aware of the allegations and would investigate.

Lenovo also pointed to a 2018 audit by the Reliable Business Alliance in which OFILM scored very well.

The Chinese government vehemently rejects the idea that the labor program that helps provide OFILM with factory workers is abusive is 'groundless' and 'slander.' (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

All the companies that responded said they required suppliers to follow strict labor standards.

LG and Dell said they had 'no evidence' of forced labor in their supply chains but would investigate, as did Huawei. HP did not respond.

OFILM also lists as customers dozens of companies within China, as well as international companies it calls 'partners' without specifying what product it offers.

Some workers report that Chinese Muslims who work at the OFILM factory in Nanchang are prevented from taking prayer breaks at not allowed to wear religious head coverings. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

And it supplies PAR Technology, an American sales systems vendor to which it most recently shipped 48 cartons of touch screens in February, according to U.S. customs data obtained through ImportGenius and Panjiva, which track shipping data.

PAR Technology in turn says it supplies terminals to major chains such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Subway.

However, we were unable to confirm that products from OFILM end up with the fast food companies.

McDonalds said it has asked PAR Technology to discontinue purchases from OFILM while it launches an immediate investigation.

OFILM is listed as an official supplier for Apple, and it also produces screens, fingerprint scanners, and cameras for Lenovo products. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

PAR Technology also said it would investigate immediately. Subway and Taco Bell did not respond.

OFILM confirmed it received our requests for comment but did not reply.

Its website says the company 'answered the government's call' and went to Xinjiang to recruit minorities, as part of an effort to pull them from poverty and help them 'study and improve.'

It recruited more than 3,000 young men and women from Xinjiang starting in 2017.

A report Sunday from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, estimated that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred from Xinjiang to factories across China between 2017 and 2019.

The report said it found 'conditions that strongly suggest forced labor' consistent with International Labor Organization definitions.

The AP also reported a year ago that Uighur forced labor was being used within Xinjiang to make sportswear that ended up in the U.S.
Joe Biden was in the middle of delivering the victory speech of his life late Tuesday night when a pair of animal rights protesters thought they'd steal the spotlight.

As the former Vice President spoke, the duo jumped into the stage alongside him, waving signs and shouting: "Dairy must die.

Their moment of glory didn't last long. One protester found herself being pushed back by none other than the ex-Veep's wife, Dr Jill Biden, while the other was all but tackled by Symone Sanders, one of Biden's top staffers and an ex-Bernie press sec. Within seconds, the stage was clear and Biden was back at it.

Biden was kept safe by the quick reflexes of women, and the same can now be said for his presidential ambitions.

Of the 14 states which held nominating contests on "Super Tuesday, Biden won nine of them by pulling together the same coalition of suburban voters, black voters, and women who'd revived his once-moribund campaign with a blowout win in the Palmetto State's primary just three days earlier. He successfully extended his South Carolina "firewall" into a big, beautiful wall of Trumpian proportions, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico

The message voters sent on Tuesday wasn't lost on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who on Wednesday announced that he was ending his quest to be moderate Democrats' white knight after only managing to win the primary in American Samoa, where his sprawling operation had more people on staff than there were delegates to win.

The massive apparatus Bloomberg had built over a three-month span will now turn its attention to bolstering the fortunes of Biden, who Bloomberg endorsed as he exited the race.

And while Senator Sanders, his next-closest rival, came out on top in California, Colorado, Utah, and his home state of Vermont, it was Biden who emerged with a mandate from the voters who catapulted him to the vice-presidency as Barack Obama's trusted wingman just over a decade ago.

Tuesday's results were a massive refutation of Sanders strategy, which posits that a "political revolution" can be brought about by bringing in scores of previously unengaged voters to punch a ticket for him.

But hours after Bloomberg bowed out of the race, Sanders defiantly vowed to press on in his quest when he appeared at his Vermont headquarters for a "campaign update" Wednesday afternoon.

"I haven't seen the latest delegate count, but my guess is that after California is thrown into the hopper, it's going to be pretty close. We may be off by a few, but I think we go forward, basically neck-and-neck. And I very much look forward to getting on a plane tomorrow, going out west, and campaigning," he said.

Sanders predicted that the message of his "unprecedented" campaign would resonate with voters in states like Michigan because he is taking on "the entire corporate establishment" and the "entire political establishment which is "working frantically to try and defeat us."

He then lifted a page from Donald Trump's own playbook by launching into an attack against the assembled press.

"There has not been a campaign that has been having to deal with the kind of venom we're seeing from some in the corporate media," he said before deriding the most recent Democratic debate (hosted by CBS) as "insulting to the American people" and "a food fight about who could yell the loudest."

Continuing, Sanders railed against Biden, who he said is "obviously heavily supported by the corporate establishment," including "at least 60 billionaires  though the Vermont senator did not acknowledge that under US campaign finance laws, each of those billionaires is subject to the same limits on individual campaign contributions as any of his donors.

"Does anyone seriously believe that a president backed by the corporate world is going to bring about the changes in this country that working families and the middle class and low-income people desperately need?" he asked. Sanders also slammed Biden's support for improving the 2009 Affordable Care Act, which he said was evidence that the former Vice President "wants to maintain what I consider to be a dysfunctional and cruel healthcare system."

Asked about Bloomberg's exit, Sanders said the attention given Bloomberg was part of a media-led focus on stopping his "movement of working people and low-income people," and suggested that this morning's positive stock market numbers were the result of Biden's wins placating Wall Street.

Sanders continues to insist that his message will eventually result in massive turnout for his campaign. But Rachel Bitecofer, a political scientist who studies voter turnout models, told me that the large number of voters who turned out for Biden this year were a result of negative partisanship: the idea that voters turn out not to vote for a candidate, but against a candidate's opponent.

Bitecofer said Biden's landslide win in Virginia came by way of the large population of suburban, millennial, Generation Z, and college-educated voters there who make it fertile ground for Democrats looking to make Donald Trump a one-term president.

"It's basically patient zero for negative partisanship, and you can can see how that came alive last night," she said. "Turnout basically doubles over 2016. And the reason of course is because of Trump backlash."

"It's not because voters are inspired by Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders  it has nothing to the candidates," Bitecofer continued before adding that Virginia voters' preference for Biden stemmed from being risk-averse and "looking for stability and risk mitigation in terms of who they want to go up against Trump."

 Super Tuesday: Bernie Sanders speaks about winning the democratic nomination

"That's why we see this big preference for a moderate candidate, somebody who's well-positioned to take on Trump," she said, before adding that what is harming Sanders with voters is his insistence on labeling himself a "socialist."

"What really is harming Sanders is that socialist' is a step too far," she explained. "If Sanders could have fairly similar policy positions, be unabashedly liberal and not have that baggage of a 'socialist' label, I think he would have been in a better position."

"In 2016, having been in power for eight years, with the sense of inevitability for Democrats that they would stay in power, revolution was more attractive," she continued. "Being out of power, struggling to get back into power, facing a presidency that is as grating upon the institutional norms and the status quo as Trump's is, Democrats are much less inclined towards revolution [and] are looking much more towards a return to stability."

Michael Starr Hopkins, a Democratic strategist who served on former Maryland Congressman John Delaney's quixotic presidential campaign, said Democratic voters  particularly African American voters  coalesced around Biden because his recent debate performance and South Carolina victory eased the fears of those who'd been looking to Michael Bloomberg or Pete Buttigieg to carry the party's banner.

"If you look at the poll numbers, Biden is performing at 60 per cent-plus in African American communities all across the country. He's now winning suburban women. He's winning college-aged white women, he's winning older Latinos. That's the coalition that elected Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012," he said. "Biden's ability to put that coalition back together is launching him, while Sanders' inability to build a coalition outside of his supporters is what cost him in 2016 and what is now going to cost him in 2020."

Hopkins said that what is stopping Sanders from performing better among minority voters is his rigid insistence on ideological purity.

"I agree with Bernie Sanders on probably 60 to 70 per cent of the issues. I think that income inequality is a huge problem. I think the lack of healthcare and access to healthcare in our country is a huge problem. But there's this notion among Sanders supporters and in Sanders world that if you don't agree with everything that he says, then somehow you're a corporatist or you're part of this 'establishment,' and as someone who is running for Senate in Vermont as an independent while also running for president as a Democrat, that's hypocrisy at its best. It also creates a scenario where it becomes more difficult to bring in new voters," he said.

"You can't have a broad coalition made of people who agree with you 100 per cent of the time. That's not how coalitions work  there has to be some compromise."

Hopkins also slammed Sanders for tolerating figures in his orbit who engage in conspiratorial thinking and make wild accusations about "the establishment" conspiring against him.

"The idea that there is a conspiracy to stop Bernie Sanders from becoming the nominee is bulls**t, he said.

"Senator Sanders has more money than Joe Biden and a better ground game than Joe Biden, but what he doesn't have is a support of a large swath of Democrats. And as Michael Bloomberg proved, you can have the best ground game and you can have all the money, but if you don't have the support and the voters, you cant win. Bernie Sanders has historically shown that he has been unable to expand his support beyond his own supporters."

"When you have Shaun King and Nina Turner telling everyone who doesn't fall in line that somehow we are sellouts or somehow we're not real Democrats, it doesn't get you any goodwill," he added. You can't just be the Sanders party  you have to be part of the Democratic Party."

Hopkins added that Sanders' grievance-heavy strategy won't bear fruit with the kinds of voters he will need to win enough delegates to be Democratic nominee.

"Riling up the base and using anger and fear to turn out people works better for Republicans than it does for Democrats because in this cycle, we know that we're going to have to win by getting independents, by getting some disillusioned Republicans, and by turning out moderates who either stayed home last time or voted Trump," he said. "Sanders has been unable to get that coalition and his biggest problem, I think, is his belief that black people would turn out for him 'just because."

Tad Devine, a veteran Democratic strategist who advised Sanders during his first presidential campaign, said that Sanders' constant attacks on "the establishment" and tolerance of conspiracy theories were not going to be any more effective now than they have been at bringing in a majority of voters so far.

Devine said the argument that "the establishment" is out to cheat Sanders of the nomination is "preposterous" because the Senator's own people were intimately involved in crafting the rules for this year's contest, and because Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has bent over backwards to be fair.

"I think the Democratic Party as an institution has been more than fair, in terms of trying to accommodate the changes that Bernie wanted to make in the nominating process," he said, particularly the elimination of "superdelegates"  elected officials and party elders  on the first convention ballot.

"To take the superdelegates away from the first ballot, that's a gigantic change," he continued. "Some of the other procedural changes that they adopted to allow more participation by more people in the primary process are really big changes, so to suggest somehow that the process is unfair now, I just don't think those kind of charges have any credibility at all."

Devine also criticized Sanders for suggesting that the departure of Bloomberg and other so-called moderate candidates from the race was part of a deliberate ploy to rig the remaining primary contests.

"I just don't buy into this  I think Bernie is getting a fair shake. I think Tom Perez has done an excellent job as party chairman. They made the rules fair so that people could get in not just by their standing in the polls, but also by the measure of participation of people in their campaigns by contributing to it," he said. "So I think to suggest that this is somehow rigged or unfair, it's just wrong."

"I have tremendous respect for Bernie for what he's done. I think it's incredible, the issues that he's brought to the fore of the last campaign and to this one. But the voters get to decide this, and I think he's had a fair process."
BEIRUT - At least 15 civilians, including a child, were killed in Russian airstrikes after midnight on Thursday in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).



It said the strikes took place just outside the city of Maaret Misrin, where there was a group of displaced Syrians.



Meanwhile, the Turkish defence ministry issued a new bulletin in which it said Turkish forces had "neutralised" (killed or wounded) 184 Syrian government soldiers in the province over the past 24 hours.
This is the first case of the new coronavirus detected among Egyptians in Egypt, and the third in the country

Egypt confirmed the first coronavirus case in an Egyptian who had returned from Europe, the health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a joint statement on Thursday.

This is the third case of the flue-like virus detected in the country, with the first two registered in foreigners, one of whom has since recovered.

The affected Egyptian is a 44-year-old who arrived in the country from Serbia after a 12-hour transit via France, the Thursday statement said. He did not show any symptoms of COVID-19 upon his arrival but went to hospital after a few days after he started to develop minor symptoms.

The man tested positive on Thursday and is being transferred to an isolation hospital to be quarantined, the statement added.

The health ministry said it had immediately informed the World Health Organization. It added it is currently taking all preventive measures and conducting necessary checks for those who were in contact with the person.

All airports in Egypt remain on highest alert against coronavirus, it said.

The second case, confirmed earlier this week, is currently receiving medical care and is in a "stable condition", the ministry said.

Over 2,500 staff members at the company where the foreigner, a Canadian, was detected and other firms dealing with it are being placed under quarantine, Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Wednesday.

The ministry had tested more than 1,900 suspected coronavirus cases but all of them tested negative, she added.

The fast-spreading virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has so far killed over 3,000 people, and infected more than 93,000 others, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of the cases have so far been in China, although recent weeks has seen major new clusters develop in South Korea, Iran and Italy, among other countries.



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Partners Recognized for Achievements in Leveraging Technology Business Management to Drive Digital and Cloud Transformation

BELLEVUE, Washington, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Apptio, Inc., a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to help organizations analyze, plan and optimize technology investments, announced winners of the 2019 Apptio Partner of the Year awards.

This year, the awards recognized partners across the Americas and EMEA who provide advisory, configuration, implementation and ongoing management services, and go to market with Apptio to deliver business outcomes for customers. Recipients of the Apptio Partner of the Year awards demonstrate excellence in helping customers gain and act upon business-critical insights by deploying Apptio solutions in alignment with the Technology Business Management (TBM) and FinOps frameworks.

"Our partners play a vital role in helping customers connect technology investments to business value," said Dave Scholtz, vice president of global partner strategy and operations. "They are an increasingly integral part of our business. Every year, we proudly celebrate the impact our partners make in fueling business and technology transformations and shifting the way customers think about and manage IT."

Apptio's global network of partners include more than 150 leading technology companies, systems integrators, solution providers, and consulting and advisory firms.

The 2019 Apptio Partner of the Year winners include:

GLOBAL:

Innovation Partner of the Year - Accenture

AMERICAS:

Strategic Partner of the Year - Bain & Company

Cloud Partner of the Year - AWS Marketplace

Enterprise Partner of the Year - Advocate Insiders

Account Management Partner of the Year - Maryville Consulting Group

EMEA:

Strategic Partner of the Year - Accenture Strategy

Cloud Partner of the Year - AWS Marketplace

Regional Partner of the Year - IndiTango

To learn more about the Apptio partner program, please visit www.apptio.com/company/partners/.

About Apptio

Apptio fuels digital business transformation. Technology leaders use Apptio's machine learning to analyze and plan their technology spend so they can invest in products that increase the speed of business and deliver innovation. With Apptio, they translate raw costs, utilization, and billing data into business-centric views that help their organization optimize spending, plan strategically, and drive digital strategy that funds growth of the business. Technology leaders can gather instant recommendations that result in 30% saving on cloud services. For more information, please visit apptio.com.

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(Bloomberg) -- HP Inc. said it has rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from Xerox Holdings Corp. and has asked shareholders not to tender their shares.

The offer meaningfully undervalues HP and disproportionately benefits Xerox shareholders, the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Xeroxs urgency in launching the offer shows its desperation to acquire HP to address its continued business decline.

Xerox on Monday pitched HP investors on a cash-and-stock offer valued at about $24 a share at the time. For each HP share, a holder would receive $18.40 in cash and 0.149 Xerox shares. The offer is set to expire April 21, Norwalk, Connecticut-based Xerox said Monday in a statement. The offer valued HP at approximately $34 billion as of Wednesday.

HP shares were down about 1% at 9:52 a.m. in New York Thursday to $21.37. Xerox fell 4.7%.

Xerox, which is much smaller than HP with a market value of about $7 billion, had already raised its bid from a cash-and-stock offer of about $22 per share in November. The deal is fueled with financing from from Citigroup Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., PNC Bank, Credit Agricole, Truist Financial Corp. and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. for the cash portion.

A spokesperson for Xerox declined to comment on HPs rejection.

Read more: Xerox and HP Are in a $35 Billion Fight Over Ink Cartridges

HP, which has a large printing business, has said in the past that it has many routes to create value that arent dependent on a combination with Xerox. Chief Executive Officer Enrique Lores is still new to HPs top job, and has sought to make his mark on a company hes worked at for more than three decades.

Lores wants to make printing services, 3-D printing and high-end computers a larger part of HPs business, and would oversee as much as a 16% reduction in the companys workforce in a bid to cut costs. The company has been frugal since splitting with server maker Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. in 2015, avoiding big mergers and acquisitions and returning capital to shareholders.

Story continues

Xerox CEO John Visentin has criticized this plan as a piecemeal approach that wont be as beneficial to HP as a combination.

Xerox already had started a proxy fight, nominating 11 candidates for HPs board to help close the deal. The two hardware giants have withered in a world increasingly driven by software, with less demand for printed documents. Xerox has argued the tie-up would revive both companies and unlock about $2 billion in synergies.

(Updates with no comment from Xerox in sixth paragraph)

To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Thomson in London at athomson6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi on Thursday contended that the convicts have exhausted all the legal remedies.

Speaking to ANI, she said, "The four convicts have exhausted all legal remedies. I hope that a fresh death warrant will be issued by the court today."

Yesterday she thanked President Ram Nath Kovind for rejecting the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the case.

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.
The state of Oregon will receive $500,000 from the federal government to fight the spread of coronavirus.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Oregons funding late Wednesday.

The announcement did not say how much other states, such as Washington and California, will receive. Spokespeople for the agency did not immediately respond to a request for information.

The money comes from an initial $25 million allotment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for states taking on the brunt of coronavirus cases. Oregon has three confirmed or presumed cases and the number nationally has topped 150.

Gov. Kate Brown has said the state expects to spend $7 million to $10 million a month if the epidemic spreads in Oregon.

The federal money is supposed to be used for monitoring travelers, data management, lab equipment, supplies, staffing and surge staffing, shipping and infection control.

Oregons congressional delegation lauded the initial funding. They said even more will flow to Oregon when federal lawmakers pass an emergency funding package, which could happen Thursday.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oreogonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
CAMDEN, N.Y. -- Three Oneida County men were arrested Tuesday after utility crews witnessed a burglary in Camden, according to New York State Police.

Police responded to a building on State Route 69 in Camden on Tuesday after being called to the scene by a utility crew who believed they saw a burglary in progress, state police said.

The utility crew confronted several men and two men fled into a nearby wooded area, according to police. A third man fled into a pick-up truck, police said. The driver of the pick-up truck eventually found the other two men, police said.

New York State environmental conservation police, the Oneida County Sheriffs Office and state police found the mans car and the three men, who were then arrested, according to police.

Troopers found what the men are accused of stealing on them, police said.

The following men were arrested:

Adam P. Willson, 39, of Taberg, was charged with third-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana

Cory L. Sauer, 35, of Camden, was charged with third-degree burglary

Christopher A. Walker, 32, of Westdale, was charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation

The men were arraigned in Oneida County centralized arraignment court and released.
The Odisha government on



Thursday issued an advisory to schools to create awareness among students about common preventive interventions like hand hygiene and respiratory etiquettes.

Till date, 129 travellers who have returned from countries in the grip of coronavirus after January 15, have been identified and kept under home quarantine, officials said.

Odisha has not reported any positive case so far, a bulletin issued by the health and family welfare department said.

Meanwhile, the condition of four suspected cases of coronavirus -- two at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, one each at VIMSAR, Burla and another in Keojhar district -- remained stable.

"The blood and swab samples of the four persons, including a woman, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune," a senior official said.

The Odisha School Programme Authority (OSEPA) has issued an advisory to all district officers (DEOs), district project coordinators (DPCs) and block officers (BEOs) to spread awareness about the deadly Covid-19.

"Preventive interventions such as frequent hand wash, respiratory etiquettes (including using handkerchief over mouth while coughing/sneezing, avoiding public gatherings) would help in preventing/reducing transmission of not only this disease, but also large number of other communicable diseases," the advisory said.

Earlier, the state government had issued a workplace advisory for government employees.

Puri District Collector Balwant Singh has also asked hotels in the pilgrim town to exercise caution on accommodating foreign travellers.

About 500 foreign nationals, mostly from Italy, Japan and France visit Puri every month, Singh said.

Another senior official said the Biju Patnaik International Airport on Thursday installed scanning facility for passengers.

"The passengers will have to undergo thermal scanning and a team of doctors have been deployed at the airport," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Troubled times: Tourists relax on Thursday on Kuta Beach, Bali, despite the volume of trash washed up. The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has had a serious impact on tourist destinations across Indonesia.(JP/Zul Trio Anggono)

When Ketut Suarsa Dipa, 41, heard about an outbreak caused by a new strain of coronavirus in China in January, he was not particularly concerned.

But as the virus, later called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and which causes the COVID-19 disease, spread fast across the globe and dramatically reduced the number of foreign tourists coming to Bali, the freelance driver began to worry about whether he would earn enough for his family and perhaps even the possibility of getting infected himself.

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[March 05, 2020] Manipal Hospitals Addresses Popular Healthcare Notions With Quirky #DoctorWithSign Campaign

JAIPUR, India, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' is probably the earliest piece of healthcare advice we ever receive. Yet, no matter how consistent you are in eating apples throughout your life, the role of a doctor cannot be discounted when it comes to expert consultation and being extra sure about your health. Common notions associated with the medical fraternity create a mental block in most people that stops them from accessing healthcare at the right time. #DoctorWithSign uses quirky, snackable content on real images to address these notions and change people's perspective on hospitals, doctors and healthcare in general. Manipal Hospitals' social media agency Social Panga tapped on to a popular trend to deliver the message loud and clear. The campaign showcases doctors from the Jaipur unit of Manipal Hospitals holding up placards which read quirky messages like "Our handwriting is readable, ask your pharmacist" and "Stop getting scared of injections". Putting doctors at the core of the campaign truly champions them as changemakers. This creates a one-to-one connection between the audience and the doctors, and also ties the Manipal Hospitals brand back to the campaign. Some placards really hit home, addressing the popular millennial behaviour of 'diagnosing symptoms on Google', something we have all been guilty of attempting at some pint in our life.



The campaign's reach was 5x higher on Instagram, while the campaign's reach was 8x higher on Facebook. Not only did the campaign reach a higher number of users on social media, but also received 20x engagement on Instagram and 9x engagement on Facebook, in comparison to the page's average engagement on the platforms. The engagement rate for the campaign was 58%, which was an increase of 41% from the average engagement rate of 17% on Instagram. Manipal Hospitals and Social Panga have done a stellar job of showing the quirky and amicable side of doctors to users and audiences. Hopefully, this will ease existing notions about hospitals and healthcare and encourage more people to visit the doctor!

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:11:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- In 2019, 59 percent of German companies with a fixed broadband connection had fast internet access, 8 percentage points higher compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Thursday.

"The goal must be to expand the digital infrastructure, also with government support, to enable every company to connect to the internet at the necessary speed," Christian Rusche, economist at the German Economic Institute (IW) told Xinhua on Thursday.

Most companies in Germany were not concentrated in large cities, but were located in rural areas where "the digital infrastructure usually needs to be expanded", added Rusche.

According to Destatis, the average share of companies with fast internet access in the European Union was around 5 percentage points below than in Germany and amounted to 54 percent in 2019.

At the top of the list of European countries with fast internet access was Denmark with 87 percent, followed by Sweden and the Netherlands, according to Destatis.

Fast internet access as defined by Destatis as a fixed broadband connection with a contractually agreed data transmission rate of at least 30 megabits per second (Mbit/s), was least common among companies in France with 33 percent, followed by Croatia and Italy with 41 percent each.

Rusche stressed that "digital networking with other companies and with other economies is becoming increasingly important for the German economy" in order to reduce costs, increase productivity and develop new business models.
The global IT industry must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreements global-warming targets, the United Nations peak telecommunications body has warned as it releases the first standard designed to help the industry meet those targets.

The new standard  ITU L.1470, called GHG emissions trajectories for the ICT sector compatible with the UNFCCC Paris Agreement  was developed with the support of the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and in collaboration with the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), GSMA and SBTi.

It offers authoritative guidance on the pathway towards net zero emissions for the ICT industry, ITU secretary-general Houlin Zhao said in announcing the standard, which targets operators of mobile networks, fixed networks, and data centres.

SBTIs science-based target approach has gained global traction, with 817 companies signed on  including 29 industry groups representing 30 per cent of mobile connections worldwide.

Australian giant Atlassian last year joined 86 peers in committing to science-based targets with a policy that would require it to run on 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025, and achieve net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.

Telstra, for its part, this month updated its own climate-change targets with a significant acceleration of its climate-change efforts that include becoming carbon neutral this year, enabling renewable energy generation that offsets its energy consumption by 2025, and halving carbon emissions by 2030.

Its no token commitment: Telstra consumed 5.9 petajoules (5.9 billion megajoules) of energy last year and emitted 1.3m tonnes of greenhouse gases, according to CEO Andy Penn  who called climate change the defining challenge of the 2020s.

The science is clear, he wrote. Climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions, is creating risks that impact our economy, our environment, our communities and each of us individually.

Weighing the real problem

Telstra, Optus and other IT companies have generally been left to set their own climate-change plans and targets.

Their efforts have been independently evaluated by the likes of global organisation CDP, which has been tracking, collating and scoring climate-change plans from over 8,400 companies (including over 200 Australian firms) as well as 800 cities and 120 different states and geographic regions.

With a formal international standard now in place, IT companies now have a better idea of the degree of action necessary to reach the Paris Agreements global targets.

Yet its not always clear just how much the IT industry actually contributes to climate change, with activists happy to point the finger at everything from operating cloud data centres to watching movies on Netflix.

Carbon think-tank The Shift Project last year published a study by climate and computer-modelling engineer Maxime Efoui-Hess that claimed digital consumption was responsible for 4 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions  and was increasing by 9 per cent annually on the back of carbon-spewing online video services.

Yet the Shift Projects conclusion  that all online video sources were producing over 300m tonnes of CO2 annually  was challenged in a recent analysis that suggested the report had exaggerated real-world figures by a factor of up to 60.

Whatever the real numbers, increasingly proactive IT companies recognise the potential benefits  financial, operational, and PR among others  of slashing their carbon consumption and embracing a leaner, more efficient way of operating.

Although data-centre energy consumption is said to be doubling every four years, one recent Informa survey found that energy efficiency is still a low priority for data-centre operators that often had no idea about how efficient their facilities are.

There is hope: a study published last month found that data centres consume around 1 per cent of the worlds energy  but that, despite a more than five-fold increase in computing power between 2010 and 2018, overall energy consumption only grew by 6 per cent over that time due to increasingly energy-efficient computer designs.

With government, or despite it

Erratic Australian government policies puts the onus on Paris Agreement action squarely on IT companies  a far cry from the situation in Europe, where regulators are finalising an aggressive regulatory and action plan for data-centre operators broadly expected to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

That timeframe echoes the parameters of the new ITU standard  as well as those of Australias own 2030 climate change policy, which now targets around 50 per cent reduction in per capita emissions by 2030.

Yet those policies, the government concedes, are under review even as critics lambaste a long history of inaction and independent observers rate Australias climate-change policies as insufficient.

Australias current policies are not in line with any interpretation of a fair approach to... the Paris Agreements 1.5C limit, the Climate Action Tracker concludes.

By leaning forward into the Paris Agreement  which the United States has rejected and the Morrison government is attempting to meet through creative accounting  technology companies have set an ambitious agenda that will be fuelled by improvements in technology efficiency, renewable power generation, and management.

Yet even the biggest companies admit theyre still pushing uphill in the short term: Atlassian, for one, is currently running on 15 per cent renewable energy  so increasing this to 100 per cent, across a network of offices in 7 countries, head of strategy and sustainability Jessica Hyman admits, is new territory for Atlassian.

Telstras Penn is similarly pragmatic as he pushes the company to bring forward its aggressive emissions-reduction targets.

We recognise that we do not have all of the answers on how we will achieve this, he admitted, but our intent is clear, our ambition is set, and we are committed to achieving it.
Elizabeth Warren is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race after her disappointing finish on Super Tuesday, according to multiple reports.

The Massachusetts senator plans to end her presidential campaign on Thursday, a person close with her told the New York Times.

When entering the race in February 2019, Ms Warren came in as someone who vowed to end corruption in Washington and push forward her many policy plans to improve the country.

Her policies veered closer to the left side of the Democratic Party, as she advocated for a Medicare For All plan similar to that of Bernie Sanders and paying off college debt for students. Another priority from the progressive candidate was to show how a political campaign could be built on a grassroots movement through accepting small-dollar donors over campaign fundraisers.

Although she gained support early into the race, which catapulted her to the top of the candidate list, the senator saw her path to the nomination dwindle after the Iowa caucus, where she placed third.

New Hampshire and Nevada followed closely behind, and Ms Warren dropped down to a fourth. In South Carolina, she came in fifth.

The senator and her campaign still held out hope momentum from Super Tuesday could propel her to take on frontrunners like Mr Sanders and compete for the nomination. But the landscape of the Democratic candidates quickly changed following the South Carolina primary when both Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race.

The dropouts, and their subsequent endorsements of Joe Biden, catapulted the former vice president to frontrunner position on Super Tuesday where he won the most delegates.

Ms Warren was left forgotten by voters as it became a race between Mr Biden and Mr Sanders for voters in a majority of the 14 states. In her own state of Massachusetts, Ms Warren took third and only earned 23 of the 91 available delegates.

After the news broke on Thursday, President Donald Trump decided to add his take on Twitter.

"Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mikes head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary...THREE DAYS TOO LATE. She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass,' he wrote.

The senator dropping out of the race comes after billionaire Mike Bloomberg announced on Wednesday he would be halting his campaign over his own dismal finish on Super Tuesday. He then went on to endorse Mr Biden for the nomination.

There has been no indication on if Ms Warren will endorse Mr Biden or Mr Sanders. On Wednesday, Mr Sanders said he spoke over the phone with the candidate about her campaign but she gave no hint on if she would leave the race or give him an endorsement.

It is unlikely her support would go behind the vice president, though, given he is more moderate position compared to her progressive views. Ms Warren has also been outspoken that she does not believe the candidate could take on the sitting president in November.

I respect his years of service, she said Monday night during a rally in Los Angeles. But no matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating their fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment.

She added Mr Biden wanted to "restore the world before Donald Trump".

If she endorses anyone it would likely be Mr Sanders, and the support could give him a boost after a number of more moderate candidates put their backing behind the vice president. But Ms Warren has also been vocal about her fellow progressive in the last few months of the race to distance herself from his policies.

Now with the senator out of the race, Mr Sanders could pick up her more progressive voters as he attempts to play catch-up with Mr Biden with the number of delegates still available.
TAIPEI, March 5 (Reuters) - Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn reported its biggest monthly drop in revenue in about seven years on Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak continued to play havoc with its business.

The Taiwanese company, which assembles Apple's iPhones, saw revenue sink 18.1% in February compared with a year earlier - the biggest monthly fall since March 2013 and the third straight month of decline. It warned the coronavirus epidemic would hit its bottom line in the first quarter.

Foxconn is among manufacturers worldwide grappling with virus-related curbs that have disrupted supply chains and dampened demand. Apple, its top client, rescinded its March quarter sales guidance, citing a slower ramp up of manufacturing in China amid travel restrictions and an extended Lunar New Year break.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said in a stock exchange filing that revenue fell to T$217.5 billion ($7.28 billion) in February.

The company, whose share price has dropped nearly 10% this year, warned earlier this week that revenue would fall more than 15% in businesses including consumer electronics and telecommunications products in the first quarter. But it added that revenue would recover thereafter as production returns to normal in virus-hit China.

The company said it did not expect to see any revenue growth in the first half and made a "mild downward revision" from its original guidance of "slight growth" for the year due to the coronavirus.

Foxconn has pledged to resume normal production in China, its top manufacturing base, by the end of March.

Any significant disruption at Foxconn would cloud Apple's timeline for new phones.

The flu-like virus, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries. There are now over 95,300 cases worldwide and more than 3,200 people have died, most of them in China, according to a Reuters tally.

($1 = 29.8620 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Pravin Char)
The new coronavirus that is spreading across the globe like a wildfire has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation. With a new case being reported in Ghaziabad on Thursday, India's COVID-19 count has reached to 30 now. Everyone including, Bollywood celebrities are taking precautions.

Taking to social media, Salman Khan urged people to not shake hands or hug each other amid the coronavirus scare in India. 'Namashkaar ... hamari sabhyata mein namaste aur salaam hai! Jab #coronavirus Khatam ho jaye tab Haath milao aur gale lago....,'' he wrote on Twitter as he shared a photo flaunting his chiseled physique.



Some days ago, Anupam Kher had also urged people to switch to Namaste in order to avoid coronavirus.

Of late I am being told by lots of people to keep washing hands to prevent any kind of infection. I do that in any case. But also want to suggest the age old Indian way of greeting people called #Namaste. It is hygienic, friendly & centres your energies. Try it.  #caronavirus pic.twitter.com/ix7e6S8Abp  Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) March 3, 2020

"Of late I am being told by lots of people to keep washing hands to prevent any kind of infection. I do that in any case. But also want to suggest the age-old Indian way of greeting people called #Namaste. It is hygienic, friendly & centres your energies. Try it." he captioned the video.



Earlier, Deepika Padukone had also called off her visit at the ongoing Paris Fashion Week due to coronavirus scare. Baahubali fame Prabhas and Ayushmann Khurrana's wife Tahira Kashyap were spotted wearing masks at Chennai airport and in Delhi respectively.










Is it stockpiling hysteria? Or prudent preparation? Whatever the cause, our interest in the humble toilet roll has skyrocketed since the coronavirus reached Australian shores.

As supermarket shelves emptied and Woolworths, Coles and some IGA stores moved to introduce a purchase limit, toilet paper became the top-trending topic in Australia on Google on Tuesday.

By Wednesday the top-trending topics on Twitter in Australia were #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis.

Google searches for toilet paper were up 670 per cent and 650 per cent in NSW and Victoria respectively.
The provincial government and union representing workers at the Dauphin Correctional Centre have reached an agreement on next steps for employees at the soon-to-close jail.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Protesters march toward the Dauphin Correctional Centre last month in response to news of the jail's impending closure. (File)

The provincial government and union representing workers at the Dauphin Correctional Centre have reached an agreement on next steps for employees at the soon-to-close jail.

According to a statement sent out Wednesday afternoon by Minister of Justice and Attorney General Cliff Cullen, the agreement with the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union is to offer employment for the 80 jail staff who want to continue working for the provincial government and help for those who want to get other jobs.

"We have also agreed on a plan to support staff who may choose to relocate, as well as those who want to stay in Dauphin. We worked with the union to conclude this agreement within a month from the date we informed the employees and their union of the decision," the statement reads.

Also in a statement, the MGEU called Cullens statement "damage control."

"Yes, our union worked hard to get an agreement on how the job cuts will be managed; it is our legal and moral responsibility to get the best arrangements for all of our members. But unless this government reverses this short-sighted decision, there will still be 80 fewer good jobs in the Dauphin community," a press release from the

union reads.

Cullen announced in late January the 103-year-old provincial jail in Dauphin will be closing at the end of May. At the same time, the province announced a major $11-million renovation, which is set to increase the number of holding cells in the courthouse, enhanced security and improved accessibility.

The announcement sparked backlash across the region in response to the news that the correctional officer jobs would be leaving the city, including a protest by the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union that saw hundreds of people march through Dauphin.

Municipal leaders in the Parkland area have expressed concern with the economic and societal impact of the jobs leaving the region. In a Wednesday afternoon teleconference, Cullen said ministers would be meeting with municipal officials in the coming days to discuss economic development opportunities in the region.

Robert Brunel, mayor of the Municipality of Ste. Rose, said there is still lots about the jails closure that is unknown, including how many people can still get jobs locally. He said the group that is meeting with ministers is hoping for answers, including where and how the former jail employees will be employed.

Despite the agreement, there will still be jobs and people leaving the region as a direct result of the jails closure, he said.

"From the sounds of it, there will be some people relocating out of the Parkland area to take jobs at other facilities, so thats still a loss of a job in the area," Brunel said. "At the end of the day, well still see people being displaced."

The MGEU has called for the decision to close the jail to be reversed, but the provincial government is pushing on with the plan. Cullen said the decision to close the jail was not taken lightly and said keeping it open is not an option.

"We believe its the right decision for this particular facility, the red flags the warning have been there for a number of years. No one has taken that decision and we have taken that decision," Cullen said.

Government funding will be provided to train staff who want to stay with the provincial government, but on Wednesday Cullen couldnt say how much that would cost.

The provincial government originally said the jail would close at the end of May, but Cullen said the date is flexible. Many inmates are transitioning out of the jail over the next few months, but Cullen would not commit to a firm closing date on Wednesday.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Together with scientists from Paris and Munich, a team of researchers working under Prof. Dr. Johannes Hegemann and Dr. Katja Moelleken has published these findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

There are two types of Chlamydia that infect humans: Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn). The former trigger sexual diseases, while Cpn lead to acute infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract. Cpn are also linked to various chronic diseases such as bronchitis and asthma as well as to lung cancer, Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis. The majority of the German population will be infected with these bacteria over the course of their lives.

In order to invade the human cell, the Chlamydia must first penetrate the human cell's membrane, known as the 'plasma membrane' (PM). The membrane comprises a lipid bilayer with proteins stored inside. By indenting parts of the PM, the cell can absorb fluid and particles from its environment into the cell interior, a process referred to as 'endocytosis'.

Pathogens such as Chlamydia, which also need to get inside the cell, hijack the endocytosis mechanism for their own ends. Prof. Dr. Johannes Hegemann's working group at the HHU Institute of Functional Microbial Genomics has now identified a chlamydial protein that plays the decisive role in penetration of Cpn into the human cell. The protein is named SemC, and it was discovered by Dr. Gido Murra from Prof. Hegemann's working group.

In a first step, the Chlamydium succeeds in secreting SemC into the host cell. The fellow researchers from the Pasteur Institute in Paris were able to demonstrate that SemC is transported directly by the bacterium into the cell interior using a mechanism employed by many pathogenic bacteria that resembles a 'protein needle'. Once inside the cell, the protein binds to the inner side of the PM and changes its structure locally. This changes the design of the membrane, bending it more than normal. Dr. Katja Moelleken has this to say: "With SemC, we have discovered the very first protein of an infectious agent that is able to change the PM in this way."

The more pronounced membrane curvature triggered by SemC then causes the body's own protein SNX9 to bind to this site, where it binds both to the curved membrane and to the SemC waiting there, thus amplifying the curvature even more. The SNX9 protein is essential for the endocytosis processes in human cells, as it builds up the actin cytoskeleton at the indented PM. The binding of SNX9 to the PM, caused by SemC, then allows the Chlamydium to penetrate the cell from the outside through a process of endocytosis at the curved part of the PM and to continue to multiply inside the cell. "The structure of the PM of the host cell is therefore an important factor in facilitating the infection of a cell by the pathogen," emphasises Dr. Sebastian Haensch. And Dominik Spona adds: "In this way, the bacterium basically creates its own door into the cell."

The research group has found further important evidence of the interaction between SNX9 and SemC induced by Cpn. The scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Munich created human cells in which the quantity of SNX9 protein had been heavily reduced. Dominik Spona explains: "In these cells, it was much more difficult for Cpn to use endocytosis to penetrate the plasma membrane and to infect the cell."

The discovery opens up new possibilities for treating chlamydial infections and for developing targeted vaccines to fight off the bacteria at an early stage. Head of the working group, Prof. Hegemann, says: "Once the precise mechanism has been decoded, potential points of attack can be identified for blocking this mechanism, for example by inhibiting the binding of SemC to the PM or to the body's own SNX9 protein."

###

The research work in Duesseldorf took place as part of a Manchot doctoral scholarship and a doctoral scholarship from the Duesseldorf Entrepreneurs Foundation. Other parts emerged within the framework of collaboration between Duesseldorf-based Collaborative Research Centre 1208 (SFB 1208) and the Center for Advanced Imaging.

Original publication

Sebastian Haensch, Dominik Spona, Gido Murra, Karl Koehrer, Agathe Subtil, Ana Rita Furtado, Stephan F. Lichtenthaler, Bastian Dislich, Katja Moelleken, and Johannes H. Hegemann, Chlamydia-induced curvature of the host-cell plasma membrane is required for infection, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jan 21.

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911528117

See also: Andrea Du Toit, Bend out of shape. Research Highlight in: Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2020 Feb 21.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-0339-6


BAHAMAS: Cruising a Sea of Labor Complaints The International Ship Registry of the Bahamas provided a flag to the notorious single-hulled oil tanker Prestige. In spite of this individual embarrassment, international regulators consider the registry one of the better flags of convenience. It is also the world's largest cruise ship registry, which has attracted negative attention from international labor organizations. According to these groups, cruise lines choose to fly the Bahamian flag in order to avoid the more stringent labor regulations that would apply if they were registered in the United States or other countries where the cruise industry is owned and based. Representatives of the Bahamian registry state that the Bahamian Merchant Marine Shipping Act, which includes provisions on labor, is based upon shipping law in the United Kingdom and offers substantial legal protection for maritime workers. However, the registry does not require ships flying the Bahamian flag to employ Bahamians and admits that this enables ship owners to hire less expensive labor, from countries such as the Philippines, India and Indonesia. (More than 40 percent of the workers on board Bahamian ships are from the Philippines.) Labor law protections may also be weaker in these countries than in the Bahamas or the ship owner's home country. Major cruise lines flagged in the Bahamas include Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines. According to the International Transport Workers' Federation, more than a third of the workers on board cruise ships work 10- to 12-hour days, seven days a week. And on board Disney and Carnival cruise ships, for example, where there are no union agreements, employees receive no compensation for the large amount of overtime labor. These hours are considered "normal working hours." In addition, recruiting agents employed by some cruise ship companies have been alleged to charge workers between US$1,500 and US$2,000 to find them a job, a practice that is strictly forbidden by international maritime law. The end result can be that many workers spend their first few months working off an enormous debt -- what union officials consider a state of indentured servitude. Officials from the cruise industry generally deny these charges. According to one Carnival representative, working on board a cruise ship offers employees "a positive and comfortable working environment and an opportunity to earn tremendously higher wages than they can in their homeland." PERKS OF THE REGISTRY Ship owners seeking the Bahamian flag do not have to be based in the Bahamas, and offshore profits are not taxed. They are not required to disclose any details of their company when they register and are guaranteed that these details cannot be accessed through public records. WHAT THE REGULATORS SAY The Bahamian flag has been given "good" performance ratings by analysts from the University of Cardiff's Seafarers International Research Center for its operations and fleet maintenance. In addition, Bahamian ships have low detention ratings in the United States and Europe. However, the agencies giving these ratings as well as major international labor organizations say the registry does a poor job of protecting employee rights and welfare. A MEMBER OF THE FLEET: THE DESTINY Destiny is one of eight Bahamian-flagged ships operated by Carnival Cruise Lines. The ship can accommodate 2,600 passengers. It takes 1,050 crew members to cater to these guests during their weeklong tours of the Caribbean. According to an article published in the Miami Herald in February 2000, a cook on board the Destiny was required to work a 14-hour day, seven days a week, for the duration of her contract, approximately nine months. For this, the cook earned US$150 per week, or US$1.50 per hour for a 98-hour week. The International Labor Organization's minimum wage and standard is US$465 per week for 10-hour days, seven days a week. Another article in 2002, in the Los Angeles Times, describes the schedules and pay for janitors, bartenders and other low-level hotel-type staff as similar. When asked if these hours and wages are still accurate, a Carnival representative stated that the company does not disclose salaries for either shore-side or shipboard employees. The representative also said, "Cruise lines offer significantly higher wages than employees can typically earn in their home country and that is why there are thousands of people lining up for jobs within the cruise industry." According to statistics gathered by the International Transport Workers' Federation, however, the average length of time that employees remain on board a cruise ship has dropped from an average of five years in 1970 to nine months in 2000. This suggests that there is high employee turnover and that few employees are choosing to stay beyond their initial contract.  Introduction

 Belize: Where Have All the Fish Pirates Gone?

 Bahamas: Cruising a Sea of Labor Complaints

 Panama: Home of "Convenience"

 Tonga: Closed for Security Concerns

 Liberia: Ruling the Waves From Virginia back to top


The response to Gov. Greg Abbotts announcement of a program offering the survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence the chance for pardons from crimes related to their abuse may have said it all.

The phones at the nonprofit Lone Star Justice Alliance were so jammed with applicants seeking information that the office had to temporarily turn them off.

This is more than an application for clemency, Elizabeth Henneke, executive director of the nonprofit group focused on criminal justice reform, told the Chronicle. This tells people that they can hope again. That their communities arent throwing them away behind prison gates to be labeled with a scarlet letter of a felony or misdemeanor for the rest of their lives.

It is a policy change that could actually transform lives, families and communities.

Abbott said the shift is laying out a true path to redemption and restoration ... because it offers a second chance to survivors with criminal convictions resulting from their abuse or exploitation.

The rhetoric is not overblown. A criminal record can make it harder to get a job, a home or further education, setting up roadblocks that advocates say can force the person back into a cycle of crime.

A pardon doesnt erase the criminal record but it does restore some rights and open the door to seeking expungement of the record, keeping it out of applications for jobs, school and housing.

So the governors decision this week was widely applauded by groups involved in helping survivors get their lives back on track.

It came as a surprise to some after the governor vetoed legislation last session that would have set up a similar process for clemency requests through a panel of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He also rejected a bill that would have prohibited children under 17 years old from being charged with prostitution, a failure that still needs to be corrected.

The reasoning for his vetoes was fuzzy at the time, with references to unintended consequences and inadvertently giving traffickers a perverse incentive to use underage prostitutes, knowing they cannot be arrested for engaging in prostitution. Still, it is encouraging to see the governor does realize who the victims are in sex trafficking and domestic violence cases.

The process he has outlined is rigorous enough to reassure those who fear abuse claims will become a get out of jail free card.

Applicants seeking a pardon for felonies, misdemeanors or deferred adjudication will have to include three letters of recommendation along with the court record of their convictions.

The most common trafficking-related crimes involve selling drugs and engaging in prostitution but can also include helping commit other crimes, such as driving a trafficker to an armed robbery or recruiting others into prostitution.

The abuse-related crimes include assault against an abuser, often in self-defense or in trying to flee. It also can involve charges of kidnapping when the victim is trying to remove children from a violent situation.

The Board of Pardons and Paroles staff will seek input from prosecutors as well as the victims services division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The board will determine if the crimes were committed while under the grips of a trafficker or an abusive partner and whether the applicant is worthy of clemency. If a majority of the seven-member board agrees, the request will then go to the governor for the final decision.

The truth is that many of the people who have survived these abusive and manipulative situations can contribute to their families and communities if they are freed from the burden of a criminal record.

So many are pulled into a cycle of crime as a direct result of their abuse, Abbott said in making the announcement. We want to end that.

The governors clemency program is a large step forward.
Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu sent a letter to Russian prosecutor general and Roskomnadzor in connection with Vladimir Khomyakov's article entitled 'Russians, do not leave, we need slaves and prostitutes' published on the website of the Russian Tsargrad TV information and analytical channel on February 26, 2020, the Azerbaijani embassy in Russia said.



"In connection with a biased article which openly distorts the events of January 20, 1990, the letters signed by Polad Bulbuloglu were sent to Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov and Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Mass Communications Alexander Zharov," the message said.



"According to the letters, the issue related to the 'Bloody January' events is very sensitive for the Azerbaijani people. The political and legal assessment was given to these tragic events upon the order of the Azerbaijani parliament on March 29, 1994. January 20 was declared a nationwide day of sorrow," the embassy stressed.



"During the high-level state visits, foreign guests, including the president of the Russian Federation, the foreign minister, as well as other Russian officials, visit the Alley of Martyrs, lay wreaths there and revere the memory of martyrs. Such article is aimed at sowing enmity and hatred between the Azerbaijani and Russian peoples," the statement added.



"Taking into account the abovementioned statement, the ambassador requested to check whether the requirements of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code and Article 10.6 of the Federal Law 'On Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information' dated July 27, 2006 are violated or not," the embassy noted.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 22:12:14|Editor: xuxin

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NAIROBI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Eastern African nations are anticipated to earn 184 billion shillings (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in welfare gains from the successful implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), says a United Nations report released on Thursday.

According to the report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the continental free trade could boost eastern African trade by between 737 million dollars and 1.1 billion dollars and in the process creating more than two million new jobs.

Currently, 54 out of the 55 African Union member states have signed the AfCFTA, which is expected to become operational from July 2020.

The findings indicate that the sector expected to benefit greatly from the pan African trade pact is manufacturing, as regional firms increase their capacity to satisfy the larger market.

The review estimates that with eastern African firms exporting more, the region will earn more on the strength of higher exports of processed food, textiles, clothing and light manufacturing.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 80 percent of the region's businesses but struggle to penetrate foreign markets, are expected to get a major boost by the new trade deal as regional value chains emerge," says the UNECA report.
Joe Biden is someone Ive known for many years. I like Joe, I think he is a very decent human being, Sanders told reporters Wednesday. Joe and I, we have a very different voting record. Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country, and Joe and I are running very different campaigns, and my hope is, in the coming months, well be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have.
I'm stuck in Italy with 3,090 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 107 dead, 276 recovered. Stuck? Lucky you, they say. But no. An enforced absence when there are work deadlines to be met, cats to be minded, mouths to be fed is not ideal.

Also, virus fear is creeping along the peninsula. The nonchalance is gone, along with thousands of American students hauled back by their colleges across the Atlantic.

The streets are eerie, hotels deserted, galleries abandoned.

Containing the virus is critical now. The containment window is closing.

On Tuesday, the government confined the elderly to their homes, announced a national ban on handshakes and the two-kiss greeting. Crowds are to be avoided. Everyone must keep a metre of personal space.

In the north, schools and universities are closed for weeks. Yesterday, the shut-down went national. The atmosphere is sombre. People are edgy. With dodgy lungs, I cough a bit. In public, I am considering a leper bell.

The 3,090 confirmed-case figure does not include the tens of thousands of Italians in quarantine or precautionary home isolation. And no, there's no panic at that number. It's stressful for families living with the restriction in their movement, but generally, people are sensible, responsible.

Apart from a few escapees from the locked-down 'red zone' in the north - promptly arrested and returned - the community senses that there's a dangerous virus to be contained, so better safe than sorry. Are there black crosses daubed on their doors, flaming cordons, vigilante patrols? No. People are giving interviews, for sure. But are media packs slavering over their privacy? Not a bit of it.

The civil protection authority and other official bodies give daily updates on the virus situation, citing numbers of new cases, deaths, recoveries.

Each case is cited according to precise location, be it town or city.

The same clarity applies to tests being done; how many, where. The results are announced as they come in. The public knows exactly where the virus is. The official attitude is no secrecy, no shame.

In addition, all virus-related actions and accidents, be they school closures or patient recalls, are identified to the public as a matter of course. For example, this week in Tor Vergata Hospital in Rome, 98 A&E patients were recalled, with 10 medical staff going into protective quarantine, after contact with a police officer found to be positive for the virus.

In Florence recently, a high school was clearly identified where a parent was virus-positive and their children were subsequently tested. Likewise, when a Norwegian student tested positive, the architectural school they were attending was named automatically.

Are there torchlit processions around these schools? No.

Are the public and media feasting like jackals on the privacy of the individuals, colleagues, families? No.

Was citing them a breach of GDPR? No.

Are infected people associated with either school refusing to come forward? No.

In fact, where official information on the virus is automatically regarded as public information, that last suggestion is risible.

Therefore, after three weeks of this very public information, it was strange to hear the Irish authorities refer to the first confirmed case of coronavirus as being, cryptically, "in the east". Now, to say the Lotto has been won "in the east" is sufficient public information. To say the coronavirus has been confirmed "in the east" is not.

There was no medical, patient or communications reason not to give the precise location as Dublin. The attempted suggestion that citing Dublin would be a breach of patient confidentiality was ludicrous.

Communications issues arising from the coronavirus come in the immediate aftermath of the State's spectacular failure to manage the communications about CervicalCheck. The Irish health service cannot afford to repeat such a calamity.

That patients are entitled to their privacy is a given. Each of us depends on it. But stated 'concerns' over personal privacy cannot, and must not, be used by the State as an excuse to indulge in national secrecy.

Neither should privacy 'concerns' be used to manage the communication of a potential epidemic.

That in a health crisis, the State refused to name a school it was closing, but would allow this important point of public information become a hostage to social-media fortune, was significant and alarming.

In a crisis - particularly an epidemic - the State must keep control of the narrative. If it does not, people cannot have confidence.

In a situation where cases will grow, with more public closures required, it is vital that all official information be announced, in detail, by official Ireland.

And that this official information be reported by the reliable media, as opposed to the vagaries, gossip and speculation of social media, as was the case with the school.

With coronavirus, doctors in Ireland have a duty of care to their patients. But public officials in the Government, Department of Health and HSE also have a duty of care to the public, in terms of information it has a right know, and how that information is managed and communicated.

That Maisie Murphy is being treated for coronavirus is Maisie Murphy's private business. Nobody needs to know who Maisie is. But that a patient in Ireland - unnamed, unidentified - has a new virus involved in a global epidemic, is very much the public's business. As is the precise location of that virus, be it Cork or Limerick or Dublin. As is the public closing of a school on account of it.

As cases grow, clarity will be critical. I believe that all closure sites should be named. No picking or choosing. Just calmly, matter-of-factly. That way, people can have confidence that information is not being withheld.

Equally, the State should not be inveigling the media to assist in the suppression of information, where there is no personal, clinical or security need to do so. I found it alarming that many media outlets would so readily oblige the Government in not naming the school to be closed. Public information belongs to the public. Not to any government. Nor any health service.

Indeed, it is the duty of the media to put into the public domain the information the public requires, without breaching GDPR or the ethical demands of confidentiality and privacy.

Yes, there will be instances where temporary media blackouts will serve the national and public interest. Palpably this is not one of them. Simon Harris, with a lamentable record as Health Minister, did himself, the public and the crisis no favours with his PR-engineered soundbite about public-interest information and information the public is interested in.

Suggesting a prurience on the part of those who believe public information should be just that - public - is ongoing proof of the detached, know-better attitude of this administration, even in caretaker mode.

In crisis mode, though, is the HSE with its hoax-that-wasn't-a-hoax letter to self-isolate. All a bit Keystone Cops Do Crisis Management.

Simon Harris though? No crisis there for him.

He's happy with their "good faith". Now, if only that were a hoax.
Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has accused a serving minister and some governors of being responsible for his ordeal in the party.

Oshiomhole said this on Thursday while speaking with state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock in Abuja.

A federal high court in Abuja had ordered his suspension as APC National chairman on Wednesday but on Thursday, a court sitting in Kano gave an order halting the suspension.

Read Also: Court Sets Aside Oshiomhole Suspension Order

Oshiomhole didnt name governors and minister responsible for his predicament, but described himself as a child of light who will always defeat darkness.
- Kim Chius van was shot multiple times by unidentified gunmen while she was inside the vehicle

- After the actress posted on social media about the incident, some celebrities reacted through the comments section of her viral post

- Claudine Barretto and Kris Aquino  her co-stars in the movie Etiquette for Mistresses  were two of them

- According to Claudine, she is glad that Kim did not get hurt in the shooting incident

- Kris wrote that Kim is one of the best people she knows and she also expressed her enduring love for her

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Kim Chiu made the headlines yesterday after the van she was riding was shot multiple times by unidentified gunmen in Quezon City.

KAMI learned that after the actress posted on social media about the incident, some celebrities expressed their concern in the comments section of her viral post.

Two of them are her co-stars in the movie Etiquette for Mistresses  Claudine Barretto and Kris Aquino.

Claudine posted that she tried to call Kim after learning about the incident. She also expressed her gladness that Kim did not get hurt.

OMG Kimmy ko. I'm so happy you're safe my baby! I tried calling you. Be safe always and God be with you my love," Claudine wrote.

As for Kris, she described Kim in her post as a great human being and expressed her love for her. She also promised to pray for her friend.

"To one of the most consistently caring, thoughtful, and kindhearted people I have ever met and gotten close to, you have our enduring love and nonstop prayers for your safety and peace of mind and heart, Kris commented.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

KAMI reported earlier that Kim still went straight to work even after figuring in the shooting incident. She explained that she was in shock after the incident and just went to work as an instinct.

Kim Chiu is one of the most well-known actresses in the Philippines. She broke through in showbiz by joining Pinoy Big Brother. The Kapamilya star is in a relationship with actor Xian Lim. Her former boyfriend is Gerald Anderson.

Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters!

Ara Mina spoke exclusively to KAMI to talk about her thoughts on the conflict between Sarah Geronimo and her mother, Divine Geronimo. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Concerns over the lacklustre market have played a part in weakening investors appetite and could pose risks for Vietnamese banks going public this year.

Global events hinder bank IPO plans, illustrative photo

A raft of financial institutions including Maritime Bank (MSB), Nam A Bank, OCB, Viet Capital Bank, Bao Viet Bank, and others have been laying the groundwork for going public for years. Should all the deals go off as proposed, 2019 and 2020 would be the busiest period for initial public offerings (IPOs) of both private and state-owned lenders.

But as of now, there are 18 out of 31 commercial banks operating in Vietnam have already gone public.

Last September, Viet Capital Bank registered with the Vietnam Securities Depository to trade more than 317 million shares on the UPCoM, but its IPO final destination has yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, Nam A Bank extended the deadline for its shareholders list last March.

In another case, OCB has still stuck in the mud for years with its IPO ambition.

Additionally, the postponement of VIB and LienVietPostBank from the UPCoM to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange is the latest hiccup among public deals.

Last month, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) officially approved Nam A Banks increase of charter capital. The bank also signalled that it is eyeing overseas cash since its foreign ownership ratio has remained unchanged.

Bao Viet Bank  a subsidiary of Bao Viet Holdings  has already formulated its recipes for an IPO, but the lengthy year-long preparation has yielded no fruit until now.

But perhaps no other long-awaiting IPO illustrates the cruel circumstances of the process better than that of Eximbank.

Eximbank is not receiving much attention from investors. Market watchdogs have been raising questions about its prudence since the bank has faced an uphill battle to regain the trust of its shareholders and depositors, following a series of embezzlement and fraud scandals.

Le Xuan Dong, director of market research at intelligence platform FiinGroup, emphasised that late 2015 to the first half of 2018 was the golden time for filing as Vietnam witnessed a spate of prosperous IPOs such as Techcombanks $923-million public issue, or those involving VPBank and HDBank.

After feverish buying of banks shares last year, particularly BIDV, Vietcombank, and Military Bank, market sentiment towards these issues has cooled down.

Last year, MSBs profit did not live up to expectations since the bank has not yet recorded the VND600 billion ($26.1 million) sale of 50 per cent of shares in its consumer finance arm FCCOM to South Korean firm Hyundai Card.

Experts believed that this upcoming amount could write off its sour loans in Vietnam Asset Management Company, paving the way for going public in the second quarter of this year. Nevertheless, valuation of MSB shares is roughly calculated at a price-per-book ratio of 0.8 times, relatively lower than the industry average.

Investors, therefore, could be wary of MSBs slowing growth and elusive profits.

Challenges still colour the banking landscape and hamper IPO plans, as a result of low efficiency, low return on equity and low return on assets than the industry average, while the non-performing loans are still of high rate.

Going public means that banks have to be more transparent in their business activities and financial statements, in which many banks fail to meet the norms.

Last week, the SBV ordered banks to delay or cut lending rates to cushion the domestic economy, a move bringing about foreseeing lacklustre profit for financial institutions.

JPMorgan researchers believe the risks are probably more skewed to the downside across the globe, particularly in the near term given uncertain factors like the COVID-19 outbreak.

Considering the sweeping changes to risk-weightings IPOs will usher in, banks are seeking to re-allocate current capital by various instruments, such as bond issuance. Such factors have kept some banks away from floating their public issues.

OCB chairman Trinh Van Tuan previously admitted the bank had been in the process of going public in late 2019 or early 2020, but is still stuck in the mud with its IPO ambition due to unfavourable market conditions.

Representatives of OCB also made it clear that the bank is opting for other overseas financiers after mulling the sale of 11 per cent of its charter capital to Japan-headquartered Aozora Bank at around $52.8 million.

Furthermore, Moodys downgraded the outlook of 18 local banks, including some unlisted ones, making capital mobilisation even tougher.

Some lenders that are still working towards IPO, such as OCB, ABBank, Agribank, or Nam A Bank, will likely be exposed to more volatility after the vote of no confidence.

Financiers looking to invest in state-owned lender Agribank are being urged to stay their hands after its IPO was postponed, adding to the list of state-owned enterprises delaying equitisation.

Nguyen Duc Hung Linh, SSIs head of analysis added, Large IPOs or sell-downs concentrated in the first quarter of 2018 before the VN-Index plummeted, making investors shy away from IPOs.

Researchers at consultancy Ernst & Young meanwhile wrote in a report that lenders that are well prepared to capture the right IPO window, are flexible on valuations, and understand regulatory requirements will have a clear advantage. VIR

Luu Huong

Foreign investors look forward to Vietnams imminent IPOs in 2020 Nearly 100 Vietnamese companies will need to hit the road for share auctions by the end of 2020 to meet the governments target of privatizing state firms.
The three were released last November. Each man will receive more than $2.9 million by July 2025, or about $81,000 for each year they were incarcerated. All of them experienced unimaginable pain while they were incarcerated, and there is no question that they deserve to be justly compensated as they work to rebuild their lives, said Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Being present during an active-shooter situation is everyones worst nightmare, but the NYPDs Patrol Borough Staten Island is hoping to ease that feeling of terror with an active-shooter training session this month.

The training will help residents better understand what to do during an active shooter situation, what to avoid doing, how to protect yourself, when it is necessary to barricade and what to do if you must confront a shooter.

The NYPD will hold an active shooter training in Concord on Thursday, March 12. (NYPD)

Additionally, the training will prepare attendees on what information to provide to a 911 operator or law enforcement.

The NYPD Shield Unit will conduct the training, which will take place at the Christian Pentecostal Church located at 1020 Targee St. in Concord on Thursday, March 12 from 7 to 9:30 p.m., police said.

The NYPD Shield Unit provides this training to the community, which is helpful in the fight against terrorism, said NYPD Assistant Chief Kenneth Corey, the NYPD borough commander. This training gives our community partners useful information they can share with family and friends.
Phillipsburg Mall is under contract to be sold to a developer who wants to demolish it and construct an 852,000-square-foot warehouse. The mall is in New Jersey not far from Easton, Pa.

Lopatcong Township Council got its first look Wednesday night at the proposal for the 72-acre property that extends into Pohatcong Township.

The developer, St. Louis, Missouri-based CRG Integrated Real Estate Solutions, heard concerns from council members about yet another warehouse adding more trucks to the regions roads. Council took no action on the proposal, which would need zoning relief before it can be approved, officials said.

Councilman Joseph Pryor recited the list of warehouses being built nearby. All of which are ahead of you in the development process, Pryor told CRG and its representatives. The existing traffic is going to have three more warehouses on it before you even break ground and thats a concern.

The future of the mall as a retail destination has long been in doubt, following the closure and demolition of the Sears and Bon-Ton anchor stores. Smaller retailers were asked in December to begin terminating their leases and leave within 30 days, and all have left except for five set to close no later than April.

CRGs proposal would keep about 100,000 square feet of retail in the existing Kohls and restaurants along Route 22, all of which are on properties that have been divided off from the mall itself, according to Wednesdays presentation. The property breaks down into 33 acres in Lopatcong and 39 acres in Pohatcong.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of neo-Nazi terror offences.

Scotland Yard said the 21-year-old constable was suspected of being a member of a proscribed organisation linked to right-wing terrorism.

The officer, who works in frontline policing in London, was arrested on Thursday and remains in custody while his home is searched.

A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said: Officers from the Mets Directorate of Professional Standards have been informed and the officers status is at present under review.

The matter has also been referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) as a mandatory referral.

The far right in the UK Show all 10 1 /10 The far right in the UK The far right in the UK British Union Jack flags are reflected in the sunglasses of a protester during a protest on April 1, 2017 in London Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK A man holds a St George's Cross flag at a demonstration organised by the far-right group the English Defence League in central London on June 24, 2017 Tolga Akmen/AFP The far right in the UK A man is pictured with police officers at a demonstration organised by the far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) in central London on June 24, 2017 Tolga Akmen/AFP The far right in the UK A Neo-Nazi chats amicably with a police officer at a demonstration organised by the far-right group the English Defence League in central London Tolga Akmen/AFP The far right in the UK Supporters of the far-right group Britain First wave flags as they march and rally in central London on April 1, 2017 following the March 22 terrorist attack on the British parliament Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP The far right in the UK Police walk ahead of supporters of the far-right group Britain First marching in central London on April 1, 2017 Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP The far right in the UK Protesters hold placards and British Union Jack flags during a protest titled 'London march against terrorism' on April 1, 2017 in London Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK A woman wearing a Donald Trump campaign hat hugs another woman during a protest titled 'London march against terrorism' on April 1, 2017 Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK A protester waves a British Union Jack with an 'England' tattoo on his arm during a protest on April 1, 2017 in London Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK Anti-Semitic demonstrators attend a rally on Whitehall in central London on July 4, 2015 Jack Taylor/AFP

Whilst the investigation remains ongoing, at this time there is nothing to suggest there is any threat to wider public safety in relation to this matter.

National Action, a neo-Nazi terrorist group, became the first far-right organisation to be banned by the British government since the Second World War in 2016.

The government has since proscribed spin-off groups Scottish Dawn, NS131, Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) and System Resistance Network (SRN).

The last two organisations were banned last week, making membership a criminal offence.

While the ban treats SRN as an alternative name for National Action, SKD has been listed as a splinter group.

The group has encouraged and glorified acts of terrorism via its posts and images, a government document says.

This includes an image depicting the Duke of Sussex being shot as part of their campaign against race traitors following his marriage to the Duchess of Sussex; and homemade propaganda using Nazi imagery calling for attacks on minorities.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said the proscription would make it much harder for them to spread their hateful rhetoric.

Recent attacks here and in Germany have highlighted the threat we continue to face from violent extremism, she said.

 National Action: Neo-Nazi terrorist couple who named baby Adolf jailed

The arrest came as official statistics showed that the number of white terror suspects detained in the UK outstripped those of Asian appearance for the second year in a row.

Home Office figures showed that 117 white people were arrested on suspicion of terror offences in 2019, compared with 111 Asian suspects and 21 black suspects.

The data reflects increased police operations against far-right extremists, including members of National Action.

The chief officer of counter-terrorist police declared in September that right-wing extremism was the fastest-growing terror threat in the UK, and intelligence agencies have been brought in to tackle it for the first time.

A total of 25 attack plots have been foiled since March 2017  16 Islamist, eight far-right and one other.
The White House says President Donald Trump will present the highest civilian honour he can bestow to retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane.

Keane served as the chief operating officer of the Army for more than four years and directed 1.5 million soldiers and civilians in 120 countries.

He was in the Pentagon when terrorists crashed a jetliner into the building on September 11, 2001, and he provided oversight and support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He now serves as a national security analyst for Fox

Press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in announcing the next Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient that Keane has devoted his life to keeping America safe and strong.

The presentation will take place next week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:36:57|Editor: yhy

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Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu (C) attends a press conference in the province of Edirne, Turkey, on March 5, 2020. Turkey is deploying 1,000 special operation police forces along Turkey's border zone with Greece, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday. (Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is deploying 1,000 special operation police forces along Turkey's border zone with Greece, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in the northwestern border province of Edirne, Soylu said they will prevent the pushback of migrants by the Greek security forces toward Turkey.

"They wounded 164 people and tried to push 4,900 migrants back to Turkey," Soylu said, referring to the harsh intervention of the Greek authorities.

"We are deploying fully-equipped 1,000 special police forces to the entire border system of the Evros River," the minister stressed.

The Evros River is flowing in between Turkey and Greece, forming a natural borderline. The river shore has lately become a hotspot for many refugees to sneak into the Greek side while thousands of others have been waiting at the Pazarkule border gate.

A statement released by the Governor's Office of Edirne said one illegal immigrant was killed and five others wounded after Greek security forces opened fire against those who intended to cross the border on Wednesday.

A total of 139,070 people have crossed into Greece from Edirne so far, according to Soylu.
The top Republican in each chamber of the Oregon Legislature issued statements Thursday that their caucuses are willing to return to the Capitol on Sunday, the final day lawmakers can do business this session, to approve emergency budget bills.

But Democrats almost certainly wont take them up on the offer. They have already stated repeatedly that they will only waive the rules to allow emergency votes on all pending bills, not a select few.

Democrats are pretty strong about if theres a rules suspension its universal, Sen. Mark Hass told The Oregonian/OregonLive Wednesday.

Democrats have said since before the session began on Feb. 3 that their top priority is to pass a climate protection bill, which Republicans vehemently oppose.

House Speaker Tina Kotek reaffirmed on Thursday that Democrats would not agree to a last-minute floor session where (Republicans) would get to cherry pick which bills live and die.

The only deal I will agree to is if Republicans in both chambers return and agree to take a floor vote on every bill that has earned support through the public process that governs our legislative body, Kotek said.

Republicans would love to vote on emergency bills to allow state millions to flow toward flood relief, wildfire prevention, college construction projects, homelessness relief and more, for at least two reasons. First, it would prevent Democrats from campaigning against them on grounds they refused to show up for work until the end. Perhaps more importantly, they could get badly needed money flowing to projects in their hometowns and districts.

House Republican Leader Christine Drazan made a point of saying Democrats have listed their priority budget bills -- and Republicans in the House are willing to go along.

The House Republican Caucus broadly agrees with the funding priorities identified in yesterdays press release from Speaker Kotek and President Courtney, she wrote in her statement. "House Republicans will provide a quorum and the rules suspensions necessary to pass these funding priorities on Sunday, March 8th, before the Legislature is constitutionally required to adjourn.

Oregon Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertshiger Jr. said in a statement: After a tumultuous session, Senate Republicans are willing to attend the Sunday floor session to pass emergency budget bills, for example, the relief for flood victims in Eastern Oregon." Baertshiger, who represents a southern Oregon district centered on Grants Pass, continued, The intent of the short session was to make budget adjustments, and that is what we expect to work on while being fiscally responsible with the hard-earned taxpayer dollars."

Democrats have won supermajorities in both chambers of the Oregon Legislature, so they can pass legislation including tax bills without a single Republican vote. The only power Republicans have to deny Democrats from passing legislation is to stay away, in House members cases, in defiance of subpoenas to return.

Democrats have pointed out that lawmakers have flexibility under Oregons Constitution to continue the legislative session past Sunday, if Republicans join Democrats in voting to extend it by five days at a time. That requires a two-thirds vote, the same bar for reaching a quorum to hold floor votes, which is why Democrats would need Republican support.

-- The Oregonian Politics Team; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; hborrud@oregonian.com
Dutch English

PRESS RELEASE: REGULATED INFORMATION

5 March 2020, 07:00 CET

Biocartis Creates New Share Option Plan & Cancels Outstanding Pool under 2018 Share Option Plan







Mechelen, Belgium, 5 March 2020  Biocartis Group NV (the Company or Biocartis), an innovative molecular diagnostics company (Euronext Brussels: BCART), announces today that its board of directors created, within the framework of the authorized capital, 696,976 share options (each share option having the form of a subscription right) under a new share option plan, called the Share Option Plan 2020, in order to enable the Company to offer the share options to certain personnel members of the Company and/or its subsidiaries.

The share options under the Share Option Plan 2020 have a term of ten years (unless contractually reduced in the offer to a beneficiary), are generally not transferable and can in principle not be exercised prior to the first day of the fourth calendar year following the calendar year in which the offer of share options is made to a beneficiary. Each share option gives the right to subscribe to one new ordinary Biocartis share. The exercise price of a share option will be determined by the board of directors of the Company when offering the share option to a beneficiary and will at least be equal to the average closing price of the shares of the Company on Euronext Brussels during the thirty day period prior to the date of the offer. Should the share options be exercised, Biocartis will apply for the admission to trading of the resulting new shares on Euronext Brussels. The share option as such will not be listed on any stock market.

The purpose of the Share Option Plan 2020 is to create a plan of subscription rights for shares of the Company in accordance with the provisions of the (new) Belgian Code of Companies and Associations (BCCA) consisting of a number of share options that is the same as the number of share options which have not yet been offered to, and accepted by, the beneficiaries under the 2018 Share Option Plan' which was created on 10 September 2018 in accordance with the provisions of the Belgian Companies Code of 7 May 1999. Consequently, the Company canceled an equal number of outstanding share options under the Company's 2018 Share Option Plan that have not yet been offered to, and accepted by, the beneficiaries of the 2018 Share Option Plan. Hence, the total number of outstanding share options has not increased.

The reports prepared by the board of directors and the Companys statutory auditor (in accordance with Article 7:198 juncto Articles 7:180 and 7:191 of the BCCA) in the framework of the creation of the Share Option Plan 2020 can be consulted on the website of the Company .

----- END ----



More information:

Renate Degrave

Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Biocartis

e-mail rdegrave@biocartis.com

tel +32 15 631 729

mobile +32 471 53 60 64





About Biocartis

Biocartis (Euronext Brussels: BCART) is an innovative molecular diagnostics (MDx) company providing next generation diagnostic solutions aimed at improving clinical practice for the benefit of patients, clinicians, payers and industry. Biocartis' proprietary MDx Idylla platform is a fully automated sample-to-result, real-time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) system that offers accurate, highly reliable molecular information from virtually any biological sample in virtually any setting. Biocartis is developing and marketing a continuously expanding test menu addressing key unmet clinical needs in oncology. This represents the fastest growing segment of the MDx market worldwide. Today, Biocartis offers tests supporting melanoma, colorectal and lung cancer. More information: www.biocartis.com . Follow us on Twitter : @Biocartis.

Biocartis and Idylla are registered trademarks in Europe, the United States and other countries. The Biocartis and Idylla trademark and logo are used trademarks owned by Biocartis. This press release is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in any jurisdiction where to do so would be unlawful. Any persons reading this press release should inform themselves of and observe any such restrictions. Biocartis takes no responsibility for any violation of any such restrictions by any person. Please refer to the product labeling for applicable intended uses for each individual Biocartis product. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities in any jurisdiction. No securities of Biocartis may be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, the Company directors' or managements' current expectations and projections concerning future events such as the Company's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which the Company operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities are not guarantees of future performance and should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. In addition, even if actual results or developments are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in future periods. No representations and warranties are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.




LINKOPING, Sweden, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) and University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) in the Netherlands have signed a collaboration agreement. The partnership aims to supply healthcare providers with applications based on artificial intelligence (AI) in an easier, faster and more secure manner using an infrastructure developed in the UMC Utrecht. This collaboration will accelerate the clinical adoption of AI technology, thereby improving patient care.

"The research experience and existing technical infrastructure of UMC Utrecht and Sectra's global position in the market provide a unique opportunity to bring AI into clinical practice on a large scale around the world," says Wouter Veldhuis, radiologist and co-developer of the infrastructure at UMC Utrecht, "Using AI algorithms in clinical practice allows the radiologist to be more precise, thereby improving patient care."

Sectra's vendor-neutral approach already gives healthcare providers the opportunity to integrate AI applications from any vendor. Through this partnership, and the technical infrastructure developed by UMCU, access to AI applications will be even easier. AI applications from collaborating vendors will be seamlessly integrated into the existing clinical workflow. This makes access to these applications easy, fast and secure.

"This partnership is an important component in enabling our customers to easily start using AI technology without the need to procure and integrate themselves," says Fredrik Hall, Vice President Product Management at Sectra Imaging IT Solutions. "UMC Utrecht is a long-standing luminary customer for enterprise imaging and a front runner in digitalizing pathology together with Sectra."

The partnership will also enable research institutions to streamline and simplify deployment and evaluation of in-house developed AI applications in their research and production environment.

About Sectra's achievements in AI

Sectra is strongly engaged in the development of state-of-the-art AI solutions, both in-house and in collaborative settings. For example, Sectra provides the technical infrastructure for the Analytic Imaging Diagnostics Arena (AIDA), a national Swedish arena for innovation in AI for diagnostics.

Meet Sectra at HIMSS 2020

Visit booth #6248 at HIMSS to learn more about Sectra's efforts within AI and about Sectra's enterprise imaging solution. Book a meeting at HIMSS >>

About Sectra Imaging IT Solutions

With more than 30 years of innovation and 2,000 installations, Sectra is a leading global provider of imaging IT solutions that support healthcare in achieving patient-centric care. Sectra offers an enterprise imaging solution comprising PACS for imaging-intense departments (radiology, pathology, cardiology, orthopaedics), VNA, and share and collaborate solutions. Read more about Sectra's enterprise imaging solution and why Sectra PACS is "Best in KLAS" at https://medical.sectra.com/.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Torbjorn Kronander

CEO and President Sectra AB

+46(0)705-23-52-27

Marie Ekstrom Tragardh

Executive Vice President Sectra AB and President Sectra Imaging IT Solutions

+46(0)708-23-56-10

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/sectra/r/sectra-and-dutch-hospital-umc-utrecht-enter-partnership-to-accelerate-the-adoption-of-ai-technology-,c3052341

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/sectra/i/sectra-and-umc-utrecht-,c2758693 Sectra and UMC Utrecht

SOURCE Sectra
Michelle Obama spent 2008 campaigning for her husband Barack, experiencing a level of scrutiny that was undeniably linked to her race and would persist for years to come. That August, she delivered a stirring address at the Democratic National Convention in which she talked about the improbable journey from her working-class Chicago upbringing to that very stage. Speaking of her young daughters, she shared that their futureand all our childrens futureis my stake in this election.

Michelle Obama waves after addressing the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, August 25, 2008. | Shawn ThewEPA/Shutterstock

After her husband won, she gracefully stepped into the role of First Lady as the first black woman to do so. Focused on social issues like education and healthy living, she was deeply committed to the well-being of our nation and to the future of its people, especially its children. Her charisma, confidence and openness created an approachable air to the White House. Though her days as First Lady are over, her influence hasnt waned. Her lived experience sends the message that through kindness, diligence, intelligence and honesty, you can effectively change the world. If she can do it, you can do it too. Zazie Beetz

Beetz is an actor

This article is part of 100 Women of the Year, TIMEs list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more about the project, explore the 100 covers and sign up for our Inside TIME newsletter for more.
Port Blair, March 5 : MakeMyTrip, an online travel company, on Thursday launched a responsible tourism project aimed at eliminating single-use plastic from Neil Island, one of the most popular tourist attraction in Andaman Islands.

In line with its vision to promote sustainable tourism, the MakeMyTrip foundation has rolled out an integrated programme that will not only provide necessary infrastructure and resources but will also help tourists visiting these pristine islands to make responsible choices.

"As a large business that helps millions travel, we also have the responsibility to do our bit to protect the destinations we love and admire for generations to come. We are excited to roll out this ambitious project in Andamans to make a timely start in ensuring that we can help grow tourism responsibly in one of the fastest growing domestic tourism destination in India," Deep Kalra, Founder and Group Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip said in a statement.

According to the company, with support from the administration, hotel partners and local communities, the 360-degree integrated programme will contribute towards maintaining the ecological balance on the Island, most frequented by Indian tourists.

The project at Neil Island includes setting up of convenience facilities at the beach including showers, toilets and locker rooms, water ATMs, distribution of reusable bottles to tourists, waste management with manpower allocation, plastic scavenging drives and capacity building initiative with the local tourism community to ensure promotion of green activities.

As part of its cleanliness and awareness drive in the Andamans, MakeMyTrip Foundation carried out a plastic scavenging drive across different locations like Bharatpur Beach, Laxamanpur Beach, Sitapur Beach and Natural Bridge in Shaheed Dweep and collected over 500 kilograms of waste.

"MakeMyTrip is making a commendable effort to holistically promote responsible tourism in Andamans and we appreciate the endeavour to involve local communities as part of this project," Chetan B Sanghi, Chief Secretary, Anadaman and Nicobar Islands added.

The foundation is also running a first-of-its-kind plantation project in partnership with Sonam Wangchuk's Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL) in Ladakh.
Update: 05-03-2020 | 16:36:58

A joint military exercise between the Philippines and the US will push through as scheduled, despite the formers decision to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on March 4.

Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo

Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said that the annual Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) will set in May.

An advance contingent from the US will arrive in the Philippines in April to prepare equipment, supplies and medical requirements, Arevalo said.

According to him, the drill will take place within the 180-day period allowed before the VFA abrogation formally takes effect.

The Philippines and the US signed the VFA in 1998, allowing joint Philippine-US military operations. The Philippine Senate ratified the agreement in 1999, seven years after the closure of the last US base on the Philippine territory.

On February 11, 2020, the Southeast Asian nation officially notified the US about the termination of the agreement.

According to the agreement, the termination will officially take effect after 180 days  the time needed for relevant negotiations of the two sides./.

VNA
Photograph: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock

With Virginia called for Biden right when polls closed at 7pm it was clear that Super Tuesday was going to play out a lot differently than it was expected to. Building on momentum from his landslide victory in the South Carolina primary, Biden dominated the Super Tuesday states. Biden is thus far winning 9 of the 11 called contests and is competitive to win the remaining three states. This strong performance was a sharp contrast to expectations which, even after revisions to be more favorable to Joe Biden post-South Carolina, still predicted Sanders would win most of the nights contests and come away with a delegate lead, perhaps even a significant one. Instead, even with more than a million ballots still outstanding in the California primary, it is Biden, not Sanders who holds the delegate lead, and with it, a possible lock on a nomination that less than two weeks ago provoked a flurry of columns about brokered conventions.

So, what happened to so dramatically alter the contours of the race and make Biden, not Sanders the frontrunner and quite possibly, the presumptive nominee? To be sure, much attention will be given to the decisions of fellow moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to withdraw from the race the night before the Super Tuesday contests and endorse Joe Biden with the hopes that in so doing, they could help steer the partys nomination away from Bernie Sanders, who many in the party openly worried threatened the Democrats ability to beat Donald Trump in the fall as well as down-ticket races for the Senate, House, and a host of state legislative seats. But the winnowing of the field, even in the spectacular fashion it played out on Monday night in Dallas, Texas, likely has less to do with the results than the fact that Sanders candidacy ultimately hit the same demographic brick wall it hit in its 2016 iteration.

The Sanders campaign always understood that in order to actually win the Democratic partys nomination, the senator needed to dramatically improve upon his share of black voters from the 2016 cycle. Black voters are the kingmakers of the Democratic primary process  win them over and you will most likely be the partys nominee even if you struggle in the partys first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire as the contest moves into delegate-rich South Carolina. But fail to win them over and even promising starts like Pete Buttigiegs upstart Iowa caucus win is guaranteed to sputter out. The Sanders campaign had hoped that gains among black voters under age 40 would be enough to offset continued reticence among older black voters, but even when younger voters are more engaged than normal, voter turnout models are heavily lopsided, made up disproportionately of older voters. Sanders only pathway to the nomination absolutely required the senator win over older voters of color, and on Tuesday these voters, along with suburban voters of all colors, soundly rejected Sanders revolution in favor of Bidens pragmatism.

Story continues

Had Sanders revolution been more digestible, and not saddled with the democratic-socialist label, it may have fared better. Instead, it provoked outright panic throughout the Democratic party, and not just within the partys so-called establishment. Although Monday nights coordinated winnowing and endorsement effort was clearly organized by party elites, the rejection of Sanders candidacy came at the hands of rank-and-file Democratic voters, who turned out en masse on Tuesday to blunt his path to the partys nomination. Though its true that Biden dominated among moderates, he also performed well among liberals, earning the plurality of this group as well while Sanders only dominated among those who described their ideology as very liberal. Biden also dominated among late-deciding voters, capitalizing on natural momentum from his dominant South Carolina win.

What makes Tuesdays results most stunning, is the fact that Biden won many of these states without any campaign spending, something weve never seen in a competitive primary before. The cash-strapped Biden operation staggered into South Carolina on life support and had no time to transition their victory there three days prior into investment in the Super Tuesday contests, where his closest ideological rival had invested more than a half billion dollars.

Starting on 10 March the calendar moves into states ostensibly more friendly for Biden, not less. The inclusion of states Sanders carried in 2016, such as Oklahoma and Minnesota, into Bidens win column Tuesday suggests Sanders will likely underperform the 2016 cycle, where he carried an impressive 23 states. Should Mike Bloomberg withdraw from the race, even the winnowing of Elizabeth Warren will likely not be enough to re-tilt the race in Senator Sanders favor.

If Biden does secure a majority of delegates, it will be under a rules system designed in part by Bernie Sanders and absent the direct influence of party elites via super delegates, a major criticism of the Sanders team from their 2016 loss.
Eight Australian Border Force officials have executed a search warrant at the home of a man whose partner returned from South Korea and has been self-quarantined.

Border Force began investigating Brent Hazleton, from Albion Park, south of Wollongong, this year, after a package arrived in Australia in December that allegedly contained a child-like sex doll.

Albion Park man Brent Hazleton. Credit:Instagram

The package was "described as containing a clothing display model", Border Force said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Hazleton was stopped by Border Force officials at Sydney Airport when he returned from an overseas holiday on February 22. He was interviewed but not arrested, and was allowed to leave after his phone was seized.
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2020 file photo, shadows of the audience appear on a screen with the EU stars during a media conference at the Parlamentarium in Brussels. The bloc has been preoccupied for almost four years with Brexit, but now that Britain has left the bloc, the EU hopes to find more time to fix its own problems. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  Ongoing uncertainty about the effects of Brexit is pushing an increasing number of foreign companies to set up offices in the Netherlands, the Dutch government said Wednesday.

Since the 2016 referendum on Britain leaving the European Union, 140 businesses have established a presence in the Netherlands, with 78 shifting operations there last year, according to the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.

The agency said in a statement that business uncertainty is increasing despite Britains departure from the EU because of unanswered questions over the countrys future trading relationship with the bloc. London and Brussels have until the end of the year to agree a pact on their post-divorce relationship.

The agency said it is in talks with around 425 companies considering moving or expanding to the Netherlands because of Brexit.

The companies come from Britain, but also include businesses from the Americas and Asia that are reconsidering the structure of their European operations in the aftermath of Brexit.

For these businesses, 2020 will be an important year, said Jeroen Nijland of the foreign investment agency.

While some businesses are waiting to see how the new UK-EU economic relationship pans out, more and more companies are choosing the certainty and stability our country offers in the European market, Nijland said.

___

Follow APs full coverage of Brexit and British politics at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit
Even though the graduation rate for Rochester Public Schools was down slightly in 2019 from the year before, it still surpassed the overall state graduation rate, according to information released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Officials with the Rochester School District issued a press release Thursday, attributing the academic success to things such as social-emotional learning, equity, multi-tiered interventions, and an "increased number of educational pathways for students."

"We focus on developing relationships with students and identifying the individual needs of students," RPS Superintendent Michael Munoz said in the press release. "I am proud of the work at all of our schools. Our teachers, support staff and administrators are identifying programs and interventions to address students needs."

For 2019, Rochester posted a four-year-graduation rate of 85.9%, two points above the states graduation rate of 83.7%.

However, the four-year graduation rate for Rochester Public Schools was down slightly from the 87% recorded the year before, according to MDE.

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As far as Rochesters school-level graduation data goes, John Marshall led the way in 2019 with a graduation rate of 93.7%. Mayo High School came in next with a rate of 92.2%, and Century came in third with a four-year graduation rate of 86.9%.

In addition to passing the state number overall, Rochester also surpassed the state in many of the specific demographics that feed into the overall number.

Rochester surpassed the state in regard to Asian students, with RPS posting a graduation rate of 92.9%; Hispanic students, 79.6%; black students, 80.3%; students of two or more races, 79.5%; and special education students, 66.3%.

Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker hosted a press conference Thursday morning to discuss the graduation rates. She highlighted the narrowing gap between the various student demographics.

Specifically, the graduation rate for black students increased by 5.2 percentage points in two years, and the graduation rate for Hispanic students increased by 3.6 percentage points over that same time.

"The Minnesota class of 2019 posted the highest four-year graduation rate on record," Ricker said. "I am really happy to see gaps between student groups are closing over time."

The two demographics where RPS scored lower than the state was with the graduation rates of white students, with RPS posting 87.8% compared to the states 88.7%, and English learners, which was 65.7% compared to the states 67.2%.

The Minnesota Department of Education also reports additional information, such as the drop-out rate. For 2019, the drop-out rate of Rochester Public Schools was 4.07%. That number was up slightly from Rochesters 2018 rate of 3.5%.

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While Rochesters graduation rate surpassed the statewide rate, Grand Meadow surpassed both. In 2019, Grand Meadow had a graduation rate of 100%. The graduation rates for other area schools included Byron at 96.4%, Kasson-Mantorville at 95.5%, Stewartville at 91.4%, Austin at 79.46%, Pine Island at 94.9%, Plainview-Elgin-Millville at 92.5%, and Dover-Eyota at 90.4%.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5) The University of the Philippines (UP) made it to the top 100 list of schools for the performing arts and development studies, according to the latest global rankings of a United Kingdom-based group.

UP broke into the list of top performing arts institutions in the 2020 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, placing in the 51-100 bracket for the first time in 2020. The countrys premier state university also retained its ranking (51-100) for the development studies program for the second straight year.

The rankings were based on scores in both academic and employer reputations, as well as its citations in published papers.

The Juilliard School in the US was named as the top performing arts school in the world, while the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom ranked as the best university for development studies.

The state university likewise improved in the general university rankings, placing 356th in 2020 from 384th last year. Other Philippine universities Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and University of Santo Tomas also made it to the top 1,000 universities list.

QS is a "global provider of specialist higher education and careers information and solutions" and has published university rankings annually since 2004. For this year, the group ranked 1,368 institutions in 48 subjects grouped into five broad subject areas.
Local public health officials said Wednesday that the diagnosis of the Houston areas first case of the new coronavirus marks a milestone for a region thats been preparing for such an event for the last two months.

The case, presumptively confirmed this week by a city of Houston laboratory, should ramp up everyones readiness about the outbreak, according to Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health. The Houston lab this week received a coronavirus test that will enable it to diagnose the disease more quickly and reveal more cases.

The coronavirus in this area is no longer a theoretical, said Shah. We knew it was only a matter of time, but this underscores the reality that the virus is in our region and puts people on notice that we all need to continue to work together to contain the disease.

The case in Fort Bend, involving a man in his 70s now hospitalized in stable condition, is the first in Texas not to be imported to the state. Thirteen such cases have been transferred from foreign countries to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

WHAT WE KNOW: Coronavirus has come to Fort Bend and the Houston area. Here's everything we know so far.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner acknowledged that many Houstonians may feel anxious after learning of the areas first case, but sought to assure everyone the city of Houston health department is closely monitoring the developments and collaborating with regional, state and federal health authorities.

The pneumonia-like disease, which originated in China in late December, has infected more than 90,000 people and killed in excess of 3,000 in 65 countries across the globe. More than 150 patients have been treated for the disease in 16 U.S. states, 11 of whom have died.

Though the coronavirus can be fatal, most people recover from it. The vast majority of those who succumb to the disease  the death rate is about 2 percent  are the elderly or those with underlying health problems.

The Fort Bend case, which awaits final confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, was disclosed roughly an hour after the city of Houston announced that it is now conducting testing for the coronavirus, known as COVID-19. Previously, the city health department had to prepare, package and ship specimens to the CDCs lab, which then took another 48 to 72 hours to conduct its testing given the backlog of such requests from around the country.

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: Expert says you should prepare like it's a hurricane

The single test kit Houston received has the capacity to test 700 specimens suspected of carrying the disease. That equates to about 250 to 500 patients, depending on whether a doctor collects one to three viral samples from different sources (nasal swab, saliva or discharge from a cough).

The CDC will send additional kits if there is a demand in the Houston area, said local health officials.

The kits arrival is welcome news, what weve been waiting for, said Shah. It will provide quicker turnaround times, enabling quicker decisions on how we should proceed and relieving anxiety for individuals whove had to wait for days for test results to come back until now.

Such individuals are isolated during that time.

OPINION: SXSW is the perfect place to spread coronavirus. Cancel it.

Thats currently the case for six University of Houston students and faculty members and 17 Rice research scientists and graduate students. Rice announced the quarantine Sunday as a preventative measure after one employee possibly was exposed to the virus overseas, then came into contact with others on campus. Specimens from the employee were sent to the CDC Monday and expected to be done Thursday or Friday.

UH announced its quarantine Wednesday, following the return of individuals from trips to South Korea and Italy. The quarantine will last two weeks, per university policy. None of the individuals have exhibited symptoms.

The CDC requires that specimens that test positive be sent to the CDC for final confirmation, but considers the results obtained locally to be actionable. That means the local health department should take steps, such as isolating the individual and tracing his or her contacts, presuming the individual has the virus.

'ONLY A MATTER OF TIME': Coronavirus case marks milestone for region

The Houston health department received the COVID-19 test kids as part of the initial CDC roll-out to state and local health department labs. The kits were not initially approved for use because of problems with one of the tests three targets, but the CDC this week issued updated guidance on how to use the kits with the other two targets.

The Houston test kit will serve Harris and 16 other nearby counties.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

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CAMDEN (dpa-AFX) - Campbell Soup (CPB) CEO Mark Clouse Wednesday said that the company is ramping up its production in certain areas to meet the demand for its soup amid the the coronavirus outbreak. 'We made the decision last week to up production in certain areas where we're using a little bit the analogy of weather or natural disasters,' Clouse said on CNBC's Closing Bell. 'Where do we see demand coming in a greater rate? And we've upped that level of production to be able to maximize our inventory to be prepared for whatever unfolds here.' Consumers have started to stockpiling canned soup and other shelf-stable foods as more cases of the disease are reported in the U.S. Demand for hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies have also increased significantly. Clouse said the company has been talking with some retailers to better understand what demand could look like. The food company also said that it is also preparing to prevent any supply chain interruptions for products such as Goldfish crackers and Milano cookies. Only about 10% of its products are sourced outside of the U.S., with less than 2% in China. There are currently more than 94,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 128 confirmed in the US. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The Thua Thien-Hue Military School where four Chinese who entered Vietnam illegally are quarantined, March 5, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh.

Four Chinese who illegally entered the country in a bid to escape the Covid-19 outbreak are quarantined at a Thua Thien-Hue military school.

Authorities in the central province confirmed Thursday that the four persons, whose identities have not been revealed, entered Vietnam illegally to avoid the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people in China.

Nguyen Dinh Bach, a Thua Thien-Hue official, said the Chinese nationals confessed that they had crossed the border into Quang Ninh Province before renting a car to go to the central city of Da Nang.

The four, along with two Vietnamese drivers, were found Wednesday night on a bus in Phu Thuong Commune, Phu Vang District. Three of the Chinese nationals did not have passports, while one had a passport that was not stamped, local police said.

Medical checks by Phu Vang authorities have shown that the four illegal immigrants are in good health, but, under current safety protocols, they and the two Vietnamese with them were quarantined the same night in the provincial military school in Thuy Bang Commune.

Thua Thien-Hue police are seeking opinions from the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security for options to send the Chinese back. They could be sent back either after they have been quarantined for 14 days, or tested negative for the Covid-19 virus as per established protocol.

Under Vietnams current regulations, anyone entering the country from mainland China, Italy, Iran and South Korea have to be quarantined for at least 14 days. The four countries are currently the worst-hit by the novel coronavirus outbreaks.

All of Vietnams 16 Covid-19 infections so far have been successfully treated and the patients discharged. The country has recorded no new infection since February 13.

However, the novel coronavirus has spread to 87 countries and territories, killing 3,308 people, mostly in mainland China, followed by Italy (107), Iran (92) and South Korea (40).
Nearly 16 years after Birmingham police officers Carlos Owen, Harley A. Chisholm III, and Charles R. Bennett were slain on what is known as the Deadliest Day in the history of the Birmingham Police Department, one of the convicted killers, Nathaniel Woods, was executed Thursday night despite outcries from groups and celebrities that he was not the one who fired the fatal bullets.

The execution took place at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Woods, 43, was officially pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m.

The Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn spoke following the execution. Chisholms sister Starr Sidelinker spoke after Dunn, reading a statement written by Chisholms sister Rhonda Hembd. Partial justice has been served for our family today, the statement read. Nathaniel Woods chose his fate on June 17, 2004. That horrific day could have been prevented if he had any kind of compassion or respect for law enforcement.

My brother Harley was a sweet, caring, honest, hard-working, gentle loving man with a huge heart of gold, a third sister, Brenda Wicinski, said. Our lives were shattered and our worlds turned upside down on that horrific day.

Her daughter-- Chisholms niece-- Amelia Wicinski, also spoke and thanked the state of Alabama and the Birmingham Police Department. She called the department family," and ended with the departments West Precinct slogan West is best.

Susan Bennett, the wife of officer Bennett, also spoke. Im not here to make a statement in regard to what has already has happened tonight," she said. This will never ever bring closure and it certainly wont bring Rob, Carlos or Harley back.

She stood at the podium with her daughter, her brother, and Bennetts sister.

He was truly a great and a Godly man," Susan Bennett said. "It has been said that a man is not dead while his name is spoken On behalf of my family, I would like to thank those who continue to keep Robs memory alive, as well as Carlos and Harley.

Owens son, Greg Owens, released a statement on Facebook. My father has missed so much over the years. I am sure he would have loved to have seen my son, his grandson graduate from high school, from the Police Academy, and he would have loved to attend my sons wedding. I am sure he would have been thrilled to see my daughter, his granddaughter graduate from high school, take the stage at The Miss Alabama Pageant, go onto the field as a Blazerette in Legion Field with the UAB Marching band in the stadium a few blocks from where he lived the first seventeen years of his life, Greg Owens wrote. I am also sure he would be amazed that he inspired his granddaughter to create a non-profit organization from his action of keeping stuffed animals and snacks in his patrol car to give to children he encountered during his daily patrols on his police beat.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement on the execution, which she had earlier declined a request to stop. Under Alabama law, someone who helps kill a police officer is just as guilty as the person who directly commits the crime. Since 1983, Alabama has executed two individuals for being an accomplice to capital murder.

After thorough and careful consideration of the facts surrounding the case, the initial jurys decision, the many legal challenges and reviews, I concluded that the state of Alabama should carry out Mr. Woods lawfully imposed sentence this evening.

This is not a decision that I take lightly, but I firmly believe in the rule of law and that justice must be served. My thoughts and most sincere prayers are for the families of Officers Chisholm, Owen and Bennett. May the God of all comfort be with these families as they continue to find peace and heal from this terrible crime.

The execution proceeded after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary stay of execution for Woods earlier in the evening. At approximately 7:06 p.m, attorneys for Woods filed a second petition to the high court, again asking for a stay of execution and a review of the case. In the second petition, Woods claims hes had ineffective counsel. Mr. Woods has never had the benefit of competent, conflict-free counsel to investigate and present his constitutional claims, so the public cannot be assured that his proceedings have adhered to the Constitution, a new team of defense attorneys wrote in their filing.

The Alabama Attorney Generals Office said in a response to the court that the stay was unwarranted." Their response stated, First, Woods is not entitled to a stay because his motion is extraordinarily untimely. Second, he cannot show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. Thus, the motion is due to be denied.

At approximately 7:52 p.m., the court lifted the original stay of execution and declined to review the case. They denied the second case as well.

Nathaniel Woods was executed by the state of Alabama Thursday night. He was officially pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m. Jeff Dunn, the ADOC Commissioner, speaks following the execution. Members of the victims families were expected to speak also. Posted by al.com on Thursday, March 5, 2020

The execution

The curtains to the viewing room opened at 8:37 p.m. While Woods imam was set to attend the execution, that person did not attend. Woods did not have any last words, and no one from his family or friends were present to witness the execution.

Following the wardens reading of the death warrant, Woods sat up on the gurney and stared straight ahead to one of the three viewing rooms. As the warden left the room, Woods laid his head down. At 8:40 p.m., Woods sat back up and began mouthing words. His fists were clenched, while his right hand index finger was stuck out in an apparent sign of his Islamic faith.

At 8:43 p.m. Woods laid his head back down on the gurney and stared to his right. He lifted his head and laid down again once more, minutes later.

Woods moved his arms against the restraints before the 8:45 p.m. consciousness check, but did not respond to the consciousness check. Minutes later, Woods left arm jerked upwards against his restraint. His arm fell, and no movement was seen following that moment.

The Alabama Department of Corrections Public Information Specialist Samantha Rose detailed Woods visitors and phone calls for the past 24 hours. She said Woods was visited Wednesday by his mother, sister, and two nephews. Thursday, he was visited by his father, sister, two nephews, and his daughter.

Woods had four phone calls on Wednesday-- one to his mom, one to his father, and two to his friend. Thursday he had three phone calls-- two with friends and one with his mom.

Woods refused his breakfast, Rose said. The breakfast meal consisted of milk, eggs, syrup, prunes, two biscuits, and oatmeal. He did request a final meal of sweet potatoes, spinach, a chicken patty, a chicken leg quarter, cooked apples, fries, two oranges, and an orange-flavored drink. According to Rose, Woods ate just one bite of the chicken leg quarter and did not eat any of the other items.

Alabama executions: Last words and requests on Alabamas death row

My statement on the Nathaniel Woods case: pic.twitter.com/HSiVCtWNcE  Doug Jones (@SenDougJones) March 6, 2020

Holman houses all male death row inmates and holds the states only execution chamber.

Groups and advocates stepped up efforts to ask for a halt to the execution, including Martin Luther King III, celebrity Kim Kardashian West, and former NFL star O.J. Simpson, who himself was acquitted in a double murder.

Everyone deserves a fair trial and appeal. Come on Alabama do whats right. #nathanielwoods pic.twitter.com/aeyeB8cfHB  O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) March 5, 2020

#NathanielWoods is scheduled to be executed in Alabama TONIGHT for murders he did NOT commit. Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims  in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nates execution.  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 5, 2020

Advocates and family members for Woods delivered letters to Iveys office Wednesday afternoon. They argue Woods did not shoot the officers and shouldnt be executed; but, prosecutors said during the 2005 trial that while Woods did not fire the shots, he helped set up the ambush for the man  Kerry M. Spencer - who did kill the officers. Advocates for Woods said there was no evidence of a plan to lure the officers into a trap and that Spencer acted alone.

U.S. Sen Doug Jones tweeted about the case, saying a delay is warranted. Jones reached out to Gov. Kay Iveys office on Thursday, he said in the statement.

I think everyone knows my background and that I believe strongly in justice. Given the questions and mitigating issues involved in this case- and the finality of a death sentence- a delay is warranted to provide time for a thorough review of all the facts and circumstances to truly ensure that justice is done," the senator tweeted.

Woods appealed to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to stop his execution, arguing that the state of Alabama withheld information when Woods was given the option of changing his execution method in 2018. That court denied his claim Wednesday night and the issue was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thursday morning a federal judge also denied Woods motion for a 90-day stay of execution based on a claim of ineffective counsel. Woods attorneys immediately appealed that ruling to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. That court later again denied Woods request: Yet Woods inexplicably waited almost one year after the grant, months after the argument, more than a month after his execution was set, and until the day of his scheduled execution to seek authorization for a second or successive petition and to ask for a stay. The equities strongly disfavor such abusive tactics, 11th Circuit Judge Bill Pryor, a former Alabama Attorney General, wrote in his order.

In the first Eleventh Circuit filing, Woods attorneys wrote that Alabama scheduled Mr. Woods execution based on the arbitrary and erroneous determination that he knowingly and voluntarily did not choose to be executed via nitrogen hypoxiaa decision he did not make due to the States unconstitutional withholding of vital information. The filing claims that the state violated Woods Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Alabama State Constitution, and state law.

The AGs Office filed a reply to the appellate court, calling the case straightforward and saying the oral arguments Woods team requested are not necessary. The office also filed a response to the U.S. Supreme Court, again saying Woods waited too late, and his motion for a review and stay by SCOTUS are meritless. Not until January 31, the day after Woodss execution was set, did he submit an election form to the wardennineteen months after the election period closed. And not until February 24 did Woods move the (federal) district court to stay his scheduled March 5 execution, even though he had known since February 14 that the Alabama Supreme Court was disinclined to do so.

Conviction

Woods was convicted in December 2005 of capital murder for the June 17, 2004 shooting deaths of Birmingham police officers Carlos Owen, Harley A. Chisholm III, and Charles R. Bennett while they were serving a warrant at an apartment in Ensley. He also was convicted of the attempted murder of Officer Michael Collins.

It was the deadliest day in the Birmingham police departments history.

The three slain officers, from left to right: Carlos "Curly" Owen, 58; Harley Alfred Chisholm III, 40; Charles Robert Bennett, 33. (File)

The jury recommended by a vote of 10 to 2 that Woods be sentenced to death. The judge followed the jurys recommendation and sent Woods to death row.

Woodss co-defendant, Spencer, was also convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to death. He is awaiting an execution date, and opted into the states newly approved method of execution by nitrogen hypoxia in 2018.

The defense team and prosecutors agree it was Spencer, not Woods, who shot the officers.

In court records from the AGs Office, prosecutors argued Woods was not a model inmate while awaiting trial. Six months after the murders, records state Woods told a deputy sheriff that the deputy was hiding behind [his] badge just like the other three mother f****** and promised to look for him if Woods was acquitted. In 2005, deputies found drawings in Woods cell of men shooting three flaming skulls and a police car riddled with bullet holes. Deputies also found lyrics to a song Woods had apparently modified: Seven execution styles murders I have no remorse because Im the f****** murderer. Woods added his and Spencers name to the song, also adding details of the crime.

Woods convictions and sentence were affirmed by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case at the time. A later appeal was dismissed in 2010, and again that was affirmed by the appeals court and the Alabama Supreme Court didnt review the case.

Another attempt at an appeal in 2016 was denied two years later.

The Alabama Attorney Generals Office requested an execution date from the Alabama Supreme Court in October, and in January the court set Woods execution date as March 5.

The appeals

In his latest appeals, Woods case has been focused around nitrogen hypoxia. No Alabama inmates have been executed by the new method, and a state protocol for the nitrogen hypoxia executions has not yet been developed.

In 2018, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill giving inmates the option to choose execution by nitrogen hypoxia. According to the state, inmates waiting to be executed were allowed to opt in the nitrogen method if they wished, but had to do so within a 30-day period in June 2018. Of the 177 inmates on Alabamas Death Row, more than 50 inmates chose to die by the new method.

Earlier this year, Woods asked the federal court in Montgomery to declare the Alabama Department of Corrections and the states actions surrounding the hypoxia elections as unlawful and unconstitutional," according to a court filing, and for a stay of execution; but, a judge dismissed his case on Monday afternoon and ruled in favor of the state.

While a death row inmate may challenge the constitutionality of his execution through a civil action, a stay is not available as a matter of right, even if execution is imminent, Chief U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama Emily Marks wrote in her order. Based on the foregoing principles, a stay of execution is not warranted.

Despite ongoing litigation in this Court when his execution date was set, Woods waited until February 24, 2020ten days before his scheduled executionto file his motion for a stay of execution Woods has not offered, and the Court has not found, a justification for the last-minute nature of his motion. As a result, Woods motion is due to be denied based on its untimeliness alone, the judge ordered.

In his federal court petition, Woods claims he was targeted for execution sooner than other inmates for failing to change his method of execution. The filing says the state suppressed vital information and didnt provide Woods time to talk to his attorney about the newly approved method of execution during the June 2018 period inmates had to sign up for the new method.

The Alabama Attorney Generals Office denied the claim, adding that Woods isnt actually trying to elect nitrogen hypoxia, but rather wants more time to decide.

Woods argued that he wasnt given the full protocol or time to consult with his attorneys regarding nitrogen hypoxia. The AGs Office said Woods wasnt barred from speaking to his attorneys, and if he didnt speak with them about the hypoxia elections, that was Woods decision.

Woods has no right to choose the date of his execution, the state claims, but (the state has) every right to see that his sentence is carried out.

According to an attorney for Woods, Lauren Faraino, Ivey denied to commute Woods sentence on Thursday.

Governor Ivey does not presently intend to exercise her powers of commutation or reprieve in this case, according to a letter from the governor to Faraino. The attorney attached the letter to an email sent to media.

While Governor Ivey reserves the right to grant clemency at any time before an execution is carried out, she has determined, based on her review of the complete record, including the matters presented in your letter, that clemency for Mr. Woods at this hour is unwarranted, the letter stated.

Deadly day

Court records detail the incident that left the three police officers dead on June 17, 2004 when the four Birmingham police officers were in the process of arresting and taking into custody Woods at a west Birmingham apartment, where he lived and dealt drugs with Spencer. Woods was being arrested for an outstanding misdemeanor warrant in Fairfield. On multiple occasions Woods shouted and cursed at the officers, records state, and told Owen he would f*** him up.

A federal court filing from the AGs Office details the crime, saying Chisholm, Owen, and Collins arrived at Woods apartment to serve the warrant, where they met Bennett. It reads:

Officers Chisholm and Bennett went to the front door, while Officers Collins and Owen went to the back door. Woods, who was still standing behind his screen door, began to curse again and told the officers to leave. Officer Owen informed Woods that they had a warrant for his arrest and that he needed to come outside. Woods refused, even after the officers showed him the NCIC printout and his mugshot. He told the officers, If you come in here, well f*** you up. Suddenly, Woods turned and ran deeper into the apartment. Officer Chisholm followed Woods from the front, while Officers Collins and Owen entered via the rear door. None of the officers had their weapons drawn. Woods quickly surrendered, asking the men not to spray him with mace. Officer Collins ran to the back door, planning to join Officer Bennett at the front and assist him when the others brought Woods outside. Instead, he heard shuffling behind him, then gunfire. Though shot, Officer Collins ran to his patrol car for cover, where he radioed a double aught call for all possible assistance. From his car, Officer Collins saw Kerry Nookie Spencer, Woodss roommate, standing in the doorway and shooting in his direction. Several bullets hit the vehicle. By the time help arrived, the other three officers were dead. Officer Bennett was discovered with a smoking hole in his face, and Officers Owen and Chisholm were found in the apartment. Each had died from multiple gunshot wounds. Responding officers found an SKS assault rifle in the grass outside, a handgun in the bathroom, and two long guns in a bedroom. The officers bulletproof vests had been pierced, typical of damage sustained by high-powered rifle fire.

Another motion states that when Woods was located later that day, he was sitting with other men on the porch of (a neighbors) house nearby, apparently very relaxed. He gave his full name and was found to have two .22 caliber bullets in his pocket. Kerry Spencer was eventually pulled out of (the neighbors) attic.

A doorman" at the drug house testified Woods and Spencer sold mostly crack cocaine to 100-150 customers per day, according to court records.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:17:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

-- The situation on the containment of the novel coronavirus in Hubei, the hard-hit Chinese province, has been further improving, a local health official said Thursday.

The daily count of newly cured and discharged cases in the province has exceeded the number of newly confirmed cases for 15 consecutive days since Feb. 19, said Li Yang, deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press conference.

-- China has rolled out a slew of supportive measures to help foreign trade enterprises resume production and reduce the fallout from the outbreak, Li Xingqian, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, told an online press conference Thursday.

All of the key foreign trade firms in Zhejiang and Tianjin have resumed operations, while over 70 percent of foreign trade companies in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Shandong and Chongqing have resumed production.

-- Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, is gradually resuming medical treatment for patients who suffer from other diseases. Patients, including those with emergency or severe chronic diseases, can make an appointment at designated hospitals in Wuhan to receive medical services.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, many hospitals in Wuhan had to stop providing normal medical services to admit the surging number of patients infected with COVID-19, which has caused more than 2,300 deaths.

-- Chinese researchers are studying the use of stem cell technology in the treatment of people critically ill with the novel coronavirus disease, according to the Science and Technology Daily.

Four COVID-19 patients who received stem cell treatment while in a serious condition have been discharged from hospital after recovery, and the clinical trial of the therapy will be further expanded, Vice Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping, was quoted by the paper as saying.

-- Northeast China's city of Shenyang witnessed the online signing of 117 major projects worth over 267 billion yuan (38.5 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday. The city government also said over 98 percent of large-scale companies have resumed operations so far.

-- The People's Bank of China said Thursday that more than 7 million payment transactions related to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic had been handled through its payment and clearing system, involving an aggregate amount of 6 trillion yuan (about 865 billion U.S. dollars) as of March 2.

-- Procuratorial organs across China had prosecuted 1,144 suspects on charges over 962 cases related to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic by Tuesday, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

-- Chinese doctors have proved for the first time that the novel coronavirus can cause damage to patients' central nervous system. Doctors from Beijing Ditan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, a designated institution treating COVID-19, announced Thursday that they have cured a male patient whose cerebrospinal fluid had the virus.

Liu Jingyuan, ICU director of the hospital and attending doctor of the patient, said that once a COVID-19 patient is found to have disorders of consciousness, medical staff should consider the possibility of nervous system infections and carry out cerebrospinal fluid tests in time, to avoid delayed diagnosis and further reduce the mortality rate of critically ill patients.

-- Foxconn is gradually resuming production capacity at its major manufacturing base in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. Its production in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone had been slowed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in January, affecting the international supply chain.

-- Chinese health authority said Thursday it received reports of 139 newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.

All the deaths were in Hubei Province, according to the National Health Commission.

Meanwhile, 143 newly suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

-- A total of 2,189 patients of the novel coronavirus were discharged from hospital after recovery Wednesday on the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Thursday.

In total, 52,045 patients had been discharged from hospital by the end of Wednesday, the commission said in its daily report.

-- Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported 134 newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 31 new deaths on Wednesday, the provincial health commission said Thursday.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,466 and that of total deaths to 2,902.

Wuhan, the provincial capital, reported 131 confirmed cases and 23 deaths on Wednesday. In total, the city has registered 49,671 confirmed cases and 2,305 deaths.
NORRISTOWN  Twenty-seven current lawyers and support staff in the Montgomery County Public Defenders Office wrote a letter of support for the former chief and deputy chief who were fired last week by the county commissioners.

They earned our support by fiercely and zealously advocating for each and every client, establishing a holistic and trauma-informed approach to public defense, engaging in community outreach and organization, striving for policy reform, and serving as strong mentors and support systems to us, their employees, the public defenders wrote in the letter addressing the Feb. 25 firings of Chief Public Defender Dean M. Beer and Deputy Chief Public Defender Keisha Hudson.

The vast majority of the defenders who signed the petition were hired by Beer and indicated they came to the county from other public defender offices and other fields of social justice because they saw and respected the vision that Dean and Keisha fostered for an independent office that tirelessly advocated within the courthouse and within the community.

Beer, who was hired in September 2013 and earned a salary of $123,334, and Hudson, who was hired in May 2016 at a salary of $111,050, were let go from their posts during a shakeup that sent shockwaves throughout the courthouse. They were replaced by longtime public defenders Carol Sweeney and Gregory Nester, who will serve as co-chief deputy public defenders going forward.

The chief public defender and assistants are appointed by the county commissioners.

The letter comes as the ACLU of Pennsylvania and other advocates, including NAACP- Pennsylvania, are co-sponsoring a 10 a.m. rally and press conference outside the courthouse on Thursday to demand the county commissioners reinstate Beer and Hudson. A group of advocates is also expected to attend the regularly scheduled commissioners meeting.

Following the events of the last week, we are left feeling as if their vision, and ours, is not supported by Montgomery County, the public defenders wrote in their letter of support, adding witnessing the firings created a sense of confusion, fear, and had a chilling effect on those of us who remained.

We were left to question the independence of the office, the impact of our advocacy, and whether such advocacy would be limited. We have been provided no explanation for the firings-all we have been told is that they have been replaced, and we then received a subsequent follow-up statement detailing the countys commitment to indigent defense, the office, and the countys support of a pretrial services program and bail reform, the defenders wrote.

In a statement issued last Friday, the county commissioners did say they are wholly committed to supporting the office and support justice reform, specifically cash bail reform.

Officials said that in early 2019, county and court officials began a collaborative effort to develop an alternative to cash bail that could eliminate pre-trial detention of individuals that have been charged with certain crimes, simply because of their inability to pay bail.

The commissioners said they have given their full support for a comprehensive pre-trial services unit in the 2020 budget, including a new position in the 2020 county budget to launch the initiative.

While we are grateful to hear that the County supports us, and a pretrial program, it remains deeply concerning that the actions of the last few weeks may speak louder than any words, the public defenders wrote.

The defenders echoed the concerns of the ACLU of Pennsylvania which questioned the timing of the firings pointing out they came after Beer and Hudson filed an amicus brief on behalf of the ACLU in a case regarding the fairness of cash bail. The amicus brief provided specific examples of people who suffered as a result of cash bail in Montgomery County, the defenders claimed.

Shortly after its filing, the amicus brief was withdrawn. Then our chiefs were fired. Given the close proximity of those events, it is hard to not draw a direct line between the brief and the firings. It is also difficult to understand how a brief, advocating for bail reform, would not advance the interests of a county pretrial services program, the letter read. The seeming influence over our offices ability to advocate for policy initiatives is deeply concerning.

In the letter, members of the office maintained Beer and Hudson established and maintained relationships with numerous stakeholders in the community and they listed numerous accomplishments.

The defenders credited Beer and Hudson for establishing a satellite public defender office in June 2016, which has served nearly 1000 clients and was an important step in easing access to the services of the main office.

The lawyers made clear they fully support newly installed leaders Nester and Sweeney and respect their dedication to the office. However, they said they remain deeply troubled by the recent events.

We ask that the commissioners reconsider this action, and reinstate Dean Beer and Keisha Hudson as leaders of our office, the 27 signers of the letter wrote.

County officials previously said they would not comment further about the dismissals, citing they were personnel matters.
Seven persons have been arrested by the Palghar police in Maharashtra for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to hack into corporate giant Tata Sons' bank account and steal Rs 200 crore.

The accused, which included an employee of the private sector lender Indusind Bank, were arrested on a tip-off in Nallasopara on the outskirts of Mumbai on Tuesday before they could execute the plan, the police said.

In a statement, Indusind Bank said there was no actual hacking or even an attempt, and any such activity could have been thwarted by its security systems.

Assistant police inspector S B Kamble said the plan was to transfer Rs 200 crore from Tata Sons' account to another account in Kolkata and siphon off the money through illegal Hawala channels.

The accused had planned to hack into a fixed deposit account in Indusind Bank's branch in suburban Chembur here, he said, adding that the accused had taken the help of some IT experts too.

One of the accused, Taslim Ansari (34), worked with the bank and provided data to the other accused, the official said.

The police seized an iPad, six mobile phones, a bank statement and a blank cheque from the accused, he said.

The other arrested persons were identified as Naseem Siddiqui (35) (from Delhi), Gunjiv Baraiia (56), Saroj Choudhari (25), Satish Gupta (32), Anant Gosh (34) and Anand Nalawade (38).

Kamble said they were looking for another person from Nashik.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 511 (attempting to commit offence).

"There has been no breach identified nor any loss to the client of the Bank, or to the Bank itself...all employees of the Bank are trained and required to adhere strictly to the Employee Code of Conduct, and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any violation of the same," Indusind Bank said in its statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government is wary of the situation and is keeping an eye on containing the infection and treating patients, the Union Health Minister told the Rajya Sabha

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the number of novel coronavirus cases in India had risen to 30 with the diagnosis of a man in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Later in the evening, the Delhi government announced the closure of all primary schools  private, Delhi government, aided, unaided and run by civic bodies  until March 31 as a precautionary measure. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also handles the education portfolio, made the announcement on Twitter.

Harsh Vardhan told the Rajya Sabha said the government has set up a containment facility in Agra while listing measures taken to control the outbreak in the country. He said the government is worried about Indian pilgrims and students stuck in Iran as the number of cases was very high in that country.

The minister said the WHO had asked countries to stay alert, though they have not declared it a pandemic. He said the WHO information said once a person is exposed to the virus, the disease can get infected within 1 to 14 days.

Harsh Vardhan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keeping an eye on the situation and had appealed for calm despite being vigilant and cautious. He said a Group of Ministers has been constituted to track the outbreak and the response to it.

Reports said an employee of payments firm Paytm tested positive leading to the closure of its Gurugram office for 2 days. The spike in positive cases is being attributed to the detection of the disease in 15 Italian tourists and their driver.

Harsh Vardhan said states are being reviewed for their response to the crisis via videoconference every day. As informed earlier, all international flights are being screened to prevent more infected persons from mingling with people, he said. That number of passengers checked for the virus is more than 6 lakh and some 29,000 people are under watch in communities.

In the Lok Sabha, DMK deputy floor leader Kanimozhi demanded that the Central government look at setting up more institutes of virology in different regions of the country since there is only one based in Pune as of now. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked the government to make their plans to tackle the outbreak public along with the resources allotted for it.

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Northern white rhinos no longer exist in the wild. The last two remaining female individuals are under constant surveillance in Kenya while scientists are working on groundbreaking techniques to save the species from complete extinction.

Najin and her daughter Fatu are under intense surveillance in their 700-acre (about 280-hectare) enclosure at the Ol Pejeta conservancy near the town of Nanyuki, on the equator in central Kenya. Their head caregiver, Zacharia Mutai, says his team considers them as family members.

We know them very well and must ensure that they are healthy and well looked after.

Having the last two is something very serious. We are trying all our best to protect and preserve them. We don't want to face extinction any more.

Mutai was the caregiver of Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, which died in 2018.

The two remaining females, 31-year-old Najin and 20-year-old Fatu, are clinically infertile and cannot carry a pregnancy. Furthermore, Najin has a large tumour on her right ovary and Fatin has a damaged uterus.

Groundbreaking techniques

In order to save the species from extinction, scientists are working on artificial reproduction techniques which have never been attempted with rhinoceros before.

The efforts are pioneered by the BioRescue project at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in Germany. The team of international scientists are using in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and stem cell technology for reproduction purposes.

We have collected a lot of semen from four different northern white rhino bulls over the last 20 years, says Professor Thomas Hildebrandt who heads the BioRescue project.

This frozen semen allows us to do in vitro fertilisation and we hope to combine that approach together with groundbreaking stem cell technology.

Hildebrandt, a veterinarian specialised in the reproduction of wild animals, hopes that the combined technology will help produce a viable population that could be released into the wild within 15 to 20 years.

Last year, in a unique procedure at the Ol Pejeta conservancy, his team managed to collect the eggs from Fatu and Najin, but only three embryos from Fatu's eggs have managed to survive.

Our goal is to produce the first offspring of the northern white rhino with IVF technique as soon as possible so that this baby can learn how to be a northern white rhino from Najin and Fatu.

So, our timeline for that is about three years from now, he added.

The embryos are ready for transfer into surrogate southern white rhinos mothers. Hildebrandt hopes that it will happen before the end of 2020. It will then be followed by a gestation period of 16 months.

Meanwhile in Kenya, Stephen Ngulu, the wildlife vet at the Ol Pejeta conservancy, told RFI that Najin and Fatu are scrupulously monitored.

I have to observe their walking, their skin, check the eyes, teeth, feet or any wounds. I collect blood and we will test for various parasites, bacterial and viral diseases.

Stem cell technology to save endangered species

The stem cell approach is needed because we need a gene pool large enough to create a solid, viable population of northern white rhinoceros, said Hildebrandt, who has spent the last 20 years working with the northern white rhinos.

The technique, inspired by the work of the 2012 Nobel Prize-winning stem cell biologist Shinya Yamanaka, has only been performed on lab mice, but nobody has been capable, so far, to do that with two-ton species like the rhino.

The scientists are using stem cell technology to create eggs and sperm from deceased northern white rhinos.

We have not only harvested sperms from the four different northern white rhino bulls but we also collected skin samples from 12 unrelated individuals.

We have the best scientists on board and we hope to make significant progress in this field in the next three to five years, Hildebrandt told RFI.

It is very ambitious, but without dreams you can't change the world.

24/7 armed surveillance

The northern white rhino is endemic to swamp areas extending over Uganda, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Chad.

Extensive poaching and civil war led to their near extinction. Najin and Fatu were born in captivity and brought to Kenya in 2009 from the Dvur Kralove Safari Park in the Czech Republic.

The world's two remaining northern white rhinos live under the constant surveillance of 42 armed guards from the National Police Reservists.

We have a system where we can track the walkie talkies of the patrols. We have night vision, we have thermal images, explains Emilio Gichuki at the Ol Pejeta conservancy.

He added that poaching is still an acute problem which they are trying to resolve by involving the neighbouring communities.

Follow BioRescue project on Twitter @BioRescueP

Follow Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research on Twitter @IZWberlin

Follow Ol Pejeta conservancy on Twitter @OlPejeta

Follow Zeenat Hansrod on Twitter @zxnt
Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

A San Francisco-based cruise ship carrying more than 3,000 people is being held off the California coast as officials begin testing passengers for coronavirus after learning that two former passengers of the ship tested positive for COVID-19.

The two former passengers were on the ship between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21 for a cruise to Mexico. When the ship returned to the Port of San Francisco, they  along with nearly all of the 2,500 passengers  disembarked and headed home. The two former passengers were later diagnosed with COVID-19. One, a Placer County resident, died Wednesday.
Activists and journalists say decision to limit internet access in some parts of Rakhine is a violation of basic rights.

Yangon, Myanmar  Continued fighting between Myanmars military and the Arakan Army armed group has left several people dead in recent days as the government continues a clampdown on the western region.

Activists and journalists have decried the internet blackout the government has imposed as part of the clampdown as a violation of human rights.

Reports on Tuesday said at least 11 civilians, including five Muslim Rohingya, had been killed after being caught in the hostilities in Rakhine, a western state that is home to more than three million people.

In a statement, four United Nations human rights experts also said credible reports showed that more than 1,000 people had been displaced in the 10 days up to February 18. The Myanmar Times also quoted the Rakhine Ethnic Congress as saying that more than 120,000 have evacuated beginning in November 2018.

Since 2019, government forces have been embroiled in a new conflict with the Arakan Army, an armed rebel group that wants more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine people.

In 2017, a conflict between the military  also known as the Tatmadaw  and another rebel group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, led to the exodus of at least 740,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh, drawing allegations of genocide.





Now, residents of Rakhine, as well as more than 125,000 Rohingya still in refugee camps, are caught in the new wave of conflict.

As part of the governments response to the violence, it shut down the internet in early February in four townships in Rakhine and one town in neighbouring Chin state. The five towns impacted had been under temporary blackouts from June to August 2019, and join four other townships that have remained under a blackout since June 2019.

The decision to cut off the internet was revealed last month after Telenor, a Norway-based telecommunications group, announced that its Myanmar affiliate had been instructed to temporarily stop mobile internet services to these towns.

Isolation from the world

People protesting against the shutdown have been targeted, according to activists and rights groups.

In Myanmars largest city of Yangon, five people were arrested on February 24, and four others are facing charges for violating Myanmars much-criticised law on peaceful procession.

Min Ba Chay, a young activist who helped organise the protests in Rakhine, said the internet blackout is so harmful to civilians it could be seen as life-threatening.

Thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent years due to the fighting between the military and the Arakan Army armed rebel group [File: Nyunt Win/EPA]

For young people, the shutdown is like isolating them from the rest of the world, he said, adding that he doubted the government justification of the internet shutdown being necessary for national security.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself encouraged young people to get involved in politics. But now her government arrested students, he said, referring to the countrys leader.

According to Min Ba Chay, without internet connectivity, Rakhines civilians find it harder to access aid from humanitarian organisations, exchange information on which areas to avoid when fighting breaks out, and to contact family members outside the state.

End worlds longest internet shutdown

Ei Myat Noe Khin, a digital rights activist, told Al Jazeera: There should be no internet shutdown anywhere in the world, especially in conflict areas such as Rakhine.

It is also outrageous that student activists are facing charges after demanding justice and human rights, she said, urging the government to drop the cases immediately.

Ei Myat Noe Khin and organisers of the Myanmar Digital Rights Forum, are calling for an end to what they call the worlds longest internet shutdown.

Activists and rights groups in Myanmar have denounced the governments decision to shut down the internet in some parts of Rakhine State as outrageous [File: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

The blackout in parts of Rakhine also affects the work of journalists covering the conflict, putting them at increased risk, a senior Myanmar journalist said.

Aung Marm Oo, chief editor for the Rakhine-based Development Media Group (DMG), said his reporters could not contact sources, obtain video footage, or independently verify stories on the ground.

Our reporters have to spend a lot of time and money to go to the affected areas, putting their lives in more danger, he said.

Journalist in hiding

Aung Marm Oo, who has been in hiding for more than 10 months, says the military has a hidden agenda in shutting down the internet.

They want to wipe out the Arakan insurgency groups, he said.

Aung Marm Oo fled into hiding after being charged under the Unlawful Association Act, which prohibits supporting an illegal organisation, like the Arakan Army.

The government has determined that activities such as disseminating news about the Arakan Army or sharing their statements qualify as unlawful association.





Spokespersons for Myanmars government and the military did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment.

In an earlier statement, Major General Soe Naing Oo of Myanmars military information committee said the shutdown would go on as long as the unrest continues, referring to an incident where a soldier had been stabbed to death.

He also accused locals of siding with rebel group against the military, blaming telecom networks as the source they were getting information from.

At a separate press conference, Zaw Htay, spokesman for the Presidents Office said the government would fulfil every request made by the Tatmadaw and claimed other countries had similar practices when it came to restricting access to the internet.
Offices in Zurich, Switzerland and in Dusseldorf and Berlin, Germany accommodate growing number of clients in the region

MENLO PARK, California, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To further address the needs of its clients, global consulting firm Protiviti has expanded its geographical footprint, opening an office in Zurich, Switzerland and adding two offices in Germany, located in Dusseldorf and Berlin. Protiviti already has two offices in Germany, in Munich and Frankfurt am Main. The new offices enable Protiviti to serve global clients with operations in the region as well as local companies.

"Protiviti's expansion in Europe reflects the dynamic nature of the business and regulatory environment there," said Andrew Clinton, executive vice president of international operations, Protiviti. "We're committed to expanding our resources in the region to ensure we can continue providing the expertise and insights our growing number of clients need to be compliant, stay ahead of business disruption, transform and face other complex issues in today's marketplace with confidence."

The Protiviti office in Zurich is led by Country Market Leader for Switzerland Dr. Milena Danielsen; the offices in Dusseldorf and Berlin are led by the Country Market Leaders for Germany, Alix Weikhard and Boris Walther, respectively. All three leaders and their teams have extensive cross-industry experience in risk management, regulatory compliance, internal audit, technology, cybersecurity, business performance improvement and digital transformation.

About Protiviti

Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti and its independent and locally owned Member Firms provide clients with consulting solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, analytics, governance, risk and internal audit through its network of more than 85 offices in over 25 countries.

Named to the 2020 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, Protiviti has served more than 60 percent of Fortune 1000 and 35 percent of Fortune Global 500 companies. The firm also works with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go public, as well as with government agencies. Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half is a member of the S&P 500 index.

Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services.

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Photo: The Canadian Press Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announces six new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Los Angeles County.

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a patient succumbing in California  the first reported fatality outside Washington state  as federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home where most of the victims were stricken.

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency. Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies.

Washington also announced another death, bringing its total to 10. Most of those who died were residents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Seema Verma, head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out what happened and determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Last April, the state fined Life Care $67,000 over infection-control deficiencies following two flu outbreaks that affected 17 patients and staff. An unannounced follow-up inspection in June determined that Life Care had corrected the problems, Verma said.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington came under pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and cancelling large events. While the state and Seattle have declared emergencies, giving leaders broad powers to suspend activities, they have not issued any orders to do so.

We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now, Gov. Jay Inslee said. Right now, we are deferring to the judgment ... of these organizations.

While some individual schools and businesses have shut down, the governor said large-scale school closings have not been ordered because there are so many ramifications for families and businesses, especially for health care workers who might not be able to go to work because of child care responsibilities.

Some schools, businesses and other employers aren't waiting.

Seattle and King County public health officials urged businesses to allow employees to work remotely if possible, and the county said it will allow telecommuting for some of its workers for the next three weeks.

Microsoft said it has asked its Seattle-area workers who can do their jobs at home to work from home until March 25. The directive also affects Microsoft employees in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Redmond, Washington-based company said employees should still come in if they work at a data centre, retail store or other location where their presence is needed, unless they have an underlying health condition, are over 60 or fall into other categories that health authorities say pose higher risks.

Microsoft is also asking people to cancel travel to its Puget Sound and Bay Area campuses unless it is "essential for the continuity of Microsoft." The company is also cancelling non-essential business travel to other regions where the virus is active.

Shortly before the California death was announced, Princess Cruise Lines notified passengers of its Grand Princess that federal health officials are investigating a "small cluster of coronavirus cases connected to the ship's mid-February voyage. It asked current passengers to stay in their cabins until cleared by medical staff and said those who had been on the previous voyage should contact their doctor if they develop fever or other symptoms.

The Grand Princess is at sea off Mexico and will return early to San Francisco, where CDC and company officials will meet to determine the course of action, the cruise line said.

In Los Angeles, a contract medical worker who was conducting screenings at the city's main airport has tested positive for the virus. The person wore protective equipment while on the job so it was unclear how the worker contracted the virus, Homeland Security officials said.

In New York, health officials put hundreds of residents in self-quarantine after members of two families in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle were diagnosed with the virus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the disease appeared to have spread from a lawyer to his wife, two children, a neighbour and two others.
A 77-year-old sex offender who is a serious danger to the community will be released from jail in Queensland.

Albert Ronald Heidke is banned from having any contact with children under the age of 16 and cannot enter public parks or shopping centres without permission.

Heidke pleaded guilty in a Rockhampton court in 2010 to 41 offences against four boys committed over more than 35 years from 1973.

Of those offences, 31 involved three brothers, starting from when the boys were aged nine or ten.

Albert Ronald Heidke, 77, will be released from a Queensland prison on Thursday after spending 11 years behind bars for 41 offences against four boys over more than 35 years (stock image)

Heidke's friendship with the boys' families had provided him with the opportunity to offend, said Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns.

He said Heidke used 'quite sophisticated grooming behaviour' and, on some occasions, 'considerable force to restrain the boys'.

Heidke served a head sentence of 11 years' jail and has been refused parole twice for posing 'an unacceptable risk of further offending'.

Heidke was first convicted in a Beenleigh court in 1973 for fondling two seven-year-old boys in his care while their parents went to a party.

A psychiatrist, Dr Harden, said in a report last month that Heidke had distorted beliefs, a lack of insight, entrenched sexual deviance that he had acted on and met the criteria for a paedophilia diagnosis.

Heidke is expected to be released on Thursday, but will be under supervision intended to mitigate the risk to the community, following an order made on Wednesday.

Heidke is banned from any contact with children under the age of 16 and cannot enter public parks or shopping centres without first seeking permission (stock image)

He is banned going to public parks, shopping centres and anywhere that has a children's play area, without permission from corrective services.

He also cannot have any contact with children under the age of 16.

He will be under supervision for 10 years.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
BOSTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, announces 13 promotions to senior-level positions, including principal, vice president, and general counsel, and welcomes eight new academic affiliates.

"We are delighted to announce these promotions," said Martha S. Samuelson, CEO and Chairman of Analysis Group. "These consultants bring creativity and intellectual rigor to the complex and nuanced challenges our clients face. Their work has included analyzing antitrust issues and mergers in many different markets; providing economic analysis, modeling, and damages and risk assessments for litigation involving both tangible and intangible assets; preparing testimony on employment and compensation, tax and transfer pricing, and fiduciary obligations, among other issues; and developing clinical and real-world evidence for novel treatments of serious and rare diseases. We are also pleased to announce senior promotions on our legal and human resources teams. These dedicated professionals have made important contributions to our firm's success.

"In addition, we are happy to share the news of our affiliation with eight esteemed academics, who are widely recognized leaders in fields such as international finance, natural resources and the environment, corporate law and governance, innovation management, marketing and brand equity, and investor behavior."

New Affiliates

Mihir Desai  Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance, Harvard Business School; and Professor of Law, Harvard Law School  has more than two decades of experience in tax policy, international finance, and corporate finance. His research has focused on the appropriate design of tax policy in a globalized setting, the links between corporate governance and taxation, and the internal capital markets of multinational firms. Professor Desai has consulted to companies and organizations on tax- and finance-related topics, and he has testified several times before the US Congress, including in a joint session of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. His research has appeared in leading economics, finance, and law journals, and has been cited in media outlets such as The Economist, Businessweek, and The New York Times. His book The Wisdom of Finance was longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. Professor Desai has also published on international tax issues such as the costs of shared ownership, with a focus on international joint ventures. He is a research associate in the National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER's) Public Economics and Corporate Finance programs, and previously served as co-director of the NBER's India program. He is also on the advisory board of the International Tax Policy Forum and the Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.

W. Michael Hanemann  Professor, Department of Economics, and Julie A. Wrigley Chair in Sustainability, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University; and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley  is a leading authority on the economics of water, climate change, and non-market valuation, and played a major role in the development of both revealed and stated preference methodologies for non-market valuation. Professor Hanemann has provided expert reports and testimony in high-profile natural resource damages litigation matters, including several involving water pollution, and coauthored expert reports on the economic value of lost recreation and on non-use value damages resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the BP oil spill. He also gave extensive deposition and trial testimony as an expert witness on natural resource damages in the American Trader oil spill in California. Professor Hanemann has experience as a consultant and technical advisor to water resource agencies. In addition to many publications on natural resource damages and the economics of water, he has written about the determinants of urban water use, price and rate structures in urban water demand management and planning, economic institutions and increasing water scarcity, and urban water-rate design based on marginal cost. In 2003, he founded the California Climate Change Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and directed it until 2008. Professor Hanemann is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Kevin L. Keller  E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College  is an expert on marketing management, branding, and brand equity. His research focuses on improving marketing strategies through an understanding of consumer behavior, as well as on the design, implementation, and evaluation of integrated marketing communication programs. Professor Keller has served as brand advisor to a number of large corporations, including Accenture, American Express, Disney, Ford, Intel, Levi Strauss, L.L. Bean, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Samsung. He has published over 120 papers in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Consumer Research. He also authored the widely used textbooks Marketing Management (with Philip Kotler) and Strategic Brand Management. Professor Keller has received numerous awards for his research accomplishments, and has conducted marketing seminars for executives in a variety of forums. He previously held faculty positions at the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Punam Anand Keller  Deputy Dean and Charles Henry Jones Third Century Professor of Management, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College  is an expert in consumer information processing and choice behavior. She studies the application of social marketing principles and behavioral theory in consumer and employee contexts, with a focus on designing and implementing consumer communication programs. Her research in this area has been supported by organizations such as the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has been published in marketing, public policy, and health journals that include the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Professor Keller serves on numerous journal review boards, including those of the Journal of Marketing Research and Social Marketing Quarterly. Her research on decision making was cited by the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team's 2015 Annual Report for the White House on the use of behavioral science in the design of federal programs and policies. Professor Keller has earned awards for designing effective communications related to health and savings from the National Cancer Institute, the Marketing Science Institute, and the National Endowment for Financial Education. She is a fellow of the Association for Consumer Research.

Jonathan Reuter  Associate Professor of Finance, Carroll School of Management at Boston College  specializes in examining the behavior of individual investors and financial institutions, including mutual fund families, investment banks, rating agencies, financial advisors, and the financial media. His work focuses on the value of financial advice, the strategic behavior of target-date retirement funds, and portfolio management outsourcing in the mutual fund industry. In addition to his academic experience, Professor Reuter has served as an expert in a mutual fund fee litigation, filing an expert report and testifying at deposition. He has also provided testimony to the US Department of Labor (DOL), which summarized his research on the behavior of brokers and broker-sold mutual funds. Professor Reuter has published a number of articles on topics such as mutual fund performance, the effect of pension design on employer costs and employee retirement choices, and the effect of advertising on product reviews. This research has been published in leading academic journals, including The Journal of Finance and The Quarterly Journal of Economics, mentioned in media outlets such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and cited by the President's Council of Economic Advisers and the DOL. Professor Reuter also serves as an editorial board member of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a fellow at the TIAA Institute.

Edward B. Rock  Martin Lipton Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Corporate Governance & Finance, NYU School of Law  is an expert in corporate law and corporate governance. He coauthored the book The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach, and has published numerous articles on topics such as poison pills, politics and corporate law, hedge funds, corporate voting, proxy access, corporate federalism, and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Professor Rock taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where at various times he served as co-director of the Institute for Law and Economics, associate dean, senior advisor to the president, and provost and director of open course initiatives. He has held visiting professorships at NYU and Columbia University, and was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Hebrew University. Prior to his academic career, Professor Rock worked as an attorney specializing in complex antitrust, corporate, and securities litigation. In January 2019, the American Law Institute named him Reporter for the Restatement of the Law, Corporate Governance.

Antoinette Schoar  Stewart C. Myers-Horn Family Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management  is an expert in corporate finance, entrepreneurship, and organizational economics. Her research examines returns and capital flows in the venture capital industry, the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises and startup firms in emerging markets, and the impact of corporate governance practices on firm performance. Professor Schoar has served as an expert witness in cases involving commercial litigation and financial services. She is co-organizer of the Entrepreneurship Working Group at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Academic Research Council, and co-founder and scientific director of ideas42, a research lab on behavioral social science. Professor Schoar has published numerous articles and papers and received several awards for her research, including the Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship, and the Brattle Group Prize in Corporate Finance for her paper "Effects of Corporate Diversification on Productivity." She is an associate editor of The Journal of Finance, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Professor Schoar's work has been featured in The Economist, the Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Daniel Snow  Associate Professor in Operations Management, Said Business School, and Fellow in Economics and Management, Exeter College, University of Oxford  is an expert in technology and operations, innovation management, and service management, with a specialization in automotive, health care, aerospace, and growth-stage companies. His research addresses two areas: the complex relationship between new and old technologies during technology transitions; and service operations, particularly the building of theoretical microfoundations to help define the field, and empirical research on operational productivity. Professor Snow has testified in antitrust and competition cases as well as commercial disputes. He has taught at Harvard Business School, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and BYU Marriott School of Business; presented at a variety of management, innovation, and technology conferences; and written numerous cases for academic use. In 2014, he and coauthor Lamar Pierce received the Olin Award for Research That Transforms Business. Professor Snow is an executive committee member of the Harvard Business School Institutions and Innovation Conference, and a former board member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

New Principal

At the end of 2019, Analysis Group promoted Mark Gustafson to principal.

Mr. Gustafson applies his expertise in economics, econometrics, and modeling to litigation matters, complex business issues, and the analysis of public policy issues. He has worked extensively in the areas of health care, insurance, employment, ERISA, finance, intellectual property, commercial damages, and class certification. In his litigation work, Mr. Gustafson has testified at deposition, arbitration, and trial on physician compensation, the reasonable value of medical services, retirement benefits, employment compensation, lost earning capacity, and commercial damages, and he has critiqued plaintiffs' proposed damages formulas in several class actions. His work with federal agencies includes leading teams in two notable fraud cases: US Department of Justice v. Tenet, which resulted in one of the largest settlements ever paid in a health care fraud case; and US Securities and Exchange Commission v. Yuen, which resulted in one of the largest civil penalties ever assessed in an accounting fraud case. Mr. Gustafson has worked with clients to perform affirmative pay equity studies and to develop methodologies to address identified disparities. He has explored economic issues associated with a wide range of insurance products, and also has experience in a variety of ERISA matters, including those related to 401(k) defined-contribution plans, health care plans, benefits, and insurance claims. Additionally, he has assembled and analyzed large, proprietary datasets common in pay equity, insurance, and health care engagements. Prior to joining Analysis Group, Mr. Gustafson was the business manager in Tokyo for an international nonprofit.

New General Counsel

Effective January 1, 2020, Analysis Group named Sueyoung Min as general counsel.

Ms. Min leads the firm's Legal, Conflicts, and Compliance teams. She oversees legal risk management issues that arise across the firm, and is also responsible for corporate and regulatory matters. Ms. Min's responsibilities have broadened in scope and depth as the firm has grown, and she has played an important role in its global expansion. Ms. Min has 25 years of experience as a legal professional; prior to joining Analysis Group in 2004, she was a corporate mergers and acquisitions attorney at Ropes & Gray. Ms. Min began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Nathaniel M. Gorton of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

New Vice Presidents

Effective January 1, 2020, Analysis Group promoted 11 individuals across five offices to vice president.

In Boston, Peter Fabbrucci applies economic analysis to a wide range of litigation matters related to financial instruments, tax and accounting, and intellectual property. Deborah Hopkins manages the Conflicts team and is responsible for risk management across all aspects of the firm's business engagements. Liz Lajoie directs all aspects of talent management, leading the learning and development and performance evaluation initiatives across the firm. Jeremy Smith applies statistical analysis to antitrust issues and to the evaluation of markets and regulation in the agriculture, energy, health care, and finance sectors. David Toniatti applies microeconomics, econometrics, and statistical methods to a wide array of litigation and strategy matters, particularly those related to mergers.

In Chicago, Mark Berberian specializes in applying economic and quantitative analysis to complex antitrust, breach of contract, and securities litigation matters.

In Los Angeles, Maral DerSarkissian uses epidemiologic methodology to study clinical and economic outcomes in a broad range of disease areas. Anne LaRue applies economic, financial, and accounting analysis in finance and securities, intellectual property, and general commercial litigation matters.

In Menlo Park, Daniel Deisenroth assists in all phases of the litigation process, applying risk and economic analyses in a wide range of cases involving mergers and acquisitions, valuation, and antitrust issues.

In Washington, DC, Douglas Frank specializes in the application of microeconomic theory to a host of industrial organization, strategy, governance, and organizational design challenges. Anna Gumen uses economic and market research methods to design, administer, and analyze consumer surveys in the context of brand defamation, patent litigation, trademark infringement, and false advertising litigation matters.

To learn more about Analysis Group's capabilities, visit AnalysisGroup.com

About Analysis Group:

Analysis Group is one of the largest international economics consulting firms, with more than 1,000 professionals across 14 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1981, we have provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics, and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies, and government agencies worldwide. Our internal experts, together with our network of affiliated experts from academia, industry, and government, offer our clients exceptional breadth and depth of expertise.

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A possible coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm the nation's hospitals and force doctors into difficult decisions about how to allocate limited resources. Yet, experts say, only a handful of states have done the work necessary to prepare for such worst-case scenarios.

How would hospitals handle overflowing emergency rooms? What would doctors do if they ran out of medicines or ventilators? How would they decide who gets prioritized if they can't treat everyone?

Many fear the rapid spread of the virus invites a repeat of disaster scenarios like those that occurred in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, when some health care providers in New Orleans were accused of euthanizing elderly patients.

To ensure that would never happen again, a group of clinicians, ethicists and legal experts created a framework more than a decade ago for "crisis standards of care," through which states could help hospitals, doctors and front-line health care workers prepare for the tradeoffs that arise in a crisis.

"You definitely don't want people making those decisions in the heat of the moment, when they haven't slept and they haven't eaten and there's no air conditioning," said Dr. Matthew Wynia, director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorados Anschutz Medical Campus. "You make worse decisions under those circumstances."

In worst-case scenarios, the health care system might not be able to provide the same quality of care as in calmer times. While federal officials can provide recommendations, such public health emergencies fall under the purview of individual states. Triggered only when a governor or local municipality declares a state of emergency, state plans allow for the waiver of regulations that might limit how hospitals and doctors treat patients.

"COVID is not Hurricane Katrina; COVID could be far worse," said James Hodge, a professor of health law and ethics at Arizona State University. "We will be testing our capacity as a nation and, I daresay, there will be some failures. But I think those failures will be far fewer than before we actually talked through the crisis standards of care issue post-Katrina."

But while 36 states have drawn up crisis plans that could be enacted amid a COVID-19 pandemic, many of those states just copied the language from national recommendations, said Dr. John Hick, medical director for emergency preparedness at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis. They did not detail how the plans would be implemented locally.

Hick declined to name which state plans didn't measure up, and cautioned that some states without plans have done much of the necessary work but haven't released them.

"Very few states have done a good job," Hick said. "A lot of states have turned their plan in and that's where things ended. There's going to be a lot of catching up to do over the next few weeks."

'You have to be ready for what this might bring'

"The overall goal is to do the most good for the most people," said Dr. Stephen Cantrill, an emergency physician at Denver Health public hospital, who helped pen the first national crisis standard of care recommendations for states to use as a starting point. "This is a way of trying to give some structure, some uniformity and some clarity to those very difficult times."

In worst-case scenarios, doctors may have to make decisions about who will die and who will live. To be sure, those discussions are not easy.

"They do make politicians nervous because we actually have to set out specific resource allocation schemes," Hodge said.

In some states, he said, government officials have shut down discussions over crisis standards or indicated that plans wouldn't necessarily be followed.

"But the political accountability from not planning is also horrendous," Hodge said. "Any state caught without that is going to be in bad shape with regards to what we're seeing with COVID. You have to be ready for what this might bring."

'Graceful degradation of the quality of care'

Crisis standards of care are also designed to provide cover for doctors and other health care workers who are forced by circumstances to provide less than the highest quality of care.

The standards allow doctors to make the necessary, albeit controversial, choices without the fear of being arrested or sued for those decisions.

For example, ethicists have debated what doctors should do if they run out of ventilators during a flu or coronavirus pandemic. The machines help people with respiratory infections breathe and are often the difference between life and death for critically ill patients. Even with a national emergency stockpile of ventilators, the U.S. health system has only so much capacity.

Doctors may be forced to consider whether to take a ventilator away from a patient who isn't improving to help save another patient who might.

"You're asking clinicians to basically function in a way that might be contrary to how they've been trained," said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. "They need to understand why. They need to feel that this is in the best interest of all patients. It's not something that can just be dropped in their lap."

But crisis standards of care plans are also designed to help avoid those situations. Hick said well-crafted plans, like those developed by Minnesota, Utah and Colorado, spell out intermediate steps that could be taken to avoid such stark choices.

Minnesota's plan, for example, directs hospitals to first try to find additional ventilators from vendors, partner hospitals or government stockpiles. As demand grows, doctors could increase the threshold for who gets put on a ventilator, stretch supplies and cancel elective surgeries that might leave patients in need of a ventilator.

Hospitals could sterilize and reuse ventilator tubing rather than discarding it after every patient. And if supplies continue to run short, they could use transport ventilators or even positive airway pressure machines, similar to the devices sleep apnea patients use at home.

Wynia said that, if demand continues to grow, hospitals might even ask to borrow sleep apnea machines from the public.

"What youre aiming for in a disaster or catastrophe is the graceful degradation of the quality of care you're capable of delivering," he said.

The goal is to take steps to slow that decline, he added, make things less chaotic and avoid the dire life-or-death conundrums.

The plans detail how to deal with staffing issues, particularly as health care workers get sick themselves, such as pulling administrators with medical training back into patient care or asking families to help with feeding and personal hygiene. As hospitals swell with patients, they could be doubled up in rooms or moved to conference rooms or other unused space, grouped among less serious cases.

Hospital and public health officials are now trying to review their crisis standards of care plans with an eye toward the specifics of COVID-19 infections.

Daily challenges prepare for strain

Hospitals already have experience operating in crisis situations. Doctors routinely have to work around medication shortages, using sometimes less-than-ideal alternatives. A severe flu season might mean that people on ventilators must stay in the emergency department because of a shortage of ICU beds.

"Having a tough couple of years of heavy flu season and maxing out our hospital capacities has definitely forced us to start thinking outside the box," said Dr. Kari Scantlebury, an emergency physician with Inova Health System in Falls Church, Virginia. "It's given us a good jump-start to preparing for a potential pandemic."

The COVID-19 situation will likely test whether hospitals are truly better prepared for a crisis situation than at the time of Hurricane Katrina.

"We have a way to talk about this now," said Dr. Dan Hanfling, an emergency physician and executive with In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. "In 2005, talking about potential allocation of scarce resources, which was essentially rationing, was a bugaboo. You could not bring up that discussion."

That framework has been used during regional disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017. But it's been a while since the world has experienced a true pandemic threat, as the coronavirus poses.

"People don't understand how close the health system runs to capacity every day. We just don't have the trained staff to staff much beyond what we have now," Hick said. "Patients are waiting in the emergency department in many cities on a routine basis. Then you talk about adding a pandemic onto that? There are going to be compromises."
VIENNA - The OPEC oil cartel is calling for a deep production cut to keep crude prices from falling further as disruption to global business from the coronavirus slashes demand from air travel and industry.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VIENNA - The OPEC oil cartel is calling for a deep production cut to keep crude prices from falling further as disruption to global business from the coronavirus slashes demand from air travel and industry.

Oil ministers from the 14 OPEC countries decided at a meeting Thursday to push for a cut of 1.5 million barrels a day, or about 1.5% of total world supply.

Iran's Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, arrives for a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, March 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

It remains unclear, however, whether that can stabilize a market as demand is falling sharply because of the virus outbreak's impact on businesses around the world.

Since the outbreak began in China last month, air travel to the country  the world's second-largest economy  has all but stopped, sapping demand for aviation fuel. Manufacturing output fell sharply as cities with millions of residents locked down to contain the spread of the virus. That has caused chaos for industries around the world, and major companies have halted business travel out of precaution.

OPEC's move appears aimed at keeping prices roughly where they are by preventing a further decline. Lower prices can help consumer demand, particular in the United States, by putting more cash in consumer pockets to consume other goods. They have less impact on drivers in Europe, where higher taxes are the main component in fuel prices.

US gasoline is $2.42 per gallon according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, little changed from a year ago.

The OPEC proposal calls for its members to cut output by 1 million barrels a day, with another 500,000 barrels to be cut by non-member allies, like Russia, who have been co-ordinating production measures with the cartel in recent years. Members and non-members will meet Friday to decide.

Russia's agreement is not certain, however. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh noted that Russia has been reluctant to go along with cuts. Asked if OPEC had a Plan B if Russia does not go along, he replied: No, we have no other plan.

Analysts like Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB bank, expect Russia to agree to some level of cuts because the outlook is dire.

The coronavirus has now spread to 84 countries and regions around the world. The real impact on the global economy and the global oil market is huge, he said.

He believes the cuts to production will keep the price of oil from dropping to $40 or $30 per barrel but not to push it higher than the current level around $50 a barrel. On Thursday, the international benchmark for crude was trading around $51 a barrel, down from around $69 at the start of the year.

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The OPEC meeting was visibly affected by the coronavirus as journalists were barred from the headquarters building. Health officials were also seen using infrared thermometers to check entering delegates.

In December, OPEC oil-producing countries and Russia agreed to cut production by 1.7 million barrels per day, up from the 1.2 million barrel per day cut they had been observing for the previous three years.

But OPEC countries have been abiding by the recent cuts unevenly, with some nations quietly producing more than they agreed to.

On top of that, OPECs decisions to cut production have dwindling ability to boost oil prices, in part because the U.S. has been flooding the market with cheaply-produced crude.

___

McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Cathy Bussewitz in New York contributed to this report.
For Want of a Washer, an Economy Was Lost

Commentary

I learned today that a Bosch factory in northern Kentucky had to shut down an assembly line for lack of parts.

The line, as such things are called, was in the business of making automotive steering columns. My first thought was that some vital, complicated, and expensive component was in short supply. You know, the kind that only one factory in the world makes.

Then I found out that the missing part was a washer. Not the kind you launder clothes in, but the kind that consists of nothing more than a thin, round piece of metal with a hole in the center. Yes, that kind of washer. The kind that with the right steel and the right stamp, you can make for a pittance.

But for want of a washer, an American assembly line had to be shut down.

You may have guessed by now that the missing washers were supposed to be made in China, shipped to the factory just in time to be used in assembling steering columns. What you may not know is that most Chinese factories arent making, or shipping, anything much at the moment. Its hard to run a production line when most of your workers are huddled in their homes waiting for the coronavirus outbreak to pass.

But the missing washer isnt just a statement about how Chinas economy is at a standstill. Its also a commentary on how dependent the United States has become on the crippled communist giant.

I have to admit I wasnt happy when I heard the news about the shuttered assembly line. You mean to tell me that we have so hollowed out our manufacturing base that we cant make a simple washer?

I dont know how many times this same story is being played out in factories around the country. But I suspect that more than a few assembly lines will be slowing and stopping in the days and weeks to come. Workers will be idled waiting for a washer, or a nut, or a boltor whatever cheap widget the company decided years ago to save a few pennies on by sourcing it in China.

The ripple effect of such shortages throughout the economy is potentially serious. This explains why the U.S. Federal Reserve held an emergency meeting on March 3, and decided to cut rates by half a percentage point.

A supply chain brings in parts from around the world to assemble in a given location. Much like a real chain, it fails if even one link is broken. And many supply chains that rely on China are currently broken, or soon will be.

The good news is that, thanks to the Trump administrations tough trade policies, supply chains were starting to shift even before the coronavirus epidemic hit China. Many U.S.-based companies are now sourcing parts in places such as Vietnam, India, and Mexico. Some have even started making their products in the safest place on earth, the United States of America.

Still, the process of shifting supply chains away from an unreliable China is far from complete. We must look elsewhere not just for washers, but for auto parts and accessories, for high-technology goods such as 5G and phones andespecially nowfor pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. The current tariff regime must be kept in place, and even strengthened over time, to ensure that this happens.

Our current predicament vis-a-vis China reminds me of Benjamin Franklins proverb, For the want of a nail, a kingdom was lost.

In the story, a messenger sets out to warn the king that the kingdom is being invaded. But his horse throws a shoe along the way and goes lame. The rider never reaches the king with his message. The kingdom falls.

Lets not be that kingdom.

Steven W. Mosher is president of the Population Research Institute and the author of Bully of Asia. You can follow his work on China on Twitter @StevenWMosher.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order regarding measures to construct Alirzali-Khan Garvand-Safikurd-Tap Garagoyunlu road in Goranboy district.

Under the presidential Order, the Azerbaijan Highway State Agency is allocated 5 million manats for the construction of the road connecting 8 residential areas with a total population of 31,000 people.
By Patrick Watt

In 1988, during Margaret Thatchers third term, an aid deal with Malaysia was hatched by defence secretary George Younger. It involved the UK building a dam of dubious economic value, and certain environmental damage, in exchange for an arms deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Despite widespread misgivings at the time, the Pergau dam went ahead. But after a concerted campaign by the World Development Movement, the High Court ruled it unlawful in 1994. It was a turning point in the use of British aid.

The creation of a separate Department for International Development (DfID) in 1997, and its underpinning by the International Development Act in 2002, were a response to the Pergau dam and similar scandals. It committed the UK to taking the high road of using aid to reduce extreme poverty. It recognised that was the right thing to do and in our long-term national interest.

Fast forward twenty years, and Britain looks set to revisit this underlying debate about the purpose of British aid. The heat this debate is already generating reflects a deeper question  one sharpened by our exit from the EU  of how Britain wants to show up in the world.

The strategic defence and security review, announced last week by Boris Johnson, will begin to answer that question. No.10 describes it as the most fundamental examination of Britains international role since the end of the Cold War. The prime ministers foreign policy special adviser, professor John Bew will ensure the UK is equipped to meet the global challenges of the future and seek new and innovative ways to promote our interests overseas while continuing to commit two per cent of GDP to defence and 0.7 per cent of GNI to international development.

After months of speculation about the aid budget, the commitment to stick by the 0.7% target is welcome. But there are also signs in Whitehall that aid in the national interest is being approached in a way that will further dilute the poverty impact, and  far from being new and innovative  risk taking us back to Pergau dam era.

Story continues

A growing amount of aid is already being funnelled through spending departments other than DfId, despite the governments own independent aid watchdog finding that aid spent in other departments is much less transparent and effective than DfIDs own budget. There are now rumblings about the UK revisiting the OECDs already flexible definitions of aid, or withdrawing altogether. And in the drive to secure post-Brexit trade and investment deals, there will almost certainly be increased pressure to use Britains aid budget as a lubricant.

For all the undoubted limitations and incoherence of Britains approach to global poverty, it is one of the areas in which the UK can legitimately claim to have been a leader over the past two decades. In the process, it has made a positive difference to the lives of millions of people, from Afghan girls attending school, to West African communities protected from malaria. Rather than eroding the poverty focus further, the UK should be looking to create a much stronger whole-of-government approach to development. In practice, this would end such contradictions as its policy towards Yemen, where DfID humanitarian aid is used to mop up the damage created by a Saudi-led coalition military onslaught that receives UK backing.

A joined-up approach to global poverty requires a government department that doesnt simply spend aid effectively, but can also play a development policy role across Whitehall. This wont happen without a seat at the Cabinet table. But the recent decision to merge junior DfID and Foreign Office junior ministerial roles is rumoured to be a precursor to a full merger of the departments later this year.

A stronger UK approach to global poverty cannot happen in the absence of public support for development aid. Millions of people in the UK do feel that theyve a responsibility to their neighbours, far as well as near  a fact reflected in continued public support for development and humanitarian NGOs. But as Rory Stewart, former DfID secretary, observed at a recent Christian Aid event, this is an area where DfID has sometimes been its own worst enemy, wrapping up its work in layers of jargon and taking public backing for granted.

At a time when household incomes are squeezed and many people in the UK feel uncertain about their own futures, the sector needs to get better at telling a story of why, even if some people feel charity starts at home, it shouldnt end there. Ultimately, the kind of society we are at home will shape how we act abroad. A country that takes seriously its responsibility to tackle deprivation and insecurity at home is more likely to be one that supports efforts to tackle it globally.

Britain needs a coherent foreign, defence, security and development policy. But even more than this, it needs a coherent approach to poverty and injustice which makes sense both abroad and at home. It is to be hoped that the fork in the road represented by the Bew review quickly results in Britain taking a new and better path.
THE chief executive of the Health Service Executive says good progress has been made in tracing those who were in contact with the latest four victims of the coronavirus.

The two males and two females, who are from County Clare and who recently travelled to Northern Italy, are being treated in an isolation unit at University Hospital Limerick.

All of those cases have been placed in infection control environments and are being treated for in that manner, said Paul Reid during a media briefing in Dublin this Thursday afternoon.

Mr Reid said the process of tracing the contacts of the four individuals poses a significant challenge given the scale involved but that good progress has been made since the diagnoses was confirmed on Wednesday.

A number of schools in County Clare have been closed as a precaution and the Limerick for Engineering showcase which was due to take place at Shannon Airport this Thursday evening has been deferred because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The HSE says the six confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland are all associated with travel from Northern Italy and that there have no confirmed instances of the virus being spread in the community.

While still in the containment phase, Mr Reid said the country is in a "very challenging phase right now in terms of sustaining the containment phase".

He said the current situation is unprecedented and that a major public awareness campaign will be launched shortly and he appealed to members of the public to listen to the advice.

We need to ensure that there is not a level of panic amongst the public and, equally, that there is not a level of complacency. Thirdly, we need the public to act to treat this very seriously and to act on all of the advice that we are giveing, he stated.

For advice and updates on Covid-19 log onto the HSE Website
Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have completed work on a new kind of bridge that's modeled to 'open' and 'close' like an umbrella.

The bridge is roughly 236 feel long and spans a small stretch of the Lafnitz River on the border of Austria and Hungary, where Austrias new S7 motorway is being constructed.

Unlike most other bridge construction projects, the Lafnitz River bridge was assembled vertically instead of horizontally, and then lowered with bendable hydraulic joints that mimic an umbrella's internal frame.

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Engineers from the Vienna University of Technology designed a new kind of bridge modelled after an umbrella, meant to be built vertically instead of horizontally and then lowered and opened with hydraulic joints

'The two girders are connected to each other at the top, directly above the pier, 'designer Johann Kollegger told the University news blog.

'With hydraulic systems, this joint is then slowly lowered, and the girders unfold to both sides.'

The fact that the bridge can be assembled in a central location before expanding to span its full length could make construction much safer in the often dangerous terrain that require bridges, including steep mountainsides and across deep ravines.

Erecting bridges using scaffolding usually takes months, Kollegger said.

The elements for the balanced lowering method, on the other hand, can be set up in two to three days, and the lowering process takes around three hours.

The team claims the bridge is not just less expensive to build but also more durable than conventional bridge designs.

The project was backed by ASFiNAG, a public corporation operated by the Austrian government that builds and maintains the countrys freeways.

With this innovative construction method, we were able to meet both of our requirements for this sensitive area, ASFiNAGs Berhard Streit said.

Building a bridge in a traditional manner can take months, or even years, but with advanced planning, the new umbrella-based approach can be assembled on-site in a matter of days

The project was built as part of the Austrian governments new S7 motorway, which is planned to cross the Lafnitz River near the Hungarian border, where the bridge was constructed

The team claims the new approach to bridge construction is less expensive and more durable, and it could be used to build new bridges in dangerous environments like steep mountainsides or ravines

We are therefore very happy about the successful cooperation with TU Wien.

Kollegger hopes his new method could one day become one of the standard approaches to bridge construction around the world.

Now that we have proven that the method is well-engineered and works perfectly,' he said, 'we hope that it will prevail and will soon become one of the common bridge building methods that are used around the globe and that the S7 Motorway will become an international pioneer.'
Retains Best Managed designation for ninth consecutive year for overall business performance and sustained growth

TORONTO, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - Avison Young today announced it has been recognized as a 2020 winner of the prestigious Canada's Best Managed Companies Platinum Club designation, retaining its Best Managed designation for the ninth consecutive year. The 2020 Best Managed program winners are amongst the best-in-class Canadian owned and managed companies with revenues over $25 million demonstrating investment in talent and technology, innovation in a competitive environment, and an increased focus on global competition.

Canada's Best Managed Companies is one of the country's leading business awards programs. Every year, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies compete in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates the calibre of management abilities and practices.

"This year's Best Managed winners are a testament to the success found when businesses are deliberate about seizing the opportunity to do better; they invest in game-changing technology, commit to their corporate purpose and social responsibility, and solidify their place on the world stage," said Kari Lockhart, Partner, Deloitte Private and Co-Leader, Canada's Best Managed Companies program. "Canada's Best Managed Companies celebrate a community of the strongest private businesses that shape our country and fuel Canada's competitiveness, creating sustainable economic growth in an evolving global market."

As a different kind of commercial real estate company, Avison Young is owned and operated by its Principals, which fosters a collaborative culture that is focused on driving results for clients. With its roots in Canada and legacies dating back more than 200 years, the firm continues to grow rapidly to help clients solve their most complex challenges. Over the last decade, Toronto-headquartered Avison Young has grown from hundreds real estate professionals in 11 offices in Canada to thousands of professionals in more than 100 offices in 14 countries.

"Best Managed recognizes that better managed companies lead to happier employees, lead to stronger communities, lead to a better world, and we are humbled to again receive this distinction," said Mark Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young. "As a private and Principal-owned and led company, we foster a collaborative culture that puts the needs of our clients, our employees and our communities at the heart of our business decisions."

Applicants are evaluated by an independent judging panel comprised of representatives from program sponsors in addition to special guest judges. 2020 Best Managed companies share commonalities that include (but are not limited to) a clear and concise strategy, capability to invest in R&D, tools and proprietary equipment, and a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility.

"CIBC congratulates 2020's Canada's Best Managed Companies, who are not only at the forefront of their industries, but among privately held companies across Canada," said Dino Medves, Senior Vice President and Head, CIBC Commercial Banking. "The success of these companies is built on continued investment in top talent, an ongoing focus on innovation and a well-defined path for the future."

2020 winners of the Canada's Best Managed Companies award will be honoured at the annual Canada's Best Managed Companies gala in Toronto on April 1, 2020.

About Canada's Best Managed Companies

Canada's Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $25 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on four levels: 1) Canada's Best Managed Companies new winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Canada's Best Managed Companies winner (award recipients that have re-applied and successfully retained their Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (after three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully retained their award for 4-6 consecutive years); 4) Platinum Club member (winners that have maintained their Best Managed status for seven years or more). Program sponsors are Deloitte Private, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group. For more information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca.

About Avison Young

Avison Young is the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its Principals. Founded in 1978, with legacies dating back more than 200 years, the company comprises thousands of real estate professionals in more than 100 offices around the world. The firm's experts provide value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management and financing services to clients across the office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality sectors.

Avison Young is a 2020 winner of the Canada's Best Managed Companies Platinum Club designation, having retained its Best Managed designation for nine consecutive years.

www.avisonyoung.com

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For further information: Kate Murphy, Global Director of External Communications, Avison Young: 704.413.0234; Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028; Deloitte: [email protected]
The Calcutta high court on Thursday stayed the Centre's notice asking a Polish student to leave India for allegedly participating in a protest rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Kolkata.

IMAGE: Students hold placards during a protest rally against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, in Guwahati, Assam. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya restrained the government from giving effect to the notice till March 18 when the court will pass an order on the student's petition.

Kamil Siedczynski, the student from Poland who is enrolled for a Masters' degree in the Department of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, was served a 'Leave India Notice' dated February 14 from the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office, Kolkata.

Opposing the Poland citizen's prayer, the central government told the court that being a student visa holder, a foreigner cannot challenge a law passed by the Indian Parliament.

Central government lawyer Phiroze Edulji submitted that a foreigner cannot challenge Article 19 of the Constitution, as it was not applicable to him.

Edulji further submitted that the notice was served on him by the FRRO on the basis of a field report.

In his petition before the high court, Siedczynski prayed for a restraining order on the authorities from giving effect to the notice, which asked him to leave India within 14 days of receiving it, and from deporting him.

Since he received the notice on February 24, he was required to leave the country by March 9.

In the notice, Siedczynski is alleged to have engaged in anti-government activities and thus committed visa norms violation, which the student denied.

Siedczynski's lawyer Jayanta Mitra submitted before the court that on December 19, 2019, while on an outing, he, was persuaded to accompany other students of the Jadavpur University to an event in the New Market area of the city.

Claiming that he did so unwittingly and out of curiosity, Mitra submitted that it transpired that the event was a peaceful protest being held by different sections of people.

He claimed that the student soon got separated from the others and stood on the sidelines as an onlooker.

The student claimed that he was asked a few questions by a person, who also clicked his photograph and it later transpired that he was a photojournalist of a Bengali daily, where his photo and some related news were published. Mitra claimed that some statements had been wrongly attributed to him in the report.

Mitra claimed before the court that the notice, which was communicated to the student on February 24 when he went to the FRRO on being asked to, was arbitrary and contrary to principles of natural justice and violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed to all persons under the Constitution.

He submitted that it is not in consonance with India's obligations and is in derogation from the principles enunciated under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1966), which are applicable to all persons.

Siedczynski, who hails from Szczecin in Poland, has been studying in India since 2016 and has already obtained Post Graduate Diploma in Sanskrit from the Visva-Bharati university on scholarship before enrolling for the course at the Jadavpur University, where he is in the final semester and his examinations are scheduled to be completed by August, Mitra submitted.

According to the petition, Siedczynski also prayed to the FRRO for reconsideration since he had only four months left to complete his full-time Masters' programme at the university and "expressed remorse stating he had learnt a lot from his mistake and he undertook not to repeat the mistake".
Pro-abortionists rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington on March 4, 2020. The court is reviewing abortion restrictions in Louisiana, where state law requires the abortionist to have hospital admitting privileges close to where the procedure takes place. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Supreme Court Considers Law That Requires Admitting Privileges for Abortion Docs

WASHINGTONA Louisiana law that requires abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges close to where the procedure takes place should be upheld because it protects womens health, the states solicitor general told the Supreme Court on March 4 as protests raged outside.

Oral arguments came in the case, June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, as partisan, election-year rancor rose to a fever pitch outside the courthouse.

At a morning pro-abortion rights rally beside the courthouse steps, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised unspecified retribution against conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh should they vote to uphold the law under challenge.

Theyre taking away fundamental rights, Schumer said as the case was being argued inside. I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind!

And you will pay the price! You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at an abortion rights rally outside of the Supreme Court as the justices hear oral arguments in the June Medical Services v. Russo case in Washington on March 4, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement in the late afternoon condemning Schumers remarks.

Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous, Roberts said.

All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

It was unclear if the justices knew about Schumers tirade while the hourlong court hearing was underway. During it, Kavanaugh asked questions of lawyers, but Gorsuch remained silent.

The Trump administration sides with Louisiana in the litigation.

Louisiana asserts that its admitting privileges law screens out incompetent physicians and promotes good health by making sure a patient who suffers complications can be promptly admitted to a nearby hospital.

Louisianas decision to require abortion providers to have admitting privileges was justified by abundant evidence of life-threatening health and safety violations, malpractice, noncompliance with professional licensing rules, legislative testimony from post-abortive women, testimony from doctors who took care of abortion providers abandoned patients, Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill told the justices during oral arguments March 4 before the more liberal justices grilled her over the facts of the case.

The unhygienic, unsafe practices in some of the nations lightly regulated abortion clinics came to light during the trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell. In 2013, Gosnell, whose clinic was filled with blood-covered furniture and dirty medical instruments, was sentenced to life imprisonment on three counts of first-degree murder for stabbing three babies born alive with scissors.

This Nov. 30, 2018, file photo shows Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, as he sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Abortion rights advocates counter that the law is an unconstitutional sham intended to chip away at abortion rights established in 1973s Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, and an example of what they call a TRAP law that imposes targeted restrictions on abortion providers. They say such laws make it more difficult to provide abortions, without actually making them safer.

They also say the law puts Louisiana in the position of having just one functioning abortion clinic. State officials deny that, saying the law might only lead to brief delays at one of three abortion-offering clinics in the state.

The statute was upheld 21 by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2018. There is no evidence that any of the clinics will close as a result of the Act, the court stated in its decision.

Enacted in 2014, Louisianas Act 620 requires an abortion-providing medical doctor to have active admitting privilegesmeaning the physician is a member of the hospitals medical staff and has the ability to admit patients and provide diagnostic and surgical servicesat a hospital within 30 miles of where an abortion is provided. Violations can be punished with imprisonment, fines, and license revocation.

The case at hand resembles the 2016 Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt case in which the Supreme Court struck down a similar Texas law in a 53 ruling. In that case, then-Justice Anthony Kennedy, a frequent swing voter on the court, was part of the majority voting bloc. He has since been replaced by the more conservative Kavanaugh.

Act 620 was modeled after HB 2, the Texas law the court invalidated.

But Louisiana participated in oral arguments at a disadvantage. By a 54 vote on Feb. 7, the Supreme Court temporarily stayed enforcement of Act 620, a move suggesting most of the justices already believed the law might be unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts, part of the conservative bloc on the court, joined with four liberal justices in that vote.

During oral arguments, the lawyer for abortion provider June Medical Services, which does business as Hope Medical Group for Women, said the court was bound to follow recent precedent.

This case is about respect for the Courts precedent. Just four years ago, the Court held in Whole Womans Health that the Texas admitting privileges law imposed an undue burden on women seeking abortions, said Julie Rikelman of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The Louisiana law at issue here, Act 620, is identical to the Texas law and was expressly modeled on it. After a trial, the district court ruled Act 620 unconstitutional, finding no material differences between this case and Whole Womans Health. On burdens, it found that Act 620 would leave Louisiana with just one clinic and one doctor providing abortions. At the same time, it found that Act 620 would do nothing for womens health.

Nothing has changed since the earlier decision, she said, that would justify a legal about-face.

Justice Samuel Alito was skeptical of Rikelmans submissions, suggesting her client lacked legal standing to challenge the law, and sarcastically described her arguments as amazing.
(Natural News) Countries throughout the globe are joining the fight to end plastic waste, and Bali is one of the latest to ban the use of single-use plastic items to reduce ocean pollution.

The laws six-month transition period ended in June 2019 and on July 2 of the same year, the law prohibiting plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam came into effect.

The Indonesian governments goals for the policy may seem ambitious, but they want to target at least a 70 percent decrease in Balis plastic marine waste in a year.

In an interview with the Jakarta Post, Wayan Koster, the 10th governor of Bali, explained that the policy targets producers, distributors, suppliers and business actors. The policy will also help encourage individuals to limit or avoid single-use plastics.

Koster added that plastic producers must find plastic substitutes that are more eco-friendly, adding that those who refuse to comply with the ban will face consequences.

For example, the Indonesian government could refuse to extend the business permit of plastic distributors or suppliers. The policy is part of an important global movement to ban single-use plastic and successfully reduce plastic waste.

Back in March 2019, New York lawmakers voted to prohibit retailers from wrapping customer purchases in single-use plastic bags. The legislation will take effect by March 1, 2020.

The Plastic Pollution Coalition warned that in the U.S. alone, at least 30 million tons of plastic is thrown away annually. Sadly, only eight percent of plastic waste in America is recycled. (Related: Want to stop using plastic? Here are 9 ways to start.)

Tips to reduce plastic waste

You can do your own part to reduce plastic waste and prevent it from polluting the worlds oceans. Follow the tips below to help make the world a greener and cleaner place.

Always bring a reusable shopping bag

Single-use plastic bags are flimsy, yet theyre often used in countless stores around the globe.

Reduce waste by bringing your own tote bag whenever you shop. Bring bigger carryall bags and get reusable produce bags instead of asking for single-use plastic bags.

Use greener alternatives for food storage

Stop using plastic food bags and plastic wrap. Replace plastic sandwich bags with a lunch box which you can use every day if you bring your own lunch to work.

Dont store food in plastic zipper bags that youll eventually throw away. Store leftovers in glass jars or glass containers instead.

Dont buy bottled water

While plastic bottles are a must in a survival stockpile, you can reduce plastic waste by using a refillable water bottle instead of buying bottled water every day.

Bring a thermos or reusable tumbler to your favorite coffee shop

Disposable coffee cups only look like theyre made of paper. Most of the time, theyre lined with polyethylene, a type of plastic resin.

These materials can be recycled, but not all areas have the infrastructure necessary to do so. Coffee shops also offer lids and stirrers that produce waste, which you can easily avoid by using a thermos or your own mug.

Switch to reusable straws

Dont ask for a plastic straw if youre at a bar or restaurant. If you really need a straw, buy a reusable set of straws instead and bring it with you wherever you go.

Replace disposable diapers with reusable cloth diapers

Babies will need tons of disposable diapers, which means youll also be producing a lot of plastic waste until your child is old enough not to need them. Do your part for Mother Earth and use reusable cloth diapers. They take some getting used to, but this is one way to reduce your plastic waste.

Avoid single-use plastics and make simple changes to reduce the plastic waste that you produce to help save the environment.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

TreeHugger.com .
A new social dialogue between the government, business leaders and workers can only go ahead if the problems of low pay and insecure work are addressed, Labour leader hopeful Aodhan ORiordain has warned.

Speaking ahead of the second Labour hustings for the partys new leadership, Mr ORiordain ruled out his party participating in any new talks with employers and the government on work practices and pay unless it helped workers.

The Dublin Bay North TD and rival Alan Kelly will go head-to-head again tomorrow night, at the second of four hustings for the leadership contest taking place in north Dublin

In advance of the event, Mr ORiordain said Labour should only back a return to a structured social dialogue in Ireland if it begins by tackling low pay and insecure work.

He noted that employers group IBEC had placed a strong emphasis on incentives for business through tax cuts when discussing any new social partnership.

Labour should support genuine social dialogue, which exists in some form in most European countries. But we cannot return to the model of social partnership, based on wage moderation and tax cuts, which vastly reduced the scope for investment in public services by running down the Irish tax base for over two decades.

I will support a dialogue between government, unions, business and civil society if it genuinely addresses the huge burdens on workers, their families and their communities.

Most of these problems  like housing, affordable childcare, decent health services and sustainable public transport in cities, towns and rural areas  require substantial state investment, which will never be possible if the priority is running down the tax base to incentivise business.

The former junior minister said that real solutions could be found to helping the estimated 25% of Irish workers who are in low-paid jobs and the 40% of workers aged under 30 in insecure employment.

Mr ORiordain has placed workers rights, including establishing a legal right to be represented by a trade union, at the centre of his policy platform for his Labour leadership campaign.

As Labour leader, I will legislate to establish a right for all workers to be represented by a union. If this is deemed unconstitutional, we will build a movement in support of a referendum to give people the right to be represented by a trade union," he said.
The Delhi court has fixed a fresh date of execution of four convicts of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape case. The four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) are to be hanged at 5.30 am on March 20, 2020.

On March 4, the Delhi government moved to city court seeking a fresh date for the execution of the four convicts, saying all their legal remedies were exhausted.

Also read: Nirbhaya case: Delhi govt recommends trashing mercy plea of convict

"As convicts in Nirbhaya case have exhausted legal remedies, court may proceed to fix date for execution of their death sentence," Delhi government said.

Asha Devi, mother of 2012 gang-rape victim also hoped that the convicts would be hanged on the designated date.

"The morning of March 20 will be the morning of our lives," Asha Devi said on Thursday.

Lately, President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy plea Pawan Gupta - one of the four convicts. The President had already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

The execution of the death warrants of the four convicts has been deferred thrice so far.

On December 16, 2012, a paramedical student was gang-raped and brutally assaulted by six men in a private bus and thrown out of the moving vehicle along with her male friend.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, one of the sixth accused, 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.

Also read: Nirbhaya case: Loopholes responsible for delay in justice, says Shiv Sena

Also read: Nirbhaya case: Accused Vinay Sharma attempts to hurt himself inside jail
Queen Letizia of Spain cut an elegant figure in a satin pink shirt and ombre skirt as she attended a conference in Madrid today.

The Spanish royal, 47, wore the stylish ensemble at the event at the headquarters of the Spanish bank BBVA to mark World Rare Disease Day where she gave a speech and presented awards.

Queen Letizia appeared relaxed at the event, pairing the business-like shirt with a trendy ombre pleated skirt in a similar shade from British brand Reiss.

The former journalist is one of the directors of the Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases (FEDER), and was attending today's event to support the cause.

Queen Letizia of Spain, 47, cut an elegant figure in a stylish satin pink shirt which she paired with a black ombre pleated skirt for the Rare Diseases World Day event

The former journalist gave an animated speech at the World Rare Disease Day event before handing out awards

Queen Letizia appeared relaxed as she handed out awards to attendees who joined her on stage at the event in Madrid

International Rare Disease Day, in February, is a day where patients and organisations all over the world hold awareness-raising activities for rare diseases.

As one of the directors of FEDER, Queen Letizia was there to celebrate the day in February and talk to those who were involved.

Letizia looked relaxed as she arrived at the event in Madrid, complementing her ensemble with a pair of nude heels with a trendy black toe.

The royal wore her hair in soft tousled curls, and added a touch of glamour to her outfit with a pair of dangling drop earrings.

The royal opted for a stylish satin shirt which she paired with a midi-skirt from Reiss for the event today

The royal opted soft, spring-like makeup, selecting a pink eyeshadow and a light bronzer, as well as a nude pink lip, for the event

Queen Letizia wore her hair in a soft curl and at one stage swept her locks behind her ear to reveal pink earrings

The Spanish royal appeared relaxed as she joined attendees at the event on stage to hand out awards

She wore a smoky eye make up and a light nude lipstick as she then handed out awards.

The Spanish royal took to the stage to give an expressive speech, in her capacity as one of the directors of FEDER.

FEDER, who operate across Spain, Latin America and Europe, hope to increase visibility of rare diseases and help those suffering by defending their rights.

The organisation, which is marking it's 20th anniversary this year, is currently celebrating a 'Grow with you, our hope' campaign

The royal, who is one of the directors of the Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases (FEDER), has regularly attended the event over the past few years

After handing out awards, the royal posed with fellow attendees who joined together to mark Rare Diseases World Day

They help people who have contracted a disease that less than five people per 10,000 have. There are more than three million people that fit the bill in Spain alone.

It comes amid a busy week for the royal who attended a funeral for Spanish businessman Placido Arango alongside her husband King Felipe yesterday.

The couple, who have been married since 2004, were unusually tactile as they comforted each other over the loss of their friend.

And earlier this week, the royal attended an awards ceremony to celebrate the latest Honorary Brand Ambassadors of Spain.
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Indian equity benchmarks closed with modest gains on March 5 as fears over coronavirus cases and its economic fallout continued to weigh in on sentiments.

Sensex traded in the green zone for the most part of the day; at one point in the day, the 30-share index was 478 points up.

However, it failed to hold altitude and pared most of the gains. Signs of improvement in the global cues offered little relief and the equity barometer Sensex eventually ended with a modest gain of 61 points, or 0.16 percent, at 38,470.61, while Nifty settled 18 points, or 0.16 percent, up at 11,269.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said that the funds allocated by IMF and easing monetary measures are marginally supporting global markets but India is underperforming due to coronavirus cases.

While the Nifty has bounced back from the lows, the short-term trend remains down. The Nifty will have to convincingly cross the recent highs of 11,433 to reverse the downtrend, said Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades:

Note: The OI and volume data of stocks given in this story are the aggregates of the three-months data and not of the current month only.

Key support and resistance level for Nifty

According to the pivot charts, the key support level for Nifty is placed at 11,212.57, followed by 11,156.13. If the index moves up, key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,357.47 and 11,445.93.

Nifty Bank

Nifty Bank closed 0.56 percent up at 28,815.35. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 28,522.5, followed by 28,229.7. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 29,121.2 and 29,427.1.

Call options data

Maximum call open interest (OI) of 17.51 lakh contracts was seen at the 11,800 strike price. It will act as a crucial resistance level in the March series.

This is followed by 11,500 strike price, which holds 16.18 lakh contracts in open interest, and 11,300, which has accumulated 15.06 lakh contracts in open interest.

Significant call writing was seen at the 11,800 strike price, which added 76,275 contracts, followed by 11,500 strike price that added 38,700 contracts.

Call unwinding was witnessed at 11,700 strike which shed 1.43 lakh contracts. This was followed by 11,400 strike which shed 1.05 lakh contracts.

Put options data

Maximum put open interest of 31.86 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price, which will act as crucial support in the March series.

This is followed by 11,300 strike price, which holds 19.17 lakh contracts in open interest, and 11,700 strike price, which has accumulated 18.74 lakh contracts in open interest.

Put writing was seen at the 11,000 strike price, which added 2.91 lakh contracts, followed by 11,400 strike, which added 1.81 lakh contracts.

Put unwinding was seen at 11,200 strike price, which shed 60,600 contracts, followed by 11,500 strike price which shed 45,750 contracts.

Stocks with a high delivery percentage

A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in these stocks.

41 stocks saw long build-up

Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long build-up was seen.

18 stocks saw long unwinding

Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long unwinding was seen.

49 stocks saw short build-up

An increase in open interest, along with a decrease in price, mostly indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which short build-up was seen.

36 stocks witnessed short-covering

A decrease in open interest, along with an increase in price, mostly indicates a short-covering. Based on open interest (OI) future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which short-covering was seen.

Bulk deals

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Board meetings

The respective boards of Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Marico, Power Grid, A.k. Capital Services, Alphageo (India), Elgi Equipments, Great Eastern Shipping Company, Havells India, Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals, Kirloskar Oil Engines and Nocil will meet on March 6 to consider and approve interim dividends.

The respective boards of Shree Metalloys, Shailja Commercial Trade Frenzy, STL Global, Sanghvi Brands, Nilachal Refractories, Maximaa Systems, Firstobject Technologies, Daulat Securities, Bombay Potteries & Tiles, Asia Capital and Akme Star Housing Finance will meet on March 6 for general purposes.

Stocks in news

M&M: February production down 56 percent to 25,643 units, sales down 43 percent to 30,083 units YoY.

JSW Steel: Moody's has changed the outlook on company's ratings to stable from positive; affirmed Ba2 ratings.

Yes Bank: SBI, LIC likely to pick up 24.5 percent stake each in the bank - CNBC-TV18 sources.

Pidilite: Company incorporates JV to carry on construction business using C-Techos Wall Tech.

Lupin: Company launched generic Vimovo tablets in the USA.

Syndicate Bank: Board approved share swap ratio for the merger with Canara Bank.

Union Bank: Board approved share exchange ratio for the merger with Andhra Bank & Corporation Bank. Approved share swap ratio at 325 shares of Union Bank for every 1,000 shares of Andhra Bank and at 330 shares of Union Bank for every 1,000 shares of Corporation Bank.

PNB: Board approved share exchange ratio for the merger with OBC and United Bank.

JSW Steel: ICRA revised the long-term credit rating of the company to AA-.

JSW Energy: Promoters created a pledge on 1.25 crore shares (0.75 percent equity) from February 27 to March 3.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,476.75 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares of worth Rs 2,510.89 crore in the Indian equity market on March 5, provisional data available on the NSE showed.

Fund flow

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

Yes Bank is under the F&O ban for March 6. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
We, at Adgully, have always saluted and honoured women managers and leaders across diverse fields. Women Disruptors is Adgullys special initiative to bring to the fore some remarkable women achievers in M&E, Advertising, Marketing, Communications industries, how they think, how they manage things, how they lead from the front and much more.

Sabina Chopra, Co-Founder & COO, Corporate Travel & Head Industry Relations, Yatra.com, looks after the Corporate Travel Business and the Industry Relations for the company. In this role, she is responsible for growing the corporate travel business by virtue of a strong technology platform, backed by a full-service team. She is also responsible for all the Airline & Insurance contracting for B2C, B2B and Holidays business.

Prior to Yatra, Chopra headed India based operations of ebookers, Europes largest online travel company. She has also worked with Japan Airlines, a Canadian Airline and her BPO work experience includes heading Operations for RAC (Aviva Plc) and Hewitt Associates. Chopra brings with her over 24 years of work experience, has through knowledge of all facets of the Travel - Online, BPO & Corporate Industry and an extensive network within the Indian travel community. Her strengths are Business Development, Operations and Delivery, Customer Care and Retention.

How do you inspire and motivate your employees as a leader of your organisation?

You can motivate and inspire your employees by ensuring they are aware of your vision and what your ultimate goals for the business are. This encourages everyone to work together to achieve better results. It is also important to set clear and measurable goals so that the teams progress can be tracked, and employees are able to see their success in a tangible way. This cultivates productivity and helps employees to feel valued and motivated. Communicating regularly with your employees also has a positive impact and makes them feel involved in the business. It also gives me an opportunity to listen to their ideas, opinions and feedback. Our office environment also has a significant impact on the productivity and contentment of our employees. We have created a conducive work environment where we not only promote healthy habits to reduce stress, but also engage in employee engagement by organising games, team activities and fun Fridays.

Your three important tips or guidelines to become a winning leader?

Leadership is all about influencing others, regardless of the job title, in an effort to achieve a certain goal. While there are no set mantras to become a winning leader, following 3 tips might help one tread along the right path.

Encourage Growth - To motivate and inspire employees, a good leader should empower others to do their best and take on new challenges. Its only when we believe in our employees and give them the opportunity to learn and grow, can they blossom and manage to surprise on how much they can accomplish. Hence, one shouldnt be afraid to delegate tasks and encourage freedom and creativity.

Communication skills - Good communication skills are extremely important for one who is in a leadership role. An effective leader not only expresses their ideas and strategies persuasively and clearly, but also truly listens to feedback with an open mind.

Lead by example - A good leader is one who leads by example and does what they expect everyone else to do. If you expect your team to be hard workers, then you should be a hard worker too. By practicing what you preach, you earn the respect and loyalty of your team.

Any role model that you can think of as a great leader to follow?

While I do not have a role model, I really admire Indra Nooyi. She had truly shattered the glass ceiling back in 2006 when she took over as the CEO of PepsiCo, becoming one of the worlds most powerful corporate executives heading a business with a billion-plus dollar revenue. She was a very supportive leader, driving the workforce from the front and giving them an opportunity to participate in the growth of the company. She encouraged innovation, led by principle and accepted change as part of business. Shes a leader like no other, who excels in everything  from financial literacy, employee empathy, having a strong vision, moral leadership, embracing change and remaining true to herself. Her example can help any leader become someone people want to follow.

How do you nurture and train your people to become a leader in the future?

Leadership development is important for any organisation. We, at Yatra, make sure that key skills and invaluable business insights are shared and passed down to prospective leaders to avoid gaps in knowledge in the future. These future leaders are also given an opportunity to understand the importance and workings of all the prevalent roles in the organisation. Since, someday they might be taking decisions which could affect all areas of the business, hence, it is important that they develop an understanding from different perspectives. We also focus on mentorship and use knowledge-training sessions with experts to train our high potential individuals to combat challenges at their best. We also give constructive feedback on areas of improvement and reward these future leaders on their achievements as well.

What would be your approach to manage a crisis as a leader?

Crisis usually arises at a short notice and causes major disturbances at the workplace. Hence, leaders should be equipped to handle them without creating a chaos and should lead the situation from the front. To manage the crisis effectively:

The leader should be alert at the workplace and should be able to anticipate the crisis.

He/she should be able to command the situation and not be frantic and disoriented.

While their objective should be crisis prevention, however, in cases where it is unavoidable, they should be able to communicate well with their employees and should know how to deliver clear directions.

The leaders should have a good presence of mind so that they can think on their feet and utilise the varied talents of those around him to develop a quick solution.

Leader should always be optimistic and never lose hope as he/she is the pillar of support on whom employees would be leaning on.

Crisis in the workplace can emerge anytime. Therefore, it takes a leader who is well-composed and can think and act quickly to bring solution to these problems.
Nearly $20 million in state and federal bushfire relief has flowed to households and businesses in Victoria since Januarys devastating blazes, including nearly 15,000 emergency payments to residents.

Almost all of that money has gone to primary producers or households and the state government says there is work to do to close "gaps" that are preventing money flowing to small businesses impacted by the fires.

A burnt-out house in Sarsfield, East Gippsland. Credit:AAP

The mayor of East Gippsland Shire, one of the regions hardest hit by the devastation, said small businesses had faced significant hurdles trying to access the federal government's bushfire relief payments because many struggled to fit the eligibility criteria.

Victoria says more than $6 million primary producer grants have been paid with 88 applications approved, 12 declined and 43 under review.
For a flight such as yours, which covered a distance of more than 3,500 km (about 2,175 miles), EC 261 specifies compensation of 600 euros per passenger. For Iberia, each passenger should make the request individually through its website. You can also file a complaint through Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aerea, the Spanish aviation regulators. If that doesnt work, you can appeal to an Iberia executive. I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the key Iberia executives on my consumer advocacy website, elliott.org.
KYIV -- The Ukrainian parliament has passed a no-confidence vote in Prosecutor-General Ruslan Ryaboshapka, the latest move in a reshuffle that saw the prime minister and most of his government ousted.

At an extraordinary session on March 5, 263 members of the Verkhovna Rada backed the no-confidence resolution against Ryaboshapka, who had been holding the position of prosecutor-general since August last year.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Servant of the People party has proposed one of their lawmakers, Serhiy Ionushas, as Ryaboshapka's replacement.

The vote in parliament comes a day after lawmakers accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, who had been in office for six months, and backed Zelenskiy's choice for his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Parliament approved other cabinet members, including a new foreign, defense, and finance ministers.

Addressing lawmakers before the March 4 votes, Zelenskiy said Ukraine needs "new brains and new hearts in the government.

And Shmyhal wrote in a Facebook post late on March 5 that "changing the government means that we want even better and faster reforms in Ukraine."

The new cabinet will continue prudent fiscal policy and constructive cooperation with the International Monetary Fund [IMF] and other creditors of Ukraine," he added.

The government reshuffle has put the countrys commitment to reforms into question at a time when Kyiv is seeking to finalize a long-delayed $5.5 billion loan program with the IMF, seen as crucial to economic stability and investor confidence.

In a statement sent to RFE/RL on March 5, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department urged the new Ukrainian government to demonstrate its continued commitment to reform by moving forward with the critical steps necessary to further the countrys development, including strengthening the rule of law and combatting corruption.

"The strongest signal Ukraine can send that it remains committed to its reform trajectory is to secure a new IMF program."

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said good progress was achieved under Honcharuks government in the pursuit of a broad and ambitious reform agenda.

We expect the new government to demonstrate a similar degree of determination to pursue these reforms, including as regards the fight against corruption and vested interests and in important sectors, including the financial sector, the statement said, adding that the rule of law remains the cornerstone of economic stability and investments.

Zelenskiy won a landslide victory in the April 2019 presidential election on promises to end endemic corruption, attract foreign investment, and end the war in the east with Russian-backed separatists.

Three months later, the Servant of the People party swept national elections, giving him unprecedented power to push through major economic reforms that had been stalled by oligarchs for decades.

However, public trust in Zelenskiy has slid from nearly 80 percent in September to around 50 percent last month, polling figures from the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center show.

With reporting by Reuters
In an effort to ward off any potential threat of the new coronavirus, Pearland ISD has amended its attendance policy for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, according to a statement from Superintendent Dr. John P. Kelly.

The first Houston-area case of the pneumonia-like disease was confirmed Wednesday night when a 70-year-old Fort Bend County man was diagnosed presumptive positive for COVID-19, the new coronavirus, the Houston Chronicle reported. Officials said the man had recently traveled abroad and that he is stable condition. Many other factors surrounding the case are still unknown, but as of Thursday morning, Fort Bend County officials have set up a hotline to answer resident questions.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust.

Pearland ISD announced in a March 4 statement the district will suspend perfect attendance rules for the remainder of the school year to prevent sick students from attending class. Perfect attendance will be recognized only from Aug. 15, 2019, through March 2, 2020.

The district will also suspend exam exemption criteria related to attendance for spring 2020 exams, according to the statement.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus has come to Fort Bend and the Houston area. Here's what we know so far.

"We want to once again remind students, families and staff that washing your hands, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing and staying at home when sick or feverish are the best ways to prevent the spread of the flu or other respiratory illnesses," the district said in the statement. "Pearland ISD consistently enforces our fever policy, and in light of this new virus, we want to ensure that policy is followed."

The district said it will continue to provide updates to families as warranted and is in contact with the Brazoria County Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state authorities.

Fort Bend ISD said in a statement released Thursday the district has not canceled any classes but is monitoring the case and will share any updates as information becomes available.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told the Houston Chronicle the city's health department is working with regional and federal health authorities and not to panic.

Lets not be paralyzed by fear, Turner said. We have to continue to move forward.

Harris County is hosting a press conference Thursday to discuss the case. Find live updates and coverage of the coronavirus on HoustonChronicle.com.

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com
The federal appeals court that last week ruled against the Trump administrations policy requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their applications are considered said Wednesday it would give the administration another week to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to step in.

After that, said a divided panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, it would halt enforcement of the policy in California and Arizona and allow applicants at border points in those states to await their asylum verdicts in the United States, standard practice in previous administrations. The court said it would leave the administrations policy in effect, at least for now, in Texas and New Mexico, which are in different appellate circuits.

The remain in Mexico policy, issued in January 2019, applies to migrants who seek to enter the United States at the southern border and seek asylum on the grounds that they would face violence and persecution in their homelands, mostly in Central America.

It has required about 60,000 people to wait many months in border towns, often in dangerous conditions. The court quoted numerous Central Americans who said they had been attacked with sticks and stones, robbed at gunpoint, harassed by police and threatened by gang members. The advocacy group Human Rights First said it had documented more than 1,000 pubic reports of slayings and other violent attacks on asylum-seekers who were forced to wait in Mexico.

In a 2-1 ruling Friday, the appeals court said the policy violates a federal law that allows asylum-seekers to remain in the United States, either released or in detention, unless they have a record of dangerous actions such as drug trafficking, immigrant smuggling or terrorism. The court said the policy also flouts a binding treaty that prohibits sending immigrants to nations where their lives or freedom would be in danger.

At the Trump administrations request, the court granted an emergency stay Friday evening that temporarily kept the policy in place. Justice Department lawyers urged the court on Monday to extend the stay while they sought Supreme Court intervention, saying news of Fridays ruling had caused a run on the border by asylum-seekers, of whom about 25,000 are currently being kept in Mexico under the policy.

The court met the request halfway in Wednesdays order, saying it would leave the policy in place on the borders of Texas and New Mexico, outside the Ninth Circuits boundaries, while the administration seeks Supreme Court review.

But in cases from California or Arizona, the panel said, it will enforce its ruling by next Wednesday and suspend the policy, unless the high court has already intervened by then. The policy clearly violates U.S. law and is causing extreme and irreversible harm to the immigrants who challenged it, said Judges William Fletcher and Richard Paez.

Judge Ferdinand Fernandez, who had dissented from last weeks ruling, said he would allow the policy to remain in effect during the administrations Supreme Court appeal.

Attorney Judy Rabinovitz of the American Civil Liberties Union, representing asylum-seekers in the case, said, The court stood strongly behind its findings that this is an illegal policy and it should be ended right away. ... People are being put in danger every day.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
China on Thursday said the industrial equipment seized by Indian authorities from a Pakistan-bound merchant ship in February was a heat treatment system, which is not meant for military use and is a not a dual-use item under non-proliferation controls followed globally.

The Hong Kong-registered Chinese ship, Da Cui Yun was seized by Indian authorities on February at Kandla port in Gujarat after the ships crew is said to have wrongly declared a dual use industrial autoclave as an industrial dryer: The suspicion was that it could be used for making missiles.

The ship was allowed to leave for its destination, Port Qasim in Karachi, after Indian authorities seized the equipment.

Scientists from Indias Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who examined the heavy industrial equipment confirmed that the equipment could be used for the manufacture of very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets.

The Chinese foreign ministry denied the findings.

China has noted the relevant reports. As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling the international non-proliferation obligations and international commitments, foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said at the regular ministry briefing on Thursday.

After seeking the information, we know that this item is actually a heat treatment furnace shell system, produced by a private company in China, he said, adding:

This is not for military use and it is not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control.

The Chinese merchant ship and its owner have declared this item truthfully beforehand with the Indian authorities; so, there is no concealment and forced declaration, the spokesperson said.
The Republican primary loss of incumbent Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton surprised some in the oil and gas industry.

Instead, Jim Wright, a rancher and owner of an oilfield service company in Orange Grove, will be advancing to the November election. He received 55 percent of the vote Tuesday, compared to Sittons 45 percent. Neither Wright nor Sitton could be reached for comment Wednesday.

The outcome was surprising to many, but West Texas voters ultimately favored Jim Wrights candidacy, Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, told the Reporter-Telegram by email.

RELATED: Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton unseated in GOP primary upset

Many within the industry know Jim through his oilfield waste services company, he said. The Texas Railroad Commission plays a critical role in providing effective regulatory oversight of our industry. We are committed to working with all agency Commissioners to maintain a balanced regulatory environment and the continued production of oil and natural gas for the benefit of all Texans.

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, told the Reporter-Telegram by email, We appreciate Commissioner Sittons dedication to public service and to moving Texas forward. The Texas Oil & Gas Association stands ready to work with the next Railroad Commissioner to promote a robust oil and natural gas industry and to ensure that sound, science-based policies and free-market principles guide the decisions made by the Commission.

Wright, the Republican nominee, will face either Chrysta Castaneda, a Dallas attorney and engineer, or Roberto Alonzo, a former state representative in November. The two Democrats will face off in a runoff election May 26.

Castaneda said in a phone interview that Sittons defeat was unexpected.

But it shows, she said, Texas is ready for a change at the Railroad Commission.
ST. PAUL  Joe Biden on Tuesday, March 3, pulled off an upset in Minnesota's Democratic presidential primary contest over Bernie Sanders, pulling in 38 delegates from the state.

With 100% of Minnesota precincts reporting, the former vice president racked up nearly 39% of the vote, while Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, cleared 30%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren won 15.4%, Mike Bloomberg took in 8.3% and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar got 5.6% in her home state.

A win in the state offered a springboard for Biden's national campaign efforts, staff said late Tuesday, and wouldn't have been possible without Klobuchar's support. Voters in 10 Super Tuesday states rallied behind Biden while those in four others carried Sanders to a win, seemingly narrowing the once broad race to more of a two-person contest heading into later primaries.

And the Democratic field further thinned on Wednesday, March 4, with Bloomberg dropping out of the race and announcing his endorsement of Biden. After spending more than a half-billion dollars on advertising focusing on Tuesday's contests, the former mayor of New York was only able to win the territory of American Samoa.

More than 744,000 cast ballots in Minnesota's Democratic primary, a significant increase from the roughly 205,000 who participated in the state's Democratic presidential caucuses in 2016. The state switched to partisan primary elections this year for the first time since 1992.

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Sanders came out a winner in Minnesota's 2016 caucuses and carried residual support into Tuesday's primary.

Unsurprisingly, President Donald Trump carried the Republican primary with 97.65% of the vote. The president ran unopposed and in an effort to illustrate support for his re-election in Minnesota, the state GOP turned out more than 140,000 voters to cast ballots in that contest.

Between the two contests, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said more than 885,000 people voted. That comes out to about 21.7% of eligible voters.

Klobuchar credited

A day before the primary, the contest appeared to be a toss-up between Klobuchar and Sanders.

In Minnesota Public Radio/Star Tribune polling ahead of the election, Klobuchar had an edge in the Democratic contest with 29% of support, while Sanders appeared likely to come in second with 23%. Meanwhile, Warren came in third at 11% and Biden fourth with 8% of those polled backing him a week and a half ahead of the primary.

And Biden's campaign had a minimal presence in the state and little to invest ahead of the contest. But overnight, the momentum shifted as his campaign capitalized on news of his win in South Carolina and endorsements from former competitors exiting the race, including Klobuchar. The Minnesota senator announced on the eve of the primary that she would suspend her campaign and back Biden.

"We went from a campaign that was really just looking at making sure we got the 15% thresholds to a campaign right now that just had a huge upset," Corey Day, senior adviser for Biden's campaign in Minnesota, told reporters Tuesday night at a watch party in Minneapolis. "For us to actually win this state and have that momentum going into the next states is unbelievable."

In remarks to supporters in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, Biden said the last-minute endorsement from Klobuchar locked up the victory.

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"We won Minnesota because of Amy Klobuchar," Biden said.

Over the weekend, Democratic hopefuls Pete Buttigieg and Tom Steyer also suspended their campaigns, potentially funneling moderate Democrat support to Biden.

Sanders supporters in St. Paul booed Tuesday night as news of Biden's win came across the screen at BlackStack Brewing. And in comments following poll closures around the country as well as on Wednesday, March 4, Sanders said he would maintain his push to become the Democratic nominee.

"I think we go forward basically neck-and-neck," Sanders said at his campaign headquarters in Vermont, noting his big delegate haul in California.

Sanders said he spoke with Warren Wednesday about her plans moving forward and said he would respect her timing and decision-making.

And when asked about Bloomberg's decision to leave the race and support Biden, Sanders said, "This just confirms what I said, what the media has been talking about for months. How do we stop Bernie Sanders? How do we stop a movement of working people and low-income people? How do we stop a multi-generational, multi-racial movement that is standing up for justice? And what you do is you get candidates out of the race and you rally around Joe Biden."

Minnesota delegates

According to the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's unofficial results , Biden won the majority of statewide and congressional delegates in the state at 38, 12 statewide delegates and 26 from the state's congressional districts. Sanders took 9 statewide delegates and 18 congressional delegates, totaling 27. Warren took third place, with 15% of the vote and 10 total delegates. Other candidates did not meet the 15% threshold to win delegates.

Trump, who carried 97.65% of the Republican vote with all precincts reporting on Wednesday, was set to pull all 39 of Minnesota's Republican delegates.

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In a tweet Tuesday night, Trump thanked Minnesota for handing him a win in the GOP race.

City support for Sanders

Sanders was able to eke out a win in the 5th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis and many suburban areas. But in all congressional districts, Biden topped or matched Sanders' congressional delegate totals.

The Vermont senator pulled four of the district's delegates while Biden took three as did Warren.

The three candidates also split delegates in the 4th Congressional District, where Biden and Sanders both won three and Warren took home two. The district encompasses St. Paul and eastern suburbs.

Across the remainder of the congressional districts, which include the geographic majority of the state, Biden topped Sanders in congressional delegate support.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: With the number of COVID-19 affected persons seeing a sudden sharp rise in the country, Karnataka has stepped up surveillance and also sent out messages on social media to prevent rumour-mongering by threatening to press charges.

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday said two Indians returning from Saudi Arabia and Japan were found to be symptomatic and have been isolated at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) in Bengaluru. In all, five people, including the Hyderabad techies roommate and a co-worker, are also isolated at RGICD as on Wednesday. While the test reports of three returned negative, the results of two others are awaited.

Meanwhile, three people showing COVID-19 symptoms were admitted at Bidar Institute of Medical Science on Wednesday.

Two of them had returned from Abu Dhabi and Qatar over a week ago, but started showing symptoms only lately. They are being treated at the isolation wards attached to the institute.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  President Rodrigo Duterte may order all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) to temporarily halt their operations amid the wide range of crimes allegedly involving Chinese workers.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said mounting allegations of corruption, money laundering, and sex trafficking, among other issues, may lead Duterte to order the suspension of POGO operations  the same way he ordered a stop to lotto games over "massive corruption."

"The President, if you remember, suspended operations of lotteries when he received certain complaints of anomalies. Kung talagang grabe na ang complaints, may gagawin si Presidente diyan," he said in a media briefing.

[Translation: If you remember, the President suspended lotto games when he received complaints of anomalies. If there are serious complaints, he will also do something about it.]

But he clarified he has yet to consult the President if its an option. Malacanang did not directly respond to whether the government feels insulted by some Chinese nationals conducting illegal activities in the country.

"What is important is we respond to whatever allegations of corruption or practice, we prosecute them," he said.

Related: Pagcor willing to shut down POGOs if crimes, tax issues not resolved

Senator Richard Gordon said the Philippines' close ties with China under the Duterte administration has paved the way for the entry of "dirty money" in the Philippines. He said that authorities, under Duterte's leadership, has become "too soft" on China and its citizens' misdemeanors.

On Tuesday, Gordon bared that 47 individuals, mostly Chinese nationals, arrived in the Philippines carrying $447 million or 22.7 billion, citing information from the Bureau of Customs. He said this huge amount could be linked to POGOs in the country. The Bureau of Internal Revenue earlier revealed that over 27 billion worth of tax liabilities remain uncollected from the POGO sector. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Gordon will hold an investigation into this issue on Thursday.

Senator Risa Hontiveros has also revealed that some Chinese POGO workers conspired with immigration personnel to dodge background checks upon entering the country, paying bribes under what is billed as "pastillas" scheme. She also exposed that the increased presence of POGOs led to the rise of prostitution dens in the country.

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said the crimes allegedly committed by Chinese nationals in the country are just "isolated incidents" and do not reflect the Philippines' relationship with China.

Panelo maintained there is no special treatment for Chinese nationals despite Duterte's warm ties with Chinese officials.
Carol Rosenberg is the worlds only full-time Guantanamo Bay reporter. She has more continuity on the Naval Station and its infamous prison than even its federal employees. The National Guard soldiers, Navy admirals, lawyers, and translators who work on the island base leave at the end of their tenures. Rosenberg is a constant.

She began her journalism career as a stringer for United Press International in the late 70s, when she was still a college student at UMass-Amherst. Her first full-time jobs were at the New Bedford Standard-Times a tough fishing town she says, with lots of murders and attempted murders and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. She returned to UPI, moving between US bureaus before relocating to Jerusalem in 1987. In 1990, she joined the Miami Herald as a Middle East correspondent; her beat covered up to 31 countries. She returned to the US in the mid-90s, but continued to make regular reporting trips overseas. That changed in 2001; before the end of that year, she says, someone from US Southern Commandknown as Southcom, the branch of the Department of Defense that oversees GTMOcalled her and said, Were getting into the prison business.

ICYMI: Covering immigration in the time of Trump

On January 11, 2002four months to the day since the 9/11 terrorist attacksRosenberg witnessed the arrival of GTMOs first detainees. They had blackout goggles, turquoise surgical masks, orange jumpsuits, Rosenberg recalls. Southcom said they were teaching Marines how to handle potentially fanatical suicidal ideologically driven prisoners. Everybody in their mind had this idea that they were getting the next batch of hijackers. People that were willing to slit throats and bring planes down. The detainees were shackled, unidentifiable to reporters, and flanked by Marines. They processed them one by one and then they brought us in to Camp X-Ray and they said, Voila. Twenty men in orange jumpsuits in cages.

Rosenberg spent her early days at GTMO watching detainees arrive. Over time, her coverage broadened and became more incremental. I would call embassies to ask if they had prisoners here. There was an episode of a detainee biting a guard. You could ask the doctors questions. I wrote about the first time they amputated a leg. I wrote about the day the interrogators arrived. They were trying to get congress to approve permanent construction, so I spent a couple of years writing about construction projects. Anything and everything was news. They were inventing this thing in front of our eyes.

When I traveled to Guantanamo in 2017, it was Rosenberg who helped me get my bearings. She advised me to bring heavy layers to Cuba. (The A/C in the press tents, it turned out, was set to frigid temperatures.) She let me tag along to the bowling-alley pizza hangouts. Unlike nearly everyone else there, she seemed comfortable. A Southcom commander nicknamed me the dean of the press corps of Guantanamo Bay, Rosenberg says, and I actually take that seriously.

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Last year, as McClatchy offered buyouts to Herald staffers, Rosenberg, whose work is supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, moved to the New York Times. Decades into her beat, her recent workincluding revelations on the CIAs torture programsranks among her best. Guantanamo, she says, is a part of history that people are trying to sort out in their heads. And everybody who thinks about it knows that the last chapter hasnt been written. Theres more to come.

We spoke during an off-day from sessions of GTMOs military tribunals. Id caught Rosenberg at an interesting time: In late April 2019, Rear Admiral John C. Ring was suddenly relieved of his duties as commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison. Since then, GTMO Public Affairs have largely stopped communicating with reporters, says Rosenberg. This is a pretty dark period. Theres no sunlight on it. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Admiral Ring was fired the day after you published a piece in which he spoke very candidly about the medical needs of aging GTMO detainees. Was there a connection

Thats what everybody wanted to believe. What happened is, [the piece] went up on a Saturday, and they announced on Sunday that he was fired. But the chronology was that on Friday he was told to come to [Southcom headquarters in] Miami. As much as I would like to think that he told this truth and they didnt like it, I dont believe thats what happened.

That was one of my first stories for the Times, but I had written an earlier version of that for the Miami Herald, when the admiral first started talking about this stuff. He had been doing the same talking points throughout his tenure, and they were definitely approved.

Southcom said he was fired for

Mishandling classified information. So was he talking about something he shouldnt have been talking about? Did he give access to somebody who wasnt classified? Mishandling classified information doesnt necessarily mean documents. Its been very difficult to find out what happened.

The Trump administration canceled Obamas order to close GTMO. So the Pentagon redefines the mission and calls it enduring. Meaning, plan for 25-50 years. So the Pentagon started thinking about things on the record that they had been wondering about for years. Like, Are these men going to grow old and die here? And Ring got permission under the new mission to plan for that. So he talked about something that had been blessed by higher headquarters. But then something happened.

I know a lot of people want to blame it on that story. If I thought it was related, I would say it. If I find out its related to that story, Ill write it. But its just another Guantamo secret.

Whats changed since Ring was fired?

Theyve rotated out the spokesperson we knew. The new spokesperson, shes a Navy commander. We happened to encounter her and she ran away. She was walking past us and she said hello! and then she ran away. I dont know if its a choice, or shes under orders to have no contact whatsoever with reporters.

[The US government] is spending $108,000 a year [for each of] nine public-affairs people here. So the people who wont drive us, who cant talk to us, who dont offer tours to the prisonwho we dont know what they doare here at nearly a million taxpayer dollars, running a public-affairs operation that doesnt operate. The government is paying a soldiers wife on the base to drive reporters to meals, because the Army wont do it. They cant have any contact between the prison operations and the press. A soldier recently told a colleague of mine, You cant know my name. I said to my colleague, Its on the back of his hat.

Now theres this new admiral, who Ive never met, and has never done anything public. Hes just in there, inside the prison zone, taking meetings. Usually you get a meet-and-greet, a chance to see them.

In your experience, is GTMO secretive just for the sake of being secretive?

Ill give you a good example. Theres a prisoner here charged with being a commander of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Hes been having spine surgeries. Hes in bad shape. Hes on all these pain killers. They bring him to court with a hospital bed. They realized that, for this guy to go to trial, they would need to provide accommodations. So the Pentagon fast-tracked this gigantic holding cell in the back of the court.

I called this holding cell jumbo cell. I was thinking, Eggs: theres large, extra large, and jumbo. Then, in court, the judge, the defense lawyer, and the prosecutor referred to it as jumbo cell. And that was redacted from the public transcript. So whoever is deciding what is classified may not know that I named it! How could I have made up a classified name? Thats the weirdness of Guantanamo.

How much of your work is persistence? Asking for things over and over again?

Well right now, its not working. [Laughs]. Its very frustrating. It doesnt mean you cant figure stuff out. Now, more and more, you have to read everything. You have to read transcripts of the secret sessions that get released six months later. You read between the redactions. The job is documents, interviews, watching court, reading social media, asking questions and asking questions, and FOIA.

How did the focus of your coverage expand over the years?

To counterbalance prison reporting, I wrote a lot about life at GTMO. I wrote about this weird cemetery in the security zone that looks like a copy of Arlington, and where there are babies and merchant Marines and Cuban laborers and people who had nowhere to go. I wrote about the Cuban population. I covered traffic court. Its the other court at Guantanamo and nobody knows about it and its not on 40-second [classified material] delay!

The default is to secrecy. Even when its just human interest, even when it makes this place look more like us, the default is to make it look more like one big scary prison. Its not one big prison. Its like small-town America. There is life here. Theres kids and beach parties and environmental cleanups. I still like to do those stories. But right now, theyre not letting me do it.

Does that still shock people, when they hear that, that its selectively normal at GTMO?

As many times as I report that theres a McDonalds at Guantanamo, people are still like Theres a McDonalds at Guantanamo?!

At what point did you realize, I might be coming here for a long time.

When Obama didnt close it. [Laughs]

What was it like when the place was really swarmed with reporters?

It was exciting. When theres a lot of reporters asking questions, theres more interest in answering them. I thought it showed the importance of this place. One of my frustrations is, I think this is a hugely important story and nobody shows up. Or, when they do show up, its so incremental they dont know what to do with it. And I dont blame them. People come once to get the T-shirt and the selfie.

Yeah. I only came once.

Well. You had a specific assignment.

There werent many other reporters when I came, but I still got a sense for that reporter camaraderie.

Well, thats the thing about having colleagues. Court ends, weve been taking notes all day, weve gone to dinner, and now were at the picnic tables outside the tents. Its the only place were really allowed to drink at Camp Justice. So court ends and you have a glass of something and you pick apart the day. And if theres nobody to pick apart the day with, youre on your own

In 2008, former GTMO spokesperson JD Gordon said you harassed and bullied him. [The Herald investigated and, according to The Atlantic, cleared Rosenberg of everything but cussing too much.] Can you tell me anything more about that?

I was asking hard questions about torture, about why a defendant named Mustafa al-Hawsawi was sitting on a pillow in the 9/11 hearings. I saw it, and I pressed for answers. It was a question that I had for years, until the Senates investigation of the CIA program, the black sites, explained that it was the result of rectal abuse.

You were temporarily banned in 2010.

I was banned for reporting something that Southcom said was a violation of ground rules. I missed two sets of hearings.

What did you report that led to the ban?

I was banned with three Canadian reporters. We identified the name of a witness who the prosecution were going to call Interrogator Number One. The problem was, Interrogator Number One was a former Staff Sergeant named Joshua Claus, hed already identified himself to Canadian media, and we were always allowed to relay information that was in the public domain. I knew I didnt break any ground rules.

It got tense. McClatchy hired a First Amendment attorney and he organized American news organizations to prepare a writ to go to federal court to say, You are depriving her of her rights. And the Pentagon folded and said, She can go back.

After that, they wrote new ground rules. You signed them. Theyre terrible; they restrict all sorts of things. But they do make clear that if you take something in the public domain and put it in your article, its not a violation. So they vindicated me.

Were those the only hearings youve missed?

Ive gone to Fort Meade, in Maryland, once to watch [via video feed]. I once missed a hearing because I was trying to buy a house. [Pause] Im not proud of that. I should have come. I was trying to close on my condo, and in the end I didnt close! Then I came down for a hearing and I closed by fax.

The reason that I was disappointed in myself was that there were two hearings going on simultaneously, and nobody went to the other hearing. It was for a man named Ahmed Ghailani, who had been in a black site. This was a man who had been disappeared, and this was his first public appearance! We brought these people to Guantanamo and were going to call them public hearings, and nobody will come. Thats part of why you have to show up, right?

Youve been there through, what, twelve, thirteen GTMO Commanders?

More. Its seventeen or eighteen. I have a list somewhere. [In a follow-up email, Rosenberg wrote, There have been 19 Joint Task Force commanders. I have met all of them except the current guy.]

You have a good rapport with the base staff. Is that importantkeeping the civility there?

You get credibility. One of the things that used to happen is, new public-affairs people would arrive and theyd get briefed to watch out for me. I dont know the details. But the ones that were interested would actually read my articles. And they would tell me, You know, you just write what happens 

What do you do on Guantanamo when you cant get anyone to talk to you?

I dont think any day is a loss. There are thousands of pages of court documents to be read, and there is no excuse not to read them all. So if all else fails, sit at the computer and read a filing. And when you dont understand a filing, call a lawyer and say, I dont understand it. This is a new court with new rules. This is new jurisprudence.

And showing up counts. Showing up all the time counts for something. People know youre serious.

That story that we talked about at the beginning, about how these guys are gonna grow old and die here, it wasnt based on one trip. Its based on an overarching understanding of who the last 40 prisoners are, what their health issues are, what theyve done here in terms of taking care of people. And its based on having listened to tons of defense lawyers talk about the damage that torture does.

Has there ever been a point when you considered quitting Guantanamo reporting?

I have had times when I thought, Why am I doing this? Its not a front-page story. Its hard to get answers. But Ive long understood that the accumulation of covering this thing is something that makes my reporting stronger than it could be for a new person. Im not even sure that theres a new person that would do it!

If I had thought about it, maybe I would have asked for a partner. Someone to do some of it with me. And then there would be someone else who had interest. But its really hard to be a reporter at Guantanamo. You lose weeks at a time for not always very big return.

But I had an editor [at the Herald] who was sort of my mentor and he would tell me, You have to go back, you have to go back. If you dont do it, nobody will. So I kept coming back. Now I dont need him to tell me that. Because I know that.

I believe that I will stay at this job until retirement. I believe that Guantanamo Bay will not close before I retire. So I believe that this is the last story that I will ever cover. It sounds so sad. I dont mean it that way.

RECENTLY: Four American towns on the way to November

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Amos Barshad is a journalist in London and the author of No One Man Should Have All That Power: How Rasputins Manipulate The World.
With candidates withdrawing from the race and endorsing Joe Biden, and with Bidens surprisingly strong showing on Super Tuesday, it is clear that this is now a two-person race  two men, two elderly men, two elderly white men

Its 2016 all over again.

A crusading Bernie Sanders now faces off again against a more mainstream candidate, one with flaws that give many voters pause. This time, its Joe Biden.

Sure, Elizabeth Warren is still in the race for the Democratic nomination, but her chances of prevailing have evaporated. And, I must say here, I believe that part of the explanation for that boils down to sexism. I am baffled by her failure to attract more of a following. People will count errors by her campaign, but all candidates make errors. There is something more afoot in peoples relationship with Warren, something that they may not be willing to admit to themselves, something that they may not even be conscious of.

And, of course, there is Tulsi Gabbard. Thats enough words on that suspect candidacy.

But with candidates withdrawing from the race and endorsing Biden, and with Bidens surprisingly strong showing on Super Tuesday, it is clear that this is now a two-person race  two men, two elderly men, two elderly white men.

Democratic voters have decided that what an old white man  Donald Trump  broke, only an old white man  Sanders or Biden  can fix. That is a shocking outcome because the Democrats started with a historically-diverse field of candidates.

Once again, there are questions about whether unity can be achieved once the fighting ends and a nominee is selected.

Will Vote Blue No Matter Who have currency if the nominee must be chosen at the convention or if Sanders supporters again believe that the establishment has conspired against him to unfairly thwart him? Revolutionaries are by their nature not accommodationists.

And that brings us back to the most significant splitting of paths that the Democratic Party faces: Will it choose a path of restoration and incremental reform, or will it choose a path of revolution?

According to exit polls, there was a clear preference among Southern Democratic primary voters to return to Barack Obama-era policies. Only in two Northeastern states  Sanders home state, Vermont, and nearby Maine  was there a strong preference for more liberal policies than the ones Obama had. In the rest of the states where the question was asked, there was a roughly even split between voters wanting Obama-era policies and those wanting more liberal policies.

There are many ways to consider these splits.

Some will attempt to write off the Southern voters because so many live in states that havent voted for the Democratic nominee for president in a generation.

Some will say the Northeast is not representative of the country because the three states that voted there on Tuesday are so white and so small. There are more people in Chicago than in Vermont and Maine combined. And Maine is the whitest state in America. The second whitest? Vermont.

Maybe one could argue that we just need to focus on what voters in swing states want. But Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin havent voted yet. Only Virginia has, and 47 percent of Democratic primary voters there wanted to return to Obama-era policies as opposed to 28 percent who wanted more liberal policies.

I simply dont see evidence that supports the theory that most Americans are clamoring for revolutionary change that moves the United States closer in line with the norms of other developed countries. There doesnt even appear to be that clamoring by most Democratic voters.

Thats not a judgment, but rather a fact.

I believe that in theory, liberals, no matter how moderate they may be, should include affordable health care, less student debt, more level taxation and a more aggressive climate plan among their noble, widely agreed-upon goals.

The only question is one of pacing: Does one demand immediacy, or is one satisfied with gradualism? This construct puts progressivism at odds with practicality. Or, more precisely, practicality becomes a self-imposed constraint on progressivism.

And there is a more fundamental cleavage between what Democrats think can be done considering that those things would have to make their way through Congress, and what should be done, if there were no congressional impediment.

Almost all of the boldest proposals Ive heard from Democrats this season would fail to make it through a Congress that looked even remotely like the one we have now. That is a strong argument for encouraging massive turnout to change Congress, but that will be a high hill to climb.

And the improbability of congressional passage doesnt prevent anyone from supporting these plans on principle, as I do. But, for many voters, being a realist is more important than being a dreamer.

Even if Congress werent a hurdle, there is still the worry that the government is too incompetent and inefficient to undertake multiple structural changes at once. I, too, worry about how much the government would get wrong before it got it right in this regard.

In the end, I believe that voters are coalescing around an idea: While they admire the revolutionaries, they are more comfortable with slow and steady progress. Only history will be able to judge the merits of this approach.

Charles M Blow c.2020 The New York Times Company
FLINT, MI -- A local church is warning residents of a scam involving a person falsely asking for money on its behalf in downtown Flint.

New Jerusalem Full Gospel Baptist Church issued a statement Wednesday, March 4, noting a man is in downtown Flint pretending he is a member of the church.

He has said he is the van driver or the organist and is going between City Hall Water Department and The Flint Court House in Old Montgomery Ward to ask for money telling them that the pastor of the Church will be paying them back, the statement says.

Pastor Patrick Sanders told MLive-The Flint Journal Wednesday afternoon the first incident took place last week and "its just been ongoing.

A handful of people have come to the church advising them the person has asked for cash in varying amounts.

We just need the community to know thats not us, said Sanders, pointing out the church does not send people out asking for money. Thats not the way we operate.

The church has contacted the Genesee County Sheriffs Office about the incidents, Sanders said.

Anyone with questions may contact the church office at 810-787-8311.
The story of one of historys worst mercury poisoning events has a new twist. Drawing on sophisticated X-ray spectroscopy techniques, researchers at the Department of Energys SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Saskatchewan have traced the origins of the Minamata tragedy, which unfolded in 1950s and 60s Japan, to a little-studied mercury compound dumped into Minamata Bay. Their study was published recently in Environmental Science & Technology.

Minamata disease, which is the subject of a film premiering February 21 at the Berlin International Film Festival, emerged when dancing cats developed neurological symptoms, including convulsions. When children and adults in the area also began to get sick and die, doctors took notice. The disease, which at the time sickened more than 2,000 people  most of whom died  was soon attributed to industrial waste from a nearby chemical plant, but the exact nature of the mercury compound involved remained unclear.

At first, it was thought the plant was dumping an inorganic form of mercury, which microorganisms in the bay transformed into a more toxic organic form called methylmercury. More recently, studies of samples from the brains of cats that had been fed plant waste in the late 1950s suggested the plant had dumped that organic form directly, but even then questions remained. For one thing, the levels of methylmercury in the cat samples were relatively low, and no one was quite sure why.

In an effort to resolve lingering questions about the origins of Minamata disease, a team of University of Saskatchewan researchers revisited one of the cat samples in collaboration with Dimosthenis Sokaras and Thomas Kroll, staff scientists at SLACs Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. At SSRL, the team used sophisticated X-ray spectroscopy methods along with computer modelling to make fine distinctions between different mercury compounds and ultimately identify which one resided within the cat tissues.

These kinds of samples have very low concentrations of mercury, so getting enough of a signal out of them to distinguish the different chemical species is pretty demanding, Sokaras said. But the team was able to determine that the mercury compound was neither inorganic nor methylmercury. Instead, it was most likely -mercuri-acetaldehyde, the toxic effects of which have not been studied in great detail.

It was this species that very likely contaminated Minamata Bay and subsequently gave rise to the tragedy of Minamata disease, said Graham George, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Saskatchewan and an expert in the spectroscopy of toxic molecules, although the researchers are not yet sure of the implications for public health and the understanding of mercury poisoning. More work is needed to explore the molecular toxicology of these compounds to understand the ways they could be toxic to humans, animals and the environment, he said.

Researchers from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, National Institute for Minamata Disease also contributed to the study. The research was funded by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Canada Research Chairs. SSRL is a Department of Energy Office of Science user facility. The researchers used SSRLs Structural Molecular Biology Program facilities, which are supported by the DOE Office of Science and the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Editors note: This article is based on a press release from the University of Saskatchewan.

Citation: Ashley K. James, Susan Nehzati, et al., Environmental Science and Technology, January 17, 2020 (10.1021/acs.est.9b06253)

For questions or comments, contact the SLAC Office of Communications at communications@slac.stanford.edu.

SLAC is a vibrant multiprogram laboratory that explores how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invents powerful tools used by scientists around the globe. With research spanning particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, materials, chemistry, bio- and energy sciences and scientific computing, we help solve real-world problems and advance the interests of the nation.

SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
Ruling in an important case about gender-based pay disparities in education, a federal appeals court has once again held that an employer does not have a valid defense against alleged sex discrimination under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 if it bases a workers starting salary entirely on her prior pay.

Setting wages based on prior pay risks perpetuating the history of sex-based wage discrimination, said the Feb. 27 opinion for a majority on an 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco.

The appeals court issued the new opinion in Yovino v. Rizo after the U.S. Supreme Court last year threw out an earlier decision in the case because one judge on the panel had died days before the original appellate decision was released. The judge, Stephen R. Reinhardt, had provided the critical vote to form a majority and had written the opinion for the court. The 9th Circuit released the 2018 decision 11 days after Reinhardt had died at age 87.

The Supreme Court, in an unsigned opinion last February, threw out the earlier 9th Circuit decision, saying that the votes of judges who later died could not be counted.

Federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity, the Supreme Court opinion said.

The dispute over the deceased judges vote distracted somewhat from the significance of the legal question in the case of Aileen Rizo, a former middle school and high school mathematics teacher who was hired in 2009 by the Fresno County, Calif., Office of Education for the staff position of math consultant.

Rizo had been earning $52,000 as a math teacher in Arizona before accepting the Fresno County math consultants job at a salary of $62,133, court papers say.

During a lunch with her colleagues in 2012, Rizo learned that her male colleagues had been hired as math consultants at higher steps on the offices salary scale. Court papers say one man had been hired at $73,832, another man at $79,088, but also one woman at $76,414.

Rizo complained to her employer, which said that all salaries had been set in accordance with standard operating procedure based primarily on the employees most recent prior salary.

The county education office defended its system by arguing that the Equal Pay Act permits male and female pay differentials for equal work under a handful of exceptions, including the one the office relied on: a differential based on any other factor other than sex.

In the first round at the 9th Circuit , all 11 judges on the en banc panel of that court agreed that Rizos lawsuit should proceed, but five judges wrote or joined opinions that suggested pay history could sometimes be a factor other than sex under the EPA and thus could provide an employer with a defense against pay discrimination.

The new opinion once again has a narrow majority of six judges holding that prior pay may never be the basis for the any other factor defense.

Because prior pay may carry with it the effects of sex-based pay discrimination, and because sex-based pay discrimination was the precise target of the EPA, an employer may not rely on prior pay to meet its burden of showing that sex played no part in its pay decision, said the new majority opinion by Judge Morgan B. Christen, who was part of the original majority.

When the 9th Circuit court reconsidered the case on remand, it added another member of that court to replace Reinhardt on the 11-judge panel. That is the size the 9th Circuit uses for en banc rehearings of certain cases rather than its full roster of 29 active judges.

That addition to the case, Judge Carlos T. Bea, did not join the majority decision but concurred in the result. It appears that another member of the panel, Judge Paul J. Watford, who had not joined the majority the first time around, supplied the sixth vote for the new decision.

The five judges who concurred in allowing Rizos suit to proceed but disagreed with the majoritys rationale wrote or joined two separate opinions. One said employers do not necessarily violate the Equal Pay Act when they consider prior salary among other factors when setting initial wages. The other said that a standard that prior wages may never be considered ignores the realities and dynamic nature of business.

The opinions in the case suggest that at least five other federal appeals courts have limited the consideration of prior pay as a factor other than sex defense, but the 9th Circuit judges disagreed about the scope of the differences in approach among the other courts and whether there was a circuit split on the issue.
Asia Bibi says imprisonment was a 'trial sent by God,' refused to renounce her faith

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During a trip to France to promote her new book, Christian mother Asia Bibi opened up about how prayer and Scripture sustained her throughout a decade of imprisonment over allegations that she insulted Islam and its prophet.

Bibi, whose real name is Aasiya Noreen, spoke with several news outlets last week and shed more light on what was going through her mind and dreams as she endured what she called a trial sent by God.

When a human being is tested, the desire to succeed, to overcome the trial, is extremely strong, Bibi was translated as saying during an interview with the Catholic news website Aleteia. I knew that prayer would help me in this sense and many signs encouraged me to pray.

The farmworker from Sheikhupura was accused of blasphemy by Muslim laborers in 2009 and imprisoned. She maintained her innocence but was eventually convicted. Since blasphemy is a crime that is punishable by death or life imprisonment in Pakistan, Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging in 2010.

Bibi, who has five children, explained that one night in prison she had a dream about a priest who made her recite verses from the Bible.

When I opened my eyes, I remember being amazed that I no longer saw him, Bibi said through a translator. I thought that maybe God was sending me a sign that I should try to learn those verses which would help sustain me. So thats what I did. I read the Gospels very regularly.

Bibi told Aleteia that the phrase The Lord is your refuge kept coming back to her.

Over and over again, it was the first psalm I came across, Bibi explained.

She didnt specify which psalm she was referencing. However, Psalm 46 states: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Additionally, Psalm 91 reads: I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Bibi explained that she always believed that one day she would be released no matter how hard imprisonment was for her.

I cried so much, Bibi recalled. I kept crying for a week. I kept thinking, what is happening to me?

Bibi shared that her childrens future was very badly affected by her imprisonment because they could no longer go to school. At the time of her imprisonment, two of her children were in the early stages of education.

But for Bibi and her family, God eventually delivered her freedom.

After much international pressure, Pakistans Supreme Court acquitted her in October 2018 and she finally fled to Canada with her husband and two daughters in May 2019.

It was so strange after I met my husband and kids after so long. I couldnt understand my emotions, she told the BBC. When I hugged my children, I cried. I kept thinking about their childhood. I cant forget their childhood. When the past comes to mind, I can see my little daughters crying. That bit of past I havent been able to forget.

The family arrived in Canada last May. Bibi and her family were given a one-year stay in the North American country. The family has since lived in an apartment in an undisclosed location.

Bibi met with French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday. Bibi told reporters that Macron invited her to live in France. However, Bibi still needs time to decide on whether she will apply for asylum in the European country.

"I have received the invitation from the president and the French Republic, and I'm honored," Bibi said.

Bibis new memoir Enfin libre! (Finally Free) was co-written by French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet, who was among the first to advocate for Bibis release. In the book, Bibi recounts the abuse and torment she suffered at the hands of guards.

Bibi told the BBC that she was told by guards during her imprisonment that she could be released if she renounced her faith in Christ.

But I said, No, I will live my sentence, with my faith, Bibi was quoted as saying.

Bibi called on the Pakistani government to reform the countrys blasphemy laws and carry out proper investigations when accusations are made.

Innocents shouldnt be punished for no reason, Bibi said. People in prisons who are innocent should be freed.

Pakistan ranks as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. Pakistan is also labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern over issues of religious freedom.

While Bibi has been freed from prison, there are dozens of other citizens of Pakistan imprisoned on blasphemy charges. According to Pakistani human rights activist Shaan Taseer, there are as many as 200 people imprisoned for blasphemy in Pakistan with over 40 on death row.

In her interview with Aleteia, Bibi called for the Pakistani government to release Christian woman Shagufta Kausar. Kausar, along with her husband, was accused of sending blasphemous text messages even though neither of them can write. The couple was sentenced to death in 2014.

She has my full support, and if my story and testimony can help her, I would be very happy, Bibi said. But I know theyre in good hands: Saif-ul-Malook, the same lawyer who helped me, is defending them. Beyond Shagufta, all those who are still in detention today need to be helped.

Id like the world to unite behind this cause to obtain their release, whether they belong to minorities or to the majority, Bibi continued. All must be heard! Thats my fight today. I believe that the anti-blasphemy law must be reformed. Thats what I wish to dedicate my life to from now on.
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India has signed a Rs 1,200 crore deal with the United States for buying protection suites to protect the two new Boeing VVIP planes from missile attacks that will be used to ferry the President and the Prime Minister.

"The missile protection suites on the two Boeing-777 extended range planes to be codenamed 'Air Force One' would provide it the capability to fend off any missile attacks," government sources told ANI.

The foreign military sales deal between the two governments was signed around the two-day visit of US President Donald Trump to India, sources said.

The self-protection suites for the Indian planes include infrared and electronic warfare countermeasures suites, countermeasure dispensing systems, and missile warning sensors.

The two planes are expected to arrive in India by the middle of next year to begin the VVIP duties.

Indian Air Force officials have made several visits to the Boeing facility where they get regularly briefed about the facilities being created in the aircraft and the progress made in this regard.

Due to the presence of the sophisticated equipment including missile protection suites and ownership by the Indian Air Force, the planes will have military classification. The ownership of the planes was earlier with Air India, which was maintaining the VVIP fleet using four Boeing 747 planes.

The sale of the sophisticated suites to India was cleared last by the American administration and their Defence Security Cooperation Agency has said the missile defence system deal would facilitate a more robust capability into areas of increased missile threats on the planes.

During the visit by President Trump, India and the US had signed deals for the 24 MH60 Romeo multirole helicopters for the Navy and six new Apache attack choppers for the Army.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple, Netflix Join Companies Pulling Out Of SXSW 2020 Over Coronavirus Concerns

Apple and Netflix have joined a growing list of major companies pulling out of SXSW 2020 over coronavirus concerns. The annual event will draw several hundred thousand participants to Austin, Texas from March 11-22.

In addition to Apple and Netflix, which both announced their exit on Wednesday, Amazon Studios, Facebook, Vevo, Intel, TikTok, Twitter, SAP, The Latinx House, China Gathering and Mashable have all publically canceled plans to attend.

Other companies have initiated travel bans which effectively cancels participation in SXSW and other events.

Apples SXSW events were to have included the world premiere of the Jonze-directed Beastie Boys Story, featuring band members Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz, according to Variety.

47.8K Sign Petition

As of Thursday, more than 47,800 have signed a Change.org petition, calling on SXSW to cancel because having an event like this is irresponsible amid an outbreak.

The 2019 economic impact of SXSW to Austin was estimated at $355.9.

On Wednesday, Austin Public Health Chief Mark Escott said SXSW will proceed as planned despite concerns over the coronavirus.

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Thousands more people across California and the nation will be tested for the new coronavirus in the coming days  including many passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is being held at sea off the coast of California, after three previous passengers tested positive for the virus. San Francisco also announced Thursday that two people in the city, with no travel history, had tested positive.

If the experience of earlier coronavirus patients with lab testing is any indication, some may soon receive confusing results.

Rick Wright, a Redwood City resident whos been self-isolating at home since being released from UCSF last week, has taken seven coronavirus tests over the past two weeks that have yielded different results: negative one day, positive the next, positive a couple days later, negative the day after that, and then inconclusive. Additional tests he took this week came back both negative and positive; he will be tested again next week. Wright has not shown any symptoms of the virus. He was among the passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were evacuated from Japan and quarantined at Travis Air Force Base.

Wright is not the only confirmed coronavirus case whose test results came back different within a short span of time. A woman evacuated from Wuhan, China, who was quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio was released this week after testing negative twice, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a subsequent test came back positive, and authorities had to put her back into quarantine and trace the people she came into contact with during the time she was out. The California Department of Public Health said that as of Thursday, 516 people in California had been tested. The state on Thursday had the capacity to test 6,000 people, and that number was expected to increase to 7,400 on Friday with the arrival of additional tests from the CDC.

San Francisco said Thursday that it has the capacity to test 600 people, but it did not reveal how many have been tested already.

Experts say the conflicting results are probably not because the test itself is inaccurate, but rather because the virus can sometimes appear stronger in a specimen from one part of the body, like the lower respiratory tract, than in a specimen from another part of the body, like the nose or throat  or vice versa. The coronavirus test can be done using a sample from the nose, throat or phlegm coughed up from the lungs.

There might be extreme virus in one part of the body but not the other ... because of the way the disease is progressing in that individual, said Kelly Wroblewski, director of infectious disease at the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Because it is a new virus and a new test, medical experts are still trying to determine when exactly is the best time to start testing people, and how often subsequent tests should be done.

Shedding the virus  viruses in cells replicating and becoming detectable by lab tests  can happen at different rates at different times. Someone in the very early stages of infection may not test positive even though they have contracted the virus. And as the infection progresses, the amount of virus in the body may fluctuate.

That its there one day, gone the next and gone the third day could reflect real differences in shedding in the patient, said Dr. Art Reingold, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. It could be your immune system, or the amount of virus you have goes up and down.

And, as is the case with lab testing of any kind, there is the possibility of lab error or a bad sample.

Frankly, to someone who thinks about these things in the context of diagnosing stuff, these are all pretty common issues, and not unique to this virus, Reingold said.

Still, it poses a challenge to public health officials when they are trying to determine when a patient is clear to be released from a mandatory quarantine, or free to leave the house if theyve been self-isolating at home.

The way coronavirus tests are being done is called a test of cure  a patient gets tested repeatedly until they consistently show negative results. This is also the way TB patients get tested before they can be released from isolation, Wroblewski said. This kind of testing is more difficult than, say, a more clear-cut flu test, especially when its being done for an emerging infectious disease whose behavior is still a bit of a mystery.

Normally, when you test someone for flu, its diagnostic  if its negative, its negative, she said. Youre not going to get these serial tests to get cleared. When youre in containment phase and youre trying to isolate people who might be transmitting the virus, youre using diagnostic tests very differently than you do under normal circumstances. Its challenging.

More Information How many coronavirus tests are available? Testing capacity nationwide is growing each day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending more tests to local health departments, and more state and local labs are starting to process the tests - which was previously done only by the CDC. Also, the Food and Drug Administration is overseeing efforts by commercial test manufacturers to make their own coronavirus tests. FDA officials anticipate that labs will have the ability to test 75,000 people by the end of the week. UCSF Medical Center is expecting to receive CDC tests next week, and estimates it will be able to test 30 to 100 people a day. See More Collapse

Chronicle staff writer Mallory Moench contributed to this report.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
ALBANY  As state health authorities raced to contain the growing transmission of COVID-19 downstate Wednesday, Capital Region governments and institutions updated the public on precautions theyre taking to keep their communities safe.

Risk to the region remains low, authorities said. But community transmission is occurring in a New York City suburb, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Wednesday that limiting the spread will be "like trying to stop air because of how easily the viral droplets spread, especially when someone doesnt know theyre infected.

I think you do everything you can to limit the spread, but I think its only a matter of time before youre trying to limit the increase, he said, when asked whether the virus will make its way to Albany.

The statewide tally of cases rose to 11 on Wednesday, up from two the day before. Ten of the cases are connected to a Westchester County man who unwittingly spread it to his family, a neighbor, and a friends family. The other is in a Manhattan health care worker who traveled to Iran and knew to limit her exposure once home, Cuomo said.

Investigators are now working to trace all known exposures, which may include the Metro North train, a New Rochelle synagogue, three Westchester County schools, and a law firm, hospital and university in New York City. Roughly 1,000 people without symptoms were quarantined across Westchester County out of precaution.

The number of people infected will continue to increase, Cuomo said. It is a function of mathematics. Were now playing this game of, oh one here, one here, one here whack-a-mole. It is going to be dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens, at minimum.

Local quarantines and tests ordered

Quarantines and testing are also occurring in the Capital Region, but no known cases have been reported. The measures being taken out of precaution and in coordination with state health authorities, as people return from high-risk travel areas.

On Wednesday, Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said the county is awaiting test results on one person who recently traveled to Italy, a coronavirus hot spot, but who is showing no symptoms.

The county has tested two people so far for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China late last year. One has come back negative. The pending case is being analyzed by the states Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany, which is currently testing anywhere from 100 to 200 samples a day, but hopes to ramp up to 1,000, Cuomo said.

Across Albany County, 37 people have agreed to voluntarily quarantine themselves for 14 days since monitoring began in February, Whalen said. Eleven remain under quarantine across seven households.

We check in on them on a daily basis to ensure they dont have fever or symptoms, and the knowledge was if they developed any concerns we would facilitate any health care needs they have, she said.

Schenectady County has quarantined 13 people since monitoring began, with 12 still under daily monitoring as of Wednesday, spokeswoman Erin Roberts said. No one has required testing as yet, she said.

Saratoga County said its quarantined 12 people who returned home from high-risk travel areas. All have been cleared since, and only one required testing, which came back negative.

Rensselaer County has quarantined seven people so far, with five remaining under daily monitoring as of Wednesday, spokesman Rich Crist said. Three tests have been ordered and results are still pending, he said.

Montgomery County has ordered three quarantines so far, all last month and all since cleared, said Public Health Director Sara Boerenko. No tests were needed, she said.

Columbia County Public Health Commissioner Jack Mabb said in an email that his county has not quarantined anyone nor ordered tests, despite one man returning home sick from Northern Italy with a respiratory illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the man did not meet testing guidelines, he said.

"Our Italian traveler came home before the virus really hit Italy," he said. "The big thing with him is that he had respiratory symptoms but no fever. That has been the decider for the CDC."

CDC has come under fire for denying tests elsewhere in the country, which some believe may have led to increased spread. On Wednesday, the agency broadened testing guidelines to include anyone who has symptoms like fever, cough or difficulty breathing, so long as a doctor approves.

Fulton County Public Health Director Laurel Headwell declined to comment Wednesday on quarantine and testing trends within the county.

The Times Union also asked counties whether they have identified outside-the-home quarantine locations for residents who cant do so at home for risk of spreading to family members. Albany, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties said they had, but declined to disclose where, citing privacy. Columbia County said it hasnt but found one that looks promising.

Communal gathering site concerns

The Capital District Transportation Authority announced Wednesday that it has ramped up cleaning on its fleet of 300 buses, which board 57,000 people a day across Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties.

CDTA said it will be doing a deep cleaning and disinfection of its buses every three days.

Capital Region churches, temples, synagogues and mosques are now urging congregants to avoid touching each other  whether by handshake, hug or otherwise  while at services.

At Temple Beth Emeth in Albany, members were sent a list of such precautions by email Tuesday, and told that the rabbi and cantor would follow them as well.

Please understand that while we strive to continue to be the warm, welcoming and loving congregation that we are known for, this precaution is in everyones best interest and we will return to our normal practices when the situation allows.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany issued guidelines Wednesday urging parish members with cold or flu symptoms not to take communion from the chalice.

Members of the Islamic Center of the Capital District will meet Friday to discuss concerns, as well, though coordinator Ayman Akari acknowledged that many members have already stopped customary handshakes.

Local arts leaders, meanwhile, said they are educating themselves about appropriate responses, up to and including temporary venue closures or performance cancellations, if recommended by health authorities.

Many  including Proctors in Schenectady, Palace Theatre in Albany, and Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy  will be on a conference call Friday to discuss preparedness and policy, Proctors CEO Philip Morris told The Collaborative magazine.

Its unclear whether mass lobbying events at the state Capitol in Albany have slowed this legislative session, but some groups appear to be weighing public health concerns. The Healthcare Association of New York State canceled an advocacy day program Wednesday that was expected to draw hundreds to the site.

It is our responsibility to ensure the hundreds of expected hospital and health system attendees are where they are needed most  in their communities with their patients and their colleagues, spokeswoman Janae Quackenbush said.

Also on Wednesday, the State University and City University of New York systems announced they would be bringing roughly 300 study-abroad students and staff home from China, Italy, Iran, Japan and South Korea, where cases have surged. They will take chartered flights home, and enter 14-day quarantines at unoccupied dormitories in Utica, Rome, Long Island and Western New York.

Lauren Stanforth and Steve Barnes contributed.
PARIS - The U.S. special representative for Iran said Thursday the Islamic Republic must immediately ensure inspectors have access to sites that harbour traces of nuclear material or activity.

The finding was made public in a report this week by the international nuclear watchdog, which said Iran is denying access.

In one of two confidential reports, the International Atomic Energy Agency identified three locations where Iran possibly stored undeclared nuclear material or conducted activities without declaring them to international observers. The Associated Press saw the report to member countries. The other report said Iran nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November, violating a deal with world powers.

The IAEA said its request for access to two of the sites was denied, although the nuclear-related activities are thought to date from the early 2000s.

The spokesman for Irans nuclear agency, Behrouz Kamalvandi, responded Wednesday that requests for access must have a legal basis, according to Irans semi-official ISNA news agency. He didnt elaborate.

The U.S. official, Brian Hook, said the access is required under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty to which Iran is a signatory, meaning it must provide access immediately.

Iran must be held to the same standards as every one of the other 190 parties to the treaty, he said during a meeting with a group of reporters.

Hook was in Paris to meet his French, German and British counterparts, signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the Trump administration pulled out of in 2018. The U.S. wants a more inclusive deal that addresses ballistic missiles and Irans regional ambitions in Syria and elsewhere. Instead, Washington has levied punishing economic sanctions on Iran as part of its maximum pressure campaign against Iran.

While noting the three European nations have tactical disagreements with the United States, he stressed their common concern that Iran not obtain nuclear arms.

China and Russia also are signatories to the deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which promised Iran economic incentives in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Those incentives have failed to materialize, along with European efforts to create a mechanism allowing Iran to get around U.S. sanctions that has yet to get off the ground. Iran, in turn, has incrementally violated the deals restrictions with measures it maintains are reversible in what it says is a maximum resistance campaign.

Hook stressed special concern about a step written into the nuclear deal  the lifting of a U.N. arms embargo and other sanctions in October. He claimed the deal is a way station on a path to allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons once restrictions on centrifuges are lifted in 11 years.

In what appears to be a bid to buy time to negotiate, the European signatories have invoked a dispute resolution mechanism that is part of the deal. It ultimately could lead to reintroducing sanctions, known as snapback, but that is not said to be their goal.

Hook appeared, for now at least, to put to rest any speculation that the U.S. could try to step back into the deal, claiming participation despite the pullout, to trigger the snapback.

Were out of the deal, he said when asked, and so the countries that are in the deal will make decisions that are in their sovereign capacity.
Rutuja Bhosale's win in the opening singles proved crucial as India beat Korea 2-1 to stay alive in the race for the Play-offs in the Fed Cup, here on Thursday.

Rutuja edged out higher-ranked Su Jeong Jang 7-5 6-4 in the opening singles, to put India ahead 1-0 in the tie.

In-form Ankita was expected to seal the match but the gritty Indian lost the second singles rather tamely 4-6 0-6 to Na-Lae Han.

With the tie locked 1-1, India's most successful woman player Sania Mirza got to play her first match of the competition after four years.

Sania and Ankita joined forces to prevail over Na-Ri Kim and Han 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 39 minutes to clinch the tie for India.

The victory means that India have now moved to second place in the six-team Asia/Oceania Group I behind China, who are unbeaten in the tournament.

The top two teams will qualify for the Play-offs.

A big test awaits India on Friday when they clash with Chinese Taipei. A victory against them will more or less ensure India's passage into the Play-offs, to be held next month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
* Sanders made accusation at Democratic candidates' debate

* Netanyahu said Sanders wrong in terming him a racist

* But Israeli leader refrains from attacking him in return

* Netanyahu fighting for political life in Israeli election

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday Bernie Sanders was wrong to call him a racist during a debate among contenders for the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination, but shied away from attacking the senator in return.

"I am not intervening in the U.S. election," Netanyahu replied when asked on Israeli Army Radio about what an interviewer termed Sanders' personal attack on him at Tuesday's event in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sanders, who has been critical of the right-wing leader's policy towards Palestinians, described Netanyahu as "a reactionary racist who is now running" Israel.

Pressed further for his thoughts about Sanders, who if elected would be the first Jewish president in U.S. history, Netanyahu said: "What I think about this matter is that he is definitely wrong. No question about it."

Asked about possible confrontation with Sanders should the self-described democratic socialist win the White House, Netanyahu said that as prime minister he had stood up to U.S. presidential opposition to his policies before and would be able to do so again.

Netanyahu had a contentious relationship with Barack Obama, Republican Donald Trump's predecessor as president, with the Iranian nuclear deal and Israel's settlement policy in the occupied West Bank main areas of friction.

Israel's longest-serving leader, Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival in a national election on Monday, the country's third in less than a year after inconclusive ballots in April and September.

During the campaign, Netanyahu has steered clear of commenting directly on the U.S. election.

But he has praised Trump as the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House, noting the president's decisions to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the U.S. embassy to the city.

Story continues

Netanyahu has also tried to play on many Israelis' suspicions about the loyalty of Israel's 21 percent Arab minority, political analysts say.

The right-wing Likud party leader says his main challenger, former general Benny Gantz, would need the support of an Arab party to form a governing coalition, effectively tying his hands in pursuing any military action in the region.

The tactic forced Gantz to deny that a government led by his centrist Blue and White party would rely on the Joint List, an Arab coalition mostly supported by descendants of Palestinians who lived in what became Israel after its creation in 1948.

Israel's Arab community has long accused Netanyahu, in power from 1996-1999 and since 2009, of fear-mongering. On election day in 2015 Netanyahu urged his voters to turn out, warning that Arabs were flocking to the polls "in droves."

Netanyahu, who held a campaign rally in an Arab town on Wednesday, has said he has no dispute with the Arab public in general, only with Arab politicians pursuing policies he opposes. (Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Based on the results of the talks with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Russia Vladimir Putin informed that the countries have found an acceptable solution for the tension in Idlib, reports TASS.

We dont always agree with our Turkish colleagues when it comes to our assessments on what has happened in Syria, but based on the high level of bilateral ties, Russia has always succeeded in finding common ground in regard to disputed issues and achieve acceptable solutions, and this was the case this time as well, Putin reported.

Russia and Turkey have agreed on a joint document on the settlement of the Syrian issue. According to the Russian leader, the agreements at the summit of Russia and Turkey must put an end to the sufferings of the peaceful civilians in Syria. I hope these agreements serve as a good basis for termination of military operations in Idlib, put an end to the sufferings of peaceful civilians and the growth of the humanitarian crisis and create conditions for all the conflicting sides to continue the peace process in the Syrian Arab Republic. The talks with Erdogan were difficult, but ended positively, he declared.
5 people with travel history to coronavirus-hit countries kept in isolation in Srinagar hospital

India

oi-PTI

Srinagar, Mar 05: Health authorities in Kashmir have kept five persons with a recent history of travelling to coronavirus-affected countries in the isolation ward of the SKIMS hospital here after they showed symptoms of the disease, officials said on Thursday.

"We have kept the five persons in the isolation ward at the SKIMS hospital in Soura," they said.

The officials added that samples of the suspects were collected and sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Of the five, one had travelled to Thailand while two had been to Iran, they said, adding that the remaining two had a recent travel history to the epicentre of COVID-19 in China's Wuhan.

Coronavirus: 14 Italians shifted from ITBP quarantine centre to Gurgaons's Medanta hospital

The Jammu and Kashmir administration took several steps on Wednesday as part of its efforts to control the spread of coronavirus, after a sudden spike in the number of positive cases in the country.

National Health Mission Director Bhupinder Kumar was appointed as the in-charge of the coronavirus control efforts in the Union territory, an order issued by the General Administration Department said.

The divisional commissioners of the Kashmir and Jammu regions have been made in-charge of the programme in their respective areas of jurisdiction. The government has directed officials to set up detection centres at all entry points, including airports and railway stations.

Besides creation of quarantine and isolation facilities, the government has also directed for a proper surveillance of those put under home quarantine.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 15:34 [IST]
Annual Address by H.E. Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia, to the Parliament of Georgia - GeorgianJournal
NASA Names Next Mars Rover Following Year-Long Student Essay Contest With Battelle, Future Engineers

NASA's next Mars rover has a new name-Perseverance. The name was selected as the culmination of a year-long competition organized by the space agency, Battelle and Future Engineers.

Battelle's portfolio of STEM schools and STEM networks promoted the contest, along with partners including the Conrad Foundation, National Science Teaching Association, the Association of Science-Technology Centers, and the STEM Next Opportunity Fund. Battelle and partners promoted the event through conference presentations, webinars for educators, social media and other challenges. NASA chose Battelle and Future Engineers to manage the naming contest through a competitive request for proposals in 2019.

"Through this contest, we saw the incredible creativity, passion, and intellect of the young leaders who will form America's next generation of innovators," said Wes Hall, Vice President of Education and Philanthropy at Battelle. "We commend today's winner and every student who looked up at the sky and imagined this rover's place in history."

The name was announced March 5 by Thomas Zurbuchen, assciate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, during a celebration at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia. Zurbuchen was at the school to congratulate seventh grader Alexander Mather, who submitted the winning entry to the agency's "Name the Rover" essay contest, which received 28,000 entries from K-12 students from every U.S. state and territory.







"Alex's entry captured the spirit of exploration," said Zurbuchen. "Like every exploration mission before, our rover is going to face challenges, and it's going to make amazing discoveries. It's already surmounted many obstacles to get us to the point where we are today - processing for launch. Alex and his classmates are the Artemis Generation, and they're going to be taking the next steps into space that lead to Mars. That inspiring work will always require perseverance. We can't wait to see that nameplate on Mars."

The contest that resulted in Alex's winning entry of Perseverance began Aug. 28, 2019. Nearly 4,700 volunteer judges - educators, professionals and space enthusiasts from around the country - reviewed submissions to help narrow the pool down to 155 semifinalists. Once that group was whittled down to nine finalists, the public had five days to weigh in on their favorites, logging more than 770,000 votes online, with the results submitted to NASA for consideration. The nine finalists also talked with a panel of experts, including Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division; NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins; rover driver Nick Wiltsie at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California; and Clara Ma, who, as a sixth grade student in 2009, named Curiosity.

Along with forever being associated with the mission, Mather will also receive an invitation to travel with his family to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to witness the rover begin its journey when it launches this summer. "This was a chance to help the agency that put humans on the Moon and will soon do it again," said Mather. "This Mars rover will help pave the way for human presence there and I wanted to try and help in any way I could. Refusal of the challenge was not an option."

NASA's Perseverance rover is a robotic scientist weighing just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). Managed for the agency by JPL, the rover's astrobiology mission includes searching for signs of past microbial life. It also will characterize the planet's climate and geology and collect samples of Martian rocks and dust for a future Mars Sample Return mission to Earth, while paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Perseverance currently is undergoing final assembly and checkout at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's targeted to land on Mars' Jezero Crater a little after 3:40 p.m. EST (12:40 p.m. PST) Feb. 18, 2021.

For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.

Media Contacts

For more information contact Katy Delaney at (614) 424-7208 or [email protected] or T.R. Massey at (614) 424-5544 or [email protected].

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005793/en/
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Gillettes Gogo Nozizwe film being punted by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his Womens Day Speech. It was also acknowledged at Pendorings (winning Gold and several craft awards), at Cannes and at Loeries and earned first place in the film category at the Creative Circle Ad of the Year Awards.

Grey Creative Director, Steph van Niekerks record-breaking year with her prolific wins at Cannes, Loeries and Creative Circle Ad of the Year.

Savanna Decolonise Autocorrect work selected as AdAge Editors Pick.

Gillette work being chosen as AdWeeks Pick of the Day.

The biennial Agency Scope survey researches trends within marketeragency relationships. Among, other research, it compared Grey to all other agencies with which South African marketers work. Scopen conducted 257 face-to-face interviews with professionals from 207 blue-chip companies, mainly CMOs.One of the most notable results was Greys chief creative officer, Fran Luckin, being rated the sixth Most Admired Agency Professional in South Africa, and the only woman in the top 10. We are so proud of Fran. This is acknowledgement of her hard work as a key figure in our rapid growth trajectory off the back of a creative revival under Frans stewardship, says Paul Jackson, CEO Grey Advertising Africa.According to the Scopen Agency Scope study, Grey clients predominantly agreed that Grey ranked:Grey also consistently featured in the top 10 of all agencies in South Africa, placing:Cesar Vacchiano, president and CEO of Scopen, noted: It is very unusual to see agencies change their positioning in the marketplace so much. The study shows that South African marketers are certainly seeing a new Grey, with reinforced talent and capabilities. Grey leads in the 2020 key client criteria when selecting agencies and is positioned amongst creative companies with the highest client satisfaction levels in the country.Louise Johnston, MD of Grey South Africa, commented that Grey is on a mission to create the most admired agency network on the African continent, with creativity at the core, and our clients feedback is a testament to this. Im proud to be associated with Grey and look forward to growing the company. These results illustrate our passion to take our famously effective promise to our clients.Grey ended the decade with a watershed year, evident from the Scopen survey, but also clear by its doubling the business in annualised revenues. After an ongoing and aggressive new business drive, the agency landed a number of blue-chip accounts including BP, Coronation Bank, Distell, Mazda, Phillip Morris and additional brands from GSK.Greys creativity has grown in leaps and bounds too, thanks to Fran Luckins leadership along with her team. A few highlights from 2019 include:Grey is an agency on the move, with some of the best and brightest talent. Our ambition is to be the most progressive, pioneering, creative agency network in Africa, and the Agency Scope results are an indication that were on the right track, added Jackson.Grey is the advertising network of Grey Group, which ranks among the largest global communications companies. Its parent company is WPP (NYSE: WPP ). Under the banner of Grey famously effective since 1917, the agency serves a blue-chip roster of many of the world's best-known companies: Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg's, Pfizer, Canon, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Nestle, Lindt, Applebee's, and TJ Maxx. In recent years, Grey has been named's Global Agency of the Year twice,'s Agency of the Year andmagazine's Global Network of the Year in recognition of its creative and business performance ( www.grey.com ).
Judge Thomas B. Griffith told court officials he plans to retire in September, just two months before the 2020 presidential election. The announcement clears the way for Trump to add a third judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which has been a pipeline for nominees to the Supreme Court.
President of Ukraine is expected to pay an official visit to medical facility to meet 48 citizens of Ukraine and 29 foreigners, evacuated from Wuhan

The quarantine of evacuees from China, who were under observation in Novi Sanzhary of the Poltava region, is expected to end today, on March 5. This was reported by the correspondent of 112 Ukraine TV Channel.

It is expected that at 10:00 a.m. everyone, who is in the sanatorium, will receive an application of discharge, and at 12:00 p.m. the observation will end. They will be met by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

"He (President Zelensky  112 International.) will pay an official visit to the Poltava region. But most importantly, according to the head of the Public Health Center, Ihor Kuzin, the results of the final coronavirus tests showed that everyone is absolutely healthy," the journalist said.

As we reported earlier, 48 citizens of Ukraine and 29 foreigners were evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan. There were transferred to Novi Sanzhary, Poltava region, in order to be quarantined for 14 days.

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers allocated 107.500 dollars for their maintenance.
Samson is mentioned in two places in Scripture. The first is the story of Samson in Judges 13-16. The only other mention is in Hebrews 12 among a list of other Old Testament characters.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. (12:32-34)

As a group, faithfulness among those in this list varies widely. David was flawed, but also a man after God's own heart. Samuel was generally faithful. Barak (Judges 4-5) was used by God, but required Deborah the prophet to accompany him.

Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ... She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabins army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands. Barak said to her, If you go with me, I will go; but if you dont go with me, I wont go. Certainly I will go with you, said Deborah. But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. (Judges 4:4-9)

Gideon (or Jerub-Baal) ... there are a number of places in the story (Judges 6-8) where he acted faithfully before God but in the end "Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family." (8:27)

The Lord used Jepthah (Judges 11-12) to subdue the Ammonites and Ephraimites - but he also sacrificed his daughter to satisfy a vow he made to "ensure victory." Not the kind of hero we would really like to emulate, nor do I think that it is consistent with the gospel.

It is not at all clear that inclusion on the list in Hebrews requires that we view these men as heroes of the faith. Some are, some are not. All were used by God to achieve his purposes. Of course, God also used Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus. As we will see in our walk through Isaiah, Cyrus is even called "his anointed." (Is. 45:1) But this certainly does not make Cyrus a hero of the faith.

So What? I recently heard a sermon that used the story of Samson as a foreshadowing of Jesus. The way that Samson was connected with Jesus disturbed me. A number of parallels were drawn - the divinely enabled birth of Samson to a woman unable to have children (13:2 ff), the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson (13:25, 14:19, 15:14), Samson sacrificed himself for his people (16:26-30 - more on this below). This preacher is not off by himself. Other Christians have viewed Samson as a type of Jesus, based on similarities between their lives.

I think this is a serious mistake.

There is a running theme through the Old and New Testament of God's will being accomplished through children born through his promise to childless women (for example: Sarah, Rebekah (see Gen 25:21), Hannah (1 Sam. 1), and Elizabeth, but we could find others as well.) Samson does fall in this pattern and it is clear that Jesus does as well, but in a far more profound way. Okay, but can we go beyond this?

Now the preacher did not claim that Samson was perfect - in fact far from it. He commented on the rather foolish interaction with Delilah. After the first three incidents, you would think Samson would realize that she was not to be trusted! He suggested that Samson's self-confidence was such that he thought no one could ever defeat him and his hair was unimportant. That makes sense. Perhaps Samson's biggest problem here was that he thought that his success was all his own doing and nothing could change it.

But here is the problem - there is no indication anywhere in the story of Samson as far as I can see, that he ever did anything except in his own self-interest and to satisfy his desires. Yes he defeated the Philistines (and was used by God to do so), but it was always because of some slight to himself. His new wife betrayed his riddle (so he killed some Philistines to satisfy his debt), his wife was given to another (because he deserted her), ... which led to a couple more incidents and many deaths.

Later he met Delilah and fell for her. When his head was shaved he lost his strength, his eyes were gouged out and he was put to work ... "But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved." (16:22) The preacher noted that the hair was not important - but the text isn't as clear.

And then we get to the final episode.

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us. And when their hearts were merry, they said, Call Samson, that he may entertain us. So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them. Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. (16:23-30)

Note that, contrary to what this preacher asserted, Samson did not sacrifice himself for the people of Israel. Rather we read that Samson wanted to be avenged for the loss of his eyes, and likely for the mocking he was forced to endure. Again ... it was all about himself. God used Samson to defeat Philistines - but not because anything about Samson or his motives was ever focused on concern for others.

Samson was motivated by a desire for revenge ... because he had been humiliated. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and prayed from the cross "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) He did give up his life as a ransom for many and he never (ever) sought revenge for slights against himself ... even to death on the cross.

Samson did "believe in God" but it seems to me that he also viewed God as a servant to his needs rather than himself as a servant of the most high God.

We need the Old Testament. But we need it for what it is, not for what we wish it was. Not every hero is ... is a hero, that is. Some stories are not really appropriate for children and we shouldn't attempt to make then into what they are not.

What do you think?

Is there something I've missed?

How should we view and use the story of Samson?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

You may comment on this post at Musings on Science and Theology if you wish.
McFadden agreed to the deadline and said he was open to further briefing on whether Congress has standing to sue on that question, but warned he did not want to split or decide the case piecemeal because of the risk that further appeals in the McGahn case would keep disrupting the litigation.
The US company behind brands such as Dr Pepper and 7up is setting up a manufacturing facility in the former Lidl building in Newbridge.

Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) - which is co-headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts and Plano, Texas - is hiring for 50 positions immediately.

The Leinster Leader newspaper revealed in recent weeks that the company was linked to the vacant 330,000 square feet building off Great Connell Road.

Keurig Dr Pepper confirmed the news today that it is is expanding and diversifying its supply chain by opening a manufacturing facility in Newbridge later this year.

Co Kildare Chamber CEO Allan Shine said: "This is fantastic news for County Kildare. It's another big-brand US multinational coming to the county and they will be providing high-value jobs in the area."

He added: "The Chamber has been on trade missions to Boston and Massachusetts area and companies like Keurig Dr Pepper have been very impressed by what County Kildare has to offer."

The 50 positions being hired for the new Newbridge facility will be in operations and research & development.

Jobs immediately available include:

 HR Director

 Quality and Environmental

Health and Safety Manager

 Operations Manager

 Maintenance Manager

 Planning Manager

 Chemical Operator

 Flavor Technology Senior

Scientist

 Regulatory Analyst

 Technical Data Management

Analyst

 Process Development Engineer

Interested candidates can learn more about these opportunities and apply at: careers.keurigdrpepper.com

Keurig Dr Pepper is the parent company of over 100 brands that also includes Snapple, Canada Dry and Sunkist.

It's one of the biggest food and beverage companies in the US and employs more than 25,000 people.

Keurig Dr Pepper is an award-winning employer and offers employees continuous training and development as well as tuition for outside education.

Employees are also paid for carrying out volunteer work in their community.

It is also known for its environmentally conscious outlook by promoting sustainable practices in how it sources its raw ingredients.

Randy Howorka, KDP Plant Manager said: This is an exciting time for Keurig Dr Pepper as we expand our best-in-class manufacturing network with a new beverage concentrate facility in County Kildare, Ireland.

"We are pleased to be opening our Irish operations in such a desirable location, and we look forward to becoming an active and engaged member of this community."

Martin Shanahan, IDA Ireland CEO said: The decision by Keurig Dr Pepper to establish a manufacturing facility in Newbridge, Co Kildare is very welcome.

"It endorses Irelands reputation as a global location for manufacturing and supply chain excellence. I would like to offer IDA Irelands continued support as Keurig Dr Pepper works toward future milestones.




They have spent 14 days in observation cented in Poltava region after evacuation from China

People, evacuated from Chinese Wuhan due to coronavirus outbreak, ended the observation in Novi Sanzhary, as 112 Ukraine reported.

March 5, the term of the observation is finished for evacuees.

The special T-shirts with labeled 14 days in observation for the security of Ukraine were made by the day of the observations end.

The evacuees spent 14 days in the quarantine according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization. People infected with Covid-19 were not spotted during the observation.

On February 20, the Boeing 737-800 landed in Kharkiv city. It carried the Ukrainians who were evacuated from China so as to save them from the raging coronavirus. According to Ukraine's Healthcare Ministry, none of the passengers were sick or showed any symptoms of the disease. The Interior Ministry decided that the citizens will be put on the quarantine in Novi Sanzhary, Poltava region, central Ukraine.

That evening, the buses with the evacuated passengers reached Novi Sanzhary; the enraged locals pelted them with stones, protesting against the decision to accommodate the people there. They also set fire and tried to block the road to the sanitarium, but the police didn't let them.
West Chester, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/05/2020 -- The birds are returning from their migration south, the temperatures are heating up, and Daylight Savings time is right around the corner. Spring is almost here, and with spring comes higher temperatures. Homeowners who have noticed that their air conditioning system isn't working after a long winter season are encouraged to contact Battavio for HVAC repair or AC replacement in Chester County, PA, and beyond before warmer temperatures arrive.



AC repair from Battavio is administered by HVAC professionals. Homeowners trust Battavio because their team has provided services to Pennsylvania homeowners for over 40 years, and their team is proud to provide a total satisfaction guarantee. Their team offers both scheduled and emergency services  no matter when they need air conditioning, plumbing, or heating repairs, homeowners know that they can depend on Battavio's team to provide quality service. Battavio also offers free quotes for any of their services to help homeowners find the best deal possible.



Homeowners are urged to test their air conditioning units before the summer season arrives  and to call Battavio Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling for AC repair in Chester County, PA if they notice an issue with their system. Anyone who would like to learn more about Battavio or who would like to schedule their appointment for service is encouraged to give their team a call today at 610-365-7863?. Their team can also be found online at https://battavio.com/, where interested parties can read more about currently available services and specials and fill out a request for a contact form.



About Battavio Heating, Cooling and Plumbing

Since 1972, Battavio Heating, Cooling and Plumbing has been providing Chester County, Delaware County and Montgomery County with HVAC services. Being a Bryant authorized dealer, Battavio Heating, Cooling and Plumbing ensure home and business owners that their experienced technicians are licensed and certified to replace and repair plumbing, heating, and cooling systems. The company's professional experts are available for a wide range of installation and 24/7 emergency repair services.
NEW YORK, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DarkPulse, Inc. (OTC Markets: DPLS) (DarkPulse and the Company), a full-suite engineering, installation and security management solutions provider, today announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the Companys motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the Company. In a scathing opinion, the presiding U.S. District Court Judge dismissed all of the plaintiffs claims in the lawsuit.



The resounding dismissal by the U.S. District Court resolves in our favor a lawsuit which we believed from the beginning had no foundation in law or fact, and represented nothing more than a frivolous harassment lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs, said Dennis OLeary, CEO and Chairman of DarkPulse. Mr. OLeary continued, We are extremely pleased to have won our motion to dismiss this lawsuit on all claims, and we look forward to continuing the business of the Company without further management distraction.

About DarkPulse, Inc.

DarkPulse, Inc. uses advanced laser-based monitoring systems to provide rapid and accurate monitoring of temperatures, strains and stresses. The Companys technology excels when applied to live, dynamic critical infrastructure and structural monitoring, including pipeline monitoring, perimeter and structural surveillance, aircraft structural components and mining safety. The Company's fiber-based monitoring systems can assist markets that are not currently served, and its unique technology covers extended areas and any event that is translated into the detection of a change in strain or temperature. In addition to the Companys ongoing efforts with respect to the marketing and sales of its technology products and services to its customers, the Company also continues to explore potential strategic alliances through joint venture and licensing opportunities to further expand its global market position.

For more information, visit www.DarkPulse.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "anticipate" or other comparable terms. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release regarding our strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: our ability to successfully market our products and services; the acceptance of our products and services by customers; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Media contact:

DarkPulse Solutions, Inc.

media@DarkPulse.com

1.800.436.1436
NCP leader and Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik on Thursday claimed that either Centre was hiding something or misleading Parliament over there being no religion-wise break-up of citizenship granted during 2014-19, claiming senior ministers are announcing break-ups publicly.

The NCP national spokesperson's statement comes a day after Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed in the Parliament that as many as 18,999 people from neighbouring countries have been granted Indian citizenship during 2014-19.

'Either they have misled the country or hiding something'

"On the floor of the House of the Parliament, the government said they have granted citizenship to 19,000 people during 2014-19. The government also explained there is no religion break-up citizenship. Most of them are from Bangladesh. Then on what basis Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister) and Rajnath Singh (Defence Minister) have claimed that 600 Muslims have been granted Indian citizenship?" asked Malik while speaking to news agency ANI.

"If Parliament misled or the government cannot give the break up to the Parliament, then why senior ministers are announcing numbers and break-ups publicly. Either they have misled the country or hiding something," he said.

18,999 people from neighbouring countries granted Indian citizenship

In a written reply to a question regarding country-wise details of applications for Indian Citizenship during 2014-19 in Rajya Sabha, Rai on Wednesday had informed that records of persons granted citizenship under section 5 by registration or under section 6 by naturalization of the Citizenship Act, 1955 are maintained as per the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and rules made thereunder. The Minister stated that these records are not maintained religion-wise.

After signing of Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundry Agreement, 14,864 Bangladeshi nationals were granted Indian Citizenship under section 7 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, Rai stated. In total, 15,036 Bangladeshi nationals have been granted Indian citizenship. Meanwhile, 2,935 Pakistani nationals were granted citizenship during this period.

READ | Delhi Violence: Nawab Malik urges to file cases against provocateurs, takes on BJP netas

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on January 30 had said that the Citizenship Act of the country has a provision for Muslims from Pakistan who wants to come and stay in India and as many as 600 such people have been given citizenship during the last five-six years.

READ | NCP Minister Nawab Malik justifies Muslim quota proposal, cites Sachar Committee findings

"If any Muslim brother from Pakistan wants to come to India and wants to stay here, then we have a provision in our citizenship act, through which they can get Indian citizenship. And I wish to tell you, we have given citizenship to 600 such Muslim brothers who came from Pakistan during the last 5-6 years, still, attempts are made to provoke hatred," the Minister said while addressing a public meeting in Delhi.

READ | 'Nehru can't be blamed for everything,' says Nawab Malik; slams Mohan Bhagwat and PM Modi

READ | 'Govt will take back cases with no serious charges in Koregaon Bhima protest': Nawab Malik

(With agency inputs)
Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Donald Trump declared live on television on Wednesday night that he did not believe the World Health Organizations assessment of the global death rate from coronavirus of 3.4%.

I think the 3.4% is really a false number, he told Sean Hannity, one of his favorite conservative Fox News hosts, in a phone interview broadcast live.

Now, this is just my hunch, Trump began, before continuing that based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this, and its very mild  theyll get better very rapidly, they dont even see a doctor, they dont even call a doctor.

He went on: You never hear about those people, so you cant put them down in the category of the overall population, in terms of this corona flu, and/or virus. So you just cant do that.

Trump to Hannity on WHO saying coronavirus death rate is 3.4%: "I think the 3.4% number is really a false number. Now this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations ... personally, I'd say the number is way under 1%."



Astoundingly irresponsible. pic.twitter.com/uC9c03zX31  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 5, 2020

He then plucked his own surmising of a likely death rate out of the air.

You know, all of a sudden it seems like 3 or 4%, which is a very high number, as opposed to a fraction of 1%, he said, perhaps referring to the typical death rate for influenza, which is well below 1%.

Trump said: But again, they dont know about the easy cases because the easy cases dont go to the hospital. They dont report to doctors or the hospital in many cases. So I think that that number is very high. I think the number, personally, I would say the number is way under 1%.

Sources at the WHO pointed out to the Guardian that the 3.4% figure represented no more than a snapshot of the total number of reported deaths over the number of reported cases on the given day. Its not a mortality rate. But it is the math. The calculation on the given day.

Story continues

Globally, about 3.4% of reported Covid-19 cases [the technical term for the novel coronavirus strain responsible for the outbreak] have died, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The previous death rate had been given as an estimated 2% after the initial explosion of cases begin in China. The new virus outbreak has been compared to the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918  1919 when mortality was between 2 and 3% of those infected.

The death rate of those contracting seasonal influenza is typically an estimated 0.1%.

As the number of coronavirus cases increases in the United States, conservative media outlets have condemned Democrats and media such as the New York Times and CNN for being critical of Donald Trump and his response.

Related: 'They're rooting for the coronavirus': Trump allies attack Democrats and the media

Some of Trumps allies in the rightwing media have defended the president and his response, and boosted the administrations narrative that Democrats are using the coronavirus to further their own political agenda by exaggerating its severity.

Peter Hegseth, a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, attacked Democrats criticism, saying: Theyre rooting for the coronavirus to spread. Theyre rooting for it to grow. Theyre rooting for the problem to get worse.

Fellow Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt said of stock markets falling: They [Democrats] are probably jumping for joy.

Trump also appeared to reject his own administrations advice for people feeling unwell to stay at home. He said: If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better, and then when you do have a death, like youve had in the state of Washington, like you had one in California, I believe you had one in New York.

There have been no deaths from coronavirus in New York.

On Thursday morning, New York city mayor Bill De Blasio announced there were two more confirmed cases of coronavirus, brining the number of sufferers in the state to 13.
Palmdale, CA (93550)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 29F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 29F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Stronger winds in and below canyons and passes.
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In the 1950s, acclaimed Christian author C.S. Lewis made the following statement about free will in his book Mere Christianity:

Free will is what has made evil possible, he wrote. Why, then, did God give [us] free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata  of creatures that worked like machines  would hardly be worth creating.

C.S. Lewis brought up automata  a.k.a. robots  to illustrate how ridiculous it would be to make a world of creatures that simply obeyed pre-programmed orders.

But C.S. Lewis never could have predicted that 70 years later people would be discussing the possibility of machines with artificial intelligence (AI) developing free will. This discussion, born of technological development in recent decades, has unleashed an entire spectrum of theological debate.

If robots with AI have the ability to think for themselves, would we call this free will? Should we? Could they be saved? Would they have a concept of sin?

This may sound like a fantastical set of questions, bordering on the absurd, but AI technology is advancing rapidly and bringing such queries into the realm of real possibility. The question is not if but to what extent AI will infiltrate religion and theology in the coming decades.

AI and robotics are already making inroads in religious communities around the globe. A Vox article by Sigal Samuel described a robot priest named Mindar, [He] can bless you, advise you and even perform your funeral. The aluminum and silicone priest currently recites a pre-programmed sermon at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Tensho Goto, the chief steward of the temple, has high hopes for Mindars future. This robot will never die; it will just keep updating itself and evolving. With AI, we hope it will grow in wisdom to help people overcome even the most difficult troubles. Its changing Buddhism.

If AI continues to develop the way it has been, it will change much more than just Buddhism. It will fundamentally alter the way that religions function. Samuel observed:

As more religious communities begin to incorporate robotics  in some cases, AI-powered and in others, not  it stands to change how people experience faith. It may also alter how we engage in ethical reasoning and decision-making, which is a big part of religion.

Robots like Mindar exist worldwide, performing funerals, giving blessings and offering guidance. They are especially prominent in countries like China and Japan, where there is a strong Buddhist influence. Buddhism has a non-dualistic understanding of the universe, where everything  animate or not  has the potential to achieve enlightenment. Whether a creature is made of metal or flesh matters much less to a Buddhist than to a Christian, in terms of its spiritual importance.

This is just to say that predominantly Christian nations tend to be more resistant to AI and robotics when it comes to religion. But that doesnt mean that the kinds of questions raised by AI are any less important to grapple with. The world has a way of coming up with fresh theological dilemmas regardless of how receptive Christians are to the topic. (Like stem cell research, homosexuality, abortion and the like.)

As western Christians, lets admit a few things to ourselves. First of all, our churches are already inundated with the kind of technology that would have made our great-grandparents cringe. We open Bible apps on our phones, listen to worship bands amplified by expensive sound systems and many of us attend services where the pastor is on a screen instead of the stage before us. Throughout its history, Christianity has availed itself of aids to worship: cathedrals, icons, stained glass windows, even music itself.

In other words, if we deploy it well, there is every reason for robotic technology to enhance the experience of worship instead of distracting from it.

The topic of Artificial Intelligence and religion, however, is far more complicated. Questions about AI and free will are rooted in the same basic query: what does it mean to be human?

Russell Bjork, a professor at the evangelical Gordon College, argues in the journal Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, What makes humans special is not what humanity is, but rather it is Gods relationship to us based on His purpose for making us. Bjork, accompanied by a host of other Christian theologians, is hesitant to grant AI personhood.

If youre a Christian, you believe that somewhere along the line, God gave life to humans. Even if AI developed the ability to think independently, or to ask about God or salvation and make conclusions about these topics for itself, it would still be a secondary kind of life, created by humans instead of God. This is not a conclusion, but part of a theological debate that we will, hopefully, continue to have in a way that glorifies the giver of life. The rest remains up for debate.
U.S. House Democrats are seeking documents about Nestle Waters North America operations in Michigan and other states as part of a new Congressional oversight investigation launched this week into bottled water industry practices.

On Tuesday, March 3, U.S. Reps. Harley Rouda of California and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan sent Nestle a request for information about the companys U.S. groundwater extraction, revenues from bottled water sales, advertising expenses, quality testing and plastic use.

The probe comes amid a growing environmental community pushback against the U.S. bottled water industry, marked by a proposed first-in-the-nation ban on permits for sourcing bottled water from natural sources thats moving through the Washington state legislature.

Rouda and Tlaib, chair and vice chair of the House Oversight and Reform environment subcommittee, each represent a state where Nestle bottles vast amounts of groundwater. In their 5-page letter, they express concern about Nestle profiting from a public resource while nearby communities struggle with water use, access and quality.

Both of us feel a responsibility as oversight committee members to ask these questions and get answers, said Tlaib by phone on Wednesday.

The probe was born of constituent feedback from a September field hearing the two representatives held in Detroit, where people kept bringing up Nestle.

Where my constituents are having their water shut off due to exorbitant bills, we have Nestle up the road profiting millions off the water my community is being denied, Tlaib said.

The letter requests documents dating back to 2014 that include a list of all U.S. production wells, volumes of water extracted, revenues earned, internal communications about potential health risks and contaminant testing, money spent on product marketing and advertising, and annual totals for plastic used and planned for purchase in the next five years.

The letter says Nestle is benefitting from low or no cost permits to source raw production material. It notes the $200 per facility state paperwork fee that Nestle pays to extract water in Michigan, where regulators in 2018 approved the companys request to extract more groundwater from the headwaters of two Osceola County trout streams.

The unpopular decision followed an avalanche of public opposition to the request. Nestle has yet to actually increase that extraction. The permit is being administratively challenged by a group called the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation.

When Flint, Michigan was in the midst of a lead contamination crisis, Nestle continued to extract spring water from Michigan communities like Evart for the purpose of selling the water outside of the state, though this town was located just two hours from Flint, the Democrats wrote. In California, Nestle has been criticized for extracting water for commercial purposes during periods of drought when Californians were ordered to reduce their water use.

Tlaib said shes also concerned about the safety of bottled water, citing studies that have shown troubling amounts of microplastics in some Nestle water products.

Nestle was given until March 17 to produce the requested documents.

Nestle Waters North America, the global food and beverage giants U.S. bottling division, said it received the Congressional request and will cooperate fully.

In a lengthy statement, the company said it recognizes the significant responsibility we have as a bottled water company to operate responsibly and sustainably today, and well into the future. We operate under the principles of putting our communities first, being good stewards of water and the environment, and promoting healthy hydration.

Nestle said it support communities where it operates. In March, it announced $2 million in grants to support conservation projects in Michigans Muskegon River watershed. The company has been trying to combat negative perceptions through social media efforts and blog posts that portray Nestle as a responsible environmental steward with minimal impact.

It would make absolutely no sense for Nestle Waters to invest millions of dollars into local operations just to deplete the natural resources on which our business relies, the company wrote in a statement to MLive.

Across the country, activists are pushing back against the ascendant industry. They typically cite depletion of natural resources and accumulating plastic waste from landfilling single-use bottles as unsustainable industry traits.

Democrats in Michigan have sought to limit the distribution of water bottled in state by removing an exemption in the Great Lakes Compact that currently allows companies like Nestle to ship bottled water outside the basin in small containers.

Nestle was recently dealt a legal setback in Michigan when the state appeals court said water bottled for profit is not an essential public service in a ruling that reversed a lower court decision, which had ordered Osceola Township to approve a controversial Nestles zoning request to build infrastructure needed to move more groundwater to market. Nestle is not appealing the ruling.

In Michigan, much of the opposition to Nestles extraction was out of concern for environmental impacts on the area watershed. However, the broader opposition was from people upset that Nestle could source groundwater at essentially no cost at the same time residents of Flint and Detroit have struggled with water safety and access.

Jim Olson, a Traverse City environmental attorney who represented citizens in a lawsuit that resulted in a 2009 settlement limiting the amount Nestle can pump at some locations in Michigan, said the U.S. has yet to adequately deal with the legalities of selling water for profit.

There was a huge outcry when we first found out about these messes in the years between 2000 and 2008 in states like Michigan, Maine, Florida and California, where Nestle sources water for spring water brands like Ice Mountain, Poland Springs, ZephyrHills and Arrowhead. There was this whole wave and movement that kind of subsided.

Now, its back and I think its stronger because more people understand it now, Olson said. Its not just (environmental) impacts. Its this fundamental question about how public water gets sold and why the profits dont benefit the public through a licensing or fee system.

The privatization question is larger than ever," Olson said. "It isnt going away.

Related stories:

Why Nestle pays next to nothing for Michigan water

USGS testing conditions near controversial Nestle well

How Michigan water becomes a product inside Nestle plant

In Detroit, Nestle holds private roundtable on future of water
The soaring exhibition features full-scale models of dozens of Leonardo da Vinci's most inventive creations, from a diving suit to a catapult to a hang glider. Also on display are exquisite, artisan-crafted reproductions of the Mona Lisa and other da Vinci paintings, made with the techniques da Vinci himself used, and hand-crafted reproductions of some of the 6,000 pages of notes he left behind.

The exhibition is open every day until April 12, with special pricing offered on select days and free admission to school groups.

"I think it's a great experience. It's a really active experience for our students," said Scotch Plains middle school teacher Carmela Lambert while chaperoning a group of nearly 100 seventh-graders who visited the exhibition as part of their studies of Italian. "When we got the flyer at our school, we thought it would be a great way to teach across curriculum."

Da Vinci, a brilliant Renaissance artist and inventor, dreamed of inventions ranging from military equipment to an ideal city. Most of his ideas remained drawings on paper. But recreations in the exhibit bring his visions to life for a modern audience.

"You come here thinking he's an artist, and you walk away thinking he's an engineer; he's a physicist. He was just a brilliant mind," said Lynnette Zimmerman, LHAC executive director.

The world-class traveling exhibition, which was created by Grande Exhibitions and has appeared around the world, also ushers in a new phase for Kean.

"It really creates a cultural center for Union County," Zimmerman said. Special events, such as a social media influencer gathering, are being planned for the da Vinci exhibit, she said, and other exhibitions will be coming in the future.

The exhibit was a lively hubbub of voices one recent morning as teachers and students from Scotch Plains' Park Middle School fanned out through the gallery. As part of their study, students were assigned to envision themselves as da Vinci's students, and sketch his art and drawings.

Teacher Angela Cammilleri said the students were impressed by da Vinci's diving suit invention and ideal city.

LHAC Program Coordinator Keyaira Boone said while the exhibition is wonderful for school groups, everyone is welcome to enjoy it.

"You don't have to be a Kean alumnus or a student to see it; you can just come," she said. "It's fascinating for people of all ages."

Special ticket prices are now being offered to Da VinciInventions. Children 12 and under are admitted free on Friday-Sunday, March 6-8; Wednesday, March 18; and Friday-Sunday, April 3-5.

In addition, two-for-$20 general admission tickets are available on Saturday, March 21, and Thursday-Sunday, April 9-12; and patrons are welcome to "pay what you wish" to enjoy the exhibition on Sunday, March 15.

Admission is free for school groups. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.kean.edu/davinci

ABOUT KEAN UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1855, Kean University is one of the largest metropolitan institutions of higher education in the region, with a richly diverse student, faculty and staff population. With campuses in Union, Toms River, Jefferson and Manahawkin, New Jersey, and Wenzhou, China, Kean University furthers its mission by providing an affordable and accessible world-class education. Visit www.kean.edu .

SOURCE Kean University

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Two powerful tornadoes with up to 175 mph winds touched down in Tennessee earlier this week, causing widespread destruction and killing 24 people.

The National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday that an EF-4 tornado hit Putnam County while an EF-3 tornado slammed Davidson and Wilson counties.

Twenty-four people were killed and hundreds of buildings were destroyed hours before dawn on Tuesday when the tornadoes slammed across the state.

Survey teams had reported damage in East Nashville, Donelson and in Mt. Juliet, about 20 miles east of Nashville, as well as extensive damage in Cookeville, but the weather service had not finalized its assessment.

Prison where 'The Green Mile' filmed damaged

When Meg Selby and her fiance emerged from their storm cellar, they found their first home mostly destroyed after a tornado ripped through Tennessee.

Most of the roof of their Donelson home had been ripped off, the windows were blown out and their belongings had been tossed everywhere.

"It kind of just feels like it's all been taken from you," Selby said. "To not really have anything to show for it now is hard, and I, retrospectively, wish I had more pictures."

A day after the state's deadliest tornado day in seven years, the couple and hundreds of people across the state are assessing the damage and trying to locate one person who is still unaccounted for in Putnam County.

Selby and her fiance, Mac Warren, were sleeping when the storm alarms on their phones awoke them early Tuesday. They heard tornado sirens outside, so they corralled their dogs and headed to their storm cellar.

The couple, whose wedding is set for March 28 and who had just bought their home in September, thought the storm would pass, but the local meteorologist warned the twister was headed their way.

"Listening to her talk about the path ... the tornado was on, it went from being kind of a precautionary thing to living through something very catastrophic," Selby told CNN.

Added Warren, "It got quiet, and you could hear this sort of slow roar, and it just got gradually louder and louder."

The house started shaking, he said. The temperature dropped. The pressure intensified and his ears popped, he said.

"It was terrifying," he said.

Their wedding venue seems OK, Warren said, so the nuptials will go on as planned, but the couple say they are canceling their honeymoon to Hawaii to focus on making sure they have somewhere to live.

Volunteers inspire Titans to donate $1 million

Scores of people have come together to help those who lost their homes in the storms. Alex Vaughan said strangers have been picking up debris and helping her family go through the rubble of her East Nashville home.

"I don't think anyone told them to do that. I don't know any of them," Vaughan told CNN. "They just showed up and cleaned our greenhouse for us."

Vaughan's home and her flower shop were destroyed when the aluminum roof from a restaurant across the street landed on her home. They hid in the basement seconds before the tornado tore her home.

"I don't think we would have, not all of us, would have survived if we were upstairs," she said.

Inspired by the actions of many residents, the Tennessee Titans announced Wednesday it will donate $1 million to non-profit groups assisting those impacted by the storms.

"We are so encouraged about the amount of charity people have shown in the aftermath of Monday night's tragedy," Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. "As leaders in the community, we want to lend our help to this cause of healing and rebuilding. Together we will help our neighbors through this long and difficult process. We are hopeful that others will join us in supporting this effort any way they can."

The NFL Foundation is donating $250,000 and will "work with local schools to assess needs for football field repair and equipment replacement," the Titans announced.

In Putnam County, which suffered extensive damage, more than 2,500 volunteers helped clean up debris Wednesday, county officials said.

At least 5 children among victims

The 18 people who were killed in Putnam County were identified Wednesday as authorities continued searching through destroyed structures for survivors.

Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said five children younger than 13 were among the victims.

The dead range from a child between 2 and 3 years old to a 67-year-old woman, the county said.

Tornadoes in the Southeast are getting worse

As of Wednesday evening, no additional bodies were found in Putnam, Porter said. Davidson County officials also reported finding no more bodies.

Kyndel Morgan, 11, lost a classmate in the storm, she told CNN, and two friends are hospitalized. She woke up about 2 a.m. Tuesday and joined her family in rushing to their basement, the girl said.

"We weren't even in the basement for a few seconds and the lights just started flickering and it started hailing," she said, speaking amid Cookeville's destruction Wednesday morning. "I was just scared. I was tired and stuff, so I didn't really know what to do. ... I'm just praying for my friends and stuff, and their safety."

Besides Putnam, there were three deaths in Wilson County, two in Davidson County and one in Benton County, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reported. The Davidson County deaths came in East Nashville, where a 36-year-old employee of the Attaboy cocktail bar had just left work with his girlfriend, 33, and they were fatally struck by debris early Tuesday, Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said.

Power out for thousands, schools closed

In East Nashville, residents had only a six-minute warning to get to safety, according to Davidson County.

"I got the warning, and in less than 10 minutes you could just feel the pressure, my ears were popping we all ran downstairs and just huddled together," Danielle Theophile told CNN affiliate WSMV. "It went by so fast."

Tuesday was the deadliest tornado day since May 6, 2013, when a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, according to the weather service.

The tornadoes were reported several times along a 145-mile stretch of Middle Tennessee -- from Camden, about 80 miles west of Nashville, to the Cookeville area, about 80 miles east of Music City, the weather service said.

More than 38,000 customers were without power Wednesday evening, most of them in Davidson county, TEMA said. Crews were having trouble getting to the affected areas because of downed power lines.

Classes and all activities at Metro Nashville Public Schools were canceled Wednesday and the schools will remain closed for the rest of the week, the district said.

More than a dozen schools don't have power, the district said.

"Nashvillians have experienced a traumatic event and we know it will take time to heal," said Adrienne Battle, the school district's interim director. "Closing the rest of the week will allow time for that healing process, allow our staff and students to volunteer in the community, and give our district a chance to prepare our facilities for normal operation starting on Monday."

One school will require a few days of repairs; another, up to several weeks, the district had said.

The Volunteer State

Those suffering from the damage aren't doing so alone; strangers and neighbors have come together to help each other out.

Want to chip in yourself?

"We're called the Volunteer State, and there's a reason for that -- because Tennesseans have a real spirit of generosity and service to one another," Lee told reporters. "As governor, now I get to see it happen for real."

Theophile said both her home and her neighbor's home lost their roofs, and her neighbors, an elderly couple, had their roof collapse on them, she said. She worked to dig them out.

Michelle Whitten was sleeping when a friend called her to say that she and her three children were in the tornado's path. She grabbed her children and rushed to a closet, she said.

"As soon as we did that, we hear the wind howling as it's over the house and hear something like a train over us. The house started to shake, and windows shattered. We could hear ... loud boom sounds," she told CNN. "I've never been so scared in my life!"

In East Nashville, a neighbor came to help board up a large window at a Crye-Leike Realtors office that was blown out.

"That's just how East Nashville is. That's one of the reasons we like selling over here and living over here," said a broker with the office.

The storms fell on Super Tuesday, and many of the polling locations were in the storm's path, which required some precincts to extend voting hours. President Donald Trump will visit Nashville to tour the damage Friday, and the federal government will be assisting in recovery efforts, the White House said.
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THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Kimberly Sue, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition and author of Getting Wrecked: Women, Incarceration and the Opioid Crisis, will address the Lycoming College community on the subject of her research. Her talk is slated for March 26 at 5:30 p.m., in Heim G-11 on the Lycoming College campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Getting Wrecked provides a rich ethnographic account of women battling addiction as they cycle through jail, prison, and community treatment programs in Massachusetts. As incarceration has become a predominant American social policy for managing the problem of drug use, including the opioid epidemic, this book examines how prisons and jails have attempted concurrent programs of punishment and treatment to deal with inmates struggling with a diagnosis of substance use disorder. An addiction physician and medical anthropologist, Sue powerfully illustrates the impacts of incarceration on womens lives as they seek well-being and better health while confronting lives marked by structural violence, gender inequity, and ongoing trauma. Prior to her lecture at Lycoming College, Sue will speak to women incarcerated at SCI-Muncy about her work.

A graduate of Harvard Medical Schools social science M.D.-Ph.D. track, Sue completed her doctoral work in sociocultural anthropology where she studied the intersection of U.S. prison systems, addiction policy, mental health, and drug treatment. She completed her medical training at Bostons Massachusetts General Hospital in internal medicine-primary care, with a clinical focus on substance use disorders and addiction medicine. She currently sees patients in syringe service programs, providing low threshold buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. Her doctoral research at Harvard, coupled with her field experience, laid the basis for her book, Getting Wrecked: Women, Incarceration and the American Opioid Crisis, published by University of California Press in September 2019.

Sues areas of expertise include the intersections of anthropology and clinical medicine, medicine and social justice, and health advocacy for and in solidarity with structurally vulnerable communities. Her work draws attention to how structural violence, oppression and stigma operate in medicine and healthcare settings and particularly how they can harm or damage the health and well-being of people who use drugs. She believes in centering the expertise and knowledge of people who use drugs, engage in sex work and experience stigma in many other ways. She also has experience in global public health research and implementation in health care delivery and HIV and reproductive health in Tanzania and South Africa.

The intersectionality of Dr. Sues perspective as an anthropologist and a physician allows for a more holistic approach to understanding substance abuse. In addition to outlining the harms caused by incarceration, particularly for women, her expertise in addiction provides insight on how to better treat individuals who are struggling with substance abuse, said Kerry Richmond, associate professor of criminal justice and chair of the department. In a region that has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic, Dr. Sues talk is very timely.

The lecture is co-sponsored by Lycoming Colleges Departments of Anthropology-Sociology, Criminal Justice-Criminology and Psychology.
Helping youth and adults get an education and a job are the most powerful things society can do to move upstream in the fight against poverty and ultimately prevent children from entering the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, David Dennis, CEO of Eckerd Connects, said.

In an extraordinary alliance, two leading workforce development providers join forces to expand services, increase impact and connect thousands of underserved youth and adults to local communities and employers. Eckerd Connects and Odle Management Group, LLC, both experienced workforce development trailblazers, will become one of the largest workforce development providers in the U.S. covering nearly 20 states and educating and training over 40,000 clients each year.

Since 1968, Eckerd Connects has been a national non-profit organization that has connected more than 250,000 children, young adults and families to the help they need through programs in workforce development, family and child services and juvenile justice services. For more than 15 years, Odle has provided comprehensive residential, academic and career preparation services to nearly 15,000 underserved young adults through managing the day-to-day operations of nine Job Corps campuses in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. As a woman- and minority-owned led business, Odle also recruits and matches Job Corps graduates to local and regional employers, as well as manages one-stop centers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas; and manages special projects for foster care and talent pipeline, in the state of Texas.

Helping youth and adults get an education and a job are the most powerful things society can do to move upstream in the fight against poverty and ultimately prevent children from entering the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, David Dennis, CEO of Eckerd Connects, said. We dont see this merger from just a business development standpoint, we want our combined talent pool to be a force for good to help and empower young people and all those that need our help.

The entire Odle team is honored to join forces with Eckerd, Lisa Odle, President and CEO of Odle, said. Both organizations have deep passions, commitment and sense of responsibility to fulfill our missions and build strong relationships in an effort to put young people on a path to success.

Under the terms of the merger, Odle will remain a separate organization and a wholly owned subsidiary of Eckerd Connects. Together, Eckerd Connects and Odle will have an annual operating revenue of $329 million. The union of Eckerd Connects and Odle paves an unrivalled path to have the capacity to impact the estimated 45 million Americans who live in poverty, 21 million children who are estimated to live in unstable homes and the 6.5 million underserved youth ages 16-24 currently not in school or unemployed.
At a state housing briefing Wednesday, where activists and public officials discussed conditions at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, State Rep. Chynah Tyler renewed her claim that an increase in violence on the streets of Boston is connected to movements within the maximum-security prison.

Several prisoners were transferred to other facilities after an attack on four correction officers inside the prison on Jan. 10. Other Souza-Baranowski inmates were moved to different units within the facility. Sixteen men were indicted by the Worcester District Attorneys office for their alleged involvement in the assault.

Tyler visited Souza-Baranowski at the Shirley-Lancaster town lines on Jan. 31 and heard claims from prisoners that staff were intentionally moving inmates into wrong units, she said.

I feel like this issue has a direct correlation to the uptick in violence that were seeing here on the streets in the city of Boston, Tyler said at Wednesdays briefing. Right now as of today, there have been 10 homicides on the streets of the city of Boston, and that is unacceptable.

The state representative, whose legislative district includes much of the states capital, sent a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker last month expressing concern over prison officials response to the Jan. 10 attack. The facility was locked down for roughly three weeks after the incident as staff conducted a shake-up of the prison, according to Souza-Baranowski Superintendent Stephen Kenneway.

An institution-wide search for drugs, weapons and other contraband started on Jan. 21, as inmates were moved throughout the facility based on their updated housing risk assessments," DOC said in a court documents. The north side of Souza-Baranowski now houses prisoners with serious disciplinary infractions, while discipline-free inmates remain on the south side.

Officials sought to prevent future attacks on prison staff and inmates with the cell movements. Kenneway claimed prisoners threatened employees at the correctional center with murder, rape, hostage-taking and assault.

I had a deep concern for everyone in the facility, the superintendent said last month during a hearing about a civil lawsuit filed by three Souza-Baranowski inmates who claimed they had access to their legal materials and attorneys restricted.

Dozens of prisoners also claimed to be assaulted by tactical team members at the facility in retaliation for the Jan. 10 attack on the correction officers. Some said they were beaten, bitten by dogs, tased and had their hair ripped out. The inmates who alleged being assaulted claimed they were not involved in the attack on the prison guards.

Kenneway and other prison officials have said the Jan. 10 assault was unprecedented, planned and gang-related. Sources told MassLive inmates involved in the attack were members of the Latin Kings gang.

Darrell Jones, a man who spent multiple decades in prison before being exonerated in 2019, served several years in Souza-Baranowski. He said if people look at video of the assault on the officers, they will see that it was not just members of the Latins Kings who participated in the attack.

If you go to the original video, if you knew the players, then you would know that one of the guys is just a Boston street gang guy. One of the guys is from another gang. They have nothing to do with the Latin Kings, he said. Most of them wasnt Latin Kings. Nobodys doing their homework.

Jones, like Tyler, also claimed that internal issues at the prison have led violence to spill out into Boston. The former inmate alleged that beef that happens in Souza-Baranowski impacts the general public.

Tyler and Jones both accused DOC of intentionally housing rival gang members together. Tyler, who grew up in Roxbury and whose brother was previously incarcerated, called the situation at the prison a public safety emergency.

The Boston Police Department confirmed that 10 homicides have been reported in the city since the beginning of the year. Seven homicides were reported at the same point last year.

This unnecessary integration of rival gang members has, given the nature of gang violence, caused more violence from inside the facility to spill into our streets, Tyler, a Democrat, wrote in her letter to Baker. Evidently, these actions taken by the DOC were misguided.

Officials with the agency said the department moved inmates for their own safety. Authorities rejected what they called an unfounded accusation that movements in Souza-Baranowski have led to recent street violence.

DOC welcomes the opportunity to meet with legislators and our primary focus following last months attack on correction officers and last weeks inmate stabbing remains the safety of inmates, staff, and visitors to DOC facilities," authorities said.

_______________

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook orTwitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.

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This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday.

In a newsletter last year, I quoted the economist and author Robert H. Frank calling Steve Bullock the most important person on the planet.

Bullock, the two-term governor of Montana, is the only Democrat with a decent chance of winning the U. S. Senate election there this year. But Bullock had been insisting he would not run. Without him in the race, the Democrats chances of retaking the Senate would be significantly smaller. And only if the Democrats control the Senate, the House and the White House in 2021 is there any prospect of major action to combat climate change.

The window of opportunity for effective action on the climate crisis is rapidly closing, Frank argued. Absent robust measures to curb greenhouse gases, climate scientists forecast steadily more frequent and intense storms, droughts, flooding, and wildfires. Alone among major political parties worldwide, Republicans have refused even to admit the existence of climate change, much less enact meaningful legislation for dealing with it.
The governor of California declared a state of emergency as the number of cases there shot up to 54, the most in the United States, and Facebook said that a worker in its Seattle offices had tested positive. We have live updates and a video of what the viruss impact looks like from space.

Nearly 300 million students are now out of classrooms worldwide, and the outbreak  which has killed more than 3,200 people and infected more than 95,000 in dozens of countries  is increasingly disrupting work, travel and leisure on multiple continents.

Heres a sampling:

China: Local governments across the country are erecting barriers between neighborhoods in an effort to stop people from spreading the virus. Officials in the northern city of Tianjin call the steel sheets the Blue Great Wall.

Events: The London Book Fair and the Geneva International Auto Show are among the events that have been canceled over coronavirus fears. (The Summer Olympics in Tokyo are still a go, at least for now.)

The arts: The Louvre in Paris reopened, with caveats, after closing for three days, and some wonder if a highly anticipated exhibition of Raphael paintings that opens in Rome today will go on as planned.
Experts Cite Clear Communication as 'Vital' Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Other Crises With world facing potential pandemic, InChrist Communications draws on Ebola Crisis experience; says crucial to talk openly during emergencies







NEWS PROVIDED BY

InChrist Communications

March 5, 2020



CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 5, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- Amid mounting fears of a global coronavirus pandemic, a leading faith-based communications agency today issued a warning to ministries, churches and other organizations not to "go silent" in a sudden crisis.



"It's imperative that any organization confronted with a crisis -- whether it's internal or external -- doesn't shut down communications," said Palmer Holt, founder and CEO of InChrist Communications (ICC, www.inchristcommunications.com), an agency with extensive experience helping faith-based organizations navigate crisis situations.



ICC provided missions agency SIM USA with crisis communications counsel and services during the 2014-16 Ebola Crisis, which originated in West Africa.



"The coronavirus outbreak has demonstrated forcefully that it's absolutely vital to communicate quickly, accurately, and decisively to the public before misinformation leads to potentially catastrophic results," said Holt, a former newspaper editor and Fortune 100 company media relations executive.



Faith-based organizations, including churches and mission agencies, often lack media experience and are prone to panic during a crisis, said Holt, unveiling his agency's new solution to crisis communications -- a strategy called SAFE.



SAFE entails studying the threat, assessing the audience, framing the response, and successfully executing the crisis plan.



"SAFE is designed to help organizations quickly and confidently confront a sudden crisis, communicate clearly to stakeholders, and protect their reputation," said Holt, whose agency is offering free SAFE resources and a strategy session online at safe.inchristcommunications.com.



"No organization should make the huge mistake of waiting until it's in the middle of a crisis before scrambling to get its message out," Holt said. "The way to protect your organization or ministry is to plan your own crisis communications strategy before you find yourself in a potential death spiral of negative media and social media backlash."



No Time to Panic

Crises can strike anyone at any time and escalate rapidly in the media. "It's crucial for every organization to be ready to deal with the media immediately and professionally from the outset, across all media channels," Holt said. "A crisis is no time to panic -- and the time to prepare is before a crisis happens."



The tendency for many faith-based organizations, ministries and churches is to go silent when a crisis involves them, Holt said. "Their leaders go into hiding when they should be upfront, dealing openly with the crisis and the media, taking the initiative, and making sure that people hear quickly, honestly and sincerely from the organization's leadership."



The European Union's Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says no organization should delay communicating in a crisis. "Open, honest, and ongoing interaction remains essential," the agency says.



Holt and his team of professional journalists and media experts have steered dozens of local, national and international ministries, missions, and churches through crises. In addition to the Ebola Crisis, the company has helped faith-based organizations navigate through moral issues, financial controversies, internal and external violence, natural disasters, social and political issues, and international incidents such as kidnappings, coups, civil wars and untimely deaths.



About InChrist Communications

Established in 2002, InChrist Communications (ICC, www.inchristcommunications.com) provides crisis communications, public and media relations, storytelling, branding, and strategic planning services for faith-based ministries, missions, churches, and businesses. A free strategy session is available at safe.inchristcommunications.com.



SOURCE InChrist Communications



CONTACT: Matti Stevenson, 719-360-0586, mstevenson@inchristcommunications.com



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PHILIPSBURG:--- The detective together with other special unites of Sint Maarten Police Force arrested three men who are accused of had just committed a string of serious armed robbery on both sides of the island.

The three suspects with the initial A.JP. S 20 years, F.M C-R 28 years and J.N.I. R 26 years were all arrested at different times during en on different locations of the Island in the morning hours of Wednesday, March 4th,2020.

The Special Unit Robbery did house search by the residence of suspects, during these searches and several items were confiscated.

These suspects are accused of committing robberies dating back to the beginning of December 2019.

The Sint Maarten Police Force is requesting any for persons who may have more information connected to these suspects connected to these robberies, to contact the Special Robbery Unit.

The more the community comes together to assist the police in the combat against these crimes the faster the robber(s) can be apprehended.

The Special Unite Robbery (SUR) can be contacted via phone at 542-2222 ext 203 204 205, the anonymous tip line # 9300 or persons with information can also send a private message via our Facebook Page- Police Force of Sint Maarten - Korps Politie Sint Maarten or website https://www.policesxm.sx

KPSM Press Release.
A 2013 state law allowing utilities to tack natural gas surcharges onto consumer bills for the purpose of funding infrastructure improvements is under scrutiny at the Capitol.

Lawmakers and consumer advocates have called for ending that state law on Jan. 1, three years earlier than its Dec. 31, 2023, statutory sunset date.

They claim allowing the surcharges helps major utilities sidestep the regulatory process, automatically raise heating bills, and force many customers into financial crisis to cover billions of dollars in reckless utility spending.

Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said his Senate Bill 3497 and its companion House Bill 5247 are aimed at starting a conversation centered on the accountability, the safety, and the affordability of utility bill increases that our families are facing in the state of Illinois.

He was joined by Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, who sponsors the House bill, and representatives of AARP Illinois, the Citizens Utility Board, the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Theyre among more than 20 groups supporting the effort.

The coalition criticized a 2013 state law which allowed for Qualified Infrastructure Plant, or QIP, surcharges to be applied to consumer bills. The measure was written to allow utility companies to replace outdated pipes, including cast iron piping that was an explosion risk.

Seven years ago, the Illinois Legislature gave gas utilities permission to charge their customers more in order to make urgent repairs, such as replacing old cast iron pipes  repairs that were needed to keep us all safe, Mason said. Unfortunately, instead of just making the necessary safety repairs, the utilities are now spending money on things like installing new meters and replacing perfectly safe pipes and were all getting stuck with this bill.

The coalition said that regulatory shortcut allows the utilities to recoup infrastructure spending more quickly by charging ratepayers once the new infrastructure is up and running. They also said, however, the process does not require the rigorous regulatory investigation that a regular effort to adjust consumer bills does.

Illinois PIRG Director Abe Scarr said while there is a reconciliation process each year in which utility companies get some review for their QIP spending, he said thats mostly an accounting exercise, not an accountability exercise.

No one here is suggesting that we compromise the safety of our infrastructure. No one here is suggesting that we need to look at the types of jobs that are being utilized or are being worked on here, Villivalam said. We want this work to be done; how its done and at what rates and at what expense of our consumers, thats the question that were trying to address and have a conversation about.

Mason said the General Assembly was told in 2013 by Peoples Gas, which serves customers in Chicago, that the program would cost about $1.14 per month on a consumer bill or about $2 billion total. Currently, she said, that company is charging a fee greater than $9 per month and the estimated cost of the program is nearing $11 billion.

Peoples Gas representatives, however, said the cost over the next 20 years is forecasted to be $6.8 billion if completed by 2030 or $7.8 billion if completed by 2040.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the company pointed to a 4-percent rate cap on what can be recovered by the utility in a year, and said the urgent need for the System Modernization Program has recently been confirmed by an independent engineering study ordered by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

The study found that over 80% of the pipes in the Peoples Gas delivery system  some more than 100 years old  have an average remaining life of less than 15 years, and the SMP will increase public and customer safety by significantly reducing risks in Chicagos natural gas delivery network, said Danisha Hall, director of corporate communications for the company.

She added the average cost of a consumer bill is 6% lower than it was six years ago when the law was passed.

Nicor gas, which serves some of western Illinois and from the Chicago suburbs to as far south as Champaign and Pike counties, has already replaced its cast iron pipes but still plans to spend $1.6 billion in the next two years, according to the coalition. This created $260 million in rate hikes the past two years, according to the coalitions news release.

While we have made great strides in these modernization efforts  retiring the last known cast iron in our system in 2018  as of 2020, we still have more than 4,500 miles of natural gas main that is more than 60 years old. Investing in Illinois, or investments in QIP, allows us to continue to make these investments to ensure every customers energy needs are met safely and reliably now and well into the future, Nicor Communications Manager Jennifer Golz said in a statement.

She said gas bills for Nicor customers are typically 16% lower than they were in 2010. She also questioned the $1.6 billion in spending over the next two years, noting that about half that sum would include other capital investments such as fleet vehicles, buildings and our Meter Modernization project.

The coalition said Ameren Illinois, which serves three quarters of the state down to near its southern border, claimed it would spend $330 million on capital projects, but has already topped $466 million.

Marcelyn Love, an Ameren communications executive, said the coalitions effort was intentionally misleading.

By claiming that Ameren Illinois has no clear public safety justification for making system improvements, these groups are willfully ignoring a federal law which requires natural gas utilities to implement pipeline safety upgrades by 2035, she said. This includes upgrades to transmission and distribution lines and improved technology to maintain proper pressurization of the system. Ameren Illinois will continue to do our part to help strengthen the safety, reliability and integrity of the natural gas distribution system every day for the customers that rely on us.
Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a statement rebuking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's remarks against members of the court.

At a pro-choice rally in front of the Supreme Court, Schumer referenced Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer said, amid cheers from the crowd. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts said in a statement.

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US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a statement rebuking Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer's remarks against members of the court during an pro-choice rally on Wednesday.

Speaking to a crowd in front of the Supreme Court, Schumer described a nearby, opposing rally as "the bad guys" and referenced Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, two members of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

At the time, the justices were presented with an oral argument asking whether doctors at abortion clinics in Louisiana would be able to have local hospital admitting privileges. Chief Justice Roberts is expected to be the swing vote in conservative-majority panel.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer said, amid cheers from the crowd. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

"We will tell President Trump and Senate Republicans, who have stacked the court with right-wing ideologues," Schumer added. "That you will be gone in November, and you'll never be able to do this again."

Story continues

Roberts issued a rare rebuke and in a statement addressed Schumer's remarks.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts said. "All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."

A spokesman for Schumer responded saying in part, "For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing's deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes."

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Queensland employers who underpay workers will face 14 years in prison under proposed laws to be introduced to Parliament next month.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said amendments to the Criminal Code would be introduced after a 2018 inquiry discovered almost one in four Queensland workers were not being paid what they were entitled to.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace says wage theft is taking about $1.2 billion out of workers pockets annually, and more than $1 billion from their superannuation. Credit:AAP/Dan Peled

"The Criminal Code, as it currently stands, comes down very hard on workers caught with their hand in the till," Ms Grace said. "But theres no offence for unscrupulous bosses who intentionally steal from their employees or defraud them."

Wage theft can include short-changing staff, not paying superannuation, and withholding leave entitlements.
Campaigners cheer outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London after they won a challenge against controversial plans for a third runway at Heathrow. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

A senior figure at Heathrow airport has warned there will be no global Britain without a third runway, urging UK businesses to lobby the government for expansion.

The call comes after a legal setback last week left the controversial expansion of Europes busiest airport in limbo.

The Court of Appeal ruled the government must rethink their support as they had not fully considered the environmental impact. Campaigners said it had killed off the project, which the airport estimates would cost 14bn ($18bn).

Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrows executive director for expansion, warned blocking projects was not the way to defeat climate change in a speech at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) annual conference on Thursday.

Read more: What to do if you are a Flybe employee or passenger

She warned carbon is the enemy, not aviation, arguing Heathrow could be expanded in a way that still met the governments environmental commitments.

We are getting our own house in order, she told business leaders. Heathrow has slashed its infrastructure emissions by 93% in three decades, is investing 100m in renewables and energy efficiency and will help passengers offset their flights, she said.

Gilthorpe also argued growth could be decoupled from rising carbon emissions, with passenger numbers up 25% but emissions down 3% since 2005.

Stopping Heathrow expansion will just mean people fly to and from airports with weaker environmental targets, she said.

Read more: Budget should launch hardship fund for firms hit by coronavirus

With Heathrow handling 40% of UK exports by value to non-EU countries and Britain looking to secure global trade deals, she said expansion was key to increase routes and business around the world.

Supporters of expansion are hoping the government will rewrite its airport strategy to include environmental commitments, which they believe will still enable it to back the extra runway.

But some fear the governments commitment to the project, which prime minister Boris Johnson once promised to stop by lying down in front of bulldozers as London mayor.

Story continues

Gilthorpe urged the local business leaders from across the country gathered at the conference to remind the government how much the airport matters to firms.

The government itself does not plan to appeal the decision, and has been accused of a strange muteness since the ruling by backbench Conservative MPs.

Ministers say it is for those behind the project to appeal over a privately funded, private-sector scheme, with Heathrow chiefs and a firm offering a rival expansion bid both set to challenge the ruling.

Greenpeace UK called on the government to cancel the third runway once and for all after the courts decision last week.

The appeal had been brought by a group of councils, environmental campaigners and London mayor Sadiq Khan. The mayor called the decision a victory for Londoners who are passionate about tackling the climate emergency and cleaning up our air.
Opinion Article

5 March 2020

Recently, one of our hotel clients found its reputation under attack after two guests were found to have coronavirus.

While the hotel, FH55 Grand Hotel Palatino in Rome, made every effort to keep guests safe and informed, the story hit mainstream media, resulting in cancellations and bad online reviews.

Since then, the epidemic has spread elsewhere in Italy and around the world. With so much uncertainty and a situation that changes daily, hotels everywhere would be wise to put into place prevention and control measures as well as a communications plan.

Photo: ReviewPro

While every hotel will have to determine its own approach, here are some general communication guidelines to consider when faced with the question of how to manage your reputation in a crisis:

1. Be Prepared

The time to prepare is now. That way, if a crisis hits, you can focus on taking action to mitigate any negative fallout. Have an updated social media policy in place that includes a crisis communications component. Outline roles and responsibilities, steps to follow, channels of communication, emergency contacts and social media log-in details.

Have a contingency plan for different scenarios. In the case of COVID-19, for example, you might plan for three main scenarios:

The outbreak remains outside of your region.



The epidemic spreads to your area but not to your property.



An outbreak occurs on property.

Photo: ReviewPro

2. Act Quickly

The quicker you respond and fix any problems within your control, the better positioned you will be to contain a crisis. However, first investigate the situation thoroughly, assess your options and evaluate the potential consequences. Be sure to consult with ownership and, if applicable, corporate office. If the risk to reputation is significant, seek professional advice from a public relations firm or lawyer.

"At the Grand Hotel Palatino, the lesson we've learned from this experience is to take the right precautions," said Enzo Ciannelli, Hotel Manager. "From the beginning, we adopted all the recommendations of the health authorities  We were constantly in touch with the police and the local health authority to receive updates and instructions. All the information was immediately shared with our employees to communicate that they were safe."

Photo: ReviewPro

3. Publish a Response

What happened?



When and where did it happen?



Who was affected?



What is being done about it?

Appoint a spokesperson, ideally the general manager or a senior manager with media skills and training. Advise staff not to speak to the media or general public. If appropriate, publish an official statement and/or FAQ on your website and social media channels, directing queries there. Strive to answer the main questions people will have, including:

Be calm, sincere and transparent in your messaging, striving to communicate the following:

Care "We care deeply about what happened."

"We care deeply about what happened." Concern "We're concerned about the safety and wellbeing of our guests and employees."

"We're concerned about the safety and wellbeing of our guests and employees." Commitment "As part of our commitment to safety and security, we've taken the following measures"

Keep guests and employees updated regularly, and give staff guidelines for responding to questions from guests.

Photo: ReviewPro

4. Prevent Misinformation

Fear and misinformation can spread quickly online, and this is particularly true of COVID-19, which has been called an "infodemic." Refer to official sources such as government agencies and travel advisories. In the case of coronavirus, the World Health Organization provides health information, updates and travel advice.

"One of the biggest problems we faced was the media," said Ciannelli. "The spread of fake news or incorrect information fed people's panic and generated a kind of "mediatic terrorism." That's why we chose to provide only [basic] and objective information, with the aim of reassuring our customers and employees both offline and online."

If you find yourself under attack no matter what you do or say, it might be prudent to "go dark" after publishing a response, refraining from further public commentary until things settle.

Demonstrations of compassion and goodwill will go far to building trust and protecting your reputation. If you experience cancellations, keep a long-term perspective. If you're flexible and understanding, people will be more willing to rebook with you in the future.

Photo: ReviewPro

5. Reach Out to Industry Partners

During a situation like coronavirus, chances are your travel industry partners will be in a similar predicament. Share information, and work together to do damage control.

"Since the problem affects the entire travel and meeting industry, we're now moving forward together with the trade association, Federalberghi Italia, to find a common way to face the issue," said Ciannelli. "The association has opened a discussion with the government and all the bodies in charge of the matter in order to agree on suitable and timely support measures."

Photo: ReviewPro

6. Restore Your Reputation

The good news is that crises often die off as quickly as they flare-up. Let's hope this is the case with COVID-19. When the dust settles, it's time to start rebuilding your reputation.

Depending on the type of negative coverage you receive, measures may include:

Contacting sources and politely asking them to remove content*



Flagging and reporting misinformation on review sites and social media



Responding to reviews and commentary



Launching a review outreach or PR campaign to generate positive content

*Note that it's against guidelines on TripAdvisor and other review sites to ask guests to remove reviews.

Asked what recommendations he has for other hoteliers based on his experience, Ciannelli said, "Try to return to normality and daily operation as soon as possible, reassure your guests and employees, and provide the right information to avoid fake news and panic."

Photo: ReviewPro

Finally, be sure to take advantage of tools for preventing and mitigating everything from a bad review to a full-blown crisis, including review monitoring, guest surveys and case management.

ReviewPro would like to offer our sympathy to all the people and businesses affected by the Coronavirus around the world. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions or issues we can assist you with.
Self-portrait in a cap, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, 1630

When you walk down one corridor in the current Ashmolean Museums exhibition of Young Rembrandt you see half a dozen tiny-to-small, though not quite postage stamp-size etchings, which are self-portraits of the twenty-something artist. My favourite of these is a posturing 1630 Self-portrait in a cap, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. You can just imagine how many hours it took of him looking in a mirror and making this strange face to fix the image. Its a face, and expression, that makes you think what an interesting character Rembrandt must have been  an ideal dining companion; but maybe also a first-rate actor with rare control of his facial muscles.

These 1630-31 self-portraits are the work of a master. Yet, points out the exhibitions co-curator and Director-Emeritus of the Ashmolean, Professor Christopher Brown, in Rembrandts earliest known work The Spectacles Seller (1624-25), we find a crude, garishly coloured painting by an artist struggling with his medium; but a mere six years later he had completed an acknowledged masterpiece, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (1630).

This exciting exhibition began with a conversation between (first disclosure) my good friend, Prof. Brown, who is famed as an expert on Rembrandt and Dutch painting, and Dr Christian Vogelaar, Curator of Old Master Paintings and Sculpture, Museum De Lakenal, of Leiden, Rembrandts home town, to the effect that there had never before been a major show in the UK of Rembrandts meteoric first decade at work, from 1624-34. The show was first seen in Leiden from November 2019 to February 2020, to mark the 350th anniversary of Rembrandts death.

Prof. Browns contention is that the study of Rembrandts first ten years work as an artist is central to understanding the rest of his career, as it was in this first decade that he explored what was to become his own style, dealing with technical problems and correcting the mistakes, from which he developed his skills. This Ashmolean exhibition, Brown says, shows how rapid his progress was, and exactly how he became the pre-eminent painter of Amsterdam and the universally adored artist he remains 350 years after his death.

Leiden was then the second city of the Dutch Republic, 30 miles SW of Amsterdam. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-69) was the son of a well-off miller, who sent the boy to the Latin School, which enabled him to enrol at the University of Leiden. He did not, however, have academic aspirations, and by 1622 had begun an apprenticeship with the citys only history painter; and by the age of 18, had already begun work on his Five Senses series, though the result was the bright palette, clumsy drawing and a poor rendition of space of The Spectacles Seller. Though Rembrandt may not have been a prodigy, his contemporary Jan Lievens (1607-74) had been apprenticed aged eight, and was noticed by the age of 12. There are 13 paintings in this show by him and other contemporaries of Rembrandt that are particularly helpful to the appreciation of the greater artists career.

The Spectacles Seller (Allegory of Sight),c.1624, Museum de Lakenhal, Leiden

In 1624 Rembrandt was apprenticed for six months to in innovative Amsterdam painter, Pieter Lastman (1583-1633), and in 1625 Rembrandt opened his own studio in Leiden, which gave him the chance, too, to work closely with his childhood friend, Lievens, economically painting each other and saving on the wages for models. His parents sat to him as well. By the late 20s the pair were engaged in a charged creative competition, which resulted in commissions for both, though it was at this point in 1631 that Rembrandt went to Amsterdam and Lievens to London in 1632. Rembrandts motive force was business with the dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh, who touted for commissions, especially portraits.

It was in 1632 that Rembrandt met the dealers cousin, Saskia van Uylenburgh, and they were betrothed the next year and married on 22 June 1634. Though Rembrandt had been working from van Uylenburghs house, he maintained the lucrative Leiden studio with his assistants and pupils such as Gerrit Dou (1613-75), who is represented by several works in this show. Leiden is Oxfords twin city (which I didnt know) and the exhibition draws on the Ashmoleans huge collection of Rembrandts prints and drawings (which I did know). The third co-curator is Ms An Van Camp, Curator of Northern European Art at the Ashmolean, who is responsible for much of the work on paper shown.

Dr Xa Sturgis, now the Director of the Ashmolean (second disclosure: in his other identity as the magician, The Great Xa, he entertained at our childrens birthday parties more years ago than they would forgive me for mentioning), points out that this is the largest ever exhibition, and the first in this country, to focus on Rembrandts early years.It is not a straightforward trajectory but it is a thrillingly revealing one that allows us to see the making of one of the worlds great artists.

This beautifully installed exhibition continues at the Ashmolean until 7 June, and let me remind you that the stunning permanent collection is worth several visits, and that the rooftop restaurant there is one of the most agreeable places to eat in Oxford.
Standardbred horseman and racing official Daniel W. Camac, 83, passed away on February 10, 2020, in Florida where he and his wife, Flo, lived in retirement.

Camac was born in Dover, Delaware in 1936, attended Dover schools, and later served his country honourably in the U.S. Army. After his service, Camac became a Dover police officer. He was a graduate of the FBI academy and later was a supervisor with the Delaware Department of Motor Vehicles overseeing offices in all three Delaware counties.

Camac was a longtime member of the USTA as an owner, trainer, driver and breeder, managing the family stable with his wife on their farm in Magnolia, Delaware.

He was very active in horsemens politics and served as a director for the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association. He later left Cloverleaf with other Delaware directors on CSOAs board to establish the Delaware Standardbred Owners Association in 1997. Camac was a director on the DSOA board for several terms before retiring, and later he was honoured as DSOAs second-ever director emeritus.

As one of the founding directors of DSOA, Camac was part of a core group of directors who established DSOA as the voice for Delaware harness horsemen and women. Among the many programs he and the core group established were a horsemens pension plan that is now in its 20th year, and comprehensive and affordable health, dental, vision and life insurance programs including supplemental medicare coverage and workers compensation coverage.

Camac was also very active in helping to elevate Delaware horsemens profile in the general assembly, hand picking and hiring their first lobbyist who still works for DSOA today. He worked tirelessly throughout his life to promote harness racing, racing integrity and equitable oversight of the industry.

Daniel is survived by his wife, Flo; and sons, Scott and Daniel (D.W.).

He will be greatly missed by the Delaware harness racing community.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Daniel Carmac.

(USTA)
Chicago Judge Jackie Portman-Brown has been reassigned to administrative duties indefinitely over a video showing her leading a child into a holding cell for misbehaving

A Chicago judge who was seen on video leading a young child, believed to be a relative of hers, into a courtroom holding cell has now been removed from the bench indefinitely.

The 18-member Executive Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County on Wednesday announced that Judge Jackie Portman-Brown has been reassigned to administrative duties 'until further notice.'

Portman-Brown was seen in surveillance footage two weeks ago leading the child into an empty cell after lecturing her about behaving badly and when sheriff's deputies refused an order to lock the child up, sources say.

Portman-Brown is seen marching the girl into the cell herself while still wearing her judicial robe.

In the footage, Portman-Brown is seen leading the child, believed to be her relative, into the cell behind her court while still wearing her judicial robe

Portman-Brown was seen in the footage leading the child into the cell after sources say sheriff's deputies refused an order from her to lock the child up

The video footage shows Portman-Brown exiting a holding cell behind her courtroom where she left a young child locked up for behaving badly

The child is believed to have been locked up for less than 10 minutes but was described as being 'emotional' during the ordeal, WGN reports.

The two Cook County sheriff's deputies seen in the video have been assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation.

As part of her reassignment, Portman-Brown will be reporting to the First Municipal District to perform administrative duties, which can include doing legal research, conducting marriage ceremonies and reviewing petitions for reduced court-filing fees.

Portman-Brown also will receive mentoring, according to the court statement.

The Executive Committee, chaired by Chief Judge Timothy Evans, plans to report the incident to the Judicial Inquiry Board for further review, raising the prospect of additional disciplinary measures for Portman-Brown.

Surveillance video revealed that the child was brought into the courtroom, where Portman-Brown hears adult felony cases, by an unidentified woman on February 19.

The video footage then shows both the judge and woman initially dragging the child, who is about 6 to 8-years-old, out of the courtroom. They take the child through a sheriff's work space and into a holding cell area.

Additional footage then shows the judge personally taking the child into the cell.

Portman-Brown is later seen leaving for the day with the child and the unidentified woman who brought her.

Surveillance video revealed that the child was brought into the courtroom, where Portman-Brown hears adult felony cases, by an unidentified woman (pictured)

The footage further reveals both the woman and judge dragging the child through a sheriff's work space. The child's image has been blacked out

The footage shows Portman-Brown (center), along with the unidentified woman who brought the child, dragging her as a third, unidentified woman watches

All exited a back door reserved for court staff.

The chief judge learned of the incident a week later and took action.

'Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans [reassigned] judge Jackie Marie Portman-Brown to administrative duty, pending a meeting of the executive committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County on March 4,' said court spokesman Pat Milhizer.

A graduate of Western Michigan University and Thomas M Cooley Law School, Portman-Brown was first elected to the bench in 2008 after serving as a county prosecutor and then as general counsel for the Independent Police Review Authority.

She was retained on November 4, 2014, for a second term that expires in December.
Archives are no static, dusty relic. Along with their archivists they constantly evolve, spinning new stories from the lives, loves and losses they commemorate, layering greater understanding of persecuted communities that were, for so long, aggressively unseen. That was the politically charged origin of New Yorks ever-growing Lesbian Herstory Archive (LHA). The worlds largest repository of its kind, it was founded in 1974 by four women from different backgrounds, including Joan Nestle and former partner Deborah Edel. Calling on the lesbian community to contribute all manner of personal records, they fought back against entrenched homophobia. Joan Nestle is the co-founder of the Brooklyn-based Lesbian Herstory Archives. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui It was initially housed in the rent-controlled Upper West Side Manhattan apartment of multiple Lambda Award-winning author and academic Nestle, 79. The self-described femme, working-class, queer Jewish woman from the Bronx was determined to be seen. Thats what the archives has always given me. Its a place of both healing and activism, an inspiration for artists. Her lifes most enduring work, the LHA is celebrated in Megan Rossmans 2019 documentary The Archivettes, showing at the 30th Melbourne Queer Film Festival, which traces the incredible achievements of these indomitable women, who also found time to kick-start the Gay Academic Union while facing homophobic abuse. Nestle will introduce the film at MQFF. She says Rossman is a lot like the new wave of diverse young women who help run the archive alongside its veterans: The archives filled with thousands of stories. And for archives to live, it will always need its poets, playwrights and filmmakers, its singers and its seers. Were lucky to have Megan.

The LHA moved to a Brooklyn brownstone in 1992 through community fundraising, and may soon have to upsize again. It holds published novels and poetry, hand-written love letters and personal photos, cut-and-paste protest placards and news clippings; even a military uniform from the Dont Ask, Dont Tell era. Personal ephemera from ordinary citizens is treated with the same loving respect as tomes by seminal writers Audre Lorde and Radclyffe Hall. We sit down to tea and biscuits in Nestles study. She moved to Australia to be with strapping, flame-haired, Australian Di Otto, whom she met in New York in 1996 after surviving two bouts of cancer and subsequent depression, but its clear the archives are still in her blood. Their beautiful West Brunswick home overflows with queer art and books, including a striking black and white photograph of Nestle captured by renowned late HIV/AIDS activist and photographer Robert Giard. Activism is intrinsic to Nestles archiving, she says. She embraced intersectional protest in her twenties, during the late 50s, early 60s, marching from Selma to Montgomery in solidarity with the Civil Rights movement. She was anti-war, anti-McCarthyism and pro-Womens Lib. Following butch-femme couples in the street, she uncovered Manhattans clandestine lesbian bars, where bouncers forced women to dance a rulers width apart. I was so desirous of lesbian touch, and I really want to emphasise that sexuality is a crucial, history-shaping force, Nestle says. We know more about gay mens sexuality, but it was just as powerful for us. These vibrant speakeasies, within a decade, would kick-start a queer revolution with the Stonewall riots of 1969. The bars to me were theatre. They were erotic. They were political. They were hard. Sometimes self-hatred would spill over into violence. But that complexity demanded a courage of me. Still to this day, if I may say so, Im grateful for my years as a pariah. It makes you appreciate your comrades. This comradeship birthed the LHA, while Nestle was teaching at City University. Recalling a passage from French-Tunisian author Albert Memmis non-fiction work The Colonizer and the Colonized (1957), she says it had a profound effect on the archiver she would become. Gripping my arm firmly but affectionately, she recites, The colonised are condemned to lose their memory.
The on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by against her termination as the managing director and chief executive officer of the

A division bench of Justices N M Jamdar and M S Karnik accepted the bank's contention that Kochhar's petition was not maintainable as the dispute was contractual and concerns a private body.

The bank's counsel Darius Khambata had earlier argued that a judicial review cannot be incurred under Article 226 of the Constitution, which empowers high courts to issue directions, orders or writs in such a matter.

The bank sought dismissal of Kochhar's petition.

Kochhar was terminated from the months after she voluntarily left the second largest private sector lender.

The high profile former banker moved the high court on November 30, 2019, challenging termination of her employment by the

She contended that the bank also denied her remuneration and clawed back all the bonuses and stock options between April 2009 and March 2018 for her alleged role in granting out of turn loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon Group which benefitted her husband Deepak Kochhar.

Chanda Kochhar's counsel Vikram Nankani earlier argued that her termination came months after the bank approved her voluntary resignation on October 5, 2018 and therefore, the termination is "illegal, untenable, and unsustainable in law".

The ICICI Bank then filed an affidavit, contending that the reliefs in the petition are not maintainable and it deserves to be dismissed as ICICI is a private bank and is administered under the Companies Act, not the state or its agency.

Khambata argued that ICICI is a private banking company and Kochhar's petition seeks to contest what are purely private contractual terms.
Maharashtra on Thursday gave a leg up to its preparations to battle a possible coronavirus outbreak in the state by launching two separate helpline numbers- one for the residents of the state and other for Mumbai residents-- while the chief minister assured everyone to follow WHO guidelines and not panic.

Maharashtra government announced the launch of a dedicated helpline number 020-26127394, which can be accessed 24X7 by residents who want to report a suspected case or symptoms of the infection that has been detected in 30 people across the country so far.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also announced the launch of a four-digit 24x7 helpline number1916-- to report coronavirus cases in the city.

The announcements come on a day when the chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, assured people about the states readiness and said they must not panic. No need for people to panic and wear masks, PTI quoted Uddhav Thackeray as saying on Thursday evening.

Uddhav said there were no positive cases in Maharashtra but the state needed to be on alert for the next couple of weeks- the period over which the symptoms of the virus are believed to appear after contracting infection.

Municipal corporations & administration of the state are on alert. We have to be more careful in the next 10 to 15 days.

Uddhav also invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modis name to advise people to celebrate Holi in a subdued manner while avoiding big gatherings.

It is advised to avoid big gatherings during Holi as already requested by PM Modi, he said during a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Uddhav had assured worried lawmakers in the state assembly over the threat posed by the virus.

I want to appeal to people that do not panic due to this, we had also tackled swine flu earlier in the state. Just stick to the precaution advisory issued by the government, he had said in the assembly.

The chief minister said that the strength of the medical staff conducting thermal screening at the airports in the state will be increased.

In order to spread awareness about the disease that has now inflicted several countries in the world after originating from Chinas Wuhan province, the Mumbai municipality has decided to put up hoardings disseminating information on fighting the disease as per WHO guidelines at important places like roads and outside schools.

Uddhav had earlier in the day told MLAs that he was monitoring the situation with daily review meetings with the health department.

Earlier we had only one centre for the coronavirus test in Pune NIV now, this has been increased to Nagpur and Pune, so now, we have three such centres in Maharashtra, he had said.

He added that all the private hospitals had been instructed to make isolation wards for coronavirus patients.
South Africa: SA applying stringent measures to deal with Coronavirus: Mkhize

The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, says South Africa will monitor pedantically developments around Coronavirus after confirming the first positive case of COVID-19.

Briefing the media on Thursday afternoon following the first confirmed case of Coronavirus in the country, Mkhize said there is no need to panic as medical authorities are taking all measures to contain the spread of the virus.

A 38-year-old KwaZulu-Natal man, who travelled to Italy with his wife, has tested positive for the virus. The couple was part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on 1 March 2020.

According to the Minster, the patient consulted a private general practitioner on 3 March with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough. The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab. The patient has been self-isolating since 3 March. The couple also has two children.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases Professor Cheryl Cohen, who was briefing in Cape Town with the Minister, said as far as travellers are concerned, people who are most at risk of exposure are the travellers close contacts.

The people that we will be quarantining are the people close to this individual.

We have a definition of what constitutes a close contact. All those people will be asked to self-quarantine in their home for 14 days and be monitored by our medical staff to make sure that if they get any symptoms, they are rapidly tested, she said.

Cohen said the case definition of the virus has been expanded to include testing of any person with a pneumonia of unexplained aetiology, even if they have not travelled.

That was included to increase our sensitivity, our ability to detect a case should the virus be circulating in the community. We are planning to start testing for the virus on our routine surveillance programme.

We have systems in place to monitor respiratory disease, predominantly focused on influenza, she said.

Who is most at risk?

Theres currently no data indicating that people with HIV are more severely affected by the virus.

What we know is that the severe cases to date are with elderly people. Based on what we know from other respiratory illnesses like influenza -- including bacterial causes of pneumonia -- people who are receiving antiretroviral treatment and are stable on treatment and well suppressed, the treatment substantially reduces their risk of severe illness with these viruses and theres no reason to suspect that this should be different, Cohen said.

She advised people who are concerned they meet the case definition of Coronavirus infection to seek care.

Identify yourself at a [health] facility very quickly and dont mix with other people. In the case of the infectious person, if you do have a surgical mask available, that could be helpful to reduce respiratory droplets, she said.

Current status

Cohen said there is no indication that COVID-19 is spreading widely in South Africa.

At this time, for the general public of South Africa, there isnt a risk in terms of this virus spreading in the general community, Cohen said.

The Minister said South Africa has not put any travel restrictions but vigilance will be increased to monitor the virus.

We are going to be including a number of countries where we think that the level of transmission is higher, and encourage people to self-disclose their whereabouts and their contacts with people who could have been infected

We are going to follow international norms once we find that there was any contact, Mkhize said.

Dedicated Hospitals

In addition to the operations centre, the department announced the following hospitals as centres for isolation and treatment of people infected with Coronavirus:

Polokwane Hospital in Limpopo

Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mpumalanga

Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, Steve Biko Hospital and Tembisa Hospitals in Gauteng

Grace Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal

Klerksdorp Hospital in the North West

Kimberly Hospital in the Northern Cape

Pelonomi Hospital in the Free State

Livingstone Hospital in the Eastern Cape

Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape

 SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
WEST SPRINGFIELD  The fire Wednesday afternoon at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Riverdale Street caused an estimated $500,000 in smoke, fire and water damage, and left the 9-month-old hotel uninhabitable without repairs, according to a fire official.

Deputy Chief Steven Manchino said the cause of the fire is unknown but under investigation by the West Springfield Fire Department and the state fire marshal. There were no injuries.

The fire was reported at a little after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

It was not clear Thursday morning if the fire started inside a wall or in the roof of the one-story wing extending from the main building, he said.

The building at 855 Riverdale St., across from the West Springfield 15 movie theater, sustained fire damage on the second floor, smoke damage on the third and fourth floors, and heavy water damage on the ground floor.

Firefighters also conducted extensive overhaul where they tore away the exterior siding, walls and insulation looking for places the fire could have extended, Manchino said.

There was a lot of overhaul, he said.

The fire forced the closing of the northbound lane of Riverdale Street, also Route 5, at Elm Street to allow fire trucks to reach the scene.

The fire was limited to the portion of the hotel closest to Riverdale Street. But electrical power to the entire building has been shut off. As a result, the hotel will be closed until the damage can be repaired and the property inspected by the West Springfield Building Department, he said.

Courtyard by Marriot is a newly constructed hotel that had its grand opening in July.

The West Springfield Fire Department was assisted under mutual aid at the scene by Agawam and Springfield, and by Westfield providing station coverage.

Manchino said firefighters were at the scene until around 9 p.m.

Got a news tip or want to contact The Republican about this story? Email newsdesk@repub.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter.

]
WASHINGTON - The Latest on the 2020 presidential election (all times local):

10 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is going hard after his last rival standing for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Vermont senator is blasting former Vice-President Joe Biden for accepting campaign donations from billionaires and accepting the help of a super PAC.

Sanders told thousands of supporters during a rally in Phoenix, This is a campaign of the working class, by the working the class and for the working class.

Sanders also blasted Bidens support for the 2003 Iraq war, trade agreements and Wall Street bailouts during the Great Recession.

And he is faulting Biden for supporting the 1996 dont ask, dont tell law that barred gays from serving openly in the military and for supporting a ban on federal funding for abortion. Biden later changed his position on both issues.

__

6:35 p.m.

The Secret Service says no Democratic presidential candidate has yet requested protection.

The agency said in a statement Thursday that recent media reporting characterizing the U.S. Secret Service as unprepared for candidate protection is categorically false. It says it is ready to step in once a candidate formally requests protection.

The issue arose after protesters briefly interrupted Joe Bidens Super Tuesday celebratory remarks to supporters in Los Angeles. Women holding signs reading Let Dairy Die stormed the podium where Biden was giving remarks Tuesday night, flanked by his wife and sister. Biden moved to the side as security removed the women.

A photo of Bidens wife, Jill, pushing one of the protesters away from her husband went viral. Bidens campaign press secretary, Symone Sanders, ran up onto the stage and helped drag one of the protesters away.

___

3:05 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has cancelled a trip to Mississippi to campaign in Michigan.

The Vermont senator was scheduled to speak Friday at Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, the home of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. But his campaign announced Thursday that Sanders will travel instead to Michigan, where he is scheduled to hold rallies Friday night and Sunday.

Both Michigan and Mississippi hold primaries on Tuesday. Mississippis population is over one-third African American, a demographic that has heavily favoured former Vice-President Joe Biden, Sanders rival for the Democratic nomination. African Americans make up about 15% of Michigans population.

Biden is scheduled to campaign in Mississippi on Sunday and to be in Detroit on Monday.

Sanders campaign says its sending senior staff members and surrogates to Mississippi to campaign on his behalf.

___

2:45 p.m.

Amy Klobuchar is going to Michigan to campaign for her former Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden.

The Minnesota senator dropped out of the 2020 race on the eve of Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden. Fellow former candidates Pete Buttigieg, Beto ORourke and Mike Bloomberg soon followed.

Klobuchar will visit with union members in Detroit on Friday before hosting a Women for Biden event in Southfield, Michigan. On Saturday, Klobuchar will speak at a get-out-the-vote event in Grand Rapids.

Biden won 10 of 14 states on Super Tuesday, including delegate-rich Texas. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders captured four states, including the biggest prize of all, California.

___

12:50 p.m.

Elizabeth Warren says she will not be running for president in 2020 but guarantees that she will stay in the fight.

Speaking to reporters Thursday outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Warren said shed likely endorse one of the two major candidates left in the race, Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, but not today.

I need some space and I need a little time right now, she said, standing next to her husband, Bruce Mann, and golden retriever, Bailey.

Warrens voice cracked when she talked about meeting so many little girls while campaigning around the country for the past year and knowing they are going to have to wait four more years, at least, to see a woman in the White House.

The Massachusetts senator was the Democratic presidential primarys last top female candidate. She suspended her campaign Thursday, two days after a disappointing Super Tuesday that included a third-place finish in her home state.

Warren added: I have no regrets at all. This has been the honour of a lifetime.

___

10:50 a.m.

Elizabeth Warren has ended her Democratic presidential bid after a disappointing finish in Super Tuesday states.

Thats according to a person familiar with her plans who wasnt authorized to speak about Warrens intentions and talked to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity.

The Massachusetts senators campaign had the markers of success: robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising, a national organization.

But she was squeezed out by Bernie Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance. In the end, she didnt even win her home state  she finished third behind Joe Biden, who won it, and Sanders.

Her exit from the race on Thursday came days after Amy Klobuchar dropped out. It leaves the Democratic field with just one remaining female candidate: Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

 AP writer Will Weissert
Doing your own taxes really isnt like changing your own oil.

Even if you enjoy such tasks, getting either one of them wrong as a do-it-yourselfer can be expensive. But as complicated as a car engine may be for a relative novice, an encounter with the tax code offers so many more costly ways for things to go spectacularly awry.

This tax season, consider the danger of human error: namely, your own.

Here are nine situations that may persuade you to turn the task over to a pro.

1. Small errors lead to expensive tax bills.

Tax software  or the old-fashioned paper forms and calculators  wont help much when the numbers that human beings use in the first place are flawed.

Finding and entering tax information often isnt always easy. That part of the process requires reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, made more complicated by a specialized vocabulary, said Lynn Henley, an accountant in Pacifica, Calif.
She's already an outspoken advocate for animal conservation, and now Bindi Irwin is speaking out on body confidence.

In a post on Instagram on Thursday, the 21-year-old wildlife conservationist posted a 'reminder' for people to love themselves.

Bindi shared a photo of a board reading: 'Reminder that Winnie the Pooh wore a crop top with no pants & ate his fave food & loved himself so you can too'.

Spreading love: She's already an outspoken advocate for animal conservation, and now Bindi Irwin (pictured) is speaking out on body confidence

And fans were quick to praise the star for her body positive message in the comments section on her post.

'Thank you. Needed this. Winnie is my favorite [sic],' wrote one person, while another commented, 'This is the kind of positivity I need on my feed'.

Bindi has spoken out in support of positive body image in the past, urging people to love themselves, no matter what their appearance.

Sprinkling positivity: In a post on Instagram on Thursday, the 21-year-old wildlife conservationist posted a 'reminder' for people to love themselves

Good advice: Bindi has spoken out in support of positive body image in the past, urging people to love themselves, no matter what their appearance

And in an interview with ET in July 2016, she said the message extended to men as well.

'If you have curves, you have to own it - and if you have been born to be able to pull off that bikini really well you have to just enjoy it and love your body and love who you are as an individual - not only for girls, but for guys as well,' she said.

'I see a lot of young men who are really trying to fit that box - and they have to live their lives and be true to who they are.'

'If you have curves, you have to own it - and if you have been born to be able to pull off that bikini really well you have to just enjoy it and love your body,' she told ET in July 2016

She also said that most people don't give their bodies the recognition they deserve, and explained there's a lot to be grateful for.

'We all have to... be thankful for the bodies that we've been given because our bodies, they carry our souls!' she added.

'So we have to love them and take care of them... just love whatever body you've been given.'
By Kim Seong-jun





In his greatest poem, "The Waste Land," English poet T. S. Eliot said "April is the cruelest month." It seems March is the cruelest month this year to people of all races and nationalities, as COVID-19 rages globally, particularly in South Korea.



With continuing news on the mounting number of infected persons and rising death toll, many are not daring to leave their house without a face mask. Now, it has become the norm to wear a mask before going outside.



My company is located near Myeongdong, one of the most popular shopping districts in Korea. I recently visited the area, and could only see a few people on the streets. They were almost empty. There were no street vendors selling yummy snack foods, and no babble of voices from foreign shoppers on the streets. I had not seen this kind of Myeongdong since starting to work for this company in 1994.



I then received a Kakao Talk message from a general manager, Chang, who works for a logistics company in Taiwan, worrying about our safety. He said his company would like to send us thousands of face masks. Some friends of mine in China and Hong Kong also contacted me to ask if I am safe. Ironically enough, I had contacted them just one month earlier to show my concerns for their safety. It reminded me of an old saying, "It is true that in our lives, there are always ups and downs."



Like other firms doing business with China, March is the cruelest month for my company. Our shipments to and from China were nearly halved. According to news reports, China's container throughput fell sharply to only 10 percent of its usual volume.



Thanks to strong government measures, however, China seems to be quickly recovering from the shock, as their situation is stabilizing. This is certainly good news for companies engaging in business in China.



But it is a shame to see news that Korean people are suffering from discrimination in China as the virus rapidly spreads here. Some South Koreans have been placed under 14-day self-quarantine upon arrival at major Chinese cities. Episodes of racial discrimination are reportedly taking place against some Korean residents there. I wonder how the Chinese people would feel if such things happened to Chinese in Korea.



The ballooning outbreak is a big source of concern in Korea, but I hope things will be better soon. We should gather the energy to overcome this ongoing difficulty. This is just one of the many hardships in our history. Have strength, everyone!





Kim Seong-jun (sjkhim@ekmtc.com) is general manager at the Overseas Business Division of KMTC Line.


Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
Moscow: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has led a major government shake-up, ousting his prime minister and several other cabinet members less than a year in office.

The reshuffle - the second by Zelensky in a month - is probably related to his slumping approval amid Ukraine's economic downturn. But internal rifts with Oleksiy Honcharuk, the outgoing Prime Minister, could have played a role as well.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev. Credit:AP

Honcharuk criticised Zelensky as having a "primitive" understanding of the economy in a recording that leaked in January.

Other changes include replacing Vadym Prystaiko as foreign minister with Dmytro Kuleba, who is also the country's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
At a hearing Feb. 14, Walton noted that Trumps repeated personal attacks on McCabe raised concerns about the motives behind the investigation of the former FBI official. I just think its a banana republic when we go down that road and we have those type of statements being made that are conceivably, even if not, influencing the ultimate decision. I think there are a lot of people on the outside who perceive that there is undue inappropriate pressure being brought to bear, Walton, said.
Harvey Weinstein was being moved to New Yorks Rikers Island jail on Thursday after undergoing heart surgery, according to his spokesman.

The news comes 10 days after Weinstein was found guilty of sexual assault and third-degree rape in his New York City criminal trial.

Weinstein was in the process of being moved early on Thursday afternoon, his spokesman Juda Engelmayer told Reuters.

On Wednesday, Weinstein underwent a procedure to remove a heart blockage, Engelmayer said.

Weinstein was taken to Manhattans Bellevue hospital following his conviction on 24 February.

On Wednesday, he underwent a procedure to remove a heart blockage, Engelmayer said. He was suffering from chest pains and high blood pressure, his lawyer said at the time.

Weinstein is expected to be held at Rikers North Infirmary Command section, which houses inmates requiring medical care.

The Rikers Island jail complex, whose main building went up in 1932, has long been plagued by violence and neglect. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed in 2017 to close it within a decade.

Weinstein faces up to 29 years in prison. Hes scheduled for sentencing on 11 March.

Additional reporting by agencies
The government on Wednesday said that there are over 240,000 pending cases in courts related to rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act across the country till December last year.

According to a written reply in Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Law and Justice, Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states with 66,994 pending rape cases followed by Maharashtra with 21,691 and 20,511 in West Bengal.

"As per information received from High Courts, the status of pending cases related to rape and Act, as on December 31, 2019, is 2,44,001," Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Lower House in response to a query by Janata Dal (United) leader Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh.

In furtherance to, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, a scheme was finalized for setting up of 1,023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases related to Rape and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, in a time-bound manner under Centrally-Sponsored Scheme.

So far, the Central's share of funds amounting to Rs 99.43 crore has been released during 2019-20 to 27 States/UTs which have so far consented to setting up of 649 number of FTSCs.

"As per information received from High Courts, 195 FTSCs have already been set up till January 31, 2020," the Ministry said. Surprisingly, not even a single FTSCs have been set up in states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal where maximum number of rape cases are pending.

According to proposed FTSCs, maximum number of 218 courts will be in Uttar Pradesh, 138 in Maharashtra and 123 in West Bengal.

Andhra Pradesh will have 18, Telangana 36, Andaman and Nicobar Island 01, Arunachal Pradesh 03, Assam 27, Bihar 54, Chandigarh 01, Chhattisgarh 15, Goa 02, Gujrat 35, Haryana 16, Himachal Pradesh 06, Jammu & Kashmir 04, Jharkhand 22, Karnataka 31, Kerala 56, Madhya Pradesh 67, Manipur 02, Meghalaya 05, Mizoram 03, Nagaland 01, NCT of Delhi 16, Odisha 45, Punjab 12, Rajasthan 45, Tamil Nadu 14, Tripura 03 and Uttarakhand 04 FTSCs.

In its reply, the minister said as per the scheme of FTSCs, each such Court is expected to dispose 165 cases in a year for which States/UTs governments have been kept informed.

Among 195 Fast Track Special Courts functional and established for Women and Girl children under the Scheme of FTSCs till January 2020, 56 are in Madhya Pradesh, 15 are in Chhattisgarh, 16 in Delhi, three in Tripura, 22 in Jharkhand, 26 in Rajasthan, nine in Telangana, 34 in Gujarat and 14 in Tamil Nadu.
PIGGS PEAK  After a long battle with the parents committee at his school, Ntsinini Primary School Head teacher Mduduzi Mthembu may have to be embroiled in another battle, this time, with his employer  the Teaching Service Commission (TSC).

Mthembu has been suspended from the school with immediate effect after being charged with absenteeism.



It is alleged that he was absent from school for a total period of 40 days, accumulated over different months.

The suspension was issued to the head teacher by the office of the Schools Manager under the Ministry of Education and Training.



Mthembu is the head of the school which this publication recently reported on as being dilapidated.



neglected



About a week ago, this publication reported about the school after concerns from parents that the community learning institution had been neglected.

It was alleged that damaged windows, cracked floors and walls, a fallen fence and livestock loitering had become a norm at Ntsinini Primary School.



It is a community school based in Ndvwabangeni under Mhlangatane Inkhundla.

The school, however, is registered under Mayiwanes Emkhuzweni Umphakatsi.



Also, it is not a secret that the school committees chairperson Sikhumbuzo Magagula and the head teacher are at loggerheads. According to documents issued to Mthembu by the ministry, the head teacher was informed that he was being suspended.

He was advised not to go to the school but that he should instead report to the regional education officer (REO).



absenteeism



In the charge for absenteeism, Mthembu was allegedly not at school for six days including January, 21, 23, 24, 28, 30 and 31 of 2020.

This is said to have emanated from complaints reported to the ministry.



During the third term of 2019, Mthembu is also alleged to have been absent on October 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30 and 31.

The head teacher was also charged for allegedly failing to administer the Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC) exams which had been scheduled to run from November 4, 2019 to November 14, 2019.



Mthembu is said to have been the chief invigilator at the school.

In a letter by the Ministry of Education under the Schools Managers office, as per Teaching Services Regulations of 1983, Mthembu was informed of the charges levelled against him and given an opportunity to respond.



However, according to a letter dated March 2, 2020 issued to Mthembu, his response was not satisfactory.

He was then informed in the letter that he was being suspended with immediate effect as per TSC Regulations.
MIDLAND, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Smith-Midland Corporation (OTCQX:SMID) project announcement.

To meet the air transportation needs of their region over the next 20 years Norfolk International Airport Authority engaged renowned architectural firm Gresham Smith to study and and implement design and structural changes to the facility. The airport currently serves over 3 million passengers a year in one of the fastest growing metro areas in Virginia. As part of the master plan to achieve the needed results, The Airport Authority hired Virginia's Hourigan Construction to build a much needed long-term parking structure. In turn Hourigan's has contracted Smith-Midland to manufacture and erect $3.22million in architectural precast concrete cladding panels for the complex.

The new structure matched to existing architecture, Garage D, will serve as covered parking for passengers with 3,200 spaces on nine levels.

"We are using our extensive experience in architectural precast to match the look and feel of the adjacent structures," said Ashley Smith, Smith-Midland's CEO. "In the past 60 years we have had the opportunity to work on a wide diversity of projects. That knowledge base creates a very tangible value-add for our customers."

Relying on its experienced carpentry shop, Smith-Midland is also fabricating custom forms for pouring compound radius precast panels that will cover the garages helical ramps.

Production of the buff colored concrete with an exposed river rock aggregate finish panels began in February of 2020 with final delivery currently scheduled for September of this year.

About Smith-Midland Corporation

Smith-Midland Corporation is a publicly traded company (OTCQX: SMID). Smith-Midland develops, manufactures, and sells a broad array of precast concrete products for use primarily in the construction, transportation, and utilities industries. Smith-Midland Corporation has three manufacturing facilities located in Midland, VA, Reidsville, NC, and Columbia, SC, and a J-J Hooks Safety Barrier rental firm, Concrete Safety Systems. Easi-Set Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smith-Midland Corporation, licenses the production and sale of Easi-Set products, including SlenderWall architectural cladding and J-J Hooks safety barrier, and provides diversification opportunities to the precast industry worldwide. For more information, please call (540) 439-3266 or visit www.smithmidland.com.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors which might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, general business and economic conditions, the effect of the Company's accounting policies and other risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Media Inquiries: media@smithmidland.com

Sales Inquiries: (540) 439-3266, info@smithmidland.com

SOURCE: Smith-Midland Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579094/Smith-Midland-chosen-for-International-Airport-project
OPEC has agreed on a large output cut of 1.5 million bpd, but only if Russia joins in.

Against a backdrop of ebbing energy demand as the coronavirus outbreak sweeps the globe, OPEC on Thursday agreed to cut the output by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of this year  but only if Russia joins in.

The oil demand outlook has been hit hard by measures to halt the spread of the virus that are disrupting factories, deterring people from travelling and slowing other business activity. Forecasts for crude demand growth in 2020 have been slashed as a result.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing OPEC and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, for a big cut up to 1.5 million bpd for the second quarter of this year while extending existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd, which expire this month, to the end of 2020.

But the kingdom and other cartel members have struggled to persuade Russia to support the move. Moscow has until now indicated it would back an extension but not a new cut.

In the past, Russia has hesitated in joining OPEC in cuts, only to sign on at the last minute.

Ministers from OPEC+ meet on Friday in Vienna.

The coronavirus outbreak created an unprecedented situation with risks skewed to the downside and demanding action, OPEC said in a statement after its ministers met.

It said ministers agreed to an extra supply cut of 1.5 million bpd until June, out of which non-OPEC states are expected to contribute 500,000 bpd. The group said this was in addition to extending existing supply curbs to the end of 2020.

OPEC said it would hold another ministerial meeting on June 9.

Cartel sources have previously signalled that preliminary discussions with Russia about the cuts held this week in the Austrian capital had been trickier than before.

The worst-case scenario is an extension, said an OPEC source when asked by Reuters news agency what would happen if Russia refused to join a new cut on Friday.

The proposed OPEC cut, if approved, would be towards the top end of market expectations. If OPEC+ was to decide to remove an extra 1.5 million bpd from the market, it would bring the groups overall output reduction to 3.6 million bpd or about 3.6 percent of global supplies.

The last time OPEC reduced supplies on such a scale was in 2008 when it cut production by a total of 4.2 million bpd to address slower demand because of the global financial crisis.

Brent oil prices pared gains by 13:00 GMT, trading near $51 a barrel after an initial 0.6 percent rise on news of OPECs plan to cut, highlighting the uncertainty about the real impact of the virus on global demand as it continues spreading.

Oil prices are down about 20 percent since the start of the year, making it tough for OPEC states to balance their budgets, while Moscow has said it can cope with current prices.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak returned to Moscow for consultations on Wednesday after this weeks talks in Vienna and will be back in the Austrian capital on Friday for the broader OPEC+ meeting.

OPEC+ have little choice but to cut output substantially given the virus-related demand losses, said Gary Ross, founder of Black Gold Investors.

The Saudis have accounted for over half the officially agreed cuts and they will lead the way with additional cuts and the others, including Russia, will join because it is overwhelmingly in their economic interests, he said.

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs lowered its outlook for global benchmark Brent crude, saying to fall to $45 a barrel in April  its second downward revision in less than a month.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican lawmakers are calling to abolish the states Firearm Owners Identification card requirement  or at least to install fixes to expedite the Illinois State Polices handling of a backlog of applications that is leaving gun owners in a state of uncertainty.

My office receives three to five calls almost every day now (with FOID delay concerns), Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, said at a Capitol news conference Wednesday. Wherever I go, Im contacted by people that walk up to me, I have a problem with my FOID card. You have to explain the process. And you tell them that, you know, youre not the only one thats two, three or four months behind. Theres many more.

Meier and some of his fellow Republican House members said their offices have been inundated by callers who have had issues with FOID. They said the delay in FOID card processing has left law abiding gun owners in the lurch as they await renewals, and two constituents who experienced delays shared their stories at the news conference Wednesday as well.

You have several problems here, said Rep. Michael Marron, R-Fithian. The first thing is, is that you are taking law abiding citizens who are trying to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms, and youre creating a problem for them being compliant with the state law.

The lawmakers said nearly $30 million in funding was swept from the ISPs coffers to the states general revenue fund from fiscal years 2015 to 2019, including more than $13 million from the Firearm Services Fund which goes to FOID administration.

A FOID card costs $10 and must be renewed every 10 years. Of that fee, $6 goes to the Wildlife and Fish Fund, $3 to the Firearm Services Fund and $1 to the State Police Services Fund.

Rep. Patrick Windhorst, a Metropolis Republican who represents all or parts of the states southernmost 11 counties, said his priority is abolishing FOID card requirements in the state, and he noted there are court challenges to the FOID cards constitutionality.

Now we understand the makeup of the General Assembly and the possibility that that bill will not be called or not be voted on, he said of a full FOID repeal. So there are other pieces of legislation that we feel will address these issues.

Right now, a FOID cardholder can apply for renewal within 90 days of the cards expiration date. Windhorst said, due to long delays, this often creates a window between when a FOID card expires and when the cardholder gets a renewed card in the mail.

He said people who file in a timely manner but fall victim to that period can still possess guns legally, and an ISP spokesperson said FOID cards should remain valid as long as they have submitted the renewal application prior to the expiration of their card.

But Windhorst said gun owners falling victim to delays often have trouble purchasing guns or ammunition because an expired FOID is not accepted by gun dealers.

Windhorst said House Bill 4447, backed by the group, would move that renewal window to 180 days before expiration in the hopes of closing any overlap between expiration and a lag in processing.

Another measure, House Bill 4448, would require ISP to automatically renew the lapsed FOID card of anyone who has a valid and current concealed carry license as long as the license holder is in good standing with the state. An automatically renewed FOID would expire at the same time the CCL does.

CCLs cost $150 for five years and require training and fingerprinting. The State Police Firearm Services Fund sees $120 of that amount, while $20 goes to the Mental Health Reporting Fund and $10 goes to the State Crime Laboratory.

House Bill 4450, another measure backed by the group, spells out an appeal process for FOID or CCL denials or revocations and provides specific guidelines and timelines for the ISP in processing any such appeal.

A proposed state constitutional amendment would create a lock box to place fees collected from FOID and CCL applicants in a fund protected from future sweeps.

At a news conference last month, ISP Director Brendan Kelly called for greater resources to enforce FOID revocations and administer the program, and he backed Senate Bill 1966 which would double FOID fees and require renewals every five years. It also would require fingerprinting of FOID holders.

The lawmakers on Wednesday said the fund sweeps show that more funding is not needed, but rather the funding needs to be used the right way. Marron also said adding fingerprinting to the application process would infringe on rights and serve only to deepen the backlog.

The Illinois State Rifle Association also contended that millions of dollars in the ISP budget went unspent each year between 2015 and 2019. That group is suing the Illinois State Police, its director and the chief of the Firearm Services Bureau for not acting in a timely manner on Firearm Owners Identification card and concealed carry applications.

We at ISRA believe that ISP has enough resources to complete its mission without asking law abiding firearm owners for more money or forcing citizens to be fingerprinted to exercise a constitutional right, ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson said in a statement.

Beth Hundsdorfer, an ISP spokesperson, released a statement in response to the Wednesday news conference.

Sweeps of the firearms services fund prevented long-term planning and improvements to firearm services for years, she said. Now that the firearms services fund has been stabilized under the governors bipartisan budget, the ISP is implementing a multi-year plan for hiring and technology upgrades to provide the customer service that firearms owners should expect. We currently have 35 positions available.

She said ISP needs the help of the Legislature to streamline and improve the FOID and CCL process, and is ready to work with Windhorst and others to shorten and standardize appeals, consolidate FOID and CCL functions, and reduce costs.

She said FOID administration is separate from the need for enforcement resources for state, county and local law enforcement.
The church built on the Bethlehem site revered as the birthplace of Jesus is to close after a suspected outbreak of the coronavirus, a church official said Thursday.

The Palestinian health ministry called for local churches, mosques and other institutions to close after a number of suspected cases at a hotel in the Holy Land city of Bethlehem.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the number of coronavirus infections multiplying, the United States has catching up to do when it comes to surveillance of the spread of the COVID-19 disease and education of how to prevent that spread  and that includes in hospitals.Its happening now, but gosh we were so slow, said Gavin Macgregor-Skinner, director of strategic partnerships in disaster medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Macgregor-Skinner recently returned from an 18-day official deployment to Hong Kong in relation to the new coronavirus.In Hong Kong he was training and observing, and some of what he observed there hes seen here in the United States as well  hospitals not understanding how to clean up after the virus.Nearly every hospital Ive been to does a clean and shine, they dont do a clean and disinfect, both in the U.S. and overseas, Macgregor-Skinner said. He spent some of those 18 days in Hong Kong educating people there on how to disinfect and he also took part in contact tracing teams that go out and trace who has had contact with an infected person. Back in the U.S., he has been educating hospitals and others on how to disinfect and deactivate the virus.The coronavirus is an enveloped virus, one that has an outer wrapping or envelope. Macgregor-Skinner called it the easiest of all the pathogens we deal with to inactivate.Disinfecting with any number of products  the EPA has published a list  will do the trick but it must be done thoroughly. In the last week, no one Ive seen in any hospital is allowing enough wet contact time for the chemistry of the product in the disinfectant to inactivate the virus, he said. When we look at whether were using chlorine dioxide or other products, they all have a wet contact time thats required to break down that envelope and deactivate the virus, he said.Catherine Kennedy, a registered nurse in Roseville, Calif., and a secretary of the California Nurses Association, said nurses on the front lines are concerned. We are absolutely concerned that the nurses are not getting relevant information in a timely manner, she told The Guardian this week. A lot of hospitals state that they have a plan, but the plan has never been disseminated to the nurses, she said.Every institution ought to be re-educating everybody about appropriate respiratory precautions, William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious disease at Vanderbilt University told the same publication.Macgregor-Skinner said hospitals will bear an incredible weight as more people are hospitalized with the virus if it continues to spread. He observed very sick people with severe pneumonia in Hong Kong and that coincided with a huge amount of medical waste. They required breathing support for four to six weeks easily and even when they were not symptomatic and were discharged, they were not doing very well.He said none was sneezing, but the virus was everywhere  cups, plates, knives, utensils, clothes. We know the virus doesnt last long on fabric, but in some environmental samples they were getting virus up to five days on hard, nonporous surfaces, he said.Treating just one person sick with the virus will take health-care workers off the front lines at a hospital so tracking, surveillance, diagnosing and isolating people is critical.The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) yesterday published a set of policy changes it deems necessary to mitigate the impact and spread of the virus. The recommendations have three main objectives: providing access to care for those infected or suspected of being infected; securing an adequate health-care workforce; and ensuring adequate resource allocation.The recommendations are: Implementing alternative testing centers for faster, more cost-effective testing while freeing up hospital capacity for those who need it most and allowing those who test positive to self-quarantine. Ensuring full coverage of testing and diagnoses by payers without patient cost-sharing. Prioritizing available personnel responding to the outbreak. Ensuring the production of medications and supplies relevant to COVID-19 is prioritized and that they are distributed directly to needed sites of care. Increasing transparency of the supply chain for these products to better identify and proactively address potential shortages.Testing also got off to a slow start in the U.S. because the CDC insisted on developing the lead diagnostic test kit, according to Macgregor-Skinner. And weve seen in the media that the manufacturing laboratory had a contamination issue and what the CDC has said now is that theyve taken that test away from that lab and given it to another.He said there were other sources of reliable lab tests that the U.S. could have been using. And U.S. labs could have started developing their own diagnostic tests.It wasnt allowed, he said.Macgregor-Skinner said more training is necessary and it could start in schools. Id like to see a national school program right now.He said people from FEMA, CDC or HHS could develop a curriculum in a day and that a 30-minute program for every teacher in the U.S. could be administered on how to protect against the virus and include behavioral actions and social distancing.A national curriculum could be taught this week and evaluated next week, he said. Within two weeks weve got data and metrics to show if people understood and could actually do what were telling them to do.But what were not seeing is implementation of all sectors of the community being involved. You go back to California with their earthquake curriculum and copy that approach and methodology and apply it with different messaging.
: In the wake of coronavirus



outbreak, cloud services firm Zoho Corp has asked its employees to work from home as a matter of precaution, a top official has said.

"We have adopted work from home as the default for all our offices worldwide as a matter of precaution, though we have not had any cases," company Founder-CEO Sridhar Vembu said.

He said the employees were asked to come to their respective office only if it was "essential".

"Our employees are encouraged to come to the office only when absolutely essential. We will continue this policy until the virus threat passes," he said in a tweet.

Chennai-headquartered Zoho currently has presence in France, Italy, the United States, Sweden, Germany among others. It employees around 7,500 people globally.

In the wake of 29 positive novel coronavirus cases reported in India, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at the district, block and village levels, stating cases of community transmission have been observed.

As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 29, including 16 Italian tourists. The figure includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. The three patients have since recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Many businesses in Luxembourg have introduced special coronavirus measures, while pharmacies are keeping a close eye on medication stock.

A large amount of medication sold in Luxembourg originates in China, where production is operating well under standard performance, due to to coronavirus quarantines and the ensuing slowdown.

Politicians in Luxembourg have shared their concerns that this could lead to critical shortages in Luxembourgish pharmacies if the coronavirus epidemic lasts for an extended period.

Pharmacies within the Grand Duchy have not yet noticed any shortage issues. There have been periods over the past three to five years, however, during which some medications have been unavailable in Luxembourg. These shortages were resolved by the use of generic and non-branded alternatives.

There has nevertheless been a marked increase in purchases, with customers/patients linking medicines and asking more questions across the counter.

Sales of medicines targeting fever, such as painkillers like paracetamol and ibuprofen, have risen, as have sales of products that boost immune systems, like Vitamin C.

It must be pointed out that, although a noticeable spike, according to pharmacists, this is not necessarily out of the ordinary for this time of year.

Businesses in Luxembourg have also introduced precautionary measures to limit spreading any potential infections.

Notably, businesses have move toward replacing physical meetings with phone conferences.

Employees are also urged to wash or disinfect their hands, or to hold tissues in front of their mouths and noses when coughing.
The New York State Thruway is on the cusp of awarding a three-decade-long contract to one vendor who will pay to rebuild and then run the interstates 27 service areas.

New York Thruways new plazas operator would pay for the overhauls, then take over a business that currently brings in $118 million in food and other sales in a year. (The Thruway kept nearly $12 million of that in 2018.) That money doesnt include fuel sales; the gas pumps are not a part of this new contract.

Which Thruway stop has the highest restaurant sales? The two top locations are also the two that are accessible to travelers on both sides of the Thruway: Angola, west of Buffalo, and New Baltimore, south of Albany.

Heres a look at the gross restaurant sales for all 27 plazas from 2018, according to the Thruway:

Ranking New York Thruway rest stop Restaurant sales 2018 1 New Baltimore $9,356,511 2 Angola $8,800,718 3 Sloatsburg $8,573,624 4 Plattekill $7,076,143 5 Modena $5,717,376 6 Pattersonville $5,479,181 7 Malden $5,251,867 8 Clifton Springs $5,134,196 9 Ramapo $4,941,770 10 Ulster $4,896,819 11 Pembroke $4,725,354 12 Warners $4,512,834 13 Oneida $4,211,165 14 Iroquois $3,679,743 15 Port Byron $3,575,718 16 Indian Castle $3,236,616 17 Chittenango $3,172,475 18 Junius Ponds $3,121,552 19 Ardsley $3,066,809 20 Scottsville $3,033,917 21 Ontario $3,000,435 22 Clarence $2,797,267 23 Mohawk $2,646,053 24 Seneca $2,622,872 25 Guilderland $2,395,929 26 DeWitt $2,147,847 27 Schuyler $1,852,824

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is postponing a visit to Japan scheduled for next month as both countries deal with the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has infected 95,000 people in more than 75 countries.

Both Chinese and Japanese officials said Thursday Xi's trip would be postponed until a more appropriate time. China is the center of the outbreak, and while its new cases have dwindled in recent weeks, it has experienced the biggest toll with 3,000 deaths and hits to its economy as officials shut down cities to try to contain the spread.

Japan has seen more than 1,000 cases, many of them involving a cruise ship that spent weeks docked in quarantine in Yokohama.

 Attempts to Stop Virus

As the virus has reached other regions of the world, governments have scrambled to institute their own measures, including shutting schools, banning large gatherings and limiting visitors from other nations.

Italy has shut schools and universities until March 15, and is banning spectators at sporting events for the next month. It has been one of the hardest-hit areas outside of China with more than 3,000 people infected.

Saudi Arabia followed a ban on foreigners entering the country to participate in pilgrimages to Mecca by adding a new ban on its own citizens and residents of performing the ritual. The neighboring United Arab Emirates on Thursday advised its citizens and residents not to travel anywhere outside the country during the coronavirus outbreak.

In the United States, the focus of the outbreak has been on the Western states of Washington and California.


Canada's Foreign Minister on March 4 reportedly urged Iran to give access to the black boxes from the Ukrainian airliner that was shot down by the Iranian missile in January. Francois-Philippe Champagne during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev demanded Iran to give access to the black boxes without any further delay. He further added that it has been more than 30 days since the accident which killed all 176 onboard, and any further delays will lead to Iran undermining the international law.

Ukraine and Canada have repeatedly pressed Iran to hand over the black box flight recorders to Kiev or Paris, however, they still remain in Iran. Earlier this month, Canada had also urged Iran to send the black boxes to France so that the data could be analyzed, but Iran's civil authority said that it would keep working with other countries to investigate its downing of the passenger plane.

READ: Israel Missile Hits Car In Syria After Sniper Attack Attempt

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also said that Iran did not possess the ability to analyse the downloaded information and that is why the black boxes should be sent to France. However, Champagne hopes that Iran will choose the way of transparency this time and will send the black boxes to Canada.

Plane crash in Iran

All 176 people were killed after Iran mistakenly fired two short-range missiles on the morning of January 8 amid high tension between Tehran and Washington. Most of the citizens on board the Ukrainian flight were Iranians or dual citizens; 57 people among those killed were from Canada while 11 were from Ukraine.

READ: Devices Found In Missiles, Yemen Drones Link Iran To Attacks

The downing of the plane was a mistake from the Iranian military side as the accident happened hours after Tehran had fired dozens of missiles on two Iraqi military bases that were hosting the US-led coalition forces. Tehran's missile attacks on US bases were retaliatory action after Washington killed Iran's top military commander Qassem Soleimani on January 3 in a drone attack near Baghdad airport in Iraq.

READ: Air Force Discloses Drug Investigation At Nuke Missile Base

READ: North Korea Fires Presumed Missiles Into Sea
Southeastern Grocers CEO Anthony Hucker told CNBC on Thursday that his company's experiences dealing with hurricanes are paying off during the coronavirus outbreak.

"Unfortunately, we live in the footprint where there's a lot of natural disasters," Hucker said on "The Exchange." "The supply chain is very, very robust, and we're well-practiced in the muscle of disaster relief," he added.

Of the five states in which Southeastern Grocers has locations  Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi  just two have confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Thursday morning. There are four cases in Florida and two in Georgia, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

A significant portion of the country's at least 177 cases are concentrated in Washington and California.

One similarity between hurricanes and the coronavirus is preparation time, Hucker said. There is typically a three-to-five day period to prepare for a hurricane, whereas the company projects a "five-to-seven day lag" with the coronavirus, he said.

"We're used to watching the algorithms, and when products are pulled at a faster rate, we can change those fields from our computer-generated ordering system to make sure that we're serving our customers," said Hucker, whose Jacksonville-based company is the parent of Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie.
Realty firm Lodha group's UK subsidiary has raised over USD 200 million by issuing bonds in Singapore market to refinance part of its outstanding debt, sources said.

The issue opened on February 27. The bonds will be listed on the Singapore exchange.

Lodha Developers International, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Lodha Developers (which has been renamed as Macrotech Developers), had proposed to offer USD 225 million (around Rs 1,611 crore) aggregate principal of senior secured notes maturing in 2023.

According to the sources, Lodha group raised a little over USD 200 million in the bond-issue. Many global investors - including Allianz, Citi, UBS, and Fidelity invested in this issue.

Lodha International will use the proceeds of the issue to refinance a part of its outstanding USD 324 million (around Rs 2,320 crore) senior notes maturing this month.

"Earlier this week, we raised 86 million pound (Rs 800 crore) in the UK. With these proceeds and additional cash flows from our UK and India businesses, we look forward to fully repaying our USD bonds in March 2020," Macrotech Developers MD & CEO Abhishek Lodha had said on February 27.

On Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service said that refinancing risk for Macrotech Developers continues to remain high, even as it might be able to meet its near-term debt maturity.

Lodha group had made a foray into the London market in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square in prime Central London for over GBP 300 million (Rs 3,100 crore).

Macrotech Developers is India's largest residential real estate developer by sales and construction area.

The company has clocked net new sales of over Rs 7,000 crore in 2018-19 with collections of over Rs 9,000 crore. It delivered over 10,000 offices and homes in FY 18-19.

In the first nine months of 2019-20 fiscal year, sales have reached around Rs 5,000 crore, up 15 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous year.

The debt of India business is around Rs 15,000 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Once again rescheduling the hanging of four rapists in the Nirbhaya case for March 20 at 5

This is the fourth death warrant issued for the execution of the convicts in the matter.

Advocate AP Singh, appearing for the convicts, sought more time claiming that another mercy petition of a convict -- Vinay Singh Thakur -- is pending before the President.

This comes after President Ram Nath Kovind, on Wednesday, rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the case.

By now, mercy petitions of all the convicts in the case have been rejected by the President. However, a "complete" mercy petition of convict Akshay Singh Thakur was recently filed claiming that the previous one, which was turned down by the President on February 5, did not have "complete facts".

A plea was on Wednesday moved in the court seeking a fresh death warrant for the convicts in the case contending that the convicts have exhausted all the legal remedies.

Asha Devi, the mother of the victim, expressed satisfaction on the issuance of the fresh death warrant and said that her struggle will continue till all the four convicts in the matter are hanged.

A Delhi court had on Monday stayed for the third time the death sentence of four convicts in the case observing that they cannot be executed while a mercy petition is pending before the President.

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.)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo aggressively defended the Trump administrations decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a contentious hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Friday.

Soleimani was the head of the Islamic Republican Guard Corps Quds Force, which coordinates the activities of several pro-Iranian proxy militias across the Middle East. The United States, which holds the iconic general responsible for the deaths of more than 600 U.S. soldiers at the hands of some of those militias in Iraq, killed him and several other Quds Force and militia members in a drone strike just outside Baghdad International Airport on the night of Jan. 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "Evaluating the Trump Administration's Policies on Iran, Iraq and the Use of Force" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Referring to Soleimani as Irans top terrorist, Pompeo said the decision to kill him was a de-escalatory measure. Iran responded to Soleimanis death on Jan. 8 with ballistic missile barrages against Iraqi air bases housing U.S. troops in the Anbar province and Erbil that the Defense Department says injured 110 U.S. personnel. What the secretary described as the limited nature of that response indicates that Irans leadership is not eager to escalate a military confrontation with the United States, Pompeo said. There was strategic deterrence that resulted from that strike, he added.

However, citing classification, Pompeo declined to provide a detailed answer to a question on how Irans behavior has changed in the wake of the strike, other than to say that the Iranians now recognize and appreciate the seriousness of the administration of President Trump when it comes to defending the United States and its partners from Iran.

That was not the only time that Pompeo cited classification issues in refusing to fully answer questions from both Democrats and Republicans. In particular, he used it as a defense during a series of testy exchanges with Democratic committee members over the administrations evolving rationale for the strike against Soleimani.

An Iranian woman shows a photo of Soleimani during a protest against his killing in front of the United Nations office in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 3, 2020. (Nazanin Tabatabaee/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)

Virginia Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, claimed that on the same day that Pompeo said publicly that the United States had specific information on an imminent threat, and those threats included U.S. embassies, he gave a classified briefing to Congress in which he provided no evidence of such a threat  evidence Spanberger said was necessary to justify launching the strike without consulting Congress.

Story continues

Pompeo rejected her assertion. We absolutely did provide evidence, he said.

Spanberger parried with the fact that the administrations official written justification for the strike, provided to Congress on Jan. 31, contained no specific reference to an imminent threat to U.S. embassies. You said there were imminent threats to American lives, and thats not true, she said.

In what appeared to be the congressional hearing equivalent of a subtweet, Michigan Democratic Rep. Andy Levin showed Pompeo a map of the world showing national borders, but no names of countries, and asked Pompeo to point to the locations of the embassies that were under the threat of imminent attack. Pompeo, who had allegedly challenged an NPR reporter to find Ukraine on a blank map during a widely reported foul-mouthed tirade Jan. 24, said he was happy to answer Levins question, but immediately followed that by saying, Im not going to get into classified material.

You cant hide behind classification on this one because you cant classify something that doesnt exist, Levin replied, before playing a clip of Trump saying that he believed four U.S embassies had been under threat. As Spanberger had, Levin said that when Pompeo briefed Congress Jan. 10, we didnt hear a word from you on the threats to four embassies  why not?

Protesters hold placards as Pompeo attends a House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill on Feb. 28, 2020. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

There were multiple embassies which my diplomatic security team had enormous concern about, Pompeo replied. Texas Democrat Joaquin Castro said that as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, hed seen the classified material to which Pompeo was referring, and after reviewing it, I dont believe youre telling us the truth. He urged the secretary to declassify as much of the material as possible.

Although Pompeo repeatedly offered to share classified material in another setting  presumably a closed hearing or classified briefing  several Democratic representatives criticized the secretary for making himself available to discuss the Soleimani strike for only two hours, contrasting his approach with that of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who sat for 11 hours of questioning on the events surrounding the 2012 attack on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi, Libya.

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Read more from Yahoo News:
EAST CHICAGO  Before Bishop Robert J. McClory celebrated Mass Wednesday in the chapel at St. Catherine Hospital, a woman had an appointment at the nearby radiology department.

Following Mass, a woman in a wheelchair was coming into the medical center.

McClory, installed at Gary's fifth bishop on Feb. 11, has an affinity for those two patients.

There was a special significance to his visit Wednesday. Besides being the Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, Wednesday was also World Day of the Sick, instituted in 1992 to offer prayers for those suffering from illnesses.

I have a special connection with the sick and suffering, McClory said. They can teach us to appreciate all the gifts we have. They can pull out of us a love that is healthy.

The bishop made his first visit to a Catholic hospital in the Diocese of Gary. Besides celebrating Mass, McClory met with hospital staff at a private luncheon and visited with patients.

The bishop has several similar visitations at other Catholic hospitals over the next several weeks. He also plans a stop at Franciscan Health Michigan City next week.
ARNOLD! THE MR. OLYMPIA WINS

Written by Ron Harris

05 March 2020

Arnold! The Mr. Olympia Wins

By Ron Harris

If you go by total Mr. Olympia wins, both Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman are the best Olympia champions of all time. But in terms of sheer popularity and the magnitude of his impact on the sport, and how many millions he inspired to take up pumping iron to build their own bodies, Arnold is the undisputed champion. Lets look back at the seven victories claimed by the Austrian Oak.

1970

After having been bested by Sergio Oliva in The Myths third consecutive win, Arnold returned as a new decade dawned and began his own dynasty. At just 23 years old, Arnold was the youngest man to ever win the Mr. Olympia, a record that still stands and is highly unlikely to be beaten. Only Lee Haney was close, winning his first Sandow at the age of 24 in 1984. Only one other man entered, Californian Reg Lewis.

Results:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Sergio Oliva

3. Reg Lewis

1971

There were only two times in the history of the Mr. Olympia contest when no man even bothered to attempt to beat the reigning champion. It happened with Sergio Oliva in 1968, and it happened again in 1971 with Arnold. This was also the first time the event was held outside of New York since its inception in 1965. While Arnold was winning his second title by default, the rest of the top bodybuilders were in London vying for the NABBA Universe, including winner Bill Pearl, Oliva, Reg Park (Arnolds idol) and Frank Zane.

Results:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

1972

Sergio came back out for blood this year in Essen, Germany, bringing what most agree was his biggest and most ripped package ever. He gave Arnold a brutal battle, but in the end Arnold held on to his title in a 4-3 vote. Sergio remained bitter about what he felt was an unjust decision until the day he died in 2012. Among the dubious reasons allegedly given by judges as to why he lost, was that his dark skin color blended in with the black backdrop. This is also the Olympia when Arnold tricked Sergio into appearing to quit during the final posedown by whispering to him that he was exhausted, and they should just walk offstage.

Results:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Sergio Oliva

3. Serge Nubret

4. Frank Zane

5. Franco Columbu

1973

The Olympia moved back to New York once again, and this time Arnolds greatest challenge came from his best friend and training partner, Franco Columbu, who at 54 was nearly a foot shorter and 60 pounds lighter. Following this year, the event instituted two weight classes for over and under 200 pounds, with an overall posedown. That system only lasted from 1974 until 1979, or six years.

Results:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Franco Columbu

3. Serge Nubret

1974

For the first time in his career, Arnold had to face off against a much larger man in the form of Lou Ferrigno, who was 65 and 270 pounds to Arnolds 62 and 240. Many felt this was the year Arnold looked his best.

Results:

Heavyweight

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Lou Ferrigno

3. Serge Nubret

Lightweight

1. Franco Columbu

2. Frank Zane

Overall: Arnold Schwarzenegger

1975

This was Arnolds sixth win, immortalized in the movie Pumping Iron, and took place in Pretoria, South Africa. What most people dont know is that just three months before the contest, Arnold had wrapped shooting on the drama Stay Hungry, starring Jeff Bridges and Sally Field. Director Bob Rafelson had demanded Arnold take his bodyweight down to 210 pounds for his role. When filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore came to him with Pumping Iron, Arnold knew it would be a struggle to regain his muscle in time to defend his title again, which he hadnt planned on doing but believed the movie would be a turning point for both himself and the sport, and he couldnt pass up the opportunity.

Results:

Heavyweight

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Serge Nubret

3. Lou Ferrigno

Lightweight

1. Franco Columbu

2. Ed Corney

3. Albert Beckles

4. Frank Zane

5. Giuseppe Deiana

Overall: Arnold Schwarzenegger

1980

Though Arnold did make his dramatic and unexpected comeback in Sydney to win an unprecedented seventh title, most feel this win tarnished his competitive record rather than bolstered it. Arnold was down roughly 20 pounds from his best, and it showed the most in his diminished legs. This was the biggest Mr. Olympia lineup ever seen thus far, and the quality was deep. Most felt Arnold was fighting for fourth or fifth place at best, and was nowhere near in contention for the win. Yet in the end, 35 years later, its down in the history books as a win and perhaps thats all that matters.

Results:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Chris Dickerson

3. Frank Zane

4. Boyer Coe

5. Mike Mentzer

Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPNs American Muscle Magazine show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram

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Attendees at the Orange County Board of Education meeting applaud the boards decision to renew the license of Orange County School of the Arts and take over as the schools authorizer, on March 4, 2020. (Jamie Joseph/The Epoch Times)

OC Charter School Survives Rigorous Scrutiny, District Loses Control Over It

COSTA MESA, Calif.A months-long fight to keep an Orange County charter school open achieved its goal on March 4.

The Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) voted three to one to approve the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) renewal petition for the next five-year term, beginning on July 1, 2020. This also marks a new beginning with OCBE as the schools new authorizer.

Its been very tense, Kelly Townsend, president of OCSAs parent organization told The Epoch Times. Its been a school thats changed all of our lives. My child was a dreamer, she wanted to grow up and be a princess at Disneyland, and with the classes she gets to take in our conservatory she gets to learn how to do all of those things  every single thing she learns from classes are transferable to real life jobs, and she wants all of those to be with Disney. Were very lucky.

The famed arts charter school opened nearly 30 years ago and currently has about 2,200 students. Its known for training successful alumni in the performing arts, including actors in Game of Thrones and Glee.

It operated under the authority of the Santa Ana School District. But the district and the school have been at odds for months, including ongoing litigation and strongly worded public statements against each other.

The disruption of the peaceful relationship between the district and school coincided with a recently increased scrutiny of charter schools statewide.

Orange County School of the Arts, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Courtesy of Orange County School of the Arts)

Orange County Board of Education member John W. Bedell speaks at board meeting on March 4, 2020. (Jamie Joseph/The Epoch Times)

When OCSA applied for its regular 5-year charter license renewal in December, the district objected against a handful of school policies and practices that have been standard procedure at the school for decades, according to school officials.

While freezing millions in the schools funding, the district also sent the school a $19 million bill last year for retroactive special education contributions. The district had discovered a shortfall in the amount it was withholding from local schools for nearly 20 years for special education. It retroactively charged all local schools.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spurred the district along and amplified its grievances against the charter. ACLU has been critical toward charter schools that mandate essays, auditions, or grade reviews as part of the application process. By law, public charters are not allowed to select students; they must be open to anyone.

The district, citing ACLU materials, argued that OCSA has a discriminatory enrollment process.

In the past, OCSA required students to send in audition tapes as part of the enrollment process. OCSAs founder, Ralph S. Opacic, Ed.D., said at the March 4 board meeting that the school no longer admits students through that process.

Instead, the school has placement activities prior to admittance, which gives the school an idea of which art conservatory would be the best fit for each student. Admissions are determined by lottery.

Every student that comes to the placement activity will be in the lottery for some conservatory where theyll be successful, Opacic told the board.

The placement activity occurs prior to admission for scheduling and capacity reasons, Opacic said.

What [the district] would like us to do is place 2,200 names in a hat, and pull out the first 400 that would come out of the hat. But if those first 400 are dancersI only have 14 dance rooms, Opacic said. I can only have 280 dancers. If all 400 showed up as dancers, we wouldnt be able to provide a sound educational program for them.

Orange County School of the Arts, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Courtesy of Orange County School of the Arts)

Councilmember Rebecca Gomez was the only opposition vote on the board.

She continued to critique the schools enrollment practices and to express concern about the placement activities.

I would hate to see that were limiting those dreams of those kids by creating some sort of audition process, Gomez said.

In December 2019, the district had not flat-out denied the schools license renewal, but rather accepted it with conditions. OCSA had argued those conditions were unclear and so difficult to meet, that it was the same thing as denying the renewal.

Before the vote, Gomez said, I dont see what the harm would be in approving the petition with those conditions to assure that some of these changes have, in fact, been made.

Board President Mari Barke, Vice President Ken Williams, and board member Lisa Sparks voted for the approval without conditions.

The packed boardroom erupted in a cheer and a round of applause after the vote was announced.

The school had first asked the Board of Education on Feb. 5 to take control of it, so it would no longer have to work with the district as its authorizer. And now its wish has been granted. The change in oversight takes place as of June 30.

Cheryl Laven is a parent of a student who began attending the charter last year. She told The Epoch Times that when the district billed OCSA $19 million, it was a shock and confusing at first.

Certainly the fear of the school closing was a concern, Laven said. I feel absolutely fantastic now though. I feel that the OCBE is the right place in terms of oversight for OCSA.
Attorney General William Barr participates in a press conference at the Department of Justice on February 10, 2020 in Washington, DC.

A coalition of tech companies is backing new principles put forth by five governments to prevent the spread of online child exploitation.

The organization, which includes Facebook, Apple, Google and Twitter, committed to promoting the new voluntary standards that outline how the industry should consider survivors' needs and safeguard certain features such as livestreaming.

The 11 principles were announced at a press conference at the Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand participated in the announcement alongside U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

Barr said representatives from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Snap, Twitter and Roblox were also in attendance and had helped inform the principles.

The governments said WePROTECT Global Alliance, made up of 97 governments, 25 tech companies and 30 civil society organizations, will promote adoption of the guidelines.

The principles released Thursday include many of the strategies companies such as Facebook already employ to identify abuse on their platforms. The guidelines ask that companies try to prevent known and new material of child sexual abuse from becoming accessible on their services, for example. Large platforms such as Facebook and YouTube already have mechanisms in place to tag and trace images and videos that violate their standards and prevent them from being re-uploaded.

The principles also say companies should combat and report to authorities efforts to groom children for sexual abuse on their platforms, adopt child-specific safety measures, prevent livestreaming services from being used for abusive purposes and more. They also suggest companies work with one another to share useful practices and data to prevent further abuse from spreading online.

"We stand behind these principles and will be working with our members to both spread awareness of them and redouble our efforts to bring industry together to promote transparency, share expertise and accelerate new technologies to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse," the Technology Coalition said in a statement.

The guidelines don't instruct companies on the specific steps they should take to adhere to the principles, pointing out that every service is different and will have different risk factors.

"When applying these principles, companies will take into account technical limitations, available resources, and legal and privacy considerations," an introduction to the principles says.

The principles also steer clear of a key dispute between the tech industry and law enforcement by not directly addressing encryption, a feature favored by privacy advocates that obscures the content of messages to anyone outside of the sender and receiver. Tech leaders and top law enforcement officials have clashed over encryption efforts, most recently involving Facebook's plans to integrate and encrypt its messaging services across WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.

Industry representatives argue encryption protects free expression, particularly under governments that suppress speech. But Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray have said more encryption would gravely hinder law enforcement efforts to track down perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.

Barr and other government representatives did address encryption in their remarks at the press conference announcing the principles.

"Predators' supposed privacy interests should not outweigh our children's privacy and security," Barr said. "There's too much at stake."

"Encryption remains the elephant in the room," said U.K. Minister of State for Security James Brokenshire, calling out Facebook's plans directly. "I've got to say that putting our children at risk for what what I believe are marginal privacy gains is something I really struggle to believe any of us wants."

A New York Times investigation exposing the vast network of child sexual abuse images online said Facebook was responsible for nearly 12 million of the 18.4 million reports of child sexual abuse material worldwide, citing people familiar with the reports. The statistic underscores the vital role Facebook plays in halting the spread of abusive materials and allowing law enforcement to track down criminals.

Barr and other officials fear this evidence will be lost as tech companies create more encrypted messaging and communication products. Facebook has said it will still be able to collect metadata about encrypted messages, such as the time messages were sent, but law enforcement officials say that's not enough to aid their investigations.

Barr and representatives from DHS, the U.K. and Australia wrote to Facebook last year asking the company to postpone its encryption plans until law enforcement could ensure it would not reduce public safety. Barr has advocated for "lawful access" to encrypted services with a court order, but tech companies have said that building a "backdoor" for investigators would jeopardize the security of all users.

Barr has become increasingly vocal about tech companies' responsibility for monitoring their platforms for abuse. He has spearheaded efforts at the DOJ to reconsider protections provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which prevents tech platforms from being held legally liable for content posted on their services by third-party users.

Congress has also been chewing on ways to rework the law to put greater responsibility on the tech platforms. A bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is expected to be released soon and would pin Section 230's legal protections to purportedly voluntary standards aimed at combating child sexual exploitation, according to The Washington Post.

 CNBC's Ylan Mui contributed to this report.

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An Arkansas kindergartner tasked with dressing up as his favorite person decided to match someone he sees at school every day.

Five-year-old Easton Blocker said Jeffery Cross, his school's security officer at Bobby G. Lester Elementary School, is his hero and best friend, KTHV reported.
Axiom Space, a Houston-based startup, has signed a deal with SpaceX to fly a commander and 3 private astronauts to the International Space Station as early as late 2021.

Axiom Space, a start-up based in Houston, Texas, and SpaceX are teaming up to launch a team of four private astronauts to the International Space Station as early as next year.

The companies have signed a deal in which SpaceX will fly three private astronauts and an Axiom-trained mission commander to the space station, Axiom announced today (March 5). This 10-day mission is set to launch in the second half of 2021, Axiom said in a statement.

The trip will include at least eight days on the International Space Station and two days of travel time to and from the orbiting laboratory, Axiom added.

In photos: The world's first space tourists

The private spaceflight will also include "training, mission planning, hardware development, life support, medical support, crew provisions, hardware and safety certifications, on-orbit operations and overall mission management," according to Axiom's statement.

This is not the first time that tourists have flown to the space station. However, as Axiom said in the statement, it will be "the first-ever fully private" trip to the station.

"This history-making flight will represent a watershed moment in the march toward universal and routine access to space," Axiom CEO Michael Suffredini said in the statement. "This will be just the first of many missions to ISS to be completely crewed and managed by Axiom Space  a first for a commercial entity."

Axiom Space did not release details on how much the company will pay SpaceX to fly its four-person crew to the International Space Station. In the past, however, the company has said such a flight for space tourists would cost about $55 million per seat, with much of that cost likely going to SpaceX for the launch vehicle and Crew Dragon spacecraft. Last year, NASA opened a path for commercial trips to the space station, saying it would charge $35,000 per person per day for private stays on the orbiting lab.

The company also did not release details on who will be flying on the mission, but did say its commander "will be trained by Axiom to the level of a NASA astronaut in order to qualify to serve as the commander," company spokesperson Beau Holder said via email.

Holder also said Axiom's flight will not be a science-focused mission, but will be run by the company.

"This is an Axiom crew which will be selected and trained by Axiom, with SpaceX being a transportation provider from whom we are procuring services for an Axiom mission," Holder told Space.com.

Axiom aims to offer both professional and private flights to the space station going forward. The company hopes to fly up to two of these missions per year as flight opportunities become available.

"Now, thanks to Axiom and their support from NASA, privately crewed missions will have unprecedented access to the space station, furthering the commercialization of space and helping usher in a new era of human exploration," SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell, added in the statement.

SpaceX also has its own plans for space tourism and private astronaut flights.

Last month, the company struck a deal with Space Adventures, a company that has flown seven space tourists to the International Space Station over the years, to fly up to four passengers on a five-day trip to orbit Earth. That flight, which would not visit the space station, could launch as early as late 2021, too.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon, the first to carry NASA astronauts, is prepared for its Demo-2 mission. SpaceX will use a future Crew Dragon to launch private astronauts to the International Space Station in 2021. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Axiom's SpaceX mission to the space station is just the vanguard for the company's commercial spaceflight plans.

Earlier this year, NASA announced that Axiom Space will add a private module to the space station to push forward commercial spaceflight.

The initial flight with SpaceX (and others that follow) are part of a two-step process "to build and serve the market for access to LEO," Holder added, using an acronym for low Earth orbit.

"These flights, along with helping to grow and serve the demand for access to LEO in the near term, will give our operational procedures formal testing to prepare for when we begin managing flights to our own modules," Holder said.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
A coronavirus app coupled with machine intelligence will soon enable an individual to get an at-home risk assessment based on how they feel and where they've been in about a minute, and direct those deemed at risk to the nearest definitive testing facility, investigators say.

It will also help provide local and public health officials with real time information on emerging demographics of those most at risk for coronavirus so they can better target prevention and treatment initiatives, the Medical College of Georgia investigators report in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

"We wanted to help identify people who are at high risk for coronavirus, help expedite their access to screening and to medical care and reduce spread of this infectious disease," says Dr. Arni S.R. Srinivasa Rao, director of the Laboratory for Theory and Mathematical Modeling in the MCG Division of Infectious Diseases at Augusta University and the study's corresponding author.

Rao and co-author Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of the MCG Division of Infectious Diseases, are working with developers to finalize the app which should be available within a few weeks and will be free because it addresses a public health concern.

The app will ask individuals where they live; other demographics like gender, age and race; and about recent contact with an individual known to have coronavirus or who has traveled to areas, like Italy and China, with a relatively high incidence of the viral infection in the last 14 days.

It will also ask about common symptoms of infection and their duration including fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, sputum production, headache, diarrhea and pneumonia. It will also enable collection of similar information for those who live with the individual but who cannot fill out their own survey.

Artificial intelligence will then use an algorithm Rao developed to rapidly assess the individual's information, send them a risk assessment -- no risk, minimal risk, moderate or high risk -- and alert the nearest facility with testing ability that a health check is likely needed. If the patient is unable to travel, the nearest facility will be notified of the need for a mobile health check and possible remote testing.

The collective information of many individuals will aid rapid and accurate identification of geographic regions, including cities, counties, towns and villages, where the virus is circulating, and the relative risk in that region so health care facilities and providers can better prepare resources that may be needed, Rao says. It also will help investigators learn more about how the virus is spreading, the investigators say.

Once the app is ready, it will live on the augusta.edu domain and likely in app stores on the iOS and Android platforms.

It is imperative that we evaluate novel models in an attempt to control the rapidly spreading virus, Rao and Vazquez write.

Technology can assist faster identification of possible cases and aid timely intervention, they say, noting the coronavirus app could be easily adapted for other infectious diseases. The accessibility and rapidity of the app coupled with machine intelligence means it also could be utilized for screening wherever large crowds gather, such as major sporting events.

While symptoms like fever and cough are a wide net, they are needed in order to not miss patients, Vazquez notes.

"We are trying to decrease the exposure of people who are sick to people who are not sick," says Vazquez. We also want to ensure that people who are infected get a definitive diagnosis and get the supportive care they may need, he says.

While stressing that the infection with coronavirus is not a pandemic-- defined by the World Health Organization, as the worldwide spread of a new disease, including numerous flu pandemics like HINI, or swine flu, in which people find themselves exposed to a virus for which they have no immunity -- "This is what you have to do with pandemics," says Vazquez. "You don't want to expose an infected person to an uninfected person." If problems with infections persist and grow, drive-thru testing sites may be another need, he says.

The investigators hope this readily available method to assess an individual's risk will actually help quell any developing panic or undue concern over coronavirus, or COVID-19.

"People will not have to wait for hospitals to screen them directly," says Rao. "We want to simplify people's lives and calm their concerns by getting information directly to them."

If concern about coronavirus prompted a lot of people to show up at hospitals, many of which already are at capacity with flu cases, it would further overwhelm those facilities and increase potential exposure for those who come, says Vazquez.

Tests for the coronavirus, which include a nostril and mouth swab and sputum analysis, are now being more widely distributed by the CDC, and the Food and Drug Administration also has given permission to some of the more sophisticated labs, particularly those at academic medical centers like Augusta University Medical Center, to use their own methods to look for signs of the viral infection, which the hospital will be pursuing.

As of this week, about 90,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in 62 countries, with China having the most cases.

The CDC and WHO say that health care providers should obtain a detailed travel history of individuals being evaluated with fever and acute respiratory illness. They also have recommendations in place for how to prevent spread of the disease while treating patients.

Currently when people do present, for example, at the Emergency Department at AU Medical Center, with concerns about the virus, they are brought in by a separate entrance and escorted to a negative pressure room by employees dressed in hazmat suits per CDC protocols, Vazquez says. As of today, all those who have presented at AU Medical Center have tested negative, he says.

###

Rao is also a professor in the Division of Health Economics and Modeling in the MCG Department of Population Health Sciences.

Read the published study here or here.
The fashion industry is known as cut-throat, but in Halifax the opposite is true.

Six designers are set to showcase their work on Monday as part of a fashion show at the restaurant The Mercantile Social celebrating diversity and collaboration in Halifax's fashion scene.

The show  titled "The Fabric of our DNA"  is the brainchild of Solitha Shortte, owner of the production company and model agency Soli Productions Management Inc.

Shortte said in order for the local industry to grow, artists of different backgrounds need to collaborate.

"In the fashion world, there's not a lot of people who look like me, and it's kind of hard knocking down doors," said Shortte, who is black.

Submitted by Joshua Morley

Shortte said the fashion industry sometimes sets unattainable beauty standards. She said it's important to showcase our society's diversity and "true beauty," so that the public can see themselves represented in fashion.

The designers and brands taking part in the show are: Veronica MacIsaac Apparel, Donn Sabean, tREv Clothing, Michelle Rober Fashion, Fervente Canada and African Apparel.

"These six designers coming together shows the vast breadth of the industry in Halifax," said Shortte, as models and designers chatted recently in the venue above the sound of Hip Hop Hooray by Naughty by Nature.

"This is a 'for yourself' industry that we're in on a global scale, but this can be a blueprint moving forward, where diversity is necessary."

Models from different cultural backgrounds will be stomping down a makeshift catwalk at the L-shaped restaurant, flanked with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city's downtown and harbour.

Aly Thomson/CBC

It's the third year for the show  which also seeks to celebrate African Heritage Month and International Women's Day  and Shortte had intended to take a break from running the event.

But designer Veronica MacIsaac, owner of Veronica MacIsaac Apparel, reached out with an idea for a photoshoot in honour of African Heritage Month featuring 11 black models dressed in her tartan designs.

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Shortte said after the photoshoot, she decided "it needed a runway."

MacIsaac said because she uses tartan in her work, she wanted to show two different ancestries coming together.

She said since she works in a heritage-based business, collaboration has always been an important part of her work.

Submitted by Brent McCombs

"Solitha's show is called the 'Fabric of our DNA,' which is exactly how I make a living. It's using  literally  the fabric of my DNA to showcase heritage and to showcase culture," said MacIsaac, adding she always tries to feature models of different sizes, ages, genders and races.

"I think it's important for more of these events to happen where we all come together and show how different we are but how similar we are at the same time."

MacIsaac  the featured designer for the show  said because Halifax is a smaller market, designers are better off working together than competing.

"Like most things on the East Coast, we all end up working together, we're all friends, and it's all about  growing the industry together," she said.

Another designer taking part in the show is Praise Mugisho of African Apparel. Mugisho came to Canada a few years ago from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Shortte said the show will give the up-and-coming designer a platform she may not have had otherwise, as many black designers face an uphill battle when entering the industry.

"We all need each other in order to propel the industry to the next level," she said.

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Oregon has suspended its routine inspections of nursing homes, memory care centers and assisted living facilities to create a strike force of workers who can go to any such facility where a patient or worker tests positive for coronavirus to help with immediate containment measures.

In such a case, state regulators will go onsite to help enforce an immediate restriction on visitors, an end to group dining, enhanced infection control practices and other steps to protect patient and worker safety. Mike McCormick, interim director for aging and people with disabilities, told lawmakers of the plans in testimony Wednesday.

Federal officials on Wednesday granted permission for states to suspend required routine inspections to pivot to coronavirus priorities, he said. Oregon reacted immediately, he said.

The fact that six of the 11 people nationwide who have died from coronavirus were patients in a single Seattle-area nursing facility has operators, employees and residents of long-term care facilities on edge.

Elderly people and people with underlying health conditions  the very population concentrated in nursing facilities and assisted living centers  are by far the most likely to contract COVID-19, to suffer serious consequences and to die from it, researchers have said.

In Oregon care facilities, McCormick said, We havent had the outbreak yet. Some of us think its inevitable.

As an additional precaution, he said, all regulated facilities are now required to report to the state and to local public health officials any suspected cases of coronavirus among their patients or workers even before the individual has a positive test result.

The Office of Aging and People with Disabilities needs that information to ensure adequate infection control in the event that there could eventually be a confirmed diagnosis, spokeswoman Elisa Williams said.

State regulators might go onsite to help with infection control and patient health in some such cases even before diagnostic testing is complete, she said.

And in cases where a positive test comes back, the center will be advised not to admit new patients and to assign residents to private rooms to the extent possible, McCormick said.

He said the Oregon Health Care Association, which represents more than 700 providers of long-term care services and supports in Oregon, is 100% on board with the new requirements and procedures.

Officials from county health departments would do the contact tracing to identify household members, workers and others who may have come in contact with the person who has COVID-19.

Oregon also has informed long-term care facilities that they can restrict visitors who come to see their residents. Normally, under federal Medicaid rules, they must allow residents to accept visitors at any time without restrictions.

But the federal government temporarily lifted that rule, starting Saturday, so that no facility that limits or bars visitors in good faith will face consequences, McCormick said.

Nursing homes and assisted living centers should all have signage asking people who have a fever or cough that could be a symptom of coronavirus not to come inside, he said. And facilities can go further, including screening potential visitors for symptoms, asking them to wear masks and questioning whether they have a good reason to visit.

Social isolation poses a risk to the mental and physical health of people who live in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, he acknowledged. So facility operators are expected to seek the right balance between keeping out germs and allowing human connection, he said.

Were balancing social wellness with need to prevent a pandemic, he said.

McCormicks announcements came during testimony before a joint meeting of the Senate Human Services Committee and the House Committee on Human Services and Housing. It was convened for two hours Wednesday to gather and share information on what is being done to protect especially vulnerable Oregonians during the coronavirus outbreak that has infected at least three Oregonians and more than 30 Washington residents.

He and Oregon Public Health Director Lillian Shirley noted that federal guidance on how to respond to the crisis is changing from hour to hour.

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State agencies and at-home care providers say they are trying to make sure that caregivers who visit seniors or people with disabilities in their homes to care for them receive extra training about coronavirus. They need to know how to use face masks, gloves and gowns appropriately to prevent virus transmission, they said. Lawmakers said they also need to have good information to help them distinguish possible symptoms of COVID-19 from symptoms of colds or other respiratory infections that dont require calling a doctor.

Lawmakers expressed particular concern about the homeless, who dont have access to all the hygiene protocols they need and dont have a safe indoor place to isolate themselves if they get sick.

Shannon Singleton, an adviser to Gov. Kate Brown, said homelessness services supervisors are sharing lessons learned from previous disease outbreaks. The $7 million to $10 million a month that Brown has said Oregon will need to spend to address coronavirus includes money to pay for hotel rooms for houseless people who need to isolate themselves while they heal, she said.

-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @OregonianPol

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Houses of worship across Staten Island are following guidance from officials and are asking their faith communities to use common sense until the threat of the coronavirus has passed.

Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said each year it reminds parishes of prudent steps that can help prevent the spread of the flu.

For instance, making sure all priests and lay ministers wash hands before and after Mass, and have hand sanitizer available for those distributing Communion, only offering Communion by the Host and not by the Precious Blood, and offering the Sign of Peace via a gesture and greeting (i.e., a wave and saying Peace be with You) rather than by shaking hands, Zwilling said.

In January, the Archdiocese sent that annual notice and included information about the coronavirus, asking priests to be extra vigilant.

Additionally, the schools office sent a notification stating ay student, teacher, or other school personnel who travelled out of the United States would need a doctors note before returning to school as of March 2.

Those rules now apply to personnel in parish religious education programs and those involved with parish youth ministry programs, he said.

Blessed Sacrament Monsignor Ferdinando Berardi told the Advance Blessed Sacrament would be following the recommendations of the Archdiocese.

This Sunday were going to announce that were asking people to not exchange the kiss of peace or handshake of peace before, during, or after mass, Berardi said.

Additionally, he said the parish is reminding people to use common sense and stay home if theyre feeling ill and seek medical attention.

COJO, JCC FOLLOWING HEALTH DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Mendy Mirocznik, president of the Staten Island Council of Jewish Organizations (COJO), said the general census among all COJO organizations is to take guidance from the Department of Health and experts in that area.

Whatever precautions they suggest we will implement, Mirocznik said. Reminding people to wash their hands, use hand sanitizer, and limiting intimate contact and embraces until the treat has passed.

Mirocznik said COJO respects and appreciates all guidance from authorities and the medical community.

A spokeswoman for the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Staten Island told the Advance it is also practicing sanitary protocols laid out by the city Department of Health.

It said its also implemented special sanitary procedures for its Early Childhood Education and after school Explorers childrens programs, which include disinfecting shared surfaces and encouraging children to wash their hands often.

We are encouraging all of our members and participants to cover their coughs or sneezes with elbows/sleeves, wash their hands frequently, and stay home if they feel ill, the spokeswoman said.

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Photo credit: Max Mumby/Indigo - Getty Images

From Town & Country

Yesterday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a romantic clifftop walk through rural Ireland. And today William didnt miss the chance to tell the public how much he loves his wife as the couple met the crowds in Galway.

On the final day of their three-day trip, the royals visited Irelands west coast where they popped into family-run Tig Coili pub in the city centre before carrying out their only walkabout of the tour. Crowds gathered several hours before the royals arrived to get a good spot and didnt seem to mind waiting even though the couple were around an hour late after their helicopter from Dublin was delayed.

Photo credit: Pool/Samir Hussein - Getty Images

Angela Moran from Westport, County Mayo, was holding a commemorative banner from the 2011 royal wedding when she spoke to William. He asked about the flag, she told T&C afterwards. I said to him that I really admired him and Catherine and he said thank you very much. I said I love her and he said I do too, nice of you to say so.

About meeting the couple, she said: It was amazing. Its something youd think will never happen. We came and stayed here overnight so that wed be in a good position to see them today. Weve had a long stand but it was worth every second.

She said she liked the class and magic of the royals and always watches the Queens speech.

Photo credit: Sam Barnes - Getty Images

Kate also greeted the crowds and spoke to Freya Rose who is the same age as Princess Charlotte and even shares a birthday with the Princess, May 2.

Freyas mom Aoife Byrne told T&C: She asked her what her age was and also wished her Happy Birthday for May...She asked if she liked to dance like Charlotte and asked her about school as well.

They had been waiting since 9 a.m. to see the royals. We like the royal family. We like the idea of reconciliation and peace, Byrne said. She also described the couple as very nice, very down to earth.

Photo credit: Pool/Samir Hussein - Getty Images

Kate also dashed over when she saw two little girls calling out her name. We asked to shake her hand. She is very beautiful, says Siofre Borke, 8, who was there with friend Hazel McGann, 8.

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We were surprised she came running over, says Hazels mom Paula McGann, 43.

It was so sweet to see. You can see how Kate is drawn to the kids, adds Phillida Eves, who was standing behind the children. She said Ill be really quick! She was making an effort.

Sandra Codyre, whose nephew Corey Greaney, 11, got to shake the couples hands, said the royals' visit is a "privilege."

Its a privilege to have them come to the west of Ireland. It will highlight Galway in a nice way, she says. Its also great for the friendship between Ireland and Britain and its important for the young people like Corey to say they have met the future King and Queen.

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As coronavirus cases rise in India, corporates across the country have started taking precautionary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Companies such as Cognizant, Paytm and Wipro have stepped up their employee safety efforts as the epidemic spreads.

While many have shut operations and asked employees to work from home, others have put restrictions on non-essential domestic and international travel especially to China, Iran, Italy, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

A lot of them are also disinfecting and sanitising office spaces, putting hand sanitisers at entry and exit points, discouraging staff from conducting physical meetings, restricting the entry of outsiders in office premises and distributing N95 masks amongst employees.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: 16,000 Chinese passengers, crew stopped at Indian ports

Business stalwarts such as Anand Mahindra, Harsh Mariwala have also weighed in on the issue as well. Where Mahindra pointed out the silver lining in the coronavirus outbreak, saying the chaos will press a 'permanent reset button' leading to a greener footprint, Mariwala advised caution urging people to stop spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

Indian IT companies are taking significant measures as their employees often travel abroad for work thus getting exposed to the deadly virus.

Cognizant

IT services provider Cognizant India has temporarily closed its Hyderabad office and asked its employees to work from home. The company's office is situated in Building 20 of Raheja Mindspace which is a major IT park in Hyderabad.

The company in an email sent to its associates on Wednesday said that it is shutting its office as an employee of another company in the same building was tested positive for coronavirus (COVI-19). The IT Services provider further stated (in the email) that is closing the office for disinfection and sanitisation. The IT services provider also clarified in the email that "no Cognizant associate is known to have contracted the virus." The company added that it has asked all its employees "working out of Building 20 of Raheja Mindspace to work from home until further notice".

Also Read: Coronavirus update: Cognizant shuts Hyderabad office, asks employees to work from home

Paytm

The digital payment platform on Wednesday decided to close its offices in Gurugram and Noida for at least two days after one of its employees who had recently visited Italy tested positive for coronavirus. The company in an official statement stated that it has also advised the team members of the affected employees to get their health tests done without delay. Paytm has closed its offices to carry out disinfection and sanitisation of the premises.

"One of our colleagues based out of Gurgaon office who recently returned from Italy post a vacation has sadly been tested positive for Coronavirus," a company spokesperson said. "He is receiving appropriate treatment and we are extending complete support to his family."

"As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members get health tests done immediately. We have also advised all our colleagues to work from home for a couple of days while we get our offices sanitized. However, there will not be any impact on our daily operations and Paytm services will continue as usual," the spokesperson said.

Also Read: Coronavirus Updates: Paytm employee tests positive for Covid-19; cases in India spikes to 29

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

A spokesperson of the IT company said on Tuesday that it has advised its employees based in Itlay to work from home. "We are ensuring that our staff have all the information and support they require. In addition, we are also working closely with our clients to co-ordinate any measures in this situation," the spokesperson said as quoted by PTI.

HCL Technologies

The tech giant has evoked an epidemic contingency plan in the affected geographies and is fully supporting its employees in the impacted regions. "Remote Working/Work From Home' strategy has been activated to aid social distancing in the impacted regions. Travel advisory across the organisation has been issued with full precautionary measures," the company said.

The company has also set up a special global task force to track the situation actively and take appropriate steps in consultation with external agencies such as International SOS. "HCL is pro-actively invoking all required measures to ensure business continuity and will also be providing full support to clients and employees," the company told the news agency.

Nearbuy

The company which claims to be India's first hyper-local online platform has decided to shut its Gurugram office for at least 14 days as a preventive step. It has asked its employees to work from home during the period and also keep their health in check.

Wipro

The global software major announced on Wednesday that it will not allow any employee to travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau due to coronavirus risk. "Wipro has suspended travel to and transit through mainland China, including Hong Kong and Macau, until further notice. Employees have also been advised to avoid non-critical travel to Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Italy," Wipro said.

The company has also advised Chinese employees and others who had travelled to the said destinations to be vigilant and to stay at home for 14 days before joining back office. Even though the company has enabled a lot of techies to work from home, it does not have any employees in the coronavirus epicentre, Wuhan. The company has asked its employees to put themselves in isolation in case they or their family members exhibit symptoms.

The company has also issued an advisory containing information about hygiene and preventive measures and has also asked its employees worldwide to get themselves checked if they display any symptoms.

Also Read: Wipro suspends employee travel to China, Hong Kong, Macau over coronavirus

Twitter

The microblogging site has asked its global workforce to work from home, if possible. "We are strongly encouraging all employees globally to work from home if they're able. Our goal is to lower the probability of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus for us and the world around us," Twitter said in a blog.

Meanwhile, Google had made its policies stricter after an employee in Zurich tested positive for coronavirus. It has restricted travel and cancelled a big Google Cloud event. Other tech companies like Facebook, Microsoft are issuing advisories and taking preventive steps for its employees to restrict the spread of the virus. Online retail giant Amazon also said on Tuesday that an employee in the United States has been tested positive for coronavirus. The company stated that all the employee's co-workers who were in contact with the patient have been informed. The patient worked at the company's South Lake Union office complex in Seattle.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Facebook closes Seattle office after worker down with COVID-19

Also Read:India Inc on coronavirus: Anand Mahindra sees silver lining, Harsh Mariwala warns against rumours
(TNS)  While Louisiana didnt pay a ransom demanded by hackers who launched a cyberattack against state government servers last fall , the state has paid $2.3 million responding to that and other cyberattacks across the state over the past year.The Division of Administration, which oversees the technology office that dispatches staffers throughout the state to respond to various cyberattacks, spent the money on five incidents over the past year, according to figures provided by the division.Jacques Berry, an administration spokesman, said the vast majority of the costs were from paying for staffers to who went to various school districts, state agencies and New Orleans to help reimage computers afflicted with ransomware.The vast majority is human assets, he said. Along with that there were some equipment software licensing costs for upgrades here and there that we took advantage of the situation to go ahead and do.The state spent the bulk of the money  about $1.7 million  responding to the ransomware attack on state government in November, which crippled the state Office of Motor Vehicles for weeks.The state also spent about $333,000 responding to cyberattacks against seven school districts last summer in north Louisiana, $65,348 on the ransomware attack against New Orleans city government, $61,268 on an attack in St. Helena Parish and $184,985 on an attack against the St. Landry Parish School Board.Gov. John Bel Edwards administration is seeking to recoup the costs in a supplemental budget bill that will be debated by lawmakers this spring. That bill spends the excess tax collections from the current fiscal year.New Orleans city government said last month it would spend more than $7 million in past and future costs responding to the ransomware attack that hit City Hall in December. Those costs came primarily from fixing city email services and networking infrastructure.The $2.3 million figure does not include any future plans to modernize agencies' computer systems, which Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne suggested would need to be funded in the coming years during a budget hearing last month.Cyberattacks, in which hackers gain access to government computers and lock users out unless they pay a ransom, have proliferated in Louisiana in recent months and caused headaches for a host of state and local agencies. Gov. Edwards created a cybersecurity commission to respond to the attacks and last month warned local officials such ransomware attacks would inevitably come for them.Dardenne, in a budget hearing last month, said many state agencies are in the dark ages operating on outdated computer systems that need replacing.The state Office of Motor Vehicles, which had locations shuttered for weeks after the ransomware attack in November, has a 45-year-old computer system that is in the middle of being updated.Karen St. Germain, commissioner of the OMV, said the agency is about nine months into a three-to-four-year project updating the computer systems. So far, the agency has spent nearly $2.4 million on that project, she said.The biggest obstacle is getting the information moved from the system its in now and thats really the lengthy part into something thats at least 20th century instead of 19th century, St. Germain said.Dardenne told lawmakers last month the administration also plans to create a pot of around $10 million to serve as a cybersecurity emergency response fund to deal with cyberattacks. He also said various agencies have old computer systems that need upgrades.We have addressed that and its a big, big challenge, Dardenne said. Well have to make collective decisions on where we put that money. Its a growing concern and its not going away.
In the backdrop of the threat posed by coronavirus a meeting of representatives of private hospitals, ad agencies, and theatre owners was held here on Thursday and it was decided to create awareness among the people, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, Praveen Pardeshi.

"Around 70,000 people from outside, coming to Mumbai were screened, 83 were suspected but they eventually tested negative, results of seven is awaited. Meeting of Mumbai's private hospitals, ad agencies and theatre owners was held. It was decided to create awareness among people," Pardeshi told ANI.

"During the monitoring of ships, one suspect was found but tested negative. Around 18,000 international passengers come to Mumbai daily. To screen them around 100 doctors are needed, BMC has provided them 50 of its own doctors besides those from private hospitals," he added.

The BMC Commissioner added that Mumbai Mahapalika runs Kasturba Hospital where the sufficient number of isolation beds have been arranged and laboratory for detection is also available.

"All the information regarding COVID19 will be available on helpline number 1916," he added.

The country's total number of positive cases of coronavirus reached 30 today after a person in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, tested positive.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SAP Co-CEO Jennifer Morgan

SAP

SAP has cancelled all "in-person events" including major conferences scheduled this month in Orlando and Las Vegas in response to the coronavirus crisis.

The German tech giant also said it has seen a 20% drop in transactions on its Concur travel management platform due to the health crisis.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories

SAP said Thursday that it has cancelled all "in-person events," including upcoming conventions in Orlando and Las Vegas this month, due to the coronavirus crisis.

The German tech giant also said the crisis has led to a 20% drop in transactions on its Concur travel management platform.

SAP said the cancelled events include its Concur Fusion conference in Orlando which was supposed to take place next week and its SAP Ariba Live convention in Las Vegas scheduled later this month.

SAP also will not participate in the upcoming SXSW gathering in Austin, Texas next week.

SAP said its own data underscore "the impact of COVID-19," the company said in a blog post: "We have seen travel transactions in our SAP Concur network down 20% year-over-year."

Other major tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, have also announced policies related to the coronavirus crisis, including cancelling events and encouraging employees to work remotely.

Got a tip about SAP or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @benpimentel or send him a secure message through Signal at (510) 731-8429. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Read the original article on Business Insider
China use slaves for products used by global brands?

China has allegedly moved thousands of Uighurs into factories that supply major brands including Volkswagen, Nike, Apple and BMW. A new report says the factory conditions "strongly suggest forced labor."
With COVID-19 cases beginning to show an upward trend in the country, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan updated the Parliament on Thursday over the measures taken by the government to contain the disease.

The Health Minister said that they were fully geared up to battle the virus.

The Minister told the Parliament, "As on March 4, at least 28,529 persons were brought under community surveillance and are being monitored," adding "The Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation."

Talking about the Indians stranded in Iran, he said, "The government is following up with the Iranian authorities for the well-being of Indians stranded there and to tie-up evacuation as per the need. "

The Minister said that screening of passengers was also initiated at 12 major sea ports and 65 minor ports in the country. He said that for containing the disease required all government departments to work in sync and not just the health ministry.

According to the Health Ministry over five lakh people have been screened at the airports. The ministry said that community surveillance is on and cluster approach has been taken to contain the disease.

The new coronavirus that broke out in the Wuhan city of China last year and spread to more than 60 countries is now making its presence felt in India too. At least 29 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported till Thursday and the numbers are beginning to increase.

While three cases in Kerala have been cured, one confirmed case each have been reported from Delhi and Telangana respectively. At least 16 Italian nationals, who were visiting Jaipur, have also tested positive apart from their driver, who is an Indian citizen.

Six people affected by the virus have been reported from Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Another positive case has been reported from Gurugram in Haryana. The patient is an employee of the PayTM.

Quarantine facilities have been set up for the patients by the ITBP and the Indian Army at Chhawla and Manesar. In Delhi, the Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospitals have been designated as nodal offices to deal with novel coronavirus cases.

At least 19 more laboratories are operating to conduct tests for COVID-19. Earlier, there were 15 laboratories involved in the process.
The Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital in the city has set up 11 separate rooms and isolation wards to treat coronavirus patients, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday.

The Delhi government is also well prepared to increase the number of rooms and facilities as and when required, he said after visiting the hospital to check the preparedness to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

He said those tested positive for the virus will be admitted to single-occupancy rooms.

"The Delhi government has set up a separate ward in the LNJP hospital to treat the coronavirus-affected people. We have 11 separate rooms where only confirmed patients will stay in single occupancy basis. The suspected patients will be treated in the ward which is isolated," Jain said.

The ward also has a separate entrance so that there is no risk to other people, he added.

On Wednesday, the Delhi government set up a task force headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to tackle the situation emerging from the coronavirus infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cummins officials announced the company's B6.7N natural gas engine has now been certified as meeting 0.02 NOx (nitrites of oxide) emissions levels, giving the company another natural gas engine that meets near-zero emissions requirements.

"This is a big deal for us," said Tom Hodek, director of sales, marketing and new product development for Cummins Westport, the company's natural gas joint venture with Westport. "These are optional levels. The current [Environmental Protection Agency] standard is 0.2 grams."

The announcement was made Tuesday evening at the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis. Cummins also announced several new enhancements to its L9N medium-duty engine.

On the natural gas front, Cummins now offers the ISL-G, ISX12N, L9N and B6.7N, all certified at 0.02, the level that California is proposing all engines should meet. That level is 90% lower than currently-required EPA levels.

"From an emissions standpoint, you are not going to find a cleaner engine on the market today," Hodek said.

The company's natural gas engines also offer plenty of power, with horsepower range extended out to 400. Engines are used in a variety of applications, Hodek said, including yard spotters, buses, street sweepers and regional haul.

Paccar, Volvo/Mack and Freightliner offer Cummins natural gas engines in their vehicles. The company sells about 5,000 units annually in the U.S., Hodek said.

"The natural gas engine lineup fits in really well with our diesel products," explained Rob Neitzke, executive director of North America OEM business for Cummins. "It's about choice."

Cummins offers diesel, natural gas and electrified engines.

The B6.7N also features onboard diagnostics, as well as a maintenance-free three-way catalyst, closed crankcase ventilation system and a new engine control module. It is rated up to 240 horsepower with 560 lbs.-ft. of torque.

Both the L9N and B6.7N will get three-year unlimited miles base warranties for 2021.

Story continues

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 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2020) Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Ankara of destabilizing the situation in Libya and Syria and of supporting terrorists in these countries.

"In Syria, we also see Turkey's violation of the sovereignty of a brotherly Arab country ... and direct support for terrorist entities included in the relevant list of the UN Security Council. This threatens to expand the scale of the conflict in Syria," Shoukry said during his speech at a meeting of foreign ministers of the League of Arab States (LAS) in Cairo on Wednesday.

The minister also said that Ankara should avoid using Syrian refugees to achieve political goals.

"In particular, in light of the fact that it was open Turkish intervention that led to the refugee crisis," he said.

Shoukry also noted that the escalation of the crisis in Libya was due to Turkish military intervention in this country and the transfer of thousands of foreign terrorists there. According to the minister, Ankara's actions impede all efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis in Libya.
A Camden man was found guilty at trial of attempting to kill his estranged wife outside of a Cherry Hill apartment building in 2018, the Camden County Prosecutors Office said Thursday.

Brian Walker, 54, was convicted on seven counts, including attempted murder, stalking and multiple weapons and aggravated assault charges following a six-week trial, according to the prosecutors office.

Prosecutors said that on November 4, 2018, Walker went to the parking lot of the Cherry Hill Towers on Route 38 and waited for his estranged wife to go to her car. When she began approaching her vehicle with a friend, Walker shot at her multiple times, prosecutors say.

She survived and testified at the trial.

Following the shooting, Walker fled to Florida, where he was caught by a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force about a month later.

Walker is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Donald Trump has denied the official global death rate for coronavirus reported by health experts because he has a hunch it is lower.

The president described the 3.4 per cent global death rate given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday as a false number in an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity and gave medical advice which contradicted his public health experts.

Mr Trump suggested there could be hundreds of thousands of people who would recover from the virus just by sitting around and suggested some people would be able to go to work even if they are infected.

When asked by Mr Hannity about the death rate, Mr Trump said: I think the 3.4 per cent is really a false number.

Now this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this and its very mild, theyll get better very rapidly.

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

He added: They dont even see a doctor, they dont even call a doctor. You never hear about those people

Personally, I'd say the number is way under 1 per cent.

On Sunday, the WHO said most patients (80 per cent) have experienced mild illness from coronavirus, while approximately 14 per cent experienced severe disease and 5 per cent became critically ill.

Recommended Trump suggests using flu vaccine on coronavirus

However, those who have caught the virus are not recommended to go to work and have been told to self-isolate to prevent further spreading from the outbreaks.

Mr Trump has repeatedly conflated coronavirus and standard seasonal flu, which has a death rate of well below 1 per cent, and referred to the virus as the corona flu on Wednesday before correcting himself.

However, the WHO has made it clear there are important differences between coronavirus and influenza, even though both diseases spread in the same way.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHOs director-general, said on Monday that the virus, which is officially known as COVID-19, causes more severe disease than seasonal flu.

While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity, Dr Tedros said.

That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease."

He added: Globally, about 3.4 per cent of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1 per cent of those infected.

The director-general also noted that, unlike seasonal flu, it was possible to contain coronavirus outbreaks and insisted global efforts should be focused on containment of the virus at this stage.

In another sign of Mr Trumps poor understanding of public health, the president reiterated his surprise to Mr Hannity about the number of people who are killed by flu every year.

With the regular flu, you know, we average from 27,000 to 77,000 deaths a year. Who would think that? I never knew that until six or eight weeks ago, he told the Fox News host.

Bill Pascrel Jr, a Democratic congressman for New Jersey, responded to the interview by suggesting Mr Trump was endangering the US public with his comments.

It didnt take long but were at the point where Trump is proclaiming he knows more than the doctors and scientists on virology and he doesnt give a damn how many lives he endangers, Mr Pascrell Jr wrote on Twitter.

Earlier this week, Republican senator Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate health committee, told Mr Trump and his vice president Mike Pence to let the professionals do the talking on coronavirus.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The House of Representatives voted to pass a bipartisan funding package to address the coronavirus (COID-19) with the help of Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Now on its way to the Senate, the $8.3 billion package will be used for a robust response to what officials are calling a public health emergency.

Of the $8.3 billion, $950 million will go to state and local health agencies for surveillance, laboratory testing, infection control, contact tracing, and mitigation.

Rose said an all-hands-on-deck response is needed.

Getting this funding passed and out to the front lines is essential to that goal and will provide critical to support New York State and Citys efforts. I will continue working to ensure those in the community are well informed and supported, which is why I have launched a new resource page. What we cannot allow to happen is for misinformation or xenophobic stigmas to take holdparticularly against our Chinese-American community, Rose said.

In an effort to inform his constituents with up-to-date information, Rose has published a resource page on his website.

Additionally, Rose called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) to reimburse state and local governments for costs incurred during response efforts, as well as a recent meeting with local, state, and federal public health officials and hospitals to discuss local preparedness. He also attended a bipartisan briefing in the White House Situation room to discuss the coronavirus impact.

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

CASES IN NEW YORK

According to Cuomo, there are now 13 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State.

Cuomo said the states second confirmed coronavirus case is a 50-year-old attorney who works in Manhattan and lives in New Rochelle, N.Y. Four additional coronavirus cases were announced to be tied to the man, which include his wife, two of his children, and his neighbor who drove him to the hospital.

On Wednesday evening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said another five patients have tested positive, bringing the state total to 11. One new person who had close proximity to the second confirmed coronavirus case in New York tested positive for the virus.

Then, the new mans wife, two sons and daughter also tested positive, Cuomo said. The two children attend Westchester Torah Academy, which will be closed at least until Friday.

The first confirmed case in the state was announced Sunday. A 39-year-old health care worker living in Manhattan who traveled to Iran was diagnosed with coronavirus, and officials said the woman has respiratory symptoms that are mild.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Health Department tracking down possible contacts of second confirmed coronavirus case

Coronavirus risk remains low in NYC; same-day testing now available, officials say

Coronavirus mortality rate reaches 3.4%; 6 confirmed cases in New York state

Coronavirus: New cleaning protocols set for schools across New York

Staten Island hospitals preparing for coronavirus; testing could be done on S.I.

MTA to fully disinfect subways, buses every 72 hours to combat coronavirus

2nd confirmed N.Y. coronavirus case; Cuomo to amend sick paid leave bill

Cuomo orders insurance companies to waive cost sharing for coronavirus testing

Coronavirus preparation on Staten Island: What you can do

Student safety: Heres how NYC schools are working to combat coronavirus
DUBLIN, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Shrimp Market by Export, Import, Production, Consumption, Countries, Species, Size, Product Form, Value Chain Analysis & Forecast" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

According to this research, the Global Shrimp Market is expected to be worth US$ 24.1 Billion by 2026.



Growing income level and rising demand for shrimp products among consumers across the globe is driving its market. Governments in many countries are encouraging shrimp production by giving incentives to farmers and by offering fiscal reliefs. Globally, Ecuador is the Largest Exporter of Shrimp; besides China and Vietnam. Among consuming countries, the United States is the largest consumer of Shrimp. Global Shrimp aquaculture production by species L. vannamei, P. monodon, M.rosenbergii, and Others has also been covered in this report.



Vietnam & China are the Leading Shrimp Producers



The publisher has done a comprehensive assessment on the largest shrimp producing countries such as China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Ecuador. Ecuador, along with China and Vietnam, is the largest Shrimp producing countries.



United States is the Largest Shrimp Consumer



The publisher has completed insights on major shrimp consumer countries like Japan, France, Spain, United States, China and Europe. According to the research analysis, the United States is the largest shrimp consumer.



Globally, Ecuador is Among the Largest Exporters of Shrimp



This report covers the top shrimp exporting countries such as Thailand, Ecuador, Indonesia, India, China and Vietnam, along with their volume in metric tons. Ecuador is one of the largest shrimp exporters in the globe. Besides, we have also explained the core factors due to which they became a top shrimp exporting country.



Key Topics Covered



1. Introductions



2. Research & Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Dynamics

4.1 Growth Drivers

4.2 Key Challenges



5. Global Shrimp Production



6. Global Shrimp Share Analysis

6.1 Consumption Share by Countries

6.2 Production Share by Countries

6.3 Export Share by Countries



7. Global Shrimp Market



8. Shrimp Producing Countries

8.1 India

8.2 China

8.3 Vietnam

8.4 Indonesia

8.5 Thailand

8.6 Ecuador



9. Shrimp Exporting Countries

9.1 India

9.2 Vietnam

9.3 Ecuador

9.4 Indonesia

9.5 China

9.6 Thailand



10. Shrimp Consuming Countries

10.1 United States

10.2 Europe

10.2.1 Spain

10.2.2 France

10.3 China

10.4 Japan



11. Global Shrimp Aquaculture Production by Species

11.1 L. vannamei

11.2 P. monodon

11.3 M. rosenbergii

11.4 Other



12. Global Volume of Shrimp Aquaculture Production by Size Categories

12.1 >70

12.2 61-70

12.3 51-60

12.4 41-50

12.5 31-40

12.6 26-30

12.7 21-25

12.8 15-20

12.9 <_5_br />

13. Global Volume of Shrimp Aquaculture by Product

13.1 Other Forms

13.2 Breaded

13.3 Cooked

13.4 Peeled

13.5 Green / Head-off

13.6 Green / Head-on



14. Value Chain Analysis



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rxvzao

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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New Delhi, March 5 : In a first, a deep-sea scientific mission to uncharted depths of the Indian Ocean in the Maldives and Seychelles will gather valuable data to support the Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean action and train local scientists.

The ground-breaking multidisciplinary research mission, First Descent: Midnight Zone, was officially launched at the Commonwealth headquarters in London on Thursday.

The newest Commonwealth member country, Maldives, has joined Seychelles to launch a major joint scientific expedition to investigate unexplored depths.

Led by the UK research institute Nekton, the goal is to boost the sustainable governance of Seychelles and Maldivian waters, including the protection of 629,000 sq km of ocean.

It supports the Commonwealth Blue Charter -- a shared commitment by 54 member countries to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and overfishing.

Maldives Minister for Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture, Zaha Waheed, said in a statement: "It is vital to comprehensively understand what lies beneath our waters in order for us to be informed enough to take necessary actions towards a healthy and prosperous ocean." "This mission will, for the first time, show a glimpse of what the deep sea features and the biodiversity it holds. It will also contribute to the wider goal of marine spatial planning and ocean governance." A 50-person crew will set sail on March 16, using the world's most advanced deep diving submersible, equipped with a suite of research tools including sensor and mapping technology.

The data they collect will help countries define conservation and management priorities and map out marine protected areas.

It will also help measure the impact of climate change and human activity in the area.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: "We cannot protect what we don't know and we cannot govern what we don't understand. With 95 per cent of the ocean still unexplored by humans, we are only just beginning to grasp its profound influence on life, including its effect on global climate and ecosystems." The expedition will focus on undersea mountains or 'seamounts' in the Midnight Zone -- depths from 1,000 to 4,000 metres, where biodiversity peaks.

This zone holds critical indicators to measure the impact of the climate crisis, fisheries management, heat absorption, acidification, ocean carbon cycle, and plastic, agricultural and industrial pollution.

The damage or overexploitation of seamounts can have widespread consequences on ocean health, food security, and other benefits the ocean provides, such as the discovery of new medicines.
San Francisco supervisors got their first chance on Wednesday to publicly examine the inner workings of the citys Public Works Department, as they consider structural changes to the agency following the government corruption scandal touched off by the arrest of its former director, Mohammed Nuru.

During a lengthy and often heavily technical hearing before the citys Government Audit and Oversight Committee, Acting Public Works Director Alaric Degrafinried offered a crash course on the agencys organizational structure and contract approval processes.

Supervisors have been calling for charges at Public Works since Nuru and San Francisco restaurateur Nick Bovis were arrested for fraud in January. Federal officials claim they worked up a number of schemes, and some of them involved steering contracts to Bovis businesses.

The allegations brought to light deeply ingrained agency practices that some supervisors see as in need of change. The hearing, which yielded few tangible results or conclusions, likely represents the first step in a long process of reform at Public Works.

Maybe I was in denial, but I thought the pay-to-play underbelly of San Francisco government had gone away or receded, committee member and Supervisor Aaron Peskin said. It turns out, in this case, to be abundantly untrue.

Peskin also wants to expand the Board of Supervisors power of inquiry by the giving the government audit committee the ability to issue subpoenas and to compel testimony under oath. Currently, the board can already issue subpoenas with six votes, but doing so requires a process that can take between five and six weeks. Peskins legislation seeks to cut that time by a month.

Among the issues raised at Wednesdays hearing were the high number of high-level Public Works employees serving in acting, or non-permanent capacities.

A chart Degrafinried showed the committee indicated that nearly half of department executives and managers were working in an acting capacity, including Degrafinried himself. That, the committee members said, was problematic because without a permanent job status and civil service protections, employees could become loyal to their superiors  rather than to the department itself.

It is a lot easier to manipulate acting people than it is permanent people. Peskin said.

City Controller Ben Rosenfield confirmed that the number of acting employees at Public Works was higher than what we would typically see as the norm. Including Degrafinried, 12 of 25 high-level staffers are currently working in an acting capacity. One of those positions  the manager of the emergency management program  is vacant.

Supervisors have also been critical about the amount of power the Public Works director has to approve contracts unilaterally. Public Works has more than 4,200 active contracts  though most of them, Degrafinried said, represented relatively small purchase orders  like requests for boots or tools  that are approved through the citys Office of Contract Administration. Degrafinried oversaw that agency before taking over Public Works.

One of the few areas where the Public Works director actually has broad leeway to approve contracts quickly, Degrafinried said, were instances when the city wanted to speed up the construction of a homeless shelter or Navigation Center. But he reversed that policy shortly after taking the helm of the department in early February, reverting to a more traditional bidding system.

Degrafinried said that Public Works and the city as a whole ought to do a better job of publicizing bids to ensure that city money isnt being shunted to a small pool of firms.

You really have to rely on your outreach, he said. I can tell you, we sometimes only get one bidder. We as a city could do a better job at outreach.

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.

While he praised Degrafinrieds integrity, Supervisor Matt Haney said he was unimpressed by the presentation. It made little sense, he said, to have Degrafinried make a presentation on the structures of a department hes overseen for just over a month. Haney suggested City Administrator Naomi Kelly, who oversees Public Works, would have been a better choice.

This didnt feel big or serious enough to address whats going on at Public Works, Haney said after the hearing. I continue to believe this department is too big and too top-heavy and too much for one director to oversee and understand.

Haney, whose district has some of San Franciscos most notoriously filthy streets, has been deeply critical of Public Works. He is working on a November ballot measure intended to restructure the department in an effort to increase transparency and boost effectiveness.

The measure would split Public Works into two departments, one solely responsible for street cleaning. Both departments would also answer to their own oversight commissions.

The committee also advanced a measure Wednesday to hire a special investigator to conduct a board-directed probe of government corruption tied to the Public Works scandal. The full board will vote on the measure on Tuesday, but the process for picking an investigator likely will take weeks.

The city attorneys office and the controllers office are conducting an investigation of their own.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
House officials initially argued the state Constitution gave them the right to shield certain information about how lawmakers and their staff spend money. Read more

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HARRISBURG  After shielding spending details for months, leaders in the Pennsylvania House are reversing course and will publicly disclose how and why lawmakers spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer money.

The House announced the reversal on Thursday, more than a week after stories published by the Caucus and Spotlight PA revealed that House lawyers had blacked out spending details in thousands of pages of records released to the news organizations.

House officials initially argued that the state constitution gave them the right to shield certain information about how lawmakers and their staff spend money. But on Thursday, they backed off that position and restored dozens of spending details, and promised to turn over hundreds more in the coming weeks.

Republican leaders will also propose a new House rule that would narrow the scope of redactions in the future, said Jake Smeltz, chief of staff for House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster).

We are open and transparent about our expenditures, House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) tweeted Thursday, a day after his office hand-delivered copies of some of his expenses without blacked-out details.

The Caucus and Spotlight PA sought thousands of records as part of an effort to document how the nations largest full-time legislature spends the about $360 million in taxpayer money it receives each year.

In making many of the redactions, the House drew on an obscure provision in the state constitution aimed at giving lawmakers wide latitude on speech on the House floor. It was designed to give them immunity from defamation suits involving official proceedings, but the legislature applied it to a larger sphere of day-to-day duties.

The Senate is still taking that position.

Newly unredacted documents provided by the House show it had shielded spending details even for routine lawmaker duties.

For example, a $180 charge out of the speakers account in May 2017 was first described as, Breakfast meeting with [REDACTED] to discuss [REDACTED]. The hidden portion was that Turzai had met with the Lancaster Delegation to discuss legislative priorities and events in Members districts.

Another one, about a $73.31 breakfast meeting during state budget negotiations, redacted whom top staffers had met with and what they discussed. The unredacted reports revealed the staffers had met with Senate leadership to discuss voting calendar for the week of 6/5/2017.

Many rank-and-file GOP lawmakers told the Caucus they did not know some of their expenses were being blacked out, and some complained to leadership in recent days.

When it comes to anything Im doing where Im getting reimbursed by the state, absolutely, you guys should have the right to know it, said Rep. Cris Dush (R., Jefferson). And the public should, too.

The news organizations are still challenging redactions in the Senate, which also has taken the unusual step of scrubbing details about thousands of expenses in response to an open records request.

Sen. Lindsey Williams (D., Allegheny) said she was livid about the removal of the details and took the extra step of posting all her expense reports on her website. Williams said in a statement Thursday she was not consulted about what if any redactions should be made.

Senate open records officers instead made their decision to exert their definition of legislative privilege on my behalf allegedly to protect me, Williams said. Who are they really protecting by unilaterally redacting public information?

Members of the General Assembly should be completely transparent with how taxpayers dollars are spent, said Williams.

Spotlight PA receives funding from nonprofit institutions and readers like you who are committed to investigative journalism that gets results. Give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.
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Vladimir Putin is smarter than Stalin, God-booing Democrats and God-eschewing Republicans.

On March 2, the Russian leader introduced into his parliament amendments that called for homage to ancestors who bequeathed to us their ideals and a belief in God, and recognition of marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

This in a week when, in the U.S., a socialist atheist and an abortion-approving Catholic who had difficulty in a Houston speech finding the word Creator in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence were vying for their Partys nomination for the presidential race.

It would seem things are being turned upside down with the president of Russia (and a former KGB agent at that) calling his lawmakers to more official recognition of God and what many would consider a biblical view of marriage and family.

Putin proves the frailty of stereotyping. By the same token, let us hasten to add that not all Democrats boo God and not all Republicans are God-eschewing, even among the Rinos.

It should also be noted that some Putin-watchers think he might be maneuvering for another term as Russias chief of state.

However, Putin knows his countrys history  better, perhaps, than some American politicians know theirs.

The Bolsheviks who came to power under Lenin in 1917, like some of todays American barricade-stormers, were out to build utopia. Humans have a longing for Eden and the reign of Gods Kingdom whether they acknowledge it or not. The Lenin-led Communists created the opposite of paradise.

This is always the outcome when we try to build the kingdom without the King.

According to the Marxists strategic theory, things in the way of their brave new world had to be removed. God, the Church, and the Family had to go. In 1927, Communist ideologue Anatoly Lunacharsky wrote: The so-called sphere of private life cannot slip away from us, because it is precisely here that the final goal of the Revolution is to be reached.

The Gulag could take care of religionists and social traditionalists, but how to destroy the number one obstacle to a Communist paradise  the family? As Oliver Figes, a Russian history scholar, notes, the Marxists viewed the bourgeois family as socially harmful because it was inward-looking and conservative, a stronghold of religion, superstition, ignorance and prejudice

In 1918, the new Soviet rulers imposed a Code on Marriage and Family Life to destroy the bourgeois family. Rather than going to the Church to marry or seek permission for divorce, all a couple had to do was register their decision with the bureaucracy.

Anything-goes sexual behavior was encouraged, and abortion was legalized. Children were no longer regarded as belonging to the family, but were the property of the state, to be raised in collective institutions. Orphans proliferated and were placed in grim wards where they were denied affection, resulting in disturbed children. Many Americans found this out directly when they adopted Soviet bloc orphans after the 1989-1990 collapse of Communism.

With the collapse of church and family, chaos swept over Soviet society. In 1920, Russia became the first nation to allow abortion for any reason. Yet orphans proliferated, sexually transmitted disease spread, the workforce shrunk, population rates plummeted, and lives were shattered. But to correct the problem all the state had were more tools of oppression, resulting in stern laws aiming to tame the social wildness unleashed from the restraints of church and family.

By the time of Stalin, the chaos had become so destructive he imposed what some regarded as draconian measures, banning all abortion, making it more difficult to get a divorce, and outlawing homosexuality.

Yet the spiritual and moral chaos led to Russia having the worlds highest divorce rate a trend that continued into the present, along with a dangerously declining birth rate.

Thus, Vladimir Putin is truly woke to the crises facing his nation and knows something must be done.

There are cautions regarding Putins proposals. For one thing, it is easy for politicians and their sycophants in religious institutions to use the church simply to sanction a transitory political order and its policies, or to preserve a particular culture rather than that of Gods universal Kingdom of righteousness-justice, peace, and Spirit-given joy. (Romans 14:17)

Russell Kirk, the twentieth century American political philosopher, went to the heart of the problem when he wrote that spiritual disorder brings on political anarchy.

For spiritual order to prevail, the church must not be a nationalized institution, but the embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven within nations, universal in scope. It must be regarded as foundational, not merely a convenient prop for a particular political agenda. It must be at the core of society, not simply the gilded edge. It must give definition to the nation, society, and culture, not defined by them.

Yet, whether wily or wise, Putin seems to be on the right track. He has done his society a favor by pushing for a return to belief in God, along with honoring those in the past who held strongly to faith.

That will include individuals like the old peasant encountered by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who asked, Whats gone wrong with our country?

The old man answered simply but profoundly: Men have forgotten God.
The rise in coronavirus cases across the globe has left the public astonished with a flurry of queries sprouting around the virus that scientists know very little about.

While the internet is flooded with the dos and donts on the infectious virus, not many know if a person infected with coronavirus can get it again after recovering.

A report by China Global Television Network (CGTN) said that Chinese health officials are discussing the possibility of coronavirus relapse in patients who successfully recover.

According to the report, Chinas National Health Commission has said that recovered coronavirus patients can contract the virus again.

Lu Qingyuan, director of pneumonia prevention and treatment at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital had said that although coronavirus antibodies will be generated in certain cases, they cannot last long. There remains a possibility of some patients suffering a relapse even after completely recovering, Qingyuan said.

However, further analysis is required to confirm the possibility of a relapse in all coronavirus cases. Experts still dont know enough about the virus to say whether infected people, once recovered, gain full immunity to stave off the virus in the future. It is difficult to access how strong and long-lasting are the antibodies in an infected persons body for the infection to not occur again.

Meanwhile, China has approved the use of Swiss drugmaker Roches anti-inflammation drug Actemra for patients who develop severe complications from the coronavirus as it urgently hunts for new ways to combat the deadly infection that is spreading worldwide, news agency Reuters reported.

China is hoping that some older drugs could stop severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS), or cytokine storms, an overreaction of the immune system which is considered a major factor behind catastrophic organ failure and death in some coronavirus patients.

Coronavirus has infected nearly 30 people in India, no loss of life has been reported. Globally, more than 3,000 people have been killed with thousands infected in over 70 countries.
HOLON, Israel, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -According to the ITC's Office of Unfair Import Investigations, the Regenlab asserted U.S. patent is invalid and not infringed - RegenLab could not meet the requirements of a U.S. domestic industry.

Regenlab USA LLC, a subsidiary of Regen Lab SA ("Regenlab") has withdrawn its U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") complaint against Estar Technologies Ltd. ("Estar Medical") and Eclipse Medcorp LLC (Inv. No. 337-TA-1147). In its pre-trial brief submitted to the administrative law judge, the ITC's official Investigative Staff Attorney ("Staff Attorney"), agreed with Estar Medical that the asserted claims of Regenlab's US Patent No. 10,064,894 ("'894 Patent") were invalid and not infringed by Estar Medical and Eclipse Medcorp. The Staff Attorney also agreed that RegenLab failed to show that it either has or is in the process of establishing a U.S. domestic industry.

Notably, the Staff Attorney also pointed to certain misrepresentations made by Regenlab and its CEO, Antoine Turzi, during the course of the ITC investigation and questioned their credibility: "Any one of these misrepresentations might be chalked up to a mistake or a typo. Taken together, however, the Staff views RegenLab's and Mr. Turzi's misrepresentations to the Commission and the other parties as reflecting poorly on RegenLab's and Mr. Turzi's credibility. And as noted above, much of RegenLab's evidence relies on Mr. Turzi's unsupported testimony. Whether or not Mr. Turzi appears credible is thus an important issue in the investigation."

Mr. Turzi's credibility issue was also raised during the UK trial in 2019, during which the UK Patents Court stated that he was "not being a reliable witness." In its ruling, the UK Patents Court stated that Regenlab's patent No.2073862 "is invalid for lack of novelty and inventive step."

Since then, Regenlab SA has been in breach of two UK High Court orders after failing to pay Estar Medical's extensive legal expenses, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds. In fact, while trying to delay these court-ordered payments, Regenlab admitted to the UK Court that such payments "could have a 'domino effect' on the viability of the business" and "would impact on Regen's business in a way that would be difficult to quantify financially" and that "the amount of cash Regen can access is limited."

It should also be noted that the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office (EPO) has also revoked Regenlab PRP patent in its entirety in Europe due to (i) lack of novelty; and (ii) added subject matter. Estar Medical filed an opposition against Regenlab's European PRP Patent in 2017, and the patent was revoked following a hearing in April 2019.

Estar Medical also defeated Regenlab in Germany and in the U.S. federal district court, winning a non-infringement judgment in the former and obtaining a dismissal in the latter. Regenlab's U.S. subsidiary and its CEO Antoine Turzi are also still facing antitrust claims in the U.S. federal district court in Manhattan, New York.

About Estar Medical: For more than 2 decades, Estar Medical has been committed to the unique development and manufacturing of innovative medical devices in the biologics, cell therapy and platelet rich plasma (PRP) fields which it markets under the well-recognized TROPOCELLS, CELLENIS and other related brands. Estar Medical fulfilled the need of a standardized PRP preparation methodology by developing a unique and effective PRP technology for the simple preparation of PRP by enabling the physician to easily and effectively separate and concentrate growth factors taken from the patient's own blood for the purpose of building new tissues and effectively accelerate the natural wound healing process. Estar Medical remains committed to providing innovative proprietary products of the highest quality and safety, as well as protecting its partners, distributors and global clients through enforcement of its intellectual property rights.

For more information visit: www.estar-medical.com

Contact:

Yael Cohen, Head of Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE Estar Technologies Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.estar-medical.com


Disrupting proceedings of Lok Sabha does not bring credit to anyone and Speaker Om Birla is saddened by the behaviour of some members, BJD leader B Mahtab said on Thursday as he presided over the Question Hour.

For the second consecutive day, Birla did not come to the House, which has been rocked by Opposition protests over Delhi violence since the second leg of the Budget session began on March 2.

The Speaker is saddened by the behaviour of some members and he has every right to express his anguish, Mahtab said.

He said disrupting proceedings does not bring credit to anyone.

Urging protesting members to go back to their seats, Mahtab said they can put forth their views and the government also has its point of view.

As the vociferous protests continued, Mahtab also said there is an alarming situation due to coronavirus cases and such issues need to be discussed.

If the government is ready to talk, then you should also talk and there is no point in creating a ruckus. Both Delhi violence and coronavirus situation are important issues and there should be discussions on them, he noted.

As he was speaking from the chair, a Congress member was heard shouting, "you are not the Speaker".

Repeated requests to protesting members to allow proceedings went in vain and after taking up three questions, Mahtab adjourned the House till noon.

Around 30 members, mostly from Congress, were in the Well of the House shouting slogans and displaying placards. Some of them were also holding a large banner demanding resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEWBURY (dpa-AFX) - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC Thursday said it will not appeal the Federal Court's recent decision that the proposed merger between TPG Telecom (TPM.AX) and Vodafone Hutchison Australia (HTA.AX) would not substantially lessen competition. The Government agency noted that it does not have grounds for appeal, for which it needs to establish an error of law by the judge. It was in May 2019 that the ACCC announced its decision to oppose the proposed merger between TPG and Vodafone. On May 24, Vodafone instituted proceedings in the Federal Court. The case was heard over three weeks from September 10. In February 2020, the Federal Court declared the proposed merger between TPG and Vodafone would not substantially lessen competition. ACCC Chair Rod Sims now said, 'The ACCC remains disappointed by this outcome, which has closed the door on what we consider was a once in a generation chance for increased competition in the highly concentrated mobile telecommunications market. The future state of competition without a merger is uncertain. But we know that competition is lost when incumbents acquire innovative new competitors.' In Australia, TPG Telecom shares were trading at A$8.25, up 9.56 percent. Hutchison shares were trading at A$0.17, up 13.33 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LINWOOD  Officials at Mainland Regional High School on Wednesday barred anyone who has traveled to countries affected by COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms from their campus, events and buses for two weeks.

We were getting concerns expressed from the community and we wanted to be responsive with our messaging to assuage fears and concerns, Chief School Administrator Mark C. Marrone said. And we wanted our community to know we are actively monitoring the situation and looking to support, protect the safety and welfare of our students.

A letter, which was posted to the schools Facebook Wednesday, outlined that the schools policy is in line with Centers for Disease Control guidelines, which includes anyone who has traveled to or transited within the past two weeks in an area where the disease has been confirmed, or which are subject to a Level 3 Travel Health Notice by the CDC, including Mainland China and Hong Kong, Iran, Italy or South Korea.

It also includes anyone who is experiencing flu or flu-like symptoms and applies to students, staff, parents, visitors and vendors.
A man who worked as a clinical aide at St. Michaels Hospital has been arrested after two patients alleged that they had been sexually assaulted, Toronto police say.

In a news release Wednesday, police alleged a 62-year-old woman was sexually assaulted on June 22, 2018 and a 52-year-old woman was sexually assaulted between May 10, 2019 and Sept. 1, 2019.

John Vialva, 61, of Toronto, surrendered to police Wednesday and charged with three counts of sexual assault.

Vialva worked at St. Michaels Hospital as a clinical aide from 2016 to December 2019. Prior to that, he had worked in the hospitals palliative care unit.
An opinion leader in Sogakope, Maxwell Lukutor has debunked allegations by the Police that he had a role in the violence that characterised the aftermath of the killing of the Assembly member of the Sogakope South electoral area, Marcus Mawutor Adzahli.

The Police, in a report, said the lawlessness demonstrated by the youth was led by one Maxwell Lukutor, a self-acclaimed leader of Sogakope. The Command has taken note of the role he played in inciting the youth to engage in vandalism and lawlessness where properties were damaged and the international road was blocked.

But Mr. Lukutor, on the Point of View on Citi TV on Wednesday, denied these accusations, saying he was not even present at the grounds when the chaos took place.

When this was happening, I was nowhere near. Apparently, the Regional Minister was in town and there was a scheduled meeting between some of the youth, myself, and him and so we were waiting at the meeting ground for the Minister to come and meet us. We were at the DCEs residence. The Regional Commander was there as well. They all saw me at the meeting. So I was nowhere near the scene, he exclaimed.

I am not against them [the Police]. They are actually my friends. But for me, Im operating from a level of principle that if were not safe, were not safe. Whether youre my friend or not, were not safe. So do something and make sure we are safe And so if out of our anger that we express, that we want to be safe and these things happen, why would anybody come and be blaming me? Anybody who knows me ordinarily will know that Im not a violent person. Ill never hurt a fly. I am a person who will bring order when there is chaos. We shouldnt be blaming each other for whatever that is happening now.

Background

Marcus Mawutor Adzahli who is also a mobile money vendor was shot dead on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at his residence in Sogakope.

The assailants, numbering about eight, reportedly stormed the victim's house wielding guns and cement blocks amidst sporadic shooting.

A resident of Sogakope, Yao Amekor, told Citi News that the shooting scared neighbours of the deceased and onlookers.

Marcus Adzahli sustained gunshot and stab wounds in the attack.

The deceased's wife also sustained gunshot wounds.

On the back of this, the residents have in various ways, expressed their displeasure by blocking the Aflao-Accra road at the end of the Lower Volta bridge at Sogakope.

They also besieged the police station in the town with claims that the police lack urgency when tackling crime.

According to them, when the assemblyman's house was invaded, the police were called but took over 30 minutes to arrive at the scene, making it too late to save the assemblyman and his family.

But the Volta Regional Police Command has refuted claims that its personnel failed to respond to distress call during the killing of the South Sogakope assemblyman, Marcus Mawutor Adzahli.

It rather said it will investigate claims by residents of Sogakope that police in the area have been negligent amid a purported increase in violent crimes.

Police officers had to fire warning shots to disperse the protestors who had besieged the police station.

The police opened fire after protestors started pelting stones at the officers, shooting some of the protestors in the process.

Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive of the South Tongu local assembly, Emmanuel Luis Agamah has put a GHS10,000 bounty on the heads of perpetrators involved in the murder of the Assemblyman.

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has also done same with a GH25,000 bounty.

---citinewsroom
Following his release, he was expected to register as a sex offender but he did not. Petty moved into California in July 2019 but was arrested in November in the same year for not registering yet as a sex offender.
The Ukrainian ombudsman appealed to Commissioner on Human Rights of Russia Tatiana Moskalkov to stop the tortures of the citizens of Ukraine

Lyudmyla Denisova Open source

The Crimean Tatars illegally kept in the custody in the territory of Russia, still face physiological pressure and get no necessary treatment, Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmyla Denisova reported on Facebook.

A few hours ago at South district military court, where the session on the case of the so-called Second Bakhchysarai group Hizb ut-Tahrir takes place, the Ukrainian political prisoners felt bad: they had a fever and severe pain in musclesTheir lawyers asked to postpone todays court session and provide the necessary medical aid as three political prisoners Server Mustafayev, Memet Belyalov and Seiran Saliev are having fever since yesterday and they have awful headaches and weakness in the body. However, the medical workers of the penal institution, where the citizens of Ukraine are illegally kept, limited themselves to febrifuge injection and provided the certificate about the satisfactory state of health and absence of counterindications for their participation in the court session and investigative actions. Despite this fact, the Russian court only called the ambulance and the court session continued, she reported.

The Ukrainian ombudsman underlined that the Russian court violated the rights of Ukrainian citizens many times.

I appeal with a demand to Commissioner on Human Rights of Russia Tatiana Moskalkov to stop the tortures of the citizens of Ukraine, facilitated the holding of thorough medical examination and provide qualified medical aid to illegally detained Crimean Tatars, Denisova concluded.

Earlier leader of the Crimean Tatar people, MP Mustafa Dzhemilev said that the Crimeans should be given priority for the exchange, which turned out to be long periods.
OTTAWA - Cosmetics company Lush has launched a campaign calling on Canadians to pressure Parliament to back out of an agreement with the U.S. governing refugee claims.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Holiday shoppers browse at Lush, a cosmetics store at Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, Colo. on November 24, 2017. Cosmetics company LUSH has launched a campaign calling on people to pressure Parliament to back out of an agreement with the U.S. that governs refugee claims. It's part of a broader effort by the U.K.-based company to draw attention to the impacts of major changes to U.S. immigration policy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Tatiana Flowers

OTTAWA - Cosmetics company Lush has launched a campaign calling on Canadians to pressure Parliament to back out of an agreement with the U.S. governing refugee claims.

It's part of the company's broader effort to draw attention to the impact of major changes to U.S. immigration policy, and with their North American headquarters in Vancouver, Lush says they are adding the Canadian angle because of the Safe Third Country Agreement.

The deal largely bans people from seeking asylum at the Canada-U.S. border, on the grounds that both countries are safe and so people must seek refuge where they first arrive.

But Lush argues that increased immigration enforcement, the separation of families at the Mexican border and a sharp reduction in refugee admissions effectively mean the U.S. isn't safe.

"In upholding the STCA, Canada is complicit in the U.S. administration's efforts to dismantle vital protections for refugees and undermines Canada's dedication to human rights," the company writes in a statement accompanying their Freedom of Movement campaign launched this week.

In the U.S., Lush stores are being declared safe havens from immigration enforcement and staff will talk to customers about the issue. The public education element carries over to Canadian stores, where customers are also being encouraged to text members of Parliament with a plea to scrap the agreement.

The campaign follows calls from immigration and refugee advocacy groups, lawyers, academics and some politicians for Canada to figure a way out of the deal, though not all opposition turns on current U.S. policy.

The agreement means people who show up at a regulated land border crossing to request asylum are turned away, with few exceptions.

But, while crossing into a country without passing through a border checkpoint is illegal, people who do so in order to seek asylum can't be prosecuted for the crime.

So, 54,739 have crossed into Canada from the U.S. since 2017, at spots in the border with no checkpoints, specifically to avoid being subject to the agreement so they can file an asylum claim.

Of them, 12,255 people have had their claims approved, and 10,627 rejected, so far.

The loophole has led to calls for the deal to be amended or scrapped so the flow of asylum seekers is stopped. Others argue the way forward would be to just allow people to claim asylum at land border points rather than make risky crossings.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino has been tasked with "modernizing" the agreement, but with the U.S. in an election year, that's unlikely to happen soon.

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Canadian companies have engaged in domestic immigration policy before. Many took roles to promote the 2015-2016 marquee government program to resettle more than 40,000 Syrian refugees. Canadian businesses are often at the forefront of calls to increase immigration admissions to fill empty jobs.

Carleen Pickard, ethical campaigns specialist for Lush, said a decision to weigh into the politically charged debate around the effects of U.S. immigration policy stemmed from Canadians expressing a desire to do something in response.

"Organizations in the United States have been documenting the United States as currently not a safe country for migrants to be in," she said.

"So why do we continue to hold the United States as a safe country is a question we wanted to bring to customers, and an action point we know we could give them."

Lush has a history of advocacy efforts in Canada and globally. Among other things, the company closed down its stores during countrywide climate strikes in September to encourage staff and customers to participate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Mar. 5, 2020.
The other makes a handy antagonist in literature and too often in life, but literature (and life) can also present opportunities to bridge our divides, to make the stranger less strange. This weeks recommended titles include a handful of books about conflict or conciliation between opposing groups. Theres Colum McCanns new novel, Apeirogon, based on the true-life friendship between an Israeli man and a Palestinian man who both lost young daughters to Middle Eastern violence. Theres Jeff Sharlets This Brilliant Darkness, a book of photographs and short essays documenting his encounters with strangers. Theres Kim Ghattass political study Black Wave, about the regional power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia. And there are books about the consequences of demonizing the other: Philippe Lancons Disturbance is a memoir of his recovery after surviving the terrorist attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, and Kiran Millwood Hargraves historical novel The Mercies revisits the real-life Vardo witch trials of 17th-century Norway, while Candacy Taylor (Overground Railroad) and Gretchen Sorin (Driving While Black) both look at the harrowing steps black travelers had to take to navigate, literally, the roads of Jim Crow America.

Also up this week: a surreal take on the gig economy (Hilary Leichters Temporary), an expose of the practices that brought Deutsche Bank low (David Enrichs Dark Towers), an explorers anguished account of searching for his missing child (Roman Dials The Adventurers Son) and an immersive Japanese mystery novel (Riku Ondas The Aosawa Murders).

Gregory Cowles

Senior Editor, Books

Twitter: @GregoryCowles

DISTURBANCE: Surviving Charlie Hebdo, by Philippe Lancon. Translated by Steven Rendall. (Europa, $28.) The critic and novelist Philippe Lancon, a contributor to the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, barely survived the attacks on the morning of Jan. 7, 2015, when two gunmen claiming allegiance to ISIS forced themselves inside the magazines offices and slaughtered 12 people. After a pulverizing account of the shootings, Disturbance pivots to become the story of a long and difficult recovery. It also takes time to ruminate on everything from friendships and books to meals and caregivers and the music of Bach. Our critic Dwight Garner calls it a powerful and deeply civilized memoir. I did not wish this nearly 500-page book were any longer, Garner writes. But I was moved and provoked by it, and I always looked forward to picking it up again.

TEMPORARY, by Hilary Leichter. (Emily Books/Coffee House Press, $16.95.) In this brisk, wildly imaginative first novel by Hilary Leichter, the unnamed protagonist is a temp worker who trudges between 23 jobs that tip into the surreal. She washes skyscraper windows, directs traffic and delivers mail. She fills in for a mannequin in a department store window, and works on a pirate ship. In this book, our critic Parul Sehgal writes, you can hear an old note, a note Ive missed in American fiction, and am surprised to have noticed myself missing  for so long it seemed dominant to the point of imperishability. The violent, surreal, often cartoonish scenarios delivered deadpan that draw attention to the freakishness of ordinary life.
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Linkedin Asip Hasani and Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya  Thu, March 5, 2020 18:12 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20689ea6c 1 National coronavirus,outbreak,COVID-19,East-Java,surabaya,Tri-Rismaharini,khofifah-indar-parawansa,cruise-ship Free

As many as 800 tourists from the United States and Australia aboard the MV Viking Sun cruise ship will not be able to visit Surabaya, East Java, as the Surabaya and East Java administrations have denied the cruise ship entry to the city.

The Norwegian-flagged cruise ship, carrying 1,395 passengers and crew, initially planned to dock at Tanjung Perak Port in the provincial capital on Friday.

The East Java administration rejected the ships request to dock at Tanjung Perak as East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa made the decision not to jeopardize the health of locals.

During a meeting yesterday, we decided not to accept the ships request to moor at Tanjung Perak Port to prevent mass panic among citizens, East Java health agency head Herlin Ferliana told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Read also: Cruise control? Securitizing luxury cruise ships in times of coronavirus

The decision was echoed by Surabaya Mayor Tri Risma Rismaharini, who claimed to have received information that two passengers aboard the ship were suffering from a cold and fever. The passengers recently traveled to New Caledonia and Australia, which is among the countries to have recorded confirmed COVID-19 cases.

According to data compiled by the John Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, Australia had recorded 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday afternoon. To date, two have died from the disease, while 11 others have recovered.

Risma said in a letter that Viking Sun passengers were only allowed to disembark from the ship at Tanjung Perak Port after undergoing a laboratory check, the results of which would be known two days after the test.

However, it is impossible to do [the test] as the Viking Sun only docks in Surabaya for less than 10 hours, Risma said in a letter, which also stipulated the restriction on the ships crew and passengers from disembarking at the port.

The restriction will also be applicable to other cruise ships with travel histories to countries with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

An official at Tanjung Perak harbormasters office Rony Fahmi said the office would follow up the decision: We decided to deny entry to the Viking Sun cruise ship following a meeting with other institutions.

Read also: Four Indonesians in Japan recover from COVID-19: Minister

State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Pelindo III) vice president Wilis Aji Wiranata said the company would comply with the administrations decision.

Our initial plan was to dispatch officials from the port health authority to check on the passengers and crews health before they disembarked from the ship. This would be done if the cruise ship is allowed to dock [in Surabaya], Wilis said.

The MV Viking Sun previously docked in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday. The cruise ships captain stated in its Maritime Declaration of Health that all people aboard the ship had been declared healthy.

Nevertheless, East Nusa Tenggara health authorities screened all passengers and crew when the ship docked in Labuan Bajo.

According to Pelindo III, the MV Viking Sun will continue its voyage to Benoa Port in Bali after docking in Surabaya. The boat will dock at Benoa until Mar. 10 and sail to Lombok the next day, before returning to Surabaya on Mar. 14. After that, the ship will sail to Sri Lanka, where it is scheduled to arrive on Mar. 20. (dpk)
The novel on which this movie is based, a slim thriller by the great American writer Charles Willeford, is in many ways typical of the author. It examines misogyny and murderous psychosis from so seemingly close a perspective as to make the reader queasy, if not downright upset. But the 1971 book contains something extra: an erudite satire of contemporary art, often expounded upon by an insufferable mansplainer.

The mansplainer, in the book and this movie adaptation directed by Giuseppe Capotondi, is James Figueras, played as a looming, imposing figure by Claes Bang. First seen delivering a lecture cum con job to some museum tourists in Milan, hes soon summoned to the Lake Como estate of a rich art collector named Cassidy. He brings along Berenice, a plucky pickup (Elizabeth Debicki) who proves to be an impediment to the task Cassidy has in store for James. Cassidy has put up a reclusive, legendary artist at his estate and wants James to steal one of his paintings.
The office of Leflair in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City was closed on March 4, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Kim Hanh.

Hundreds of suppliers of e-commerce website Leflair are accusing the company of not paying them after shutting down operations.

The online seller of clothes, household items and cosmetics stopped partnering with local suppliers in early February before ceasing operations.

Pierre Antoine Brun, co-founder and chief operating officer of the Ho Chi Minh City-based company, said at a meeting with suppliers on Monday that the company owes $2 million to 500 suppliers, but has less than $50,000 in the bank.

Some 100 suppliers have said they have not received payments from the company which were due between December and February, and the shutdown announcement caught them by surprise.

Kim Hanh, a footwear supplier, said she and some other suppliers went to its office in District 10 on Tuesday and Wednesday but was informed it had been closed for two weeks. She said it owes them over VND132 million ($5,700).

A supplier who asked not be identified said: "I just want a Leflair representative to confirm the debt and give me a due date."

Leflair has said to suppliers via email that it plans to hold another meeting with 50 suppliers on March 10, claiming that while it could not meet all 500 suppliers, it has no intention of leaving Vietnam and is making every effort to resolve the issue.

One of the suppliers has sought authorities intervention, while others are unclear whether they will be among the 50 invited to the meeting.

The company said it is holding discussions with some strategic investors, and they require a full list of debts, including those to suppliers.

Some customers have said they did not receive delivery despite making payment, and employees claimed they have not been paid.

Leflair was established in 2015 by two French businessmen claiming to sell authentic products from world-famous brands and has raised almost $12 million from investors.

The company said during its four years of operations it had served over 120,000 customers and earned annual revenues of tens of millions of dollars.
by Wang Zhicheng

Yesterday, out of 34 dead, 27 occurred in Wuhan. In China, there are 20 "return" cases, with viruses from abroad. Li Liang, 36, of Wuhan, already cured of the coronavirus, died five days after exiting the hospital. The news of his death has been overshadowed on the web. Doctors in Wuhan continue to warn that many patients, hospitalized and then discharged, have relapsed into the disease. There are two types of coronavirus.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - The National Health Commission announced that 31 people died yesterday due to coronavirus. Of these, 27 were registered in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, the epicenter of the epidemic. The total death toll in the country is now 3015; 2902 in Hubei. The infections reached the quota of 80.565. Yesterday 134 new infected were registered.

The authorities reported two other "imported" cases in Zhejiang province. So far there have been 20 of these cases - coming from outside. China is worried that the virus may return to its territory, imported from the 70 and more countries where the epidemic is spreading.

In the 78 nations affected by the virus, there are 14,840 positive cases, which have resulted in 269 deaths so far. Among the most affected countries are South Korea (over 6 thousand cases); Italy (over 3 thousand), Iran (2922), Japan (1037). The situation is starting to appear difficult even in Germany, France, Spain and the United States.

However, China seems far from having dominated the coronavirus. Yesterday, the site of "The Paper", a Shanghai newspaper published the news that a 36-year-old man from Wuhan, Li Liang, already cured of the coronavirus, died five days after leaving the hospital (one of those built in 10 days, to host the infected). The doctors advised Li Liang to stay in quarantine for another 14 days, but on the fifth day he felt bad, with breathing problems. He returned to the hospital where he died after a few hours. And after a few hours, the news of his death was taken down from "The Paper". Doctors in Wuhan continue to warn that many patients, hospitalized and then discharged, have relapsed.

Meanwhile, a group of Chinese scientists have discovered that there are two types of coronaviruses in circulation: one, called "type L", which is the most common, and another "type S". The "type L" originated from the "type S" and is more infectious.
Warwick Uni is encouraging girls to embrace science

Fancy learning about space science, making protein jelly, and lighting up a few LED circuits  all before you enjoy tea and cake?

An event at the University of Warwick this weekend (Sunday, 8th March) will allow visitors to do just that. To celebrate British Science Week and mark International Womens Day, Warwicks female researchers and students will be hosting A Slice of Science, offering the public the chance to enjoy a whole range of activities, demonstrations and talks which showcase Warwicks female-led research in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

Professor Sandra Chapman from Warwicks department of physics said: We want to inspire a new wave of girls and women to engage with STEM subjects by bringing hands on learning opportunities to all ages.

A Slice of Science is a free event which will enable children and adults from across the region to engage in some of the real life, fascinating and fun science research programmes that are happening on their doorstep, all led by women who are space scientists, biochemists, programmers, statisticians and more. We are hoping to show girls  and women  a real range of jobs in science that they may never have thought they could do.

Amanda Bishop, widening participation coordinator for Warwicks Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine, organised the event. She said: There arent many places you can discuss space weather over a slice of Victoria sponge, or programme a computer before you enjoy a scone, so why not bring your mum, aunty, daughter or granddaughter for a full-on science experience and enjoy afternoon tea while youre here?

During the day there will be a range of drop-in activities run by scientists and students from departments including computer science, life sciences, engineering, WMG and Warwick Medical School. There will also be three fascinating talks taking place:

 How to Freeze a Human, with Dr Kathryn Murray from Chemistry

 Madam Statistician and the Normal Distribution, with Dr Celia Brown, from Warwick Medical School

 Space Superstorms with Professor Sandra Chapman, from Physics

The event runs from 1pm until 4pm on Sunday 8 March, at the Oculus on the main campus at the University of Warwick. Entry to the talks is on a first come first served basis. For more information or to register for the event click here

In addition to the public event, there will be a schools event the following Wednesday 11 March. Girls from schools around Coventry and Warwickshire have been invited to enjoy a day experiencing topics including humanitarian engineering, coding, software and control programming as well as learning generally about higher education and apprenticeships.
Pine Ridge voters will decide on March 10

PINE RIDGE On March 10, voters on the Pine Ridge Reservation will have the chance to support or oppose a referendum to allow alcohol sales limited to casino operations on the reservation. Pine Ridge is presently a dry reservation, and past efforts to legalize alcohol sales have failed at the ballot box.

Last May, the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota 65 percent of tribal voters finally approved alcohol sales at tribal casino operations after many years of voting it down. This change can be attributed to looking all around their borders, especially over in Minnesota, and seeing how casino profits have changed the economic reality of several reservations.

Alcoholism on Pine Ridge, and on every reservation in the United States, can arguably be deemed the single biggest threat any tribe faces to their health and well-being. Over eighty percent of Pine Ridge residents have abused alcohol, although the number of actual alcoholics is only about a quarter of that.

A flyer paid for by the Casino Alcohol Referendum Committee encourages voters of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to approve a referendum authorizing alcohol sales at gaming establishments on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Every reservation economy is trapped between two cultures. These cultural standards are often diametric perceptions of what is right and proper when it comes to establishing the foundations of a sound reservation economy, an economy that will provide jobs, security, and rebuild and maintain tribal infrastructure. Many traditional people dont want the tribe tearing up the land to mine resources or chop down timber, and this same activist mindset opposes business development that appears to prey on the vulnerability of tribal members, such as alcohol sales.

Traditional concerns about the cultural and spiritual welfare of the people are not radical concepts. They speak to every tribe from the ancestral heart of who the people are, and where they have come from, and where the tribe is headed. Any tribal gaming or business operation must filter their objectives in a respectful way through those traditional tribal concerns and fears.

But on the other hand, the purpose of any casino operation is to take full economic advantage of the trust relationship with the federal government that allows tribes to operate independent of state interference and restriction. In an 1866 United States Supreme Court ruling the justices remarked that the greatest enemy any tribe has is the state in which they reside. Tribal sovereignty gives every tribe a leg up on outside state competition for recreation dollars.

Casino profits have helped transform the lives of tribes who were struggling economically, most notably the Shakopee Mdewakanton Band in Minnesota, and the Chickasaw Tribe in Oklahoma. Tribal gaming operations nationwide generate profits in the billions, far in excess of the entire Bureau of Indian Affairs budget for any given year.

At present most of the people coming to Pine Ridge casinos are tribal members. The tribe has failed to lure in enough outside patrons. Bill Pourier, Director of Operations at Prairie Wind Casino, believes tribal revenue from casino operations would double if alcohol sales were allowed at casino operations. Feasibility studies back him up. It is hoped this would increase profits by attracting people from outside the reservation, which would help establish expansions, more money for musical acts, comedians, sporting events.

Contact James Davies at skindiesel@msn.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

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Photo: Dennis Yang/Flickr

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Houston.

ScreamWorld to open Friday the 13th, then close indefinitely Read the full story on Houston Press. Footage shows man trying to wrestle weapon away from attackers at a SW Houston gas station Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston. Several University of Houston faculty, students under self-quarantine after returning from travel abroad Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston. Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin are teaming up for a tour and coming to Houston Read the full story on MySanAntonio. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

Houston's longest-running horror attraction, ScreamWorld, will open for a special night of scares on Friday, March 13, and then close for the foreseeable future. "It seems only fitting that after 31 years of terrorizing well over 1 million patrons, we'll open our doors one last time on Friday the 13th, said ScreamWorld owner Jim Fetterly in a press release.

Eduardo Flores told KPRC 2 he pulled up to get gas at the Shell Gas Station on South Gessner in southwest Houston like he does every day. That's when a man put a gun in his face.

A few students and faculty members at the University of Houston are on self-quarantine after returning from countries on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Level 2 and 3 lists, said school officials on Wednesday in a press release.
Suleiman wants the primary moved up to February or March, and advocated for doing so this year.

I think we made a mistake in failing to move the primary, said Suleiman. New Jersey really blew it and gave up the chance to influence the election.

The state moved its primary up to February in 2008 and could have done so again, Suleiman said. But there were concerns about the cost of holding two primaries  one for president and the other in June for all the other offices, from Congress down to local candidates.

What's next in the 2nd Congressional District race? Tuesdays rally by President Donald Trump in Wildwood cleared the GOP field in this years 2

Had New Jersey had an earlier primary this year, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., might have had more of a shot with his presidential campaign, Suleiman said.

Only the Virgin Islands primary is later, at June 7. It awards just seven delegates. Voting along with New Jersey on June 2 will be New Mexico, with 34 delegates; Washington, D.C., with 20; Montana, with 19; and South Dakota, with 16.

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The National Democratic Convention is July 13 to 16 in Milwaukee. If no candidate gets a majority  at least 1,991 delegates  there could be a brokered convention in which delegates are released to change their votes in an attempt to come up with a clear winner.
The management team at Punchestown Racecourse are pressing ahead with plans for the National Hunt horse racing festival, which starts eight weeks from today, despite fears surrounding a potential coronavirus outbreak.



The five day event, which runs from April 28 to May 2 , is County Kildares most valuable sporting occasion.

According to some estimates it is worth over 60m to the local economy with many racegoers travelling to the races from the UK.

There is less than two months to go and it is a case of all systems go. The virus is one of the threats out there to major sporting events but were assuming the event will go ahead, racecourse manager Conor ONeill said.

St Patrick's Day Parades

St Patrick's Day parades across County Kildare are going ahead but organisers said they will heed any advice from the HSE or the Department of Health.

The people behind the 2020 St Patrick's Day parade in Athy said it's "business as usual" in terms as planning for this year's event.

Patricia Berry of Athy Town Promoters said: "It's business as usual and we're very busy organising the Parade.

She added: "There will be lots of community support and community involvement and it will be bigger and better than ever."

Patricia, who is the Community Officer for Athy Municipal District, also said there has also been no change to other community events being planned in the Athy area in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the Kilcullen community will be taking a break from hosting a St Patrick's Day Parade in the town this year but the event will be returning in 2021, according to local organising committee spokesman JJ Warren.

Naas General Hospital

The Department of Health said that all acute hospitals have identified isolation facilities specific to Covid-19 / Coronavirus - but a spokesperson would not confirm if such a facility is in place at Naas General Hospital.

Acute hospitals are also establishing multi-disciplinary preparedness committees to oversee implementation of guidelines.

A Department of Health spokeswoman told the Leader: "Please be advised that the Department of Health and the HSE will not provide information about individual activations of preparedness plans or about individual cases of novel Covid-19 (Coronavirus) other than confirmed cases.

"The approach which has been taken to date in Ireland is in line with guidance from the WHO and ECDC."

Naas General Hospital serves a catchment area of Kildare/West Wicklow which has a population in excess of 220,000.

Separately, a pharmacy in Kildare town was temporarily sold out of surgical masks and hand sanitisers at the weekend and posted notices outside its premises and on social media.

However Whelan's Pharmacy on Claregate Street said on Monday that it had since received a limited number of hand sanitisers.

At the weekend, the Tesco store in Kildare town also placed "Sorry, Temporarily Out of Stock" signs on empty shelves which usually carried hand gels.

Business guidelines

Meanwhile County Kildare Chamber is encouraging all businesses to adopt precautionary guidelines in relation to Covid-19 or coronavirus.

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has recommended preparatory actions to respond to any outbreak of the virus.

Firms are also asked to consider appointing a planning co-ordinator to lead a companys response who would have clearly defined responsibilities and a budget for planning and for preparedness.

A deputy planning co-ordinator should also be appointed, according to the guidance.

Ibec business group spokesperson Maeve McElwee said that if staff needed to take time off as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, employers should look at opportunities to facilitate this in practical, sensitive and sensible ways.

She said employers should look at different options that were available such as to work remotely from home.

She added: They should also look possibly at things such as taking annual leave or a period of unpaid leave or where that is not possible to take time out and work that time back later on.

Ms McElwee said any would be unique to each individual and organisation.

Meanwhile the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on employers to have ensure that workers incomes are protected during any outbreaks of Covid-19.

ICTU General Secretary Patricia King also urged employers to actively engage with workers and their representatives on any implications that might arise in the workplace before decisions are taken regarding working arrangements as a result of the virus.

She said: In particular measures should be agreed that seek to protect the health and safety of all workers but also have regard to ensuring that workers incomes are protected.

Ms King added that discussions between workers and their employers should take account of the advice of Department of Health experts on the issue.


Apart from the high-voltage visit of US President Donald Trump, India hosted another important presidential visit last week. Myanmar President U Win Myint and Daw Cho Cho, the First Lady, paid a state visit to India during February 26-29.

This visit resulted in around 10 pacts being signed with the focus of most agreements being India-aided development projects, particularly in the conflict-torn Rakhine state.

Prez comes calling

The two nations also decided to work together to launch Indias RuPay Card in Myanmar at the earliest and explore the creation of a digital payment gateway as well as to explore a bilateral mechanism for settlement in local currency in order to boost cross border trade. Cooperation in the field of petroleum products, in refining, stockpiling, blending and retail has also been enhanced with a greater focus on generating synergies between oil and gas companies of India and Myanmar.

Myanmar President U Win Myints visit to India resulted in crucial pacts being signed with the focus on India-aided development projects, particularly in the conflict-torn Rakhine state. (Photo: Twitter/ @narendramodi)

In a sign that the two sides are serious about enhancing connectivity, a bus service from Manipur to Myanmar will be launched from April 7. And at a broader regional level, the two nations agreed to work together to promote principles of openness, inclusiveness, transparency, respect for international law and ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific.

Clearly, there is a new momentum in India-Myanmar ties as India turns towards the Bay of Bengal to articulate a more ambitious Neighbourhood First policy which links India to Southeast Asia more substantively, and as Myanmar becomes a more active partner in tackling insurgents along the border. It is this recognition of Myanmar as a lynchpin in Indias Act East policy that has made New Delhi pursue several high profile infrastructure projects including the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which aims to connect Kolkata with the Sittwe deep-water port in Rakhine state. Though the Sittwe port is viewed by some as a response to the Chinese-funded Kyaukpyu Port, the logic of Indian footprint is much wider as New Delhi hopes for greater regional connectivity.

India and Myanmar signed a landmark defence cooperation agreement in July 2019 aimed at enhancing military training, joint surveillance, and maritime security. Myanmar has been buying defence equipment from India including diesel-electric Kilo Class submarine in 2019.

Xis overtures

However, India is not the only player making its move in Myanmar. As usual, China is much ahead in many dimensions.

In January, Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to visit Nay Pyi Taw since 2001 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He was hoping to give a fresh impetus to Chinas ties with Myanmar by giving a push to a number of stalled infrastructure projects and to further enhance economic ties between the two nations. Given Beijings pursuit of access to the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was given a renewed push during the visit with pacts signed on railways linking Southwestern China to the Indian Ocean, the Kyaukpyu deep sea-port in Rakhine, a special economic zone on the border and a new city project in Yangon.

But Myanmar has been cautious when it comes to Chinese investments. The $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project remains stalled and even Xis visit couldnt revive it as there is local opposition to this ambitious undertaking. Other projects such as the Kyaukpyu port have also been streamlined. This being an election year, Myanmar is in no hurry to relent. There is suspicion about Chinese intentions in Myanmar, given Beijings history of supporting ethnic armed groups on Myanmar. Though China has defended Myanmars handling of the Rohingya on the global stage, trust is still in short supply.

Yangon lynchpin

For India, the challenge is to ensure that a stable and economically dynamic Myanmar emerges soon, so instead of hand wringing over Chinas growing clout in the country, New Delhi needs to evolve a policy response that prioritises efficient delivery of projects in a timely manner and enhancing economic and cultural connections between the two.

Indias economic engagement with Myanmar leaves much to be desired and the so-called Buddhist Circuit is yet to take off. India has strengths which China can only dream of, which need to be leveraged more effectively. India also needs to work with other like-minded countries, in particular Japan, which has a strong profile in Myanmar and is playing an important role in the peace process with ethnic groups. New Delhi and Tokyo enjoy trust in Myanmar which they should deploy to help the country develop sustainable economic infrastructure and more effective security architecture.

It is profoundly important for India to get Myanmar right. Not only does Indias neighbourhood policy depend on it, but the wider Indo-Pacific policy of India also will not be able to fructify if Indias engagement with Myanmar fails to take off.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: Why India must treat the Rohingyas with magnanimity
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / MinKap Resources Inc. (TSXV:KAP) ("MinKap" or the "Company") announces that, further to its press release of February 18, 2020, it has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") with respect to the non-brokered private placement of up to 10,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") of the Company at a price of $0.075 per Unit for aggregate proceeds of up to $750,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (each, a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.15 for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of issuance.The Company also announces that it has received conditional approval from the TSXV in respect of the proposed acquisition of the Breccia Gold Property located in Idaho, USA. Further details of the transaction contemplated will be included in subsequent news releases and disclosure documents to be filed by the Company.The closing of the Offering is anticipated to take place on or about March 20, 2020, or such other later date as the Company may agree. The closing is subject to receipt of all approvals required by the parties, including final approval of the TSXV.The Company also announces that Mr. Errin Kimball has resigned as a director of the Company due to personal reasons, effective immediately. The Company wishes to thank Mr. Kimball for his contribution to the Company and wishes him every success in his future endeavours.On behalf of the Board of DirectorsMinKap Resources Inc.Jonathan ArmesPresident & CEOPhone 1 (416) 708-0243Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws and regulations, including statements regarding the future activities of the Company. Forward looking statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management and are identified by the use of words including "will", "anticipates", "expected to", "plans", "planned" and other similar words. Actual results may differ significantly. The achievement of the results expressed in forward-looking statements is subject to a number of risks, including those described in the Company's management discussion and analysis as filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com . Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.SOURCE: MinKap Resources Inc.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  The House Committee on Labor and Employment will conduct an inquiry next week on the labor-related complaints raised by the former security guard who held dozens of people hostage in a popular Greenhills mall.

Committee chair and 1PACMAN Party-list Rep. Eric Pineda said that the former guard, Alchie Paray, might have compelling reasons for resorting to his drastic act.

I do not condone his actions  endangering lives and violating public order and safety laws. However, there may have been compelling reasons as to why Mr. Paray took such desperate actions, and its a matter we should look into, said Pineda in a statement.

The inquiry is scheduled for March 10.

Charges of frustrated murder, illegal possession of firearm, and serious illegal detention cases have been filed against Paray after he shot a coworker in V-Mall and later held 55 people hostage for several hours.

Paray said he was fired after going on absence without leave for weeks

Pineda, explaining said that it is part of the chambers power to look into the welfare of workers.

How can we expect a security guard to perform his task to secure the safety of the areas assigned to him if he himself does not feel secured in terms of his employment? I find it ironic and unacceptable, he said.

He added, Mr. Paray never demanded money. His demand was that he wanted to be heard and explain his side. He claimed incompetence, negligence, and corruption.
As James Roe neared Oregon Park in Northeast Portland, he was startled by what he saw.

The 36-year-old was out last Thursday afternoon looking for his 1994 F350 pickup truck, which had been stolen days before. Now he was witnessing two men who appeared to be breaking into a black Ford Mustang parked off Northeast 29th Avenue with a lock-picking tool.

Surreal is almost the way Id describe it, Roe recalled in a recent interview. I suppose it speaks to what an endemic problem car theft is here.

Roe considered rolling down his window to confront the suspicious men huddled around the Mustang, but he decided it wasnt worth the risk.

So he called 911 to report a possible crime in progress.

I thought I was doing the right thing to prevent this car from being stolen, Roe recalled.

He sat back and waited for police to arrive.

And waited.

Then waited some more.

No police.

After about 20 minutes, Roe said, the men finally popped the Mustangs door open. One got in, started the engine and drove off.

Roe decided to follow the man, who made his way west toward downtown.

During the tail, he snapped photos of the Mustang, its license plate and the man behind the wheel.

Again he called 911 to report that the black car was now heading toward the Burnside Bridge.

Before Roe could finish with the details, the dispatcher interrupted him.

The officers have reviewed the information, the dispatcher told Roe, according an audio copy of the call. I dont know if theyre going to do a whole lot more with it, to be honest.

With that, Roe put an end to the pursuit.

The whole thing was just baffling to me, the Southeast Portland resident said.

I know the police in Portland are short-staffed, but this was simply put in their lap. It makes me concerned about whether they actually prioritize car theft in any meaningful way.

Dispatch records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive show that a Portland police officer eventually responded to Roes reported theft in progress  41 minutes after he made his first call to 911.

Officer Nola Watts, a Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman, said Thursday that she could not speculate why it took police almost an hour to show up, adding that a crime may have never occurred. No Mustang with the license plate photographed by Roe has been reported stolen.

A suspicious circumstance was reported of someone using a slim jim to get into a vehicle, Watts said.

This is not necessarily a crime, as indicated by the fact that there has never been a reported stolen on this vehicle. Therefore, there was no crime in progress.

A photo of James Roe's 1994 F350, which was stolen last week in Southeast Portland. (Courtesy of James Roe)

Additionally, Dan Douthit, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, said the dispatcher should not have led Roe to believe police would not use the additional information he provided.

The call taker was not in a position to speak on behalf of PPB and should not have made this comment, Douthit said.

Last year, Portland police logged nearly 6,400 stolen cars, or almost 18 a day, records show. Only Albuquerque and Oakland had more car thefts per capita, according to FBI statistics.

Watts dismissed concerns that the long response time was because of a staffing shortage at the bureau, which has more than 100 vacancies.

This case does not appear to have any connection to our staffing challenges, she said.

Rather, it appears as if there was a difference in what the caller perceived was happening and what actually was happening.

Roes response?

Even if it wasnt a crime, it would have taken them two minutes to ascertain that, he said. That theyre trying to justify their slow response after the fact  I just find that ridiculous.

As for his stolen truck? Its still missing 10 days later.

If it ever turns up, it will likely be because of help from a member of the public, Roe said, not the Portland police.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
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

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New Delhi: Supreme Court on Thursday (March 5, 2020) said it will take up cases related to CAA only after arguments in the nine-bench Sabarimala matter is over.

A three-member bench said this after senior advocate Kapil Sibal had mentioned the matter for fixing a date. The bench was led by Chief Justice S A Bobde and comprising justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant.

Attorney General KK Venugopal told the bench that the Centre would be filing a reply in a few days.

A nine-judge bench is re-examining various religious issues, including the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple and mosques, and the practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community.

The Centre is yet to file a reply, it will submit a reply in a few days.
New Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn told reporters that banning CBD would be a fool's game while making his first public comments about the legally questionable substance.

Hahn told the reporters gathered that he'd recently received a text message from one of his lung cancer patients asking if using CBD to supplement their chemotherapy was safe. He answered that he didn't know and asked if she'd spoken to her doctor about it. Her doctor had said it was safe. I'm certainly not going to interfere with that decision, Hahn said. People are using these products. Were not going to be able to say you cant use these products. Its a fools game to try to even approach that  We need to fill the information gaps.

Hahn went on to describe the life-saving effects of Epidiolexa pharmaceutical that uses CBD as its active ingredient. So we know that there's some medicinal value there. What about on the other side of the fence? Where could it be of benefit?

According to Hahn, the FDA is spending a good deal of time examining the evidence and formulating its stance on the subject. We have to be open to the fact that there might be some value to these products, he said.

This comment is incredibly encouraging after nearly two years of legal confusion over the drug. CBD is technically illegal to sell in any consumable form. Although hemp was made legal by the 2018 Farm Bill, the law forbids companies from selling chemicals that are used as active ingredients in pharmaceuticals in over-the-counter products. Since CBD is the active ingredient in the above-mentioned Epidiolex, it's technically a regulated substance.

But Marijuana Moment reports that last week, the agency missed a deadline to provide an update on its progress with developing CBD regulations.

Senior Cannabis Use on the Rise

According to a new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, Trends in Cannabis Use Among Older Adults in the United States, 2015-2018, cannabis use among seniors over the age of 65 doubled between 2015 and 2018.

I find it fascinating that people who would never touch an illegal drug are now trying to get it, even if it's just for medical purposes, study co-author Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told reporters. According to CNN, Palamar and his co-author, Benjamin Han, have been analyzing marijuana use among seniors for a decade. The data for the study was taken from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which polled 15,000 Americans who weren't living in an institution.

According to the paper, only 0.4 percent of seniors over 65 reported using marijuana in 2006. By 2015, that number had grown to 2.4 percent, and by 2018, it was a whopping 4.2 percent. The authors said that while the use of other drugs was characterized by positive and negative swings, cannabis use was consistently rising.

And cannabis' health benefits don't seem to be the only reason for the uptick, either. I was curious to see if it was people who are more sick, with say, multiple chronic conditions, trying cannabis, or is it the healthier people, perhaps with only one health condition, Han said. And it appears it's the healthier older people who are trying cannabis more.

But Han and Palamar are apparently concerned over their findings, allowing their inner school marms to come to the conclusion that seniors should not be experimenting with psychotropic substances. As a geriatrician, I worry about any kind of prescribed medicine or substance use -- anything that has any kind of psychoactive effects, Han said. I worry about things like dizziness, falls. I worry how it may interact with certain medical conditions.

Somewhere, a wizened matron is puffing on her antique brass pipe and muttering, Okay, boomer.

USDA Eases Hemp Rules

Last week, the US Department of Agriculture announced it will be delaying a hemp rule that would limit who could test plants. After facing outcry from critics, the agency said it will wait a full year to implement the rulewhich will require farmers to test their plants at labs registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency.

We are delaying enforcement of these requirements based on comment received in response to the [Interim Final Rule] and in discussions with states and tribes as they pursue USDA-approval of their plans, said the agency in a press release. We have learned that these provisions will serve as a significant hindrance to the growth of a domestic hemp market at this nascent stage. The statement goes on to note that a significant number of hemp farmers will not have access to DEA-approved testing labs this year.

Interestingly, the agency will also be delaying a rule that requires farmers to dispose of hemp that tests above 0.3 percent THC (is it still called hemp at that point?) using DEA-approved methods, because the associated costs could hinder growth and discourage fresh blood from entering the marketplace. Until a final rule is enacted, farmers are given the option of disposing of the offending plants using common on-farm practices as a means of disposal while rendering the controlled substance non-retrievable or non- ingestible  including plowing under, mulching, deep burial, burning and other methods.

The two rules will remain in limbo until Oct. 31, 2021, or the publication of the final rule, whichever occurs first.
That South superstar Vijay Sethupathi is making his big Bollywood debut this year with Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha is known to all. The comedy-drama is being directed by Advait Chandan and is the official remake of the Hollywood cult classic Forrest Gump that featured Tom Hanks in the lead. Apart from Aamir and Vijay, Chandan's directorial venture also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead.

While everyone is super excited to see Khan and Sethupathi on the big screen, we hear the latter will be undergoing a huge physical transformation for his role in the movie. Yes, as per a report in 123telugu.com, Vijay will be shedding 25 kilos before he starts shooting for Laal Singh Chaddha from June onwards. In fact, Aamir has already lost 21 kilos and will lean down further for his much-awaited release.

In some portion of the film, fans will get to see Aamir and Vijay as army officers and hence both the actors are working hard on their physical transformation. Khan, who is playing the titular role in the film, is also producing Laal Singh Chaddha in association with Viacom 18. And for those unaware, Advait is Aamir's manager who made his directorial debut with Secret Superstar in 2017.

Coming back to Vijay, the 42-year-old actor is currently busy filming for his upcoming Tamil action-thriller Master. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, the movie stars Sethupathi in a villainous role whereas Thalapathy Vijay plays the hero. Master is scheduled to arrive in the cinema halls on April 9, 2020.

That's not all! Vijay has several films on his plate at the moment which means he'll have multiple releases this year including Laal Singh Chaddha which will hit the screens during Christmas.

Aamir Khan And Vijay Sethupathi To Come Together For Lal Singh Chaddha?
SHANGHAI, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- JinkoSolar forecasts a big 2020 despite the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), which may have an impact on the supply chain - something felt across almost all industries. According to the Company, thanks to its broadly diversified global footprint, localized services teams, multiple hubs and flexible logistics, the negative effects from the COVID-19 outbreak will be reduced to a minimum.

Tiger Modules

If 2019 was the year during which JinkoSolar's Cheetah became the most talked-about solar panel, 2020 may be the year for its Tiger 470 to take the industry by storm, thanks to the greater power and efficiency that this new panel can deliver. Without adding additional cost to BOS, Tiger panels will allow customers to achieve a major reduction in the LCOE and accelerate the pace of technology innovation. JinkoSolar is seeing increasing interest in the Tiger modules thanks to its high energy density. By the end of 2020, JinkoSolar expects the capacity of Tiger module's premium series to reach 10GW.

Swan Bifacial Modules

The Swan Bifacial modules with a transparent DuPont backsheet has been perceived as one of the best selling bifacial panels to date. After delivery to the first client in Australia Q3 last year, JinkoSolar has booked nearly 2GW of orders and the Swan bifacial module has become one of the best selling bifacial modules in the world. The demand is strong as more EPC, developers and investors understand the value implications of this product.

Instead of reducing frontside glass thickness to save weight which has been quietly adopted by some dual glass bifacial module makers, JinkoSolar's Swan bifacial panel with a transparent backsheet keeps the thickness of frontside glass unchanged to guarantee the robustness of the panel.

Based on current trends, the Swan bifacial will be able to outsell dual glass in some regions where BOS cost is a critical factor to total investment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union has been postponed in view of coronavirus outbreak in various parts of the world.

Modi was expected to visit Brussels on March 13 for the annual summit which was set to lay ground for deeper trade and investment ties between India and the 27-nation block.

"With regard to the proposed India-EU Summit, both sides have agreed that due to health authorities advising against travel between regions, it would be wise to re-schedule the summit to a later mutually convenient date," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.

He said the decision has been taken in the spirit of the close cooperation between India and the EU.

The MEA spokesperson said the EU also shared same concerns and commitment with India to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon.

"So, it has been decided that the Summit will be rescheduled on a mutually convenient date," he said.

Over 3,200 people have died of coronavirus while it has infected more than 92,000 people in over 65 countries, triggering a global health emergency.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Belgium last month to prepare the ground for Modi's visit for the summit.

Jaishankar visited Brussels weeks after the European Parliament postponed a vote on a motion against India's Citizenship Amendment Act.

A number of member countries of the EU including Italy and Belgium are reeling under rising cases of coronavirus.

On Modi's proposed visit to Bangladesh, Kumar said the prime minister will be visiting the neighbouring country to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Kumar said Modi accepted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's invitation to attend the celebrations.

"We will share the details later," Kumar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two major coffee chains have stopped serving beverages in reusable cups brought by customers amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The front window of a downtown Starbucks Coffee store is shown in Toronto, May 10, 2018. Starbucks is stopping the use of reuseable cups and is halting business travel to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Two major coffee chains have stopped serving beverages in reusable cups brought by customers amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Starbucks and The Second Cup Ltd. say they are temporarily halting the environmentally friendly measure, but will continue to honour associated discounts.

"First and foremost, the health and well-being of our partners and customers remains top of mind and our highest priority, and we will continue to act thoughtfully and courageously despite the disruption and uncertainty COVID-19 brings to our daily lives," wrote Rossann Williams, Starbucks executive vice-president and president of U.S. company-operated business and Canada, in an open letter published on the company's website Wednesday.

The global spread of coronavirus caused global stock markets to fall, created worries in the Canadian tourism industry, and prompted other corporate concerns and changes.

The letter announced a slew of "precautionary steps" the company is taking in response to the outbreak.

That includes pausing personal cup use and serving drinks in in-store mugs. The company will continue to honour a 10-cent discount for customers who bring their cup or ask for a company mug to use in store.

The coffee chain is also ramping up regular cleaning practices across all stores, modifying or postponing large meetings and providing info to employees on how to respond to suspected cases of the virus. It has also restricted business-related air travel through to March 31.

Second Cup also temporarily halted personal cup use as of Thursday, the company said.

The coffee chain will also honour its 20-cent discount for customers who bring a reusable mug.

Second Cup, however, will continue to pour drinks into ceramic mugs for in-store use, the company said in a statement.

"All ceramic mugs are washed in high-pressure sanitizers," it said, and the company has reminded staff to monitor the machine's temperature and wash their hands prior to unloading dishes.

Second Cup has taken other measures over the past month, including increasing the number of times its cafes are cleaned each day.

Other coffee purveyors  McDonald's Canada, Tim Hortons, Balzac's Coffee Roasters, Aroma Espresso Bar and Timothy's World Coffee  did not respond to a request for comment.

Restaurants Canada, a national association that represents the foodservice industry, "is closely monitoring developments" and conducted a survey among its members last month to see how they are responding to the coronavirus outbreak, the organization said in a statement. The survey received 125 responses representing 6,800 locations.

Members have made more hand sanitizers available, reminded staff to stay home if they are sick and monitored information from Canadian health authorities among other measures.

Try our Dish The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Dish arrives in your inbox every other Friday. See sample. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Restaurants Canada said it does not have data on how these businesses have changed their approach to sustainability initiatives and waste generation during the outbreak.

"Restaurant operators know that environmental sustainability is important to their guests, but accessibility, and health and safety, are just as important. They're always working on ways to balance those needs."

It's the latest corporate impact from the global spread of COVID-19, which caused global stock markets to fall and has created worries in the Canadian tourism industry.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.

With files from Salmaan Farooqui

Companies in this story: (TSX:SCU)
The Supreme Court Thursday refused to scrap the (SSC) combined graduate level examination of 2017, which was marred by allegations of paper leak and malpractices.

The apex court, which had set up a seven-member committee to suggest measures to make entrance exams meant for jobs and admissions in educational institutions foolproof, referred to the panel's report which said it is not possible to record a conclusive finding that entire examination process was "tainted".

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde was told by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner who had sought probe into the alleged paper leak and scrapping of the exam, that as per the CBI report the paper was leaked and there were other malpractices also.

Bhushan told the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, that CBI has chargesheeted the person who was custodian of the paper and had allegedly leaked it in lieu of illegal gratification.

"We will leave the matter to be dealt with by the criminal court. Your argument is that the whole examination should be cancelled. That we are reluctant to do," the bench said.

Bhushan argued that CBI has said that it was not possible to identify each and every candidate who may have benefitted from the malpractices in the examination, which included remote access for computers which were used for online exam.

Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that government had "appointed CBI to hold inquiry in the matter" and the exam was also conducted afresh for the paper which was allegedly leaked.

Nadkarni said the government would accept the recommendations made by the committee, headed by retired apex court judge Justice G S Singhvi.

The other members of the committee are: co-founder of tech giant Infosys Nandan Nilekani, renowned computer scientist Vijay Bhatkar, renowned mathematician R L Karandikar, Sanjay Bhardwaj and a representative each from the Centre as well as the CBI.

On May 9 last year, the top court had paved the way for declaration of results of SSC CGLE-2017 by vacating its stay on it.

The apex court, however, had made clear that declaration of results of examination would be subject to final outcome of the case.

The SSC is a central government body which conducts examinations to recruit staff at multiple levels in various ministries and departments.

Several lakh students appear in SSC examination each year and enter government services in Group C and D Categories of jobs once they qualify.

The SSC Combined Graduate Level exam has a four-tier system, in which tier I and tier II are computer-based, while in tier III and IV, job applicants take up a descriptive paper and a computer proficiency test or skill test.
The Chief Constable Simon Byrne has said he does not expect "scenes from a horror film" if cases of coronavirus increase in Northern Ireland.

Speaking after a meeting of the Policing Board on Thursday, Mr Byrne said he felt confident the police were resilient enough to cope if an increased number of officers went on sick leave.

He has also called for the PSNI to be given new powers to detain people suspected of having coronavirus, as has already been done for police forces in England and Wales.

On Monday it was announced that three people in Northern Ireland have now tested positive for the virus, as well as six in the Irish Republic.

"At the moment we're following the Public Health Agency's advice, which is similar to everybody else at the moment," he said.

"The disease, whilst the dots in the map are increasing, it hasn't yet exploded into the country.

"So we're following the advice about personal hygiene. Clearly you would imagine in terms of what I need to do with senior colleagues is to make sure our preparedness is at optimum."

It's easy to speculate some sort of scenes from a horror film or a famous Hollywood movie where we're dealing with pandemic and virus Chief Constable Simon Byrne

He expected officer numbers would not only be affected by illness, but by those caring for family members.

"Our commitment is to continue to staff the 999 service, respond to emergency calls and respond to serious crime and terrorism," he said.

He added that extra care would be needed in areas of increased risk of infection such as custody centres.

"It's easy to speculate some sort of scenes from a horror film or a famous Hollywood movie where we're dealing with pandemic and virus," he said.

"But at the moment our assumption is actually that as people fall ill, that will quieten down the calls for service from us.

"Our priority is to encourage people to remain calm through a period of uncertainty. We're all probably facing a unique experience that we've not seen the like of for a 100 years.

"But we need to keep officers and staff at work to protect you."

Options to cope with reduced officer numbers, he said, were introducing 12-hour shifts and cancelling rest days in the short term.

"So at the moment we're not complacent and we can use a lot of experience here from operating at pace in different times. Whether it's dealing with complex investigations or serious disorder to keep officers and staff available to work."
Fifteen homicide convictions and 12 sexual assault guilty verdicts in Ontario are at risk of being overturned due to a recent appeal ruling on changes to how juries are selected, according to the Crown.

Those numbers, which had not previously been made public, are found in written submissions Ontario prosecutors made to the Supreme Court of Canada last month. The Crown is asking Canadas top court to hear its appeal of a January ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal that may cause retrials in dozens of completed criminal cases.

In the murder case R. v. Chouhan, the Court of Appeal ruled on the constitutionality of changes to the jury selection process that took effect on Sept. 19. Among the changes, the federal government abolished peremptory challenges, which gave both Crown and defence lawyers the right to reject a specific number of potential jurors without having to give a reason.

The Court of Appeal upheld the ban on peremptory challenges as constitutional. But the court also ruled that if an accused person had opted for a trial by jury before the law took effect, they should still have had the right to use the challenges.

The ruling meant a new trial for Pardeep Singh Chouhan, who had been convicted of first-degree murder by a jury that had been selected using the new rules.

His retrial, set for April, will now have to be adjourned because of the Crowns application to the Supreme Court, said his lawyer, Dirk Derstine.

The fact that the Crown is seeking leave (to appeal) will itself only prolong the uncertainty that people are having about the state of the law, he told the Star.

The Crown had argued in the lower courts that the new jury selection rules should apply to ongoing cases. While the Court of Appeal found that ongoing cases should have been able to use peremptory challenges, it ruled that some of the other new jury selection rules did apply to those same cases.

In the wake of the Chouhan ruling, Ontarios courts have scrambled to find out how many other cases are affected by the decision, and are bracing for dozens of costly and lengthy retrials.

That chaos is captured in the Crowns filing with the Supreme Court, which says about 38 convictions are at risk of being overturned in Ontario, including homicide and sexual assault cases.

With every day, week and month of uncertainty that passes, the number of jury verdicts potentially lost on appeal will quickly become staggering, write Crown attorneys Andrea Baiasu, Michael Perlin and Rebecca Law.

The need for this courts guidance is paramount. This case raises pressing issues of national importance on which this court can provide clarity.

One case likely headed for a retrial is the College Street Bar sex assault case, in which bar owner Gavin MacMillan and manager Enzo DeJesus Carrasco were convicted of sexually assaulting and drugging a 24-year-old woman for several hours at the downtown establishment.

The pair was sentenced last month to nine years in prison. They are appealing, and their convictions are expected to be overturned as they were not allowed to use peremptory challenges during jury selection.

The Crown points out in its Supreme Court memorandum that the federal government failed to include provisions in its legislation, Bill C-75, about whether the jury selection changes should apply only to new cases after Sept. 19, or to ongoing cases as well.

The prosecutors also argue that trial judges across Canada have come to different conclusions on the application of the new jury selection changes, though Ontario is the first province to have its appeal court weigh in.

The unprecedented uncertainty caused by this ongoing divergent application of the law across Canada requires immediate resolution by this court, the Crown said. The differences of approach pose an ongoing risk to jury verdicts in cases where it is later determined that the wrong jury selection process was employed. With each day that passes, additional jury trials are resulting in verdicts which are vulnerable on appeal.

Theres no guarantee that the Supreme Court will agree to hear the appeal. The top court hears appeals from less than three per cent of judgments from the Ontario Court of Appeal, according to the latter courts website. If the court does hear the appeal, Derstine said he will again challenge the constitutionality of the ban on peremptory challenges.

Critics have also maintained that the Crown could have dealt with this issue much sooner, before the wrong process was used in so many cases. Daniel Brown, vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said the Ontario government could have asked the Court of Appeal in whats known as a reference case for guidance on the application of the new jury rules.

They knew they would be prosecuting serious sexual assaults and homicide cases when they pressed forward with their interpretation of Bill C-75, without seeking any type of guidance from the Court of Appeal, Brown said.

If anyone is to blame about the state of affairs right now, its the Ontario provincial Crown Attorneys Office, who insisted on this process.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 4, 2020) - Wildsky Resources Inc. (TSXV: WSK) (the "Company") announces that, effective March 4, 2020, listing of the Company's common shares will be transferred to NEX, and the Company's Tier classification will change from Tier 2 to NEX. The Company's trading symbol shall also change from WSK to WSK.H.

Further to its news release dated December 5, 2019, the Company continues to pursue the acquisition of three Niobium-Tantalum exploration licenses and seven gold and lead-zinc exploration licenses located in Nigeria. The Company is currently preparing a National Instrument 43-101 report concerning the three Niobium-Tantalum licenses. Due to concerns regarding the spread of Covid-19 virus, the Company anticipates that completion of this technical report may be delayed due to the Company postponing visiting the site.

The Company will continue to update the general public regarding the status of this technical report and the acquisition of the licenses.

About Wildsky Resources Inc.

Wildsky Resources Inc. is a Canadian based exploration and development company with an office located in Vancouver, B.C. The Company's goal is to create value for its shareholders through continuously looking for new properties to acquire globally through its international connections and talent resources.

For more information on Wildsky Resources, please contact the Company at (778) 889-4966, or visit the Company's website at www.wildskyresources.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"signed by Wenhong Jin"

Wenhong Jin

President and CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in Wildsky Resources' periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "appear", "should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.

Story continues

Although Wildsky Resources has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Wildsky Resources disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53143
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) took aim at his Democratic counterpart Chuck Schumer in opening remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, after Schumer directed threatening comments at Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday.

McConnell accused the New York Democrat of trying to downplay the gravity of the situation by misrepresenting what was, according to McConnell, a clear threat directed at individual justices.

Contrary to what the Democratic leader has tried to claim, he very clearly was not addressing Republican lawmakers or anybody else. He literally directed the statement to the justices, by name, McConnell said. And he said, quote, if you go forward with these awful decisions, which could only apply to the court itself. The minority leader of the United States Senate threatened two associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Period.

Schumer told a crowd of pro-abortion activists on Wednesday that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will pay the price if they decide to overturn past precedent in June Medical Services v. Russo, the first major abortion case that the two Trump appointees have heard since being appointed.

Schumer later tried to claim that he was referencing the political price Republicans will pay for the conservative justices appointments and the major grassroots movement that will rise up in response to a decision that restricts abortion.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare rebuke of the minority leader in response.

Threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous, Roberts said.

The majority leader said Thursday that the episode contained a ironic silver lining in that it reminded the public of the importance of insulating justices from political pressure by giving them a lifetime tenure.

I would suggest that my Dem colleagues spend less time trying to threaten impartial judges and more time coming up with ideas that are actually constitutional. Fortunately, this extraordinary display contains one-ironic silver lining, he said.

Story continues

President Trump also criticized Schumer for the remarks, tweeting Serious action MUST be taken NOW!

This is a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court by Schumer. If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW! https://t.co/WqQUbyzaJU  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020

Trump then tweeted that Schumer himself must pay a severe price for his comments.

Last week, the president took to Twitter to criticize Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor for an inappropriate and terrible dissent in the Courts public-charge ruling.

More from National Review
English Danish

Company announcement no. 4

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Pursuant to Article 10 of the Articles of Association, notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of

Spar Nord Bank A/S

will be held on Tuesday, 31 March 2020 at 3:30 pm at the address Europahallen, Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center, Europa Plads 4, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark.

Agenda

1. Election of chair of the meeting.

The Board of Directors nominates Laurits Toft, Attorney.

2. Report by the Board of Directors on the activities of the Company

3. Presentation of the audited parent company financial statements for approval and the consolidated financial statements.

4. Resolution as to the distribution of profit or covering of loss, as the case may be, according to the approved financial statements.

The Board of Directors recommends the distribution of a dividend of DKK 3.5 per share.

5. Presentation of the Companys remuneration policy for approval pursuant to the Danish Financial Business Act.

6. Approval of the Board of Directors remuneration for 2019 and the level of remuneration for 2020.

7. Authorisation to the Board of Directors to buy treasury shares.

With reference to section 198 of the Danish Companies Act, the Board of Directors recommends that it be authorised to permit the Company, in the period until the next Annual General Meeting, to acquire treasury shares having a nominal value of up to 10% of the share capital at the market price prevailing at the time of acquisition, subject to a deviation of up to 10%.

8. Election of members to the Board of Directors; see Article 16(1) of the Banks Articles of Association.

The Board of Directors recommends the re-election of Kjeld Johannesen and Morten Bach Gaardboe.

Reference is made to Spar Nord Banks Annual Report for 2019 regarding information about each of the incumbent board members.

The Board of Directors proposes that Henrik Sjgren be elected to the Board of Directors.

9. Appointment of auditor.

The Board of Directors proposes the appointment of Deloitte Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab (CVR No. 33963556) at the recommendation of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee has not been influenced by third parties nor has it been subject to any agreement with any third party that restricts the General Meeting's appointment of certain auditors or audit firms.

10. Proposals from the Board of Directors:

The Board of Directors proposes an amendment to Article 1(4) of the Articles of Association .

Article 1(4) subsequently has the following wording:

(4)

The Companys register of shareholders is kept by VP Securities A/S, CVR no. 21 59 93 36.

The Board of Directors proposes to amend Article 1(4) of the Articles of Association due to a merger between VP Securities A/S and VP Services A/S, which is the Companys registrar.

11. Any other business

The agenda and the complete proposals to be submitted at the General Meeting will from 9 March 2020 be available for inspection by the shareholders at the Companys offices and at www.sparnord.dk.

The cut-off date is Tuesday, 24 March 2020.

Rights to attend and vote

Any shareholder who has been recorded as of the record date or has requested that his shares be registered in the Register of Shareholders and who has ordered an admission card by 27 March 2020, is entitled to attend the General Meeting.

The shareholder is entitled to invite an adviser to the General Meeting. If the shareholder wants to invite an adviser, the adviser must also request an admission card by 27 March 2020.

Admission cards are obtainable from the Companys address, Skelagervej 15, DK-9000 Aalborg, or can be ordered by telephone at +45 9634 4017 (Strategy & Management Support).

A proxy form and a document for use when voting by post may be downloaded from www.sparnord.dk and sent to VP Investor Services A/S, Weidekampsgade 14, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, before the General Meeting.

Any proxy form must reach VP Investor Services A/S by 27 March 2020, and postal votes must reach VP Investor Services A/S by Monday, 30 March 2020 at noon.

The provisions of the Articles of Association regarding voting rights are as follows:

Article 9(1). A shareholder who owns at least 20,000 shares (a major shareholder) on the cut-off date one week before the general meeting is entitled to exercise his voting rights at the general meeting.

Article 10(4). The right of shareholders to exercise their voting rights at general meetings is exercised through the delegates. However, this does not apply to the shareholders referred to in Article 9(1).

Article 15(1). Delegates who are also members of the Bank Committees represent the share capital that has been registered as belonging to the relevant shareholder region as of the cut-off date one week before the relevant general meeting. Each delegate represents equal fractions of the share capital, calculated based on the number of delegates immediately prior to the general meeting.

Article 15(2). A major shareholder, see Article 9(1), represents the share capital that has been registered as of the cut-off date one week before the General Meeting, or regarding which a request for registration has been made as of the same date

Article 15(3). In order to be entitled to vote at the General Meeting, a delegate or the major shareholder shall have requested an admission card no later than three days before a General Meeting.

Article 14(2). A resolution to amend the Articles of Association or to dissolve the Company is subject to the proposal being adopted by two-thirds of the votes cast as well as of the voting stock represented at the General Meeting.

Spar Nord Bank's share capital amounts to DKK 1,230,025,260, divided into shares of DKK 10 each.

Yours faithfully

Spar Nord Bank A/S

Kjeld Johannesen

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Attachment
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Javier Perez de Cuellar has died in Peru at the age of 101, the United Nations said in a statement.

He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world. Mr. Perez de Cuellars life spanned not only a century but also the entire history of the United Nations, dating back to his participation in the first meeting of the General Assembly in 1946, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, offering condolences.

Reuters reports Perez de Cuellar served as head of the international body from 1982 to 1991. During his time in office, he played a crucial role in securing the release of American hostages held in Lebanon as well as peace accords in Cambodia and El Salvador.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Anindia Afiyantari, 33, pleaded guilty to three charges of terror financing. (Photo: Getty)

SINGAPORE  A 33-year-old Indonesian maid working in Singapore who wanted to fight for ISIS in Syria and was prepared to become a suicide bomber was on Thursday (5 March) jailed for two years for funding terrorism.

Anindia Afiyantari, who was arrested by the Internal Security Department in August last year, pleaded guilty to three out of five charges under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, involving a total of $130.

At the time of her arrest, Anindia had been working for a period of up to 13 years in Singapore.

Last month, two of her compatriots were also jailed for similar crimes. One maid had contributed $1,216.73 in total to terrorists.

Wanted to become suicide bomber

Anindia was arrested and detained by the Internal Security Department (ISD) on 20 August last year. She was issued with an Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act the following month for supporting ISIS and the Indonesia-based ISIS-affiliated terrorist group Jemaah Anshaut Daulah (JAD).

In a press release announcing her detention in September, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Anindia and another Indonesian maid, Retno Hernayani, 37, wanted to travel to Syria to join ISIS. They were also encouraged by their online contacts to migrate to the southern Philippines, Afghanistan or Africa to join pro-ISIS groups there, the ministry said.

Anindia was prepared to take up arms for ISIS in Syria and become a suicide bomber, while Retno aspired to live amongst ISIS fighters in Syria and participate in the conflict there, the ministry added.

The ISD referred the matter to the polices Commercial Affairs Department on 22 August for parallel investigations into Anindias terrorism financing activities.

Gathered with like-minded compatriots

Anindia first got to know about JAD in 2009 or 2010 while she was watching a news programme about the arrest of controversial radical cleric Abu-Bakar Bashir, in relation to his involvement in a military training camp in Aceh, Indonesia.

Story continues

The group is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks and foiled plots in Indonesia in recent years and has been banned by the Indonesian government. A common method for JAD to obtain funds is through the use of ostensible religious charities, which conduct donation drives via social media platforms such as Telegram and Facebook.

Anindia knew that both ISIS and JAD advocated the use of violence, allegedly to defend Islam and uphold Islamic law. Still, she supported the two groups.

In June 2018, Anindia befriended another maid from Indonesia, Yulistika, 33, while they were shopping for clothes. A couple of weeks later, the latter introduced Anindia to Retno. In August, Yulistika introduced Anindia to another Indonesian maid, Nurhasanah, 33.

Uploaded violent videos on Facebook

Anindia became close friends with Yulistika, Retno and Nurhasanah. All four maids identified with the ideologies of ISIS and JAD and met up from time to time to discuss their understanding of ISIS and the practices of Islamic law by ISIS, the court heard.

Anindias new friends also introduced her to ISIS-related Telegram group chats and channels, and she started browsing information related to ISIS and videos of ISIS-related violence and killings.

She would upload information from the Telegram groups onto her Facebook accounts with the aim of spreading ISIS ideology. She also uploaded videos of bombings and killings. Whenever her account was blocked due to the nature of the videos, she would create another account using a different email address. Her multiple Facebook accounts were eventually banned.

Funded terrorism via charities

Around 10 March last year, Aninida, who earned about $600 a month, met her three like-minded friends at Paya Lebar. They agreed to donate to a religious charity, Aseer Cruee Centre, to support relatives of JAD members who had died or were in jail, and also to support JAD activities including the use of violence. The charity had called for donations via social media.

The group decided to donate $20 each to Aseer Cruee Centre and Retno collected the money, which she remitted to her fiance Fikri Zulfikar.

In January last year, Anindia also saw an appeal for donations by another religious charity, Anfiqu Centre, via Telegram and WhatsApp and knew that it also advanced JADs causes, including terrorism. After discussing with Yulistika, both decided to donate $20 to the charity every month to support JAD.

In March last year, Anindia gave Yulistika $20 and the latter remitted the money to her boyfriend, Ari Prasetyono for the purpose of donating to the charity.

Four months later, Anindia also saw an Anfiqu Centre brochure on Telegram, soliciting for donations. The brochure contained the bank account number of Al-Fandy Suko Andreanto. By then, Yulistika had already gone back to Indonesia. On 14 July, Anindia personally remitted $50 to Al-Fandy. She sent a photo of the receipt to Al-Fandy via WhatsApp and she received an acknowledgement to thank her.

19 radicalised maids since 2015

In its press release in September last year, MHA said the authorities have picked up 19 radicalised maids in total since 2015.

None of the 19 maids had planned to carry out terrorist acts in Singapore. Nonetheless, their radicalisation and association with terrorists overseas rendered them a security threat to Singapore, said MHA.

The ministry advises those who suspect a person of being radicalised or engaging in terrorism-related activities to promptly call the Internal Security Departments Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline at 1800-2626-473 (1800-2626-ISD).

For each of her terrorism-funding charges under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, Anindia could have been fined a maximum of $500,000 and also jailed for 10 years.

Last month, Retno was sentenced to one year and six months jail for terrorism financing.

Another maid, Turmini, 31, was also jailed for three years and nine months last month, also for terrorism financing.

MHA said the first 16 radicalised maids have been repatriated after investigations were completed.

Yulistika left Singapore on 28 June last year, while Nurhasanah left the country on 28 May last year. Both left before investigations began.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

2 maids sentenced to jail in Singapore for financing terrorism in separate cases

3 Indonesian maids detained under Internal Security Act for supporting terrorism: MHA

3 Indonesian maids who were working in Singapore for years charged with funding terrorism
Coronavirus is a global emergency and the numbers of confirmed cases are increasing with every passing day. The pandemic has not only claimed over 3000 lives but also hampered a lot of businesses. Several major tech events got called out due to the outbreak and many on-ground launch events took place virtually. The latest conference to face the wrath of coronavirus was the SXSW conference. A few days ago, Twitter and Facebook announced that they will not be a part of the SXSW conference and now Apple too has joined the league.

Bloomberg on Thursday reported that Apple is reportedly pulling out of the conference due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. However, Apple is yet to issue an official statement about it. Following the suit, streaming app Netflix too reportedly backed out of SXSW. According to a Netflix representative, the company had cancelled five film screenings and a panel. It was earlier being reported that Netflix had plans to screen a feature film Uncorked and four other documentaries.

For the unversed, SXSW is amongst one of the major tech events in the world that brings together top tech brands, music and media in Austin.

A report in Verge revealed that not just the top tech giants like Apple, Facebook and Twitter, many other tech companies and organizations have announced that they will not attend the music, tech and film festivals, which was supposed to take place from March 13th to March 22nd in Austin, Texas. However, the organizers of SXSW have revealed that they are planning to go ahead with the event despite the withdrawals.

Safety is a top priority for SXSW. Currently, we are taking the following actions on-site: provision of disinfectant wipes and spray, hand sanitizer for common area spaces and activity spaces, microphone wipe downs, the inclusion of Austin Public Health Disease Prevention literature, outreach to all meeting spaces, venues, and hotels, SXSW updated on their website.

Earlier, biggest tech event Mobile World Congress 2020 which was supposed to take place in Barcelona, Spain from February 24 to February 27 was called off after several top companies backed out of the event.

When a few confirmed cases of coronavirus were found in India, Xiaomi and Realme as a precautionary measure had cancelled their on-ground events. On Thursday, Realme released a chain of their products such as Realme 6, Realme 6 Pro and the Realme Band in an online event. Xiaomi that had announced the arrival of Redmi Note 9 series will now host an online event on March 12.
Sydney residents have been urged not to flush baby wipes down the dunny as the city suffers a coronavirus toilet paper shortage.

Sydney Water spokesperson Jackson Vernon said only three pees can be flushed away: pee, poo and toilet paper.

Mr Vernon said even if wet wipes say they are flushable on the packet, they don't break down.

Sydney Water workers remove clogs of wet wipes from the sewer system. With toilet paper now being rationed, Australians have been warned not to flush alternatives down the loo

More than 500 tonnes of wet wipes get cleaned from the sewer each year costing $25 million

Instead they block up the sewer system.

'Wipes can cause system chokes and damage to private sewer pipes,' he said on Thursday.

Mr Vernon said one woman had a $16,000 plumbing bill to repair her private pipes after she flushed wet wipes - and facial tissues are also a problem.

'People would be very surprised to know that facial tissues, although they are made from fine materials, do not break down and should not be flushed.'

Sydney Water has issued an urgent warning: if you're out of dunny roll and you use an alternative, then put it in the bin, don't flush it down the toilet or it will block the sewer system

Supermarkets have begun rationing toilet paper after residents cleared the shelves, rushing to stock up to avoid any supply-chain disruptions.

Water authorities fear desperate people may resort to baby wipes, hand towels or tissues to wipe the unmentionables, backing up the system.

Make-up wipes, cleaning wipes, cigarette butts, cotton buds, nappies, sanitary pads, condoms, dental floss, left-over medication and hair should never be flushed down the toilet.

Sydney Water reminded people on Thursday to throw these items in the rubbish bin instead.

Supermarkets in Sydney are rationing toilet paper due to coronavirus preparation shopping. This sign was snapped at Aldi, Epping

The toilet paper aisle was completely empty at Coles in Gladesville on Tuesday afternoon amid coronavirus buying. Authorities are worried desperate people might use wet wipes instead

People stocking up on essential toiletries at Costco in Casula, NSW, earlier this week

'We also ask customers not to dispose of fats, oils and greases or any other food scraps and waste down the sinks - instead use your rubbish bin,' Mr Vernon said.

'Fatbergs' made up of wet wipes and fat have been found in numerous sewage systems around the world including in the UK and US places, where they cost a fortune to remove with heavy machinery.

Sydney Water said it spends millions of dollars removing wet wipe fatburgs from the sewer system each year.

In 2015, Sydney Water revealed it removed 500 tonnes of wet wipe clogs from the city's sewers, costing $25 million a year.

When it occurs on private property, residents have to pay the plumbing costs out of pocket.
Kolkata, March 5 : A Bangladeshi woman has been admitted in the infectious diseases hospital in Beliaghata here on Thursday with suspected symptoms of coronavirus, an official said.

The sick woman has a number of symptoms like respiratory distress which are also associated with the deadly disease.

Her husband has returned from Dubai recently.

Another youth from Bhagabapnpur in East Midnapore district is also being brought to the ID hospital with several classical symptoms of the disease which has affected 30 people in India so far.

The youth has just returned from Indonesia.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A US doctor is warning Americans that the coronavirus epidemic is moving too quickly to have an accurate death and illness rate.

On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation announced the global mortality rate jumped to 3.4 percent, up from the previously reported two percent.

But Dr Jennifer Ashton, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent, told Good Morning America that people should not be panicking over the rate increasing.

She added that researchers are collecting data 'by the hour' and that the illness and mortality rates could change on any given day,

Dr Jennifer Ashton (pictured), ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent, advised people not to panic after the World Health Organization raised the global death rate from coronavirus from 2% to 3.4%

She said the rate is subject to change constantly because researchers don't know the exact number of people who've fallen ill. Pictured: Dr Ashton (left) speaks to Amy Robach (right)

In the US, more than 200 cases have been confirmed and 12 deaths, one in California and 11 in Washington, have occurred

.@DrJAshton tells you what you need to know about coronavirus as number of U.S. cases grows. https://t.co/Xs4fkRnnYG



Have a coronavirus question? Tweet them to us using #AskGMA pic.twitter.com/hXxWVXfjj5  Good Morning America (@GMA) March 5, 2020

'I really caution people not to hang their hat on any given number,' said Dr Ashton.

'This is a dynamic and evolving situation. We're collecting data literally by the hour and that mortality rate depends on the denominator. It depends on how many people are truly infected and that number is still unknown.'

Dr Ashton echoed the words of federal health officials, who've told Congress that it's still too early to determine US death rates from coronavirus.

During a meeting of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it's too early to report the rate because it's unknown how many have been infected with the disease.

He explained that researchers are still trying to work out the exact number of people who've fallen ill, because some may be asymptomatic.

Rep Andy Harris (R-MD) asked whether fatality rates were unreliable noting: 'We don't know the denominator.'

'You said it, sir,' Dr Fauci replied.

Worldwide, more than 96,000 people have been infected and more than 3,300 people have died

'If you look at the cases that have come to the attention of the medical authorities, in China, and you just do the math - the math is about two percent. If you look at certain age groups, certain risk groups, the fatality is much higher.'

According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the overall fatality rate for coronavirus within the country is 2.3 percent.

But among people aged 80 or older, the fatality rate in China is 14.8 percent, 1.3 percent for people in their 50s and 0.4 percent in 40-somethings.

This likely indicates that the older patients either had other diseases at the time they were infected, weaker immune systems, or just worse overall health.

Similarly, in the US, the death rate is about 6.5 percent - 11 people have died out of the 165 cases reported.

Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said the rate in China among older people is higher than the overall rate. Pictured: A man visits a hospital in Wuhan, March 4

The overall fatality rate for coronavirus within Chian is 2.3 percent, but among people aged 80 or older, the fatality rate in China is 14.8 percent. Pictured: A man wearing a face mask pushing a person on wheelchair along a street in Wuhan, March 4

The higher death rate among older people likely indicates that the older patients either had other diseases at the time they were infected, weaker immune systems, or just worse overall health. Pictured: An equipment service worker sprays a disinfectant throughout a metro bus at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base, March 4

Dr Fauci said the morality rate for coronavirus could be less than 1% if there are asymptomatic cases that are not being reported. Pictured: An MTA cleaning staff member disinfects the 86th Street Q train station, March 4

But, of the patients who have died, one was in his 40s, two in their 50s and everyone else age 69 or older.

In an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine published last week, Dr Fauci wrote that the morality rate of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus may be 'considerably less than [one percent].'

'If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than one percent,' he wrote.

Worldwide, more than 96,000 have people have been infected and more than 3,300 people have died.
ABOUT 85 people attended two public meetings at Henley town hall to listen to a presentation about installing solar panels at their homes.

Representatives from IDDEA, a renewable energy company based in Wiltshire, has teamed up with the town councils climate emergency working group, which is working on a series of ideas to make Henley carbon neutral by 2030.

The company is offering to install a 14-panel system at a house for 4,000. It is able to keep the cost down by buying the equipment in bulk.

The presentations included facts and figures of a typical system, information on additional equipment to store energy and advice on how to get the best return when selling energy back into the national grid.

Rebecca Chandler-Wilde, who is overseeing the project, said: IDDEA are very keen not to mislead anybody and that is why they dont go for the hard sell and tell people they will immediately make lots of money. They want to be completely honest and that is one of the reasons why we like working with them.

Mrs Chandler-Wilde spent the morning with other members of the working group, including Patrick Fleming and Jackie Walker, at an information stand in Market Place to tell people about IDDEAs offer.

She added: We had 20 enquiries even before the first meeting started and the usual thing is to have no enquiries, so that is a really positive sign.

Mr Fleming, who is also a member of the environmental campaign group Greener Henley, said: I thought the meetings went very well and there were lots of intelligent questions. IDDEA were really surprised at how knowledgeable the people of Henley were about this issue.

The company will contribute 50 from every installation, which will be used to donate solar panels to a community project. It has already completed 800 projects elsewhere.

Founder Ian Dunstone, an army veteran, said: In the early days, solar panels were considered a bit of a fad and some of my peers in the industry made money early on and then left when the going got tough.

To last in this industry, you have got to be a little bit brave and that is what Solar Streets is about. We are here to stay. We are pleased to be working with Henley and are trying to get the community engaged.

Head of sales Michael Lamerton, who gave the presentation, said: We are in a climate emergency. There are people near the River Severn who are under water. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Australia is on fire, so it is clear there is a problem.

A lot of councils have declared climate emergencies, which is great, but you actually have to do something about it. You need to look at practical ways to be carbon neutral. Among those at the presentations was Jeremy Bray, 59, of Deanfield Road, Henley, who is a team leader at Henley Baptist Church. He had a solar panel system at his previous home in Warwick.

Mr Bray, who is married with a teenage daughter, said: There are obviously environmental benefits from using energy directly from the sun rather than burning fossil fuels.

I know from my experience that the cost benefits will take time and that is the challenge for some people. You need to have some upfront finances available.

Our system in Warwick was 9,000 just for the panels. We had it for three or four years, so we didnt get back our investment, but it was more about the environmental issues.

As a family we are very keen to get solar panels. We think they are a fantastic thing and would be good for the community.

Anyone who is interested but was unable to attend a meeting should call 01380 726999 or email info@iddea.co.uk
I love both those texts, Nwandu says. One story is about escaping bondage, and the other is about being stuck where you are. If you put them together, you start with seemingly irreconcilable premises. And anytime there are irreconcilable contradictions in a play, it makes for a muddier, more realistic truth. I prefer that, for there are no easy answers. This created a literary space where I could dump all my complicated, contradictory feelings about America. It didnt resolve them, but it did allow me to explore them.
MONTREAL, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dios Exploration Inc. (Dios) is pleased to announce the completion of a non-brokered private placement in the amount of $617,000 pursuant to which 6,170,000 flow-though common shares were issued at the price of $ 0.10 each.



The net proceeds will be used for exploration work on Dios wholly-owned K2 property, which is adjacent in strike SW to Azimut Exploration inc.'s Elmer property in the James Bay region, Quebec. Work completed by Dios on K2 has delineated wholly-owned 3 km long WI target electromagnetic conductor and, among others, ATTILA gold-copper-silver prospect, which is southwest of Azimut Explorations Patwon gold discovery, bearing similarities in some host rocks (felsic intrusive), alterations and 3 networks of quartz veins. K2 property is underlain by the same stratigraphy as Azimuts Elmer property, north of the Opinaca Fault, a major regional structure.

The President and CEO, Marie-Jose Girard added: The K2 property covers 78.1 sq. km of highly prospective rocks for gold (148 claims). Drilling targets have already been defined by our team following recent field work. Dios has been working on K2 for the last few years and these funds will enable us to start first ever drilling in that area, for instance on WI target 3 km long electromagnetic conductor, which is not outcropping, but adjacent soil sampling returned high gold values, and highly altered felsic rock boulders with 1-20% pyrite were observed. See January 15 press release.

Three officers (Harold Desbiens, Rene Lacroix and Marie-Jose Girard) participated in the financing in the amount of $40,000. Pursuant to Policy 5.9 of the TSXV and Regulation 61-101 Respecting protection of minority security holders in special transactions, each of these purchases constitute a "related party transaction" however, the Company is exempt from obtaining minority shareholder approval and a formal valuation as the fair market value of the consideration for the transactions, as they involve interested parties, does not exceed 25% of The Companys market capitalization. Disclosure of their participation was not previously made since the amount of their investment was not known.

Securities issued under this financing will be subject to a hold period of four months. This private placement is carried out pursuant to prospectus exemptions of applicable securities laws and is subject to final acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange. There is a finders fee of $15,000 in connection with this financing to be paid to an arms length party in common shares of Dios. This press release was prepared by Marie-Jose Girard, Geo M.Sc., President of DIOS, Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements", for example the planned use of proceeds. All statements in this discussion, other than those of historical fact, that address future exploration programs and events or developments that the company expects, are considered forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact information :

Marie-Jose Girard, President, Geo M.Sc.

mjgirard@diosexplo.com

Tel.: (514) 923-9123
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:35:46|Editor: xuxin

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CAPE TOWN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Thursday reported the first case of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

"The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive. The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.

They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, the minister said.

The patient consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough, Mkhize said.

The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab. The patient has been self-isolated since March 3.

The couple also has two children. The Emergency Operating Center (EOC) has identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor.

The tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from NICD.

The doctor has been self-isolated as well, according to the minister.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-05 05:02:45

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Loveland, CO Realtor Keri Olson of ReMax Alliance has launched her updated listings of residential real estate in the city and the Fort Collins-Loveland Metro area. The updated listings feature top properties in Northern Colorado.LOVELAND, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 4, 2020 / Loveland, CO Realtor Keri Olson of ReMax Alliance has launched her updated residential real estate featured listings. The listings showcase single-family homes, townhouses, and condos across Northern Colorado.More information about Keri Olson of ReMax Alliance is available at https://keriolson.homesincolorado.com The experienced real estate professional in Northern Colorado has launched new listings featuring properties in Johnstown, Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Wellington, and the surrounding region.ReMax Alliance, and local news daily The Coloradoan, highlights Northern Colorado's healthy residential real estate market. Job growth in Loveland, Windsor, and other parts of Northern Colorado continues to fuel a healthy housing market.Loveland, CO Realtor Keri Olson helps individuals and families find housing that meets their needs and budget. She leverages deep knowledge of the local Northern Colorado housing market to help first-time homebuyers and experienced property investors buy and sell properties in the region.The new residential property listings in Northern Colorado feature high-quality images of the exterior and interior as well as a full data sheet covering the area, features, amenities, utilities, school access, HOA information, and tax amounts.Keri Olson supports clients through every stage of homeownership, helping them navigate through the complexities of the process with empathy and responsiveness. She also offers brokerage services for the purchase or sale of farmlands, ranches, vacant lands with or without attached homes. Her new property listings feature the top properties in Loveland and other areas within the Fort Collins-Loveland metro area.According to a spokesperson for ReMax Alliance, "Keri Olson is a knowledgeable professional Realtor with years of experience and expertise in residential real estate. Her encyclopedic knowledge of the Northern Colorado housing market combined with attention to detail, empathy, and compassion make her among the top Realtors Northern Colorado has to offer." Keri Olson is a licensed Realtor with RE/MAX Alliance Colorado Real Estate, the state's largest private real estate company. For more information about buying a new home in Northern CO, call 970-226-3990 or visit the URL above.Contact Info:Name: Keri OlsonEmail: Send EmailOrganization: ReMax AllianceAddress: 750 W Eisenhower Blvd, Loveland, Colorado 80537, United StatesPhone: +1-970-420-3674Website: https://keriolson.homesincolorado.com SOURCE: ReMax Alliance
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 15:17 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206887b55 1 World Indonesia,health,virus,COVID-19,travel-ban,Iran,Italy,South-Korea Free

Indonesia announced on Thursday new travel restrictions for people with a history of travel from coronavirus-hit regions of Iran, South Korea and Italy in the wake of a significant surge of COVID-19 cases globally.

The temporary ban, which will come into effect on Sunday, would prevent people who had visited certain regions in the three countries in the last 14 days from visiting or transiting in Indonesia, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said.

After reviewing a report from the World Health Organization [WHO], there has been an increase of cases outside China, especially in three countries: Iran, Italy and South Korea, Retno told journalists in her office on Thursday.

Therefore, Indonesia is to temporarily impose a new policy for travelers from those countries, she added.

The policy will affect people who have a recent history of travel to Tehran, Qom and Gilan in Iran; Lombardi, Venetto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Piedmont regions in Italy; as well as Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do in South Korea.

Travelers from Iran, Italy and South Korea who come from outside of the aforementioned regions will need to provide a valid health certificate that is accredited and issued by the health authorities, Retno said, adding that the document must be shown during check-in.

Without a health certificate, travelers will be denied entry or transit in Indonesia, the minister went on.

Passengers entering Indonesia from the three countries  all of which have recorded thousands of COVID-19 cases, the most after China  are required to fill in a health alert card (HAC) issued by the Indonesian Health Ministry.

Especially for Indonesian citizens, those who arrived in the archipelago from the aforementioned regions in Iran, South Korea and Italy, would be required to undergo additional medical examinations at the port of entry, Retno said.

The policy will enter into force at midnight on Sunday, March 8, and will continue to be evaluated in accordance with global developments, Retno said.

On Wednesday, the WHO recorded 2,223 new cases of COVID-19 infections worldwide and another 48 deaths outside China. The number of affected countries has reached 76, with Argentina, Chile, Poland and Ukraine having just reported their first cases of the virus.
Masked guests, having had their temperatures checked, attend a wedding in Ha Long of northern Quang Ninh Province in early February 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Huu Hung.

The viral epidemic Covid-19 has upended many weddings across northern Vietnam, affecting industry professionals and lovers alike.

Thu Ha picked up the phone to call her soon-to-be husband, revealing a picture of the couple kissing on the screen.

Guests had filled the wedding venue, with the reception, table setup and everything in between prepared, only the bride was missing.

Nguyen Hung, 27, consoled his wife, with a friend popping his head into frame hoping to sooth the bride: "Youre lying at home on your wedding day, huh? Well, when your quarantine is over, well come pick you up."

Thu Ha responded with a smile.

Ha, 27, from the northern Vinh Phuc Province, was under quarantine as per Covid-19 protocol. With wedding invitations already sent and 85 tables laid out, the ceremony took place at the grooms house in Hung Yen Province, two hours away, without the bride's family.

The couple's most important day was planned at the end of last year, but little did they know it would be interfered with by a public health emergency.

Ha and Hung scheduled the engagement ceremony for February 28 and wedding four days later. When Vinh Phuc became the Covid-19 epicenter of Vietnam with 11 confirmed infections, the couple became incredibly anxious.

She finally called her friends to inform them about the wedding, telling them not to come because "my hometown is Vinh Phuc."

The two families decided to combine both ceremonies on February 28, reducing the number of tables to 10.

A week before the wedding, the coronavirus made headlines in South Korea where Daegu City and northern Gyeongsang Province became Covid-19 epicenters. Has South Korean father and Vietnamese mother live in Pocheon City, 200 km from both outbreak areas.

Two days before the wedding, Has parents hopped on a flight to Vietnam to attend their daughters important day thinking only those coming from the epicenters would be put in quarantine.

The couple landed and filed a health declaration. They went home and shared a meal with family members and relatives. But the same evening, Vietnam announced a stricter protocol, requiring all arrivals from South Korea to be quarantined. The family dinner meant 14 people, including the bride, must be put under home quarantine.

"I was stunned for a few seconds, but accepted the measure. After all, its for everyones safety," Ha said.

On the same night, she called her future husband to tell him the news.

"The wedding might be delayed, but I have booked the catering service, my family has also invited guests, so it cant be cancelled," Hung told his future wife.

Ha spent the entire next morning cancelling reception, catering for the party at her family, and makeup services. Wedding parties in Vietnam are often held at both the bride and the groom's families.

"We are very sorry you were quarantined mere days before your wedding. However, because of the virus, it is a must to ensure public safety," a local health official told Ha's family.

Wedding services hit

Having worked as a makeup artist for 10 years, Phung Trang, 33, has never witnessed a more unfortunate case than Has.

"I have received calls from 30 people postponing their weddings because of the coronavirus, but none of them was caught off guard like Ha," Trang said.

Trang also works for other brides, most of whom from Vinh Phuc who marry men from other provinces.

"Most of their weddings were mostly unattended," she noted.

Huy Hoang, 27, from northern Hai Phong City, paid a deposit of VND10 million to the restaurant where his wedding would occur, but has yet to print invitations.

Amid coronavirus fears, Hoang is concerned not all 500 guests would show up.

"Its an important day so the more, the merrier, but if anything happens at the wedding, then that would cause stress," he said.

On Tuesday, Hoang and his wife visited a wedding studio to rent a dress, adding a clause that would allow them to postpone rental in case the epidemic worsens.

On Monday, Hai Phong reported four Covid-19 suspected cases, turning Hoangs mother into a bundle of nerves.

She called the car rental service and asked them to disinfect the wedding vehicle. Hoangs parents also scanned the guest list to cut the number of attendees.

"I don't know until when we would have to postpone the wedding," Hoang said.

The coronavirus epidemic has hit the wedding service industry hard. According to a cursive VnExpress survey, out of 20 wedding service outlets providing decorations, flowers, catering, venues, makeup, and photo shoots in Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong, Hanoi and the northern Quang Ninh Province, only two wedding venues have not reported postponements.

A wedding convention center in Ha Long in Quang Ninh is one. Despite the good news, manager Nguyen Thuong Thao noticed the significant reduction of guests.

The venue was disinfected, staff equipped with facemasks, and hand sanitizers prepared, though most weddings have only about 400 attendees. Before the coronavirus became a public concern, the number used to be between 500 and 1,000.

"We used to host 12-15 weddings a month, now it's only two. If this carries on, we will suffer a tremendous loss," Thao said.

Ngoc Toan, the studio owner, have had 20 customers postpone proceedings in the last two months. Some brides who live abroad made the tough call because they don't want to fly home, risk being put in 14-day quarantine and miss their wedding. Other in Hai Phong have also pushed the date over fears of infection.

"Half of my customers have delayed the date until the end of December, while I have no idea when the others plan to have their weddings," Toan explained.

On some days, Phung Trang, the makeup artist, has received four calls delivering the bad news.

"Its understandable that brides are postponing their weddings, but people from nearby provinces cancel my services because they know Im from Vinh Phuc. Everyone working in the wedding industry is nervous," she said.

Tra My, 26, and her husband-to-be are both from Hanoi where no positive cases have occurred so the couple is confident their wedding would go ahead in mid-March. She only grew anxious when, while fitting a dress, she learned many brides had postponed their weddings.

Tra My and her fiance decided to reduce the guest list to 300. She also plans to buy hand sanitizers, though the restaurant has it covered.

"Getting married during the outbreak, most attendees would understand if they were un-invited. Many would even thank me," My said.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks to President Donald Trump during a tour of the National Institutes of Health's Vaccine Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 3, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Recruitment Begins for First US Test of New Experimental Coronavirus Vaccine

Researchers have begun recruiting people in the United States to test an experimental vaccine for the coronavirus.

The trial for a vaccine produced by Moderna is being run at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.

Participants will receive $100 for each in-person visit to the institutes facility near downtown Seattle with approximately 11 visits included over the course of the study, the institute said on a webpage that prospective participants were asked to read. The visits would include an initial screening, two vaccinations, and eight follow-ups.

The institute is seeking 45 healthy people aged 18 to 55 to participate in the trial. A third of the patients will get a dose of 25 micrograms, a third will receive a dose of 100 micrograms, and the other third will get a dose of 250 micrograms. According to a filing on a government database, participants will receive a total of two doses given 28 days apart.

People reading the institutes webpage were asked to fill out a survey if theyre interested in becoming participants in the trial. The 10 questions focused on personal information like name, address, and phone number, suggesting researchers would contact people by phone to ask them more in-depth questions.

A scientist in France works to find a treatment against the new coronavirus in a file photograph. (Jeff Pachoud/AFP via Getty Images)

The estimated completion date is June 1, 2021.

Kaiser Permanente didnt respond to a request for more information.

Moderna, a drugmaker based in Massachusetts, shipped the vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland last week. The vaccine uses messenger RNA, or genetic molecules that carry information.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers on Wednesday in Washington that he expects vaccine trials to take at least a year to produce a vaccine.

Initial results could be available as soon as July. But any vaccines will likely take until next year to become available on the commercial market because of the need to conduct additional studies and clear regulatory hurdles. A phase two trial would involve hundreds if not thousands of people to determine efficacy, Fauci said at a previous press conference.

There is no vaccine or proven treatment for the new virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19 and has infected tens of thousands of people around the world.

A King County Metro worker sprays a disinfectant on a metro bus in Seattle, Washington, on March 4, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Cost

Some lawmakers have expressed concern about the cost of any coronavirus vaccines, insisting they be priced low enough to be affordable to all Americans.

Stephane Bancel, Modernas CEO, said he plans to set the price in line with other vaccines that target respiratory infections.

We are highly aware this is a public-health issue, and so we will be very thoughtful about setting a price if this product gets to approval, Bancel told Business Insider. There is no world I think where we would contemplate to price this higher than other respiratory virus vaccines.

One vaccine that prevents respiratory infections, Prevnar 13, costs several hundred dollars.

Modernas CEO said his team is more focused on testing the vaccine than pricing it at this time.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar told lawmakers last month that the government wouldnt implement price controls for a vaccine.

We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we cant control that price because we need the private sector to invest, he told a congressional committee in Washington. The priority is to get vaccines and therapeutics. Price controls wont get us there.
Like for Trump 2020, said one meme with a photo of Donald Trump and a photo of Joe Biden. Ignore for Biden 2020.

Four years after Russia-linked groups stoked divisions in the United States presidential election on social media platforms, a new report shows that Moscows campaign hasnt let up and has become harder to detect.

The report from University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim found that Russia-linked social media accounts are posting about the same divisive issues  race relations, gun laws and immigration  as they did in 2016, when the Kremlin polluted US voters feeds with messages about the presidential election.

Since then, however, the Russians have grown better at imitating US campaigns and political fan pages online, said Kim, who analysed thousands of posts. She studied more than five million Facebook ads during the 2016 election, identifying Russias fingerprints on some of the messages through an ad-tracking app installed on volunteers computers.

Her review is co-published by the Brennan Center for Justice, a law and policy institute, where she is a scholar.

The recent improvements make it harder for voters and social media platforms to identify the foreign interference, Kim said.

For normal users, it is too subtle to discern the differences, Kim said. By mimicking domestic actors, with similar logos [and] similar names, they are trying to avoid verification.

Kims report comes weeks after US intelligence officials briefed lawmakers on Russian efforts to stir chaos in US politics and undermine public confidence in this years election. The classified briefing detailed Russian efforts to boost the White House bids of both Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders.





Facebook, which had not seen Kims report, had no immediate comment, though the company has insisted that it is getting better at responding to the evolving tactics of foreign and domestic actors.

After getting caught off-guard with Russias 2016 election interference attempts, Facebook, Google, Twitter and others put safeguards in place to prevent it from happening again. These measures include taking down posts, groups and accounts that engage in coordinated inauthentic behavior, and strengthening verification procedures for political ads.

Cindy Otis, a disinformation expert and former CIA officer who was not involved in the research, said that while disinformation messaging has not changed much, the technology used to disseminate the bad information is evolving and improving.

Certainly with the Russians, they know what kinds of narratives work in the US, Otis said. The whole system of disinformation is very effective and they know that it is.

Kims report pulls back the curtain on some of the online techniques Russia has already used in this years US presidential race.

Her review identified thousands of posts last year from more than 30 Instagram accounts, which Facebook removed from the site in October after concluding that they originated from Russia and had links to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian operation that targeted US audiences in 2016. Facebook owns Instagram. Analysis from Graphika, a disinformation security firm, also concluded at the time that the accounts went to great lengths to hide their origins.

Kims analysis found the accounts appeared to mimic existing political ones, including one called Bernie.2020_ that used campaign logos to make it seem like it was connected to Sanderss campaign or was a fan page for his supporters, Kim said.

Some presidential candidates also were targeted directly.

A person uses a laptop computer with illuminated English and Russian Cyrillic character keys in this arranged photograph in Moscow, Russia [File: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg Topics]

An account called Stop.Trump2020 posted anti-Trump content. Other Instagram accounts pushed negative messages about Democrat Joe Biden.

Like for Trump 2020, said one meme featuring a portrait photo of Trump and a photo of Biden. Ignore for Biden 2020.

It was posted by an Instagram account called Iowa.Patriot, one of several accounts that targeted specific communities in crucial swing states such as Michigan, Ohio and Iowa with messaging.

The accounts also appeared to capitalise on other divisive US issues that emerged after the 2016 election.

Some Instagram accounts pretended to be liberal, feminist groups linked to the #MeToo movement, which has exposed sexual misconduct allegations against high-profile public figures. Other accounts targeted conservative women with posts that criticised abortions.

I dont need feminism, because real feminism is about equal opportunity and respect for women. NOT about abortions, free birth control . a meme on one account read.

The accounts varied in how often they posted, the size of their following and the traction the posts received. But they carried the hallmarks of a Russian-backed online disinformation campaign, Kim said.

Theyre clearly adapting to current affairs, Kim said. Targeting both sides with messages is very unique to Russia.
After weeks wallowing in the background, hipster barber Steve finally got the chance to shine.

And the burly Brit with a big heart - and an even bigger loafer collection - didn't disappoint on Wednesday night, storming out of the dinner party in a fit of rage.

He made Married At First Sight history in the process, becoming the first person to run off without first being handed a briefcase full of cash from the producers.

Lost your script? Steve made Married At First Sight history on Wednesday, becoming the first person to run off without first being handed a briefcase full of cash by the producers

The Brit-rayal

Don't like what I sea: On Tuesday's episode, Mishel and Steve's sputtering Ford Laser of a marriage finally failed rego, after he admitted he wasn't attracted to her

On Tuesday's episode, Mishel and Steve's sputtering Ford Laser of a marriage finally failed rego.

'Is everything okay babe?' Mishel said during a beach date.

Honestly, you could cut the tension with a spoon. Even the drowning tourists popped their heads out of the water to listen in.

Steve: 'Yeah, it's all good, but I've just realised that I forgot to tell you something at our wedding six weeks ago. Completely slipped me mind!'

'I'm sinking, Steve, I'm sinking!' Honestly, you could cut the tension with a spoon. Even the drowning tourists popped their heads out of the water to listen in

Mishel: 'Not another gay husband!'

Steve: 'What's a nice way to say, "You're ugly and I don't like you"?'

Needless to say, Mishel was still in a massive strop at the dinner party.

She sat on a separate couch and refused to look up from Candy Crush Saga until dinner was served.

Hop on strop: Needless to say, Mishel was still in a massive strop at the dinner party. She sat on a separate couch and refused to look up from Candy Crush Saga until dinner was served

Here comes Oprah!

Here comes Oprah! Bounding through the door to break the tension was series regular Liz Sobinoff, who proceeded to address everybody like she was Oprah doing a meet and greet at Blacktown Westfield

Bounding through the door to break the tension was series regular Liz Sobinoff, with her '90s robo-husband in tow.

'Far out Seb, put your copy of Human Emotions For Dummies down, we've got company!'

'Groovy baby! Yeah! Do I make you horny?' replied the human conversation simulator.

For the fans: 'What did you say your name was? Cathy? Aww, common names are so hot right now! Here, have an autographed copy of my most-liked Instagram post,' she basically said

Liz proceeded to address everybody like she was Oprah doing a meet and greet at the Blacktown Westfield.

'What did you say your name was? Michael? Aww, common names are so hot right now! Here, have an autographed copy of my most-liked Instagram post.'

'Ohh, I recognise you now! You're that dropkick from last year who put pizza in a toaster and then had a full-on breakdown after the sponsorship deals dried up,' replied everyone else in unison.

Sorry Liz, two career wrongs do not make a right.

Instagram vs reality: 'Ohh, I recognise you now! You're that dropkick from last year who put pizza in a toaster and then had a full-on breakdown after the sponsorship deals dried up,' replied everyone else in unison

Back on top

Barry O'F-wit: Attention soon turned to Ice Cube King Michael, who got away with cheating on Stacey last week by pulling a Barry O'Farrell. 'Cheating? Nah, can't recall!'

Attention soon turned to Ice Cube King Michael, who got away with cheating on Stacey last week by pulling a Barry O'Farrell.

'Did you bloody cheat on me with that skank Hayley?'

'Cheating? Phwoar. Um. Let me think. Nah, can't recall!'

*Stacey hands Michael his detailed written confession*.

'Ohhh right... that. Would you accept "massive memory fail"?'

Stacey may have forgiven Michael (sort of), but the rest of the group still wasn't over it

'Nah it's all good. You had a massive memory fail when you forgot to sign a pre-nup too! So I'm in this for the long haul, Mr Moneybags!'

Stacey may have forgiven Michael (sort of), but the rest of the group still wasn't over it.

'Last week old mate down there with the blonde sheila hooked up with another wife, Hayley. He said he can't remember it happening,' Josh told the two new couples, Liz and Seb, and KC and Drew.

Liz chimes in: 'Stacey, open your eyes, babe!' Liz screamed across the table. 'Babe, the only thing I need to open is a joint bank account, the bloke is rich!' replied the Ice Queen

'Stacey, open your eyes, babe!' Liz screamed across the table.

'Babe, the only thing I need to open is a joint bank account, the bloke is rich!' replied the Ice Queen.

He's just not that into you, Mishel

Everything's FINE: Throughout the night, Mishel attempted to stockpile all of her emotions, like a bogan mum with a shopping trolley full of bog roll and hand sanitiser

Throughout the night, Mishel attempted to stockpile all of her emotions, like a bogan mum with a shopping trolley full of bog roll and hand sanitiser.

But a wry comment from Josh was the Quilton that broke the camel's back.

'How's your night, Mishel?' he stupidly asked, wandering into the lion's den.

'How's your night, Mishel?' But a wry comment from Josh was the Quilton that broke the camel's back. 'My deadbeat husband has been lying to me for six weeks!' she screamed

'My husband thinks I'm ugly and the bloody bartender cut me off three Jagerbombs ago, yourself?' she replied.

'That's old news, Mishel! He told us he wasn't into you on WhatsApp like a month ago.'

This triggered a hot flush with a strop cloud bigger than Hiroshima.

Should we tell her? 'That's old news, Mishel! He told us he wasn't into you on WhatsApp like a month ago,' revealed everyone, triggering the hot flush of the century from Mishel

'Look, my lack of attraction to you, it didn't come at me just at the beach. It came at me when we got married,' Steve finally admitted.

'I stuck with it because I wanted to see if the attraction would grow naturally. Honestly I'm sick to death talking about it!'

He chucked his mic pack on the table and left, in a moment that felt shockingly real for this show.

Six weeks later: 'Look, my lack of attraction to you, it didn't come at me just at the beach. It came at me when we got married,' Steve finally admitted, before storming off in a huff

With a producer screaming in his earpiece, a sweaty Josh gave chase in a desperate bid to get Steve to have his breakdown in a camera-friendly location.

'Stoive! Stoive! Oy wait, Stoive! Wait! Stoive! Hey, Stoive! Wait! Stoive! Stoive! Wait! Stoive!?'

But Stoive was done, and so was his marriage.

Stoive! With a producer screaming in his earpiece, a sweaty Josh gave chase in a desperate bid to get Steve to have his breakdown in a camera-friendly location
Perez de Cuellar helped to broker peace in the Iran-Iraq war - MARK CARDWELL/AFP via Getty Images

Javier Perez de Cuellar, the former United Nations Secretary-General who led the world body during the Iran-Iraq war and the civil war in El Salvador, died Wednesday aged 100 in his native Peru, his son said.

"My dad died after a complicated week. He died at 8:09 pm tonight (0109 GMT Thursday) and is resting in peace," Francisco Perez de Cuellar told RPP radio.

The Peruvian diplomat led the UN through two terms from 1981 to 1991 and was its first ever General Assembly meeting in 1946. He brokered a historic ceasefire between Iran and Iraq in 1988 and came out of retirement to help re-establish democracy in his homeland.

Peru's president, Martin Vizcarra, said on Twitter that Perez de Cuellar was "an outstanding Peruvian, a full-bodied democrat, who dedicated his life and work to making our country great".

Perez de Cuellar's first posting was secretary at the Peruvian embassy in Paris in 1944 and he later became Peru's ambassador to France.

Javier Perez de Cuellar with John Major marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter - PA

Once elected Secretary-General, he sought to revitalise the world body's peacekeeping efforts.

His first step was to "shake the house" with a highly critical report in which he warned: "We are perilously near to a new international anarchy."

With the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and with conflicts raging in Afghanistan and Cambodia and between Iran and Iraq, he complained to the General Assembly that UN resolutions "are increasingly defied or ignored by those that feel themselves strong enough to do so."

"The problem with the United Nations is that either it's not used or misused by member countries," he said in an interview at the end of his first year in the post.

During his decade as UN chief, Perez de Cuellar would earn a reputation more for diligent, quiet diplomacy than charisma.

In July 1986, Perez de Cuellar underwent a quadruple coronary bypass operation, putting in question his availability for a second term. From the outset, Perez de Cuellar had insisted that he would be a one-term secretary-general.

Story continues

But he did come back for a second term after a groundswell of support for his candidacy, including a conversation with President Ronald Reagan, who - in the words of the UN chief's spokesman - expressed "his personal support for the Secretary-General."

"Just about all the Western countries have told him they'd like to see him stay on," a Western diplomatic source said at the time. "There is no visible alternative."

Perez de Cuellar's diplomacy helped bring an end to fighting in Cambodia and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

After leaving the UN, Perez de Cuellar made an unsuccessful bid for Peru's presidency in 1995 against the authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, whose 10-year autocratic regime crumbled in November 2000 amid corruption scandals.

At the age of 80, Perez de Cuellar emerged from retirement in Paris and returned to Peru to take on the mantle of foreign minister and cabinet chief for provisional President Valentin Paniagua.

His impeccable democratic credentials lent credibility to an interim government whose mandate was to deliver free and fair elections. Eight months later, newly elected President Alejandro Toledo asked him to serve as Ambassador to France.

Perez de Cuellar turned 100 in January and on his birthday Antonio Guterres, who currently heads the UN, said he was an inspirational leader for the world body.

"On this momentous occasion, we at the UN draw on his example for inspiration & are deeply grateful for his many contributions and achievements as Secretary-General," Guterres wrote on Twitter.

Perez de Cuellar's remains will lie at the Peruvian foreign ministry before burial on Friday, his son said.
The number of positive cases of coronavirus in India has seen a dramatic rise this week with confirmed cases rising from six to over 25.

Since then, there have been reports of suspected cases in Hyderabad and Gurugram subject to confirmation from the government.

Three cities with active coronavirus infections include the national capital, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Hyderabad.

Delhi/NCR

As of now, as many as 23 active infections have been reported in the national capital.

A resident of Mayur Vihar was the first positive case reported in Delhi who infected 6 of his family members in Agra. 88 people who were in contact with the patient are under watch, the government said.

Also Watch l State-level task force to deal with coronavirus situation: Arvind Kejriwal

On Wednesday, the government said that 14 Italian nationals tested positive at the ITBP Chhawla quarantine facility in Delhi along with an Indian. An Italian person who separated from the group first tested positive for the virus in Jaipur.

A new case of infection was confirmed in Gurugram, yesterday. The patient is a Paytm employee.

Also read: As coronavirus scare looms, UNICEF tweets video of handwashing dance

Jaipur

An Italian tourist was one of the three people who were confirmed positive for the virus by the government earlier this week. Later his partner also tested positive for the infection. Both of them were part of the group that was confirmed for the disease at the ITBP facility in Delhi.

More than 200 people came in contact with the couple in Rajasthan of which the authorities said 50 have been cleared.

Also read: How parents can prevent children from falling prey to coronavirus

Hyderabad

Soon after a Hyderabad techie was confirmed to have been suffering from the virus, two more cases were reported from the city but subject to confirmation from the government. The Hyderabad techie worked in Bengaluru and had a travel history to Dubai. The second suspected case is believed to have been in close contact with him. The third case is said to have travelled to Italy recently.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday (March 5) presented the 2020-21 Budget for the state and reiterated his governments commitment to overall development of Bengaluru by setting aside over Rs 8,700 crore in the budget for the development of the capital city.

The fund will be used for development measures taken by various departments, including Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

During his Budget speech, CM Yediyurappa also stressed on the need for a Municipal Corporation Act, specific to Bengaluru, to resolve the issues of the city.

The chief minister said that an action plan for different works at Rs 8,344 under Mukhyamantrigala Nava Nagaroththana scheme, which was introduced in 2019-20 will be implemented this fiscal too. He also announced in the Assembly that a grant of Rs 999 crore will be given for solid waste management under Shubhra Bengaluru this year.

Rs 100 crore has been set aside in the budget under the Shubhra Bengaluru scheme to prevent sewage from entering lakes and Rs 317 crore will be used for for the development of lakes under the Mukhyamantrigala Nava Nagaroththana scheme. The government has also allocated Rs 200 crore to prevent flooding during the monsoon and to modernise the major stormwater drain network.

CM Yediyurappa also said in the Assembly that Rs 14,500 crore will be spent in this fiscal for construction of 56-km long Outer Ring Road  Airport Metro from Central Silk Board junction to Bengaluru International Airport via K.R. Puram and Hebbala.

The budget was also focused on reducing traffic congestion as chief minister announced that his government will take steps to increase the transport capacity in Hebbala, Silk Board and K R Puram junctions in Bengaluru. around Rs 500 crore will be spent to develop these roads under the supervision of Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd.

CM Yediyurappa also said in his budget speech that sewage water treatment capacity of BWSSB will be increased to 1,587 million litres by 2020-21 and Rs 1,000 crore will be spent to modernise old sewage treatment plants.

The Karnataka CM also said that Rs 5,550 crore will be spent to complete the 5th Phase of Cauvery Water Supply scheme in order to ensure supply of 775 million litres of water to Bengaluru.
Took to Instagram yesterday to say he was travelling from New York to London

Royal's BFF and makeup artist Daniel Martin revealed he is flying into the city

It will be Sussexes' first joint official engagement since announcing step down

Meghan Markles BFF and makeup artist has flown into London ahead of the royals appearance at the Endeavour Awards tonight.

Daniel Martin, from New York, shared an Instagram story yesterday showing he was relaxing in the business class section a plane, revealing he was travelling from the states to London.

Meghan, 38, is set to join her husband Prince Harry, 35, at the annual awards tonight as she make her first official public appearance in Britain following the Megxit crisis and prepares to step down as a senior royal.

Daniel has often joined the Duchess at key moments in her royal life, including her wedding and baby shower, as well as around the time of Archie's christening, sparking rumours he was one of the baby's secret godparents.

Meghan Markle's, 38, BFF and make-up artist Daniel Martin has revealed he is flying to London ahead of the royal's appearance at the Endeavour Awards tonight (pictured, Meghan with Prince Harry on their last public appearance in January)

Daniel shared the black and white travelling snap of the business-class cabin to his 137,000 followers on Instagram yesterday.

He revealed he was reading the latest Business Traveller magazine, which included a feature on 'Waking up in London.'

As well as a cartoon plane, he shared he was travelling from New York's JFK airport and also cheekily posted: 'Smell ya later'.

Daniel is believed to have known Meghan for over a decade, having met her while the former actress worked on Suits.

The makeup artist shared a snap on his Instagram stories revealing he was flying with New York to London

He has remained in contact with the Duchess throughout her life in the royal family and has often seen her over the last year.

Daniel was by Meghan's side on her wedding day as he perfected her make-up and attended her famous baby shower in New York last February alongside celebrities like Gayle King and Serena Williams.

He was one of the first to visit the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they moved into Frogmore Cottage shortly before Archie's birth.

And the makeup artist sparked rumours he could be one of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's secret godparents when he shared pictures from London in the days after the baby's christening.

Daniel has been by the royal's side at several key moments in her life, including her wedding and New York baby shower

The royal also surprised Daniel in New York for his birthday last September, with the makeup artist revealing the news by sharing a snap on Instagram of a plate of cupcakes.

The accompanying message was yet another indication of the closeness of their friendship, with the make-up artist referring to the Duchess of Sussex by her nickname, 'Meg'.

Meghan is set to join her husband Prince Harry at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London this evening before they end their official duties on March 31.

Last autumn, American ex-actress Meghan opened up about her struggles with royal life in an ITV documentary filmed on their Africa tour.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to make their first joint appearance together tonight since announcing they're stepping back as senior royals. They have been living in Canada with their son Archie since November (pictured together in South Africa in September)

She said she had tried to cope with the pressures by putting on a 'stiff upper lip' but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.

Meghan was last seen with Prince Harry on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent - a move dubbed Megxit by the press.

It was eventually announced they would give up royal duties, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, no longer be known as HRHs, and their lives as working royals would end on March 31.
New Delhi, March 5 : A Delhi court on Thursday again issued fresh death warrants against four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case and for the fourth time set a date for them to be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 a.m.

"It is directed that convicts shall be hanged by the neck until they are dead by on March 20 at 5.30 a.m.," Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana.

Nirbhaya's mother welcomed the decision and said, "The hanging has already been deferred thrice. I will be satisfied only when they are hanged by the noose." During the course of proceedings today, Additional Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed told the court that since all the legal remedies have been exhausted, a fresh black warrant can be issued against them.

Advocate A.P. Singh, appearing for convicts, however, rebutted and sought more time to interact with his clients.

The court had on Wednesday issued notice to the four convicts on an application moved by the Delhi Government and Tihar Jail authorities seeking issuance of fresh date for their execution shortly after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected Pawan's plea for pardon.

Earlier, the court gave the time of execution as 6 a.m., but later changed.

The four convicts -- Vinay, Akshay, Mukesh and Pawan were scheduled to be executed on March 3 at 6 a.m. and before that on January 22, and February 1.

The court had last time deferred the warrants till further orders on Pawan's mercy petition came. Pawan was the only convict whose legal remedies were pending till the last date of execution.

The first date of execution of the four convicts, January 22, was postponed to February 1. Then the trial court on January 31 stayed the execution till further orders as the convicts had not exhausted their legal remedies.

The court on February 17 directed that the four be hanged at 6 a.m. on March 3. It was the third date of execution of the death warrants.

Seeking the fresh death warrant, Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed had told the court that since all the legal remedies have been exhausted, "there was no requirement of issuing any notice and the court may straightaway fix the execution date." The case pertains to the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in the national capital on December 16, 2012. She died on December 29 at a hospital in Singapore following complications.

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.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Note to readers: Due to coronavirus fears, the Norman Rockwell Museum has suspended the Saturday virtual reality experience. For more information, visit nrm.org.

Norman Rockwell's America was always a virtual reality  a colorful, hopeful, brightly realized vision resting on bedrock concepts of peace and prosperity. Nothing exemplified this idealized VR more than "The Four Freedoms," his paean to all that we aim for: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear, Freedom from Want.

Inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union extolling fundamental human rights, the iconic 1943 oil paintings were published in the Saturday Evening Post and plastered on war-bond posters across the country. Almost eight decades later, they're the focus of an ongoing VR exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.  where, for 10-minute-or-so segments on Saturdays (see box), museumgoers can don goggles and whoosh back to the America of World War II.

Simply gazing at "The Four Freedoms" now, in this era of crazed division, is a bit like glimpsing a distant American Eden: The man, standing proud and calm at a Vermont town meeting, vocalizing an opinion while his neighbors regard him with quiet respect. The profiles of Americans in prayer, hands folded, faiths diverse. The parents gazing quietly at their sleeping children as their father grips a news report of bombings. The matriarch setting a colossal turkey on a table as family members grin.

The paintings themselves aren't in residence at the Stockbridge museum right now, instead traveling with a "Four Freedoms" exhibit that's now in Houston and will open Denver in May. They'll be returning home to the Berkshires, exhibit in tow, this September; until then, posters of the works are holding their spots in a small octagonal gallery. The VR tour  a collaboration with the Academy of Art University in San Francisco  sits in an adjacent room, offering an info-packed excursion through Rockwell's work, his world and the everyday experiences of Americans in a time of thrift and sacrifice. Its six hours of material can't be swallowed whole in one brief sitting, but you can get a taste.

So take a seat. Strap on the headset. Step into Rockwell's world  for a start, maybe the bedroom in "Freedom from Fear." Twirl in your chair and gaze around it, checking out the pile of M&Ms (first created as non-melting soldiers' rations), the aircraft spotter's handbook (promoting civilian vigilance), the twirling steel penny (minted during wartime copper shortfalls).

Next, head downstairs to the living room. Head over to the console radio. Flip the dial to different stations  there's FDR's "Fireside Chat" from December 1940, addressing Americans on Nazi dangers in the long-ago cadences of the time. Head into the kitchen, large and white and decked with checkered linoleum, to flip through the ration book with its stamps for meat and butter.

"Freedom of Worship" takes you into Rockwell's Arlington, VT, studio. "Freedom from Want" takes you to a giant gallery crammed with his paintings and their pop-cultural appropriations and takeoffs over the years  MAD Magazine, Archie comics, the Muppets. And "Freedom of Speech" transports you into the Arlington town hall where the artist's neighbor rose to object to funding for a new school. Taxpayers couldn't afford it, he argued. They'd just survived the Great Depression.

The measure passed anyway. But the point of the painting  the point of the constitutional liberty behind it  is the license to speak, the forum that encourages it and the decency and decorum in those who listen. Given the trolling and mockery that prevail in public discourse these days, the painting serves as a blunt reminder of just how far we've fallen.

In the Rockwell VR tour, that Vermont hall is empty. No one is standing to speak or sitting in well-mannered silence. But if you turn on the television up front, you'll hear speeches  among them FDR's "Four Freedoms" address, which lays out those fundamental human goals in stark, uncompromising terms. "Everywhere in the world," he says, people should have the freedom to speak. To worship. To secure "a healthy peacetime life" without economic hardship. To witness "a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point ... that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor."

The America depicted in this Rockwellian realm differs from our own in a few obvious ways  in its predominant whiteness, for a start, although he included a black man and a Muslim with a fez in "Freedom of Worship." (Some of his even-more-inclusive civil rights paintings, including "The Problem We All Live With," came later but appear in the "Freedom from Want" virtual gallery.) And it is indeed romanticized, offering a near-Utopian ode to universal liberties that's nowhere close to being realized.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

But there's something to be said for shared idealism, shared values and the politesse that directs us to listen as others voice dissent. There's something to be said for lifting principles to the fore and giving them a platform. Whether viewing the past through VR goggles or rose-colored glasses, we can keep such goals in sight. We can turn to them as a guide, catching a glimpse of what might have been and still could be.

Maybe we can listen to our neighbor  or at least not vilify him  the next time he expresses an opinion we oppose. Maybe we can let people pray  or not  in the manner to which they feel called. Maybe we can understand that parents everywhere, whether tucking their children to bed or carrying them over a border, only want their babies to be safe. Maybe we can all gather around a table with full bellies and cranky uncles, knowing our neighbors can, too.

"That is no vision of a distant millennium," Roosevelt went on to say in that State of the Union speech. "It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation."

He was wrong about that. It wasn't attainable in his generation. Is it now? Is it ever? Yes or no, the vision is worth a look.

abiancolli@timesunion.com  518-454-5439  @AmyBiancolli
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The Chair Project: Photographs by Dutch Bieber

A white chair sits in a snowstorm at a Helena intersection near Target late at night.

A scrawled cardboard sign Will Sit For Art leans against it. The photos composition, white-against-black contrast and its whimsy rivet the viewers eye.

Its just one of a selection of 8-inch black-and-white photos in Dutch Biebers new show, The Chair Project, in The Myrna Loy Jailhouse Gallery, 15 N. Ewing. A public reception is 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5.

In other images:

-- the white chair sits in silence on a wooden fishing bridge;

--it is enthroned on a rocky outcrop with a vast view of clouds and mountain tops at MacDonald Pass; and

--wrapped in a sail of billowing white cloth, the chair faces into a blustering prairie wind.

Bieber prefers to let the 20 images in the show speak for themselves, rather than to flatten the viewers experience by telling their stories. Bieber, who was a 2018 recipient of The Myrna Loys Grants to Artists program, is already working on The Chair Project Vol. 2.

The show runs through April 29.

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Michael Lingen was handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, over the attack. (SWNS)

A man who attacked and killed a womans Yorkshire Terrier by smashing it over the head with an axe has been spared jail.

Michael Lingen, 52, who attacked the pet dog belonging to Tania Bassett  a woman he knew  on 28 February, admitted destroying the animal in Worcester.

Read more: Killers who shot man in the face before going for chicken jailed for life

Lingen, of Northfield Street, Worcester, also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by striking it on the head with an axe.

Kidderminster Magistrates Court handed him a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Lingen was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Kidderminster Magistrates. Court. (Wikipedia)

Lingen, of Worcester, was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, pay 135 costs and a 122 victim surcharge.

He was also banned from owning or keeping all animals for life, as well as being involved in any arrangement in which he could control or influence their care.

Read more: Sikh warrior voted greatest leader of all time in BBC poll

Speaking after the case on Monday an RSPCA spokeswoman described the case as really shocking.

She added: "I would encourage anyone who has concerns about the welfare of any animal to contact us, or the police to investigate.
The Duchess of Cambridge further solidified her fashion icon status today, as she wore the ultimate transitional dress in Galway.

The 38-year-old wore a bespoke offering of Suzannah London's Valerie dress, which she paired with a black belt and co-ordinating knee-high boots. The Duchesses' exact dress isn't up for sale, as it was custom-made for her, but the navy version can be bought here for 1,250.

She last wore a dress by Suzannah London last summer, when she wore its "Wiggle" dress to Wimbledon.

In actual fact, her outfit today channelled a look which, back in 2017, triggered a collective fluster on the Internet.

When KITRI, the London-based fashion brand founded in 2017, released its 'Gabriella' dress in the spring of the same year, the frock sold out in all sizes in approximately 45 minutes. And while the coveted Gabriella dress is no longer available to buy, it bore a striking similarity to the Duchesses' Suzannah offering, and amassed an 800-strong waiting list of eager fashion fans at the time.

The KITRI Gabriella dress / KITRI

But what magic formula do both of these emerald dresses possess which has caused such a stir amongst eagle-eyed fashion fans?

The secret, it would seem, is in their flatterinf shade, their wearability and their nonchalant ease. For here is a dress which does the talking for you. All you need to do is wake up and go.

Not only does the style showcase the perfect way to usher in the new and (hopefully) warmer climes that accompany spring, but it can also double as a summer throw-on dress and will continue to work hard for your wardrobe throughout the colder months too.

While the Duchesses' exact dress isn't available to buy, the easy-to-wear style has been churned out by other equally as chic and transitional brands. LA cool-girl, eco-conscious brand Reformation has a similar offering; its Creed dress (available to buy here, 255) can be worn a la Duchess with a synched-in belt and knee-high boots (which will elongate the legs) or with pared-back sling-back sandles for the ultimate nod to summer style.

The Reformation Creed dress (Net-A-Porter ) / Net-A-Porter

And while its coveted Gabriella dress is no longer available to buy, KITRI has a similar offering in the same hue (shop it here, 145) which makes for an effortless fling-it-on-and-go sartorial option. If you're perhaps still straddling the fence on the trend, perhaps better to dip your toe in the water first with this dotty dress from ASOS, for 22.

Molly Gren Spot Print Smocked Dress, 145, Kitri. Shop it here / Kitri

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made the appearance in Galway today to attend a special event at the Tribeton restaurant to look ahead to the city hosting the European Capital of Culture in 2020.
WASHINGTONCanada is spearheading what Transport Minister Marc Garneau hopes will become an international effort to protect civilian airliners around the world from being shot down over conflict zones.

Garneau was in the U.S. capital to promote what hes calling the Strategy for Safer Skies  a Canadian-led multilateral effort to improve co-ordination, communication and intelligence-sharing between civil aviation agencies and airlines around the world.

As a global community, we cannot add any more names to the list of lives that have been lost, of families whose lives have been turned upside down, Garneau told an audience of aviation executives, industry leaders and experts at a summit meeting hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

We must find ways to better manage civil aviation above conflict zones.

Canada has been seized with the issue ever since January, when  in the midst of Irans ballistic-missile retaliation against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. soldiers for the targeted killing of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani  a Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot out of the sky over Tehran.

Flight PS752 had been bound for Kyiv, but was laden with passengers destined for a connecting flight to Toronto, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and many others with connections to Canada. All 176 people aboard perished.

Iran initially denied involvement, only to admit three days after the crash that its military fired a pair of missiles at the jet, having mistaken it for a hostile target.

Following the disaster, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear Canada would take steps to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. He cited the specific expertise of the Netherlands, which developed a number of recommendations after a Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down over separatist-held territory in Ukraine in 2014, killing 298.

In neither case was the airspace closed to passenger flights, despite the obvious risk, Garneau said.

We are not going to depend entirely on the countries where this may be happening, where there may be conflict, he said.

There has to be an intelligence-gathering process, there has to be a risk assessment following that intelligence gathering and there has to be a sharing of that information. In the case of Iran and Ukraine, they did not themselves close their airspace, and as a result of that, certain airlines flew in and out or over that airspace.

Canada will lead efforts among its partner countries, including members of a working group established after the Jan. 8 incident, to better share information, warnings and directions for avoiding dangerous airspace, and to improve airline safety protocols and day-to-day practices.

The initiative already has the support of the United States, where the Federal Aviation Administration operates an existing Notice to Airmen system designed to keep U.S. pilots and carriers apprised of potential dangers.

The United States, of course, is a world leader with respect to how they issue (those notices) to airlines over conflict zones, so theres a lot of good things in place, Garneau said.

Eventually, he said, the initiative will include the Montreal-headquartered International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency that helps to co-ordinate air travel standards and practices around the world among the nearly 200 countries that operate air carriers.

RELATED STORIES Middle East Ukrainian airliner crashes in Iran, killing all 176 aboard

They are probably a good vehicle for making sure the information is properly disseminated.

In an interview Wednesday, Garneau said Canada has already issued two notices of its own since the Ukrainian jetliner was shot down, warning airlines to avoid potentially perilous flight paths over Libya and Syria.

Were already beginning to put into practice some of the things we think will be part of the Safer Skies strategy.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version used an outdated figure for the number of Canadians killed.

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(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The coronavirus epidemic is not President Donald Trumps fault. Neither is the stock markets decline, or the economic downturn that seems increasingly likely to follow in its wake.

Whats more, with many of the big decisions on how to slow the diseases spread in the hands of state and local officials, a U.S. presidents role in such a crisis is limited. The regime in Tehran may have enabled the onset of a full-on national pandemic in Iran with its denial and inaction. That would be harder for any White House, however incompetent or misguided, to accomplish.

Still, not being as bad as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei isnt exactly something to brag about. And Trump really has been doing a lot of things wrong lately. Not everything: Long known for his heavy use of hand-sanitizer, hes been OK about promoting proper hygiene. Also, his early decision to cut off most travel between the U.S. and China, controversial at the time, appears to have been the right call. It didnt stop the virus from getting here, but surely slowed its spread.

With the disease now making its way around the U.S., though, border controls are of diminishing effectiveness. The recent White House focus on discouraging and restricting travel to and from Italy and South Korea might even be entirely mistargeted, given that both countries high numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases seem to stem as much from aggressive testing as anything else.

Speaking of testing, the rollout of coronavirus tests here in the U.S. was initially bungled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is coming online only in fits and starts. The full story of why testing took so long has yet to be told, and may well turn out to be a case of simple bureaucratic failure rather than anything that can be pinned directly on Trump or his appointees. But the presidents general disdain for scientific expertise and his repeated attempts to cut the CDCs budget (even though they have been mostly thwarted by Congress) dont exactly earn him the benefit of the doubt.

Story continues

The biggest problem, though, is simply the way that the president talks about the disease. His instinct at every turn is to downplay its danger and significance. His controversial coronavirus remarks Wednesday night on Sean Hannitys Fox News show are a prime example. The two talked for a long time, and Trump said some sensible things, such as warning that the disease poses higher risks for the elderly. He also really has been studying up on his flu-season fatality numbers, reeling off the death tolls from recent years with impressive accuracy.

But the gist of the presidents remarks was that his travel ban with China has been such a success that Covid-19 poses little threat here. When Hannity mentioned the World Health Organizations latest estimate that 3.4% of those diagnosed with the disease worldwide have died from it, Trump went into a riff about how this estimate was surely on the high side because it didnt count people who had Covid-19 but werent diagnosed with it.

A lot of people will have this and its very mild. Theyll get better very rapidly, they dont even see a doctor, they dont even call a doctor. You dont even hear about those people. So you cant put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu or virus. If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by sitting around or even going to work  some of them go to work, but they get better ...

Ill stop it there, because this last bit was misreported in some places as Trump saying that people with mild cases of Covid-19 should go to work. He didnt say that (he didnt say they shouldnt, either). Hes also right that large numbers of mild, unreported cases mean the WHOs 3.4% case-fatality rate is probably too high; I went with an estimate of 1% in a column published earlier today. But theres no reason to think its way under 1%, as Trump also said, and if lots of cases are going unreported thats actually more alarming than it is reassuring. It is the undetected spread of a virus that allows a true pandemic to develop, and while Covid-19 appears to be a bit easier to detect than influenza, it also appears to be 10 times deadlier.

The contrast with the messaging coming from the U.K.  where a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today that it is now highly likely that the virus is going to spread in a significant way, and the government is making projections of potential economic disruption so huge that one respected economist dismissed them as fear-mongering  is instructive. Johnson is often likened to Trump because of his hair and his penchant for making things up, but in this instance he seems far more interested in heading off the worst than in telling people not to worry about it.

That is, of course, how youre supposed to approach a potential public-health crisis. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. There are lots of people in all levels of government in the U.S. who are doing just that right now, which is reassuring. There is also, interestingly, a former high-level Trump administration official who has been doing a spectacular job  on Twitter, in op-ed articles, on television and, one presumes, in countless emails and phone calls  of spelling out the risks posed by Covid-19 and nudging government officials in Washington and elsewhere to take appropriate action. If Trump would just call up former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, ask him very nicely to take the reins of the coronavirus-fighting effort and then abstain from talking or tweeting about anything coronavirus-related other than to endorse whatever Gottlieb says, he would garner widespread and deserved praise  and possibly save hundreds of thousands of lives.

To contact the author of this story: Justin Fox at justinfox@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stacey Shick at sshick@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Justin Fox is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He was the editorial director of Harvard Business Review and wrote for Time, Fortune and American Banker. He is the author of The Myth of the Rational Market.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of blackmailing Europe by opening its borders to fleeing refugees. "Turkey has started to send a second wave of refugees as a form of blackmail to Europe," Assad said in an interview with the Russia 24 channel aired on Syrian state TV. As thousands of desperate refugees gathered on Turkey's border with European Union member Greece, some EU states and the bloc's migration commissioner have also accused Turkey of using migrants as a bargaining chip with Brussels to get support for its operations in Syria. A three-month-old military offensive by Damascus, which Russia has supported with air power, has shrunk Syria's last rebel bastion and displaced close to a million people. The newly-displaced civilians are massing near the border with Turkey, which already hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country, some 3.6 million people. The interview was broadcast as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan held talks in Moscow, a summit aimed at securing an elusive ceasefire in Syria's rebel-held Idlib enclave. A regime strike last month in Idlib resulted in the deaths of 34 Turkish soldiers, the heaviest loss of personnel for Ankara since its military intervention in 2016. Turkey's reply has been bruising, with devastating drone and rocket strikes destroying regime positions and military equipment and killing dozens of government troops. Erdogan's move to open the floodgates for refugees seeking to flee to Europe has sent Brussels into a panic, raising the spectre of a repeat of the 2015-2016 migrant crisis. The Turkish president has rejected accusations he was blackmailing Europe and stressed that "Turkey's capacity has a limit". "Turkey has started to send a second wave of refugees as a form of blackmail to Europe," Assad said in an interview with the Russia 24 channel aired on Syrian state TV
ST. LOUIS, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, today announced the results from its Empowering Our Communities program, which was introduced last year in celebration of the company's 150th anniversary and 90 years of employee ownership.

In 2019, Graybar employees gave 100,665 hours of volunteer service to their local communities nationwide, surpassing the company's goal of 90,000 hours. In addition, Graybar and its employees donated more than $1.64 million to worthy causes, exceeding the original goal of $1.5 million.

As part of the Empowering Our Communities program, Graybar introduced a matching gifts program for employee charitable donations, and employees received a paid day to volunteer in the community. Both of these will continue in 2020.

"Graybar has a long history of generously giving back to the communities where we live and work," said Chairman, President and CEO Kathy Mazzarella. "Strengthening our communities was at the heart of our anniversary celebration. I thank our employees, retirees, suppliers, customers, family members and friends for joining together to make a difference. We look forward to powering a new era for our communities in 2020 and beyond."

To learn more about how Graybar is empowering communities, please visit www.graybar150.com.

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of nearly 290 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.

Media Contact:

Tim Sommer

(314) 578-7672

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OMAHA -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decreased water releases from Gavins Point Dam this week as melting snow continues to flow into the Missouri River downriver and increase flooding risks.

Releases from the dam near Yankton, South Dakota, were dropped to 35,000 cubic feet per second from 38,000 cfs. Both rates are more than twice the normal winter rate.

The corps has aggressively released water early this year from the six reservoirs it oversees on the Missouri River in order to maintain maximum flood storage capacity going into a year in which runoff is expected to be well above normal levels.

Throughout 2019, critics asked the corps why more water wasn't released earlier in the year to lessen flooding in southwest Iowa, southeast Nebraska and Missouri, areas that experienced months of flooding. Gavins Point releases remained at 80,000 cfs, more than twice the normal rate, from spring through late fall to evacuate near-record runoff. Runoff in the Missouri River basin above Sioux City in 2019 totaled 60.9 million acre-feet, the second-highest total in 121 years of record keeping behind the 2011 record of 61 MAF.

The corps has forecast 2020 runoff to be 36.9 MAF, 143 percent of average. The runoff figure has risen from the 36.3 MAF runoff forecast in February.

As of Tuesday, storage in the reservoir system was 56.4 MAF, occupying 0.3 MAF of the 16.3 MAF flood control zone.

Siouxland residents will have a chance to ask corps officials more about this year's river management during one of its annual spring meetings to be held in Sioux City. The meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 9 at the Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center, 300 Third St.

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Maria Salguero, a geophysicist and founder of the National Map of Femicides in Mexico studied the number of victims of femicide in the country and stated that the number of femicides has increased from five or six death to ten to eleven deaths a day.

She began recording deaths of femicide in Mexico in 2016 and her job is to make the issue on the violence in gender especially with women transparent to everyone.

Most of the registered victims in the year 2016 were around thirty to thirty-six years old but in her recent records, most of the women being targetted are 18 to 25 years of age. The femicide rate has alarmingly increased by over six percent.

In the data recorded by the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security, they have gathered over 602 confirmed cases of femicides in the year 2016 alone. In 2019, about 976 cases were recorded.

The total cases since 2016 up to today, it has accumulated up to 8,640. As the World Health Organization has reported, 10 cases of murders of women are considered an epidemic in violence.

Salguero in the first two years used the news as her tool in mapping and addressing these femicides. She believes that Ciudad Juarez is the center for the organized crime since the largest market for drugs in the world is located in that state.

There is also an ongoing conflict between the state and the Sinaloa cartel. It is believed that their dispute is the root of the increase of violence.

Salguero suspected that most of the deaths are done through organized crimes. These crimes are commonly known in Baja California, Colima, Jalisco, the State of Mexico, Guanajuato and Chihuahua.

She believes that the victims of femicide are being killed because the criminals from organized crimes consider the women of their rivals as an enemy and through that, they can bring harm to their enemies.

She added that the women are not the only victims of the dispute. T

he factors that led to all these violence are linked to the expansion of illegally acquiring weapons, drugs, and more.

Most men in Juarez are involved in drugs like meth. These drugs cause them to act violently and harshly. Some of their wives are involved in drugs too.

She believes that the cases on femicides continue to increase since the government is giving these perpetrators and criminals immunity from prosecution since most of the cases are not supported with enough evidence.

Even the people from the government are being accused of these violent crimes, but aren't punished since they have fabricated or lost the original evidence.

Salguero made her move and told the authorities what to do to prevent more cases of femicide after a 7-year-old girl from Tlahuac was sexually assaulted and killed.

The Committee for the Eradication of all the Ways of Discrimination Against Women advises the government to follow the process. She requested the government to do their part since the issue is considered to be federal.

They must give their financial and moral support and follow a process to prevent and punish the convicts and perpetrators so that violence against women will be stopped.
With the March-end deadline for the biggest-ever amalgamation scheme is approaching, eight state-owned banks on Thursday announced swap ratios for the proposed mergers.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) in a regulatory filing announced the share exchange ratio in accordance with the scheme of amalgamation, as it is set to merge Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI) into itself with effect from April 1.

PNB's board in its meeting on Thursday has approved for amalgamation of OBC and UBI, Punjab National Bank said in a BSE filing.

According to the swap ratio, 1,150 equity shares of PNB are to be exchanged for every 1,000 equity shares of Oriental Bank of Commerce, while 121 equity shares of PNB are to be swapped for every 1,000 equity shares of UBI.

A Grievance Redressal Committee headed by Vijay Kumar Vyas, retired judge of Rajasthan High Court, has been set up to address the grievances of shareholders. The committee is intended to address those shareholders who either individually or collectively hold at least 1 per cent of the equity capital of any of PNB, OBC or UBI; or 100 shareholders acting collectively, of any of PNB, OBC or UBI.

"The board of directors of the bank...have fixed Wednesday, March 25, 2020, as record date for issuing and allotting equity shares of the PNB to the shareholders of OBC and UBI as per the share exchange ratio," PNB said in the filing.

Meanwhile, Andhra Bank on Thursday also announced the swap ratio for its merger, it said in a filing. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank are to be amalgamated into Union Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2020.

Andhra Bank said, "Further, the board of directors of the bank at its meeting held on March 5, 2020, has approved the equity share exchange ratio for amalgamation of Andhra Bank into Union Bank of India for 325 equity shares in Union Bank of India for every 1,000 equity shares in Andhra Bank."



Union Bank in a separate exchange filing said its board at its meeting on Thursday has also approved the equity share exchange ratio. It includes 325 equity shares of Union Bank of India for every 1,000 shares in Andhra Bank and 330 shares in Union Bank for every 1,000 equity shares in Corporation Bank.

Also, for Syndicate Bank's merger into Canara Bank, the share swap is 158 equity shares of Canara Bank for every 1,000 equity shares of Syndicate Bank.

The lenders in their respective filings to the exchange said their boards have approved the amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank.

For these two banks, an expert committee (Grievance Redressal Committee ) is to be headed by K N Keshavanarayana, former judge of the High Court of Karnataka, to address the grievances of minority shareholders.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday had okayed the amalgamation of 10 public sector banks to create four large state-owned lenders with effect from April 1, 2020.

According to the mega consolidation plan, OBC and UBI will merge into PNB; Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India; and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank.

After the mergers, there will be seven large public sector banks (PSBs) and five smaller ones.

Last year, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda. Prior to this, the government had merged five associate banks of SBI and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with the State Bank of India.

The anchor bank Punjab National Bank will become the country's second largest bank, with business size of Rs 17.94 lakh crore, after SBI which has business of over Rs 52 lakh crore.

Bank of Baroda will become the third largest bank, followed by Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, and Indian Bank.

The other PSBs are Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and Punjab and Sind Bank.

Stock of PNB on Thursday closed at Rs 44.90 on the BSE, up 1.01 per cent from the previous close, while Union Bank of India's shares jumped 8.25 per cent to Rs 39.35 apiece. Canara Bank rose marginally by 0.40 per cent to close at 139.45 apiece.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mike Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who poured half a billion dollars into his presidential campaign, dropped out of the race on Wednesday and endorsed the surging candidacy of Joe Biden, whose string of victories on Super Tuesday has upended the nominating contest.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who lost 10 of 14 state primaries to Biden on Tuesday, adopted a more aggressive tone with the former vice president Wednesday as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., flew home to Boston to reassess her campaign, weighing whether to end her bid and allow liberals in the party to unite behind Sanders the way moderates quickly coalesced for Biden.

After a head-spinning four days, a primary race that began with a historically large and diverse field - powered by a half-dozen women attempting to tap into an activated female electorate - has now boiled down to two white men in their late 70s who each have spent about a half-century running for political office.

Biden and Sanders are now preparing to catapult their candidacies into a new round of contests over the next two Tuesdays, when 10 more states will vote and award nearly 900 additional delegates, a stretch that could determine the race.

As the results from the states that voted on Super Tuesday became more definitive, the shape of the campaign shifted swiftly and forcefully. Sanders cruised into Super Tuesday hoping to surge to a potentially insurmountable lead. But now, Biden is narrowly ahead - and looking at a more favorable map as demographics in the upcoming contests largely tilt in his direction. Biden has 433 delegates to Sanders' 388, with California still tallying results.

Voter turnout in several states was dramatically higher than in 2016, with Democratic voters motivated to choose a nominee who they hope can unseat President Trump. But Sanders, whose campaign has long argued that it was expanding the electorate with new, younger voters, conceded that had not happened.

"Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in?" Sanders said to reporters at a campaign office in Burlington, Vermont. "The answer is no."

Sanders for months has had trouble taking a sharp line against Biden, jabbing occasionally at him as if they were in a fight on the Senate floor rather than a brawl for the Democratic nomination. But the future of his candidacy may depend on whether he can trigger a seismic shift in how voters view the former vice president.

"Joe Biden is someone I've known for many years. I like Joe, I think he is a very decent human being," Sanders told reporters Wednesday. "Joe and I, we have a very different voting record. Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country, and Joe and I are running very different campaigns, and my hope is, in the coming months, we'll be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have."

Sanders, who has been criticized for the bullying and vitriol that some of his supporters employ on social media, also reiterated that he does not want the campaign to turn into a "Trump-type effort where we're attacking each other, where it's personal attacks - that's the last thing this country wants."

Sanders and Warren spoke earlier on Wednesday, and she told him that she is assessing her campaign's future.

Roger Lau, Warren's campaign manager, sent an all-staff email Wednesday morning thanking them and explaining that the candidate will make a decision about her future in coming days.

"Last night, we fell well short of viability goals and projections, and we are disappointed in the results," Lau wrote, according to a copy of the email obtained by The Washington Post. "We are going to announce shortly that Elizabeth is talking to the team to assess the path forward."

He also asked that Warren be given some time to figure out her next move. "This decision is in her hands, and it's important that she has the time and space to consider what comes next," Lau wrote.

Warren and Sanders spoke by phone Wednesday. Their top surrogates and allies have discussed ways for them to unite and push a common liberal agenda, The Post reported Wednesday.

Aside from Warren, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who has earned a single delegate from American Samoa, is the only other candidate remaining.

- - -

Bloomberg's exit from the race concluded one of the most unusual campaigns in politics, in which a billionaire tested the limits of money's impact on the first stages of a highly volatile presidential primary race.

But after dismal results - picking up delegates but failing to win a single state outright - the former mayor on Wednesday morning called Biden to discuss his decision.

"I'm sorry we didn't win. It's still the best day of my life, and tomorrow's going to be even better," Bloomberg said to cheers from a crowd later in the day in New York. He reiterated that he "entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump, and today I am leaving the race for the same reason."

Bloomberg has pledged to employ large field staffs in six swing states in the general election, even though he is no longer a candidate. The billionaire's data operation, Hawkfish, will also continue operating to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

"Mike fully intends to put his resources and commitment in the broadest way possible behind Joe Biden's candidacy," said Tim O'Brien, a senior adviser to Bloomberg. "We have long-term leases and long-term contracts with the team, and the intention was always to put this big machine we have built behind whoever the nominee is."

Bloomberg's aides, however, have not announced whether they will take out ads in the primary campaign to help Biden or whether Bloomberg campaign staffers in upcoming primary states will work for Biden's nomination.

Campaign finance rules generally give self-funded campaigns significant leeway to spend money, even if the funds support other candidates. Bloomberg also has the option of renaming or rehiring his staff as part of a separate independent group to help Biden, according to campaign finance experts.

Biden is not the only Democrat in the party eager for Bloomberg to stay invested.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who benefited in 2018 from a $20 million donation Bloomberg gave to an outside group supporting Senate Democrats, released a statement after Bloomberg left the race.

"Mayor Mike Bloomberg's deep and impactful record of action on gun safety, fighting climate change, and advocating for immigration reform made him a strong and worthy competitor in this primary," Schumer said. "His continuing commitment to these fights - and to defeating the divisive and damaging Trump presidency - is statesmanlike and will permanently inure to his credit."

There are six states voting on Tuesday, awarding 352 delegates. The largest prize is Michigan, but Missouri and Washington state also have large hauls. Biden is poised to do well in Mississippi, which has the same demographics as the Southern states he swept on Tuesday.

Perhaps the only major moment to change the race comes during a March 15 debate in Phoenix. Two days later, four important bellwether states - Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio - vote and award 577 delegates, the second-biggest single-day haul remaining in the race.

By the end of March, nearly two-thirds of the delegates will have been awarded, and pressure will grow on any candidate who doesn't have a chance at reaching a majority to drop out of the race. It takes 1,991 delegates to win the nomination.

- - -

Biden carried 10 of 14 Super Tuesday states. He swept the South and won in the Upper Midwest, carried Massachusetts and Maine, and scored a major upset by winning Texas.

Sanders won his home state of Vermont, as well as Colorado and Utah, and was expected to win the biggest delegate prize of California.

Most tallies had Biden with an overall lead of about 45 delegates. Perhaps more important, he was able to build a powerful coalition that included African-American voters and the white working class, winning over women in the suburbs and disaffected Republicans.

Turnout was up sharply in many of the states, with nearly every one voting in bigger numbers than in 2016 and some states exceeding the 2008 contest that has been the modern barometer for voter enthusiasm.

In Texas, turnout was up about 60 percent compared with 2016, while Tennessee saw a 37 percent increase.

About 1.3 million voters in Virginia cast ballots in the Democratic primary, up from the previous record of about 986,000 during the 2008 contest.

There are still significant risks for Biden, and he will test whether voters care about his verbal gaffes or whether Republican attempts to re-litigate the actions of his son Hunter will gain additional traction. Biden's son served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, while he was vice president and attempting to crack down on corruption in Ukraine. While there has been no evidence of wrongdoing, the actions of the Bidens became a part of Trump's impeachment trial.

Biden's campaign - and his growing list of prominent endorsers - has increasingly tried to showcase his character and empathy.

They say that making the contrast between a longtime politician who even opponents say is a good and decent person will provide a strong contrast with Trump, who has stretched traditional limits of civility and discourse.

"We set high expectations for the campaign [on Tuesday], and he absolutely blew through those expectations and had a record-breaking night," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., co-chairman of the Biden campaign. "People know Joe Biden. He's authentic. He has empathy. He's concerned, and he has experience."

- - -

The Washington Post's Annie Linskey, Michael Scherer and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.
The U.S. Air Force's pilot shortage continues to worsen, even after years of multi-pronged efforts to fix the problem.

In separate congressional hearings this week, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson told lawmakers that, while there has been steady progress, the service ended last fiscal year 2,100 pilots short of the 21,000 needed "to execute the National Defense Strategy."

To date, the service has not provided a breakdown of which pilot communities -- such as mobility or fighter -- are experiencing manning gaps.

The service ended fiscal 2018 with a total force pilot shortage of 1,937, a slight improvement over the 2,000 it was short in 2017. In fiscal 2016, when officials first sounded the alarm, the Air Force had a 1,555 pilot gap, the service said at the time.

Related: The Air Force Is Calling Off Its 'Fly-Only' Track Experiment

Wilson said the Air Force has seen a 30% increase in its pilot production over the last three years and has worked to address retention issues.

But competition with the commercial airline industry is a persistent issue.

"This is a national problem, though, between all the services. We're going to produce, [say] 2,200 pilots [but] the airlines are going to hire 5,000, right? So that's the challenge we face," Wilson said during a House Armed Services readiness subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

"The nation is not producing enough pilots," Goldfein said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday. "This is a national-level issue."

In February, the Air Force said it will fall short in its goal of producing 1,480 new pilots across the force by the end of fiscal 2020.

Officials anticipate the service will produce roughly 1,300 pilots across all communities by year's end, which shows steady improvement, they said. The service previously cited ambitious goals to ramp up pilot training in order to produce 1,500 pilots a year by fiscal 2022.

Then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and management support in October 2018 that the service would increase its 1,160 pilot training slots to 1,311 in fiscal 2019. The Air Force ended up producing 1,279 pilots that year, roughly 30 pilots short of its increased goal, according to recent statistics provided to Military.com.

Gen. Stephen Wilson said the goal remains to "get to almost 1,500."

Some experts, however, have said the 1,500-pilot goal may be out of reach, especially in the near term.

"We have a drastically different environment now where the body pool doesn't exist," said Gene Colabatistto, formerly the group president for defense and security at CAE, a company that provides worldwide training and integration for civilian and military aviation. Colabatistto spoke to Military.com last year on pilot incentives.

"It's a system issue," he said. "You have to attract people, and they want to become pilots in general. Otherwise ... you'll never succeed."

Some lawmakers said that the service must attract more diverse candidates, instead of propagating the "fighter jock" stereotype.

During the House Armed Services Committee hearing, Rep. Anthony Brown, a Democrat from Maryland, called the number of minorities and women flying aircraft today "disturbingly low," adding that the Air Force must address its pilot culture, which he said is often too stereotypical and exclusive.

"We cannot be afraid of this. We have to take it head-on," Brown said. "I implore you to take this on, and to ask Congress for help."

Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican from Mississippi, said the service can appeal to younger, more diverse generations with pinpointed advertising.

"We need to make it where those young ladies and minorities see that TV commercial, and they want to go fly fighters for the United States Air Force," he said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: Air Force Generals to Elon Musk: The Fighter Jet Era Isn't over Yet
Voter psychology  and an incumbents complacency  may have led to the surprise ouster of Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton in Tuesdays Republican primary.

In a race that drew 1.8 million ballots, South Texas cattle rancher Jim Wright defeated Sitton 56 percent to 44 percent, even though Sitton had a $2 million campaign fund and was well-known in the industry.

Wright beat Sitton in almost all the counties that make up industry and conservative strongholds such as the Permian Basin of West Texas and the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, election results show.

The upset had political observers scratching their heads, but political science expert Mark Jones of Rice Universitys Baker Institute blames Sittons loss on two factors  failing to use his large campaign fund during the primaries and a psychological phenomenon that takes place when voters cast their ballots for a candidate whose name seems more familiar.

Sitton got caught napping in a low-profile race, Jones said. He didnt actively campaign as much as he should have. As a result, Republican voters didnt know who he was.

Railroad Commissioner: Flaring in Texas reaches levels not seen since 1950s

Thats an assessment Sitton did not dispute. Sitton enjoyed the endorsements of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick but claims he was taken down by "extremely malicious and false information" that started circulating ahead of early voting. The mudslinging campaign, he said, included radio ads, fliers that targeted voters by mail, negative stories that ran on blogs and social media posts.

"I thought that I could ignore it since it was so outrageous, and I was focusing heavily on the general election in November," Sitton wrote to supporters in an email. "But in a low-profile down ballot race like Railroad Commissioner, I should have been more focused, and responded with an aggressive campaign of my own. I got complacent, and lost."

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Sitton may have had even more difficulty combating the psychology of voters navigating names on a ballot. Jim is a more common first name than Ryan and Wright is a more common last name than Sitton, Jones said. But most importantly, he said, Jim Wright is the name of the popular Democrat from North Texas who served 18 terms in Congress, from 1955 to 1991, including two years as speaker. The congressman died in May 2015, but his name may still hold some political cache or simply sound familiar to voters.

In a down-ballot, low-information race such as Railroad Commission, it could have been one factor of many, Jones said.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said its not the first time that the voting booth phenomenon happened in a Railroad Commission race. Retired teacher Grady Yarbrough spent just $16,000 and won the 2016 Democratic nomination, Rottinghaus said, because his last named was similar to that of U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough, a New Deal Texan who served from 1957 to 1971.

The name Yarborough is definitely well-known in Democratic circles, Rottinghaus said. A well-known name in a low-information campaign can be a difference-maker.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

The Railroad Commission regulates the states oil and natural gas industry, issuing permits for oil wells, pipelines, waste sites and other facilities as well as fines and other penalties. Its three commissioners serve six-year terms, with one up for re-election every two years. Sitton was elected in November 2014 and will serve until the general election winner is sworn into office in January.

Wright will face challengers from the Libertarian and Green parties, but his Democratic opponent has not been determined. Dallas energy attorney Chrysta Castaneda, with 34 percent, and former Texas State Rep. Roberto Beto Alonzo, who received 29 percent, will face each other in a May 26 runoff.

Wright, Castaneda and Alonzo are expected to appear in a March 24 debate hosted by the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association in Dallas where the industry practice known as flaring, or the burning off of excess natural gas at oil wells, is expected to be a key issue.

Oil-well operators burned off more than 650 million cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2018, levels not seen since the 1950s, Railroad Commission data shows. The daily amount of natural gas burned off could have supplied nearly 4 million U.S. homes for a single day. And at current market prices, it would have generated about $1.3 million of per day.

Luke Metzger, executive director for the Austin-based Environment Texas, called the Railroad Commission race one of the most important on the ballot in November for Texas environment.

With record rates of flaring and pollution coming from oil and gas production, its clear the Railroad Commission has been failing in its mission to stop the waste of resources and protect health and the environment, Metzger said. With Chairman Wayne Christian sometimes breaking with the other two commissioners on flaring permit votes, Commissioner Sittons successor could swing the balance in favor of action to curtail flaring.

sergio.chapa@chron.com

@SergioChapa on Twitter
With the acquisition of Kiddie Country, Endeavor Schools is continuing its rapid growth in the private school market.

Endeavor Schools has expanded into Virginia with the acquisition of Kiddie Country Developmental Learning Center, one of the commonwealths top private schools for preschool and kindergarten education.

With the addition of Kiddie Country, Endeavor Schools now operates 51 schools in 12 states, where the company provides high-quality education to children and continues the legacy and relationships of local school owners to the communities they have served.

Located in Burke, Virginia, Kiddie Country Developmental Learning Center has been a staple of the suburban Fairfax community since its founding in 1979. The award-winning school offers full-time preschool and kindergarten programs, as well as before and after-school programs for children up to sixth grade.

Kiddie Country built its stellar reputation through a steadfast dedication to early childhood education that has created excellent results for 40 years, said Endeavor Schools CEO Ricardo Campo. We look forward to working with the Kiddie Country staff to help maintain their excellent standards.

Focused on the development of young children, the Kiddie Country curriculum draws from groundbreaking thought leaders like Jean Piaget, best known for his research on child cognitive development, as well as current research on how children learn. Their exploratory, hands-on approach to learning addresses five crucial developmental needs of the child: physical; emotional; social; creative; and intellectual.

This education method enables children to find an effective balance between joyful play and inspired inquiry that develops childrens intellectual curiosity, cognitive resilience, motor skills, and social character.

Kiddie Countrys curriculum recognizes that the most effective way to educate children requires a respectful and joyful approach that harnesses childrens interests, celebrates their questions, and encourages their desire to understand the world around them, said Dr. Amy Brereton, Endeavor Schools Vice President of Academics. By addressing each of a childs developmental needs through a multi-faceted approach, teachers give students a holistic education that builds knowledge, skills and a love for learning.

With the acquisition of Kiddie Country, Endeavor Schools is continuing its rapid growth in the private school market. Last month, the company announced the acquisition of its 50th school and recently launched its employer-sponsored childcare and education services for large companies.

As our company grows, so does our focus on providing the best educational services for children, Campo said. Theres nothing more important than caring for our children.

About Endeavor Schools

Endeavor Schools is a leading education management company with a family of unique, well-established private schools that serve as pillars to their respective communities in a growing number of markets across the US. Each of the companys schools subscribe to proven, research-based curricula that is delivered by seasoned educators and are encouraged to embrace their own uniqueness and tradition. Endeavor Schools supports academic excellence by providing robust tools and resources to help each school thrive.

Founded in 2012, Endeavor Schools is headquartered in Miami, Florida. For more information, visit http://www.endeavorschools.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.


The PSNI chief constable said he has not seen any detail about plans for a new unit to deal with legacy investigations.

Legislation to enact commitments made in the Stormont House Agreement, which include an independent Historical Investigations Unit (HIU), were promised by the Government within 100 days of the New Decade New Approach deal.

On Wednesday night, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill voiced concern over what progress has been made to that promise more than 50 days after the New Decade New Approach deal was published.

Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle ONeill has expressed concerns about progress towards creating a new unit to investigate legacy issues (Liam McBurney/PA)

On Thursday, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne said after his meeting with Ms ONeill he received assurances from Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, but had still not seen any detail.

We hadnt seen formally yet any detail about what might happen in the space of setting up something akin to an historical investigation unit, he said.

It was opportune that my next meeting was with the Secretary of State and I was able to directly feed in concerns and he was able to reassure me that there were plans probably being prepared to bring forward legislation within the 100 days. So I await with interest.

Asked if it would be the HUI, Mr Byrne responded: Well, we presume so. That was the commitment but I have no insights as to the detail yet, but well be keen to see what it is so we can so that we can work with the legislative body to shape the legislation if we need to, if there is a period of consultation and also to make plans for example to transfer the evidence and all the information to a new body.

I think it would be a step forward because it is well rehearsed for example in the space of recruitment and trust that legacy is one of the issues that holds us back from attracting people from a broader background, particularly Catholic communities to join the PSNI.

Mr Byrne also cautioned that any new body would take time to set up.

I think we have to be realistic, this isnt going to happen overnight, so we have to manage current investigations as well as the transition to a new body and answer questions about who is going to lead it, how it will work, where it will be based, and whats the breadth in terms of reference to see what sorts of inquiries it will undertake, he added.

The chief constable also told a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board that he had no confidence he would see the cash promised in the New Decade New Approach deal for additional police officers to bring his officer power to 7,500.

Clearly we were pleased with the announcement in the New Decade document  at the moment I have no confidence that we are going to see the money this side of the settlement, there has been no real dialogue about how we would increase the service this year to that level, he said.

We recognise that even if we were given the money in April we would struggle to recruit at pace between the 6,900 we are at now to 7,500 because there is some logistical issues.

But again at the moment there is no clarity and no detail about when that money would be made available.

On Wednesday night, a UK Government spokesman responded to Ms ONeill, saying: The Government is focused on delivering its commitments as agreed as part of the New Decade, New Approach deal, including introducing legislation on legacy.

Further detail will be set out shortly.
The COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, is continuously spreading a massive scare in different parts of the world. It has already affected 49 countries, with most cases coming from China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

The virus outbreak, which originated in China in December 2019, has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a "global health emergency."

It now has more than 95,000 confirmed cases around the world and has taken the lives of over 3,200 victims all over the world.

Coronavirus Joke, Not Cool

At the height of the major global health crisis, Prince William has taken it lightly by cracking jokes about spreading the deadly COVID-19 virus.

During Prince William and Kate Middleton's meeting with health workers in Dublin, Ireland, the 37-year-old Prince was caught on camera telling jokes about him and his wife spreading the said virus.

"By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus, Sorry," Prince William quipped.

"We're keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop," he added.

Speaking directly to National Ambulance Service advance paramedic Joe Mooney during Tuesday night's reception at the Guinness Storehouse, the Duke of Cambridge was also heard saying: "I bet everyone's like 'I've got coronavirus, I'm dying,' and you're like 'no, you've just got a cough.'"

William, who is the second in line to the crown, also asked the health workers if they think that the coverage on the worldwide spread of coronavirus was just being "hyped up" by the media.

"It does seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment. Is it being a little hyped up, do you think, by the media?" Prince William said.

Prince William's remarks came after he and the Duchess of Cambridge are said to be following guidelines from Public Health England, which led them to proceed with their royal engagements.

Despite the alarming virus outbreak, the royal couple continuously shook hands with dozens of people during the first day of their three-day tour in Ireland.

Royals vs. Coronavirus

Earlier this week, Prince William's grandmother was photographed wearing gloves during an investiture ceremony. Queen Elizabeth II's move sparked rumors that it is her precautionary move to avoid catching the said virus.

The Buckingham Palace explained that it is just normal for the 93-year-old monarch to wear gloves during public engagements.

Meanwhile, several students from Thomas's Battersea -- the private school attended by the Cambridge kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte -- were also tested for coronavirus and have been placed under self-quarantine while waiting for the result of the tests.

Coronavirus in the United Kingdom

As of writing, there are now 51 reported cases of coronavirus in Prince William's hometown, while Ireland had two confirmed cases. The first infected patient came from Wales, and one of the infected patients is a British passenger who died while onboard a virus-hit cruise ship.

COVID-19 share similar symptoms with pneumonia, such as slight cold, fever and difficulty in breathing. As of now, there is no specific cure and immunization to prevent the said virus.
Regulator IRDAI on Wednesday asked insurers to expeditiously settle hospitalisation claims related to coronavirus disease under health policies. It also instructed insurance companies to come out with policies to cover treatment costs for coronavirus infection, which has impacted thousands of people worldwide.

In order to provide need-based health insurance coverage, insurers are introducing products for various specific diseases, including vector borne diseases. "For the purpose of meeting health insurance requirements of various sections, insurers are advised to design products covering the costs of treatment for coronavirus," Irdai said in a circular.

There are 28 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in India. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked insurers to expeditiously attend to claims for treatment of coronavirus.

"Where hospitalisation is covered in a product, insurers shall ensure that the cases related to coronvirus disease (COVID-19) shall be expeditiously handled," it said. Also, the costs of admissible medical expenses during the course of treatment, including the treatment during quarantine period, should be settled in accordance to the applicable terms and conditions of policy contract and the extant regulatory framework.

"All the claims reported under COVID-19 shall be thoroughly reviewed by review committee before repudiating the claims," the circular added. Over six lakh people have been screened for novel coronavirus at 21 airports. Also more than 10 lakh incoming people at India's open borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar have been screened as well.

Commenting on the Irdai's ciruclar, Subramanyam Brahmajoysula, Head (Underwriting and Reinsurance), SBI General Insurance said that claims due to coronavirus are payable provided the concerned person is hospitalised for at least 24 hours. "Most of the health insurance policies in India do not cover outpatient treatment. However, if corona virus is declared as a pandemic by WHO or Indian government, then claims might not be payable as such claims are excluded under many health insurance policies," Brahmajoysula said.

Ashish Mehrotra, MD and CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance said that any policyholder hospitalised for coronavirus condition will be insured under "our hospitalisation policies" and company will expedite claims for the treatment. However, the insurers are silent on whether they would be settling claims if a patient is being quarantined.

Also read: RBI to use unconventional tools to save economy from coronavirus impact: sources

Also read: Paytm employee in Gurugram tests positive for coronavirus, firm closes offices
At the meeting, Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh assessed that the Vietnam-France strategic partnership has witnessed many positive developments in recent years, during which the two sides have maintained regular exchange of delegations and bilateral trade has reached US$5 billion.

The Deputy PM also reiterated the invitation of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong to the French President Emmanuel Macron and sent an invitation to French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian to visit Vietnam in the near future.

Deputy PM suggested that the two sides continue to promote and maintain bilateral dialogue mechanisms, especially the annual high-level Economic Dialogue and the dialogue on security and defence strategy.

On this occasion, Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh also expressed this thanks to the French for their role in supporting the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). Her also shared his hope that the French National Assembly will soon ratify these agreements in order to bring practical benefits for both sides.

For his part, French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery affirmed his determination to promote the fine relations between the two countries, adding that France highly appreciated the rapid and effective measures of the Government of Vietnam in controlling COVID-19 in recent time.

At the meeting, the two sides also spoke highly of the effective cooperation at multilateral and international forums, such as at the UN, the International Organisation of La Francophonie, ASEM and ASEAN, especially regarding the mutual support of some important agencies of the UN in recent years.
PRINCE ALBERT, SASK.A man who stabbed his cellmate more than 60 times at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

Tyler Vandewater, 31, faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with no parole for 10 years, but said nothing as the verdict was read in Prince Albert Court of Queens Bench.

He was charged following the June 2017 death of Chris Van Camp, whom guards found covered with a blanket in a bottom bunk.

Vandewater testified at his trial that he acted in self defence after a paranoid and agitated Van Camp, saying others were plotting against him, started the fight.

Justice Brian Scherman said the few scrapes Vandewater sustained werent enough to support his testimony that he was protecting himself.

The judge described the attack on the 37-year-old Van Camp as gratuitous and unrestrained.

His actions were not reasonable, Scherman concluded.

The reason why Van Camp was killed will never be known.

Vandewater had convictions for aggravated assault and a history of assaults, property damage and aggression.

Vandewater told court he and Van Camp were friends because they had been cellmates before Van Camp was released from the federal maximum-security prison.

Van Camp had been brought back to the prison the day he was killed after violating his parole, and the two were bunking together again.

Van Camps mother, Lauren Laithwaite, wiped away tears after hearing the verdict.

RELATED STORIES Canada Prisoner charged in fellow inmates death as Saskatchewan Penitentiary

There are no winners here, just loss on both sides, she said outside court.

Vandewaters sentencing hearing is set for June 5. It is to include victim impact statements and discussions on his parole eligibility.

His scheduled release date for his previous convictions is 2029.
Save the Children UK was yesterday accused of jeopardising public faith in the whole charity sector through its mishandling of sex claims against senior managers.

Regulators published a damning report into serious failures at the charity and said it had let down its staff and its supporters when it failed to investigate the complaints adequately.

The Charity Commission said Save the Children UK (SCUK) broke its own regulations after three women complained about the behaviour of its then chief executive Justin Forsyth.

One of the women said there was a widespread cultural problem of sexual harassment at the charity, and harassment allegations were also made against its policy director Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox.

Justin Forsyth, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), poses for a photo in his office in New York, the United States, 15 November, 2017

Save the Children Chief Executive Kevin Watkins speaks at the Save The Children evening reception in an undated photo

Both men left the charity after the complaints and have since apologised for their conduct. SCUK said it accepted the reports findings and apologised to the women affected.

The commissions report is expected to put pressure on Mr Forsyths successor, Kevin Watkins, 64, who was on the board of trustees when complaints were made against both men. He admitted the charity had made matters worse for the women when it failed to respond appropriately, and mishandled media inquiries about the complaints.

The commission found there were serious weaknesses in the charitys workplace culture, and serious failures in the way the charity dealt with complaints about behaviour at its head office.

It said it was highly unusual for it to investigate internal staff conduct at a charity, but the issues at SCUK were so serious that it was forced to launch an inquiry.

Jo Cox's husband Brendan Cox and sister Kim Leadbeater leave court following the guilty verdict in Thomas Mair's trial for the murder of Jo Cox MP at Old Bailey on November 23, 2016 in London, England

The report also found there had been a further five complaints of sexual harassment at the charitys head office in Farringdon, central London, between 2016 and 2018, and 13 complaints of bullying.

Commission chairman Baroness Stowell said misconduct at a high-profile charity risked undermining public faith in the entire sector.

She said: When mismanagement occurs at a charity that is a household name, it risks undermining the work of other charities who rely on public confidence and goodwill to thrive and prosper.

This is not only about treating complainants with the seriousness and respect they deserve, it is also about demonstrating that no one gets a pass because they are doing important work or are motivated by the desire to help some of the most vulnerable people around the world.

Charity Commission chief executive Helen Stephenson added: SCUK let complainants and the public down. It must work hard now to rebuild its reputation.

Mr Forsyth, 54, who worked for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in Downing Street, was initially accused of inappropriate behaviour by a woman at SCUK in 2012, when he was chief executive.

She did not make a formal complaint after he apologised, but Mr Forsyth was told his behaviour must never happen again and that he would not receive his annual bonus that year.

Alan Parker chairman of Save the Children, Samantha Cameron and Justin Forsyth CEO Save the Children Save the Children's Secret Winter Gala, London, Britain - November 19, 2014

Two other women then complained about him in 2015.

Mr Cox, 44, was accused of sexual harassment later that year and SCUK filed a serious incident report to the Charity Commission, in which it said an employee had accused a senior member of staff of harassment and inappropriate contact. The charity told the watchdog that a complaint had also been raised about another senior staff member, but did not say it related to Mr Forsyth, its 160,000-a-year chief executive.

The commission said that amounted to mismanagement.

Mr Forsyth left SCUK later that year and moved to a top role at childrens charity Unicef, which was not told about the allegations. He resigned when the claims were made public in 2018. Mr Cox also left SCUK in 2015, a year before the murder of his Labour MP wife. After the claims were made public, he resigned from a foundation established in her memory.

The commissions report, which followed a two-year investigation, found the charity had mishandled its response to media inquiries about the harassment claims and was unduly defensive.

It stressed its findings related to SCUKs internal management, and not to its charitable work. Its 38-page report also said the charity had made significant progress in making improvements.

The charity said it accepted the findings in full, adding that improving its workplace culture was a critical priority.

Mr Watkins said: I unreservedly apologise to the women affected by the behaviour of these two senior executives.
The Lagos State government says it cant release the Coronavirus index case, even though the infected patient is stable because he is still secreting the virus.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, while giving an update on the situation on Wednesday, said the index case remains a danger to the community as long as he is still excreting the virus, he is dangerous to the community.

He said: The index case is doing fine. We started a new treatment on him two days ago which he is responding to. He is comfortable; he is lonely because he is the only one in the isolation room of 14 beds.

We test him every day to ascertain whether evidence of virus still exists. The moment we stop seeing the traces of the virus, we will wait for extra three days just to make sure everything is alright because sometimes we may think the virus is cleared and there may be a recurrence. So we have to be very careful. So he will remain with us.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Guests Undergo Screening To Attend Obasanjos 83rd Birthday

He added also that, The gentleman from Ethiopia Airlines, the Chinese man and a lady from Ewekoro all tested negative.

 Thirty-five passengers were unreachable due to wrong data they provided at the port. The phone number, contact address, next of kin among others were all fake.

This is worrisome to us but we are trying everything possible to trace them. We are in touch with immigration in case they want to renew their visa. We also have what we called an emergency operation centre where we meet every day at Yaba.

This emergency team is made up of people from different agencies that work tirelessly to ensure that we have our entire basis covered, from supply to case management, to epidemiology, surveillance. This current situation falls under surveillance and we are trying everything possible to find these missing people.

You may not know that you have contact with coronavirus patient because most people on that flight did not know. The sooner we find you the better for you and for everybody else. So its civic responsibility to fill your information correctly.

If you develop the symptom we can treat it early, and at the same time minimize your exposure to other people. One person now who has filled wrong information but develops the virus may be the source of an outbreak in Lagos. So its not a joke, its a serious matter.
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Auburn University is addressing a problem experienced by at least one in 10 adults.

Tinnitus is a disorder associated with ringing in the ears, which can range from slightly annoying to incapacitating symptoms.

Everyone is susceptible, especially those who work in high-noise occupations and conditions encompassing the music industry, factories, mines and construction.

The School of Nursing at Auburn is hosting a free Multidisciplinary Tinnitus Care Conference on March 27. Professionals providing clinical care to tinnitus patients, as well as military, veteran and civilian tinnitus patients, spouses and caregivers are encouraged to attend.

Associate Professor Libba McMillan said the conference will provide information and resources to the health care providers to assist their tinnitus patients and to patients and care givers for management of tinnitus symptoms.

There is no cure for tinnitus, but McMillan said there is hope in learning management techniques. Health care professionals, patients and care givers need to work together to address patient care needs. Unfortunately, when patients reporting tinnitus are misdiagnosed or told there is nothing that can be done, patients can experience frustration. In severe cases, patients can experience depression, stress, fatigue, lack of coping, loss of daily function, poor cognitive functioning and suicide.

Nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, audiologists and primary care physicians play a pivotal role in assessment, diagnosis, management and evaluation of acute and chronic conditions such as tinnitus in patients, said McMillan. These professionals are often the initial point of contact a patient encounters when seeking treatment options.

Patients and family members need accurate information about the realities of tinnitus management.

The Multidisciplinary Tinnitus Care Conference will be presented in two parts, with a morning session, focusing on health care professionals and an afternoon session structured for the patient, with a discussion about specific management strategies and available resources. However, both sessions are open to all interested parties. With funding from The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama Caring Foundation Grant, the conference is free; however, registration is encouraged at https://cws.auburn.edu/nursing/. Light snacks will be provided.

McMillan, whose research focuses on military and veteran health, noted that tinnitus is quite prevalent in military members.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that veterans are 30 percent more likely than nonveterans to have severe hearing impairment. And according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, in 2018 alone tinnitus was the leading service-connected disability among veterans.

One of the nations leading authorities on tinnitus, Dr. James Henry, will speak at the conference. Henry is a research investigator at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research in Portland, Oregon, and a research professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Oregon Health and Science University.

His colleague, Dr. Candice Manning, will also speak. She is a research audiologist at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research and an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Oregon Health and Science University.

Auburn speakers include McMillian and Professor Sridhar Krishnamurti and Assistant Clinical Professor Andy Wise from the College of Liberal Arts Department of Communication Disorders.
Researchers have assembled one of the most comprehensive studies of population genetics ever conducted in the United States, bringing together large-scale genetics data from more than 32,000 participants in the National Geographic Genographic Project. This new view on the US, appearing March 5 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, reveals a remarkable degree of complexity. Beyond offering an intriguing view of the nation's recent history, the findings also have important implications for health and medicine, the researchers say.

"We have inferred US demographic history at fine scale by combining genetic, geospatial, and multigenerational birth record data," says Alicia Martin (@genetisaur) of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "This provides important lessons for the future: if we want genetic technologies to benefit everyone, we need to rethink our current approach for genetic studies because they typically miss a huge swath of American--and more broadly human--diversity."

Although much effort has been made to understand the genetic diversity in the US, fine-scale patterns were less clear for minority populations, particularly for Latin American and African descendants with complex ancestral histories. There also had been little research on the population structure of individuals in the US with East Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern ancestry.

Martin and colleagues report that the new effort had several distinct advantages compared to other large-scale population genetics datasets. First, genetic data for each consenting participant from the Genographic Project are accessible to researchers around the world to answer anthropological questions. Most of the study's participants also reported their postal code along with birthplace and ethnicity data for themselves, their parents, and their grandparents, enabling fine-scale insights into recent history.

Their analysis revealed the following:

Hispanic/Latino populations show a remarkably complex population structure, including geographically varying proportions of Native American, European, and African ancestry.

The evidence uncovered a north-south barrier to migration among African Americans, consistent with the transatlantic slave trade and historical patterns of segregation between states.

Some Asian Americans, a fast-growing group in the US that had been often overlooked in past genetic studies, show elevated patterns of relatedness consistent with intermarrying between close kin among their ancestors.

People of European descent show a subtle, unevenly distributed structure. For example, Irish, Finnish, and Acadian (French Canadian) descendants are common in New England, the Northwest, and the South, respectively.

Martin also noted that Hispanic/Latino populations have native origins spanning North, Central, and South America over several generations. These roots vary in how much and how long ago they appear in Californians, New Mexicans, Texans, and Floridians on average.

The researchers say that these findings are "the tip of the iceberg." As the number of participants in this and other ongoing studies continues to grow, the view of US population history will become even clearer.

Martin says they will continue this work as the available data grow to include about 250,000 Americans. In future studies, they also plan to expand to people who may or may not live in the US as well, which, Martin says, will help to tease out relationships among underrepresented populations, such as Hispanic/Latino populations in Florida who have ancestral roots from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and elsewhere.

###

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Geographic Society.

American Journal of Human Genetics, Dai et al.: "Population histories of the United States revealed through fine-scale migration and haplotype analysis" https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(20)30044-6

The American Journal of Human Genetics (@AJHGNews), published by Cell Press for the American Society of Human Genetics, is a monthly journal that provides a record of research and review relating to heredity in humans and to the application of genetic principles in medicine and public policy, as well as in related areas of molecular and cell biology. Visit: http://www.cell.com/ajhg. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
Snow and ice could cause problems

The road has been closed.

Follow the latest updates from our travel feed below

The Dobbin Road in Armagh has been reopend folowing an earlier crash.

Diversions are in place and traffic is being diverted onto the Vicarage Road, delays are expected.

Our live updates from across Northern Ireland are compiled by @TrafficwatchNI, @BBCNITravel and @PSNITraffic.
A man died after falling into a concrete pulverizer in Rosenberg early Thursday morning, police say.

The man was working to repair a slipped belt on a machine that pulverizes concrete at Williams Brothers construction along U.S. 59 near Daily Road, according to Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office Major Chad Norvell. At some point during the fix, he slipped and fell in, authorities said.

MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Man found shot dead outside west Houston home

The man became trapped inside, and paramedics pronounced him dead soon after.

He was not immediately identified.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
ATHENS / TEL AVIV - The Greek government announced 21 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, in tourists who returned to Greece from Israel on the same bus.



Israel said the Greek tourists also visited the Palestinian territories during their trip.



The Israeli health ministry said it learned that some members of the tour group, which visited Israel between February 19 and 27, resulted positive for the coronavirus after returning to Greece.



Palestinian press sources said the tourists visited Bethlehem, where authorities declared a health emergency on Thursday.



The Israeli health ministry said Israel and the Palestinian National Authority are exchanging information in order to reconstruct the tour group's movements in detail.



It said it will make the information public in the coming hours to determine who may have had contact with the group and should now go into quarantine.
UTICA, N.Y.  Americas Greatest Heart Run & Walk will take place in Utica Saturday, bringing thousands of people together in the fight against heart disease.

The course runs from Barneveld to Utica College, which will lead to several road closures and detours during the event, including:

Burrstone Road

Closed between Old Burrstone Road and Main Street in New York Milles from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Business Park Drive and Washington Drive

All traffic will be controlled from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

Campbell Avenue

Closed between Second Avenue and Main Street in New York Mills from 9 a.m.  noon.

Champlin Avenue

Closed between Burrstone Road and Graham Avenue from 8 a.m.  noon.

Traffic to St. Lukes should enter from the north on Champlin Avenue from 8 a.m.  noon.

Clinton Street in New York Mills

Closed between Henderson Street and Burrstone Road from 9 a.m. - noon.

French Road ramp off of Route 12 Arterial

Closed to Arterial traffic in both directions from 8 a.m.  12:30 p.m.

Main Street in New York Mills/Yorkville

Closed between Burrstone Road and Oriskany Boulevard from 8:30 a.m. - noon.

Main Street in Whitesboro

Closed westbound from 9  10:30 a.m.

Mohawk Street

Closed between River Road in Marcy and Main Street in Whitesboro from 9  10:30 a.m. Will be open to local traffic only.

Route 365

Closed eastbound between Mapledale Road and Barneveld from 7:30  8:30 a.m.

Closed eastbound between Route 291 and Mapledale Road from 8  10 a.m.

Route 291

Closed northbound between Route 69 and Route 365 from 8  10:30 a.m.

Yorkville Corners at Oriskany Boulevard and Main Street

Traffic will be rerouted away from the intersection from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Expect traffic delays in both directions.

---------

The following roads will also be closed from 8:30 a.m.  1 p.m.:

New York Mills

Elm Street

Young Avenue

Fairway Drive

Winchester Drive

Pulaski Street

Prospect Street

Yorkville

Cross Street

----------

People driving to St. Lukes Hospital should approach from the north going southbound on Champlin Avenue from Yorkville. Screening at the Graham Avenue intersection will allow traffic in the Champlin Avenue entrance.

Patients and staff heading to Slocum-Dickson Medical Center must enter from French Road by getting off of the Arterial at Lomond Place.

Since the French Road exit off of Route 12 is closed, anyone traveling to Notre Dame High School must also get off of the exit at Lomond Place.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

With the spread of coronavirus in Iran, some countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, have banned imports of agricultural products from Iran, said Head of Iran's National Association of Agricultural Products Reza Nourani, Trend reports citing Young Journalist Club (YJC).

According to Nourani, most of the agricultural products exported from Iran are returned back.

Nourani added that some CIS countries also did not allow export of Iranian products.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 2,900 people have been infected, 92 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 550 have reportedly recovered from the disease.

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.

The disease in the Islamic Republic has spread to nearly all 31 of Iran's provinces.

Following the reports of coronavirus spread in the Islamic Republic, several countries have taken measures, including closing borders and banning flights.

The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
I've had a few "twitter spats" with Orla Hegarty, assistant professor at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin, who is one of the foremost media commentators on planning and development issues. She agreed to an interview and I arrived at the campus with my arguments prepared, to be rapidly disarmed by a charming welcome and a passion for the topics which led me to realise that we may not disagree as much as I thought.

Ms Hegarty is well qualified to commentate on planning and development. An architect, she worked in private and public housing in London and Paris, and then spent 15 years in private practice here, before the recession led to her becoming an "accidental academic".

Her role sees her examining the UCD graduates who work on "real-life" projects and who write up their work as part of their training. This information gives her an insight into development trends and issues like costs and regulation.

One of our touchpoints has been the controversy over high-rise buildings, but Ms Hegarty is in favour of taller buildings, to the extent permitted in the four zones identified in Dublin. Development there, which is in the order of 80 metres high (22 storeys), is "mid-rise", rather than "high-rise" to my mind, but she is against much taller buildings and particularly for residential use.

Occupiers should be able to see the street level, she says, streets need to be able to dry out, and due to our northerly latitude, very tall buildings would cast shadows the length of O'Connell Street for much of the winter.

Ms Hegarty is annoyed about the variations to the Dublin City Development Plan, which she describes as political "knee-jerk reactions". By these she means measures like the ministerial guidelines to local authorities on taller buildings, the lowering of minimum apartment sizes and the lowering of requirements to provide certain amenities, such as balconies.

"These guidelines instruct An Bord Pleanala to materially contravene the development plans," she says.

Ms Hegarty argues strongly for the sanctity of evidence-based, long-term planning.

A consequence of altering the development regulations, according to Ms Hegarty, is that developers delayed development and re-submitted planning applications, to gain more profitable permissions.

"In fact, there is more money in policy changes than in building houses," she says. "More stable planning would have told the market to get on with it, but every year there has been another possible fillip. Now, instead of a city plan, we have individual sites being developed, without context," she tells me.

Ms Hegarty is of the view that six to eight storeys, as envisaged in the Dublin city development plan, is the appropriate height for residential development and says that six storeys is "cost optimal" for apartments. She finds it hard, however, to nominate a modern Dublin city-centre housing scheme that is noteworthy in meeting the need for higher density, and sustainability.

We get back into cloudier waters in an ultimately circular argument about the economics of development. For example, Ms Hegarty is of the view that increasing supply will not solve the affordability issues in the housing market (partly agreed), and has argued that land (and property prices) are not subject to the conventional forces of supply and demand. The argument to support the latter is that when over 90,000 houses were built in 2006, prices still increased by 11pc. However, in my view, much of this was a credit-fuelled investment bubble, disconnected from housing demand. We agree, however, that market stimuli should be supply-focused rather than demand-led.

Ms Hegarty is angry about the Department of Housing's recently amended regulations on fire safety in apartments.

"It's bad enough that we are reducing the quality of people's lives, with smaller rooms and no balconies," she says, but we are "blindly building fire traps".

She is happy for readers to join these debates on Twitter @Orla_Hegarty - where she doesn't pull her punches.
Doctors are pleading with the federal government to release more protective face masks from the national medical stockpile, as supply shortages force some GPs to turn away patients suspected of having coronavirus.

A desperate GP practice manager in South Australia has closed its doors to Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients after running out of masks, saying in an email to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners on Wednesday: "As of today, we cannot test anymore."

Doctors are running out of face masks as the coronavirus spreads across the country. Credit:Nicolas Walker

RACGP president Harry Nespolon called on Health Minister Greg Hunt to release masks from the national stockpile to ensure GPs could continue testing, as the pace of the virus spreads.

"They've got 20 million masks to be released in an emergency. When's an emergency? I'd say now," Dr Nespolon said. "Doctors need 6.9 million masks a month."
On Friday, March 6, at 10:30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference on the results of the Forum of Extra-Parliamentary Parties of Ukraine on the subject: "Comments on the New Electoral Code." The forum brings together representatives of more than 30 political parties of Ukraine. Participants: representative of NGO Khvylia (Wave), who is the initiator of the forum, Natalia Novak; Head of the Alternative Party Oleksandr Khatskevych; Head of Kyiv city organization of the Syla Liudei (Power of People) Party Yevhen Lebedev; organizer of the Forum of Extra-Parliamentary Parties of Ukraine Ihor Dushyn; Head of the Patriotic Party of Ukraine Mykola Haber (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration of journalists with press cards on the spot. Additional information by phone: (066) 421 8454 (Ihor Dushyn).
The chaos on the Greece-Turkey border continues to deepen.

Turkey has deployed 1,000 police officers to its border to prevent Greece pushing migrants and refugees back, its interior minister said, as thousands massed at the Greek frontier.

A thousand special force police officers are deployed from this morning to the Meric River on the border, fully equipped, to prevent people being pushed back, Suleyman Soylu told reporters during a visit to the northwestern province of Edirne on Thursday.

The river is known as Evros in Greece.

Soylu accused Greece of mistreating migrants and refugees and said Turkey would not allow it.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that migrants and refugees would no longer be stopped from trying to reach Europe, reneging on a commitment to hold them on Turkish territory under a 2016 deal with the European Union.





Desperation and despair are growing as refugees and migrants take advantage of Turkeys open border with Greece and Bulgaria, said Al Jazeeras Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from the Turkish side of the border.

Some are taking dangerous risks for the chance to reach the European Union.

Turkey is home to about four million refugees, the majority of them Syrian, and Ankara fears another influx as Russian-backed regime forces push to retake the last opposition stronghold of Idlib.

After Erdogans announcement, thousands of refugees rushed to the border in Edirne, where there have been clashes with Greek police in recent days.

There have also been arrivals from Turkey to Greek islands such as Lesbos.

Turkey has claimed Greece is using live rounds against migrants, saying at least three people have been killed.

.@NikosDendias do you think it is acceptable to throw tear gas bombs at innocent refugees? Is it acceptable to shoot and kill them? Instead of spreading fake news about us #Greece should treat refugees as human beings, just like #Turkey.#GreeceAttacksRefugees https://t.co/YtR522ZlD4  Mevlut Cavusoglu (@MevlutCavusoglu) March 5, 2020

Athens has dismissed the allegations as fake news, saying Turkish forces were helping people to cross the border. Both sides used tear gas at the Kastanies border post on Wednesday.

Investigative website Bellingcat on Thursday said Greek riot police could be using potentially lethal tear gas after expended gas canisters with pointed tips had been found in the vicinity of protests by asylum-seekers at the Greece-Turkey border.





The Greek government said border guards had prevented nearly 7,000 attempted entries over the past 24 hours, and nearly 35,000 over the past five days.

Athens is preparing to deport hundreds of others who made it through.

Deportations

Soylu, who said on Wednesday that Turkey was preparing a case at the European Court of Human Rights over Greeces treatment of migrants, accused Greek forces of wounding 164 people and pushing back nearly 5,000 into Turkey.

The situation at the Kastanies border crossing was calm on Thursday. Migrants  many of whom are from Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Syria and other Arab nations  huddled in tents and makeshift camps on the Turkish side of the border.

Migrants who arrived in Greece illegally after March 1 will be transferred to the northern city of Serres and deported back to their own countries, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said late on Wednesday.

Our aim is to return them to their countries, he told the Athens News Agency.

Mitarachi also said migrants who entered Greece before January 1, 2019, and are living on its Aegean islands would be transferred to the mainland in the coming days.

Athens announced on March 1 that it would not accept any new asylum applications for a month following the build-up of migrants at the border. This has triggered criticism from human rights agencies.

The Aegean Sea remained choppy on Thursday and there were no further sightings of dinghies carrying migrants to Lesbos and other Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

Lesbos already hosts more than 20,000 asylum seekers, many of them living in filthy conditions in overcrowded camps

Greece and the EU accuse Turkey of deliberately goading the migrants and refugees to cross the border as a way of pressuring Brussels into offering more money or supporting Ankaras geopolitical aims in the Syrian conflict.

Erdogan discussed the migrant issue with senior EU officials in Ankara on Wednesday but his spokesman said the Europeans had made no concrete proposition on how to resolve the crisis.

Ankaras change in policy towards the migrants on its soil came after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Russian-backed Syrian government forces in an air raid in Syria.
PITTSBURGH, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to create a more convenient light to assist when changing a tire or working under the hood," said an inventor, from Vancouver, Wash., "so I invented the VEHICLE SAFETY LIGHT."

The patent pending invention provides an effective way to increase visibility during an emergency situation. In doing so, it eliminates the need to find a flashlight or other light source. As a result, it could enhance safety and convenience and it provides added peace of mind. The invention features a reliable design that is easy to use so it is ideal for vehicle owners and manufacturers. Additionally, it is producible in design variations, and the idea can be applied to speakers as well.

The inventor described the invention design. "My design ensures that a light is readily available for use. The invention is adaptable for use on all types of vehicles with headlights, including automobiles, motorcycles, ATVs and bicycles. Furthermore, it is great for use during power outages."

The original design was submitted to the Portland sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 18-POO-515, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 09:15:20|Editor: zyl

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CANBERRA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Australia and its intelligence partners are close to finalizing an agreement that would force tech giants to help remove child sex abuse content from the internet.

Peter Dutton, the Minister for Home Affairs, on Thursday departed on a trip to Washington for a meeting of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which consists of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the United States.

Security ministers at the meeting will seek to finalize a landmark set of "voluntary principles" for tech giants such as Google and Facebook that would compel them to co-operate with law enforcement agencies to prevent the proliferation of child sex material.

The principles have been championed by Dutton, U.S. Attorney-General William Barr and British Home Affairs Secretary Priti Patel.

"Nothing represents the darkest corners of the internet like child sexual abuse," Dutton told The Australian before leaving for Washington.

"It is here the most unspeakable crimes - the torture of toddlers, the rape of children and the sexualization of minors - occur," he said.

"But speak about them we must, because giving a voice to the profound and enduring harm experienced by the victims and survivors of these crimes is critical to stopping them from happening to just one more child."

"When it comes to tackling child abuse committed on online platforms and services, the digital industry has a vital role to play," he added.
Supplier News

5 March 2020

Standard check-in at the reception is so passe. Guests want better, more efficient ways to check-in to and communicate with their favorite hotels. apaleo, the world's most open PMS and messaging platform, EasyWay, have partnered to make that all possible without losing key PMS data.

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>>> Passengers, crewmembers, staff quarantined after contact with Japanese patient

>>> Vietnamese scientists develop COVID-19 early warning system



>>> Deputy PM urges for perseverance on principles but tactical flexibility in Covid-19 fight

Speaking at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in Hanoi on Wednesday (March 4), Director of the Ministry of Health (MoH)s Department for Medical Examination and Treatment Luong Ngoc Khue said that a centre for managing and supporting treatment for Covid-19 patients is scheduled to be launched on March 5 to help quick-response teams, which are responsible for responding quickly to any outbreaks and providing professional aid for hospitals.

Regarding the production of quick test kits, members of the Steering Committee said that according the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiologys report, two types of test kit produced by the Military Medical Academy and the Viet A Technology JSC are recommended for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. The MoH licensed the use of the test kits the same day.

Regarding flights from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said that from 18:00 on March 3, flights will only be allowed to land at Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh and Phu Cat Airport in the central province of Binh Dinh.

In the coming period, airlines will continue to reduce flights between the two countries, he added.

At the meeting, the Steering Committees members and health experts discussed logistics work and preparations on facilities and medical supplies and equipment serving the fight against the disease.

* On the same day, the Thai Nguyen Central Hospital said that the MoH decided to allow the hospital to do screening tests to confirm Covid-19. Previously, with the support of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, Thai Nguyen Central Hospital in Thai Nguyen Province was transferred with techniques and verified to be eligible for the Covid-19 test. According to statistics from the MoH, currently there are nearly 30 units across the country eligible for screening test and confirmation of Covid-19.

The laboratory of Thai Nguyen Central Hospital is eligible to perform screening tests to detect Covid-19 infection. (Photo: NDO/Minh Hoang)



* On Wednesday evening, the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control sent a telegraph urging the Ministry of Public Security and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to verify the identities and addresses of five passengers travelling with a Japanese passenger, who was found to have been infected with the coronavirus, on a flight from Cambodia transiting in Vietnam on March 3.

Flight VN814 carried 67 passengers and six cabin crew from Cambodia, to the city-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Sixty-one passengers had connecting flights that night to London (the United Kingdom), Narita and Nagoya (Japan), Busan (the RoK) and Manila (the Philippines). Six passengers checked into Vietnam, including one Vietnamese, three French, one Australian and one Filipino. The Filipino then flew home on March 4.

The Japanese passenger boarded a connecting flight, VN340, to Nagoya, Japan, on early March 4 and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after arriving in Japan with a fever.

All the crew from flight VN340 returned to Vietnam on flight VN341, which landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport on the afternoon of March 4. Accordingly, the passengers entering Vietnam and all crew have been put into quarantine. The aircraft used for flight VN341 was also disinfected.

After gathering information on the case, the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Public Security and the HOCM City Peoples Committee on locating their whereabouts of those who had contact and boarded the same flight with the Japanese passenger.

* The same day, Hoa Binh Province received and isolated 106 citizens from various Vietnamese localities who returned home from the RoK, including 16 who came back from the epidemic areas in the host country. The provincial medical agencies and functional units completed the procedures for receiving and ensuring safety and proper isolation for them according to regulations.

A health worker checks body temperature of a resident before receiving them at a local isolation area in Hoa Binh Province, March 4, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Tran Hao)



* According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, as of March 4, the city has five cases of suspected Covid-19 infection awaiting test results. The city continues to accelerate the deployment of concentrated isolation areas to be ready to receive and provide medical isolation for people from epidemic areas, while strengthening the inspection of isolation at concentrated isolation facilities and home isolation.

* On Wednesday morning, Hai Phong City continued providing medical isolation to 376 people, most of whom came from the RoK and entered Vietnam between February 29 and March 2. They are receiving medical isolation for a period of 14 days at various local medical facilities.

* On the same day, an additional 44 workers from the epidemic areas returning to Thanh Hoa Province were provided with instruction to remain in isolation at home. There are currently 21 people being monitored, supervised and treated in isolation at health facilities in the province, while 420 labourers and foreigners returning from the epidemic areas are under monitor during their isolation at home or residence.

Vietnamese citizens comfortable during health monitor period at a compulsory quarantine area in Thanh Hoa Province. (Photo: NDO/Mai Luan)



* On Wednesday, Hanoi City People's Committee said that the capital city is providing medical isolation at concentrated venues for 2,234 people returning from the RoK, while 2,037 others are being isolated at home and 79 others in hospitals. The city will test all suspected Covid-19 infections who are in isolation. If they are negative, they will be released but will continued to be isolated at home under the guidance of the MoH. So far, the city has taken 328 sample tests and all have shown negative results. In the immediate future, the city will continue to drastically implement measures to prevent and control the epidemic, while carrying out the 5th disinfection campaign at local schools.

* From March 1 to 3, Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh Province welcomed a total of 10 flights run by Vietnamese airlines transporting 1,932 returning passengers from the RoK. Of which 1,788 passengers are Vietnamese citizens, the rest are international visitors.

After carrying out the medical procedures and disinfecting their luggage, all Vietnamese citizens were moved to the isolation areas in Thai Binh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam and Hoa Binh Provinces. For 144 foreign visitors, they received isolation at a local hotel in Ha Long City.

Vietnamese citizens returning from the Republic of Korea and foreigners are placed under strict medical supervision after they arrive at Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province. (Photo: NDO/Quang Tho)



According to Quang Ninh Provincial Department of Health, up to 11 am on March 4, the total number of surveillance cases (screened for Covid-19 testing) in Quang Ninh is 203 and all of them had negative test results. Currently, there are 717 cases in isolation in the province, while 1,173 others have been discharged from hospitals or finishing their quarantine period.

* The Vietnamese Embassies in the US, Indonesia and Malaysia have recommended that Vietnamese citizens in such countries actively protect themselves and their families from Covid-19.

Vietnamese citizens were advised to avoid attending crowded activities. If participation is compulsory, they were suggested to properly use face masks and hand sanitisers, and to avoid having close contact with those showing symptoms of respiratory diseases.

The embassies also asked Vietnamese citizens to regularly check and follow instructions of the host authorities, as well as not to popularise unverified information about Covid-19 on social media.

If they show Covid-19 infection symptoms, they should go to a designated medical establishment for timely check-up and treatment.

Vietnamese citizens could call the Vietnams citizen protection hotline at +84 981 84 84 84 or the embassies citizen protection hotlines for help.

* The final round of the WhiteHat Grand Prix 06 will be rescheduled for May due to Covid-19, the organisers said on March 4.

Contestants will be notified of the new schedule three weeks prior to the event, which will be held online instead of taking place in Hanoi as initially planned.

Of the ten teams that have made it through to the finals, three are from the US, two each from the RoK and host Vietnam, and one each from Russia, India and Germany.

The first WhiteHat Grand Prix was held in 2014. It became an annual international competition the following year, drawing the participation of leading cyber-security teams from all over the world. The tournament attracted 453 teams from 62 nations and territories last year.
With lenders approving a Rs 23,000 crore resolution plan for Reliance Communication, as much as Rs 5,500 crore will flow to Chinese banks, clearing about 55 percent of their principal dues, including of those lenders to whom firm's promoter Anil Ambani had allegedly given a personal guarantee

New Delhi: With lenders approving a Rs 23,000 crore resolution plan for Reliance Communication, as much as Rs 5,500 crore will flow to Chinese banks, clearing about 55 percent of their principal dues, including of those lenders to whom firm's promoter Anil Ambani had allegedly given a personal guarantee.

In a regulatory filing, RCom said "that in the e-voting conducted pursuant to the meeting of the committee of creditors held on March 2, 2020, which e-voting concluded on March 4, 2020 at 8 pm (IST), the committee of creditors of RCOM has, by way of voting share of 100 percent of the committee of creditors, approved the resolution plan submitted by UV Asset Reconstruction Company Limited.

"Further, in respect of the subsidiaries of RCOM, i e, Reliance Telecom Limited and Reliance Infratel Limited, which are also undergoing corporate insolvency resolution process under the provisions of the Code, resolution plans submitted by UV Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, and (Jio's subidiary) Reliance Digital Platform & Project Services Limited through its division Infrastructure Projects respectively, have been approved by the committee of creditors of each of the aforesaid companies by 100 percent voting share," it said.

It, however, did not give details saying the plans will be submitted to the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal for final nod.

While Reliance Jio will get the tower and fiber assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd for Rs 4,700 crore, UV Asset Reconstruction Co Ltd (UVARC) will get assets of RCom and Reliance Telecom (spectrum) for Rs 14,000 crore, they said.

After considering a clawback clause, the resolution plan fetched Rs 23,000 crore, which will go towards paying dues of Chinese banks, who are the largest lenders, they said, adding Chinese banks will receive Rs 5,500 crore and their principal debt would stand reduced to Rs 4,500 crore.

Against the alleged personal-guarantee of one debt, the Chinese banks would receive Rs 1,800 crore ($250 million) and their exposure will reduce by 55 percent to $300 million (Rs 2,200 crore).

The Chinese banks -- Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China -- had dragged Ambani to the UK court to recover outstanding.

The sources said the total principal secured debt of banks is around Rs 33,000 crore.

Under the plan, 38 lenders of RCom can recover over 70 percent of their outstanding of Rs 33,000 crore secured debt, they said.

"The committee of creditors (COC) has approved the resolution plans of RCOM and its subsidiaries RTL and RITL with an absolute majority of 100 percent by the lenders at the COC meeting, as against the mandatory requirement of 66 percent," a source said.

Lenders submitted claims of around Rs 49,000 crore in August of which Rs 33,000 crore estimated to be secured debt.

Reliance Jio and UV Asset Reconstruction Company Limited were the highest bidders for RCOM assets at the CoC meeting held on January 13, 2019.

Jio had placed a bid of around Rs 4,700 crore for the tower and fiber assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), while UVARCL has made an offer of Rs 14,000 crore for spectrum, real estate assets, enterprise, and data center businesses held by RCom and Reliance Telecom Ltd.

In addition, the creditors will clawback the priority payments of Rs 4,300 crore made to Chinese (Rs 1,300 crore) and Indian lenders (Rs 3,000 crore).

"Loans of Chinese lenders will reduce by nearly 65 percent to around Rs 4,000 crore from around Rs 12,000 crore. This is the highest-ever recovery of dues by financial creditors in the telecom sector, which has seen the exit or shut down of 11 out of 12 telcos since 2012," the source claimed.

According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, the recovery to lenders in the case of Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel was 63 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

"The bidders have committed to pay 30 percent of the proceeds of around Rs 7,500 crore within 90 days," the source said.
The Australian government's travel ban, which currently applies China and Iran, will be extended to South Korea.

South Korea has the second-most cases of the coronavirus, with over 5,000 confirmed, followed by Italy and Iran.

Despite the high number of cases in Italy  over 2,500  it is not being added to the travel ban. Instead, travellers will be subject to enhanced screening procedures, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Visit Business Insider Australia's homepage for more stories.

South Korea will be added to Australia's coronavirus travel ban, joining China and Iran, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Morrison confirmed the decision had been made after a meeting of the National Security committee. The existing travel bans will be extended by another week, meaning they will now be in place until at least March 15. The government will consider whether the ban needs to be extended further closer to that date.

As with the previous bans, Australian citizens and permanent residents will be able to re-enter Australia, but will have to isolate themselves for a fortnight following their arrival. Foreign nationals who have visited those countries will not be allowed in Australia for 14 days after leaving.

Morrison also announced travellers from Italy would be subject to enhanced screening measures, including a questioning at the check-in desk and a temperature check upon their arrival in Australia.

The ban is put in place because it affords the best protection and enables us to slow down the rate of transmission, which means that the health system and all the other plans put in place will be able to deal with the virus here in Australia, Morrison said.

South Korea has over 5,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the second-most after China where the virus originated. By contrast, Italy has over 2,500 cases, and Iran has just over 2,300.

Morrison said South Korea was targeted for the travel ban over Italy because there are "five times" as many arrivals from South Korea.

Story continues

The government's advice on the Smartraveller website currently recommends travellers to South Korea exercise a high degree of caution while travelling in the country, and to reconsider going to Daegu and Cheongdo.

Earlier this week, the government announced it was upgrading its travel advice for Italy, urging a high degree of caution for all travellers.

Australians were also encouraged to reconsider travel to ten towns in the country's north, which have become an epicentre for the outbreak.
A number of juvenile GAA fixtures due to take place this weekend have been postponed as a result of the coronavirus case in a Dublin school.

GAA officials have also recommended the traditional post-match handshakes be suspended at juvenile games to try to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.

In a statement to members, a local GAA club said their match on Saturday has been postponed due to Covid-19.

"Some players have been affected by the school closure and won't be available," it added.

The official guidance from the HSE in relation to the coronavirus is that activities should continue as normal in GAA clubs.

However, given that students attending the school involved have been advised to self-isolate until it re-opens on March 16, those youngsters have been advised by the HSE to remain at home and away from club activities.

All staff and students have been advised not to attend school, work, social or sporting events and to limit their social interactions so far as possible. However, there are no restrictions on people continuing to use the club facilities.

GAA director of communications Alan Milton said the rescheduled games will all take place at a later date once restrictions are lifted.
Retired Gen. Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, testifies during a joint hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 15, 2014. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump to Award Presidential Medal of Freedom to Retired General Jack Keane

President Donald Trump will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired four-star Army General Jack Keane, the White House said on Wednesday.

The award presentation of the highest civilian honor in the country will take place next week.

Keane, 77, served as the U.S. Armys Vice Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2003 and directed 1.5 million soldiers and civilians in 120 countries. He also provided oversight and support for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and was in the Pentagon when terrorists slammed a plane into the building on Sept. 11, 2001.

Earlier roles in Keanes 37 years in the Army include his service as a paratrooper in the Vietnam War and in U.S. engagements in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

Keane has earned a number of awards, including two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, five Legions of Merit, two Army Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Ronald Reagan Peace through Strength Award. Keane retired from active duty in 2003.

The Medal of Freedom award is given by the president to those who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors, the White House said in a statement. Keane has devoted his life to keeping America safe and strong, the statement read.

Keane is currently a foreign policy and national security analyst for Fox News. He told Fox News that he was shocked and overwhelmed when Trump told him he would be receiving the award.

Frankly, I told him I dont think I deserve it, to be honest with you. And [Trump] said, You know, someone told me that you were going to say that,' Keane said of his conversation with the president.

I have a lot of love in my life and a lot of purpose and meaning associated with trying to protect this country as a soldier and then trying to also advocate for the security of the country as a retired general officer and foreign policy and national security analyst, Keane told the broadcaster.

He is also the chairman of the board for the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think-tank on defense and foreign affairs issues.

In 2016, Keane told NPR that he declined Trumps offer to serve as the secretary of defense.

I was asked to serve, but Im not able to, Keane told NPR. I have some personal issues surrounding the death of my wife recently, and I explained all that to Mr. Trump, and he was very gracious and understanding, and quite supportive.

The announcement comes one month after Trump awarded the latest Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio host who was recently diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, during the State of the Union Address on Feb. 4.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The United Kingdom officially left the EU on January 31 and moved into a transition period until the end of 2020. What changes can you see in the trade relationship between Vietnam and the UK in the near future?

British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward

The script for trade between the UK and Vietnam is written by consumers in both our countries, not by the EU or our two governments. Britain exports lots of high-tech machinery to Vietnam  the wings and engines of many planes flown in Vietnam are built in Britain, and I see an increasing number of British made cars on the streets of Vietnam.

We also export pharmaceuticals to help Vietnamese people stay healthier as the population ages and there is an increase in diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

In the UK, my fellow Brits know that many of the clothes and shoes they wear are manufactured in Vietnam. What they dont realise is that many of their mobile phones were also manufactured here.

With the growing popularity of Vietnamese cuisine, most Brits now know what a bowl of pho is, but they probably dont know that the prawns they eat and the pepper they sprinkle on their food may come from Vietnam too.

Trade between our two countries is driven by the emergence of the middle class in Vietnam  people who want access to British services in education, law, and banking. So the fact that the UK has left the EU will not lead to any major change in the two countries trading relationship.

If the newly-ratified EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is soon adopted by the European Council and Vietnams National Assembly, trade activities between the UK and Vietnam will be able to benefit this year as the UK remains a member of the EVFTA. How will this period of time impact UK-Vietnam trade ties?

The UK has always been an advocate for free trade. When the country was a member of the EU, the UK supported free trade agreements as a way to drive economic growth in our own country, but also in developing countries around the world.

We are a strong supporter of the EVFTA, which is an ambitious reduction in tariffs and barriers to trade. This agreement is likely to come into force in this summer, and when it does it will apply to the UK during the transition period until the end of 2020. That gives us time to arrange for continuity for business and for us to complete a bilateral UK-Vietnam FTA.

Outside the EU, the UK will also continue to be a champion of free trade. We know that Vietnam, with 13 FTAs already in place including membership of the ambitious Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, shares many of our views on the value of free trade and the benefits that true internationalisation bring.

If the terms of the EVFTA do not apply to trade relations between the UK and Vietnam after this year, how will the two countries bilateral trade be impacted, and how will the trade mechanism between our two nations be modified?

After the transition period the UK will control its own trade. During 2020, we aim to agree a deeper trading relationship with the EU along the lines of the agreement the EU has with Canada. Irrespective of this, the UK and Vietnam are working to agree a bilateral FTA that will have the same benefits as the EVFTA.

So the mechanism for trade between the UK and Vietnam will continue to develop, with a focus on removing market access barriers. For instance, some of the best pork in the world is not available in Vietnamese shops at a time when pork prices are increasing due to lack of supply. We want to change that.

You said that a bilateral FTA is quite possible and necessary for Vietnam and the UK. What is your vision on the relations of the two countries with the support of this agreement?

Discussions on a UK-Vietnam FTA are now underway. We have a good basis for our discussions given that the UK was part of the negotiations of the EVFTA in recent years.

The UK-Vietnam bilateral deal will be just as ambitious in areas such as tariffs, services, and public procurement. There will be no competitive disadvantage to either Vietnamese or British consumers or producers  only gains. It really is a win-win situation for all.
Husssh: Dont Tell

Across the USA February Black History is celebrated annually; commemorating well-known figures such as Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks. February 21 this year also marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Malcolm-X, one of the most important leaders during the civil rights campaign. Aside from these figures, there are thousands of Black Americans who acted heroically, fought for their rights and go unrecognized during these celebrations. During the Civil War, over 200,000 African American men served in the Army or Navy, while the women became involved as activists, nurses, spies and even soldiers. During the period of slavery, there were hundreds of Black Americans who fought for the abolition of slavery, and many more who helped runaway slaves escape to freedom. Here are two unsung: Leroy Wilton Homer Jr (1965-2001): a pilot from Long Island, New York and was serving as the first officer on United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked on September 11. Before becoming a commercial airline pilot, Homer had served in the Gulf War and Somalia, and had received numerous medals and awards. During the attacks on September 11, Homer was removed from the cockpit by the hijackers who killed the captain and took control of the plane. It is not known exactly what happened next, but it is thought the hijackers were having trouble with the autopilot, and were heard on the radio saying to bring back the first officer. However, First Officer Homer had learned of the earlier attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Along with a group of passengers and flight crew, he organized an uprising against the hijackers and attempted to storm the cockpit and regain control of the plane. The plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board. However, the actions of Homer and the other passengers ensured that the plane never reached its target in Washington DC, which would have resulted in the loss of many more lives. Caroline Le Count (1846-1923): African American schoolteacher also part of a womens resistance campaign during the Civil War. The aim of the group was to cause civil disobedience in order to challenge segregation orders which kept Black and White people separated in public areas. Many of the women in these groups were involved in supplying troops and nursing wounded soldiers, yet were unable to ride the streetcars to transport them to bases many miles outside the city. Le Count and many of the other women had been forcibly removed from the streetcars on numerous occasions trying to reach the troops.

Due to increasing pressure from civil rights activists, the law regarding the streetcars was eventually changed. When Le Count tried to board a streetcar on March 25, 1867 the conductor was unaware of the new law, and shouted We dont allow niggers to ride! Le Count complained to the nearest policeman who arrested the conductor and fined him $100. Following this victory, all of Philadelphias streetcar companies were informed that segregation would no longer be tolerated. It was a small victory in terms of the civil rights movement as a whole, but allowed for the free movement of African Americans across the city of Philadelphia. (reference)

www.toptenz.net Ask Dr. Jeanette Parkertm Ask Dr. Jeanettetm www.AskDrJeanetteParker.com; Articles copyright  Inquiring Minds Want To Know Jeanette Parker Founder-Superintendent:Todays Fresh Start Charter School www.todaysfreshstart.org [email protected]

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Factory workers at an SPC cannery in Victoria have been labelled "selfish and self-serving" for planning to strike over a new pay deal while Australians are panic buying tinned goods.

The company's chief executive Rob Giles slammed workers for planning to take an hour off work on Friday and not work on Monday, which is a public holiday in Victoria, at a time when consumers are panic buying non-perishable food due to coronavirus.

"It comes at a time when packaged, local, and quality products are at a premium due to the coronavirus. Further limiting supply will add to the panic," Mr Giles said in a statement on Thursday.

"This will leave customers exposed at a time when they are most vulnerable."
As Prince Harry, along with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle dissociated themselves from the royal family, and found themselves wondering how their life would turn out and how would they handle it.

Of course it's not just them that are curious about what lies ahead, but also the people who keep up with their lives.

The couple decided to leave since they were violently attacked and pestered by some shady people from the press.

Few people and associations that worked for and with them started not to support them as they do not belong in the British royal family anymore. Canada said that they will no longer accommodate the couple's security whenever they plan to travel and visit their country.

The Sovereign Grant has also cut ties with them since they only accommodate members from royal families. They won't be able to live the same comfortable and luxurious life anymore, especially when they visit other countries.

As we witnessed the couple's cutting their ties with the royal family, it just proves that things could get difficult in every aspect quickly.

It was reported that Meghan is still a U.S. citizen even though she espoused into the royals. Applying for U.K. citizenship could take a long time before it gets approved. Even though she is still a U.S. citizen, the government still obliges her to file tax returns no matter where she resides in the world and would also require her to pay higher taxes whenever her income increases, regardless of her job and company.

Showbiz Cheat Sheet was reported by Nathan Rigney about the issue. He said that things could get complicated and confusing because whenever a person tries to change his or her life, he or she believes that it's going to lead them to an easier and simpler situation. He added that it won't be the case when it comes to the perspective of the tax world.

Prince Harry and Meghan's still have their hopes up because of Archie, their son. They want to keep Archie away from the harassment and evil they have experienced. They wished for a simple life for him.

Archie would still be able to live a comfortable life as he would still be given gifts and support from the royal family. Since he is still a child with no income, members of the royal family could still be eligible to give stocks or assets legally to Archie. The couple won't be able to benefit from it though.

Rigney suggests that Canada or the United States would be a better choice especially if you're going to look through the financial perspective. He said that they would benefit better and receive lesser negatives if they decide to reside in either of these countries.

The couple is planning to hire people who will sort out their financial and tax problems since they still have a lot of money. It is also difficult if they won't be able to sort these problems because they could suffer a lot in the long run.
The Senate has commenced deliberations on the $22 billion external borrowing request by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts.

Chairman of the committee, Clifford Ordia (PDP, Edo), read out the report and recommended that the Senate approve the request.

The decision to discuss behind closed doors was, however, preceded by back and forth arguments between lawmakers and the Senate President which lasted for over half an hour.

Both the Majority and Minority leaders, Abdulahi Yahaya and Enyinnaya Abaribe, suggested that the report be considered part by part to avail the senators the full knowledge of every line item and details of the bill.

But Mr Lawan insisted that the consideration will be done as a whole and a voice vote will be put for senators to vote.

The argument continued for a while with Mr Lawan insisting it will be done as he said.

After minutes of silence and consultations, Mr Yahaya moved that the Senate goes into a closed-door session for further deliberations  which was adopted.

The lawmakers are expected to resume soon and consider and approve the request.

Mr Buhari had, on November 28, forwarded the request to the Senate to reconsider and approve the federal governments 2016 to 2018 external borrowing plan.

The loan, he said, was to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.

The president had sent the same request to the eight Senate under Bukola Saraki in 2016. He had requested for about $30 billion.

The then lawmakers, however, rejected the request as majority voted against it when it was brought for consideration.

In his recent letter, Mr Buhari explained that the external borrowing plan targets projects that cut across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation.

A former lawmaker, Shehu Sani, had explained that the eight Senate rejected the presidents loan request to save Nigeria from sinking into a debt trap.

More details soon.
Since late last month, Indonesian social media has been buzzing with news of a controversial wedding in South Sulawesi, where a 103-year-old Dutch colonial war veteran recently married a 27-year-old woman.

Photos and videos of the unlikely couple on their wedding day have been doing the rounds online for over a week now, sparking both outrage and humorous comments. There are also those who cant believe the wedding was for real, but several Indonesian news outlets have confirmed that 103-year-old Puang Katte married a 27-year-old woman named Indo Alang in the District of Siwa, South Sulawesi. The groom, who is reportedly a widower, fought in the Dutch colonial war (1945  1949).

Photo: Special Photos/antvklik

Yes, its true, the was held this afternoon at the brides house on Jalan Galico street, Ayu Anggreni Muchtar, a relative of the groom, told Liputan6. I do not know his exact age, but he is definitely over 100 years old, he is a Dutch colonial war fighter. His wife is still in her 20s.

Tribunn News later revealed the real age of the newlyweds, Katte, 103 years old, and Alng, 27. The 76-year age difference shocked many in the Asia country, even though they are not entirely uncommon. Back in 2017, we featured the story of a 71-year-old woman who married a 16-year-old boy, and just the other day Indonesian media revealed the case of another 103-year-old man who recently married a woman 66 years his junior.



Videos showing the hunched old groom being supported by a young man as he staggers down the aisle to meet his young bride have been shared on Facebook and Twitter, putting the question of arranged marriages into question once again.

Interestingly, the dowry paid by Katte to his brides family wasnt that substantial, according to local media reports. he allegedly only paid 5 million rupiah ($343) and a gold ring. The two are currently living at the grooms house in South Sulawesi.
March 5, 2020--ATLANTA-- The burden of colorectal cancer is swiftly shifting to younger individuals as incidence increases in young adults and declines in older age groups, according to the latest edition of Colorectal Cancer Statistics 2020, a publication of the American Cancer Society. A sign of the shift: the median age of diagnosis has dropped from age 72 in 2001-2002 to 66 during 2015-2016; in other words, half of all new diagnoses are now in people 66 or younger.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States. Rapid declines in CRC incidence occurred in people 50 and older during the 2000s, largely because of increased screening with colonoscopy, which can prevent cancer by removing premalignant polyps.

In recent years, however, declines in incidence have been confined to people 65 and older, among whom rates dropped by 3.3% per year from 2011 through 2016. Among those 50 to 64, declines in incidence of 2% to 3% per year during the 2000s have reversed in recent years, with rates increasing by 1.0% per year during 2011 through 2016. This is similar to the uptick occurring in people under 50, in whom incidence rates have been increasing since the mid-1990s and rose by 2.2% per year from 2011 to 2016. These increases likely reflect elevated disease risk in generations born since 1950 that is being carried forward over time as people age, a phenomenon referred to as a birth cohort effect.

Although rising incidence in those under 50 was previously driven by rectal tumors, in the most recent five years of data (2012-2016), incidence rates rose by 1.8% per year for tumors in the proximal and distal colon as well as in the rectum. Rising incidence in people younger than 65 is driven by trends in non-Hispanic whites, although rates in American Indians/Alaska Natives are also increasing steeply.

In 2020, there will be about 18,000 cases of CRC (12%) diagnosed in people under 50 in 2020, the equivalent of 49 new cases per day. In addition, 3,640 CRC deaths (10 per day) are expected in 2020 in this age group, partly owing to delays in diagnosis; 1 in 4 patients (26%) younger than 50 is diagnosed with metastatic disease compared to 19% of those 65 and older.

CRC death rates overall have been decreasing since the late 1940s in women, but only since 1980 in men, likely reflecting differences in incidence trends, which are unavailable prior to 1975. However, incidence and mortality trends have been very similar between the sexes over the past three decades.

Like incidence, CRC mortality patterns vary by age, with rapid decreases in the oldest age groups and increasing trends in young adults. Over the past 10 data years (2008-2017), death rates declined by 3% per year in people 65 years and older but by only 0.6% per year in people 50 to 64, while increasing by 1.3% per year in those under 50. The uptick in CRC death rates in adults under 50, which is most rapid among non-Hispanic whites (2% per year), began around 2004 and was preceded by declines of 1% to 2% per year since at least 1975. Rapid declines in overall CRC death rates of approximately 3% per year during the 2000s decelerated to 1.8% per year from 2012 to 2017, perhaps reflecting slower gains in screening uptake and lower rates of first-time testing, as well as rising trends in younger adults.

Wide differences in the prevalence of CRC risk factors, such as smoking and excess body weight, as well as access to high-quality health care, including screening, result in large disparities. The incidence rate during 2012-2016 ranged from a low of 30 per 100,000 among Asian/Pacific Islanders to 46 per 100,000 among blacks and 89 per 100,000 Alaska Natives.

The pattern for mortality is the same, although the magnitude of the disparity is twice as large as that for incidence. For example, CRC incidence rates are about 20% higher in blacks (46 per 100,000) than in non-Hispanic whites (39 per 100,000) whereas death rates are almost 40% higher in blacks (19 versus 14 per 100,000). Even more striking are death rates among Alaska Natives (40 per 100,000), which are double those among blacks. American Indians/Alaska Natives are the only racial group in which overall CRC death rates are not declining.

Of all racial/ethnic groups, black patients are the most likely to be diagnosed with distant-stage CRC (25% vs 20% of non-Hispanic whites and Asians/Pacific Islanders) and also have the lowest overall 5-year survival rate (60% vs 66% among non-Hispanic whites and 68% among Asians/Pacific Islanders). These disparities are largely driven by socioeconomic inequalities that result in differences in access to early detection and the receipt of timely, high quality treatment.

Two-thirds (66%) of individuals 50 and older were current for colorectal cancer screening in 2018, ranging from 58% in Puerto Rico and 60% in Wyoming to 76% in Massachusetts. However, less than half of people ages 50-54 years were up-to-date, which is particularly concerning given increasing CRC incidence and mortality in this age group. Screening is also low among immigrants in the U.S. less than 10 years (26%), people who are uninsured (30%) or Medicaid-insured (53%), and Asian Americans (55%).

"Although overall colorectal cancer incidence and mortality continue to decline, this progress is increasingly confined to older age groups and is marred by vast disparities," said Rebecca Siegel, MPH, lead author of the report. "Unfortunately, tools that are very effective at reducing the burden of this disease are not being fully utilized. One in three people 50 and older is not up-to-date on screening; many of them have never been screened at all. We could save countless lives by increasing access to screening in rural and other low-income areas, especially in Alaska, and incentivizing primary care clinicians to ensure that all patients 45 and older are screened, as well as facilitating healthier lifestyles in our communities.

"More timely diagnosis among younger patients remains critical while we await answers to why CRC incidence is rising in young and middle-aged adults," said Ms. Siegel.

###

Colorectal Cancer Statistics is published every three years in the ACS flagship journal, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and is accompanied by a consumer version, Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures, available for download at http://www.cancer.org/statistics.

Article: Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2020; Siegel et al., CA Cancer J Clin 2020; doi 10.3322/caac.21601

URL when published: https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21601
New Delhi, March 5 : India and European Union (EU) have mutually decided to postpone their summit which was due next week in Brussels, in view of the coronavirus outbreak in several countries across the world.

At a media briefing on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels will be rescheduled. "Both sides have agreed that due to health authorities advising against travel between regions, it would be wise to re-schedule the summit to a later mutually convenient date," he said.

The decision, he said, has been taken in the spirit of the close cooperation between India and the EU who share the same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon.
Leaders of various Muslim outfits on Thursday called on Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan over the CAA and the actor politician, assuring his support, cautioned all should be on guard against violence.

Days after Muslim religious leaders called on superstar Rajinikanth over the controversial law here, Haasan, pledged his support to them over the CAA "for the unity of Indian people, the nation's sovereignty."



According to a party release, the MNM chief told them "the protest should continue resolutely. But at the same time, all of us should be careful to see that violence does not crop up in any form in such agitations."



The Muslim leaders thanked and lauded Haasan for his anti-CAA stand, the release added.

MNM is among the parties that have petitioned the Supreme Court against the CAA.

Heads of Tamil Nadu Ulemas Peravai and Jananayaga Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam were among the leaders of 10 Muslim outfits who called on Haasan here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police: Man arrested after family fight erupts in gunfire, Chico Denny's evacuated

New overnight, tense moments for patrons at two local businesses, after a family fight erupted in gunfire and the altercation spilled over into a local Denny's. Chico police arrested Michael Sans Cartier-Ward, they say he fired shots from a handgun outside of the motel six on Manzanita Court Wednesday night. When officers arrived on scene they say Cartier-Ward was in a nearby Dennys. Police evacuated the restaurant and arrested Cartier-Ward. Police said Cartier-Ward is facing charges of negligent discharge of a firearm, and being a drug addict in possession of a firearm.

Man sentenced to 5 years probation for 2016 Chico DUI death

Community members are responding after a man convicted in the DUI death of Chico was sentenced to just five years of probation. Bryan Dawson pleaded guilty to "gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated," with an enhancement of leaving the scene of a crime. In handing down the sentence, the judge noted that Dawson already served a year in jail, expressed remorse, and had no criminal history. And was enrolled in a treatment program for alcohol.

Oroville Police arrest 12 for drugs in first proactive enforcement detail

A new program from Oroville police landed a dozen people behind bars. Its all part of the city's new 'problem-oriented policing team'. The team tallied up 12 arrests during a parole and probation sweep throughout the city Tuesday. Police say eight of the suspects were in violation of parole. Four were arrested for failure to register as a sexual offender and various drug charges.

Grizzly Fire reaches 100% containment

Cal Fire crews have fully contained a 154-acre vegetation fire near black butte lake in Glenn County. The Grizzly Fire started on Monday around noon. Firefighters are expected to remain on the scene to put out the fire completely.

Corning considering a tobacco flavor ban

Corning City Council directed city staff to research more into a ban on flavored tobacco. After a group of high school students presented their findings at the city council meeting. Research from the California health kids survey found over 22% of kids in Tehama County said they used flavored tobacco products. The city of corning says once their research is complete, they will bring back their findings to the city council.

First coronavirus death in California confirmed Wednesday

Representatives have confirmed the first death from the coronavirus in California. An elderly person from Placer County died Wednesday. Doctors said the person had health conditions and died at a hospital in Roseville while in isolation. The person was from Rocklin and was likely exposed to the virus while on a Princess cruise ship from San Francisco to Mexico in February.

3 Rocklin Fire Department employees quarantined

The Rocklin Fire Department says three of their employees are among the five emergency responders now under quarantine after being exposed to the patient who died today. The fire chief says his department, among several others, are now taking extra precautions on every medical call  per new CDC guidelines.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Thursday said the next financial year is again going to be challenging in terms of sales for the company, with the prices of two-wheelers set to go up by up to 15 per cent with BS-VI transition taking place from April this year.

The company, which on Thursday launched an all-new BS-VI compliant version of its super bike Africa Twin Adventure Sports, said it would be difficult for the manufacturers to bring in customers to showrooms with price of BS-VI versions going up significantly.

"Next financial year is going to be another challenging year for us, one because 100 per cent transition is going to happen into BS-VI. So, every manufacturer would now have to chase the customer at totally different price points and these price points would be higher by 10-15 per cent," HMSI Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Yadvinder Singh Guleria told PTI.

Giving an example, he said that if any customer was planning to buy a two-wheeler on August 31, 2018, but somehow did not make that purchase and now, if he buys that same vehicle on April 1, 2020, he will have to shell out 20-25 per cent more.

Prices of two-wheelers have gone up due to increase in insurance premium, addition of safety equipment due to new regulations and planned transition from BS-IV to BS-VI emission regime from next month, Guleria noted.

When asked if the company is also facing component supply disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak, he said, "So far, till yesterday's (Wednesday) production, we did not have any impact. One of the reason is that we have effectively used our global supply chain support in getting and sourcing the components from. That has helped us."



However, moving ahead, the company is monitoring the situation on a daily basis and if the situation prolongs, it may also have an impact on the company as well, Guleria noted.

The company mainly gets electrical items like LEDs and blinkers from China.

On the company's position in terms of BS-IV stock, Guleria said HMSI has switched totally to BS-VI production from February and it is in a comfortable position.

"But, when we talk about dealerships, there would be mixed cases as we have 2,000-plus dealers and the total sales network is over 6,200-plus now," he said.

There are some dealers who have already exhausted 100 per cent of the BS-IV stock and there are some who may be still carrying up to three weeks of the stock, Guleria said.

"So, we are playing the role of enabler, helping movement of stocks among dealers, so that we are able to control any negative impact on our business partners," he added.

He, however, made it clear that the company has no plans as of now to take back stock from the dealers.

"The stock needs to be liquidated in the market and for that whatever support that needs to be extended to the dealers, we have already extended and that is why we are in a very comfortable position. Things like recalling the vehicles from dealers and then exporting them to global markets, we do not have any such plans as of now," Guleria said.

HMSI on Thursday introduced all-new version of its super bike Africa Twin Adventure Sports, with price starting at Rs 15.35 lakh (ex-showroom).

The BS-VI compliant model, which is powered by 1,084cc engine, comes with both manual and DCT (automatic) transmissions.

The manual version is priced at Rs 15.35 lakh, while the DCT trim is tagged at Rs 16.10 lakh (ex-showroom).

The company has sold over 200 units of the model since its launch in 2017, Guleria said.

The bike now comes with new frame, bigger engine, more peak power, new electronics and new suspension, he added.

"The bookings for the model are open from today (Thursday) and the deliveries will begin from May onwards," Guleria said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A new book explores the lives of foreign nationals, from 25 nations, living in China during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. "China, We Stand with Youwhat communications professionals from 25 nations see in coronavirus fight," is written by 35 foreign experts, and has been released by New Star Press of China International Publishing Group (CIPG).

This book includes contents from news, reports, pictures, comments and videos published by 35 experts who decided to stay or come back to China after the outbreak of COVID-19. They come from 25 countries and all work at CIPG.







The book consists of 40 articles and 300 photos divided into eight parts: "China Is Taking Action Against COVID-19", "Staying up in China", "Beijing During the Coronavirus Outbreak", "How Are Foreigners Reacting to the COVID -19 outbreak? ", "Challenges Test Love", "Joint Efforts in Combatting Coronavirus", "Lands Apart, Sky Shared", and "Virus Secludes Us, Love Spreads". Each part is accompanied with videos that can be accessed via QR codes. The videos, created by the authors of the book, are available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean languages. These written and visual documents record how Chinese people have worked tirelessly to bring relief to the tens of thousands of Chinese citizens infected by the coronavirus.

The 35 authors are experts working at CIPG and are concerned about China. As media professionals, they have found Western coverage to be misleading and misconstruing. They believe that such coverage has expanded fears. Under such circumstances, the experts have strived to display the real situation in China, and "tell people what's really going on with China". As foreigners, they chose to stay in China, and some others even "travelled against the flow" to come back. Their decisions were not reckless, because "China is the place where great achievements and miracles are made". No matter where they are from, they share a common faith that "the smiles behind masks will reveal themselves in this lovely country soon." Their sincerity is formidable, and their stories are heartening. This is a book of remembrance, a remembrance of the responsibility of media and press professionals, the trust of foreigners towards China and the Chinese people, and of love beyond boundaries. This explains what internationalism is  love and care for each other despite of nationality when we confront crises.





China International Publishing Group is the largest organization in China that works on international publishing and communication. It operates many businesses, including news, publishing, translation, research, and the international trade of cultural products.
India on Thursday said it has conveyed its concerns to China after seizure of an item having military applications from a Chinese ship which was detained by Indian authorities at Gujarat's Kandla port last month.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India expects China to take appropriate measures to ensure that the Chinese entities do not engage in activities that can contribute to proliferation.

According to military officials, the autoclave seized from 'Da Cui Yan', the Hong Kong flagged ship bound for Karachi, can be used for launching ballistic missiles.

Kumar said examination of the item revealed that it is an autoclave whose use is controlled under India's dual use export control lists and that it was seized by authorities as per legal procedure.

"We have conveyed our concerns on this issue to the Chinese side and have highlighted that as a friendly country the Chinese government will take appropriate measures to ensure that the Chinese entities do not engage in activities that can contribute to proliferation," he said at a press briefing.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the autoclave seized from the ship is a heat treatment furnace shell system and not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control.

The dual-use products or items have both civilian and military use. The items put under restricted list are used on missiles and nuclear weapons.

The MEA spokesperson said it has been ascertained that the item has military applications.

He said Indian authorities had detained the vessel when it berthed in Kandla Port in early February as it had "mis-declared" the item.

"Our examination has revealed that the item is an autoclave that is controlled under our Dual Use Export Control lists. Therefore the item has been seized by our authorities as per our legal procedure," Kumar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Accusing the Maharashtra Vikas



Aghadi ministers of being at variance with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the implementation of CAA in the state, the BJP on Thursday called for a discussion in the Legislature to know the government's exact position on the issue.

The NCP, however, accused the BJP of raising the issue to divert attention from a discussion over a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on CIDCO's infrastructure works in Navi Mumbai.

NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik raised suspicion over the alleged Rs 2,500 crore scam in works carried out by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) during the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government in the state.

Fadnavis has already dismissed the charges.

Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Thackeray last month said in New Delhi that one need not fear about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register is not going to throw anyone out of the country.

Maharashtra minister and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat in the past talked about not allowing implementation of the new citizenship law in the state.

"Several ministers have boasted about not allowing implementation of the CAA in Maharashtra. The chief minister (Thackeray) has expressed views on the issue, they (MVA's constituents) have expressed some (other) views. This needs to be understood here," Fadnavis told reporters outside the state Legislature complex.

He also alleged that the law and order situation in the state was facing trouble from protests staged to oppose the CAA.

"Hence, this needs to be discussed," Fadnavis said.

Another BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar expressed a similar view.

"The CM has clearly said the CAA is in the interest of the country and one need not be worried. Some of his ministers hold other view...clarity is required on this," he said.

Mungantiwar claimed a minister may lose his/her post if he/she expresses a view other than that of the Cabinet on the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council Pravin Darekar termed the CAA as "a very good law", and said it is important that people of the state know what Thackeray's position is on the issue, on the floor of the House.

Hitting back, Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said BJP leaders sought support from people after the CAA was passed by Parliament, but did not receive any.

"People are opposing the law, but the BJP is not ready to budge," he told reporters outside the Legislature building.

Noting that the CAA is passed by Parliament, Malik said the onus of implementing the law is on the central government and not the state.

"We think they are seeking a discussion to divert attention from the possible debate on CAG report on Rs 2,500 crore scam through the CIDCO," the NCP leader said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 500 foster and whanau caregivers in the Bay of Plenty will continue to receive vital training and support services this year thanks to a grant from BayTrust.

This week is Foster Care Awareness Week and the $15,000 grant will support the work being done locally by Caring Families Aotearoa, formerly known as Fostering Kids New Zealand.

Their BOP regional support groups help connect 534 local caregivers who receive specialised training, advocacy support and access to a critical support service in times of crisis.

The professional support and specialised training we offer helps heal a child in foster care not simply hold a child in care, says Caring Families Aotearoa communications manager Jennifer Kinsella.

This is essential to strengthen the care family and whanau to provide stability for children in care through a healing environment.

It is widely acknowledged that children and young people in foster care often suffer from developmental trauma, as a result of the early, repeated abuse, neglect, separation and adverse experiences that happen to them.

Jennifer says caring for a child who has been abused or neglected isnt like normal parenting. They may display antisocial behaviour, have difficulty connecting emotionally with others, and have a range of high and complex needs. The caregivers themselves also face a range of emotional and practical challenges, she says.

Nationwide, 24,000 children are currently living in foster or whanau care after being removed from their biological parents.

We rely heavily on support from grant making organisations, small businesses and a wonderful group of caring individuals to continue delivering our services. Without the support of funding bodies such as BayTrust, we simply couldnt offer our current level of service to foster and whanau caregivers. We are ecstatic to receive this amount of money, she says.

BayTrust CEO Alastair Rhodes says children in foster care are our most vulnerable tamariki and strengthening whanau by supporting youth is a key priority in achieving BayTrusts vision of ensuring the Bay of Plenty is the greatest place to be.

Foster and whanau caregivers do an incredible job in the toughest of circumstances. Their energy and commitment will help these children recover from setbacks, reach their full potential and eventually lead to stronger communities. Were very pleased to help financially support Caring Families Aotearoa so they can continue their wonderful work in the Bay of Plenty.
The Ukrainian leader assured the diplomats that the recent government shake-up would not change the country's priorities in the internal and external policies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with the Ambassadors of the G7 countries and the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine during his visit to Poltava region.

"The issues of Ukraine's further course were discussed in an informal atmosphere," the presidential press service said.

Read alsoUkraine's parliament approves new Cabinet

"In particular, the president underscored the invariance of the chosen course towards the implementation by the government and the Verkhovna Rada of a policy aimed at ensuring welfare, security, protection of the rights and freedoms of Ukrainians, as well as the creation of a strong state governed by the rule of law that serves the citizen," the press service said.

Zelensky stressed that the government's reboot was aimed at improving the performance of the executive branch and "would not affect the announced priorities in domestic and foreign policy."

The Ukrainian president also thanked the heads of the diplomatic missions of the G7 and EU countries for their practical assistance and political support for Ukraine's chosen path of reforms.
Gardai have arrested two male juveniles in connection with the murder of Cameron Blair in Cork city.

The two males were arrested yesterday and will appear before Cork City District Court today.
Syracuse University professors are preparing to teach classes online if coronavirus concerns force the university to close.

Administrators informed faculty today to begin preparing for a shift online in the event the coronavirus outbreak affects normal operations at the university.

SU officials indicated they hoped a closure would not be necessary, but wanted to have a back-up plan in place. Officials said it was important to ensure academic continuity for students even if they cant attend class in person.

SU administrators said they would assist professors with the challenges of teaching classes online as needed. The university has compiled online tools and instructions to help with any transition that becomes necessary.

While this preparation is not intended to alarm you, we must be prepared to move instruction online if it becomes necessary to protect the health and safety of our community while simultaneously fulfilling the academic obligations we have to our students," Interim Provost John Liu said in a message to the faculty.

Syracuse University in response to the coronavirus has already evacuated a study abroad program in Florence, and banned travel to Italy, South Korea and China.

The university has instructed sick students to stay home from class as a precaution.

The university is also working with several local colleges, hospitals and municipalities to plan for an outbreak here.

Onondaga County Health Department officials said today 12 residents who recently traveled to China are being quarantined. They do not have symptoms, officials said.

There have been more than 94,000 cases worldwide and more than 3,200 deaths resulting from the coronavirus outbreak. New York has seen 11 cases so far, in Westchester County and Manhattan.

More coronavirus news:

U.S. death toll rises to 11 with 1st California victim

Cuomo: NY up to 11 coronavirus cases. 10 are connected to one person

Syracuse University readies for coronavirus, tells sick students to stay home

Syracuse couple finally home after close to a month in coronavirus quarantines

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and sometimes fun stuff like treasure hunters. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992

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
Even as organisations believe in the importance of inclusiveness at workplace for the success of their business, a study has found a perception gap with nearly all leaders in India believing that their people feel included compared to only 36 per cent of employees.

Today's workforce cares increasingly about workplace culture and believes it is critical to helping them thrive in the workplace -- reported by 88 per cent of women and 77 per cent of men in India -- and the majority of leaders (91 per cent in India) believe an inclusive workplace culture is vital to the success of their business, the report by Accenture said.

The report - Getting to Equal 2020: The Hidden Value of Culture Makers - revealed that there is also a perception gap with nearly all leaders in India (94 per cent) believing that their people feel included, yet just one-third (36 per cent) of employees agree to that.

Two out of three leaders (66 per cent) feel they create empowering environments where people have a sense of belonging, however, less than half (48 per cent) of employees agree, it added.

The report is based on a global survey of more than 30,000 professionals in 28 countries, including over 1,000 professionals from India), across industries.

It revealed that most leaders also ranked diversity and workplace culture low on their list of top organisational priorities.

A majority of leaders in India ranked brand recognition and quality (84 per cent) and financial performance (78 per cent) at the top of their list of priorities, while only 37 per cent ranked diversity on top.

Also, only 37 per cent ranked culture at the top, it added.

"For every organisation today, building a culture of equality needs as much focus as any other business goal. In an era where innovation drives growth, people are the most valuable source of competitive advantage and equality and empowerment are key to unleashing their potential," Accenture India Chairman and Senior Managing Director Rekha M Menon said.

Further the report revealed that aligning leaders' perceptions with those of their employees would yield significant upsides.

Everyoneboth women and menwould advance faster, and global profits would increase by USD 3.7 trillion, including USD 1.35 trillion in the Asia Pacific region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eleven passengers and 10 crew members on the ship who were showing symptoms would be tested, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said. That number may significantly understate the scope of infection, he said, or it may indeed be abundance of caution.

Additionally, 62 people who had traveled at the same time as the man who died were expected to be tested for the virus, which is spreading worldwide and has led to 14 deaths in the United States.

Two black helicopters hovered over the ship on Thursday morning, in the style of a military operation, as officials in camouflage and orange suits lowered what appeared to be a cooler and other gear onto the ship. After testing, the kits will be flown back to a laboratory in Richmond, Calif., where the results could be available within a few hours, Mr. Newsom said.

Officials said that the results would likely not be announced until Friday. Bill Pearce, 54, said fellow passengers had been staying in good spirits and milling around the ship until Thursday afternoon, when the captain announced over loudspeakers that all passengers would be confined to their cabins.
Hank Azaria of Brockmire speaks onstage during the AMC Networks portion of the Winter 2020 TCA Press Tour Jan. 16 in Pasadena, Calif. Indian American comedian Hari Kondabolu helped spark a conversation about the character of Apu on the The Simpsons show. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
Despite a recent statement from the organisers saying the Australian Grand Prix will certainly go ahead, Australia's Minister of Tourism has now admitted there is no absolute certainty the event will take place on schedule, with the coronavirus situation ever-developing.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) confirmed the race, which is scheduled for March 15th, is definitely taking place next Sunday. Reuters spoke to Victoria's Minister of Tourism, Martin Pakula, who put a bit more nuance on that statement.

Read more Australian Grand Prix confirmed to be taking place despite coronavirus fears

While Pakula has little doubt the Grand Prix is in actual peril of having to be postponed, with the coronavirus claiming over three thousand lives worldwide but mostly in China and Southeast Asia, he adds there is no guarantee the situation in Australia could worsen.

All of the indications from Formula One management are that they are planning for the Grand Prix to go ahead, he explained.

Read more Ferrari still set to travel to Australia despite coronavirus troubles

The set-up is already occurring, we would be expecting machinery and teams to be arriving from today through to the end of the weekend. So we are almost at the point where everybody is going to be here within the next few days.

But having said that, I recognise the situation is extremely dynamic and to some extent there are matters that are out of control. There are decisions made by the (government) or might be made overseas.

Im very hopeful and confident but I cant say anything about it with absolute certainty.

Traveling has already been limited severely for multiple teams, especially those based in Italy, and a close eye will have to be kept in Australia to ensure everyone's health and safety.
Digital designer Colm Corcoran, publisher Peter Vandermeersch, product design team lead Miriam Espinosa and group director of product Steve Dempsey with the award. Photo: David Conachy

Independent.ie, Ireland's largest commercial news website, has been honoured with a platinum award from the AVA Digital Awards.

The award recognises the recent upgrade to Independent.ie, and sister site BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. The redesign modernises the look of the site and apps, protects advertising revenues and supports the recently launched subscription business. It involved designing 328 individual components and 124 templates.

Accepting the award, Steve Dempsey, Independent News and Media group director of product, said: "It's a team effort.

"Not only were our designers, developers and testers directly responsible for delivering the new website, but INM's editorial team, customer team, commercial team and our colleagues in Belfast were involved in a 12-month project to go from prototypes to production.

"The AVA platinum award is fabulous recognition for the broader INM team.

"The redesign is also part of a more fundamental transformation in INM and the first step in delivering quality, sustainable journalism to online readers in Ireland and further afield."

Peter Vandermeersch, publisher at INM, said: "This great award is a wonderful encouragement in our ambition to produce extraordinary digital journalism and deliver this journalism to our readers."
A patient with underlying health conditions has died after testing positive for coronavirus, the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said.

They become the first coronavirus patient to die on UK soil.

A statement from the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said: Sadly, we can confirm that an older patient with underlying health conditions has died.

The patient has previously been in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons, but on this occasion was admitted and last night tested positive for coronavirus."

The patient's family have been informed of the death.

The patient was being treated by the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust / Google

The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time," the statement added.

We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the familys privacy.

Commuters, some in masks, cross London Bridge amid the coronavirus outbreak / REUTERS

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, said he was very sorry to report the news and offered sincere condolences to the family.

He added: The patient, who was being treated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, was an older patient who had underlying health conditions.

We believe they contracted the virus in the UK and contact tracing is already underway.

PM expresses sympathy as first person in the UK dies after positive coronavirus test

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: Terribly sad news today that a patient with underlying health conditions has died with coronavirus in Reading. My sincere condolences to their family and loved ones.

We will work tirelessly to protect the public from this disease.

Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /106 Coronavirus - In pictures A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province Reuters Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City via Reuters A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City Reuters The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Commuters cope with Coronavirus Jeremy Selwyn Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty AFP via Getty Images People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran AP Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift AP Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Imag Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus Tom Hanks General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic PA Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves @naomi Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak. PA Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close PA Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am Jeremy Selwyn A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground. PA A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale PA A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020 AFP via Getty Images A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading Reuters This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020 AFP via Getty Images Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House Reuters A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami, via Reuters General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes UEFA via Getty Images A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer PA Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus Getty Images Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea AP Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow via Reuters A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine AFP via Getty Images Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus Getty Images Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford PA Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife AP Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival Reuters A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 AFP via Getty Images People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game Getty Images People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home PA Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg Getty Images A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex PA Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears via Reuters A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong Reuters A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020 AFP via Getty Images The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China Reuters The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center Getty Images A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton AFP via Getty Images Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport AFP via Getty Images French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China AFP via Getty Images Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China Reuters A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China PA Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo AFP via Getty Images Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy Reuters People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Reuters Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a womans temperature on the underground in Beijing Getty Images An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city AFP via Getty Images Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia AP Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus AFP via Getty Images Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China AP Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city Getty Images Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi AP A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing AFP via Getty Images An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea AP A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan Reuters Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing AP The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan Getty Images Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan AP Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV AP

It comes after the number of confirmed cases in the UK hit 116 earlier today.

This includes 105 in England, three in Wales, six in Scotland and three in Northern Ireland.

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

Just two days ago there were only 51 UK cases. There are 25 confirmed cases now in London alone.

Across the UK some 18,083 have been tested for Covid-19 so far.

There are now also more than 95,300 cases worldwide, as well as more than 3,200 people have died.

The Government has a four-pronged strategy against the novel coronavirus: contain, delay, science and research, mitigate.
The makers of upcoming Netflix film, Guilty, held a screening in Mumbai on Wednesday. The film is a thriller starring Kiara Advani in the lead.

Spotted at the function were Alia Bhatt, who came with sister Shaheen and mother Soni Razdan; War actor Vaani Kapoor, Sairat actor Rinku Rajguru, Sunil Shettys daughter Athiya, Rajkummar Raos girlfriend Patralekha, director Zoya Akhtar and Kedarnath director Abhishek Kapoors wife Pragya Yadav were among the many who made it to the screening.

Kiara Advani, Akanksha Ranjan and Gurfateh Singh Pirzada at the screening.

Alia Bhatt, Shaheen Bhatt and Soni Razdan at the show.

Alia Bhatt with Akanksha Ranjan.

The many members of Guilty team were spotted at the screening; writer-director Ruchi Narain, known for her work Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi was seen at the event. Also seen were Alia Bhatts best friend Akanksha Ranjan Kapur (her sister Anushka Ranjan was also present) and Gurfateh Singh Pirzada was also present at the screening.

Anushka Ranjan with Vaani Kapoor.

Sairat star Rinku Rajguru at the show.

Ruchi Narain and Taher Shabbir at the screening.

Pragya Yadav, Athiya Shetty and Zoya Akhtar at the screening.

Vaani Kapoor, Patralekha and Mehrene Kaur Pirzada at the screening.

Guilty, a Netflix film produced by Dharmatic, the digital arm of Dharma Productions, is about a songwriter whose boyfriend is accused of rape. Speaking about her role in Guilty, Kiara had told IANS, I play a character called Nanki in Guilty. She is an extremely layered and complex character. She is constantly wearing a mask. She is very far from who I am as a person. It was very interesting to understand the different shades of this character and get inside the skin of it.

Also read: Kareena Kapoor takes Taimur for an outing, he gives a shout-out to paparazzi Aye bhai log. Watch video

Speaking further about doing a Netflix film and if the digital platforms provide better opportunities to actors, Kiara had said, I think today the lines are blurring. I remember after watching Sanju, I liked Vickys (Kaushal) character as much as I liked the character of Sanju. The role which you are playing should excite you as an actor. Even the platforms are blurring. A mainstream actor like me is also doing a feature film on a platform like Netflix. I think thats a great thing. A change is happening.

Directed by Ruchi Narain, Guilty stars Kiara, Akansha, Gurfateh and Taher Shabbir. The film releases on Netflix on March 6.

(All pictures by Varinder Chawla)

(With IANS inputs)

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh: Know timings, guidelines, rules; What is allowed, what is not allowed

Contacts of confirmed cases don't need to get tested unless identified as high risk: Govt

Coronavirus scare: Like PM Modi, why you should avoid celebrating holi

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 05: In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, top leaders have decided to skip holi event as experts across the world have advised to avoid mass gathering to stay away from the spread of COVID-19 novel Coronavirus.

In India, twenty three new cases are reported on Wednesday. Experts have advised to stay safe from the infections by following the precautions.

"Experts across the world have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID19 Novel Coronavirus. Hence this year, I have decided not to participate in any 'Holi milan' programme," Modi tweeted.

Coronavirus: PM to skip 'Holi Milan' events on expert advice to avoid mass gatherings

Similarly Union Home Minister Shah urged the people to avoid public gatherings and take good care of yourself.

"Holi is a very important festival for Indians but in the wake of Coronavirus, I have decided not to participate in any Holi Milan celebration this year. I also appeal everyone to avoid public gatherings and take good care of yourself and your family," he said on Twitter.

Reportedly, Nadda has also written to all state unit presidents, asking them to avoid holding Holi milan programmes as a precautionary measure.

"The world is battling COVID-19 Novel Corona Virus. The countries and medical fraternity are jointly making efforts to contain its spread. Keeping this in mind, this year, I will neither celebrate Holi nor organise Holi Milan. Stay safe, Stay Healthy," Nadda tweeted.

With the fast oubreak of the novel virus, it is advised to avoid Holi this year. The most common method of coronavirus transmission seems to be through infected surfaces. So it is important to avoid touching, to wash hands repeatedly, and to avoid touching your own face with unwashed hands and avoid crowds as far as possible.

So should people not celebrate Holi?

Holi is an important festival for many and you cannot put your life on hold. Celebrate Holi, but maybe you should not celebrate it with much funfare and large gathering but with close family and friends.

Will not celebrate Holi in view of COVID-19: J P Nadda, HM Amit Shah

Holi is celebrated in the open streets, smearing each other with colors and drench each other. It is usually celebrated where thousands of people gather from all over the world.

So, participating in Holi celebrations is nothing less than inviting danger.
This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Concerns about the coronavirus outbreak have resulted in some cancellations and restrictions in the space industry, but many events will continue as planned.

More than 94,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide; about 80,000 of those cases were in mainland China, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The United States has had 128 known cases, including one death, reported in Washington state. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, poses a high risk of spread and impact . However, WHO has not classified the outbreak as a pandemic and has said that most of the reported cases have come from known contacts or clusters of cases.

In an interview with SpaceNews , NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency is considering advice from government officials in making decisions about NASA field centers. He added that solutions could vary from center to center.

On Wednesday, organizers with the Lunar and Planetary Institute announced the cancellation of the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. It was slated to begin March 16.

Related: Huge physics conference canceled due to coronavirus fears

The American physical society aps conference is canceled due to coronavirus. (Image credit: American Physical Society)

"We're taking it, at this point, day by day," Bridenstine told SpaceNews. "We have 10 centers across the nation, and every single one of them, as this continues to develop, is going to be affected differently."

The European Space Agency (ESA) is "currently assessing" whether it will proceed with upcoming meetings. So far, the agency has implemented some restrictions, according to a blog post from Director General Jan Worner. For example, people who have been to regions with larger coronavirus outbreaks  such as China, Italy, Japan or South Korea  must have left those regions at least two weeks prior before they are allowed to enter an ESA facility.

"Due to the necessity for us to continue operating satellites, there are some limits to what we can do," Worner wrote. "Each and every one of us, though, must act responsibly to help counteract the coronavirus."

The coronavirus outbreak has also led to some conference cancellations. For example, the American Physical Society (APS) canceled its annual conference just 36 hours before the event's scheduled start of March 2. The APS was expected to attract 10,000 attendees, many of whom were either already traveling to the conference or already in Denver when the cancellation was announced.

However, organizers of several other conferences are planning to go ahead with their plans, SpaceNews reported. The Satellite 2020 conference is still slated to begin as planned on March 9 in Washington, D.C.; the Space Foundation still plans to start the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on March 30; and the Northeast Astronomy Forum, a huge annual gathering of astronomy enthusiasts in Suffern, New York, is on track for April 4 and 5.

Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the cancellation of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas due to coronavirus concerns.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
This is the adorable moment an aquarium worker gently picks up one of six newly-hatched fairy penguins at Sea Life in Devon.

The tiny chicks - that are smaller than the palm of a hand - make adorable chirping sounds as their loving handlers watch on in Weymouth.

The baby penguins are yet to be named and are being carefully monitored by the expert Aquarist team in a specialist nursery.

This is the adorable moment an aquarium worker gently picks up one of six newly-hatched fairy penguins at Sea Life in Devon

The tiny chicks - that are smaller than the palm of a hand - make adorable chirping sounds as their loving handlers watch on in Weymouth

The animals - also known as little penguins - are the smallest penguins in the world and grow to an average of just 33cm in height, only a little longer than an A4 sheet of paper.

Native to southern Australia and New Zealand, the fairy penguin colony were rehomed when their sanctuary in Manly, Australia, closed in 2018.

The new arrivals are the first fairy penguin chicks ever to be born in Europe.

Tamsin Mutton-Mcknight, General Manager of Sea Life Weymouth, said: 'We are thrilled that our breeding programme has started so well.

Native to southern Australia and New Zealand, the fairy penguin colony were rehomed when their sanctuary in Manly, Australia, closed in 2018.

'It was always our plan to create a sustainable population of fairy penguins in Europe to educate people about this fascinating species of penguin.

'And we are looking forward to introducing our new little residents to visitors soon.'

Once the penguins develop their waterproof feathers  at around two months old  they will be able to move in with the rest of the colony at Sea Life Weymouth's 'Fairy Penguin Island'.

Six fairy penguin chicks hatched at Sea Life Weymouth. Also known as Little Penguins, they are the smallest penguins in the world and grow to an average of 33cm in height

Until then, a 'nestcam' has been installed so that visitors to the Park can get a sneak peak of the hatchlings in their nest before they go on full display in March.

Kico Iraola, Curator at Sea Life Weymouth, said: 'We're delighted that our breeding programme has got off to a strong start and to welcome six new family members to Europe's only colony of fairy penguins.

'Our trained team will be closely monitoring the health and wellness of the chicks.

The new arrivals have been carefully monitored by the expert Aquarist team in a specialist nursery, to ensure they continue to grow strong and healthy

'We can't wait for the public to meet our new feathered friends and to see how each little penguin develops their own cheeky personality.'

Fairy penguins are the smallest of all penguin species, generally standing at only 15 inches tall and weighing just one kilogram once fully grown.

The one-month-old penguin pictured above. Fairy penguins are the only breed to have blue and grey rather than black and white feathers

They are typically found in southern Australia and New Zealand, where they dig burrows and spend up to 80 per cent of their time swimming.

Fairy penguins are the only breed to have blue and grey rather than black and white feathers.

Weymouth's new penguin chicks will live independently as soon as they join the colony and will already be able to swim, as penguins are born with this innate skill rather than having to learn it from their parents.
NEW YORK (AP)  Billionaire Mike Bloomberg ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. It was a stunning collapse for the former New York City mayor, who had his 2020 hopes on the Super Tuesday states and pumped more than $500 million of his own fortune into the campaign.

Bloomberg announced his departure from the race after a disappointing finish on Super Tuesday in the slate of states that account for almost one-third of the total delegates available in the Democratic nominating contest. He won only the territory of American Samoa and picked up several dozen delegates elsewhere. Biden, meanwhile, won big in Southern states where Bloomberg had poured tens of millions of dollars and even cautiously hoped for a victory.

Two of his former Democratic rivals, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the moderate alternative to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders just the day before Super Tuesday.

Bloomberg ran an unprecedented campaign from the start. His late entrance into the race in November prompted him to skip campaigning in the first four voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. He hung his success on Super Tuesday, spending at least $180 million on advertising in those states, but had planned to continue deep into the primary calendar, already spending millions on advertising in states like Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Before results poured in on Tuesday, he projected confidence while campaigning in Florida, only to have his aides say the campaign would reassess the next day.

Voters ultimately rejected Bloombergs argument that he was the candidate best poised to take on Republican President Donald Trump. The president, for his part, had paid close attention to the Democratic nominating contest and had been especially fixated on Bloomberg. Trump regularly railed against his fellow New Yorker on Twitter, mocking his short stature by calling him Mini Mike and claiming Bloomberg was the candidate he wanted to run against. On Tuesday, he called the results a complete destruction of Bloombergs reputation.

Bloomberg, 78, is one of the worlds richest men, worth an estimated $61 billion. His fortune flows from the financial data and media company that bears his name, which he started in the 1980s. In addition to serving 12 years as New York mayor, he endeared himself to progressive groups by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into fighting climate change and curbing gun violence.

In the early weeks of his campaign, he used his vast fortune to introduce himself to voters outside New York on his own terms, and his rivals accused him of trying to buy the partys nomination and the White House. As voting drew closer, the former Republican was forced to confront his Democratic rivals head on by appearing alongside them on a debate stage. His first performance was shaky and uneven and caused voters to view him with a more critical eye.

He proved unable to overcome consistent criticism of New Yorks use of the stop-and-frisk police practice under his tenure as mayor, which disproportionately targeted young black and Latino men for searches aimed at finding weapons. The practice ended after a federal judge declared it unconstitutional, and Bloomberg apologized for using it weeks before announcing his presidential run.

He similarly faced pointed criticism  primarily from rival Elizabeth Warren  about the treatment of women at his company, Bloomberg LP. Under pressure from Warren, he said in mid-February he would release three women who sued him for harassment or discrimination complaints from confidentiality agreements. Women who worked for Bloomberg were featured in a commercial praising Bloombergs and the companys treatment of women, and his longtime partner Diana Taylor defended him as a champion of women.

Bloomberg was dogged by accusations he was trying to buy the Democratic presidential nomination. His vast fortune proved a perfect foil for Sanders, who has said billionaires should not exist at all. Indeed, Bloomberg had a vast circle of influence from his spending on key causes like gun control as well as his philanthropic efforts to boost American cities and provide leadership training for mayors. Dozens of prominent mayors rallied behind his candidacy.

That, combined with Bidens resurgence in South Carolina and the rallying of the partys moderate wing behind him, doomed Bloombergs case that he was the best candidate to take on both Sanders and Trump.

Whats next for Bloomberg is unclear. Hed pledged to keep campaign offices open in key general election battleground states to help the Democrats defeat Trump even if he lost the partys nomination. But Sanders campaign has said they do not want the help.
VANCOUVER, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Perk Labs Inc. (formerly Glance Technologies Inc.) (CSE:PERK)(OTCQB:PKLBF)(FKT:GJT) ("Perk Labs" or the "Company"), the parent company of Perk Hero, the all-in-one mobile ordering, payment and customer loyalty platform, is pleased to announce that Perk Hero has signed an agreement with Alipay to enable Alipay users to make payments on the Company's payment platform and will be harmonizing its QR codes to enable Alipay payment at Perk Hero merchants.

"This arrangement will appeal to Chinese visitors who would like to use Alipay as their preferred payment method while travelling and living abroad," said the Company's CEO Jonathan Hoyles. "It will also add value to our merchants, who will be better positioned to benefit from a massive, new base of Alipay users who represent increased foot traffic, spending power and revenue. It's a great win-win."

"We are looking forward to enabling more of our valued users to use Alipay QR codes at Perk Hero merchants in Canada. This provides a familiar method of payment for Chinese users in Canada, connecting them with valued local merchants," said Steve Yulei Wang, General Manager, Alipay, North America.

In 2013, Alipay overtook PayPal as the world's largest mobile payment platform, with 900 million Alipay users as of June 2019, many of whom are part of a rapidly growing Chinese middle class that enjoys shopping, dining out and visiting tourist attractions. This translates to millions of Chinese Alipay users visiting Canada and the U.S. each year as tourists, students and migrants.

In 2018, Destination Canada reported that China was Canada's largest source of tourist arrivals from the Asia-Pacific region, the second-largest long-haul market and largest for spend. Canada welcomed a record 737,000 Chinese tourists in 2018, surpassing the 700,000 mark for the first time, and doubling the number of annual travelers since 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 16%.

In the U.S., in 2018 there were 2.9 million visitors from China, according to the country's National Travel and Tourism Office. Experts say the tourism industry must do more to keep up with changing needs of Chinese travelers.

Chinese tourists - particularly younger ones - are increasingly planning trips using apps rather than booking tours through traditional agencies and they have also enthusiastically adopted smartphone-based payment systems. By the same token, statistics show older Chinese tourists drive mobile payments on holiday overseas. According to tourism experts, destinations should invest in these technologies now if they want to continue attracting Chinese tourists.1

"Alipay will help our merchants to leverage this new and ever expanding global marketing channel and Super App," said Hoyles. "Through Alipay, our merchants can market to Chinese tourists and visitors living abroad, boosting exposure of their businesses amongst Alipay's extensive user base."

About Perk Labs

Perk Labs Inc. is the owner of Perk Hero, a digital loyalty management platform that enables merchants to provide their customers with digital rewards and a more engaging and convenient customer experience. For more information about Perk Labs, please visit www.perklabs.io

About Alipay

Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world's leading payment and lifestyle platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently serves over 1 billion users with its local e-wallets partners and works with over 200 domestic financial institution partners. Over the years, Alipay has evolved in China from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users in China can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Alipay's in-store payment service covers over 50 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 35 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese visitors travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies.

For more information, contact:

Jonathan Hoyles

Chief Executive Officer

833-338-0299

investors@perklabs.io

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "may", "believe", "thinks", "expect", "exploring", "expand", "could", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "pursue", "potentially", "projected", "should", "will" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. These forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to, among other things, the discussion of Perk Labs' business strategies and its expectations concerning future operations. Although Perk Labs considers these forward-looking statements to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this press release, see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the most recent Annual Information Form and Prospectus of Perk Labs, which may be accessed through Perk Labs' profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Perk Labs cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Perk Labs is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking information, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur.

South China Morning Post

SOURCE: Perk Labs Inc.

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Dr. Andrew Wakefield will be discussing coronavirus with Dr. Mackenzie McNamara on the weekly AutismOne Facebook Livestream program Monday, March 9, at 11:00 a.m. CST.

AutismOne today announced that Dr. Andrew Wakefield will be discussing coronavirus with Dr. Mackenzie McNamara on the weekly AutismOne Facebook Livestream program Monday, March 9, at 11:00 a.m. CST:

https://www.facebook.com/AutismOneDCProgram.

The pneumonia-like virus originated in Wuhan, China, and has been reported to cause fever, cough, shortness of breath, and even death. Currently, the worldwide death toll stands at 3,220 with 94,240 reported cases. It was announced easier this week that the U.S. will be implementing new screening procedures for travelers coming to the country.

But what is the real history of the coronavirus, its expected trajectory, and the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) response? And does Dr. Wakefield believe the virus is a threat to the American public?

Dr. Wakefield and Dr. McNamara will both be presenting at the upcoming AutismOne 2020 Conference.

The conference will be held at the beautiful Loews Chicago OHare Hotel, which is just ten minutes from Chicago OHare International Airport. The conference will be held Wednesday, May 20 through Sunday, May 24.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.autismoneconference.com.


By Trend

Azerbaijan has begun growing four new potato varieties, Director of the Scientific Research Institute of Vegetable Growing of Azerbaijans Agriculture Ministry Elmar Allahverdiyev told Trend.

These varieties are submitted to obtain the respective license, he added.

The four new potato varieties - Chenlibel, Ugur, Turan and Vagif - have already been grown in greenhouses. The varieties are distinguished by higher yield. In recent years, work has been carried out to grow their seeds. These varieties are more resistant to diseases and pests, and are also suitable for cultivation in arid areas, for example, in non-irrigated conditions of highlands," Allahverdiyev said.

These varieties were submitted to the Agency for Agricultural Services for approval, he added.

"The registration process began in 2019. We hope that certificates for the new varieties will be issued by next year," said Elmar Allahverdiyev.

Last time, a new variety of potatoes in Azerbaijan was introduced in 2006. Currently, three local potato varieties - Sevinj, Telman and Amiri - are grown in the country.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Every New Yorker who has traveled and recently returned from China, Japan, Iran, Italy and South Korea have been told by the city's mayor to self-quarantine for 14 days as a coronavirus precaution.

Mayor Bill de Blasio made the recommendation at a press conference on Thursday where he struck a more concerned tone than in previous days and described the spread of the disease in New York City as 'unpredictable and worrisome'.

'Our level of concern is rising for sure... for all New Yorkers, if you have recently returned from one of the five countries, we're asking you to isolate yourself as a precaution for 14 days.

'Obviously, if you have symptoms then you need to get to care and testing,' he said.

He did not specify what he meant by 'recently' but he later referenced a 'time-frame'.

In most cases with the virus so far, the window of concern is 14 days.

Twenty-two people in New York State have now been diagnosed with the virus, including four in New York City.

A man in Long Island has been diagnosed with the virus.

Two men in New Jersey have also been diagnosed now, including one who has a significant 'nexus' to New York City.

CORONAVIRUS HOTSPOT COUNTRIES De Blasio is asking all New Yorkers who have recently returned from these countries to self-quarantine; China Japan South Korea Iran Italy Advertisement

Tests are now being carried out by the hundreds to determine who the infected people came into contact with and if they too now have the disease.

However Mayor de Blasio said the city cannot get enough tests fast enough to keep up.

The city has 1,000 tests currently, but with fast-growing numbers, de Blasio said the city urgently needs more.

'Each day we may tell you something new about how this disease.

'The community spread issue, we are seeking guidance from WHO and CDC, now that it's clearly established as a phenomenon here,' he said.

He went on to say that the 'big picture' is that 80 percent of people who have become infected have recovered.

The last 48 hours are sobering. Community spread is an entirely different ball game...We're all very sober right now about what tomorrow could bring or the day after that Bill de Blasio

'We need the ability to test and many people as possible as quickly as possible, we cannot do that without help from the federal government.

'We do not have the physical capacity we need. We need the FDA to speed up the approval of the test developed by private companies. We have to maximize our ability to do what we need to do,' he said.

'The last 48 hours are sobering.

'Community spread is an entirely different ball game.

'I don't want people to assume, I don't want people to overreact because this is going to be a day to day, hour by hour thing.

'Community spread is different. It makes it a lot harder for us to control the situation.

'We're all very sober right now about what tomorrow could bring or the day after that, he said.

Of the 22 cases in the state of New York, 17 are in Westchester and they have all been tied to a Manhattan attorney who was the second person to be diagnosed in the state.

NEW YORK STATE CORONAVIRUS CASES WESTCHESTER: 17 NEW YORK CITY: 4 LONG ISLAND: 1 Advertisement

Four people in New York City have the virus; the lawyer, a healthcare worker, a woman in her eighties and a man in his forties who has underlying lung issues due to smoking and vaping.

There is also one person in Nassau County, Long Island who has the disease. He is a 42-year-old man and he has been hospitalized.

Cuomo emphasized on Thursday that only a handful of the people who have been infected have had to be hospitalized and that all are getting better.

He said he was 'worried' about nursing homes and senior care facilities, but that for most residents the virus is like having the flu.

'When you know the facts, it's reassuring. On these facts, there is no reason for undue anxiety.'

Governor Andrew Cuomo said officials are now trying to track down people who came into contact with the new cases

De Blasio earlier pleaded with the CDC to send more test kits to New York City after confirming that a woman in her eighties and a man in his forties have tested positive.

'We are going to see more cases like this as community transmission becomes more common.

WHAT ARE THE CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS? The new virus, called COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as door handles or railings. Coronavirus infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms including a sore throat, headache, fever, cough or trouble breathing. Severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Advertisement

'We want New Yorkers to be prepared and vigilant, not alarmed,' he said.

Doctors in Westchester are reporting not having the test kits needed to diagnose people.

'At this time no physician offices have the ability to test for COVID-19. The test can only be done by New York State or the Centers for Disease Control,' one school district, which has closed as a precaution, said in a statement.

Twenty-five other tests have been returned as negative, he said.

In Westchester, one thousand people will be told to self-quarantine after potentially coming into contact with a Manhattan lawyer and his family who all have the virus.

The lawyer, 50, is in the hospital. He is in a stable condition.

He gave the virus to his wife, 14-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son, and also gave it to the neighbor who drove him to the hospital.

He also spread it to a friend, who in turn passed it on to his wife, two sons and daughter.

MTA has stepped up disinfecting and cleaning subway stations, cars and buses amid the coronavirus outbreak

A woman in a mask gets on the New York City subway on Wednesday. There are now four confirmed cases of the virus in NYC

As a precaution, the children's schools have now been closed and eight people who work at his Manhattan law firm are being tested.

The total number of cases across the US is now 216 and 12 people have died.

Both de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that despite the escalating number of cases, most New Yorkers have nothing to be afraid of.

'There are going to be dozens and dozens and dozens of people,' Cuomo said, adding that the only people the virus is truly dangerous for are those with underlying health issues or weakened immune systems.

There are now 216 cases of coronavirus in the US. Twelve people have died

The lawyer's movements in the last few weeks are illustrated above. People in New York City and New Rochelle and Westchester are going to be tested

The lawyer gave the virus to his own wife, son, daughter and neighbor. He has also given it to a friend who has now passed it on to his own family, bringing the total number of cases in New York to 11

Abroad students from SUNY and CUNY will be recalled on charter flights from China, Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea. They will then be quarantined for 14 days when they return.

Subways are being cleaned routinely and taxi drivers are being urged to also clean their cabs more often than usual.

A small handful of schools and colleges which may have come into contact with the virus are closing as a precaution, but the city is by and large operating as usual.

No one in New York has died from the virus.

The only person to have been hospitalized is the lawyer. He had pneumonia before he contracted the virus.

The others are all quarantining at home. The lawyer's wife and daughter do not have any symptoms, and his son - who was exhibiting symptoms - is now improving.

In Washington state, where ten people have died, 22,000 people are being told to stay at home for fear of getting the virus.

California state also reported its first death on Wednesday. A 71-year-old man died on Wednesday after contracting the virus. He recently returned from a cruise ship which is now being stopped from docking, and is being kept 400 miles off the coast with passengers on board being tested for coronavirus.

Call 1-888-364-3065 for Information about coronavirus in New York

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MTA STEPS UP CLEANING ON NEW YORK CITY SUBWAYS TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

HOW TO AVOID GERMS ON THE SUBWAY Immediately use alcohol-based hand sanitizer once getting off the subway or bus Wash your hands as soon as you can for at least 20 seconds using soap Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth before you've washed your hands Avoid using your phone Move away from other passengers who are coughing when possible Cover your sneeze or cough with a tissue and through it in the trash when possible Cough into your arm, not your hand, if you don't have a tissue Stay at home when you are sick If you are experiencing symptoms, call your healthcare provider before presenting yourself for treatment Avoid crowds and travel off-peak when possible Don't use your hand to push throug the turnstile Watch your bags and clean if they come into contact with the floor Don't eat or drink on the subway Advertisement

Subway cars, stations and trains within the New York City transit system will now be cleaned at least every 72 hours as part of a new policy established by the Metropolitan Transit Authority to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The clean will focus on areas that are touched by commuters the most often, including subway turnstiles and handrails.

The MTA is said to be working with the National Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as it stockpiles its hygienic and cleaning supplies.

MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye said: 'We have enacted additional cleaning protocols designed to disinfect our stations, trains, buses, and Access-A-Ride vehicles. Working in coordination with the governor and state and federal health authorities, we continue to aggressively monitor the situation and take all necessary actions to ensure our system remains safe.'

As of Monday, bus and subway screens will also deploy a safety messages warning passengers of the potential spread of the coronavirus and advising the best ways to avoid germs. This guidance is offered in English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Korean.

'The safety of our customers and employees is our first priority as we continue to monitor the coronavirus,' added Patrick Warren, MTA Chief Safety Officer.

'The MTA is enhancing its cleaning regimen across all our operating agencies to ensure the system is safe for everyone. The best defense against COVID-19, according to the National Centers for Disease Control, continues to be good hygiene  frequent hand washing and self-care.'

The MTA has urged passengers to follow the recommendations from the CDC to prevent the spread of the virus and to avoid germs on the subway.
The Laclede County Sheriffs Office is seeking a Lebanon man for a burglary and stealing in February.

Jody Wayne Dismang, 29, of Lebanon and Jeremy Dame, 40, of Lebanon each face charges for the morning burglary of a home in which they stole a variety of items, including two guns. Deputies recovered most of the items, however, not the guns.

Their method of operation during this burglary was to go to the front door of a residence and ring the door bell, or knock on the door. If someone answered the door, they made up a story saying they were looking for someone, they did this until they would find a place to hit where no one was at home, said Sheriff David Millsap. Home security surveillance from the victim, as well as security footage from neighboring homes, where the two would knock on the door, and two eye witnesses that put them in the neighborhood of the Pine Tree burglary.

Deputies arrested Dame. Dismang remains on the run. Investigators say

Dismang has a lengthy criminal history and is currently on parole. Authorities released him from prison in January. Dame too has a criminal history.
(Newser)  The brewery worker who went on a gun rampage last week had a noose placed in his locker in 2015, NBC News reports. Anthony Ferrill, 51, who killed five co-workers on Feb. 26 and died by apparent suicide, never actually saw the noose, according to Molson Coors Brewery in Milwaukee. Seems the racist symbol was placed there on his day off and shown to him later. "There aren't words to describe it, it's awful ... our HR team brought it to his attention," chief communications and corporate affairs officer Adam Collins tells WTMJ. "We investigated it fully and tried to find video cameras and what we have inside the space to see if we could figure out who placed it there."

story continues below

But the company never came to a formal conclusion about who placed the noose. As for race relations at Molson Coors, Collins said "clearly on our end we have work to do. To be the kind of welcoming inclusive open organization that we believe Molson Coors is and should be." Neither police nor Molson Coors will speculate about Ferrill's motive in the shooting, but as the AP points out, Ferrill was black and four of his victims were white, while one was Latino. Milwaukee police say that "neither race nor racism has been identified as a factor in this incident" and "it is imperative to wait for the facts of the investigation to be released rather than speculating and generating a false narrative." (The gunman was still wearing his uniform.)
Bhubaneswar, March 5 : Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has completed 20 years in office and he thanked the state's people on Thursday for their support.

"With the blessings of Lord Jagannath and the support of the people in Odisha, our government has completed 20 years in the service of the people. I am indebted to the people," said the Chief Minister.

He said his government will continue to make efforts for a prosperous and strong Odisha.

The state government is also celebrating Panchayati Raj Day on Thursday, to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, the father of Naveen Patnaik.

Naveen Patnaik, who became the Chief Minister in 2000, has never tasted defeat ever since his entry into politics. He has now become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Odisha.

Taking over the reigns of the state in the aftermath of the super cyclone that killed over 10,000 people, now the state is known for efficient handling of natural disasters, receiving accolades from national and international organisations.

Although he first become the Chief Minister by virtue of being Biju Patnaik's son, Naveen has managed to remain in power in the eastern state for the last two decades despite multi-thousand crore scams like mining and chit fund scams.

Patnaik, a bachelor, has maintained a clean image so far by shifting the blame on the ministers for corruption and scams in the government.

He has sacked about four dozen ministers during his last four terms so that dirt from scams and other corruption charges do not stick to him.

Under his leadership, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has got stronger over the years. He has also bucked the anti-incumbency factor in every election.

The popularity of Naveen Patnaik was evident in the 2014 and 2019 elections when the BJD retained power while other parts of the country were swept by the Narendra Modi wave.

Not only the BJD retained the state, it also increased its vote share despite the surge in Bharatiya Janata Party popularity in the state.

The BJD won 113 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly with a vote share of 44.7 per cent in 2019. It had won 117 seats in 2014 with a vote share of 43.7 per cent.

Pawan Kumar Chamling, the founder-President of Sikkim Democratic Front, is the longest serving Chief Minister of an Indian state, with an almost 25-year stint from 1994-2019.
CAIRO - Police on Thursday transferred an Egyptian rights activist who was arrested after returning to Cairo from Italy last month to a notorious prison complex, his lawyer said.

Patrick George Zaki, 28, a student at the University of Bologna in Italy, has been detained since arriving at Cairo airport Feb. 7 for what was supposed to be a brief trip home.

Zaki has been accused of disseminating false news and calling for unauthorized protests. An Egyptian court rejected Zakis request last month to be released and will hear his case again Saturday.

Egypts broad counter-terrorism laws have come to encompass most opposition activities, and allow prosecutors to repeatedly renew 15-day pretrial detention periods without filing charges or presenting evidence.

Police informed Zakis parents, who showed up to his detention site in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura on Thursday, that they had sent their son to Tora Prison, according to defence lawyer Huda Nasrallah.

Tora Prison, on the outskirts of Cairo, has become known for its overcrowded and unhealthy conditions. Nasrallah said she didnt yet know Zakis location in the sprawling complex. Its blocks range from minimum-security lock-ups to the supermax facility known as Scorpion, which houses many political prisoners who have reported severe mistreatment.

This is alarming because its the third time that Zaki has been moved without explanation or reason, said Lobna Darwish, his former colleague at The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

The governments crackdown on dissent has escalated under general-turned-President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who led the militarys removal of the countrys first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi.

Morsis one-year rule proved divisive and sparked nationwide protests. After el-Sissi came to power in 2013, his government outlawed all unauthorized demonstrations.

Zakis case has sparked an outcry in Italy, a country still traumatized by the killing of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in 2016. Italys public prosecutor is investigating several Egyptian security agents in connection with Regenis torture and death.
P remier Oil, the explorer in a bitter battle with its biggest lender, today declared it had produced record amounts of oil from the North Sea but was hit by weaker gas and oil prices.

The group said profits fell to 79.5 million last year compared with 102.5 million the previous year. However, it said it had made progress on reducing its huge debt pile, from 2.33 billion in 2018 to 1.99 billion.

Premiers statement contained a warning it would breach its banking covenants if the oil price remained low and its planned takeover of BP and Dana resources in the North Sea failed to go ahead.

Chief executive Tony Durrant added a failure of planned asset sales to that list.

Hedge fund ARCM, which is Premiers biggest lender, has cast doubt on whether Premier will be able to complete its promised disposals and is attempting to stop the North Sea takeovers. It says they are based on wildly over-optimistic forecasts of cashflow and fail to account for the costs of decommissioning the old fields when they are spent.

Within minutes of Premier issuing its results, ARCM responded with detailed claims that Premiers pledge of $1 billion free cashflows would actually be only $400 million, even based on the gas and oil price before the recent coronavirus-induced collapse.

Premier today left its forecast for the oil price in 2020-2021 at $65 a barrel. Today the price of crude was $50.94, down 19 cents.

ARCM also doubts Premiers ability to pull off the sale of its Mexican asset called Zama, which has hit delays amid a row over who should have access to its reserves and operatorship.
Wellington: A 19-year-old Christchurch man has been charged by police in the wake of the circulation of a threatening photo outside Al-Noor mosque.

Sam Brittenden appeared in court on Thursday for failing to assist police with a search warrant.

His arrest followed a raid at a Christchurch property in relation to the photo.

Al-Noor mosque was the site of 42 deaths in last year's terrorist attack, which will be commemorated on March 15 - the first anniversary of the tragedy.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 15:07 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206885cfd 1 National COVID-19,West-Kalimantan,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,outbreak,outbreak-in-Indonesia Free

A family of four has been put in isolation at a hospital in Singkawang, West Kalimantan after the familys five-year-old child exhibited symptoms consistent with COVID-19 following a recent trip to South Korea.

The four are currently under isolation at Abdul Azis Regional General Hospital (RSUD Abdul Azis) after returning from Seoul, South Korea, 10 days ago.

With over 5,700 confirmed cases as of Thursday, South Korea is the country with the second-largest number of COVID-19 cases, behind only mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The 5 year-old child is suffering from a cough, runny nose and fever and had initially been treated at RSUD Bengkayang, but was then transferred to RSUD Abdul Aziz on Wednesdaty after the fever got worse.

Other members of the family were also put under quarantine at the hospital as they recently traveled to a country hard hit by COVID-19.

"These patients are being treated as suspected [COVID-19 patients] because they returned [from Seoul] 10 days ago. They'll be isolated for three to four days, because the incubation period [of the virus] is 14 days," RSUD Abdul Azis Singkawang director Ruchanihadi said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the hospital had taken the family's blood samples, while swabs would be taken on Thursday.

"We'll send the samples to Jakarta for analysis," he said.

Indonesia has reported two confirmed COVID-19 cases, both of whom are currently being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Jakarta. (ars)
NORWALK  The citys public schools are considering staggered dismissal times and in-classroom dining to avoid large gatherings of students in case of a coronavirus outbreak.

City and state officials announced Thursday the formation of a new coalition, which will monitor and provide updates on COVID-19, the new coronavirus that is spreading worldwide.

Dr. Paolo Pino, an infectious disease expert from Norwalk Hospital, said were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Connecticut as of Thursday. However, there are more than 200 people in the state being monitored for possibly having the virus.

This is new because none of our immune systems have seen it before, Pino said. Thats the problem.

Mayor Harry Rilling said the coalition  comprised of representatives from Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk Public Schools and the citys Department of Emergency Management  began meeting last week. They will continue to meet each Thursday morning to assess the coronavirus situation and will convene more frequently if cases spread.

At this time, the risk is low for those of us in Norwalk, Norwalk Director of Health Deanna DAmore said.

On Wednesday, New York officials reported multiple confirmed cases coronavirus in Westchester County among two New Rochelle families. The children in these families attended Westchester Torah Academy in White Plains and Modern Orthodox Salanter Akiba Riverdale High School in Riverdale. Both schools closed this week along with three other Jewish day schools in the area.

Were hopeful we wont need to close schools, Norwalk Chief of Schools Operations Frank Costanzo said. But parents should be thinking ahead now in terms of work and child care.

Superintendent of Schools Stephen Adamowski said there is a team within Norwalk Public Schools working on plans to prevent the potential spread of the virus. Custodians are thoroughly disinfecting schools and buses daily and schools are focusing on the importance of hygiene and washing hands. The district sent out a message to families this week outlining recommendations from the state departments of Health and Education, as well as the Center for Disease Control.

Should the virus spread, Adamowski said, plans are being made to avoid large congregations of students. This includes canceling assemblies, staggering dismissal times and holding lunch in classrooms.

The district is planning for the possibility of remote learning with kits containing Chromebooks and hotspots for internet access. Norwalk Public Schools has the capacity to allow students to take classes remotely for up to two weeks, if needed. However, they do not have the capacity for remote learning for all students.

The district is reviewing international field trips and has already canceled some trips, as well as a Japanese exchange program. Adamowski said the district is also asking students to self-quarantine if they should travel to any of the affected countries.

Well take as many precautions in our own school system as we can to reduce risk, Adamowski said.

DAmore urged all residents to practice good hygiene to help contain the virus, including washing hands frequently and thoroughly.

This is the most important thing you can be doing, she said.

She also encouraged the use of hand sanitizers made up of at least 60 percent alcohol, not touching the face, covering coughs and sneezes and staying at home if ill. Residents who can get the flu shot should do so to lessen their chances of getting ill and adding additional burden to the health care system as they prepare to deal with coronavirus spread.

Pino said residents should not buy or use masks unless they are ill because they only help prevent people who are sick from spreading their infection. They will not help prevent illness.

Those who have traveled to countries with Level 3 travel notices from the CDC should self-quarantine for 14 days. Those who feel ill should call their health care provider.

Norwalk Hospital has been having meetings and staging drills for weeks, Pino said and is examining its supply chain in case of further coronavirus cases.

Were prepared to maximize as many resources as we can within the network, he said.

On a state level, legislators are meeting to discuss the virus, said State Rep. Lucy Dathan, D-New Canaan, who will be part of a coronavirus forum with the appropriations committee on Friday.

We want to stay calm, she said. Its...not as contagious as something like the flu. With good protocol, it should be managed.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said he is in touch daily with Gov. Ned Lamont about the spread of the virus. The state will launch a website on coronavirus with the latest updates and information on the virus.

Just use common sense, Duff said. This is not a moment to panic, but a moment to use everything weve learned about good health.

Connecticut recently became prepared to test for coronavirus at a state center in Rocky Hill and has sent guidance on the virus to early child care providers. The University of Connecticut has called home students studying abroad in affected countries.

DAmore said if someone becomes infected in Norwalk, officials will work to find the source of infection, as well as the patients points of contact and their risk of infection. Patients will be tested if they match certain criteria and at the discretion of health care professionals.

erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
Great cities and great communities are built by strong urban school districts. After listening to San Antonio Independent School District Superintendent Pedro Martinezs recent State of the District address, it is undeniable that we are a city and a community on the rise.

As a community, it is our responsibility to make our schools and school districts our business. The workforce of tomorrow is in schools throughout San Antonio today, so we have an obligation to lend our expertise and our resources to ensure schools are ready and adequately supported to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

As an economic development entity, Brooks ability to attract developers and employers to San Antonio is dependent on the performance of its surrounding school districts. If we want to attract marquee employers and high-paying jobs, we not only need a skilled workforce to fill those jobs, but we need to provide assurances regarding the sustainability of that workforce.

We must lean in to understand the challenges our schools are facing, partner with them to bring about change, and champion the great work being done throughout San Antonio to improve educational outcomes. The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and SA Works are working to better align our public education system with industry demand.

Organizations across the Brooks campus recently hosted students from SAISD and East Central Independent School District as part of SA Works annual Job Shadow Day, allowing students to learn about career opportunities and get excited about their future right here in San Antonio. For businesses and business leaders, it can be as simple as making ourselves available to these students  hosting job shadow opportunities, offering internships or connecting with local schools to serve as mentors.

Our schools are getting stronger by the day. SAISD is the most-improved district in the state of Texas over the past four years, increasing its state accountability rating from what would have been an F in 2016 to a B in 2019. Graduation rates are improving, and more students are graduating with industry certifications than ever before.

While all public school districts within San Antonio increased their state accountability scores for the 2018-19 academic year, 40 schools still failed to meet minimum standards. Further, there are other individual school campuses receiving consistent Cs and Ds. Our public school districts are gaining momentum, though we need to help them sustain it and build upon it. We need to continue to raise the bar and insist on better than just a passing grade.

Martinez said it best  San Antonio is a community that rolls up its sleeves and works together to solve problems. We have a public education system in need of our support, and as business and community leaders we need to rise to the occasion. Human capital is our most valuable commodity; investing in our schools  and more specifically in our students  is the most significant long-term investment we can make. With San Antonio projected to grow by 1 million residents over the next 20 years, it is imperative that we better support our public education system to ensure change. Our time and our resources are needed to enhance public education and accelerate the progress these schools are already making.

At Brooks, we are making it our business, and we encourage others to follow suit.

Leo Gomez is president and CEO of Brooks.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Thursday urged residents to continue taking precautions after an elderly Fort Bend County man tested positive for coronavirus and health officials expect more cases in the Houston area.

Right now, we know the origins of this one case, Hidalgo said. We have other cases we are testing. Eventually, the reality of it is one of them is going to come back positive at some point.

There have been no confirmed cases yet in Harris County, Hidalgo said. Officials announced Wednesday a 70-year-old man in Fort Bend County tested positive, the first non-imported case in Texas. The test has been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for confirmation. The man recently had traveled abroad and was in stable condition.

Hidalgo implored sick employees to stay home from work if they are able, keep ill children out of school and asked employers to prepare for disruptions caused by the pneumonia-like virus, which originated in China and since has spread to more than 60 countries.

Harris County officials held an exercise at the emergency operations center Thursday to prepare for a possible coronavirus outbreak. Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health, said his epidemiologists have been looking for signs of the virus locally for more than two months.

The present risk to the public is low, Shah said. He said the county is prepared for additional cases.

Dr. David Persse of the Houston Health Department said local authorities have a limited ability to process tests for coronavirus. He asked health professionals to refrain from testing residents without a legitimate reason to believe they could have contracted the disease.

There will be a prioritization scheme for folks who have no epidemiologic link: they have no travel, they havent been around anyone who is sick. Theyre not sick; theyre just scared, Persse said. We dont have the capacity to do all the testing.

zach.despart@chron.com
STAMFORD  Nonprofit Americares has announced that it is sending medicine and relief supplies to Tennessee for families affected by the deadly tornadoes that struck the central part of the state on Tuesday.

At least 24 people were killed, including some children, and many homes and places of business were destroyed when the storms swept through four counties. In response, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declared a state of emergency and activated the states National Guard to assist with emergency efforts as dozens remain missing.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Cheese Enzymes Market Outlook:

Cheese Enzymes are enzymes that are derived from animals, plants or through chemical procedures such as fermentation, which acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction or improve the properties of the various cheese, yogurts and other dairy products. These cheese enzymes function and act as a coagulant, which is essential in the making of cheese. In addition to improving the ripening speed and sustaining the coagulation in the cheese, these cheese enzymes also improve and enhance the texture and taste of the different functional cheese. Different cheese enzymes possess different functions, some are generic and some are used for specific processes such as for creating clean tasting bleached whey. Further, cheese enzymes enhance the shelf life of the products, thus making them stay healthy and safe for a longer duration of time. These cheese enzymes function as rennet in cheese and other dairy products formation and along with adding functional values to them, they improve the efficiency and flexibility of the products. Furthermore, cheese enzymes can be formed from several microbial living organisms such as fungus, lipases, proteases, and peptidases. Owing to the numerous significant functional benefits, the market for cheese enzymes have high potential to grow during the forecast period worldwide.

Get Sample Copy Of This Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/24994

Growing demand for nutritionally high and savory cheese fueling the global market for cheese enzymes

Cheese is a popular and one of the most attractive foods product worldwide and is available in numerous variations of tastes, textures, and genres with diverse applications in the food and beverages industry. The rising demand for healthy dairy products, high in nutritional values is one of the major factor propelling the demand for the cheese enzymes. Further, there is a high demand for cheese enzymes in the dairy industries for they not only enhance the functioning of the products but also adds extra taste and texture to it. In addition, another factor driving the market for cheese enzymes is the increasing awareness among consumers about the adverse and ill effects of fat ingestion and nutritional imbalances on health. Henceforth, consumers are shifting towards healthier dairy foods, such as cheese, milk, yogurts and others, that could be provided by these cheese enzymes.

In European region U.K., France and Germany are the major consumers of cheese enzymes owing to the rising consumption of dairy food and beverages products. Further, North America is one of the major markets for cheese enzymes due to the increasing demand for fast foods in the region that contains cheese.

Further, one of the factors hampering the growth of the cheese enzymes market is its low shelf life and to some extent the ill effects of the chemicals used to prepare them on health.

Global Cheese Enzymes Market: Market Segmentation:

On the basis of Source, the global Cheese Enzymes market has been segmented as:

Plant Bases Cheese Enzymes

Animal Based Cheese Enzymes

Microorganism Based Cheese Enzymes

On the basis of type, the global Cheese Enzymes market has been segmented as:

Fungus

Lactase

Lipase

Microbial Rennet

Catalyse

Chymosin

Proteases

Peptidases

Others

On the basis of application, the global Cheese Enzymes market has been segmented as:

Cheese

Milk

Ice cream & desserts

Yogurt

Whey

Infant formula

Others (butter and edible cream products)

Request For TOC @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/24994

Global Cheese Enzymes Market: Key Participants:

Some of the market participants in the global cheese enzymes market identified across the value chain include DSM Nutritional Products, DowDuPont Inc., Chr. Hansen A/S, Advanced Enzyme Technologies, Novozymes, Biocatalysts Limited, SternEnzym GmbH & Company KG, Amano Enzyme In., and Chr. Hansen Holding A/S among others.
Thomas Andrews is suspected of planning a mass shooting at the UPS facility in Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley, California, after he texted threats to his boss and a huge stockpile of guns, ammunition, and body armor was found in his appartment (Sunnyvale Police Department)

Worker Arrested for Threatening to Shoot Up His UPS Workplace

Sunnyvale Police found a massive stash of guns and ammo in a UPS employees home after they had arrested him for threatening to shoot up his workplace in Sunnyvale, California.

The man, 32-year-old Thomas Andrews from Sunnyvale, an employee at UPS, had sent several threatening texts to his employer. The text messages threatened a mass shooting at his workplace, detectives with the Sunnyvale Department of safety said in a statement.

Thomas Andrews Arrested on Charges of Criminal Threats, Evading Police, Driving Under the Influence, and Several Counts of Weapons Violations. pic.twitter.com/qTCR5yyybM  Sunnyvale DPS (@SunnyvaleDPS) March 2, 2020

He alluded to a mass shooting in his text messages, Sunnyvale police Capt. Dan Pistor told the Associated Press. I definitely think we avoided a tragedy.

On Sunday, the police got notice of Andrews planned massacre and listed him as a person of interest. Gun ownership records showed that Andrews possessed at least four handguns and a rifle. A search warrant for his house was promptly issued.

Officers spotted Andrews in his car around 11:15 p.m. that same Sunday night and tried to stop him for questioning, but Andrews reportedly fled the scene. Andrews led Sunnyvale police officers and assisting deputies from the California Highway Patrol on a high-speed chase on Highway 101, Fox2 San Francisco reported.

Several miles from San Jose, the deputies finally managed to pull him over, Andrews first wanted to put up a fight, but later willingly surrendered to his arrest without further incident.

Initially, he indicated he wanted to fight with the officers, but then he surrendered without injury, Pistor said.

Meanwhile, police officers searched his home and found a huge cache of over 20,000 rounds of handgun and rifle ammunition, numerous high capacity magazines, five tactical style rifles, one shotgun, three handguns, and body armor.

Thomas Andrews is suspected of planning a mass shooting at the UPS facility in Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley, California after he texted threats to his boss and a huge stockpile of guns, ammunition, and body armor was found in his apartment (Sunnyvale Police Department)

Several tactical backpacks containing ammunition were staged at the front door of the apartment where the suspect resides, police said.

Andrews was charged with making criminal threats, evading police, drunk driving and weapons violations, police announced on Monday. Its not known whether he has an attorney yet.

Pistor said Andrews actions came after a beef he had with his employer. Pistor did not elaborate on the nature of the contention.

UPS is cooperating with authorities as they conduct their investigation, the company said in a statement.
Carlos Lynn, 39, an employee of a food safety contractor, was decapitated Tuesday while cleaning machinery at an Alabama chicken-processing plant

An Alabama worker was beheaded while cleaning equipment at a chicken processing plant on Tuesday.

Barbour County Coroner Chip Chapman identified the victim as Carlos Lynn, 39, of Eufaula, Alabama.

Lynn worked for Packers Sanitation Services Inc, a food safety company which was contracted to clean machinery inside a plant owned by Tyson Foods in Baker Hill.

Chapman said at around 5.30pm on Tuesday, Lynn and another worker were cleaning a piece of equipment known as a 'chiller', which is used to cool chickens, when Lynn got caught in a 'pinch point.'

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a pinch point is any area where a person or a part of a persons body can get caught between machinery thats either stationary or moving.

Industrial chillers in processing plants are very different to conventional household refrigerators, and use conveyors and heavy machinery to quickly cool the meat.

Lynn was pronounced dead at the scene. Chapman revealed the cause of death was decapitation.

Officials did not say whether the machine had been turned on when Lynn was working on it.

Lynn was killed when he got caught in a so-called 'pinch point' at the Tyson Foods facility in Baker Hill, Alabama

Tyson Foods released a statement saying the company is investigating the accident.

PSSI spokesperson Gina Swenson also addressed Lynn's death in a statement issued on Wednesday to Eufaula Tribune.

'We are devastated by the loss of our friend and team member, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time,' it read in part. 'We take an accident like this very seriously and we are working with local authorities to understand how it could have happened, given the strict safety protocols we have in place.'

Recent posts on Lynn's Facebook page include photos and videos of him enjoying outings to restaurants and listening to music in the car with his girlfriend.
THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE By Abi Dare ( Sceptre 12.99, 320 pp )

THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE

By Abi Dare (Sceptre 12.99, 320 pp)

Abi Dare's Nigerian-set debut caused quite a stir at last year's London Book Fair, and won the Bath Novel Award even before publication.

The girl of the title is 14-year-old Adunni who, after her mother's death, is forced to forgo her education and become the third wife of a drunken taxi driver.

But a tragedy sees her fleeing for her life to Lagos, where she is sold into the household of wealthy, gold-lipsticked Big Mamma.

As a 'house girl', Adunni must work from dawn to midnight, and while the ferocious Big Mamma dishes out the beatings, her predatory, alcoholic husband becomes an increasing threat. Nevertheless, Adunni's passion for learning remains undimmed, finding her an unlikely ally.

Winning comedy sparkles through the grimness, although a subplot involving the disappearance of Adunni's predecessor is almost superfluous  it's the vividly alive characters that keep you hooked, all the way to Dare's rousing, heart-swelling conclusion.

ENGLISH MONSTERS By James Scudamore ( Cape 16.99, 368 pp )

ENGLISH MONSTERS

By James Scudamore (Cape 16.99, 368 pp)

There are few prizes that Scudamore hasn't been nominated for, and this novel, his fourth, will only add to his impressive tally. It spans nearly 30 years, but centres on 'the school on the hill', whose honeyed stones spell graciousness and privilege.

But when ten-year-old Max trades his beloved grandfather's farm for the comfortless dorms, he discovers staff who are past masters in cruelty and violence. Then, as the years go by, stories of sexual abuse emerge.

Scudamore is in thorny territory here: grooming, trauma, justice and the limits of empathy, as well as an insidiously toxic type of 'never did me any harm' upper-middle-class Englishness.

Throughout, his insights are keen and his masterfully evocative writing never less than assured, although I wasn't always convinced by the reality of Max's adult friendships.

Then again, as Max himself reflects, nothing will ever be as vivid as his schooldays. And his descriptions of those etch themselves into your brain.

SILVER SPARROW By Tayari Jones ( Oneworld 16.99, 368 pp )

SILVER SPARROW

By Tayari Jones (Oneworld 16.99, 368 pp)

This novel, originally written in 2011, by the winner of last year's Women's Prize for Fiction kicks off with a cracking first line: 'My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist'.

Our narrator is Dana, the 'outside' child of chauffeur James. Her mother has always known about James's other wife, and indeed, as Dana grows up in Eighties African-American Atlanta, the pair often spy on their counterparts.

But then, in the midpoint of the novel and before the inevitable fireworks, we step through the looking glass and into the world of James's 'legitimate' teenage daughter, Chaurisse.

This is a book rich in complications and secrets, and as we slowly learn more about the compellingly tangled back-stories of the main players, the present-day suspense quietly builds.

The nature of love is one of Jones's central themes, and it's testament to her gifts that we care equally about both girls. However, the downbeat epilogue, while convincingly pithy, leaves you hankering for a fairytale.
For Womens History Month, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the countys first female county judge, had a straightforward message for the students at Lone Star College-North Harris: Be bold.

Youre the ones that are going to achieve full equality for women, Hidalgo told students in attendance. Dont wait to do things. Its your turn to go and take it, whatever that is for you.

Related: Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo proposes legal defense fund for immigrants

Hidalgo spoke about womens role in politics during a Lone Star College-North Harris event March 4 in observance of Womens History Month.

Hidalgo said women did well up and down the ballot during Super Tuesday, and that women can now win when they run for public office. But too often, she said, they dont run.

What keeps so many from wanting to take that step? Hidalgo asked.

Related: Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo to host early childhood listening session

Becoming county judge wasnt part of Hidalgos plan, she said, as she had wanted to work on policy from the outside in for issues like healthcare and criminal justice. That changed following the 2016 election.

I worked on so many of the issues I cared about and had a plan, but all of a sudden I felt this huge sense of urgency like things were getting so much worse before theyve gotten better, she said.

There had been two 500-year floods in Harris County in two years before she declared her candidacy, Hidalgo said. She also noted the lack of mental health services in the county and said the county jail was the largest mental health facility in the state.

I was the interpreter for folks who were being told it was easier for people to get treatment at the jail than through the hospital, she said. There came a point I had to stand up and make the biggest difference that I possibly could and that meant running for office.

But every conversation she had when she was running, she said people would look at her like they were sorry for her, and ask why she was talking about criminal justice reform and the environment when the county judge is known for just handling the budget or the infrastructure.

Even if you make it only about infrastructure, we obviously havent invested in flood protection as we should have, Hidalgo said. We know weve got a broken criminal justice system, which the county pays for.

But Hidalgo said she trusted a Democrat could win the seat, as Harris County voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Once youve convinced yourself that you can do this and youve looked at the information, the insecurities others try to create in you should be a nonfactor, she said.

Some issues she said the county is working on now since she took office include going after energy companies and suing them for injunctive relief, where courts can order companies to undergo more training or to allow inspectors inside facilities. She talked about how they are building a county-wide network of air monitors to find out the quality of the air.

Hidalgo encouraged people to run for office regardless of political persuasion, and said the county especially needs womens voices in government.

Because we bring diverse experiences that need to be heard and we need to have a voice in the decision-making process, Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo said the county was also focusing on providing early childhood education to the county this year, as well as juvenile justice reform, while still focusing on safety and flood control.

Some of those issues would never come up if you have the exact same voices at the table decade after decade, she said.

Alondra Laparra was one student in attendance and called Hidalgos story of how she immigrated to the United States in her early teens after living in Colombia and Mexico inspiring.

Looking at her background, where shes from, I think its really amazing that being a minority, the way she built her way up to where she is now, its really inspiring for us and we should follow her steps, and as she saidbe bold, Laparra said.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
CHICO, Calif.  Tense moments for patrons at two local businesses, after a family fight erupted in gunfire, the altercation spilled over into the nearby Dennys.

Chico Police received a 911 call from Motel 6 staff members regarding a physical fight between a mother and her adult son, around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night, according to Chico Police.

The son was identified at Michael Sans Cartier-Ward. Police said his mother had driven him to Motel 6 to get a room for the night.

When the two arrived at Motel 6, the son attempted to steal the keys to his mothers car, so the mother ran into the lobby of Motel 6 with the son following behind her, according to police.

The son was seen in possession of a handgun, once he left the Motel 6 lobby he fired four shots outside of the motel, according to police.

Officers arrived on scene and located the son in the Dennys located next door to the Motel 6. Dennys was evacuated and the son, Michael Sans Cartier-Ward was arrested for negligent discharge of a firearm and being a drug addict in possession of a firearm.

Chico police added that the firearm was not located at the scene.
An illegal arms factory was unearthed during a police raid at Muzaffarnagar's Tawli village, an official said on Thursday.

SSP Abhishek Yadav told mediapersons that 30 pistols, five muskets and cartridges were seized during the raid.

He said nine pistols being manufactured at the time of the police raid were also seized.

Two people were arrested, who according to police, revealed that the weapons were being manufactured for the panchayat elections later this year.

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

Operational Headquarters under Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers and Prosecutor Generals Office have made a joint statement on false information about coronavirus in the country, Trend reports.

The information, which doesnt reflect the reality and is aimed at misleading the society, is dismissed, reads the statement.

"In recent days, in a number of media and social networks, people interested in creating anxiety in society have in a biased manner spread a voice message saying that allegedly one person has died from coronavirus in the City Clinical Hospital No. 3 in the Sabunchu District," reads the statement.

Moreover, some media outlets spread false information and purposefully use certain expressions and photos that to mislead the population and to create artificial agiotage, said the joint statement. "This information, which forms wrong opinion among the population, is refuted, since it does not reflect reality."

Upon the death of Nazakat Ramazanova (born in 1994) on February 29 due to pneumonia in the City Clinical Hospital No. 3 of the Sabunchu District, police and prosecutors, with the participation of forensic experts, examined the place and the corpse.

To establish the cause of Ramazanovas death, a forensic medical examination was assigned. Tests taken from the corpse for examination did not reveal any infectious disease.

In fact, the Sabunchu District Prosecutors office is conducting an investigation.

"Most serious measures will be taken with regard to media outlets, including users of social networks deliberately disseminating such false information aimed at forming a wrong opinion among the public, said the joint statement.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
(Natural News) Despite repeated attempts to assure the public that the coronavirus pandemic is under control in the United States, the federal government continues to take drastic measures, just in case.

A source close to NBC News says the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is getting ready for President Donald Trump to declare an infectious disease emergency declaration.

Once this national emergency is declared by the President, FEMA would be able to activate the $34 billion in funds the agency currently maintains. Its money thats sitting there and ready, said a former FEMA official.

To me this is another indication that the president and the White House are finally aware of the gravity of the situation, said Michael Coen, former FEMA chief of staff. They need to consider all tools available to them and have contingencies for action.

Emergency declaration would unlock the military and billions of dollars in medical assistance

These FEMA funds would assist the administrations strong coronavirus response, enlisting the military to help out. The emergency declaration would allow FEMA officials to provide disaster relief funding to state and local governments. The CDC has already identified coronavirus cases in fourteen states. This emergency declaration would allow FEMA to target the areas already affected by the virus, allowing for medical assistance teams, mobile hospitals, and military transport to help out with potentially overcrowded hospitals and panicked people.

In order to mobilize the military and activate the FEMAs disaster assistance funds, the Trump Administration would have to use the 1988 Stafford Act. The Stafford Act was used by President Bill Clinton in 2000 to combat West Nile virus in New York and New Jersey. Up to $5 million in federal aid was used to help these states control mosquitoes and help people recover from the mosquito-borne illness. This time, the declaration could impact multiple states and potentially activate the National Guard across the country.

Health and Human Services (HHS) has already declared this coronavirus strain to be a public health emergency. FEMA is currently working with HHS to assist the federal government.

With billions of dollars at their disposal, will the federal government treat U.S. citizens like the Chinese are being treated?

President Trump has repeatedly praised the Chinese President for his strong response to control the coronavirus. With billions of dollars at his disposal, will Trump employ similar tactics that the Chinese government has used?

Will trucks sweep through the city streets, spraying chemicals?

Will feverish individuals be pulled from their homes and quarantined, no matter the cause?

Will schools be ordered to shut down for months?

Will city streets become fearful ghost-towns, local businesses shut down, supply chains disrupted?

How many public places will be put on lock down and for how long?

Will employees be forced to work from home?

If the bodies pile up, how will the deceased be treated?

Will roads be blocked, travel restricted within the border?

How long will air travel be halted from all the affected countries?

When will the fear of virus subside?

Will quarantines and drastic measures be used for all future infections, including but not limited to: influenza, acute flaccid myelitis, measles, mumps, respiratory syncytial virus, pneumonia, bronchitis, etc.?

No matter how much money is spent in reassurance, viruses will still exist and they will defy our economies. No matter how many chemicals are sprayed, microbes are waiting to re-colonize the space, evolving with stronger traits. No matter how tough the quarantines, viruses live in a plane of existence we still dont understand, escaping the physical boundaries we try to reassure ourselves with. No matter how many emergencies are declared by experts, the conditions are already in place for viruses to take advantage of malnourished, immune-compromised populations.

No matter how much safety we are reassured by the government, we must learn to strengthen our own bodies and immune systems and take care of our families, preparing for potential societal upheaval and government overreach that could come to America. No matter how much fear and death we are fed by the media, we must continue to interact with one another, to treat one another with dignity and respect, to hug, kiss, give birth, and celebrate life.

Sources include:

NBCNews.com

BusinessInsider.com
Indian students wear masks and listen to a teacher at a government school in Hyderabad, India. (AP)

Nearly 300 million children across the globe are not in school as a result of the spread of coronavirus.

While most cases and deaths of Covid-19 are in China, the spread to nearly every continent on Earth has seen some 290 million students across 13 countries kept out of the classroom as schools implemented closures, according to UNESCO.

UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said: "The global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education.

See latest coronavirus news and updates

South Korea, where cases of coronavirus have hit nearly 6,000, has delayed the start of the school term until 23 March, while on Wednesday Italy ordered all schools and universities to be shut until 15 March.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe also called for all classes in the country to be cancelled throughout March and into early April.

Students sit for the Gujarat Board Xth examination as they wear facemasks provided by the school management at Sadhana Vinay Mandir school, following the Covid-19 outbreak in Ahmedabad. (Getty)

While the UK Government has not yet advised any school closures as a result of 90 people in the country testing positive for the illness, some universities have postponed their graduation ceremonies.

Buckingham University and the University of London said they had taken a "difficult" decision to call off ceremonies this month to minimise the risks to students and their guests from Covid-19.

Read more: Coronavirus deaths in the UK could reach 'large absolute number'

The University of London said it had expected up to 4,000 people from more than 100 countries - including international students with friends and family - to have attended its March 3 ceremony at the Barbican Centre.

It came as Goldsmiths University in south London said a visitor to one of the university's halls of residences had tested positive for the virus.

The ceremony cancellations covered students' distance and flexible learning programmes.

Pro vice-chancellor Chris Cobb said: "We have taken the difficult decision to postpone the event due to the ongoing coronavirus issue.

Read more: Parliament could shut down for five months in effort to combat coronavirus

Story continues

"We truly regret the inconvenience caused but, after careful consideration, we felt it important to minimise the risk to our students and their guests.

"This event is different to many others due to the large numbers of attendees travelling from affected regions and the potential impact it may have on others attending and travelling back to regions which are currently unaffected.

The University of London has called off ceremonies this month over coronavirus fears. (Getty)

Buckingham University vice-chancellor Sir Anthony Seldon said postponing the March 21-22 ceremonies was a precautionary measure, and the aim is to hold the event on campus in Buckingham later in the year.

Read more: Thieves steal 10,000 masks from French hospitals amid coronavirus outbreak

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday: "What we can say for sure is that, right now, we do not recommend the cancelling of mass events, and schools as well should not be closing unless there is both a positive case and the school has had the advice to close from Public Health England.

The Department for Education said PHE has issued guidance to help schools and other academic institutions give advice to pupils, students, staff, parents or carers.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
Demand for apps that smarten your appearance during video calls with colleagues could rise due to the increase in people working from home due to coronavirus.

The outbreak has meant thousands of workers around the world are now having to work from home, whether theyve been infected with the virus or not.

The policy is aimed to stop the spread of the virus in areas of the office where the bug can hide, including communal surface areas such as kitchens and door handles.

Global employer Twitter this week told all 5,000 of its workers around the world to work from home because of the outbreak, while major employers including Microsoft and JPMorgan are also encouraging workers to stay away from the office.

Google has also told all employees of its European headquarters in Dublin to go home and the company will also be conducting all Google interviews globally virtually via Hangout, its video call software.

With an increasing number of people that still need to make themselves look presentable over the phone at short notice, there is a growing selection of apps for artificially smartening-up your appearance.

TeleBeauty

Pictured is the model with the virtual makeup on the TeleBeauty app, which syncs with real-time facial movements, 'unless the face moves wildly'. Although TeleBeauty markets to females, Koyama says men can also benefit from using the technology

Japanese cosmetics firm Shiseido developed the TeleBeauty app, in collaboration with Microsoft Japan, to digitally apply make-up during video conferences.

Originally aimed at women who work at home and get a last-minute conference call, the app may see a boost following a surge of companies that are making their employees work from home because of the virus.

Users just have to align their face in the centre of the screen and select one of the four styles of makeup available  cool, trendy, feminine and natural.

They can also select the amount to be applied with a further click before the digital cosmetics sync in real-time with the user's facial movements.

Shiseido was founded in 1872 but in the last few years it has used smart technology in its products, which also includes an IoT appliance system.

ChatGame

Unconvinced: News reporter, Charlotte, also thought that the app was 'excessively vain' - though she did admit that she liked what the app did for her complexion

China-based video-calling app ChatGame aims to enhance your appearance during a live video call with real-time facial beautification features.

These features can change your complexion, reduce the glare, fix your oily skin and even thin out your face while you chat.

ChatGame has been touted as a fun and engaging way to connect that encourages users to video chat without giving a second thought to their surroundings.

However, MailOnline trials of the app suggest the filters adds an excessive artificial glare to the skin that may simply scream I am using a video filter to your colleagues.

At the time of the app's release, MailOnline news reporter Charlotte called the app 'excessively vain'.

Zoom

California-based Zoom Video Communications, one of the leaders in the video conference industry, has also added its own face-enhancing option.

Much more subtle than other appearance-boosting options, the company's 'Touch Up My Appearance' feature retouches your video display with a soft focus, Zoom says, adding a modest Instagram-worthy tint to a face.

This can help smooth out the skin tone on your face, to present a more polished looking appearance when you display your video to others, Zoom says.

Touch Up My Appearance is also fairly hidden in the app  users need to select the Settings cog, followed by Meetings to switch on the feature.

On Windows and Macs, users can even select the feature after the participant has joined the conversation  although heres hoping colleagues dont notice the change.

Taka Nakahiko

Although it hasnt yet been backed for a general release, a Japanese engineer called Taka Nakahiko has created an AR filter that covers you with a digital suit.

The creation, which is currently listed on GitHub, appears to need a bit of work as it doesnt completely align with the users movements, as shown by Nakahikos video.

The skin tones of the filter, which is just a screen shot of a man in a suit, dont match and contrast noticeably with poor lighting.

However, if the video chat participant were to keep completely still during the call it could possibly fool the more poor-sighted of colleagues.

On the off chance that it does get a widespread release, it could offer a bit of light relief during the epidemic.

Facebook Messenger

For those who like just small touches of make-up for their 9 oclock one-to-one video call but cant be bothered to get out of bed, choose Facebook Messenger for a pretty simple lipstick filter that actually looks fairly realistic.

However, avoid pouting to prevent kiss marks from appearing on your cheeks if you've selected this filter.

The popular chat app also offers a couple of nice glasses filters, which may give the appearance to your colleagues that you know what youre talking about when you'd rather be asleep.

To avoid giving your fellow worker a fright, take great care not to select the scary monster filter, or downright weird filter that turns your entire face into a thumbs-up fist.
Unfortunately most reforms that you undertake you come across resistance. We have had resistance from ASUU on the implementation of the IPPIS and I am happy to report that at least up to 55 percent of ASUU members are registered and the ones that are not are not getting their February salary, the minister declared.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When a financial crisis erupted in the U.S. a little more than a decade ago, the impact rapidly spread to all corners of the globe and idled factories in far-distant China.

Today, the Covid-19 outbreak has had a similar impact, with manufacturing brought to a halt from a disaster that started in China and escalated worldwide. One example is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the flagship of Taipei-based Foxconn Technology Group. Hurt before, it has been hit again.

This time, though, Beijing may be able to halt the kind of financial contagion that spread through the sector. If Foxconn, the maker of Apple Inc. iPhones, Dell Technologies Inc. computers and Nintendo Co. games consoles, is any guide, then its possible the industry could make it through with few scars.

The 2008 collapse of Americas sub-prime mortgage market hurt manufacturing because sources of cash dried up even in Asia. Beyond the drop in U.S. consumer demand, production in China ground to a halt as supply chain finance, the grease in the wheels of production, dried up when institutions cut back on lending or refused to extend existing funding.

Suppliers who relied on letters of credit couldnt pay for their components, and their customers in turn didnt have cash available to pay for goods that had already been shipped, let alone order more. The well-oiled global industrial machine ground to a halt.

The impact on Hon Hai was swift and brutal. Its current ratio  a measure of current assets as a proportion of current liabilities  immediately dived to a record low, while its Altmans Z Score, which tracks the likelihood of bankruptcy, plunged into dangerous territory. Within a year, it posted a quarterly revenue drop of 11%, still a record. Its revenue decline this quarter is set to be even worse than back then.

In investor relations calls Tuesday, Hon Hai noted that three of its four divisions  consumer, enterprise, and computing  would show revenue declines of at least 15%. Combined, they account for 95% of sales, which means total corporate revenue will likely fall at least 15%.

Story continues

Chairman Young Liu refused to rule out the possibility that Hon Hai may not even record a profit for the period.

If companies in the supply chain make it through this crisis relatively intact, it may be largely thanks to the government of China, where Foxconn has the majority of its production. While its initial measures implemented to stop the spread of this coronavirus failed (new cases are being recorded daily, with the scale outside of China climbing rapidly), Beijing may actually be able to halt the financial contagion.

As my colleague Anjani Trivedi wrote last month, Beijing is spewing handouts to get hard-up borrowers through the crisis.

To make it happen, lenders have been allowed to avoid recognizing defaults that result from the coronavirus outbreak while the financial regulator has asked banks to be more lenient on bad loans and to reduce their profit targets. In other words: Forget these loans exist and dont worry about making money.

Banks have taken Beijings requests to heart, Bloomberg News reported last week. Efforts to alleviate the pain include rolling over loans that seem may miss payments, allowing debtors to skip interest installments, and refraining from reporting delinquencies so that borrowers credit scores dont get hit.

It may be working. Foxconns Liu, for example, noted that local governments see economic growth as important as fighting the disease that threatens it. Theyre prioritizing the reopening of some factories. Thats a big reason why the sprawling empire Liu oversees is likely to resume full production by the end of this month, from only 50% at the start and essentially zero output in February. Crucially, Foxconn wont be alone in bearing the extra costs.

Perhaps the most important assistance, which Liu pointed to, are those measures being taken by Beijing to ensure money keeps flowing. Theyre sorely needed. A survey last month found that a third of Chinese small and medium-size enterprises had only enough cash to cover fixed expenses for a month, while another third could run out within two months.

Foxconn is Chinas largest private employer and largest exporter. It relies on thousands of suppliers to all be up and running, and as many as 1 million workers to turn up at its factories. Despite whats likely to be a record decline in revenue this quarter, the company expects full-year sales to be impacted by as little as 1 percentage point.

Pulling off a comeback like that could be proof that China does have contagion-control policies that work.

To contact the author of this story: Tim Culpan at tculpan1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Patrick McDowell at pmcdowell10@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Two bars had hearings before the Chattanooga Beer Board Thursday morning for repeat violations. Southside Social, 1818 Chestnut St., got a five-day beer license suspension, and Doc Hollidays, 724 Ashland Terrace, wound up with a 10-day suspension.

Southside Social was there due to the charge of failing to immediately report to police, a fight or disorder on the premises. It was not reported when the incident happened in the early morning of Feb.

9 because no one saw it except Nathan Thompson, who was head of the bars security at the time, and he was involved. He is the person who should have called the police but was arrested instead, it was stated. The confrontation took place in an isolated, partitioned-off room with few customers and which is not visible to employees unless they are in that area. No employee of the bar was aware of a fight until police arrived.

The guard had observed a couple coming out of a restroom together, which Chattanooga Police Officer John Foster agreed that it probably wasnt proper. After Thompson confronted them, a verbal argument escalated, ending with the guard pushing the customer down the back steps which are rarely used by customers. After a second shove, the two began to fight and the customer was hit twice in the face with a radio used for security communications, resulting in cuts to the mans face and a call for an ambulance. At this point the man told police, I threw up my hands. He crossed the street to the Finley Stadium parking lot and called the police.

Officer Foster said the security directors story matched that of the victim, but while talking to him Officer Foster said the guard appeared nervous and exhibited signs of impairment and admitted he had been using cocaine. When the security video was not accessible that night, the officer made a decision to arrest the guard. The fact that that he had been carrying a gun in the crowded bar with 300 people was a concern to Beer Board member Brooke King. Officer Foster responded that there are pros and cons but with the crowd that was there, Id like to be armed.

Josh Lang, general manager of Southside Social, was not present that night but food manager Eric Fish had been left in charge. He had headphones and disputed that a call for back-up had been made by the security guard that night. Mr. Lang had trusted Thompson and given him authority to hire a security team. With the zero-tolerance policy, the head of security was fired on the spot the following day. Half of his team left with him because they were friends, said the manager. Now the bar is using J. Hall Security to supplement their own team. Mr. Lang told the board that all disorders are reported, but conceded no call was made that night. "If I was in the restaurant business, I wouldnt want to also be in the security business, Vice Chairman of the Board Dan Mayfield told the manager.

This violation was the seventh time Southside Social had been cited to the Beer Board since May 2016. The five-day suspension for a violation of delayed assault will start on March 19.

Raulston Lamar Combs, owner of Doc Hollidays, was at the Beer Board meeting for the third time on the same violation of allowing an employee to consume alcohol or be intoxicated on the premises where they work. An anonymous caller alerted police on the night of Feb. 9 that the owner and bartender at Doc Hollidays were both intoxicated. At 12:15 Chattanooga Police Officer Michael Terry responded. By then the owner had left and the bartender was described as being unsteady, slurring her words while having a strong smell of alcohol, and she refused to take a breathalyzer test. The officer made the decision to close the bar at that time.

The police who were present waited in the parking lot while customers were leaving. During that time, they received a second anonymous call saying that the owner, Mr. Combs, had pulled up in the lot but did not get out of his truck.

At the Beer Board meeting, Mr. Combs disagreed with testimony from the Chattanooga Police. He claimed he did go inside when he came back to the bar after he learned police were there. He said he went in to calm his bartender who was upset that police had loudly talked to her in front of customers. Officer John Collins, the liaison with the Beer Board, disputed that remark. He was the officer who delivered the citation, he told the board.

Youre disputing the officer? board member Cynthia Coleman asked Mr. Combs. The staff was upset, so if you went inside, then why didnt you go back out and talk to the officers? to try and clarify what had happened, asked board member Brooke King. I figured Id have to come here and see you anyway, responded Mr. Combs. Thats no excuse, said Ms. King.

The 10-day suspension of the beer license was unanimously approved after four previous motions failed which had shorter penalties. The suspension will begin on March 19.

Three special events in the month of March were given a license to sell beer. St. Paddys on the Parkway 2020 taking place on Saturday, March 14, from 6 p.m. until 12 a.m., will benefit SoundCorps. This organization exists to help musicians build their careers, said organizer Stratton Tingle. This year it will also raise money to provide Hamilton County public schools with instruments. Because of construction along Patten Parkway, this year the party will take place on half of the parkway with access to the Honest Pint. There will be two stages and food vendors lined up against the construction area. IDs will be checked at the gate.

The second annual Chattanooga Shamrock Run 2020 will take place at 201 Riverfront Parkway at Rosss Landing on March 15 from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Over 400 are expected to participate in the four-mile run and children can participate in The little Lucky Leprechaun Dash. There will be green tutus and T-shirts given to participants, and green beer available to those over 21. This event will benefit health and wellness programs at a local school.

Brew Skies Beer and Food Festival 2020 will be held for the fourth year, put on by the Chattanooga Rotary Breakfast Club. It will be held at Miller Park on March 28 from 2-6 p.m. The event will support Rivermont Elementary School and the Clean Water Project in Haiti. Around 1,000 people are expected at this ticketed event. There will be local and craft breweries serving their own beers. It is a 21 and over event.


Some observers of Chinese politics say the crescendo of anti-American sentiment may be a product of organic nationalism or overactive imaginations of millions of Chinese cooped up at home. But Xiao said it was no coincidence that social media  the source of news for most Chinese  was awash in anti-American discourse precisely at a moment when the image of the Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping has been badly dented after Chinese officials were found to be covering up early information about the outbreak.
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.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson is Britain's first female doctor. (Picture: PA)

As Britains first ever female doctor, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson paved the way for thousands of women who have pursued a career as doctors.

According to NHS Digital, in 2018 women made up 45% of doctors, after an increase in the proportion of women in every speciality group across hospital and community health services and in some cases, such as psychiatry, overtaking the number of men.

However, despite women making up more than three quarters of all NHS staff (77%), women remained in the minority in more senior roles, the figures highlighted, suggesting things still arent quite equal.

That said, its a long way from the medical world Elizabeth Garrett Anderson took by storm - having to combat being barred several times from trying to become a doctor and bringing about a change in the law that allowed future women to follow in her footsteps.

As the world celebrates International Womens Day, Garrett Andersons history highlights two of 2020s key themes - forging inclusive workplaces so women thrive and supporting women to earn on their own terms.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's campaigned allowed women to go on to become doctors. (Picture: Getty)

Born in Whitechapel, London, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was one of 12 children of a pawnbroker and was the sister of Suffragist leader Millicent Garrett Fawcett.

It was while visiting her sister in London when she was 23 that she met Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor to graduate in the United States - sparking Garrett Andersons desire to follow in her footsteps.

Read more: The best and worst countries to be a woman in terms of life expectancy

Read more: Pandora and Emma Bridgewater among brands giving back on International Women's Day 2020

However, despite her ambitions, Garrett Anderson struggled to get into any medical school.

Instead she enrolled as a nursing student at the Middlesex Hospital in London where she attended lectures with men.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Sits Before the Faculty of Medecine, Paris (Photo by Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

Again, she found herself unable to progress as no university would allow her to take the exams she needed to become a doctor.

Refusing to be deterred, Garrett Anderson found out that the Society of Apothecaries, which oversaw medical licensing, did not specifically forbid women from taking their exams so studied for them and qualified in 1865, allowing her to become a doctor.

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The move saw the society subsequently change its rules, banning women entrants.

Garrett Anderson started practising from her home in London and in 1866 opened the St Marys Dispensary for Women in Marylebone, London - the first time women had the opportunity to be treated by women.

In 1870 Garrett Anderson was appointed visiting doctor to the East London Hospital but was still yet to gain her Medical Degree.

Yet again, she found a way around a system that did everything to prevent her from following her dream, instead teaching herself French and going to the University of Paris - which accepted women - and finally achieved her medical degree, though she was still refused entry into the British Medical Register.

The London School of Medicine for Women was renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in the UK' first female doctor's honour. (Picture: Anthony Devlin/PA Images via Getty Images)

In 1871 Garrett Anderson married James Anderson and the following year set up the New Hospital for Women at the St Marys Dispensary, later the London School of Medicine for Women.

But Garrett Andersons efforts extended beyond herself. In 1876 - partly as a result of her campaigning - the Enabling Act was passed which allowed women to enter medical professions.

Her greatest achievement came in 1892 when women were admitted to the British Medical Association.

Garrett Anderson had three children and was senior doctor at her own hospital for 24 years as well as Dean at the London School of Medicine for Women for 20 years.

She retired to Aldeburgh in Suffolk, where she had lived as a child, in 1902 and became the first female mayor in England in 1908.

She died in 1917 at the age of 81 and in 1918 the London School of Medicine for Women was renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in her honour.
In view of the threat of coronavirus, the India-EU Conference (India-EU Summit) has been postponed. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that at this summit Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PM Narendra Modi) was to participate. Health officials of India and the European Union suggested that the current situation due to the coronavirus should not travel in this situation. It has been decided keeping the Indo-European Union Summit in view of these reasons. Now it will be organized on a convenient date.

Children safe from coronavirus, Italy government did this

Ravish Kumar also stated that the said decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the European Union and India which have similar concerns and commitments towards global health. Both India and the European Union are hopeful that the coronavirus outbreak will be eradicated soon. The official statement also said that despite all the difficulties, PM Modi will go to Bangabandhu (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) to be present in Bangladesh.

This veteran may go for Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand

Ravish Kumar said that in the past, when PM Modi met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he had specially invited the Prime Minister of India to be present at the ceremony, along with that the PM accepted that invitation and He can go to Bangladesh to attend the ceremony. The Indian Foreign Ministry gave a befitting reply to the remarks of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the Delhi violence, while Ravish Kumar said that such comments are factually incorrect and motivated by political agenda. We do not expect such statements from the head of Turkey. We have raised serious objections to the Turkish Ambassador to Delhi on 3 March regarding these comments.

High court disclosed big thing about PM's niece's purse theft case
1995: THE YEAR THE INTERNET BROKE at Anthology Film Archives (March 5-12). Sandra Bullock was ahead of the curve ordering her pizza online in The Net (on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday), but the director Irwin Winklers 1995 cautionary tale looks pretty quaint in other regards. That is always a risk when movies try to cash in on a new craze, and in this series, Anthology revisits Hollywoods frenzied efforts to anticipate  in the era of the 28.8-baud modem  how the internet would change our lives. The artifacts include Hackers (on Saturday and Tuesday), with a pre-fame Angelina Jolie, and star vehicles for Denzel Washington (Virtuosity, on Thursday, Friday and Sunday) and Keanu Reeves (Johnny Mnemonic, on Friday, Sunday and March 12). Most of the features are showing on good old analog 35-millimeter film, the format of the era.

212-505-5181, anthologyfilmarchives.org

[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA at Film at Lincoln Center (March 5-15). Many of the films in this popular showcase of French cinema have an international flavor this year, including Alice Winocours Proxima (on Saturday and Tuesday), which moves fluidly among French, German, English and Russian as it plugs viewers into the head space of an astronaut (a superb Eva Green) who faces institutional sexism even as she undergoes the psychological toll of preparing for a mission. Chiara Mastroianni won an acting prize at Cannes for On a Magical Night (on Friday and Monday), a highly stylized fantasia about an academic who, having been caught cheating on her husband, takes stock of their marriage. And there is the deadpan oddity Deerskin (on Sunday and March 14), with Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and Adele Haenel (Portrait of a Lady on Fire). Dujardin plays a man besotted with a preposterously unfashionable deerskin jacket.

212-875-5601, filmlinc.org

THE WOMEN BEHIND HITCHCOCK at Film Forum (through March 19). No one needs to tell you to watch such Hitchcock classics as Suspicion (showing in this series several times beginning on Saturday), Rebecca (on Thursday, Friday and Saturday), and Shadow of a Doubt (on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday), but the point of this retrospective is to see them from a new vantage point. The series emphasizes the contributions of Hitchcocks wife, Alma Reville  his constant collaborator on scripts and film editing  and Joan Harrison, who joined Hitchcock as a secretary and became a screenwriter on five of his features from 1939 to 1942. Both women had careers apart from Hitchcock as well: Harrison produced several film noir staples, which are also screening, and the series offers a rare opportunity to catch Revilles non-Hitchcock work in the British film industry. Movies from the 1930s like The Passing of the Third Floor Back (on Wednesday and March 13), for which Reville was a screenwriter, are difficult to see in any quality form, but Film Forum will have a 35-millimeter print from the British Film Institute.

212-727-8110, filmforum.org
[March 05, 2020] FIS Enables Secure Seamless Online Payments with New Worldpay 3DS Flex Solution

As merchants prepare for new regulatory requirements to employ Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) by December 31, 20202 in the European Economic Area and by March 14, 2021 in UK, FIS (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology, launches its new 3D Secure (3DS) authentication service, 3DS Flex. The new solution from FIS' recently acquired Worldpay merchant business helps global eCommerce retailers and merchants fight fraud, accelerate online and mobile checkouts by reducing cart abandonment, and maximize payment authorizations. 3DS is the primary mechanism used by merchants globally for authenticating cardholders online. It will be superseded by 3DS2, the latest generation of the technology designed to create a more seamless, shopper-friendly payment flow, especially on mobile devices. While most issuing banks support 3DS1, a growing number are adopting 3DS2.1 and the latest 2.2 protocol. The Worldpay 3DS Flex solution supports all 3DS protocols to provide an improved authentication experience for consumers shopping online while minimizing the incidence of declined payments and reducing shopping cart abandonment. 3DS Flex offers intelligent switching-automatically routing payments for merchants through the most optimal version of authentication supported by the issuing bank. 3DS Flex also helps protect consumers from online fraud by leveraging geolocation data, shopper history and a wealth of other data to accurately verify a shopper's identity online or on a mobile device. As the firstPayment Service Provider to employ the latest 3DS2.2 standards, Worldpay provides seamless payments through its 3DS Flex product, which uses biometric authentication techniques like face ID and fingerprint -as well as the latest technology to exempt consumers from additional authentication steps when a payment is considered low risk or when shopping with a trusted merchant.



In addition, 3DS Flex enables merchants to authenticate payments anywhere in the world, not just in SCA-mandated markets. "Regardless of the SCA timeframe announced by local regulators, we are ready to help businesses become compliant and apply SCA, so they can offer an improved authentication experience and minimize unnecessary declines or abandonment," said Charles Damen, SVP Product Strategy, Worldpay Merchant Solutions at FIS. "In an increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, it's vital for merchants to consistently maximize payment acceptance. Being the first to offer the latest in security authentication with 3DS2.2 will allow our merchants to offer a slick, secure shopping experience to their consumers."

3DS Flex is a part of Worldpay from FIS' suite of products helping merchants navigate the PSD2 regulation affecting payments in the European Economic Area. To learn more visit: www.worldpay.com/global/psd2 About FIS FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our 55,000 people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poor's 500 Index. To learn more, visit www.fisglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert) (@FISGlobal). ____________ 1 PSD2 is the second Payment Services Directive of the European Economic Area.

2 As announced by the European Banking Authority on October 16, 2019. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200304005731/en/

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The Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Castletown Foundation will announce the official opening of The Lady Kildare Room at Castletown House, tomorrow Friday, March 6.

The newly renovated room, named after Lady Louisa Conollys sister, Emily Fitzgerald, Duchess of Leinster, who lived at Carton House, will showcase the recently acquired portrait of Emily by the renowned artist Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Room will also house an important collection of miniatures, silhouettes and drawings of predominantly Irish personages from the 18th and 19th Centuries which has been generously loaned by the Irish Georgian Society.

In January 2019, the OPW and the Castletown Foundation announced that it had bought a portrait of Emily by Sir Joshua Reynolds. They were supported by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland.

SEE ALSO: Brand new cafe coming to Naas to cater for peckish shoppers

The portrait was unveiled in Castletown House in Kildare on January 24.

The painting, which originally hung in the dining room of Carton House, seat of the Fitzgeralds, is now displayed in Castletown House, once the home of her sister, Lady Louisa Conolly.

It was painted in 1774, when she was in London visiting her dying sister, Caroline, Lady Holland. It shows Emily looking stately in a pink dress and ermine shawl, within a painted oval. She was 43 at the time.

SEE ALSO: more Kildare stories

The portrait was previously last displayed in Ireland in 1957 and had been hanging in the dining room of Carton House for many years, before being bought by the OPW, the Castletown Foundation, with support from the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland.

Emily had a fascinating life, and gave birth to 22 children with two husbands. Fourteen of her children predeceased her.

Born on October 6 1731, she was the god-daughter of George II and was the second of seven surviving children of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Lennox and Sarah, daughter of William Cadogan, Earl Cadogan.

On February 7, 1747, she married James FitzGerald, the first Duke of Leinster and was referred to as the Queen of Ireland for her role as a political influencer. After their wedding in London, the couple returned to Fitzgerald's native Ireland and resided in Carton House, Frascati House, Blackrock and Leinster House, Dublin.

Her son, Lord Edward, was a major figure in the United Irishmen, was injured during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and died in prison of his wounds.
A federal judge has dismissed a $50m (38.6m) lawsuit filed by Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard that accused Google of infringing on her free speech when it briefly suspended her advertising account last year.

The judge, Stephen Wilson of the US District Court for the Central District of California, granted Googles motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Wednesday because the Gabbard campaign had failed to prove that the First Amendment clause that prohibits the government from curbing free speech applied to Google as a private company.

The Gabbard campaigns lawsuit failed to establish how Googles regulation of its own platform is in any way equivalent to a governmental regulation of an election, Wilson wrote in his order.

Gabbard, a congressional representative from Hawaii, is still a candidate for the Democratic nomination but has failed to garner any significant support in the early votes or national polls. She did, however, win her first delegate on Tuesday from American Samoa. Officials with the Gabbard campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday evening.

In July, Gabbard filed what is believed to be the first lawsuit by a presidential candidate against a major technology company. She argued that Google, by regulating political ads on its platform, assumed the traditional role of government in terms of regulating elections and was therefore subject to the First Amendment.

The lawsuit claimed that Google had infringed on her right to free speech when the company suspended the campaigns advertising account for six hours on June 27 and June 28. The suspension followed a strong performance by Gabbard in the first Democratic presidential debate that had raised her profile. The campaign was unable to advertise to people searching for her name and missed out on an opportunity to raise money or spread her message, the lawsuit claimed.

Her campaign said it was a sign of Google meddling in the election, using its market dominance to influence political discourse.

At the time, Google said that an automated system had flagged the campaigns advertising account because of suspicious activity and that it had reinstated the account when it realised that the system had acted in error. A Google spokesman declined to comment on the court ruling.

The New York Times
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal based on a complaint filed with Mumbai Police.

Goyal was earlier probed by ED under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for alleged violations of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.

The recent complaint against Goyal and his wife, Anita, was filed at MRA Marg police station for allegedly cheating a Mumbai-based travel company of Rs 46 crore. A case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The complaint was made by Rajendran Neruparambil, chief finance officer of the Akbar Travels of India Private Limited, which has its office in Crawford Market area of South Mumbai.

As per the case, the company had been doing business with Jet Airways since 1994. The complainant has said that the accused hid the financial crisis in their company and assured the travel agency that they would not suffer any loss. The travel agency sold Manchester-Mumbai flight tickets on cheaper rates, on the assurances of the accused. However, in January 2019, some Jet flights got cancelled, forcing the complainant to approach the accused.

The complainant alleged that the accused continued to assure them about their financial health. This money, they claimed, would be siphoned off to India to pay back dues, the travel company said, adding that they incurred losses because of the assurances.

The ED will be probing the money laundering aspect of the investigation to probe if any funds were diverted, sources requesting anonymity said. The agency has earlier conducted searches at about a dozen premises of Goyal and his associates in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Goyal had stepped down as chairman of Jet Airways in March last year. The full-service carrier was forced to stop operations on April 17, 2019 due to acute liquidity crunch.
Nicki Minajs husband Kenneth Petty has been arrested for failing to register as a sex offender.

Petty, who the rapper married in 2019, was pulled over by Los Angeles police in November 2019, where it was found that he had not registered as a sex offender in California.

US law dictates that sex offenders must register their status whenever they move to a new state, but Petty had failed to do so.

According to TMZ, Petty, 41, handed himself into police after failing to register since November.

Appearing before a judge in LA, Petty must wear an ankle monitor and pay a $100,000 bond, with a second hearing on his future scheduled for 23 March.

In 1995, Petty was convicted of the attempted first-degree rape of a 16-year-old girl one year prior. He was sentenced to between 18 and 54 months in New York state prison, serving for just under four years.

In 2006, Petty pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He ultimately served seven, while his name remains on the New York City sex offenders register.

In 2018, Minaj defended Pettys past actions on social media, writing: He was 15, she was 16  in a relationship. But go awf, internet, yall cant run my life. yall cant even run yall own life.

She later referred to Wendy Williams as demonic after the talk show host discussed Pettys past on television.
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Yeah, let's just call it now: We're not really going anywhere fast at this point. But someday, we'll be able to roam freely about the world, and it will be just READ THE REST
A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on March 4.

The new edition includes articles: Baku: Turkey is active participant in all regional processes, Baku hosts 2nd International Cyber Security Week, Azerbaijan, Qatar mull cooperation in agriculture, food security, Trade House to open in Kazakhstan and etc.

AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

The online newspaper is available at www.azernews.az.
Belfast City Airport's chief executive has said a number of airlines are interested in taking over the routes served by regional carrier Flybe, which collapsed into administration.

Flybe, Europes largest regional airline, accounts for 80% of routes out of the airport, with 14 UK destinations. Its collapse leaves the airport serving just four other destinations.

The airline announced in the early hours of Thursday it had ceased trading with immediate effect and that administrators had been appointed. Crisis talks were held throughout Wednesday to try to secure a rescue package, but no deal was agreed.

Belfast City Airport chief executive Brian Ambrose said it was "a difficult day" for staff.

"We were talking to a number of staff last night after they came off shift and they said they're going home to let their families know they've lost their jobs - so for the Flybe staff who are wonderful people and for the customers who rely on the service, it's a difficult time," he said.

"What I want to relay is that we're confident we will rebuild that network, two-thirds of a passengers are dependent on Flybe, they've been in difficulty for a while and we've been working to try and support them but in parallel, we've been looking at alternatives.

Read More

"In the last 24 hours we've had interest in all of our route network, for some of the larger routes we've had interest from multiple airlines so I'm confident within the next days and weeks we'll be announcing backfill on a number of those routes. It's just a matter of how quickly airlines can get aircraft available," he said.

Belfast City Airport has been through this process before, he said.

We're confident we'll build the business back to where it was. Brian Ambrose





"When BMI failed they were 40% of our business so this is significant but any business works if there's a demand for their product. The feedback we've been getting since we made the investment in the last 18 months from our customers is that they absolutely love the product we have here. The airlines [...] they believe there's a market here to be served.

"We're confident we'll build the business back to where it was at about two and a half million passengers but we see prospects beyond that."

The Economy Minister Diane Dodds said she deeply regretted the collapse of the airline.

"In January, the UK Government announced that it had reached an agreement with the shareholders of Flybe, who had agreed to put more money into the business, on the basis that there will be reviews into both Air Passenger Duty and Regional Air Connectivity," she said.

Almost the entire population of NI travel through Flybe routes at Belfast City Airport. Gavin Robinson MP

"These are being led by the Treasury and the Department for Transport (DfT) respectively. I am deeply disappointed that this agreement has not been able to secure the survival of the company," she said.

She said her department will be working closely with the Department for Transport in London to assist with the repatriation of Northern Ireland passengers.

The East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said the public demand is there for flights from Belfast.

"Almost the entire population of NI travel through Flybe routes at Belfast City Airport on an annual basis so there is an attractiveness to other airlines," he said.

"The government has been engaged in a regional connectivity strategy and I'll be saying very clearly in Parliament today that this is a huge test for government, they can't sit back on air passenger duty and regional connectivity and have issues like this arise with Flybe and do nothing."

Sinn Fein MLA Caoimhe Archibald said it was a sad and difficult time for workers and a "huge blow" to the economy.

"My thoughts are with Flybe workers and their families today who will be left devastated and plunged into uncertainty about what the future holds for them," she said.

Ulster Unionist MLA for East Belfast Andy Allen said it was important the Executive stepped in.

"Now that devolution has been restored, it's important that local departments work together to do everything possible to support those workers who have lost their jobs," he said.

"On top of uncertainty over Boris Johnsons Irish Sea Border we need to send a strong signal to the airline industry of the importance of the UK internal market - now is the time for the Chancellor to scrap Air Passenger Duty."

John Stewart MLA, Ulster Unionist Economy spokesperson, called on the Westminster government to preserve as many routes as possible, especially those travelling to London airports.

Read More

The Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said he would work with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to help restore the "key routes".

Very sad to hear about @FlyBe - understand the impact this will have on staff & recognise the importance of those key routes for Belfast and wider connectivity in Northern Ireland. I will be working urgently with @grantshapps, industry & the Executive to help all those affected. https://t.co/gctfvELM2Z  Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 5, 2020

All Flybe flights and those operated by sister airline Stobart Air have been cancelled, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. Flybe was bought by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital in February 2019, after running into earlier financial problems.

In a statement, Flybe chief executive Mark Anderson said the company had made every possible attempt to avoid collapse but had been unable to overcome significant funding challenges.

The UK has lost one of its greatest regional assets, Mr Anderson said.

Flybe has been a key part of the UK aviation industry for four decades, connecting regional communities, people and businesses across the entire nation.

I thank all our partners and the communities we have been privileged to serve. Above all I would like to thank the Flybe team for their incredible commitment and dedication.

This is a very clear reason why Air Passenger Duty needs to be scrapped immediately. Colin Neill





Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton said the collapse will have a "hugely negative" impact on Northern Irelands air connectivity.

The company said all Flybe flights were immediately grounded and advised all passengers not to travel to airports unless alternative flight arrangements had been made.

"I know that the team at Belfast City Airport will work hard to find new airlines for these key routes and Belfast Chamber urges Government at all levels to support them to ensure that our connectivity, which is so important to business and especially tourism in our city, isnt harmed by the unfortunate collapse of FlyBe," he said.

Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster Colin Neill said there will be a knock-on effect for tourism.

"This sounds alarm for our pubs, restaurants and hotels at a time when Coronavirus is compounding the sectors problems," he said.

"Great Britain is our largest tourism market and without that regional connectivity, the hospitality sector is going to take a real hammering. Our only hope in the short term is that other carriers can increase capacity so that visitors can come here and not be put off by Flybes collapse.

"This is a very clear reason why Air Passenger Duty needs to be scrapped immediately and we call on the Chancellor to wake up to this grave situation and cancel APD in his Budget only a week away."


Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Brijpuri, one of the riot-affected areas in North-East Delhi, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. (PTI)

New Delhi: After missing in action for almost ten days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with party MPs, visited the riot-hit areas of Northeast Delhi. Two separate delegations of Congress leaders visited different areas in Northeast Delhi.

The delegation led by Mr Gandhi included K.C. Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K. Suresh, Mukul Wasnik, Kumari Selja, Gaurav Gogoi and Randeep Surjewala.

he delegation visited a 32-year-old Arun Modern Public Senior Secondary School, which suffered massive damage.

The Congress delegation went around the gutted classrooms and surveyed the burnt busses.

Speaking with reporters, Mr Gandhi said, This (school) is Indias future. Hate and violence have destroyed it. Nobody has benefited from this. Violence and hate are enemies of development. India is being divided, burnt. This will not benefit Bharat Mata.

Before Congress leaders arrival, families of victims from Mustafabad area lined up at the school to share their ordeal.

After Mr Gandhis visit, school owner Bhisham Singh said, He visited our classrooms and expressed concern over the condition. Mr Gandhi also said that burning an educational institute is highly condemnable as children from all communities study here.

Mr Gandhi, along with other leaders, also visited a mosque near the school that was affected by the violence. Sources said the Delhi Police advised Mr Gandhi to avoid going beyond the Brijpuri Nallah.

Mr Gandhi further said, Indias image takes a hit when there is violence in the country, in its capital. Brotherhood and love have been burnt here. This is the loss of Hindustan, Bharat Mata. Our reputation in the world has been burnt.

The other delegation, comprising mostly MPs, left in a bus from the Kerala House and included Hibi Eden, Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Abdul Khaleque. Their first stop was Chand Bagh where they met shopkeepers and asked them about the losses they suffered.

Mr Singh added, The rioters dont belong to any community. I suffered loses to the tune of `2.5 crore, as school buses and school premises were vandalised by the mob.

Mohammad Faqrudeen, who met Mr Gandhi during his visit to the mosque set ablaze by the mob, said, Mr Gandhi patiently listened to us and consoled us. Earlier, a delegation of Waqf board, sent by Mr Gandhi, met us to take stock of the situation. He spent a good time at the mosque and even went to the madrasa. We feel glad that he came and interacted with us.

Seven people were brutally killed while three other sustained serious injuries just outside the mosque and Madarsa. Additionally, the mob set ablaze the holy place of worship.

Mr Faqrudeen further said, These people are enemy of humanity.

Murmurs were doing rounds in the Congress about Mr Gandhis absence during the worst riots in recent times in the national capital. In the meantime, interim party chief Sonia Gandhi convened an emergency Congress Working Committee meeting and hit out at the central government over the riots.

Addressing a press conference, she demanded the resignation of the Union home minister Amit Shah.

A Congress delegation led by Mrs Gandhi also met the President of India. She had last week deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas of Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.
Weather Alert

...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 3 PM EST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 35 below zero. * WHERE...In Vermont, Western Franklin County. In New York, Eastern Clinton County. * WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 3 PM EST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The coldest wind chill values will occur between 2 AM and 11 AM on Tuesday. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Avoid outside activities if possible. When outside, make sure you wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves. &&
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NASA's Curiosity rover has shared a stunning panorama of its home.

Composed of more than 1,000 images of Mars' landscape taken during the 2019 Thanksgiving holiday, the contains 1.8 billion pixels  deeming it the highest-resolution picture of the Martian planet yet.

The rover used its Mast Camera to capture the photos of the Red Planet to produce the high-resolution panorama and relied on its medium-angle lens to for a lower-resolution -nearly 650-million-pixel panorama that includes the rover's deck and robotic arm.

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NASA's Curiosity rover has shared a stunning panorama of its home. Composed of more than 1,000 images of Mars' landscape taken during the 2019 Thanksgiving holiday, the contains 1.8 billion pixels  deeming it the highest-resolution picture of the Martian planet yet

Both panoramas showcase 'Glen Torridon,' a region on the side of Mount Sharp that Curiosity is exploring.

The images were snapped between November 24 and December 1, but before NASA staff left for the holiday, the programmed the rover with certain tasks such as what angles of the planet to capture and to ensure the pictures were in focus.

Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which leads the Curiosity rover mission, said: 'While many on our team were at home enjoying turkey, Curiosity produced this feast for the eyes.'

'This is the first time during the mission we've dedicated our operations to a stereo 360-degree panorama.'

The rover used its Mast Camera to capture the photos of the Red Planet to produce the high-resolution panorama and relied on its medium-angle lens to for a lower-resolution -nearly 650-million-pixel panorama that includes the rover's deck and robotic arm

Both panoramas showcase 'Glen Torridon,' a region on the side of Mount Sharp that Curiosity is exploring. The images were snapped between November 24 and December 1, but before NASA staff left for the holiday, the programmed the rover with certain tasks such as what angles of the planet to capture and to ensure the pictures were in focus

Curiosity would snap images every day be noon and 2 p.m. local time so the lighting would be consistent in every shot.

Glen Torridon is littered with clay mineral deposits that Curosity has been investigating.

This area is located in the Gale Crater, which is a massive, ancient dry lake bed with a 16,404-foot mountain at its center.

In December, NASA released a separate panorama of Mars, showing the final resting place of its Opportunity rover.

Curiosity relied on its medium-angle lens to for a lower-resolution -nearly 650-million-pixel panorama that includes the rover's deck and robotic arm (pictured)

The high-resolution panorama even capture the intricate tire marks of the rover

The image is a series of 354 individual pictures snapped by the rover over a 29-day period before it shutdown completely and declared 'dead' by the American space agency earlier this year.

The desolate Martian landscape known as Perseverance Valley was the last thing the rover saw and now serves as its graveyard.

The panorama is composed of 354 individual images provided by the rover's Panoramic Camera (Pancam) from May 13 through June 10, or sols (Martian days) 5,084 through 5,111.

The panorama combines images from three different Pancam filters, which admit light centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near-infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet).

In December, NASA released a separate panorama of Mars, showing the final resting place of its Opportunity rover (pictured)

Opportunity project manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said: 'This final panorama embodies what made our Opportunity rover such a remarkable mission of exploration and discovery.'

'To the right of center you can see the rim of Endeavor Crater rising in the distance.'

'Just to the left of that, rover tracks begin their descent from over the horizon and weave their way down to geologic features that our scientists wanted to examine up close.'

'And to the far right and left are the bottom of Perseverance Valley and the floor of Endeavour crater, pristine and unexplored, waiting for visits from future explorers.'

The desolate Martian landscape known as Perseverance Valley was the last thing the rover saw and now serves as its graveyard. The panorama is composed of 354 individual images provided by the rover's Panoramic Camera (Pancam) from May 13 through June 10, or sols (Martian days) 5,084 through 5,111

NASA explained that Opportunity was not expected to last 15 years, but noted it had contributed greatly to their understanding of the planet's geology and environment, 'laying groundwork for future robotic and human missions on the Red Planet', the American space agency said in a statement

NASA explained that Opportunity was not expected to last 15 years, but noted it had contributed greatly to their understanding of the planet's geology and environment, 'laying groundwork for future robotic and human missions on the Red Planet', the American space agency said in a statement.

After eight months of effort and sending more than a thousand commands in an attempt to restore contact with the rover, NASA declared Opportunity's mission complete on Feb. 13, 2019.

With the death of the Opportunity rover also comes the end of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers program, which launched from Cape Canaveral in July 2003 with the twin robots, Spirit and Opportunity.

Spirit met its end back in 2011, a year after getting stuck in the sand and losing contact with Earth.

After eight months of effort and sending more than a thousand commands in an attempt to restore contact with the rover, NASA declared Opportunity's mission complete on Feb. 13, 2019

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said during the press conference in February: 'I'm standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude, as I declare the Opportunity mission complete - and with it the Mars exploration mission as compete.'

'I will never forget the amazing work that happened here, it transformed our understanding of the red planet.'

The Mars rover, affectionately known as 'Oppy,' far surpassed the expectations of the team that's operated it for so long.

The panorama shows a detailed view of the Perseverance Valley including the rover's tracks left behind as it traveled through the desolate landscape

It was designed to last just 90 Martian days (90 sols), during which it would travel a total of 1,000 meters (1100 yards).

But somehow, Oppy survived 14-and-a-half years after touching down on the red planet, pushing its limits to travel almost 30 miles to reshape our understanding of Mars.

It withstood years of extreme temperatures and radiation, but finally met its match this past spring, when a planet-wide dust storm encircled Mars and blotted out the sun.

This proved to be a fatal blow for Opportunity, as the rover relies entirely on solar energy to power its instruments.

More than 1,000 recovery commands were sent over the course of eight months in a bid to revive the robotic geologist.

NASA made one final attempt to contact Opportunity Rover (pictured) eight months after the spacecraft last made contact. A giant dust storm blocked sunlight from Mars in 2018, stopping Opportunity's solar-powered batteries from being able to recharge
The government has approved a plan for State Bank of India to lead a consortium that will buy stake in YES Bank, people in the know have told Bloomberg. SBI has also been authorised to pick other members of the consortium.

YES Bank has struggled to raise capital it desperately needs to stay above regulatory requirements as it battles high levels of bad loans due to its exposure to troubled sectors. The lender has been trying to raise $2 billion in fresh capital for two quarters. In January, the bank said it had rejected a $1.2 billion investment offer from Canadian investor ...
THUMB REGION  Be prepared and dont panic.

That is the message the Huron County Health Department is giving to those with questions concerning coronavirus.

Huron County Health Department Nursing Director Mitzi Koroleski and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Katilyn Alexander are in the process of creating a response plan in the event of an area-wide COVID-19 outbreak.

"It may come to our area," Koreleski said. "It is in the United States and it's always best to prepare. We have not had any confirmed cases in Michigan but it could be a matter of time, with travel and person-to-person contact."

The health department encouraged people to obtain COVID-19 information directly from the agency or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is responsible for providing the most up-to-date factual information concerning this novel respiratory illness and all others. The department has issued health and hygiene instructions to the public as it collaborates with various agencies and government officials.

The Michigan Office of Governor has created a task force to combat coronavirus that emphasizes all state operations, health care facilities, schools, and the workforce.

While there have been no confirmed cases in Michigan yet, we must recognize that this virus has the potential to impact nearly every aspect of our lives, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. From our public schools, colleges, and universities to our businesses and hospitals, we must harness all of the resources we have to ensure we can prevent the spread of coronavirus and keep Michiganders safe. This is a strong, smart team that will make protecting our public health their number one priority and work closely with me to protect the people of our state.

The COVID-19 task force includes state government agencies that work closely with the communities they service. On Feb. 3, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services triggered the Community Health Emergency Coordination Center, in which they work with local health departments and health systems to correctly prepare and screen for COVID-19.

On Friday, Feb. 28, the governor activated the State Emergency Operations Center to maximize coordination with state, local and federal agencies to help prevent the diseases spread. Yesterday, awareness campaigns were launched to demonstrate appropriate hand washing techniques.

"We have seven different groups that we are targeting weekly," Alexander said. "We are sending that communication via the CDC and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. We plan to have everything sent by the end of the day tomorrow."

According to emergency operations, patients with confirmed COVID-19 have demonstrated fever, cough, and shortness of breath. People are advised to protect themselves as they would against the common cold and offer the following tips:

1. Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. Use sanitizer, if needed.

2. Try not to touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.

3. Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.

4. Avoid people who are sick.

5. Stay home and avoid contact with others if you feel sick.

"There is no treatment for it," Koroleski said. "No antivirals at this time. It's supportive care."

The health departments advice is to take action early on in protecting the health of you and your family.

"We are going to have a hotline here with information," Koroleski said.

According to the CDC, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that was first detected in Wuhan City in the Hubei Province of China. As of Wednesday, March 4,13 U.S. states have reported the illness, including 80 cases and nine deaths.

The governors office has confirmed person-to-person spread of the virus in the U.S. Some affected individuals have zero travel history and no known source of exposure. To date, no known cases exist in Michigan. The Huron County Health Department has announced the immediate health risk to the Thumb area to be low.

For information on how to protect against COVID-19, visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention advice page: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public.

You may also contact your area health department. The number to the Huron County Health Department is 989-269-9721.
CONWAY, Ark. (March 4, 2020)  Hendrix College has named Ryan Cassell to be its new Vice President of Enrollment and Dean of Admission, effective June 1.

Cassell comes to Hendrix from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he has worked since 2009 and currently serves as Associate Dean of Admission. Prior to his promotion to Associate Dean, he served as Director of Admission.

His responsibilities range from developing Sewanees longterm, strategic enrollment initiatives to overseeing day-to-day enrollment operations, including supervising and training staff members. During Cassells tenure, the number of applications increased from 2,800 to more than 4,900.

We are thrilled to have Ryan join the Hendrix community, said Hendrix President Ellis Arnold. With the breadth and depth of his experience and knowledge of the current higher education landscape, I am confident he will lead our enrollment program into a new era.

Prior to his tenure at Sewanee, Cassell was a faculty member and Assistant Director of College Advising at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, where he advised students throughout the college search and selection process, taught anatomy and zoology, and developed the schools Advanced Placement Environmental Science curriculum.

I am excited for the opportunity to lead the enrollment program at Hendrix and to introduce prospective students and families to this incredible institution, Cassell said, adding that he and his family felt an instant connection to campus and to Conway.

When we visited, we saw firsthand the strong sense of community that is a hallmark of Hendrix, he said. We cant wait to build new relationships and contribute positively to Hendrix and its future.

An alumnus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, Cassell earned a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in general biology, and a Master of Arts degree, majoring in student affairs administration in higher education. He also earned a Master of Arts in teaching from the University of Indianapolis. He currently serves as president of the Southern Association of College Admission Counseling (SACAC). Cassell and his wife, Erin, have four children.

About Hendrix College

A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of the countrys leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.
At its recently held annual investor meeting in New York, Chevron CVX outlined a five-year strategic plan. In particular, the company projects a total return to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks of $75-80 billion even without a spike in oil prices. This is substantial, given the San Ramon, CA-based integrated firms current market value of $180 billion.

Whats the Strategy?

In order to achieve the massive returns target, Chevron will rely on disciplined capital spending, improved cost efficiency, and continued cash flow growth.

The company is looking to save $2 billion on the back of tight rein on costs and stronger margins. Meanwhile, Chairman and CEO Michael Wirth aims to keep its capital expenditure flat within the range of $19 billion to $22 billion through 2024. Based on this, the supermajor expects to grow adjusted operating cash flow per share at a 9% CAGR and improve adjusted free cash flow (FCF) per share by 100%.

Chevrons focus on short-cycle, lower-risk projects  in the Permian Basin, Kazakhstan, and deepwater Gulf of Mexico  should lead to solid earnings and cash flow growth. This will help the company in generating over 10% returns on capital by 2024 at just $60 Brent prices - up more than 300 basis points.

Chevrons enormous acreage in the Permian Basin - America's top shale formation  will position it well to meet the objectives earmarked. At an annual budgeted capital expenditure of around $4.5 billion, the company targets to ramp up production from the unconventional play to 1.2 million barrels a day by the mid-2020s, following which, output is set to flatten out through 2040. While a number of smaller, debt-laden Permian operators (who relied on borrowings to finance drilling) are struggling to make profits, Chevron, with its sheer scale and high-quality acreage, is largely immune to these issues.

Investor Pressure Leads to Returns Boost

Story continues

Last year, Chevron paid out $13 billion as dividends and buybacks to its shareholders. Assuming similar distributions over the next five years, the overall payout would have amounted to $65 billion. As such, the American multinational companys new projection (of up to $80 billion through 2024) represents a hefty increase over the current rate.

Over the past few years, the likes of Chevron and ExxonMobil XOM have faced the wrath of investors over poor shareholder returns. The so-called Big-Oil company managements were under pressure to reduce spending, generate free cash flow and boost shareholder value.

Healthy Balance Sheet to the Rescue

Fortunately, Chevron has a very strong balance sheet  including an AA credit rating  to take care of managements stated priorities.

As of Dec 31, the company had $5.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents and total debt of $27 billion, with a debt-to-total capitalization ratio of just 15.8%. Moreover, Chevron's total debt is down from $34.5 billion a year ago. Importantly, the company's year-end debt ratio was 16%, improving from 18% at year-end 2018.

Zacks Rank & Stock Picks

Chevron holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked players in the energy space are Apache APA and Hess Corporation HES that sport a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Apache has surpassed estimates in three of the last four quarters, the average being 119.7%.

The 2020 Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hess indicates 91.6% earnings per share growth from 2019 level.

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SALEM, Ore.  Republican lawmakers in the Oregon Senate announced on Thursday that they would be "willing to return" to the legislature on Sunday, March 8  but only for the purpose of passing emergency budget bills.

After a tumultuous session, Senate Republicans are willing to attend the Sunday floor session to pass emergency budget bills, for example, the relief for flood victims in Eastern Oregon," said Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass. "The intent of the short session was to make budget adjustments, and that is what we expect to work on while being fiscally responsible with the hard-earned taxpayer dollars."

RELATED: Oregon Democratic lawmakers consider rule changes aimed at preventing future walkouts

Republicans in the Senate left the capitol more than a week ago, protesting a cap-and-trade bill that they say would be devastating for rural Oregon. They have insisted that the bill be referred to the voters, in addition to claiming that the bill does not belong in a short legislative session.

Democrats issued a statement on Wednesday night, decrying the walkout and the inertia of critical budget and other funding bills. Legislation aimed at addressing the state's housing and homelessness crisis, mental health system, and wildfire preparation were among the bills left adrift, Democrats said.

These budgets are remarkable pieces of legislation. They benefit every corner of Oregon  every Oregonian, Senate President Peter Courtney said. The fact that a few members are preventing us from carrying out our oaths of office, preventing us from voting on bills and budgets, is heartbreaking. We have stayed in the Capitol. We have worked. We have done literally all we can do without a quorum. Its time for my fellow legislators to return to work and uphold their oaths.

In the Republicans' absence, Democratic lawmakers say that they have moved all the budget and policy bills out of the joint budget committee.

One bill on the docket includes a $51 million infusion to the state's ailing Department of Forestry, which announced recently that it was in desperate need of additional funding ahead of the coming fire season.

The prospect of a similar reunification appeared possible in the Oregon House following a statement from House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby.

The House Republican Caucus broadly agrees with the funding priorities identified in yesterdays press release from Speaker Kotek and President Courtney. House Republicans will provide a quorum and the rules suspensions necessary to pass these funding priorities on Sunday, March 8th, before the legislature is constitutionally required to adjourn.

However, a response from House Speaker Tina Kotek issued shortly before noon on Thursday indicated that Republicans' desire to "cherry pick which bills live and die" might not fly.

Republicans from both chambers have walked off the job for two weeks of this five-week session. Their intentional absences have created an enormous backlog of bills, bills that will benefit Oregonians across the state," Kotek said. The only deal I will agree to is if Republicans in both chambers return and agree to take a floor vote on every bill that has earned support through the public process that governs our legislative body.
Dubais ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum conducted a campaign aimed at intimidating and frightening his estranged wife Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein before she fled to the U.K., a London judge has ruled in a case over the welfare of their two young children.

The princess said she feared for the safety of her family since she twice found a gun on her bed a year ago, with the muzzle pointing to the door and the safety catch off, Judge Andrew McFarlane wrote in a ruling released Thursday. He granted protective orders for the children as well as an interim injunction against Sheikh Mohammed barring threatening or violent conduct.

The couple fought the case in Londons family courts after Princess Haya flew to the U.K. in April. The sheikh initially sought an order forcing the two children to return to Dubai before later dropping the attempt, McFarlane said.

The 70-year-old sheikh is determined to re-establish a viable, regular relationship with each of the children, the judge said.

The ruling from one of Britains most senior judges will be a huge embarrassment to the ruling family. It leaves questions about governance in Dubai after the princesss attorney Charles Geekie argued that the sheikh deployed the full power of the state to threaten, intimidate, mistreat and oppress.

McFarlane said he largely agreed with Geekies submissions.

These findings, taken together, demonstrate a consistent course of conduct over two decades where, if he deems it necessary to do so, the father will use the very substantial powers at his disposal to achieve his particular aims, the judge said.

Sheikh Mohammed is credited with turning Dubai into a major tourism and business hub. While Dubais government is treating the case as a private matter, the decision against its ruler contrasts with the image of openness and ease of doing business the emirate prides itself for.

While the sheikh himself didnt directly participate in the proceedings, even after being invited to do so by the judge, McFarlane conducted a fact-finding process as part of his ruling.

But the most explosive allegation made by the princess wasnt substantiated by the judge. The princess said that Sheikh Mohammed had sought to make arrangements for a marriage between his youngest daughter and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The princess says she was told by a trusted police officer that a member of the sheikhs family had visited Saudi Arabia in February last year to discuss a marriage. The allegation was hearsay, the judge said.

The judge said that two older daughters by another marriage, Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa, had themselves been detained in Dubai. Princess Haya described how in 2018 Latifa, whos now 35, was abducted by an armed Indian commando team at sea -- allegations that were upheld by the judge.

Princess Haya said that her relationship with Sheikh Mohammed deteriorated after she tried to help Shamsa and Latifa. The sheikh also became aware of an earlier affair that the princess had with one of her bodyguards, the judge said.

She said she discovered Sheikh Mohammed divorced her under Shariah law in February 2019.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to allow a victim of the recent Delhi violence to intervene in a matter in which the Centre has raised the issue of alleged hate speeches by activist Harsh Mander during anti-CAA protests.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and said the riot victim wanted to intervene in the Harsh Mander case, which is scheduled to be heard on Friday.

"We will not allow you to intervene," Bobde told the advocate.

Gonsalves said he had seen the video of an alleged hate speech by Mander and wanted to place it on record.

"We had asked the solicitor general to put it (video of alleged hate speech by Mander) on record. We don't need you in that proceeding," the Chief Justice of India (CJI) said.

When Gonsalves said he had appeared for Mander before the high court in the Delhi violence matter, the bench said, "You can appear for him here also."



The Delhi Police had on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against Mander and sought initiation of contempt proceedings against him for alleged "derogatory remarks" making insinuations against the apex court and its judges.

The affidavit was filed after the Centre's allegation before the Supreme Court that Mander, who has sought registering of FIRs against some BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches that purportedly led to the violence in Delhi, himself had made certain objectionable remarks against the top court, "majesty of law", the government and Parliament.

The Supreme Court had taken strong note of the Centre's allegations and not only refused to hear Mander's counsel Karuna Nundy till the issue of his alleged hate speech is "sorted", but also kept his petition to itself while transferring other pleas related to the violence to the Delhi High Court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had referred to some of the alleged hate speeches delivered by Mander during the anti-CAA protests and at the Jamia Millia Islamia on December 16 last year.

He had read out in court certain excerpts from alleged speeches of Mander and said they included objectionable statements about the apex court, Parliament and the government.

The apex court, in May least year, had come down heavily on Mander for seeking recusal of the then CJI from hearing his PIL saying it would not allow anybody to "browbeat" and "damage the institution".

The then CJI Ranjan Gogoi had struck off Mander's name as the petitioner and had rather appointed his lawyer Prashant Bhushan as the amicus curiae in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KAMPALA  The Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) and Financial Technology Service Providers Association (FITSPA) have signed a strategic collaboration agreement which aims at boosting financial inclusion and innovation in Ugandas financial service sector.

This collaboration aims at promoting innovation, knowledge sharing and professional practiced in the development of digital financial services.

The banking and financial services sector is continuously evolving and aligning to support the changing demography, technology and attitudes in the country.

Such a partnership is critical to building the digital payments and business infrastructure that can improve proximity and bring harder to reach clients tnto the financial system at potentially lower costs through innovation.

Wilbrod Humphreys Owor, the Executive Director of UBA said the partnership will facilitate learning sessions and exchange of information which will in turn encourage innovations in Ugandas Financial Services Sector.

This partnership is our commitment to championing growth and development of digital infrastructure required to transform the industry and harness financial service opportunities in intermediation, credit and payment spaces.

Peter Kawumi, FITSPA chairman and Country general manager Interswitch Uganda said; As many of you already know, the fintech sector is only in its nascent stage. Although we have made steps forward in attracting investment, supporting economic growth, and facilitating financial inclusion etc, we still have a long way to go. The partnership with the UBA which has been in Uganda for over 35 years, will make us leap forward in many ways.

Related
It was a mix of happiness and pride at the result for the Arab community, and disappointment at the national result, Mr. Jabareen said in an interview in his hometown, Umm al-Fahm. Netanyahu, with all his racist incitement, succeeded in getting more power.

Counterintuitive as it may initially seem, the two results were in fact intertwined.

Mr. Netanyahu has shored up his base by enacting legislation that alienates Arab citizens and by pursuing a Middle East plan  President Trumps deal of the century  that would annex large tracts of Palestinian land.

But it is exactly those actions that propelled a previously apathetic Arab Israeli electorate to the ballot box.

As a practical matter, whatever gains they made at the ballot box on Monday, little meaningful appears likely to change for Israeli Arabs in a country moving steadily to the right. Indeed, the gains may prove a double-edged sword, and make the Israeli right even stronger.

About one in five Israelis are of Arab ethnicity, but fewer than half of them participated in the Israeli general election last April. That changed markedly on Monday, when an estimated 64.7 percent of Arab Israelis voted in the countrys third election in less than a year  up from 59.2 percent in the poll last September, and 49.2 percent last April.
Two Indian girls studying in a British university have jointly won the inaugural award instituted by the Indian Journalists Association (IJA) for Indian students producing the best content on a postgraduate journalism course in the UK.

IJA is a 73-year-old organisation representing UK-based journalists covering Indian affairs.

Janani Suri and Malika Malhotra, students of International Journalism in the Cardiff University, were declared joint winners of the IJA award for 2018-19.

They were presented a cash prize of 250 pounds each and certificates at a IJA symposium on 'The changing face of media' here on Thursday.

Academics at the university's School of Journalism, Media and Culture said Suri and Malhotra demonstrated a high level of skill and potential in their projects on the course that combines theory and practice.

While Suri produced a portfolio of five print features on the 'MeToo' movement in India, Malhotra was chosen for her analytical television report on the development of Ganga river transportation and its impact on local communities.

Matt Swaine, course director of MA International Journalism, said: "We are delighted to be working with the IJA on this award in what is the 50th anniversary of journalism training at Cardiff University.

IJA president and senior BBC journalist Naresh Kaushik said the award is an annual initiative of the organisation to "encourage Indian students of journalism coming to the UK, particularly at a time when the need for well-trained and impartial journalists has never been felt more".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shocking video shows the moment an 'unruly' mother bites and scratches a Swiss Air pilot after a row over her child's buggy.

Henrietta Mitaiare, 23, was let off with a four-month suspended jail sentence this afternoon, despite attacking Swiss Air Captain Guido Keel when the flight landed at Heathrow on May 2 last year.

Video footage filmed by Mitaiare shows part of the altercation, and she is heard telling the pilot: 'Why did you put your hands on me? Why did you hit a woman? Why? Why did you do it? Do you think that you have power?'

She was ordered to pay Captain Keel 1,000 compensation as well as 1,500 court costs, and ordered to abide by a tagged curfew.

At the hearing this morning, Mitiaire's mother Mary Roberts, 53, who allegedly kicked Captain Keel while he was on the floor was found not guilty of assault.

At the court hearing Ms Roberts, of Fulham, south west London, was asked to leave the dock as she initially sat still following her acquittal before standing up to address the press in the public gallery.

She ranted: 'Adolf Hitler is still ruling England and Mussolini is still ruling England and the innocent' before being dragged out of the courtroom by a police officer.

Mitaiare was ordered to pay Captain Keel 1,000 compensation as well as 1,500 court costs, and ordered to abide by a tagged curfew (pictured, the altercation)

Henrietta Mitaiare, 23, right, and her mother Mary Roberts, 53, left, give thanks outside court this afternoon

Mary Roberts, 53, is escorted by police from Uxbridge Magistrates Court after being cleared

Mitaiare, who has insisted she was acting in self-defence throughout, says she will take an appeal to the Crown Court to prove her 'innocence'.

Speaking after giving praise to God with her mother on their hands and knees outside Uxbridge Magistrates' Court following the hearing, she said: 'I am distraught at the judgement.

'I think that it was wholly biased from the start.

'I think the idea that a mother is aquitted for defending her child and the child that she was trying to defend is not acquitted is lunatic.

'My mother was so scared for my life and I was so scared for my life that I acted in self defence. That has always been my case.

'I will be going to the Crown Court and appealing with my lawyers, Corker Binning.

'I am paying for it. It is going to be extremely difficult for me to raise those funds, but I have seen enough people manhandled and belittled by people in positions of power and just have to put up with it because they have the power and you don't.

'I am grateful that the Judge did not send me to jail today.'

She added: 'I hope to go to Cambridge and study law and English literature.

'I'm going to do it, no matter what, and I'm going to make a difference in this world for others like me.'

Previously the court heard that Mitaiare finally accepted that the collapsable stroller would have to go in the hold and the pair went to their seats before the flight took off for Heathrow.

But when it landed, Mitaiare approached the flight manager, Ali Chkerdaa, to get the names of two women at the departure gate she had argued with so she could make a formal complaint to the airline.

Henrietta Mataiare (green coat) and her mother Mary Roberts (brown coat), cover their faces with their coats and use umbrellas to hide behind as they arrive at Uxbridge Magistrates Court today

Mary Roberts, 53, is escorted by police from Uxbridge Magistrates Court, after ranting in court about Hitler and Mussolini

As they worked for different company, he offered to give them his business card instead.

When Mitaiare refused to accept it, Captain Keel left the cockpit to offer his own business card which was also turned down.

He then put his hand on Mitaiare's arm to gesture her off the aircraft and asked her to leave.

But she became enraged and pulled out her phone to start filming while asking him: 'Why did you lay your hands on me? Where is the power?'

He responded with 'I have the power' but then fell back into the cockpit as he and Mitarare tussled on the floor.

During the melee Captain Keel suffered scratches to his neck and arm as well as a bite mark.

Henrietta Mitaiare is pictured in Kensington, west London, in January 2016, at a protest with other people at the boarding up of a new Banksy

Flight First Officer Friedrich Preiler told the trial that the Captain's shirt was left blood-stained after the incident.

Ms Roberts tried to get into the cockpit while her daughter and the pilot were on the floor, but was held back by Mr Chkerdaa.

Mitaiare and her mother were taken away off the plane by police officers who were nearby escorting a prisoner who was being extradited.

Delivering her verdicts, District Judge Deborah Wright said: 'Although neither of the defendants gave evidence at the trial I am satisfied that, through the interview of Ms Roberts and the prepared statement of Ms Mitaiare, both have raised the issue of self defence and defence of another and it is for the Crown to disprove those defences.

'I find that Miss Mitaiare was very upset about the refusal of staff at Zurich airport to allow her to board the plane with her buggy.

'After the flight landed , Ms Mitaiare was still exorcised by not being allowed to take her buggy onto the plane and she remonstrated with Mr Chkerdaa, demanding the names of the staff at the airport which he as unable to give.

'He offered her his own business card so that she could complain formally. I also accepted his evidence that she had said that Swiss people were racist and that what had happened was because she was a black woman travelling with a child.

Swiss Air co-pilot Friedrich Preiler (pictured) gave evidence in the case at Uxbridge Magistrates Court previously

'I am satisfied that Captain Keel came out of the cockpit, offered Ms Mitaiare his business card and asked her to leave the plane.

'I am also satisfied that in doing so he touched her arm or shoulder to guide her to the door.

'It may well be that this was unwise, but I am satisfied that the touching was not any more than a minimal contest and that Ms mitaiare's reaction was wholly disproportionate.

'The video footage is a testament to her anger and determination to continue to escalate a situation that was not getting out of hand.

'I am aware of Ms Mitaiare's frailties, but even allowing for that her reaction was wholly unacceptable. She was very far from being calm.

'I am satisfied that Ms Mitaiare took out her phone and recorded the events as best she could, and what is clear from the recording, apart from her unruly behaviour, is that the Captain must have gone into the cockpit after his initial contact with her because as she is shouting at him about touching her and asking what his powers were, he can be seen re-emerging from the cockpit.

'First officer Prieler was very calm and gave good, clear evidence.

'He gave evidence that the captain as pushed into the cockpit and was trying to close the door. I accepted that this is what happened and I find that Ms Mitaiare was pursuing the captain.

Mitaiare, 23, and her mother Mary Roberts, 53, flew with Swiss Air (pictured) from Zurich to London Heathrow on May 2 last year

'She was still trying to film him. First officer Prieler said that the Captain was trying to protect the cockpit. I am sure that this would have been right. By retreating to the cockpit the Captain was clearly trying to distance himself from Ms Mitaiare.

'He was clearly not the aggressor at this stage. He was being harangued by her. On any view Ms Mitaiare had no business pursuing him into the cockpit.

'I can infer from the fact that Captain Keel retreated to the cockpit and was trying to close the door, taken together with the aggressive stance being taken by Ms Mitaiare that he was trying to protect himself from a very loud and angry woman who had refused to leave the plane.

'She was shouting, recording him, and seems insistent on pursuing him. There is nothing in the recordings that I have seen that would indicate that the Captain reacted in any way other than as a professional.'

She added: 'Frankly, it is a wonder that he managed to remain as calm as he appears in the footage to have done in the face of a very forceful onslaught.

The two women are accused of assault by beating and appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court today (pictured) but both deny the charges

'Captain Keel is, I understand, over 6ft tall. However, I am satisfied that it was he who was acting in self-defence, not Ms Mitaiare.

'I am also satisfied that, whilst on the floor, she did bite the captain.

'I am sure beyond reasonable doubt that the Crown has disproved Ms Mitaiare's claim that she was acting in self-defence.'

Turning to Ms Roberts, she said: 'I have considered the issue of whether Ms Roberts was assisting Ms Mitaiare in her assault on Captain Keel and her words and her actions were all defensive rather than offensive.

'In any event, even is Ms Roberts had touched or made contact with the Captain, I would have been satisfied that she was genuinely fearful for her daughter and that she honestly believed she needed to intervene to protect her.

'I am therefore acquitting Ms Roberts.'

Arlene De Silva from the CPS said: 'This was a shocking attack on a pilot. This was all brought about because Mitaiare took exception to a request, in line with the airline's policy, that the child's buggy be placed in the hold.

'The onslaught that the captain faced in a confined space was unprovoked and not, as she claimed, in self-defence.

'We hope this successful prosecution demonstrates that those who attack staff or commit violence on aircraft will be prosecuted by the CPS and be held to account for their actions.'
RTHK: US sees first virus death outside Washington State

The US death toll from the coronavirus has climbed to 11 with a patient succumbing in California  the first reported fatality outside Washington state  as federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home where most of the victims were stricken.

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency. Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies.

Washington also announced another death, bringing its total to 10. Most of those who died were residents of Life Care Centre, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle.

At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Seema Verma, head of the federal Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out what happened and determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Nationwide, more than 130 people have so far been infected, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states.

Officials said they expected the number of infections in California to rise in the coming days and urged families to brace for possible school closures and the cancelation of public events.

Statewide, more than 50 people are known to be infected, the most of any state.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile said Republicans and Democrats had reached a deal to fund the response to the outbreak to the tune of US$8.3 billion. The House of Representatives passed the measure, and the Senate was to vote later on Thursday.

In South Korea, officials said the the number of cases in that country now stood at 5,766. The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also said the number of deaths have gone up to 35.

Nearly 90 percent of the national total come from the southern city of Daegu  with more than 4,300 cases confirmed there  and the neighbouring North Gyeongsang province. (AP, AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A man in his 60s has died following a three vehicle road traffic collision in Limerick.

The man was fatally injured when the car he was driving collided with a stationary vehicle on OCurry Street, in Limerick before colliding with a wall. The stationary vehicle then collided with a third stationary vehicle.

The male was treated at the scene by emergency services before being removed to University Hospital Limerick where he died later.

Both stationary vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the collision.

Gardai in Henry Street are investigating the fatal three vehicle road traffic collision that happened last night at around 9.40pm.

A Garda spokesperson told Independent.ie, "Garda Forensic Collision Investigators are currently at the scene and the road is currently closed.

"Gardai are appealing to any road users, particularly those who may have dashcam footage to contact Henry Street Garda Station on 061 212 400, the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station."
Mumbai, March 5 : Actor Ali Fazal has shot for his second major Hollywood film, "Death on the Nile". He says he has come back with a great addition to his understanding of an actor's job.

The "Victoria & Abdul" actor had shot for three months for "Death on the Nile", directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Talking about his experience, Ali said: "Honestly, it's a nascent part of my career in the West so I'm only learning with each passing day and project. And being on sets of 'Death on the Nile' too was a progressive growing experience for me." He feels that when you shoot with people who are masters of their craft, you will land up learning a lot of things.

"I'm humbled by the experience and the time I spent on the sets. I have come back with a great addition to my understanding of an actor's job, as it's a part of our lives to keep learning with each part that comes our way," said Ali.

"In this day and age, actors are no longer transitioning but merely expanding their skill sets. I aspire to work in different countries, platforms, regardless of their languages. I have found people who push me to seek parts and not projects and that's my blueprint going forward," he added.

The movie also stars "Wonder Woman" actress Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey, Armie Hammer and Annette Bening amongst others.

"They were all extremely kind, professional and warm. The entire bunch is a wonderful group of people who bring a certain energy every time they walk onto the sets. So I hope I managed to learn from them and I hope I have brought my best to the table. We were a diverse bunch who were bringing some very valuable contributions that it almost felt like the Olympics. It was the amalgamation of these unique energies that made it so interesting," said the Indian actor.

He has another international project in his kitty though he is tight-lipped about it.

Ali had made his Bollywood debut with a special appearance in the 2009 blockbuster "3 Idiots".

He then starred in "Always Kabhi Kabhi" (2011) and went on to achieve success with movies, including "Fukrey".

Also Watch: Celebs Spotted - Ali Fazal, Janhvi Kapoor and more

-- Syndicated from IANS
While the world moves between Generation Y and Generation Z, it was a case of power generation to the fore as Middle East Energy 2020, the 45th edition of the global energy platform, drew to a close on March 5 at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), setting the future of energy in motion with industry heavyweights unveiling next-generation engines that will help meet growing global energy demand.



Middle East Energy, held under the patronage of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed vin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler, will be back with its 46th edition next year from March 22 to 24, said the organisers.



Amongst more than 1,100 energy sector players from over 130 countries displaying the latest solutions for a sector in rapid transition, manufacturers proudly flexed their engine muscle at the three-day event hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy.



Here is a five-star line-up of game-changing efficient engines that caught the eye at Middle East Energy this week.



*Volvo Penta unveils new D8 genset engine



Volvo Penta, a global supplier of premium power solutions, used Middle East Energy to unveil the latest addition to an already strong product portfolio, with the launch of the new D8 Stage II and Stage IIIA/Tier 3 power generation engine.



The mega 8-litre engine made its trade show debut in Dubai. The new addition delivers industry-leading power density with a compact design for its power class, with lower fuel consumption and reduced noise levels.



*Efficiency and environment awareness from Perkins

The 2806A-E18TTAG is a series turbocharged and air-to-air charge cooled, 6-cylinder diesel engine with 18 litres capacity from Perkins, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of diesel and gas engines. Its premium features provide economic and durable operation, low emissions and advanced overall performance and reliability.



*From Russia with power  and little noise

With a projected lifetime of 30,000 hours, the YMZ 5368-20 is an eco-friendly diesel engine from GAZ, Russias top producer of commercial vehicles, which is both highly reliable and fuel-efficient.

Its advanced design allows for not only a low-cost ownership, but the engine also produces reduced noise levels and vibration.



*The new Kohler-SDMO positioning themselves as one of the best energy suppliers in the industry

As the third largest player in the global the market, Kohler-SDMO knows its way around engines and now designs its own generating set engines.

Unveiling its latest model  the KD 3500, an engine with high power density has achieved full management of the production cycle to the highest possible standard while continuously proving their reliability in the quality of the energy supplied in transitory systems.



*Kangwo Powers K16T diesel engine holds a strong presence



Chinese powerhouse Kangwo Power pulled the covers off its latest creation, this six-cylinder diesel engine that comes with an electric pump control unit and is installed with an alloy cast cylinder head.

The K16T is a supercharger with large flow and high-pressure ratio and its improved rotating speed of the water pump enhances the reliability of the cooling system.



After four-and-a-half decades as Middle East Electricity (MEE), the rebranded Middle East Energy - organised by Informa Markets - is the regions leading trade event for the power industry.



Middle East Energy featured dedicated product sectors for Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution, Energy Consumption & Management, Renewables and Digitalisation.-TradeArabia News Service
It also forced people to discover  or rediscover  Julie Dashs film Daughters of the Dust, just in time for its 25th anniversary. A sweeping, nonlinear meditation on the Great Migration as seen through three generations of Gullah women, Daughters became the first feature film directed by a black woman to have a wide theatrical release in the United States. Many were quick to observe the striking visual similarities between Beyonces opus and its critically acclaimed predecessor, and Ms. Dash herself would go on to describe being enthralled the first time she viewed Lemonade.

Part of my research in preparation for writing this piece involved reacquainting myself intimately with many of the tenets and critiques of artistic canons by the old guard, which I hadnt really done since I was in undergrad. I came across the filmmaker Paul Schraders own musings on the film canon in a 2006 Film Comment essay, in which he builds on the thoughts of T.S. Eliot and Harold Bloom and declares, The greatness of a film or filmmaker must be judged not only on its own terms but by its place in the evolution of film. (I use this quote directly later in the piece.) This leapt out to me, and helped explain part of what makes Lemonade so great: Its inspiration from Daughters of the Dust.

Yet unlike Lemonade, Ms. Dashs film was not widely seen at the time of its release. For years it was difficult to track down, available only on DVD in an out-of-print edition. Almost 30 years later, Daughters of the Dust remains Ms. Dashs only narrative feature to date, thanks to an industry that has long overlooked black women.

Which of these works deserves to be considered part of the canon, that divisive, elusive  and, traditionally, elitist  list of ostensibly foundational, exemplary art works? Well, both of them.

Initially, the structure of the entire introduction was slightly different. The original version of these couple of paragraphs in particular was less succinct, and included this: If there exists a pop culture canon, or canons, for the 2010s, Lemonade is in it. How do you talk about the ongoing evolution of the music video and the autobiographical album without holding up Lemonade as an exemplar of both forms? My editor rightly slimmed down and refocused the points I was trying to make here.

In the past 10 years, the canon has been democratized. Weve been able to observe this happening in real time: More mass art and culture has been created than perhaps in any other period, and by a greater diversity of artists. The rise of YouTube made it relatively easy for anyone with a small budget and a vision to make their own shows. (This helped Issa Rae transform from Awkward Black Girl to Insecure on HBO.) Netflix caught the ball and ran with it, venturing into original programming, eventually at warp speed; now Amazon, Hulu and other streaming platforms have followed suit. SoundCloud birthed an entire generation of rap stars.

Simultaneously, a wider range of critics and consumers are contributing to the conversation around these works than ever before, particularly through social media and digital publications. No longer do we have to take the word of the gatekeepers as a given.

In my first draft, it took me a bit longer to get to this point, but my editor suggested it would make more sense to briefly lay out the reason for this shift in the canon  the forces at work.

For centuries, the cultivating and maintenance of artistic canons  in literature, fine arts, even pop music  has been the province almost exclusively of white men. There was the 16th-century artist Giorgio Vasari and his collection of Italian biographies, The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. The English writer Joseph Addison, who in 1694 published An Account of the Greatest English Poets. The editors of the respected French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, who began putting out an annual best-of list in 1951. And Harold Bloom, the Yale professor and literary critic who died in October, who became one of the most prominent modern-day defenders of a Western canon that at its most permissive was allowed to include the likes of Emily Dickinson.

The cultural canon has typically included people and works that can be summed up as the usual suspects: Moliere, Shakespeare, the Mona Lisa, the Beatles, Citizen Kane. It has also been rightly challenged by the likes of Toni Morrison and Barbara Herrnstein Smith for its Western, white and male biases and for dismissing the voices of women and people of color.

The framing of this section came as a suggestion from my editor, who wrote to me via email that I should follow the following arc (note that TK, in journalism-speak, means to come): Heres what the canon has historically been  a pantheon of white men from Beethoven to Roman Polanski. [Then work in some of the more definitional stuff here.] Its been rightly critiqued for being conservative, because who wants to be told by gatekeepers that they have to appreciate TK TK in order to make art.

Calls for a more inclusive canon were not well received by Mr. Bloom and others. In 1994, the literary scholar Peter Shaw tore apart the idea in his article The Assault on the Canon: When you remove a Shakespeare play from a class syllabus to make room for, say, Alice Walkers The Color Purple, he wrote, it presents the specific issue of which of two works is superior.

Canon assaulters are reluctant to engage in such a confrontation for obvious reasons, he added. Yet in the same essay, Mr. Shaw acknowledged that the canon is regarded as imperfect at any particular point in time and in need of constant reform and revision.

It was kind of wild, if unsurprising, to see how perfectly Mr. Shaws essay maps onto the many critiques that have been made against woke politics in the present, including of #OscarsSoWhite. He opens it with the rather dismissive sentence, The debate over whether the classics of Western literature deserve their canonical status is a political rather than intellectual phenomenon.

Lemonade and Daughters of the Dust were affirmed and reaffirmed as required viewing. Beyonces film made its way onto college syllabuses, and Daughters of the Dust was restored, given a theatrical rerelease and finally became widely accessible to audiences once it landed on Netflix in 2017.
Below are my Wine Enthusiast reviews for January 2020. Wines are listed alphabetically by winery. Read information on how I review wines here . Read about

All of these reviews are freely available on-line at the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide . See previous Wine Enthusiast reviews re-published in this space here . Search Wine Enthusiast 's on-line database here . Read instructions on how to find Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast here

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A whole lot to unpack from the 86 wine reviews in the January Wine Enthusiast, and Ill write more about more of these wines and wineries in subsequent posts.First up, what an impressive job College Cellars is doing with its wines ().College Cellars is a teaching winery for the. Tim Donahue (pictured above right) is director of winemaking. Joel Perez (left) is director of viticulture. Sabrina Lueck (below) is instructor of enology, and Danielle Swan-Froese fills out the team as program coordinator.The program and winery focus on giving students hands-on experience. The program has an illustrious group of graduates that have already had a significant impact on the Washington wine industry. These people include Chris Peterson (), Elizabeth Bourcier (), Steven Thompson (), Shane Collins (), Ali Mayfield (), Brian Rudin (), Ryan Crane (), Marcus Rafanelli (), Ryans Raber and Driver (), Josh McDaniels (), Keith Johnson (), Brooke Robertson (), and the list goes on.Over 200 graduates are currently employed in the wine industry. "We have 57 winemakers, 26 cellar masters or workers, 22 assistant winemakers, 19 vineyard mangers, and 12 students who are studying at 4 year institutions," says Lueck. "51 are owners or partners in their business, including wineries, vineyards, vineyard management companies, and sales companies."The college has plenty more students in the pipeline. The future for the Washington wine industry couldn't be brighter. Alternately, for aspiring winemakers and vineyard managers looking for a place to learn We talk a lot about the DeLille Cellars Chaleur Blanc and deservedly so. It is consistently one of the top white wines in the state. Continuing in this trend, the 2018 offering is a knee buckler (). But we should also be talking about DeLilles Roussanne. This can be an absolutely stunning, unique wine, and the 2018 offering is just that (). It offers aromas of nori, seashell, and tropical fruit with an exquisitely balanced palate. I cant think of another wine like it coming from Washington (though Lattas Roussanne also hits a consistently high mark).Of note, as Ive written about on, DeLille recently moved into the old Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville and did an extensive remodel. The tasting room is now open for seated tastings by appointment.The new red Rhone releases from Saviah Cellars are top notch (). They also offer some crazy good value (). But one of the wines that I found most compelling was the winerys Viognier (). Fruit for this wine comes from the Rocks District, and its like drinking a fresh peach from a glass full of stones. There is a trend of more white wines coming out of Walla Walla Valley, and this is another terrific example.Then on the value side, theres Saviahs Jack series wines, which always offer a lot of bang for the buck (). In this great bounty of offerings from the winery, I havent even mentioned the). What a set of releases!In January I issued a 2020 Washington Merlot Challenge to readers to drink at least one bottle of Washington Merlot each month this year. Part of the inspiration was the last couple vintages from Seven Hills Winery , one of which is reviewed here (). The 2017 offering is even more impressive.I would be remiss if I didnt mention the wines from Time & Direction . Steve Wells started this winery, which focuses on Rhone-style wines, with the 2016 vintage. A tasting room for the winery opened in downtown Walla Walla last year.Much of Time & Directions focus is on fruit from the Royal Slope. Ive been telling every winemaker who will listen lately about the potential I am seeing from this area  as much as any area in Washington  for Syrah and other Rhone varieties. When we talk about Syrah in Washington, we talk about Red Willow, Boushey Vineyard, and  more broadly  the Rocks District. I believe Lawrence Vineyards, a collection of sites managed by the Lawrence family, and other vineyards on the Royal Slope will become part of this list. Whats got me so excited? Wines like these from Time & Direction from this region (). They are not to be missed.The Royal Slope can bring a fascinating combination of savory notes, such as black olive and smoked meat, not unlike in some respects the Rocks District though without the high pH and associated mouthfeel. The wines can also bring a lovely sense of structure. Compelling Rhone offerings from this area can be found from Gard K Vintners , and others. The Royal Slope currently has an appellation application pending.Looking for wines that offer terrific value? Check out the Merf wines. These come from Ste Michelle Wine Estates winemaker David Merfeld, who heads up winemaking at Northstar . Talking with Merf last fall, his intention is to offer high quality and superb value. He definitely accomplishes that goal ().The labels are based on the hood of a Camaro, David Merfelds first car. The extended Merfeld family has certainly taken notice of the wines. Theres Merfelds coming out the woodwork! Merf told me last summer. Mom and dad are proud.Again, more to come on some of the wines below in subsequent posts. Without further ado.* * *Syrah makes up 52% of this wine, with the balance 26% Mourvedre and 22% Grenache. The aromas of apple and cherry are lifted and show a bit of booze. Ripe fruit flavors follow, trailing on the finish. The warmth of the vintage shows.Raspberry, cherry, vanilla, coconut and sweet spice aromas are followed by flavors that mix fruit and barrel. Overall, the oak is far out front, and, as a result, it shows some astringency that is a bit distracting.For the first time, this wine is blended with a touch of Viognier (3%). It was partially fermented in concrete, and the aromas are lifted with notes of huckleberry, raspberry, herb, orange peel, black pepper and abundant minerals. The blue-fruited palate is silky, soft and fresh, with a fine sense of acidity and tannin structure. It brings a lot of finesse as well. Best after 2024, with a long life after that.This is the winerys second offering from its Rocks District Ancient Stones Vineyard. It was fermented 100% whole cluster, and has nuanced aromas of wet gravel, brown stems, grilled asparagus, flower, green olive, orange peel and mineral, followed by a full-feeling, textured, but still elegant palate, full of olive flavors. The finish draws out. Its a classy, exquisitely made interpretation of this area.Grenache makes up 49% of this wine, with the rest Mourvedre (34%), Counoise (11%) and Syrah. The aromas are very pretty, with notes of white pepper, blueberry, raspberry and mineral. The palate is medium bodied, bringing a sense of delicacy. Its all about elegance, with a fine sense of peppery spicing that ups the interest. A long finish caps it off.This wine hails from the states first Syrah vineyard. Intriguing aromas of smoked meat, blueberry, coffee, dried herbs and aniseed lead to quite restrained fruit and savory flavors. The overall balance and length is striking. A lot of tannic structure backs it up. Theres no mistaking where the wine comes from. It will have a long life in front of it. Best after 2023.Coming from one of the states top Syrah sites, this wine was fermented 60% whole clustermore than ever before. The aromas are brooding, with notes of ember, whole blueberry, raspberry and assorted dried herbs. The palate is soft and brings coffee flavors with savory streaks throughout. An extended finish caps it off. This one is all about sophistication, but with a sneaky sense of intensity and enough structure to reward time in the cellar. It only ramps up with time open. Best after 2022.Fascinating aromas of assorted dried herb, cherry, dried flower, raspberry and anise are followed by an elegantly styled palate. The tannins give a light squeeze. Far from a big, bold Cabernet, its a pretty representation of the variety and vintage, with enough stuffing packed in to do well in the cellar.Peach, lime leaf, sweet herb, botrytis and Nestea iced tea aromas are followed by off-dry stone fruit flavors, with plenty of Nestea accents. Its an enjoyable, warmer climate example of the variety with spot-on balance.The Rocks District shows itself on the aromas, with notes of green olive, green herbs, tobacco, orange peel and mint. The palate starts out sleek in style, ramping up significantly with time open. Fruit and savory flavors mix.Light in color and very pretty. Fruit-driven aromas of whole berry, plum and dried herb are followed by blue fruit flavors that bring a sense of elegance and texture. Its gorgeous.Coming from grapes donated by the Figgins family (Leonetti Cellar, Figgins), cocoa, green herb, thyme, spice, green pepper and whole black cherry aromas set the stage. Soft, light, pretty, acid-driven flavors follow. It impresses.The aromas intrigue, with notes of smoke, cedar, dried tobacco and red cherry. A light, elegant palate follows, with a pleasing, juicy feel. The transparency is enchanting.Examples of Mourvedre are a rarity in this appellation. The aromas pop, with generous helpings of freshly ground black pepper and dark roasted coffee bean, along with fresh herbs. The palate shows more of the same. It displays a sense of lightness and deftness that heightens the interest, with a citrus streak throughout, showing the varietys lighter side.Examples of this variety are a rarity in the appellation. Aromas of smoke, brown stem, hard candy, pot roast, black pepper and herbs lead to elegant, tart, citrusy fruit flavors. The tannins give a firm handshake. Give it some time to settle in.Aged in amphorae, this has unique aromas of plum, wet clay, smoke and blackberry, followed by red currant, distant smoke and talc flavors. A medicinal note lingers on the finish. The tannins have a slightly tacky feel.Aromas of toast, pear, the underside of a pineapple, candlewax, peach and wet slate lead to full-bodied fruit flavors. It shows a lovely sense of texture and richness. The toastiness is quite upfront at present. Give it a bit of bottle aging to integrate.Sauvignon Blanc makes up most of this blend at 71%, with the rest Semillon. Aromas of gooseberry, herb, the underside of a pineapple, miso and toast are followed by full-bodied, intense, richly textured kiwi, pineapple and herb flavors that show great depth. A hyperextended finish follows. Its the best example of this style in the state. Best after 2022.Coming from esteemed Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, the wine has aromas that fascinate, with notes of nori, wet seashell and tropical fruit. A full-bodied, fruit-filled palate follows, showing exceptional balance. It has a big-time yum factor and a lingering finish. Its one of the best example of this variety to come out of the state.Coming from one of the states premier vineyards, this wine has appealing aromas of graphite, blackberry, licorice, spice, black coffee and black cherry, which are followed by well-balanced, medium-bodied dark fruit flavors with tightly wound, slightly gruff tannins that need some time. It shows a sense of poise and polish. Best after 2023.The aromas delight, fresh and fruit filled, with notes of fresh black currant, plum, boysenberry, tangerine rind, coffee bean and herb, with the palate showing more of the same. A light smoky streak runs through it. Its a fascinating offering of this variety.The aromas draw you into the glass, with notes of bittersweet chocolate, dark coffee, dried and fresh herb, orange peel, blue fruit, cherry and campfire. The palate is soft, elegant and sumptuous, brightened by lively acidity, with a fine sense of tannic structure backing it all up. Its a strong inaugural release.Aromas of slate, mango, cantaloupe and papaya lead to lighter-styled, dry fruit flavors. It brings a sense of elegance, not entirely standing on its own, but as a nice accent to a meal. Pair it with cashew-crusted halibut with a mango-kiwi salsa.Peach, lees and corn on the cob aromas are followed by somewhat lighter-styled fruit flavors. It doesnt all seem to connect together, looking for a bit more texture or oomph.Light aromas of poached pear, padded butter and spice lead to medium-bodied yellow apple and pear flavors. The palate doesnt all hold together throughout, but there are plenty of interesting things happening.This is the inaugural release of this wine. Theres no mistaking the variety, with its aromas of rubbed lime leaf, lime and flower. Off-dry, plentiful white peach and lemon flavors follow. Lively acidity stands it all up.Unsettled seeming aromas of green pepper, fresh herb, tire rubber and anise are followed by lightly concentrated, ripe fruit flavors. Its an odd mix of overripe and underripe.In this blend of 60% Syrah and 40% Merlot, the aromas offer notes of raspberry and cranberry along with red cherry and barrel spice. Butterscotch and cherry flavors follow, showing a slightly tacky feel. The oak gets in the way.High register aromas of baking spice and cherry are followed by creamy butterscotch and cherry flavors. The oak gets out front.Aromas of exotic spice, Craisins, dried thyme, black currant, vanilla and black licorice are out front. Fruit and barrel play off each other nicely on an elegant, cranberry-filled palate. It has a pleasing mouthwatering sense to it.Cabernet Sauvignon makes up half of this wine, with the rest nearly equal parts of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The aromas offer notes of cocoa powder, dried and fresh herbs, tire rubber, anise and cherry candy, with the palate showing more of the same. Its remarkably elegant for the vintage and appellation. The reductive note is strong. If it blows off, it easily moves up, because whats beneath it is beautiful.Fascinating aromas of citrus, pomegranate, cherry and new barrel lead to ripe, full cherry and cranberry flavors. A tart lick of acidity and firm tannins tie it together. The varietal is hard to find, but, still, its part successful, part intellectually interesting.Though labeled as Syrah, this wine is more GSM blend, with 21% Grenache and 2% Mourvedre. Reserved aromas of herbs, raspberry jam, barrel spice and blue fruit lead to ripe, extracted red and blue fruit flavors. The tannins initially bring some grip and astringency, needing time to settle in, but once it does it delivers a big, fruit-filled punch. Decant, or drink after 2022.The aromas are reserved, with notes of raspberry preserves and cranberry along with light reductive notes. The flavors are palate coating and rich. A warm, blue and red fruit-filled finish caps it off. It provides a lot of value.The aromas offer notes of dried and macerated cranberry, raspberry and fruit leather, seeming a bit advanced. Full-bodied, jammy fruit flavors follow, with a nice lick of acidity pulling it all together.Aromas of cherry meat, orange peel, black tea and dried herbs lead to somewhat sweet cherry and green herb flavors in this Merlot, blended with 18% Cabernet Franc. The tannins give a light grip.Intriguing aromas of macerated cranberry, white pepper and currant lead to quite smoky-seeming flavors with a citrusy finish.The aromas are reserved, with notes of cherry and berry, showing some volatility. Quite sweet-seeming fruit flavors follow. A warm finish caps it off.Pale salmon in color, with aromas of raspberry, watermelon and herb, followed by just off-dry, broad feeling flavors. It could use a bit more acidity to stand it all up.Sangiovese makes up 70% of this wine, with the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. The aromas are brooding out of the gate, with notes of blackberry, cherry, herb and spice. Cranberry-centric flavors, light through the middle, follow. It seems quite dried out.This wine is half Malbec, half Cabernet Sauvignon. The aromas provide notes of black currant, flower, anise and fruit leather, seeming unsettled. Somewhat jammy fruit flavors follow. It lacks the concentration to keep it all together.Aromas of lemon curd, unstirred lees, wilted flower and cider are followed by lean-seeming tropical fruit flavors.Aromas of cranberry, cherry, baking spice and anise are followed by black tea, cherry and cranberry flavors. It seems overripe, bringing some alcohol along with it but lacking the concentration to tie it together.Aromas of black currant, cedar, toast, spice, plum, green pepper and cherry lead to dense, tightly backed red and black fruit flavors. It has a lovely sense of freshness, balance, and lengtha whole lot of wine for the money.Winemaker David Merf Merfeld has made a name for himself making top end Merlot at Northstar. Here, he looks to bring high quality, well-priced wines to the masses and more than succeeds. The aromas offer notes of spice, corn silk and peach. Theres a lovely sense of texture and richness to the palate that carries through the finish. It hits well above its price point.This is a blend of Syrah (33%), Cabernet Sauvignon (29%), Merlot (19%) and Grenache (19%). It offers aromas of whole berry, carbonic maceration, dried herbs, raspberry and scorched earth, along with light barrel accents. The flavors are tart and elegant, backed by firm tannins. An unusual mix of these varieties that is just a baby now, needing a bit of time in the cellar to show its fullest. Best after 2022.This comes from a Washington label for Cakebread. Plentiful, appealing aromas of herbs, red cherry, fresh tobacco, graphite, coffee and gun smoke are followed by pretty, light and airy fruit flavors. A lovely sense of acidity brightens it. The intensity is dialed back, but the balance is spot-on.Unusual aromas of cranberry, dried cherry and mint lead to orange peel, cherry and herb flavors. A firm tannic structure backs it up.Aromas of mesquite smoke, herbs and cherry are followed by lightly concentrated cough drop flavors with a strong medicinal streak. It doesnt all work.The second vintage of this wine is a blend of fruit from Walla Walla Valley, Horse Heaven Hills and Red Mountain appellations. Aromas of cocoa, green pepper, black cherry and black currant are followed by light but nicely balanced fruit flavors.This wine comes from the Rocky Reach area, 15 miles southwest of Lake Chelan, where, unlike the rest of the Columbia Valley, the bedrock is granite. Its a blend of Grenache (48%), Syrah (33%) and Mourvedre (19%), with intriguing aromas of raspberry, herbs, orange peel, cherry and whiffs of spice, leading to a flavorful palate that shows a sense of intensity and restraint. Give it some time to open up, and it shines brightly. Best after 2023.Somewhat reticent aromas of berry, cigar box and herb lead to a medium-bodied, supremely flavorful palate that shows a sense of sophistication, texture and richness, with plentiful white pepper and citrus accents. It shows the promise for this variety in the appellation.Fruit for this wine comes from the nascent Rocky Reach region at the edge of the Columbia River. Aromas of graphite, whole green pepper, bright berry, coffee and herbs along with a whiff of tire rubber lead to somewhat elegantly styled fruit flavors that ramp up intensity with time open. Theres a lot of promise there.Named after the 11 dams on the Columbia River, this wine has aromas of vanilla, cocoa, cherry, herb and spice upfront. The palate offers length and depth, with the tannins giving a firm squeeze. Give it some time to settle in. Best after 2023.Vibrant jasmine aromas are out front, with ginger, green apple and white flowers trailing behind. Dry Nestea iced tea and jasmine flavors follow. Its more interesting than successful.This wine is a blend of fruit from Funk and Watermill Estate vineyards in the Rocks District. Knee-buckling aromas of ember, fresh mortared herb, outrageous amounts of green olive, moist earth after it rains and charcuterie plate are followed by a full-feeling, supremely flavorful palate. The green olive-filled finish sails into the distance as far as you want to look, kicking it up a notch. It shows the winerys hallmark sense of sophistication and detail along with plenty of intensity.Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 67% of this wine, with the rest 22% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc. The aromas are arresting and complex, with notes of coffee, fresh and dried herbs, moist earth, olive and dark raspberry. The palate is textured, layered and flavorful, mixing fruit and savory. A lingering spice- and coffee-filled finish caps it off. Stunning stuff.The aromas pop, with notes of green and black olive tapenade, fresh herbs, plum, firepit, flower and smoked meat, showing complexity and detail. Full, generous, textured fruit and flavors follow, bringing a sense of layering. Its like drinking a charcuterie plate. An ember note lingers on the finish. It brings a lot of elegance.This wine is a blend of fruit from Funk Estate, Watermill, Lewis, and Anna Marie vineyards. The aromas are reserved, with notes of dried thyme, moist earth, green olive and crushed coriander. Very pretty, sleek-seeming fruit and savory flavors follow, with a citrusy finish that impresses.Coming out of the winerys estate vineyard in the Rocks District and fermented in concrete egg, the wine boasts generous aromas of ripe peach, honeysuckle, melon rind and mineral, followed by full-bodied, nectarous, textured stone fruit flavors. Its like drinking a fresh peach in a glass of rocks.Merlot (73%) takes the lead on this wine, with the rest Malbec (11%), Cabernet Franc (8%) and Petit Verdot (8%). The aromas offer notes of plum, red and black currant and dried herbs. Full-feeling, somewhat jammy flavors follow, with a soft sense of tannic structure. A warm finish caps it off.Fruit for this wine comes from Stillwater Creek on the Royal Slope. Aged in Burgundy barrels with weekly lees stirring, the wine features aromas offering notes of lees, clarified butter, ripe peach and talc. A full-bodied, creamy-feeling palate, full of toast and stone fruit flavors follow, with a pleasing sense of vibrancy and restraint. It lingers on the finish.Theres no mistaking the variety, with its raspberry, herb, cherry, white pepper and spice aromas. The palate is rich and full, packing a mouthful of fruit flavors while keeping it all in balance. It delivers a lot of quality and value.Blended with 10% each Semillon and Viognier, this Sauvignon Blanc features herb, whole pineapple and lime aromas, followed by full-feeling herb, grapefruit and pineapple flavors. It doesnt quite all fit together, but there are still interesting things happening.Unusual aromas of whole kiwi, corn on the cob and almond skin are followed by a palate packed full of kiwi and mango flavors. It doesnt scream Chardonnay, but its tasty in its own right.The aromas are vibrant, with notes of raspberry jam, mortared herb and black licorice. The palate is full flavored, but still fresh, with the tannins giving a tight grip out of the gate, loosening with some time open. The stuffing is beautiful. Give it some time to settle in. Best after 2022.The graphite, green herb, licorice drop, golden raisin, spice cabinet and cherry aromas lean slightly into the green. Medium-bodied cherry flavors follow. A light medicinal streak running through it, distracting a bit from an otherwise lovely, almost Bordeaux-esque wine.Cabernet Sauvignon (88%) makes up the backbone of this wine, with the rest Merlot (8%) and Cabernet Franc from Ciel du Cheval, Dineen and Slide Mountain vineyards. Blackberry, green pepper and spice aromas lead to medium-bodied bell pepper, blackberry and black tea flavors. The tannins are tightly wound at present. Best after 2023.Merlot comprises half of this wine, with the rest Cabernet Franc (32%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (18%). Quite reticent out-of-the-gate aromas of raspberry, dark fruit, flower, pencil shavings and spice are followed by medium-bodied fruit flavors with quite firmly wound, chewy tannins that need significant time to settle in. Best after 2024.Cabernet Franc makes up half of this wine, and the rest is Cabernet Sauvignon (45%) and Merlot (5%), with the fruit coming from Ciel du Cheval, Slide Mountain and Two Blondes. The aromas offer notes of fruit leather, black licorice, graphite and medicine cabinet. The baking spice and black fruit flavors show a sense of freshness and elegance, with a lot of structure surrounding them. A medicinal note caps it off. The tannins need some time to settle in.This wine is almost all Cabernet Sauvignon (95%), with the rest Merlot. Anise, fruit rollup, black cherry, anise and medicine cabinet notes are out front, with the fruit seeming dried out. The sweet but light flavors have a strong medicinal streak running throughout.Half of this wine is Merlot, with the rest equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Aromas of hay, dried cherry and medicine cabinet make up the core. The palate is equal parts sweet and tart, with plenty of medicinal flavors. Its an odd mix.Fruit for this wine comes from 1985 plantings at Gamache Vineyard. The aromas pop, with notes of gooseberry, lemon, herb and wet slate. The palate is rich and full bodied, redolent with papaya and mango flavors, with plentiful citrus accents. Its flat-out delicious and brings a sense of seriousness.Touriga Nacional makes up 75% of this wine, with the rest Syrah (17%) and Petit Verdot (8%). Fascinating aromas of boysenberry, dried tobacco, green herbs, orange peel and cedar are followed by elegant blood orange flavors, interlaced with light barrel accents. The sense of texture heightens the appeal. Its equal parts intrigue and delivery.This wine is 83% Sangiovese and 17% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark coffee, herb, dried tobacco and cherry aromas are followed by sumptuous, textured red and black fruit flavors. The texture is a big part of the appeal. It doesnt necessarily scream Sangiovese, but when its this tasty, who cares?Blended with 22% Syrah, the wine features butterscotch, sweet barrel spice, coffee, plum and fresh cut wood aromas out front, with the oak taking over. The cherry and plum flavors struggle to get to the surface, with the tannins showing some astringency that settles over time. Despite being only 33% new French, the wood at times steals the show, even with all the other good things going on.Fruit for this wine comes from an up-and-coming site on the Royal Slope. The aromas pop, with notes of honeysuckle, peach and wet slate. Full-bodied but still fresh, rounded fruit flavors followlike biting into a ripe peach. It brings a sense of texture and intensity that is captivating and will do well with some time in the cellar. Best after 2021.All of the fruit for this wine comes from Solaksen Vineyard, a place that is quickly establishing itself as one of the top Syrah sites in the state. The Syrah is blended with 5% Viognier, and the aromas are arresting, with notes of blueberry, black olive, flower, smoke and dried herbs. The palate is seamless in feel, with citrus accents and a lengthy finish following. It brings a sense of freshness that ups the interest.Two-thirds of the fruit for this wine comes from a new site, Eritage Vineyard in Walla Walla Valley. The rest comes from Solaksen on the Royal Slope, with a pinch of Viognier added to the mix. The aromas show nuance, with notes of olive, firepit, herb, blue fruit, orange zest and crushed rock. The flavors show the same, bringing a sense of freshness and poise. It delights.This wine is mostly Eritage Vineyard Syrah along with pinches of Grenache and Mourvedre from Boushey Vineyard. The aromas arent ready to reveal their charms at present, offering light notes of plum, olive, raspberry and fresh herbs. The palate, on the other hand, is showy, textured and fresh, with olive flavors leading to a tart, citrus-filled finish. The tannins give a squeeze. Give it some time to open up.Named after the cheat code for an old video game, this wine is a light amber color, with its unfined/unfiltered quality bringing some cloudiness. Hailing from a vineyard on the Royal Slope, it has appealing aromas of pear and strawberry, followed by full but still sleek seeming, rounded feeling fruit flavors with a lovely texture. A lively sense of freshness connects it all. Its a big-time winnerone of the roses of the vintagethat has a lot of staying power for some cellaring.Coming from a vineyard at 1,467 feet in elevationhigh by Washington standards42% Sangiovese is at the heart of this wine, with the rest 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot. Graphite, fresh and dried cranberry, barrel spice, sweet dried herb, red cherry and black licorice aromas are followed by a full-feeling palate, redolent with cherry and cranberry flavors. Underlying it all is a lot of acidity and a quite firm, slightly gruff tannic structure. Give it time to settle in. Best after 2023.Coming from the winerys estate vineyard that sits at nearly 1,500 feet in elevation, the wine has aromas offering notes of black tea, dried herbs, anise, graphite, black cherry, green pepper and dark chocolate. Soft, elegant, exquisitely balanced fruit and savory flavors follow. The lively acidity and chewy tannin structure up the interest. This site shows a lot of promise. Give it some time in the cellar to see it at its best. Drink after 2023.Lovely aromas of dried herb, scorched earth, ripe raspberry, crushed dried leaves and anise are out front. The palate brings lightly tacky-feeling cherry and chocolate flavors, showing the wines youth. It needs some additional time in the bottle, but all of the stuffing is there. Best after 2022.Aromas of savory herb, pencil eraser, smoke, barrel spice and cherry are out front. Lip-smacking, elegant pomegranate, chocolate and cherry flavors follow, with light grainy tannins backing it all up. It brings a sense of freshness. The tannins need some time to settle in.Pale in color, this has bright, fruit-filled aromas of raspberry, cranberry and mineral, leading to light, ethereal red fruit flavors. Tart acidity ties it together. Its a very pretty example of the variety that will shine at the dinner table.
CRESTON, Ohio  The Norwayne FFA hosted a Feed-a-Farmer lunch Feb. 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. At least 90 farmers attended.

In years past, the group hosted a breakfast, but decided to try a lunch this year. Many farmers gave feedback and said they preferred the new lunch over the old breakfast.

  

CONVOY, Ohio  The Crestview FFA recently held their FFA week events. For eighth grade recruitment Feb. 12, eighth graders visited the agriculture department and rotated through stations including classroom, engines, welding and a petting zoo.

The community lunch was Feb. 19. About 100 community members attended and socialized with the FFA members. Members gave a presentation showcasing some of the events they had throughout the year.

The final event for the week was a staff appreciation breakfast. Members brought in food and arrived at 6 a.m. to being cooking breakfast for staff from all three buildings. They fed about 60 staff members.

  

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio  Members of the Northwestern FFA chapter competed in the District 3 Ag Sales contest Feb. 24 at Northwestern High School. Jadeyn Berry, Dugan McLaughlin, Desiree Smith and Brock Tegtmeier all participated.

The team placed second overall in the district, with Smith placing first, Tegtmeier second, Berry third and McLaughlin fifth individually. The team will be advancing to the state contest March 5 at the Marysville National Guard Training and Community Center.

The chapter also celebrated National FFA Week Feb. 18-21, with a pajama day, a jersey day and a farmer day. The last day of the week was FFA Pride Day. Members also served breakfast to faculty and staff at the high school that morning and had a school assembly that day.

The assembly included competitions between grade levels, including a pedal tractor race, a frozen t-shirt contest and milk chugging.

Throughout the week, students in the school were encouraged to donate money to require a staff member of the students choice to kiss a piglet. The students in the school raised nearly $207, with the FFA chapter matching that for a total of $414. This balance will be donated to the Grocery Bag Ministry.

  

BELMONT, Ohio  The Zane Trace FFA chapter was represented by 13 members at the Union Local High School FFA Lock-in on Feb. 22-23.

The training is made up of six different leadership sessions to including personal, mental, emotional, physical, social and lifelong growth. It fulfills a requirement for the state degree,

Along with mandatory requirements, students also had fun with other FFA chapters in square dancing, line dancing, dodgeball and an ice cream party.
Two foreign trawlers packed with over USD 33 million worth of heroin and crystal methamphetamine were seized in Sri Lanka's biggest-ever drugs bust at sea, a navy spokesman said on Thursday.

Troops found 400 kg (about 880 pounds) of heroin and 100 kg (about 220 pounds) of the drug "ice" on board the two vessels, spokesman Isuru Sooriyabandara said.

The street value of the seized narcotics was estimated by officials to be 6,000 million rupees (USD 33.5 million).

The vessels, as well as a Sri Lankan fishing boat, were escorted on Thursday to a harbour near the capital Colombo.

Sixteen foreign crew and five Sri Lankan crewmen were detained for questioning, Sooriyabandara added. The nationalities of the foreigners were not disclosed by authorities.

"The two foreign vessels were trying to offload the drugs onto a Sri Lankan fishing boat," Sooriyabandara told AFP.

The foreign vessels, which carried no registration, were intercepted in international waters some 1,100 kilometres (687 miles) from Sri Lanka's coast.

Sooriyabandara said investigators were checking GPS data on board the vessels to establish the route and the point of origin.

Authorities said initial investigations suggested the Iran-Pakistan coast was the point of origin.

In 2016, the navy arrested 10 Iranians, two Pakistanis and one each from India and Singapore for allegedly trying to smuggle 110 kilogrammes of heroin into the island nation via a trawler.

The country's previous largest drug haul was in December 2016 when police seized 800 kilogrammes of cocaine on a ship at Colombo's port from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah port.

Six months earlier, authorities discovered 301 kilogrammes of cocaine inside a shipping container at Colombo.

Authorities believe the Indian Ocean island is also being used as a trafficking transit point.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A private legal practitioner, Akoto Ampaw has written to the state requesting details on Ghanas preparedness towards a potential outbreak of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

Ghana is among 13 priority countries in Africa identified as being at high risk of getting the virus because of their established links with China.

In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, Mr. Ampaw expressed concern with the limited information available to the public.

As a citizen of Ghana, I am deeply disturbed about the structure (if any) our state authorities have established to inform Ghanaians on a regular basis on the preparations that our health care system is taking to deal with this menace, the content of public information on these preparations, the paucity of information to the public on what self-help measures members of the public should be taking to avoid or minimize contracting the virus, Mr. Ampaw said in the letter.

Because of these concerns, Mr. Ampaw said he had found it necessary to exercise his right to information guaranteed under the Constitution.

Among other things, the lawyer is requesting for details on the official channels of communication to the general public on the COVID-19 situation.

He is also seeking clarity on how the government plans to update the population on the situation of infected countries to allow information to the travelling public.

Mr. Ampaw also requested some assurances on the extent to which health care in Ghana could withstand the effects of the virus in China.

Considering that Ghana sources majority of its drugs and non-drug consumables from China, what measures are in place to ensure that general healthcare in the country is not unduly affected as a result of this global health emergency?

His letter comes after the President toured the Kotoka International Airport, the Tema General Hospital and the Greater Accra Regional Hospital to gain a feel of Ghana preparedness measures.

President Nana Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, expressed his satisfaction with the measures put in place to deal with the threat of the novel coronavirus.

According to Ghana's preparedness plan for an outbreak, the state is working along World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols.

The Ministry of Health has sent out alerts to all regions to update their respective preparedness plans and activate their respective public health management committees.

Ghana currently has testing capabilities for the virus at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research. Find below Akoto Ampaws questions as contained in his letter QUESTIONS ON NOVEL CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 Structure

Has a centralized structure been established by the government to tackle the Covid-19 virus threat?

If so, what agencies constitute this structure and how regularly do these agencies meet? INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC

What are the official channels of communication to the general public on the COVID-19 situation How do you update the population on the situation of infected countries to allow information to the travelling public

PORT HEALTH

What specific measures are in place at the various points of entry into Ghana i.e. international airport, sea ports and land ports (considering that Nigeria has recorded a case)? How do we intend to quarantine suspected cases at the ports of entry? What is the nature of collaboration with other ministries, especially foreign affairs and Interior, to suspend flights into the country from epicenters of the virus? Do we even intend to do that? Which authority is vested with the power to recommend travel bans to countries severely affected such as China, South Korea, Iran, Japan and Italy? In the event a decision is taken to bring back Ghanaians from Wuhan, what measures are in place or will be put in place to ensure that this country is well protected?

PREVENTION

What information is being given to the general public on preventive measures and to what extent is it systematic? What measures are in place to quarantine suspected cases in communities should we have a case? Any advice on crowds and gatherings such as festivals, funerals, schools, churches, stadia etc.? How do you intend to follow up on contacts of suspect and or infected cases, i.e. contact tracing? Does the country have enough logistics for prevention such as hand sanitizers, face masks etc.?

CASE DETECTION AND MANAGEMENT

Do we have enough medical laboratories for testing for the virus in samples taken from suspected persons? How many test kit do we currently have in the country? What steps have been taken to acquire more of such kit and when do we expect to receive it? What plans are in place to transport samples to testing centres for confirmation? Do we have enough personal protective equipment (PPEs) in hospitals and clinics for medical personnel to attend to suspected cases? How many and how are the PPEs distributed across the country? Have medical personnel been adequately trained in taking these samples and treating patients? When was the training done nationwide? How many health care personnel have been involved in these training? Do our hospitals and clinics have the right procedures to prevent and control infections? Do we have enough containment and treatment centres in the country? Where are the designated treatment centres? Are these centres adequately resourced to handle these cases, including adequate numbers of ventilators, considering that in the event of severe illness, these patients will need to be on ventilators?

EFFECT OF VIRUS ON HEALTHCARE

Considering that Ghana sources majority of its drugs and non-drug consumables from China, what measures are in place to ensure that general healthcare in the country is not unduly affected as a result of this global health emergency?

---citinewsroom
Washington  A Pentagon contractor working as a linguist in Iraq has been arrested and charged with espionage for allegedly passing highly classified information about U.S. intelligence sources to an individual tied to Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Mariam Thompson, 61, of Rochester, Minnesota, made her first appearance in U.S. District Court in Washington. She faces one count of unlawfully retaining defense information and one count of transmitting the information to a representative of a foreign government, as well as a count of conspiracy. The latter two counts carry potential sentences of life in prison or the death penalty, under certain circumstances. The sentence for the first count is up to 10 years.

Wearing plainclothes and a pink cardigan, hair pulled back in a bun, Thompson listened quietly as the charges were read aloud, her hands alternately clasped tightly on the table or rubbing her face. A number of high-profile federal prosecutors, including the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and lawyers from the Justice Department's National Security Division, were present in the relatively crowded courtroom, underscoring the severity of the charges.

An affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint detailed the allegations against her. In December 2019, Thompson was a linguist assigned to a special operations facility in Irbil, Iraq. One day after demonstrators stormed the American embassy in Baghdad to protest U.S. airstrikes against an Iranian-backed militia, Thompson began collecting information from the Pentagon's networks about human intelligence sources at the behest of a co-conspirator with ties to Hezbollah, Tehran's regional proxy, according to the affidavit.

img-20200304-152628.jpg

Mariam Thompson as seen in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. William J. Hennessy Jr.

Prosecutors say she accessed 57 files over the next six weeks about eight U.S. sources, information the government says she "did not have a legitimate need to access." The files contained "names, personal identification data, background information, and photographs of the human sources, as well as operations cables detailing information the human sources provided," according to the affidavit.

Story continues

In February, FBI agents searched her living quarters and found under her mattress a handwritten note in Arabic containing the names of three human sources who were collecting intelligence for the U.S., with instructions that their phones should be monitored. The note also said another person, who the affidavit said was a "target of the United States," should be warned.

After she was arrested, Thompson waived her Miranda rights and told FBI agents that she was passing on the information to a "romantic interest," known in the affidavit as the co-conspirator. The co-conspirator is a Lebanese national who has ties to Hezbollah, and Thompson said she provided the information at his request, the affidavit said.

Thompson told investigators that she relayed details gleaned from the files by memorizing them, writing them down and sending them via video chat on a secure messaging platform. The FBI gained access to her phone and found a screenshot showing a second note which included the name of another source and details about how the source was gathering intelligence.

In conversations with the FBI quoted in the affidavit, Thompson said she wasn't sure whether her co-conspirator was affiliated with Hezbollah or Amal, a Lebanese political party. Thompson said she thought Hezbollah was "bad" and that their members are "terrorists," according to the affidavit.

At her court appearance, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Cummings told Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather that Thompson remains a grave threat to national security and should remain in custody. Meriweather agreed, ordering her held pending a detention hearing on March 11. David Benowitz, an attorney for Thompson, did not object. Benowitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the hearing.

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Is Australia actually getting better at cyber security? Photo: Shutterstock

A new global comparison of cyber security defences may have placed Australia as the worlds 15th most-secure country, but experts warn against complacence as data breaches hit record highs and attacks continue to ravage companies whose leaders still dont understand security.

Australia rose 12 positions in the latest Comparitech ranking, which evaluated 76 countries susceptibility to security compromises against a number of factors.

The overall score of 13.95 was an appreciable improvement over the previous years 16.34 (lower scores are better) but still well behind top-ranked Denmark (6.72), runners-up Sweden (8.40) and Germany (9.39), and even eighth-ranked UK (10.64)

Comparitech tracks indicators of compromise such as the per cent of mobiles infected with malware, prevalence of financial malware attacks, per cent of computers infected with malware, and country rankings from the ITUs Global Cybersecurity Index.

Fully 4.86 per cent of Australian mobiles were infected with malware  twice the rate of higher-ranked Denmark, Turkey, Norway, and Croatia but half the rate of the 17th-ranked United States (8.18 per cent of mobiles).

Worst-case scenario Iran, by contrast, saw malware compromising 52.68 per cent of mobiles  helping it weigh in as the worlds fifth most-insecure country.

Belarus, ranked sixth most-insecure, recorded the highest rate of financial malware attacks (2.9 per cent of users)  ten times Australias level and nearly 30 times higher than that in Denmark.

Cryptominers were also relatively rare in Australia, attacking just 0.28 per cent of users  well behind worst-case Tajikistan, where 7.9 per cent of users were hit by the computer-hogging code.

Interestingly, while most countries scores improved since 2018, prominent geopolitical states including the United States, Brazil, Japan, France, Iran, and Singapore all recorded slightly worse scores than in the previous year.

Most countries scores improved since last year, technology writer Paul Bischoff noted in presenting the findings, and this means some of the best performers from last year have dropped down the rankings.

The United States, for example, dropped from fifth place in the previous year, to 17th place in 2019  lagging other countries that had improved their postures through a combination of better cyber security awareness, broader technology adoption, and improving cyber security legislation.

Australian cyber security legislation addressed five out of seven key areas (identified as national strategy, military, content, privacy, critical infrastructure, commerce, and crime)  a solid score given that only France, China, Russia, and Germany had addressed all seven categories.

We can do better

Despite Australias good overall standing, the figures highlighted persistent systematic deficiencies that are consistently being reinforced by a concerning lack of security awareness amongst Australian businesses.

Malware infection rates on Australian computers (11.08 per cent) were consistent with those in all comparable countries, but were still several times those in top performers like Denmark (3.15 per cent), Sweden (4.03 per cent), the Netherlands (3.78 per cent), and the Czech Republic (4.88).

And while malware infection rates arent the only indicator of insecurity, they are a lead indicator of overall security attitudes that, in Australia, continue to lag best practice.

Indeed, despite years of being told how to fix their security, Australian companies are still being breached at a frenetic pace that belies the countrys promising overall ranking.

Newly released Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) figures found the number of notifiable data breaches (NDBs) had increased 19 per cent in the second half of 2019, compared with the first half.

Even more concerning are the findings of security giant Chubbs latest SME Cyber Preparedness Report, in which 49 per cent of Australian SMEs said they had been the victim of a cyber incident.

Many respondents were overconfident in their capabilities, with 32 per cent of senior business leaders believe their companies will never experience a cyber incident  and 79 per cent confident they could overcome a breach by sophisticated hackers within 24 hours.

Sophisticated hackers would beg to differ, with recent compromises of the Australian Defence Force, Toll Group, and other firms highlighting their continuing success in scamming humans and breaching sensitive systems.

Indeed, 64 per cent reported NDBs were due to malicious or criminal attacks  leading Ecosystm principal advisor for cyber security Alex Woerndle to warn companies that they need to reinforce staff training around safe email practices and detection of phishing attacks.

Businesses also need to stop thinking of antivirus software as being enough security defence  layering firewalls and antivirus software with tools for detecting network intrusions and advanced persistent threats; incident response planning; cloud security solutions; and comprehensive staff awareness training.

By taking a comprehensive and multi-layered approach to security, Woerndle said, organisations can reduce the likelihood they will fall victim to malware attacks, data breaches, and avoid the disruptive and potentially costly problems they can cause.
Britain is moving into the second of four phases in its battle plan against coronavirus, Englands Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said on Thursday, after confirmed cases jumped across the country.

Britain has so far registered 90 cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, which started in China, but has held off from introducing measures to restrict movement or to cancel events for fear of hurting the economy.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is optimistic that Britain is well prepared to cope with the spread of the virus, but early on Thursday regional airline Flybe became one of the first big corporate casualties of the outbreak.

The government set out its action plan earlier this week based on four stages - containing the virus, delaying its transmission, researching its origins and mitigating its impact.

Whitty, questioned by lawmakers, said Britain had mainly moved into the second stage of delaying transmission and was now considering measures to try to reduce the peak of an epidemic which officials are anticipating in the coming weeks.

The original plan ... was very much predicated on the idea of if it could be controlled in China and contained everywhere else, this virus might go away. I think the chances of that happening are now very slim. Slim to zero, Whitty said.

As time goes by, we then may start to move into the more socially determined actions ... Weve moved from a situation where we were mainly in contain ... to now were basically mainly delay.

The government has said it could encourage home-working, cancel large-scale gatherings and possibly close schools to slow the spread of the disease and delay the peak of the outbreak until summer, when the health service is under less pressure.

Whitty also said, with older people more vulnerable to the virus, there may be measures to encourage them to stay away from public places, such as the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords.

But so far, the government has refrained from triggering those measures, with Whitty saying health officials would present ministers with various options for them to decide what combination would be a sensible response.
(Natural News) The mainstream media is now reporting that the state of Washington has 12 new cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), bringing the official total to 39. But an evolutionary analysis by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centers Trevor Bedford has found that the number of Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) cases is doubling every six-or-so days, which means there are actually hundreds, if not thousands, of cases lurking beneath the official numbers.

Based on samples collected from Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) patients in the Seattle area, Bedford determined that the official infection count likely doesnt match the actual count. A specialist in the area of viral dynamics, Bedford believes that many more people than are currently known have the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), and that many of them probably passed it along to others without even knowing they were infected themselves  a phenomenon known as cryptic transmission.

There are numerous ways to look at Bedfords model, but all of them suggest that the true number of infection cases is substantially higher than the official count. He believes that as many as 1,500 people may have contracted the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) from the first known patient in Washington, identified as WA1, who traveled from the Chinese city of Wuhan to Snohomish County back in mid-January.

There will be more in the whole state, Bedford warned in a series of tweets posted to his Twitter account. Bedford eerily added that he suspects the situation in the Seattle area right now is roughly the same as the situation was in Wuhan back around the turn of the new year. Three weeks later, Wuhan had thousands of infections and was put in large-scale lockdown.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, unpacks how the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intentionally allowed the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) to spread to America:

The government isnt going to help protect you against coronavirus

Bedford put together two viral genome sequences with the help of the research team behind the Seattle Flu Study, one based on WA1 and the other based on WA2. Based on where these two cases fit on the broader evolutionary tree for the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), he was able to reconstruct where the disease has likely spread over the past six weeks.

In Bedfords assessment, WA1 appears to have ignited a chain of transmission that first hit WA2 before quickly spreading to WA3 and beyond. And unfortunately, WA1 must have infected someone who developed only mild symptoms, and was thus overlooked for appropriate surveillance.

The transmission chain that went through WA2 wasnt picked up, probably due to the fact that until last week, the testing effort was focused on sick people who were traveling directly from China or who were in direct contact with a known case, writes Alan Boyle for Geekwire.

In a recent blog post, Bedford agreed, writing that this lack of testing was a critical error, and that it allowed an outbreak in Snohomish County and surroundings to grow to a sizable problem before it was even detected.

Bedford has made it clear that his research, which was conducted with the additional help of epidemiologist Mike Famulare of the Institute for Disease Modeling, is still preliminary. But its conclusions are worth considering and taking action on, and in response to, as they suggest getting prepared and taking precautions to avoid infection.

One such precaution that holds incredible promise is supplementation with spirulina, which has been scientifically shown to help boost the bodys natural type 1 interferon response, which contributes to fighting RNA viral infections like the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19).

For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

NPR.org

Geekwire.com

NaturalNews.com
REDDING, Calif.  Employees at a Redding food truck arrived to work Wednesday only to find it had been vandalized.

Employees arrived at The Park Wednesday morning and found the grounds vandalized, two ping pong tables destroyed, chairs and tables thrown into the railroad track, and planter boxes spray-painted, according to Redding Police Officers.

The cost of damage estimated at over $2,000.

Through investigation, officers said security video showed a man inside The Park around 4:40 a.m. causing damage.

The downtown patrol officer recognized the suspect as 28-year-old Justin Omar Perez, a Redding transient. Officers said Perez is well known to law enforcement.

Perez was located around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and admitted to the vandalism, saying that he was mad, according to Redding Police Officers.

Perez was booked into the Shasta County Jail on felony vandalism charges.
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: There should be strict



enforcement of the helmet rule here, Puducherry's inspector general of police Surender Singh Yadav said on Thursday.

In a circular to all police officials, he cited provisions of the new Motor Vehicle Act relating to compulsory wearing of helmets and said there should be strict enforcement of the rule on compulsory wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders and pillion riders.

Presently, riders don't use helmets although attempts had been made in the past by the authorities to make helmet- wearing mandatory.

Yadav said it has been noticed that riders in the union territory do not wear the headgear. This is against the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, he said.

The circular was sent to all senior superintendents of police, superintendents of police, India Reserve Battalion and the circle inspectors, among others.

It said most of the fatalities were found to be due to head injuries which could have been avoided if helmets were worn by the riders.

On February 16, territorial Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi had said she has been desperately trying to implement the helmet rule in the former French colony but could not succeed so far.

She said this after being presented with a helmet by a police Head Constable in New Delhi on the 73rd Police Raising Day.

Bedi posted a picture of Head Constable Sandeep Shahi presenting her the helmet, which had her picture embossed on it.

In her whatsapp message to mediapersons, Bedi described it as a "beautiful surprise gift" from the Head Constable.

She told Shahi "I am desperately trying to implement the helmet rule in Puducherry. I have not succeeded in my efforts."



Bedi had been insisting the two-wheeler riders in the Union Territory to use helmet while riding the vehicles.

The helmet rule is practically kept on hold now and two- wheeler riders are virtually having the option to use the helmets.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HARTFORD, Conn. - Universities that rely on international enrolment are expected to take a big hit in the next academic year as cancelled entrance exams and travel restrictions in China because of the coronavirus make it impossible for students to enrol and attend college.

Over 660,000 Chinese students study abroad annually  close to half of them at schools in the United States, where they represent the largest group of foreign students by far  and many universities have come to rely on their tuition dollars.

To avoid losing students, universities have begun planning to enrol admitted students initially through online programs, accepting alternatives to traditional standardized tests, and considering virtual orientations for students and their families in China.

At New Yorks University at Buffalo, Joseph Hindrawan, an associate vice provost, said the virus represents the biggest crisis he has experienced in 25 years in international enrolment management.

This has been carrying on for months already and we dont see the end of the tunnel, he said. Everything is unpredictable.

As the virus began to spread through China, organizations cancelled SAT exams and tests for English language proficiency that foreign students must take to enrol in American universities. Then the government began imposing travel restrictions that keep students from meeting with recruitment agents, securing paperwork and applying for visas.

Tan Weiwei, a 17-year-old student in Changsha, the capital of the southern province of Hunan, spent her winter break studying for the SAT, facing a wall plastered with motivational slogans. When the March exam she was registered for in Malaysia was cancelled, she said she felt lost and anxious about what it could mean for her dream of studying in the U.S.

Tan, who was wanted to study abroad since first travelling to the U.S. at age 13, is now planning to take the SAT in August or October.

I have made another plan, Tan said. What I am faced with is fewer opportunities and greater pressure.

SAT exams were cancelled in March in China and for students travelling from China to other countries to take the SAT, according to Jaslee Carayol, a spokeswoman for the College Board, the company that administers the test. The next exam is scheduled for May. A limited number of tests are offered in China, which is among countries where SAT tests have been cancelled in the past because of concerns about possible cheating.

Test centres also have been closed for the ACT exam in China, Hong Kong and Thailand, said Ed Colby, an ACT spokesman.

The Educational Testing Service has suspended the TOEFL English proficiency test and GRE exams through the end of March in China, where it normally has more than 375 test centres open, spokeswoman Ally Norton said. Testing also has been suspended countrywide in Iran, with local delays in other countries including Italy and South Korea.

In a survey of over 230 U.S. higher education institutions that was released Thursday by the Institute of International Education, 37% reported some students were unable to come to their U.S. campus from China because of virus-related travel restrictions. More than three-quarters of the schools said outreach and recruiting events in China had been affected by the outbreak.

At the University of Connecticut, officials are developing a program that allows admitted students from China to take instruction online for the fall semester and then join the campus in person in the spring. The university also is looking into providing housing over the summer for incoming students from China who are already attending U.S. secondary schools and enrolled students who cannot return home.

We have close to 10% of our entering class coming from mainland China. If youre thinking about 10% of the class may not actually be able to come for reasons that are beyond our control, thats concerning, said Nathan Fuerst, a UConn vice-president for enrolment planning. Were concerned for students safety and well being, and were concerned for the institution and everything they bring to the institution.

Schools in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom have begun offering flexibility on deadlines for testing and application materials, said Derrik Karst of eduFair, a company that connects Chinese students and international schools. In light of the test cancellations, many universities also have begun temporarily allowing students to demonstrate English proficiency through online platforms such as Duolingo.

The University at Buffalo, like many U.S. schools, typically sends representatives to China for an orientation session for accepted students and their families. This year, if needed, they are looking into hosting a reception online.

Buffalo administrators also are following virus developments closely and fear it could affect domestic enrolment, if students are reluctant to study far from home, and long-term international enrolment if Asian economies are sent into recession.

High school junior Zhang Qingqing, who lives in the southwestern China megacity of Chongqing, was planning to take the SAT in Thailand this month before it was cancelled. She is interested in media and film, fields in which she thinks the U.S. is far ahead of China.

If you miss the March exam, you have one less chance to test your level, said Zhang, who is hoping to take the test in Bangkok in May.

I hope the virus outbreak can end soon, she wrote on her microblog, and everyone can get through this period safely!

____

Associated Press news assistant Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.
The "France FY 2020 Defense Budget Analysis, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Summary

France FY 2020 Defense Budget Analysis, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts published by the author, provides readers with detailed analysis of both historic and forecast defense industry values, factors influencing demand and an analysis of industry leading companies.

This report offers detailed analysis of the French defense market with forecasts covering the next five years. This report will also analyze factors that influence demand for the market, key market trends, and challenges faced by industry participants.

In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following

The French defense market size and drivers: detailed analysis of the French defense industry during 2020-2024, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators for the industry. It also provides a snapshot of the country's expenditure and modernization patterns

Budget allocation and key challenges: insights into procurement schedules formulated within the country and a breakdown of the defense budget with respect to procurement, Operations Maintenance (O&M) and others expenditure.

Import and Export Dynamics: analysis of prevalent trends in the country's imports and exports over the last five years

Market opportunities: details of the top defense investment opportunities over the next 10 years

Vendor landscape and strategic insights: analysis of the vendor landscape of the French defense market.

Scope

The French total defense budget includes acquisition, operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses and other defense funds. The Armed Forces' total budget has increased from US$46.5 billion in 2016 to US$53.9 billion in 2020, featuring a 3% CAGR over the historic period.

The budget for FY2020 shows a decline when applied to the US$ exchange rate, but the French government actually boasts its third consecutive year of increase, following President Macron's commitment to bolster the French defense apparatus.

Facing a multiplicity of threats, including jihadist activity in Sahel and the return to great power competition against Russia and China, France's strategy is aiming at ensuring the country's sovereignty and global position militarily. On this background, the government intends to close the gap with its 2% of GDP defense budget commitment before 2025.

For the second year of the current Military Planning Law (Loi de programmation militaire, LPM) 2019-2025, the French government pledged an annual EUR1.7 billion increase in the defense budget until 2022, and then EUR3 billion until 2025.

2020 will see an increase from US$51.5 billion to US$53.9 billion, reflecting the governmental objective of EUR1.7 billion. Interestingly, most of this increase will go to the acquisition budget, bolstering the French armed forces procurement and RDT&E efforts.

The acquisition share in the total FY2020 defense budget will climb to 27.3%, from 24.5% in FY2019, for an absolute value of US$14.7 billion. This increase represents a growth of 17%, unseen during the historic period.

Reasons to buy

This report will give the user confidence to make the correct business decisions based on a detailed analysis of the French defense market trends for the coming five years

The market opportunity section will inform the user about the various military requirements that are expected to generate revenues during the forecast period. The description includes the expected investment pattern by the country during the forecast period

Key Topics Covered:

Introduction

Regulation

Military Doctrine and Strategy

Budgeting Process

Procurement Policy and Process

Security Environment

Primary Threat Perception

Political and Strategic Alliances

Defense Market

Current Budget

Total defense budget

Market size

Market shares

Budgeted Procurements

Aerospace

Maritime

Land

Forecast Procurements

Fixed-Wing and Rotorcraft

Maritime

Land

Import Market Dynamics

Main drivers

Breakdown by geography

Breakdown by category

Export Market Dynamics

Main drivers

Breakdown by geography

Breakdown by category

Entry Strategy

Standing Fleet

Selected Land Platforms

Selected Air Platforms

Selected Maritime Platforms

Main Defense Companies

Safran SA

Company Overview

Key Facts

Business Description

Main Contracts in 2019

SWOT Analysis

Summarized Statement

Capital Market Ratios

Thales SA

Dassault Aviation SA

Capital Market Ratios

Naval Group

Nexter Group

Business Environment

About this report

Definitions

Summary Methodology

Appendix

About the Publisher

Disclaimer

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1jfts7

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005640/en/

Contacts:

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The Senate has approved a $22 billion external loan requested by President Muhammadu Buhari, following an executive session that lasted for over 40 minutes.

The approval was sequel to the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts.

The chairman of the committee, Clifford Ordia (PDP, Edo), read the report and recommended that the Senate approve the request.

Prior to the approval, there were arguments between lawmakers and the Senate president that lasted for over half an hour.

The arguments

Both the majority and minority leaders, Abdulahi Yahaya and Enyinnaya Abaribe, suggested that the report be considered in detail to avail the senators full knowledge of line item and details of the request.

Other lawmakers also faulted the exclusion of some parts of the country in the proposed projects.

Adamu Aliero was the first to raise concerns. He wondered if Nigeria is borrowing the money to construct a road from Lagos to Abidjan and if Nigeria is so generous to consider this up to Abidjan. He described the loan as lopsided.

The East-West road is a very good project and I support fully the inclusion of this project in the borrowing plan. If you look at other parts of the country, nothing is said about the North East, he said.

The application of this loan is lopsided and I want to say that other geo-political zones should also be considered. We have dilapidated roads all over the country. I dont see why huge amount of money like this will be concentrated in only one section of the country. When we come to the clause, we should include critical parts that should be covered on this loan.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, simply said asked the lawmakers to be conscious that the capital aspect of the budget funding is needed.

If we notice any lopsidedness, I think it may not be for this Senate to just include the projects but it is important that the executive takes note of these areas that were left out and in the next phase we consider those areas that are left out, he said.

Disagreeing with Mr Lawan, the minority leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, suggested that only some part of the loan be approved.

It is when we get to the point of looking at each one of them that we will now determine which of these projects will help in growing our economy. Now that you have said we will take it line by line, he said.

But he was interrupted by Mr Lawan who said the Senate cannot leave its procedure and do things differently.

When we vote, you can like to vote against everything if you dont want or you can amend. Let me make this point very clear. This is a request and what I said is, this is to fund our capital budget, it means the capital budget is weighty.

Until we pass, there will be no implementation of the capital budget so it is a choice. If we want, we pass, if dont want, we dont pass. We are going to make it tight spending this money, Mr Lawan said.

Both the majority leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, and Albert Bbassey(Akwa Ibom, PDP) sided with Mr Abaribe.

While they warned that debts cannot develop an economy, they advised that the loan be considered item by item  especially with projects relating to China.

But Mr Lawan insisted that the consideration will be done as a whole and a voice vote will be put for senators to vote.

The argument continued for a while with Mr Lawan insisting it will be done as he said.

After minutes of silence and consultations, Mr Yahaya moved that the matter be discussed in a closed-door session  which was adopted.

Consideration and passage

Upon resumption, the lawmakers unanimously adopted the recommendations of the committee.

The Senate approved $22.7 billion (22,798,446 773) under the 2016-2018 Medium Term External Borrowing (Rolling) plan.

The funding agencies include:

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a. World Bank  $ 2, 854,000,000

b. Afrivan Development Bank (ADB)  $1,888,950,000

c. Islamic Development Bank (IDB)  $110,000,000

d. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JlCA)  $200,000,000

e. German Development Bank (KFW)  $200,000,000

f. China Exim Bank  $17.065.496.773

g. French Development Agency  (AFD) $480,000,000

The Senate also approved that the loan/financing agreement containing the whole terms and conditions of the loan from the funding agencies, be forwarded to the National Assembly prior to the execution of same for and proper documentation.

Mr Buhari had on November 28, forwarded a request to the Senate to reconsider and approve the federal governments 2016 to 2018 external borrowing plan to help Nigeria finance the capital component of the budget for 2020.

The loan, he said, is to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.

The president had sent the same request to the eight Senate under Bukola Saraki in 2016. He had requested for about $30 billion.

The then lawmakers, however, rejected the request as majority voted against it when it was brought for consideration.

In in his recent letter, Mr Buhari explained that the external borrowing plan targets projects cuts across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation.

A former lawmaker, Shehu Sani, had explained that the eight Senate rejected the Presidents loan request to save Nigeria from sinking into the dark gully of a perpetual debt trap.
A judge was right to rule that a transgender man who has given birth should be described as 'mother' on a birth certificate, Government ministers have said.

Freddy McConnell, a multimedia journalist who works for The Guardian, wants to be registered as 'father' or 'parent'.

He says forcing him to register as the child's 'mother' breaches his human right to respect for private and family life. Last year he lost a High Court fight.

Freddy McConnell, a multimedia journalist who works for The Guardian, wants to be registered as 'father' or 'parent'. Lawyers say that if Mr McConnell wins his fight, the child would be the first person born in England or Wales not to legally have a mother

Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Division of the High Court and most senior family court judge in England and Wales, ruled against him in September.

He concluded that people who had given birth were legally mothers, regardless of their gender, and said there is a 'material difference between a person's gender and their status as a parent'.

Mr McConnell has launched an appeal. Three appeal judges are analysing arguments at a Court of Appeal hearing in London.

Lord Burnett, the Lord Chief Justice and most senior judge in England and Wales, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Singh began to oversee the hearing on Wednesday.

Freddy McConnell, above, featured in the documentary film Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth. Other transgender men have given birth but have been registered on birth certificates as mothers

Lawyers representing the Registrar General plus ministers in the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care told the judges on Thursday that Mr McConnell's appeal should be dismissed.

Ben Jaffey QC, who is leading the Government legal team, said rules applying to birth registration are 'a sophisticated and interlocking scheme'.

'They reflect a careful balancing of competing interests of parents, children and society by Parliament,' he said, in a written argument.

'A balance is struck between maintaining accurate public records, and providing individuals with the means to maintain confidentiality about disclosures that may affect their family life.

Judges have heard that Mr McConnell is a single parent who was born a woman but now lives as a man following surgery. Mr McConnell had been biologically able to get pregnant and give birth but had legally become a man when the child was born

'Any scheme that is adopted also has to be relatively straightforward and coherent so that it can be applied to all cases. A scheme will not satisfy everyone.'

He added: 'The UK statutory scheme recognises that birth registration is not always a matter of biological descent.

'Further, the birth certificate often does not reflect the social reality in which a child lives. This was understood by Parliament.

'But the scheme always ensures that a record is made of the identity of the person who gives birth to a child.

'And where the scheme does not record biological parentage, it also makes provision for a child to know about his or her family history when he or she reaches adulthood.'

McConnell is pictured above outside the High Court at a previous hearing

Lawyers say that if Mr McConnell wins his fight, the child would be the first person born in England or Wales not to legally have a mother.

Other transgender men have given birth but have been registered on birth certificates as mothers.

Judges have heard that Mr McConnell is a single parent who was born a woman but now lives as a man following surgery.

Mr McConnell had been biologically able to get pregnant and give birth but had legally become a man when the child was born.

He wanted to be registered as father or parent but a registrar told him that the law required people who give birth to be registered as mothers.

Mr McConnell had taken legal action against the General Register Office, which administers the registration of births and deaths in England and Wales.
The parents of murdered south Armagh man Paul Quinn said they have been left hurt and humiliated after Conor Murphy was told he has nothing to apologise for during a Sinn Fein rally.

Mr Quinns mother, Breege, said a member of their own community made the comments during the public meeting in Newry which went unchallenged by Sinn Fein.

Mrs Quinn and her husband Stephen are at Leinster House in Dublin to meet a number of political parties.

The large crowd that gathered in the Canal Court Hotel last week applauded the speakers comments in the presence of Mr Murphy.

The parents of murdered south Armagh man Paul Quinn said they have been left hurt and humiliated after a member of their own community told Conor Murphy he has nothing to apologise for at a SF rally. Breege and Stephen Quinn are at Leinster House to meet political parties. pic.twitter.com/mGidnJffFH  Cate McCurry (@CateMcCurry) March 5, 2020

Northern Irelands finance minister has been under pressure to publicly retract a claim he made 13 years ago that Mr Quinn had been involved in criminality.

Last month Mr Murphy apologised to the family for branding their son a criminal after his murder.

We heard someone from our own community state to a room full of people that Conor Murphy has nothing to apologise for in relation to Pauls murder, said Mrs Quinn.

This went unchallenged by Mary Lou McDonald and flies in the face of her phone call only a few weeks ago.

She remained silent and to say we are disappointed is an understatement.

There are no words for the hurt and humiliation we feel to have heard these words applauded at a political rally and yet we are the ones being accused of making this political.

This last week has been a difficult one but it has strengthened our resolve.

So, who is the leader of Sinn Fein? Is it Mary Lou McDonald? Or is the IRA?Breege Quinn

Mrs Quinn said she wants justice for her son and will fight to remove any obstacle that prevents it.

The 21-year-old, from Cullyhanna, was beaten to death by a gang of around a dozen men in a farm shed across the border near Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, in 2007.

His family blame members of the IRA, but Sinn Fein has long denied republican involvement.

Mrs Quinn added: We repeat our call for Conor Murphy to say the simple words  that Paul Quinn was not a criminal  and go to the PSNI and the gardai with the names of the IRA men he spoke to in Cullyhanna.

We are not satisfied with obscure apologies and gestures from Mary Lou McDonald and Conor Murphy.

The slur still remains and has been actively promoted by Sinn Fein.

He (Mr Murphy) must be afraid of the men he spoke to in Cullyhanna.

Weve asked Mary Lou to ask him to come out and say Paul Quinn was not a criminal; she has said that it was best that that would be done around a table.

Conor Murphy didnt put a slur on Pauls name around a table, he did it on national television.

So, who is the leader of Sinn Fein? Is it Mary Lou McDonald? Or is the IRA?

The family also thanked the public for sending letters and cards of support from both sides of the border.

Our campaign continues, we will continue to fight for our son and we are not going away. We will clear his name and ensure that justice is delivered, Mrs Quinn added.


ISXPay Now Processing SEPA Instant Payments Across the EEA

Melbourne, Mar 5, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - iSignthis Ltd ( ASX:ISX ) ( FRA:TA8 ) is pleased to announce that it is the first Central Bank of Cyprus authorised institution to enable SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) Instant payments processing for its customers, via its ISXPay(R) payments network. Business and retail customers can now benefit from instant p2b, p2p, b2b and b2p payments, between any points within the European Economic Area (EEA).Customers are able to instantly transfer up to EUR15,000, which will arrive in a beneficiary's account within a maximum of 10 seconds.iSignthis' Managing Director and CEO, John Karantzis said "We are delighted to announce that we now offer real-time payments as part of our services. The ever-increasing demand from our customers for instant payments capabilities has made SEPA Instant a focal point for us. We are delighted to add value to our payment processing services with SEPA Instant and continue to meet our clients demands."Further applications for the service beyond ecommerce p2b, p2p, b2b and b2p payments include retail customer instant funding of trading of securities listed on the NSXA, via participants linked to the recently announced ClearPay joint venture. SEPA instant is also integrated to the flykk(R) ecosystem, which includes multi-currency GBP, AUD, Euro, HKD, JPY and USD payment options.ISXPay(R) will introduce instant and same day multi-currency payments capabilities to Australian AFSL securities brokers by June this year, with a priority on NSXA participants. The ISXPay(R) service is a competitive and independent alternate payment service to the ASX owned Austraclear monopoly and will be available to both ASX and NSXA participant brokers. Unlike Austraclear, ISXPAY(R) will allow brokers access to same day retail funding of trades.The Company elected to focus its resources on deploying SEPA instant in preference to SWIFT services, as volumes in SEPA instant are expected to be higher, with the Company's business customers expressing a preference to prioritise instant services.The company will be using EBA CLEARING's RT1 to allow users to transact while utilising Central Bank of Lithuania's CENTROLink system for SEPA Transfers. The service is based on the ISO20022 protocol, and is available 24/7, 365 days a year. iSignthis has incorporated real time sanctions and law enforcement watchlist screening and monitoring, in order to comply with anti- money laundering requirements. iSignthis' Probanx division developed the software and service inhouse, and it is also available to Probanx customers as a SaaS.About iSignthis Ltd

iSignthis Ltd (ASX:ISX) (FRA:TA8) is a hybrid monetary financial institution and also a RegTech leader in remote identity verification, payment authentication with deposit taking, transactional banking and payment processing capability. iSignthis provides an end-to-end on-boarding service for merchants, with a unified payment, electronic money and identity service via our Paydentity(TM) and ISXPay(R) solutions.

By converging payments and identity, iSignthis delivers regulatory compliance to an enhanced customer due diligence standard, offering global reach to any of the world's 4.2Bn 'bank verified' card or account holders, that can be remotely on-boarded to meet the Customer Due Diligence requirements of AML regulated merchants in as little as 3 to 5 minutes. Paydentity(TM) has now onboarded and verified more than 1.5m persons to an AML KYC standard.

iSignthis Paydentity(TM) service is the trusted back office solution for regulated entities, allowing merchants to stay ahead of the regulatory curve, and focus on growing their core business. iSignthis' subsidiary, iSignthis eMoney Ltd, trades as ISXPay(R), and is an EEA authorised eMoney Monetary Financial Institution, offering card acquiring in the EEA, and Australia.

ISXPay(R) is a principal member of Mastercard Inc, Diners, Discover, (China) Union Pay International and JCB International, an American Express aggregator, and provides merchants with access to payments via alternative methods including SEPA, Poli Payments, Sofort, PRZ24 and others.

Probanx Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of iSignthis Ltd, provides API based access to CORE Banking solutions, SEPA Core, SEPA Instant and SEPA business scheme, for neobanks, banks, credit unions and emoney institutions, and provides a bridge to the Eurosystem's Central Bank of Lithuania's CENTROLink service.
Aaron Schock, the Republican who resigned from Congress in 2015 as he faced questions about his adherence to spending rules, came out as gay on Thursday, writing in a lengthy post on his website about the challenges of growing up in a religious household and saying he was wrong to oppose gay marriage.

The fact that I am gay is just one of those things in my life in need of explicit affirmation, to remove any doubt and to finally validate who I am as a person, Mr. Schock wrote.

Mr. Schock, of Peoria, Ill., was elected to Congress in 2008, when he was 27, and was once seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. He came under criticism in 2015 for lavish spending, including a redesign of his Capitol Hill office. It included blood-red walls, a crystal chandelier and a plume of pheasant feathers, and was rumored to have been inspired by a room on Downton Abbey.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2016 on 24 counts, including wire fraud and theft of government funds. Federal prosecutors reached an agreement in March 2019 to drop the charges. Mr. Schock vowed to pay back taxes and reimburse his campaign.
Ken Rosenfeld, California Criminal Defense Attorney My client, a businessman we will call M.R.N., intended to engage in what he perceivedand what all parties understood to bea legal transaction. (M.R.N.) received a fantastic resolution, which did not include torture, mayhem, marijuana, or use of a gun.

An Illinois man who allegedly engaged in a transaction of cannabis that resulted in the kidnapping and torture of six victims, as well as the theft of marijuana and personal items in Calaveras, CA, in June of 2018, has found all charges against him (Case # 18F7351) dismissed by the State of California.

M.R.N., 32, was one of seven suspects involved in what court documents indicate was a prearranged purchase of 5,000 pounds of marijuana for $500,000. The court file states that no money was exchanged, but instead, six individuals were tied up, beaten, and threatened with firearms, and a van filled with cannabis was stolen. The incident concluded in a high-speed chase with police. One of the suspects jumped from a moving vehicle during the chase and was pronounced dead at the scene.

My client, a businessman, intended to engage in what he perceivedand what all parties understood to bea legal transaction, said attorney Ken Rosenfeld of The Rosenfeld Law Firm, who defended M.R.N. (M.R.N.) was looking at seven consecutive life sentences for the alleged acts. It was very satisfying that we were able to have all the charges dismissed in the state court.

Eighteen charges, including one special allegation, were made against each of the defendants in the case. Included among the allegations, for which there were multiple charges, were: first degree robbery, assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm, kidnapping to commit robbery, and kidnapping for ransom or extortion. There was also a charge involving the out-of-state transport and sale of an excess of 28.5 grams of marijuana.

The case, although dropped by the State of California, was picked up by the FBI as a federal case (Case # 1:18-CR-00219-DAD-BAM-4).

The federal charges were very minor compared to the state charges, said Rosenfeld. (M.R.N.) received a fantastic resolution, which did not include torture, mayhem, marijuana, or use of a gun.

About The Rosenfeld Law Firm

The Rosenfeld Law Firm, located in Sacramento and San Jose, has successfully defended a number of high-profile media cases. As a California criminal defense lawyer, Ken Rosenfeld aggressively serves his clients across a wide scope of cases, from first-degree murder to driving under the influence (California DUI defense), with a specialty in defending sex offense cases. An expert criminal law commentator who is regularly seen on KTXL FOX 40's Ask An Attorney, Ken Rosenfeld has made a number of appearances on television and radio, including national media, as a legal expert. His criminal defense law firm also practices federal criminal defense and juvenile defense, as well as appellate law, prison law, and mental health law. For more information, please contact Ken Rosenfeld directly at (916) 447-2070, or visit http://www.therosenfeldlawfirm.com.

Press release writing by WebSiteText and Proofreading Services by The Proofreaders.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has berated the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators for approving Nigerian Ruler, Muhammadu Buharis request for a fresh $22.7 billion loan, which had been rejected by Nigerians across the board.

In a Press Statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said in approving more financial burden on our nation, the APC senators have further shown that their party does not have the interest of Nigerians at heart, but is only out to repress and plunge our citizens into more hardship just for their selfish gains.

The PDP said it is distressing that the APC senators approved the loan, even when the Buhari Presidency have not justified the request; a situation that validates apprehensions that the APC senators have become rubber stamp legislators.

The fact that the $22.7 billion loan request brimmed with unexplained, obscure, over-bloated and questionable subheads, such as the scandalous $500 million dollars (N180 billion) smuggled in under the guise of upgrading the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), shows that the APC and a cabal in the Presidency are in a huge financial racket, for which they are ready to plunge Nigerians into more suffering.

In approving the loan, even after it was clear that Nigerians are averse to it, the APC senators have confirmed that they are in league with other APC leaders to fleece our nation and bring more hardship to Nigerians.

The party notes as disheartening that under the Buhari regime our foreign debt has continued to accumulate with nothing to show other than excruciating unemployment rate, decayed infrastructure, a worsening governance system, escalated insecurity and unprecedented poverty, the statement read.

The party however, commended the PDP senators for standing with Nigerians in fearlessly rejecting the loan as it will bring more hardship and further mortgage the future of our nation.

The PDP urged Nigerians to unite in defence of the nation by raising their voices to demand that Senate reverses this unpatriotic approval, which is completely against our national interest.
Patient transfer information following Flybe collapse

The Manx Government has issued advice and information for patients who were due to travel from the Island to the UK.

Patients travelling to or from the UK on or before Monday 9 March

If you need to travel to or from the UK within the next few days, and you were due to travel with Flybe, then if possible we would encourage you to book/re-book your own journey and the Department will reimburse you for your travel costs on production of your receipts. If you take this option you may travel by sea or by air on any available flight or sailing. The Department will reimburse you for all reasonable travel costs and accommodation costs of up to 50 per person per night if you have to stay overnight in the UK in paid accommodation as part of the journey. If you take this option, please send all receipts in to the Patient Transfer Office at the address below, keeping a copy of any receipts you send in the post.

If you are travelling on or before 9th March and you need help with your booking then please email patient.transfers@gov.im or call the office on +44 1624 642673. We expect the lines to be very busy and we apologise in advance if you experience a longer than usual wait to get through to a member of staff.

Patients travelling between Tuesday 10 March and Monday 16 March

We will issue an update within the next 24 hours for patients travelling between these dates and we would greatly appreciate if you do not telephone or email the Patient Transport Office just yet in order that we may concentrate on bookings for patients needing to travel within the next few days
Irans Health Ministry announced that today, March 5, the country will embark on a national mobilization plan to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that 300,000 teams will be mobilized in health centers, schools and Basij bases across the country. Some 26,000 health centers will be set up across Iranian cities and villages.

Namaki said that the centers will test suspected patients and then monitor them in their homes. If their health does not improve within three days, they will be taken to a hospital or receive in-home care.

According to spokesman for the Health Ministry Kianoush Jahanpour, Iran's coronavirus cases have reached 3,513 with 107 deaths. He said that there have been 591 new cases of the COVID-19 virus in the last 24 hours. The outbreak has centered in the provinces of Tehran, Gilan, Qom and Esfahan, but dozens of other Iranian provinces have confirmed cases of coronavirus in the double or triple digits. The most recent province to report a confirmed case is Bushehr.

Spokesman for Irans police force Ahmad Nourian announced that 157 individuals have been arrested for hoarding medical supplies. Raids over the last 10 days have uncovered 8 million masks, 68 million pairs of gloves and 10 tons of disinfectants. Nourian said that the police force  likely through Irans cyber police  has also identified 262 cases of criminal acts, likely referring to shares on social media of rumors about the coronavirus. He said that 101 related cases have been opened by the judiciary.

The Health Ministry has closed schools and universities until March 21, the end of the calendar year in Iran. But according to Alireza Zali, chief of Tehrans committee to combat the coronavirus, the closures have not been effective in stopping its spread. He said that social activities have not declined as had been anticipated.

Namaki asked for Iranians not to misconstrue the school closures as opportunities for vacations and travel. Many Iranians use the new year or Newroz holidays to travel or see family. Namaki said that this one will be an exceptional year and asked people to not travel. He stressed that while the coronavirus may not be more dangerous than the regular flu, it travels from person to person much faster.

President Hassan Rouhani addressed the offer of help from the United States, in a March 4 cabinet meeting, saying, If you are truthful, at least lift the sanctions on medicine. While medicine is not technically sanctioned, many European countries avoid accepting money from Iran via banks due to banking sanctions.
Two petroleum drilling rigs off the coast of Texas

Texas is often at or near the top of states for business climate. The Lone Star State has both the second-largest population and economy after California, and it offers low business costs, no state income tax and strong growth. At the same time, only 83 percent of Texas adults have a high school diploma, according to the Census Bureau, and despite the economys increasing diversity, oil price changes have a big effect on the states economy. If youre planning on starting a business in Texas, heres what you need to know.



Make a Business Plan

Starting a business in Texas begins with planning. The first choice is which product or service to sell. Entrepreneurs usually decide this based on personal strengths, individual objectives and market realities.

Major industries in Texas include energy, petroleum refining, cotton production, aerospace, manufacturing, biotechnology and information technology. It has the largest state export economy, exceeding the combined total of the next two states, California and New York. Mexico is its largest international trading partner and petroleum products its largest export.

Creating a marketing plan for a Texas business includes the basic steps for a business plan anywhere. This includes identifying likely customers, finding best ways to reach them and crafting a marketing message.

Also, the rapidly growing population of Hispanic Texans is forecast to exceed the white population by 2022. Therefore, Texas marketing plans often address multiculturalism and bilingualism.

As noted, the Texas workforce is less well-educated than most. And the states unemployment rate is often lower than the national rate. So planning for ways to attract and retain adequately skilled workers is a priority for a Texas business that will need employees.

Texas startups are financed with founders savings, bank loans, venture and angel capital, public offerings, issuing debt and crowdfunding. In addition, state government-supported financial incentives can help address capital needs of young, growing businesses. These include incubators, non-profit lenders, micro-loans, worker training support and more.

Story continues

Choose a Business Structure

Choosing and registering an appropriate business structure is central to successful business startup. The Texas secretary of states office oversees business entities. Here are the main types:

Sole proprietorship. This simplest and most common business form consists of a single individual engaged in a business activity without formal organization. There is no state filing requirement for a sole proprietorship. If business is done under an assumed name, an assumed name certificate should be filed with the local county clerk.

General partnership. A partnership consists of two or more persons joining together to conduct a business for profit. Like the sole proprietorship, this form has no state filing requirement. Also like sole proprietorships, partnerships may have to file assumed name certificates in counties where they are located.

Corporation . Corporations are separate legal entities that provide shareholders with limited liability and ease of ownership transfer. Texas corporations must file a certificate of formation with the secretary of state.

Limited liability company. Texas limited liability companies offer liability limit advantages without the complexity and filing requirement of corporations. They must, however, file a certificate of formation with the secretary of states office.

Limited Partnership. A Texas limited partnership is a partnership with one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. Limited partnership must file a certificate of formation with the secretary of state.

Limited Liability Partnership. This is a kind of partnership that limits the liability of general partners. Registering with the secretary of state is required for limited liability partnerships.

Registering a business entity with the state, when required, can be done online through the SOSdirect portal.

Register the Business Name

Cowboy boot and spurs, with the upper leathers as a flag of Texas

Business entities that are required to file with the state will register the business name during filing. To do business under a name other than the owners surname or the entitys exact legal name, they must file an assumed name certificate. This is done with the county clerk in each county in which a business office is or will be maintained. This includes sole proprietorships and partnerships not required to register with the state.

There are 254 counties in Texas, more than any other state. You can find a map giving addresses of all 254 county clerks offices at Texas.gov.

Get Tax Permits

Texas is one of just seven states without a personal income tax. However, it does have a franchise tax. States sales and other taxes are also collected. To conform to the law, businesses have to get tax ID numbers. And businesses must register with the Internal Revenue service to pay federal taxes.

To get a federal Employer Identification Number, businesses can apply with the Internal Revenue Service. The EIN let employers withhold taxes on worker wages and salaries and file the businesss federal tax return.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts collects sales taxes and franchise taxes as well as other taxes for the state and local governments. Businesses can apply on line for a sales tax permit at the comptrollers website.

The Texas Workforce Commission collects unemployment taxes. Sole proprietors are not subject to unemployment taxes. Employers can file wage reports, pay taxes and manage their accounts at the commissions website.

How Texas Taxes Businesses

Palo Duro Canyon in Texas

Texas collects approximately 60 different taxes and fees on various kinds of businesses. Some such as the sales tax apply to many or most businesses. Others are industry-specific, applying only to businesses in one field such as mixed beverages, cement production and oyster sales.

Legal business entities pay the franchise tax. This applies to businesses with at least $1.18 million in annual sales. The tax rate on other retail and wholesale businesses is 0.375 percent. Other businesses pay 0.75 percent.

A 6.25 percent sales and use tax is charged on retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods. Some services are also taxable. Cities, counties, special purpose districts and transit authorities can collect up to 2 percent more. The maximum combined rate is 8.25 percent.

Obtain Licenses and Permits

The Texas governors office maintains an online business permit portal with information on permits and licenses required to do business in the state. There business owners can download a guide to permits for businesses from accountants and ostrich farmers to racetrack operators and wineries.

Bottom Line

Texas has low costs, minimal taxation and a relaxed regulatory environment. Large, diverse and fast-growing, the state offers a hospitable environment for new businesses.

Resources for Starting a Small Business

Many financial advisors specialize in helping small business owners with their financial plan. Finding the right financial advisor that fits your needs doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. If youre ready to be matched with local advisors that will help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Some parts of starting a small business are the same no matter where you plan to operate. Here are some of the basic requirements for beginning a new enterprise.

Photo credit: iStock.com/TebNad, iStock.com/Nasry, iStock.com/Michael Clay Smith

The post How to Start a Business in Texas appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
Do Thanh Huyen, assistant manager of business intelligence at consultancy firm Dezan Shira & Associates

February 12 marked a milestone in bilateral economic relations between the EU and Vietnam when the European Parliament ratified the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) with 401 votes in favour. Finally, after eight years of negotiations, the EVFTA is closing in on implementation. The Vietnamese National Assembly has tabled this agreement for discussion and could ratify the agreement in May. The EVFTA will cut almost 99 per cent of customs duties between the EU and Vietnam, opening up many opportunities but also inevitable obstacles that Vietnam must overcome.

The EU has always been a high-potential and significant market for Vietnamese products. Data from Vietnam Customs showed that the countrys 2019 exports to the EU valued $41.7 billion, equivalent to exports to China.

Once the EVFTA is ratified, local entrepreneurs will face challenges due to stricter guidelines prescribed by the agreement on rules of origin, product quality standards, and requirements for labour and working conditions. Vietnamese enterprises not only have to confront higher competitiveness in domestic market but they are also exposed to risk of trade remedies levied by EU countries when their products penetrate the EU market.

Agro-aqua products

Vietnam is a country that thrives on agriculture with a multitude of products affirming their position in the EU market. After the EVFTA enters into force, EU custom duties on Vietnamese products like coffee, natural honey, and fresh fruit and vegetables will be completely eliminated. Tariffs on other key products such as rice, fish, and sugar will be reduced gradually and ultimately removed in the next three to seven years.

However, Vietnams agricultural and seafood exports have been facing certain difficulties amid global economic integration and trade liberalisation. The EU is a fastidious market where the annual average income is $36,000, three times higher than that of Chinas. EU authorities set high standards for product quality and requirements on food safety, labelling, and the environment.

To be entitled for EVFTA benefits, Vietnamese businesses shall conform to EU standards. Furthermore, sanitary and phytosanitary measures as non-tariff barriers are also covered in the agreement.

In order to be eligible for imports in the EU, Vietnamese goods must follow such strict requirements, particularly on food safety. Food safety and traceability are likely the most challenging barrier for Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic goods in foreign markets.

In such a context, the EVFTA urges Vietnamese businesses, especially small- and medium-sized ones, to advance their technology, apply higher standards to their processing lines, and cut the use of restricted substances and antibiotics for production.

Textiles and garments

Labour-intensive industries have become Vietnams comparative advantage. As reported by the General Statistics Office in 2019, Vietnams exports of textiles and garments ranked third globally with a value of $32.6 billion, only after China and India. Meanwhile, the EU is the second-largest market for Vietnamese apparels, which makes these products among the most beneficial groups when the EVFTA comes into force. Nevertheless, it is important for manufacturers of this product group to be proactive in sourcing materials to meet the yarn forward rules of origin. In essence, this means that all items in a garment from the yarn stage must be made in the EU, Vietnam, or South Korea  the only mutual FTA partner of both EVFTAs parties. According to Vinatex, around 14 per cent of Vietnams garment inputs in 2019 were imported from South Korea.

The rule is intended to ensure that the trade benefits of the EVFTA only apply to signatory countries rather than outside players.

These origin rules could have a serious impact for countries like Vietnam. The country is currently a key global garment manufacturing hub. However, fabrics are mostly sourced from China. Overall, around 85 per cent of Vietnamese textile and garment companies have outsourcing contracts with foreign partners. Vietnam should place top priority on the development its own local fabric industry to be eligible for EVFTA benefits.

Domestic groups across various sectors will be affected by new EVFTA requirements

Pharmaceuticals

Vietnams pharmaceutical market remains attractive to EU investors. Once the EVFTA comes into effect, approximately half of EU pharmaceutical imports will be duty-free immediately, with the rest exempted after seven years.

While Vietnams pharmaceutical market has significantly developed, it still only meets 52 per cent of market demand, contributed mostly by generic drugs. The new FTA will further open the market allowing local consumers to find Made in EU pharmaceutical products on store shelves, and at a competitive price. Vietnamese manufacturers might struggle to maintain their market share without constant innovation and improvements in their product lines, as it is likely that local consumers will perceive Made in EU pharmaceuticals as higher quality products.

Automobiles

As the domestic automobile industry remains in its infancy, Vietnams commitment in the EVFTA is a roadmap of gradual reduction of custom duties on EU automobiles in 10 years so that local carmakers can strengthen their positions. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that the Vietnamese automotive industry will sufficiently develop to embrace the challenge from EU products.

Notable carmakers such as VinFast, THACO, and Huyndai Thanh Cong have been selling at lower prices to compete with EU-made products. However, the main challenge for local players will be the development of an appropriate supporting industry. Currently, there are roughly 250 Vietnamese companies operating in the field of automotive component manufacturing.

The uneven production of automobiles by Vietnamese enterprises also prevents the local automotive industry from receiving the EVFTAs tariff preferences when it gets access to the EU market. As per the agreement, the value limit of non-originating materials for vehicle and vehicle parts are specified at 45 and 50 per cent, respectively.

Thus, Vietnam will have to promote its own supporting industries for automobiles or import components from EU member states in order to take advantage of the EVFTA.

Other products

In general, all Vietnamese products exported to EU member states are also exposed to the risk of their trade remedies. When a tariff is no longer an effective barrier, foreign markets tend to resort to anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, or safeguard measures to protect their industries and their consumers. It is important to note that the EU is such a market which prefers to implement such measures. Indeed, anti-dumping duty has been levied on several of Vietnams key commodities such as steel, basa fish, or shrimp, by major markets such as the US, Canada, India, the EU, and several other FTA partners.

Trading of services and investment

Vietnam commits to opening the market for business, environmental, and logistic services, as well as banking, insurance, and sea freight services by EU member states. Therefore in upcoming years, Vietnamese service providers are likely to encounter EU competitors and find it harder to assert their positions in the domestic market.

Currently, EU investors are active in 18 economic sectors and in 52 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam. Investment has been the most prominent in manufacturing, electricity, and real estate. Incentives under the EVFTA granted for EU investors may create challenges for local manufacturers of food and beverages, fertilisers, tyres, pottery, plastic products, and construction materials. This is likely when there is a gap in capacity and product quality between domestic and foreign-invested companies.

In addition, the EVFTA also triggers another challenge for Vietnamese companies in terms of international labour standards. According to a recently-published Oxfam study on Vietnamese garment workers wages and living conditions, the national average minimum wage in Vietnam is $143.70, which is around 37 per cent of the Asia Floor Wage and 64 per cent of the Global Living Wage Coalition benchmark.

Workers wages are being kept quite low so manufacturers can reduce prices for international buyers, who always seek the cheapest option. As Vietnamese labour is progressing towards international standards to enter the EVFTA, local enterprises have no choice but to bear the increased labour cost, which requires them to seek for other ways to maintain their competitiveness.

Conclusion

The agreement is predicted to come into force in July or August this year. We strongly recommend that Vietnamese companies thoroughly understand the commitments of both parties in the EVFTA and be prepared to embrace upcoming challenges.

In such a context, being proactive is crucial for enterprises to maintain their performance and expand their business. The EVFTA presents a chance for Vietnamese businesses to improve themselves to be able to compete with EU enterprises and develop a sustainable production base.
Public health officials warned Wednesday that the spread of the novel coronavirus is inching closer toward meeting the definition of a global pandemic, as the number of cases outside mainland China continues to grow, including in South Korea where a US soldier has tested positive for the virus.

Brazil announced its first case of coronavirus today, marking the first time the virus has been reported in South America. The outbreak has now spread to six of the world's seven continents. It has not yet reached Antarctica.

Iran and Italy are also grappling with major outbreaks within their borders that have turned deadly, and a top official from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the United States could see the virus spread within its borders.

"Ultimately we expect we will see community spread in this country. It's 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," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

South Korea currently has the largest outbreak outside mainland China, with more than 1,200 people infected -- including the first US soldier -- and at least 12 dead. Iran's health ministry has confirmed at least 139 cases and 19 fatalities. In Italy, at least 374 people have been infected and 12 have been killed, while Algeria, Croatia, mainland Spain and Switzerland all announced their first confirmed cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has so far held off on classifying the coronavirus' spread as a global pandemic, but the outbreak appears to be getting closer to meeting the global health body's definition of one.

The CDC's Messonnier said Tuesday that the situation has met two of the criteria for a pandemic: "the fact that this virus has caused illness -- including illness that has resulted in death -- and sustained person-to-person spread."

"As community spread is detected in more and more countries, the world moves closer towards meeting the third criteria: worldwide spread of the new virus," she said.

To date, the virus has killed more than 2,760 people globally, 2,715 of whom are in mainland China. China's National Health Commission reported that 406 confirmed cases were identified on Tuesday -- all but five in hard-hit Hubei province -- and 52 people were killed by the virus. The total number of people infected in mainland China is now 78,064, bringing the global total to 80,970.

The situation has rattled global markets and led to concern about the long term economic impact of the virus.

Investors and economists have been particularly concerned about how the continued shutdown of factories in China could affect global supply chains, but the new outbreaks in two major economies -- Italy and South Korea -- have rattled markets and dashed hopes of a speedy recovery, sparking this week's worldwide stock rout.

South Korean outbreak spreads to the military

South Korean authorities are attempting to contain an outbreak that has gone from just 51 people infected last week to at least 1,260 as of Wednesday. The outbreak began in the southern city of Daegu and was centered around the Shincheonji religious group, but the virus appears to have spread now beyond practitioners.

Twenty members of the South Korean military have been confirmed infected, and the country's defense ministry has placed significant restrictions on soldiers leaving their bases due to fears surrounding the virus. On Wednesday, it was announced that a US service member stationed in South Korea tested positive for the virus, according to US Forces Korea statement.

The soldier, who is stationed at Camp Carroll which is approximately 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the city of Daegu, is the first US service member to test positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The patient, a 23-year old male, is currently in self quarantine at his off-base residence. He visited Camp Walker on 24 February and Camp Carroll 21-25 February. KCDC and USFK health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether any others may have been exposed," the statement said.

The virus' spread also prompted South Korea and the United States to scale back joint military drills, according to three US officials.

The three officials said this would be the first major impact of coronavirus on US military readiness, according to the officials. Without the full exercise, the US could lose ground in being able to quickly conduct future operations in a coordinated and highly synchronized manner with South Korea against North Korea in the event of a crisis, one of the officials said.

Iranian health official infected

Tehran continues to grapple with a significant outbreak that one lawmaker in the holy city of Qom, the epicenter of the Iranian outbreak, said has killed as many as 50 people, though the country's health ministry has denied his claims.

Among the infected is Iran's deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi. Harirchi appeared on television sweaty and ill to warn Iranians of coronavirus Monday, only to test positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.

In a news conference on national television, Harirchi coughed and wiped sweat from his face using tissues on several occasions. He was later diagnosed with coronavirus, according to state media.

Across the Middle East, flights from Iran have been halted and borders with the country have been closed as the region tries to keep the spread of a deadly coronavirus at bay. Several countries have also issued travel bans for the country.

The heavy economic sanctions imposed against Iran by the US and other bodies have made tackling the disease harder, with the country struggling to access novel coronavirus test kits, a board member of Iran's Association of Medical Equipment Importers told the semi-official news agency ILNA on Sunday.

Italian officials try to calm fears

The worst outbreak outside Asia is in Italy, where authorities were on the defensive Tuesday as they faced tough questions over the country's handling of the deadly virus as it spreads across the country's northern regions.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tried to allay fears that the central government has no control over the affected regions after he was forced to admit that a hospital in the northern town of Codogno had mishandled the region's first coronavirus case and had contributed to the deadly virus' spread.

The cases are heavily concentrated in the region of Lombardy where 212 infections have been confirmed. Around 100,000 people in Lombardy and nearby Veneto are facing travel and other restrictions.

Conte on Monday night said that the hospital that treated the first coronavirus case in Codogno, known as Patient 1, had not followed protocol. Conte did not elaborate on what protocols were breached.

It was clear "there has been a management of the hospital not entirely proper according to prudent protocols, which are recommended in these cases, and this has certainly contributed to the spread," he said.

Italian authorities have identified Patient 1 as a 38-year-old man, giving only the name Mattia.

Mattia was originally in intensive care for respiratory problems at a hospital in Codogno, but is now being treated at the Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia, about 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) south of Milan, Italian Civil Protection Agency spokesman Juri Pittaluga told CNN. Mattia's pregnant wife, Valentina, has also tested positive for the virus and is in the Sacco hospital in Milan, but her health condition is "not worrying at all," Pittaluga said.

Authorities in Italy have not yet identified Patient 0, the individual who suspected of bringing the coronavirus into the country.

Blame goes around in the United States

Government officials in the United States spent much of Tuesday assessing the situation, with several leveling accusations against their domestic and international counterparts.

US President Donald Trump has privately expressed frustration in recent days about some of the ways his administration is confronting a spreading coronavirus outbreak, according to people familiar with the conversations. Publicly, he has expressed optimism that the virus is "going to go away."

Lawmakers in Congress, meanwhile, have voiced concerns that more needs to be done. Republicans and Democrats alike have suggested that the Trump administration's response has exposed vulnerabilities.

"Looking ahead, we should be passing laws to make sure we have that manufacturing capability, that we have sufficient stockpiles. You know things expire. We need to be far more strategic about how we approach these things for the next potential pandemic," Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said. "These are serious issues."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quick to criticize China and Iran, accusing both countries of a lack of transparency. He also alleged that attempts by both governments to stifle dissent has played a part in the virus' spread.

"Had China permitted its own and foreign journalists and medical personnel to speak and investigate freely, Chinese officials and other nations would have been far better prepared to address the challenge," Pompeo said.

The WHO has continually praised China's response to the crisis, a move that has led critics to question the relationship between the two entities and whether the global health watchdog is sufficiently independent from Beijing, one of its most important financial patrons.
Contagion, a 2011 killer virus flick starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law has gained newfound popularity as coronavirus rapidly spreads around the world. Fears of coronavirus have prompted movie watchers to go back to the Steven Soderbergh thriller, a fictional account of a pandemic that kills 26 million people worldwide.

According to Warner Bros., the film ranked 270th in views in the company's catalog at the end of 2019, when the existence COVID-19 was not yet public knowledge. Now, it's the second most-watched movie, bested only by the Harry Potter films.

Contagion has been trending on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes as well, with people willing to even pay to watch a 10-year-old movie, reported the New York Times.

The film is about a mysterious disease that kills Paltrow after she travels to Hong Kong for business and follows her back to the US, spreading rapidly. What's remarkable is the similarity in the symptoms and prevention of that virus and COVID-19. The film shows that the virus spread on contact and attacked respiratory systems of the affected.

"It was very deliberately designed to be a cautionary film. We got the science right," producer Michael Shamberg told Buzzfeed News. However, the virus in the film is way more deadly than what coronavirus has proved to be so far.

Though eerily similar to the current viral outbreak, writer Scott Burns told Fortune that the hysteria in the film is the most important thing to pay attention to. "The similarities between our Contagion and the coronavirus are immaterial, accidental and really not that important. What is more important and accurate is the societal response and the spread of fear and the knock-on effects of that. That is proving to be accurate," he said.

Follow @News18Movies for more
(CNN)  Bumblebees are in trouble.

The odds of spotting the hardworking pollinators in Europe and America down by more than 30% since the last century.

Pesticides, along with the climate crises and declining habitat, have been blamed for their declining numbers. And in a new study published Tuesday, scientists examined exactly how bumblebees are affected by pesticides by scanning bumble bee brains and testing their learning abilities.

They found that baby bees can feel the effects of the food contaminated by pesticides brought back by worker bees into the colony, making them poorer at performing tasks later in life.

Dr. Richard Gill, a senior lecturer in the Imperial College London's the Department of Life Sciences and an author of the study, compared it to how a fetus might be damaged by a harmful substance in the womb.

"Bee colonies act as superorganisms, so when any toxins enter the colony, these have the potential to cause problems with the development of the baby bees within it," he said

"Worryingly in this case, when young bees are fed on pesticide-contaminated food, this caused parts of the brain to grow less, leading to older adult bees possessing smaller and functionally impaired brains; an effect that appeared to be permanent and irreversible."

The loss of bumblebees can contribute to decreasing biodiversity and potentially impact our food supply, with the bees pollinating plants such as cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, blueberries and melons.

Spiking nectar

In their experiment, the researchers spiked nectar with a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids at a similar concentration that's been found in wild flowers. Then they introduced it into a lab-based bee colony.

Once the baby bees emerged as adults, their learning ability was tested after three days, and again after 12 days. The results were compared with young bees from colonies that were fed no pesticides and those that were fed pesticides only as adults.

They found that bees that were fed pesticides when they were developing as larvae showed significantly impaired learning ability compared to those that were not. To determine this, the researchers tested if bees could learn to associate a smell with a food reward, scoring how many times out of 10 each successfully performed the task.

"There has been growing evidence that pesticides can build up inside bee colonies. Our study reveals the risks to individuals being reared in such an environment, and that a colony's future workforce can be affected weeks after they are first exposed," said Dylan Smith, also with the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial.

This impaired learning ability could make it harder for the worker bees to navigate and forage, Gill said, potentially imperiling the bee colony.

Examining bee brains

The researchers also scanned the brains of close to 100 bees involved in their study using new micro-CT scanning technology and found that those who had been exposed to pesticides had a smaller volume of an important part of the insect brain, known as the mushroom body.

"It's fantastic looking at the tiny structures just a few millimeters wide," Gill said.

The mushroom body is known to be involved in learning ability in insects, and poor performance on the learning task correlated with smaller mushroom body volume, supporting the suggestion that pesticide exposure is the cause of the bees' poor performance, the study said.

Gill said the research showed that the role pesticides may have played in the decline of bumble bees and other pollinators may have been underestimated, when compared with things like the climate crises and habitat loss.

"We are still trying to figure out what roles these factors play and how they interact," he said. "Pesticides are definitely a contributing explanation to why we are seeing declines."

"Pesticides are putting these colonies at risk. They are impairing foragers who then have to deal with land use change and extreme weather."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Pesticides damage the brains of baby bees, new research finds"
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- It is quite possibly the most valuable piece of real estate in Ocean Springs.

Its a commercially-zoned lot in the heart of downtown Ocean Springs, just off the corner of DeSoto Street and Cash Alley and just a short walk from the Government Street/Washington Avenue business corridor.

Its been discussed by locals, including City officials for years, and is frequently and correctly referred to as the Blossman property", as its owned by Blossman Gas. People wonder aloud why the property has sat vacant for decades, used only occasionally as a staging area for musical act during city events.

While saying the company is not actively marketing the property and in no rush to sell, Blossman Gas president and Ocean Springs native Stuart Weidie told The Mississippi Press the company is open to entertaining offers.

I think, if the value was right, theres always a possibility, Weidie said. Weve had some requests to sell it, or virtually give it away -- we dont have any interest in doing that, of course -- but with the right value, I think wed entertain anything, because theres no business purpose for it, right now at least. So anythings possible.

Weidie noted that the late John Blossman, the company founder, donated a parcel of land near the still-vacant lot for use as public parking and that someone else owns a piece of the wooded area behind the grass-covered section of the property.

If we were to do do something with it, wed obviously want to find out what the true value is in todays market, he said.

The property is actually two side-by-side parcels totaling 5,220 square feet, according to the Jackson County land records website.

Mayor Shea Dobson said he has spoken with local company officials about the property, but those discussions never amounted to much.

I have approached them, he said. Weve looked at that property for a few different ideas. I know we looked at acquiring it when we were looking for a spot for a parking garage, but it really didnt fit there.

I talked to them at one point and asked about purchasing it, but I dont think they had any interest in the project, Dobson continued. I dont remember the exact reason they werent interested, but the discussions never really reached the point of discussing a price.

Long story short, yes, weve looked at that property, but it never materialized where it would make sense for both parties.

While acknowledging the property can be had for the right price, Weidie also said the company is typically not in the practice of selling off assets.

We generally dont sell anything in the company, he said. "We just sort of hold on to it -- kind of the Warren Buffett theory, although were certainly not in the Warren Buffett class.

But were certainly open to anything, particularly with properties that dont provide any value to us.

After learning of Weidies comments, Dobson said it may be time to reach out again.

Maybe through this I can reach out to them again and we can find agreement, the mayor said.
ST. LOUIS  Former St. Louis Alderman Larry Arnowitz, facing indictment on a federal mail fraud charge, turned himself in to authorities Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance.

Hands cuffed to a belly chain and ankles shackled in court, Arnowitz, 66, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Shirley Padmore Mensah during a brief hearing that he understood the charge and the potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

As FBI agents looked on, Mensah told Arnowitz that he could not leave eastern Missouri without permission and is banned from possessing firearms.

He will return to court March 11 to plead not guilty to the charge.

Arnowitz was indicted Friday and resigned Tuesday afternoon, citing personal reasons in a letter.
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.

A year has passed since Indian Air Force fighter aircraft bombed a compound near the town of Balakot in Pakistan, which had been identified as a training camp run by the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The JeM is a Pakistani Punjabi terrorist group that focuses its activities on India and had brought the two countries to the brink of war after its fighters attacked the Parliament building in New Delhi on December 13, 2001.

Balakot was struck in the early morning hours of February 26, 2019, in retaliation for the killing of 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans in a suicide car-bomb attack near Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.

Located about 80 kilometres across the Line of Control, in the Pakistani province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Balakot strike was the first by India on a target in mainland Pakistan since the 1971 war.

All fighting since then, including the Siachen and Kargil conflicts, has been confined to the disputed J&K state.

New Delhi declared the attack a major success. Then foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale announced that 'a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis' were eliminated.

The same day, the Indian media cited 'government sources' to claim that 300 terrorists were in the camp when it was struck.

A few days later, Amit Anilchandra Shah, then the president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed at an election rally that 'more than 250' terrorists died in Balakot.

Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi declared: 'India will no longer be helpless in the face of terror.'

All this while, the IAF declined to put a figure on the casualties inflicted in the attack, stating merely that it had accurately struck the designated target.

Pakistan repeatedly denied any casualties and took foreign journalists to Balakot, but kept them some distance from the camp.

A similar game of claims and counter-claims ensued the next day when the Pakistan air force launched its own cross-LoC strikes on Indian military targets.

India claims it 'thwarted their plans' and shot down a PAF F-16 fighter while losing one IAF MiG-21, whose pilot bailed out and was captured by Pakistani ground troops and subsequently repatriated to India.

The PAF denies losing any aircraft while claiming that it shot down two Indian fighters.

A year later, beyond the rhetoric, what are the key changes for each side?

A new normal?

First, there is the contention that, with the Balakot strike, India has established a 'new normal' that would govern its future reactions to Pakistan-backed, cross-border terrorist provocations.

Previously, New Delhi had reacted to such incidents with remonstrations, empty threats or demonstrative military mobilisation, such as after the 2001 terror strike on India's Parliament.

After the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes in 2008, as also after the Mumbai train bombings in 2006, New Delhi had confined its reaction to mere diplomatic condemnation.

In contrast, the cross-LoC 'surgical strikes' of September 2016, stated to retaliate against the killing of 17 Indian soldiers in Uri demonstrated that India would retaliate militarily.

The Balakot air strike was an even stronger message, since the target is located in what New Delhi recognises as Pakistani territory, not in disputed J&K.

Further, in the unwritten code that governs the use of armed force on the LOC, air strikes -- especially across the international border -- constitute a significant escalation over cross-border firing, or a limited crossing of the LOC by ground forces, which are regarded as less inflammatory options.

The Balakot strike, therefore, constitutes a message that New Delhi would have no choice but to retaliate strongly against future terrorist outrages, with cross-IB or -LoC air and ground attacks, but not necessarily restricted to those.

India's deterrence posture has unquestionably hardened and its efficacy is evident from the absence of seriously damaging cross-border terrorist attacks since then.

Even so, the LoC continues to witness ceasefire violations and infiltration. This suggests that, in the long term, strikes on non-military targets like the JeM camp in Balakot have only a limited and transient ability to compel the Pakistan army to fundamentally alter its patterns of behaviour.

With the Indian military unable, or unwilling, to present concrete and unquestionable proof of having struck the terrorist infrastructure it targeted, of having killed hundreds of terrorists and of having shot down a PAF F-16 fighter with an obsolescent MiG-21, Pakistan's military has succeeded in selling its public an alternative narrative in which the Pakistani David successfully gave a black eye to the Indian Goliath.

Calling 'Pakistan's bluff'

Not to be outdone, a host of Indian strategists, analysts and retired military officers appeared on news television to claim that India had abandoned strategic restraint and had 'called Pakistan's nuclear bluff'.

They argued that India's nuclear deterrent and second strike capability had preventing Pakistan from rattling its nuclear sabre, thus allowing India to strike targets inside Pakistan.

Even Modi, while campaigning in the run-up to the May 2019 general election, claimed that Pakistan had been deterred from using nuclear weapons by the certain knowledge that India's nuclear weapons would not be saved up for Diwali.

In fact, at no stage did India come anywhere near transgressing Pakistan's nuclear red lines. That military believes its conventional forces capable of holding off an Indian offensive long enough to allow international pressure to end the fighting.

Pakistan plans to invoke the use of nuclear weapons only if its survival was threatened by crippling military losses, or if India was poised to capture a large part of that country.

Given the highly limited scope of the Balakot strike, and Gokhale's unequivocal assertion that the operation was completed and that it targeted only terrorists, Pakistan's existence was never threatened.

It would be dangerous for New Delhi to believe it had successfully called Islamabad's nuclear bluff and could henceforth disregard Pakistan's nuclear options.

If that country's media is anything to go by, the lesson drawn by Pakistani generals is that, in the event of India using force in a future crisis, they must escalate more rapidly to the nuclear brink.

Diplomatic isolation

On the diplomatic plane, contact between the two capitals remains broken with both sides having withdrawn their envoys after New Delhi read down J&K's special status on August 5 and split the state into two Union territories.

India has strenuously attempted to isolate Pakistan internationally, but with mixed results. China continues its support to its 'all weather ally' and, after New Delhi's intervention in J&K, Turkey and Malaysia also back Pakistan.

India has had greater success in putting Pakistan under pressure from the Financial Action Task Force, a 39-member international body, for failing to block fund flows to terrorist organisations designated by the United Nations security council, which include the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the JeM.

Pakistan, having complied so far with only four of the 27 action points demanded by the FATF, remains on the list of 'Other Monitored Jurisdictions' or grey list, until the next review on June 2020.

India seeks to get Pakistan placed on the list of 'Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories' or black list, which will curb financial flows and aid to Islamabad, placing Pakistan under even greater economic stress.

Under dire economic stress, Pakistan arrested LeT chief Muhammad Saeed in July, who was sentenced to five years in prison for terrorist finance violations in February.

On May 1, sustained Indian pressure paid off when China lifted its veto and the UN designated JeM chief Masood Azhar an international terrorist and placed him on the 1267 Sanctions List.

While Pakistan is likely to minimise the actual impact of this measure, it theoretically means the shutdown of the JeM and its activities.

Yet, Islamabad continues to extract support, including from Washington, by virtue of its control over the Taliban at a time when America seeks to negotiate a face-saving withdrawal after 19 years of war in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, New Delhi's August crackdown in J&K, which in many respects still continues, has brought an unwelcome international spotlight onto India's human rights record.

In the United States congress, traditional bipartisan support for India is giving way to criticism, including from Indian-origin representatives such as Pramila Jayapal, who has tabled a resolution in the House of Representatives that criticises India's heavy-handedness in Kashmir.

While that has received support from only 29 members in the 435-member House, a growing chorus of anti-India criticism from American civil society and the powerful liberal media could complicate the problem.

So far, the US administration has remained silent with US President Donald J Trump stating during his visit to New Delhi that India should resolve its own internal problems.

However, a senior administration official noted pithily: 'What the US congress says today is usually what the administration will say tomorrow.'

Trade relations

In the wake of the Pulwama attack, India withdrew Pakistan's 'most favoured nation' trade status and imposed punitive tariffs on that country.

With retaliatory tariffs imposed by Islamabad on Indian exports, the two biggest victims are Indian exporters; and consumers in Pakistan who are being denied access to cheap Indian exports.

Yet, given that most Indian exports to Pakistan are routed through West Asia, it is only direct India-Pakistan trade that is suffering consequences.

Water sharing

A week after the Pulwama attack, New Delhi threatened Pakistan it would get tough on water sharing.

Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted: 'Our government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.'

This was not a threat to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, but rather a reiteration of earlier commitments to prevent the flow of water into Pakistan from the three rivers that fall in India's share under the IWT: Sutlej, Ravi and Beas.

While Gadkari's tweet sounded menacing, Pakistan would continue getting the water in the three western rivers: Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers. India fails to harness all the water from the eastern rivers largely because of its own unresolved inter-state water disputes.

Were these disagreements to be resolved, it would still take years to build the dams and canals needed to divert all the water it is entitled to under the IWT.

A year after Balakot, India and Pakistan remain locked in hostility, with little prospect of reconciliation in the offing.

New Delhi's unrelenting pressure on Islamabad continues, but that has only made Pakistan more determined than ever to confront and criticise India in every possible forum.

Pakistan believes India has been rendered vulnerable to criticism by its crackdown in J&K, and New Delhi's liberal credentials further tarnished by the sustained protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019, which is internationally seen as anti-Muslim.

With Trump offering mediation on resolving the J&K dispute, Pakistan believes the Kashmir game is not yet over.
Last year, the ED had registered an offence against Goyal and his wife in connection with FEMA (Foreign Exchange Manipulation Act) violations.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly raided the residence of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in Mumbai late on Wednesday evening.

Goyal and few others have been booked by the ED in a money laundering case even as the agency is conducting searches at his premises, officials said on Thursday.

Mumbai: Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid is underway at the residence of former Chairman of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal in connection with an alleged money laundering case. pic.twitter.com/0rFmo9B3Th  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

They said a criminal case against the former chairman of the airlines has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a recent Mumbai Police FIR filed against him, reported PTI.

The ED conducted raids at Goyal's premises in Mumbai on Wednesday evening and also questioned him after filing a case, they said. The action is continuing, they added.

Last month, the Mumbai police reportedly registered a case against Goyal and his wife Anita for allegedly cheating a Mumbai-based travel firm, Akbar Travels, to the tune of Rs 46 crore, said a report in India Today.

The police registered the case on orders of a metropolitan magistrate complaint against Goyal and his wife under various sections of the IPC, the report said.

Last year, the ED had registered an offence against Goyal and his wife in connection with FEMA (Foreign Exchange Manipulation Act) violations. The agency had also interrogated the couple on several occasions on the alleged FEMA violation case.

In September last year, the ED had questioned Goyal for over eight hours in the case of an alleged contravention of the foreign exchange law.

This was the first time that the central agency was grilling him after it conducted searches against him last year.

Goyal's statement had been recorded under FEMA at the agency's zonal office in Mumbai.

It suspected that expenses at these companies were allegedly booked at fake and high costs and as a result, they "projected" huge losses.

In August 2019, the ED had searched a dozen premises, including Goyal's Mumbai residence, his group companies, their directors and offices of Jet Airways.

According to the agency, the businessman's empire had 19 privately-held companies, five of which were registered abroad.

In March last year, Goyal had stepped down as chairman of the airline due to acute liquidity crunch.

In May 2019, Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal were stopped from leaving India at Mumbai airport. They were denied permission to travel abroad by the immigration authority, who realised that there was a lookout notification for Goyal.

The couple was to travel by Dubai-bound Emirates flight EK 507 when the immigration authority denied them permission to fly.

The checked-in baggage, which was in the name of Anita Goyal, was also offloaded from the flight.

In April last year, Jet Airways officers and staff association president Kiran Pawaskar had written to the Mumbai police commissioner that the passports of Goyal and other directors and senior members of the Jet Airways management be impounded as the airline had not paid salaries to its employees for several months.

Currently, Jet Airways is undergoing resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and at least three entities have put in initial bids for the carrier.

In December last year, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had approved the extension of Jet Airways, which had suspended its operations in April last year, insolvency resolution period by 90 days.

The Committee of Creditors (CoC) sought extension of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Jet Airways from the Mumbai bench of the NCLT in view of South America's Synergy Group wanting more time for due diligence and two new interests being shown for the grounded airline.

The airline owes over Rs 8,500 crore to a consortium of 26 banks led by State Bank, and over Rs 13,000 crore to the tens of hundreds of vendors and around 23,000-odd employees.

Lenders to the grounded airline, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), are seeking investors in Jet to recover their dues. The airlines total liability, including unpaid salaries and vendor dues, is nearly Rs 15,000 crore.

 With inputs from agencies
Remembering late former Chief Minister of Odisha on his 104th Jayanti, Prime Minister on Thursday shared a document from the pages of history (dated 1945), which gives a glimpse of the statesman's courage and excellence.

The Prime Minister said Biju Babu worked tirelessly for India's progress and pioneered the development of Odisha.

"Remembering Biju Babu on his Jayanti. This document from the pages of history (dated 1945) gives a glimpse of his courage (flying Dr Lohia, who was then underground) and excellence. Biju Babu worked tirelessly for India's progress and pioneered the development of Odisha," Modi tweeted.

The document shared by the Prime Minister highlights the courage shown by Patnaik in flying then underground leader Ram Manohar Lohia from Delhi to Calcutta. It states that Patnaik was an excellent aviator.

"It is true that, while in the employ of the Indian National Airways, Patnaik misused his position as a pilot by surreptitiously flying Ram Manohar Lohia (who was then underground) from Delhi to Calcutta. Internal conditions have since changes and, in present circumstances, we doubt if Patnaik can again misuse his position as a pilot. It can be argued that Patnaik may still be a danger so long as conditions on our Eastern border do not return to normal - but that would be to state a very hypothetical risk," the letter read.





Remembering Biju Babu on his Jayanti. This document from the pages of history (dated 1945) gives a glimpse of his courage (flying Dr. Lohia, who was then underground) and excellence.



Biju Babu worked tirelessly for Indias progress and pioneered the development of Odisha. pic.twitter.com/XLEjzOFEiQ  (@narendramodi) March 5, 2020



"In the circumstances, we do not feel that we can urge, on strong security grounds, that Patnaik should be prevented from flying. Flying is Patnaik's normal way of making a living, and we should prefer to see his employed rather than idle. The Indian National Airways can be persuaded through Mr Cambridge, the Managing Director, not to take Patnaik back. But if the Indian National Airways do not re-employ him, Tatas probably will - because he is an excellent pilot," it added.
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Show Up! Marching Into March Were as far as we can tell courtesy of the artist Now its March. On Sunday, while this column was being written, it was about 62 degrees outside. By the time you read this, in print or online, it will have grown warmer in these parts. During the approaching weekend, the highs will be in the low 70s. Additionally, Daylight Savings Time commences on Sunday morning when 1am magically becomes 2am. That night-shortening spell will last until just after Halloween. Those are both good reasons to go see a show this week. but heres another. You have nothing to fear from the COVID-19 virus. As long as you dont touch your face compulsively (like most humans do at least 3,000 times per day), wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with hot water and pure castile soap from Dr. Bronners and stay vigilant of the symptoms of those around you, everything should turn out just fine. Also, warm weather tends to slow the transmission of many viruses and scientists hope that this is the case with mankinds existential threat du jour. In the meantime, here are some public places you should visit joyfully as springtime approaches.

Thursday Thollem McDonas qualifies as a New Mexican cultural treasure because of what All About Jazz Magazine calls his immense technique, boundless inspiration and highly focused artistic vision. But, in a practical sense, such appellations dont require repeated pronouncement: Hear this artist for yourself and you will know that the above is abundantly true. The mans work speaks for itself. A frequent recitalist on both the Santa Fe and Albuquerque jazz scenes, McDonas performs at the Outpost Performance Space (210 Yale Blvd. SE)solo and in a trio comprised of the pianist as well as bassist Carlos Santistevan and drummer Dave Wayneon Thursday, March 5. Destined to be one of the premier jazz events in the Burque of 2020, this concert is bound to be both slyly sublime and beautifully brutal. 7:30pm  $10 to $15  All-ages. View in Alibi calendar

Friday Part I Def-ia singularly artistically and musically significant hip-hop artist on the Albuquerque scene in the year 2020hosts an album release party for his latest recorded work, an EP titled Deserted Oceans, at Sister (407 Central Ave. NW) on Friday, March 6. Renowned for his active involvement in the local community as well as a fast-as-fire flow that will not stop its groovy interaction with multidimensional musical stylings no matter what, Def-i continues to spread a message of peace and love in a world that is increasingly complex and filled with tragedy. His rap sets out to confront all of that with hope and heavy beats. It succeeds to such a degree that you are bound to be dancing to his sound even as the world gets better and better. Special guests include Vel The Wonder, DDAT, T.R.3 and Endz. 8pm  $10  21+. View in Alibi calendar

Friday Part II Despite it having been literally decades since the genres introduction into New Mexico popular music culture (sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s), reggae and ska are still very popular in the Duke City. For evidence of that, just think back to the last Big Spank show that went down here in El Duque. Or, for that matter, any number of recent Reviva gigs. And now, apparently, its all about that SharkSuit. Thats right, those up beat-playing maniacs in the shark masks (aka Alex Wilhite, Beau Kneaus, Matt Whitley and Nick Anderson) are back on the prowl with a new EP titled Saturns Return. Theyll be celebrating the release with one heck of a hootenanny at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW) on Friday, March 6. Joining them live and onstage will be some of this towns top rockers, like Crazyfool, Shrewd, Good Green and DJ Buddhafunk. Out of the water, now, swimmers! 8pm  $10-$15  21+. View in Alibi calendar

Saturday Theres yet more tasty, tested and true local rock music to be had on Saturday, March 7. Thats when Full Speed Veronica (a stalwart of both Burque and Santas rock scenes, a rare combination, to be sure) plays a farewell gig at Moonlight Lounge (120 Central Ave. SW). The night before, theyre doing a combination farewell show and album release party for their latest EP up en el Norte. Were not sure whats up, but this band has certainly earned more than a casual listen. Their music combines dreamy indie currents with torrents of rocked-out angst and melodic mastery, too. You can catch them one more time with The Ordinary Things, Sweet Nothin and Sunbender. 8pm  $8  21+. View in Alibi calendar
A postcard written by writer and poet DH Lawrence to a woman he fell in love with over a century ago will be sold at auction.

The famous author wrote the postcard to his sweetheart Louie Burrows shortly before they became engaged to be married in 1910.

He described his fiancee as a woman who 'warmed his heart like a sunny day' and 'strong and rosy as the gates of Eden' but their engagement ended two years later.

DH Laurence, above, described his fiancee as a woman who 'warmed his heart like a sunny day' and 'strong and rosy as the gates of Eden' but their engagement ended two years later

The discovery of the postcard, which had been gathering dust for decades under a bed in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has 'reawakened their wonderful love story.'

Experts say the postcard could fetch 500 when it goes under the hammer next month after it was uncovered by Louie's great niece Ros Connolly.

Mrs Connolly, 70, said: 'I was given the postcard by my grandma Constance Slee, Louie's sister, when I was about five years old in 1955.

'I started collecting postcards when I was four or five as I thought they were pretty. At the time, I didn't realise the importance of Aunt Louie's postcard.

The famous author wrote the postcard to his sweetheart Louie Burrows, pictured above, shortly before they became engaged to be married in 1910

'I've always kept my postcard collection in my bedroom, often under the bed.. I came across it again when I was downsizing and decided to sell it as tribute to my great aunt.

'Louie and my uncle Fred Heath, who she married in later life, were lovely people. I stayed with them when I was eight and they were so kind to me.

'She used to send me and my three siblings a box full of gifts at Christmas.. I still have a Red Indian doll she gave me.

'I knew Louie always had a place in her heart for D H Lawrence - and he loved her.

'He liked her intellect. I would like their love story to be remembered. It's a magical piece of family history.'

The postcard is addressed to 'Miss Louie Burrows, 72 Moorlands Rd, North Bay, Scarborough'.

It has no stamp or visible date but reads: 'Thank you for letter - I'll try to see you one day - possibly Monday week.

'We having a veritable red & yellow time here - gaudy's not the word. Saw Nina - Mary's lovely. DHL.'

The historic piece of literary memorabilia will be sold by Hansons Auctioneers on April 2 with a guide price of 300-500.

However, it is expected to fetch more after a D H Lawrence postcard, found as it was about to be thrown in a skip Newark, Nottinghamshire, sold for 1,500 last August.

Jim Spencer, works on paper specialist at Hansons, said: 'This newly discovered postcard from 1910 is a wonderful find reawakening a love story from more than a century ago.

The discovery of the postcard, which had been gathering dust for decades under a bed in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has 'reawakened their wonderful love story.' Experts say the postcard could fetch 500 when it goes under the hammer next month

'The couple never married but Louie was engaged to D H Lawrence from 1910-12.

'He must have broken her heart when he left her but she always remembered him with fondness.

'The character Ursula in his book The Rainbow is based on their relationship and her former home, Church Cottage in Cossall, near Ilkeston, is also referenced.

'Though Lawrence left Louie, she retained her respect for him throughout her life. I hope the sale of this postcard celebrates her loyalty and love.'

The couple's romance has been documented both academically and in book form.

In 1910 Lawrence wrote to his mother, who was ill in Leicester Hospital, 'I have been to Leicester today and have met a girl who has always been warm to me - like a sunny happy day - and I've asked her to marry me: in the train quite unpremeditated between Rothley and Quorn'.

During their courtship Lawrence wrote to Louie, 'When I think of you, it is like thinking of life. You will be the first woman to make the earth glad for me.

'You are strong and rosy as the gates of Eden. You are like Canaan - rich and fruitful and glad, and I love you'.

Professor John Worthen and Dr Andrew Harrison of the D H Lawrence Research Centre examined the card for Hansons Auctioneers.

They said: 'This unpublished postcard pre-dates Lawrence's engagement to Louie Burrows, which happened in early December 1910.

'Lawrence was writing (the postcard) from the boarding house of Catherine Swarbrick at 77 Talbot Road, Blackpool, where he was staying with his friend George Neville.

'The 'red & yellow time' in the card is partly explained by that memoir, in which he describes how two other guests had dressing gowns of rose and gold colour, and how Lawrence and Neville called them 'Rosie' and 'Old Gold' and successfully evaded them.

'The mistakes in the card - 'We having' and the scrawled 'lovely' - suggest the unsettled nature of life there.

'In the card, Lawrence says 'saw Nina', which we know took place on Thursday August 11, 1910, so the card must have been written c.11-12 August 1910.

The postcard is addressed to 'Miss Louie Burrows, 72 Moorlands Rd, North Bay, Scarborough'. The front of the postcard, showing a (then new) Bleriot monoplane, is pictured above

'The postmark was certainly 'Blackpool'. The Stewarts were at 44 Nelson Street, Barrow.

'They had three children, the Nina whom Lawrence mentions, a daughter Mary, almost certainly the Mary mentioned in the car, and a younger son.'

Louisa, known as Louie, Burrows (1888-1962) met Lawrence at Ilkeston's Pupil-Teacher Centre and the Day Training College of University College, Nottingham.

However, in 1912 Lawrence caused heartbreak when he eloped with Freida Weekley. But Louie never forgot Lawrence and visited his grave at Vence, France, twice.

She enjoyed a successful teaching career and became a headmistress in Leicestershire.

In 1940 she married Fred Heath and, according to Mrs Connolly, they enjoyed a very happy marriage. Louie retired in 1941 and died in 1962 at the age of 74.

Lawrence (1885-1930) was born in Eastwood, Notts. He rose to become one of England's most influential literary figures.

His impact is still felt today and some of his books, such as Lady Chatterley's Lover, have been adapted for film and television.

The D H Lawrence postcard is due to be sold at Hansons' Library Auction at Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.
The United States and its allies have prevailed in a high-stakes diplomatic contest with China over who will head a United Nations agency overseeing intellectual property issues.

On Wednesday, the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) nominated Singaporean Daren Tang Heng Shim to be its next director general.

Tang heads the intellectual property office of the Singaporean government. His principal rival  and until recently the front runner  was Chinas Wang Binying, currently a Wipo deputy director general.

The 193 UN member nations must still vote on Tangs candidacy, although that has traditionally been considered a formality, with the real challenges taking place during the nomination stage.

Wang Binying, a Wipo deputy director general, was a front runner for the job. Photo: Handout

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed Tangs nomination minutes after the final voting wrapped up.

This is the first time a Singaporean has been nominated for the leadership position of a UN Agency, Lee said on his official Facebook page, a platform banned in China. Well done for flying the Singapore flag high!

Tang won the final round with 55 votes against Wangs 28 out of a total 83 eligible votes.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated Tang, calling him a strong proponent of IP protection, a vocal proponent of transparency and institutional integrity and someone able to forge consensus among Wipo members on difficult issues.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2019, China ranked 49th globally on the Intellectual Property Rights Index of 129 nations monitored, up from 52nd in 2018. The US rose two spots to No 12. And Singapore rose one to No 4.

Based solely on her resume, Wangs chances of clinching the nomination would likely have been greater. Wang joined Wipo in 1992 and has managed large swathes of the 1,500-staff agency. Current and former colleagues give her high marks for her professionalism.

Story continues

Tang, by contrast, has far less management or industry experience.

But politics often trump resumes in UN leadership races. As it became clear in recent weeks that Wang was in pole position, Washington doubled down on working with like-minded governments in Europe, Japan and Taiwan on lobbying allies and otherwise rallying support behind Tang.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a plenary session at the 50th World Economic Forum annual meeting in January. Photo: Christian Clavadetscher/World Economic Forum via dpa

For Washington and its allies, the idea of having a Chinese national head an organisation with a global role in safeguarding corporate, scientific and quasi-military intellectual property was akin to the proverbial putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, an analogy frequently used by opponents of Chinas candidate.

China also lobbied hard for the nomination, insiders say. In recent weeks, Wang has gone on a charm offensive for votes, visiting Asian, African and European capitals. Chinas 147 embassies also reportedly offered Chinese investment and jobs in return for votes.

Chinas outreach has been amazing, said one official close to Wipo.

While Wang is seen as a personable manager  in contrast to the perceived style of current, controversial director general, Australian Francis Gurry  that in itself presented a potential problem. Some insiders said her accommodating nature would make it difficult to stand up to Beijing should it wish to influence Wipo operations in its favour.

The showdown comes as intellectual property plays a growing role in US-China trade battles and the fight over 5G telecommunications standards escalates.

China topped the 2019 Priority Watch List of countries Washington monitors, Beijings 15th annual appearance. The list cites an urgent need for fundamental structural changes.

Unlike most UN agencies, almost all of Wipos US$800 million budget and US$99 million surplus is funded by industry, giving the agency and its director significant independence from UN member nations.

The funding comes from companies that pay around US$1,000 per claim to safeguard their corporate and quasi-military secrets. Patent and trademark filings are stored on a secure Wipo server while companies decide which national jurisdictions to target.

Intellectual property experts were worried that China could gain access to patent applications before they were published or alter global IP rules in ways that favor its state-led economy and world view.

US officials also were concerned that a Wang victory would give China five top spots at specialised UN agencies  the US has four  expanding its ability to project its worldview.

US elected officials, foreign governments and IP experts welcomed the news of Tangs nomination.

Some sanity prevails. Not sure what deals the US made!! said one person close to the UN agency.

Protecting intellectual property rights is paramount to the success of the US and the future of the global economy, added the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on its official Twitter account. Congratulations to Daren Tang of #Singapore on his successful bid.

But it remains to be seen how Beijing will react.

The headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Reuters

One person close to Wipo wondered whether China might break with tradition and challenge Tangs nomination when the full UN membership votes on his confirmation, given the current era of friction between Washington and Beijing on multiple fronts.

Do you think China will accept this failure? Or will they call a vote at the General Assembly in May? the official said.

Critics say the Wipo race has spotlighted the arcane UN appointment system, which is often defined by arm-twisting and favour-trading for votes. They also cite an urgent need for reform at Wipo, amid a legacy of scandals, alleged mismanagement and hounding out of whistle-blowers under Gurrys leadership.

The Australian has come under fire for establishing satellite Wipo offices in North Korea and Iran stocked with high-end US computers in violation of US export bans, allegedly in return for votes; for paying a US lobbying firm nearly US$200,000 to help avoid detection; and for the alleged routing of a large IT contract to an Australian company run by an acquaintances, according to 2016 congressional testimony.

Hopefully, Mr. Tang will bring the much-lauded management expertise and accountability of Singaporean bureaucracy to WIPO, which has had so many years of controversy, said Mark Cohen, director of the law and technology centre at the University of California, Berkeley, in a blog post.

Tang could help diffuse this particular US-China standoff, Cohen said, adding that Singapores foreign policy has generally been characterised by neutrality and balance.

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Egypt Wednesday imposed a temporary entry ban on Qatari citizens over Coronavirus, in response to similar ban by Doha earlier this week.

The ban also applied to those who have valid residency.

In light of what Qatar has decided regarding prohibiting entry for travelers holding Egyptian nationality  as part of the precautionary measures to face the coronavirus, [it was] decided to implement the principle of reciprocity, the Egyptian cabinet said.

Qatar on Sunday decided to bar Egyptian citizens from entering the tiny Gulf country to prevent the spread of the virus.

Both countries have been affected by the virus. Egypt Monday confirmed the second case of the disease while in Qatar the number of infection by the virus reached 8.

At odds since 2013, following the removal of the democratically elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt and Qatar have seen their ties further deteriorating.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have severed ties with Qatar since June 2017 over its alleged support for terrorism. The Saudi-led group has also imposed a sea/air/ground blockade.
Correction: This column originally incorrectly described the year Robert Kerr ran for president and the year Franklin first ran for president. The column has been corrected.

Elizabeth Warrens announcement that she is ending her presidential campaign closes the most recent effort by an Oklahoma native to reach the White House.

Warren was born in Oklahoma City, grew up in Norman and Oklahoma City and graduated from Northwest Classen High School. The Massachusetts senator and one-time Democratic front-runner ended her campaign Thursday.

No Oklahoma native has ever been elected president, but its not for want of trying.

Ironically, the Oklahoman who came the closest to occupying the Oval Office wasnt trying at all ... at least publicly. When he was speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, 3rd District U.S. Rep. Carl Albert was twice the next person in line to be president during the Nixon administration.
Key abortion law by pro-life Democrat heard before Supreme Court

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WASHINGTON  A Louisiana law requiring abortion clinics to have admitting privileges adjudicated before the Supreme Court Wednesday has pro-life leaders noting an important moment in the history of abortion jurisprudence.

Under a cloudless blue sky and 60-degree temperatures, the atmosphere was palpably tense on the steps in front of the nation's highest court and demonstrators on both sides of the issue rallied. Abortion clinic escorts who were there to protest attempted to disrupt CP's interviews multiple times as protesters chanted in favor of abortion nearby.

Oral arguments in June Medical Services v. Russo were heard inside the historic building; the law being contested in the matter was the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, which was authored in 2014 by then-state representative Katrina Jackson, who is now a state senator and was present Wednesday to defend her law at the high court.

The case is of particular importance to longtime pro-life advocates in that this is the first abortion-related matter heard in years, and is especially significant because both of President Trump's appointees to the bench, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, will consider it. Supreme Court justices became a pressing campaign issue during the 2016 election cycle in large part because of the future of abortion jurisprudence as many hope for the eventual overturn of Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion nationwide.

"Everyone is very interested to see how they rule," said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, in an interview with The Christian Post, stressing that the decision should be supported across the board because the issue is not contesting the legality of abortion but whether or not abortion facilities should be held to the same standards as other ambulatory surgical centers.

Jackson's legislation required that abortion clinics in the state have admitting privileges to local hospitals as is required of other medical outfits where surgeries are performed. The law was reportedly created in part because of horror stories that emerged in the state where patients were treated in filthy conditions and basic standards of medical care were not upheld.

"We know that it's all going to come down to the pro-life movement for the 2020 election, that we are very close to achieving our phase 1 goal of reversing Roe, sending the decision back to the states where we will then fight state by state to make abortion illegal as well as unthinkable. And we can't just fight to make it unthinkable. We also have to make it illegal because as far as abortion remains legal some people will think it's OK to do. It's a both/and type of situation," she added, commenting on the current political dynamics.

"Those who advocate for the violence of abortion are terrified that Roe is going to fall, that abortion will be made illegal in many states across the country and that's why they're amped up, why they're acting the way they act," she said.

The erratic antics are evidence that the tension is only going to increase, she maintained.

"Christians especially need to be prepared for this, that this is going to be something that as we get closer and closer to reversing Roe, those who advocate for abortion are going to become more incensed because they've bought into that lie that they need abortion in order to be free, that women need to have abortion to have autonomy in their lives, which we know is patently false. Abortion is always and has always been the opposite of empowerment and the opposite of feminism," Hawkins said.

The tensions were high as the current composition of the court  comprised of five justices appointed by Republican presidents and four by Democrats  was not lost on Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.

I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions, Schumer said before cheering abortion rights supporters at the rally, remarks some interpreted as a threat.



Schumer's words subsequently received a rebuke from Chief Justice Roberts, who called the New York senator's comments "inappropriate" and "dangerous."



One abortion rights supporter held a sign that read: "Thank God for Abortion." Another read: "Hey Kavanaugh, keep your religion out of my health care. And yea, we still believe Dr. Blasey Ford.

Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, told CP that "it's heartbreaking for those of us who are pro-life because, of course, the bottom line of the pro-life movement is love and respecting the inherent dignity of the human person, and you just see so much pain and anger today and you want to take folks from the other side and meet with them one-on-one and talk to them about truth and freedom and healing and hope and all of these things."

She believes that much of the hostility from the abortion rights supporters present Wednesday was because the pro-life movement has made many strides in recent years.

"We're winning. Abortion clinics are shutting down. Pregnancy care centers are opening. The abortion rate is on a decline, it's lower than it has ever been since Roe v. Wade. Thankfully, we're seeing so many good and positive things happen," she said.

Much work remains in light of hundreds of thousands of abortions still taking place annually but the pro-life movement continues to unify to create a culture of life, she added.

"We have a president that supports life and has leaned into this more than any president ever in history and we are so delighted."

Marilyn Musgrave, vice president for government affairs for the pro-life political action group the Susan B. Anthony List, noted the significance of who was contending for life inside the court. Jackson is an African-American female and a Democrat.

"It just amazes me that in this time when the national party has gone so extreme on abortion that they even embrace infanticide that we have a beautiful woman in Katrina Jackson, a Democrat from Louisiana, right there in that Supreme Court building today where her law is being looked at," Musgrave said in a CP interview.

"I just think it's a gift from God, and I think it's just a beautiful thing to really see the truth of all this," she added, noting the disproportionate rates of abortion among African Americans.

Jackson spoke from the stage at the March for Life both earlier this year and last year.

"I think today is so critical because if you are logical, if you are intellectually honest, you will know that when a woman goes into a facility to have that [abortion] procedure, regardless of how you feel, whether you're pro-life or pro-abortion, you know that she deserves health and safety standards to be met in that facility," Musgrave said.

"And the other side is trying very hard to say they are pro-woman. No, we in the pro-life movement are pro-life and we are pro-woman."

In 2016, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law similar to Louisiana's that required abortion clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. A decision on the constitutionality of Louisiana's law is expected by the end of June.
Dean Lloyd Gibson, Mercy College The grant is a recognition of the School of Businesss drive to continuously innovate by adapting the curriculum to disseminate new knowledge and meet the needs of the market, said Lloyd Gibson, dean of Mercy Colleges School of Business.

Mercy Colleges School of Business has received a $40,000 grant from the Spencer Educational Foundation to develop a certificate in risk management and insurance. Spencer Educational Foundation is a New York-based not-for-profit organization with a mission to fund the education of tomorrows risk and insurance leaders. The School of Business will use the grant to develop a series of new courses and seminars on cyber risk, credit risk analysis and risk insurance.

The grant is a recognition of the School of Businesss drive to continuously innovate by adapting the curriculum to disseminate new knowledge and meet the needs of the market, said Lloyd Gibson, dean of Mercy Colleges School of Business. It also contributes to the Colleges emphasis on student success by providing an opportunity for students to acquire new skill sets in order to compete in the dynamic environment of business. We are grateful to the Spencer Educational Foundation for their belief in the Schools vision and for providing our students with a new pathway to reach their potential.

This certificate program will be developed as an undergraduate program in Mercy Colleges School of Business and will include seminars for graduate students. The new courses will use a multi-disciplinary approach to teach risk mitigation techniques.

Managing risk is a fundamental skill that applies to all industry sectors, said Victor Petenkemani who is associate dean of the School of Business and will be the initial director of the new program. All Mercy students and the community at large will therefore benefit from the dissemination of new knowledge in an era that is fraught with uncertainty.

Mercy College leadership hopes that the new certificate program will ultimately lead to a new degree program in risk management at the School of Business.
Russia exploits the WW2 victory date to justify aggressive policies against other independent countries.

Last week, the Ukraine Crisis Media Center launched an appeal to foreign leaders with a call to refrain from official visits to Moscow for the May 9 military parade.

"To remind you, this year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the bloodiest military conflict in human history: World War II. In the civilized world, this is an occasion to recall the causes and consequences of that terrible war and to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. The Russian Federation exploits this date to justify aggressive policies against other independent countries, past and present," reads the statement published on the UCMC website.

Participation in the event by the leaders of the civilized world "legitimates Russian aggression, and encourages the Russian leadership to continue gross and systematic violations of the sovereignty of other states and the human rights of their citizens."

Read alsoKremlin says Zelensky not yet invited to visit Moscow on May 9

So far, among the esteemed signatories of the appeal are Valeriy Chaly, Chairman of the Board Ukraine Crisis Media Center; Anna Fotyga, Member of the European Parliament; Rebecca Harms, Member of the European Parliament (2004-2019); Peter Pomerantsev, British journalist and author; Anders Aslund, Atlantic Council; Edward Lucas, British security specialist; Jakub Kalensky, Atlantic Council; Giedrius Sakalauskas, Res Publica  Civic Resilience Center; Paul Niland, Lifeline Ukraine; Patrik Oksanen, Stockholm Freeworld Forum; Halyna Coynash, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group; Yevhen Fedchenko, StopFake.org; and others.
[March 05, 2020] Triple Crown Consulting Promotes Three Executives to Regional Vice President

Triple Crown Consulting, a technology recruitment firm filling hard-to-find senior tech roles through its vast talent network, today announced the creation of three U.S. regions to better manage growth and has promoted three of its executives to lead each area. Monica Jackson, Regional Vice President, West; Laura Lee Harris, Regional Vice President, Central; and Kyle Raymond, Regional Vice President, East, will each manage sales and recruiting in their respective territories. "Monica, Laura Lee and Kyle have proven themselves as Triple Crown top performers. Establishing three regions will enable us to grow Triple Crown in the fastest and most efficient way possible while at the same time leveraging the talent we have in these three leaders," said Dave Smith, Triple Crown Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder. "Our five-year goal is to grow 20% year over year, and I'm confident this leadership team will get us there." Smith added, "We are proud of our ability to organically create our leaders from within the organization. Every person in a leadership position at the company today started as a Triple Crown Technical Recruiter or Account Manager. We don't hire leaders; we train them and develop them in our system. The best ones rise to the challenge and continuously stretch their boundaries. Monica, Laura Lee and Kyle are the best of the best." Monica Jackson has been a leader at Triple Crown for more than seven years. She started as Account Manager in the San Francisco Bay Area, and shortly thereafter rose to Team Lead where she led a group of nine account managers nd technical recruiters. Her relationships and knowledge of tech talent led to her promotion to Site Manager of the San Jose office, and during her tenure in this role she grew the office by 30% year over year and trained and mentored more than 20 team members. She then worked as Director of California Operations, overseeing both the San Jose and newly opened Costa Mesa office. As Regional Vice President, West, Jackson's next challenge is expanding Triple Crown's business up the West Coast into Washington, Oregon and Nevada.



Laura Lee Harris has worked with Triple Crown out of the Austin headquarters for almost six years. After starting in 2014, she quickly climbed the ranks and was promoted to Sales Lead after one year. She was then promoted to Business Unit Manager, where she was responsible for team development as well as production on both the sales and recruiting sides. As Regional Vice President, Harris is now dedicated to fueling sales throughout the central U.S. and leading the recruiting teams in both the Phoenix and Austin offices. Her next growth targets are Colorado, Illinois and Utah. Kyle Raymond has been instrumental in growing Triple Crown's business for seven years. Starting in Austin, he received several promotions until he reached Business Unit Manager, where he led a team of eight and expanded national market share. When Triple Crown decided to establish a presence on the East Coast, Raymond was the first choice to oversee the company's operations there. In 2018 he opened an office in Portsmouth, NH, and grew the Triple Crown client roster up and down the East Coast. With the Research Triangle Region's increased focus on technology, in January 2020 Raymond established an office in Raleigh-Durham, NC, to better connect the area's tech companies and candidates. He is now responsible for sales and recruiting along the entire East Coast. He has a voracious appetite for rapidly accelerating the company's East Coast presence to match that of its Central and West regions. His next targets include Nashville, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

A map of Triple Crown's Western, Central and Eastern regions can be found here. About Triple Crown Consulting Triple Crown Consulting fuels the digital economy with senior, project-based software and hardware technology professionals. We specialize in filling software and hardware roles across all high-tech industries, from military technology development to consumer electronics, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, machine learning, aerospace, automotive, medical devices and more. Giving us speed no recruiting agency can match and relationships no recruiting technology can form, our unique, unrelenting recruiting model results in ready access to sought-after technology innovators. Software and hardware experts nationwide turn to Triple Crown to work on challenging projects where trails are blazing and ground is breaking. Businesses and technology teams, from Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging startups, rely on our ability to rapidly place the developers, architects, coders, analysts and designers who engineer digital transformation and growth. Triple Crown is headquartered in Austin with offices in Scottsdale, San Jose, Costa Mesa, Portsmouth and Raleigh-Durham. For more information, visit www.tripleco.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005582/en/

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Linkedin Maria Tsvetkova and Yoruk Isik (Reuters) Moscow, Russia/Istanbul, Turkey  Thu, March 5, 2020 11:11 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20686cd24 2 World #Russia,#Turkey,Syria,conflict,military Free

Russia is racing to reinforce its troops in Syria by sea and air before talks between the Russian and Turkish leaders in Moscow on Thursday, flight data and shipping movements show.

The two presidents, Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan, agreed to meet after a surge in tensions between their countries over fighting in Syria's Idlib province between Russian-backed Syrian government forces and rebels allied to Turkey.

The fighting has raised the prospect of a direct clash between their armies, which operate in close proximity on opposing sides, and Erdogan hopes the talks will yield a ceasefire in Idlib.

A Reuters analysis of flight data and correspondents' monitoring of shipping in the Bosphorus Strait in northwestern Turkey show Russia began to step up naval and airborne deliveries to Syria on Feb. 28, the day after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria.

That incident prompted concern in Moscow that Turkey might close the Bosphorus to Russian warships and bar Russian military transport planes from using Turkish air space.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Turkish official, who asked not to be identified, said there was no plan to close the strait, which would force Russia to take longer routes to Syria.

But Russia appears to be reinforcing Syria at its fastest rate since October, when US forces withdrew from some parts of Syria and Moscow scrambled to fill the vacuum.

Reuters' monitoring of the Bosphorus since Feb. 28 shows Russia has sent five warships towards Syria within six days. That exceeds a usual pattern of one or two warships ships per week.

The Russian military announced the departure of the Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Makarov frigates for Syria, but three other warships have followed unannounced.

One is the Orsk, a landing ship capable of carrying 20 tanks, 50 trucks or 45 armoured personnel carries and up to 400 troops. The others - the Novocherkassk and the Caesar Kunikov - are landing ships that can carry over 300 troops, tanks and armour.

Turkey has responded by beefing up its escort protocol for Russian warships using the Bosphorus. Three Turkish patrol boats and a helicopter escorted the Russian frigates - such ships are usually accompanied by a single coast guard vessel.

"SHOW OF MUSCLES"

Since Feb. 28, at least five passenger and cargo planes operated by the Russian military have also flown to Syria, including three in a single day, the flight data showed.

That followed a further 12 military planes in the previous 18 days and represents the most intense level of Russian military air activity with Syria since October.

Publicly available tracking data gives only a snapshot of Russian military flights to Syria because not all such planes can be tracked.

One person who has worked closely with Russian forces in Syria said Moscows reinforcement effort was meant to send Ankara a message and was "a show of muscles".

The same person said the swift build-up was an insurance policy in case the Putin-Erdogan meeting flopped and Ankara applied restrictions on the Bosphorus or in its airspace.

Turkey shows sign s of having noticed Russia is also concentrating its forces near its main air base in Syria, Hmeymim, in Latakia province.

"Russia is conducting a serious build-up near Hmeymim," said a Turkish security official, who added that Moscow had also stepped up its logistical support for the Syrian army.

"These are steps that may damage the positive atmosphere that could be found before tomorrows meeting," said the official though hoping for "positive results".
A report of the Delhi Minorities Commission on the northeast Delhi violence has claimed that thousands of people have fled the city to their native villages in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and that the violence was 'one-sided and well planned'

New Delhi: A report of the Delhi Minorities Commission on the riots in northeast Delhi has claimed that thousands of people have fled the city to their native villages in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and that the violence was "one-sided and well planned".

The report is based on the visit of Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) chairman Zafarul Islam Khan and member Kartar Singh Kochhar to the violence affected areas.

Riots broke out between pro and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) groups in northeastern part of the city last week. The violence then spread to nearby localities of Maujpur, Chand Bagh and Yamuna Vihar. The protesters roamed in streets brandishing swords and pistols and even torched vehicles and houses.

Forty-four people have died and more than 200 injured in the violence.

The report by the Delhi Minorities Commission claimed that the violence was "one-sided and well planned" in which "maximum" damage was inflicted on houses and shops of Muslims.

"Moreover, thousands of people have fled from the area and gone to their villages in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana or were living with relatives elsewhere in Delhi. Hundreds are still living in camps run by the community. Some are also living in camps run by the Delhi government," it said.

Khan said the DMC team visited many areas in northeast Delhi and witnessed extensive damage to houses, shops, schools and vehicles.

"It is our assessment that the violence in north-east district of Delhi was one-sided and well planned in which maximum damage was inflicted on Muslim houses and shops with local support," read the report.

"Without massive help, these people will not be able to rebuild their lives. We feel that the compensation announced by Delhi government is not adequate for the purpose," it said.

The Delhi Minorities Commission is a statutory body set up under the Delhi Minorities Commission Act, 1999.

Khan said the team visited various localities, including Chand Bagh, Jafrabad, Brijpuri, Gokalpuri, Mustafabad, Shiv Vihar, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura and Khajoori Khas.

"We found extensive damage to Muslim houses, shops and workshops everywhere we went," the report added.

The DMC team also met senior police officers who told the Commission that hundreds of people stranded in the violence were rescued by the police.
The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's Asia-Pacific team. Global cases: More than 97,800, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Global deaths: At least 3,347, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

US cases: At least 197, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

US deaths: At least 12, according to the CDC and state health officials. All times below are in Eastern time.

7:05 pm: EBAY cracks down on coronavirus-related supplies

Ebay said it would block new listings and begin to remove listings for face respirator masks, hand sanitizer/gel and disinfecting wipes because of regulatory restrictions in the U.S. Ebay's mask ban includes N95/N100 and surgical masks. "We will continue to monitor the evolving situation and quickly remove any listing that mentions COVID-19, coronavirus, 2019nCoV (except books) in the title or description," the company said in a statement.  Miller

6:57 pm: How coronavirus is affecting millennials

Millennials are being called the "worried" generation and are changing their spending habits more than others amid the new coronavirus outbreak, a new study shows. Fifty-four percent of millennials say the new coronavirus has already significantly or somewhat impacted their purchase decisions, First Insight found in surveying 500 people on Feb. 28. That's compared with 33% of baby boomers, 42% of Gen X, and 49% of Gen Z, it said." Generally, everyone is concerned about it, everyone believes there will be a financial impact," First Insight CEO Greg Petro told CNBC. "But millennials' behavior is changing more dramatically than any other generation. Members of this generation were children when 9/11 happened. And many of them were trying to get jobs in 2008, in the midst of the Great Recession, he said. Thomas

6:34 pm: Costco reports sales boost from customers stocking up as US coronavirus cases climb

Costco reported stronger sales than analysts were expecting Thursday, thanks, in part, to a boost the company received from consumers stocking up at its stores to prepare for a more widespread outbreak of a new coronavirus. "February sales benefited from an uptick in consumer demand in the fourth week of the reporting period," the company said. "We attribute this to concerns over the coronavirus." Costco said the impact boosted its monthly same-store sales for February by roughly 3%. For the month ended March 1, same-store sales were up 12.1%. Thomas

6:23 pm: Starbucks says its business in China is recovering and it hasn't seen an impact on US sales yet

An employee checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in Shanghai, China, on Monday, March 2, 2020. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In January, with cafes across China closing, Starbucks predicted a big blow to its fiscal second-quarter earnings. In an SEC filing, Starbucks warned its same-store sales in China during the quarter are likely to be down 50% and revenue will be cut by between $400 million and $430 million. However, more than 90% of the company's stores in China, where the outbreak began, are open again. "In short, we see encouraging signs of recovery in China, our U.S. business momentum continues, and we are prepared to respond to implications of COVID-19 in every market around the world," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said. Higgins-Dunn



(Correction: The store closures will lower second-quarter revenue in China by between $400 million and $430 million. A previous version of this story misstated the time period.)

6:16 pm: Apple rejecting iOS coronavirus apps

Apple is cracking down on apps related to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that aren't from recognized institutions like governments or hospitals, iPhone developers told CNBC. Four independent developers told CNBC that Apple rejected their apps. One developer got a written response from Apple, saying "apps with information about current medical information need to be submitted by a recognized institution," according to a screenshot seen by CNBC. Apple has been specifically evaluating coronavirus apps to prevent the spread of misinformation. Leswing

5:56 pm: Santa Clara County confirms 7 community transmission cases

Santa Clara County public health officials have confirmed six new cases there, bringing the total number of infections in the northern California county to 20. Seven of the 20 cases have "no known travel or direct contact with other known cases," James Williams, director of emergency management, told reporters at a press conference. Santa Clara County Public Health Department Director Dr. Sara Cody said the county is recommending the cancellation of mass gatherings and other big events to help slow the spread of the outbreak. There were 53 cases in California as of Wednesday, according to the state health department, with dozens of new cases announced by public health officials Thursday. "Our cases to date indicate to us that the risk of exposure to the virus in our community is increasing," she said, adding that the number of cases are expected to rise. Employers are being asked to suspend all non-essential employee travel, keep employees from working more than arms-length from each other, allow more flexible sick leave policies and increase tele-commuting. Kopecki

4:46 pm: San Francisco health officials say COVID-19 is 'spreading in the community'

San Francisco health officials announced the first two cases of COVID-19 in the city, and said they were unable to determine the source of the infections. The first patient is a man in his 90s who has underlying health conditions and is in "serious condition," San Francisco public health director Dr. Grant Colfax told reporters Thursday. The second person is a woman in her 40s who is in "fair" condition. "We do not know at this point how they were exposed to the virus, which suggests it is spreading in the community," he said in a statement. "We expected that to happen and are further investigating the circumstances of these patients' exposure." Feuer

4:27 pm: Almost 300 million kids missing school because of the coronavirus, UNESCO says

A worker sanitizes a classroom desk of a closed school as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus in Beirut, Lebanon March 3, 2020. Mohamed Azakir | REUTERS

The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the education of nearly 300 million students across the world and could threaten their future educational rights, according a UNESCO report released Wednesday. The U.N. organization that monitors global education said the number of children missing school globally is unprecedented. "While temporary school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. Bursztynsky

3:44 pm: Seattle-area officials announce 20 new cases, 1 death

Seattle and King County officials announced 20 new cases of the virus, bringing total confirmed cases in the county to 51. That brings the total in Washington state to 70, according to the state Department of Health. The new infections outside of Seattle drove the U.S. case count to 197. Local health officials also confirmed a new fatality, bringing the total number of deaths in the U.S. to 12. "This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19 in King County," Seattle and King County said in a statement. Feuer

3:06 pm: Kroger limits flu-related product purchases

Kroger said in a statement to CNBC that it will be limiting the number of sanitary, cold and flu-related products to five each per order. The nation's largest grocer attributed the change in policy to high demand and a desire to serve all of its customers. Lucas

2:41 pm: San Francisco confirms city's first two cases

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the city's first two cases. "These individuals are contained," Breed said. The first patient is a man in his 90's who is in "serious condition" with underlying health conditions, San Francisco Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said. The second person is a woman in her 40's who is in "fair" condition. Neither patient has a known connection to an infected individual or travel history to an outbreak area. "They are indicative of community transmission of COVID-19," he said. Feuer

People wearing protective masks use hand sanitizer while sitting in Union Square in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Bloomberg | Getty Images

2:00 pm: Congress passes $8.3 billion emergency package

The Senate gathered enough votes to pass a multibillion-dollar spending package to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The bill will now head to the White House, where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it. The $8.3 billion emergency funding plan sailed through the House a day earlier in a 415-2 vote, just hours after it was unveiled by Senate and House appropriations leaders. The bill, which includes more than $3 billion in vaccine research and $2.2 billion in prevention and preparedness efforts, far exceeds the $2.5 billion proposal that the White House put forward last week. Breuninger

1:31 pm: Foreign investors are piling into this US real estate play as safe haven

Investors are looking for the calm in the coronavirus storm, and U.S. residential real estate appears to be it, specifically single-family rental homes. These investors are not, however, coming to the U.S. to tour the homes themselves. They're buying them online. Roofstock, a 5-year-old California-based fintech company, lists single-family rental homes for sale on its website, most with tenants already in place. It also offers management services, so the investor never has to visit the property. In the last few weeks it has seen traffic from investors in Asia on its site jump 500%. CEO Gary Beasley said it is a direct result of the coronavirus. Olick

12:57 pm: Dow plunges more than 900 points, 10-year Treasury hits all-time low

Stocks plunged following a massive relief rally in the previous session, as markets remained choppy in the face of the fast-spreading coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 962 points, or 3.5%. The S&P 500 dropped a similar 3.4% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3%. Stocks hit their session lows as the rate on the 10-year Treasury note fell to an all-time low below 0.9%. Li, Franck

12:47 pm: CDC says U.S. cases rise by 20 in a day

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 20 new cases of COVID-19 over 24 hours, bringing the United States total to at least 149. At least 49 of those cases are people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, or the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the CDC said, adding that the data was current as of 4 p.m. Wednesday. At least 30 are travel-related infections, while 17 were caused by person-to-person spread. U.S. health officials are also investigating 53 other cases with no clear source of the infection, the CDC said.



According to Johns Hopkins University, there are at least 162 cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. The CDC said it's tested 1,526 people for the flu-like virus as of Wednesday. That does include testing being done at state and local public health laboratories, which began this week, the agency said. Lovelace

12:43 pm: Gundlach says Fed panicked and short-term rates are 'headed toward zero'

"Bond King" Jeffrey Gundlach said he believes the Federal Reserve panicked in cutting interest rates earlier this week and that short-term U.S. rates are headed for zero. "If we look at history, once the Fed does a panic, inter-meeting rate cut, particular when it's 50 basis points ... they typically cut pretty quickly again," Gundlach said. "So I'm in the camp that the Fed is going to cut rates again, perhaps even in two weeks. "We will see short rates headed toward zero." Franck

12:32 pm: A Princess Cruises ship is  again  the source of a potential coronavirus outbreak

Princess Cruises will test fewer than 100 people aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which California health officials said is the site of another COVID-19 outbreak. The ship, which was on a two-week voyage to Hawaii, was ordered to return early to San Francisco, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, adding that passengers and crew have developed symptoms. Shares of parent company Carnival Corp. slumped by more than 12% in intraday trading. The ship was due to arrive in San Francisco Wednesday, Newsom said, but is currently off the coast of California, according to Seascanner, which tracks the location of ships. It has a capacity of 2,600 guests and 1,150 crew members. Feuer

11:53 am: Wall Street wants more than Fed rate cuts

Between Congress's fiscal stimulus and the Federal Reserve's easing, Wall Street sentiment is clear: Government spending is way more important in trying to combat the virus and, in turn, calm investors. The emergency 50 basis point Fed cut, while perhaps a reassuring signal the central bank is willing to act with speed to support the economy, isn't able to correct big supply shocks caused by the virus, said Nathan Sheets, chief economist at PGIM Fixed Income. "The Fed's stimulus doesn't fix broken supply chains or persuade people who are worried about being exposed to the virus to leave their homes and spend," Sheets wrote in an email to CNBC. "But it should provide a safety net of sorts by helping ensure that financial conditions remain supportive, lifting sentiment more generally, and helping to ensure that there is ample liquidity in the system." "Bottom line is that the Fed's action is helpful, but it's not a panacea," he added. Franck

11:41 am: WHO calls on all nations to 'pull out all the stops' to fight outbreak

The World Health Organization called on all nations to "pull out all the stops" to fight the COVID-19 coronavirus as it continues to spread outside of China. "This epidemic can be pushed back but only with a coordinated and comprehensive approach that engages the entire machinery of government," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. "We're calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination." Tedros said world health officials are "deeply concerned" about the increasing number of countries reporting cases, especially those with weaker health-care systems. He's also worried that some countries aren't taking this seriously enough or have decided that there's nothing they can do to curb local outbreaks. Lovelace, Higgins-Dunn

11:17 am: Dunkin' forms crisis team, pauses mug refill program

At the UBS investor conference in Boston, Dunkin' outlined the precautions it is taking in the U.S. due to the outbreak. The coffee chain has formed a crisis team that meets daily to address the outbreak. The team updates leadership twice a week and all franchisees once a week. Meetings and travel have been cut back, and its mug refill program has been paused. Dunkin' President of Americas Scott Murphy also said the chain has seen more customers opting for drive-thru, digital order pick-up and even delivery in some cases. China, where Dunkin' has roughly 70 stores, represents less than 1% of its sales internationally. Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan are home to about 5,200 Dunkin' cafes and account for more than half of its international presence. Lucas

11:10 am: Total cases in U.K. rise to 115

The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus across the United Kingdom has risen to 115, up from 85 on Wednesday, the health ministry said. Reuters

10:56 am: Apple iPhone partner Foxconn's February revenue tanks on slowdown

Apple supplier Foxconn's February revenue fell 18.13% to NT 216 billion (approximately $7.26 billion), the largest year-over-year drop since March 2013 when it fell more than 19%, according to the company. Revenue fell 40.35% month over month. Foxconn cut production in China over fears of the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. The company said Tuesday that output has returned to 50% of capacity but that it expects to be back to full seasonal capacity by the end of March. Bursztynsky

10:41 am: Amazon tells Seattle-area employees to work from home as coronavirus spreads

Amazon is asking employees at its Seattle and Bellevue offices to work from home until the end of the month after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus. The company informed employees of the change late Wednesday, one day after Amazon confirmed that an employee who works in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for COVID-19. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle and has offices in Bellevue, where it employs more than 2,000 people. An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: "We are recommending that employees in Seattle/Bellevue who are able to work from home do so through the end of the month." Palmer

10:12 am: Facebook closes a Seattle office after contractor tests positive for coronavirus

A Facebook worker based in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for the coronavirus, and the company is encouraging all 5,000 employees in the area to work from home the rest of the month. Facebook said it is closing its Stadium East office until Monday, the end of the incubation period for the contractor, who was last in the office on Feb. 21. The company is encouraging all Seattle-based employees to work from home until March 31, based on King County's updated guidance. Earlier this week, a Seattle-based employee of Amazon tested positive for COVID-19. Amazon asked employees who are experiencing symptoms to stay home and seek medical attention. Steinberg

9:42 am: Dow tanks 700 points at the open

Stocks plunged immediately after markets opened for trading, following a massive relief rally in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 765 points at the open. The S&P 500 dropped 2.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded 2.3% lower. The market moves came amid a roller-coaster week on Wall Street, which saw the 30-stock Dow swinging 1,000 points or higher twice in the past three days. The Dow posted its second-biggest point gain on Wednesday as major wins from former Vice President Joe Biden during Super Tuesday sparked a relief rally, especially in the health-care sector. Li, Huang

9:32 am: BJ's is stocking up on 'stock-up' items

BJ's Wholesale Club says the impact from coronavirus on its business is too fluid to gauge so it's not baked into its financial forecasts right now. The company has canceled a leadership meeting that was planned for next week in Orlando, Florida, and it is stepping up cleaning and hygiene at its facilities. The company expects to see shipping delays for a "minor portion" of its summer seasonal items but warned the full impact on its supply chain is uncertain. "In the short-term we're working to manage our inventory appropriately to respond to short-term member demands for some stock-up items such as cleaning supplies and canned goods," CEO Lee Delany said on the company's fiscal fourth-quarter call. Shares are down about 5% after BJ's same-store sales growth failed to boost profits.Lasky

9:20 am: Governors urge Congress to approve emergency funds

The bipartisan National Governors Association sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday urging the Senate to pass an $8.3 billion emergency supplemental request to help local and state governments fight the coronavirus' spread. States have seen their costs escalate as they help federal health officials combat COVID-19, according to the letter, which was signed by 38 governors. The spending package passed the House earlier Wednesday and is awaiting Senate action. "Congress must assure states and territories that necessary resources will be provided to address the multitude of costs associated with a public health emergency," the governors wrote. The current bill allocates $2.2 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with nearly $1 billion meant for state and local preparedness response. Higgins-Dunn

9:09 am: NYC confirms two new cases contracted through community spread

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed two new cases of COVID-19  a man and a woman with no connection to other people recently diagnosed with the virus.The new cases bring the city's total to four, according to de Blasio. The city is also checking at least five other people for the virus, according to city's website. Earlier Thursday, de Blasio told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that local health officials had found "4 people as of this morning who have tested positive." Tweet 1

8:49 am: Outbreak will cost Southwest up to $300 million in the first quarter

Southwest Airlines warned investors that the outbreak will cost the U.S. carrier up to $300 million during the first quarter. "In recent days, the company has experienced a significant decline in customer demand, as well as an increase in trip cancellations, which is assumed to be attributable to concerns relating to reported cases of COVID-19," the airline said. It said its revenue per available seat mile, a key measure of performance, was slashed. The company now says it will fall to somewhere between a 1% gain and a 2% decline. It previously said its year-over-year revenue per seat mile would rise 3.5% to 5.5%. Kopecki

7:17 am: South Africa confirms its first case

South Africa's health ministry confirmed its first case of coronavirus. "The patient is a 38-year-old male who traveled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020," the health ministry said. Reuters

7:09 am: US to purchase 500 million masks for health-care professionals

The Department of Health and Human Services said it plans to purchase 500 million N95 respirator masks for health-care workers over the next 18 months. HHS said the masks will be purchased as part of the Strategic National Stockpile. Private-sector orders will be filled first, HHS said, but these "guaranteed orders" will encourage manufacturers to increase production. HHS said earlier this week the U.S. has about 1% of the required respirator masks that would be needed for medical professionals if the coronavirus outbreak were to erupt into a pandemic here. Feuer

6:49 am: HSBC employee in London reportedly tested positive for coronavirus

An employee in HSBCs research department in London has tested positive for coronavirus, three sources told Reuters on Thursday. The employee informed the bank over the weekend, and staff who came into contact with him have been told to work from home, a source familiar with the matter said. Ellyatt

6:05 am: Iran reports 3,513 infections and 107 deaths

Iran has updated its latest coronavirus numbers, with 3,513 people infected with the virus and 107 deaths, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur announced on state TV on Thursday, Reuters reported. Ellyatt

5:28 am: Iran sets up checkpoints between cities, and closes schools and universities

Irans health minister says authorities will begin manning checkpoints to limit travel between major cities amid the virus outbreak, The Associated Press reported. Schools and universities are to be shut until March 20. Ellyatt

5:18 am: Hit to airlines could reach $113 billion, trade group says
Kylie Jenner was trying on a new outfit that was extremely revealing.

In images that were shared to social media on Thursday morning the 22-year-old TV star was seen in the plunging white dress that had an unusual design around the chest area.

The Life Of Kylie vet was spending time with her good friend, bikini model Stassie Karanikolaou.

New look: Kylie Jenner was trying on a new dress that was extremely revealing. In images that were shared to social media on Thursday morning the 22-year-old TV star was seen in the plunging white dress that had an unusual design around the chest

Pal: The Life Of Kylie vet was spending time with her good friend, bikini model Stassie Karanikolaou

The mini dress seemed to be made of Latex as it had a certain shine.

Jenner added strappy gladiator heels that laced up around her calves.

Both wore white blonde wigs with heavy makeup as they looked at themselves in a mirror and took photos.

It looked as if the ladies were in a dressing room as there were racks of clothing behind them.

A closer look: The mini dress seemed to be made of Latex as it had a certain shine

Nice kicks: Jenner added strappy gladiator heels that laced up around her calves

Kylie has been filling her social media pages with alluring images from her recent trip to the Bahamas with her girlfriends.

On Wednesday evening she was seen on the beach with Stassie.

Their skimpy outfits featured the instantly recognizable designs of the late designer Emilio Pucci.

Colorful display: The ladies on the beach in vibrantly colored bikinis Emilio Pucci bikinis

Kylie put on a busty display while facing the camera in a purple-tinted bikini top.

She covered her lower half in a red patterned cover-up skirt with a high slit to showcase her toned legs.

Stassie favored matching blue patterns for her top and bottoms, and she had a blue and purple shawl that fluttered in the breeze.

A second photo featured a closer look at Kylie's outfit, which she spiced up with extra-large gold hoop earrings, while Stassie put her pert rear on display.

'Pucci babies,' she wrote, referencing the late Italian designer.

Beach body: Kylie put on a busty display in a purple-tinted bikini top. She covered her lower half in a red patterned cover-up skirt with a high slit to showcase her toned legs

Back home: Kylie recently returned back to Los Angeles after taking a refreshing vacation in the Bahamas with her sister Kendall, Stassie and her daughter Stormi Webster

Kylie recently returned back to Los Angeles after taking a refreshing vacation in the Bahamas with her sister Kendall, Stassie and her daughter Stormi Webster.

After returning home, the 'self-made' billionaire continued her flirtation with bright colors by trying on a blonde pink-tinted wig.

She shared some playful selfies with the new hair and a butterfly filter from inside her Rolls-Royce Phantom with its distinctive orange interior.

No false modesty: Kylie, who shares her two-year-old daughter Stormi with her rapper ex Travis Scott, mused on Insta Stories: 'my toes are so famous'

Next step: She then uploaded a snap of her feet and wrote in the caption that 'We probably should name them at this point'

Toe time: Kylie Jenner took matters a step further this Wednesday, firing up her Insta Stories to playfully name all 10 digits

Kylie also used her downtime back home as an opportunity to name each of her toes.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star got some flack from trolls earlier in the week over photos of her feet.

'Okay, so everyone wants to come for my f***ing toes. By the way, I have cute a** feet,' she said in her Instagram Stories.

'And I broke this middle toe in middle school, and you cant really  theres nothing to do for a broken toe, so I just had to let it heal how it wanted to heal,' she explained.

Kylie may have been inspired by her mother's plot to give each of her daughters a name starting with 'K,' so she gave each toe a name starting with 'T,' though she gave her big toes male names because 'big toes are boys.'

What a view: One of the racier pictures from her vacation features Kylie in a pink Jacquemus dress covering up her breasts and crotch area with her hands, revealing her flat midsection

Practically twins: The reality star and her friend showed off their perky posteriors and unbelievable curves in coordinating Jacquemus dresses

Kylie has been steadily dribbling out photos from her tropical vacation.

Also on Wednesday, she posted a sultry set of pictures featuring her and Stassie in completely sheer dresses that left nothing to the imagination.

Kylie was dressed in a pink Jacquemus off-the-shoulder dress, while her friend wore an orange shade of the same look.

The two were careful to cover themselves in the see-through dresses, though that didn't stop the fashion mogul from joking about Stassie's assets.
Li Dong (C), minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, poses for a group photo with Egyptian participants during a symposium themed "China and the World Challenge Coronavirus" in Cairo, Egypt, on March 3, 2020. Egyptian experts have applauded China's all-out efforts in combating the novel coronavirus, as well as its transparency and credibility in dealing with the epidemic. (Photo by Mohamed El Raai/Xinhua)

CAIRO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian experts have applauded China's all-out efforts in combating the novel coronavirus, as well as its transparency and credibility in dealing with the epidemic.

The experts made the comments at a symposium, themed "China and the World Challenge Coronavirus," which was organized on Tuesday by Cairo-based Wisdom House Culture and Media Group.

"China has been fighting the virus on behalf of the world," said Hassan Ragab, dean of the Faculty of Language and head of the Confucius Institute at Egypt's Suez Canal University.

He noted that China has spared no efforts, money or knowledge to fight the virus (COVID-19), and "tackled the ordeal with transparency and credibility."

"Though hundreds of millions of its people have stayed at home and worked via the internet, China has succeeded in maintaining work momentum," he said.

Ragab expressed his confidence that "China will soon announce victory over the virus."

Speaking of the ongoing visit to China by Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed, Ragab said that there are a lot of opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the scientific research field and in the fight against the virus.

Assigned by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Zayed flew to China on Sunday to convey Egypt's solidarity with China in combating the novel coronavirus.

Mostafa Ibrahim, vice president of the Chinese-Egyptian Business Council, said the outbreak of the coronavirus reflected that under any circumstance the world couldn't live without China, which has far-reaching exchanges with the rest of the world.

Ibrahim said that many countries now realized the importance of China as the engine of global development and growth, as it plays a powerful role in world's economy and trade.

Despite the virus outbreak, Ibrahim said it is expected that China will achieve a growth rate of 4 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to only 2 percent by the U.S. economy.

Ahmad Sallam, former media consular at Egypt embassy in Beijing, also voiced his support for the Chinese people who have taken extremely strict precautionary measures for nearly two months to stop the spread of the virus.

He noted that Zayed's visit to China will benefit Egypt, which has confirmed only two cases of COVID-19 so far.

On Tuesday, Zayed said in Beijing that she had received the sixth edition of the guidelines on coronavirus diagnosis and treatment, as well as 1,000 virus scanners donated by China.

Li Dong, minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, told the symposium that the virus is a challenge for the international community and not just for China, which has taken the largest share of responsibility in fighting it.

He said that China has taken all needed measures to meet its international obligations and responsibilities in the fight against the coronavirus.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," Li said, referring to Egypt's generous help to China in fighting the virus.

Egypt has donated tons of medical supplies to China to combat the virus. Egypt also lit up on Sunday evening three famous historical sites in red and golden stars to resemble the national flag of China as a sign of showing solidarity.

Li received a written letter of solidarity from the Egyptian participants of the symposium.
Facebook has stepped up its efforts to combat the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus on its platform. In a post on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media giant is providing the WHO (World Health Organization) with as many free ads as they need to help fight the epidemic.

Facebook will also provide the WHO, as well as several other organizations, with other in-kind support, including ad credits.

The company is working closely with global health experts, national ministries of health, and organizations like the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and UNICEF to provide additional help. Zuckerberg said Facebook had been working with health authorities over the last month to coordinate the companys response.

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Facebook is the latest tech company to extend free services in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Google, Microsoft, and several other companies have also announced campaigns of this nature.

Facebook fights back the coronavirus

Facebook is focused to provide its 1.66 billion daily average active users with credible and accurate information about the coronavirus.

If you search for Coronavirus or COVID-19 (the disease caused by the novel coronavirus) on Facebook, youll see a pop-up that directs you to the WHO or your local health authority. If you live in a country where the WHO has reported person-to-person transmission, it will appear on your news feed.

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Zuckerberg further said that Facebook is focused on stopping hoaxes and harmful misinformation about the virus. The platform is removing false claims and conspiracy theories that may mislead users. It will also block ads that falsely promise a cure or make other false claims.

In the past, Facebook has been subject to heavy criticism for the spread of misinformation on its platform. Hopefully, the company makes enough effort to stop misinformation and make this campaign a successful one.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, meanwhile, has teamed up with the Gates Foundation to help fight the coronavirus outbreak.

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The Facebook founder says this partnership has enabled researchers in Cambodia to sequence the full genome of the virus that causes COVID-19 in days, thus making it easier and faster to identify infected people.

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, another joint venture funded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, is also onboard this mission against the coronavirus epidemic.

The epidemic started in the Wuhan city of China in December last year. It has now spread to almost 80 countries with over 93,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,000 deaths. The US has now recorded over 100 coronavirus cases, with at least nine deaths.
The Sikkim government has said that over 4.06 lakh passengers arriving in the state have been screened so far for coronavirus infection, but no positive case has been detected.

A total of 69,734 vehicles have been stopped for checking at Utteray, Ramman, Rangpo, Reshi and Melli checkposts and 4,06,993 passengers screened for symptoms of coronavirus, but no positive case has been found in Sikkim till date, a statement issued by the state health department said.

READ | WHO Expert Team Visits Wuhan City In Hubei Province Amid Mounting Coronavirus Fears

However, 14 passengers have reported their "travel history connected with China and Nepal". Though no passenger has been detected with symptoms of coronavirus or referred as suspects or quarantined, four have been kept under observation as a precautionary measure, the statement said on Wednesday.

Health and family welfare secretary-cum-director general Pempa T. Bhutia has asked all district magistrates to take steps to deal with any situation in the wake of reports of outbreak of the disease in different parts of the country.

A total of 28 COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in India so far, according to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

READ | Coronavirus Fears Prompt Quarantined Chinese To Turn Towards Online Health Consultations

READ | India Temporarily Suspends Visa On Arrival For Japanese, S Korean Nationals Amid Coronavirus Fears
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:11:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADEN, Yemen, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Iryani accused on Thursday Iran of being behind a foiled attempt to attack an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea.

"(Iran's) Islamic Revolution Guards Corps stands behind the foiled terrorist attack on the oil tanker as it was sailing toward the Gulf of Aden," Iryani said in a statement carried by the state-run Saba News Agency.

"The terrorist attack was carried out by the Houthi militia ... using four remotely controlled boats," he added.

The attempted attack "confirms the Houthi militia's escalation of its terrorist activities," the Yemeni minister concluded.

Both Iran and the Houthi rebels are not available for comment on the accusation.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen said it foiled on Tuesday a "terror attack" on an oil tanker which was sailing 166 km southeast of Yemen's Nishtun port, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition to support the government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against the Iran-allied Houthi rebels since early 2015.
An emergency paramedic is pictured wearing protective gear at Moscow's Novomoskovsky multipurpose medical centre on 5 March. Russia has three confirmed cases. (Getty Images)

Englands chief medical officer expects the coronavirus outbreak to peak in two-to-three months.

Professor Chris Whitty added it could then take a further two-to-three months for the virus to decline in the UK.

Read more: Coronavirus 'could spread in faeces and urine'

Addressing the Commons Health and Social Care Committee on Thursday, Professor Whitty added the government hopes to delay the outbreaks peak until late spring or summer, easing winter pressures on the NHS in all four nations of the UK.

Winter is already a strained time for the health service while it contends with seasonal flu.

A young boy refuses to let the coronavirus stop him rollerskating in Shanghai on 5 March. China is the epicentre of the outbreak, with more than 80,000 confirmed cases. (Getty Images)

The new coronavirus strain Covid-19 emerged at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city Wuhan at the end of last year.

It has since spread globally, crossing national borders into at least 60 countries, with more than 95,700 confirmed cases.

Mainland China still has the bulk of the incidences, with over 80,400 patients.

Data suggests, however, cases are plateauing in the outbreaks epicentre.

On 3 February, 80,200 patients had been identified in China, rising to 80,300 the following day and 80,400 on 5 February.

Read more: Coronavirus death rate higher than previously thought, World Health Organization says

South Korea has the most cases outside of China, with more than 6,000 incidences and 35 deaths.

It is followed by Italy, with over 3,000 patients and 107 fatalities.

Out of at least 13,000 tests, 90 have come back positive in the UK.

One British man died after catching the coronavirus aboard the quarantined hotbed Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Globally, the death toll has exceeded 3,000.

While the outbreak can feel alarming, research suggests four out of five cases are mild, while more than 53,400 patients have recovered.

When could the coronavirus Covid-19 peak in the UK?

Professor Whitty is optimistic the worst could be over in the UK in two-to-three months.

Scientists have previously praised interventions in Wuhan and the rest of China for managing to make cases plateau.

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Wuhan  with is 11 million residents  has effectively been in lockdown since early in the year, with planes, trains, buses, subways and ferries all suspended.

Everything from libraries and museums to theatres and coffee bars shut up shop, while workers were told not to come into the office.

Growing awareness of the outbreak may have also allowed patients to spot the tell-tale symptoms and self isolate.

Covid-19 generally causes flu-like fever, cough and breathlessness.

In severe cases, patients develop pneumonia.

The UK is also cracking down.

Englands Six Nations game against Italy, scheduled for 14 and 15 March, has been postponed to a later date.

Staff have also pulled out of the prestigious dog show Crufts.

Although it is unclear what Professor Whittys peak comment was based on, some experts are cautiously optimistic.

I am not party to the actual calculations behind this, but it is likely based on modelling projections, Professor Kao Rowland from the University of Edinburgh told Yahoo UK.

It doesnt sound unreasonable and it may rely in part on the consideration of seasonal effects which are often seen in respiratory infections, though the exact reasons for this are only partially understood.

Read more: Could the coronavirus spread on public transport?

Experts have wondered whether the coronavirus may become a seasonal infection that eases in the northern hemispheres warm summer months before re-emerging in winter.

This was seen with fellow coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2002/3 outbreak. No cases have been reported since.

Although unclear why this occurred, low temperatures and a lack of sunlight is thought to slow the rate the norovirus (winter vomiting bug) breaks down.

Infections may also be more common during the cold winter months as people huddle together indoors.

[As the outbreak progresses] models with projections will begin to have increasingly better estimates of disease incubation periods, rates of transmission in different countries and estimates of the effectiveness of control efforts already in place in various countries, said Professor Rowland.

Remember control efforts will likely reduce rates of spread even if they dont completely stop it and, in combination with other factors, could cause a slow down in that timeframe.

Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, added it is plausible warm weather could ward off the coronavirus, but we will have to wait and see.

Speaking of Professor Whittys comment, Professor Hunter said: This is a reasonable assumption but whether or not it will turn out to be the case we will have to wait and see.

There are a number of issues that could delay the peak such as the effectiveness of delaying strategies and even the changing seasons.

It is plausible spring and summer could delay the peak until next winter, but we really do not have enough information to be sure.

Having said that, Professor Wittys assessment is certainly the safest with currently available knowledge.

Professor Devi Sridhar, also from the University of Edinburgh, added she was unsure what Professor Whittys comment may be based on.

My guess would be from influenza and previous influenza outbreaks, she told Yahoo UK.

A customer service worker is pictured having her temperature read at the Golden Century Seafood Restaurant in Sydney on 5 March. Australia has 52 confirmed cases. (Getty Images)

What is the coronavirus Covid-19?

Covid-19 is one of seven strains of the coronavirus class that are known to infect humans.

Others include the common cold and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), which killed 858 people during its 2012 outbreak.

Most of those who initially caught Covid-19 worked at, or visited, the wet market in Wuhan.

The main method of transmission is thought to be face-to-face via infected droplets coughed or sneezed out by a patient.

In severe cases, pneumonia can come about when the infection causes the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs to become inflamed and filled with fluid or pus.

The lungs then struggle to draw in air, resulting in reduced oxygen in the bloodstream.

Without treatment the end is inevitable, said the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Deaths occurs because of asphyxiation.

Covid-19 is thought to have started in bats before jumping into humans, possibly via snakes or pangolins.

There is no specific treatment, with care being supportive while a patients immune system works to fight off the infection.

Officials recommend regular hand washing and social distancing to stem Covid-19s transmission.
A man was arrested Wednesday after he followed a group of girls for more than four miles after they left a Wawa parking lot, police said.

Gary Galinkin, 58, of Clayton, is charged with stalking, endangering a child and endangering another person, Washington Township police said in a statement.

The girls were leaving the Wawa at Hurffville-Cross Keys Road and Altair Drive on Feb. 15 when Galinkin, in a green Ford F-150, followed the girls for about 4.5 miles through the township.

The girl driving attempted to elude and evade [Galinkin] by accelerating and changing lanes.

He continued following and the girls were concerned for their safety, police said. He stopped following when the girls pulled into the Washington Township police parking lot.

It was clear to the victims that they were in fact being followed and this was not some coincidental event, the police statement said.

Galinkin, who court records show has used the alias Charles Manson, was sentenced to two years probation in April 2019 after pleading guilty to one count of fourth-degree stalking.

Police said in May 2018, he followed a mother and her 14-year-old daughter to the daughters bus stop. That incident also occurred on Hurffville-Cross Keys Road.

Galinkin was booked in the Salem County Correctional Facility Tuesday on the recent charges, according to jail records. It wasnt immediately clear if he had an attorney retained who could comment.

Anyone who has had a similar encounter and wants to share information with police should contact Detective Ryan Kelly at RTKelly@pd.washington.nj.us.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri On Wednesday objected to former Congress President Rahul Gandhi visiting the riot-affected areas. Ramesh Bidhuri said that Rahul Gandhi should tell whether he got coronavirus checked after returning from Italy. These days Italy is severely affected by the Coronavirus. Corona is an infectious disease. The MP said these things to the media outside the Parliament building. He said that he does not know whether Rahul Gandhi was examined at the airport when he returned home from Italy. They should not go among the people without conducting an inquiry.

A top delegation has visited the riot-affected areas of north-east Delhi of the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the former National President of Congress. Rahul Gandhi visited Brijpuri area. He went to Arun Modern Public School on Brijpuri Road and then to a mosque. The rioters broke both places and set fire.

For your information, let us tell you that in Brijpuri, Rahul spoke to the riot victims and heard their pain and pain. The victims told them how the rioters set houses, shops as well as schools on fire. Rahul said that schools are the future of the country, hatred and violence has burnt the school. No one has benefited from the violence. Violence and hate are two sides of a coin, both of which are enemies of growth. Rahul Gandhi wanted to go to other areas including Mustafabad and Shiv Vihar, but he was not allowed by the police. Because of which he had to return. Arun Public School is the former MLA of Congress Bhishma Sharma.

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A number of suspected cases were reported in a hotel in the city of Bethlehem, according to Palestinian health ministry.

The Church of the Nativity in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, is to indefinitely shut down over the fears of coronavirus outbreak, Jeres Qumsiyeh, a church spokesman, said.

After four suspected cases were reported in a hotel in the city of Bethlehem by the AFP news agency, the Palestinian health ministry called for local churches, mosques and other institutions to close down until further notice.

The ministry had earlier announced that many suspected cases were detected at a hotel in the Bethlehem area, the first in the Palestinian territories.

Imad Shahadeh, head of the local health directorate, told AFP that a group of Greek tourists had visited the hotel in late February, with two later discovered to have the virus.

We respect the authorities decision because safety comes first, the church official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The official did not specify when the closure would take place, but noted that it may take place later on Thursday or Friday.

The Church of the Nativity is expected to witness tens of thousands of visitors and worshippers for the Easter holiday next month.

More than 3,150 cases of the virus have been reported across the Middle East.
Opinion Article

5 March 2020

Mark Carney, the Bank of England's outgoing governor announced on Tuesday: "We have to work out how to bridge this period. We don't want viable firms to go out of business because of the necessary steps that have to be taken to protect the British public."

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He added that the BoE was looking at ways to ensure that banks could use their balance sheets as effectively as possible to lend to businesses in need of working capital to stay afloat: and could also look at facilities to support lending to small businesses.

Although the economic shock of this outbreak could be large according to Carney "in contrast to the financial crisis of 2008 the prospect with this situation is that we will have disruption not destruction"

In Germany the National Association for Hotels in Germany' DEHOGA' is expecting the state to offer financial compensations for damaged hospitality businesses, given the volume of cancellation of trade shows and conferences the impact here for hotels has been huge already.

So could we give the entire situation a 'silver' lining or indeed use this time of crisis in a constructive way to future proof hotel businesses more and deal with issues we are usually too busy to address?

Sustainability and Environmental Social Governance topics being one of those issues!

Martin Whittaker, the CEO of Just Capital, which ranks companies by how they treat their stakeholders told Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson from the FT yesterday: "We always get the question: in a downturn, does the ESG keep going? In a riskier world, some people are not going to think long term" he warns, predicting a shake-out that will expose "Those that are in it for the marketing".

Here a few facts to remind you of the current status quo:

According to a study released by ITP- the hotel industry must reduce its absolute CO2 Emissions by 66% by 2030 and by 90% by 2050 in order to achieve the two-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement of COP21

According to Hilton's CEO Chris Nassetta* an internal guest survey showed that 88% of their guests appreciate and actively look for sustainably managed hotels and 66% are willing to pay more for this feature

Approximately 50% of all employees want to work in companies that have an environmental strategy

Schroders' Bank Global Head of Stewardship stated in her outlook for 2020 on Sustainability "There are three main reasons driving climate change's move from simply "interesting" to actually impacting investments":

Rising regulatory pressure Increased demand for corporate disclosure Growing public concern"

Investors ploughed a record $20.6bn into US sustainable investment funds, almost quadrupling the $5.5bn of net inflows gathered in 2018, according to Morningstar, the data provider.

For the hospitality sector specifically, we would like to add another few driving forces for future-proofing a business:

Better operational and financial performance Improved profitability Lower employee turnover/better employee engagement Reduced regulatory threat/scrutiny Lower risk premium and improved property valuation Increasing focus from investors and lenders

Our experience over the last years have shown that hotels addressing their resource consumption (on average, energy consumption is the 2nd biggest cost for any hotel following payroll) in a serious and coherent way, can make up to 20% of savings in the first year alone. For example a big business hotel with approx. 400 rooms can end up with annual energy bills exceeding 300k, so using this time to analyse consumption, change behaviours and control outgoings could end up saving such a hotel around 60k p.a. in an ideal scenario which flows straight through to the bottom-line without making any major capital investments to upgrade equipment.

Additionally and importantly, of course, this achieves the goal of lowering CO2 emissions, we so need to get a cap on - so there is a double win in addressing this issue.

There are a plethora of other topics, which need to be addressed when integrating sustainability at operational levels and having a strategic implementation plan. Many of these do not need huge financial commitments but are still guaranteed to establish a hospitality's ESG credentials and therefore future-proof it more effectively.

Continued commitment to ESG and sustainability is in your interest!
An undocumented immigrant assaulted a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a human smuggling attempt reported in northwestern Webb County, according to an arrest affidavit filed on Monday.

READ MORE: Vehicular pursuit ends at Laredo AutoZone with arrest of pair of men

Valentin Espino-Hernandez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, and interfere with a federal law enforcement officer.

On Feb. 26, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Giraldo Linares responded to Espada Ranch to assist other agents in tracking down a group of individuals suspected of crossing the border illegally.

Air support informed Linares that the group was about 200 feet from his location. He encountered the group sitting on the ground. Linares approached the group and gave a command for everyone to remain seated and not run, states the affidavit.

One man, Espino-Hernandez, stood up and attempted to run and evade arrest, according to court documents. Linares lunged at Espino-Hernandez and grabbed Espino-Hernandez from behind on his waistline.

Espino-Hernandez then allegedly struck Linares on the left side of his face with his elbow, causing the agent to become disoriented, lose balance and fall hard on a rock, the affidavit states.

Linares suffered extreme pain to his knee from the impact, but he was able to maintain his hold on Espino-Hernandez, according to court documents.

Linares and Espino-Hernandez were on the ground fighting as Linares continued telling Espino-Hernandez to stop being combative, states the affidavit. An assisting agent arrived and helped Linares take custody of Espino-Hernandez.

Border Patrol detained Espino-Hernandez and 14 other immigrants. Espino-Hernandez requested medical attention and was taken to Doctors Hospital.

READ MORE: Court records shed light on Texas Rangers' raid of Laredo attorney's office

(Agent) Linares sought medical attention for his injuries at STAT Emergency in Laredo, Texas, to avoid going to the same location where Espino-Hernandez was being seen and treated, states the affidavit.
Representative image

In January 2020, the situation looked bleak for consumer durables firms after the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak first reported in China led to widespread factory shutdowns. Almost 50 days later, there are some signs of revival with production resuming in parts of China.

For Indian appliance makers, China is a key source of components like air compressors for air conditioners and air coolers, as well as LED panels for televisions.

Rakesh Khanna, Managing Director of Orient Electric told Moneycontrol, for almost any appliance either the raw material or component was brought from China.

"Now we are hearing that Guangzhou and Shenzhen factories have partially resumed. So this is good news," he said.

There were fears of a price increase in appliances due to a production shutdown in China. With the situation normalising, it is likely that the inventory level for white goods makers will start getting replenished.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances and CEAMA President said, "We are getting reports that plants are operating at 50-60 percent capacity. It was not operating earlier but production has begun now."

China, the epicentre of the outbreak, is a major exporter accounting for almost 23 percent of global electronic goods. Among products, mobile phone supplies saw the steepest impact as manufacturers were left with stock for only a few months.

For ACs and refrigerators, the air compressor that is a critical component in cooling is also imported from China. Since a major part of AC and refrigerator sales occur between February and April, shortage of products or its key components directly impacts revenue.

Industry sources said complete production revival in China could take at least 40-50 more days.

Unfortunately, the disruption in the supply chain had come just ahead of the onset of summer when Indian consumers begin to buy appliances such as refrigerators and ACs.

Importing a finished product turns out to be costlier since there is a 20 percent import duty on completely built units. With imports also ruled out, a price increase on the available stock is the only option at the moment.

Make in India initiatives for key components like compressors has not yet taken off. Hence, the production of a finished good in India is dependent on the import of parts from China.
[March 05, 2020] Huobi Thailand Launches Localized Exchange with Baht-to-Crypto Trading

BANGKOK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huobi Thailand , a localized digital asset exchange powered by the Huobi Cloud platform, recently announced its official launch. Licensed by Thailand's Ministry of Finance, Huobi Thailand provides locals with a safe, fully compliant trading platform for the world's most popular cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. At launch, Huobi Thailand allows users to purchase BTC, ETH, HT, and USDT with Thai Baht. By enabling direct swaps between Baht and digital assets via a fiat gateway, Huobi Thailand aims to make digital assets more accessible to a wider community of Thai users. Other digital assets such as BCH, BSV, LTC, and XRP will be supported in near future. "We want to help create an equitable world where wealth is more inclusive and attainable to anyone, anywhere," said Ciara Sun, VP of Global Business at Huobi Group. "The launch of Huobi Thailand brings us one step closer to our goal and marks a new milestone in our global expansion." In addition to fiat-to-crypto trading, Huobi Thailand provides local users with industry-leading security same as Huobi Global, one of the world's largest digital asset exchanges by trading volume and total cumulative turnover. Expanding the HT Ecosystem/p>



Huobi Thailand is the only exchange in the country to enable direct Baht-to-HT trading and will adopt HT as the primary payment method for a digital payments system that is currently in development. The exchange also plans to change its deposits with Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from fiat to HT.

Huobi Thailand also plans to launch lending platform using stable coin Thai Baht Digital (TBD), which is a stable token back 1:1 with THB, for smart contract. Approved License for Future Integrations Last year, Huobi Thailand was granted a 'Digital Asset License' by Thailand's Ministry of Finance, which allows Huobi Thailand to operate in Thailand. Huobi Thailand became one of only a few blockchain companies to be approved for the license following the country's decision to permit regulated digital asset exchanges. And recently Huobi Thailand has been officially approved by SEC to start operation in Thailand. This fully granted license gives the exchange future access to Thailand's digital payment networks to expand the accessibility and utility of digital assets for Thai nationals. Huobi Thailand will be able to integrate with the country's top digital payments systems to enable cryptocurrency transactions across the country's growing network of electronic payments-enabled merchants and channels, including internet banking, mobile banking, and ATMs. Sun added, "Thailand is moving toward a cashless economy, so the approved license will present more opportunities for Huobi to contribute to the country's growing crypto ecosystem." About Huobi Group Consisting of numerous upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is a leading global blockchain company. Established by Leon Li in 2013, the company's Huobi Global exchange accumulative turnover exceeds US $3 trillion. Huobi proudly provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 170+ countries. For more information, visit www.huobi.com Media contact: Betty Xu +86 188 1065 4852

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Turkey has justified its intervention, in part, by saying it is aimed at preventing a bloodbath in Idlib. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the region in recent weeks in what human rights groups describe as indiscriminate air and artillery strikes that frequently target civilian areas. One of Ankaras main interests in stemming the violence is stopping a wave of refugees at its border  Turkey already has more than 3 million displaced Syrians, hosting more people displaced by the war than any other country.
Karachi, March 5 : Two people were killed and several others injured on Thursday when a five-storey residential apartment in Karachi collapsed, authorities said, adding that there were some 10-15 persons trapped under debris.

According to rescue officials, the victims were a man and a woman, reports Dawn news.

Another 10 to 15 people were believed to be trapped under the rubble of the building in Gulbahar area which was no more that three years old, the officials added.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has directed Commissioner Karachi to immediately start rescue and relief operations in the area.

The cause of the collapse was under invertigation.
WASHINGTON  Incendiary comments outside the U.S. Supreme Court from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer have drawn days of outcry from Republicans, with President Donald Trump claiming Thursday night a GOP lawmaker would "be in jail right now" for such a remark, while acknowledging he's had his own criticisms of the court.

The New York Republican party has called for Schumer, D-N.Y., to be censured and are also fundraising off the attention. But Senate Republicans have said they're not interested in censuring Schumer.

Schumer took to the Senate floor Thursday to walk back his comments at an abortion rally outside the Supreme Court Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Schumer warned that Trump's court appointees, justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, would face repercussions if they rule in favor of abortion restrictions in a case before the nation's highest court.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer said. "You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

Republican senators on Thursday demanded that Schumer apologize. Schumer said he should not have used the words he did and contended his comments were not directed at the two justices. He claimed his remarks were aimed generally at Republicans that he said will suffer political consequences for their opposition to abortion access. But he did not apologize, saying he was motivated by his "anger" regarding abortion limitations on behalf of women.

"I shouldnt have used the words I used yesterday," Schumer said. "They did not come out the way there were intended to.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued an unusual public statement about Schumer's comments late Wednesday.

"Threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," he said. "All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever corner."

The court was hearing a case Wednesday that challenged a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. A large group of activists rallied outside the court voicing their support for abortion access as justices heard the case. Schumer addressed those activists.

Speaking at a Fox News town hall Thursday night, Trump acknowledged he's had his own sharp words for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg after she called him a "faker" in 2016 before his election and criticized him in other press interviews. She later said she regretted the remarks. Then-candidate Trump called on her to resign.

"I didn't respond like Schumer. Schumer  that was a physical thing, in my opinion," Trump said Thursday of the senator's comments to the justices. "You know, he tried to say, 'Oh, well, that has to do with the election.' That had nothing to do with the election, the way he said we're going to hit back like you've never seen before. That was a real intimidation."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Schumer's comments "dangerous and disturbing" and "astonishingly reckless.

There is nothing to call this except a threat and there is absolutely no question to whom it was directed," McConnell said. "He very, very clearly was not addressing Republican lawmakers or anyone else.

McConnell said Schumer's comments were part of a broad effort by Democrats to attack government institutions when they do not deliver the political outcomes they seek. He sought to defend the "independent judiciary" to which Republicans have appointed record numbers of judges during the Trump administration.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Schumer sought to position himself on the side of women and accused Republicans of ignoring the issue of abortion.

Last week, Senate Republicans brought two abortion bills to the floor, one that would ban abortion after 20 weeks and one that pertained to health care if an abortion procedure results in a live birth. Both bills failed in the chamber.

Republicans are afraid here in the Senate to confront this issue directly, Schumer said. They leave women out in the cold.

Schumer said Republicans were "manufacturing outrage" over his comments.

Of course I didnt intend to suggest other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court and it was a gross distortion to say otherwise," Schumer said.

Schumer discussed his comments with the Democratic caucus behind closed doors this week.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who was also at the Supreme Court Wednesday, said: "Maybe he went too far, but I think the main point is that it is a sign of the politicization of the courts which are really the Trump legacy.
NEW direct flight route to Lulea, Swedish Lapland, provides a more eco-friendly option, say Northern Lights experts at The Aurora Zone



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - March 5th, 2020 - A new direct flight to Lulea with SAS has just been announced, providing a new  and greener  travel option that will open up this peaceful corner of Swedish Lapland to those wishing to tick the Aurora Borealis off their bucket list. Experts at the UKs original Northern Lights holiday specialist, The Aurora Zone, having been trailblazers for the region in the UK for many years, are proud to be working in conjunction with both SAS and Swedish Lapland to champion the direct flight.

Says Ali McLean, Founder and Managing Director of The Aurora Zone, we are thrilled that the new route has been given the go-ahead, with the first voyage due to take to the skies on 18 December, 2020 from London Stansted.

With direct flights a greener option than flying indirect, due to planes producing more emissions when taking off and landing than whilst in the air, the new flight from London Stansted is set to emit 18-20% less CO compared with a connecting flight. The new route will also bring additional carbon reduction benefits through the use of the new Airbus A320NEO aircraft, which is deemed to be one of the worlds most advanced and fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft.

The twice-weekly schedule of Monday and Friday flights is perfect for those wishing to spend a long weekend in this pristine part of Swedish Lapland, situated on the Bay of Bothnia, just 100 km south of the Arctic Circle. Outbound flights will depart London Stansted on Friday mornings and Monday afternoons, with return flights leaving Lulea early in the evening on a Monday and early on a Friday morning, with an estimated flight time of 3 hours and 5 minutes. Friday morning departures / returning Monday evening means three-night stays, while Monday afternoon departures / returning Friday morning allow four-night visits.

The Aurora Zone prides itself on working with and supporting a range of handpicked, independent and locally-run small business partners, which are both ethical and passionate in their approach, ensuring that their impact on Lulea is both positive and sustainable. The specialist tour operator is therefore understandably thrilled that the new flight will further encourage sustainability via a route which supports the regional economy through employing local people and protecting the cultural heritage of the area  all whilst treading with a lighter carbon footprint.

Founder and Managing Director of The Aurora Zone, Ali McLean says: With direct flights saving on emissions, were absolutely delighted now to be able to offer a greener and easier option to those looking to fly to Lulea with the launch of the new SAS flight. This corner of Swedish Lapland provides a slice of untouched wilderness that is truly remarkable. The Gulf of Bothnia freezes to form pack ice which provides the perfect platform for brilliant winter adventures, as well as the dream setting from which to search for the Northern Lights.

With very little light pollution, the views of the night sky can be exceptional out on the ice of Lulea. As the leading Northern Lights experts, The Aurora Zone combines unforgettable daytime excursions - such as husky sledding across the frozen trails, experiencing an ice breaker tour, or gaining an authentic insight into local Sami culture - with the very best chances of seeing the Lights in Lulea through dedicated Aurora activities, be it a Northern Lights sled tour, an Aurora hunt by snowshoe, or a private dinner in a magical Aurora hideaway on the frozen sea.

Including the new direct flights, the Aurora Short Break at Brandon Lodge and the Treehotel trip provides the chance to explore the region from two exceptional bases, with two nights spent in a cosy winter cottage overlooking the frozen Bothnian Bay, before spending the final night in spectacular style at the show-stopping Treehotel. Days are left free to tailor with dream winter experiences, be it brushing up on Nordic skills, cutting through the frozen waters on an Icebreaker voyage where the mouth of the river Pitealven meets the open sea, exploring the enchanting snowy forests on a snowmobile tour, or choosing from many more thrilling options.

The three-night holiday is priced from 1,395 pp (two sharing), including the new return direct flights, transfers, two nights full-board winter cottage accommodation, one nights full-board accommodation at the world-famous Treehotel, cold weather clothing and expert guides. All excursions can be added at extra cost: Husky Sledding from 206 pp, Sami reindeer experience from 226 pp, Nordic Winter Skills from 98 pp, Icebreaker experience from 312 pp, Northern Lights Snowshoe Walk from 88 pp, Snowmobile Forest and Nature Tour from 125 pp and Dinner on Ice from 165 pp.

For further information, please visit www.theaurorazone.com or speak to an Aurora Expert on 01670 785 012.

Editors notes:

About The Aurora Zone: The Aurora Zone (www.theaurorazone.com) is the original Northern Lights holiday specialist which remains dedicated to just one key aim  showing you the Aurora Borealis. Years of passion, scientific research, expert local knowledge and first-hand experience have gone into designing its holidays, resulting in an unparalleled collection of bucket-list Northern Lights tours that provide the best chance of experiencing Mother Natures greatest wonder. Explore Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway with the Aurora Experts throughout autumn, winter and spring, and enjoy a variety of activities such as snowmobiling, husky sledding and reindeer experiences.

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OTTAWACanada and the United States are working together to make their high-tech military equipment less hackable, top defence officials said in Ottawa on Thursday, but they have a lot of work to do.

Speaking to the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence, Ellen Lord, the U.S. undersecretary of defence for acquisition and sustainment, suggested American military officials have long made excuses for not addressing the vulnerabilities in their equipment.

That is no longer acceptable, Lord said. We are going to start shutting equipment down if they are not brought up to standards, because every day, we see the intel  we see how much has been compromised in what we do.

Lords comments follow a growing recognition about the extent to which cyberattacks threaten not only targets such as computer networks, but all manner of devices  including fighter jets and warships  in an increasingly connected world.

An audit by the U.S. Defence Departments inspector general in 2018 found those vulnerabilities extended to American nuclear-missile facilities.

Lord and Troy Crosby, who oversees military procurement at Canadas Department of National Defence and also spoke at the conference, said officials in both countries are seized with protecting new military equipment from potential attacks.

We have a variety of organizations now that are looking at cyberassurance, Crosby told The Canadian Press in an interview. We certainly dont want to be acquiring new capability with issues.

While he also insisted the government would not ignore potential weaknesses or vulnerabilities identified in existing equipment, Crosby could not say whether Canada has conducted a detailed audit in the same way the U.S. has.

Crosby nonetheless insisted officials are constantly assessing threats and risks to the organization from whatever angle, whether its cyber or otherwise. So I think people are paying attention.

Lord said that while U.S. assessments found officials had been lax in applying cybersecurity requirements for military equipment in the past, it will no longer be acceptable to trade such requirements in favour of cost or schedule savings or better performance.

There is an absolute requirement, she said.

The threat posed by cyberattacks figured prominently during the two-day defence conference, with numerous Canadian military officers and outside experts specifically flagging Russia and China as North Americas top cyberadversaries.

Cybersecurity is the area that has moved the fastest and changed the most in the two and a half years that Ive had this job, Lord said.

The bottom line is, I dont think the average American citizen understands that we are at cyberwar every day. And it is problematic not only in the area of defence, but our entire nationwide infrastructure and everything we do.

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A special Protection of children from sexual offences (Pocso) court judge RV Adone on March 4, sentenced a 38-year-old to 10 years imprisonment for raping a minor in 2016.

Sambhaji Dashrath Jadhav was convicted of Section 376 (rape) and Section 4 of the Pocso act. He was also charged with a fine of Rs 10,000 by the court.

The complaint in the matter had been filled by the victims mother in October 2017 at the Talegaon Dabhade police station. According to the complaint, Jadhav picked up the victim from the field she was playing in, took her to a secluded place and sexually assaulted her.

Special public prosecutor Leena Pathak examined seven witnesses. The victims, her mothers and the doctors account proved crucial in solidifying the case against Jadhav.
Evangelicals view Supreme Court most favorably amid big term for religious freedom cases: poll

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With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear a handful of religious freedom-related cases in 2020, a new report from Pew Research suggests that Christians are more likely than religiously unaffiliated Americans to hold a positive view of the nations high court.

According to a Pew survey of over 1,500 adults in the United States conducted in July 2019, 62 percent of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court while 31 percent said they hold an unfavorable view of the Supreme Court.

When broken down by religious affiliation, the survey shows that 69 percent of Christian respondents view the Supreme Court favorably compared to just 51 percent of religiously unaffiliated respondents.

Meanwhile, 41 percent of religiously unaffiliated respondents said they view the Supreme Court unfavorably and 24 percent of Christian respondents said the same.

But more than seven-in-10 (72 percent) of self-identified white evangelical Protestants and 72 percent white non-evangelical Protestants said they have favorable views of the Supreme Court. Seventy percent of Catholics said the same.

Only 20 percent of white evangelicals said they hold an unfavorable view of the Supreme Court while 23 percent of white non-evangelical Protestants said the same.

With several religion-related Supreme Court cases in the news, we wanted to examine how attitudes about the court  and some of the issues its tackling this year  differ by religious identity and political affiliation, Pew senior writer Dalia Fahmy wrote in the report.

The results come as todays Supreme Court leans conservative thanks to the confirmation of two justices nominated by President Donald Trump during his three years in office: Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

In 2020, the Supreme Court will hear cases related to social issues that many conservative Christians voters consider important, such as abortion and the intersection of religious freedom and LGBT rights.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving a court-blocked Louisiana law that requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

Since June Medical Services v. Russo is the first abortion-related case the Supreme Court will hear since the confirmations of Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, abortion rights proponents fear the potential for the court to deal significant blows to previous rulings that have codified abortion as a national right.

The court announced last month that it would weigh the legality of the city of Philadelphias move to expel a Catholic charity from its foster care program because the organization follows Catholic teachings and does not place children in the homes of same-sex couples.

Also, the Supreme Court will hear at least three cases this year that deal with whether a Title VII law banning discrimination based on sex also protects bans discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The most prominent of the three cases is one involving a Christian-owned funeral homeowner who faced action from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after he fired a transgender employee who refused to wear clothing that corresponds with the employees birth sex.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has issued favorable rulings in prominent religious freedom-related cases. Those include the courts ruling in 2018 in favor of a Christian baker punished for refusing to bake a custom cake for a same-sex wedding, and a 2017 ruling in favor of a church daycare barred by the state of Missouri from a secular funding program.

According to the new Pew report, Americans views on the Supreme Court diverge along party lines.

Three-quarters (75 percent) of Republican respondents or Republican-leaning Independents said they viewed the Supreme Court favorably with just 18 percent saying they hold an unfavorable view of the court.

By contrast, only 49 percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning Independents said they hold a favorable view of the Supreme Court. Forty-four percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning Independents said they hold an unfavorable view of the Supreme Court.

Religiously unaffiliated adults  that is, who identify as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular  are largely Democratic, while white evangelical Protestants are solidly Republican and Republican-leaning, Fahmy wrote in her analysis.

Part of the reason why President Donald Trump had such strong support among conservative white evangelicals in the 2016 presidential election was due to the promises he made to appoint originalist and conservative judges to the Supreme Court and federal courts.

While much has been made about the confirmations of Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, Trump has boasted about how 218 of his judicial nominees have been confirmed as federal court judges in the last three years.

Pew reports that Republicans and white evangelicals view the Supreme Court much more favorably than they did during the years of Democrat Barack Obamas presidency.

In 2015, the same year the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a national right and upheld a key element of Obamacare, only three-in-10 white evangelicals held favorable views of the Supreme Court.

But in 2019, Pews research shows that white evangelicals (61 percent) were the group most likely to say that they favor overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Courts landmark 1973 decision making abortion a national right.

By comparison, just 26 percent of white non-evangelical Protestants and 28 percent of Catholics agreed. But 89 percent of religiously unaffiliated respondents and 87 percent of Democrat and Democrat-leaning Independents said they oppose overturning Roe.
Photo: Cory Gazaille/Unsplash

Missed the most recent top news in Atlanta? Read on for everything you need to know. Accused serial rapist linked to 8 metro Atlanta cold cases captured Read the full story on 11ALIVE. Triton Yards food truck park opens in Capitol View in Southwest Atlanta Read the full story on Eater Atlanta. As spring draws near, Atlantas crackdown on e-scooter providers is intensifying Read the full story on Curbed Atlanta. Georgia Senate signs off on mid-year budget Read the full story on www.mdjonline.com. Renovations set to begin at AmericasMart in Downtown Read the full story on Atlanta INtown. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

District Attorney Sherry Boston said the alleged rapist, 58-year-old Wesley Cooley, is linked to eight cold cases over nearly two decades. Cooley was identified through the efforts of the sexual assault task force. Five of the sexual assaults took place in DeKalb County.

A small food truck park and community green space called Triton Yards recently opened on Sylvan Road in the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood of Capitol View. The park is run by Atlanta real estate investment firm Triton Holdings, which also builds and sells tiny houses from the half-acre site.

The e-scooter droves seen around Atlanta last year will likely keep thinning in coming months  and not because the few companies left operating will be voluntarily backing out of town, city officials tell Curbed Atlanta.

A $27.4 billion mid-year budget covering state spending through the end of June overwhelmingly cleared the Georgia Senate Wednesday.
One of Britain's biggest airlines, Flybe, collapsed Thursday with all its flights grounded, the company said, as the coronavirus epidemic takes a heavy toll on airlines around the world. A statement on Flybe's website said the company had entered administration and could not arrange alternative flights for its passengers. "All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," said the airline, which avoided going bust in January only after being granted a tax holiday by the UK government. Flybe, which employs 2,000 people, had failed to turn around its fortunes since being purchased by the Connect Airways consortium last year, initially owing to weak demand and fierce competition. That has now been compounded by the coronavirus, with a slew of airlines cancelling flights and warning profits would take a hit from decreased demand. The announcement came hours after British media reported that the airline could collapse following its failure to secure a A100 million ($129 million, 115 million euros) state loan to help stabilise the business. The COVID-19 virus' impact on travel "has made a bad situation much worse", sources told the BBC, while Bloomberg News reported Thursday that no agreement could be reached on a virus-related bailout. Small British airlines have suffered recently from volatile fuel costs and a weak pound. Flybe is the biggest operator of UK domestic flights. The no-frills airline carries around eight million passengers annually and flies from 43 airports across Europe and 28 in Britain. Its owner, the Connect Airways consortium, is led by Virgin Atlantic and also includes investment firm Cyrus and infrastructure specialist Stobart. Following Flybe's tax deferral earlier this year, rival companies including British Airways-parent IAG complained to the European Union that it was receiving unfair state aid. The government has said its assistance does not breach EU rules and that help is based on the importance of the company's domestic services and regional economic reliance on them. However, that contrasted with the fate of British holiday giant Thomas Cook, which collapsed without government assistance last September, causing the loss of 22,000 jobs worldwide and stranding 600,000 holidaymakers abroad.
Everyday heroes from all walks of life have stepped up to play supporting roles in battling against the epidemic in Wuhan, the center of the epidemic.

The city has 1.5 million registered volunteers, or 14 percent of its permanent population, official statistics show.

WUHAN, March 4 (Xinhua) -- As doctors are racing against the time to save patients infected with COVID-19, everyday heroes from all walks of life also step up to play supporting roles in battling against the epidemic in Wuhan, the center of the epidemic.

From medical aid, food and goods assistance and psychological support to transport and community services, thousands of volunteers respond quickly and gingerly after the megacity was locked down to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Volunteers carry out disinfection work in Jiang'an District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

QUICK RESPONSES FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE

On Feb. 3, the Communist Youth League of Wuhan issued the first public notice online to recruit volunteers, and over 7,000 people had signed up in less than 12 hours after the announcement.

Until now, the organization has selected and trained 19,155 people to serve as deliverymen, drivers, coordinators and community workers in grocery stores, neighborhoods, designated hospitals and makeshift hospitals to receive infected patients.

Six counseling hotlines have been set up to allow 61 professionally trained psychological consultants to help residents 24 hours a day and 74 volunteers of legal practitioners take turns to answer epidemic-related inquiries online.

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)

On Feb. 23, another 10,000 people applied for volunteer posts within 10 hours following the city's new recruitment to ensure efficient deliveries of emergency supplies and daily necessities to residents. Over 24,000 volunteers out of the total 70,000 applicants have been recruited to meet the delivery needs of neighborhoods in the city.

Some of the volunteers have played different roles in their anti-epidemic efforts. Yang Xue, in her 20s, has driven over 800 doctors to work and back home along with her friends. They have also transported over 500 tonnes of goods for communities.

As the pressure on transport surges, donors of goods and medical supplies also hit the road to ensure timely delivery of the resources to destinations in Wuhan.

Volunteer Wang Zhen, member of the volunteer group "Wuhan Emergency Team" taking pregnant women without access to vehicles to the hospital, checks information in a car in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

After over 30 hours of driving, a fleet of six passenger buses sponsored by a grassroots organization had sent 30 tonnes of fresh fruits and 10 tonnes of eggs to two major makeshift hospitals in Wuhan. "The food is a little token of our regard for patients as we stand together with them in fighting the disease," said Zhao Pengfei, one of the drivers.

To facilitate the customs clearance of overseas assistance, over 300 college students, medical workers and professional translators teamed up to translate documents and notices in a dozen foreign languages such as English, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French, Italian and Vietnamese. They also actively participate in coordinating overseas donations, as well as facilitating transport services.

Haroon Nomaan, a Pakistan engineer working for Lenovo in Wuhan, also volunteered to help coordinate overseas projects and translate custom clearance documents in English and Urdu in a team of 83. "I hope that this crisis will be over soon, and as long as I'm needed, I'm more than happy to do this, whatever the time," he said.

Recovered coronavirus patient Cheng Lin donates her plasma at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 18, 2020. (Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital/Handout via Xinhua)

Meanwhile, following a nationwide appeal of plasma donation among cured patients, Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, a major designated hospital, has seen a rising number of cured patients to donate their plasma for the treatment of infected patients in critical condition.

SUSTAINABLE, INTEGRATE SERVICES

China has seen a growing number of volunteers over the past decades along with rapid economic and social development. In Wuhan alone, the city has 1.5 million registered volunteers, or 14 percent of its permanent population, official statistics show.

A large number of professional social workers have also acted quickly to help people in need amid the epidemic, with systematic practices of helping people obtain tangible services, undertaking counseling and psychotherapy with individuals and families and supporting communities to provide and improve health services.

Yu Zhihong, a social work professor from Wuhan University, has mobilized a team of professional social workers among her colleagues, students and counterparts and majors of social work across the city. The number of her community-based "Good Companions Response Team" has grown to 200 with a talent pool of up to 500.

"The value of social workers lies in the ability to continuously serve more people in a short time," Yu said.

People who are organized and guided by the "Good Companions Response Team" pose for a group photo at the "Wuhan Livingroom" makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 28, 2020. "Good Companions Response Team" is a team mobilized by Yu Zhihong, a social work professor from Wuhan University, to help people in need amid the epidemic. (Xinhua)

For now, it is a more efficient operation mode to set up a targeted and sustained service system that links social workers with psychological and medical resources and "the services can be provided to more residents at the community level," she added.

To minimize the risk of cross-infection, the team adopts a methodology of teaming up five workers in a group to coordinate and provide services using social media platforms. A group consists of two social workers based in communities, hospitals and designated zones for isolated patients and three volunteers offering logistics, medical and phycological assistance online.

Yu also turned to the China Association for Social Work Education to appeal to nationwide professionals. More experts and social work supervisors from Heilongjiang, Shanghai and Guangzhou have beefed up the team.

However, Yu said several hospitals declined their offer at the very beginning as doctors are fully occupied looking after patients rather than taking time to learn about their intentions. However, necessary guidance and consulting are in great demand among patients, and relative efforts are needed in the management and coordination of hospitals, Yu said.

The team, thus, found another way to carry out their plans. With the approval of the administration office of hospitals, social workers introduced a QR code to invite patients into a social media group. Workers also drafted a map and completed the guidance of the hospital for newly accepted patients. Special needs brought up by patients are also handled carefully by Yu's team.

Community workers and volunteers use a speaker to publicize the information about prevention and control of the novel coronavirus at a street near the Yellow Crane Pavilion in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The professional training of social workers, oriented to help people in need, ranges from direct providing of services and the comprehensive coordination of social resources to participating in the formation or change of social policy, Yu said.

Yu's team expects to promote a social work pattern that answers the call for social, life and psychological assistance. "As a supplementary effort to support the government who gives priorities to the most significant issues, social work takes care of the needs of more individuals," Yu said.

"Most importantly, we attach great importance to humanistic care," she said.
The owner of a mortgage-elimination company has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in connection with a $38 million mortgage scam.

Jacqueline Graham, who partnered with two others to operate New York-based Terra Foundation, was convicted in June in US District Court. The Terra Foundation, run by Graham, Bruce Lewis and John Ruzza, billed itself as a business that would help customers eliminate mortgage loans in exchange for fees. In reality, Terra engaged in a scheme to bilk clients, county clerks offices and financial institutions, according to the US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.

Jacqueline Graham brazenly defrauded vulnerable homeowners during the housing crisis by falsely promising that, for substantial fees, she could make millions of dollars of their mortgage disappear, said Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. In reality, she pilfered her victims money, leaving them far worse off, and some ended up losing their homes. Now Graham will spend 11 years in federal prison for preying upon her many victims.
David Zalubowski/AP

Bernie Sanderss vow to ban fracking if hes elected president isnt scaring off Democrats living atop Colorados biggest oil field.

The Vermont senator took 38% of the vote in Weld County, the epicenter of Colorados booming oil production, racking up almost twice as many votes as rival Joe Biden, who has taken a more moderate position on oil development. The outcome comes amid aggressive industry warnings that a fracking ban would cut jobs and hurt families in oil-rich areas, including Colorado.
Chennai, March 5 : A large number of policemen were deployed in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore for additional security after a mosque was attacked by some unidentified assailants on Wednesday night, police said.

The mosque was not damaged.

A petrol bomb was thrown at the mosque late on Wednesday night, in an attack was seen as a retaliatory action for the assault of Hindu Munnani official Anand on Wednesday night while he was returning home after participating in a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act rally.

The Hindu Munnani official is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Coimbatore, 500 km from here A shut down protest has been called on Friday in Coimbatore by Hindu Munnani to protesting against the attack on Anand.
[March 05, 2020] Prepare for the Future Today: Missouri Virtual Academy Now Enrolling for the 2020-2021 School Year

Missouri Virtual Academy (MOVA) is now accepting enrollments for the 2020-2021 school year. A tuition-free public school program of the Grandview R-2 School District, MOVA offers a supportive online and blended learning community for students statewide in grades K-12. With innovative technology, inspiring teachers and a dynamic and interactive curriculum, MOVA gives students the opportunity to pursue their academic goals in an environment that recognizes their individual learning styles. "As educators, it is our responsibility to meet students where they are on their academic journey," said Kelvin Carter, Career Readiness Education Administrator. "At MOVA we have a unique opportunity to equip students with the tools they need to succeed with us, and wherever they plan to go next." MOVA students access a rich curriculum facilitated by Missouri-certified teachers in virtual classrooms. All students are offered the core subjects of math, science, English language arts, history, art and music. MOVA's teachers regularly communicate with students and their families via email, phone and during one-on-one online meetings to ensure academic and personal success. Through the Destinations Career Academy at MOVA, students in grades 9-12 may choose to pair a solid academic foundation with hands-on learning experiences in in-demand career fields of Business, Health and Human Services, and Information Technology. Courses developed with business and industry professionals invite students to explore college and career options while charting their own path to graduation and beyond.



Families and students choose online and blended learning for a variety of reasons, including advanced learning, school safety concerns, or to balance student schedules with extracurricular pursuits or medical needs. MOVA students remain connected to their district of residence and graduate with diplomas from their home district. Students are eligible for sports, outings, and extra-curricular activities like all other public-school students in Missouri. MOVA also builds its own school community through virtual and in-person activities such as field trips and social gatherings to enhance the student experience.

More information on MOVA and how to enroll can be found at mova.k12.com or by downloading the free K12 mobile app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Missouri Virtual Academy Missouri Virtual Academy is a full-time public-school program serving students in grades K through 12 with prior public-school enrollment the semester prior to enrollment. As part of the Grandview R-2 School District, MOVA is tuition-free and gives families the choice to access the engaging curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of proprietary K-12 curriculum and online education programs. For more information about MOVA, visit mova.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005036/en/

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The Gulf state's deputy health minister said all cases in the country at present are Kuwaiti nationals

No coronavirus cases have been detected among Egyptian expats in Kuwait, according to the Gulf state's deputy health minister, who said all cases in the country at present are Kuwaiti nationals.

"All infected cases that are receiving treatment at the time being are Kuwaiti citizens," Egyptian state news agency MENA quoted Deputy Health Minister Buthaina Al Mudhaf as saying at a Thursday press conference.

Earlier this week, Kuwait's health ministry issued a memo to all airlines working in Kuwait International Airport, instructing them to impose precautionary procedures on all passengers arriving from Egypt.

They were instructed to check passengers health conditions and send them to quarantine if they had a high temperature, in an attempt to limit the rapidly spreading virus.

Last Monday, Egyptian cabinet spokesman Nader Saad dismissed reports Kuwait's government had suspended the issuing of visas to Egyptians as part of its coronavirus prevention measures.

The Kuwaiti ambassador to Cairo was contacted in this respect and he denied issuing any decision concerning stopping or suspending issuing visas to Egyptians," Saad told Sada Al-Balad channel in a phone interview.

Kuwait reported two new cases on Thursday, bringing the country's total number of confirmed cases to 58, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has killed over 3,000 people, mostly in China, and infected more than 93,000 others, according to the latest updates from the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the screening procedure for passengers arriving in India from the neighboring countries through land borders and urged all the officials to ensure round the clock deployment of doctors at the entry points amid coronavirus concerns, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

In a statement, the ministry added that Bhalla also held video conferences with chief secretaries and DGPs of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Punjab in this regard.

During the conference, the states informed Bhalla that regular screening is being done by doctors at various transit points and the community in border areas has been sensitised through gram sabhas.

As many as 30 people have tested positive for novel coronavirus in India, including 16 Italian nationals who were part of a group visiting the country.

Yesterday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the government is proactively engaged in tackling the situation related to coronavirus and 10 lakh people have been screened at India's open borders with Nepal and Bhutan in the last one month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a district designed around Midland-Odessa, a combat pilot from San Angelo has won the Republican primary for Texas 11th Congressional District.

August Pfluger beat out a crowded field of candidates that included three Midlanders and two Odessans. With 99 percent of polling locations reporting, he captured 55,802 votes district-wide, gathering the majority needed to avoid a run-off many believed was inevitable.

In Midland, Pfluger received 8,500 votes, or 42 percent of the total. Brandon Batch was second place in the district with 16,117 votes and second in Midland with 5,318 votes.

We were certainly extremely humbled to receive that support, Pfluger said in an interview Wednesday.

He added he was pleasantly surprised to avoid a run-off election and he believes its good for the district to move forward.

He attributed his win in Midland to a grassroots campaign, meeting with thousands of residents in the oil and gas industry.

Pfluger said he spoke with five Midland community leaders Wednesday and he plans to continue building relationships with city leaders. He said he intends to represent Midland by educating other House members on the oil and gas industry and partnering with the Permian Strategic Partnership.

Pfluger will be the first new representative for District 11 since Midlander Mike Conaway took office in 2005. Conaway announced his retirement in July of last year.

Rep. Conaway has served with an incredible amount of integrity, and in that regard, that is something I want to continue, Pfluger said.

Midland Mayor Patrick Payton, who previously endorsed Pfluger, said Pfluger won Midland because Midlanders believed in what he could do for the Permian Basin.

I think he will represent us as well as any candidate could have represented us, Payton said. And I trust he will fight any fight we need him to fight.

Payton said the other candidates also ran great campaigns, and that Batch in particular showed himself to be tremendous.

In a statement Wednesday, Batch thanked his supporters and said he would continue his aspirations to serve the country.

I just got off the phone with August Pfluger and congratulated him on his victory last night, he said in the statement. While it did not go how my campaign had hoped, it is important to remember that at the end of the day these campaigns are not about any one individual, but the hundreds of thousands across this district that deserve to be represented and have their voices heard in Washington.

Pfluger faced off against 10 candidates in a district that encompasses 29 counties. He previously told the Reporter-Telegram he moved back to San Angelo and founded an energy investment company after learning of Conaways retirement. Before then, he was stationed in Washington, D.C.

Democrat Jon Mark Hogg, who was unopposed, will run against Pfluger in November.
Russian state bank's Ukraine subsidiary sold

14:20, 05.03.20 1598

The move is part of enforcement proceedings.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Flash strike by KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) staff on Wednesday came as a bolt from the blue for commuters and motorists alike. Traffic in the city came to a grinding halt for nearly five hours, throwing life out of gear when all services were stopped suddenly after KSRTC workers were arrested by the police. KSRTC buses were parked haphazardly along the busy MG Road - East Fort stretch, disrupting the flow of traffic.

The situation went from bad to worse when the KSRTC employees staged a blockade at Fort police station to protest against the arrest of their coworkers. They were taken into custody following a clash with private bus operators at 9.15am. The situation remained tense for several hours. I have been stuck in traffic for nearly an hour now. This is becoming a regular affair. We all have to work to earn a living and such protests are making life impossible, said Sheela, a commuter. District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said flash strikes and encroachment on public places will not be allowed in the district.
I have been AWOL for the last few days, attending a conference in Georgia that took up both days and evenings. In todays overheated political climate it is amazing how much you can miss in just a couple of days. While I was gone, Joe Bidens zombie campaign came back to life, although the candidate himself didnt. It looks like a fight to the finish between Biden and Bernie Sanders, with the most likely winner being Donald Trump.

The stop-Bernie movement may succeed, with Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropping out and endorsing Biden at the most opportune moment. Elizabeth Warren has yet to endorse anyone, and she might not. If she backs Biden she is selling out the far left, while her personal animosity toward Sanders might prevent her from throwing her weight behind a fellow leftist. Warren doesnt strike me as a forgiving person. Regardless, if Biden gets the nomination the Democrats will have a problem with the Bernie Bros. Some will stay home and others will vote for Trump. Will they burn down Milwaukee, as they have threatened to do if Bernie is denied the nomination? Probably not, but given how crazed the Democrats have become, you never know.

Speaking of crazed, Chuck Schumer committed the most shocking political act of my lifetime, threatening physical harm, apparently, against two Supreme Court justices if they fail to toe the Democrats line on a pending case. (I dont know how else to understand You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You wont know what hit you. Particularly in context, i.e., a speech delivered to a mob on the steps of the Supreme Court building, with Schumer waving toward the justices that he threatened.) We have never seen anything like this before.

Earlier today, the American College of Trial Lawyers released a statement condemning Schumers threat. The College of Trial Lawyers shouldnt be confused with the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, now re-named the American Association for Justice. The latter is an organization of plaintiffs lawyers that is one of the staunchest supporters of the Democratic Party. The College of Trial Lawyers is a distinguished group, consisting of top trial lawyers from both the plaintiffs and the defendants bars. Given the manner in which the American Bar Association has been politicized, it is perhaps the best representative of the American bar. The Colleges statement reads:

While the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of all American citizens, when a prominent and leading member of the legislative branch personally demeans individual members of the judiciary by name and in doing so appears to threaten them if they do not rule in a certain way on a particular issue, the criticisms threaten the balance among our branches of government and in particular the independence of the judiciary. Accordingly, the American College of Trial Lawyers supports the remarks of Chief Justice Roberts following statements by Senator Schumer about certain members of the Court in connection with a case under consideration by the Justices. Senator Schumer surely enjoys the protections of expression afforded all citizens, but he also has a responsibility to allow the rule of law to flourish in our country and to permit our judges to exercise independent judgment in support of the rule of law without undue outside influence or apparent efforts to intimidate. The American College of Trial Lawyers believes that attacks on judicial officers when designed to influence their determinations on cases pending before them are an affront to the fundamental principle of judicial independence that cannot be ignored. The College also believes that no public official should interfere in a pending judicial proceeding, take actions or make statements that could reasonably be viewed as intimidating to a judge, or belittle any judge for his/her decision. It is vital that all branches of our government respect the integrity of the judicial process.

The Democrats are trying to move on via a non-apology from Schumer, and a false equivalence with statements made by President Trump, who has on occasion criticized judges, but has never come close to threatening them with violence. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine what the presss reaction would be, should President Trump denounce, for example, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, saying that they have released the whirlwind and will pay the price. You wont know what hit you.

My only other observation is that whatever concerns people may have about coronavirus arent preventing them from traveling. I passed through the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Atlanta airports; both were packed, as were my flights. I saw exactly one person wearing a mask.
For the past three years, a lot of being a woman  a human, but especially a woman  has meant wondering whether things were all in your head. Had your boss been harassing you, or was it harmless flirting? Had Joe Biden really learned not to massage womens shoulders uninvited, or was his apology kind of strange, and if you thought it was strange, should you keep it to yourself because it might all be in your head? Locker room talk, locker room talk, locker room talk, and that is partially why we loved Elizabeth Warren. Unlike even the most wonderful, wokest gentlemen, she didnt need to learn about this stuff, because she already got it. She felt it in her bones.
Gerard Butler was once again accompanied by girlfriend Morgan Brown during an appearance in New York City on Wednesday.

The couple were side by side as they stepped out for lunch in the city's West Village before making their way back to their apartment.

Opting for a grey top over tan coloured jeans, Butler, 50, looked casual while making his way across the sidewalk with his on-off girlfriend.

Side by side: Gerard Butler was once again accompanied by girlfriend Morgan Brown during an appearance in New York City on Wednesday

The Scottish actor added to his look with a black leather jacket, while a tightly wrapped scarf helped insulate him from the chilly New York weather.

Joining her boyfriend, Morgan, 48, looked typically chic in a stylish white winter coat and skin-tight brown leather trousers.

The brunette added to her look with smart suede boots, while heavily tinted sunglasses partially concealed her features.

Lunch date: The couple were side by side as they stepped out for lunch in the city's West Village before making their way back to their apartment

The couple reportedly endured a major split in the fall of 2017 after having endured a lengthy beach vacation over the summer of that year.

But things renewed between Brown and the Scottish star around August of 2019, when the pair attended the premiere of Butler's film Angel Has Fallen.

In October, the couple looked to be as in love as ever during an intimate dinner at New York City's Omar at Vaucluse, according to Page Six.

Back together: Butler and Brown confirmed they were back together in 2019 while attending the premiere of his film, Angel Has Fallen

Most recently, Morgan was by her man's side when she attended the 92nd Academy Awards with the Scottish hunk back in January.

The pair put on a cozy displays as they walked the red carpet hand-in-hand.

Brown stunned in a floor length lacy red gown complete with sneaky leg slit and mono strap.

Butler attended the ceremony in support of his film How To Train Your Dragon, which was nominated in the evening's Best Animated Feature category, but the film lost out to Disney's Toy Story 4.
The vast majority of Torontos COVID-19 patients are being treated with the best available medicine: the comfort of their own beds.

So far only two of the citys 11 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus have been admitted to hospital, according to Toronto Public Health. The rest have all been recovering at home, with daily check-ins from staff.

If a COVID-19 patient doesnt need to be in hospital for medical reasons, sending that person home is better for their own recovery, says Toronto medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa  but its also better for everyone else.

Hospital resources are finite. Theres only a certain number of beds, and theres only a certain number of facilities. And we try to make sure that we use those facilities and resources only when theyre needed, says de Villa.

Hospitals are noisy and busy, and not the simplest place to recuperate. If really what you need is rest, most people find it more amenable to get rest in their own bed in their own pyjamas.

But also, strokes, heart attacks, traumatic injuries, high-risk births  these things dont stop just because theres an infectious disease outbreak, she says. So the issue is, how do we make sure our acute-care services are available and resourced in order to meet the needs of the population?

The rapidly expanding global case count of COVID-19  over 93,000 cases in 76 countries as of Wednesday, including 34 in Canada  tends to overshadow another fact about the disease: a large number of cases are fairly benign.

There is a growing appreciation that many people with this infection have a very mild course of illness, says Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital and the University of Toronto.

Though a percentage of those infected have died  estimates have ranged from 0.7 per cent to 3.4 per cent  data from China, where the outbreak was first detected, indicates that approximately 80 per cent of cases involve only mild to moderate symptoms.

People with a mild illness do not need to be in hospital. They can recover in the comfort of their own home. If we have individuals with mild illness in hospital, were going to have capacity issues, says Bogoch.

If someone is well enough to be cared for at home, they should certainly go home, provided they dont contribute to the transmission of this infection in the community.

That critical task is primarily carried out by local public health units. When staff at Toronto hospitals do decide to send a COVID-19 patient home to recover, they co-ordinate with Toronto Public Health, which ultimately manages that case. Nine of the provinces 17 active cases are in Toronto (three, including two in the city, have recovered).

Toronto Public Healths nurses and public health inspectors  the latter being the same group of people who inspect restaurants for food safety, but in this case typically have specialized communicable disease or infection-prevention training  stay in daily phone contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, monitoring them for changes in symptoms.

If those symptoms get significantly worse, the patient may end up being admitted to hospital after all  as happened with one of the provinces recent cases, after initially being sent home. One of the citys first two cases was also briefly hospitalized.

Anyone who has shortness of breath, deteriorating symptoms, or is simply unwell enough to care for themselves would be sent to hospital, says Bogoch. Being dehydrated enough to require intravenous fluids would be a reason to be admitted; as would needing a ventilator to keep breathing, though no Ontario patients have required such extreme measures so far.

If a patients symptoms are improving, public health staff help co-ordinate when to start testing for presence of the virus. To be considered resolved, or cleared of the disease, a patient has to have two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Keeping hospitals clear of patients who dont need to be there has multiple benefits. In Toronto, the SARS outbreak of 2003 was primarily a hospital-acquired infection: according to one study, 71 per cent of the GTAs confirmed SARS cases during the height of the initial outbreak were health-care related, either staff, patients or visitors.

Infection prevention and control at hospitals has dramatically improved in the 17 years since the SARS crisis, Bogoch says. Hospitals are nevertheless full of people with compromised immune systems or other health conditions that may make catching a novel virus more likely.

Keeping mild COVID-19 cases out of hospital and preventing them from gobbling up precious capacity is important for treating the ongoing acute care needs of the city. But it will also be important if Toronto does experience a big spike in its case count in the future.

For now, all of Ontarios cases have been travel-related: there is no evidence of community transmission, the term for the phenomenon of people passing the illness on to others who live here. But health officials in the province say we should be preparing for the possibility of community transmission.

Were preparing and making sure that were ready for whatever comes, says de Villa.
BJP leader Lanka Dinakar on Wednesday said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP is trying to malign the goodwill of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minster Amit Shah by seeking to introduce a resolution to adopt the 2010 format for the Population Register (NPR) in the State.

Dinakar said Reddy's Cabinet needs to understand the concept of NPR and NRC since their party leaders and advisers to the Government are "giving statements mutually and exclusively on these matters".

"Most of the opposition has been trying to divert the attention of the people by negative propaganda since there are no other negative issues in the Central government's governance. Jagan Mohan Reddy led YSRCP is also trying to malign the goodwill of Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji by seeking to pass a resolution to adopt the 2010 format for NPR in the state of Andhra Pradesh instead of the new 2020 format," said Dinakar.

"I strongly feel that the Andhra government is making a 'reverse' in the governance and policies in the State and they want to implement the same in NPR also as per 2010 format instead of the new format," he added.

Dinakar continued saying that those who are raising queries regarding NPR, should understand the concept with a fair mind and then come to the conclusion rather than for someone's satisfaction.

"There is no NRC in Andhra Pradesh and other parts of the country other than Assam. In Assam also NRC had been carried as per the direction of the Supreme Court. As far as NPR is concerned, it is the general procedure of the Census of our country's population for the assessment of future development, welfare schemes and living infrastructure facilities for the people across the nation," he said.

"We have convinced Nitish ji (Bihar CM Nitish Kumar) and Patnaik ji (Odisha Chief Minister) regarding their doubts related to NPR. We have already informed the facts and we can provide any information to them. Similarly, the fair doubts of Jagan Mohan Reddy ji will be resolved without any agitation," he added.

Dinakar added that the accuracy of the data should be maintained and if anyone feels uncomfortable they can choose not to provide the optional data.

Jagan Mohan Reddy had on Tuesday said that his government will request the Centre to reverse the conditions of NPR to those prevailing in 2010 as questions proposed in the register are causing insecurities in the minds of minorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA)  The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday said that 223 children, including 10 girls, were released from Nigerian Army administrative custody and Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison on Tuesday night
The following is the final part of a three-part series on the Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Part one can be found here and part two here.

Phase 1 concluded last December. Phase two of the Inquiry opened this week, with witnesses from the corporations and organisations whose actions caused the deaths of 72 people granted immunity by the attorney general from any prosecution that might result from their testimony.

In their testimony to the Inquiry, expert witnesses, Dr. Barbara Lane, Professor Luke Bisby and Professor Jose Luis Torero, examined the role played by materials used during the refurbishment in the spread of the fire and the breaching of compartmentation. Their evidence is a valuable contribution to understanding how a normal kitchen fire could have such catastrophic consequences.

Grenfell Tower fire, Credit Twitter: Natalie Oxford

Yet, despite the important insights they had to offer, little space in the Inquirys 900-page report is given to their expert testimony, and no attempt is made to explore how the building came to be so fatally compromised.

The expert witnesses explained that the uPVC material of which the window frames were manufactured had little capacity to resist fire, with the material prone to lose its stiffness and deform at relatively low temperatures. This allowed the fire to escape the kitchen of Flat 16 and enter the cavities around the windows and then to ignite the cladding.

The Phase 1 report documents that Dr. Lane told the Inquiry how the construction and composition of materials around the windows increased the risk of a fire within the flat breaking out into these cavities, and emphasised that the windows were not provided with any fire-resisting cavity barriers and instead were surrounded by combustible materials. Because of this, if a fire started near a window there was a disproportionately high probability that it would spread into the cladding.

Professor Jose Luis Torero speaking at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Professor Torero declared it was almost certain, if not inevitable, that a kitchen fire would occur in a building like Grenfell at some point in its lifetime.

The expert witnesses also drew attention to the role of the cavity between the concrete walls of Grenfell Tower and insulation of the tower, and the flammable aluminum composite material (ACM) cladding, which promoted the vertical spread of heat and flames up the tower in a chimney effect. The PIR (polyisocyanurate) insulation also contributed to the spread of flames up the tower, Professor Torero assessed.

By far the most significant factor in the rapid spread of the fire was the presence of the ACM cladding panels with a polyethylene core, the expert witnesses agreed. The high calorific value of polyethylene when compared to other materials provided an ideal fuel source for the growing fire and has a similar heat of combustion to petrol or diesel.

Polyethylene also melts at a much lower temperature than that of the average flame (which is typically between 600 and 800C) and will therefore melt and drip both before and after it has been ignited. In addition to promoting the vertical spread of the fire, the dripping ACM cladding with its polyethylene core played a central role in ensuring that the flames would rapidly advance downwards and horizontally.

According to the report, that rapid horizontal and downwards spread of flame was a unique feature of this particular fire, which sets it apart from many other international fires and is an important factor in making the outcome so devastating in terms of the loss of human life.

This was one of the primary factors in allowing a common domestic appliance fire to rapidly consume the entire tower, spreading up from the fourth to the top floor in under 20 minutes.

The blaze spread rapidly, particularly between 1:20 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., extending to the top of floor ten by around 1:21 a.m.; 45 seconds after that it had reached the top of floor 11 and up to the top of floor 12 another 45 seconds later. Between 1:23.36 a.m. and 01:26.37 a.m. the rate of fire spread accelerated from approximately two storeys per minute to approximately four storeys per minute.

Dr Barbara Lane speaking at the Grenfell Tower inquiry

Dr. Lane emphasised the role of fire doors in maintaining compartmentation, noting that while it was inevitable that fire doors would fail at some point, their performance could be particularly important for those who were awaiting rescue in their flats. She identified a number of failures of the fire-doors at Grenfell to comply with the appropriate standards. When tested by the Building Research Establishment to current standards, one of the stair doors resisted fire adequately for only 16 minutes, rather than the 30 minutes required.

Although she noted that some fire-doors were broken down by firefighters as they attempted to rescue trapped residents and some had been held open by fire-fighting equipment or other objects, she cautioned against attributing too much significance to the activities of the firefighters.

The report confirms that the fire started in the kitchen of Flat 16, which was rented by Behailu Kebede and which at the time of the fire was also occupied by two other housemates, Almaz Kinfu and Elsa Afeworki.

The eyewitness testimony of Kebede and the firefighters who entered Flat 16, and the analysis of the expert witnesses, confirm that the fire originated in the fridge-freezer in the flats kitchen, and quickly spread out the window into the cladding.

From analysing the burn patterns in the kitchen of Flat 16, expert witness Professor Nic Daeid concluded that combustible materials to the left of the large fridge-freezer were burning during the early stages of the fire. This fire pattern could also have been influenced by ventilation effects from the nearby open window, the report notes.

Although it was not possible to identify the exact fault in the fridge-freezer, the report states, both footage from the thermal imaging camera carried by the firefighters and testimony from expert witness, Dr. Duncan Glover, about the different electrical appliances in Flat 16 overwhelmingly support the assessment of Professor Daeid and Kebedes witness statement about the cause of the fire.

The report clears Kebede of any responsibility for the catastrophic inferno:

Mr. Kebede in particular bears no blame for what occurred in his flat, Moore-Bick stated, much less for the catastrophic events that followed. On the contrary, he did exactly what a responsible person might be expected to do in the circumstances and his presence of mind in switching off the electricity as he left the flat enabled important evidence to be gathered about the origin of the fire.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick

None of this evidence led Moore-Bick to issue a denunciation of the role played by companies such as Arconic and Celotex. It is clear from what has been learnt so far that the building suffered a total failure of compartmentation, the report concedes. How the building came to be in that state is the most pressing question to be answered in Phase 2.

Yet the companies that bear chief responsibility for the criminal failure of compartmentation and the subsequent massive loss of life, are still being allowed to continue and profit from their operations. Their contributions to the Inquiry are characterised first and foremost by contempt for those who have perished and had their lives ruined and crass denials of guilt.

The testimony given by Whirlpool Corporation, the manufacturer of Kebedes fridge-freezer, provides an example of this. Whirlpool recently made national headlines after announcing the recall of 519,000 models of washing machines sold to UK customers because they pose a potential fire hazard. Despite overwhelming evidence that the large fridge-freezer in Kebedes kitchen was the starting point of the fire, Whirlpool insisted in its closing statement to the Inquiry that this has not yet been proven.

A Whirlpool appliance on a showroom floor: Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourk

Whirlpool challenged the evidence presented by Dr. Glover about the cause of the fire--while failing to provide any expert evidence to back up its own spurious claims. It suggested that the fire could have been started by a cigarette butt being dropped from an upper floor and falling through the open window of Flat 16 and igniting unknown materials on the kitchen floor!

So blatant and contemptuous was Whirlpools attempt to exculpate itself that Moore-Bick was compelled to denounce its suggestions as fanciful.

Although Whirlpool argued that no single piece of evidence pointed irresistibly or uniquely to that conclusion, Moore-Bicks report states, and that therefore it was not possible to determine the cause of the fire, in my view the combined force of the evidence as a whole points inexorably to that conclusion.

Cladding manufacturer Arconic dedicated the bulk of its submission to denying that its ACM cladding panels were the primary cause of the disaster and trying to prove that other materials used in the refurbishment, such as the foam insulation boards and the uPVC window surrounds, were just as much, if not more, to blame for what happened.

According to the Guardian, Arconic has already spent well over 30 million on lawyers and other advisers in cases linked to the Grenfell fire, a sum which dwarfs the amount spent on the cladding panels themselves, which were among the cheapest on the market.

Arconic as well as insulation manufacturers Celotex and Rydon all used their submissions to argue that the evidence presented in Phase 1 and the expert findings were too preliminary in nature to warrant drawing firm conclusions.

While Moore-Bick timidly suggested that there are some findings that can, and should, be made at this stage of the Inquiry, the report by and large submits to the diktat of the corporations by refusing to draw any conclusions relating to the dangerous materials which turned the building into a death trap.

People lighting candles at the vigil for five year old Grenfell fire victim Isaac Paulos

This is made all the more significant, in the context of Moore-Bicks recent disgraceful entreaty, by the decision of Attorney General Geoffrey Cox that all corporate witnesses should be granted immunity from prosecution for anything they may say in the Inquiry.

The Moore-Bick Inquiry, a creature of the Conservative government, is a politically motivated cover-up, carrying out its glacier-like deliberations in order to shield the guilty from prosecution. To this day, nearly 1,000 days after the fire--not a single person responsible has been brought to justice.

The Inquiry was convened under the then Labour governments 2005 Inquiries Act, which states, An inquiry panel is not to rule on, and has no power to determine, any persons civil or criminal liability. Moore-Bick proposed, with then-Prime Minister Theresa May rushing to agree, that any issues of a social, economic and political nature should be barred from the Inquiry.

The Metropolitan Police have stated that no-one will face any criminal proceedings--if any are to be brought--until the second phase inquiry findings are published and a subsequent police study of its conclusions has taken place. It is suggested that this could take until 2025 -- fully eight years after the fire!

It is high time this fraud is ended. The millions of pounds wasted on the Inquiry should have been distributed to the Grenfell families, whose lives have been destroyed.

A public meeting held by the Socialist Equality Party near Grenfell Tower in August 2017 titled: Social Murder A crime against the working class

The Socialist Equality Party and the Grenfell Fire Forum urge the Grenfell families and their legal teams to withdraw all cooperation from this fraudulent inquiry and to demand that those guilty of the social murder be immediately arrested, charged and put on trial.



Concluded





Grenfell Inquiry witnesses granted immunity from prosecution resulting from oral evidence

[2 March 2020]

Two years since the Grenfell inferno: The case for socialism

[14 June 2019]

The political implications of the Grenfell Tower fire

[27 June 2017]

The political implications of the Grenfell Tower fire

[23 August 2017]
Mike Bloomberg had a disastrous Super Tuesday that ultimately spelled the end of his campaign. But he didnt come away entirely empty-handed.

The former New York City mayor won 53 delegates and counting, according to the most recent tally . Combined with the delegates won by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, over 85 pledged delegates were awarded to a candidate no longer in the race. And now, with the remaining candidates racing to hit the magic number of 1,991 pledged delegates to win the nomination, questions abound about what happens to the delegates of the candidates who have stepped aside.

The answer to that question only matters if theres a contested convention, and that possibility is shrinking rapidly as the presidential field narrows. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are the runaway delegate leaders and will likely stretch that advantage in the coming weeks, especially with Elizabeth Warren considering ending her campaign  though Biden, the current leader, is short of a majority of the pledged delegates awarded so far.

There are two important things to know about what happens to delegates of dropped-out candidates: First, no one can tell them how to vote. And second, because the candidate dropped out, they will actually get fewer delegates than they would have if they stayed in.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks at a rally, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

To the first point: The Democratic National Committees rules only say that pledged delegates shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them. So come convention day, delegates selected to represent a dropped-out candidate dont have to cast their ballot for that candidate  or for the person their candidate endorsed.

So while Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar have all endorsed Biden, dont immediately add their delegates to his total.

However: Campaigns have effective veto control over the people who become their pledged delegates, meaning delegates will likely be loyal to the candidate themselves and honor their wishes.

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But how many pledged delegates each dropped-out candidate will have at the national convention is not a simple calculation, either.

Broadly, there are two types of pledged delegates: ones awarded for statewide results (divided into two separate pots) in primaries and caucuses, and ones awarded at the district level.

District-level delegates are basically locked in when votes are cast in primaries, and the ones that Bloomberg won on Super Tuesday or Klobuchar and Buttigieg won in Iowa and New Hampshire will all be there at the convention.

But the two pots of delegates awarded for statewide results are often elected later on at a statewide convention. If a candidate who crossed the viability threshold to earn statewide delegates is not in the race when the time comes to award and elect those delegates, they are removed from the calculation. Instead, the statewide delegates are reallocated among the viable candidates still standing.

The DNCs delegate allocation rules lays it out this way: If a presidential candidate entitled to an allocation under this rule is no longer a candidate at the time at-large delegates are selected, his/her allocation shall be proportionately divided among the other preferences entitled to an allocation.

The preliminary results released by the Colorado Democratic Party illustrate these rules. Bloomberg crossed the viability threshold statewide, but preliminary results from the party do not award him any statewide delegates, even as he still wins district-level delegates. Instead, the two statewide delegate pots are divided among Sanders, Biden and Warren, the remaining viable candidates in the state.

Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg suspended his campaign, under DNC rules he is no longer eligible to receive statewide delegates, an announcement from the Colorado Democratic Party reads. However, he does still receive Congressional District delegates in districts he met threshold.

Another example: Iowa has 14 statewide delegates, and Buttigieg has the narrowest of leads statewide in the final results from the state party . But Iowa Democrats dont formally elect statewide delegates until a June convention, meaning Buttigieg wont actually be awarded statewide delegates.

Most delegate trackers in the media do not reflect this complicated swing. But this complicated delegate dance will only matter if one of the frontrunners cannot secure 1,991 pledged delegates on their own, and it is too early to know if that will happen or not.
A report of the Delhi Minorities Commission on the riots in northeast Delhi has claimed that thousands of people have fled the city to their native villages in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and that the violence was "one-sided and well planned".

The report is based on the visit of Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) chairman Zafarul Islam Khan and member Kartar Singh Kochhar to the violence affected areas.

Riots broke out between pro and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) groups in northeastern part of the city last week. The violence then spread to nearby localities of Maujpur, Chand Bagh and Yamuna Vihar. The protesters roamed in streets brandishing swords and pistols and even torched vehicles and houses.

Forty-four people have died and more than 200 injured in the violence.

The report by the Delhi Minorities Commission claimed that the violence was "one-sided and well planned" in which "maximum" damage was inflicted on houses and shops of Muslims.

"Moreover, thousands of people have fled from the area and gone to their villages in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana or were living with relatives elsewhere in Delhi. Hundreds are still living in camps run by the community. Some are also living in camps run by the Delhi government," it said.

Khan said the DMC team visited many areas in northeast Delhi and witnessed extensive damage to houses, shops, schools and vehicles.

"It is our assessment that the violence in north-east district of Delhi was one-sided and well planned in which maximum damage was inflicted on Muslim houses and shops with local support," read the report.

"Without massive help, these people will not be able to rebuild their lives. We feel that the compensation announced by Delhi government is not adequate for the purpose," it said.

The Delhi Minorities Commission is a statutory body set up under the Delhi Minorities Commission Act, 1999.

Khan said the team visited various localities, including Chand Bagh, Jafrabad, Brijpuri, Gokalpuri, Mustafabad, Shiv Vihar, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura and Khajoori Khas.

"We found extensive damage to Muslim houses, shops and workshops everywhere we went," the report added.

The DMC team also met senior police officers who told the Commission that hundreds of people stranded in the violence were rescued by the police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Passengers and staff have spoken of their shock and devastation at the collapse of FlyBe.

Europes largest regional airline, based in Exeter, Devon, announced that it had gone into administration on Thursday.

The carrier, which blamed in part a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak, urged customers not to travel to airports.

Many seemed to follow that advice, with check-in areas across the UK appearing empty on Thursday, though some had not heard the news before setting off.

Arrivals board at @BELFASTCITY_AIR offers stark illustration of the impact @flybe collapse will have on regional connectivity to NI. pic.twitter.com/9hYHyyn26l  David Young (@DavidYoungPA) March 5, 2020

Staff, who received an email confirming the news from chief executive Mark Anderson, tearfully spoke of the collapse.

One man, who asked to remain anonymous, told the PA news agency that he was still in denial.

Ive not slept all night and am worrying what Im going to do next. Im 35 and flown in total 16 years  this is basically all Ive known, he said.

Working for an airline is more than work. You work 24/7, 365 days a year. You sometimes see colleagues more than you see your own family. They in turn become your surrogate family.

The older ones look out for the younger ones, and Ive lost count of the numerous surrogate younger siblings. It was a real family affair  mMothers and daughters, husbands and wives.

So many babies have been born due to the parents meeting at work.

Angela Thornton left her home in Penzance at 5.10am to catch her flight from @Exeter_Airport to @BELFASTCITY_AIR. She arrived in Exeter to find out it had been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/OVPf4ems4j  Claire Hayhurst (@clairehayhurst) March 5, 2020

Katherine Taylor, a member of FlyBe cabin crew, was in tears at Exeter Airport on Thursday morning.

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Asked how she had found out about the collapse, she said: It all started on the internet and on the news last night, but officially we got an email from Mark to tell us it is all over, it is all gone.

A lot of us have done this job straight out of college, from 18, 19, so we are not really sure what we are going to do.

Passengers also spoke of their shock at the loss of the firm.

1/ A devastating day for @flybe staff, uncertainty for passengers & a big blow to our local & regional economy. #flybecollapse. Why did the Government say #flybe was vital to regional connectivity last month & promise to reform Air Passenger Duty in next weeks budget.  Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) March 5, 2020

Angela Thornton, from Penzance, arrived at Exeter Airport on Thursday morning to catch her 10.50am flight to Belfast City Airport.

Her phone had run out of battery and she is moving house, so does not have internet access, and had not heard about the collapse.

I just got here from Penzance, hoping to go to Northern Ireland, only to find out that FlyBe has run into administration, she said.

I didnt know because my phone died and Ive just moved house so I dont have internet access.

Im just going to have to go back to Penzance now.

Ms Thornton, who left home at 5.10am to get to the airport in time, travels between England and Northern Island around four times a year to visit family and friends.

I probably go with FlyBe the most, usually because they are cheaper, she said.

Im gutted  just trying not to cry. Im totally shocked.

Andrew Hornby, 52, and his son Max, 21, arrived at Exeter to catch their 2.30pm flight to Jersey.

Their FlyBe flight was cancelled but staff at the airport were able to book them on to a free flight to Jersey with Blue Islands at 4.15pm.

Initially I booked the ferry from Poole for tomorrow morning but I managed to get on here, Mr Hornby said.

They have kindly put us on a Blue Islands flight so we can get there. I feel sorry for all of the people who work for Flybe.

Coronation Street actor Charlie Lawson posted a video on Twitter, saying the collapse of Flybe is an extremely bitter blow for those in Northern Ireland.

He said: If youre in Northern Ireland this is an extremely bitter blow  this could be potentially a huge crisis for Northern Ireland.

Ive certainly lost six flights over the next two months.

Lekan Ojookiji Abasi was due to catch a flight from Belfast to Manchester en route to visit his mother in Nigeria.

He turned up at Belfast City Airport just before 4.30am to be told the operator had ceased flying.

Mr Ojookiji Abasi, who lives in Belfast, said he heard about the airlines difficulties on TV on Wednesday night but had not realised the enormity of the situation.

I arrived here at about 4.25am and the whole place was empty, he said.

It was a shock, I couldnt believe it.

My head is spinning. Since I arrived here I was dazed since I was told that theres no Flybe anymore. I couldnt believe it. Its a serious matter.
A gleeful crowd of about 100 people marched down University Avenue and West Main Street Tuesday to commemorate the date when more than half of the populations of Charlottesville and Albemarle County were freed from enslavement.

This years Procession of Freedom was the first to be celebrated as an official local holiday following a Charlottesville City Council vote last year to designate March 3 as Freedom and Liberation Day and a paid day off for staff, in lieu of Thomas Jeffersons April 13 birthday.

This years procession featured various performers acting as enslaved people hearing the news of the Emancipation Proclamation. Moving from site to site, the performers led the crowd in hymns as they delivered news of their freedom.

For some in the crowd, such as Albemarle County resident Jennifer Rogers and her daughter, the procession was a welcome addition to the holiday.

This should be a happy day and something we celebrate, she said. Im glad to see it getting the attention it deserves.

During the tour, the procession passed the site of the nearly completed University of Virginia Memorial for Enslaved Laborers, which is slated to open next month. The monument honors an estimated 4,000 enslaved people who lived and worked at the university from 1817 to 1865, most of whom have not yet been identified by researchers.

Situated on a triangle of grass just east of the university and across the street from the Corner, the $6 million effort is the culmination of a decade of student calls for such a memorial.

Snaking through crowded streets near UVa Grounds, the people in the procession walked with purpose, quietly chatting amongst themselves.

While stopped at St. Pauls Memorial Church, Rev. William Peyton thanked the organizers for including the church and said inclusion is both a Christian and an American philosophy.

We are all familiar with the story of American history told as an ever-widening circle of inclusion, he said. The story of the American vision of freedom is that it is held by a certain group who look around every couple generations, and in their own time and on their own terms, generously decide to include a few more people. That is the opposite of the Biblical story of how people get included.

The holiday, now in its fourth year, was established as part of an effort by Charlottesville to acknowledge its history with slavery. According to Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School, the commemoration has grown from three hours to eight days.

In February 2017, City Council declared that March 3 would commemorate the moment in 1865 when Union forces arrived in the city and liberated slaves after a recommendation from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces. The commission also recommended the City Council move or re-contextualize two downtown Confederate statues, which led to a legal battle that the city lost.

In addition to the forthcoming UVa memorial, a new Albemarle County marker honors John Henry James, who was lynched in 1898, and there are currently efforts to build a Vinegar Hill memorial that would commemorate an African American neighborhood leveled in 1965.

The three memorial sites are spread over a little more than a mile, and proponents, spurred by the 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally, hope they will help tell a new history of Charlottesville  one that better reflects the decades of slavery, violence and segregation, and one that encourages current residents to continue working for equity and justice.

After Tuesdays march ended at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, a dinner featured a panel discussion by descendants of people who were enslaved in the area.

In an introduction, Niya Bates, director of African American History and the Getting Word project at Monticello, told the audience that today there likely are more than 500,000 descendants of the 14,000 enslaved people who lived in Charlottesville and Albemarle County in 1865.

Jefferson enslaved more than 400 people during his life at Monticello, and he is believed to have fathered children with his slave Sally Hemings, who was not emancipated while he was alive, according to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello.

Panelists discussed the importance of oral history in maintaining family trees and the conflicting emotions that came with learning about their enslaved ancestors.

Myra Anderson, a descendant of enslaved laborers who lived at Monticello, said her response to the legacy of her family history has been complicated.

It has been in some ways very exciting, and in other ways it has been deeply painful, it has been frustrating, she said. I feel like Im constantly learning new things about my family and their connection to the history of the city and Albemarle County and all I can say is that Im still unfolding the process.

Even after emancipation in 1865, Anderson said, her ancestors were still enslaved by Jim Crow, segregation and institutional racism. Even her mother didnt have the same freedoms Anderson enjoys, she said.

I feel like I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors and I feel like my purpose is not just to say that Im a descendant but to continue all that they worked so hard for, she said. I feel like I have an obligation to continue their legacy.

Cauline Yates, also a descendant of enslaved laborers at Monticello, said its important for historical sites to tell the full truth of the enslaved people who lived there, even though it may be uncomfortable.

With being unrecognized, beaten and downtrodden, etc., when you go to these historical sites, the descendants want to see our history, she said. Its not pretty, its not glamorous but its our families history and we want it told and we want it told truthfully.

Yates said she has been assisting with the monument at UVa, which she said is far overdue.

They didnt get their due the first time around and now with the memorial Im going to make sure that they get their due, she said.

Liberation and Freedom Day events continue throughout the week.
Lets keep the debate within these pages

To The Eagle:

After Dennis Gordons serial stentorian stipulations for a debate, let the contestation commence with the caveat that it be here in The Eagle, for more public participation, and also to keep us physically out of the public square, safe from the coronavirus, the latest pestilence unleashed by the dastardly Trump. Further allure to debate is the fact that so many of the assertions in his challenge are so eminently debatable if not downright dubious.

We alleged deniers acknowledge that the globe is warming and has been for several thousand years with a pause from 1300 to 1850. The enviros not only missed this memo, but also have the science wrong-side-out in that the extra CO2 is more likely a result of the warming rather than the cause. The warming better correlates to sun spot activity and solar cooling cycles known as grand minimums. The Maunder Minimum was from 1645 to 1715 in the midst of the cooling period mentioned above. A new minimum period is forecast to start this year. If it does, Obama will take credit. If it doesnt, Greta Thunberg will blame Trump.

CO2 itself is beneficial, having contributed to huge increases in both mass and longevity of forestation. So, we dont really need to reduce CO2; nonetheless we are the worlds leaders in doing so. Despite this, Oregons legislature is pushing a carbon cap and trade bill that caps nothing and trades nothing but slaps a crippling fuel and energy sales tax on Oregons businesses and consumers, while doing absolutely nothing to reduce carbon or improve the environment. Republican lawmakers have walked out, and log truckers have jammed Salem in protest. Chaos reigns.

Absent further defense of Dr. Robinson (since its falling on deaf ears) well just refer everyone to the website of his newsletter, Access to Energy, to which Ive subscribed since he became publisher in 1993  27 years of documented science fact. A final observation: although Robinson is indeed a scientist and a Christian, Denniss reference to him as a Christian scientist sounds suspiciously like a patronizing pejorative.

Howard Brawn

Puget Island
TWIN FALLS  A Twin Falls man was arrested Tuesday and charged with six counts of sexual exploitation of a child, the Idaho attorney generals office said.

Julio Trejo, 45, was arrested by the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and booked into the Twin Falls County Jail, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in a Wednesday statement.

Trejo faces six counts of possessing or accessing child sexually exploitative material.

The Twin Falls Police Department, Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Idaho State Police, Boise Police Department and the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorneys Office assisted with the arrest.

Anyone with information regarding the exploitation of children is encouraged to contact local police, the Attorney Generals Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Unit at 208-947-8700, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

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Cabinet approved amendments to the Companies Act to decriminalise it and improve ease of doing business. Supreme Court has quashed the RBI ban on cryptocurrencies. The extent of coronavirus risk can be measured by looking at the number of travellers who came in from China and other epidemic-hit regions. Read for more top stories from the world of business and economy:

1. Govt approves amendments to remove criminality under Companies Act

Speaking to media after Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is removing the imprisonment angle and reducing punishment proposed under Companies Act.

2. Supreme Court quashes RBI's ban on cryptocurrency

The petitioner IAMAI argued that with a ban, cryptocurrency would be removed from the formal economy but would give rise to the same through black market transactions.

UVARC has placed bids worth Rs 14,700 crore for assets of RCom and Reliance Telecom. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has made an offer of Rs 4,700 crore for tower and fibre assets of Reliance Infratel.

4. Who has entered, who has exited India? This data can gauge coronavirus risk

Around 25,000 people have come to India from China since January according to bureau of immigration data for travellers by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

5. SBI Cards IPO oversubscribed Day 3 despite weak market

Venture Capital funds have spent $10 billion on Indian start-ups in 2019, 55 per cent more than the previous year and is the highest ever in the Indian start-up ecosystem.
A leading US lobby group has sent a warning that people who attended its recent conference may have been exposed to coronavirus  including the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.

In an email to conference guests, speakers and staff, as well as offices on Capitol Hill, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) warned that a group of attendees from New York was potentially in contact prior to the conference with an individual who contracted coronavirus.

Aipacs email said the group has been added to the self-quarantine list, and that while nobody who came to the conference is yet known to have tested positive for the virus, the organisation is co-ordinating with the Centres for Disease Control and the New York Health Department.

According to the email, The Washington DC Health Department considers the incident a low-risk exposure and has told Aipac there is no reason to sound the alarm.

The incident comes as coronavirus continues to spread in the US. The first known death outside Washington state has been confirmed in California, which has now declared a state of emergency.

Aipac is an influential pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates for a close Israeli-American relationship, and appearances at its annual conferences are usually considered a standard part of any presidential campaign.

It is a controversial organisation, which some on the left in particular accuse of exerting undue influence in service of a conservative foreign policy agenda and political candidates who would help enact one.

Mr Pompeo spoke at the conference on 2 March, telling the audience that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism and rejoicing in the signing of a new decree affirming Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights: What a truly great two days for two great nations.

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders did not attend this years conference, while his fellow frontrunner Joe Biden appeared at the conference in the form of a video.

In it, Biden warned attendees that the Israeli governments aggressive annexation and settlement-building plans were choking any chance for peace and undermining the US-Israeli relationship.
Over 1,200 persons who arrived in West Bengal from countries under the grip of coronavirus have so far been quarantined, a health department official said on Thursday.

Altogether, 1,252 persons were placed under surveillance till March 4 and of them, the surveillance period of 115 is over, the official said.

One person is admitted to an isolation facility, while 1,136 are under home surveillance, he said, adding that they are in a stable condition.

Till date, 29 samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and ICMR-NICED, Kolkata and none have tested positive, the official said.

As a pre-emptive measure, 92 beds in different hospitals across the state have been kept ready, he added.

A health department statement said a total of 42,913 travellers have been screened at Kolkata and Bagdogra airports till March 4, while 87,871 persons have been screened at seven checkpoints along the borders with Nepal and Bangladesh.

Also, 3,132 crew members of different ships have been screened at the three ports in the state, it said.

Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya said the state government has made all preparations to tackle coronavirus.

The health department has set up 24x7 helpines -- 1800 313 444 222 / 033 2341 2600.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It goes without saying that artworks at risk of destruction should always be salvagedespecially pieces by artists as significant as Pablo Picasso. But two of his murals located in a government building in Oslo are at the center of a major controversy regarding their method of preservation.

In 1969, Picasso and his longtime collaborator, Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, created five murals set into the interior and exterior concrete walls of Y-Block and H-Block, two modernist buildings in Oslos Regjeringskvartalet district by Norwegian architect Erling Viksj. In June 2011, both buildings and their murals were nominated to become heritage-listed monuments, but just one month later, a terrorist detonated a car bomb outside them that killed eight people on the site (a further 69 people were killed on the Norwegian island of Utya as part of the deadly attack). Y-Block and H-Block were heavily damaged from the bombing, and the plans to designate them as monuments fell through.

Since the attacks the buildings have stood empty, leading the Oslo government to officially order the demolition of Y-Block in 2014, with the caveat that its two Picasso-Nesjar murals would be dismantled and salvaged (though H-Block and its three murals would be jointly restored under this plan). Preservationists and a portion of the local community, however, opposed this plan, advocating for the preservation of the entire site.

The murals are created in situ and should be understood as a Gesamtkunstwerk where the buildings, their art, and the outdoor area around them are an integrated whole, says Gunhild Varvin, head of communication at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, a modern and contemporary art museum in Brum, just outside Oslo, that is currently hosting an exhibition of Picasso etchings and engravings. To cut the works loose in order to integrate them into a new architectural unit will most certainly reduce the artistic work.

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NORWAY-OSLO-GOVERNMENT BUILDING-PICASSO Photo by Storlakken, AAGE. Image courtesy of Getty Images.

The controversy stalled the original plan, but in February of this year, the government announced it would finally move forward with the demolition and salvage. And just as before, preservationists are outraged. The building and its art program were conceived as an integrated whole, says Mari Hvattum, a professor of architectural history and theory at the Oslo School of Architecture and design. To keep the art without the building does not make much sense.

See the video.

Graham Bell, a board member of Europa Nostra, a cultural heritage preservation group that has twice short-listed the murals as some of the most endangered works of art in Europe, agrees. The murals are a rare installationan integrationof Picassos interpretation of themes that speak of the Norwegian people. They are the product of intimate collaboration between an architect and an artist in their materials and message, he says. Relocating them would interrupt the conversation so that anyone listening in would only hear half and be left to wonder at what was being discussed.

NORWAY-ATTACKS-ART-PICASSO Photo by Odd Andersen. Image courtesy of Getty Images.

Despite the bleak outlook for Y-Block's fate, Varvin, Hvattum and Bellalongside not only others in the art and architecture communities, but also many members of the general publiccontinue to promote the preservation of the murals in their original context, particularly given the symbolism of the site since the 2011 attack. The terrorist did not succeed in destroying the buildings, and the fact that both H-Block and Y-Block are still standing structurally sound should be an important reason to preserve them, says Varvin. The fact that the Norwegian state will finish what the terrorist started is a cruel irony, adds Hvattum.

Bell finds the notion of demolishing a site rife with such tragic significance a troubling precedent. If every location across Europe where catastrophic tragedy had taken place were erased, we would occupy a postapocalyptical landscape, sanitized and devoid of memory, however painful. Erasure can never heal trauma, but reconciliation with events is therapy, he says. This is not about the preservation of a building. It is about how architecture and art have an inspirational relationship which endures, even through the darkest moments in European society.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Workers in North Ayrshire in Scotland face the most competition when looking for a job in their hometown. (Getty)

Oxfordshire has been revealed as the easiest place to get a local job in the UK, according to new data from job site Indeed.

Indeed collected the data by analysing millions of jobs advertised across its platform and millions of CVs uploaded to the site in 2019 to discover which areas had the most  and fewest  candidates per job across the UK.

The top three easiest places to find a job are all in the South East, and most spots in the top 10 is taken by areas in the south of England, with Oxfordshire followed by Surrey and Berkshire.

The top 10 easiest places to get a local job in the UK. (Indeed)

Two areas of Scotland buck the trend for it being easier to find a job in the south of England as Edinburgh comes in at number four and, despite its remote location and large seasonal workforce in the hospitality and retail sectors, Argyll and Bute is at number nine.

Places in Scotland and Wales dominate the list of areas with the greatest shortage of local jobs, relative to the number of candidates. Workers in North Ayrshire in Scotland face the most competition when looking for a job in their hometown, followed by Angus in Scotland and Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales.

London is the most popular place for foreign workers looking for jobs, pulling in 38% of clicks from jobseekers abroad. Manchester is second but receives just 4% of the UKs overall share of interest from overseas workers.

The easiest and hardest places to find a job in the UK. (Indeed)

Pawel Adrjan, UK economist and head of EMEA research at Indeed, said: Although the unemployment rate is close to record lows and the jobs boom has only kept going, our research shows the picture is not the same across the country. In fact, jobseekers experiences of finding a local job differs depending on where in the country they are.

In many areas with less robust demand from employers, particularly in Wales and Scotland, it is more difficult for jobseekers to find work close to home, because there are a lot of candidates competing for jobs or there are not enough opportunities for everyone.

Good transport links are crucial in ensuring people in those areas are able to reach other nearby towns and cities where there is higher demand for candidates.

Story continues

Read more: Top areas where CEOs live in UK

Our research also underlines how opportunities to recruit global talent may be being missed around the UK, as 40% of all clicks from foreign workers on UK jobs are for London.

The regions need to do more to make themselves attractive to the global pool of talent if they want to recruit people with the key skills critical to their local economies.
GRAFTON  A Bethalto woman has died and two others were seriously injured in a late night crash Wednesday on Illinois 100 near Grafton.

Allison Watson, 22, was in a Ford Taurus going west on Illinois 100 about 11:09 p.m. when it left the road two miles east of Grafton, struck a river bluff and overturned multiple times, according to a preliminary report by Illinois State Police. She died at the scene.
Joe Biden had a great night last night, winning 10 of the 14 Super Tuesday states. I spoke with my colleague Thomas Kaplan, whos covering the Biden campaign, to get a feel for the Joementum mood.

Hi, Tom! How is everyone feeling in Bidens campaign? I suspect spirits are high.

Its almost hard to dream up a stretch of days that could have gone as well as the past few for them. Its just such an incredible turnaround, if you think about how bleak things looked just a couple of weeks ago, when it was questionable if he would be in the race for many weeks to come.

Was there a moment when they knew that things were turning around?

South Carolina, and just how big that win was, was the first moment. But even then, it wasnt clear what that would translate into, given the short amount of time between the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday. You could certainly imagine a different scenario in which Bidens limited resources and thin organization across the country turned into a not-so-good Super Tuesday performance.

You wrote about that thin organization. How do you think he outran it?

A bunch of dominoes fell that really produced the best-case scenario for him. The momentum from that big win in South Carolina and the timing of all that positive attention and news media coverage just before Super Tuesday, coupled with the endorsements from his former rivals, kind of created a perfect storm.
We are concerned because it does have an impact on revenue and at the current crude oil price of $53 is below the budget bench mark. What we are doing is that we are studying the situation and when the budget was passed we committed to do a midterm review, she said.
Mexico fishermen attack conservation patrol boat in Gulf of California

March 05,2020 | Source: Mexico News Daily

Conservationists and federal inspectors were assailed by fishermen who hurled Molotov cocktails and fishing net weights at them Tuesday as they carried out surveillance operations in a protected area of the Gulf of California.



The federal environmental agency Profepa said in a press release that fishermen in two skiffs known as pangas attacked the crew aboard the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel M/V Sharpie while in the Upper Gulf of California Biosphere Reserve.



Over 20 smaller boats gathered around the two skiffs, attacking and provoking [the authorities], first verbally, then physically, aiming to stop [their] efforts to curtail illegal fishing, said Profepa.



At first, the fishermen threw fishing net weights at the inspectors; later, Molotov cocktails.  after an initial pursuit, [the conservationists] decided to avoid confrontation but not before notifying the navy, which arrived aboard [a patrol boat] to provide security, it added.



The inspectors and conservationists used anti-piracy tactics such as high-speed maneuvering and defensive water cannons to repel the attacks. The use of Molotov cocktails caused military on board to fire a warning shot, which convinced the fishermen to stop their attack and disband.



Profepa said that a second boat called the M/V Farley Mowat was also attacked. It was carrying 15 Sea Shepherd conservationists, two Marine infantrymen, two National Guard troops, one member of the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission and one Profepa inspector.



The conservationists reported seeing a minor among the attacking fishermen.



Today on World Wildlife Day, I watched a young child throw lead weights at our ship during an attack, said Sea Shepherd Captain Jacqueline Le Duc.



Witnessing this firsthand was extremely sad. Sea Shepherd is here to save a species on the brink of extinction so that future generations can continue to enjoy the biodiversity this area has to offer. We should be teaching younger generations the importance of the conservation of nature, not the exploitation of it.



The Upper Gulf of California Biosphere Reserve is a protected conservation area for the vaquita, a critically endangered marine mammal. The Autonomous University of Baja California Sur reported last year that only 22 vaquitas remained in the Gulf of California.



Tuesdays events were the second such attacks by fishermen in less than a month. Suspected illegal fishermen attacked authorities and conservationists on board a Sea Shepherd Conservation society vessel on February 8.

 2020 Mexico News Daily

Theme(s): Others.
LONDON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has been "extraordinarily effective" in handling the COVID-19 outbreak, offering valuable experience for western countries that see increasing threat of the novel coronavirus, said British scholar and political commentator Martin Jacques.

The way China tackling the outbreak is very thoughtful once the Chinese government realized how serious the situation was, Jacques, senior fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Here was a virus that was new. They had no idea what its characteristics were and what it might do. And obviously there's no vaccine for it. So all you can do is to try and contain the spread of it, to reduce human contact and so on," said Jacques, adding that the declining infected cases in China shows that "the problem has been quarantined and restricted."

Chinese health authority said Wednesday it received reports of 119 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus infection on the Chinese mainland. In total, 49,856 patients had been discharged from hospital by the end of Tuesday on the Chinese mainland.

The scholar, also the author of the best-selling "When China Rules the World", said the Chinese governing system plays a significant role in containing the virus spread.

"The Chinese government's governing system is in my view very impressive. It's capable of thinking big and thinking strategically. And it's capable of mobilizing the people and the resources," said Jacques.

He emphasized China's governing system "is not just the contemporary feature of China, but historical feature of China, that has great respect in the population for the government, and it needs the people to respond actively to what the government's suggesting."

In the face of the rising threat of the virus on a global scale, the scholar called on all nations to work together to combat the virus.

"The virus knows no boundaries nor borders, it is a question for the whole of humankind to confront with. We can only solve this problem by cooperation and collaboration," he said, adding that it is something that requires global action like climate change.

On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that China honored its commitment to international cooperation in the fight against novel coronavirus in an open, transparent and responsible manner.

The Foreign Ministry and the National Health Commission jointly held a video conference on Tuesday with health experts from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Turkmenistan and the secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Peking University First Hospital shared with the attendees China's experience in the prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19. Earlier, China and the European Union also held two video conferences on the prevention and control of COVID-19, said Zhao.

Meanwhile, on the economy front, Jacques expressed confidence in the resilience of the Chinese economy despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

"It (The Chinese economy) is going to recover and probably bounce back quite strongly once we get through the worst of it," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tore into his colleague Sen. Charles Schumer in a floor speech Thursday  accusing the top Senate Democrat of an inherent 'threat of violence' against Supreme Court justices.

McConnell spoke hours after Schumer told justices they had 'released the whirlwind' with their rulings and would 'pay the price.

McConnell called the comments 'shameful' and said the remarks carried the 'inherent threat of violence.' He called the comments 'completely irresponsible.'

'I fully anticipated our colleague would withdraw his comments and apologize,' McConnell said.

'Thats what even reliably liberal legal experts have publicly urged. Instead, our colleague doubled down. Doubled down. He tried to gaslight the entire country and stated that he was actually threatening fellow senators. As though that would be much better. But thats a fiction. And then a few hours later the Democratic Leader tripled down,' McConnell said.

McConnell said he expected Schumer would take a sober look at his comments after suffering an extraordinary rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unloaded on colleague Charles Schumer for his comments about the Supreme Court

McConnell apologized for having to read Schumer's comments into the record.

'First, he prompted a crowd of left-wing activists to boo two of the associate justices, as though Supreme Court justices were professional athletes and senator Schumer were jeering from the stands,' McConnell said. 'And then, the senior senator from New York said this: "I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you've released a whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' he said, quoting Schumer.

McConnell said the statement was a threat, and 'there is absolutely no question to whom, to whom it was directed.

'The United States Senator threatened the Supreme Court justices. Period. Theres no other way to interpret that,' he continued. 'At the very best his comments were astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible,' McConnell added.

Minutes after McConnell spoke, Schumer took to the floor to accuse McConnell and fellow Republicans of using the courts as a back door way to ban abortion  then made his way admitting he shouldn't have used the language he did.

'I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didnt come out the way I intended to,' Schumer said.

'My point was there would be political consequences  political consequence  for president Trump and Senate Republicans,' he said, explicitly denying any intention to incite violence.

'Of course I didnt intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise,' he said.

''Im from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I shouldnt have used the words I did but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing and leader McConnell knows that,' Schumer said.

His Wednesday comments, made outside the Supreme Court, drew outrage just as Joe Biden was consolidating support from former rivals in his fight for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Schumer's longtime roommate and deputy, Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, also took to the floor to defend him.

Trump again blasted Schumer's remarks following McConnell's floor statement

'It is not in Chuck Schumers nature to physically threaten anyone or create a dangerous situation for any person. That is just not Chuck Schumer,' said Durbin.

Durbin also scoffed at President Trump dressing down Schumer over the comments. 'Being admonished by President Trump for his use of words. It just takes your breath away,' he said. He brought up that it was McConnell who drew up the strategy to block President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, judge Merrick Garland, from ever getting a Senate hearing. Trump ended up filling the seat after he got elected.

Schumer began his remarks with what he called a 'glaring omission' by McConnell.

'He did not mention what the rally yesterday or my speech or the case before the court was about  a womans constitutional right to choose,' he said. He accused GOP senators and the courts with 'working hand in glove to take down Roe v. Wade.'

McConell's searing comments came after President Trump blasted Schumer over remarks he made about Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch on Wednesday.

Schumer's remarks came at a rally outside the high court while a high-profile abortion case was being argued inside.

'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' Schumer said, naming the two Trump appointees, according to video of the rally available online.

'It's a disgrace that he was able to say that,' Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening. 'That was a terrible thing he said  I was amazed by it.'

President Donald Trump has fired back at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over remarks he made about Supreme Court Justices

'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' Schumer said at this rally

The abortion case in front of the Supreme Court is the first to be heard since Donald Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch (left) and Brett Kavanaugh (right) as justices

Trump said that Schumer had delivered his remarks to a 'on the streets in front of a rough crowd' and that if a Republican had said something similar they would 'see very bad things happen.'

Earlier, Trump tweeted: 'This is a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court by Schumer. If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW!'

'There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!' Trump tweeted.

The justices are currently weighing a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

A federal judge found that just one of Louisiana's three abortion clinics would remain open if the law is allowed to take effect.

Roberts, who in 2018 rebuked Trump for the president's criticism of an 'Obama judge,' had jumped to his colleagues' defense after Schumer's remarks.

'Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous,' Roberts said in a statement.

'It's a disgrace that he was able to say that,' Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity (above) on Wednesday evening. 'That was a terrible thing he said'

In a statement Wednesday, Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman criticized Roberts, saying that 'to follow the right win's deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said' shows the chief justice 'does not just call balls and strikes.'

Goodman said Schumer's comments 'were a reference to the political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.'

He noted that the chief justice remained quiet in recent weeks when Trump questioned the impartiality of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
Woman Stayed At Home for A Month, But Got Infected after Picking Up Food Deliveries

The city of Wuhan has been placed under a lockdown for more than 40 days, even so, more and more residents are getting infected.

A WeChat user videotaped an audio conversation with a female friend who recently got infected with the virus when she went grocery shopping a week ago. She needed to replenish rice, vegetables and cooking oil supplies after staying at home for nearly a month.

I went to that hospital yesterday. As I arrived late in the afternoon, at about 6 p.m., I did CT scan and blood test only. Both tests showed I have viral infections, viral pneumonia. However, this hospital only performs gene sequencing tests from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. So I have not done a gene sequencing test yet. Staff from my community office arranged to have me quarantined at Hubei University Zhixing College dorm last night. It is in a suburban area. The hospital here cannot perform gene sequencing tests.

My main symptom is having difficulty breathing. (Although I havent had the final diagnosis), lung infections are confirmed. I started to have difficulty breathing three days ago, but I did not take it seriously initially, because I basically stayed at home for nearly a month.

One week ago I went out, because I was running out of food. I went downstairs to get rice, vegetables, eggs, and cooking oil, back and forth several times. I didnt feel anything when I finished shopping, however, three days ago, I felt my chest was tight. It got worse yesterday and I almost passed out at home. Even as I called the 120 emergency line, my hands were shaking and I could not see the text on my cell phone screen clearly. Then I was sent to that hospital for a physical exam. Now I am waiting for the community office to transfer me to another hospital for treatment, and to get a gene sequencing test.

I could not sleep at all last night at the quarantine site. It was not because I was nervous, it was because I had a fever, and shortness of breath, my whole body felt numb. The staff at our community office told me my symptoms belong to the seriously-ill category. I even felt as if my blood vessels were about to explode. I have difficulty breathing, and my heartbeat is very fast, I could hear it, TongTongTong, just like this. I am still at the quarantine site, waiting for the arrangement from my community office.

I didnt sleep at all last night. I dont have any acquaintances within my community. I got infected simply through going downstairs to pick up the delivery. I simply went downstairs, picked items up, and went back upstairs. About a week ago, I had deliveries several days in a row. I also replenished drinking water and went to A compound to get propane gas. I traveled across A, B, and C compounds in those several days, and that was it.

I would blame myself for being too greedy. For more than 20 days, I did not join any social media group for food ordering, and I consumed all the food I had at home. Then, with much difficulty, I joined a food ordering group. I should have felt content when I received my food orders. However, when I had some vegetables, I craved fruits. After I had fruits, I wanted to buy cooking oil and stock up rice that can last for a month. As for fruits, after I had mandarins, I also wanted to eat strawberries. Later I also craved hot and dry noodles. So it was through my craving that I harmed myself. With such craving, I did not take the coronavirus seriously enough. Also, I had not heard of any infections within our community, and I thought there were no patients in our community. In our social media group, no one ever told me if there are patients in our community. Otherwise, I would not have made so many trips downstairs to pick up the food items. 

Chinese netizens noticed an unprecedented level of internet blockade in the past several days. It is getting more and more difficult to hear the real personal stories from Wuhan residents. This newly released video is therefore very precious.
The leader of Ireland's Fianna Fail party on Thursday said it was prepared to enter a coalition government with centre-right rival Fine Gael after inconclusive elections.

Micheal Martin's party narrowly won last month's general election with 38 seats, ahead of Sinn Fein on 37. Fine Gael, led by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, trailed in third on 35.

None of the three main parties secured enough seats for an outright majority in the 160-seat lower house of parliament, the Dail, prompting coalition talks.

Asked whether he would do a deal with Fine Gael, Martin told RTE: "Yes, depending on a programme for government that works and that represents a new direction in terms of housing, health and climate change."



A surge in popular support for Sinn Fein -- once the political wing of Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitaries -- recast Ireland's political landscape at the February 8 vote.

Their left-wing policies on tackling a housing and healthcare crisis found favour with the public. Leader Mary Lou McDonald has pushed for them to have a legitimate place in government.

But talks are deadlocked and Martin has ruled out a deal with Sinn Fein, which has long been tarnished by its past links to the IRA, which fought for decades over British rule in Northern Ireland.

It wants a referendum on uniting the two parts of the island within five years.

Martin last month cited "irreconcilable differences" between Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, adding that he would instead talk to "like-minded" parties to try to form a government.

Fianna Fail propped up the minority Fine Gael government in the last parliament.

Varadkar, who has said he is prepared to go into opposition, has since resigned as taoiseach (prime minister). He is acting in a caretaker capacity until a new administration is in place.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, March 5 : The BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) has announced the launch of the BRICS CCI Womens Wing with focus on women empowerment initiatives and policies across geographies.

The objective of the women's wing is to create an enabling support system for women entrepreneurs and professionals across geographies. Founded in 2012, BRICS CCI is empanelled with NITI Aayog and recognized by the United Nations. While the BRICS nations will remain at the centre of all activities, the chamber has taken in its credo to reach out to and enable young entrepreneurs from other friendly nations too and bring stakeholders associated with women entrepreneurship across key countries under one platform.

The BRICS CCI Women's wing will be led by Shabana Nasim, Governing Body Member, BRICS CCI, Shormishtha Ghosh, Director- Business Advisory, BRIC CCI and Ruby Sinha, Convenor, BRICS CCI Women's wing and Honourary Advisor BRICS CCI. One stop knowledge hub for women entrepreneurs globally, shetatwork.com will be the knowledge partner for the BRICS CCI Women's wing. An eminent advisory board comprising of eminent women professionals from across countries is also being set up.

Announcing the launch, Dr. BBL Madhukar, Director General- BRICS CCI said, "We are very pleased to announce the launch of our exclusive wing for enterprising women entrepreneurs and professionals looking at creating a global presence through our advisory and support services. It will be our endeavour to create a supportive eco-system to enable women to realise their full potential which in turn will help in generating employment and growing the economy." (Sukant Deepak can be contacted at sukant.d@ians.in)
The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Thwarting a Terrorist Attack Targeting an Oil Tanker in the Arabian Sea

Saudi Press Agency

Wednesday 1441/7/9 - 2020/03/04

Riyadh, March 04, 2020, SPA -- Statement by the Official Spokesman of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen COL Turki Al-Malki

"An imminent terrorist attack that was aiming to target an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea 90 nautical miles Southeast of Yemeni Nishtun port was thwarted and foiled.

The failed terrorist attempt was carried out at (1439) on Tuesday 03 March 2020 during the sail of the oil tanker headed to Aden port. The attempt was carried out using (4) boats and attempting to bomb the oil tanker using one of the unmanned, remote-controlled exploding boats.

The naval threat to the global energy security, Sea Lines of Communication and international trade has evolved into a strategic threat to international security with the widening of terrorist organizations' threats to sea straits from the Southern Red Sea, Bab-El-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will continue to implement all necessary measures and procedures to neutralize and eliminate any naval threats in the Coalition's naval area of operations, as it calls on international partners to consolidate and intensify international efforts to neutralize these threats against international security."

--SPA

16:09 LOCAL TIME 13:09 GMT

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The outbreak of novel coronavirus has not affected Iran's oil production, Irans oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting.

"It has had no effect on Iran's oil production and we are producing as before. Of course, we have seen a decline in transportation and consumption inside cities," he said.



According to Zangeneh, OPEC+ panel, the Joint Technical Committee (JTC), has recommended a cut of at least 500,000 bpd in the second quarter.



"The oil market is currently facing a surplus in supply due to the spread of the coronavirus. It is imperative that OPEC and non-OPEC producers do their best to balance the oil market," Fars News cited the minister as saying.
Critics of the pharmaceutical industry say it is misaligned with public interest. So is it time to nationalise the sector? Experts debate the issue in The BMJ today.

Mariana Mazzucato and Henry Lishi Li at the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose believe the state should play a greater role in the sector.

They acknowledge that the private sector is crucial to bringing cutting-edge medicines to the market, but say the system "is not working for the public that has invested in some of the riskiest stages of drug development."

For example, they point to a lack of innovative medicines that address key public health priorities, extortionate pricing, and lack of patient access to new advanced drugs, as a strong case for change.

A public option in pharmaceuticals would take the form of government-provided quality-assured medicines that are universally available at a reasonable and fixed price, which co-exist with products from the private sector, they explain.

A more proactive role by the government also has broader public interests, such as protecting national security, improving national competitiveness, and establishing robust market competition.

"This is not about micromanaging companies but ensuring a public benefit for public investment," they write. "By making sure prices reflect the public contribution, nationalisation can be a better way to manage risks and rewards."

But Lord Ara Darzi from the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London argues that we should support, monitor and regulate the pharmaceutical industry - not kill it.

He points out that over the last 50 years, the industry has delivered transformative improvements in global health, while the UK's long history of drug discovery and development is the envy of the developed world.

He acknowledges that there are problems, including me-too drugs offering minimal gains, excessive advertising, profit gouging, lack of transparency, and protectionism, but says "we need to foster our innovative, competitive pharmaceutical industry, not destroy it."

Some form of de-linkage may be required in areas where the market is too small to generate returns, he writes, but no government could risk the huge sums involved in bringing new drugs to market.

"So yes - British pharmaceutical firms make big profits which are necessary to fund the development of better treatments and save lives," he says. The flipside is tough regulation to manage the downsides, and here Britain has a proud record of success.

As a result, our spending on drugs is lower than most of our European neighbours, he writes. "The upshot is that we get excellent value from the pharmaceutical industry. And the downsides of its profit driven nature can be managed."

###

Externally peer-reviewed? No

Type of evidence: Opinion

Subject: Pharmaceutical industry
Federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus as the US death toll climbed to 11, including the first fatality outside Washington state.

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom late Wednesday declared a statewide emergency due to coronavirus. Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies, and Hawaii also joined them Wednesday.

Washington also announced another death, bringing its total to 10.

Most of those who died were residents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle.At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Vice President Mike Pence was expected to meet with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee near Olympia on Thursday.

Seema Verma, head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out what happened and determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Last April, the state fined Life Care USD 67,000 over infection-control deficiencies following two flu outbreaks that affected 17 patients and staff. An unannounced follow-up inspection in June determined that Life Care had corrected the problems, Verma said.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington came under pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and canceling large events. While the state and Seattle have declared emergencies, giving leaders broad powers to suspend activities, they have not issued any orders to do so.

We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now, Gov. Jay Inslee said. Right now, we are deferring to the judgment ... of these organizations.

While some individual schools and businesses have shut down, the governor said large-scale school closings have not been ordered because there are so many ramifications for families and businesses, especially for health care workers who might not be able to go to work because of child care responsibilities.

Local and state health officials have not recommended school closings unless the schools have had a confirmed case of the disease. School closures have been part of the pandemic response kit for a long time," said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County. "We don't have strong evidence about how important school closures are."

Jennifer Hayles, 41, of Kirkland, said she was appalled that Inslee and health officials haven't canceled next week's Emerald City Comic Con.

The four-day cosplay and pop-culture event draws close to 100,000 people each year, and some participants, including D.C. Comics and Penguin Random House, have pulled out over the virus. Hayles said she spent hundreds of dollars on tickets and other items related to the event but will have to skip it because she has a compromised immune system.

There's a lot of people who are talking about the economic cost of people forced to pull out of Comic Con, but if we have an explosion of cases of coronavirus, the economic cost is going to be much higher, Hayles said.

Comic Con's organiser, Reedpop, announced Wednesday that it would make an exception to its no-refunds policy for those who want their money back, but said it remained committed to holding the event unless local, state or federal officials change their guidance.

Lakshmi Unni said that she was keeping her son, an eighth-grader at Redmond Middle School in Seattle's eastern suburbs, home on Wednesday and that she had urged the school board and principal to close.

Yesterday at least three kids were coughing, Unni said. We don't know if they were sick with the virus, but if they do become sick, the chances of spreading are very, very high. Some schools, businesses and other employers aren't waiting.

Seattle and King County public health officials urged businesses to allow employees to work remotely if possible, and the county said it will allow telecommuting for some of its workers for the next three weeks.

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle announced it is canceling events at the complex and requiring nonessential staff to work remotely at least through the end of the month to lessen the chance of infection among patients with weakened immune systems.

School officials in Renton, south of Seattle, announced that Hazen High School will close for the rest of the week after a student tested positive for the coronavirus. Online petitions urged officials to close other schools on Seattle's east side.

The F5 technology company closed its 44-story tower in downtown Seattle after learning an employee had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. Outdoor recreation giant REI shut down its Seattle-area operations for two days as a precaution.
The stalemate in Parliament continued on Wednesday as the opposition stuck to its demand for a discussion on the violence during the communal riots in Delhi last week while the government insisted that the debate on the issue could be held in both the Houses after Holi (March 10).

The government made the first direct attempt to break the logjam after its senior minister and Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Thawar Chand Gehlot, met Leader of the Opposition and Congress veteran, Ghulam Nabi Azad, in the morning to iron out the differences.

In the meeting, Gehlot sought the Oppositions cooperation to resume business and conveyed to Azad that the government was not averse to a a discussion on the situation in Delhi where communal violence claimed 47 lives.

Soon after the meeting, Azad said the Congress will not budge from its position of not allowing any business until a discussion on the Delhi violence takes place.

They [the government] said the discussion will be held after Holi [on March 10]. To that our answer is then suspend the business and resume it with the discussion after Holi, Azad said.

However, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader maintained on condition of anonymity that efforts are underway to end the impasse.

On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day after the Congress said it will not let Parliament function till a debate on the Delhi riots is allowed. As soon as the Rajya Sabha convened and Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced that he had disallowed notices to suspend the business of the House to discuss the Delhi violence, the Opposition members protested with some Trinamool Congress members rushing to the Well.

Naidu said he will discuss the matter with Gehlot and Azad to finalise under which rule the debate should take place. We will take it up on March 11th after Holi is over, he said.

However, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day without transacting any business as the Opposition refused to relent.

But the Lok Sabha did transact some business. The House passed a bill providing opportunity to taxpayers to settle disputes by paying just due taxes with complete waiver of interest and penalty by March 31. The Direct Tax Vivaad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020, was taken up in the House and approved without any discussion.

Also, a bill that seeks to confer the status of Institution of National Importance to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology was introduced. But the Congress asserted that it will not let Parliament function till a debate on the Delhi riots is allowed in both the Houses.

The government should accept its responsibility and the perpetrators of the violence should be punished. We have been asking the government repeatedly to allow a debate on the issue, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said. Till the time a debate on Delhi riots is allowed in Parliament, our protest both inside and outside will continue, Chowdhury said. Parliament will have a two-day Holi break next week and resume working on March 11.
Looking out the windows of Spring Studios in upscale TriBeCa during this years 11th Independent Art Fair, I thought about the cycle of fashion. There are spectacular views of the teardrop-shaped roadway that leads out of the Holland Tunnel; on the same site, some two centuries ago, stood an exclusive gated park. Sooner or later, everything old is new again, and the most striking presentations in this fair, founded in 2010 by Elizabeth Dee to provide a curated alternative to larger art fairs, are revivals of work from the 1980s, the 1960s, or even earlier.

But theres plenty of room in this cozy coalition for young artists, too  and for older artists with brand-new work. The youngsters include Akeem Smith, with a dance hall video enclosed in a custom-built gate on the fifth floor, at Red Bull Arts (Booth 14), and, on the seventh floor, Sharif Farrag with an exuberant display of ceramic grotesques at Adams and Ollman (Booth 3).

Also on the fifth floor, Bianca Becks huge papier maches at Rachel Uffner (Booth 8) offer an amusing counterpoint to Mary Carlsons amazing little porcelain women just around the corner at Kerry Schuss (Booth 18), while the octogenarian Chicago painter Margot Bergman brings a lush series of large portrait heads at Corbett vs. Dempsey and Anton Kerns conjoined Booth 22.

Commute between four floors of art and consider the following guide to my favorite 10 booths a suggested tasting menu  but feel free, as always, to order a la carte.
What does drug addiction look like?

Substance abuse disorder affects either gender, any race and people of all ages. The Marion County Public Health Departments new multimedia campaign, What Are Friends For? aims to help Indianapolis residents get a better understanding of what opioid addiction looks like, and how they can help themselves and loved ones recover from the disease.

According to Curt Brantingham, public information coordinator for the health department, the department received two grants from the National Association of County and City Health Officials totaling $341,873 for radio, TV and social media advertisements meant to shatter stereotypes about what drug addiction looks like.The advertisements, which began the first week of March, also provide information on Narcan and naloxone, which is used to save individuals who are overdosing.

During a press conference Feb. 27, Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the health department, said medical professionals today are more likely to use Narcan to revive a patient during an overdose than they are CPR to revive a patient during a heart attack. One of the goals of the multimedia campaign is to not only build empathy regarding drug addiction but to spread the message that Naloxone is accessible to those struggling with substance abuse disorder.

Thanks to Aarons Law  named after 20-year-old Aaron Sims, who died of a heroin overdose in 2013  Hoosiers who are caretakers of or live with someone addicted to opioids can receive a prescription for Narcan. An individual who administers Narcan will not be charged for possession or practicing medicine without a license, as long as they are not on parole or under the influence of drugs. The law requires anyone who administers the drug to call emergency services.

While a person revived with Narcan or naloxone is not protected against criminal charges, Marion County Sheriffs Office Captain Mitchell Gore said Marion County residents shouldnt be concerned about being arrested. The first priority should be getting help.

We know that theres been some rumblings around Central Indiana about charging individuals who receive services after an overdose, Gore said. We dont participate in that. To my knowledge, the Marion County prosecutors office wouldnt charge people like they may in other counties. Marion County residents should rest assured that they can call for help, and its not going to result in a criminal case.

The opioid epidemic looks different in the Black community. To combat the opioid crisis among African Americans, the health department is working with the religious community to address the stigma and spread information about available resources.

Rev. [David] Greene is the president of Concerned Clergy and works with about 35 Black churches, with two of the largest Black churches among them, Caine said. Theyre talking to their congregations about substance abuse disorder  during service  to help share these commercials but to also generate discussions.

The health department is also working with organizations such as the Indianapolis Urban League and the Indiana Minority Health Coalition to use the advertisements to spread the message that substance abuse is a treatable disease.

Substance abuse disorder is a chronic illness, Caine said. It requires treatment and can affect any of us  [This campaign] is reminding us what friends are for and how we can reach out to do our part, as a friend, to help our loved ones  find the resources they need to combat substance abuse disorder.

Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.

pill bottlesMechanismDigital
A young girl has been pricked by a sewing pin hidden inside a ball while shopping with her mother.

Police are now investigating the incident, which happened about 1pm on Saturday at a store in Argyle Street, Moss Vale in the New South Wales Southern Highlands region.

The primary-school aged girl picked up a small squishy ball for sale when she was pricked by the sharp object hidden inside the toy.

The girl was pricked by a pin inside a toy at a shop in Argyle Street, Moss Vale (pictured)

Staff at the store administered first aid and the girl left the store with her mother.

The girl wasn't seriously injured.

Her mother reported the matter to police on Tuesday.

Police don't believe the incident was targeted.

Investigations are continuing.
All art fairs arent the same, but they can have a comparable blanketing effect: after hours of walking around a sales floor, the works start to blend together. Was this the clever neon text sculpture you liked, or was it that one?

This week, two fairs gamble on unpredictability to help break up the monotony. The more ambitious, Spring/Break Art Show, offers shake-it-all-up collaborations between artists and curators, while Volta is a mixed bag, but with a strong streak of playful abstraction. Although very different from each other, both lack the blue-chip sheen of bigger outlets like the Art Show at the Park Avenue Armory. They cant give you a flawless experience but thats OK. They make you put in a little extra legwork to find something you love. Consider the possibilities.

Spring/Break Art Show
By Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES  As authorities race to track down thousands of passengers who traveled last month on a cruise ship linked to a coronavirus outbreak, passengers  both current and those exposed earlier  say the response by the company and health officials has been filled with missteps.

In particular, passengers interviewed by the Los Angeles Times said the company, Princess Cruises, was lax on health screenings prior to boarding and withheld information about the risks passengers faced, even as the ships condition became international news.

At least one California passenger has died since disembarking from the Grand Princess last month in San Francisco. The ship was scheduled to return to San Francisco again Wednesday but has been held offshore, where authorities plan to check on a reported 10 crew and 11 passengers with symptoms of the virus.

The latest contagion concerns stem from a Princess Cruise trip that began Feb. 11 from San Francisco to Mexico. About 2,500 were on board, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who gave an update Wednesday on the search for those passengers. Newsom said about half were from California.

Wednesday, California reported its first death from the coronavirus, a 71-year-old Northern California man with underlying medical conditions who had been on the cruise, according to health officials. Another passenger, a resident of Sonoma County, has been hospitalized with the virus.

In a statement, Princess Cruises said it had been informed the CDC is investigating a cluster of cases involving the ship and said it was working with the federal agency. The company said 62 guests on the Mexico voyage had stayed aboard for passage to Hawaii. They are currently quarantined in their cabins, according to a statement from the cruise line.

Newsom said the boat would not be allowed to dock in San Francisco until passengers deemed at risk had been tested for the virus.

The potential outbreak of coronavirus is the second for Princess Cruises. Nearly 700 passengers on the Diamond Princess were potentially exposed to coronavirus weeks ago, forcing a massive quarantine, including about 300 Americans who were recently released from military bases after completing a 14-day isolation period.

In the more recent incident, two people currently on the Grand Princess, which is in international waters about a day from the Bay Area, said the cruise line failed to inform them in a timely manner that the ship could be held offshore until testing is completed. That news reached them Wednesday around 9 p.m. via an announcement from the ships captain, five hours after Newsom said it at a press conference.

One female passenger, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid alarming family and friends, told The Times it was sad and scary to learn the information from a reporter before an official announcement had been made on the ship. She said earlier events onboard had been canceled with little explanation.

Anything where a large group gathering is being canceled, she said Wednesday afternoon. You have never heard a cruise ship go silent when (the captains) announcements come on over the PA system.

Princess Cruise spokeswoman Negin Kamali confirmed Wednesday evening that the company was developing communication right now to inform the guests, but had not done so prior to the press conference.

Guests on the ship said they were told late Wednesday night that about 100 people would be tested for the virus, with kits expected to arrive by Thursday morning via helicopter.

No one will be allowed to leave the ship until results are back, said the female passenger. How long is that?

Newsom said Wednesday its possible the ship could be diverted to another port, depending on the results of the testing. Despite the large numbers of passengers who disembarked after the Mexico voyage, the spread of the virus on land could be contained, he added.

Im not naive about the scope of literally hundreds and hundreds of people, but we have the capacity to do this, Newsom said. By this evening, we will have contacted every county health official that has someone who came off this cruise. They will have their contact information and begin a process to contact those individuals.

But that process will likely take days if not longer, given the number of passengers. And tasking county health departments with the duty could present challenges as many already are stretched responding to the crisis. California now has the largest outbreak of coronavirus cases in the United States: The virus has been reported in 12 Californa counties and has sickened more than 50 people in the state.

In Oregon, three people who live and work in three counties -- Clackamas, Washington and Umatilla -- have tested positive for the communicable disease.

In this most recent incident, passengers on the Grand Princess returned from Mexico to San Francisco on Feb. 21. They said they began receiving emails from Princess Cruises on Wednesday informing them of the potential exposure and including a link to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Frank Tallarico received the email Wednesday at about 4:30 am in his Pittsburgh home. He said he told his husband, Kyle Cunningham, You are not going to believe this.

The couple called their county health department because both had symptoms of the virus. They were immediately tested and are under house quarantine while the results come back. But they have little idea when that will be, or if the quarantine will remain in place even if they are not positive for the virus.

We were told we need two negative tests, Tallarico said, taking a break from watching a Netflix show.

Tallarico said he worried he might have already passed the virus onto others. He and Cunningham flew back to Pennsylvania after the cruise, stopping over in Detroit. He is frustrated that he has not heard more from the cruise line about the exposure, despite calling and tweeting to the company.

Princess has not called us back today with any information, Tallarico said. We havent heard anything.

Mark Cadiz and his wife Judy were on the Grand Princess to Mexico celebrating her 50th birthday. He found out he had been exposed from the news, he said.

No one has contacted (us), he said. I expect somebody might.

Wednesday, the Cadizes were in a hotel in Oakland, where they had traveled for business.

Both of them are ill, he said. Cadiz said he had been sick since Thursday with chest congestion and sinus problems bad enough that he had stayed home from work for four days.

I am wheezing in my sleep, Cadiz said. It wakes me up.

Cadiz said they passed the illness to their daughter, who runs a restaurant. After hearing about the possible exposure, Cadiz said he planned to seek medical attention Thursday.

It hit me full force about an hour ago, he said. Now that I know there is a connection I am going to take care of it.

At least one person who should have been on official lists was not.

Sacramento resident Jeff Casalengo was on the cruise with his wife, Lizbeth Galdamez. Friday, he came down with a cough that is in his lungs, he said.

Hes been taking Nyquil to sleep and allergy medicine in the day and working his job installing fire sprinklers.

I assumed it was allergies, he said.

But after receiving the email from Princess Cruises, he called his county health department. They told Casalengo he was not on the list of ships passengers they had received and didnt know if he met the criteria to be tested.

They said they will call me if I need to be tested, said Casalengo. I probably dont have it, but it would be nice to know for sure.

Casalengo said hes also worried about spreading the virus. When he returned from the cruise, one of the first things he did was take his elderly father to see the movie 1917. A few days later, he visited a relative that has a lung condition. Now, with uncertainty looming, he doesnt know whether he should self-quarantine.

I want to do the right thing, but I really dont know, he said. It would suck to stay and home and not be paid because they dont want to test people for it.

Casalengo and Tallarico, the Pittsburgh passenger, also raised concerns about the ships boarding protocols.

The Grand Princess arrived in San Francisco late, passengers said. Multiple people said they were told a passenger on the ship, which was coming from Hawaii, suffered a heart attack, causing the board to return to that port.

When it finally arrived in the Bay Area, passengers for the Mexico cruise were anxious and waiting.

It was so chaotic, like they were really in a bad spot, said Casalengo.

The ship remained in port less than 11 hours, according to data from MarineTraffic.

Both Casalengo and Tallarico said they received emails prior to boarding outlining precautions related to coronavirus. The Diamond Princess infection, said Tallarico, was on everybodys mind.

Casalengo said based on the cruise companys communication, he expected to go through a pre-boarding screening that could include having his temperature taken.

But Casalengo and Tallarico, the passenger from Pittsburgh, said boarding was rushed screening was limited to a form asking if they had symptoms or had traveled to an area of concern.

They didnt take the precautions we thought they were going to take, said Casalengo.

Kamalil, the spokesperson for Princess Cruises, said the protocol for more stringent health screenings, such as taking temperatures, is only used in places with known outbreaks or with passengers with risk factors, and that all normal protocols were followed in boarding the Grand Princess. She said she was not immediately familiar with what the boarding email to passengers said.

For Casalengo, its an unsettling ending to a cruise he enjoyed. He doesnt know what to expect next for himself, but he thinks containment will be hard.

Its on the West Coast now, he said. Its here.



(Los Angeles Times reporters Taryn Luna, Mary Gorgione and Thomas Suh Lauder contributed to this report.)



2020 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden flanked by his wife Jill (L) and sister Valerie Biden Owens (R) speak during a Super Tuesday event in Los Angeles, California, on March 3, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

The Coming Implosion of the Democratic Party

Commentary

At first glance, its bad news for President Donald Trump.

Hes losing his easiest mark for the 2020 general election: The Bernie Sanders campaign isnt only toast, its burnt toast.

Super Tuesday was a disaster for Bernie. Were the Bernie Bros toking up while playing video games? Whatever the case, they didnt show up to vote, not enough of them anyway. Maybe, they didnt intend to. Not their thing.

Only in California did Bernie save his honor (a bit), but theres good reason to believe he only staved off the Biden wave there because of early voting.

The future primaries dont look any better. Actually, theyre worse.

Sanders is next staring at delegate-rich Florida, where hes alienated practically every Latino voter in a Latino state with his admiring comments about Fidel Castro. (I thought Bernie didnt like billionaires.) Pennsylvania, New York, and other East Coast states dont look much better. Only in Washington state does he have good prospects, and thats far from enough.

Joe Biden is riding high for the moment. The stock market cheered his victoryor, more accurately, Sanderss losswith a quadruple-digit gain. (Amid the coronavirus, how much the prospect of a Sanders presidency was accounting for the recent precipitous market drawdown is hard to say. But it obviously had its effect as well.)

What Sanders has been attempting for eight years now is essentially a hostile takeover (by a registered independent) of the Democratic Party, turning it into a Socialist Party, with or without an upper-case s.

This caused the party to move further left than it wanted to in the days of Hillary Clinton. Now, in the era of The Squad (Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and company) that embraces Sanders (and vice-versa), they are being forced yet further left with huge tax increases funding such unpopular programs as free health care for illegal aliens (why not spa stays?).

Clintonista James Carville, among others, was yelling Basta! Someone had to stop the Democrats from turning into that Socialist Party before it was too late. Electoral disaster loomed.

His prayers were answered with Biden.

Or were they? Biden was basically the last man (barely) standing of a mediocre lot. They were all more or less Bernie-lite now, having been pushed that way. The Democrats were already too socialist. Short of implosion, there is no turning back.

Two hurdles could interrupt Bidens march to the nomination, however. One is obvious: his proclivity for gaffes, some of which indicate a deficit its not politically correct to talk about. Nevertheless, its clear the former veep isnt a young 77.

The second is more ominous: alleged corruption. This isnt just the Ukraine/Hunter/Burisma affair we have heard about ad infinitum. Thats bad enough. More important is Bidens overly friendly relationship with the Chinese communist regime (that also apparently enriched his son Hunter).

We all remember the naive China is not an enemy comment the former vice president made, scoffing at the possibility, before feeling constrained enough to walk it back. And that was before the coronavirus jumped the Pacific.

Sanders could utilize this were he not so friendly to communism himself. The entire Democratic Party is caught up in this double-bind. They are the people who screamed, Russia, Russia, Russia, in alarm, practically until our ears fell off, while being the same people who proposed the Russian reset button only a few years earlier.

So who are the Democrats anyway? An association for power, clearly. But now that association is split between the establishment and the socialists, roughly 6040.

This is untenable. All that holds them together is enmity for Trump. Without that, they wouldnt even have the semblance of a party anymore.

Indeed, theyre probably not, even with the pervasive Trump hatred. If Biden were to stumble, Bernie wouldnt easily move in to replace him. The establishment would block him immediately with a new candidate.

Hillary? Shes been curiously silent of late. Why isnt she joining the claque backing Biden? And what about Obama? Are they planning something?

It doesnt matter. The party has already effectively split in two. Its hard to see how they can reconcile.

The convention in Milwaukee this July may be the end of the Democratic Party as we know it.

Roger L. Simon is The Epoch Times senior political columnist. He is an award-winning novelist and an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter. His latest book is The GOAT. Follow him on Twitter @rogerlsimon

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Industry Update

Appointment

5 March 2020

Alison Jenkins

Appointed Director of Sales

At Origin Raleigh - NC, USA

With over a decade of luxury hospitality experience at The Umstead Hotel and Spa, and more recently The Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C., Alison Jenkins joins Origin Raleigh as director of sales.

Recent Appointments at Origin Hotel Stephen Alsop - Executive Chef 5 March 2020  With a culinary passion that has fueled a 30-year career in the industry, Chef Stephen Alsop brings a diverse skill set and background to his role as executive chef at Origin Raleigh's onsite restaurant Good Day Good Night. read more

Karlee Tanel - Brand Activation Manager 5 March 2020  Karlee Tanel oversees the programming, partnerships, and activations for Origin Raleigh. She is also curating Origin Raleigh's Do Lista handcrafted collection of suggested local experiences focused on highlighting Raleigh's culture and community. read more
For better or for worse, presidents of both parties have throughout the republic leveraged coveted ambassadorship appointments to reward allies, donors, and famous Americans.

President Donald Trump in this respect has been quite conventional, sending political appointments to important posts around the globe. What may be surprising is the success some of the presidents political appointments in Europe have found.
Washington: The US Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a major abortion case for the first time since president Donald Trump appointed two new conservative justices -- with the future of the procedure potentially at stake.

What may be the most significant case on the subject in decades centers on a law in the state of Louisiana that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Groups who support abortion rights argue that the law would severely restrict access to the practice and lead to the closure of two of three remaining clinics in the southern state.

The measure is almost identical to Texas legislation that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016, deeming it too restrictive.

Nothing has changed that would justify such a legal about-face, said Julie Rikelman, who is arguing the case on behalf of the plaintiff, a Louisiana abortion clinic.

The case, June Medical Services v Russo, is the first on the divisive issue to come before the court since Trump's two conservative appointees -- Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- joined the nine-member bench.

Kavanaugh replaced former justice Anthony Kennedy, who had sided with the court's four left-leaning justices to block the Texas law.

On Wednesday, Kavanaugh seemed to suggest that the Texas and Louisiana laws were not one and the same and should be treated on a state by state basis.

Galvanized activists

Appointment of the two new justices galvanized anti-abortion activists in the country's conservative Bible Belt, and several states have passed tough laws restricting the practice. A ban in Alabama even covered cases of rape.

That and most of those other laws have been struck down by lower courts, but anti-abortion groups are hoping to force the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized a woman's right to an abortion.

If the court were to reverse itself on the Texas law, for example, it could signify that it is also ready to do so on Roe.

Trump, who years ago described himself as pro-choice in every respect, has flip-flopped to become a staunch opponent of abortion as he seeks to rally evangelical Christians behind his re-election campaign.

On Wednesday, protesters from both sides of the debate were stationed in front of the Supreme Court, where Dennis McKirahan, a 75-year-old abortion opponent from Cincinnati, said we must stop killing babies.Not far away, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer hit out at Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name.

He said they would pay the price if additional curbs on access to abortion were allowed.

Chief Justice John Roberts sharply rebuked him, calling the comments threatening and dangerous.

Protecting women

A ruling in the case is expected in June, just months ahead of the November presidential vote.

The Trump administration, along with more than 200 Republican members of Congress, is backing Louisiana authorities in the case.

The lawmakers argued in a supporting brief that the case illustrates the unworkability of the 'right to abortion' found in Roe and questioned whether it should be reconsidered and, if appropriate, overruled.Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill, who helped argue the case for the state, said the law aims to protect women in the event of complications and ensure continuity of care. Rikelman maintained, however, that the law provided no medical benefit and would leave only one doctor and clinic available to perform the procedure in the state, where about 10,000 abortions are carried out every year.

The court's progressive justices appeared to agree. Ruth Bader Ginsburg asserted that most of these abortions don't have any complications. Her colleague Elena Kagan noted that some hospitals did not want to be associated with abortion providers.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, blocked the application of the Louisiana law in February 2019 but without delivering a final decision. Roberts joined the four liberal justices on the bench in temporarily blocking the law.

He is seen as the key vote this time around.
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One of the fundamental lessons anybody will ever be taught in a Journalism School is the role of the media to the citizenry. Certainly, the most mentioned role of the journalists is to inform; but that function begs the question  How far should a journalist go to feed the citizens information?

On Monday, March 2, 2020, during a busy schedule, I chanced upon a video posted by Citi News on their Facebook page where there was a confrontation between the youth of Sogakope and the Police in that jurisdiction. What justified that confrontation was mainly due to the death of an Assemblyman of the area who was killed by some armed men, and according to the youth they were not happy with the conduct of the police in the wake of such attacks, among others that have occurred in the area in recent times.

In the midst of the confrontation, the youth pelted stones at the police while the latter also fired live bullets into the crowd (according to reports). While the video kept playing, the voice of a fine young man could be heard running commentary on what was ensuing, and I was not surprised it was Umaru Sanda of Citi FM/TV.

The personality of whoever was running the commentary was actually not of great concern to me but the bravery exhibited by the young man was what caught my attention the most.

In what appeared to be an Aljazeera-style reportage of a live war scene, Umaru was found risking his life (although he was scared at a point which is pure human instinct) with his camera man moving through the flying bullets and stones just to give a coverage.

It was at that point that I appreciated the passion and the sense of responsibility to the public, even when ones (journalist) life was at stake.

The motivation behind this piece is to praise the hard work of the Umaru Sanda-like journalists who work against all odds to the satisfaction of the public.

Lest I forget, just in case it appears I may be exaggerating, one can just do a quick Google search of the video and I am sure after watching, one will appreciate the exploits of such journalists then my initial question; How far should a journalist go to feed the citizens information? Will be answered.

By:

Mark Ofosu

[email protected]
On Fetish, the album standout, Kinsey gets explicit about his experiences in the queer community, blasting proclamations of physical discrimination (No blacks no fats dont dare be femme / Mirror mirror your message is cloudy, youre telling me to look like them) to local LGBTQ neighborhood Boystown. Nothing is off limits as Kinsey traverses the complex and often frustrating landscape that finds him or people like him beloved and hated, used and discarded, praised and stolen from, empowered and manipulated. They buy us off the shelf, love our culture but dont f--- with us, Kinsey says, elaborating on the dichotomy of experiences.
The Bishop of Chipata Diocese and President of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), George Cosmas Zumaire Lungu has told the Catholic faithful that Lent is an opportune time to pursue the journey towards personal and communal conversion.

English Africa Service  Vatican City

(In Zambia), we are currently facing major challenges in all aspects of our human life, be it socio-economic, political, cultural and religious. Nonetheless, know that Gods Word has the power to open our eyes and hearts so that we can renounce our sinful ways and embrace a new path of sharing; solidarity, respect for the rule of law; respect for human dignity; reverence for the sacredness of life, dialogue, reconciliation and love. In this way, we shall truly claim to be children of God, the Bishop said.

Notwithstanding all the challenges facing the country, Bishop Lungu urged Zambians to listen to the Word of God as contained in the book of Isaiah Chapter 58:6-8. The Word of God invites the believer to break the chains of injustice, rid society of exploitation and to strive towards the ideal of living righteous lives.

Ordinary charity work in very extraordinary ways

In launching the Zambia national Lenten Campaign 2020, Bishop Lungu said the Zambian Churchs initiative was, in fact, a local response to Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVIs call for the faithful to do ordinary charity work in very extraordinary ways.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us that, 'Service of charity is a constitutive element of the Churchs mission and an indispensable expression of her very being. He further said that all the faithful have the right and duty to devote themselves personally to living the new commandment that Christ left us with and to offer our contemporaries not only material assistance but also refreshment and care for their souls. the Chipata Ordinary emphasised.

Creating a ZCCB emergency fund

According to Bishop Lungu, Zambia and its neighbours have, in recent years, become more and more susceptible to natural calamities and the local Church's hierarchy wants to create a fund that would immediately be available for humanitarian missions should such emergencies arise.

We, therefore, call upon you all to be part of the National Campaign for contributions towards charity. This appeal is not only meant for the Catholic faithful and Catholic organisations. It is also addressed to all people of goodwill. You know what the Catholic Church means and does when she embarks on such a campaign in an effort to reach out to people in need. With reccurring incidences of calamities due to climate change, we need to be proactive. When nature strikes, it does not respect rank, colour, tribe, creed and status. Time to prepare is now. Time to give and help is now. Be assured that your contributions, regardless of the amount, will be channelled to genuine beneficiaries in a very accountable and transparent manner, said Bishop Lungu.
The awareness campaign will be held across the cultural palaces in various governorates

Egyptian minister of culture, Ines Abdel Dayem announced the launch of an awareness campain for coronavirus and other viruses.

The campaign is organised in cooperation with the health centres and General Organization of Cultural Palaces.

The campaign will hold numerous activities in the cultural palaces in many governorates aiming to help the public to gain more information about the viruses.

In an official press release, Abdel Dayem revealed that while the campaign reaches out to culture tools to raise awareness, it also relies on a wide spread cooperation between numerous bodies.

"The soft power of culture is one of the most important ways to spread positive messages and a step to create a solidarity between the national institutions for the benefit of the public," Abdel Dayem said.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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AI reveals differences in appearance of cancer tissue between racial populations

CLEVELAND--Scientists at Case Western Reserve University are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reveal apparent cellular distinctions between black and white cancer patients, while also exploring potential racial bias in the rapidly developing field of AI.

Their most recent published research asserts that AI analysis of digitized images of cancer tissues reveals critical variations between black and white male prostate cancer patients. The work also suggests the new population-specific information--in addition to image detail on tissue slides also analyzed by computers--could substantially improve care for black patients with prostate cancer.

"On one level, we're simply trying to understand and answer this question: 'Are there biological differences in the disease, in the cancer, that are a function of your ethnicity or your race?'" said Anant Madabhushi, the F. Alex Nason Professor II of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve and senior author on a study published today in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "In other words, is there something else going on that can't be explained by other disparities- The answer appears to be, 'yes.'"

This new work on prostate cancer builds on mounting evidence that clear biological differences between races can be discovered at a cellular level in the analysis of cancer cells--information which can be useful to tailor medical care to specific groups and individuals within those populations.

$3.2M in three new grants from the Department of Defense

Madabhushi and his lab, along with collaborators from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, University of Washington Seattle and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have also been awarded $3.2 million in three grants from the U.S. Department of Defense to assess biological differences in prostate and breast cancers between black and white patients:

Sanjay Gupta, Carter Kessell Associate Professor of Urology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and Madabhushi were awarded $1.6 million to study how AI might be used to explore differences at the morphologic and molecular level of prostate cancer between black and white men.

Madabhushi, Jonathan Liu at the University of Washington-Seattle and Dr. Priti Lal at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania were awarded $1 million to develop new approaches to understand biological differences between prostate cancer appearance in black and white men. The grant will involve a new technique pioneered by Liu's group called "light sheet microscopy tissue imaging," which uses AI and 3D technology to view tumors in an entirely new way, Madabhushi said.

Cheng Lu, an assistant research professor in Madabhushi's Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics, and collaborators, were awarded a three-year $570,000 grant to use AI to study differences in appearance of tissue biopsy images of triple-negative breast cancer, a very aggressive form of breast cancer, between black and white women.

Implicit in all of the ongoing research, Madabhushi said, is the larger question about whether the racial differences being discovered at the cellular level are revealing a research bias at the human level.

"Even as we do this groundbreaking research, we can't allow ourselves to get trapped into trusting these models blindly," he said, "so we need to question whether we are considering all populations (and) ask how diverse our research pool is."

Prostate cancer study

Racial differences were a key component in the most recent research work. The prostate cancer study was performed over three years at six sites and involved nearly 400 men with the disease.

One of the critical questions in management of prostate cancer patients is to identify which men following prostate surgery are at higher risk of disease recurrence and could benefit from adjuvant therapy.

The patient pool in this study, however, was about 80% white and 18% black, "so the model was biased toward the majority population," Madabhushi said. "Once we found the variations, applying the model to all would be doing a disservice to that one population."

Once researchers created a race-specific model, the accuracy in determining which black patients would have a recurrence of the cancer increased six-fold, Madabhushi said.

Like previous cancer research led by Madabhushi's lab, the scientists asked the computer to look for patterns not only from images of the tumor itself, but at tissue outside the tumor, known as the stroma.

In doing so--in this and other cancer studies--they have been able to successfully tell, among other things, which patients would respond well to chemotherapy, immunotherapy or even, in some cases, whether cancer would return or how long a patient might live.

Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States and one of the leading causes of cancer death among men of all races, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Further, while surgical resection of the prostate--known as a radical prostatectomy--is performed for about 75,000 newly diagnosed patients each year, 30% to 40% will see the cancer return, Madabhushi said.

In this case, armed with the knowledge of which patients had a recurrence of the cancer, scientists were able to retroactively see visual signals in tissue slides from their initial diagnosis to determine which patients would suffer that recurrence.

Lead authors who collaborated with Madabhushi on the paper included Hersh Bhargava, a PhD student at the University of California-San Francisco and Patrick Leo, a graduate student of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University.

Additional quotes:

Sanjay Gupta, Carter Kessell Associate Professor of Urology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine: "The major goal of this application is to address the aspect of health disparity in prostate cancer by constructing a race-specific prostate cancer classifier for prognostic prediction and risk assessment. The proposal utilizes a novel suite of computerized image analysis and computer vision tools to quantify histomorphometric features of tumor along with the expression of a panel of biomarkers differentially expressed in race-specific prostate cancer. "

Lead author Hersh Bhargava, a PhD student at the University of California -San Francisco said the researchers were able to "look at, and actually measure, hundreds of thousands, even millions, of cancer cells to see features that a human could never see--including structural characteristics." "It's clear from the existing scientific literature that there are racial disparities in all cancers, but it appears that especially in prostate cancer that those differences can't be explained by access to care or socioeconomic status--but rather that there is a biological component to how the cancers manifest differently between black and white patients."

Patrick Leo, a Case Western Reserve graduate student, author on the paper and researcher in Madabhushi's lab, said that the research was focused on a population-disparities element that has not been recognized until now in what he called the "AI-for-health space."

"We know now that the risk is that if you just build a model for all patients, you will actually perform worse for patients in the minority and that's something we cannot accept, even if it's not something we did intentionally. So, if you want a model to work on patients from all populations, you have to deliberately include a population-specific aspect."

###

Case Western Reserve University is one of the country's leading private research institutions. Located in Cleveland, we offer a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. Our leading-edge faculty engage in teaching and research in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Our nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. About 5,100 undergraduate and 6,200 graduate students comprise our student body. Visit case.edu to see how Case Western Reserve thinks beyond the possible.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
APO Group Founder and Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard is making a guest appearance on CNNs Marketplace Africa (https://cnn.it/38oNYr2) on Friday 6 March, 2020.

The interview will be aired on Friday: 16:45; Saturday: 16:15 and 23:00; Sunday: 03:00 and 07:15; Monday: 02:00 and 17:45 (All times GMT).

The interview, part of a regular Marketplace Africa segment called The Profit Point, was conducted by CNNs Business Africa Correspondent Eleni Giokos in Johannesburg, South Africa.

CNN are one of the biggest news brands in the world, with a huge international audience and strong reputation for insightful and influential business reporting. The CNN Marketplace Africa programme is a weekly series that taps into businesses, industries and personalities to reveal the macro economic trends impacting the region. The programme regularly profiles the continents key industries and corporations.

CNN Marketplace Africas Profit Point segment regularly features prominent business leaders. Recent interviewees have included Tony Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Jim Ovia, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank, Wendy Lucas-Bull, Group Chairman of Absa Group Limited, formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited, Hans-Paul Burkner, Chairman of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Nestles Chairman for the East and Southern Africa Region, Bruno Olierhoek.

This is the first time CNN Marketplace Africa has featured the communications industry in Africa, and APO Groups position at the intersection of journalism and business means Mr Pompigne-Mognard is perfectly placed to provide insight into the African media landscape and the way corporations communicate.

The interview begins by exploring APO Groups origins as the first press release distribution solution dedicated to Africa, and tracks their journey to becoming the leading Pan-African communications and business consultancy. Mr Pompigne-Mognard describes how the companys expertise, network of international partners and experience in the industry is helping to raise Africas profile on the international stage.

It is a privilege to appear on such a renowned and well-respected news programme, said APO Group Founder and Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard. A platform like this gives us a wonderful opportunity to contribute to an important conversation about the state of the media industry in Africa. CNN have the kind of global audience that can help make a massive impact  and our objective is always to put Africa in the international spotlight.

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The Philippines said Wednesday it is resuming aid talks with Western countries it had rebuked just months earlier for backing a UN resolution to review human rights abuses under President Rodrigo Duterte's rule. Last year Duterte ordered his government to suspend all loan and grant negotiations with the 18 foreign governments that voted for a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution which passed by a minority vote in July. The Iceland-led initiative was sparked by Duterte's signature anti-narcotics crackdown which has killed thousands and drawn international condemnation but is widely supported by Filipinos. "Please be informed that such directive is hereby lifted, effective immediately," said a memorandum by Duterte's executive secretary Salvador Medialdea which was released to the press Wednesday. Government officials gave no explanation for the reversal. But Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in September, when the ban was first made public, that he would ask Duterte to exempt Australia, a key military ally. Duterte's ban came as the Philippine military was in talks for Australian assistance to acquire offshore patrol craft to upgrade the Filipino navy. The 18 countries that voted for the UN resolution also included among others Britain, Italy, Spain, and Denmark. Duterte bristles at Western condemnation of his signature campaign. In March last year the Philippines officially withdrew from the International Criminal Court after the tribunal's chief prosecutor announced a preliminary investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings of purported drug dealers and users in the country. Last month Duterte also scrapped a key military pact with the United States that lays the legal framework for US troops to be on Philippine soil and is central to hundreds of annual, joint military exercises. He cited alleged interference by US legislators calling on him to free Filipino Senator Leila de Lima and the supposed cancellation of the US visa of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a former police chief and enforcer of the drug war. De Lima was arrested three years ago and is on trial for anti-drugs charges that international rights monitors allege are meant to silence her.
A woman who was diagnosed with Stage IV terminal breast cancer at the age of 41 has revealed how she left her husband to reinvigorate her sex life and 'reclaim her body' before she died.

Molly, whose last name was withheld for privacy reasons, opens up about her many sexual escapades during the final years of her life in the six-part podcast Dying for Sex, which is hosted by her best friend, actress Nikki Boyer, 44.

'Sex makes me feel alive, and it's a great distraction from being sick,' Molly, who passed away last March at the age of 45, shared during one episode - while also revealing that she had more than 185 suitors in her phone at one point.

Candid: Molly (right), whose last name was withheld for privacy reasons, discusses her sexual escapades with her best friend, Nikki Boyer (left), on the six-part podcast 'Dying for Sex'

Living her life: After being diagnosed with Stage IV terminal breast cancer at the age of 41, Molly left her unhappy marriage and threw herself into dating and sex

Nikki, who met her friend in a New York City acting class 20 years earlier, revealed to the New York Post she came up with the idea for the podcast in 2018 when she picked Molly up to go to lunch and learned she had already been on two early-morning dates.

'I said, "Theres a story in here,"' she recalled. 'Sex and illness are rarely discussed together.'

In the first episode, titled 'Happy Endings,' Molly explained that she and her husband struggled with physical intimacy before her first cancer diagnosis.

'Sexually, we had difficulties in my marriage before cancer came along. I had spent a really long time pushing him away because of my own issues,' she said.

'Right before I got diagnosed, I was kind of looking to recharge our sex life . . . and then cancer showed up.'

Battle: Molly underwent a double mastectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, and reconstructive surgery while fighting for her life

Looking back: Molly explained that she and her husband struggled with physical intimacy before her first cancer diagnosis

Molly underwent a double mastectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, and reconstructive surgery while fighting for her life.

She admitted she didn't even feel 'relevant as a sexual female' after losing her breasts and being told she can't have kids.

'Cancer is not really the best place to start exploring sexuality,' she said. 'We were just trying to stay alive.'

Molly was put on a hormone therapy that was supposed to 'squash' her libido, but it actually had the opposite effect on her.

'I literally wanted to hump everyone and everything that I saw,' she recalled. 'I was horny all of the time. I felt like a teenager.'

Molly started sending sexy selfies on an app, and with her husband's approval, she embarked on virtual affairs, but they stayed together through her first bout with the disease.

She and her husband were in couples therapy when she got a call from her doctor and was told the cancer had spread to her bone and was terminal.

Shock: Molly and her husband were in couples therapy when her doctor called her and told her the cancer had spread and was terminal

Making it count: The diagnosis made her see her unhappy 15-year marriage in a whole new light. She decided to leave her husband and threw herself into dating

Nikki revealed that after Molly shared the devastating news, her husband said: 'Can I get back to why I'm so angry?'

The diagnosis made her see her unhappy 15-year marriage in a whole new light, and she decided to leave her husband and enjoy her remaining time as a single woman.

Even though Molly was dying, she didn't look sick. She threw herself into dating, and at one point on the series, she and Nikki tried to count the number of suitors in her phone but gave up after getting to 183.

Over the course of the miniseries, the two pals discuss Molly's most memorable sexual encounters, including a Ryan Reynolds lookalike with a masochism fetish and an at-home massage that came with a happy ending.

However Dying for Sex is not just about Molly's sexual awakening, though there are plenty of hilarious stories about her sexual exploration. The Wondery series also explores female friendship, death, and what it means to feel alive.

At one point, Molly admitted that she was definitely 'acting out' in response to her diagnosis.

'I don't think I would do any of this stuff without the cancer,' she said. 'Even though I'd maybe want to, I'd be a little more cautious about everything.'

Dishing: Over the course of the miniseries, the two pals discuss Molly's most memorable sexual encounters, including a Ryan Reynolds lookalike with a masochism fetish

'Shes sexually and emotionally open and nonjudgmental,' Nikki told the New York Post of Molly.

'She said [the dates] were helping her feel alive. She was reclaiming her body.'

Goal: Molly passed away last March at the age of 45, and Nikki said she hopes the podcast will inspire others 'to nurture their relationships'

Nikki noted in the introduction to the podcast that they employ a lot of 'gallows humor' during their frank discussions about Molly's health.

'If you're a commitment-phobe, I'm your girl,' Molly joked in one episode.

While talking about inviting a guy she met online to her home, she shared that she was no longer as cautious as she used to be.

'What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Im dying,' she pointed out.

The final episode of the podcast will air on March 11, and Nikki told the New York Post that she hopes the series inspires 'people to nurture their relationships.'

'People can think all day about what they would do, but you never know what life will throw at you and how you will react,' she said. 'Whats on your bucket list? What do you want to live for?'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 19:49:22|Editor: xuxin

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DAEGU, South Korea, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A long line of passenger vehicles was standing just outside the Yeungnam University Medical Center in Daegu, the epicenter of South Korea's COVID-19 outbreak, on Wednesday.

Drivers, waiting alongside temporary steel container facilities, did not get out of their cars but rolled down windows low enough for medical staff in white protective gear to take saliva samples from their nose and mouth.

The medical center had the so-called "Drive-Thru" virus-testing station, where it takes about 10 minutes to test for the COVID-19 compared to at least half an hour required for the testing at conventional testing facilities.

The government recommended setting up the Drive-Thru testing stations across the country to help detect potential patients early and speedily.

As of Thursday afternoon, the country's infected patients topped 6,000. Of the total, about 90 percent was residents in Daegu, some 300 km southeast of the capital Seoul, and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province.

Except 31 cases, all the infections were confirmed for the past two weeks. The speedy diagnosis brought the fatality rate below 1 percent.

Despite the speedy test on those with symptoms, the rapid-fire outbreak in recent days was unable to accommodate all the confirmed patients because of the lack of hospital beds in Daegu, a metropolis with a 2.5 million population.

Several infected elders in Daegu passed away while waiting to be admitted to hospitals for treatment.

"Young people clearly developed fever and cough, making it easy to diagnose the virus. But, in case of old people, many of them especially with underlying diseases were hard to find whether to be infected because they developed no specific symptom for long," said Lee Mi-jin, a retired doctor who volunteered to treat patients at the Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu.

Hundreds of volunteer doctors and nurses rushed to Daegu from around the nation, while the military commissioned scores of nurse officers earlier than scheduled to help combat the COVID-19 in the southeastern region. Military trucks regularly sprayed the roads with liquid disinfectants.

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea visited the military nurse academy earlier this week, expressing his sorry and gratitude for the sacrifice of the newly-commissioned nurse officers.

Moon emphasized "speed" in tacking the COVID-19 outbreak. The government announced a supplementary budget of 11.7 trillion won (9.8 billion U.S. dollars) Wednesday, and over 75 percent of the budget would be spent for the next two months.

Many of nurse officers were seen at the Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital, which was designated as a base hospital to treat COVID-19 patients in Daegu.

"We usually have no time to eat meal. Sometimes, we eat only a piece of toasted bread for lunch," said one of the volunteer medical staff in her 40s at the hospital. The volunteer medics have struggled with chronic fatigue and the lack of sleep, she noted.

Economic activity in Daegu slowed, although it did not come to a complete halt. The city's largest Seomun Market, right in front of the hospital, has been closed for about a week.

"It is the first time that the Seomun Market has been closed since its opening. The market had been opened even during the war," said a Daegu citizen in his 50s.

Some of restaurants lowered meal price to attract customers, while others began to food delivery services as people refrained from going outside.

Fewer people were found in the usually crowded downtown areas of Daegu, and the city turned quieter and darker as shops and restaurants recently ended businesses earlier than usual.

A long line of people can only be found in front of shops or the post office that sell facial masks.
A Laois Offaly secondary school has cancelled a trip to Italy for its students because of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreaks.

Colaiste Iosagain in Portarlington made the announcement to students and to parents this Wednesday, March 4.

It followed the latest advice given by the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday to avoid non-essential travel to the four regions of North Italy worst affected by the virus.

About 45 Transition Year students were due to travel to Lake Garda and possible Venice in April, along with several teachers.

On Tuesday night March 3 the school texted their parents to say it was going to make a decision and asked for their opinions. Almost all of the parents wanted to cancel the trip.

Seamus Bennett is principal of the school which has over 1,000 boys and girls.

"We made the call today, we told the students this morning and we emailed the parents this evening. It was easier to make the decision as the Department had advised against travelling. We were notified by the travel company USIT that if we left it any longer we would not get back any of the money," he told the Leinster Express on Wednesday.

"We had to take into account the possible loss of money if we waiting longer to cancel, the advice from the department, the community back home if the virus was carried, and the dilemma if quarantine was required," the principal said.

A partial refund is now expected but the TY Co-ordinator Clare Kelly is continuing to negotiate to get as much refunded as possible.

The trip cost each student about 585 Mr Bennett said.

"It would be a shocking loss to them, some kids were saving all year and looking forward to it. What we would like to do with is arrange an overnight trip in Ireland later instead," he said.

Italy has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases outside of Asia. The death toll from coronavirus reached 79 on Tuesday March 3 and the number of confirmed cases rose to 2,263.
Statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh outside his last rest place in Lahore Fort, Pakistan. (Getty)

A Sikh warrior born in the 18th century has beaten Winston Churchill to be named the greatest leader of all time in a new poll.

Some 38% of the 5,000 people who voted in the BBC World Histories magazine poll said Maharajah Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, was the greatest leader the world has ever known.

Singh came ahead of Winston Churchill, who came in third place, just ahead of US president Abraham Lincoln.

Winston Churchill came third in the poll of 5,000 people. (AP)

Historian Matthew Lockwood, who nominated Singh, said of the leader: Though certainly an imperialist, Ranjit Singh represented a different, more enlightened, more inclusive model of state-building, and a much-needed path towards unity and toleration.

We could still benefit from his example.

Read more: Greta Thunberg says the EU's climate plan 'amounts to surrender'

Arguing that Singh, who led Nikhs troops against Afghan rule Shah Zaman, was more than a mere conqueror, Lockwood added: Singh was, almost uniquely, a unifier  a force for stability, prosperity and tolerance He also went to great lengths to ensure religious freedom within his lands.

Portrait of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire, which came to power in the Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. (Getty)

He patronised Hindu temples and Sufi shrines, attended Muslim and Hindu ceremonies, married Hindu and Muslim women, and even banned the slaughter of cows to protect the religious sensitivities of Hindus.

His reign marked a golden age for Punjab and northwest India.

Read more: MP calls for new June bank holiday to celebrate Brexit referendum

Singh, who became the Maharajah of the Punjab in 1801, was born in 1780 and died in 1839.

US president Abraham Lincoln came fourth in the list. (Getty)

Matt Elton, editor of BBC World Histories, said: Though perhaps not as familiar as some of the other names on the list, Ranjit Singhs overwhelming success in our poll suggests that the qualities of his leadership continue to inspire people around the world in the 21st century.

Read more: Flytippers leave mountain of rubbish that blocks entire road

And, at a time of global political tensions, its telling that Singhs rule is interpreted as representing ideals of tolerance, freedom and cooperation.

Story continues

Results of the the BBC World Histories Magazine greatest leaders poll:

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ruler of the Sikh empire 180139 Amilcar Cabral, 20th-century African independence fighter Winston Churchill, British prime minister 194045 and 195155 Abraham Lincoln, US president 186165 Elizabeth I, Queen of England 15581603

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Turkey and Russia announced a ceasefire in northern Syria on Thursday, agreeing to end weeks of heavy fighting that sparked a humanitarian disaster and raised fears of their armies clashing.

After more than six hours of talks in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on the ceasefire to take effect from midnight on Friday.

The agreement will also create a security corridor along the key M4 highway in northern Syria, where Turkish and Russian forces will launch joint patrols from March 15.

The deal aims to put a stop to intense fighting in Idlib, the northwestern province of Syria where Ankara is battling Moscow-backed government forces.

Nearly a million of civilians have fled their homes due to the violence and dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed.

Putin told a joint press conference after the talks that the agreement would "serve as a good basis for ending fighting" in Idlib and for "stopping the suffering of the civilian population".

"The object is to avoid the humanitarian crisis getting worse," Erdogan said, though he added that Turkey reserved the right to "retaliate with all its strength against any attack" by Damascus.

The situation in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria's nine-year civil war, had become critical as Ankara for the first time launched a direct offensive against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Turkey has long backed certain rebel groups against Assad but its priority now is to stop an influx of refugees among those fleeing an offensive the regime has been pressing on Idlib since December.

Ankara has demanded the European Union support its actions in Syria and last week opened its border with Greece to migrants -- a move decried by some in the bloc as "blackmail".

Despite supporting opposing sides in the war, Russia and Turkey have worked to try to resolve the conflict and avoid direct confrontation.

The two countries agreed a deal in the southern Russian city of Sochi in 2018 that created a "de-escalation" zone in Idlib and allowed for the deployment of 12 Turkish observation posts.

In the run-up to Thursday's talks, the two sides had traded accusations of violating the deal.

Ankara said Russia was not fulfilling part of the agreement that guaranteed no attacks on Idlib and the status quo on the ground.

Moscow in turn said Turkey was breaching the agreement by supporting "illegal armed groups" and accused Turkish forces of mingling with "terrorists" in Idlib.

Turkey officially declared an operation against the Assad government over the weekend, after 34 Turkish soldiers died in an air strike blamed on Damascus.

It has since downed three Syrian warplanes and killed dozens of soldiers and allied fighters, according to monitors.

Fighting continued in the province on Thursday, with Russian air strikes killing at least 15 civilians gathered outside the town of Maaret Misrin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Erdogan warned Europe on Wednesday that it must support Turkey's "political and humanitarian solutions in Syria" if it wants to avoid a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis.

Thousands of migrants have massed at the Turkish-Greek border since Erdogan gave them the green light to try to enter Europe, leading to clashes with Greek police.

Turkey hosts roughly 3.6 million refugees from Syria -- and hundreds of thousands from elsewhere -- and Erdogan's move has sparked concern in Europe of a renewed influx of migrants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deirdre Morley with husband Andrew McGinley and their three young children Conor, Darragh and Carla

A mother charged with murdering her daughter and two sons has had her case further adjourned after a court heard she is in the Central Mental Hospital.

Deirdre Morley (43) had been due to appear in Dublin District Court yesterday, her third court date since she was charged with three counts of murder.

Assessment

Judge Colin Daly remanded her further in custody in her absence for continued medical and psychiatric assessment after a sick note was presented in court.

Ms Morley was charged after the bodies of her children Conor (9), Darragh (7) and three-year-old Carla McGinley were found in the family home at Parson's Court, Newcastle, west Dublin, on January 24.

Solicitor Jonathan Dunphy said he appeared for the accused and there was "a sick note before the court".

Reading this, Judge Daly said he would adjourn the case.

Mr Dunphy asked the judge if the court had received a report yet from the Central Mental Hospital.

If not, he said, he imagined it would be available on the next date.

Judge Daly said he just had a letter from the hospital and a psychiatric report was requested.

Mr Dunphy thanked the judge, and the accused was remanded in custody, to appear in court again on April 1. Directions from the DPP have not yet been given.

Ms Morley was not present for the last court date last month, when Mr Dunphy said there was an issue in relation to his client's fitness to face court.

At her first court appearance, Det Sgt Dara Kenny, of Clondalkin Garda Station, gave evidence of arresting Ms Anderson for the purpose of charging her that day.

When the charge was put to her she made no reply, he said.

Paramedics

Ms Morley, who has worked as a nurse at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, was found by a taxi driver near her home shortly before her children's bodies were discovered.

She was treated for several days at Tallaght University Hospital.

The children's father, Andrew McGinley, arrived home at the same time that gardai and paramedics reached the house. When they went inside, they found the three children dead.

A funeral for the McGinley children in Rathcoole on January 31 drew 1,000 mourners.
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

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Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

A meeting of the Plenum of Azerbaijan's Constitutional Court has approved the parliamentary election results, Trend reports.

10:44 (GMT+4) A meeting of the Plenum of Azerbaijan's Constitutional Court is being held on March 5.

Chairman of the Constitutional Court Farhad Abdullayev declared the meeting open.

The panel of judges and the clerk were introduced. Information is being heard from the judge-rapporteur Rovshan Ismayilov on appointing the time, the conduct and results of the election.

12:35 (GMT+4) Then Judge of the Constitutional Court Rafael Gvaladze made a speech, saying that 67 appeals had been received in connection with the elections to the Constitutional Court, and they were sent for consideration to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Gvaladze noted that the appeals did not affect the overall election results.

The Judge added that Constitutional Court received 72 complaints, of which 13 cases were sent to the relevant courts, in 16 cases the claim was considered impossible and in 41 cases the claims were rejected.

According to the Sumgayit Court of Appeal, 20 cases were examined there by decision of the CEC, in 12 of which the claim was rejected, Gvaladze said.

In the Ganja Court of Appeal, in connection with the decisions of the CEC, 18 administrative cases were considered, of which 15 cases were dismissed, three cases were sent for consideration.

Some 24 appeals were submitted to the Shirvan Court of Appeal, 16 of which were rejected, 4 claims were considered impossible, one was sent for consideration.

According to the Sheki Court of Appeal, 18 appeals were examined in connection with the decisions of the CEC. Appeals in 15 cases were rejected; in three cases, claims were considered impossible.

According to the Nakhchivan Supreme Court, in connection with the decision of the CEC, the court received one appeal, but the claim was rejected.

Azerbaijans Supreme Court examined 78 cases, 64 cases were left unchanged, in 3 cases the decisions of the courts were canceled, and in 9 cases the initiation of claims was considered impossible.

12:16 (GMT+4) After the hearings, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court Farhad Abdullayev invited the judges of the Constitutional Court to review the election documents and make a decision.

A break was announced at the meeting, and the judges went to review the election documents and make a decision.

On February 25, Azerbaijans CEC decided to send the final protocol of the election results, together with the attached documents, for approval to the Constitutional Court.

The list of leading candidates is available here.
The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Uganda to drop all charges and to immediately release freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Moses Bwayo, to return his equipment undamaged, and to allow him to continue his work without intimidation.

Bwayo was initially arrested in the capital Kampala on February 24 while filming a documentary commissioned by a U.K.-based company, Southern Films, about the opposition politician and popular musician Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, and was released on February 26 on police bond, according to multiple statements by the Foreign Correspondents Association of Uganda and a statement from the local press rights group the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda posted on social media. Police also confiscated his equipment, according to those same sources. Today he appeared in court, charged with illegal assembly alongside eight other people, and was placed in custody in Luzira Prison after both the state prosecutor and the magistrate said they needed more time to respond to his bail application, his lawyer Caleb Alaka told CPJ via messaging app. He is due back in court on Friday.

Freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Moses Bwayo should never have been arrested in the first place, and the fact that he is now spending more time behind bars on dubious charges exposes how far Ugandan authorities are willing to go to prevent coverage of the opposition, particularly of Bobi Wine, said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. Ugandan authorities should immediately drop all charges against Bwayo and allow him to complete the documentary without further interference.

Over the past two years, CPJ has documented numerous incidents in which security personnel and government officials have harassed, intimidated , and arrested journalists covering the opposition, and Bobi Wine in particular.
In coronavirus-hit Iran, healthcare workers are not just treating patients -- doctors and nurses are also lifting spirits with light-hearted dance performances that have spread massively on social media.

In a series of short video clips, medical staff dressed in surgical masks and protective medical clothing can be seen dancing in symbolic defiance of the outbreak that has claimed more than 100 lives in the country.

Iranians have widely shared the videos apparently shot in hospital wards and operating theatres, the dancers' identities disguised by hospital scrubs and face covers as they wiggle and shake to Iranian pop and traditional tunes.

Multiple clips can be found on Twitter marked in English as "coronavirus iran dancing", although AFP could not verify the authenticity of the individual videos.

Iran's authorities so far seem to be tolerating the "dance challenge" craze, and some videos have garnered around 100,000 views on Twitter, Instagram and other social media.

This is even though dancing between men and women is banned in the Islamic republic, except for married couples who dance in private.

Not everyone is amused by the clips and some Twitter users have denounced them as "sin".

Reformist activist Azar Mansouri on the other hand wrote online that "no words can express our gratitude for their efforts.

"They care for the sick and at the same time keep up the morale of their countrymen and their own families."



Another Twitter user joked that "the only places the vice squad doesn't dare to go are hospitals with coronavirus patients".

The virus has been a blow to the morale of the people of Iran, one of the worst-hit countries after China.

Many people remain locked in their homes and Iranians feel increasingly isolated after several airlines cancelled international flights.

Iran's schools and universities have been shut until early April, the health minister said Thursday, confirming more than 3,500 infections nationwide.

A few days ago, the death of a young nurse, Narjes Khanalizadeh, who caught the virus through contact with patients, deeply moved the country.

Iranian photojournalist Peyman Yazdani praised the courage of the healthcare workers, tweeting that "they dance face to face with death".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Governments like to talk a lot about closing the gender pay gap, especially around International Womens Day. But talk is cheap and the gender pay gap has hardly budged in the past two decades, hovering between 14 and 19 per cent.

In the care sector, women account for about 80 per cent of the workforce. Credit:Virginia Star

Failing to close the gender pay gap is one thing. Making it even worse is another. And the current federal government is at risk of knowingly widening the gender pay gap.

Were deeply concerned it has not yet committed to the continuation of funding put in place almost a decade ago to ensure workers in the community sector can be fairly paid.

Women account for about 80 per cent of the workforce in our sector, which supports people at their most vulnerable  when theyre facing homelessness, escaping domestic violence or dealing with mental health concerns. Its important work and deserves to be fairly paid.
Barack Obama has called for US citizens to use common sense in avoiding the spread of coronavirus following reports of new cases.

The former US president took to Twitter to give simple but timely advice urging members of the public to wash their hands and listen to health experts.

Mr Obama also addressed the panic-buying of face masks as concerns over shortages of protective health equipment for medical workers increase.

He tweeted on Wednesday: Protect yourself and your community from coronavirus with common sense precautions: wash your hands, stay home when sick and listen to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities.

Save the masks for health care workers, he added. Lets stay calm, listen to the experts and follow the science.

The World Health Organisation called on governments and industry to increase production of masks and gloves for health workers as stocks globally are running low.

Authorities all over the world are dealing with hoarding of masks, gloves, and sanitising gel as fears of getting infected are heightened.

Mr Obamas advice comes as the number of coronavirus cases in the US has risen sharply to more than 120, with 11 deaths.

California declared a state of emergency afters its first coronavirus fatality, which was also the first in the US outside Washington state.

A cruise ship that previously carried two passengers who contracted coronavirus was barred from returning to San Francisco on Wednesday after at least 20 passengers complained of symptoms consistent with the virus.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

Californias governor, Gavin Newsom, said the cruise ship, Grand Princess, would remain at sea while coronavirus testing kits are flown out and flown back with samples for analysis.

Around 1,000 people in New York have been asked to self-quarantine after city officials confirmed five more people were infected and they were searching for anyone who had close contact with them.

According to CNN, cases have also been detected in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved an US$8.3 billion bill to combat the spread of the virus and develop vaccines.

Health officials warned the number of cases in the US will continue to climb, but called for people not to panic as we knew this was coming.

The surgeon general, Jerome Adams, said on Monday: I want folks to understand that we knew this was coming, we told folks it was going to happen and it is why weve been preaching preparedness from the very start.

Caution is appropriate. Preparedness is appropriate. Panic is not.
This weekends Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium has been postponed

The arrival of a significant number of Italian fans who had booked to travel to Ireland for the Six Nations rugby match this weekend will increase the risk of person-to-person spread of the coronavirus, a leading infectious disease consultant has warned.

Dr Jack Lambert, a consultant at the Mater Hospital, said many Italian supporters will be travelling here on a tourist break despite the Ireland v Italy clash at the Aviva Stadium being postponed due to the spread of the virus.

Northern Italy is particularly badly hit by the virus which has infected more than 3,000 and killed 107 people in the country.

Restricting

"There could be a potential risk of person-to-person spread if they come and congregate and are infected with the virus," Dr Lambert said.

"I think maybe the cancellation of the rugby game was a good first step given the way the coronavirus has increased in numbers in Italy.

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"I think the Government has to think about what the next step is and whether they should think about restricting travel from high-risk coronavirus regions."

The expert group in the Department of Health earlier this week decided to advise people in Ireland against non-essential travel to four regions of northern Italy: Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont.

However, it remains advice and there is no travel ban. Flights to Ireland are also continuing.

Dr Lambert said that cancelling the rugby game alone did not eliminate the risk.

"It may be a first step but not a final step," he said.

Hotels in Dublin say that they are expecting most of the Italian guests who booked in for the cancelled match to arrive.

They have been advised by the Hotels Federation to carry out their own risk assessment and follow the chief medical officer's and HSE's advice.

Buswells Hotel general manager Paul Gallagher said that he was not worried about Italian guests spreading the virus and that it would be unethical to deny them the trip they've paid for.

"I think everybody in the world now knows the symptoms and to self-isolate, so we're not worried at all about any of our guests from Italy. We welcome them," he told the Herald.

"There's no question of not allowing them to come over. I think it would be wholly unusual for our country to cut ourselves off from visitors.

"In this hotel if we had a case we would take every precaution to ensure the space that that person would have been in, and that would go as far as removing all soft furnishing including carpets, curtains, beds, towels, everything."

However, disruptions to plans and potential travel bans are causing a concern.

Paramount

A spokesperson for the Hotels Federation said: "The wellbeing of our guests, staff and the general public is paramount but it is a worrying time as any event that disrupts personal or business travel plans could have consequences for Ireland's tourism industry."

Aer Lingus and Ryanair are under pressure from travel agents to stop charging "change fees" to people who want to postpone bookings.

The plea from the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) comes as the industry suffers a "significant drop" in business and the public face substantial losses if they cancel a booking.

Many other airlines, including British Airways, Flybe.com and American Airlines, have already announced such waivers.

However, ITAA chief executive Pat Dawson said most suppliers had responded positively, "but the two main players out of Ireland have not yet".
Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign on Thursday but is not endorsing either of the two remaining candidates - Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders - at least not yet.

'Not today. I need some space around this, and I want to take a little time to think a little more. I've been spending a lot of time right now on the question of suspending and also making sure that this works as best we can for our staff, for our team, for our volunteers,' she told reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Mass.

'We don't have to decide that this minute,' she noted, saying she would advise her supporters to 'take a deep breath' and think about who they would want to give their blessing.

Warren bowed out after failing to win any states in the Democratic primary process  even losing her home state of Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Warren declined to endorse either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders after she dropped out of the Democratic presidential race

Elizabeth Warren also said she'd have more to say about the role gender and sexism played in the Democratic primary process

She acknowledged the role gender played in the race.

'Gender in this race, you know that is the big question for everyone. If you say, yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says, whiner. And if you say, no, there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think, what planet do you live on? I promise you this, I'll have a lot more to say on that subject later on,' she said.

She also referenced the 'pinkie' promises she made with little girls on the campaign trail about a woman being in the contest.

'I take those pinkie promises seriously,' she said.

Her decision means there will be a female will not win the presidential nomination after women expressed their fury at President Trump's election.

'The hardest part of this is all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years. That's going to be hard,' she said.

She choked up a few times when she talked to the press about her decision with her husband Bruce and dog Bailey at her side.

'I stood in that voting booth and I looked down and saw my name on the ballot. And I thought, wow, kiddo, you're not in Oklahoma anymore. That it really was a moment of thinking about how my mother and dad, if they were still here, would feel about this,' she said.

'It was a long time standing in that booth. I miss my mommy and my daddy,' she added.

Elizabeth Warren choked up a few times when she talked about her decision to exit the race

Elizabeth Warren exits her Massachusetts home with her husband Bruce to face a crowd of reporters and discuss the end of her presidential campaign

Warren announced her decision Thursday morning in a call with her staff, thanking them for their work.

'I know that when we set out, this was not the call you ever wanted to hear. It is not the call I ever wanted to make. But I refuse to let disappointment blind me  or you  to what weve accomplished. We didnt reach our goal, but what we have done together  what you have done  has made a lasting difference. Its not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters  and the changes will have ripples for years to come,' she said.

She also vowed that 'our place in this fight has not ended.'

'The fight may take a new form, but I will be in that fight, and I want you in this fight with me. We will persist,' she said.

Her decision means that the contest is a simple two horse race between Biden, 77, and Sanders, 78, with Biden currently ahead thanks to his dramatic Super Tuesday come back.

President Trump, who called her 'very selfish,' for staying the race, claiming she was doing so to keep Sanders from winning the nomination, slammed her exiting the contest 'THREE DAYS TOO LATE.'

'Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mikes head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary...THREE DAYS TOO LATE. She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass,' he wrote on Twitter.

Warren, who led the field early on, saw her star slowly fade as Pete Buttigieg won Iowa, Sanders took New Hampshire and Biden won South Carolina.

Out at last: Elizabeth Warren took 36 hours to bow to the inevitable, finally quitting the presidential race Thursday morning after a disastrous Super Tuesday

Boost? Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are now clear to go against each other - and both were in talks with Elizabeth Warren for her endorsement

She has reportedly been in talks with both Biden and Sanders about her endorsement, a value that will could make her the kingmaker in the Democratic primary, particularly if she bestows it on the former vice president.

Biden has already sealed endorsements from Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, and Mike Bloomberg.

Warren, a favorite of the progressives, was never able to capture the liberal left like Sanders did.

Her blessing to him would rally the left flank of the party to his side and boost his battle against Biden.

Sanders said on Wednesday he had spoken to Warren that day and she was assessing her campaign.

'It is important, I think, for all of us... to respect the time and the space that she needs to make her decision,' he said.

She and Sanders saw their friendship suffer during the campaign when she claimed he told her in a December 2018 meeting that a woman could not be president. He denied the charge.

Warren also spoke with Biden on Wednesday.

President Trump had attacked Warren as 'selfish' for not dropping out of the race, claiming her presence was a move by the party to keep Sanders from becoming the nominee since they both appeal to the same voting block.

He accused her of playing a spoiler role in the primary process.

'So Elizabeth Warren was the single biggest factor in that election last night and it would have been a very different thing and not in a positive way for her,' Trump said at the White House Wednesday.

Trump had made her the subject of attacks as 'Pocahontas' after her botched defense of claims she had Native American heritage, which ended in a DNA test showing that she was likely to be 1,064th Indian.

Tulsi Gabbard remains the lone female candidate in the primary race but her campaign has faltered. She has not appeared on the debate stage in months, barely makes the polls, and only netted a single delegate on Super Tuesday  from American Samoa where she was born.

Warren was the last surviving woman among the major candidates however, staying in long past Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Klobuchar.

Last woman running: Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii congresswoman, remains in the race but has garnered just one delegate - from American Samoa

President Trump repeatedly attacked Elizabeth Warren as 'Pocahontas,' based on her claim of Native American DNA, which a test proved false

Her departure will likely raise questions about how Democrats  who brag about their diversity  came down to having two white males as their final contenders for the nomination.

Warren did, in effect, drive Mike Bloomberg from the race.

She decimated him on the debate stage, demanding to know why he wouldnt release women from the disclosures they signed after complaints about a hostile work environment.

She demanded to know how many women and why he wouldnt release them, leaving Bloomberg fumbling for an answer and damaging his campaign prospects.

Bloomberg exited the race on Wednesday after pouring nearly a billion dollars in trying to sweep the Super Tuesday contests  only to win American Samoa. He also endorsed Biden.

Warren was known for her policy proposals  I have a plan for that was practically her campaign slogan  and her long lines of supporters wanting selfies.

But her many proposals also became part of her down fall. Her rivals pummeled her on her Medicare for All universal health care plan, demanding to how she would pay for it and why people who liked their insurance should give it up.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Tashkent hosted an investor forum on the project in the field of power engineering - construction of a power plant with a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) in the Syrdarya region, Trend reports with the reference to the press service of the Ministry of Energy.

The proposed project on construction of a combined cycle power plant with capacity of 1500 MW is another PPP-based project in the energy sector of Uzbekistan. At present, in particular, three projects are under implementation, including design, financing, construction and operation of photovoltaic (solar) stations with capacity of 200 MW each in Samarkand, Jizzakh regions and Sherabad.

The conference was attended by representatives of major international companies such as Sumitomo, Mitsui, Engie, EDF, Kepco, AcwaPower, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Marubeni and other interested parties from different countries including Turkey, China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, France, the UAE, Kuwait, Spain, Russia, India and Germany who expressed interest in participating in PPP projects.

At the end of the investor conference, 31 companies expressed their desire to participate in the tender.

It should be added that the tender bidding for construction of a power plant with combined cycle gas turbines in Syrdarya region on the basis of PPP is being held in two stages.

The first stage was held in Uzbekistan in 2019 with the support of IFC, the results of which were announced on October 4. The tender was held for construction of the first photovoltaic (solar) station (PES) with capacity of 100 MW in Navoi region.

The first stage of the international tender was attended by 23 companies from China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, South Africa, Russia, Spain, Norway and France, of which 11 companies were pre-qualified.

Tender bids were submitted by 5 companies: Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia), Jinko Power and Aljoimah Energy & Water Consortium (China/Saudi Arabia), Masdar (the UAE), TBEA Xinjiang Sunoasis Co Ltd (China) and Total Eren (France).

Based on the results of examination and evaluation of technical and commercial proposals of the bidders, the tender committee declared Masdar Company (UAE) the winner of the first stage of the international tender with the tariff of 2,679 cents for 1 kWh of generated electricity and construction period of 12 months.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
BEIRUT - Israeli warplanes fired missiles toward military positions in central Syria early Thursday, Syrian state media and an opposition war monitor reported.

State news agency SANA said Israeli warplanes launched the missiles while flying over Lebanons airspace, and said all were shot down by Syrian air defences before reaching their targets.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the airstrikes targeted the Shayrat and Dabaa air bases in the central province of Homs. It said the strikes were also aimed at targets in the southern region of Quneitra on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It had no word on damage or casualties.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Last week, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a car in southern Syria, killing one person. The Observatory at the time said that the man targeted was an anti-Israel operative.

In recent years, Israel has repeatedly carried out airstrikes in Syria against targets belonging to Iran and its regional proxies. One airstrike last month killed two members of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which is backed by Iran.
The Greater Noida administration on Thursday transferred Rs 32.42 crore into bank accounts of 554 farmers from six villages against the acquisition of their land for Jewar airport, officials said.

District Magistrate B N Singh transferred the money through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) method an electronic fund transfer mode, the officials said.

Of the 554 villagers, 227 were from Dayanatpur (Rs 13.63 crore), followed by 169 in Rohi (Rs 10.30 crore), 77 in Ranhera (Rs 4.13 crore), 48 in Kishorepur (Rs 2.64 crore), 30 in Parohi (Rs 1.55 crore) and three in Banwari Bans (Rs 16.50 lakh), according to an official statement.

This is the third stage of compensation disbursement to villagers whose land has been acquired for the Greenfield international airport coming up in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Jewar area.

During the first stage of compensation, Rs 3,166 crore were disbursed against acquisition of 1,334 hectares of land from Rohi, Dayanatpur, Kishorepur, Ranhera, Parohi and Banwari Bans that was completed on January 27, according to officials.

During the second stage, another sum of Rs 700 crore was disbursed among around 8,900 people from the affected villages in lieu of the assets like tubewells, submersibles, vegetation and property on their land, they said.

The third stage for R&R compensation will be completed within a month, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The city of Trenton is investigating the reported slashing of a city firefighter by another member of the department last month, officials said Thursday.

We are conducting an inquiry into the assertions. Trenton Fire Department has yet to receive any formal complaints regarding the matter," Trenton spokesman Connor Ilchert said. TFD is always committed to the health, safety, and well-being of its members. We will make more information available as we look into the issue.

Ilchert offered no other details on the allegations.

Councilman George Muschal said he received recently that appears to be from a city firefighter, or firefighters, that describes the incident in detail, and saying on-duty fire officials did not report it to supervisors.

Nothing was done, Muschal said. He said he reported it to Mayor Reed Guscioras office and the police department.

Ive gone through the channels, and Im doing it right, Muschal said.

Muschal said the letter indicated an off-duty firefighter pulled up to the Calhoun Street firehouse and confronted a firefighter who was getting off duty. The off-duty firefighter had a box cutter and appeared intoxicated, according to the letter.

During a struggle, the firefighter who was confronted suffered a slash wound, Muschal said. The incident was recorded by a security camera, he said, referring to the letter.

The incident occurred Feb. 8, and the letter was dated Feb. 17 and originally sent to Gusciora. Muschal received it Tuesday evening when he was opening his mail ahead of a council meeting. He does not believe the mayor has seen the letter, but hes now aware of the allegation.

Muschal is at a loss to explain why no on-duty firefighters dealt with the situation by reporting it. But they came to me, and Ill get it done.

Thats not a simple assault, thats an aggravated assault," said Muschal, a retired city police officer. This has to be addressed by the police department. Let them investigate it."

A city police spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Neither did the president of the city firefighters union.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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[March 05, 2020] ISACA and Kellogg School of Management Launch New Executive Education Program for IT Professionals to Build Leadership Skills

Shortcomings in leadership and insufficient ability to grasp business insights are among the major skills gaps facing the cybersecurity workforce, according to ISACA's 2020 State of Cybersecurity report. Additionally, the 2019 IT Audit Benchmarking Survey from ISACA and Protiviti revealed that communications expertise is considered one of the top five skills in demand for IT audit professionals. ISACA and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management are working to address these areas of need and provide IT professionals with specialized training to build leadership and communication skills by launching the first course in the new ISACA Executive Education Series, The ROI of Transformative Leadership, in July 2020. Through this inaugural educational collaboration, IT professionals will grow their business acumen, leadership and persuasion skills in classroom sessions taught by faculty from Kellogg-with a focus on both lectures and experiential learning-and receive a certificate from Kellogg and 28 CPEs upon completion. Lessons over the three and a half day on-campus program will cover topics such as how to negotiate, deliver and receive feedback, master storytelling, and hone influence, as well as how to build and implement personal leadership strategies and develop a framework for effective decision-making-the kind of skills that are increasingly important to build as they cannot be lost to automation. The ISACA Executive Education eries is among the innovations in ISACA's learning offerings across diverse platforms and formats following the recent appointment of the global association's first chief learning officer, Nader Qaimari.



"As a global learning organization and dynamic professional community, it is essential that ISACA design and deliver educational experiences that meet the unique needs of the professionals we serve," says Qaimari. "We are excited to partner with such a reputable institution as Northwestern University to address prevalent skills gaps and position our members to become stronger leaders." The ROI of Transformative Leadership program also includes accommodations at the James L. Allen Center at Northwestern's Chicago Lakefront Campus. In addition to the educational experience, attendees will have ample opportunities to network and will have access to full-service dining and refreshments, university libraries, the Sport Pavilion Aquatics Center (SPAC) and social hours at the Conference Center.

The program is open to executives and aspiring executives in the IT and information systems industry and costs US$7,500 per person, which is all inclusive. Learn more information about the program, including the faculty speakers, here. About Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/) is a premier global business school committed to its mission to educate, equip and inspire leaders who build strong organizations and wisely leverage the power of markets. Based just outside of Chicago, our vibrant, global community of faculty, staff, students and alumni shapes the practice of business and organizations around the world. About ISACA For more than 50 years, ISACA (www.isaca.org) has advanced the best talent, expertise and learning in technology. ISACA equips individuals with knowledge, credentials, education and community to progress their careers and transform their organizations and enables enterprises to train and build quality teams. ISACA is a global professional association and learning organization with 145,000 members who work in information security, governance, assurance, risk and privacy. It has a presence in 188 countries, including more than 220 chapters worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005668/en/

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Samir Ali  Trend:

Up till now, 539 Chinese citizens have been registered in Azerbaijan, 69 of them arrived after February 20, Head of the Azerbaijani State Migration Service Vusal Huseynov said.

Huseynov made the remark in Baku at the press-conference, Trend reports on March 5.

Thirty-two foreigners appealed for refugee status in 2020, which is 3.4 percent less compared to 2019, head of the State Migration Service added. In general, the number of foreigners coming to Azerbaijan has decreased because the number of e-visas issued to foreigners has decreased.

Syrian citizens did not come as refugees, Huseynov said.

The entry to Azerbaijan has been restricted for Chinese citizens. The Azerbaijan-China flights have been suspended. Chinese citizens whose period of staying in Azerbaijan has expired are leaving. If the individuals, whose period of staying in Azerbaijan has expired, face problems with the flight or other problems, they will be taken under control, he added.
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Linkedin Agustinus Hari (The Jakarta Post) Manado  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:54 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206893d10 1 National Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,COVID-19,manado,North-Sulawesi,patient,hospital Free

A 46-year-old man has been put under observation for possible COVID-19 infection at the Prof. Kandou General Hospital in Manado, North Sulawesi, after returning from Malaysia.

The patient, a Bitung resident who works in Malaysia, arrived in Manado from Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 19 via Singapore.

"He complained of cough and shivering. However, his temperature was normal at 36.1 degrees Celsius, the hospitals medical services head Handry Takasenseran told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. We have categorized him as a suspected COVID-19 patient because he has a travel history to countries affected by the outbreak.

Handry said the patient had begun to feel ill ten days after arrived in Bitung and had decided to report his illness to the Bitung Health Agency when he saw that his condition was not improving.

"We've confirmed the case with the Bitung Health Agency; we've also coordinated with the North Sulawesi Health Agency, Handry said. Last night at around 6 p.m. he was isolated and his samples were taken.

He said the samples had been sent to the Health Research and Development Agency (Balitbangkes) laboratory in Jakarta and the patient would remain in isolation until the test result came out.

Indonesia has confirmed COVID-19 in two people, both of whom are currently being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Jakarta. (nal)
India and EU decided to reschedule Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels in view of the advice by health authorities in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

New Delhi: The India-EU summit which was slated to be held later this month will now be rescheduled in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

India and EU decided to reschedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels in view of the advice by health authorities in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

He also said no case of any Indian being affected by coronavirus in Iran has emerged.

Indian embassies across world are on the job to help Indians, he said as several countries grapple with the outbreak of the deadly virus.

On criticism by global bodies over the violence in the national capital, Kumar said the situation in Delhi is fast returning to normal and law enforcement agencies are doing their best.

Asked about critical comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Delhi violence, he said these were driven by his political agenda.

To a separate question on the US-Afghan peace deal, he said India will continue to extend all support to Afghanistan for its overall development.

He also said that India has conveyed its concerns to China over the seizure of an autoclave from a Pakistan-bound Chinese ship by Indian authorities at Kandla port.

The concerns were conveyed as the autoclave recovered has military use, he added.
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are higher in early U.S. futures trading Thursday. Risk aversion is keener today as the coronavirus outbreak continues to play out in the marketplace. April gold futures were last up $9.20 an ounce at $1,652.10. May Comex silver prices were last up $0.089 at $17.335 an ounce.

Global stock markets were mostly firmer overnight, following the big gains in the U.S. stock market on Wednesday. However, U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward sharply lower openings when the New York day session begins. Look for another active day in U.S. markets.

The U.S. stock market euphoria over Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Joe Bidens solid performance at the Super Tuesday primaries has quickly faded Thursday as focus again turns to the uncertainty regarding the Covid-19, or coronavirus, outbreak that continues to spread worldwide and especially outside of China. This week, major corporations have suspended air travel for their employees and cancelled some conventions and conferences. There are reports of some U.S. stores running out of basic consumer goods. The state of California has declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus illness there. On the economic front several major central banks this week have eased their monetary policies to combat the negative economic consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak. More central banks are likely to take action soon, including the European Central Bank.

Recent history shows that some days traders and investors are less concerned about the coronavirus outbreak, and then the next day they are more concerned. Look for continued vacillating markets as the Covid-19 situation plays out. Its now looking more likely that the event will not be a short-term situation, but instead one that will play out over several months, or longer.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield earlier this week fell below 1.0% to a record low, and remains below that level. This has prompted keen concern among long-term market watchers that a U.S. and /or global economic recession looms, including the prospect of debilitating consumer and commercial price deflation.

All of the above are bearish for stocks and most commodities, and bullish for safe-haven assets like gold, the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries. An examination of a chart of the Goldman Sachs Commodity index paints a dour picture for the prospects for the raw commodity sector.

The key outside markets today see Nymex crude oil prices firmer and trading around $47.00 a barrel in early trading. Reports said the OPEC oil cartel is close to agreement on a collective oil-production cut to try to stem the slide in oil prices. The U.S. dollar index is trading down today.

U.S. economic data due for release Thursday includes the weekly jobless claims report, the Challenger job-cuts report, revised productivity and costs, manufacturers shipments and inventories, and monthly retail chain store sales.

Technically, the gold bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage amid a 3.5-month-old price uptrend on the daily chart. A drop below last weeks low of $1,564.00 would negate the price uptrend. Bulls next upside price objective is to produce a close in April futures above solid resistance at the February high of $1,691.70. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,564.00. First resistance is seen at $1,662.50 and then at $1,666.70. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,635.60 and then at $1,625.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.5

March silver futures bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $18.00 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $16.00. First resistance is seen at this weeks high of $17.48 and then at $17.75. Next support is seen at $17.00 and then at Tuesdays low of $16.665. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.
The local government prohibited all public events and asked parents not to let their children attend kindergartens

Open source

The local authorities of the Chernivtsi region (western Ukraine) shut down all schools, colleges, and universities because of the reported cases of coronavirus in the area. The regional state administration reported that, as quoted by UA: Bukovyna.

The local government prohibited all public events and asked parents not to let their children attend kindergartens.

The education process was postponed for 14 consecutive days - from March 6 till March 22, inclusively.

Earlier, a citizen of Switzerland succumbed to the Chinese coronavirus on March 5. This becomes the first lethal case due to this particular disease in this country, Reuters wrote referring to the regional police.

According to the law enforcers, the woman was hospitalized in Lausanne's university hospital on Tuesday, March 3. The 74-year-old lady suffered from a chronic disease; she was a patient from the high-risk category.

On Wednesday, March 4, Swiss law enforcement agencies claimed that the sickness has been mostly spreading among young people; but most likely, it may also be passed to the elderly people who suffer even more than the youth.
Seeking to clean up an office embroiled in scandal, Brazil's new culture secretary started her tenure Wednesday by firing six top officials, including one who said rock music pushes people toward Satanism. Now on his fifth culture secretary in just over a year, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has tapped Regina Duarte, a soap opera actress, to restore calm at what has become one of the most controversial posts in his administration. She wasted no time: the day she started the job, Brazil's official diary announced the firing of Dante Mantovani, head of the state-run National Foundation of the Arts (Funarte). Mantovani, an orchestra conductor and self-declared believer in a flat Earth, had gained notoriety over a YouTube video in which he said, "Rock music leads to drugs, which leads to sex, which leads to the abortion industry, which leads to something much worse, which is Satanism." Like the other five officials sacked by Duarte, he is considered a disciple of Bolsonaro's ideological guru, Olavo de Carvalho, a writer and former astrologer. Carvalho, an eminence grise who lives in the United States, had warned Duarte via social media Tuesday not to purge his proteges. But the actress reminded Bolsonaro at her swearing-in ceremony that he had promised her "carte blanche" as secretary. "My goal is to bring peace and permanent dialogue with the cultural sector," she said. Bolsonaro has drawn backlash from the artistic community for demoting the culture portfolio from a ministry to a secretariat, slashing state support for the arts and allegedly censoring artists on subjects such as gay rights. Duarte, 73, takes over from theater director Roberto Alvim, who was forced to resign in January after he paraphrased a speech by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Known as "Brazil's Sweetheart" for a lifetime of roles on famous prime-time soaps, she has openly advertised her right-of-center politics. But many in the cultural community are hoping she will take a more conciliatory approach than her predecessors.
The federal government will spend billions of dollars next week in a bid to avoid Australia's first recession in three decades, as it prepares to abandon its promised budget surplus.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday refused to guarantee Australia could avoid a recession and Treasury revealed it expects the coronavirus outbreak alone will result in the economy shrinking by at least 0.5 per cent in the March quarter.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to guarantee Australia could avoid a recession. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Treasury is not forecasting a recession "at the moment" but Mr Morrison, pressed by Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on whether the country could avoid a downturn, sought to avoid the issue.

"I can guarantee the Australian people that they will get the strong economic management they voted for," the Prime Minister said.
Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority is driving the country's transformation into a leading data-driven economy

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) yesterday celebrated the launch of its brand identity at an event held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, in Riyadh under the theme, 'Data is the Oil of the 21st Century'. Attended by ministers and top government officials, the celebration marks SDAIA's readiness to establish the Kingdom among the world's leading economies in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), which is expected to contribute an estimated USD 135 billion to its GDP by 2030, corresponding to 12.4% of the national GDP.

The strategic importance of SDAIA's mandate is reflected in Saudi leadership's recognition of its role in establishing the Kingdom as a global leader among global data-driven economies. The value of the country's data and AI economy is currently estimated at USD 4-5 billion, with an opportunity to generate additional government revenues and savings of over USD 10 billion by harnessing data insights to help guide government decisions.

Since the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030 program in 2016, Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in unlocking the value of data as a national asset, with close to 70% of 96 strategic goals under Vision 2030 closely related to data and AI. The establishment of Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), an entity mandated with driving the national data and AI agenda for transforming the country into a leading data-driven economy, was a major step in that direction.

Dr. Abdullah Bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, President of SDAIA, said, "We have witnessed first-hand, the early impact of AI and data-driven initiatives and their potential to propel Saudi Arabia's future economy, but we are still in the early stages with several untapped opportunities available. We, at SDAIA, have been tasked with defining the national data and AI strategy, and delivering on our nation's vision for the future by optimizing our national resources, improving efficiencies and enabling the creation of diversified economic sectors."

SDAIA has made tremendous progress in its first year of operations, including:

Establishing a national data bank, that has already consolidated more than 80 government datasets, corresponding to 30% of government digital assets Implementing the G-Cloud, with the aim to build one of the largest clouds in the region by merging 83 data centers owned by over 40 government bodies Utilizing AI-analyzed data to detect opportunities that could generate more than USD 10 billion in government savings and additional revenues, and developing an ambitious and innovative data and AI strategy for the Kingdom.

Speaking at the SDAIA brand launch celebration held yesterday under the theme of 'Data is the new oil', in Riyadh, Dr. Al-Ghamdi added, "Data is the single most important driver of our growth and reform in the 21st century, and we have a clear vision and roadmap for transforming Saudi Arabia into a leading AI and data-driven economy. SDAIA is at the forefront of this transformation and is primed for national data and AI agenda definition, implementation and awareness."

SDAIA's vision is to establish the Kingdom as a global leader among the league of data-driven economies. The establishment of SDAIA is a testament to Kingdom's commitment towards this vision - SDAIA, as a world-class data and AI governance body, is bringing global innovations to diversify the national economy, and developing local human capital.

About the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA)

Established by a royal decree issued on 30 August 2019 and directly linked to the Prime Minister, Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) is responsible for overseeing the national data and AI strategy through three executive arms: The National Data Management Office (NDMO), the National Information Center (NIC), and the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI).

Through its vision, SDAIA seeks to establish the Kingdom as a global leader among the league of data-driven economies. Its mission relies on unlocking the value of data as a national asset to realize Vision 2030 aspirations by setting the national data and AI strategy and overseeing its execution through harmonized data policies, data and insights capabilities, and continuous AI and data innovation.

SDAIA plays an important role in fulfilling the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 as close to 70 percent of the Vision's objectives are directly impacted by data and AI strategies. In addition, data and AI must be utilized to the fullest extent so the Kingdom can fulfil the Vision's objective to create a leading digital economy.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100017/Abdullah_Bin_Sharaf.jpg
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon today on the occasion of the birthday of Commander (Sparapet) Vazgen Sargsyan.

President Sarkissian laid flowers at the tomb of the Commander, paying a tribute to his memory.

I came to Yerablur on the occasion of the birthday of my friend Vazgen Sargsyan, Armen Sarkissian said.

From early morning Vazgen Sargsyans relatives, friends, as well as a number of political, public figures, war volunteers visited Yerablur to pay tribute to his memory.

Aram Sargsyan, the brother of Vazgen Sargsyan, told reporters that the Commander had a great input in the Artsakh war, the formation of the Army.

He dedicated his whole life and activities to the Artsakh issue. He was a soldier until late 1998. During his life Vazgen was never called Sparapet, as he would not allow that because he was a modest man. He never overestimated himself and believed that victory was achieved thanks to the investment of every person who participated in the war, Aram Sargsyan said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
A theory widely shared on social media claims that American author Dean Koontz predicted the 2019-2020 Coronavirus outbreak in 1981. Posts featuring the cover of The Eyes of Darkness book and a page in which Koontz allegedly describes the coronavirus in his novel have at least 39,000 shares and at least 2,000 retweets on Twitter as of February 27, 2020.

Most of the claims circulating on social media show the books cover and a page in the book mentioning a virus called Wuhan-400. The widely circulated photo of Koontzs book page includes some highlighted text reading: They call the stuff Wuhan-400 because it was developed in a at their RDNA labs outside of the city of Wuhan, and It was the four-hundredth viable strain of man-made microorganisms created at that reaserch center.

Some claims circulating also include an additional page that mentions the year 2020 and the outbreak of a severe pneumonia-like illness.

This is partly false. While it is true that Koontz wrote about a fictional virus in his novel and that its name Wuhan-400 refers the Chinese city in which the 2019 Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) actually started, the illness in his book doesnt share more traits with COVID-19.

In his novel, Koontz described Wuhan-400 as Chinas most important and dangerous: new biological weapon in a decade. He also wrote it was developed by labs outside of the city of Wuhan.

There is no proof that the new coronavirus was created in a lab. The virus is believed to have originated late last year in a food market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Health experts think it may have originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via another species.

Reuters looked at further references of Wuhan-400 in Koontzs book.

The symptoms and behavior of Koontzs Wuhan-400 are very different to COVID-19. In the novel, the virus has an incubation period of only four hours. COVID-19s incubation period is between 1-14 days. According to World Health Organization, the most common incubation time is around five days.

Koontz also describes Wuhan-400 as a disease with a kill-rate of a 100%. Once infected, no one lives more than twenty-four hours. Most die in twelve, he writes. COVID-19s death rate is far from this, according to the WHO, the case-fatality rate is between 2% and 4% in Wuhan and 0.7% outside Wuhan.

The symptoms described by Koontz are different to COVID-19. In his novel, Wuhan-400 causes the secretion of a toxin that literally eats away brain tissue causing loss of control of bodily function. The victim simply ceases to have a pulse, functioning organs, or any urge to breathe, writes Koontz. Meanwhile COVID-19 infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms, while severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death.

In the novel, Wuhan-400 is described to be infinitely worse than Ebola (EVD), but COVID-19 is less threatening than EVD. According to the WHO, the average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%, while case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks. The new coronavirus death-rate is between 2% and 4% in Wuhan and 0.7% outside Wuhan.

It is worth noting that in the first edition of The Eyes of Darkness in 1981, the fictional virus was not named after the Chinese city, but after a Russian locality named Gorki (Gorki-400). In the original version of the novel, the virus was developed outside of Gorki and it was meant to be the Soviets most important, dangerous new biological weapon in the decade. This is confirmed by a Google Books search of the word Wuhan in the 1981 edition. In this edition Wuhan-400 brings no results.

According to the South China Morning Post, the name of the virus was changed on the re-release of the book in 1989, toward the end of the Cold War. Their article includes photographs of the previous edition that references Gorki-400. In this edition, Koontz also published his novel under his real name instead of using his pseudonym Leigh Nichols.

Reuters tried to contact the author and the publisher but is yet to receive an answer.

Some of the posts on social media also share a third image of a book page without any attribution, wrongly suggesting it is part of the same book. This page reads: In around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.

This page does not belong to The Eyes of Darkness. It comes from the 2008 book End Of Days: Predictions and prophecies about the end of the world Paperback by Sylvia Browne, an American author who claimed to be a psychic.

This claim is therefore partly false. Dean Koontz did write about a fictional virus called Wuhan-400 in the 1989 re-release of his 1981 novel The Eyes of Darkness, but symptoms and effects of the disease do not match the official description of COVID-19. The additional page present in some claims suggesting an outbreak around 2020 is from a different book.

VERDICT

Partly false: Dean Kootz wrote about a fictional virus called Wuhan-400, but its description has nothing to do with the new coronavirus.
First responders and utility repairmen are seen at the site of the crash of a Bell 429 helicopter, in which the Philippine national police chief and seven other people were injured, in Laguna province south of Manila, March 5, 2020.

Updated at 12:29 p.m. ET on 2020-03-05

The head of the Philippine national police force, three of his generals and four crewmembers were injured  including two seriously  in a helicopter crash outside Manila on Thursday, authorities said.

National police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa survived the crash and five others were said to be out of danger. But two senior police officers, Maj. Gen. Jovic Ramos and Maj. Gen. Mariel Magaway, were being treated at a local hospital after being seriously injured, officials said.

Gamboas spokesman, Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, was also among the eight who were injured when their Bell 429 helicopter clipped a power line and crashed on Thursday morning shortly after lifting off from a police camp in suburban Laguna province, just south of Manila, the national police said in a report.

To our countrymen, I am speaking how to show you that I am okay, Gamboa said in a brief message from his hospital bed and aired by DZMM radio.

He said he was only slightly injured, and was expecting to be back to work on Monday.

"Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Pls continue to pray for full recovery of my passengers and crew," the police chief said via Twitter.

The injured passengers and crew were rushed to a hospital where all of them, except for Ramos, were proclaimed to be out of danger, officials said.

Ramos remained in critical condition and Magaway was already out of danger, although still in intensive care hours after the crash, said Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, deputy chief of operations.

Archie Gamboa, who took over as the Phillipine police chief in January 2020, salutes during a flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crane in Quezon city, Philippines, Oct. 14, 2019. [Philippine National Police via AP]

A video shot from a mobile phone by the police showed that the chopper kicked up a thick cloud of dust upon takeoff. Within a few minutes, a loud crashing sound was heard, and the helicopter was seen catching fire as it lay on its side. Emergency responders arrived within minutes and quickly put out the flames, while pulling the men from the wreckage.

Eleazar said all the survivors were later transferred to a Manila hospital, where they were still being monitored as of late Thursday.

There was zero visibility, the pilot encountered problems, then the chopper got in contact with the wire. Thats why it crashed, Eleazar said.

I am asking for prayers that the passengers would be safe. The PNP [Philippine National Police] chief is safe and we wish the same for his fellow passengers, he added.

Gamboa was the police spokesman in the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte in the 1990s. Gamboa was appointed in January to replace Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who stepped down a month before his retirement due to a scandal linking him to alleged irregularities in the Duterte administration deadly war on illegal drugs.
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) arrives to speak to abortion rights demonstrators at a rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington on March 4, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Schumer Apologizes for Supreme Court Comment: They Didnt Come out the Way I Intended

Sen. Josh Hawley introduces legislation to censure

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) apologized he made remarks critical of two conservative Supreme Court justices that some interpreted as a threat.

I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didnt come out the way I intended to. My point was that there would be political consequencespolitical consequencesfor President [Donald] Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court, with the newly confirmed justices, stripped away a womans right to choose, he remarked on the Senate Floor.

He added: Of course I didnt intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise.

It came after Schumer said on Wednesday that Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who were both appointed by President Donald Trump, would pay the price if they upheld a law in Louisiana that mandates that abortion doctors should be preapproved to check their patients to nearby hospitals. Some interpreted his words as a threat or call to action for violence against the two.

I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price, Schumer said to protesters who were gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on March 4. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

The minority leader was admonished by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other senators. At least one Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), said he would attempt to censure Schumer.

I would call on Schumer to apologize  So tomorrow I will introduce a motion to censure Schumer for his pathetic attempt at intimidation of [the Supreme Court], Hawley wrote on Twitter.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) questions Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz during a Senate Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs hearing at the US Capitol on Dec. 18, 2019 in Washington. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Schumers remarks prompted Chief Justice John Roberts to deliver a rare comment in condemnation of Schumers words as dangerous and inappropriate.

Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous, Roberts said in a statement. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.

According to the Senate Historical Office, only nine senators have been censured since 1789. The last one was Sen. David Durenberger (R-Minn.) in July 1990, who engaged in unethical conduct, and the first was Sen. Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, who had been reading confidential documents in open Senate session before an injunction of secrecy was removed, according to the website.

McConnell, at the same time, accused his counterpart of triggering a crowd of left-wing activists to boo two of the associate justices, as though Supreme Court Justices were professional athletes and Sen. Schumer were jeering from the stands.
T heres a common misconception that homeworking is a doss. As someone whos worked from home off and on  mostly on  for nearly a decade, take it from me: the opposite is true. Homeworking requires the upmost self-discipline and mental rigour. When Lady Gaga sang Aint it hard keeping it so hardcore?, it wasnt a drunk, self-soiled Bradley Cooper she had in mind. She was expressing her awed respect for the WFH massive.

Dont believe me? Youre about to find out for yourself. Twitter has already asked its staff to ride out Covid-19 from home, and if the Governments worst-case scenario comes to pass, a load more companies will soon be following suit. Only the toughest workers will survive these weeks with either their sanity or their employment contract intact, but I can help you be one of them.

First, a quick-fire Dos and Donts round: Do take a daily shower, but dont take a daily TV break to watch Loose Women. Do declutter your immediate work area, but dont make today the day you finally alphabetise your spice rack. Do put a bra on. Dont ask me to explain the science. Its a fact that the brain can only engage when the breasts are restrained. And if youre a man, I dunno, maybe invest in some extra-tight tighty-whities? A homeworkers jockstrap? Just ensure any loose items are properly stowed before take-off.

Accept that, at least 12 times per day, youll come to from a fugue state and find yourself standing in front of the open fridge door, shovelling cashews into your mouth to keep up your energy levels while you decide what else to eat.

The only way to avoid putting on the self-isolators stone is to rid your kitchen of all temptations. Add it to the padlocked Brexit/Trumps second term/all-purpose survivalist-prepper stockpile instead.

Youll also need to up your email game. As face-to-face communication is out of the question, and your phone is a luxury, all-inclusive cruise for viruses, this is now your main point of contact with the outside world.

Accept that youll find yourself standing in front of the fridge, shovelling cashews into your mouth

Unfortunately, email is fraught with potential misunderstandings. One stray exclamation mark, and youve accidentally asked your line manager to sleep over. Aim for a tone thats both direct and breezy, but never risk an actual joke, or else it will look like youve got time to spare, and your boss will increase your workload accordingly. Which brings us to time management, every homeworkers true stock-in-trade. Only time management is a misnomer. Youre not managing time, youre jealously guarding it against all the thieves whod snatch your precious minutes and make them their own. The neighbours who assume youll sign for their deliveries, the flatmate who hopes youll hang their washing, the funemployed friend who invites you out for coffee at 11am on a Tuesday. Tell them all to do one.

And if that sounds deranged, remember: its your sanity or your job. No one said you could keep both.

Why shake hands when alright? will do

Some are worried about germ transfer, the rest have hands that are red-raw and sore from constant washing. Either way, handshaking is fast going out of fashion this flu season  and would it be so terrible if it never came back in?

The traditional handshake greeting will not be easily prised from Britains firm grip. At least according to guidebooks for tourists and the Prime Minister, who has taken a Churchillian stance and vowed to continue handshaking his way through the crisis, even during official hospital visits.

Presumably thats because, for your average Brit, even a nasty bout of flu is preferable to the social awkwardness of leaning in for one cheek kiss, being surprised by a second, and then saying Ooh! Continental! in a pathetic attempt to disguise your agitation. (And if you think the slow adoption of Frances two-kiss system was bad for Britain, consider that, in the Netherlands, the custom is for not one, not two, but three kisses. Disgusting.)

Happily, handshaking has never been particularly big round our way. In east London there are several alternative greeting traditions, all of which carry only a minimal infection risk. You can say Alright? and then the other person says, Alright? and then youre done. You can aim an expressionless nod in their general direction.Or, for special occasions, theres always the suggestive wink.

Morrisons multifaceted magnificence

Toni Morrison / Getty Images

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is out tomorrow, in time for International Womens Day, because  as the title of this documentary suggests  she was a woman of many aspects. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, pictured, was also a mother, a public intellectual, a teacher and an editor whose collaborators included Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Loop Insights Inc. (TSX.V:MTRX) (the "Company" or "Loop") announces that it has launched third-party programmatic advertising ("Loop's ad platform"), creating a unique new-line revenue opportunity.

Much like Facebook and "Google Ads," Loop's artificial intelligence (AI) software now provides brick and mortar retailers with an automated platform that delivers relevant brand promotions or third-party advertisements directly to their consumers. Content is delivered via SMS, email or physical receipt based on the individual buying behaviors. Bringing this new level of personalization to brick and mortar retail advertising will drive higher consumer engagement and sales. Emarketer estimates US advertisers will spend nearly $81 billion on programmatic advertising by 2021.

Loop will benefit from two new revenue streams. Firstly, Loop generates revenue through the distribution of automated, personalized advertisements on a cost per impression model. Secondly, Loop generates revenue after each offer is redeemed, on a cost per redemption model. The revenues scale rapidly as the number of retailers increase. Based on Loop's transaction data, an average retailer sees approxim ately 8,826 transactions per month, and our average redemption rate of promotions is 10%. Using those metrics, Loop's potential reve nue would be $882.60 through distribution (8,826 transactio ns X $.10 per impression). Loop will generate an additional $441.30 through redemption (8,826 transactions X $.50/impression) if only 10% of offers lead to transactions. That would give Loop a potential $1,324 per month from each retailer. The revenue opportunity from Loop's new advertising platform is reaching a massive market with a new way to leverage programmatic advertising and allow Loop to scale very quickly.

Loop's CEO Rob Anson says: "As brick and mortar retailers continue to struggle, the need for new-line revenue opportunities has never been more critical for sustainability. Loop provides the personalization of online shopping in store. With 89% of retail transactions being conducted in store, our new advertising platform is a game-changing new-line revenue opportunity for Loop."

"Loop provides brands, retailers and third parties access to cross-channel marketing. Working together using Loop's advertising platform, local businesses increase foot traffic and sales through relevant community-based promotions. Here's how we're different: we show when, where, and what the customer bought, in relation to the promotion. Full marketing attribution is not available in the market today," adds Loop's CSO David Salisbury.

About Loop Insights Inc.

Loop Insights Inc. (TSX.V:MTRX) is a Vancouver-based technology company that has developed a unique proprietary platform that combines the power of IoT and AI to level the playing field between brick and mortar retailers and their online competition. Loop gives brands and retailers the ability to connect their physical and digital assets, regardless of hardware or IT networks, thus enabling rapid deployment and global scale. Retailers and brands benefit from making real-time, data-driven decisions that help them curate unique personalized customer experiences in stores.

For more information, please contact:

Loop Insights Inc.

Soy Garipoglu, Manager, IR

T: 877-754-5336

E: ir@loopinsights.ca

CHF Capital Markets

Cathy Hume, CEO

T: 416-868-1079 x 231

E: cathy@chfir.com

Website:?https://www.loopinsights.ai/?

Facebook:?@LoopInsights?

Twitter:?@LoopInsights?

LinkedIn:?@LoopInsights??

Forward-Looking Statements/Information:

This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward looking statements or information, including statements regarding Loop's business and technology; the ability of Loop to engage with industry participants to achieve its goals; the development of Loop's technology; and the viability of Loop's business model. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Loop's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although Loop believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, Loop does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of Loop should be considered highly speculative. There can be no assurance that Loop will be able to achieve all or any of its proposed objectives.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: LOOP Insights Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579214/Loop-Insights-Launches-Innovative-Adtech-Platform-for-Brick-and-Mortar-Retailers-and-Brands
Education Minister Ong Ye Kung speaks in Parliament. PHOTO: Screengrab from Gov.sg YouTube channel

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be equipping every Secondary 1 student with a personal learning device by 2024 in an effort to raise the country's digital literacy, said Education Ministry Ong Ye Kung on Wednesday (4 March).

The scheme is part of the the ministry's National Digital Literacy Programme targetted at Institutes of Higher Learning and schools, announced by the minister at the MOE's Committee of Supply debate.

Students will be able to pay for the device through their Edusave accounts  the government will be providing a $200 top-up for all Singaporean students in primary and secondary school. By 2028, all secondary school students are expected to be equipped with a digital device.

Ong cited the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS), MOEs online learning platform which helps to transform the learning experiences of students through the purposeful use of technology. The MOE had started building it some years ago, way before there was COVID-19.

The idea, however, was not to make students learn completely online, and then don't have to go to school. The quality and outcomes of e-learning will never be the same as a physical learning environment with teachers, with friends, CCAs and the social setting, Ong said.

Using the platform, eight secondary schools participated in a pilot project where teachers conducted lessons through the SLS, and every student had a personal learning device to access a portal.

Through that, the minister said, teachers learnt that they needed new pedagogies to deal with the new technologies used. With e-learning, it was also useful for each student to have a personal learning device rather than share their devices, noted the minister.

As such, the minister said that the MOE would be expanding the programme over the next few years to all secondary schools, where all Secondary 1 students will be equipped with their own devices.

The personal learning device could come in the form of a tablet, laptop or chromebook, and would be affordable, said Ong. It would not be a high-end device as it would be used primarily for learning, he added, sharing that a bulk tender would further lower the prices of devices to a few hundred dollars.

Story continues

Students will be able to pay for the device through their Edusave accounts which the government contributes to annually.

In anticipation of the initiative, the government will provide another $200 top-up to the Edusave accounts for all Singaporean students in primary and secondary school. The effort will cost a total of $75 million.

We expect most students to have enough balance in their Edusave accounts to pay for the device. Some who have used more of their Edusave funds might have to fork out a bit of cash. But MOE will provide further subsidies for secondary students from lower income groups and ensure that they pay $0.

Speaking more about digital literacy on Wednesday, the minister noted that there was a need to think about digital literacy "more deeply and holistically", rather than simply implement populist initiatives such as making coding compulsory for all students.

Not everyone will grow up to be a coder. Many of us, we just need to learn how to use technology and software and be comfortable with using the further programming languages, said Ong.

As such, schools would embed digital literacy within overall school curriculum, rather than a a standalone subject, said Ong.

We do not need a new subject called computational thinking. The elements are present in existing subjects, especially, mathematics, where there's a strong focus on problem solving, already. So what schools can do is to explicitly draw out the learning points for mathematics, the minister pointed out.

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More Parliament stories:

2 new initiatives to help students with special education needs: Indranee Rajah

More focus on mental health, cyber wellness in Singapore schools
Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI of Spain paid their respects at the funeral of Spanish businessman Placido Arango yesterday.

The royal, 47, donned an all-black ensemble as she greeted other mourners outside San Jeronimo el Real in Madrid alongside her husband, 52.

The couple, who have been married since 2004, were unusually tactile as they comforted each other over the loss of their friend.

Placido, who died on February 17 aged 88, was a successful Mexico-born business man and founder of popular Spanish food chain Vips - which he sold two years ago.

Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI of Spain paid their respects at the funeral of Spanish businessman Placido Arango yesterday

Placido (pictured), who died on February 17 aged 88, was a successful Mexico-born business man and founder of popular Spanish food chain Vips - which he sold two years ago

He moved to Spain in 1965 and founded the restaurant in 1969.

Queen Letizia donned a black coat over trousers of the same colour and added height with a pair of stilettos.

The mother-of-two, who shares daughters Leonor, Princess of Asturias, 14, and Infanta Sofia of Spain, 12, with King Felipe, kept warm in the chill air with a matching black scarf, and kept her brunette tresses straight.

The royal, 47, donned an all-black ensemble for the funeral at San Jeronimo el Real in Madrid alongside her husband, 52 (pictured arriving at the church)

Spanish publisher Elena Ochoa (pictured), 61, was also seen arriving at the former 16th century monastery where the funeral was held last night

King Felipe wore a double-breasted suit as he greeted the relatives of Placido Arango (left to right: Cristina Iglesias, Placido Arango Jr, Paco Arango and Maite Arango)

The couple, who have been married since 2004, cosied up as they comforted each other over the loss of their friend

Queen Letizia donned a black coat over trousers of the same colour and added height with a pair of stilettos

Spanish publisher Elena Ochoa, 61, was also seen arriving at the former 16th century monastery where the funeral was held last night.

The art curator looked downcast as she donned a pair of oversized black sunglasses to cover her eyes.

Other notable attendees included Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and Filipina socialite Isabel Preysler.

Placido, who was prominent in the Spanish art world, was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Prince of Asturias Foundation since its creation, on September 24, 1980, and its president from July 1987 to March 1996.

Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and Filipina socialite Isabel Preysler arrived at the funeral at Los Jeronimos

As the royal couple entered the church they greeted close family members of Placido. He grasped hold of Placido's partner Cristina Iglesias

Queen Letizia, who shares daughters Leonor, Princess of Asturias, 14, and Infanta Sofia of Spain, 12, with King Felipe, completed her look with a brown eyeliner and a dash of lipstick

He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit, the Gold Medal for the Fine Arts, the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute of New Yorks Gold Medal and the Juan Llado Award for Cultural Patronage and Research.

He had also been named Adoptive Son of Salas  the town where his father was born  and also of the Principality of Asturias.

In 2005 he was awarded the Colombia is Pasion from the Colombian government for contributing to the improvement of relations between Spain and Colombia.
It may or may not have been Alastair Campbell who invented what came to be known as Campbells Rule, but it has come to be received wisdom in journalistic circles. It commonly states (there are variations) that if a media frenzy is still raging after a period of 10 days then the political personality at the centre of it is toast. If so, then the home secretary, Priti Patel, still in post after a fortnight of hostile coverage, should survive, except that, such is the rich back catalogue of allegations being made against her  all of which she denies  the Campbell calendar keeps getting reset in an almost perpetual fashion.

Patels troubles began on 20 February. It was then reported that she had attempted to have the permanent secretary at the Home Office, her most senior civil servant, Sir Philip Rutnam, moved to another job. It was said  and denied by Patel  that there was a toxic atmosphere and that she had created an atmosphere of fear. There were lurid allegations about bullying, belittling officials in meetings and making unreasonable demands, particularly on the new points-based immigration system. The cabinet secretary, Mark Sedwill, was drawn into the saga, the rest of Fleet Street sniffed a good tale with plenty of human interest, and opposition MPs started to call for her sacking. Conveniently, the Patel story fitted nicely into a pattern and growing movement highlighting workplace bullying along with allegations against speaker John Bercow (which he has denied) and the Westminster/Whitehall culture of bullying  a strong narrative, as the saying goes.

The story rumbled on, as they do, for a few days. There was a briefing war, Tory MPs lined up to support Patel against a supposedly recalcitrant civil service, and Downing Street expressed varying degrees of confidence in her. The Patel/bullying story was starting to lose momentum, overtaken by the flooding and, of course, coronavirus. The public and the press were starting to get distracted.
25 new COVID-19 cases found in India

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:58, March 04, 2020

NEW DELHI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- As many as 25 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in India since Tuesday, said the country's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday.

Addressing to the media in New Delhi, the minister said the new cases included 16 Italian nationals and one Indian driver who accompanied them on a tour.

All the Italian nationals found suffering from COVID-19 have been shifted to a camp set up in Delhi.

"They wanted to go back to their home country, but they were refused to travel by the Italian government and asked to stay back in India. So we have kept them in isolation in a special camp set up in Delhi," said the health minister.

He said the first three positive cases found in the southern state of Kerala had been successfully treated. "If they are added too, we can say that the total number of positive COVID-19 cases found in India till date is 28."

The minister told the media after concluding an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation.

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Hanjin Kal general shareholders meeting on March 29, 2019. Courtesy of Korean Air



By Kim Hyun-bin



Fears of the deadly coronavirus spreading further have companies on their toes as they prepare last minute countermeasures before their general shareholder meetings throughout March.



All companies listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ are scheduled to hold shareholders meetings before March 31, but companies are worried whether they will be able to proceed with the meetings or see big enough turnouts for a vote.



Miwon Chemicals was the first listed enterprise to hold its shareholders meeting Feb. 28, while the country's tech giant Samsung Electronics is scheduled to hold their meeting on March 18, followed by Hyundai Motors March 19, LG Household & Health Care March 20 and SK Telecom scheduled for March 26.



305 firms are scheduled to hold their general meeting on March 24, often dubbed the "super shareholders meeting day."



However, companies have seen calls pour in from shareholders inquiring as to any changes to the shareholders meeting schedules, as the COVID-19 epidemic gets worse by the day.



Shareholders from across the country attend the general shareholders meetings, and many are worried about the potential for mass infection with so many people gathered in one place.



Normally, annual meetings are held at the headquarters of the respective firms. Many, however, see this as a major gamble considering the nation's current high-alert state. Just one infected person at a meeting could result in a devastating blow to the company, as any building or firm visited by a coronavirus patient has no choice but to temporarily shut down, often resulting in severe financial losses.



Many companies also have affiliates in China, and most of their operations have been forced to pause as the virus spreads. This situation makes it difficult for companies to accurately update their account balances for their annual meetings.



Under current law, all listed firms must hold a general shareholders meeting within three months of the end of the fiscal year to receive approval for the years' financial statements.



Most of the listed firms' financial statements last year ended in December, so they are obliged to hold an annual meeting before March 31.





Korean Air's general shareholders meeting on March 27, 2019. Courtesy of Korean Air
The wine world, tied as it is to cultural and historical traditions (or boat anchors, depending on your point of view), unsurprisingly lags behind much of the world in many areas. The one I spend most of the time talking about is technology, but the area that does not get talked about enough is equality.

Roughly 62% of the graduates of the prestigious UC Davis Viticulture and Enology program are women. Yet the percentage of California wineries who employ a female winemaker hovers at around 10%.

This is awful and needs to be fixed. There are talented women to be celebrated. There must be progress. And we should drink well while doing it.

Which is why you should consider attending this years incarnation of WINeFare, a celebration of women and natural wine put on by a long-standing member of the San Francisco wine scene, Pamela Busch. Pamela was one of the partners in Hayes and Vine, one of San Franciscos earliest wine bars (before they were a thing) and has been evangelizing good wine forever.

In recent years, shes focused more squarely on natural and sustainable wines and those who make them, and has been a strong voice for womens equality in the world of wine. That has led her, among other things, to create WINeFare, an annual tasting of natural wines made by women, poured by women, and celebrated by women.

The tasting will be held at The Womens Building in the Mission District and will feature more than 22 different producers. This years theme is Drinking Clearly: an exploration in transparency, labor, process, and people behind wine.

WINeFare: Women in Natural Wine Tasting

Saturday, March 7th

1:00 PM  5:00 PM

The Womens Building

3543 18th St. (between Valencia and Guerrero)

San Francisco, CA 94110

$50 gets you into the tasting with discounts for those in the trade and for students. Get your tickets in advance. 16th Street BART station is a short walk away from the venue, so you dont have to drink and drive. Parking is a nightmare in that section of the Mission anyhow.
RTHK: Court says Dubai leader ordered daughters' abduction

Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum ordered the abduction of two of his daughters and subjected his former wife to a "campaign of fear and intimidation", forcing her to flee to London with their two children, according to a British court ruling made public on Thursday.

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, fled the United Arab Emirates last April having become "terrified" of her husband, who is also the vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Soon afterwards, the 70-year-old sheikh applied for their two children  a son aged eight and a 12-year-old daughter  to be returned to the Gulf kingdom.

But Princess Haya, a half-sister of Jordan's King Abdullah II, applied for the children to be made wards of court and filed a non-molestation order for herself.

She asked during a London hearing for a judge to make findings of fact about the kidnapping and forced detention of two of the sheikh's adult daughters from a previous marriage.

She also alleged she had faced a "campaign of fear and intimidation" since she left last year.

Sheikh Mohammed, who owns the Godolphin horse racing stable, tried to prevent two of the court rulings being made public.

But the Supreme Court rejected his application on Thursday morning, allowing them to be published.

Judge Andrew McFarlane, who heads the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales, found Sheikh Mohammed "ordered and orchestrated" the abduction of Sheikha Shamsa from the UK city of Cambridge when she was 19 in August 2000.

She was forcibly returned to Dubai and "has been deprived of her liberty for much, if not all, of the past two decades", he said.

He also found Shamsa's sister, Latifa, 35, was seized and returned to Dubai twice, in 2002 and again in 2018. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Citing a lack of evidence, a federal judge has booted out a Staten Island mans $6 million lawsuit alleging two cops savagely beat him and hurled homophobic slurs when arresting him four years ago in Manhattan.

James Rolkiewicz claimed the officers used excessive force, knocked him unconscious and inflicted severe injuries on Sept. 1, 2015.

However, the medical records in the case directly and irrefutably contradict Rolkiewiczs account, declared District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. in a 29-page ruling.

There was no evidence Rolkiewicz suffered a crushed vertebrae, nerve damage or long-term physical consequences to his neck or spine, caused by the confrontation as alleged, said the judge.

Rolkiewiczs hospital records showed his only facial injury was a contusion on the head, Carter said.

Rolkiewicz had been resisting arrest on Barrow Street when one of the cops hit him twice in the back with an unopened metal baton to subdue him, the judge wrote.

Carter ruled a reasonable officer in similar circumstances could have believed such minimal force was necessary to effect the arrest. In addition, the blows apparently did not cause any injuries of consequence, such as bruises, lacerations, fractures or severe damage, said the judge.

Carter also tossed out Rolkiewiczs claims of denial of medical treatment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy. The suit was filed in Manhattan federal court.

Plaintiff falsely and outrageously accused these officers of targeting and beating him because of his sexual orientation, said Patricia Miller, chief of the city Law Departments Special Federal Litigation Division. These slanderous accusations have been rejected by a court finding that the objective evidence directly and irrefutably contradicted plaintiffs story.

These officers have been vindicated, Miller said.

Pamela S. Roth, Rolkiewiczs lawyer, said she absolutely intends to appeal.

He was assaulted, and he deserves his day in court, said Roth.

Rolkiewicz, 57, alleged the events unfolded while he suffered an asthma attack walking down Barrow Street in Greenwich Village.

Two cops, Colin Sullivan and James Quirk, pulled up in a patrol car as Rolkiewicz sat down on the steps of the Greenwich House Music Society to search for his inhaler.

The cops called him a "f------ f-----," and proceeded to beat and choke him after he gave them his ID, Rolkiewicz alleged.

They smashed his face into the hood of the patrol car, choked and punched him in the middle of his spinal column, causing him to lose consciousness 10 or 11 times, alleged Rolkiewicz.

The cops said they were arresting Rolkiewicz because a search showed he had five active warrants and a prior manslaughter conviction, the judges decision said.

Rolkiewicz fought with them as they tried to handcuff him, contended the cops.

To help subdue him, Sullivan hit Rolkiewicz twice in the muscle portion of his back, the cops maintained.

The officers said Rolkiewicz never lost consciousness en route to the police station or when he was later taken to the hospital at his request.

Rolkiewicz was arrested the next day in Manhattan Criminal Court where he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to time served, said court papers.

Rolkiewicz alleged he was bleeding and battered after the arrest.

He alleged to have suffered permanent damages to (his)  neck and spine including crushed vertebrae  (and) hand damage to (his) nerves, court documents said.

But the Lenox Hill Hospital records from the night of the event tell a very different story, wrote Carter.

They showed Rolkiewiczs only post-arrest injury was a contusion on the right side of the head.

While the plaintiff complained of back and shoulder pain, X-Rays revealed no fractures or dislocations, said the judge.

The ultimate diagnosis was chronic pain for Rolkiewicz, who admittedly suffered from spinal stenosis prior to the incident, the judge said.

In tossing out the suit, Carter also ruled there was no proof Rolkiewicz had suffered from emotional distress due to the incident.

Nor was there any evidence that cops had conspired to deprive him of his civil rights, said the judge.

Public records list addresses for Rolkiewicz in Bay Terrace and Port Richmond.
Madhya Pradesh crisis: Congress MLA goes 'missing'; son files police complaint

India

pti-PTI

Bhopal, Mar 05:The son of Congress MLA Bisahulal Singh on Thursday lodged a complaint with the police here that his father was "missing".

The complaint comes amid the ongoing political drama over alleged poaching attempt by the BJP to pull down the 14- month-old Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh (65) is the legislator from the Anuppur seat. His son Tejbhan Singh said in the complaint that his father left house in Malviya Nagar at 5 pm on March 2, telling them he was going to Raipur in adjoining Chhattisgarh, a police officer said. Since then, the Congress MLA is "missing" and is untraceable, the officer said, quoting the complaint.

The Congress has alleged that in order to topple the Kamal government, the BJP has "abducted" MLAs of the ruling party and its allies.

However, the BJP has denied the charges and termed the current crisis as a result of infighting and dissatisfaction among Congress legislators.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians Civil Contract party has been criticized by some of its political allies for hiring several hundred people previously linked to Armenias former authorities to conduct the upcoming referendum on controversial constitutional amendments sought by it.

Under Armenian law, the two rival camps campaigning for and against the draft amendments are each allowed to name two of the seven members of some 2,000 precinct election commissions that will handle the April 5 referendum in polling stations across the country. They both practically filled these quotas by last weekends legal deadline.

It emerged that more than 500 commission members appointed by Civil Contract, which leads the Yes campaign, had already been chosen by the former ruling Republican Party (HHK) and its former coalition partners to sit on election commissions formed for December 2018 parliamentary elections. Critics claim that at least some of these individuals were involved in vote irregularities that had marred previous Armenian elections.

Vahagn Hovakimian, a leading Civil Contract member, dismissed the criticism on Thursday. He said that the Yes campaign has carried out background checks on those commission members and found that only one of them was implicated in electoral fraud. That person has been disqualified from the referendum process as a result, he said.

Hovakimian also argued that the 2018 elections, held six months after the Pashinian-led Velvet Revolution, were widely recognized as free and fair.

A senior representative of former President Levon Ter-Petrosians Armenian National Congress (HAK) party dismissed this explanation, insisting that Pashinians political team has recruited people notorious for a very dubious behavior.

People who were tainted during [past] electoral processes must never again deal with [new] electoral processes, Armen Khachatrian told RFE/RLs Armenian service. The authorities should have been very careful.

Khachatrian complained in this regard that only 180 of some 1,200 people nominated by the HAK have been appointed to the referendum commissions by the Yes campaign.

Hovakimian countered that Civil Contract could not have picked more HAK nominees because of the limited number of commission seats. Also, he said, there are far fewer commission members representing other parties supporting the proposed constitutional changes.

The amendments call for ending the powers of the chairman and six other judges of Armenias seven-member Constitutional Court who had been installed by former governments. Pashinian has repeatedly accused them of maintaining links to the corrupt former regime and obstructing judicial reforms.

Pashinians political opponents and other critics say that he is simply seeking to fill the countrys highest court with his loyalists. They have also denounced the referendum as unconstitutional.
The decision was backed by 263 MPs.

Ukrainian parliamentarians have voted in favor of a motion of no confidence in the country's Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka.

Respective resolution No. 3154 was backed by 263 MPs out of the 376 lawmakers registered in the session hall on March 5, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

As many as 179 members of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction and 36 members of the Opposition Platform  For Life Party voted for Riaboshapka's dismissal. The For Future group gave 15 votes, the Dovira group 16 votes. In addition, 17 independent MPs backed the decision.

Read alsoParliament votes to accept PM Honcharuk's resignation, Cabinet disbands

Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna Party, Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity Party, and the Holos (Voice) Party did not give any vote.

Eighteen lawmakers voted against no confidence in Riaboshapka, 73 abstained, and 22 did not take part in the vote.

The resolution provides for expressing no confidence in Prosecutor General Riaboshapka, which entails his dismissal from the post.

The resolution, in particular, says that, given the "importance and urgency of establishing justice on key demands by the public, there is every reason to assert that Ruslan Riaboshapka's performance as prosecutor general and, as a result, his suitability for the position, is insufficient."

"The failure to investigate and a delay in an investigation into the most notorious crimes indicate the Prosecutor General's unwillingness, impossibility or inability to ensure the fulfillment of the tasks set by law before the Prosecutor General's Office, including the prosecution in general," it says.

The document shall come into force from the moment of adoption.

When addressing parliamentarians before the no-confidence vote, Riaboshapka said that "the resolution is based on a blatant lie and manipulation."

"I haven't become anybody's servant. I have been and remain independent. But an independent prosecutor cannot be forced [into doing what others want], he can only be fired. And I'm leaving, but I'm leaving to return," he said.

After these words, he left the session hall, despite Parliament Speaker Dmytro Razumkov's comment that Riaboshapka should stay for a Q&A session.

Some lawmakers shouted 'Shame!' after the chief prosecutor had left the hall.
In November 2018, 1,581 people voted in the MSC on Election Day, and 769 voted at the MSC on Election Day in November 2016.

Hancock also said that because this was the first primary with the new HART election equipment, there was a learning curve for those involved, and she anticipated future elections would run more smoothly as staff and workers become more familiar with the machines.

She also said that the local parties did not adequately staff the MSC. She said the MSC had five poll workers, and for that location to run efficiently, it has to be staffed with at least six seasoned workers.  We can deploy more equipment, but if there is not staff, it is to no avail.

Final numbers were delivered to local media outlets inside the Brazos Center just prior to 11:20 p.m., considerably later than in recent years for primary and general elections.

Hancock said that more election workers are needed for the November general election, and that the county elections office will head the staffing of polling locations in the fall. Those interested in participating as election judges would be able to assist in November, she said.
MANILA, Philippines  The Pasig City government has officially turned over its two ferry boats to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to be added to the existing fleet for the Pasig River Ferry Service (PRFS).

The turn-over was held during Wednesdays signing of the memorandum of agreement between the MMDA and the Pasig City government.

Improved facilities, more boats, information dissemination, and consistency will make the PRFS ridership increase and even double in number, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto said during the ceremony.

The two 57-seater ferry boats, M/B Mutya ng Pasig 1 and 2, are equipped with closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to ensure safety of passengers. It also has overhead electric fans for ventilation and toilet room.

MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim thanked Sotto for his citys donation.

The two boats donated to the PRFS by the City of Pasig is surely a big help to continually give the best service to our passengers, Lim said.

Since its relaunch in December 2019, the Pasig ferry service accommodates an average of 700 to 1,000 passengers a day.

MMDA Deputy Chairman and PRFS Head Undersecretary Frisco San Juan, Jr. said that other local government units in Metro Manila have pledged support to the project.

He said the Manila City government has pledged to donate two boats while Pasig LGU proposed a free shuttle ride to the station during rush hour to promote the ferry service.

San Juan also revealed that the Office of the President has promised to donate two boats to the service.

The MMDA earlier announced that the Pasig River ferry ride will remain free until March 31.

The post Pasig LGU turns over 2 boats for MMDA Pasig River ferry service appeared first on UNTV News.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: Former US President Barack Obama called Wednesday for people to take "common sense precautions" over the coronavirus outbreak -- advising them to follow hand-washing guidelines but not to wear masks.

"Save the masks for health care workers. Let's stay calm, listen to the experts, and follow the science," tweeted Obama, who has kept a low public profile since leaving office in 2017.

Protect yourself and your community from coronavirus with common sense precautions: wash your hands, stay home when sick and listen to the @CDCgov and local health authorities. Save the masks for health care workers. Lets stay calm, listen to the experts, and follow the science.  Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 4, 2020

He said people should keep track of updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- and stay home if they are sick.

ALSO READ: New cases in Los Angeles, New York as lawmakers reach funding deal

The World Health Organization has said masks, goggles and other protective equipment used by health workers were in short supply due to "rising demand, hoarding and misuse."

The death toll in the US from the virus rose to 11 on Wednesday, as lawmakers in Congress reached a deal to provide more than $8 billion to fight the outbreak.

Nationwide, more than 130 people have so far been infected, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states.


From his presence on the big screen to the small screen, his blogs to his witty captions for social media posts, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan never fails to amaze his fans and followers. With his latest social media post, the actor has impressed his fans yet again.







Amitabh Bachchan has shared a throwback picture of Jaya Bachchan, where she is seen posing as Swami Vivekananda. This picture is apparently from the veteran actress Bengali film Dagtar Babu whose shooting was left incomplete.



On the work front, Amitabh has some big releases lined up this year. He will be seen in Shoojit Sircars Gulabo Sitabo Ayan Mukerjis Brahmastra and a few more films like Chehre and Jhund. Keep watching this space for more on Bollywood.
Cavan Calling is offering you the chance to win flights to Ireland from anywhere in the world this August to attend Cavans exciting new homecoming festival.

This fantastic competition invites entrants to share their memories, impressions, or dreams of County Cavan through a story or photo posted to www.facebook.com/cavancalling, with the post receiving the most likes winning this fantastic jet-setting prize. T&Cs apply.

This prize is ideal for a loved one living abroad so be sure and encourage friends and family to share their Cavan stories and pictures!

Cavan Calling will see Cavan people, those with ancestors from the Breffni County, or those with an affinity for Cavan, welcomed home for a weekend celebration of Cavan, its people, its culture, heritage, music, and landscape.

A packed programme of events has been lined up for Cavan Calling, with street concerts, an American Wake, colourful street performances and parades, a bumper fireworks extravaganza, a spectacular military show, theatre, exhibitions, talks, ancestry events, business networking opportunities, a gala ball and much, much more!

The inaugural #CavanDay will also be launched in Cavan on Saturday, 22nd August in an explosion of colour, music, spectacle, and dance - with a #CavanDay parade, street performance, music on the street and more.

From Dowra to Dubai, Ballyjamesduff to Boston, Cavan people across the globe are invited to shout about their county on Cavan Day. Those who cant be in Cavan on the day can share their pictures, memories, and thoughts of Cavan on social media using the hashtag #CavanDay and tell the world theyre proud to be from Cavan!

Cavan is calling you home. Answer the call. 20th-23rd August 2020.

To join in, visit www.cavancalling.com, email info@cavandiaspora.com or follow @cavancalling on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
A Birmingham woman has been indicted in last years fatal shooting of her husband in Ensley.

A Jefferson County grand jury has issued a murder indictment against 39-year-old Cheryl Charmayne Watts. Her husband, 41-year-old Hassan Mallette, was killed Aug. 31, 2019 at the couples home.

The shooting happened just before 4 p.m. that Saturday in the 5700 block of Court O in Ensley. Police said they were responded to the location on a report of a person shot.

When they arrived on the scene, they found a wounded Mallette. He was taken by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Hassan Mallette (Contributed)

Watts was taken into custody at the scene and held overnight in the Birmingham City Jail pending formal charges. She was transferred to the Jefferson County Jail where she was booked in just after 6 p.m. the following day. She was released from jail on Sept. 2 after posting $60,000 bond.

Watts attorney, Emory Anthony, said the deadly shooting was self-defense. A trial date has not yet been set.
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. The first and by far only coronavirus patients wife who is quarantined for already 4 days continues testing negative for the virus, Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said at the Cabinet meeting.

He said that so far no new cases of the virus were recorded in the country and that all preventive measures continue being carried out.

We have the one confirmed case, who is hospitalized at the Nork Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yerevan, and 31 citizens who are quarantined in special isolation conditions in Tsakhkadzor. All of them are feeling well, no one has any symptoms, including the confirmed patient. Yesterday we tested his wife, who tested negative for the disease. That is, this virus - being a contagious disease - we see on our own practice that it isnt highly contagious, Torosyan said.

The patient is a 29-year-old man who traveled to Iran with his wife. His wife had tested negative once again during the first day of quarantine.

Torosyan said 161 suspected cases have been tested so far, and all results came back negative. He said the country can carry on with its normal life as the situation is under control.

PM Nikol Pashinyan asked about the quarantined citizens who are kept at the Golden Palace previously defunct hotel in the resort town of Tsakhkadzor. Pashinyan asked whether the citizens are provided with everything they need. Torosyan said the quarantined citizens have everything they need, including internet access and books to read. They will be kept in quarantine until March 14.

Torosyan said that the COVID19 infections and death rate in China is dropping. However the situation is worsening in other countries, in South Korea, Iran, Italy, and a few hundred more cases have been confirmed in France and Germany. In Georgia and Russia the situation is better and it is expected that if European countries are able to carry out accurate measures we will see decrease in these countries two or three weeks after the peak, he said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Seven Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha were suspended for the rest of the Budget session, as ruckus disrupted proceedings in the Lower House for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday. The MPs including Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, R Unnithan, Manickam Tagore, Benny Behnan, and Gurjeet Singh Aujla, were suspended on charges of 'gross misconduct', reports said.

Seven Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha were suspended for the rest of the Budget session, as ruckus disrupted proceedings in the Lower House for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday. The MPs, including Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, R Unnithan, Manickam Tagore, Benny Behnan, and Gurjeet Singh Aujla, were suspended on charges of "gross misconduct", reports said.

The Lok Sabha passed a motion suspending the MPs after they snatched papers from the Speaker's table, PTI reported. The current session is scheduled to end on 3 April.

While Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, said that the party members had done nothing wrong, suspended MP Gogoi said, "Suspend us for a year, but discuss the Delhi riots and heal wounds of people."

He also tweeted, "Suspend me, but please discuss Delhi riots tomorrow. Show your accountability towards the very people who voted for you. No matter the number, my party Congress derives its strength from our commitment towards Bharat Mata and we will continue to seek justice from Prime Minister Modi."

#UPDATE Seven Congress MPs- Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, R Unnithan, Manickam Tagore, Benny Behnan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla have been suspended from Lok Sabha for the rest of the budget session on charges of gross misconduct https://t.co/XCAI1qpBuB  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

Meanwhile, the BJP welcomed the decision to suspend the "unruly" members and said that their conduct in the Lower House was "unprecedented". Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said his party has requested Speaker Om Birla to set up a panel to look into the continuous "indiscipline" by Congress members.

"Snatching papers from the Speaker's table is utmost disrespect to the Chair. We condemn this," he told reporters. Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the "unruly" behaviour of the Congress MPs would have shocked the country's founding fathers. "We welcome the decision to suspend the unruly Congress members," he added.

As soon as the House met at 3 pm following an adjournment, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who was presiding over the House, named the seven members. Once a member is named by the Chair, he or she cannot attend the House for that day.

The Parliamentary Affairs minister then moved a motion to suspend these members from the House for the remaining period of the Budget session. The motion was passed by a voice vote amid protests by Opposition members.

Lekhi then asked the seven members to leave the Lok Sabha chambers immediately and then adjourned the House for the day.

The Hindu reported that Congress MPs were also demanding the suspension of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MP Hanuman Beniwal for his remark on the Gandhi family, when he said that the government should find out "whether coronavirus was spread from Sonia Gandhi's family in Italy".

The report said, "As Rama Devi, who was in the chair, continued to run the proceedings of the House, Congress members intensified sloganeering saying, 'Suspend the MP, Modi Sarkar shame shame."

The Lok Sabha has seen a slew of disruptions over the Delhi violence since the current session began on 2 March. Opposition MPs demanded a discussion in the House over the spate of violence that gripped northeast Delhi for three days since 23 February.

While Birla insisted that the House would discuss the issue on 11 March, Opposition and Treasury MPs also pushed and shoved each other amid the ruckus.

With inputs from agencies
Carolyn Sherman was brought up surrounded by a loving family whose members didn't mind helping and giving back to others. She witnessed their kindheartedness and later embodied it in her own life.

Sherman spent 32 years working as an employee with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, including as director of the DSS offices in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties.

She learned a lot about strengthening adults and families with her DSS service, but her work didn't stop there.

Whether she's baking a cake for a family, taking someone to a doctor's appointment or helping mold young minds for futures in academic research, her giving spirit flows not just from her home, but her church and Claflin University, where the retiree now works part-time as program manager for a federal Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement grant.

It is Sherman's kind, well-meaning nature and desire to spread good will throughout her community that led the Orangeburg County Community of Character initiative to honor her for her benevolence.

It was a recognition which Sherman said she accepted with surprise and "a loss for words."

"I was like, 'Huh? Me?' I was honored and humbled to get such an award," she said.

She benevolence means helping others with anything they may need.

"I worked for the Department of Social Services for over 30 years. I certainly thought that my agency represented that, in that we helped the community help people who were less fortunate and in need as far as paying rent sometimes, buying groceries, helping with deposits, finding housing, all kinds of things. So that agency certainly represented helping people out in all sorts of ways," Sherman said.

Sherman worked in various counties throughout her career at DSS, beginning with the Orangeburg County DSS, where she worked with the Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or AFDC, program, as well as in adult protective services. She would later retire from the Orangeburg County DSS office as its director.

"I started my career in Orangeburg, and I ended my career in Orangeburg. I did it full circle," she said.

She said it is important to couple benevolence with humility.

"I think it's very important, especially as the director of DSS. I used to tell the workers all the time that when you go into somebody's house, you don't interrogate them. You try to establish a relationship and let them know that you really care about them," Sherman said.

She fondly reflects back on the time growing up with her mother, Frances, and grandmother, Elmar. She said it was a time during which she witnessed how others helped them and how she always "migrated toward elderly people."

"My mother and my grandmother never drove. So they needed a lot of help, I guess, with people in the community helping them out, doing favors, taking them places and that kind of thing. And in that, I always felt the need to help people, to help anybody that I ran into. I think that's just a part of who I am," Sherman said.

She attends Trinity United Methodist Church in Orangeburg, where she serves as treasurer and doesn't mind using her baking and driving skills to help others out.

"I help out a lot of my church members sometimes with getting to doctor's appointments, sometimes just spending time and talking with them. With some of our folks who don't like to drive at night and that kind of thing, I go and pick them up and try to give them a ride.

"I think that's just a part of my spirit, I just love helping people where the needs are, whether it's taking somebody to a doctor's appointment, picking up medication, or picking up groceries," Sherman said.

She also loves to cook and doesn't mind sharing the bounty of her own kitchen.

"And I love to cook and bake, and I take dinner sometimes to some of our members. I bake a lot. I bake a lot of cakes and that kind of thing for our members and not just our church members, but anybody. I just like to surprise folks sometimes with a cake or something like that," Sherman said, smiling.

She said her mother was the same way.

"She was a very helpful person and loved to feed people, feed the community, feed family. So I think that kind of started with my her and my grandmother. I just kind of observed and watched how they interacted with people. A lot of people would congregate at my grandmother's house, or at my mother's house because she was always in there cooking when she wasn't working," Sherman said.

She is also a member of the Orangeburg chapter of The Links, where she continues to help.

"We do an after-school program at Mellichamp (Elementary School). We go every Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. We offer tutoring, we work on soft skills such as oral presentations. We work with the students with talking to crowds of people and on their writing skills. We have five facets in our organization ... I happen to be over the arts facet. So we do try to slip an art project in there when we're talking about the different subjects," Sherman said.

While she works part-time at Claflin University, she is often seen staying all day.

"I enjoy it. I really enjoy working with the students, and I enjoy what I do. We get to travel a good bit, too. The students present at national scientific conferences and regional conferences. So that's a good plus," Sherman said.

She added, "Claflin is almost one of the best kept secrets because these students here do phenomenal work in their research. There's so much to be very proud of. When they go to these national conferences to represent this school, they leave their mark and people ask about Claflin."

Sherman and her husband, Bernard Sherman Sr., have lived in Orangeburg for nearly 40 years and are the parents of two children, Bernard Jr. 35, and Gabrielle, 30. Sherman said she tries to instill in her own children the same values that her mother and grandmother instilled in her.

"My daughter used to work at Jamison's Pharmacy, and I was surprised at how I'd hear from some of the patrons that went to Jamison's Pharmacy how helpful and nice and friendly Gabrielle was. I'm like, 'OK. She got it. I didn't always see it, but she got it," Sherman said.

She added, "It's the same thing with my son. He works for DSS in Columbia at the state office, and those are the kinds of things I hear about him, how helpful, friendly and nice he is."

She praised the OCCOC for its efforts to spread good character throughout the community.

"I think it's a wonderful program. I think the character traits that they emphasize and promote are good traits for basic living," Sherman said.

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Award winning Wicklow songstress Luan Parle comes to Backstage this Saturday, March 7, as part of a nationwide tour marking the release of her forthcoming new album.

Meteor and Tatler Award winner Luan Parle has had numerous hits and accolades including Meteor Award for Best Irish Female.

Her top 10 hit single, Ghost, spent three months in the Irish Charts and was the most played Irish single of that year.

Parle signed her first record deal at just 12 years of age before later signing with Sony Music and Elton Johns management company Twenty First Artists.

Luan has written and recorded with some of the worlds most successful songwriters and producers, including Grammy award winning Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow, Michael Jackson, Prince, Travelling Wilburys, Elton John) and Billy Steinberg (Madonna, Roy Orbison, Cyndi Lauper, The Pretenders, Whitney Houston, The Bangles, Celine Dion).

Luan will be playing songs from her new album, which features ten original tracks, including two co-writes with Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes. She will be accompanied on the night by renowned guitarist Clive Barnes.

Luan Parle and Clive Barnes will perform at Backstage Theatre on Saturday, March 7. Tickets, at 15 each, are available on 04 33 47888, from Farrell Coy or backstage.ie.

Read also: Fantastic night in store at Longfords 'The Voice' Teens
One of President Donald Trump's greatest strengths in his presidential campaign is his economic salesmanship: He has convinced a devoted share of Americans that his leadership has made the US economy bulletproof and markets would crash if he were defeated in November.

The president's ability to set the economic narrative is buoyed by an 11-year economic expansion, with rising wages and unemployment at a 50-year low. That strength presents a challenge for the Democrats hoping to unseat him in November  even though Trump's cheerleading is often overstated and parts of the economy are slowing, including manufacturing.

Donald Trump is banking on a strong economy as he seeks re-election. Credit:AP

That helps explain why Trump has played down economic damage from the coronavirus and dismissed the stock market plunge: They threaten to undermine the most effective story he tells about his presidency.

"The country is in great shape, the market is in great shape," Trump told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, as stocks tumbled after the Federal Reserve's rate cut. The S&P 500 ended the day down about 2.8 per cent.
A special court for CBI cases here



on Thursday sentenced a Railway Protection Force's (RPF) sub-inspector to three years' imprisonment for accepting a bribe for Rs 4,500 in 2013.

Special judge A S Sayyad convicted Laxman Kushwah, the accused, under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

As per the Central Bureau of Investigation, Kushwah demanded Rs 10,000 from a tout to allow him to sell tickets illegally at a railway reservation centre at Girgaum in south Mumbai.

Kushwah assured the complainant that on the other hand, if he paid the bribe, an earlier case registered against him and his employee will be closed.

After the tout approached the CBI, the agency's Anti- Corruption Unit laid a trap and arrested Kushwah in November 2013 while he was accpting the bribe.

Special public prosecutor Sandeep Singh examined 14 witnesses during the trial.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus news live updates: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that primary classes, that is up to Std 5th, in all private and government schools will be suspended from tomorrow, March 6. More than 16,076 passengers and crew member aboard 452 ships from China have not been allowed to disembark at Indian ports to check the spread of coronavirus in the country. All assistance is being provided to crew, passengers in case of sickness as per WHO norms, an official told PTI. Earlier today, one more case of coronovirus has been confirmed in Ghaziabad. The patient has travel history to Iran. Meanwhile, authorities in Srinagar have isolated 5 more suspected cases.

As cases of COVID-19 see a rise globally, India has placed around 25,000 people suspected of possible contact with patients under observation. Even the famous Taj Mahal has been put under heavy screening. Security personnel are screening visitors with thermal guns. External minister S Jaishankar has said that India is sending a team of medical professionals to Iran for help. Reportedly there are 1,200 Indians stranded in Iran now. The Health Minister has also said that the biggest concern right now are the Indians stuch in Tehran and Quam. Moreover, the government is constantly in touch with the Indians who are in China.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: How do I check if I have been infected?

Also read: Coronavirus: Delhi tops people under surveillance; crisis in Kerala, Punjab too

Also read: Coronavirus update: Over 11 lakh screened people at border check posts

Follow the live updates on coronavirus news here:

8:50 pm: Lufthansa cancels all flights to Israel till March 28 due to coronavirus restrictions.

8:44 pm: Rajasthan has declared that two cases in the state have tested positive for coronavirus, whereas reports for 8 samples are still awaited. The state declared that it has collected 247 samples, out of which 239 samples have been tested.

7:33 pm: Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be closed for public from March 7 o avoid any large gathering of people, in view of coronavirus outbreak.

Continuing the precautionary measures at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Mughal Gardens will be closed for public from March 7 to avoid any large gathering of people, in view of COVID-19 #CoronaVirus. pic.twitter.com/Fkqxs1VkeW  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

7:31 pm: Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla reviewed screening of people coming from neighbouring countries through land borders in view of coronavirus outbreak. He held a video conference with officials from different states and security agencies.

Ministry of Home Affairs: Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla reviewed screening of people coming from neighbouring countries through land borders in view of #coronavirus, today. He held a video conference with officials from different states & security agencies. pic.twitter.com/MFy0arqsqa  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

7:26 pm: Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain listed precautions against coronavirus and steps his company has taken to check the spread of the deadly pathogen.

I believe that health & safety of everyone should be the top most priority for all companies. If you have any more suggestions, please let me know.



My advice

a) Drink lot of water

b) Wash hands regularly

c) Avoid handshake. Go w/ #Namaste 

#Corona#Virus#CoronaVirusinIndiahttps://t.co/uOGazlg2AM  Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) March 5, 2020

6:42 pm: Maharashtra government launches dedicated helpline number '020-26127394' for coronavirus.

6:40 pm: Greece confirms 21 new coronavirus cases among travellers who had recently returned from a pilgrimage to religious sites in Israel and Egypt, reported Reuters.

6:34 pm: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has people of the state not to hold unnecessary gatherings during the festival of Holi and remain cautious for the next 10-15 days in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Yesterday, PM Narendra Modi had said that he will not attend Holi gatherings.

Thackeray further added there is no need to panic and the government is alert.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray: Municipal corporations & administration of the state are on alert. We have to be more careful in next 10 to 15 days. It is advised to avoid big gatherings during Holi as already requested by PM Modi. pic.twitter.com/qxebeUCIAq  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

6:29 pm: BMC Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said that additional isolation wards will be set up at all major hospitals like Lilawati, Jaslok, Hinduja, Saifee, Railway Hospital, MBT, if needed.

6:25 pm: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched 24x7 helpline number '1916' to report coronavirus cases in the city.

Mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launches 24x7 helpline number '1916' to report #CoronaVirus cases in the city. #Maharashtrapic.twitter.com/UKJHPHD3yl  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

6:21 pm: First coronavirus case emerges in Egypt. The patient had travelled back from Europe.

6:21 pm: South Africa has confirmed its first coronavirus case.

5:54 pm: Coronavirus update: Death toll in US hits 11; nursing home under investigation

Federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus as the US death toll climbed to 11, including the first fatality outside Washington state.

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died.

The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

(Associated Press)

5:49 pm: Coronavirus news: 14-bed isolation ward set up at Hindurao Hospital: North Delhi Mayor

An isolation ward containing 14 beds has been set up at NDMC-run Bara Hindurao Hospital here for coronavirus patients, North Delhi Mayor Avtar Singh said on Thursday. Nodal officers have been deputed at Hindurao and Kasturba Hospital to report on coronavirus cases. A core team has been formed to review the situation, he said.

"A 14-bed isolation ward has been set up at Bara Hindurao hospital. A total of 3,000 N 95 masks have been distributed in the hospital. At zonal levels, deputy health officers have been deputed as nodal officers," the mayor said.

Singh appealed to people to refrain from shaking hands and hugging others and instead greet each other with folded hands. The traditional Holi function scheduled to be held at mayor's residence on March 7 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, he added.

The hotels under North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) area have been directed to report arrival of foreigners, Singh further said.

(PTI)

5:44 pm: On reports that 495 Iranian tourists are untraceable, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that till now the ministry hasn't received any info about it from Iranian Embassy. "Some Iranian tourists who're in India had come here before coronavirus outbreak and they can't return as no flight is operating between the two countries at present," Kumar said.

MEA on reports that 495 Iranian tourists are untraceable: Till now we haven't received any info about it from Iranian Embassy. Some Iranian tourists who're in India had come here before #CoronaVirus outbreak&they can't return as no flight is operating b/w 2 countries at present. pic.twitter.com/Pyb6A0RlhT  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

5:30 pm: IN PICTURES: Truckers from Pakistan being scanned for COVID-19 at Attari

Ministry of Home Affairs: Truck drivers from Pakistan being scanned at Attari for #COVID19. The Government is ensuring constant vigilance and continuous monitoring to prevent the spread of #CoronaVirus. pic.twitter.com/w0zuy8g2Ev  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

5:12 pm: No coronavirus patient found in Bihar till now, states Mangal Pandey, Bihar Health Minister.

5:12 pm: Coronavirus update: Mumbai's civic authority Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is keeping a close eye on people who arrived from virus affected countries.

Talking to India Today TV, a BMC official said, "More than 300 travellers from affected countries are being monitored telephonically to check for development of coronavirus symptoms."

5:10 pm: A look at self-reporting form travellers from coronavirus-affected countries need to submit before entering India.

4:55 pm: Coronavirus cases spike in central city of Wuhan

Mainland China reported a rise in new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Thursday, reversing three straight days of declines, because of a spike in new infections in Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.

Mainland China had 139 new confirmed cases as of Wednesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said, bringing the total accumulated number of cases to 80,409. Authorities reported 119 new cases the previous day and 125 the day before that.

The increase was driven by more cases in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have emerged in a market late last year.

Wuhan's new infections climbed to 131 from 114 a day earlier. There was no immediate elaboration and health officials were due to hold a briefing later in the day.

(Reuters)

4:52 pm: A 16-year-old Indian girl in Dubai has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed infection cases in the UAE to 28.

4:43 pm: Indian junior archery team has pulled out of the upcoming Asia Cup world ranking tournament being held in Bangkok, Thailand over coronavirus fears.

4:40 pm: Sikkim Govt has suspended issuing 'Inner Line Permit' from today till further orders. Decision has been taken by the authority after 30 positive cases of #CoronaVirus in the country. Buses are now plying only for domestic tourists from Sikkim Nationalised Transport in Siliguri.

4:38 pm: Two pending samples sent from Telangana to National Institute of Virology in Pune tested negative: State Health Minister E Rajender.

4:34 pm: 15 new coronavirus deaths reported in Iran. Death toll rises to 107.

4:20 pm: Coronavirus impact: India-EU Summit called off

On health authorities's advice, the bilateral summit between India and the European Union at Brussels has been rescheduled, informed Minister of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

Raveesh Kumar, MEA: The decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the EU & India who share same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon. #CoronaVirushttps://t.co/0HMEiYePfg  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

4:18 pm: To prevent spread of coronavirus, all primary schools in Delhi to remain closed till March 31, says Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia: From tomorrow, all such schools(upto class 5th) both government & private to remain shut till March 31, in view of #CoronaViruspic.twitter.com/qlj8NWP6rl  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

4:08 pm: Prices of Penicillin G, a key raw material imported from China by some of the Indian antibiotic makers, see a price increase of over 50 per cent.

4:06 pm: Coronavirus impact: Delhi govt suspends biometric attendance

The Delhi government on Thursday advised head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

"A letter has been written to principal secretaries, secretaries, autonomous bodies and municipal corporations for the suspension of biometric attendance in view of coronavirus threat," the official told PTI.

One more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad in the national capital region, taking the total number in the country to 30 so far, official sources said on Thursday.

(PTI)

4:01 pm: "To prevent coronavirus spread, 16,076 crew, passengers aboard 452 ships from China not allowed to disembark at Indian ports. All assistance is being provided to crew, passengers in case of sickness as per WHO norms," an official told PTI.

3:58 pm: Jammu: Escaped coronavirus patients brought back

Two coronavirus patients fled from the hospital they were lodged in. They were later brought back.

"Two coronavirus suspects who fled from hospital have been brought back within hours. There is nothing to worry now. We are on alert," informed Sunanda Raina, Principal of Government Medical College, Jammu.

3:54 pm: Coronavirus impact: Food prices decline in February after four months of rise

World food prices slipped in February, ending four months of successive increases, with the spread of coronavirus dampening demand for some products, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food priceindex, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals,oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 180.5 points last month, down 1.0 per cent on January.

(Reuters)

3:50 pm: Dogs, cats can't transmit coronavirus: Hong Kong govt

Pet cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus on to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. That's the conclusion of Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department after a dog in quarantine tested weak positive for the virus February 27, February 28 and March 2, using the canine's nasal and oral cavity samples.

A unidentified spokesman for the department was quoted in a news release as saying. "There is currently no evidence that pet animals can be a source of infection of COVID-19 or that they become sick."

Scientists suspect the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease originated in bats before passing it on to another species, possibly a small wild mammal, that passed it on to humans.

However, experts from the School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) have unanimously agreed that the dog has a low-level of infection and it is "likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission".

(Associated Press)

3:43 pm: Switzerland reports first coronavirus death

A 74-year-old woman in western Switzerland has died after contracting the new coronavirus, the country's first death from the rapidly spreading disease outbreak, regional police said on Thursday.

The woman had been hospitalised at Lausanne's University Hospital in the canton of Vaud since Tuesday, police said. She was a high-risk patient suffering from chronic disease, authorities added.

In Switzerland, 58 infections have been confirmed so far. The country has frequent exchanges with neighbour Italy, where around 3,100 people have been diagnosed with the disease and 107 died, as well as France and Germany, where coronavirus cases have also been reported.

(Reuters)

3:31 pm: Coronavirus reaches Srinagar, 5 suspected patients kept in isolation

Health authorities in Kashmir have kept five persons with a recent history of travelling to coronavirus-affected countries in the isolation ward of the SKIMS hospital here after they showed symptoms of the disease, officials said on Thursday.

"We have kept the five persons in the isolation ward at the SKIMS hospital in Soura," they said.

The officials added that samples of the suspects were collected and sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Of the five, one had travelled to Thailand while two had been to Iran, they said, adding that the remaining two had a recent travel history to the epicentre of COVID-19 in China's Wuhan.

(PTI)

3:28 pm: Enough bulk drugs for three months: Chemicals Minister Gowda

Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Sadanand Gowda on Thursday assured there is no shortage of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for at least three months. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are the raw materials required to produce medicines. They are also referred to as bulk drugs.

"There is no shortage of any APIs for next three months. There is some confusion about supply and availability of medicines. We have got sufficient medicines and sufficient APIs. For another three months, there is no shortage (of raw material) for manufacturing pharmaceuticals," Gowda said during a conference at Gandhinagar.

Initiatives are being taken to open API manufacturing parks in different parts of the country to reduce dependency on China, said Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya.

(PTI)

3:25 pm: First coronavirus death reported in Switzerland.

3:12 pm: Official sources have confirmed one more case of coronavirus in Ghaziabad. The patient has travel history to Iran. This takes the total number of confirmed cases to 30.

3:12 pm: IPL expects smooth start despite COVID-19 epidemic

Indian Premier League (IPL) is expecting to overcome the novel coronavirus threat and go ahead as scheduled. Just over 60 players from cricket nations such as Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean islands will fly to India for the T20 extravaganza, and the reported positive cases of coronavirus in all these countries is next to none.

"The IOC is saying Olympics in Tokyo will be held as per schedule. IPL is a minuscule tournament in that regard. If Olympics can be held, there's no reason why IPL can't be held," an anonymous BCCI official told PTI.

2:53 pm: IN PICTURES: Awareness programme on coronavirus at Golden Temple, Amritsar

Punjab: State government organises an awareness camp on #Coronavirus at Golden Temple in Amritsar. pic.twitter.com/Jldz7JazmC  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

2:21 pm: COVID-19 update: "In addition to Visa restrictions already in place, passengers traveling from/having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries. This will be enforced from 0000 Hrs of 10th March, 2020 and is a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside," stated the government in a release.

2:20 pm: Indian student in Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. The total cases of coronavirus in UAE has reached 27 so far.

2:19 pm: Bosnia has confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The state media reported that the case was confirmed but there were no details available immediately.

2:15 pm: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray asked people not to panic over the coronavirus situation. He added that the next eight days are crucial and said that he would pray that the virus gets burned in the Holi fire.

2:10 pm: "There's a real opportunity for India to get back in the race," said Anand Mahindra.

Should get our competitive juices flowing.The garment export business was ours to lose& unfortunately we did lose it. But as global customers begin to see the benefit of diversifying their supply chains post COVID-19, theres a real opportunity for India to get back in the race https://t.co/2nAla3Raxl  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 5, 2020

2:00 pm: A Turkish Airlines aircraft was flown back to Istanbul from Singapore without any passengers on board. A passenger who had arrived on the plane on Tuesday was tested positive for coronavirus.

1:50 pm: "It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis," said Rahul Gandhi.

The Health Minister saying that the Indian Govt has the #coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Capt of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable.



It's time the Govt made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 5, 2020

1:45 pm: China allocates $16 billion to fight coronavirus. The government expects the outbreak to temporarily affect its revenues but also expect it to ease as the economy recovers.

1:40 pm: Six people who came from China have been tested negative for coronavirus. Jharkhand government is keeping a close vigil as a lot of people from the state fo to Dubai, China for employment.

1:30 pm: California declares emergency as 11 people die of coronavirus in the US. "The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," said California Governor Gavin Newsom.

1:25 pm: S Jaishankar said that the government is constantly monitoring the progress in Iran.

Group of Ministers constantly monitoring progress. Understand the concern of families.

Keep faith.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2020

1:23 pm: External minister S Jaishankar said that a team of medical professionals will land in Iran from India today. They expect to establish the first clinic in the city of Qom by evening. "Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities," he said.

1:17 pm: The Health Minister said that a major area of concern right now is Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Tehran and Quam, Iran, which have been heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak. "Government of India is following up with Iran authorities for their well-being and to tie up evacuation as per need," he said.

1:14 pm: "The Indian Embassy and Consulates are also in regular contact with the Indian Community in other parts of China and is keeping a constant track of their well-being," said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

1:11 pm: Greece reported its tenth case of coronavirus on Thursday. The country ordered the closure of schools and banned public gatherings in three districts in the west of the country from Thursday as a precautionary measure.

1:09 pm: Indonesia has decided to ban entry and transit of foreign visitors who have spent 14 days in cities hit by coronavirus outbreaks in Iran, Italy and South Korea, starting March 8, the country's foreign minister said on Thursday.

1:05 pm: South Korea declared a "special care zone" on Thursday around a second city hit hard by the coronavirus. The South Korean government declared a "special care zone" around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250 kms southeast of Seoul, and warned against travel there, as per Reuters.

1:02 pm: TDP MP Jayadev Galla in Lok Sabha said in Lok Sabha that people need to know if there will be any impact of coronavirus on the economy. " People are expecting a global economic impact," he said.

1:00 pm: Officials use thermal gun at Taj Mahal to screen visitors for coronavirus.

12:51 pm: Health authorities in Hong Kong have confirmed that a pet dog, a Pomeranian, belonging to a coronavirus patient has been infected. It is the first reported case of human-to-animal transmission of coronavirus. The pet dog was tested "weak positive".

12:47 pm: "There is only one virology institute in Pune. It is not enough. We should have this institute in different zones of the country," says DMK MP Kanimozhi.

12:44 pm: Foreign visitors banned at Mathura's Vrindavan Iskcon Temple. "Due to #Coronavirus, we've requested foreign devotees not to visit the temple for the next two months. If they want to visit the temple, they will have to produce the medical certificate to prove that they are not infected," said Saurabh Das, PRO of the temple.

12:40 pm: Navneet Ravi Rana, an independent member from Maharashtra, on Thursday asked a question in Lok Sabha wearing a mask. Rana asked a question about the supply of power.

12:30 pm: A suspected case of coronavirus has been reported in Mumbai. The airport screened 2,285 passengers who arrived today from 12 countries. So far, 59,654 passengers have been screened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj airport in Mumbai.

12:20 pm: Ministers arrive at the parliament sporting masks. The parliament security personnel have also been spotted wearing gloves and masks. Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Gupta writes to RS Chairman asking for coronavirus screening equipment.

12:18 pm: A total of 39 samples were collected at the Mandawa Hotel. The Italian group stayed in Jhunjhunu district. However, only 6 were symptomatic as per ICMR guidelines. All have been tested negative. They will be under watch for 14 days and will be tested if they show symptoms.

12:12 pm: COVID-19 update: Govt has busted the myth that alcohol prevents coronavirus. "Drinking alcohol does not protect you from nCoV," stated PIB.

#PIBFactCheck



Another misinformation on #Coronavirus circulating on social media asserts that consumption of

alcohol prevents #Coronavirus infection.

This rumour is #Fake! Drinking alcohol does not protect you from #nCoV infection.

Read: https://t.co/uJ0bgK0wenpic.twitter.com/xlMkVkgR8X  PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 5, 2020

12:10 pm: Meanwhile, Italy has shut down all schools and colleges as the death toll reaches 100.

12:09 pm: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said that coronavirus has spread to almost all the provinces of the country. The country has so far reported 92 deaths.

12:04 pm: A school in Agra with a student who was high-suspected of coronavirus has been closed. The school underwent sanitisation. All in-school exams that were scheduled for the day have been postponed.

12:01 pm: An European Union official in Brussels has tested positive for coronavirus. The official had returned from Italy on February 23 and started showing symptoms on February 29.

11:55 am: Saudi Arabia has suspended the year-round Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina over fears of coronavirus. The decision will be reviewed regularly till the situation normalises, state media reported.

11:45am: National Congress Party (NCP) MP Vandana Chavan, on Thursday said in Rajya Sabha, "There is misinformation being spread on coronavirus while some leaders are talking about how gaumutra and cow dung cakes can cure coronavirus. This should not happen". Immediately, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu interrupted her, saying, "That is upon people to believe or not".

11:43am: Apple Inc is pulling out of this month's South by Southwest music and tech festival amid the coronavirus outbreak. The South by Southwest music and tech festival, set to be held in Austin, Texas. Facebook Inc had said earlier this week it would not participate in the festival,Reuters reported

11:40am: "Sale of meat, semi-cooked meat and fish has been banned in open areas in the Lucknow district to ensure that coronavirus does not transmit through meat. Hotels and restaurants have been asked to ensure cleanliness and hygiene," district magistrate Abhishek Pathak said.

11:20 am: Dr Harsh Vardhan said that 6,11,176 passengers have been screened at different points.

11:15 am: "Total 29 cases reported out of them 3 are from Kerela who have been released. One more has tested positive in Delhi, who has a travel history to Italy. Group of Ministers is constantly working on it. PMO is directly monitoring this issue. We started action on coronavirus preparedness from Jan 17," said Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

10:57 am: Security staff at the Parliament seen wearing disposable gloves and masks.

Delhi: Two security staff at the Parliament seen wearing disposable glove and mask, as a precautionary measure against #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/KbnZbqUgdn  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

10:52 am: The Sikkim government has said that over 4.06 lakh passengers arriving in the state have been screened so far for coronavirus infection, but no positive case has been detected. A total of 69,734 vehicles have been stopped for checking at Utteray, Ramman, Rangpo, Reshi and Melli checkposts and 4,06,993 passengers screened for symptoms of coronavirus, but no positive case has been found in Sikkim till date, a statement issued by the state health department said.

10:45 am: Telangana High Court has allowed parties to be absent from the court hearings. The court has also decided to distribute homeopathy pills to prevent coronavirus.

10:35 am: Around 23 more samples have been sent from Agra and Lucknow after the screening of 49-50 cases. Few tourists had applied for screening.

10:30 am: Over 25,000 passengers are under the scanner of the Health Ministry due to their possible contact history with coronavirus. Delhi, Kerala and Punjab account for over half of these cases. However, only 37 of them have been hospitalised through integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) network, till March 3

10:21 am: The death toll has crossed 100 in Italy.

#BREAKING Italy coronavirus death toll passes 100: official pic.twitter.com/58jVynH3aV  AFP news agency (@AFP) March 4, 2020

10:17 am: Coronavirus takes its toll on the aviation industry. All the flights of Flybe, one of UK's biggest airlines have been grounded.

#UPDATE One of Britain's biggest airlines, Flybe, has collapsed, with all its flights grounded, as the #coronavirus epidemic takes a heavy toll on airlines around the worldhttps://t.co/uDVP3fP9e5pic.twitter.com/Hz19evZavq  AFP news agency (@AFP) March 5, 2020

10:15 am: Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will make a statement in Lok Sabha at 12 pm today.

10:10 am: The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities. The total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance.

10:05 am: Karnataka government has asked companies to let emmployees with flu-like symptoms to work from home. "Those employees having flu like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette. Employees other than those restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Maccau, Veitnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry," the advisory read.

10:00 am: A family of three who arrived in Vishakhapatnam from Malaysia has been shifted to the AP Chest Hospital quarantine ward. They were detected with mild fever upon arrival. Two more people who arrived from Bahrain have also been quarantined. The samples have been sent to Hyderabad and Pune for tests.

9:50 am: The UN has estimated the trade impact of coronavirus on India to be around $348 million. India figures among the top 15 economies most affected as slowdown of manufacturing in China disrupts world trade, according to a UN report.

9:43 am: The Italian nationals who were quarantined at the Chhawla camp have been moved to Medanta hospital on request of the government. They were quarantined at the ITBP facility earlier.

9:41 am: Three people have been admitted at the Bidar Institute of Medical Science in Karnataka. One of the patients is software engineer who returned from Norway. The other two are a father-son duo who returned from Qatar.

9:39 am: West Bengal BJP members distributed masks with 'Save from Coronavirus infection Modi ji' written on them.

9:34 am: UN economists announced a likely $50 billion drop in the worldwide manufacturing exports in February alone due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Citing the China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), Pamela Coke-Hamilton, who heads UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities, said that it had fallen to 37.5 - a drop of about 20 points the lowest reading since 2004.

9:30 am: The death toll in the US has increased to 11. A Facebook employee has been detected with coronavirus.

9:25 am: Around 8 per cent of Iranian MPs at the Parliament have been detected with coronavirus.

9:20 am: Samples collected from Fortis Hospital Jaipur reveal that the Italian citizen taken for treatment and the Ramada Hotel Jaipur staff member have tested negative for coronavirus.

9:15 am: A Chinese man locks himself in his flat in Greater Noida. He believes he has COVID-19. Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava says, "Several tests have been conducted on him. He does not have any problem."

9:05 am: Microsoft asked many of its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25. "Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite," Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene told employees in a blog post.

9:00 am: Ministry of Home Affairs has said that India is well prepared to tackle the threat of coronavirus.

India is well prepared to prevent the spread of #COVID19india.



All landports under MHA have fully equipped medical teams present across States to screen all incoming passengers from neighboring countries.@MoHFW_INDIA  Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) March 4, 2020

8:58 am: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his countrymen to adopt namaste instead of handshake.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt the Indian way of greeting #Namaste at a press conference to mitigate the spread of #coronaviruspic.twitter.com/gtSKzBDjl4  India in Israel (@indemtel) March 4, 2020

8:54 am: "We have taken all precautionary measures, got 12 isolation rooms and a designated team that can handle cases if any. We have an adequate stock position. Last month, we had 10 suspects who tested negative," said R Jayanthi, Dean of Rajiv Gandhi Govt General Hospital in Chennai.

8:50 am: An employee of Hotel Rang Mahal in Jaisalmer has been admitted with suspicion of coronavirus. The Italian tourists who were tested positive for coronavirus had stayed at the hotel. The employee has been admitted at the government hospital in Jaisalmer.

8:40 am: COVID-19 update: Medical bulletin till 6 pm on March 4.

Cumulative number of passengers from 12 specified countries and found residing in Uttar Pradesh - 2303

Symptomatic contacts hospitalised today (2 from Agra at the Safdarjung hospital)

Symptomatic passengers hospitalised today (5 in Lucknow)

Asymptomatic contacts hospitalised today (4 from Agra at Safdarjung Hospital, 6 from Noida at Gautam Buddh Nagar and 5 at Bulandshahr district hospital )

6 samples sent to NIV Pune for confirmation

157 samples found negative

Total number of symptomatic travelers identified in UP till date - 105

Total travelers screened at airports - 7,684

Travelers screened at border check posts - 9,90,297

Villages at Nepal border where sensitisation meetings were held - 1,765

8:35 am: Collectors of Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur have been asked to follow precautions regarding the Italian visitors' travel. They have been asked to do the following:

1. Bus to be disinfected, driver and cleaner to be home quarantined for 14 days.

2. Disinfection and enlisting of guests in these rooms (get health information and advice home isolation for 14 days for all guests in those rooms)

3. Enhanced surveillance in all the tourist spots/places visited including resturants and awareness campaign.

4. Setting up of control room

8:30 am: A hotel in Agra has been asked to stop booking for guests further till it is sanitised completely by authorities as they believe that coronavirus-affected tourists stayed in the hotel recently.

8:25 am: IRDAI has asked insurance companies to design policies to cover coronavirus. "For the purpose of meeting health insurance requirements of various sections, insurers are advised to design products covering the costs of treatment for coronavirus," IRDAI said.

8:20 am: The Health Ministry has issued an advisory for schools regarding COVID-19.

8:16 am: COVID-19 update: 70,000 people have been screened in Punjab for Covid-19. All test results showed negative.

One suspect admitted to Mohali civil hospital,reports expected today.

Singapore engineer sent back from Chandigarh.

8:13 am: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued an advisory to all the Chief Secretaries and administrators of all States and Union Territories (UTs) rocer necessary precautions that are to be taken to prevent coronavirus among children. "The National Commission, as per its functions under section 13 (d) of CRPC Act, 2005, requests and recommends that the State Education Department in consultation with the State Health Department to take necessary steps to prevent the spread of infection among school children," NCPCR stated.

8:09 am: Uttar Pradesh government has set up an 18-member committee led by the health minister to monitor the situation in the state.The high-level committee has issued directives to all districts of the state asking them to identify suspected patients, maintain checks against the spread of the virus and ensure effective treatment.

8:05 am: The Goa government has set up ten-bed isolation wards each at three facilities to deal with coronavirus cases. The wards have been set up at Community Health Centre, Chicalim (South Goa), Primary Health Centre, Sankhalim (North Goa) and TB Hospital in Margao (South Goa). There's already an existing ward at state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital.

8:00 am: On Wednesday evening, Paytm stated that one of their employees in Gurugram has been detected with coronavirus. The company said that it has extended its support to the family of the patient as well. "As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately. We have also advised all our colleagues to work from home for a couple of days while we get our offices sanitized. However, there will not be any impact on our daily operations and Paytm services will continue as usual," the company stated.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on March 5, 2020

2020/03/05

First, some figures from the NHC. Between 00:00 and 24:00, March 4, there are 2,189 cured and discharged cases in China's mainland, bringing the tally to 52,045.



As such preliminary trend shows, the situation is steadily improving and work and life for everyone is rapidly returning to normal. In terms of the cure rate for confirmed cases, as of March 3, it is 50.2% for Wuhan, 76.8% for cities in Hubei other than Wuhan, and 87.3% for other provinces, all registering an increase for 19 days running.



Q: Reports say the US House of Representatives recently passed the "Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019". The act puts out that the government should consider "increasing or decreasing the United States Government's economic, security, or diplomatic engagement with another nation as a result of an action taken by that nation to either strengthen or undermine ties with Taiwan". The House and the Senate will then need to agree on the text before it is presented to the President to sign into law. I wonder if China has a comment?



A: This Act is in serious violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques. It goes against international law and basic norms governing international relations. China is firmly against it. The one-China principle is the prevailing trend recognized by international consensus. Altogether 180 countries have established diplomatic relations with China. The US itself established diplomatic ties with China on the basis of the one-China principle more than 40 years ago. However, now it is going against the trend of the times by thwarting other sovereign nations' pursuit of normal relations with China. This cannot be justified.



We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, comply with international law and basic norms governing international relations, take concrete measures to prevent the Act from becoming law, and handle issues relating to Taiwan prudently to avoid serious damages to bilateral relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.





Q: A Fox News host said during a TV program that the novel coronavirus originated in China and he demanded a formal apology for the outbreak. What is your comment?



A: What he said, which reveals his total arrogance, prejudice and ignorance towards China, is very preposterous and ridiculous. I have three points to make here.



First, to defeat this virus is everyone's battle and every patient that came down with it, wherever he or she is, is a victim. What is the point in arguing that someone should apologize for it? We see people around the world joining hands to fight off this epidemic, and the WHO has repeatedly said that stigmatization is more dangerous than the virus itself. Why are certain people and media still promoting such an absurd logic? What are they up to?



Second, there is simply no basis and no reason to push China for an apology. It is yet undetermined where the virus originated. Wherever its origin may be, China and all the other affected countries are victims faced with the challenge in containing its spread. The H1N1 flu that broke out in the US in 2009 spread to 214 countries and regions, killing at least 18,449 people that year alone. I don't remember anyone asking the US to apologize.



Third, in its efforts to fight off the epidemic, China has conducted itself as a responsible country. China's signature strength, efficiency and speed in this fight has been widely acclaimed. To protect the health and safety of people across the world, the Chinese people have made huge sacrifice and major contributions. To date, leaders of over 170 countries and heads of more than 40 regional and international organizations sent messages, called us and issued statements to express sympathy and support for China. They also commended China for its effective and extraordinary response and enormous sacrifice. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros noted that China's forceful actions have limited the spread of the virus both domestically and beyond its borders, thus setting a new standard for the global efforts against the epidemic.



Q: Iranian President Rouhani said, addressing a cabinet session on March 4, that if some country is really honest about helping the Iranian people in the epidemic, then it should lift the sanctions on medicine. What is your response?



A: China is closely following the development of the epidemic in Iran. Earlier on, China has provided test kits and other medical supplies and dispatched an expert team to Iran. We will continue to do whatever we can to help them. We also call on the international community to strengthen cooperation with Iran and jointly safeguard global public health security.



I want to point out that the Iranian government and people are at a crucial juncture in their fight against the epidemic. Continuing unilateral sanctions on them will only make things worse, which is inhumane. We urge the relevant side to immediately lift such sanctions on Iran and stop getting in the way of Iran's and the global efforts against the epidemic.





Q: The other day you talked about China's assistance to Iran, including dispatching a group of volunteers made up of medical experts. Do you have any update on these experts' work in Iran?



A: As I understand, the expert team sent by the Red Cross Society of China arrived in Iran on February 29. Since then, they have been working diligently, conducting exchanges and discussions with the Iranian health department and the Red Crescent Society on epidemic control experience. Iran is deeply grateful that China sent the expert team there. The team is also cooperating with WHO experts. The WHO spoke highly of such cooperation and said that they will remain in close communication with the Chinese team and work out a plan that incorporates China's experience and fits Iran's situation.



China and Iran are comprehensive strategic partners. We have never failed each other when mutual support and solidarity are needed in times of difficulty. Going forward, China will continue with its best help to Iran in accordance with their needs. We will step up cooperation and share experience with Iran and all other countries to make contributions to the global cause of public health.



Q: Reports say President Xi's state visit to Japan may not materialize this spring. Could you confirm this?



A: China and Japan are both making all-out efforts to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. It is agreed that President Xi's state visit shall come at the most opportune time with the right conditions and atmosphere so that it will be a complete success. Upon agreement, the two sides will maintain close communication regarding the timing of the visit.



Q: US President Donald Trump accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to hold a meeting of the UN Security Council's five permanent members. I wonder what's China's position on this matter, if China also has responded to the Russian proposal, and if President Xi is going to attend the meeting?



A: China has expressed more than once its positive attitude towards convening a meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. As far as I know, no consultations have been held yet regarding what items would be on the agenda. We stand ready to maintain communication with other permanent members on detailed arrangements.



Q: Indian media reported that experts at India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) confirmed that the industrial autoclave seized from the Chinese ship Da Cui Yun can be used for the "manufacture of very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets". Indian officials also said India's national security authorities could notify the UN pursuant to relevant Security Council legal instruments to expose the nuclear proliferation nexus between China and Pakistan. I wonder if you have a comment?



A: We note relevant reports. As a responsible major country, China faithfully fulfills its international non-proliferation obligations and commitments. We have learned that the cargo involved is actually a heat-treating furnace shell system made by a private Chinese company. It is by no means a piece of military equipment or a dual-use item covered by China's non-proliferation export control regime. The Chinese commercial ship and owner of the cargo have declared the item truthfully beforehand with the Indian authorities in charge, so there is no concealment or false declaration.





Q: I was wondering if you have any comment on the reports that an Iranian health official said that the source of the coronavirus in Iran was likely to be Chinese workers in the city of Qom? Second question, do you have any comment on the reports that China lobbied Iran to maintain transport links with China after Iran suspended most flights between Iran and China?



A: Regarding your first question, I'm not aware of what you said.

As to your second question, China and Iran remain in close communication. There is no such a thing as you mentioned.



Q: The Japanese government will impose entry restrictions and quarantine measures on travelers from China. What's your comment?



A: I haven't seen any report on this. Both China and Japan are taking science-based, professional and appropriate measures in order to protect the health and safety of their nationals and foreigners and uphold regional and global public health security, which I believe we all understand. The two sides are in close communication through diplomatic channels.



Q: Joseph Wu made comments today accusing China of forcing the Malaysian state of Sarawak to reinstate a travel ban against visitors from Taiwan. They had previously canceled the ban. Do you have a comment about this accusation?



A: China opposes politicizing epidemic prevention and control measures. We hold Taiwan compatriots' health and welfare dear to heart. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' political maneuvering over the outbreak is just despicable.



Q: The Japanese government explicitly stated that President Xi Jinping's scheduled visit will be delayed. Could you confirm this? You just mentioned that the Chinese side hopes this visit will be a complete success. Could you tell us what outcomes China is expecting?



A: As I just said, diplomatic departments of the two sides are in close communication with regard to the visit to ensure it will be a complete success with fruitful outcomes. We believe the best arrangements will be made through diplomatic channels.
Firefighters responded to a three-alarm fire in Crockett Thursday at the C&H Sugar factory off Interstate Highway 80.

The fire reportedly started Thursday morning at the factory on Loring Avenue and has since spread to other floors of the building. The Crockett Carquinez Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fire.

Efforts to fight the fire have delayed Capitol Corridor trains between Richmond and Martinez, according to Amtrak.

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.
Despite lockdowns, closures and quarantines around the world, the global tourism industry is leveraging immersive sales technology to weather the storm. Using new 360/3D site visit technology to perform digital walk-throughs, plan future events at a distance and increase bookings, the safety of corporate planners, travel buyers and employees are kept as a top priority while saving the bottom line.

Portland, Oregon, USA, March 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With lockdowns in China, Iran, Italy and other countries around the world, media outlets and medical experts are speculating where the next shutdowns will occur and for how long travel standstills will continue. Business and leisure travelers, fearful of contagion of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), are postponing travel and avoiding high-traffic destinations. Conferences are being postponed or cancelled, leaving enormous revenue gaps which the industry will need to creatively fill.

Visiting Media's TrueTour sales tool, the first-to-market immersive sales platform for the hospitality industry, empowers properties with unmatched top-to-bottom 360, 3D and virtual reality presentation, delivery and tracking capabilities. With TrueTour, properties can continue to upsell their luxury rooms & suites, showcase their event spaces and communicate with customers at a distance through the power of a state-of-the-art virtual toolbelt.

Virtually performing walk-throughs and site tours at a distance provides a safer way to plan events and future travel. TrueTour provides companies a way to create true-to-life connections with prospects unable to meet in person ahead of events, experiencing spaces without ever leaving their home or office.

As many properties shed costs in fear, TrueTour helps hotels maintain a market advantage by increasing average booking speeds, upsell rates and incremental revenue. Since meetings and vacations are traditionally planned months or years in advance, companies can prepare for normalization, recover much faster than competitors and stay ahead longer.

Story continues

Ben Powers, VP of Sales, Hotel & Resort Division for Visiting Media, is thrilled to provide solutions for companies leveraging TrueTour at a distance. Weve seen powerful results with properties already using TrueTour technology as they continue to book rooms and events despite travel being halted around the world. With the success seen so far with our current customers, its going to be extremely rewarding to help properties new to TrueTour remain more competitive and weather this downturn.

Visiting Medias global content creator network allows new customers to be up and running with TrueTour within a matter of weeks, fully loaded with immersive visuals of their property in true-to-life 360/3D and virtual reality. Since Visiting Media leverages technicians across the Americas, Asia, Europe and beyond, Visiting Media can create virtual content for new customers with ease, versus other companies who rely on the deployment of technicians from their headquarters.

One thing is for certain -- despite what everyone hopes is a swift recovery from the effects of the novel coronavirus, consumers travel confidence has been affected this year. With the use of true-to-life virtual technology, rapidly-deployed innovations will soften the blow to the bottom line and pay long lasting dividends over the months to come.

About Visiting Media: Visiting Media is a technology and immersive content production company dedicated to delivering the worlds best visual selling tools to inspire, describe, promote and convey our customers spaces as early as possible in the buying cycle. We build innovative and powerful, yet simple solutions that deliver both traditional and immersive (360, 3D, virtual reality) content and focus on making selling easier, pragmatic and more joyful. Our products immediately increase conversions, selling speed, sales team efficiency and actionable data collection. (https://www.visitingmedia.com)

--End--

Chelsea Schroeder

Visiting Media

5035057931

communication@visitingmedia.com


Election campaigns by their very nature are an exercise in uncertainty, Chief Justice Esther Hayut opined in December 2019 in explaining why the top court would not rule on the question of whether an elected official under criminal indictment can be tasked with forming the government of Israel. Hayut and the other two justices on the panel adopted the position taken by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit who argued that a petition by 67 high-tech entrepreneurs represented by Attorney Dafna Holtz-Lachner was theoretical and premature given that elections were only scheduled for March. The justices were unimpressed with the petitioners warning of the chaos that would ensue on the day after the March 2 Knesset elections, should Mandelblit rule that an elected lawmaker under criminal indictment cannot be tasked with forming the countrys next government. The elections are now over, indicted Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a clear lead and chaos is already here.

With voters having failed to pull these chestnuts out of the fire (offering Netanyahu the lead), the issue reverts to the legal arena. A petition filed the day after the elections argued that Netanyahu could not be tasked by President Reuven Rivlin with forming the next government, and sought a Supreme Court injunction suspending the process. On March 4, the court once again rejected the petition as premature given that official election results had not yet been issued and that Rivlin had not started conferring with the newly elected Knesset faction leaders on the issue. Nonetheless, the justices will likely be asked to delve into the matter within days.

The petitioner, the Movement for Quality Government, asked the court to delay the procedure under which the president gives the nod to the lawmaker recommended by most Knesset factions  pending an opinion on the required criteria for recommending a candidate to the president. The petitioner reminded the justices that Netanyahu was currently not an elected prime minister (having served as interim prime minister since the 20th Knesset was dissolved in December 2018), only a rank-and-file Knesset member bound by the same rules of eligibility that apply to all elected officials accused of serious crimes. Therefore, he cannot be eligible to form a government and run it, the petitioner argued.

The petitioner also wondered how Netanyahu could conduct the affairs of state while having to attend court several times a week for full days of trial deliberations. Not only that, any decision made by the accused leader would be tainted by an inherent conflict of interest, with the public unable to know whether decisions, appointments and even legislation he instigates are in the best interests of the state or in his own. Several appointments of top gatekeepers and law enforcement officials are coming up this year, chief among them of the police commissioner, state attorney and Knesset legal adviser. The High Court will have to address the question of whether an official under criminal indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust can be tasked with making such appointments.

It is worth noting that law enforcement authorities and auditors have not said the final word on several other serious affairs in which Netanyahu is a suspect, including the SeaDrift shares he bought in 2007 at a 95% discount and the funds he received from his American cousin Nathan Milikowsky. Questions also linger over his role in the affair involving the sale of German submarines and other naval craft to Israel and Egypt. While all these affairs, as well as the indictment filed against Netanyahu and his upcoming trial scheduled for March 17, were widely reported and known, every second Israeli  and two-thirds of the Jewish ones  voted for the party he leads. Their votes point to growing public distrust of the states law enforcement and judicial systems. The Likud partys surprising election achievement further boosts the campaign of incitement against these authorities orchestrated by Netanyahu and his yes-men, Justice Minister Amir Ohana and Knesset members David Amsalem and Miki Zohar.

Having failed to avoid prosecution with the help of tailored immunity legislation, Netanyahu is left with two options: a delay in the legal proceedings against him and a presidential pardon. Netanyahu ruled out a third option of a plea deal that would involve an admission of guilt and withdrawal from politics. The law allows the attorney general to delay legal proceedings only on unusual grounds stemming from unusual circumstances regarding the offense itself or from special personal reasons of the accused. But the term special circumstances opens the door to broad interpretation and flights of fancy  for example, a state of war, peace talks, an epidemic or road closures by a million demonstrators.

A hint of such a possibility was provided in a November 2019 Haaretz opinion piece by retired Judge Uri Shtruzman, who chaired the Likud partys Central Election Committee. Shtruzman proposed postponing the legal proceedings until the end of Netanyahus term as prime minister. (His current term? Eighth term? 10th term?) He cited the Supreme Courts 2004 rejection of petitions demanding that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz indict then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on charges of bribery (in a case known as the Greek Island). In a 6-to-1 majority opinion, the justices dismissed the petitions out of hand arguing that prosecuting an incumbent prime minister could affect the running of the state. This could have a dramatic effect on current policy, at least as regards political and public acts, the judges wrote, and thereby also on the situation of many people in the public sphere.

Justice Mishael Cheshin, who wrote the dissenting opinion, told Haaretz in May 2006 that at that time, the whole nation wanted an outcome in which Sharon would not stand trial, because of the disengagement plan. And if Sharon had stood trial, there would have been no disengagement. Cheshin was referring to Sharons decision to pull Israeli settlers and troops out of the Gaza Strip  special circumstances, indeed.

The option of a pre-trial presidential pardon, based on a precedent set by the pardon of Shin Bet security agents accused of beating to death a Palestinian bus hijacker and covering up the affair (the 1984 Bus 300 affair), would also entail Netanyahus withdrawal from politics, a move that could pave the way to a unity government with the centrist opposition Blue and White party. However, in the coming weeks Rivlin will first have to decide whether he wants to go down in history as the first president who entrusted an elected official under criminal indictment with leading the state.

On the eve of the elections, Rivlin was handed petitions by various individuals, among them decorated officers, professors, business people and Israel Prize laureates, begging him not to entrust Netanyahu with the task. Just as it would be inconceivable to appoint an accused criminal to serve as a doctor, teacher, army officer, government minister or community rabbi, one of the petitions said, it is inconceivable to task him with forming a government. Nonetheless, the almost final election tallies indicate that at least 2,204,172 Israeli citizens  Likud, Shas, Yahadut HaTorah and Yamina voters  find it totally conceivable. They have had their say. Nonetheless, on the other side of the political divide, 62 newly elected lawmakers have the power to close the legal loophole through which the accused Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to infiltrate the prime ministers office and take up office for good.
Britain's health minister Matt Hancock walks past a hand sanitising station as he leaves after talking about coronavirus at the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce in London. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

Millions of self-employed workers could be handed a financial lifeline if they need to self-isolate over the coronavirus, according to a UK minister.

Health secretary Matt Hancock gave the clearest signal yet on Thursday that next weeks budget will include support for self-employed workers not entitled to sick pay.

The government has been under mounting pressure to act amid warnings some workers with symptoms face a difficult choice between getting paid and following advice to stay away from work.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) added its voice on Thursday to the growing campaign for sick pay rights to be extended to an estimated 2 million workers who earn too little to qualify. Sick pay is currently only paid to employees who earn more than 118 a week, while many of Britains 5 million self-employed workers also have limited protection against lost earnings.

Read more: Budget should give hardship fund to firms struggling amid outbreak

Hancock told delegates at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) annual conference in London the government was working on a way to ensure the self-employed were not penalised for doing the right thing.

Hancock had highlighted plans in his speech to force employers to pay sick pay from day one, not day four as under current regulation. But unions have warned the reform does nothing for the low-paid of self-employed.

The minister did not spell out what form support for the self-employed could take, and said it was not straightforward. But the government will put provision in place for workers no matter the contract or nature of employment, he said.

Josh Hardie, CBI deputy director general, said it was vital workers had no incentive to ignore public health advice for fear of lost pay. He said paying people where self-isolation meant not working was clearly the right thing to do.

The business chief also warned some firms could come under extreme pressure if a large number of staff could not work. If costs become too great, the government can look at options for emergency relief measures for businesses and to support jobs, he said in a statement.

Story continues

It comes after the government published its plan for tackling the coronavirus on Tuesday, warning up to a fifth of the entire workforce could be absent from work if the outbreak significantly escalates in the UK.

Read more: Coronavirus could leave one in five absent from work

The document warned previous disease outbreaks mean widespread exposure may be inevitable in the UK, but says slowing down its spread is still key.

The report says officials are uncertain about the impact on UK businesses, but say it is possible as many as one in five employees could be absent in a stretching scenario.
The teen was walking in the 700 block of North Harding Avenue just after 2:10 p.m., when the occupant of a light-colored SUV fired multiple shots in his direction, police said.
The commerce ministry's DGTR has initiated a probe whether to continue with the imposition of safeguard duty on solar cells following an application made by domestic companies for the same.

An application for review and extension of safeguard duty for four more years has been filed by Mundra Solar PV Ltd, Jupiter Solar Power Ltd, Jupiter International Ltd, through the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA).

They have sought continued imposition of the safeguard duty imposed on imports of 'solar cells whether or not assembled in modules or panels' into India to protect the domestic producers from increase in imports, according to a notification of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).

"On the basis of the prima facie evidence submitted by the domestic industry regarding evidence of serious injury and that the domestic industry is adjusting positively, the DGTR hereby, initiates a review investigation for examining the need for continued imposition of safeguard duty," it said.

In July 2018, the government had imposed safeguard duty for a period of two years on imports from China and Malaysia. It will be expired on July 29 this year.

As per the notification of the finance ministry, 25 per cent safeguard duty was imposed from July 30, 2018 to July 29, 2019, which was reduced to 20 per cent during July 30, 2019 to January 29, 2020 and 15 per cent during January 30, 2020 to July 29, 2020.

The period of investigation for the present probe will be from April 2016 to September 30, 2019.

This "period is long enough to take into consideration the market conditions and other factors that are relevant for ascertaining the need for continued imposition of safeguard duty," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the Long Beach Unified School District commits to keeping classes in-person, the city a new testing site opens for LBUSD employees and students only. The city is also ramping up its own testing efforts with a new 3,000-person per...
Make sure to get counted.

Counted by the U.S. Census Bureau that is.

States are spending a lot of money to participate in the 2020 census and with good reason  census numbers impact federal dollars and political power.

By participating we contribute to helping out our communities, cities, counties and state. It doesnt take long to fill out the form online or respond by phone or mail. Every household will receive a mailing from the bureau in March explaining the options. Historically, minority communities are undercounted in the census. Dont let that happen again.

Census numbers determine how many U.S. House of Representatives seats and Electoral College votes a state is allocated. Illinois is projected to lose one of 18 House seats. Thats one less vote and one less member to help send federal dollars home. That means Illinois will lose an electoral vote as well.

The numbers will also form the basis of redistricting within each state for the 2022 congressional and state legislative elections.

Possibly the more important consequence is the allocation of federal dollars. Among the funding sources impacted by the census: highway and transportation funding, Medicaid, natural disaster recovery, business and development loans and food stamps.

Private industry uses census data to expand their businesses, whether that means a factory or a store.

The money the state is spending will buy ads and be divvied up among nonprofits, grassroots organizations and colleges. While the efforts expended are notable, those efforts will be fruitless without help from individuals  both to participate and to volunteer.

Its less likely homes that havent filled in the form will get a follow-up visit from a census worker this year, so efforts on the ground are crucial. The reason for fewer home visits? The low unemployment rate and the temporary nature of the job make it difficult to find census workers, especially in rural areas.

Ultimately, the final numbers depend on the willingness of people to take a few minutes and fill out a form. Its a way to actually impact the federal government, maybe better than writing to a member of Congress.

Participate, and make sure family and friends get counted.

 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Stage Stores, parent company of the off-price Gordmans chain, plans to close about 200 stores.

The chain has been in the midst of converting its entire store fleet to the Gordmans brand. The company had previously been operating under a number of store brands including Bealls, Goody's, Palais Royal, Peebles and Stage.

The closures will affect existing Gordmans stores and other stores within the company that had been scheduled for conversion, according to industry news site Retail Dive.

In Upstate New York, Stage recently converted a number of Peebles locations to the Gordmans brand in communities including Oneida, Penn Yan and Newark, among others. Those locations, plus a Gordmans in Geneva, all remain open, according to the chains website.

The store closings would leave a footprint of about 500 stores, according to Retail Dive. The company had previously announced plans to end the year with 700 Gordmans locations.

The company didnt respond to Retail Dives request for comment.

The site said closures have begun at many stores already. Stage has also laid off dozens of corporate employees.

Stage began converting stores to the Gordmans name after buying the brand out of bankruptcy in 2017. It quickly bet big on the strategy with a rapid plan to convert its entire store fleet.

At least one analyst told Retail Dive he was concerned the chain was moving too fast.

In a perfect world, you can convert some stores and learn from those stores for a while, said Dennis Cantalupo, president of Pulse Ratings, according to Retail Dive. And Im sure they did learn some things with the original stores. But this is a faster pace that what we have seen in the past. And on a relatively limited budget.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Stage could be headed for bankruptcy.

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598

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CORVID-19 is extremely infectious and has recently achieved community spread status in the U.S., said Dr. Mathis. This status means that individuals with CF and their household members are on the front line of the need for preventive measures."

Claires Place Foundation Board Member Richard K. Mathis, M.D., who has been caring for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients for over forty years, offers advice to families affected by CF to prevent the coronavirus (CORVID-19). Individuals with CF are considered to be at the highest risk of severe disease from this virus.

CORVID-19 is extremely infectious and has recently achieved community spread status in the U.S., said Dr. Mathis. This status means that individuals with CF and their household members are on the front line of the need for preventive measures. The novel virus affects the epithelial cells lining of the lungs which is detrimental to the health of someone with CF as the epithelial cells are already damaged due to CF. It is vital that caretakers and family members of individuals with CF do not bring CORVID-19 into their home and follow preventive measures immediately. In fact, someone can carry CORVID-19 without symptoms, bringing it unknowingly into the home.

To protect individuals with CF from CORVID-19 take these preventive measures:

Outside of the home:



Public events and school closures are taking place in other countries where there are CORVID-19 outbreaks. This may happen in the U.S. For families with an individual with CF is it very important to carefully consider the public places attended even the attendance of school by siblings

Wear a labeled N-95 mask

Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds with soap and water or use hand sanitizer with 60% alcohol content

Avoid face and eye touching

Inside the home:

Disinfect frequently touched objects (i.e. TV remotes) and surfaces in your home

Home isolation and quarantine may be needed if a person has reason to suspect they have the coronavirus

Fever and increased breathing difficulty require prompt medical care. Contact your pulmonary/CF doctor

CORVID-19 is unfolding with new information reported daily. Be sure to check frequently for updated information from your local public health department or physician and on websites such as the CF Foundation, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAIFD) and CDC. Updated recommendations will occur as newer medical information, antiviral medications and vaccines become available. An end to this infection will occur. This will require a careful protective environment in and outside the home for CF patients and family members.

About Claires Place Foundation, Inc.

Claires Place Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing support to children and families affected by cystic fibrosis (CF). Claires Place Foundation is named in honor of Claire Wineland who lived with CF her entire life and passed away at the age of 21. Claire was an activist, author, TEDx Speaker, social media star and received numerous awards. Claires foundation was a way for her to assure that others living with CF enjoyed the same hope, strength and joy that she enjoyed. Recipient of Los Angeles Business Journals Small Nonprofit of the Year, the foundation provides grants to families affected by CF, offering both emotional and financial support. Today, Claires Place Foundation continues to carry on Claires legacy. For more information and make a donation, please visit http://www.clairesplacefoundation.org.
And yet otherwise environmentally conscious consumers continue to do it. Jared Bierbach, an environmental protection specialist for the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., said he was concerned about the impact of travel. He does not own a car and said he and his colleagues work hard to reduce unnecessary work trips. But as an enthusiastic traveler in his personal life, he made a status run to Barcelona for the weekend last December rather than give up platinum status on American Airlines for 2020. It was about exactly the right amount of miles, he said. To me it was very worth it. Ive gotten upgraded a lot and value being able to board first.

As for the environmental cost of his status run? It did not cross my mind at all, he said. Thats probably something Ill think about now.

In December, Albert Hsieh made two cross-country round-trip flights to maintain his status on Alaska Airlines: a weekend flight from San Francisco to New York to visit friends and a quick trip from San Francisco to Boston. Really quick: He had a lobster roll at Stephanies, an airport restaurant hed been wanting to try, and flew back in the same airplane. Mr. Hsieh, 33, writes the JetAlbert blog and advises private clients on how best to collect and use points. Im deeply interested in flying, so it didnt feel out of the norm, he said. It was more enjoyable than less. And, like so many other frequent fliers, its part of his job to travel.

He hadnt really considered whether it was a waste of jet fuel. Yeah, thats a great point, he said. But he added that he felt comfortable flying with Alaska, a carrier he admired for being vocal about sustainability, and that he believes it is the role of the government and industry, not of consumers, to push toward carbon neutrality.

The mileage run is dying

Mileage runs are now on the decline as airlines move toward rewarding customers based on the amount they spend rather than the number of miles they fly. Carriers may make money from mileage-run flights, but many see them as a hack for those who dont fly enough  or spend enough  to merit higher status.

I wouldnt say the mileage run is completely dead, but its on life support, said Scott Mayerowitz, executive editorial director of The Points Guy, a travel site that gained prominence as a go-to publication of frequent fliers and award cravers. The traditional mileage run was that you found a really cheap $200 to $300 ticket to Europe and you were rewarded on distance and nothing else. Those days are gone.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday approved the installation in the state of statues of Hindu deity Parshuram, iconic king Maharaja Agrasen, legendary Sikh warrior Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, freedom fighter Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna and Father of the Indian Constitution Dr. B R Ambedkar.

The decision has been taken to promote the nation's and the state's rich historical legacy, said a government statement here.

In the statement, the chief minister described the initiative as an instrument to connect the youth with the glorious past of their ancestors.

Presiding over a steering committee meeting here, the chief minister gave approval to install a bronze statue of Lord Parshuram at Ludhiana and that of legendary Indian king of Agroha, Maharaja Agarsen, at Bathinda.

The statue of legendary Sikh warrior Baba Banda Singh Bahadur would be installed at Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib district, the statue of Ambedkar will be erected by Punjab Technical University in and around Phagwara or Jalandhar, while a bust in the memory of Baba Sohan Bhakna, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the legendary freedom fighter, will be put up in Amritsar district.

Singh also gave in-principle approval for the installation of the statue of Baba Maharaj Singh in his native village Uchi Rabbon in Ludhiana district.

Recognising the immense contribution of Victoria Cross recipient and hero of Saragarhi battle Sepoy Ishar Singh, the CM also asked the steering committee to install his statue as a humble tribute to the iconic Sikh soldier in Ludhiana.

The decision was a mark of the state government's respect for reverend saints, valiant warriors, great freedom fighters, besides eminent statesmen and noted personalities, the CM said, adding that these iconic symbols would help create awareness among the young generation about India's and Punjab's rich religious legacy as well as historical and cultural heritage, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Warren ended her once-promising presidential campaign on Thursday after failing to finish higher than third place in any of the 18 states that have voted so far. While the Massachusetts senator said she was proud of her bid, she was also candid in expressing disappointment that a formerly diverse field is essentially now down to two men.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a primary election night rally, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at Eastern Market in Detroit. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Warren ended her once-promising presidential campaign on Thursday after failing to finish higher than third place in any of the 18 states that have voted so far. While the Massachusetts senator said she was proud of her bid, she was also candid in expressing disappointment that a formerly diverse field is essentially now down to two men.

All those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years," Warren told reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as her voice cracked. That's going to be hard.

Known for having a plan for that, Warren electrified progressives for much of the past year by releasing reams of policy proposals that addressed such issues as maternal health care, college debt, criminal justice reform and the new coronavirus. She planned to pay for many of her ambitious proposals with a 2 cent tax on fortunes worth more than $50 million, an idea that prompted chants of Two cents! Two cents! at her rallies.

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2020 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks with members of the media after a Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

But that energy  and an impressive organization  didn't translate into support once voters started making their decisions last month. She failed to capture any of the 14 states that voted on Super Tuesday and finished an embarrassing third in Massachusetts.

The Democratic contest now centres on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is trying to rally progressives, and former Vice-President Joe Biden, who is appealing to moderates. They are both white men in their late 70s, a fact that is prompting soul-searching for some Democrats who heralded the historic diversity that characterized the early days of the primary.

I think we all have to really interrogate why being for someone other than someone who looks like almost every other president we've had, in terms of age and gender, why everything else is seen as risky, said Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood.

While she said she will rally behind whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also lamented the challenges facing women in politics.

FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2020 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., addresses supporters during a town hall in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Every time I get introduced as the most powerful woman, I almost cry because I wish that were not true, she said Thursday. I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States.

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race but faces steep odds and has won just two delegates in her quest for the nomination.

Although she's no longer a presidential contender, Warren will likely remain a force in Democratic politics and could play a prominent role in a future administration if the party wins the White House. Clearly aware of her power, Warren didn't rush to endorse either Sanders or Biden.

Warren suggested Thursday that she would take her time before deciding whom to back. She didn't endorse Sanders in 2016  something that infuriated some of his supporters  and only backed Hillary Clinton after she effectively won the nomination.

In this March 3, 2020 photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a primary election night rally, at Eastern Market in Detroit. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Top advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations indicated Warren wouldn't wait that long in 2020.

Sanders wasted little time making an appeal to Warren backers, saying in Vermont on Thursday, I would simply say to her supporters out there, of which there are millions: We are opening the door to you. Wed love you to come on board.

But the divisions among Democrats run deep. Toni Van Pelt, the president of the National Organization for Women, urged Warren against siding with Sanders and noted Biden's involvement in the passage of the Violence Against Women Act.

She has a lot of leverage right now. We do trust her to make the right decisions on how to proceed. But wed like her not to rush into this, Van Pelt said. Sanders doesnt have a record. Hes really, as far as we know, done next to nothing for women and for our issues and for the things that are our priorities.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks outside her home beside her husband Bruce Mann, Thursday, March 5, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass., after she dropped out of the Democratic presidential race. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

After a strong summer, Warren's poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates in which she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she'd have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for universal, government-funded health care under a Medicare for All program. Warren's top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she'd work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged as Sanders stood by his unwavering support for government-run health care immediately.

After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldnt win the White House. Sanders denied that, but Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa  which only further hurt her polling numbers.

By the time the campaign turned to the South Carolina primary late last month, an outside political group began pouring millions of dollars into television advertising on her behalf. That forced Warren to say that, although she rejected super PACs, she'd accept their help as long as other candidates did. Her campaign, meanwhile, shifted strategy again, saying it was betting on a contested convention.

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Warren said outside her house on Thursday that "gender in this race, that is a trick question," since any woman running for office who acknowledges sexism is derided as a whiner and those who don't aren't accepting reality. But she nonetheless suggested her road might have been harder than that of the male candidates.

I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is the incumbent for," she said. And there's no room for anyone else in this. I thought that wasn't right, but, evidently, I was wrong."

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in New York and Laurie Kellman in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
Greek officials have accused Turkey of creating chaos at the border in order to give thousands of migrants the opportunity to breach the border and cross into Europe.

A video clip released by Athens purports to show Turkish riot police behind shields firing tear gas towards Greece, allegedly to disrupt Greek border authorities and allow the migrants a chance to cross the border.

Last week, Turkey suspended its obligations under a 2016 agreement with the European Union to keep migrants in Turkey in exchange for aid from the E.U. Turkey has promised to allow hundreds of thousands more migrants to leave for Europe in the coming days. Meanwhile, the E.U. does not have a comprehensive asylum policy in place to deal with the influx.

However, Turkish authorities claimed they were simply protecting the migrants after Greece began shooting at the refugees, killing at least four, an accusation Greece has denied.

The Turkish police were responding with tear gas to Greek police firing bullets at the migrants. Turkish police never targeted the migrants, they aimed to protect the migrants from Greek fire, a Turkish security official said, according to Reuters.

Greek riot police did, however, deploy tear gas and a water cannon against the migrants.

Our first priority is making sure that order is maintained at Greeces external border, which is also Europes border, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

The E.U. has promoted the right to seek asylum under international law, but Greece has suspended that right temporarily as it addresses the flood of migrants from Turkey. E.U. officials are reportedly in talks with Turkey about offering further aid for handling the large migrant population there.

More from National Review
The drones of the OSCE SMM in the occupied territory of Luhansk region spotted multiple rocket launchers deployed with the violation of the line of withdrawal as the Ukrainian side of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination reported on Facebook.

Particularly, 20 multiple rocket launchers (BM-21 "Grad", 122 mm) near Krasnolutsky, seven multiple rocket launchers (BM-21 "Grad", 122 mm) at the firing range near Miusynsk, seven multiple rocket launchers (BM-21 "Grad", 122 mm) at the territory of the object, south-west from Sadovy. On March 2, the patrol of the mission spotted six multiple rocket launchers (BM-21 "Grad", 122 mm), which were heading towards south-west from Ivanivka, Luhansk region.

Moreover, on March 2, the drone spotted 11 tanks (T-64B/T-64M  eleven, T-72  three), 10 self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122 mm) and 12 howitzers (D-30, 122 mm) at the firing range near Miusynsk.

On March 3, the SMM patrol spotted two tanks (T-72) at the firing range near Kruhlyk. The armament was place near withdrawal line but outside the allocated storage sites.

The Ukrainian side of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination reported that the armed formations of the Russian Federation continue to flagrantly violate Minsk Agreements, deploying the armament with the violation of the withdrawal line and outside the allocated storage sites.

On March 4, Ukraine's military took casualties as Russian occupant forces continue to attack their positions in the war-torn Donbas. One serviceman sustained a grave combat injury; Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported that on Wednesday.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

Far before the declaration of our independence, our forbearers had already conceived the picture of the Ghana they desired for themselves and for future generations the Ghana we deserve. They saw that Ghana as a more free and prosperous place. A place where every citizen has the opportunity to realize his/ her full potential. A Ghana held together by ideals and shared vision, and not by bloodline, tribe, or party. They pictured a Ghana where you can start your own business without paying a bribe.

A Ghana that is financially independent and more just. A Ghana that is more generous, more empathic and more dedicated to contributing to the knowledge economy rather than being a perpetual receiver. A Ghana where effort is rewarded. However, they understood that to transform the picture into a reality, they had a dear price to pay. Yet, they were willing to, and eventually paid the price with their scarce resources and sometimes lives. They did it because they understood that no price was too costly for their freedom and the future of the generations to be born later. They set the pace for our advancement in technology, education, health, security, and governance.

Much time has passed since our independence, and our nation has seen several governments. These governmentspast and present have put in blood, sweat, and tears to get us the Ghana we deserve and have made strides in their efforts. Yet, it is plainly clear that there is still a gap between the Ghana we deserve and that we live in. Howhow can we close the gap between the Ghana we deserve and that we live in? This is a mighty task not only for the politician but also for the apolitical. Not only for our leaders but also for every citizen. For what a citizen does is as important as what the government does.

In many ears, this would sound absurd: let us commend our politicians for their service to our nation. For they have lived above the cynicism that drives many abled men away from involving in politics, to contribute toward nation-building. They have shown courage in taking up the daunting task of leadership. Even though, we the masses do not just need any type of leadership. We need ethical leadership. The type of leadership that motivates and inspires citizens to reach greater heights, not the type that thrives on the needs and fears of the people. It when we recognize the contribution of our politicians to our nation that we can challenge them to transform this country completely into the one we deserve.

Every day gives a reason for citizens to deepen their belief that politics is a business, not a mission. Last night, I heard this fifteen-year-old girl ask her friend are you a politician or lying runs in your veins. People do not just hold these beliefs out of the vacuum; they are premised on several events. Bringing his promises and practices into closer alignment, and delivering on those promises, the politician will regain the trust of the people, trust that is the most vital gift leaders can get from citizens.

The narrative will change if they narrow the gap between the politics we need and the politics they play: politics where the premium is put on winning arguments, not providing solutions. The politician will create the Ghana we deserve if he lives beyond his personal or party interests for our common good. If he feels diminished for seeing a suffering citizen. If our present and future political heads welcome all plausible ideas regardless of the source, they can create the Ghana we want.

Unlike some past governments, if the present and future governments confront problems instead of glossing over them and passing them to future generations, they can build the Ghana we deserve. Political heads should always flank themselves by people who speak to power, and not by people who flatter. Fear, not the opponent who attacks you, but rather the friend who flatters. For Sycophants have made nations perish and have pulled down governments by giving false hopes.

We must change our attitudes and our minds. We must realize that from now on we are no longer a colonial but free and independent people, those were the words of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in his Independence Day speech. I draw two things from this: that we the downtrodden should no more allow politicians to patent our minds; and that we should question the wisdom of government policies. Because we are free people. We are free to write our own future and to pursue it.

Therefore, no matter where you stand on the political spectrumNPP or NDC you should put country first before party. Let us see each other beyond our backgrounds; vote beyond our backgrounds. This way, we can achieve the common vision we share. Our unity and development remains a mighty task for the citizens and their leaders. Thus, citizens should help their leaders by setting high tones for them and holding them accountable. Citizens in public offices should discharge their duties, as they will do in their private offices. How we manage our private funds is as important as how we should manage public funds. Let us concentrate on the things that unite us and not those that pull us apart. Together we will build the Ghana we deserve.
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A Newfoundland judge has ruled that the province's former environment minister acted unreasonably when he allowed a salmon hatchery to proceed without further environmental assessment.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A Newfoundland judge has ruled that the province's former environment minister acted unreasonably when he allowed a salmon hatchery to proceed without further environmental assessment.

The proposed Indian Head hatchery in Stephenville would see more than 2 million salmon placed into existing sea cages owned by Northern Harvest Sea Farms.

Lawyers on behalf of a group of wildlife advocates argued last fall that the minister's decision was not valid because he did not consider the impacts when the hatched fish are released into sea cages.

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Daniel Boone concluded that former minister Andrew Parsons' decision to release the project from assessment without considering the sea cages did not reflect a "rational chain of analysis."

He quashed the minister's decision in his Feb. 27 judgment.A lawyer for the province had argued that the company was legally entitled to make revisions to its proposal, making the case that because the sea cages were already licensed, additional assessment of the facilities was not justified.

Environmental law group Ecojustice, which provided counsel to the applicants, said the ruling in favour of comprehensive assessments shows the province needs to strengthen its regulations.

"(The) result closes a glaring loophole in the way aquaculture is regulated in the province and will help minimize threats to wild salmon," Ecojustice lawyer Sarah McDonald said in a statement.Aquaculture regulation in the province came under scrutiny last year after 2.6 million salmon died in sea cages owned by Northern Harvest Sea Farms off Newfoundland's south coast.

John Baird, President of the Freshwater-Alexander Bays Ecosystem Corporation, said salmon conservation groups involved in the case are "very happy" with the ruling.

In a statement, he said the court's decision takes into account public concerns with ocean salmon-farming.

"Open net farms can no longer be developed in this province without proper environmental review," he said. "We will be watching closely to ensure that the environmental assessment for this project is sufficiently rigorous and mindful of real concerns about this industry's impacts."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Devs represents fairly new territory for both you. How did you two connect?

NICK OFFERMAN: Well, I had been running like I was performing in a circus act, with several figurative plates spinning: acting jobs, touring as a comedian, book writing and woodworking. I wanted to slow down, to create some daylight in my calendar. So I did that, and then miraculously I got a call that Alex Garland wanted to meet me. Id been a fan of Alexs for a long time. I was quickly cast under his spell.

When I first sat down with Alex, he told me about some of the ups and downs of his previous projects, which involved clashing with large corporations and standing his artistic ground. And I said, I am getting ready to propose marriage to you. As an artist, you always hope your collaborators will be so aligned because you have a much better chance of making good art. The more the captain of your ship steers to the to the tune of the military industrial complex, the greater chance you have of making dross.

ALEX GARLAND: Nicks character, Forest, is in some ways genial and affable, but in other ways theres something really dark inside him. Though I didnt see darkness in Nick, I did see melancholy. And my experience with Sonoya was not dissimilar, inasmuch as theres something subverting the thing that appears to be there. Theres nothing solicitous about Sonoya or Nick. Many actors operate from a deep-rooted desire to be liked. They play a kind of seducing game with the audience via the camera. And these two just dont have any trace of that, at all.

Nick and I also just got on really well. All of the people in this cast are serious actor-actors, but theyre also good-natured. When youre shooting, its always going to be difficult, and in the end the personalities youre involved with become crucial. Nick, dont you think its true that there was very little in the way of the hierarchies that can easily happen on set?
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday amid protests and unrelenting sloganeering by opposition members including those from the Congress over the Delhi violence.

With the protests continuing, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said, "This is Parliament, not a bazaar."

The House proceedings have been disrupted by Opposition members during the second leg of the Budget Session.

Before adjournment of the House, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan made a statement on the coronavirus situation in the country and members including those from the opposition made constructive suggestions.

However, no sooner Naidu asked MPs to start with their Zero Hour mentions, Congress members were up on their feet and joined by other opposition members.

Later, opposition MPs including from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party entered the Well of the House and started raising slogans against the government and the home minister over the communal violence in Delhi which has led to death of several people.

The Chairman also warned that if a member whose Zero Hour notice has been accepted and does not raise it despite being present in the House, he or she will not be given another chance during the remaining period of the current session.

Around 1200 pm, Naidu asked protesting members to return to their seats so that the Question Hour could be taken up.

But, the opposition parties did not yield, and the Chairman adjourned proceedings for the day.

Earlier when the House met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Congress and other opposition parties had previously decided that business in the House will be allowed only after a discussion on communal violence in Delhi.

But in view of the situation arising out of the outbreak of coronavirus, opposition parties don't want to deprive the countrymen of steps the government is taking to deal with the situation, he said, adding the opposition has decided to allow the health minister to make a statement on the issue.

But no other business will be allowed till a discussion on Delhi violence is held on March 11, he said.

Naidu, however, said he did not agree with the proposition. The House, he said, cannot be run on conditions.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan said a discussion on Delhi violence is scheduled in Lok Sabha on March 11 and on March 12 in Rajya Sabha.

After this, Health Minister Vardhan made a nine-page statement on coronavirus.

The Chairman also asked ministers concerned to take note of suggestions made by MPs on steps required to deal with the coronavirus impact.
CHERRY HILL, N.J., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, today awarded 30 affordable housing development organizations from Maine to Florida a total of $3.75 million through its Housing for Everyone grant competition.

This year's competition focused on organizations working to refurbish existing housing properties to create affordable rental units. The 30 grants of $125,000 each will fund programs from winning organizations providing safe, clean, physically accessible affordable rental units for families, individuals, the elderly, new Americans, Veterans, the disabled, women and youth.

"Across the U.S., renters are 25 to 45% more financially burdened than homeowners, according to the State of the Nation's 2019 Housing Report," said Paige Carlson-Heim, Director of TD Charitable Foundation and Office of Charitable and Community Giving. "This year's Housing for Everyone grant recipients are committed to finding ways to ease that burden by increasing the availability of safe, affordable rental housing. I am excited about the incredible work being done by each of these organizations and look forward to watching them create a pathway to financial stability for individuals and families."

Grants made through TD Charitable Foundation's 14th annual Housing for Everyone program support local non-profits in creating affordable rental housing for individuals and families, ultimately leading to improvements in their ability to plan for the future and participate more fully in educational and economic opportunities. The program, which has awarded more than $28 million in grants since 2006, directly aligns with the bank's commitment to financial security initiatives which seek to increase access to the opportunities people need to help improve their financial wellness, ranging from affordable housing and financial literacy to early learning and income stability.

This year's Housing for Everyone grants winners are:

Ability Housing ( Jacksonville, FL )

) Asian Americans for Equality ( New York, NY )

) Avesta Housing ( Portland, ME )

) Bergen County United Way ( Paramus, NJ )

) Camillus House ( Miami, FL )

( ) Cathedral Square Corporation ( South Burlington, VT )

) Columbus House ( New Haven, CT )

( ) Community Access Unlimited ( Elizabeth, NJ )

) Community Builders ( Boston, MA )

) Community Loan Fund of New Jersey ( New Brunswick, NJ )

( ) Family Promise of Gainesville & Rebuilding Together North Central Florida ( Gainesville, FL )

) Homeless Solutions ( Cedar Knolls, NJ )

) Homes of Hope ( Greenville, SC )

) Housing Development Corporation Midatlantic ( Norristown, PA )

) Housing Up ( Washington, DC )

) Metropolitan Ministries ( Tampa, FL )

) Mission First Housing Group ( Philadelphia, PA )

) Mountain Housing Opportunities ( Asheville, NC )

) Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern CT ( Bridgeport, CT )

) Neighborworks Southern New Hampshire ( Manchester, NH )

) Olneyville Housing Corporation ( Providence, RI )

) Riseboro Community Partnership ( Brooklyn, NY )

) RUPCO, Inc. ( Kingston, NY )

) Saint Joseph's Carpenter Society ( Camden, NJ )

Carpenter Society ( ) Saint Matthew's House ( Naples, FL )

) The Neighborhood Developers ( Chelsea, MA )

) Victory Housing ( Rockville, MD )

) Wesley Housing Development Corporation of Northern Virginia ( Alexandria, VA )

( ) Worcester Common Ground ( Worcester, MA )

) 72 Lewis Avenue Apartments Housing Development Fund Corporation ( Brooklyn, NY )

The Housing for Everyone grant competition is aligned with the TD Ready Commitment, the bank's corporate citizenship program to help individuals and communities prosper. As part of the TD Ready Commitment, TD targets CDN $1 billion (US $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to building an inclusive tomorrow  Financial Security, a more Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. For more, visit: https://www.tdbank.com/corporate-responsibility/the-ready-commitment/.

About the TD Charitable Foundation

The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, one of the 10 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. Since its inception in 2002, the Foundation has distributed over $230 million through more than 21,330 grants through donations to local nonprofits from Maine to Florida. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation is available at https://www.tdbank.com/corporate-responsibility/the-ready-commitment/funding-opportunities/

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.td.com/us. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com/us.

SOURCE TD Charitable Foundation

Related Links

http://www.td.com/us


A gang of gunmen believed to be Boko Haram fighters Wednesday night attacked Dapchi village in Yobe State.

Dozens of houses were burnt in the attack, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Dapchi is a town in Yobe State where schoolgirls were in February 2018 abducted from their dormitory by the Boko Haram. The girls were later released in a deal with the government; but one of the girls, Leah Sharibu, was held back because she reportedly refused to denounce her Christian faith.

Sources in Damaturu, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, confirmed the development. They said the attackers who invaded the town in large numbers may have inflicted serious damage on residents.

It was practically impossible to call Dapchi residents because the insurgents had grounded all telecommunications installations in that area during an earlier attack last week.

A government official in Damaturu who confirmed the development to our reporter on strict condition of anonymity said they invaded Dapchi through Jimbam village before wrecking havoc on the town.

They burnt many homes during the attack, but no one can, for now, confirm whether there were deaths or not.
[March 05, 2020] Google Cloud Unveils Strategy for Telecommunications Industry, Announces New Solutions, Customers, and Partners SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Google Cloud today announced a comprehensive new strategy to help telecommunications companies digitally transform. Google Cloud's strategy focuses on three key business outcomes for telecommunications companies: monetizing 5G as a business services platform, engaging customers with data-driven experiences, and improving operational efficiency across telecom core systems. "Rapid technology advancements are impacting the telecommunications industry, whether it's the rise of 5G and network-centric business models or new connected devices and applications," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. "Many of these offer significant opportunities for business transformation, and that's why we're excited to collaborate with leading telecoms, partners, and customers to help transform the industry together and create better overall experiences for users around the world." Enabling and Monetizing 5G as a business services platform Google Cloud is partnering with telecommunications companies to harness 5G as a business services platform. To meet this goal, Google Cloud today unveiled its Global Mobile Edge Cloud (GMEC) strategy, which will deliver a portfolio and marketplace of 5G solutions built jointly with telecommunications companies; an open cloud platform for developing these network-centric applications; and a global distributed edge for optimally deploying these solutions. Today, Google Cloud and AT&T announced a collaboration to help enterprises take advantage of Google Cloud's technologies and capabilities using AT&T network connectivity at the edge, including 5G. The two companies are testing a portfolio of 5G edge computing solutions for industries, such as retail, manufacturing, and transportation, that bring together AT&T's network, Google Cloud's leading technologies including AI/ML and Kubernetes, and edge computing to help enterprises address real business challenges. "We're working with Google Cloud to deliver the next generation of cloud services," said Mo Katibeh, EVP and CMO, AT&T Business. "Combining 5G with Google Cloud's edge compute technologies can unlock the cloud's true potential. This work is bringing us closer to a reality where cloud and edge technologies give businesses the tools to create a whole new world of experiences for their customers." Google Cloud also announced Anthos for Telecom, which will bring its Anthos cloud platform to the network edge, allowing telecommunications companies to run their applications wherever it makes the most sense. Much like Android provided an open platform for mobile-centric applications, Anthos for Telecom, based n open-source Kubernetes, will provide a versatile open platform for network-centric applications. Finally, Google Cloud can partner with telecommunications companies to rapidly enable a global distributed edge by lighting up thousands of edge locations that are already deployed in these telecom networks. Transforming customer experiences with AI/ML and data-driven insights Google Cloud is helping telecommunications companies transform customer experiences through data- and AI-driven technologies. Google Cloud's BigQuery platform provides a scalable data analytics solutionwith machine learning built-inso telecommunications companies can store, process, and analyze data in real time, and build personalization models on top of this data. "The collaboration with Google Cloud has been invaluable for our business as we use data to become more customer-centric," said Simon Harris, Group Head of Big Data Delivery at Vodafone. "Not only are we able to gain analytics capabilities across Vodafone products and services, but also we arrive at insights faster, which can then be used to offer more personalized product offerings to customers and to raise the bar on service." "We're leveraging Google Cloud's data analytics capabilities to deliver customized marketing campaigns, real-time personalization, and talent acquisition for our customers," said Robert Visser, CIO at Wind Tre, an Italian telecom operator with more than 30 million mobile customers. Another key Google Cloud solution, Contact Center AI , helps telecommunications companies significantly improve customer service, while decreasing costs. CCAI gives companies 24/7 access to immediate conversational self-service, with seamless handoffs to human agents for more complex issues. It also empowers human agents with continuous support during their calls by identifying intent and providing real-time, step-by-step assistance. Google Cloud's AI and retail solutions are also used by communications companies to transform the retail experience for customers, including omni-channel marketing, sales and service, personalization and recommendations, and virtual-agent presence in stores. Improving operational efficiency to telecom IT, network, and core systems Google Cloud is helping telecommunications companies transform their core IT systems and networks. As a part of this transformation, many of the applications, like OSS (Operations Support Systems), BSS (Business Support Systems), and network functions that once resided in telecom environments, will now move to Google Cloud. This will provide customers with benefits, including reducing costs and improving IT efficiencies, and using Google Cloud to virtualize network functions for their core communications networks. As part of this effort, Google Cloud today is announcing a partnership with Amdocs to enable communications service providers to run Amdocs' market leading portfolio on Google Cloud, and to deliver new data analytics, site reliability engineering, and 5G edge solutions to enterprise customers. "Service providers worldwide are embarking on transformation journeys centered on the cloud in order to drive new services, revenue opportunities and experiences," said Gary Miles, chief marketing officer, Amdocs. "By combining our cloud-native, open and modular solutions with the fully managed, high performing Google Cloud, we can accelerate this journey." As part of the Amdocs and Google Cloud joint go-to-market initiative announced today, Amdocs is also proud to announce that Altice USA has gone live with Amdocs data and intelligence systems on the Google Cloud. Altice USA is an early mover in driving better intelligence into its core operations for enhanced customer insights and experiences. In addition, Google Cloud is announcing a new partnership with Netcracker to deploy its entire Digital BSS/OSS and Orchestration stack on Google Cloud. Telecommunications companies can now scale and purchase their mission-critical IT applications on demand, with access to unlimited Google Cloud resources, reducing the total cost of ownership and accelerating the availability of new services. "Netcracker is delighted to offer service providers a choice of cloud platforms with the availability of our digital portfolio on Google Cloud," said Bob Titus, CTO, Netcracker. "Together with Google Cloud, we are helping our customers on the next phase of their digital transformation with a clear focus on service innovation and a superior customer experience." About Google Cloud

Google Cloud provides organizations with leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions, along with expertise, to reinvent their business with data-powered innovation on modern computing infrastructure. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently, modernize for growth and innovate for the future. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/google-cloud-unveils-strategy-for-telecommunications-industry-announces-new-solutions-customers-and-partners-301017052.html SOURCE Google Cloud

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Let us pray, now, for science. Pray for empiricism and for epidemiology and for vaccines. Pray for peer review and controlled double-blinds. For flu shots, herd immunity and washing your hands. Pray for reason, rigor and expertise. Pray for the precautionary principle. Pray for the NIH and the CDC. Pray for the WHO.

And pray not just for science, but for scientists, too, as well as their colleagues in the application of science  the tireless health care workers, the whistleblowing first responders, the rumpled, righteous public servants whose long-ignored warnings we will learn about only when the 12-part coronavirus docu-disaster series drops on Netflix. Wish them all well in the fights ahead. Their weapons, the weapons of science, are all we have left  perhaps the only true weapons our kind has ever marshaled against encroaching oblivion.

It may sound paradoxical to plead for divine sanction of scientific pursuit. But these are dicey times for science and for scientists, and they need all the help they can get. As the coronavirus spreads, it is exposing the fraying seams of our overextended world. The failures to contain the outbreak and to understand the scale and scope of its threat stem from an underinvestment in and an under-appreciation of basic science.

Sure, this is not exactly breaking news.

But this novel coronavirus illustrates the problem more acutely. If it doesnt kill us it should at least shake us out of the delusion that we can keep ignoring the science and scientists who are warning about the long-term dangers to our way of life. Religious texts say that societies face destruction when they forget God. The coronavirus, like the accelerating climate-related disaster, shows what we face when we decide to blind ourselves to science.

This is what happens when you ignore and silence front-line doctors who warn of impending disaster, as authorities in China did in the early days of the outbreak: a possible global epidemiological and economic catastrophe.

This is what happens when you gut the United States pandemic-response infrastructure, as Donald Trump has spent the last few years doing: a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that botches the most basic defense against disease  testing for it.

I wish these were one-off errors that we could attribute to authoritarian Chinese Communism or routine Trumpian incompetence. But they point to an underlying global dysfunction, one that transcends political parties and styles of government.

Science has always faced threats. Its purpose is to shed light on truth, and there have always been those who would stifle the dangerous facts scientists unearth. But today the stakes are higher. How well fight the gravest threats humanity faces will depend on how governments and citizens understand and interpret the findings and cautions of science.

And what weve seen so far in the global response to the virus should frighten you. Our inattention to science is sometimes laid to Americans supposed scientific illiteracy, but the truth is more complicated. If its true that a lot of Americans dont know a lot about science, its because across American society, science is actively undermined, underfunded, ignored and suppressed.

On social networks and in too many corners of the mainstream media, scientific expertise is cloaked by a fog of propaganda, misinformation and scam ads for essential oils and that one mystery food every gut doctor in America is begging you to throw out. From the food industry to the drug industry to the oil and gas industry, corporate America routinely hides science under a haze of well-funded oppo. The gun industry did one better: Under legislation pushed for by the National Rifle Association, the federal government until recently was hamstrung in even funding scientific research into gun violence.

Our collective inability to communicate about science has thoroughly perverted our politics. Because science has become so deeply intertwined with partisan dogma, peoples very conception of scientific expertise has been hijacked by tribal reflex. T

What were left with is a society embarrassingly ignorant about the world around us. The vice president thinks smoking doesnt kill, condoms are very poor protection against disease, and the best way to curb an HIV outbreak is through prayer. The president says global warming is a hoax and attempts at conservation are making American life too inconvenient.

Its not just politicians. The number of Americans who say vaccines are important is declining  and anti-vax conspiracies cross partisan divides, finding fans among Northern California hippies and some corners of the GOP.

Hence my call for divine intervention. Science and scientists face crushing opposition.

If we wont support them and wont listen to them, the least we can do is pray.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE: BOSS) (OTCQB: BOSQF) (FSE: YG3) is pleased to announce that today it ships its first products to OMG Colombia, the subsidiary of Organic Medical Growth OMG3 Inc. ("OMG3") in Latin America, based in Colombia, as part of a 5 year distribution deal for Yield Growth's Urban Juve skin care line. Today, 1,800 products are being shipped, in partial fulfillment of OMG's first product purchase order in anticipation of imminent completion of regulatory approval to sell Urban Juve products in Colombia and progressively in other parts of South America.





Urban Juve arrives in Colombia



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6377/53160_yg.jpg

"We are excited to grow Urban Juve's presence in South America as momentum for sales continues to grow in North America," says Yield Growth CEO Penny White. "Through the efforts of our talented sales team we are currently arranging to send product orders to over 200 new retail locations in Canada for anticipated delivery in June 2020, and we continue to produce new inventory to meet sales demands internationally."

According to Goldstein Research, the Latin America cosmetics market reached a value of USD $31.98 billion in 2017 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 4.49% during the forecast period 2017-2025.

OMG3 is in the process of distributing Urban Juve skin care products in Colombia and other countries of Latin America. Through its Colombian partner Ortix, OMG has access to a distribution channel of over 44,000 pharmacies in South America and has partnered with on-demand delivery giant, Rappi, to sell products through its e-commerce platform. Rappi was founded in Colombia in 2015 and has become the unicorn of the LATAM start up scene having just received $1 billion in venture capital funding from Softbank. Rappi is located in 55 cities across 7 LATAM countries including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Mexico and plans to expand to 100 new cities by the end of 2019.

Story continues

About The Yield Growth Corp.

The Yield Growth Corp. is a health and beauty consumer packaged goods company selling plant-based products with over 200 proprietary beauty, wellness, edibles and beverage formulas at various stages of commercialization. Its products are sold through e-commerce worldwide and retail stores in 3 countries with distribution agreements in place for 12 more countries. It conducts research for plant-based therapeutics and has filed 15 patent applications in what the Global Wellness Institute reports is a $4.2 trillion-dollar global wellness market. It owns the hemp skin care brand Urban Juve, which has been featured in UK Vogue and Elle Canada, and it owns brands Wright & Well and Jack n Jane. It's majority owned subsidiary Flourish Mushroom Labs is launching a line of superfood mushroom products and developing intellectual property and assets in the emerging market of psychedelic medicine. The Yield Growth management team has deep experience with global brands including Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Skechers and Aritzia. Yield Growth earns revenue through multiple streams including licensing, services and product sales.

For more information about Yield Growth, visit www.yieldgrowth.com or follow @yieldgrowth on Instagram. Visit www.urbanjuve.com and #findyourjuve across social platforms to learn, engage and shop.

Investor Relations Contacts:

Penny White, President & CEO

Kristina Pillon, Investor Relations

invest@yieldgrowth.com

1-833-514-BOSS 1-833-514-2677

1-833-515-BOSS 1-833-515-2677

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward looking statements") under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates, forecasts, beliefs and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to: risks related to the development, testing, licensing, intellectual property protection, and sale of, and demand for, Urban Juve, Wright & Well, Flourish Mushroom Labs, Jack n Jane and UJ Beverages products, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals where applicable, and the state of the capital markets. Yield Growth cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements provided by Yield Growth, as such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future results or performance and actual results may differ materially. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Yield Growth expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53160
The zone covers 54 hectares in Ho Dac Kien Commune, Chau Thanh District, and will be built at an estimated cost of VND1.7 trillion (US$73.2 million).

Xay Da B will be dedicated to the weaving, dying and garment industries.

At the ground-breaking ceremony, Soc Trang Vice Chairman Lam Hoang Nghiep pledged to support the investor during the implementation of the project.

He also asked Dintsun Vietnam to concentrate its resources to complete the project on schedule, fully comply with regulations, ensure labour safety, and pay special attention to environmental protection.

Dintsun Vietnam Deputy General Director Jas Mime Lau stated that construction of the zone will follow the design and its factory will meet international standards.

The company is expected to employ 2,500 workers starting from March 2021.

Soc Trang Province plans to build 19 industrial zones with a total area of 794 hectares, of which nine have already been established, covering 410 hectares.
Kate Middleton is 'almost singlehandedly' carrying the Royal Family right now and is proving a pillar of strength for her 'under pressure' husband, a body language expert has claimed.

Yesterday the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a romantic clifftop walk in rural Ireland - accompanied by security - after visiting a cattle farm and meeting young people facing mental health issues and homelessness.

The couple's whistle-stop royal tour of the country is intended to soothe post-Brexit relations between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Kate Middleton is 'almost singlehandedly' carrying the Royal Family right now and is proving a pillar of strength for her 'under pressure and anxious' husband, a body language expert has claimed

During the trip, body language expert Judi James observed how Kate took the lead at engagements, illustrating the 'energy and power she is putting in as she steps up to the plate'.

'Kate does seem to be carrying the royal firm almost single-handedly right now,' Judi told FEMAIL.

'In many of these poses she is taking the lead, approaching the hosts first, instigating the humour, and engaging in conversations using some very active gesticulation.

'She also looks quietly watchful of William, throwing him several cues of encouragement, suggesting the split from his brother is taking its toll.'

According to Judi, William had tended to walk with his hands stuffed into his pockets, looking slightly isolated, but Kate's linking gesture (right) and PDA (left) suggested support and affection

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were spoiled for weather as they strolled up to Howth Head east of Dublin

With Prince Harry currently in the UK to carry out his final royal engagements before he steps back as a senior member of The Firm, Judi said William's body language suggests he is feeling the strain of the recent drama.

'William's subliminal gestures of what looks like anxiety do seem to have increased,' she observed.

'Like Kate, he has been full of smiles and charm on this trip, but his body language leakage suggests he feels under pressure right now.'

She added: 'I would say overall that all the dramas in the royal family and the split between the two brothers might have brought William and Kate even closer, with him appreciating the way she has shown her own strength and ability to take over, plus what has probably been her strong emotional support too.'

William's subliminal gestures of what looks like anxiety do seem to have increased, according to Judi

With Prince Harry currently in the UK to carry out his final royal engagements before he steps back as a senior member of The Firm, Judi said William's body language suggests he is feeling the strain of the recent drama

Judi said during the trip to Ireland, the Duke of Cambridge displayed an increase in 'self-comfort rituals', such as placing a hand on his stomach in a 'partial barrier gesture' and 'some hand-wringing and jacket-holding'.

'His head has been down more than usual, making him look reflective,' she added.

'He is clearly also keen to appear upbeat and charming though, but it often seems to be a very heavily-engaged and confident-looking Kate taking the more active role with their hosts.'

Judi said Kate took the opportunity to turn their stroll up the trail in the Howth peninsula, a popular tourist spot east of central Dublin that attracts thousands of visitors every year, into a romantic PDA by linking her arm into her husband's and smiling in a way to suggest they were 'sharing a quiet moment together'.

During the trip, body language expert Judi James observed how Kate took the lead at engagements, illustrating the 'energy and power she is putting in as she steps up to the plate'

'William had tended to walk with his hands stuffed into his pockets, looking slightly isolated, but Kate's linking gesture suggested support and affection,' she told FEMAIL.

'The affection appeared to be appreciated by William as the pair shared a more mutual - and unusual for them - PDA, standing with their arms linked round one another as they admired the view.'

The royal couple stopped to chat to locals while on their walk, and William joked he has only been allowed 'two sips' of Guinness so far in Ireland before officials take keep taking them away from him.

Judi said William's head has been down more than usual on this trip, making him look reflective, while Kate has maintained a smiley and open disposition. Pictured at Teagasc Research Farm

Kate said it was 'such a great day to come and see the view' before being asked if she was enjoying Ireland. She replied: 'Yeah, we're loving it, thank you.

'We've got a few bits left - we're going to Galway tomorrow.' A local then replied: 'Always fabulous, better pints of Guinness in Galway.'

And William said: 'I know, I've been allowed two sips so far. Every time I have the third sip it gets taken away from me. Finish a pint by the time I'.

Judi said Kate looks quietly watchful of William, throwing him several cues of encouragement, suggesting the split from his brother is taking its toll

A resident replied: 'It's a bit of a tough gig.' William responded: 'Yeah, tough gig.' The couple then walked off as a local told them: 'Thanks for coming out.'

The Duke and Duchess were both handed a pint of the black stuff as they visited the world famous Guinness Storehouse in Dublin on Tuesday evening.

The duke and duchess's outing came after a day of formal engagements to launch their first official visit to Ireland, nine years after the Queen became the first British monarch to visit the country since its independence.
WILLOWS, Calif.  The CHP said they arrested a Chico woman for DUI after causing a collision on Highway 162 west of County Road FF, Wednesday afternoon.

A Chevy Sedan was driving eastbound on Highway 162, approaching a Ford pickup traveling westbound. The Sedan made an unsafe turn and her vehicle drifted into the opposing lane, directly into the path of the Ford pickup, according to the CHP.

Due to this, the Ford pickup overturned and stopped in the road. The Sedan stopped on the north side of the road and collided into a utility pole. Willows CHP, Tracy Hoover said the Ford pickup was a state vehicle for the CDC.

The driver of the Chevy was identified as 53-year-old Sharon Pelagio, of Chico, the Ford driver was identified as 42-year-old Kieth Silva, of Sparks, Nevada, according to the CHP. Both were transported to local hospitals.

The CHP said Pelagio was determined to have caused the collision and arrested for suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
New York senators moved to strengthen the states seat belt laws Tuesday and approved a bill that requires backseat adult passengers to buckle up.

The legislation, passed by the state Senate and Assembly, now moves on to Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Current law requires front seat adult passengers to be buckled, but the legislation would force adult backseat passengers to use a seat belt too  a move supporters say will save lives and cut down on the risk posed to buckled-in front seat riders.

The simple fact is youre not any safer in the back seat. So we have to make that message loud and clear by passing this legislation, said state Sen. David Carlucci on the chamber floor Tuesday.

Carlucci, a Democrat whose district includes Rockland County, said New York in the 1980s became the first state in the nation to require people in the front seat to wear a seat belt. But since then, dozens of other states have enacted backseat belt laws, he said.

Lets not be the last state, said Carlucci, a sponsor of the measure.

Supportive lawmakers also say people who do not wear their seat belts in the backseat put front seat passengers at risk.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that about half of the 37,133 people killed in vehicle crashes in 2017 were not wearing seat belts. According to the administration, an estimated 14,955 lives were saved by seat belts in that same year.

The backseat belt measure has long been stalled at the state Capitol. The measure has failed several times to pass both chambers.

State Sen. Jen Metzger, a Democrat whose district covers Sullivan County, recalled that a constituent who teaches driver safety brought the issue to her attention last year. The bill, she said, will save thousands of lives.

Its shocking. Its actually really shocking to me, she said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation New York
The government on Thursday asserted there is no shortage of medicines or raw ingredients for drugs and that adequate supplies are available for next three months, amid coronavirus outbreak.

A group of ministers is also monitoring the situation on a daily basis to ensure preparedness for the challenge posed by the outbreak.

Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda said all initiatives are being taken to ensure there is no impact of the disease in India.

"There is no shortage of any APIs in the country. We have sufficient APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and medicines in the country," he said adding "for another three months there is no shortage for undertaking production in the pharma sector".

Gowda was addressing the 5th international exhibition and conference on pharmaceutical and medical industry organised by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Gujarat government and industry chamber Ficci.

"Our government has taken all initiatives to ensure that as far as our country is concerned, coronavirus should be stopped, and there is no hazard as far as this issue is concerned," he said.

Coronavirus is a challenge and "we should make all efforts that need to be taken...," he added.

Speaking on the preparedness for coronavirus in the country, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizer Mansukh Mandaviya said the government has formed a group of ministers for this and it is tackling and monitoring the situation on a daily basis.

"A task force has also been set up regarding APIs and I am leading it. We have decided to increase the production of APIs in the country so that we are not dependent on any country for them," he said.

Mandaviya further said,"We have discussed in detail to ensure that we are able to sustain in the international markets regarding the APIs and we are shortly coming out with two policies. The benefit of these schemes will be for the API parks and medical drug parks. India will become self-sustained in APIs."



Talking about the restrictions imposed recently on exports of 26 APIs and formulations, he told reporters: "It is not a permanent measure and is being reviewed on daily basis. It has been done to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines in the country regarding coronavirus."



On Tuesday, India, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, restricted the export of common medicines such as paracetamol and 25 other pharmaceutical ingredients and drugs made from them, as it looks to prevent shortages amid concerns of the coronavirus outbreak turning into a pandemic.

Besides over-the-counter painkiller and fever reducer paracetamol, drugs restricted for exports included common antibiotics like metronidazole, and those used to treat bacterial and other infections as well as Vitamin B1 and B12 ingredients.

A notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had said the export of 26 APIs and formulations would require licence.

"A crisis like this also provides a vision and we are also planning on how to grow in the API sector in future and ... we are coming with policies to ensure growth of APIs and medical device sector in the country. Action plan for this is being prepared and stakeholders consultation at secretary level has started," Mandaviya added.

Highlighting the importance of pharma sector in the country, the minister said, India is a developed country in the sector and despite global recession, the industry is growing at 12 per cent and medical device sector is growing between 20-25 per cent.

The government also launched a 'Pharma Bureau', which will help facilitate both foreign as well as domestic investment in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry in India. Pharma Bureau will act as a policy think tank to support the government as well as the industry.

During the inaugural session of the conference, Zydus Group Chairman Pankaj Patel said the present situation is a "wake up call as natural calamities" can strike anytime.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani thanked the Modi government for approving a bulk drugs park and a medical devices manufacturing park in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Natural News) Imagine if the fridge at the local deli, along with chilled drinks and cured meats, displayed a new kind of product: human livers, kidneys, and corneas.

(Article by Cathy He republished from TheEpochTimes.com)

As macabre as it may sound, this is how Arthur Waldron, China historian at the University of Pennsylvania, describes what the Chinese communist regime is doing todayits killing prisoners of conscience for their organs to sell in the transplant market.

Theyre  engaged in a very sinister commerce, which is commerce in the bodies of murdered Chinese citizens, Waldron told The Epoch Times in a 2019 interview.

Most Westerners are not aware of this at all.

The professor is now an expert on this grisly practice, after spending a year over 2018 to 2019 investigating the issue as a member of an independent panel, known as the China Tribunal. The panel was composed of six other members with backgrounds in international law, medicine, business, and international relations.

After reviewing testimony from over 50 witnesses from two hearings in London, and large volumes of written and video evidence, the tribunal in June 2019 concludedbeyond reasonable doubtthat, in China forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has been practiced for a substantial period of time involving a very substantial number of victims.

The tribunals final judgment, a 160-page report (pdf), was released on March 1.

Theres a certain kind of evil that passes just human [social] causes. The evil behind organ harvestingthats something else, Waldron said.

The tribunal found that the organs were mainly sourced from imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. Adherents of the spiritual practice Falun Gong have been subject to intense persecution by the Chinese regime since 1999, a campaign involving arbitrary detention, forced labor, brainwashing, torture, and even death.

The London-based tribunal was chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who previously led the prosecution of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal.

Two years ago, Waldron was asked by transplant ethics group and the organizer that initiated the tribunal, the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China, to be the China expert on the panel.

The Epoch Times in 2006 first reported on claims by whistleblowers that the Chinese regime was killing prisoners of conscience for their organs.

The regime has consistently denied such allegations, saying that since 2015, all organ transplants have come from voluntary donors. Prior to that, the regime claimed organs for transplant surgeries came from executed prisoners.

Harrowing Evidence

The tribunal over two public hearings in December 2018 and April 2019 heard evidence from researchers, medical professionals, journalists, and survivors from Chinas detention system.

The survivors who testified included Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their faith and Uyghur Muslims detained under the Chinese regimes purported campaign against extremism in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

They all shared graphic accounts of torture and abuse while in detention. One Falun Gong practitioner, Yu Ming, recounted how police placed books on his chest and back and then used hammers to smash them, causing internal wounds rather than injuries that could be seen on the surface.

An Uyghur survivor, Mihrigul Tursun, told the tribunal that she was strapped into a chair with a helmet placed on her head and electrocuted.

Alongside the torture, these witnesses uniformly spoke of being regularly blood tested and receiving other medical exams while incarcerated.

These tests were consistent with testing for organ status, Nice said in London in June 2019 when delivering the tribunals findings. Non-Falun Gong prisoners were not tested, and medical results were never explained to inmates.

The tribunal also received a personal account of organ harvesting from former surgeon Enver Tohti, who in 1995 was ordered to extract the liver and kidneys of a live prisoner in Urumqi City, Xinjiang. The death-row prisoner had been shot in the right side of his chest but was still alive.

What I recall is, with my scalpel, I tried to cut into his skin, [and] there was blood to be seen. That indicates that the heart was still beating.  At the same time, he was trying to resist my insertion, but he was too weak, Tohti said during tribunal hearings in December 2018.

Being immersed in these kinds of accounts took a toll on Waldron, who said that after a day of listening to these witnesses, you will go back to your hotel room and youll just collapse.

To hear these people talk, it will make your stomach turn. I mean it will make you physically sick, he added.

And when you realize that this is not some crazy Hollywood movie that was invented by some sick Hollywood directors, but this [organ harvesting] is actually something that is really going on  its a lot to ask you to bear psychologically.

Witness testimony and undercover phone calls made by researchers to Chinese doctors revealed that extraordinarily short timeframes for organ transplantsas little as two weekswere promised by doctors and hospitals in China. Such brief wait times are completely impossible in typical organ donation systems, Nice said in June 2019.

Statistical data based upon investigations by independent researchers painted a picture of the scale of the disturbing enterprise in China. In 2016, an in-depth report found a huge discrepancy between Chinas official transplantation figures and the number of transplants performed in the countrys hospitals.

The report was conducted by Ethan Gutmann, China analyst and investigator; David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific); and David Matas, Canadian human rights lawyer. All three had spent more than a decade investigating this issue.

These people have done a very, very thorough investigation, Waldron said of three researchers.

By analyzing the public records of 712 Chinese hospitals that carry out liver and kidney transplants, the report showed that roughly 60,000 to 100,000 transplants were being conducted each year, far outstripping the officially reported number of 10,000 to 20,000 per year.

Organ harvesting, Waldron said, has become extremely lucrative for cash-strapped hospitals in China. Hospitals with large transplant units, charging tens of thousands of dollars for each operation, can generate significant revenue.

So there is a financial incentive to increase the scale of this business, he said.

This is an industry with thousands of people involved in it, producing large amounts of money, and helping to keep hospitals afloat, as well as helping to make certain people very, very rich. Waldron added.

No Stone Left Unturned

Waldron said the tribunal made major efforts to obtain all relevant evidence, including contrary evidence, relating to organ harvesting.

Every conceivable scrap of evidence was gathered, he said.

He noted that the tribunal asked the Chinese embassy in London and health officials in China to provide contrary evidence, but no negative witnesses came forward.

The inquiry, led by two experienced jurists, Nice and Hamid Sabi, a London-based lawyer and counsel for the tribunal, was conducted in a manner that was absolutely professional, Waldron said, adding that this was not amateur hour.

The panelists thoroughly examined each piece of evidence.

Even though some of us had prior knowledge,  we approached it saying the evidence is all that counts  forensically using the most rigorous legal standards, he said.

And then once you have enough evidence, you start discussing what it means.

In response to those who may still dispute the existence of forced organ harvesting in China, Waldron had the following message: Please do me the favor of reading the [previous reports on organ harvesting]  and the final report of the tribunal.

I want you to come back with errors and mistakes. I want the mistakes to be circled, and tell me which piece of evidence is wrong, he said.

Going Mainstream

Waldron believes the tribunal judgment will trigger wider discussion about this previously under-the-radar issue, and an eventual change in public policies.

This will become mainstreamed, he said.

He had already noticed this issue being brought up more often in casual conversations.

A year ago I would not have heard them talking about organ harvesting, Waldron said.

The issue has even found its way into popular culture. An October 2019 episode on the comedic cartoon show South Park satirizing the Chinese regimes repressive practices included a scene in which a character references allegations of organ harvesting.

A scene from the 2019 movie The Laundromat directed by Steven Soderbergh also graphically depicts forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.

Waldron said the matter will become a world concern, noting that governments, such as Israel, and Taiwan, have already banned their citizens from engaging in transplant tourism.

Last September, Sabi presented the panels findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Sabi said that given the evidence, the council and U.N. member states now have a legal obligation to address Chinas criminal conduct.

Waldron said given that the tribunal has concluded, beyond reasonable doubt, that the regime has committed crimes against humanity against Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghurs, the next step would be for a country to commence action against Beijing at the International Criminal Court.

While the panel stopped short of concluding that genocide had been committed, it noted that nations nonetheless have a duty to investigate whether the crime has taken place.

Growing international pressure will also force the Chinese regime to start answering questions about its organ harvesting practices, Waldron said.

People will say  I wonder why it is they [the regime] wont defend themselves. If this [organ harvesting] is all perfectly legitimate, then the simplest thing in the world should be to  explain away all the problems, he said.

The communist regime, the historian said, has in the past created an elaborate false narrative of Chinese history, and is now in a position of falsifying yet another aspect of reality.

At a certain point if you falsify enough, the whole thing falls down, he said, adding that the regime is close to reaching this point.

But, ultimately, the truth is going to come out, he said.

Read more at: TheEpochTimes.com and OrganHarvesting.news.
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The prison workforce development program run by Televerde, an Arizona-based sales, marketing, and tech company, delivers significant economic and cultural value, concludes a study recently conducted at Arizona State Universitys Seidman Research Institute.

Televerde trains and employs women incarcerated in Arizona and Indiana, and it offers many of them employment when they leave prison.

Televerde CSRO Michelle Cirocco

Michelle Cirocco, Televerdes chief social responsibility officer, spoke with the E-Commerce Times about the study and about the long-term benefits of Televerdes program for the company, for the economy, and for the women involved in the program.

E-Commerce Times: What are some of the key findings of the ASU study, The Economic, Social and Fiscal Impact of Televerdes Prison Partnership Program?

Michelle Cirocco:

It provided validation for a lot of the things that we knew or suspected. The purpose of the study was to get unbiased, third-party validation. It wasnt just Televerde standing on the stage; it was having someone else come in, evaluate the data, do the research, and give us the facts about the impact were having.

One of the key things it validated was the reduction of recidivism. The women who work for Televerde have a 5.4 percent recidivism rate within three years, and that was the biggest and the most important finding. The women who participate in the program are, essentially, less likely to go back to prison than other inmates.

The other key things that really stood out are that 94.1 percent of the women who participate in the program are in paid employment five years after their release, compared to a national average of 49.8 percent, and their earning potentials are higher than other formerly incarcerated individuals.

The impact its having on the individual women is significant. The benefit for their children is also something weve always suspected, but we didnt have the specific statistics to validate that. The children are more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to go prison themselves than children of other incarcerated mothers.

When we can actually have generational impact on families  when we break those cycles  we can make a big difference in the long-term health and wellness of the family and the community. Theres evidence in the study about how the relationships between the women and their families have improved as well.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

And finally, theres also an impact on the state and the economy. The program provides a (US)$13.3 million a year annual savings to the state of Arizona through the reduction of recidivism and through the amount of money the women contribute, their increased employment, and the reduction of entitlement programs and foster programs.

ECT: What effects do you think the study will have?

Cirocco:

From a business standpoint, were happy to have validation of the positive impact were having, and this validation enables us to support our expansion.

We have a goal of providing 10,000 people with life-changing opportunities over the next decade, and with this study, we can show the positive impact were having.

From a community standpoint, this idea of building a prison-to-workforce pipeline opens peoples eyes and raises awareness about how we develop marketing skills, rather than relegating people to low-wage, low-skill jobs during and after prison. The study shows that we are having a positive impact on the whole criminal justice system.

ECT: What is the key to the success of Televerdes program?

Cirocco:

Its really about training, education, experience and opportunity. We provide incarcerated women with the training, skills and business acumen they need to be successful, and we provide them with real work opportunities both in prison and after prison. All of that together allows them to be successful.

ECT: Why is workforce development for those with criminal backgrounds so important?

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Cirocco:

I think that if we send people to prison, we have a responsibility to help them become productive members of society. The problem with prisons is that were No. 1 in the world in incarcerating people. Were spending billions of dollars a year incarcerating people, but its not solving the problem, since so many them will go back to prison after they get out.

The No. 1 factor for recidivism is joblessness. If we release them from prison and havent done anything to allow them to become more productive members of society, it reinforces that cycle. If people are not able to get employment, they will go back to prison.

One of the misperceptions is that people with a criminal record are incapable of or not deserving of anything. The reality, however, is that theyre intelligent and entrepreneurial. They might just not have had the same opportunities as others.

If people get out and cant get jobs, theyll find a way to provide for themselves and their families. They have a misguided sense of entrepreneurial spirit. Our program is a way to empower people to learn marketable skills, join the workforce, and have a meaningful career.

ECT: What kinds of skills do people learn through Televerdes program?

Cirocco:

We have people in all kinds of areas. They often start out by learning sales and marketing. They learn business, communication, and sales skills, as well as project management skills and account management skills.

We have people doing data analysis, designing marketing campaigns, and doing deep-dive analytics and marketing analysis. We have people doing training and development, writing content, blogs, brochures.

If you think about any job that you can have in a company, were training women in these types of skills. And we provide them with opportunities to work at our corporate office or one of our clients after theyre released.

ECT: Whats in the future for Televerdes prison partnership program? How is it changing and evolving?

Cirocco:

Currently we are in Arizona, with the womens correctional facility, and in our corporate office after theyre released. Weve expanded into Indiana in the womens correctional facility, and were expanding into Florida later this year, as well as the UK.

Were also looking to expand into areas other than corrections, to allow people in other disempowered populations to build careers.

ECT: Can Televerdes program be a model for what other companies might do?

Cirocco:

If other companies would get involved in building a prison-to-workforce pipeline, we could go a long way toward solving the growing skills gap, building a pipeline of workers for the future, and providing opportunities for people.

There are many opportunities for companies to build this kind of workforce for today and for the future.

Weve got this growing skills gap in this country. Theres just not enough talent. Companies are having a difficult time finding the talent they need, but if they invest in disempowered populations, they can help solve that talent gap.
The Democratic primaries are losing candidates. The once crowded field is now down to five candidates. Amy Klobuchar was the latest to announce the suspension of her account.

This followed the surprising announcement from Pete Buttigieg on Sunday. He was the surprise candidate that won the caucus in Iowa. He was a strong contender at New Hampshire. He had not performed well in the last two races in Nevada and South Carolina.

Pete Buttigieg announces withdrawal from the Democratic race for President

On Sunday night, Pete Buttigieg announced the suspension of his campaign for president.

This announcement happened before Super Tuesday. Super Tuesday is on March 3 this year. One-third of the delegates will be up for grabs to the remaining candidates

Pete Buttigieg started his campaign as an unknown candidate. He had previously held no federal or state office. He is now the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Buttigieg went from an unknown to the surprise winner of the Iowa caucuses. The next race was in New Hampshire, and he finished a strong second to the winner, Bernie Sanders. The next two races, in Nevada and South Carolina, did not go as well and led to his campaign being suspended.

Amy Klobuchar suspends her campaign for president

Klobuchar announced her intention to suspend her campaign for the presidency.

Today, while addressing her supporters, she made the announcement. Klobuchar is a three-term senator from Minnesota.

She was another candidate unknown nationally. She finished a surprising third in the New Hampshire primary. She could not carry that momentum into the following contests in Nevada and South Carolina.

According to AP News, Klobuchar is an active senator.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

She has introduced over a hundred bills that became law. Even with this of activity she still was unknown amongst the candidates.

She was best known for her questioning of Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. She asked if he had ever been so drunk to not remember the night before. He answered with the response, have you?

He later apologized to the senator. Her father is a recovering alcoholic. She introduced a comprehensive plan to combat addiction and mental health.

Klobuchar and Buttigieg are planning to endorse Joe Biden for president

According to Reuters, both Klobuchar and Buttigieg are planning to attend Bidens rally in Dallas. Once there, they will endorse Biden for president. Both candidates ended their campaign for president.

Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary over the weekend. This is after poor showings in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. This momentum is important going into Super Tuesday where one-third of the delegates are available. Two major groups make up the Democratic Party. One of those groups is the progressives, which include Sanders and Warren.

Moderates are the other group and that group included both Klobuchar and Buttigieg. Biden and Bloomberg are the front runners for the moderates.

Klobuchar and Buttigieg are endorsing Biden to show a united front for the moderates in the race. Sanders polling numbers show that he is the current front runner for the Democratic candidacy. It might be late to overcome that deficiency. Biden did outpace his opponents in South Carolina by over two to one so he does have the momentum.

His momentum and the recent suspension of the other campaigns may help him overcome Sanders. According to Reuters, 21% of his supporters named Sanders as their second choice, 19% picked Biden, another 19% chose Warren and 17% favored Bloomberg.

Those numbers are a poll from Morning Consult taken between the 23rdn and 27th of February.

Politics is about momentum. Biden has the momentum following South Carolina. The endorsements might help from both Klobuchar and Buttigieg. Super Tuesday is a day away and the candidate with the best results will help secure the presidential nomination.
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - The new buyer of AK Steel warned lawmakers on Thursday that without better protection against imports of electrical steel products into the United States, two of the company's mills would be forced to close with the loss of 1,600 jobs.

Lourenco Goncalves, chairman and chief executive officer of iron ore miner Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, said the AK Steel mills in Butler, Pennsylvania and Zanesville, Ohio - the last producers of grain-oriented electrical steels in the United States - are unprofitable because of a loophole in President Donald Trump's "Section 232" steel tariffs.

Goncalves, whose company is due to close a $3 billion acquisition https://ir.aksteel.com/news-releases/news-release-details/cleveland-cliffs-acquire-ak-steel of AK Steel on March 13, was one of several steel executives who told the Congressional Steel Caucus that import protections for the industry are still inadequate amid a global steel glut fueled largely by excess capacity in China.

Goncalves said that the 25% tariffs on steel imports aimed at boosting U.S. national security failed to include electrical steel laminations and cores used in transformers and motors.

This has caused a massive increase in imports of these partially processed "downstream" products from China and other countries into the United States through Mexico and Canada.

He said he has warned Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that the combined company would be forced to close the two plants, unless the laminations and cores are included in the Section 232 tariffs to stop "the absurd level of circumvention that comes through both Mexico and Canada."

"I'm talking about 1,500 jobs in Butler, Pennsylvania, and 100 jobs in Zanesville, Ohio, that will be gone. And I promise, they will be gone if I dont get help," Goncalves said.

Maintaining the U.S. ability to build and maintain its power grid, which requires electrical steel with precise magnetic properties, was one of the original arguments https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-steel/tale-of-two-factories-hope-anguish-ahead-of-trumps-steel-tariff-call-idUSKBN19Y1PF for Trump's steel tariffs. U.S. manufacturers of transformers have opposed the duties.

Trump has touted his tariffs as rebuilding the U.S. steel industry, while economists argue that they have increased costs for U.S. manufacturers, making them less competitive.

Trump in January announced he was extended the Section 232 tariffs on a limited number of derivative steel and aluminum products. (Reporting by David Lawder Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Hillary Clinton claims she is the 'the most investigated innocent person in America' in a new Hulu documentary about her life.

The former Democratic Presidential candidate even went so far as to say she felt like she's been persecuted in an offhand remark while cameras were rolling.

Indeed, Hillary appears defiant, defensive and arguably the most candid she has ever been about herself during the 35 hours of interviews.

In the documentary, viewed by DailyMail.com ahead of its release Friday, Hillary does not apologize for the email scandal which plagued her 2016 Presidential run and insisting there was 'no regulation against it'.

The former Secretary of State called the Benghazi scandal a 'character assault' and dismissed criticism of her Wall Street speeches which have earned her and her husband Bill Clinton and estimated $153million.

Hillary says bluntly: 'That's how I made some money when I got out of the State Department'.

Hillary calls herself 'the most investigated innocent person in America' in her new Hulu documentary 'Hillary' airing Friday

The four-hour series features extraordinary access to the Clintons' inner circle and examines Hillary's public life from her student days to losing the 2016 election to Donald Trump.

She admits she is a 'less than ideal politician' but is a 'good public official'.

Hillary takes responsibility for her icy relationship with the press and says she 'knew there was a game to be played and I was striking out all the time'.

At times in the Hulu documentary she puts the blame onto others, rather than examining her own missteps.

Hillary says: 'Going all the way back to the Whitewater days. I've never understood this and I will go to my grave not understanding it. All these things get disproved, but the press, and I'm talking about the major press, they always bite.

'And I don't know why. There's an old joke about an old guy who is walking along the edge of the cliff, he slips and as he's falling down and he grabs onto a branch and he's holding on and he's praying, going "God, God I've lived a good life, I've done everything I supposed to do...please Lord help me, help me."

'And then this voice comes out and says "There's just something about you that pisses me off"'.

As Hillary sees it, 'I am the most investigated innocent person in America.

'This is not just politics, this is deep cultural stuff'.

The former First Lady is pictured at the New York City premiere of the documentary on Wednesday night

The four-part series features extraordinary access to the Clintons' inner circle and examines Hillary's public life from her student days to losing the 2016 election to Donald Trump

Hillary's communications director Jennifer Palmieri spoke in the documentary about the email scandal, saying the team initially dismissed the damning news

When the news of the use of her private email server while she was Secretary of State broke in March 2015, Hillary's communications director Jennifer Palmieri initially dismissed it.

Palmieri tells the documentary they thought 'apologize to who?' and 'for what?'

As Hillary puts it: 'When I became Secretary of State I decided to use the server that had been set up for Bill and his former president's office.

The documentary titled Hillary, premieres Friday on Hulu

'I did it as a matter of convenience. There was no regulation against it, there was nothing against it. Everybody knew I was doing it because they were all emailing me and I was emailing them and that was hundreds and hundreds of people in government'.

Hillary addresses all the major scandals of her career in the documentary through the prism of her feelings of being a victim.

She speaks about the militant attack on a U.S. government facility in 2012 in Benghazi, resulting in the deaths of four Americans.

Hillary was subjected to multiple Congressional investigations and says 'that kind of constant character assault takes a toll'.

She says: 'Even people who are supporters or friends, they brush it off but it still has a little space in the back of their heads. So if something else happens the space gets a little bigger. That's been the story of my public life'.

Hillary doesn't see anything wrong with making speeches to the likes of Goldman Sachs in the documentary, even though many of the Wall Street giants had received billions from the government to bail them out after the 2008 financial crash.

She tells the series: 'I made speeches to the camping association. I made speeches to doctors. That's how I made some money when I got out of the State Department.

I didn't take one of these phony jobs where you're fronting for a corporation. I made a speech for an hour - and they paid me'.

Hillary's running mate Tim Kaine said in the documentary that Barack Obama said of Donald Trump, 'You've got to keep a fascist out of the White House'

The series examines the downfall of Hillary's 2016 Presidential run and features a number of revealing anecdotes about the campaign

Asked about apologizing for her comments about 'Super Predators' in the 1990s that came back to haunt her in 2016 when Black Lives Matter protesters threw them in her face, she bristled.

Hillary dismissively says during her interview: 'I was always trying to explain things that people didn't want to hear'.

The documentary addresses the decision by former FBI director James Comey to reopen the investigation into Hillary's emails a week before the election

Others who were interviewed for the project provide more insight, like the New York Times chief White House correspondent, Peter Baker, who says that Hillary is blinded by her belief that she is a 'righteous' person.

If she decides it's an okay thing to do its okay', says Baker, adding that 'anyone who criticizes it must be doing so for illegitimate reasons, they're partisan, they're enemies'.

Hillary's 2016 campaign manager Robby Mook calls her in-depth knowledge of policy her 'superpower'.

But it is also her greatest weakness because it means her messages are too complicated.

The series also features a number of revealing anecdotes about the 2016 campaign.

During a private moment with Tim Kaine, Hillary's Vice Presidential candidate, he talks about a call the previous night from Barack Obama.

Kaine said: '(Obama said) Tim, remember, this is no time to be a purist. You've got to keep a fascist out of the White House'.

Hillary replies: 'I echo that sentiment. His agenda is other people's agenda...he is the vehicle, the vessel for all these other people'.

Kaine can be heard in the documentary talking about Paul Manafort and 'all these weird connections.' A woman who is with them says 'the Ukraine thing is weird.'

Hillary replies: 'And (Michael) Flynn who is a paid tool for Russian television...the way Putin has taken over the political apparatus' before the camera operator is asked to move away.

Huma Abedin joined forces with Hillary Clinton on the red carpet for the New York premiere of her highly anticipated four-part documentary on Wednesday. Hillary says in the documentary that when news broke of her husband Anthony Weiner's texting scandal, Abedin 'burst into tears'

The documentary addresses the decision by former FBI director James Comey to reopen the investigation into Hillary's emails a week before the election.

He did so because it appeared new emails sent by Hillary had been found on a laptop that belonged to Anthony Weiner, the husband of her close aide Huma Abedin, who was being investigated for sexting a 15-year-old girl.

Hillary said that when it was reported, Abedin 'burst into tears'.

Palmieri, the communications chief, said: 'By the time we got to the plane she was hysterical like I've never seen her before. It was horrible'.

Hillary said: 'She just said he's gonna kill me, he's just gonna kill me'.

Palmieri said: 'I don't think she meant like Anthony would murder her but he was going to be the death of her. Hillary and I were like' - she went wide-eyed.
05.03.2020 LISTEN

St. Thomas Eye Hospital has been adjudged Outstanding Eye Hospital of the year 2019 at the just ended 2019 Distinct Heroes Awards on February 27.

The Hospital was incorporated in 2009 and officially opened in January 2010 as the North Western Eye Centre until the name was changed to the current one in 2014.

The hospital scores a number of firsts in the eye care service delivery in Ghana. In 2011, the hospital became the first Eye Care facility in Ghana to provide modern phacoemulsification cataract surgeries, commonly called laser cataract surgeries.

While the procedure had been the standard of care in the developed world and indeed in many rich developing countries for more than a decade earlier, this was the first time it was being offered in Ghana as a regular cataract surgical procedure. In 2012, the hospital, under its former name, was selected as one of United Nations examining facilities in Ghana, providing eye care services to staff of the United Nations and its agencies in Ghana.

In 2013, St. Thomas became one of two eye clinics equipped in Ghana to provide advanced vitreoretinal surgical services, setting the pace for a major leap in advanced eye surgical procedures in the country. Prior to this, patients requiring these services had to spend huge amount of money to fly to Europe or South Africa for such advanced procedures. In recent times, two teaching hospitals have been equipped and are providing similar services.

The hospital is equipped with cutting edge ophthalmic diagnostic and management equipment and provides general and sub-specialty ophthalmological services. These include medical and surgical services with emphasis on Glaucoma and Retinal Diseases. In addition to conventional medical treatment, St. Thomas offers a wide range of laser and other surgical treatment options for Glaucoma. Its vitreous and retinal surgical portfolio includes surgical management of diabetic eye disease (diabetic retinopathy), retinal detachment surgery, macular hole surgery, sickle cell disease of the eye (sickle cell retinopathy), and many more. The hospital offers optical services and provides clinical training to students undertaking Doctor of Optometry programs at the University of Cape Coast and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

As part of social responsibilities, the hospital provides free community screening and free cataract surgeries to people living in disadvantaged communities in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Central regions. Each year, the hospital provides more than 600 free sight-restoration surgeries to people living in these communities.

The hospitals main surgical centre is located at Mataheko with an uptown branch on the Osu Oxford street, opposite the McCofie building.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Brussels has been rescheduled in wake of the fast-spreading Coronavirus disease which has killed more than 3,000 people globally, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday.

Responding to questions about the India-EU Summit, official MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told media persons "It has been decided that delegates from the respective countries should not travel in each others countries owing to the recent coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak."

READ | EAM Jaishankar, EU Trade Commissioner Discuss Prospects For India-EU Economic Cooperation

Raveesh Kumar also said the Summit will be rescheduled to a mutually convenient date which is yet to be decided. The India-EU Summit was previously scheduled to take place at the European Union office in Brussels on March 13.

On Wednesday, 10 new cases of coronavirus were reported from Brussels taking the total number of cases in Belgium to 23. India has confirmed 30 cases of Coronavirus as of March 5.

READ | Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, EU & UK Brexit Negotiators Agree Not To Shake Hands

The MEA spokesperson stated that the decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the EU and India, who share the same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon.

Raveh Kumar, however, said that PM Modis visit to Bangladesh will take place as scheduled.

READ | EU Raises Risk Level To high Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases

READ | Jaishankar Meets EU Leaders; Holds Talks On Terrorism, Economic Issues
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Fresh light has been shed on the first wartime attack on British civilians by the Germans after a chance find at a market sale.

Some 130 people died and 500 more were injured in a 40-minute dawn raid on Hartlepool on December 16, 1914, that saw heavy cruisers Blucher, Seydlitz and Moltke fire 1,150 shells upon the north-east.

Never-before-seen footage of the blitz has now emerged and been saved for future generations after being discovered purely by accident.

Mark Simmons, museums curator at the local borough council, has been actively researching the bombardment since 2011 and looking for new information for use in historic displays.

He was then shocked to find the unseen footage himself in a box full of broken cameras and lenses which he bought for 20 at a flea market in Tynemouth - having only purchased the haul in the first place thinking they might be useful for his personal art and sculpture projects.

The five-minute newsreel film also includes footage of the German attacks on Scarborough and Whitby, which occurred on the same day.

Mr Simmons said: 'On getting home, I just took out a few useful pieces and put the rest in storage. It was only later that I got around to sorting through the entire contents.

Some 130 people were killed, and 500 more injured, in an attack on Hartlepool in 1914, pictured, which was the first on British civilians during the Great War

The extent of the damage, pictured, has only just emerged for the first time after the footage was found in a chance purchase at a market sale

The five-minute reel has been donated to the North East Film Archive, which through working with the British Film Institute and National Lottery Heritage Fund, has arranged for the fragile Edwardian nitrate film to be digitised before being properly preserved and stored

The bombardment saw heavy cruisers Blucher, Seydlitz and Moltke fire 1,150 shells upon the north-east, with many children, pictured, believed to be among those who died in the attack

The footage was found by museums curator Mark Simmons in a box full of broken cameras and lenses which he bought for 20 at a flea market

Mark Simmons, pictured in front of artwork illustrating the attack, only purchased the haul in the first place thinking the items might be useful for his personal art and sculpture projects.

'This is not warfare, this is murder': How attack became British rallying cry against Germany The deaths of 130 civilians and wounding of hundreds more had a huge effect on public opinion and can be seen as a turning point in the war. It quickly changed the mood among people as anger grew towards the Germans, while there was also criticism of the Royal Navy for not preventing the attack. Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, responded with a rousing speech, branding the Germans the baby killers of Scarborough. 'Remember Scarborough' started to be used in army recruitment posters, while the previously-neutral press in the United States also felt compelled to take a new stance, claiming: 'This is not warfare, this is murder'. Four years later, the war eventually came to an end, when the Germans signed an armistice, causing the fighting to stop, at 11am on November 11. Advertisement

'In the bottom of the box, wrapped in sheets of old grease-proof paper, was an old film reel and the title card on the first frames  The Attack on the Hartlepools  was just visible.

'The film is mostly a previously unseen version of the newsreel footage of the bombardment originally made by the Gaumont Company.

'It is the best quality of any of the bombardment damage films but, crucially, contains a number of sections that have never been seen before, namely footage of Cleveland Street and the damage to houses at Carlton Terrace including a close up of local women and children.'

Excited by his discovery, he donated the reel of film to the North East Film Archive (NEFA) which, along with its sister archive in Yorkshire, is a registered charity that works to connect people and communities to their local and regional film heritage.

Working with the British Film Institute (BFI) - and thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund  the archive arranged for the fragile Edwardian nitrate film to be digitised before being properly preserved and stored.

Archive Manager Graham Relton said: 'The World War One Hartlepool film is special, from its chance survival and discovery to its unique historical significance.

'We are delighted to have been able to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations and, importantly, make it accessible to audiences now.'
'Have to be careful next 10-15 days': Uddhav Thackeray

Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan to be closed from March 7

Ghaziabad man tests positive, total cases in India go up to 30

Iran reports 15 more deaths, toll goes up to 107

New York confirms two more coronavirus cases, state total at 13

Arrangements being made to facilitate return of stranded Indians in Iran: MEA

Special flights to start between Iran and India for the stranded passengers, says Iran embassy official: ANI

'Long list' of countries not doing enough against virus, says WHO

As coronavirus scare looms across the world with at least 30 people infected with the novel Covid-19 in India, airports in the country are all set for a mammoth screening exercise.

Health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said in the Parliament that 28,529 persons across the country have been brought under surveillance.

Prime Minister Modi's visit to Brussels to attend India-EU Summit was cancelled on Thursday and the meeting has been rescheduled, said the MEA spokesperson.

Here are latest updates on coronavirus:
Remarks by Vice President Pence at a Coronavirus Briefing with Diagnostic Lab CEOs

March 4, 2020

Roosevelt Room

1:05 P.M. EST

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all for being here. At the President's direction, we have initiated, since the advent of the coronavirus here in the United States, a whole-of-government approach.

President Trump took unprecedented action when he suspended all travel from China, quarantined Americans that were returning. We've issued recent travel advisories for affected areas in Italy and South Korea, and initiated screening of all passengers from all airports at either one of those countries coming into the United States of America.

We're doing everything in our power to prevent the coronavirus from further coming to the United States, but we're also working every bit as hard to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in this country. And we all grieve  we all grieve the loss of American lives.

Word this morning from the CDC is that one more American has expired, and their family has our condolences.

Ten Americans have succumbed to this disease, and now we have a little more than 100 Americans who have contracted the coronavirus. We'll continue to bring the full resources of HHS, the CDC, and every agency of this government to address this crisis.

But as President Trump also directed us, not just a whole-of-government approach, but a whole-of-America approach. Earlier today, given the fact that we are increasingly aware of the unique vulnerability of our senior citizens, we met with nursing home leaders in this room. And today our administration announced increased standards for all nursing homes in the United States of America to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

And later today, we'll be implementing a new policy to focus all of our inspection efforts in all 50 states on nursing homes complying with infectious disease protocols that have been put into place by the federal government.

We met, as you all are aware, with airlines. Given the advisories that have been issued around the world, the role that airlines have played in funneling and screening personnel, it's been a strong collaboration, and it will continue to be a strong collaboration with our airlines following the President's meeting with those executives today.

But obviously, of greatest concern to many millions of Americans is the issue of testing. President Trump took decisive action this weekend when he changed the way that testing is approved through the FDA. Now I'm pleased to report that we have more than 2,500 kits that are being distributed around the country this week that will make more than 1.5 million tests available at hospitals that have requested them and in areas of the country that have been particularly impacted by the coronavirus.

In addition to that, as I've spoken with many governors, we've also approved a process for testing that can be conducted at state laboratories anywhere in the United States of America and also at university laboratories. And that's now available.

But as Dr. Birx and I discussed, and the Secretary and I discussed, our objective is to make tests available broadly to the American public. We want to make sure the American people can go to their doctor, can go to the local MedCheck or CVS, and obtain access to coronavirus.

In fact, yesterday, the administration just recently changed the guidance from CDC that any American that wants to be tested for the coronavirus, on their doctor's indications, can be tested.

Now, meeting that need is the reason we have this meeting today. I'm glad to be surrounded by CEOs of the nation's leading commercial laboratories who have immense capacity to do testing and to facilitate this effort. And I want to thank  I want to thank those that are gathered around the table for being here and for informing me, just a few short minutes ago, that, in cooperation with our administration, with some changes with the FDA rules that are going forward, that they have formed a consortium in this industry to share information and to speed the availability of tests to the broader American public.

We are going to focus the availability of testing in the areas that have been most impacted: communities where we have coronavirus cases.

And, for my part, after I travel to Minnesota to visit 3M  that is a leading manufacturer of surgical and healthcare masks  we're also announcing today that I'll be traveling to Olympia, in Washington State, meeting with Governor Jay Inslee. We'll be taking our entire team there with an effort to really continue to support Governor Inslee's efforts, to focus resource on the community in the Seattle area and in California that's been uniquely impacted by the coronavirus.

But on behalf of the President, let me just say how grateful we are to each and every one of you for the swift and collaborative and, frankly, distinctly American way that you've approached this issue.

This is a powerful industry, and we know working with you that, literally, we can make thousands of tests available within a week to the American public and literally  literally millions of tests available in the weeks ahead.

But it's going to take all of us to do it. And I can pledge to you that you'll have the full cooperation of HHS, our entire task force team, and the FDA so that the American public can know that they will soon, very broadly, have access to testing across this country. But in the immediate, the public should know that we are speeding tests and now tests are available in state laboratories and university laboratories in every state in this country.

So we'll continue to lean into this, but let me thank Adam Schechter and invite you to make a few comments about LabCorps's role. And thank you for putting this consortium together. We are grateful for the leadership of everyone at this table.

MR. SCHECHTER: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. And we appreciate you convening this very important meeting. We represent the national, the regional, local, but also the academic institution laboratories. And we've decided to come together as one to help really focus on this important health crisis. So we will be sharing information, we'll be working together on capacity, and we'll be doing everything we can across our industry to meet the needs of the American people.

Where we stand today at LabCorp, we are at final validation of our laboratory test. We would expect to launch that at the end of this week or at the beginning of next week, and we'll begin to have that available for physicians to utilize around the country throughout next week.

I'll turn it over to my colleague, Steve, from Quest Diagnostics.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Steve.

MR. RUSCKOWSKI: Thanks, Mr. Vice President. I appreciate the opportunity and your leadership on this matter. We understand this a public health issue that we all have a role in, and we're deeply committed to working through this together.

We also appreciate the support of the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control. They've been very good partners in this regard. And particularly over the weekend  the decision that was made to give us  a decision that accelerated our path to bringing tests to the market place. As Adam said, we're validating it as we speak. And, hopefully, by the next week, we'll able to ramp that up at a number of our laboratories throughout this country.

So we're all in. We're here to help. And we believe we have some capabilities to manage this in a very proactive way.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Steve, very much. And Marc Casper with Thermo Fisher.

MR. CASPER: Mr. Vice President, thank you. It's been an incredible collaboration with the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and with Secretary Azar to put ourselves in a position as a manufacturer of the diagnostic test kits that will be used in the laboratory, that we will be shipping kits starting next week and working with the FDA to get the various additional approvals so that we can ramp up and have millions of tests available per week should they be needed by our health system across the country.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let me emphasize again  and I'm going to recognize Dr. Birx for her reflections on this group  about the importance of this consortium being formed and the availability of these tests.

The risk to the American public of contracting the coronavirus remains low. But at the President's direction, we are bringing the full resources, not just of the American government, but the American economy, to make sure that in our meeting with the pharmaceutical companies, that we have  that we're developing vaccines, which may not be available for another year or year and a half, but we're also developing therapeutics that we believe could be available in fairly short order for people that are struggling with coronavirus.

But beyond that, we want every American, as soon as possible, to have access to testing. The people should know that today, thanks to the changes that the President directed through the FDA, that state laboratories, university laboratories can conduct testing. The HHS has made sure that 2,500 kits have been distributed and 1.5 million tests are arriving at hospitals around the country, especially in areas that have been impacted by coronavirus.

But we do believe this consortium can make, in a matter of weeks, not months, a test for the American people more widely available across the country. And we're going to work very energetically around the clock with each one of you, in cooperation, to make that possible.

But, Dr. Birx, maybe you might share about the significance of this, and then I'll ask the Secretary, and we'll take a question or two.

DR. BIRX: Thank you, Mr. President  Mr. Vice President. What has been really helpful in these discussions is understanding that, obviously, diagnostics is a gateway both for prevention and ensuring that they can provide prevention, intervention, as well as treatment.

And so this is really why we have assembled. We've had meetings about treatment, about vaccines, and prevention. But making sure that every American family understands, if they have someone in the household that is positive, what preventive measures we can take right now to ensure that that virus is not transmitted to others. You have to have that information in order to be proactive and have that understanding.

This group can solve this issue for the general practitioner out there and for the MinuteClinics and other available outlets. And so while we work within the healthcare delivery system, we want to make sure that we're covering every single aspect of where the American people seek their healthcare.

And I've been so impressed in just three days of them  as soon as a barrier comes up, the administration immediately addresses that, understanding that that gets us to the result and the goals quicker. And it's just been a privilege to be here the last three days.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Dr. Birx.

MS. MILLER: All right. Thanks guys.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I said a question or two. Go ahead.

Q You said, Mr. Vice President, that you'd be going to Washington. Can you tell what the goal of that trip is? And is that tomorrow?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We'll be traveling tomorrow. I'll be visiting Minnesota, visiting 3M. We're working with them, working with members of Congress to pass a supplemental bill to see to the manufacture of literally tens of millions of masks for our healthcare workers.

It's very important to say that our medical experts made it clear: The American people don't need to buy masks. But we want to make sure that people that are caring for the American public have the protective gear  masks and gloves and goggles  to be able to be safe as they administer their care.

Then we'll be traveling on to Washington State. I'll be in Olympia. I'll be meeting with Governor Jay Inslee, and we'll be bringing our team with us to further coordinate and ensure that we are giving all support necessary to Washington State's efforts there.

I will tell you, having spoken to Governor Inslee yesterday, we continue to be very grateful and very impressed with Washington State's efforts. But by being there on the ground, I want assure the people of Washington State, the people of California, people that are in the communities that are being impacted by the coronavirus, that we're with them. We're going to ensure that the full resources of the federal government are brought to bear on those that are struggling with this illness, and also supporting the community and the efforts to determine the nature and exactly how widespread the coronavirus might be at this point.

Q Mr. Vice President, obviously there are efforts to expand testing and to expand the number of kits, but there have been criticisms that this may be too little too late. What do you say to those who say this should've been done far sooner?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary, do you want to address that?

SECRETARY AZAR: Yes. So, first, I want to express, on behalf of our country, the immense gratitude that we need to have to Dr. Robert Redfield in the CDC and to Dr. Steve Hahn and the FDA for the unbelievably fast work that is leading to 1 million tests being available by the end of the week in this country. And these are validated tests. These are quality, American regulated tests that are available because of the work of these agencies.

We also, at the President and Vice President's direction, are, as usual, leading the rest of the world in diagnostic testing. There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal today  I would encourage you to look at that  that actually discusses how America's practices on testing here are equal to or ahead of what the other major countries are.

Remember, we only have over 100 cases so far in the United States. We are not South Korea. South Korea may be doing tens of thousands of tests because South Korea is in a very different epidemiological position. It is more like China's situation than like the United States or Canada's situation.

But now, thanks to this leadership, before we are at that point, we will have in the field millions of diagnostics over the next several weeks ready for this challenge because of the President and Vice President's firm international leadership.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Q Mr. President, Congress has reached a bipartisan agreement on a multi-billion-dollar package. Can you address that? It's much more than the original amount that the administration had proposed. Is the administration prepared to support this? I mean, can you provide a comment on that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we've been working very closely with members of Congress in both political parties. Very shortly, I'll be back on Capitol Hill bringing our team to meet with the Republican and Democrat caucuses in the House of Representatives.

We had a very productive meeting yesterday in the Senate with Republican and Democrat members. But, you know, as the President said so well, we're all in this together. Our administration has taken the approach to listen to members of Congress. We're listening to governors.

And we're absolutely committed to ensure that not only do all the federal agencies that are dealing with the coronavirus have the resources they need, but we're going to make sure that states, local health officials have their resources. And, frankly, all of our private partners  all of our private partners can be confident that, as they make investments in this space, that there'll be the compensation for that.

HHS has already denominated a test for coronavirus to be an essential health benefit, which  which is a  which ensures that it will be covered by people's private health insurance. It'll be covered by Medicare and Medicaid. And we'll  we'll continue to work in that way.

But we look forward to seeing the details. But I can assure you the White House legislative team has been working in a very collaborative, very cooperative way with members of Congress and  but we look forward to them completing their work on this important supplemental within the next 10 days.

Thanks, everybody. Thank you all.

END

1:23 P.M. EST

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The US Coast Guard has delivered coronavirus test kits to a cruise ship that is being held 400 miles off the California coast amid fears of a suspected outbreak as the number of cases across the country soared to more than 200 in 19 states.

Thousands of passengers remained on the Grand Princess cruise ship on Thursday after it was banned from returning to its home port of San Francisco following a voyage to Hawaii after at least 20 people onboard fell ill.

Members of the Coast Guard were spotted lowering test kits onto the 951-foot cruise ship.

It comes after two passengers who traveled on the same ship on a previous voyage last month between San Francisco and Mexico tested positive for the coronavirus and one later died - becoming California's first fatality from the disease.

California Governor Gavin Newsom earlier declared a state of emergency as cases rose to 53 in the state, with San Francisco recording its first two cases - a woman in her 40s, and a man in his 90s who has underlying health conditions.

The number of cases in Los Angeles County, which has about 10 million residents, jumped to 11 on Thursday.

The US death toll from coronavirus rose to 12 on Thursday with more than 200 case confirmed in 19 states.

An increase in testing countrywide has seen a jump in confirmed cases in Washington state, California and New York - with Nevada and Tennessee each reporting their first cases in the last 24 hours.

The cases in New York state jumped to 22 after a Manhattan attorney infected more than a dozen people, including his own family, and multiple other unrelated cases were announced.

The US Coast Guard delivered coronavirus test kits on Thursday to the Grand Princess cruise ship that is being held 400 miles off the California coast amid fears of a suspected outbreak

Members of the Coast Guard were spotted lowering crews down onto the cruise ship to deliver the test kits

The Coast Guard approaches the Grand Princess cruise ship to deliver test kits to more than 3,500 people stranded on the ship about 400-miles of the coast of San Francisco

An employee sprays down the common areas of the Grand Princess cruise ship with disinfectant

Thousands of passengers are currently on the Grand Princess cruise ship that was banned on Wednesday from returning to its home port of San Francisco from a voyage to Hawaii amid the suspected coronavirus outbreak (file image)

The Grand Princess is currently 400 miles off San Francisco and heading for port having returned from Hawaii after 11 passengers and 10 crew reported symptoms of coronavirus

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS? Like other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold and that triggered SARS, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are:

Fever

Dry cough

Shortness of breath

Difficulty breathing

Fatigue Although having a runny nose doesn't rule out coronavirus, it doesn't thus far appear to be a primary symptom. Most people only become mildly ill, but the infection can turn serious and even deadly, especially for those who are older or have underlying health conditions. In these cases, patients develop pneumonia, which can cause: Potentially with yellow, green or bloody mucus

Fever, sweating and shaking chills

Shortness of breath

Rapid or shallow breathing

Pain when breathing, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Low appetite, energy and fatigue

Nausea and vomiting (more common in children)

Confusion (more common in elderly people)

Some patients have also reported diarrhea and kidney failure has occasionally been a complication. Avoid people with these symptoms. If you develop them, call your health care provider before going to the hospital or doctor, so they and you can prepare to minimize possible exposure if they suspect you have coronavirus. Advertisement

The 11 passengers and 10 crew members who are currently on the Grand Princess ship will be tested after reporting symptoms that could turn out to be the coronavirus, seasonal flu or the common cold.

Newsom said the cruise ship would remain at sea until passengers and crew complaining of symptoms that may be consistent with the coronavirus can be tested to determine whether they have it.

He said the manifest for the ship's Hawaii cruise included 50 to 60 passengers who were also on board the Mexico voyage.

Health officials said those passengers had contact with the two coronavirus cases. It is not yet clear if the 21 people currently reporting symptoms are among the 62 who were on the Mexico leg of the trip and came in contact with the two infected passengers.

Coronavirus testing kits were flown out to the ship on Thursday and samples will be analyzed at a state laboratory in the San Francisco Bay area, a process Newsom said should produce results in a matter of hours.

'So we're holding that ship, which is thousands of passengers, off the coast, and will be conducting those tests and getting those tests back,' Newsom said.

'The ship will not come onshore until we properly assess passengers.'

Two passengers - who identified themselves as Laura and Leah - uploaded a YouTube video showing themselves in their cabin after a warning was issued. They are shown reading out a statement from the cruise line while one of them coughs, though the pair insist they do not have coronavirus.

California's first coronavirus victim - a 71-year-old man - had boarded the Grand Princess in San Francisco on February 11 for a 10 day voyage to Mexico, arriving back on February 21.

The man subsequently fell ill and went to hospital in Placer County, to the east of Sacramento, where he was diagnosed with the virus before he died.

Health officials say it is 'highly likely' the man was exposed to the virus on board the Grand Princess but have not yet said how the disease got on board.

The Grand Princess can hold up to 2,500 passengers and 1,150 crew. It is not clear how many people are currently on board. State health authorities, working with the CDC, are trying to contact some 2,500 passengers who were on the earlier voyage.

A statement from the cruise line said that it had been alerted by the CDC that a 'small cluster' of coronavirus cases in northern California had been linked to the ship.

The predicament of the Grand Princess cruise liner was reminiscent of the Diamond Princess vessel that was quarantined off the coast of Japan in February and was, for a time, the largest concentration of cornoavirus cases outside China.

Some American passengers from that ship were ultimately repatriated to military bases in California for extended quarantines.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday, and said coronavirus testing kits are now being flown to the Grand Princess

How coronavirus has caused cruise ship chaos: Holidaymakers around the world are trapped on ocean liners The coronavirus outbreak has highlighted the dangers of travelling on cruise ships packed with elderly passengers after hundreds of people were infected on the Diamond Princess and several other voyages were wrecked by virus fears. The Diamond Princess became one of the world's largest clusters of virus cases when more than 700 people tested positive during a two-week quarantine in Japan. Another vessel, the MS Westerdam, was turned away by five governments in a sign of official panic over cruise ships despite no cases being confirmed on board. In addition, fears of a cruise ship outbreak on the Grand Princess off the California coast have grown after a former passenger died of coronavirus and 21 people showed possible symptoms. Several other ships have had their journeys disrupted by the virus after passengers required urgent tests or countries refused them permission to dock. Experts have highlighted a number of reasons why cruise ships are vulnerable to the spread of disease, including the large number of elderly passengers in a confined space. There have also been fears that air-conditioning systems could spread the virus, with experts pointing out that ventilation systems were previously linked to the spread of SARS. Scientists say that the large number of elderly passengers who are trapped together on cruise ships is likely to make the vessels more vulnerable to the spread of disease. Older people, especially those with chronic illnesses such as heart or lung disease, have been the most likely to catch the virus since the outbreak began in China late last year. Advertisement

California health authorities have confirmed 53 cases, the most of any single US state, from the respiratory disease that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide.

The death of the former cruise passenger in California marked the first coronavirus fatality in the US outside of Washington state, where 11 people have died in a cluster of at least 39 infections in the Seattle area. Researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected there for weeks.

A Washington state county with nine coronavirus deaths urges ALL its 2.2MILLION residents to work from home, pulls 22,000 students from school and tells everyone over 60 to stay indoors

Residents of King County in Washington state where dozens have tested positive for coronavirus and 10 people have died are being advised to work from home to avoid possible exposure.

Nearby Snohomish County has recorded one death.

The health officials in King County, which includes Seattle and is home to over 2.2 million people, have urged local businesses to allow employees to telecommute for the next three weeks in an effort to curb the outbreak.

They are also recommending that higher-risk groups - including people over the age of 60, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions or weakened immune systems - stay home and away from large social gatherings.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington have come under pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and canceling large events. While the state and Seattle have declared emergencies, giving leaders broad powers to suspend activities, they have not issued any orders to do so.

UNESCO revealed that roughly 300 million students have been disrupted by school closures in 13 different countries.

The latest recommendations announced Wednesday came after an employee at Amazon's Seattle headquarters was confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus, potentially exposing some 50,000 others who work at the plant.

Hours later officials confirmed that an employee at Facebook's Stadium East office in Seattle had also tested positive. The company said the office will be closed until at least March 9.

Northshore School District, which serves 22,000 students across King and Snohomish counties, announced late Wednesday that it was closing all 36 of its schools after a parent or volunteer at Woodmoor Elementary tested 'presumptive positive' for coronavirus.

Northshore Superintendent Michelle Reid issued a statement saying the schools will remain closed for up to 14 days 'while we continue to monitor the situation and health department recommendations'.

Reid said administrators plan to begin conducting classes online on Monday. She noted that multiple individuals across the district are under self-quarantine after being exposed to the virus at a nursing home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland where the majority of the 39 Washington state cases have occurred.

Authorities launched a federal investigation into the nursing home, Life Care Center, on Wednesday.

Seema Verma, head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with CDC experts to figure out what happened and determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Officials in King County have purchased an 85-bed motel south of Seattle to house patients for recovery and isolation.

Medics wheel out a person on a stretcher from the Life Care Center of Kirkland on Wednesday where a cluster of the US coronavirus deaths have occurred

Most of the Washington state victims were patients at Life Care Center (pictured). The nursing home is now the subject of a federal investigation

Officials in King County in Washington state have purchased an 85-bed Econo Lodge motel (pictured above) south of Seattle to house patients for recovery and isolation

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE 11 US PATIENTS WHO DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS So far, 11 people have died of coronavirus in the US, federal and local health officials say. Ten of the deaths have occurred in Washington state - nine in King County and one of Snohomish County. Most came from Life Care Center, a long-term care facility in Kirkland. One deaths has occurred in Placer County, California. Here's what we currently know: 1. A man in his 50s was brought from Life Care Center to Harborview Medical Center on February 24. He died two days later and is the first death in the US from coronavirus 2. A man in his 50s from King County who had underlying health conditions. He was hospitalized and died at EvergreenHealth on February 29 3. A man in his 40s from Snohomish County who died after being hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland on March 1 4. A woman in her 70s, who lived at Life Care and was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. She had pre-existing conditions, and died on March 1 5. A man in his 70s, linked to Life Care, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He died on February 29 and pre-existing conditions 6. A man in his 70s, who was also a resident of Life Care, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He died on March 1 and also had underlying health conditions 7. A woman in her 70s, who was a Life Care resident, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth and died on March 2 8. A woman in her 80s, who was linked to Life Care and was previously reported to be in critical condition at EvergreenHealth, died on March 1 9. A woman in her 80s, who was a resident of Life Care and was never hospitalized, died at her family home on February 26 10. A tenth death was confirmed on March 4, but Public Health - Seattle & King County has not yet released information about the latest death 11. An 69-year-old man died on March 4 in Placer County, California after likely becoming infected on a Princess cruise ship that traveled from San Francisco to Mexico between February 11 and 21 Advertisement

Health officials in North Carolina reported that a person from Wake County tested positive for the illness after visiting the nursing home and then flying back home across the country. The person's flight from the Seattle area to the Raleigh-Durham airport raised fears other passengers were exposed to the virus.

Nevada reported its first case after a man in his 50s who is currently in hospital tested positive.

In Tennessee, a man with a history of out-of-state travel became the state's first case. That man is now under self-quarantine at his home.

In Los Angeles, six new coronavirus patients were confirmed in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, including a federal contractor who may have been exposed while conducting medical screenings at Los Angeles International Airport.

Three others likely were infected while traveling recently to northern Italy, one of the areas hardest hit in the global outbreak. Of the six in Los Angeles County, five are recovering in home isolation.

A man, who was among those who went to Italy, has been hospitalized. He lives in Tarzana, which is about 10 miles from the city of Calabasas that is home to the likes of Kim Kardasian and other celebrities.

Florida declared a public health emergency after confirming its three cases. Among them was a 29-year-old woman who had recently returned from Italy and tested positive. That woman claims she told the CDC of her symptoms after flying from Italy to New York on her way back to Florida.

She claims the CDC told her she was okay to continue on the flight from New York to Tampa. She was tested for coronavirus after arriving back in Tampa last week. Her sister later also tested positive.

New York coronavirus cases jump to 22 - including four people in the city

Meanwhile in New York, a total of 22 people have now tested positive.

Seventeen of the cases are in Westchester County and are linked to the 50-year-old Manhattan attorney who infected his family and a friend's family.

Two other cases - a woman in her 80s and man in his 40s - were also announced but are unrelated to the attorney. The two patients are currently in intensive care. Officials have not revealed any other information about their cases.

There is also one person on Long Island who has the disease. He is a 42-year-old man and he has been hospitalized.

It comes after health officials urged 1,000 residents to self-quarantine after members of two families linked to the attorney were diagnosed with the virus.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said the disease appeared to have spread from a Manhattan lawyer, 50, to his wife, 20-year-old son, 14-year-old daughter, a neighbor and another family of five.

A female healthcare worker who has not been linked to the attorney had earlier tested positive after returning from a trip to Iran.

Health officials said the lawyer, who is in intensive care at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, was suffering from severe pneumonia, which put him in more danger than others who have also tested positive.

His family remain quarantined in their home in New Rochelle in Westchester County. The neighbor, who initially drove the attorney to the hospital when he started suffering from coronavirus symptoms last Friday night, is also under self-quarantine at home.

Following the positive tests, Cuomo said about 1,000 people in Westchester County and New York City will be contacted by health professionals and asked to self-quarantine.

They include some 300 people from New Rochelle synagogue the infected family attends, two people at the son's university, an unconfirmed number of students at the daughter's school in the Bronx, seven employees and one intern at the Manhattan law firm and eight staffers at New York Presbyterian-Lawrence Hospital.

The lawyer commuted every day on the Metro-North Railroad from his home in New Rochelle to his small law firm across from Grand Central Terminal. His wife and one of their four children also work at the firm.

Seven law firm employees were identified as being at risk of coronavirus after having close, prolonged contact with the infected attorney.

Yeshiva University, the private Jewish university where the lawyer's diagnosed 20-year-old son is a student, canceled classes at its Washington Heights campus on Wednesday as a precaution.

The SAR High School in the Bronx where the lawyer's diagnosed 14-year-old daughter is a student was shut down after his positive test was announced Tuesday. The Westchester Torah Academy where the children of the other family who tested positive had already decided to close until Friday as a precaution.

In New York, health officials put hundreds of residents in self-quarantine after members of two families in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle were diagnosed with the virus. Two more unrelated cases were confirmed in New York City on Thursday, raising New York state's total to 13. A female healthcare worker who is also not linked to the attorney was the first in the state to test positive after returning from a trip to Iran

The MTA has stepped up disinfecting and cleaning subway stations, cars and buses in New York City amid the coronavirus outbreak

The World Health Organization has since warned that the fatality rate of the virus (3.4 percent) is higher than initially thought - making it more than three times deadlier than the flu.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading expert on coronavirus in the US, told Congress on Wednesday it was still too early to determine accurate mortality rates of the disease in America because it wasn't yet clear how many had been infected.

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday agreed on an emergency funding package worth more than $7 billion to address the spread of the disease. The bill would be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives later on Wednesday.

JetBlue cuts flights, Delta halts Japan route expansion and at least five other US airlines waive change fees as coronavirus outbreak sees empty planes and airports

JetBlue has cut flights and Delta has reduced journeys to Japan, while at least five other US-based airlines will waive change fees in response to concern over coronavirus.

In addition to JetBlue and Delta, United, American, Frontier, Hawaiian and Alaskan will waive change fees.

The changes come as plane passengers have been sharing images of empty aircrafts and airport lounges, with one traveler saying 70 seats were canceled at the last minute.

The Washington-based passenger tweeted: 'Empty flight brought to me courtesy of #coronavirus. The flight attendant said 70 people canceled last minute. #awholerowtomyself.'

Another Twitter user in Houston wrote: 'The airports are empty too. I flew to Florida today and the plane was half empty. This really has people scared but [expletive] plane tickets are cheap as hell right now.'

One person traveling to Chicago on a red-eye said they 'couldn't have had a better start' to their trip as coach only had 17 passengers and 12 people flew first class on an aircraft with a capacity of 137.

A different person bound for the Illinois city posted a snap of an empty flight and said: 'Assuming flight is super empty because there are flights to Chicago every hour and not because people are freaking out about coronavirus or some other sign of imminent doom right?'

'Maybe everyone avoiding Washington because of coronavirus,' a Twitter user flying to Seattle posted.

Several airlines were implementing cost controls in the most drastic actions by U.S. airlines to get ahead of depressed travel demand due to the spreading coronavirus.

On Wednesday JetBlue announced it has reduced flight capacity by approximately 5% 'in the near term to address the fall in demand' as a result of COVID 19 and the airline said it assessing if more cuts are needed.

The New York-based carrier is taking other steps 'aimed at preserving cash' including 'delaying or canceling upcoming events and meetings' and 'reducing hiring for frontline and support center positions'.

It is also considering voluntary time-off programs and is 'limiting non-essential spending' while demand for flights is reduced. JetBlue began waiving change and cancellation fees last month and said it would continue until March 11 for travel completed by June 1.

Dow opens 700 points DOWN as coronavirus epidemic quashes rebound fueled by Joe Biden's Super Tuesday comeback

The Dow Jones suffered a sharp drop Thursday opening 700 points down as the coronavirus-fueled volatility extended into a third week.

Stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street, erasing 2 per cent from indexes, a day after surging 4 per cent as mood swings back to fear.

Thursday's decline comes a day after markets rallied on former Vice President Joe Biden's strong showing in the Democratic presidential nomination. Investors see him as more business-friendly than his main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.

But new cases of coronavirus and rising death tolls in the US has seen more pressure on companies, with numerous airlines canceling flights and some even laying off workers. The International Air Transport Association said Thursday they could see up to $113 billion in losses.

Businesses are also lowering their earnings targets or canceling forecasts altogether as it remains unclear how long the outbreak will continue to disrupt supply chains, production and travel.

Ten-year Treasury yields also fell below 1 per cent again, trading last at 0.9745 per cent. Yields have fallen for 11 straight days, the longest slide in at least a generation.

Sentiment had been helped Wednesday by Congress's decision to make $8.3 billion available to battle the coronavirus outbreak in the US.

The measure's funds would go toward research into a vaccine, improved tests and drugs to treat infected people.

There are more than 95,000 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide as of Wednesday evening
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C 50 2x1

Rich Pedroncelli/AP; Sandy Huffaker/GettyImage; Don Bartletti / LA Times via Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images; Ruobing Su/Business Insider

California's 50th congressional district is holding a jungle primary on Super Tuesday to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Duncan Hunter's resignation.

The two main candidates to watch in the safe Republican seat are former Rep. Darrell Issa, who previously served in Congress for years, and former San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Pacific Time and 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Pacific Time and 11 p.m. Eastern Time. Watch for live results from tonight's California 50th congressional district primary.

California 50th district primary results:

What's at stake in the primary?

California uses a jungle primary system, meaning that all candidates from the Democratic and Republican party run in the same primary along with independents and the top two advance to the general.

Several candidates are running in the primary in California's 50th district, located in San Diego, to replace former Rep. Duncan Hunter, who resigned in January after pleading guilty to a federal campaign finance fraud charge.

Hunter and his wife were indicted in the summer of 2018 on charges of misusing campaign funds, wire fraud, and falsifying records. Following his guilty plea, Hunter is due to be sentenced in March.

Because Hunter resigned from office too late for California's governor to call a special election, this race is a regular election where the top two winners of the primary will face off at the general election in November.

Who are the main candidates?

Former Rep. Darrell Issa, who previously served in Congress for 18 years and most recently represented California's 49th district (R)

Former San Diego City Council Member Carl DeMaio (R)

State Senator Brian Jones (R)

Activist Ammar Campa-Najjar (D)

Story continues

Because the 50th district is safe Republican, the battle for votes between Issa and DeMaio will be the main dynamic to watch.

Catch up on live coverage from the primary:

While you wait for California results to come in, head over to our main Super Tuesday post to follow all the action, see results for the Democratic presidential primary in California here, and keep up with all of California's down-ballot races here.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Paytm employee has been confirmed to have been detected with the Covid-19 coronavirus, after returning from Italy post vacation. Based on this incident, Paytm has shut its office premises in Gurgaon as a precautionary measure, and also asked the employee's colleagues to undergo tests for Covid-19.

Confirming the matter, a Paytm spokesperson said, "One of our colleagues based out of Gurgaon office who recently returned from Italy post a vacation has sadly been tested positive for Coronavirus. He is receiving appropriate treatment and we are extending complete support to his family. As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately. We have also advised all our colleagues to work from home for a couple of days while we get our offices sanitized. However, there will not be any impact on our daily operations and Paytm services will continue as usual."

The detection of the Paytm colleague marks for the 29th officially confirmed case of coronavirus in India, of which 14 Italian tourists and one Indian have been quarantined at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)'s quarantine camp near Delhi. While the daily rise of coronavirus patients have recently reduced in China, the outbreak has now spread out from mainland China to majorly affect Iran, Italy and other nations.
Year 2021: Meet the CMs who Stepped Down, Returned to Power

Karnataka Budget 2020: Key takeaways of the budget session

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Bengaluru, Mar 05: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday tabled the much-awaited Budget for the FY 2020-21 in the state assembly.

During the session Yediyurappa said that the BJP never faced such a financial crisis in Karnataka before as it is doing now.

"Door-to-door delivery of fertilisers will be made available for farmers. The farmers will be educated about the various fertilisers and how to use them," the Karnataka Chief Minister said.

Karnataka Budget 2020: Will CM Yediyurappa feel the pulse of people on his 7th budget?

"Rs 9,000 crore allocated for farmers' welfare. Rs 10,000 annual aid for small farmers. Kisan credit card for farmers and fishermen," he further added.

Here are few takeaways from the Karnataka Budget 2020:

Allotment of Rs 500 crore for Kalasa Banduri Project to supply drinking water to the four-drought prone districts in Karnataka's north-west region.

Revision of Anna Bhagya scheme that provides free 7 kg rice to every member of a below poverty line.

Horticulture sector to be considered as an industry.

Rs 27,000 crore allocated to elevated corridor project in Bengaluru.

Rs 1,000 crore to develop more than 100 villages under the BBMP limits.

Rs 2600 crore for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana

Rs 900 crore for the implementation of Fasal Bima Yojana

Rs 2 crore for Mahila Meenugarike Sabalikarana Yojana

Bhagya Lakshmi, bicycle schemes to continue

Increase in petrol ann diesel price by Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.59 per litre, respectively.

Twin towers building with 25 floors to be constructed in Bengaluru

Rs 25 crore for Vishwakarma Development Board

Rs 10 crore for Arya Vaishya Development Board
Philadelphia police investigate after two men were shot outside P&P Sunnyside Academy III at 54th Street and Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Read more

Gunfire on a West Philadelphia sidewalk Wednesday afternoon injured two men just a day after a man was shot three blocks away, and two days after two men were shot inside a corner grocery two blocks away, authorities said.

Police said Wednesdays gunfire erupted at 12:26 p.m. An 18-year-old man was shot in the stomach, and police took him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. A 20-year-old man received a graze wound to the right hip. He was taken to the same hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

The first shooting happened shortly before 7 p.m. Monday, when two men walked into the 54 & Wyalusing Food Market and opened fire on an 18-year-old man, shooting him twice in the buttocks, once in the neck, and once in the left arm. He was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, police said.

The markets owner, Franklin Peralta, 38, received a graze wound to the lower left leg, for which he was treated and released from the hospital later that day. He was back to work the day after the shooting. The married father of four said he returned so quickly because he has to pay his bills.

At 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, police said, a man was shot in the groin at Pennsgrove and Conestoga Streets. He was hospitalized in stable condition.

Wednesdays violence hit too close to home for the teachers and toddlers at P&P Sunnyside Academy III, at 54th Street and Girard Avenue, who heard the gunfire and saw a young man lying in pain on the sidewalk, owner Saudia Davis said.

He was screaming: Help me, help me! Dont let me die! He was hysterical, Davis said.

Davis, who has been in business six years and owns three day-care centers in West Philadelphia, said she also had been rattled when she heard the gunfire Tuesday. When Wednesdays shooting began, she said, her staffers took their 1- to 3-year-old pupils to the second floor to avoid the possibility of being hit by stray bullets. She then called the childrens parents to pick them up early.

This gun violence is just crazy, Davis said. We are coming in and out of the building constantly, taking trips and taking them for walks, but were not going to do that anymore. On a nice day like this, you should be able to go out to play.

A police spokesperson said investigators were looking into whether the three shootings were linked. Brandon Jones, an outreach worker with the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network, said a peace rally is being organized for that sliver of West Philadelphia, sandwiched between Mill Creek, Haddington, and Carroll Park.

Five people shot in a three-day span all in a three-block radius, he said. It does seem strange that its all close like this.
HOUSTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SeaOne Holdings, LLC ("SeaOne"), a clean energy logistics provider and developer of its patented Compressed Gas Liquid ("CGL") technology that combines the entire gas stream into one liquid product for delivery to markets, today announced several key developments that underscore the Company's accelerated progress delivering low-cost natural gas and Natural Gas Liquids ("NGLs") to underserved markets in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Specific updates include the following:

In January, SeaOne received its second U.S. Department of Energy order for long-term authorization to export U.S. natural gas. This export license includes authorization to export 1.5 billion cubic feet (bcf)/day of natural gas contained in CGL from Corpus Christi, TX , and is in addition to the Company's existing 1.5 bcf/day export authorization from its proposed Gulfport, MS export facility  bringing the Company's total export capacity from its potential facilities to 3.0 bcf/day of natural gas contained in CGL . These production and export terminals represent hundreds of millions in U.S. infrastructure investment and are tied to significant economic investment in key U.S. energy export markets as well.





, and is in addition to the Company's existing 1.5 bcf/day export authorization from its proposed export facility  bringing the Company's total export capacity from its potential facilities to 3.0 bcf/day of natural gas contained in CGL . These production and export terminals represent hundreds of millions in U.S. infrastructure investment and are tied to significant economic investment in key U.S. energy export markets as well. Second, SeaOne provided an update on its Puerto Solo Energy Port complex in Colombia that will serve Buenaventura and Colombia's Pacific Coast region with clean, affordable fuels and reliable power. This multi-use energy port development is permitted for the import of 1.8 million barrels of hydrocarbons. Additionally, the Colombian government has awarded SeaOne electricity supply contracts for 228 MWs of power generation under a 20-year guaranteed reliability charge. These generators are expected to provide Colombia affordable, reliable power by initially using propane and long term using natural gas from CGL deliveries. The resulting revenues will support construction of SeaOne's project infrastructure, which includes the U.S. CGL production and export terminal(s) and a Colombia CGL receiving terminal.

Forrest Hoglund, SeaOne's Chairman and CEO, stated, "SeaOne is closer than ever to fulfilling our mission of helping Caribbean, Central and South American countries reduce their dependency on oil-based fuels and securing access to more affordable, reliable, and cleaner fuel supplies. Our strategy to get there is clear: serve key markets with clean, affordable fuels and reliable power supply while, on a parallel path, develop and ultimately provide customers with a wide range of clean fuel options through the delivery of CGL. With export authorization now exceeding 3.0 bcf/day and agreements with power producers and fuel marketers in place, our attention is turning to execution. This includes the delivery of the propane needed for power generation in country and also for commercial markets."

SeaOne also announced two, highly valuable additions to its Advisory Board. These additions include Mr. David Dewhurst, an experienced energy executive who also served as Texas' Lieutenant Governor from 2003-2015; and Mr. Lance Terveen, who currently serves as Senior Vice President for Marketing at EOG Resources.

Mr. Hoglund added, "We are honored that Lt. Governor Dewhurst and Mr. Terveen have joined us in senior and key, strategic capacities. We are confident that their relationships, deep industry expertise, and strategic acumen will be highly beneficial as SeaOne earnestly begins a new phase of construction, delivery and measurable impact in the markets we serve."

About SeaOne Holdings, LLC

Houston-based SeaOne Holdings, LLC ("SeaOne") is a midstream infrastructure and logistics company that leverages its patented technology to reconstitute energy costs in various markets, catalyzing new opportunities for economic growth and environmental stewardship. Specifically, SeaOne's technology optimizes the blending of natural gas and NGLs into a single product cargo. By consolidating multiple distribution channels, the Company's business model requires significantly less investment and lower operating expenses than conventional natural gas and NGL's delivery technologies. The resulting cost savings allows the Company to provide a complete energy value chain, including power generation and bulk storage of fuels. For more information, please visit www.seaone.com.

Contact

Jonathan Morgan

Perry Street Communications

[email protected]

212-333-5525

SOURCE SeaOne Holdings, LLC

Related Links

http://www.seaone.com


Candles are lit during a prayer for 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London, in front of Hanoi Cathedral in Vietnam, October 2019. Photo by Reuters.

British police have appealed to Vietnamese who entered the U.K. illegally to help investigate the deaths of 39 people in a truck last year.

"We believe that a number of other people traveled into the U.K. in a similar way to the 39 deceased throughout the month of October, and we hope that these people would be able to help us," Police Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith, who works in Essex where the truck was found, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We understand that there may be concern about coming forward and sharing their experiences, but we can assure you that your information and details will be treated in confidence."

There were no explicit assurances they will not be deported, however.

The appeal is part of the ongoing probe into the deaths of the 39 Vietnamese who died in a refrigerated container truck last October in a tragedy that shocked the world.

Last month the Essex police wrapped up post-mortems, revealing the provisional cause of death was a combination of hypoxia and hyperthermia.

Earlier this week they detained Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, in connection with the deaths, charged him with an immigration offense and produced him in court on Wednesday. Last month they had arrested two others on suspicion of involvement in the deaths.

Police in the north-central province of Ha Tinh, home to 10 of the victims, also arrested seven people last month and were looking for another. Last year police arrested 11 people in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces on suspicion of human trafficking.

The youngest of the 39 killed were boys aged 15 and the oldest was 44.

Their remains were brought home a month after the tragedy.

Of the 39 victims, 21 were from Nghe An, 10 from Ha Tinh, and the rest from Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Hai Duong and Hai Phong.

Vietnam is consistently one of the top source countries for modern slaves in Britain, with at least 3,187 Vietnamese victims being identified since 2009, according to official data.

Victims trafficked from Vietnam most commonly end up being exploited, often in cannabis farms and nail bars, but many are also sexually exploited.
Despite fears of coronavirus some South Texans may still be considering an escape and head south of the border this spring break.

As of March 2, Mexico has reported five cases of coronavirus in the country, and while there are no restrictions in place as a result of the worldwide outbreak, American citizens are still advised to exercise increased caution when traveling to Mexico due to crime and kidnapping.
Weinig



EasyScan C

Phone: +352 540 416

Fax: +352 540 417

eMail: info@luxscan.com

Web: www.luxscan.com

In just one and a half days, Weinig Luxscan replaced a fifteen-year-old scanner at the Aukenthaler sawmill in Leutasch, Austria. Holzkurier journalists spoke to the companys owner, Stefan Aukenthaler, about the reasons for this replacement and the benefits it brought.

Although the company started out as a sawmill, Stefan Aukenthaler decided to shut down the sawing machines a few years ago and specialize in wood processing. "We buy green timber, dry it ourselves and process it into various products such as decking boards, shuttering or finger-jointed battens," explains Aukenthaler.

The Austrian sawmill has relied for more than 15 years on a scanner from Weinig Luxscan, Foetz/LU for cross-cutting and finger-jointing. "It was one of the first scanners we had ever built," informs Henning Dresel, Sales Manager at Luxscan. But the Laserscan eventually got old. "The software reached its limits and could no longer be updated," explains Dresel. For this reason, and to increase the yield, Aukenthaler decided last year to invest in a new scanner from Luxscan.

Perfect entry-level scanner

The Easyscan at Aukenthaler has four cameras and eight lasers (Photo: Luxscan)

Aukenthaler chose an Easyscan C from Luxscan. "This scanner is an entry-level model with a very good price to performance ratio," says Dresel. The scanner has four cameras and two lasers per side. It detects all wood characteristics necessary for quality timber production. The scanner uses laser cameras with built-in color modules to detect color defects such as piths, resin pockets and black knots, as well as line and dot lasers.

One laser checks whether there are any wanes or holes in the boards while the other detects knots and analyses grain deviation, which ensures that the finger-jointing area is clean. "The scanner is able to detect whether a certain board area is fine for cutting and finger-jointing or whether there are wood features on it that would be disturbing in the finger-jointing process," explains Dresel.

Stefan Aukenthaler (in the middle) is satisfied with the Easyscans performance after the installation completed by Luxscan service technicians Lee Fasihifar (left) and Thomas Amodio (right) (Photo: Weinig Luxscan)

The scanner features OptiCore, a powerful optimizing software. It determines the optimal cutting solution and sends the corresponding data to the cross-cut saw OptiCut 450 Quantum from Weinig Dimter. "Our OptiCore software provides various statistical functions and evaluations," explains Dresel. The software can generate detailed statistics for production planning according to supplier or wood package. It also has a simulation software with advanced optimizing functions for a better yield. Aukenthaler reported a yield increase of 5 to 8 % with the new scanner.

Wood processing at Aukenthaler is quite special. The company scans mainly rough surface wood, i.e. not pre-planed lumber. "We only plane it after finger-jointing, so as a result we are able to minimize dimensional shrinkage," informs Aukenthaler.

Quick commissioning into line

The new Easyscan was installed at Aukenthaler within one and a half days in November 2019. "Such quick commissioning is possible because we test the scanners with customers wood and pre-set the machine accordingly while it is still in our factory. We only do fine adjustments on site," says Dresel.
Anthony Levandowski, who once ran Uber's self-driving car unit, was ordered Wednesday to pay $US179 million ($271 million) to rival Google, prompting the software engineer to file for bankruptcy protection.

The enormous award, which was approved by a Superior Court judge in San Francisco and was confidential but disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, casts new light on one of Silicon Valley's most heated dramas. It is also another blow to Levandowski, once a rising star in the tech industry who now faces criminal charges for allegedly possessing trade secrets that belong to Google.

Anthony Levandowski has filed for bankruptcy facing the $271 million court bill. Credit:AP

Levandowski left Google in 2016 to form Otto, an autonomous trucking company. In August of that year, Uber acquired Otto for $US700 million. (Uber ultimately paid much less than that because Otto employees either left or were terminated before their stock options were allowed to vest.)

Six months later, Google sued Uber, alleging that the ride-share company conspired with Levandowski to steal trade secrets from Google's autonomous driving unit, called Waymo. Uber settled in February 2018, five days into a blockbuster trial, agreeing to pay more than $US244 million to Google.
OAKLAND (BCN)

The Oakland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an extension of the contract with the city's firefighters' union 10 months before it was set to expire on Oct. 31.

The city's new contract with Local 55 of the International Association of Fire Fighters will cover the period from Nov. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2023.

A spokeswoman for the city says the new 38-month agreement provides for 3 percent annual wage increases over three years, which is consistent with the labor agreements the city reached last fall with its civilian unions.

The city said Local 55 has also agreed to help it address its growing and un-funded long-term liabilities for providing health care to employees after they retire.

Last year Local 55 joined the Oakland Police Officers' Association in agreeing to cap the amount the city contributes for retiree health benefits for active employees and current retirees, which is consistent with the agreement's for the city's civilian employees.

Oakland officials said that in the new contract Local 55 becomes the first employee union in the city to agree to contribute to employee health care costs.

In addition, the contract continues a minimum staffing agreement through 2037, with an opportunity for the city to temporarily suspend the requirement in the event of a severe financial crisis.

"I am grateful for the partnership with Local 55 in reaching an agreement well before the current one expires that will provide our hardworking firefighters with fair wage increases and more certainty over the 38-month contract period," Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth said in a statement.

Landreth said, "I appreciate that we came together to tackle Oakland's long-term financial challenges. This is true partnership and true leadership."

The city said all of its labor contracts with public safety and civilian employee unions are now closed.

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.
Madhya Pradesh PWD minister Sajjan Singh Verma on Friday said that Congress will "take three wickets" of BJP for one wicket.

Earlier in the day, Congress MLA Hardeep Singh Dang tendered his resignation from the state Legislative Assembly.

"We'll take three wickets for one wicket (Hum ek ke badle teen wicket giraenge)," said Sajjan Singh Verma.

Madhya Pradesh cabinet ministers left from the residence of Chief Minister Kamal Nath in Bhopal on Friday late night after the meeting concluded. The meeting at Chief Minister's residence commenced at around 10 pm on Thursday.

Hardeep Singh Dang on Thursday tendered his resignation from the state Legislative Assembly.

The resignation came amid Congress levelling allegations of horse-trading of MLAs over BJP to 'destabilise' the Kamal Nath-led state government.

Dang was one of the opposition leaders who had extended their support to the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"If we see CAA and NRC separately, there is no harm if someone who is unhappy in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan gets facilities here. But this should also be considered that they are asking people, whose generations were born and raised in India, to furnish documents under NRC," Dang had told reporters here.

Congress MLA further said that he along with Jyotiraditya Scindia had also supported the Centre's move to abrogate Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, last year.

On Monday, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had alleged that BJP leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narottam Mishra were offering bribes of Rs 25-35 crore to Congress MLAs in order to bring down the Congress government in the state.

In 2018 Assembly results, Congress, which won 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly formed the government with the support of four Independent MLAs and two BSP MLAs and a legislator from the Samajwadi Party (SP). The BJP had secured 109 seats in the state Assembly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dr. Charles Chuck A. Berry, a NASA flight surgeon who helped select the countrys first astronauts and devised tests to see if they could survive the demands of space, died in his sleep over the weekend in his Houston home. He was 96.

Berry is considered a pioneer in aerospace medicine, with a 68-year career in which he served as a flight surgeon for the U.S. Air Force, director of life sciences for NASA, an aviation medical examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration and an aerospace medicine consultant.

I dont think aerospace medicine, as a specialty in medicine and as a field, would be where it is today without the influence of all the various things he did at the various points in his career, both within the Air Force and with NASA, said his son Dr. Michael A. Berry, who also has a specialty in aerospace medicine.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Hidden Figures mathematician Katherine Johnson dies at 101

Berry received his medical degree from the University of California San Francisco in 1947. After an internship at the San Francisco General Hospital (now called the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center), he went into private practice in Indio, Calif.

He joined the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and moved to San Antonio for a year of training at the U.S. Air Force School of Aviation Medicine (now the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine). Hed go on to help countries in Central and South America set up their own aviation medicine programs, earn his masters degree in public health from Harvard University and become chief of the Department of Flight Medicine at the U.S. Air Force School of Aviation Medicine, where he sent pilots in balloons and aircraft to various altitudes to see how their bodies would react physiologically.

This was where his career took a turn that would eventually prompt Berry to leave the Air Force for NASA.

In 1957, Berry was one of the physicians who helped select test pilots  later referred to as astronauts  who would ride in a military rocket into outer space. He then helped select NASAs first seven astronauts for Project Mercury, the countrys first man-in-space program.

Berry and his fellow physicians devised ways to physically test who could withstand the demands of space, as it was understood at that time.

We put them in (a chamber) in the dark and suspended them so that they werent touching anything, Berry said in a NASA Johnson Space Center oral history project. They were suspended with wires, and left them in there for six hours in the dark. Now, thats dumb when you think about it, because the thing I didnt like about it, I said, If we ever have an astronaut in this position, that means that weve really had a failure somewhere and hes out of a spacecraft, and it isnt going to make a lot of difference anyway then. So this doesnt seem like a very realistic kind of thing to do. But we exposed them to heat and cold and ran them on treadmills which were not being used anywhere else at that time. Exposed them in partial pressure suits.

And they figured out ways to monitor astronauts health before they launched  even telling former President Richard Nixon that he could not break the astronauts quarantine by eating dinner with them before Apollo 11  and while in space.

Still, people questioned if humans could survive the journey, citing a lack of data.

There are a lot of people who didnt think it was OK and that we were really being pretty cavalier about the decisions that were being made, Berry had said.

Michael Berry said his father acknowledged the lack of data but knew some risks would be required.

I remember him saying, and I have quoted that on numerous occasions, If we wait for all the data to come were never going to leave the ground, Michael Berry said.

He said his father took incremental steps, slowly increasing the amount of time astronauts spent in space, until landing men on the moon with Apollo 11 in 1969. Berry helped send those astronauts to the moon and monitored the crew during their mission. He helped send 42 people into space over 30 missions while working for NASA until 1974.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Listen: Germs a hot topic for Apollo 11 astronauts before launch

Dr. Charles Berry was a founding member of the NASA family who will be greatly missed, Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer said in a statement. From playing a key role in selecting the original seven Mercury astronauts, to providing personal medical support from Mission Control for Apollo missions, to a distinguished career in Houston after departing NASA, Chuck was a unique person who made an indispensable contribution to human space flight.

After leaving NASA, Berry became the first president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He did on-air health segments at KPRC and was president of the Aerospace Medical Association. Berry was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1979 and 1980.

But it was the relationship he had with astronauts that inspired his son to go into aerospace medicine. Michael Berry was a flight surgeon with the Air Force and then a flight surgeon with NASA, where he helped select astronauts for Space Shuttle missions and monitored them while in space. He spent 25 years working alongside his father in a private practice called Preventive and Aerospace Medicine Consultants and is currently the federal air surgeon for the FAA.

He was my best friend, Michael Berry said.

Berry died from complications of coronary artery disease and heart failure.

He is survived by three children, nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. There will be a viewing Sunday between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Monday at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church, followed by a reception from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. For his friends around the world, the funeral will be livestreamed at Memorial Drive United Methodist Churchs YouTube channel.

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

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michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today, a strategy of containment was supposed to protect Washington State from the coronavirus. It didnt. Mike Baker on what led to the first major outbreak in the U.S. Its Thursday, March 5th. Mike, tell me about how this outbreak in Washington State starts.

mike baker

So it really began January 20.

michael barbaro

Tonight, the C.D.C. is confirming the first case in the U.S. of a new and deadly coronavirus. A man in Washington State has the same virus that has sickened about 300 people in China, killing at least six.

mike baker

That was when the officials here announced that the first case of coronavirus in the United States was in Washington State. It was in north of Seattle. There was a man in his 40s who had been traveling to the Wuhan region in China. He had come back. He had developed symptoms after he returned to the United States. And as kind of a savvy guy, he certainly made the connection that he was potentially infected with the coronavirus, and presented himself at a health clinic in the area to ask for some help.

michael barbaro

And what happens to him? How is he treated?

mike baker

Officials there, the doctors take a sample. Theyre sending it off to the C.D.C. Theres certainly an awareness this very likely could be a case. He ends up being taken to the hospital and quarantined there in a special portion of the hospital. At that point, you have health officials sort of tracking down who was he on the plane with when he returned? How did he get from the airport back to his house? What was he doing in the hours and days after he landed? So theres a huge effort just to find out who might have been in contact with him, to make sure that this wasnt going to be spreading further.

michael barbaro

And what were the results of those efforts to track people he might have been in contact with?

mike baker

They ended up tracking dozens of people. And I dont believe any of them ended up developing symptoms. We went six weeks here in Washington State without another case popping up. There were a number of tests done on a couple dozen people, and none came back positive. So there was certainly a sense that the case that had shown up on the shores here was one that was contained.

michael barbaro

So far, so good.

mike baker

Yes. In fact, there was a press conference last Thursday where the state still just had one confirmed case, the first case. And they talked publicly about how the risk to the general public remained low.

michael barbaro

OK, so what happens next?

mike baker

On Friday, Im working, helping colleagues around the west coast track coronavirus cases that are starting to emerge. And theres cases in California, cases in Oregon. And then I get a notification that at 8:00 PM on Friday night, the health officials here in Washington State were going to have a press conference. And 8:00 PM press conferences generally are not a sign that good information is about to come out.

michael barbaro

Fair.

archived recording (jeff duchin) Im Jeff Duchin. Im the Health Officer for Public Health, Seattle and King County. And Im here to share with you that we have a preliminary positive result for COVID-19.

mike baker

So at that meeting, they announced two new cases.

archived recording (jeff duchin) A woman in her 50s, a female who traveled to South Korea, was visiting.

mike baker

They have a woman who was traveling in South Korea came back and tested positive.

archived recording (jeff duchin) And noted symptoms at the end of the workday when she got home on Tuesday. And on Wednesday evening, her husband called to report her symptoms and travel history to us. And we had her tested yesterday.

mike baker

And then they also had a teenager.

archived recording (jeff duchin) As Dr. Lofy mentioned, we do have a new case of coronavirus in Snohomish County.

mike baker

A high schooler in the area, whose tests came back positive, as well.

archived recording (jeff duchin)  have today for a school-aged adolescent. This individual became ill on Monday with fever, body aches and a headache.

mike baker

The remarkable thing about those two cases is here, the state and federal governments had been spending much of their time focused on tracking people who had come back from Wuhan or from mainland China. Those are the people are getting screened at the airports. Those are the people who are getting tested. And here we had two cases that really didnt fit that pattern at all, they werent really on that standard set of guidelines where testing would have taken place.

archived recording (jeff duchin) There was no travel history associated with this case. Our team is still in the midst of the contact investigation, so we do not yet know the possible source of infection.

mike baker

Along with cases in Oregon and California, were sort of setting this new standard that this wasnt just people coming back from China anymore. There were people who were in our communities who are getting the virus. And no one really knew where it was coming from. And so in the middle of these questions about whether were testing the right people, whether the regimen around the country is going to catch the cases that might be here already, there is an escalation in the news.

archived recording (jeff duchin) Today Public Health, Seattle and King County is announcing three new presumptive positive cases of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, including one person who died. And I want to just start by expressing our deep and sincere condolences to the family members and loved ones of the person who died.

mike baker

A Washington State man has now died of the coronavirus. Its the first death in the United States. Its a man in his 50s in the Seattle area who lived at a nursing home.

archived recording (jeff duchin) The person who died was a patient at Evergreen Hospital who had underlying health conditions.

mike baker

And he had not traveled abroad, either. We now have got three cases in Washington State not connected to China, two of which appear to have developed the virus within the community somewhere. And so the announcements come out. Governor Jay Inslee declares a state of emergency. The governor suggests the use of, potentially, the National Guard if needed.

michael barbaro

Wow.

mike baker

And then the main area of focus that emerged at that point was this nursing facility in Kirkland, in the Seattle suburbs, owned by a company called Life Care. Officials were reporting that potentially dozens of people were sick there. They were showing signs and symptoms, a mix of both residents and staff. And obviously, this is  its a terrible place for a coronavirus to take root. I mean, youve got people who are elderly, who have medical issues. I mean, those are the exact types of people who would be most vulnerable to any kind of illness. And there was an immediate sense that theres potential disaster ahead, with people there who are infected and spreading. We started talking then to a number of different family members of people, who were obviously worried and trying to figure out how to support their family members that are inside the facility. And one of those people that I talked to one of those first days was Bridget Parkhill.

michael barbaro

And I called Bridget. And from the first moment we were on the phone, it was clear that she was very frustrated with this experience.

michael barbaro Hi, Bridget. bridget parkhill Yes. michael barbaro Hey, its Michael Barbaro. How are you? bridget parkhill Im fabulous. How are you. michael barbaro Im reading a little facetiousness in your voice. bridget parkhill Yes, just a bit. Its been a pretty rough week. michael barbaro I imagine it has been. bridget parkhill Yeah.

mike baker

Her mother was in the facility trying to recover from knee surgery. Shed been there for a few months. And Bridget and others were just trying to get a handle on what was going on inside.

michael barbaro Bridget what are you thinking when you hear that this nursing home is suddenly in the news and is connected to the coronavirus? bridget parkhill Well, it is extremely scary to me. My mom has been a resident there since November when she had her knee replaced. And then all of a sudden, Im getting frantic phone calls from my sister saying that two people had tested positive for this coronavirus. One was an employee and one was another resident, and that they were on lockdown. michael barbaro So as you get this information, what are you thinking to yourself? bridget parkhill Im thinking, my god, moms had a cough since last Tuesday and she needs to get tested right away. So when I called them, I said, has my mother been tested yet? And it was the social worker I spoke with. And she pulled up moms chart, and she said, no. Were going to test 50 people and your mom hasnt had a fever. And she told me moms last three temperatures and they were fine. And at that point, they were taking them, I believe, every four hours.

michael barbaro

Bridgets pressing them to get her mom tested to get a real answer it here on whether or not she has the coronavirus. Theres a great fear from her and the rest of the family that this could get much worse and. If she does, in fact, catch the coronavirus, shes someone who was a really high risk of dying.

michael barbaro So what happens? What happens next? bridget parkhill Well, we just kept trying to call. We called the King County Health Department, because we were told to go through them to see should we be self-quarantined? Should we be doing something? michael barbaro Basically, should you, yourself, be quarantined? bridget parkhill Yes, exactly. And I couldnt get a hold of anyone. My sister got a hold of someone, and they said, oh, this is the wrong number. This is the emergency line. You need to call this other number. So they were giving us the run-around. And so finally, this guy said, OK, Ill take your information and someone will give you a call back. But no one did. michael barbaro No one called back. bridget parkhill No one called back. So she finally got a hold of someone, and they said, oh, no, if your mom doesnt have a fever, no, you dont have to do anything. Youre just fine. michael barbaro And you would explained that your mom was in a facility where coronavirus was known to have infected people. bridget parkhill Yes. michael barbaro And that you had been there. bridget parkhill Yes. michael barbaro Did any of that reaction surprise you? bridget parkhill Very much so. Very much so. They just acted like it was no big deal.

mike baker

And thats a theme that were hearing from a lot of the family members, who are feeling like theyre just in an information black hole right now at a time when it seems like there is an extreme risk to the health and lives of the people they love. I mean, were seeing an email chain thats going around from Life Care where they emailed a bunch of family members, and actually kept all the email addresses open to each other. And subsequently, the family members have been responding over and over again with their outrage, and frustration, and concern theyre not getting the information they want. They have a lot of questions that are not getting answered. There is undoubtedly extreme concern about how people are doing in the facility, their health, and their exposure, and what kind of protection is available to them. It has been heartbreaking to listen to, because they feel so helpless. They feel like their family members are in this facility, and just sitting ducks waiting for this virus to come through. So as the family members are struggling to get the information and answers that they feel like they need, we get another bout of terrifying information. Some researchers here in the Seattle area had been working to trace the genetic sequences of two cases of coronavirus. They looked at both the first one that showed up in mid-January six weeks ago now. And then they looked at another case that showed up last week. And in their analysis, they can see that these two cases appear to be linked.

michael barbaro

And what do these genetic sequences of this virus tell us?

mike baker

So what it indicates is that after the first person who got the coronavirus in Washington State six weeks ago, there appears to have been a series of transmissions, a number that we cant even count at this point, that then led to a new person showing up with the virus in more recent days. So theres a sign here that this has been spreading throughout the community undetected for weeks.

michael barbaro

Wow. So theyre saying that that first case and that last case, theyre not isolated cases. The genetics show that they are, in fact, linked through some vast number of transmissions that mean that somehow, that first person gave it to somebody else, who gave it to somebody else, who gave it to somebody else, and eventually gives it to this last person.

mike baker

Thats right. So these researchers now believe that if, in fact, this virus has been spreading throughout the region for six weeks essentially undetected, that there are likely 300 to 500 other cases out there that we dont know about, but potentially up to 1,500. Well be right back.

archived recording Two people are now dead in a Seattle suburb today from the coronavirus, after state officials confirmed that COVID-19 has been spreading quietly for weeks. Six weeks  six weeks in Washington State. That means hundreds of undiagnosed cases could be out there. And experts suggest there are many more cases circulating than have been detected so far. People have to remember  confirmed cases are not the number of cases. Confirmed cases just means that we went through the big rigmarole to get them tested. Youve heard that theres about 

michael barbaro

Mike, once it becomes clear that were dealing with a real outbreak here  and according to those projections that you just mentioned could be 100, could be thousands of people infected  does access to testing for the coronavirus change?

mike baker

So the local health officials here were talking very ambitiously about how they were going to be increasing testing. And it was more significant. They were doing about 100 tests a day, but at the same time, thats 100 per day for the whole state. Their goal is to increase that capacity as time goes on to the point where maybe were doing more than 1,000 a day.

michael barbaro

But why arent they able to suddenly deploy thousands of tests more or less immediately? What holds that back?

mike baker

Well, part of it is a capacity issue. But the other thing is that while the C.D.C. guidelines on who should be tested have broadened, its still relatively narrow. The new guidelines essentially say that if youre someone who is hospitalized with unexplained flu-like symptoms, you would get a test. But if youre just a random person who has flu-like symptoms, and youre concerned that you might have had coronavirus, thats not enough for you to go to your doctor and be put in the pipeline to get tested.

michael barbaro

So basically, there are just restrictions still on whos eligible to be tested. And that seems quite stringent.

mike baker

Thats right. Their official guidance is not everyone needs to be tested.

michael barbaro

So at this point, whats happening to people like Bridgets mother, who has not yet been tested, may have been exposed to this virus? What is the protocol for people like her? What happens to her?

mike baker

So right now, a lot of these people are essentially  theyre isolated in their rooms. Theyre getting food delivered to them by people in protective gear. Theyre trying to stay in touch with family through video chats and phone conversations.

michael barbaro

And what is she saying that thats been like?

bridget parkhill She said this is like solitary confinement. And we laughed about, wow, mom, I dont know what your crime was, but youre doing hard time. And she laughs, you know. My mom has a very big, bright personality, laughing all the time. Shes that kind of person. And so shes trying to make light of it. But at the end of the conversations, she says, Im just really lonely.

mike baker

And theres hearing, through these family members, a lot of concern about how this is being handled, how long theyre going to be in isolation, and when this might end, and the larger, more concerning question  how is this going to end for them?

michael barbaro

Meaning are their family members going to survive this.

mike baker

Thats on their minds all day long. One of the things thats a real struggle for the family members like Bridget was that they cant see their family members right now. They cant go into the facility, because its in quarantine.

bridget parkhill So we were told that they were under lockdown, but I really needed to see my mom. So my sister and I decided to meet there, and bring her a little care package, because they said that we could certainly bring her food, or books, or whatever we wanted to, and just to call them when we got there.

mike baker

So Bridget talks about how the other day, she went to the facility, went to the front door.

bridget parkhill So I called, and they said that someone would be right out. And there were signs that said, No admittance, that they were having a respiratory outbreak. So a woman came out and said that she would take it to mom. And I said, wait a minute. We cant go in. Is there any way that I can go around outside to her window, and just see her, just wave at her so she knows that Im here?

mike baker

Would it be OK If she walked around the exterior of the building just so she could have a chance to see her mom.

bridget parkhill And she said, oh, sure, no problem. So she took the goody bag down to mom and my sister and I went around the side. She opened up the blinds, and there was my mom. With all this stuff going on, just seeing her gave me so much relief, just because we are getting so little information from Life Care Center that we dont know. Is she able to sit up? Is she laying in a bed? You know we had no idea. So it was just thrilling to see her sitting up, and smiling, and waving. michael barbaro When do you think youre going to be allowed to see your mother? Are they giving you any kind of frame? bridget parkhill Theyve given me no time frame whatsoever. They dont know. Theres ambulances going in there. And they take people out, and take them to the hospital. So Im just waiting for that call to say that my mom is one of those people. michael barbaro Oh, no. bridget parkhill [CHOKED UP] Its really hard.

michael barbaro

So Mike, by the end of this past weekend, from everything youve said, the government in Washington has pronounced a state of emergency. Its acknowledging that things are quite serious. Testing is still very limited. People are furious about that. And from the projections you described, its clear that the virus has been spreading and spreading, and maybe, at this point, kind of out of control. So what is the plan by the authorities there to wrap their hands around this crisis?

mike baker

So there was really a major shift that was happening, because the news was just cascading worse and worse every time. I mean, every time they would give us an update, it was more people in critical condition. It was another death, more deaths. You had this growing cacophony of horrible news coming out from the region. And so then on Monday morning, we really see that sort of change in direction and messaging.

archived recording This morning, we are in final negotiations to purchase a motel in which we can place patients who are in need of isolation and a place to recover.

mike baker

The county executive here in the Seattle area comes out, and says, theyre now going to be going out to buy a motel in the region that he could repurpose for the sake of isolating people who have coronavirus.

michael barbaro

Wow.

archived recording The risk for all of us of becoming infected will be increasing.

mike baker

The county health officer here was talking about how the number of cases here are growing so much that at some point, coronavirus cases are going to outpace the number of flu cases in the area.

archived recording And theres a potential for many people to become ill at the same time.

mike baker

And that means a whole different strategy. Now theres so many cases that they no longer have the ability to track individual people and retrace their steps.

archived recording So we are making both individual and community-level recommendations to limit the spread of this disease. And our community-level recommendations are very similar to what we recommend for influenza.

mike baker

Theyre shifting to a community-level approach here, that youve got to sort of address the problem at a bigger scale.

michael barbaro

Wow. So basically, theyre giving up on the idea of containing this by tracking each person who has it.

mike baker

Right. Now, I just got a message that came in, that said the latest guidance is that they are recommending that older residents with underlying health problems in the community stay in their homes.

michael barbaro

So Mike, in a span of really just a few days here, the State of Washington has gone from just a handful of cases to a pretty extraordinary outbreak. And it feels like a kind of terrifying demonstration of just how fast this virus can take hold across a relatively small geographical area.

mike baker

It is. I mean, we went from one known case a week ago to today, the latest was 39 total infections and 10 people dead. You can sense the growing fear around here. I mean, we have guidance that employers encourage people to telecommute instead of coming into an office. Youve got schools preparing to educate students remotely if the virus continues to spread.

michael barbaro

Wow.

archived recording That could expand, also, to include, again, discouraging mass gatherings as we call them  sporting events, the high school basketball game, the hockey game, the convention. These things could end up becoming temporarily discouraged, if not possibly prohibited, depending on the escalation of concern.

michael barbaro

Mike, how reasonable is it to fear that what happened there in Washington, and the speed with which it happened, is going to be the story of how this unfolds pretty much everywhere else in the United States?

mike baker

I mean, were certainly seeing the spread everywhere at this point. One thing that Ive stopped to think about a number of times in the last few days is, did this region just get really unlucky to have the epicenter of the outbreak take root in a nursing home, among the most vulnerable people in the region? And is that why the death toll is so high here? At the same time, the reality is the virus is continuing to spread. And the public health experts we talked to expect it to continue that way. And theres going to be more places just like this that are going to get hit.

michael barbaro

Mike, thank you very much, and stay safe.

mike baker

Thanks.

michael barbaro Bridget, for a lot of people the coronavirus is a kind of distant news story. Its very scary, but its not yet a reality in a lot of places. In the Seattle area, and definitely in this nursing home, it is a reality and a very scary reality. And I wonder as somebody who has experienced it in a very personal and visceral way, what this experience has taught you about what its like when this virus does come into your life. bridget parkhill Well, when it comes to your own family, I cant express to you what it is like. Its fear. Its every bad emotion you could have. And she calls me first thing in the morning when she wakes up. Just hearing her voice, its like, OK, everythings good for another day. But is it going to be fine in an hour? Is it going to be fine in three hours? Is she going to make it through the night, because its so fast when the severe illness hits, that I dont know.

michael barbaro

The Times reports that in February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention distributed a test for the coronavirus to state and local laboratories, but that flaws in that test led to inconclusive results. A replacement test was promised, but was never distributed. As a result, most diagnostic testing was only conducted at C.D.C.s labs in Atlanta, whose results took days. Last week, amid growing criticism from doctors across the country, the Food and Drug Administration finally broke the logjam by allowing state and local officials to conduct initial testing on their own. But tests remain scarce.

archived recording Chairman, this is really a frightening time. Im hearing from people who are sick, who want to get tested, who are not being told where to go. Im hearing that even when people do get tested, and its very few so far, the results are taking way longer to get back to them.

michael barbaro

During a hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray of Washington State lashed out at federal health officials over the shortage of test kits on behalf of her constituents.

archived recording (patty murray) The administration has had months to prepare for this. And its unacceptable that people in my state and nationwide cant even get an answer as to whether or not they are infected. To put it simply, if someone at the White House or in this administration is actually in charge of responding to the coronavirus, it would be news to anybody in my state. And Ive been on 

michael barbaro

As of Wednesday, there were 44 cases of the virus in Washington State, and more than 150 in the U.S. Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today.

archived recording (michael bloomberg) If you remember, I entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump. And today, I am leaving the race for the same reason  to defeat Donald Trump, because staying in would make it more difficult to achieve that goal.

michael barbaro

On Wednesday, Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race after a poor performance on Super Tuesday, in which he failed to win a single state, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on his campaign. From the start, Bloombergs candidacy hinged on Joe Bidens campaign collapsing, something that never happened. On Wednesday, Bloomberg endorsed Biden, becoming the latest moderate candidate to do so.

archived recording (michael bloomberg) Ive always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. And after yesterdays vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend, and a great American, Joe Biden. [CHEERS]

michael barbaro
Wildlife migration corridors are the new focus for wildlife managers. This has been brought about by advances in GPS tracking technology that allows wildlife managers to capture an animal, place a GPS tracking collar on that animal, release it and then plot its movements.

In Arizona, one of the big beneficiaries of this technology has been pronghorn antelope. Arizona Game and Fish has captured dozens of pronghorns, collared them and confirmed a very important thing: Antelope simply do not cross fence lines along highways.

Looking at the plot map, the antelope on the west side of Highway 180 were the blue dots and those collared on the east side were the red dots. After a year, there was not one red dot on the west side of the highway nor a blue dot on the east side. This proved that the antelope herds north of Flagstaff were suffering from genetic isolation and not only was their migration corridor cut off, they could not even cross the road.

The solution came from the idea of moving the highway right-of-way fence back from the highway. Antelope can negotiate a fence or a highway, but not a fence and a highway when they are close together.

As you travel north of Flagstaff along Highway 180 to the Grand Canyon or Highway 89 toward Page, notice that the highway right-of-way fence is now in a herringbone pattern in antelope areas. Kendrick Park is one easy place to notice the change.

By moving the fence back on both sides of the highway, antelope can now cross it.

After the fences were moved, looking at the plot map, you will see many blue and red dots showing up on both sides of the highway. The antelope are now mixing and this will make the herd stronger and better able to survive the pressures of human impacts in antelope habitat.

The ultimate goal for this highway modification work is to open up the migration corridor so an antelope from Wupatki can make it to Prescott if that is where its migration urge takes it.

The success of this project is thanks to the Arizona Game and Fish Department working with the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Forest Service and ranchers. Much of the physical work has been done by volunteers from the Arizona Antelope Foundation.

Currently, this project has moved closer to Prescott. The Arizona Game and Fish Department's Contracts Branch conducted net-gunning pronghorn captures in game management units 19A and 8 on Oct. 19/20, 2019. This was part of the ongoing connectivity work being conducted under the now South of I-40 Pronghorn Project. The AAF has been supporting this effort for the past eight years by providing fence modification project camps and volunteers every August, as well as allocating $10K from the pronghorn Habitat Partnership account annually.

The next fence removal project will take place around Seligman on April 4. This would be a good time for you to become involved and learn more about this vital project.

You can learn more by going to: https://azantelope.org/event-3533097

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Chandigarh, March 5 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday reviewed the state's preparedness to tackle the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) and directed the Health Department to keep close tabs on the situation triggered by the global spread of the virus.

As on Thursday, 13 people were found symptomatic for COVID 19 with no positive case reported.

The Chief Minister, who has decided to personally monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis, has appealed to the people to keep away from congested and crowded places as a preventive measure.

Amarinder Singh ordered the Health Department to gear up, in mission mode, to deal with the virus.

A state rapid response team has been constituted, with four senior doctors, for the purpose.

A control room has been established in each district, with district rapid response teams to maintain a round-the-clock vigil. These are in addition to the state-level control room (phone numbers 88720-90029/0171-2920074) to response to any complaint or crisis.

Presiding over a high-level meeting to review the arrangements to combat any exigency arising out of COVID-19, the Chief Minister asked the Principal Secretary Health to immediately issue an advisory to educate people about the symptoms and precautions to be taken in view of the virus threat.

He also asked the Chief Secretary to direct the Deputy Commissioners to instruct the field staff in their respective districts to assist the health department in its mass awareness campaign.

The Deputy Commissioners would take active steps to avert a panic situation and to build confidence among the people.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu informed the Chief Minister that at present there were total 5,795 persons in the state with travel history to affected countries.

The situation, however, was under control, and the department was fully geared to tackle any exigency, said Sidhu, urging people not to panic.

Briefing the Chief Minister about the preparedness, Principal Secretary Health Anurag Aggarwal said the department has already designated state nodal officer as the Surveillance Officer, with district nodal officers also in place to manage the situation.

He said 22 district hospitals and three government medical colleges have been identified to deal with any emergency.

Isolation wards with a bed strength of 649 have also been set up in these hospitals, and 24 ventilators have been made available, of which 14 were in district hospitals and 10 in government medical colleges.

The Amritsar and Mohali international airports have sounded an alert, with advisories prominently displayed for information of passengers.

Similarly, screening of passengers has also been started at Wagah and Attari border check-post in Amritsar and Dera Baba Nanak check post at Gurdaspur respectively.

Non-contact thermometers have also been made available for screening of passengers at these check posts, besides displaying advisories.

As per the information, 70,106 passengers have so far been screened at the airports and border check posts. These included 47,671 at the Amritsar airport, 4,943 at the Mohali airport, 5,401 at Amritsar Wagah and Attari border check-posts and 12,091 at the Dera Baba Nanak check post.
Canada is way behind other developed nations in early childhood education and needs a big shift in approach to lift families out of poverty and keep our country competitive in a changing knowledge economy.

Thats the message behind a new report, the fourth iteration of the early years study that brought about changes like extending parental leave from six months to a year (back in 2000) and Ontarios full-day kindergarten starting at age four. Its vital that policy makers heed the advice in the report and make quality preschool education available for all children. Thats going to take the political will to overcome the common misconception that child care programs benefit only working mothers instead of absolutely all of us.

Funded by the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation, Early Years Study 4 calls on the federal government to invest an additional $8 billion annually on early childhood education, increasing current funding by a billion a year until it reaches $20 billion. The return on that investment in increased income tax revenue and lower spending on social services for struggling families would be $6 for every $1 spent, it says.

Among countries in the Organization for Economic Development (OECD), Canada came in at an embarrassing 33rd out of 35 in early childhood enrolment in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available (the OECD has since grown to 36 member nations). Only one in two preschool-aged Canadians is enrolled in an early education program.

That recommended $8 billion a year in new spending would only bring Canada to the OECD average level of investment in early childhood education. But that alone would put 58,000 women into the workforce, the report says. Quebecs affordable child care program is credited with enabling 70,000 mothers to enter the workforce, entirely paying for the program. (That figure is so high because Quebec had the lowest workforce participation in the country before the program was introduced in 1996.)

The studys author says we need to start to think of the money spent on early childhood education not as a frill for parents but as a critical need for children and an essential part of Canadas ability to keep pace with change.

The first 2,000 days of life are critically important in human development, because its here that the foundations are laid for a life for learning, health and behaviour, said study author Margaret McCain, a Canadian philanthropist, trained social worker and champion of early childhood education.

Now based in Toronto, the former lieutenant governor of New Brunswick said the capacity for innovation and for productivity are formed in those early years. Were not preparing our young people to function fully in a knowledge based economy.

The report advocates for play-based child care attached to a public education system. That makes it available, affordable, and accessible to all children equally, instead of what exists now. Rich children get good preschool education; poor kids get poor preschool education, if they get anything.

Its been known for some time now that levelling the playing field in the early years when all that critical brain development happens has positive knock-on effects for how kids fare down the road. As just one example, an analysis of 22 experimental studies noted in the report that good early childhood education increases high school graduation rates by 11.4 per cent.

But the report, which includes analysis by Craig Alexander, chief economist at Deloitte Canada, points out that early childhood education can also help to close the widening income inequality gap. Unicef rated Canada 17 out of 25 wealthy countries due to high child poverty  one in five Canadian children under the age of six live below the poverty line. That same Unicef ranked us 26 out of 35 wealthy countries for overall inequality among children.

Emis Akbari, a professor of early childhood education at George Brown College who has a PhD in behavioural neuroscience, said the brain grows most rapidly in a childs early years, and providing a good play-based learning environment can break some of these generational influences and poverty that we see.

The investment in this time is really important and foundational for future learning and for future outcomes, said Akbari, whose research is cited in the report. Yet in Canada the early years are the part of education that we invest in the least. So, were very much behind other developed economies in terms of where were at, in what we do for our young children.

One of the barriers to doing better is a misconception that early childhood education is a problem only for parents of young children, she said. Whether you have a child, you dont have a child, your children are adults, or you no longer have children in care, it should be every Canadians problem and every Canadians motivation to invest in early education.
WYOMING, MI - There will be an increased police presence at Vista Charter Academy on Friday, March 6, after a threat closed school Thursday, according Lt. Eric Wiler with the Wyoming Police Department.

Officials believe the Wednesday threat of violence to the charter school, managed by National Heritage Academies (NHA), came from a student. It was found written on a wall.

The details of what was written at the school, located at 711 32nd St. SE, have not been released.

Wiler said the school contacted police around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday about the threat.

"Our investigative division continues to investigate the threat and no arrests have been made at this point,'' he said.

The K-8 school had 702 students last year, according to state data.

"After receiving a threat of violence against the school, we followed our standard protocols and began an investigation. In todays day and age, you have to take all threats seriously  and we do. Out of an abundance of caution, school officials decided to cancel classes for today. The safety and security of our school community is always one of our top priorities.,'' according to NHA spokesperson Leah Nixon in a statement.

Read more on MLive:

Spectrum Health expanding culinary medicine at Downtown Market, launching specialty practice

New Disney movie can open at Michigan theater chain following bankruptcy judges order

French country estate perched on Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids listed for $1.59M
A day after the Jammu and Kashmir government restored social media in the Valley; the government also restored internet broadband facilities on Thursday.

Kashmir has more than 20,000 broadband connections and only a few hundred mostly belonging to officials were restored after the subscribers submitted written bonds to the government. The broadband was restored on Thursday afternoon.

The PRO, BSNL, in a press statement said that services had been resumed. The subscribers will be enjoying internet services with speed.

For the first time since August 5, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday lifted the ban on social media and allowed access to all sites over the internet.

The government order issued by J&Ks Home Secretary had said that the internet speed on mobile services will be restricted to 2G and the order will remain in force till March 17.

For the first time on January 24, the J&K administration had announced restoration of low speed mobile internet and fixed line connectivity in all districts with access to a white list of around 301 websites with restrictions on all other websites including social media. The announcement followed the Supreme Courts January 10 directive to review the ban on internet services in the UT every week.

After the Supreme Courts directions, the government on January 15 had also restored broadband facilities (with mac-binding) in government offices, banks and to facilitate tourism, tour and travel establishments.

People in Kashmir were eagerly waiting for restoration of broadband services, especially businessmen who had suffered losses due to the snapping of broadband and internet facilities.

Mobile phones, landlines and internet services were disconnected in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 4, ahead of the abrogation of Article 370.

Landlines were restored between mid-August and September and postpaid mobile services were back on October 14. Mobile internet services were restored in Kargil, a part of the UT of Ladakh, on December 27. SMS services on all mobile phones in Kashmir, and broadband internet services in government-run hospitals were restored from January 1.
Functions of officials holding both positions will be finally determined once the president approves them.

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ruslan Khomchak, has explained the importance of dividing the powers assigned to him into two separate posts  Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

"It is beneficial to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is beneficial to the State of Ukraine. We're undergoing reform  it's practical. It opens doors to new changes, and one of the changes is that the powers of the Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief should be divided," Khomchak told journalists, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

According to Khomchak, since Ukraine is developing in the European direction, such a division is needed so that everyone "efficiently and selflessly" performs a specific set of functions to achieve results.

Read alsoNATO to continue supporting Ukrainian Army development  deputy chief of representative office

The official says the functions of both officials will be ultimately determined once the president approves them.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 4, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, passed a presidential bill amending section VI "Final and transitional provisions" of the Law "On the National Security of Ukraine" regarding the entry into force of provisions regarding Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Staff of the Armed Forces, and separate units (forces)" (No. 3015).

According to the bill, a commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shall be appointed to the post on the submission of defense minister and dismissed by president. A commander-in-chief reports to president and defense minister.
If you have tens of millions of dollars to spare, you could as soon as next year be one of three passengers setting off aboard a spaceship to the International Space Station for a 10-day stay.

On Thursday, Axiom Space, a company run by a former manager of NASAs part of the space station, announced that it had signed a contract with SpaceX, Elon Musks rocket company, for what might be the first fully private human spaceflight to orbit.

I think youll see a lot more energy in the market as people come to realize its real, and its happening, said Michael T. Suffredini, the president and chief executive of Axiom.

The spaceflight, Axiom officials said, could take off as soon as the second half of 2021.

SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon capsule for taking NASA astronauts to and from the space station. But just as the companys development of its Falcon 9 rocket for taking cargo to the space station led to a vibrant business of launching commercial satellites, SpaceX is also looking to expand Crew Dragon passengers beyond just NASA astronauts.
A Vietnamese woman has given birth to a healthy baby girl in a quarantine zone for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a suburban district of Hanoi.

The woman, 21-year-old N.T.H., hails from Dong Hy District in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, according to Vuong Trung Kien, director of the General Hospital of Thach That District in Hanoi.

H., in her 39th week of pregnancy, was previously placed under quarantine in Thach That District after returning to Vietnam from South Korea.

Dr. Kien said that a surgical team of 20 members led by Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, deputy director of the hospital, and Dr. Pham Manh Tien, head of its obstetrics ward, conducted the C-section delivery inside the quarantine zone on Thursday morning.

The newborn girl weighs 3.1 kilograms. Both the mother and baby are in good health after the surgery.

Dr. Kien also affirmed that the surgical team strictly complied with the regulations set by the Ministry of Health in treating people being quarantined over COVID-19.

COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 95,600 people and killed almost 3,300 globally, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

South Korea has reported 40 deaths out of its more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases, according to the same source.

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 infections since February 13.

Vietnam requires a compulsory 14-day quarantine period for anyone entering the country with a recent travel history to areas affected by COVID-19.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
In an announcement that should terrify supporters of the Second Amendment and the U.S. Constitution, the sudden Democrat frontrunner Joe Biden announced on Monday night that Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke would play the lead role in the Biden administration's efforts to fast-track gun control. Before his campaign for the 2020 Democrat nomination collapsed last November 1, O'Rourke, when asked about gun control at a candidates' debate last September 12, said, "Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."

One year ago, during an MSNBC interview on location at the border between the U.S. and Mexico, O'Rourke said that "if given the chance, he would take down the 600 miles of wall and fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, adding that it had only caused 'suffering and death' for asylum seekers."

According to The Hill:

"Yes. Absolutely. I'd take the wall down," O'Rourke said on "All In" during an interview near the border on Thursday.

Appearing live on Fox News on Tuesday evening during an interview with Shannon Bream, Texas lt. gov. Dan Patrick criticized Biden's embrace of O'Rourke, noting:

He [Beto] said he was coming to take our AR-15s. I have one, I want to invite him to my house first and see how that goes.



Joe Biden welcomes Beto O'Rourke to his team, Dallas, TX, March 2, 2020.

Selection from video of the occasion.

The occasion for Biden's comments about O'Rourke was a preSuper Tuesday campaign rally Monday evening in Dallas during which O'Rourke endorsed Biden. According to the New York Post, Biden, standing next to O'Rourke, said:

I want to make something clear, I'm going to guarantee you this is not the last you've seen of him [O'Rourke]. You're going to take care of the gun problem with me. You're going to be the one who leads this effort. I'm counting on you. I'm counting on you. We need you badly, the state needs you, the country needs you. You're the best.

The admission that Biden will be rewarding his former challenger O'Rourke with a high-profile job in his administration, presumably in exchange for his endorsement, makes one wonder what Biden will offer Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who also quit their campaigns for president and endorsed the former V.P. on Monday.

At Biden's campaign website is a 3,500-word document that outlines the candidate's extensive "plan to end our gun violence epidemic."

According to the article at Fox News about Lt. Gov. Patrick's interview with Bream:

Patrick predicted O'Rourke will become the "anchor" around Biden's neck if the former vice president closely associates himself with the controversial former Senate candidate.

Patrick went on to say:

When Biden surrounds himself with people like Beto O'Rourke, he's taken on a real goofball, a guy who's a real lightweight and he proved it in this race.

Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about politics, media, popular culture, and health care for American Thinker and other publications. Peter's website is http://peter.media. His new YouTube channel is here. Follow Peter on Twitter at @pchowka.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he may ask the Dail to agree a new measure ensuring workers are not penalised for having to "self isolate" in the battle against the Coronavirus.

Mr Varadkar said the issue is now being handled by a special Cabinet sub-committee and he utterly rejected the idea of a special Dail committee to supervise the issue.

The Taoiseach said the senior health officials leading the fight against the virus did not need extra demands to account for their work.

He was speaking as the Dail returned for a second sitting since the February 8 general election returned "a hung parliament."

TDs will not vote to elect a new Taoiseach as coalition-making talks continue. Instead they are discussing the coronavirus and EU matters.

Mr Varadkar said the current interim Government will continue to take responsibility for the anti-virus campaign. He pointed out that, while this Government would not engage in big initiatives without consulting the Opposition, it was not "a caretaker government" as it was increasingly being called.

"Under the Constitution the Government continues until a new Government is elected to replace it," the Taoiseach insisted.

Mr Varadkar said the Government had already authorised the HSE to spend whatever money it needed on staff and resources to fight coronavirus. He said Intensive Care Unit beds which had been closed can be reopened for isolation of patients stricken by the virus.

The Taoiseach said the Government may need to return to the Dail for special laws to help ensure workers obliged to self-isolate do not lose out. He said "people must not be disincentifised" by the prospect of self-isolation.

The employer body IBEC has called for special interim welfare payments for workers obliged to quit work to self-isolate. But Mr Varadkar did not specify whether he was talking about welfare payments.

"We may need to enhance legislation around employment and social protections so that people are not disincentivised to self-isolate if they are asked to do so," the Taoiseach said in relation to workers loss of pay over being obliged to "self-isolate."

The Dail later continued to discuss the Cornavirus crisis. Opening the discussion Health Minister Simon Harris also spoke about workers potential loss of pay. He proposals for income support for those who needed to self-isolate would require "flexibility and responsiveness by employers and in Government social protection schemes".

The Health Minister confirmed that an extra 20 intensive care unit beds are available with plans for more and that he will meet patient advocacy groups on Friday.

EU affairs minister, Helen McEntee, said Government can only offer travel advice to Irish citizens. She was replying to questions about Italians still travelling to Dublin this weekend even though the Ireland-Italy rugby international had been cancelled.

Education Minister, Joe McHugh, said all schools had been provided with appropriate information and there was no need for school closures unless the HSE specifically advised a shutdown.

People Before Profit TD Brid Smith believed that the HSE was downplaying the lack of capacity to deal with the crisis. Fianna Fail health spokesman, Stephen Donnelly said, the authorities were erring on the wrong side of issuing enough information and the Enterprise Department had to do more for businesses.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the fight against coronavirus must be an all-island one and both administrations must coordinate resources and communications. Labours Sean Sherlock said workers who had to self-isolate must sick pay from day one - not from day four as current rules state.

Green party TD Roderic OGorman said "clear and unsanitised information should be given to citizens." He also highlighted concerns about the vulnerability of those who are homeless, in direct provision or in prison.

Earlier, EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said the European Union's rules curbing state aid to business can be "relaxed" to allow the Irish Government help business through monetary problems caused by the Coronavirus.

Speaking in the margins of an EU conference at Croke Park, the Irish Commissioner said Ireland had one of the world's most open economies and would certainly benefit from any such easing of state aid rules.
[March 05, 2020] AmTrust Enters Agreement With Safeco Insurance to Transfer Renewal Rights for Republic Personal Lines in Six States

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. ("AmTrust" or the "Company") today announced it has entered into an agreement with Safeco Insurance, a Liberty Mutual company, to provide personal lines agents appointed with Republic General Agency a compelling opportunity to transition their Republic policies to Safeco beginning in the third quarter of 2020. AmTrust, a leading workers' compensation and extended warranty provider, made the strategic decision to exit, pending regulatory approval, personal lines products written through its Republic carriers. The company is focused on leveraging their unique strengths to offer select commercial P&C products and services globally where it can differentiate its offering and bring added value. AmTrust believes the agreement with Safeco will provide a smooth transition for Republic personal lines policyholders across Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and New Mexico. "AmTrust is focused on our core lines where we are an industry leader and have decided to exit our personal lines business written directly through Republic," says Jeffrey Fenster, EVP, Head of North American Specialty Risk at AmTrust Financial. "We selected Safeco as our carrier partner given what we consider to be their world-clss book transfer capabilities and a proven track record for smooth transitions."



Safeco Insurance is a top three personal lines writer in the independent agency channel and was named the carrier champion of the independent agent in the 2019 Channel Harvest Study. "We have an unwavering dedication to our independent agency partners and look forward to bringing our best-in-class products, people, programs and service capabilities to Republic agents and policyholders," says Gary Fischer, Senior Vice President of IA Channel Growth and Engagement at Safeco Insurance.

About AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in New York, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers' compensation, business owner's policy (BOP), general liability and extended service and warranty coverage. For more information about AmTrust, visit www.amtrustfinancial.com. About Safeco Insurance

In business since 1923, Safeco Insurance sells personal automobile, homeowners and specialty products through a network of more than 10,000 independent insurance agencies throughout the United States. In a survey conducted in 2019 by Channel Harvest, independent agents named Safeco as the carrier that does more than others to support the overall growth of agencies and be a champion of the independent agent. Safeco is a Liberty Mutual Insurance company, based in Boston, Mass. For more information about Safeco Insurance, go to www.Safeco.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005832/en/

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Australia has announced a travel ban on South Korea and will implement enhanced screening measures on all travellers from Italy.

The escalation comes on top of existing travel bans for China and Iran as the government races to shut down borders and contain the growing threat of the coronavirus.

Mr Morrison said Australia had five times the number of passengers from South Korea compared to Italy. He did not rule out further restrictions on travellers from Italy, which now has more than 3000 infections and 107 deaths, stating the government "would be watching developments very closely".

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy advised cabinet's national security committee that the two countries were "the highest risk" and the Australian Border Force has also told the government it could not handle screening passengers from both countries without a travel ban.
Its beautiful, all right: Watching Rita Moreno and George Chakiris ignite America," the colors pop right off the screen. The Khartoum" print is nearly as good, whatever one thinks of the movie. The widescreen print of Hello, Dolly!  unavailable for preview prior to its March 14 premiere  is a festival first and rumored to be as lovely as the West Side Story print. Ive seen problematic films transformed into worthwhile rediscoveries by the power and grandeur of the 70 format. Well see what it can do for Barbra Streisands Dolly Levi.
Coronavirus Diaries is a series of dispatches exploring how the coronavirus is affecting peoples lives. For the latest public health information, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website. For Slates coronavirus coverage, click here.

This as-told-to essay from Sarah Louise Rhodes, an American university student whose study abroad program in Italy was canceled, has been condensed and edited for clarity from a conversation with Shaena Montanari.

Im a junior majoring in political science and art history at the University of South Carolina, so I wanted to go to Florence, Italy, specifically to study art history. Studio art is my minor and I wanted to take some drawing classes there too. The coronavirus really didnt even cross my mind back in January when I left for Italy because the virus was just in China then. I guess I didnt think it would be anything that we had to worry about.

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I arrived in Italy on Jan. 26, and I had a one-week-long traveling course through central Italy, which was great. We got to Florence on Feb. 2 and started our regular classes at Florence University of the Arts the next day. I was in a drawing class, and [a classroom] art history class, and a political science class. I was in another really interesting art history class where we would walk around to different sites in Florence and learn about them. They were really fun.

On Valentines Day weekend, I went to Paris with two of my friends. We came back into Florence on Monday the 17th, and that was the first time wed had any thoughts of the coronavirus because they took our temperatures at the airport in Italy. The temperature checkers were in the full protective suits that you see in the videos online, and I had no idea that that would be going on.

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I was planning on going to Milan for a day on Sunday, Feb. 23, but my boyfriend in the U.S. texted me and told me, I dont think you should go there. I hadnt heard much about the coronavirus in Italy and it still wasnt really on my radar. We decided not to go to Milan, which was probably a good idea because on Monday, the 24th, I heard there were over 250 cases in the area.

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That day, the company our study abroad program is managed through, CIS, emailed us and said to practice normal precautions, like washing our hands, and to not travel to northern Italy. On Wednesday the 26th, when the U.S. issued an increased travel advisory for Italy, it felt like a turning point. All of a sudden people started talking about going home. It created a divide between my classmatessome people like me thought it was a big deal, but others wanted to keep traveling and enjoying their study abroad program.

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On the same day, my parents secretly bought a plane ticket for me on Wednesday to get out of Italy back to the U.S. for Saturday, Feb. 29. They later told me they got it for me just in case I needed it. On Thursday, CIS recommended we go home. On Saturday, when I got to the airport, I received another email from the study abroad company saying it was suspending all on-site operations, so I made the right decision to get out when I did.

I was sort of surprised that there was no temperature check, when I got home to the U.S., at any of the airports I passed through. They only asked if I had been in China.

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I have no idea how I will finish my classes this semester. CIS said it will talk to us about online classes by this Friday. But I dont know how I will be able to take a drawing class online. They also said we will not be getting any refunds for the program we already paid for.

I wasnt sure if I should quarantine myself because I didnt get any specific information, so I have been just sitting in my house in South Carolina for the past few days. Im frustrated it ended this way, but Ive always had the mindset Id rather be safe than sorry. Im glad my friends and I got home safely.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
With 2021 concluded and the 20th anniversary of the ModDB's Mod of the Year Awards wrapped up, we take a stroll down history lane and look back at all the winners over the last two decades.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:06 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20688cd24 4 News coronavirus,COVID-19,Korean-Air,Soekarno-Hatta-International-Airport,outbreak,South-Korea,Incheon Free

Korean Air will suspend all flights between Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, and Incheon International Airport from Thursday to April 25 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The airlines station manager at Soekarno-Hatta airport, Kwang Dong, said in a statement the decision to suspend flights was made to prevent the spread of the viral disease.

We are informing through this letter a temporary suspension of Korean Air flights due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Kwang said as quoted by kompas.com.

Soekarno-Hatta airport spokesperson Febri Toga Simatupang confirmed the temporary change on Thursday: We have received Korean Airs notice on the flight suspension for the route between Seoul and Soekarno-Hatta airport.

Read also: Airlines suspend China flights due to coronavirus outbreak

He said airport operator Angkasa Pura II ordered the Korean airline to fulfill its obligation to passengers who already bought tickets for the route.

We demand that they announce the information to passengers immediately. They should also be ready to refund passengers, Febri said.

Aside from Korean Air, five Chinese airlines have also suspended their flights to Indonesia following the latters travel warning to and from China in February. The Chinese airlines are Air China, China Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines.

Airport authorities estimated that Soekarno-Hatta has lost at least 90,000 passengers due to the travel ban, kompas.com reported. (gis)
Pirelli has decided not to take special tyres to the new Dutch GP at refurbished Zandvoort this year.

In winter testing, F1's official tyre supplier tested some unmarked new front tyres that were designed to more safely tackle the layout's new steeply banked corners.

"I don't want to hear about 'panic'," Pirelli boss Mario Isola said. "There is no panic."

Indeed, De Telegraaf newspaper reports that Pirelli will take its standard tyres to Zandvoort after all.

The news comes as Max Verstappen, for a promotional event, tried the new Zandvoort layout including the steeply banked corners in an older Red Bull car on Wednesday.

"It has become very cool," he told the Dutch broadcaster NOS.

"The third corner is very sloping. I didn't expect that. The inside really falls away from you. The first few times I didn't see the inside of the corner at all.

"It took a few laps before I found the ideal line. But it's a very special corner.

"I haven't driven it with anyone else yet, so it's hard to tell if you can get through there with two cars. But it will definitely make passing easier. The last corner will also be very challenging with DRS open," Verstappen added.

Finally, the 22-year-old denied that his early taste of the unique Zandvoort layout gives him an advantage over his F1 competitors.

"If only," he laughed, according to Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.

"With good simulation work, everyone will be very well prepared."

(GMM)
This will be the first investigation opened by the court involving U.S. troops. The ruling comes less than a week after the United States and the Taliban signed a peace deal that calls for the full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan within 14 months and for the Taliban to disavow terrorist groups.
The oil price slide that prompted several weeks of oil contract selling among hedge funds could be coming to a close, according to the latest data on hedge fund oil buying and selling, as reported by Reuters John Kemp. News from the oil industry has also helped spark some optimism. Unfortunately, chances are this would only be temporary as the outlook for oil remains rather pessimistic.

Sales of the six most popular oil contracts slowed down to 11 million barrels of oil equivalent during the last week of February, Kemp reported, noting that this was before another wave of concern about the spread of the Chinese coronavirus rattled the oil market.

This week could see more sales, but the trend could be coming to an end as funds are now at their most bearish on oil in about three years. According to Kemp, this means the balance of risks has shifted to the upside, with the prospect of further long liquidation or short sales diminishing and greater opportunity for fresh long building and short covering.

Meanwhile, as the coronavirus scare grows with more diagnosed casesand more deathsreported outside China, OPEC has stepped up its efforts to put an end to the price slide that last week sent Brent briefly below $50 a barrel. Reports from Monday had it that the cartel was considering production cuts even deeper than the 600,000 bpd that was proposed in February. Now, according to unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters, OPEC is discussing additional cuts of 1 million bpd, which would put the total at 2.7 million bpd.

This is a sizeable portion of the global supply, but it remains uncertain whether it will be big enough to arrest the price slump. Prices jumped on the news yesterday, with both Brent and WTI adding more than 2 percent in late-morning Asian trade today, but this rise is fragile. Any bad news about economic activity in China would pressure the benchmarks yet again regardless of what OPEC agrees at this weeks meeting in Vienna.

Story continues

Related: Huge Red Flag For Oil: Global Economic Growth Could Be Cut In Half

As before, Russia remains the key factor. The worlds second-largest producer has followed the same pattern of initial reluctance followed by eventual agreement in its recent history as a partner of OPEC, but this time there is fear it might have had enough of the cuts, especially given the opposition of Russian oil companies to any cuts at all.

Yesterday, President Putin hinted that Russia may once again end up agreeing to play ball, which would have a more solid effect on prices than if OPEC decided to go it alone and slash 1 million bpd of production without Russias participation. At a meeting with industry executives, Putin noted that the partnership with OPEC had proved to be an effective instrument to ensure long-term stability on global energy markets.

Yet at the same time, he said Russia was comfortable with current price levels.

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.

Related: How Fossil Fuels Power The Internet

Russias budget for this year is based on an oil price of $42.40 per barrel. This compares with $83 for Saudi Arabia. Thats quite a gap in acceptable oil prices but it is not out of the question that oil could fall below Russias comfort level, too.

Bloombergs oil strategist Julian Lee wrote earlier this week that oil could fall as low as $30 a barrel and the reason for this will be demand for oil, already hurt severely by the coronavirus outbreak that prompted flight cancellations and other travel restrictions that affected fuel demand.

Many believe demand will improve later this year but, again, this is far from certain. As Bloombergs Lee puts it, 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.



By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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ROME - The paintings, drawings, tapestries and sketches in the most ambitious exhibition of Renaissance superstar Raphael's works are collectively insured for 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) against theft, vandalism or other damages.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man wearing a mask takes picture at a press preview of Raphael's exhibition in Rome, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The paintings, drawings and sketches in the most ambitious assemblage ever of Raphael works in an exhibition, more than even the Renaissance superstar had in his workshop at one time, are collectively insured for 4 billion euros ($.4 billion), against the likes of theft or vandalism. But no money can guarantee that Italys outbreak of coronavirus, the largest in Europe, wont play havoc with the three-month run in Rome of the art worlds eagerly-awaited blockbuster. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

ROME - The paintings, drawings, tapestries and sketches in the most ambitious exhibition of Renaissance superstar Raphael's works are collectively insured for 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) against theft, vandalism or other damages.

But no money can guarantee that Italys outbreak of coronavirus, the largest in Europe, wont play havoc with the three-month run in Rome of this year's eagerly-awaited art blockbuster.

Nervousness was palpable at a preview Wednesday that the Italian government's increasingly restrictive measures aimed at containing the outbreak might prematurely shut down the Raffaello exhibition, which is being mounted to mark the 500th anniversary of his death.

The project brings together 120 works by Raphael, including from collections ranging from those of Queen Elizabeth II to some of the worlds most prestigious museums. Entitled Raffaello 1520-1483, the exhibition opens Thursday in the Scuderie del Quirinale, an 18th-century former stables converted into an elegant palazzo.

There was reason to be nervous. I taly closed all schools and universities Wednesday and barred fans from all sporting events for nearly the next month to try to tamp down the deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside of China. So far, over 3,000 people have been infected in Italy and 107 of them have died.

On April 6, 1520, at the height of a brilliant career as a painter and architect in Rome, Raphael succumbed, on his 37th birthday, to eight days of fever and was buried in Rome's Pantheon.

Some 40 of the paintings and sketches come from the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, whose director, Eike Schmidt, sought to tamp down apprehension about viewing the show. He stressed that the recommended one-meter (yard) distance between people in public places would be respected to reduce risks of any contagion and hand sanitizers were affixed to exhibit walls.

He was interviewed in front of one of the shows top draws, Portrait of Pope Leone X. The painting underwent a painstaking, three-year-restoration that enhanced the rich hues of the scarlet cap and cape of the pontiff, one of Raphaels patrons, and the cardinal-red robes of two cardinals. So exquisite is Raphaels detailing that a silver bell near the pontiffs left hand looks like you could pick it up and ring it.

Pausing in front of Raphaels creations  including preparatory sketches as breathtakingly beautiful as the paintings that ensued  viewers feel caught in the gaze of the artists subjects.

Schmidt noted that while Michelangelo was constantly interested in the anatomy of the human body," and Leonardo da Vinci was principally interested in the scientific analysis of the world," Raphael's interest was really the psychology of his sitters" for portraits. Raphael was intent on exploring "how can you express a human character, a soul, through painting, which is very difficult, if not impossible.

But, Schmidt added, switching to Raphael's Italian name " if anyone came close to do it, that was Raffaello.

Drawings, with ink or red or black chalk, provide ample examples of Raphaels success in infusing human figures with emotion. Two of Raphaels celebrated portraits have inspired countless musings about the women who posed for a painter known for his lively love life.

One, informally known as Fornarina, or the bakers daughter, was said to be his mistress and was painted in his last year of life. A finger on her right hand appears to point to an slim armband on her bare arm with the artists name. Nearby is Portrait of a woman called La Velata, or the veiled woman.

When Italys COVID-19 outbreak surfaced last month, more than 70,000 tickets had already been sold for the Raffaello exhibit.

Organizers on Wednesday said the number of visitors accessing the halls will be controlled to dilute the risks of any visitors transmitting the new coronavirus.

But if Raffaello was forced to temporarily close its doors or slash entrance numbers, it's be highly unlikely that it could be extended.

While the Uffizi has so many Raphael works it could lend 40 and still keep its Raphael room open in the Florence museum, other lending institutions, among them the Prado, the Louvre, the National Gallery in London and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., would be reluctant to deprive for more weeks their own visitors of an opportunity to view their Raphael works in their own collections.

The viral outbreak has already inconvenienced art lovers in Italy.

Last week, admirers of Caravaggio, the Baroque master painter, found themselves locked out of a church in Rome, St. Louis of the French, which has three of the painters works. A priest at the church had tested positive for the virus after passing through Italy's north, the heart of the outbreak in Europe. When the church re-opened on Wednesday, several tourists wore face masks.

Earlier in Italys outbreak, the government ordered museums in the hard-hit northern regions temporarily closed. When Turins renowned Egyptian Museum re-opened this week, director Christian Greco decided to extend its opening hours to better space out visitors.

The museum is for everyone, and were here for them, Greco told state radio Tuesday. The mood among his relieved staff was happy to come back."

___

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

___
Poetry lovers were thrilled as experienced Poets delivered exciting back to back poetry performances at the maiden edition of Poetry made in Asanteman Saturday evening.

The show held at the Africa Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology drew poetry lovers from Kumasi.

There were performances from seasoned poets and spoken word artists including Ancestral Poet, Inkweaver, Aku Sika, Ama Mmra, Aba the Poet, Benefo and a musical performance from Service.

The event was a collaboration between the Prince Foundation against Racism and Discrimination and the Ashanti regional branch of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW).

Before the performances, the Ag. Ashanti regional Chairman of GAW; Mr. Bernard Elikem Buachi who welcomed participants called on all lovers and producers of literary content to join the association. He explained that GAW is a well-rooted organization that is rapidly growing and changing to embrace various facets of literary content producers aside writers.

He outlined some of the activities GAW intends to undertake in the course of the year announcing the month of March as the GAW Read a Ghana Book Month. For this year, we are encouraging reading as we set aside the month of March as the GAW read a book month. We will visit some orphanages to donate learning materials and take them through some reading exercises to polish their reading skills he revealed and added that we are consistently searching out opportunities for our members and platforms to showcase their works.

Prince Takyi; Founder and Leader of the Prince Foundation against Racism and Discrimination, also stressed that the event will be held frequently to establish the love of poetry in the Ashanti region.

Seasoned writers including Mr. Adjei Adjei-Baah, Mr. Oppong Clifford Benjamin as well as the President of the KNUST Writers Association; Michael Kwamena Annobil were also present and took turns to deliver performances of their own.
Kelly criticized for gun range fundraiser

MILWAUKEE  Wisconsin Democrats are taking conservative state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly to task for holding a campaign fundraiser at a gun range after a mass shooting in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported that Kelly held the fundraiser at the Wisconsin Firearms Training Center in Brookfield in Waukesha County on Thursday, a day after Anthony Ferrill shot and killed five co-workers at the Molson Coors brewery before turning his gun on himself.

Fundraiser attendees could donate at three levels, including $5,000 for the 50 Cal M2HB level, a reference to a machine gun. A $2,500 contribution would put the donor at the 25 ACP level, a reference to a .25-caliber handgun. A $1,000 donation would put the contributor at the 10 mm level, referring to another handgun.

State Democratic Party spokeswoman Courtney Beyer called the fundraiser tasteless and disrespectful.

Kelly faces liberal-leaning challenger Jill Karofsky in an April 7 election. The race is officially nonpartisan but Republicans are backing Kelly and Democrats are lining up behind Karofsky.

Kelly campaign manager Charles Nichols said Karofsky's allies are trying to exploit the brewery tragedy for their own political gain and she and Democrats don't understand people have a right to bear arms.

Karofsky's campaign declined comment.

Fatality reported in Sheboygan fire

SHEBOYGAN  One person died in a Monday night house fire in Sheboygan, authorities said.

Firefighters responded to the fire about 10 p.m. Monday and found heavy fire burning on the second floor of the home.

Firefighters entered the house and found the victim who was treated at the scene and rushed to the hospital where death was pronounced.

One firefighter was injured battling the blaze. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Mutual aid came from the Town of Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls, Kohler, Haven and Cedar Grove.

Man blames homicides on anger

APPLETON  A man stabbed his pregnant ex-girlfriend and killed her 3-year-old daughter in Appleton to unburden himself from his anger, according to a criminal complaint.

Demetrius Williams, 25, appeared in Outagamie County Circuit Court Monday on charges of first-degree intentional homicide and and two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Bond was set at $2 million cash.

The complaint said Williams was upset the woman didn't want to be together anymore so he stabbed her and the child.

"He was beginning to feel that his girlfriend who was pregnant with his child was beginning to distance herself from him. He began to concoct a plan to kill her and to kill her three-year-old daughter," Outagamie County District Attorney Melinda Tempelis said.

WLUK-TV reports police identified the 3-year-old who was killed as Zyana Corbin. The 27-year-old woman was not identified.

The woman was able to flee the apartment when Williams began attacking her Feb. 27 and when she returned she found her daughter had been stabbed, according to prosecutors.

The woman had injuries to her chest and abdomen area, as well as her face and neck. Both she and her unborn child survived.

Court records show a public defender will be assigned to Williams.

Associated Press

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If you're looking for another reason to escape the dreary weather and head to sunny Los Angeles, Clueless has you covered with the complete As If! experience.

The iconic '90s rom-com is celebrating its 25th anniversary in style in LA with a Clueless-themed restaurant - and everywhere in LA takes 20 minutes, so you'll be able to get there no matter what - just make sure you're rolling with your homies.

Grab your best Alaia and head to the latest on-theme LA eatery, complete with set recreations from the movie's best scenes. Tickets are $35 and every attendee gets 90 minutes to spend there, as well as an entree and side.

Moviestore/Shutterstock

The pop-up will be totally bugging starting on March 31, offering an immersive experience into protagonist Cher's fabulous life. Hopefully, that means getting to use her iconic closet computer program.

This isn't the only current Clueless celebration. CBS is developing a reboot for the kids in America that will focus on Dionne, played by Stacey Dash in the original film.

Paramount/Shutterstock

Paramount Pictures joined forces with the same company that put on the Saved by the Bell Max pop-up, the Beverly Hills 90210 Peach Pit pop-up and a Breaking Bad experience. We're just waiting for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Bronze moment - or perhaps a full recreation of The OC's Bait Shop, complete with a Rooney performance.

Luckily, the movie has withstood the test of time and is almost as ageless as Paul Rudd, so the pop-up should be as timeless as Cher's little white Calvin Klein dress.
I nternational Womens Day is a day for both celebration and soul-searching across every industry, and the restaurant world is certainly no exception.

The sector suffers issues with both representation and recognition: women make up less than 20 per cent of chefs in UK professional kitchens and the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Awards still feels the need to award a prize to the Best Female Chef, with an even smaller percentage of women at the helm of top restaurants.

In London, we boast plenty of extraordinary women at the citys culinary cutting edge. We would of course like to see more, but the capital should be immensely proud of its female foodies, who are often acknowledged as global pioneers across fields of food, wine, cocktails and front of house.

For International Womens Day  or week, in some cases  restaurants, bars and organisations across London are throwing myriad events to celebrate the finest female talent in the hospitality world and question how the industry can better promote gender equality.

From collaboration dinners with superstar chefs to thought-provoking talks by big industry names, heres how you can champion Londons female foodies for International Womens Day.

Monica Galetti x Nieves Barragan dinner at Mere

MasterChef judge and Mere chef patron Monica Galetti will be welcoming Michelin-starred chef Nieves Barragan of Sabor into her Fitzrovia kitchen, marking a meeting of two of Londons top women chefs. The pair will cook a six-course menu for guests priced at 185 per person, which will see them fuse Galettis Samoan and New Zealand background with the flavours of Barragans native Spain. Dishes include crisp-fried braised Iberian pigs head with mojo verde, veal jus and quince aioli and Herdwick saddle of lamb with glazed sweetbreads, burnt butter mash and Madeira sauce.

March 11, 74 Charlotte Street, W1T 4QH, mere-restaurant.com

Wander Women Week

Alexis Noble, chef-owner of Stoke Newington restaurant Wander, has rallied dozens of the top female names from the London hospitality  across food, wine and front of house  to put together five events across the week. The programme culminates on Sunday with the Wander Women: 7 Women, 7 Dishes dinner, featuring dishes created by Freddie Janssen (Snackbar), Elizabeth Haigh (Mei Mei), Maxine Thompson (chef uniform company Polka Pants), Anna Higham (Lyles, Flor), Mandy Yin (Sambal Shiok), Anais van Manen (Bao) and Noble herself.

March 1-8, 214 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 7HU, wanderrestaurant.com

Kitchen Balance talk with LDE London

The London iteration of philanthropic organisation Les Dames dEscoffier is highlighting what women bring to the professional kitchen in a starry panel discussion. Kitchen Balance: The Advantage of Employing Female Chefs will see journalist Sheila Dillon quiz chefs Clare Smyth (Core), Skye Gyngell (Spring), Phil Howard (Elystan Street) and Geetie Singh-Watson (The Bull at Totnes) on the benefits of gender balance in the kitchen.

March 9, Smeg London, 14 Regent Street, SW1Y 4PH, eventbrite.co.uk

Ella Canta panel on gender equality

Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Mexican star chef Martha Ortiz will be in town at her London restaurant Ella Canta this week, and will be joined by five top London chefs to discuss equality in the restaurant world at a special event. Hosted by BBC broadcaster Edith Bowman, the talk will feature a 50/50 gender-balanced panel of London chefs including Ortiz, Santiago Lastra (Kol), Olivia Burt (Claridges), Sabrina Gidda (AllBright), Tom Phillips (Restaurant Story) and Ollie Templeton (Carousel). Attendees will be treated to a welcome cocktail and a selection of Ella Canta canapes.

March 11, One Hamilton Place, W1J 7QY, designmynight.com

Female winemakers menu at Ottolenghi

Wine is all about women at the various locations of Ottolenghi across the capital this week, where a limited edition wine list will feature only female producers. The list will be available all week at all locations, and include the likes of La Stoppa Wines by Elena Pantaleoni and the family-run Montenidoli vineyards. On March 8, Zainab Majerikova of Basket Press Wines will host a wine-focused sharing feast at Fitzrovia restaurant Rovi.

March 2-8, various locations, ottolenghi.co.uk

Women in a Word with Tess Ward and Gizzi Erskine

Getty Images

Food blogger and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Tess Ward is currently in the midst of hosting her Soul Series talks at The Stratford hotel in east London, and will mark International Womens Day with a special edition. Shell be joined by TV chef Gizzi Erksine on March 11 to discuss topics including the idea of the chef as a working man, sustainability and our changing palates. The talk will be recorded live for Wards Down The Rabbit Hole podcast.

March 11, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 20 International Way, E20 1FD, thestratford.com

Stoney Street female chefs lunch

At her latest restaurant Stoney Street, 26 Grains founder Alex Hely-Hutchinson will welcome a host of Londons brightest women chefs for Sunday lunch on International Womens Day. Alongside Hely-Hutchinson and Stoney Streets head chef Henrietta Inman, the kitchen will also be occupied by Shuko Oda (Koya), Sarit Packer (Honey & Co.), Freddie Janssen (Snackbar), Francesca Diliberto and acclaimed cookbook author Anna Jones. Each will cook a different dish in a menu that ranges from Janssens scallop and blood orange tostada to Packers feta and honey cheesecake. Tickets cost 45 and all profits go towards Women for Women International.

March 8, 2-3 Stoney Street, SE1 9AA, 26grains.com

Lyaness x WOW Festival

The women of Londons bar scene have had quite a year already, and Ryan Chetiyawardanas South Bank bar Lyaness will be celebrating their ongoing success on International Women's Day. Curated by the bars floor manager Veronica Di Pietrantonio, this weekends Sunday Lyan will be an all-female takeover with seven brand ambassadors from different spirit companies behind the bar. A charitable donation from each drink sold will go toward the WOW Foundation, which runs the Women of The World Festivals.

March 8, 20 Upper Ground, SE1 9PD, lyaness.com

Women of the Past and Present cocktail menu at Seven Park Place by William Drabble

Seven Park Place by William Drabble, Londons smallest Michelin-starred restaurant, has dedicated its latest cocktail menu to some of historys most remarkable women. Drinks include the Hidden Cocktail dedicated to suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and the FIY Martini Cocktail inspired by Gracie Fields, the highest paid actress of the 1930s. The twelve women featured have each been depicted for the menu in the forms of charcoal drawings by artist Anna Mazzotta, while the cover features a drawing of the hotel by artist Annie Newman. For each cocktail sold, Seven Park Place will donate 1 to Springboard, a charity supporting womens careers in hospitality.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Anyone who lives away from the lake has been fooled more than once by the weather in picking what to wear before heading to downtown Cleveland for a parade, game or other outdoor activities.

Temperature swings can be big when Lake Erie water temperatures come into play, especially so in the spring when the cold Lake Erie water keeps the air temperature lower near the lake.

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To get an idea of the difference, we took a look back over 20 years of daily temperature reports from the National Weather Service for Burke Lakefront Airport downtown and Hopkins International Airport about six miles south of the lake.

Average daily highs on a monthly basis from 2000 through 2019 were warmer downtown from October through February, and warmer at Hopkins from March through September.

Typically, the difference for monthly averages was just a degree or two. But on some individual days, the swings were huge.

High temperatures in Cleveland typically are higher near the lake (at Burke Lakefront Airport) from October through February, and higher at Hopkins International Airport from March through September.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The biggest gap during this time period came on Oct 5, 2001, when the high temperature reported downtown was 79 degrees, though the high that same day was just 57 degrees at Hopkins.

Not surprisingly, the biggest swings the other way (warmer at Hopkins) occur in the spring, when water temperatures are still chilly. Thats something to keep in mind this month, for both St. Patricks Day and the earliest-ever Cleveland Indians home opener on March 26.

On at least 53 days over the last 20 years, the high for the day at Hopkins has exceeded the downtown high by at least 10 degrees. Forty-three of those 53 days occurred during the winter or spring, including 18 times in April.

The widest gap was on April 13, 2018. The high that day was 81 degrees at Hopkins. Downtown, the reported high from Burke Lakefront Airport was 60 degrees.

Cleveland Indians fans try to stay warm before an April 2007 game.The Plain Dealer

One trend that is common year-round is that low temperatures - usually overnight - are cooler at Hopkins each month based on monthly averages, the biggest spreads being 3.5 degrees cooler in July, 3.8 in August and 3.8 in September. One reason is that the Lake Erie temperature during these months is often warmer at night than the air away from the lake.

The database above allows you to search for highs, lows and precipitation at Burke Lakefront Airport since Feb. 12, 1998. The precipitation amounts are for rain or melted snow. Data for some dates, mostly in late 2013, is not available.

Separately, use this link to find Cleveland weather details for any date since 1871. The official weather reports are from downtown locations until May 1938, when the official reporting station was moved to what is now Hopkins International Airport.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral.

Average monthly low temperatures in Cleveland are lower at Hopkins International Airport than downtown throughout the year.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

The friendly and fraternal Azerbaijan-Turkey relations, as well as the great importance which the heads of two states attach to further development of bilateral relations, create a solid basis and favorable conditions for further expansion of the economic cooperation, Deputy Director of Department of Foreign Trade policy and WTO at Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan Khazar Bashirov said.

Bashirov made the remarks while answering the question regarding the recently signed preferential trade agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Trend reports.

Cooperation between the two countries in the economic and all other spheres is developing successfully, and fraternal Turkey is a reliable and active partner in energy and transport projects implemented on Azerbaijans initiative, Bashirov noted.

"One of the areas of economic relations is trade cooperation. Along with the fact that Turkey is one of our most important trade partners, it is also a key country for Azerbaijans non-oil exports. In 2019, the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $4.5 billion, which is an increase by about 33 percent. The export volume amounted to $2.9 billion, which is 57 percent higher than the previous year," Bashirov said.

He went on to add that along with these indicators, there is a huge potential for growth in trade turnover.

In accordance with the socio-economic development strategy of President Ilham Aliyev, comprehensive and consistent measures for diversification of the non-oil sector, manufacturing of competitive products and promotion of exports, aim at increasing the trade turnover with Turkey, among other objectives, he added.

He emphasized that the target that was set for the future is to bring trade turnover with Turkey to $15 billion by 2023.

"The documents signed during the recent official visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Azerbaijan give an impetus to further expansion of cooperation between the two countries, Bashirov said.

"The joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey is a successful platform for expanding ties between the two countries. In addition, various mechanisms are used to develop the economic relations."

In this regard, it would be useful to stress the role of developing ties between Azerbaijans Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Turkeys Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization, associations represented by businessmen of the two countries, including the Turkish Independent Industrialists and Businessmens Association, the Turkey and Azerbaijan Businessmen and Industrialists Public Union and other associations as well as of conducting business forums and meetings with the participation of those entities," added Bashirov.

Bashirov also appreciated the role of the preferential trade agreement in the further expansion of trade relations.

"One of the documents signed between the two countries during the visit of Turkish President Erdogan to Azerbaijan is the preferential trade agreement. This important document plays an exceptional role in terms of further development of trade relations between our states," he said.

The preferential trade agreement is a new mechanism for cooperation with Turkey. The document, which envisions mutual exemption of a number of goods from duties, is a strategic step in for the growth of non-oil exports. After the agreement comes into force, export of a number of agricultural and other Azerbaijani products to Turkey will have great benefits.

Currently, a customs duty from 10 to 150 percent of the value is applied to the Azerbaijani goods exported to Turkey. After the agreement comes into force, Azerbaijani products will be exported to Turkey duty-free within a certain quota. This, in turn, will increase the competitiveness of Azerbaijani products on the Turkish market and increase the interest of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs in entering the Turkish market.

The preferential trade agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey will also significantly contribute to expanding the bilateral trade relations and diversifying the economy of the two countries including the area of goods and services.
Online readers of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have a lot to say, making 40,015 comments on 831 stories last week.

Politics dominated reader attention, as debate swirled around the integrity of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and readers threw their support behind New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. "PM admits he asked White House to invite Brian Houston to state dinner" by national affairs editor Rob Harris was the most commented-on story.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed he asked the White House to invite Hillsong founder Brian Houston to a state dinner in Washington last year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen, Trevor Collens

Morrison admitted on radio he had requested Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston join the dinner last year. His office had earlier dismissed as "gossip" a Wall Street Journal report the White House had vetoed the request.

Really? commented: "Why does this PM have so much trouble just being straight up with voters? No matter what it is, holidays, sports grants, make believe surpluses, river systems, environment, economy, health ... it just goes on and on." Several hundred readers agreed.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the "Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act," which designates lynching a federal hate crime,"[s]ixty-five years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi." The vote for the measure was a lopsided 410 to 4. The Senate passed its version of the bill in February, and President Trump is expected to sign the final version. Anti-lynching laws had been proposed in Congress going back over 100 years but always failed. The ever-eloquent Senator Cory Booker said the act can't undo the damage of past lynchings, but "we can ensure that we as a country make clear that lynching will not be tolerated."

Did that need clearing up? If lynching were still being tolerated, why do Democrats have to go back to the first Eisenhower administration for a victim to name their law after? Even the act's own findings stipulate that the era in which blacks were being lynched was "between 1882 and 1968." The act is an empty and unneeded reminder of a threat to blacks  horrible as it was in its time  that ended more than half a century ago.

If the threat of lynching had any currency, then the senators who introduced their version of the bill, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, wouldn't need a character like Jussie Smollett to stage his own "attempted modern-day lynching" to boost it. Nor would there be any need for the glut of staged racial hate crimes.

But Democrats are desperate to prevent any more black voters from waking up and voting for Trump, and that means incessantly raising the specter of Republicans re-instituting Jim Crow. This has been their go-to plan at least since Barack Obama's first campaign in 2008. The only problem with the plan is that Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching were all institutions born, nurtured, and protected by Democrats in the solidly Democrat South. The true history of Democrat racism has been carefully kept from those who get their facts from social media or public education. They've been lied to for decades that all the old Klan Democrats turned Republicans, and the Republican Party is now inexplicably responsible for the ugly history of Jim Crow.

It's nonsense on stilts. All those thwarted anti-lynching bills going back 100 years were thwarted by Democrats  like when Republican congressman Leonidas C. Dyer introduced a bill in 1918 "to protect citizens of the United States against lynching in default of protection by the States." It became the blueprint for subsequent anti-lynching bills promoted by the (Republican-founded) NAACP: it made lynching a capital crime and provided for heavy fines on county and law enforcement officials who disregard the law when it comes to blacks. Dyer's bill died in committee in the Democrat-controlled Congress. A later bill offered when Republicans gained a majority in Congress barely passed the House against ferocious Democrat resistance: "[a]mong the 119 who voted 'no' were four future Speakers of the House, each a southern Democrat who eventually presided over the chamber," including a hero of modern Democrats, the "iconic" Sam Rayburn. Senate Democrats killed that bill, too.

Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Karen Bass now says of the new bill that "a legislative body that once included slave owners and Ku Klux Klan members will belatedly 'stand up and do our part so that justice is delivered in the future'" (emphasis added). But it wasn't actually the "legislative body" of Congress that made a home for those slaveholders and Klansmen; it was the Democrat caucus  and the Democrat Party has yet to own up to its sorry history of racism.

Instead, Democrats are cheering one another for passing a bill that might have done something to get justice for Emmett Till, or even saved him from being murdered in the first place  if only it weren't 65 years too late.

But the really interesting thing about Congress passing the Emmett Till Act is that it came only two days after Senate Democrats thwarted a pair of bills that would have saved thousands of black lives now. They blocked one bill that would prohibit late-term abortions, saving "as many as 18,000 unborn babies from abortions each and every year." Then they blocked a second bill requiring medical professionals to care for infants born alive after botched abortions. Democrats were worried that saving babies already born would interfere with "the 'reproductive rights' and 'choices' of women." A disproportionate number of the babies doomed without these two laws will be black.

For perspective, consider the NAACP's report that there were 4,743 lynchings in the United States from 1882 to 1968, of which 3,446 of victims were black.

Mississippi had the worst record, lynching 581 people, 90% of whom were black. When Emmett Till was offered the chance to travel out of Chicago and spend the summer of 1955 in Mississippi, his mother worried because she believed that that state wasn't a safe place for blacks. She was tragically right.

It's still not safe there. Numbers published by the Centers for Disease Control show that "39,052 black babies were killed by abortions in Mississippi between 1995 and 2010."

And it's not just Mississippi. Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, more than 19,000,000 black babies have been aborted nationwide.

The website Black Dignity records that "80 percent of abortion facilities are located in minority neighborhoods. About 13 percent of American women are black, but they receive over 35 percent of the abortions."

That shouldn't be any surprise, because Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, developed The Negro Project in the 1930s to bamboozle blacks that their only hope for progress was to reduce their own population through birth control  willingly provided by Sanger and her associates. Aware that blacks might well be suspicious of this white woman's motives, she wrote to a colleague that word mustn't get out "that we want to exterminate the Negro population," urging "we should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities," because black ministers can best "straighten out the idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."

When Martin Luther King's niece, Alveda King, learned that "[a]n astonishing 60 percent of African-American pregnancies in the five boroughs of New York City end in abortion," she put up a billboard in Manhattan announcing, "The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb." That message got Negro Project minister Al Sharpton mad enough to threaten one of his trademark protests, and threats of violence from other groups infuriated by the truth convinced the billboard's owners to pull the message down.

After they censored her billboard, Alveda King wondered over people being angry about the wrong thing: "black people in New York and all over the country should be outraged at the numbers of black babies we lose every single day to abortion."

On average, there are 1,876 black babies lost every single day.

Think about this: in just the two days from Monday, when Senate Democrats obstinately linked arms to oppose even the mildest restrictions on this ongoing carnage, till Wednesday, when House Democrats congratulated one another for an anti-lynching law that won't save a single black life, more black babies were slaughtered in the United States than all the blacks who died from lynching in U.S. history.

Alveda King is right. When will blacks get outraged at how many of their babies are dying every day by abortion? When does the Congressional Black Caucus stop uniting against every effort to stop the black genocide that's happening right now in every one of their districts?

Margaret Sanger planned well for this day.

T.R. Clancy looks at the world from Dearborn, Michigan. You can email him at trclancy@yahoo.com.
A teenage girl had her hair ripped from her scalp after her braid got caught in the engine of a go-kart at a Virginia amusement park.

Matia Ruffin, 16, was left trapped in the vehicle in agony after the accident at Fun Land in Fredericksburg.

Cell phone footage shows paramedics working to free the girl from the vehicle after the incident, which left Ruffin with a large bald spot.

Matia Ruffin, 16, was left traumatized after her hair was ripped from her scalp at Fun Land in Fredericksburg

The accident left Ruffin with a large bald spot and in a lot of pain

'I was thinking I was going to die,' the Richmond resident explained to 8News. 'I thought that was my last time.'

Unique Coleman, Ruffin's mother, shared that the family had been on the new multi-level go-kart race track when she heard the frantic screaming.

'My first instinct was I got to get her out of this go-kart,' Coleman said. 'She was panicking and her legs were up in the air, um, her head was kind of leaned and tilted back.'

Unique Coleman, Ruffin's mother, shared that the family had been on the new multi-level go-kart race track when she heard the frantic screaming

Ruffin's braid was stuck for what felt like an hour, the teen shared.

'It was horrible. It was scary, horrifying, it was bad,' Ruffin said.

Coleman and Fun Land employees used two knives and wire cutters to try to cut Ruffin free but just left her in more pain before authorities arrived.

Paramedics had to take the vehicle apart and use a harness to free the teen.

Coleman and Fun Land employees used two knives and wire cutters to try to cut Ruffin free but just left her in more pain before authorities arrived. Paramedics had to take apart the vehicle and use a harness to retrieve the teen

'She had a blood clot where her scalp actually lifted from her skull,' the mother said.

The high school sophomore is beyond distraught since losing her shoulder-length hair, unable to return to school

The high school sophomore is beyond distraught since losing her shoulder-length hair, and has been unable to return to school.

'It's completely bald, there's nothing there,' she said. 'I'm self-conscious, scared to show people. I'm stuck with it for life. I have nightmares about it. I think about it all the time.'

On their website, Fun Land states that visitors with hair longer than their shoulder have to have it secured. Ruffin asserted that hers was tied but became loose because of high speed.

'The staff, I didn't feel like they were equipped to handle any emergency situation,' Coleman added.

Fun Land personnel stressed that no incident like this has happened previously and said that safety policies were in place to handle emergency situations.
We are in awe of their dedication to Bernie Sanders, their unwavering belief that he can do all that he says he can  and more. We sometimes find ourselves longing to return to the time we were that optimistic, that trusting and full of hope.
It has barely been two weeks since BTS dropped their latest album, Map of the Soul: 7, and they are once again shattering records. They've broken TikTok, shut down Grand Central Station and hit number one on the Billboard 200 making it their fourth album to do so within that span (a Beatles-breaking record). But as if that wasn't already enough, the ARMY was treated today to the surprise release of yet another brand new music video from our boys.

This time, BTS is returning to one of Map of the Soul: 7's lead singles  "Black Swan"  and it is positively breathtaking. The new clip sees the boys clad in white transforming into black swans as they dance inside an opulent theater. There are obvious comparisons to Darren Aronofsky's 2010 ballet psychodrama of the same name to be made given that they both tackle dark themes, center around dance and play with elements of surrealism (but lets be honest, Natalie Portman doesn't hold a candle to Jimin's moves). There is even a direct nod to the film in a spine-chilling mirror moment from Jin.

The video follows an art film the group released earlier this year for the same song that saw BTS tap Slovenia-based contemporary dance collective, MN Dance Company, as a part of the group's ongoing global arts initiative. Shortly after, BTS performed the single for the first time on the Late Late Show with James Corden channeling a similar spooky mystical forest vibe. "Black Swan" may have caught us a bit off guard but we certainly aren't containing.

Photo Courtesy of BTS/ Big Hit Entertainment
DISCHARGE rates from Parteen Weir were reduced this afternoon as flooding continues to impact parts of County Limerick.

The ESB announced that discharge rates dropped to 345 m3/ sec.



Meanwhile, Limerick City and County Council is warning people of the possible hidden dangerous on lands which have been underwater for more than a week but are now being to dry out.

People need to be extremely cautious in returning to these lands over the coming days, as they may still be heavily saturated. People must be very vigilant and expect the unexpected when walking on the saturated lands, said a spokesperson.

The staff of Limerick City and County Council are continuing to monitor flood defences erected over a week ago in Castleconnell, Montpelier, Annacotty and Mountshannon Road to make sure that pumps are working and sandbag defences are not breached.

Limerick City and County Council will continue to monitor flood levels along the Lower River Shannon, while volunteers from Limerick Civil Defence are also involved in the operation. Defence Force personnel are on standby if they are required.

Meanwhile the road in Castleconnell from Charcos to Worlds End and Castleconnell Boat Club remains closed as do the Red Path in Corbally and the cycleway/ walkway from Irish Estates, through to the Guinness Bridge, and onwards to UL.
TANZANIA, Tanzania - The U.N. Security Council discussed North Koreas latest ballistic missile tests Thursday and didnt issue any statement but its five European members condemned the provocative actions, saying the test undermine regional and international peace, security and stability.

Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, who called for the closed-door meeting, said in a joint statement afterward that the March 1 tests undermine regional and international peace, security and stability and violate unanimous Security Council resolutions.

The Europeans again urged North Korea to engage in good faith in meaningful negotiations with the United States aimed at denuclearization.

Since the collapse of a second summit last year between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, the North has resumed ballistic activity and weapons launches to expand its military capabilities. Kim started the new year vowing to bolster his nuclear deterrent in the face of gangster-like U.S. sanctions and pressure.

Christopher Ford, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, reiterated at a briefing Thursday that the Trump administration is ready and willing and prepared to start working-level discussions with North Korea aimed at implementing the commitments made at the first summit in Singapore as soon as possible

Kim made a vague pledge in Singapore to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the two leaders agreed to improve relations to build lasting peace. Their two subsequent summits and other lower-level meetings havent achieved much progress in fleshing out those agreements.

The five European nations called on Pyongyang to take concrete steps to abandoning all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs ... and to refrain from further provocations.

South Koreas military on Monday detected what appeared to be two short-range ballistic launches of projectiles that landed in the Norths eastern sea.

North Korea has conducted 14 sets of ballistic missile launches since May 2019.

The Europeans warned that continued provocations risk undermining the prospect for successful negotiations.

In previous years, North Korea has intensified testing activity in response to springtime military exercises between South Korea and the United States that it has described as invasion rehearsals.

But the allies announced last week that they were postponing their annual drills due to concern about the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea, with soldiers from both countries being infected.

The five European nations also urged all countries to strictly enforce sanctions against North Korea, saying its vital that the measures remain in place.

China and Russia have called for the easing of sanctions against North Korea to spur a resumption of talks between Pyongyang and Washington. But their joint resolution proposing some easing has languished in the Security Council because the U.S., its Western allies and other members want to see North Korean actions toward denuclearization before any measures are lifted.
LOS ANGELES - While Sen. Bernie Sanders mined the motherlode of delegates from California on Super Tuesday, it wasnt nearly enough and isnt getting counted fast enough to counter former Vice-President Joe Bidens huge night.

It became an issue of numbers and timing.

After years of being a late season player in presidential primary politics, California joined the Super Tuesday crowd, and its 415 delegates were the biggest haul on the biggest night.

But even though Sanders victory in California was declared quickly, it came after a series of surprising wins for Biden that dominated the earlier coverage of the primaries. And Sanders precise delegate margin in the state wont be known any time soon. California, with lots of early and mail-in voting, typically takes weeks to finish counting ballots. Experts expect millions are left to count.

The late-night Pacific wave that Sanders was supposed to surf to victory didnt quite break right. His campaign declined to comment on California specifically, but top aides said before Super Tuesday that they expected far higher delegate totals than they were on pace to actually earn after voting concluded.

Of course Im disappointed. I would like to win every state by a landslide. Its not going to happen, Sanders said Wednesday.

With almost two-thirds of Californias delegates allocated by The Associated Press, Sanders won about 60 more delegates in California than Biden. However, Biden won about 130 more than Sanders in the other 13 states and both got blanked in American Samoa.

I do think Biden will come out with more delegates out of Super Tuesday, said Louisiana State University political scientist Joshua Darr. He said late counted votes in California will help Sanders narrow Bidens win, but its going to take a seismic shift then for Sanders to catch him.

Ace Smith, a top California political consultant who had worked on Kamala Harris campaign, said its looking pretty darn good for Biden in California, even as Sanders is likely to walk away with more delegates.

Last week, it looked as if Sanders would dominate the field with several other candidates cracking the 15% threshold needed to win delegates. But Bidens dominance has closed that gap, Smith said.

A week ago it looked like he was going to come out with just a mountain of delegates, a Santa Claus sack full from California, but its just not going to happen, he said. Biden got on a crazy roll with what happened across the country.

But its not just mere numbers. Its timing.

Californias secretary of state wont announce until Thursday how many ballots are left to be counted, after the state collects data from all 58 counties. And counties dont have to report their final results until April 3, a full month after the primary.

Paul Mitchell, who runs the nonpartisan Political Data Inc., which collects and analyzes voter data, guessed as many as 4 million to 5 million ballots have yet to be counted, though they will not all be those of Democratic primary voters. Roughly 80% of Californias registered voters received mail-in ballots, and those can be counted as long as they are postmarked by election day and received by Friday.

Some counties have only recorded about half the ballots they already have in hand or expect to get, he said. As of Wednesday afternoon, the secretary of states office reported about 5.3 million ballots had been cast.

In 2018, nearly 44% of Californias vote was not counted on election night.

Outside of California, people have this expectation that election night means election night, Darr said.

But not having full results for days after the election is normal for California. Its not normal for Super Tuesday observers, Darr said. It does delay things.

But which way?

The ballots California counts first are those that are mailed in early. Sanders and Biden could both benefit as more votes come in, Mitchell said. Voters that cast ballots on or near election day tend to be younger and more progressive, which could benefit Sanders. But Biden may also get a boost among the late deciders swayed by the events of the last several days, as he did in other states on Super Tuesday.

AP VoteCast found that late-deciders in California broke more for Biden than Sanders.

Darr said the momentum shift was obvious and may favour Biden in those late-counting votes, or at least counter Sanders late youth vote.

__

Borenstein reported from Washington. Will Weissert contributed from Washington.
OPEC is hoping to slash the supply of crude oil to world markets by 1.5 million barrels per day in an attempt to prop up prices as it confronts the biggest collapse in demand on record.

The cartel unveiled a plan Thursday to reduce output among its 13 members by 1 million barrels per day, and said it would seek an additional 500,000 barrels per day in cuts from longstanding allies including Russia.

Russia, the cartel's main partner, still needs to sign on, according to Iran's oil minister. OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet Friday in Vienna.

The new cuts would run through the second quarter of 2020. Existing cuts of 2.1 million barrels per day by OPEC and Russia would be extended through the end of the year under the plan.

OPEC has faced immense pressure to act since oil prices fell into a bear market last month as the coronavirus outbreak destroyed demand for fuel, initially in China.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, rose slightly on the news to $51.21 per barrel but are still trading more than 25% below their recent high in January. US oil is trading at $47.07, also more than 25% below its recent peak.

Research firm IHS Markit predicted Wednesday that oil demand will suffer its steepest decline on record in the first quarter  worse even than during the 2008 global financial crisis  as schools and offices close, airlines cancel flights and a growing number of people hunker down at home.

Most of the reduction in demand can be traced to China, where the coronavirus has caused what IHS Markit describes as an "unprecedented stoppage" of economic activity.

Goldman Sachs told clients this week that OPEC needed to agree to curb production by at least 1 million barrels per day in order to avoid a "sharp" sell-off.

The investment bank now believes that oil demand will shrink in 2020. Before the coronavirus outbreak, it expected demand to increase by 1.1 million barrels per day.

 John Defterios and Cristiana Moisescu contributed reporting.
Smart Paddock Ear Tag

eSAT Global, Inc. (eSAT) a developer of low cost, real-time satellite IoT connectivity solutions today announces its partnership with Smart Paddock, creator of the Bluebell multisensory livestock tag. Together they will seek to provide over $9 billion in benefits to the Meat and Livestock industry.

The initial phase of the project will result in large scale field trials of eSATs miniaturized, direct-to-GEO-satellite communication modules integrated with the Bluebell Tags. These trials represent a new stage of the development for the Bluebell Tags, they are expected to be begin by Q4 of 2020 and lead to global availability in 2021.

Mandated traceability of Cattle in Australia is about to move into the next phase. Passive identification will be usurped by real-time tracking, health reporting, theft protection, enhanced biosecurity and identification. Livestock will now be able to be traced on and off the farm and live exports will be able to be monitored all the way to their final destination. eSat and Smart Paddock are targeting extended device & battery life to meet the demanding requirements of Australias biosecurity regime.

Smart Paddock CEO Darren Wolchyn, said, we have been searching for a satellite connectivity solution which would facilitate the fastest possible adoption by farmers, no need to build and pay for infrastructure and a product which will work anywhere in the world. We expect that not only will eSAT deliver anywhere connectivity with the form factor we require but at a price which will make it easy for farmers to justify their investment.

Rick Somerton, eSATs Regional Director commented There are enormous benefits to Australian and International farmers and ranchers from the delivery of 24*7 connect smart tags. and he further commented Smart Paddock is a pioneer in the development of smart tags and in the delivery of information to users and we are pleased to be working with them to help Australian Farmers realise the benefits to their industry.

In 2018 Meat and Livestock Australia estimated that the benefits of smart tags could be over $9 billion to the industry. This is over and beyond the bio security benefits of being able to trace and track every animal. Smart Paddock and eSAT believe that similar benefits will be available to many of the worlds 3 billion sheep and cows.

About Smart Paddock

Smart Paddock is an Australian-based company developing smart tags for the livestock industry that provide real-time information to producers about the health status, behaviour, and accurate geo-location of all animals in their herd utilizing IoT data straight from the paddock.

To gather the data, Smart Paddock has created the Bluebell tag which attaches securely onto each animal and monitors the temperature, mobility, and geo-location, which the producer can easily access from a web dashboard or mobile phone application.

For more information, visit http://www.smartpaddock.com

About eSAT Global

eSAT Globals mission is to bring disruptive direct-to-satellite connectivity to low cost IoT devices. eSAT is led by satellite industry veterans with a track record of bringing successful multi-billion-dollar communications products and services to market.

The direct-to-satellite connectivity solution is built around eSATs patented architecture using existing and highly reliable GEO MSS satellite platforms. Designed from the ground up for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, the eSAT solution requires no terrestrial infrastructure or back-haul, while providing global coverage. IoT devices equipped with eSAT communications modules directly communicate with GEO MSS satellites at a transmit power level comparable to that of a car key fob, enabling years of operation on a single battery. eSAT technology enables the lowest cost for multiple modes of operation such as sensing, tracking, alarm reporting and command and control. Latency below two seconds is supported for time-sensitive applications. This unique combination of low cost, low latency, and global coverage is not matched by any other existing or proposed IoT connectivity solution, including the many proposed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems.

For more information, visit http://www.esatglobal.com

For further information contact:

Rick Somerton

Rick.somerton@esatglobal.com

+61411758973
Unions are calling for emergency measures to protect the sick leave and holiday leave of workers forced to stay home for coronavirus.

Victorian Trades Hall Council, which co-ordinates 40 unions, has called for special quarantine leave as transmission of the deadly virus begins in Australia.

Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary Luke Hilakari said the situation was unique.

Scroll down for video

Unions have called on the government to protect workers who might lose all their sick leave if sick or quarantined for coronavirus or who have to care for others over extended periods

'We're calling for a special leave provision to make sure that if a worker is asked to go into self-isolation they will still be paid so that they can make ends meet,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

'We want to make sure that they don't exhaust their sick leave for the year.

'Employees shouldn't be forced to use up annual leave, or other leave, as that was designed for rest and recreation.'

Mr Hilakari also called for the government's assistance package next week to include financial support for casual workers who have no sick leave but lose shifts because of coronavirus - or worse, try to work while sick.

Observations of the new Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus so far show about 80 per cent of people infected will experience only mild symptoms or none at all.

But about 14 per cent suffer a severe illness which can include viral pneumonia while a further 5 per cent will go into critical condition needing intensive care in a hospital, according to World Health Organisation figures.

Viral pneumonia patients can experience hospital stays of more than 10 days with additional time off at home to recuperate.

If a worker gets a severe case of coronavirus - or has to take care of a sick family member at home - they risk using up all their sick and carers' leave to be left without money to pay their bills and mortgages.

As of Thursday morning Australia had 52 coronavirus cases and 2 deaths. About 20 per cent of those infected will suffer serious illness, according to World Health Organisation figures

Some workers may also be forced to stay home by quarantine measures imposed by either governments or their bosses.

Slater and Gordon principal lawyer Carita Kazakoff said if an employer asks a worker to stay home for quarantine, but they not sick and willing to work, then they are entitled to be paid.

'An alternative for some workers may be to negotiate flexible working from home arrangements  but of course this wont be possible for many workers such as labourers, health care workers, tradies or factory workers who need to be physically present at the workplace to actually perform work,' she said.

'We encourage workers and contractors to talk to each other and talk to their unions and employers to plan collectively for any mass health crisis and ensure that workers are not unfairly carrying the burden of these unusual circumstances.'

Canstar finance expert Effie Zahos said the one-off disaster was taking Australia into uncharted waters.

'There are grey areas such as if you are sick overseas and required to be quarantined, who picks up the bill?,' she said.

There are no rules around when workers are forced into quarantine, so Ms Zahos urged anyone affected to talk to their employer about it.

'It comes down to employees and employers making an arrangement,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

Ms Zahos said a lot of employers were sympathetic to the situation, however many small businesses would struggle at a time when the economy is slowing down.

'How do you afford to pay where your own income is falling,' she said.

For those concerned about paying their mortgage over an extended unpaid period, Ms Zahos said financial hardship laws would offer protection.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'If it gets to the next level of financial hardship, you have protection as a consumer,' she said.

'Talk to your lender to rearrange your homeloan.'

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers principal Daniel Victory said some workers would be covered by income protection insurance through their superannuation, workplace or elsewhere, that can help them with their mortgage repayments.

'If you have had to stop work because of an illness or injury, workplace lawyers can help you to investigate whether you are covered by an income protection policy.' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'An employee who runs out of sick leave can apply to use their annual leave or long service leave in order to continue getting paid.'

Full time and part time workers accrue 10 days per year of sick and carer's leave for each year of employment, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman's website.

Workers cannot be sacked for being home sick after paid sick leave runs out, but will lose this protection if they are absent longer than three consecutive months - or more than three months total in any 12-month period, the website says.

Casual workers have no sick leave which may encourage them to try to work when they don't feel well, potentially spreading the virus.

As of 2016 there were just under 2.5 million casual employees, making up 25 percent of the workforce, according to figures from a 2018 federal parliament research paper, leaving millions of Australians financially exposed.

Ms Zahos said that number had now risen to 3.3 million casual workers and warned that not paying these workers would have an impact on Australia's already slowing economy.

'I think the Government will hopefully get this through the stimulus package to hopefully address that,' she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that the government was putting together a stimulus package to help businesses stay running through the coronavirus pandemic.

'What we are focusing on is jobs, cash flow and investment,' he said.

'It's important that on the other side of this virus ... we want to put our businesses in the best possible position to bounce back.'
Most of the citys resident welfare associations (RWAs) and cultural bodies will not celebrate Holi or tone down celebrations in step with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in a Wednesday tweet said hed give the festival of colours a miss following the coronavirus outbreak.

Among those affected by the move could be shopkeepers selling colours and squirt guns, who say this has been the worst year for sales.

No cancellations, however, have been announced by the Chandigarh Club and the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO).

On sales being hit, shopkeepers say no one is buying colours or water guns. The Chandigarh Beopar Mandal will hold a meeting on Friday in which president Anil Vohra is likely to appeal to all members not to sell Holi colours or water guns from China, sources said.

Festivities will be low key at the citys top Holi destinations, the Post-Graduate Government College in Sector 46, hosted annually by the Purvanchal Welfare Association (PWA). Colours will not be used, organisers claimed, even as they claimed that VIP guests will include member of Parliament Kirron Kher, Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, mayor Raj Bala Malik, UT adviser Manoj Parida and Panjab University vice-chancellor Raj Kumar, among others.

A small function will be held because our yearly magazine will be launched. However, we will not play Holi during the function. Further precautions will be taken to ensure the safety of the guests, said PWA secretary Prabhu Nath Shahi.

Among RWAs, both the Chandigarh Residents Associations Welfare Federation (CRAWFED) and the Federation Of Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC) have issued advisories to their members to cancel celebrations. NGO Joshi Foundation, too, has called off its Holi bash. From a rain dance party we had thought of downgrading festivities to a dry colour event, but that too will lead to contact, so we will not hold any celebrations, said foundation chairman Vineet Joshi.

Hitesh Puri, who is on the board of directors at Chandigarh Club, said they will wait for a couple of days for government advisories before taking a call. CITCO will go ahead with celebrations at Hotel Mountview in Sector 10, with officials saying the organisers will take precautions and provide sanitisers

to guests.
Mr. Winans did not provide a figure for how much it cost to offer Code Blue shelter. Asked if finances were a factor in the decision to end that program, he said: We are always adjusting our plan according to our resources.

He added that the staff had discretion to provide overnight shelter on an ad hoc basis to individuals who could not safely be outside. They had done so this winter, he said, but the mission did not keep track of how many times that had occurred.

The Bowery Mission has long been a presence on the downtown street with which it shares a name, even as the neighborhood has moved beyond its old reputation as a notorious skid row.

Time and gentrification have erased much of that grit. The flophouses and nickel-a-drink saloons have given way to nightclubs and luxury condos. But some of the old Bowery remains.

A grim reminder of that reality came last October when four homeless men were murdered while sleeping on sidewalks in Chinatown, not far from the mission.

The Code Blue policy change at the mission, coming against the backdrop of gentrification, has prompted questions about how the mission sees its role at a time when a record number of people in New York City are homeless.

The Bowery facility  the organization has seven locations in the city  provides free meals three times a day, free medical services three times a week and access to showers for nonresidents twice a week.
India's already slowing economy may just have been dealt the coronavirus blow.

The number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 30, which includes 16 Italian tourists. One case, in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, was confirmed on March 5.

The growing numbers have raised the spectre of the flu-like illness, which has spread to over 80 countries, infecting over 95,300 people worldwide and leaving more than 3,200 dead.

Track this blog for live updates on coronavirus

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

While many anxiously await test results, the virus has hit the Indian economy as it struggles to come out of one of its worst slumps. Its gross domestic product (GDP) at 4.7 percent in the December quarter of 2019-20 was the lowest in more than six years.

The China connection

Disruptions in China, from where the outbreak began, have implications for India's industry as well as trade. From the humble paracetamol to the top-of-the-line BS-VI vehicle, everything has a China connection.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on March 3 lowered Indias growth forecast for 2020-21 by 110 basis points (bps) to 5.1 percent on coronavirus concerns.

What is more worrying is the bit about the epidemic hurting business confidence, financial markets, disrupting supply chains and the travel sector.

Supply chain disruptions spell trouble for manufacturing, pharma and several other sectors.

Manufacturing could come under pressure from weak domestic demand and supply disruptions due to the coronavirus, Fitch Solutions has said, cutting India's growth forecast to 4.9 percent for the current fiscal.

The virus could wipe out $348 million from Indias annual trade - a total of exports and imports for merchandise and services - that stands at $852.68 billion. The country is among the 15 worst-hit economies as a slowdown in Chinas manufacturing hampers world trade, a UN report has said.

India, though, is better off than the EU, the US, Japan and South Korea.

Bitter pill

The chemicals sector will take the biggest knock, of $129 million, according to estimates published by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Textiles and apparel sector stands to lose $64 million, automotive $34 million, electrical machinery $12 million, leather products $13 million, metals and metal products $27 million and wood products and furniture sector will lose around $15 million, it said.

India's pharmaceutical sector is heavily dependent on China, which accounts for 80 percent of raw material, or Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), for manufacturing drugs.

The outbreak has constrained supplies and caused logistical delays that have almost doubled the costs of APIs like paracetamol, a common pain reliever required for Crocin.

Not just prices, pharmaceutical companies are also reeling under the pressures of declining API stock.

Perhaps that is the reason the government has restricted the exports of 13 APIs, including paracetamol, vitamins and antibiotics, and formulations made from them.

Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, is not just an API hub, but also hosts auto part manufacturers such as Robert Bosch GmbH, Valeo AS and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

The shutdown of these factories, some of which have since begun work as the outbreak slows down in China, came right after the Lunar New Year holiday, leading to a delay in the production and delivery of vehicles in India.

The BSIV-compliant models were especially hit, as these vehicles can only be produced and sold until the end of March. The outbreak could have a bearing on India's transition to cleaner BS-VI vehicles from April 1.

Indias vehicle production will contract by 8.3 percent in 2020, as the auto industry faces a growing risk of a shortage of parts due to Chinas coronavirus outbreak, possibly hitting domestic output if the virus spreads in the country, Fitch has said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had assured necessary steps to ease supply constraints if the coronavirus threat does not ease in two months.

To contain the outbreak, travel restrictions have been imposed across the world, including India, hitting the tourism industry. India has cancelled all visas and e-visas granted to people of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan.

Business travel has also been hit, as companies ask staff to stay away from virus-hit countries. Some firms are even encouraging staff to work from home in case they show symptoms of the virus that causes respiratory distress.

Airlines are cutting flights as a precaution and also as demand falls. Vistara cancelled 20 Delhi-Bangkok and eight Delhi-Singapore flights in March. It will also cancel 26 Mumbai-Singapore flights.

IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India have stopped flights to China and Hong Kong and planning to do the same for Saudi Arabia.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 17:26:50|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday released 20,000 tonnes of pork from its central reserves in a bid to increase supply and stabilize market expectations, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

To ensure market supply, a total of 55,000 tonnes of frozen pork has been released after the Lunar New Year holiday, said Wang Bin, an official with the ministry.

From Feb. 24 to March 1, the average pork price tracked by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs came in at 48.39 yuan (about 6.97 U.S. dollars) per kg, down 2.7 percent week on week.

The MOC said more frozen pork reserves would be put onto the market in the future.
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(Natural News) World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave a media briefing the other day to address the current state of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) crisis, at least from the WHOs perspective. And in his remarks, Dr. Ghebreyesus mentioned that much of the pandemic protective gear that officials here in the United States say is unnecessary for Americans to buy is starting to run low in many parts of the world.

With nearly 100,000 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) now being reported across the globe, many people here in the U.S. are beginning to recognize the need to get prepared with things like medical face masks, gloves, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons. But they could have a difficult time finding many of these items since much of the rest of the world has already bought out available supplies.

It appears as though President Trump is more concerned with people buying stocks than with buying emergency supplies, which is setting up large swaths of our country to be sitting ducks when the supply lines run completely dry. Were not there yet, of course, but that time could come very soon.

According to Dr. Ghebreyesus, the WHO is very concerned about countries at large lacking the supplies they need even for emergency medical services. Severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment, which is actually being exacerbated by people buying up all of the hand sanitizer and toilet paper at places like Costco, threatens to leave doctors, nurses, and other frontline healthcare workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for CoVid-19 patients, he warns.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, gives his own emergency Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) pandemic update:

Prices for emergency supplies are skyrocketing, WHO warns

Because of rising demand, hoarding, and even misuse of emergency medical equipment, prices for these items are skyrocketing. Surgical masks, for instance, have increased in price by six-fold, while N-95 respirators have more than tripled in price. Emergency gowns have also reportedly doubled due to the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) crisis.

Theres also the problem of actually getting these items once youve paid for them, seeing as how global supply chains are collapsing. Market manipulation is also widespread, Dr. Ghebreyesus warns, and stocks are often sold to the highest bidder, meaning whoever can pay the most gets the products.

The WHO has already shipped about half a million sets of personal protective equipment to some 47 different countries, but its supplies are decreasing. In order to maintain an effective response to the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), however, there will have to be continued production at levels that, unfortunately, may not be possible.

According to the WHOs estimates, at least 89 million new medical masks will need to be made every single month, along with 76 million examination gloves and 1.6 million goggles, in order to keep up with the pandemic. The WHO has also issued its own guidelines as to how to ration the use of these items in order to ensure that enough of them are available for everybody who needs them.

Were also working with governments, manufacturers and the Pandemic Supply Chain Network to boost production and secure supplies for critically affected and at-risk countries, Dr. Ghebreyesus added. Globally, it is estimated that PPE supplies need to be increased by 40 percent.

We continue to call on manufacturers to urgently increase production to meet this demand and guarantee supplies, he added, noting that the WHO cannot meet these goals alone and needs cooperation among all relevant parties.

For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

WHO.int

NaturalNews.com
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, has raised eyebrows by appearing on the floor of the House wearing a full gas mask, in a stunt which led him to be accused of mocking the victims of coronavirus.

Gaetz, a strong ally of President Donald Trump, was spotted on Wednesday wearing the gas mask ahead of the vote on an emergency spending bill to fight coronavirus.

'Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote,' Gaetz tweeted ahead of the vote.

The bill for $8.3 billion bill to combat the spread of the new coronavirus overwhelmingly passed the House and is scheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday.

Gaetz, a strong ally of President Donald Trump, was spotted on Wednesday wearing the gas mask ahead of the vote on an emergency spending bill to fight coronavirus.

Gaetz, explaining his bizarre accessory, compared the House chamber to a 'petri dish' for incubating germs.

'We all fly in these dirty airports, we touch and selfie everyone we meet and then we congregate together,' the Florida congressman said.

Among those who asked him to take the mask off were Ruben Gallego, a combat veteran and Arizona Democrat.

The House sergeant-at-arms asked Gaetz to remove his gas mask in the chamber, citing rules against headgear.

Gaetz initially protested as he walked off the House floor. 'There are provisions in the House rules that permit medically necessary headgear,' Gaetz said.

Gaetz later acknowledged in a statement to The Hill that 'House rules do not explicitly allow medical headgear even at this time of heightened concern,' adding, 'This is a rule that should be revisited.'

But other lawmakers slammed Gaetz - a longtime provocateur

Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat, told MSNBC he was mocking those who had died.

'It just shows extraordinary insensitivity to people who have lost loved ones and who are now scared about what's going on,' he said./

Reflecting the urgency among lawmakers to address the growing coronavirus crisis, the House voted 415-2 to approve the bill devoting $8.3 billion to fight coronavirus, just hours after negotiators unveiled its contents.

Gaetz is a key Trump ally in the House, and apparently intended to highlight the urgency of the coronavirus crisis with his gas mask stunt

Under the bill, over $3 billion would be devoted to research and development of coronavirus vaccines, test kits and therapeutics. No vaccines or treatments for the virus are currently in place, but patients can receive supportive care.

Gaetz said that while the United States was gearing up in the production of virus test kits, 'we're not where we want to be. The vice president made that very clear that we've got to get more test assets in place.'

In a bid to also help control the spread of the virus outside the United States, $1.25 billion would be available for international efforts.

The fast-spreading virus that emerged late last year in central China is now in some 80 countries. It has killed more than 3,000 worldwide and rattled financial markets.

State and local governments would receive $950 million to support their work in combating the respiratory disease.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, a Republican, called the bill 'an aggressive and comprehensive response' to the crisis.

Included is more than $300 million to help cover costs of any vaccine for those who cannot afford it. The Department of Health and Human Services would be authorized to ensure vaccines' affordability in the commercial market.

Republicans cited a $7.8 billion cost for the bill, instead of $8.3 billion. That does not include $500 million authorized for a 'telehealth' program for senior citizens.

Other provisions in the bill:
The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has said that about 223 children, including 10 girls, have been released from the Nigerian Army administrative custody and Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison after being cleared of suspected ties with armed groups.

The children were released to the Borno State Commissioner of Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo UNICEF and Borno state authorities in Maiduguri, North-east Nigeria on Tuesday night.

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Borno state Communication Officer UNICEF, Samuel Kaalu, said the children will immediately be enrolled in a reintegration programme to enable them to re-engage with their families.

Mr Kaalu said some of the children are reported to have been missing for up to four and five years, with many presumed dead by their families.

UNICEF Country Representative, Peter Hawkins, described the release of the children as a huge step forward towards ensuring the well-being of children in conflict areas.

These children deserve to have a normal childhood  and now require our full care and support to re-enter the lives that were so brutally interrupted by this devastating conflict, Samuel said.
The province has axed an additional $1 million in funding for the provinces 42 rape crisis centres, which are now warning that supports for survivors will have to be cut while wait lists for services will grow.

The news is particularly galling, arriving just before International Womens Day on Sunday, said Nicole Pietsch of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres.

The funding change isnt a reflection of where we are societally nor does it acknowledge the prevalence of sexual assault, Pietsch told the Star.

The coalition receives this information with concern and much frustration, she said.

It is our position that no survivor of violence should ever face a wait for services, including face-to-face counselling.

Centres across the province will now have to let staff go, and end drop-in or after-hour programs for survivors, Pietsch added.

Last years $1-million funding announcement by the Ford government was far less than the $14 million over three years the centres had been promised by the previous Liberal government, following decades of underfunding and amid increasing demand for services in the #MeToo and #TimesUp era.

As our work continues to find ways of directing more resources and tools to the front-lines of victims supports across the Ontario government, we will be maintaining the same funding guarantee in 2020-21, a spokesperson for Attorney General Doug Downey said.

Last year, the province announced the one-time funding increase of $1 million (that) was added to annual funding of $14.8 million to support sexual assault centres, said Jenessa Crognali, who accused the Liberals of promising a spending hike before the last election that was actually unfunded.

Victim service organizations across Ontario do important and valuable work in their communities. Our government will continue to engage with these important partners make it easier for victims of crime and their families to get the help they need when and where they need it, Crognali said.

New Democrat MPP Jill Andrew, her partys womens issues critic, urged the government to reinstate the money, calling it a cruel cut to funding that helps rape crisis centres support survivors with services like free counselling when we know the need is only growing.

Andrew, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, said the Liberals waited until they were on the cusp of an election to react to #MeToo and the surge in survivors seeking support, and now Doug Fords Conservatives are taking things from bad to worse for survivors of rape and sexual violence.

Survivors, she said, deserve better than to be left on their own, waiting month after agonizing month to access supports following unthinkable trauma.

Jacqueline Benn John, executive director of the Womens Support Network of York Region, said its additional money was used to expand counselling services  including a new, walk-in counselling program  as well as open up centres in the evening.

Now, she said, we will not have the resources in order to meet the demand of survivors.

News of the funding cancellation came hours after the provinces financial watchdog reported that the government had underspent by $2 billion in the first three quarters of this fiscal year.

Ontarios sexual assault centres receive more than 50,000 crisis calls a year, and help more than 17,000 survivors and run thousands of events for families and community groups.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: One-year-old Ahan Dev, diagnosed with liver cancer, had only a slim chance for survival: a liver transplant. 330 strangers, who pitched in through online crowdfunding and many others who contributed through funds, have been the toddler's guardian angels. Thanks to them, today Ahan is a healthy and happy baby.

Rajesh E V, Ahan's father, tears up in relief and gratitude. "I was struggling to put together funds my child's treatment, till help came from all quarters from total strangers," he says.

Rajesh and Remya were worried throughout after their son was born in September 2018.

"He used to vomit a lot after birth and gasped for breath at times. At that time, doctors told us that it was usual, in case the baby ingests fluids from the womb. We were told that these symptoms could continue for up to a year. After medicines were given for the ailment, to our relief, the vomiting and breathlessness subsided," said Rajesh.

But little Ahan's travails had only begun. When he was barely seven months old, a swelling developed in his stomach, which was diagnosed as life-threatening. "He started having loose motions and was in great pain. We were totally scared and we took him to a private hospital at Mangalore for treatment," said Rajesh.

A series of tests later, the hard reality struck the shattered family - their eight-month-old baby was suffering from liver cancer. "For six months we were treating our son at the Regional Cancer Center (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram and later he was referred for surgery. All the experts said that it would be difficult to save the baby," said Rajesh.

A liver transplant surgery was the only way to help him survive and Rajesh struggled for funds to continue providing for the chemotherapy his son required. In five months, five lakhs was raised. Then followed dozens of painful chemotherapy sessions, but Ahan's condition saw no improvement.

In March last year, Rajesh had to quit his job and he has been raising funds for the baby's treatment ever since. Though it took over Rs 20 lakh for his treatment, Rajesh is hopeful that he can clear the dues after finding a job in Kochi, where the family is presently residing.

"We were referred to a private hospital in Kochi and it was the hospital that suggested crowdfunding as an option. It was in January this year the surgery took place. Thanks to all the kind souls who helped us, we were able to put together funds for our baby's surgery," said Remya. A sum of Rs 4.8 lakh was raised by the Milaap fundraiser. "It is purely by God's grace that we got our baby back all smiling and cheerful," said Rajesh.
Los Angeles: The United States' two biggest cities reported 10 more coronavirus cases on Wednesday, as lawmakers in Congress reached a deal to provide more than USD 8 billion to fight the outbreak. Los Angeles County officials declared an emergency as six new cases were reported in the West Coast metropolis, while New York reported four more patients -- all close contacts of a man who tested positive.

Nine people have died of the COVID-19 illness in the US and more than 130 have so far been infected, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states.

A congressional aide told AFP that Republicans and Democrats had reached a deal to fund the response to the tune of USD 8.3 billion -- with the House expected to vote today and the Senate tomorrow.

President Donald Trump had initially sought a much lower amount of USD 2.5 billion but later said he was happy to accept more money.

All of the newly infected individuals in LA were exposed to COVID-19 through close contact, health officials said.

Dr Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said three of the cases concerned travellers who had gone together to northern Italy -- a virus hotspot with more than 100 deaths.

Two other cases involved individuals who had come in contact with a family member who had the virus and the last concerned someone whose job exposed them to travellers.

"There's one person that is hospitalized, and all of our other five new cases are being isolated at home and closely monitored by the public health department," Ferrer said.

Officials said the emergency declaration was not aimed at spreading panic but rather at ensuring the county was well-prepared to prevent the spread of the virus. "The step we're taking today is about preparation, not panic," said Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Officials said they expected the number of infections to rise in coming days and urged families to brace for possible school closures and the cancellation of public events.

There have now been seven people infected in LA County. Statewide, about 50 people are known to be infected, the most of any state.

All nine US deaths have been reported in the state of Washington so far, the majority of them involving residents of a nursing home.

In New York, state officials reported on Wednesday that the family members and neighbour of a man who had the virus had also tested positive.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said the wife and two children of the man were now infected, as is a neighbor who had driven the man to hospital, taking the number of cases in the state to six.
WENATCHEE  Test results Wednesday night returned the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in Wenatchee, located in eastern Washington state.

Thirty-one new cases of coronavirus were identified in Washington state on Thursday. The newly identified cases bring Washingtons count of people who tested positive for coronavirus to 70.

The Wenatchee-area patient, a Quincy resident in their 80s, is isolated in critical condition at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, according to a Thursday press release from the Grant County Health District.

The patient didn't report any recent travel outside of the country, "indicating the illness may have been acquired locally," according to the press release. The specific source is still under investigation.

A sample from the patient was submitted to the University of Washington Monday and came back positive Wednesday evening, Confluence Health CEO Peter Rutherford said Wednesday. The results will now go to the state testing lab to be confirmed.

If confirmed, this would be the first case of COVID-19 in Eastern Washington, according to the release.

Confluence Health submitted samples from an additional two people for testing on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday, Rutherford said. Results from those four people are pending. They havent been admitted to Confluence facilities and are at home under self-isolation.

A test from a separate patient at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake came back negative and quarantines for people exposed to that patient have been lifted, according the Grant County Health District release.

The presumptive positive patient in Wenatchee was first admitted to the hospital Saturday, but at the time the person did not meet the states requirements for testing, Rutherford said.

After the state loosened testing requirements on travel history Monday, the patient met the criteria for COVID-19 testing and a sample was sent later that day, Rutherford said.

Between Saturday and Monday the patient was in the hospital but not under isolation, Rutherford said.

Confluence Health is working to identify and monitor for symptoms people, including hospital staff members, who may have come into contact with the patient during that time period, he said.

Rutherford said the organization will continue to adapt their policies based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health.

Theyre doing the best they can to give guidance and were doing the best we can to implement it, he said. ... Were confident that the processes weve instituted are adequate to keep staff and community safe.

A patient in Leavenworth and a patient in Grant County are also being tested for the illness.
New Delhi, March 5 : The Supreme Court on Thursday refused permission to senior advocate Colin Gonsalves to intervene in Harsh Mander matter. Gonsalves said he was counsel for Mander in the Delhi High Court and he wanted to put some facts on record connected with his alleged hate speech.

Gonsalves, who is representing riot victims in the court, mentioned the matter on Thursday in the top court.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde asked Gonsalves to stay away from the matter, as he was not Mander's lawyer in the Supreme Court, and the court had already asked explanation from his counsel on the alleged speech making objectionable remarks against the top court. The Chief Justice said, "We will not allow you to intervene." Gonsalves insisted he had seen the video of the alleged speech by Mander. The Chief Justice said the court had asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to put the video of alleged hate speech by Mander on record, and told Gonsalves he is not required on the matter.

Gonsalves insisted he had appeared for Mander before the High Court on the Delhi violence matter. The court said that he can appear from here in this court.

The Delhi Police had on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Mander for alleged "derogatory remarks" against the apex court and its judges. The top court is scheduled to hear the matter on Friday.
In this Feb. 25, 2020 file photo, a Beijing resident wearing a mask walks her dogs in Beijing. Pet cats and dogs cannot pass the coronavirus to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. That's the conclusion of Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department after a dog in quarantine tested weak positive for the virus. (AP)

Bengaluru: A veterinarian here has debunked the notion, being spread by a social media campaign, that the coronavirus (COVID-19) can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Dr Srikrishna Isloor, associate professor of microbiology at the Veterinary College, Bengaluru, said there is no chance of COVID-19 spreading from consumption of any form of meat including chicken.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr Isloor said, "I agree that the COVID-19 virus is found in pet animals like cats and dogs. But veterinary science has already developed a vaccine for this long ago for this. There is no chance of COVID-19 spreading through animals."

According him, this mistaken notion started with one small video clip released on social media when the COVID-19 outbreak in China started appearing in the newspapers.

"This is mischief by some people on social media. The national veterinary services in Hong Kong has reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health -- which is on par with the World Health Organisation -- that a man who tested COVID-19 positive was not infected through his pet dog. The tests were conducted on a real-time basis. The dog owner was found to be infected with COVID-19 but the dog wasn't," he explained.

According to him, the spread of COVID-19 has been through human-human contact not animal-human.

The Karnataka Veterinary Council, Pet Practitioners Association of Karnataka and Bengaluru Silicon Valley Kennel Club have strongly appealed all pet owners not to abandon their pets fearing the spread of coronavirus.

"Veterinary science has developed a vaccine for this disease in pets long ago. People can get their pets vaccinated if they want to instead of abandoning them. Do not add more panic by abandoning pets," the members of these organisations jointly appealed through their statement.
Not long after you sent your Elf on the Shelf packing for the North Pole, the elves whimsical faces are returning for St. Patricks Day.

Downtown Bethlehem businesses are hiding eight Irish-clad elves on store and restaurant shelves in a new contest. The Irish Elves on the Shelves contest with The Downtown Bethlehem Association is running from Sunday until March 14.

Patrons need to spot six of the eight elves hiding at shops and restaurants dotting Main and Broad streets. Take photos of each elf and then email the shots with your name and telephone number to irishelf@getdowntownbethlehem.com. One winner will be chosen March 16 from the pool. The winner will receive a one-night stay at Hyatt Place Bethlehem, dinner at McCarthys Red Stag Pub & Whiskey Bar in Bethlehem and a gift certificate to Donegal Square in Bethlehem.

Participants also can find clues on the Downtown Bethlehem Facebook page.

The Downtown Bethlehem Association is a council of The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and serves to revitalize, rehabilitate, promote and advance downtown business areas within the city. Its comprised of business owners and organizes more than 100 annual events to drive more foot traffic into Bethlehems Historic and Southside shopping districts.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Entry forms are now available for all three events at the 2020 Chattanooga Motorcar Festival, set for Oct. 16-18, in downtown Chattanooga.

For the second straight year, the festival will feature the High Jinks Rallye Experience the Landscape, the Time Trials Between the Bridges, and the Concours d'Elegance Rendezvous of the Greats, focusing on vehicles of all types and presentations that engage, excite and entertain the entire family.

10. The entry forms can be found at The festival encourages those who participated in the inaugural 2019 event and all new entrants to send in their entry forms by the deadline of Sept.10. The entry forms can be found at www.chattanoogamotorcar. com/entry-applications . Entrants will be contacted directly upon approval or denial or, if necessary, added to the waiting list.

Presented by DeFoor Brothers and hosted by Fifty Plus Racing Foundation, Inc., the 2020 festival includes a full three days of activities in West Village, the Tennessee Riverfront and the Westin Hotel Chattanooga. The Time Trials and the High Jinks Rallye will be conducted on both Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18, while the Concours d'Elegance is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 18.



Additional Friday and other weekend events will be announced at a later date.



The beneficiary of the Festival's proceeds will again be Chattanooga's Erlanger Neuroscience Institute, the region's only certified academic Neuroscience Center, which focuses on a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach that enhances quality of care for patients and family.



"We are thrilled to be able to offer a full weekend of family-friendly events this year at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival," said Byron DeFoor, founder of the festival. "We are working hard on adding even more exciting and fun activities, so stay tuned.

"One of the keys to a successful festival is having fabulous and dynamic cars that will participate in each event, so we're encouraging car owners to send in their entry forms soon!"

The core components of this year's festival include:

High Jinks Rallye Experience the Landscape - Drivers will experience the Tennessee landscape in an event for authentic vintage and historic cars which are street-legal, registered, fully operational, capable of completing the road course and present a neat and finished appearance. It is a "road rallye" style event, where a driver and navigator will run the open road on a predetermined route.



Time Trials Between the Bridges - This is a competitive event for authentic vintage and historic cars. In the style of a "hillclimb" or "time trial," cars will run one at a time against the clock. Participants must have a valid competition license and are expected to compete in a gentlemanly spirit of fair play, with respect for their competitors, the cars and the regulations.

Concours d'Elegance Rendezvous of the Greats - The Concours will be judged by an expert panel based on class. Participation in the Concours does not require a competition license. A valid state-issued driver's license is required if operating a vehicle. All drivers must present a copy of their driver's license attached to their entry form.
MUMBAI, India, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia's 50 Best Restaurants has announced that Masque in Mumbai, India, is the 2020 winner of the prestigious Miele One To Watch Award. Selected by the organisers of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in collaboration with its regional experts, the Miele One To Watch title is presented to a restaurant that is outside the Asia's 50 Best list, but is identified as a rising star of the region.

Masque's co-owner and chef Prateek Sadhu will formally accept the honour at a special dinner, held at the Mumbai restaurant this evening (5th March) attended by leading chefs, media and VIPs from India's gastronomic community.

Launched in 2016, Masque distinguishes itself as the first fine-dining, farm-to-table restaurant to introduce the tasting menu-only concept to India.

"Masque strives to redefine Indian cuisine," explains Sadhu. "To us, this isn't about returning to regional recipes and simply plating them with new tweaks. It demands revisiting those recipes with purpose and discovering how this process can build cross-cultural bridges. Receiving the Miele One To Watch Award inspires us to continue on this journey of discovery."

Masque joins a prestigious line-up of recent One To Watch award winners including Florilege in Tokyo (2016), TocToc in Seoul (2017), Toyo Eatery in Manila (2018) and JL Studio in Taiwan (2019).

William Drew, Director of Content at Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, adds: "Masque's ingredient-driven menu highlights the diversity of India's local products while the creative presentation and radical approach to culinary traditions point to Chef Sadhu's progressive vision."

"We are pleased to present Prateek Sadhu and his Masque team with this year's Miele One To Watch Award," said Mario Miranda, Regional Managing Director Asia at Miele. "With their ambition to always outperform themselves and their commitment to sustainability, they have impressed us greatly. The same attitude, which leads to constant improvement and innovation, is part of our 'Immer Besser' brand philosophy at Miele: By redefining excellence every day, everywhere, we want to create delightful experiences for our customers."

As a result of current travel restrictions in Asia, the awards ceremony to celebrate Asia's 50 Best Restaurants will be streamed on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Facebook page and YouTube channel, on Tuesday, 24th March starting at 4pm (SGT/HKT)/1.30pm (IST).

For more details on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants voting process, visit:

https://www.theworlds50best.com/asia/en/voting/the-voting-system

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1097115/Masque_Mumbai_Miele_One_To_Watch.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085423/50_Best_Asia_Restaurants_Logo.jpg

Contact:

CatchOn, A Finn Partners Company

asias50best@finnpartners.com

+852-2566-8988
New Delhi, March 5 : The Delhi State Minorities Commission has written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal suggesting that the compensation for the victims of riots in northeastern parts of the city should be doubled and that there should be an on-site inspection of the affected areas to ascertain the amount of compensation.

Commission chairman Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan told IANS that he has written in the letter that considering a family member as a whole family who would be entitled to a single compensation would be highly unjustified.

"Many families stay together under one roof. People living with their married sons and daughters should be viewed as separate families," he said.

Khan said that many claimants to compensation are not being given receipts, which could lead to a mess.

"Also in some cases, many claimants have been asked to submit Aadhaar or rent agreement papers. Victims whose houses have been damaged or burnt down can hardly be expected to present such papers for claiming compensation," said Khan, adding he had written about such problems to the Chief Minister.
WILLIAMSPORT  A Lycoming County judge has refused to dismiss a vicarious liability claim against UPMC Susquehanna that is being sued because an employee accessed the medical records of a co-worker without authorization.

Judge Eric R. Linhardt on Wednesday rejected UMPCs claim it was not liable because Taylor Fausnaught failed to state any claim against Tasha Klock.

He ruled Fausnaught in her invasion of privacy and negligence suit successfully had asserted multiple claims against Klock.

The two worked at UPMCs skilled nursing and rehabilitation center in Muncy but on different shifts.

David F. Samar, in a letter that is part of the court file, stated the health system discovered July 2, 2018, Fausnaughts medical information was improperly accessed as the result of employee snooping.

An internal investigation determined Klock accessed the information June 11, 2018, out of curiosity by using an employee password, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy officer wrote.

Her actions violated UPMC and federal privacy laws and she was disciplined by required to undergo additional training and increased monitoring, the letter states.

Records that Fausnaught claims were accessed and disseminated to other employees after she resigned in May 2018 when she had a miscarriage included urinary culture and attestation reports.

Ultrasound images of her early pregnancy were viewed three times, her suit states.

In another ruling on preliminary objections raised by the defense, Linhardt dismissed the punitive damages claim against UPMC but allowed it to stand against Klock.

He found Klock accessing and disseminating a co-workers private medical records without authorization could constitute outrageous conduct.

The judge also found at this stage of the proceedings Fausnaught has made out a defamation claim.

The information Klock disseminated could reasonably impute serious sexual misconduct or characteristics that could adversely affect Fausnaughts ability to conduct her profession, he wrote.

Linhardt ruled in favor of UPMC dismissing three negligence claims and one under Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law.

Fausnaught failed to establish Klock had previously undertaken any action that would have put UPMC on notice that she had a propensity for invading the privacy of others, he wrote.

The judge also found Fausnaught failed to meet the high standard required for an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.

He gave her 20 days to file an amended complaint addressing the deficiencies in the claims he dismissed.

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Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav on Wednesday put the blame for Delhi riots squarely on the shoulder of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and India's Home Minister Amit Shah saying this was typical of Shah to create disturbances in states where the BJP had failed to form the government.

Talking to reporters in Patna, the leader of the opposition said the Delhi police was being controlled by Shah who was providing top security details to those who were responsible for inciting riots that has left nearly 50 dead and scores injured in the nation's capital.

"Why is the Home Minister providing top-level security to those who are openly flouting the law and inciting riots in Delhi? People like Kapil Mishra are making highly incendiary comments to divide the nation and yet he has been accorded Y-category of security cover. Why is that?" asked Yadav.

Turning his attention towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar said that while Modi had plenty of time to welcome US President Donald Trump at the taxpayer's money, he had no time to meet with the victims of the riots in Delhi.

"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had the decency to meet with the riot victims and listen to their side of the story. After all somebody had to do it since the Prime Minister had no time for such courtesies," he said adding the government did not even try to contain the riot and instead continued to flame the sentiments of the people by unleashing people like Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur.

Yadav said the BJP had a history of 'buying' legislators to disrupt a legitimate government and those who refused to do so were implicated in false cases with CBI, Income Tax, and Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths hounding them.

"This is an 'old BJP tactics' and there is nothing new about it. Wherever they fail to form their government, they engage in all sorts of underhanded tricks to upset the government. We all have to be careful of their nefarious designs," said the RJD leader.
Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina explained this in visceral terms when he announced his support for Joe Biden late last month, an endorsement that began with Mr. Clyburn, 79, talking about the first time he was arrested protesting for civil rights decades ago. When I sat in jail that day, I wondered whether we were doing the right thing, but I was never fearful for the future, he said. As I stand before you today I am fearful of the future of this country. Im fearful for my daughters and their futures, and their children, and their childrens futures.

Mr. Clyburn said he was sure Mr. Biden was the right choice. I know Joe. We know Joe. But most importantly, Joe knows us, he said. Three days later, Mr. Biden won a convincing victory in the South Carolina primary, launching him into his Super Tuesday triumph and the front-runner status he enjoys today.

Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond.

write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Matthew Continetti writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party.

writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party. Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging.

speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Michelle Cottle examines two primary contests that will shake the parties well beyond the states in play.

My friends in New York, many of them Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders supporters who see Mr. Biden as deeply uninspiring, were mystified. But after traveling through the South this past week, I began to understand. Through Southern eyes, this election is not about policy or personality. Its about something much darker.

Not long ago, these Americans lived under violent, anti-democratic governments. Now, many there say they see in President Trump and his supporters the same hostility and zeal for authoritarianism that marked life under Jim Crow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Bangladesh to take part in the birth centenary celebration of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said here on Thursday.

Kumar, during a weekly briefing, said that PM Modi's visit will also have a bilateral component. However, he did not reveal further details about the visit.

"During her visit here, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had invited Prime Minister Modi for the birth centenary celebration of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. PM Modi has accepted the invitation," Kumar said.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder-president of Bangladesh and also known as "Bangabandhu", was born on March 17, 1920 in Tungipara village in Faridpur district.

Last month, Bangladesh's Dhaka Tribune, citing multiple sources, had reported that PM Modi is likely to visit Bangladesh from March 16 to 18 where he will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

During his visit, PM Modi will hold a discussion on a wide range of bilateral issues with Sheikh Hasina on March 18, Dhaka Tribune had reported.

The Prime Minister will arrive in Dhaka on March 16 for his three-day visit. On March 17, Modi will take part in an event being organised to mark the birth centenary celebration of Bangladesh's founding father.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - SilverCrest Metals Inc. (TSX: SIL) (NYSE American: SILV) ("SilverCrest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce metallurgical test results with increased precious metal recoveries and enhanced process design changes for the ongoing Feasibility Study ("FS") at the Las Chispas Property ("Las Chispas") located in Sonora, Mexico. After nine months of extensive further metallurgical test work involving all veins in the current resource and multiple metallurgical domains, the results show an increase of recoveries to 96.1% gold ("Au") and 93.9% silver ("Ag"), or 95.0% silver equivalent ("AgEq"); based on a ratio of 75 (Ag): 1(Au), with average metallurgical recoveries of 95% Au and 90% Ag. These results represent an increased recovery of 3.4% AgEq over the previous metallurgical test results, as presented in the Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Las Chispas Property, Sonora, Mexico, dated effective May 15, 2019, as amended July 19, 2019 ("PEA"), of 94.4% Au and 89.9% Ag, or 91.6% AgEq.

Pierre Beaudoin, COO, noted, "We are pleased that the 95% AgEq precious metal recoveries reported in our comprehensive test work has allowed us to address one of the optimization opportunities outlined in the PEA. This effort has contributed to the further de-risking of the conceptual operational profile of Las Chispas. The metallurgical samples represented over 1.4 tonnes of mineralized material from surface to depth with applied knowledge on geo-metallurgy with respect to low to high grades, structural domains, geochemistry and oxide to sulfide mineralization. With these results and design in-hand, we have initiated the Basic Engineering for the process plant. Details of this metallurgical work and process design will be included in the FS now anticipated in the summer of 2020."

The feasibility metallurgical test results in the following table were completed and provided by SGS Canada Inc., located in Lakefield, Ontario in cooperation with Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. ("Ausenco"), an independent consulting firm, responsible for the processing plant design for the ongoing FS.

May 2019 PEA Design Criteria and Precious Metal Recoveries VS March 2020 FS Design Criteria and Precious Metal Recoveries Three Stage Crushing Single Stage Crushing Ball Mill (single stage), nominal P 80 of 100 microns Sag Mill (single stage), nominal P 80 of 95 microns (accounting for clay content) Gravity mass yield at 1.4%, Reground to P 80 of 60 microns Gravity mass yield at 4%, Reground P 90 of 30 microns Gravity recovery of 30% to 40% precious metals Gravity recovery of 40% to 50% precious metals Leach recovery for gravity con at 90.0% Au and 90.0% Ag (capped). Batch in Intensive Leach Reactor. Leach recovery for gravity con at 98.7% Au and 98.6% Ag. Dedicated 96 hours leach circuit. Leach recovery for gravity tails at 90.7% Au and 85.6% Ag (calculated). Combined 90 hours leach. Leach recovery for gravity tails at 94.4% Au and 91.3% Ag. Dedicated 96 hours leach circuit Net total recoveries of 94.4% Au and 89.9% Ag or 91.6% AgEq Net total recoveries of 96.1% Au and 93.9% Ag or 95% AgEq

Test work was completed on approximately 1.4 tonnes of mineralized material covering the current mineral resources (refer to the PEA) focusing on the first 3 years of conceptual mine life with processing feed coming from the Babicanora Area veins at Las Chispas. The samples were selected from diamond drill hole assay rejects for all veins in the resource, as well as material from in-vein drifting for the Babicanora Vein, Area 51 zone. Historic stockpiles were also included in the test program. A total of 148 leach tests was completed and covered grades from 1.0 to 16.0 gpt Au, and 90 to 1,822 gpt Ag, or 165 to 3,022 gpt AgEq. The program was designed to provide design criteria for hardness/abrasion, variability (geo-metallurgy) results for leaching, sedimentation, filtration, settling and environmental characteristics. At this stage, the geo-metallurgical program is still progressing with the addition of newly discovered Area 118 and Area 200 (see news release dated November 21, 2019 and February 18, 2020) as well as the Babi Vista vein, and has also identified further opportunities to improve leach conditions on individual veins. METSIM software was used to model the metallurgical balance inclusive of counter current decantation ("CCD"), Merrill-Crowe and filtration process. The CCD/plant tailings will be detoxified and subjected to filtration to create environmentally-preferred dry stack tailings. Considerations will be made for potential use of tailings for underground backfill material.

Recovery results will be incorporated in the ongoing FS and have assisted with the optimization of the conceptual process flowsheet to account for anticipated daily mill head grades of 2,000 to 2,500 gpt AgEq. It is expected that designing the plant with capacity to process higher mill head grade will reduce the requirement for blending and increase the mine flexibility.

Recent in-vein mining of the Babicanora Vein, Area 51 zone, has identified a continuous mineralized shear zone with clay content not previously defined from core drilling. With the addition of shear zone material and increased anticipated grades for conceptual production, the proposed FS plant design will incorporate SAG milling, dedicated leach trains and larger units of operation for CCD, Merrill-Crowe and filtration. Also, gravity circuit with regrinding has been optimized for increased precious metal recoveries. When compared to the PEA, the front end of the processing circuit will be simplified with the removal of conveyors and multi-stage crushers, but the tail end is expected to increase in size due to newly defined mineralized shear zone with clays and increased precious metal recoveries. As a result of these ongoing design changes, Ausenco is still completing the feasibility work, the overall initial capital cost is currently expected to be slightly higher. Basic Engineering for the processing plant has been granted to Ausenco and will run in tandem to feasibility work.

The Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this news release is N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, and CEO for SilverCrest, who has reviewed and approved its contents.

ABOUT SILVERCREST METALS INC.

SilverCrest is a Canadian precious metals exploration company headquartered in Vancouver, BC, that is focused on new discoveries, value-added acquisitions and targeting production in Mexico's historic precious metal districts. The Company's current focus is on the high-grade, historic Las Chispas mining district in Sonora, Mexico. The Las Chispas Project consists of 28 100%-owned mineral concessions where all of the resources are located. SilverCrest is the first company to successfully drill-test the historic Las Chispas Project, resulting in numerous discoveries that are being evaluated for economic viability and potential production in the future. The Company is led by a proven management team in all aspects of the precious metal mining sector, including taking projects through discovery, finance, on time and on budget construction, and production.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of Canadian and United States securities legislation. These include, without limitation, statements with respect to: the strategic plans, timing and expectations for the Company's exploration and drilling programs of the Las Chispas Property, including metallurgical test results, mineralization estimates and grades for drill intercepts, permitting for various work, and optimizing and updating the Company's resource model and preparing a feasibility study; information with respect to high grade areas and size of veins projected from underground sampling results and drilling results; and the accessibility of future mining at the Las Chispas Property. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the reliability of mineralization and metallurgical test estimates, the conditions in general economic and financial markets; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of expenditures related to rehabilitation and drilling programs; and effects of regulation by governmental agencies. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors including: the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities; reliance on metallurgical test estimates, the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng

Chief Executive Officer

SilverCrest Metals Inc.

For Further Information:

SilverCrest Metals Inc.

Contact: Jacy Zerb, Investor Relations Manager

Telephone: +1 (604) 694-1730

Fax: +1 (604) 357-1313

Toll Free: 1-866-691-1730 (Canada & USA)

Email: info@silvercrestmetals.com

Website: www.silvercrestmetals.com

570 Granville Street, Suite 501

Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3P1

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53180
Pooja Sharma, wife of Shahdara Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Amit Sharma who was injured during clashes between two groups in Delhi's Gokulpuri on February 24 said here on Thursday that his husband has discharged his duty in a responsible manner.

Speaking to ANI, DCP Amit Sharma's wife Pooja Sharma said, "He is an officer. He was carrying out his duty responsibly. He had to go among 30,000 people. He did that and he didn't get scared. He did everything possible."

"He went there to do everything peacefully but it turned violent. His condition was bad. My children and I are fortunate that he is still with us today," she added.

Earlier on Sunday, Delhi Police Special Commissioner (Law and Order) SN Shrivastava visited Max Hospital in Patparganj to meet Amit Sharma.

Shahdara DCP Amit Sharma was injured during clashes between two groups in Delhi's Gokulpuri. One Delhi Police head constable lost his life during the clashes.

The death toll in the Delhi violence has risen to 53. Till now 44 deaths have been reported from Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital, three from Lok Nayak Hospital, one from Jag Parvesh Chander Hospital and five from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The body of a 28-year-old Massachusetts native was discovered Monday in Charleston, South Carolina, after she had been missing for several days, according to a statement from the Charleston Police Department.

Celia Sweeney was found dead inside a Spartanburg residence, police said. She had been missing since Friday after co-workers and friends alerted police about her disappearance.

Police also discovered the body of a man, who they identified as a person of interest.

New vehicle information for Celia Sweeney. Anyone with information please call Consolidated Dispatch (843-743-7200) or Crime Stoppers (843-554-1111). #CHSNews pic.twitter.com/y2Q9WhOp2b  Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) March 1, 2020

Police conducted a welfare check at Sweeneys residence over the weekend, finding she and her vehicle  an Audi S5 with Massachusetts plates  were missing.

She and 32-year-old Buddy Allen Carr were found dead on March 2.

Body Found in Spartanburg Identified as Missing Charleston Woman#chsnews pic.twitter.com/CnkWK6eiAE  Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) March 3, 2020

On Wednesday, Charleston police announced charges against 36-year-old Mark Dwayne Walton, of Westchase Drive, who they accuse of being an accessory after the fact of murder.

Sweeney is a native of Scituate, and used to live in Weymouth, according to WCVB-TV.

The investigations into Sweeney and Carrs deaths are ongoing, police said.
HOUSTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products U.S. (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, announced it is marketing two of its refineries in the United States: Mobile, AL, and Puget Sound near Anacortes, WA.

The decision is consistent with the company's previously disclosed plans to reshape its refining portfolio globally to leverage Shell's natural strengths and integration opportunities. "We are refocusing our global presence in line with that of our customers, trading operations, and chemicals plants. This will result in a more valuable, integrated downstream business," said Robin Mooldijk, EVP Manufacturing.

This process could take many months and may or may not result in a finalized sales transaction. Shell may elect to discontinue the marketing process for one or both assets at any time. If the marketing process does not result in a finalized sales transaction, Shell plans to continue operating the refineries.

"Both refineries have done an excellent job over the last number of years and have made several notable achievements in safety, reliability and performance," said Mooldijk.

The U.S. Gulf Coast will remain a key manufacturing hub for Shell, along with Rotterdam and Singapore. Likewise, Shell will maintain its marketing presence and continue to honor branded wholesale agreements within both the West and Gulf Coast regions.



Cautionary Note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations" respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. There can be no assurance that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, March 5, 2020. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.

With respect to operating costs synergies indicated, such savings and efficiencies in procurement spend include economies of scale, specification standardisation and operating efficiencies across operating, capital and raw material cost areas.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

SOURCE Shell Oil Company

Related Links

http://www.shell.us


An Iranian director who won last month the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival has been summoned to serve a 1-year prison sentence over his movies, his lawyer says.

Mohammad Rasoulof won the festival's Golden Bear for his film There Is No Evil, but was unable to accept the prize in person on February 29 due to a travel ban imposed on him by Irans authorities.

His lawyer said the 48-year-old filmmaker received an order via text message from the judiciary on March 4 to appear and start serving a 12-month prison sentence handed down last year.

The sentence came from films he made that authorities found to be propaganda against the system, said the lawyer, Nasser Zarafshan.

Zarafshan said his client would not turn himself into the authorities and would appeal the order, in part because of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.

"There are clear orders from the judiciary that prisoners be given leave time, and sentences not be carried out for the current" Iranian year that ends in a few weeks, the lawyer said.

Zarafshan also said that a summons via "SMS has no legal basis."

Rasoulof, who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2017, is a prominent critic of the Iranian government and has been banned by the authorities from making films.

With reporting by AP and AFP
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The Kananda film industry is facing the side effects of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the world. Kannada filmmakers who often opt to shoot song sequences in exotic locations outside India are now tackling the coronavirus scare. They are taking preventive measures, by either changing their plans of travelling abroad, finalising new locations within India or postponing shoots.

Puneeth Rajkumar and Darshan starrers have had to change their plans. Tharun Kishore Sudhir, the director of Roberrt starring Darshan, had originally planned to shoot the song sequences in Spain, but has now decided to shoot in India. Our films cinematographer Sudhakar S Raj had been on a recce and had even finalised a location in Spain. But the news of the virus hitting Europe was announced the very next day of his return to Bengaluru. As a precautionary measure, we have postponed the shoot. We will shoot the song on a location here.

The makers of Puneeth Rajkumars Yuvarathnaa, directed by Santhosh Ananddram, have cancelled their schedule in European countries. A song featuring Puneeth and Sayyeshaa in Austria and Slovenia in the first week of March has now been postponed .The shoot for Yuvarathnaa in Europe has been cancelled due to the #CoronaVirus scares. Will keep you all posted for further updates. Dont believe in speculations/ rumours, tweeted the production house, Hombale Films. Karthik Gowda, executive producer of Hombale Films, and distributor, KRG Studios, said, I dont think coronavirus has affected the film industry, except for those who were planning to shoot abroad, which is just 4 to 5 per cent. It doesnt make a difference. There is always an alternative.

Many other filmmakers too are forced to have a rethink on shooting abroad. Jayathirtha, director of the movie Banaras, who had initially planned to shoot a song in Singapore, has shifted to Sri Lanka, and the team is heading for a recce there on Thursday.

Circumstances have led us to compromise on locations. But at the same time, we cant take risks. My story demanded a place like Singapore. But now we have dropped it and have opted for Sri Lanka. If need be, Goa can be an alternative, Jayathirtha said.

Prem, the director of Ek Love Ya, said that his films shooting schedule too has been hit by the virus scare, leading to the delay in the release date. We had planned to shoot a song either in Egypt or France. But the outbreak has led to the change of schedule and place, and I am yet to take a call, he said.

Haris Mushtaq, who runs a travel agency  Location to Location  said travel has been affected big time, whether it is with regard to tourism or film industry. People are worried as they dont know whether the places they plan to visit or shoot have been sanitised. From our end, we are creating awareness, and we have left it to the travellers and filmmakers to take a call, said Haris, who added that Yuvarathnaa team, who had planned to travel to Slovenia for a song sequence, have now postponed the shoot.
Meghan has said it is nice to be back as she attended her first royal engagement in nearly two months, while her husband Prince Harry remarked on the pride he felt serving Queen and country as the royal couple tackle what could be their last official engagements.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first joint appearance since the beginning of January on Thursday evening, at the Endeavour Fund awards in Mansion House in London.

The Endeavour Fund is a body set up by the Royal Foundation to finance inspiring sporting and adventure projects aiding the recovery of veterans.

The couple gave out an award each, and the prince gave a short speech in which he talked about his own experience in the military.

Prince Harry said: Being able to serve Queen and Country is something we all are rightly proud of, and it never leaves us. Once served, always serving.

Earlier in the evening, a surprise proposal by one of the award winners had the duke and duchess clapping and cheering.

The first award winner, Danny Holland, won the Recognising Achievement Award, and got down on one knee in front of his girlfriend  who quickly accepted, prompting cheers from the audience.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex cheer during a marriage proposal at the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London. (Press Association)

The couple applauded when the winner proposed to his girlfriend. (Press Association)

Harry wore a dark blue suit for the evenings awards, and Meghan chose a teal Victoria Beckham dress.

One person briefly booed but there were cheers as they arrived at the venue.

The ceremony, hosted by former Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers, saw four prizes awarded - the Recognising Achievement Award, Celebrating Excellence Award, Henry Worsley Award and the new Community Impact Award.

Taking to the stage to present the Celebrating Excellence award, Meghan said she was pleased to be back at the awards for the third year in a row.

It's the first time they have been in the UK together in nearly two months. (Getty Images)

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends The Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House. (Getty Images)

She said watching the videos all the way in Canada she wondered how the panel would decide who would win.

Announcing the winner as Lee Spencer, who could not attend, she gave the award to his wife who was there in his place.

The duke announced the winner of the nights final award, the Henry Worsley award.

Story continues

Speaking afterwards, the duke said: Meghan and I are so happy to be back here, celebrating your achievements.

He also announced that he is looking for ways to expand the Endeavour Fund, by having it work more closely with the Invictus Games.

Mentioning how proud he had been to serve as Captain Wales, he said: A lot of you tonight have told me youve got my back - well, Ive got yours.

Read more: Meghan Markle wears fitted turquoise dress by Victoria Beckham at Endeavour Awards

The duchess wore her hair back in a simple ponytail. (Getty Images)

The couple sheltered under an umbrella as they arrived. (Getty Images)

In what may be some of his final comments as a senior member of the royal family, Harry praised the nominees for discovering a new way of living and finding a new sense of purpose.

After the ceremony, the couple congratulated newly-engaged Danny Holland and Lauren Price.

Mr Holland, 29, said: With winning (the award) as well, there was no better time to do it.

Although she always said she didnt want it with a lot of other people around.

They were invited to speak privately to the duke and duchess.

Price, 24, said: They just congratulated us. They asked us how we felt and if I was expecting it. They said they were really happy for us.

Danny Holland with his fiance Lauren Price. (Press Association)

The royal couple sent shockwaves at the beginning of the year when they announced they wanted to step back from their roles as senior royals.

Having spent Christmas in Canada, Meghan swiftly returned, with Prince Harry following soon after.

Harry has now been back in Britain for a week, holding a conference in Edinburgh for his travel project, Travelyst, and visiting a recording session in Abbey Road Studios where Jon Bon Jovi was working on a new version of one of his songs for the Invictus Games later this year.

But Meghan stayed in Vancouver Island, where they have left their son Archie while they make this visit to the UK.

Read more: Harry and Meghan will join royals at Commonwealth Day service - but Andrew won't

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sign the book at the awards. (Press Association)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pose for a group picture at the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London. (Press Association)

She and Harry were pictured leaving The Goring Hotel in Westminster separately, but its understood they were having lunch there and are staying in Windsor, at Frogmore Cottage.

A spokeswoman for the couple said: In addition to the official engagements the duke and duchess are conducting over the course of the next few days, they are also meeting privately with several of their patronages.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment as to whether the Queen, who was carrying out audiences at her London residence on Thursday, met with Harry and Meghan.

The Duchess of Sussex said she was pleased to be at the ceremony. (Press Association)

Claire Spencer, 52, (right) accepts the the Celebrating Excellence award on behalf of her husband and former Royal Marine Lee Spencer, from Meghan. (Press Association)

Meghan and other royals will also attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music on 7 March at the Royal Albert Hall.

And the duchess will mark International Womens Day on 8 March in an as yet unconfirmed event.

Read more: Prince Harry joins rock royalty Jon Bon Jovi at Abbey Road studios

Harry has a number of other engagements, including opening the Silverstone Experience with Lewis Hamilton.

The duke and duchess left to crowds outside singing Come on Arry to the tune of Come On Eileen.

The couple also attended the awards last year, when the duchess was heavily pregnant with their son Archie.

Read more: Meghan Markle 'jumped ship' instead of fighting racism in UK, says lecturer

The Sussexes were last seen together on an official engagement on 7 January when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The following day, the couple announced they wished to step back from their senior royal duties, they said they hoped to forge their own path which would allow them to honour the Queen but make their own money.

The couple at the 2019 awards ceremony. (Getty Images)

The couple looked happy to be reunited as they strode to the awards together. (Reuters)

However, it became clear that Buckingham Palace would not allow a half in half out option, and the Sussexes had to make compromises.

The couple confirmed they wont use the word royal in any of their branding as they finalised the details of their transition period at the end of February.

They had been using Sussex Royal and were in the midst of a trademark application for the name but agreed not to use it once it became clear they wouldnt be able to do so in the UK.

They said they were eager to share more plans when they could, and would be setting up a nonprofit organisation as opposed to a foundation.

The couple will present an award each and the duke will make a speech. (Reuters)

Read more: Harry and Meghan announce transition details as they confirm end of Sussex Royal branding

The couple will remain in the UK until at least 9 March, when they will join other royals at the Commonwealth Day service.

But its thought they will return to Canada afterwards. They step back from their duties officially on 31 March.

A 12 month review period has been put in place.
Italian grandparents are ignoring a government plea to stay home to contain the spread of the new coronavirus and are instead stepping in as last-minute baby-sitters after schools were closed nationwide.

With 148 virus deaths, Italy is the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. It also has the world's oldest population after Japan. And the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the new virus.

Schools nationwide were closed Wednesday, leaving 8.4 million students with no place to go for the next two weeks.

So, despite a government decree that aims to curtail the spread of the virus among the most vulnerable, Roman playgrounds indicate the measures had the unintended boomerang effect of sending the elderly out on duty at the nation's sandboxes, swings and jungle gyms.

One grandfather, Lorenzo Romano, says he is happy to look after his grandchildren, regardless of the risk to his health, because he wants them around him more.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Recently, there have been two exciting developments for Jersey Shore fans. First and foremost, Jerzdays are back with what looks like an incredibly dramatic season packed with plenty of heartwarming moments. Which brings us to the second exciting development  the return of the one and only Mike The Situation Sorrentino.

After eight months in prison, Sorrentino is making his triumphant return on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Find out what Sorrentino thought about rejoining his Jersey Shore family for another season of fun.

Mike The Situation Sorrentino | John Lamparski/Getty Images

The Situation goes to prison

In Jan. 2019, Sorrentino went to federal prison for tax evasion. After years of dealing with legal fees and court cases, Sorrentino was more than happy to fulfill this final requirement so that he could truly put his past behind him.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation continued on in Sorrentinos absence. While the roommates certainly missed their friend, that didnt stop them from partying. The family took on several adventures without The Situation, including a visit to an upstate New York dude ranch and a trip to Las Vegas to see Vinny Guadagnino perform with Chippendales.

Mike is happy to be back

When Sorrentinos sentence ended in Sept. 2019, Jersey Shore cameras were there to capture his release and reunion with his wife Lauren Pesce, followed by a reunion with his roommates.

There was no feeling like it, Sorrentino said about reuniting with his friends and family. In an interview with People Now, Sorrentino said he couldnt wait to get back to work with his roommates, who he considers family. Being reunited with them was just the best, Sorrentino recalled. Of course, he was happy to be back with his wife as well, calling her an angel.

The Situation missed some situations

The Jersey Shore family had a lot going on while Sorrentino was in prison. Roommate Deena Cortese had her son CJ while Sorrentino was serving his time. In an interview with Decider, Cortese gushed about having Sorrentino around again: We needed that refreshing part of the house back. Nicole Snooki Polizzi also welcomed her third child, Angelo, while Sorrentino was in prison. The two meatballs couldnt wait for Big Daddy Sitch to meet their mini-meatballs.

A few other situations unraveled while Sorrentino was away. Jenni JWoww Farleys divorce from Roger Mathews was finalized. Guadagnino completed his second stint performing with Chippendales in Las Vegas. Ronnie Ortiz-Magro checked himself into a wellness facility after a rollercoaster of a relationship with ex-girlfriend Jen Harley.

Despite not being there in person, its likely Sorrentino found other ways to demonstrate his love and support from prison while all of this was going on.

Whats next for Sorrentino

Fans can expect Sorrentino to consume plenty of foods this season of Family Vacation and maybe even a prank or two. He is still a crusader on the path to positivity, so fans might also get a glimpse of him inspiring others at some point in the new season.

The Sorrentino family may be growing sometime soon, too. After Pesce suffered a miscarriage last year, the couple announced that they were trying to get pregnant again in Nov. 2019. Perhaps 2020 will bring a whole new situation into the Jersey Shore mix.

Related: Jersey Shore Cast was Nervous About Mike The Situation Sorrentinos Return
Google is reportedly testing a new version of the Photos app. Screenshots of the new app dont show the hamburger menu.

Google, it appears, is gradually retiring the hamburger menu from some of its apps. The heavily populated hamburger menu, which is usually accessed by either clicking on the hamburger icon or swiping right from left edge of the screen, went missing on the latest version of Google Maps a few weeks ago. Google then used a greyed-out icon and a tooltip to point users to an updated dropdown panel accessed from the user icon in the search bar. Google is carrying out a similar modification in the Google Photos app now.

According to a recent report filed by Android Police, the upcoming version of Google Photos no longer features the hamburger menu. The change is apparently part of a visual overhaul that Google is currently testing. Like Maps, the user icon in the search bar is the place to go to switch accounts, access device folders, and launch PhotoScan. It also has a few new options, including Categories (such as Screenshots, Selfies, 360 Photos & Videos, etc.) and Recently Added (an option Google reportedly promised to add).

Screenshots from the report show other changes in the user interface apart from the missing hamburger menu. For example, the lower navigation bar no longer contains an Albums tab. Instead, theres a Library tab that leads the user to the same screen with a new section containing, Favorites, Archive, Trash, and Utilities options. Theres also a new 'Search' tab in the navigation bar, which is presumably for users who fail to spot the persistent search bar at the top.

According to the report, the new changes in the Google Photos app will arrive as a server-side update sometime in the next few days but its best to keep the app updated to the latest version anyway. Google recently redesigned the Google Maps logo to celebrate the service's 15th anniversary. At that time, it also added a new Contribute tab to the lower navigation bar, which allows users to share local knowledge about places in the map. You can expect the updated Google Photos app to make it to your devices in the next few days.

Inline image courtesy: Android Police
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh



Tope on Thursday announced that one dialysis centre each will be set up in all the 356 tehsils of the state.

He was responding to a calling attention notice by NCP member Vidya Chavan in the state Legislative Council.

"By the end of this year, we will try to set up dialysis centres for diabetes patients at all district sub- centres and by the end of next year, all 356 tehsils will get one dialysis centre each, the minister said.

Responding to a question, Tope also said the government's plan to open chemotherapy centres at district civil hospitals is also in progress.

In the coming years, all the district civil hospitals will provide chemotherapy treatment to cancer patients, he said.

"We also plan to have radiotherapy centres at district hospitals," the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a briefing on the Trump administration's coronavirus response in the press briefing room of the White House in Washington on March 4, 2020. Pence was joined by (LR) Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Debroah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator in the White House, Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Pence Says Coronavirus Risk Remains Low, Urges Americans to Use Common Sense

WASHINGTONVice President Mike Pence reiterated on March 4 that the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the United States remains low, and he urged Americans to take extra precautions to avoid the virus.

To be clear, if you are a healthy American, the risk of contracting the coronavirus remains low, Pence said during a press conference at the White House. But it is still a good idea to engage in common-sense practices that are always recommended this time of year.

Its a good idea to stay home when youre sick. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

California reported its first death from the virus, raising the U.S. death toll to 11 on March 4.

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the number of coronavirus cases in the United States increased to 129 on March 5.

With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths, he said. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!

The Trump administration ordered sweeping travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease, barring all foreign nationals who have been to China in the past 14 days from entering the United States.

The administration later expanded the existing ban on travel from Iran in response to the increasing coronavirus cases in that country.

And as of March 3, the administration fully implemented a screening process for travelers from Italy and South Korea. Passengers coming to the United States from all airports in South Korea and Italy are now subject to multiple screenings before boarding a plane.

Elderly More Vulnerable

Pence, who leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, met with airline industry executives on March 4 to get more data on airline passengers exposed to the disease.

If a person is tested as positive for the coronavirus, were working with the airlines to get all the information not just about that person, but about who they sat next to and who else was on the flight, Pence said.

He said he would also meet with cruise-line executives in Florida on March 7.

Based on the data collected from other countries that are most affected, it does appear that the elderly are most vulnerable, especially those with serious health issues, he said.

Consequently, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services issued new guidelines to protect the nations seniors. The new measures include limiting visitors to nursing homes.

Reassuringly, in South Korea, no one has died under 30, said Ambassador Debbie Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, during the press briefing. And the median age in Italy was 81, of those who succumbed. Those who became ill, the median age was 60.

Overregulation Played a Dangerous Role

The task force has also ramped up efforts to expand the countrys testing capacities, which are critical to detecting and fighting the virus. Testing restrictions were lifted on Feb. 29.

Now, all state laboratories, all university laboratories at the state level can conduct coronavirus tests without any additional assets or resources from the federal government, Pence said.

But our objective, ultimately, and as quickly as possible, is to have tests made through these commercial laboratories and commercial providers so that your local doctor, your CVS, your MedCheck is able to have a coronavirus test. And that isnt there yet; were working to make that a reality.

According to Roger Klein, a health policy expert and policy advisor to the Heartland Institute, overregulation of diagnostic testing played a dangerous role in the U.S. fight against the coronavirus outbreak. The rules caused delays in delivery of testing kits, slowing the process of detection of cases, he said in an op-ed in City Journal, a public policy magazine.

For weeks, the CDC operated the nations sole diagnostic laboratory for coronavirus, while testing in the rest of the world proceeded apace, he wrote. Complaints about the lack of testing access compelled the FDA to resolve what has become a self-inflicted crisis.

On Feb. 29, the agency issued guidance expanding the number of laboratories that may use tests that they had independently developed prior to FDA review.

Pence traveled to Minneapolis on March 5 to meet with Mike Roman, chairman and CEO of 3M. The company, a leader in the production of face masks and respirators, has ramped up its production recently as the U.S. market faces a severe shortage of masks.

Pence also traveled on March 5 to Washington state, where coronavirus has killed 10 people so far. He met with government officials and toured the states Emergency Operations Center.

Pence told reporters in Minneapolis that the government expanded the testing around the country, but he said, We dont have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry returned to the UK on Thursday evening for their first official public appearance since they announced their decision to step down as senior royals back in January.

The couple looked in high spirits as they arrived at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in London, which celebrates the achievements of sick and injured servicemen and women.

Meghan made a sartorial statement for her return, wearing a bold turquoise fitted midi dress by Victoria Beckham.

The design is from Beckhams new season spring/summer 2020 collection and costs 950.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to the UK to attend The Endeavour Fund Awards. (Getty Images)

Meghan wore a fitted turquoise dress by Victoria Beckham for the evening event. (Getty Images)

Meghan's Victoria Beckham dress was complimented by a berry lip and sleek knotted ponytail. (Getty Images)

On Beckhams website the dress is said to create an elongated and feminine silhouette and is also available in a bold red hue.

The 38-year-old kept her look contemporary, with her long locks styled into a sleek knotted ponytail.

She finished off the look with a berry lip and coordinating navy accessories, including a pair of heels by Manolo Blahnik.

Buy it: T-shirt Fitted Dress in Turquoise | 950 by Victoria Beckham

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will officially leave royal duties later this month, after a handful of engagements this week.

Meghan is set to take part in an event on Sunday to mark International Womens Day, whilst the Fab Four will be reunited at the annual Commonwealth Day service on Monday, where they will be joined by numerous other senior royals including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Her Majesty The Queen.

Get Meghans look: 4 affordable alternatives

L.K.Bennett Liya Tailored Pencil Dress | 93.75 from John Lewis & Partners

Navy Belted Tailored Dress | 26.25 from Dorothy Perkins

Leah Ottoman Dress | 45 from Boden

L.K.Bennett Ivor Pencil Dress | 168.75 from John Lewis & Partners
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided the house of former chairman of the grounded Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, and registered a fresh case of money laundering against him. On Wednesday, the ED had summoned him for questioning at its office here and then took him to his residence for carrying out searches.

According to sources, a fresh case has been registered against Naresh Goyal to probe the alleged irregularities committed by the grounded airline, including diversion of funds. Last year, the financial probe agency had registered a case of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations against Goyal and the airline.

In August 2019, the ED had carried out searches at Goyal's residence and has got details of 19 companies held by him of which five are located abroad and how money was siphoned off to other countries through dubious transactions.

During the searches, the ED had seized several incriminating documents related to the payments made to foreign companies and digital evidences have been seized.

Citing an official, an IANS report said the ED has taken up the investigation into alleged violation of the FEMA against Jet Airways and Goyal based on complaints from various sources.

Notably, the business empire of Goyal, includes 19 privately-held companies of which 14 are registered in India and five are registered abroad.

In March 2019, Naresh Goyal stepped down from the post of chairman of the airline.
Yemeni women walk in the old city market of the capital Sanaa, on March 2, 2020. (AFP photo)

Dubai: The Huthi rebels arrived without warning, heavily armed and in a furious mood, as they barged into Ophelia, the only cafe for women in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and demanded it be shut down immediately.

When owner Shaima Mohammed asked for a little time to allow her customers to gather their things, one of the Huthis snapped at her, Women should be in their homes. Why are they going out in public? Shaima recounted in a Facebook post as she announced the cafe's closure, "Armed men filled the street, directing obscenities at the women as they left.

The tense incident, one of a series in the rebel-held north, illustrates the Huthis' determination to impose their own moral order on Yemenis who have already endured five years of grinding conflict. Much of the crackdown has been rolled out without any official decree or documentation

The situation in Huthi-controlled areas is getting tighter and tighter, People are scared. Nadwa Al-Dawsari, Yemeni conflict analyst

She confirmed accounts of women being harassed for wearing belts around their traditional abaya robes, with rebels tearing them off, saying the silhouette they create is too exciting.

The Huthi campaign collides with a society which, although conservative, traditionally allowed space for individual freedoms and cultivated an appreciation of music and leisure, said Adel al-Ahmadi, a Yemeni academic.

The militia, which rose up in the 1990s over alleged sectarian discrimination, hail from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam which makes up about one-third of the population.

Witnesses in Sanaa spoke of a rising number of disturbing incidents since late 2019, a period which has also seen the Huthis rack up battlefield victories and crank up a confrontation with UN agencies attempting to deliver humanitarian aid.

Amid the ongoing unrest, Valentine's Day was banned and huge ruckus was created in the public places. young people were beaten in the street for failing to comply with the new notions of acceptable dress.

Unlike the days before the conflict, when people were free to celebrate with chocolates and flowers, one young man had his red shirt torn off by assailants who saw it as a symbol of an event that runs counter to Yemeni values.

Young men who fell foul of the rule with longer styles have been hauled onto major intersections where their locks were publicly chopped back with large scissors.

Huthis have also campaigned in schools and on college campuses against young people being improperly dressed said Hemdane al-Ali, a journalist and human rights activist who lives in self-exile.
Michael Hetle also served as a police officer before resigning in 2003: Fairfax County Police Department

A NASA executive and former police officer has been charged with second-degree murder.

Michael Hetle of Springfield, Virginia was arrested at the scene of the shooting of his neighbour Javon Prather after officers were called to the scene at about 4.50pm on Tuesday.

Hetle has been charged with use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, alongside second degree murder and is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Mr Prather's mother, Shavon Prather told The Washington Post that the two men had disagreements dating back years and believed there to be a racial motivation as Mr Prather and his wife were in an interracial relationship.

"[Hetle] would call the homeowner's association and say there was dog poop in their backyard," said Ms Prather.

"He would call and complain when they put out trash. Anything he could do to scold them and to get them in trouble."

Fairfax County Police Lt Stephen R Wallace told The Post that police did not currently have any evidence that the shooting was racially motivated.

Mr Hetle previously fatally shot two people in 2001 and 2003 respectively in separate line-of-duty incidents.

He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in both cases, but a civil suit was settled between the family of the man killed in 2001 and Mr Hetle and Bellevue.

The 2001 shooting proved controversial, as Mr Hetle shot an unarmed Latino man, leading to protests and accusation of racial bias, according to The Post.

The 52-year-old resigned from the Bellevue Police Department in 2003 after reaching a settlement to drop a claim of emotional distress against the department when he was accused of racial bias during a traffic stop.

The police department confirm that they are still continuing their investigation into the incidents leading up to the shooting.

Read more

UPS employee arrested after threatening mass shooting
(Newser)  When a South Carolina cop came upon Jamie Britt last September, he was drunk, shirtless, and polite. "Yes, ma'am, no, ma'am," he's heard saying on bodycam video as the two discuss the flat tire he's trying to change in Mount Pleasant. She gets him to agree to call a tow truck. What happened next ended up killing him, and at the Post and Courier, Steve Bailey looks at the use of the drug that ended Britt's life. Bailey explains that things went south about 15 minutes later, when a responding police supervisor began administering a field sobriety test. "All hell quickly breaks loose," writes Bailey, and the 6-foot-3 man is wrestled to the ground; his hands are subsequently cuffed and his legs shackled. Paramedics arrive shortly afterand one administers the ketamine shot that ultimately kills him.

story continues below

Bailey explains the drug has "long been used as an anesthetic" (and found life as party drug Special K, too). Paramedics have been permitted to use it in the state for three years now, and have done so nearly 2,000 times. Bailey describes Britt's case as a "horror show": It was only after the shot was administered that the paramedic asked the 50-year-old if he took medication; the last thing Britt said was that he took Lisinopril for high blood pressure. He lost consciousness and was taken off a ventilator 16 days later. Ketamine "shouldnt be mixed with alcohol and carries elevated risks for those with high blood pressure. Britt checked both boxes," writes Bailey. His deathdue to "restrain asphyxia" and "the toxic effects of ketamine"has been ruled a homicide. (Read the full story here.)
SAN FRANCISCO  Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship with 3,500 people aboard to stay back from the California coast Thursday until passengers and crew can be tested, after a traveler from its previous voyage died of the disease and at least four others became infected.

A military helicopter lowered test kits onto the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess by rope as the vessel lay at anchor off the coast of San Francisco, and authorities said the results would be available Friday. Princess Cruise Lines said fewer than 100 people aboard had been identified for testing.

The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

The precaution was prompted by the death of a Sacramento-area man who succumbed to the coronavirus after he had been on an earlier sailing of the ship, in February. Two other passengers from that voyage have been hospitalized with the virus in Northern California, and two Canadians who recently sailed aboard the ship tested positive after returning home, officials said.

Northern California officials also are awaiting test results from a man who died Thursday after being on a cruise where others have tested positive.

Meanwhile, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 12 on Thursday, with all but one of the victims in Washington state, and the number of infections swelled to over 200, scattered across 18 states. Colorado and Nevada reported their first cases. Nine of the dead were from the same suburban Seattle nursing home, now under federal investigation.

Families of nursing home residents voiced anger Thursday after receiving conflicting information about the condition of their loved ones. One woman was told her mother had died, then got another call from a staffer who said she was doing well, only to find out she had, in fact, died, said Kevin Connolly, whose father-in-law is also a resident.

This is the level of incompetence were dealing with, Connolly said at an emotional news conference outside the facility.

Around the country, New Yorks mayor implored the federal government to send more test kits to his state, which saw its caseload double overnight to 22, all of them in or near the city. In Rhode Island, about 200 people were quarantined because of their connections to a school trip to Italy that has so far resulted in three cases of the coronavirus. Amid four cases in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the risks remain low for most people planning trips to the state for spring break or baseballs spring training.

On Wall Street, fears about the outbreak led to a sharp selloff, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 970 points, or 3.6 percent. The drop extended two weeks of wild swings in the market, with stocks fluctuating 2 percent or more for the fourth day in a row.

Princess Cruise Lines said that no cases of the virus had been confirmed among those still on the ship. But dozens of passengers have had flu-like symptoms over the past two weeks or so, said Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of San Franciscos Department of Emergency Management.

Once we have results from the tests, she said, authorities will determine the best location for the ship to berth.

Video from the California National Guard showed a helicopter approaching the bow of the ship and lowering three helmeted paratroopers into an empty area with a swimming pool with what appeared to be a freezer chest and other items.

The kits would be delivered to a lab in Richmond, California, authorities said.

The ship was returning to San Francisco after visiting Hawaii. Some of the passengers remained on board after sailing on its previous voyage to the Mexican ports of Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

A passenger from the Mexico voyage, Judy Cadiz of Lodi said she and her husband became ill afterward but did not give it much thought until learning a fellow traveler had died of the virus. Now they cannot get a straight answer about how to get tested, she said.

With Mark Cadiz, 65, running a fever, the couple worries not only about themselves, but about the possibility that  if they contracted the infection  they could have passed it on to others.

Theyre telling us to stay home, but nobody told me until yesterday to stay home. We were in Sacramento, we were in Martinez, we were in Oakland. We took a train home from the cruise, Judy Cadiz said Thursday. I really hope that were negative so nobody got infected.

The coronavirus has infected nearly 98,000 people worldwide and killed over 3,300, the vast majority of them in China.

U.S. health officials said they expect a far lower death rate than the World Health Organization s international estimate of 3.4%  a rate admittedly too high because it doesnt account for mild cases that go uncounted.

Assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir cited a model that included mild cases to say the U.S. could expect a death rate somewhere between 0.1%  like seasonal flu  and 1%. The risk is highest for older people and anyone with conditions such as heart or lung disease, diabetes or suppressed immune systems, such as from cancer treatments.

At least 70 coronavirus cases have been reported in Washington state, most them in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

Some major Seattle-area businesses, including Microsoft, Amazon and outdoor gear manufacturer REI have shut down some operations or urged employees to work from home. The two tech giants together employ more than 100,000 people in the region.

Gap Inc. said it has closed its New York office and is asking employees to work from home until further notice after learning that one of its employees was confirmed to have the new virus.

Seattles King County is buying a motel for $4 million to house coronavirus patients and hopes to have the first of them in place within days at the 84-room EconoLodge in Kent, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Seattle.

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla called the plan ill-advised and dangerous, warning that at any point, a patient can simply walk into our community and spread the virus.

Federal health authorities are investigating the nursing home at the epicenter of the nations worst outbreak, the Life Care Center in Kirkland, to determine whether it followed guidelines for preventing infections. Last April, the state fined the nursing home $67,000 over infection-control deficiencies after two flu outbreaks.

___

Geller reported from New York. Associated Press writers Janie Har and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco; Gene Johnson, Martha Bellisle and Carla K. Johnson in Seattle; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; Anne DInnocenzio in New York and AP researcher Monika Mathur in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
"No Time To Die," the upcoming James Bond film, is being pushed to November due to concerns over the coronavirus' impact on the global theater marketplace.

The release of the 25th film in the lucrative Bond series was scheduled to hit theaters in North America on April 10th, but MGM and Universal announced on Wednesday that the film would be delayed.

"After careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of 'No Time To Die' will be postponed until November 2020," the film's official Twitter account said on Wednesday.

It will now hit US theaters on November 25. The film will be released in the UK on November 12.The coronavirus outbreak, which has caused more than 3,000 deaths globally, the majority in Asia, has forced the closure of theaters in Italy, Korea and China. China is the second biggest movie market in the world behind the U.S.

"Like every other global company, we're looking at the marketplace and we're trying to understand where the markets are down," an MGM spokesperson told CNN Business. "A huge percentage of theaters around the world are unavailable for this film."

The spokesperson said that it "didn't seem achievable for the film to hit its high level of success" in this marketplace. "It was really an economic decision more than anything else," the spokesperson added.

"No Time To Die," which was set to be one of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters of the spring, is the first major film to shift its opening due to the coronavirus.

"This is a huge deal," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told CNN Business. "James Bond is one of cinema's highest profile franchises. It's brought in nearly $5 billion worldwide over 24 films and is beloved around the world. To move it with weeks to go until its release is unprecedented."

Dergarabedian added that more studios might consider "shifting the schedules of their global blockbusters in this way to ensure the best possible outcome for their films going forward."
Aaron Brady has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe

Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was on an armed cash escort during a previous robbery at the same credit union where he was shot dead 17 months later, a trial has heard.

Evidence was given yesterday at the Central Criminal Court of an armed raid at Lordship Credit Union in August 2011 during which 22,500 was stolen in only 23 seconds.

The jury was told it is not the prosecution's case that Aaron Brady (29), on trial for the capital murder of Det Gda Donohoe, was involved in the earlier robbery.

Mr Brady (29) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Det Gda Donohoe (41), who was then a member of An Garda Siochana acting in the course of his duty, at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013.

Cash

The accused, of New Road Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, also denies the robbery of around 7,000 in cash and assorted cheques at the same location on the same date.

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Credit union volunteer John Kenwright told the court he was working on the evening of August 5, 2011.

He exited the building with other staff at around 9.30pm and the front door was locked.

That evening, Mr Kenwright said, he was responsible for bringing the day's takings, totalling around 22,500 in cash and 35,000 in cheques, to Dundalk, where they were to be deposited.

The court heard Det Gda Donohoe was providing the armed cash escort for credit unions on the Carlingford Peninsula that night, but he was still at the Cooley branch when the robbery took place.

Mr Kenwright said that at the time it was normal practice for the staff member transporting the takings to sit in their car and wait for the armed escort to arrive from the other credit unions.

The witness said that two minutes after his colleagues had left the car park he heard a "high-powered" car drive up behind his own vehicle very fast, and it screeched as it came to a stop.

CCTV footage was played to the court which showed the black car entering the car park and exiting 23 seconds later.

Mr Kenwright said he looked at his side-view mirror and saw the driver get out and point a sawn-off shotgun at him.

The raider was shouting "give me the money" and a second armed man emerged at the passenger side door.

Grabbing

This man was also carrying a gun and smashed the passenger side window with the butt of the weapon, the court heard, before grabbing the money bag on the passenger seat.

Det Gda Stacey Linnane gave evidence of responding to a report of an armed robbery at Lordship Credit Union that night.

She said that during the course of the investigation she became aware that a black Audi A3 was stolen in a creeper burglary in Silverbridge, Co Down, earlier that day and used in the robbery.

This vehicle was later found burnt out in Co Down.

The 14-person jury was told the court would be dealing with legal issues in its absence and that it will be required again next week.
Two Turkish soldiers died and three others were wounded after Syrian government forces opened fire in Syria's Idlib, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

In a statement, the defence ministry said Turkish forces responded with fire to Syrian government targets.

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APALACHIN, N.Y. -- A body of a woman has been found in the area where the New York State Police and others have spent days searching for a missing Upstate New York woman.

The body of a white woman was found Thursday near State Route 17 in Apalachin, troopers said in a news release this afternoon. Police did not release the womans identity.

Police have spent days searching the same area for Casie Weese, of Glen Aubrey, a white woman who was reported missing early Sunday.

Weese, 37, went missing after leaving a party with her husband, troopers said. She was last seen walking east on Main Street in Apalachin, a small hamlet west of Binghamton in Tioga County.

Police have used a drone, a helicopter and a K-9 from another police department to search for Weese. Officers and people from other agencies also joined in the search.

Early Sunday, the couple left the party in their car and started driving east on Main Street in Apalachin, troopers said. They only traveled a short distance when their car broke down on Main Street with a flat tire, troopers said.

Casie Weeses husband, Ronnie Weese, told police he asked his daughter to call 911 to report her mother missing after she did not return home later Sunday. He also told police he and Casie had a disagreement before she walked away hours earlier, police said.

When state police interviewed Ronnie Weese troopers said they saw a spare tire on the car. They also said he was cooperating with the investigation.

Ronnie Weese posted on social media several times, urging his wife to come home and asking for people to watch out for her.

Casie Weese

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Manx Government in talks with airlines to serve key routes

The Manx Government says it's in talks with other airlines following the collapse of Flybe.

The patient transfer contract provides a significant number of flight bookings and the Government is talking with other airlines that are interested in continuing to serve the Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham routes.

Officials says they are confident that another operator will be keen to take on these popular routes.

All of scheduled patient transfers were advised this morning of the cancellations of the flights and we would encourage anyone scheduled to travel in the next few days to check the patient transfer website for the latest details or call +44 1624 642673.

Almost 50% of flights into and out of Ronaldsway were operated by Flybe.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a $8.3 billion emergency funding bill to help contain and treat the novel outbreak in the United States.

The measure passed with a 415-2 vote on Wednesday afternoon (local time) will head to the Senate for an expected swift vote on Thursday.

Eleven people have died from the novel in the United States and more than 100 people have been confirmed infected. More than 90,000 people have been infected with the virus worldwide and more than 3,100 have died from complications associated with the infection.

The bill includes $3 billion to develop vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for coronavirus; $2.2 billion for public health response efforts; $1 billion for medical supplies and other health care preparedness efforts.

In addition, the bill includes low-interest loans to help small businesses survive the economic damages brought on by the crisis. It also includes $1.25 billion to help in overseas efforts to contain the outbreak.
The government on Thursday asserted there is no shortage of raw ingredients or medicines in the country for next three months and a group of ministers is monitoring the situation on a daily basis to ensure preparedness for the challenge posed by the outbreak.

All initiatives are being taken to ensure there is no impact of the disease in India, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda said.

"There is no shortage of any APIs in the country. We have sufficient APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and medicines in the country," he said adding "for another three months there is no shortage for undertaking production in the pharma sector".

Gowda was addressing the 5th international exhibition and conference on pharmaceutical and medical industry organised by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Gujarat government and industry chamber Ficci.

"Our government has taken all initiatives to ensure that as far as our country is concerned, should be stopped, and there is no hazard as far as this issue is concerned," he said.

is a challenge and "we should make all efforts that need to be taken...," he added.

Speaking on the preparedness for coronavirus in the country, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizer Mansukh Mandaviya said the government has formed a group of ministers for this and it is tackling and monitoring the situation on a daily basis.

"A task force has also been set up regarding APIs and I am leading it. We have decided to increase the production of APIs in the country so that we are not dependent on any country for them," he said.

Mandaviya further said,"We have discussed in detail to ensure that we are able to sustain in the international markets regarding the APIs and we are shortly coming out with two policies. The benefit of these schemes will be for the API parks and medical drug parks. India will become self-sustained in APIs."



Talking about the restrictions imposed recently on exports of 26 APIs and formulations, he told reporters: "It is not a permanent measure and is being reviewed on daily basis. It has been done to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines in the country regarding coronavirus."



On Tuesday, India, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, restricted the export of common medicines such as paracetamol and 25 other pharmaceutical ingredients and drugs made from them, as it looks to prevent shortages amid concerns of the coronavirus outbreak turning into a pandemic.

Besides over-the-counter painkiller and fever reducer paracetamol, drugs restricted for exports included common antibiotics metronidazole, and those used to treat bacterial and other infections as well as Vitamin B1 and B12 ingredients.

A notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had said the export of 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations would require licence.

"A crisis like this also provides a vision and we are also planning on how to grow in the API sector in future and ... we are coming with policies to ensure growth of APIs and medical device sector in the country. Action plan for this is being prepared and stakeholders consultation at secretary level has started," Mandaviya added.

Highlighting the importance of pharma sector in the country, the minister said, India is a developed country in the sector and despite global recession, the industry is growing at 12 per cent and medical device sector is growing between 20-25 per cent.

The government also launched a 'Pharma Bureau', which will help facilitate both foreign as well as domestic investment in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry in India. Pharma Bureau will act as a policy think tank to support the government as well as the industry.
Ben Affleck has the sweetest story about "Star Wars" actor Adam Driver.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday, the "Batman v. Superman" actor recalled how Driver sent special gits to his 8-year-old son Samuel on his birthday.

Knowing that his son is a "Star Wars" fan, Affleck asked his co-star Adam Driver to record a video of him as Kylo Ren as he greets the birthday boy a Happy Birthday. Driver happily obliged.

Kylo Ren: The Real Hero

In addition to the video, the "Justice League" star brought presents in advance for his son's birthday party while he was out of the country shooting a movie with Driver.

After rushing back to Los Angeles to head directly to his son's party, Affleck found out that the presents he ordered did not arrive.

It meant he was going to show up at his son's birthday party with no gift, explaining that there was as a "sinking, awful feeling" not having something to give to his loved one.

When Driver found out what happened, he saved Ben Affleck by sending him "Star Wars" themed toys and even a signed photograph of Kylo Ren.

Affleck recalled that at the last minute, Driver reached out to Affleck's assistant so he could send him the presents.

The dad went on to describe how the events unfolded when explaining to his son why his gifts did not get there on time.

He reportedly told Samuel, "But I did get a present from somebody who really wanted to make sure you got a gift,' and he was like, 'Who?' and I said, 'Kylo Ren.'"

Ben Affleck then played the video of Driver as Kylo Ren and detailed the exact moment to be "an incredibly moving and powerful moment" while holding back tears.

Reflecting on Driver's generosity, he concluded, "Adam made me a hero to my kid and I will never, ever, ever forget it."

Affleck added that it is a really good lesson in doing "small gestures of kindness."

Adam Driver, Ben Affleck Co-Star in a Movie

Ben Affleck and Adam Driver were recently spotted on the set of their latest movie "The Last Duel" in Sarlat, France. The movie is directed by Ridley Scott but the film is based on Eric Jagger's 2004 nonfiction book, "The Latest Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France."

The script comes from Nicole Holofcener as well as Affleck and Matt Damon, marking the first time the latter two have shared a writing credit ever since winning the 1998 movie "Good Will Hunting."

The film tells the story of Jean de Carrouges (Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Driver) who are based on two real-life 14th century knights.

After Jean returns from war, he accuses Jacques of raping his wife and turns to King Charles VI for help.

King Charles VI, in turn, ordered the two former friends to fight to the death. If Jean loses, not only will he die, but his wife will also be burned to death.

Ben Affleck plays a supporting role in the film. "The Last Duel" will premiere in late 2020 or early 2021.
Washington, DC  US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an $8.3bn measure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak that provides federal public health agencies with money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments and helps state and local governments prepare and respond to the threat.

About $435m of the spending is designated for health systems in other countries, and $300m for humanitarian aid.

Incidence of the coronavirus is rising in the United States as people showing symptoms of the highly contagious disease COVID-19 seek treatment, are tested and diagnosed.

The risk in the United States as whole, is still low, Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief infectious disease specialist at the US National Institutes of Health, told reporters at the White House on Thursday.

About 80 percent or more of individuals would do well without needing any medical intervention. However, if you are elderly, and have underlying conditions  the risk of those individuals getting into trouble is significantly higher.





US cases of coronavirus infection numbered 162 in 15 states as of Thursday, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University tracking the spread of the virus, but are now changing almost hourly. There have been 11 confirmed deaths from the virus.

When you take the number of cases we know about, that is a snapshot of whats there two, three weeks ago, Ken Cuccinelli, deputy secretary for Homeland Security, told Congress on Thursday.

The Trump administration last week formed a government taskforce under Vice President Mike Pence to address the growing crisis in the US and has been scrambling to respond to the threat of the virus.

I guess weve got to call it a pandemic at this point in time, said Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee which held a hearing on the Trump administrations actions to date.

There is an awful lot about this disease which nobody knows, Johnson said. Hopefully, this will prove to be somewhat seasonal although there are indications it may not be.

The WHO has not yet declared the global spread of the virus a pandemic, a designation that involves widespread global contagion, but said on Wednesday the rate of death is likely 3.4 percent based on data from China, higher than previously thought.

President Trump on Wednesday night disputed the WHOs latest assessment of the risks of the virus in a telephone call to a US television talk show. Trump said he had a hunch based on conversations that the mortality rate was likely 1 percent.

Well, I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number, Trump said.

Medics wheel out a person on a stretcher from the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases, in Washington state [Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]

The Trump administration is beginning to impose travel bans and quarantines to try to contain the entry of people carrying the virus into the US.

People who have been to Hubei province, China, are subject to mandatory quarantine. People travelling from elsewhere in China and Iran are subject to screening and voluntary isolation. This has affected more than 53,000 travellers to date, Cuccinelli.

Separately, the US State Department is implementing aggressive travel restrictions Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a State Department news conference on Thursday.

We are working with Italy and South Korea, two countries hit especially hard, to create effective passenger screenings for passengers coming to the United States, Pompeo said.

South Korea has reported 5,328 cases and Italy 3,089, according to the WHO.

We have also extended offers to help the Islamic Republic of Iran. And we are hoping the government of Iran will heed our offers of humanitarian assistance and medical supplies, Pompeo said.

The US coastguard is now reviewing reports of passenger travel and health from inbound cruise ships. Cruise liners are avoiding taking on passengers from hot zones so they do not have to quarantine an entire ship offshore.

A coastguard helicopter dropped coronavirus test kits to a cruise ship bound for San Francisco that is being monitored, according to Cuccinelli.

We really are handling them one by one, but it is with an eye to not bringing ashore virus spread, Cuccinelli said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency for the entire state with 62 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one death.

More than 9,400 people in California were being monitored. Florida and Washington state, where 10 people have died, declared a state of emergency over the weekend.

The number of confirmed cases is rising in the US as test kits become available to doctors and hospitals treating patients with symptoms of COVID-19.

Test tube with Coronavirus name label is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2020 [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

The CDC has distributed 75,000 test kits that detect the presence of the virus to medical labs around the country and more test kits will become available in coming weeks, Dr Robert Kadlec, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services told Congress on Thursday.

Kadlec said 2,500 kits with 500 tests each, manufactured by a private company, Integrated DNA Technologies, are being sent to labs around the country.

The kits will not be immediately available because lab personnel must be trained and validated, but are expected to come into use over the next two weeks, Kadlec said

That will significantly enhance the ability of doctors and first-line primary care physicians and nurses to judge when their patients should get tested if they suspect coronavirus, Kadlec said.

A parallel effort by HHSs Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is under way with other US medical manufacturers to develop more tests, Kadlec said.
Greece reported its tenth case of coronavirus on Thursday, a person related to an individual who recently traveled to Israel and Egypt, health authorities said, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

Greece on Wednesday ordered the closure of schools and banned public gatherings in three districts in the west of the country from Thursday as a precaution after a person from the region tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said.

That person had recently returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt.

The ban was in effect for 48 hours and subject to review, authorities said.
WASHINGTON  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday the Trump administration would take "all necessary measures" to shield U.S. military and other personnel from a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court.

The international court, based in the Hague, Netherlands, ruled Thursday that its prosecutors could move forward with an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Taliban, Afghan forces and American military and CIA personnel.

"This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body," Pompeo said at the State Department.

"It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan, which is the best chance for peace in a generation," he said.

U.S. and Taliban negotiators signed an agreement Saturday that could end America's longest war, although renewed violence in Afghanistan threatens to undermine it.

The United States launched an airstrike against Taliban forces Wednesday after the militant Islamic group conducted 43 attacks on Afghan troops.

Pompeo acknowledged the peace deal hit a potential snag. Under the agreement signed Saturday, the United States committed to a timetable for the full withdrawal of 13,000 American troops in Afghanistan; in exchange, the Taliban agreed to sever its ties with al-Qaida, the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks against the USA.

"We still have confidence that the Taliban leadership is working to deliver on its commitments. We're working to deliver on ours," Pompeo said Thursday.

"We're not naive, everything's got to be verified," he said. "There will be days when we ... have to really drive this process forward, but we're determined to do that."

He said the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, is in Kabul, working with the Taliban and the Afghan government to set up intra-Afghan negotiations, which U.S. officials hope will lead to a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing agreement between those two factions.

Story continues

Before those talks begin, the United States is pushing the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban fighters, in exchange for as many as 1,000 Afghan security forces held by the Taliban. The Afghan government objected to the prisoner release, and Republican lawmakers in Washington criticized that proposal, saying the Taliban fighters are terrorists who should not be freed.

"It's time for prisoners exchanges to take place," Pompeo said. He called on the Taliban and the Afghan government to "stop posturing" and start negotiating.

Pompeo did not specify what steps the State Department would take to shield Americans from the International Criminal Court's investigation. He and other members of the Trump administration have long argued that the body threatens U.S. sovereignty and has no jurisdiction over American citizens.

"We will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, unlawful so-called court," Pompeo said.

Thursday's decision from the international court marks the first time its prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has been authorized to investigate U.S. forces. After a preliminary probe in Afghanistan that lasted more than a decade, Bensouda asked judges in November 2017 to authorize a far-reaching investigation.

She said there is information that members of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence against conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan and other locations, principally in the 2003-2004 period.

The State Department has barred some ICC officials from entering the USA, a move aimed at protecting U.S. military and intelligence personnel from the court's reach.

In announcing that decision last year, Pompeo said the State Department issued visa restrictions on ICC officials who were involved in investigations of U.S. personnel.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives to the signing of a U.S.-Taliban agreement in the Qatari capital of Doha on Feb. 29.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pompeo says US will shield troops from international war crimes probe
05.03.2020: Borregaard ASA (Borregaard, OSE ticker: BRG)

Reference is made to the stock exchange notice of 28 February 2020 where Borregaard announced the intent to repurchase up to 300,000 of its outstanding common stock.

Borregaard has today purchased 20,000 own shares through broker at an average price of NOK 104.83 per share.

After this transaction Borregaard holds a total of 189,097 own shares, representing 0.19% of total shares outstanding.

Contact:

Lotte Kvinlaug, Investor Relations Officer, +47 922 86 909

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Detroit Prep, the free public charter elementary school on Detroits East Side, has seen its ups and downs. But this renovated school building, formerly Anna Joyce Elementary (designed in 1916 by Wirt Rowland), hints at a brighter future for the communitys next generation.

When cofounder Kyle Smitley first came across the building in 2017, it had been boarded up for a decade. Inside it was completely dark and two or three feet of peeling paint strips covered the floors, making it difficult to realize that the flooring was even wood, recalls John Waller, managing director of Gensler Detroit.

It had good bones but was in bad shape, and Kyle kept telling the design team it had potential, adds John. We all just had to realize it.

For Gensler, some of the biggest challenges included how to bring the building up to current code without disrupting the character that had originally intrigued the firm. Instead of hiding all the electrical systems in a dropped ceiling, John and his team chose to keep the corridors open as they were originally constructed. The hardwood floors were saved and stained darker, even though a luxury vinyl wouldve been cheaper, and all of the classrooms built-ins were kept and modified to fit the number of students in todays classes. Minimalist lighting was added to allow the charm of the 20th-century design to shine.

Yes, a lot of the budget went to new plumbing and electric, plus reinforcing the roof with structural steel to hold the seven-ton HVAC units, but that just meant Gensler had to get creative. We kept as much as we could even if it looked raw, Waller says. It was important to respect and maintain those details.

For Kyle, maintaining the buildings history was an important consideration, but she also wanted the space to feel joyful. During one sleepless night with her newborn daughter in February of 2019, her exhausted brain connected all of the pieces and a palette emerged. Looking to the whimsy of Wes Anderson films, she now knew how to tackle the interiors.

Story continues

Sophisticated design and elementary schools dont often go hand in hand, but why shouldnt they? We didnt want it to be sterile, and we wanted to activate as much space for learning as possible, she says. All the interior design work from hallway details to paints and stains to the punchy bathroom tile layouts was the doing of Hudson and Sterling.

Pastel blue and yellow, colors that were already present on the second floor, are now found throughout the building in their original shades, plus a soft purple and mint green. (Sherwin-Williams Paint donated 200 gallons of paint.) Fireclay Tile, a partner Kyle raves about, donated $150,000 worth of tile to further beautify the rejuvenated building. They really came shoulder to shoulder with us and immediately understood why this project matters, she says. (Thanks to the relationships between brands and the interior design firm, the school was able to get more than $200,000 worth of donations like these.)

The offices large circular desk, also designed by Hudson and Sterling, is modeled after one in the Anderson film The Grand Budapest Hotel. Charles Dickens anthologies are piled high, and theres plenty of vintage photography, accessories from a local estate sale, and pieces from Target, Article, and Wayfair. The framed art, printed directly from the Library of Congress, was donated by Framebridge.

The community aspect of this project and the amount of support Kyle and her team have received continue to astound her. They started off with the goal of saving this architectural masterpiece, but the school has breathed life back into the neighborhood and represents the true meaning of the word regrowth, says engineer Dominic Paone of Integrated Design Solutions. The 100-plus-year-old building is now a home for Detroit schoolchildren for generations to come. Who wouldnt want to learn in this happy, charming building?

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
SINGAPORE, March 5 (Reuters) - Pricing agency S&P Global Platts said on Thursday it had facilitated a first trade for the Japan-Korea-Marker (JKM) derivatives in its pricing process also known as market-on-close (MOC).

Commodities trader Trafigura bid for 5 lots of April JKM at $3.45 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to which trader Vitol eventually sold, Ciaran Roe, head of LNG pricing at S&P Global Platts, told Reuters.

"Today's trade follows weeks of building interest in S&P Global Platts LNG derivatives MOC, with a growing number of named bids and offers, as well as time spreads, reported by market participants based in Singapore," he added.

Platts, a unit of S&P Global Inc, saw derivatives activity on its MOC only start to build up in 2020, in line with an overall growth in LNG derivatives trade, Roe said. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; editing by David Evans)
LONDON  The International Criminal Court ruled on Thursday that its chief prosecutor could open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan including any that may have been committed by Americans, a step that infuriated the Trump administration.

The ruling by an appeals chamber of the court in The Hague reversed a lower chambers decision that had halted an inquiry into the behavior of forces from the United States, which does not recognize the courts jurisdiction. Washington revoked the visa of the courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, last year after she had signaled her intentions to pursue the case.

The reversal of the lower chambers decision was widely viewed as a vindication of complaints by rights activists and legal scholars, who said that the lower chamber had buckled to intimidation by the Trump administration and had raised doubts about the courts independence.

The ICC Appeals Chambers decision to greenlight an investigation of brutal crimes in Afghanistan despite extreme pressure reaffirms the courts essential role for victims when all other doors to justice are closed, said Param-Preet Singh, the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.
The biggest office developer in Europe sold 9 buildings for over EUR 545 million and leased more than 171,000 sqm* in 16 city markets. Skanska remains a leader on the European real estate scene and strongly believes in the markets where it is already present. The company plans to sustainably

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The Ice Man cometh to meet the Doyenne of Death at the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival on Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. in the Caribou Shopping Center in Nederland, Colorado.

Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death, has presented The Newly-Dead Game at the festival since 2011. She also presents the award-winning documentary, "Grandpa's in the TUFF Shed," which tells the wild and wacky story of how the Frozen Dead Guy came to be there in Nederland.

The Frozen Dead Guy, Bredo Morstoel, is kept deeply chilled by 1,000 pounds of dry ice, replenished every two weeks. His body is kept inside a metal coffin, inside a box surrounded by dry ice, inside a TUFF Shed. The original Ice Man for many years was Bo Schaffer. Now, Brad Wickham holds that honor.

Brad Wickham will join Gail Rubin at the 4:00 p.m. showing of "Grandpa's in the TUFF Shed" for a Q&A with the audience. They'll talk about what it's like to keep the Frozen Dead Guy supplied with dry ice, and how he came to have this most unusual job. The event takes place in the Caribou Shopping Center, 20 Lakeview Drive. Look for the bright red EVENT banners!

News media are welcome to cover this event. Contact Gail Rubin on her cell phone to make arrangements: 505-363-7514. Here's a preview video about her activities at the festival:

About Frozen Dead Guy Days

The Frozen Dead Guy Days festival annually draws 20,000 to 25,000 people to the tiny mountain town of Nederland. Events include a parade of hearses, costumed team coffin racing over a snowy obstacle course, costumed polar plunging, frozen turkey bowling and salmon tossing, lots of music, and much more! Learn about all the details at www.FrozenDeadGuyDays.org.

Showings of "Grandpa's in the TUFF Shed" and The Newly-Dead Game are sponsored by AquamationInfo.com, providing the latest information about the alkaline hydrolysis method of body disposition, available in Colorado. You can learn more about this approach in this video: https://youtu.be/PUjBGuHvXDU
[March 05, 2020] Enrollment Now Open at Colorado Preparatory Academy for the 2020-2021 School Year

Colorado Preparatory Academy (CPA), a public school program of the Colorado Digital Board of Cooperative Education Services, is now enrolling for the 2020-2021 school year. CPA offers a tuition-free education to students statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade. Specializing in serving advanced learners, CPA offers families an alternative to the traditional brick-and-mortar learning environment by combining online instruction, a rigorous curriculum and the support of state-licensed teachers. "At Colorado Preparatory Academy, education is our passion," said Head of School Nicole Tiley. "We believe that by working in close partnership with families, students will excel and grow in our program, and go on to accomplish incredible things. We look forward to welcoming new families into our community for the coming school year." CPA students across all grade levels are offered a full course load in the core subjects of English language arts, math, science, history, world languages, art and music, as well as Advanced Placement courss for high school students. Through concurrent enrollment partnerships with over 25 community colleges statewide, as well as Colorado State University Global, CPA offers students the opportunity to take tuition-free college courses along with their high school curriculum.



Students choose to attend public school at home for a variety of reasons, including advanced learning, a bullying-free environment, and the ability to balance extracurricular pursuits or medical needs with academic priorities. CPA's online and blended approach to K-12 education gives students the opportunity to pursue academic goals in a supportive environment that recognizes their individual learning styles, academic needs, and personal goals. Resources are available to help CPA students and families navigate the online and blended learning experience. In addition to scheduled classes, teachers regularly communicate with students and families via phone and email in order to ensure they are supported and appropriately challenged.

Throughout the school year, CPA hosts field trips and social outings and celebrates graduating seniors with an in-person commencement ceremony in the spring. Virtual clubs and organizations allow students to further explore shared interests together in an online setting. For more information and to learn about enrollment requirements visit cpa.k12.com or download the free K12 app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Colorado Preparatory Academy Colorado Preparatory Academy (CPA) is an accredited, full-time online public school program of the Colorado Digital Board of Cooperative Education Services that serves Colorado students statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade. As part of the Colorado public school system, CPA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about CPA, visit cpa.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005669/en/

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A Delhi court Thursday issued a fresh date, March 20 at 5.30 am, for execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana fixed the new date after being informed by the Delhi government that the convicts have exhausted all their legal remedies.

The death row convicts are: Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

Their lawyer told the court that there was no legal impediment for it in proceeding to fix the date of execution.

The Delhi government had on Wednesday moved court seeking fresh date for the execution hours after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan.

The Delhi government had told the court that all legal remedies of the convicts have been exhausted and nothing survives now.

The lawyer for the prosecution also said no notice was required.

The court had on Monday deferred till further order the hanging the convicts that was scheduled for Tuesday.

The execution of their death warrants has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies. All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together.

The President had already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

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 had 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.
A person working for the welfare of



animals has been booked on charges of causing the death of a cat kept under his care by the feline owner in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday.

The complainant, Bhavin Acharya (30), left his cat under the care of Vikrant Mane and gave him Rs 500 to feed to pet when he went for a vacation on February 29.

However, when he returned on Wednesday and called up Mane, the latter told him he would come with the cat in 10 minutes, but did not do so, a police spokesperson said.

Acharya then went to Mane's house at Vayle Nagar in Kalyan township to enquire and the accused then told him that the cat got lost.

Later, Acharya found a foul smelling gunny bag lying behind a building in Vayle Nagar. When he opened the bag, he found the carcass of his cat in it, the police said.

He then lodged a police complaint against Mane under Indian Penal Code sections 429 (mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless an animal), and provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

No arrest has been made so far, the police said, adding that an investigation was on into the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Armenian Defense Minister Charged With Embezzlement

By RFE/RL's Armenian Service March 04, 2020

YEREVAN -- Former Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian has been charged with embezzling more than $2 million worth of state funds during his tenure.

Ohanian was banned from leaving the country while awaiting trial, a spokeswoman for the state investigation service told RFE/RL on March 4.

The spokeswoman, Marina Ogandzhanyan, added that the investigation is ongoing as "measures are being taken to clarify the entire circle of persons" involved in the case, which related to the sale of government property at below-market prices.

Ohanian served as defense minister from 2008 to 2016.

He is also under investigation for possible unlawful actions during events in March 2008 when 10 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters following a disputed presidential election.

Ohanian rejects the allegations in both cases.

He is among dozens of former officials, including former President Robert Kocharian, who are facing different charges and are awaiting trial.

Kocharian denies wrongdoing.

Former President Serzh Sarksian, who succeeded Kocharian, is being investigated for allegedly embezzling about $1 million in state funds and abuse of power.

Protests erupted in April 2018 after Sarksian reneged on a promise not to become prime minister following two consecutive presidential terms.

Under the rule of Sarksian and his former allies, critics said they have trampled on democracy, and engaged in large-scale corruption and state mismanagement.

They deny those allegations.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/former-armenian- minister-oganyan-charged-with -embezzlement/30469051.html

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

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English Danish

Company announcement 5/2020

Sborg/Copenhagen, March 5, 2020

Resolutions from the annual general meeting of NNIT A/S

Today, NNIT A/S held its annual general meeting, at which the following were adopted:

Financial year 2019 and 2020

The Company's audited annual report 2019 was adopted.

Distribution of profit according to the adopted annual report 2019 was adopted.The dividend payout for 2019 will be DKK 2.00 per share of a nominal value of DKK 10. Including interim dividend, a total of DKK 4.00 per share of a nominal value of DKK 10 is paid out for the financial year 2019.

The remuneration of the Board of Directors for 2020 was adopted.

The Companys revised Remuneration Policy was adopted.

Elections

Re-election of Carsten Dilling as Chairman of the Board of Directors and re-election of Peter Haahr as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Re-election of Anne Broeng, Caroline Serfass, Christian Kanstrup and Eivind Kolding as members of the Board of Directors.

Re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab as the Company's auditor.

Shares and capital

Authorization to the Board of Directors to in the period until the annual general meeting in 2021 approve the acquisition of treasury shares with a total nominal value of up to 10% of the share capital, subject to the Companys holding of treasury share not exceeding 10% of the share capital.

Composition of the Board of Directors and committees

After the annual general meeting, the elected Board of Directors held a Board meeting to appoint members of its Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee.

The Board decided that the Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee shall be composed as follows:

Carsten Dilling (Chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Remuneration Committee)

Peter Haahr (Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Remuneration Committee)

Anne Broeng (member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee)

Christian Kanstrup (member of the Board of Directors and member of the Audit Committee)

Eivind Kolding (member of the Board of Directors, member of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee)

Caroline Serfass (member of the Board)

Anders Vidstrup (employee representative)

Brankica Markovic (employee representative)

Trine Io Bjerregaard (employee representative)

Contact for further information

Investor relations:

Jens Bluitgen Binger

Head of Investor Relations

+45 3079 9222

jblb@nnit.com

Media contacts:

Helga Heyn

NNIT Communications

Tel: +45 3077 8141

hhey@nnit.com

About NNIT

NNIT A/S is one of Denmarks leading IT service providers and consultancies. NNIT A/S offers a wide range of IT services and solutions to its clients, primarily in the life sciences sector in Denmark and internationally and to clients in the public, enterprise and finance sectors in Denmark. As of December 31, 2019, NNIT A/S had 3,207 employees. NNIT has approximately 350 clients of which around 150 are located outside Denmark. More than 30% are international life sciences clients (December 2019). For more information please visit www.nnit.com .

Attachment
China is eyeing "new infrastructure" projects to offset the economic impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and boost sustainable growth.



The country will accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers, said a Wednesday meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Rather than resorting to a massive government-led stimulus to shore up growth, China is seeking more targeted investments in projects that facilitate innovation and improve weak areas in economic and social development.

A total of 25 provincial-level regions have put new infrastructure projects in their government work reports, with 21 intending to advance 5G network construction.

Among the first batch of major projects to be constructed in east China's Zhejiang Province this year, 61 percent are in the high-tech field, compared with only 41 percent from the previous year.

On Tuesday, the construction of the Alibaba Damo Academy started in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang. With an investment of 20 billion yuan (about 2.9 billion U.S. dollars), the academy is expected to become an incubator of strategic innovation industries such as big data, artificial intelligence, driverless cars and quantum computing.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has also pushed China Unicom to accelerate the construction of 5G network infrastructure. The leading telecom operator announced in February that it would work with China Telecom to finish the construction of 250,000 5G base stations across the country by the end of the third quarter, earlier than previously planned.

"Instead of simply turning to the old playbook of investment stimulus, the country should promote a new round of infrastructure construction through reform and innovation," said Ren Zeping, chief economist of Chinese property developer Evergrande.

Investors have already jumped on the bandwagon. In China's A-share market, stocks related to 5G networks, industrial internet, inter-city transit systems, vehicle charging stations and data centers -- all considered as new infrastructure -- saw continued fund inflows, with exchange-traded funds linked to these shares registering gains in the past weeks.

While policy incentives have guided market funds into the sector, the government is also expected to encourage new infrastructure via special bonds, public-private partnerships and credit support, said Tang Chuan, an expert with 360 Finance, noting that about 714.8 billion yuan of special-purpose bonds were issued in January, 10 times the amount of general bonds issued.

Lu Ting, chief China economist with Nomura, cautioned against the approval of massive infrastructure projects with low returns, but said that certain investments in major city infrastructure such as permanent epidemic control centers are necessary, as the epidemic revealed vulnerabilities in these areas.

"It is important that the government spends more on concrete projects and pools resources to areas including the healthcare system, medical research and education," Lu said.
The district administration



has started the process of obtaining no-objection certificates from various departments, including Railways and India Post, to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, a senior official said on Thursday.

BJP state president Chandrakant Patil had last week reiterated his party's demand to rename the city, with the Shiv Sena claiming that party supremo late Balasaheb Thackeray had already done so 25 years ago.

The state government had asked the district administration to obtain NOCs from the railways and postal department to rename Aurangabad, acting Collector Bhanudas Palwe said.

"The divisional commissioner's office asked us to obtain NOCs from the railways and postal department. As soon as we receive the documents, we will send them to higher officials," Palwe said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Africas largest Internet Exchange Point (IXP), NAPAfrica has reached a peak traffic milestone of 1 Terabit per second (Tbps).

Manager of Interconnection and Peering at Teraco, Andrew Owens, said this is a noteworthy milestone for the continent.

The NAPAfrica members, including global content and cloud providers, over 250 telecommunication providers, managed service providers and a growing enterprise base, are the driving force behind achieving this momentous goal, Owens said.

When NAPAfrica was first launched in 2012, it recorded traffic of 532Mbps. The 1Tbps peak represents a growth of approximately 1,884-times.

The exchange started with five members and today has in excess of 440 unique ASNs connected from across the world, including 26 African countries, Teraco said.

In a relatively short space of time NAPAfrica has become a significant contributor to the Internet ecosystem within Africa. This was one of our ultimate goals, to be of value to our members and to sustainably develop the African Internet ecosystem, said Owens.

The exchange is the seventh-biggest in the world.

Growth of Internet in Africa

Teraco said NAPAfricas recent growth was driven by uptake in networks and enterprises accessing key content and cloud services, as well as general use of the Internet across Africa, with users visiting popular sites such as Netflix, Facebook, and YouTube.

Owens explained that interest shown by neighbouring countries has been significant.

Telcos in countries as far afield as Angola, Togo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have joined the exchange. NAPAfrica has become the Internet hub for Sub-Saharan Africa, Owens said.

More recently, the exchange has also seen a growing trend of enterprises and banks joining NAPAfrica to leverage its efficient and cost-effective access to content and cloud operators.

The graphs below show the peak traffic of 1Tbps on the NAPAfrica IXP on 3 March 2020.

1 Tbps peak traffic

Now read: South African online news records smashed
Chris Quinn was surprised to see the dog enclosure at Wychwood Barns Park locked. After finding a similar bike lock on the other gate, when it should have been open Saturday evening, the confused and disappointed Quinn walked his energetic pup home.

Quinn thought it might have been the city  but the city says no. The identity of the gate locker is a mystery. Nobody seems to have witnessed the Saturday stealth, but dog owners suspect it was a vigilante who wants them  and their pets  out of the park.

Torontos off-leash enclosures have, since they were established, sparked friction between canine owners, other park users and neighbours. The city dismantled one off-leash enclosure, in Ledbury Park, after a teeth-baring turf war.

I sometimes joke that after you settle an off-leash dog dispute you should go and negotiate Middle East peace, says Joe Mihevc, who until 2018 represented on city council the area around Artscape Wychwood Barns, a community hub near Christie St. and St. Clair Ave. W.

I would tell residents If you dont have an enclosure the whole park is a dog park. But the gulf between dog lovers and non-dog people is huge, it can turn into war.

Wychwood dog folks are accustomed to criticism. Quinn says his wife has heard a woman in a condo across the street yell at dog owners and blast them, from a window, with recorded sounds of barking dogs.

One day a couple of months ago his dog Chuck was quietly playing with another dog, he says, when the recording got the dogs barking. The dog got so riled his wife had to take it home.

Thats what we dont understand  there are very restrictive hours at this dog park and (the dogs) are pretty quiet, Quinn says. They run around and maybe bark once in a while to get (another dogs) attention.

Signs tell users the enclosure is open Tuesday to Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sunday and Monday from 10 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. They also warn against excessive barking and spell out a code of conduct.

Tash Francesca, watching her dog Lupita play in the enclosure, says a condo dweller has yelled at her and others that a school is nearby and they should be ashamed of themselves.

The fact that somebody locked the gates  a dog owner later cut the locks off  has replaced normal banter among visitors.

It feels like a real community here but lately not as much, Francesca says.

Have your say

Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents the area now, says his office has fielded many outraged complaints  about 40 one night alone  from a park neighbour he declined to name. Mihevc says he fielded similar complaints for years.

Matlow has no idea who locked the gates but says thats completely unacceptable and unfair to everyone in the neighbourhood who appreciates having a dog park accessible to them and their pets.

Communities have difficult debates  if there should be a dog park and what hours. But the way it works in a democracy, is if you dont like the outcome you can campaign to change the decision.

The Star could not access the condominium from which dog owners heard yelling. None of the owners in the park Wednesday could identify the person. Some disagreed on which unit has been the source of the noise.

How to settle such a dispute, which Matlow does not want to escalate, remains unclear. While there is a process for people to complain about dogs and their owners, there is no obvious way for dog owners to complain about complainers.

Asked if locking gates of a city facility is illegal, a Toronto police spokesperson says it all depends on the circumstances at the time of the investigation, after a complaint is made. We cannot speculate, however, if it is possible that a charge may be laid.

City staff are finishing a review of existing off-leash areas including Wychwood Barns Park. A summary of feedback from a September public consultation says people wanted the enclosure there open more hours and for dogs to be able to access running water when its closed.

Quinn and Chuck, meanwhile, have no plans to stay away. A pup like him needs exercise and this is a great place to get it.
Low-cost international carrier Air India Express, which is up for sale along with parent Air India, added 186 people to its workforce in the current fiscal through 14 employment advertisements, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Also, the tenure of the incumbent chief executive officer (CEO) is valid till April 30 this year, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

"A total of 14 employment advertisements were given by Air India Express in FY 2019 -2020 and 186 employees have been inducted so far," the minister said in his reply.

A two-tier selection procedure has been laid down for regular appointment to the post of CEO of Air India Express, he said in response to another question.

The selection procedure provides for appointment of CEO with the approval of government based on the recommendations of a duly constituted Selection Committee and Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) of Air India Board, Puri said.

K Shyam Sundar is the current CEO of Air India Express.

In reply to a question on Air India Express market share, Puri said it stood at 5.9 per cent and 6.1 per cent in FY18 and FY19 respectively, while market share in the April-December period of the current fiscal was 7.1 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Matthew Bransgrove, partner at Bransgroves Lawyers, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, on March 5, 2020. (NTD Television)

SYDNEY, AustraliaSydney lawyer Matthew Bransgrove said he was very impressed by Shen Yun Performing Arts after watching the world-renowned performance for the very first time as it begins its 2020 Australian tour.

I thought the performers are very good. Its a magnificent, magnificent performance, he said, adding, Its good to see Chinese culture.

With performances at Sydneys Capitol Theatre through until March 22, Shen Yun has tasked itself with the mission of reviving Chinas 5,000 years of divinely-inspired traditional culture that was once almost lost with the fall of China to the communist despot Mao Zedong.

Bransgrove said he agreed that Shen Yuns mission is very important and was encouraged to see that Shen Yuns New York headquarters meant that the flame of freedom is alive in the West, which can act as a sanctuary for the Chinese people from communism.

Shen Yun is currently not allowed to perform in China because the communist regime views traditional culture as a threat to its power. This was demonstrated by the regimes decades of political campaigns aimed at eradicating Chinas rich cultural heritage.

Bransgrove said the stories that the Shen Yun dancers communicated were very, very impactful for him, particularly the ones that shared the common human story of a peoples struggle against a despotic power trying to suppress the human spirit.

Europe went through the dark ages. Obviously, China, going through this communist phase, is having the same problem.

But, he added, I think you cant really crush culture. Communism cant crush culture.

Ultimately, it will be stamped death. And we can all look back and curse Karl Marx for his poisonous idea.

Its good to see the Chinese are standing up for themselves, Bransgrove said.

Its a magnificent, magnificent performance.

With reporting by NTD Television and Melanie Sun.

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.
GODFREY  The flag at Godfrey Fire Station 2 was flown at half staff Thursday in honor of Godfrey Fire Capt. Jake Ringering on the one-year anniversary of his March 5, 2019, death while fighting a fire on Culp Lane near Bethalto.

Ringering, who was 37, died when a wall collapsed, killing him and injuring three other firefighters. Godfrey firefighter Luke Warner, who suffered two broken legs in the incident, has recovered and returned to duty last month.

Ringerings family and Godfrey firefighters on Wednesday held a private remembrance late Thursday afternoon at Station 2 where the captain was stationed.

He embodied this department, Godfrey Fire Chief Erik Kambarian, who has since left the department, said last March. People joined this department because of Jake and people wanted to be like Jake.

Ringerings funeral procession in Alton was miles long and included hundreds of fire and rescue vehicles from dozens of departments from Illinois and Missouri.

It opens all of our eyes, Alton Fire Department Capt. Bill Simon said at the time. Were there to do a task, but you have to be safe. The most important thing is to go home to our families.

In September, a $227,000, 48-foot mobile firefighter training simulator was dedicated in Alton, in Ringerings memory. Its called The Jake.

The mobile unit is used in partnership with Lewis and Clark Community College as part of its Fire Science program, serving parts of seven counties covering more than 2,000 square miles to bring safety training, certifications and new skills to area communities.

Capt. Ringering believed in the importance of training his fellow brothers and, as a natural born leader, gave freely of his time, talent and knowledge of his profession, said Alton Fire Chief Bernie Sebold, who has since left that post for another city role. May all of those who train here forever feel his guidance and remember the lasting impact he had on his community and the fire service. He is missed by many and forgotten by none.
The government has given the go-ahead to State Bank of India and other financial institutions to take over capital-starved Yes Bank, and an announcement is likely to be made soon, highly places sources said on Thursday.

The board of SBI, the country's largest lender, is meeting in Mumbai on Thursday, but it could not be immediately ascertained whether takeover of Yes Bank is on the agenda.

Yes Bank, which is grappling with bad loans, is looking to raise fresh capital but the plans are facing uncertainties.

It has also delayed announcement of 2019 December 2019 quarter results due to the ongoing crisis.

The bank's capital buffers have come down due to non-performing assets.

The sources said the government has cleared a plan for a SBI-led consortium to acquire a controlling stake in the bank.

In a clarification to stock exchanges on reports that the government is said to have approved SBI's plan to buy stake in Yes Bank, the state-owned lender said it would disclose developments, if any, as per Sebi regulations.

"... we will abide by the timelines under Regulation 30 of Sebi (LODR) Regulations 2015 in disclosing the developments, if any in the matter to stock exchanges," it added.

Yes Bank said it would like to clarify that as on date, the bank has not received any such communication from RBI or any other government or regulatory authorities or from the SBI.

"... we are unaware of any such decision. Therefore, we are not in a position to comment on such item," Yes Bank said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

The bourses had sought clarification the reports.

Further, Yes Bank said in the usual and ordinary course of its business continues to explore various means of raising capital/ funds through issuance of securities to diverse set of investors to meet its business or regulatory requirements.

The bank also said that it would keep stock exchanges updated on disclosures required to be made under Sebi regulations.

Yes Bank has been passing through a tumultuous period ever since the Reserve Bank, in August 2018, asked the then chief executive Rana Kapoor to leave by January 31, 2019, amid concerns on governance and loan practices.

Under his successor Ravneet Gill, the lender has disclosed large under-reported stressed assets.

The bank reported its maiden loss in the March 2019 quarter.

Yes Bank had initially planned to raise capital of over USD 2 billion in the current fiscal. Later, its board rejected a USD 1.2 billion investment in the bank by Canadian investor SPGP Group/ Erwin Singh Braich.

Mumbai-headquartered Yes Bank was incorporated in 2004. The bank's asset size stood at Rs 3,71,160 crore at the end of June 2019.

Promoters of Yes Bank -- Madhu Kapur, Yes Capital (India) Pvt Ltd and Mags Finvest -- hold 8.33 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden bank, as per data available on the stock exchanges.

The bank's co-founder Rana Kapoor has sold his entire stake in the bank.

Besides, foreign portfolio investors hold 15.17 per cent stake, state-owned LIC has 8.06 per cent, and mutual funds own 5.09 per cent.

Shares of Yes Bank jumped nearly 26 per cent to Rs 36.85 apiece in late afternoon trade on the BSE.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A chorus of questions broke out Wednesday in Bairdmore School, after a presenter informed a Grade 3 class soy is used to make their crayons  one of many farm-related facts shared with the students during Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A chorus of questions broke out Wednesday in Bairdmore School, after a presenter informed a Grade 3 class soy is used to make their crayons  one of many farm-related facts shared with the students during Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month.

A total of 21 students crowded on the carpet around Samantha Clemis to learn about the crops grown in Manitoba, job opportunities in agriculture, and how technology is being used on farms.

Despite growing up surrounded by farmers fields in Carman, Clemis recalls she and her classmates learned little about the people working all around them to harvest crops.

While agricultural-related topics can be embedded into science, geography and other lessons, agriculture itself wasnt explicitly part of the provincial curriculum, and that hasnt changed.

"When youre in elementary school, you dont really think of agriculture as a future job. Youve got your standard teacher, doctor, whatever, but if you wouldve told me in elementary school that I was going to get an agronomy degree, I wouldnt have believed it," said Clemis, who is studying for a masters in plant science at the University of Manitoba.

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Clemis was motivated to ensure students across the province learn the lessons about agriculture she didnt get the chance to in her grade-school years.

Clemis is one of 165 volunteer agriculture professionals scheduled to visit 188 schools across Manitoba during March to share lessons prepared by Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba.

On Wednesday, her hour-long lesson at the south Winnipeg school included teaching about the 150 types of potato varieties grown across the country, showing mustard seed samples, and telling students about jobs related to farming  many of which require using drones or other advanced technology.

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After asking the students if they liked building with Lego, she told them farm manager and farm equipment repair roles require lots of hands on work.

"It just helps children learn the basics of how their food gets from the farm gate to the plate," said Sue Clayton, executive director of Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba.

Clayton said as Manitobans become more distanced from farms, its important citizens are well-informed about the agriculture industry so they can have trust in the food system. Not only that, she added, but the Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month lessons introduce students to jobs in an industry where theres a high demand for skilled employees.

While the number of farms and farm operators are on the decline Canada-wide, individual farms are getting larger and using more land, according to Statistics Canada. Between 2011 and 2016, the average age for farmers rose, as did the area of cropland across Canada, with the latter increasing almost seven per cent during that time.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Wednesday, March 4, 2020

The Importance of File Management

Research shows that the average worker spends 150 hours/year looking for information. At an average rate of $25/hour, including benefits, that equates to nearly $4,000/year/employee. Multiple $4,000 times the number of employees in a company and the cost is staggering.

Most companies never implemented paper filing systems that could be effectively shared by employees, but as we moved toward digital filing, it seemed not to matter. Here's the problem: Clutter is postponed decisions. Whether the document is paper or digital, decisions are required.

Here are six questions you can use to create an effective file management system:

1) What information do we need to file?

The answer to this question requires the collaboration of management and employees. Management needs to identify the philosophy of information management. One executive might say, "If it won't make us money and we're not required to keep it legally, we don't need it," while another might say, "We anticipate writing the 50-year history of this company. It's important to keep historical records and memorabilia."

2) In what form?

The first decision is whether to store in paper or digital, or both? If it's digital, the next question is, "Which platform?"

3) For how long?

Does your company have a user-friendly records retention program that you regularly implement and update?

4) Who is responsible for filing it?

To eliminate unnecessary file duplication, identify one person to be the official "record keeper" for each project.

5) Who needs access to it?

Whoever creates the document decides who needs access to it, and files accordingly.

6) How can we find it?

Naming conventions and version control are essential for the long-term success of any file management system.

The ability of an employee to accomplish any task or goal is directly related to their ability to find the information they need when they need it.

Research proves that 80% of what we keep we never use, and the more we keep, the less we use -- either because we can't find it or we don't know we have it. Creating and maintaining an effective filing system will increase profit, productivity, and peace of mind.

Barbara Hemphill

Founder, Productive Environment Institute

www.BarbaraHemphill.com

919-349-9247
Adrian Weckler (AW): The German federal data commissioner, Ulrich Kelber, has repeatedly criticised this office in relation to big tech investigations, saying it is moving too slowly. How do you respond to such criticisms?

Helen Dixon (HD): The particular individual who is commenting there has a role specifically in public sector enforcement and has no experience in terms of the type of supervision that's being referenced.

I think anyone who understands the complexity of the new law, the novelty of this one-stop shop that's been created with the cooperation and consistency mechanisms, the fact that there are still independent national DPAs, and that the law in the GDPR has to be reconciled with those national laws - and yet also involve EU administrative law in terms of Article 60 [co-operation between national data protection authorities] - would understand that certainly the first time round, there are a lot of issues that need to be worked out.

AW: Yet he recently compared Ireland's data protection set-up with Germany's 'go-slow' automotive regulator on the diesel emissions issue. Clearly, he is voicing substantial frustration.

HD: We produce an annual report that details all of our activities. You can see that there's a huge span of activities, from individual complaint handling to approving binding corporate rules, to conducting larger-scale investigations, to enforcing against the public services card.

We also receive the annual reports of other data protection authorities. I wonder if anyone were to assess those annual reports, how such a comment ['go-slow'] would stand up to any kind of scrutiny as regards the effectiveness of the data protection regulation.

Up to the end of 2019, just three cross-border cases involving fines had gone through Article 60. None of those were from Germany. Two were from Malta. One was from Lithuania, where the highest fine of 62,000 occurred.

The highest number of concerned data protection authorities involved in decision-making on any of them was three. So there's no particular Ireland story here.

As for that quote you brought up, that was made in the context of the suggestion that the EU should go down the route of a single digital regulator, that would effectively handle the large cross-border cases in terms of big tech companies - just like the EU Commission does in competition law.

It's a matter for the Commission to comment on that, but the EU already considered it when it was creating the one-stop shop under the GDPR, so I think there's very little prospect of that happening in the near term. Neither would it be a silver bullet, because if you look at the EU competition cases that are handled by the EU Commission under Margrethe Vestager, the decisions in these big cases don't happen any quicker anyway. They take several years from start to finish.

AW: So Ireland is not dealing with these big cases too slowly?

HD: There's no particular Irish angle on this unless you want to generate a story or get a few headlines. It's true to say that there is a particular focus from the Germans on Facebook. This is apparent in frequent commentary that is reported from them. So that may well be a reason as to why we've been particularly picked out.

If you look at Germany, there have been none [investigations] of a cross-border nature that have resulted in fines.

If you look at what was the biggest DPA in Europe last year, the ICO, with 700 staff and a large number of cross-border organisations that they supervise, they have yet to bring one through Article 60. France is the same. And the Netherlands, with organisations like Uber and Netflix.

The Dutch commissioner says that they're now running at a backlog of six months, and up to five years, in terms of the volumes coming in. Prior to the application of the GDPR, the Dutch did not have a policy of handling every individual complaint. They applied a policy of 'selective to be effective'. But the GDPR has now necessitated that they handle every individual complaint. So again, there's nothing unique with regards to Ireland.

AW: The Germans also say that Ireland continues to under-resource its data protection authority.

HD: This office needs to continue to grow. But if you look at the growth that it has had and the effort that was involved in winning the budget to recruit the experts in technology and data protection law that we now have, it couldn't have happened any faster than it has happened. But yes, there has to be continued investment.

AW: Your office has flagged before that decisions on WhatsApp and Twitter are likely to be the first of the big ones regarding multinational tech companies. But what is the actual timeline for those now?

HD: I can't quote timelines any longer, because we simply have to take what's coming at us as it comes at us, and deal as expeditiously as we can, step by step.

My quoting a timeline is a little bit like a red rag to a bull. It has become counterproductive. What I can say to you is that we have resolved and bottomed out a lot of procedural questions that were raised with us that we had to answer to reassure data controllers that their interests were protected in the Article 60 process proposed, and which we also had to answer and resolve for ourselves.

Step by step, we will circulate draft decisions now that we've resolved the significant procedural issues.

AW: There is going to be an expectation of substantial fines, especially after the US Federal Trade Commission's $5bn (4.5bn) fine on Facebook last year. Are we looking at that scale of a fine?

HD: It's only once we've made the decision and found substantive infringements that we can then consider the corrective measures and the quantum of any fine applicable.

But I will say to you that one thing we have been busy doing in a general sense, not by reference to any particular inquiry, over the last number of months is procuring expert legal external counsel advice on EU competition law. The fining regime under the GDPR is based on competition law. So we have been looking at how fines by the EU Commission have been applied dating back to the 1960s and looking at what's been published by the commission about the methodology that applies.

But one of the things that has become very clear to us is looking at the deterrent effect of a fine.

Under the GDPR, deterrence is a particularly important reason why the fines are included. They could have stopped at the corrective measures. But the fines are there to be punitive and give rise to deterrence. And deterrence is based on what's already in the [fine] landscape.

So when you're looking at that deterrence effect, a very relevant factor in terms of quantum is the level of fines already existing, globally, in the area.

So if you ask whether the [$5bn] FTC fine is relevant, it is. Just as the fines we've already seen from those existing three decisions in 2019 are relevant. All of that will have to be brought to bear. So there is a relevance because deterrence is based on what's already the landscape and whether you need to move beyond it.

AW: So you're crossing the Ts and dotting the Is to prepare for the announcement of a fine?

HD: Well, a fine is an inevitability at some point. But we've taken the advice not by reference to any particular inquiry. It's just a necessity for us to be armed as a data protection authority.

AW: That sounds like you're lining a fine up.

HD: That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying we procured this legal advice in a general sense in order to make sure I'm armed and equipped, and understand how to exercise my obligations.

AW: On another issue, we're seeing a significant escalation in cameras and facial recognition in public places. In the UK, police are conducting high-profile trials of facial recognition cameras to catch criminals. Do you have any thoughts about this in an Irish context?

HD: It is a particularly invasive technology. From a technological point of view, there are all sorts of issues such as false positives and people of colour faring worse in terms of the matching in facial recognition systems. But it is becoming more and more pervasive. The EU recently gave thought to banning it in public places, although now they seem to have retreated from that position.

But there's no policy or legal position on facial recognition in this jurisdiction. It falls to be regulated largely under the GDPR and by reference to EU case law, in terms of necessity and proportionality.

It would be helpful if policymakers and lawmakers have a strong view on this and give effect to that in a law.

Otherwise, it does fall to be dealt with on a case-by-case assessment by data controllers and subsequently by the Irish DPC.

I think the bar is going to be very high for any data controller who is using facial recognition systems. There are also issues around the databases and the storing of details of individuals alongside their photographs. So it is an area of significant concern. We haven't seen the same types of projects that we're seeing in Wales and London rolling out here in Ireland, but the technology usually catches up in this jurisdiction. So I've no doubt we will be coming across cases of that type to consider.

AW: What about the fast growth of domestic cameras and video cameras such as Amazon's Ring doorbell? In the US, Amazon has brokered agreements between 800 police forces and residents for the sharing of footage from their front-door 'smart' video cameras.

HD: There was an interesting article in the 'New York Times' in the context of the Amazon Ring device and what we're doing to ourselves as societies by installing all of this and inflicting on ourselves a surveillance technology.

The article demonstrated that Amazon's Ring is useful in securing convictions only in a tiny number of cases, a number that is potentially disproportionate to its downsides. So while people seem keen to invest in this type of home technology, it actually doesn't deliver what they think it does.

AW: I think the 'New York Times' has also reported that burglaries and property crime have fallen in the same period as sales of such smart home video cameras have risen though.

HD: That may well be true and is worth considering. For example, the data from the UK, in terms of police using body-worn cameras in riot situations, is that behaviour improves once people realise that the authorities are using audio and video recording equipment.

In terms of regulation, there's no law that prevents individuals from buying an Amazon Ring and installing it. But I think it's worth reflecting on all of this for ourselves that we're building fortresses to what end, around ourselves.

From a data protection point of view, there is case law in the [CJEU] Rynes case. That was on CCTV technology but very specific to a household implementing CCTV technology.

What that said is that a household can avail of the household exemption under the GDPR, provided the CCTV is trained within the perimeter of the house. Typically, Amazon Ring doesn't fall outside of that.

So it may well not be an issue that's for regulation by the data protection authorities under the GDPR, but that still doesn't mean there aren't things to think about.
Adams Oshiomhole has headed to the court of Appeal over an Abuja high court judgement that suspended him as national chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The high court had ruled that the party err in keeping him as national chairman after he was suspended by his state, Edo, chapter of the APC.

The police had earlier taken over the national secretariat of the party following the court ruling.

Read Also: Oshiomhole: PDP Felt They Could Impose Ihedioha On Imo

But the former labour leader has now proceeded to the court of appeal to also seek a stay of execution of the judgement.

Among those he joined as defendants are Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police, as well as the Department of State Services (DSS).
H-E-B representatives bearing flowers, balloons and cookies this week have been surprising teachers and principals with the news that they are finalists for the 2020 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards. Teachers get a $1,000 check for themselves and a $1,000 check for their school  and the applause of their students as their classroom becomes the venue for handshakes, hugs and brief speeches.

The overall statewide winners will be announced in May. Over the next two months, H-E-B will name 40 finalists across the state in various categories and awarding $95,000 to educators and schools.
New Delhi, March 5 : After seizing a Chinese ship which carried nuclear-capable equipment to Pakistan, New Delhi has raised the issue of proliferation with Beijing.

In a media briefing on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, that the Indian authorities had detained a Chinese vessel 'Da Cui Yan' when it berthed in Kandla Port in early February, as it had mis-declared the item that is was carrying.

The examination of the ship, he said, has ascertained that the item is an "autoclave" that is controlled under our "Dual Use Export Control" lists and has military applications.

As per Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) experts, the industrial autoclave seized from the Chinese ship Dai Cui Yun can be used for the manufacture of very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets.

Kumar said the item has been seized by the Indian authorities as per the legal procedure. India, he said, has conveyed its concerns on this issue to China.

The spokesperson said that New Delhi had highlighted that as a friendly country, Beijing will take appropriate measures to ensure that the Chinese entities do not engage in activities that can contribute to proliferation.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Wednesday chaired a leadership meeting to study the major tasks in preventing and controlling the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and stabilizing economic and social development.

Xi made an important speech at Wednesday's meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

After the whole country's arduous efforts, a positive trend has emerged as the epidemic prevention and control situation has seen steady improvement and the resumption of the order of work and life has been accelerating, Xi said.

He called for speeding up the establishment of an economic and social order compatible with the epidemic prevention and control, urging efforts to consolidate and expand the hard-won positive trend, bring the country's economic and social development back to the normal track at an early date, and create conditions for securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating poverty.

Xi stressed a clear understanding of the complexity of the current situation for epidemic prevention and control, as well as the economic and social development.

While the task of containing the epidemic remains arduous and onerous in the outbreak epicenter Hubei Province and its capital city Wuhan, the risk of an outbreak is rising in other regions as more people move around and crowds gather, Xi said, demanding no relaxation in the epidemic response preparedness.

Noting that China should play its part as a major and responsible country, Xi required more international cooperation on epidemic prevention and control.

Xi demanded targeted and solid measures to push for work resumption to minimize the loss caused by the outbreak.

Party committees and governments at all levels should implement the policies and decisions made by the CPC Central Committee, Xi said, calling for seeking truth from facts, and resolutely guarding against the practice of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism.

According to the meeting, continued and solid efforts are needed in strengthening the prevention and control in Hubei and Wuhan, especially at the community level. All COVID-19 patients in severe conditions should be treated at high-level designated hospitals.

The meeting also highlighted epidemic prevention and control in Beijing and other key regions.

It stressed the importance of intensifying epidemic-related scientific research, with strengths concentrated on tackling the most pressing issues.

Differentiated approaches should be adopted to help work and production resume in regions based on their epidemic situations. The production and supply of essential epidemic control materials should be substantially increased and distribution of protective gear be improved to ensure employees work and live in safe and healthy environment.

The meeting underscored unleashing consumption that had been suppressed by the outbreak and stressed the need to strengthen new and upgraded consumption to compensate the lost consumption on goods and services during the outbreak.

It also stressed stabilizing foreign trade and investment, assisting businesses, stabilizing employment, creating more jobs, helping college graduates and migrant workers find work, and solving difficulties for small household businesses.

In the meantime, agricultural production and stable prices of farm produce should be guaranteed. Greater efforts should be made to help poverty-ridden areas and the people, especially migrant workers from impoverished regions, to ensure the goal of poverty eradication is met on time, according to the meeting.
(Alliance News) - Domino's Pizza Group PLC reported "solid" annual trading from its core operations on Thursday, as it continues to both try and sell international operations and find new leadership.

Domino's reported revenue of GBP508.3 million for the 52 weeks to December 29, 3.0% higher than the year before.

UK & Ireland system sales rose 4.8% to GBP1.21 billion, and excluding split stores the rate of growth was 3.7%, easing back from 4.6% growth in Domino's previous financial year.

Pretax profit from continuing operations fell by 14% to GBP75.1 million, with underlying pretax profit dipping by 1.2% to GBP98.8 million. Profit was hit by a GBP18.7 million corporate store impairment.

Domino's has declared a final dividend of 5.56 pence per share. This means a total payout of 9.76p, up 2.7% on 2018's return.

"Our core UK & Ireland business continues to deliver a solid trading result, with UK like-for-like sales up 3.7%. Our digital capabilities continue to fuel this growth, with online sales up 8.8%. Collection also saw a good performance, up 5.3%, and this remains a significant opportunity for us going forward," said Chief Executive David Wild.

Domino's in October last year said it would be pulling out from operations in Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden amid falling sales. The sale for a nominal amount of its Norwegian assets was announced in February.

Domino's on Thursday said it expects this to complete in May, and it is prioritising securing deals for its remaining international operations but conceded "these may take some time".

Regarding its leadership, Domino's requires a new chief executive, a new chief financial officer, and a new chair.

Incumbent CEO David Wild in August last year said he would be retiring when a replacement is found, while CFO David Bauernfeind died in a snorkelling accident whilst on holiday over the Christmas period. Chair Stephen Hemsley left at the end of 2019.

"We have four key priorities: recruiting a new chair, CEO and CFO, reinforcing our core business, rebuilding our franchisee relationship and finding the right owners for our International businesses," said interim Chair Ian Bull.

"We are giving these priorities considerable time and focus and are confident in the long-term prospects for the group."

Looking to 2020, Domino's has guided for net debt to be "slightly lower" than the figure at the end of 2019, being GBP232.6 million.

Shares were 4.0% lower on Thursday morning in London at a price of 292.79 pence each.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
NEW YORK, NY - March 5, 2020 (Investorideas.com Newswire) 5G/ Telecom Stock News - iQSTEL Inc. (OTC: IQST) announced today it has signed an investment banking agreement with a leading New York-based investment banking firm to assist in sourcing capital. The investment banking firm was founded in the early 1980s, is a full-service broker/dealer. The firm has nearly 150 retail brokers in ten offices across the East Coast.

iQSTEL has retained the investment banking firm as placement agent and financial advisor for up to $25 million for 5G infrastructure acquisitions and investments. The Company must meet various terms and conditions which it believes are reasonable and attainable.

5G telecommunications networks are growing rapidly across the globe. Allied Marketing Research estimates the 5G market size will surpass $5.5B for 2020 with a CAGR of 122% from 2021 to 2026. iQSTEL is well positioned throughout Latin America and Europe to take full advantage of this growing industry.

The Company's chairman and chief executive officer, Leandro Iglesias said, "We are pleased to establish this relationship with such a prestigious firm, which validates our business plan. We expect the assistance of this well-established investment banker which will accelerate our growth. We have launched an aggressive acquisition program, beginning due diligence on several acquisition targets".

About iQSTEL Inc.:

iQSTEL (OTC: IQST) www.iQSTEL.com is a technology company offering a wide array of services to the Telecommunications Industry. These include services to International Long-Distance Telecommunications Operators (ILD Wholesale), Retail and Corporate markets (ILD Retail), Submarine Fiber Optic Network capacity, Satellite Communications services, Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services, Internet of Things (IoT) technology solutions, Data Center facilities capacity leasing, and Blockchain solutions for the Telecommunications industry.

About Etelix.com USA, LLC:

Etelix.com USA LLC www.etelix.com is wholly owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. Etelix.com USA, LLC is a Miami, Florida-based international telecom carrier founded in 2008 that provides telecom and technology solutions worldwide, with commercial presence in North America, Latin America, and Europe. Enabled by its 214-license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Etelix provides International Long-Distance voice services for Telecommunications Operators (ILD Wholesale), and Submarine Fiber Optic Network capacity for internet (4G and 5G). Etelix was founded in 2008 and has been profitable since inception.

About SwissLink Carrier AG:

SwissLink Carrier AG www.swisslink-carrier.com is a 51% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. SwissLink Carrier AG is a Switzerland based international Telecommunications Carrier founded in 2015 providing international VoIP connectivity worldwide, with commercial presence in Europe, CIS and Latin America. SwissLink Carrier AG is a Swiss licensed Operator, having a domestic Interconnect with Swisscom, allowing their international Carrier Customers direct terminations via SwissLink into all Switzerland Fix & Mobile Networks. Since the takeover from Swissphone in November 2018 and the rename into SwissLink, they operate on a profitable level.

About QGlobal SMS LLC.:

QGlobal SMS LLC www.qglobalsms.com is a 51% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. QGlobal SMS is a USA based company founded in 2020 specialized in international and domestic SMS termination, with emphasis on the Applications to Person (A2P) and Person to Person (P2P) for Wholesale Carrier Market and Corporate Market in US. QGlobal SMS has commercial presence in Europe, USA and Latin America. QGlobal SMS has robust international interconnection with Tier1 SMS Aggregators, guarantying its customers high quality and low termination rates, over more than 100 countries worldwide.

About itsBchain LLC.:

itsBchain LLC www.itsBchain.com is a 75% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. itsBchain is a blockchain technology developer and solution provider, with a strong focus on the telecom sector. The company is the final stage of development of a series of blockchain solutions aimed at using the blockchain ledger and smart contract solutions to enable more efficiency, quickness in execution and fraud-prevention in the telco industry. Specifically, the company is developing a solution that will enable users and carriers to transfer mobile phone numbers with just a few clicks, allowing users and carriers the ability to transfer retail users from one mobile carrier to another instantly. Additionally, the company is finalizing a carrier-grade marketplace solution to procure payments between carriers for cross-traffic of VoIP, SMS and data realtime as traffic is crossed between carriers. This marketplace will allow for instant payment settlement as well as the prevention of fraud between carriers.

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.

iQSTEL Inc.

IR US Phone: 646-740-0907, IR Email: investors@iqstel.com

Source: iQSTEL Inc.

www.iqstel.com ; www.swisslink-carrier.com ; www.etelix.com ; www.qglobalsms.com ; www.itsBchain.com

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44 States Now Offering Coronavirus Diagnostics as Commercial Labs Aim to Launch Tests

All but six states are now testing for the new coronavirus as two large commercial laboratories announced plans to test for the new virus, adding to the national capacity as the number of cases continues to rise.

Sixty-seven public health laboratories across the country are offering testing for the new virus, up from just eight a week ago, Association of Public Health Laboratories CEO Scott Becker said on Thursday. At least one lab in 44 states have successfully verified test kits and are offering diagnostic testing for COVID-19, the disease the virus causes, according to the association, which represents state and local labs across the country.

Maine, Ohio, West Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Wyoming, the territory of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are still working on getting tests up and running.

Thirteen laboratories are working on verifying the kits they received. Four anticipate being able to test by the weekend, Becker said in a statement.

This undated photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows CDCs laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus. (CDC via AP)

Public health labs are just now coming online because test kits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent out in early February had an issue that caused weeks of delay. The issue was finally resolved last week.

LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics are among the commercial labs planning to launch tests soon for the new virus. Quest said on Thursday it will be able to test beginning on March 9. The test is a molecular based assay which detects viral RNA in respiratory specimens. It will be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration under its emergency use authorization.

In times of national health crises, quality laboratory testing is absolutely critical to mobilizing effective public health response, said Steve Rusckowski, CEO of the New Jersey-based company, in a statement.

Quests tests will help complement efforts by the federal government and public health labs to contend with a growing number of suspected COVID-19 cases in the United States, Rusckowski said.

Travelers wear medical masks at Grand Central station in New York City on March 5, 2020. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

LabCorp, a North Carolina-based company, said earlier this week that its preparing to make a test available. The tests are in the final stage of validation and should be launched at the end of this week or the beginning of next week, Adam Schechter, CEO of LabCorp, told Vice President Mike Pence in Washington on Wednesday.

Pence, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force, met with developers of private lab tests in a bid to quickly ramp up capacity just days after he said anyone could be tested for the new virus, subject to an order from a doctor. Previously, the tests were limited to patients who met the case definition from the CDC.

Our objective is to make tests available broadly to the American public, he told developers.

We want to make sure the American people can go to their doctor, can go to the local MedCheck or CVS, and obtain access to coronavirus [tests].

With the help of the private developers, Pence said millions of tests would be available in the coming weeks. The federal government has already distributed 2,500 test kits to labs, he said. Each kit can test hundreds of patients.
In todaysSightings column, I discuss Hollywood movies whose subject matter is infectious disease, with special reference to, directed by Elia Kazan. Heres an excerpt.

* * *

Carl Goldman, a 67-year-old California radio-station owner,was infected with COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Today he is in quarantine in a facility in Omaha run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post called I Have the Coronavirus. So Far, It Isnt That Bad in which he remarked that his quarantine location, which was last used for the 2014 Ebola outbreak, looked like something out of The Andromeda Strain, Robert Wises high-tech screen version of Michael Crichtons 1969 novel about a mysterious illness that turns out to have been caused by an extraterrestrial virus.

One of the things about Mr. Goldmans piece that struck me most forcibly was that he resorted so naturally to a movie-based metaphor to describe his experience. If youre a baby boomer, youre likely to do that fairly often, since the boomers all grew up watching the same water-cooler movies. Even the CDC does it: Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC from 2009 to 2017, wrote in the Atlantic that Contagion, Steven Soderberghs 2011 film about a broadly similar pandemic, was a fair and accurate portrayal of how the public health community might respond to a disease outbreak like the fictional one in the film.

That was quite an endorsement, especially given the fact that countless such movies, most of them eminently forgettable and deservedly forgotten, have been ground out by Hollywood. (The Killer That Stalked New York, anyone?) A few, however, have been rather more noteworthy

Moreover, one such film, Elia Kazans Panic in the Streets (1950), is not merely a nail-nibbling thriller but Kazans first indisputably major film, a now-classic piece of noir-style urban cinematic storytelling.

* * *

Read the whole thing

The original theatrical trailer for Panic in the Streets:
Amid a global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the University of Nebraska announced Thursday it is suspending all university-sponsored student travel outside of the U.S. for the remainder of the spring semester.

In an email to the UNL campus, Chancellor Ronnie Green said while there are no known cases in Nebraska of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, outside of those in quarantine at Nebraska Medicine, postponing student travel overseas is in line with steps taken by other colleges and universities.

The decision  which is uniform across the NU system  follows the cancellation of all university-sponsored trips to China for the spring and summer and recalling students in South Korea and Italy after the federal government raised the travel warning on those countries.

"Through our consultation with medical officials, and consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are pragmatic steps we can take in an effort to keep our community protected in this rapidly evolving situation," Green wrote.

UNL will allow students studying abroad in countries not affected by the coronavirus outbreak to finish their terms and will make a decision March 15 whether to move ahead on summer travel for students.

Faculty and staff trips overseas have not been suspended, Green added, but administrators ask those employees to "carefully consider whether your travel (domestic or international) is essential or might be canceled or postponed to a later day."

The decisions to cancel university-sponsored trips do not affect personal travel, however. With spring break scheduled for later this month, Green asked UNL's students, faculty and staff "to be thoughtful about personal international travel."

On March 1, the CDC issued new guidance to institutions of higher education, urging them to consider pulling back students abroad in light of the "dynamic" outbreak of the virus.

"Given the speed and spread and the number of countries experiencing human-to-human transmission, (institutions of higher education) should evaluate the risks associated with choosing to maintain programs abroad and take the appropriate proactive measures," the CDC said.

The guidance to consider canceling all current and upcoming student trips overseas was unprecedented in its scope, according to the Forum on Education Abroad, and a bit confusing.

The nonprofit organization advocating for students to travel and study in other countries urged universities to consider the CDC's recommendation "as guidance to consider."

"It is not a directive that is being handed down," the Forum wrote on its website March 2. "Instead, the CDC is asking our field to consider postponing or canceling student foreign exchange programs."

The Forum said students are not as likely to succumb to a virus such as COVID-19  the most at-risk populations are older and those with compromised immune systems  and are more supported by their institutions than independent travelers would be.

But, the Forum added, universities should review their situations and policies and make the decisions that are best for them.

"Look to what they are saying and recommending and then scale it so that it fits your context," the group wrote.

Other colleges and universities in Lincoln and the surrounding area said they interpreted the CDC's recommendation as written: Guidance to consider.

Nebraska Wesleyan University continues to monitor and assess the situation and consult with the State Department, the CDC and the World Health Organization, spokeswoman Sara Olson said in an email.

Doane University does not have any students studying abroad this semester, a spokesman said. An upcoming recruiting trip to China scheduled for later this month was canceled.

The liberal arts college in Crete already has a pandemic plan in place, Ryan Mueksch said, and has formed an assessment team to begin revising that plan in preparation for the current outbreak.

Likewise, Union College in Lincoln has mobilized a task force to work with local health officials to ensure the campus is prepared to protect its community, spokesman Ryan Teller said.

"Union students studying or volunteering abroad have not been asked to return to the United States at this time," Teller said, "but the school is keeping a close eye on each student's situation and taking into account CDC recommendations."

Also Thursday, the University of Nebraska at Kearney announced it was canceling an upcoming study abroad trip to the Czech Republic. The decision to cancel the March 16 trip affects 11 students and one faculty member.

"The decision is not made lightly, but student health and safety is our primary concern," said Tim Burkink, UNK's assistant vice chancellor for international affairs.

Other UNK-sponsored travel overseas has also been canceled, the university said in a news release.

UNL's Green said the university has also established a COVID-19 Task Force that is communicating with public health officials, the NU system, experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and others to evaluate any additional steps that may need to be addressed should the virus find its way to Lincoln.

The task force set up a website (unl.edu/covid19) to provide information on best prevention practices and what to do if a student feels sick, as well as a current travel policy and events calendar.

Green said UNL is committed to the safety of the campus community.

"As this situation continues to unfold, we ask our students, faculty and staff to demonstrate support and compassion as this potentially impacts us all and could happen to anyone," he wrote.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS
UTICA, N.Y. - In a 7-2 vote, the Utica Common Council passed a resolution urging New York State to amend the new bail reform laws. The resolution will be forwarded to state and local officials.

The resolution is asking the state legislature to look at the bail reform laws, and consider giving judges more discretion when it comes to setting bail and work with law enforcement and district attorneys to make positive, effective changes.

Several community members spoke during the public comment period about why they believe it is not appropriate for the Utica Common Council to ask for amendments to the bail reform legislation.

Two council members voted against the legislation because they believe the new laws were put into place for the right reason, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

Councilman Devlin Moody who represents the 5th ward and Celeste Friend who represents the 3rd ward were the two members that voted against the legislation.

"Every single one of these crimes listed in this resolution, people have always been released, middle class, wealthy people were released on bail and where was the outrage then about all of the dangerous people being put back out on the street," Friend said.

Some council members, like Jack LoMedico, say changing the bail reform legislation is important to Utica and New York State as a whole because the new laws put people and communities across the state in danger.

"The issue here, it impacts past, present, and future victims of crime in a negative manor and in doing so, the bail and discovery forms adopted by the state of New York will further victimize innocent victims," LoMedico said.

The council also voted to include a vote record with who voted for and against this resolution when it gets sent to the state legislature.
A man hailing from Tamil Nadu has



been arrested for allegedly abducting a 56-year-old woman from outside a bank in Navi Mumbai and shooting her dead earlier this week, a top police officer said on Thursday.

The accused, Ashok Kumar Murugan Konar (42), who is originally from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu and presently lives in Panvel in Raigad district of Maharashtra, was arrested on Wednesday evening, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said.

Based on a tip-off, the police laid a trap and arrested the accused at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, he added.

According to police, the incident had taken place on Monday afternoon when the victim, Prabhavati Bhagat, was sitting inside the car waiting for her husband who had gone inside a bank at Ulwe node of Navi Mumbai.

An unidentified man had entered the car and started driving it towards nearby Wahal village, where he pulled out a revolver and shot her. Her husband later tried contacting her, but failed to reach her. The woman was later taken to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead, police added.

"The police had launched a probe after the incident. Considering the seriousness of the case, the police formed several teams. The CCTV footage recovered from the crime scene helped in tracing the accused," Kumar said.

"On Wednesday, we got a tip-off that the accused will be coming to Kharghar from Taloja. Accordingly, we laid a trap and nabbed him around 6 pm," he said, adding that one pistol, nine live cartridges and a mobile phone were recovered from him.

During his interrogation, Konar revealed that he had stolen several vehicles in Mumbai and Kolkata in the past, the commissioner said.

"He also revealed that the car in which he came to Kharghar on Wednesday was stolen from Vashi. He had started using the vehicle after changing its number plate," Kumar said.

A case has been registered against the accused at NRI Police Station in Navi Mumbai. He has been booked under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (murder), the Arms Act and others, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NBC  It only took a few days for the Wisconsin patient to get over the fever and cough  and feel well enough to get out of bed and back to normal life.

But that wasnt an option, because the patient wasnt getting over the common cold or flu. Instead, the individual had coronavirus, meaning it would be weeks before the person who remains unidentified for privacy by NBC  could leave the house or invite anyone to visit.

"For most people, this will be the course. It will be like a cold," Dr. Nasia Safdar, the patient's physician, told NBC News.

As of now, at least 15 people with confirmed coronavirus infections in the United States are said to have made full recoveries. In addition to the Wisconsin patient, six people in California, four people in Nebraska, two people in Illinois, one in Arizona and one in Washington are better.

In South Korea, 47 people were declared-virus free Tuesday, the largest discharge of patients that country has seen in a single day. A total of 88 people in South Korea have recovered so far.

And more than half of coronavirus patients worldwide have become better, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Of 96,988 cases around the globe, 53,638 have recovered.

People with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness the results from coronavirus infection, are either isolated in the hospital or at home, depending on the severity of their illness, until they no longer test positive for the virus. How long that takes can vary; one individual in Humboldt County, California, was released from isolation just nine days after the case was announced. Another individual in Chicago was in isolation in the hospital, and then at home, for about a month.

Isolation does not mean a patient is particularly dangerous. The measure is put into place to prevent the spread of the virus.

Thats why these seemingly drastic measures are being taken, Safdar, the medical director of infection control and prevention at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin, told NBC News. "If you're a positive COVID-19 case, you stay in isolation until testing shows that you are negative."

"Then you can be released into the community," she said.

The World Health Organization reports that about 80% of COVID-19 cases are mild. Most involve fever, cough and perhaps shortness of breath. People with mild cases are expected to recover without issue, and some may not be aware theyre ever sick.

"It's reassuring to know that the majority of people who get this disease have no symptoms or mild symptoms," Dr. Robert Citronberg, director of infectious diseases with Advocate Aurora Health in Illinois, said.

But people with chronic health problems, such as diabetes or heart disease, are more likely to have complications from the coronavirus.

Those are the ones who do poorly when they get pneumonia or an infection of the lung," Dr. Vincent Bonagura, an infectious diseases expert at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, said.

RELATED: This map tracks the coronavirus in real time

Wisconsin health officials declined to disclose the patient's age, but the majority of other patients who have suffered complications are older adults with underlying health problems.

Eight of the 11 people who have died so far were elderly, in their 70s, 80s or 90s. At least five of those patients were known to have underlying health issues, as do several other coronavirus patients currently in critical condition.

And because COVID-19 tends to affect the lower respiratory tract, people who smoke or have other chronic lung diseases may be at particular risk.

"Those things have created damage to the lung tissue," Dr. Terry Mason, chief operating officer of Illinois' Cook County Department of Public Health, said, adding "chronic lung diseases are going to make this a more difficult recovery."

Cook County was the site of the country's first evidence the virus had the ability to spread from one person to another: a married couple.

Both husband and wife have since recovered. But it took longer for them to get better; at least a few weeks, Mason estimated. Both were over age 60, and one had underlying health problems.

"We really wanted to make sure they didn't have fevers, any respiratory compromise or anything like that prior to their discharge," he said.

"Chances are, most people who don't have an underlying disease or are not terribly old, will recover pretty well from this virus," Bonagura said.
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SAN FRANCISCO and MEXICO CITY, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- frog , one of the worlds top design firms, announced today that it has opened a new studio in Mexico City, its first in Latin America. The studio will offer a full array of frogs end-to-end design services, enabling local and global clients in the region to have access to over 50 years of design expertise.



Known for its boldly innovative, customer-centric designs, frog has been active in Mexico since 2014. Until now, it has been serving Latin American clients through three of its U.S. studios. Its clients consist mainly of large companies, but also select nonprofits and startups.

As Mexicos corporate landscape matures giving rise to growing numbers of world-class businesses, frog sees tremendous potential to bring its brand of top-tier design to the country and region. frogs services include growth strategy, brand, product, service and customer experience design across physical and digital touchpoints, design implementation and org activation (training and in-house capability building).

As a door to the rest of Latin America, our presence in Mexico will allow us to better serve existing clients and make our offerings available to a broader, more diverse set of organizations, said Andrew Zimmerman, President of frog. With rising interest in high-quality design and a growing appreciation for the value it delivers, frog can play a key role in elevating design in Latin America.

frog has launched the new studio  the firms fourteenth  by hiring the entire team of designers, strategists and technologists from 23 Design, a well-established, full-service design consultancy based in Mexico City.

Since the firms founding five years ago, the team from 23 Design has helped create over 200 digital brands, products and services, with a 90% launch rate. Clients have included innovative organizations like Nike, Saba, CreditoReal, BID, Facebook and Gobierno de la Ciudad de Mexico, and game-changing startups like Bitso, Luuna, Albo and Justo. 23 Designs founder and design director, Luis Lulo Lopez, will lead the frog Mexico City studio as creative director and general manager.

When frog first approached us about joining, it was clear we shared the same vision, values and ambitions for our region. With frog, well be better suited to positively influence private and public organizations and improve the way people experience their everyday lives, said Lopez. Our entire team is incredibly excited to bring local expertise to a true leader in the design world  one weve admired for so long.

Our plan is for frog Mexico City to be a global platform for practitioners across Latin America, Lopez added. The studio will elevate the practice in the region, unleashing the talent of local designers at a scale never seen before.

Based on their success in another fast-developing market  India  frogs leaders knew they wanted to add a new studio because of requests for ongoing work from existing clients, including several based in Latin America and Spain. Late last year, they began a search of Central America and Mexico. Mexico City quickly emerged as the ideal location because of its established design talent and close proximity to U.S. locations.

Early in our talent search, we met Lulo. The more we talked, the more we realized he and his team were frogs, said Zimmerman. Its a match made in heaven.

For press inquiries, please contact Austin Rotter at 646-862-6866 or frogdesign@5wpr.com .

For press inquiries in Spanish, please contact Carmen Murillo at +52 1 55 2364 1922 or carmen.murillo@frogdesign.com .

For business inquiries, please visit www.frogdesign.com/contact/new-business .

About frog

frog is a leading global design and innovation firm, and a company of Altran. We transform businesses at scale by creating systems of brand, product and service that deliver distinctly better experiences for consumers, customers, citizens and employees. We partner with clients to anticipate the future, evolve organizations and advance the human experience.

frog has been a pioneering force in design and innovation for the last 50 years. With a client roster spanning from Porsche to Disney, BNY Mellon to the United Nations, frog is known for tackling complex, multi-disciplinary challenges, and driving innovation and growth for both some of the largest global organizations and highest-performing startups.
WASHINGTON  MERS. SARS. Zika.

Like coronavirus, all were fast-spreading viruses that commanded world attention and round-the-clock efforts to develop treatments and vaccines.

But the threats petered out before the research was finished, and new vaccines and drugs never came to market.

Every time theres a new outbreak, we get started on treatment and vaccines but dont cross the finish line, said Julie Gerberding, executive vice president and chief patent officer of New Jersey-based Merck & Co.

This time around, though, new technologies, scientific capabilities and federal agencies such as the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will give a boost to efforts to develop a response to coronavirus, she said.

We have enabling features that allow us to imagine what we might be able to do and then to take the steps necessary, she said.

Gerberding, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joined other drug company executives Wednesday to discuss how their industry was responding to the coronavirus.

Were keenly aware of whats at stake here," said Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive of the industrys trade group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which held the press conference across the street from the U.S. Capitol, where Congress was working on legislation to spend billions to respond to the coronavirus.

Some of those billions will help cover the costs of research and testing as drug companies seek both effective treatments against the virus and a vaccine to protect against new cases. Company executives said they were testing existing drugs to see if they would be effective against the coronavirus, while developing others.

If a virus is not known, you have to start from scratch, said Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick.

Drug company executives said they had no timetable for when they could bring a vaccine and effective treatments to market. They need to make sure the treatments work and ensure the safety of the vaccines and drugs they develop.

Were firmly committed to pursing this as fast as we can," said Daniel ODay, chairman and chief executive of Gilead Sciences.

Previous efforts to develop treatments for other viruses, most notably Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Zika, fell by the wayside as the threats dissipated.

It became sort of a non-issue, Gerberding said. Thats happened more than once. Its very difficult to do clinical trials with a disease that doesnt exist.

But the company executives said they believed they should finish the job this time around, no matter how long it takes.

Its probably time to take something to the finish line, said John Shiver, senior vice president of global research and development at Sanofi Pasteur.

The $8.3 billion coronavirus funding bill that sped through the House on Wednesday included provisions requiring that the vaccines and drugs be available at a fair and reasonable price.

It also restored funding to help poor people in New Jersey and elsewhere pay their winter home heating bills, a program Trump unsuccessfully tried to eliminate in his budget and then took money from in order to fund efforts to address the coronavirus.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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A Chilean man was arrested after crashing his truck into one of Easter Island's famous headstones, causing the mayor to call for vehicle restrictions.

The driver, who reportedly lives on the Polynesian island, sparked anger among islanders after driving into one of the sacred moai statues.

He was arrested after the incident on Sunday, and charged with damaging a national monument, Chilean newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaiso reported.

Moai, which now number around 1,000, were regarded by Easter Island inhabitants as symbols of religious and political authority, scholars believe.

The driver, who reportedly lives on the Polynesian island, sparking anger among islanders after driving into one of the sacred moai statues

The destruction of one, though, has spurred Mayor Pedro Edmund Paoa into action, advocating stricter traffic controls on Easter Island.

El Mercurio reported that the mayor had previously called for better controls as the island faces rising population levels and rates of tourism.

He said: 'They didn't listen to us and this is the result.

He was arrested after the incident on Sunday, and charged with damaging a national monument, Chilean newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaiso reported

Moai, which now number less than 1,000, were regarded by Easter Island inhabitants as symbols of religious and political authority, scholars believe

Rapa Nui (known as Easter Island) is believed to have been settled in the 13th century by Polynesian seafarers. Most of its famed sculptures were from Ranu Raraku quarry

'Everyone decided against establishing traffic rules when it came to vehicles on sacred sites - but we, as a council, were talking about the dangers and knew very well what the rise in tourist and resident numbers could mean.'

Camilo Rapu, the president of the Ma'u Henua community which looks after the moai, told The Guardian that he suspects the crash was deliberate.

He called the 'dreadful' crash 'an offence against a living culture that has spent the last few years fighting to regain its historic and archaeological heritage'.

Camilo Rapu, the president of the Ma'u Henua community which looks after the moai (pictured on the hillside of the Rano Raraku volcano), suspects the crash was deliberate
PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Archie Gamboa assured that he is fine and that he will be going back to work on Monday, March 9, as he warned against the spread of photos of the helicopter crash in Laguna.

Sa ating mga kababayan at lalo na sa ating mga kapulisan. Ako ay lumabas ngayon dito para ipakita sa inyo okay ako, hindi naman ako nasaktan and as a matter of fact I am going back to office on Monday, he said in a video message posted on Facebook around 12 hours after he figured in a helicopter crash.

Yung mga kinakalat ng mga iba-ibang pictures, nakikiusap ako na huwag na natin ilabas kasi nakita nyo naman, tulungan nyo na lang kami na ipagdasal yung mga nasa ospital pa at huwag natin kalimutan ang pagpunta ko doon sa kung saan nilagay yung mga sasakyan ay may rason at kasama talaga yun sa aking byahe pa Calabarzon. Again to give warning to everyone that no matter what the PNP would always enforce the law no matter what I takes. Magandang gabi, he added.

Gamboa and seven other PNP personnel, including three other generals, were on board a brand new helicopter when it crashed in San Pedro, Laguna after hitting a power line at around 7 a.m. Thursday, March 5, 2020.

Gamboa and five others sustained minor injuries while two generals, Major General Jose Maria Victor Ramos and Major General Mariel Magaway, are in critical condition. Ramos is head of the Directorate for Comptrollership while Magaway heads the Directorate for Intelligence.

Read: 2 police generals in critical condition after crash

Others on board the helicopter were Brigadier General Bernard Banac, Gamboas aide-de-camp Captain Kevin Gayrama, pilot Lieutenant Colonel Ruel Zalatar, co-pilot Lt. Col. Rico Macawili, and crew Senior Master Sergeant Luis Estona.

Gamboa, Gayrama, Banac, the two pilots and the crew sustained minor abrasions and blunt injuries in the face and in the arms. They are now safe but are still under observation at the St. Lukes Medical Center in Taguig City.

Story continues

Magaway was transferred to the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa from Unihealth Southwoods Hospital and Medical Center (USHMC) in Binan City in Laguna, where they were initially brought for initial treatment. He is already in stable condition but he is still unconscious.

Ramos has yet to be transferred to a bigger hospital because his condition remained unstable as of Thursday night.

"The two were now critical in condition and (Ramos) placed in ICU while the other placed in Critical Care. He was dissuaded by the doctors under observation pa rin po sila all examination napagdaanan na po nila. The next 48 hours will be critical," said Major General Benigno Durana Jr., PNP director for Police Community Relations and acting spokesperson.

At this point we are not (aware of the) extent of the nature of injury they are still on unstable condition unstable ang kanilang condition nagre-respond si Magaway sana tuloy-tuloy na ito we storm heaven with our prayers, he added.

Earlier, Doctor Elvis Bedia, President of Unihealth hospital has sustained serious injuries in the face and that he has to undergo blood transfusion and surgery.

While the two generals were in critical condition, Durana said the PNP Chief assigned Brig. Gen. Ronnie Olay and Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay as the officers-in-charge of the Directorate for Comptrollership and Directorate for Intelligence, respectively.

Meanwhile, PNP deputy chief for operations who was also assigned as the head of the Special Investigation Task Force to look into the incident, said they will be coordinating with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) as well as the Philippine Air Force in the conduct of investigation. (SunStar Philippines)
At the height of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014, US President Barack Obama went to the United Nations to make a call for joint action.

We know from experience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude needs to be both fast and sustained  like a marathon but run at the pace of a sprint. Thats only possible if every nation and every organisation does its part. And everyone has to do more.

Yet, as the coronavirus epidemic spreads across the globe and around Australia, that sort of international goodwill seems to be in very short supply.

Instead, the outbreak has largely heightened tensions between countries. Some people here and in the US have blamed China for suppressing news of the coronavirus outbreak for weeks, or even months, after it was identified. Some have also attacked the World Health Organisation for not raising the alarm sooner.

On the other hand, China has described Australias decision to slap a travel ban on it as an over-reaction. China said the bans were unnecessary because they were put in place after it imposed a draconian lockdown which has been surprisingly successful in confining the epidemic to the province of Hubei.
A man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has tested positive for novel coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

A man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in the country to 30 and seven in Uttar Pradesh as the Central Government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

In some relief for Telangana, blood samples of two people from the state which were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for confirmation, tested negative.

Till Wednesday, 29 people, including 16 Italian tourists, had tested positive for coronavirus. The list also includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. The three patients have been discharged after recovery.

Meanwhile, five people who came in contact with the Gurugram PayTM employee have been tested and quarantined till their results come in, Delhi government health officials said on Thursday.

The PayTM employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease with flu-like symptoms on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurugram, an official said. Delhi government health officials are also coordinating with their counterparts in Noida to ascertain the number of people he came in contact with.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced that all primary schools in the National Capital will remain closed till 31 March to prevent the possibility of spread of coronavirus. The outbreak also cast a shadow on the India-European Union (EU) summit which was slated to be held later this month and will now be rescheduled.

According to MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, India and the EU decided to reschedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels in view of the advice by health authorities. He also said no case of any Indian being affected by coronavirus in Iran has emerged and Indian embassies across the world are on the job to help Indians.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that an Indian medical team is in Iran and the authorities are working with their Iranian counterparts for the return of Indians stranded in the West Asian country in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. He also said the Indian medical team was likely to set up its first clinic at Qom to start screening for coronavirus.

An estimated 1,200 Indians, mostly students and pilgrims, are in Iran currently.

Harsh Vardhan briefs Parliament on govt's measures

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, asserting that India is prepared to contain the spread of coronavirus, sought to allay fears in his speeches in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

He said that the government is taking all steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus and the scale of interventions has been increased in alignment with the evolving situation in India.

"As of 4 March, a total of 28,529 persons were brought under community surveillance and are being monitored," Vardhan said as he detailed the evacuation of of Indians by Air India and IAF.

Making a statement first in Rajya Sabha and then in Lok Sabha on steps taken to contain the virus, he said as on 4 March, 29 positive cases have been reported in the country. Official sources on Thursday said one more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad and the middle-aged man had a recent travel history to Iran.

The health ministry also said that in addition to travel-related COVID-19 infections, some cases of community transmission have also been observed and so the mnistry has decided to involve district collectors, and states have been asked to form rapid response teams at the district, block and village levels.

The ministry also said that India has imposed additional visa restrictions on people travelling from or having visited Italy and South Korea, making it mandatory for them to submit a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from laboratories authorised by the health authorities of their countries.

This will come into effect from midnight on 10 March and is a temporary measure till cases of novel coronavirus subside, the ministry said in a travel advisory.

The government has already suspended all regular visas/e-visas granted on or before 3 March to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan who have not yet entered India in view of the emerging global scenarios regarding COVID-19 disease.

According to the advisory, the government has also suspended visa on arrival (VoA) for Japanese and South Korean nationals.

On Thursday, Vardhan also issued a travel advisory saying that citizens are advised to refrain from traveling to virus affected-areas of China, Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran. He said directions have also been issued for all international passengers in India.

Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad also said that awareness campaigns must be initiated at railway stations. "We need to send out a multi-lingual instruction for dos and donts on coronavirus," Azad added.

Amid reports of the coronavirus outbreak in China affecting the Indian pharma industry, Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Sadanand Gowda said that there is no shortage of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for at least three months. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients are the raw materials required to produce medicines and are also referred to as bulk drugs.

14 Italians quaratined in Gurugram hospital

Meanwhile, 14 Italians, who are among those who have tested positive, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon from an ITBP quarantine centre. The hospital issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying these patients are housed on a completely separate floor, which has been quarantined and has no contact with the rest of the hospital.

There is a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear looking after these patients. All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor.

The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, the statement said.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus. An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS Medical College.

UP govt tests 175 people, Sikkim suspends ILP to foreigners

Uttar Pradesh health minister Jai Pratap Singh said 175 people have been tested so far for coronavirus in the state with 157 of them showing no sign of the infection. Of the remaining 18 tested, six are from Agra and one from Ghaziabad, he said, referring to the seven cases which have tested positive.

The reports of the remaining 11 are yet to be received from National Institute of Virology in Pune, according to the minister.

In Madhya Pradesh's Seoni, seven people from three families have been isolated at home for suspected exposure to the coronavirus following their return from Italy last month. Though none of them exhibited symptoms of the infection, the step was taken as a precaution as Italy is the worst-affected country in Europe from the coronavirus, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, the Sikkim government has decided to suspend issuing Inner Line Permit (ILP) to foreign nationals following coronavirus scare as a precautionary measure. Foreign nationals are required to obtain ILP from the state government to visit Sikkim, while a domestic tourist must get permit from the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department to visit Nathu La, a mountain pass in East Sikkim district which links the state with China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray also appealed for calm and said that the next eight days are crucial and people need to remain cautious. Requesting people to avoid going to crowded places if not necessary and limit the Holi celebrations, Thackeray said.

"I pray the coronavirus gets burnt in the Holi fire. I want to tell people that the next eight days are crucial and we have to remain cautious," he said while making a statement in the state Assembly.

Drugs in pipeline to treat coronavirus

In the information (and fake news) overload that one is subjected to about the novel coronavirus, the one fact that appears most frequently is that the virus remains untreatable and the treatment includes symptomatic approach rather than an exact cure. However, that is not to say that research and development of vaccines and drugs to treat this new pandemic is on a standstill.

Favilavir first approved coronavirus drug in China: China has approved the use of Favilavir, an anti-viral drug, as a treatment for coronavirus. The drug has reportedly shown efficacy in treating the disease with minimal side effects in a clinical trial involving 70 patients.

INO-4800, China's latest vaccine under clinical trial: China's Inovio Pharmaceuticals has collaborated with Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology Company to develop INO-4800, a novel coronavirus vaccine. It is expected to be ready for clinical trials by the end of April.

Altimmunes intranasal coronavirus vaccine: An intranasal COVID-19 vaccine is being developed by US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Altimmune. Design and synthesis of the single-dose vaccine has been completed, while animal testing will follow.

Toll in Iran rises to 107, epidemic spreads to South Africa

The toll due to the epidemic in Iran increased to 107 on Thursday, and the disease also spread to South Africa, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Slovenia, reports said. A 74-year-old woman suffering from the coronavirus died in Switzerland, marking the country's first death in the outbreak.

Palestinian officials also announced on Thursday that the storied Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem was closing indefinitely over fears of the coronavirus, weeks ahead of the Easter holiday that draws tens of thousands of visitors and worshippers.

Meanwhile, California governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency after coronavirus deaths stood at 107 in the United States. The governor's decision came after the first death was reported in California.

With inputs from agencies
Thai quarantine flip-flop throws holidays into doubt

THAILAND: Thailand threw possibly tens of thousands of holiday plans into confusion after Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered any new arrivals from nine countries and two territories to undergo quarantine for the coronavirus, before swiftly reversing the decision.

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthSafetytourism

By AFP

Thursday 5 March 2020, 08:22AM

Tourists wear protective masks and other gears at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday (Mar 4). Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul

Mr Anutin posted an announcement Tuesday (Mar 3) saying travellers from affected countries would be subjected to a 14-day quarantine without exceptions.

The countries were China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, France, Singapore, Italy, Iran and Taiwan. Hong Kong and Macau were also included on the list.

The post was removed hours later, and his official Facebook page was taken down.

Mr Anutin is no stranger to gaffes.

Last month he lashed out at Western tourists for not wearing face masks, suggesting they should be expelled for putting others at risk. He later apologised on his Facebook page.

Tourism is a lynchpin of Thailands economy, but the government has struggled to balance health concerns and virus control with salvaging flagging growth as Chinese visitors have evaporated.

The beginning of 2020 was supposed to bring 7 million tourists to Thailand, but numbers have tumbled in the wake of the epidemic.

Mr Anutins apparent moment of indecision - which fanned waves of concern on Twitter among Thais and foreign travellers - was played down yesterday (Mar 4) by Public Health Ministry spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin.

We have to wait which country would be designated as a risk country, said the spokesman during a daily press briefing, explaining that Mr Anutin needed the list to be reviewed.

Similar uncertainty pervades the governments handling of the return of some 5,000 undocumented Thai labourers - nicknamed little ghosts - working in South Korea.

Premier Prayut Chan-o-Cha said yesterday the workers who came from South Koreas two hardest-hit areas - Daegu and neighbouring North Gyeongsang province - would be subjected to quarantine.

This will make people feel more at ease, he said.

The others will return to their hometown where provincial health officers will monitor them daily, said an official from the Department of Disease Control.

South Korea has reported than 5,621 cases and 35 fatalities.

The governments lack of monitoring of the returnees has spurred growing public anger after various accounts showed haphazard screening at Bangkoks airports.

Thailand has reported 43 confirmed infections and one fatality linked to the virus.
A man convicted of several sex crimes has been sentenced to serve 13 years in state prison.

Kenneth G. Arnold, 50, appeared before Judge Barry Steelman.

A Criminal Court jury on Jan. 8, 2019, had found Arnold guilty of several sex-related crimes.

During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Coyle said the offenses occurred between January of 2009 and November of 2012. The victim was younger than 13 when the crimes allegedly began.

Judge Steelman sentenced Arnold to nine years in prison for aggravated sexual battery, to be served consecutively with a four-year sentence for sexual battery by an authority figure. Judge Steelman also sentenced Arnold to nine years in prison for rape.

Prosecutor Coyle said Arnold will also be on the sex offender registry for life, and will also be subject to community supervision for life, as required under Tennessee law.
A little over nine years ago, Tunisias people rose up against a tyrannical government in what became known as the Jasmine Revolution. It began in December 2010 with the self-immolation of twenty-six-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi in protest against the harassment and humiliation inflicted on him by municipal officials, and ended less than a month later with the ousting of then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Much of the protest was inspired and led by Tunisias youth, who make up a large portion of the region's population.

But then came the hard part: channeling that energy and spirit of change in an effort to stabilize the country and to continue transitioning Tunisias society toward democratic governance.

There has been a great deal of progress since then, and Tunisia's youth have truly been at the heart of it, said U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green during a recent visit to Tunisia. Young people dissatisfied with the lack of voice in their own government were the energy that powered change. Young people demanding a say in their own future have truly reshaped the country.

USAID Administrator Green spoke in mid-February during a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a newly-rehabilitated youth center in the Tunisian city of Kairouan. The renovation is a part of Ma3an, a five-year project funded by USAID. Ma3an works with international partners in 30 Tunisian communities to engage marginalized youth; to identify and reduce community-specific vulnerabilities; and to harness public and private sector resources to create a lasting foundation for social cohesion and resilience.

Tunisia's constitution states that youth are a driving force in the building of the nation, said USAID Administrator Green. Importantly, the constitution also commits the government to respond to the needs of youth. It commits the government to expand their participation in cultural, economic, social, and political life, he said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development stands ready to support the people and the government of Tunisia, as they work to fulfill that promise.
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The hands on the iconic Doomsday Clock moved to just 100 secondsto midnight last month. That is the closest they have come to the final hour since its creation in 1947.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Scienceand Security Board, in consultation with the Bulletins Board ofSponsors, made the unprecedented decision to express the time remaining in seconds rather than minutes when the time was adjusted from 2 minutes to 100 seconds to midnight.

The time displayed on the clock has moved closer to midnight in three of the last fouryears. The last time it moved was in 2018, with a forward jump of 30 seconds. It moved to 2 1/2 minutes to midnight in 2017 from its prior setting of 3 minutes tomidnight. There was no adjustment last year, but withthe arrival of 2020 the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists noted new threats.

In addition to the two simultaneous existential dangers ofnuclear war and climate change, the world now faces the threatmultiplier of cyber-enabled information warfare.

The decision to movethe hands forward by 20 seconds was made in part because world leadershave allowed the international political infrastructure forcontaining this potential cyberthreat to erode.

It is 100 seconds to midnight, warned Rachel Bronson, president andCEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. We are now expressing howclose the world is to catastrophe in seconds  not hours, or evenminutes. It is the closest to Doomsday we have ever been in thehistory of the Doomsday Clock. We now face a true emergency  anabsolutely unacceptable state of world affairs that has eliminated anymargin for error or further delay.

December 2020 will mark the 75th anniversary of the first edition ofthe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It originally was a six-page,black-and-white bulletin, which evolved into a magazine. It wascreated in response to fears that the atomic bomb, which had been usedagainst Japan in August of 1945 to end the Second World War, would beonly the first of many dangerous presents from the Pandoras Box ofmodern science.

Origins of the Clock and Nuclear Armageddon

The Doomsday Clock, which has been maintained since 1947, isessentially a metaphor for threats to humanity from uncheckedscientific and technical advances. The clocks original setting in1947 was 7 minutes to midnight, and over the years it was setbackward and forward a total of 24 times.

It typically is assessed in January of each year.

The largest-ever number of minutes to midnight was 17 in 1991, when theUnited States and Soviet Union signed the first Strategic Arms ReductionTreaty (START I), followed by the Soviet Union dissolving on Dec. 26 of that year. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain,along with the reunification of Germany a year earlier, already had added 4 minutes to the clock.

In 1995, global military spending, as well as concerns aboutpost-Soviet nuclear proliferation, moved the clock 3 minutes closerto midnight  14 minutes in total. That number was reduced to 9minutes to midnight three years later, following Indias and Pakistanstesting of nuclear weapons.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Two more minutes were cut in 2002 due toconcerns over a nuclear terrorist attack and the fears that vastamounts of weapon-grade nuclear materials were largely unsecured orotherwise unaccounted for worldwide.

2010 saw the last time a minute was added. That followed a newSTART agreement, as well as the 2009 United Nations Climate ChangeConference, which called for the developing and industrialized nationsto agree to take responsibility for carbon emissions.

New Fears

Most perceptions about the Doomsday Clocks time to midnight are thatit always has been based on the threat posed by nuclear weapons andthe potential for an atomic war. However, other factors have beenconsidered by the Bulletin of the AtomicScientists, including energy, weapons, diplomacy and climatescience. In recent years they also have considered terrorist threats and climate change.

Bioterrorism and artificial intelligence also could be seenas potential sources of threats that could inch humanity closer todoomsday.

Cyberwarfare is a new factor  specifically cyber-enabledinformation warfare. It could include everything fromstate-sponsored propaganda to deepfakes to the spread ofmisinformation online. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warnedthat cyber-based disinformation could cause corruption of theinformation ecosphere on which democracy and public decision makingdepend.

Moreover, many governments are utilizing cyber-enabled disinformationcampaigns as a way to sow distrust among rival powers. It has beencalled out as threat to the common good.

In the wrong hands, technology absolutely creates a threat tohumankind that is on the same scale as current weapons technology,warned Bill Santos, president of Scottsdale, Arizona-base Cerberus Sentinel.

Improperly used or maliciously deployed, technology can cripplecritical infrastructure, upset financial systems, and disable many ofthe systems we depend on for our survival and happiness, he told TechNewsWorld.

Reducing the Threat Vectors

New arms treaties and greater cooperation among nations have allowedthe doomsday clock to be set back  gaining precious seconds, or insome cases even minutes. However, the new threats are so great thatthere may be no easy way of addressing them and regaining timebefore the hands strike the proverbial midnight.

The risk of cyberwarfare is on par with nuclear risk and climatechange  and it may even pose a greater risk than both, explainedMarc Gaffan, CEO of Israel-based cybersecurity firm Hysolate.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A decade ago, cyberthreats had somewhat manageable impacts  datatheft that would rock the stability of the organization, or monetaryloss that would affect performance and a companys stock price for acouple years, he told TechNewsWorld.

Today cyberattacks can result in serious business disruption that isfar beyond either data theft or monetary losses. A cyberattack couldpose a threat to all aspects of infrastructure, from power grids tocommunication networks.

Nation-state attacks like this stem back to 2010 with Stuxnet, noted Gaffan.

The Stuxnet attack, which likely was conducted as a jointAmerican-Israeli effort, successfully crippled Irans nuclear program. Iranian hackers were believed to be responsible for a 2018 cyberattack against a Saudi petrochemical facility.

There was no loss of life in either attack, but each increasedregional tensions. Moreover, such attacks could result in physicalequipment failures that would lead to human casualties.

Its far too easy for malicious attackers to cause physical damage said Gaffan, and the impact is far too great for this to not be a significant factor driving us closer to midnight.

Even more worrisome is the fact that much of our modern infrastructureisnt as secure as it could be.

The unfortunate truth also is that the power grid and other nationaloperations that literally keep the lights on are not built with themost sound security in place to prevent an attack from causing acatastrophic blackout or causing fatal medical device failures, said Gaffan.

Turn Back Time

It might be difficult to put time back on the Doomsday Clock,but its not impossible. Here is where cybersecurity as a defensive toolcould be crucial. The world could be safer if more governments, companies andindividuals all paid greater attention to cybersecurity.

Education and awareness can help move the hands back, said Gaffan.

Ultimately, we as a society need to start thinking of securityfirst  and not as an afterthought  in everything we do, he urged.

To that end, security needs to be built into the core architecture ofeverything  from the software and applications that are being builttoday to the improvement of legacy systems and infrastructures thatare currently in place.

However, due to advancements in technology, the risk of cyberwarfare will always be with us, warned Gaffan.

The best we can do is mitigate the risk by staying one step ahead ofattackers in building devices and an infrastructure that aresecure-by-design, he argued.

The defense against this threat goes beyond thetechnology itself, suggested Cerberus Sentinels Santos.

We need to create a comprehensive culture of security at thegovernment, corporate and individual level that is aware of thisthreat and understands the steps each can take to address it, he said.

This could begin with education to better understand the unique set ofrisks a completely connected civilization faces.

It is followed with an understanding of what can be done, at everylevel, to address or reduce these risks, said Santos. We need tothink of security holistically, understanding that it is anexistential risk that affects aspects of our interconnected lives. Weare far too dependent on technology to address our security needs.True cybersecurity is a culture.
Bollywood actress Sobhita Dhulipala says she endorses the acceptance of time, adding that vanity is unhealthy and I have grown up treating beauty as an outward celebration of how one feels on the inside.

The Made in Heaven star has been roped in as the face of Los Angeles-based beauty brand Smashbox which unveils its own exclusive Always On Liquid Lipstick shade GULA-BAE, created especially for the women of India.

IANSlife got in a conversation with Sobhita to know more about her beauty preferences, her collaboration with the brand, upcoming projects and more. Read on:

Q: What does beauty mean to you? And what do you think is your biggest beauty learning over the last few years?

Sobhita: Beauty is something that lasts, something that doesnt fade with time. When I see someone with a sense of self and grace that comes with age, I find them incredibly beautiful. I strongly endorse the acceptance of time and its many doings. Children should look like children, teens absolutely like teens and basically everybody, their age. Vanity is unhealthy and I have grown up treating beauty as an outward celebration of how one feels on the inside.

Q: What is so special in GULA-BAE, India exclusive shade from Smashbox?

Sobhita: Here is a brand that is walking the walk, showing in example their interest in inclusivity. With our brown skin, it has been tough finding the right shade of pink - that is changing now. GULA-BAE is a pink meant for Indias lush Browns. I find this empowering.

Q: How would you style Gula-Bae?

Sobhita: I would mix it with balm and smear it on the lips and cheeks for a monotone flush whether day or night. Since its not loud, it allows one to wear it with any kind of style - Indian or western.

Q: How have beauty standards evolved over the years?

Sobhita: Absolutely have. I aspire to look good and feel complete without any/ with as little makeup as possible. There is a general consciousness and a non-binary approach that has come about with regards to beauty and fashion in my life.

Q: A beauty trend that you like and dislike the most?

Sobhita: Bare face with a red lip - its a classic I love. Anything that looks like a tons of makeup and I cant see their skin or actual features - dislike very much.

Q: What is your skincare and make up routine like?

Sobhita: I have normal to dry skin so I moisturize my face, put some primer on after primer. Then I conceal my under-eyes slightly and put on a pinkish-nude lip-color and add a glossy balm for a lush color. Thats that.

Q: One beauty product which you think is overrated?

Sobhita: Contour-ey things. I dont like that they alter face shapes and can make everybody look the same.

Q: On work front, whats next for you?

Sobhita: My next release is going to be Kurup with Dulquer Salmaan in Malayalam. In terms of projects, Im currently working on - Ponniyin Selvan with Mani Ratnam in four languages, a Telugu film I cant reveal much about yet and this lovely film called Sitara with Rsvp. And then I move on to shoot for Made in Heaven Season 2. Its an exciting time to be alive!

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- South Korean news channel YTN said in an announcement released on its website earlier this week that it regrets that it has triggered an outrage on Vietnamese social media, with its way of reporting about the treatment that 20 South Koreans had received while being in quarantine in Vietnam as a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) precaution last month.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has raised its concern to the Ministry of Health that many Chinese passengers, who had left China for more than 14 days before entering Vietnam from areas that have not been affected by COVID-19, still run a high risk of being infected with and spreading the viral disease as their countries of arrival might have not strictly monitored them for disease prevention. Vietnam requires a compulsory 14-day quarantine period for anyone entering the country with a recent travel history to areas affected by COVID-19, including China.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board plans to finish and welcome visitors to the construction site of a station near the Municipal Theater in District 1 of the Metro Line No. 1 project, which connects the downtown area with District 9 in the citys eastern part, by April 30.

-- Nearly 600 people from police, military and forestry personnel exerted effort in roughly a day to put out a wildfire on the Cam (Forbidden) Mountain, which is known as the highest mountain in Vietnams Mekong Delta region, in Tinh Bien District, located in An Giang Province, on Wednesday.

-- The Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia on Wednesday recommended Vietnamese citizens in the country to actively protect themselves and their families from COVID-19.

Education

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has conducted a quick survey to ask for parents opinions on whether students should wear face masks in the classroom, as their back-to-school dates are near after they have stayed home for a long time to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Business

-- A number of restaurants and coffee shops have been shuttered over the course of a week on Phan Xich Long Street in Phu Nhuan District, one of the busiest dining streets in Ho Chi Minh City, for unclear reasons.

-- Many enterprises in the central city of Da Nang called for help and support from the government to get over difficulties due to the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic at a meeting between the municipal Peoples Committee and local business organizations on Wednesday.

World News

-- Over 94,200 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 3,221 killed globally as of Wednesday, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
There have been attempts in the past to stop flying the flag, especially in the parade. In 2016, the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee changed to the Stars and Bars flag after it acknowledged our ignorance to fly the correct flag for Arizonas Confederate occupation. That flag features a large horizontal red stripe on the top, a large white stripe in the middle, and another large stripe at the bottom, as well as a blue square in the upper left hand corner with 13 stars in a circle. It flew over Tucson during a nearly 300-day Confederate occupation in 1862.

Representatives from the Sons of Confederate Veterans said last week the group has been riding in the parade for more than two decades and acknowledged the group gets complaints about the flag annually. The group said last week that flag they said the flag represented regimental colors, which were used during battles to notify other Confederate fighters on the smoke-filled battlefield.

Bob Johnson, Arizona division commander for the group, told the Star that they support of the decision of the committee and that "we appreciate the opportunity to participate" in the annual parade. He added that he was pleased with the compromise and middle ground, saying "it works better than being divisive."
The reality of what some Kiwi families in poverty are surviving on has been laid bare in a new KidsCan campaign, as more than 3,000 children in early childhood centres and schools around New Zealand wait for the charitys support.

Renowned chefs Peter Gordon, Nadia Lim, Michael Van de Elzen and Allyson Gofton are calling for public help to reach them.

In a series of hard-hitting videos, they prepare heartbreakingly meagre meals, each based on a real story from a family living in hardship.

Nadia Lim cooks red soup, the leftover water that cheerios have been boiled in. Peter Gordon cooks beef ragout, a mix of only boiled water and mince. Allyson Gofton makes tomato risotto, with just rice and tomato sauce, while Michael Van de Elzens Bouillon de Poulet cooks a chicken frame boiled in water.

Nadia, who donates monthly to KidsCan, says she felt sick when she read the recipe for red soup.

She encouraged Kiwis to imagine themselves in the shoes of those in poverty.

Especially as a mum, its incredibly upsetting to think of being in a situation where you wouldnt have anything to feed your children. Its horrendously awful, she says.

It needs to change, and its quite amazing that just by providing simple things it can really change a childs life. Making sure kids have a full belly when they go to school so they can learn properly will help break the cycle. We really, really need to get behind this so no Kiwi kid goes hungry.

Michael says children would get no nutrition from chicken frame soup.

It just makes it so, so, so important what KidsCan does. Without their food what would happen to them and those little bodies that need the energy, that need the nutrition that needs all those sparks in their brains to fire?

KidsCan is now feeding a record 34,000 children in schools and early childhood centres across New Zealand.

The charity has just sent out 134 tonnes of food to schools - enough to fill more than 28 shipping containers.

Close to 800 schools receive a range of breakfast, lunch and snack food including yoghurt, bread, spreads, fruit, baked beans, muesli bars, scroggin and hot meals of soups, curries and pasta.

Twenty five early childhood centres receive yoghurt, fresh fruit and ingredients for five fresh lunches a week, in a programme that is currently being expanded to more centres.

KidsCans CEO Julie Chapman says all Kiwi kids deserved to be sitting down to proper meals, but for some, KidsCans food was the only real sustenance on some days.

We know that many families are at breaking point as they try to stretch budgets which are being consumed by very high rents, back to school costs or an unexpected bill.

For most of the week they manage to provide for their families, but its often the day before pay day that the food runs out, and they resort to these heartbreaking meals.

Were seeing no letup in need. Despite having just taken 47 new schools into our programme, we still have 3,085 children waiting for food, shoes, raincoats and health essentials like sanitary items and head lice treatment.
Boeing Co. sent home a worker with flu-like symptoms from one of its wide-body production lines, as well as 10 other employees who were in close contact with him, as concerns spread over the global coronavirus.

The stricken employee at the 777 plant in Everett, Wash., was sent home Wednesday and slated to follow up with his doctor Thursday, the planemaker said in a message to employees. He didnt require emergency care and the company started cleaning the work area as a precaution.

The hulking facility, about an hour north of Seattle, is the largest enclosed structure on earth. The twin-aisle planes made there  including the 767 and the 787 Dreamliner  are a critical source of revenue for Boeing while it works with regulators to end a grounding of the 737 Max, the companys bestselling jetliner.

Boeing said it wasnt aware of any confirmed coronavirus cases in its workforce and has a medical team monitoring its sites. The Chicago-based company has about 72,000 employees in Washington, an early hot spot for the virus in the U.S.

Read more about:
Hines Little Smiles will provide no-charge dental services for local kids on March 7th. We see a lot of new kids every year, which just hammers home the knowledge that we made the right choice for our community. - Dr. Mitzi Hines

This Saturday, March 7, 2020, Hines Little Smiles will again step up to help ensure the oral health of uninsured or underinsured children from the Columbus, Ohio, area. The pediatric dental practices fourth Biannual Community Day is expected to open at 9:00 AM and extend until 3:00 PM. Patients will be accepted in order of arrival, must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and will receive basic dental services, including cleanings, fillings and extractions, free of charge.

Hines Little Smiles hosted their first Biannual Community Day in 2018, in response to rising dental care costs and an insurance system that was unable to provide support and care for children from low-income families. The event was met by enormous response from parents of children in the local community, and has since become a twice-yearly affair.

Ohio has worked hard to make sure pediatric dental care is a priority, says Dr. Mitzi Hines, who opened the pediatric dental practice in 2009. Statewide, were meeting and beating our annual targets for reduced dental decay in children and increased access to dental care. However, at a recent board meeting for the KidSMILES Pediatric Dental Clinic I learned that children who need dental care, but cannot afford it, would fill up the Horseshoe (Ohio Stadium) 5 times over. Thats over half a million children in Ohio alone who need care and arent receiving it regularly.

Medicaid does cover some dental care for children, but this care is often insufficient, and reimbursed at levels far below the actual cost of care. In 2018, we had to make a decision as a practice, says Dr. Hines. We could keep trying to fight with Medicaid about coverage for biannual maintenance cleanings and other preventive childrens dentistry, or put that time, energy, and budget into providing a higher level of care that is still completely free for underinsured children in our community.

Dr. Hines says the turnout at each free, walk-in community event, held twice a year, has been outstanding. We see a lot of new kids every year, which just hammers home the knowledge that we made the right choice for our community.

The free dental services provided during the event include standard cleanings, fillings, extractions, and more. (Treatments requiring general anesthesia cannot be provided.) Children will be seen on a first come, first serve basis, and all patients up to age 18 will be accepted regardless of their ability to pay.

At Hines Little Smiles, our focus is on the children of our community, says Dr. Hines. During our last event, we had 38 volunteers on site for 6 hours. In those 228 total volunteer hours, we were able to serve the needs of 47 children and dispensed nearly $25,000 worth of quality dental services. We cant wait for our fourth no-charge day, and plan to continue this biannual event. Its a solution that is working for our communitys kids.

While reservations are not accepted in advance, potential patients and parents can RSVP on the Facebook event page.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sickweather, the world's first crowdsourced real-time map of sickness, today issued a warning that there will be no respite from flu-like symptoms and respiratory illness in the spring and summer months  and is urging consumers to safeguard themselves against the ongoing spread of illness. The company's alert is based on the predictive modeling of its SickScore risk index which tracks illness using its patented method for social listening for disease surveillance and assesses patterns of flu-like symptomatology in cities across the country.

Sickweather's report is troubling because the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that there have already been at least 26 million flu illnesses in the 2019-2020 flu season. These illness have resulted in a quarter-million hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths, including over a 100 children. Sickweather's prediction for a prolonged season of flu-like illness is historic because it represents a stark contrast to the notion that flu-like symptoms will decrease near the end of March and remain low for 5-6 months before the start of the next influenza season. It is too early to predict here in the U.S., but coronavirus may play a large part in the ongoing respiratory illnesses in the spring and summer.

To stay informed and know your risk, download the Sickweather app for free on IOS at http://sick.io/ios or for Android at http://sick.io/android.

"We're proud that Sickweather has a proven track record of accurately forecasting outbreaks like these unrelenting flu-like symptoms up to 15 weeks in advance," said Laurel Edelman, CEO of Sickweather. "We live in an era when it has never been more critical for consumers to be informed about what's happening in their communities to protect themselves and their families. The Sickweather app is a free, easy-to-use resource to check on a daily basis to stay welland we're dedicated to keeping people well by decreasing the spread of illness."

Sickweather's concerning report that viruses will continue to spread serves as a warning to remain vigilant in disease prevention efforts to help prevent the spread of any flu-like illnesses. CDC experts recommend being diligent about regular handwashing; covering coughs and sneezes; avoiding unnecessary touching of the eyes, nose, and mouth; frequently disinfecting surfaces; getting enough sleep; eating nutritious foods; and effectively managing stress.

The company's proprietary SickScore is a risk index for illness. A SickScore in the 30's and 40's is normal but a SickScore greater than 50 means that illness is active. A SickScore nearing 100 indicates an increased likelihood of encountering people with illness in daily activities throughout the community.

The sickest cities in the U.S. today, based on the SickScore index, are:

#1  Salt Lake City, Utah

#2  Austin, Texas

#3  Portland, Oregon

#4  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

#5  Denver, Colorado

#6  Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Tied at #7 are  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Detroit, Michigan

and #8  Honolulu, Hawaii

Tied at #9 are  Charlotte, North Carolina and San Diego, California

and #10  Nashville, Tennessee

About Sickweather

Sickweather is the world's first real-time map of sickness and the largest crowdsourcing community of its kind  processing millions of illness reports each month. The company has been recognized for accurately forecasting outbreaks up to 15 weeks in advance. Sickweather is committed to providing consumers and businesses the most accurate, predictive and meaningful sickness forecasts in the world  for reducing healthcare costs and saving lives. For more information, visit www.sickweather.com.

Contact:

Laurel Edelman

Sickweather

484-653-8707

[email protected]

SOURCE Sickweather, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sickweather.com


Gomez said hes never felt unsafe in the two years his shop has been part of a strip of shops near Mason Avenue. This is the first time. I havent had any incidents. I havent seen anything (violent) happening around here.
A 16-year-old Indian girl here has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed infection cases in the UAE to 28, according to media reports.

Health officials here confirmed on Wednesday that a new coronavirus case was detected in the girl who attended an Indian school in Dubai, Al-Arabiya website reported.

The girl tested positive for the COVID-19 after she contracted the infection from her father who travelled overseas, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) was quoted as saying by the report.

The Indian High School in Dubai will be closed from Thursday as a precautionary measure, the Gulf reported.

"As a precautionary measure, Indian High School Group of schools is closed from Thursday, March 5. Detailed circular about exams will be mailed. Your well-being is important. Take care," the report said.

The father developed symptoms of the virus five days after returning to Dubai. Both the student and family members have been quarantined in hospital and are stable and recovering well. All other family members have also been quarantined, the Khaleej Times reported.

"Within the framework of comprehensive preventive measures against the spread of coronavirus, the DHA is conducting tests and monitoring the students, staff and workers of the school that may have interacted with the coronavirus patient," the DHA was quoted as saying by the Gulf

"DHA has adopted stringent pro-active precautionary measures to ensure the health, safety and well-being of all students of the school and their families. In coordination with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), we have issued instructions for classes in the school to be suspended," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The young man charged in the Santa Fe High School shooting rampage that left eight students and two teachers dead purchased more than 100 rounds of ammunition before the shooting on a website that never verified his age, attorneys alleged in an amended civil lawsuit filed Thursday.

The filing alleges that on March 2, 2018, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, then a 17-year old junior at Santa Fe High School, ordered 50 rounds of hollow-point handgun ammunition and 105 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition from the website Luckygunner.com. Two weeks later, he purchased 35 additional rounds of shotgun ammunition from the same website, according to the suit.

Weve identified another actor in the chain of events that led to this horrific, tragic shooting, said Eric Tirschwell, managing director of Everytown Law, part of the legal team that filed the petition. He said the lawsuit claims the website broke federal law and didnt verify the age of the purchaser, and we see what the result was.

Tirschwell and Everytown Law, the legal arm for Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, a nationwide group, filed the petition on behalf Abdul Aziz Sheikh and Farah Naz, the parents of Sabika Sheikh. A Pakistani exchange student who spent a year at Santa Fe High School, the 17-year-old was one of the eight students killed during the school massacre.

The complaint alleges Pagourtzis was not required to submit proof of his age to make the purchase, create a Luckygunner account or set up a secure two-step authorization. He checked a terms-and-conditions box agreeing that he was not under 21, and used prepaid American Express gift cards to pay for the ammunition.

Pagourtzis would use the ammunition in the May 2018 shooting spree, the lawsuit alleges. Pagourtzis is charged with capital murder in the shooting, which police say was carried out with a shotgun and revolver owned by his parents. He admitted to being the mass shooter after his arrest, according to court documents. He faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years if convicted. He is not eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the shooting.

The amended petition is part of a civil lawsuit filed against the suspects parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, alleging that they knew their son was exhibiting extreme behavior but failed to prevent him from accessing their firearms, which authorities believe were used in the shooting.

Sheikh's parents, who live in Karachi, Pakistan, joined the lawsuit in November 2018 and have been vocal in decrying gun violence ever since. In a statement, Abdul Aziz Sheikh and Farah Naz said they are committed to fighting for accountability and for a safer future.

People need to know just how easy it was for the shooter to buy ammunition from a website that failed to take even basic steps to protect the public, they said in a statement.

Ron Rodgers, the attorney representing Pagourtzis parents in the civil suit, said he was aware of the amended petition, but declined to comment because he said it doesnt directly pertain to his clients.

The information about how the ammunition for the Santa Fe shooting was acquired was not previously revealed. Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady, who is prosecuting the capital murder case, has kept a tight lid on public information connected to the shooting.

The Texas Public Information Act gives prosecutors sweeping authority to keep documents secret  including medical examiners' reports, police radio communications, incident reports and almost everything else  thanks to a law enforcement exception written into the law.

Law enforcement agencies have withheld all public documents connected to the Santa Fe shooting, which occurred some 35 miles southeast of downtown Houston, claiming it will interfere with Pagourtzis prosecution.

Federal law prohibits minors from purchasing handgun ammunition, and bars licensed gun companies from selling handgun ammunition to minors or selling shotgun ammunition to anyone they have reason to believe is under 21.

The new filing lists Luckygunner.com, along with its owners, Red Stag as additional defendants in the lawsuit. The suit claims Red Stag mailed the ammunition to Pagourtzis via FedEx without verifying his age or requiring an adult to sign for the package. Subpoenas have not yet been issued to either company.

Neither Luckygunner.com nor Red Stag responded to requests for comment.

Pagourtzis is being evaluated and medicated at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon, a maximum-security mental health facility. He was evaluated by three independent psychiatric experts, all of whom agreed that he was not fit to stand trial in his current mental state.

Galveston County prosecutors did not challenge the finding and state District Judge John Ellisor on Nov. 15 officially signed the order declaring Pagourtzis incompetent.

nick.powell@chron.com
South Africa: Impimpa hotline to assist vulnerable workers

The newly launched Impimpa hotline is set to help vulnerable and isolated workers, such as domestic workers, to report non-compliant employers.

Launching the hotline on Thursday, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said the hotline aims to strengthen compliance with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) determination, which is currently sitting at R20.76 per hour.

You dont need data, airtime or a smart phone to use the hotline, the Minister said.

The number to dial when reporting non-compliance is *134*305# and the person reporting will select the job category they are in, and thereafter follow the prompts.

According to Nxesi, the software behind Impimpa allows the department to monitor sectors and areas where problems arise. It also allows them to monitor the response time of inspectors.

The Minister said the department is not declaring war on employers but it wants to ensure the dignity, safety and conditions of service of workers.

As a department, we remain committed to this vision of transformation in the workplace and creating the conditions for decent work. The Impimpa hotline will contribute to that.

Nxesi said as the department, they have picked up complaints of non-compliance with regard to vulnerable workers in isolated employment environments.

We found non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act, as well as failure to enforce the provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act regarding hours worked, leave and in extreme cases, near-slave conditions, where workers were locked in premises overnight, the Minister said.

He said the inspection blitz, jointly with officials from the Departments of Home Affairs, and Agriculture and Rural Development, will continue in sectors where there are vulnerable workers.

The launch of the hotline coincides with the latest review of the National Minimum Wage rates, which were published on 17 February 2020.

The NMW Impimpa hotline will provide an effective monitoring and enforcement system. Its launch is seen as vital to the success of this significant policy intervention  the National Minimum Wage, the department said.

The Impimpa hotline is a mechanism to ensure that employers are complying with the NMW Act and are held accountable if they are found to be non-complying.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BLOOMFIELD  A fundraiser is planned to help a local service group push past its donation goal to purchase a veteran statue.

The fundraiser will be held at Culvers, located at 151 N Wells St., in Lake Geneva from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 5. All proceeds from the event, up to $2,000, will be matched by Modern Woodmen.

The group is aiming to raise $7,000 for the purchase and delivery of the statue. They also are planning to purchase a bench and a light to go next to the memorial.

So far, Modern Woodmen has raised $3,654, and the down payment for the statue is about $1,875. The group still has to raise $3,346 to reach their goal. With the matching $2,000 pledge, the group is hoping the Culvers fundraiser could provide the last of the needed funds.

I am hoping that we make as much as we can to cover the expenses for the statue, Modern Woodmen member Rich Olenoski said. I hope that we make enough money to be able to put the security lights there and to buy a bench later on.

According to Olenoski, the group has also set up a bank account to help raise the money needed for the statue. They have set up an account with BMO Harris Bank in Lake Geneva under the Bloomfield Village Statue Fund.

Any donation will be helpful and appreciated, Olenoski said.

As proposed, the statue would stand next to an existing veterans memorial outside the village post office at N1265 Park Road.

Discussion about a statue honoring veterans started last year, when village officials expressed a desire to emulate a life-sized statue of a soldier standing in Delavan.

Bloomfields Parks, Lakes, and Recreation Committee endorsed the plan. However, the village voted down funding for the proposal.

Village Board member Rita Marcinkus has supported the statue being built. She was one of the committee members that recommended the statue have lights around it to deter vandalism. However, she doesnt want the money to come from taxpayers.

As long as they are not charging the village to do the work, Marcinkus said.

After village leaders voted down funding for a statue, the Modern Woodmen group decided to change directions and raise private donations. One of the groups that has provided a donation is the American Legion Post 183 in Genoa City.

It will really enhance the monument, Legion Member Ed Duesing said. It will be a good addition.

Plans call for purchasing the statue from SVJ Creative Designs, a Minnesota company. The statue will stand just over six feet and weigh about 1,200 pounds.

If Modern Woodmen can raise enough moeny, it hopes to have the statue up by Memorial Day.

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Part of the issue is definitional. Socially liberal but fiscally conservative is now far too pat a description for contemporary moderate Democrats, many of whom would be to the left of the last Democratic president, Barack Obama.

Max Rose of Staten Island, a typical freshman who picked off a Republican in 2018, is a veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in Afghanistan. He cares little about the deficit and is strongly against the Green New Deal. Like the vast majority of freshman Democrats who won in 2018, he does not like Medicare for All, but he supports a public option on the Affordable Care Acts insurance exchanges, which was considered a far left position not so long ago. He and the rest of the freshman Democrats support abortion rights, which was not true for many moderates before this class.

Further, racial and geographic dynamics often get conflated with generational ones among Democratic voters.

The 2018 races illuminated this as well. The Ocasio-Cortez victory was considerably more complicated than the postelection analysis, which focused almost completely on shifting demographics in her district. While the narrative of her victory portrayed younger, nonwhite and working-class voters as her secret base, in reality Ms. Ocasio-Cortez had soundly beaten the incumbent in the areas of the district that were by and large more wealthy and educated, in particular parts of Queens filled with white residents fleeing overpriced Manhattan.

Mr. Crowley prevailed in most working-class corners of the district, including the districts Hispanic and African-American enclaves; he beat Ms. Ocasio-Cortez by more than 25 points in her own Parkchester section of the Bronx.

David Freedlander neatly summed this up in his analysis for Politico magazine soon after the race: Ocasio-Cortez, the young Latina who proudly identifies as a democratic socialist, hadnt been all but vaulted into Congress by the partys diversity, or a blue-collar base looking to even the playing field. She won because she had galvanized the college-educated gentrifiers who are displacing those people.

In short, deeply blue areas, especially with young and affluent voters, may be seeking political representation far to the left of the Democrats who were once easily re-elected. But as scores of Democrats saw in 2018, and still more saw on Super Tuesday, much of the rest of the countrys Democrats, especially older African-American voters who are a major component of the base, prefer more centrist candidates. This is the dichotomy that hangs over the party today.
STAMFORD, Conn., March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Lovesac Company (LOVE) today announced that the Companys Chief Executive Officer, Shawn Nelson, will be presenting at the following conferences during March 2020:



The 3rd Annual D.A. Davidson Consumer Growth Conference, held at the Lotte New York Palace in New York, NY. Mr. Nelson is scheduled to present on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time.

The 32nd Annual ROTH Conference, held at the Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Orange County, CA. Mr. Nelson is scheduled to present on Monday, March 16, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

A live audio webcast of the presentations and a copy of the presentations will also be available online at investor.lovesac.com. Participants should log in approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the presentations. A replay will also be available.

About The Lovesac Company

Based in Stamford, Connecticut, The Lovesac Company is a direct-to-consumer specialty furniture brand with 91 retail showrooms supporting its ecommerce delivery model. Lovesacs name comes from its original Durafoam filled beanbags called Sacs. The Company derives a majority of its current sales from its proprietary platform called Sactionals, a washable, changeable, reconfigurable, and FedEx-shippable solution for large upholstered seating. Founder and CEO, Shawn Nelsons, Designed for Life philosophy emphasizes sustainable products that are built to last a lifetime and designed to evolve with the customers needs, providing long-term utility and ultimately reducing the amount of furniture discarded into landfills.

Investor Relations Contact :

Rachel Schacter, ICR

(203) 682-8200

InvestorRelations@lovesac.com
Local visual and musical artists will gather to celebrate International Womens Day during Art I a Woman March 7 at Broadway United Methodist Church.

The event occurs the day before International Womens Day, and organizer Vickie Daniel wanted to help the community celebrate women for the whole weekend. Broadway United Methodist Church member and chairperson Deb Shoffner will focus on women during a sermon on International Womens Day on March 8.

I want people to celebrate the equality of women, Daniel said. And to up the ante and the belief that women are just as capable of achieving, and for people to celebrate and say thank you for being a woman  and doing everything you do, which is a lot.

International Womens Day began in 1910 after Clara Zetkin, a German revolutionary, proposed that March 8 be designated to celebrate working women at that years International Socialist Womens Conference. While it has been celebrated every year since 1910, the movement gained traction in 1975 after the United Nations recognized it as a holiday.

To celebrate this years International Womens Day, visitors to Broadway United can see paintings, pottery and other visual arts as well as listen to live musical performances from artists from the church, along with creators from around the community.

Daniel, a jazz musician, had a very specific reason for choosing art as a platform for the international holiday: unity.

Art crosses so many boundaries that other things do not, she said. It transcends all of our isms, and it binds us together. Art humanizes us and makes us more sensitive to each others plight.

Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.
Photo credit: NASA/JPL

From Popular Mechanics

NASA has selected a name for its Mars 2020 rover from the nine finalists: Endurance, Tenacity, Promise, Perseverance, Vision, Clarity, Ingenuity, Fortitude, and Courage.

Unfortunately, the name isn't Vision.

It's Perseverance. And it's expected to launch for Mars this summer.

NASA has unveiled the name of its Mars 2020 rover, and it's ...

... Drumroll, please ...

Perseverance.

Huh. Needless to say, were a little bit disappointed its not "Vision."

Students from Swaziland, Turkmenistan, and everywhere in between submitted over 28,000 names for consideration. Then, a panel of judges narrowed the list down to 155. On January 21, NASA released the top nine contendersEndurance, Tenacity, Promise, Perseverance, Vision, Clarity, Ingenuity, Fortitude and Courageand asked the public to choose. A total of 7,000 votes were cast.

"There has never exploration, there has never been making history without perseverance," says NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen.

This is what happens when the public decides.

Okay, so we're being a little bit dramatic. Perseverance isn't a bad submission by any means! As Dr. Z says, any rover that explores the unforgiving Martian terrain certainly needs to a hearty helping of perseverance.

Perseverance will join the ranks of an intrepid list of explorers. There's Opportunity, Spirit, Curiosity, and InSight, which is short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, as well as the Mars Global Surveyor, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (a total mouthful), and MAVEN, an acronym for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution.

The name was submitted by Alex Mather, a student at Lake Braddock secondary school in Burke, Virginia. Like the intrepid explorers that launched before it, the rover will be operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The next few years will be extremely busy on the Red Planet. In addition to Perseverances launch in July, the ESA-Roscosmos rover, Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars2020), which will hunt for past and current signs of life, is on schedule for a launch this summer. Both China and the United Arab Emirates plan to launch their Martian-bound spacecraft in July. Thats just in 2020 alone.

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In 2022, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology is aiming to launch a tiny microsatellite called TERahertz EXplorer toward Marss orbit. And in 2024, Japans space agency, JAXA, is planning to launch its Martian Moons eXploration mission, which will set off to sample Mars' moon, Phobos. India also has plans to explore the Martian orbit in the next few years.

Perseverance will undoubtedly make a number of incredible discoveries in the years to come, but in our heart of hearts, shell always be Vision.

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Interim Chancellor Dr. Ron Mitchelson signs the final beam that was placed as part of construction of the new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building on Wednesday. The placement of the final beam, known as topping out, signifies a milestone in construction of the building that is scheduled to open in August of 2021. | Photos: Cliff Hollis

A Pirates flag attached to a beam flaps in front of the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building.

"Were building a destination. Theres no mistake about it here in Greenville, and this is an important part of that destination."  Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson

Mike Van Scott, interim vice chancellor for ECUs Division of Research, Economic Development and Engagement, speaks during the topping out ceremony.

Construction of the East Carolina University Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building reached a milestone with a "topping out" ceremony Wednesday at the site on the corner of 10th and Evans streets in Greenville.Workers put the final beam into place on the structure, signifying the completion of the skeleton of the building that will house interdisciplinary research in biotechnology, bioprocessing, biophysics, biofuels, plant biology, imaging and sensor development, and environmental biology.ECU Interim Chancellor Dr. Ron Mitchelson told the crowd gathered for the ceremony.Dignitaries attending the ceremony as well as workers from construction company Rodgers Builders signed their names on the beam as is tradition before it was hoisted into place. A large American flag and a purple Pirates flag flapped in the breeze as a crane lifted the 400-pound beam from the ground.Mitchelson said.Mike Van Scott, interim vice chancellor for ECU's Division of Research, Economic Development and Engagement, said the building would serve as a gateway for eastern North Carolina to ECU, providing a dynamic environment where industry and community partners can engage with university faculty and students, and access university resources to address problems, develop innovative solutions and make strategic decisions for future growth and development.Van Scott said.ECU broke ground at the site on July 12, 2019. Funded through the Connect NC bond referendum that voters approved in 2016, the $90 million building is slated to open in August of 2021. The 141,500 square-foot building will feature four stories with wet bench and computational laboratory spaces for researchers across a variety of academic disciplines.The building is the first structure to be built on the ECU Millennial Campus, and the beam placed Wednesday signified the completion of 200,000 man hours of work that has already been put into construction.Rodgers Builders serves as the construction manager of the building. The facility's primary design firm is Lord Aeck Sargeant, with other design partners including AEI, CLH, Lynch Mykins, The East Group and Thorburn Associates.
Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign on Thursday, bowing to the reality that the race for the Democratic nomination has become a two-way battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S Senator Bernie Sanders.

A former bankruptcy law professor who forged a national reputation as a scourge of Wall Street even before entering politics, Warren had banked on a strong showing on Super Tuesday after a string of disappointing finishes in the early states.

But she trailed far behind front-runners Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, placing third in her home state of Massachusetts.

Warren, a liberal senator who won plaudits for her command of policy details, finished well behind the two front-runners on Tuesday in 14 states, including her home state of Massachusetts, leaving her path to the nomination virtually nonexistent.

Expand Close Elizabeth Warren speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Elizabeth Warren speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

It was not clear whether Warren, who still commands a loyal base of supporters, would endorse either of her rivals, which could offer either a significant boost. She had tried to position herself between the moderate Biden and the progressive Sanders, though she was more ideologically aligned with her Senate colleague.

Her relationship with Sanders may have been strained in January, when she accused him of calling her a "liar" on national television after he denied telling her in 2018 that a woman could not beat Republican President Donald Trump.

Warren's departure ensures that what had once been the most diverse field of candidates in US history will now be waged between two white men nearing 80 years old.

Biden and Sanders have stepped up attacks on each other following Biden's unexpectedly strong performance on Super Tuesday earlier this week, a trend that continued on Thursday.

The back-and-forth between the two contenders signaled a bruising battle to come as the race turns next to six states stretching from Mississippi to Washington state, which vote on March 10.

Sanders blamed the "establishment" and corporate interests for his losses in 10 of the 14 states that voted on Tuesday, a charge Biden called "ridiculous."

"You got beaten by overwhelming support I have from the African-American community, Bernie," Biden told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday. "You got beaten because of suburban women, Bernie. You got beaten because of the middle-class, hardworking folks out there, Bernie."

Biden received more support from black voters and women, particularly in suburban areas, exit polls found. Those two groups make up a substantial part of the Democratic electorate and were credited with delivering the party big wins during the 2018 midterm congressional elections.

Biden also pointed out that Sanders has raised more campaign cash, responding to criticism that his moderate rival is collecting money from corporate interests. Aside from candidates who have self-funded their campaigns, Sanders has boasted the largest cash hauls during this election. At the end of January, Sanders had raised $134 million while Biden raised $70 million.

Sanders has refused to hold fundraisers and instead relies on online donations. Biden, who has seen his online giving spike in recent days, also regularly holds high-dollar fundraising events.

In addition to Mississippi and Washington state, voters in Michigan, Missouri, and Idaho on Tuesday. North Dakota will hold caucuses.

Warren pulled out one day after former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also had a disappointing Super Tuesday, dropped out on Wednesday.

Warren, 70, was the last woman among the top tier of candidates in a Democratic field that began as the most diverse in history. Her departure could provide a boost to fellow liberal Sanders if some of her support pivots to the senator from Vermont, though voters do not always follow ideological lines.

Six months ago Warren was ascendant, having steadily risen in national opinion polls after dozens of deeply researched policy rollouts led to the slogan: "Warren has a plan for that."

She centered her campaign on battling the influence of money in politics, arguing that on every significant issue - gun control, climate change, healthcare - the power of corporate lobbyists and billionaires would stymie any opportunity to achieve meaningful change.

Many of Warren's proposals drew from the lessons she learned from her bankruptcy research at Harvard University and her experience setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for then-President Barack Obama after the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

"The good news is, I have the most sweeping anti-corruption plan since Watergate," she was fond of saying on the campaign trail. "The bad news is, we need the most sweeping anti-corruption plan since Watergate."

Like Sanders, Warren swore off high-dollar fundraisers and relied on grassroots donations to fuel her campaign. She faced criticism in February for declining to disavow a new super PAC that boosted her campaign with an eight-figure advertising blitz, an apparent reversal of her longstanding opposition to outside spending.

Warren's commitment to detailed plans prompted rivals to attack her for initially failing to explain how she would pay for Medicare for All, the sweeping healthcare overhaul also championed by Sanders.

Her refusal to say at a televised debate in October whether she would raise middle-class taxes to finance it - even as Sanders acknowledged he would do so while arguing that overall costs would decrease - drew criticism she was being evasive.

Weeks later, when she released a plan that raised enough revenue via taxing corporations and the wealthy, moderate candidates like Biden, the former vice president, said the math did not add up. Meanwhile, some progressives said her three-year, phase-in plan was backtracking.

Warren often seemed caught in the middle of the Democratic battle for hearts and minds, unable to peel away enough liberal support from Sanders or convince enough centrists that she could broaden her appeal.

She was also competing in a race in which Democratic voters desperate to defeat President Donald Trump in November have endlessly debated the vague notion of her "electability," which some supporters saw as a thinly veiled way of questioning whether Americans are ready to elect a woman as president.

Her allies bristled that she faced a double standard due to her gender, noting that Sanders - who spent months essentially waving off questions about his own lack of a detailed healthcare plan - escaped such scrutiny.

In January, the gender issue took center stage when Warren and Sanders sparred over whether he had told her in 2018 that a woman could not beat Trump. While Sanders denied saying so, Warren took the opportunity to remind people of a simple fact.

"The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women, Amy and me," she said during a debate that night, referring to fellow candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar.

In the ensuing weeks, Warren argued more forcefully that women can win, noting female candidates had seen greater success than men when Democrats won the US House of Representatives in the 2018 congressional elections.

She introduced herself at events in Nevada and South Carolina by saying, "I'm Elizabeth Warren, and I'm the woman who's going to beat Donald Trump."

In Iowa and New Hampshire, she portrayed herself as the "unity" candidate who could stitch together a coalition of liberal and moderate supporters, and largely refrained from attacking her rivals.

But after poor showings in those states, advisers and allies urged her to embrace the "fighter" persona that made her famous for excoriating Wall Street executives during Senate hearings; she adopted a more combative posture toward Democratic rivals.

When billionaire Bloomberg appeared at a debate last month for the first time, Warren wasted little time eviscerating him on national television for his alleged past offensive comments, briefly generating an influx of campaign donations and media attention.

"I'd like to talk about who we're running against  a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians," Warren said. "And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Michael Bloomberg."

Her takedown may have fatally damaged Bloomberg's prospects, but it proved too little, too late to save her own campaign - two weeks later, both candidates would end their White House bids.
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden would raise income taxes on the top 1% of Americans by 17% or an average of $299,000 a year, according to an independent analysis of the Democratic presidential candidates tax plan released Thursday.

The analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that income taxes would go up for all Americans, but the largest raises in both dollar and percentage amounts would be on the wealthiest. Almost 93% of the increases would affect those in the top quintile of taxpayers, the Tax Policy Center found.

The very richest taxpayers, the top 10th of 1%, would see their taxes go up by an average of $1.8 million a year.

The analysis had some good news for Biden, however. While the campaign estimated his tax plan would raise $3.2 trillion over the next 10 years, the Tax Policy Center found that it would actually raise $4 trillion. That contrasts with an earlier analysis from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, which estimated it would raise just $2.3 trillion.

Regardless of which estimate is used, Bidens plan would raise significantly more revenue than past Democratic presidential candidates have proposed. But his major remaining rival for the nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, has called for tens of trillions more in tax hikes, including tax rates of up to 97.5% on some of the wealthiest Americans.

The Tax Policy Center, which is a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, found that that over the next 10 years Bidens plan would raise $2 trillion from higher taxes on the wealthy and another $2 trillion from higher taxes on corporations.

Some of that money would be used to fund proposed tax credits and other breaks for family caregiving, student loan forgiveness and electric cars, among other things.

Biden has proposed rolling back cuts for taxpayers making more than $400,000 a year signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017. He would also limit itemized deductions for taxpayers in higher-income brackets, tax capital gains and dividends like ordinary income for those making more than $1 million and reinstate the payroll tax for income above $400,000.

Story continues

As examples, the analysis says that taxpayers making less than $26,000 a year would see an average tax increase of $30 a year. Those making between $52,000 and $93,000 would see an average increase of $260. And those in the top 1% -- making more than $837,000 -- would see an average increase of about $299,000.

Biden also proposes raising the top corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28% and imposing a 15% minimum tax on companies book income, or financial income before taxes. His plan would also double the existing minimum tax on profits earned by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms from 10.5% to 21%.

The analysis did not look at Bidens spending proposals, but the Tax Policy Center estimated that other tax breaks he would change would reduce federal revenue by about $270 billion.

Biden would reduce tax breaks for investments in fossil-fuel production and commercial real estate. He proposes new tax credits for buying electric cars and investing in renewable energy as well as other breaks for student loans and family caregiving.

He would also change the break for investing in an individual retirement account from a deduction to a refundable tax credit and automatically enroll most workers without pensions in IRAs.

--With assistance from Laura Davison.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Teague Beckwith in Washington, D.C. at rbeckwith3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Crane, Max Berley

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
A Flybe plane at Cardiff Airport in January. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

The impact of the coronavirus fallout pushed the already flagging Flybe into administration on Thursday morning, immediately grounding all of the airlines flights and putting around 2,400 jobs at risk.

Eleventh-hour talks with the UK government failed to help Flybe secure a 100m ($128m) loan required to keep the regional airline afloat.

Administrators from financial services firm EY have been appointed to oversee the process.

Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business, Flybe said in a statement.

This has been compounded by the outbreak of coronavirus which in the last few days has resulted in a significant impact on demand.

Flybe in January negotiated an extension on several million pounds in unpaid air passenger duties with the government.

Read more: Flybe CEO tells employees of deep feeling of sorrow over collapse

But the deal, known as a time-to-pay arrangement, was not enough to save Flybe, which had requested a further 100m loan from the government.

This idea was rejected by the government, and management at Flybe became concerned that proposed cuts to air passenger duties would not come into effect until next year, according to the Financial Times.

The transport ministry said in a statement that Flybe had ceased trading following a commercial decision by the company.

We recognise the impact this will have on Flybes passengers and staff. Government staff will be on hand at all affected UK airports to help passengers, the ministry said, noting that most Flybe routes were served by different transport options.

This is a sad day for UK aviation and we know that Flybe's decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its employees and customers, said Richard Moriarty, the chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority.

The airline is owned by Connect Airways, a consortium backed by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation, and Cyrus Capital Partners. It took over the airline last year.

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The consortium had already ploughed more than 100m into the airline last year, and invested a further 25m in January.

The three parties said on Thursday that, despite the efforts of those involved, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak means that the consortium can no longer commit to continued financial support.

The consortium said that it was deeply disappointed that Flybe has been unable to secure a viable basis for its continuing operations and has therefore entered an administration process.

Read more: Wizz Air latest airline to cut flights due to coronavirus

The consortium wishes to express its immense gratitude to the 2,400 people employed by Flybe for their commitment and energy over the past 12 months.

Trade union GMB urged the government to step in to save jobs wherever possible.

Calling the collapse a tragedy for the companys workforce, GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said it put a further 1,400 jobs in the wider supply chain at immediate risk and threatened the future of regional airports.

The last thing regions crying out for investment need is to see infrastructure that maintains good jobs ripped away.

Many airlines have announced sweeping cuts to their services due to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, which has sapped demand for air travel across the world.
BLOOMINGTON  Central Illinois is home to several small flying clubs and private pilots, and after the initial shock that followed the fatal airplane crash outside Lincoln Tuesday morning, a longtime pilot said the brotherhood of aviation enthusiasts is numbed and quiet.

I think at first there is a sense of respect and numbness where we dont try to talk or speculate about what happened, said John Morgan of Bloomington, who has been flying professionally for more than 40 years.

When more information is revealed from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board crash investigation, Morgan said the aviation community will be able to learn.

We examine ourselves, what we can do better as an industry, what we can do better as professional pilots, he said. And that's really all we can do is learn and go on.

Steven Barnes, safety officer for the Flying 20 Club in Springfield, hopes the NTSB can shed light on it.

It definitely makes us think. When we hear things like that, everyone reaches out to pilots they know, said Barnes, a certified private pilot since 2003. Its a tight-knit community. We definitely look out for each other.

The Springfield aviation community recently suffered its own loss, when a small private plane crashed near Springfield. Among the dead were the county coroner and a former fire chief.

Morgan met Mitchell Janssen, the pilot from Princeville who was flying the Cessna 172 when it crashed Tuesday, as part of the aviation community, but did not know him personally.

He carried himself very well as a professional, he said of the young pilot.

When tragedies like this happen, you always kind of place yourselves in the families shoes," Morgan said. "I just cant imagine the parents, the siblings, the loved ones who have lost such a young life.

Passengers Matthew R. Hanson, 33, of Pulaski, Wis., and Kevin G. Chapman, 30, of Urbana, also died in the crash.

After decades in the industry, Morgan has had the opportunity to watch pilots come up in the industry, and many begin as flight instructors like Janssen.

A lot of us start out as flight instructors ourselves and theres a sense of pride in knowing we had a part in someone elses professional development, he said.

Barnes said working hard to earn certification and keep it creates a sense of camaraderie among pilots.

It's a small faction of people that do fly so when you do become a part of that community  theres a kinship there, Barnes said.

Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.

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The Justice and Peace Committee looks at the uncertain future of Jerusalem, the much-disputed Holy City. Unilateral moves make a just peace more difficult. For Bishop Marcuzzo, it is crucial "to keep Christians in the city and "strengthen their roots". The Churchs social and pastoral work can prevent emigration.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews)  The Justice and Peace Committee of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land yesterday released a statement on Being a Palestinian in Jerusalem in 2020.

In it, the Committee stresses that Jerusalem is both a "Holy City" and a place of daily life. These two dimensions are inseparable. However, uncertainty about the future of Jerusalem has recently deepened because of initiatives backed by the United States and Israel, namely the so-called deal of the century.

President Donald Trumps peace plan has been praised by Israelis but rejected by Palestinians and the Church of the Holy Land. Such unilateral moves render any just peace even more difficult to imagine, the Committees statement reads.

The latter notes that the Holy See claims a "special status" for the Holy City, so that people of all religions can visit the citys holy places and worship freely there without fear.

It warns that Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem might be tempted to withdraw from public life, caught between claims for an exclusively Jewish Jerusalem and those for an exclusively Islamic Holy City.

Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem are instead solidly rooted in their personal identity, in its religious and national dimensions.

Despite their small number, they can can respond fully to their local and universal vocation by working for equality, justice and peace" and contribute by all possible means to bring the conflict in Jerusalem to an end.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Auxiliary Bishop and Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo said that the Church is committed to keeping Christians in this land and strengthen their roots so that they can stay. This means making them aware that they belong to this land and history so as to prevent them from leaving.

We raise awareness in schools, explained the prelate. In fact, schools are almost more important than parishes today for keeping the faith alive and for encouraging our young people to learn.

The better their education, the greater the chances of "finding a job. This is important because Christians are only 2 per cent of the population" and have fewer opportunities than Jews and Muslims.

For Bishop Marcuzzo, This is not only a commitment to social issues, but also to pastoral care to prevent emigration."

At this time in history, characterised by "greed and individualism, the task of Christians "is to maintain the light of hope and dialogue" in a complex reality.

Ours is a call for hope, which echoes in every sermon and in the catechism.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  Filipina beauty is brought to the fore once again on the international modelling scene.

Model Hannah Locsin stars in the latest makeup ad by high fashion brand Gucci.

In fact, this is not the first time that Locsin worked with the fashion brand as she also walked for Gucci Spring-Summer 2020 presentation in her debut in the Milan Fashion Week last year.

Her most recent fashion gig was at Miu Mius Fall-Winter presentation at Paris Fashion Week in January.

Locsin has also appeared in fashion magazines like Harpers Bazaar and Vogue Italia.
Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday alleged that Delhi Police officials posted at Vijay Chowk here stopped his car from proceeding towards Parliament despite his vehicle displaying a valid label issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

He wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and claimed that the incident was a breach of privilege.

A senior police official said a constable posted at Vijay Chowk had stopped the MP's vehicle near the barricades to check the label on it.

"In the process, the vehicle was stopped for sometime. Meanwhile, the Congress leader got annoyed and walked away," the police official said.

The officer added that an enquiry into the matter was being conducted.

In his letter to Birla, Chowdhury said that on Thursday morning itself he entered the Parlaiment House twice in his car which had a label issued by Lok Sabha Secretariat which is valid upto March 31, 2020.

"Nobody objected to my entry. But to my utter dismay in the afternoon today, when I was coming to the Parliament House to attend the afternoon session, the Delhi Police officials posted at Vijay Chowk stopped me from going to Parliament House saying that my car must display the new car label," he said.

Chowdhury further accused the Delhi Police official posted at Vijay Chowk of hampering his parliamentary duties by obstructing him from going to Parlaiment House, and committing a breach of privilege.

Speaking to reporters about the incident, he said, "What is happening in Delhi. We have to come to Parliament several times. Me and (Gurjeet Singh) Aujla sahab were stopped and had to walk down. Look what kind of dictatorship is this," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 08:29:51|Editor: huaxia

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A man takes physical examination before donating his blood at the Nanjing Red Cross Blood Center in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 4, 2020. Many residents in Nanjing volunteered to donate their blood ahead of "Lei Feng Day", which falls on March 5 every year, as a way to help others in remembrance of the soldier renowned for his generosity and altruistic deeds. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday suspended 7 Congress MPs -- Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Benny Behanan, Rajmohan Unnithan and Adv. Dean Kuriakose for disrupting the proceedings of the House for the rest of the Budget Session.

The motion was passed by a voice vote. The House was adjourned at 15:03 hours for the day to meet again tomorrow March 6 at 11:00 hours.

Snatching papers from Speakers table utmost disrespect to Chair, we condemn this. We have requested Speaker to set up panel to look into continuous indiscipline by Congress members, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary condemned the suspension of the MPs and said, Is this a dictatorship? It seems the government doesnt want Delhi violence issue to be discussed in Parliament that is why this suspension. We strongly condemn this.

Also read: Delhi violence rocks House as Oppn repeats debate demand

Lok Sabha proceedings were disrupted for the third day on Wednesday as Opposition parties created an uproar demanding immediate discussion on the Delhi violence.

The House was first adjourned soon after it met at 11 am, then at noon and finally for the day a little past 2 pm.

The Opposition parties were demanding an immediate discussion on Delhi violence but Parliamentary affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said it can be taken up on March 11 in the Lower House and on March 12 in Rajya Sabha.

Not convinced, the Opposition continued the protest storming the well on several occasions. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was not present during the day and the proceedings were chaired by presiding officers.

Amid din, the Direct Tax Vivaad Se Vishwas Bill was passed by the House.

Opposition parties continued to demand resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah and continued to chant slogans -- Modi Sarkar Shame Shame, Pradhan Mantri Jawab Do.

Earlier, Congress members trooped into the Well shouting slogans and some of them displayed placards, demanding resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

Nearly 30 members from the Congress were in the Well. Some of them were heard asking where was the Speaker and also shouted we want justice.

Despite the din, two questions were taken up during the Question Hour. Supplementaries to a query related to coal production was answered by Joshi, who is also the Coal Minister.

Kirit Solanki, who was in the chair, told agitating members that Question Hour should continue.

As the ruckus continued, he adjourned proceedings till noon.

Both Houses have been witnessing disruptions over Delhi violence since the second leg of the Budget session began on March 2.

(with inputs from PTI)
KAHNAWAKE, Que. - A blockade in the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake that halted rail traffic south of Montreal for more than three weeks came to a peaceful end on Thursday as activists voluntarily dismantled their camp next to Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People leave the site after a blockade in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, Que. that has halted rail traffic south of Montreal for more than three weeks is dismantled, on Thursday, March 5, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiroz

KAHNAWAKE, Que. - A blockade in the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake that halted rail traffic south of Montreal for more than three weeks came to a peaceful end on Thursday as activists voluntarily dismantled their camp next to Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.

Dozens of Mohawk community members sang and played drums as they walked behind a convoy of trucks and tractors flying Mohawk flags, which carried pallets, firewood and other supplies to a new location at the foot of a bridge leading to Montreal.

Traffic stretched for at least a kilometre in either direction as the procession temporarily stopped in the middle of the highway for a brief press conference.

"Our decision is to relocate our fire to the green space in Kahnawake, away from the railway tracks," Roxann Whitebean told reporters. "We want the fire to be visible for every commuter that crosses the Mercier Bridge to show that we are here to stay for as long as the Wet'suwet'en need us to."

The Kahnawake blockade was the last major rail disruption remaining from a wave of solidarity protests that sprung up across the country last month in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in northern British Columbia. The movement arose after the RCMP moved into Wet'suwet'en territory on Feb. 6 to enforce an injunction against a blockade erected by pipeline opponents.

Later Thursday, protesters inthe Mikmaq community of Listuguj removed a blockade of a rail line operated by the Chemin de fer de la Gaspesie. The blockade, about 525 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, had been in place since Feb 10.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault wrote on Twitter that he was satisfied the two blockades had "finally" been lifted.

"The negative effects that the blockades have had, primarily on public transport users and on the economy, are deplorable," he wrote. "Solutions need to be found so this doesn't happen again."

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake praised the dedication of the protesters and said the action was a sincere and peaceful expression of support for the hereditary chiefs in B.C.

"I think everybody  all sides  are happy that this has happened. It took a while, but people have to realize that our processes aren't always as fast as others," said Joe Delaronde, a spokesman for the council. "What's done is done, the solidarity remains, but the tracks are open and everyone is happy about that."

A statement from the Mohawk longhouse, distributed by the protesters, called the removal of the blockade a gesture of good faith as the Wet'suwet'en people consider a draft agreement reached Sunday between their hereditary chiefs and senior Canadian officials.

"We want to allow the Wet'suwet'en to take the necessary time within their own community to make decisions," added Whitebean, whose Mohawk name is Karonhiarokwas. "Let this be a strong message and demonstration of good faith to all of Canada. We prefer a peaceful resolution and demand that Indigenous peoples' rights be respected."

However, she warned that the Mohawks were prepared to take further action in the future if the situation is not resolved satisfactorily.

"Depending on how Canada moves forward, we are ready to react, and we will ensure our rights and lands will no longer be violated," she said.

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"We will not back down until these standards are met."

Commuter and freight traffic along the line has been stopped since early February, forcing transit users to shuttle back and forth to Montreal by bus. CP Rail obtained a court injunction on Feb. 25 to end the blockade, but local Peacekeepers said they would not enforce it and provincial police made no effort to enter the community.

Legault sparked an angry response from the protesters and elected officials in Kahnawake last week when he said the reason provincial police were reluctant to intervene was because of the presence of assault rifles in the community.

On Thursday morning, there were signs the blockade was drawing to an end. Pickup trucks, some pulling flatbed trailers, could be seen driving along the access road to the camp, which was guarded by concrete barriers, piles of rubble and a structure built of poles where Mohawk community members stood watch day and night.

A spokeswoman for Exo, the commuter rail operator, said service will not resume until CP Rail has authorized use of the track.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
A gang armed with hydraulic cutting tools removed the doors of delivery vans, helping themselves to 500,000 worth of high-value goods in a series of audacious raids.

The Mets Flying Squad said the highly organised robbers carried out at least 13 heists, often on busy streets and in broad daylight, in less than three months in the run-up to last Christmas.

The doors were chopped from courier vans making deliveries across the capital by raiders armed with high-powered cutting equipment, who then stole expensive electrical goods, packages and mail.

Detectives today issued images of four men  all said to have Irish accents  they want to identify in relation to the audacious targeted thefts.

Target: Romford Shopping Centre was raided on December 6; right, the men sought / Daniel Lynch

They first struck at Wood Green Mall in north London, with subsequent raids across east and south-east London in Ilford, Stratford, Walthamstow, Hackney and Romford.

The most recent theft was in Enfield, north London, on December 9.

Detective Constable Shona Wilkinson, of Scotland Yards Flying Squad, said: These audacious attacks took place in broad daylight in busy streets and locations across London.

These offences have been carried out by a highly organised team who used various vehicles and high-powered tools to carry out the thefts.

Months of terror: where gang struck September 20 Wood Green Mall, N22

October 1 Edmonton Green Centre, N9

Oct 2 Creton Street, SE18

Oct 4 North Mall, N9

Oct 4 Partridge Way, N22

Oct 8 Kenneth Moore Road, IG1

Oct 10 Great Eastern Road, E15

Oct 11 Triro Road, E17

Oct 14 Kingsland High Street, E8

Oct 15 Station Street, E15

December 5 High Street, E17

Dec 6 Romford Shopping Centre

Dec 9 Southbury Avenue, EN1

We are keen to speak to the four men in the photographs we have released in connection with the investigation.

She added: If you have any information about any of the men, I would implore you to do the right thing and contact us as a matter of urgency, or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously. Anyone with information is asked to call Flying Squad East on 020 8345 4226 or police on 101 quoting Operation Chaplin.
Bhopal: When the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan vacated his official residence in December 2018 despite polling more votes than Congress, it was anticipated that the close contest would lead to a stormy tenure for the Kamal Nath government.

The BJP won on 109 seats as against 114 won by the Congress, two less than the majority of 116.

However, barring a bitter war of words, the first serious challenge for the Kamal Nath-led government came late on Tuesday evening after over a year in office when the ruling party reported 10 of its MLAs were missing, including some allies.

The instance dramatically came couple of days after party veteran Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of trying to buy MLAs for up to Rs 35 crore.

As the Congress managed to rescue six MLAs and contacted the remaining four, it also revealed the internal upheaval in the party.

Even before Kamal Nath took over as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief in May 2018, outgoing president Arun Yadav was sulking over his unceremonious removal.

As the Congress chose Nath as the CM candidate post the assembly polls win, the senior leader found a new adversary in Jyotiraditya Scindia who was the front-runner for the post.

Even ministers from the Scindia camp formed a sub-group within the cabinet and this led to frequent internal feuds. These ministers were kept away from the meeting held at the CM House on Wednesday for efforts to contain damage.

Besides, the snub to seniors  including Laxman Singh, brother of Digvijaya Singh, and Surendra Singh Shera, Aidal Singh Kansana and others  at the time of cabinet formation also left them fuming.

These leaders spoke their mind regularly, putting the state Congress in a spot of bother. Laxman Singh was the most vocal, questioning every move of the party and once even asked Rahul Gandhi to apologise to farmers for unfulfilled claims of farm loan waiver.

Another bone of contention was the clout party veteran Digvijaya Singh enjoys in the functioning of the government that led to discontent in several younger ministers and MLAs.

Senior ministers like state home minister Bala Bachchan and forest minister Umang Singhar had gone public with their displeasure against Singh over his interference in the state government.

Singhar, after a whip from the high command, had toned down in the past but after the recent episode with the BJP, expressed his displeasure once again.

The Kamal Nath government is safe. This is a fight to enter Rajya Sabha, rest you all are intelligent, tweeted Singhar, alluding to BJP's allegations that the political drama was all scripted by Digvijaya Singh as part of his efforts to enter Rajya Sabha again.

However, Singhar later skipped queries on his tweet.

Besides, Nath giving a free hand to bureaucracy has continually irked the ministers and MLAs alike.

Talks of appointment of a new PCC chief to replace Nath also had factions drawing swords at each other every time the matter was raised, prompting the party to shelve the issue repeatedly.

The delaying tactics only fuelled the discontent and threw organisation and government relations out of gear slowly.

Occupied by his responsibilities in running the state and facing challenges thrown by the BJP, Nath had little time for internal party issues.

The recently formed co-ordination committee to smoothen organisation-government relations also met just once.

If internal discord was a concern, allies also remained an issue as BSP MLA Rambai Singh kept posing problems for the government with her actions and statements, while SP MLA Rajesh Shukla expressed resentment alleging ill-treatment by ministers. Independents also kept pushing for ministerial berths.

Among other things, expansion of cabinet was also delayed persistently even as several senior MLAs kept presenting their stakes for ministerial berths.

The underlying discontent on the PCC chiefs appointment was voiced by none other than Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha on Wednesday as Tankha claimed that it was high time the party came together to discuss their concerns.

A full-time state head could have made a lot of difference, claimed Tankha.

The Rajya Sabha nominations had only sharpened the fight in Congress as sitting MP Digvijaya Singh wanted a re-nomination and Scindia too wanted the same but the party was certain of only one seat.

In between, PWD minister Sajjan Singh Verma had floated the name of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi for an RS nomination from MP which made heads turn.

Party seniors like Bachchan and MLA Kantilal Bhuria kept themselves busy in Bhagoria festivities even as their fellow leaders fought a spirited tussle to save the government. Scindia also feigned ignorance about horse trading charges on Wednesday.

Senior BJP leaders, including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Gopal Bhargav and Narottam Mishra, who were auguring an uncertain fate for Kamal Nath government since the party came to power in 2018, suddenly switched to denial mode on Wednesday.

Chouhan persisted with his old stance, saying they have no interest in bringing down the Congress government but they cant help if the government crashes under its own weight.

The BJP leaders unanimously claimed that it was all a drama scripted by Digvijaya Singh and the BJP had no role to play in the horse trading attempts as alleged by Congress.

This was, however, contrary to their earlier stand where leaders like Bhargav and Kailash Vijayvargiya claimed that they could bring down the Kamal Nath government in the blink of an eye.

Political analysts, meanwhile, are also questioning the rationale behind the allegations by the Congress that BJP abducted MLAs to win Rajya Sabha MLAs on March 3-4 when the actual voting takes place on March 26, more than 20 days later.

Some of them posed a query whether it was a mock drill by the BJP ahead of the actual game the party plans to execute at an opportune moment.
Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) -Peruvian Metals Corp. (TSXV: PER) ("Peruvian Metals" or the ("Company") is pleased to announce that it has sold the Company's 100% owned subsidiary Corongo Exploraciones("Corongo") to Mines & Metals Trading (Peru) PLC ("MMTP") for $200,000 US cash and $600,000 US in shares. Corongo holds several concessions totaling 2420 hectares located in the Huachocolpa Mining District in South-Central Peru. MMTP is a private company based in Isle of Man and owns the 600 tonnes per day Recuperada Mill located near Corongo's properties. MMTP has recently entered into an arm's-length definitive business combination agreement dated Dec. 23, 2019, with Zincore Metals Inc. ("Zincore") to complete a reverse takeover ("RTO") of Zincore by MMTP.

The Huachocolpa Mining District is host to several producing and past-producing vein-hosted polymetallic, base metal (silver-zinc-lead-copper plus or minus gold) mines. Polymetallic mining and milling continue to be the dominant formal economic activity in the district with Compania Minera Kolpa S.A and MMTP's Recuperada Mill being the largest operations currently in production in the area. MMTP will now control a large land package totaling in excess of 15,000 hectares with many of the acquired Peruvian Metals' concessions being contiguous with MMTP concessions. Peruvian Metals will retain the Minas Maria Norte property ("Maria Norte") located 13 kms northwest of the Recuperada Mill by transferring the property to a 100% owned subsidiary of the Company.

Transactions Details

MMTP is currently undertaking an RTO with Zincore and it is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2020. The current valuation of MMTP shares is based on a pre-RTO financing of $17.33 CDN per share. Peruvian Metals has received $200,000 US and will receive 45,008 shares of MMTP valued at $17.33 CDN or $780,000 CDN. Upon completion of the RTO, each share of MMTP will be exchanged for approximately 73.2 Zincore shares. Peruvian Metals will receive approximately 3.3 million shares in the new TSX-Venture listed corporate entity called Latitude Base Metals. Information on the company can be found at http://latitudebasemetals.com/.

Jeffrey Reeder, CEO of Peruvian Metals comments: "The Company is very pleased to have successfully divested a non-core asset to a new group controlling the 600 tpd Recuperada Flotation Plant in the Historic Mining District in South-Central Peru. In addition to the plant, Mines & Metals Trading / Latitude Base Metals have assembled an impressive land package ensuring long operational life in the district. We are fortunate to receive an early ground floor share position in the new operating company. This transaction shows the Company's ability to generate quality prospects and Peruvian Metals will continue to apply for concessions in new areas throughout Peru."

Jeffrey Reeder, P Geo, a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has prepared, supervised the preparation or approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Peruvian Metals Corp.

Peruvian Metals Corp. is a Canadian Exploration and Mineral Processing company. Our business model is to provide toll milling services for clients and to produce high grade concentrates from mineral purchases. The Company continues to acquire and develop precious and base metal properties in Peru.

For further information on Peruvian Metals Corp. please visit www.peruvianmetals.com .

Peruvian Metals Corp. is a Canadian resource company listed on the

TSX Venture Exchange: Symbol "PER"

For additional information, contact: Jeffrey Reeder Tel: (647) 302-3290

Website: www.peruvianmetals.com Email: jeffrey.reeder@peruvianmetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. We use words such as "might", "will", "should", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "believe", "estimate", "forecast" and similar terminology to identify forward looking statements and forward-looking information. Such statements and information are based on assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its expectations of future developments as well as other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and information and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such statements and information. Risks and uncertainties are more fully described in our annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis and in other filings made by us with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com.While the Company believes that the expectations expressed by such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information and the assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis underlying such expectations are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be correct. In evaluating forward-looking statements and information, readers should carefully consider the various factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward looking statements and forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53154
The US has denied one in every fifth new petitions for the most-sought after H-1B visas in 2019 to individuals with the denial rate higher for Indian IT companies like the TCS and Infosys in comparison to the American firms, according to a study from official figures.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

While the denial rate has dropped slightly to 21 percent in 2019 from 24 percent in 2018, the National Foundation for American Policy has said it is much higher for Indian IT companies like the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro and very low for American companies like Amazon and Google.

For instance, the denial rate for the TCS, and Infosys in 2019 was 31 percent and 35 percent respectively, whereas for Wipro was 47 percent and 37 percent for Tech Mahindra.

On the other hand, the denial rate for the new H-1B petitions in 2019 was just four percent each for Amazon and Google. The denial rate for Microsoft during the same period was six percent, and Facebook along with Walmart was just three percent each.

"In 2020, the Trump administration is expected to introduce a new H-1B regulation that will make it more difficult for employers to hire high-skilled foreign nationals in the United States," the policy said in a report this week.

The issue of H-1B visa has been discussed between India and the US many times in the past.

In February, during President Donald Trump's maiden official visit to India, the issue of H-1B visa was raised and contribution of the Indian professionals in high-tech sector was highlighted.

In December last year, during the 2+2 dialogue in Washington, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stressed on the importance of people-to-people ties, saying they were the defining elements of the Indo-US friendship.

Since 2004, the annual limit of 65,000 H-1B petitions and the 20,000 exemption from that limit for individuals with an advanced degree from a US university has been exhausted every fiscal year. The 85,000 new H-1B petitions allowed each year come to only 0.05 percent of the US labour force of approximately 164 million.

In addition to higher denial rates under the Trump administration, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data shows the percentage of completed cases with Requests for Evidence (RFEs) increased from 22.3 percent in 2015 to 40.2 percent in 2019.

According to the report, new H-1B petitions for the top seven Indian-based companies declined by 64 per cent between fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2019.

The seven companies had only 5,428 H-1B petitions for the initial employment approved in fiscal 2019, accounting for six percent of the 85,000 H-1B petitions for companies (or 0.003 percent of the US labour force), it said.

Denials may have contributed to this decline but the primary reason for the drop in H-1B visas is a choice by companies to build up their domestic workforce in the United States and rely less on visas, the report said.

In 2018, there was a sharp 10 percent decline in the approval of the H-1B visas by the US.

The Trump administration has tightened the noose on firms violating H-1B visa rules. President Trump has himself accused many IT companies of abusing the work visas to deny jobs to American workers.

Two years ago, Trump signed the 'Buy American and Hire American' executive order, which seeks to create higher wages and employment rates for US workers and to protect their economic interests by rigorously enforcing and administering our immigration laws.

It directed the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with other agencies, to advance policies to help ensure H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid beneficiaries.
President Trump's campaign picked the Scranton location for his Thursday night town hall - taking the presidential battle to Joe Biden's home town as the former vice president surged to the lead for the Democratic nomination.

Fox News confirmed to DailyMail.com that it was Trump's team that picked the city for the town hall and that the location is always the candidate's choice whether that person is a Democratic contender or Republican one.

Pennsylvania helped hand Trump the presidency in 2016 and he needs it in his column again this November.

President Trump's campaign picked the Scranton location for his Thursday night town hall

Scranton is Joe Biden's home town and Trump heads there as Biden surged to the front of the Democratic primary race

Trump was the first Republican candidate for president to carry Pennsylvania since George H. W. Bush in 1988. He won the state by just 44,000 votes.

'Theres not a very likely path to the presidency without Pennsylvania,' a source close to the Trump campaign told DailyMail.com.

Thursday's town hall is the first such event of Trump's re-election campaign. And while Trump has publicly stated he's indifferent to whom he faces in November, many Republicans see Biden as the strongest challenger to the president thanks to both men's appeal to the blue-collar voters who make up the industrial MidWest.

Biden has not yet held a town hall with Fox News and his front runner status grew stronger on Thursday after Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the Democratic race although she has declined to endorse a candidate yet.

And the former vice president is investing heavily in Pennsylvania, headquartering his campaign in Philadelphia, and he held his the first rally of his presidential campaign in Scranton last year.

'I think the one thing the president doesn't want to do, from the very beginning, is face me. Because I will beat him  period. Period. He's done everything in his power, he's even risked his presidency, because he doesn't want to face me,' Biden told NBC's 'Today Show' on Thursday morning.

'Have you ever, ever seen a sitting president get so involved in a Democratic primary and focus so much attention on not wanting a single person  me  to become the nominee. The president does not want me to be the nominee,' he added.

But the source close to the Trump campaign argued Sanders' has his strengths too as the person took a knock at one of Biden's strengths - his service with Barack Obama.

The enthusiasm of the Bernie Sanders voters is much more frightening than the establishment of Joe Biden, the source said. Joe Biden is running on a third term as Barack Obama.

For Thursday night's town hall, audience members submitted the questions ahead of time and a Fox News team picks the ones asked, the network confirmed, with no input from the White House or the Trump campaign.

Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate the event at the Scranton Cultural Center.

The town hall comes less than 24 hours after the president called into Fox News Wednesday night to talk to Sean Hannity about a variety of topics, including his administration's handling of the Coronavirus outbreak and the 2020 presidential field.

Trump used the interview to rehash some of his favorite attack lines on the former vice president, including criticism of Hunter Biden's work in the Ukraine.

The president and his allies allege Biden, as vice president, pushed the Ukrainian government's removal of a prosecutor to help a gas company that had Hunter on its board. Biden said he was following recommendations of both the Obama White House and international governments - all of whom were concerned the prosecutor in question was not doing enough to fight corruption.

Neither Biden has been charged with any wrong doing.

On Wednesday, Trump accused the Democratic Party of engaging in a coverup for Biden.

'Its not a campaign issue for the Democrats. They dont want to bring it up. They were obviously told you cant bring that up,' he told Fox News.

But he vowed to keep the issue front and center.

'That will be a major issue in the campaign. I will bring that up all the time, because I dont see any way out. I dont see any way for them, I dont see how they can answer those questions,' he said.

The president also has been a repeated commentator and handicapper of the Democratic field.

He's accused the party of trying to deny Bernie Sanders the nomination, reviving anger from the 2016 contest when Sanders supporters were furious that party worked to ensure Hillary Clinton was the nominee.

Many Democratic officials worry Sanders's progressive policy positions would turn off blue-collar voters in the general election.

'Well, I think there's no question the establishment - the Democrat establishment - is trying to take it away from Bernie Sanders. There's no question about that in my mind,' Trump said Tuesday outside the White House as voters from 14 states and American Samoa head to the polls for Super Tuesday.

President Trump's town hall comes 24 hours after he called into Sean Hannity's Fox News program, where he vowed to keep criticizing Joe and Hunter Biden

President Trump accused the Democratic Party of engaging in a coverup for Joe and Hunter Biden

Biden sweep most of the contests on Super Tuesday and emerged with front runner status even though Sanders won the night's biggest prize - California.

The former vice president also solidified his support among his formal rivals, gaining endorsements from Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke and Mike Bloomberg.

Trump on Tuesday shrugged off a question about which Democratic contender he'd prefer to see across from him on the debate stage this fall.

'Whoever it is, I don't care, I really don't care,' he said.
Pop stars Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin have announced that they are teaming up for their first-ever arena tour of North America.

The two of Latin music's biggest names will kick off their tour with a gig in Phoenix on September 5 and will afterwards hit venues all over North America through the end of October, reported Variety.

Produced by Live Nation, the tour has lined up performances at Houston, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Miami and more before wrapping it on October 30 in Atlanta.

Colombian pop star Sebastian Yatra will join Iglesias and Martin as the tour's special guest and solo opening act.

Martin, best known for hit tracks such as "Livin' la Vida Loca", "Cup of Life" and "Mara", is set to release his new album, "Movimiento," later this year.

Iglesias has given popular hits like "Bailamos", "Rhythm Divine" and "Escape".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US equities slumped overnight, with the Dow at one point down by more than 1,000 points, as coronavirus fears intensified after the number of cases confirmed in the US rose to 164 and California declared a state of emergency.

The Australian sharemarket looks headed for another day in the red after Wall Street fell sharply following a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the world's largest economy.

1. Volatility spikes as big swings continue: The pattern of big rallies followed by big falls in global stock markets continued overnight, and is setting up Asian markets for a bearish day to end the week. As the saying goes, volatility begets volatility, and that maxim held up again last night. The VIX spiked again towards the 40-level, with US stocks registering another day of losses of around 4 per cent. Again, the moves in Europe werent as pronounced, but still considerable. Both Frankfurt's DAX and London's FTSE100 shed in excess of 1-and-a-half per cent.

2. Markets fret about US growth: The volatility has been sparked by the coronavirus, of course, and its expected impact on the global economy. In particular, it appears traders are most worried right now about the virus spread in the US. The number of confirmed cases in the world's largest economy has climbed to 126, with many more suspected. The seemingly uncontrollable spread through the US is stoking fears of a major economic slowdown. US Treasury yields plunged to record lows last night, and the US dollar tumbled as a result.

3. Fiscal stimulus, and a silver lining: Last nights risk-off moves in markets came despite continued pledges of economic stimulus from global policymakers. The US Congress passed a major $US7.8 billion ($11.8 billion) emergency spending package to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus. In Australia, a similar package seems to be on its way. Stock markets clearly didnt want to run with that news overnight. However, solace might be taken in the fact that at this point the up days in global stocks remain bigger than the down days, suggesting some confidence in policymakers response to the crisis.

4. No day to be taking a punt on risk: Irrespective, it wasnt a day for risk. Safe haven assets outperformed considerably versus risks assets. In currency markets, the Yen rallied over 1 per cent, and the Aussie dollar fell by over half-a-per-cent. Government bonds rallied, with the fall in yields, the US dollar and the general flight to safety seeing the gold price spike roughly 2 per cent. Broader commodities were mixed, but the oil price plunged, with Brent Crude off by a little below 2 per cent, too.
oh shit! My friend was going to this. I hope they give full refunds when they cancel instead of just vouchers

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Calling it now: SXSW is going to get cancelled this year.

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I said this last Friday. We were talking about it at work.

It will really fuck over the service workers though. They hate sxsw but they make baaaaank.

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If SXSW gets canceled and Emerald City Comic Con (even with all the big publishers pulling out) doesnt Id be shocked

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it's definitely getting canceled.

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I hope so. it just clogs the city and makes traffic a nightmare.

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and honestly it should, everyone needs to play it safe considering how reckless some folks are

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Theory: @sxsw wont cancel over #COVID19 because they know so many people dont plan to show up and if they cancel they have to give refunds. But since people arent coming they just get to pocket that money and downsize festival logistics. #sxsw https://t.co/CKkBdS5Fre  Taylor McCaslin  (@digital_SaaS) March 5, 2020

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Lol this is my friends tweet 

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wait, are you an Austinite?



I used to live there lol

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would not be surprised if the whole thing got canned.



emerald city comic-con is even worse off rn.



and it makes me curious what will happen to cannes, comic-con, coachella and all these other majors festivals if things get worse.



Edited at 2020-03-05 03:34 am (UTC)

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I think they would only do that if their insurance covers it. O/w I dont see them cancelling.





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that's really fucked up to me. ECCC is ran by ReedPop who does like 50 other conventions. They won't be hurt as badly as a small or non-profit con would be. It's very greedy imo

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They canceled Eve Fanfest in Iceland with people coming in from all over the world and the neckbeard fanboys are raaaaaaging. But most are also secretly preppers so they're now digging a fallout shelter just in case.

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yeah, i bought tickets to EDC this year and not even sure whats the go now :\\





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ECCCs offering refunds now, thank god.



In related personal news (lol), my work is dumb enough to hold a fucking ribbon cutting ceremony for our new SEATTLE office and its mandatory for me. Im texting my boss tomorrow morning and bowing out, especially with the whole lets avoid groups of more than 10 people guidance we got from health officials. But... well, Id better watch what I say because I just got a promotion and I cant trust LJ to keep my info private haha

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ReedPop is SO greedy! Theyre refunding attendees but not guests that had to cancel, which is a start but Im reading on comic twitter that its too late for a lot of places to cancel now



For SDCC and Cannes they probably wont wait as long as ECCC is if it stretches into the summer. Coachella IS next month though

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Wednesday, Netflix and Apple both said they were exiting the Austin-based festival, a day after Amazon said it was doing the same. All three companies had content bound for different sections that now will not be in the mix......



Also today, the CW confirmed that Buzzfeeds Dreamz, Queenz, & Everything in Between party, sponsored by the network and set for March 14 at Mohawk, has been canceled. In addition, Latinx House also announced today it was canceling its Austin activities this year....



UPDATED with Netflix and Apple exits: In the wake of SXSW declaring that the fest will go on amid concerns of the coronavirus, notable attendees have decided theyre skipping the event.....



On Wednesday, Netflix and Apple both said they were exiting the Austin-based festival, a day after Amazon said it was doing the same. All three companies had content bound for different sections that now will not be in the mix....



Also today, the CW confirmed that Buzzfeeds Dreamz, Queenz, & Everything in Between party, sponsored by the network and set for March 14 at Mohawk, has been canceled. In addition, Latinx House also announced today it was canceling its Austin activities this year.....

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Apparently they canceled Ultra Music Fest in FL.



They also postponed James Bond because of this! I'm hoping shit blows over by May. This is so sad and scary.

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They canceled ultra I was supposed to go :(((( and Im beyond bummed.

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my job is forcing us to work from home until further notice and i HATEEE it

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Ugh I'm jealous! I WISH my job let me work remotely.



Tho lbr I'd probably like it for 3 days then get hideously bored.

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Ontds "it's not a big deal" attitude is what will kill us who it is a big deal too. Stop acting like everyone is healthy and that those of us who are not are disposeable!!!



I'm pissed off reading the posts today. As I said, if a healthy"it's not a big deal" person gets me sick I'm beating ass and coughing on them before I die.

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theres a happy medium here. people shouldn't be acting like its not big deal, but because of people going into full panic mode, theres a shortage of masks that hospitals DESPERATELY need more than a the people who are just hoarding them waiting for the apocalypse

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Some of us have to be in panic mode because we will die. Die.

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you're confusing people sharing information, talking about concerns, and literally doing what health agencies are instructing (limiting social contact, practice self isolation, buy 2 weeks-month provisions, etc) with paranoia. a lot of people are doing this and honestly its annoying af to see. nobody is walking around town in hazmat suits. the CDC said it's likely up to 70% of the US population will eventually become infected. it currently has a 3.4% mortality rate. that's about 11 million US citizens. people have every reason to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst (which is exactly what's being instructed to do).



there was a massive shortage on masks over a month ago, long before the real understanding of this disease in the US hit or before health agencies were even advising the general public at large to not hoard them. people didn't just start hoarding masks this week or even last week, it was a problem because the US was not prepared (supplies OR otherwise) to deal with a pandemic. hence why the masks faced a shortage with maybe 5% of the US population even caring about this virus at the time. truly, MOST people are following exact instructions they are given. not buying up masks, stocking up food and necessary toiletries for a couple weeks, tele-commuting IF possible, etc. or they're not caring at all.

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Especially after T**ump went on faux news telling people its a mild virus and people should continue to go to work if they have it. That is terrifying, these dumbfuck MAGA heads are going to spread this around because theyve been told is fake news and a hoax.

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Mucho Mucho Amor"



LOL HOW DID I KNOW THIS WAS A WALTER MERCADO DOCUMENTARY!!







HFT LOL HOW DID I KNOW THIS WAS A WALTER MERCADO DOCUMENTARY!!

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love this reaction!

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I miss him :C RIP King!

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I just saw via different people RSVPing on Facebook that Bernie's coming to Chicago for a rally in Grant Park this Saturday, which got me thinking about this kind of thing. It was like just announced as far as I know and there's already "1.2k going, 3.1k interested" and I'm like... is that really such a good idea right now? Rallies aren't my thing anyway, but yeah now I'm wondering about all these types of huge crowds for election season in general.

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Im supposed to go to africa for my grandpas 90th birthday in April and Im freaking out about being in multiple airports/on a plane for near 24 hours.



my moms already cancelled a trip she was gonna take with her cousin later in that same month.

but its his 90th birthday and Ive been so excited about this for over a year now since I havent visited in years.

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Im so sorry. Hopefully science prevails and theres measures in place before your trip. 

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ty bb!!

thats what Im hoping for.

a couple months ago I wasnt taking it that seriously but all the new updates have me stressing.

I cant believe its already March and things just keep getting worse.

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cancel the whole thing challenge

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all conventions and festivals should be cancelled

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i know its easy to say "just cancel it" but so many businesses rely on these cons. im attending a local con on the 21st and 22nd as a vendor and if its cancelled ill be in a horrible financial spot. :/



were people cancelling events like this during H1N1 back in 2008/2009?

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Yeah its tough :/ Our downtown location almost solely relies on the sales from sxsw and acl. Without them their numbers are abysmal.

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i have a convention coming up + a local craft show at my physical store plus i usually throw a store anniversary sale in may. once june hits, its really slow until halloween time, retail is so unpredictable unless you have lots of merch that turns over with the seasons, specialty shops are fucked and the period of time between holidays feels aimless and depressing lol.



i hope that you dont take that bad of a hit :(

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yeah so many events are getting cancelled bc of this - i work in pr and a lot of my clients have conferences/trade shows to go to in the spring but cancellations/reschedules are coming in left and right. for example the geneva auto show got cancelled but lol one of the programs is still holding panels at a diff location in the same city... like whats the point of trying to keep ppl safe... so dumb. everything should be cancelled for now to keep from spreading. duh.

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I heard that some GDC folks are planning on doing similar events too. I get it  the people who cant get refunds on tickets or hotels are fucked  but this is a public health crisis and we need to put people first.

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i hope they cancel. the press conference the mayor held this morning was bullshit, saying something along the lines there is no evidence to support that our communities would be safer if we canceled sxsw. wtf!!!

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hes so fucking dumb. i was so

embarrassed when he endorsed buttegieg.



like yeah youll be safe holed up in your penthouse at the W but what about the rest of us!!

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The stakes are too high. Forget the childish tweets, the embrace of foreign dictators, the heedless environmental policies and the tax cuts for the rich. Four more years of Trump will cement conservative control of the federal judiciary  including and most importantly the U.S. Supreme Court  for generations to come. The biggest wall Trump and his invertebrate lackeys in the Senate will build wont be the one that separates us from Mexico but the one that separates us from abortion rights, voting rights, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights and other liberal priorities.
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. emerged Wednesday as the pivotal, if inscrutable, key to whether a more conservative Supreme Court is ready to reconsider its precedents protecting abortion rights.

The court's four liberals appeared convinced that the Louisiana law at issue, requiring admitting privileges at nearby hospitals for abortion-clinic doctors, is identical to one from Texas that the Supreme Court struck down four years ago.

That appeared to leave Roberts, now at the court's ideological centre, holding the deciding vote.

As the case was argued, he asked a variation of the same question to all three lawyers addressing the justices: Should the court undertake a fact-dependent, state-by-state analysis when reviewing such restrictions?

That could indicate he felt he could distinguish Louisiana's law from the Texas statute. Or it could mean he agreed with challengers that similar laws were doomed because of the court's precedent from 2016. Roberts, a dissenter in the Texas case, did not indicate what he believed was the proper answer.

The justices' examination of the Louisiana law could be momentous if it signalled that the court was ready to revisit past decisions. And whatever it decides before the end of June will come in the midst of a heated presidential election in which Democrats have made abortion rights a priority and President Donald Trump has said his ultimate goal is to overturn Roe v Wade.

Recommended Trump and Supreme Court Justice launch unprecedented attack on Schumer

Trump has said his judicial nominees will oppose abortion, and it was the first major abortion case for his Supreme Court choices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Gorsuch did not ask a question during the hour-long oral arguments. Kavanaugh's questioning was similar to that of Roberts, as he wondered whether different conditions in states could afford different outcomes than in the 2016 case, Whole Women's Health v Hellerstadt.

"Are you saying admitting-privileges requirements are always unconstitutional, such that we don't have to look at the facts state by state?" Kavanaugh asked attorney Julie Rikelman after posing a hypothetical about a state with 10 clinics and 20 doctors, all with the necessary credentials. Kavanaugh had previously voted to allow the Louisiana law to go into effect, saying it was unclear whether doctors had worked hard enough to secure the privileges.

Rikelman, senior litigation director of the Centre for Reproductive Rights, replied that "the burdens may vary, but a law that has no benefit and serves no valid state interest, which is what this court held in Whole Woman's Health, is much more likely to be an undue burden" on a woman's right to abortion.

Kavanaugh pressed: "Could an admitting-privileges law of this kind ever have a valid purpose, in your view?"

"No, your honor," Rikelman replied. "The medical consensus against these laws is clear." Later, she noted that the federal government has dropped such a requirement from its regulations of surgery centers nationwide.

If the debate inside the courtroom was reminiscent of four years ago, the atmosphere inside and outside the court was emblematic of the decades that the Supreme Court has wrestled with one of the country's most divisive issues.

Members of Congress packed the crowded courtroom, and lawyers who have litigated the issue from both sides filled the pews. Among Wednesday's spectators was Roberts' wife, Jane Roberts, who before the chief justice joined the court was legal counsel for Feminists for Life of America, a group that opposes abortion.

At a rally of abortion rights supporters outside the court, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called out Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name.

"You have released the whirlwind, and you will by the price," Schumer said. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

Schumer's remarks prompted a rare public rebuke from Chief Justice Roberts, who issued a statement hours later calling the criticism from the highest levels of government in the midst of arguments "inappropriate" and "dangerous."

Inside the courtroom, Justice Stephen Breyer acknowledged the contentious public divide.

"In the country, people have very strong feelings and a lot of people morally think it's wrong and a lot of people morally think the opposite is wrong," said Breyer, adding, "I think personally the court is struggling with the problem of what kind of rule of law do you have in a country that contains both sorts of people."

The justices were considering whether Louisiana's 2014 law unduly burdens women's access to abortion. Practitioners claim, and a federal judge agreed, that the law could force two of the state's abortion clinics to close, leaving only one doctor at one clinic to perform the procedures.

The question of whether the abortion providers had legal standing to bring the case was not in the 2016 case. But Justice Samuel Alito Jr. sounded highly skeptical Wednesday that clinics have legal grounds to sue, calling such a claim "amazing" because of the doctors' potential conflict of interest.

To reject the clinic's right to sue, Rikelman said, would require the court to overrule at least eight past abortion-related decisions.

Liberals said the court would be reversing decades of precedent to make such a finding, and the court's other conservatives did not ask about the issue.

The court could reaffirm or overturn its 2016 precedent in the Texas case, or distinguish it in a way that a restriction deemed unconstitutional in one state is allowed in another.

One change at the court: While the Justice Department in 2016 urged the justices to strike down the Texas law, Trump administration lawyers argued that Louisiana's should be left in place, even if it means overturning the opinion in the Texas case.

Jeffrey Wall, principal deputy solicitor general, representing the Trump administration, urged the court to find that medical providers do not have a legal right to challenge the Louisiana regulations on behalf of their patients because their respective interests are not necessarily aligned.

"One is the interest of the for-profit providers and not being regulated in particular ways. The other is the interest of women in their own health and safety," he said.

Wall noted that a patient who developed a complication once at home after an abortion might still call the clinic to consult with her initial doctor before going to the hospital.

"It's hard for me to believe that women in Louisiana wouldn't at least want the option to be treated by the [same] doctor," he said.

Hospitalisation after an abortion is rare, all sides agree, and the lack of admitting privileges by the doctor who performed the procedure is not a bar to the woman getting needed medical care. In the court's Texas decision, the majority said there are numerous reasons doctors might not be able to attain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, including the fact that it is so rare for their clients to need hospitalisation.

The court majority in that case also said the admitting-privileges requirement "provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stressed Wednesday that most women who terminate their pregnancies never get near a hospital. About 40 percent of abortions in Louisiana are completed by taking medication.

Elizabeth Murrill, Louisiana's solicitor general, said the state's 2014 law is intended to ensure the health and safety of women seeking abortions and distinct from the Texas law. Regulations for abortion providers, she said, are consistent with those for the state's surgery centres - both require medical staff to have admitting privileges.

"Even if it's a medication abortion, the doctor should be able to handle a surgical abortion and be qualified to do that," Murrill said, asking the court to affirm a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

A Louisiana federal judge held a six-day trial on the law and agreed with abortion providers that the court's decision in Hellerstedt meant that the law was unconstitutional.

But a panel of the 5th Circuit - the same court that had upheld the Texas law - disagreed. The panel, on a 2-to-1 vote, found factual distinctions between how the restriction played out in Texas and Louisiana.

Judge Jerry Smith, writing for the majority, said that the court complied with the Supreme Court's decision by taking a painstakingly close look at the details.

"Unlike in Texas, the [Louisiana law] does not impose a substantial burden on a large fraction of women," he concluded.

The full 5th Circuit declined to reconsider the panel's decision, and dissenting judges said their colleagues seemed more intent on giving the Supreme Court a chance to reverse its 2016 ruling than complying with it.

"I am unconvinced that any justice of the Supreme Court who decided Whole Woman's Health would endorse our opinion," Judge Stephen Higginson wrote in his dissent. "The majority would not, and I respectfully suggest that the dissenters might not either."

The Louisiana case is June Medical Services v Russo.

Washington Post
From double GRAMMY-nominated group RUFUS DU SOL comes brand new album 'Live from Joshua Tree'.

The Aussie trio announced a special audiovisual performance piece, shot in the sprawling desert plains of Joshua Tree to accompany the live album. The 45-minute immersive film traverses the depths of the band's famed shows and critically acclaimed studio albums SOLACE, BLOOM and ATLAS.

RUFUS DU SOL: Live from Joshua Tree brings their emotive live experience from the global stage to the screen. Featuring never-before-heard material set amongst the allure of the Great American West, the sensory film is an homage to the band's arrival as a global creative force.

Watch the film up top and stream the album below.
Minister for Mobility and Public Works Francois Bausch revealed that improvement works will take place on the Troisvierges-Luxembourg City railway line, at a cost of 70 million.

Responding to a parliamentary question by Pirate Party MP Marc Goergen, Bausch said that the government would invest around 70 million into improving the northbound railway line. Notably this will cover the modernisation of different train stations and the construction of a park-and-ride car park in Troisvierges.

The minister was less certain in confirming the duration of the works, explaining that a part of the route travels on single tracks. It would take some time to modernise this part of the railway and upgrade tracks.

Additionally, a part of the CFL's fleet will be fitted with wireless internet. However, connections will depend on the quality of the mobile data network.
(Newser)  The writing may have been on the wall when she finished third in her home state of Massachusetts on Tuesday, but Elizabeth Warren is making it official. The Massachusetts senator will end her 2020 campaign, reports Politico, NBC News, and the Washington Post. Warren was expected to inform her staff Thursday. The New York Times notes that Warren's departure could be a boon to Bernie Sanders, assuming he's able to attract enough of her progressive supporters. Coverage notes that Warren was once seen as a front-runner, if not the front-runner, but the once-diverse Democratic field has now essentially narrowed to Sanders vs. Joe Biden, two white men in their late 70s.

story continues below

Warren was on track to collect several dozen delegates from Super Tuesday voting, but that fell far short of expectations, notes Politico. Combined with Biden's surge, her campaign saw no path to victory. No word yet on when, or if, Warren will endorse anyone. In a quick post-mortem, the Post offers this: Warren came out strong with great debate performances, detailed policy proposals, and passionate speeches. "But in the end, her effort to straddle the liberal and centrist wings of the Democratic Party left her a toehold in neither," as Sanders and Biden "consolidated control over their respective camps." (Read more Elizabeth Warren stories.)
New Delhi: Now, fear of Corona is being seen in India too. So far, positive reports have come in more than a dozen cases across the country. There is a stir in other countries of the world, including China, about Corona. Concerns about the Korena in the capital NCR have struck concern in the hearts of the people. Ways are being found to avoid this by issuing advisories in various institutions. People of government and non-government health institutions look forward to such measures of concern. Let's know where we are in the Global Health Rankings. In the current platform, India is on the health rankings.

After Humans, corona is making victims to animal

According to the 2019 Global Health Protection Index, India ranks 57 out of 195 countries. This index also shows how many countries are not ready to deal with any major infectious disease. Only 13 countries have topped this list. Of these, America ranks first. For your information, let us know that the Global Health Protection Index is the first comprehensive assessment of epidemics and pandemic hazards globally. This index assesses the capacity of each country to prevent and resolve health emergencies. Its conclusion is based on the answers to 140 questions.

Pak official dismisses reports of understating virus cases

The World Economic Forum said in 2019 that India's health index is quite disappointing in terms of life expectancy. India ranks 109th in this. A survey of 141 countries was done for this index. This shows that India is far behind the countries of the world in terms of life expectancy. According to a 2018 medical journal 'Lancet' study, India is ranked 145th among 195 countries in the world in terms of the quality of health services and their access to people. The shocking aspect of this study is that India is also lagging behind its neighbors China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan in the list of 195 countries. In the year 2018, the 'Global Burden of Disease' study came out that after the year 1990, India's condition has improved in terms of access and quality of health facilities. At the same time, in 2016, India got 41.2 marks in terms of access and quality of health facilities, while in the year 1990, it got only 24.7 marks.

These two big organizations came together to deal with Corona
Kim Kardashian West is joining other celebrities and the son of Martin Luther King Jr in calling for the governor of Alabama to halt tonight's execution of a man convicted of killing three cops even though he did not pull the trigger that ended their lives.

The reality star took to Twitter to voice her support of Nathaniel Woods, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday at 6pm.

Woods and Kerry Spencer were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in the slayings of the three officers that rocked Birmingham, Alabama, in 2004.

Prosecutors said Spencer was the triggerman in the slaying, opening fire on the officers with a high-powered rifle inside the apartment - but Woods was convicted as an accomplice.

Such convictions are allowed under state law, and other people have been executed for "non-triggerman" slayings. A jury recommended Woods receive the death penalty by a 10-2 vote.

'#NathanielWoods is scheduled to be executed in Alabama TONIGHT for murders he did NOT commit,' Kardashian said in the tweet.

'Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims  in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nates execution.'

The reality star took to Twitter to voice her support of Nathaniel Woods, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday at 6pm

'#NathanielWoods is scheduled to be executed in Alabama TONIGHT for murders he did NOT commit,' she said in the tweet. 'Join the broad coalition- including members of the jury and relatives of the victims  in urging @GovernorKayIvey and @AGSteveMarshall to stay Nates execution'

Kardashian's plea comes after Martin Luther King Jr's son and other notables called for the execution to be halted.

Carlos Owen, Harley A. Chisolm III and Charles R. Bennett died in the gunfire while trying to serve a misdemeanor domestic assault warrant on Woods at a suspected drug house.

Nathaniel Woods was convicted and his death by lethal injection is scheduled for Thursday at 6pm, despite Kerry Spencer maintaining he did it alone.

Spencer is due to be executed at a later date.

Martin Luther King III has asked for the execution of a convicted killer to be stayed

Nathaniel Woods (left) is scheduled for lethal injection Thursday at 6pm. But Kerry Spencer (right) says he carried out the killings alone

King wrote in a letter: 'Killing this African-American man, whose case appears to have been strongly mishandled by the courts, could produce an irreversible injustice'

Woods' request for a stay of execution was denied on Monday, Birmingham News reported.

Martin Luther King III stepped in to try to save Woods' life soon after the news was released.

'WE NEED YOUR HELP. Nate Woods is about to be executed in Alabama. This is an injustice, and we need to make sure the public is aware. Please retweet, tag @GovernorKayIvey, and use the hashtag #SaveNate,' he tweeted Tuesday.

The message was shared alongside the letter he sent Governor Kay Ivey.

Martin Luther King III said in the Twitter post he sent the letter 'after she denied my phone call'.

'In just 2 days, your state, and the state I was born in, is set to kill a man who is very likely innocent,' he writes in the letter. '(Fifty-five) years ago, my father, Martin Luther King, Jr., (led) a march from Selma, Alabama, where he and fellow civil rights activists were killed and beaten.

'Under your watch, Alabama is about to produce yet another tragic injustice.'

He later added in a tweet: 'My father marched from Selma 55 years ago, where many were killed and beaten. He was fighting for justice his whole life.

'Allowing the execution of Nate Woods would only show that we have not learned from the past. It's time to be on the right side of history.'

Woods was in the apartment when Spencer gunned down the officers.

Left to right: Officers Carlos Owen, Harley A. Chisholm III and Charles R. Bennett were killed while serving a warrant at a home in Birmingham in 2004

He said in the letter to Governor Ivey, 'my father said, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and so I pray that God grants you the courage to do the right thing'

It's believed Woods never got the chance to have a fair trial.

'Killing this African-American man, whose case appears to have been strongly mishandled by the courts, could produce an irreversible injustice,' King wrote in the letter. 'Are you willing to allow a potentially innocent man to be executed?

'So before you allow the execution of Nathaniel Woods, I urge you to grant him a reprieve. We must allow time to accurately review the new evidence.'

King finished by remembering the words of his late father.

The Christian minister spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until he was assassinated April 4, 1968 in Tennessee.

'In closing, my father said, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and so I pray that God grants you the courage to do the right thing: to delay his execution.'

Martin Luther King III recalled how 55 years ago his father led a 'march from Selma, Alabama, where he and fellow civil rights activists were killed and beaten'
The audit, which was completed in early December, was commissioned by the administration of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, who sent it to the council earlier this week. A spokesman for the Districts Department of Employment Services, which oversees the hiring requirements, said the agencys director, Unique N. Morris-Hughes, was not available for comment.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse)  Thu, March 5, 2020 21:00 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068a452b 2 Entertainment foo-fighters,Chris-Stapleton,The-Go-Go,music,festival Free

Foo Fighters hinted at the much-anticipated return of their self-curated Jam Festival back in February.

Dave Grohl and his bandmates held two editions of the festival in 2017 and 2018 in San Bernardino, California, where they shared the stage with Queens of the Stone Age, Cage the Elephant, The Kills and Iggy Pop with Post Pop Depression.

The band will now bring Jam Festival to Washington DC for a one-day event on July 4, during which they will also commemorate the 25th anniversary of their eponymous debut album.

In addition to the Foo Fighters, the inaugural edition of DC Jam Festival will include performances from Pharrell Williams, Chris Stapleton, Band of Horses, The Go-Go's and The Regrettes.

Durand Jones & The Indications, Beach Bunny, Radkey will also share the stage of Landover, Maryland's FedExField.

Foo Fighters also announced several activities that will delight fans of all ages, including a barbecue competition, a tailgate party, rides, games and more.

Read also: Thom Yorke to join Massive Attack for rare solo acoustic performance

It is still unclear whether the band will debut some cuts from their long-awaited tenth studio album at their inaugural DC Jam Festival.

Last February, frontman Dave Grohl confirmed that the much-anticipated follow-up to 2017's "Concrete and Gold" was on its way.

"We just finished making a record. There's a riff on the new record that I've been working on for 25 f**king years -- first time I demoed it was in my basement in Seattle, and every record I'm like, 'Ooh, let's put it on,' but it didn't work," he told The Bill Simmons Podcast, without revealing an official release date for the full-length.

Ahead of DC Jam Festival, Foo Fighters will tour the same venues that they did on their first North American tour in support of their 1995 self-titled debut album.

The Van Tour will kick off on April 12 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, with additional gigs in Oklahoma, Knoxville, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

While tickets for the Van Tour are currently available, passes for DC Jam Festival will go on sale to the public on Friday, March 6 at 10 am EST.
A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed a plea by suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain seeking to surrender before it in connection with alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma, after which the police arrested him.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja rejected Hussain's plea saying that the relief sought by him was outside its jurisdiction.

As the court dismissed Hussain's plea, a Delhi Police team, which had already arrived, arrested him and took him into custody.

Hussain moved the surrender application before the court saying that he was willing to join the investigation and wanted to surrender in the case.

Advocate Mukesh Kalia, appearing for Hussain, argued before the court that Hussain was facing life threats and was forced to move a surrender plea before the Rouse Avenue court instead of Karkardooma court.

The lawyer said Hussain has been falsely implicated in the case and sought protection for his life and property.

Hussain has been booked in the murder case of the IB staffer in northeast Delhi amid violence over the new citizenship law last week.

Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had then suspended him for his alleged involvement in the violence which has left at least 42 people dead and around 200 injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
San Francisco Fire Department crews have contained a fire at a multiple-story residential complex early Thursday morning that sent at least one person to the hospital, according to fire officials.

The blaze was first reported at 4:47 a.m. at 330 Clementina St., fire officials said. Heavy smoke was reported on the 9th floor and 10th floor residents were ordered to shelter in place.
Minority and poor people likely to be blocked from accessing housing in desirable neighbourhoods, rights experts say.

India risks greater segregation in its cities after deadly riots in the capital New Delhi last week, with minority and poor people likely to be blocked from accessing housing in desirable neighbourhoods, human rights experts said on Thursday.

The deadly violence in the citys northeast  the worst Hindu-Muslim riots in Delhi in several decades  killed more than 40 people  mostly Muslims  and injured hundreds. Thousands have been displaced after their homes were torched. Many of those uprooted belong to the minority community.

The capital city of more than 20 million people is now likely to see greater segmentation along religious lines as has happened in other Indian cities, such as Mumbai and Ahmedabad, said Miloon Kothari, a housing and human rights expert.

We generally see greater ghettoisation in a city after a riot because of fear and insecurity, with city authorities themselves sometimes reorganising neighbourhoods that entrench that segregation, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Apartheid cities are being created due to political, planning and gentrification processes that divide communities further, impoverish the poor, and makes it easier to target vulnerable communities again.

Displacements caused by flooding, beautification of cities, and big sporting events such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the 2016 Rio Olympics, also led to ghettoisation of the poor, said Kothari, a former United Nations special rapporteur for adequate housing.

Delhi has long drawn migrants from neighbouring states, who often live in informal settlements because of high rents.

Like in other Indian cities, Delhis informal rules and deep-rooted biases also discriminate against religious minorities and even unmarried people, or those with certain food preferences or professions.

Ghetto or mixed neighbourhood

Deadly communal clashes in Mumbai in 1992-93 and in the western city of Ahmedabad in 2002, led to Muslims being pushed out of mixed neighbourhoods to the fringes of the city, said Darshani Mahadevia, a professor at the Ahmedabad University.

The Muslim poor especially  choose to live in all-Muslim neighbourhoods because they feel insecure, she said on the sidelines of a land conference in Delhi.

Segregation keeps the communal pot boiling for political reasons also, Mahadevia said, citing a law in the western state of Gujarat that restricts Muslims and Hindus from selling properties to each other in areas deemed as sensitive.

Often, minority neighbourhoods have poor infrastructure and inadequate housing, said Mahadevia, adding that residents also face difficulties securing bank loans and even taxi rides.

The choice between living in a ghetto or mixed neighbourhood was a difficult one for many Muslims, writer and journalist Ghazala Wahab said on Twitter this week.

Families often had to weigh the risk of their home being torched against a better life, said Wahab, whose own family moved to a more modern Hindu area from a ghetto  where conditions had since worsened.

Thats not living, thats just existing, she said.
Jacob Rees-Mogg today insisted there are 'no plans' to shut down Parliament during a coronavirus outbreak.

The Commons Leader dismissed the prospect of Westminster being closed for months to avoid spreading the disease, saying the public would expect politicians to 'get on with their job'.

The intervention came after a backlash at the idea, which has been discussed at high-level meetings. MailOnline understands many Lords are strongly opposed, as peers can only claim the tax-free 313 daily allowance when the House is sitting.

Parliamentary officials also feared such a move could trigger a chain reaction in offices across the UK - effectively paralysing the country.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle held talks with England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty earlier this week to consider the response to a mass outbreak.

Amid concerns MPs could become 'superspreaders' as they ferry to and from constituencies, options include holding debates by video link and introducing electronic voting so politicians do not need to travel to Westminster as much.

The most drastic suggestion is that the whole Palace of Westminster could be closed, potentially from the Easter recess at the end of this month until September.

Cabinet ministers have suggested it would be madness for MPs to continue to meet during a major outbreak (Commons pictured yesterday

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has held talks with England's Chief Medical Officer to discuss plans for if the outbreak gets worse

Cabinet ministers have suggested it would be madness for MPs to continue to meet during a major outbreak, describing them as potential 'virus super-spreaders' as they travelled to and from their constituencies.

Thousands of staff, officials and reporters work on the Parliamentary estate alongside politicians.

There are particular concerns about how the virus could affect members of the House of Lords, who have an average age of 70.

More than a hundred peers are over 80 years old. The disease has been found to be more dangerous for older people.

However, it is understood there is opposition in the Upper House because many would be left without an income. One insider said: 'That is a long time not to be able to claim the allowance.'

Speaking in the Commons today, Mr Rees-Mogg said: 'I want to reassure the House that there are no plans to close the House down.'

After shout of 'hallelujah' was heard from Tory former minister Sir Desmond Swayne, Mr Rees-Mogg went on: 'The public will expect Parliament to sit and get on with its job.

'Parliament has proved itself to be very resilient over the years.

'There is no medical reason on current advice to think that shutting Parliament would be necessary or helpful.'

Mr Rees-Mogg added: 'Our approach will be guided by the best scientific evidence and medical advice and we'll take all necessary measure to deal with this outbreak.

'I can assure the House I'm engaging with the parliamentary authorities to emphasise how important it is that any decisions are taken in line with the advice of the chief medical officer, and a cross-parliamentary group of senior managers is meeting daily to plan the response to Covid-19 and ensure business continuity with input from Her Majesty's Government.'

Appearing before the Health Select Committee earlier, Chief Medical Office Chris Whitty said: 'I don't see, personally, any reason why the House of Commons and House of Lords are a more dangerous environment for people to move in than other ones, so other environments where people come into contact with other people.'

He continued: 'One of the bits of advice that we will give when this starts to run is for people who are older or who have pre-existing health conditions to have some degree of isolation from more public environments.'

One senior Parliamentary source told the Times that if MPs rose at the end of March and did not return until September it would be 'the longest summer recess we have known'.

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, the SNP's Carol Monaghan raised fears that MPs could bring the infection back to Parliament from their constituencies.

She said: 'Every week 650 of us come here from every part of the UK, spend several days operating in close proximity and meeting people from all over the world, and we then return to our constituencies, potentially becoming the very vectors that we are trying to shut down.'

In response, Boris Johnson said: 'The chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser, together with the Health Secretary, will be saying a little bit more in the next couple of days about what we are going to do to delay the advance of coronavirus  in Parliament and in other large gatherings.'

Concerns have been raised about the signal that would be sent by closing the doors at the Palace of Westminster

There are particular concerns about how the virus could affect members of the House of Lords (pictured) where members have an average age of 70

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, the SNP's Carol Monaghan raised fears that MPs could bring the infection back to Parliament from their constituencies

Senior officials have pointed out there is a 'different level of responsibility' for the Palace of Westminster compared to other workplaces.

'If Parliament were to shut the whole nation would take its lead from that and shut,' once source told MailOnline.

'Everybody has to consider the possibility that day might come. But we are a long way from it.

'Parliament needs to stick exactly in line with Public Health England guidance, because if it does anything that goes beyond that guidance everybody else will copy them.'

A Parliament spokesman added: 'We are monitoring the situation closely and continue to work with the Department for Health and Public Health England.

'We have taken a range of precautionary measures including placing information posters across the Parliamentary Estate encouraging thorough handwashing.'
Special parent-teacher meetings (PTMs) will be held in government and aided schools in the violence-hit northeast Delhi for the second day on Thursday.

"The two-day special PTMs are being conducted to counsel parents and students and re-instill confidence and faith in them," a senior official of the Directorate of (DoE) said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited four schools on Wednesday to interact with the parents and students attending the PTMs. Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal is scheduled to visit schools on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Goa police on Thursday



arrested a Delhi-based man and two of his accomplices in connection with a murder in the national capital.

Sahil Hussain (22) and his two associates were arrested near Calangute beach, a senior police officer said.

He was wanted in connection with the murder of a businessman in the area under Amar Colony police station limits in Delhi on February 29, 2020.

A team of Delhi police took custody of the three men and took them back to the national capital after obtaining transit remand from a Goa court, the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People need to know things like the difference between HIV and AIDS. They dont, Glaspie said. AIDS is the last stage of HIV, but as long as you are keeping your viral load undetectable, its something you dont have to worry about. You do that by taking your medication every day and seeing your doctor if something doesnt feel right or if you feel ill.
Ten public sector banks to merge into 4 from 1 April

The union cabinet on Wednesday approved the mega consolidation of ten public sector banks (PSBs) into four bigger banks, to enable creation of digitally driven consolidated banks with global heft and business synergies.

A meeting of the union cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India with Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with Union Bank of India; and that of Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank.

The amalgamation would be effective from 1 April 2020 and would result in creation of seven large PSBs with scale and national reach with each amalgamated entity having a business of over Rs8,00,000 crore. The mega consolidation would help create banks with scale comparable to global banks and capable of competing effectively in India and globally. Greater scale and synergy through consolidation would lead to cost benefits which should enable the PSBs enhance their competitiveness and positively impact the Indian banking system, says a cabinet release.

In addition, consolidation would also provide impetus to amalgamated entities by increasing their ability to support larger ticket-size lending and have competitive operations by virtue of greater financial capacity. The adoption of best practices across amalgamating entities would enable the banks improve their cost efficiency and risk management, and also boost the goal of financial inclusion through wider reach.

Further, with the adoption of technologies across the amalgamating banks, access to a wider talent pool, and a larger database, PSBs would be in a position to gain competitive advantage by leveraging analytics in a rapidly digitalising banking landscape, the release added.

The amalgamation is being done so that customers are able to reap the benefit of larger banks being scaled up and more fund being available for credit," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.

Banks are fully on board and this will be effective from 1 April," Sitharaman said, adding, To a large extent, I am convinced that the banks are on course. They have no issues carrying forward with the merger activitycore interest for banking, customers have been kept in mind."

At present, India has 18 state-owned banks compared with 27 in 2017. After the merger, the number will further come down to 12.

The finance ministrys decision is in line with the National Democratic Alliance governments push for consolidation of state-owned banks, which it believes will not only lead to economies of scale, but also make lenders stronger, more competitive, and improve their risk-taking appetite.

Last August, the finance ministry announced the consolidation of 10 public sector lenders. Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank will be brought together to form the second largest public sector bank in the country, after State Bank of India (SBI).

Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank will merge to become the fourth-largest public sector lender, while Union Bank of India will merge with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to build Indias fifth-largest lender. Indian Bank will merge with Allahabad Bank to make Indias seventh-largest PSB.

For existing customers of all the amalgamating banks, this will increase access to banking services by about 3,000 branches or more. In addition, customers will benefit through investments in technology-enabled smart banking, such as paperless tab-banking, faster loan processing, banking from home, and customer-need driven credit offers," a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.

Businesses will benefit through increased lending capacity, with the regulatory ceiling for lending to individual borrowers increasing by more than Rs1,500 crore to Rs3,000 crore, he added.

In April 2019, Bank of Baroda (BoB) became the countrys third largest lender after its merger with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. In 2017, five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank had merged with SBI.
T he family of a doctor knocked off his motorbike and killed by a mother on the school-run have spoken of their anger after she avoided a jail sentence.

Dr Amin Alamshah, 38, below, died when a Mini Cooper driven by Nazila Sanei turned into his path as he rode to work at Hammersmith hospital.

The crash happened in Cricklewood shortly after 9am on March 11 last year. Sanei, 51, admitted causing death by careless driving at Harrow crown court.

Last week, Judge Lana Wood sentenced her to 28 weeks in prison suspended for two years. Sanei was also banned from driving for two years.

Dr Alamshahs wife Parisa Baroudy 36, said: We are not happy. She has not been sent to prison. Theres no punishment that I can see.
She's one of Hollywood's most acclaimed actresses.

But Dame Helen Mirren has admitted that she found acting 'incredibly intimidating,' and she even locked her in the toilet due to her nerves.

The star, 74, made the candid revelation as she joined forces with stars including Geri Horner and Iskra Lawrence for a campaign with L'Oreal Paris and The Prince's Trust in honour of International Women's Day.

Scroll down for video

Scary: Dame Helen Mirren has admitted that she found acting 'incredibly intimidating,' and she even locked her in the toilet due to her nerves

In an interview with makeup artist Val Garland, Helen spoke candidly about struggling to adjust with being in the acting world.

She said: 'Many actors exude confidence, I find it incredibly intimidating. More than once I've had to run away and lock myself in the lavatory, just to say ''come on you can do this Helen.''

'But before that happens, you're sitting in the makeup and you're very lucky if you're say in Val Garland's makeup chair.'

Important: It comes as Helen joins forces with (L-R) Geri Horner, Neelam Gill, Denise Lewis and Iskra Lawrence for L'Oreal Paris' new campaign in honour of International Women's Day

Open: Helen spoke about struggling with confidence, adding: 'More than once I've had to run away and lock myself in the lavatory, just to say ''come on you can do this Helen'

Amazing: The Oscar winner was joined by makeup artists Val Garland for the campaign, which sees L'Oreal collaborate with the Prince's Trust

Dynamic duo: Geri also posed with Princes Trust graduate Donna for the campaign, which comes ahead of International Women's Day

Helen has joined forces with L'Oreal and The Prince's Trust for a campaign that supports their 'Women Supporting Women' initiative.

The campaign aims to help support young women facing self-confidence issues following research showing that 40% of young women aged 16-25 say that they dont believe in themselves, compared to 30% of young men.

Speaking about the campaign Helen said: 'The Self Worth, Worth Sharing campaign is so important for the emotional well-being of young women. I have experienced insecurities all my life, and to many peoples surprise continue to do so.

'In todays digital age, social pressure is on the rise, therefore having the right support is more important now than ever.'

In the campaign, Helen appears alongside Spice Girl Geri Horner, expectant model Iskra Lawrence, makeup artists Val Garland, Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis and model Neelam Gill.

Posing up a storm: Denise was joined by her stunning god daughter Reese for the beauty campaign

Gorgeous: Iskra - who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Philip Payne - displayed her growing baby bump in a beautiful pale pink dress

Helen was recently given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for her incredible contribution to the film industry.

On her achievement, Mariette Rissenbeek, Executive Director of the Berlinale, said: 'Helen Mirren is a strong personality whose powerful portrayals are always impressive.

'She surprises us time and again with her interpretation of complex characters  whether its Chris in Calendar Girls or Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, her portrayals are a paradigm of strong women.

'It is our great pleasure to award her the Honorary Golden Bear for her lifetime achievement.'
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Air Customs foiled bids to smuggle 4.67-kg gold worth Rs 1.96 crore and arrested a woman. On Wednesday, the sleuths intercepted Santhanalakshmi (39) of Madurai and Fathima (32) of Chennai, after they arrived from Malaysia. On personal search of Santhanalakshmi, two pouches were found concealed in her upper garment, which yielded 85 chains, 17 bracelets, two harams, 2 bangles, 13 pendants, 15 rings and two necklaces. It was certified as 22K purity and weighted 2.545 kg, valued at Rs 1.02 crore. The gold was siezed and Santhanalakshmi was arrested.

On personal search of Fathima, two packets of gold paste was recovered from her upper innerwear, which yielded 289 gm valued at Rs12.59 lakh. Also, three chains and four rings of 22K purity weighing 139 gm, valued at Rs5.59 lakh were recovered from her underwear.

In another incident, Nirosha Lakmali (26), who arrived from Colombo was intercepted and on personal search, three packets containing gold paste were found concealed in her undergarment. On extraction, 299 gm valued at Rs13.03 lakh was recovered. In yet another case, based on a tip-off that gold was concealed in an Indigo aircraft arriving from Singapore, the sleuths 14 gold bars weighing 100 gm each with foreign markings of 24K purity weighing 1.4 kg and valued at Rs62.80 lakh in bundles hidden under seats.
To prevent the possibility of spread of coronavirus, the Delhi government has ordered immediate closure of primary schools in the national capital till March 31, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday.

All Delhi government, aided, private and schools run by civic bodies will remain shut, said Sisodia, who also holds the portfolio.

"As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20(sic)," Sisodia tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian sent a congratulatory letter to President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic on his 50th birthday anniversary, the Armenian Presidents Office told Armenpress.

President Sarkissian wished his Serbian counterpart success and new achievements in his responsible position for the benefit of the prosperity of the Serbian Republic, the increase of its reputation and role in the international arena.

I express my deepest gratitude for your personal contribution to the development and strengthening of the Armenian-Serbian friendly relations, which are constantly enriching with joint projects in commercial, scientific-research, high technology, cultural, humanitarian and other spheres.

I highly value our personal relationship and I am confident that with joint efforts we will develop the multisectoral cooperation between Armenia and Serbia for the benefit of our peoples, the Armenian President said in his letter.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
ARLINGTON, Va., March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico signed legislation capping monthly copayments for insulin at $25, making New Mexico the third state to enact a co-pay capwith the lowest dollar amount for a co-pay cap introduced at the state level to date. Insulin affordability is a critical issue facing millions of Americans, with the price of insulin nearly tripling between 2002 and 2013. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) applauds Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and bill sponsors Senator Daniel A. Ivey-Soto and Representative Micaela Lara Cadena for their leadership on this urgently needed legislation to provide relief from the burden of high insulin costs for people living with diabetes in New Mexico.

"This American Diabetes Association-supported legislation is a major step forward in the fight for affordable insulin," said LaShawn McIver, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs & Advocacy for the ADA. "New Mexico is the third state to pass this type of legislation, proving that there is momentum to bring down insulin prices for those who need it. Legislators are hearing the cries of the approximately seven million Americans who rely on insulin to live. We are grateful to Governor Lujan Grisham, Senator Ivey-Soto and Representative Cadena for introducing and passing this critical legislation, and for your continued efforts to protect the more than 230,000 New Mexicans living with diabetes."

House Bill 292 also requires the New Mexico Department of Insurance to issue a report that includes a summary of insulin pricing practices as well as public policy recommendations to control and prevent overpricing of prescription insulin drugs made available to New Mexico consumers. For more information about this legislation, please contact the Governor's office at: governor.state.nm.us.

The ADA continues to be the driving force in federal and state efforts to ensure that insulin is affordable and accessible for all people who need it. Take action today at diabetes.org/advocacy/platform.

If you are struggling to pay for insulin or know someone who is, the ADA has resources to helpvisit InsulinHelp.org.

About the American Diabetes Association

Every day more than 4,000 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes in America. More than 122 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes and are striving to manage their lives while living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic and help people living with diabetes thrive. For nearly 80 years the ADA has been driving discovery and research to treat, manage and prevent diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. We help people with diabetes thrive by fighting for their rights and developing programs, advocacy and education designed to improve their quality of life. Diabetes has brought us together. What we do next will make us Connected for Life. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Join the fight with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contact: Alex Day, 703-253-4843

[email protected]

SOURCE American Diabetes Association

Related Links

http://www.diabetes.org


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New York, March 5, 2020  Authorities in Cameroon should not contest journalist Adalbert Hiols appeal of a false news and defamation conviction and should let his newspaper publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On November 7, 2019, authorities in Douala, a coastal city in southwest Cameroon, ordered Hiol, publisher of the privately owned Ades-Infos Jeunesse en Action newspaper, to be detained in the citys central prison after he responded to a summons, according to court documents and an individual with knowledge of the case who asked not to be identified. Hiol was charged with false news, defamation, and insult, and was sent to the prison without his lawyer present, according to that individual and a charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.

The charges stemmed from a defamation complaint filed by Louis Richard Njock, the director of a regional hospital in Edea, a city south of Douala. CPJ reviewed a copy of the complaint.

On December 27, the Douala Bonanjo court of first instance found Hiol guilty of those charges and sentenced him to 18 months in prison and a fine of 2 million Central African francs ($3,381), according to those documents. Hiol was also ordered to pay Njock 10.5 million francs ($17,809) in damages and procedural costs, and his newspaper was barred from publishing for six months, according to those documents.

Hiol filed an appeal against the conviction on December 30, according to the court documents. He is due back in court on March 24 for his second appeal hearing, the individual told CPJ.

Not including Hiol, at least seven journalists were in detention for their work in Cameroon at the time of CPJs 2019 prison census on December 1, 2019. Hiol did not appear on CPJs 2019 prison census because CPJ was unaware of his case at the time. CPJ documented the imprisonment of another journalist in January.

The number of journalists arrested in Cameroon just for doing their jobs is going in the wrong direction, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. Cameroonian authorities should not contest Adalbert Hiols appeal. They should free him immediately and should reform their laws to align with international standards for freedom of expression.

Njocks defamation complaint, dated April 2, 2019, accused Hiol of the same offenses for which he was charged, referencing 2017 and 2018 articles in Ades-Infos Jeunesse en Action criticizing his management of the hospital.

The November warrant ordering Hiols detention stated that he should be held until May 8, 2020. Hiols lawyer requested a provisional release after the journalist was sent to prison, but that application was rejected, according to the person who spoke to CPJ and court filings, which CPJ reviewed.

CPJ called and texted Njock on February 28, and did not receive any responses. CPJ missed a call from Njocks phone number the following day, and Njock did not answer follow-up phone calls.

Joyce Ndjem, the national communications chief for the Cameroonian police, told CPJ in a phone interview that she would not comment on Hiols case unless a CPJ representative met her in person, and then the line disconnected.

When CPJ called Cameroonian Minister of Information Rene Sadi, a person answered the phone and said hello twice and then hung up. CPJ called again but no one answered.
Kabul, March 5 : Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, on Thursday said that Washington was still committed to facilitating the prisoner exchange that was agreed on in the landmark peace deal signed with the Taliban.

"US is committed to facilitating prisoner exchange, agreed in both US-Taliban Agreement and US-Afghanistan Joint Declaration. We will support each side to release significant numbers," TOLO News reported citing the envoy as saying in a series of tweets.

"I met (Taliban leader) Mullah Baradar and his team last night for a candid discussion about next steps, followed by a constructive phone call with President Donald Trump. We all agreed the purpose of the US-Taliban agreement is to pave the path to a comprehensive peace in Afghanistan." Khalilzad, however, said that all parties involved in the peace process should try to work towards the intra-Afghan talks.

"We must act on all fronts to clear the road of obstacles that slow our progress toward intra-Afghan negotiations. I once again call on all Afghans to rise to the occasion, put country first and not to lose this historic opportunity." Khalilzad tweets came a day after the Kabul government said on Wednesday that there would be no Taliban prisoners released prior to the start of the intra-Afghan talks, saying the issue of prisoners will be discussed during the talks, TOLO News reported.

According to government figures, there are 10,000 to 15,000 Taliban prisoners in the country's jails, including some foreigners who were arrested because of their involvement with the militant group.

"The Afghan government will raise the prison release issue in the (intra-Afghan) peace talks, as part of a proposed package including the Taliban's relations with Pakistan, the Taliban's involvement in drug smuggling, and the terms of a ceasefire," said Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the Office of the National Security Advisor.

Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, on Wednesday said that the Taliban's continued demand for the release of their prisoners could push the peace process into jeopardy.

The US-Taliban peace agreement signed on February says that the US will "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".

At least 5,000 Taliban prisoners from the government side and 1,000 from the Taliban's side "will be released by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations", it added.

On Monday, following Ghani's statements about the prisoner release, the Taliban issued an order to their fighters to resume attacks on government forces, but to avoid attacking US troops.

The same day, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Muhjahid tweeted an image of the US-Taliban agreement with the text of the prisoner release outlined.

Since Monday, the Taliban have conducted scores of attacks across the country and dozens of Afghan security force members have been killed and wounded.

On Wednesday US forces conducted an airstrike against Taliban fighters in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand province, for the first time in 11 days since the two sides had agreed to a reduction in violence (RIV) plan that started on February 22 and was aimed at creating conditions for peace and a permanent ceasefire.

The attack took place one day after Gen. Scott Miller, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, warned the Taliban to keep their commitments.
After a while, she went up to her future father-in-law and asked him, point-blank if he was a Mafia boss. He denied it categorically. But she was not convinced  and broke up with her fiance. Within a couple of hours, Don Vito appeared before her, saying: You can do whatever you like, but sooner or later, youll be my daughter-in-law.

Basically, this man was threatening me, saying that if I didnt marry his son, he would kill my family. In those days, this was all perfectly normal, Ms. Aiello said. By now 18, the young woman decided to marry without telling her family, in the hope that things would improve. Yet eight days after the wedding, her father-in-law, Don Vito, was murdered.

Thats when the apocalypse began, because my husband swore vengeance, she said. He started going around criminal circles to track down his fathers killers. Four years after Don Vitos murder, Ms. Aiellos husband found the killers. Ms. Aiello was 22 and the couple had a young daughter.

But his adversaries got him first. They shot and killed him in front of my eyes, in a pizzeria that we managed, she said. She recognized the killers clearly: There were two inside the pizzeria, and two accomplices outside. In the four years that she had spent living with her husband, she had had to witness plenty of other criminal activities that she disapproved of. So she decided to become a witness against the Mafia and turn in all the guilty parties.

Her chief mentor in this enterprise was Paolo Borsellino, a judge and prosecuting magistrate based in Palermo who dedicated his life to fighting the Mafia, and who was assassinated by a car bomb in Sicily in July 1992.
A FORMER high level drug dealer in Offaly walked free from Tullamore Circuit Court after Judge Keenan Johnson heard he had turned his life around.

Though his appeal against a conviction for resisting gardai during a drugs search at his home failed today (Thursday, March 5), the sentencing of Keelan Hand was adjourned for a probation report.

Mr Hand, a 29-year-old father of two, had been found guilty at Tullamore District Court in November of resisting, obstructing or impeding gardai on January 16 last year at his home in Moorepark Street, Birr.

The appeal hearing was told that a search warrant had been granted on the basis of information gardai had relating to Mr Hand's involvement in the drugs business and his connection with one of the most significant drug gangs in west Dublin.

Inspector Kieran Hanley also told the court he sought the warrant because drugs were found in the home of the appellant's brother, Fabian Hand, and because a friend of Keelan Hand's had been viciously attacked in Kilcormac over a drug debt.

Inspector Hanley described Keelan Hand as a man who worked at a very high level in the drugs industry in Offaly and whose life had been threatened because of his activities.

Birr gardai carried out an early morning raid at Mr Hand's home assisted by members of the armed support unit.

A ramrod was used to break down the front door after there was no reply to a knock and the court was told Mr Hand attempted to reach for a hammer in his bedroom.

He was handcuffed and brought downstairs into a sitting room and garda witnesses said he tried to lunge at one of them with his head.

Inspector Hanley said no controlled drugs were found in the search but said prescription drugs were found in a car outside.

Mr Hand said there was no hammer in the house and he denied lunging at the gardai.

He admitted he was upset and was giving out to them because there were no drugs in the house and he got a fright when armed gardai with shields came up the stairs.

He said he had previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and that diagnosis had been changed to bipolar and psychosis following treatment in St Patrick's Institution, with an eight-fold increase in his medication.

He was now involved in narcotics anonymous and was assisting others in addiction treatment by chairing meetings and volunteering.

The court was told Mr Hand had a number of previous convictions, the most serious being the possession of a firearm in 2009.

Judge Johnson ruled that the District Court conviction stood but said he would adjourn sentence to June 11 next for a report from the probation service on Mr Hand's suitability for community service.
[March 05, 2020] AM Best Downgrades Credit Ratings of Guardian Insurance Company, Inc. & Echelon Property & Casualty Insurance Company; Places Credit Ratings Under Review With Negative Implications

AM Best has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to "bbb" from "bbb+" and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) of Guardian Insurance Company, Inc. (Guardian) (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands). Concurrently, AM Best has downgraded the FSR to B- (Fair) from B (Fair) and the Long-Term ICR to "bb-" from "bb" of Echelon Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Echelon) (Chicago, IL). AM Best has placed all of these Credit Ratings (ratings) under review with negative implications. The ratings of Guardian reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The rating downgrade of Guardian's Long-Term ICR reflects a revision in AM Best's view of the company's balance sheet strength to adequate from very strong. The company's risk-adjusted capitalization has been impacted negatively by significant premium growth and operating losses. The operating losses are due to reserve deficiencies caused by the significant amount of unseasoned business, which has caused policyholder surplus to deteriorate. Although management has implemented rate increases and revised the company's underwriting guidelines in an attempt to improve results, these actions have not proven sufficient to return the company to profitability. In addition, the company has above average leverage measures and a high dependence on reinsurance, as it is concentrated geographically in a catastrophe-prone area. The ratings of Echelon, Guardian's wholly owned subsidiary, reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as weak, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate ERM. The rating downgrades of Echelon reflects a continued material decline of its risk-adjusted capitalizatin that has resulted from unfavorable reserve development. The deterioration in reserves is the result of a significant increase in unseasoned non-standard personal automobile business. The new business and decline in capitalization has increased leverage and reflects the company's increased vulnerability to continued reserve inadequacy.



Guardian and Echelon's under review with negative implications status considers Lockhart Companies, Inc.'s (the ultimate parent) expected capital contribution to be executed in March 2020. The negative implications reflect the potential for the ratings to be downgraded in the event the capital contribution is insufficient to maintain the current balance sheet strength assessments. These ratings will remain under review until AM Best reviews these companies' final year-end 2019 financial statements and the capital contribution is executed. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright  2020 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005622/en/

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Now Iran is battered by coronavirus infections that have killed 77 people, among the most outside of China, officials said Tuesday. But instead of receiving government help, overwhelmed doctors and nurses say they have been warned by security forces to keep quiet. And some officials say Tehrans hierarchy is understating the true extent of the outbreak  probably, experts contend, because it will be viewed as a failure that enemies will exploit.
Three times might not have been the charm for Israels political system. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud Party reclaimed its position as the largest faction in the Knesset, Israels parliament, in Mondays vote, the third election in the last year. But the bloc of right-wing and religious parties aligned with Netanyahu failed to win a clear majority of the 120-seat Knesset. Netanyahu has two options to remain in power: build a national-unity coalition with the main opposition Blue and White Party; or entice some defectors from either it or one of the other parties pledged to oppose him and eke out a majority.

Israels complicated internal political struggles may seem both baffling and counterproductive to American observers. But Americans should know that Israel is not divided or uncertain about what they generally consider to be the most important issue for the Jewish state: the conflict with the Palestinians.

The latest election may not have decided whether Netanyahu should remain in office. But the results re-confirmed that Israel is largely united on issues of security and peace. Its true that Blue and White and its leader, former general Benny Gantz, have tried and failed three times in the last eleven months to oust the incumbent. But the opposition actually agrees with Netanyahu on a great deal: In his campaign, Gantz emphasized that he will be just as tough on security as Netanyahu, and that he is just as skeptical of the Palestinian Authority as a peace partner.

Gantz also agrees with Netanyahu about the need to maintain a blockade on Gaza, which is run by the Hamas terrorist movement. He also favors annexing some of the West Bank settlements that the international community has declared to be illegal. He has criticized past Israeli offers to the Palestinians that were predicated on exchanging land for peace. He and his party basically agree with the Likud that past efforts  like the 1993 Oslo Accords, Ariel Sharons withdrawal from Gaza, and offers of statehood that the Palestinians turned down in 2000, 2001, and 2008  were disasters for Israel. Gantz also supported the Trump Middle East plan that the Palestinians rejected out of hand. In doing so, the opposition is merely reflecting most Israeli public opinion polls, such as a survey of Israelis taken last summer by the liberal-leaning American Jewish Committee, that showed clear majorities opposing even a demilitarized Palestinian state or the dismantling of any settlements under the current circumstances.

Story continues

The problem is that Palestinian Authority moderates continue to subsidize terrorism, and to share the conviction of Hamas and Islamic Jihad never to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state regardless of its borders. While they do so, the only Israeli constituency for more land for peace offers will be the far Left and anti-Zionist Arab political parties. They are opposed by a broad coalition of Blue and White voters, and those from other small parties both aligned with and opposed to Likud. These voters share Netanyahus conviction that, under the present circumstances, a withdrawal from the West Bank to the 1967 lines would be irrational.

The existence of an Israeli consensus on the issue that stretches from the countrys moderate left to its right is news here in the U.S.  at least to the Democrats who want to replace President Trump. Take senator Bernie Sanders, who recently engendered controversy when he branded AIPAC  the pro-Israel lobby  as a platform for bigotry and, as he has done throughout his career, refused to speak to their annual gathering. Sanders has also come under fire from Jewish groups for his close ties to supporters of the anti-Israel BDS movement, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), and others prone to anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Yet policy, even more than rhetoric, shows how Sanders is out of touch with the realities of the Middle East. He supports ending the international blockade of terrorist-run Gaza and has attacked Israels measures of self-defense against attacks from the enclave. He has even proposed diverting some of the U.S. aid Israel gets to Hamas-ruled Gaza. And he continues to advocate pushing the Jewish state to give up the West Bank and to re-partition Jerusalem. This is far outside of the Israeli political mainstream.

In fact, his primary rivals share his belief that the U.S. should pressure the Israeli government to withdraw from the West Bank. Former vice president Joe Biden may have disavowed calls to cut aid to Israel to force it to obey U.S. diktats, but Biden clearly wants to return to the policies of the Obama administration, which regarded the creation of more daylight between the U.S. and Israel as essential for peace. He, too, advocates Israels withdrawal from of the West Bank and the creation of a Palestinian state there. Such a plan ignores not only the security implications, but also the Palestinian Authoritys continued funding of terror, and its refusal to concede that their century-long war on Zionism has been lost.

President Biden or Sanders would disagree as much with Gantz as with Netanyahu. Even centrist and moderate Democrats dont understand or even acknowledge the Israeli political consensus that rejects more land for peace schemes. No matter who the Democratic nominee is, should Trump lose this fall, a Democratic president wont respect the justified skepticism most Israelis hold about peace plans.

More from National Review
Irelands top TikTok users are joining the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre in a campaign to end sexual harassment among the countrys youth.

Twenty of Irelands leading online influencers who use TikTok  a social media platform known for its lip synced homemade music videos popular with those in their teens and early 20s  are using their platforms to raise awareness around sexual consent.

The campaign called #100Consent  a play on the phrase "100%"  aims to send a clear message that being even 1% unsure when it comes to sexual consent could have devastating consequences.

Fionnuala Jones, a writer, podcaster and content creator from Cobh, County Cork, who has more than 58k followers across her social media accounts is taking part in the campaign.

She said: Consent is an ongoing conversation that people need to have. I think theres a consensus that the conversation about consent is a one time thing with your child or a friend."

"Whereas I would say that consent needs to be an ongoing conversation.

And this campaign #100Consent is taking a look at the fact that consent is a very nuanced issue and its trying to highlight that it has to be 100% on both sides because if even one of you is even 1% unsure thats when things can have drastic consequences.

Ms Jones said that TikTok is the perfect place to communicate with young people. The 24-year-old saw her own Instagram following leap from 6,000 to 44,000 in two years, gathering 20,000 followers in just two weeks but she has now embraced TikTok which she believes will eclipse Instagram in the near future.

TikTok is where the teenagers are," she said. "It seems to have eclipsed Snapchat in popularity."

So it completely makes sense when youre targetting that demographic when it comes to the conversation about consent. Its a very exciting campaign and like nothing Ive ever heard of.

"More than ever, social media is empowering young people and allowing them to occupy a space of influence that we cant underestimate."

Tomorrow, the DRCC will host a closed, voluntary day of workshops and brainstorming sessions about consent with Ms Jones and her fellow TikTok users in Dublin. These young creatives will then be challenged to develop content around this issue to resonate with 16-24-year-olds.

"Ill be really looking forward to seeing what the TikTokkers bring to the table because theyre really creative," Ms Jones said.

"Theyve really tapped into what this app is and what it can offer. Its great to be able to combine something like content creation and having fun on social media while also trying to bring home a bigger message, particularly one as important as consent."
Find all our Student Opinion questions here.

In The #MeToo Balancing Act in High School, Andrew Reiner writes:

The #MeToo movement was a watershed moment, empowering girls and women to share their stories, and many boys and young men have told me in interviews that the greater awareness of and need to end sexual assault against females is long overdue. But some boys and young men have also told me that they are worried about what the movement means for them.

Are you a teenage boy who has felt confused by what #MeToo means for you? Do you ask yourself questions like: When is it OK to make the first move? What does consent look like in the moment? How can you read girls nonverbal cues more accurately?

How comfortable are you having conversations about these kinds of topics in school, with friends, with family or with someone youre in a relationship with?

Are you someone  of any gender  who wishes you could provide frank advice to boys confused by these issues? Do you feel frustrated by how many boys approach dating and intimacy? What do you think they could do better?

The article continues:

They feel their voices have been silenced in conversations around gender and they struggle to navigate damaging perceptions about masculinity, particularly in the realm of dating. Many boys have told me of the confusing messages they are sent when it comes to expressing their romantic interest in a girl. On the one hand, boys are finally learning about the necessity of consent; on the other hand, they still face dated masculinity stereotypes that limit and confound them, including a culture that places pressure on men to initiate intimacy. I have friends, girls, who want the guy to be the sexual initiator, to be the man, like in movies, Jaden, a high school junior in Alexandria, Va., said. He said these are the same girls who, if a guy asks if he can kiss them, say: Thats so lame. Why would you ask that? Jaden said that he and his male friends want to be absolutely respectful of girls boundaries, but they also want to be taken seriously by the ones who expect them to behave in a stereotypically masculine way. In addition to deciphering this riddle, boys fear that one wrong move could ruin their present and future reputations in this age of swift, devastating social media justice, especially since many college admissions officers scan social media for black marks on candidates cyber-presence. Dating is just a huge scary maze, Jaden said, adding that many of his friends have sworn off romantic entanglements for now. One sexual assault accusation, even if a boy is absolved, is tagged to that person and hovers in cyberspace for life. Youre guilty until proven innocent, said Ben, a junior at Frostburg State University in Maryland. Michael C. Reichert, head of the Center for the Study of Boys and Girls Lives at the University of Pennsylvania, said that boys are behind #MeToo but feel overlooked and misunderstood when it comes to their own needs. They feel nothing about their experience as males is being recognized or addressed, says Dr. Reichert, the author of How to Raise a Boy: The Power of Connection to Build Good Men. Yet, he adds, they are yoked with normative masculine expectations from both males and females.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

What advice would you give to fellow teenagers who are uncertain how to navigate boundaries and desires in dating and sex? Would you give different advice to boys and girls?

Do you believe there are rules or expectations around dating and sex? How did you learn what you know  or think you know  about dating and romantic relationships? From school? Friends? Parents? Online? Do you talk about sex, consent and dating at home? At school?

If you have a question about sex, where do you first look for the answer? Do you feel comfortable asking questions about expectations and boundaries when it comes to dating and intimacy? Do you think consent, and communicating actively about touch and sex, is something that is easy for teenagers to practice?

The featured article focuses on teenage boys and heterosexual relationships. However, do you perceive differences in how transgender, gender-nonconforming and L.G.B.T.Q. teenagers talk about consent, dating and sex?

In the article, Mr. Reiner says that many of the boys he spoke with wanted to respect girls boundaries and needs, but felt shut down when asking girls for advice or feedback about their behavior. What do you think about this dynamic? Is it something that you have been a part of or witnessed? Why do you think girls might not want to explain their boundaries to boys? Can you imagine a solution for having a more productive conversation?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Iran must give access to the black boxes from a Ukrainian airliner shot down by an Iranian missile in early January, Canada's foreign minister said on Wednesday. "We do expect and we demand... from Iran to give access to the black boxes without any further delay," Francois-Philippe Champagne said during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev. Champagne stressed that it has been more than 30 days since the accident killing all 176 on board, and that Iran will "undermine the international law" if it chooses to keep the recorders. "We have questions and we expect Iran to provide answers," the minister said. "We hope that Iran will choose the way of transparency." The Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8. Tehran admitted several days later it had accidentally shot down the airliner during a confrontation with the United States -- Iran had launched missiles at US forces in Iraq in response to the killing of top general Qasem Soleimani on January 3. The victims were mostly Iranian and Canadian citizens, as well as a Ukrainian crew. Ukraine and Canada have repeatedly pressed Tehran to hand over the black box flight recorders to Kiev or Paris, but they remain in Iran.
Paul Redman, a key figure in Perth's high-rating Morning Crew radio show on 92.9 throughout the 1990s, has died.

The popular radio personality who worked alongside Gary Shannon and Jane Marwick for more than a decade was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2008 and later battled stomach cancer.

The Morning Crew: Gary Shannon, Jane Marwick, Paul Redman and Bernie Brittain.

He left the high-pressure media environment in Perth and settled in WA's South West five years ago, where he focused on his health and spent time with his two children.

An emotional Shannon joined 6PR's Simon Beaumont on Thursday afternoon to pay tribute to his former colleague, who was also his best mate.
Indias ruling party has been mocked for handing out anti-coronavirus face masks adorned with the name of the prime minister Narendra Modi, as the number of virus cases in the country rose to 29.

The initiative was taken by the regional branch of Modis BJP party in West Bengal, a state where campaigning has already begun ahead of assembly elections next year.

More than 1,600 masks, produced at a cost of about Rs175 (1.85) each, were handed out on Wednesday in less than an hour, according to the Kolkata Telegraph, with party workers and some local residents the main beneficiaries.

The partys general secretary in the state, Pratap Banerjee, told reporters that the masks will help people to protect themselves from coronavirus, while providing the added benefit of respite from the air pollution in the city. The air quality index in Kolkata was hovering around 100 on Thursday, similar to that of the famously smoggy capital Delhi.

But some on social media took issue with the fact that the masks were printed with the words: save from corona virus infection and Modi ji (Modi sir), alongside the partys lotus symbol.

Shashi Tharoor, a prominent author, TV personality and MP for the opposition Congress party, joked on Twitter that the masks were for those wanting to be saved from coronavirus & Modiji. Of course merely listing the toxic afflictions you want to be saved from on a mask doesnt help prevent your being hit by the contagion, he added.

He wasnt the only one to take up this theme, with another user bemoaning that the mask to save you from coronavirus, Modi and the BJP was an offer valid only in West Bengal everyone else find other means.

One Twitter user named Soumya, referencing the recent dramatic slowdown in Indias economic growth, suggested the mask will save a person from coronavirus exactly the same way as Modi saves Indias economy.

And another, Arjun Ramakrishnan, referenced the Hindu nationalist agenda of Mr Modis party, saying he would rather die of Corona virus than wearing [a] Modi mask and infecting the nation with Communal virus.

Away from the stunt in Kolkata, the Indian government is taking the coronavirus outbreak very seriously indeed, despite the relatively low numbers of cases it is seeing.

All foreign nationals from Italy, South Korea, Japan and Iran - some of the worst-affected countries - have had their visas to visit India cancelled, while the government long since barred new entrants from China.

Mr Modi himself has said he will not take part in celebrations of the Hindu festival of Holi next week, and on Thursday postponed plans for a trip to Brussels for meetings with EU leaders later this month.

"Both sides have agreed that due to health authorities advising against travel between regions, it would be wise to reschedule the summit to a later, mutually convenient date," foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told a news conference.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

Delhis devolved government has decided to close all primary schools in the capital until the end of March in a bit to prevent the possible spread of the virus. Of the 29 cases in the country, one was linked to a school in the city of Noida - a satellite city bordering Delhi to the east - and 15 are members of a group of Italian tourists who are being quarantined to Delhis west.

Indias poor health infrastructure may be masking the true extent of the coronavirus threat to the country, but experts say it does have a natural defence in the form of its nearly year-round warm weather.

The first cases in the country arrived from China in the southern state of Kerala, but amid the hot, humid tropical conditions there no new cases have been reported since the 6 February.

Even in northern Delhi, minimum temperatures did not drop below 5C at any point last month, and the mercury is rapidly rising through March. Viruses thrive in lower temperatures, which is why [Covid-19] has spread fast[er] to south-east Asian countries that are cooler and less humid than India, said KK Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.
Security forces used water and tear gas cannons on crowd. Protesters want to prevent entry into Parliament, where the vote is scheduled today. The crowd sang slogans and songs, including "no confidence". The army is threatening to crack down on "violations of public and private property".

Beirut (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Lebanese security forces used water cannons to disperse the crowd of demonstrators gathered in the capital this morning, who responded by throwing stones. The aim of the protest is to prevent the Prime Minister in charge Hassan Diab and the members of the executive from reaching Parliament, where the vote of confidence is scheduled today.

Local sources tell of repeated launches of tear gas, of roads blocked by security and of a cordon of agents patrolling the streets leading to Parliament, in an area that has already been under close surveillance for some time with barricades distributed everywhere. The demonstrators threw stones and rocks in an attempt to unhinge the barricades erected by the military.

In recent days, the protesters rejected the new government team proposed by Prime Minister Diab and doubled down on protests, which affect the center of Beirut and several areas of the country. The crowd chanted slogans and songs including "no confidence". People have also raised the accusations of "incompetence and corruption" against a political class that would have lost credibility in the eyes of citizens.

The protesters therefore seem willing to promote a hard line, considering the measures adopted so far as insufficient; since the end of October, with the resignation of the then Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Lebanon is without a government that will have to respond to numerous challenges, from the economic crisis to the migrant emergency. On the other hand, the leaders of the Maronite Church express satisfaction with the government program presented in recent days and invite citizens to judge the new government structure by the choices it will make, giving them a chance.

In spite of the appeals, the hard core of the protest does not intend to withdraw and announces new battles. This morning a crowd marched through the Martyrs Square, then in the Ring Bridge area and in the suburb of Qantari, trying to remove the concrete blocks that blocked the passage. The security departments responded with water cannons and tear gas, asking appealing for "peaceful" demonstrations and calling on protesters to avoid clashes.

This morning the Lebanese army released a note stating that "riots and violations of public and private property distort the [legitimate] requests and do not fall into the category of freedom of expression". A warning that, at the moment, seems to fall on deaf ears.
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranautis is known for her strong personality and being a passionate filmmaker. Whether its on-screen or off-screen, Kangana is determined and goes to any length to achieve her goal.

The actress, who was till recently shooting for Thalaivi, is now ready to work on her other projects Tejas and Dhaakad. Thailavi is a film based on the late politician Jayalalithaa's life.

To take on the role, Kangana had put on almost 20 kgs to look exactly like the political leader. When Kangana posted her new look photos on social media, fans praised her for her uncanny resemblance with Jayalalithaa.





Kangana truly knows how to get into the skin of the character. And now in a recent Instagram post, Kangana's team posted her video showing her current weight.

They captioned the video as - "Kangana has 2 months in hand and 20 tough kilos to lose for her fierce character in #Dhaakad!! Here's to her ambitious, goal oriented, and perfectionist spirit. "

In the video, Kangana shows she's currently 70.3 kgs and her trainer is promising that they will achieve the desired goal. While Thalaivi is all set to release on 26th June, 2020, Dhaakad will release in 2021.
In a rare case of Reserve Bank of India superseding the board of a commercial bank in recent history, the central bank has moved in to take charge of new generation private bank Yes Bank. Interestingly, the bank was set up by top-notch professionals. The last such move by the RBI to give a banking license to professional was when it gave a license to Global Trust Bank, which was eventually merged with Oriental Bank of Commerce over the bad governance issues. There are actually six reasons why the RBI superseded the board of Yes Bank.

Also read: YES Bank crisis Live Updates: Panicked after RBI cap, depositors queue up outside ATMs

Also read: YES Bank crisis: You can withdraw cash up to Rs 5 lakh; here's how

Take a look;

Deteriorating Financial Position

The financial position of Yes Bank has undergone a steady decline over the last few years because of its inability to raise capital to address potential loan losses and resultant downgrades, triggering invocation of bond covenants by investors, and withdrawal of deposits. The bank was making losses and inadequate profits in the last four quarters.

Also Read: RBI's board superseding points to graver issues at YES Bank

Governance Issues

The bank has also experienced serious governance issues and practices in recent years which have led to a steady decline of the bank. Take, for instance, the bank under-reported NPAs to the tune of Rs 3,277 crore in 2018-19. That was prompted RBI to dispatch R Gandhi, a former Deputy Governor, to the board of the bank.

False Assurance

The Reserve Bank says that it was in constant touch with the bank's management to find ways to strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity. It says that the bank management had indicated to the Reserve Bank that it was in talks with various investors and they were likely to be successful. But in reality, there was no concrete proposal from investors to put the kind of money that the bank required to survive and grow.

Also Read: RBI imposes moratorium on YES Bank, limits withdrawals to Rs 50,000

Non-serious Investors

The bank was engaged with a few private equity firms for exploring opportunities to infuse capital as per the filing in stock exchange in February this year. "These investors did hold discussions with senior officials of the Reserve Bank but for various reasons eventually did not infuse any capital," says RBI. Clearly, it shows that the investors are not serious enough to put the capital into the bank. In fact, the size of capital would have given the new investor (s) a large stake where RBI's permission is a must.

No Market-led revival in sight

The RBI says since a bank and market-led revival is a preferred option over a regulatory restructuring, it made all efforts to facilitate such a process and gave an adequate opportunity to the bank's management to draw up a credible revival plan, which did not materialize.

Also Read: What's cooking behind YES Bank's back?

Outflow of liquidity

The bank was facing regular outflow of liquidity. It means that the bank was witnessing withdrawal of deposits from customers. In fact, the deposits are bread and butter of a bank. The bank had the deposit book of Rs 2.09 lakh crore at the end of September 2019.

Also Read: SBI to buy stake in YES Bank? It's govt order, claims report
As the deadly coronavirus continues to send jitters worldwide, panic-stricken countries are looking at ways to combat the spread.

To limit the spread of the virus, hospitals in China are using Swiss manufacturer IQ Air's purifiers. The air purifiers gained prominence in 2002 when the Hong Kong Hospital Authority deployed its air purifiers in facilities treating patients.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, CEO Jens Hammes outlined the company's plans and explained how his company's product can help in dealing with the epidemic.

Excerpts:

Q. How does IQ Air purifier help combat coronavirus?

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

A good air purifier can trap coronavirus. Filtering a virus is quite easy. However, the challenge is knowing where does the virus come from. At present, there is not enough proof that it is transmitted through the airborne route. In radical terms, it would be the route through which the virus travels over larger distances, carried through pollution particles, enters through the ventilation system from one room to the other. There is no proof that it is transmitted through airborne route.

In hospitals, patients with suspected cases are placed in an isolation room and are typically given a mask to wear to prevent tiny droplets from being projected two meters away and keep them from infecting it.

During the SARS virus outbreak in 2002 in Hong Kong, they tried a different approach and placed an IQ Air purifier next to the patient bed with a suction duct. A normal IQ Air system is generally used for industrial applications and dental offices. This suction duct was placed near the patient's head. They asked the patient to cough and sneeze into that opening, ensuring that a lot of the infectious matter would be sucked away and not get circulated into the ambient air.

Q. Is an air purifier suitable for prevention of infection in normal homes?

When one member of the family is sick and the person may have caught the virus, then it makes sense to have an air purifier in the person's room. But, it doesn't make sense that any company could market it as 'prevention from coronavirus'. Filtration can capture the virus. But in most cases, an air purifier cannot effectively protect you from the virus.

Q. Since the coronavirus outbreak, which countries have shown interest in the air purifiers?

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority ordered IQ air purifiers in 2003. Several hundred were sent on a freight to the hospitals when coronavirus first broke out in January. Now, we have orders from China, South Korea among other Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam where they want to prepare effectively as they lack infection control rooms.

Generally, sales have increased for our clean room units. Normal units have also been ordered by hospitals.

Q. How do you see yourself placed in the Indian market?

We have a different market penetration in India, compared with other Asian countries. We are an established brand name in Asia, especially in China. In India, we are a new entry to the market. We are more active in the home and offices segment.

Sometimes, in some countries, gaining access to the medical market sector is difficult as there are exclusive players. The coronovirus crisis may give us much more exposure to the hospital markets sector. Many healthcare institutions are ill-equipped at the moment as they don't have sufficient isolation rooms.

With IQ Air, you can turn a normal room into isolation room within half an hour. All you need is a duct detachment and a hole in the wall in the corridor to exhaust the filter air.

Q. So, is it only a matter of adoption by hospitals?

Yes. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in US has issued an advisory. There are standard precautions that you need to take for affected patients along with contact precautions and airborne precautions. Airborne precaution means you need an isolation room. This is a single room where you create negative pressure with a HEPA filter unit and create 6 air changes per hour in order to ensure micro organism levels are very low in that room.

Q. Given that India is a price sensitive market, how do you plan to compete here?

I see the challenge in convincing the end user that IQ Air is the best value for money. The consumer will select air purifier by online research and will look at the technical specifications. On paper, a manufacturer claims that the purifier produces 99.97 percent clean air .

We trust that the discerning Indian customer is smart and demands value for money. The longevity of the product and the high quality is better. The filter replacement availability is guaranteed for 15 years. This element has helped us when it comes to competition.

Other European and American brands simply instruct customers to replace filters every 6 months, irrespective of the degree of use and the pollution level of the environment it was used in. We offer longevity filters.

Many products come with a built in obsolescence, on purpose. In the air cleaning industry, this is done in different ways. By stopping the supply of replacement filters, the product becomes obsolete.

Q. Sales of air purifiers are linked with rising air pollution levels. Do you see a certain degree of denial among people?

While the threat is not immediate, you are shortening your lifespan by years. With the World Air Quality report, we help compare outdoor air quality with indoor air quality. You can decide for yourself whether the pollution levels are threatening your family and is acceptable or not. We believe in helping people make an informed decision. However, it needs to be real time data. If a government has chances to take measurements of outdoor air quality but only releases their data in a few hours, it gives the government the chance to manipulate the data.
Two Chinese Nationals Charged with Laundering Over $100 Million in Cryptocurrency From Exchange Hack

WASHINGTON  Two Chinese nationals were charged with laundering over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency from a hack of a cryptocurrency exchange. The funds were stolen by North Korean actors in 2018, as detailed in the civil forfeiture complaint also unsealed today.

In the two-count indictment unsealed today in the District of Columbia,  aka Tian Yinyin, and aka Li Jiadong, were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

The hacking of virtual currency exchanges and related money laundering for the benefit of North Korean actors poses a grave threat to the security and integrity of the global financial system, said U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea of the District of Columbia. These charges should serve as a reminder that law enforcement, through its partnerships and collaboration, will uncover illegal activity here and abroad, and charge those responsible for unlawful acts and seize illicit funds even when in the form of virtual currency.

North Korea continues to attack the growing worldwide ecosystem of virtual currency as a means to bypass the sanctions imposed on it by the United States and the United Nations Security Council. IRS-CI is committed to combatting the means and methods used by foreign and domestic adversaries to finance operations and activities that pose a threat to U.S. national security, said IRS-CI Chief Don Fort. We will continue to push our agency to the forefront of complex cyber investigations and work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners to ensure these nefarious criminals are stopped and that the integrity of the United States financial system is preserved.

The FBI will continue to actively work with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to identify and mitigate illicit movement of currency, said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBIs Criminal Investigative Division. Todays indictment and sanctions send a strong message that the United States will not relent in holding accountable bad actors attempting to evade sanctions and undermine our financial system.

This case shows how important robust partnerships across the U.S. Government are in disrupting criminal actors, said Acting Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division.

This indictment shows what can be accomplished when international law enforcement agencies work together to uncover complex cross-border crimes, said Acting Executive Associate Director Alysa Erichs of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI is committed to upholding the rule of law and investigating those that would steal cryptocurrency for their illicit purposes.

According to the pleadings, in 2018, North Korean co-conspirators hacked into a virtual currency exchange and stole nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency. The funds were then laundered through hundreds of automated cryptocurrency transactions aimed at preventing law enforcement from tracing the funds. The North Korean co-conspirators circumvented multiple virtual currency exchanges know-your-customer controls by submitting doctored photographs and falsified identification documentation. A portion of the laundered funds was used to pay for infrastructure used in North Korean hacking campaigns against the financial industry.

The pleadings further allege that between December 2017 and April 2019, Yinyin and Jiadong laundered over $100 million worth of virtual currency, which primarily came from virtual currency exchange hacks. The defendants operated through independent as well as linked accounts and provided virtual currency transmission services for a fee for customers. The defendants conducted business in the United States but at no time registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The pleadings further allege that the North Korean co-conspirators are tied to the theft of approximately $48.5 million worth of virtual currency from a South Korea-based virtual currency exchange in November 2019. As with the prior campaign, the North Korean co-conspirators are alleged to have laundered the stolen funds through hundreds of automated transactions and submitted doctored photographs and falsified identification documentation. The pleadings identify how the North Korean co-conspirators used infrastructure in North Korea as part of this campaign.

The civil forfeiture complaint specifically names 113 virtual currency accounts and addresses that were used by the defendants and unnamed co-conspirators to launder funds. The forfeiture complaint seeks to recover the funds, a portion of which has already been seized.

The charges in the pleadings are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also imposed sanctions on Yinyin, Liadong, and numerous cryptocurrency addresses related to their involvement in activities facilitating North Korean sanctions evasion based on their services and support for malicious cyber enabled activities linked to North Korean actors.

The investigation was led by the IRS-CI, the FBI, and HSI. The Korean National Police of the Republic of Korea provided assistance and coordinated with their parallel investigation.

The cases are being handled by Trial Attorney C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Trial Attorney David Recker of the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Espionage Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zia Faruqui and Christopher B. Brown, Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Swienc, and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia. Additional assistance has been provided by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Youli Lee.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Three years ago, in secluded corners of a sprawling mall in Dubai, Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of the emirates ruler, plotted with close friend Tiina Jauhiainen to escape her fathers clutches.

Their eventual plan was like a plot from a movie: Latifa disguised her appearance as the pair fled Dubai by car to the coast, took a dinghy and rode jet skis to a waiting boat which was to take the princess and her companion to freedom.

But it failed. They were captured off the coast of India after an operation by special forces and taken back to Dubai.

The last time (I saw her), she was kicking and screaming and she was dragged off the boat. Her pleas for asylum were ignored, Jauhiainen told Reuters in an interview in London in late January.

In a judgment published on Thursday, a British judge ruled that Dubais ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum had abducted Latifa - just as he had her elder sister Shamsa from England almost two decades earlier - and subjected her to inhuman treatment.

Jauhiainen gave a witness statement as part of the case and briefly appeared in court in London to confirm it was true.

In making an overall assessment of the evidence relating to Latifa, I regard the evidence of Tiina Jauhiainen as being of singular importance, the judge, Andrew McFarlane, said in his ruling, which described her as a wholly impressive individual.

The fitness instructor first met Latifa in late 2010 when she started giving her lessons in capoeira, a martial art, about five times a week.

They became close friends but she said Latifa was quiet and private. It was years before Latifa confided in her, revealing she had tried to escape Dubai in 2002 when she was a teenager and that she had subsequently spent three-and-a-half years in prison.

Reuters was not able independently to confirm Jauhiainens version of events, which she has recounted to media before.

It was only around 2016 when she started telling me about her sister Shamsa and her escape and her own imprisonment, said Jauhiainen, a Finnish national.

I think she was very scared. She could have been imprisoned again.

The governments Dubai Media Office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment for this story.
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Popular governor and former Democratic presidential candidate, Steve Bullock has decided to run for the US Senate in Montana.

Via The New York Times:

Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana is poised to reverse himself and run for the Senate, according to three Democratic officials, a decision that would hand the party a coveted recruit who could help reclaim a majority in the chamber.

After months of insisting he would not challenge Senator Steve Daines, Mr. Bullock, who ran for president last year, has told Democrats in the last week he is now inclined to run in what would immediately become one of the marquee Senate races of 2020. Mr. Bullock has only a few days to finalize his decision: The filing deadline to run in Montana is Monday.

Chuck Schumer and Democrats have been trying to convince Bullock to challenge Daines for the Senate seat for over a year. Bullock would put another Republican-held Senate seat in peril in a year when Democrats are set to make a big move to reclaim the Senate majority.

Mitch McConnell and Trump are already trying to save endangered Republican-held Senate seats in states like Arizona, Colorado, and North Carolina. Long time Republican incumbent Susan Collins in Maine is also in trouble. Democrats need to pick up a net four seats to take back the majority and boot Mitch McConnell out of the majority, and the entry of Bullock into the Montana race creates more headaches for the GOP.

The pieces could be falling into place for Democrats to oust both Trump and McConnell in 2020.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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The last patient treated for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo was discharged on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The patient was released from a hospital in the eastern city of Beni, bringing the 19-month-old outbreak closer than ever to an end.

The outbreak has killed 2,264 people and infected nearly 1,200 more, making it the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history. Only the 2013-16 epidemic in West Africa was deadlier, killing more than 11,000.

The DRC has now gone 14 days without any new confirmed case. The outbreak can be declared over once 42 days have passed without a new case  equivalent to two cycles of 21 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed at a briefing on Tuesday the development as very good news, not just for me, but for the whole world.

In response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, over 290, 000 people have been vaccinated under compassionate use protocols.

Last month, DRC, Burundi, Ghana and Zambia have licensed an Ebola vaccine.

Preliminary results indicate that the rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine, an injectable manufactured by Merck, or MSD as it is known outside the United States and Canada, has been effective in 97.5% of cases and could reduce the chances of death in those already infected.
WEST HAVEN  Keith M. Sweeney, a decorated former police officer, has been named the citys Irishman of the Year and will be honored at the 29th annual St. Patricks Day Celebration at noon March 17, according to a release.

Sweeney is an integral part of West Havens St. Patricks Day celebrations as a committee member and participant, the release said, and his grandparents hailed from the counties of Roscommon and Offaly, Ireland.

He will be honored by the hanging of a green street sign designating City Halls Campbell Avenue entrance as Keith M. Sweeney Square for a year.

The Irish Person of the Year honor is bestowed annually on an Irish resident or couple who personifies service in the citys Irish-American community, the release said.

I am humbled to receive this award following all the great Irish recipients before me, Sweeney said in the release.

A lifelong Westie, Sweeney, 66, will toast his Irish heritage with scores of his closest friends and loved ones, along with an array of shamrock-clad dignitaries and descendants of folks from Erin.

A corned beef and cabbage lunch will follow in First Congregational Church of West Havens Fellowship Hall, 1 Church St. opposite City Hall.

Keith Sweeneys accomplishments are a testament to the determination, joy and hope of the Irish, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi said in the release. The residents of West Haven join me in congratulating Keith on his well-deserved recognition.

In the 1890s, Sweeneys grandparents left the Emerald Isle in search of the American promise, settling in West Haven, according to the release. The youngest of five brothers, Sweeney grew up in a single-family home on Lake Avenue overlooking Lake Phipps. He attended public schools and graduated from West Haven High School in 1972.

Sweeney was married to the former Kathleen Johnson and together they have two adult daughters, Erin Sweeney of West Haven and Shannon Sweeney of Concord, Mass.; and a granddaughter, Etta Aylwin Seely, 1, of Concord.

He is a member of the West Haven Irish American Club and was its Irishman of the Year in 1989, the release said, and is a former member of the Greater New Haven St. Patricks Day Parade Committee.

Rossi will present Sweeney with an Irish flag at the event, as well as with a proclamation citing his commitment to sharing and preserving the culture of Ireland and the teachings of St. Patrick.

He also will receive a blue jacket embroidered with Irishman of the Year.

The New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums will lead the opening procession, followed by remarks from committee member David Coyle, the master of ceremonies, the release said.

The Rev. Mark R. Jette, the 2010 Irishman of the Year and former pastor of St. Lawrence and St. Paul churches in West Haven who now serves Sacred Heart Church in Suffield, will offer an Irish blessing. City resident Caitlin Morrissey will sing The Star-Spangled Banner and the Irish national anthem, Soldiers Song, followed by a greeting from Rossi.

Sweeney is best known for his decorated career as a city police officer. He served on the department for 11 years, starting in 1979, and was the recipient of several commendations, the release states.

Sweeney received the departments Purple Heart and Medal of Valor, along with the Connecticut State Police Medal of Bravery, for gallantry in the line of duty stemming from an August 1988 mutual aid incident in which he suffered a gunshot wound to his right leg.

During his distinguished tenure, Sweeney also received the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association Award and the Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association Award.

Sweeney, a former member of the New Haven County Detectives Association, retired from the police force as a detective in 1990. He later served as an instructor at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy in Meriden and as an investigator at the states attorneys office for the New Haven Judicial District, retiring in 2012.

Sweeney is a founding and charter member of the West Haven Police Emerald Society, was its Officer of the Year and is a former president, trustee, quartermaster and treasurer.

He has served on the Board of Police Commissioners since 2016. He also has represented the 1st District on the City Council and served on the Democratic Town Committee, the release said.
Charles "Chuck" Trimble, a former leader of the National Congress of American Indians and founder of the American Indian Press Association, has died at age 84.

The Oglala Lakota journalist and activist died of natural causes Monday in Omaha, Nebraska, his daughter, Kaiti Fenz-Trimble, said on Facebook.

Trimble was born in Wanblee, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and attended the then-Holy Rosary Mission boarding school. He graduated from the University of South Dakota, served in the U.S. Army, and later studied journalism at the University of Colorado.

Trimble founded the American Indian Press Association in the 1970s, citing a lack of coverage of Native American issues, Indian Country Today reported. It operated a news service for tribal newspapers across the U.S.

He was then elected executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, an organization established to protect tribes' sovereign rights. He held the position from 1972 to 1978, calling it both a stressful and deeply rewarding time.

"I was fortunate to have served through the decade most prolific in the enactment of legislation for new policy, programs, and resources, as well as executive actions favorable to Indian tribes and off-reservation Indian communities," Trimble wrote in an address for the group's 2009 convention. "These included the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, the Indian Financing Act, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and unprecedented return of significant lands to tribes."

Among his many accomplishments, Trimble helped start a newspaper on the Colville Reservation in Washington state to inform people about the implication of termination, the federal government's effort from the 1940s to the 1960s to disband tribes, Indian Country Today reported. It chronicled the tribe's eventual rejection of the policy.

He was also known for his columns on topics ranging from tribal politics and languages to aging.

"His passing has left a big hole in the field of Native American journalism," Oglala Lakota journalist and publisher Tim Giago wrote in the Rapid City Journal.

Trimble was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2013 and received several honorary degrees.

Jack Marsh, former Argus Leader editor and Freedom Forum executive, said Trimble was admired by Native and non-Native journalists alike.

"He was an honorable, fine and decent man who did much to promote reconciliation and advance a greater understanding of Native people and Native issues," Marsh said, according to Indian Country Today. "He was a role model for many in the field of media and journalism, including me, a gifted teacher and an excellent writer."

In addition to his daughter and her husband, Trimble is survived by his wife, Anne.

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News about the outbreak and spread of the coronavirus has dominated headlines around the world recently, leading many people in all corners of the globe to take precautions including Queen Elizabeth II.

The monarchs actions were on display as fears about the virus in many places have grown. Read on to find out what Her Majesty did and what the Palace has said about it.

Queen Elizabeth II | Victoria Jones  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth wore these to ceremony

The number of cases of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.K. has risen to more than 50. And now, many believe that Britains queen was taking precautions during an investiture ceremony on March 3 which is why she wore gloves as she shook hands.

This is the first time in my memory, and Ive been covering the royal family for 30 years, that Her Majesty has worn gloves for an investiture, said ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson. It is clear that she is acting on advice and her doctors are taking no chances.

Its true that this is one event in which the queen rarely wears gloves. In fact, the last time she had on gloves while handing out MBEs, OBEs, and knighthoods and pinning the awards on a recipients clothing was more than 65 years ago when she recognized Air Marshal Claude Pelly in Yemen.

Moreover, during an investiture ceremony two weeks ago she was pictured without gloves. So many reports claim that with the growing concerns she chose or was advised to wear them this time. The Palace would comment on those reports but a royal source did tell The Mirror that the queen and Palace staff would follow government advice.

A video of some of the ceremony was posted on the royal familys social media accounts in which the monarch is seen wearing gloves.

The New York Post noted that the elderly are among those most vulnerable to the illness.

The queen will turn 94 on April 21.

Why Her Majesty wears gloves for other events often

While she hasnt worn gloves for this particular event since 1954, you probably noticed that the monarch has been photographed at plenty of royal engagements over the years in gloves. Well, there are a few reasons why she does wear them so often.

Queen Elizabeth II wearing white gloves | Bryn Lennon/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse

The queens gloves are made by Cornelia James Ltd. The company has also made them for Princess Anne, Kate Middleton, and the late Princess Diana on the occasions when she wore gloves.

Genevieve James, who is the creative director and daughter of the founder, said Her Majesty accessorizes with the gloves because her outfits with a hat and handbag look utterly unfinished without [them]. James also mentioned that the length of the queens gloves is important and needs to stretch five inches from the base of the thumb up the arm.

When youre the queen and youre shaking hands, you dont really want to show your arms. The glove goes a bit under her [sleeve], so you dont actually see any arm, James explained.

Read more: Did Queen Elizabeth II Plan the Buckingham Palace Renovations Around Her Death?
BT Targets UK Digital Transformation with Managed SD-WAN

By Maurice Nagle , Web Editor

Digital transformation is not an optional undertaking. Every day a new company begins its cloud journey, relying on trusted technology partners to ferry the process along. Finding the right partner to support this undertaking isnt always as easy as it seems. In terms of SD-WAN, BT (News - Alert) is working toward being UK businesses preferred enabler.







BT announced the arrival of a managed SD-WAN service, a key piece of its converged business networking product portfolio. The Managed SD-WAN service is one of many more additions to the BT arsenal of offerings to come.

At the time of the services launch, BT is leveraging Cisco (News - Alert) SD-WAN powered by Viptela and Cisco SD-WAN powered by Meraki. Based on a customers network requirements, BT will select the appropriate solution to deploy. The Cisco, BT pairing began in 2018, and the duo will continue to build out the BT portfolio with Cisco-based NFV and SDN solutions to better support UK businesses with their transformation efforts.

The newly launched Managed SD-WAN service promises network agility and performance via transparency and traffic optimization, while also offering the peace of mind with robust security.

Every organisation  whether big or small  is on a journey towards digital transformation. But their success depends on whether they have a solution that is robust, agile and intelligent enough to meet new business demands, says Steve Best, MD, Customer Solutions, BT. From today, our business customers can benefit from a fully converged software defined solution that brings together the very best of BT. This includes fixed line connectivity, mobile data, dedicated security expertise, access to best-of-breed SD-WAN vendors and our enhanced proactive Managed Services with a single point of contact.

Whats in your WAN?

Edited by Maurice Nagle
The Lime phone app walks users through a tutorial, showing the rules of the road, the device, and a map of the areas where the scooter can and cannot go. Users must be at least 18, stay off sidewalks, wear helmets, and park the scooter responsibly when they are done.

In coordination with the city weve been developing geofence zones, areas where scooters cant be operated or where scooters may not be able to be parked, or where scooters might be slowed down by the  technology, Probst said.

The company reviews traffic patterns to guide scooter placement. A team in Waco will collect scooters at night to charge and prepare them for the following day.

Availability

Scooters will be available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Parking will not be allowed at Cameron Park or in Cameron Park Zoo, and scooters will be barred from Sul Ross Skate Park and Baylor University. If a user brings a scooter into a no-parking area, the ride will not be allowed to end, and the user will continue to be charged. If someone brings a scooter into a no-riding zone, it will automatically slow to a stop.
The criminal case regarding the mansion of former governor of Syunik Province of Armenia has been dismissed. The news was confirmed by the Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenia during a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The criminal case was dismissed due to lack of corpus delicti in December 2019.

The case regarding construction of Surik Khachatryans mansion was instituted against the incumbent and former officials of the municipality and for failure by an official to perform official duties based on mercenary or other personal interest.
The Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday issued an advisory to all the Chief Secretaries and administrators of all States and Union Territories (UTs) regarding precautions to be taken against the deadly novel coronavirus to prevent the spread of infection among school children.

NCPCR in its advisory stated that the world is fighting against the rapid spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). In India, too, the number of cases identified has increased in the last few days.

As the school going children are also susceptible to infection and this is a crucial time for children given the end of the academic year and examination, it calls for immediate measures minimizing the effects of the epidemic.

"The Commission, as per its functions under section 13 (d) of CRPC Act, 2005, requests and recommends that the State Department in consultation with the State Health Department to take necessary steps to prevent the spread of infection among school children," NCPCR wrote in the advisory.

"The State Department, through the District Officer shall also ensure that the advisories or guidelines regarding the safety and prevention from coronavirus issued by the Ministry or Department of Health be immediately circulated among all the schools. Prompt action is requested to curtail the effect on children and save them from any undue stress in this crucial time," the Commission added.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has issued an advisory for schools in view of coronavirus.

In the advisory, the Ministry has advised the schools to avoid any large gatherings of students during the course of the day in school. Any student or staff with travel history to any COVID-19 affected country or in contact with such persons in the last 28 days, should be monitored and home quarantined for 14 days.

It further says, teachers, school staff and students should also be advised about simple public health measures of hand and respiratory hygiene.

The Ministry has also advised that frequently touched surfaces like doorknobs, switches, desktops, hand railings etc should be disinfected and alcohol-based hand cleansers or sanitizers should be provided in frequent spots of the school.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chennai: Actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth held a meeting with district secretaries of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) in Chennai on Thursday to discuss the launch of his party and related policies among other things.

The Tamil superstar said he was disappointment over a particular issue that was discussed during the meeting, but refused to divulge details about the same.

Rajinikanth said, I met with district secretaries after almost a year to check about status of the partys affair. They had some questions, I replied to them. We discussed many issues. I am disappointed with one issue. I will reveal it at the right time.

An RMM district secretary, Joseph Stalin, said, The superstar discussed the partys launch, its policies and strategies. He also asked us about local issues pertaining to each district. He gave a list of dos and don'ts that our cadre should adhere to going forward.

Recently, Rajinikanth met a group of Muslim clerics after facing a backlash for his statement that religious leaders are instigating protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act that was passed by the Central government in December last year. When asked about the meeting, he said that he will help them in whatever way he can.

I had a cordial meeting with the Muslim delegation. We spoke about brotherhood, peace and love. They are ready to do what it takes to preserve the brotherhood and love in the country. I requested them to seek time from (Home Minister) Amit Shah and hold talks with him. I will help them, he added.

The aspiring politician has extended support to the amended Citizenship Act, while stating that he would be the first person to speak out if Muslims are affected by the new legislation.

Last week, he said he had said that people call him a BJP mouthpiece if he speaks in favour of the CAA. The CAA has been passed in both Houses of Parliament and I dont think it will be repealed. It pains me when people say I am a BJP mouthpiece when I speak in support of the CAA."

Rajinikanth will reportedly launch his party this year and is preparing to contest the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls scheduled for 2021.
Airline giant Lufthansa said Thursday it was cancelling all flights to Israel until March 28, after the Jewish state barred entry to almost all non-resident arrivals from five European nations including Germany.

Flights to Tel Aviv and Eilat by Lufthansa and subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines will be cancelled from Sunday, March 8 until the end of the winter timetable on March 28, the group said in a statement, while some flights will be halted on Friday and Saturday "for operational reasons".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The two leaders also agreed to establish a secure corridor near the M4 highway, which runs east to west through Idlib, and hold joint patrols along the road from March 15.

Turkey and Russia agreed a ceasefire deal on Thursday in Syria's Idlib region, their two leaders said after lengthy talks in Moscow to contain a conflict which has displaced nearly a million people in three months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, standing next to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, said he hoped their agreement would lead to a halt of military action in Syria's last rebel stronghold in the far northwest of the country, Reuters said.

Read alsoRussia committed war crimes in Syria  UN report

"I express hope that these agreements will serve as a good basis for a cessation of military activity in the Idlib de-escalation zone (and) stop the suffering of the peaceful population and the growing humanitarian crisis," Putin said.

Erdogan told reporters the truce would come into effect at midnight on Thursday. "We will work together to supply aid for the Syrians in need," he said, adding that Turkey retained the right "to respond to all (Syrian) regime attacks in the field."

Russia and Turkey back opposing sides in Syria's nine-year conflict, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey backing some rebel groups. They have in recent years reached several ceasefire deals in Idlib which have collapsed.

Russian air strikes have propelled an offensive by Assad's forces in Idlib that sparked what the United Nations says may be the worst humanitarian crisis yet in a war that has driven millions from their homes and killed hundreds of thousands.

The Russian military has, however, repeatedly played down any talk of a refugee crisis and accused Turkey of violating international law by pouring enough troops into Idlib to make up a mechanised division.

Turkey, which has the second largest army in the transatlantic NATO alliance, has funnelled troops and equipment into the region in recent weeks to resist the Syrian government advance and prevent a wave of refugees over its southern border.

Russia also raced to reinforce its troops in Syria by sea and air before the Putin-Erdogan talks.

The Kremlin said the two leaders had spoken for three hours on their own before being joined by their officials.

The two leaders also agreed to establish a secure corridor near the M4 highway, which runs east to west through Idlib, and hold joint patrols along the road from March 15.

In a joint statement read out by the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers, the two sides said the corridor would stretch 6 km to the north and 6 km to the south of the M4  effectively advancing Russia's presence further north into Idlib.

They said their defense ministers would agree on the parameters of the corridor within seven days.
LONDONThe International Criminal Court ruled on Thursday that its chief prosecutor could open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan including any that may have been committed by Americans, a step that infuriated the Trump administration.

The ruling by an appeals chamber of the court in The Hague reversed a lower chambers decision that had halted an inquiry into the behaviour of forces from the United States, which does not recognize the courts jurisdiction. Washington revoked the visa of the courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, last year after she had signalled her intentions to pursue the case.

The reversal of the lower chambers decision was widely viewed as a vindication of complaints by rights activists and legal scholars, who said that the lower chamber had buckled to intimidation by the Trump administration and had raised doubts about the courts independence.

The ICC Appeals Chambers decision to green light an investigation of brutal crimes in Afghanistan despite extreme pressure reaffirms the courts essential role for victims when all other doors to justice are closed, said Param-Preet Singh, the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The decision was the first by the ICC that could make U.S. forces defendants in a war-crimes prosecution by the court. The ICC was established more than 15 years ago to seek justice for victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to reporters in Washington, called the ruling a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable, political institution masquerading as a legal body.

He reiterated that the United States was not a party to the treaty that created the ICC, and that we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, unlawful, so-called court.

Having spent years collecting information on the Afghanistan War, Bensouda requested permission to open an investigation into claims of war crimes and crimes against humanity attributed to U.S. military and intelligence personnel, the Taliban and Afghan forces.

The prosecutor has said that the court had enough information to prove that U.S. forces had committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, and later in clandestine CIA facilities in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

The wide-ranging investigation would also look into allegations against the Afghan government forces, which are accused of torturing prisoners; as well as those against the Taliban and anti-government forces.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has documented the killings of more than 17,000 civilians by the Taliban since 2009, including nearly 7,000 targeted killings. Yet, in April, a UN report found that U.S. and Afghan forces had killed more civilians in the first three months of 2019 than the Taliban did.

A pretrial chamber at the court rejected Bensoudas request in April, arguing that a successful prosecution was unlikely because the United States and the Afghan government, which has set up its own investigation unit, were unlikely to co-operate. An investigation, it ruled at the time, would not serve the interests of justice.

Prosecutors appealed the ruling, and appeals judges at the court ruled on Thursday that the pretrial chamber had erred.

The prosecutor is authorized to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, as well as other alleged crimes that have a nexus to the armed conflict in Afghanistan, said Piotr Hofmanski, the presiding judge of the appeals panel.

The ruling came days after the United States signed a deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan after nearly two decades of conflict.

U.S. officials have long sought to pressure the court not to prosecute U.S. citizens, arguing that doing so would threaten American sovereignty and national security interests. In 2018, John Bolton, then the national security adviser, denounced the court as illegitimate.

He said: We wont co-operate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. And we certainly will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. He added, If the court comes after us, we will not sit quietly.

Pompeo vowed last year to revoke visas for anyone involved in an investigation against American citizens.

Human rights organizations called the courts ruling a sign of its willingness to press ahead despite the Trump administrations efforts to squelch the inquiry.

This decision vindicates the rule of law and gives hope to the thousands of victims seeking accountability when domestic courts and authorities have failed them, said Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Human Rights Project.

He added, Countries must fully co-operate with this investigation and not submit to any authoritarian tactics by the Trump administration to sabotage it.

The ACLU represents three detainees who said they were tortured in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2008: Khaled El Masri, Suleiman Salim and Mohamed Ben Soud.

Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said the court had made the right decision. We will advocate for victims regardless of the group affiliation of the perpetrator  whether U.S. actors, Taliban or Afghan forces, Akbar said.

It remained unclear to be seen how prosecutors would further investigate the allegations without the co-operation of the Trump administration or the Afghan government. Afghan officials have objected to the inquiry, arguing that they had set up their own special unit to look into possible war crimes.

Although the United States is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court, U.S. citizens can be subject to its jurisdiction if the court is investigating crimes in countries that have joined. Those countries include Afghanistan, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

Katherine Gallagher, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based legal advocacy group, said the crimes had been documented for the prosecutors to move quickly. In the case of U.S. torture, who bears responsibility has been well-documented, said Gallagher, who attended the overruling announcement at The Hague on Thursday.

Hopefully this will move very quickly, she added.

For some Afghan civilians, the ruling brought hope that a court with international jurisdiction could bring them justice.

Masih Ur-Rahman Mubarez, whose wife, seven children and four other relatives were killed in a U.S. airstrike targeting members of the Taliban in Wardak province in September, said he felt some relief after knocking every single door for justice.

I will never find peace of mind, Mubarez said. But if the ICC punishes Americans who killed my children, I will be happy.

Yet experts said that even if U.S. officials, military or intelligence personnel were to be charged, they were unlikely to be arrested or face a trial, as the ICC has no enforcement mechanism for making arrests.

The U.S. has been very clear that it will not co-operate, Thomas Dannenbaum, an assistant professor of international law at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, wrote in an email. As a non-party to the ICC Statute, it has no legal obligation to do so.

Read more about:
COVID-19: All Eyes on NAB

NAB is still on for now, but after AJA pulled out earlier this week, exhibitors are taking a "watch and wait" approach as concerns about coronavirus increase and conferences across the globe cancel or postpone

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As of today, the NAB Show in Las Vegas is still a go for April 18-22, but as more events across the globe pull the plug, some exhibitors and attendees are beginning to worry that the venerable broadcast and OTT event might be next.

Among the latest international trade shows to cancel or postpone is Prolight + Sound 2020 in Frankfurt, originally set for the end of March and now rescheduled for the end of May. Even that may be risky, given information circulating that the height of the outbreak in Europe could hit in June and July. The television programming conference MIPTV, to be held in Cannes, France March 30-April 2, canceled today. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and others have cancelled major conferences coming up in the next few months, in some cases replacing them with online events. (BuzzFeed is keeping a running list of cancellations.)

Cancellations for Health and Business Reasons

On Tuesday, California-headquartered AJA Video Systems became the first high profile exhibitor to announce non-attendance at NAB citing coronavirus risks. NAB has booked 1,600 exhibitors.

"While AJA made the difficult decision to withdraw from NAB 2020 this month due to Coronavirus risks, we remain fully committed to transitioning all of our planned NAB announcements to web-based video," explains director of product marketing Bryce Button. "It is not a decision we took lightly, and one that we made out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our employees and partners worldwide."

AJA may be the biggest company to pull out of NAB, but they're not the only one.

"We decided to cancel our visits to NAB and other shows in the next months," says Oliver Lietz, CEO of German-based streaming company nanocosmos. "Our idea is to get more engaged into online presentations and meetings. We have both concerns about public health but also see much smaller audiences and visitors joining, which reduces the value of joining the show as exhibitors. Many shows in Europe already have been cancelled. We see a good chance for the organizers to pick up the challenge and move attention to online gatherings."

Ensemble Designs, which makes signal processors and other video equipment, has decided not to attend the event. "We've been thinking about this for some time, and we're very concerned about the [virus's] impact on the show," said David Wood, president and chief design engineer, adding that it was a business decision, not one based on personal health concerns. "Attendance will be so uneven because of prohibitions on travel," he said, adding that Ensemble was planning to send five or six people to NAB.

One major exhibitor that attends both NAB and International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE, scheduled for Las Vegas April 1-3) has pulled out of IWCE. An industry source with knowledge of the companys decision-making said the company will make a decision about NAB by March 15.

Watching and Waiting

Fellow exhibitors are keeping watch, and many companies we spoke to declined to go on the record. Others, like Akamai, are planning to attend NAB even as they are scaling back other events and monitoring the situation closely.

"Akamai's top priority is the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees, customers and partners," the company said in a statement. "Given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 virus situation, we have canceled most events globally that are scheduled for March and April and have communicated that news directly to all confirmed participants.

"We're carefully monitoring what is an extremely fluid situation and will continue to work closely with event organizers, health organizations, and our staff to inform our decision making as it relates our participation in NAB and other third-party events as they approach."

Limelight Networks is still planning to exhibit at NAB, according to a company spokesperson. One publicist who represents more than a dozen exhibitors says all of their clients are still planning to attend, adding that its "business as usual, unless NAB itself does/says something."

Imagine Communications VP of global marketing Jennifer Overbaugh's response is consistent with others we've spoken to.

"As of now, Imagine Communications is moving ahead with all plans for NAB, and we look forward to joining our peers once again for this important event. We are closely monitoring international developments with the health and safety of Imagine's employees being our top priority, and will provide an update should circumstances change."

David Cohen, vice president of marketing communications at Grass Valley says, "We will be hugely disappointed if the show is cancelled but realize that preventing the spread of COVID-19 is critical and that the safety of our staff and our industry is of the utmost importance. We are putting in place a contingency plan for if [the] NAB Show is cancelled to make sure we can still share all our new solutions and developments with our customers."

For companies attending internationally, like Vladivostok-based Softvelum, COVID-19 has created a number of logistical challenges.

"Korean Air has rescheduled their flights from Seoul-Incheon due to the outbreak of the disease in Korea. It's one of the biggest hubs of Asia, so all flights to the U.S. (including Seoul to Las Vegas) are either cancelled or re-scheduled badly until the end of April," says co-founder and CEO Yury Udovichenko. "So instead of flying across Pacific, we now have to plan our trip via west, across Russia, Europe, the Atlantic, and most of the U.S. The same for other participants from the Asia and Pacific region - this will affect them in some unpredictable ways. Still, he says the company still plans to attend the show.

The Show Must Go On...

NAB itself issued a statement on March 3 (updated today), saying the show is proceeding as planned. "We understand there are exhibitors and participants that may decide not to attend this year's show and respect everyone's desire to do what they believe is best. As of today, we are hearing that the overwhelming majority of our exhibitors are looking forward to attending the show and our attendee registrations continue on pace with the normal patterns we see year-over-year."

IBC, the European counterpart to NAB occurring in September, has also issued continuity of business statements with reassuring notices about onsite health precautions.

"IBC remains entirely confident that IBC2020 will take place as planned. There have been no cancellations from any IBC2020 exhibitors or speakers."

However, if the IOC postpones or cancels the Tokyo Olympic Games, which it is coming under increasing time-pressure to do, any event of lesser scale (all of them) will find it hard to persist.

Although the audio-visual industry trade show Integrated Systems Europe went ahead in February, attendance was down by 30,000 from 2019's peak of 81,000. In part this was due to storms disrupting travel that week.

Mobile World Congress organizer GSMA was forced to cancel its massive Barcelona event when the dominos of exhibitors from Ericsson to AWS made it inevitable. Unlike MWC and ISE, NAB has a largely American audience so while the number of visitors travelling from overseas may tumble, it may still have enough domestic support.

...But What if It Doesn't?

Even the viral outbreak has a silver lining. Vendors of remote collaboration tools, virtual meeting systems, and browser-based edit software are reporting a boom in demand as everything from education to conferences and corporate meetings to creative video production itself is forced into remote distributed workflows.

"Having been champions of remote and decentralized workflows for a while, for those needing to adapt their workflow practices in the light of the current COVID-19 outbreak, we have the tools ready to go right now  from acquisition over production to distribution, as well as disaster recovery, all can be handled remotely and / or in the cloud," says Cinegy owner Daniella Weigner. "We are looking forward to showcasing these at NAB. Our sales team is ready to help with any remote demos now. In case the show is canceled or we are advised/not allowed to travel, our pre-and post-NAB webinars will be adapted accordingly and we plan to meet our partners and customers virtually. We hope everyone stays safe."

Nanocosmos' Lietz says he hasn't seen NAB take advantage of online meetings previously, but that they offer the potential for NAB attendees and exhibitors to connect even if they aren't at the show.

Most companies seem to be taking watch-and-wait approach, but are working under the assumption that NAB will happen.

"PlayBox Neo is following the NAB's coronavirus updates and will make a final determination based on input from the WHO, along with our management team, employees and customers," said Pavlin Rahnev, CEO. "It's the biggest U.S. show for our company, and we are eager to support it but can't make a definitive statement as yet on our participation until we're closer to the show and have more information on the overall health crisis at hand."

"Never.no are planning to attend NAB with the safety and wellbeing of our staff, partners and customers firmly in mind," says Scott Davies, CEO. "The team will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice from the organisers and authorities."

SSIMWAVE says, "We're monitoring the situation with the safety of our team members foremost in our minds, of course, but our expectation at the moment is that we will be at NAB 2020 next month."

Not everyone is so sanguine, though.

"I do think NAB should reschedule, but if not, well be there and will reach out to our customers and colleagues virtually as well," Sam Cercone, managing partner at Brightline, which makes energy-efficient lighting systems.

Others are more blunt:

"Holding an international broadcast show at this time is bananas," says Owen Tyler, operations director at UK postproduction facility Evolutions.

Detailed information about COVID-19 can be found on the World Health Organization's website.

[We will update this article or write a follow-up as circumstances warrant. Photo courtesy NAB.]

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Karnataka Chief Minister B S



Yediyurappa on Thursday defended the proposed hike of three per cent in taxes on petrol and diesel, saying it was "necessary."



In the budget tabled, the chief minister has mooted three per cent hike in petrol and diesel from the existing 32 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

Addressing a post-budget press conference, he said, "It's only seven months since we came to power. The previous government's loan waiver scheme and other expenditure are well-known facts. Revenues from the Centre had come down.

To streamline this, there was a necessity to increase the taxes."



Yediyurappa further said he was expecting Rs 1,500 crore revenue by increasing the petrol and diesel prices.

Conceding that the economic slump in the country has affected the state's earnings too, the Chief Minister said he presented a budget "remaining within our limits, where we gave priority to irrigations and all other sectors."



The state government has decided to press the Centre to release its share of funds, in a 15th Finance Commission meeting on March 13, where Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai would submit a memorandum to the union government.

The government is looking at the meeting as an opportunity to explain about the decline in state's revenue and put forth its demand to release its share.

"The inter-state distribution has reduced from 4.7 to 3.6 per cent. That's why, there is a shortage of Rs 11,000 crore in this year's budget estimate. The inter-state distribution has reduced for all the states," Yediyurappa said.

The Law and Parliamentary Affair Minister J C Madhu Swamy who was present, said the state government may borrow Rs 52,918 crore in the event of denial of grants from the Centre.

"There is no reduction in our revenue. Chief Minister has clearly said that we will get Rs 3,000 crore from the new taxes.

We cannot fulfil from our taxes. We will ask them (Centre). Or else, the fiscal deficit will run... we will run the government with borrowings," Swamy said.

"Rs 52,918 crore borrowing is meant only for capital expenditure. It will be spent across the department



Irrigation, minor irrigation and so on," he added.

Another obligation straining the financial position of the state was the proposal to waive off interests and penal interests on medium and long term loans of farmers, which they had borrowed from cooperative banks and PLD banks. It was about Rs 400 crore, Swamy said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nick King is Head of Business Policy at the Centre for Policy Studies. He is a former Chief of Staff to Sajid Javid.

As we approach the first Budget of Boris Johnsons time as Prime Minister, it is being widely reported that he and his new Chancellor are considering changing the current fiscal rules so they can loosen the Government pursestrings.

The argument goes that in order to spend more on day-to-day spending the Government needs to either put up taxes or borrow more. A Government currently riding a wave of popularity is naturally disinclined to do the former. But the latter is difficult within the set of rules created last year  the manifesto was explicit that the Conservatives would not borrow to fund day-to-day spending.

There are plenty of good reasons not to amend the rules, not least the injustice of passing a higher debt burden on to younger generations. But it is also worth questioning the premise that the only two options available, if the Government wants to spend more on frontline public services, are to increase taxes or borrow more.

A paper published last week by the Centre for Policy Studies, Tax Cuts Dont Have to be Taxing, shows that cutting taxes doesnt always have to cost as much as the Treasury might think  and can actually lead to extra revenue being raised.

The phenomenon was most famously  and adeptly  depicted by Art Laffer, a young economist who drew a curve on a napkin to illustrate the revenue-raising potential of different tax rates between 0 and 100 per cent.

Clearly, at either end of the scale no revenue is raised, either because there is no taxation, or because there is no incentive to work. Somewhere in the middle is a revenue-maximising rate  and if rates are too far the other side of that peak point, revenues fall because of the distortions in behaviour the tax rate leads to.

The Laffer Curve, as it has come to be known, shows how cuts in duties can sometimes lead to increased revenues being collected. And this is precisely what has happened in the case of spirits duty, which is looked at in some depth in our paper.

During the final years of Labour Government and the early years of the Coalition, huge annual duty rises became the norm. In the five years to 2013, spirits duty rose by some 6.87 per litre of pure alcohol. Across 2012 and 2013, for example, spirits duty was increased by a total of 2.70 per litre of pure alcohol. But the result was less than 100 million in extra revenue across the following two years.

By contrast, the five years to 2018 saw spirits duty repeatedly frozen  and even cut on one occasion. Overall, spirits duty only rose by 52p per litre of pure alcohol. Yet, in marked contrast to the previous years, this led to bumper returns for the Treasury. Revenues grew by almost a quarter, netting the Government an extra 735 million.

Although full year results for 2019 are not yet available, the 2016 freeze led to the biggest ever increase in Treasury revenues the year after, with a 270 million rise in total revenue raised. And the early signs for 2019 are encouraging: provisional figures for spirits duty receipts show it is the only alcohol category have increased its returns to the Government  providing more than 3 billion to Treasury between February and November.

This enlightened tax policy hasnt just meant more money for public services, however. It has also had knock-on benefits in terms of export growth, industry investment, and customer satisfaction. A stable duty environment has given spirits producers the incentive and the confidence to invest, with more than half a billion pounds deployed over the last five years, and exports increasing by more than 2 billion since 2015.

Indeed, the huge success of the UK whisky and gin industries mean that spirits are one of the few categories of goods in which the UK can boast a trade surplus, with significant exports to the worlds richest countries, including the USA, China, and Japan.

Its not just spirits duty. As the CPS has also shown, you could make a similar argument for a very significant cut to stamp duty, whose knock-on effects would compensate the Treasury for much (or even, depending on the modelling you use, almost all) of its cost, while having a transformative effect on Britains frozen housing market.

In an age of tight spending constraints, it makes sense for Government to focus on those tax cuts where it gets most bang for its buck  where cutting them will, as per Arthur Laffer, generate enough revenue, both directly and indirectly, to compensate for much of the headline cost, or even cover it completely.

But the underlying problem we identify in our paper is that the Treasury  and, in particular, the Office for Budget Responsibility  dont always recognise the potential benefits of tax cuts, because they dont properly factor in behavioural responses and the dynamic effects of those tax cuts. If we want to maximise Britains economic potential post Brexit, that needs to change. The lesson of our paper is that tax cuts dont have to be taxing  as long as you pick the right ones.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Thursday a measure that would standardize and streamline the 50 labor boards that handle disputes between unions and government employers in New Mexico  despite concerns that the law will keep more employment information secret.

Approval of the legislation came over the objection of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government  which argued that a provision in the law will, even if not intended, make much employment information secret.

Lujan Grishams office and supporters of the bill dispute that interpretation. They say the law makes no changes to whats already publicly available, such as employee names, job titles and salaries.

The disagreement centers on the meaning of language in the bill covering the exchange of information between public employers and union officials. That information includes an employees name, job title and salary level.

The same section of the bill prohibits public employers from disclosing the information to a third party, notwithstanding any provision contained in the Inspection of Public Records Act.

Websters New World College Dictionary defines the word notwithstanding as meaning in spite of, leading to the dispute over whether the new labor law will trump the public records act.

The governor, in any case, said Thursday that the legislation will ensure that police officers, firefighters, teachers and other public employees have uniform rules for negotiating wages and working conditions.

This legislation will assure accountability at the local level by requiring local labor boards to adopt standardized rules or default their duties to the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a written statement.

The bill calls for the dozens of labor boards throughout the state to show theyre supported by both employees and employers and to adopt standardized rules  or be eliminated and have their duties transferred to the state labor board.

The measure emerged as one of the most controversial bills in the final days of the 2020 legislative session.

It was tabled by a Senate committee at one point, blocking it from advancement. But after other procedural clashes, a version of the bill was later revived in the House, where a blank bill was amended with language from the Senate proposal, allowing it to move forward in the House.

Ultimately, the legislation, House Bill 364, passed the House 43-25 and the Senate 24-17 to reach the governors desk.

Democrats hold majorities in each chamber.

Both the content of the bill itself  and the procedures used to pass it  faced intense criticism in the final days of the session.

After being drafted and passed under cover of night, the light has shone on HB 364 and revealed a dangerous mistake, House Minority Leader James Townsend, R-Artesia, said in a written statement this week, urging a veto of the bill.

Melanie Majors, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, a nonpartisan group, said her organization remains concerned about the legislation, even after hearing from supporters that they didnt intend to limit public information.

Only time will tell, the foundation said, how courts will interpret the bill.

FOG urges the governor and the legislature to work with FOG to clean up the troublesome language during the next legislative session, the foundation said in a written statement. Even more importantly, we implore the legislature to reexamine the arcane processes and practices  many of which take place behind closed doors, or at the eleventh hour of the session  that enabled this drafting error to be enacted into law.

Furthermore, the group said, it assumes that the governor will instruct the executive branch that it is not to withhold any public records based on this statute.

Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki, a former newspaper reporter, said the legislation wont infringe on the publics right to know. The administration strives to be transparent, he said, and values the concerns raised about public disclosure.

But what was publicly accessible is very much still publicly accessible, Stelnicki said in a written statement.

Attorney General Hector Balderas office urged public agencies to continue to comply with the Inspection of Public Records Act.

Public bodies should be fully transparent and provide any information required by IPRA, and the Legislature should clarify and strengthen IPRAs disclosure requirements, said Matt Baca, a spokesman and senior counsel for the attorney general.

The New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, thanked the governor and legislators for approval of the bill.

We appreciate your courage to respect and empower the working women and men of our state, the federation said in a written statement.
TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With at least another month left of cold and gloomy weather, Sunwing is helping Canadians escape to the tropics with their 5-Star Deals, 3-Star Prices, Zero Worry sale. From now until March 13, 2020, Canadians in need of some much-deserved rest and relaxation can book with confidence and save up to $1,500 per couple on their dream luxury getaway to top-rated resorts in the most popular tropical destinations.



Along with these exclusive deals, customers can purchase Sunwings Worry Free Cancellation Waiver , starting at just $49 per person. With this waiver, travellers can cancel for any reason up to three hours prior to departure; so they can book their dream getaway with zero worry. The tour operator also introduced a new flexible booking policy to help Canadians book their travel with peace of mind. Flexible options have been implemented for new bookings made between now and March 19th, 2020*.

Vacationers can book their dream adults only getaway for less at the luxurious CHIC Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. This All-Exclusive resort is perfect for social vacations and offers a unique mermaid pool, an outdoor DJ booth and themed pool and beach parties.

Another ideal choice for relaxing beach vacations included in the sale is the adults only Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero in Cuba . Nestled on the sparkling white-sand shores of famous Varadero Beach, this resort-within-a-resort features exclusive adults only facilities and full access to the neighbouring Grand Memories Varadero .

Families can score an amazing deal on top-rated family resort Riu Cancun and feel all their worries melt away as they soak up the sun on Cancun s white-sand shores. This lively resort is located within walking distance of the areas vibrant nightlife with a sprawling pool complex and accommodations that can sleep five or more. Plus, families can take their budget even further with RIU-topia inclusions like unlimited reservation-free dining, spa credits and free Wi-Fi.

For more information or to book, visit www.sunwing.ca or contact your travel agent.

* For new bookings made between March 4th and March 19th, 2020 Sunwing will waive any administration fees associated with the first change. This applies to all new bookings with a departure date from now up to and including June 24th, 2020. Any change must be requested at least 14 days prior to travel or normal conditions will apply. Regular conditions will apply should the change made result in a lower or higher price. Cancellation fees still apply. These flexible booking arrangements apply to all Sunwing bookings including flight and hotel only reservations together with both cruise and vacation packages.

About Sunwing

The largest integrated travel company in North America, Sunwing has more flights to the south than any other leisure carrier with convenient direct service from over 33 airports across Canada to more than 45 popular sun destinations across the U.S.A., Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. This scale enables Sunwing to offer customers exclusive deals at top-rated resorts in the most popular vacation destinations as well as cruise packages and seasonal domestic flight service. Sunwing is consistently voted the top leisure airline by travel agents and is the perennial winner of the Consumer Choice Award. Customers can look forward to starting their vacation off with award-winning inflight service, which features a complimentary glass of sparkling wine**, non-alcoholic beverage service; together with a buy on board menu of light meals and snacks, including kids choices, the World Famous Original Smoked Meat from the iconic Montreal-based Schwartzs Deli along with delicious menu options inspired by Food Network Canada Celebrity Chef, Lynn Crawford. Sunwing customers also benefit from the assistance of the companys own knowledgeable destination representatives, who greet them upon arrival and support them throughout their vacation journey. Sunwing supports the communities where it operates through the Sunwing Foundation, a charitable initiative focused on the support and development of youth and humanitarian aid. Sunwing matches all donations the Foundation receives through its Spare Change Program on board Sunwing Airlines, no administrative fees are collected and 100% of the proceeds go to charity.

**Service may be unavailable on select flights

For all media enquiries, please contact:

Rachel Goldrick

Senior Corporate Communications Manager

Sunwing Vacations

1-800-387-5602 | media@sunwing.ca

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1bf66265-9b50-4f53-aff7-200184ff1c20
Police here on Thursday arrested BJP Youth Wing state President K.P Prakash Babu and workers who were taking out a protest march against the death of a student of Malabar Christian College in Kozhikode.

Yuvamorcha workers have accused college authorities fro the death of the Sikh student. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd and protestors were taken away from the protesting spot.

Jaspreet Singh, a native of Uttar Pradesh, had allegedly committed suicide last Sunday as he was not able to attend exams because of low attendance.

Singh was a BA economics final year student in the college. His family said that he couldn't attend one-month classes because they were in Uttar Pradesh and couldn't return to Kozhikode due to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

Yuvamorcha alleged that the principal was giving attendance generously to students affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s student wing while students like Jaspreet were neglected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MARCH 3, 2020 PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS Unofficial Until Canvassed - Results Of Hill County Voting Only REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

COUNTY RACES



Hill County Sheriff

Rodney B. Watson - 3,070 59.83%

Armando Castro - 282 5.5%

Coy E. West Jr. - 941 18.34%

David Niederhaus - 838 16.33%

---------- Precinct 1 Commissioner

Andrew Montgomery - 1,108 59.79%

Ted O'Neil Jr. - 745 40.21%

---------- Precinct 1 Constable

John C. Miller - 1,344 73.85%

Scott Starosta - 476 26.15%

----------

County Attorney

R. David Holmes - 4,352 ----------

District Clerk, Unexpired Term

Marchel M. Eubank - 4,391 ----------

Tax Assessor-Collector

Krystal A (Krissi) Hightower - 4,468

----------

Precinct 2 Constable

Justin Girsh - 947

----------

Precinct 3 Commissioner

Scotty Hawkins - 834

----------

Precinct 3 Constable

Larry D. Armstrong - 825

----------

Precinct 4 Constable

Kevin Cordell - 1,008

----------

Hill County Party Chair

Will Orr - 4,250



FEDERAL RACES



President

Joe Walsh - 50

Zoltan G. Istvan - 4

Donald J. Trump - 5,031 95.54%

Bill Weld - 28

Bob Ely - 5

Matthew John Matern - 7

Roque "Rocky"

De La Fuente Guerra - 14 Uncommitted - 127

----------

U.S. Senator

John Anthony Castro - 295

Mark Yancey - 264

Virgil Bierschwale - 39

Dwayne Stovall - 586

John Cornyn - 3,754 76.02%

----------

U.S. Representative, District 25

Roger Williams - 4,165 87.04%

Keith Neuendorff - 620





STATE RACES

Railroad Commissioner

Ryan Sitton - 1,983 42.76%

James "Jim" Wright - 2,655 57.24%

----------

Chief Justice, Supreme Court

Nathan Hecht - 4,371

----------

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6, Unexpired Term

Jane Bland - 4,203

----------

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 7

Jeff Boyd - 4,254

----------

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 8

Brett Busby - 4,202 ----------

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3

Gina Parker - 2,154

Bert Richardson - 2,206

----------

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4

Kevin Patrick Yeary - 4,191

----------

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9

David Newell - 4,198

----------

Member, State Board of Education District 14

Maria Y. Berry - 1,686

Sue Melton-Malone - 2,622

----------

State Senator District 22

Brian Birdwell - 4,377

----------

State Representative District 8

Cody Harris - 4,523

----------

Justice, 10th Court of Appeals District, Place 2

Matt Johnson - 4,221

----------

Justice, 10th Court of Appeals District, Place 3, Unexpired Term

John E. Neill - 4,181

----------

District Attorney, 66th Judicial District

Mark Pratt - 4,410

REPUBLICAN BALLOT PROPOSITIONS

Prop. 1: Texas should not restrict or prohibit prayer in public schools. For - 4,533 Against - 671 Prop. 2: Texas should reject restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. For - 4,439 Against - 751

Prop. 3: Texas should ban the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, which allows your tax dollars to be spent on lobbyists who work against the taxpayer. For - 4,853 Against - 290

Prop. 4: Texas should support the construction of a physical barrier and use existing defense-grade surveillance equipment along the entire southern border of Texas. For - 4,905 Against - 243

Prop. 5: Texas parents or legal guardians of public school children under the age of 18 should be the sole decision makers for all their children's healthcare decisions including, but not limited to, psychological assessment and treatment, contraception and sex education. For - 4,663 Against - 461

Prop. 6: Texas should ban chemical castration, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital mutilation surgery on all minor children for transition purposes, given that Texas children as young as three (3) are being transitioned from their biological sex to the opposite sex.

For - 4,817 Against - 326

Prop. 7: Texans should protect and preserve all historical monuments, artifacts and buildings, such as the Alamo Cenotaph and our beloved Alamo, and should oppose any reimagining of the Alamo site. For - 5,098 Against - 64 Prop. 8: Texas election officials should heed the directives of the Office of the Governor to purge illegal voters from the voter rolls and verify that each new registered voter is a U.S. citizen.

For - 5,051 Against - 79

Prop. 9: Bail in Texas should be based only on a person's danger to society and risk of flight, not that person's ability to pay.

For - 4,927 Against - 210

Prop. 10: Texas should limit our state legislators' terms to 12 years.

For - 4,830 Against -318

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY



FEDERAL RACES



President

Bernie Sanders - 284

John K. Delaney - 3

Michael R. Bloomberg - 248

Cory Booker - 0

Deval Patrick - 0

Tom Steyer - 10

Elizabeth Warren - 88

Amy Klobuchar - 22

Julian Castro - 2

Marianne Williamson - 0

Andrew Yang - 2

Robby Wells - 0

Roque "Rocky"

De La Fuente - 0

Pete Buttigieg - 53

Michael Bennet - 3

Joseph R. Biden - 556

Tulsi Gabbard - 2

----------

U.S. Senator

Royce West - 258

D.R. Hunter - 23

Michael Cooper - 62

Adrian Ocegueda - 26

Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez - 80

Sema Hernandez - 47

Jack Daniel Foster Jr. - 13

Mary (MJ) Hegar - 444

Amanda K. Edwards - 70

Victor Hugo Harris - 11

Chris Bell - 49

Annie "Mama" Garcia - 76

----------

U.S. Representative, District 25

Julie Oliver - 778

Heidi Sloan - 290

----------

STATE RACES

Railroad Commissioner

Mark Watson - 333

Kelly Stone - 281

Roberto R. "Beto" Alonzo - 203

Chrysta Casteneda - 255

----------

Chief Justice, Supreme Court

Jerry Zimmerer - 256

Amy Clark Meachum - 815

----------

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6, Unexpired Term

Kathy Cheng - 792

Larry Praeger - 281

----------

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 7

Staci Williams - 758

Brandy Voss - 293

----------

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 8

Peter Kelly - 450

Gisela D. Triana - 583

----------

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3

Elizabeth Davis Frizell - 751

William Pieratt Demond - 90

Dan Wood - 201

----------

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4

Tina Clinton - 811

Steven Miears - 233

----------

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9

Brandon Birmingham - 930

----------

Member, State Board of Education, District 14

Greg Alvord - 927



COUNTY RACES



Hill County Party Chair

Thomas Hanson - 994

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT PROPOSITIONS

Prop. 1: Should everyone in Texas have a right to quality healthcare, protected by a universally accessible Medicare-style system that saves rural hospitals, reduces the cost of prescription drugs and guarantees access to reproductive healthcare? For - 1,106 Against - 82

Prop. 2: Should everyone in Texas have the right to high-quality public education from pre-k through 12th grade, and affordable college and career training without the burden of crushing student loan debt?

For - 1,093 Against - 86

Prop. 2: Should everyone in Texas have the right to high-quality public education from pre-k through 12th grade, and affordable college and career training without the burden of crushing student loan debt? Prop. 3: Should everyone in Texas have the right to clean air, safe water, affordable and sustainable alternative energy sources, and a responsible climate policy that recognizes and addresses the climate crisis as a real and serious threat that impacts every aspect of life on this planet?

For - 1,167 Against - 34

Prop. 4: Should everyone in Texas have the right to economic security, where all workers have earned paid family and sick leave, training to prepare for future economies, and a living wage that respects their hard work? For - 1,123 Against - 72

Prop. 5: Should everyone in Texas have the right to a life of dignity and respect, free from discrimination and harassment anywhere, including businesses and public facilities, no matter how they identify, the color of their skin, whom they love, socioeconomic status, disability status, housing status, or from where they come? For - 1,144 Against - 46

Prop. 6: Should everyone in Texas have the right to live a life free from violence - gun violence, racial hatred, terrorism, domestic violence, bullying, harassment or sexual assault - so Texans can grow in a safe environment? For - 1,144 Against - 43



For - 1,092 Against - 85

Prop. 8: Should every eligible Texan have the right to vote, made easier by automatic voter registration, the option to vote by mail, guaranteed early and mobile voting station, and a state election holiday - free from corporate campaign influence, foreign and domestic interference, and gerrymandering?

For - 1,127 Against - 71

Prop. 9: Should everyone in Texas have the right to a fair criminal justice system that treats people equally, uses proven methods for de-escalating situations instead of excessive force, and puts an end to the mass and disproportionate incarceration of people of color for minor offenses?

For - 1,141 Against - 47

Prop. 10: Should there be a just and fair comprehensive immigration reform solution that includes an earned path to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants and their children, keeps families together, protects DREAMers, and provides workforce solutions for businesses? For - 1,121 Against - 67

Prop. 11: Should Texas establish equitable taxation for people at all income levels and for businesses and corporations, large and small, so our state government can fund our educational, social, infrastructure, business, and all government services to improve programs necessary for all Texans to thrive?

For - 1,039 Against - 126










PetroChina, the largest importer of natural gas, has declared a force majeure on all imports, including of liquefied natural gas, unnamed sources told Reuters, without providing any details except that the move was prompted by the coronavirus outbreak.

The supply cuts will fall on suppliers proportionately but LNG suppliers will have a lesser impact versus those on piped gas, one of the sources said.

China imports 40 percent of the natural gas it consumes, with 70 percent coming via pipelines from Russia, Kazakhstan, other Central Asian states, and Myanmar. The rest comes in the form of LNG from other parts of the world.

As forb pipeline gas, one of the Reuters sources said that PetroChina has asked for cuts in daily volumes. As for LNG, according to one source, the state company had asked for a deferral of several cargoes to the third quarter.

The move comes after another state energy company, CNOOC, suspended its contracts with at least three LNG suppliers, Reuters recalls. CNOOC is Chinas largest importer of liquefied gas.

The news suggests that natural gas storage space in China is full while demand remains subdued and likely to stay that way for an as of yet undetermined period of time. Reports about the economic activity in the worlds largest manufacturing and exporting nation have been bleak, with expectations now about not just a slowdown in growth but an actual GDP contraction for the first quarter.

PetroChina has done its best over the past month mitigating the virus impact and tried not to issue such a notice, including diverting cargoes to India and Singapore, one of the Reuters sources said. But unlike CNOOC (which sent the notice earlier) which may see demand slowing recovering, PetroChina is grappling with a sharp seasonal demand fall from mid-March (for piped gas) when the heating season ends.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Supreme Court has refused a bid by the ruler of Dubai to block the publication of two judgments relating to his legal battle with his estranged wife.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 70, has applied to the High Court in London for the summary return to Dubai of his two children with Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, the half-sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Princess Haya has applied for the children to be made wards of court, and has also applied for a forced marriage protection order in relation to one of the children and a non-molestation order.

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein with her lawyer, Baroness Fiona Shackleton (Aaron Chown/PA)

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, is now taking his bid to challenge the decision by Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Division, to publish two of his judgments to the UKs highest court.

The Court of Appeal said last week that Sir Andrews two rulings relate to certain disputed factual issues and issues arising out of the special position of (Sheikh Mohammed) as the sovereign and head of government of a foreign state.

At a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Friday, Lord Justice Underhill said it was the unanimous decision of the court to dismiss Sheikh Mohammeds appeal.

The judge added that the Court of Appeal had refused Sheikh Mohammeds application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, but that he had until 4pm on Tuesday to apply directly to that court.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court confirmed that Sheikh Mohammed had lodged an application for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeals ruling.

However, the Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it would not hear the case.

The spokeswoman said in a statement: Permission to appeal was refused because the application does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance.

Sheikh Mohammeds application was considered by three Supreme Court justices  Lord Hodge, Lord Wilson and Lady Black.

Story continues

At a hearing last Wednesday, Lord Justice Underhill said Sheikh Mohammeds legal team argued that Sir Andrews decision to publish the judgments was wrong in law and that the judgments should not be published, if at all, in advance of the welfare hearing later in March.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, centre (Tim Goode/PA)

The judge added that Sheikh Mohammeds appeal  which raises questions both about what is in the best interests of the children and about how to balance that, if necessary, against the right of the press to report matters of public interest  was opposed by Princess Haya, the independent guardian appointed by the court to represent the childrens interests, and by a number of media organisations.

Princess Haya, who became Sheikh Mohammeds sixth wife in 2004, reportedly fled Dubai last year.
A mother of three who lost the full strength of her voice after an operation on her vocal cords has settled her High Court action.

Abigail Barnett Hunt broke down in tears this week as she told the High Court how she cant shout out if there is a danger to her children and her voice cuts out when she attempts to read a bedtime story.

The 40-year-old now has a low hoarse voice and she said people comment on it all the time.

"People say were you out last night. Theres no escape, people comment all the time. I dont sound like me. My life has changed in ways I never dreamed of," she told the High Court

Abigail Barnett Hunt, Ballykeeran Big, Athlone, Westmeath, but now living in Dublin had sued head and neck surgeon, Peter Gormley and the Bon Secours Hospital, Galway as a result of an operation carried out by Mr Gormley at the hospital on May 9, 2016 to remove polyps on her vocal cords.

It was claimed that Ms Barnett Hunt suffered injury to her vocal cords and loss of tissue leading to substantial impairment of her voice.

It was further claimed that scarring has caused loss of tissue and loss of vocal cord pliability and she is left with a breathy and hoarse voice.

The court heard a breach of duty has been admitted in relation to the operation.

'Every mans dream - the quiet wife'

On the second day of the case today Counsel for Ms Barnett Hunt, Denis McCullough SC told Mr Justice Kevin Cross the case had been settled and could be struck out. The judge said he was glad to hear it.

In evidence the primary school teacher said she was heartbroken when she was not able to return to teaching since the operation four years ago and had to take early retirement two years ago.

"That was my passion, teaching. I loved teaching, particularly the infant classes. I have been teaching since I was 22 years old. It wasnt a job to me; it was an absolute privilege," she said.

And she told Mr Justice Kevin Cross how as she signed the consent form before her vocal cord surgery four years ago, the surgeon "turned to my husband and said: Every mans dream - the quiet wife'."

Vocal cords 'unable to meet in middle'

Her counsel Denis McCullough SC told the court the lesions on Ms Barnett Hunts were found to be benign. Counsel said her vocal cords are unable to meet in the middle to give a natural resonance a voice requires, and Ms Barnett Hunt is unable to get her vocal cords together to get adequate sound.

In evidence Ms Barnett Hunt said she had to rest her voice for seven days after the operation. On the seventh day, she said she was shocked when very little sound came out. I had practically nothing. I got such a fright, she said. Her 12-year-old son she told the court has to read to the younger children and her youngest, a five-year-old daughter asks her who is going to fix her voice.

"My children are voicing for me all the time. It has had a massive impact. My children speak if somebody comes to the door or when the phone rings. I cant project over sound . People cant hear me on the phone," she added.

Asked about future surgeries on her vocal cords, Ms Barnett Hunt said she will do "whatever it takes" to get her voice repaired.
Corey Feldman's upcoming film My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys is set to debut on his website Monday, March 9.

And days before its release, the former child star revealed on Twitter that he is threatened and harassed again after receiving an anonymous Wolf Pack calendar featuring three wolves on the cover.

Corey, 48, called the police and said in his tweets shared Wednesday that he plans on filing a report on the incident, although TMZ was not able to confirm if one was filed as of yet.

Wow: Corey Feldman revealed on Twitter that he is threatened and harassed again after receiving an anonymous Wolf Pack calendar featuring three wolves on the cover

The actor tweeted out along with the calendar on his stoop, in all capital letters: 'This is not a joke!! We were out 4 the evening (Thank God) & this was left on my doorstep! We r currently calling the police!'

He continued: 'I wanted 2 blast this out now so ppl understand this is a live happening in realtime! Police r on the way! Please pray 4 r family! This is not OK!'

His next tweet was of what appears to be a cop with a clipboard.

Corey wrote along with the image: 'This is proof the police took the report! More 2 follow, goin 2 bed now, 4 more days til the film streams!'

What he saw: Corey, 48, called the police and said he plans on filing a report on the incident, although TMZ was not able to confirm one exists as of yet

Adding: 'Please support this 24 hr security on top of all the debt of getting it released wont b possible w/o your support! I need u 2 stand w me tx @ mytruthdoc.com.'

One year prior, Corey claimed he was stabbed in the stomach by the Wolf Pack.

At the time, the actor told TMZ that he was receiving online threats from the group, adding: 'I have reason to believe it's all connected! Enough is enough!'

Update: His next tweet was of what appears to be a cop with a clipboard

Corey claimed that a stranger stabbed him in the abdomen and then ran off during a stop at the traffic light in San Fernando Valley.

He was with his security guard during the incident, which involved three men approaching his car, according to TMZ.

Corey had said that while his security guard was distracted by the three individuals, another car came up and someone jumped out and stabbed him before escaping.

After he was rushed to the hospital, the LAPD was informed and began investigating the allegations.

The outlet later updated the story to reveal that the actor told police that he believed he was being followed and that he was stabbed with a syringe or sharp object similar to that, the outlet said.

Although Corey had claimed he was stabbed, cops did not find any evidence suggesting that as there was no cut or any sort of lacerations of his abdomen.

Candid: At the time, the actor told TMZ that he was receiving online threats from the group, adding: 'I have reason to believe it's all connected! Enough is enough!;' pictured October 30, 2013

Last month, Corey sat down with Dr. Oz to discus his new movie, My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys, which is about Hollywood pedophiles he claims raped him and the late Corey Haim when they were children.

He told Dr. Oz that he is living in fear about 'exposing' them with the film, which has been beset with legal and funding issues.

It will only be shown once on his website on March 9 because no major distributor picked it up and it was reportedly turned down by Netflix because of possible legal ramifications.

During his visit, he claimed that other victims of Hollywood pedophiles urged him to make the movie, despite fearing for his life.

Corey said: 'Let me break it down for you a little bit and explain to you that there's elements of this that, the reason why this has been so difficult which is, there's a multitude of reasons. But one of the main things is a lot of the people who were pushing me and saying, you got to do this, were victims that knew about what was going on.'

Honesty: It will only be shown once on his website on March 9 because no major distributor picked it up and it was reportedly turned down by Netflix because of possible legal ramifications; pictured December 17, 2016 at the Why Him? film premiere in Los Angeles

Adding: 'So, at the last minute, these people would back out and they would say, "Oh, well, we got death threats. Oh, well, my family is afraid. We've got a family to think about. My family's got to come first."'

He continued: 'And I'm going, what about my family? Does my family not matter?'

'Why am I being asked to sacrifice everything when nobody else is willing to take those same sacrifices? But you know what? That wasn't enough to stop me,' Corey explained to Dr. Oz.

The Goonies actor said: 'So I kept going, and then another thing would happen. Then I get stabbed. Then I get almost run over. It's just one thing after another that have happened over the last three years.'

'They do it through intimidation. And then they all go around and spread this rumor that youre this awful person,' the actor said.

The Lost Boys actor is premiering the film online on his website on Monday, March 9, the night before the 10th anniversary of his fried Corey Haim's death.

Corey Haim, who died in 2010 at the age of 38 following battles with drugs and alcohol, starred in several movies with Corey Feldman.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre and the AAP government on a PIL seeking direction to issue a notification empowering officers to compound traffic violations offences on the spot.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Delhi government, the police commissioner and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on the petition and listed the matter for further hearing on April 17.

The petition stated that since the September 2019 amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act, the public was facing difficulty in compounding the challans issued to them for traffic violations as penalties cannot pay be paid on the spot and they have to approach the court or pay online through the virtual court (traffic) website.

Petitioner advocate and social activist Amit Sahni said due to this, the courts have been over-burdened and even the public at large was suffering as they are unable to compound petty violations on the spot and have to revisit the circles offices to collect impounded documents even after disposal of challans in the virtual court (traffic).

During the hearing, the bench asked the Delhi government to notify the officers for compounding traffic violation offences on the spot.

To this, Delhi government standing counsel Ramesh Singh said the government was planning to issue a notification soon.

Compounding offences are those for which a violator is allowed to pay a fine on the spot and does not need to visit a court. A violator can pay the fine to the designated officials after the states notify them.

The plea said with the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019, the penalties for traffic violations have been raised multi-fold and the Delhi government's Transport Department has not yet notified the authorised officers and the compounding fee.

It also raised the issue that the virtual court (Traffic) portal www.vcourts.gov.in is not accepting payment of traffic challans above Rs 2,000 through debit cards and it has to be done through credit cards or online banking.

"The auto drivers or other poor strata of people, who are not having any credit card or online banking account are not able to make payment of challan on virtual court (traffic). The problem is due to the issue of merchant discount rates. The MDR charges are need to borne by the vendor/ respondent no.1(Delhi government) in this case.

"But no clarity is provided by the Delhi government for bearing the MDR charges for payments above Rs 2,000. Urgent direction are required in this regard," it said, adding that the charges are being deducted from the violators' credit cards.

The plea also said the Delhi Traffic Police and the State Transport Authority (STA), at the time of issuing a challan, are impounding documents like driving licence, registration certificate, fitness and permit.

Even if the challan is paid online on the website, a violator has to visit the traffic circle for collection of documents which is causing inconvenience, it said.

The plea added that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued directions for digital locking of documents in VAHAN (RC Database), SARATHI (DL Database) instead of physical seizure by police but the same is not complied with.

The petitioner said he had already made a representation to the authorities in this regard but not action has been taken.

The amended Act provides for a penalty of Rs 10,000 fine for not giving way to emergency vehicles and penalties for over-speeding range from Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000.

Penalty for dangerous driving has been increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 1,000, while drunken driving under the new law attracts a fine of Rs 10,000.

Driving without insurance is punishable with a Rs 2,000 fine, while driving without helmets will attract Rs 1,000 penalty. The fine for not having a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate may go up to Rs 10,000.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Im thirsty for God, but unbelief haunts me.

Author Jeff Harkin seeks to free believers from legalism in Gracia y nada: libertad de la aceptacion basada en obras [Grace and Nothing: Freedom from Works-Based Acceptance] ($19.99, paperback, 9781498478786; $9.99, e-book, 9781498478793).

A combination of personal testimonies and Bible teaching, Harkins book is appropriate for small groups as well as personal study. While those trapped by legalism struggle to live a righteous life, Gods grace equips and empowers those who walk in His grace.

Im thirsty for God, but unbelief haunts me. Jeff Harkins book Gracia y nada, has helped me to understand that God doesnt have pre-requisites. The cross covers all human conditions  even a lack of faith, said Dr. Kenneth E. Gilbert in his recommendation of the book.

Jeff Harkin has served as a pastor and is currently the head of a network of growing churches.

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. Gracia y nada is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
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Protein for all is the driving idea behind 2015 poultry science graduate Sarah Wilbourns desire for success. For Wilbourn, poultry science is more than working with chickens, it is the cultivation of innovative solutions for the agricultural industry.

Wilbourn praises the Department of Poultry Science for teaching students all aspects of the industry, from the sciences to agribusiness aspects to best farming practices. She also minored in hunger studies and ties in knowledge she developed in courses like human geography, agriculture policy and trade and community development.

There is biology, biochemistry and organic chemistry, Wilbourn said. I wasnt just learning about the hard sciences of the bird, poultry physiology, nutrition, processing and health; I was also learning about social sciencewhy is chicken such a cheap protein? Economics, all sorts of things. You learn how this process works.

Wilbourn is now the mid-south regional sales manager for Wayne Farms, an integrated poultry producer and processing operation headquartered near Atlanta. She is based out of the companys Decatur, Alabama, facility near her hometown of Danville.

My husband is also from Danville, and we both feel blessed to be back home, Wilbourn said. My boss was kind enough to allow me to move back home and still continue my work that I started with the company at the corporate office. We both feel a real sense of responsibility to be stewards for our families and community.

She has applied that strong ethic to her job with Wayne Farms, working with brokers, distributors and customers from New Orleans to Pittsburgh to meet their foodservice needs with the companys prepared food products.

Ive had great mentors and customers who have taught me so much, and I genuinely enjoy working with our team and our customers, she said. The poultry industry has a massive impact in feeding the world and on the global economy.

Wilbourn takes her chosen career to heart and sees her role as one of providing consumers with an abundant and nutritious food supply, utilizing her background in hunger studies at Auburn.

It is one thing to process, intellectually, what animal productivity means, she said, but is an entirely separate thing to understand that it impacts people in a very real way.

The best way to feed people is to have high productivity, and we must take care of our animals. Animal welfare and productivity go hand in hand. Chickens must be fed with properly mixed feed and monitored closely, be transported safely and processed efficiently.

Wilbourn came to Auburn on a poultry science scholarship funded by alumni, but her entry into the major might seem odd since no one in her family had worked in the industry.

I had neighbors and friends in the poultry industry, and I wanted a career in agriculture because I observed early on in life that it mattered, she said. Poultry science was a great fit for me because of my experience and the major influences on my life in high school.

During her time at Auburn, Wilbourn was part of the Student Government Association representing the College of Agriculture as vice president. She was also part of the Poultry Science Club and helped host alumni events, such as the Deans Club Tailgate and the Agriculture Hall of Honor banquets.

My time at Auburn was so much more than an academic endeavor, she said. I will take with me forever the contacts I developed by engaging in university and College of Agriculture events; the soft skills I developed while leading in organizations; and the tenacity I developed by giving all of it my best.

After graduation, Wilbourn took a position at United Egg Producers as director of animal welfare, followed by a stint as a strategic alliance manager at American Humane. Wilbourn worked with poultry producers and industry stakeholders to develop and implement animal welfare strategy and administer animal welfare programs.

She joined Wayne Farms in 2017 in foodservice distribution sales and advanced to regional sales manager in 2019.

Students need to realize that in a flash you will be sitting in front of a customer or coworker or congressman, she said. You will realize that pushing yourself in these short few years was worth it. Finish well. Dont coast to the finish line, sprint. Youll be so thankful you made the absolute most of your time at Auburn.
HOUSTON, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- C-Bond Systems, Inc. (the Company or C-Bond) (OTC: CBNT), a nanotechnology company that improves and strengthens glass, has engaged international investor relations specialists MZ Group (MZ) to expand its comprehensive strategic investor relations and financial communications program across all key markets.



MZ Group will work closely with C-Bond management and investor relations to develop and implement a comprehensive capital markets strategy designed to increase the Companys visibility throughout the investment community. The comprehensive investor relations campaign will highlight the Companys $33.7M intellectual property valuation and the continued growth of the Companys IP portfolio and commercialization efforts related thereto.

MZ has developed a distinguished reputation as a premier resource for institutional investors, brokers, analysts and private investors. The firm maintains offices worldwide, including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, Aliso Viejo, Austin, Taipei and Sao Paulo. Additionally, MZ Group was recently ranked the No. 1 consultancy in Latin America and No. 7 in the world in business communication.

Luke Zimmerman, Vice President of MZ North America, will advise C-Bond in all facets of corporate and financial communications, including the coordination of roadshows and investment conferences across key cities and building brand awareness with all financial and social media outlets.

Ted Haberfield, President of MZ Group North America, commented: We are pleased to announce our engagement with C-Bond, a nanotechnology thought-leader with innovative technology, a growing revenue base and an incredible opportunity to build a sustainable, profitable enterprise in conjunction with its tier-1 customer base. Their unique ability to transform the performance and durability of glass materials allows their customers to lower glass replacement costs while enabling new levels of safety that were previously not possible. We look forward to working with management to communicate the Companys value propositionand what I view as a clear valuation disconnectto the investment community.

This is a revolutionary time for C-Bond, having achieved record revenues for our C-Bond glass solutions in 2019, said Scott R. Silverman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of the Company. Our C-Bond NanoShield  has been independently tested and validated in commercialization efforts with leading rental car companies, fleet companies, F&I (finance and insurance) companies, and OEM windshield manufacturers, where its proven to be a simple, cost-effective solution to increase the performance and durability of glass. I look forward to executing our growth strategy, bolstered by our strong initial reception in the marketplace. Together with MZ, we will enhance our investor communications and awareness efforts, while simultaneously working to create sustainable value for our shareholders over the long-term, concluded Silverman.

For more information on C-Bond, please visit the Companys investor relations website here . To schedule a conference call with management, please email your request to CBNT@mzgroup.us or call Luke Zimmerman at 949-259-4987.

About MZ Group

MZ North America is the US division of MZ Group, a global leader in investor relations and corporate communications. MZ North America was founded in 1996 and provides full scale Investor Relations to both private and public companies across all industries. Supported by our exclusive onestopshop approach, MZ works with top management to support the clients' business strategy in six integrated product and service categories: 1) IR Consulting & Outreach  full service investor relations and roadshow services; 2) IPO Advisory - preparation services for the Pre-IPO journey; 3) ESG Consulting - providing audit and roadmap guidelines to improve corporate ESG messaging and rankings; 4) Financial & Social Media  lead generation and social media relations; 5) Market Intelligence  real time ownership monitoring; 6) Technology Solutions  webhosting, webcasting, distribution services, conference calls, CRM, and board portals. MZ North America has a global footprint with offices located in New York, Chicago, San Diego, Aliso Viejo, Austin, Minneapolis, Taipei and Sao Paulo. For more information, please visit www.mzgroup.us .

About C-Bond

C-Bond Systems, Inc. (OTC: CBNT) is a Houston-based advanced nanotechnology company and marketer of the patented C-Bond technology, developed in conjunction with Rice University and independently proven to significantly strengthen glass in key automotive and structural applications. The Companys Automotive vertical sells C-Bond NanoShield, a liquid solution applied directly to automotive windshields, sold through distributors. The Companys Structural vertical sells ballistic-resistant glass solutions directly to private enterprises, schools and government agencies. For more information, please visit our website at www.cbondsystems.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release about our future expectations, including the likelihood that MZ Group will work closely with C-Bond management and investor relations to develop and implement a comprehensive capital markets strategy designed to increase the Companys visibility throughout the investment community; the likelihood that the comprehensive investor relations campaign will highlight the Companys $33.7M intellectual property valuation and the continued growth of the Companys IP portfolio and commercialization efforts related thereto; the likelihood that the Company, together with MZ, will enhance its investor communications and awareness efforts, while simultaneously working to create sustainable value for its shareholders over the long-term; constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and our actual results could differ materially from expected results. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, C-Bonds ability to raise capital; the Companys ability to successfully commercialize its products; as well as other risks. Additional information about these and other factors may be described in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) including its Form 10-K filed on April 1, 2019, its Forms 10-Q filed on November 14, 2019, August 12, 2019, and May 10, 2019, and in future filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this statement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Investor Contacts:

Luke Zimmerman

Vice President

MZ Group - MZ North America

949-259-4987

CBNT@mzgroup.us

www.mzgroup.us

Allison Tomek

VP, Corporate Communications

C-Bond Systems, Inc.

atomek@cbondsystems.com

832-649-5658




The Sacklers first primarily virtual exhibition, Age Old Cities was organized by the Arab World Institute in Paris, where it opened in 2018, in partnership with UNESCO. It features four large-scale 3-D digital projections, each lasting several minutes, revealing the extent of these cities devastation. Almost entirely devoid of people, the animations digitally stitch together tens of thousands of photographs taken from 2017 to 2018  both by drone and from the ground  along with archival images of some of the sites before their destruction.
Many Love Is Blind fans are still angry over Carlton Morton and Diamond Jacks final conversation together. The two former lovebirds had a nasty spat after Morton revealed his sexuality to Jack days after their engagement.

Morton has been on the receiving end of much criticism for delaying telling Jack  and because of the way he treated her when she confronted him about it. Hes now slamming fans and his celebrity friends for not supporting him since the show aired.

Carlton Morton comes out as bisexual on Netflixs Love Is Blind

Morton was immediately drawn to Jack during the dating phase in the pods. He explained in several of his confessionals that hed dated both men and women in the past but is currently interested in settling down with a woman.

I want a wife now because I feel like women bring out a certain, like, nurturing love and affection to the table that I dont get from a guy, he said.

After several dates with Jack he proposed, and she happily accepted. But Morton never disclosed his sexuality to Jack, explaining to producers that he feared shed reject him.

While on their pre-honeymoon in Mexico, Morton finally decided to be forthcoming about his sexuality. Shocked and caught off guard, Jack tried her best to soothe him and was appreciative of him telling her. But she admitted she needed some time to process the information. After sleeping separately in the evening, Jack met Morton the following day to discuss the revelation.

Jack was visibly hurt but was interested in trying to work through things. When she told Morton that she felt like he played with the experiment and was not honest from the start, he accused her of being ignorant, biphobic, and closed-minded. He also insulted Jacks appearance and called her a bch. Jack ended their relationship for good.

Carlton Morton calls out his friends for a lack of support following backlash from the show

Mortons behavior toward Jack was not well received by viewers. He was perceived as playing the victim, lacking accountability, and being defensive.

Jack later revealed she felt Morton took her ability to choose off the table by not disclosing his sexuality before the engagement. She also insisted that she was willing to continue their relationship had their conversation not turned so negative and disrespectful.

The show was filmed a year and a half ago, and Morton and Jack told People theyd since made amends and were on friendly terms. But their relationship once again took a sharp turn after Morton felt he was being treated unfairly by viewers. He believed he was the victim of homophobia.

In an emotional Instagram post on March 3, Morton  who works as an executive assistant to Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey  accused his celebrity friends of not publicly supporting him as he dealt with the fallout from the show. He also took shots at viewers for what he said is a lack of empathy and understanding for him sharing his sexuality on television.

Thanks for the 3 of yall who supported me in this, he captioned a post. I feel alone and dont want any of this life anymore. Im fighting ALONE. And it HURTS.

Morton said he would cease all interviews and press opportunities regarding the show. He also posted several messages to his Instagram Stories that spoke about feeling alone and depressed. Fans have commented heavily under the post in support of Morton, sending kind messages to keep him encouraged through the difficult time.
[March 05, 2020] Freudenberg Lights up the Spark With 'Technovation' Solutions at Auto Expo Components 2020

Technology Group showcases its broad expertise at leading Indian automotive fair NEW DELHI, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time of fast-paced changes in the Indian automotive industry, including the impending Euro 6 emissions norm transitions and rising consumer interest in New Mobility solutions, visitors to Auto Expo Components were able to see a wide range of products offering solutions for the future of mobility at the Freudenberg India booth. Freudenberg's innovations support all types of drive  from improved internal combustion engines, to hybrid solutions, pure electric vehicles and those with fuel cells on board. At the show, the Technology Group showcased its sealing, filtration technology, technical textiles, specialty chemicals, surface treatment and galvanization technologies, all of which make mobility and transport safer, more efficient and more comfortable. "The Auto Components Expo 2020 gave us a unique opportunity to update visitors on our innovative technologies and latest product developments," said Georg Graf, Regional Representative of Freudenberg in India and President of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. "As a leading supplier to the automotive industry with more than 80 years of experience in the market, we have a broad basis." The biennial event started on 6 February 2020. At the German pavilion, where the Freudenberg booth was located, the fair was kicked off by a visit of Dr. Joerg Polster, Minister, Head of Economic and Global Affairs Department, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. A group of other members of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce accompanied Dr. Polster. "India and Germany have had over 60 years of successful cooperation in all relevant sectors of our two countries. We have always appreciated the mutual benefit that has accrued to both countries over this period of time by working together in such areas as energy, sustainable and climate-friendly urban development and transport, the environment and the sustainable management of natural resources as well as the protection of biodiversity. As a global technology group, Freudenberg is making a valuable contribution to its customers' long-term success. The company has held business ties with companies in India for more than 90 years," noted Dr. Joerg Polster. He was very impressed with the advanced technological offerings showcased by the various businesses at the Freudenber booth.



Innovation is a common thread throughout Freudenberg's successful history since 1849. Today, 50,000 employees work together on international projects and in diverse teams to make sure things remain this way. They often provide answers to the important megatrends of our time, such as those in the area of mobility. In the future, Freudenberg predicts relevancy for multiple drivetrain types - depending on their intended use. Electric vehicles will come sooner to urban areas, while hybrid and efficient internal combustion engines will remain relevant in rural areas and for vehicles travelling greater distances. The fuel cell can be perfectly tailored for heavy-duty applications  especially buses, trains, trucks and ships.

"We want to remain a competent supplier of high-tech innovation  for all drivetrain types. Thanks to our technological and material expertise, we will remain an important partner for many OEMs," says Graf. "Our job is to advance the technologies we have, find new ideas and move forward with our customers." Six companies from five different Freudenberg Business Groups displayed their solutions together at the Freudenberg booth. Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies (FNST) in India is headquartered in Delhi and in operation since 2000. The company maintains a leading-edge focus on the core competencies of sealing and elastomeric technologies. Products and technologies that were on display included the gas-lubricated mechanical face seal Levitex for crankshaft, which can reduce friction by 90 percent and CO 2 emissions by 0.5 to 1 g/km. The pressure compensation element DIAvent generated a lot of interest at the booth. A combination of nonwovens and an umbrella valve with reversible switching, the DIAvent helps make electric vehicles more reliable and economical. FNST also showcased a new generation of conductive seals designed to ensure a durable electrical connection between housings and shafts while preventing bearing damage caused by electricity and electromagnetic radiation at the booth. The gas diffusion layer for fuel cells and the fuel cell stack technologies in combination with the nonwoven generated high interest amongst the visitors. Corteco is one of the leading suppliers of components for the independent automotive aftermarket. Headquartered in Delhi, as a member of the global Freudenberg Group, the company supplies over 20,000 products in OEM quality. Independent garages trust in Corteco for spare parts and therefore benefit from the original quality made by Freudenberg. Corteco has manufacturing plants and distribution centres in over 15 different countries, but through the Freudenberg Group, reaches customers in 60 countries around the world. Freudenberg Filtration Technologies India (FFTI), established in 2008, has made a name for itself in the list of top suppliers of cabin air filters and industrial filters in India. At the fair, the FFT team showcased its micronAir premium cabin air filters, engine intake air filters, as well as fuel cell filters and humidifiers and Viledon products for paintshops and also filterCair services for complete air quality management service, which includes regular visits at the customers' sites to change, clean and monitor the filter performance. The micronAir particle / PM 2.5 / activated carbon filters can protect against fine dust, pollen, road dust, abraded particles, soot, bacteria, industrial dust and other inhalable ultra-fine particles. The team also showcased new technological innovations in the fuel cell segment, including filters developed for air intake and humidifiers tailored to the fuel cell's unique properties. The team from Kluber Lubrication & OKS Specialty Lubricants India displayed an interactive interface at the booth, featuring a car connected to a rotoscope. As the rotoscope screen moved across the vehicle, it highlighted touchpoints in the car's x-ray, explaining the use of lubricants at various places in a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. The screen also contained a detailed product information. The interactive showcase attracted a lot of visitors, making it a highlight at the booth. Kluber Lubrication also displayed offerings for electric vehicles, launching four new lubricants at the fair, which cater to the electric vehicle market. These lubricants are for specific use in electric parking brake systems, electric brake boosters, lubes for constant velocity joints and actuators for liquid cooling systems. The range of lubricants on display was specifically geared towards E-Mobility, Noise Vibration and Harshness solutions, aftermarket solutions, innovations in bonded coating, ball joints, steering systems, MRO, lubes and seals. SurTec India displayed chemicals for industrial parts cleaning, metal pre-treatment as well as functional and decorative electroplating. At the fair, SurTec India launched SurTec 881, a Chromium VI-free decorative bright chromium for highest corrosion protection requirements for light white colours. Because it is Chromium VI free, the safety of SurTec 881 supersedes that of other surface coating solutions. Thank you for visiting at the Freudenberg booth in Delhi. For those who missed it, do take a look at the Freudenberg booth at Auto Expo - Components 2020 by clicking here. About Freudenberg in India Freudenberg has held business ties with companies in India for more than 90 years. The Group employs some 2,750 associates at 50 locations. Freudenberg in India recorded sales of 304 million or ?2,401 crore in 2018. About the Freudenberg Group Freudenberg is a global technology group that strengthens its customers and society long-term through forward-looking innovations. Together with its partners, customers and research institutions, the Freudenberg Group develops leading-edge technologies and excellent products and services for around 40 markets and for thousands of applications: seals, vibration control components, nonwovens, filters, specialty chemicals, medical products and the most modern cleaning products. Strength of innovation, strong customer orientation, diversity, and team spirit are the cornerstones of the Group. The 170-year-old company holds strong to its core values: a commitment to excellence, reliability and pro-active, responsible action. In 2018, the Freudenberg Group employed approximately 49,000 people in some 60 countries worldwide and generated sales of more than 9.4 billion or ?76,235 crore. For more information, please visit www.freudenberg.com. Press contact:

Roopa Nagaraju

Corporate Communications

Tel. +91-9538522286

[email protected]

www.freudenberg.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099979/Freudenberg_AutoExpo2020.jpg

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The delimitation exercise of the



60 seats of the Nagaland assembly will be conducted soon, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said on Thursday.

Nagaland was asked by the Centre in 2002 to conduct the delimitation exercise, but it was rejected by the state government, citing "faulty and unrealistic" projection of population in Census 2001, Rio said.

Following the 2011 Census, which showed negative decadal growth, the central government once again directed the state to conduct the exercise.

It will be a very difficult exercise as it has to rational, based on the population, Rio said, adding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called him, asking to go ahead with the delimitation process.

The chief minister was speaking at the 45th general conference of the Nagaland Civil Service Association (NCSA) at RCEMPA Jotsoma on the outskirts of the state capital.

He said the state cabinet was of the view that since the talks over the Naga political issue was in a very advanced stage, the exercise should have been deferred.

Rio said that Shah told him that the state must do what is required to be done.

The chief minister asked the officers to mentally prepare themselves to conduct the census and the delimitation exercises.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, March 5 : All may not be lost for crisis-hit Yes Bank with banking industry insiders pointing out that the bank has heavy duty collateral against loans.

It will, therefore, depend on the acquiring bank or financial institution's capacity to hold the assets till the market improves and sell them later to recover sizeable chunk of the loans.

For instance, if collateral is a residential building, it may not fetch good price in a depressed market.

But given that some of the big financial institutions such as IL&FS and DHFL have collapsed in recent times, the market may not respond favourably to Yes Bank.

"This is the reason we expect revival of Yes Bank to be very slow," a Mumbai-based bank executive said.

Yes Bank had earlier made all possible efforts to raise growth capital but miserably failed. Now that the leading private bank is on the verge of collapse, the government has nudged the SBI to form a consortium and rescue the bank.

The RBI, as regulator, has come into action and taking all possible steps to ensure the bank makes a turnaround.

The situation at the Yes Bank has reached alarming level forcing the RBI to supersede its board. A limit has also been imposed on withdrawal of deposits in excess of Rs 50,000.

There is a growing perception in the market that a sizeable part of Yes Bank's loans have turned into non-performing assets (NPAs) which are not recoverable. This will lead to erosion of its assets but given that the bank, in the past, took heavy collateral for lending, the market expects the acquiring entity to recover part of the loans by selling the assets.

"Loans are certainly turning into NPAs but does the underlying collateral have market value and to what extent, can they be recovered? What one sees is that bank has already made provisions for bad loans but the bank has the right to sell the assets mortgaged with it," another banking industry executive said.

The government is learnt to have asked the SBI to lead a consortium to buy stake in Yes Bank. This signals the government will not allow the bank to fail.

Many industry watchers feel that the road to recovery for Yes Bank will not be easy and going forward, their size will shrink.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University is set to host an open forum about the coronavirus next week, the university said.

The forum will take place at 5:30 p.m. on March 10 at Grant Auditorium, which is located in Falk College.

Three panelists will take questions about the coronavirus, including;

Dr. Britney Kmush, an infectious disease epidemiologist

Dr. Katie Anderson, an infectious disease clinician

Dr. David Larsen, an infectious disease epidemiologist

There have been more than 94,000 of COVID-19 cases worldwide and more than 3,200 deaths resulting from the coronavirus outbreak. New York has seen 11 cases so far, all in Westchester County and Manhattan.

Onondaga County Health Department officials said today 12 residents who recently traveled to China are being quarantined. They do not have symptoms, officials said.

Syracuse University informed faculty to prepare to teach classes online if a coronavirus outbreak affects normal operations at the university. The university already evacuated a study abroad program in Florence, and banned travel to Italy, South Korea and China.

More coronavirus news:

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.
Canada's top military commander issued a detailed set of "pre-pandemic planning" orders on Wednesday for units both at home and overseas.

The orders give base commanders the authority to, among other things, cancel large gatherings on bases in the event of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

They also outline "additional precautions," ranging from personal hygiene to strict reviews of all non-essential travel and leave for soldiers, sailors and aircrew.

"The intent of this is to look at all of the things we need to do to preserve the force, should this become a pandemic," said Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, at a defence conference in Ottawa.

The military needs to preserve its ability to function and support the government if there is a full-blown health emergency, he added.

Federal officials, under a worst-case scenario, are preparing for an absentee rate among government workers of 25 per cent and Vance said the military is looking at a similar number should there be a pandemic.

WATCH | Vance calls for 'common sense' precautions:

"On a case-by-case basis, commanders will review where their troops travel on what may be non-essential travel. Can they do it another way?" said Vance.

One of the concerns is having troops trapped in countries that close their borders or impose sudden quarantines.

Vance said the military already has noticed a disruption in travel schedules as it tries to move personnel in and out of certain countries, particularly in the Middle East.

Iraq, where Canada has as many as 500 troops deployed, has reported two deaths from COVID-19. Overall, that country has reported 35 cases, with 14 in the capital of Baghdad.

Vance was speaking at an Ottawa defence conference, which was warned earlier in the day that war zones such as northern Syria and Iraq are extraordinarily vulnerable to COVID-19 because of the poor state of public health systems.

Story continues

Jenny Cafarella, the research director the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, noted that refugees fleeing Syria for Turkey over the last few days are sleeping in open fields. She predicted the virus could become a major security concern.

It is something Vance said he is worried about, given troops throughout the region are involved in capacity building, which requires day-to-day contact with local security forces, some of whom may not be as healthy as Western soldiers.

"We're seeing it now in Iraq," he said. "Chances are, if someone is sick, they're not going to be operating, they're not going to be doing the job and therefore they wouldn't be subject to our close mentoring. Nonetheless, we've started to notice its spread in Iraq."
Four new local COVID-19 cases

THAILAND: The Public Health Ministry today (Mar 5) reported four new local coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases - men aged 20-42 years who arrived from Iran and Italy in the past week.

CoronavirusCOVID-19Chinesehealthtourism

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 5 March 2020, 02:18PM

A health official sprays disinfectant at Hua Lampong railway terminus in Bangkok today (Mar 5), part of efforts to control the spread of coronavirus disease. Photo: Chanat Katanyu

It was also announced that healthy people returning from COVID-19 risk countries would now be quarantined at specific and guarded facilities.

Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said one of the four new cases was an Italian, aged 29, who arrived from Italy on Sunday (Mar 1). He passed thermal screening at the airport, but the following day he sought treatment for a fever and cough at a private hospital.

He was then referred to Chon Buri Hospital in Chon Buri province.

The second new patient is a Thai man, aged 42. He arrived from Italy on Monday (Mar 2) and later sought treatment at a private hospital in Chon Buri for a fever, cough and sore throat. The two cases were not related.

The third is a Chinese student, aged 22. He arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan province from Iran on Sunday, intending to take a connecting flight. He had a fever, runny nose and a cough and was taken to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province.

The fourth is a Thai student, 20, who returned from Iran on Feb 27. He went to a hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Monday with a fever and runny nose.

The new cases raise the number of local COVID-19 cases to 47. Of these, 31 have recovered and returned home, 15 remained at hospitals and one died.

The Public Health Ministry also had 3,895 patients under investigation, of which 1,576 remained at hospitals.

Dr Suwannachai said that healthy people returning from COVID-19 risk countries would be quarantined at specific and guarded facilities. Previous returnees were being monitored.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said five military compounds were prepared to quarantine Thai workers who would return from South Korea.

Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantrawanit declined to elaborate on their locations, citing security reasons.
Aiden Corcoran wanted to be a journalist. His career guidance teacher put him off. His father had wanted him to join the Gardai. His uncle put him off. In the end, he trained as an engineer, and now his company makes up to 50pc of the fake tan produced in Ireland.

"I was a good engineer. My uncle, who has gone on to be a deacon, was an engineer. We were fixing a washing machine, I was 16 or 17, and I just had the knack," Corcoran says, his laid-back mannerism disguising what becomes apparent is a brilliant mind.

Expansion: Cosmetic Creations employs more than 90 staff at locations in Cork (pictured) and Mayo

"I was really enjoying it. My uncle pulled my father aside and my dad had that attitude of 'my son is going to be a guard too', but I was not really made for that.

"Of course, you are young and you are not really going to row with your father. But my uncle described to my father the differences in wages between engineers and guards, after which my father turned around and said 'check out this engineering'."

After a stint in the United States on the Morrison visa (a scheme in the early 1990s that granted green cards to thousands of Irish citizens), where he was "painting and decorating, and lifting things and putting things down", Corcoran ended up at DIT on Dublin's Bolton Street.

He graduated as an engineer and went into industry, joining computer maker Hewlett Packard (HP), which he describes as the Google of the era.

Expand Close Expansion: Cosmetic Creations employs more than 90 staff at locations in Cork and Mayo (pictured) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Expansion: Cosmetic Creations employs more than 90 staff at locations in Cork and Mayo (pictured)

"Back in 2000, HP was fantastic. There was a no-blame culture and I loved that, because back in the 1980s and 1990s, Ireland had a full-blame culture.

"Everything was everyone's fault. Whereas this was 'you learn, you make your mistake, you own your mistake and everyone moves on', and I loved that."

Corcoran would end up in a project managing role with a budget of around $45m (40m).

At HP, Corcoran met his wife Lorraine: "A fantastic engineer; she is better than me, and I don't like to say that too often."

Nineteen years on, the two have three children and two businesses.

From HP, he moved to drug maker Allergan as a contractor. From contracting, he then struck out on his own, co-founding Horizon, an engineering and contract services company.

While the company grew from a staff of six or seven to 75, he found it very difficult to grow it further.

"You are selling people's hours and you are constrained by the level of hours you can sell," he says.

By 2017, Corcoran felt he had done his work at the company, and he and the board "came to a happy enough place".

"Cosmetic Creations came up as an opportunity and in early 2017, I acquired the business."

The company manufactures everything from skincare and self-tanning products to supplements and cosmetics. Customers include supermarkets and pharmacy chains.

The vast majority of fake tan sold in Ireland is made under white label by Cosmetic Creations, mostly for brand owners who sell into the retail sector. However, in the next six months, the company intends to rebrand itself.

The products are sold here and exported to 15 countries.

When Corcoran took over the business less than three years ago, there was a team of 22, all based only in Mayo.

Today, there are more than 90 employees at facilities in both Mayo and Cork, where he bought a factory which had been operated by the French cosmetics business Yves Rocher.

He also hired a number of people who had worked at Yves Rocher.

While staff numbers have grown sharply, it remains very much a family business, with Corcoran's wife and brother, David, both directors.

In addition, Corcoran's sister, Louise, manages the commercial clients.

"We acquired the plant in Cork to help the company scale up. In three years, we went from producing one million units of products a year to doing 4.5 million to five million. The goal would be to scale it to do 20 million units a year by the next two to three years," Corcoran says.

"That is everything from what I call general bodycare, skincare, cosmetics, but also into food supplements and pharmaceuticals as well."

Last year, the company increased the volume of its output by 75pc, and this year it aims to grow by 50-70pc.

In Mayo, it does a lot of the "complicated work" with regards filling and packaging, and food supplements.

Its Cork plant does a lot of high-volume blending of ingredients.

So Corcoran bought a company in Mayo and a factory in Cork, and melded them into a single business.

It sounds like a straightforward process for an experienced engineer with a background in industry. But Corcoran hadn't factored in the language barrier.

As he explains: "This time a year ago, I would not have let you in. I would have been frightened out of my life as to would this work at all.

"I'm an engineer, so you think if I do all these things it should [work], but also that nothing in life is going to go the way you plan it. It was beautifully mental."

He really believes the facilities were divided by a common language - or at least a clash of cultures.

"Cork spoke Cork and Mayo spoke Mayo. And for three months, we spoke English but in different ways. It goes back to how we do things."

He elaborates: "The Cork staff had an old culture of high-volume, multinational [work]. [In] Mayo, we acquired it as a going concern with the goodwill and staff.

"It had had very low investment and it had learnt to become incredibly innovative and adaptable and flexible, but it forgot how to work in a multinational. It kind of planned and spoke in a different way."

In addition, the staff in Mayo had to be trained in how to say 'no' to people.

"Not saying no was killing us. We were doing some crazy-ass projects, making no money, but just because the guys on the team wouldn't let poor Mary from Galway [with her small order] down.

"And we had to say 'guys, we can't support poor Mary all the time because we will go under if we do'."

To tackle the culture clash, teams spent time together off-site and thrashed out some of the issues.

"We had to build processes that were very clear. We did it under great pressure and I think that pressure has created a diamond," he says.

Last year, the company received an investment loan of 7.5m, which will be used to buy assets, scaling the production capacity.

Scale matters to big brand owners, who want a supplier that can quickly produce 200,000 or 300,000 units of a product, while the large multiples, such as supermarket chains, want someone who can come up with four or five truck loads. The manufacturing capacity for all of that had to be built.

In time, Cosmetic Creations will be looking for a partner to come in and work with it to grow.

"It's not just about money; it is about someone coming in with expertise to take us to the next level," Corcoran says.

"This year, the goal is to get about 6-7 million units out and around 10m in revenue, potentially doubling in size. We also want to start developing our pharmaceutical line of products," he adds.

The five-year goal is to create a 30m-revenue firm.

It is hard to avoid Brexit when talking to any business owner in Ireland today. For Corcoran, there are mixed emotions.

Speaking with his CEO hat on, he will tell you that the company has seen a 20pc increase in new production because of Brexit from companies that were manufacturing in the UK and have diversified sourcing here. "That has been positive," he says.

"The currency challenge is certainly one, but cosmetics do contain a sufficient margin to be able to absorb it."

However, on a personal level, he says: "I'm just sad about it." While Ireland is a good place to do business, with the UK gone, "geographically we are in an isolated spot".

"The centre of gravity in Europe will naturally change. That would be my longer-term concern," he says.

"But I do believe we have the ability here to do business internationally.

"You can have all the tax deductions in the world, but if the people can't bloody do it... and here they can."

For Corcoran, his biggest challenge is probably also his best advice.

"Ensuring you can divide your time to achieve what you want. Sometimes that means letting the team engage and standing back because you have hired people better than you to fix the problem, and trusting that that's OK."

Easy to say, but it is hard when "you have everything on the line".
Sophie Wesssex has taken on two far flung trips in the first quarter of the year alone, following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's January announcement that they would be stepping down from royal duties.

The royal, 55, who is married to the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward, appears to be taking on more humanitarian engagements that Meghan Markle, 38, would have been passionate about taking on in her position as a senior royal.

Sophie flew to Sierra Leone in January, visiting a Technical Secondary School, a Health Clinic, a Women's Centre, and the Freetown Commonwealth Cemetery.

And this week the royal flew to the Republic of South Sudan, visiting various initiatives to protect the safety of girls and women, as well as meeting women peacebuilders and rights activists - all causes close to Meghan's heart.

Sophie flew to Munich on Valentine's Day to visit the Initiative for Munich Girls, and has undertaken 15 other engagements this year alone - including hosting various charitable dinners at St. James' Palace, and a reception at Buckingham Palace.

Her foreign travel is on the same scale as that of the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, 71, who has also made three foreign travel trips, including Palestine and Israel, Oman and Switzerland this year.

Sophie Wesssex is taking on two far flung trips in the first quarter of the year alone, following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's January announcement that they would be stepping down from royal duties (seen in Sierra Leone at the end of January)

Sophie visited Munich on Valentine's Day (seen) to visit the Initiative for Munich Girls, and has undertaken 15 other engagements this year alone

This week the royal flew to the Republic of South Sudan, visiting various initiatives to protect the safety of girls and women, as well as meeting women peacebuilders and rights activists - all causes close to Meghan's heart

Meanwhile Prince William, 37, and Kate Middleton, 38, are only visiting Ireland during the first three months of this year.

Royal author Phil Dampier told FEMAIL : 'Sophie is definitely taking on more and more high profile humanitarian jobs and seems to be performing more royal duties abroad.

'To some extent she has been doing this for years but has not had the publicity because she's been overshadowed by the more well-known royals.

'But I see a much bigger role for her with Harry and Meghan off the scene.

'Sophie is very good with people and comes across as caring and interested in the causes she visits.

'Harry and Meghan were going to be ambassadors for the Queen throughout the Commonwealth and there were going to be lots of trips all over the world.

'Sophie will be able to step up her workload and fill Meghan's shoes. She has a different style but it's down to earth and effective.

'The Queen admires her and will give her total support if she wants to take on more duties.

'With Charles and Camilla in their 70s and Anne 70 this year, Sophie is needed to play a much larger role.'

The royal, 55, who is married to the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward, appears to be taking on more humanitarian engagements that Meghan Markle, 38, would have been passionate about taking on in her position as a senior royal (seen at a reception at London's Buckingham Palace to mark the UK-Africa Investment Summit in January)

ophie, Countess of Wessex ahead of unveiling a plaque as she opens The Countess of Wessex Studios at the Central School of Ballet's new premises

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's final official engagement is expected to be March 9, when they will join the Queen at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day. They are seen at Canada House on January 7 when they announced they would be stepping down

Sophie's foreign travel is on the same scale as that of the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, 71, who has also made three foreign travel trips, including Palestine and Israel, Oman and Switzerland this year

Last month a source claimed Sophie, the Queen's 'long-term favourite', is set to take on more royal responsibility and represent Her Majesty, 93, at more engagements after Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle's decision to step back from the royal family.

A royal insider revealed how the 'very popular' Countess has been chosen by Buckingham Palace to step into the spotlight in the coming months.

They told The Sun: 'Sophie's a long-term favourite of the Queen and has been singled out as a person the Palace would like to help ease the burden.'

Sophie, who is married to the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward, 55, has a particularly close relationship with her mother-in-law and already represents the Crown both at home and overseas.

It is believed Sophie is seen by the Queen as the Royal Family's safest pair of hands, because her marriage to Prince Edward has lasted, while Charles, Anne and Andrew have all been divorced.

A recent job advert showed the Wessexes are hiring an Assistant Private Secretary, suggesting an increase in duties.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's final official engagement is expected to be March 9, when they will join the Queen at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day.

Meanwhile Prince William, 37, and Kate Middleton, 38, are only visiting Ireland during the first three months of this year (pictured)
German entrepreneurs decided to build three wind power plants in Odesa region with a total investment of EUR 450 million, the press service of Odesa Regional State Administration has reported.

"Today I signed a memorandum of cooperation with representatives of the German company Notus Energy. They invest more than EUR 450 million in our region, Chairman of Odesa Regional State Administration Maksym Kutsy wrote on his Facebook page on March 4.

The company will build three wind power plants in Ovidiopol district within two years. It will build power lines and electrical substations, as well as reconstruct existing substations and other facilities, to ensure the energy security of the district and the region.

The Germans will invest EUR 30,000 in local infrastructure and social facilities for each wind power plant. "And most importantly - this is another step towards preserving the environment and developing renewable energy, Kutsy noted.

ish
IT services provider Cognizant India has temporarily closed its Hyderabad office and asked its employees to work from home. The company's office is situated in Building 20 of Raheja Mindspace which is a major IT park in Hyderabad.

The company in an email sent to its associates on Wednesday said that it is shutting its office as an employee of another company in the same building was tested positive for coronavirus (COVI-19). The IT Services provider further stated (in the email) that is closing the office for disinfection and sanitisation.

"An employee of a company with offices in Building 20 of Raheja Mindspace in Hyderabad has tested positive for COVID-19. As a matter of abundant caution, we are closing our office in Building 20, Raheja Mindspace for disinfection and sanitisation," Cognizant said in the email.

Also Read: Coronavirus Updates: Paytm employee tests positive for Covid-19; cases in India spikes to 29

The IT services provider also clarified in the email that "no Cognizant associate is known to have contracted the virus." The company added that it has asked all its employees "working out of Building 20 of Raheja Mindspace to work from home until further notice."

Meanwhile, a Paytm employee in Gurugram, who returned from Italy, also tested positive for novel coronavirus, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The company has advised all its employees to work from home for the next couple of days while the Gurgaon unit gets sanitised.

Online retail giant Amazon also said on Tuesday that an employee in the United States has been tested positive for coronavirus.

The company stated that all the employee's co-workers who were in contact with the patient have been informed. The patient worked at the company's South Lake Union office complex in Seattle, as mentioned in a report in Reuters.
Hyundai Card and Capital CEO Ted Chung / Courtesy of Hyundai CardHyundai Capital



By Anna J. Park



Hyundai Card and Capital CEO Ted Chung, 59, is stepping up the company's overseas expansion, aiming to make inroads into the less saturated foreign market for further growth.



The Hyundai Motor Group's financial arm has recently inked a deal to acquire Sixt Leasing, a German auto-leasing company, by taking over a controlling stake for 155.6 million euros ($168 million). This is the first time that a Korean financial company has acquired a major global leasing company in Europe



The deal is largely in line with the Hyundai Motor Group's "Smart Mobility Initiative" global strategy  the conglomerate's plan to put an emphasis on global automotive business trends such as on-demand, high-tech electric, and short-term leased vehicles.



Through the deal, Hyundai Capital is expected to significantly extend its advancement into the overseas market. Currently, the Korean auto-financing company operates 11 subsidiaries overseas, including in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Brazil, with over 5,300 employees. It is the largest overseas operation for a Korean finance company.



Behind this global expansion is CEO Chung's keenness to diversify profit sources internationally.



When Chung took the helm as the leader of both Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital in 2003, the two companies were suffering a combined operating loss of 834 billion won ($701 million). Hyundai Card in particular had only a 1.7 percent market share that year. An innovative and creative marketing strategy led by Chung is said to have been behind the then-turnaround of the company's performance. The firm was the second largest player in Korea's credit card industry in 2017.



However, the card company has seen its operating profit decline in recent years, due to decreased credit card fees and other factors. Against this backdrop, Chung has chosen to focus on strategies of digitization and overseas expansion to generate additional profits in a larger market.



In line with such strategies, Chung led the card company's acquisition of a 50 percent stake of Vietnamese consumer finance institution Finance Company Limited for Community (FCCOM) for 49 billion won ($42 million) in late October, hoping to reach further customers in the fast growing Southeast Asian markets.


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Ridgefield Playhouse / Contributed photo

Bernard Ilsley: The London Medium returns to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Tuesday, March 31, to help audience members make contact with departed loved ones, consult ancient spirits and angels about the future, and learn about past lives.

Ilsley, a third-generation psychic, has been a trusted adviser to Led Zeppelins Robert Plant for many years, according to a news release. He works with spirit guides and he is able to consult each different spirit guide depending on which specialized subject he is working on for the individual consulting him, the Playhouse said.
Credit: James Marcus HaneyGrouplove has released a new song called "Youth," which will appear on the band's forthcoming album, Healer.

The track, which is available now for digital download, is accompanied by a video starring Twin Peaks and Seinfeld actress Grace Zabriskie. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.

Healer, the follow-up to 2016's Big Mess, arrives March 13. It also includes the lead single "Deleter."

Grouplove will celebrate Healer's release with a performance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, March 16. They'll then launch a U.S. headlining tour in support of the album March 18 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
In his famous book Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, father of economics, wrote that the wealth of nations is not only their gold and silver and other possessions but the quality of manpower that the country possesses. He made this point in the eighteenth century but his theory resonates in modern times. It is clear from empirical evidence that we have gathered over a period of time that the more literate and more trained manpower countries have, the more they are economically developed. All the data gathered over centuries shows a direct correlation between economic prosperity of a nation and the percentage of trained manpower. The World Bank in its reports has concluded that a skilled workforce is crucial to a countrys economic transformation. It enables workers to move out of low-productivity activities and earn more in their jobs.

It is not that in India we were not aware of the importance of vocational education and training. Beginning with Woods dispatch of 1854 - the communication from Sir Charles Wood to the then Governor-General of India Lord Dalhousie that underscored vocational and womens education, Wood suggested that primary schools must adopt vernacular languages, high schools must adopt Anglo vernacular language and on college-level English medium for education - all the education commissions and committees set up by Government of India have consistently recommended that vocational education and training systems must be made an integral part of our overall planning of education system and a large body of students have to be imparted vocational education and training after their school education. The national policy of education 1986 and Programme of Action 1992 did talk about vocationalisation of education but that did not bring about the desired results of skilling the manpower. The NPE 1986 and POA of 1982 had proposed that nearly 20 percent of the student population should be diverted to vocational stream by the year 2000 but hardly 5 percent of students could be provided some form of vocational education along with the traditional school system of education.

How critical is trained manpowers role in economic development became clear in the early part of the new millennium when India surged ahead of other countries, including China, in the field of Information Technology . We quickly changed our technical education policy despite stiff resistance by status quoists and expanded our base of trained manpower in time to capture the emerging space in the IT sector economy. The initial spurt imparted during that time has helped us to maintain our pre-eminent position in the IT sector despite efforts by other countries to increase their share in the same.

Unfortunately, we are still to attain the goal of skilling our vast manpower despite policy framework being in place for almost two decades. Various studies have clearly brought out this fact that due to largely untrained manpower in our country, the efficiency in all aspects of our economic sphere is at a very low level. Studies conducted world wide have shown that training and skilling a workman increases his efficiency from 3 to 12 times, depending upon the level of training. Clearly, an increase in efficiency through training across the economic spectrum can lead to tremendous increase in output with consequential increase in the GDP. Not only that , poor workmanship of an untrained worker causes decline in the quality of output everywhere. Wherever we see a wire hanging loosely, inside or outside our dwellings, please remember it is the handiwork of an untrained electrician. A leaking tap or roof too is largely due to poor workmanship on account of lack of skill and training. Often, we find the tiled pavements in shabby and broken condition. This may partly be attributed to corruption leading to poor quality of material used, but unskilled workers laying the tiles is also a very major factor contributing to the state of affairs. If we look around, we will find manifestations of poor workmanship all over, without exception, leading to serious safety hazards. In any vocational training course, the first chapter of the training is invariably safety at the workplace. This approach is called safety first, and leads to a reduction in the number of accidents and loss of lives. But when there is no training of workmen regarding the safety aspect of their job, obviously they remain oblivious of the impending dangers.

There is no doubt that due to recent focus on Skill India campaign, there are more avenues available to our population to get the desired skills as per their choice to become a productive asset for the economy but a lot needs to be done to train our burgeoning young population. The National Classification of Qualifications of 2015, published by Labour Ministry of Government of India, details the job description of 3,600 civilian occupations covering 52 sectors. What we need is that training facilities be created for all these job descriptions with proper teaching and learning material. This is the need of hour to make the country an economic superpower and achieve the 5 trillion GDP target without any difficulty.

(The author is a former secretary to the government of India)
Mask-clad students line up to disinfect their hands with an alcohol solution before entering class at a school in Phnom Penh on January 28, 2020.

The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the education of nearly 300 million students across the world and could threaten their future educational rights, according a UNESCO report released Wednesday.

The U.N. organization that monitors global education said the number of children missing school globally is unprecedented.

"While temporary school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

As of Wednesday, 13 countries  including China, Italy and Japan  have shut schools nationwide in an effort to stop the spread of the flu-like virus. That affects almost 290 million students, UNESCO said. At least 10 countries have some schools closed at a local level, but if those order nationwide closures, UNESCO said an additional 180 million children will be shut out of school. UNESCO's report did not include India's order on Thursday to close all schools through the fifth grade in New Delhi until April.

INDIATWEET

A bulk of the students come from China, where the outbreak originated. Across the nation, including special administration regions Hong Kong and Macao, more than 233 million students are missing school because of the virus. That's followed by Japan, which has nearly 16.5 million displaced students, according to UNESCO Institute of Statistics data.

A handful of schools in the United States have canceled classes over the coronavirus, with many preparing for a possible outbreak.

Among the closures are Mariner High School and Discovery Elementary School, located in Washington state, which has seen a sharp rise in confirmed cases. New York state and New York City have also closed some schools after health officials confirmed at least 22 cases across the state. Los Angeles officials, when declaring a state of emergency on Wednesday, told parents that school closures were a possibility and to be prepared.

Health officials don't currently recommend closing schools if there isn't a local coronavirus case. Instead, they're stressing healthy behaviors such as washing hands with hot soapy water, staying home when sick and covering coughs.

UNESCO will hold an emergency meeting on March 10 over coronavirus-related school closures. The agency said it is supporting the implementation of large-scale distance-learning programs and platforms to reach students remotely.
Painstaking training to portray the facial expressions of an animated mermaid character serves Katie Cross well each year in the Disney-themed Enchanted Princess Theater Show at Friendswoods Purple Box Theater.

In the fifth annual show, to be presented March 20-22 at the theater, 1309 W. Parkwood, the South Houston resident will again perform as Ariel from The Little Mermaid and as Anna from Frozen.

Admission is $15, $10 for kids age 6 and under.

Every show has been a joy, said Cross, 23, who has performed each year in the two roles.

She and fellow actresses, who portray other Disney heroines ranging from Cinderella to Moana, will perform in an interactive show for kids of all ages, said Cathy Holbrook, the theaters founding artistic director and owner.

Holbrook also directed Cross as Ariel in a production of the musical The Little Mermaid.

More Information Want to go? What: "Once Upon a Time," the fifth annual "Enchanted Princess Theater Show" Where: Purple Box Theater, 1309 W. Parkwood, Friendswood When: 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday (March 20-21), 2 p.m. Sunday (March 22) Admission: $15, $10 kids 6 and under Information: (818) 642-4665, www.thepurpleboxtheater.com See More Collapse

In the princess show, the kids actually get to have full conversations with us, getting to ask any questions they may have or tell us a story of their own, said Cross, who graduated from Clear Springs High School in 2015.

Each actress sings a solo, and the cast performs several group numbers.

We also have a dance party where the kids join us on the stage and dance along to classic fairy-tale songs, Cross said. Getting to see their smiles and excitement makes me look forward to every performance.

Capturing Ariels expressions

In 2016 and 2017, Cross worked as a face and character performer at Walt Disney World.

I had pages and pages of Ariels facial expressions that I would try to memorize, she said. I watched the movie countless times in order to fully be able to portray her to the best of my ability.

Cross has performed in some 20 or 30 other stage musicals, appearing as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Woodstock and The Little Red-Haired Girl, an orphan in Annie and Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

She received an associate degree in graphic design at San Jacinto College and works in downtown Houston with plans to obtain a bachelors degree at University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Holbrook said that before and after each princess show, kids in the audience take pictures with the actresses.

We usually have a full house and sell out quickly, she added. Bring your little ones dressed in their favorite Disney princess costumes.

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be contacted at donmaines@att.net
At the Versailles Palace, another huge tourist draw on the outskirts of Paris, employees also are worrying about handling banknotes and tickets during the virus epidemic, although the former residence of French royalty still takes cash for now. Public health historian Patrick Zylberman says the fear of getting diseases from money is age-old. In the Middle Ages, banknotes were cleansed with smoke because it was thought their use contributed to the spread of plague, Zylberman said. Egypt also smoked banknotes during a 1940s cholera epidemic, he said. Zylberman laughed when told of the Louvre's new refusal of cash payments from the museum's tens of thousands of daily visitors. "It's a bit risible to go backwards by several centuries and act as our predecessors did in the 17th century," he said. "That shows how nervous people are during an epidemic."

The world's most-visited museum is shifting to card-only payments as part of new measures that helped persuade employees worried about getting sick to return to work Wednesday. Louvre workers who guard Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and other masterpieces walked off the job on Sunday, fearful of being contaminated by the museum's flow of tourists from around the world. The Louvre's move could bring it into conflict with the Bank of France, which said refusing cash is illegal and unnecessary. Fears that banknotes might be vectors of disease aren't restricted to the Louvre.

But the Bank of France said said vendors aren't allowed to refuse cash payments because banknotes are legal tender and because banks from the 19-country eurozone regularly test them to see if they present a danger to public health. "There is no proof that the coronavirus has been spread by euro banknotes," the bank said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The Louvre's decision to only accept bank cards for payments was among the anti-virus measures laid out in detail in a document sent to staff Tuesday and seen by the AP.



The Louvre confirmed Wednesday that the museum will no longer accept cash, although it also noted that half of its tickets sales already take place online. "Cash is finished," said Andre Sacristin, a union representative at the Louvre. "It is a temporary measure during the epidemic." "Money is very dirty and a vector of bacteria," Sacristin added. "It's hand-to-hand and there are direct physical contacts."



Louvre employees will also be distanced from the snaking line of visitors in the room where the "Mona Lisa" is displayed. Instead of rubbing shoulders with visitors in the room itself, workers will be posted at entrances and on the edges of the habitually large crowds waiting to see the iconic portrait.



There have also been discussions between Eiffel Tower workers and managers over the use of banknotes, but no decision has been made. At the Versailles Palace, union representative Damien Bodereau said staff members also are worried about handling cash and "worried about checking tickets." But refusing cash might not be practical, because "some people don't have bank cards," he said. "It could be complicated."
: At a time when those



marrying outside their caste and religion are facing ostracism and threats in several parts of the country, the Kerala government is gearing up to open 'safe homes' to ensure them a secure accommodation.

The Department of Social Justice has unveiled the unique initiative to open such safe facilities in all districts.

Social Justice Minister K K Shailaja said preliminary steps have begun to set up 'safe homes', where such couples can stay up to one year after marriage.

The objective is to ensure security for them, the minister told the state Assembly, saying the initiative was being implemented with the support of voluntary organisations.

The Department was already giving financial assistance of Rs 30,000 to such couples for self-employment if they were in the general category and had an annual income of less than Rs one lakh, she said.

At the same time, if one of them belonged to the scheduled caste community, they were given an assistance of Rs 75,000.

Inter-religious couples were included in the category deserving special consideration during the time of transfer in government departments, the minister said adding there is no law at present to give them job reservation.

The incidents of social exclusion and attacks against inter-caste or inter-religious couples have been reported in many parts of the country in recent times.

In a shocking incident, a 23-year old Dalit Christian man was abducted and killed allegedly by the relatives of his upper caste wife in Kottayam district of Kerala in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US-Taliban peace deal for Afghanistan represents a "unilateral retreat" by Washington from the region and it has landed India in an "unenviable situation" of having to face a "recrudescence" of Islamist extremism, the CPI(M) said on Thursday.

After more than 18 years of war in Afghanistan, the US and the Taliban reached an agreement on February 29 in what was both sides' most intensive efforts yet to end the war. Central to the deal is a significant draw down of US troops and guarantees from the Taliban that the country would not become a safe haven for terrorists.

"The agreement to bring peace in Afghanistan signed by the United States and the Taliban at Doha represents nothing but a unilateral retreat by the United States from Afghanistan.

"The foreign secretary was dispatched to Kabul to declare India's support for the beleaguered government - a symbolic act without substance. With Pakistan back in the driving seat in Afghan affairs, India is now landed with an unenviable situation of having to face a recrudescence of Islamist extremism in the region," said an editorial in CPI(M) mouthpiece People's Democracy.

That this happened under the "deep strategic embrace" of the United States is a "telling commentary on the utility of the much vaunted Indo-US strategic partnership", it stated.

"The (Narendra) Modi government was faced with a fait accompli when the Doha agreement was announced. The United States has not bothered with Indian sensitivities in the matter. (Donald) Trump came on his visit to India after the agreement had been reached. It was only left for Trump to tell Modi that the United States would be getting out of Afghanistan and cutting its losses," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lucknow, March 5 : Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision not to participate in Holi get-together functions in view of the coronavirus scare, the BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh have also begun cancelling 'Holi Milan' events in the state.

BJP President J.P. Nadda has also written to all state unit chiefs, advising against social gatherings and Holi Milan events, party leaders said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Wednesday night that he will stay away from Holi Milan and urged people to avoid social gatherings as did several of his colleagues. "Prevention is better than cure. I would appeal to all to avoid social gatherings and take good care of themselves and their family," Adityanath said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has been celebrating the festival in Gorakhpur, where he meets and greets people in large numbers.

Almost all politicians in the state hold similar functions in their respective constituencies.

Uttar Pradesh minister for micro, small and medium enterprises and Khadi industries, Siddhartha Nath Singh, who is also the state government's spokesman, has announced the postponement of a Holi Milan event scheduled for March 8 in Prayagraj, which is his constituency.

"I will hold it later," said Singh who was the first Uttar Pradesh Minister to distance himself from the Holi Milan.

State Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma, who too is a state government spokesperson, said, "Holi is a major festival for us Brajwasis. Yet, in the wake of the coronavirus scare, I have decided to cancel all my pre-scheduled functions in which I was to participate. I think it is in everybody's interest that social gatherings are avoided till the time the scare lasts." However, Samajwadi Party leaders will celebrate Holi in Sefai in Etawah with family, friends and supporters.

"We will celebrate in the traditional manner and we will not let the coronavirus scare bog us down," said a SP leader.

A Congress leader also echoed similar sentiments when he said that when people in the constituency come to celebrate the festival, it would be improper to turn them away.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
| By Jena Frick

Shayla Monroe, a sixth-grader in the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) CURE Scholars Program, stood in the Old House Chamber of the Maryland General Assembly feeling empowered. She was staring intently at the newly erected bronze statues of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. The statues are fittingly on display in the room where slavery was abolished in Maryland back in 1864.

Its really cool to see Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglass here, Shayla said. It makes me feel really good to know how far weve come and where we are today.

Shereen Farquharson (left), a CURE Scholar in cohort 2, presents her research poster to UMB Interim President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS (center), and Del. Keith Haynes at the Legislative Services Building in Annapolis.

Shayla was one of 16 CURE Scholars who traveled to Annapolis on Feb. 24 for Advocacy Day. The annual event gives the scholars an opportunity to learn more about their local government and present their research posters to prominent lawmakers from across Maryland.

(View a photo gallery.)

Funded by the National Cancer Institute, the UMB CURE Scholars Program is a unique mentoring program aimed at reducing racial disparities in public health by introducing a pipeline toward careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) to students in West Baltimore. The program begins in sixth grade and continues through high school, college, and beyond.

I had the opportunity to speak with about three or four of the students about their research, said Del. Keith Haynes, who represents the 44th legislative district in Maryland. I am just amazed with the detail and the depth of their knowledge about all of these topics.

The scholars each got to select a research topic that they were passionate about, so there were a wide variety of presentations ranging from pancreatic cancer research to the creation of automated cars. Throughout the evening, many Maryland legislators and UMB leaders  including UMB interim president Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS  came to hear their presentations.

(View a video below.)

The scholars in cohort 5, whose research posters were not ready to present, talked to the legislators about what they have learned during CURE programming, which takes place every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Shayla talked about an experiment she did to test the amount of iron in cereal using magnets and water. Del. Ben Barnes, who represents the 21st district, was very impressed.

Thats really neat, and I would have never thought to test that, he said. These kids are very well-spoken and bright. They have a great future ahead of them.

The UMB CURE Scholars also visited Annapolis for Advocacy Day in 2019, but this years trip had a new element. Before meeting with Maryland legislators, the scholars took a special tour of the Maryland State House. The tour took them underground through the tunnels that connect the Legislative Services Building to the General Assembly. There, they were able to stand on both the Maryland House and Senate floors. They also learned more about the history that took place in these buildings. This included some recent history that sparked inspiration in the scholars.

In May 2019, the Maryland House unanimously elected Del. Adrienne A. Jones as Speaker of the House, making her the first woman and African-American to be elected to the position. And in the Maryland Senate, a portrait of Verda Freeman, the first African-American woman to be elected to a state senate, is on display in the chamber. The portrait made history in January 2020 as the first African-American portrait to ever be displayed in the Senate Chamber.

This makes me feel really inspired and proud, Shayla said. It makes me feel like if they could do all of this and make a difference in the world, then maybe I can do it, too.

This is exactly what Gia Grier McGinnis, DrPH, MS, executive director of the CURE Scholars Program, was hoping the scholars would take away from this experience.

We're always looking to inspire them to think bigger about their career path, she said. The end goal of CURE is to inspire the next generation of health care leaders, and work in health policy or health law is a huge component of that.

Shayla wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up because she wants to work with children. After this trip to Annapolis, shes considering taking that goal a step further by learning more about how to advocate for childrens health.

I want these scholars to take away that they are part of this government process, Haynes said. This legislative body is a living, breathing body, and were not removed from the public. Its great that theyre here so they can see that if they want to participate now, there are many opportunities for them to do so right now.

The scholars definitely felt part of the legislative process during this trip to Annapolis. After presenting their posters to Maryland lawmakers, the scholars were invited to sit in the House and Senate galleries during the legislative session. They were met with a round of applause from both floors when the Senate president and House speaker recognized them for their academic achievements in CURE Scholars Program.
Intercom CEO Eoghan McCabe has had a transformative year.

The online customer messaging company he co-founded with Des Traynor, Ciaran Lee and David Barrett 10 years ago is now considering an IPO after a steady rise in revenue and customers.

Having expanded into London and San Francisco, Ireland's only 'unicorn' tech firm is also about to move to a new Dublin office with room for 800 people, putting it on course to be the biggest Irish tech company since Iona Technologies in the dotcom boom two decades ago.

And it has released a number of new online products and services using artificial intelligence which may solidify its position of being considered a 'category creation' entity.

At the same time, Mr McCabe was at the centre of an HR issue last year involving a female worker which caused a company investigation and external counsel and blew up into press headlines.

I asked him about each of these issues.

Since your last fundraising round in 2018, where you raised $125m, there hasn't been much by way of your financial performance. Where's the company at now?

We beat our annual target at the end of last year. We've now passed $150m in annual revenue and have more than 30,000 customers globally. When we look forward, we see that we'll be profitable next year. We're at a point now where we get to think longer term, so things like an IPO are conversations that are actively happening now.

How active or how deep is that IPO conversation?

They are real, meaningful, practical conversations internally. We don't have fixed timelines. We don't have fixed outcomes. It's on the menu for us. Before, it was something we aspired to. But now we have the scale and the business in terms of revenue.

Have you hired an investment bank for that?

We're not at that stage yet. It's all on the menu as a set of options for us.

The last valuation in 2018 was $1.275bn. Is that still a proper guide?

Those financial statements are moments in time to show the world where we're at. But we're now at a point where we've moved beyond that kind of private financing and those types of milestones.

We can now dream way bigger about building a very long-term, sustainable profitable business with milestones like an IPO. We now power over half a billion conversations a month and help four billion unique people connect, both inside and outside businesses.

We can see validation in big public companies like HubSpot and Zendesk now building their Intercom-killers behind the scenes, trying to build messengers just like ours.

While we still have brands like Atlassian and Shopify using us, we have crossed a tipping point where big businesses are adopting it. Those are businesses like Aer Lingus and Scottish Power, old organisations that wouldn't classically be described as quick-moving. A lot of our revenue growth is coming from that kind of business.

The revenue we get from customers who pay us more than $100,000 a year has tripled in the last year. These are not small numbers, these are many millions.

Last year, you were the subject of a significant HR and legal issue involving a female employee. Do you have anything to say about that?

There was a concern brought up regarding the early days of the company. Whenever something like this comes up, the most important thing is that everyone is listened to and all perspectives are considered.

You have to get the truth. The truth has to be brought to bear. So I asked the board to investigate. And they ran an independent investigation. They got the truth. And on the back of that they voted to unanimously support me as CEO.

I'm really proud of how we dealt with this. It was an important moment in time for us to show our values.

Is that issue completely resolved?

Very much so.

It led to a lot of commentary about a tech bro culture. What's your response to that?

Technology at large has an opportunity to be ever more inclusive. I think we've made great strides in the last couple of years.

I think we're headed in a better direction.

So you don't think that this has damaged you or Intercom going forward?

Absolutely not.

You just signed a lease for a bigger Dublin office off Stephen's Green. How many people will that take?

It can take 800. We've taken the whole building. We have a little shy of 300 people in Dublin now [out of 600 worldwide]. So that has been a way to put our money where our mouth is.

Dublin is our biggest office and our cultural home. It's where we built all of our technology until recently, when we expanded into London and San Francisco. It's still where we build the bulk of everything. The new office is not just an iteration on what's happened in the past, it's another big bet.

In Dublin, tech companies are currently engaged in containment efforts around the coronavirus. Is Intercom doing anything on this front?

It's a topic of conversation. We'll be making some hard decisions over the next few weeks. The long-term implications are unclear.

It requires responsibility and careful consideration. That said, I think remote working will prove a viable option for more companies than they realised. But you don't want to overdo it and cause panic.

Other than a possible IPO, what are your other expectations for Intercom in the near future?

It's now about long-term sustainability and profitability. In the first few years, a lot of it was about potential. Now we're thinking long-term about what we want to do. That's why these bigger milestones like an IPO are getting discussed.

So we can start to flex our muscles a little bit more. We opened up our London office about two years ago and we started to invest in bots. You're going to see us do a lot more on the technology side.

We're not slowing down at all on inventing things. It can get quite easy at this stage to just sell what we've already built. But a key part of us, the founders and the company, the reason we're here, is to make cool things.

And so you're going to see us do that a lot more.
A new recall effort has emerged against one of the Republican lawmakers who left the Oregon Capitol to protest environmental legislation.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that Sen. Chuck Thomsen of Hood River could face an election to remove him from office if organizers can gather enough signatures.

A Hood River resident launched a recall petition against Thomsen because of his role in the walkout.

In order to force a recall election, the petition effort must gather 9,025 valid signatures by June 2, according to the Secretary of States Office.

Thomsens district stretches from the suburbs of Portland east to Hood River. The district contains around 7,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but non-affiliated voters make up the largest bloc.

 AP
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 06:41:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Iranian business representatives have urged the Iranian government to adopt supportive measures to protect businesses against financial losses posed by the novel coronavirus, Financial Tribune daily reported on Wednesday.

The heads of Iran Chamber of Guilds, Iran Chamber of Cooperatives and Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture asked the government to provide financial assistance and help prevent recession in the already stuttering economy, according to the report.

The appeal focuses on extending the maturity dates of loans to late September without penalties, giving low-interest working capital loans to manufactures and extending strict deadlines that employers must meet for paying their monthly share of social and medical insurance premium.

Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday that Iran's Supreme Council of Economic Coordination has made decisions to assist the country's small businesses as the outbreak of COVID-19 has partially damaged Iran's economy.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, the three council members Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the judiciary chief Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani examined the impacts of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the country's economy and discussed plans to provide support for small businesses until the situation returns to normal.

The decisions they have made include a temporary ease on tax payments, customs debts and bank arrears of the micro business sectors.

Iran's economy, particularly its micro economy, has suffered the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country over the past weeks, in addition to the sanction pressure by the United States.
Footage released by the Turkish government on March 4 showed large numbers of migrants gathered at the border with Greece, and at least one victim of clashes in the area.

This video, filmed southwest of the town of Edirne was shared by the Turkish Directorate of Communications. Tear gas can be seen on the Turkish side of the border. A wounded person is also seen being carried away by other migrants.

It is unclear how the injury was sustained, though Turkish authorities claimed Greek authorities shot at migrants in a no-mans land located past the Turkish border gate located at Pazarkule. A spokesperson for the Greek government denied the claims, and said Turkey was creating and spreading fake news. Local officials in Edirne later reported that one migrant had been killed. Credit: Turkish Government via Storyful
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Company Announcement

Copenhagen, 5 March 2020

No. 04/2020

ISS A/S (ISS.CO, ISS DC, ISS DY), a leading workplace experience and facility management company, today announced that the Annual General Meeting of ISS A/S will be held on

Thursday 2 April 2020 at 11:00 (CET)

at ISS Facility Services A/S, Gyngemose Parkvej 50, DK-2860 Sborg, Denmark.

The notice to convene the Annual General Meeting (including appendices) is enclosed.

Further information about the Annual General Meeting is available at

http://inv.issworld.com/agm

For investor enquiries

Martin Kjr Hansen, Head of Group Investor Relations, +45 20 27 15 25

Daniel McKay, Senior Investor Relations Manager, +45 22 24 65 42

For media enquiries

Rajiv Arvind, Senior Communications Manager, +45 24 90 07 47

About ISS

ISS is a leading workplace experience and facility management company. In partnership with customers, ISS drives the engagement and well-being of people, minimises the impact on the environment, and protects and maintains property. ISS brings all of this to life through a unique combination of data, insight and service excellence at offices, factories, airports, hospitals and other locations across the globe. In 2019, ISS Groups global revenue amounted to DKK 78.6 billion. For more information on the ISS Group, visit www.issworld.com.

ISS A/S, ISIN DK0060542181, ISIN US4651472056

ISS Global A/S, ISIN XS2013618421, ISIN XS1330300341, ISIN XS1145526825, ISIN XS1673102734

Attachments
Romania's stock of industrial and logistics space has topped the threshold of 4 million sqm; eight big cities in the country south, center and west concentrate 90 percent of this space, shows the report Romania Industrial & Logistics Market by real estate consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

According to the document, the only cities in the country east to have caught the attention of private developers of industrial and logistics parks are Iasi, Roman and Braila, but they account for less than 3 percent of the stock, as most developers and potential investors avoid them mainly because of infrastructure issues. "By comparison, Sibiu's stock is larger than everything the region of Moldova holds," the report states."Bucharest is the largest market, with almost 1.9 million sqm and a weight of about 46 percent of the total, followed by Timisoara, which has exceeded the 500,000-sqm line, and Ploiesti with about 370,000 sqm. In the past five years the market has doubled, as developers have delivered between 400,000 and 500,000 sqm every year," says Cristi Moga, head of research Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.According to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox representatives, 2020 promises to be a record year, with around 700,000 sqm announced for handover, of which about 400,000 sqm in Bucharest, which has two important logistics hubs in the works, namely North-West (Dragomiresti, Chitila, Mogosoaia) and North (Stefanesti).Andrei Brinzea, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox partner - Land & Industrial agency, said that the market dynamics in the industrial sector has generated speculative land purchases in 2019, as the developers attempted to anticipate the future needs of potential tenants."We can see new cities like Bacau, Craiova, Buzau, Deva appearing on the relevant map of this activity sector, but also an increased interest for the eastern part of Bucharest, which has also captured the attention of potential tenants. We estimate that in 2020 we will see developers expand their portfolios in smaller cities, but with a higher potential," said Andrei Brinzea.According to him, transactions remained at a high level, as corporate rentals in 2019 stood at about 477,000 sqm, of which contract renewals represent just 20 percent. The most active sectors were automotives (accounting for 30 percent of the total demand), retail (physical and online - 20 percent), distribution in various sectors (12 percent) and logistics and transport (10 percent)."Investors are dependent on infrastructure. Currently we can see a concentration of production capacities in the country west, due to the fact that outbound traveling is much easier here, and to the smoother motorway connections to main cities.The absence of the Pitesti - Sibiu motorway increases travel times very much and the southern area is cut off the west of the country. This is also visible in production volumes, as production in western Romania exceeds by far the output of the south. Railway transport could be a solution, but it will take some time before we will have a modern railway infrastructure, said Andrei Brinzea.According to him, the human resource is the main challenge for the western area. "From my point of view, this is the main risk we are facing. The unemployment is very low. For this reason, the developers have to choose their areas also according to the human resource potential. As Timisoara's unemployment rate is 0.3 percent, we know cases where certain warehouse owners work with open-prison detainees. If you look at Timisoara's restaurant or hotel sector, you will be astonished to see how many Serbian employees they have. Finding personnel nowadays poses a real challenge. I think that at some point, when we will have a real perspective of a motorway in Moldova and in the south, these regions could become much more interesting," added the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox representative.According to the survey, the largest owners of industrial and logistics spaces are real estate developers CTP and WDP, which have a cumulative portfolio of about 2 million sqm, thus controlling half of the market. Other developers such as VGP, Global Vision, Industrial Element, P3 or Helios Phoenix too display a high appetite for expansion.Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has a team of over 60 professionals and collaborators offering a full range of services to investors, developers, owners and tenants. Cushman & Wakefield is one of the global leaders in the field of commercial real estate services, with 51,000 employees in over 70 countries, helping tenants, owners and investors optimize the value of their assets. The main services provided by the company are: consultancy in asset and investment management, capital markets, leasing, property management, tenant representation, project and evaluation services. AGERPRES
Turnover spurts in derivatives segment on account of index options expiry.

The Nifty March 2020 were trading at 11,245, a discount of 24 points compared with the spot at 11,269.

Turnover on the National Stock Exchange's & options (F&O) segment was Rs 37.12 lakh crore compared with Rs 19.40 lakh crore reported in the previous session.

In the cash market, the Nifty 50 index was up 18 points or 0.16% at 11,269.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 3.58% to 23.35.

On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 26 March 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 26.83 lakh at the 12,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 32.21 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price. The option chain indicates that the Nifty will trade between 11,000 to 12,000 levels in March.

Yes Bank (up 26.96%) was banned from trading in NSE's F&O segment for today after the security crossed 95% of market wide position limit.

State Bank of India (SBI), Reliance Industries (RIL) and ICICI Bank were the top traded individual stock contracts in F&O segment of NSE.

SBI March 2020 futures were at 288.90, compared with spot closing price of 287.55. RIL March 2020 futures were at 1,315.00 compared with spot closing price of 1309.90. ICICI Bank March 2020 futures were at 504.40, compared with spot closing price of 504.

The F&O contracts for March expire on 26 March 2020.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 10:01:23|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in the central province of Homs and the southern Quneitra province after midnight Thursday, state news agency SANA reported.

The missiles were fired from Israeli warplanes over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and from Lebanese airspace, said the report, without providing details on the targets.

The attack is the latest in a string of missile strikes carried out by Israel.

Throughout the Syrian crisis, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria, as well as convoys transporting weapons to the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah group.

On Feb. 23, Syrian air defenses intercepted a number of Israeli missiles over Damascus, just 10 days after dealing with some missiles from Golan Heights that targeted areas around the capital.

On Feb. 6, Israel carried out a similar attack around Damascus, killing a number of pro-government fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog.

In January, Damascus accused the Israeli air force of carrying out an attack on the T4 military airport in central Syria.

Last November, the Israeli army carried out a series of airstrikes against Syrian military sites and Iranian forces, killing 23 people, including 16 foreigners, said the Observatory.

The strikes further highlighted the sprawling tensions between Israel and Iran in Syria, which have escalated over the past months.

In 2019 alone, more than 17 Israeli attacks were launched against targets in Syria.
Federal health officials announced new testing criteria, requiring only a doctors agreement. But its unclear whether there are enough tests for everybody wholl want one.

The Daily: Todays episode is about the outbreak in Washington State.

Related: New Jersey has announced its first case, a man in his 30s who had been hospitalized just across the Hudson River from New York City. Nine new cases in New York were connected to a patient in Westchester County.

Closer look: Some patients experienced no physical discomfort from Covid-19, the disease brought on by the virus. Others are still coughing as they recover. Six Americans who have tested positive spoke to The Times about their experiences.

Read more about the symptoms of the coronavirus and the prospects for vaccines and treatments. For an informed guide to the outbreak, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.
Working hand in hand with the White House, Mr. McConnell has devoted substantial time and energy to installing scores of Trump-nominated judges over the past three years and portrays that as a main achievement of the Republican-led Senate. Democrats are trying to convince voters that a Democratic majority in the Senate would slow the Republican judicial juggernaut or begin to offset the effort should a Democrat win the White House.

Democratic officials and their progressive allies said that while Mr. Schumer might have gone too far with his inflammatory words, they were not all that unhappy that the episode put new attention both on the Louisiana case at hand and the Republican push on the courts over all.

Donald Trumps attacks on Senator Schumer are disingenuous and dishonest, as always, said Marge Baker of People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group. The truth is that the electorate will respond vigorously in the fall to efforts to strip people of reproductive rights, and thats what Republicans are afraid of.

In his Thursday comments, Mr. Schumer also sought to shift the focus from his own messaging to the issue of abortion and Senate Republicans.

To the women of America, what we are talking about here, what I am fighting for here, is your right to choose  an issue, of course, Leader McConnell completely ignored in his speech, he said.

Mr. Schumer said the courts would most likely curtail abortion rights because Senate Republicans have confirmed nominees they believe will strip away womens rights and fundamentally change this country, going so far as to deny a duly-elected president the right to pick a Supreme Court justice.

That comment was a reference to Mr. McConnells decision in 2016 to refuse to act on President Barack Obamas nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court, instead keeping the court seat open until Mr. Trump won the election and took office. The blockade still infuriates Democrats.
45 Nebraska inmates were released from prison earlier than they should have due to an error in adjusting good time served, the Nebraska Department of Corrections said Thursday.

NDCS said in a release nearly 140 inmates will receive notice of updates to their institutional records to reflect disciplinary sanctions that were ordered but not applied.

Loss of good time is one of the sanctions authorized by the department when an inmate commits an infraction, like use of drugs, possession of contraband, assault or other behaviors that are prohibited. Those are days that can be assessed against the inmates tentative release date (TRD). It does not impact a persons ability to receive parole, nor does it change someones sentence structure or the amount of time a judge ordered them to serve, NDCS Director Scott Frakes said in a release.

The amount of time assessed ranged from 15 days to 180 days, and 204 sanctions were incorrectly recorded.

"The recently discovered discrepancy was found to impact rule violations that occurred as far back as 10 years ago. During this time frame, 204 sanctions were incorrectly recorded. This is out of over 15,000 good time sanctions recorded," NDCS said in a release.

Whenever an inmate has committed an infraction, a hearing is held. The person is informed of what sanctions are assessed and the right to appeal that determination, explained Dir. Frakes. While all of the inmates in this situation received that notification, the sanctions were not documented properly, which resulted in a failure to make the necessary changes in each individuals TRD.

187 inmates were sanctioned with a loss of good time that was not applied correctly. Of that group, 45 have already discharged or were released to post-release supervision.

Two of those individuals committed a new misdemeanor during the time period when they should have been serving time-related to the disciplinary sanction.

Forty-five individuals got out earlier than they would have, if the sanction had been properly entered, said Dir. Frakes. We have taken appropriate steps to assure that this does not occur going forward.
PALM BEACH, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Mia Martin considers art and historic preservation her two abiding interests. Having grown up in the Virginia hunt country and having lived on an old Virginia estate, she developed her taste for historic architecture. She graduated from Foxcroft School and she attended the Corcoran School of Art. She traveled and studied widely in Europe including at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland, John Cabot University in Rome and Sotheby's in London. Mia Martin then earned a fine arts degree from American University in Washington, D.C. Her deep interest and respect for architectural and cultural heritage led to her active involvement in America's heritage. She became a member of the Council for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and has been a former Trustee of Oatlands Plantation, a co-stewardship with The National Trust.

Mia Martin knows her period homes and has owned quite a few of them. Mia's love affair with European architecture and decorative arts would continue throughout her life. Mia has always tried to incorporate her love of symmetry and visual balance in her houses. Mia Martin's preservation and restoration project's have included her former neo-classical, 1905 Edwardian Mansion designed by Marsh/Peter Architects on Embassy Row in D.C., which she later sold to the Embassy of Estonia. As the Washington Post's Sarah Booth Conway wrote, "Martin had her heart on selling it to a Baltic Country" and she did. She followed her hunch that when the Baltic states broke away from the former Soviet Union the various countries would need their own Embassy in Washington. She later bought a classic Virginia farmhouse, (the former Phipps estate, which has a ballroom), and then her current Florida home, a Palm Beach Classic Regency-style gem of a house.

While Mia Martin feels that there is a time and place for different architectural styles, the Regency style is her favorite. "It is wonderful owning a classic one-story Regency house." Not only is it in a great location, full of light with high ceilings and large open spaces with rooms of generous proportions but it is ideal for entertaining, both inside and out. "We did not need a house as large as our historic Virginia house as we tend to enjoy smaller and more intimate gatherings here. Mia Martin agrees with Real Estate agent, Paulette Koch's view that property owners are downsizing from their larger houses up north to ones in Palm Beach. They are more manageable and easier to live in, particularly in a single-story house.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579295/Mia-Martin-Talks-About-Her-Love-for-Palm-Beach-Classic-Regency-Houses
Based on surveillance footage, police said they believe a man thought to be in his early 20s with a heavy build is suspected of committing the burglary. He was captured on camera wearing a New York Yankees cap and a black, puffy DKNY coat, along with green camouflage pants and tan work boots, at the time of incident, Copeland said.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

From 39 to five.

The Board of Education has narrowed the pool of applicants for Albuquerque Public Schools next superintendent to five semifinalists, including two district principals and candidates from out of state.

The district is looking to fill the role that will be left open when Superintendent Raquel Reedy retires at the end of the school year. Reedy was officially named superintendent in 2016 after serving as interim.

Three women and two men make up the shortened list announced by the board late Wednesday.

I think they are good candidates, and they have a wide range of experience, board President David Peercy told the Journal.

Vickie Bannerman, Volcano Vista High School principal, and Kimberly Finke, principal of Whittier Elementary School, are two familiar faces to the APS community who were named semifinalists.

Bannerman, a former teacher, describes herself in her application as a student-focused, faculty-friendly leader.

I am interested in serving as the next superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools because we are ready for (and in need of) right now, real growth and advancement for the students we serve and the professionals who work hardest to serve them. I have an over-arching vision for our district with a laser focus on children, she said in the application.

A former band teacher in Gallup, Finke touted experience in school turnaround and working with low-income and high-minority populations.

Whittier was threatened with closure, and Finke was brought on to improve the school.

Our district desperately needs a dealer in hope. I believe that our schools can and should be the center of our community. I believe that they should be a driving force in the economic health of our city and state, Finke said in her application.

Michelle Cavazos, chief officer for academics and social emotional learning at Austin (Texas) Independent School District, also made the cut. She wrote in her application that she works with a district of similar size as APS: over 80,000 students across about 130 schools.

I collaborate with families, businesses, legislators, and our communities as a whole to pull our schools together as one family, she wrote in her application.

There are also some former superintendents who were named semifinalists.

James McIntyre, assistant professor and director for the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, is the former superintendent of Knox County Schools.

I have learned how to effectively lead a complex educational organization, how to create and execute a transformational strategic plan, how to focus on both equity and excellence, and how to galvanize the efforts of educators and stakeholders around the most critical work: outstanding instruction and high-level learning for every student in every classroom, every day, he wrote in his application.

Bolgen Vargas, who is currently a consultant, is a former superintendent of Rochester City School District in New York and Manchester Public School District in New Hampshire.

In both Manchester and Rochester, I was able to build the capacity of every school to respond to the needs of our students by beginning to close the opportunity gap that plagues so many of our students, including our most vulnerable students who are English language learners, who have special needs, and those who are refugees, he wrote in his application.

The elected representatives of the school board are looking for someone who values student voice, has an extensive background in education and can competently communicate with the press, among other characteristics, according to a list of desired traits that was influenced by community and staff.

A few associate superintendents applied for the job, but none of them made it to the next round.

We looked at the capabilities of what we thought would make a good superintendent, and we had to narrow it down to a finite number. All the associates were good candidates, Peercy said.

APS staff will begin background checks on the semifinalists, and interviews with the superintendent hopefuls will be conducted later this month.

Peercy said finalists are expected to be announced by March 21.

The aim is to have someone officially taking the superintendent reins on July 1, though an announcement of the final pick is expected earlier.

Whoever takes over the role will be the executive officer of the states largest school district, with more than 80,000 students and about 12,000 employees.

Board members spent hours during two closed-door meetings discussing the applications and picking the top candidates.

To talk out of earshot of the public, the board must vote to go into executive session, but that vote brought a clash between board members.

District 2 board member Peggy Muller-Aragon and District 5 board member Candelaria Patterson voted against entering executive session at the first meeting on Wednesday afternoon. Muller-Aragon said she is against the premise, adding that she thinks the public should get to listen to the debate. District 3 board member Lorenzo Garcia responded that he resented the way Muller-Aragon framed executive discussion as a backroom deal.

Semifinalists for APS Superintendent

 Vickie Bannerman, Volcano Vista High School principal

 Michelle Cavazos, chief officer for Academics and Social Emotional Learning, Austin Independent School District

 Kimberly Finke, principal of Whittier Elementary School

 James McIntyre, assistant professor and director, Center for Educational Leadership, University of Tennessee

 Bolgen Vargas, consultant, self-employed
SAN FRANCISCO  A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a $50 million lawsuit filed by Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic presidential candidate, that accused Google of infringing on her free speech when it briefly suspended her advertising account last year.

The judge, Stephen V. Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, granted Googles motion to dismiss the lawsuit because the Gabbard campaign had failed to prove that the First Amendment clause that prohibits the government from curbing free speech applied to Google as a private company.

The Gabbard campaigns lawsuit failed to establish how Googles regulation of its own platform is in any way equivalent to a governmental regulation of an election, Judge Wilson wrote in his order.

Ms. Gabbard, a congressional representative from Hawaii, is still a candidate for the Democratic nomination but has failed to garner any significant support in the early votes or national polls. She did, however, win her first delegate on Tuesday, from American Samoa. Officials with the Gabbard campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.
Among Americas 10 largest cities, Houston faces the greatest danger of being undercounted in the 2020 Census, meaning millions of people could miss out on equitable services and political representation in the coming decade.

Producing this once-a-decade snapshot of the population means overcoming language barriers and the digital divide, tracking down couch surfers, college students, migrant workers and homeless people and convincing undocumented immigrants and recent refugees to fill out the form online, on paper or by phone. Some fear exposure or are suspicious of the government.

In addition, the state has not provided funds for Census efforts.

But Houston and Harris County have launched a $6 million complete count mobilization that will use real-time response data and employ trusted voices within faith groups, health agencies, schools and cultural hubs to encourage community members to fill out the nine-question form. The outreach also includes billboards, traditional and social media campaigns and five new Census-focused murals in neighborhoods with high populations of people who are traditionally hard for census workers to locate, contact, persuade or interview.

The city and county commissioned a study by Lopez Negrete Communications, a local firm, which found there is no one-size-fits-all solution that reaches undercounted communities. Latinos tended to lack information about the Census and did not recognize a clear benefit in participating. Blacks knew more about it and wanted to participate to prevent gerrymandering. Chinese respondents were more willing to participate if it was online, but the messaging had to be tailored toward a better future. Vietnamese participants were more likely to respond if they thought it was mandatory. Census outreach efforts have been tailored to address some of these findings.

Although the 2010 effort was billed as a success, 25 percent of the regions households did not respond to that Census, officials said. The Census estimates 61,500 people in Harris County were not counted.

There is no single cause for the undercount, so there is no single solution, said Mariana Navarro, a spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau at the Dallas field office.

The region is replete with hard-to-count populations that have been identified by the Census, including young children, renters, racial and ethnic minorities, non-English speakers, LGBTQ people, low-income people, people with mental or physical disabilities and undocumented immigrants. About 800,000 of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the country are believed to have been missed, according to the Center for Migration Studies. The New York based think tank noted that participation of undocumented residents was higher than officials expected.

Its imperative to get it right, bridge gaps and reach people this time, according Nabila Mansoor, who advocates for civic engagement in the Asian and Pacific Islander community through the Empowering Communities Initiative and in Muslim communities through Emgage, groups helping in the effort.

More Information Key facts about Census 2020 -Census forms will be mailed on March 12 and participants may respond online for the first time, or complete the form in writing or by phone, with assistance available in multiple languages. -In 2020, participants can complete the nine-question form online, mail in a printed form in English or Spanish or report their answers by phone to a Census worker in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, French, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Polish or Haitian Creole. Enumerators will also spread out across the country to begin collecting information door to door in some regions of the country. -Information is available at Census 2020 website. -For general questions: Visit Census Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, or call 301-763-INFO (4636) or 800-923-8282. -For information on services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing:Call the TTY number at 800-877-8339 to reach the Federal Relay Service. -Article I, section 2, of the U.S. Constitution requires that every person in the United States - including recent immigrants, tourists and babies - be counted in the Census. -The government is prohibited from disclosing Census information, including names, addresses and social security number for 72 years. A violation is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. -The Census asks how many people are in the home, ages, genders, relationships, racial and ethnic backgrounds and marital status. -The Census does not ask about citizenship, immigration status, criminal record, public benefits or income. See More Collapse

Historically, when you look at how the Census has been rolled out you see theres been a systemic undercounting of certain communities thats embedded in the structure of the Census, Mansoor said. Groups without power tend not to respond.

Immigrants may see someone come to the door and theyre wearing some kind of government badge and dont speak the language. Are you going to open the door? It sounds good on paper, but Im not sure the execution is such that well get a full count, she said.

In Mansoors view, There are lots of imperfections in the form that is trying to get a profile of our nation that is changing so fast.

A key to reaching those who dont know about the Census, dont understand its importance or dont trust the government, local officials believe, is the corps of trusted advocates they have recruited.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday stated that the authorities focus on stopping the spreading of coronavirus and he called for wisdom, balance, calm and realism.

"In the current context, in which we focus on stopping the spreading of coronavirus, I call for wisdom, balance, calm and realism so that our social life doesn't become a victim of a panic epidemic, on the background of mistrust and fake news," said Iohannis, at the Women in Economy 2020 Gala that took place at the Romanian Athenaeum.A new case of coronavirus was confirmed on Wednesday at a 71-aged man from Suceava, informed the Group for Strategic Communication. This was the 6th case of infection with COVID-19 confirmed in Romania.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 12:16 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206870850 4 World Vice-President-Maruf-Amin,India,religious-tolerance,sectarianism,New-Delhi,blasphemy Free

Vice President Maruf Amin has expressed his hope for India to follow in Indonesias footsteps in maintaining tolerance amid rising sectarian conflict in the South Asian country.

As a fellow multicultural nation, he said Indonesia could be an example in maintaining religious moderation.

We want India to act like us, Indonesia, in building tolerance and moderation within [our] religious life, Maruf said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

The Vice President, who is also a key figure of the Indonesian Ulema Council and Indonesias biggest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), pointed out the importance of applying such principles and urged all religions to apply that as well.

We will be able to maintain harmony and peace [thanks to those principles], said Maruf.

Sporadic violence hit parts of the Indian capital of New Delhi as gangs roamed streets littered with the debris of days of sectarian riots that left more than 30 people dead, reports said.

AFP reported last week that thousands of riot police and paramilitaries patrolled the affected northeast fringes of the Indian capital of 20 million people, preventing any major eruptions.

Read also: A mob out for blood: India's protests pit Hindus against Muslims

The unrest is the latest bout of violence over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial citizenship law, which says that Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are not eligible for citizenship, triggering months of demonstrations that turned deadly in December.

Maruf cited Indonesias initiative to hold an interfaith dialogue among the worlds religious figures to exchange ideas on how to build peace and religious harmony. The dialogue, he added, would help maintain harmonious social relations, not only in Indonesia but also in the world.

I think that is our concept. We want other countries to be like Indonesia, said the prominent cleric.

Read also: Religious harmony index up but intolerance remains

Maruf put himself was in the spotlight in 2017 amid a blasphemy case involving then-Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, a prominent Chinese-Indonesian politician. He led the ulema council, which announced that Basuki had committed blasphemy during a speech in in Thousand Islands regency.

Two years later, Maruf  who was President Joko Jokowi Widodos running mate  was seen in a video saying that he regretted taking part in efforts to imprison Ahok for blasphemy, saying he was forced to do so, although he initially did not want to imprison anyone. The video went viral and sparked various public responses.

However, it was not the first time he ignited public debate over his decisions as MUI chairman.

The MUI suggested disbanding Islamic minority group Ahmadiyah in 2011 to end controversy surrounding the group. At that time, Maruf said Ahmadiyah was a deviant group, citing a statement from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The government and civil society groups have raised their voices over the deadly conflict in India.

The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it had called the Indian ambassador in Jakarta to discuss the riots that had claimed dozens of lives, expressing Jakartas confidence in New Delhi to restore peace in the country.

Islamic groups, including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, condemned the violence in New Delhi, calling on the government to take diplomatic action to contain the situation. GP Anshor, NUs youth wing, went as far as to urge the government to call out the Indian government for the violence. (asp)
[March 05, 2020] PCG Leads School Violence Threat Assessment Panel at SXSW EDU March 9

Following a spate of tragic, deadly U.S. school shootings, what are today's best practices for school administrators to identify students at highest risk for violence and provide monitoring and intervention? "Behavioral Threat Assessment & Community Resources" is the focus of a panel discussion being led March 9 at the SXSW (News - Alert) EDU Conference & Festival by Public Consulting Group, Inc. (PCG). The Boston-based consulting firm has developed a secure, Web-based BTA solution and overall consulting approach drawing on models developed by the U.S. Secret Service, Commonwealth of Virginia, and top educators and safety officials around the country. PCG Senior Associate Paul Wilson will lead a SXSW EDU panel on Monday, March 9, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. that also features: Dan Gohl, Chief Academic Officer of the Broward County (Florida) Public Schools, who has managed the aftermath of the tragedy at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018. Kathy Martinez-Prather, Director of the Texas School Safety Center, who leads her state's efforts in implementing best practices in addressing school violence. John Van Dreal, former Director of Safety and Risk Management for the Salem-Keizer Public Schools system in Salem, Oregon, who has written the book on school threat assessment. He developed the Salem-Keizer model for threat assessment, whih is widely used across the country.



Daniel Wistman, a manager in PCG's Education practice, said, "Evidence-based behavioral threat assessments can play a critical role as part of a multi-agency approach that creates a collaborative network of school, law enforcement, juvenile justice, community behavioral health, and other public-sector resources to prevent school shootings and violence."

PCG's BTA solution uses a case-management approach to identify threats by students, review contextual evidence including interviews with teachers and classmates and school records, and assign a risk level to the student. The solution informs and supports educators and school staff as they plan necessary actions and interventions, monitor students' behavior and completion of planned interventions, and analyze overall data and trends. "By gathering in one secure Web-accessible portal with dashboard, information that all too often has been siloed in databases, or even on paper, we can help school leaders identify students on a pathway to violence and refer them for support and behavioral- and mental-health services before threats turn into tragedy," Wistman said. When necessary, the solution platform can facilitate immediate communications and collaboration from members of a monitored student's BTA team both inside and outside the school district to head off potential harm. PCG research has identified many characteristics of students who have threatened and committed school violence: 66 percent have had no mental health evaluation, 71 percent were victims of bullying, and 78 percent considered or attempted suicide. Building off that research and the Virginia Model for Student Threat Assessment and the National Threat Assessment Center, PCG has partnered with school districts in Florida, Virginia, and school leaders elsewhere to refine the BTA solution. The SXSW EDU "Behavioral Threat Assessment & Community Resources" panel will be held in room 18AB of the Austin Convention Center at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 9, 2020. About Public Consulting Group

Public Consulting Group, Inc. (PCG) is a leading public sector solutions implementation and operations improvement firm that partners with health, education, and human services agencies to improve lives. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Boston, Mass., PCG has over 2,500 professionals in more than 50 offices around the US, in Canada and in Europe. To learn more, visit?http://www.publicconsultinggroup.com/education/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005115/en/

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India is in touch with Iran on



possible evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stuck in the coronavirus-hit nation, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday.

Making a statement on the situation after cases of coronavirus surfaced, he said a total of 29 people in India have tested positive, including three initial cases in Kerala who have since recuperated and discharged.

New cases include one in Delhi with a travel history of Italy and another in Telengana, who came in contact with a Singapore national in Dubai.

Six persons, who came in contact with the person infected with the virus in Delhi, have tested positive, he said detailing steps taken by the government to contain its spread.

"The government is taking all necessary measures to prevent spread of COVID-19 in India," he said.

The government has carried out two evacuation missions, bringing back a total of 767 from China. All of them have been kept in quarantine and have so far tested negative for the virus, he said.

The minister said the government is following up with Iran to tie-up evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Tehran and Qom as per need.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday visited the riot-affected areas of northeast Delhi and took stock of the situation there.

Baijal held a review meeting with officials on several issues, including security. He also held a meeting with peace committees in northeast Delhi.

The Delhi Police till Wednesday had registered 531 FIRs and arrested or detained 1,647 people in connection with the communal violence that claimed at least 42 lives.

Forty-seven of the cases were registered under the Arms Act, an officer said.

The situation in the riot-affected areas is under control, police said.

Security forces continue to be deployed in riot-affected areas and have been conducting regular flag marches to ensure that the situation remains calm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 05:41:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Thursday expressed "deep concern" over the crisis in Guinea-Bissau spawned by the December election that fractured the country's political leadership.

In a statement, the members of the council called on the parties in the African country to respect the legal and constitutional frameworks and the democratic process to resolve the post-electoral crisis.

They called on the parties to prioritize dialogue and peaceful settlement of the crisis and to refrain from actions and statements that could further exacerbate tensions.

The political leadership of Guinea-Bissau has fractured since a second-round presidential vote in December saw opposition leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo beat Domingos Simoes Pereira, candidate of the long-ruling PAIGC party, as announced by the National Electoral Commission.

Embalo was sworn in last Thursday as president by the first Vice President of the National People's Assembly Nuno Gomes Na Biam.

The Supreme Court of Justice has issued rulings requiring a check of the vote tally sheets after PAIGC filed a lawsuit.

According to media reports, a dozen soldiers on Monday occupied the grounds of Guinea-Bissau's Supreme Court of Justice, in a move that has deepened the post-election crisis.

In Thursday's statement, the members of the Security Council expressed their support to the Economic Community of West African States' (ECOWAS) mediation role and welcomed its decision to send a mission of experts to Bissau to meet with the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Electoral Commission.

They also called on ECOWAS to send a high-level political mission to Guinea-Bissau to help speed up efforts to resolve the post electoral crisis.

The members of the Security Council urged Guinea-Bissau's defense and security forces to not interfere with the post-electoral and political crisis and encouraged the forces of ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau to continue ensuring the security of state institutions and organs.
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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita and Yuliasri Perdani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/The Hague  Mon, March 9, 2020

Dutch King Willem-Alexander is due to arrive in Indonesia for a state visit next week, the first time since his inauguration in 2013.

Officials have promised an itinerary with a heavy emphasis on economic issues, but unresolved demands from those affected by past war crimes still loom large over the monarch's visit.

King Willem-Alexander is expected to arrive in Jakarta on March 9 accompanied by Queen Maxima, four Dutch cabinet ministers and a business delegation of about 130 people, the Foreign Ministry has announced.

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President Duterte has ordered that the existing VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) with the United States) be canceled. In this case, it means not renewed. Without the VFA any American troops entering the Philippines will have to apply for a visa. This is a time consuming process but that is not all. Without VFA American military personnel are subject to Filipino courts and legal proceedings. As a general rule the United States requires something like the VFA, usually called a Status Of Forces (SOF) agreement, before it will allow U.S. troops to enter the territory of a friendly nation. The Philippines still has a Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States and that could still be invoked by the Philippines if needed. The more immediate damage from no VFA is American military assistance during an emergency, usually of the natural disaster variety. The closest American aid us usually the U.S. Navy which can quickly provide helicopters, medical care, electrical power (from docked warships) as well as radio and other communications gear brought ashore for a disaster zone. Without a VFA/SOF such emergency aid is limited depending on the risk from corrupt local justice systems and politicians. There are fewer problems with American troops visiting the Philippines to provide training assistance or, as has often happened in the last few decades the U.S. forces provide additional intelligence and aerial surveillance support. Without the VFA these troops have restrictions on their activities. They are usually restricted to the bases they are working from as well as travel restrictions. The Filipino military opposes the VFA cancellation but the president is the boss and has the final say.

The loss of the VFA is in response to the U.S. sanctions imposed on some Filipinos involved with Dutertes war on drugs. One of the key Filipino police commanders who carried out the war on drugs was Ronald dela Rosa, who commanded the national police at the start of the war on drugs. Two years later he retired, ran for the senate and won. His victory was largely because of his prominent role in getting the war on drugs going. Even before Duterte became president dela Rosa was a fan and in the senate he became a major ally of the president. But some foreign nations consider dela Rosa a criminal for what they feel was illegal acts during the war on drugs. Duterte and most Filipinos disagree with that. They also disagree with punishing dela Rosa with sanctions so there is popular support for discarding the VFA.

Since 2016, when Duterte was elected and began, as promised, the war on drugs, nearly 6,000 suspected drug dealers, distributors and smugglers have died. Another 240,000 suspects were arrested or turned themselves in. About four percent of those arrested turned out to be key people in the drug business and this has done a lot of damage to the illegal drug trade.

For the people most affected by the war on drugs, there is approval. Filipinos feel safer and more confident about their future. The national crime rate is 3.3 percent less than a year ago and is apparently continuing to decline. This has been despite foreign and local protests over the shoot first tactics employed. Recent surveys have shown fewer Filipinos are victims of crime in general and most attribute this to the anti-drug operations. Drugs are still a problem as smuggling of heroin and meth from Burma (the Golden Triangle) and cocaine from South America continue, as do a growing number of synthetic drugs from China. The smugglers and dealers are now a lot more discreet and harder for the police, and even many potential customers, to find. In the last few years, hundreds of corrupt cops and other officials have been identified and prosecuted or simply expelled from their jobs if there was not enough evidence for prosecution. Many corrupt senior officials were identified and punished.

In addition to eliminating the VFA, Duterte has also ordered senior government officials to cancel any plans to visit the United States. If nothing else this forces the Americans to discuss these matters with the Filipino government. Filipinos often feel ignored or taken for granted by the United States and there is some truth to that. But now the Philippines is the front line in the conflicts with China. There is no disagreement over that but as usual, the devil is in the details.

Islamic And Political Terrorism

The Islamic terrorists (Abu Sayyaf and smaller factions) and leftist NPA rebels are becoming less active because their numbers have been reduced by over a decade of army and police campaigns directed at them. The military believes the NPA will be gone, at least as a widespread threat, by the middle of the decade. The Islamic terror groups can be reduced to local nuisances but not completely eliminated because Islamic scripture explicitly justifies and encourages terrorism. Most Moslems dont interpret those portions of the Koran that way but there are always some Islamic clergy and scholars who do. This has been a problem within the Moslem world for over a thousand years and, until the last century, was largely ignored in the West because fanatical Moslems were content to attack less enthusiastic (about religious violence) fellow Moslems. Over a trillion dollars in unexpected oil and gas income plus the development of cheap global media and communications made it possible for more non-Moslems to be threatened or attacked. Moslem leaders finally admitted that they had this problem but several decades of efforts to find a solution have so far failed. Every country with a Moslem minority has had to find its own temporary solution. In the Philippines, it was a sustained military campaign against Islamic terror groups and autonomy for a few Moslem majority provinces in the south. Eight percent of Filipinos are Moslem and most live in those few southern provinces.

March 3, 2020: In the south (Maguindanao province) troops clashed with a BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) Islamic terrorists and killed three of them while two others got away. BIFF considers itself part of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and has been under constant heavy attack since late 2018. Only a few dozen members remain active. BIFF was originally formed to oppose BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), the autonomous Moslem region because they considered it insufficient. Since it was finally created in early 2019 BARMM has proved very popular among Moslems and that meant much less support for groups like BIFF.

BARMM finally gained voter approval in early 2019. This led to the disarmament, demobilization and retraining of MILF militias, a process that will not be complete until 2022 because this process includes over 25,000 local militias and private armies. Many of the former MILF and militia fighters will become part of the 40,000 strong Bangsamoro security forces. In the meantime, these MILF and local militia forces are expected to help deal with organized crime and Islamic terrorists operating near them. Most of the MILF militias began as local defense forces and now that is their primary function until they are demobilized, with many members ending up as local police.

March 2, 2020: A recent survey by an international accounting firm found that in the last two years 21 percent of Filipino companies reported they had been asked to pay a bribe and 14 percent reported they had lost a business opportunity because a rival had paid a bribe. The survey showed that corruption had gotten worse in 2019.

February 29, 2020: In the south (Sarangani Province), soldiers acting on information from several recently captured or surrendered NPA rebels found over a dozen rifles and ammunition buried in several locations near rural towns and villages.

February 28, 2020: In the south (Maguindanao province), troops, acting on a tip from a local civilian found and captured a BIFF camp and seized weapons, explosives and documents.

In central Philippines (Bohol and Negros Oriental provinces), two clashes with NPA forces over the last two days left three of the leftist rebels and one soldier dead. This is only the third time in ten years that there has been any NPA activity in this area. Military intelligence believes NPA is sending members to areas the leftists had long been driven out of to rebuild. Local civilians have not forgotten NPA violence and extortion and cell phones make it easy to report NPA activity.

February 23, 2020: In the south (Sulu province), two known Abu Sayyaf men were killed after troops found them. The two Islamic terrorists refused to surrender and began firing at the troops. That gunfire left two soldiers wounded. One of the dead men was also known to be active in the local ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) faction.

February 16, 2020: In the north (Isabela province), troops encountered a high-ranking NPA leader, a medical specialist and a bodyguard and killed all three in a brief gun battle. The three men were seeking money from local civilians and one of the locals called the military which responded. The NPA has long been active in this area and is generally regarded as bandits who believe in communism.

February 15, 2020: In the south (North Cotabato province), troops tracked down a known NPA leader who was hiding out in a rural village. Soldiers and police surrounded the hideout and called on their suspect to surrender but instead, they got gunfire. The NPA leader was shot dead.

February 6, 2020: In the south (Agusan del Sur), a week of army operations against NPA forces in the area led to the death of several NPA members, the seizure of NPA equipment and the surrender, with their weapons, of 19 local NPA.

February 5, 2020: In the south (Agusan del Norte province), a long police investigation finally tracked down a senior NPA leader. The man refused to surrender, fired on the police and was himself killed.

January 29, 2020: In the south (Bukidnon province), NPA rebels ambushed a police convoy and a policeman and wounded three others. One of the uninjured men in the convoy was a police general involved with planning police efforts to eliminate the NPA entirely.

January 26, 2020: The Coast Guard has received three elderly, but serviceable, S.211 two-seat jet trainer aircraft for coastal patrol. These seven ton aircraft can stay in the air for more than four hours by carrying an external fuel tank.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation reopened their gaming facility after addressing fears connected to the coronavirus in Oregon.

The Wildhorse Resort and Casino was once again welcoming customers as of noon on Wednesday. The facility had been closed for 48 hours while staff conduct a "deep cleaning" following news that an employee tested "presumptive positive" for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The safety of our patrons is our highest priority, Gary George, the chief executive officer of Wildhorse, said in a news release . We deeply appreciate the leadership of the board of trustees and the guidance and support of our public health incident command team.

Even though this global pandemic has hit home, we are proud of our local Tribal Government and employees for... Posted by Wildhorse Resort & Casino on Wednesday, March 4, 2020

The affected employee worked in a "restricted" area of Wildhorse, according to an update shared by the casino on Tuesday. The person was not in direct contact with guests, and did not handle food served at the facility.

We are all praying for a speedy recovery of our staff member, said Kat Brigham, the chair of the the tribe's board of trustees. We appreciate everyones patience and look forward to welcoming back our friends and patrons.

The tribe acted quickly on Monday after learning of the "presumptive positive" test. A command center was set up at the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center , and officials have been working closely with state, local and federal authorities to address the potential spread of the coronavirus.

Latest Update from Public Health Incident Command. pic.twitter.com/lXAJ7pPBRC  Umatilla Conf.Tribes (@1855CTUIR) March 4, 2020

According to a health center news release , "the risk of exposure to coronavirus at Wildhorse Resort and Casino is minimal."

In another update , the command center reminded the public of "no known positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the reservation. The affected employee had been engaged in public activity off the reservation, in a nearby community.

The Wildhorse employee is the third known case of COVID-19 in Oregon, according to the state health agency . No further incidents have been reported since Monday.

"Even though this global pandemic has hit home, we are proud of our local Tribal Government and employees for prioritizing the importance of the health and safety of our guests," the casino said in a post on social media that documented some of the efforts taken on the reservation to address the coronavirus. " Wildhorse has been re-certified for occupancy by local, State and Tribal health officials. We are proud to welcome you back!"

The story looks a lot different in neighboring Washington, where at least 70 coronavirus cases have been confirmed. Ten people connected to COVID-19 have died in the state.

And in neighboring California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a health emergency on Wednesday. A person died from COVID-19, the first in the state, where at least 53 cases have been reported.

California is also the largest Indian gaming market in the U.S. It's home to more than 100 tribes and the largest population of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the country.

Oregon is home to 10 federally recognized tribes. Their reservations are spread throughout the state, with Umatilla located in the northeastern region, not far from the border with Washington.

Washington is home to 29 federally recognized tribes. Many have homelands in the heavily populated area around Seattle, where the majority of coronavirus cases have been identified.

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio lambasted the federal government over delays with distributing coronavirus testing kits as the number of cases continues to surge across the country.

De Blasio said the city has been unable to keep up with the growing need for test kits as more people are identified as having potentially been exposed to COVID-19 - noting that the issue extends across the country.

Describing the shortage to CNN on Thursday evening, de Blasio said: 'Troubling only begins to describe it. This is becoming an embarrassment for the United States of America.'

'The fact that the federal government cannot even get tests out is extraordinarily problematic.

'It's underlying why this crisis could get a lot worse. Because we can't get our arms around what's happening if we don't have testing kits.'

The number of New York cases surged to 22 on Thursday as officials said they are monitoring 2,773 New York City residents who are quarantined in their homes.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared on CNN Thursday evening and lambasted the federal government over delays with distributing coronavirus testing kit

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on the coronavirus test kit delays: There's something wrong here that the federal government is missing and they must fix https://t.co/o9aYj69AYu pic.twitter.com/NNYEge7iqi  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 5, 2020

New York City Health Commissioner Dr Oxiris Barbot said that most of the nearly 3,000 individuals under quarantine had recently returned home from five countries considered to be coronavirus hot spots: China, South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan.

'We reach out to them on a daily basis to make sure they are not developing symptoms,' Barbot said at a press briefing Thursday.

'They have a phone number to call us if and when they develop symptoms. There haven't been any individuals in that group that have reached out to us.'

The vast majority are in home isolation voluntarily, Barbot said.

The city has imposed a mandatory quarantine for people who actively have the disease, individuals who are in close contact with them, and anyone returning from Wuhan province in China.

Currently there are no cases that meet the Wuhan criteria, according to Dr Demetre Daskalakis, deputy commissioner for disease control at the Dept of Health.

NEW YORK STATE CORONAVIRUS CASES WESTCHESTER: 17 NEW YORK CITY: 4 LONG ISLAND: 1 Advertisement

Tests are now being carried out by the hundreds to determine who the infected people came into contact with and if they too now have the disease.

However, de Blasio said the city cannot get enough tests fast enough to keep up.

The city has 1,000 tests currently, but with fast-growing numbers, de Blasio said the city urgently needs more.

The mayor recalled a January 24 press conference where he said: 'It's not a matter of if but when we would see coronavirus cases in New York City.'

He said it's ridiculous that officials have spent the past six weeks pleading with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to give them the ability to perform tests locally.

'It took until Monday of this week for us to finally have individual testing capacity, but we do not have enough,' he said.

'There's something wrong here that the federal government is missing and they must fix.

'If they could get testing capacity out to cities and towns around America in really substantial numbers, we could actually get ahead of this crisis and manage it properly because at least we'd know who has it and who doesn't, and we'd know what to do as a result.'

As of Thursday, more than 200 coronavirus cases are confirmed and 12 people have died

The CDC says six states - Alabama, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming -are not currently testing for coronavirus but are 'in progress'

De Blasio's attack came just after the CDC revealed that six states are currently not testing for coronavirus.

The federal health agency published a map of all states and territories with at least one laboratory using diagnostic tests for the disease.

Almost every states is listed as currently testing for coronavirus, except Alabama, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Those six states are currently listed as being 'in progress,' according to the map key.

However, MaineHealth announced that it has begun testing and is sending samples to the CDC.

Maine say it has begun testing and is sending swabs from test kits to the CDC.

Oklahoma's Department of Health announced on Tuesday that it plans to do its own coronavirus testing.

The Ohio Department of Health says it will be conducted its own testing later this week and Alabama and Wyoming say they're in the process of setting up their laboratories.

DailyMail.com is reaching out for comment from the laboratories.

Across the country, there are more than 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths.

Meanwhile, Washington state officials are urging patience as medical staff report fear and anger among people told they could not be tested for the coronavirus due to limited capacity.

Clinics in the Seattle area reported an increase in patients seeking tests after the state reported 39 cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths.

Health officials and front-line medical staff in Seattle's King County, the location of most cases, asked mildly sick people to stay home rather than inundate clinics and hospitals for tests and risk infecting others.

Meanwhile, Washington health officials have asked for patience, saying they don't have the capacity to test everyone asking to be tested. Pictured: CDC's test kit for coronavirus

'We know there is huge demand out there for testing, we know there are a lot of people in our state who are sick and they want to know if they have [coronavirus],' state health officer Kathy Lofy said at a news conference.

'I want to tell you we are doing everything possible to expand testing capacity here in our state.'

Nurse practitioner Paula Ruedebusch, who works at an urgent care clinic in the Seattle suburb of Monroe, asked patients not to take out frustrations on front-line medical staff.

'We have had patients presenting here, angry that they cannot be tested for COVID-19, yelling, cussing, throwing their dirty mask at us and even spitting their secretions on the floor and walls on their way out,' Ruedebusch wrote on Facebook.

'Please don't do that. We are not the ones making the decisions here, we are just the ones trying to triage, manage and treat those who are sick and injured...and, that is just gross.

WHY ARE SO FEW PEOPLE GETTING TESTED FOR CORONAVIRUS?

Testing was initially delayed after the first round of kits sent out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to state and local health departments were defective.

It is believed one of the chemicals used in the test did not work properly, resulting in the test needing to be remanufactured.

About 200 kits were sent out to US laboratories, with eachkit being able to test between 700 and 800 patients.

But doctors say more test kits were needed to begin with.

Another issue was that the CDC initially set narrow criteria on who could be tested.

At first, only those with a travel history to China - where the outbreak emerged - or those who had been exposed to a confirmed coronavirus patient were tested.

That changed after the first patient of 'unknown diagnosis' was confirmed in California, believed to be of so-called community spread.

Community spread occurs when it is unclear how someone became infected.

FDA Dr Stephen Hahn (pictured) told reporters on Monday that close to one million people would be tested by the end of the week, but figures indicate it's likely closer to 100,000

ng Vice President Mike Pence (center) announced on Tuesday evening said that 'any American can be tested' for as long as a doctor approves it

This led to the CDC amending criteria so that people with symptoms, who need to be hospitalized and no other cause for their illness is found, can be tested.

They don't need to have a travel history or exposure to another patient.

US Food and Drug Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn told reporters on Monday that close to one million people would be tested by the end of the week.

But figures from the Association of Public Health Laboratories show that likely no more than 100,000 people would be tested by week's end.

Since the CDC's testing fiasco, several health departments have either received new kits from the federal agency or made their own.

In an attempt to speed up testing Vice President Mike Pence announced on Tuesday evening said that 'any American can be tested' for as long as a doctor approves it.

He also assured that the test will be covered by all private insurance plans and by Medicare and Medicaid.

At a White House briefing on Wednesday, Pence said 1.5 million test kits are ready to to be distributed this week.

OFFICIALS URGE ANYONE WHO IS SICK TO STAY AT HOME

Washington still faces capacity issues, with the state public health laboratory only able to test around 100 people a day, Lofy said.

The state hopes to ramp up testing through commercial labs.

Health officials are concerned that clinics and hospitals could be overwhelmed, said Patty Hayes, King County public health director.

'We do not want the situation that has been seen in other areas, in other countries where the healthcare system was overloaded, and unable to cope,' Hayes said.

Washington's state public health laboratory only able to test around 100 people a day due to capacity issues (file image)

On Thursday, President Donald Trump attended to assuage fears that federal and local health officials were not responding rapidly enough

To slow the spread of the virus, county officials recommended on Wednesday that residents avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and urged sick or elderly people to stay home.

Dr Megan Farnsworth, of Regional Medical Everett Center, said patient volume was high at two Seattle-area walk-in clinics she directs, but not at record levels.

Much of her staff's work is easing people's fears and telling them to stay home and monitor their symptoms, she said.

'Honestly, patients are just scared and want someone in the healthcare field to tell them something that they can believe,' said Dr Farnsworth.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump attended to assuage fears that federal and local health officials were not responding rapidly enough.

'With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus [sic[ cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths,' he said.

'We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!'

If you live in Washington and believe you may be experiencing symptoms of symptoms, please call the Washington Department of Health coronavirus hotline (1-800-525-0127.
School children in Karnataka will



have 'bag-free' days on two Saturdays in a month as part of efforts to create a joyful learning experience, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced on Thursday.

By making two Saturdays in a month as bag-free days, "Sambhrama Shanivara" will be observed with the objective of creating a joyful learning experience by reducing the burden of text books, he said, presenting the 2020-21 budget in the state assembly.

"The main purpose of such days is to create awareness, by means of activities, on topics that are necessary for students to be ideal citizens," he added.

He also said for the first time in the history of the state his government presented a "child budget", making it a special feature of the budget.

All the policies and programmes for the development of children below the age of 18 are consolidated and presented in this budget and as many as 279 programmes involving Rs.36,340 crore, which is 15.28 per cent of the total volume of the Budget, have been earmarked.

English medium of instruction would be given along with Urdu in 400 government Urdu schools and Rs one crore will be provided during 2020-21 for this purpose, Yediyurappa said.

For the of children of auto drivers, up to Rs 2,000 would be provided annually to each family. For this purpose, Rs 40 crore will be provided in the coming fiscal, the Chief Minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Are you in the market for an adventurous vacation but dont know where to begin? Look no further than The Woods Maine, which is a redefined treehouse thats currently available to rent.

The property doubles as a travel destination, retailing for $575 a night for up to four guests. As you can see in the video, the luxurious treehouse includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a living room, a dining area and a screened-in porch, so dont expect any ordinary backyard fortress.

The rental is located in Norway, Mainewhich is about a one-hour drive from Portlandand sits on a ten-acre lot with private access to Lake Pennesseewassee (say that five times fast). According to the listing, The Woods Maine is A treehouse by convention, a high-end home by design.

The property was built in 2019. It was designed by Pete Nelson and constructed by Nelson Treehouse & Supply, who thoughtfully selected every detail to ensure it went above and beyond traditional getaways.

The Woods is a quintessential New England-style home in the trees, the website reads. Private, secluded and effortlessly livable if you never want to leave.

Basically, its an adult version of the treehouse our dad never built us (which, yes, were still bitter about).

If you need us, well be researching travel to Maine.

RELATED: 2020s Top Emerging Travel Destinations AreRussia and Oklahoma?!
Jeffrey Epstein's 'sex slave', 36, walked her two dogs and carried a parrot on her shoulder during the outing

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Prince Andrew's accuser Virginia Roberts appeared in high spirits on Monday as she gathered driftwood on a beach in Australia with her daughter and two dogs.

The mother-of-three, who alleges she was flown to London to have sex with the Duke of York as a teenager, carried a black parrot on her shoulder as she strolled along Palm Cove beach in Cairns, Australia.

Ms Roberts - now known as Giuffre - gathered large pieces of driftwood from the sand as she continued her walk, at one point picking up a large wooden pole which was almost twice her height.

Jeffrey Epstein's 'sex slave', 36, wore a black graphic T-shirt and blue denim shorts for the occasion, completing her simple outfit with a pair of flip flops and gold-rimmed sunglasses.

Prince Andrew's accuser Virginia Roberts (pictured) appeared in high spirits on Monday as she gathered driftwood on a beach in Australia with her daughter and two dogs

Ms Roberts - now known as Giuffre - gathered large pieces of driftwood from the beach as she continued her lengthy walk

As she walked with her young daughter, the bird perched on her shoulder attempted to snatch the glasses from her face, and she later placed them in her pocket.

The mother-of-three was also seen lighting a cigarette as she relaxed on the sand with her two dogs.

Ms Roberts claims she had sex with Prince Andrew at the behest of his friend Epstein three times: once at Epstein's New York apartment, once in the Caribbean, and once at the London home of Ghislane Maxwell, the American financier's alleged madam, in March 2001.

Speaking about her first alleged encounter with Prince Andrew in London, Ms Roberts said she was taken to Tramp Nightclub where she recalls dancing with the 'sweating' prince when she was 17.

Ms Roberts claims she had sex with Prince Andrew (pictured together) three times: once at Epstein's New York apartment, once in the Caribbean, and once at the London home of Ghislane Maxwell, the American financier's alleged madam, in March 2001

The mother-of-three, who alleges she was flown to London to have sex with Prince Andrew as a teenager, carried a black parrot on her shoulder as she strolled along Palm Cove beach in Cairns, Australia

Ms Roberts and her young daughter both led a dog each as they strolled along the idyllic beach in Cairns on Monday

The pair stopped for a moment to collect their driftwood and beach rocks as they continued their exploration of the beach

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.'

Prince Andrew has strenuously denied Ms Roberts' allegations that she was forced to have sex with him three times in 2001.

Ms Roberts' outing comes after the mother-of-three praised the 'bravery' of a former police officer who raised questions about the Duke's 'alibi'.

In an emotional tweet, Ms Roberts thanked the highly respected ex-Royal protection officer for speaking to The Mail on Sunday last month.

His claim  that the Duke of York may have returned to Buckingham Palace in the early hours of March 11, 2001  contradicts Andrew's account of being 'at home' all evening after taking his daughter Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey.

Jeffrey Epstein's 'sex slave', 36, wore a black graphic T-shirt and blue denim shorts for the occasion, completing her simple outfit with a pair of flip flops and gold-rimmed sunglasses

As she walked with her young daughter, the bird perched on her shoulder attempted to snatch the glasses from her face, and she later placed them in her pocket for the remainder of the outing

The mother-of-three also picked up a large wooden pole which was almost double her height throughout her beach walk

Speaking about her first alleged encounter with Prince Andrew in London, Ms Roberts said she was taken to Tramp Nightclub where she recalls dancing with the 'sweating' prince when she was 17

In a tweet, Miss Roberts, 36, wrote: 'Thank you to the brave officer coming forward with his memory of events. Every single shred of evidence helps put pressure on the authorities to do the right thing.'

The former officer recalled how the Duke arrived by car at the front of the Palace in the middle of the night and he shouted at guards because they did not open the gates quickly enough.

He believes it could have been the same night that Miss Roberts alleges she had sex with the Duke at the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell after she was trafficked to London on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet.

The account has heaped pressure on the Metropolitan Police to disclose any information it holds on Andrew's whereabouts on March 10 or 11, 2001.

Ms Roberts smiles as she carries broken driftwood along a beach in Cairns, Australia with a black bird perched on her shoulder

Ms Roberts' outing comes after the mother-of-three praised the 'bravery' of a former police officer who raised questions about the Duke's 'alibi'

His claim  that the Duke of York may have returned to Buckingham Palace in the early hours of March 11, 2001  contradicts Andrew's account of being 'at home' all evening after taking his daughter Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey

Prince Andrew has strenuously denied Ms Roberts' allegations that she was forced to have sex with him three times in 2001

The unnamed ex-officer has applied to see his shift roster to confirm his account.

The individual, who had an exemplary 23-year career in the Met, said he received messages of support from former colleagues last week.

He explained that he had felt a 'moral obligation' to step forward because Miss Roberts was a victim of sex trafficking.

'These are crimes that cause very real pain and humiliation on the victims, ruins lives and, as we now see, the wounds never heal,' he said.

'It was this one occasion at the Palace with Prince Andrew that stuck in my mind, because it was so unusual and now I realise it may be important to the case.'
The violence that broke out in north-east Delhi last week is an eerie echo of the past. Indias freedom in 1947 came at a terrible price. From west Pakistan to east Punjab, the country burned with communal fires. From Narowal to Dera Baba Nanak, from Kasur to Ferozepur, from Bahawalpur to Bikaner, and from Mirpur Khas to Jodhpur, those trying to escape were on the move  by train, by bullock cart, and on foot. In Bahawalpur, a battalion of State troops watched impassively as Muslims in the main town began to rampage through the streets. In Delhi, reports of shootings, stabbings and arson began to filter into the home department.

VP Menon, then secretary, ministry of states, would remember the skies above independent Indias Capital turning a dull red as fires began to burn in the Old City. Travelling to Bahawalpur  one of the bloodiest theatres of violence in Punjab  to assess the situation in October 1947, Menon found streets littered so thickly with bloodied and decaying dead bodies that he found it difficult to breathe, let alone walk. I have seen 1947, former home secretary (and erstwhile private secretary to Jawaharlal Nehru), HVR Iengar recalled in 1968, and if that was the first stage of any kind of revolution, then God help us all.

History repeated itself last week, during United States President Donald Trumps visit to India. The Capital bore horrified witness to the worst communal violence it has seen in over four decades. With 53 killed, over 350 injured, and bodies still being fished out of the labyrinthine drains in the area, the riots have wounded the city in ways that many had hoped to forget. Most victims appear to be Muslims. The evidence of police brutality and apathy has been both glaring and painful. Yet, it is the absence of leadership that has betrayed Delhis residents the most.

As the country moved towards its freedom, history remembers Indias first leaders standing united for peace. In 1946, Mahatma Gandhi spent four fraught months at Noakhali in Bengal (modern Bangladesh)  the scene of terrible communal violence. He listened to harrowing tales of forcible conversions, of rape and bloodshed, but his message was simple: To shun violence and forgive.

Nehru was the epitome of courage in the face of threatening mobs. He was known to fling himself into the breach if he thought he could prevent violence from breaking out. From Roy Bucher to HVR Iengar to New York Times correspondent George Jones, there was nobody who had not seen Indias first prime minister charge headlong into a hostile crowd, or demand that the mobs murder him first before he saw a drop of blood being spilt in the name of religion.

Politics did not matter in the face of bloodshed. As the killings spread into 1947, MA Jinnah demanded that Louis Mountbatten be ruthless in clamping down on disorder. I dont care whether you shoot Muslims or not, Jinnah said, It has got to be stopped. They might have been on opposite sides of the political divide, but Nehru and Jinnah instinctively recognised that blood could not be the first brushstroke on the canvases of their new countries.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then home minister, gave immediate orders. Partisan officials within his government were to be punished and rioters were to be shot on sight. A Delhi emergency committee was formed, with a dedicated team of officials and volunteers undertaking three major tasks: Protecting Delhis Muslims; organising camps for terrified Muslims leaving their homes in Delhi and neighbouring areas; and setting up camps for refugees arriving from west Pakistan. Patel personally went to the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya, where he informed the police commissioner in charge that on pain of dismissal, nothing untoward was to happen to or within the shrine. The home minister toured disturbed areas as well, often standing his ground against swelling, angry crowds to ask strongly for peace.

Menon was instrumental in putting forth the rather creative idea of a Central Emergency Committee (CEC), responsible to the Cabinet, headed by Mountbatten. It was an idea welcomed by both Patel and Nehru who, given Mountbattens undoubted wartime expertise, saw no shame in putting the interests of the country into hands more capable than theirs. The CEC worked on the crucial aspects of restoring law and order: Assisting in the flow of refugees, distributing food, preventing the spread of epidemics and disposing of corpses. This was the kind of united leadership, bravery and empathy that remained markedly absent in the aftermath of last weeks violence in Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been rightly criticised, for their supine attitude during and after the violence, their total lack of compassion, and non-existent relief efforts. The Congress has been condemned for its belated presence on the scene. It has been the citizens who have come together, regardless of caste or creed, to do what their elected representatives should have been doing.

The leaders of yesteryear were swift to give comfort, and swifter to act in the interests of their country. They were courageous under fire and united under pressure. Todays leaders have much to learn from them.

Narayani Basu is the author of VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India. She is also Menons great-granddaughter

The views expressed are personal
By IANS

NEW DELHI/BHOPAL: Midnight resort politics, Congress leaders crying "money power", chartered flights vrooming -- they all are essential ingredients of the great political 'tamasha' that India has become accustomed to.

Two ministers in the Madhya Pradesh government - Jitu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh - scrambled to undo the 'damage' at the ITC Resort in Manesar near Gurugram on Tuesday night. By the next sunrise, Chief Minister Kamal Nath seems to have outsmarted the opposition, once again.

Six out of the 10 Madhya Pradesh MLAs who were allegedly held hostage at Gurugram overnight, were brought back on Wednesday and taken straight to the residence of the Chief Minister.

Ten MLAs from Madhya Pradesh were brought to the national capital by the BJP. BJP's Narottam Mishra is alleged to have been in "close contact" with them.

ALSO READ | Scoreline after midnight poaching drama in Madhya Pradesh: Kamal Nath: 1. BJP: 0

As of Thursday, four MLAs continue to remain "untamed".

While the imminent threat, if any, to the Madhya Pradesh government seems to have been thwarted by Nath, there are two concerns, often less talked about, that continue to trouble the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

1. Rajya Sabha election:

Regardless of theories, it's not the impending Rajya Sabha election scheduled on March 25, which is weighing on Kamal Nath's mind. The three Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in Madhya Pradesh are presently held by Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP).

Digvijaya Singh is likely to be renominated after losing to BJP's Pragya Thakur. But given the massive ego tussle between Kamal Nath and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress may also nominate him. That would mean BJP losing one of its Rajya Sabha seats to the Congress. Scindia too lost from Guna in the Lok Sabha election.

If the Manesar episode is anything to go by, it brought the complex intra-party equation in the Congress out in the open which may threaten its ambition of snatching an extra Rajya Sabha seat from the BJP this time.

In the 230-member Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs and the BJP 107. If there is no whip issued, the chance of cross voting by 'unhappy' Congress members cannot be discounted.

2. Stormy Budget session:

Not just the Rajya Sabha polls but the current upheaval may also adversely impact the upcoming Budget session in the state Assembly, where important bills are lined up.

The session which starts from March 16, is expected to be turbulent. Voting on an Appropriation Bill regarding the Budget may come up. Finance Minister Taran Bhanot will present the Budget on March 18. It will be of worth around Rs 2,30,000 crore.

The government will pass the first Budget before March 28 so that budgetary allocations can be provided to all departments with the approval of Governor Lalji Tandon, before April 1. Uproar is expected over farmer loan waiver, regularisation of staff, guest scholars and dearness allowance.

If some of the Congress MLAs and allies join the opposition in creating a ruckus in the house, it may spell trouble for the Congress government.

As of now, out of the four MLAs who are still missing, three are from the Congress. If they join the ruckus on Budget day, it will surely be embarrassing for the Kamal Nath government.

Meanwhile, the BJP has rubbished allegations of horse-trading, calling it an "internal matter" of the Congress. With just four missing MLAs, the BJP can't think of bringing a no-confidence motion and win it. But it can certainly make the going tougher for the Kamal Nath government when it comes to its aspiration of snatching another Rajya Sabha seat from the state and pumping in money in government departments.
Vietnam was in control of the COVID-19 epidemic with no new cases reported since February 13, said experts at a conference on Wednesday in Hanoi.

The Military Region 7 Command on Wednesday held a COVID-19 prevention and control drill, in which people coming from affected areas were sterilised twice and had their temperatures checked.  VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

The lockdown on Son Loi Commune  the centre of the epidemic in Vietnam  was officially lifted at midnight on Wednesday.

Speaking at the conference, Associate Professor Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Medical Services Administration under the Ministry of Health, said although no new cases had been detected, medical forces still had to focus on preventive measures with the priority given to early detection and quarantine.

Regarding flights from South Korea to Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said that since 6pm on Tuesday, flights had been allowed to land at Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh, and Phu Cat Airport in the central province of Binh Dinh.

However, airlines would continue reducing flights between Vietnam and South Korea.

On the South Korean side, only Asiana Airlines and Korean Air operate routes from Incheon Airport in Seoul to Hanoi, HCM City and Da Nang. Flights from South Korea were only being used to pick up passengers in Vietnam or cargo flights with no passengers on board.

To supervise people entering Vietnam, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has asked localities, especially those with airports, to prepare accommodation for quarantine if needed.

As of Wednesday, more than 93,000 COVID-19 patients had been reported in 80 countries and territories around the world, according to the Ministry of Health. China had more than 80,200 patients in all of its 31 provinces and cities.

More than 3,200 fatalities had been reported worldwide, with 2,900 in China.

The northern province of Hoa Binh on Wednesday morning placed 106 people in quarantine after they returned from working or studying in South Korea. One woman who had been visiting relatives was also isolated.

They have been provided with face masks, sterilising solution and leaflets on COVID-19 preventive measures.

Competition

The organisers of the global cyber security competition WhiteHat Grand Prix 06 on Wednesday decided to move the final round to May this year to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

Detailed timing will be announced three weeks beforehand.

The final round will also be held online with the top 10 teams from six countries including the US, South Korea, Russia, India, Germany and Vietnam.

The competition is being organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Vietnamese cyber security community.  VNS

Vietnam develops effective treatment regime for COVID-19 patients Vietnam has gradually developed an effective treatment plan for coronavirus patients with 15 out of 16 infected cases successfully treated, the Ministry of Health has said.
International war crimes judges ruled Thursday that a probe into wartime abuses in Afghanistan must go ahead, including looking into possible atrocities committed by US forces, as they overturned a previous court ruling.

Pre-trial judges at the Hague-based International Criminal Court last year rejected a demand by its chief prosecutor to open a full-blown probe into crimes committed in the war-torn nation  an investigation also bitterly opposed by Washington.

Prosecutors appealed the move, saying that the judges made an error when they slapped down Fatou Bensoudas request by saying although it met all the right criteria and a reasonable basis, it was not in the interest of justice.

The appeals judges agreed with the prosecution.

The prosecutor is authorised to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, ICC judge Piotr Hofmanski said.

It is for the prosecutor to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to initiate an investigation, under the courts statutes, Judge Hofmanski said.

Pre-trial judges are only called upon to see if there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation not to review the Prosecutors analysis, he said.

In 2006, the ICCs prosecutors opened a preliminary probe into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the central Asian nation since 2003.

In 2017 Bensouda asked judges to allow a full-blown inquiry, not only into Taliban and Afghan government personnel but also international forces, US troops and members of the Central Intelligence Agency.

But pre-trial judges then said it would not serve the interests of justice and that the court should focus on cases with a better chance of success.

Much-needed signal

Human rights groups on Thursday hailed the decision to uphold the prosecutions appeal.

The decision also sends a much-needed signal to current and would-be perpetrators of atrocities that justice may one day catch up to them, Human Rights Watchs Param-Preet Singh said.

Bensoudas move however have unleashed a backlash from Washington, which in April last year revoked the Gambian-born chief prosecutors visa as part of broader restrictions on ICC staff probing American or allied personnel.

Former national security advisor John Bolton warned in 2018 that the US would arrest ICC judges if the court pursued an Afghan probe.

The US has never joined the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens, saying it poses a threat to national sovereignty.

Washington argues that it has its own procedures in place to deal with US troops who engage in misconduct.

Afghanistan also opposes the inquiry, saying the country itself had responsibility to bring justice for our nation and for our people.

The ICCs ruling comes days after Taliban militants killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a string of overnight attacks, throwing the countrys nascent peace process into grave doubt.

Under the terms of a recent US-Taliban agreement, foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with Kabul.

A US-led force invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, targeting Al-Qaeda in the sanctuaries provided by the Taliban government.

Fighting has continued ever since  last year more than 3,400 civilians were killed and almost 7,000 injured, according to data provided by UN agencies.
Former Vice President Joe Biden's resuscitation on Super Tuesday has already entered the history books as one of the most astonishing since Harry Truman's election in 1948. Or, come to think of it, even since Lazarus.

How to explain it? His miraculous comeback defies any single theory. For my books, there were three keys:

1. The black community in South Carolina turned out in force to support their longtime friend and champion. It's hard to remember a time when black voters have risen up to save a white political leader. But it appears they did it Tuesday.

2. When Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont surged to the front of the pack, Democrats seemed to finally pay serious attention to what his nomination might mean. At minimum, Republicans could persuade undecideds that radical socialists had captured the Democratic Party. More to the point, Democratic strategists panicked that they might well lose the White House, Senate and House, giving President Donald Trump unfettered power over the next four years. They were right to panic.

3. One has to give credit to Biden himself. He came alive in the past week, starting with the debate Wednesday night. He was even more impressive in a town hall the next night, speaking movingly with Anderson Cooper about his life and dreams. (The town halls these past few weeks have been much more revealing about the candidates than the crowded and chaotic debates.) His sweep in South Carolina suddenly gave him the aura of a winner, not the loser he had started to seem to many. Biden showed he had the grit to reach deep inside himself and find his core strength -- an important asset for any political leader.

There were other factors, to be sure. Some argue that Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts did Biden a favor with her attacks on former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

But to me, the big factors were the huge support of the black community, pervasive fear of a Sanders nomination and Biden's resilience.

Of course, there is still a long road ahead to the nomination. Whether Biden can deliver knockout blows to Sanders without antagonizing Sanders voters will be crucial to pulling the party together. Many veterans of the Hillary Clinton campaign four years ago remember well how infuriating it was that Sanders and his followers went into a sulk after losing the nomination to her.

Looking ahead, Biden must also come up with new strategies to appeal to young people and Latinos, two significant groups who have tended to gravitate toward Sanders.

Biden needs to mobilize some heavyweight surrogates who can come up with innovative ways to build bridges. One imagines, for example, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg coming up with initiatives that would appeal to millennials and Gen Z'ers  a national service program, for example.

Biden must continue to reach deep inside, finding the strength and confidence to continue his upward journey. Trump will try to stomp on him, as is his wont. Little attention was given to a Trump rally speech in South Carolina, portraying Biden as feeble-minded and destined for a retirement home in the next four years. Trump delighted in Biden's recent verbal slips: calling Super Tuesday "Super Thursday," remarking that he was running for the Senate, and asserting that 150 million Americans have been killed by guns since 2007.

Biden no longer needs to feel defensive on stage. He has created one of the great comeback stories. Now he can allow himself to talk and act more like a president, showing the dignity and warmth that is so lacking in the Oval Office these days.
An employee displays the Huawei Mate Xs to the media during a photocall for the launch of the new foldable smartphone in London on Feb. 18, 2020. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

Huawei Security Concerns Front and Center as West Seeks 5G Alternatives

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), is urging the UK Parliament to reconsider its decision to allow Chinas Huawei a role in British 5G telecommunications networks amid a slew of security concerns.

Nearly two dozen lawmakers called on the United Kingdom to work closely with the United States and to take steps to mitigate the risks posed by Huawei, including that the regime in Beijing requires its companies to share its information with the Chinese Communist Partys intelligence sector.

Given the significant security, privacy, and economic threats posed by Huawei, we strongly urge the United Kingdom to revisit its recent decision, they wrote in the letter, addressed to the House of Commons, on March 3.

There have been a number of recent hearings regarding Chinas influence in 5G networks and big tech companies. The letter was sent ahead of a UK parliamentary debate on March 4 about Huaweis involvement in Britains 5G network, while on the same day, a U.S. Senate subcommittee met about 5G supply chain security, and a Senate panel heard testimony about the relationship between Big Tech and Beijing.

Experts told The Epoch Times that recent talk about propping up Huawei competitors Nokia and Ericsson appears to be an increasingly viable option, saying 5G technology in the United States is highly vulnerable. They emphasized the need to implement security protocols and equipment from trusted vendors, saying it could be disastrous if the right action isnt taken.

In January, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Huawei will supply up to 35 percent of the countrys 5G communications infrastructure.

U.S. lawmakers said in the letter that, while banning Huawei from core 5G infrastructure could address some security risks, it would be very challenging, if not impossible, to separate core equipment from that considered to be on the periphery.

Washington has repeatedly stated that Huaweifounded in 1987 by a former Peoples Liberation Army engineeris an extension of the Chinese regime and that it assists Chinese intelligence in stealing secrets.

Huawei, which denies the assertion, didnt immediately respond to a request by the Epoch Times for comment.

5G Security and Huawei Competitors

The unfortunate reality is that our networks have already been comprised by foreign adversaries, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said at a March 4 hearing.

We are seeing more reports that Huawei can covertly access mobile phone networks around the world, he said in his opening remarks. At the same time, some of our close allies are granting Huawei access to their communication systems. These are troubling developments.

The absence of a viable and affordable American or European alternative for end-to-end telecommunications components  has enabled Huawei to increase its global influence.

Multiple U.S. officials have emphasized the importance of finding an alternative to Chinas Huawei and of developing potential partnerships with the telecom industry. Attorney General William Barr suggested recently that the United States and its allies should actively consider the possibility of backing Huaweis two main overseas competitors, Nokia and Ericsson.

During the same hearing, ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) described a recent attack on a power system that was brought down for more than 12 hours.

Its no longer just people searching around and looking at our power plants, she said. Now, actors are starting to bring what is essential services to a halt.

High-level Nokia and Ericsson executives made the case in testimony that their technology is vastly more trustworthy than Huawei, which is currently the worlds biggest producer of telecom equipment. Britain has argued that excluding Huawei would have delayed its 5G rollout and cost consumers more.

Jason Boswell, head of security for network product solutions at Ericsson, testified that the company is leading the way on the 5G rollout, noting that they have deployed 65 percent of the 5G deployments in the U.S., including in rural America.

Jason Boswell, Ericssons head of security for network product solutions, at a Senate hearing on 5G technology in Washington on March 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Boswell said the United States needs to develop a robust market of trusted suppliers and to focus on developing a skilled 5G workforce. In his testimony, he said the company just announced its first 5G equipment from its new $100 million smartphone factory in Texas.

He said that the company, since 2018, has executed a supply chain regionalization strategy to place manufacturing and development as close to the customer as possible in order to reduce risks. Boswell said that would also reduce regional disruptions and overdependence on one supplier or vendor.

All of our software is scanned, verified, signed, and distributed in and from Sweden. That actually gives us a lot of tight control over our software development lifecycle and the traceability of that supply chain, he said.

Mike Murphy, chief technology officer for the Americas at Nokia, testified that its incorrect to suggest non-Chinese vendors cannot lead in 5G, noting that the United States was the first country in the world to launch 5G networks. Of the U.S. equipment Nokia provides, none is manufactured in China, he added.

Mike Murphy, Nokias chief technology officer for the Americas, at a Senate hearing on 5G technology in Washington on March 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei has grown with the help of $75 billion in state subsidies from the Chinese government, allowing the company to undercut many competitors on price.

Chinas made aggressive use of its development bank to support indigenous suppliers. Payment terms offered, while legal, are unavailable to competitors through commercial banks, Murphy said.

The root of the problem is the Chinese Communist Party, said James Lewis, senior vice president and director of the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, during testimony.

5G is a symptom of a larger problem. We face a powerful opponent who is using espionage and predatory economic practices, including exploiting American patents, to gain advantage, he said, referring to China.

Lewis said that the United States is currently positioned to take the lead over China in 5G. U.S. and Chinese deployments of 5G are roughly equivalent, with 57 cities in China and 50 in the United States.

Last week, Congress approved a $1 billion bill also known as rip and replace that would replace any equipment made by Huawei or ZTE used by rural telecom carriers in the United States. President Donald Trump still needs to sign the legislation, dubbed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. Administration officials have signaled their support for it, according to reports.

The bipartisan legislation would also remove any Huawei and ZTE equipment in networks currently used by a number of smaller U.S. carriers. The carriers had purchased the equipment years ago because of the low cost.

The United States, in 2018, banned Huawei technology from use by the government or any of its contractors, and in 2019, the company was added to the Department of Commerces Entity List, which effectively bars U.S. companies from selling components to Huawei without an export license.

Also at the hearing, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) previewed new legislation he plans to introduce this week to protect the trade policy of the United States, and ensure that the security of our communications infrastructure is a clear negotiating objective of U.S. trade policy.

Unfair trade practices of communications equipment suppliers owned or controlled by a foreign government should not be tolerated, he said. Period.

Huawei has never provided financial details to show they are an independent company not connected to the Chinese Communist Party, according to Prakash Sangam, founder and principal at Tantra Analyst, a research and consultancy firm focused on IP strategy, 5G, IoT (internet of things), and AI.

Sangam told The Epoch Times that governments are obviously extremely cautious about allowing any foreign company thought to be controlled by a foreign totalitarian government to work on its infrastructure.

John Boyd, principal of The Boyd Co., a firm providing location and management counsel to IT corporations globally told The Epoch Times that boosting 5G alternative providers such as Finlands Nokia and Swedens Ericsson would be a wise and timely investment, in my judgment.

Sangam said one option to compete with Huawei would be encouraging major U.S. companies through financial and political incentives to start playing a key role in 5G. He said the current 5G supply chain could be at risk.

Anytime a supply chain is so concentrated and many parts are outside of the control of some countries and probably under the influence of others, will be vulnerable, Sangam said. The vulnerability is not just because of supply chain  but the complexity of the technology and the huge risk-and-reward equation.

Tyler Cooper, editor-in-chief of BroadbandNow, which tracks U.S. broadband serviceability data, including 5G, said it makes sense for the United States to be cautious about allowing one company to have an infrastructure monopoly on 5G deployment, especially when we consider that China has used private business for political purposes in the past.

Huawei was forced to pause production earlier this month due to the new coronavirus, but has since resumed. Cooper told The Epoch Times via email that the most likely path forward for the United States to advance in 5G is a symbiosis between the public and private sectors, which we are already seeing take shape in the form of bills like the Utilizing Strategic Allied (USA) Telecommunications Act.

He said deploying 5G at scale requires the installation of small cell relays that dont have a long transmission range. While this is fine in a dense urban environment, it becomes more challenging in rural communities, both economically and logistically.

We dont want all of the benefits going to the major metro areas while rural Americans get left behind, he said. So we need to be incentivizing deployment in these lower-competition areas somehow.
Two former inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center as well as several advocates walked to Gov. Charlie Bakers office in the Massachusetts State House this week to demand he support an investigation into conditions at the maximum-security prison in the wake of recent allegations of violence.

Dozens of prisoners at the facility in late January accused members of a tactical team at the Lancaster prison of assaulting them in retaliation for an inmate-led attack on four correction officers on Jan. 10. The allegations have led multiple Massachusetts legislators to visit Souza-Baranowski and sparked a civil lawsuit from three prisoners. The inmates who claimed they were assaulted said they were not involved in the attack on the prison guards.

Some of the lawmakers who traveled to the prison in January and February alleged a lack of oversight and control at the facility. State Sen. James Eldridge and Rep. Chynah Tyler renewed those claims at a briefing Wednesday.

There have been problems with violence and culture there really since it was built in 1997, Eldridge said, adding that there is not a lot of accountability at Souza-Baranowski. Its very difficult to change the culture unless it comes from the top down."

Many who attended the briefing delivered a letter to Bakers office afterward that urged U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling to launch an independent investigation into accusations of brutality and inhumane conditions at the prison.

The document was written by Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts, an advocacy group that interviewed 90 prisoners after the Jan. 10 attack. PLS Executive Director Elizabeth Matos alleged that 72 inmates have been assaulted or injured by correction staff during a multi-week lockdown of the facility that followed the assault on the officers.

Six inmates have harmed themselves due to mental health crisis, and more than 120 reports of excessive force have been made as well, according to Matos.

We have documented injuries including broken bones, stitches, punctures wounds from dog bites, taser burns and tears, concussion and ligature burns, the letter said. The level of brutality officers are inflicting upon prisoners at SBCC is unprecedented.

Matos in her letter called on the Massachusetts Department of Correction to preserve all video recordings from cameras in the facility that have captured uses of force. She also asked DOC to remove the tactical team from Souza-Baranowski, resume re-entry programming and restore prisoners access to their attorneys and legal materials.

A lawyer representing one of the inmates suing DOC also urged Lelling in a letter to investigate claims of assault and alleged retaliation at Souza-Baranowski. Attorney Patricia DeJuneas accused armed members of the prisons tactical team of brutally assaulting her client, Robert Silva-Prentice.

Aderonke Liped, a civil rights attorney who spoke during Wednesdays briefing, proposed the creation of a commission to oversee DOC as well as a liaison between the agency and the state legislature to ensure the department honors the civil rights of these individuals."

They cant just be allowed to do whatever they want to these prisoners, she said, "so we need to be strategic in the type of legislative reform thats necessary.

Darrell Jones, who was recently exonerated from prison after being incarcerated for more than 30 years, spoke at the briefing alongside Liped. Jones served time at Souza-Baranowski on a wrongful murder conviction and said there is a great war in there. He claimed staff intentionally house rival inmates together and that internal conflict at the facility leads to violence outside the prison.

Every beef that happens in there affects out here, he said.

The former prisoner sat next to Jason Schultz, who was also previously incarcerated at the maximum-security prison. The Hyannis resident was released on Feb. 14 after serving his criminal sentence. Schultz claimed to have been assaulted by tactical team members before leaving Souza-Baranowski. The former inmate alleged he was beaten and had his eyes gouged.

During Wednesdays discussion, Jones said that the only person who can make sweeping changes at the facility is the governor. Liped added that Baker is the sole official who can monitor how DOC acts and change the agencys behavior.

One person in this building, the governor, is the only one who can do something about it, Jones said, "so why would we keep talking about this when the governors here?

Baker has previously said he has faith in DOC to properly investigate allegations of violence at the facility.

Other panelists during the discussion called on Baker to add a direct line between his office and Souza-Baranowski so the governor can look at footage from video cameras inside the prison.

Tyler, in a February letter to the governor, also urged Baker to have access to a live feed to ensure the safety of both correction officers and prisoners.

We dont trust the DOC to police itself, but honestly, I dont think the governor has the will to do that, Matos said at the briefing.

Related Content:
A passenger travelling to Allahabad was on Thursday held at Delhi's IGI airport for carrying five live rounds and a magazine in his handbag.

The items were detected by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel during the security check. The bullets were of 7.65 mm calibre.

The accused, identified as Chander Mohan Bali, was set to board a flight to Allahabad.

The accused and the seized items were later handed over to the Delhi Police for further legal action in the matter. An FIR has been registered under Sections 24, 25, 54, 59 of the Indian Arms Act against the accused.

It was not immediately clear whether the man possessed a valid arms licence. The police are further investigating the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MIDDLETOWN  The city is expected to approve $300,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for the replacement of the compromised metal railing at Harbor Park.

Members of the Inland / Wetlands & Watercourses Agency were due to take up the issue at their Wednesday night meeting.

Once complete, the entire length of the barrier to the Connecticut River at Harbor Park, from the boathouse to the pedestrian tunnel under Route 9, would be compliant with state building codes, according to Director of Public Works William Russo.

The cumulative effects of weather, flooding and time led to the problem, situated in an area that includes the boardwalk, Russo said. Several of the horizontal balusters are bent out of shape, with some attached on only one side of the guardrail.

That railing is destroyed. A lot of it happened two years ago when we had the real big ice jam there, Russo said. The new design would ensure the safety of those walking close to the water, particularly children.

The entire project calls for new wood decking with concrete sidewalks, cobblestone and shade pavilions at Harbor Park aimed at improving accessibility and safety. Russo said his department eventually will put out a request for qualifications for these improvements, seeking contractors capable of executing the citys design.

The boardwalk consists of pressure treated lumber that has sustained annual flooding during the spring freshet, when the river overflows its banks, submerging that walkway and sometimes stretching to the front steps of the Mattabesett Canoe Club.

Thats been up and down with the flood many times. Its very weathered, and its seen its day, Russo explained.

The work is all part of the eventual creation of a master plan for redevelopment of the citys riverfront, according to Director of Planning, Conservation and Development Joseph Samolis.

A placemaking concept created by the New York-based Partnership for Public Spaces in 2013 envisioned a design which could incorporate various elements such as places for recreation, commerce, dining and housing.

Harbor Park and the canoe club are outside the development area, Samolis said. The lack of adequate land mass combined with its close proximity to the river are a deterrent to inclusion.

Thats a park, and the area is too small between Route 9 and the water for any type of development, Russo said.

When you talk about riverfront redevelopment, youre really talking about the land mass thats outside of the river floodway for the most part, Samolis explained. Any work would be extremely expensive and require very different permitting, he added.

The area being looked at for possible redevelopment includes 3 acres of land owned by the city comprising the former William R. Peterson Oil Co. at 44 River Road, adjacent to the decommissioned sewage treatment plant.

Across the railroad tracks, the one-time Jackson Corrugated Container plant and land at 225 River Road is privately owned. Plans are in the works for a multi-family, mixed-use project to go there.

The original uses were more industrial in nature, Samolis said. Since its not all city property, it would be up to the property owners and private development to determine the extent of riverfront redevelopment.

The general zone under consideration is encompassed by Route 9, River Road and Silver Street, an eye-shaped parcel on the south side of the river.

The city last week put out a request for qualifications for contractors interested in developing a 3.5-acre parcel of land west of Route 9 and bordered by Main Street. It would include the Dingwall Drive gravel parking area as well as the Attention to Detail car detailing business on deKoven Drive.

What the city is looking to do is redevelop those old sites to be something thats more conducive to the quality of life for the citizens of Middletown: reclaiming the public spaces, making them more appealing for the general public to use, but also helping foster redevelopment of private parcels so they are more in line with the publics needs, the planning director said.

The completion of a grand design is somewhat far off, Samolis said, and the city has yet to issue a formal request for qualifications. Once a proposal is created by a consultant, the city will hold public meetings at which residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the project.

The number one thing in order to facilitate riverfront redevelopment down the road was to decommission the sewage treatment facility, he said, which was completed last fall. It was replaced by the Francis T. Patnaude Inter-Municipal Pumping Station on East Main Street, now sending sewage to the Mattabassett Districts Water Pollution Control Facility in Cromwell.

The reality is, nothing is going to move forward until there is consensus to a master plan of what the community would like to see down at the river. That will inform the Planning and Zoning Commission, which might consider additional zoning language to facilitate that vision, Samolis said.
WALLINGFORD  A Wallingford man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday, admitting to downloading child pornography from the internet, officials said.

Eric Rundstrom, 45, pleaded guilty in New Haven federal court to receipt and possession of child pornography, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham.

An FBI investigation revealed that Rundstrom used an online website to connect with others interested in collecting and sharing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, authorities said.

Investigators found a link to an online file hosting account that was associated with Rundstrom.

It was on that file hosting account, authorities said, that investigators found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography stored, including images of adult men sexually abusing prepubescent girls.

Rundstrom was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on Feb. 14, 2019.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment that charged him with the child pornography offense Oct. 3, 2019.

He was released on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing, which was scheduled for June 3. When Rundstrom is sentenced, he faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.

Cases of child exploitation can be reported at www.cybertipline.com.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DPW Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: DPW) a diversified holding company (DPW, or the Company) presented at the LD Micro Third Annual Virtual Conference on March 4, 2020. The Companys CEO and Chairman, Milton Todd Ault, III, provided an overview of DPW and its subsidiaries, discussed the Companys goals for 2020 and disclosed the Companys total backlog as of February 29, 2020 was $65 million, including $46 million in related party backlog (related-party backlog is delinquent in the production schedule). The written presentation discussed during the conference was disclosed on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.



The $65 million backlog includes recently received orders from the Companys global power electronics business, Coolisys Technologies, Inc. (Coolisys") totaling approximately $2.2 million primarily from existing customers for customized products in multiple industries including medical instruments, telecommunications, industrial equipment and defense. The orders are expected to be shipped over the next six months. The recent orders include an order from a new defense customer for a full custom designed product for a military lightweight and compact uninterruptable power supply to power mission-critical and tactical communication systems for combat field deployment. Another recent order is for a power system designed to power optical transport systems used in broadband networks in addition to some other custom solution orders Coolisys has recently received.

Coolisys offers a variety of power electronics products including off-the-shelf, ruggedized and modified, or complete custom designs, from an in-house design team. Coolisys CEO, Amos Kohn said, The recent increase in orders is the result of long-term relationships and a strong reputation for delivering custom high-reliability power solutions for the global defense, medical, industrial and telecommunications industries.

The Company also recently announced that its global defense business, Gresham Worldwide, Inc. (Gresham Worldwide), received a $1.4 million order from a leading defense and aerospace customer of its wholly owned subsidiary, Enertec Systems 2001, Ltd. (Enertec). Enertec, based in Israel, is a leading defense and aerospace designer and manufacturer of advanced multi-purpose electronic systems, including customized computer-based automated test equipment and turnkey solutions designed to perform in harsh environments and battlefield conditions. After receiving a $2.9 million order in 2019 to develop a unique and complex testing system, Enertec recently received a follow-up order of an additional $1.4 million related to the testing system. Enertecs management believes this customer has the potential to order over $10 million of Enertec products per year.

DPWs CEO and Chairman, Milton Todd Ault, III said, Our recently announced $7.7 million exchange agreement provides a path to an improved capital structure and enables management to focus on the many opportunities we have to grow our business. We are committed to providing additional financial resources to enable Coolisys, Enertec and our other subsidiaries to expand.

For more information on DPW Holdings and its subsidiaries, the Company recommends that stockholders, investors and any other interested parties read the Companys public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section at www.DPWHoldings.com or available at www.sec.gov .

About DPW Holdings, Inc.

DPW Holdings, Inc. is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact. Through its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, the Company provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including defense/aerospace, industrial, telecommunications, medical, crypto-mining, and textiles. In addition, the Company owns a select portfolio of commercial hospitality properties and extends credit to select entrepreneurial businesses through a licensed lending subsidiary. DPWs headquarters are located at 201 Shipyard Way, Suite E, Newport Beach, CA 92663; www.DPWHoldings.com .

Forward-Looking Statements
In a future where most things in our everyday life are connected through the internet, devices and sensors will need to run without wires or batteries. In a new article in Chemical Science, researchers from Uppsala University present a new type of dye-sensitised solar cells that harvest light from indoor lamps.

The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to a network of physical devices and applications connected through the internet. It is estimated that by 2025, many facets of our lives will be mediated through 75 billion IoT devices, a majority of which will be located indoors. Broad installation of such IoT devices requires the devices to become autonomous, meaning that they should no longer need batteries or a grid connection to operate. To achieve this, it is crucial to identify a local low-maintenance energy source that can provide local power to IoT devices, especially in ambient conditions.

Towards this goal, a research team led by Marina Freitag, assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, has developed new indoor photovoltaic cells that can convert up to 34 per cent of visible light into electricity to power a wide range of IoT sensors. The team has designed novel dye-sensitised photovoltaic cells based on a copper-complex electrolyte, which makes them ideal for harvesting indoor light from fluorescent lamps and LEDs. The latest promising results establish dye-sensitised solar cells as leaders in power conversion efficiency for ambient lighting conditions, outperforming conventional silicon and solar cells made from exotic materials.

The research promises to revolutionise indoor digital sensing for smart greenhouses, offices, shelves, packages and many other smart everyday objects for the Internet of Things.

"Knowing the spectra of these light sources makes it possible to tune special dyes to absorb indoor light. While generating large amounts of energy, these indoor photovoltaics also maintain a high voltage under low light, which is important to power IoT devices," says Freitag.

In cooperation with the Technical University of Munich, the researchers have further designed an adaptive 'power management' system for solar-powered IoT sensors. In contrast to their battery-limited counterparts, the light-driven devices intelligently feed from the amount of light available. Computational workloads are executed according to the level of illumination, minimising energy losses during storage and thus using all light energy to the maximum of its availability. Combining artificial intelligence and automated learning, the solar cell system can thus reduce energy consumption, battery waste and help to improve general living conditions.

In the future, scientists expect that billions of IoT devices self-powered by indoor solar cells will provide everything from environmental information to human-machine and machine-machine communications. Such advanced sensors can further enhance the next wave of robotics and autonomous systems currently in development.

"Ambient light harvesters provide a new generation of self-powered and smart IoT devices powered by an energy source that is largely untapped. The combination of high efficiency and low cost with non-toxic materials for indoor photovoltaics is of paramount importance to IoT sustainability," says Freitag.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex 'announced' they're as in love as ever and showed off 'honeymoon style' affected during their first appearance since Megxit tonight, a body language expert has revealed.

Judi James told MailOnline the couple's behaviour on Thursday night 'announced' how they were a 'very like-minded and mutually-adoring couple.'

It was the first time the the couple have carried out a joint public royal duty in the wake of the Megxit crisis but they seemed in good spirits as they smiled for the cameras and crowd who greeted them in the rain at Mansion House in London.

Meghan touched Harry on the back as the couple shared a number of public displays of affection during the event

'Like-minded and mutually-adoring'

Body language guru Judi James claimed the couple appeared 'like-minded' and 'mutually-adoring' at the event, explaining they displayed signs they are as in love than ever as they showed off their 'honeymoon style' affection.

Judi revealed how the couple used matching body language to 'announce' that they remain a 'like-minded' and loved-up couple.

She told FEMAIL: 'Running the gauntlet of rain, cheers and a few boos, Harry and Meghan used a dazzling display of eye-gazing, mirrored pinging smiles and loving, intimate touch rituals to announce the fact that they are still a very like-minded and mutually-adoring couple.'

Once inside, Judi revealed how the couple showed off their 'honeymoon style' affection for one-another as they held hands lovingly

'Excited to have Meghan on his arm'

She went on to say that the Duke of Sussex seemed particularly excited at the event and overjoyed to have Meghan 'on his arm'.

Judi went on: 'There was a new gloss to their simple but co-ordinated styling that hinted theyd upped their game in terms of A-list impact but Harrys reddened, rounded cheeks and the gleam in his eyes suggested he was still excited to be arriving back with his wife on his arm.'

Judi explained: 'Their pose to camera as they walked into the venue probably defined their message best.

'Gazing into one anothers eyes they both performed twinned smiles that were wide enough to ensure we got the message in terms of their mutual happiness.'

The Duchess of Sussex wowed fans praised by fans tonight as she made her first appearance since announcing her plan to step back from life as a senior royal (pictured with Prince Harry)

'On-going honeymoon'

Meanwhile, once the couple were seated inside, Prince Harry could be seen affectionately holding his wife as they sat together.

Judi revealed: 'Sitting together later Harry stretched one arm out across Meghans lap to hold her hand in that on-going honeymoon style they were always known for.'

She explained: 'Their rituals of intimate touch and intense, adoring eye-gazing are usually most common during the honeymoon period of a relationship when romantic traits are the norm. They still perform them well beyond that period.'

The Duchess appeared in high spirits as she stepped out in the vivid blue dress for this evening's awards

Meghan's first appearance since Megxit

The couple helped celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women in their first appearance since they visited Canada House before announcing their step down from royal duties.

The Endeavour Fund supports the ambitions of men and women who use challenges to help with their physical, psychological and social recovery and rehabilitation.

Meghan's appearance tonight is her first since announcing her plans to step back as a senior royal in January.

Last autumn, American ex-actress Meghan opened up about her struggles with royal life in an ITV documentary filmed on their Africa tour.

The Duchess beamed and giggled while attending the event in Mansion House in London this evening alongside the Duke

She said she had tried to cope with the pressures by putting on a 'stiff upper lip' but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.

Meghan was last seen with Prince Harry on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.

The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent - a move dubbed Megxit by the press.

It was eventually announced they would give up royal duties, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, no longer be known as HRHs, and their lives as working royals would end on March 31.
Coronavirus fear is keeping away both traders as well as consumers from buying Chinese goods this Holi, traders body CAIT said on Thursday.

Holi related chinese goods worth about Rs 500 crore are lying with importers across the country, while consignment worth Rs 3,000 crore are lying in supply chain pan India, it added.

The festival of colours will be celebrated on March 10.

"As per our estimate Holi related Chinese goods worth about Rs 500 crore are lying with importers of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai while goods worth about Rs 3,000 crore are lying in supply chain across the country," CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said in a statement.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) urged the government to take precautionary measures in ensuring effective and sustainable supply chain across the country.

The hype on NCOV in the country has generated an unnecessary panic, which has badly impacted Indian market as slowly consumers are refraining from visiting markets resulting in gradual loss in business, he added.

In a normal business practice, importers keep a buffer stock from 45-60 days and in proportion to that procure Chinese goods shipments at regular intervals.

"The coronavirus broke in late December 2019 and came into limelight in 1st week of January when China locked down its industries and about 18 cities were completely closed bring a complete lockdown in production of goods.

"So far the buffer stock of 45-60 days has kept the supply chain interrupted. However, such buffer stock is now going to be finished and thereafter the supply chain may get affected," Khandelwal said. PTI SM



http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg



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LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Medical technology business Smith & Nephew plc (SN.L, SNN) announced Thursday that its Chief Financial Officer Graham Baker will step down from the Board and his CFO role on April 30 in order to take up a new CFO role outside the healthcare sector.\ The company said it is at an advanced stage of appointing a new CFO. Until then, the company appointed Ian Melling, Senior Vice President Group Finance, as interim CFO, who will join the Executive Committee but not the Board. Separately, Smith+Nephew announced the appointment of Rick Medlock as a Non-Executive Director. Medlock will join the Board and Audit Committee on April 9 at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting. Medlock will replace Robin Freestone as Chair of the Audit Committee later in the year. Robin will remain on the Board in his capacity as Senior Independent Director. Smith+Nephew also announced that Vinita Bali will retire as a Non-Executive Director at the end of 2020, and Virginia Bottomley will retire as a Non-Executive Director at the Annual General Meeting in April 2021. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Canopy Growth Corp. is orchestrating a massive overhaul involving a layoff of 500 workers, a multimillion-dollar writedown, the closure of two greenhouses and the cancellation of plans to operate a third.

The Smiths Falls, Ont., cannabis company revealed the moves Wednesday in a press release that attributed the cuts to the Canadian recreational pot market developing slower than anticipated and profitability challenges across the industry.

The company, which is behind the Tweed, Spectrum Therapeutics, Tokyo Smoke and CraftGrow brands, said the actions will align supply and demand while improving production efficiencies over time.

When I joined Canopy Growth earlier this year, I committed to focusing the business and aligning its resources to meet the needs of our consumers, David Klein, the companys chief executive, said in a statement.

Todays decision moves us in this direction, and although the decision to close these facilities was not taken lightly, we know this is a necessary step to ensure that we maintain our leadership position for the long-term.

Canopy estimated that the pre-tax charge it will record in its next quarter, ending Mar. 31, will be between $700 million and $800 million.

It deemed the facilities it will scrap  greenhouses in Aldergrove and Delta, B.C.  no longer essential to its cultivation footprint.

Those greenhouses account for about 278,709 square metres (three million square feet) of licensed production space that was put to use in February 2018, after retrofitting was done to prepare the company to supply the new adult-use cannabis market in Canada.

The company, however, struggled to create working capital, the cannabis market did not mature as fast as it anticipated and federal regulations permitting outdoor cultivation were introduced long after Canopy had begun investing in their greenhouses.

Canopy now operates an outdoor production site thats made cultivation more cost-effective. It believes that site will play an important role in meeting demand for products necessitating cannabis extracts.

The company also said Wednesday that it will no longer pursue plans to operate a third greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

Such decisions are the latest in a string of troubles for Canopy and the industry. It announced in early January that the debut of its cannabis drinks  it has 13 planned  will now be delayed because it requires more time to develop its beverage facility and the scaling process is not complete.

In February, it recorded a $124.17-million loss in its third quarter of 2020.

Canopys cuts come nearly a month after Aurora Cannabis Inc. slashed 500 jobs, took roughly $800 million in goodwill writedowns and announced the departure of Terry Booth, the Edmonton-based companys chief executive officer.

Auroras news was preceded by Tilray Inc. saying it would lay off 10 per cent of its workforce in a bid to cut costs, Sundial Growers axing some of its workforce and Zenabis Global Inc. laying off about 40 staff, mostly in head office roles in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:WEED, TSX:TLRY, TSX:ACB)
It had been a stock-standard work trip until Harry Nolan-Holmes' health took a turn. Driving from Brisbane up to the Wide Bay region last Friday, the public servant and part-time law student had been feeling fine.

The next day, as the number of coronavirus cases climbed in Australia and health authorities urged those feeling ill to come forward, the fever hit.

Harry Nolan-Holmes has been cleared of coronavirus after spending three days in isolation at a regional Queensland health clinic this week.

"[I] couldn't seem to cool down," he told Brisbane Times from his bed in a small-town medical clinic in the region.

But after three days in isolation awaiting test results, the 25-year-old was relieved to learn his illness "just happens to be a chest infection".
NEW YORK, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire -- Champignon Brands Inc. (CSE:SHRM) today announces its placement in an editorial published by NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), one of 40+ brands in the InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company for private and public entities.



To view the full publication, Shroom Boom Offers New Possibilities for Medicine and Functional Foods, visit: http://nnw.fm/Ln8NE

With the legalization of medical cannabis in many jurisdictions, regulators and businesses are re-examining which natural drugs are legally available for consumers. Mushrooms, with their powerful ability to affect brain chemistry, look set to become the next major legalization drive in America. Businesses and investors are moving to make the most of this space.

Among these companies is Champignon Brands Inc. (CSE:SHRM), one of the only public companies focused entirely on a mushroom-to-market strategy. Champignon offers consumer packaged goods (CPGs), currently in the form of a range of teas, that make use of functional mushrooms and, as such, provides an opportunity for entry-level exposure to the burgeoning boom in mushroom products.



About Champignon Brands Inc.

Champignon Brands is a research-driven company specializing in the formulation and distribution of a suite of artisanal-mushroom health supplements. Dedicated to revolutionizing conventional organic teas, coffees and other consumables with the infusion of a proprietary blend of artisanal mushrooms, Champignons expanding portfolio is crafted with the health-conscious consumer in mind. For more information, visit the companys website at www.ChampignonBrands.com.

About NetworkNewsWire

NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is a financial news and content distribution company, one of 40+ brands within our InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN), that provides: (1) access to a network of wire solutions via NetworkWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets; (3) enhanced press release solutions to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience comprising investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in todays market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.

For more information, please visit: https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

Corporate Communications:
Turkey demanded EU help on Wednesday for its mission in Syria as the price of resolving a fresh migrant crisis on its border with Greece, but rejected European accusations that it was 'blackmailing' the bloc. Clashes have broken out between police and refugees at the Turkey-Greece border where thousands of migrants have gathered since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave them the green light to leave for Europe last week. Erdogan's move came after Russian-backed Syrian forces killed 34 Turkish troops in northern Syria, prompting him to seek greater assistance from the international community. But EU leaders now fear a repeat of the migrant crisis of 2015-16, when more than one million migrants crossed into the EU. With mounting tensions around the border crossing at Pazarkule, a Turkish official claimed one migrant had been killed and five injured by live fire from the Greek side. Athens strongly denied the claim, but an AFP photographer earlier saw a migrant shot in the leg -- it was not clear whether by a live round or a rubber bullet -- as a group of refugees tried to cut their way through fencing. The group then threw stones at the Greek police, who responded with tear gas, while multiple shots and cries could be heard. Athens released a video apparently showing Turkish police firing tear gas at Greek border guards, which could not be immediately verified. Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Europe had to support Turkey's "political and humanitarian solutions in Syria" if it wanted to resolve the situation. Government spokesman Ibrahim Kalin denied this was blackmail. "Our objective by opening the doors was not to create an artificial crisis, to place political pressure or to serve our interests," he said, but Turkey's capacity "has a limit". Turkey already hosts some four million refugees, most of them Syrians, and has been fighting the Syrian government in a bid to prevent another influx from Idlib, the jihadist-dominated region that has been under attack by Damascus since December. Close to one million people in Idlib have been displaced by the government assault, which is backed by Russian air power. Those fleeing are currently blocked from entering Turkey. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Council President Charles Michel met with Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday, pledging an additional 170 million euros ($189 million) in aid for vulnerable groups in Syria. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin later on Wednesday urged the EU to produce a "road map" of the management of the funds. Borrell said the EU recognised the "difficult situation Turkey is facing" but that Turkey's green light to migrants could "only make the situation worse". France took a firmer line. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the EU's borders were "closed, and we will ensure they stay closed". - Ceasefire? - Despite being on opposing sides of the nine-year war in Syria, NATO-member Turkey and Russia have kept lines of communication open. But the relationship has been heavily strained, with more than 50 Turkish soldiers killed in Idlib in recent weeks, and three more reported deaths on Tuesday and Wednesday. Erdogan said he hoped a ceasefire would be "swiftly established" when he meets his counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday. Ankara officially announced an offensive against Syrian forces over the weekend, demanding they pull back behind lines agreed under the 2018 Sochi deal with Russia. It killed nine government troops in drone strikes, a monitor said Wednesday. "We expect Russia to fulfil its promises as a guarantor country and stop the regime's attacks and to use its influence to ensure the regime adheres to the Sochi deal's borders," Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said, according to broadcaster NTV. But many say Russia is determined to see the Syrian government regain full control of its territory. "There might be a ceasefire announced after the talks between Putin and Erdogan but it'll be for show," a Western diplomat told AFP. - 'Mercy' - The EU has scrambled to respond to the surge of migrants at the Greek border, where authorities say some 24,000 were stopped from entering between Saturday and Monday. Turkey agreed in 2016 to stop the flow of refugees in exchange for billions of euros, but says the EU failed to honour other parts of the deal, such as visa liberalisation and an improved customs agreement. Erdogan criticised the Greek response, saying: "The Greeks -- who are resorting to any means to stop refugees coming into their country, even drowning them or killing them with live ammunition -- they shouldn't forget they might need this same mercy one day." Meanwhile, Greece sent a navy ship to the island of Lesbos to house some 500 people, many of them families with small children, who managed to reach its shores over the weekend.
Shares of Yes Bank on Thursday zoomed over 29 per cent in afternoon trade amid reports that the government has asked State Bank of India (SBI) to lead a consortium that will buy stake in the company.

The scrip witnessed a sharp rise in afternoon trade, spiking 29.35 per cent to Rs 37.90 on the BSE. Earlier in the day, it had hit a 52-week low of Rs 28.05.

On the NSE, it jumped 29.18 per cent to Rs 37.85 erasing early losses.

The BSE has sought clarification from Yes Bank on Thursday with reference to that government is said to have approved SBI's plan to buy stake in the company.

"As per media reports, SBI has been told to invest as a lead in a consortium in Yes Bank. Though we may see a big spike in price of Yes Bank and negative reaction in price of SBI, we recommend caution to retail investors," Abhimanyu Sofat, Head of Research, IIFL Securities.

The critical thing to watch would be percentage dilution of equity taking into consideration the conversion of existing bonds issued by Yes Bank into equity, he said.

SBI shares recovered from early losses and were trading over 3 per cent higher.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AMSTERDAM, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EclecticIQ, global provider of cyber threat intelligence (CTI) technology solutions and the operator of Fusion Center, today announced that it has grown its revenue in 2019 by 84 percent by successfully expanding the company's market segments from government to larger financial organizations. The company also had success in adding customers in new regions such as the Middle East and APAC.

"EclecticIQ passed several important milestones technically and operationally that have put the foundation in place for scale and further innovation," said Joep Gommers, CEO and founder, EclecticIQ. "With threat intelligence now widely adopted, we're gearing up to support our customers in ensuring the success of cybersecurity strategies, from managing cyber threats to detecting, hunting and responding to them effectively with intelligence at the core."

Milestones reached in 2019:

Revenue growth: 2019 was another great year for EclecticIQ, in which revenue increased by 84 percent.

2019 was another great year for EclecticIQ, in which revenue increased by 84 percent. Industry focus: Many of the company's early clients came from the government sector. Last year, the company entered the large finance market, winning a variety of top logos.

Many of the company's early clients came from the government sector. Last year, the company entered the large finance market, winning a variety of top logos. Regional expansion: EclecticIQ set out to broaden its global reach during the past year and successfully expanded its client base in the Middle East and APAC.

EclecticIQ set out to broaden its global reach during the past year and successfully expanded its client base in the and APAC. Expanded partnerships: The rapid, global expansion was partially due to EclecticIQ adding a wide range of new partners. This included new partnerships with Kaspersky, Honeypot and Vigilante ATI.

The rapid, global expansion was partially due to EclecticIQ adding a wide range of new partners. This included new partnerships with Kaspersky, Honeypot and Vigilante ATI. Integrations: The company significantly expanded its integrations portfolio for the EclecticIQ Platform. Q4 alone saw the biggest ever quarterly integrations update with 19 new and 15 updated platform integrations.

The company significantly expanded its integrations portfolio for the EclecticIQ Platform. Q4 alone saw the biggest ever quarterly integrations update with 19 new and 15 updated platform integrations. Commercial partners: the company has successfully set up its partner program in the Middle East and welcomed NDI as a partner in Japan .

the company has successfully set up its partner program in the and welcomed NDI as a partner in . Leadership: New experienced leadership with expertise in security and operations have joined to prepare the company for growth, welcoming Michel de Jong as COO, who held the same position at General Electric Norway. EclecticIQ further on-boarded a new senior leadership in Finance, HR and Marketing.

New experienced leadership with expertise in security and operations have joined to prepare the company for growth, welcoming as COO, who held the same position at General Electric Norway. EclecticIQ further on-boarded a new senior leadership in Finance, HR and Marketing. Industry alliances: Already a sponsor member of OASIS, EclecticIQ joined the Open Cybersecurity Alliance (OCA), along with some of the biggest names in cybersecurity.

With the foundations laid in 2019, EclecticIQ is ready to continue growing its market share, drive forward global expansion and further accelerate innovation in 2020.

About EclecticIQ

EclecticIQ enables intelligence-powered cybersecurity for government organizations and commercial enterprises. We develop analyst-centric products and services that align our clients' cybersecurity focus with their threat reality. The result is intelligence-led security, improved detection and prevention, and cost-efficient security investments.

Our solutions are built specifically for analysts across all intelligence-led security practices such as threat investigation and threat hunting, as well as incident response efforts. And we tightly integrate our solutions with our customers' IT security controls and systems.

EclecticIQ operates globally with offices in Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America, and via certified value-adding partners.

Learn more at www.eclecticiq.com

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The Perez de Cuellar decade peaked dramatically, at the stroke of midnight on the last day of his mandate, on the last day of 1991, with the initialing of what was to become, a couple of weeks later, the El Salvador Peace Accord, ending a twelve-year war, wrote de Soto, who led the U.N.s peace negotiations for El Salvador. A week later when I advised his [successor], Egypts Boutros Boutros-Ghali, to attend the formal signature of the Accord in Mexico on 16 January 1992, his first reaction was that he would feel like a usurper  Javier should go. I dutifully conveyed this idea to Javier. Needless to say, he declined, albeit ever so politely. That was the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations. That is Javier.
Etihad attributed the lower revenues to cutting back on routes as part of its restructuring plans

Dubai: Abu Dhabi's long-troubled national carrier Etihad on Thursday reported losses of $870 million in 2019 after losing billions in recent years, calling the result "encouraging."

Since 2016, Etihad has lost a total of $5.62 billion as its strategy of aggressively buying stakes in airlines from Europe to Australia to compete against Dubai-based Emirates and fellow rival Qatar Airways exposed the company to major losses.

The company has since started to claw its way out of financial trouble.

In February, Etihad announced it would sell 38 aircraft to an investment firm and a leasing company in a deal valued at $1 billion.

Etihad said that revenue would be reflected in its 2020 results.

"There's still some way to go but progress made in 2019, and cumulatively since 2017, has instilled in us a renewed vigour and determination to push ahead and implement the changes needed to continue this positive trajectory," Etihad CEO Tony Douglas said in a statement.

By comparison, Etihad lost $1.28 billion in 2018.

Etihad reported losses of $1.52 billion for 2017 and $1.95 billion in 2016.

Etihad reported revenues of $5.6 billion, compared to $5.9 billion in 2018.

It carried 17.5 million passengers last year, down from 17.8 million in 2018.

It attributed the lower revenues to cutting back on routes as part of its restructuring plans.

Etihad also has restructured planned aircraft purchases from Airbus and Boeing. It said its fleet now has 101 aircraft in it, down from 106 the year before.

Abu Dhabi's rulers launched Etihad in 2003, competing with the established Dubai government-owned carrier Emirates that flies out of Dubai International Airport only 115 kilometers (70 miles) away.

In 2018, Etihad began loaning pilots to Emirates under a new program.

Both Emirates and Etihad have seen business hurt by President Donald Trump's travel bans affecting Muslim-majority nations.

That's even with Abu Dhabi International Airport having a US Customs and Border Protection preclearance facility, allowing passengers arriving in America to immediately leave. It's the only such facility in the Mideast.

The two airlines compete in the long-haul carrier market, using their nation's location between East and West to their advantage.

Both airlines continued to fly to Beijing amid the ongoing outbreak of the new coronavirus, even as other Western airlines have cut flights.

That's likely due to the Emirati government's desire to maintain close relations with China out of hopes Chinese investment can boost its flagging real-estate market and tourism.
Kasautii Zindagii Kay spoiler alert: After a gap of 8 years, Prerna is all set to come to Kolkata to seek revenge from Anurag. She recently won the International Businesswoman of the year award in London.

Kasautii Zindagii Kay spoiler alert: One of Indias most loved shows Kasautii Zindagii Kay has taken a leap of 8 years. The leap comes after Anurag attempted to kill Prerna by pushing her off the Howdah bridge. However, much to Prernas respite, Mr Bajaj comes at the right time and save her from drowning. When Prerna goes to confront Anurag, she finds out that it was all a plan of Anurag and Komolika. She further finds out that her newborn baby Sneha has died in a cylinder blast.

This shatters Prerna but Mr Bajaj suggests her that they should move to London and come back to Kolkata years later stronger and wiser. Prerna also promises Mr Bajaj that she will only return to Kolkata after winning businesswoman of the year award. Now that Prerna has proved her mettle, she is all set to come back to Kolkata to seek revenge. On the other hand, Anurag feels that Prerna is still around and calling his name.

It will be interesting to see what will happen when Anurag come face to face with the bold and powerful avatar of Prerna and how will the latter destroy him? As she is in the plane, Prerna thinks out loud that the way her daughter battled for her life, Anurag will face the same fate. He would have to face the consequences for the same.

Also Read: Himanshi Khurana teases fans by sharing small glimpse of Asim Riaz, Jacqueline Fernandez Holi special music video, watch

Also Read: Mujhse Shaadi Karoge 4th March 2020, Episode 13 written updates: Heena Panchal shares her past life with Paras Chhabra

Latest reports also say that Anurag killed Prerna only to save her. Henceforth, the makers of the show are all set to take the viewers on an emotional rollercoaster journey.

Also Read: Mujhse Shaadi Karoge: Ex-girlfriend Akanksha Puris resemblance in contestant Sanjjana Galrani haunts Paras Chhabra

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
Theres the male surgeon in Wakayama who developed a fever at the end of January, but kept seeing patients for three days while taking medicine to lower his temperature before finally developing pneumonia-like symptoms. At least four other people at the surgeons hospital also caught the virus, including another doctor, who also kept seeing patients for days after developing a cough and a fever.
Manufacturers of textiles and garments are struggling to keep up with production due to supply shortages. Photo Le Toan

Contrary to the performance of previous years, the new collection from Swedish fashion brand H&M is expected to be launched at only one store, at Vincom Centre Dong Khoi in Ho Chi Minh City, instead of all units across the country.

A shortage of goods from Vietnamese suppliers is being cited as the main reason behind new products not covering all outlets. H&M is now working with 30 suppliers and 40 tailor shops in Vietnam which account for 30 per cent of its total supplies globally. However, we estimate COVID-19 will not cause any sizeable delays in the manufacturing process, an H&M representative told VIR.

Running retail and production in the same market like we do in Vietnam has supported our operations at the current time. If H&M has to change its business plan, we will attach special importance to the major concerns of suppliers to figure out the best solutions, he said.

H&M, as well as other fashion brands, have been in a deadlock because of shortcomings in material supplies from China. This has resulted in delays of several months for orders from local partners in Vietnam such as Garment 10 Corporation, Saigon 3 Garment JSC, and Viettien, among others.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), about 60 per cent of local garment supplies originate from China. As a result, the epidemic has far-reaching implications on domestic textile makers.

The import-export turnover in garments and textiles saw a reduction in the first two months of 2020 due in part to the COVID-19 epidemic, with the export value at $4.5 billion, down 1.7 per cent, while the import value of cloth hit $1.6 billion, down 10.5 per cent on-year.

Last year, the bilateral trade value in the sector between Vietnam and China was $15.7 billion, $4.2 billion of which was export turnover and the remaining $11.5 billion was the import value.

According to analysis by the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Textile, Embroidery and Knitting, businesses are facing a lack of raw materials in April and May. The shortage mainly focuses on enterprises specialising in export production. For small- and medium-sized enterprises with a 50/50 ratio of export and domestic consumption, the raw materials for production depend heavily on large enterprises.

The lack of materials caused by the COVID-19 epidemic has caused and textile producers difficulties in delivering orders for international fashion brands like Gap and Nike in time with enough quantity. Even large-scale producers only have enough materials to maintain manufacturing into the next two months at best.

Nguyen Chi Trung, board chairman at Gia Dinh Group, a supplier of world-famous brands like Nike, Adidas, The North Face, Polo, and Vagabond, said, COVID-19 has greatly affected Vietnamese businesses, especially footwear enterprises. Before the Lunar New Year, they imported enough raw materials to produce in the first quarter. However, the following months will be difficult.

Other suppliers of fashion brands also expressed concerns about the lack of materials. A local supplier of Gap and Tommy Hilfiger, Garment 10 Corporation JSC  which imports 50 per cent of its materials from China  is struggling to complete orders due for delivery in March and April.

Furthermore, Saigon 3 Garment JSC, which specialises in supplying goods for UNIQLO and Nike, is reported to be able to only keep its workshops running through March.

Truong Van Cam, vice chairman of the VITAS, said that almost all members reserved enough materials to last until early April. Thus, after this time, if the epidemic is not controlled, enterprises may have to arrange an alternative timetable for staff or suspend their operation due to lacking materials.

Even though more than half of raw material factories in China have resumed production, Cam explained that it will take time for them to get back up to full speed. Producers have been looking for alternative supply sources from India, Bangladesh, and Brazil to make up for the shortage of materials. However, it is sure that China could not be replaced as the main supplier by anyone else due to its much lower costs, Cam said.
Nicolas Cage certainly is giving his young lady love Riko Shibata a fun tour of New York City this week.

On Wednesday the 56-year-old Moonstruck actor held hands with his 26-year-old beauty as he took her to the Museum Of Natural History.

Then the next day the actor - whose real name is Nicolas Kim Coppola - was seen sitting close to Riko when enjoying a horse-drawn carriage around Central Park.

A good ride: Nicolas Cage certainly is giving his young lady love Riko Shibata a fun tour of New York City this week. On Thursday they were in a horse drawn carriage

Sad incident: It didn't seem to bother Nicolas that earlier this week one of the horses that draws carriages in the same park dropped dead of a heart attack

It didn't seem to bother Nicolas that earlier this week one of the horses that draws carriages in the same park dropped dead of a heart attack.

Many people say it is not humane to let the horses work in the congested park where cars zoom past.

Others say it is a Manhattan tradition to have the animals there.

Cowboy cool: Nicolas looked ready for a rodeo with his dark hat and colorful New Mexico sweater, jeans and black boots

Sweet day: The little lady added bright red and shiny lipstick; at one point she was seen laughing away while looking at Cage

Nicolas looked ready for a rodeo with his dark hat and colorful New Mexico sweater, jeans and black boots.

His date wore a black-and-white scarf over a grey coat with her long black hair down.

The little lady added bright red and shiny lipstick; at one point she was seen laughing away while looking at Cage.

Tee hee: His date wore a black-and-white scarf over a grey coat with her long black hair down

Just a walk around the park: The horse had on purple accents as the rider looked at his phone

Flowers for his lady: There was a bouquet of flowers on the all white carriage

The ride that keeps going: The horse had to wind around the park so Cage and his lady could get some nice views

Cage looked happy as he held hands with his new girlfriend on Tuesday. The lovebirds were heading to the Museum Of Natural History.

They have been dating for at least two months.

Action star Cage - best known for Con Air, Face/Off and National Treasure - had on a wild snakeskin jacket over a white shirt.

How much? After the ride was over his driver was waiting with his black SUV

He added what appeared to be snakeskin print black slacks and black boots.

The father to Weston Coppola Cage, 29, and Kal-El Coppola Cage, 14, added black sunglasses and sported a goatee.

His lady love, who is three years younger than his eldest son, looked chic.

She had on a black coat with a white fur collar that did not appear to be faux.

The petite lady added a white top and black slacks with black boots, matching her new love.

Decades apart: They have 30 years between them but that does not seem to upset the couple. The lovebirds were heading to the Museum Of Natural History

She added a brown Michael Kors purse with a gold chain and a beige beanie hat that said West Side Story on the side.

Last week the two were seen landing at JFK together. She had on the same coat.

Before that they were seen holding hands at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California, on February 8.

The two were seen walking side by side outside the tent by the beach as they were escorted into the event. Once inside, they sat close to each other.

This comes just nine months after he finalized his divorce from his fourth wife Erika Koike.

Hand in hand: Cage was seen holding hands with his lady at Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California

Close: Once inside the event, Nic and his lady were seen sitting side by side at a table together

The former couple were granted the divorce three months after their wedding, which they tried to annul after four days, after Nicolas claimed he was 'too drunk' to marry.

TMZ state that according to court records, the judge in Clark County, NV granted their divorce on Friday, May 31, 2019.

Nicolas had claimed the union was based on fraud, because Erika didn't disclose her criminal history and her relationship with another person.

The ex: This comes just nine months after he finalized his divorce from his fourth wife Erika Koike. Seen in May 2018

There appeared to be problems with the union almost immediately and hours after the wedding, which took place on March 23, they were seen fighting outside the Bellagio hotel.

Erika later opposed Nick's hope to annul their marriage and made a claim for spousal support.

TMZ claims that Nicolas was unable to get the annulment but managed to get a quick divorce and it's unclear if Erika was granted the spousal support she wanted.

Erika claims that her reputation has been damaged by Cage and she's lost out on career opportunities.

Cage was married to Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley from 2002 until 2004.
A 7-year-old girl who was shot in her bedroom by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting in Maine has been released from the hospital.

Emahleeah Frost left a Portland hospital where she spent nearly a week being treated for a bullet that was lodged between two vertebrae in her back.

Her mother told the Morning Sentinel Thursday that her daughter was doing great and excited to leave.

Police say Emahleeah was with her 6-year-old sister in their Waterville home when she was shot Feb. 28.

The bullet went through the wall of the bedroom where the girls were having an after-school snack.

A police investigation is ongoing.
There are cases within the public administration system when the steps that are taken dont correspond to the steps that should be taken after a revolution, and in such cases, necessary decisions are taken. This is what Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan told reporters today. According to him, among those steps are the reforms after which some people have stopped working within state bodies. However, it is necessary to have an independent judiciary in order to talk about legal processes, he said.

Armen Grigoryan voiced hope that this issue will also be solved after the referendum for constitutional amendments in April. As for Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyans statement on traitors at the higher levels of the law-enforcement authorities, if it was necessary, the Prime Minister would state names, the Secretary of the Security Council stressed, yet failed to clarify whether Pashinyan referred to former Chief of Police Valeriy Osipyan and former Director of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan or not.
Sixty is the new 45, 80 is the new 60, and 100 is  well, really dang old. But even centenarians know that once you stop learning, you star...
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A Daly City doctor pleaded not guilty in federal court in San Francisco Tuesday to charges of health care fraud and illegal distribution of opioids outside the scope of professional practice.

Timothy Mulligan, 67, of Santa Clara, an oncologist who maintains an office in Daly City, entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Jacqueline Corley and was granted release on a $100,000 unsecured bond.

Mulligan was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 27 on two counts of distributing fentanyl and one count of distributing both fentanyl and oxycodone beyond the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical reason on occasions in 2017, 2018 and 2015.

He was also charged with two counts of health care fraud for allegedly submitting a false claim to Medi-Cal on behalf of a patient in 2017 and a false claim to a health insurance company on behalf of another patient in 2015.

The indictment alleges that in recent years, Mulligan "issued an unusually high total volume of prescriptions for potent opioids." It alleges that according to a state government database, he issued more than 9,000 prescriptions for opioids, totaling more than 700,000 dosage units, to more than 250 patients between 2014 and 2018.

Corley ordered Mulligan to return to court on April 29 for a status conference before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, the trial judge assigned to the case.

Harris Taback, a lawyer for Mulligan, said in a statement, "Dr. Mulligan is a widely respected physician who treats the most difficult patient population that exists. Pain patients are entitled to pain relief as a basic human right. When the government charges a physician with a crime for over-prescribing pain medication, it always intimidates other doctors from taking on those among us who are in tremendous need of pain relief medication.

"Dr. Mulligan has dedicated his adult life to help others. He looks forward to clearing his good name and restoring his well-earned reputation in the medical field," Taback 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.
The IT scandal that saw hundreds of Post Office staff falsely accused of theft will be the subject of an official inquiry.

MPs on the Commons business committee will this month question former bosses and a Government minister on how postmasters were branded thieves for allegedly stealing from tills, bankrupted and in some cases jailed.

For years the Post Office denied there was anything wrong with its IT, but it emerged the Horizon counter-top computer terminals were riddled with bugs.

MPs on the Commons business committee will this month question former bosses and a Government minister on how postmasters were branded thieves for allegedly stealing from tills, bankrupted and in some cases jailed (file photo, Post Office Barnsley)

In December the Post Office capitulated after a long legal battle costing 32million of taxpayers' cash in legal costs before paying out 58million and apologising to wronged postmasters.

Many still carry criminal convictions, which more than 50 hope to see overturned in the Court of Appeal.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is considering whether staff from Fujitsu, who installed the IT system, should face prosecution. Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an independent inquiry into the scandal.

It is expected the committee's findings will inform this wider inquiry.

The Post Office settled the High Court case after being lambasted by the judge. It had spent years battling its postal veterans and denying any problem with its IT system (file photo)

Labour's Rachel Reeves, chairman of the business committee, said: 'Hundreds of sub-postmasters have suffered considerable distress and many have had their lives ruined. It's right to examine what the Post Office and the Government have learned from this scandal.'

Jo Hamilton, who was convicted after inexplicable losses of 36,000 at her village post office in South Warnborough, Hampshire, said: 'It's fantastic news, we've been asking for an inquiry for so long now.

'My conviction means I just do cleaning. We'd like some redress financially.'

Andy Furey, of the Communication Workers Union, said: 'Hopefully this will ensure those responsible for creating so much misery of so many innocent postmasters will be held to account.'

Yesterday the Post Office said: 'We will engage positively with this inquiry.'
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IT majors are likely to see a drop in new deals and delay in project deliverables due to the coronavirus outbreak.

A mid-level executive of a US-based IT services firm told Moneycontrol that he had to cancel three-client meetings because of the epidemic.

"The team had client meetings lined up in UK, Australia and Abu Dhabi for long-term projects. But had to cancel since the company has imposed overseas travel ban as a precaution," the executive added.

For the company, the executive explained, the quarter ending March sets the tone for deal closures through the year. However, with drop in client visits and sales activity, the next few quarters are not looking rosy, admitted the executive.

Track this blog for live updates on coronavirus

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"Drastic drop in client visitations and ban on overseas travel will impact deal conversions in the quarter ending March. So the quarter ending March will see slight dip in business. But the real impact will be felt in the next two quarters after that, in Q2 and Q3," said Pareekh Jain, founder, Pareekh Consulting, a technology consultancy firm.

Take for instance deal cancellation by the mid-level executive. Most of the projects are long-term. The cancellations would directly impact revenue, especially at the time when the macros are already a concern.

IT services firms such as TCS, witnessed moderate growth in revenue due to softness in the banking and financial services and the capital markets in the US, a major revenue generator for the IT firms.

It grew 8.4 percent in constant currency for the quarter ending October 2019 after reporting double digit growth in the previous four consecutive quarters. The numbers did not improve even in the third quarter ending December 2019. Revenue in constant currency stood at 6.8 percent in Q3.

Wipro's IT Services segment grew 4 percent for the quarter ended September 2019. For the third quarter, it dropped to 2.7 percent.

With the virus outbreak the other sectors will be hit and this will in turn impact the IT sector.

Sectors that have already seen a dent include travel and hospitality, manufacturing, automotive and semiconductor industry. A Mumbai-based analyst pointed out that NIIT Technologies and Mindtree for whom travel and hospitality are significant are likely to see an impact.

"See the IT industry is profitable only when other sectors are doing well. The other sectors are not doing well so it will hit us too," pointed out another mid-level executive with a US-based IT services firm.

Apart from new businesses being hit, delivering an existing businesses is a challenge too. The tech majors have put in place Business Continuity Plans to minimise potential harm to businesses during emergency.

This includes allowing employees to work from home, avoiding unnecessary travel and focus on personal hygiene and sanitation.

Can Indian firms handle work from home?

Three executives of IT firms Moneycontrol spoke to said that Indian firms are not equipped to handle work from home for longer periods unlike tech giants such as Twitter, which had asked all their employees to work from home.

Top five IT firms alone employ over nine lakh people across India and overseas. Hence, access to laptops will be limited and that might cause delay in project delivery.

"There is a long queue for laptop in the company now that the work-from-home option is in place. If even a section of employees are asked to work-from-home, we might not be able to complete projects on time," said one of the executives.

In addition, key client projects run on offshore development centre to ensure that the clients sensitive data is secure. "So, for employees in these projects they have no option but to come to work," said the second executive.

In instances similar to those like that of Mindspace IT park in Hyderabad, where all the employees were advised to work from home after one of the company employees tested positive for COVID-19, working remotely will impact productivity, he added.
The shift of Ghana's annual Independence celebration from the usual Independence Square in Accra to Kumasi is perhaps to reconnect and re-enact the role played by the Asante people in the struggle ahead of Independence on March 6, 1957.



Key among some of the known personalities who either directly or indirectly aided Ghana's first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, in achieving that feat were the then Asantehene, Osei Agyeman Prempeh ll, Dr. K.A. Busia, Dr. E.O. Asafo Adjaye, Mr Victor Owusu, Mr Joe Appiah, Mr R. R. Amponsah, Mr Krobo Eddusei, Baafour Osei Akoto (a founding member of the United Party) and Mr R. O. Amoako Atta, all of whom either served in United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) or the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) or both, in the struggle for independence.



History



Recounting the history to Daily Graphic, a researcher for Manhyia in the areas of language history, culture and tradition, Mr Osei Bonsu Safo-Kantanka, said with the exception of the Anlo and Wala people, all other groups in Ghana today have at one time or the other been part of the Ashanti Kingdom.



"It will, therefore, be very difficult to credit or even discredit any gains of Ghana's independence to the people now called the Asante," he said.



Asante before Ghana's independence in 1957 had been reduced to just the areas of Ghana called the Ashanti, Ahafo, Brong and Brong East regions.



Their role dates back to Asante's struggles and wars with Ghana's colonial masters, the British.



Wars



lt is believed that the many Anlo-Asanti wars made the British and their European allies unwilling to continue to stay in comfort in the Gold Coast, now Ghana.



While a greater part of Southern Ghana had fallen into the hands of the British as a colony before 1831, Central Asante with her capital, Kumasi, was the last to fall into their hands in 1902.



Though Asante was a separate nation from the British colony of the Gold Coast, at the beginning of the struggle for independence from Britain in the 1940s, Asante agreed to sacrifice her own independence so as to enable her to join the then Gold Coast in her struggle against the British.



Quote



In his book: "Struggle against doctorship: Autobiography of Baafour Osei Akoto (pages 28 and 30), it is stated that prior to that, the Ashantis had sought a 'loose form of association' with the rest of the country based on federation.



"After this historic meeting, the Joint Provincial Council of Chiefs, the Asante Confederacy and the Municipalities submitted a joint proposal to the governor, Alan Burns, for Independence for the Gold Coast," the book said.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Editors note: Welcome to Inside Out, our weekly roundup of stories about Staten Islanders of all ages who are making waves, being seen, supporting our community and just making our borough a special place to live. Have a story for Inside Out? Email Carol Ann Benanti at benanti@siadvance.com.

Through the diligence and support of dedicated parishioners, a new statue in the image of Frances Xavier Cabrini, affectionately known as Mother Cabrini, was unveiled in our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church Sunday, Feb. 16 during mass at noon.

Many may recall Mother Cabrini was the subject of controversy recently when city officials declined to choose the saint as one of its first-round statues for the She Built NYC initiative  despite her garnering the highest number of public nominations.

However, local patriotic artist Scott LoBaido unveiled a statue dedicated to Americas first saint amid the perceived snub against her. His own statue of Mother Cabrini, was made public on Dec. 22, on her feast day, and displayed outside St. Patricks Cathedral in Manhattan.

Scott remembered going to visit the saints shrine in Washington Heights with his family during his youth. And after a conversation with his mother, LoBaido was reminded of his familys story of Cabrini  praying over his great-grandmother, who was an Italian immigrant, during a bout with consumption. He said his ancestor swore Cabrini cured her, and she became the familys patron saint.

THE STATUE ARRIVES IN TOTTENVILLE

A statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, affectionately known as Mother Cabrini. (Courtesy/Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church) Staten Island Advance

The statue of Mother Cabrini arrived at Our Lady Help of Christians after Priscilla Carollo, a dedicated and faithful parishioner who also founded the Tottenville Civic Association and is responsible for preserving historic places in the age-old town, fervently prayed to Mother Cabrini for peace.

Priscilla says she was always inspired by Mother Cabrini and often comments, She keeps coming to me in my sleepShe wont leave me alone, and so the idea of a statue was born.

Through Priscillas efforts, funds were raised for the statue, as well as expenses related to the installation, and the candle station. The devoted churchgoer then arranged for a special mass to be celebrated on Sunday, Feb. 16.

And what makes the story even more special is that Priscillas cousin, Sister Pietrina Raccuglia was the head of the order related to Mother Cabrini and Sister Diane Olmstead, the current head of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, both proudly attended the mass.

The Sisters also presented a relic of Mother Cabrini to the church to be venerated by parishioners.

Mr. & Mrs. John Argenziano, two other dedicated parishioners, followed by hosting a luncheon at Mangia Restaurant in Tottenville in honor of Mother Cabrini and to commemorate the arrival of the statue.

A LITTLE ABOUT MOTHER CABRINI

Mother Cabrini who was beatified Americas first saint and the patron saint of immigrants and known primarily for her dedication to the less fortunate, grew up wanting to be part of a religious order. She ultimately became founder of the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

She and her sisters were missionaries in China and she visited Rome to obtain an audience with Pope Leo XIII.

She also founded an upstate orphanage, a school for girls in Washington Heights, and dozens of organizations for the needy with a focus on immigrants and children..

Mother Cabrini organized catechism and educational classes for the Italian immigrants and provided for the needs of the many orphans. She established schools, hospitals and orphanages despite tremendous odds.

In 1946, she was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in recognition of her holiness and service to mankind and was named Patroness of Immigrants in 1950.

Today the Missionary Sisters, their lay collaborators and volunteers work as teachers, nurses, social workers, administrators and members of institutional boards of trustees.

They can be found on six continents and 15 countries throughout the world  wherever there is a need.

Mother Cabrinis body is located as part of the altar in the Church at the Shrine for Mother Cabrini located in Northern Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River.

Her activity was relentless until her death on Dec. 22, 1917, in Chicago.
Columbus Manor Park has an all-inclusive playground that features elements such as a Sensory Wave Climber, Merry Go ALL, Shadow Play, Biggo Swing, Rocking Raft, Music Section, Net Climber, Bay of Swings, benches and slides. This unique playground allows play for all abilities and needs, park district officials said, and the inclusion allows participants to be a part of the community where playing and making new friends is easily available to them. Columbus Manor Park also has a play area with splash pad toys and new pathways.
What is your day like? How much do you sleep? Whats your work schedule?

My schedule depends a lot on my dog. If I dont bring her to the studio, I leave her with my Buddhist mentor, Gayle.

How many hours of creative work do you think you do?

Around eight hours every day, although it depends on whether Im working from my studio, my apartment or Maine. Its a 10-hour drive from New York to my fathers house, so when I go, I tend to spend a good amount of time there.

Whats the first piece of art you ever made?

I believe it was a sculpture that I made as an undergrad at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. I just took stuff  a coffee pot, for example  from all over the place and wired it together to create a human figure.

Whats the worst studio you ever had?

Probably my Columbia University studio during grad school. It was a small space right next to the boiler with no windows. A studio with no windows can be really depressing, but this one led me to create video work, which benefits from darkness, so it turned out O.K. in the end.

Whats the first work you ever sold, and for how much?

I had a painting in one of those coffee-shop exhibitions, and a man paid me $100 for it in cash. This was in Amherst, Mass., in 1999, while I was in college. They kept the painting up until the exhibition was taken down, by which point I had lost his phone number. I guess he never received that painting.

How do you know when youre finished with a work?

I believe Im not done most of the time. But thats why we artists always have to look. If we turn around, close our eyes and then look back, we see what the painting is doing by itself. We have to closely watch what were putting out there.
The owner of the former Lone Star Brewery complex is seeking to sell it for at least $13.5 million and expects to complete a sale by early May.

The roughly 32-acre site at Lone Star Boulevard and Probandt Street has generated significant interest, said attorney Thomas Rice, who represents Lone Star Brewery Development Inc.

I've talked to at least five or six parties that are interested in purchasing the property, he said.

The entity, owned by Houston-based private equity fund Parkview Capital Credit, filed for bankruptcy reorganization in January. The move stopped a foreclosure auction of the property, the subject of several failed redevelopment efforts over the years.

On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy finds buyer for historic Villita Assembly Building

Lone Star reported just over $30 cash on hand and debts of about $27 million, including about $14 million owed to Princeton Capital Corp. and $12 million to BridgeInvest, its bankruptcy petition states.

The owner has faced foreclosure on the properties in the past and evaded a sale in 2018 by refinancing its debt with a loan from BridgeInvest.

This time, BridgeInvest sought a bankruptcy judges approval to proceed with foreclosure. But after discussions with Lone Star, the lender is allowing it to proceed with a sale.

JLL, a commercial real estate firm, is handling the marketing of the site. The broker has said it believes its worth about $25 million, Rice told a bankruptcy judge Thursday.

If Lone Star doesnt receive a minimum cash bid of $13.5 million or doesnt pay taxes owed on the property, the court will hold a hearing in April to consider approving the sale of the complex to BridgeInvest or its assignee. BridgeInvest could bid up to the amount its owed as part of a sale.

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Another option for Lone Star is finding a partner to help revitalize the complex and refinance the BridgeInvest debt.

This is not going back to foreclosure, Rice said.

The court would need to approve the bid and sale procedures. Steve Lecholop, an attorney representing Princeton Capital, said the firm hopes the property sells for between $25 million and $30 million.

We have also received phone calls expressing interest from developers locally and nationally, he said. My hope is that, unlike many single-asset cases, that this one receives robust interest and the auction will result in everyone being happy at the conclusion of the bankruptcy case.

The brewery shut in 1996, and previous attempts to revitalize the rundown complex have fizzled because of costs, bankruptcies and environmental problems. The most recent plan involved adding shops, offices, apartments, a hotel and a park but fell through in 2017.

Beer company Pabst owns the Lone Star brand.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
When corporate partners in the Princeton Catalysis Initiative sat down two years ago with David MacMillan, they presented him with a biological challenge at the heart of potential cancer medicines and other therapeutics: which proteins on a cell's surface touch each other?

What they wanted was analogous to a searchlight blazing into a dark cave -- something to shine a metaphorical light on a protein and its closest neighbors on the cell membrane. Large, complex molecules, proteins are the stuff of life, the very fulcrum on which everything about us turns -- the way we think, the way we grow, the diseases we get. Proteins are able to determine this by sending messages to their neighbors. But while scientists could previously tell who was inside the cave, they could not tell who was standing next to whom, and thus were lacking important knowledge about these essential protein-to-protein communications.

The Department of Chemistry's MacMillan Group announced in the current issue of Science that they have developed that searchlight.

The breakthrough technology, named Map by the team of Princeton researchers and Merck scientists, uses a photocatalyst -- a molecule that, when activated by light, spurs a chemical reaction -- to identify spatial relationships on cell surfaces. The catalyst generates a marker that tags proteins and their molecular neighbors, which in turn enables the precise mapping of their micro-environment.

The technology could impact proteomics, genomics and neuroscience, to name a few of the more obvious fields. But the applications for fundamental biology are so wide-ranging that MacMillan, who is Princeton's James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry, is hungry to get the technology "into everyone's hands" to see what scientists in other fields can come up with.

"For the technologies we have right now, the problem is not whether you can tag things," he said. "The problem is that you can tag thousands of things and so you can't tell what's way over there and what's right next door. That turns out to be really, really important because molecules or proteins or enzymes that signal each other are usually right next door to each other. Well, the state-of-the-art doesn't tell you what's close."

So they came up with a radical new approach.

"We did some critical experiments and immediately we could show that we were labeling things within a really short distance," MacMillan said. "We now know exactly what's in the neighborhood. And that's never been done before. For biology, it's going to be like turning on the light switch and suddenly seeing everything."

Merck Exploratory Science Center (MESC) scientists Rob Oslund and Olugbeminiyi Fadeyi, paper co-authors who are based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the technology could inspire vast new developments in biology. "Given the important role of understanding protein interactions within cellular micro-environments," Oslund said, "this technology has the potential to be a game-changing tool for both academic and industry life science labs all over the world."

The Map, pronounced micro-map, identifies neighbors within a radius of 1 to 10 nanometers around a particular protein. (For reference, a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers across.) Resolution on this level identifies the 10 or 15 closest molecules.

Jacob Geri, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Merck Center for Catalysis at Princeton University and a co-first-author on the Science paper with graduate student James Oakley and MESC scientist Tamara Reyes-Robles, said Map does this by using blue light to power a catalytic reaction.

Here's how it works: The catalyst -- in this case, an organic metal compound -- is selectively attached to any one of some 40,000 proteins on a cell's surface, where it acts as a kind of antenna. Blue light, which has a very high photonic energy, serves as the trigger. When shone on the cell, this blue light is picked up by the antenna, which converts its photonic energy into chemical energy. That latent energy doesn't cool; it doesn't diffuse; it doesn't wander aimlessly along the cell membrane painting everything it comes across. It just sits.

Based on a paper published some 40 years ago, MacMillan's group came up with the idea of employing the use of an organic molecule called a diazirine that is particularly receptive to this latent energy. When a diazirine moves very close to the catalyst -- within 0.1 nanometers -- the chemical energy transfers to the diazirine. The diazirine in turn reacts so violently that it releases a byproduct and becomes what's referred to as a carbene, an "angry" species that attaches itself to neighboring proteins.

"The catalyst transfers so much energy that the molecule rips itself apart to expose an incredibly unstable carbon atom, which will then just stick to anything it can," explained Geri.

The catalyst can perform this chemical reaction many times, so the process repeats itself for all localized molecules, proteins and enzymes. Because carbenes are so short-lived -- just a couple of nanoseconds -- their reaction provides for a vivid, real-time snapshot of all contiguous molecules. Subsequently, researchers can quilt together a precise map of the micro-environment -- the very technology scientists were looking for.

"A lot of the mechanism of disease takes place through how these cells talk to each other, and they can only talk if they're touching," said Geri. "That's why the surface of the cell is so important. If they touch, they can communicate."

He added: "We can now figure out what's making that communication happen or what's making that communication change. It's really been an amazing experience, working on this."

MacMillan's group chose two categories of human cells to investigate. One was a class of proteins that had known interactions, selected as a kind of control group to prove that their interactions could be captured by Map. The second group was "more interesting," said Geri. It centered on proteins called PD-L1 and PD-1, which are associated with the body's immune system and its response to cancer cells.

Normally, sick cells like cancer cells would present as molecular interlopers that need to be cleared by the immune system. But cancer cells are deceptive, said MacMillan. They send out a "don't kill me" signal through a cloaking mechanism involving the PD-L1 and PD-1 axis. Since cancer therapies are successful partly based on their capacity to block that signal, scientists want to know more about how it is transmitted. Mapping the precise neighborhood is an essential early step. When researchers put the Map catalyst on PD-L1 and PD-1, the molecules in their micro-environment are tagged. Protein-protein interactions that had previously been hypothesized could now be directly observed. And several correlations were detected that had never been conceived of.

"Now, we don't do the cancer biology," said MacMillan. "But we've invented this tool that can give you a lot of information about these cancer cells. We think that by using this information, you can start to target those proteins as a way to also remove interfering signals. And if you can remove those signals, you make your immune system better at going after these cancer cells."

Soon after MacMillan arrived at Princeton, he began driving research in harnessing blue LED light to perform previously impossible feats of chemistry. Merck became involved in 2006, with a seed donation toward MacMillan's research. The company has since donated additional monies, and in 2019 they announced a 10-year funding commitment towards the Princeton Catalysis Initiative, which fosters interdisciplinary collaborations to accelerate the discovery of new research areas.

"Our collaboration created a novel cellular chemistry approach leveraging photoredox catalysis to activate diazirines, an important class of organic molecules, in a temporal-controlled manner," said Merck's Fadeyi. "Because of the routine use of diazirines within chemical biology and biology, this method will be in high demand not only for protein labeling, but for identifying the binding targets of other biomolecules to elucidate their functional roles."

He added: "The collaboration was successful due to the close interactions between Merck scientists and Dave's lab."

MacMillan likewise lauded the discovery as proof of the value of collaboration across academic and industry lines, like those envisioned when the Princeton Catalysis Initiative first came into being in 2018.

"As chemists, we don't know any good questions in biology -- zero," he said. "So, you're taking these people who know everything about biology, and they have this problem that they're trying to solve. And it's ultimately a great problem for a chemistry group. At the same time, it's not a problem that a chemistry group would ever think about because they don't know biology. You have these two different areas and you put them together and you start to realize there all these great things you can do.

"This is what I love about the social science of science," he added. "It is absolutely a beautiful example of how it took a village to solve a problem."

###

The paper, "Microenvironment mapping by means of Dexter energy transfer on immune cells," by Jacob B. Geri, James V. Oakley, Tamara Reyes-Robles, Tao Wang, Stefan J. McCarver, Cory H. White, Frances P. Rodriguez-Rivera, Dann L. Parker Jr., Erik C. Hett, Olugbeminiyi O. Fadeyi, Rob C. Oslund and David W. C. MacMillan, appears in the March 6 issue of Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.aay4106). The research was supported by Merck & Co., Inc, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and an NIH postdoctoral fellowship for J.B. Geri.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has canceled a Mississippi event set for Friday and will instead head to Michigan, one of the pivotal states still on the 2020 Democratic primary calendar.

The shift comes five days before voters head to the polls in both states, which are among the six holding presidential primaries on Tuesday. The Vermont senator, who won Michigan in 2016, lost Southern state primaries to former Vice President Joe Biden by wide margins on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Sanders said scrapping the event did not mean his campaign had given up on Mississippi. He said, "We are bringing more staff into Mississippi." Sanders noted that he anticipates Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, a campaign backer, will play an "active role" before the primary.

"If possible, I will try to get to Mississippi. But within a short period of time, I think as any candidate will tell you, you have to make a decision where you go and you can't go every place," Sanders said.

The move suggests an all-in focus on Michigan, which awards 125 pledged delegates, as Sanders tries to make up a delegate deficit after Super Tuesday. Polls have found a close race in the state between Sanders and Biden. They were taken before four candidates dropped out of the primary in recent days and three of them endorsed Biden.

Sanders hopes to replicate his 2016 success in Michigan, when he easily beat Hillary Clinton among young voters and performed better with black voters than he did in many Southern states. He hopes a message of combating economic inequality and reining in free trade relationships that sapped Michigan manufacturing jobs will help him compete with Biden for working-class voters.

"I'm going to be in Michigan very shortly and I will be talking in Michigan about the fact that Joe supported disastrous trade agreements like [the North American Free Trade Agreement] and PNTR [permanent normal trade relations] with China, which have cost this country millions of good-paying jobs, devastating to the Midwest in this country," Sanders said.

Biden's campaign will also spend significant time trying to win over Michigan voters before Tuesday. The former vice president will visit Detroit on Monday. His campaign rolled out an endorsement from Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday, and former presidential rival Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota will stump for him there on Friday and Saturday.

In Mississippi, Biden hopes to extend the success he enjoyed in the South on Tuesday. With results still coming in Thursday, he was leading Sanders by about 47 and 18 percentage points, respectively, in Alabama and Arkansas, which border Mississippi.

Asked Thursday what signal he sent to black voters by canceling the Mississippi event, Sanders said, "We are very proud of the fact that we have strong support from the African American community."

The state will award only 36 pledged delegates. But because of proportional allocation, a big Biden victory could net him a significant delegate haul over Sanders.

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India on Thursday hit out at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the UK's junior foreign minister Nigel Adams for their "irresponsible" comments over violence in the capital when it is going through a "sensitive time".

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Erdogan's comments were "factually inaccurate" and driven by his "political agenda".

Last week, the Turkish president had severely criticised India for the communal clashes in and even went on to call them "massacres of Muslims".

Kumar said India had made a strong demarche on the matter with the Turkish Ambassador in on Tuesday.

"The comments are factually inaccurate and are driven by his political agenda. We do not expect such irresponsible statements from a Head of State," Kumar said.

On the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights approaching the Supreme Court against the citizenship amendment law, Kumar said it is now for the top court to decide on the issue.

Asked about comments by Adams on the violence in Delhi, Kumar said the situation in the capital is fast returning to normal and that law enforcement agencies are doing their best to restore confidence and ensure that law and order is maintained.

"Prime Minister has appealed for peace and brotherhood. Senior officials have visited the place of violence, peace committees have been formed and other steps have been taken in this direction," he said.

"At this sensitive time, we would urge people not to make any irresponsible comments and not to be influenced by selective and unsubstantiated narrative on the matter," he said.

On Wednesday, Adams, the UK's Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), said the British government is concerned over the potential impact of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India.

His response came following an urgent question on recent violence in India by Pakistani-origin Opposition Labour Party MP Khalid Mahmood in the House of Commons.

The capital witnessed horrific violence last week following clashes between supporters and those opposing CAA.

According to authorities, at least 42 people were killed in the violence.

There have been massive protests across India in the last two months over the new law with the opposition parties and rights groups terming it as violative of founding principles of the Constitution.

Rejecting the criticism, the government has been accusing the opposition parties of misleading people on the law for political gains.

The new law provides for granting citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who were victims of religious persecution.

Khamenei asks India to confront extremist Hindus

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday asked the Indian government to confront what he called extremist Hindus and their parties, saying the hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the recent communal violence in

Death toll reaches 44

Officials put the death toll in the violence at 44 on Thursday. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether three bodies at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan hospital and five at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital were related to the violence or not. The police have registered 654 cases and arrested or detained 1,820 people in this connection.

Expelled AAP leader held

A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed a plea by suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain seeking to surrender before it in connection with alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma, after which the police arrested him.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja rejected Hussain's plea saying that the relief sought by him was outside its jurisdiction.
David Tennant's wife Georgia has confirmed that their fifth child is called Birdie.

The actress, 35, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a snap of a Scrabble board featuring all the names of her family, which included the name of her newest bundle of joy.

It came hours after David's adopted son Ty, 17, accidentally let the name slip during an appearance on Lorraine, as he excitedly gave a shout-out to his siblings.

Scroll down for video

Sweet: David Tennant's wife Georgia has confirmed that their fifth child is called Birdie, four months after the couple confirmed they had become parents again (pictured March 2018)

Georgia shared a snap of her newest art piece created from scrabble tiles, which made up the names of herself, husband David and their five children.

The couple share Tyler, who David, 48, adopted in 2012, along with Olive, eight, Wilfred, six, Doris, five, and Birdie, four months.

Georgia - who is yet to reveal Birdie's gender - captioned the post #teamtennant.'

The star confirmed the arrival of her fifth child in October with a hilarious Instagram post, as she compared the birth to that of David's Good Omens co-star Michael Sheen's daughter Lyra.

Sweet: The actress shared a sweet snap of a Scrabble board featuring her five children, including the name of her youngest

Funny: The star confirmed the arrival of her fifth child in October with a hilarious Instagram post comparing the birth to that of David's Good Omens co-star Michael Sheen's daughter Lyra

Tyler appeared to reveal the name of his newest sibling during an appearance on Lorraine earlier in the day, excitedly telling the host he wanted to give a shout-out to his family.

He said: 'Hi mum, I love you mummy. Hi dad, Wilfred, Olive, Doris, Birdie I love you all. Sorry, I've always wanted to do that,' which led Lorraine to agree that he 'had all the family covered.'

During the interview, Ty, 17, also spoke of the moment he met his adopted dad on the set of Doctor Who when he was just five years old.

The budding actor spoke of his close bond with the sci-fi superstar whom he calls his father, and why he would love to be the third Doctor in the family.

David met Ty's mum Georgia when she had a guest role in the 2008 episode The Doctor's Daughter- and it was then when Ty met his TV hero.

Surprise! It came hours after David's adopted son Ty, 17, accidentally let the name slip during an appearance on Lorraine, as he excitedly gave a shout-out to his siblings

'It was great, I was five when I first met my dad, my mum was working on Doctor Who at the time,' Ty said.

'I watched him on TV as the hero, and it was crazy how much your life can change.'

Ty has followed in his father and mother's footsteps, starring as Tom in H. G. Wells' War of The Worlds.

The talented teenager has also appeared in Casualty, and made his big screen debut with the role of young Christopher Wisemanin 2019's Tolkien.

Inspiration: Ty, 17, spoke of his close bond with the actor, 48, whom he calls his father, and why he would love to be the third Doctor in the family (David pictured as the Doctor)

True love: David met Ty's mum Georgia when she had a guest role in the 2008 episode The Doctor's Daughter- and it was then when Ty met his TV hero (pictured March 2018)

Doting dad: In 2012 (pictured) Scottish actor David revealed he had become a 'double dad' after adopting Tyler a year earlier, the same year he wed Ty's mother Georgia

'I never dreamed I'd be doing this', Ty told Lorraine, before admitting he 'would love to' play the third Doctor in the family.

David played the doctor from 2005 to 2010, while Georgia's dad Peter Davison played the titular Time Lord between 1981 and 1984.

When Lorraine asked if he wanted to pursue a singing career, the teen said: 'I don't think I'm at the point yet, I'm really into Led Zeplin, best band of all time. I don't know how it's not the big hit of this time.'

Ty is fast approaching his 18th birthday and when the Scottish host asked what he was planning on doing for the milestone, Ty replied: 'I'm not too sure if I'll have a big party or just chill.'

His hero: 'I watched him on TV as the hero, and it was crazy how much your life can change', Ty said

Inspiration: The up and coming actor admitted he 'would love to' be the third Doctor in the family

Happy: Ty appeared in high spirits as he left ITV studios

Quirky: The teen showed off his quirky sense of style in a blue corduroy jacket and cargo trousers

Third Doctor in the family? David played the doctor from 2005 to 2010, while Georgia's dad Peter Davison played the titular Time Lord between 1981 and 1984

Ty previously told MailOnline that he was eager to hone his craft, and was picking up on acting tips from everyone he knows, including his famous father.

He explained: 'I'm so young in my career and I'm still learning a lot and I'm so lucky to have these people around me who know the industry very well.

'And they're just very inspirational so that's something I can really thrive on. Just having these people who know their stuff.'

Tyler did, however, reveal that his father had imparted specific words of wisdom for how the aspiring star should conduct himself on film sets.

'Never be late. Always be on time. Don't skip the lunch queue so you don't look like a bit of an idiot, and just be kind and friendly and know your lines.'

In March 2012 Scottish actor David revealed he had become a 'double dad' after adopting Tyler a year earlier.

The former Doctor Who told Absolute Radio at the time: 'My baby is almost a year old and I adopted my wife's boy last year as well so I became a father twice in six months - that's got to be something of a record hasn't it?'

Georgia gave birth to Tyler in 2002, when she was just 17. She brought him up alone and has never publicly revealed who the father is.

David and Georgia wed in 2011 and went on to have children Olive, eight, Wilfred, six, Doris, four, and welcomed their fifth child together in October.

Acting career: Ty has followed in his father and mother's footsteps, starring as Tom in H. G. Wells' War of The Worlds

Last December, David Tennant has discussed becoming a father on Jonathan Ross show.

The Broadchurch star gushed: '[I have] five [children now] its quite a lot, its a sofa full! It is great. Its a lot of work but theres nothing like it really.

The thespian let slip their exciting pregnancy news whilst recording The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Host James, 41, brought up the news on his show, saying to David: 'We were just talking backstage, this is blowing my mind. You have four children already, your oldest is 17.

'You just told me you and your wife, the lovely Georgia, are expecting your fifth child.'

David then admitted their growing family has become cause for concern in Ty, who is now giving his parents 'lectures on birth control'.

The Good Omens star said: 'I know! Five is a lot. What's really weird about it is we're now getting lectures on birth control from our 17-year-old son. And that's definitely meant to be the other way around.

'He's like "Come on, do I need to teach you the basics?" It's mental. It's a lot.'
Hindustan Unilever Ltd is quoting at Rs 2243.9, up 3.13% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 32.01% in last one year as compared to a 2.82% spurt in NIFTY and a 0.07% spurt in the Nifty FMCG index.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 2243.9, up 3.13% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.01% on the day, quoting at 11365.1. The Sensex is at 38794.09, up 1%. Hindustan Unilever Ltd has risen around 4.06% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty FMCG index of which Hindustan Unilever Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 3.28% in last one month and is currently quoting at 29223.75, up 1.73% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 13.8 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 19.52 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark March futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 2249.95, up 2.89% on the day. Hindustan Unilever Ltd is up 32.01% in last one year as compared to a 2.82% spurt in NIFTY and a 0.07% spurt in the Nifty FMCG index.

The PE of the stock is 68.21 based on TTM earnings ending December 19.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bangalore: The number of suspects of Coronavirus is increasing across the country. Symptoms of coronavirus have been found in three people in Karnataka. All three have been admitted to the Bidar Institute of Medical Science for treatment. It has a software engineer who has come from Norway, while a person from Qatar and his son have also got symptoms. Samples of all three have been sent for investigation.

WB BJP Unit Distribute Masks With 'Save From Coronavirus Infection, Modi Ji' Printed On It

A family has been kept under observation in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The family has returned to India after a holiday from Malaysia and Singapore. They have all been admitted to the isolation ward. Two people who came to India from Bahrain have also been kept in isolation ward. All samples have been sent for investigation. So far, a total of 4,300 people have been screened at the Visakhapatnam Airport.

This unique tradition of Holi being followed in Raipur since 190 years

So far 29 cases of Corona have been reported in the country, but three of them have already recovered and gone home. That is, the country is serious about 26 patients at this time. These include 16 tourists from Italy who went to Rajasthan. In Surat, two people have been admitted to the hospital on suspicion. One of them came to India from Thailand and the other from Malaysia. A woman has been kept in isolation ward in Ahmedabad.

Chartered bus driver forgot the road three times, know what happened next
Press Release

5 March 2020

Despite its cancellation this year, ITB is offering digital services 365 days a year by launching itb.com (www.bit.ly/2IkpHrB). The World's Leading Travel Trade Show is establishing a completely new networking platform for the world's travel industry. This global website spans a bridge between real-life meetings and digital networking, and features innovative tools for business, networking and exclusive content. "In these very difficult times the tourism industry needs ITB more than ever", said Dr. Martin Buck, Senior Vice President, Travel+Logistics, Messe Berlin GmbH. That is why, at the forward-looking events of the ITB Virtual Convention, leading speakers from ITB will be discussing how the world's travel industry can harness intelligent strategies to make sure it remains future-proof even in a challenging environment. In the wake of the latest developments, discussions on how the industry can deal with the coronavirus will play a key role. Between 5 and 11 March 2020 viewers can follow more than 20 exclusive live streams and videos in English and German, some in real time, some time-shifted, on itb.com. Afterwards, they will be made available as videos on demand.

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"By launching this new website we are establishing a key platform and travel network which has no parallel and which can be made use of in every market around the world. The aim is to ensure business, content and networking availability 365 days a year. We also want to provide easy access for newcomers to the industry. This underscores our year-round leading international standing in terms of the market and opinions and consolidates the position of our USPs, contacts and content", Dr. Martin Buck added.

Networking made easy - the new Travel Network of the B2B travel industry

The AI-based Travel Network is a self-teaching system which continually offers users relevant travel industry contact information. All registered attendees at ITB Berlin 2020 may access the Travel Network, i.e. trade visitors, convention participants, exhibitors and representatives of the media who have acquired a personalized ticket from the ITB ticket shop. Shortly after its launch the network is already well subscribed. Numerous stakeholders have already registered. These had previously received a personal invitation by email prior to the original opening date of the show. Those who had not previously planned to visit the show in Berlin can also register now. Travel Network users can set up a profile, match interests, be contacted and can network. They can also follow other users, exchange contact details, chat and set up appointments. 'Virtual rooms' are being made available online where users can hold meetings which they had scheduled prior to ITB Berlin 2020. A video link enables face-to-face meetings - it is also possible to communicate via an audio link only. Under 'Insights' and 'News', itb.com has the latest news from the World Travel Trends Report and ITB Berlin News(www.bit.ly/3aptXly), the official Show Daily of the event - which this year will be a weekly edition.

Virtual ITB Convention: outstanding sessions on up-to-the-minute topics

The streaming and video programme will be updated regularly over the next few days in order to provide additional content. Details and updates are available from ITB.com at any time.

Nils Muller, CEO of TrendOne, will hold his keynote speech originally scheduled for the ITB Convention on the Top 8 Trends for Tourism & Travel, asking "Which trends, technologies and developments do you need to know and how to combine in order to be successful in the future?"

In another keynote speech, Eric La Bonnardiere, co-founder of Evaneos, will address the topic of overtourism and how local tour operators can deal with this phenomenon. At the panels of the Hospitality Tech Forum powered by the Hospitality Industry Club, experts will take a look at revenue management, sustainability in the hospitality industry and the future of online distribution. Sessions featuring high-ranking experts will dwell on topics such as establishing and restructuring brands as well as 'Hospitality 2025'.

At the new Data Talks originally scheduled for the ITB eTravel World, topic headings will include 'Highly Recommended - Best Practice On Personalization' and 'Multi-Platform Network in Travel - Digital Enablers and Travel of the Future'. Other sessions will incorporate a Berlin panel discussion featuring representatives of bookingkit and VisitBerlin, who will be asking "What drives the Industry in 2020?"

The following events from the ITB Berlin Convention are also taking place: Sharry Sun of Travelzoo will present the eagerly awaited empirical study on 'Global luxury customers and sustainability', which the company carried out together with ITB Berlin. This session will be streamed live from the CubeClub. Caroline Bremner of Euromonitor will talk about 'The Future of the tourism industry' and address the disruptive challenges facing the industry, including overtourism, climate change and insolvencies as in the recent case of Thomas Cook. The day after, her lecture will also be available in English. Based on around 500,000 interviews, the IPK World Travel Monitor is the world's largest travel survey. Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International, will present the latest forecast figures on global and European travel trends - an indispensable decision-making tool for the entire tourism industry.

Statista will explain how trends are influencing personalisation and individualisation in the eTravel market; one of the sessions will examine the topics 'Voice Commerce: Selling travel and hotel rooms via Amazon, Alexa and Google Assistant' and 'Instagram, influencers & co: the underestimated challenge for destinations'.

Throughout the programme, the fascinating contributions of ITB Digital and Tourismuszukunft can be followed online until Friday 6 March. As well as examining how the industry is dealing with the coronavirus, the sessions will look at New Work, AI, blogging and open data.

Recordings will take place in a specially equipped studio on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, where numerous sessions will be streamed live. Some speakers will also be joining in from remote locations via Skype. Viewers can join in too: under the hashtag #ITBvirtualcon they can exchange opinions on the sessions and discuss them on social media.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg strolled North Star Mall with a broad smile on Thursday.

His visit came five days after a customer who tested positive for coronavirus visited the shopping center Saturday evening.

The San Antonio civic leader ate "a great lunch" at the mall and posed for a picture in front of its famous cowboy boots.

"I can tell its going to be a busy Spring Break," Nirenberg wrote of the mall.

North Star Mall temporarily closed for a deep cleaning Monday after the property's management learned of the potential exposure.

An evacuee from Wuhan, China, who had been under quarantine was released Saturday from the Texas Center for Infectious Disease after twice testing negative for the virus.

READ MORE: North Star Mall re-opens after coronavirus exposure led to deep cleaning

She spent 12 hours in the community, before returning to isolation when the results of a third test showed she was "weakly" positive for the virus.

The woman told health officials she went to a Holiday Inn near San Antonio International Airport and spent about two hours at North Star Mall. She stopped by Dillards, Talbots and Swarovski, before eating alone in the food court.

Metro Health officials said she was "not in close contact with anyone at the mall." The mall re-opened Tuesday.

The mayor is not the only Alamo City institution putting on a brave face as coronavirus concerns sweep the city.

Amy Shaw, the executive director of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, sent a memo to festival participants emphasizing that the event is going forward as planned.

"We have assurances from the City of San Antonio that it is fully committed to Fiesta 2020 proceeding as scheduled, and they expect out community's favorite festival to go off without a hitch," Shaw wrote.

The organizers are scheduling additional surface wipe-downs and providing hand sanitizer dispensers.

Ten days of Fiesta festivities are scheduled to kick off on April 16.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read him on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy
While the interim order does not relate to Oshiomholes suspension by a federal high court in Abuja on Wednesday, it rubs off on it given that the courts judgement was based on Oshiomholes suspension by his ward.
Democrats in Jefferson County proved far more bullish on Joe Biden than their counterparts around the state.

The former vice president took 48% of the vote here, 2 times the support for either Bernie Sanders (19.7%) or Michael Bloomberg (18.7%). Statewide, Biden outpolled the senator from Vermont by a much smaller margin, 34% to 30%.

The results didnt appear to surprise newly elected party chair Joseph Trahan, who noted that local Democratic voters tend to be moderate. Trahan was quick to stress that, as party chair-elect, he will support whichever candidate is chosen as the eventual nominee.

The biggest thing Im concerned about is our ability to unify and get in line and vote for whoever the candidate is, he said. No candidate is going to check off every box, but were all Democrats. We have policy differences, but we need to focus on what unifies us.

Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie typifies the voter who has always liked Biden but is mostly concerned with finding the candidate with the best chance of unseating President Donald Trump in Novembers general election. Bartie supported Biden early, and in September he sat in the front row at a Biden fundraising event in Beaumont.

But as Biden appeared to falter prior to his powerful resurgence in South Carolina a week and a half ago, Bartie threw his support behind Bloomberg during early voting before Super Tuesday. On Wednesday, the mayor said he respects Bloombergs decision to leave the race.

At this point, I would be a Biden person, he said. I made the decision to support Bloomberg when I thought Biden was going to be ostracized by the party.

He said Bidens decisive victory in South Carolina gave Jefferson County voters reason to cast their ballots for him in such strong numbers.

The Enterprise on Wednesday visited with several lunchtime diners in Port Arthur to get their reactions to Super Tuesday.

At Anns Kitchen, Max Boudreaux said hes been with Biden since the beginning.

I like him because Obama trusts him, Boudreaux said. Thats more than enough for me.

Still, he said he feels like he is faced with a choice between the lesser of two evils, rather embracing a candidate who fully represents him.

Jody Detillier, a Louisiana resident working in Port Arthur, said he is unsure about who hell support when his home state holds its primary election in early April. Over lunch at Nicaraguan Caribbean Cafe, he said he isnt even sure which party hes going to go with because all the candidates are talking about things that seem impossible and leaving people confused about whats going on.

Groves resident Miguel Perez has no question about which party hes going to side with, whether the nominee is Sanders or Biden or any other Democrat.

Were ready for change, he said. I like the guys that are up. Im all about either one of them, to see what they bring to the table. Hopefully theyll be able to defeat the president. We dont want him to win. I dont like a lot of what hes done.

Perez said hed like to see a candidate who will take a different approach to immigration, specifically not separating families at the border.

He made it hard so there were very little options for Hispanic immigrants, Perez said, noting that his own parents were immigrants.

Perezs wife, Amanda Perez Moody, said she hopes to see the candidates spend more time discussing issues such as these now that the field has significantly narrowed.

Former Jefferson County Democratic Party chair Cade Bernsen, who said his family has always supported Biden, already saw evidence of members of the party coming together to support the candidate who appears to be able to beat Trump.

While at polling places, he said, he saw friends who had been supporting Elizabeth Warren turn out for Biden because we have to win.

I think people right now, the ones Im talking to, are less interested in revolutionary changes than they are having a competent adult in the White House that can express empathy and is kind, Bernsen said.

He and Trahan both encouraged the eventual nominee to visit Jefferson County and schedule opportunities to meet voters.

Trahan pointed to the success here of Beto ORourke, who carried Jefferson County in the 2018 U.S. Senate race despite a more liberal platform.

He had private functions, Trahan said, but he also made sure to host rallies and gave people an opportunity to hear from him directly.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
Acting Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca had a bilateral meeting with his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini on the sidelines of the meeting of the EU Defense Ministers taking place in Zagreb, Croatia, the National Defense Ministry said in a release issued on Thursday.

The two officials discussed the stage of the Romanian-Italian defense cooperation, both in bilateral context, and within the EU and NATO.The meeting included an exchange of views on the security situation in the Western Balkans, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean region. Also, in the light of the joint participation in missions in operations theaters, as well as in a number of ongoing European projects dedicated to the development of multinational capabilities, the two ministers praised the two states' close cooperation and coordination as extremely useful. Industrial cooperation was another subject approached during the talks, the cited release said.Nicolae Ciuca thanked minister Lorenzo Guerini for Italy's contribution, as a NATO ally, to strengthening the eastern flank by participating in the joint air policing mission conducted in Romania in 2019, as well as for its contribution with personnel to the Craiova-based Multinational South-East Brigade. The Romanian Defense Minister assured his Italian counterpart of Romania's commitment to efforts to project stability beyond NATO borders, in the spirit of NATO's omnidirectional approach, the source said.Also, the two ministers emphasized the importance of maintaining the pace of practical cooperation between the two armies, by continuing consultations and engagement in joint projects, both bilaterally, as well as in multinational and allied format. AGERPRES
Voter turnout in the Democratic presidential primary increased by 44 percent in Texass most populous county compared to four years ago, helping fuel former Vice President Joe Bidens surprising comeback on Super Tuesday.

While U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was rolling up big victory margins in Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, Biden posted big wins in Harris County and Dallas County which both saw a huge increase in voter turnout.

It makes Bidens Monday blitz through Texas look even smarter. Biden held big rallies to drive up turnout in Houston and in Dallas where he touted a slew of new endorsements, including from former U.S. Senate candidate Beto ORourke, with whom Biden later visited his first Whataburger.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The result in Harris County was that Biden won 112,000 votes, beating Sanders by over 25,000 votes. Statewide, Biden defeated Sanders by about 69,000 votes according to unofficial election results through the Texas Division of Elections. Overall, turnout in the Democatic primary in Texas rose from 1.4 million votes in 2016 to 2 million, a 44-percent increase.

Harris County Democratic Party Chair Lillie Schechter said the reason for the 44-percent increase in Democratic primary turnout in Harris County is clear to her: President Donald Trump.

If you look at what hes done, everyone feels threatened by this administration, Schechter said.

Spokesperson Samantha Cotten said Trumps re-election campaign is confident Texas voters will get behind the president for another four years in office.

For subscribers: Five takeaways from Super Tuesday in Texas

While President Trump cruised to victory, Texas Democrats have fully embraced socialism by throwing their support behind Joe Biden, Cotten said. Come November, Texans will make their voices heard loud and clear when they say yes to four more years and reelect President Trump.

Trump had minor primary opposition, but had no trouble winning Texas, collecting 94 percent of the vote.

Schechter said the turnout for Democrats in Harris was not accidental. Increased voter registrations, more active Democratic clubs and more voter outreach overall are central to what Democrats have been doing for years to be ready for 2020.

In Dallas County, the states second-largest county, Biden won 93,000 votes to Sanders 63,000.

Sanders was stronger in South Texas, along the Rio Grande and picked up a dominating 30,000-vote lead in Travis County. He also won Bexar County by about 8,000 votes.

When early voting numbers were first reported on Tuesday, Biden looked like he was on a path to defeat. Sanders held the overall state lead and claimed about 29 percent of the estimated 115,000 early votes in Harris County  five percentage points ahead of Biden. But on election day, Biden won almost 48 percent of the 165,000 votes cast in Harris County to cement his win in Houston.

Exit polling shoes black voters statewide were a key to Bidens victory. About 60 percent of black voters said they backed Biden while Sanders only won 17 percent. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who aggressively tried to court Houstons black vote, had just 15 percent support.

Harris County election results seemed to back those numbers. At Sunnyside Multi-Service Center where there were more than 4,000 voters and predominately black, Biden won 50 percent of the vote. At Texas Southern University, where Biden campaigned on Monday, he won 47 percent of the vote.
Authorities in Spain, Romania and Portugal have arrested 42 suspects during an action against an organised group of large-scale pickpockets, coordinated by Eurojust, with the support of Europol. The group, consisting of certain Romanian families, deprived thousands of mainly Spanish victims of watches and jewelry, which were subsequently melted into bars of gold and silver. The estimated profits exceeded EUR 1 million. During the operation, twelve houses were searched and an amount of approximately EUR 41.000 in cash was seized, as well as ten luxury cars and over 400 luxury watches, pieces of jewelry and mobile phones.

The organised criminal group (OCG) initially operated in France and then moved to Germany, Italy and in the last years to Spain. The OCG used the so called 'necklace trick', where under the pretext of asking for help or directions they contacted mainly vulnerable, elderly persons. As a sign of alleged gratitude, they hugged them and at the same moment stole their watches or pieces of jewelry, before escaping in a waiting car. The suspects occasionally used violence when victims tried to resist.

Over the last years, the authorities in Spain received close to 6.000 complaints about the criminal group. Spanish investigators found links with another Romanian clan, based in Spain, who transformed the proceeds of the crime into bars of gold and silver, which were then transported back to Romania. Apart from large-scale theft and pickpocketing, the arrested persons are suspected of money laundering.

Financial investigations, as well as coordinated searches of places, the freezing of assets and seizure of goods were carried out by Romanian investigators as participants in a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), supported by Eurojust. The action day was supported by a coordination centre, set up by Eurojust. Previous to that, three coordination meetings were held at the request of the Spanish authorities. Europol provided analytical information.

The operation was successfully carried out by the Spanish Policia Nacional in cooperation with the Directorate of Investigation of Organized Criminality and Terrorism Offenses of Ialomita in Romania.
WARREN, MI  Many customers will lose out as Art Van Furniture starts its going out of business sales this week.

All company-owned stores will close after liquidation, which is set to begin on Friday, March 6. Stores are expected to close in the next 60 days.

Liquidation plans were announced Thursday morning for all company-owned Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep, and Scott Shuptrine Interiors in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri, a company news release said. Eight Wolf Furniture stores in Maryland and Virginia will also be liquidated.

Anyone with Art Van products sitting in their home and a warranty in the drawer will find that the piece of paper wont be worth much once the company backing it is out of business, Charlie Langton told FOX 2 Detroit.

Customers who have a balance on their Art Van credit card are still responsible for paying the bill, Langton said. As the company goes out of business, those payments will eventually be redirected to a court or trustee.

Some customers might not ever see furniture they ordered. A Lansing area couple expected their Art Van furniture to be delivered this week, they said in an email to MLive. When they heard the company is going out of business, they assumed the lifetime warranty they paid for would be a loss, but still hoped to receive their furniture. They reached customer service Thursday afternoon and were informed that the order was canceled.

Sure hope they cancel the lifetime warranty and the delivery charge, too, they said.

There are 97 locations in Michigan. Twenty of the total 190 stores are franchise locations, situated in the Upper Peninsula, Alpena, Mount Pleasant and Owosso in Michigan and in Indiana, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The Warren-based furniture retailer was founded by Art Van Elslander in Detroit in 1959. In 2017, the company was sold to Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners. Elslander died in 2018. Rumors began to circulate in February that owner Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, a private equity firm, was looking to sell or file for bankruptcy.

READ MORE:

Art Van Furniture to close stores, liquidation begins March 6

Jacksons Art Van Furniture on list of stores to close this spring
Black baristas at Starbucks stores inside the Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport are typically paid significantly less per hour than their white co-workers, a new report has found.

The report released Wednesday was authored by UNITE HERE, a labor union that represents service workers in the airport industry.

It found that median pay for black baristas at HMSHost-operated Starbucks stores in IAH was $2.84 less per hour than that of white baristas in 2019.

That gap was significantly larger than the national gap identified in the same report, which was $1.85.

The union said that the discrepancy could not be explained by seniority as some white baristas earned a higher wage than baristas of color with more experience.

Black baristas at Starbucks stores inside the Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport are typically paid significantly less per hour than their white co-workers, a new report claims

HMSHost responded to the report by issuing a lengthy statement which did not deny that the wage gap exists but said the UNITE HERE survey does not accurately represent the company.

'Pay is directly linked to their experience and time with our company,' the statement reads.

'It is disappointing that UNITE HERE has chosen to wage a public campaign critical of HMSHost after decades in which we have had a positive working relationship.'

The report was based on an analysis of data on more than 2,000 employees at 142 HMSHost-operated Starbucks stores in 27 airports nationwide.

It found that the median wage paid to black baristas across all stores was 86 percent of the median wage paid to white baristas - despite Starbucks' claims of 100 percent racial pay equity.

UNITE HERE called for HMSHost to implement a wage floor of $15 per hour to eliminate the discrepancy.

Starbucks has declined to comment on the report when approached by several media outlets, instead referring to the HMSHost statement.
Susanna Liew, a recipient of the International Women of Courage Award, poses with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and first lady Melania Trump at the State Department in Washington, March 4, 2020.

A Malaysian woman whose Christian pastor-husband remains missing after police agents allegedly snatched him from his car in broad daylight urged new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday to fulfill an earlier promise to prosecute those behind the 2017 abduction.

Susanna Liew, the wife of Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo, made the appeal after she and 11 other women from around the world received a prestigious award in Washington from the U.S. State Department, which honored them for their individual courage amid adversity in their home countries.

I met him with our lawyer and he assured us that he will look into it, get into the bottom of this, Liew told BenarNews after Wednesdays ceremony at the State Department.

She was referring to an April 2019 meeting with Muhyiddin, who was then serving as home minister in the previous government. On Sunday, Muhyiddin was sworn in as prime minister and head of a new ruling coalition by Malaysias king, after a week of political turbulence that followed the collapse of Mahathir Mohamads Pakatan Harapan government.

Liew said she met Muhyiddin after the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia  a parliamentary-backed investigative panel also known as Suhakam  released a 95-page report concluding that Koh and social activist Amri Che Mat were probably abducted by State agents.

My hope and appeal is that since he is now the prime minister, he has the power to arrest, to prosecute the culprits who were involved in this case of enforced disappearance, she said.

Liew spoke after accepting the 2020 International Women of Courage Award from U.S. first lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

I still believe my husband is still alive, Susanna told BenarNews hours after Mrs. Trump handed her a small acrylic plaque. We have dreams, my family and I ... and we hold on to this hope that one day we will reunite with him.

Mrs. Trump, who said she was inspired by the personal stories of each of the 12 women, noted that each of the recipients had risked their safety to help others.

These are the faces of true heroism, the first lady said during the event which was widely shared on social media.

While the State Departments news release about the recipients mentioned that Pastor Koh was abducted allegedly by state agents, the probability that police authorities were involved in the abduction was not mentioned during the awarding ceremony.

Susanna is being honored for her selfless dedication to fight on behalf of members of religious minorities whove disappeared in Malaysia or face persecution for their beliefs, the master of ceremonies said as Liew stood, wearing a red traditional Malay dress.

She has endured police harassment and death threats and never stopped actively pursuing justice, the emcee said.

Women from around the world who have shown leadership, courage and willingness to make sacrifices for others, especially in promoting womens rights qualify for the award, officials said.

U.S. embassies and diplomatic missions overseas nominate one woman of courage from their respective host countries, and the recipients are chosen from finalists selected by senior department officials.

The other 11 recipients of this years award were from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Zimbabwe, and the Ele Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China.

On a balance of probabilities

In April 2019, Suhakam released a 95-page report detailing findings of its investigation, which focused on whether the disappearances of Koh and that of Amri were voluntary or involved state agents.

The direct and circumstantial evidence in Pastor Raymond Kohs case proves, on a balance of probabilities, that he was abducted by State agents, the commission said.

The report used the same language when it laid out legal arguments that Amri could have been abducted by state agents, particularly those under the federal polices Special Branch, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.

Liew and Koh founded the Hope Community in 2004, a nonprofit organization that works with the poor, needy and marginalized. She previously served as a school principal and educator, according to the State Department news release.

The Suhakam report, which chipped away at police statements that Kohs disappearance did not involve state agents, underscored that the disappearances of Koh and Amri bore uncanny similarities, with the two victims getting dragged out of their vehicles by men who wore black clothing and moved with precision.

Pastor Koh was taken in broad daylight from a road near Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13, 2017, when SUVs and motorcycles forced his car to stop, and men in black face masks whisked him away. The abduction took less than a minute and was captured on surveillance cameras.

Amri, a resident of Perlis state, was last seen on Nov. 24, 2016. His disappearance may have been religiously motivated based on allegations that he was spreading Shia Muslim teachings, according to local media reports.

The commission said it found no evidence to support the contention of Kohs attorney that his abduction was carried out with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State. Rights groups had earlier said the pastor was likely targeted over the belief that he preached Christianity to Muslims.

The report culminated months of public inquiry in which the panel heard testimonies from 16 witnesses, from October 2017 to December 2018.

But the inquiry could not determine what happened to Koh and Azmi after their abductions. Hours after the commission released its findings, then-Prime Minister Mahathir described the report as hearsay, according to state-run news agency Bernama.

Lawsuits filed

On Feb. 12, Liew named two former national police chiefs, Mohamad Fuzi Harun and Khalid Abu Bakar, along with other officers, in a civil lawsuit filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

We really hope filing the civil suit will help to unravel the truth about the abduction, she told BenarNews in a text message then.

The lawsuit alleges breach of constitutional and statutory rights for the abduction of Koh, failure to account or disclose his whereabouts, misfeasance in public office, conspiracy to injure and negligence, Liew said. The lawsuit did not include a request for damages to be paid should she win the lawsuit, her attorney said.

Islamic authorities generally consider apostasy a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where proselytizing Muslims is outlawed in most states and Shia Muslims are also persecuted by religious officials, human rights groups say.

Besides Koh and Amri, Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his Indonesian wife, Ruth Sitepu, have also been reported missing since November 2016. Joshua was a Malay Muslim who had converted to Christianity.

On Monday, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a Jakarta-based NGO that deals with human rights issues in Indonesia, said in a statement that it had been appointed as legal assistants of Ruth Sitepus family during the ongoing Suhakam public inquiry into the couples disappearance.

This public inquiry process was a last hope for the family after earlier, in February 2018, the family made a missing-person report to the Malaysian police, but there were no significant results at that time, the statement said.

The Indonesian NGO issued its statement as Suhakam pursued its inquiry, which began last month, into the disappearances of Hilmy and Sitepu.

In October last year, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom accused Malaysia of religious freedom violations, citing Pastor Kohs and Amris abductions. The independent commission has placed Malaysia under its Tier 2 designation for the next most-serious level of religious freedom violations.
Yes, member of the Bright Armenia Party Rubik Stepanyan has served as head of the Penitentiary Department. This is what head of the Bright Armenia faction of the National Assembly Edmon Marukyan told reporters today, touching upon deputy of the My Step faction Gevorg Papoyans speech in which the latter recalled that many members of the Bright Armenia faction held offices during the years of the former authorities, including police chief, positions in the Staff of the President of Armenia, etc.

All the members of Bright Armenia party have careers. Rubik Stepanyan is a war veteran and a colonel. Being the member of a political party is one thing, serving in the army is another thing. I served in the army during the administration of Robert Kocharyan, so shoot me. I started serving in 1999, and I was in the army during the events that took place on October 27, 1999, Marukyan said and hinted that Gevorg Papoyan has been a member of the Republican Party of Armenia.
English Finnish

Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

March 5, 2020 at 20:00 (CET +1)

Nokia has filed its annual Form 20-F for 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and published its Nokia in 2019 annual report and its Remuneration Policy

Espoo, Finland  Nokia has today filed its annual Form 20-F for 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Nokia has published its Nokia in 2019 annual report, which includes audited financial statements, the annual review by the Board of Directors and Nokias corporate governance statement.

The Form 20-F and Nokia in 2019 reports will be available in PDF format at https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/reports-filings , along with Nokias past quarterly and annual financial reports. Shareholders may request a hard copy of the reports free of charge through Nokias website. The corporate governance statement is available also at https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/corporate-governance .

In addition, Nokia has published its Remuneration Policy applicable to the Board of Directors and the President and CEO. This policy will be presented to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting 2020 and is available at www.nokia.com/agm as well as attached to this release.

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.

Media Enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

Katja Antila, Head of Media Relations

Attachment
Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah) warned Thursday that Senator Ron Johnsons (R., Wis.) probe into the Bidens and Burisma appears political, and would not comment whether he would vote for a subpoena that Johnson is planning.

Theres no question that the appearance of looking into Burisima and Hunter Biden appears political. I think people are tired of these kind of political investigations, Romney told reporters, adding that he needs to meet with Johnson to see what information he has before deciding on a vote.

But he suggested he was uncomfortable with the probe, implying that it was not within the purview of the Senate Homeland Security Committee  which Johnson chairs and Romney serves on.

I would hope that theres something of significance that needs to be evaluated that would be done perhaps the FBI or some other agency, although its not as political as perhaps a committee of our body, he said. We also have a lot of work to do on matters that are not related to Burisma. We probably ought to focus on those things.

Johnson, who has been looking into Burisma since November, wants to vote next week on a subpoena to compel the testimony of former Ukrainian embassy official Andrii Telizhenko, who worked as a consultant for Blue Star Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm that Burisma hired to combat accusations of corruption. Blue Star tried to leverage the Biden name to secure meetings with the State Department during its campaign to rehabilitate Burismas image.

Johnson told Fox News that his probe was not politically motivated on Wednesday, and was simply to let the American people see what this possible corruption is. He added that probe had unearthed a document which showed Blue Star apologizing to the Ukrainian prosecutor generals office for a misinformation campaign against Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin, who Joe Biden bragged about getting fired.

Johnson also told CNN that he thinks he has enough votes to bring the subpoena, although Romneys opposition could scuttle the effort.

More from National Review
Now, more than ever, solutions such as Microsoft Teams are essential in maintaining productivity through remote collaboration.

A NYC area IT consultant and managed services provider (MSP) discusses the current global fears about coronavirus (COVID-19) and shares recommended strategies for businesses in a new article on the eMazzanti Technologies website. The informative article includes tips from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Harvard Medical School on preventing infection.

The author goes on to explain remote work technology options such as Microsoft Teams and Office 365. These products allow employees to work securely from home with powerful document sharing, chat and video conferencing features.

Now, more than ever, solutions such as Microsoft Teams are essential in maintaining productivity through remote collaboration, stated Almi Dumi, CISO, eMazzanti Technologies.

Below are a few excerpts from the article, Remote Collaboration: Connecting Teams When Circumstances Force Work-at-Home.

Coronavirus Provides Preparedness Motivation

Current global fears about coronavirus (COVID-19) have set stock markets reeling and prompted widespread panic. In the office, an employee with a persistent cough prompts worry among coworkers. Parents find themselves unexpectedly working at home when schools or daycares close. And employees cancel work trips to high risk areas.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently published recommended strategies for businesses in light of the crisis. These recommendations include:



Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.

Develop an infectious disease response plan that includes policies for telecommuting.

Plan for possible impacts including employees who must stay at home due to illness, sick loved ones or school and daycare closures.

Minimize exposure between employees when public health officials recommend it.

Powering Remote Collaboration with Microsoft Teams

Regardless of distance, Microsoft Teams provides the tools you need to bring colleagues into the same virtual room. When canceled flights keeps team members on separate continents, or quarantine forces work-at-home, Teams comes to the rescue.

With real-time collaboration, multiple employees can work together on a single Word document, PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet. They can conduct a group chat without leaving the open document. Then, with the touch of a button, they can move directly from the group chat to a video conference.

Preparedness Specialists

eMazzanti opened for business in August 2001 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Less than a month later, the fledgling business brought its customers through the crisis of 9/11. That commitment to providing business continuity, networking and security solutions has continued for nearly two decades. Business leaders should contact eMazzanti's team of remote collaboration experts to prepare for coronavirus and future work-at-home emergencies.

Have you read?

Human vulnerability identified as weak link in cyberattacks

Focusing on the Future of Authentication

About eMazzanti Technologies

eMazzantis team of trained, certified IT experts rapidly deliver increased revenue growth, data security and productivity for clients ranging from law firms to high-end global retailers, providing advanced retail and payment technology, cloud and mobile solutions, multi-site implementations, 247 outsourced network management, remote monitoring and support.

eMazzanti has made the Inc. 5000 list eight consecutive years, is a 4X Microsoft Partner of the Year, the #1 ranked NYC area MSP and NJ Business of the Year! Contact: 1-866-362-9926, info@emazzanti.net or http://www.emazzanti.net Twitter: @emazzanti Facebook: Facebook.com/emazzantitechnologies.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 16:05:31|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Commercial Press, a leading publishing house in China, has offered more than 1,300 digital books for free to the public since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a statement from the company on Thursday.

The company is serving the public with knowledge amid the epidemic, said the statement.

The publishing house also released 125 episodes featuring lectures introducing 26 world-famous books, including "The Critique of Pure Reason" by Immanuel Kant, "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith and Hegel's "The Phenomenology of Mind."

A total of 22 experts were invited to record the lectures, according to the statement.

Readers can download the mobile app of the Commercial Press to get free access to the resources.
WYOMING, MI -- A 15-year-old found fatally wounded in a minivan along a Wyoming street in December was shot in self-defense, Kent County prosecutors say.

Emanuel Jesus Hernandez was found bleeding with multiple gunshot wounds on Dec. 7 in the 2200 block of Prairie Parkway SW.

The new details surrounding the shooting were released Thursday, March 5 as Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced he would not charge anyone with the death.

According to Becker, Hernandez was armed with a gun and sitting in a vehicle when he attempted to rob another person. He pointed the gun at the person, a police investigation showed.

Hernandez was then shot by the person he was attempting to rob.

Prosecutors say they are not releasing other details surrounding the shooting at this point because three people have been charged in connection to the incident.

Two juveniles are charged with armed robbery in Kent County Family Court. An adult, 18-year-old Johnny Ray Greer III, is charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

Wyoming police responded about 1:15 a.m. Dec. 7 to Prairie Parkway for the shooting. Family of Hernandez said his girlfriend was attempting to take him to a hospital in the minivan.

Officers found he had no pulse and attempted CPR but were not successful.

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NITV documentary series Karla Grant Presents returns on Monday with Characters Of Broome.

Karla Grant Presents is a selection of half-hour documentaries hosted by prolific journalist and TV personality Karla Grant. Karla introduces the films, delving into each, offering her personal insights and contextualising each story for the audience. All of the documentaries have been created by Indigenous filmmakers and aim to showcase diverse stories from across Australia.

Characters Of Broome

Characters Of Broome is a television series about individuals who come from the rich soil of grit and resolve. They are stories of determination and achievement, some quirky humorous recollections, but all about amazing people who have survived and thrived.

Season Two, Episode One: Peter Yu

Peter Yu is Chinese Aboriginal and is the only man in a large family of women. He has had a remarkable life in his field of anthropology in diverse industries including; welfare, media, social work, working in museums and more. He later became CEO of the Kimberley Land Council and is now the CEO of the Yarwuru Prescribed Body Corporation. Peters story steps behind his public image and reveals his personal story and the reason for his drive.

Monday, 9 March at 8.30pm on NITV.
By PTI

MUMBAI: An ex-student has accused the makers of Kajol-starrer "Devi" of plagiarising his short film "Four".

The film depicts how nine women belonging to different strata of society are brought together by circumstance and end up forming a sisterhood after they share their stories of abuse.

Directed by Priyanka Banerjee, the short is produced by Niranjan Iyengar and Ryan Ivan Stephen.

In a Facebook post, Abhishek Rai alleged the movie has "heavy resemblance" with his own short film, which he wrote and directed in 2018.

ALSO READ | Devi short film review: 13 minutes, nine women and one stark reality

"Here's something I'd like to bring to everybody's notice. We at AndaKurry Productions, made a short film when we were in film school, two years back called 'FOUR' that dealt with a premise of rape victims sitting together in a room when a new victim arrives. And yesterday, a film named 'Devi' was uploaded to LargeShortFilms's YouTube channel that has heavy resemblance and the premise is also of the film we made," Rai said.

Here is the short film 'FOUR' by AndaKurry Productions:

He said it is "ruthless" on the part of "Devi" makers to claim his work as theirs.

"Our film was a student (film) with very little production design, bad audio and stuff, but still it's a child of our own imagination and it's ruthless how anyone can just pick up a piece of thought and claim it to be theirs."

The film is an intellectual property of Asian Academy of Film & Television. No one has contacted him regarding any kind of query.

Now, I have not been contacted by large short films or the makers of the film regarding any kind of query," he claimed.

The makers of "Devi" remained unavailable for comment when contacted.
WHO rep lauds Iran's preparation in fight against Covid-19

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 4, IRNA -- Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that Iran is fully prepared to prevent coronavirus epidemic, adding that they are quite assure that the epidemic will be controlled very soon.

Speaking on the sidelines of visiting Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran, WHO official appreciated the efforts made by Iranian Health Ministry in controlling coronavirus.

He said Iran enjoys considerable power in containing infectious diseases.

Iran has shown its ability in controlling disasters and crises like recent floods, he noted.

The official said bilateral and strong cooperation between related bodies and people is the most important pillar in containing illness in Iran.

Representatives of the World Health Organization together with Chinese experts visited Masih Daneshvari Hospital to be informed of the measures taken and the services provided to control coronavirus.

Head of the Iran's Health Ministry's public relations office Kianoush Jahanpour said on Wednesday that the coronavirus death toll mounted to 92 in Iran out of the total figure of 2,922 people who have been affected by the virus.

He added that 552 people have recovered from the virus and dismissed from hospitals.

Some 15 people have lost their lives since yesterday, said Jahanpour.

9376**1430

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The committee initiated a case at the end of the heating season and two months before the end of the PSO - the mechanism on the basis of which a price different from the market one is formed

The decision of the Antimonopoly Committee to start proceedings against Naftogaz Ukraine in connection with the violation of the Law on Protection of Economic Competition was surprising. The state-owned company is suspected of abusing its monopoly position in the natural gas markets by setting natural gas prices on November 1, 2018 at a level "which could not have been established if there had been significant competition."

But whats interesting, the committee initiated a case at the end of the heating season and two months before the end of the PSO - the mechanism on the basis of which a price different from the market one is formed. As you know, from May 1, the population and heat supply organizations will switch to a regime where they will have to buy gas in a market environment. They will be able to choose any supplier with a suitable price. That is the committees sanctions, which may appear if the case is completed, will not work. Or is it worth considering that the government is again not ready to abandon the mechanism of artificial price containment for the population?

If you delve into the history of the issue, the PSO was brought back to life in 2017, after the Groysman government made a revolutionary decision a year earlier to transfer the population to market conditions, after which gas prices for the population soared from preferential 3,600 UAH (146 USD) to 7,188 UAH (292 USD). Due to the objective economic factors prevailing at that time, prices have broken this bar. And they could continue to rise if the government decided not to flirt with the consequences of social discontent. March 22, 2017 adopted Resolution No. 187, which contained a formula that separated gas prices for the population from the market, where growth continued. In accordance with the formula approved by the document, the price from September 1, 2017 for the population was 6,879 UAH (280 USD) per thousand cubic meters, while for industry it already reached 8,749 UAH (356 USD).

From this time a period of protracted battles started. In a period of high gas prices at world hubs, which also affected the situation in Ukraine, the government was looking for ways to prevent gas prices for the population from rising - the elections were just around the corner. In this regard, the PSO formula has been constantly changing. In particular, on October 19, 2018, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Decision No. 867, according to which from November 1 (the period from which the Antimonopoly Committee believes that prices were set too high) the gas cost for the population was calculated.

According to the decree, the price was calculated by the formula: the base price multiplied by a decreasing coefficient. The base price, in turn, was tied to the "arithmetic average selling price of Naftogaz Ukraine" for industrial consumers who bought gas on a prepayment basis until the delivery period (from July 1, 2018 to September 30, 2018), when it was 8981 UAH (365 USD) per 1 000 cubic meters. Actually, this parameter became the cornerstone on which the committee builds its accusations. "According to available information, Naftogaz set prices for industrial consumers that were higher than those that set in a competitive environment, in particular according to the results of electronic exchange trading on the Ukrainian Energy Exchange and on the NCG European hub with gas delivery to the Ukrainian border," the agency said. It is alleged that this allowed Naftogaz to establish gas prices for the population from November 1, 2018 at a level that would not be possible to set given significant competition.

By the way, experts have repeatedly noted that Naftogaz, which is still a serious player in the gas market with a fairly large share of sales, has been priced the product up (for industrial consumers) all these years, which is why the Ukrainian gas market is considered to be premium and one of the most expensive.

The defense arguments of Naftogaz are based mainly on the fact that gas prices for the population were not set by decisions of companies, but directly by the Cabinet, in accordance with the formula approved by it. The company also emphasizes that buyers were not limited in their choice: Naftogaz fulfilled its special obligations, but gas and heat suppliers were not obliged to buy gas exclusively from it, they could choose any seller of the resource, including private. The only question is that Naftogaz PSO price was lower than the market for a certain period.

It is worth recalling that in December 2019 gas prices fell, and the PSO price was higher than the market one (industrial enterprises bought gas in the range of about 4,700 UAH (192 USD) per 1,000 cubic meters, while the guaranteed price for the population was fixed at the level of 5500 UAH (224 USD) per 1 000 cubic meters (excluding VAT and transportation), private regional gas companies rushed to buy gas on the market in the hope of selling it at the PSO price and making money on the difference. In this regard, the government urgently adopted a new resolution introducing the Amsterdam formula plus, according to which the price for the population and business in January amounted to 4650 UAH (189 USD) per thousand cubic meters, and in February fell to 3948 (161 USD) per thousand cubic meters.

So, taking into account all the circumstances, judges of legal practice can bet on who outstrips whom in sophistication and tactics - Antimonopoly lawyers or Naftogaz lawyers. Indeed, for sure, even if the committee quickly makes a decision, Naftogaz will challenge it in court. But the only thing that the committee can achieve under the article of charges put forward by it is financial sanctions, a banal fine. Nothing else is provided for by law under this article. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine will not even be able to oblige Naftogaz to prevent certain actions in the future or to pay compensation to the population and the fuel and energy complex: a banal fine - a certain amount from the pocket of one government agency (Naftogaz) is transferred to the account of another agency (Antimonopoly Committee).

Then for what purpose did the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine start this business right now? It is difficult not to suspect that the committee is guided by motives other than the protection of economic competition, a political nature is possible. It is noteworthy that the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine appeared in the midst of a struggle over one of the most appetizing posts in the public sector - the Naftogaz leadership. The contract with the current board of directors Andriy Kobolev ends, and the government should already have decided on a competition for this position.

According to our sources, the antimonopoly opera conductor may be the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, who, according to rumors, already has his own candidate for the post of Naftogaz Ukraine head.
Peruvian diplomat, former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar has passed away Wednesday at the age of 100, RPP radio station reported.



His son, Francisco Perez de Cuellar, said his father died at home of natural causes.

His funeral will be held at Peru's foreign ministry on March 7.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his condolences to the family of Javier Perez de Cuellar.

Perez de Cuellar was a two-time head of the United Nations, which he led from 1982 to 1991. After leaving the world body, Perez de Cuellar made an unsuccessful bid for the Peruvian presidency in 1995, losing to incumbent Alberto Fujimori. He served as prime minister in a national unity government for roughly eight months after Fujimoris administration collapsed amid a corruption scandal in late 2000.
British farmers are to learn from their counterparts in New Zealand as new research explores the benefits of sheep grazing on lucerne.

The farmer-led field lab will look at grazing ewes and lambs on only lucerne - a legume that is widely used as forage for sheep in New Zealand.

It is valued for its high yield, drought tolerance, protein content, and digestible fibre.

Farmers taking part will assess lucernes potential in finishing lambs quicker, tolerating low rainfall, and reducing fertiliser inputs by fixing nitrogen in the soil.

The trial will also provide insight for the sector on how best to manage the feed to ensure health of the animals as a high protein content can increase risk of bloat and disease.

The idea for the field lab came from a group of farmers who were inspired by a visit to New Zealand and are now working with Dr Liz Genever, sheep and beef consultant, and the Innovative Farmers network to co-design the trial.

The group will benefit from Dr Genever's experience including her involvement in the publication of the AHDB guide Growing and feeding Lucerne.

Triallist David Cross farmed for 18 months in New Zealand and runs an arable farm in Norfolk with his father, where rotational sheep is a key part of the business model.

The pair are trying to move towards using more legumes to get their lambs finished quicker and to give summer resilience against droughts.

There have been years where they have had to grow specific crops to move lambs onto midsummer to finish, which has a cost involved and is taking land away from the arable rotation.

"Hopefully lucerne will reduce costs across the arable land by fixing nitrogen alongside improving soil structure and organic matter levels," Mr Cross said.

"We have a real drive on lamb growth rates and hopefully the more consistent pasture growth through the summer will mean we can get our lambs finished quicker.

"If we can work out how to overcome the health issues related with grazing lucerne, then everything else should fall into place because there are so many positives to lucerne."

He added: "Most agri research in this country is trial based and its not always relatable to on farm situations - the only way to know properly is in a real farming situation.

Any farmer with lucerne already established can get involved in the field lab  as the crop is not usually suitable for grazing in its first year.

Established to enable and promote farmer-led research, the Innovative Farmers network currently has more than 300 farms in field labs actively involved across the country.

It has awarded over 300,000 of funding in small grants to groups of farmers since it was established in 2012.
(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. said a Seattle worker has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the first known infection within the company as the pathogen continues to spread in the region.

The employee, a contractor, was last in Facebooks Stadium East office in Seattle on Feb. 21. The company alerted employees Wednesday night and said the Seattle office will be closed to all employees until March 9. Employees in Seattle are also being encouraged to work from home until the end of the month.

A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19, a company spokesperson said in a statement. Weve notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyones health and safety.

Nations around the world are grappling with the coronavirus epidemic, which erupted in China but made its way to Europe and the Middle East. California, the most populous U.S. state, has declared a state of emergency, while the House of Representatives green-lit a $7.8 billion spending package to fund measures to combat the outbreak. This week, Amazon.com Inc. also notified employees of the first confirmed case of coronavirus among its U.S. workforce, at its South Lake Union office complex in Seattle.

(Updates with details of the U.S. situation in the fourth paragraph)

To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at kwagner71@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Dina Bass, Flynn McRoberts

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

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CASPIAN, MI  The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 3, denied the appeal of Kelly Cochran, who was convicted of the 2014 killing and dismemberment Christopher Regan in Caspian.

Cochran was sentenced in 2017 to life in prison for killing Regan. She was also sentenced to 65 years in prison for the strangulation death of her husband, Jason Cochran, at their Hobart, Indiana home.

TV-6 FOX UP reports that after Cochrans conviction in Iron County Circuit Court, Cochran argued that there was evidence used against her that should not have been allowed.

Cochran said the court should not have allowed the jury to hear about her claims of being a serial killer, and her related claims that she or her husband had a so-called trophy bag with items relating to prior murders.

Regan was reported missing in Oct. 2014 after last being seen in the area of Iron River, Mich. His teeth and skull were recovered near a trail in Iron County in April, shortly after Cochran was arrested by federal marshals in Kentucky.

According to court records reviewed by the Post-Tribune news site in Indiana, Cochran allegedly told detectives her husband, Jason Cochran, shot and killed Regan after interrupting an intimate encounter between Kelly Cochran and Regan.

In June 2019, the Michigan Court of Appeals denied her appeal of the evidence used. Cochrans attorney filed an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court in July.

READ MORE:

Jury finds woman guilty of murder, dismemberment of Upper Peninsula man
If you take out the words tribal and Indian all you have left are a group of patients fighting a federal government agency for the right to health care. Thats what stereotyping does. It blinds people to getting to the heart of the matter. It puts an extra burden on the people, and lets a government agency get away with violations of federal laws.

This is exactly what is happening to Donna Gilbert, Julie Mohney, and the author as we happen to be Native American Indians fighting the United States Indian Health Service and their illegal contract with an information agency that carries the lofty name Great Plains Tribal Chairmens Health Board.

No one seems to remember that tribal chairmen have no authority, jurisdiction, or sovereign immunity off of the reservations. A tribal chairman can get a speeding ticket off the reservation just like everyone else. Sioux San Hospital and our health care for which we are fighting is located OFF of the reservations.

Surely the federal agency, the IHS, is aware of that fact. Surely a federal judge should have been aware of that fact. It was brought out many times in the court documents. But no. Stereotyping won out and the federal judge went against the people in the Gilbert v. Weahkee case. Instead Federal Judge Jeffrey Viken said that the information agency, which is under the jurisdiction of the state of South Dakota and the federal Internal Revenue Service, has tribal sovereign immunity.

The Sioux San Hospital is an Indian Health Service facility in Rapid City, South Dakota. Part of the facility is managed by the IHS, a federal agency. The rest is being managed by the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, through a self-determination contract, on behalf of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

For those of you who are not sure what this is about: a federal agency, the Indian Health Service, gave a contract to manage and administer a health facility, the Sioux San Hospital (yes it still has hospital designation), to an information agency, the Great Plains Tribal Chairmens Healh Board, which is a South Dakota non-profit corporation with no health management credentials. Take out the words Indian and Tribal and Sioux and you have: a federal agency gave an illegal federal contract to manage a hospital to an information agency.

Why is the contract illegal? Because under the law, Public Law 93-638, a federal agency can only give an Indian Self Determination contract to a Tribe or Tribal Organization. Even though Great Plains Tribal Chairmens Health Board has the word tribal in there, it is just an information agency to provide information to the 17 area tribes AND was established by the federal agency, the Indian Health Service! It is NOT a Tribal Organization!

So the contract went from the right hand to the left hand of the same federal agency! Who is really getting the hundreds of millions of dollars that are to provide health care for patients who have to be Native American Indian? Shouldnt the FBI be looking into the bank accounts of all the top dogs involved in this hundreds of millions of dollars scam?

The illegal contract went into effect in July, 2019. Since that time, from only the authors knowledge, there have been three deaths, two maimings, a mentally ill woman incarcerated after taken off her medication and losing it, and a terminally ill mans disease activated after his refill request was not given to the right pharmacy in time so he was without medication for four days. This is not to mention all of the bills that are being sent to collection agencies against individuals because the information agency doesnt know how to pay the bills, or the many other patients that have been harmed.

Some of these reports have been given to Senator John Thunes office as the U.S. Senate is supposed to be the overseers of all federal agencies. Some have been sent to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee asking for an investigation. A report was also sent to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, with a copy of the federal fraud conviction of the federal IHS contract signer, James Driving Hawk. And some of these reports from patients were included as affidavits in the federal case, Gilbert v. Weahkee, which was recently denied by Federal Judge Viken who ruled the information agency had tribal sovereign immunity.

What all this stereotyping does is provide a convenient screen to conduct genocide. Thats what this is: genocide. Thats what happens when health care is denied to a certain group of people, and that is what the federal government has been doing to Native American Indians since first contact, trying to impose genocide.

Health care for Native Americans was written as a provision in many of the Treaties our great- great grandparents concluded with the United States. A Treaty is an agreement and the United States agreed to pay for our health care. So by the U. S. government putting health care in the hands of people who dont know what they are doing is a great way to insure that Native American people will receive no health care at all. It is the same as giving small pox infected blankets to the Tribes. We need to watch out lest they give us the Coronavirus next. This is genocide.

What can you do? First, we need an attorney to help us with an Appeal on the case. Im sure the U.S. Justice system doesnt want 150 plus independent cases all appealing the same thing.

The main entrance to the Sioux San Hospital, an Indian Health Service facility in Rapid City, South Dakota. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

Second, write a letter to Senator Jon Tester from Montana who is on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Send him a copy of this editorial if you dont want to write anything with a note that this is affecting all of the Tribes in the U.S. including the ones in Montana. Third, if you are a patient receiving bills, keep a copy then take your bills to the IHS Sioux San CEO as IHS is still responsible.

Finally, pray for all the patients at Sioux San that we will receive adequate health care and have good health, and all Native American people in the U.S. as this case will affect everyone.

Thank you.

Charmaine White Face is an Oglala Tituwan Oceti Sakowin elder, great-grandmother, writer, and scientist. She can be reached at cwhiteface@gmail.com.

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MENOMONIE  Fitting in and making friends on a campus with thousands of students can be a challenging aspect of going to college.

Its even harder for transfer students, who miss out on traditional first-year experiences, such as bonding with roommates and getting involved from the get-go in clubs and organizations.

Being in a new environment, surrounded by new faces can be quite intimidating, said Christopher Jones.

Jones came to University of Wisconsin-Stout in fall 2018 as a second-semester sophomore and didnt know anyone. That all changed quickly for the Racine native, however, when he connected with the campus chapter of Tau Sigma, a national honor society for transfer students.

Soon, Jones had a band of friends who were in a similar situation.

Ive made a lot of good friends through Tau Sigma, he said. I was able to see that there were all sorts of driven transfer students at Stout. From there, a clique of individuals from all different corners formed, and I felt like I was a part of something big.

He has Tau Sigma to thank for something else. Recently, he received a $500 national scholarship from the organization. He is one of 68 students across the U.S. to be honored for the 2019-20 academic year.

The scholarship amount, he said, is equivalent to how much he would earn working a campus job for a semester. He is already working two jobs on campus, as a research assistant in the social science department and as an assistant in the Writing Center for students in Harvey Hall.

It means a lot because it saves me a lot of time. Time is one of the most precious resources we have, he said. I see all the sacrifices my parents make for me so I can go to college. This is a great way to give back to them.

Applicants were evaluated on academic achievement, community involvement and service to their university and to their Tau Sigma chapter, of which Jones is treasurer.

Dual major student

Jones is pursuing two degrees, in business administration and in environmental science.

He has studied abroad in each of them. In May 2019, he went with a business class to Sweden with Assistant Professor Mary Spaeth to study business incubation and the importance of innovation to a regions successful economic development. In January, he went to Belize with Professor Michael Bessert for a biology class, Natural History of the Neotropics.

Despite needing 30 to 40 extra class credits  an academic year or more  to finish the two majors, Jones still expects to graduate in four years total in May 2021. Taking winter, summer and overload classes has helped him stay on track.

He said he loves UW-Stout and the tight-knit aspect of the university, as well as the west-central Wisconsin area.

Down the road, he would like to work on a masters degree in statistics or business administration and have a career in project management at a research facility.

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A man who dressed as The Joker and live-streamed himself threatening to kill people has been arrested for making terroristic threats at a restaurant in St Louis, Missouri.

Jeremy Joseph Garnier, 51, donned a full face of clown makeup in the style of the Batman villain and drove to the Blueberry Hill bar and restaurant around 8.15pm claiming his aim was to draw attention to the opioid epidemic that has gripped the country.

Garnier said in the nearly hourlong Facebook Live video: 'I'm going to start killing people until this reaches 1,000 [viewers], and once it reaches 1,000, I'm going to go out in public and I'm going to kill more.

'We're not going to go to any movie theaters. We're going to go totally unarmed because we don't want to alert the authorities into thinking we might be on an actual rampage.'

Scroll down for video

Jeremy Joseph Garnier, 51, donned a full face of clown makeup in the style of the Batman villain

On Tuesday was arrested by University Police for making terroristic threats in Missouri

The words evoked memories of the July 20, 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting where James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a Century 16 screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

In the video this week Garnier orders a soda and tells the barman: 'I don't drink alcohol. Yeah, I can't be inebriated when I'm planning on, you know, killing a bunch of people.

'It's not something you can do. I'm live on Facebook right now. I've got like nearly 2,000 people watching me.'

Before ordering his Sprite, Garnier is seen on video telling staff asking for his ID that he's 48 years old.

He comments on Joe Edwards, the owner of the restaurant and the man associated with revitalizing the Delmar Loop area by introducing the Loop Trolley, St Louis Walk of Fame, Tivoili Movie Theater and Pin-Up Bowl among other popular locations.

Gazing at his collection of The Simpsons memorabilia, Garnier asks: 'I wonder if he has The Joker.'

He directs the camera out of the window, saying he spots police: 'I think they're looking for me, but it's OK.'

He's seen dressing the part at home then heading out in his car while talking about the opioid epidemic

The incident took place at the Blueberry Hill bar and restaurant around 8.15pm cops said

Garnier says in the clip: 'I'm going to start killing people until this reaches 1,000 [viewers]'. He tells arresting police he is 'not armed' and 'except all these bombs'

The University City Police Department responded to the 6500 block of the Delmar Loop after they received a report of a disturbance involving a male subject dressed in a costume.

It's unclear who made calls but police reported the caller or callers said the suspect was making threats via the Facebook Live app.

Police said they had previously been advised he was on the 6300 block, inside of a business. He was earlier asked to leave the St Louis Galleria.

When cops approach him the University City resident said: 'I'm not armed and I weigh 150 pounds. I don't have no weapons on me. I'm not going to do nothing. You've got me messed up. Except all these bombs.'

After officers searched the area, the suspect was taken into custody, without incident for various violations.

The arrest came minutes after making the shooting comments. But the long clip includes him talking to the camera in a bedroom where he is putting on a costume, driving in his car, smoking a pipe and visiting a mall in Richmond Heights.

He said in the video: 'We're not going to go to any movie theaters. We're going to go totally unarmed because we don't want to alert the authorities into thinking we might be on an actual rampage'

He appears to be emulating the movie villain portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in The Joker (pictured left). James Holmes shot dead 12 people at a Dark Knight Rises screening in 2012 (right)

Court documents noted that he was a 'danger to the community.' Court records did not list an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

The charging document doesn't indicate whether he was in possession of any explosives or was otherwise armed.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has charged him for Terrorist Threats 1st Degree. A judge ordered Garnier to be held without bond.

A GoFundMe page created for Garnier claims he 'someone reported mistakenly that he was making 'threats' when he was only playing a role.'

It hopes to raise $5,000 for an attorney retainer fee and had $436 by Thursday morning.

'While this was undoubtedly not Jeremy's best decision considering the consequences...he was not threatening anyone,' the crowdfunding organizer writes.

'As he says... he was chasing 'clout'...trying to increase his Facebook viewers and bring attention to the opiate crisis plaguing this country. This is an extremely serious felony charge...

'I'm asking for your help so I can retain an attorney to get Jeremy a psych evaluation to show he truly is not a threat to society and to hopefully get a bond and get these charges dropped or at least reduced.'

A social media image shows he has donned similar makeup for his part as 'Clouty the Clown' in a male revue show.

A GoFundMe page created for Garnier claims he 'someone reported mistakenly that he was making 'threats' when he was only playing a role
(From left) Patti Page-Walton, minority inspector; her daughter, Nichole Walton, majority inspector; and Sena Bowman, machine inspector, assist as John A. Reese III and his grandfather John A. Reese Sr. sign in to vote at the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library last week. Read more

Big election year. Big changes to election law.

And, maybe, big expansion to the budget for Philadelphias elections officials.

Mayor Jim Kenney is proposing an 84% increase over the current $12.2 million budget for the Philadelphia city commissioners, the three elected officials whose full-time job is to prepare for and run elections.

That additional $10.2 million would bring the commissioners total next year to $22.5 million.

In the five-year plan set to be unveiled Thursday, Kenney cites both the presidential election  which will require additional staffing, materials, equipment, and outreach to accommodate an expected spike in voter turnout  and implementation of the most significant changes to state election law in decades.

 READ MORE: Pa.s election system is on the verge of the largest changes in decades  in time for the 2020 election

The mayor is proposing these additional funds in recognition of the importance of coming primary and general election, and of the need to implement [the legal changes], city spokesperson Mike Dunn said in a statement. Based on what the commissioners have told us, we believe this investment will allow the commissioners to conduct future elections with proper staffing and equipment, and adherence not only to legal mandates but best practices.

County elections officials across the state have warned that the legal changes, while intended to make voting more flexible and accessible, are a heavy administrative lift. Philadelphia elections officials have been particularly concerned about new voter registration deadlines that give people more time to register  and give officials less time to prepare polling place materials.

 READ MORE: Extending Pennsylvanias voter registration deadline in 2020 could disenfranchise people, election officials warn

The city commissioners estimate they will need to increase their voter registration staff by 150% to accommodate the new deadline.

Similarly, the five-year plan notes the introduction of no-excuse absentee ballots will lead to an influx of mail ballots  the commissioners estimate a 200% to 400% increase over previous years  that will require more workers to process.

To meet both these needs, the five-year plan reads, the commissioners are going to have to dramatically increase the number of employees, increase the amount of office space that the office occupies, procure the necessary equipment for the new staff, and modernize the structure of the department.

Having rolled out new voting machines, the commissioners are also continuing their public education campaign, as many voters in the April 28 primary election and, in particular, the November general election will not have used the new systems before.

The logistics of implementing a new voting system are not complete, the plan reads, with the commissioners continuing to update their policies and procedures; moving into a new warehouse space; and purchasing electronic poll books. (Those were supposed to be used last November, but its not clear when they will actually be used in an election.)

Its also unclear whether the increased funding will go beyond covering the additional administrative needs of the department. For example, additional resources could go to a variety of election-year efforts, including establishing quasi-early voting sites in the city.

 READ MORE: Pennsylvania is getting a different kind of early voting in time for the 2020 election

After the proposed increase for the 2021 fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2021, the plan projects a funding drop of $8 million, or 35.7%, to $14.5 million for each of the following four years.

Kenney will present the five-year plan Thursday to City Council, which will hold hearings and must finalize a budget by the end of June.
Italy's foreign minister accused CNN on Thursday of "distorting reality" by appearing to suggest in a map that much of the world was catching the new coronavirus from his Mediterranean country.

Luigi Di Maio posted a screen grab from the US television network with the offending image on his Facebook page.

The map showed more than a dozen red arrows shooting from Italy to other parts of the world.

"Coronavirus cases linked to Italy," the accompanying caption said.

Di Maio said the map made it looks like "Italy seems to the origin of the outbreak".

"This is a distorted view of the reality," he wrote.

"But the point in not CNN, this is just one example, because there are also (other) international media painting Italy in the wrong way." CNN issued no immediate comment.

The Atlanta-based network occasionally comes under fire from world leaders at times of crisis.

It notably was accused of bias by both Russia and Ukraine during its coverage of Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Italy has borne the brunt in Europe of a virus that was first detected in central China's Wuhan province at the end of last year before spreading to the rest of the world.

More than 3,000 people have been infected and 107 have died in Italy from COVID-19 -- the most in Europe by far.

Italy was also the source of some of the first cases of infections in other countries.

But the perception of Italy as an unsafe place has had a profound effect on its economically important tourism industry in the past few weeks.

Long lines to enter the Vatican have vanished in Rome while the usually packed squares of cities such as Venice and Milan have stood deserted for days.

Di Maio said he suspected CNN had an ulterior motive that he did not name. "I wonder what their intent was," he wrote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In an apparent response to frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the Indian Army recently used anti-tank guided missiles and artillery shells to target Pakistan Army posts opposite the Kupwara sector, sources said.

It is learnt that the retaliatory strike was carried out by the Indian Army on February 24 and 25 in Rajouri and Tangdhar respectively. Notably, Pakistan had violated the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Hiranagar sector on February 15. Pakistani Army had targeted residential areas in order to help terrorists cross the border through Neelam Valley.

#WATCH Indian Army Sources: Army troops recently used anti-tank guided missiles & artillery shells to target Pakistan Army positions opposite the Kupwara sector. This was in response to frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan to push infiltrators into Indian territory in J&K. pic.twitter.com/oHuglG0iQL  ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2020

On Tuesday (March 3), Pakistan had violated the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district prompting strong retaliation from the Indian side.

On Wednesday (March 4), Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik had said in Lok Sabha that there were a total of 646 incidents of ceasefire violations along the Indo-Pakistan International Border (IB) as well as the Line of Control (LoC) till February 23, 2020.

"There have been 27 encounters with terrorists in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) since August 5 last year to February 23 this year. Forty-five terrorists were neutralised and 7 security force personnel were also martyred," the minister stated.

"In addition, 132 cases of cross border firing from August 5, 2019, to December 31, 2019, and 41 cases of cross border firing between January 1 and February 15 this year along the international border and LOC in the union territory of J&K were committed," Naik added.

The minister had also sai thta 1,586 incidents of ceasefire violations at the LoC and Indo-Pakistan international border took place in 2019.
BRISTOL, England, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UK and US carrier Simwood today demonstrated a domestic voice solution for those alternative networks rolling out full-fibre networks (Alt Nets).

Simwood Partner is the company's channel proposition, enabling communication providers to white-label its hosted VoIP solution as their own. This solution is now residential capable, enabling customers to provision domestic services, providing high-quality, cost-effective, voice servers to residential end users.

Simon Woodhead, CEO

One unique feature of the Simwood solution is full app integration at no extra cost. Everyone in a household can have an app tied to the house phone numbers and make or receive calls anywhere with WiFi or 4G coverage. Uniquely, the app doesn't cripple battery usage and offers high security, high quality audio which is very tolerant of poor quality networks.

Simwood founder and CEO Simon Woodhead commented, "There's some amazing work going on around the UK delivering full-fibre broadband to homes and businesses and building a genuine alternative to the incumbent. The trouble is their customers also need voice, and referring them back to the incumbent, encouraging them to overbuild with their own fibre seems short-sighted to me. At the same time, referring customers to Silicon Valley alternatives represents very poor value for the customer. We're now giving Alt Nets a great alternative that they can offer in their own name at a progressive price point."

ABOUT SIMWOOD

Founded by Simon Woodhead in 1996, Simwood is a wholesale carrier specialising in uncompromisingly honest, dynamic, and innovation-driven wholesale VoIP telephony. With its own infrastructure and presence in multiple data centres across the UK, and ongoing expansion into the USA, Simwood has over 23 years experience in delivering cutting-edge, innovative, and secure solutions for VoIP providers around the world.

Simwood has recently acquired Sipcentric which strengthened its product set, offering a fresh yet experienced platform for truly white-labelled hosted VoIP. The Sipcentric platform (now branded Simwood Partner) is offered to resellers looking to expand on their service portfolios. All of the traditional Simwood values filter through to this platform such as encrypted voice, fraud prevention, as well as all the fantastic platform features like call centre wallboards, white labelling, and full customer control.

Contact:

Simwood Group Plc

Simwood, Simwood House, Cube M4 Business Park, Old Gloucester Road, Bristol BS16 1FX, UK

+44 330 122 3000

https://simwood.com

[email protected]

SOURCE Simwood eSMS Limited

Related Links

https://simwood.com


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 23:06:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KABUL, March 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 people including militants, security personnel and civilians have been killed over the past 24 hours in Afghanistan amid reported resumption of fighting by the Taliban fighters, officials said Thursday.

In the latest waves of violence, clashes erupted in Khawja Sabzposh district of the northern Faryab province on Thursday and lasted for a while, leaving three insurgents dead and three others wounded, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.

Similarly, four police officers have been confirmed dead and two others wounded as the Taliban militants stormed a security checkpoint in Imam Sahib district of the northern Kunduz province Thursday morning, head of provincial council Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi has confirmed.

Nine militants have been reported killed in the southern Helmand and western Herat and the neighboring Badghis over the past 24 hours.

The fighting has taken place in the wake of resumption of Taliban attacks on security forces.

After inking a peace deal on Feb. 29 in Qatar capital Doha, Taliban militants had agreed with the U.S. to keep on reduction in violence in the violence-battered country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was supposed to visit Brussels in a few days for the India-European Union (EU) Summit, has stalled his plans for the time being due to Coronavirus.

Belgium, which was supposed to host the annual India-European Union Summit on March 13, has reported 23 Coronavirus cases, of which 10 were from Brussels itself. In view of the development, the Prime Ministers visit and the summit  both have been rescheduled.

According to an India Today report, the Ministry of External Affairs informed on March 5, that the delegates of all the countries have decided it would be best to avoid travel now, given the rate at which the disease has been spreading worldwide.

Eighty countries have reported patients who are suffering from the deadly disease that has killed around 3,200 people across the world and infected nearly a lakh more.

During a routine media briefing, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told media persons that the diplomatic meet will be postponed to a date convenient for all parties, which has not been decided yet.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

He added: The decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the EU and India, who share the same concerns and commitment to global health and hope the outbreak is contained soon.

The PMs Bangladesh visit, has, however, not been rescheduled, the MEA informed.
Boris Johnson showed no signs of letting the Covid-19 outbreak dissuade him from shaking hands, as he welcomed the Maltese president George Vella with a firm embrace on the steps of Number 10 and pressed the flesh with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning.

Appearing on the ITV daytime show, the prime minister said he is still shaking hands with people he meets.

Schofield told him he kept his hands by his side to see what Mr Johnson would do but he replied: Ive been going around hospitals, as you can imagine, and I think I always shake hands. People make their own decisions.

'At what point do I tell my mum it might be better to stay in now?' Phillip asks Prime Minister @BorisJohnson about allegations of withholding information about coronavirus pic.twitter.com/Le2Rb7VVXv  This Morning (@thismorning) March 5, 2020

Washing your hands is the single most effective thing, rather than barring all human contact. My advice to everybody is wash your hands at all times.

Later, Mr Johnson said it was good to welcome my good friend George as the pair chatted at the start of a bilateral meeting inside Downing Street.

The Prime Minister previously announced his determination to press ahead with the greeting, despite concerns around the world that touching hands could help spread the disease.

As of Thursday morning, Malta had no reported cases of coronavirus, although nearby Italy is the epicentre of Europes outbreak, where at least 100 people have died and more than 3,000 have the Covid-19 illness.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson extends a hand to the President of Malta, George Vella (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mr Vella has been in the UK for a whistlestop visit, having met with the Queen on Wednesday evening.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson told reporters at a press conference in Downing Street: I am shaking hands.

I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were coronavirus patients and I was shaking hands with everybody, you will be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands.

People must make up their own minds but I think the scientific evidence is  our judgment is that washing your hands is the crucial thing.
The Fox News tractor trailer is parked outside the Scranton Cultural Center. President Donald Trump will make his first visit of 2020 to the battleground state of Pennsylvania, for a Fox News town hall-style event at the former Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral. Read more

Trump Town Hall

Date: Thursday, March 5

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple

TV: Fox News

President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Scranton Thursday to participate in a Fox News town hall, but unlike most of his interviews on the network, he might end up facing tough questions.

I dont want to give too much away, but itll be a good mix of questions, said Bret Baier, who will be moderating tonights town hall with Martha MacCallum. Obviously, well cover election issues ... obviously the current situation with the coronavirus, the economy broadly, and then specific questions that are unique to [Pennsylvania].

Baier and MacCallum are firmly on the news side of Fox News. Both have been forced to deal with the perception that Fox News acts as state TV for the White House due to the networks fawning coverage of the president from opinion hosts like Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.

I think the average viewer knows the difference between the news programs and the opinion programs, Baier told the Inquirer. "The president likes the people who like him. Were going to cover all sides.

The town hall will come less than 24 hours after Trump gave a phone interview to Hannity, one of the presidents loudest cheerleaders who acts as an informal adviser behind the scenes. Expect more pushback from Baier and MacCallum tonight than Hannity offered Wednesday, when he failed to offer corrections to multiple false claims made by Trump about coronavirus.

Trumps appearance in Scranton, the hometown of potential Democratic presidential opponent Joe Biden, also serves as a reminder of how important Pennsylvania will be during the 2020 election. Trump won the state by just 44,000 votes, out of more than six million cast, in the 2016 election.

Heres everything you need to know to watch and stream tonights town hall:

How can I watch and stream Trumps Scranton town hall?

The town hall, which will air on Fox News, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and last an hour. It will be preceded by 30-minute version of Special Report anchored by Baier at 6 p.m., followed by a shortened version of The Story anchored by MacCallum at 7:30 p.m.

You can stream the town hall on the Fox News app and on FoxNews.com, but youll need a cable or satellite subscription. You can also stream Fox News on a host of so-called skinny bundles, including fuboTV (free 7-day trial), YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and AT&T Now.

Fox News will re-air the town hall in its entirety at 11 p.m.

Who will be moderating Trumps town hall?

Throughout his presidency, Trump has rarely granted interviews outside a circle of opinion hosts on Fox News.

But tonight, its the networks news anchors who will be questioning the president. Co-moderating the event are Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Its been nearly two years since Baier has interviewed Trump, while MacCallums last interview with the president was all the way back in April 2017, which marked his first 100 days in office.

That last interview was a fairly quick one on Air Force One in the Singapore summit, and that was a long time ago. But since then, almost every week, weve put in a request for the president," Baier said. This obviously is a different format than an interview, but in this election cycle, I think its very beneficial to voters.

Baier said Trump can be tricky to interview, especially in a town hall setting, because he tends to bounce from topic to topic.

He answers sometimes in stream of consciousness, and it takes some time. So you have to get in on the breaks, Baier said. It is a challenge.

Are tickets available to Trumps Scranton town hall?

Tickets were free, but were gone by Sunday, according to the network. Capacity for the main theater at the Scranton Cultural Center is about 1,800, according to WNEP.

Several streets in downtown Scranton  including several blocks of North Washington Avenue, Vine Street, and Adams Avenue  are closed until 11 p.m.

Biden and Warren have turned down invites from Fox News

Despite the Democratic National Committee denying Fox News a primary debate (citing a New Yorker article that outlined the networks promotion of Trump and his agenda), the network has hosted eight town halls with Democratic presidential candidates during the 2020 election cycle.

Nearly 2.6 million viewers tuned in to watch Sen. Bernie Sanders town hall in April 2019, which took place in the shadow of an abandoned steel mill in Bethlehem. Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who dropped out the presidential race Thursday morning, have declined Fox News invitations, but both have appeared in town halls on CNN and done events on MSNBC.

We aspire for Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders may do another one, Baier said. I think [Democrats] realize that the eyeballs and the different kinds of ideologies ... are people theyre going to have to reach in the general election.
(Newser)  An Australian dog walker used his arm as a clothesline as he brought down an alleged car thief who'd smashed into two police vehicles, narrowly missing an officer, on Thursday. A chase began around 8:30am as officers tried to apprehend the driver of a stolen Toyota Hilux utility vehicle in Mermaid Waters, Queensland, reports the Brisbane Times. A helicopter hovering over the scene recorded what happened next. Rather than go quietly, the driver rammed into two police vehicles, drove over spikes, sped across a field, then hit the road, driving the wrong way through a roundabout.

story continues below

The driver soon abandoned the truckand a 16-year-old passenger, according to policebefore sprinting down a pedestrian footbridge. That's where our Good Samaritan encountered him. Footage shows the man using a straight arm to stop the suspect before holding him down, losing a sandal in the process. The man grabs his sandal and gives an officer a high-five before departing. Police, who've charged a 40-year-old man with dangerous operation of a vehicle, driving without a license, and possession of dangerous drugs, among other offenses, are now hoping to track down the Good Samaritan in order to thank him. (Read more Good Samaritan stories.)
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - Relay Medical Corp. (CSE: RELA) (OTCQB: RYMDF) (FSE: EIY2) ("Relay" or the "Company"), a developer of MedTech innovation, is pleased to announce the development of an application programing interface (API) for its Pharmatrac Medication Management System. With this development the Company is now poised for strategic integration with partners in the telemedicine and medication management markets.

The Pharmatrac API allows 3rd party mobile apps, devices and services to connect to the Medication Management System, and query for data and insights generated by Relay Medical's artificial intelligence (AI) driven algorithms. With this advancement the Company is now able to integrate its technologies with strategic partners for value added applications and the commercialization of Pharmatrac devices including the Countertop Medication Device.

The API authenticates user credentials to partners to securely access devices on their accounts. With this access, providers can control the features of the device, upload data to the system, and receive data back about the medication habits of their users. Features of the device are configurable through the API, including reminder lights and sounds, medication-taking-event lights and sounds, the colours of the lights, and other functionality. User medication data can be uploaded, including medications prescribed and individual schedules. Data sent back through the API includes all medication captured by the system processed though Relay Medical's AI algorithms, timestamps, videos, images, pill counts, and others. The API continues to be updated as development progresses.





Fig 1. Example of unprocessed and processed images available through the API



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/952/53197_figure1.jpg

Relay Medical is now ready for API integration testing with partners.

Key Markets

In both the telemedicine market and the medication adherence market, there is a need to understand and track how medication is taken at home in order to understand and improve medication adherence. Current solutions rely on the medication user to self-report when and how they take their medication. As the number of medications and supplements a person takes increases, it becomes difficult to remember what was taken when and communicating medication habits with doctors and pharmacists becomes overwhelming. Even when medication reminder apps are used, the self-reported time when the medication was actually taken may not be accurate, and as has been observed in Relay Medical's own user studies, many seniors and people with declining health find it difficult to use complicated technology solutions. The use of the Pharmatrac Medication device on the other hand, is seamless. Medication users need only to cluster their medication in the device instead of in their hand and take it as usual. The Pharmatrac Medication device solves the problem of the unreliability of self-reported medication use by automatically recording and reporting what medications are taken and when they are taken.

When connected to telemedicine solutions, doctors are automatically informed of how the patient has adhered to the protocol, so they can immediately diagnose an adherence problem and recommend solutions. Patients will no longer need to collect their medication and discuss with the doctor one by one, the doctor will already have the information to provide data driven care.

When connected through adherence apps, the medication users and their caregivers will be able to view the consumption habits and easily share the information with their doctors. The pill counter data will be used with pharmacy-connected apps to automatically refill a prescription when the medication has run out, instead of when the pharmacy thinks it should be refilled, leading to less waste and buildup of medication.

Telemedicine Market

It is expected that global telemedicine services will be in heightened demand amid the Coronavirus outbreak and through its aftereffects. In response to the crisis, an emergency healthcare bill in the U.S. was passed on March 4, 2020 increasing Medicare coverage for telemedicine to seniors, vastly expanding the coverage to patient care in their homes. This is expected to increase spending on telehealth by $500 million1.

In 2018, the telemedicine market size was valued at US $31.46 billion globally, and it is expected to reach US$108.08 billion by 20252. This growth will be driven by advances in technology, demand for better healthcare in rural areas and the increased prevalence of chronic diseases.

Medication Adherence Market

Medication non-adherence is a world-wide problem that costs payers and healthcare systems billions of dollars annually and puts consumers at significant risk. In the United States, around 50% of all prescriptions filled are taken incorrectly. "Incorrectly" is defined as incorrect timing, dosage, frequency or duration3. Annual costs of non-adherence are estimated to be US$100-US$290 billion in the US, 1.25 billion euros in the Europe and A$7 billion in Australia4.

In 2016, the global market for medication adherence was nearly $1.7 billion, and it is expected to grow to over $3.9 billion by 2021. The market consists of both hardware-based adherence systems and software-based applications. The expected growth will be driven by the strong need to improve adherence (as indicated above) and the growing number of people around the world with chronic diseases5.

References

1https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/breaking-telehealth-coverage-included-in-coronavirus-spending-bill

2https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-2M208/global-telemedicine-market

3https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6645a2.htm

4https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e016982.full

5https://www.medgadget.com/2019/12/medication-adherence-market-2019-global-analysis-opportunities-and-forecast-to-2024.html

About Relay Medical Corp.

Relay Medical is a MedTech innovation Company headquartered in Toronto, Canada focused on the development of novel technologies in the diagnostics and data science sectors.

Website: www.relaymedical.com

Contact:

W. Clark Kent

President

Relay Medical Corp.

Office. 647-872-9982 ext. 2

TF. 1-844-247-6633 ext. 2

investor.relations@relaymedical.com

Bernhard Langer

EU Investor Relations

Office. +49 (0) 177 774 2314

Email: blanger@relaymedical.com

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for HemoPalm Corp. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53197
SPRINGFIELD  Two years ago after Hurricane Maria destroyed the island of Puerto Rico, a group of young women from Grisels Private Dance and Pageant School of the Arts in Springfield traveled to the island to deliver care packages to students.

At the time there was not a lot being done to provide supplies and necessities for students so thats what we did, said Zulmalee Rivera-Delgado, who runs the dance and pageant school that her mother Grisel Delgado founded more than 20 years ago.

The dance school in Springfield developed a connection with several schools on the island and has decided to donate once again now that a series of earthquakes in January left many Puerto Ricans homeless.

This time around we are trying to purchase survival kits that will be sent directly to the island, particularity towns including Mayaguez, Loiza and Yabucoa, she said.

The trip will not be until a few months from now, but the girls are currently collecting donations so they can begin shipping survival kits.

We have actually adopted two more schools which we will be providing supplies for their students. It has been a great relationship and has taught our girls the importance of giving and shown them first hand how much need there is on the island, Rivera- Delgado said.

The dance school has collaborate with Club Aquarius to hold an International Womens Day celebration this Sunday, March 8 at the club on State Street. The event will be held from 3-8 p.m. and tickets are $10.

This is an adult only event and will include vendors selling everything from essential oils to shakes and there will be tables for Neighbor to Neighbor and Planned Parenthood, she said.

Rivera-Delgado said she hopes women and men will attend the event which will also include food and music.

For more information contact Rivera -Delgado at 413-364-4247.




Hyundai Glovis' used car dealing platform Autobell is rapidly increasing its customer base, as its transparent and convenient services have drawn favorable responses from motorists seeking to sell their vehicle.







Launched in 2014, Autobell is a platform that specializes in purchasing used vehicles. Hyundai Glovis said it drew popularity with its seamless service, in which experienced agents visit customers to evaluate, purchase and put the vehicle up for auction.







To use the service, customers only have to either call Autobell's call center or fill in relevant information on the Autobell website.







Since the agents take care of collecting the money and documentation required for trading vehicle, customers can have the entire sales process handled with ease, the company said. By just requesting an agent's visit, customers can check the market value of the vehicle based on its maintenance condition, the company added.







Hyundai Glovis launched Autobell amid the rapid growth of the Korean used car market, whose annual trading volume has reached 3.5 million vehicles worth 35 trillion won ($29.5 billion).







The company said Autobell distinguishes itself from its rivals as it calculates the optimal price based on data from the car auction service it runs.







Since the auction service receives bids from hundreds of used car dealers and sells the vehicle to the highest, Autobell can offer a more reasonable and fair price compared to customer-to-customer or dealer-to-customer trades, which require people to be well-acquainted with used car dealing.







As of 2018, more than 1 million vehicles were put up for auction on Hyundai Glovis' used car site, helping the company amass rich data.







"Vehicle owners can have trust in the selling process as Autobell trades vehicles through open bidding and sells them at fair market prices," a Hyundai Glovis official said. "Purchasing dealers can also have stable supply of used vehicles in good condition, as Hyundai Glovis conducts in-depth inspections of vehicles before auctioning them off."







(Advertorial)






An Bord Pleanala has granted planning permission to Pat Crean's Marlet Group to demolish the Bailey Court Hotel in Howth and replace it with 177 apartments.

The contentious apartments plan involves blocks ranging from three to five storeys on three parcels of land.

The appeals board granted planning permission despite widespread local opposition to the plan.

This opposition was supported by Labour Party TD Aodhan O Riordain and Fianna Fail TD Sean Haughey, as well as Independents Finian McGrath and Tommy Broughan, who were TDs at the time of making objections.

Fine Gael senator Catherine Noone also expressed concerns over the plan.

The appeals board acknowledged that a grant of permission would materially contravene the allocation of 498 new homes for Howth, with the application exceeding that amount when combined with other planning applications.

However, the board has said that the material contravention was justified in regard to the Government's policy to ramp up the delivery of new housing.

It also cited six other policy objectives, "all of which support higher density residential development consisting of apartments on public transport corridors within the built-up area of Dublin city and its suburbs, as proposed in this case".

The appeals board concluded that the proposal "would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity".

The appeals board also found that the proposal would not damage natural heritage.

Marlet also has a separate application for 512 units on the former Techrete site at Howth that is currently before the appeals board.

Alien

Consultants for Marlet, Tom Phillips and Co, said that the Bailey proposal was well designed and complements the existing use within Howth village.

In response to the 177-unit application, the appeals board received more than 85 objections, including those from public representatives.

Labour Party leadership contender Mr O Riordain told the appeals board that "this proposal would introduce a scale of development that is entirely alien to the existing pattern of development, which has been sensitively followed by additions to the village over the years".
As of now, two lectures have already been held

DocMode, a global online medical learning platform for outcome based education, will be associating itself with ISAR (Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction) for implementing 'Seed to Soil; the latter's digital initiative for specialists in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Seed to Soil comprises a series of online live lectures on ART that is expected to assist about 4000 members of ISAR (including gynaecologists and embryologists) and other participating doctors, on the latest developments in assisted reproductive surgery. It would also allow an even more in-depth understanding through various case studies and aid in guidelines.

The lectures, each of 90 minute-duration, are available to ISAR members for viewing free of cost the DocMode website.

Dr. Jaideep Malhotra, President of ISAR, said, ISAR has always been trying to train and mentor young infertility specialists. Through the webinars, eminent personalities would address a lot of topics, which would in turn encourage health experts towards protocol-based management of infertility patients in the country.

As of now, two lectures have already been heldthe first titled Right Choice Right Time - Case Selection for Infertility Management; by Dr. Jaideep Malhotra.

She spoke on the importance of patient selection. Under infertility management, patient selection is a crucial process where an evaluating surgeon decides whether to accept responsibility for the treatment of a potential patient. Almost 15 per cent of Indias population is sub fertile out of which only about four per cent reach an ART specialist. And, even when they manage to contact an infertility specialist, they dont always get the right treatment. The webinar attains significance in this context.

The second lecture recently conducted, focused on Evidence for Surgery in Infertility; by Dr Madhuri Patil, Clinical Director of Dr. Patil's Fertility & Endoscopy Clinic, Bengaluru. Reproductive surgery is an integral part of the management of an infertile couple. It is used both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. However, one must remember reproductive surgery is not necessary in all patients, she said.

The webinar is an eye-opener for understanding the evidence for reproductive surgery in female infertility.

Hans Lewis, Founder and CEO of DocMode said, DocMode has been sparing no effort in ensuring continued medical learning for health professionals for some time now. The 'Seed to Soil programme is a unique learning initiative by ISAR for its members and also for participating doctors in the scenario of constantly emerging developments. Topics like fertility treatment consist of a wide range of subjects requiring continuous evaluation and DocModes association with ISAR will facilitate learning and understanding for doctors who are facing difficulty in participating in seminars and events.

As infertility specialists or OB/GYN, we always feel at loss because there are no uniform patterns and no guidelines assisting and directing us in management of these patients. Hence, the Seed to Soil programme has been designed to help health experts in an algorithmic and protocol-based management of infertile patients, Dr Jaideep said.

There will be two lectures every month on the second and fourth Thursday. In all, there would be 24 lectures in a year with the participation of 24 faculties-both national and international.
The ruler of Dubai conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his former wife, forcing her to flee to London with their two children, the UK High Court has found.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoums sixth wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, fled the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last April having become terrified of her husband at the beginning of last year.

The 70-year-old vice president and prime minister of the UAE, who is said to be on respectful and friendly terms with the British royal family, soon after applied for the summary return to Dubai of their two children, their daughter Al Jalila, 12, and son Zayed, eight.

But Princess Haya, the half-sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan, applied for the children to be made wards of court, as well as applying for a forced marriage protection order in relation to Jalila and a non-molestation order for her own protection.

Expand Close Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Simon Cooper/PA) / Facebook

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She asked the High Court to make a series of findings of fact about Sheikh Mohammed, in particular in relation to the kidnap and forcible detention of two of his adult daughters from another marriage almost two decades apart.

Princess Haya also alleged that there had been a campaign of fear and intimidation against her since the start of last year.

In a judgment published on Thursday, Sir Andrew McFarlane, the most senior family judge in England and Wales, found Sheikh Mohammed had ordered and orchestrated the abduction and forced return to Dubai of Sheikha Shamsa, then 19, in August 2000 and of her sister Sheikha Latifa twice, in 2002 and again in 2018.

The judge found that Shamsa, now 38, was abducted from the streets of Cambridge and has been deprived of her liberty for much if not all of the past two decades.

Read More

Sir Andrew also found Latifa, 35, was held on the instructions of her father for more than three years after her first escape attempt in 2002 before being released in October 2005.

Latifas second attempted escape from the UAE made headlines around the world after the publication in March 2018 of a video which she said would only be released if Im dead, or Im in a very, very, very bad situation.

Sir Andrew found proved claims by Tiina Jauhiainen, Latifas friend who tried to help her escape the UAE, that Indian special forces boarded a boat in international waters off the coast of Goa on March 4 2018, before Latifa was taken back to Dubai against her will.

The judge said Ms Jauhiainens account of Latifas last words to her say a great deal.

He added: She was pleading for the soldiers to kill her rather than face the prospect of going back to her family in Dubai.

Drawing these matters together I conclude, on the balance of probability, that Latifas account of her motives for wishing to leave Dubai represents the truth.

She was plainly desperate to extricate herself from her family and prepared to undertake a dangerous mission in order to do so.

Princess Hayas barrister, Charles Geekie QC, told the court in November of about a number of appalling acts perpetrated against his client, including anonymous notes being left in her bedroom, one of which read: We will take your son  your daughter is ours  your life is over.

The court heard that Sheikh Mohammed divorced Princess Haya  without her knowledge  on February 7 2019, the 20th anniversary of the death of her father, the late King Hussein of Jordan.

Sir Andrew said Princess Haya was clear that the date will have been chosen by the father (Sheikh Mohammed) to maximise insult and upset to her.

In her evidence, Princess Haya described one of the longest and most frightening days I ever remember living in March 2019, when a helicopter landed outside her house and a pilot told her that he had come to take one passenger to Awir, the site of a prison in the desert.

She also claimed that a number of poems, in particular one published in June 2019 titled You lived and died, expressed deliberate threats to her.

Sir Andrew said he agreed with Mr Geekie QCs contention that the events between 2000 and the present day showed a number of common themes, at the core of which is the use of the state and its apparatus to threaten, intimidate, mistreat and oppress with a total disregard for the rule of law.

He added: I also accept Mr Geekies submission that these findings, taken together, demonstrate a consistent course of conduct over two decades where, if he deems it necessary to do so, the father will use the very substantial powers at his disposal to achieve his particular aims.

All the findings of fact, which are vehemently denied by Sheikh Mohammed, have been found to the civil standard of proof on the balance of probabilities.

In a statement issued after the judgments were published, Sheikh Mohammed said: This case concerns highly personal and private matters relating to our children.

The appeal was made to protect the best interests and welfare of the children. The outcome does not protect my children from media attention in the way that other children in family proceedings in the UK are protected.

As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the courts fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a fact-finding judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story.

I ask that the media respect the privacy of our children and do not intrude into their lives in the UK.

Princess Haya also alleged that Sheikh Mohammed had made arrangements for Jalila  then aged 11  to be married to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.

But Sir Andrew said that the hearsay evidence for that allegation fell well short of the required standard of proof.

In a separate judgment, Sir Andrew ruled that assurances provided to the court by Sheikh Mohammed and the state of the UAE, waiving his immunity from English court orders, had failed to afford the children any significant level of protection from the risk of abduction within England and Wales.

Further details of the hearings, which have been held in London since last year, can be reported for the first time after the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by Sheikh Mohammed to prevent publication of the judgments.

It can now be reported that, in July, Princess Haya applied for a non-molestation order for her own protection, as well as a forced marriage protection order in relation to her daughter, Jalila.

Princess Haya attended almost every hearing, flanked by her solicitor Baroness Fiona Shackleton and security detail, but Sheikh Mohammed did not attend one. He attended a horse auction in Newmarket on the day of one preliminary hearing in October.

Sheikh Mohammed  whose lawyers insisted that he could not and would not attend to give evidence  attempted to withdraw his application for contact with his children in November, and argued it was unnecessary to conduct a fact-finding exercise.

His QC Lord Pannick told the court that, if the fact-finding went ahead, Sheikh Mohammeds lawyers would play no active part in these proceedings.

But Sir Andrew refused to allow him to withdraw, after Mr Geekie told the court that it would not be right that the fathers wish to avoid the scrutiny of the court should deployed in order to reduce the protection that is available to the children.

Also in November, Ms Jauhiainen and DCI David Beck, who led Cambridgeshire Polices investigation into Shamsas abduction, attended to give evidence to the court.

Mr Beck previously told the BBC that he applied to visit Dubai with the intention of speaking to Shamsa but that his request was rejected in 2001, adding: I was never given a reason why.

Mr Geekie said DCI Becks evidence made clear that there had been interference in the police inquiry, adding: We have it directly that the Foreign Office were plainly engaged back in 2000 with a direct interest being expressed by the Foreign Secretary and we have it from Mr Becks statement permission to pursue the investigation in Dubai was refused.
More than 300 Chinese nationals are held in a room in the southwestern Philippine city of Puerto Princesa after immigration authorities launched a crackdown on tourists working for online gambling operations, Sept. 16, 2019.

China has downplayed as isolated incidents cases of crimes involving its nationals in the Philippines, as a Senate committee launched a probe Thursday into allegations of a large-scale smuggling of foreign currencies into the Southeast Asian nation by suspected syndicates, including a Chinese group.

Beijings embassy in Manila said in a statement that criminal activities attributed to some of its citizens did not reflect bilateral ties with Manila, which had maintained a good momentum.

Individual illegal and criminal cases involving Chinese citizens are only isolated incidents and cannot represent the whole picture of China-Philippines relations, said the statement, released Wednesday. The embassy did not elaborate.

On Tuesday, the Department of Finance said that millions in U.S. dollars and other currencies were brought into the Philippines last year by two syndicates identified by local officials as the Chinese and Rodriguez groups.

Sen. Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine Senates powerful Blue Ribbon committee, said that based on data provided by the Bureau of Customs almost 50 individuals, mostly Chinese nationals, had arrived in the Philippines since September last year, carrying with them an estimated $447 million in cash.

The money could be linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country, he said.

Gordon, who launched an investigation into the allegations Thursday, said the inaction of anti-money laundering authorities had paved the way for Chinese and Filipino couriers to hand-carry the money stashed in suitcases  through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte has resisted calls to ban an influx of Chinese workers in the gaming industry, despite warnings from his own military and defense officials that Beijing could be sending spies disguised as workers.

Dutertes spokesman, Salvador Panelo, urged Gordon on Monday to share his information with the presidential palace.

If the good senator has information on that, I think [he] should provide us with intelligence reports so that we can pursue, Panelo told reporters.

But the lawmaker questioned why he was being asked to share his information with the office of the president.

Its impossible that he did not know about that. The president is the repository of information in this country. He has the most information. He can judge, Gordon told reporters.

This would never happen if the administration was not too soft on China. Thats one of the reasons why they are here), he said, referring to the POGOs, where local newspapers estimate up to 150,000 Chinese nationals are employed.

Duterte has pursued cordial ties to China since he took office in 2016. He has set aside a ruling by an international court that rejected Chinas claim to the entire South China Sea, and has visited Beijing several times as president.

Gordon said that the government had chosen to turn a blind eye to the nefarious activities.

He said that based on the report he had received, at least one Chinese individual was able to bring in U.S. dollars at least 45 times.

That is what I call, done with impunity, he said, adding that money laundering was a threat to national security.

The fund could allow syndicates to thrive and perpetuate criminality, Gordon said. In extreme cases, it can be used to fund armies or coup detat that can lead to a takeover of a government.
Democratic candidate Biden named as Trump's presidential rival

Joe Bidens strong performance ended Sanders status as the Democratic front-runner and led former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to drop out of the race.

The search for a Democrat to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election narrowed on Wednesday to a choice between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who staged a comeback in Super Tuesday voting to become the undisputed standard-bearer of the partys moderate wing.

"I'M SORRY WE DIDN'T WIN"

Biden was set to win 10 of the 14 states up for grabs on Tuesday, including delegate-rich Texas. The former vice president roared ahead in the overall tally of delegates who will choose a presidential nominee at the Democratic convention in July.

Bloomberg on Wednesday gave up his presidential campaign and endorsed Biden, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money on ads across the United States. But Bloomberg failed to deliver convincing results on Tuesday, the biggest day of voting in the Democratic nomination campaign with contests in 14 states across the country.

Im sorry we didnt win, Bloomberg, 78, told a crowd of supporters in a New York City hotel. A viable path to the nomination just no longer existed.

He said he was endorsing Biden because he had the best shot at beating Trump. I hope you will join me in working to make him the next president.





The media billionaire did not say whether he would spend part of his fortune to help Biden, but Bloombergs absence from the race will help the former vice president. Both men appeal to the centrist wing of the Democratic Party.

In a tweet addressed to Bloomberg, Biden wrote: I cant thank you enough for your supportand for your tireless work on everything from gun safety reform to climate change. This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics. Its about defeating Donald Trump, and with your help, were gonna do it.

Sanders, a senator and democratic socialist who is popular with young voters, lashed out at what he said was the kind of venom were seeing from some in the corporate media, and attempted to draw a stark contrast between himself and Biden.
DUBLIN, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Tobacco Industry in Mozambique 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report focuses on The Tobacco Industry in Mozambique and includes the latest available information on the state and size of the sector and factors that influence it, including economic and climate factors.



There are profiles of four companies including British American Tobacco, which has one of its three southern African plants in Mozambique, and Universal's Mozambique Leaf Tobacco, which dominates the growing and processing of tobacco. Emperor Tobacco Mozambique, which was setting up a manufacturing facility in Maputo to manufacture its brand Rico, is also profiled as is major distributor JT International South Africa.



The Tobacco Industry in Mozambique 2020



Mozambique's tobacco industry forms part of its agricultural sector and contributes about a third of total agricultural exports and almost 4% of the value of the country's total exports of goods and services. The majority of the agricultural sector is made up of subsistence farming, with mostly small family farms growing tobacco alongside other crops.

About 130,000 to 150,000 farmers grow tobacco in Mozambique. While demand for tobacco in traditional global markets has been declining, Asian and African demand has been growing steadily and leaf sourcing is moving to low-cost producing countries, making the Mozambican tobacco sector attractive for investors.



Growth Factors



The government is drafting an updated Strategic Plan for Agrarian Sector Development to transform the agricultural sector from predominantly subsistence to a more competitive one. It is also looking to boost investment in the sector through six corridors, which it runs in partnership with private investors.

Recent large natural gas deposits discovered in the north hold much promise for the economy, which has been improving but is characterised by a lack of diversity, with the agriculture sector accounting for about 30% of GDP and around 72% of the labour force.



Key Topics Covered



1. INTRODUCTION



2. COUNTRY INFORMATION

2.1. Geographic Position



3. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY

3.1. Industry Value Chain



4. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY



5. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

5.1. Local

5.1.1. Regulations

5.1.2. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development

5.2. Continental

5.3. International



6. INFLUENCING FACTORS

6.1. Government Support

6.2. Economic Environment

6.3. Technology, Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation

6.4. Labour

6.5. Marketing

6.6. Health Concerns

6.7. Environmental Concerns

6.8. Industry Social Initiatives

6.9. Illicit Cigarettes



7. COMPETITION

7.1. Barriers to Entry



8. SWOT ANALYSIS



9. OUTLOOK



10. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS



11. REFERENCES

11.1. Publications

11.2. Websites



Companies Profiled



British American Tobacco PLC

Emperor Tobacco (Pty) Ltd.

JT International South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Mozambique Leaf Tobacco Lda

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/or77ia

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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India and the European Union (EU) on Thursday announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Brussels for a summit meeting, expected to be held next week, would be rescheduled in view of precautionary measures related to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Modi had been expected to visit Brussels for the India-EU Summit to be held on March 13. The announcement came a day after the European Defence Agency (EDA) confirmed that one of its staffers tested positive for the novel coronavirus and cancelled all meetings to be held at its premises until March 13.

The proposed summit was under a cloud because the European Parliament is expected to vote on a resolution critical of Indias Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) later this month. The resolution was debated in January but a vote was deferred  a move that was seen as being aimed at allowing the summit to go ahead smoothly.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a news briefing that India and the EU agreed it would be wise to reschedule the summit to a later mutually convenient date as health authorities had advised against travel between regions.

The decision has been taken in the spirit of the close cooperation between India and the EU, who share the same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the (Covid-19) outbreak is contained soon, he said.

A statement issued by the EU said the two sides jointly decided to postpone the summit because of precautionary measures related to the global spread of Covid-19. It added, In the meantime, we will continue work on our joint agenda to make progress across all aspects of our relations.

The EDA official who contracted the virus visited Italy last week. After returning to Brussels, he met at least 30 officials from other EU bodies. He began feeling sick on February 29 and tested positive for COVID-19, reports said.

The European Parliament resolution figured in external affairs minister S Jaishankars discussions when he visited Brussels last month and interacted with EU officials to explain Indias position on the CAA and related issues.

The resolution agreed on by six of the largest political groups in the European Parliament stated that the law is discriminatory in nature and dangerously divisive and called on the Indian government to repeal discriminatory amendments.

India insisted the law is an internal matter but also said it was willing to engage with the members of the European Parliament on the issue.

The CAA is aimed at fast-tracking the grant of Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has drawn flak domestically and overseas for perceived religious discrimination and for diluting Indias secular ethos by tying citizenship to religion.
Court documents shed more light into the raid that happened last week at the Law Office of Silverio Martinez.

READ MORE: Laredo attorney's office reportedly raided

The Texas Rangers are accusing Martinez of tampering with a government record. Attorneys representing Martinez and his spouse, Amely Juarez, are denying the allegations.

State police began looking into the case in January.

April Marie Granados, Martinezs former secretary, and notary public Melissa Ann Garza provided information that Martinezs law office, under the authority of Martinez, presented the e-filed motion for new trial packet for the case of State of Texas v. Arnulfo Gonzalez and Cristina Sofia Mendoza.

Authorities said the document had a forged signature purported to belong to Notary Public Melissa Garza, states the search warrant.

Martinez or Juarez forged Notary Public Melissa Garzas signature on the electronic filed (e-filed) Affidavit in Support of Defendants Motion for New Trial. Martinez or Juarez also used Garzas Notary Public Seal to stamp and notarize the Affidavit in Support of Defendants Motion for New Trial without the consent or knowledge of Notary Public Melissa Garza, states the affidavit.

Attorney Marcel C. Notzon III said his client had permission to use the stamp and that they have an e-mail as proof.

(The e-mail) was provided to the Texas Ranger, but that didnt make (it) into the (search warrant) affidavit. When presenting an affidavit, all facts should be provided, Notzon said, adding authorities had that information early on.

Furthermore, Notzon has a screen capture of a text message from Granados telling Juarez to go ahead and use Garzas stamp.

There it is in black in white, Notzon said.

READ MORE: Suspected drunk driver allegedly tried to bribe Laredo officer

Attorney Philip Del Rio represents Juarez. He released a statement on her behalf.

My client and her husband, Silverio Martinez, have not committed any crime. The allegations alleged in the affidavit are false and controverted by independent evidence. It is unfortunate that taxpayers dollars are being spent to investigate allegations that have no merit and have zero effect on our community. I hope that very soon reason will prevail, and this investigation will end, Del Rio stated.

Another case involved with supposed tampering was Impacto Media v. United Independent School District.

Notary public Jacqueline Ramirez reviewed a verification document for Impacto Media v. UISD that contained her notary public stamp and signature. She confirmed that her signature and stamp were on the verification document, but she did not personally certify the verification document, states the affidavit.

She alleged that the verification document had significant ink stains in the center of the page. Ramirez further added that e-filed documents would not have ink stains, according to court documents.

Ramirez suspected someone altered two documents to make the false e-filed verification document, states the affidavit.

Notzon received information that she told the ranger that she did not recall if she signed the verification document, contrary to what the affidavit states.

Silverio Martinez has the original, his office has the original ink signature by the notary public and the original stamp. So, guess what? Its not a forged document. Thats conclusive. Its not a forged document, Notzon said.

READ MORE: Laredo PD searching for driver behind shocking video of child hanging from passenger door

He added, We feel very confident that, ultimately, Silverio Martinez will be vindicated. He is a very honest, respectful lawyer. He has an excellent reputation in the legal community.
The incident reveals not only the level of confidence with which Wells Fargos executives operated, but also the drastic changes the consumer protection agency has undergone under President Trump. The bureau opened in 2011, a chief component of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, and quickly became one of Wall Streets most feared regulators. It pursued enforcement actions against hundreds of companies and extracted $12 billion in financial relief for nearly 30 million consumers.

But the agency acquired more political overtones after Mr. Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney, a longtime critic of the bureau who once described it as a sick, sad joke, to temporarily lead the agency from November 2017 to December 2018. Mr. Mulvaney, now Mr. Trumps acting chief of staff, installed a new layer of political appointees to head each department and pressed the agency in an industry-friendly direction, focused on deregulation. (All of the bureaus divisions, including supervision and enforcement, had previously been led by career employees.)

The bureaus current director, Kathleen Kraninger, has further curtailed the agencys powers and gutted some of its major regulations, including planned restrictions on payday lending. She has also softened its enforcement actions, settling many cases with little or no financial penalty.

The House report also said that Wells Fargo had dragged its feet on fixing internal controls and that in the spring of 2017, its senior leaders displayed a cavalier attitude toward the tasks that lay ahead of them. The banks chief risk officer, Michael Loughlin, wrote to its chief executive at the time, Timothy J. Sloan, proposing a plan to pledge $200 million to customers harmed by the fake accounts and give them just six months to seek reimbursement, the report said. Customers who didnt step forward in time would be out of luck.

Mr. Loughlin then laid out a plan for what to do with any money that remained: We promise to give it to charity, he wrote in an email to Mr. Sloan  but only if the regulators freed them from regulatory constraints imposed in the wake of the sales scandal. If they do not, no donation. Put the onus back on them.

The report also said Mr. Sloan gave inaccurate and misleading testimony to Congress last year about the banks compliance in a matter relating to sales of mortgages and auto loans. Mr. Sloan could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Duke, the board chairwoman, who will testify on Wednesday, also appears in the report. According to the report, she and other board members appeared reluctant to engage with members of the agencys staff who were trying to ensure that Wells Fargo was making the necessary changes to its management practices to avoid another sales scandal. One staff member wrote to her in July 2017 to express regret that she and another board member had not found time to meet with them over the summer.
With more and more demand for software developers and at the same time, rising education costs, Nucamp offers an exciting alternative to Americans stuck in jobs that wont sustain their families, or will disappear in the near future, said CEO Karim El Naggar.

As aspiring career-shifters hunger for attractive job opportunities in software development, Nucamp (http://www.nucamp.co) announced today the first nationwide affordable coding bootcamp that finally makes learning to code accessible to anyone. Opening equal access to coding education for the first-time to lower-income and underemployed individuals, Nucamp offers a superior experience for under $2,000, a huge shift from traditional coding bootcamps that typically cost $10,000-$20,000. The company is committed to revolutionizing how people access rewarding careers in software development, without requiring a college degree or expensive education.

Nucamps part-time, 22-week full stack web and mobile development bootcamps are officially available in 25 cities, big and small, including Seattle, Bellingham, Tacoma, Knoxville, Oakland, Spokane, Baltimore, Detroit and more. The company, which has a 4.7 rating on Course Report and was awarded best bootcamp 2020 by switchup.org, offers a new hybrid learning experience where students learn online during the week, and meet in-person in small groups on weekends within their local community.

Ludo Fourrage, who worked at Microsoft for 18 years leading the development of digital learning, started Nucamp after seeing a significant affordability and accessibility gap with coding bootcamps, especially for those who are underemployed yet working full-time jobs.

We first opened in Tacoma, Washington, 40 miles south of Seattle. There, I met many aspiring developers showing heart and potential, but who felt left out of the digital economy just because of where they live or their economic status, said Fourrage, Founder and Chief Learning Officer at Nucamp. This felt unfair, so we committed to making Nucamp affordable and accessible to anyone, not just the privileged few.

Fourrage then brought on Karim El Naggar, an experienced executive leading software businesses at General Electric, as CEO to help scale the Nucamp model and bring the promise of affordable coding bootcamps to every corner of the U.S. Nucamp plans to teach 7,000 students to code in 2020, up from 700 during the companys soft launch in 2019.

Software Development Jobs Growing, But Going Unfilled and Many Left Behind

According to the Software.org BSA Foundation, nearly 1 in 10 American jobs are in the software industry, representing 14.4 million total U.S. jobs. More importantly, software jobs are growing twice as fast as the overall economy with higher desirable wages. Glassdoors 50 Best Jobs in America for 2020 shows that 6 out of 10 of the top jobs are software related, with over 50,000 software engineer job openings and an average salary of $105,563. However, most software development jobs are unavailable to large segments of the workforce  namely, those who fall into the Low Quality Job Index and those without college degrees, lower incomes, or lacking previous job experience in technology.

While coding bootcamps have aimed to give people access to these higher-wage software jobs, the courses have fallen short because they can be more expensive than college and often require that students take even more expensive loans in the form of income sharing agreements. In addition, students typically have to quit their job to attend full-time programs, and most bootcamps dont exist in smaller suburbs or rural areas.

Nucamp: First-Class Coding Bootcamp Experience at a Lower Cost

Nucamp makes coding bootcamps extremely affordable with a disruptive business model that drives quality at scale, but at a fraction of the cost of traditional bootcamps. The new approach embraces the best of the gig economy to attract instructors with real-world experience. In addition, Nucamp uses co-working office space to decrease real estate costs, and relies on Nucamps proprietary high-quality curriculum and software platform to deliver a consistent student experience. Convenient evening and weekend courses adapt to students schedules so they can get the training they need, even while working full-time or parenting. Nucamps local small group workshops have a maximum of 12 students to allow for individualized instructor support.

According to Aaron Goodrum, a truck driver-turned software quality assurance engineer after graduating from Nucamps first coding bootcamp in Tacoma, All the coding bootcamps I found were expensive or couldnt work around my job as a long-haul commercial driver. I was starting to worry about the future of being a truck driver and was spending too much time away from my wife and daughter, so I jumped at the opportunity when I discovered Nucamp. It wasnt just the online classes during the week, but also having the weekly workshops and a dedicated instructor who was available every step of the way which allowed me to keep up with the packed curriculum.

Goodrum eventually signed onto becoming a Nucamp instructor to help more students change careers. Like him, many instructors are full-time software developers and teach with Nucamp in addition to their jobs, to give back to their local community and support Nucamps social mission. They form a tightly-knit community at the heart of Nucamps caring culture.

With more and more demand for software developers and with rising education costs, Nucamp offers an exciting alternative to Americans stuck in jobs that wont sustain their families, or will disappear in the near future, said CEO El Naggar. Nucamp is re-inventing technical education from the ground-up.

About Nucamp

Nucamps mission is to help all aspiring career shifters currently left out of the digital economy learn to code. Nucamp offers the industrys only truly affordable 22-week coding bootcamp for under $2,000, and delivers a high-quality curriculum in small classes of 12 maximum students using a unique hybrid evening and weekend format. Our model relies on carefully selected industry professionals who want to share their passion for coding in their local community. With Nucamp, whether you live in a big city, a suburb or a rural area, you can get the coding skills you need without quitting your job, getting into debt, or having to share your future income. For more information, visit http://www.nucamp.co.
F or this fourth episode of our Im a Londoner series, which aims to reveal the beating heart of the capital through conversations with people living in the city - and to celebrate International Womens Day - we invited Rhia OReilly, a charity worker and professional wrestler, to share her story.

OReilly remembers a time at Wrestle Queendom when she jumped from the top of a cage into the match. I started climbing up, and up, and up. Ive never felt like I was higher off the ground in my entire life. And I look at everybody in the ring, I climb over that cage, and I just dive straight in. I landed on all of them and took them all out.

Rhia in her wrestling outfit (Dale Brodie) / Rhia O'Reilly

At just 12 years old, OReilly knew she would live in London after reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, a tale which takes place below the streets of the city. She also dreamed of being a professional wrestler, but that dream was buried until a friend reminded her one day while they were watching a wrestling competition.

Something went off in my brain, and I was like, 'Ping! Thats it.' She handed in her notice and moved to Canada to train at pro-wrestling legend Lance Storms academy.

Upon her return, she finally moved to London where she joined the feminist punk-rock wrestling group Eve. Together, they put on the first all-female wrestling show in the city, something that had been banned in London until the 1980s. With her signature move, the Rhia-djustment, she has become the Pro Wrestling Eve champion three times.

But at the height of her career, OReilly broke her ankle and leg, which left her out of the ring for nine months. At that moment, my heart sank... I had so many exciting opportunities ahead of me. And it felt like it was all taken away from me.

This forced her to Rhia-djust her life. She had been wrestling full-time and found herself in need of a job. She stumbled upon the Big Issue Foundation. Having been involved in charitable causes for a long time, OReilly fit the foundations ethos perfectly and it took her only one interview to land the job.



If London was a Wrestler I think they would be bold. They would be outspoken. They would definitely be a good guy.

Here Rhia reveals how she found her way into the world of female wrestling, and how it helped her self-confidence.

I'm from Northern Ireland originally. I came to England to go to university. And while I was there I had a job. I was working for a banking corporation while I was at uni and studying. And when I finished, I knew I did not want to be making fat cats fatter. But I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I was with some friends one night, and we were watching wrestling. And one of my friends was like Didn't you like, say you wanted to be a wrestler when you were younger?' And something went off in my brain.

Wrestling helped me in so many other ways as well. Because it really developed my sense of who I was and also developed my confidence. I didn't always believe in myself as much. My character was out there and was like, I'm here! I'm amazing! I don't care what you think'. But I still cared, I care about other people's opinions. I definitely was faking that confidence, and then slowly it built.

Wrestling is pretty dangerous and we try really hard to prevent injuries to take care of each other's bodies as well as our own. But sometimes accidents happen. I was really, really lucky that I hadn't had any serious injuries until two years ago. But two years ago I was in a title match. I was the Pro-Wrestling Eve Champion and I had a title to fence. I was standing at the edge of the ring and I got knocked off. I landed on the floor and I shattered my ankle.

If London was a Wrestler I think they would be bold. They would be outspoken. They would definitely be a good guy. Theyd be fighting for the sides of all things good. But at the same time they wouldnt take nonsense from anyone else. So, they would be ready, and they would be in there to win.
Troian Bellisario and Patrick Dempsey are looking to make a return to the small screen, with both actors being cast in Ways & Means.

The 34-year-old Bellisario and 54-year-old Dempsey have signed on to star in the politically-charged drama series, according to Deadline.

The show hails from SEAL Team showrunner Ed Redlich and former Republican political consultant Mike Murphy.

New role: Troian Bellisario and Patrick Dempsey are looking to make a return to the small screen, with both actors being cast in Ways & Means

The show centers on a 'powerful Congressional leader' played by Dempsey, who has lost all faith in politics.

He finds himself covertly teaming up with a young woman (Bellisario) from the opposing political system.

They both work together to subvert the gridlocked political system and do so without getting caught by either one of their parties.

New role: The show centers on a 'powerful Congressional leader' played by Dempsey, who has lost all faith in politics

Bellisario's Claire is described as a newly elected, 'progressive, idealistic freshman Democratic Congresswoman.

She is said to lead with her, 'intelligence and straightforwardness,' as she tries to figure out, 'how to merge her idealism with her ambition.'

Bellisario and Dempsey are joined by Amanda Warren, who plays Jerlene Brooks, a former community organizer and progressive activist.

New role: Bellisario's Claire is described as a newly elected, 'progressive, idealistic freshman Democratic Congresswoman

Jerlene has risen to become a formidable Democratic congresswoman and rising star in the political arena.

Redlich and Murphy wrote the pilot script, with Phil Abraham attached to direct the pilot episode.

Nina Tassler and Denise Di Novi will executive produce through their PatMa Productions, plus Tom Lassally of 3 Arts and Abraham and CBS TV Studios.

Pilot: Redlich and Murphy wrote the pilot script, with Phil Abraham attached to direct the pilot episode

Bellisario recently starred in Where'd You Go, Bernadette and she stars in the upcoming action-comedy Chuck Hank and the San Diego Twins.

Dempsey stars in the upcoming series Devils and he is attached to return as Robert Philip in Disenchanted, a sequel to Enchanted.

No production schedule was given for Ways & Means.

New roles: Bellisario recently starred in Where'd You Go, Bernadette and she stars in the upcoming action-comedy Chuck Hank and the San Diego Twins
CINCINNATI, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB) ("Cincinnati Bell") today announced that it has amended its definitive merger agreement with Brookfield Infrastructure and its institutional partners (collectively referred to as "Brookfield") to increase the consideration payable to holders of outstanding shares of Cincinnati Bell common stock to $14.50 per share in cash from $13.50 per share in cash, which values the transaction at approximately $2.849 billion, including debt. The revised transaction price represents an 88% premium to the closing per share price of $7.72 on December 20, 2019, the last trading day prior to the date when the merger agreement was entered into. This increased price, coupled with Brookfield's 100% equity-backed transaction, represents the best value currently available to Cincinnati Bell shareholders.

Cincinnati Bell and Brookfield negotiated the amendment following the receipt by Cincinnati Bell on March 4, 2020 of a binding proposal from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc. (the "Proposal") to acquire all outstanding shares of Cincinnati Bell common stock for $14.50 per share. Cincinnati Bell's Board, in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, carefully reviewed the terms of the Proposal and the amended Brookfield transaction and determined that entering into the amendment to the Brookfield merger agreement was in the best interests of Cincinnati Bell and its shareholders. Cincinnati Bell's Board of Directors approved the amended merger agreement and recommends that Cincinnati Bell's shareholders vote in favor of adopting the amended Brookfield merger agreement.

Cincinnati Bell will file a current report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission containing a summary of the terms and conditions of the amendment to the definitive merger agreement. In the amendment, in consideration for the increased purchase price, the break-up fee payable by Cincinnati Bell in certain circumstances has increased from $23.1 million to $24.8 million. All other terms of the Brookfield merger agreement remain the same, including Cincinnati Bell's right to specific performance to force Brookfield to close the transaction if all closing conditions are met irrespective of the availability of any debt financing.

The Transaction is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including the approval by Cincinnati Bell's shareholders, expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and certain regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the end of 2020.

Advisors

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Moelis & Company LLC are acting as financial advisors to Cincinnati Bell and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and BosseLaw PLLC are acting as legal advisors.

About Cincinnati Bell Inc.

With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) delivers integrated communications solutions to residential and business customers over its fiber-optic and copper networks including high-speed internet, video, voice and data. Cincinnati Bell provides service in areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Hawaii. In addition, enterprise customers across the United States and Canada rely on CBTS and OnX, wholly owned subsidiaries, for efficient, scalable office communications systems and end-to-end IT solutions. For more information, please visit www.cincinnatibell.com. The information on the Company's website is not incorporated by reference in this press release.

For more information, please contact:

Media  Cincinnati Bell: Josh Pichler

Senior Manager, Communications and Media

Tel: (513) 565-0310 Email: [email protected] Investors  Cincinnati Bell: Josh Duckworth Vice President of Treasury, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations Tel: (513) 397-2292 Email: [email protected]

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed acquisition of Cincinnati Bell by Brookfield. In connection with the proposed acquisition, Cincinnati Bell filed a preliminary proxy statement and intends to furnish or file other relevant materials with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") in connection with the proposed transaction. The definitive proxy statement will be sent or given to the shareholders of Cincinnati Bell and will contain important information about the proposed acquisition and related matters. Shareholders of Cincinnati Bell are urged to read all relevant documents filed with the SEC, including Cincinnati Bell's proxy statement, because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction and the parties to the proposed transaction. Investors and shareholders are able to obtain the documents (once available) free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov , or free of charge from Cincinnati Bell at investor.cincinnatibell.com or by directing a request to Cincinnati Bell's Investor Relations Department at 1-800-345-6301 or [email protected], and Brookfield's annual reports on Form 20-F, reports on Form 6-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge through Brookfield's website at https://bip.brookfield.com/, in each case, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

Participants in the Solicitation

Cincinnati Bell and its directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be "participants" in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders of Cincinnati Bell in favor of the proposed transaction with Brookfield. Information regarding the interests of these participants which may, in some cases, be different than those of Cincinnati Bell's shareholders generally, is included in the preliminary proxy statement that has been filed with the SEC and will be included in the definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC. Additional information about Cincinnati Bell's directors and executive officers is set forth in Cincinnati Bell's Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 19, 2019, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on February 24, 2020. These documents may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the statements in this communication contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and results that are subject to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the industries in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "predicts," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "endeavors," "strives," "will," "may," "proposes," "potential," "could," "should," "outlook," or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of future financial performance, anticipated growth and trends in businesses, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) the risk that the proposed merger with Brookfield may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; (ii) the failure to receive, on a timely basis or otherwise, the required approval of the proposed merger with Brookfield by Cincinnati Bell's shareholders; (iii) the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals for Cincinnati Bell will be made; (iv) the possibility that any or all of the various conditions to the consummation of the merger may not be satisfied or waived, including the failure to receive any required regulatory approvals from any applicable governmental entities (or any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on such approvals); (v) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the transaction, including in circumstances which would require Cincinnati Bell to pay a termination fee or other expenses; (vi) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on Cincinnati Bell's ability to retain and hire key personnel, its ability to maintain relationships with its customers, suppliers and others with whom it does business, or its operating results and business generally; (vii) risks related to diverting management's attention from Cincinnati Bell's ongoing business operations; (viii) the risk that shareholder litigation in connection with the transaction may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability and (ix) for Cincinnati Bell, (A) those discussed in Cincinnati Bell's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and, in particular, the risks discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Item 1A, and those discussed in Brookfield's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on February 28, 2020 and, in particular, the risks discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations", and (B) those discussed in other documents Cincinnati Bell filed with the SEC. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Neither Cincinnati Bell nor Brookfield undertake any, and expressly disclaim any, obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Cincinnati Bell Inc.

Related Links

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A leading group of China's COVID-19 response has issued a circular to strengthen care for frontline community workers in the anti-coronavirus battle.

An appropriate amount of subsidies will be given to frontline community workers while ensuring their current pay levels, read the circular.

Community workers who fall ill or encounter accidents that result in injuries amid the epidemic prevention and control period, and in the meantime fits the work-related injury insurance regulations, should be recognized as "occupational injuries," the circular said.

It calls for enhancing the protection for community workers by providing them necessary prevention equipment and facilities.

Modern information technology are encouraged to improve the efficiency of prevention and control works in the community, and therefore alleviating burdens on community workers, it said.

The document also underlines the physical and psychological health of community workers by requiring giving enough time for them to rest and offering them body checks and psychological counseling after the epidemic period.
Chapin, who said he usually saw the mayors ads while watching videos on YouTube, added that he also picked up a few things about Trump along the way. Like there was this one ad where it had three different things that Trump had promised at the beginning of his career, but then ended up breaking the promise, Chapin said.
What is happening? Some of techs biggest players are looking to slow the spread of COVID-19, known by many as the coronavirus, by urging employees to work from home.

Microsoft in a public bulletin on Tuesday recommended all employees in the King County area (the region near its Redmond headquarters) to work from home if their job allows for it through March 25. Those who are pregnant, have a compromised immune system, have an underlying health condition or are over 60 should also avoid interaction in large groups or public settings, Microsoft added.

Amazon this week confirmed that one of its Seattle-area employees tested positive for the coronavirus. A spokesperson for the e-commerce giant told CNN that they are recommending that employees in Seattle and Bellevue who are able to work from home do so through the end of March.

An update on COVID-19. We're asking some employees to start working from home this week.https://t.co/RJo1KfcpCA



Working from home is not a complete solution, but it may help slow the growth of infections. https://t.co/yy3gAwFNsT  Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) March 2, 2020

Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, asked some employees to start working from home this week. He conceded that it isnt a complete solution but noted that it may help slow the growth of infections.

Twitter on Monday strongly encouraged all employees globally to work from home if they are able to. Telecommuting will be mandatory from those based in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea due in part to government restrictions, the microblogging platform added.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is testing a contingency plan this week, asking roughly 10 percent of its staff to work from home. Codenamed Project Kennedy, the plan comes after the bank last week restricted non-essential international travel for all employees.

Masthead credit: Telecommuting by Creative Lab
So how did Matrix and Whittingham first get involved in hospitality insurance?

While working in London for five years, one of my key areas of focus was the late-night leisure industry; nightclubs, bars, taverns and venues, recalled Whittingham. I really enjoyed the buzz of the hospitality industry and it was an area of insurance I could really relate to.

When Whittingham returned to Australia in 2008, his observation was that insurance for hospitality establishments, particularly smaller places in regional areas, needed to change.

It was obvious there wasnt enough choice for publicans, and they felt that the big corporates didnt really get their business and that cover wasnt tailored to their specific business needs, Whittingham explained. Protecting these hotels to ensure theyre covered correctly is very rewarding  theyre part of the fabric of our great Australian culture.

Read more: With the Sydney lockout laws changing, will insurance too?

Hotels and pubs such as these certainly do face unique challenges when it comes to insurance, said Whittingham. He explained that challenges include areas of: construction, the geographical position of places away from resources, those situated in bushfire prone areas, the old age of the building, poor building quality and maintenance, presence of asbestos and those in cyclone exposed coastal townships.

Similarly, the uniqueness between establishments means that it is hard to create a one-size-fits-all policy.

Most hotels and pubs are placed into the Lloyds of London market, said Whittingham. Each venue is different from one another and each face different challenges, so its demonstrating to Lloyds markets that each one needs to be looked at and underwritten on its own merit and risk profile.

Underinsurance is also a real problem. Whittingham explained that it is often a challenging topic of conversation with publicans, but a very important one.

It is critical to ensure asset values reflect reasonable replacement values to ensure policies will respond when relied on, he explained. The help of Google maps, satellite imagery and building replacement calculators is significant, but with the rising cost of insurance premiums in the property sector and heavy taxes and emergency levies in some states this presents an ongoing challenge.

Insurers are looking closely at hotel and pub building replacement values and will sometimes request professional building replacement valuations, or even refrain from quoting if they feel a building may be underinsured, he added. One piece of advice for publicans is that they need to ensure the replacement value reflects the structure or contents that they have there currently, not what they would build in the event of a total loss.

Having worked closely with Matrixs clients, and recently gone to meet-up with those in regional Australia, Whittingham is well aware of the history of each place, and the unique story it has to share.

Many of the hotels that we insure are over 120 years old and hold many stories and memories  they are a real community hub and meeting place for locals, tourists and passers-by, said Whittingham. Many of the older ones hold a Heritage listing, which preserves the look and feel of the hotel and town.

One thing is for sure, the more remote the pub, the better the beer seems to taste after a long drive. Im still working on convincing my family and friends that when Im off on another country pub road trip that I am actually working!
Should I stay or should I go: Fears over travel could expose accommodation booking platform Hostelworld to losses

Shares in Hostelworld slumped by as much as 16pc yesterday after the Irish accommodation booking platform warned that coronavirus could pare its revenues by 4m.

Hostelworld has been among the hardest-hit shares traded in Dublin as the Covid-19 threat has spread over the past month from China to Europe and, over the past week, to Ireland.

The firm, in its full-year results published yesterday, said revenues fell by 2pc to 80.7m, earnings by 9pc to 20.5m.

Hostelworld CEO Gary Morrison warned that the company's exposure to virus-driven losses could be even worse if Covid-19 spreads in the US, a major market for its destinations and customers.

He said Hostelworld faced "probable" lost business in the 3m-4m range "if the very near-term trends continue even for the next three weeks".

"Even that statement I would heavily caveat, because that assumes there is not an outbreak in the US for example," he said. "If there is another region where the virus takes hold, then those assumptions wouldn't hold."

Employers across Ireland, meanwhile, faced difficult calls on whether to advise staff to work remotely, a growing demand as the HSE advises the population to avoid crowded places and close proximity to co-workers with sniffles or coughs.

Recruitment firm Indeed yesterday instructed its approximately 1,000 staff in Dublin to work from home or other remote locations as an indefinite precaution. Yesterday's order was the second by the firm following a scare last month that an employee in Singapore might have been exposed to the virus.

"Our goal is to minimise the risk to employees and help to lower the probability of the spread of the virus to you, your families and the communities where we operate," Indeed told staff in an e-mail.

However Google, which earlier this week told its 8,000 workers in Dublin to work remotely, said they would be free to return to work as normal today.

Bank of Ireland said its business continuity team was providing "travel advice and guidance on protective healthcare" based on recommendations from the HSE and World Health Organisation.

The bank said it "has contingency plans for a range of potential scenarios" and was liaising with other banks and the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland to "manage the provision of banking services in the event of an escalation".

Dublin Port said it was employing safety procedures on monitoring inbound human traffic that have been honed since the advent of ebola scares decades ago.

CEO Eamonn O'Reilly said incoming ships were legally required "to provide a medical declaration in advance in the event that crew members or passengers are unwell, so as to inform decision-making on permission to berth".

He said no such refusals had occurred in the context of coronavirus, adding: "These protocols have been in existence for years, and during times of major global health emergencies including ebola."

Mr O'Reilly said more than 15pc of goods arriving in Dublin Port come from China but could not confirm the extent of supply-chain disruption so far.

Neil McDonnell, chief executive of small firms association Isme, said his wholesale members were worried that summer stock normally sourced from China would arrive weeks late - or not at all.

"The wholesalers I'm dealing with are saying, 'If this goes beyond two months then I won't have my back-to-school stock'. That's their next order cycle," he said. "The school bags, rulers, pencils, protractors, rubbers, cases, plastic bottles - that all needs to come in by April or May."
The force is designed to withstand any change in policy, whatever that may be, or a change in any conditions on the ground, said a senior U.S. military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations. The force will work with coalition partners, but the core of it will obviously be U.S., the official said.




Haiti - Health : Religious rally and preventive measures against Covid-19





The Episcopal Conference of Haiti (CEH) gathered at the headquarters of the Conference of Bishops of Haiti, on March 4, around notably the holding of religious assemblies in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic present in 85 countries in the world and a case is confirmed in the Dominican Republic https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30165-haiti-flash-first-case-of-covid-19-in-the-dominican-republic.html , suggests in a note, a set of preventive measures for gatherings in parishes, chapels, Catholic schools and other ecclesial institutions in the country.



Preventive measures of the CEH :

"1) We ask priests, leaders of the faith community, members of Consecrated Life, to protect themselves personally and to help protect themselves all those who are under their jurisdiction. The hygiene and prevention measures recommended by health authorities can save lives. We suggest that they avoid trips that are not essential. We also invite them to raise awareness in their institutions, by all means at their disposal, after having verified the source and the credibility of the information. It is one of the ways to combat disinformation;



2) We ask the leaders of communities of faith and ecclesial institutions to avoid assemblies or meetings that could have more than 3000 people in a closed space. Each diocesan bishop could decide whether to hold the Way of the Cross exercises in the streets this year. We know that this event of faith ordinarily drains tens of thousands of the faithful on Good Friday;



3) At the doors of churches, at the entrance and exit of rallies, we ask those responsible, as much as possible, to make available to the faithful products to disinfect hands, such as "sanitizers". Greetings with hugs and handshakes should also be avoided before, during and after celebrations or meetings. In churches and chapels where there are fixed holy water fonts, it is highly recommended to remove the water as soon as this note is published;



4) The gesture of the "Kiss of Peace" at mass or in other celebrations, could be summed up as a bow to the head without more or less, without accolade;



5) For Holy Communion and its distribution, we ask that only the President of the celebration communion at the chalice. Concelebrants can do without it until further notice;



6) If there are extraordinary ministers of the distribution of Holy Communion who must help the president of the celebration, they must be given communion in the hand and only in the body of Christ; themselves must give communion to the faithful in their hand while keeping the marks of veneration and respect towards the Blessed Sacrament. Sentries from the faith community must be vigilant to ensure that the consecrated host, Body of Christ, is consumed immediately by the communicant;



7) Avoid the stigmatization of people because of their geographic origin. It is up to the legally constituted public authorities to make the necessary decisions in this matter;



8) All of the above instructions and preventive measures also apply to all of our Catholic schools, proportionally;"



The CEH invites all the Catholic faithful and Christians in general to pray for the sick and the nursing staff of all national health institutions; we entrust the country and all its inhabitants to the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patron saint of Haiti, the latter who had already saved us from the smallpox epidemic.



This note will remain in effect throughout the period when the epidemic continues to ravage the world, and especially in the West Indies where many countries are already infected with the virus.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Biden is not the perfect candidate. If he were he might have fared better in his two previous runs for the White House. He has demonstrated a propensity for gaffes and lack of clearheadedness on the campaign trail. But hes a more centrist Democrat who stands a better chance of winning crucial Midwestern states to secure the nomination and possibly the presidency. Democrats during the next round of primaries and caucuses will set the direction of the party nationally: Will they tilt toward the moderate agendas that elected Democrats Bill Clinton and Obama? Or will they drag the party in a direction that will not appeal to the mainstream of this nation?
Danilov stressed Ukraine does not surrender a meter of its territory.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov has said the priority of the authorities is their efforts to end as soon as possible the war with Russia, which has been going on for more than six years already.

"Unfortunately, the war with the Russian Federation has been going on for more than six years in our country. This issue cannot be taken off our agenda and we are deal with this issue every day. There is a clear task to end this war. But we are not talking about possibly losing authority and sovereignty or making concessions to the enemy. Today, a lot of consultations are being held on the disengagement of troops. We regard disengagement as a humanitarian process," he said in an interview with UA:Ukrainian Radio.

According to Danilov, "Russia understands they may not have enough 'financial oxygen' to maintain the artificial formation called the Russian Federation. Therefore, they need to create an external enemy not to fall apart."

Danilov stressed Ukraine does not surrender its territory: "Ukrainian blood has been spilled here so we will protect it and we are not going to retreat."

The priority of the authorities, Danilov says, is their desire "to end this war as soon as possible." However, Danilov did not explain the path to halting hostilities.

"As for tactics and strategies, we strive to end this war as soon as possible. I will not reveal all secrets we are working on, but I can say that our Army is ready for any resistance on the part of our adversaries. We have confirmed five strategies toward ending occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. A presidential strategy has also been approved, saying that 'people come first', as well as their safety and opportunities in our country," the official added.
LONDON  Uganda ranks among the top countries in the Commonwealth in promoting political inclusiveness, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah has told a conference in London.

Uganda goes an extra step by creating district representation specifically for women. Women, youth and people with disabilities are at the heart of our laws, he said during the Commonwealth Conference on Inclusive Politics on 04 March 2020.

The Constitution provides for representation of special interest groups of women, youth, workers, the army and persons with disabilities in Parliament.

Oulanyah, who was making a presentation on inclusive politics in practice, added that in Uganda, the army and workers have not been left out in the political arena as they have representation in Parliament.

He added that to ensure gender equity, Parliament introduced the certificate of gender equity, which checks the gender compliance of ministries, departments and government agencies.

We may not be at 100 per cent in implementation but you will agree that such representations are a result of favorable laws, he said.

The conference is focusing on inclusive politics in practice in parliaments and local governments; and how communities are addressing inclusion in politics using the updated Commonwealth Parliament Association benchmarks for Democratic Legislature: a Parliamentarians view.

Oulanyah also rubbished claims by Kenyan MP, Timothy Amwayi Aseka, who said that during his visit to Uganda, he witnessed a huge gap in representation of PWDs.

PWDs representation starts from village council level to Parliament, Oulanyah said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Westminster Foundation, Anthony Smith said that the Commonwealth Partnership for Democracy will continue holding leaders accountable and ensure that all citizens are included in the political leadership of their countries.

The UK Commonwealth Envoy, Philip Parnum applauded leaders for progress made in achieving their commitments in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings as well as those made on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We are very proud to be part of this project to make a change for women and the marginalised, he said.

Related
Karthikeyan (Karthik) Natarajan brings over two decades of experience in engineering services and will add valuable leadership to Cyient executive team in accelerating the company's transformation from services to solutions.

HYDERABAD, India, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyient, a leading provider of technology services and solutions, today announced the appointment of Karthikeyan Natarajan to the role of President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). As Cyient focuses on its transformation from a service to a solutions company, underpinned by strong design-led manufacturing expertise and digital capabilities, Karthik's appointment will bring valuable leadership to the Cyient executive team. As President and COO, Karthik will lead global business operations management for the company, including sales, delivery, and business development as a P&L focused on multiple industry verticals such as Aerospace & Defense, Communications, Transportation, Semiconductor, Energy, Utilities, Geospatial, and Industrial.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100051/Karthikeyan_Natarajan_President_and_Chief_Operating_Officer_CYIENT.jpg

Karthik joins Cyient with a wealth of experience in the engineering services industry, with a strong focus on product development, digital transformation, and R&D globalization. Before Cyient, Karthik headed the Integrated Engineering Services Business for Tech Mahindra. He was instrumental in implementing global engineering strategies for Fortune 500 customers, building strong domain capability, and leading digital transformation. Karthik is co-chair of the engineering services forum at NASSCOM and is widely recognized as a thought leader across the industry.

Speaking on the appointment, Krishna Bodanapu, Managing Director and CEO, Cyient, said, "I am excited to have Karthik join the executive team as we embark on a transformation journey from a services to solutions company, strengthening our capabilities in design-led manufacturing and digital offerings. Karthik's outstanding leadership will help to strengthen our current business and accelerate the transformation journey. While we are privileged to have an outstanding leadership team in place, Karthik's addition will help us immensely in delivering industry-leading growth."

Karthik said, "I am excited to be a part of Cyient's next phase of the journey and look forward to working with Krishna and other leaders on the execution roadmap. The opportunity to expand around the customer's journey in digital transformation is immense. I look forward to working with the Cyient team to accelerate growth over the next few years."

About Cyient:

Cyient (Estd: 1991, NSE: CYIENT) is a global engineering and technology solutions company. As a Design, Build, and Maintain partner for leading organizations worldwide, Cyient takes solution ownership across the value chain to help customers focus on their core, innovate, and stay ahead of the curve. The company leverages digital technologies, advanced analytics capabilities, and its domain knowledge and technical expertise, to solve complex business problems.

With over 15,000 employees globally, Cyient partners with customers to operate as part of their extended team in ways that best suit their organization's culture and requirements. Cyient's industry focus includes aerospace and defense, healthcare, telecommunications, rail transportation, semiconductor, geospatial, industrial, and energy.

For more information, please visit www.cyient.com.

Follow news about the company at @Cyient .



Media Relations

Perfect Relations Vishal Thapa Mobile: +91 9701834446 Email: vthapa@perfectrelations.com Perfect Relations Sagar Kumar Mobile: +91 7376406057 Email: sagar.kumar@perfectrelations.com







Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/289359/cyient_logo.jpg
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 21:29:46|Editor: xuxin

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ABIDJAN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Cote d'Ivoire's President Alassane Ouattara announced Thursday in Yamoussoukro that he will not seek a third term in the presidential election scheduled for October.

"I decided not to be a candidate in the presidential election," said Ouattara during a speech at the Parliament.

Ouattara justified his decision by his desire to leave "room for the young generations".

The question of a third term for President Ouattara has fueled political suspicion since the adoption of the 2016 Constitution. Ouattara has long maintained his vagueness over his candidacy for a third term, while indicating that the constitution allows him to do so.

The political opposition and other observers, for their part, considered that the 2016 Constitution which maintained the principle of two terms for the President of the Republic did not authorize Alassane Ouattara to seek a third term.
LONDON and SYDNEY, Australia and JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FXCM Group, LLC (FXCM Group or FXCM), a leading international provider of online foreign exchange and CFD trading, announced today that FXCM Pro is beginning the process of onboarding clients with FlexTrade Systems MaxxTrader solution across the LD4 hosting centre.



This announcement follows from the recent news in late 2019 detailing the initial launch of the partnership between FlexTrade and FXCM Pro.

FlexTrades MaxxTrader is an end-to-end, dedicated and customisable solution covering all products including FX Spot, Swaps, NDFs, CFDs, and Commodities which will be rolled out across all major hosting centres with NY4, TY3 and SG1 following closely behind LD4.

MaxxTrader supplements FXCMs existing liquidity and execution solutions, providing a significant edge in areas such as bank and non-bank liquidity customisation, connectivity between market makers and takers, reporting, and measuring best execution.

These technology partnerships contribute to FXCM Pro's ability to offer one of the most competitive pricing models in the market. FXCM Pro is continuing to further develop its use of technology to remain a market standard, both in its offering and pricing.

Mario Sanchez, Managing Director & Global Head of FXCM Pro Sales: When we began working with FlexTrade late last year, our aim was to leverage its innovative technology to provide an efficient trading experience for our FXCM Pro customers. By beginning the process of onboarding clients to LD4, we are taking the next steps in the journey of our partnership and realising our initial aim. Through this partnership, we will be able to provide our customers with enhanced trading execution alongside significant cost-savings through low-latency solutions.

We look forward to further distributing these benefits to customers as we look to continue the roll-out among the other main data centres around the world.

Below is an example of last weeks average spreads* on some of FXCM Pro FX pairs and Gold:

EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD AUD/USD EUR/GBP USD/CHF XAU/USD Overall

average 0.09 0.13 0.39 0.14 0.40 0.29 0.05

Past Performance is not an indicator of future results.

* Average Spreads: Time-weighted average spreads are derived from tradable prices at FXCM for the period February 16, 2020 to February 22, 2020. Spreads are variable and are subject to delay. Please note that spreads around trade rollover (I.e. 17 h EST) were not taken into consideration. The spread figures are for informational purposes only. FXCM is not liable for errors, omissions or delays or for actions relying on this information.

About FXCM:

FXCM is a leading provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, and related services. Founded in 1999, the company's mission is to provide global traders with access to the world's largest and most liquid market by offering innovative trading tools, hiring excellent trading educators, meeting strict financial standards and striving for the best online trading experience in the market. Clients have the advantage of mobile trading, one-click order execution and trading from real-time charts. In addition, FXCM offers educational courses on FX trading and provides trading tools, proprietary data and premium resources. FXCM Pro provides retail brokers, small hedge funds and emerging market banks access to wholesale execution and liquidity, while providing high and medium frequency funds access to prime brokerage services via FXCM Prime. FXCM is a Leucadia Company.

Trading Forex/CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Leverage can work against you. The products are intended for retail, professional and eligible counterparty clients. Retail clients who maintain account(s) with Forex Capital Markets Limited ("FXCM LTD") could sustain a total loss of deposited funds but are not subject to subsequent payment obligations beyond the deposited funds but professional clients and eligible counterparty clients could sustain losses in excess of deposits. Clients who maintain account(s) with FXCM Australia Pty. Limited (FXCM AU), FXCM South Africa (PTY) Ltd (FXCM ZA) or FXCM Markets Limited (FXCM Markets) could sustain losses in excess of deposits. Prior to trading any products offered by FXCM LTD , inclusive of all EU branches, FXCM AU , FXCM ZA , any affiliates of aforementioned firms, or other firms within the FXCM group of companies [collectively the FXCM Group], carefully consider your financial situation and experience level. If you decide to trade products offered by FXCM AU (AFSL 309763), you must read and understand the Financial Services Guide , Product Disclosure Statement , and Terms of Business . Our FX and CFD prices are set by us, are not made on an Exchange and are not governed under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. The FXCM Group may provide general commentary, which is not intended as investment advice and must not be construed as such. Seek advice from a separate financial advisor. The FXCM Group assumes no liability for errors, inaccuracies or omissions; does not warrant the accuracy, completeness of information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. Read and understand the Terms and Conditions on the FXCM Groups websites prior to taking further action.

Read full disclaimer .

About FlexTrade Systems:

Founded in 1996, FlexTrade Systems is the global leader in high performance execution management and order management systems for equities, foreign exchange, options, futures and fixed income.

A pioneer in the field, FlexTrade is internationally recognized for introducing FlexTRADER, the worlds first broker-neutral, and execution management trading system, which allows clients to completely control and customize their proprietary algorithms while maintaining the confidentiality of their trading strategies. For more information visit flextrade.com or email media@flextrade.com .
ANNSVILLE, N.Y.  A Rome woman is charged with burglary after state police say she admitted to stealing beer and tobacco from a home in Annsville.

State police received a call from a resident on Water Street on Feb. 22, stating a woman broke into his home while he was sleeping.

Christina L. Scaccia, 42, allegedly stole 15 cans of beer, tobacco and cigarette rolling equipment from the residence.

Scaccia was identified from the victims home security footage.

She was taken to Oneida County pre-arraignment detention where she was held until arraignment.
[March 05, 2020] BLU Products announces Strategic Initiative to Develop Smartphone Devices with Foxconn

MIAMI, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BLU Products, a leader in unlocked smartphone devices in the United States and Latin America, announced today a strategic initiative to develop the next generation of BLU smartphone devices with Foxconn (FIH Mobile), the foremost smartphone design, manufacturing and technological solution provider in the world. The initiative will greatly enhance BLU's future product offering, by securing a talented and dedicated R&D team under BLU's guidance to maximize software and hardware performance, bringing world class user experience to BLU smartphone devices. Additionally, the initiative will secure a reliable and top-tier smartphone component supply chain, and guarantee manufacturing capacity at state-of-the-art FIH factory facilities including India, Vietnam, and Taiwan to meet BLU production demands. "As BLU aims for growth, particularly targeting US Carrier business, we recognize the technical expertise FIH provides in terms of quality, engineering, and manufacturing thus by greatly improving our product offering to consumers." said Samuel Ohev-Zion CEO of BLU Products. "Our plan is to immediately launch new smartphone devices co-developed with FIH for both US Carrier and Unlocked Retail customers by Q3 of 2020." The initial strategy will be for all US Carrier projects to e built entirely by FIH while BLU Unlocked Retail and Global device launches will be determined on a case-by-case basis, and gradually increase to a higher participation of BLU's complete device roadmap over time.



The main objective of the initiative will be to grow through US Carrier channels by bringing the best in class features, design, and performance at affordable price points, with a focus in the sub $250 smartphone segment which represents approximately 40% of the entire US market, or 70 million devices per year. The first BLU carrier device the BLU VIEW 1 launched in 2019 with Tracfone, with additional carrier devices launching in 2020. "BLU has brand value, nationwide retail channel presence and brand recognition in the US, which gives us tremendous potential for growth within the US Carrier Channel." Ohev-Zion said further. " In addition, we have a very talented team with unique entrepreneurial passion, experience, and competence to bring about meaningful and differentiated products to the market."

About BLU Products BLU Products is an American company is headquartered in Miami, FL which designs and manufacturers affordable, attractive and innovative mobile devices focusing on fulfilling the needs of the everyday person. BLU is a pioneer in the advancement of the no-contract revolution, giving consumers a choice between network providers. With distribution centers in both Miami and Hong Kong, BLU offers a vast portfolio of unlocked mobile phones to thousands of dealer agents, distributors, MVNO's, and retailers globally. With an emphasis on giving what today's mobile users need, and always launching new models, BLU successfully gives consumers what they are looking for in a mobile device at an affordable price without sacrificing fashion, design and quality. BLU continues growing at a rapid pace fueling passionate followers and fans throughout the world. BLU Products Media Relations:

(305) 715 7171

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blu-products-announces-strategic-initiative-to-develop-smartphone-devices-with-foxconn-301018642.html SOURCE BLU Products

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WASHINGTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) will bring their concerns directly to Congress when they converge on Washington, D.C. for PIA Advocacy Day, March 31  April 1, 2020.

The annual legislative fly-in (formerly called the PIA Federal Legislative Summit) is a gathering of PIA members from around the country who come together to meet with their members of Congress and advocate their positions on issues of importance to Professional Insurance Agents.

"In the past year, PIA's advocacy has achieved big wins in several areas," said PIA National Vice President of Government Relations Jon Gentile. "These have included protecting agent commissions for those who sell policies through the federal flood insurance and crop insurance programs; the permanent repeal of the Cadillac Tax, a 40 percent excise tax on employer-sponsored health plans; and passage and enactment of a long-term reauthorization of the terrorism risk insurance program (TRIA) for seven years."

"These successes included a major win for small-business insurance agencies and brokerages, who are now able to take full advantage of a passthrough tax deduction that was approved as part of the tax reform legislation signed into law in late 2017," Gentile added.

PIA's issues of primary focus for 2020 include crop insurance; flood insurance; cannabis safe harbor for independent agents; permanent tax relief for passthroughs; and repeal of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO).

PIA will also award its 2020 Legislator of the Year award to Congressman Alex X. Mooney (R-WV) during PIA Advocacy Day. Rep. Mooney is the main sponsor of legislation to repeal the Federal Insurance Office, long a top priority for PIA. PIA members will be advocating in support of Rep. Mooney's legislation during the fly-in.

The 2020 PIA Advocacy Day begins on the evening of March 31 at the Hilton Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, PIA's headquarters hotel, with an in-depth issues briefing session and Q&A to prepare attendees for their congressional visits. The day ends with a reception for attendees. On April 1, PIA members will gather for a kickoff breakfast before going to Capitol Hill for a day of visits with their members of Congress.

The day ends with a reception on Capitol Hill.

"Our annual PIA Advocacy Day is a key opportunity for PIA members to solidify their relationships with members of Congress, in order to continue to advance our priority issues," said PIA National President Dennis Kuhnke of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"PIA has a proud history of taking the strongest position to back independent agents, even if that means going at it alone," said PIA National CEO Mike Becker. "That kind of advocacy produces positive results for PIA members and for independent agents generally."

For more information visit https://pianet.com/grassroots/piaadvocacyday

PIA thanks our 2020 Advocacy Day Platinum level sponsors Progressive Insurance and The PIA Partnership; Gold level sponsor Crop Risk Services; and Silver level sponsors Liberty Mutual Insurance and NAU Country Insurance Company.

Founded in 1931, PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance, but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes, and businesses. PIA members are Local Agents Serving Main Street America SM. PIA's web address is www.pianet.com.

This press release is online at:

https://pianet.com/news/press-releases/2020/professional-insurance-agents-to-hold-pia-advocacy-day-march-31-2013-april-1

SOURCE National Association of Professional Insurance Agents

Related Links

http://www.pianet.com/


Int'l travellers who test COVID positive at the airport will not be allowed to go to their destinations

Coronavirus scare: 1,252 persons quarantined in Kolkata; Helpline set up

India

pti-PTI

Kolkata, Mar 05: Over 1,200 persons who arrived in West Bengal from countries under the grip of coronavirus have so far been quarantined, a health department official said on Thursday.

Altogether, 1,252 persons were placed under surveillance till March 4 and of them, the surveillance period of 115 is over, the official said. One person is admitted to an isolation facility, while 1,136 are under home surveillance, he said, adding that they are in a stable condition.

Till date, 29 samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and ICMR-NICED, Kolkata and none have tested positive, the official said. As a pre-emptive measure, 92 beds in different hospitals across the state have been kept ready, he added.

A health department statement said a total of 42,913 travellers have been screened at Kolkata and Bagdogra airports till March 4, while 87,871 persons have been screened at seven checkpoints along the borders with Nepal and Bangladesh. Also, 3,132 crew members of different ships have been screened at the three ports in the state, it said.

Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya said the state government has made all preparations to tackle coronavirus. The health department has set up 24x7 helpines -- 1800 313 444 222 / 033 2341 2600.
When you own a luxury watch, youre going to want to wear it as often as you can. Youve invested a serious amount of money on the model youve lusted after for some time, so you want a good return on your investment in the form of regular wear time (and to show off to those around you, natch).

But with luxury items inevitably comes the threat of someone else wanting to take it off you with a five-finger discount, and watches, in particular, are highly-prized in the thieving world. But which watch brand would you think is most likely to be stolen? Wed forgive you for thinking its Rolex given its stature in the world of horology, or perhaps you think Omega is the go-to for watch bandits.

But youd be wrong. According to Le Parisien, its your Richard Mille timepiece that youre going to want to leave at home locked up, especially if you ever plan on visiting France, and in particular, the countrys capital, Paris.

The French publication reported toward the end of 2019 that 71 people were attacked and mugged for their watch between January and September  there were four attacks recorded in one single day in August  many of which were 50,000 or more, and with a total value of nearly US$3 million. Richard Mille watches proved especially popular, with their iconic and unique design being easy to recognise likely being the main factor. Of the eight watches worth over 100,000 reported stolen, five of them were made by the Swiss company.

Despite stealing the high-end timepieces off the wrists of their owners, thieves can only expect to fetch up to 50 percent of their original value on the black market, as they want to get rid of them as soon as possible. Still, at least 75,000 for a two-second job is a pay-rate were envious of.

One of the Richard Milles snatched in Paris last year includes the $840,000 Tourbillion Diamond Twister, taken from a Japanese businessman while he was having a smoke outside a hotel near the Champs-Elysees. The world-famous street is one of the most likely places you can say bye-bye to your watch, as thieves target the high-rollers strolling between the luxury shops.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SHAME ON WRIST (@shameonwrist) on Mar 4, 2020 at 7:52am PST

So, Richard Milles aside, if you want to make sure you hold on to your baby prized possession, you might want to think about steering clear of Paris altogether.

Read Next
News that German investor GLL Real Estate has agreed a deal to buy the Bishop's Square office block on Kevin Street, in Dublin city centre, is being taken as a further signal of renewed interest by European funds in the Irish investment market.

Other German investors - Deka Immobolien, Commerz Real, Union Investment and KGAL - are believed to be targeting some of the five properties in the Capital Collection which UK property company Henderson Park Capital is selling out of the Green Reit portfolio for which it paid 1.34bn last year.

Eastdil Secured had been guiding around 400m for the five which include: 2 Burlington Road, Dublin 4; 5 Harcourt Road; 1 Molesworth Street, which is home to The Ivy Restaurant on Dawson Street; 30 to 33 Molesworth Street and Fitzwilliam Hall in Dublin 2.

Other European investors Commerz Real and La Francaise are among those who are believed to have run the rule over Fitzwilliam 28 for which state-owned energy company ESB has been seeking 168m. Joint agents Savills Ireland and Bannon declined to comment on the progress of the bids. Located on Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin 2, the 12,599sqm building is leased to workplace tech firm Slack Technologies.

The Europeans had taken a back seat for a while when they were being outbid by Korean investors. However, since last summer the Koreans have cooled off on European property acquisition due to a number of factors including challenges in the Korean economy as well as a more cautious approach by syndicates following over-exposure to global serviced office operator WeWork.

So when South Korean-based IGIS decided to withdraw from its bid to buy Bishop's Square, this left an opportunity for the Europeans.

The 'Sunday Times' reported last week that GLL Real Estate had sought the approval of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission for its deal to buy Bishop's Square. GLL is an affiliate of the Australian investment bank Macquarie Group and the German life fund manager Patrizia. CBRE had been quoting 180m for the office blocks.

The Bishop's Square office building is being sold by US property giant Hines, which bought the office block from US investment firm King Street Capital for 92.5m in 2015.

Hines subsequently undertook an extensive revamp which added a penthouse floor and extended the fourth and fifth floors, thus increasing the floor area from 14,213sqm to 16,980sqm. The building's tenants include the Office of Public Works, Tourism Ireland and International Financial Data Services.

It generates a combined rent roll of 7.9m, which would deliver a net initial yield of just over 4pc at the guide price.
Former Big Brother Naija housemates and celebrity couple Bam Bam and Teddy A have welcomed the birth of their first child together, name...

Former Big Brother Naija housemates and celebrity couple Bam Bam and Teddy A have welcomed the birth of their first child together, named Zendaya.





Teddy A, whose birth name is Tope Adenibuyan, today announced the birth of his daughter on his social media page.





Taking to his Twitter page in the early hours of Thursday, March 5, 2020, Teddy A announced the good news.





In his tweet, the reality TV star shared the name of his baby girl Zendaya Folakemi Adenibuyan! Red heart, he tweeted.

See tweet below;

Zendaya Folakemi Adenibuyan!   Teddy-A (@BadmanTeddyA) March 5, 2020

He also took to his instastories to share a pics of him in the hospital and hower his wife Bambam with praise, calling her a wonder woman.









Bam Bam and Teddy As relationship started in the reality house in the third season of Big Brother Naija.




The coronavirus outbreak has taken the shape of a global pandemic. Apart from China, the deadly virus has spread to countries including the United States, Italy, South Korea, India, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, France, Denmark and Japan. In fact, cases of coronavirus have been reported across 75 countries and territories.



The coronavirus outbreak  which originated in the city of Wuhan on the banks of Yangtze River, between Shanghai and Chongqing  has so far claimed lives of 3,000 people worldwide. Moreover, more than 90,000 have been infected by the virus. The infectious nature of the virus has made it a bigger threat. No wonder, the coronavirus has evoked memories of 2002 SARS epidemic, which also spread across the world in a short span of time.



Coronavirus to Hurt Restaurant Traffic



According to Capital Economics, this outbreak is likely to hurt the global economy by $280 billion in the first quarter of this year. In fact, most of the industries are reeling under the impact of the coronavirus. Notably, restaurateurs have seen business all but disappear. The coronavirus outbreak has forced most of the restaurants to remain closed in cities like Shanghai, Macau, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The pandemic disease has not only impacted China but also prompted lockdowns across the world.



The restaurant industry has been facing declining traffic for quite some time now. According to Black Box Intelligence (formerly TDn2K), restaurant industrys same-store sales declined 0.1% in fourth-quarter 2019. We believe the the coronavirus outbreak will further hurt traffic and sales in the coming quarter. Many companies have hinted about business disruptions in China and across Asia due to the deadly virus spread. The companies have also warned of soft sales trends on account of increased restaurant closures.



Major restaurant companies like Starbucks Corporation SBUX, Yum China Holdings, Inc. YUMC, Papa John's International, Inc. PZZA and McDonald's Corporation MCD have shutdown majority of their restaurants in China.



More than half of the Starbucks stores in China have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Yum China has temporary closed more than 30% of restaurants in China. While Papa John's International has closed 50 franchised stores in china, McDonald's has shut nearly 300 restaurants. We believe restaurant industry needs to develop a plan to combat the issues arising from the pandemic.



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Harvey Weinstein underwent a heart procedure at a New York City hospital on Wednesday evening and the next day was transferred to a jail on Rikers Island for inmates needing special protection, his spokesman said.

Mr. Weinstein, the once powerful film producer, was convicted last week of rape and criminal sexual assault after a trial in Manhattan that many saw as a milestone in the #MeToo movement. A judge ordered him held in jail until his sentencing next week.

But hours after the verdict, Mr. Weinstein, 67, experienced extremely high blood pressure and heart palpitations, his lawyers said. He was taken directly from State Supreme Court in Manhattan to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was treated for 10 days in a ward for inmates.

Mr. Weinstein had angioplasty to alleviate a blockage, his spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, said. The procedure lasted at least two hours.
Recent rain has seen the emergence of poisonous mushrooms, sparking chilling warnings from health experts to avoid them.

Death caps have begun cropping up across Victoria, after ongoing rain and warmer weather created ideal breeding conditions.

But the mushroom's appear similar in colour and shape to a common edible variety in Australia, leading authorities to urge residents to avoid wild foraging without expert knowledge.

There are two main species of death caps: amanita phalloides and agaricus xanthodermus.

The poisonous fungi (pictured) can lead to death in only 48 hours after consumption as a result of serious liver damage (stock image)

One of the species shares a similar colour and shape to the white button mushroom in its early stages, which is the most common variety across the nation's supermarkets.

The amanita phalloides is usually a pale yellow in colour with distinctive white gills and a white stem and are usually slippery and sticky to touch.

The other species is identifiable by its tendency to stain yellow when the cap or stem is bruised by a thumbnail.

The fungi can lead to death in only 48 hours after consumption as a result of serious liver damage.

The amanita phalloides is usually a pale yellow in colour with distinctive white gills and a white stem and are usually slippery and sticky to touch (stock image)

Symptoms of poisoning include stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Angie Bone told news.com.au people put themselves at serious risk consuming mushrooms they've found growing in the wild.

'While commercially sold mushrooms are safe, poisonings can occur when people gathering wild mushrooms inadvertently include toxic species,' Dr Bone said.

'Poisonous mushrooms may appear very similar to edible varieties.'

Dr Bone said it's best to avoid foraging because even the most experienced mushroom hunters can make mistakes with death caps.

'If you have any doubts about a species of fungus or mushroom, don't eat it. Cooking, peeling or drying these mushrooms does not remove or inactivate the poison.'

The fungi typically form around deciduous trees like Oaks, and have already been encountered early this year by mushroom hunters around the Dandenongs in Victoria, and around Melbourne's suburbs and rural areas.

The fungi have been popping up early this year by mushroom hunters around the Dandenongs in Victoria, and around Melbourne's suburbs (pictured, stock image)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 17:48:22|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese procuratorates have attached great importance to public interest litigations for enhancing the protection of the rural environment, said Wan Chun, an official with the Supreme People's Procuratorate, at a press conference Thursday.

Procuratorates across the country handled 50,263 administrative and 2,870 civil public interest litigation cases related to the environment in 2019, said Wan.

As a result, 29,800 mu (around 2,000 hectares) of illegally exploited or occupied farmland were recovered or reclaimed, and over 13,500 mu of forest intended to boost public welfare were recovered.

Procuratorates also monitored and urged the restoration of more than 9,300 mu of illegally reclaimed or occupied grassland last year, Wan added.
[March 05, 2020] Armstrong Flooring, Inc., Adopts Concora Platform to Deliver Enhanced Digital Experience to Commercial Customers

NORCROSS, Ga., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Concora is pleased to announce their recent partnership with Armstrong Flooring , North America's largest producer of resilient flooring products. Armstrong Flooring published its full commercial product line with Concora's Design Studio, a commercial manufacturing platform and product library designed to deliver enhanced customer experience to architects, engineers, contractors, owners (AECOs), and design professionals. "This is a big step forward in our digital transformation and improving the role technical product content plays in the specification process," said Amanda Wilkinson, Digital Stratgy Manager at Armstrong Flooring. "With this new offering, our customers can search and compare product information they need quickly, including BIM, and download submittal packages in a matter of moments. We're focused on providing architects, designers and contractors not only with exceptional products, but also with the tools to enable them to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively."



Concora's comprehensive platform solutions also provide analytics and lead data insights, lending transparency to the commercial buyer journey and enabling Armstrong Flooring to provide greater personalization and continual improvements. Armstrong's Design Studio launched on March 5, 2020. About Concora

Concora has a 30-year history of helping building product manufacturers navigate the complex process of getting their products specified for commercial construction projects. With Concora's Design Studio and Design Manager platform, manufacturers can provide a simplified buyer's journey that meets the stringent requirements of their commercial customersarchitects, engineers, contractors and owners. For more information, visit concora.com .

About Armstrong Flooring, Inc.

Armstrong Flooring, Inc. (NYSE: AFI) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of innovative flooring solutions. Headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Armstrong Flooring is North America's largest producer of resilient flooring products. The Company safely and responsibly operates 8 manufacturing facilities globally, working to provide the highest levels of service, quality and innovation to ensure it remains as strong and vital as its 150-year heritage. Learn more at armstrongflooring.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/armstrong-flooring-inc-adopts-concora-platform-to-deliver-enhanced-digital-experience-to-commercial-customers-301018530.html SOURCE Concora

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By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> is asking thousands of U.S. employees to spend a day working from home in the coming weeks to test its contingency plans should the coronavirus spread, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters.

This week the bank may also begin sending teams of traders to work from secondary office locations in Brooklyn, New York, and nearby in New Jersey, to test its systems and ensure that any kinks are worked out should the bank need to roll out emergency plans more broadly, one of the sources said.

The largest U.S. bank by assets is testing these contingency plans now because, if the coronavirus spreads further in the United States, it would need to separate employees of the bank's many business lines to ensure that most business could continue as usual, one source said.

The bank began asking managers of each of its four main businesses to select employees and ask them to work from home starting last week.

Managers in the consumer & community banking division, which includes Chase bank and employs more than 120,000 people, have asked around 10% of employees to work from home a day this week. The corporate and investment bank employees were asked last week.

The project was code-named "Project Kennedy", Bloomberg first reported on Tuesday.

Big U.S. banks have been rolling out contingency plans to respond to the global virus outbreak  requiring some staff to work from home, implementing travel restrictions and talking to regulators about potential stresses. European banks are doing the same and also splitting shifts and isolating some teams.

Last week on Thursday, JPMorgan told employees it was restricting all but essential international work travel due to the continued spread of the virus.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall in New York and Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Lisa Shumamker)
: A parcel of khat leaves worth Rs 40



lakh has been seized at the Foreign Post Office here on Thursday, Customs officials said.

The leaves, mainly cultivated in East Africa, are chewed for their soporific effect.

Acting on a tip-off that the contraband was arriving from Africa, the officials confiscated the parcel that did not declare its contents.

The parcel from Addis Ababa was destined to Chennai and the address mentioned on the cargo was fake.

The contraband weighed 15.6 kg.

According to officials, khat leaves are evergreen shrubs cultivated in East Africa and South Yemen.

As there is a sizeable population of African students here, the contraband may have been sent, a press release said.

In May 2018, the officials seized a similar parcel from Kenya containing 7.9 kg of such leaves.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report on the medical education market for the period of 20192027. According to the report, the global medical education market was valued at nearly US$ 31 Bn in 2018, and is projected to expand at a CAGR of more than 4% from 2019 to 2027. Rise in the number of medical schools and increase in cost of medical education are the major factors expected to drive the global medical education market from 2019 to 2027.

Increase in Number of Medical Schools to Drive the Medical Education Market

Globalization has had an unprecedented effect on medical education across the world. The global medical education market is expected to expand at a CAGR of more than 4% from 2019 to 2027.

A number of trends have been observed in the medical education market. Increase in privatization of medical schools, rise in the number of medical schools, surge in the number of students seeking medical education, and migration of medical students are all contributing to the growth of the global medical education market.

New collaborative models between medical schools across the world have further fuelled the medical education market. Emerging countries are investing in healthcare infrastructure in order to improve the quality of services and expand the access of services, which would require more medical professionals. This is likely to fuel the global medical education market.

Request a PDF Sample  https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=517

Asia Pacific Medical Education Market to Expand at a Rapid Pace

North America held a major share of the global medical education market in terms of revenue in 2018, and is projected to retain its position during the forecast period. The presence of top medical schools, high fee structure, and increasing presence of international students have all led to a large market share for the region in the global medical education market.

According to the World Directory of Medical Schools, around one-third of medical schools are located in one of the five countries (India, the U.S., China, Brazil, and Pakistan). Over 10 countries account for nearly half of all medical schools in the world.

Some of the most recognized medical schools such as Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, University, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Harvard Medical School are located in the U.S. High disposable income and well-developed healthcare infrastructure have contributed to North Americas large share in the global medical education market.

Europe is anticipated to be the second-largest medical education market in terms of share and revenue during the forecast period. Developed healthcare infrastructure and opening of new medical schools are driving the medical education market in Europe.

The medical education market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period. The presence of countries such as China and India with rapidly number increasing medical schools and medical students is attributed to strong market growth in the region. According to the World Directory of Medical Schools, India had the most recognized medical schools, followed by Brazil and China, in 2016.

Request For Custom Research  https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=517

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Siemens Healthineers to Lead the Global Medical Education Market

The report provides the profiles of leading players operating in the global medical education market. These include Gundersen Health System, GE Healthcare Institute, American College of Radiology, Healthcare Training Institute, New Jersey, Olympus America, TACT Academy for clinical training, Zimmer Biomet Institute, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Apollo Hospitals, CAE Healthcare, and Siemens Healthineers.

Zimmer Biomet Institute provides online training medical education programs through Zimmer Biomet Institute Network (zbinetwork) (zbinetwork.com). Zbinetwork is an online interactive platform that offers healthcare professionals with mobile applications to access and learn about different products, procedures, tutorials, and related technologies.

The Olympus Academy offers various training programs and courses on endoscopy devices for nurses, such as endoscope reprocessing specialist training (ERST), surgical scopes reprocessing & handling training (SSRHT), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) course, endoscope & endobronchial ultrasound (EUS/EBUS) course, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and Surgical Certified Endoscope Reprocessing Trainer (Train the Trainer).

Buy Medical Education Market Research  https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=517<ype=S

The launch of new medical courses, introduction of new subspecialties, and escalating fee structure of medical schools are all expected to drive the global medical education market during the forecast period.

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Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.

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A senior US official on Thursday urged Europe to support Turkey's military operation in Syria, where it has lost more than 50 soldiers trying to hold back a Russian-backed offensive on Idlib.

"One of the principles that the president (Donald Trump) and the US Congress share is that there should be a collective effort, not just of Turkey and the US but of our NATO allies, essentially the Europeans," the US special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, told a conference in Istanbul.

"We are pressing the Europeans to contribute a great deal," he added.

The Syrian government, backed by Russian air power, has steadily retaken swathes of the province of Idlib, dominated by jihadists and Turkey-backed rebels, since launching its offensive in December.

Nearly one million people have fled their homes in the biggest displacement of the nine-year conflict.

Turkey fears another major influx of refugees, adding to the 3.6 million Syrians it already hosts.

It announced a full operation against Syrian forces following an air strike that killed 34 of its soldiers on February 27.

Turkey has requested greater military support from its NATO partners, and has sought to pressure Europe by removing restrictions on migrants trying to leave its territory for the EU.

NATO has offered its solidarity to Turkey, but has yet to take concrete action.

"There's a Spanish Patriot (missile defence) unit right now deployed in Turkey at the Incirlik airbase, that's an example of things that NATO is actually doing and we want to see more actions like that," Jeffrey said.

He acknowledged the situation was complicated by Turkey's decision to buy a Russian missile defence system, the S-400, which was strongly opposed by NATO.

"We are looking for ways to work around it, but for the moment that is an issue," Jeffrey said of the S-400.

The a possibility remains of a direct conflict between Turkey and Russia in Syria, he added.

"We do not think there is a desire on either the part of Russia or Turkey... but Syria is the place were your best intentions get disappointed," he said.

"We are not sure who has done all the shooting on both sides over the last couple of weeks because you have military forces all mixed up. The fact that you have all those outside armies, all of those non-state armed actors, all in close proximity shooting at each other, leads to the danger area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mr. Lube, Canadas leading quick lube provider in the automotive maintenance sector, is proud to announce that it has been recognized with the prestigious designation of Platinum Club Member by Canadas Best Managed Companies in 2020.



This is Mr. Lubes eighth time overall to be selected for the prestigious award of Canadas Best Managed Companies and repeat as a Platinum designation!

A Best Managed Company Award is the pinnacle of corporate success in Canada and highlights companies that are focused on their core vision, creating stakeholder value and excelling in the global economy.

The past eight years have been a period of tremendous growth, expansion and transformational change for our brand and operations. Throughout it all, every person on our team, from coast to coast, has risen to the challenge and set new standards for leadership, innovation and execution, while caring for the communities where we serve day in and day out and embracing a people-centric approach.

Our continued achievement as a Platinum Member of Best Managed Companies exemplifies recognition from industry peers, business leaders and most importantly, our communities where we live and work, provides great pride to all of us at Mr. Lube. This is an affirmation that our collective efforts are indeed succeeding in building a great Canadian company.

On behalf of Mr. Lubes Board of Directors, our employees, our franchise owners, our partners and suppliers, we are very honoured and humbled to have achieved the prestigious Platinum designation once again,

President and CEO for Mr. Lube, Stuart Suls.

Sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, Smith School of Business and TMX Group, the Best Managed award recognizes Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $25 million, for sustained growth, financial performance, management practices and the efforts of the entire organization.

Now in its 27th year, Canadas Best-Managed Companies is one of the countrys leading business awards programs recognizing Canadian-owned and managed companies for innovative, world-class business practices.

2020 winners of the Canadas Best Managed Companies award, along with Requalified members, Gold Standard winners and Platinum Club members will be honoured at the annual Canadas Best Managed Companies symposium and gala in Toronto on April 01, 2020.

About Mr. Lube Canada

Mr. Lube is Canada's leading quick lube provider in the routine automotive maintenance sector. The company was founded in 1976, pioneering a category of automotive servicing that focused on convenience and no appointment necessary. With 185 locations across the country, Mr. Lube is operated by a national network of franchisees. Headquartered in Richmond, BC, the company also has an office in Mississauga, Ontario to support its national franchise network.

In 2002, Mr. Lube Canada founded the Mr. Lube Foundation to support its corporate goals of giving back to the community and helping those most in need. Today, the Foundation has donated in excess of $5.5 million dollars to charities across the country. For more information about Mr. Lube, please visit: www.mrlube.com; Facebook/MrLubeCanada ( www.facebook.com/MrLubeCanada ); Twitter @MrLube (www.twitter.com/MrLube).

About Canadas Best Managed Companies

Canada's Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $25 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on five levels: 1) Best Managed winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Requalified member (repeat winners retain the Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (After three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully reapplied for the designation); 4) Gold Requalified member (Gold Standard winners may requalify for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 5) Platinum Club member (winners that maintain Best Managed status for a minimum of seven consecutive years). Program sponsors are Deloitte, CIBC, Smith School of Business and TMX Group. For further information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca.

For additional information, comments or photos, please contact:

Kelly Ma

Director - Human Resources

Mr. Lube Canada

Tel: 604.759.4336

Cell: 604.340.1644

kma@mrlube.com
HIV/AIDS, SARS, Corona Virus (Covid-19) are modern day scourges of the 20th and 21st centuries. Going back in history, other scourges, like the bubonic plague that scythed through and devastated vast populations on the Asian and European continents in the mid-1300s are remembered with revulsion, horror and incredulity in relation to the number of deaths involved  anything from 50 million to over a hundred million. There have been many others  according to Wikipedia, some nine major ones during the last 300 years, all exacting heavy tolls.

Each time they have occurred, even in modern times, the world is caught unprepared only later to rally and fight back. Modern medical science has eradicated some of them, some have persisted and new ones have cropped up. From localised epidemics, if not checked and eliminated they spread into pandemics.

Whether epidemic or pandemic, they all require international collaboration to combat. Left unchecked, they cause havoc before eventually dying out naturally. The history of pandemics makes grim reading. They come in different forms and some, like the influenza virus may even mutate making eradication more difficult.

The Ebola virus, one of the most virulent of scourges struck three member countries of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) in the early months of 2014. Already on their knees as a result of stinging poverty brought on by struggling economies, they were sent much lower down the poverty line when the Ebola, with apocalyptic scythe in hand, came calling.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia had been infected around March 2014, some three months. At first it was regarded as one of those African nightmares that would hog the headlines for a few weeks and be replaced by another affliction. Ghana had Buruli ulcer some years ago in one of her regions  a flesh eating microbe which if not treated would eat the flesh to the bone even as the victim was still alive and could lead to death, but the victim is usually left terribly disabled. A coordinated effort between Ghana and the international medical community tackled it and brought it under control.

Ebola, by the end of 2014, was a global emergency and its status as a medical terror had become unassailable. Ghana was however exhibiting all the symptoms of a well-run country, with economy showing signs of good health, socially stable, security under control infrastructure improving. It was perhaps with all these positive signs in mind that Ghanas President at the time, John Dramani Mahama received a call from then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon appealing for help to use Ghana as a hub to coordinate the response.

President Mahama wasted no time in putting his country at the disposal of the international community, leading to the formation of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response  UNMEER. Addressing the UN in 2015, he said, Ebola is a problem that belongs to the world because it is a disease that knows no boundaries,

2014 ended and 2015 began with Ebola as the single most intractable public health scourge confronting us all in the sub-region and beyond. The search for a cure, a vaccine, or anything to get a handle on the virus had become pre-eminent in pharmaceutical labs all over the world with the World Health Organization (WHO) leading the charge. Sub-regional governments had justifiably become paranoid leading to border closures.

The dying and dead were piling up in the thousands as the international community rallied. In his remarkable show of courageous leadership, President Mahama agreeing for Ghana to become the coordinating hub of Ebola activities provided the kind of fast, efficient and targeted international response required to avert an even bigger disaster.

Paradoxically, this commendable act of international humanitarianism and volunteerism came under attack from within, with some people giving a domestic partisan angle to it by complaining that the move would put Ghana at risk.

Food aid, medical aid, public health experts, poured into Ghana with one determined objective: To stop Ebola from spreading. The media reflected those anxious days with the relentless flow of Ebola stories. Typical headlines on Ebola taken from Ghana News Agency (GNA) files of January 2015 captured Ghanas and the worlds moods:

*Prez calls for effective coordination against Ebola.

*Traditional healers sensitized on deadly Ebola fever.

*Australia supports Ghana's Ebola preparedness.

*EU pledges more support to Ebola affected countries.

*Health Minister entreats nations to support affected countries to control Ebola.

*Togolese President in Accra for Ebola meeting.

Some countries even entertained the idea of banning flights in and out of the entire sub-region and we were hard-pressed explaining that only 3 of the 13-member sub-region were infected. Because of Ghanas leadership, other countries, notably the US, stepped up their humanitarian efforts. US President Barack Obama tried to allay fears by telling his countrymen and women to banish the fear and rely on the science. He volunteered US troops to give a helping hand. International airports set up health desks to screen passengers arriving from the sub-region, infected or not.

The World Health Organization (WHO), intensified its information management and gave the assurance that a vaccine or cure was being worked on as at the time, two potential candidates were undergoing evaluation.

As Ebola came under control, Ghanas role was recognized by the international community as having been crucial in containing the outbreak and President Mahamas courageous leadership added to his increasing influence as a major player on the world leadership scene. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appointed him co-chair with the Norwegian Prime Minister for Advocacy Group of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Ebola out, Corona in, and the world is holding its breath and waiting for decisive leadership. Corona virus was initially taken as something of a Chinese problem and the country was lampooned in the social media as having caused it through all manner of strange foods they consumed as delicacies. The World Health Organization (WHO) equally started off with conflicting attitudes. The industrial countries were slow in reacting and even as the seriousness of the pandemic has become evident, they are not giving confidence-raising initiatives. For example, US Vice President Mike Pences appointment to head the US efforts has already come under severe criticism because of what some of the critics have described as his appalling public health record when he was Governor of Indiana and some of his utterances concerning public health issues. Matters have not been helped by guidelines that more or less gag the US scientific and medical communities.

Cases have been recorded in Africa, even as close to home as Nigeria, meaning Ghana can only hope and pray. The many hospitals and health centres started by the Mahama Administration and abandoned to rot by the Akufo-Addo Administration are the kinds of infrastructure that would be required at the forefront of the interventions, should any unfortunate health calamity like corona strike. Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye would not be able to do it alone, nor indeed can the few ambulances placed here and there. What would be required would be dedicated health facilities with the requisite personnel, equipment and drugs as envisaged and started by President Mahama spread all over the country but for now, we are living on the wings of hope and prayer
Bengaluru, March 5 : Petrol and diesel in Karnataka will cost more from April 1, as the state budget for fiscal 2020-21 has proposed 3 per cent increase in VAT on both the most consumed fuels, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said on Thursday.

"Petrol price will increase by Rs 1.60 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.59 a litre from April 1, as I propose to increase 3 per cent value added tax (VAT) on both the fuels," Yediyurappa said while presenting the state budget for the ensuing fiscal in the state legislative assembly at Vidhana Soudha.

The budget proposes to increase VAT on petrol to 35 per cent from 32 per cent and on diesel to 24 per cent from 21 per cent.

"Even after this increase, the price of petrol and diesel in Karnataka is less in comparison to those prevailing in the neighbouring states," Yediyurappa, who also holds the finance portfolio, told the lawmakers in Kannada.
The next NASA rover headed to Mars, until now blandly referred to as Mars 2020, has been named Perseverance.

That was the winning moniker selected in NASAs Name the Rover essay contest, which began last summer. Volunteer judges sifted through 28,000 entries from children ranging from kindergartners to high schoolers and selected 155 semifinalists. In January, NASA announced the final nine. (The other eight were Clarity, Courage, Endurance, Fortitude, Ingenuity, Promise, Tenacity and Vision.)

Alexander Mather, a seventh-grader from Springfield, Virginia, submitted the winning essay that proposed the name Perseverance.

Curiosity. InSight. Spirit. Opportunity, he wrote. If you think about it, all of these names of past Mars rovers are qualities we possess as humans. We are always curious, and seek opportunity. We have the spirit and insight to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond. But, if rovers are to be the qualities of us as a race, we missed the most important thing. Perseverance.

Perseverance, which was built at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is now at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final preparations before it launches to space in July. Part of Alexs prize is a trip to watch the launch.

Perseverance is scheduled to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. NASA has previously landed four rovers on Mars successfully; no other country has accomplished that feat, although the Soviet Union and China have landed rovers on the moon.

Mars 2020, now Perseverance, is an almost twin of Curiosity, which simplified the building of the spacecraft. But it carries a different set of instruments with somewhat different goals.

While Curiosity has found convincing evidence that there was, at least a few billion years ago, water on the surface of Mars for extended periods of time, Perseverance will make a more careful search for molecules considered to be the building blocks of life.

Perseverance is also carrying a small helicopter that will fly short distances from the rover.
WASHINGTON  Zarifa Ghafari is a fearless woman in a country where there is much to fear.

Since taking office as mayor in the Afghan town of Maidan Shar last year, the 27-year-old has been attacked by mobs of men armed with sticks and rocks, angry at a woman in a leadership role. In meetings, she has been at turns ignored, insulted and laughed at. She has received death threats from the Taliban and criminal gangs.

Despite the target on her back, she persists, commuting to work on the dangerous roads between Maidan Shar and the capital, Kabul, where she has moved several times in the past year for security reasons.

"I want to live as a champion," she said in an interview Wednesday after being honored at the State Department with an International Women of Courage Award presented by first lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "I want to die as a champion."

Ghafari was among 12 women selected for the award this year. They included a leader of student protests in Nicaragua, a civil rights activist who was imprisoned and tortured in Syria, a prominent critic of domestic violence in Armenia and a trade unionist who has fought for gender equality in Zimbabwe.

Their stories "humble and inspire us all," said Pompeo, who recently returned from Qatar, where he witnessed the signing of an agreement between the Taliban and the United States.

The agreement calls for a drawdown of U.S. troops and a prisoner release in exchange for the Taliban agreeing to sever ties with terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and enter into peace talks with the Afghan government.

"What is the worst thing in the world for women and girls? War," said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the calculation more frankly. "War is what steals rights and the future. So ending the war is the best gift we could give women and children. Everyone is concerned about the Taliban approach to these issues. So we need to see all Afghans and friends of Afghans remain engaged."

In her public remarks, Ghafari made an oblique reference to the agreement and the uncertain future facing women and girls in Afghanistan.

"Women of my generation have not forgotten the reign of the Taliban, and we are as always worried for the future," she said after turning to face Pompeo and the first lady. "Therefore, let me ask for your continued support to ensure that Afghan peace process does not erase the gains that have been made since the dark days of the Taliban regime."

In an interview, Ghafari said Afghans are worried that the Taliban will return and reassert its authority, trying to "make us go back and sit in the darkness." She said the agreement was primarily for the benefit of the United States and the Taliban, and lacks guarantees that Afghans will be safe when potentially thousands of Taliban prisoners are released.

"What's the guarantee?" she said. "If I free them, if I take them out of prisons, what's the guarantee that nothing will happen to negotiations, they will still accept negotiating with me? That they will stop having dark relations with Pakistan and ISI, Pakistan intelligence? What's the guarantee? There is nothing."

U.S. officials have said they expect groups representing all segments of Afghan society, including women, to have a role in peace talks they hope will start this month. Ghafari said Afghan women who have survived decades of war must be among the parties.

"The women of Afghanistan who have already suffered the war, those who lost their sons, those who lost their husbands, those who lost their rights to education, those who suffered all their life on airstrikes, on war, on shootings, on bomb attacks. We want them to represent us, not someone who knows nothing about it," she said.

She expressed confidence that she and other Afghan women would not retreat into silence and acceptance of a patriarchal society.

Ghafari said she was grateful that she has supportive parents  a father who is a colonel in the Afghan Special Forces and a mother who is a physician  and an equally supportive fiance.

"It's not only Zarifa," she said, adding, "It's a red line for Afghan women. We will stand our ground. And we will fight always for our rights."

She recognizes the danger she will face on returning to Afghanistan but considers it her responsibility to speak up so future generations of women.

"At least if I die, no one will say, 'She was not someone who did great,' " she added. "I want the next generation to remember me as good person, at least as someone who could make at least a change, at least could talk of the truth. That's why I'm talking."
In a heart-wrenching retelling of the circumstances of her 1-year-old son's death, a Columbus mother told the Nebraska Legislature's Judiciary Committee Jan. 31 that other infants could be saved with a bill being heard that day by the committee.

It could also save a lot of heartache for parents.

The 37-year-old mother was testifying on a bill (LB832), introduced by Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard, that would allow for the rescue of a child in immediate danger from a locked vehicle.

Through tears, the mother said she had been distracted by a change in her work routine and had forgotten to drop her son at child care. She arrived at work and left him in the back seat, in the parking lot, from about 8 a.m. to 5:40 p.m. The temperature reached 86 degrees that afternoon under a hot sun.

On an 86-degree day, researchers say, it would take only about 10 minutes for the inside of a car to reach a dangerous 105 degrees.

She would have given anything if a passerby had seen her baby in the car and broken a window to rescue him, she said. Broken glass and property can be replaced, a child can't.

The Legislature heard the bill on first-round debate late Wednesday afternoon and advanced it on a 38-0 vote.

LB832 would create civil and criminal immunity for property damage caused by a person removing a child from a locked vehicle.

The rescuer must have a good faith and reasonable belief that breaking into a locked vehicle was necessary because the child was in imminent danger. They must notify law enforcement as soon as possible, and use no more force than necessary.

And the person must remain with the child near the vehicle until emergency personnel, a parent, or owner of the vehicle arrives, but may leave the area to care for the child if the person notifies law enforcement and leaves a note.

In 2019, 53 children under the age of 15 who were left in cars died of heat stroke in the U.S., according to national nonprofit kidsandcars.org. An average of 39 die the same way each year, Bostelman said, and that number is growing.

Most of those cases occur when a child is mistakenly left or enters an unintended vehicle and gets trapped, Bostelman said.

Twenty-one other states have passed similar bills since 2014.

Judiciary Chairman Steve Lathrop said the bill would expand Nebraska's good samaritan law definition of rendering emergency care at the scene of an accident or other emergency to include rescuing a child from a vehicle.

"This is a horrible tragedy," Lathrop said. "Our hope is by moving this amendment and the bill that we can raise awareness so that people are looking in cars in the summer and they don't hesitate for a second to break a window, to damage the car, to get to a child that might otherwise perish."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSLegislature

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On social media sites, Wesley James Perez posted prolifically. He came across as a goofball, stuffing a Nerf ball in his pants, begging for followers and uploading comedy sketches, once playing patient and psychiatrist.

Its almost like a void Im trying to fill, he said.

A week ago, Perez reached out to a local South Florida comedian, asking him to promote his videos. He was saying all types of s***, saying we were going to be millionaires, South Florida comedian Lewis Mohorn said. I was going to work with him. He was funny.

But none of Perezs posts, nor his acquaintances or minimal criminal history, hinted that the 25-year-old was a killer who would empty a .40-caliber Glock pistol into his elderly neighbor, killing him. Yet thats exactly what Pembroke Pines police say Perez did Saturday afternoon in a leafy Pembroke Pines subdivision called Tanglewood Lakes.

The victim was Fernando Frias, the father of Miami Herald dining and food critic Carlos Frias.

Wesley Perez

Perez was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and is being held in the Broward County Jail without bond.

Acquaintances said Perez once worked at a car dealership and a pet store, and was never violent or confrontational. He was, said one friend, more of a problem solver. He was a good goofy guy that likes to make people laugh.

Perezs former lawyer, who represented him on the drunk-driving charge, said Perez was pleasant. I was shocked to hear the news, said attorney Jason Kreiss. There has to be more to the story.

By Wednesday, four days after the murder, it still wasnt clear why Perez shot and killed Fernando Frias, although an arrest report suggested the accused killer had some sort of severe psychotic break. Pembroke Pines police detectives  at least publicly  have not offered any type of possible motive for killing Frias, a familiar and well-liked figure in the neighborhood.

According to the heavily redacted arrest report, the 92-year-old Frias was left dead or injured inside his home for more than a day before his body was discovered on Sunday night. Thats largely because Perez  whom police committed to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation two days before charging him with the crime  was so incoherent that it made it difficult for investigators to piece together those clues.

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According to a Pembroke Pines police report, this is what happened:

Fernando Frias was shot and killed inside his home on the 10000 block of Southwest 6th Court at about 3 p.m. Saturday. Minutes later, Perez called 911 from his own house next door. Perez hung up on dispatch repeatedly and was talking incoherent, the report said.

A neighbor across the street heard the shots but did not call 911. The reason, according to the report. She has seen cops already rushing to Perezs house, and she assumed they were responding to the gunfire.

At the house, Perez jumped in his pool fully clothed and was combative with officers who had no knowledge of the homicide that just happened, the report said.

Perez was not arrested but was instead hospitalized under Floridas Baker Act, which allows police to involuntarily commit someone for a psychiatric evaluation against their will.

The elder Friass body was discovered at about 9 p.m. on Sunday, when a family member went to check on him. That person contacted Carlos Frias, who then called 911. Next to the body were multiple shell casings and an empty magazine from a .40 caliber Glock pistol, the police report said.

Officers found surveillance video from a neighbors house that was crucial evidence.

The video showed Frias walking next door, then making his way back toward his home with Perez, police told Carlos Frias. Moments later, officers told Carlos Frias that the video showed Perez leaving the victims home, his arm flailing, before running back to his own home next door.

Fernando Frias, who lost his wife last May, has recently spent most of his time with his son Carlos and his family in the Miami area. But, Carlos Frias said, his dad headed home last weekend to do some yard work. Carlos Frias said he believes Perez, who has lived at his home with his mother for about three years, has helped his dad do yard work and pick fruit at his home in the past.

Fernando Frias, who was funny and gregarious into his 90s, helped with a video the Miami Herald produced three years ago, in which he and others his age reacted to the goings-on at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. He seemed to get more of a kick out of the crowds antics then most of the other seniors who weighed in.

One of 11 children, Frias arrived in South Florida from Cuba in the late 1960s. He and his brother owned several restaurants before they were seized after Fidel Castro took power in 1959. He served two years in a Cuban prison for trying to escape the island on a speed boat.

No one was at the Perez home Wednesday afternoon in a quiet, manicured dead-end street in Tanglewood Lakes. One neighbor, who asked not to be named, said Perez was quiet but said he often smoked marijuana with his girlfriend. The smell frequently wafted over from his home.

Mohorn, the local comedian, said he spoke once with Perez over the phone. He said while he sensed Perez might have been suffering from some type of depression or anxiety, he never said anything that hinted at future violence.

Perez, a prolific poster on social media, didnt seem to have much of a following.

In most of the videos he posted on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, Perez acted out crude, nonsensical comedy sketches filmed inside his home, or posed in silly ways: Wearing only underwear and a jacket and a pink bandanna.

Perez posted under the hashtag Flood the Feed, begging for people to respond. I need your followers, followers, followers, followers, followers, follower ..... Im trying to make.

One Instagram post, apparently uploaded after the murder based on the date stamps, showed Perez posing with a small statue of San Lazaro, the Cuban patron saint of the poor and the sick.

Pray for me. SH** JUST GOT REAL, he wrote in the caption.

Several hours after Perez was charged with the murder someone replied: Byeeee murderer.
By Wang Ying, China Daily | Mar. 05, 2020

Chinese carriers have started resuming some of their domestic and international services that were suspended due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, while several global airlines have expressed optimism that the aviation market will see a strong rebound after the country brings the epidemic under control.

"Our services have been growing steadily since Feb 21. We expect more than half of the suspended flights to be operational by the middle of this month," said Zhang Wu'an, spokesperson of Shanghai-headquartered budget carrier Spring Airlines.

"The novel coronavirus outbreak around the Lunar New Year holiday dealt a great blow to the aviation sector this year," said Chen Zhuo, a senior analyst with China Merchants Securities.

Originally, this year's Spring Festival travel rush was supposed to extend to about 40 days from Jan 10 to Feb 18, with over 3 billion passengers trips, including 79 million passenger trips by air, according to Zhao Chenxin, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

However, the unexpected COVID-19 outbreak has kept people indoors, and the aviation sector saw passenger load slump to less than 20 percent in February, said Yu Nan, an industry analyst with Haitong Securities.

According to Yu, with the number of people returning to work increasing steadily, the aviation sector is seeing a gradual recovery.

By the end of February, China Eastern Airlines restarted 1,050 flights, with most of them catering to employees from Yunnan, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces working in areas like Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong.

The Shanghai-based carrier plans to restore more than 2,700 flights before March 28, and to operate about 1,300 flights on a daily basis.

Air China, which continued operating flights to 48 major international destinations, restored 1,105 flights by the end of February.

China Southern Airlines restored nearly 4,800 domestic flights as of Feb 27, with most of the flights connecting cities less hit by the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to the China News Service.

According to Zhang from Spring Airlines, the low-cost carrier famous for a load factor of more than 90 percent during peak travel seasons, the carrier currently has a load factor of below 50 percent.

Industry experts said aviation companies will see low load factors for a while, as it takes some time for demand to bounce back.

International carriers are also actively seeking possibilities to restore their flights to and from China.

Kamal Refaat, general manager of EgyptAir China, is currently in Cairo, Egypt, exploring the possibilities of resuming flights soon.

"We are confident about the China market. We believe the epidemic will be contained soon, and the impact will fade out as time goes by," said Refaat.

Michael Zhou, CEO of AirAsia China, said: "AirAsia will work with China to overcome the difficulties and we believe the worst is soon coming to an end!"

Refaat said: "We believe that the impact of the epidemic is only temporary, and the China market will see large growth afterward."
Elizabeth Warren Drops Out After Poor Super Tuesday Showing

Two days after she underwhelmed during the pivotal Super Tuesday contests, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), once a top contender for the Democratic Party nomination, announced shes suspending her campaign, months after polls showed her performing well nationwide.

I want to start with the news. I want all of you to hear it first, and I want you to hear it straight from me: Today, Im suspending our campaign for president, Warren said in confirming her campaigns end, according to an email from her campaign. I know how hard all of you have worked. I know how you disrupted your lives to be part of this. I know you have families and loved ones you could have spent more time with. You missed them and they missed you. And I know you have sacrificed to be here,

Warren, like fellow Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), had branded herself as a candidate who is a progressive fighter willing to take on a corrupt system. In 2019, she was drawing significant crowds before she released several policy plans, including her Medicare for All proposal, which was summarily panned by fellow rivals for being impossible to implement and too expensive.

Meanwhile, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party never fully embraced her message and instead has chosen Sanders, who, as in 2016, has generated a considerable amount of grassroots support and donors. Former Vice President Joe Biden, along with several other candidates who recently dropped out, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), took away any moderate voters that Warren hoped to garner.

Democratic presidential candidates (LR) former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Tom Steyer onstage prior to the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 25, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A pivotal moment in the electionand one that likely further doomed her campaignwas when news broke in January that Warren said Sanders had told her in 2018 that he didnt believe a woman could defeat President Donald Trump. The report led to a confrontation between Sanders and Warren on the debate stage, where Sanders denied that he made the assertion.

Trump, who has repeatedly called Warren Pocahontas in reference to her claim that she has Native American ancestry, even weighed in and told reporters at the time that he doesnt believe that Sanders said those words. I dont know him. I dont particularly like him  but its not his deal, Trump said.

Warrens prospects of securing the nomination were dampened even more after she finished fourth in Iowa and third in New Hampshire, located near her home state of Massachusetts. The poor showings prompted her to pillory Bloomberg in his first debate, accusing him of making crude comments about women and using the controversial stop-and-frisk policing method while he was New York mayor.

Super Tuesday was the final nail in Warrens proverbial coffin after she finished in third place in her home state of Massachusetts and garnered only a handful of delegates compared to the hundreds that both Sanders and Biden obtained.

We have shown that it is possible to build a grassroots movement that is accountable to supporters and activists and not to wealthy donorsand to do it fast enough for a first-time candidate to build a viable campaign, Warren said in her email. Never again can anyone say that the only way that a newcomer can get a chance to be a plausible candidate is to take money from corporate executives and billionaires. Thats done.

With Warren out, it leaves the nomination race essentially between Sanders and Biden. After dropping out in recent days, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, and Buttigieg have endorsed Biden, who also picked up an endorsement from former Democratic 2020 contender Rep. Beto ORourke during a pre-Super Tuesday rally in Texas.
NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Logicalis Group, the international IT solutions and managed services provider, today announced it has achieved Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Services Provider (MSP) status, one of only 65 firms globally to achieve such accreditation out of more than 60,000 cloud partners.

The Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP) program is a global initiative from Microsoft to highlight and promote the most capable Azure Expert MSPs. The program makes it easier for customers to discover MSPs in their region for their cloud projects and migrations.

Logicalis recently announced its new brand positioning as "Architects of Change", reinforcing the company's investment in its customers' digital transformation. The announcement today of its Azure Expert MSP status further demonstrates the company's commitment on this path.

Azure Expert MSPs complete a rigorous audit by an independent third party and have to provide multiple customer references of Azure managed services projects delivered over the last 12 months. To retain the accreditation, expert partners are audited on an ongoing basis.

Logicalis assists customers on their cloud journey at every step, from assessment to migration, management and optimization. As an Azure Expert MSP, customers can expect superior service when entering into a managed service agreement with Logicalis.

Bob Bailkoski, Logicalis Group CEO comments, "Logicalis is dedicated to supporting customers with their cloud transformation, accelerating their ability to innovate and adapt. As Architects of Change, Logicalis will continue to invest in superior skills, technology, systems and processes. The opportunities shared by Microsoft and its partners have never been stronger than they are today, and we are proud to be part of this elite group of global Microsoft accredited cloud managed service providers."

About Logicalis

Logicalis is an international solutions provider of digital services currently accelerating the digital transformation of its 10,000 customers around the world.

Through a globally connected network of specialist hubs, sector-leading experts (in education, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, retail and telecommunications) and strategic partnerships (including Cisco, Microsoft, HPE, IBM, NetApp, Oracle, ServiceNow, and VMware), Logicalis has more than 6,500 employees focused on understanding customer priorities and enhancing their experience.

As Architects of Change, Logicalis' focus is to design, support, and execute customers' digital transformation by bringing together their vision with its technological expertise and industry insights. The company, through its deep knowledge in key IT industry drivers such as Security, Cloud, Data Management and IoT, can address customer priorities such as revenue and business growth, operational efficiency, innovation, risk and compliance, data governance and sustainability.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of $1.7 billion, from operations in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Africa. It is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with revenues of over $4.3 billion.

For more information, visit https://www.logicalis.com/

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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday moved to simplify capital rules, a long-expected change that banks have been pushing for  and one that sharply divided central bank officials.

The Fed has been in the process of overhauling its approach to capital rules for nearly two years. From the outset, the changes sought to combine capital requirements determined by stress tests  hypothetical exercises that check on how much money a bank would need on hand to keep lending and manage losses in times of financial stress  and a separate set of requirements.

The idea was to make capital rules for banks, cobbled together in the aftermath of the financial crisis, less redundant and more straightforward.

But banks pushed back on the Feds initial proposal for the combined standard, which the Fed calls the stress capital buffer  asking for an even more streamlined approach. Randal K. Quarles, the central banks vice chair for supervision and regulation, laid out a set of changes in 2019 that responded to those concerns.
Euro Motors Bahrain, the authorised dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Bahrain, celebrated winning one of just four possible awards at the Rolls-Royce Regional Dealer Conference  taking home the esteemed Engage accolade for exceptional Customer Relations Management, Sales and Ownership Services.

The event embraced the theme of Performing while Transforming and celebrated the many successes of Rolls-Royce dealers in the region.

Cesar Habib, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Regional Director for Middle East and Africa, said: Congratulations to Euro Motors for this amazing achievement. The award is a testament to the hard work carried out by Euro Motors Rolls-Royce Motor Cars team.

David McGoldrick, Rolls-Royce Euro Motors General Manager, said: To win in the Engage category at this years Rolls-Royce Regional Dealer Conference is a great accolade for Euro Motors Bahrain. Its the perfect thank you to a team who are always achieve ultimate satisfaction for the customer. - TradeArabia News Service
The fast-spreading coronavirus is forcing travelers to reconsider their trips.

As of Wednesday, the virus has sickened more than 94,000 people and 3,200 have died. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends avoiding all nonessential travel to China, Iran, South Korea and Italy, and says older adults or those with chronic medical conditions should postpone travel to Japan.

In response to this new reality, some airlines and hotels are adjusting their usual cancellation fees. And more people are beefing up their travel insurance coverage. Here's what you need to know:

AIRLINES: The situation is fluid and flight cancellations and policies differ, so travelers should check airlines' web sites for updated information.

Most major airlines  including Delta, Emirates, Lufthansa, United and American - have suspended flights to mainland China through the end of April. Some have also suspended flights to Hong Kong, while others are flying there but on reduced schedules. Airlines have also reduced or suspended some flights to Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and northern Italy. Delta and American have suspended service to Milan through the end of April. Delta's summer flights between New York and Venice, which usually begin April 1, have been pushed back to May 1.

Airlines will refund money for canceled flights, waive change fees for one-time itinerary changes or let customers use the value of the ticket toward future travel. But watch the fine print: If travelers switch to a flight this summer, for example, they could be charged the difference in the fare between their old flight and the new flight.

To ease travelers' minds, some airlines  including British Airways, Delta, United, JetBlue and American  are waiving future change fees for tickets bought in the next two weeks.

CRUISE SHIPS: Cruise lines have been moving Asia-based ships to other destinations such as Australia and Alaska and are turning away potential travelers who have recently traveled in Iran, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Macau, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group. Some cruise lines, including Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, are also denying boarding to passengers who traveled through northern Italy.

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Cancellation policies vary. Royal Caribbean says U.S. guests on cruises in Asia departing before March 23 can rebook their trips to a later date with no penalty. Guests who can't board because they have traveled in certain regions will get refunds, Royal Caribbean said.

Norwegian Cruise Lines is letting guests transfer a reservation to another cruise up to 60 days prior to departure for cruises sailing on or before June 30. It usually requires changes 120 days before departure. Those who decide not to sail can transfer the reservation to someone else up to 45 days before departure.

HOTELS: Big hotel chains are waiving cancellation fees for guests who had planned to travel to or from affected areas.

Marriott  which has temporarily closed 90 of its 375 hotels in China  is waiving cancellation fees through March 15 for hotels in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Italy. Guests travelling from those countries can also cancel without a fee.

Hilton has closed 150 hotels in China due to the virus. It is waiving cancellation fees for China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia through March 31 and Italy through March 8.

Hyatt has waived cancellation fees through March 31 for hotels and guests in China, South Korea, Japan and Italy.

HOME SHARING: Airbnb is letting travelers going to and from China cancel their reservations without a penalty through April 1. Fees will also be waived for guests traveling to or from South Korea through March 9. The company says it will also waive cancellation fees in other locations if government or health authorities restrict access to cities, if flights are canceled or if guests are diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspect they could be ill.

TRAVEL INSURANCE: More people who are sticking to their travel plans are paying extra for the right to get reimbursed after canceling a trip for any reason. InsureMyTrip said there has been a 60% spike in cancel for any reason riders since late January, shortly before the World Health Organization called the outbreak a global health emergency. Any-reason policies usually reimburse buyers for 50% to 75% of the nonrefundable cost of their trip. They generally must be purchased at the same time the buyer pays for the trip, or soon after.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-06 03:18:42|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Nassif Hitti signed the Agadir Agreement on the sidelines of the Arab League Council meeting in Cairo, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

Agadir, a free trade agreement between Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, aims at increasing trade exchange between member states, as well as with the European Union, increasing economic integration and industrialization through the application of the Pan Euro-Med Rules of Origin in addition to attracting European and global foreign direct investment.

Hitti noted that this agreement opens the markets of member countries in front of Lebanese agricultural and industrial exports.

The agreement was launched in Morocco in 2001 and it was signed by member countries in Rabat in 2004 while it entered into force in 2007. Enditem
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister



Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said he has got reports that Congress MLA Hardeep Singh Dang has resigned, but has not yet received any formal communication in this regard from him.

Dang's purported resignation letter is making rounds on social media and efforts to contact him for confirmation proved futile.

According to Congress sources, Dang is among four MLAs allegedly taken away by the BJP to Bengaluru. However, the BJP has denied the Congress charge of poaching its MLAs.

"Hardeep Singh Dang is an MLA of our party. I have received reports about his resignation. However, till now I have not received any letter in this regard or held discussion with him or personally met him.

"Till I speak to him in this regard, it is not proper to say anything further," Nath was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his media coordinator Narendra Saluja.

Assembly Speaker N P Prajapati, too, said he has not received any resignation letter from Dang, the MLA from Suvasra in Mandsaur district.

I have received of Hardeep Singh Dangs resignation. He has not handed over the resignation letter in person to me.

"Whenever he will do so personally, I will consider it as per the rules and take necessary action," Prajapati said.

In his purported resignation letter, Dang has alleged he is feeling neglected since the last 14 months and no minister is ready to do work related to his constituency.

The letter, dated March 5, is addressed to the Assembly Speaker.

The people of Suvasra have elected him twice. Fourteen months have passed and I have been neglected. No minister is ready to work.

"Middlemen and corrupt persons are sitting in the government. I have to make many rounds of Bhopal for peoples minor works, but nothing happens," the letter said.

I am the only (Congress) MLA from the Ujjain division and from the Mandsaur parliamentary constituency, but neither I have been made a minister nor any development work is taking place in my area," it further said.

Reacting to the development, state BJP president V D Sharma said, "Not only public, but even Congress MLAs are suffering under the Kamal Nath government.

"MLA Hardeep Singh Dang has resigned because he was not able to get common people's work done by this government which is sunk deep into corruption."



The Congress has alleged that in order to topple the 14-month-old Nath government, the BJP has "abducted" MLAs of the ruling party and its allies.

However, the BJP has denied the charges and termed the current crisis as a result of infighting and dissatisfaction among Congress legislators.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two new infections of coronavirus were detected in Senegal on Wednesday, bringing to four the number of people infected in the sub-Saharan nation, health officials said.

One of the new patients was a 68-year-old woman, a French resident who had arrived in Senegal on February 29. Her 80-year-old husband tested positive for the COVID-19 virus on Tuesday, the health ministry said in a statement.

Wednesday's second confirmed case was that of a 33-year-old man who arrived in Dakar from London on February 24.

The first virus case in Senegal, discovered on Monday, marked just the second infection in sub-Saharan Africa.

Experts have expressed concern over the continent's vulnerability to outbreaks of contagious diseases.

The first sub-Saharan case was recorded last week in Nigeria, where an Italian national returned with the virus from his home country

The first coronavirus case on the African continent was in Egypt, where there are now two cases.

Three cases have also been identified in Algeria.
New Delhi: Insurance regulatory authority IRDAI has issued guidelines following the outbreak of coronavirus, asking insurance firms to expeditiously settle hospitalisation claims related to the disease under health policies.

IRDAI on Wednesday (March 4) instructed insurance companies to come out with policies to cover treatment costs for coronavirus infection that has impacted thousands of people across the world.

The IRDAI circular said, "For the purpose of meeting health insurance requirements of various sections, insurers are advised to design products covering the costs of treatment for coronavirus."

The circular stated, "Where hospitalisation is covered in a product, insurers shall ensure that the cases related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) shall be expeditiously handled."

Further, it said, "the costs of admissible medical expenses during the course of treatment, including the treatment during quarantine period, should be settled in accordance to the applicable terms and conditions of policy contract and the extant regulatory framework."

"All the claims reported under COVID-19 shall be thoroughly reviewed by review committee before repudiating the claims," the circular added.

The IRDAI instructions, which have been issued under the provisions of Section 14(2) (e) of IRDA Act, 1999, have to come into force with immediate effect.

In order to provide need-based health insurance coverage, insurers are introducing products for various specific diseases, including vector-borne diseases, the statement said.

On Wednesday, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said there are 28 cases of coronavirus in the country. The deadly virus, that originated in China late last year, continues to spread around the world, so far claimed over 3,000 lives globally, besides infecting over 90,000 people.

Over six lakh people have been screened for coronavirus at 21 airports, while more than 10 lakh incoming people at India's open borders with Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar have also been screened.
If coronavirus doesnt kill us it should at least shake us out of the delusion that we can keep ignoring the science and scientists who are warning about the long-term dangers to our way of life

Let us pray, now, for science.

Pray for empiricism and for epidemiology and for vaccines.

Pray for peer review and controlled double-blinds.

For flu shots, herd immunity and washing your hands.

Pray for reason, rigour and expertise.

Pray for the precautionary principle.

Pray for the NIH and the CDC.

Pray for the WHO.

And pray not just for science, but for scientists, too, as well as their colleagues in the application of science  the tireless healthcare workers, the whistleblowing first responders, the rumpled, righteous public servants whose long-ignored warnings we will learn about only when the 12-part coronavirus docu-disaster series drops on Netflix. Wish them all well in the fights ahead. Their weapons, the weapons of science, are all we have left  perhaps the only true weapons our kind has ever marshalled against encroaching oblivion.

It may sound paradoxical to plead for divine sanction of scientific pursuit. But these are dicey times for science and for scientists, and they need all the help they can get. As the coronavirus spreads, it is exposing the fraying seams of our overextended world. In societies as different as China and the United States, those seams are starting to look similar. The failures to contain the outbreak and to understand the scale and scope of its threat stem from an underinvestment in and an under-appreciation of basic science.

Sure, this is not exactly breaking news; decades of global environmental heedlessness paint a grim picture of modernitys responsiveness to scientific foreboding.

But this novel coronavirus illustrates the problem more acutely. If it doesnt kill us it should at least shake us out of the delusion that we can keep ignoring the science and scientists who are warning about the long-term dangers to our way of life. Religious texts say that societies face destruction when they forget God. The coronavirus, like the accelerating climate-related disaster, shows what we face when we decide to blind ourselves to science.

This is what happens when you ignore and silence frontline doctors who warn of impending disaster, as authorities in China did in the early days of the outbreak: a possible global epidemiological and economic catastrophe.

This is what happens when you gut the United States pandemic-response infrastructure, as Donald Trump has spent the last few years doing: A Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that botches the most basic defense against disease  testing for it.

I wish these were one-off errors that we could attribute to authoritarian Chinese Communism or routine Trumpian incompetence. But they point to an underlying global dysfunction, one that transcends political parties and styles of government.

Science has always faced threats. Its purpose is to shed light on truth, and there have always been those who would stifle the dangerous facts scientists unearth. But today the stakes are higher. How well fight the gravest threats humanity faces will depend on how governments and citizens understand and interpret the findings and cautions of science.

And what weve seen so far in the global response to the virus should frighten you. Our inattention to science is sometimes laid to Americans supposed scientific illiteracy, but the truth is more complicated. If its true that a lot of Americans dont know a lot about science, its because across American society, science is actively undermined, underfunded, ignored and suppressed.

On social networks and in too many corners of the mainstream media, scientific expertise is cloaked by a fog of propaganda, misinformation and scam ads for essential oils and that one mystery food every gut doctor in America is begging you to throw out. From the food industry to the drug industry to the oil and gas industry, corporate America routinely hides science under a haze of well-funded oppo. The gun industry did one better: Under legislation pushed for by the National Rifle Association, the federal government until recently was hamstrung in even funding scientific research into gun violence.

Our collective inability to communicate about science has thoroughly perverted our politics. Because science has become so deeply intertwined with partisan dogma, peoples very conception of scientific expertise has been hijacked by tribal reflex. Today, a lot of people seem to determine how much they trust scientists based on their political ideas, which is backward and bizarre.

What were left with is a society embarrassingly ignorant about the world around us. The vice president thinks smoking doesnt kill, condoms are very poor protection against disease, and the best way to curb an HIV outbreak is through prayer. Trump says global warming is a hoax and attempts at conservation are making American life too inconvenient.

Its not just politicians. The number of Americans who say vaccines are important is declining  and anti-vax conspiracies cross partisan divides, finding fans among Northern California hippies and some corners of the GOP.

Hence my call for divine intervention. Science and scientists face crushing opposition. In addition to silent-spreading disease and a burning planet, they must take on the moneyed, the godly, the dictatorial and Mike Pence.

If we wont support them and wont listen to them, the least we can do is pray.

Farhad Manjoo c.2020 The New York Times Company
Klein ISD students laughed and chatted with staff and teachers while covered in fake blood smeared on their faces and fake bones made to look like they were sticking out of their skin.

The students boarded a school bus on its side before professionals with Klein Fire Department, Cypress Creek EMS and Harris County Hazardous Materials response team came to rescue them in full force.

Related: Klein ISD Police Department prepares officers with EMT training

The Klein ISD Multipurpose Center hosted a mock bus crash March 3 for local emergency medical services and first response agencies to practice handling accidents involving students with disabilities, and possible fatalities. Representatives from agencies including the Cypress Creek Fire Department and Spring Fire Department also participated, while representatives from Spring ISD Police Department, Cy-Fair ISD Police Department and Harris County Precinct 4 Constables observed the training. Klein ISD police served as safety precautions for students, but no law enforcement participated otherwise.

Weve got two special needs buses involved in an accident, Klein ISD Police Chief David Kimberly said, describing the simulation. The one on the far side actually hit this one in the side, causing it to roll over and now theyve locked together. Weve got nine special needs students on the buses and a call has been made to the local fire departments, EMS that weve had an accident.

Rex Evans, emergency management coordinator for Klein ISD, organized the event. Students were prepared with moulage makeup, or special effects makeup, and first responders were not given warning in terms of what they were walking into when the call was initiated. Firefighters were told not to use the doors, opting to saw open windshields to extract the actors before escorting them out by hand or on a stretcher depending on their status.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston lightning strike survivor meets the citizens who saved his life

This particular exercise is my tenth one that Ive done but this is only the second one Ive done that centered around special needs children, Evans said. Its because I have a special needs child and Ive been a fireman and a policeman. I know that we need to train in that area. We need to do better.

Kimberly said the students participating in the simulation are criminal justice students from around the district, who were given assignments as part of the simulation. Students were meant to act as a person with a disability after writing a paper about their assigned disability and injuries. For example, one student was playing a paraplegic crash victim who could not feel a compound fracture in their shin.

Each one of them belongs to the Klein Police Department practicum where they actually come to our department two hours a day, two times a week, Kimberly said. Were running them through, basically, our field training program. Im super excited that we just started working on dual credit for that program and thats another pathway that Klein ISD is going to be able to offer our students in the criminal justice field.

Daniel Pressley, Klein Cain student who participated in the simulation, said he and his classmates studied and researched their roles before the event.

We just did a little bit of research trying to get everything done and tried to play our roles as best as we could, Pressley said.

Megan Stillwell, Klein High School junior, put the moulage makeup on each participant in the bus. Stillwell said she has been practicing moulage since middle school, and was referred for the simulation by Norm Uhl, Cypress Creek EMS public information officer. Megan said she previously worked on similar projects before.

One simulation was a multiple car pile-up with a bunch of different fire departments and EMS companies and another one was with the Bush Intercontinental Airport, she said. It was a plane crash simulation. This is mostly a networking thing. Its just getting my name out there, obviously. I knew Norm and now I know a lot more people now.

Although Life Flight was unable to make the simulation event due to ongoing calls, the collaborating agencies successfully removed all of the actors from the buses. Evans said he hopes to host more simulations soon with local agencies.

This is a pretty high degree of difficulty, he said. Its an intense test. I want to thank everybody. This is a big deal and all of the other school districts and our administration stood by and we pulled this off.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
NASHVILLE - President Donald Trump will visit disaster areas in Tennessee on Friday, just days after storms that whipped across the state left 24 dead and many more injured.

Trump will be joined by Gov. Bill Lee, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and other top officials during his visit.

Trump approved a disaster declaration Thursday, making federal funding available to those affected by the storms in Davidson, Putnam and Wilson counties, the White House said. More assistance may be designated as damage assessments continue.

The first tornado began early Tuesday morning, creating a more than 50-mile (80-kilometre) trail of destruction well after midnight. A second tornado then exploded through communities farther east of Nashville, causing in most of the deaths.

The National Weather Service said that was an EF-4 tornado, categorized as extreme, with winds between 166 and 200 mph (267-321 kph). Local officials have said it was on the ground for about 2 miles (3 kilometres).

The White House hasnt specified exactly where Trump will visit.
As Donald Trump boasts about the latest opinion polls about his handling of the coronavirus threat, the man who occupied the Oval Office just before him is taking a bit of a different approach to the virus that has left 11 people dead in the United States so far.

Protect yourself and your community from coronavirus with common sense precautions: wash your hands, stay home sick and listen to the @CDCgov and local health authorities, Barack Obama tweeted.

He continued: Save the masks for health care workers. Lets stay calm, listen to the experts, and follow the science.

Over three years after Mr Obama left the presidency, the approach of the two men to world events still leads to quick comparisons  with critics of the current president noting that Mr Trump often tends to make issues a reflection of his greatness.

Gallup Poll numbers on the handling of this situation are outstanding, the best, Mr Trump wrote on Sunday. Thank you!

The coronavirus has been spreading in the United States at an increasingly alarming rate in recent days, with 153 confirmed cases reported and 11 deaths.

The deaths have been recorded in Washington State  where 10 of those deaths were recorded in two different counties  as well as in California, where a fatality was tallied in Placer County.

A total of eight cases have been designated as recovered in the United States, including patients in Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington, California and Wisconsin.

All told, there have been over 95,000 cases of the coronavirus in the United States, with over 80,000 of those being registered in mainland China.

Beyond China, the outbreak has been felt most in South Korea, Italy and Iran.

The CDC and US officials have claimed that the best way to minimise the threat of catching the virus is to wash hands thoroughly and to avoid touching the face.
A surge in funding to Irish startups and tech companies saw the total value of venture capital investment in Ireland rise to 820m last year, according to new figures from the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA).

The funding - a jump from the 740m committed in 2018 - was driven by a doubling of VC cash in the last quarter to 253m and a spike in 'seed' or early stage funding to startups. About 76m was invested last year compared to 49m the year before. Software companies attracted 39pc of funds in 2019 and life sciences firms 20pc.

"While 2019 was below the peak of 994m in 2017, a small number of large deals can have a significant impact," said IVCA chairman Neil McGowan, who is head of investments at MML Growth Capital Partners.

"The impact of Enterprise Ireland's new 175m seed and venture capital scheme is starting to be felt in the Irish marketplace."

The figures emerged from the IVCA's VenturePulse survey, published with William Fry. They show that deals valued at 5m to 10m rose by 175pc to 102m in 2019.

"This is important, as these amounts are typically raised by scaling companies that are at a critical stage in terms of expansion in employment and revenues," said IVCA director-general Sarah-Jane Larkin.

The IVCA figures cover equity funds raised by Irish SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and other SMEs headquartered on the island of Ireland.
To meet energy needs, the government is considering nuclear power. The dossier awaits Duterte's signature. Archbishop Alminaza: nuclear disasters "powerful and painful reminder" of the dangers related to technology. Focusing on renewables as a "cheaper and safer" source requires a green commitment "for the care of our common home".

Manila (AsiaNews / Cbcp) - After the hard confrontations of the past on the fight against drugs and the campaign against extremist groups in Mindanao, there is a risk of a new rift between the Filipino bishops and the government of President Rodrigo Duterte over energy concerns. The governemnt seems to be considering nuclear to meet the needs and fuel the industrial development of the country

The atomic disasters of Chernobyl, Fukushima and Three Mile Island show that nuclear power "carries risks" which, to put it simply, "is not worth taking". This was stated by Msgr. Gerardo Alminaza, bishop of the diocese of San Carlos, in the province of Negros Occidental, in the west of the archipelago. The prelate, who has long been at the forefront of the fight for clean energy and renewables, stresses that "the three accidents occurred in countries with far more advanced technology, infrastructure and experience than the Philippines".

"[These incidents] are a powerful, though painful reminder of the risks related to nuclear power - says the prelate - to which the Philippines have no need to expose themselves". Msgr. Alminaza stated in response to government proposal to invest in nuclear energy that is awaiting Duterte's approval.

An executive meeting was held on March 2, in which the Minister of Energy Alfonso Cusi illustrated the nuclear plan for the nation. Commenting on reports, the bishop of San Carlos hopes that the president will not turn his back on his appeal, which calls for the development of renewable energies which represent a "cheaper and safer" source than a possible nuclear "holocaust".

On several public occasions, Duterte criticized members of the Church with violent and often vulgar tones, inviting also to "kill" them because they are "useless". Since his election, bishops and priests have censored some of the government's policies. These included the bloody war on drugs, which caused around 5,000 deaths and the imposition of martial law on Mindanao.

This time Msgr. Alminaza hopes that the response from the head of state will be different and that he will not sign the executive order, strengthening his commitment to "green" and renewable energies. "This - concludes the prelate - would be truly beneficial for our people and a concrete act for the care of our common home"
(CNN)  BMW's round logo is receiving its first redesign in more than two decades.

The German automaker's refreshed logo ditches the black ring for a transparent circle. The rest of it, including the typeface, has a flatter and more modern look. The blue and white emblem inside the ring remains.

The new logo, which will be used in BMW's communications efforts, including its social media platforms and website, is meant to "radiate more openness and clarity," Jans Thiemer, BMW's senior vice president of customer and brand, said in a statement on the company's website. He added that the new look also symbolizes BMW's "significance and relevance for mobility and driving pleasure in the future."

A spokesperson said there are "no plans" for the new logo to appear on production vehicles, although BMW emblazoned it on the hood of its Concept i4 vehicle, a electric car aimed at Tesla that made its debut Tuesday. The company said that the transparent design gives the car's exterior color "even greater prominence."

BMW's previous logo made its debut in 1997. The company has had six logos in its 103-year-old history, all of them largely similar.

Fans have long speculated that the inside of the most recent logo represents a propeller, but BMW explained that the white and blue pattern in fact represents its German home state of Bavaria. The "propeller myth," as the company described it on its website, originated from the company's old ads that promoted its airplane engines.

Doug Sellers, executive creative director for design firm Siegel+Gale, told CNN Business that the new logo is an improvement and that it feels "more open and accessible" to younger customers that are digitally savvy.

BMW is the second German automaker within the past six months to unveil a new look. Volkswagen premiered a flat logo at the Frankfurt Auto Show, saying it was the "right time to make the new attitude of our brand visible to the outside world."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "BMW redesigns its iconic logo."
The Students Union of India workers on Thursday held a protest against the North-East Delhi violence that claimed the lives of 47 people.

Protesters shouted slogans against the central government and carried posters with messages against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

They also chanted slogans of Hindu and Muslim unity and "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

"We are here (protesting) to put a stop to the votebank and hate being played by the BJP," said a protester.

NSUI workers also carried pictures of freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh.

"We want to give a message that this country belongs to Gandhiji. We will not allow this country to become a country of hate. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians have lived in harmony and will continue to live in harmony," one protestor told ANI.

At least 47 people were killed and around 200 people sustained serious injuries in the violence that hit North-East Delhi recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai: Its not often that a book-launch event witnesses lawmakers repeatedly break out in laughter and thump their benches in appreciation. But then, this was different.

It is only because of you that I have to speak on Budget as the CM, Uddhav Thackeray told Devendra Fadnavis in a jam-packed auditorium where Maharashtra legislators had come to attend the inauguration of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders book, 'Budget in Simple Words'.

There was much cheering, pounding of seats and general hilarity as chief minister Thackeray, his deputy Ajit Pawar and Speaker Nana Patole ribbed Fadnavis.

Budget is such an important part of the government. I am now coming to understand things better. I wonder, shouldn't demonetisation have been included in the Budget itself? I am just asking. It was such an important measure, the CM told an audience comprising Maharashtra's MLAs and MLCs at the central auditorium of Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai.

My friendship with Dada (Ajit Pawar) is new. But I have a request to make of you now. Please keep writing such books each year, so we will know how we can improve. Keep writing such books for the coming five-ten years, while we move ahead with governance, the Shiv Sena chief told Fadnavis as laughter echoed in the auditorium.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar too didn't leave the opportunity to taunt Fadnavis. You are such a fantastic writer. I would urge your party leadership to utilise these skills of yours. In fact, I am going to suggest to your party that you are so talented that such talent is needed more in Delhi. They should take you there. Am sure, all the 288 MLAs here will support this wholeheartedly. And I swear, Sudhir Mungantiwar (senior BJP leader) will be the happiest, he said, cracking up the audience.

Fadnavis, former chief minister of Maharashtra and the leader of opposition in the assembly, has authored several books. He had previously penned a book on the Budget, but wrote a new one after several rules about it changed. My idea was, I should write the book for commoners who don't understand technicalities. This book isn't for scholars. The idea is, one should be able to finish reading it in 40 minutes, not even 45 minutes, he said about the 51-page book.
TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Despite improvements worldwide, fifty-four countries imposed greater restrictions on the economic rights of women over a recent two-year period, finds a new study released by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank, in recognition of International Womens Day on March 8.



Economic freedom is the ability of individuals to own property, decide what to buy, where to work, whether to start a business, engage in trade or even open a bank account.

In countries where men and women enjoy the same economic rights, women live longer, healthier lives while also benefiting society by increasing economic activity and prosperity, said Rosemarie Fike, Fraser Institute senior fellow, economics instructor at Texas Christian University and author of this years Women and Progress report.

This years report, Women's Economic RightsWhat's Changed and Why Does It Matter? tracks changes in economic freedom for women around the world and finds that 83 countries improved womens economic rights from 2016 to 2018.

But again, during the same two-year period, 54 countries imposed greater restrictions on womens economic rights.

For instance, currently, 37 countries restrict the ability of married women to obtain passports, and 17 restrict their ability to simply travel outside their home.

Whats more, 13 countries restrict a womans right to own property, and 39 countries restrict their ability to inherit property. And in five countriesCameroon, Chad, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau and Nigerthere are even restrictions on a womans ability to open a bank account.

This International Womens Day, lets take meaningful steps to improve the lives of women and girls everywhere by encouraging equal access to the institutions that help protect economic rights and allow women worldwide the ability to make their own economic decisions, Fike said.

The Women and Progress report is part of the Fraser Institutes internationally-renowned Economic Freedom of the World .

For a free PDF download and more information, visit www.womenandprogress.org .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rosemarie Fike, Senior Fellow

Fraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:

Bryn Weese, Fraser Institute

(604) 688-0221 ext. 589

bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org

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This photo showing Crewmembers of the Cameroonian-registered Courageous was released by Cambodia's National Police. The Courageous is suspected to have been involved in ship-to-ship transfers with North Korea in violation of UN Sanctions.

Authorities in Cambodia Thursday officially charged 16 crewmembers of a ship suspected in breaking sanctions on North Korea that anchored in Cambodian waters last week after being expelled from Taiwan.

The Courageous, a Cameroonian-registered tanker, is believed to have engaged in ship-to-ship transfers of oil and other banned goods to North Korea in violation of UNSC resolutions 2375 and 2397, which established sanctions on Pyongyang that would limit North Koreas ability to acquire cash and resources to funnel into its nuclear program.

The 16 crewmembers were charged by Sihanoukville Provincial Court Judge Kuon Chantha with violating both Article 29 of Cambodias Immigration Law, which forbids entering Cambodia clandestinely or by fraud or through any illegal means; and Articles 11 and 74 of the Law on Customs, which forbids smuggling.

A court document issued Thursday states that the court will not detain the crew, instead allowing them to remain on their ship, which cannot leave Cambodian waters.

A reconstruction of the path taken by the tanker ship MT Courageous over the past year before it was seized by Cambodian authorities at the port of Sihanoukville on Feb. 28. Cambodia police have said the Courageous encroached on Cambodian waters and is suspected of violating U.N. resolutions for transferring cargo with North Korean ships. The vessel passed by the coast of Chinas Zhejiang province on Sept 4, 2019. It can also be seen entering and exiting the Taiwanese port of Kaoshsiung around Dec 15. It was finally seized off the southern coast of Cambodia and taken to Sihanoukville. Credit: MarineTraffic.com



An official of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) told RFAs Khmer Service that the charges were not strong enough.

The charges are light. If the ship could get away from the police, it could be very dangerous to the country since [the crews] intention was to act in deliberate violation of the UN Security Councils decision [on North Korea], said Cheap Sotheary, ADHOCs provincial coordinator for Sihanoukville.

Police Spokesman Chay Kim Khoeun, told RFA that the ship was detained for violating Cambodian sovereignty.

The person in charge of the ship said it was Cameroonian and they had recently departed Taiwan, said Chay.

He added that while investigating the ship for its illegal entry into Cambodian territory, they became aware that it was suspected the ship-to-ship transfers with North Korea.

In a statement Sunday, the General Commissariat of National Police said the vessel was found to be illegally anchored in Cambodian waters between Koh Tang and Koh Poulo Wai, uninhabited islands in the Gulf of Siam southwest of the country. The ship had previously been expelled from Taiwan.

According to the police statement, the tanker had been anchored there since Feb 27 to await new orders from its owner and was seized a day later.

The United Nations Security Council has over the past decade imposed a raft of economic sanctions on North Korea to deprive Pyongyang of supplies, resources and revenue that could be funneled into its nuclear and missile programs.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Congress MP Revanth Reddy has been arrested in Hyderabad on Thursday for allegedly illegal filming of the farmhouse owned by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president and minister KT Rama Rao on the city outskirts on Monday.

After his arrest, the Malkajgiri MP, who is also the working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), was remanded to 14-days judicial custody.

He was picked up by the police at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad in the evening, soon after he returned from Delhi and was shifted to Narsingi police station.

An official statement from Cyberabad police, however, said Revanth came to the police station and surrendered before he was arrested by the police after due procedure.

He was booked under Section 188, 287, 109 and 120 (b) of Indian Penal Code, besides Section 11 (a) of the Aircraft Act, the police said.

The police statement said Reddy argued that his name shouldnt appear in the FIR before he was confronted with evidence.

We explained to him about his involvement and showed him the evidence. Since he refused to cooperate with the police, he was arrested following due procedure, the police said.

The police told him that using drone cameras without permission was a crime. Five of his followers have already been arrested and remanded.

On Monday, Reddy, along with former Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and other followers, went to Janwada village under the Gandipet gram panchayat of Ranga Reddy district with an intention to disclose that a farmhouse belonging to KTR, son of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was allegedly built illegally in about eight acres of land.

Reddy alleged that the farm house was built in violation of a government order prohibiting constructions within a 10-kilometer radius of the Himayatsagar and Osmansagar tanks. He claimed that KTR had spent 25 crore to build the farmhouse on the land worth 250 crore.

The MP allegedly used drone cameras to film the farmhouse and its surrounding structures to show as evidence to the media.

While Reddy and others were trying to barge into the farmhouse premises, the police reached there and stopped them. Reddy was taken into custody briefly for resisting the police.

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Dublin, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "5th Annual Medical Device Summit 2020" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Key Attractions



Innovate novel ideas for advancements in medical device technologies without compromising their safety and effectiveness. This summit brings together some of the renowned R&D experts and technology innovators to share information regarding opportunities, obstacles, best practices and challenges in the development of the new devices. Attendees will get insight into device innovation trends and upcoming changes in the medical device regulations.



Plan for successfully executing regulatory inspections by providing industry best practices. Panel discussions led by the former FDA office bearers and industry experts will provide a set of comprehensive strategies on how to prepare for and manage an FDA inspection, including how to follow-up and closing out 483s or Warning Letters. Attending this summit will enable you to improve and better prepare for your next inspections.



Build FDA compliant quality management systems. Attend this summit to learn how to develop and implement effective, consistent and reliable quality management systems. Ex-FDA officials and senior company executives will share thoughts and ideas to improve the performance of your current system.



Interact with leading minds in the industry. Attendees will get to network with the prominent decision-makers in the industry to exchange ideas, offer thoughts and know-how, and share experiences. Joining this summit will offer a unique opportunity to the attendees to market their offerings and identify new business opportunities.



Deliberate the current state of medical device laws and technology and government oversight. Panel comprising of some of leading medical device experts and veterans will discuss the recent changes to the regulatory environment for the medical device industry and how these changes will impact the approval of new devices. Attendees will gain insight into the current issues and future challenges in the industry. Join this summit to hear from the experts who have extensive experience in all aspects of medical device including R&D, manufacturing quality assurance, approval and commercialization process.



Scale factors for successful medical device commercialization. Discussions with industry veterans through real case studies will help medical researchers, healthcare professionals, industrialists and entrepreneurs' better understand the criteria's for successful commercialization of medical devices. This summit also offers numerous opportunities for medical device companies and suppliers to showcase their products and services to potential customers, generating leads and growing their businesses.



Enhance risk management strategies for the safe, effective and efficient use of medical devices. Medical device professionals will join together to share their knowledge and best practices for implementing good risk management principles within the industry. Attending this summit will help you to develop a robust and integrated risk management plan to improve the quality management system.



Why You Should Attend This Summit

Future Trends of Medical Device Regulation, Risk Management, UDI, Recall Complaint Management etc.

Listen from FDA/CDRH Directors: What is Critical to Quality Get Update on FDA compliance

Listen from FBI: Cyber Security Risks

Learn More about Medical Device Global Regulatory Landscape and Off-label Promotion

Explore Upcoming Changes in Medical Devices under the Trump Administration

Change Management

Criteria for Supplier Quality Agreement

Establishing a Medical Device Security Program

Panel Discussion FDA Warning Letter FDA Enforcement FDA Interaction



Agenda



Day 01



8:00 - 8:30 AM - Registrations and Breakfast



8:30 - 8:45 AM - Welcome Speech with an Introduction of ComplianceOnline & Summit



8:45 - 9:10 AM - FDA Enforcement - Outlook & Implications - Keynote

FDA Invited (ORA)



9:15 - 9:45 AM - CDRH Office of Compliance Strategic Priorities and Hot Topics in Compliance - Keynote

FDA Invited (CDRH)



9:45 - 10:15 AM - Current Healthcare Eco-System: Challenges & Opportunities - Keynote

Coy Murchison, Chief Strategy Officer, Berry Herring Hayes & Associates



10:15 - 10:35 AM - Global Medical Device Regulations - US, EU, Canada, Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan

John Riggi, President and CEO, Lake Ontario MED DEV Consultants



10:35 - 10:45 AM - Networking Break



10:45 - 11:20 AM - GDPR 2020: The evolution of general data protection and the rights of individuals over their own data.

L. Stephan Vincze, President & CEO, Trestle Compliance, LLC (Former Counsel, U. S. House of Representatives Committee)

11:25 - 12:00 PM - Artificial Intelligence in Medical Device - Keynote

FDA Invited (CDRH)



12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lunch



1:00 - 1:35 PM - FDA Communication Power Tools

Kwame Ulmer, Principal, Ulmer Ventures (Ex-FDA)



1:40 - 2:00 PM - Medical Device Outsourcing, Supply Chain Management and new Foreign Trade Problems for Import/ Export Business

Casper E. Uldriks, Former Associate, Center Director of FDA's CDRH



2:00 - 2:30 PM - Vendor and Supplier Qualification and Selection.

Casper E. Uldriks, Former Associate, Center Director of FDA's CDRH



2:30 - 2:45 PM - Networking Break



Track A - Sessions

2:45 - 3:15 PM - 3D Printing

3:25 - 3:50 PM - Wearable Device



Track B - Sessions



2:45 - 3:15 PM - MDR Implementation - Status, Next Steps and (revised) Timelines

Bill Enos, Senior Commercial Operations Director, Regulatory Services (Medical Devices) Americas, BSI Group

How to prepare for May 26, 2020, for devices using the soft transition

Art 120(3)

Economic Operators

PMS/Vigilance

Market Surveillance

NB audits under MDR

EUDAMED status update

3:25 - 3:50 PM - Software as a Medical Device - What to consider?

Royth v. Hahn, Global head of TUV SUD's Business Unit, Medical and Health Services (MHS)

Software as a medical device under MDR

Apps as medical devices

Software as part of a medical device

Classification under MDR

App Stores in regards to economic operators: status of the discussion

Day 02



8:00 - 8:30 AM - Registration and Breakfast



8:30 - 9:00 AM - NanoEHS Risk Assessment Lessons for Medical Devices - Keynote Speech



9:05 - 9:35 AM - Protecting Company Revenues with Product Compliance - Keynote

Kelly Eisenhardt, Managing Director & Co-Founder, BlueCircle Advisors



9:40 - 10:00 AM - Medical Device Advertising and Promotion: Compliant Marketing Communication Practices in the Age of Social Media

Howard L. Dorfman, Esq., Adjunct Professor, Seton Hall University School of Law

10:00 - 10:20 AM - Exploring what is new in the FDA's approaches to premarket, post-market and Recalls in the medical devices area

Haja Sittana El Mubarak, PhD, Former FDA Official, Senior IVD consultant, Biologics Consulting Inc

10:20 - 10:35 AM - Networking Break



10:35 - 11:10 AM - Emerging Technologies of the Digital Health - Panel Discussion

Jyotsna Mehta, Founder, Keva Health (Ex-FDA)



11:15 - 11:40 AM - Medical Device Enhancements - Keynote

FDA Invited (CDRH)



11:45 - 12:15 PM - Cybersecurity, Machine Learning and IoT/IIoT

Zoe Braiterman, Consultant, GYMedical Device Consulting, LLC



12:15 - 1:15 PM - Lunch



1:15 - 1:50 PM - Quality Challenges and Risk Management (ISO 13485 and ISO 14971) - Panel Discussion



Track A - Sessions



1:50 - 2:20 PM - Combination Products

Archana Reddy, Ex-Regulatory Advisor/Public, Health Advocate, (FDA)



2:20 - 2:50 PM - Techincal Writing and Documentation



Track B - Sessions



1:50 - 2:20 PM - Cyber Security

Charlie Schick, Business Development, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Owl Cyber Defense



2:20 - 2:50 PM - CHANGE CONTROL - Is Your Change Management System Effective?

Stephanie Harrell, CQA (Former US FDA Investigator) Quality and Compliance Consultant, Auditor and Trainer, ProPharma Group

2:50 - 3:00 PM - Networking Break



3:00 - 3:30 PM - Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Nathan McBride, Vice President, Global IT, Orchard Therapeutics



3:30 - 3:50 PM - FDA Inspection - Keynote

FDA Invited (ORA)



3:50 - 4:15 PM - ISO 10993 and Biocompatibility - Workshop

Oleg Kornienko, External Service & Operations Quality Head, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR)



4:15 - 4:35 PM - Vote of Thanks & Participation Certificate Distribution



For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/h444t9

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
New laser defense system against autonomous drones developed by Ben-Gurion U. researcher

BEER-SHEVA, Israel...March 5, 2020 - A Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researcher has developed a laser-based defense system to defend against the next generation of autonomous attack drones in a wide range of homeland security settings.

Laser expert Prof. Amiel Ishaaya, deputy dean, BGU Faculty of Engineering Sciences, together with two industry associates, developed the new Light Blade system (Lahav-Or in Hebrew). The technology is being developed and commercialized in their new company, OptiDefense.

A basic version of Light Blade deployed by Israel's Border Police and paired with Elbit's SupervisIR threat detection system downed an unparalleled 90% of airborne incendiary and explosive-laden devices: kites and balloons in its field of fire that were lofted over the border from Gaza to Israel. Click here for video.

Since 2018, thousands of acres of land have been ignited by burning kites in Israel's Western Negev region, near the Gaza border. More recently, balloons carrying explosives are being launched into Israel.

Prof. Ishaaya recognized that existing Israeli defenses were ineffective. Together with associates Dr. Udi Ben-Ami and Dr. Rami Aharoni, and with enthusiastic support and funding from Border Police Commander Yaakov (Kobi) Shabtai, they developed a prototype laser that would hit the incendiary devices. Their system is based on a laser that is used for cutting thick plastic on greenhouses and fields.

The Light Blade technology system has a significant advantage since it can be used in urban environments, such as stadiums, and has an approximate range of several miles. The system operates day and night and when paired with Elbit's SupervisIR has a detection capability roughly equivalent to about 150 cameras standing side-by-side.

That's why a version is being developed to shoot down drones, as well. Current drone technology requires a communication link, either to its handler or to GPS, and electronic jamming systems can exploit that weakness - known as a "soft kill." However, future attack drones will be completely autonomous, navigating via onboard sensors and cameras and eschewing any sort of exploitable communication link. In order to neutralize them before they reach their target, a "hard kill" option, provided by Light Blade, is needed to attack and burn up the drone.

"In order to operate most high-powered laser defense systems, the airspace needs to be cleared for many kilometers, so the laser does not accidentally blind anyone," says Prof. Ishaaya. "Our technology uses a relatively low-power 'eye-safe' laser so airports, for example, could install our systems around the facility to provide complete coverage without endangering pilots or passengers or local populations."

OptiDefense is currently seeking investments to facilitate future development.

###

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) turns 50 this year, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more. AABGU, headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information visit http://www. aabgu. org .

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The CBSE on Thursday conducted the Class 12 accountancy exam at various centres across the country. The examination was held between 10.30am and 1.30pm. Here is an analysis of the exam based on the response of the students and teachers after the conclusion of the paper:

Chandigarh

Madhu Sharma who appeared at the GMSSS Sector 37 in Chandigarh said the paper was lengthy, I was hardly able to complete the examination. Many of my friends also had a tough time completing it. Many students left a couple of questions.

Check CBSE 12th Accountancy Question Paper here

Sulabh Singh, a private school student in Chandigarh said the one marker questions were easy but had more calculations than required, because of which overall the paper became lengthy. It took me over 45 minutes to complete the one marker questions.

Read more: CBSE Class 12 Physics exam 2020 analysis: What students said after the paper

CBSE 10th Hindi Analysis 2020: What students said after exam

Arti Anand, a teacher at a private city school said, the paper was lengthy but in comparison to the previous years it was overall easy. There was nothing out of syllabus.

Agartala

Anupam Roy, class 12 student of Kathiya Baba Higher Secondary School in Agartala said,  The Accountancy question paper was easy but lengthy. I answered to all the questions. I hope to score good marks.

Arijit Saha, accountancy teacher of Hindi Higher Secondary School, said,  The questions were fine as far concerned. Few of my students called me up after their exams. I hope, they will score good marks.

Lucknow

CBSE Class 12 students in Lucknow found the accounts question paper to be lengthy and tricky. A number of students could not revise their answer as no time was left.

Jivika Lalwani, a student of GD Goenka Public School in Lucknow said, Questions were lengthy than expected. I didnt get much time to revise my answers.

Shana Bannerji, a student of the same school said that the paper was lengthy but questions were moderate with few tricky ones.

Stuti Agrawa, another student said, Question 26 of Set 3 on Accountancy Ratios was tricky and took much of my time to solve. I expect a score of 95 or above.

Two other students of GD Goenka Public School, Yashashva and Pranav said that the sample questions they had practised were not as lengthy as todays paper. We are hopeful of scoring anything above 90, the duo said.

Overall the question paper was lengthy and a few students struggled to complete in time. The level of difficulty was between moderate to tricky.

Students of Class 12 from DPS Jankipuram Lucknow, however, were happy after they took Accountancy Exam on Thursday. They were happy as they were well prepared for the subject. They said questions were easy and direct.

Lavanya, a student of DPS Jankipuram said paper was easy, designed to check basic knowledge. Anubhav, a student of the same school said paper was easy but lengthy. Shikhar Khanna said it was easy but very lengthy and questions were left. Yashasvi said it was easier then the sample papers but lengthy.

PATNA

Students coming out of the examination hall agreed that Accountancy questions were easy but required a lot of calculation. Most of the students said that they found short question answers tricky and lengthy.

Class 12 student Diksha Verma of St. Karens Secondary School said, Paper was moderate. Questions were straightforward barring few twisted questions. However, objective questions were time taking. There were so many journal entries. I hope to score above 55 out of 80.

Preet Kumar of Holy Mission Secondary School said, Questions were twisted. Long question-answer section was easy to solve but 1-mark questions required much calculation which consumed good time. Thankfully, I solved long question answer first so I managed to complete on time. I hope to score 60 above out of 80.

Pulak Verma of Vidya Sanskar School said, I got set 1 to solve. I found the paper moderate. Time management was not difficult for those who practiced sample paper well. Part II was comparatively easier. Questions matched with NCERT syllabus. I hope to score 72 out of 80.

Shreya Kumari of DAV Public School said, I fell short of time and missed one 8-mark question. Objective questions required long calculation which consumed more than an hour. I will not be able to score expected marks.

Prayagraj

CBSE class 12 Students found most part of Accountancy question paper comfortable to attempt expect for some questions on topics like Shares and Debentures and Financial Statement.

Animesh Srivastava of Ganga Gurukulam school said the question paper was scoring barring a few questions on Shares and Debentures and financial statement requiring numerical calculations. I attempted all questions of Part A and Part B and am confident to score between 50 to 60 marks in the 80 marks question paper, he said.

Vidushi, also a student of Ganga Gurukulam school found the Accountancy question paper easy specially the Partnership Accounting questions besides fill in the blanks, one word answers in part A of the paper. She said the calculations in questions from Shares and Debentures besides Not for profit Organization were a bit tough.

Tanu also a student of class 12 said that the question paper was neither easy nor tough and she had attempted all questions. The numerical part of cash flow statement was tough, she said.

Akansha Pandey, teaching Accountancy at Ganga Gurukulam School, Prayagraj said that the question paper for class 12 was in accordance to the prescribed syllabus as well as pattern of previous year question papers. The question paper was divided into Part A and Part B, with Part A comprising of 60 marks questions from Partnership and Company Accounting, Shares and Debentures, Not for Profit organization, etc while Part B of 20 marks had questions from Financial Statement, she said.

Bhubaneswar

SAI International School, Bhubaneswar, student Mansita Mishra said the accounting paper was very lengthy, but not difficult. It was not easy for us to complete it within stipulated time and the type of questions asked were very different from the sample papers that we all rely on towards the end. Therefore the scoring may be lower than usual for me and most of my friends said the same thing.

Anjali Priyadarshini Sahoo of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1, Bhubaneswar said, The exam went pretty well.. the questions were easy but I found them a little bit lengthy.. but otherwise it was good.

(With inputs from Srishti Jaswal in Chandigarh, Priyanka Deb Barman from Agartala, Rajeev Mullick in Lucknow, Megha from Patna, Kenneth John from Prayagraj and Debabrata Mohanty in Bhubaneswar)
A former tenant at an RV park south of Warrenton, Ore., has filed a lawsuit against the owner alleging negligence over living conditions in a trailer.

Sandra Holloway moved into a dry trailer at Sunset Lake Resort & RV Par park with her adult son in 2018, The Astorian reported. She said she was told to use a bucket and spigot near her unit for water, and the parks shared bathroom.

She claims the water was dirty and smelled and that the trailer had problems including mold, no lock and floors that had fallen through.

Every tenant has a right to dignified and habitable housing, even in low-cost housing, even in housing of last resort, Jamie Trinkle, an attorney for the Oregon Law Center said. And the defendants did not provide that to Ms. Holloway and arguably to other tenants.

Ken Hick, of Resources Northwest Inc., the owner of the mobile home park, could not be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, she moved out in November after the rent increased to $585 a month. She is seeking more than $555,000.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed the mobile home park a serious violator over drinking water problems. The Oregon Health Authority has found that drinking water exceeds acceptable levels of trihalomethanes, the chemical reaction of disinfectants with natural organic matter in water.

Sunset Lake is also involved in another lawsuit alleging wrongful death and negligence involving George Bolles, who died when his trailer caught fire in 2018.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Oregon Pollution
Dear Prudence,

Ive been married for almost 17 years to the only man Id been with (I was 21, and he was 19). I work in a predominantly male industry, so I have what I call work husbands. I have found one in particular who is 1,500 miles away and have worked with for close to four years. All of our interaction has been through email or work calls. Over the last several months, weve taken our work relationship to a personal level, so much so that we call or text each other on our personal cells after work to just vent about the day. We work in the same industry, so we have the same frustrations and even share the same customers. He has become one of my closest confidants. We have shared personal thoughts, pictures, etc. Is it possible to have a work spouse many miles away who you can develop feelings for? How do you suggest handling those feelings? He is not married, but I still very much am. Quitting my job is not an option, and to be honest, I dont want to stop talking to him. He understands me and my workload better than my husband ever could. What do I do?

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Love My Work Husband

I dont know exactly what you mean when you say work spouse, so Im not quite sure how to answer your first question. Its got quite a number of definitions: a co-worker I like, a co-worker who often takes up my cause as their own, my favorite co-worker, or someone Id like to have an affair with. Its absolutely possible to develop feelings for someone who lives far away. I hear from people in that exact situation regularly and would go so far as to call it fairly common. Nor do I want to reflexively pathologize your relationshipwanting to commiserate with a co-worker after a hard days work, or enjoying a friendship with someone you met at work, is not wrong! And lots of people, even happily married ones, can develop crushes. Its part of life and not something to treat with shame and recrimination.

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That said, now is an excellent time to start asking yourself what you want to do with these feelings and this connection. Do you want to spin this into an exciting, overwhelming, all-encompassing, furtive, guilty connection, where you start sharing emotional intimacies with your co-worker that you withhold from your husband and friends? Do you want to try to hide how much time you spend talking to him and feel increasingly torn between two lives? Do you want to share some of your feelings and concerns with a trusted friend or your husband? You havent done anything wrong, although such a conversation could still be tricky and sometimes painful.

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Mostly, I want to caution you against reacting too extremely, thinking that your only two options are either to launch yourself full-heartedly into a secret pen pal courtship or totally stonewall him and stop talking about anything except work. You dont say much about your husband or your relationship with him except for the fact that this guy understands you better than he ever could. And I cant help but notice you say that quitting your job isnt an optionbut you dont say leaving your husband isnt an option. Hows your marriage doing? Does your husband have any idea that you feel misunderstood? Do you think hed be interested in trying to repair things if you told him? And if not, do you want to consider divorcenot necessarily so you can move across the country to be with this person, but because youre alienated from your own partner? These are all questions I cant answer for you, but theyre worth spending time thinking through.

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Dear Prudence,

Three times in the past year, my boyfriend and I have been verbally invited to weddings but never received formal invitations. In one instance we were told the verbal invite was the save-the-date, so we made travel arrangements to their international destination wedding location. We only realized we werent invited after we saw the formal invitation posted on another friends fridge. Im not sure how to handle this. I understand that weddings are expensive, and I would not be insulted if we had never been invited; however, telling us to book our flights and then failing to actually invite us is expensive on our end, too! I also feel like it creates a weird tension between us and the newlyweds when we see them after the invitations go out.

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We recently went out of town with a couple who verbally invited us, and we couldnt have a casual conversation about their upcoming wedding without seeing them tense up. At this point, we knew the wedding was only two weeks away, so we had long assumed we were no longer invited. My boyfriend says I need to let it go because they probably didnt mean to do anything rude, but Im having a hard time. How do I reset? Is there a way to kindly point out that this impacts us, too?

RSVP

What an unpleasant thing to have to experience three times in a row! In the case of the couple who gave you a verbal save-the-date, you would have been well within your rights to check in with them before booking your travel. Thats not to say it was your responsibility to anticipate they were going to forget or exclude you , but it wouldnt have been rude to check in. And of course youve felt a bit uncomfortable around these couples afterward! This is why physical save-the-dates are better than just telling your friends and promising yourself that youll remember everyone you spoke to. Wedding planning is a confusing and stressful endeavor, and trusting in ones own memory is imperfect under even the best of circumstances.

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The likeliest explanation is that these couples promised invitations to as many people as possible before they started finalizing their budgets, then realized theyd overcommitted themselves and had to winnow down the list. Your boyfriends probably right that your friends didnt intend to make you feel slighted, although that doesnt mean that your hurt feelings are baselessunintentional rudeness can still sting. And theres also the concern that your invitation was either mislabeled or lost in the mail.

If you find this is still weighing on you after the ceremony is over, you can politely acknowledge both that you understand why the couple needed to keep their guest list manageable and that you felt bewildered to be told to expect an invitation and then not receive one. I hope your friends will apologize graciously! And in the future, treat a verbal wedding invitation as a vague expression of goodwill rather than a sure thing.

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How to Get Advice From Prudie

 Send questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. (Questions may be edited.)

 Join the live chat every Monday at noon. Submit your questions and comments here before or during the live discussion.

 Call the voicemail of the Dear Prudence podcast at 401-371-DEAR (3327) to hear your question answered on a future episode of the show.

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Dear Prudence,

My adult child Cory, who is 32 and on the spectrum, came out to my husbands siblings four years ago. In all that time, not one of them has tried to understand. They all roll their eyes, use Corys birth name, and forget pronouns. Part of the problem is that the family sees any sort of queerness itself as a moral failingsomething Cory can and should un-choose. They give lip service to loving Cory and to supporting their choices. They then use this love to guilt Cory out of asking them to use the correct name and pronouns. This has led to a rift, with Cory, myself, and my husband as the odd ducks out. Cory is heartbroken, to the extent of writing to each member (twice) to ask for real acceptance. No one responded. My husband has said he will not discuss the issue with his siblings, preferring to simply limit our time with them to once every few years. I would rather be clean and cut them off (loudly) without looking back. Neither my husband nor Cory is OK with that. Do you have any advice as to how I can support Cory with the family while not resenting the hell out of all of them?

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Hate Husbands Family

The fact that your child is 32 seems relevant here. Its not as if Cory were still a minor and had to see them every Christmas because they depended on you and your husband to drive them places. Without taking on Corys problems as entirely your own, you have a right to decide whether a continued relationship with your husbands relatives is possible for you, and their yearslong hostility toward Corys transition is a pretty serious indicator of their character. Id encourage you to speak to Cory and your husband about your concerns as well as your realization that youre not interested in making nice with these people even once every few years. If Cory feels that your cutting the in-laws off loudly will make things more difficult for them, you might consider another approach before declining future invitations to get together. You dont say if youve said anything to your in-laws about supporting trans people, so Im not sure if this is something youve already contested with them to no avail or if theres still room for conversation here. Regardless, resenting the hell out of your in-laws is a perfectly reasonable reaction to their behavior. You ought to resent the hell out of them! Resent them freely and with my full approval.

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Help! A Co-Worker I Barely Know Has Been Keeping a Diary About Me.

Danny M. Lavery is joined by Jaya Saxena on this weeks episode of the Dear Prudence podcast.

Dear Prudence,

I am in my 30s. My parents have become enthusiastic foster parents and have told me they have plans to adopt several of their foster kids, two of whom are special needs. I am uncomfortable because my mother has made comments about me needing to know my siblings so when the worst happens I will be able to take care of them. Some of these kids will never be able to live without regular care. My father had serious health problems several years ago. I am concerned they are biting off more than they can chew here and dont know how to have this conversation with them. I love my parents, and if their health declined I would move home to help, but I have zero connection to these kids. I am not concerned about the estate, but my parents are not overly wealthy. Both sets of my grandparents lived long lives but had serious health issues. My parents are healthy now, but five or 10 years from now? I live far away and only can visit twice a year. How do I talk about my concerns without looking like a witch? They are very happy helping these kids.

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Not Parenting

There is nothing witchy about declining someone elses insistence that you become a parent against your will! Every human being has the right to determine their own reproductive futures, which includes deciding whether to become an adoptive parent. Dont look at this as trying to talk about [your] concerns with your parents, because that leaves way too much room for argument. Make your sole aim letting them know that you do not consent to take over their parenting duties. You dont have to convince them of your reasons, just as they dont have to agree with you or think your reasons for saying no are justified. All you have to do is be clear that they need to make alternate arrangements for the future and stick to your guns without guilt. I imagine they will attempt to use a fair amount of guilt to get you to change your mind: These kids need so much, they raised you for 18 years, theyre your siblings, and so on. But none of those facts entitle your parents to decide when and if you become a parent on your behalf. Prepare yourself to have this conversation and for it to be difficult. But be secure in the knowledge that you have every right to make this choice for yourself.

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Dear Prudence Uncensored

This is why the Mesopotamians invented cuneiform to remember how much grain they had from year to year!

Danny Lavery and Nicole Cliffe discuss a letter in this weeks Dear Prudence Uncensoredonly for Slate Plus members.

Dear Prudence,

While in high school, I was hiding a pretty tumultuous home life, including homelessness and living out of my car. As a result, I was pretty shy in big groups and, now that I think back, quite rude to potential new friendsthink showing up at small house parties and completely ignoring the host or lying to people who wanted to be closer. I realize this was a long time ago, but as my high school reunion comes up, I feel compelled to explain myself and apologize for my behavior. Im sure its not as memorable as I think, but I genuinely feel guilty about people I may have made such a horrible impression on. I know now that there is no excuse for being such a rude person, and I feel bad. Would it be out of line to reintroduce myself with an apology and explanation, or should I just pretend like it never happened?

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Explanations Owed

You have a good excuse for what sounds like mild rudeness: You were a scared, homeless child trying to put on a brave face. Thats not to say you have no right to feel conflicted about your high school experience or that theres something wrong about wishing you could have spoken more freely with people who wanted to be your friend. I dont believe anyone is preparing to attend this reunion with the thought, If [letter writer] doesnt explain why they never invited me over for sleepovers, I wont be able to enjoy myself. Your impulse to explain yourself and apologize is not one you have to pay attention to. You have every right to talk about your difficulties as an adolescent and your struggles with homelessness, if you think it would bring you relief and enable you to reconnect with old friends and potential friends. But youre under absolutely no obligation to do so, and you shouldnt open any conversations with an apology. You werent shoving classmates into lockers or calling them names. You were a homeless child trying to protect yourself, and you needed more support than you received. I think a lot of your guilt is misplaced. That doesnt mean you couldnt ever have hurt someones feelings by being abrupt or cold! But its not the headline herenot by a long shot.

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Dear Prudence,

My beautiful teenager is transitioning, female to male. I understand that a trans persons birth name becomes dead to them. But how should I refer to him if discussing his childhood when he was female? I think he was as adorable then as he is now, but I recognize he may not remember his childhood so fondly. Kiddo is a people-pleaser, so Im worried hell only tell me what he thinks I want to hear or that he wont tell me if Ive inadvertently hurt his feelings.

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How to Help

It sounds like you have something stronger than a suspicion that your kid would like you to use male pronouns for him, whether youre speaking about him now or in the past, but you worry hed pretend to be fine with she/her as long as youre talking about the past. If thats the case, I would encourage you to use his pronouns consistently. If youre talking to him or other family members, theyll certainly remember that he existed prior to transition, whereas if youre speaking to people who dont know him, you can include This was before he transitioned, for quick context if necessary. And for whatever its worth, a lot of teenagers dont love hearing stories about how adorable they were as kids. Its not uncommon for a parent to say, You used to do the cutest thing when you were 4   and for the kid to protest, Mo-oom!

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Classic Prudie

My wife, who is infertile, and I have recently decided to have childrenwed like eventually to have threeusing an egg donor. (We decided against adoption because we would have no biological connection to our children.) We have just settled on this option but it has thrown open a whole new dilemma for me. I am white and my wife is East Asian. Her race isnt a problem for me and I would have had no difficulty raising mixed race children, but frankly, now that I have the choice, Id prefer my kids to be white. We live in a fairly homogeneously white area and at the end of the day I want my kids to look like me, their cousins, and the kids theyll go to school with. I dont think my wife has ever experienced racism, but I think she might understand my point of view. Then I think I maybe Im just convincing myself about this. I really could use a second opinion before I broach the subject with her.
Migrants: 138,000 at Turkey-Greece border Athens confirms 24,000 illegal entry attempts thus far

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 5 - Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Thursday 138,647 migrants are heading out of Turkey towards the Greek border in an attempt to enter the European Union, following the Turkish government's announcement that it would no longer stop migrants trying to leave the country. Soylu, who travelled to the Turkey-Greece border on Thursday morning, on Wednesday said the number of migrants was 135,000.



Athens confirmed a total of 24,000 attempted illegal migrant crossings at the border thus far.(ANSAmed).




PRESSURE pushing down on me, pressure pushing down on you, no man asks for under pressure, that burns a building down, splits a family in two, puts people on streets.

It was paramount that todays article starts off with lyrics from the great Under pressure by my all-time favourite band, Queen. This masterpiece of a song was sung by the bands equally eccentric leader, Freddie Mercury, and is befitting of the current situation in our beloved Eswatini. When everything falls apart it replicates a building when it falls apart, there is a pattern in the way things usually happen.



Cracks



Firstly, the cracks start to show on the wall to indicate that there must be a disturbance. After identifying the cracks you start to notice that the wiring is bad as two switches refuse to be on simultaneously. Furthermore, the water taps start loosening up in the midst of all that, which results in water wastage. As the building owner, you rightfully start to panic and as you examine the faults you realise there is mould on the wall and ceiling caused by a geyser leakage. Now the pressure has really intensified and you are two minutes away from losing your mind.



Therefore, you hire a professional to do the plumbing, assess the cracks, the geyser and of course get an electrician. They all eventually inform you that the main issue is your buildings foundation and how, in order for everything to be fixed, they would have to request for the demolition of the building and reconstruction. This plainly means you as the owner are in serious trouble.



Owner



In this articles case, the Government of Eswatini is the rightful owner of the building and boy are they feeling under pressure lately. For if its not the Sicunusa  Nhlangano Road debacle its the budget speech; if its not the budget speech its the security measures being taken in health facilities; if its not the security issues its the medical drugs shortage; if its not the drugs shortage its the looming coronavirus. Further, if its not the coronavirus its the undeniable corruption in this country and lastly, if its not the corruption its the cost-of-living adjustment, the list goes on and on.



My major concern is what measures are being taken to make sure the people in powers well-being is sought after because they must be constantly complaining of migraines judging from the ongoing crises they have to deal with. In fact, Eswatini might just be what America was in the late 1970s to early 1980s and Prime Minister Mandvulo might be feeling like a new-age Ronald Reagan, and that is not entirely a good thing.



There is a common phrase used by the fairer race, which states that you got to nip it in the bud buddy. This phrase resonates with the way in which the issues engulfing the country should be handled. Government needs to figure out the source of all these problems and deal directly with that otherwise the pressure will continue mounting.

However, I will not act like some self righteous glorified political analyst and pretend I have all the answers and I know what the root cause of these problems is because I dont. The ministers, however, need to work tirelessly to find out what it is, because if you dont address the source your efforts will be in vain and it will be like applying a plaster on a gunshot wound.



Honestly, my biggest concern is who is making sure the ministers BP is at the appropriate level, do they have an occasional therapist who attends to each one of them? These are the questions that really need answers, for if the person doesnt feel good about what they are doing, they are bound to be counterproductive.



I used to cackle at the pictures that circulated on social media back in 2015 of the former American president Obama before assuming office and after leaving, the man aged rapidly. This clearly indicates the amount of stress he underwent during that time and I now understand why he never wants to go back. Leadership is not for the faint-hearted.
The release date of the highly anticipated Sandalwood biggie Pogaru has been finally confirmed. The makers of the action entertainer starring Dhruva Sarja And Rashmika Mandanna have officially announced that the film will be releasing on April 24.

Along with the release date, the team has announced that the audio release of the film will be taking place in the coming days. The music of the film will be unveiled in a grand event this month. The music for the film has been composed by Chandan Shetty and also boasts of Harikrishnas background score.

Directed by Nanda Kishore, the cast and crew of the movie are currently busy canning their second last song in Chennai. This will be closely followed by the filming where they have of the final song, the introduction track  that will be shot on a huge set in Hyderabad from March 10. Simultaneously, the post-production work too is currently underway in full swing

For the uninitiated, Dhurva Sarja was last seen on screen in Bharjari back in September 2017. The fans of the star have since been eagerly awaiting the release of Pogaru. Produced by BK Gangadhar, the mass entertainer also stars Mayuri, Ravi Shankar, Chikkanna, and Kuri Pratap in pivotal roles along with Daali Dhananjay as the lead antagonist. The movie will also feature renowned international wrestlers and bodybuilders namely Kai Greene, Morgan Aste, Johan Lucas, and Jo Linder respectively.

On the other hand, leading lady Rashmika Mandannas last Kannada release was Yajamana back in March 2019. The actress was recently seen on screen in the superhit Telugu film Bheeshma alongside Nithiin. The romantic comedy directed by Venky Kudumula also featured veteran actor Anant Nag in a pivotal role.

ALSO READ: Dhruv Sarja's Pogaru Release Delayed Due To Rashmika Mandanna? The Director Clarifies The Rumours

ALSO READ: Rashmika Mandanna Turns Pure Vegetarian For THIS Reason
Pancake Kitchen founder Roger Meadmore (pictured) had money stolen from him from Peter John Norris

A 'gold digger' serial fraudster who fleeced tens of thousands of dollars from the founder of the Pancake Kitchen in Adelaide chain of restaurants has been jailed.

Peter John Norris forged a power of attorney document and repeatedly swindled money from Roger Meadmore over several months in 2014.

The 67-year-old then spent the money on a trip for two to France and a four-wheel drive, as well as his own rent and living expenses.

Norris met Mr Meadmore after he replied to a newspaper ad placed by the retired businessman, who lives in a nursing home.

Sentencing him in the District Court on Thursday Judge Liesl Chapman said Norris accessed the elderly man's finances soon after.

'From the start, you set out to live off Mr Meadmore's money,' she said.

Over the following months, Norris diverted rental income from Mr Meadmore's investment property and transferred pension payments into his own account.

He spent more than $16,000 on Mr Meadmore's credit card and more than $50,000 against his mortgage on items including the Mitsubishi Pajero.

Judge Chapman sentenced Norris to four years behind bars, with a non-parole period of two years, six months.

'There is no doubt that the safety of the community, which includes elderly people in nursing homes, needs to be protected,' she said.

'They need to be protected from gold diggers like yourself.'

Norris has prior dishonesty convictions, including making false declarations to the tax office.

Mr Meadmore and others started the Pancake Kitchen in Adelaide in 1965.
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Changes by Hungary to its law on higher education which effectively forced a university founded by George Soros to leave the country were not in line with European Union law, according to an opinion issued Thursday by the blocs highest court.

The opinion also said the EUs executive Commission should uphold its action against Hungary to ensure that the amendments approved by Hungarian legislators in 2017 comply with EU rules.

Among the changes, Hungary tied the operation of foreign universities in Hungary to a bilateral agreement between the Hungarian government and the universities country of origin. Foreign universities were also compelled to carry out educational activities in their home countries.

At the heart of the conflict is the fate of Central European University, established in New York state by Soros, a Hungarian-American financier. It had to relocate most of its main activities to Vienna from Budapest, where it had been operating since the early 1990s.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been a vocal critic of Soros for years, arguing that the billionaire philanthropist is intent on undermining European values with his liberal views on migration, claims Soros has denied. Orbans ideological aim of creating an illiberal state is also in contrast with Soros ideal of an open society.

In light of his views on Soros, the amendments were widely seen as targeting CEU. The Court of Justice of the European Union said CEU was the only foreign higher education institution then active in Hungary which did not meet the new requirements.

The EU Commission launched an infringement procedure in April 2017 against Hungary in the wake of the changes. It subsequently referred Hungary to the Court of Justice in December 2017.

The Hungarian government refused to sign an agreement with New York state regarding CEU and also rejected CEUs educational activities in New York, established through partner institution Bard College.

According to Thursdays nonbinding opinion by Advocate General Juliane Kokott, Hungary must treat foreign and national higher education institutions equally and the amendments in question are incompatible with the General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS, which is part of EU law, and with the EUs Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The EUs Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, is beginning its deliberations over the case. While it is not forced to follow the opinion of the Advocate General, the courts rulings are often similar to the opinions.
Across Texas on Election Day, voters in the states largest counties stood in long lines for up to six hours after polls closed at 7 p.m., waiting for their chance to cast a ballot.

State law requires that counties allow anyone who gets in line before the polls close to vote, no matter how long it takes. In some extreme cases, such as at Texas Southern University, voting didnt wrap up until 1 a.m.

Ive been working in Texas politics since 2002 and have never seen or heard of anyone having to wait for more than six hours to vote, said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, a nonprofit that runs a nonpartisan voter protection program. There werent lines that long in the Obama/Clinton primary or even in any general election.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Its still early, and election administrators and voting rights advocates are still analyzing what might have caused the excessive waits, but here are five reasons they say likely contributed:

1. Massive turnout

As of the latest report, Texas saw hundreds of thousands more voters this election with 2 million in the Democratic Presidential race alone, up from 1.4 million in 2016. Thats a 44-percent increase in voters.

The huge number of voters streaming into limited polling places put a strain on them and exacerbated other issues.

Turnout on Election Day is generally about a third of the total with the majority coming from early voting. In Harris County and others, Election Day turnout was higher than normal, in part because Democratic voters were holding off to see how the presidential primary field would shake out before casting their vote. Several candidates indeed dropped out just before Tuesdays election.

2. Fewer and new polling places

Four out of five of the states largest counties moved to allow countywide voting centers in 2019. The centers allow voters to use any polling location, no matter where they live. The sites are intended to increase turnout by making it more convenient for voters to find a site.

For subscribers: Harris County Democrats waited in line for hours to vote Tuesday. Two-thirds of polling sites were in Republican areas.

The consolidation has in part contributed to the loss of 750 polling places statewide since 2012, most of them in minority communities, according to a 2019 report. Theres also a learning curve as voters grow accustomed to the new locations and change their habits.

A 2019 University of Houston study, which found that vote centers had little effect on increasing turnout in midterm and presidential elections while cautioning that it may still be too early to say whether theyre a net positive, also noted that polling place consolidation could increase wait times as voters are faced with new and unfamiliar locations.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor and co-author of the study, said crowding can also be an issue at popular voting centers and that counties will need to assess high-traffic locations and make adjustments before November, when the higher turnout and lack of straight-ticket voting is expected to cause long lines

Just like in real estate, its all about location, location, location, Rottinghaus said. Finding the right location for a vote center is the most important factor in making them work properly.

Another reason there may have been more traffic on Election Day had to do with a constraining of sites during early voting. A state law passed in 2019 banned temporary polling sites, commonly used for campus polling places, and required all sites to stay open throughout the early voting period. That change meant fewer options for local elections officials.

Its unfortunate that theyre being forced to make that choice by the Legislature, said Chris Davis, Williamson County election administrator and legislative chair of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators. If some of those sites didnt have polling places for early voting, that probably contributed to longer lines on Election Day.

That law is now the subject of a civil rights lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party.

3. Inadequate machine allocation

In several large counties, including Harris and Tarrant, primaries are not held jointly by the two major parties. The two must agree on whether to run their elections together and use the same check-in tables and machines, or to hold them separately.

With such high turnout on the Democratic side yet equal amounts of machines in both parties primaries, it meant that Democratic voters were often stuck waiting in line, while Republican voters had little to no wait and machines on their side went unused.

If we had had a joint primary, each party could have used the same machines, Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman said Tuesday night. But since it was a shared location, each party had to have their individual side of their machines and the party had to have the other side of the room for their machines, and each one is programmed just with the partys ballots so they cant be used for the other side.

Davis said in cases where election administrators could have predicted high Democratic turnout in a heated presidential primary compared to the Republican ticket that did not include such a race, the parties ought to work together and with their counties to distribute machines based on those expectations.

4. New technology

Several counties, such as Bexar and Tarrant counties, were still adjusting to new machines that hadnt yet been tested in a general election. Texas Civil Rights Project spokesman Ivy Le said the Austin-based voting rights nonprofit received about 60 calls from Tarrant County voters about issues theyd experienced at the polls and locations that opened late.

The data we collected yesterday showed the most severe breakdowns of voting infrastructure were invariably at polling locations in black and Latino communities and college campuses, said TCRP president Mimi Marziani.

Even without technical issues, the novelty of the system could have also caused delays because voters and poll workers were less familiar with how the new machines worked.

5. Lack of state support

Common Cause and the Texas Civil Rights Project point to the state as the root cause of voting delays on Super Tuesday. Gutierrez said other states offer counties more financial support for running elections.

This wasnt something isolated to TSU in Houston or Travis County; we were definitely seeing really long lines all over the state, which to me points to a bigger systemic problem that Texas just doesnt do much to make it easier for Texans to vote, Gutierrez said. The easiest solution to the excessively long lines we were seeing would be for Texas to allocate more resources to things like voting machines and election workers.
Britain is on the brink of a critical new phase in the coronavirus crisis after the biggest surge in cases in one day.

Ministers are now expected to escalate their response which would mean no longer trying to contain the diseases seemingly inevitable spread.

Instead, the focus will be on delaying the peak of the epidemic until the spring or summer  in the hope that the consequences for the nation would be far less severe.

Yesterday, the Department of Health announced that 36 new patients had been diagnosed with the disease, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 87.

It came as scientists warned that a new, more aggressive strain of coronavirus had emerged in China.

The growing scale of the outbreak has triggered huge public concern, with signs of panic buying in supermarkets and people travelling on public transport in makeshift masks.

Ministers are now expected to escalate their response which would mean no longer trying to contain the diseases seemingly inevitable spread

The travel industry is also in turmoil and airline Flybe was last night set to collapse following a slump of bookings since the start of the crisis,

This afternoon, the Governments scientific advisory group for emergencies will discuss moving up from the contain phase to the delay phase.

Ultimately, the Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty will make a final decision, but a Whitehall source said a shift now looks inevitable.

This would mark a major turning point in the outbreak and could lead to new guidance on social distancing  including a ban on handshaking  as well as the cancellation of some sporting events and other mass gatherings.

In an interview yesterday, Professor Whitty warned the virus was probably already spreading person-to-person in the UK and an epidemic was looking likely. On another dramatic day:

Italy took the extraordinary step of closing all schools and universities until next month and prepared to shut down cinemas and theatres after the death toll in the country rose to 107;

Researchers believe the original strain of the Covid-19 virus has mutated into a more aggressive type after crossing from animals into humans in Wuhan late last year;

In response to panic buying in shops, it emerged retailers are considering rationing essentials such as toilet paper and anti-bacterial cleaners;

It also emerged Parliament could be shut for months, with members asked to vote remotely, in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus;

Boris Johnson spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss an international response to the outbreak;

Andrew Bailey, who will take over as the new Bank of England governor on March 16, said he had already discussed plans for an emergency lending package for business;

The producers of the new James Bond film announced that its release was being put back by seven months;

Ministers said workers would get statutory sick pay from the first day they are off work, not the fourth;

The Italy vs England Six Nations game was postponed.

If the Government does decide to move from the contain to the delay phase there will likely be a raft of new measures to slow the spread of the disease.

These could include social distancing guidelines such as advising people not to shake hands, hug or kiss and to stand a certain distance away from others. The advice could be even more strict for the over 65s, the group most at risk of catching coronavirus in the first place and then dying from complications.

A passenger wears a surgical face mask as they use the Underground system in London

A Whitehall source said the final decision over whether to switch to a strategy of trying to delay the spread could come as early as today.

Schools are unlikely to be told to close however  despite measures taken by Italy and Japan  as ministers are worried about the impact on the economy, the NHS and pupils exams.

The Department of Health is expected to publish separate guidelines for the elderly within the next few days which will explain whether or not they need to avoid public places or even hospitals. Many elderly patients attend frequent outpatient appointments or rely on social care visits, making them very susceptible to becoming infected.

But yesterdays surge in cases has raised speculation that patients are being treated in ordinary NHS hospitals, rather than in one of four specialised infectious disease units. Until now, anyone with coronavirus had been sent to one of four High Consequence Infectious Disease Centres, Guys and St Thomas and The Royal Free hospitals in London as well as The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals and the Newcastle University Hospitals. These have only a limited number of beds and may already be full up.

What is particularly concerning about yesterdays new cases is that at least three of them caught the virus within the UK, they had not travelled to hotspots in Italy, China or Iran for example.

Professor Whitty said yesterday it was likely the disease was being transmitted in the community and being passed from person to person to person.

At this point in time we think it is likely  not definite  that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the UK he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.
Delhi is expected to receive heavy rain, accompanied by squall, high wind speeds and possibly a hailstorm as well, on Thursday and Friday, as per the predictions by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

We are expecting extremely strong winds, heavy showers and also hailstorms. It is likelier to happen on Friday, although wind speed and some showers are very likely on Thursday as well, said Kuldeep Shrivastava, spokesperson, IMD, said on Wednesday.

Wind speeds are supposed to touch as much as 30 kmph on Thursday, rising to as much as 50 to 60 kmph on Friday, he added. This is due to the passage of another western disturbance, which made its presence felt in some parts of Haryana on Wednesday, such as Rohtak, where rainfall and hailstorms were observed on Wednesday.

The IMD bulletin on Thursday morning said that the western disturbance lies over southwest Afghanistan and neighbourhood and a cyclonic circulation with high moisture feeding from the Arabian Sea will lead to rainfall till March 6.

Areas in north and northeast Delhi recorded light rain on Wednesday and winds gusting up to 30 kilometres per hour flushed out pollutants in the national capital.

Delhis Quality Index (AQI) at 7 pm on Wednesday was 169 which falls in the moderate category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and between 401 and 500 severe.

The city recorded a minimum of 14.4 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 29.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees more than normal, an IMD official said.

The mercury is likely to drop to 26 degrees Celsius under the influence of rains and strong winds on Thursday, the weatherman said.
Representative image (REUTERS/Randall Hill)

A Turkish Airlines aircraft was flown back to Istanbul without any passengers on board on March 5 on orders from authorities in Singapore after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane on March 3 tested positive for coronavirus.

The infected passenger was not Turkish and transited through Istanbul enroute to Singapore from another location, a Turkish aviation official told Reuters, adding there were 143 passengers aboard the flight, as well as three pilots and 10 crew members.

Singapore's aviation regulator said that the pilots and crew of flight TK54 that had arrived on March 3 were on the return flight to Istanbul, where they would be placed in quarantine. The aviation official said the crew tested negative for the virus in Singapore.

"The crew had come into close contact with a passenger on flight TK54 who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in a statement.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in contact with the Turkish Embassy, which has confirmed that the crew will be quarantined upon arrival at Istanbul," CAAS said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Singapore's transport ministry said in a statement on its website that authorities had begun tracing passengers on flight TK54 that may have had contact with the infected person.

Turkish Airlines declined to comment.

Singapore had 112 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which started in China, but a large majority of the patients in the city-state have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Turkey has had no reported cases of the virus.
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg denied that the House of Commons will need to be shut down due to coronavirus (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

The government has said there are no plans to close the Houses of Parliament in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs there is currently no medical reason to think shutting the Palace of Westminster would be necessary or helpful.

He was responding to reports that MPs could be locked out of the House of Commons for five months in efforts to curb the spread of the illness.

Sources told The Times that talks are being held on whether to shut down Parliament as Wednesday saw the biggest daily jump in Covid-19 cases in the UK from 51 to 87, while three more patients in Scotland tested positive on Thursday morning.

The government is considering cancelling large gatherings in a worst-case scenario if the virus continues to spread.

Parliament could shut down for five months to tackle coronavirus. (Getty)

See latest coronavirus news and updates

A source told The Times that the 650 MPs are spread across the country for half the week before gathering at Westminster, adding: Its 650 superspreaders.

Boris Johnson, centre, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty, left, and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance speak about the Government's coronavirus action plan. (AP)

The paper reports that the shutdown would begin after the Easter holidays in April, before reopening in September - making it the longest suspension since 1914.

Labour MP Chris Bryant dismissed the plans, describing them as nonsense.

Read more: UK will see deaths from coronavirus, chief medical officer warns

He tweeted: This idea of a six month parliamentary recess is nonsense. The government would not be able to spend money or levy income tax.

It can only use emergency powers for 28 days without getting them renewed by Parliament. The law requires the monarch and speaker to summon Parliament.

This idea of a six month parliamentary recess is nonsense. The government would not be able to spend money or levy income tax. It can only use emergency powers for 28 days without getting them renewed by parliament. The law requires the monarch and speaker to summon parliament  Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) March 4, 2020

The final decision on whether to close parliament would be taken by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and the Lord Speaker, following advice from Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.

Story continues

Health Minister Edward Argar said this morning that it would be for the parliamentary authorities to decide whether Parliament should be shut down to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

He said that a "whole range of options" were being considered to ensure MPs, staff and visitors to Parliament remained safe.

The final decision on whether to close Parliament would rest with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. (AP)

"This is a matter for House authorities. It will be a matter for the Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle) and the deputy speakers and the authorities to take advice from the Chief Medical Officer," he told Good Morning Britain.

"The parliamentary authorities are taking advice on a whole range of options.

Pushed further on the issue, Argar played down the reports.

He added to Radio 4s Today programme: What I understand is that the advice at the moment is not that that is necessary.

Boris Johnson said at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday plans would soon be revealed on how the Government intends to delay the advance of coronavirus in Parliament and other large gatherings.

A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance sign for Bank underground train station. (AP)

Electronic voting and conference calls were suggested by the SNP's Carol Monaghan as ways of allowing Parliament to continue to operate while reducing the risk of infection.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Monaghan said: "We are all becoming increasingly concerned about Covid-19, the coronarvirus.

"But, every week, 650 of us come here from every part of the UK, spend several days operating in close proximity and meeting people from all over the world.

Rangers issues a warning to fans regarding the Coronavirus during the Ladbrokes Premiership match between Rangers and Hamilton at Ibrox. (Getty)

"We then return to our constituencies, potentially becoming the very vectors that we're trying to shut down.

"Parliament must stay open. But what plans does the Prime Minister have to utilise systems such as conference calls and electronic voting to ensure we do not become part of the problem?

Read more: Plan for suspected coronavirus patients to see their GP by video link

Johnson replied: "She's raising a very important point and the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser, together with the Health Secretary, will say a little bit more in the next couple of days about what we're going to do to delay the advance of coronavirus in Parliament and at other large gatherings.

"We're still at the containment stage ... when we come to the delay phase, she'll be hearing a lot more detail about what we propose to do with large gatherings in places such as Parliament.

A sign directing patients towards a Coronavirus pod at University College Hospital in London. (Getty)

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Discussions are already taking place with the parliamentary authorities and the scientific and medical advisers.

"It's not for me to speak for Parliament, but I'm sure Parliament will itself be led by the experts in terms of taking the steps it needs in order to protect the people who work there.

Read more: Stop kissing in public to prevent coronavirus spreading

A UK Parliament spokesman said: "We are monitoring the situation closely and continue to work with the Department for Health and Public Health England.

"We have taken a range of precautionary measures including placing information posters across the parliamentary estate encouraging thorough handwashing.

"We have been reassured by Public Health England that the steps we are taking to reduce the risk of transmission are proportionate and reasonable."

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The price of bitcoin has risen sharply and several exchanges have been overloaded after India's Supreme Court overturned a ban on cryptocurrency trading.

The ruling quashed an April 2018 order by the country's central bank that prohibited banks and financial institutions from providing "any service in relation to virtual currencies".

Bitcoin's value rose by around 5 per cent following Wednesday's verdict and has since returned above $9,000 for the first time since last month.

Other cryptocurrencies also received a boost, with ether (Ethereum), XRP (Ripple) and Bitcoin Cash all surging 4-7 per cent in price.

Cryptocurrency businesses and exchanges in the country welcomed the decision, despite some suffering difficulties as a result of their infrastructure being overwhelmed by a sudden increase in demand for their services.

Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins  the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Screenshot Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures What goes up... Bitcoin price crashes spectacularly, losing half of its value in a matter of days Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin plunges The cryptocurrency eventually bottoms out below $4,000 in 2019 before slowly rebuilding momentum to outperform more traditional assets Getty Images

Leading cryptocurrency exchange ZebPay announced that its servers had shut down due to an overload of new users signing up in the hours after the ban was lifted.

"The volume of members and new members logging into ZebPay right now has exceeded our biggest estimates," the exchange wrote on Twitter. "Unfortunately, system is down temporarily while we add more resources."

Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, described the reversal of the ban as a "historic day, not just for the crypto community, but for the entire country".

Mr Gupta's company was one of four cryptocurrency exchanges in the country that petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the two-year ban.

"The removal of the ban by the Supreme Court is going to open new opportunities for India in terms of investments, economic growth, financial inclusion, and market maturation," he said.

"We have always seen crypto as a potential to unlock Indias dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy and remain committed to carrying out the hard work which is necessary to make this dream come true."

Indian exchange platform WazirX described the decision as long overdue. "Crypto has won in India," the firm's CEO wrote in a blog post. "Very rarely do we, as a nation, get an opportunity to participate in revolutionary technology".
It was not a pretty sight when operational restrictions were placed on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank. Narrow withdrawal limits spoiled Diwali celebrations last year for many PMC Bank depositors. Holi is around the corner, and Reserve Bank of India has capped withdrawals for YES Bank depositors to Rs 50,000. And RBI's assurance that action against YES Bank is meant to safeguard depositors' interest, might not be enough to keep them from worrying.

On Thursday evening, the RBI imposed a moratorium on YES Bank, superseded its board, and imposed a withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000. The central bank said it was "satisfied that in order to protect the interest of the depositors and in public interest, it is necessary to issue certain directions to YES Bank". However, customers are bound to be affected directly.

ALSO READ: Why did Yes Bank collapse? Here are 6 main reasons

ALSO READ: Yes Bank withdrawal limit Rs 50,000 after RBI action

Currently, there's not much YES Bank customers can do beyond withdrawing up to Rs 50,000 from the bank and waiting for RBI's next announcement.

The moratorium on YES Bank will be in place from March 5 to April 3, or a period of 30 days. The withdrawal limit for depositors may remain in effect for this period unless the RBI releases another notification.

The RBI has asked YES Bank depositors not to panic and said a reconstruction plan for the bank will be drawn up in the next few days.

"The Reserve Bank assures the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic. In terms of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the bank's reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the Central Government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium of thirty days ends," the apex bank said.

ALSO READ: RBI's board superseding points to graver issues at YES Bank

ALSO READ: What's cooking behind YES Bank's back?

In other words, the RBI will assess YES Bank's books and asset quality to decide a plan of action, which might include merger or takeover by another entity, and implement this roadmap within the period of moratorium (30 days), "so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time".

In case of PMC Bank, the withdrawal limit was increased was increased from the starting limit of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh. It remains to be seen if the same is done in case of YES Bank too.
Here's where Australians are advised not to travel to. Source: Getty

All Australians returning from international travel required to self-isolate for 14 days;

Australians urged to reconsider their needs for overseas travel at this time;

Australias travel ban list includes Italy, China, Iran and South Korea;

Japan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Mongolia deemed moderate- or high-risk.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told Australians returning from overseas to self-isolate for 14 days as of Monday 16 March.

International cruise ships have also been banned from docking in Australia for the next 30 days, but bespoke arrangements will be made for Australians to get home.

This follows the governments extension of the travel ban to Italy, effective Wednesday 6pm, bringing the total list of countries with stringent travel restrictions to four.

The government has already banned travel from China, Iran and South Korea in order to stem the entry of travellers coming from countries with high rates of the coronavirus Covid-19.

The travel ban means Australians returning from these countries will have to isolate themselves four 14 days after departing these countries, and foreign nationals will be banned from entry.

The situation in Italy is now commensurate with the other countries where we've previously had travel bans put in place and so we'll be expanding that travel ban to Italy now, Morrison said on Wednesday morning.

This, of course, will mean that any Australians, residents or others, who are obviously exempt from those travel bans, would be subject to the same isolation period that applies to the other countries for which there are travel bans.

Anyone who fails health checks will be denied entry onto aircraft.

The revised bans will be put in place until March 14, with the Australian government set to review the situation within a week to see if the restrictions need to be extended further.

Story continues

The level of advice for several Asian countries as well as Iran has been raised.

Heres the full list of countries on Australias travel ban:

China

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned Australians not to travel to mainland China, with coronavirus cases in the country totalling 80,409.

All travellers arriving from any part of mainland China will be subject to enhanced border control measures.

Foreign nationals wont be allowed to enter the country for 14 days from the time they left the country, while Australian citizens and permanent residents will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

According to Chinese authorities, the death toll in China has risen to more than 2,600 globally.

Italy

Morrison announced a travel ban on Italy during a press conference on the morning of Wednesday 11 March 2020.

At the time, the governments Smart Traveller website had yet to be updated with the new development, with the status remaining at Reconsider your need to travel.

Prior to the travel ban announcement, the Australian Government advised Australians to exercise a high degree of caution before visiting Italy.

Aussies were told to reconsider travel to several Italian towns and cities in the northern region, including Milan and Venice.

If youre returning from Italy, youll be greeted at the border with enhanced health screening measures, like temperature checks.

Those who work in healthcare or aged care are advised to not attend their regular work for 14 days.

Italy has imposed a lockdown on the country, which effectively places 16 million people into quarantine.

Iran

DFAT raised the level of travel advisory for Iran from level three to level four (do not travel) on 1 March, with Australian citizens returning from Iran now required to self-isolate at home for 14 days from the day they left Iran.

Foreign nationals wont be allowed to enter the country for 14 days from the time they left the country.

"It's clear that in Iran there is an uncontrolled spread," Health Minister Greg Hunt said. "The situation in Iran is clearly far worse than has been documented and significantly higher than the recorded case numbers."

Embassy families have been ordered home.

Iran reported 12 deaths from the virus and 61 confirmed cases, with the country closing schools and cultural and religious centres on Sunday.

South Korea

The Australian government extended the travel ban to South Korea on Thursday.

Foreign nationals wont be allowed to enter the country for 14 days from the time they left the country, while Australian citizens and permanent residents will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

In South Korea, there are a total of 833 cases, with 300 said to have spread via a religious group in the city of Daegu.

Heres the list of countries where Australians are advised to exercise caution:

Japan

Japan has been updated to a high risk country due to the heightened risk of sustained local transmission of coronavirus.

Smart Traveller has urged Australians to reconsider their need to travel to restricted areas near the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant.

Mongolia

Mongolia has also been updated to high risk, with the government warning the standard of medical care is poor.

As well, Australians who have travelled to or transited through China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy, Japan or Iran in the 14 days prior to arrival will be denied entry to the Mongolia.

Hong Kong

Those travelling from China, Iran or certain areas of Italy will be put into mandatory quarantine, while non-Hong Kong residents who have been in South Korea in the last 14 days will be denied entry.

Airline passengers will have to do health screenings, and anyone suspected of having coronavirus might be taken to hospital or quarantined.

Indonesia

Australians should exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to Indonesia.

The governments Smartraveller website also warned that healthcare facilities in Indonesia, including Bali, is likely to be significantly below the standards available in Australia.

There are temporary restrictions for those travelling from China parts of Italy, Iran, and South Korea.

Thailand

Aussies are advised to exercise a high degree of caution. People suspected of having coronavirus will be taken to hospital for treatment or mandatory quarantine by Thai officials.

Australians have been instructed not to travel to Yala province, Pattani province, Narathiwat province, and Songkhla province.

Singapore

If youve travelled to China, Iran, South Korea, or northern Italy in the last 14 days, you wont be allowed to enter or even transit in Singapore, and you can expect additional health screening at borders.

If you dont comply with a request to be tested, you may be denied entry to the country. Australians should exercise normal safety precautions.

Cambodia

Australians will have to exercise normal safety precautions in Cambodia, with body temperature screenings in place at international airports.

If you have symptoms of respiratory illness including cough, you could be quarantined, according to Smartraveller.

With AAP and additional reporting by Jessica Yun.

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Immediate past Senate president, Bukola Saraki on Thursday, opposed an application before a Federal High Court, Lagos, seeking final forfeiture of two of his Ikoyi properties.

The said properties are located at 17 and 17A McDonald Road, Ikoyi, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had obtained an interim order of forfeiture on the properties in November 2019.

The judge, Mohammed Liman, had then adjourned the case for any interested party to appear and show cause why a permanent order should not be made.

The court had also ordered that the interim order be published in a national newspaper to alert such interested parties.

EFCC applied to court to forfeit the properties to the government, on the grounds that they were obtained with loans from GTBank and repaid back with Kwara State fund.

Kehinde Ogunwunmiju (SAN), counsel to Mr Saraki, informed the court that he was already a successful businessman with properties worldwide before he became a senator.

He said the EFCC must satisfy the court that such properties formed part of proceeds of any unlawful act by the respondent.

Respondents Counsel informed the court that both the interim and the attempted permanent forfeiture of the two properties was an abuse of court process.

Counsel further argued that the EFCC was also estopped from re-litigating the same properties because it had litigated on same before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) up to the Supreme Court but lost.

He said Justice Taiwo Taiwo had made an order restraining EFCC from filing such a case adding that the order was still subsisting.

READ ALSO:

Meanwhile some of the facts presented by the EFCC before the court are that Saraki while serving as Governor of Kwara, was deducting N100 million from security votes to defray the loan.

EFCC counsel, Nnaemeka Omenwa, argued that the judgment of the CCT dismissing the case, did not vest property rights on Mr Saraki.

He urged the court not to be persuaded by the argument of counsel but hold in favour of applicant.

Mr Liman has adjourned until April 24 for judgment.

(NAN)
West Linns wrongful arrest of a Portland man has now ensnared its current police chief, who chose not to participate in the citys negotiations to settle a lawsuit in the case because hes also friends with the businessman who made the unfounded accusations.

Chief Terry Kruger said Wednesday that he bowed out of the talks last fall.

I immediately recused myself because it was the right thing to do, Kruger wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. I do not in any way believe that relationship  has or will impact my ability to serve as the chief of police.

City records, however, show Kruger was informed of the progress of negotiations, and the lawyer who filed the lawsuit against West Linn police said Kruger also was involved in the litigation.

He was the lone West Linn police officer, who under oath, signed off on West Linns written police responses to plaintiffs formal questions and written police admissions of certain actions.

Particularly in light of this latest revelation, its hard to avoid the conclusion that the old- boy network that was at the heart of the racist actions in this case are not part of some bygone era, attorney Paul Buchanan said.

Kruger became the citys second chief embroiled in what has become an embarrassment for West Linn and drawn apologies from the mayor, City Council members and residents to Michael Fesser, 48, a married father and lifelong Portland resident.

West Linn police arrested Fesser in February 2017 at the behest of the citys then-Chief Terry Timeus.

Timeus ordered the theft investigation as a favor to a fishing buddy, Eric Benson, a West Linn resident and longtime owner of A&B Towing Co. based in Southeast Portland. Benson was Fessers boss at A&B Towing and targeted Fesser because he had complained about racist comments and harassment at work.

The current police chief said he met Benson through a mutual friend of his sons but has no independent personal relationship with Benson outside of this arena. He didnt say how long hes known Benson.

He said he informed then-City Manager Eileen Stein, the City Council and city attorney of the friendship and stepped aside to err on the side of caution in consideration of the severity of the allegations imposed by that litigation.

Krugers relationship with Benson was disclosed in 491 pages of emails and memos exchanged between city officials relating to Fessers lawsuit and released to The Oregonian/OregonLive in response to a public records request. Several pages of material written by Kruger, however, were completely redacted by the city, with no immediate explanation.

The captain wrote to a legal assistant for the city's insurance provider that Chief Terry Kruger "wanted to remove himself from the (Fesser) case due to a personal friendship with Mr. Benson.''

On Oct. 1, West Linn police Capt. Peter Mahuna emailed the legal assistant for the citys insurance provider, informing her that "Chief Kruger wanted to remove himself from the case due to a personal friendship with Mr. Benson.''

Last month, the city paid $600,000 to Fesser, who is black, to settle his discrimination and retaliation lawsuit. He earlier settled a similar suit against Benson and A&B Towing for $415,000.

Kruger retired as a Portland police lieutenant in April 2016 and was hired as West Linns police chief on June 4, 2018, replacing Timeus and an acting chief.

Kruger wasnt involved in the arrest of Fesser or working for West Linn police at the time, but on Krugers first day of work for West Linn, Fessers lawyer had a formal notice of Fessers intent to sue hand-delivered and emailed to Kruger.

West Linn Mayor Russ Axelrod didnt return emails seeking comment on the latest development. Axelrod has repeatedly professed his full confidence in Kruger to lead the city police department even as some residents have called for an investigation into the chief and his resignation.

City records show that former City Manager Eileen Stein represented the city in the settlement talks and Police Capt. Oddis Rollins represented West Linn police. They were joined by Salem attorney Andrew Campbell -- who negotiated the case for the citys insurer, City County Insurance Services -- and senior claims consultant Jon Stouffer with the insurer.

Even though Kruger said he recused himself from negotiations in the Fesser case, a legal assistant for Campbell continued to include Kruger in emails about the status of the lawsuit through this month, the West Linn records show.

In an Oct. 8 email, for example, the legal assistant, Mary Ortega Martz, copied Kruger, writing, "Chief Kruger, I included you to keep you in the loop of information, we are not planning on your attendance'' at a rescheduled settlement conference with a federal judge in Fessers case.

In a Jan. 28 email, interim city manager John Williams recommended having Kruger participate in a conference call with the insurance providers claim consultant for a Fesser lawsuit discussion, noting Kruger and his Capt. Rollins have been more in the loop on this item in the past.

Buchanan, Fessers lawyer, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Kruger also signed off on multiple responses to his questions about police department activity related to the suit, and to his requests for written West Linn police admissions of certain actions in the case.

If Chief Krugers relationship with Eric Benson was so significant that he felt he needed to recuse himself in October 2019 from discussions of settlement of our litigation against West Linn, I have to wonder if he recused himself from any litigation oversight function during the course of the case, Buchanan said.

Kruger appeared engaged in the litigation for more than year, Buchanan said.

He also criticized West Linn for choosing Kruger as chief, pointing out that Kruger, as a Portland officer, is most known in the local black community and beyond as the officer who shot a 20-year-old black man in the back in the 1990s, killing him, and who shot and killed another citizen as well.

Kruger fatally shot Deontae Keller, an African American man, in February 1996 as a Portland police officer. Keller had a .45-caliber handgun at the time but did not point it at police and was shot in the back as he was fleeing. Kellers involvement in a drive-by shooting an hour earlier made him dangerous, a Multnomah County prosecutor said. A grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing. In 2005, Kruger shot and killed another man, Ronald R. Riebling Jr., who held an umbrella wrapped in a cloth when he came out of his ex-girlfriends duplex. Kruger thought the object was a rifle, and fired one shot, killing Riebling.

The records released Wednesday also revealed that West Linns mayor enlisted a private communications and consulting firm, Strategies360, to write his first public statement after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on the settlement with Fesser and disclosed what led to Fessers arrest.

Axelrod read the statement at the start of a special City Council meeting called Feb. 18. He also used the firm to help draft his State of the City address. Erik Sten, a former Portland city councilman, is a senior adviser with Strategies360 and closely assisted Axelrod. The interim city manager noted that city officials used the same firm to help draft West Linns first official statement that came out four days after Fessers settlement was reported.

The West Linn council will meet in executive session next Monday night to consider releasing audiotapes of its past executive sessions that dealt with issues surrounding Fessers lawsuit and former Chief Timeus. Public bodies can hold private sessions under certain circumstances, including to consult with a lawyer about litigation.

The city, after consulting with its attorney, earlier denied a public records request for the audiotapes, but the council is considering overruling him, given the public interest of the case and the citys pledge in previous meetings to be transparent.

Council member Rich Sakelik said this week that he favored their release.

I think its important to release the ones that are germane to the Fesser case, as well as a few others that will clarify issues for the public, he said. People can listen to those and draw their own conclusions. The rule is the truth will set us free, so to speak.

The council did release one unrelated recording of an Oct. 15, 2018, executive session that a state commission ruled shouldnt have been allowed to be held in private. Then-City Manager Eileen Stein, during the executive session, spoke in favor of the need for a full-time, in-house city attorney on staff, noting that among other things, the city was preparing discovery then for the Fesser case, including 25 pages of requests.

Its just an astronomical amount of paperwork, and a significant effort to help the police department prepare the records, Stein said.

Axelrod added, If were not always doing our careful diligence, we do expose ourselves to greater risk.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

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Ralph Lauren has canceled a fashion show slated to be held in New York in April amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

'In light of the ongoing uncertainties related to the novel coronavirus around the world, we have decided to cancel our fall 2020 show as a precautionary measure and out of respect for our teams, partners and consumers,' a spokesman for the fashion icon told Women's Wear Daily on Wednesday. 'Our primary focus remains on their health and safety.'

The show was slated to showcase wares from Lauren's fall 2020 collection after he didn't have an event during New York Fashion Week last month.

The latest: Ralph Lauren, 80, has canceled a fashion show slated to be held in New York in April amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The fashion icon was snapped in NYC in 2018

Other fashion mainstays that have altered their immediate schedules include Gucci, which has called off its May 18 Cruise 2021 show in San Francisco show; Prada, which has postponed a May 21 Cruise show in Tokyo; and other shows slated in the Italian locales of Milan and Bologna; and in Geneva, Switzerland.

Paris Fashion Week shows for six prominent China designers - Shiatzy Chen, Calvin Luo, Masha Ma, Maison Mai and Uma Wang, Jarel Zhang - were also canceled amid the outbreak, Reuters reported Friday.

The announcement came Wednesday as New York health officials dealt with 11 people testing positive for the virus in New Rochelle (which is about 25 miles north of New York City) after coming into contact with an attorney who was diagnosed with COVID-19, and subsequently hospitalized in Manhattan.

Hundreds of people have been quarantined as result of the local outbreak, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Glam: Bella Hadid modeled a red gown from Lauren's Fall 2019 Collection last year in NYC

Tough times: A couple was seen leaving the subway in NYC Wednesday as city officials sought to contain the infection

'Whenever you find a case, it is about containment and doing the best you can to keep the circle as tight as possible,' he said, according to the AP. 'The more you test, the more positive cases you will find.'

Nine people in the United States have died in connection with the coronavirus, with 129 overall diagnosed cases domestically.

More than 94,000 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide since the initial cases surfaced in China in December.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids police are asking for assistance in locating a man who is suspected of violating his parole and committing additional crimes.

Police said Reginal Rashad-Lamar Mabry, 39, should be considered dangerous. He has previous gun-related convictions and should not be approached by members of the public.

Mabry violated his parole in November 2019, according to state prison records. He was sentenced in July 2017 on convictions of third-degree fleeing a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon and delivering/manufacturing a controlled substance.

Police said he has two additional warrants out for his arrest as of Wednesday, March 4 for resisting a police officer and shoplifting.

His criminal history also includes convictions of uttering and publishing (related to forgery or counterfeiting) and aggravated stalking, and he has a history of disobeying police commands, according to court records.

Mabry is described by police as 5-foot-10, and 215 pounds. He has Japanese letters tattooed on both arms, and the word Gunru tattooed on his neck, according to state prison records.

The Grand Rapids Police Department featured Mabry in this weeks Wanted Wednesday social media campaign in which local police seek community help locating an individual.

Last week, the department featured Robert Walton, who was suspected of shooting someone in the Metro Bar in December 2019. Police said tips led to his arrest earlier this week.

Police ask anyone with information about Mabrys whereabouts to contact the police department at 616-456-3400. Anonymous tips can be made to Silent Observer as well at 616-774-2345.

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Linkedin Babak Dehghanpisheh (Reuters) Dubai, United Arab Emirates  Thu, March 5, 2020 14:47 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206883b1c 2 World Iran,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,outbreak,epidemic,infectious-diseases,infection,health Free

Coronavirus has spread to almost all of Iran's provinces but the country will get through the outbreak with a "minimum" number of deaths, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday.

"This disease is a widespread disease," he said during a Cabinet meeting, according to the official presidency website.

"It has reached almost all our provinces and in one sense it's a global disease."

The health ministry said on Tuesday that 92 people had died so far from coronavirus, one of the highest death tolls outside China where the epidemic originated late last year. It said 2,922 people had been infected with the disease.

Among those infected is first vice president Eshaq Jahangiri, the IranWire news site reported, citing an "informed source". There was no immediate confirmation from officials.

Several Iranian officials have come down with coronavirus and one senior official died from an infection on Monday.

The Islamic Republic has cancelled Friday prayers in all provincial capitals this week because of the coronavirus outbreak, state television reported on Wednesday.

Rouhani said Iran would get through the outbreak with a minimum number of deaths and in the shortest period of time thanks to the skills of its doctors and nurses.

He took a jab at an American offer to help with the outbreak without mentioning the United States directly.

Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States had offered to help Iran with the outbreak.

"They've appeared with a mask of sympathy that 'we also want to help the people of Iran'," Rouhani said. "If you are really telling the truth, then lift sanctions from medicine."

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and reimposed sanctions which have hammered Iran's economy.

US officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran, a point Iranian officials dispute.

Video aired on state television of Wednesday's Cabinet meeting showed Rouhani and ministers in a larger room than the usual venue for the weekly gathering.

IranWire reported that Jahangiri was quarantined last week after a government meeting on combating coronavirus that was attended by several ministers and senior officials.

Separately, Bahrain on Wednesday reported three new coronavirus cases, raising its total number to 52.

Oman also reported three new cases - two Iranians and one Omani, raising its total number to 15, according to the Omani health ministry. All three cases were related to travel to Iran, the ministry said.

And the Dubai Health Authority reported on Wednesday that a 16-year-old student had tested positive for coronavirus, raising the total number of cases in the United Arab Emirates to 28.

Several countries in the Gulf region have reported coronavirus infections in individuals who had traveled to Iran.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gevo, Inc. (GEVO) has signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Viva Energy Australia Pty Ltd, one of Australias leading energy companies and the exclusive supplier of Shell fuels and lubricants in Australia.



The HOA will further solidify both parties intent to work collaboratively on activities in Australia to establish the technical and commercial feasibility of converting biomass into sustainable jet fuel and renewable gasoline from regionally sourced renewable resources Under the HOA both Gevo and Viva will develop and enhance commercial and advocacy relationships to further foster the use of renewable hydrocarbons, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Queensland and, more broadly, the country of Australia. Ultimately this HOA will support and strengthen the efforts by Gevo and the Queensland government under the Waste to Biofuels funding initiative.

"Viva Energy is a key player in the Australian energy industry with a refinery, more than 20 import terminals, and supplies more than 1260 service stations across the country. Through their terminals in Brisbane and as the JV operator of the Brisbane Airport hydrant system, we have worked with Viva Energy on several occasions to supply SAF to Queensland based flights. We are now advancing beyond just talk and demonstration of SAF, such that this HOA and collaborative partnership will not only strengthen our development efforts in Queensland but will also go a long way in making renewable jet fuel and gasoline a reality in Australia," said Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo.

"This HOA presents as an exciting opportunity for our business to work together with Gevo on investigating the feasibility of the commercialization of biofuels from regionally sourced renewable resources within Australia. Viva Energy has already shown a strong commitment in supporting biofuel initiatives around the country having invested more than $20 million into biofuel projects, including supply agreements with local biofuels producers and the construction and commissioning of a new biofuels blending facility in Queensland.

Story continues

Our partnership with Gevo and our investment to date in biofuel projects illustrates Viva Energys commitment towards supporting more sustainable fuels into the future, stated Viva Energy CEO, Scott Wyatt.

About Gevo

Gevo is commercializing the next generation of jet fuel, gasoline and diesel fuel with the potential to achieve zero carbon emissions and address the market need of reducing greenhouse gas emissions with sustainable alternatives. Gevo uses low-carbon renewable resource-based carbohydrates as raw materials and is in an advanced state of developing renewable electricity and renewable natural gas for use in production processes. As a result, Gevo is able to produce low-carbon fuels with substantially reduced carbon intensity (as measured by the level of greenhouse gas emissions compared to standard petroleum fossil-based fuels across their lifecycle). Gevos products perform as well or better than traditional fossil-based fuels in infrastructure and engines, but with substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to addressing the environmental problems of fossil-based carbon fuels, Gevos technology also enables certain plastics, such as polyester, to be made with more sustainable ingredients. Gevos ability to penetrate the growing low-carbon fuels market depends on the price of oil and the value of abating carbon emissions that would otherwise increase greenhouse gas emissions. Gevo believes that its proven, patented technology that enables the use of a variety of low-carbon sustainable feedstocks to produce price-competitive, low carbon products, such as jet fuel, gasoline components like isooctane and isobutanol and diesel fuel, yields the potential to generate project and corporate returns that justify the build-out of a multi-billion-dollar business. Learn more at www.gevo.com.

About Viva Energy

Viva Energy is one of Australia's leading energy companies and supplies approximately

a quarter of the country's liquid fuel requirements. It is the exclusive supplier of high- quality Shell fuels and lubricants in Australia through an extensive network of more than 1,260 service stations across the country. Viva Energy Australia owns and operates the strategically located Geelong Refinery in Victoria, and operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals and lubricants businesses supported by more than 20 terminals and 50 airports and airfields across the country. www.vivaenergy.com.au

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to a variety of matters, including, without limitation, statements related to Viva and Gevo's HOA, Gevos and Vivas plans to develop and build a biorefinery in Queensland and to expand into Australia, Gevos ability to generate project and corporate returns and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Gevo undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Gevo believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.

Investor and Media Contact

Shawn M. Severson

Integra Investor Relations

+1 415-226-7747

info@integra-ir.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 13:57:32|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Feb. 29, 2020 shows former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (front, R) attending a "Women for Mike 2020" campaign event in McLean of Virginia, the United States. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that he's suspending his presidential campaign and is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"He (Bloomberg) is a flinty-eyed realist and the numbers weren't there," said the former chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. "The big news was his quick pledge to back Biden, with all the material support that implies. It could turn out to be one of the most meaningful developments of 2020."

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who won most states in critical Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries, grabbed the endorsement of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race, on Wednesday.

Bloomberg's decision came after a disappointing finish in the Democratic primaries on Tuesday, in which he only won American Samoa.

"I'm a believer in using data to inform decisions. After yesterday's results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible -- and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The billionaire entrepreneur, who made a late entry into the presidential race last year and has spent over 500 million U.S. dollars on advertising, also said that he's glad to endorse Biden, a moderate political veteran who won 10 of the 14 states voting on Tuesday.

A champion of progressive policies, including Medicare for All, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont finished second but scored a major win in California, the state with the most pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to be held in July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders attends a campaign rally in Springfield, Virginia, the United States, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Biden, in a tweet on Wednesday, thanked Bloomberg for his endorsement.

"This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics," Biden added.

David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, said Bloomberg's departure "was expected."

"He's a flinty-eyed realist and the numbers weren't there," said the former chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. "The big news was his quick pledge to back Biden, with all the material support that implies. It could turn out to be one of the most meaningful developments of 2020."

Sitting President Donald Trump, who is projected to easily win the Republican Party's primaries on Tuesday, weighed in on Bloomberg's exit and lashed out at Biden with a series of tweets on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 29, 2020.(Xinhua/Liu Jie)

But he also acknowledged Biden's victory on the Democratic side, calling it a "great comeback," when speaking to reporters at the White House.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are still in the Democratic primary race, as a Biden-Sanders matchup took shape.

"Last night, we fell well short of viability goals and projections, and we are disappointed in the results," Warren campaign manager Roger Lau wrote in an email to staff. "This decision is in her hands."

Speaking to a press conference at his campaign headquarters in Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday, Sanders predicted that he and Biden would be "basically neck and neck" for the remainder of the primary, while accusing the former vice president of running a campaign "obviously heavily supported by the corporate establishment."

"Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country. And Joe and I are running very different campaigns," Sanders said. "My hope is that in the coming months we will be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have."

Biden struggled through the Democratic primary's early races, but he won a commanding victory in South Carolina late last month, where he was powered overwhelmingly by the support of African American voters.

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a rally in Philadelphia May 18, 2019. Joe Biden on Saturday kicked off his running campaign for the 2020 presidential election in Philadelphia. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Riding on the momentum, Biden was also boosted by a wave of big-name endorsements shortly before Super Tuesday, including several former Democratic presidential hopefuls in this cycle, paving the way for his strong resurgence.

Responding to Sanders' criticism, Biden said on Wednesday that "the establishment are all those hardworking, middle class people, those African Americans ... they are the establishment."

The next Democratic primaries will take place on March 10 for voters of six states to cast ballot for their preferred presidential candidate this year.

The Super Tuesday Democratic primary decided over 1,300 pledged delegates to the DNC, or roughly a third of the total. Typically, a candidate is only eligible to receive a share of the pledged delegates at stake if they win at least 15 percent of votes cast in a primary or caucus.

To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the DNC, which election officials said must be at least 1,991 delegates.

Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, tweeted on Wednesday that there are "many important contests still ahead."

"Everyone should see by now that uncertainty is the only certainty," Zelizer stressed.

The Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for a second term during August's national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 3. 
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Mischa Willett was positive he didnt belong on his college campus. In fact, he quit, in dramatic fashion, during his freshman year. I dropped out of Wheaton and went to work in a mall in Arizona, measuring men for fitted shirts, he says. But Willetts freshman composition professor, Jeffry Davis, knew Willett belonged with eager peers and challenging assignments, not pacified customers and polyester blends. Somehow, he noticed I was gone, found my phone numberbefore the internet was even a thing!called my house, spoke to my mother, and then called me at work to convince me to return to college.

Willett is now an accomplished poet and is so at home on a college campus that he is a professor at Seattle Pacific University. The relationship he formed with Davis that helped bring him to this point is not one he feels he would have been lucky enough to find at just any school. Going to a Christian college was the best thing that ever happened to me, and Id like to create similarly transformative experiences for my own students, he says. He and Davis are close to this day; they had lunch last week.

Lore Ferguson Wilbert, author of Handle with Care: How Jesus Redeems the Power of Touch in Life and Ministry (B&H Books, 2020), treasures her memories of endless office hours spent with her English professor at Lee University, a small Christian liberal arts school in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Her professor passed on much more to her than a love of British literature. Dr. Susan Rogers had a wide way of looking at the world, which, as a college sophomore, seemed foreign to me, Wilbert says.

She can still recall the soft, gentle tones of Rogerss voice as they discussed faith, the church, writing, and countless other subjects. She was only 15 years older than mewhich seems so young to me now, and so sage to me then, Wilbert says. Rogers passed away in 2014, but her legacy lives on in Wilbert and students like her.

Professors like Rogers and Davis recognize their profession as more than a job. Teaching, for them, reaches far outside the classroom, and they argue it cannot be understood as simply a career. Such professors are motivated by a divine sense of vocation, one that inspires self-sacrifice, mentorship, and a desire to listen and learn from ones students. These educators willingly offer their rapt attention, earnest prayers, and extra time. While these professors tenure may last 30 or 40 years, their legacies endure for generations.

An Easy Call

Chelsea Weeks was a senior at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) when her father was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. Within a few months, he passed away, and Weeks, who had lost her mother many years before, entered what she describes as one of the darkest times of her life.

Weeks knew that she had an ally in her professor and advisor, Holly Easttom, but she didnt realize just how much an advocate Easttom would prove to be. During the semester after her fathers passing, Weeks says Easttomwhom students affectionately call by her first name, Hollywas truly in her corner. Holly took care of everything for me, she said. She made sure all my other professors knew [about my father] and helped me manage the stress and grief. She would hold me and let me cry when I needed to, or make me laugh when I thought I would never be able to again.

In Easttoms view, stepping in for Weeks was an easy call. The journalism professor and student newspaper advisor considers fostering relationships with her students to be the most important role of her profession. In fact, she gives students her cellphone number on the first day. When a difficult time came knocking, I knew she would continue to be a rock for me, Weeks says. She always had been.

It was so important to me to have her back, to make sure that she was supported in every way that we could think of, Easttom said of Weeks. But the professor is quick to point out that while the relationship she has with Weeks is a special one, it is not an anomaly on the OBU campus. The universitys smaller program sizes encourage individualized attention for every student, which gives professors like Easttom the opportunity to be continuously, practically involved throughout an undergraduates career.

When commencement day comes, Easttom says, she feels a deep connection to her graduating students. Theres something about getting that wide-eyed freshman in your class who is terrified of their own potential, worried about their place in the world, and watching them cross that stage, knowing that theyre going to be an impressive asset. Its just an amazing journey, she says.

Weeks, who graduated in 2019, now lives and works in Spain, which she credits in large part to Easttoms mentorship: I wouldnt have been able to do it without her encouragement and belief in who I could be.

Tea and Sympathy

Weekss experience walking through the depths of grief with Easttom might not have been possible if the two had been at a different type of institution.

Each professor interviewed for this story explained that in Christian educational settings the dynamic between faculty and students can take on a deeper, spiritual dimension.

Professors can not only invest in their students educational goals but also provide Christian mentorship, prayerful counsel, and a steady mooring during tumultuous times. Such was the case for Ryan Frantzis and his mentor, Charles Elliott, at Cedarville University.

Elliott, himself a Cedarville graduate, says the school gives him the freedom to be his true self, both in the content of his courses and his style of teaching. He remembers that Frantz is was proactive in asking for mentoring and that their sessions together were mutually encouraging.

When Frantzis first asked Elliott to be his mentor, he didnt get an answer right away. A communications professor with decades of experience, Elliott said hed prayerfully consider it. It wasnt until a week later that Frantzis and Elliott connected for what would become the first of many conversations about academics, life, and their shared passion for Christ.

For three and a half years, Elliott met with Frantzis on Wednesday afternoons. Frantzis recalls sharing his joys and sorrows with his mentor without reservation as they grew into a comfortable rapport. What never fails to astound me is that point in the mentoring relationship where you feel comfortable with one another because the trust and confidence have been built over time, Elliott says, adding that each and every mentorship relationship is a unique one.

In April 2014, on an emotional night when his three-year romantic relationship came to an end, a distraught Frantzis called his parents to give them the news.

Elliott was the next phone call.

It was 10:45 p.m., and Elliott was suffering with a terrible migraine. When he answered, I could tell he was under the weather, Frantzis remembers, so I tried to rush him off the phone rather than taking up his time. But when Elliott heard the wavering in Frantziss voice, he didnt hesitate. Ryan, Elliott said, come to my home. My wife and I will put on some tea. Frantzis went, and they talked deep into the night. He was consoled and encouraged. It is an act of kindness, Frantzis says, that he will never forget.

After graduating the following year with a BA in applied communications, Frantzis moved back to his hometown of Syracuse. He says he feels fortunate that Elliott is still only a phone call away.

Easing the Transition

For students who arent ready to be as direct as Frantzis, there are other gateways to developing a mentoring relationship.

As a new freshman at Pepperdine University, Alessandra Allie Gesiotto felt out of her depth at her new campus. From the beginning, the entire transition is something thats scary, she says. Youre in class being taught by these professors who are very, very well educated and professional. Its intimidating to students at times.

The challenge was compounded by the dramatic difference between Gesiottos family home in Ohio and the Malibu, California, campus. She remembers feeling acutely disconnected, and at one point she considered transferring.

A few things helped ground Gesiotto at Pepperdine. One was a required freshman seminar called Resilience-Informed Skills Education (RISE), which aims to help students calibrate their expectations as they adjust to university life. Another was Pepperdines vice president of student affairs, Connie Horton, who taught the seminar.

RISE is our invitation to students to develop their resilience skills, care for themselves and their peers in times of need, and reinforce their ability to bounce back from lifes challenges no matter how great or small, Horton explains.

Connie showed me from day one that I could expect a unique connection between the students, the professors, and the faculty at Pepperdine, Gesiotto explains.

The seminar is built on a foundation of honesty and authenticity. Right from the beginning, Horton says, students introduce themselves to the class, and I introduce myselfwho is my family, what is my life like. I went [to Pepperdine] too, a long time ago. A space is created for placing classroom learning in the larger context of lifelong learning. As Horton puts it, We try to see each other as human beings, fellow journeyers.

Each year, the RISE seminar concludes with a family-style dinner at Hortons home right before finals, when homesickness tends to be at its height. Gesiotto feels Horton set the table (literally and figuratively) for her spiritual and academic growth over the following years. Recalling how welcoming, friendly, kind, patient, accepting, and genuine Professor Horton was during that freshman class, she jumped at the opportunity to invite Horton into a mentorship role through Pepperdines unique Club Convo program.

Each Club Convo is a small-group program that focuses on a topic weaving together life and faith. Along with one other student, Gesiotto and Horton formed a Club Convo and began meeting weekly.

Horton is quick to point out how much she enjoys these meetings. Its one of the most rewarding pieces of working in a university setting, she said. [Well be sitting] on a university patio overlooking a gorgeous sunset and just talking about life, and whats happened, and what does God have to do with that. Gesiotto, now entering the second semester of her junior year, has become a leader on campus. She says she looks back at her college experience with gratefulness, which she credits largely to her sessions with Horton. Connie taught me that everything is going to happen the way its supposed to happen, she said. You kind of have to let go. Realizing that has helped me to grow and be more independent.

I [still] can picture Gesiotto as a freshman, says Horton, front and center in the class, probably a little nervous, taking it all in. To see her go from that nervous freshman to being an orientation leader, someone who believes they can help othersit has been great.

At Risk

Some educational institutions enroll several thousand students and have existed for hundreds of years with support from generations of alumni. Many smaller Christian colleges, by contrast, were founded during the 20th century, and like Oklahoma Baptist University, enroll 2,000 or fewer. Their substantially smaller pool of alumni translates into smaller endowments: Without the cushion that endowments provide, smaller religious schools are less able to weather economic downturns. Since the Great Recession, they are struggling to survive; many are cutting programs, shuttering campuses, or even being forced to close entirely.

In light of these closings, the risk of losing the very environments best able to foster the remarkable faculty relationships mentioned here becomes a stark reality. As Easttom notes, small student pools draw a special mix of students and professors that are excited about long-term, interpersonal connections. Its not an exaggeration to say that these kinds of connections cant happen on a deep spiritual level, and with institutional support, anywhere else.

Open Doors

Its difficult to know how to reach out and form a mentorship relationship; there is no How Your Professor Can Help You Navigate College guide handed out with each syllabus. It can feel intimidating to cross over into more personal territory with a brilliant and accomplished professor. But most professors went into academia for one primary reason: They love their students.

Taylor Johnson, a 2012 Southwestern Assemblies of God University graduate, is proof of that. In fact, he credits his career to the thoughtfulness of a single professor. After learning of Johnsons desire to pursue stand-up comedy, youth and student ministries professor Garland Owensby, who was also a comedian, began to take Johnson to various events, allowing him to open the show (despite Johnson self-admitting to not having much talent). Owensby taught Johnson about comedy, kindness, and friendship. The two maintain regular contact as Johnson now works full-time as a comedian, sending his writing to Owensby for notes and even taking over his laundry to wash whenever hes in town. Its crazy to think about how weve gone from a professor-student relationship to just a close friendship, Johnson says.

All of the students mentioned above were smart and driven, but their professors said it was their openness both in the classroom and in their relationships that facilitated their mentorship connection.

Each professor absolutely is an open door of knowledge, commitment, dedication, and faith, says Easttom. All students have to do is pass through the doorwhat a huge return for such a small act! I wish I could encourage more students to do that.

Kathryn Watson is a freelance writer based in New York City. She lives with her husband and two sons.
Sesa Sen By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court (SC) endorsing their stand against curbs put in place by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), that effectively outlawed virtual currencies in India, on Wednesday only confirms that cryptocurrencies can no longer be dismissed as just a fad.

With a market capitalisation of nearly $300 billion, cryptocurrency, in fact, is touted as the future of digital finance.

According to experts, the ruling is an opportunity for businesses in India to push against stricter rules that may be coming their way from the unconvinced government, even as optimists see the move potentially raising hope for the likes of Facebook Incs Libra cryptocurrency.

ALSO READ: Authorities still not convinced on cryptocurrency, feel it could turn into a bubble

The verdict tells us that reluctance to regulate something cannot be the reason enough to stifle or kill a full industry, and for that matter, even a single entity. The innovative industry now gets an equal opportunity to exist and grow as the apex court outright shot down a strong policy step by RBI and gave a thumbs-up to the crypto exchanges and crypto as an asset class, explained Manish Kumar, co-founder of GREX, a start-up that operates an online stock exchange-like facility for unlisted start-ups. In 2018, the central bank had placed a ban on banks and financial institutions from dealing with virtual currencies like bitcoins and others.

As an effect, domestic exchanges allowed buying and selling of cryptocurrencies but transactions had to be routed through an intermediary, typically referred to as a P2P payment application.

The Supreme Court ruling, however, opens up the gateway for exchanges to get back to dealing with banking channels and revive their business of facilitating exchange of virtual currency.

ALSO READ: Authorities still not convinced on cryptocurrency, feel it could turn into a bubble

It will also give birth to a lot of start-ups in India and gives an opportunity to players like us to innovate in the country and democratise blockchain technology for users across the globe, said Zac Cheah, CEO, Pundi X.

With a population of over a billion, the Indian market is a sleeping giant, believes Nischal Shetty, founder & CEO,WazirX, which processes around $20-25 million worth of transactions a month, with 2.5 lakh users, the majority of whom are Indians.

This judgement is positive as it will open doors to massive crypto adoption in India. We can also see venture capitalists investing into the maturing space and companies are likely to now start focusing on deploying stronger KYC, user data privacy, and anti-money laundering policies to reduce room for cryptocurrency transactions to be exploited for illegal activities and tax evasions, Shetty noted.

WazirX Tokens rose by 25 per cent in value post the judgement.

crypto scenario
Coffee drinkers head to Starbucks for different reasons. Of course, people enjoy their drinks (including the ones on the secret menu), but the coffee chain's variety of mugs are also beloved, especially when you receive a 10-cent discount for using one. But as of today, you'll no longer be able to fill your reusable cup at Starbucks.

In a news release posted on its website, the corporation addressed concerns around COVID-19. "As a global company, weve been closely monitoring the dynamic situation of COVID-19, along with the rest of the world," Rossann Williams, president of U.S. company-operated business and Canada for Starbucks, writes. "Our focus remains on two key priorities: Caring for the health and well-being of our partners and customers and playing a constructive role in supporting local health officials and government leaders as they work to contain the virus."

Nicole Wiegand

Williams explains executives in the U.S. and other international markets are learning from their counterparts in China to take several precautionary steps, including some that directly affect customers. First, Starbucks will increase cleaning and sanitizing in all company-operated stores. Also, all locations will pause the use of reusable cups, including "for here" mugs, which are used and returned while in the store. However, during the policy change, you can still get the 10-cent discount if you bring your mug from home and ask for a "for here" cup.

Along with those adjustments, the company provided information to staff on how to report and support anyone infected with the coronavirus. Starbucks has also restricted business-related air travel through March 21 and changed large meetings in the U.S. and Canada.

Related: Starbucks Customers Swear by the Cold-Fighting Medicine Ball Drink

Starbucks just posted the release online today, and they're already implementing the new policies. One BHG.com editor spotted a sign on the doors of a coffee shop in Des Moines, Iowa. The post reads, "We are temporarily pausing the use of reusable cups in care of our customers and partners." It's unclear how long the reusable mug ban will last. "We will continue to stay close to our partners and local health officials, and we are optimistic this will be a temporary situation," notes Williams in the release.

The Seattle-based business often touts its commitment to sustainability, including its shift from single-use to reusable packaging, so this decision was likely not an easy one. Hopefully, the new directives won't need to last long.
Justice S Muralidhar Thursday cleared the air over the controversy on his transfer from the Delhi High Court to Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying he had replied to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde's communication that he was fine with the proposal and had no objection.

The controversy erupted after the Centre issued Justice Muralidhar's transfer notification close to mid night of February 26 -- the day a bench headed by him had pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the recent violence in northeast Delhi.

Justice Muralidhar (58), who received a grand farewell on Thursday from a huge gathering including judges and lawyers amid a big round of applause, said he wanted to clear the confusion on his transfer and narrated the sequence of events from the time he received CJI's communication till February 26.

The Supreme Court collegium, headed by the CJI, had in a meeting on February 12 recommended the transfer of Justice Muralidhar to Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Muralidhar was number three in the Delhi High Court, his parent high court as a judge.

Explaining the transfer process, he said the 5-member collegium sends to the Centre a recommendation that a judge of a high court should be transferred to another high court. The judge concerned is not at this stage under orders of transfers. That happens only when the collegium's recommendation fructifies into a notification.

"In my case, the collegium's decision was communicated to me by the CJI on February 17 by a letter which sought my response. I acknowledged receipt of the letter, I was then asked to clarify what I meant. As I saw it, if I was to be transferred from the Delhi High Court any way, I was fine with moving to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

"I therefore clarified to the CJI that I did not object to the proposal. An explanation for my transfer reached the press...on February 20 quoting 'sources in the Supreme Court collegium', confirming what has been indicated to me a couple of days earlier," he said.

The CJI's letter dated February 14 was delivered to Justice Muralidhar on February 17, the day when the family's pet labrador Sakhi breathed her last.

He said February 26 was perhaps the longest working day of his life as a judge of the Delhi High Court, where he has spent 14 years on the bench.

He said it began at 12:30 am with a sitting at his residence with Justice A J Bhambhani, under the orders of Justice G S Sistani, to deal with a PIL filed by Rahul Roy seeking safe passage of ambulances carrying the injured riot victims.

"When I received a call at my residence from the lawyer for the petitioner, I first called Justice Sistani to ask what should be done, knowing that the Chief Justice (CJ) was on leave. Justice Sistani explained that he too was officially on leave the whole of February 26 and that I should take up the matter.

"This fact is stated in the order passed by the bench after the hearing. Later that day, upon urgent mentioning, as the de facto CJ's bench, Justice Talwant Singh and I took up another fresh PIL on the CJ's board seeking registration of FIRs for hate speeches. After the orders passed on that day, the above two PILs remained on the CJ's Board," he said.

Justice Muralidhar ended the speech saying the notification which was issued close to midnight of February 26 did two things.

"First, it transferred me to Punjab and Haryana High Court. Second, it appointed me to a position from where I can never be transferred, or removed and in which I shall always be proud to remain. A 'former judge' of arguably the best high court in the country. The High Court of Delhi," he said, following a standing ovation by all the judges and the gathering, including his family members, former judges, lawyers, court staff and media persons.

Justice Muralidhar's mother, wife Usha Ramanathan, former Delhi High Court chief justice A P Shah, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and former Delhi University VC Upendra Baxi were also present.

Bidding adieu to Justice Muralidhar, Delhi HC CJ D N Patel said it was an occasion which has come with a saddening effect and his absence will be felt institutionally as well as personally.

Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra termed Justice Muralidhar as a "highly intellectual, courageous, upright and incorruptible judge" and sang bengali song 'ekla chalo re' to describe him.

Mehra said he joins Delhi High Court Bar Association in "strongly condemning" Justice Muralidhar's transfer.

A controversy had erupted in 2018 when Justice Muralidhar had quashed the transit remand order by a trial court and directed release of rights activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest in the Koregaon Bhima violence case.

In October 2018, a division bench headed by Justice Muralidhar had also convicted 16 former policemen of Uttar Pradesh in the Hashimpura massacre case. He was also heading the bench which in the same year had awarded life imprisonment to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and sent him to jail in one of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Justice Muralidhar began his law practice in Chennai in September 1984 and he shifted to the Supreme Court and the Delhi HC in 1987.

His pro bono work included the cases for the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy and those displaced by dams on the Narmada river.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"DEWAR'S is thrilled to launch this second in a series of double-aged cask finishes, which further pushes the boundaries of the whisky category in line with DEWAR'S commitment to innovation," says Brian Cox , Vice President, DEWAR'S, North America.

"We've been considering experimenting in the mezcal space for a while and are thrilled to partner with Ilegal for this exciting world first. It's a fortuitous collaboration as there are many parallels between Tommy Dewar, one of the DEWAR'S founders, and John Rexer, founder of Ilegal. They both have grit, wit and passion for creating something new on an ambitious scale  the very best ultra-premium, smooth spirits. DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth pays homage to both of their successful legacies by dispelling myths about what's possible between whisky and mezcal and ultimately breaking new ground in both categories. The end product says it all," added Cox.

DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth's 8-year-old mezcal cask finish offers brown spirit drinkers a refreshing alternative. "We've blended our signature recipe of up to 40 single malts and grain whiskies that have laid in casks for at least 8 years, double aged the blend to ensure our distinctive extra smooth DEWAR'S profile, and then finished in ex-Ilegal Mezcal casks, sourced from Oaxaca, Mexico, all fulfilled in our ageing warehouses in Glasgow," says Stephanie Macleod, Master Blender, DEWAR'S. "DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth's unique flavor profile features subtle notes of caramel, sliced green pepper and a wisp of smoke  making it an ideal pairing for your next dinner party, or as a spirit to enjoy neat, on the rocks or in highball recipes," added Macleod.

"Many of the barrels utilized in aging mezcal are used whisky barrels. It's a nice shift to have our used Ilegal Mezcal barrels crossing borders to age whisky in Scotland. The finished product is delicious," says Founder of Ilegal Mezcal, John Rexer. Ilegal Mezcal is made in Oaxaca, Mexico by Oaxaquenos. The company is composed of Mexicans, Guatemalans, Mexican Americans, an El Salvadoran American, Venezuelans, an Ecuadorian, New Yorkers, Californians and a Philadelphian  people from an array of ethnicities and cultures. We live, work, and play across borders. This partnership between Ilegal and DEWAR'S is about sharing cultures and creating an opportunity for education around the mezcal category," added Rexer.

The Toasted Citrus Highball is the signature cocktail for DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth 8-year-old mezcal cask. This is a twist on the classic highball, which Tommy Dewar pioneered.

DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth 8-year-old mezcal cask finish will be available in a 750ml bottle with an SRP of $21.99. For more information on DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth and the rest of DEWAR'S whisky products, please visit www.dewars.com or on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

DEWAR'S ILEGAL SMOOTH SIGNATURE SERVE: THE TOASTED CITRUS HIGHBALL

2 parts DEWAR'S Ilegal Smooth

1 part Pink grapefruit juice

2/3 part Fresh lemon juice

 part Honey water

4 parts Soda water

Glass:

Highball

Garnish:

Pink grapefruit slice

Method: Add all liquid ingredients (except soda) to chilled highball glass. Add cubed ice and soda and stir from bottom of glass, and garnish with pink grapefruit slice.

About DEWAR'S

Founded in 1846 by John Dewar, DEWAR'S has grown from a small wine and spirits merchant shop in Scotland, to one of the largest Scotch whisky brands in the world. Best known for its iconic DEWAR'S WHITE LABEL, it has expanded its family to create a portfolio of premium and super premium whiskies including DEWAR'S 12-Year-Old, DEWAR'S 15-Year-Old, DEWAR'S 18-Year-Old, DEWAR'S Double Double Series, DEWAR'S Caribbean Smooth and the exclusive DEWAR'S 25. These whiskies are crafted using the DEWAR'S oak marrying ageing process, which involves returning the hand-crafted blend to vintage oak casks for further maturation. The result is a smoother taste with a long, lingering finish; a taste that wins medals and applause, making DEWAR'S the world's most awarded blended Scotch. The DEWAR'S brand is part of the portfolio of Bacardi Limited, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited.

About Bacardi Limited

Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, produces and markets internationally recognized spirits and wines. The Bacardi brand portfolio comprises more than 200 brands and labels, including BACARDI rum, GREY GOOSE vodka, PATRON tequila, DEWAR'S Blended Scotch whisky, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin, MARTINI vermouth and sparkling wines, CAZADORES 100% blue agave tequila, and other leading and emerging brands including WILLIAM LAWSON'S Scotch whisky, ST-GERMAIN elderflower liqueur, and ERISTOFF vodka.

Founded more than 158 years ago, in Santiago de Cuba on February 4, 1862, family-owned Bacardi currently employs nearly 7,000, operates more than 20 production facilities, including bottling, distilling and manufacturing sites in 11 countries, and sells its brands in more than 170 countries. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. Visit www.bacardilimited.com or follow @BacardiLimited.

About Ilegal Mezcal

Ilegal is one of the leading artisanal mezcals in the world. It is from Oaxaca, Mexico and made with sustainable Espadin agave. It is smooth, approachable and ultra-premium. It is called Ilegal because the owner, John Rexer, used to smuggle mezcal from Mexico to Guatemala for his bar, Cafe No Se. Everything Ilegal is full of heart and adventure, great stories and truth wilder than fiction.

Media Contacts:

Kiwan Anderson Rhian Croucher, PR Director Nike Communications Bacardi-Martini Ltd. 917.855.8655 +44 (0) 7971 508 776 [email protected] [email protected]

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" " Animals, such as the Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), native to Australia, have magnetic receptors in their eyes that can pick up on Earth's magnetic field, which aids in migratory navigation. Arterr/Getty Images

Just because we humans can't sense Earth's magnetic field doesn't mean other animals can't. Although we have plenty of behavioral evidence than many animals, from fruit flies to foxes, have magnetoreceptive abilities, it's tough for us to imagine what it must be like to be able to navigate by some sort of internal magnetic compass. It's been even harder for scientists to grasp what is going on physiologically with this sixth sense, since the mechanism by which animals achieve magnetoreception has remained stubbornly obscure.

But in the past few months, two different studies have reported on a protein found in birds' eyes that seems to allow them to get a visual on the planet's seemingly invisible magnetic pathways. This substance, called Cry4, is a type of protein found in the eyes that helps regulate circadian rhythms, and previous research has suggested it may also be instrumental in magnetoreception.

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A study published in the March 26, 2018 issue of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface reports that although zebra finches have three different cryprochrome proteins  Cry1, Cry2 and Cry4  Cry4 is the only one that showed up consistently throughout a 24-hour period in the birds' eyes, suggesting that it doesn't have as much to do with the animals' circadian clocks as with something that might be necessary no matter what time of day it is. Navigation, for instance.

Atticus Pinzon-Rodriguez, the study's lead author and a doctoral student in the Department of Biology at Lund University in Sweden, told The Independent that their results, "indicate that other animals, perhaps all of them, have magnetic receptors and can pick up on magnetic fields".

Their findings are supported by a separate study published in the Jan. 22, 2018 issue of the journal Current Biology, which looked at European robins instead of zebra finches. The research team, based out of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg in Germany, found that Cry4 is concentrated in the parts of a robin's eye that receive the most light, suggesting that magnetoreception is most likely a sense associated with eyesight  that birds can probably actually see the magnetic fields rather than, say, hear or feel them.

The Carl von Ossietzky University also compared the presence of Cry4 in the eyes of robins, which migrate to warmer climes each winter, and chickens, which are non-migratory. They found that migratory season was accompanied by boosts in Cry4 levels in the eyes of the robins, where the chicken experienced no such change. This suggests Cry4 is important for navigation in migratory birds.

Now That's Interesting Sea turtles, lobsters, homing pigeons, honey bees, roundworms, termites and brown bats all share the ability to detect Earth's magnetic field.
Tihar Jail authorities on Wednesday moved a city court seeking a fresh date for the execution of four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case.

Shortly after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case, Tihar Jail authorities on Wednesday moved a city court seeking fresh date for the execution of four convicts. The court scheduled the hearing for 2 pm on Thursday.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharemender Rana scheduled the matter for Thursday saying that under the principles of natural justice, the convicts and their counsel Advocate AP Singh need to be notified about the prison authorities' application. Judge Rana issued notice to the convicts and sought a response on the application.

Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed informed the court that with the rejection of Gupta's mercy plea, the convicts had now exhausted all the legal option available to them. He told the court that the jail authorities had informed Gupta that his mercy petition had been rejected and asked the court to issue a fresh date for execution today itself.

Earlier in the day, a Home Ministry official said that the president had rejected Gupta's mercy petition. The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of the other three convicts  Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

The trial court had on 17 February issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for 3 March at 6 am for the four convicts. However, the court had on 2 March stayed their hanging as Gupta's mercy petition was pending before the president.

On 16 December , 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died after a fortnight. A total of six people - Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Gupta, Ram Singh and a juvenile - were convicted in the gang rape and murder of the paramedic student. While Ram Singh had committed suicide in jail, the juvenile was released from a remand home after completion of his term.

With inputs from PTI
Global energy giant ExxonMobil and miner BHP say they will bring urgently needed new gas to the east-coast market by early 2021, as their joint venture prepares to begin work on one of the largest remaining undeveloped gas reservoirs in Victoria's Bass Strait.

The announcement on the $550 million project known as West Barracouta comes at a critical time as the push to lift the supply of gas into the southern states takes on greater urgency. Manufacturers have begun openly blaming a three-fold hike in the gas price as they close their doors, while authorities are warning of a looming supply shortage. The Morrison government, meanwhile, has made increasing gas production a condition for states to receive energy funding deals, pressuring Victoria to lift its onshore gas drilling ban to help offset the rapidly declining output from the Bass Strait offshore fields.

The Noble Tom Prosser drilling rig is now working on the second of two wells at the West Barracouta project in the Bass Strait.

ExxonMobil, which is seeking a buyer for its 50 per cent stake in the Bass Strait operation, has been investing heavily to moderate the decline from the ageing fields. Operated in a joint venture with BHP, the offshore fields have traditionally supplied up to half of Australia's east-coast gas demand.

In December the joint venture gave the green light to the $550 million West Barracouta project. However, the project is only expected to help offset the decline in production from the East Barracouta reservoir, rather than increase overall supply.
Six co-passengers of the Covid-19 positive Japanese who had entered Saigon Tuesday on a flight from Cambodia have been identified.

The six passengers, including a Vietnamese citizen who has been quarantined, were on the VN814 flight operated by national carrier Vietnam Airlines from Siem Reap to Saigon Tuesday night.

Three French citizens have departed for Thailands Bangkok, an Australian and a Filipino have returned to their home countries, officials said Thursday.

The family of the quarantined Vietnamese person is being closely monitored at home in District 1, said Nguyen Tri Dung, director of the HCMC Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The French citizens, 65 to 68 years of age, had stayed in a hotel on Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1 until Wednesday night before leaving for Bangkok. Six hotel employees have been quarantined.

Six crew members of VN841 have also been quarantined.

Saigon authorities are figuring out the itineraries and compiling a list of people who had close contact with the co-passengers of the Japanese patient to determine appropriate quarantine measures.

"HCMCs disease prevention system has moved quickly to identify and seek out those who have had close contact with these six people," Dung said.

Anyone who has had contact with the six people on flight VN814 are to call the number 08.695.77.133 to be provided necessary disease prevention measures, the HCMC CDC has announced.

Flight VN814 carried 61 passengers who transited at Saigons Tan Son Nhat Airport before departing to other countries and territories the same night. Their onward itineraries were as follows: 50 flew to London; seven to Narita, Japan; another to Nagoya, Japan; two to Busan, South Korea; and one to Manila, the Philippines.

The Japanese passenger, who flew to Nagoya and whose identity has not been revealed, took the connecting flight VN340, also operated by Vietnam Airlines. After landing at the Nagoya Airport, he showed symptoms of high fever and was taken to a local hospital. He later tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19.

The Vietnam Airlines plane used for flight VN340 then returned from Nagoya to Tan Son Nhat as flight VN341 Wednesday afternoon, with 73 passengers and 12 crew members on board. All crew members and 51 passengers entering Vietnam on the VN341 flight were quarantined. The remaining 22 passengers, all Japanese, who were transiting en route to other destinations, were isolated further pending procedures for their connecting flights.

Japan has so far recorded 331 Covid-19 infection cases in the country. 12 of them have died including six on a cruise ship. Vietnam has recorded 16 infections, of whom all have been discharged from hospital.

The global Covid-19 death toll has reached 3,286, mostly in mainland China, followed by Italy (107), Iran (92) and South Korea (35).
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Linkedin Nina Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 11:12 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20686d54d 1 Health COVID-19,coronavirus,outbreak,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,nCoV,face-mask,WHO,World-Health-Organization Free

The price of face masks in Indonesia has skyrocketed due to growing demand since Monday, when the President announced the countrys first two confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Amid public concerns over the possibility of an outbreak occuring in the country, many people been rushing to buy face masks as drugstores and shops are finding it increasingly difficult to replenish their stock.

But can face masks really protect you from the novel coronavirus?

The World Health organization (WHO) asserts that there is no need for healthy people to wear a mask, and recommends their use only for people who are ill  especially anyone who is coughing or sneezing  and those caring for suspected cases of COVID-19, particularly health workers and those sharing living space with someone in self-isolation.

Read also: In anxious Jakarta, box of face masks worth more than gram of gold

Also, keep in mind that the more the public goes on a buying frenzy and depletes the stock of masks in the country, the fewer there are for the people on the frontline: the doctors, nurses, technicians and administrative staff at hospitals and other healthcare facilities who are there to treat everyone who gets sick  including people with health conditions other than COVID-19.

It's also important to note that face masks are only effective in preventing COVID-19 infection when used in conjunction with maintaining hand hygiene: frequent hand-washing with soap and water or cleaning the hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

The WHO's dedicated webpage even provides detailed instructions and videos on how to do this properly.

Q: What is the correct way to wear and dispose of a #mask?

A: https://t.co/j6HsqP9iJb#2019nCoV pic.twitter.com/GZjzn6JSTY  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 6, 2020

Here are the WHO's six steps on how to wear face masks and dispose of them correctly:

Clean your hands with hand sanitizers or wash your hands with soap and water before putting on a mask. Check the mask to see whether there are any tears or holes on it. Make sure the mask covers your nose, mouth and chin, with no gaps between your face and the mask. Avoid touching the mask while you are wearing it. If you do touch it, immediately clean your hands with hand sanitizer or wash them using soap and water. Do not reuse a single-use mask. If your mask gets wet or becomes damp, replace it immediately. Do not touch the front of your mask when removing it. Remove it from behind, and immediately throw away the mask in a garbage bin with a lid. Wash or clean your hands immediately afterwards.
Rallos lawyer, John Rogers, asked the judge to give Rallo probation on Thursday, noting he has no criminal record, is employed and has five children, two of which are 10 and 11.

He coaches the teams; he brings the kids to school, Rogers said.

The media attention from the case has already damaged Rallos reputation. He and his immediate family have left the region, and one of his businesses has surrendered its insurance license. The family name  once prominent in the construction business, with some relatives even working as subcontractors on the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse where he was sentenced  has been impacted, Rogers said.

Rallo understands the embarrassment he has has brought to the family, Rogers said.

He said Rallo has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which is now in remission. Rallo, who pleaded guilty in July, has had his sentencing delayed several times.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Brook Church-Koegel, David H. Goldman, and Nicole J. Walker, three California-based internal sales agents for Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC, for illegally selling Woodbridge securities in unregistered transactions to retail investors in numerous states while acting as unregistered brokers.

According to the SEC's complaint, from approximately June 2014 to December 2017, Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker sold and assisted others in selling approximately $444 million in Woodbridge securities in unregistered transactions to thousands of predominantly elderly investors. The complaint alleges that Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker were among Woodbridge's largest revenue-producing internal sales agents, and Church-Koegel and Goldman eventually became "team leaders," who assisted sales agents throughout the United States. As alleged, the defendants reaped significant transaction-based compensation from these unlawful sales, with Church-Koegel and Goldman receiving more than $1 million each, and Walker receiving more than $750,000. The SEC's complaint, filed in the Southern District of Florida, charges Church-Koegel, Goldman, and Walker with violating the securities registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against each of them.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Michelle Bosworth, Mark Dee, and Christine Nestor, under the supervision of Thierry Olivier Desmet, Fernando Torres, and Glenn S. Gordon. The litigation will be led by Christine Nestor and Stephanie N. Moot under the supervision of Andrew O. Schiff. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations.

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Alert to help seniors identify signs of investment fraud and, in conjunction with the Division of Enforcement's Retail Strategy Task Force, another Investor Alert about Ponzi schemes targeting seniors. The SEC strongly encourages investors to use the agency's Investor.gov website to check the backgrounds of people selling them investments to quickly identify whether they are registered professionals.
A mother-of-two who put off having a smear test for seven years because she was 'too busy' needed a radical hysterectomy when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Caroline Brandshaw, 34, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, thought cancer 'wouldn't happen to her' until watching a documentary about reality star Jade Goody made her think about the impact not getting checked could have on her daughters.

After almost a decade of avoiding the test she was again invited to book an appointment in April 2019, but didn't go to get it done until after watching the documentary in September last year.

The stay-at-home mother, who shares Areya, two, and Serennah, nine, with her husband Josh, 30, was heartbroken when she was told she had a 40-80mm wide patch of cancerous skin on her cervix four months later.

Caroline Brandshaw, 34, from Stockport, thought cancer 'wouldn't happen to her' and put off her smear test for seven years (pictured on holiday with daughters Serennah and Areya)

Recalling the moment she found out, Caroline said: 'It was odd, I started shivering as if I was cold.

'Someone else said the same thing happened to them and they think it was shock. I was shivering as if I was cold. That's all I was doing for ages.

'Even though I'd prepared myself the hour before, I still burst out crying [when they told me]. I cried a lot that night. After that evening, I was okay.'

Her husband helped get her through the pain of her diagnosis and after one evening of devastation she managed to pick herself up and carry on.

The stay-at-home mother, who shares Areya, two, and Serennah, nine, with her husband Josh (pictured), 30, was heartbroken when she was told she had a patch of cancerous skin

Caroline lost her ability to have more children just weeks ago when she had a radical hysterectomy (pictured after) to remove her uterus and cervix on February 19

Caroline first put off having the test in June 2016 when she was pregnant and moving house

'My husband is a very matter-of-fact person and he was saying we could deal with it and get through anything,' she added.

'Having him by my side was absolutely fantastic to help me get through it and not feel too negative about it. I feel like I got all my tears out of the way that night.'

A week later she was on holiday in Kos, Greece, with her family and had to pretend everything was fine.

'Even waiting for the MRI we were laughing at things and getting on with it. Even on holiday the week after with my family, they said they wouldn't have known as I was so normal,' she said.

'I didn't dwell on it too much. I felt like I got all the emotion out of the way that night I was told.

Caroline's husband (pictured on their wedding day) helped get her through the pain of her diagnosis and after one evening of devastation she managed to pick herself up and carry on

Josh and Caroline Bradshaw with their daughters, Serennah and Areya, before Caroline was diagnosed with cervical cancer aged 34

'You've got to pull through and do it for your kids.'

Caroline lost her ability to have more children just weeks ago when she had a radical hysterectomy to completely remove her uterus, cervix, and part of the vagina on February 19.

She said: 'It is what it is. I'm glad I've got this big surgery out of the way. Just waking up from that was my main concern from that at the time.

'Now that bit is out of the way, if they throw more at me I'll be okay.'

In a heartbreaking status online, Caroline blamed herself for her diagnosis after putting it off for so long (pictured with Serennah on a beach)

When her colposcopy and biopsies came back negative, she believed she was cancer free and delayed booking a follow-up until January this year (pictured with her husband Josh)

Caroline now faces a gruelling wait to find out if she will require further treatment to treat her stage IB2 cancer.

In a heartbreaking status online, Caroline blamed herself for her diagnosis after putting it off for so long.

Women over the age of 24 are expected to get a smear test every three years. But three years on from her last test Caroline ignored the reminder letter for the next.

The post struck a chord and quickly went viral, amassing more than 18,874 likes, shares and comments.

Caroline wrote in her post: 'It was no one's fault but my own, missing that smear test. I carelessly told myself, "that won't happen to me".

'Not long after, I had an evening to myself and came across the Jade Goody documentary on catch up. I watched it and cried. I cried thinking of those poor boys without a mum now.

'That documentary played on my mind for weeks before I took the plunge and booked the test. Just get it done for my girls I told myself, what's the worst that can happen.

'I have had the option of having more children taken away from me but I am so unbelievably grateful for the gorgeous girls I already have.

'[I am] just so glad I finally got around to having this smear test done nearly seven years since my previous one.

'If I missed another one who knows what the result could be for me. All I know now is it's going to be a tough road ahead, but it could have been even worse.

Caroline watched Jade Goody's documentary and cried at the thought of what would happen to her daughters (pictured with Areya, two) if she got cancer

TV personality Jade died of Cervical cancer in 2009. Her documentary Jade: The reality star who transformed Britain inspired women to get themselves tested

'There really wasn't any need for it to have got to this point though, all because I didn't see the importance of it. It really is important ladies. This could happen to anyone.'

Now Caroline is using her viral post to urge others to book their smear tests as soon as they are able to.

She first put off having the test in June 2016 when she was pregnant and moving house. Even after she gave birth in March 2017 she forgot to book the test until she was invited again in April 2019.

She had noticed strange symptoms in her body - including hair loss, blackened toenails and even 'scar tissue' forming on her leg, but the problems were dismissed as bad circulation.

Now Caroline is using her viral post to urge others to book their smear tests as soon as they are able to

After the smear test in October, Caroline was on holiday in Kos when she got a text confirming an appointment had been booked for her with a consultant. She feared the worst.

But when her colposcopy and biopsies came back negative, she believed she was cancer free and delayed booking a follow-up Lletz test to confirm until January this year.

Caroline said: 'It must have been at least seven years ago that I last went for one.

'When the next letter came through from the doctor, I kept thinking I didn't need to go. I thought, I've got too much on, I'm too busy. I was too busy.

Caroline wants other women to not make the mistake she did. If one person makes the effort to book a test because of her social media status she says she will be happy

She had noticed strange symptoms in her body - including hair loss, blackened toenails and even 'scar tissue' forming on her leg, but the problems were dismissed as bad circulation

'I was really busy with work and we were moving house at the same time as well. It's easy to just say no to. We were selling the house so I was constantly doing viewings.

'I was pregnant and had an excuse to not go for this one. I think because we'd then moved house I didn't register my new address with the GP so I wasn't getting new reminders either.'

Instead of acting on the letters that were inviting her to book an appointment Caroline dismissed them as unimportant.

'It just got put to the back of my mind and I never even thought about it again,' she said.

'This time, when I did get a letter through, I again ignored it and thought I didn't need to go for that.

Caroline and Josh had considered having more children in the future, but now she is happy to concentrate on their two daughters

'It was watching the Jade Goody documentary that really hit home. What's a little test when it can save your life?

'I put it off again for another two weeks and then thought, no I need to get this booked. I eventually did get booked in.

'But I had been putting it off and off, and why on earth did I do it? I really don't know.'

WHAT IS CERVICAL CANCER? Cervical cancer affects the lining of the lower part of womb. The most common symptom is unusual bleeding, such as between periods, during sex or after the menopause, but other signs can include: Pain during sex

Vaginal discharge that smells

Pain in the pelvis Causes can include: Age - more than half of sufferers are under 45

HPV infection - which affects most people at some point in their lives

Smoking - responsible for 21 per cent of cases

Contraceptive pill - linked to 10 per cent of cases

Having children

Family history of cervical or other types of cancer, like vagina Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

Caroline and Josh had considered having more children in the future, but now she is happy to concentrate on their two daughters.

She continued: 'Having more children had been one of those things where we'd wait and see what happened. My husband had mentioned having more children a few times.

'Now the option has been taken off me. But I'm happy and incredibly grateful that my time and attention is already taken up with my two girls.

'On holiday I was looking around at all these tiny babies and thinking they were cute and it might be nice to have another, but it really doesn't matter.

'It's just not worth putting off. A smear test takes 30 seconds to get done. The nurses are so used to doing it day in day out that they don't see anything different about them.

'It's so normal to them, so don't make it abnormal to yourself to have to go through.

'Anyone that is having to go past that point just needs to stay positive as well and get what they need to done before it gets worse.'
Carrolls legal team has called attention to a lawsuit Trumps campaign brought against the New York Times, claiming libel in an opinion piece about the presidents dealings with Russia. The suit was filed Feb. 26, the day before Trump attorneys first asked the court in writing to postpone Carrolls case. Trumps campaign has since sued The Washington Post over two opinion articles discussing Russias election interference.
The history of exploration is replete with famous names everyone knows, like Robert Peary, the man most often credited with first reaching the North Pole. Those who work alongside the legendsdoing the heavy lifting, saving lives, making essential calculationstend to be forgotten or marginalized almost immediately in the telling of the story, especially when they dont fit the profile for the kinds of people allowed to make history.

In Pearys case, it seems that the most important member of his teamhis assistant, African American explorer Matthew Hensonmay have actually reached the North Pole first, along with four of the teams Inuit crew members.

Henson and Perry first met in a Washington, DC clothing store where Henson worked. When they struck up a conversation, Peary learned that Henson had fled Maryland after his parents were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, as Messy Nessy writes. He had then signed on as a cabin boy at 12 and sailed around the world, including the Russian Arctic seas, learning to read and write while aboard ship.

Peary was impressed and hired him on the spot, and from that point forward, Henson went on every expedition Peary embarked on; trekking through the jungles of Nicaragua and, later, covering thousands of miles of ice in dog sleds to the North Pole. Also on their last expedition were 39 Inuit men, women, and children, including the four Inuit men Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo, and Oogueahwho accompanied Henson and Peary on the final leg of the 1909 journey, Peary and Hensons eighth attempt.

As the six men neared the pole, Peary grew more and more weary, suffering from exhaustion and frozen toes, unable to leave their camp, set up five miles away. Henson and the others scouted ahead, and, according to Hensons account, actually overshot the pole before doubling back. I could see that my footprints were the first at the spot, he later wrote.

Peary eventually caught up and the sled-bound Admiral allegedly trudged up to plant the American flag in the iceand yet, the only photograph of the historic moment shows a crew of faces that are distinctly not white. Either Peary took the photograph as a way of honoring the crew or he wasnt there at all when it was taken. The former doesnt seem likely given Pearys eagerness to claim full credit for the feat.

Peary accepted the sole honor from the National Geographic Society and an award from Congress in 1911, while Hensons contributions were largely ignored at the time and he returned to a very normal life in relative obscurity, working as a U.S. Customs clerk for 23 years, unable to marshal the resources for further expeditions once Peary retired.

In his writings, Peary characterized Henson according to his usefulness: This position I have given him primarily because of his adaptability and fitness for the work and secondly on account of his loyalty. He is a better dog driver and can handle a sledge better than any man living, except some of the best Eskimo hunters themselves. The passage is reminiscent of Lewis and Clarks descriptions of Sacagawea, who never emerges as a full person with her own motivations.

Sadly, in his 1912 account, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole, it seems that Henson internalized the racism that confined him to second-class status. Another worlds accomplishment was done and finished, he writes, passively eliding the doer of the deed. He then invokes a trope that appears over and over, from Shakespeares Tempest to Defoes Robinson Crusoe: From the beginning of history, wherever the worlds work was done by a white man, he had been accompanied by a colored man. From the building of the pyramids and the journey to the cross, to the discovery of the new world and the discovery of the North Pole.

The kind of history Henson had learned is obviousa whitewashing on a world-historical scale. It would take almost 30 years for him to finally receive recognition, though he lived to become the first black member of The Explorers Club in 1937 and with some irony, Messy Nessy writes, he was awarded the Peary Polar Expedition Medal in 1944. Since then, his name has usually been mentioned with Pearys in histories of the expedition, but rarely as the first person to reach the pole. Watch two short profiles of Hensons accomplishments above, and see many more photos from the expedition at Messy Nessy.

via Messy Nessy

Related Content:

Explorer David Livingstones Diary (Written in Berry Juice) Now Digitized with New Imaging Technology

Watch the Very First Feature Documentary: Nanook of the North by Robert J. Flaherty (1922)

African American History-Emancipation to the Present: A Free Course from Yale University

Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness.
Oakland

Photo: Paige D./Yelp

Here's the latest in Oakland food news. In this edition, an Uptown cocktail bar gets shut down by NIMBY neighbors, while a talked-about barbecue spot is being held up by permitting regulations for its smoker. Plus, a Jordanian-style shawarma pop-up makes its debut.

Closures

Uptown

Heres How (1780 Telegraph Ave.)

Photo: Audrey S./Yelp

After less than a year in business, Uptown cocktail bar bar Here's How has shuttered permanently, Eater SF reports.

The bar was owned by Jennifer Colliau, who founded cocktail syrup company Small Hand Foods and worked at Fort Mason's The Interval before opening her own spot.

But she's lost an ongoing battle with her upstairs neighbors, who spent more than two years protesting the bar's liquor license over noise concerns  despite its city-center location, right across the street from the Fox Theater.

Colliau was forced to accept a provisional liquor license from the state as a result, and the legal fight to get a permanent one depleted her funds. The provisional license also required her to pay liquor distributors up front, compared to the typical 30-day turnaround for most bars, causing further financial damage.

Colliau, who grew up in the area, wrote in a note to customers that she "can no longer financially weather this fight." She said she's especially disappointed that she was no longer able to create jobs for people in her hometown. "This city lost 12 jobs today," her letter concludes.

The neighbors' battle will also have an impact on the future of the space, much of which Colliau physically built out herself. With no possibility of securing a liquor license, it's likely other restaurant and bar tenants will avoid it, requiring a costly gut renovation for whomever does decide to move in.

Open

Uptown

Shawarmaji (478 25th St.)

Arabi plate at Shawarmaji. | Photo: Shawarmaji/Yelp

Meanwhile in Uptown, culinary incubator Forage Kitchen is now hosting Shawarmaji, a Jordanian pop-up serving shawarma sandwiches.

According to the East Bay Express, the new pop-up comes from Mohammad Abutaha, who spent most of his childhood in Jordan. Though he trained as an engineer, Abutaha always dreamed of opening a restaurant, and worked his way up at other Bay Area Middle Eastern eateries like Reem's and Noosh before starting his own business.

Story continues

Jordanian shawarma is unique: it wraps marinated chicken, pickles and garlic sauce into a long, thin wrap, then griddles it in the manner of a crispy burrito. The sandwiches are offered solo or sliced on a platter with accompaniments of pickles, olives and fries. For vegans, there's a falafel sandwich as well.

Shawarmaji is now serving at Forage Kitchen Monday - Wednesday from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Thursday - Saturday from 11 a.m. - midnight.

Updates

West Oakland

Horn Barbecue (2534 Mandela Parkway)

Photo: Alex T./Yelp

The much-anticipated Horn Barbecue, which is planning to make a permanent home in West Oakland's former Brown Sugar Kitchen space, has hit a serious snag with city permitting.

Eater SF reports that owner Matt Horn had planned to use a space behind the restaurant to construct a shed, housing the wood smoker that's key to crafting his barbecue.

But it turns out that the city of Oakland owns the land, requiring Horn to apply for an encroachment permit to use it. That permit was denied, with the city arguing they couldn't contribute public right-of-way to a for-profit business. However, Horn argues that the public doesn't use the space anyway  Brown Sugar used it to dump trash.

It's not clear what Horn can do next. Appealing the decision is one option; smoking the meat off-site and bringing it to the restaurant is another.

A third is giving up the space. Paying rent for an empty space, plus abatement fees for graffiti tags on the vacant space, have taken a financial toll, said Horn, who had initially hoped to open last fall.

"I could have went anywhere to open up Horn Barbecue, but we decided to do it in West Oakland because we felt there was history and culture," Horn told Eater.

In the meantime, fans of Horn Barbecue can look forward to Kowbird, Horn's upcoming eatery in the planned Jack London Square food hall. Specializing in fried chicken sandwiches, it's expected to open in the early fall.

Have you noticed a new addition to (or subtraction from) Oakland's food landscape? Text a tip and a horizontal photo to (415) 200-3233, and we'll look into it.
Ive been sick on and off for two months now. Im confident I dont have COVID-19, but when a cough and congestion reared its ugly head again last week, I figured it was time to chat with the doctor about it.

When I called to make my appointment at UCSF Women's Health with my regular doctor on Friday, the automated system greeted me immediately, urging me to stay home if I had traveled to China within the past 14 days, but to monitor my symptoms. (When I called today to see if the message had changed, it said to consider staying home if I had been to China, Japan, South Korea, Italy or Iran in the past 14 days or stay on the line to speak with someone if Id developed fever or cough since visiting.)

I showed up Wednesday morning fully expecting a heightened concern for respiratory illness or at least a packed waiting room. Instead, I was the only person there for a 9 a.m. appointment and the check-in process was normal. The receptionist did ask if I had a cough, and when I answered yes she gave me a mask, but that is always the process Ive experienced at UCSF in recent years during flu season.

When I entered the exam room, the nurse who took my vitals asked me if Id been to any of the countries of particular concern in the last 14 days, but there were no other questions about coronavirus.

So, while media attention is high and people are staying home from work, if you have a cold, should you go into the doctor?

The answer is still no, especially if you havent traveled to Japan, China, South Korea, Italy or Iran in the past month or come into contact with anyone else suspected to have the virus.

If you have traveled to those areas or had contact with someone who has, and feel sick with a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing within 14 days, UCSF officials confirmed you should call your doctors office, urgent care clinic, or emergency department ahead of time and tell them your recent travel and symptoms. They can help to make decisions about whether, when and where you be evaluated.

The Centers for Disease Control did expand its guidelines this week to allow doctors to test any patient with fever, cough or difficulty breathing if the physician believes the person is a candidate for having the novel coronavirus, UCSF health officials confirmed.

Our physicians and other caregivers are asking members and patients with respiratory symptoms about recent travel to potentially affected areas as well as contact with people who may have the coronavirus, Dr. David Witt, National Infectious Disease Leader, Kaiser Permanente, said. Those who have symptoms will in most cases be isolated in our medical centers. In cases where patients are otherwise healthy and their symptoms mild, they may be sent home to convalesce in isolation from others with regular monitoring by clinicians via phone or other means.

In San Francisco, all patient samples are still being sent to the SF Department of Public Health for testing.

Tessa McLean is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her at tessa.mclean@sfgate.com or follow her on Twitter @mcleantessa.
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, today published the inaugural issue of ACM Transactions on Internet of Things (TIOT). The new ACM journal features novel research contributions and experience reports in several research domains whose synergy and interrelations enable the Internet of Things vision. TIOT focuses on system designs, end-to-end architectures, and enabling technologies, and publishes results and insights corroborated by a strong experimental component.

Few recent innovations promise to be as transformative to the way we live and work in the 21st century than the Internet of Things (IoT), a rapidly growing network of computers, mobile devices, physical objects embedded with sensors and processors, software, and a worldwide communications infrastructure that connects it all together. The Internet of Things connects billions of devices that collect and share data, while integrating the physical and digital worlds.

"The reason there has not been a single publication that can serve as a standard for the community is because the IoT is a synergy among several research domains and incorporates a broad range of multidisciplinary topics," explains TIOT Co-Editor-in-Chief Schahram Dustdar, Technical University of Wien. "ACM has taken the leadership in developing this new journal as a way to bring together professionals working in disparate fields related to the Internet of Things. TIOT is envisioned as one publication that will cover the entire spectrum of IoT technologies, from hardware devices up the application layer."

TIOT welcomes papers on a diverse array of topics including low-power wireless networking, embedded systems, data streaming architectures, data analytics and machine learning, cloud and edge computing, service computing and middleware, security and privacy, and social computing.

"In addition to its large breadth of scope, another defining element of TIOT is that the results and insights reported in it must be corroborated by a strong experimental component," added TIOT Co-Editor-in-Chief Gian Pietro Picco, University of Trento. "We also especially welcome experience reports about the use or adaptation of known systems and techniques in real-world applications. Researchers and practitioners are very interested in insights that they can put into practice in their day-to-day work."

The premiere issue of TIOT reflects the futuristic innovations already woven into the fabric of the Internet of Things, as well as the editors' goals for the publication to reflect a broad scope and rigorous experimental validation. The first issue includes articles on kinetic-powered wearables, smart lights, authentication, gait recognition technology and research on IoT architecture.

"ACM has always been on the leading edge of providing the field with the most comprehensive publications on emerging technologies, and TIOT is no exception," added ACM Director of Publications Scott Delman. "Although the emergence of the Internet of Things is a relatively recent phenomenon, it is shaping the computing field and daily life in profound ways. We thank our Co-Editors-in-Chief Schahram Dustdar and Gian Pietro Picco for establishing an editorial vision for the publication that captures the complexity of the IoT, and for assembling a superb team of associate editors. We believe TIOT will be the gold standard for research publications chronicling the Internet of Things."

###

In addition to Co-Editors-in-Chief Dustdar and Picco, the TIOT editorial board includes 22 associate editors representing academia and industry, drawn from countries around the world, including Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) resolved on Thursday to cut crude oil production from its 14 members by a combined volume of about 1.5 million barrels per day.

The cut, which is about 1.5 per cent of global crude oil supplies of over 300 million barrels per day, was approved during the crucial 178th (Extraordinary) meeting of the OPEC Conference in Vienna, Austria.

The decision is expected to be in force till next June 30, subject to a review depending to changing conditions in the international oil market.

The OPEC said the burden of the cut would shared with non-OPEC allies, led by Russia.

Specifics

Under the agreement, OPEC said its members will cut a minimum of one million barrels per day from production, while Russia and other members in the non-OPEC group would cut 500,000 barrels.

The agreement is, however, subject to the final approval of members of the non-OPEC during the meeting of the executives led by Russia and other oil-producing countries like Kazakhstan and Oman slated for Friday.

The announcement of the decision did not, however, register much impact in the international oil market, as the negative surge in the oil market remained largely unchanged.

But shortly after the announcement, crude oil prices, especially that of Brent blend produced by Nigeria, declined further by almost one per cent to $50.71 per barrel.

Coronavirus

Concerns over the deplorable condition in the crude oil market heightened in the wake the global uncertainty over the impact of the ravaging deadly coronavirus around the world.

OPEC said the spread of the virus has assumed epidemic dimensions, with a major adverse impact on economic and oil demand forecasts.

READ ALSO:

Also, the group said the latest cut was in addition to a subsisting estimated 2.1 million barrels per day cut announced recently, which is expected to run till the end of 2020.

With the latest cut, the implication is that OPEC and non-OPEC members would be cutting almost four per cent of supply from the global market in a bid to strengthen crude oil price and stabilise the market.

Ripples

Reacting to the latest development, a former director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Osten Olorunsola, said it presents a very dire situation for Nigeria. He said Nigeria should react with urgency to save the economy from collapse.

Nigerians crude oil exports were already down as a result of lower production capacity before the coronavirus problem, he said. With the latest decision by OPEC to further cut the production of its members, including Nigeria, the government needs to react with urgency to get the economy out of trouble.

Apart moving swiftly to conclude the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which is affecting interest of new investors in the oil industry, government must think about holding a fresh oil licencing round to bring in new production. But, the first thing first  the passage of the PIB, Mr Olorunsola said.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Codebase Ventures Inc. ("Codebase" or the "Company") (CSE:CODE)(FSE:C5B)(OTCQB:BKLLF), an investment company, is pleased to announce that it has extended the expiry date of an aggregate of 9,066,666 previously issued warrants (the "Warrants") for an additional 2 years. 30,000,000 Warrants were originally issued May 2, 2017, with an original expiry date of May 2, 2020. A total of 20,933,334 Warrants have been exercised. The remaining 9,066,666 Warrants entitle the holders to purchase a common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.05. The exercise price of the Warrants remains unchanged.

About Codebase Ventures Inc.

Codebase Ventures Inc. is an investment company, led by technology and business experts who invest early in great ideas in sectors that have significant upside, including the cannabis sector. We operate from the understanding that technology is always evolving, bringing early opportunities for strategic investments that can deliver the exponential returns to our shareholders. We seek out and empower the innovators who are building tomorrow's standards with platforms, protocols and innovations - not just products. We invest early, support those founders, take their ideas to market and work tirelessly to help them realize their vision.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Brian Keane, Director

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 (778) 806-5150

E-mail: IR@codebase.ventures

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Codebase Ventures Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579375/Code-Ventures-Inc-Extends-Expiry-Date-of-Certain-Warrants
KYODO NEWS - Mar 4, 2020 - 19:10 | World, All, Coronavirus

Chinese health authorities warned in new guidelines published Wednesday that the novel coronavirus can be transmitted through contact with contaminated excrement and urine.

In the seventh edition of the diagnostic and treatment guidelines, the National Health Commission cites cases in which traces of the virus were found in infected patients' stool samples.

While respiratory droplets and close contact with infected individuals remain the main source of transmission, people could also contract the disease just by inhaling small virus-containing fecal particles floating in the air, authorities wrote in the latest edition.

China reported 119 confirmed cases on Wednesday, its lowest number of new infections since health authorities began disclosing nationwide data in January.

[Getty/Kyodo]

Related coverage:

Coronavirus-concerned pet owners barking up wrong tree?

South Korea compiles stimulus package as virus cases top 5,600

Coronavirus cases top 90,000 worldwide: WHO chief

The data as of Tuesday brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 80,270, the National Health Commission said.

The death toll from the outbreak stands at 2,981, up by 38 from a day earlier, with one reported in Inner Mongolia and the rest in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Nearly 50,000 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals after completing treatment, according to the health authorities.

As daily domestic infection numbers outside of worst-hit Hubei continue to decline, the government is becoming increasingly vigilant toward preventing an imported outbreak.

Beijing, which had recently strengthened quarantine restrictions against outsiders, reported three new infections on Wednesday including one from Iran and another from Italy.

As cases have rapidly spread worldwide with over 10,000 confirmed in over 70 countries, the number of imported cases in China has reached 15, the national customs authorities reported on Wednesday.
AVIV - Palestinian authorities, following the indication of the local health ministry, on Thursday ordered the closure of all churches and mosques for the next 14 days in the governorates of Bethlehem and Jericho, after four suspected cases of coronavirus were reported at a hotel in the Bethlehem area in the West Bank.



The Custody of the Holy Land confirmed the measure includes the Church of the Nativity.



The Palestinian Health Ministry imposed a entrance ban on tourist groups to Bethlehem and Jericho and ordered hotel reservations to be cancelled.



It also ordered the immediate closure for the next two weeks of schools and all public offices in the governorates of Bethlehem and Jericho and the northern Dead Sea.



In Bethlehem, a hospital specialised in treating drug addiction has been assigned for use in verifying suspected coronavirus cases. In the neighbouring town of Beit Jalla, a hotel will host patients being quarantined.
CROMWELL  Round Room LLC, the nations largest Verizon Authorized Retailer, recently announced that all 542 of its TCC stores donated school supply packs to more than 5,500 teachers across the U.S. The companys seventh annual Teachers Rock Supply Giveaway was held the week of Feb. 10. Since 2014, TCC has donated more than 35,000 supply packs to deserving teachers across the country.

Each participating TCC store partnered with a local, deserving school to donate the supply packsvalued at $77 each. The supply packs include pencils, pens, dry erase markers, erasers, glue sticks, paper, tissue boxes, sticky notes and more, and enable each teacher to impact an average of 30 students.

Local schools that received the supply packs from TCC included Edna C. Stevens Elementary School i Cromwell and East Shoreline Catholic Academy in Branford.

The U.S. Department of Education reports that teachers spend an average of $480 out of their own pockets to pay for school supplies each year, said Scott Moorehead, CEO of Round Room, parent company of TCC. Its such an honor to be able to give back to educators across the country for the seventh year running. We want to show our deep appreciation for their hard work, and our Teachers Rock Supply Giveaway has been a great way to demonstrate how much we care.

More information about the Teachers Rock Supply Giveaway is available at www.TCCRocks.com. Supporters of the campaign are encouraged to use hashtags #TeachersRock2020 and #BetterTogether on Instagram and Twitter to help spread the word.

Goff House seeks sponsors for concert series

EAST HAMPTON  The board of directors of the Joseph N. Goff House Museum recently announced the band lineup for the 21st annual Joseph N. Goff House Gazebo Concert Series.

Held at the Center School Gazebo on Summit Street in the historic East Hampton Village Center, this year's performers will include The Leaf Jumpers on June 25 with music from the 1990s to 2000s; the East Hampton High School Jazz Band on July 2; Flamingo Big Band, a 14-piece, all female group offering swing era music with a sprinkling of rock and roll, pop and rhythm and blues on July 16; Mick and Vic acoustic duo with music from the 1950s to present on July 23; Center Line, with rock, country and blues on July 30 and the Foundry Saxophone Quartet, a mix of classical, jazz, folk, and ragtime on Aug. 6.

The free Thursday night concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. Listeners of all ages welcome to bring blankets, chairs, picnics and friends! Rain location will be in the Congregational Church of East Hampton Community Hall.

Concert sponsors are needed. Contact Dean Markham at 860-918-4400 or mail your concert sponsor donations to Goff House Concerts c/o Melissa Pionzio, 61 Smith St., East Hampton, CT 06424; or visit http://goffhouseehct.blogspot.com/ for additional information.

Society to hold antique appraisal day

The Chatham Historical Society will host its 25th annual Antique Appraisal Day Saturday, March 28, from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the East Hampton Library Community Room, 105 Main Street.

There will be four appraisers on site. Verbal appraisals will be given on furniture, artwork, toys, glassware, china, musical instruments, military pieces, dolls, jewelry, quilts, as well European, Asian and Island items, and more.

There is a suggested donation of $6 per item for this event. This is a major fundraiser for the continual upkeep of the society's two museum buildings and 1840 one room schoolhouse on Bevin Boulevard.

Light refreshments will be available. For more information call 860 267-8953.

State police seek women troopers

MERIDEN: The Connecticut State Police will be holding a Womens Forum for those who may be interested in becoming Troopers. This is an event for potential female applicants to meet with those women already serving in the Connecticut State Police in traditional and non-traditional roles.

Connecticut State Police will hold two forums in hopes of attracting more women to the many opportunities within the agency: 3-5 p.m., March 8, and 6-8 p.m. March 9, at the Connecticut Police Academy, 285 Preston Ave., Meriden.

Students holding Mothers Day Craft Fair

HEBRON  RHAM High School Student Council will be hosting a Mother's Day Craft Fair from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 25, at Hebron Elementary School.

Students are are accepting applications for crafters/vendors to set up a booth (8x10 space). Spaces are $45 (if extra space is needed - add $20 for each additional space), $10 if electrical access is needed. Student Council members will have crafts for children to make for Mother's Day gifts.

Contact Nancy Gorman at nancy.gorman@rhamschools.org for an application to be considered in the craft fair.

Art exhibit honors womens suffrage

HARTFORD  The year 2020 marks 100 years of women securing the right to vote in America. State Rep. Christie Carpino has announced an art exhibit for residents, groups, and organizations of Cromwell and Portland to participate in, commemorating the centennial anniversary of women's suffrage. Submissions for the exhibit will be accepted from March 2 to May 4. Submissions will be displayed at the State Capitol Complex at the end of May.

Art: Artists will submit a painting, drawing, or combination no larger than 18" X 12" canvas or poster board. The imagery should represent how the artist's view of the suffrage movement.

Submission: Residents can drop off submissions to Cromwell Town Hall with Town Clerk, JoAnn Doyle, and Portland Town Hall with Town Clerk, Ryan Curley. Submission Forms can be accessed by clicking here.

Carpino will conclude the exhibit with a public viewing at the Legislative Office Building on Thursday, May 28 from 5-6:30 p.m. Contestants will be able to view the submissions and have the opportunity to take their pieces home at the conclusion of the reception.

To learn more about the exhibit, e-mail Rep. Carpino at Christie.Carpino@housegop.ct.gov.
Petrol, diesel and liquor are set to cost more in Karnataka from April 1 as the BJP government in its 2020-21 budget on Thursday proposed to hike the taxes to mop up additional resources in the face of unprecedented "financial difficulties".

Rate of tax on petrol and diesel were increased by three per cent making the fuel dearer by Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.59 per litre respectively.

Presenting the budget in the assembly, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced tax on petrol would be increased from 32 per cent to 35 per cent and diesel from 21 per cent to 24 per cent.

Yediyurappa, who also holds the finance portfolio, increased excise duty on Indian Made Liquor (KML) across 18 slabs by six per cent.

However, to promote affordable housing, the government proposed to reduce stamp duty on first time registration of new apartments/flats costing less than Rs 20 lakh from existing five per cent to two per cent.

This is the first budget of the BJP government after coming to power last year and the seventh presented by Yediyurappa.

"For the year 2020-21, a total amount of Rs 55,732 crore is provided for stimulating economic growth sector", the Chief Minister said.

A new industrial policy would be implemented to attract capital investment, keeping in view the comprehensive industrial development of the state, especially for the backward areas, tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

"Priority will be given to those sectors providing greater opportunities in innovative technology and employment generation", the Chief Minister said.

Rules would be framed by amending the relevant acts to encourage the investors and to enable them purchase land directly from the land owners at the place identified for the Establishment of industrial units.

The government would bring out a new agricultural policy to encourage water security, land bank and mass cultivation, micro irrigation farmers, processing of farm produce, marketing and also to consider agriculture and horticulture as an industry.

Recognising the importance of Bengaluru as the key driver of state's economy, Yediyurappa mooted proposals to ease the notorious traffic congestion of the city by promoting the public transport system.

"For the year 2020-21, a total amount of Rs 8,772 crore is provided for the Bengaluru development sector," he said.

A comprehensive mobility programme for Bengaluru -- half of the contribution of Karnataka gross state domestic product comes from the city alone -- is prepared for the first time, he said.

Infrastructure facilities, transit based development and essential regulatory measures will be taken up with an objective of increasing the utilisation of public transport from 48 per cent to 73 per cent, Yediyurappa said.

He indicated Karnataka is facing unprecedented economic difficulties following a Rs 8,887 crore reduction in the state's share in central taxes, cut in allocation under 15th finance commission and a Rs 3,000 crore hit in GST compensation.

Karnataka's share in central taxes has come down by Rs 8,887 crore in 2019-20 as per the revised budget estimates of the central government.

Apart from this, Rs 3,000 crore GST compensation will also be reduced as collection from the GST compensation cess is not as expected, the Chief Minister said.

"With all this it has become difficult to reach the 2019 -20 budget targets and to manage this situation within the bounds of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, an inevitable situation has arisen this year to cut down the expenditure of many departments," he added.

As per the interim report submitted by the 15th finance commission, there is a reduction in the state's share of central taxes to 3.64 per cent compared to 4.71 per cent fixed by the 14th finance commission.

In view of this, there will be a reduction of Rs 11,215 crore in the state's share of central taxes in 2020-21 budget, when compared to the previous year.

"This magnitude of economic difficulties was never faced in the previous years by our state," he added.

Despite financial stress, the Chief Minister tried to focus on agriculture and irrigation in the budget, proposing to allocate Rs 500 crore to take up the works of Kalasa and Banduri Nalas under the Mahadayi river Project.

He also proposed to waive the interest on default agricultural loans given for the purchase of farm equipment by cooperative banks, benefiting about 92,000 farmers.

The Chief Minister said, the state government is committed to the "speedy continuation" of the much anticipated Mahadayi Project, which is very helpful for the people and farmers of North Karnataka region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Unification Ministry has called for "mutual respect" after a bilious attack from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister.

The ministry said Wednesday the two sides should work together to establish "lasting peace" on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Yo-jong, in her first-ever official statement issued the day before, had called the Cheong Wa Dae officials "complete morons" with an "imbecile way of thinking." he was responding to South Korea's criticism of the North's latest rocket-launcher test.
: As part of a nationwide



expansion plan, MG Motor India would add 15 more centres in Tamil Nadu in a few months, a top company official said on Thursday.

With the opening of a new showroom here, the company is operating eight centres in the state, with a plan to add 15 more, including in Madurai, MG Motor India's chief commercial officer Gaurav Gupta told reporters here.

Tamil Nadu contributes eight to 10 per cent of the company's total sales and with the opening of more centres, it would sustain a similar sales percentage or cross the mark, he said.

The latest facility MG Coimbatore has already got 250 bookings for Hector, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three people who kidnapped a man at the Jersey Shore on Monday and drove him to three banks and forced him to withdraw money at gunpoint were arrested in Camden County when the victim was able to alert a teller to his predicament, authorities announced Wednesday.

Vaughn Caul, 42, of Pine Hill; Dwayne Graham, 53, of Philadelphia; and Jessica ODonnell, 25, of Woodbury were all charged with robbery, kidnapping, criminal coercion, criminal restraint, receiving stolen property and weapons offenses, according to a joint statement from the Camden County and Monmouth County prosecutors offices, and Belmar and Pennsauken police departments.

Police were called to the TD Bank on Route 130 in Pennsauken after the victim passed a note to the teller asking for help and stating that Caul, who was standing behind him, had a gun, the office said.

When officers arrived, they found Caul inside the bank standing behind the man carrying a concealed handgun. They found Graham and ODonnell waiting across the street in a car that matched the description of the vehicle the man said he was forced into by his captors, police said.

Police later learned the trio kidnapped the man in Belmar before taking him two different TD Bank branches to withdraw cash before he was able to alert the staff at the Pennsauken bank, the office said. Authorities did not say where the first two branches were located.

Caul, Graham and ODonnell were jailed at the Camden County Correctional Facility to await detention hearings.

The incidents remained under investigation and additional charges may be filed, the prosecutors office said.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A Sausalito houseboat formerly owned by the late poet Shel Silverstein and recently revamped is listing for $783,000.

The 1,200-square-foot floating home at 8 Liberty Dock was originally built in 1965 atop a World War II balloon barge and still possesses the rustic charm of an old relic with stained-glassed windows, unfinished wood paneling and worn hardwood floors. The top floor sits under an atrium of glass, and in the remodel, the owner also added several new windows, flooding rooms with light.

"The windows sparkle with the morning light and afternoon sun," said listing agent Dianne Andrews of Engel & Volkers.

After purchasing the property in 2017, the new owner added a modern kitchen with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. An updated bathroom blends original stained-glass windows with white subway tile and a Japanese soaking tub.

"Its a huge transformation," said Andrews. "This was just a metal barge, and it has been modernized. Its quite eclectic and hip right now."

A staircase was built from the upstairs to the downstairs where two bedrooms have been refreshed with paint.

"Theres an extremely fun kid's room with a hanging bed and great views of the harbor," she said.

ALSO: 128-year-old San Francisco home listed for $4.5 million

The famed author of "The Giving Tree" and countless poems owned the boat, according to property records, and the Marin Independent Journal reported that he lived on the vessel that he called the Evil Eye from 1967 to 1981.

Silverstein passed away in 1999, and his good friend Larry Moyer moved into the boat with his wife Dianne Kadsen and lived there for many years.

"Larrys wife had the entire downstairs as her art studio," Andrews said.

Curbed SF was the first to cover the property going on the market.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Digitalization is aimed not only at improving one industry or sphere of activity in Kazakhstan, but also at serious changes in countrys economy and public life, Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev said, Trend reports with reference to the presidents press office.

Tokayev made the statement within the framework of a meeting on the implementation of the Digital Kazakhstan State Program.

Tokayev added that therefore the need to create a unified monitoring system that unites all state bodies exists.

He stressed that the goal set for the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry to introduce advanced and modern technologies has not yet been achieved. Tokayev noted that this work lacks coherence and coordination.

Use of big data technologies, artificial intelligence algorithms will allow to create databases with a higher level of reliability, identify incorrect or outdated information, and output a complete and objective picture from scattered information. Therefore, the government should complete the connection of all state bodies and launch Smart Data Ukimet (online monitoring of economic growth and implementation of government programs) as soon as possible, Tokayev said.

He noted that in the era of the information boom, digital public services should be intuitive and accessible even for non-advanced users. In addition, he pointed to the need to use the focus groups consisting of different categories of citizens, to study public opinion before launching certain services.

Tokayev also instructed the government to develop a set of regulatory and incentive measures to expand the Industry 4.0 project.

The use of digital technologies in the public administration system is without any doubt the key to the success of the entire program. In this regard, we need drastic changes," said the president.

Tokayev pointed out that the system for using paper documents should be eliminated in favor of electronic format.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
The Delhi government on Thursday asked head of departments (HoDs), autonomous bodies and municipal corporations to suspend the biometric attendance system in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, an official said.

The general administration department of the Delhi government has written to principal secretaries and secretaries of all departments, autonomous bodies and municipal corporations for the suspension of biometric attendance system till further orders.

The official said that the move came a day after the special secretary of health department asked for the same.

"In pursuance of the letter dated 04.03.2020 of Health and Family Welfare Department, I am directed to request you to kindly get biometric attendance of all officers/officials of your department suspended in the interest of all staff till further orders in view of coronavirus threat...," Deputy Secretary (GAD) Promila Mitra said in the letter.

One more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad in the national capital region, taking the total number in the country to 30 so far, official sources said on Thursday.

To prevent the possibility of spread of coronavirus, the Delhi government has ordered immediate closure of primary schools in the national capital till March 31.

All Delhi government, aided, private schools and those run by civic bodies will remain shut, said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio.

"As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20(sic)," he tweeted.

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

Delta is expected to find out this year if it will be home to a new cruise ship terminal.

The Port of Vancouver has been looking into the feasibility of building a second Lower Mainland cruise ship terminal on the banks of the Fraser River, already having conducted a preliminary study looking at potential sites in Delta or Richmond.

Port president and CEO Robin Silvester said their analysis is driven by growth in cruise volumes and cruise lines using bigger ships.

Theyre currently having discussions with stakeholders including municipalities and First Nations.

Were absolutely working on it, but its safe to say were still at the feasibility stage looking at sites along the river. Were hoping to have something more to say sometime over the course of this year, he said.

Silvester previously noted that building a man-made island, as would be the case for the proposed Terminal 2 container facility at Roberts Bank, would be an enormous undertaking, so a cruise ship terminal on existing land along the Fraser River could be a good option.

In 2019, Vancouver saw more than one million cruise passengers on 288 ships, a 22 per cent increase in passenger volume over 2018.

Cruise is a key economic driver for the region and each ship that visits Vancouver stimulates about $3 million in direct activity to the local economy, according to the port.

However, larger ships are making it difficult for the port to use Canada Place.

In 2018, the Norwegian Bliss, the largest cruise ship to ever dock in Vancouver, carried over 4,000 passengers.

Since the Lions Gate Bridge has a low clearance, the ship could only reach Vancouver during low tide.
Some residents in Kumasi, touted as Ghana's oldest and the second largest city, are giving thumps up to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his choice of Kumasi as the venue for the national independence anniversary celebration, for the first time.



During a random street interviews conducted by the Ghana News Agency, most of the respondents expressed joy and pride that the city was witnessing such a great historic occasion for the first time and thanked President Akufo-Addo for the gesture.



I am happy that the government in power has decided to come to Kumasi to celebrate the Independence Day, which has never been held in Kumasi before and I am very excited about the decision.



Many people in Kumasi have only witnessed this event on television sets and now that it is going to be held here, people will get the chance to witness it with their own eyes, said Mr Kwadwo Donkor, a second hand clothes dealer at the Kumasi Central Market.



The market women who spoke with the GNA news team also expressed their joy and praised the Government in power for bringing this great event to Kumasi.



They said we will be able to get high sales for our products because during Independence Day celebration, people come from all parts of the country and beyond to witness this event, so it will be a great opportunity for us to increase our sales.



Some of the respondents, however, expressed mixed feelings about Ghana's attainment of independence in 1957 led by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.



Whiles others praised Dr Nkrumah and his associates for fighting so hard gaining independence for the people of Ghana, others felt it was it was too pre-mature for the country to have gained independence at that time, because the country was not yet developed economically.



Mr Kofi Fofie, a 55 year old spare parts dealer was of the view that the whites should have been here to manage our affairs for us because since they left, there has not been much development.



We have cocoa, diamond, gold, timber, bauxite, manganese, oil, timber and a whole lot of resources, yet, the country is under developed, compared with those countries which became independent after Ghana, he added.



Mr Kwasi Korang, a 23 year old barber was however of a different view, saying, Ghana would have been another South Africa on the African continent to have suffered the obnoxious Apartheid", (racial discrimination), if Dr Nkrumah had not gotten independence for the country.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5)  Showbiz commentator and columnist Jobert Sucaldito filed Wednesday a complaint against ABS-CBN before the Labor Department over his supposed illegal dismissal from its AM radio station DZMM for his on-air comments about actress Nadine Lustre.

Sucaldito alleged that DZMM station manager Marah Capuya presented him a letter on January 10 saying that he would be indefinitely suspended without pay over supposed violations. He said that he was asked to sign the letter, but he refused.

He added that he has followed up on his suspension from DZMM, but has been repeatedly told that its ethics panel is still investigating his case.

He also said that this happened even after he had given in to requests by the radio station to apologize to Lustre and to take down social media posts pertaining to the incident.

Anong gusto mong gawin ko? Tumalon sa building para mapatunayan na akoy sincere? Sucalidto told reporters before he and his lawyer Ferdinand Topacio filed his complaint.

[Translation: What do you want me to do? Jump from a building to show that Im sincere?]

He said that ABS-CBN should have just given him a warning instead of suspending him indefinitely.

Ive been working with ABS-[CBN] for 20 years, and 17 years of which, I was with DZMM. Tapos ganyan-ganyan lang sisipain mo ako because of the fans na nagrereklamo? Hindi nila naisip kami that work for you? Asan mga puso niyo? Tatanggalan niyo ako ng trabaho? What happens to my family? What happens to my children? Sucaldito said.

[Translation: Ive been working with ABS-CBN for 20 years, and 17 years of which, I was with DZMM. And then theyll just kick me out because fans are complaining? Dont they realize that we work for them? Where are your hearts? Youll fire me? What happens to my family? What happens to my children?]

ABS-CBN News said in January that it is investigating Sucalditos inappropriate and insensitive comments about Lustre.

Sucaldito drew flak after joking that the actress  who has admitted before that she has struggled with depression  should just jump off a building in light of reports that she and James Reid had split.

Lustre at the time denied that they had broken up, only to confirm it two weeks later.

If you are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, you may call the following hotlines: (02) 804-HOPE (4673), 0917 558 HOPE (4673), 2919 (toll-free number for all GLOBE and TM subscribers).
To the Editor,

The Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) staff and board of directors resoundingly applaud the Indianapolis City-County Council for unanimously adopting the Special Resolution on Feb. 24, 2020, in support of a public commitment to addressing the historical inequities of race, place and identity throughout our City-County government. For far too long, racist systems, institutions and structures have not been inadvertent oversights, but intentional barriers put and kept in place to extinguish opportunity and humanity from people of color, LGBTQ individuals, people with disabilities, families experiencing poverty and many other marginalized populations.

This has led to generations of Hoosiers with purposefully designed inequitable access to education, jobs, housing, health care and so much more. This has led to Black residents of Indianapolis, on average, dying up to 14 years earlier than white residents because of these inequities. This has led to the vast majority of Black students in all 11 school districts in our city to have lower academic outcomes than their white counterparts. This has led to the average Black worker in Indianapolis making 56-cents-on-the-dollar of the average white worker. This has led to an unforgivable percentage of Black men in Indiana being incarcerated  five times more than whites  and families lives ruined.

The City-County Council and Mayor Hogsetts commitment to dismantling racist policies and practices that lead to these racial disparities is an amazing first step. Thank you for working across departments and agencies to identify the specific issues to address and to name and measure key indicators toward success. CICF was proud to initiate this work by providing grant funding for dozens of municipal leaders to go through the first phase of Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) training. We pledge our continued support and vocal leadership as we all must work together to dismantle the barriers and empower our neighbors for a truly inclusive city where all residents have an equitable opportunity to reach their full potential  no matter place, race or identity.

Sincerely,

Gregory F. Hahn, Chair

Central Indiana Community Foundation

Brian Payne, President and CEO

Central Indiana Community Foundation



To the Editor,

Economic Freedom Fighters Indiana (EFFI) is in the process of becoming an independent party with a specific agenda for people of African descent. To realize this goal, we have approached the Indiana State Election Division (IED) concerning having ballot access. Dale Simmons, Indiana Election Division co-counsel, told us the following:

In Indiana, currently the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties have all established automatic ballot access.  The Libertarian Party established automatic ballot access across the state by first running a candidate for Secretary of State. Initially, the Libertarian Partys Secretary of State candidate got on the ballot by obtaining signatures on petitions in the amount of 2% of the vote cast for Secretary of State in Indiana. These signatures were certified as valid signatures by the county voter registration offices in the counties where the signatures were obtained. Since the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State received at least 2% of the votes cast for Indiana Secretary of State in the election, the Libertarian Party had automatic ballot access for the following four years.

We were up for the task and asked for the petitions. Mr. Simmons informed us it was the IEDs tradition not to give out the petitions so far in advance of the Secretary of State election. After negotiations Angie Nussmeyer, co-director, Indiana Election Division summarized with the following:

In our conversation, I noted that the CAN-19 for 2022 might be approved in July-ish 2021, or the year preceding the 2022 election, if tradition holds. You had asked if our office would consider releasing the 2022 CAN-19 petition form in July of 2020, which would be after the June 30, 2020, filing deadline for 2020 minor party or independent candidates to submit the 2020 version of the CAN-19 to the county VR officials for review and certification to gain access to the November 2020 ballot.

Im certainly open to your request, though I cannot unilaterally make this determination. In case this hasnt been brought up before, state law requires that both co-directors are to approve forms, and case law stipulates that both co-directors must agree on a position in order for it to be the official position of the election division.

EFFI feels we are being treated differently than the Libertarian Party was treated. So on Sept. 3, 2019 we filed a civil rights complaint with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. Tradition is not the law. There is no legal reason for IED to not release the petition. However, if IED agrees to release the CAN-19 petition to us on June 1, 2020, then we would strongly consider withdrawing our complaint.

Elder Mmoja Ajabu

Founder, Economic Freedom Fighters Indiana
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Amsterdam, March 5, 2020  Nicaraguan authorities should thoroughly investigate attacks on reporters covering the funeral of writer and poet Ernesto Cardenal and ensure the safety of journalists who report on events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 3, groups of unidentified individuals chased, attacked, and robbed journalists covering Cardenals funeral at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua, the capital, according to news reports. The attackers shouted slogans in support of President Daniel Ortega and wore red and black bandanas, the colors of the ruling Sandinista party, according to those reports.

Police officers stationed outside the cathedral did not intervene during the attack, Jennifer Ortiz, the colleague of one of the injured journalists, told CPJ in a phone interview. CPJ emailed the press department of the Nicaraguan National Police for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.

It is unacceptable that Nicaraguan police stood idly by while journalists were attacked at a public event, said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. Authorities must ensure that journalists can report on events of national importance safely and without fear. That should start with a thorough investigation into the attacks on journalists covering Ernesto Cardenals funeral.

The attackers punched and kicked Hans Lawrence, a reporter at digital news outlet Nicaragua Investiga, and stole his phone, a tripod, microphones, and other reporting equipment, according to Ortiz, the outlets director.

Lawrence was vomiting blood after the attack, and was brought to a local emergency room, Ortiz said. He was released after about four hours, once doctors determined that he did not have internal bleeding, she said, adding that Lawrence, who has epilepsy, will undergo further exams to see if his brain was injured.

Ortega supporters also beat and robbed reporters Leonor Alvarez, of daily newspaper La Prensa, and David Quintana, of digital outlet Boletin Ecologico, according to a report by Nicaraguan news website Articulo 66.

Quintana told the website that the attackers punched him in the face and stole his phone. He was transferred to a hospital and later released, according to that report.

The attackers shoved and harassed Alvarez and stole her phone, according to Articulo 66.

We are a small independent media, and they leave us totally defenseless, Ortiz said. We are outraged by how journalism has been attacked, and we are worried about what might happen in an electoral context.

Cardenal, who died on March 1, was an acclaimed Nicaraguan poet who previously supported the Sandinista revolution but recently distanced himself from President Ortegas government, according to news reports.

Since April 2018, news outlets have been raided, journalists have been imprisoned, and one journalist was killed while covering protests in Nicaragua, according to CPJ research.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - West Kirkland Mining Inc. (TSXV: WKM) ("West Kirkland" or "Company") announces that the US Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") has accepted the Hasbrouck Gold Project's Mine Plan of Operations ("MPO") and will commence the analysis of the MPO under an Environmental Assessment ("EA"). Public comments on the MPO and the BLM's analysis must be sought before the BLM will make a final decision in accordance with Code of Federal Regulation ("CFR") Title 43 3809.411(d).

This decision follows a 28-month process involving multiple BLM specialists who analysed the MPO. Construction level drawings, plans, and schedules have been developed for the project as part of the permitting process.

The Company's flagship Hasbrouck Gold Project consists of the 75% owned Hasbrouck and Three Hills properties. The first phase of the Hasbrouck Gold Project is the Three Hills Mine which received a federal permit in November 2015. The BLM's decision to analyse the MPO for the second phase Hasbrouck Mine under an EA rather than under the lengthier and more expensive Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") allows West Kirkland to expect that a federal permit for the Hasbrouck Mine may be issued in Q2 2020.

The Company is pleased to receive the BLM's decision to commence the analysis of the Hasbrouck Mine pit and facilities under an EA and anticipates having federal permits for both the first and second phases of the Hasbrouck Gold Project in the near future. A federal (BLM) permit for the Phase 2 Hasbrouck Mine reduces project execution risk as a shovel-ready gold project in the US South-west. In an independent Pre-Feasibility Study completed for the Hasbrouck Gold Project in 2016, a sensitivity analysis at $1,500 gold resulted in an estimated after-tax IRR of 65% and a US$200M NPV(5) (see MDA's Technical Report dated September 14, 2016, filed at www.sedar.com).

About the NEPA and EA Process

The BLM's analysis of the Hasbrouck Mine MPO is required under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). NEPA defines the procedural requirements for all federal governmental agencies to prepare environmental assessments in response to proposed major activities on federal lands. Part of Hasbrouck Mine is on federal lands administered by the BLM, therefore NEPA requires the BLM to analyse potential environmental consequences of the planned project and any reasonable alternatives. The BLM will analyse an MPO under either an Environmental Assessment ("EA") if it deems the project will not significantly impact the environment, or under an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") if it deems there could be a significant impact on the environment. Once the BLM has completed its analysis under an EA, it is required to publish the MPO and analysis for 30 days and respond to any comments received.

In addition to the NEPA analysis, a Reclamation Cost Estimate ("RCE") must be submitted and approved by the BLM and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection before final approval of the MPO can be made. Nevada Division of Environmental Protection - Bureau of Mining and Reclamation ("NDEP-BMRR") is required to review the MPO to ensure compliance with NDEP-BMRR requirements.

Various state permits and a federal eagle take permit are also required for construction and operation at Phase 2 of the Hasbrouck Gold Project. These permits will conform to the federally permitted project and are planned to be acquired during the 3 years of initial construction and mining at Phase 1 Three Hills Mine of the Hasbrouck gold project.

About the Hasbrouck Gold Project

The Hasbrouck Gold Project contains Proven & Probable Reserves of 784,000 gold equivalent oz (45,270,000 tons at 0.017 Au oz/t for 762,000 contained Au oz; 0.233 Ag oz/t for 10,569,000 contained Ag ounces) (Technical Report and Updated Preliminary Feasibility Study for The Hasbrouck and Three Hills Gold-Silver Project, Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA, Report Date: September 14, 2016 prepared by Thomas L. Dyer, P.E. and Paul Tietz, C.P.G. of Mine Development Associates (MDA)).

Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, LP holds a 25% interest in the Hasbrouck Gold Project and is participating (pro rata) in project expenditures.

About West Kirkland Mining Inc.

West Kirkland is focused on advancing the Hasbrouck Gold Project in Tonopah, Nevada. The Company owns a 75% interest in, and a 1.1% net smelter return royalty over, the Hasbrouck Gold Project and is working towards completing full permitting for the project's gold reserves while keeping corporate G&A costs lean and efficient.

On behalf of West Kirkland Mining Inc.

"R. Michael Jones"

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please see the Company's website at www.wkmining.com or contact us by email at info@wkmining.com.

Investor Relations:

Sandy McVey, P.Eng, PMP

(778) 388 2464 / smcvey@wkmining.com

Authors and Qualified Persons Statement

Sandy McVey, P.Eng, Chief Operating Officer for West Kirkland, and a non-independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), has reviewed the technical information contained in this news release and has verified the relevant data. Quality Control and Assay information is as previously disclosed in the Company's technical reports.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, discussion of permitting status and the timing thereof and other statements that are not historical facts. Information about details contained in the Pre-Feasibility Study are also forward-looking statements in that they reflect a prediction of the mineralization that would be encountered, and the results of mining it, if a mineral deposit were developed and mined. Although West Kirkland believes that such information as set out in this press release is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations and estimates will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the market for gold or other minerals that may be produced generally, significant increases in any of the machinery, equipment or supplies required to develop and operate a mine, a significant change in the availability or cost of the labor force required to operate a mine, a significant increases in the cost of transportation for the Company's products, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Regarding the Use of Mining Terms

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resources and reserve estimates reported by the Company in relation to the 2016 Updated Pre-Feasibility Study have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") Industry Guide 7, and resource or reserve information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, "resources" and "reserves" established under NI 43-101 standards may not qualify as "resources" and "reserves" under U.S. standards. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. In addition, under U.S. standards, a "Final" or "Bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth in this press release may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53162
The journalist who accused MSNBC host Chris Matthews of inappropriate and sexist behavior says she's been attacked online after her allegations appeared to spark his abrupt resignation.

Matthews, 74, stunned fans when he announced he was retiring during a live episode of Hardball on Monday night.

The host cited his inappropriate comments about women as the catalyst for his departure, which came days after freelance journalist Laura Bassett published an op-ed in GQ accusing Matthews of being 'gross and inappropriate' with her before she appeared on his show.

Speaking to Inside Edition on Wednesday, Bassett said she was shocked by both the announcement and by the intense backlash she's faced from fans who say she pressured him into stepping down.

'People [are] telling me to kill myself, people calling me a whore, people calling me ugly,' Bassett said. 'They want me to shut up, they want me to go away.'

Journalist Laura Bassett says she's been attacked online after she accused MSNBC host Chris Matthews of inappropriate and sexist behavior in a column days before he resigned

Matthews, 74, stunned fans when he announced he was retiring live on Hardball Monday night

In the op-ed published last Friday, Bassett detailed troubling interactions she'd had with Matthews while preparing to appear on his show a few years back in the op-ed published last Friday.

'In 2016, right before I had to go on his show and talk about sexual-assault allegations against Donald Trump, Matthews looked over at me in the makeup chair next to him and said: 'Why haven't I fallen in love with you yet?"' Bassett wrote.

'When I laughed nervously and said nothing, he followed up to the makeup artist. "Keep putting makeup on her, I'll fall in love with her."'

She said the makeup artist's response was 'kind of like, "Don't worry about him, thats just how he is. He does that all the time."'

Asked about her response to his announcement on Monday, Bassett told IE: 'I helped to remove a man from the airwaves that was really undermining women.

'It came as much a surprise to me than anyone on Monday night when he suddenly announced that he was retiring early, especially when he apologized.'

Bassett emphasized that she doesn't believe Matthews, who has been married to his wife Kathleen since 1980, deserves to be lumped together with men like Harvey Weinstein who were brought down by the #MeToo movement.

'I made it really clear in my GQ column that I wasn't accusing him of sexual harassment,' she said.

Bassett (pictured) published an article in GQ accusing Matthews of being 'gross and inappropriate' with her before she appeared on his show (pictured) in 2017

A smiling Matthews is seen outside his home in Washington DC on Wednesday

Sources familiar with Matthews' exit say MSNBC network chief Phil Griffin had traveled to Washington DC to sit down with the Hardball host and convince him to quit.

Griffin made the trip over the weekend, where he was met by a 'very resistant' Matthews who insisted that he stay on through the 2020 Presidential election, insiders told the Daily Beast.

MSNBC network chief Phil Griffin (pictured) reportedly traveled to DC over the weekend to convince Matthews to retire

Matthews finally settled on 'retiring,' allowing him some control over his abrupt resignation.

Sources at MSNBC share that Matthews' wife of 40 years Kathleen Matthews, a failed Democratic House candidate, had expressed worry to Griffin for months prior to her husband's exit.

At the time, Kathleen feared that her husband's controversies and scandals would get more intense.

She sought to have Matthews do less shows but the host quickly saw himself as one of the most prominent faces for the network as the election heated up.

And Matthews would soon be heavily lambasted for comments he made about Senator Bernie Sanders' victory in Nevada and for a back and forth he had with Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Insiders say Matthews' wife of 40 years Kathleen (above together in 2015) had expressed worries that her husband's controversies and scandals would get more intense

Soon others were harping on their history with Matthews, including Bassett.

Matthews resigned on Monday, making his final announcement during the show. He was seen for the first time since his resignation on Wednesday outside of his home.

'After my conversation with MSNBC, I decided tonight will be my last Hardball,' Matthews said during the broadcast. 'So let me tell you why. The younger generations are ready to take the reins.

'We see them in politics, the media, and fighting for their causes. They're improving the workplace.'

He offered a brief apology for having previously offered 'compliments on a woman's appearance some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK.'

Several notable pundits have been speculated as potentially taking Matthews place, including Joy Reid and former Fox host Shepard Smith.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-04 22:27:35|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on Oct. 15, 2019 shows a view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Edelman Trust Barometer 2020 reveals that China has once again topped the trust index among 28 markets surveyed worldwide, with a record high public confidence in its government, business, media and NGOs.

BRUSSELS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China has once again topped a trust index among 28 markets surveyed worldwide, with a record high public confidence in its government, business, media and NGOs, showed the results published on Tuesday.

According to Edelman Trust Barometer 2020, China achieved 82 points among the general population, four points higher than 2019 and nine than 2018. It is the third consecutive year China has kept the position.

Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, delivers a keynote speech at a meeting releasing Edelman Trust Barometer 2020 in Brussels, Belgium, March 3, 2020.(Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

Giving a keynote speech in Brussels, Zhang Ming, Head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, attributed the results to the significant economic and social development that have taken place in China over the last 70 years.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country's GDP has increased by over 1,100 folds, and average life expectancy has risen from 35 to 77 years. More than 800 million people have shaken off poverty, he noted.

"As a public servant and an ordinary citizen, I feel quite encouraged yet not surprised," said the ambassador. He said that trust is only a logical result of the governance philosophy of the Chinese government that always puts people at the center.

Zhang Ming cited the ongoing fight against COVID-19 -- the disease caused by the new coronavirus -- as an example.

Combo photo shows an aerial view of the Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital during the past 10 days from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2, 2020 in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. China has built a makeshift hospital in 10 days to battle against the novel strain of coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

He mentioned the strong measures taken by the Chinese government including 2 billion-euro (2.2-billion-U.S.-dollar) appropriation to designated medical facilities, over 42,000 medical workers dispatched to the most-affected areas, as well as two up-to-standard hospitals set up in a few days.

The ambassador quoted Bruce Aylward, team leader of the China-WHO joint mission on COVID-19, who said that China's approach has probably prevented hundreds of thousands of cases of COVID-19.

Globally, China has translated its Paris Agreement commitments into actions three years ahead of schedule, and is expected to fulfill the goal of poverty eradication as listed in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda 10 years ahead of schedule.

"We are of the view that we live in a community of shared future and common interests. Countries are in the same boat, and cannot afford a beggar-thy-neighbor approach," underlined Zhang Ming.

People attend a meeting releasing Edelman Trust Barometer 2020 in Brussels, Belgium, March 3, 2020.(Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

The annual Trust Barometer is done by Edelman, an American PR and marketing consultancy firm. The survey reaches more than 34,000 respondents in 28 markets including developed ones like the UK, the U.S., Germany, Japan, and developing ones like China, India and Indonesia.

In the Trust Barometer 2020, the field work of which was conducted between Oct. 19 and Nov. 18, 2019, more than half of the respondents believe that capitalism, as it is now, causes more harm than good, and that democracy is losing its effectiveness.

"We find ourselves far from Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book, 'The End of History,' which touted the triumph of liberal democracy," said Richard Edelman, CEO of the company.
The study concludes that a combination of Artificial Intelligence algorithms and the interpretations of radiologists could, in the US alone, result in a half million women not having to undergo unnecessary diagnostic tests every year

The study is based on the results obtained in the Digital Mammography (DM) DREAM Challenge, an international competition led by IBM where researchers from the Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (IFIC, CSIC-UV) have participated along with scientists from the UPV's Institute of Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (iTEAM).

The team of researchers from IFIC and the iTEAM UPV was the only Spanish group that reached the end of the challenge. To do so, they developed a prediction algorithm based on convolutional neuron networks, an Artificial Intelligence technique that simulates the neurons of the visual cortex and allows classifying images, as well as self-learning of the system. Principles related to interpreting x-rays were also applied, where the group has several patents. The Valencian team's results, along with the rest of the finalists, are now published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Network Open).

"Participating in this challenge has allowed our group to collaborate in Artificial Intelligence projects with clinical groups of the Comunidad Valenciana," stated Alberto Albiol, tenured professor at UPV and member of the iTEAM group. "This has opened opportunities for us to apply the Machine Learning techniques, as they are proposed in the article," he added.

For example, the work carried out by Valencian researchers is being carried out in Artemisa, the new computing platform for Artificial Intelligence at the Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular funded by the European Union and the Generalitat Valenciana within the FEDER operating program of the Comunitat Valenciana for 2014-2020 for the acquisition of R+D+i infrastructures and equipment.

"Designing strategies to reduce operating costs of health care is one of the objectives of sustainably applying Artificial Intelligence," pointed out Francisco Albiol, researcher of the IFIC and participant in the study. "The challenges cover from the algorithm part to jointly designing evidence-based strategies along with the medical sector. Artificial Intelligence applied at a large scale is one of the most promising technologies to make health care sustainable," he noted.

The goal of the Digital Mammography (DM) DREAM Challenge is to involve a broad international scientific community (over 1,200 researchers from around the world) to evaluate whether or not Artificial Intelligence algorithms can be equal to or improve the interpretations of the mammograms carried out by radiologists.

"This DREAM Challenge allowed carrying out a rigorous and adequate evaluation of dozens of advanced deep learning algorithms in two independent databases," explained Justin Guinney, vice president of Computational Oncology at Sage Bionetworks and president of DREAM Challenges.

A half million fewer mammograms per year in the US

Led by IBM Research, Sage Bionetworks and Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute, the Digital Mammography DREAM Challenge concluded that, no algorithm by itself surpassed the radiologists, a combination of methods added to the evaluations of experts improved the accuracy of the exams. Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPW) and the Karolinska Institute (KI) of Sweden provided hundreds of thousands of unidentified mammograms and clinical data.

"Our study suggests that a combination of algorithms of Artificial Intelligence and the interpretations of the radiologists could result in a half million women per year not having to undergo unnecessary diagnostic tests in the United States alone," stated Gustavo Stolovitzky, the director of the IBM program dedicated to Translational Systems Biology and Nanotechnology in the Thomas J. Watson Research Center and founder of DREAM Challenges.

To guarantee the privacy of data and prevent the participants from downloading mammograms with sensitive data, the organizers of the study applied a working system from the model to the data. In the system, participants sent their algorithms to the organizers, who developed a system that applied them directly to the data.

"This focus on sharing data is particularly innovative and essential for preserving the privacy of the data," ensured Diana Buist, of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. "In addition, the inclusion of data from different countries, with different practices for carrying out mammograms, indicates important translational differences in the way in which Artificial Intelligence can be used on different populations."

Mammograms are the most used diagnostic technique for the early detection of breast cancer. Though this detection tool is commonly effective, mammograms must be evaluated and interpreted by a radiologist, who uses their human visual perception to identify signs of cancer. Thus, it is estimated that there are 10% false positives in the 40 million women who undergo scheduled mammograms each year in the United States.

"An effective Artificial Intelligence algorithm that can increase the radiologist's ability to reduce repeating unnecessary tests while also detecting clinically significant cancers would help increase mammograms' detection value.

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PHOENIX - A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Thursday that a partial ban on asylum doesnt apply to anyone who appeared at an official border crossing before the policy was announced last summer.

The Trump administration announced in July it would deny asylum to anyone who travelled through another country without applying there first.

Immigrant advocates sued on behalf of asylum-seekers who had arrived at the border before the policy went into effect but havent been allowed to ask for asylum because of a different rule requiring them to wait on an unofficial list.

That other policy, known widely as metering makes asylum-seekers wait before they can even walk up to a border crossing and make an asylum claim.

On Nov. 19, a federal judge sided with asylum-seekers, ruling that the new protocol banning asylum for those who travelled through another country wouldnt apply to people who had arrived at the border before it was in place.

The government appealed that decision but was denied Thursday when the appeals court said it hadnt carried its burden of showing that a stay is warranted.

The ruling came a day after another major decision involving a different Trump policy against asylum.

The court decided Wednesday it will prevent the government from making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings starting next week unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in sooner.

The appeals court said it would only block the Remain in Mexico policy in Arizona and California, the two border states under its authority.
Ugandas Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Adonia Ayabale has been accused of undermining Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and other top Kampala officials as far as the current talks with Rwandan leader Paul Kagame are concerned.

According to a reliable source, about a month ago, Ayabale having known that President Museveni and Paul Kagame were due to meet for a second round of talks in Angola, he made contacts with some officials in Kigali establishment positioning himself as an emissary sent by President Museveni to President Kagame before flying to Angola. However as this was happening, Minister Kutesa wasnt aware of anything.

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Nevertheless, Amb. Ayabale succeeded in his mission but upon returning to Kampala, he did same without informing Mr. Kutesa and yet he is the chief foreign officer of Uganda. Sources at Foreign Affairs say Ayabale wants to replace Kutesa as Foreign Affairs Minister.

Sources further allege that Ayabale further after meeting with President Museveni he personally wanted every bit of the discussion with the head of state posted on his social media handles including those of President Museveni so as President Kagame could see that he had delivered his message.

His methodologies have further been probed by security that think he could be undermining their work. He is also reportedly not in good terms with Amb. Olive Wonekha Ugandas High Commission to Kigali over same matter.
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament continues holding its regular session.

A number of issues are included in the agenda of todays session.

Voting is expected today.

The lawmakers will also debate a number of bills.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
A Judge of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting at Oshodi on Thursday dismissed the case between the Attorney General of the State and five persons with disabilities who were arrested for protesting the restriction of Keke last Tuesday.

The five defendants; Yinusa Mohammed, Mustapha Bello, Shehu Isa, Abubakar Umar and Muhammed Zanna were arrested during a protest at the Government Secretariat last Tuesday against the restriction of Keke and its effects on persons living with disabilities in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how about dozens of persons with disabilities stormed the government house demanding an audience with Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State governor over how the policy has heightened the sufferings of PLWDs who have found a means of survival through Keke riding, as well as a means to commute themselves.

Rather than address the protesters, some of their leaders were arrested by officers of Area F of the Lagos State Police Command.

The Physically Challenged Empowerment Initiative (PCEI), Justice and Empowerment Initiative (JEI) and the Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation while condemning the arrest of the persons said it was a violation of the rights and demanded their release.

The Arrest and Prosecution

Mohammed Zanna, one of the arrested Protesters told PREMIUM TIMES that officers from Area F made the arrest around 3 am on Wednesday after several attempts to disperse the crowd using tear gas.

They denied arresting us because they handed us over to the mobile court and it is only the court that has our record. When they first took us to the station, they said it was an order from above. Initially, they convinced my colleagues that they wanted to settle and negotiate and that was why they brought us there, so others left.

Mr Zanna said they were kept at the Area F station till morning, before they were arraigned at the mobile court around 11 a.m. that same day.

We were able to facilitate our bail around 5-6 p.m., we could have been in Kirikiri if not for the help of our lawyers.

Each of the defendants was released on a N10, 000 bail bond with one surety in like sum, Mr Zanna said.

He added that the security guards hired to protect the PLWDs were the first to be arrested and released on N50, 000 bail bond and a surety in like sum.

Bala Elkana, the Lagos police spokesperson and Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Mr Sanwo-Olu earlier denied the arrest of the protesters, saying they were unaware of any arrest.

Court Judgement

At the adjourned hearing of the case on Thursday, both the arresting officers and prosecution counsel were absent.

Mariam Alo, the counsel to the defendants, told the judge that aside from a copy of the charge sheet which the defence received from the police, there was no other evidence or proof that the defendants had done anything.

PCEI, JEI and the Nigerian Slum Federation had earlier said the arrested persons were arraigned on frivolous charges.

Mrs Alo told the court to consider the defendants status as they are physically challenged and they need to quickly dispense the business of the day. Given the absence of the prosecution counsel, she prayed the court to strike out the case for lack of evidence.

In her decision, the judge said the case is struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.
International Womens Day

As we close out Black History Month, and usher in Womens History Month two beautiful women that impacted our lives recently made their transition and are no longer with us. Barbara Elaine Smith also known as B. Smith and Katherine Johnson, better known to some as the star of the movie Hidden Figures. March 8 is the day we celebrate International Womens Day, so I wanted to celebrate these two firsts. Ms. Smith and Ms. Johnson left their stamp in very different ways, but both of these beautiful ladies made an impact not only here in the United States, but internationally.

Barbara Elaine Smith was best known as a restaurateur, lifestyle guru, and was one of the first African American models to be featured on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine. She helped break through barriers that helped open doors for other women of color working in the modeling industry. She was our Martha Stewart. I remember when I learned about who she was I was attracted to her beautiful smile and I had to visit her restaurant in Manhattan called, B. Smiths. Later, when I visited Sag Harbor, I went to her restaurant there as well. Although I never met her personally, she touched me in such a way that showed me a role model who accomplished some of the things I tried and wanted to do. So, as you can imagine, it was sad when I learned that she not only suffered with Alzheimers, but that at the still young age of 70, she succumbed to the disease. Before her death, she collaborated on a book, Before I Forget, to share her fight against the disease and to provide practical advice for families and loved ones who may also suffer.

Katherine Johnson was the NASA mathematician who helped send the first United States astronauts into orbit and later to the moon. She lived over a century and now she is resting above the stars. She was known as a trailblazer in the quest for racial equality and for her work in the math and science world. She served as the inspiration for the lead character in Hidden Figures and has made many little girls of color seek an interest in the field of math and science. When she was making history, I was just being born. Her life and work have touched me personally because I have two very dear friends who have worked with her and have helped her story come to light. Because of the life and work of Ms. Johnson, my childhood friend Dr. Yvonne Cagle became an astronaut and will speak at her memorial. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded Katherine Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Americas highest civilian honor and last year, a NASA facility in West Virginia was renamed in her honor. Ms. Johnson happened to also be the first African American woman to attend graduate school at West Virginia University so how appropriate. It warms my heart that she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority where I am also a member.

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The question I would ask is how do the lives and accomplishments of both Katherine Johnson and Barbara Elaine Smith help motivate you? I read that the two most important days of our lives are the day we were born and the day we come to learn why we were born. It is evident by their fruit that both of these ladies understood why they existed, and they lived their lives to the fullest. Lets honor them and all women who came before us and helped pave the way by not wasting our lives. After all we have the next generation coming behind us that are looking to us as their example. This coming Sunday, March 8 lets celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women everywhere!

Healing Without Hate: Its a choice. Its a lifestyle. Pass it on!

Visit www.WendyGladney.com and www.forgivingforliving.org to learn more. Wendy is an international coach, consultant, trainer, author and speaker.
Bengaluru, March 5 : Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal's wife Priya filed a dowry harassment case against him in Koramangala police station in the city, police said on Thursday.

"Sachin Bansal's wife has filed a dowry harassment case against him," confirmed Madiwala Assistant Commissioner of Police Kari Basavanagowda to IANS.

"Post wedding, it was decided that it I will stay with my husband. Before the wedding, in-laws visited my home and asked for more dowry. My husband and in-laws have been giving me mental and physical torture since the wedding for dowry. When my sister Radhika Goyal was in Delhi, Sachin had sexually assaulted her. Sachin had tried to transfer all properties in my name to his name and when I refused, Sachin had physically assaulted me on 20 October 2019. I have been tortured mentally and physically by in-laws for dowry," Priya Bansal alleged in the FIR.

Priya alleged that her father splurged Rs 50 lakh on her wedding and additionally gave Rs 11 lakh to 38-year-old Bansal.

She said that the e-commerce pioneer in India has been harassing her to transfer all the properties on her name to his ownership.

In consequence of her rejection to do so, Priya said Bansal's family has been harassing her.
John and Lisa Mello attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 4, 2020. (Mary Mann/The Epoch Times)

COLUMBIA, S. C.John and Lisa Mello of South Carolina are no longer in the workforce, but they certainly havent stopped learning. They took in a production of Shen Yun Performing Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 4, 2020, where they gleaned exciting new knowledge of Chinese culture and beliefs.

I enjoyed the [Shen Yun] show, John said. It was wonderful. All the colors and all that is really exciting and I just loved every minute of it.

Were learning a lot, yes, Lisa chimed in. Informative. We didnt know there were so many different cultures and differentfolk dance, and this dance, and that dance, you know, and different regions of the country [China]. The Mellos attended New York-based Shen Yun at the Koger Center for the Arts.

Its nice to know the history of the Chinese, John said.

Wonderful. Wonderful, he added, in response to learning that traditional Chinese culture is inspired by divine beings and includes spiritual disciplines such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Falun Dafa.

I could follow the meaning behind everything and I was curious about some things I didnt know and didnt understand, said Lisa, about the heavenly scenes and spiritual references in the production.

The couple, he, a former water representative for the City of Columbia, and she a former property rental owner and executive recruiter, hit on the very nerve center of Shen Yuns mission: to revive authentic Chinese culture and share it with the world.

Hearing about Shen Yuns lofty aim, John expressed his appreciation for it: Its very good. I enjoyed it.

Lisa agreed and added that the mission is very important. And, the young people they havent learned all that, Im sure. They havent experienced all that.

But out of the many layers and elements that make up a Shen Yun performance, it was perhaps the artistry that touched the Mellos the most.

John said that the music, everything in there made him emotional while Lisa pointed out the movements, the fluidity of the movements, the gracefulness and the passion of the movements.

I just love that. The dance part, the music, she said.

I love the show. Its very emotional, Lisa explained. I love the colors, the movements  and the music. The orchestra is just wonderful. Im enjoying the music. I would love to see [Shen Yun] again and again because Ive been waiting for two years to see this show. Very excited about it.

Shen Yun has grown to include seven touring companies, all based out of New York, and each one with its own live orchestra comprised of Western and Eastern instruments. Each year, Shen Yuns artistic director composes all new music for the performance, which blends the two musical traditions into one uplifting and pleasing sound experience.

Shen Yun is innovating in other ways, too. It holds a patent for its digital backdrop technology, an aspect of the performance that the Mellos thoroughly enjoyed.

We were fascinated with the part that they just leapt right off the stage and went into the background. It was amazing! Lisa said.

But Lisas face lit up the brightest whenever the discussion turned to the dancers themselves.

I was so impressed with what I read on [Shen Yuns] YouTube [channel] and saw with the actual discipline and the things they have to do with their body to train, she said. Because I saw them bending over backwards and it blew my mind! I saw them bending over backwards over and over and over. Ive never seen that in my whole life! The dancers are very disciplined and its very impressive what they go through to be in the show.

With reporting by 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.
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Realty firm Lodha group's UK subsidiary has raised over $200 million by issuing bonds in Singapore market to refinance part of its outstanding debt, sources said. The issue opened on February 27. The bonds will be listed on the Singapore exchange.

Lodha Developers International, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Lodha Developers (which has been renamed as Macrotech Developers), had proposed to offer $225 million (around Rs 1,611 crore) aggregate principal of senior secured notes maturing in 2023.

According to the sources, Lodha group raised a little over $200 million in the bond-issue. Many global investors - including Allianz, Citi, UBS, and Fidelity invested in this issue.

Lodha International will use the proceeds of the issue to refinance a part of its outstanding $324 million (around Rs 2,320 crore) senior notes maturing this month.

"Earlier this week, we raised 86 million pound (Rs 800 crore) in the UK. With these proceeds and additional cash flows from our UK and India businesses, we look forward to fully repaying our US dollar bonds in March 2020," Macrotech Developers MD & CEO Abhishek Lodha had said on February 27.

On Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service said that refinancing risk for Macrotech Developers continues to remain high, even as it might be able to meet its near-term debt maturity.

Lodha group had made a foray into the London market in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square in prime Central London for over GBP 300 million (Rs 3,100 crore).

Macrotech Developers is India's largest residential real estate developer by sales and construction area.

The company has clocked net new sales of over Rs 7,000 crore in 2018-19 with collections of over Rs 9,000 crore. It delivered over 10,000 offices and homes in FY 18-19.

In the first nine months of 2019-20 fiscal year, sales have reached around Rs 5,000 crore, up 15 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous year.

The debt of India business is around Rs 15,000 crore.
The airline industry could lose up to $113 billion in revenue this year due to the impact of the new coronavirus, an industry body warned Thursday, as the epidemic spreads rapidly worldwide.

"The turn of events as a result of COVID-19 is almost without precedent," said Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), following a meeting in Singapore.

"In little over two months, the industry's prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse.
Dateline: Indonesia

An Indonesian official is facing potential sanctions after she suggested that women could be impregnated by strong sperm while swimming in a pool. According to New York Daily News, Indonesian Child Protection Commission ( KPAI) member Sitti Hikmawatty drew criticism after making the comment during an interview. In a swimming pool, theres a certain kind of sperm that is very strong, Hikmawatty said. If a person is aroused and ejaculates [in the pool] a pregnancy can happen even though there is no sexual penetration. She reportedly also claimed that the danger of being impregnated while swimming is higher for women who are promiscuous. In response to the controversy, Nazar, the head of the Indonesian Doctors Association, said, The water in swimming pools  contains chlorine and other chemicals. Sperm cannot survive in these conditions. Online commentators were also quick to point out that her statements were scientifically unfounded. Not all men are aroused when theyre swimming with women, health influencer Blog Dokter told his 1.7 million Twitter followers. But even if a man was aroused and ejaculated in a pool the sperm would quickly die in chlorinated water. Many took the opportunity to poke fun at the official, including men who offered to wear condoms while swimming and an artist who altered the iconic Jaws movie poster, replacing the shark with a sperm swarm. Hikmawatty later retracted her statements and apologized. She said the inaccurate statements were her own and were not meant to represent the opinions of the KPAI.

Dateline: California

A man allegedly led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen hearse that still had a body in the back. CBS Los Angeles reports that the chase ended in a crash. Last week, authorities were notified that a thief had stolen a black Lincoln Navigator from outside St. Anthony Greek Orthodox Church in Pasadena, Calif. According to reports, a mortuary attendant left the SUV unattendedwith a body insidewhile they were delivering flowers to the church. When they returned, they found that the vehicle had been stolen. While investigating the incident, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department posted a plea on Twitter: To the suspect(s) driving around in a Black Lincoln Navigator  Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator. The next day, a witness reported seeing the vehicle and police attempted to apprehend the driver, leading to a high-speed chase on the southbound 110 Freeway. The SUV eventually crashed, sustaining heavy front-end damage. At least one bystander was hurt in the crash. A suspect, identified as James Juarez, was taken into custody at the scene. The body was reportedly undisturbed.

Dateline: China

Chinese health officials have assured citizens that the new caronavirus cannot spread through fartsas long as everyone continues to wear pants. Global Times reports that fears over the possibility of spreading COVID-19 through flatulence peaked following the release of a report by a team of researchers led by medical adviser Zhong Nanshan that reports they were able to isolate novel coronavirus strains from samples of infected patients' feces and urine. Social media users seemed to panic over the revelation, worrying that infected individuals could spread the disease when passing gas in public. Some reportedly called for official mass production of N95 face mask-like protection designed to cover the anus instead of the mouth. But the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Tongzhou District in Beijing quickly stepped in to allay public fears, clarifying that to contract the virus through gas, an individual's air passages would have to be physically near an infected person's anus while they were not wearing pants or underwear. The Tongzhou District CDC cited a flatulence experiment published by Discover Magazine which found that pants can effectively screen out germs from farts. The Chinese agency concluded that farts will not transmit novel coronavirus as long as infected individuals continue to wear pants.

Dateline: Vatican City

Pope Francis says Catholics should give up trolling for lent. The Telegram reports that Francis spoke to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40-day Lent season that leads up to Easter. The leader of the Catholic Church took the opportunity to tell his followers that their actions online carried as much spiritual weight as those in real life. We live in an atmosphere polluted by too much verbal violence, too many offensive and harmful words, which are amplified by the internet, he said. Today, people insult each other as if they were saying 'Good Day.' In observation of Lent, Catholics are expected to abstain from eating certain foods and many will sacrifice partaking in a luxury that they enjoy. Francis urged his followers to give up negative online behavior as part of Lent this year. He said it was a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumors, tittle-tattle and speak to God on a first name basis. Last year, Francis suggested giving up gossip. The year before, he asked that Catholics slow their pace.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump sought to reassure U.S. airline leaders on Wednesday as the industry confronts a potential collapse of travel demand because of the coronavirus epidemic.

In a meeting with chief executives of American Airlines Group Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and other airlines, Trump acknowledged the coronavirus and international travel restrictions erected to contain it have affected their sector. But it said it remains safe to fly to the destinations serviced by the carriers.

As certain areas get to be more of a problem we may close them up as we have done with numerous areas. At this moment we think we have it very much in hand, Trump said.

Neither investors nor the industry share Trumps optimism. U.S. airline stocks are plunging this year, and global air traffic is on pace for the first annual in 11 years because of the coronavirus, according to the International Air Transport Association. Last month, the airline trade group predicted lost revenue of about $30 billion because of the outbreak  and since that forecast, the infections spread around the world has only worsened.
EDIRNE, Turkey, March 5 (Reuters) - Turkey is deploying 1,000 special police forces along its border with Greece on Thursday to halt the pushback of migrants towards its territory, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding that 164 migrants had been wounded by Greek authorities.

"They wounded 164 people. They tried to push 4,900 people back to Turkey," Soylu told reporters in the northwestern border province of Edirne. "We are deploying 1,000 special force police to the border system... to prevent the push-back," he said. (Reporting by Bulent Usta; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun Editing by Dominic Evans)
Thermo Fisher to buy German genetic tester Qiagen in $11.5 billion deal

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, a leading global provider of molecular diagnostics and sample preparation technologies, has agreed to acquire German genetic testing company Qiagen NV, in a deal worth $11.5 billion, in a bid to bolster its diagnostic business.

The $11.5 billion acquisition price of Qiagen, a leading global provider of molecular diagnostics and sample preparation technologies, also includes the assumption of approximately $1.4 billion of its net debt.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $24 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally.

"We are excited to bring together our complementary offerings to advance our customers' important work, from discovery to diagnostics," said Marc N Casper, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific, adding that the transaction would be immediately accretive and to generate significant cost and revenue synergies.

Qiagen is a leading provider of life science and molecular diagnostic solutions and employs approximately 5,100 people at 35 locations in more than 25 countries. The company generated 2019 revenue of $1.53 billion.

Its sample preparation technologies are used to extract, isolate and purify DNA, RNA and proteins from a wide range of biological samples. The company's assay technologies are then used to amplify and enrich these biomolecules to make them readily accessible for analysis. In addition, Qiagens instruments can be used to automate these workflows, while its bioinformatics systems provide customers with relevant, actionable insights.

"Our vision at Qiagen has always been to make improvements in life possible with our differentiated sample to insight molecular testing solutions," said Thierry Bernard, interim chief executive officer of Qiagen NV and senior vice president, head of the molecular diagnostics business area.

The transaction helps Thermo Fisher expand its specialty diagnostics portfolio with attractive molecular diagnostics capabilities, including infectious disease testing.

The combined company will accelerate the development of higher-specificity, faster and more comprehensive tests that may improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of care. It will also have an expanded commercial and geographic reach and customer access.

Thermo Fisher expects to realise total synergies of $200 million by year three following the close, consisting of $150 million of cost synergies and $50 million of adjusted operating income1 benefit from revenue synergies.

The transaction, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021, is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, the adoption of certain resolutions relating to the transaction at an extraordinary general meeting of Qiagen's shareholders, and completion of the tender offer.

Thermo Fisher has obtained committed bridge financing. Permanent funding is expected to come from cash on hand and the issuance of new debt. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition.

JP Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co LLC are serving as financial advisors to Thermo Fisher, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal counsel.

Goldman Sachs International is serving as lead financial advisor for Qiagen while Barclays Bank is the financial advisor. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek NV, Linklaters LLP and Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC are serving as legal counsel.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has flagged the possibility of localised school closures if coronavirus takes hold in certain parts of Sydney, but said the measure was not yet necessary.

The education sector is emphasising good hygiene and investigating online learning options as the virus spreads, with some private schools suggesting students avoid travel over the upcoming school holidays.

Early childcare centres are also advised to halt visits to aged care facilities after about 17 children visited a Macquarie Park nursing home where residents were diagnosed with COVID-19.

"The Department of Education is prepared to escalate the response to coronavirus if needed. At this point, it is not necessary for any schools to be closed," Ms Mitchell told the Herald.
As challengers and incumbents celebrated election wins across the San Antonio area Wednesday, others were already back on the campaign trail for the May 26 runoffs.

I couldnt have made it this far without the continued support and encouragement of my family, friends and volunteers  but the fight isnt over yet! wrote Navy veteran Tony Gonzales, 38, of San Antonio, on his Facebook page after it became clear he would be in a runoff with Raul Reyes for the Republican nomination for Congressional District 23.

Reyes, 49, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel from Castroville, echoed a similar sentiment on his Facebook page: The support weve received has been outstanding! We couldnt have gotten here without you. But were in a runoff. Its not over yet!

Gonzales secured the lead with 28.1 percent of the vote in a crowded race; Reyes came in second with 23.3 percent. The nine candidates in Tuesdays Republican primary received a total of 41,062 votes.

On ExpressNews.com: Salazar, former county clerk to vie for sheriff

On the Democratic side, San Antonio native Gina Ortiz Jones, 39, easily defeated four others seeking the seat to be vacated by U.S. Rep Will Hurd, a three-term Republican who chose not to run for reelection.

Jones, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, received 67 percent of the 65,553 cast in the far-flung district that includes all or part of 29 counties.

Gonzales and Reyes arent the only candidates headed for a runoff in the San Antonio area.

Two other Republican races in Bexar County and six Democratic ones will be back on the ballot in May to determine who gets to move on to the November general elections.

A runoff is required if no one among three or more candidates receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast.

In the Democratic primary for Senate District 19, attorney Xochil Pena Rodriguez received 43.7 percent of the vote. She faces state Rep. Roland Gutierrez, who received 37.3 percent.

The winner will take on first-term incumbent Pete Flores, a retired game warden from Pleasanton who was unopposed in the Republican primary.

In the Democratic primary for House District 119, to replace Gutierrez, Elizabeth Liz Campos garnered 46.1 percent of the vote. Shes in a runoff with Jennifer Ramos, who drew 43.7 percent. Sean Villasana was a distant third with 10 percent of the total 13,200 votes cast in the district.

The winner will take on Republican nominee George B. Garza, who was unopposed in the primary.

Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Sergio Chico Rodriguez drew 47.9 percent in Tuesdays Democratic primary, which forced him into a runoff with challenger Rebeca Becky Clay-Flores, who received 42.6 percent of the vote.

In the Precinct 2 race for Bexar County constable, Democratic incumbent appointee Leticia R. Vazquez, took in 33.6 percent of the vote. She will square off with Ino Badillo, who drew 13.5 percent in the Democratic primary.

Another constables race, in Precinct 4, will pit Kathryn Brown, who had 47.2 percent, against Mike Chief Ramirez, who garnered 25.7 percent, in the May 26 Democratic runoff.

On ExpressNews.com: New vote system crashed three times

The contest to replace Precinct 3 Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, the lone Republican on the court, who decided not to seek reelection, drew eight candidates in the Republican primary. When the last votes had been counted, the two top vote-getters were former Judge Tom Rickhoff, who had 33.8 percent, and public relations consultant Trish DeBerry, who had 28.6 percent.

The runoff winner goes on to the November general election to face Democrat Christine Hortick, who handily won a three-way race in the Democratic primary with 60 percent of the vote.

And the county chairs for both the Republican and Democratic parties are in runoffs.

Bexar County Democratic Chairwoman Monica Alcantara garnered 30.8 percent of the vote in her re-election bid. Coming in second in the field of four was Grace Rose Gonzales, who had 27.3 percent.

Republican Chair Cynthia Brehm also faced three challengers. She secured 33.5 percent of the vote and will face John Austin, who won 31.4 percent of the vote, in the runoff.

Early voting in the runoff is set for May 18-22. Deadline to register to vote in the runoffs is Monday, April 27.

shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
A Delhi Court has issued fresh death warrants for the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. The court has set March 20 as the new date for the executions to be carried out.

The fresh death warrants were issued on the plea of the Tihar Jail authorities a day after the President of India rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four convicts.

The President had already dismissed the mercy plea of three other convicts Mukesh Kumar Singh, Vinay Kumar Sharma, and Akshay Thakur. With this, all the four convicts have exhausted their legal options.

Reacting to the court order, Asha Devi, the mother of Nirbhaya said: "Hope this is the final date and they would be hanged on March 20. While dying my daughter asked to ensure they get such punishment that such crime is not repeated ever".

However, AP Singh the lawyer of the convicts termed it a 'judicial murder'.

He also claimed that the convicts have been left traumatised after being held in solitary confinement for so long.

He also alleged that the court was threatening him when it said on Monday that he was playing with fire.

This is the fourth death warrant issued against them after they were sentenced to death in 2013.

On January 7 death warrants were issued for the first time in the case to execute the four on January 22. However, on January 17 the trial court changed the date of execution to February 1 after one of them Mukesh moved a mercy plea before the President. Subsequently, on January 31 the trial court put on hold the execution after two more Akshay and Vinay moved mercy pleas. Thereafter, on February 17 the trial court set March 3 as the date of execution of the four. On March 2, the executions were put on hold for the third time as Pawan had moved a mercy plea.

The four men Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh were sentenced to death for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student on a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012.

AFP

Two others, the driver of the bus Ram Singh and a juvenile were also arrested along with the four men. Ram Singh was found dead in a Tihar jail cell in 2013 and the minor who was tried under the Juvenile Justice Act was released in December 2105.

The delay in executing the death sentences in one of the most shocking crimes in India, which was tried in a fast-track court is widely seen as a test of the Indian legal system.
The research, conducted by Scotiabank, in consultation with Dr. Barbara Orser and Dr. Allan Riding of the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, was undertaken to better understand the financial knowledge and confidence gaps of women entrepreneurs. 1000 entrepreneurs participated in the online survey conducted between October 18 and 29, 2019.

"To date, the majority of studies have focused on general financial knowledge," says Gillian Riley, President and CEO, Tangerine Bank, and executive sponsor of The Scotiabank Women Initiative. "This is among the first studies to focus on women entrepreneurs and small business financial knowledge in Canada."

Some of the key findings include:

Among all business owners surveyed, 38 per cent do not have a business budget, regardless of level of financial knowledge or gender.

Two-thirds of survey participants  both men and women  perceive that it is important to grow the scale or scope of their businesses; 32 per cent of women business owners and 26 per cent of men business owners expect sales revenues to grow by more than 10 per cent per year.

Canadian women entrepreneurs recognize their need to further enhance their small business financial knowledge.

"The Closing Gender Gaps in Financing Canadian Small Businesses report allows The Scotiabank Women Initiative to continue to enhance the Education pillar of our program through online and in-person tools and resources," says Riley. "Our goal is to empower women and support them in taking their businesses to the next level. We have an opportunity help women business owners increase their overall level of financial knowledge and we encourage entrepreneurs to use these insights to grow and thrive in their business."

To read the full report, visit our website.

About The Scotiabank Women Initiative

The Scotiabank Women Initiative is a comprehensive program to help advance women-owned and women-led businesses across Canada through three key pillars: Access to Capital, Mentorship and Education

Since launching in December 2018, The Scotiabank Women Initiative has achieved several notable milestones. In September 2019, the Bank committed to deploy three billion dollars in capital to women-led businesses in its first three years. The program has engaged more than 1,500 women through our Boot Camps and group mentorship sessions across Canada. We formed The Scotiabank Women Initiative Advisory Board of Scotiabank executives, who provide expertise to help women grow their businesses through facilitated small group mentorship sessions and we developed an online Knowledge Centre for self-directed learning.

For more information on The Scotiabank Women Initiative, visit scotiabankwomeninitiative.com.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future," we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of approximately 100,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as at January 31, 2020), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank

For further information: For media enquiries only: Kate Simandl, Scotiabank, [email protected], 416-866-6806

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The award is part of the Horace Mann/IPA Junior High/Middle School Principal of the Year Awards program that recognizes junior high/middle school principals who have demonstrated that they excel in a variety of areas, such as demonstrating a positive impact on education and advocacy for children, ensuring the school climate is positive and reflects high staff and student morale, and working collaboratively with teachers and other staff to improve the educational program and student achievement.
March 5 (Reuters) - British regional airline Flybe collapsed on Thursday after a plunge in travel demand, making the struggling carrier the industry's first big casualty of the coronavirus outbreak.

Here's a look at the more than 40-year rise and fall of Europe's largest independent regional airline:

MARCH 2020

The failure of Europe's largest independent regional airline that connects all corners of the United Kingdom with major European destinations puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but is also likely to hurt some small airports and regional UK economies.

JANUARY 2020

Airline gets a stay of execution after the British government promises to review taxation of the industry and shareholders pledge more funding.

Shareholder Stobart says it will provide 9 million pounds ($11.6 million) in funding as part of the government-backed bail-out.

JULY 2019

EU antitrust regulators clear the $2.8 million acquisition of Flybe by Connect Airways, a consortium created by Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and investment adviser Cyrus Capital.

MAY 2019

Company says CEO Christine OurmiAres-Widener would step down in July.

JANUARY 2019

Virgin Atlantic teams up with Stobart and Cyrus Capital to buy Flybe in a deal worth one pence per share in cash and a 94% discount to the company's stock value.

Cyrus' unit DLP Holdings owns 40% of the joint venture company, while Stobart's aviation unit and Virgin each have 30%.

NOVEMBER 2018

The airline says it holds talks with potential buyers, as it grapples with higher fuel costs, lower demand and a weak British pound.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018

British infrastructure and support services company Stobart considers bidding for the company, but scraps plans after being rebuffed.

2011

Flybe buys Finnish Commuter Airlines (Finncomm) Finland's largest domestic air carrier, in a newly formed joint venture with Finnair, Finland's flag carrier.

2010

Airline lists in London raising up to 66 million pounds ($85 million) for Europe's largest regional carrier to buy out rivals and expand its fleet. https://reut.rs/39o8BFm.

Story continues

2007

The airline buys the former regional airline business of British Airways BA Connect, becoming Europe's largest regional carrier.

2002

The company changes name to Flybe as part of a major overhaul amid growing competition from growth in low-cost travel.

2000

The airline, now the UK's third-largest airline, is renamed British European.

1985

The company moves headquarters to Exeter in southwest England from the island of Jersey.

1983

Walker Steel Group, which also owned Spacegrand Aviation, buys the airline.

1979

Airline launches as Jersey European Airways operating from Jersey.

Source: company website and Reuters

($1 = 0.7746 pounds) (Compiled by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; editing by Josephine Mason)
German chancellor Angela Merkel refuses to shake hands at a reception in Stralsund due to risk of infection. (Stefan Sauer/Picture alliance via Getty Images)

The number of coronavirus cases in Europes largest economy surpassed 135 on Monday, with cases reported in 10 of Germanys 16 states. North Rhine-Westphalia, the countrys most populous state, is the worst-hit with over 70 confirmed cases.

Coronavirus has now reached the capital Berlin, with authorities reporting that a young man admitted to the Charite hospital on Sunday had tested positive. He had previously been in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

German citizens have started panic buying supplies of disinfectants, tinned foods, and toilet paper. Many pharmacies across Germany have run out of hand-sanitizers and supermarket shelves have been cleared of supplies.

"The pharmacies in North Rhine-Westphalia sold as much disinfectant last week as they normally did in two years," Thomas Preis, head of the North Rhine-Westphalian Pharmacists' Association told Rheinische Post newspaper.

Read more: European stocks surge as central banks pledge to tackle coronavirus

Finance minister Olaf Scholz told Die Welt newspaper that the government would consider buoying up the German economy, which is heavily reliant on exports. "If the situation calls for it, we have the means to launch a fiscal stimulus package," Scholz said.

The countrys interior minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday that he does not expect a vaccine against coronavirus to be available before the end of the year. He said the scenario where Germany would seal off regions or towns would be a last resort."

Germanys confirmed coronavirus cases far exceed the UK, where 35 people have tested positive. Meanwhile, Italy, the epicentre of the virus in Europe, saw a surge in the number of cases on Sunday to 1,694, with 34 deaths, as the economy braces for a meltdown.

Lufthansa (LHA.DE) said on Friday that it plans to cut the number of short-and-medium haul flights by about 25% and ground 23 long-haul planes in the coming weeks due to the accelerated spread of the coronavirus. It is also extending its flight ban to China to the end of April.

Story continues

Read more: Geneva Motor Show cancelled as coronavirus pushes Swiss to ban large events

The airline which is due to report earnings on 19 March, said it was currently impossible to assess the financial impact of the virus on its business at this stage. Its share price tumbled by about 20% in Frankfurt last week.

Berlin announced on Friday that this weeks International Tourism Fair was cancelled. The worlds largest tourism fair, which was due to begin today, attracts well over 100,000 visitors and 10,000 exhibitors.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK
A California health official licked her finger shortly after she warned residents in her community to not touch their faces to best avoid coronavirus infection.

It was obvious in video footage of Dr. Sara Cody's announcement last week that she had no idea that she had not taken her own advice on how people can stop the deadly, flu-like infection from spreading.

'Today, start working on not touching your face  because one main way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose, or eyes,' Cody, director of Santa Clara County's Public Health Department says, at a press conference on Friday.

A California health official licked her finger shortly after she warned residents in her community to not touch their faces to best avoid coronavirus infection

Dr. Sara Cody, director of Santa Clara County's Public Health Department in California warned residents in her community during a press conference last week to not touch their faces to best avoid coronavirus infection, before she suddenly forgot her own advice

About a minute later she licks her finger to turn a page from the notes she was reading from.

The finger-lick went largely unnoticed until the footage went viral days later amid similar warnings from health officials around the world.

It also was proof of how difficult it is for one not to touch their face, even after being told not to by someone else.

California's Santa Clara County has been grappling with 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, reports BuzzFeed.

Research has found that people touch their faces an average of 23 times every hour.

Cody can be heard in the footage saying, ''Today, start working on not touching your face  because one main way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose, or eyes'

US President Donald Trump touches his face on Monday while leading a meeting with the White House Coronavirus Task Force and pharmaceutical executives in the Cabinet Room on Monday. He joked two days later that he has not touched his face amid coronavirus concerns

That includes mostly direct contact with eyes, the mouth and nose - all entry points into the body, according to a 2015 study published by National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Other strong preventive measures against the virus are washing your hands, covering your cough, and staying home when sick, say public health officials.

'We're always saying the common sense of washing your hands, not touching your face, ensuring that if you touch anything, you wash your hands again,' Dr. Debbie Birx, the White House's response coordinator for the coronavirus, told reporters on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump, also speaking to reporters with Birx, joked, 'I haven't touched my face in weeks. It's been weeks. I miss it.'

The president made the comment although he was photographed touching face during a meeting with the pharmaceutical executives on Monday.
India on Wednesday, March 4, during the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) slammed Pakistan for raising false and fabricated concerns over human rights. India also reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir will continue to be an integral part of India. The 43rd Session of UNHRC was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

First Secretary MEA at UNHRC Vimarsh Aryan said, "Pakistani delegation is raising false & fabricated concerns for rights of human rights defenders elsewhere, however, unfortunately, legitimate human rights defenders in Pakistan are bearing the brunt of real draconian laws as we speak."

Vimarsh Aryan, First Secretary MEA at UNHRC: Pakistani delegation is raising false & fabricated concerns for rights of human rights defenders elsewhere, however, unfortunately, legitimate human rights defenders in Pakistan are bearing the brunt of real draconian laws,as we speak https://t.co/y0GZuitwBc  ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2020

Read: J&K 'was, is and shall forever' remain its integral part: India tells Pakistan at UNHRC meeting

Read: 'Not Pakistan's cup of tea': India slams Pakistan at Human Rights Council in Geneva

Speaking about the UNHRC, he said, "This Council is responsible for the promotion & protection of all human rights universally. However, ironically, what we heard from Pakistani delegation was an attempt to polarise & politicize this august forum."

'J&K is and will be an integral part of India'

Speaking about Jammu and Kashmir, he added, "J&K has been, is and will continue to be an integral part of India, and Pakistan should cease to covet it. As far as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is concerned, it has no locus standi to comment on the internal affairs of India."

Image Credits: ANI

Read: MEA summons Iranian envoy over Foreign Minister's tweet on Delhi riots; lodges protest

Read: UNHRC intervention on CAA: MEA asserts sovereign right, makes locus standi argument
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of abducting 14 Madhya Pradesh MLAs to bring down the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh.

He also demanded that an investigation should be done on who arranged the charter plane to fly four Congress MLAs to Bengaluru. Putting the onus on the media, the Congress leader said that these questions should be put before the BJP to know the truth.

"They are saying they have got one person, Pathak, who is involved in mining and will be given ministership first. Has anyone probed this? Who gave the money for the charter plane to fly those MLAs to Bengaluru? 14 MLAs were abducted by the BJP. Yediyurappa's government had also tried a similar trick.... Who has abducted these MLAs and kept them at five-star hotels? If the answer to these questions is found, then the truth will come out," he said while speaking to the media.

"BJP will never be successful in this devious plan," the Congress leader added.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also spoke to media on the same issue and stated, "Ever since the BJP has come to power at the level, democracy is being finished in one state after the other. It had started with Arunachal Pradesh."

On Monday, Digvijaya Singh had alleged that BJP leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narottam Mishra were offering bribes of Rs 25-35 crore to Congress MLAs in order to bring down the Congress government in the state.

In 2018 Assembly results, Congress, which won 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly formed the government with the support of four Independent MLAs and two BSP MLAs and a legislator from the Samajwadi Party (SP). The BJP had secured 109 seats in the state Assembly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
From the first of September, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it will be necessary to introduce more stringent disease control regulations than in effect at present; the Operational Group will make recommendations regarding these at next weeks cabinet meeting, Gergely Gulyas, the Minister heading the Prime Ministers Office announced at a Governmentinfo press conference held on Wednesday.
Elizabeth Warren has officially announced she will be dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential race, but refused to endorse either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden right now for the nomination.

I will not be running for president in 2020 but I guarantee I will stay in the fight for the hardworking people across this country whove gotten the short end of the stick, she told reporters on Thursday outside her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home.

Her husband, Bruce Mann, stood behind the Massachusetts senator as she made her official announcement.

But when asked about if she would now offer up her endorsement to another candidate, Ms Warren did not indicate her future intentions.

I need some space, she said about the endorsement.

There will be no endorsement today, she said, but Ms Warren also did not close the door on potentially lending her support to Mr Biden or Mr Sanders.

During her short announcement, Ms Warren was candid about what she thought went wrong with her race. She believed, in part, the idea of only two lanes being open to voters was a problem.

I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is the incumbent for and theres no room for anyone else in this, she said.

I felt that wasnt right, but evidently I was wrong.

Ms Warren entered the race in February 2019 and made history as one of six female candidates up for nomination for president. Leaning on her progressive views, she took an early lead as one of the top candidates for the Democratic Party.

But her support started to slip when the former candidate was unable to distinguish herself successfully enough from Mr Sanders to drum up support from progressive voters.

The senator then saw her path to the nomination dwindle after the Iowa caucus, where she placed third. New Hampshire and Nevada followed closely behind, and Ms Warren dropped down to fourth. In South Carolina, she came in fifth.

On Super Tuesday, Ms Warren was only able to pick up 35 delegates to join the 30 she already had, making it hard for her to compete against the two frontrunners.

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

Ms Warren was asked if she thought sexism played into American politics to this day.

Gender in this race, that is the trap question for everyone, the now former presidential contender said. If you say, Yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says, Whiner ... I promise you this, I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on.

If Ms Warren was to endorse anyone in the election, it would likely be Mr Sanders as they both sit on the more progressive side of the party. But in recent months, the senator has been more outspoken against her colleague to distinguish herself away from his own policies.

Endorsing the more moderate candidate, Mr Biden, remains unlikely.

I respect his years of service, she said on Monday night during a rally in Los Angeles about Mr Biden. But no matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating their fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment.

She added Mr Biden wanted to restore the world before Donald Trump.

The former vice president tweeted out his support for Ms Warren on Thursday after she dropped out of the race.

Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in peoples lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate, he wrote.

On Thursday, Mr Sanders also offered up glowing remarks about the senator following the news.

The reason her campaign ideals will remain viable for many, many years is she has changed political consciousness in America, which at the end of the day is the most important thing that any candidate could do, he told reporters.

The future of Ms Warrens political career remains uncertain, depending on if she wants to remain in her Massachusetts senator seat or attempt to move into a position within someones administration.
Poke Burrito, which has locations in Chicago, Oak Park and Deer Park, announced on its Facebook page that it is hoping to open its new Park Ridge restaurant in April inside the former Maki Sushi. Its application with the liquor commission describes its cuisine as Asian fusion, ramen (and) poke."
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Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:11 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20688e0ac 1 Business banking-industry,financial-services,Bangkok-Bank,PermataBank,OJK,acquisition Free

Thailand-based Bangkok Bank is planning to acquire another Indonesian bank after closing a deal to purchase a majority stake in Bank Permata from Standard Chartered and Astra International for US$2.7 billion, according to the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

OJK commissioner for banking supervision Heru Kristiyana said Thursday that the bank was granted the approval to acquire Permata Bank, adding that the bank may purchase another Indonesian bank after completing the Permata deal.

It is already in their pipeline, Heru told reporters in Jakarta without disclosing the name of the bank. Everything is already on the right track with Bangkok Bank.

According to OJK Regulation No. 56/2016 on bank ownership, the OJK allows bank institutions and non-bank institutions to acquire a maximum 40 percent stake in local banks.

Read also: Hopes high for Bank Permata after acquisition by Bangkok Bank

However, the OJK said it would allow investors to own more than 40 percent on the condition that they support financial system stability and help to develop the national economy.

Bangkok Bank announced in December last year that it had agreed to buy 89.1 percent of publicly listed Bank Permata for around US$2.67 billion as part of its overseas expansion.

The majority of Bank Permata shares is owned by British financial giant Standard Chartered and Indonesian diversified conglomerate PT Astra International, with each owning 44.56 percent. Bank Permata operates 330 branches in 62 cities across Indonesia.

The deal values Permata at 1.77 times its book value as per September 2019 and indicates a purchase price of Rp 1,498 (11 US cents) per share.

The deal is expected to close in 2020 with Bangkok Bank set to make a mandatory offer for the remaining 10.88 percent of the shares at the same purchase price after completing the transaction to acquire the stakes from Standard Chartered and Astra.
Ukraine's ministry says Russia wants to put a varnish of legality on its illegal attempts to annex Crimea.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to Moscow's intention to hold a conference on Russia-occupied Crimea in Norway.

"We consider the initiative to hold the so-called conference on Crimea in Oslo late in March as another attempt by the Russian propaganda and disinformation machine to put a varnish of legality on its illegal attempts, which were condemned by the entire civilized world, to annex the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from Ukraine. This is not the first time that Moscow has resorted to the services of its apologists whose point of view is astronomically far from the official one and is marginal in the global, European and, in this case, Norwegian context. Thus, we consider the provocation with the so-called conference as an attempt of wishful thinking," according to a statement by Press Secretary of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kateryna Zelenko.

Read alsoRussian TV journalist Pivovarov denied entry into Ukraine (Photo)

The ministry said the Norwegian government takes a firm position in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

"This position is consistently confirmed by the highest political leadership of Norway. Norway fully joined the EU sanctions against Russia imposed over its aggression against Ukraine. This position was once again confirmed by Norwegian Ambassador Ole Terje Horpestad during a meeting at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on March 4," reads the statement.

Moreover, as the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says, since the beginning of Russian aggression, Norway has consistently joined a group of co-authors of all Ukraine resolutions  "Territorial integrity of Ukraine" (March 27, 2014), four consecutive resolutions "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine" (2016-2019) and two resolutions "Problem of the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov" (2018-2019).

According to RFE/RL's media project Krym.Realii, the conference in Norway is scheduled for March 27.
 Flash

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that he's suspending his presidential campaign and is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden.

The announcement came after a disappointing finishing for Bloomberg in Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries, in which he only won American Samoa.

"I'm a believer in using data to inform decisions. After yesterday's results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible - and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The billionaire entrepreneur, who made a late entry into the presidential race and has spent over 500 million U.S. dollars on advertising, also said that he's glad to endorse Biden, a moderate political veteran who won most of the 14 states voting on Tuesday.

A champion of progressive policies, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont finished second but scored a major win in California, the state with the most pledged delegates to July's Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Biden, in a tweet on Wednesday, thanked Bloomberg for his endorsement.

"This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics," Biden added.

David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, said Bloomberg's departure "was expected."

"He's a flinty-eyed realist and the numbers weren't there," said the former chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. "The big news was his quick pledge to back Biden, with all the material support that implies. It could turn out to be one of the most meaningful developments of 2020."

Sitting President Donald Trump, who is projected to easily win the Republican Party's primaries on Tuesday, weighed in on Bloomberg's exit and lashed out at Biden with a series of tweets on Wednesday morning.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are still in the Democratic primary race, as a Biden-Sanders matchup took shape.

"Before the pundits call it a day, the ST (Super Tuesday) results don't mean this competition is over," Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, tweeted on Wednesday.

Sanders "has a substantial number of delegates, many important contests still ahead, and everyone should see by now that uncertainty is the only certainty," Zelizer stressed.

The next Democratic primaries will take place on March 10 for voters of six states to cast ballot for their preferred presidential candidate this year.

The Super Tuesday Democratic primary decided over 1,300 pledged delegates to the DNC or roughly a third of the total. Typically, a candidate is only eligible to receive a share of the pledged delegates at stake if they win at least 15 percent of votes cast in a primary or caucus.

To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the DNC, which election officials said must be at least 1,991 delegates.

The Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for a second term during August's national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 3.
Bernard Madoff should not be released early from prison even if kidney disease kills him within months, prosecutors said Wednesday as they cited the scope and magnitude of his decades-long Ponzi scheme that cost thousands of investors billions of dollars.

Over 500 victims had written to a Manhattan federal court judge to oppose early release for the 81-year-old Madoff from a 150-year sentence imposed in 2009, while only 20, or 4% of letter writers, supported it, prosecutors said.

Madoff had demonstrated "a wholesale lack of understanding of the seriousness of his crimes and a lack of compassion for his victims, underscoring that he is undeserving of compassionate release himself," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors cited numerous letters from victims, including one from a woman who said her husband of 40 years committed suicide after learning of the fraud and another in which an 84-year-old victim said: "Why should he be shown any compassion, when he had none for his many victims?"

Madoff's lawyer had asked that he be released early under the terms of a program that permits compassionate release for some inmates if they have less than 18 months to live.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed he has less than 18 months to live but has denied early release on the grounds that it "would minimize the severity of his offense."

Madoff is confined to a wheelchair while he battles terminal kidney disease and other ailments, his lawyer said in an early February court filing.

The attorney, Brandon Sample, said Madoff has a back brace and medical shoes and is permitted to be aided by an inmate companion as he suffers from leg cramps, weakness, fatigue and uses an oxygen container to relieve shortness of breath.

Madoff began his sentence months after he confessed to his family and others that the $17.5 billion entrusted to him by thousands of investors had never been invested, even though he claimed it had grown in value by tens of billions of dollars. At the time, there was only several hundred thousand dollars left.

His Ponzi scheme, estimated to have begun as early as the 1980s, destroyed or crippled the finances of many individuals and charitable organizations worldwide.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said in their filing Wednesday, Madoff live extravagantly, using investor money to buy a $4.4 million Manhattan home, fund a $6.5 million loan for a home in Nantucket and to finance two yachts worth $11.5 million and the salaries of housekeepers and a personal boat captain.

In arguing for compassionate release for Madoff, Sample called his client's sentence "symbolic," saying it was given for retribution, deterrence and for the victims.

He argued compassionate release was appropriate in light of his terminal illness, life expectancy of less than 18 months, and "our society's value and understanding of compassion."

If freed, Madoff will live with a friend, financially supported by Social Security and Medicare benefits, Sample wrote.

Sample did not immediately comment on Wednesday's submission by prosecutors.

Last week, Irving H. Picard, a trustee appointed to recover money for Madoff's victims, reported that $13.93 billion had been recovered and nearly all of it had been distributed, meaning nearly 70% of the allowable losses reported by Madoff's customers will have been repaid.
NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal, whose party is part of the BJP-led ruling NDA government at the Centre, on Thursday (March 5, 2020) sparked a row by saying that Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka must get tested for Coronavirus as they have just returned from Italy and may end up spreading it.

Italy is badly affected with Coronavirus so I requested the government that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi be tested for Coronavirus since they have recently come back from Italy, the RLP MP said.

"I urged the government in the Lok Sabha to screen the Gandhi family for Coronavirus. There should be a probe to find out if the spread of the virus originated from Sonia Gandhi`s home," he added.

The RLP leader triggered a storm in the Lok Sabha after which Congress leaders slammed him and shouted slogans and threw papers on the table of the Speaker.

The Lok Sabha speaker did not allow his remark in the House. Being asked if his statement will be expunged from records, he said, "I do not care if my remarks get expunged. I am used to it. However, I am worried about Sonia`s health. They all should get their medical check-up done."

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi over his posts on social media about Coronavirus, he said, "Rahul not coming out from his house but expressing his concern by sharing posts on it."

As Congress leaders demanded an apology from him for his statement, he said, "I will not seek an apology for his remark in this birth."

Later, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, It is shameful that PM Modi Ji is using Hanuman Beniwal who has lost his mental balance, to use such low level and shameful words for Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji. We strongly condemn such irresponsible and imbecile comments.

On Wednesday, Beniwal targetted Rahul Gandhi over his visit to violence-hit northeast Delhi and asked the leader if he underwent screening after coming from Italy.

"Precautions must be taken...first you misguided people (on CAA)... your mother said people should be either this side or the other...first you instigate violence, then you go to show solidarity...before going there, I want to ask, you have come from Italy just six days back, have you taken screening test at the airport? Did you take precautions or you want to spread it (Coronavirus)?" Beniwal had said.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday made a statement on steps taken by the government to control the spread of the novel coronavirus and informed the House that so far 29 people have been tested positive for Coronavirus in the country.
ANNE DRAGO, Stonington, Girls Basketball, Senior; Drago was named to the all-tournament team at the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament. In two games, she scored 38 points and had eight rebounds.

DANTE WILK, Westerly, Boys Basketball, Senior; Wilk was named MVP of the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament after the Bulldogs beat Chariho in the title game. Wilk had a combined 35 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and eight steals in two tournament victories.

TYLER LABELLE, Chariho, Boys Basketball, Junior; LaBelle scored 41 points in two games to earn all-tournament honors at the WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament. LaBelle had 22 in a win against South Kingstown and 19 in a loss to Westerly.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler, Girls Basketball, Senior; Hauptmann scored 32 points in two games in the Montville Christmas Tournament. She also had 20 rebounds, seven assists and eight steals.

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The Delhi High Court has been told by the AAP government that under the penal law food adulteration is a cognisable offence against which police can take action, including registration of FIRs.

The submission was made before a bench of justices G S Sistani and A J Bhambhani which on an earlier date had said that the use of pesticides and chemicals to ripen fruits amounts to poisoning and the culprits should be sent to jail.

The Delhi government also told the court that out of the 86 fruit and vegetable samples, it had collected from various markets in the national capital, 15 were found to be "highly unsafe" due to "excess lead content".

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) told the bench that it has developed a framework for 'clean and fresh fruit and vegetable market' to address safety and hygiene concerns in the unorganised fresh fruit and vegetable sector.

It also said that it has identified five markets at INA, Kotla, Janakpuri, Ranibagh and Ghanta Ghar for pilot projects on food safety. Thereafter, it will be replicated in the markets of Azadpur, Daryaganj, Ghazipur and Okhla, the FSSAI said.

The bench directed the FSSAI to consider publicising its new scheme or framework in four local languages to educate all stakeholders.

"In addition, the FSSAI may also consider carrying advertisements on websites, posters, hoardings, social media, cinema halls, metro stations and bus stops, it said.

The court said that "a comparative chart should also prepared on the roles and responsibilities of the FSSAI and the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), as also the accountability and responsibility of state governments and the interplay of these organisations, to enable the court to have a clearer picture of the entities involved in the matter of food safety and their respective roles".

The order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) initiated by the court to monitor the use of pesticides on fruits and vegetables.

Apart from the PIL initiated by the court on its own, it is also hearing a plea by an individual seeking directions to authorities to curb the use of pesticides and other chemicals on food products, especially agricultural produce, coming into the national capital.

According to a report filed by amicus curiae Rajul Jain earlier, due to excessive use of pesticides in fruits and vegetable, "various countries have banned the import of Indian vegetables and fruits and many more were under scrutiny".

The high court had initiated the issue on its own after a NGO had found that vegetables and fruits sold in the Delhi markets contained poisons capable of causing cancer and harming the nervous system and liver.

The court has in the past suggested several measures to curb adulteration of eatables, especially fruits and vegetables, like large-scale testing and sending back contaminated food products to manufacturers or farmers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Tuesday, the high in Grand Island was 62, with a low of 29, for an average daily temperature of 46. On March 3, 2019, in Grand Island, the high temperature of 5 and low of -9 created an average daily temperature of -2.

The prolonged cold spell last year lasted from February through early March and didnt allow for snow melt. Low soil temperatures kept the ground frozen, which was a contributing factor to the massive flooding that took place in mid-March. According to the UNL Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, area soil temperature this month is in the mid- to upper 30s around south-central Nebraska.

Snowfall so far this year, at 23.2 inches, is comparable to last year in early March, when the total was 28.1 inches. But temperatures have been well above normal this winter and any snowfall has melted within days.

With the anniversary of the massive flooding in the area about a week away, the NWS Hastings said the overall risk for flooding is near to above normal with high river levels, leftover from 2019, and generally elevated soil moisture across the region. Long-range climate outlook valid from March through May is calling for a higher likelihood of above-normal precipitation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-04 20:54:36|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the center for disease control and prevention of Chaoyang District in Beijing, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, President Xi has made a series of instructions on advancing related scientific research. The following is a timeline of the instructions that have been made public.

BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has said science and technology are mankind's most powerful weapon against diseases.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has also stressed the pivotal role of science and technology in eventually defeating the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic.

Since the outbreak, he has made a series of instructions on advancing related scientific research.

The following is a timeline of the instructions that have been made public.

JANUARY 25

Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on the COVID-19 prevention and control, which called for speeding up the research and development of drugs and vaccines.

JANUARY 29

In an instruction made public on that day, Xi called on military research institutions to step up scientific research to contribute to the fight against the epidemic.

FEBRUARY 3

At a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi urged scientific efforts in virus source tracing. He also called for identifying the source of infection and the transmission routes at an earlier date, closely tracking the mutation of the virus and promptly developing strategies and measures on its prevention and control.

FEBRUARY 10

During an inspection in Beijing, Xi required accelerating the selection, research and development of drugs with good clinical effects.

He also called on universities, research institutes and enterprises to redouble efforts in the research and development of reagents, vaccines and drugs for early breakthroughs.

FEBRUARY 12

Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee which urged greater efforts in the research and development of drugs and vaccines.

FEBRUARY 14

Addressing a meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform, Xi encouraged the use of digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing to support the epidemic surveillance and analysis, virus source tracing, epidemic prevention and control, disease treatment, and allocation of resources.

FEBRUARY 21

Xi chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which called for more support for the research and development of reagents, drugs and vaccines.

FEBRUARY 23

At a meeting on coordinating the COVID-19 prevention and control and economic and social development, Xi said "because COVID-19 is a new infectious disease, our understanding of it remains relatively preliminary."

He called for multidisciplinary scientific research, highlighting the theoretical research on source of infection, transmission and pathogenesis to help produce more targeted and practical guidelines for COVID-19 prevention and control after work and production resume.

He also called for strengthened international cooperation in the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines.

MARCH 2

During an inspection to two institutes in Beijing, Xi called for speeding up vaccine research and development while closely tracking the progress of related research overseas to strive for early clinical trial and application of vaccines.

Xi stressed the importance of coordinating research on virus source tracing and transmission routes and evaluating whether some suspected animals are intermediate hosts.

Xi also called on countries to share research data and jointly work out response strategies to contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity. 
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-05 11:15:51

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New study data show that monitoring blood levels of sphingotec's endothelial function biomarker bio-ADM(R) on top of guideline parameter lactate improves risk stratification of sepsis patients admitted to intensive care unitsMonitoring of both, lactate and bio-ADM(R), in sepsis patients allows early identification of patients that require immediate intervention at admission to the ICU.Sphingotec is set to launch a point-of-care bio-ADM(R) assay running on its proprietary automated Nexus IB10 instrument in mid-2020.HENNIGSDORF and BERLIN, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Diagnostics company SphingoTec GmbH ("sphingotec", Hennigsdorf Germany) today reported on new data on the utility of endothelial function biomarker bioactive Adrenomedullin (bio-ADM(R)). The data show that bio-ADM(R) allows identification of sepsis patients who are at high risk of fatal outcomes despite low or decreasing levels of the routinely monitored parameter lactate. Lactate, a parameter that identifies reduced blood oxygenation of tissue, is routinely used as a reference in the diagnosis of septic shock. However, lactate is rather unspecific to sepsis and insensitive. This limitation can be overcome by monitoring, in addition to lactate, the blood levels of bio-ADM(R), a biomarker that can reliably detect blood vessel leakage, one of the main causes of septic shock.According to recent findings published in Critical Care1, data from over 500 sepsis patients enrolled in the AdrenOSS-1 study demonstrate the added value of bio-ADM(R) to lactate monitoring. The AdrenOSS-1 study investigators could show that even though normalizing lactate levels indicate a significantly decreased risk of mortality, an additional measurement of bio-ADM(R) blood levels can help identify those patients that are still at risk of fatal outcomes despite their lower lactate levels. Among septic patients with decreasing lactate, high bio-ADM(R) levels identified patients who had a 4-time higher mortality risk than patients with low bio-ADM levels. According to the authors of the study, measurement of bio-ADM(R) on top of lactate may help refine risk stratification and thus guide resuscitation during sepsis.Lactate has been used for more than 30 years to monitor organ hypoperfusion in sepsis patients. However, lactate blood levels are influenced by many other physiological and pathological processes. Clinical data from more than 22,000 patients demonstrate that high bio-ADM(R) levels independently from inflammation and co-morbidities indicate distortions in the barrier function of the inner cell sheet of blood vessels, the endothelium. Loss of this barrier function is considered a key driver in the development of hypotension and eventually septic shock with loss of organ perfusion in sepsis patients2. According to sphingotec's research, bio-ADM(R) can explain about 60% of the fatal outcomes in sepsis."Our biomarker bio-ADM(R) can reliably support acute care physicians in identifying high-risk sepsis patients" said Dr. Andreas Bergmann, founder and CEO of sphingotec. "We are set to launch the fully automated CE-IVD-marked point-of-care bio-ADM(R) assay on our widely established Nexus IB10 immunoassay instrument by mid-2020. We are convinced that this rapid test for bio-ADM(R) will support earlier treatment decisions and thereby will assist clinical decisions that may improve the outcomes of patients at ICUs and emergency departments." ReferencesBenjamin G. Chousterman et al (2020): Added value of serial bio-adrenomedullin measurement in addition to lactate for the prognosis of septic patients admitted to ICU,. doi:10.1186/s13054-020-2794-xMebazaa et al (2018): Circulating adrenomedullin estimates survival and reversibility of organ failure in sepsis: the prospective observational multinational Adrenomedullin and Outcome in Sepsis and Septic Shock-1 (AdrenOSS-1) study, Crit Care, doi: 10.1186/s13054-018-2243-2###About sphingotecSphingoTec GmbH ("sphingotec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) develops and markets innovative in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests for novel and proprietary biomarkers for the diagnosis, prediction and monitoring of acute medical conditions, such as sepsis, acute heart failure, circulatory shock, and acute kidney injury in order to support patient management and provide guidance for treatment strategies. sphingotec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Bioactive Adrenomedullin (bio-ADM(R)), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis or congestive heart failure, Proenkephalin (penKid(R)), a unique biomarker for real-time assessment of kidney function, and Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 (DPP3), a unique biomarker for cardio-renal pathway disruptions leading to acute organ dysfunction. In addition, sphingotec develops a portfolio of novel biomarkers, which predict the risks of developing obesity, breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases. IVD tests for sphingotec's proprietary biomarkers are made available as sphingotest(R) microtiterplate tests as well as point-of-care tests on the Nexus IB10 immunoassay platform by sphingotec's subsidiary Nexus Dx Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) alongside a broad menu of IB10 tests for established biomarkers for acute and critical care.About bio-ADM(R)sphingotest(R) bio-ADM(R) measures blood levels of bioactive adrenomedullin (bio-ADM(R)), a hormone maintaining endothelial function. The endothelium contributes to blood pressure and separates blood from the surrounding tissue. Elevated blood levels of bio-ADM(R) predict blood pressure break down and leaky vessels resulting in oedema. Imbalanced endothelial function is the major cause of shock ultimately resulting in organ dysfunction and death. Early identification of an imbalance in endothelial function allows guidance of vasopressor and diuretic therapy in critically ill patients to improve outcomes.Septic shockSeptic Shock is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction due to dysregulated host response to a proven or suspected infection which leads to a decline of Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) < 65 mmHg, which is refractory to fluid resuscitation and requires vasopressors. Refractoriness to fluid resuscitation is defined as a lack of response to the administration of 30 mL of fluid per kilogram of body weight or is determined according to a clinician's assessment of inadequate hemodynamic results.About Nexus Dx Inc. and the IB10 PlatformNexus Dx Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of sphingotec, headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA, is a global provider of a near patient t
TORRANCE, Calif., March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brian ORourke, President of Bobit Business Medias Beauty, Health & Wellness division, announced today the appointment of a new content team responsible for producing the MODERN SALON, Salon Today, and NAILS media brands. The new team is said to be more closely aligned with producing and distributing content for both audiences and marketers in a multi-platform era.



Upon joining Bobit Business Media last September, I have made it my mission to evolve our products, processes, and personnel, ORourke says. From a digital-first content strategy, to an agency-derived production methodology, were now better prepared to meet the needs of both our audiences and our clients and remain a leader in the beauty, health and wellness media category for years to come.

Leading the overall content direction for Bobits, Beauty, Health & Wellness media brands are ORourkes newly named Directors of Brand Content Strategy, who will be responsible for overseeing the editorial direction, voice, and multi-platform integration of both owned and client-generated content. Editorial veteran Anne Moratto has been promoted to Director of Brand Content Strategy for the divisions flagship brand, MODERN SALON.

Its such a privilege to be a part of this dynamic industry and the passion of its beauty professionals, Moratto says. In partnership with our network of artists, content creators, and producers, we are committed to sharing stories that will engage, educate, and shine the spotlight on our heroes, the hairdressers.

Other members of the team include Beth Livesay and Stacey Soble who have been promoted to Director of Brand Content Strategy for NAILS and Salon Today, respectively. ORourke has also given new titles to additional individuals responsible for the development and integration of paid client content, an area that has grown exponentially over the past couple of years.

As part of the ever-expanding agency services that Bobits Beauty, Health & Wellness division offers, Becky May is now Director of Client Content Strategy, Maggie Mulhern is Director of Multimedia Beauty Content, Jamie Newman is Senior Digital Content Strategist, and Deborah Ogilvie is Director of Content Integration.

More than ever before, our clients look to us for our creativity and expertise in providing multimedia creative services, as well as fully produced experiential and pop-up events, says ORourke. Like many consumer media brands, we have evolved into a hybrid content producer and agency.

About Bobit Business Media

Deeply committed to providing important content to each of its verticals, Bobit Business Media has successfully grown and innovated over 55+ years. The Company employs more than 150 talented associates in areas such as editorial, audience marketing, ad sales, production, digital media, events, research, and accounting. The Company is headquartered in Torrance, CA. For more information, visit www.bobitbusinessmedia.com.

Contact: Paul Andrews

Chief Marketing Officer

3520 Challenger Street, Torrance, CA 90503

www.bobitbusinessmedia.com

paul.andrews@bobit.com

Phone 310.533.2413
Migrants carry an injured man near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, near Edirne, Turkey March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

Greece has repulsed nearly 35,000 migrants trying to cross onto its territory illegally since Turkey opened its border nearly a week ago, government sources said on Thursday, as it prepares to deport hundreds of others who made it through.

Thousands of migrants have made for Greece since Ankara said on February 28 that it would let migrants cross its borders into Europe, reneging on a commitment to hold them on its territory under a 2016 deal with the European Union.

Ankara has accused Greek forces of shooting dead four migrants. a charge rejected by Athens, which says Turkish forces are helping the migrants to cross the border. Both sides used tear gas at the Kastanies border post on Wednesday.

Turkey's interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, visited Edirne province bordering Greece on Thursday and announced the deployment of 1,000 special police to the area to halt the pushback of migrants towards its territory.

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Whatsapp Migrants sit by a fire in a city market area in Edirne near the Turkish-Greek border on Thursday, March 5, 2020. AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Soylu, who said on Wednesday that Turkey was preparing a case at the European Court of Human Rights over Greece's treatment of migrants, accused Greek forces of wounding 164 people and pushing back nearly 5,000 into Turkey.

The situation at the Kastanies border crossing was calm on Thursday. Migrants - many of whom are from Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Syria and other Arab nations - huddled in tents and makeshift camps on the Turkish side of the border.

Greek border guards rebuffed nearly 7,000 attempts in the last 24 hours alone, taking the total since Feb. 29 to 34,778 and the number of arrests of those who got through to 244, the Greek government sources said.

Migrants who arrived in Greece illegally after March 1 will be transferred to the northern city of Serres and deported back to their own countries, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said late on Wednesday.

"Our aim is to return them to their countries," he told the Athens News Agency.

Mitarachi also said migrants who entered Greece prior to Jan. 1, 2019 and are living on its Aegean islands would be transferred to the mainland in the coming days.

Athens announced on March 1 that it would not accept any new asylum applications for a month following the build-up of migrants at the border. This has triggered criticism from human rights agencies.

The Aegean Sea remained choppy on Thursday and there were no further sightings of dinghies carrying migrants to Lesbos and other Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

Lesbos already hosts more than 20,000 asylum seekers, many of them living in filthy conditions in overcrowded camps

Greece and the EU accuse Turkey of deliberately goading the migrants to cross the border as a way of pressuring Brussels into offering more money or supporting Ankara's geopolitical aims in the Syrian conflict.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees and faces another influx from an upsurge in fighting in northwest Syria, says it cannot take in any more and complains that EU aid falls well short of what is needed for the refugees.

President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the migrant issue with senior EU officials in Ankara on Wednesday but his spokesman said the Europeans had made "no concrete proposition" on how to resolve the crisis.

Ankara's change in policy towards the migrants on its soil came after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Russian-backed Syrian government forces in an air strike in Syria.

Erdogan flew to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin over a potential ceasefire in Syria's Idlib, where their militaries are facing off in a war that has displaced nearly a million people in three months.
In her role leading the Skokie campus, Ivory said spending a lot of time there will help her advocate for the needs of that part of the community. Ivory said the first thing she plans to do in her new position, which was effective Feb. 24, is engage in relationship building.
SEATTLE, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A settlement has been proposed in a class action lawsuit about the price of NantHealth stock. Under the settlement, NantHealth will pay $16.5 million to resolve claims by investors who bought NantHealth common stock between June 1, 2016 and May 1, 2017. If you qualify, you may send in a claim form to request a payment, or you can exclude yourself from the settlement, or object to it.

The United States District Court for the Central District of California authorized this notice. Before any money is paid, the Court will have a hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement.

WHO IS IN THE SETTLEMENT?

You are a Class Member and could get benefits if you bought NantHealth stock between June 1, 2016 and May 1, 2017. You are a Class Member only if you bought shares of NantHealth stock individually, not simply through a mutual fund. Contact your broker to see if you have or held NantHealth stock. Certain people, such as NantHealth officers and directors and their families, are not Class Members. You can get more information, by visiting the website below or calling 1-844-975-1779.

WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT?

The lawsuit claims that NantHealth and some of its officers and directors misled investors about demand for its services in the company's registration statement, IPO prospectus, and other public statements. NantHealth and its officers and directors deny they did anything wrong. The Court did not decide which side was right. But both sides agreed to the settlement to resolve the case and get benefits to investors. The two sides disagree on how much money could have been won if the investors had won at a trial.

WHAT DOES THE SETTLEMENT PROVIDE?

NantHealth will pay $16.5 million to create a settlement fund to resolve claims by all Class Members. Those Class Members who send in valid claim forms and who are entitled to payment under the Plan of Allocation detailed in the long-form notice available at the website below will receive payment. Your payment will depend on the number of valid claim forms that Class Members send in, how many shares of NantHealth stock you bought, and when you bought and sold them. The settlement agreement, available at the website below, describes all of the details about the proposed settlement. If every eligible Class Member sends in a valid claim form, the average payment will be $0.69 per share.

The settlement fund will also pay attorneys' fees (up to $4.125 million), and cost reimbursements (up to $375,000), for the Court-appointed lawyers for investors (Gibbs Law Group LLP, of Oakland, CA, and Kehoe Law Firm PC, of Philadelphia, PA), and a compensatory award (up to $25,000) to the Class Representative. These amounts, and the costs to administer the settlement, together equal to about $0.28 per share. If these requests are granted, and after settlement administration expenses are paid, an estimated $11.725 million will remain to be paid to Class Members.

HOW DO YOU ASK FOR PAYMENT?

A notice package with the detailed notice and claim form contains everything you need. Just call or visit the website below to get one. To qualify for a payment, you must send in a claim form or submit it online by May 22, 2020.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER OPTIONS?

If you don't want to be legally bound by the settlement, you must exclude yourself by May 22, 2020, or you won't be able to sue, or continue to sue, NantHealth or the other Released Parties covered by the settlement about the legal claims in this case. If you exclude yourself, you can't get money from this settlement. If you stay in the settlement, you may object to it by May 22, 2020. The detailed notice explains how to exclude yourself or object.

The Court will hold a hearing in this case (Deora v. NantHealth, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-01825-TJH-MRW) on June 15, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. to consider whether to approve the settlement and the attorneys' fee request by the lawyers representing investors. You may ask to appear at the hearing, but you don't have to. For more information, visit www.NantHealthSecuritiesLitigation.com, call 1-844-975-1779, or write to the Settlement Administrator, NantHealth, Inc. Securities Litigation, c/o JND Legal Administration, PO Box 91125, Seattle, WA 98111.

PARA UNA NOTIFICACION EN ESPANOL, LLAMAR O VISITAR NUESTRO WEBSITE

SOURCE JND Legal Administration

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https://www.nanthealthsecuritieslitigation.com


Amid the Coronavirus scare in the country with confirmed cases of infections rising to 29, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said there was no need to panic while adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the situation. During the Question Hour, NCP MP Vandana Chavan said 'gaumutra' (cow urine) and cow-dung cure should be discouraged. She was soon interrupted, however, by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu.

'Scientific research needs to go in'

The NCP MP said, "Thank you to the minister for giving a very detailed statement and a lot of time it so happens that the government is very well-meaning, prepares a report and an action plan but however it doesn't fully translate into action so I think the government must take this initiative to make sure that whatever has been decided translates into action."

She added, "Symptoms of the virus need to be told to the people, do's and don'ts need to be told and last but now the least, there has been talks that using 'gaumutra' and cow dung cakes etc is useful to make this go away but scientific research needs to go in."

'Let us not create controversies in this house'

Soon after this, she was interrupted by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, who said that is upon people to believe or not. "We are not going to force anything. Let us not create controversies in this house on such a sensitive issue. It is your belief whatever you want to."

A BJP legislator in Assam on Monday left the state assembly astounded as she said the remedy for the deadly coronavirus may be "gaumutra" (cow urine) and "gobar" (cow dung).

Suman Haripriya said cow urine and cow dung are helpful in curing deadly diseases like cancer. "We all know that cow dung is very helpful. Likewise, when cow urine is sprayed, it purifies an area... I believe something similar could be done with gaumutra and gobar to cure coronavirus (disease)," she said during a discussion on smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh during the budget session of the assembly.

Chakrapani's Solution

Similarly, to contain the spread of coronavirus in Delhi, Chakrapani Maharaj, who heads one of the factions of the Hindu Mahasabha, decided to throw a gaumutra party.

He said: Just like people organise tea parties, we have decided to organise a gaumutra party. At the party, we will be informing people about what coronavirus is and how the consumption of cow-related products can save people from fatal disease.

READ | Coronavirus scare: UP sets up 18-member committee to monitor situation

At the event that will be organised at the Hindu Mahasabha Bhawan in Delhi, counters will be set up where the attendees will be served 'gaumutra' for consumption. Other cow products will also be on display, such as cow-dung cakes and incense sticks made of dung. Usage of these will kill the virus immediately, they claim.

READ | Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll in China crosses 3,000, over 80,000 infected

The Health Minister said India initiated required preparedness and action since January 17, much before advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Harsh Vardhan informed the Rajya Sabha that till March 4, around 6,11,176 passengers have been screened at different points.

READ | Trump says US has 'most talented' people to fight coronavirus as cases rise

READ | Request Shaheen Bagh protest to halt for few days because of Coronavirus: Sirsa's appeal

(With agency inputs)
The Supreme Courts new conservative majority is getting ready to chart a different course on abortion. Most observers expect the Court, over a series of several cases, to narrow or overturn the right to abortion it has enforced since 1973s Roe v. Wade. And this week it heard arguments in June Medical Services v. Russo, a challenge to a Louisiana law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

This is a very big deal. Yet no matter how it turns out, it will be but one battle in a long war over abortion.

If the Court indeed wipes out Roe, it will be an incredible victory for the pro-life movement  to be followed immediately by epic fights in Congress and the states. And if, by contrast, the Courts conservatives get cold feet or fail to hold their majority long enough to get the job done, the members of a future liberal Court will still have to work to preserve the right their forebears invented nearly half a century ago. Heres why.

Lets start with a scenario where the conservatives do what they were appointed to do and overturn Roe. This does not ban abortion; it merely removes the courts from the argument and turns the issue over to the political process.

On the state level, plenty of red governments stand willing to restrict abortion. Some have even enacted heartbeat bills banning the practice earlier than the Court currently allows or trigger laws that kick in when Roe ends. But these states might not deal too big a blow to abortion in general, because so much of the U.S. population lives in dense blue states and people seeking abortions can cross state lines if they need to. One study estimated that ending Roe could reduce the abortion rate as little as 13 percent.

Staunch believers in federalism, including yours truly, might nonetheless be happy to leave it at that. But there will also be calls to handle the issue federally instead of state by state. Some conservatives argue that the 14th Amendment allows Congress to ensure that unborn children are granted the equal protection of the laws. Others reply that the amendment was not originally understood to ban abortion, and that the power to enforce the amendment is not a license for Congress to change what the amendment means. Meanwhile, liberals are already talking about codifying Roe, which would resolve the issue nationwide in the opposite direction. Huge battles in Congress, and another trip to the Supreme Court, could be in the offing.

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And whatever happens legally, those hoping to protect unborn children are going to struggle in the face of widely available drugs that make it easy to kill a baby in the early stages of pregnancy. This week The New Republic had a piece about self-managed abortions in Latin America using over-the-counter medications. Activist groups walk women through the steps of getting the pills, causing the abortion, and disposing of what the article calls pregnancy tissue. In the U.S. as well, women who want abortions but dont want to involve doctors can find these pills online. Under an abortion ban, demand for such products will skyrocket. Shutting down a black market is famously hard even when the law is on your side.

And what about the other possibility here, the one where the conservatives chicken out or lose their majority before they can destroy Roe? Well, in that case, the Courts existing precedents will eventually confront a different technological development: doctors ability to keep babies alive at younger and younger ages. The Court has consistently held that states have more latitude to regulate abortions when the babies are viable (though even these restrictions have limits). As artificial-womb technology improves, this term will apply to more and more babies.

In one sense, the question of whether you can kill a baby in the womb at X weeks shouldnt hinge on whether it can survive outside the womb at that point: Its the same baby, with the same features, either way. But viability does make one crucial philosophical difference. If the baby can survive outside the mother, the mother isnt just asking to be rid of the baby when she seeks an abortion; shes separately asking for the baby to be killed, above and beyond the measures needed to preserve her bodily and financial autonomy. As the age at which a baby can survive without its mother creeps downward, will a liberal Court endorse what Margot Cleveland has called a constitutional right to a dead baby? Or will it give states more freedom to restrict later-term abortions?

Roe is a horrendous decision. The Court should vacuum its brains out. But no matter what happens, this fight is far from over.

More from National Review
NEW YORK  Federal prosecutors on Wednesday night objected to Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff's bid for release from prison, arguing that the reviled and ailing ex-financier should continue serving his 150-year sentence.

Charging that the 81-year-old convict who ran one of history's biggest scams has "demonstrated a wholesale lack of understanding of the seriousness of his crimes and a lack of compassion for his victims," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York urged a judge to keep him in prison.

"Madoff's crimes were 'extraordinarily evil.' His sentence was appropriately long. It should not be reduced," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Drew Skinner and Louis Pellegrino wrote in the filing to U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin, who sentenced Madoff more than a decade ago.

The recommendation came in response to Madoff's legal motion in February for compassionate release based on failing health. His attorney, Brandon Sample, argued that Madoff is dying from terminal kidney failure and has less than 18 months to live.

But the prosecutors' legal response said that the scam organizer's health condition has improved since he resumed kidney dialysis treatment. Although acknowledging that Madoff remains seriously ill, they said he could live longer than 18 months.

Comments from some of Madoff's victims that were included with the government filing showed that their suffering continues.

"I lost all my money and my husband of 40 years committed suicide because of his horrific crimes," one unidentified woman wrote. "As far as I am concerned, he should spend the rest of his life in jail."

Another unidentified victim wrote that she or he was 84 years old and living on a small pension that doesn't cover financial expenses.

"In view of the fact that he has had such an impact on my life, I have no sympathy for this depraved individual," the victim wrote. "Why should he be shown any compassion, when he had none for his many victims?"

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Yet another wrote that many of the victims are "serv[ing] a kind of life sentence of [their] own," the government filing said.

Of the roughly 520 victims who wrote to the court about Madoff's bid for compassionate release, just 20 supported his application, prosecutors wro

Madoff's lawyers are scheduled to respond to the government recommendation by March 11. After that, Chin will decide whether to hold a court hearing before issuing a ruling.

In making his decision, the judge is expected to consider communications from Madoff victims who responded to prosecutors' request for their views on Madoff's request. Numerous media organizations, including Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY, have asked the court to make the victims' communications and names public.

Madoff, a former Nasdaq stock market chairman from New York City, ran a decades-long scam that gave celebrities, charities, financial funds and ordinary investors lucrative, eerily steady returns on their investments.

Income poured in, making Madoff and his family rich. His upscale lifestyle included a Manhattan condo, an oceanfront home in Montauk on Long Island's East End, a vacation home on Nantucket, and a three-bedroom vacation apartment in the south of France.

But Madoff masterminded a classic Ponzi scheme, one in which money from more recent investors went to pay earlier investors. What made it unique was its size: arguably the largest in world history, with estimated losses of $17 billion to $20 billion for thousands of investors.

The scam collapsed in December 2008, when Madoff's businesses could not cover the growing withdrawal requests from investors who sought money amid the Great Recession.

For many of those who'd previously trusted and even revered Madoff, the collapse wiped out their life savings and retirement plans. Some had to seek new jobs or move in with friends and relatives.

During the roughly 10 years since, court-appointed trustee Irving Picard and his law firm have recovered more than $14 billion for investors, far more than many would have predicted when Madoff's implosion rocked Wall Street.

But that recovery came after years of financial suffering for many of the scammed victims.

For Madoff, the beginning of the end came when he confessed the truth to his sons, Mark and Andrew. They notified federal authorities, who arrested Madoff.

He pleaded guilty in 2009 and insisted that he alone ran the Ponzi scheme and masterminded decades of lies. Chin sentenced him to 150 years in prison, a true lifetime term more typical of the sentences imposed on the worst mobsters and violent criminals.

"One hundred and fifty years made me feel really good that for the first time, the government came down on our side and did the right thing," said Michael DeVita, a Madoff investor from Chalfont, Pennsylvania, after Chin handed down the sentence.

Five former Madoff employees were convicted in 2014 on charges of aiding the massive scam. In that case, a sixth former employee served as the government's chief witness after confessing his own involvement.

Madoff has spent most of his sentence at a federal prison and medical center in Butner, North Carolina, as inmate register number 61727-054. His fellow inmates have included the late Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Muslim cleric convicted in a 1990s terror plot to bomb the World Trade Center and landmarks around New York City.

Seeking 'compassionate release': Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff says he's dying, seeks release from 150-year prison term

In recent months, Madoff has been confined to a wheelchair. He suffers shortness of breath that requires him to be hooked up to oxygen at night. And he has cardiovascular disease, according to the motion for release filed by Sample.

Madoff was admitted to a comfort care unit at the prison in July. After initially refusing dialysis, the blood-filtering procedure commonly prescribed for kidney-failure patients, he agreed to start the treatment in December, the court filing said.

"The nature of Mr. Madoff's serious medical conditions coupled with the effects of incarceration will only cause his overall physical condition to worsen as his illnesses progress and his death becomes ever more inevitable," wrote Sample.

While stressing that Madoff doesn't dispute "the severity of his crimes" or "seek to minimize the suffering of his victims," the filing argued the convicted scammer's conditions meet the guidelines for compassionate release.

Sample filed the motion with the court after the U.S. Bureau of Prisons rejected Madoff's September request for administrative release. The decision said setting Madoff free "would minimize the severity of his offense."

Chin's decision represents Madoff's last chance for end-of-life freedom, Sample wrote. He noted that Scotland granted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi compassionate release after he developed terminal prostate cancer.

Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers exits Manhattan federal court in 2005 with wife Kristie, left, in New York. Ebbers was convicted on all counts in the trial in which he was accused of orchestrating an accounting scandal which bankrupted the once giant telecommunications company.

Sample also cited the example of Bernard Ebbers, the former chief executive of the WorldCom telecommunications company that went bankrupt in 2002. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for an estimated $11 billion accounting fraud.

A Manhattan federal court judge granted Ebbers compassionate release in December, based on his age and deteriorating health. Ebbers died Feb. 2 at age 78.

"When this court sentenced Bernard Madoff it was clear that Madoff's 150-year prison sentence was symbolic for three reasons: retribution, deterrence, and for the victims," Sample wrote in the motion for release. "This court must now consider whether keeping Madoff incarcerated, in light of his terminal kidney failure and a life expectancy of less than 18 months, is truly in furtherance of statutory sentencing goals and our society's value and understanding of compassion."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bernie Madoff prosecutors ask judge to reject his bid for freedom
No Such Thing As A Fish

This blockbuster podcast began as a spin-off to QI. Every week, four of Stephen Frys mythical elves huddle around a mic to reveal remarkable trivia they have uncovered in their research.

Youll emerge from each half-hour episode radiating facts. Who would have thought, for instance, that rejected names for British storms include Noddy, Baldrick and Branch Wobbler?

The result is something very British and charming. Youll emerge from each half-hour episode radiating facts.

Who would have thought, for instance, that rejected names for British storms include Noddy, Baldrick and  my favourite  Branch Wobbler?

Marlon And Jake Read Dead People

Book podcasts can be deadening, but this new one is great fun.

Book podcasts can be deadening, but this new one is great fun. Each 40-minute episode is hosted by the Booker-winning author Marlon James (above) and his editor Jake Morrissey

Each 40-minute episode is hosted by the Booker-winning author Marlon James and his editor Jake Morrissey, who between them have clocked up hundreds of hours of reading.

They whizz through authors they love, authors they loathe and everyone in between: the only criterion for inclusion in the conversation is that the writer must be dead.

The Assassination

Pakistans former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was leaving a rally in 2007 when her car was blown up by a suicide bomber.

The Assassination, in which Owen Bennett Jones looks into the death of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (above), is one of the finest podcasts to have come out of the BBC

In this peerless mini-series, the journalist Owen Bennett Jones, who knew Bhutto, examines who may have killed her and why.

The puzzle that comes together over ten half-hour episodes is gripping. It is no exaggeration to say this is one of the finest podcasts to have come out of the BBC.

The Allusionist

Did you know that the word woman is not, in fact, derived from the word man? Or that British people use the word please slightly differently to Americans?

These are just some of the etymological curiosities to be enjoyed in Helen Zaltzmans wonderful half-hour podcast.

Every fortnight she investigates the origins of words and expressions in the English language, often drawing on the research and contributions of experts. Her logophilia (a word I learned on the podcast) is surprisingly infectious.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Qatar has agreed to provide more funds to the Gaza Strip after meeting with Israeli representatives.

Israeli military liaison to the Palestinian territories Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon met Feb. 25 in Jerusalem with Qatari Ambassador to the Palestinian territories Mohammed al-Emadi and UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov to discuss the latest round of escalation between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Israels Kan channel reported the meeting Feb. 26, days after cross-border violence erupted Feb. 23 when the Israeli army killed a Palestinian man in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. A precarious calm prevailed after midnight the next day.

Israels Walla News website had reported Feb. 22 that Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and Herzi Halevi, chief of the Israeli Southern Command, met earlier that month with senior Qatari officials to cut a deal with Hamas.

A day before, Emadi had met with Yahya al-Sinwar, Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip, to discuss ways to improve the woeful living conditions in the besieged enclave. The two men also discussed providing more facilities and a gas line for the enclaves power station.

According to a Hamas statement, Qatari officials agreed to pay out $12 million to 120,000 vulnerable families and allocated $2 million to help 500 young men get married. Qatar also agreed to disburse another $2 million to restore the homes of poor families, in addition to $1 million for university students to pay tuition and obtain degrees.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem confirmed to Al-Monitor that the recent Qatari grant is designed to help alleviate Palestinians' suffering under Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip. These measures were agreed upon with Israel through mediators within the scope of what is known as the truce understandings, he noted, expressing Hamas appreciation for the support.

Asked if Hamas requested the new grant, he said, Hamas is exerting all possible efforts to provide more support to our people in Gaza.

He pointed out that Qatar confirmed its continued support for the Gaza Strip through various projects. Helping young Gazans get married or obtain university degrees widens the scope of the categories benefiting from this grant. The grant targets the various vulnerable sectors in Gaza, especially those that have been exhausted by the Israeli siege and the sanctions of the Palestinian Authority."

Qassem added, We believe that the grant is one of several measures to [ease] the blockade. We want the siege on the Gaza Strip to be completely lifted and to ensure freedom of movement for individuals and goods to and from the Gaza Strip.

Asked how long Hamas would remain dependent on Qatari money to improve the situation in Gaza, Qassem said the Qatari grant is offered to the Palestinian people in Gaza and not to Hamas. The grant is an agreement between mediators and Israel. Mediators are required to ensure the Qatari aids continuity, regardless of the nature of the next Israeli government. Hamas does not care about the form of this government; it only cares about the lifting of the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Tayseer Mohsen, a political science professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that Israel has not implemented the truce understandings because Netanyahu feared he would face criticism by rival parties as the elections approached. Mohsen said, Netanyahu wants to neutralize Gaza by meeting the life demands of the Gaza Strip and gradually lifting the blockade to reach a long-term truce agreement. Meanwhile, [Blue and Whit leader Benny] Gantz wants to reach that agreement after a strong military strike on Gaza.

Mohsen said the Mossad director's meeting with Qatari officials follows Israels inability to rein in incendiary balloons and shells fired from Gaza. A quick agreement with Hamas through the Qatari mediators was imperative. Hamas has already expressed its demands for an increase in the Qatari aid, and the response was the outcome of Emadi's last meeting with Sinwar.

He said the deal Qatar intends to conclude with Hamas is mostly economic. However, there are indications of a possible political-economic deal consisting of a long-term truce agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip, he said. This is all the more true if reconciliation [with Fatah] remains stalled, as Hamas cannot stop exerting efforts to revive Gaza.

A expert in Israeli affairs, Muhammad Khalil Musleh, told Al-Monitor the Qatari-Israeli meeting and easing the crisis on the Hamas movement are linked to Israels interest."

He added, "This is also linked to the US Mideast peace plan aimed at establishing a mini-state in Gaza. There is an inclination inside Israel toward a long-term calm agreement with Hamas. Neutralizing the Gaza Strip would allow Israel to focus on controlling the West Bank."

Commenting on the Egyptian and Qatari role in relation to the truce understandings, he said the wishes of Israel and the United States may have contributed to the freezing of sorts of the conflict between Qatar on the one hand and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain on the other. Egypt's interests conflict with Qatar's interference in the Palestinian case. Although the Qatari intervention seems only financial, there are political trump cards that Qatar is playing under the table.

Mohsen said he believes Egypt is unwilling to have any other country get involved in the Palestinian situation, but since it can't pay the financial aid for Gaza, it has accepted Qatars role. But there is no coordination between them.

Mohsen added, Israel would reap the benefits of any calm with the Gaza Strip.

Writer and Gaza-based political analyst Hani Habib told Al-Monitor that Israels meeting with Qatar early last month is closely related to the resumption of the marches of return along the border slated for the end of March and aims to tame potential escalating violence.

The goal of renewing the grant and offering care for young people is to help Hamas stabilize its authority in the Gaza Strip, Habib said.

Qatar's efforts aim more than ever to improve the conditions in the Gaza Strip, and to sideline it from the regions events. He added that Qatars involvement in the Palestinian issue, particularly in Gaza, puts it at the forefront of efforts to normalize relations with Israel in the region. Qatar has become an important political coordinator with Israel, through Emadis meetings with the Israelis.

Musleh said he thought Qatari support for Hamas would continue, as long as there is Israeli approval, in the bid to achieve calm. He stressed that Hamas is using the funds to alleviate the harsh economic conditions in the coastal enclave. Hamas is also using Gaza as a trump card for negotiation and political survival.

Hamas is seeking to develop its international relations with the whole world. Its success depends on its political project, provided it is approved by Israel, Musleh said.

Meanwhile, although violence between Israel and Hamas does keep flaring up, Qatar's money is seen as playing a role in preventing this from getting out of hand. The Qatari funds will keep flowing to Gaza, as long as there are clashes, Mohsen said.
VANCOUVERJust three hours south of Vancouver, the most significant outbreak of COVID-19 in North America claimed another victim Wednesday.

A tenth person died in Washington state, where King County, which includes the city of Seattle, issued new recommendations to contain the virus, calling it a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19.

But despite the average of 18,000 cars that enter B.C. each day from Washington, no COVID-19-related screening measures have yet been implemented at those border crossings, according to officials.

Canada Border Services said though they have not implemented additional screening at the Canada-U.S. border, border service agents do have regular duties through the Quarantine Act to recommend a person be subject to quarantine if they appear to have symptoms of infectious diseases.

At a news conference Wednesday, B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry acknowledged the escalating situation in Washington state.

Were not surprised they are starting to pick up cases, she told reporters. I do suspect more cases will be identified.

She confirmed B.C. is not recommending border control measures with the state at this time.

The Canada Border Services Agency said it has implemented screening measures at airports for travellers returning from Chinas Hubei province  the epicentre of the virus outbreak. The agency is in the process of implementing screening for travellers returning from Iran  the country with its own COVID-19 outbreak to which most B.C. cases of the virus are connected.

Dr. Kamran Khan, an infectious disease physician at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto, said public health officials hesitancy to recommend border screening is probably because its hard to identify the virus in people without symptoms.

When people think about screening at airports, the value is not so much about picking the person up with a fever at that moment, Khan said. The value is more about engaging people if they happen to get sick afterwards.

Thats why during the SARS crisis, people entering or leaving Ontario were given information sheets about what to do if they developed SARS-like symptoms.

Doctor Annalee Yassi, Canada Research Chair in Global Health at the University of British Columbia, said its a good idea during a global outbreak to be checking if people are sick when they enter Canada  regardless of whether they come to the country by plane, train or car.

That would include asking them whether they had COVID-19 related symptoms, had been in contact with anyone who has, and where they have recently been.

It is prudent to turn away people who want to visit Canada who are sick if they come from specific areas where the novel coronavirus is known to be circulating, Yassi said. (The) U.S. should be no different than any other country just because they are good neighbours.

Meanwhile, King County in Washington state, which as of Wednesday had 31 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths, recommended employers allow people to work from home and advised those above the age of 60 and with underlying health conditions to avoid public gatherings in an effort to contain the outbreak.

Most of the cases were connected to an outbreak of the virus in a Kirkland, Wash., nursing home.

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The government has incurred an expenditure of Rs 446.52 crore on the foreign visits of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in the last five years.

Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan gave a year-wise figure for the five years in response to a Lok Sabha question by Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament (MP) from Bijnor, Malook Nagar, on Wednesday,

The amount is set to rise further as bills for all the PMs visits in 2019-20 are yet to come in, Muraleedharan added.

Data shows that the highest expenditure of Rs 121.85 crore was incurred for the PMs foreign travels in 2015-16 and the lowest in 2016-17 at Rs 78.52 crore.

In 2017-18 and 2018-19, Rs 99.90 crore and Rs 100.02 crore, respectively, was spent. In 2019-20, Rs 46.23 crore was set aside, the minister said.

He added that the figure included expenditure on chartered flights and hotline costs. The ministry of external affairs has listed 59 visits by Modi after he became the Prime Minister in May 2014. He is scheduled to attend the India-European Union Summit in Brussels on March 13.
YEREVAN.  Yerevan neighborhood authority Aram Vardanyan is in Armenia, and his lawyers met with him yesterday. Vardanyan's lawyers Lusine Sahakyan and Yervand Varosyan told about this to reporters today.

Asked exactly where Vardanyan was, one of the lawyers said: We went to the police station, but he wasn't there. He is in Armenia. We met with him in the evening; there is no problem.

Attorney Varosyan said that Vardanyan had been summoned to the police several times in the recent past, and had gone there in all cases. "Yesterday's actions do not fit into any logic," he added.

As a result of police actions at Aram Vardanyan's house, his son and two others were apprehended and two more were detained, one of whom is Vardanyan's nephew and the othera neighbor.

His attorneys say these actions were a search without a court order.

Police told Armenian News-NEWS.am that the police officers had acted within the scope of a criminal case involving Aram Vardanyan, and with the investigative bodys decision to detain the person.

As reported earlier, hundreds of police officers have attacked the houses belonging to Aram Vardanyan and his relatives in Yerevan, today at 2:40am. His lawyers Lusine Sahakyan and Yervand Varosyan have noted this in a statement.

The statement also said that hundreds of police officers surrounded and then illegally entered these houses, during which they also committed robbery.

As per the statement, even the presence of a little child at home did not stop the police from continuing their unlawful actions with the use of weapons, causing serious harm to the child's health.
BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

-- China's National Genomics Data Center has updated its novel coronavirus disease database.

After updating, the database has now integrated information on 249 virus genome sequences including the novel coronavirus and the virus suspected to be related to the novel coronavirus, 38,047 coronavirus sequences, 302 variations of human novel coronavirus genome, and 588 novel coronavirus-related papers.

-- Central China's Hubei Province, the center of the COVID-19 outbreak, has classified its cities and counties based on the risks of the outbreak, according to local authorities.

Twenty-two cities and counties had been classified as low-risk, 17 as mid-risk and 37 as high-risk, by the end of Tuesday.

-- More than 41.28 million members of the Communist Party of China nationwide had made voluntary donations of 4.73 billion yuan (about 683 million U.S. dollars) for the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control as of Wednesday.

-- Chinese health authority on Wednesday unveiled the latest version of the national diagnosis and treatment plan for COVID-19 which includes the results of autopsies of COVID-19 victims and pathological observation based on needle biopsies.

-- China has added the antibody diagnosis method for COVID-19 and its relevant criteria in the country's latest diagnosis and treatment scheme, which also includes warning against transmission of the novel coronavirus via aerosol or contact due to environmental pollution caused by the excrement and urine of patients.

-- China's customs had detected 6,728 inbound travelers with illness symptoms as of Tuesday, among which 779 were suspected of being infected with COVID-19, and an additional 75 were confirmed patients.

-- Chinese banks had offered credit support of over 1.25 trillion yuan as of Wednesday noon to facilitate the resumption of production disrupted by the novel coronavirus epidemic.

-- By the end of Tuesday, the cure rate in the epicenter Wuhan had ascended to 50.2 percent, while the number has reached 76.8 percent in the rest of Hubei Province, according to spokesperson Mi Feng for the National Health Commission.

Outside Hubei, China has seen 87.3 percent of the confirmed cases recovering from the disease by Tuesday, Mi said.

-- Over 206,900 volunteers in Shanghai have joined the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the Shanghai Association of Volunteers.

-- Chinese health authority said Wednesday it received reports of 119 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 38 deaths on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland.

Among the deaths, 37 were in Hubei Province and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the National Health Commission.

Meanwhile, 143 new suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

-- A total of 2,652 patients of the novel coronavirus disease were discharged from hospital after recovery Tuesday on the Chinese mainland, the commission said. In total, 49,856 patients had been discharged from hospital by the end of Tuesday.

By the end of Tuesday, a total of 80,270 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 had been reported on the mainland, and 2,981 people had died of the disease.

-- Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported 115 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 37 deaths on Tuesday, according to the commission.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,332.

-- Beijing municipality has required people arriving in the city as a destination from countries with serious coronavirus outbreaks to be quarantined for 14 days, local authorities said Tuesday.

The rule applies to both Chinese nationals and foreigners who enter the border in the city from countries including the Republic of Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan.

-- Hubei is expected to gradually shut down temporary hospitals and cut the number of hospitals designated for the disease, local authorities said Tuesday.

The province will classify areas based on different risks of infection for management as more cities have seen zero growth in newly confirmed cases.
Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has invited applications for an internship programme in its legal department.

The heads of the department or the course coordinators of the respective law schools or universities in-charge of the internship program need to submit applications recommending not more than three applicants from their law school in a given quarter, said.

No individual applications will be accepted, it added.

"Applications shall be e-mailed to within the first week (1st-7th) of every quarter for internship commencing in the next quarter," said.

The application for internship for the April 2020 quarter is open till March 20, 2020, it added.

Laying down the eligibility criteria, Sebi said, the applicant should be student of a law school or university which is recognised by the Bar Council of India and should have completed at least three years of the five-year LLB course or two years of the three-year LLB course.

Besides, students pursuing LLM are also eligible.

Among other criteria, the applicant should have secured minimum of 60 per cent aggregate marks or equivalent cumulative grade points average in the previous semester results.

"A stipend of Rs 10,000 shall be provided upon satisfactory and successful completion of the internship," the regulator said.
In early 2020 the London blue plaque scheme announced it would be introducing six new plaques in celebration of womens achievements.

The group included secret agents, an artist, a botanist and two important feminist organisations.

The plaques mark sites of historical or cultural importance and honours Londoners who have made a significant contribution in their field.

But the scheme, run by English Heritage since 1866, has been plagued by accusations of gender imbalance as it is estimated only 14 per cent of the 950 plaques celebrate women.

In 2018 the London Assembly called on the organisation to address the problem and commemorate more women around the capital.

The rules dictate that someone must have been dead 20 years in order to be considered and the plaque can only be placed on an actual building that person inhabited; rules which were deemed to potentially be hindering efforts to rapidly increase the number of women.

Anna Eavis, the curatorial director and secretary of the blue plaques panel, said: There are now more women shortlisted than men, and 2020 will see more plaques to women than we have unveiled in 20 years.

On 28 August, Noor Inayat Khan became the first woman of south Asian descent to be given a blue plaque in south London. The Covid-19 pandemic means the unveiling will take place on Facebook instead.

So who are the female recipients being recognised this year?

Noor Inayat Khan

(Rex Features (Rex Features)

Khan, also known as Nora Baker, was a British spy during the Second World War. She served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and became the first female wireless operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France to aid the French resistance.

Khan has been called Britains Muslim war heroine after being executed at Dachau concentration camp in 1944, aged 30.

She was posthumously awarded the George Cross for her service, the highest civilian decoration in the UK.

Christine Granville

(Getty (Getty)

Christine Granville was born a Polish countess, Krystyna Skarbek, before being naturalised as a British citizen. She was the first and longest-serving female British Special Operations Executive (SOE) special agent during the Second World War. During the Nazi occupation of Poland she skiied out of the country, escaping with the first evidence of Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of the Soviet Union).

Her resourcefulness and success have been credited with influencing the organisations decision to recruit more women. Her plaque will be placed on the west London hotel where she lived for three years before she died in 1952.

Barbara Hepworth

(Rex Features (Rex Features)

Barbara Hepworth was an internationally-renowned British sculptor, born in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1903. She was a leading figure in the international art scene throughout a career spanning five decades. Hepworths art was largely about relationships between human figures and landscapes; one of her most recognised works was her mother and child figures.

Her plaque will be marked at a basement flat in St Johns Wood where she lived with her first husband, John Skeaping. The plaque will mark both parties.

Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan

(Rex Features (Rex Features)

Dame Gwynne-Vaughns plaque is the first of 2020 to be unveiled on her home of 50 years in Bedford Avenue, Bloomsbury. Gwynne-Vaughn is known for her leadership during the First World War when she helped form the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps.

Her work also lay the foundations for all modern womens air services. She also had a secondary career as a botanist. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1919 honours list.

National Union of Womens Suffrage

The unveiling of the statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett, in Parliament Square (PA)

The National Union of Womens Suffrage, also know as the suffragists (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation set up in 1897 and led by Millicent Fawcett.

The organisation was democratic, aiming to achieve womens right to vote through peaceful and legal means. In 1919 it underwent a renaming to become the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship. Their archives are currently held at the Womens Library at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Womens Social and Political Union

Emmeline Pankhurst in New York (Getty)

The Womens Social and Political Union was a womens-only political movement and militant organisation campaigning for womens suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1917.

Co-founded in Manchester, it was led by Emmeline Pankhurst and known, from 1906 onwards, as the suffragettes. Its membership and policies were tightly controlled by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia (although Sylvia was eventually expelled).

The WSPU became known for civil disobedience and hunger strikes, unlike the pacifist National Union of Womens Suffrage.
School closures stemming from the novel coronavirus have begun escalating in the United States, with the 24,000-student Northshore district in Washington state announcing Thursday that it will close and shift to online learning for up to 14 days. Its the first real test of prolonged distance learning to rise out of the arrival of COVID-19 in American communities.

E-learning has been touted as a potential tool for minimizing disruption and keeping instruction flowing during an extended breakbut significant gaps in access and resources mean not all schools are prepared to offer virtual classes, and not all students are equipped to learn online.

Two districts in New Yorks Westchester County are closed until at least Monday , and a smattering of other schools and districts have closed for a day or two over the past week or so.

Worldwide, the outbreak has already forced the temporary shutdown of schools in China, Japan, and Italy , affecting nearly 300 million students , according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Many Districts Dont Provide Devices

The virus, which has spread globally in the past two months after originating in Chinas Wuhan province, has begun to take hold in the U.S. According to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13 states have reported at least one case, and 11 people (10 in Washington, one in California) have died from the virus, with roughly 100 cases currently confirmed and more expected. News about the virus and its impacts are unspooling at a rapid rate, as are recommendations for frequent hand-washing and limiting contact with others when youre sick.

Officials from the CDC last week began urging U.S. schools to make plans for a possible short- or long-term shutdown. Health officials have cautioned that closing school too early or for too long could cause harmful ripple effects , even though research of pandemics over the last century showed major benefits to preemptive closure of schools. District leaders across the country are huddling this week to determine how to proceed.

Many students across the country are equipped with tablets and computers provided by their schools. More than half of 300 school IT leaders who responded to a 2019 Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) survey said their districts have at least begun moving towards 1:1 programs in which each student has a device to complete assignments during the school day and at home.

But that leaves out many school districts where such devices arent provided, as well as many students, particularly in rural areas and from low-income backgrounds, for whom home access to the internet or a personal digital device is out of reach .

Some school leaders havent yet figured out how they would maintain the flow of learning if school needs to close for an extended period of time. Sal Pascarella, the superintendent of Danbury Public Schools in Connecticut, is resigned to accept that students wont be able to access new concepts or learning materials if theyre stuck at home for more than a few days.

Our school district would not be able to sustain in a meaningful way substantive teaching in the content area on a platform like teleteaching, Pascarella said.

Of the districts 12,000 students, 52 percent are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, and school resources are tight, Pascarella said. Some of the districts high schools have begun developing e-learning capabilities more generally, he said, but elementary and middle schools are further behind. Developing bilingual programs for the districts substantial population of English-language learners has also been a challenge, he said.

The teachers start looking at learning that they want to reinforce or extend their work, but not what I would call moving the curriculum forward, just reinforcing, he said.

The Sitka School District in Alaska is in a similar situation, with a learning management system in place for secondary, but not elementary schools. An existing homeschool program could provide elementary resources, but Superintendent Mary Wegner said her team has a lot of work to do to figure out what we would do if we had to close.

Shed like to see the Federal Communications Commission expand broadband access to more households, perhaps through an expansion of its Lifeline program for low-income families. For now, her district remains focused on prevention efforts.

Nobodys thinking were going to be zero cases forever, Wegner said. We now have a window of time to prepare.

Find Creative Workarounds

Having available resources for e-learning isnt the same as being able to pull it off successfully, said Keith Krueger, the CEO of CoSN, a nonprofit membership organization for K-12 tech leaders.

Those districts that are trying to do this on the fly, dont have a ubiquitous environment, dont have their staff trained, are not likely to be able to turn on a dime and do this, he said.

Hes urging school districts to take this current period of timewith heightened concerns about potential shutdowns but relatively few actual closuresto get creative. I would definitely call in the virtual learning experts in your community, in your school district, to think through what are the things that youre already doing that will work, what do you need to beef up in terms of training, Krueger said.

Leaders of larger districts dont have a really good sense of what they have in-house, says John Watson, founder of the Evergreen Education Group, which runs the Digital Learning Collaborative . A state- or district-run online school can provide important elements like a learning management system and teachers with online teaching capabilities, he said.

As for devices, he recommends striking up partnerships with local libraries, coffee shops, and other businesses that can supplement schools device supply. The collaboratives 2019 e-learning report offers additional resources, including insights from some of the 12 states that already have policies allowing e-learning days to count toward required instructional time.

Kevin Schwartz, the chief technology officer of the Austin Independent School District, in Texas, has been thinking about trying to enlist local businesses and community centers that have Wi-Fi and other resources, for students who lack reliable internet connectivity at home.

Schwartz said its likely the district could quickly marshal the forces to solve the technical pieces of delivering online work from teachers to students through Canvas, the 80,000-student districts learning management system. The broader challenge, he said, would be building recognition that many of the lessons delivered in traditional classrooms would have to be completely rethought. When schools are forced to close, everyones mind goes to, how do you still keep doing the same things youre doing in the classroom, at home? said Schwartz.

In fact, the challenge is how do you practically do this in a different way? he said. Because youre not going to get 25 kids together in a room and teach them. Its going to be different. Its rethinking the approach, not just from a tools perspective, but from a pedagogy perspective.

Wegner, the superintendent of the Sitka School District in Alaska, doesnt believe online learning is inherently inferior to in-class instruction. We in public education have this concept that if youre sitting in a chair in front of a teacher, learning is occurring, she said. But really learning is occurring when students are interacting with the content in a meaningful way. That can happen in an online environment.

Mountain Brook Schools in Alabama started developing an emergency e-learning strategy while preparing for the H1N1 virus in 2009. Schools ended up not needing to close for that event, but the district still developed an eDay program  and learned some valuable lessons, according to Donna Williamson, who retired last year as the districts chief technology officer.

Online assignments need to be flexible enough to accommodate all operating systemsasking students to open a word processor or type an essay rather than instructing students to open Microsoft Word, which they might not have. Williamson said widely accessible or cloud-based resources, like Google Docs, work best.

Parents in Williamsons school district are now fully aware of what would be expected from students during closure. But other districts that are further behind should remain flexible, she said. The first time Mountain Brook had an eDay, the district told parents if you cant do this because we were not fully prepared, students have two weeks to make up the work, Williamson said.

Equity Is an Issue

Districts scrambling to develop e-learning resources wont be alone in their efforts. The State Educational Technology Directors Association later this month plans to unveil a Coalition of E-Learning portal with resources, policies and company support for states, districts, and schools, according to Candice Dodson, the organizations executive director. Several U.S. technology companies, including K12 Inc., have signaled willingness to partner with districts at a reduced rate or even for free; similar partnerships have been in effect in China for weeks.

Individual districts could lift each other up as well. After a particularly snowy winter closed schools for numerous days during the 2017-18 school year, South Windsor Public Schools in Connecticut began developing Snow Day Scholars , a distance learning program that includes online components but doesnt require students to have internet access or a digital device at home.

Teachers worked together on developing stimulating activities16 for each K-8 grade levelthat students can complete independently, without teacher interaction. The assignments vary widely across all subjects, from writing prompts based on students chosen reading to more abstract to teaching someone in your household five words in a foreign language.

Certainly we looked at this through an equity lens, and wanted to make sure that students and families who had limited access or no access to technology would not be excluded from participation, said Kate Carter, superintendent of South Windsor Public Schools.

Carter thinks parents in her district are now well-prepared for the possibility of students doing work remotely, now that theyve been kept abreast of the development of Snow Day Scholars. The districts messaging has made clear that the program is not intended to lay the groundwork for replacing teachers. We felt this could be presented to the state as a tool when there is an extreme situation, she said.

The program was originally going to launch in pilot form on the fourth snow day of this school year, but the unusually dry season meant students havent been off school long enough yet for the program to kick in.

Still, Carter is hopeful that her district will be able to quickly adapt and make improvements: My message is please take anything weve done to share and use and build upon.
The Trump Administrations National Security Council launched a review this week of what military and intelligence assets will be withdrawn from Great Britain if the U.K. goes ahead with its 5G deal with Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

U.S. officials told Bloombergs Eli Lake that the assessment is being conducted in response to Huawei putting smart antennas and computers run by the Chinese Communist Party all over our closest ally.

In January, Boris Johnsons government announced that the U.K. would allow Huawei  which is charged in the U.S. with racketeering, fraud, and intellectual property theft  to help build the countrys 5G network, despite intense diplomatic pressure from the Trump administration to resist the Chinese.

President Trump reportedly tore into Johnson in a phone call over the deal, as the U.S. has warned allies in the past that there would be consequences for dealing with Huawei, but has struggled to come up with 5G alternatives to the Chinese giant.

If a country adopts this [Huawei technology] and puts it in some of their critical information systems, we wont be able to share information with them, we wont be able to work alongside them, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last February. In some cases theres risk  we wont even be able to co-locate American resources, an American embassy, an American military outpost.

Britain has insisted that Huawei will not have access to sensitive intelligence and the core network control plane, but U.S. officials are still worried that proximity risks posed to U.S. assets in the U.K, and are looking at potentially halting deals over military and intelligence equipment over the move.

In the wake of Johnsons announcement, a group of parliamentarians from his own party have voiced their opposition to the Huawei deal and may scuttle it entirely, according to Financial Times.

More from National Review
Rosco, a leader in vision safety technology will be exhibiting at the 2020 NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, at booth #2250. Featured products at the show will include Roscos Dual-Vision In-Cab Recorder with ROSCOLive Cloud Services and the new Eye-Max LED mirror system along with a variety of other vision safety products available to the work truck industry.

Roscos Dual-Vision camera is an advanced HD video and event recorder that helps fleet managers reduce risk, improve safety, and manage efficiency. Dual-Vision paired with ROSCOLive, Roscos proprietary cloud-based fleet management platform, allows real-time event notifications, live track and trace, and remote downloads of video.

Rosco has engineered a new safety innovation to the classic Eye-Max crossview mirror system. The new Eye-Max LED complies with New York State Law by eliminating blind spots directly in front of large vehicles, but also illuminates the area in front of a large truck or bus in low light environments for increased safety. The asymmetric design of the unique mirror lens provides the driver with optimal views of specific danger zones in front of and around the vehicle.

To learn more about these products or the other Rosco products, stop by booth #2250 at the Work Truck Show to speak with Peter Plate, Roscos Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Jim Fecile, Roscos National Sales Manager for Truck & Off-Road Vehicles.

The Work Truck Show, an annual event produced by the NTEA  The Work Truck Industry Association, features the latest trucks, vehicle components and equipment. WTS facilitates over 500 exhibitors and covers more than 500,000 square feet. The show includes educational conferences and the opportunity to meet with other professionals within the commercial vehicle community.

Rosco, Inc. is North America's largest bus mirror manufacturer, and a vision safety leader in rearview cameras, automotive windshield-based camera recording, rearview interior/exterior mirrors and sun visors in numerous bus, truck, specialty, recreational and military vehicle markets. Rosco is now the largest supplier of mirror and camera systems to the North American bus, truck, military and insurance markets, selling to all major OEMs and parts distributors including Freightliner/Thomas Built, Blue Bird, Navistar/IC Bus, Blue Bird, New Flyer, Prevost, Gilling and other bus manufacturers.
TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AGF Management Limited (TSX: AGF.B) will release its financial results for Q1 2020 on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at approximately 8:00 a.m. ET. AGF will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss these results at 11:00 a.m. ET.



The discussion will feature remarks by Kevin McCreadie, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, and Adrian Basaraba, Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Judy G. Goldring, President and Head of Global Distribution, will also be available for the question and answer period with investment analysts following the presentation.

The live audio webcast with supporting materials will be available in the Investor Relations section of AGFs website at www.agf.com or at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/h4whfj3z . Alternatively, the call can be accessed toll-free in North America by dialing 1 (800) 708-4540 (Passcode #:49428703).

A complete archive of this discussion along with supporting materials will be available at the same webcast address within 24 hours of the end of the conference call.

ABOUT AGF MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. AGF brings a disciplined approach to delivering excellence in investment management through its fundamental, quantitative, alternative and high-net-worth businesses focused on providing an exceptional client experience. AGFs suite of investment solutions extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and individual investors to institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds and endowments and foundations.

AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America, Europe and Asia. With over $37 billion in total assets under management, AGF serves more than one million investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

AGF MANAGEMENT LIMITED SHAREHOLDERS, ANALYSTS AND MEDIA, PLEASE CONTACT:

Adrian Basaraba

Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

416-865-4203, InvestorRelations@agf.com
DUSHANBE -- Authorities in Tajikistan are trying to reassure the population that the Central Asian nation has enough food supplies, after panic-buying over coronavirus fears caused food price hikes and shortages.

The Health and Social Welfare Ministry said on March 5 that there is enough food in Tajikistan to feed the countrys 9 million people for two years.

Meanwhile, the Economy and Trade Ministry called on people not to believe baseless rumors regarding food shortages.

The statements came a day after Tajiks on March 4 rushed to bazaars to stockpile foodstuffs, causing sudden price hikes and shortages of flour and other staples.

Prices began to return to normal on March 5.

The panic-buying followed a decision to suspend mosque prayers as a precaution against the spreading of the coronavirus in mostly Muslim Tajikistan.

The government also canceled traditional public festivities related to the upcoming Norouz celebrations in the capital, Dushanbe.

No confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country bordering China, where the virus emerged.

The COVID-19 disease has killed more than 3,000 people and infected tens of thousands more, mainly in China. The virus has spread to more than 60 other countries.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 5 : The Kerala Police will soon file a fresh chargesheet against gangster Ravi Pujari in two cases in which he has now confessed, said a top police official.

Speaking to IANS, Kerala ADGP Crime Branch, Tomin Thachenkery confirmed the same.

"Two cases in which he has a role is in Kasargode. One case is of 2010 and another one of 2013. The Kasargode police will soon register a fresh chargesheet based on his confession. Since he was extradited, all the police action will be based on the international extradition treaties," said Thachenkery.

Pujari was extradited from Senegal last month by the Karnataka Police and is presently in their custody.

Meanwhile, it has also been alleged that one of the confessions by Pujari states that two top Kerala Police officers had taken money from him as part of a deal involving a businessman in the state.
What does a large automaker thats morphing into a mobile-technology company and heavily investing in autonomous vehicles need to add to its ecosystem? Probably connectivity, and thats likely why Chinese car giant Geely says it will be building its own satellite data network.

A need for highly accurate, autonomous driving solutions, is part of whats driving the strategy, the company says in a press release. Geely  the largest car maker in China and whose assets include Volvo and a stake in Lotus  has begun building a test facility in Taizhou City where it will develop satellite models, the company says.

The creation of a truly smart, three-dimensional mobility ecosystem, as the company describes its Geespace project, will include precise navigation, cloud computing and high-speed Internet functions. Geely is investing $326 million in the project according to Reuters, citing a statement from the company.

Over-the-air updating of vehicle software is a principal reason data networks will become prevalent in automobile technology. Historically, car companies havent worried much about the speedy updating of end-users systems, in part because theyve liked getting customers back into the dealership to upsell service options and pitch new cars. A leisurely software patch while the customer hangs around drinking warm coffee and watching daytime soaps suits that purpose. However, autonomous cars are a different story: The safety of self-driving cars cant tolerate software vulnerabilities.

Control over vehicle positioning also comes into play. Knowing where the car is and where obstacles are is more important than in traditional vehicles. Lane-change and accident avoidance, for example, are autonomous-vehicle features that require high levels of accuracy.

The Geespace low-orbit satellite network will offer much higher centimeter-accurate precision, Geely says, comparing its proposed constellation with the U.S. government-owned Global Positioning System.

Data processing, artificial intelligence and infotainment onboard the vehicles all need fat networks, too. Former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said at a talk I attended a few years ago that he thought cars would soon create 4,000 GB of data per hour of driving because of the number of sensors, such as cameras, that theyll be equipped with.

The Geely private satellite network is the first of its kind for an industrial use and joins a trend in private wireless networking. Private, terrestrial 5G networks and private LTE networks allow companies to control their own data and uptime, rather than relying on service providers. Mercedes-Benz is reportedly working on a private 5G network for privacy and security.

As vehicles become more connected and integrated into the Internet of Things ecosystem, the demand for data has grown exponentially, Geely says.

Geely will begin launching the Geespace satellites by the end of 2020.
Iran Wednesday cancelled Friday payers in all cities this week over the fast spread of the coronavirus in the country, which has already recorded 107 deaths.

The decision came as the Health Ministry announced new cases and new figures. The Islamic Republic has now 2,992 confirmed cases and 107 death, the largest outside China, the epicenter of the virus.

Over 3,300 people have died across the global.

The virus has struck down also several Iranian officials. At least 23 lawmakers have been reportedly infected.

President Hassan Rouhani called for a nation-wide collaboration to tackle the outbreak.
CAMP MURRAY, Wash. - Vice-President Mike Pence pledged the Trump administrations full support to Washington state officials Thursday as the coronavirus death toll there continued to mount.

The state has been the hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., with at least 70 confirmed infections and 11 dead. Most of those who died were residents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. Researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks.

As the state of Washington, and the Seattle area in particular, deals with the coronavirus, were going to continue to make sure that you have the full support of every agency in the federal government, Pence said after touring the states emergency response centre. We know youre the front line.

Pence attended a round-table meeting with Gov. Jay Inslee, members of Washingtons congressional delegation and local officials to discuss co-ordinating response to the outbreak.

The Republican vice-president and Democratic governor sought to smooth over their political differences.

Pence heaped praise on Inslee, who briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year. We have been working with your governor and with this team in a seamless way, the vice-president said.

Inslee, in turn, sidestepped a reporters question about a tweet late last month in which he said he told Pence during a telephone call that joint efforts to combat the coronavirus would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth.

President Donald Trump has sought to downplay the virus outbreak in the U.S.

Asked how hed now assess Trumps response one week after he put Pence in charge of the response, Inslee sidestepped the question with Pence standing nearby. I think we have a very good partnership with thousands of people in the federal government, Inslee said. Were not going to allow some disagreements with any one individual in that government to dissuade us.

Earlier Thursday, Pence met with 3M CEO Mike Roman and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the companys global headquarters just outside Minneapolis. The company is a major manufacturer of masks used by health professionals to help stem the spread of the virus.

At 3M, Pence called on the public to refrain from buying masks unless theyre sick. Unless you are ill, you have no need to buy a mask, he said.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams echoed the same message from Washington as he spoke to Fox News before he rushed into a virus task force meeting at the White House, saying: My advice to folks: Stop buying masks if youre part of the general public. Leave them for the health care providers so they can take care of people who are sick.

Asked whether there were enough coronavirus testing kits for people who want them, Pence responded, I think we are ready today but we want to be ready tomorrow.

He acknowledged, We dont have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward. However, he added, weve made real progress on that in the last several days.

The vice-president has been tasked by Trump to co-ordinate the U.S. governments response to the outbreak, which has put many U.S. communities on edge and scrambled global financial markets. The disease has killed 12 in the U.S., the vast majority in Washington state, and infected dozens more.

Pence had been scheduled to hold campaign events in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Thursday but scrapped those plans to focus on the coronavirus response.

The vice-president has scaled back, but not ended, his political travel since becoming the administrations virus point-person. In naming the VP to the post, some Trump aides believe it allowed the president to maintain his political travel during a crucial part of the election year, when hes trying to take advantage of the Democratic fields divisions to boost his campaign in November.

Mike Pence is working 20 hours a day or more on this, Trump said Thursday, as he participated in his first reelection town hall on Fox News.

-

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
GRAFTON A Bethalto woman died and two others suffered life-threatening injuries in a single-car crash Wednesday on Illinois Route 100.

Allison A. Watson, 22, of Bethalto was in a car going west about 11:09 p.m. when it left the road two miles east of Grafton, struck a river bluff and overturned multiple times, according to a preliminary report by Illinois State Police. She died at the scene.

Two others in the car, Tristan Z. Terpening, 20, of Godfrey and Alexander D. Radcliff, 18, of Bethalto, suffered life-threatening injuries, according to authorities.

It was uncertain who was driving because all three people were ejected from the car, police said.

A traffic crash reconstruction unit and state police are continuing the investigation.

 David C.L. Bauer
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump was already having a bad week.

The coronavirus was spreading, the stock market was plummeting and his administration was getting blamed for an inadequate response to a health crisis.

Then came Tuesday. Joe Biden, whom Trump was so eager to paint as corrupt that his attempts to do so led to his impeachment, pulled off one of the most remarkable political comebacks in recent history, winning nine states and joining Sen. Bernie Sanders as a front-runner in the Democratic presidential race.

U.S. stocks did make a comeback Wednesday, closing nearly 1,200 points up, which counted as good news for a president betting the farm on a healthy economy. The bad news was the reason many analysts cited for the gains was Bidens Super Tuesday victories.

For Trump, whose belief in his own ability to shape external events is a source of comfort, it has been a week of confronting the fact that almost nothing is in his control right now.

He has dealt with the coronavirus, the first external crisis of his administration, by repeating a string of falsehoods rather than delivering reassurance. He has claimed, falsely, that a vaccine would be ready within months when in reality, it wont be ready for more than a year. And his insistence that his administration deserves an A+++ for its response has done little to calm the rattled markets or an anxious electorate.

There has long been a disconnect between the way Trump sees politics and the way his more seasoned advisers do. In recent weeks, Trump has been focused on Sanders and his longtime rival Michael Bloomberg. But privately, several advisers said Wednesday that they were not surprised Democrats rallied around Biden, even if the president was.

And they anticipated an ugly slog of a campaign going forward, with the brutal 2016 general election race against Hillary Clinton serving as a reminder of how Trump will try to tarnish his rivals, even as voters Tuesday appeared to favour a candidate who projected calm stability over upheaval and uncertainty.

Trump campaign officials said Wednesday that they viewed Biden as Hillary Clinton Lite, a candidate who they will argue generated little enthusiasm of his own while coasting off the opposition to the president and Sanders among Democrats. They said they planned to undercut his support from Black voters by highlighting Bidens vote for the now-controversial 1994 crime bill, while talking up Trumps work on criminal-justice reform.

And they said they would seek to elevate his backing of trade policies like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal that originated under president Barack Obama.

But they face a daunting challenge. Obama remains deeply popular with Democratic voters, and highlighting Bidens work with him could simply energize his supporters to turn out for him in the fall if he is the nominee. And unlike Clinton, who was viewed negatively by a large swath of voters over decades, Biden may have a stronger bond with some voters in his party.

Trumps frustration over the election results was evident in one of his early morning Twitter posts Wednesday  a screed against Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general who was forced into a runoff for his old Senate seat in Alabama, and whom Trump still blames for the two-year inquiry into a possible conspiracy between his 2016 campaign and Russian officials.

This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesnt have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt. Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins! Trump tweeted, after Sessions fell short of securing a majority in the Republican primary.

In a moment of uncertainty, Trump appeared to be grasping at the equivalent of comfort food: attacking Sessions. It was, people close to the president said, his reward for staying quiet during Sessions primary race, and also a way for the president to highlight a race in which his sustained attacks on Sessions before the campaign ultimately affected his ability to cleanly win.

It was also clear that Trumps attempt to dictate the contours of the Democratic presidential contest has had little comparable effect.

For months, Trump has told aides he believes he can shape the Democratic race to his own advantage by focusing on specific candidates. And he has been more overt than any incumbent in trying to influence the nominating contest of another party, training his Twitter feed on his potential rivals and trying to deepen authentic divisions in the Democratic Party by stoking fears that the establishment was trying to rob Sanders of the nomination.

In January, he floated the idea that the Senate impeachment trial was intended to keep Sanders grounded in Washington instead of campaigning in Iowa before the caucuses there.

They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously, Trump tweeted. That month, Trump aides also began to see Sanders as their ideal Democratic opponent in November and sought to elevate his profile.

The president began singling out Sanders at his Keep America Great rallies as well as on Twitter. Bernie is going up, Trump said in January at a rally in Toledo, Ohio. Hes surging. Crazy Bernie, hes surging. He has also highlighted the senators surges in the polls.

Another target was Bloomberg, who spent millions of dollars on ads attacking Trump and had no compunction contrasting his wealth with the presidents.

On Tuesday, as polls opened in 14 states, the president tried a directive to voters in Texas and Oklahoma. Mini Mike Bloomberg will kill your drilling, fracking and pipelines, he tweeted. Petroleum based anything is dead. Energy jobs gone. Dont vote for Mini Mike!

Bloombergs withdrawal from the race Wednesday may provide Trump with a small measure of comfort. But it also presents a looming challenge for his campaign, as Bloomberg has promised to spend $1 billion (U.S.) to help the Democratic nominee and immediately threw his support to Biden.

Also a challenge is the surprise surge of a candidate with a genuine connection with Black voters, the essential element to Bidens success on Super Tuesday.

The Trump campaign has recently put money and time into trying to expand the presidents popularity among Black voters, employing tactics like opening storefronts in Black neighbourhoods and devoting a Super Bowl ad to overhauling the criminal-justice system. Trump won only eight per cent of the Black vote in 2016, but his campaign operatives thought that facing a candidate like Sanders, who had his own challenge winning over Black voters, created an opportunity for Trump.

But for months, Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and his work for Burisma, a problem-plagued energy company in Ukraine, have been the main concern of the president and his advisers. That effort was central to the impeachment inquiry into whether Trump tried to pressure Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens in exchange for releasing military aid.

The damage to the president was obvious, but the former vice-presidents candidacy also suffered. His poll standing fell as he struggled to answer questions from reporters and voters about his son.

But the revival of Biden illustrates the limits of Trumps influence.

I think Democratic primary voters are numbing to Trumps buffoonery  Black voters in particular, said Addisu Demissie, who managed Sen. Cory Bookers presidential campaign. They are the ones who have breathed life back into Bidens campaign and, if anything, they may relish seeing Biden take him down.

The only real role that Trump appeared to play Tuesday was to ensure that electability was a chief concern for Democratic voters and was the basis for Bidens support.

I would describe him as Sideshow Bob in this process, said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster. Theres no evidence that hes commanding a large army of voters who are affecting Democratic primaries.

Despite his lack of influence, Trump appeared eager Wednesday to continue his kibbitzing-from-the-sidelines role. No question on the election? he asked reporters in the Roosevelt Room, where he met with airline executives about the coronavirus.

The president smiled as White House aides quickly shuffled reporters out of the room.

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(Alliance News) - Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that extra legislation may be needed to strengthen employment and social laws to protect those who have to self-isolate in response to Covid-19.

The Fine Gael leader said clarity will be provided on Monday after the Cabinet sub-committee meets.

It comes as the Dail agreed not to establish a special committee on coronavirus.

The 33rd Dail met on Thursday for the second time since the general election.

One of the first items TDs discussed was the measures in place to deal with coronavirus.

Brendan Howlin's proposal for a special committee on Covid-19 was rejected by the Dail.

A number of TDs expressed concern that busy senior health officials would be called before the committee.

"We have very strong legislation around public health and we don't believe at this stage that needs to be enhanced," Varadkar told the Dail.

"We may need to enhance legislation around social and employment protections so that people are not disincentivised to self-isolate if they are asked to do so.

"We will have clarity on that most likely on Monday after the sub-committee meets and it's possible for the House to legislate before a government is elected."

Varadkar later said that the need for people to self-isolate requires employers and social protection schemes to be "flexible and responsive".

He added that workers should receive income support if they have to self-isolate in line with medical advice.

In a statement, Varadkar added: "Following consultation with employers and trade union representatives, proposals will be considered by the cabinet sub-committee next Monday."

The statement added that all employers are being urged "to engage and to be as flexible as possible" with employees.

Varadkar told the Dail that the business committee made a wise decision not to advocate for a full Oireachtas committee to discuss the coronavirus outbreak.

"We have a relatively small number of very competent and very hard-working health officials," Varadkar added.

"The chief medical officer and his team have been working flat out since January and many haven't taken a weekend off since then, so we need them to focus on their jobs and get rest and make sure they don't spend all of their time being held to account.

"There have been briefings and will continue to be briefings with party's health spokespeople. There will be weekly briefings for all members, for deputies who have queries.

"The necessary resources will be provided in addition to the (health) budget this year to take whatever actions are necessary to contain Covid-19 in Ireland. A decision was taken today to go ahead and open any ICU beds that are closed."

Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald said: "I share the views of the committee that those at the front line of this emergency, all of their time, attention and resources need to be spent on keeping the community and people safe.

"That said, we have a caretaker government and it is absolutely essential that those of us on the other benches aren't left as an afterthought when policy decisions are being made.

"For our part, we want the absolute assurance that everything that needs to be done is being done.

"We want to have access to information and we want to influence, in an appropriate and constitutional way, the very big decisions that will be made on this matter. I'm not convinced that an Oireachtas committee is the best vehicle for that.

"I also know what we currently have is absolutely deficient, where we are hearing a after the matters appear in the media a about matters of the most grave and serious and public importance."

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett told the Dail the two-tier health system should not operate during the outbreak of Covid-19.

Boyd Barrett said any financial obstacles that would prevent someone who may have Covid-19 accessing healthcare should be removed.

"There should be no impediment to people doing what the Health Service Executive says they should be doing," he added.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said that health officials are working under "incredible strain and stress".

"I spoke to deputies on our parliamentary party who have already experienced cases in their constituencies and basically the phone explodes," he added.

source: PA

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The House of Representatives passed a bill for allotment of funds in an emergency pool earlier this week, which is to be used to counter the damaging effects of the coronavirus outbreak is expected to have on the domestic economy.

Let us analyze which stocks are expected to benefit from this emergency stash.

House Allocates $8 Billion to Emergency Funds

On Mar 4, the House passed a legislation that allocates more than $8 billion to emergency funds to battle against the spread of coronavirus. The bill won by a voting ratio of 415-2. Republican lawmakers Ken Buck of Colorado and Andy Biggs of Arizona were the only members who voted unfavorably.

The emergency funds aim to provide more than $3 billion for vaccine research and $2.2 billion for efforts in prevention and preparedness. Medical tests and vaccine research to combat the pandemic are urgent tasks right now, which many biotechnology firms in the country are working on actively.

Companies, such as Moderna, Inc. MRNA, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. INO and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. VIR are currently in the process of developing the much-needed vaccines.

The congressional spending proposal is considerably higher than the $2.5 billion that the White House had proposed in late February. The bill also authorizes about $500 million to allow Medicare providers to offer telehealth services, which would benefit elderly patients to receive care in the comforts of their homes.

The bill is now headed to the Senate for approval. Should it be passed effectively, it will then make its way to President Donald Trumps desk, who is expected to give a green signal. Trump had earlier indicated at a news conference that he would spend whatever is appropriate to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

After all, death toll in the United States climbed to 11 and minimum 138 are infected. Of the 11, 10 deaths were confirmed from Washington while one was registered in California. Globally, the pandemic claimed more than 3,100 lives.

Story continues

3 Stocks in Focus

We have, therefore, handpicked three vital stocks that are actively developing vaccines to address the novel coronavirus. One may take a closer look at these.

Moderna is a clinical stage biotechnology company. Last week, the company said that its first batch of vaccine against the COVID-19 disease, called mRNA-1273, was ready for the government to test on humans.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Modernas current-year earnings has moved 5% north in the past 60 days. Shares of this company, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, have risen 40.5% against the industrys decline of 2.6% on a year-to-date basis. (Read more)

Moderna carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals on Mar 4 announced an accelerated timeline to develop its DNA vaccine INO-4800 to battle COVID-19. Inovio's President & CEO Dr. J. Joseph Kim mentioned this accelerated timeline at the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force meeting at the White House on Mar 2.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals carries a Zacks Rank #3. Shares of this company, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, have risen 143.2% against the industrys decline of 2.6% on a year-to-date basis.

Vir Biotechnology is a clinical-stage immunology company. The firm, along with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALNY, announced on Mar 4 that the two companies would expand their continuing collaboration to make an attempt to develop RNA interference treatments for SARS-CoV-2.

Vir Biotechnology carries a Zacks Rank #3. Shares of this company, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, have risen 257% against the industrys decline of 2.7% on a year-to-date basis.

Free: Zacks Single Best Stock Set to Double

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Rio de Janeiro: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro sent out a trumpet-playing, banana-throwing impersonator to his daily press doorstop in Brasilia on Wednesday, before joining him for a stand-up routine in one of the most surreal moments of his unorthodox presidency.

Journalists were expecting the far-right former army captain, who has vowed to kickstart Brazil's economy and end years of crime and corruption, to answer questions about new figures showing the country's GDP to be the worst in three years, when the impersonator appeared. The bizarre scene, was broadcast live on Bolsonaro Facebook page.

Comedian Marvio Lucio stands in front of members of the media while dressed as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia on Wednesday. Credit:Bloomberg

The impersonator, donning a sash with the yellow and green of Brazil often worn by the President and mimicking his trademark drawl, was named by local media as comedian Marvio Lucio dos Santos Lourenco. Reuters was unable to confirm his identity.

As the fake Bolsonaro greeted journalists and supporters gathered outside the President's residence, he struck up a tune on a trumpet and gave bananas to the crowd, offering some to the waiting media, an apparent reference to an obscene hand gesture known locally as "giving a banana" that Bolsonaro has used in recent weeks to dismiss journalists. It is equivalent of giving someone the finger. Bolsonaro's son, MP Eduardo Bolsonaro, has also been using the gesture in reference to media.
Here is all you need to know if you are planning on travelling during the coronavirus epidemic.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 around the globe has thrown the international travel industry into chaos.

Increasing numbers of travellers are opting to stay home amid fear of exposure to the new coronavirus, which has spread to 79 countries since late December, claiming more than 3,000 lives and infecting more than 100,000 people globally.

The virus, first detected in Chinas Wuhan and for which there is no vaccine yet, has prompted worries the world over, with governments closing borders with affected countries and barring entry to or subjecting travellers from outbreak areas to lengthy quarantines. This is despite the World Health Organization (WHO) advising against such travel restrictions.

Amid the disruptions, companies are calling off major conferences and global sport bodies are cancelling, postponing or relocating key tournaments.





International airlines, meanwhile, are continuing to halt flights to hard-hit areas, including in China, South Korea, Italy and Iran.

Should you cancel or postpone your travel plans?

It depends, say public health experts.

The WHO is recommending that elderly travellers and those with underlying health conditions delay or avoid travel to areas that are experiencing ongoing transmission of COVID-19. That is because the disease, while mild in some 80 percent of cases, can be fatal for people who are above 65 years or who have chronic illnesses.

That list of countries experiencing local transmissions is updated daily by the WHO. In Asia, it currently includes China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

European countries on the list are Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Greece and Romania. Three countries in the Middle East are listed  Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

In the Americas, the United States, Canada and Ecuador have reported transmission of COVID-19 infections.

Only one African country is on the list  Algeria.

Australia in the Oceania region is also on the list.

Governments have also put out their own travel warnings. But this varies from country to country.

For instance, the British Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to mainland China, two cities in South Korea and the 11 towns in northern Italy that have been placed under lockdown. The US travel advice is more wide-ranging, with travellers told to avoid the whole of mainland China, South Korea, Italy and Iran unless absolutely necessary.





What other factors are at play?

If you do decide to travel, even if its destinations without major cases, you should consider your own risk factors and the quality of healthcare available in the region you are going to if you become ill, says Crystal Watson, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Another factor to keep in mind is that you may be caught up in quarantine if an outbreak occurs.

Travellers should be aware that this is a possibility, they may be stuck somewhere for an extended period of time and they should plan for that, she says.

Once this virus is recognised in more places, travel restrictions are going to have less impact, so eventually countries may stop implementing them. But I do think that there will be considerably more disruption in the weeks and months ahead.

Travellers might also find themselves with less reason to venture far from home, as scores of tourist attractions have been shuttered and major events called off, ranging from the Muslim pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia to the pop group BTSs tour of South Korea.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also asking tourists to reconsider any cruise journeys to or within Asia, saying that passengers are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

That follows a major coronavirus outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise liner that was quarantined off the coast of Japans Yokohama in February. At least 706 infections and six deaths were reported on the ship, prompting several countries to turn away other cruise liners, even those without confirmed cases.









Another factor to consider is your flight plans may get disrupted because other passengers are opting not to travel. Even in areas without major outbreaks, large numbers of cancellations and no-shows by customers have led airlines to ground flights and disrupting tens of thousands of passengers.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday many airlines are reporting 50 percent no-shows across a number of markets, and traffic has plummeted on key Asian routes.

Meanwhile, if you do want to cancel an existing flight or hotel booking, then you may have to bear the cost. But more and more travel companies are showing flexibility, according to Jonathan Smith, a spokesman for ABTA, a British trade association for travel agents and tour companies.

If they choose not to travel, theyll be bound by their travel providers standard terms and conditions and that will mean, in most cases, cancellation fees, says Smith. What we are seeing is the travel providers have shown in some instances a certain degree of flexibility with their customers, so our advice would be for travellers to speak to their travel provider.

A small number of airlines, such as American Airlines and Jetblue in the US, have agreed to waive off cancellation fees for new bookings.

The travel insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com is advising that people booking flights opt for the more expensive cancel for any reason coverage, as standard trip insurance will not cover cancellations made by travellers due to fears about the destination, which includes the spread of coronavirus.

How can you protect yourself if travelling?

If you do go ahead with your travel plans, the WHO has a range of recommendations to reduce the risk of infection. They include washing hands frequently, covering nose and mouth when coughing, and avoiding close contact with people showing symptoms.

If you do show symptoms of illness while travelling, such as fever, coughing or breathing difficulties, the WHO recommends that you contact your local health providers by phone and inform them of your travel history.

Travellers should carry and regularly use hand sanitiser while keeping a distance of two metres from others where possible, says Bharat Pankhania, an expert in disease control at the University of Exeter in the UK.

[One way to reduce the risk] is to be knowledgeable about how the infection is spread and how they can protect themselves. For example, by maintaining their own personal protective zones whilst travelling, he says.

The second is to arm themselves with information from the particular country where they are travelling to. Putting those two elements together would see most people well protected and kept safe.
Katie Couric on the cover of PODCAST Magazine's March 2020 issue Were taking it all on and aim to be the source people can trust to help delineate fact from fiction.

In PODCAST Magazines March issue, legendary journalist Katie Couric discusses her transition from broadcast journalist to digital media entrepreneur with the launch of her own media company, Katie Couric Media, and her popular podcast, Next Question with Katie Couric (iHeartRadio).

In the cover story, Making Sense of a Chaotic, Complicated and Ever-Changing World, written by editor-in-chief Steve Olsher, Couric shares personal insights into some of her biggest life and work challenges, as well as the purpose-driven intention fueling her media company, which explores the people, movements and issues changing our lives and redefining our world.

Through her podcast, which launched in September 2019, Couric continues to unpack todays most complex and important topics with episodes exploring Americas staggering maternal mortality rate to the ABCs of CBD. Couric interviews a diverse set of experts in her quest to distill the truth for her audiences.

Couric also interviews some of the biggest names in news and popular culture today, like Greta Gerwig, Ronan Farrow, Julie Andrews and Jennifer Garner, and recently launched a live version of Next Question, centering on conversations with some of the buzziest companies in business and entrepreneurship.

In the interview, Couric said of entrepreneurship in media, To thrive in this business, one must have a certain sixth sense. Its imperative to know in your gut what your next best move is. And, you have to let empathy guide you when someone is talking about a deeply personal matter. Were taking it all on and aim to be the source people can trust to help delineate fact from fiction.

Next Question with Katie Couric, produced by iHeartRadio, can be heard on all major podcasting platforms.

PODCAST MAGAZINE OFFICIAL LAUNCH EVENT

Last month, publisher and editor-in-chief Steve Olsher announced the launch of PODCAST Magazine, the new podcasting culture and lifestyle publication that goes beyond the microphone and into the lives of the leading podcasters that fans love.

The magazine will feature its official launch event at The New Media Summit on March 9, 2020, in San Diego, California. Taking place from 7:00 -10:00 p.m. (PST) at the Hilton Doubletree on Hazard Drive. Tickets are available at PodcastMagazine.com/party.

The publication will also release its newest monthly, fan-driven HOT 50 monthly categorical chart at the event. The HOT 50 is the only chart created by podcast fansfor podcast fans.

Upcoming features include top podcasters Jordan Belfort (April cover), Adam Corolla, John Lee Dumas, Marie Forleo, Jillian Michaels, Ed Mylett, Dave Ramsey and Jocko Willink, among others.

Initial distribution is primarily digital, available via iOS and Google distribution platforms, with a limited print run for each issue. The monthly magazine is available for a free lifetime digital subscription for a limited time at PodcastMagazine.com.

About PODCAST Magazine

Launched in January 2020 by Steve Olsherentrepreneur, podcaster and New York Times bestselling authorPODCAST magazine is the preeminent lifestyle publication covering podcasts, podcast culture and the podcasters fans lovetaking readers beyond the microphone, behind-the-scenes and into the lives of today's leading hosts and producers. Each month, a curated team of dedicated writers, podcasters and industry authorities share personal interviews, the latest top podcasts, podcasting products, tools & platforms, and industry happeningsas well as PODCAST Magazines exclusive fan-driven, monthly categorical chart, HOT 50. The magazine also features independent ratings and reviews for under-the-radar shows, while sharing growth, traffic and monetization strategies for professional podcasters.

Instagram: @thepodcastmag

Twitter: @thepodcastmag

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepodcastmag


ALL the air assets of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were grounded after a brand new helicopter crashed in Laguna Thursday morning, with PNP Chief Archie Gamboa and three other generals on board.

The PNP Command Group and Quad Staff has convened and immediately ordered the temporary grounding of the entire PNP fleet of rotary-wing aircraft as a standard procedure while an investigation is underway, said Major General Benigno Durana Jr., director of the PNP-Directorate for Police Community Relations director and acting spokesperson.

Durana said the PNP fleet consists of seven brand new helicopters that were acquired since 2017.

He said the Bell 429 chopper, which figured in the accident, was brand new.

Bagong-bago po ito and alam natin ang aksidente di natin maiiwasan paminsan. Itong chopper na to, napakagandang chopper nito pero ang aksidente we can not speculate, Durana said.

He also said the pilots were all well-trained.

Aside from Gamboa, seven other persons were on board the Bell 429 helicopter when it hit a power line and crashed at about 7 a.m. Thursday, March 5, 2020.

Those on board were Brigadier General Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson; Major General Mariel Magaway, PNP director for intelligence; Major General Jose Maria Victor Ramos, director for comptrollership, Gamboas aide-de-camp Captain Kevin Gayrama; pilot Lieutenant Colonel Ruel Zalatar; co-pilot Lt. Col. Rico Macawili; and crew Senior Master Sergeant Luis Estona.

Ramos and Magaway remained in critical condition as of 3 p.m. Thursday, eight hours after the crash.

Magaway, who is in stable condition, has been transferred to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila while Ramos, who sustained a traumatic brain injury, remained at the Unihealth Southwoods Hospital and Medical Center in Binan, Laguna.

PNP deputy chief for administration Lieutenant General Camilo Cascolan has formed a Special Investigation Task Group that will conduct an investigation on the incident.

The SITG will be headed by Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, PNP deputy chief for operations. (SunStar Philippines)
Four workers were killed and



seven sustained serious injuries when a boiler exploded at a factory in an industrial area in Jalna in Maharashtra on Thursday, the police said.

The incident took place at Om Sairam Steel and Alloys in Jalna MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) area in the afternoon, they said.

The injured were rushed to a private hospital at Aurangabad.

Inspector S T Kouthale of Chandan Zira police station told PTI that three of the workers died on the spot while another died on the way to hospital.

"None of the deceased could be identified immediately as they were burnt beyond recognition," Kouthale said, adding that further probe was on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
These people are protecting us from coronavirus

Health care providers, first responders, public information officers and others met Thursday to coordinate the county's response to the coronavirus threat.

Steve Smith, the director of the Henderson County Public Health Department, was in a coffeeshop on Tuesday when he met a fellow coffee drinker with a science background, retired from the pharmaceutical industry.



As soon as he heard that I was in public health, naturally we talked about the coronavirus, Smith said. His new acquaintance said, You know theres a lot to think about with the coronavirus and how you react, with schools, hospitals, first responders, public information officers and numerous agencies. He looked at me and said, It would be really smart to get all those people in a room.

Steve SmithYou can imagine the smile on my face when I said, 'Im in that room with about 80 people in two days.

That room was a training room at the Henderson County emergency management headquarters and the people facing Smith were doctors, nurses and other clinicians, first responders, hospital administrators, public information officers, law officers, emergency medical services leaders and newspaper and television reporters.

The countys Epidemiology Team has met regularly for a long time but only since last year has its work become so critical and so worthy of attention. The Epi Team is on the front lines of the countys battle to protect the public from the corona virus.

In a 40-minute presentation on Thursday morning, County Manager Steve Wyatt, Smith, Emergency Services Director Jimmy Brissie, Crystal ODell, the public health departments nursing director; and Anita Glance, its preparedness coordinator, outlined the steps the county has taken to fight the virus.

One of the things that makes Henderson County unique is the teamwork but its also the talent we have, Wyatt said in opening remarks. Ive been in other places and Im telling you the talent we have in this community, the medical resources of two fine hospitals, the fact that we have one of the finest emergency services delivery systems, we have a public health department that is equal to any in the state of North Carolina. I can tell you, because I have been in other places, but we also have people come in from other places to look at what were doing here in Henderson County and when they leave they say something like, Wow. Youve got people that can work anywhere. And its true, we do.

Wyatt urged the team to stay healthy themselves.

Another thing I know about Henderson County is we are at our best when things are worst, he said. Ive got one message for you and that is, take care of yourself, because there may be a time when you need to be at 100 percent or 110 percent or 120 percent. Take care of yourself and this too shall pass.

The Epi Team, which has carried out its work in obscurity until now, is suddenly on the ramparts.

Crystal O'Dell describes the coronavirus plan.We have had plans in place for a really long time, said Anita Glance, preparedness coordinator for the health department.

As with any emergency, the county applies an incident management system, with a clearly defined objections and a breakdown of who is responsible for what parts of the response.

So its no different than looking for little Johnny that went missing from a camp, Brissie said. This is the same process. The unified command structure is led by Wyatt, Brissie, Smith and Sheriff Lowell Griffin. Under the command team are public information officers, a liaison coordinator, and chiefs of operations, planning, logistics and finance. These are things weve been planning for for years, Brissie said. So what we do is we blow the dust off of them. Lets pull out our existing plans, see whats applicable, what may not be applicable and what needs to be enhanced.

Rumor and misinformation are the enemies of an effective response.

One of the big pieces of this is the public concern, he added. Thats something this team is very cognizant of and were working very closely with the partners in this room to make sure the right messaging is going out. What should be done, what shouldnt be done. What may be overinflated in some reports, what folks can do to stay prepared themselves. The Epidemiology Team is going to work very closely with the providers in the community to make sure they have the accurate information  because it is a dynamic situation changing very much.

Having a unified message starting from Mr. Wyatt all the way down to our boots on the ground with our deputies and our paramedics that may be in the field is critical, he said.

Here are other highlights of the corona virus as it stands today and what the county team has in place.

Prevention. Masks worn by healthy people dont reduce transmission. Masks worn by ill persons may reduce transmission by decreasing the spread of droplets that carry the virus. Patients who show up at a doctors office or hospital with symptoms should be given a mask.

Incubation period. Believed to be two to 14 days. Thats why youre seeing quarantine periods of up to two weeks, said ODell, a nurse practitioner.

Severity. Varies widely but most cases are not severe. What we are seeing very consistently is that 80 percent of persons infected with this have very mild illness and may not even recognize how sick they are, ODell said. They may think that they just have a common cold.

Number of cases. The case count is updated at noon daily by the CDC. Totals as of Thursday morning were 93,090 cases worldwide, 80,422 of them in China with 2,984 deaths. Outside of China there are 12,668 cases in 76 countries and 214 deaths.

Monitoring possible infections. There are two levels. People returning from China are self-quarantined at home. They monitor their health and and then we call them daily, ODell said. Once they become symptomatic then they become a person under investigation. This is anyone that we feel is symptomatic of COVID-19 that requires testing to either confirm or rule out the diagnosis.

Reporting and testing. ODell urged the providers to do everything they can to educate your patients, your friends that if someone has symptoms to call their providers first (instead of going in person). Thats a great kind of basic thing to do during flu season, not just for this illness. If a symptomatic person arrives without calling first, clinics should immediately isolate the patient, take droplet and respiratory precautions, contact the health departments communicable disease nurses and review whether the patients meets the criteria for testing (828-694-6019). Tests are processed at the North Carolina state lab in Raleigh, with a turnaround time of 24 to 48 hours.

What providers and employers can do. Access information from trusted sources, be a credible source of information, review clinical response plans, separate sick individuals and emphasize importance of staying home when sick. If you are a provider, if you are an employee who is sick, please dont come to work, Glance said. Have great policies in place and educate your employees ahead of time about staying home when youre sick.

Supplies. One of the things you may have seen at the grocery store  stuff is getting gone, Brissie said. Supply chain is a concern. The nationwide supply of masks has been obliterated on the commercial market. Those are really important to protect our health care workers. The state has implemented a centralized process to get resources under which a provider would make a request through the countys emergency management office.

"And please always wash your hands and cover your cough and sneeze, Glance said. Thats something we can all do.



Click here for more information.
Milwaukees police chief said a man who killed five co-workers at a Wisconsin brewery was friends or at least friendly with some of the victims and that he doesnt believe racism or racial harassment was the reason for the attack.

Police Chief Alfonso Morales told WTMI radio on Wednesday that investigators are looking closely at Anthony Ferrills mental health after the 51-year-old electrician killed himself after carrying the Feb. 26 attack at the sprawling Molson Coors brewery complex.

Ferrill was black, four of the slain co-workers were white and the fifth was Latino. Police have asked the public not to assume Ferrill had been racially harassed, even though the company confirmed Wednesday that a noose had been placed on Ferrills locker five years ago.

It isnt a racial piece when one of the people that you killed was a person that you picked up because they had car troubles to get to work, Morales told the station. Or, somebody brings you lunch because you helped them out fixing their car. These are not people that you have that problem. Now could there have been (an) argument somewhere within a day or two? Yes, but were trying to identify that piece, and if there were an argument, that would not send it or make it a racial issue.

Morales said he was going to go out on a limb on this one and say that I believe this was more mental health issues.

And as we develop that based on the information were getting thats whats leading us, he said.

Morales said Ferrill left no note and that detectives have been trying to figure out his possible motive. He said the investigation was likely to take several more weeks.

The Ferrill familys attorney, Craig Mastantuono, declined to discuss the noose incident or a possible motive.

Local media have reported over several days on speculation that the attack was racially motivated, interviewing current and former Molson Coors employees who anonymously complained about longstanding discrimination against black workers. The company said Ferrill wasnt working on the day in 2015 that the noose was placed on his locker, but that he was told about it.

Molson Coors spokesman Adam Collins said the company investigated but there was no security surveillance video showing who placed the noose on the locker. The company explained to employees that such actions werent acceptable and shared channels for filing discrimination or harassment complaints. He said theres no evidence to suggest any of the shooting victims were involved in the noose incident.

Morales, who is Latino, acknowledged Milwaukees historic issues of segregation in the interview with WTMJ, but he then set them aside.

We can talk about racial incidents that have occurred through city of Milwaukee throughout the years with many individuals of colour, I can express some of those myself, he said. Thats not necessarily the answer for why Ferrill carried out the attack, he said.

On Thursday, Collins said no matter what the investigation finds, Molson Coors is committed to taking on any complaints by employees of racial discrimination.

I think we have work to do. Theres no doubt, Collins said. Were going to go head-on. Were going to address those cultural issues.
SOUDERTON  Plans for new playgrounds in Souderton Community Park have been completed, Borough Manager Mike Coll told Souderton Borough Council at its Jan. 3 meeting. "Where the former softball field was is where we are looking to install two playgrounds  a playground for smaller toddlers in an age group up to five and a larger playground structure for...
A federal grand jury has indicted a man arrested in Morgan County last month on a charge of illegal re-entry to the United States after prior deportations.

Javier Alva-Cuella, 37, of Mexico was deported following conviction in Muscogee County, Georgia, for aggravated assault, home invasion and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
The EU and Britain on Thursday underlined major differences as a first round of trade talks ended in Brussels, with no progress on the most contentious issues. Both sides are trying to establish new grounds for the future of EU-UK relations, just a month after Britain's divorce from the European Union following 40 years of an often tumultuous membership. The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier insisted that, while talks were cordial, "many serious divergences" remained after four days of meetings in Brussels that involved scores of officials on each side. The British government offered a very similar analysis, warning that despite a "constructive tone... there are, as expected, significant differences," a spokesman said. The divergent positions have been known for a while, with the UK determined to make a clean break from EU rule-making and the EU insisting on upholding its standards on health, state aid and the environment. "The UK spent a lot of time this week, insisting on its independence. Ladies and gentlemen, nobody, nobody contests the UK's independence," Barnier said. "And we ask the UK to respect our own independence," he said. - 'Very serious divergences' - Barnier said talks had snagged on all these issues including the ability to ensure fair competition from British companies, often referred to as keeping a "level playing field". "To be completely frank with you... there are many divergences, and they are very serious divergences, which is probably quite natural," Barnier said. "The British tell us that they still have these ambitions of high standards, but they do not want to translate these commitments into a common agreement," he said. Another problem was Britain's unwillingness to accept jurisprudence from the EU's top court as well as the European Court on Human Rights; London contends they are not a typical demand of trade deals. However, "when it comes to the protection of the rights of European citizens, the interpretation of European law will and can only be done" by the EU court, he insisted. Fishing also remained a major issue as Britain looks to more tightly control access to its national waters. "The United Kingdom... wishes to negotiate reciprocal access to British waters and European waters on an annual basis," Barnier said. "I can say this as a former fisheries minister... it's not practicable," he said. Barnier said that while a deal was still possible, it would be very difficult, especially since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to extend the talks beyond the end of the year. Until that date, Britain can trade like an EU member with no tariffs or other barriers but with no say in deciding policy. Barnier said the December 31 deadline left an exceedingly tight timeframe few see as feasible for anything but a bare-bones accord. Both sides have planned a total of five rounds of talks before a June EU-UK summit where leaders will take stock of progress. The next negotiation session is set for March 18 in London. Asked about the impact of coronavirus on the talks, Barnier said the teams were looking at the problem "in a very pragmatic way". "We have a timetable and for the moment, we are bringing together people who are not ill.... There's no ban on meetings," he said. The officials met at a Brussels conference centre and split into nine groups for negotiations on a wide range of topics. The EU and the UK began the first round of trade talks this week
A drunk and 'rowdy' woman punched paramedics and kicked a police officer as she caused bedlam at a hospital.

Fiona Sanders, from Sheldon, east Birmingham, first lashed out in the back of an ambulance and then continued flinging limbs out and shouting at NHS staff who tried to restrain her in a wheelchair.

The 38-year-old, admitted injuring four paramedics and one police officer in total, pleading guilty to five charges of common assault against emergency workers at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

Fiona Sanders, pictured outside Birmingham Magistrates' Court, admitted injuring four paramedics and a police officer while drunk

Prosecutor Shahzad Imam said: 'Paramedics were asked to go to a pharmacy on Coventry Road after a report of a woman who had fallen over and hit her head.

'Paramedics arrived to examine her. She was intoxicated and there were signs of a cut to her nose.

'They told her she needed to be taken to hospital to be examined. She was sat in the back of the ambulance. CCTV was put on due to concerns over her behaviour.

'Whilst en-route she became loud and rowdy. She kept taking her seat belt off and the paramedics kept having to put it back on.

'At some point the person hit one of the paramedics with her right hand to the top of the chest causing pain and discomfort.'

Mr Imam continued saying Sanders had to be put into a wheelchair at the hospital on Saturday, February 15, because of how intoxicated she was.

He added: 'She was shouting in the waiting area. They were trying to book her in but she began kicking out her arms and legs. Several hospital staff tried to restrain her, three of them ended up being punched.

'Police had to be called. Two officers arrived and tried to speak to her but she continued shouting.

Birmingham Magistrates Court, pictured, heard Sanders had four large glasses of wine before launching her attacks on emergency workers in an ambulance and a hospital, 'but can't recall events after that'

'She told officers to "f*** off". At some point she kicked out at an officer causing pain to their right leg.'

Sanders was arrested and taken to Perry Barr station where she apologised for her actions.

'She had had four large glasses of wine but can't recall events after that,' said Mr Imam.

'She is sorry for what happened and said nothing like this has happened before.'

Magistrates were told Sanders 'has a very serious issue with alcohol'.

Nothing further was said in her defence as she was referred to probation officers to prepare a full pre-sentence report.

The case was adjourned and Sanders will next appear at the same court on Tuesday, March 24 to learn her sentence.
Painstaking training to portray the facial expressions of an animated mermaid character serves Katie Cross well each year in the Disney-themed Enchanted Princess Theater Show at Friendswoods Purple Box Theater.

In the fifth annual show, to be presented March 20-22 at the theater, 1309 W. Parkwood, the South Houston resident will again perform as Ariel from The Little Mermaid and as Anna from Frozen.

Admission is $15, $10 for kids age 6 and under.

Every show has been a joy, said Cross, 23, who has performed each year in the two roles.

She and fellow actresses, who portray other Disney heroines ranging from Cinderella to Moana, will perform in an interactive show for kids of all ages, said Cathy Holbrook, the theaters founding artistic director and owner.

Holbrook also directed Cross as Ariel in a production of the musical The Little Mermaid.

In the princess show, the kids actually get to have full conversations with us, getting to ask any questions they may have or tell us a story of their own, said Cross, who graduated from Clear Springs High School in 2015.

Each actress sings a solo, and the cast performs several group numbers.

More Information Want to go? What: "Once Upon a Time," the fifth annual "Enchanted Princess Theater Show" Where: Purple Box Theater, 1309 W. Parkwood, Friendswood When: 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday (March 20-21), 2 p.m. Sunday (March 22) Admission: $15, $10 kids 6 and under Information: (818) 642-4665, www.thepurpleboxtheater.com See More Collapse

We also have a dance party where the kids join us on the stage and dance along to classic fairy-tale songs, Cross said. Getting to see their smiles and excitement makes me look forward to every performance.

Capturing Ariels expressions

In 2016 and 2017, Cross worked as a face and character performer at Walt Disney World.

I had pages and pages of Ariels facial expressions that I would try to memorize, she said. I watched the movie countless times in order to fully be able to portray her to the best of my ability.

Cross has performed in some 20 or 30 other stage musicals, appearing as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Woodstock and The Little Red-Haired Girl, an orphan in Annie and Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

She received an associate degree in graphic design at San Jacinto College and works in downtown Houston with plans to obtain a bachelors degree at University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Holbrook said that before and after each princess show, kids in the audience take pictures with the actresses.

We usually have a full house and sell out quickly, she added. Bring your little ones dressed in their favorite Disney princess costumes.

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be contacted at donmaines@att.net
Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her "plan for everything" and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans.

The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldn't win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

The person wasn't authorized to speak about Warren's intentions and talked to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Warren's exit extinguished hopes that Democrats would get another try at putting a woman up against President Donald Trump.

For much of the past year, the Massachusetts senator's campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. She was squeezed out, though, by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance.

Warren never finished higher than third in the first four states and was routed on Super Tuesday, failing to win any of the 14 states voting and placing an embarrassing third in Massachusetts, behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sanders.

Her exit from the race following Sen. Amy Klobuchar's departure leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. It was an unexpected twist for a party that had used the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, just two years ago.

Warren's campaign began with enormous promise that she could carry that momentum into the presidential race. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan's Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

She had a compelling message, calling for structural change to the American political system to reorder the nation's economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2 per cent wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than USD 50 million that prompted chants of Two cents! Two cents!" at rallies across the country.

Warren, 70, began her White House bid polling near the back of an impossibly crowded field, used wonky policy prowess to rocket to front-runner status by the fall, then saw her support evaporate almost as quickly.

Her candidacy appeared seriously damaged almost before it started after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry.

Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didn't stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as Pocahontas."



Warren also lost her finance director over her refusal to attend large fundraisers, long considered the financial life blood of national campaigns. Still, she distinguished herself by releasing dozens of detailed proposals on all sorts of policies from cancelling college debt to protecting oceans to containing the coronavirus.

Warren also was able to build an impressive campaign war chest relying on mostly small donations that poured in from across the country -- erasing the deficit created by refusing to court big, traditional donors.

As her polling began improving through the summer. Warren appeared to further hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, weren't ambitious enough to roll back Trump's policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling.

And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the U.S. House in 2018.

But Warren couldn't consolidate the support of the Democratic Party's most liberal wing against the race's other top progressive, Sanders.

Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a Medicare for All program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the Green New Deal while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Warren's poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates when she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she'd have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All.

Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she'd work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years.

In the meantime, she said, many Americans could choose to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House.

After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldn't win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE Limerick for Engineering showcase which was due to take place at Shannon Airport this Thursday evening has been deferred in the interests of public health.

The organising committee made the decision this morning due to the evolving situation regarding the coronavirus and Covid-19.

More than 1,500 students from across the region had been expected to attend the event along with hundreds of parents and representatives of companies which are based in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary.

The Limerick Leader has learned that one of the schools in County Clare which has been closed, as a precaution, after a pupil contracted coronavirus was due to attend the showcase.

Joe Leddin, manager of the Mid West Skills Forum, says the decision to defer the showcase is disappointing but understandable.

There would have been an awful lot of people in a confined space and given the developments with the coronavirus, the decision has been taken in the interests of health and safety, he said.

The Limerick for Engineering showcase was also deferred for a week in 2018 due to Storm Emma and the Beast from the East.

Weve been here before and hopefully a new date will be arranged once the situation with the coronavirus becomes clearer, said Mr Leddin.

Commenting on this decision Paschal Meehan of the Limerick for Engineering Steering Committee stated:

"The committee has worked extremely hard over the last three months to prepare an outstanding showcase for Limerick For Engineering. We are extremely disappointed to have to postpone this evenings event, but the feel that this is the best decision for all concerned.

Information regarding new dates for the Limerick For Engineering Showcase will be posted to the website in due course. www.limerickforengineering.ie

Shannon Airport has been informed of the decision and schools and other attendees are also being informed.
But under follow-up questioning from prosecutors, Ryan said that if someone were standing outside the stairwell and firing down, it would make little sense for the bullet to land near the doors behind them. And small pieces of evidence can easily be moved around to unexpected places as people walk through crime scenes in the initial chaos, he said.
PHOTO: Screen shot of Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan from GOV.SG YouTube account

SINGAPORE  The proposed Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) project with Malaysia remains suspended till the end of next month, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan in Parliament on Wednesday (5 March).

Responding to Tampines Member of Parliament Cheng Li Huis query on the progress of the project, Khaw told the House that recent political developments in Malaysia will further impact the project. While we remain committed to working with Malaysia to find a way forward, the project cannot be suspended indefinitely.

He added, We look forward to hearing from Malaysia soon.

Last Sunday, Muhyiddin Yassin was appointed as Malaysias new Prime Minister following a week of political turmoil. Former premier Mahathir Mohamad has claimed that his successor does not command a majority in Parliament and has called for an early sitting of the Dewan Rakyat to verify this.

However, the next sitting, which was to take place on 9 March, has now been pushed back to 18 May.

Set to connect Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands, the RTS Link was supposed to be completed by 2024 but fell behind schedule due to Malaysias repeated delays in confirming its joint venture partner.

In May 2019, both countries signed an agreement to suspend the RTS project for six months, with Malaysia bearing the abortive costs of suspending the project amounting to some $600,000.

During his ministrys Committee of Supply debate, Khaw also addressed possible options to relieve the Causeway jam, such as expanding current immigration facilities, and better distribution of traffic between the Causeway and the Second Link, as well as better distribution of traffic between peak and off-peak periods.

We have been pursuing all these options but to move the needle meaningfully, the RTS Link is the answer.

Related stories

Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS Link project suspended till 31 October

Singapore welcomes Malaysias decision to proceed with RTS Link

Muhyiddin Yassin as Malaysias new PM sparks fears of return to Umno politics
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VANCOUVER, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Perk Labs Inc. (formerly Glance Technologies Inc.) (CSE:PERK)(OTCQB:PKLBF)(FKT:GJT) ("Perk Labs" or the "Company"), the parent company of Perk Hero, the all-in-one mobile ordering, payment and customer loyalty platform, is pleased to announce that Perk Hero has signed an agreement with Alipay to enable Alipay users to make payments on the Company's payment platform and will be harmonizing its QR codes to enable Alipay payment at Perk Hero merchants."This arrangement will appeal to Chinese visitors who would like to use Alipay as their preferred payment method while travelling and living abroad," said the Company's CEO Jonathan Hoyles. "It will also add value to our merchants, who will be better positioned to benefit from a massive, new base of Alipay users who represent increased foot traffic, spending power and revenue. It's a great win-win." "We are looking forward to enabling more of our valued users to use Alipay QR codes at Perk Hero merchants in Canada. This provides a familiar method of payment for Chinese users in Canada, connecting them with valued local merchants," said Steve Yulei Wang, General Manager, Alipay, North America.In 2013, Alipay overtook PayPal as the world's largest mobile payment platform, with 900 million Alipay users as of June 2019, many of whom are part of a rapidly growing Chinese middle class that enjoys shopping, dining out and visiting tourist attractions. This translates to millions of Chinese Alipay users visiting Canada and the U.S. each year as tourists, students and migrants.In 2018, Destination Canada reported that China was Canada's largest source of tourist arrivals from the Asia-Pacific region, the second-largest long-haul market and largest for spend. Canada welcomed a record 737,000 Chinese tourists in 2018, surpassing the 700,000 mark for the first time, and doubling the number of annual travelers since 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 16%.In the U.S., in 2018 there were 2.9 million visitors from China, according to the country's National Travel and Tourism Office. Experts say the tourism industry must do more to keep up with changing needs of Chinese travelers.Chinese tourists - particularly younger ones - are increasingly planning trips using apps rather than booking tours through traditional agencies and they have also enthusiastically adopted smartphone-based payment systems. By the same token, statistics show older Chinese tourists drive mobile payments on holiday overseas. According to tourism experts, destinations should invest in these technologies now if they want to continue attracting Chinese tourists.1"Alipay will help our merchants to leverage this new and ever expanding global marketing channel and Super App," said Hoyles. "Through Alipay, our merchants can market to Chinese tourists and visitors living abroad, boosting exposure of their businesses amongst Alipay's extensive user base." About Perk LabsPerk Labs Inc. is the owner of Perk Hero, a digital loyalty management platform that enables merchants to provide their customers with digital rewards and a more engaging and convenient customer experience. For more information about Perk Labs, please visit www.perklabs.io About AlipayOperated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world's leading payment and lifestyle platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently serves over 1 billion users with its local e-wallets partners and works with over 200 domestic financial institution partners. Over the years, Alipay has evolved in China from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users in China can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Alipay's in-store payment service covers over 50 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 35 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese visitors travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies.For more information, contact:Jonathan HoylesChief Executive Officer833-338-0299investors@ perklabs.io Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "may", "believe", "thinks", "expect", "exploring", "expand", "could", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "pursue", "potentially", "projected", "should", "will" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. These forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to, among other things, the discussion of Perk Labs' business strategies and its expectations concerning future operations. Although Perk Labs considers these forward-looking statements to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this press release, see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the most recent Annual Information Form and Prospectus of Perk Labs, which may be accessed through Perk Labs' profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Perk Labs cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Perk Labs is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.
Her challenges continued. When Ms. Hicks applied for the apprenticeship program at her hometown electrical union, she found herself being interviewed by five white men.

They told me, You know three white women tried before you and failed, she recalled. Dont you think its going to be hard you being a black female? And I said, Nope.

She was right. Ms. Hicks was the first woman to complete the five-year program becoming the first female journeyman electrician in Local 917 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (I.B.E.W.) and among the first few African-American women in Mississippi to do so. (Only 6.8 percent of electricians are black or African-American, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

Ms. Hicks was tenacious. She traveled long distances to find work at car plants and steel mills and in the construction of airports from Mississippi to Michigan. She did not blink at being on the job 12 hours a day, seven days a week as she learned her trade.

The workplace could be frustrating. There were many times when I would show up at a job and no man talked to me, or acknowledged my presence, she said. Many times, the foremen on the jobs didnt know what to do with me because I was the only woman. They would send me to the material trailer to clean it up, instead of working a job on the floor. Thats how I learned about the construction business and how to estimate. I would read everything I found there.

When a co-worker urged her to start her own business, she never looked back.

I had worked for nine different employers that year and was ready to take control of my career, she said.

So in 2000, Ms. Hicks started Power Solutions, an electrical contracting firm based in Atlanta that focused on commercial and industrial buildings and now specializes in renewable energy and smart-city technology. She was 28. I bought a computer and had my business cards made with clip art of a woman electrician with a lightning bolt, Ms. Hicks said. Thats me.
A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 60 days in jail after he punched a female transit driver in the face.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 60 days in jail after he punched a female transit driver in the face.

Nathaniel Capay, 21, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of assault for the Feb. 9 attack.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Winnipeg Transit Union is disappointed with the sentence given to a Winnipeg man after he punched a female transit driver in the face.

Court was told Capay, who has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and a "very low" IQ, boarded a downtown bus and asked the driver for a free ride to Polo Park. When the driver told him the fare was $3, Capay punched her in the face.

Capay was quickly nabbed outside by two security officers and was injured in the ensuing scuffle, defence lawyer Aaron Braun told provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie.

"He received exactly what he doled out, immediately after it happened," Braun said.

Capay, who is classified as a vulnerable person and has a history of violent offences and meth use, presents a dilemma in how to deal with him, given his low functioning, said Crown attorney Jodi Koffman.

"Community supervision doesnt work, custody doesnt work but we still have the public safety piece," said Koffman, who recommended Capay be sentenced to six months in custody. "Public safety is a huge concern here."

The victim, who had been on the job just over a year, suffered a black eye and pain to her jaw and arm, Koffman said. She continues to suffer from anxiety as a result of the assault and has not yet returned to work.

"All she did was ask for the fare and this is what happens to her," Koffman said.

Capay has "little to no impulse control" and, in the words of a longtime social worker "is the worst case of FASD he has ever seen," Braun said.

Harvie credited Capay for pre-sentence custody, meaning he has just 22 days to serve. Capay has only recently been able to access social supports and has struggled with homelessness and substance abuse, Harvie said.

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Court was told Capay, with assistance from social workers, had just recently secured an apartment, but would have lost it if he remained in custody past the end of this month.

Amalgamated Transit Union executive vice-president, James Van Gerwin, said he was disappointed with the sentence.

"We wish it was harsher, given hes been in the system a long time," Van Gerwin said outside court. "We dont want him to get on a bus and assault another person again I wish there was a better solution than jail for him, he needs a place where he can get help."

Transit drivers continue to be the target of abuse on a weekly basis, from verbal attacks, to spitting and physical assaults, Van Gerwin said.

Last year, Winnipeg Transit banned 28 people, most of them for violence against drivers or passengers.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Queensland Ballet's artistic director Li Cunxin says his company did not cut ties with world-renowned choreographer Liam Scarlett sooner because it was not aware the allegations against him were sexual in nature.

Scarlett, a choreographer for London's Royal Ballet, has been accused of encouraging his British students to send him naked photographs. The 33-year-old has been stood down pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation. He has not addressed the allegations publicly.

Queensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin.

Scarlett was Queensland Ballet's artistic associate and the choreographer of Dangerous Liaisons, which was slated for a Melbourne run next month. The show was cancelled in January after British newspaper The Times revealed the allegations, and has been replaced by a rendition of Swan Lake. It will be choreographed by Ben Stevenson, a former Royal Ballet dancer and the artistic director at Texas Ballet Theatre.

While Queensland Ballet was made aware in October that Scarlett had a complaint made against him, Cunxin insists he was kept in the dark about the specific nature of the allegations.
Thailand on Thursday confirmed four more coronavirus cases in the country, which brings the total number of those infected with the deadly virus to 47.

"Four more coronavirus cases have been registered. Now the total number of cases confirmed in Thailand since the beginning of the epidemic in China is 47," said director-general of the Health Ministry's Department of Disease Control Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchia.

Among the new patients are two Thai nationals - a 42-year-old who traveled from Italy and a 20-year-old student who returned from Iran. The other two are an Italian national, 29, and a Chinese student, 22, who was hospitalized during a layover in Thailand on his way back home from Iran.

All of them contracted the coronavirus abroad, according to the official.

Among the 47 coronavirus patients in Thailand, one has died, 31 recovered, while the rest 15 are still receiving treatment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Marching into Spring with full force, the blessings of rain continue to fall as Blacksmoke Music Worldwide recording artist, songwriter and Pastor Edwrin Sutton continues to amass a following as his new single, "I Hear Rain" continues its ascent up the radio charts, claiming a spot on the Most Added chart and landing in the top 30 this week.

"I Hear Rain has a message that inspires, uplifts and encourages everyone who hears it", says Blacksmoke Music CEO Kerry Douglas. "Once I heard it, I knew that it was going to reach a lot of people. God has raised up an Edwrin Sutton to be a blessing to people across this nation. I am glad he's a part of the new Blacksmoke revolution. He is part of the generation that is defining the new sounds of Gospel music."

The North Carolina native spent a good portion of February visiting radio stations thanking the fans and meeting programmers and DJs along the way. The month of March keeps Pastor Sutton on a brisk engagement schedule with stops in the Chicago suburb of Rockford, Illinois for the Soar Radio Music Awards as well as Augusta, GA , preaching engagements in Charlotte, North Carolina and parts of South Carolina.

Stay connected with Pastor Sutton via social media

Facebook - Edwrin Sutton

Twitter - @Pastoresutton

Twitter - @promotions_KD

Tags : Blacksmoke Music Worldwide Edwrin Sutton Edwrin Sutton i hear rain Edwrin Sutton and Kingdom Culture Edwrin Sutton news
This death warrant comes after the court was satisfied that the convicts had run out of all legal options before them

The 4 convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will hang on March 20, a Delhi court ordered on Thursday. In the 4th death warrant in the execution was put out by Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana.

With the Delhi government submitting that all the legal remedies of the convicts had been exhausted following President Ram Nath Kovinds rejection of the mercy petition of convict Pawan Gupta, the judge set the new date for the hanging. Reports said even if the mercy plea is rejected, the convict gets 14 more days time. The convicts  Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh, and Pawan Gupta  have since exhausted all their legal remedies available to either commute their death sentence or plead for mercy.

Authorities in Tihar Jail told the court that they were awaiting directions on the execution.

Already disturbed at the delays in hanging at least 3 times, Nirbhayas mother Asha Devi hoped the execution will take place on March 20 and reminded people that in her dying breath, Nirbhaya had asked her to ensure the convicts got such punishment that others would never commit such a crime.

The convicts were to be hanged at 6 am on March 3 and on March 2, a Patiala House court clearly refused to stay the execution. Reports said the convicts filed multiple petitions challenging their death sentence, delaying the execution.

December 16, 2012, has become a date seared in the minds of young Indians, especially women after the then 23-year-old Nirbhaya was gang-raped in a bus moving around in south-west Delhi. The rapists, 6 in all, took turns at ravaging her. Of the 6, one was a minor who is said to have been successfully rehabilitated after serving a 3-yeard term in a juvenile home. Another convict, Ram Singh, is said to have committed suicide by hanging in Tihar Jail.

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coronavirus-fuelled travel advisories have forced some Winnipeg high school students to alter their spring break plans.

And the travel industry at large is bracing for major revenue losses as international movement stalls in the name of public safety.

Some students at Kelvin and Grant Park high schools had planned to spend their spring break week in Italy and China, respectively, this year on unsponsored student trips. Government travel advisories issued as a result of the global spread of COVID-19 have re-routed their trips, Radean Carter, senior information officer for the Winnipeg School Division, said Wednesday.

During the school year some students travel on curriculum trips sponsored by  and subject to cancellation by  the division. As well, some travel on unsponsored trips co-ordinated by students, parents and teachers, Carter said.

The division hasn't scheduled any sponsored trips leaving North America, but the students embarking on unsponsored international trips are closely monitoring government-issued updates as the novel coronavirus spreads across the globe.

So far, only two of the five school trips in the Winnipeg School Division have been affected by current advisories, which remain active for China, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, northern Italy, Singapore and South Korea. Carter said fewer than 100 students have been affected by the changes, and no hard cancellations have been made.

In a statement, Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen told the Free Press that "ultimately, it is up to parents and their children to decide what is right for them with the best information available," and directed parents to refer to the Public Health Agency of Canada for updates.

"We are encouraging parents and students to stay in contact with the travel agencies and stay on top of what alerts are coming up. If it gets to the point where they have to cancel them, theyd have to talk the travel agents."  Radean Carter, senior information officer for the Winnipeg School Division

As of Thursday morning, Pembina Trails School Division has confirmed two school trip cancellations at Oak Park High and Fort Richmond Collegiate.

Stacey Ashley, communications officer for the division, said in an email that Oak Park students had been planning a trip to Thailand, while Fort Richmond students had an itinerary that included Italy. The trips, slated for March departure dates, were cancelled out of an abundance of caution, she said.

While no cancellations have been made in the River East Transcona school division, senior communications co-ordinator Amanda Gaudes said in a statement Thursday that school trips have been re-routed as necessary based on the direction of the Public Health Authority and travel advisories.

Representatives for the St. James Assiniboia and Seven Oaks school divisions told the Free Press Wednesday that school trips scheduled within their divisions remain unaffected by travel advisories thus far, though officials are monitoring the situation.

"We are encouraging parents and students to stay in contact with the travel agencies and stay on top of what alerts are coming up," Carter said. "If it gets to the point where they have to cancel them, theyd have to talk the travel agents."

The Louis Riel school division did not respond to Free Press requests for comment.

EF Tours, a travel company that operates many such school trips out of Manitoba, posted a statement to its website this week reassuring travellers that it will not send groups to destinations deemed unsafe by government authorities, adding that it plans to "implement measures that extend beyond those recommendations" as the need arises.

Many people are not overly concerned about shortages due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) but this hasn't prevented shoppers at Winnipeg big box stores from stockpiling supplies, including rolls of toilet paper, just in case. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Travellers around the world have seen their plans interrupted by the virus.

According to the Global Business Travel Association, the coronavirus could cost the industry $47 billion per month, while the International Air Transport Association is predicting almost $30 billion in lost flight sales, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The cruise industry has also taken a hit recently, as passengers aboard ships such as Carnival Corp.'s Diamond Princess were quarantined after cases of the virus were confirmed onboard.

Brian Salerno, senior vice president of maritime policy for the Cruise Line Industry Association, said Wednesday that about 10 per cent of its business has halted operations due to current travel warnings.

"Safe to say its down," said Salerno, reflecting on the current decline.

Salerno said different cruise lines are responding in their own ways, but on a whole, the industry has been turning away would-be passengers who have recently been in regions affected by the virus, or in contact with others that may have been affected, resulting in a significant dip in business.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"Its going to have an effect, theres no question," Salerno said. "If you put people and their health first, that sometimes comes at a cost."

Despite the heavy hits seen in the global tourism and travel industries, Salerno remains optimistic that cruises and travel will come out all right in the end.

"We're highly confident well get through this," he said. "Things will get back to normal."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers

With files from Bloomberg
By Patpicha Tanakasempipat

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand needs to invest in education and create jobs in higher-income sectors, the World Bank said in a report on Thursday that showed a rising rate of poverty as the country's economy slowed.

Thailand is Southeast Asia's largest economy after Indonesia but has lagged its regional peers and grew at its weakest pace in five years in 2019.

The country of 69 million reduced overall poverty over three decades to just under 10% in 2018 from more than 65% in 1988, but the trend started to reverse from 2016, data from the World Bank report showed.

The rise in the number earning below the national poverty line, set at less than 90 baht ($2.85) a day in 2018, was mainly because of falling incomes for Thailand's bottom 40%, many of whom were urban workers and rural farming households, between 2015 to 2017, the country report found.

"Wages for people in agriculture and manufacturing did not increase as much as we needed to reduce poverty, but the other way around," Birgit Hansl, World Bank Thailand's country manager, told a news conference. Hansl blamed lower commodity prices and major droughts.

Nearly a third of Thailand's workforce is in the low-income agricultural sector, which produces and exports commodities such as rice, natural rubber and sugar for global markets.

Thai farmers often rely on financial support from loans or handouts from governments to help offset declining farm prices.

Previous measures included a populist rice subsidy scheme from a previously-toppled civilian government buying millions of tonnes of the grain from farmers at prices above the market between 2011 to 2014.

Such social welfare programmes can help to soften the impact of economic volatility and reduce poverty in the short term, the World Bank said.

But it warned they could prevent longer-term productivity by delaying farmers' moving to higher-paying jobs in the manufacturing or service sectors, or preventing them switching to more crops that are more profitable or less vulnerable to drought.

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"Perhaps some policies here in the past that were related to support to farmers on growing a specific crop might have prevented faster transformation," Hansl said.

The organisation also said Thailand needs to improve access to education for children from lower-income families, policies on safety nets and create better jobs to address inequality.

(Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; editing by Barbara Lewis)
HOLLAND, MI  Hudsonville Ice Cream is offering 10,000 free pints of ice cream on Friday, March 6.

The Holland-based business says customers can claim their pint by getting a coupon at Hudsonvilles website.

We are firm believers in celebrating moments big and small with ice cream, which led us to create Pint Day  a holiday that didnt previously exist. Pint Day gives you the perfect reason to grab a pint of your favorite flavor on us and make your day a little sweeter, Rachel Hamden, of Hudsonville Ice Cream, said in a press release.

This is the biggest giveaway of free product in our companys history and we are thrilled to have flavor options for all ice cream lovers, whether they enjoy traditional dairy options or one of our vegan-friendly, dairy-free flavors.

Hudsonville launched free pint day in 2019.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines. March 5)  More syndicates have been found to be sneaking in foreign currencies into the country as the government looks into groups, money changers and personalities involved in dirty money smuggling.

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Richard Gordon in a Senate hearing on Thursday disclosed that $633 million, equivalent to around 32 billion, in cash have entered the country in 890 transactions from September 2019 to March this year.

Gordon expressed fears that the huge amounts of dirty money smuggled into the country could be used for illicit and even political activities, including paying members of the police and military and government officials to serve as protectors of their transactions, among other possibilities.

In the last five days of this week alone, cash amounting to around $6 million, or 310.16 million, were sneaked in from Bangkok, Thailand and Singapore, Gordon said.

A January report from the Bureau of Customs said two syndicates  a so-called "Rodriguez Group" and "Chinese Group" have been identified to have brought in $370 million, or around 18.74 billion, last year.

But Gordon said more syndicates are behind the scheme.

"Ang lumalabas dito, na kasama ay talagang may mga sindikato (It turns out that syndicates are really involved)," Gordon said.

"Ngayon ang alam namin, ay umaabot na yata ng lima or anim na ang sindikato (What we know now is there are 5 to 6 syndicates involved)," he added.

Gordon named several members of the Rodriguez clan who brought in millions in US and Hong Kong dollars and Japanese yen from Hong Kong and Singapore. At least seven members of the family have been subpoenaed, Gordon said, adding that they should attend the next hearing on March 12 or they will be arrested.

"In our next hearing it is our hope that we can get them to explain," he said.

He also suggested placing them under an Immigration watch list so authorities will be notified if ever they try to leave the country.

Arrests made

For its part, the Anti-Money Laundering Council has recorded the entry of $336 million last year.

Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero said intelligence information from AMLC served as basis for a September 2019 operation that led to the arrest of a certain Mohamad Chang who misdeclared the foreign currencies he brought into the country. Another suspect, Simon Rodriguez was also apprehended based on an October 2019 letter from Customs, Gordon said.

The lawmaker inquired why the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas launched its own probe only in February  three months after Customs' letter. Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said they got the referral letter from AMLC only in January.

The AMLC explained that they receive reports from Customs 10 days after the end of every month. Gordon said "this is bureaucracy in its worst form."

"You will meet one month and 10 days after your intelligence transpires. Huling huli na. Nagastos na yung pera (It's too late. The money has been spent)," he said.

The BSP is investigating two money service businesses for their "suspicious transactions" which went beyond the value of transactions authorized by the government. Fonacier did not go into detail but money service businesses include money changers, remittance centers, and pawnshops.

Gordon mentioned that another money changer should be looked into for having an office in Marawi City  the war-torn capital of Lanao del Sur which served as battle ground of government troops and local and foreign terrorists in 2017.
British regional airline Flybe collapsed on Thursday after a plunge in travel demand, making the struggling carrier the industry's first big casualty of the coronavirus outbreak.

Flybe operates a Dublin-Southampton route.

It accounts for around 80pc of the routes out of Belfast City Airport.

The failure of an airline that connects all corners of the UK with major European destinations not only puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but could also see some airports struggle and business travel restricted.

"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," Flybe said after the government walked away from a rescue package agreed in January.

Flybe's collapse also causes a problem for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had promised to "level up" Britain by investing in regional transport links.

The operator, described as the largest independent regional airline in Europe, carried around 8 million passengers a year between 81 airports and was owned by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

It becomes the first major airline to go out of business since the emergence of coronavirus, which surfaced in China last year and has since claimed around 3,000 lives.

Airlines are racing to cut costs by cancelling flights to weather a downturn that has worsened since late February when Europe's worst outbreak emerged in Italy.

British Airways, easyJet, Lufthansa and United Airlines are amongst those announcing cost-saving measures.

FINANCIAL TROUBLE

Flybe was already in financial trouble and was rescued in mid-January, when shareholders agreed to invest more money alongside government support that was due to include a potential loan and a review of local flight taxes.

Johnson said in January that Flybe was important for Britain's transport links and that the government would do what it could to help the carrier.

A government spokesman said on Thursday it was working closely with the industry to reduce any disruption its routes.

"Flybe's financial difficulties were longstanding and well documented and pre-date the outbreak of COVID-19," the government said in a statement.

Johnson's government has a plan to try to boost regions of Britain beyond London. Without Flybe though, some regional airports like Exeter, Birmingham and Southampton will have much poorer connections within Britain and to Europe.

Flybe's network of routes, served by its 68 aircraft, includes more than half of UK domestic flights outside London.

The pilot's union said airline staff had been betrayed.

Stobart and Virgin Atlantic said they were deeply disappointed that Flybe had been unable to secure a viable future. They said the outbreak of coronavirus meant the consortium could no longer commit to financial support.
Eastern Africa could gain about two million jobs from increased economic activity if a continent-wide free-trade agreement is successfully implemented, starting July 1.

The region will earn an extra $1.1 billion in increased exports of processed foods, textiles, clothing and light manufacturing, according to estimates in a report on the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area published on Thursday.

Manufacturers in the region currently operate at as much as 40 per cent below potential, according to the document co-authored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Trade Mark East Africa, an aid-for-trade organization.

The report comes as countries weigh potential gains and benefits from the agreement that could create the single-largest trading bloc in the world, covering a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion. South Africa, which has the continents most-industrialized economy, estimates forfeiting tariffs on about 70 billion rand ($4.5 billion U.S.) worth of trade when the agreement kicks in.

The accord requires member states to gradually lower or eliminate tariffs on 90 per cent of goods to facilitate the movement of capital and people, and create a liberalized market for services.

Ratify deal

Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia in eastern Africa are among 29 countries that have ratified the deal against a threshold of 22 for it to become operational. All but one of the African Unions 55 member states signed the initial-step documents of the deal.

The AfCFTA, as its known, will allow our business community to access a much wider market of other African countries, Kenyas East African Community Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said in a statement after publication of the report in Nairobi. With the advanced integration of EAC, weve witnessed first-hand the benefits of trading more with each other.

However, the agreement is also likely to lead to loss of some tax earnings. Kenya, the regions largest economy, is at risk of losing 3.2 per cent tariff revenue after the continental agreement kicks in, according to Andrew Mold, UNECAs head of the eastern Africa office. A total tariff-revenue loss for Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda is estimated at $248 million in the report.

The revenue loss might be an acceptable price to pay for the wider economic benefits from the trade pact, according to the report. Immediate losses could be regarded as redistribution of income from governments to consumers and producers, it read.

East Africa should create job opportunities for its working-age population thats expected to rise to 8.6 million people in the next 15 years, according to Trade Mark East Africa chief executive officer Frank Matsaert.

Through our trade facilitation work across East Africa, we have seen how eliminating barriers to trade, boosts regional businesses and grows returns for investors, employment for citizens and revenue for governments, Matsaert said.
Here are the top stories on the web today.

Bidens surprise win in Texas caps historic Super Tuesday while Sanders turns to California A reinvigorated Joe Biden has a nine state Super Tuesday victory haul, capped by topping Sen. Bernie Sanders for an upset victory in Texas after his comeback campaign transformed the Democratic presidential race.

5 takeaways as Joe Biden scores stunning wins on Super Tuesday Joe Biden dominated across the South on Tuesday and scored a dramatic upset victory in Texas while surprising in Minnesota and Massachusetts, roaring into contention in a Democratic presidential primary that increasingly looks like a two-way race between the former vice president and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Coronavirus news and live updates: Iran cases soar past 2,300  CNN One week ago, Iran had fewer than 100 confirmed coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, Iranian authorities said there were 2,336 confirmed cases, making the Middle Eastern country one of the worst affected in the world. There are now 77 confirmed deaths from coronavirus, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi said on state TV Tuesday.

Tennessee is under a state of emergency after the deadliest tornado day in 7 years Tennessee is under a state of emergency after the deadliest tornado day in seven years.

An Australian thief used a fishing rod to steal a Versace necklace Melbourne police are searching for a burglar who used a fishing rod, line, and hook to steal a Versace necklace.

Queen Elizabeth wears gloves, sparking coronavirus speculation As global concern mounts about the spread of the coronavirus. Britains Queen Elizabeth II has been pictured wearing gloves at a ceremony.

Inter Milan president calls Serie A counterpart clown over handling impact of coronavirus Inter Milan president Steven Zhang has hit out at Serie A president Paolo Dal Pino over the leagues rescheduling of fixtures as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Chasing the sun: Racing 1,800 miles by solar power Greener energy is a burning issue in the battle against climate change, but one car race across Australia has been chasing the sun for 20 years.

Biden and Sanders take early lead on Super Tuesday Joe Biden will win North Carolina and Virginia, CBS News projects, as 14 states vote to pick a Democratic White House candidate on Super Tuesday. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, is projected to win his home state of Vermont, according to CBS, the BBCs US partner.

Italy virus death toll jumps to 79 as PM to announce measures  BBC News African airlines have lost $400m (312m) since the outbreak of the coronavirus in China in February, according to the global airline industry body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The losses have come from suspended and cancelled flights on routes to China.

Coronavirus: World Bank pledges $12bn aid package The World Bank has committed $12bn (9.4bn) in aid for developing countries grappling with the spread of the coronavirus. The emergency package includes low-cost loans, grants and technical assistance. The action comes as leaders around the world pledge to shield their countries from the economic impact of the outbreak.

The ancient town with a history from outer space  BBC Reel The buildings in the historic German town of Nordlingen are thought to contain 72,000 tons of diamonds  created by the impact of an asteroid on the spot where the town was built. Video by Katja Doehne

Mike Bloomberg Set To Reconsider Campaign After Super Tuesday Flop Mike Bloomberg faced his first election night of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday  and his disappointing results mean it might also be his last. The former New York mayor will on Wednesday reassess his bid for the partys nomination, reported , The Associated Press and .

Jill Biden Jumps To Joes Rescue When Protester Charges Stage Protesters disrupted former Vice President Joe Bidens speech as he celebrated primary wins in several states on Super Tuesday  and his wife, Jill Biden, was having none of it. As an animal rights activist waving a Let Dairy Die sign rushed the stage during the California event, Jill Biden immediately leapt in front of her husband with her arms raised, blocking him with her body.

White House Bans Filming At Coronavirus Briefing, Triggering Backlash The Trump White House faced widespread criticism on Tuesday after Vice President Mike Pence conducted a press briefing on the coronavirus outbreak, but members of the media were not allowed to record video or audio.

Trump Sues The Washington Post For Defamation President Donald Trump has fulfilled his threat to sue more media outlets for defamation. His target this time: The Washington Post. Trumps campaign sued The New York Times for libel last week over a 2019 opinion piece written by Max Frankel, a former executive editor of the newspaper.

WhatsApp finally has dark mode The only fitting display for our times is darkness, and WhatsApp has finally caught on. On Tuesday, Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced that it was rolling out dark mode for iOS and Android. If you have made the right and correct choice and set your operating display settings to dark mode, WhatsApp will mimic that setting within the app, too.

Coronavirus panic-buying in Australia is weirdly, obsessively focused on toilet paper Panicked consumers the world over are picking supermarket shelves clean, as coronavirus concerns inspire stockpiling. Everything from hand sanitiser to non-perishable food is being bought up, inspired by fears not only of Wuhan-style lockdowns, but also import restrictions or factory closures that could impact supply and cause shortages.

Report: Apple, Amazon, and Google use supply chain factories that rely on forced labor A report from an Australian think tank has listed tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Huawei, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and Sony as benefitting from forced labor in China. The report, published by Australian Strategic Policy Institute, claims that between 2017 and 2019, the Chinese government transferred more than 80,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities out of the Xinjiang region and into factories that strongly suggest forced labour.
The man accused of being the Golden State Killer, facing a possible death sentence for a series of rapes and murders that terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s, has offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, court documents show.

The suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, was arrested in a suburb of Sacramento in April 2018 with the help of a genealogy website. He was charged with 13 counts of murder as well as multiple kidnapping and weapons charges.

The investigation was the first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy, a forensic technique that relies on identifying crime-scene DNA with that of suspects cousins in genealogy databases. The people who submit DNA samples to these databases typically do so to research their family history. Many have been surprised to learn that their genetic profiles have been used to help solve crimes.

Mr. DeAngelos arrest inspired dozens of other agencies to begin solving violent crimes similarly, fundamentally revolutionizing how cases across the country are investigated. The technique has generated a backlash from some genealogists, legal scholars and privacy advocates who are concerned that the police and the F.B.I. are abusing these databases.
Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles A. Fiore abruptly resigned Thursday, saying in an email that his very difficult decision was made for family reasons and so he could seek other ventures in the private sector.

Fiore, 60, sent his late-morning email to his office manager, who forwarded it to the staff. The resignation was effective at noon, the email said.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal quickly appointed Christine A. Hoffman to serve as acting Gloucester County prosecutor, replacing Fiore. Hoffman has spent 22 years as a prosecutor, most recently as a deputy director of the Division of Criminal Justice.

Grewal called her a career prosecutor and no-nonsense manager with a deep commitment to public service.

Fiore, a Williamstown lawyer, was nominated by then-Gov. Chris Christie in November 2017 to be Gloucester County prosecutor, surprising then-Prosecutor Sean Dalton, who had served for 15 years.

It was not immediately clear whether Thursdays resignation was connected to various discrimination complaints against Fiore and other higher-ups by employees in the Prosecutors Office, including an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2017 by Detective Eric Shaw contending that the captain of detectives, Robert Pietrzak, had discriminated against him because of his service in the military reserve.

Fiore also has been criticized by some in the black community for his handling of the shooting death of a black woman by a white Deptford police officer at a strip mall in June 2018. A grand jury declined to recommend charges. Several eyewitnesses who contradicted the officers account were not presented by the prosecutor to the grand jury. Federal authorities are looking into the case for possible civil rights violations.

Prosecutors Office staffers have been deposed recently to testify in Shaws suit. Various claims of discrimination have been aired  including allegations of sexual harassment by Fiore  contributing to an alleged hostile work environment, sources and court documents say.

The New Jersey Attorney Generals Office has been investigating employee discrimination complaints and whether a hostile work environment exists in the Gloucester County office, according to court filings in Shaws lawsuit and former employees. A spokesperson for the Attorney Generals Office has declined to comment.

Grewals statement Thursday did not address reasons for Fiores departure, and his office did not respond to questions about it.

Thomas Gilbert, chief of detectives in the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office and its public information officer, declined to comment Thursday. Fiore could not be reached for comment.

Shaws lawsuit contends that he was passed over for promotions because Pietrzak is hostile toward people who serve in the military reserve. The Prosecutors Office, in court filings, has denied Shaws claims. A trial is scheduled for May.

Shaws lawsuit follows one filed in 2014 by another detective in the Prosecutors Office, Bradd Thompson, which ended in a 2016 settlement. Thompsons lawsuit alleged that Pietrzak subjected him to military harassment because he serves in the Air National Guard.

Thompsons suit further alleged that Pietrzak made anti-Semitic comments to Thompson  whose wife is Jewish  alleging that Pietrzak called him Thompson Berg and a wanna-be Jew, and asked him where his yarmulkes were.

In both lawsuits, Pietrzak was accused of having called Shaw and Thompson double dippers or two scoops, alleging that they were unfairly receiving more income because of their military service.

The Prosecutors Office was named as the defendant in both suits. Lawyers for the office have denied that Pietrzak made anti-Semitic comments or subjected either detective to military harassment."

The lawsuits, filed by detectives who are white, are not the only complaints that have been leveled against superiors in the Prosecutors Office in recent years. Pietrzak also has been accused of being racist toward minorities, and Fiore allegedly made disparaging remarks about gay men and lesbians, according to court documents in Shaws lawsuit.

Supervisors were made aware of such complaints, according to court documents.

Kevin Costello, a lawyer with a Mount Laurel law firm that filed the lawsuits for Thompson and Shaw, has declined to comment on the suits and said they also would not comment.

Gloucester County Superior Court Judge Samuel Ragonese, who is presiding over Shaws lawsuit proceedings, noted the attorney generals investigation into the Prosecutors Office in a December memorandum and also noted complaints made against Fiore and Pietrzak.

The judge wrote that one lieutenant had testified in Shaws case that Fiore had allegedly made disparaging remarks about gay men and lesbians and inappropriately discussed oral sex with a female worker, and had warned Fiore that such comments were inappropriate, the memorandum said.

An internal affairs complaint mailed about five months ago to Fiore and Gilbert, a copy of which was recently obtained by The Inquirer, contended Pietrzak has continued to discriminate against African Americans, Latinos, and homosexuals.

Pietrzak has worked in the Prosecutors Office since 1998, according to his LinkedIn page. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Josephine Mendez Miller, a former detective in the Prosecutors Office who lives in Florida, said this week that she had been contacted several months ago by an investigator in the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office who asked if she had any complaints about Pietrzak because the office had heard allegations of racism and harassment.

The investigator asked whether a hostile work environment had existed, said Mendez Miller, 47, who resigned from the Prosecutors Office about 15 years ago to work for the Plantation, Fla., Police Department. She recalled responding that the environment had been hostile to those who werent part of a certain clique. She retired on disability from the Florida agency about five years ago.

Hoffman, who is replacing Fiore, has spent two decades in the Division of Criminal Justice, prosecuting cases in nearly every county, including violent crimes, sex offenses, and white-collar crimes, and has handled numerous appeals, the Attorney Generals Office said. In 2013, she was appointed deputy director of the division.

Before joining the division in 2000, Hoffman was an assistant prosecutor in the Burlington County Prosecutors Office.

Staff writer Melanie Burney contributed to this article.
Samsung says its entire line of 2020 model year QLED TVs is now available for purchase or preorder, including an expanded 8K UHD lineup. The new sets feature mild improvements over the companys already impressive quantum dot LED-backlit LCD technology.

8K UHD

2019 saw Samsung deliver a single series of 8K UHD QLED TVs, the Q900. The 2020 model year includes three 8K series: the flagship Q950TS and the Q900TS, both of which are available in 65-, 75-inch, and 85-inch screen sizes. The Q800T series is available in 65- 75-, and 82-inch SKUs. So far, we have prices only for the Q800T series: $3,500 (65-inch), $5,000 (75-inch), and $7,000 (82-inch).

New features for the 8K UHD models include a super-thin bezel for the 950TS, and something called local power distribution for the array backlighting on all three series, which the company says increases brightness by a whopping 20 percent. Last years Q900 was already pretty darn bright, so this change should deliver even better HDR.

Samsungs press release also mentions a redesigned AI Quantum Processor 8K with neural net features. Basically, this appears to be more of last years machine learning with an online database covering various image scenarios, including upscaling of 4K UHD content. Whatever it actually is, if its better than last years silicon, it will be impressive.

Samsung Symphony is a new feature that Samsung says will harmonize the sound the TV produces with the audio from Samsungs Q-series soundbars. So, instead of turning the TVs speakers off in favor of the soundbar, the new TVs will blend the audio capabilities of both audio systems. The AI Quantum Processor 8K, meanwhile, can monitor the ambient noise in the room and tune the TVs sound to match the ambient qualities of the room.

Samsung Samsungs new Q800T series forms the low end of the companys 8K UHD TV lineup. Were betting it delivers as good or better images as last years already impressive Q900 series.

4K QLED

Samsungs 4K QLED lineup will remain largely the same, with The Frame series starting at $1,000 for the 43-incher (also available in 55-, 65-, and 75-inch sizes); the same-sized Q60T series starting at $530 (also available in 43-, 50-, 55-, 58-, 65-, and 75-inch classes); the Q70T series starting at $1,000 for the 55-inch model (also available in 65-, 75-, and 85-inch classes); the Q80T series priced at $1,100 (available in 49-, 55-, 65, and 75-inch classes); and the Q90T series, available only at 65 inches for $2,500.

Other QLED touted features are Real Game Enhancer+, which appears to the a FreeSync-like implementation that matches frame rates to your gaming GPU to eliminate tearing or stuttering; OTS and Adaptive Sound+ allow directional, immersive gaming audio; while Multi-view allows simultaneously viewing of streamed video (YouTube, etc.) while gaming, for collaboration with other players.

Finally, Samsungs entire QLED lineup in 2020 will support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in addition to Samsungs own Bixby digital assistant. If you cant beat em, join em.
(Newser)  Fotis Dulos had a good explanation for why he was caught on surveillance video dumping his estranged wife's bloody clothes in trash cans on the day she disappeared, according to the dead murder suspect's lawyer. Norm Pattis said Wednesday that Duloswho declared his innocence in a note found after his suicide in Januarypanicked after finding the clothing and other items, including zip ties and cleaning products, dumped on his porch in Farmington, Conn., and disposed of them in Hartford, reports the Hartford Courant. Dulos was accused of murdering Jennifer Dulos, whose body has not been found. Judge Gary White decided to drop the murder and kidnapping case against Dulos, although Pattis said he wanted the trial to go ahead, NBC reports.

story continues below

Dulos's "memory remains stained by these scandalous accusations, and we'd like a chance to raise them in an open court," said Pattis. He claimed that a witness was with Dulos when he discovered the bloody clothes on his porch, and suggested the witness may have been involved. Michelle Troconis, Dulos' girlfriend at the time, helped him dispose of the items. She still faces a murder conspiracy charge, as does attorney Kent Mawhiney. After his client's death, Pattis filed an unusual motion asking for the murder trial to proceed and noting that Joan of Arc and Old West outlaw Henry Plummer had been acquitted after their deaths. "However, neither is a Connecticut resident," and no similar trial has occurred in the state's history, the Courant notes. (Read more Fotis Dulos stories.)
School closings have become reality in response to the current coronavirus epidemic in the United States. Numerous schools, including more than a dozen in Washington state, Oregon, New York, California, and Rhode Island are now temporarily shut as of this writing. As the epidemic progresses in this country, it is likely that many more American children will join the hundreds of millions around the world in nations including China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Mongolia, Italy, and France who are currently out of school. These closings may not be of short duration; some experts project that for school shutdowns to have a real impact on an epidemic, schools need to be closed for as long as eight weeks.

Although Vice President Mike Pence has already signaled that the White House will support school closings, those decisions will be made at the local and state levels. School districts are being urged to review and revise their pandemic-preparedness plans, including continuity of instruction in the event of closures. And parents are being urged to prepare for the possibility that their children may be home for protracted periods of time.

It is important that school districts and parents of preschool and school-age children heed this advice. It is also important, however, to recognize that parents are not equally positioned to protect their children on their own. As in all public-health emergencies, poor children and poor families will suffer the most. An ethically defensible policy of government school shutdowns needs not only to meet the bar of public health necessity, it must also include active measures to mitigate the disproportionate burden that will fall on our most vulnerable children.

See Also: Coronavirus and Schools

Consider the critical role that schools play in meeting the nutritional needs of poor children. About 15 percent of all American children are from food-insecure familiesmore than 11 million children. Schools provide free or discounted lunches to more than 20 million children and free breakfast to more than 12 million. In addition, more than a million children participate in After School Supper Programs.

A recent New York Times article has drawn attention to the serious economic impact of school closings on the vendors who supply school meals. But for the millions of children for whom school meals can make the difference between hunger and health, the impact could be even more devastating. A study of schools in western Kentucky that closed during a 2013 influenza outbreak found that one-quarter of families reported difficulty caused by lack of access to school lunch.

Schools and community organizations should collaborate now to identify and plan for alternative emergency food-assistance strategies, such as providing prepacked lunches that could be picked up at food banks, churches, or other area nonprofits.

Parents are not equally positioned to protect their children on their own."

What will happen to children who are homeless or who find respite in school from emotionally or physically threatening home environments? Governments need to open emergency housing and, for younger children, provide emergency child-care options that are appropriate for an outbreak context.

For older kids, guidelines need to be established to mitigate recongregation outside of school, whether at the mall or each others homes. Data about the impact of schools closings on adolescents are limited, but one study from the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone suggests that teenage pregnancies increased by 65 percent as a result of school closures.

If home-based instruction is implemented during an extended shutdown, plans need to account for those children who do not have reliable internet access or adult supervision. Families with more than one child may not have more than one device, and there is the collateral consequence of extended screen time.

Finally, steps should be taken to minimize the likelihood that low-income parents feel compelled to leave their young children home alone because they fear losing their jobs or cannot sustain even a temporary loss of income.

Although some politicians are advocating to extend sick-leave and job-security provisions to employees out of work for the virus, it is important that any such provisions apply to parents who are out of work because they must stay home to care for their children because of school closures. And what is to be done for the poorest parents who will be hit the hardest? More than two-thirds of workers who earn wages in the bottom 10 percent have no paid sick leave.

Schools do more than educate our poorest children. If they close for any significant amount of time and continuity-of-instruction plans are not supplemented with adequate continuity-of-welfare plans, the risks that these children will face may be greater than the risks they face from COVID-19. It would be profoundly unfair to protect the rest of us on the backs of our most vulnerable.
The meeting was attended by all the governors in the region except Ben Ayade of Cross River, who was said to be in Abuja for an official engagement.
Mitch McConnell will take to the Senate floor Thursday morning to assail Chuck Schumer for saying two Supreme Court justices would 'pay the price' for their anti-abortion rulings.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public statement Wednesday to rebuke Schumer for his comments made to abortion rights supports from the front steps of the Supreme Court. Then President Trump weighed in, saying Schumer should 'pay a severe price' for his comments on Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

Now McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, will add fuel to the fire Thursday when he publicly criticizes Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader.

Mitch McConnell will take to the Senate floor Thursday morning to assail Chuck Schumer for his remarks on two Supreme Court justices

'You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' Schumer said at a Wednesday rally at the Supreme Court

'Contrary to what the Democratic leader has tried to claim, he very clearly was not addressing Republican lawmakers or anybody else. He literally directed the statement to the justices, by name. And he said, quote, 'if you go forward with these awful decisions,' which could only apply to the court itself. The minority leader of the United States Senate threatened two associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Period,' McConnell will say, according to his remarks obtained by Playbook.

Schumer was at a protest at the court on Wednesday when the justices heard a case centered on a new Louisiana abortion law - the first abortion case the court has heard since Trump appointed Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the bench.

The Louisiana law requires doctors in abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at a hospital nearby, which abortion rights group argue is an attempt at restricting access to the procedure.

Schumer addressed the crowd and called out Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name.

'I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price,' he said while standing before the white marble Supreme Court building.

'You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,' he added.

President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying Schumer should 'pay a severe price' for his comments on the two justices

That earned the Democrat from New York a rare public statement from Roberts.

'Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest level of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous,' Roberts said in a statement.

'All members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.'

President Trump also slammed Schumer for his words.

'It's a disgrace that he was able to say that,' the president said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening. 'That was a terrible thing he said  I was amazed by it.'

Trump said that Schumer had delivered his remarks 'on the streets in front of a rough crowd' and that if a Republican had said something similar they would 'see very bad things happen.'

The president also weighed in on Twitter, writing: 'This is a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court by Schumer. If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW!'

'There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!' Trump tweeted.

'You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.' Chuck Schumer's words at a protest outside the Supreme Court as it heard

Target of 'threat': The abortion case in front of the Supreme Court is the first to be heard since Donald Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch (left) and Brett Kavanaugh (right) as justices

Hot tipping his hand: Chief Justice John Roberts was careful not to suggest his view on the case about new laws in Louisiana which say abortion clinic doctors must have admitting privileges at hospitals

Schumer's spokesman said the senator was referring to the political price Republicans would pay for 'for putting them on the court,' and 'warning that the justices will unleash major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.'

In the statement, Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman criticized Roberts, saying that 'to follow the right wing's deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said' shows the chief justice 'does not just call balls and strikes.'

Roberts' rebuke is only his second directed to politicians in his time as Chief Justice.

The first was to Donald Trump in November 2018, when the president tweeted and attack on 'Obama judges' for ruling against his administration's attempts at tough asylum policies.

'We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,' Roberts said.

'What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.'

Trump hit back saying 'Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have 'Obama judges,' and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country.'

Roberts issued no statement last month when Trump assailed two liberal justices - Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg - and demanded they recuse themselves after Sotomayor wrote a scathing dissent against a ruling in favor of restrictions at the southern border.

The president said the justice was 'trying to shame people with perhaps a different view into voting her way and that's so inappropriate.'

The source of his attack on Bader Ginsburg was not explained but stem from interviews in 2016 in which she said: 'I can't imagine what the country would be  with Donald Trump as our president.'

She also called him a 'faker' and said if he was alive her husband would have wanted to 'move to New Zealand.'

Bader Gisnburg, now the oldest of the justices, apologized for her 'ill-advised' remarks, but Ginsburg has not recused herself from any Trump case so far.

Roberts also said nothing when Trump lambasted the judge in the Roger Stone case as 'totally biased' last month.

In court Wednesday, Roberts had carefully done nothing to tip his hand in court during an hour of spirited arguments.

The court's election-year look at a Louisiana dispute could reveal how willing the more conservative court is to roll back abortion rights. A decision should come by late June.

The outcome could have huge consequences at a time when several states have passed laws, being challenged in the courts, that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks.

The justices are weighing a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. A federal judge found that just one of Louisiana's three abortion clinics would remain open if the law is allowed to take effect. The federal appeals court in New Orleans, though, upheld the law, setting up the Supreme Court case.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted, as she had before, that 'among medical procedures, first trimester abortion is among the safest, far safer than childbirth.' The abortion clinic in Shreveport at the heart of the case reported transferring just four patients to a hospital out of roughly 70,000 it has treated over 23 years, Justice Elena Kagan noted.

Justice Samuel Alito said the clinic had once had its license suspended, in 2010.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether the court will overrule a 2016 decision in which it struck down a similar law in Texas.

Since then, Trump was elected president and he appointed Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, who have shifted the court to the right.

Even with those two additions to the court, Roberts almost certainly holds the deciding vote.

When the justices temporarily blocked the Louisiana law from taking effect a year ago, Roberts joined the court's four liberal justices to put it on hold.

Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were among the four conservatives who would have allowed the law to take effect.

Rebuke: John Roberts' intervention is a rare public intervention in politics by the Supreme Court's most senior judge

Those preliminary votes do not bind the justices when they undertake a thorough review of an issue, but they often signal how a case will come out.

In more than 14 years as chief justice, Roberts has generally voted to uphold abortion restrictions, including in the Texas case four years ago.

It is for now unclear whether Roberts' outlook on the Louisiana case has been affected by his new role as the court's swing justice since Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement, his concern about the court being perceived as a partisan institution and his respect for a prior decision of the court, even one he disagreed with.

One possible outcome is that Roberts and the other conservative justices could find a way to allow Louisiana to enforce the law, without overruling the decision from 2016 in which the court struck down a similar law in Texas.

One avenue raised by lawyers for the state and the Trump administration is that the doctors didn't try hard enough to work out arrangements with the hospitals, even though the trial court found that doctors failed to secure admitting privileges at 15 hospitals over an 18-month period.

That result would be a defeat for abortion rights advocates who have argued that the laws are virtually indistinguishable.

But it would allow Roberts something of a middle ground between taking a big step to limit abortion access and reaffirming the court's abortion rulings.

Roberts asked the same question, in slightly different form, to each of the three lawyers who argued before the court.

The court in the Texas case found there was no benefit to the women the law was ostensibly intended to help and struck it down as an 'undue burden' on women's right to an abortion in violation of the Constitution.

'I understand the idea that the impact might be different in different places, but as far as the benefits of the law, that's going to be the same in each state, isn't it?' Roberts asked Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill.

The Louisiana and Texas situations are not identical, Murrill told the court. 'The laws are different, the facts are different, the regulatory structures are different,' Murrill said.

Roberts' inquiry seemed to dovetail with questions from Kavanaugh, whose interest was in discerning whether admitting privileges laws would still impose an 'undue burden' in a state that made it easy for abortion providers to get them.

'Could an admitting privileges law of this kind ever have a valid purpose, in your view?' Kavanaugh asked lawyer Julie Rikelman, representing the Shreveport clinic.

Rikelman replied: 'No, Your Honor. The medical consensus against these laws is clear.'

The court also has agreed to review whether abortion providers have the right to go into court to represent the interests of women seeking abortions.

A ruling in favor of the state's argument that the providers lack the right to sue in these circumstances, known as third-party standing, would be a devastating blow to abortion rights advocates since doctors and clinics, not individual women who want abortions, file most challenges to abortion restrictions.

But apart from Alito, the justices did not seem especially interested in resolving the case on the standing issue.

Outside the court, protesters on both sides filled the sidewalks just as they have for earlier high court cases on abortion.

Inside, Justice Stephen Breyer sought to capture searing debate over the issue. 'I understand there are good arguments on both sides.

'Indeed, in the country people have very strong feelings and a lot of people morally think it's wrong and a lot of people morally think the opposite is wrong,' Breyer said, though he left little doubt he would vote in favor of abortion rights.
Former Bachelorette star Ali Oetjen officially kicked off her music career this week.

And fans have gone wild heaping praise on the budding pop princess after she released her debut single 'Never Knew Love Like This Before'.

The song, which is a dance cover of the 1980 Stephanie Mills disco classic, has drawn favorable comparisons to Kylie Minogue.

Pop princess! Fans have gone wild for Ali Oetjen's debut single, Never Knew Love Like This Before, comparing the reality star to Kylie Minogue

Ali shared some of the early reviews to her Instagram page this week, which prove the dance single is sure to be a runaway hit - with many fans comparing her vocal chops to Aussie music legend Kylie.

'Your voice reminds me so much of Kylie Minogue - love it!' commented one fan.

Another wrote: 'We were saying that you sounded like Kylie in the office today!'

'Love it! So much talent,' shared another adoring admirer.

Better than Kylie! Ali received the ultimate compliment when fans not only compared her voice to Australia's pop princess Kylie, but one even said she had a 'stronger sound'

But one fan paid the ultimate compliment when they said the reality star had a 'stronger' voice than Kylie.

Ali appears to be winning fans from all over the world too - with a review coming from as far as South Africa.

'Listened and it's awesome,' they commented before adding they'd share it in their country.

Worldwide: Ali's debut single is sure to be a runaway hit with her earning praise from fans from all over the world including South Africa (pictured)

For her debut single, Ali did a cover version of a Stephanie Mills' Grammy award-winning hit, Never Knew Love Like This Before.

It is currently available on Youtube and will be released on Itunes, Apple and Spotify on Friday.

Ali recently gave fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her photo shoot for the new single on Saturday.

On set: Ali gave fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her photo shoot for the new single on Saturday

The blonde beauty showed off her toned and taut abs in a midriff tank top with a black tulle skirt teamed with combat boots.

She beamed for the camera as she waved a bouquet of pink flowers in the air.

In the caption, she revealed to her fans her love for music and performing while growing up.

'I'm ready to share my voice with you, share the feeling, share the message and share the inspo (sic) with you. I'm bringing out a SINGLE in about a week!!'

She added: 'From my soul to yours. Stay tuned in the coming week for my new single!'
Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie in 'The Banker' Photo: Apple+ Photo: Apple+

At first, The Banker seems as if it might be the kind of well-intentioned but hollow, ripped-from-real-life movie thats more intriguing for whos behind it (its the first feature from Apple+), what its about (a relatively unknown chapter in the 60s-era civil rights struggle) and the uproar surrounding it (a producer, whose named has been stripped from the credits, accused of sexual abuse on the brink of the original December release date) than its actual worth. But, thanks to the three strong performances at its heart  especially that of a wisecracking Samuel L. Jackson (whos also one of the producers)  The Banker often is as entertaining as it is enlightening. Its Hidden Figures with redlining instead of rocket fuel.

The film begins in the Houston-area town of Willis in the early 20th century, where a young Bernard Garrett makes money shining shoes but has his eyes set on something much bigger. A whiz at math and fascinated by the real estate and banking conversations he overhears while working on the shoes of his businessmen customers, he vows to make good use of his talents. The first part of making that dream come true is getting out of the segregated South.

Fast forward to Los Angeles many years later and an adult Garrett (Anthony Mackie) arrives in town with his young wife, Eunice (Nia Long), with a dream of becoming a real estate king by buying properties and re-selling them to a growing black middle-class neglected by the white real estate industry. Its in these early, rush-through-history moments that The Banker feels more like a Wikipedia entry than a film.

But once Jackson enters the picture as Joe Morris, a colorfully cantankerous club owner with money to invest in Bernards schemes, The Banker settles into a groove that comfortably marries message with movie. And their initial ploy is a big one: get a white friend, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hault), to be the front for their business while they are the force behind the scenes. Its their elaborate workaround to deal with Californias less in-your-face but instill insidious brand of racism.

Despite some hiccups of intolerance, things go well enough in LA  including an alliance with a white real estate wheeler-dealer (Colm Meaney)  that Bernard makes enough money to hatch a plan to buy a bank back in Willis. By providing money and banking services to the black community there, he hopes to lift up his hometown.

Its a life-changing decision that, according to the film, would lead to fundamental changes in both real estate and banking. It also lends the movie more needed conflict because the condensed version of Bernards story makes his life to that point appear a bit too easy.

Directed by George Nolfi, from a story and script by Nolfi, Brad Kane, Niceole R. Levy, David Lewis Smith and Stan Younger, the movie sometimes does come across as if it were made by committee. But its great to see an electric Jackson and a more straight-laced Mackie working together outside of the Marvel superhero universe, which is where we usually see them. It is enough to make The Banker a solid investment.

More Information "The Banker" Rated PG-13: for some strong language including a sexual reference and racial epithets, and smoking throughout Running time: 120 minutes Where: iPic, Houston; begins streaming on Apple+ March 20 *** (out of 5)

cary.darling@chron.com
A first case of coronavirus has been detected among staff at the Council of the European Union, a spokesman said yesterday, as ministers of the bloc's 27 member states were to hold emergency meetings there.

The spokesman of the Council, which hosts ministerial meetings and EU summits and has a staff of 3,000, said the person, from the information security unit, was infected in Belgium.

EU home affairs ministers gathered in the Council building in Brussels last night for an extraordinary meeting on the migration crisis at borders with Turkey.

Tomorrow, EU health ministers are expected to hold emergency talks in the same building on the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The spokesman said these meetings would still go ahead, as there were no health risks for attendees. "There should be no disruption to the work of our institutions," he said, adding that was in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols.

Earlier on Wednesday, another EU body, the European Defence Agency (EDA), reported a case of coronavirus among its staff. The official had recently travelled to northern Italy.

An EU official said the two infected individuals had met in recent days.

"The staff member tested positive and is currently at home in self-isolation since symptoms appeared Saturday," said EDA.

Reuters
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed a no-confidence motion against Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka.

As an Ukrinform correspondent reports, 263 lawmakers voted in favor of this decision at an extraordinary sitting on Thursday.

The draft law No. 3154 on the no-confidence motion against Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka was filed at the Verkhovna Rada the day before. The draft was signed by more than 100 MPs, including the members of the Servant of the People party faction.

The explanatory note to the draft law states that for more than half a year at the post Riaboshapka "has not demonstrated any activity in the investigation into the illegal actions of senior officials of the state, no high-profile pre-trial investigation has been conducted during his tenure, no indictment in such cases has been sent to court and, as a result, no sentence has been passed."

On 29 August 2019, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Ruslan Riaboshapka at the post of the Prosecutor General. Prior to that, he had served as the Deputy Chairman of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

During the presidential campaign, Riaboshapka was an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky for law enforcement and anti-corruption policy issues, and before that he had worked at the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption.

Riaboshapka initiated the reform of the Prosecutor Generals Office. On 19 September 2019, the Parliament passed the law on amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine on priority measures for the reform of the Prosecutor's Office.

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Chubb picked a rising executive to be Construction Industry practice leader for its large account segment. Lloyds of London promoted one of its veteran attorneys to be its next U.S. general counsel. Hamilton Insurance Group made a former Aspen Insurance executive head of its Syndicate 400 operations and Hamilton Insurance DAC, its Dublin-based carrier.

***

Chubb named Stephen Buonpane Construction Industry practice leader for its large account segment.

Buonpane will oversee strategic direction. Hell also lead a broad team of dedicated construction underwriting and service specialists, across multiple lines of business, to deliver customized and innovative insurance products and services to Chubbs distribution partners and construction customers.

He succeeds Bill Hazelton, who was recently named head of Chubb North America Claims.

Before his promotion Buonpane served as executive vice president, Major Accounts Construction. He will remain based in New York. Craig Richardson, Chubbs executive vice president of Major Accounts Environmental, and Joseph Fobert, the companys executive vice president of Major Accounts Excess Casualty, will continue to oversee those lines of business.

***

Lloyds of London promoted Sabrina Miesowitz to U.S. general counsel. She will succeed Joe Gunset, who is retiring from the role after almost 20 years at Lloyds.

In her new role, Miesowitz will be responsible for developing Lloyds regulatory strategy in the U.S. and managing government affairs with U.S. regulators at federal and state level.

Miesowitz, who was formerly the deputy U.S. general counsel, will take on her new responsibilities when Gunset retires at the end of March. She joined Lloyds in 2010 from law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf. For almost 10 years she has worked with U.S. regulators and provided legal support regarding Lloyds access to the U.S. insurance and reinsurance markets.

Gunset joined Lloyds in the summer of 2000 as Lloyds first full-time U.S. general counsel. He intends to move into a strategic advisory role in the New York office of the law firm McGlinchey Stafford.

***

Hamilton Insurance Group made Fergus Fergusson division head, Excess Casualty for Syndicate 4000 (managed by Hamilton Managing Agency Limited) and for Hamilton Insurance DAC, the companys Dublin-based carrier.

Fergusson joins Hamilton after nine years with Aspen Insurance UK Limited, where he held a series of increasingly senior positions, the most recent being head of International Excess Casualty.

Before working at Aspen, Fergussons 18-year career was focused on trade credit and political risk insurance, with three-and-a-half years spent underwriting and developing business at Coface and Euler Hermes Ireland and six years as head of Special Risks at International Risk Consultants.

Sources: Chubb, Lloyds, Hamilton Insurance Group
SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) has temporarily suspended the use of personal cups and mugs at its North American outlets amid ongoing concerns of coronavirus outbreak. The company said it will continue to honor its 10-cent discount for anyone who brings in a personal cup or tumbler for coffee, even though customers can't use them. The coffee chain has given customers discounts for using their own cups for new purchases since 1985, according to the company's website. 'As a global company, we've been closely monitoring the dynamic situation of COVID-19, along with the rest of the world,' wrote Rossann Williams, president of U.S. company-operated business and Canada for Starbucks, on an open letter posted on the company's website. 'First and foremost, the health and well-being of our partners and customers remains top of mind and our highest priority, and we will continue to act thoughtfully and courageously despite the disruption and uncertainty COVID-19 brings to our daily lives. As part of communities worldwide, we are navigating this situation with nimbleness, learning and adapting as new information is made available.' 'We will continue to stay close to our partners and local health officials, and we are optimistic this will be a temporary situation,' Williams added. The company said it is increasing the number of cleanings at all its company-operated stores and suspending business-related air travel, both domestic and international, for the rest of March. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Photo taken on Feb. 29, 2020 shows former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (front) attending a "Women for Mike 2020" campaign event in McLean of Virginia, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Billionaire entrepreneur Michael Bloomberg made a late entry into the presidential race and has spent over 500 million U.S. dollars on advertising.

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that he's suspending his presidential campaign and is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden.

The announcement came after a disappointing finishing for Bloomberg in Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries, in which he only won American Samoa.

"I'm a believer in using data to inform decisions. After yesterday's results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible - and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The billionaire entrepreneur, who made a late entry into the presidential race and has spent over 500 million U.S. dollars on advertising, also said that he's glad to endorse Biden, a moderate political veteran who most of the 14 states voting on Tuesday.

Photo taken on Feb. 29, 2020 shows former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (front, L) attending a "Women for Mike 2020" campaign event in McLean of Virginia, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

A champion of progressive policies, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont finished second but scored a major win in California, the state with the most pledged delegates to July's Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Biden, in a tweet on Wednesday, thanked Bloomberg for his endorsement.

"This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics," Biden added.

David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, said Bloomberg's departure "was expected."

"He's a flinty-eyed realist and the numbers weren't there," the former chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. "The big news was his quick pledge to back Biden, with all the material support that implies. It could turn out to be one of the most meaningful developments of 2020."

Photo taken on Feb. 29, 2020 shows former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (front) attending a "Women for Mike 2020" campaign event in McLean of Virginia, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Sitting President Donald Trump, who is projected to easily win the Republican Party's primaries on Tuesday, weighed in on Bloomberg's exit and lashed out at Biden with a series of tweets on Wednesday morning.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are still in the Democratic primary race, as a Biden-Sanders matchup took shape.

"Before the pundits call it a day, the ST (Super Tuesday) results don't mean this competition is over," Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, tweeted on Wednesday.

Sanders "has a substantial number of delegates, many important contests still ahead, and everyone should see by now that uncertainty is the only certainty," Zelizer stressed.

The next Democratic primaries will take place on March 10 for voters of six states to cast ballot for their preferred presidential candidate this year.

The Super Tuesday Democratic primary decided over 1,300 pledged delegates to the DNC or roughly a third of the total. Typically, a candidate is only eligible to receive a share of the pledged delegates at stake if they win at least 15 percent of votes cast in a primary or caucus.

To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the DNC, which election officials said must be at least 1,991 delegates.

The Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for a second term during August's national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 3.
New Delhi, March 5 : Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) leader Hanuman Beniwal's remarks linking Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to coronavirus (COVID-19) spread in the country led to heated protests from the opposition benches and adjournment of the Lok Sabha till 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The development took place during the course of suggestions from members of the House following the Health Minister's statement on coronavirus in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Members across the political spectrum offered suggestions on ways to curb the menace of coronavirus in India. Members who spoke on the matter included Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.

During the course of his speech in the House, referring to the 'Italy angle' in the coronavirus, Hanuman Beniwal alluded to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Congress members in trhe House immediately rose in protest following which the House was adjourned to 2 p.m.

Italy has emerged as one of the hotspots for the coronavirus, with 3,089 confirmed cases and 107 deaths so far. In India too, 16 Italian nationals have been confirmed as being infected.
Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan today had a working meeting with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Pejcinovic Buric in Strasbourg.

During the meeting, the parties discussed a broad range of issues related to the events taking place in Armenia and the system of human rights protection in Armenia in general. They particularly discussed the judicial and legal reforms in Armenia, the fight against and prevention of torture, human rights protection in the armed forces, the rights of families of servicemen, as well as the rights of women and children, the prevention of violence against them, etc.

The Secretary General attached importance to the cooperation of the Council of Europe with the Human Rights Defender and highly appreciated the role of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia in the improvement of human rights protection and the system of protection of rights in the country.
New Delhi: The Patiala House Court in Delhi today (March 05, 2020) ruled that the four Nirbhaya gang-rape murder case convicts will be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 am.

On Monday (March 2), Pawan Gupta's curative petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court following which the plea was forwarded to the President Ram Nath Kovind. The president on Wednesday rejected the mercy petition following which the Tihar jail authorities moved the Patiala House Court seeking a fresh date for the hanging of the four convicts.

The court had issued notices to the convicts on March 4, and at 2 pm on Thursday it came up with its judgment to hang the four convicts.

Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi, who was in court when the date was issued, said, "Hope this is the final date and they would be hanged on March 20."

President Kovind has already rejected the mercy petition of the three other convicts -- Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh. Notably, the Patiala House Court had issued the death warrants for the four convicts three times in the recent past.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in the national capital in December 2012. Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused.
As supermarket shelves are being stripped bare of every essential item from toilet paper to hand sanitiser with panic buyers stocking up in preparation for a coronavirus worst-case scenario, one Perth man has been ready for years.

And it's a pretty fair bet few are as prepared for anything as Jim Greer.

Jim Greer has a truck stocked up and ready to go in his backyard in the event of an emergency. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola

A long-time survivalist, or prepper, Mr Greer has an eight-tonne truck ready to go at a moment's notice if an emergency hits.

It could be fire or flood, a pandemic, or a third world war; it could be all of these things together. It wouldn't matter.
Hand sanitizer, face masks and toilet paper have flown off the shelves in New Jersey, where shoppers fearing the coronavirus are stocking up on supplies as suspected cases across the state continue to grow.

And while some of these medical products are still available online, several sellers are taking advantage of their scarcity by marking up prices.

A pack of two Lysol disinfectant spray cans is available on Amazon for $34.99. A double pack of eight ounce Purell bottles can be bought for $44.95. And a box of 100 medical face masks can run you a whopping $2,497 on eBay (and tack on another $299 for shipping).

It means state authorities now have to fight another growing concern among residents: price gouging.

The state Division of Consumer Affairs is investigating at least four complaints of price increases of face masks, officials told NJ Advance Media, and is encouraging consumers to file price gouging complaints with the state Attorney Generals office.

Unfortunately, in any public health scare, there are often disreputable businesses and scammers looking to take advantage of consumers fears. The Division urges consumers to beware of advertisements for products that claim to cure or prevent the coronavirus or other online offers and solicitations related to the disease, according to a spokeswoman for Consumer Affairs.

The states Consumer Fraud Act always prohibits unconscionable business practices, which can include gross and unreasonable price spikes in response to an emergency or health crisis, officials said.

Amazon is already combating price markups online, and has removed more than 1 million products from their website as of Tuesday morning for making false claims related to the virus ravaging the world.

"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, an Amazon spokesperson said.

@amazon what are you doing about sellers price gouging hand sanitizer???? pic.twitter.com/DiMnpWK4DM  NJ Commuter (@CommuterinNJ) March 1, 2020

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Melissa Companick, CEO of New Jersey Better Business Bureau, said while there are whispers of price markups, no complaints have been filed. She still advised businesses against unfair pricing.

We feel that dramatically raising your prices in the short term, just because you can, is not conducive to market place trust in the long term, she stressed.

However, New Jerseys Price Gouging Law, which forbids price increases of more than 10 percent, is not in effect until a state of emergency is called.

Gov. Phil Murphy said during a news conference Monday that New Jersey has a low level of risk and were not there in terms of declaring a state of emergency, as Washington and Florida have done.

State officials do eventually expect the virus to spread to New Jersey  neighboring New York has two confirmed cases  and the state is working aggressively to protect residents, Murphy noted during the press conference.

All nine people tested in the state have come up negative for COVID-19, which has infected more than 92,000 and killed more than 3,100 across the world, including nine in the United States.

The state will likely test more people after the federal Centers for Disease Control broadened the definition of those who are under investigation for the virus to include people with pneumonia that lacked an obvious cause, said Alexandra Altman, spokeswoman for Murphys office.

Officials also said the state is requesting more testing kits from the federal Centers for Disease Control. Testing is done at the states laboratories in West Trenton, and results are available within days.

On Wednesday, Acting Gov. Sheila Oliver said the CDC will provide the state with an initial award of $1.75 million for our response to COVID-19.

New Jersey launched a website and telephone hotline  1-800-222-1222  to answer questions about the virus.

Coronavirus symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.Centers for Disease Control

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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BEIJING, Mar. 5 -- China encourages Iran to continue cooperation with IAEA and hopes the agency will adopt an objective, impartial stance and exercise safeguards oversight on Iran strictly within its mandate, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Wednesday during a press briefing.

It is known that the IAEA released two reports on the Iranian nuclear issue on March 3. One is a quarterly report on Irans implementation of JCPOA obligations, which reveals that the countrys stockpile of enriched uranium has exceeded one tonne and it is now continuing to breach limits in other key areas. The other is on Iran's implementation of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol and the report asks Iran to provide access without delay to two locations.

We have noted the reports confirm that the agency has been verifying Iran's implementation of the JCPOA, and Iran has not taken the fifth step of reducing commitments and has not diverted declared nuclear material for other purposes, Zhao said.

The spokesperson reiterated that the US unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and its maximum pressure on Iran is the root cause of the current crisis. The US should give up its wrong approach and leave room for dialogue and negotiation.

China urges parties to Iran nuclear deal to follow a step-by-step and reciprocal approach and seek full and effective implementation within the Joint Commissions framework. The IAEA board should properly handle the issue and support diplomatic efforts to preserve the JCPOA, Zhao added.

He also stressed that China will continue to work closely with relevant parties to safeguard the deal and seek a political and diplomatic solution of the issue.
New coronavirus infection case has been registered in Russia, the operative HQ on coronavirus prevention reported today.

The patient is an Italian citizen who had arrived to Russia on Feb. 29, asked for medical help on March 2 and tested positive for the virus. He is being treated at an undisclosed hospital.

"On March 5, an imported coronavirus infection case has been confirmed in an Italian Republic citizen," TASS cited the HQ as saying.

Russia has a total of seven confirmed coronavirus cases, two of whom have since recovered last month.
A UK court on Thursday rejected for the fifth time the bail plea of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition to India on charges over the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case. The 49-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year and is scheduled for an extradition trial in May, made his fifth attempt at getting bail on the basis of a change in circumstances.

However, the High Court in London rejected his bail plea. Modi was arrested on March 19, 2019, on an ...
A mail carrier who stole thousands of dollars worth of cash deposits and money orders from her mail route was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday.

The Multnomah County District Attorneys office said a jury convicted Jamie Dent, 38, after she stole more than 100 pieces of mail from people along her mail route. She was convicted on 11 counts of mail theft and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to Deputy District Attorney Kate Williams, Dent likely stole mail for years before being caught and likely impacted at least 200 people across the United States.

Ms. Dent  breaching the publics trust  siphoned everything from rent checks to birthday and graduation cards for the explicit purpose of using our mail system to supplement a lifestyle she thought she deserved, Williams said.

Authorities began investigating Dent in July 2018, when a representative of a national footwear reported that someone had stolen several cash deposits from the companys Troutdale location. The company contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver its cash deposits to the bank, and found that it had about $30,000 unaccounted for in cash deposits. The deposits continued to go missing despite the company changing its policy to verify store employees. After police found that another company on Dents mail route also had cash deposits go missing, they identified her as a person of interest.

Police got a search warrant for Dents home and found more than 100 pieces of mail addressed to people along her mail route. The mail included money orders and personal checks. In one case, Dent had altered the name on a money order to pay a business where she boarded her horses.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

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Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - Entry into Mauritania has not been prohibited for foreign nationals, but those arriving are subject to a protocol for health surveillance of the coronavirus outbreak in accordance with the rules of the World Health Organization (WHO), an official source said on Thursday
I paint for women that are being abused or going through trauma.

Those are the words of Diana Lita. Shes a Tauranga-based mum determined to help other migrant women by sharing her experience as a domestic violence survivor.

Diana tells her life story through art and will be showcasing her paintings at an exhibition at the Peoples Gallery this month.

THIS, TOO, WILL PASS is a collaborative exhibition held by the Shakti Ethnic Women's Support Group and The Incubator.

The three exhibitors are migrant women and survivors of domestic violence expressing their resilience through art, says The Incubator gallery coordinator Wendy Pedersen.

Diana, who moved from Indonesia to New Zealand 16 years ago, says her passion for art came about last year.

I have been through marriage and a breakup. I have been through trauma since I broke up with my ex-husband.

Despite going through domestic abuse many years ago, she says the trauma from her past still lives on.

But art is her release for dealing with this.

Doing art has helped me out. I feel alive again, she says.

One of Diana's paintings showcasing in the upcoming exhibition.

My paintings tell a story of my life. I also hope they help other women who might have a similar story to me. Especially mums.

I would like to share with other women about how we can cope with these kinds of situations. Thats my mission now  I want to help.

Diana first connected with Shakti when she moved to Tauranga, and she says the group has helped her find ways to heal herself.

Shakti Ethnic support group deals with domestic violence among Asian, Indian, Fiji Indian, African and middle eastern women and children to empower them to live life with dignity and respect and free from violence.

Diana reiterates that shes not a professional artist, but is getting better with time.

Painting is just for my heart - I just do it because I want to.

She has more than 25 paintings showcasing in the exhibition.

14-year-old Farrah Cook is also showcasing work for the THIS, TOO, WILL PASS exhibition.

Shes keen to contribute her work to tell her story as a victim, and witness of domestic violence.

The exhibition will run March 16 to March 28. It will take place at The Peoples Gallery in The Incubator Creative Hub on 17th Avenue.

An opening will be held on Wednesday, March 18.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-05 09:09:01

5 March 2020

Nominees for Acron Board of Directors

Acron Board of Directors has resolved to put the following persons on the list of nominees for Acron Board of Directors for electing at the annual general meeting:

Nikolai Arutyunov Vladimir Gavrikov Georgy Golukhov Alexander Dynkin Yury Malyshev Alexander Popov Arkady Sverdlov Vladimir Sister

Seven members of Acron Board of Directors shall be elected. The date of the annual general meeting will be announced later.





Media contacts:

Tatiana Smirnova

Public Relations

Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196)

Investor contacts:

Ilya Popov

Investor Relations

Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252)

Background Information

Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It owns transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acrons subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licences for 11 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty, one of the largest chemical producers in Europe.

In 2018, the Group sold 7.3 million tonnes of various products to 67 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets.

In 2018, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 108,062 million (USD 1,723 million) and net profit of RUB 13,318 million (USD 212 million). Acrons shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs approximately 11,000 people.

For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en.
Pinnacle Group Chairman and CEO Nina Vaca spoke at the International Womens Day Conference 2020, an event organized by the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses and Women in Business. "Being a leader who promotes equity really is something you must do in every part of your life  it cant be something you only do at work or only when its convenient."

Pinnacle Group Chairman and CEO Nina Vaca delivered the keynote at the International Womens Day Conference 2020, an event organized by the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB) and Women in Business (WIB).

The event, titled Harness Your Power The Journey is Yours, commemorates International Womens Day with an entire day dedicated to discussions around the theme: #EachforEqual; an equal world is an enabled world.

Events like these are key towards changing perceptions and expanding the opportunities and platforms for women, Vaca said. By joining with both men and women who all want you to succeed, you create a wonderful global ecosystem where you can receive the support, guidance, and connections needed to excel.

Vaca founded Pinnacle Group, a workforce solutions powerhouse, in 1996 and has spent much of her career focusing on expanding opportunities for minorities and women in business. She is not only a trailblazing Latina entrepreneur and dynamic global leader but a world-changing philanthropist as well. In 2014, she was appointed by the White House as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. In that capacity, she has traveled to five continents inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs globally.

Nina Vaca is a vibrant business leader who understands the importance of opening doors for other women, Dineen Garcia, co-organizer of the conference, said. Vaca helped this conference fulfill its goal of leaving attendees fulfilled and inspired. Garcia is also an experienced leader and influencer as the Principal of Diversity Global Consulting, LLC.

Along with Vaca, the conference featured speakers Hon. Samantha Sacramento MP, Minister for Equality and Justice, and a senior representative from the British Association of Women in Policing. Panelists included local and international members of the Gibraltar Community sharing their expertise, journeys, and personal experiences.

The event provided local businesses and the diverse attendees with ideas and action points to help them move forward in a positive manner into a more equal and equitable future for all.

About Nina Vaca

Nina Vaca is the Chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Group. She is also one of the few (and youngest) Latinas serving as a director of publicly traded corporations. With Women on Boards 2020, she is working to increase the number of women on public company boards. In addition to her business leadership, Vaca is a civic leader and philanthropist, working relentlessly to expand opportunities for minorities and women in business, particularly in STEM fields in the U.S. and around the world. Recently, she was elected as a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She is also a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute as well as a German Marshall Memorial Fellow. For information and resources, visit NinaVaca.com.

About Pinnacle Group

Pinnacle Group is a leading provider of workforce solutions headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Founded by Nina Vaca in 1996, Pinnacle Groups core services include talent acquisition and management, managed services (MSP), and payrolling. With an unwavering commitment to client service and a specialty in analytics and emerging technologies, Pinnacle Group provides transformational outcomes to primarily Fortune 100 clients. Its Progata Talent Platform utilizes machine learning (ML) and proprietary algorithms to help match talent with opportunity and maximize utilization rates. Pinnacle Group is consistently named one of the fastest-growing companies in the country and was named fastest-growing women-owned company in the country by the Women Presidents Organization in both 2015 and 2018. For more information, visit pinnacle1.com.

About GFSB

The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses was formed in 1996 and is the leading non-political campaigning pressure group for the promotion and protection of Small & Medium-sized Business in Gibraltar.


By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

President Ilham Aliyev has said that he has allocated 10 million manats ($5.8m) for fight against the spread of coronavirus in the country, adding that the situation around the disease is under control and there are no reasons for concern.

The president made the remarks while inaugurating Goranboy District Central Hospital on March 3 as part of his visit to the western part of the country.

The situation is under control and a special operative headquarters has been created under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers upon my instruction. At the same time, I have instructed to allocate additional 10 million manats ($ 5,894,514) to ensure that the necessary measures will be taken more quickly, the head of the state said.

I want to reassure the Azerbaijani community that the Azerbaijani government is taking all the necessary measures There is no serious cause for concern. Most of the quarantined citizens have not yet been diagnosed with the disease. If their health is normal, they will be sent home after a certain period, the president stressed.

The president also said that work is underway to evacuate Azerbaijani citizens remaining in Iran.

They will be provided both onshore and air transport to Azerbaijan. However, everyone must understand that they should be put in quarantine for a certain period in order to prevent spreading of the disease in Azerbaijan.

Aliyev further said that Azerbaijan, like any other country, has not restricted cross-border cargo transportation. As you know, Azerbaijan is a transit country and we have been working for many years to expand our transit potential and we have succeeded in it. There are no restrictions on any transit goods.

However, he said that there is police control of the cargoes crossing the border.

There is an organized work on the delivery of the necessary goods, especially for the consumers in Azerbaijan and the neighboring countries, which come from the south. Special convoys consisting of relevant trucks are being formed and police escort is provided. At the same time, I have instructed to provide foreign drivers with meals so that they will not often get out of their cars and not go to public places. In other words, comprehensive step are being taken to protect the citizens from this disease. So far, all our steps have been successful. We are constantly in contact with the World Health Organization and work is being carried out to acquire tests to detect the disease and this issue is being addressed, Aliyev underlined.

The president also noted that kindergartens, schools, universities have been temporarily suspended to protect children and teenagers from the disease.

All necessary steps are being taken. According to current data, the probability of the disease spreading in Azerbaijan is not very high, Aliyev noted.

Aliyev also touched upon the concerns over shortage of masks in the country.

As I was informed, there has been a shortage of masks in pharmacies lately. There is no explanation for this since we have enough mask resources. It seems that some profiteers want to exploit this situation to increase their illegal income. All law enforcement agencies have been instructed that, if such cases are revealed, most severe penalties will be imposed on citizens who commit such violations. Because, those people, who intend to maximize their profit by exploiting this situation, must be given serious penalties, he said.

Azerbaijan closed its border with Iran after three cases of coronavirus were registered in the country.








During the hearing, Mehta read selective excerpts from a speech Mander made at Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI) University on 16 December, 2019, during an anti-CAA protest, claiming it incited violence and instigated the crowd against the apex court.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear the petition of social activist and former IAS officer Harsh Mander, who was among other petitioners demanding FIR against BJP leaders  Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra and Parvesh Verma  for hate speech that allegedly stoked Delhi riots of 23 February. The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the court can't be selective and speeches from both sides should be scrutinised.

The bench, visibly irked at the former IAS officer's comments declined to hear his plea until the matter about his comments is 'sorted'. The court will hear the matter of Mander's speech on Friday, 6 March. During the hearing, Mehta read selective excerpts from a speech Mander made at Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI) University on 16 December, 2019, during an anti-CAA protest, claiming it incited violence and instigated the crowd against the apex court.

Mehta cited transcripts of Mandar's reported speech at the Jamia Millia Islamia university, where he reportedly said that there is no trust left in the courts and that ultimate justice has to be on the streets. Mehta cited a video clip of Mander and said that he is seen to have "called on the people of India" and is heard saying that "real justice will be done on the streets"

Mehta further added that it was apparent that inflammatory speeches were made by both sides. "Lets not forget that these people are abusing these forums," he said referring to Mander. "The allegations against Mander are serious. The court will not hear Mander till the issue on allegations against him is sorted out," said the CJI.

What did the ex-bureaucrat actually say at Jamia Milia Islamia? Here is a translation of Mander's full speech:

"I will raise a slogan today  what are we fighting for and who are we fighting for? This fight is first for our country, then for our Constitution, and then for love. This government has challenged and declared war not just against our Muslim brothers and sisters of this country, but also against the way this country was imagined to be. During the freedom struggle, there was an imagination of India, an imagining of what kind of a nation ours would be after the colonial rule ended.

Our imagination was that we would build a nation where it won't matter whether you believed in Bhagwan or Allah or even if you didnt believe in anything. It wouldn't matter what jaati (caste) one belonged to or what language one spoke. It would not matter if you were rich or poor, woman or man. Everyone would be considered an equal human being and an equal citizen of this country. You would have as much right to this country as anyone else.

Today, when the Muslims of this country are being asked to prove their love and loyalty for this country, it's important to note that this question is being asked by those who never participated in India's freedom struggle and made no sacrifices.

The Muslim brothers and sisters and children who are present here are Indian by choice. The rest of us are Indians by chance. We had no choice. We had only this country. But you (Muslims) had a choice and your ancestors chose to live in this country.

Today, those who are in the government are trying to prove that (Pakistans founder Mohammed Ali) Jinnah was right and Mahatma Gandhi was wrong. The name of their party should be changed from Bharatiya Janata Party to Bharatiya Jinnah Party. Jinnah sahab had said that India is not one country, but two: "Muslim Pakistan and Hindu Hindustan".

What we are saying is that this is one nation: India, and that everyone  Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, Adivasis, Dalits, rich, poor, man, woman, everyone  has equal rights.

Anyone who asks you about your nationality and threatens to take away your rights is being challenged by a movement going on across states to save the Constitution of the country and to save love and friendship which form the soul of the Constitution. To save our constitution, we have come out on the streets and will continue to occupy the streets.

However, our fight cannot be won in the Parliament because our political parties, who declare themselves secular, do not have the moral strength to take up the fight. This fight will also not be won in the Supreme Court. As we have seen its previous judgments case on NRC, Ayodhya dispute and abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the Supreme Court failed to protect humanity, equality and secularism. We will definitely try as hard as we can in the Supreme Court, because it is our Supreme Court after all. However, the final decision/verdict will be given neither by the Parliament nor by the Supreme Court.

What will be the future of the country? You are young people  what kind of a country do you want to leave for your children? Where will this decision be made? On the one hand, the decision can be taken on the streets. We are all out on the streets. However, there is one more space, bigger than the streets, where this decision will be taken. But the solution to our struggle will be found in a space bigger than the streets  in your hearts and mine.

What is this space where the solution to this struggle can be found? Its in our hearts  in your heart and in mine.

If they want to respond to us with hatred and we respond likewise, then only hatred will thrive. If there is someone spreading darkness in the country and we counter them by spreading more then it is natural that darkness will grow thicker. If theres darkness, it can be countered only by lighting a lamp. If theres a greater darkness, we will light our own individual lamps. Thats how darkness can be defeated. We have only one answer to their hatred, and that answer is love.

They will cause violence, they will incite us to violence, but we will never commit violence. Please understand that it is their ploy to incite you to commit violence. If we respond with even two percent violence, there response will be 100 times greater. But we know what Gandhi ji taught us about violence and injustice.

Most importantly, we have to fight with non-violence. Anyone who incites you to violence and hatred is not a friend of yours. I will raise a slogan now  Long live the Constitution, Long live Love."
Zara S. Steiner, who wrote deeply researched books on the origins of World War I and the period between the world wars, adding new layers to the standard discussions of diplomacy and its shortcomings, died on Feb. 13 at her home in Cambridge, England. She was 91.

Her son, David, said the cause was pneumonia.

Dr. Steiner was unusual not only because she was a woman in a male-dominated field but also because she was an American whose writing largely centered on Britain. She was married to the essayist and scholar George Steiner, who spent much of his career at Cambridge University. He died 10 days before she did.

Dr. Steiner dug into the letters and other papers of civil servants and interviewed prominent and not-so-prominent historical players to flesh out the picture of how momentous events were shaped. Her books looked not just at the standard official documents, but at how unheralded staff members, public opinion and more propelled history.

In a tribute on Twitter, the Sir Michael Howard Center for the History of War at Kings College, London, called her one of the leading international historians of the 20th century.
* Jan exports -1.5% y/y vs -1.6% forecast in Reuters poll * Jan imports -2.4% y/y vs -1.8% forecast in Reuters poll * Jan trade surplus 12 bln rgt, matches poll forecast * reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=cpurl://apps.cp./Apps/econ-polls?RIC=MYEXP%3DECI export poll data KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia's exports in January dropped 1.5% from a year earlier, contracting after a surprise rebound in the previous month, on weak demand for mining goods, government data showed on Wednesday. The decline was marginally better than the 1.6% fall forecast by analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll. Exports in December grew 2.7% after four months of contraction. Shipments of manufactured goods, which accounted for 84.4% of January's total exports, grew 1.1% on-year, with increased demand for steel and rubber products and machinery, equipment and parts, data from the international trade and industry ministry showed. Mining and agricultural exports declined on lower shipments of liquefied natural gas, sawn timber and moulding. Exports to most major markets, including Southeast Asia, China, Hong Kong and Japan, declined, though shipments to the United States grew 9.5%. Imports fell 2.4% from a year earlier, after a 0.9% rise in December. Analysts had expected an 1.8% drop. The country reports trade data in ringgit. The trade surplus in January narrowed slightly to 12 billion ringgit ($2.87 billion) from 12.6 billion ringgit in the previous month. KEY DATA (Exports and imports in percent, trade in billions of ringgit) Jan Dec Nov Oct Sept Aug July June May Exports 84.1 86.4 80.8 81.3 90.6 81.3 88.0 76.2 84.2 y/y% -1.5 2.7 -5.5 -0.8 -6.7 -0.8 +1.7 -3.1 +2.5 Imports 72.1 73.8 74.3 70.4 73.3 70.4 73.7 65.9 75.1 y/y% -2.4 0.9 3.6 -12.5 -8.7 -12.5 -5.9 -9.2 +1.4 Balance 12.0 12.6 6.5 10.9 17.3 10.9 14.3 10.3 9.1 MAIN EXPORTS Jan 2020 % of % change (bln rgt) total vs year ago Electrical & 32.4 38.6 -5.5 Electronic Products Petroleum products 6.7 8.0 45.8 Chemicals and 4.3 5.1 -17.7 chemicals products Optical and 3.1 3.7 0.2 scientific equipment Palm oil & Palm-based 3.7 4.4 0.5 agricultural products Machinery 3.4 4.1 5.7 Manufactures of metal 3.1 3.7 -2.8 Liquefied natural gas 4.0 4.7 -22.8 Crude petroleum 2.2 2.6 -10.9 Rubber products 2.2 2.6 10.7 EXPORT MARKETS Jan 2020 % of % change (bln rgt) total vs year ago China 10.4 12.4 -5.7 Singapore 12.3 14.6 0.9 USA 8.7 10.4 9.5 Japan 6.6 7.8 -1.6 Hong Kong 5.6 6.6 -14.0 ($1 = 4.1820 ringgit) (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
China has been deeply scarred with the uncontrolled spread of Coronavirus, or COVID-19. The outbreak is causing people to take up different precautionary measures so as to keep the virus at bay.

The Chinese citizens are taking every extra step to disinfect all the possible things that might spread the virus. In a bizarre incident, a woman from China has burnt the banknotes in the process of disinfecting them.

Popularly known as Aunt Li, the woman is a resident of Jiangyin City in the southern Jiangsu province of China. She put more than 300 (approx. Rs 28k) worth of bank notes in a microwave to kill of all the possible microbes on it.

She was concerned about the fact that these banknotes may have touched various hands, including those who are infected with the virus.

However, within one minute, the notes started to burn and turned black. She took the charred notes to a nearby China CITIC Bank branch, where she was told that the notes cant be retrieved, reported Sina Finance.

However, the bank was able to refund a little amount. A spokesperson for China CITIC Bank told Sina Finance that all the cash drawn from financial institutions was clean money as the banks have taken necessary measures.

Last month, Chinas central bank clarified in a press conference that the banks have used ultraviolet light to disinfect currency.
by Daniel Dakota

As a result of long weeks of isolation, people feel lonely and fearful. Despite the situation, pastors and believers are reviving the sense of community with online prayers, helping the people of Wuhan with donations of medical supplies and preaching the gospel.

Shanghai (AsiaNews)  China Source, a Protestant magazine dedicated to Christianity in China, has just published the testimony of an American Christian who is currently in the megacity of Shanghai. In it, Daniel Dakota stresses the hardships Christian communities faces as their members are prevented from getting together. They experience loneliness, fear, but also discuss online the value of the Lord's Supper. Thus, the coronavirus epidemic is an opportunity for the various communities in Wuhan and China to breathe new life into the mission. Here is the article.

When friends and family back home ask about the coronavirus situation, the first word that comes to mind is eerie. My family and I live in a Chinese megacity of about 26 million people. Imagine if you shut down not just New York City but the nine largest cities in the US at the same time. That would be eerie.

The Chinese central government has called for people to remain home as much as possible and to avoid public areas. Most souls here only venture out of their apartments to run quickly for groceries or a breath of fresh air. We too, out of respect our host country, have chosen to stay inside as much as possible.

When we do go out, face masks are a must, an entry/exit pass from the neighborhood complex is required, and temperature checks are increasingly common in office buildings, public transport stations, grocery stores, and other public places. Even at our local wet market, guards with temperature guns man the entrance to make sure everyone entering has a mask and no fever. Most public parks in the city are closed, as well as many businesses. This megacity has turned into a masked ghost town.

Concerns and Challenges

The world is watching as China fights to contain the coronavirus. As the days and weeks of isolation drag on, Christians in China are facing unique challenges. For starters, most church services and weekly events are either suspended or have temporarily moved to some form of online platform. For many pastors, the technology is a necessary evil and is no replacement for in-person ministry and pastoral care. Pastors have very limited interaction with church members, which makes it more difficult to shepherd them.

Pastoral care and shepherding are especially needed right now because church members are at risk for emotional and spiritual harm. Some church members battle against loneliness and isolation. People who live alone can increasingly feel marooned in their apartment. Pastors and church members are working hard to stay in contact with their congregations and to make sure people have everything they need.

At the same time, each day we wake up to a flurry of news and rumors about the coronavirus. Many people can sit at home all day and soak in these stories, which can easily fuel a sense of panic. Pastors are hurriedly working to comfort church members.

There are other spiritual dangers. Pastors are worried less about government pressure at this time and more worried about the churchs internal disputes and disagreements over how to operate in this unique situation.

At first, the main concern for Christians was, since many churches cannot meet in person, how will they continue to meet and worship? Everyone has their own opinion, and everyone backs up that opinion with their own evidence, one pastor recently told me. For now, many churches have moved to meeting online.

Yet, the longer people are in isolation, the more complicated the questions and the more heated the debates. Some churches are now debating if church members can also celebrate the Lords Supper on their own. After all, the reasoning goes, if we can meet as a church online, why not celebrate the Lords Supper online too?

Disputes over such matters are growing. And these arguments threaten to rupture some churches. Pastors are focused on how to shepherd members through these disagreements over how to be the church when the church cannot meet in person.

But, many churches are not simply focused on their own concerns. In the city where I live, there are churches trying to mobilize support for people in Wuhan. They have a passion to do everything they can to help the people in Wuhan, yet they are running into obstacles.

Churches have raised funds for medical supplies to send to Wuhan, but they have difficulty locating reliable supply. There are reports of many tricksters and fraudsters selling fake supplies, supplies that are below standard, or even recycled supplies. Some people have bought medical supplies from people posing as suppliers only to find that the seller ran off with the money. Even when supplies are located, it is uncertain whether the shipment will make it to its destination.

Opportunities

Yet, the church continues to shine brightly in the midst of a coronavirus-crazed China. Although normal life is at a standstill, the church continues to be salt and light to those around it. Christians in China have an incredible opportunity.

First of all, the coronavirus gives Christians a chance to share with others the reason for the hope that is in them while they face coronavirus. We pray that God will use this situation to soften peoples hearts to the gospel. Recently, one pastor friend of mine optimistically remarked that we should begin planning for short-term mission trips to Wuhan once it reopens so that we can share the gospel with people there.

There is also an opportunity for the church to be the city on a hill that it is called to be. In the aftermath of the tragic 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province, Christians poured in supplies and contributed to relief work, which was noticed and praised by their fellow citizens. Once again, Christians today have the opportunity to stand out and witness to their faith by contributing to medical supplies, relief efforts, and by praying for those in Wuhan. Christ continues to preserve and protect his church in China and to use it for his glory.
A teenager who was fired from Wendys over a viral video is now speaking out about the dumbest mistake hes ever made. Paul Kash was fired from a Wendys in Greenville, Michigan after he was caught on camera taking a bath inside one of the restaurants sinks. The clip, originally posted on TikTok, has since received hundreds of thousands of views after being reshared across social media. The footage shows Kash sitting inside a sink, scrubbing himself with a sponge while two other men look on and laugh. Kash told WDIV-TV that his manager saw the clip, which he said was meant to be funny, within a day of it being posted. Kash lost his job shortly after that, along with everyone else involved in the incident, Newsweek reported. Meanwhile, Christian Camp, Wendys vice president of human resources, publicly condemned the clip as completely unacceptable. The saga continued for several days, with social media users sharing the clip widely while calling the act disgusting and moronic . Kash said hes now trying to move forward from the notoriety and stay positive . The 19-year-old added that hes focused on bettering himself and trying to figure out what his career will look like in the future
CROWN POINT  A special judge on Tuesday dismissed claims against three adult children of convicted murderer William "Bill" Landske from a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the husband of slain attorney T. Edward Page.

A Lake Criminal Court jury convicted Landske in August of murdering Page. Landske is currently appealing his conviction and 55-year prison sentence.

A day after the jury returned its verdict, attorney Kenneth J. Allen filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Landske and three of his children on behalf of Kevin Swanson, Page's husband.

Testimony during Landske's criminal trial showed Landske was angry with Page because Page had sought multiple extensions for filing the Landske family taxes. Page had prepared the family's taxes for decades as a favor to Landske's late wife, former state Sen. Sue Landske.

During a news conference in August, Allen said Swanson's suit would evoke Indiana's "red flag" law, which "allows law enforcement to seize the guns of someone deemed dangerous to himself or others  even if that person is licensed to carry a weapon."
Mary Shepler, the chief nursing officer at EvergreenHealth, which includes the hospital in Kirkland, defended the facilitys preparedness and protocols. The hospital, she said, has adequate supplies, including single-use masks and face shields that are sterilized and reused.

The hospital, too, has conducted drills and training for such situations, Ms. Shepler said, adding that she understands the stress that people are under while dealing with a new virus.

Its uncomfortable to all of us in this new zone, she said.

Ms. Shepler said that after quarantining some workers who were exposed to coronavirus patients, the hospital determined that the extent of the quarantine was unrealistic because it left shortages in a needed work force. They brought nurses back who were asymptomatic  an approach deemed reasonable by the C.D.C., she said  and are testing them twice a shift. They are also required to wear masks while treating patients.

The California Nurses Association, a statewide union that has grown into the largest organization of nurses in the country, with representation of 155,000 nurses, is scheduled to hold a news conference on Thursday afternoon to demand access to the highest level of protection for nurses on the front lines. It also plans to demand training and clear plans for how to handle patients suspected of having the virus.

Employers shall plan for a surge of patients with possible or confirmed Covid-19, including plans to isolate, cohort, and to provide safe staffing, the union said in a statement. Any nurse/health care worker who is exposed to Covid-19 will be placed on precautionary leave for at least 14 days and will maintain pay and other benefits during the full length of that leave.

Some nurses at other hospitals have reported being asked to take their personal paid leave to cover periods of mandatory quarantine. California has one of the strictest nurse-to-patient ratios in the country, with one nurse for every two sick patients in intensive care units. Some nurses said they were concerned that hospitals would struggle to meet that quotient if too many were forced into quarantine.
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A mbience: 4/5

Food: 3/5

Among the many qualities you hope for in a good restaurant server  passionate, off-script knowledge of the menu; the ability not to straddle a backwards chair like The Fonz and start manically calling everyone guys  Id say that managing a tables gluttony is quite important. Especially, of course, if its a sharing-plate place where the sweet spot of how much to order can seem vague and treacherous. So let us just start by saying that, if nothing else, the staff at Oklava Bakery + Wine (chef Selin Kiazim and wine expert Laura Christies reboot of their Fitzrovia restaurant, Kyseri) are absolute masters in this particular field. That is quite a lot of food, theyll say frequently, running an eye down your early selections and sucking air through their teeth like mechanics assessing a tricky job.

And, well, there are a couple of ways to read this. One is that Kiazims adapted menu here, a baking-focused expansion of her modern Turkish Cypriot approach at the first Oklava in Shoreditch, with an all-day procession of grilled cheese sandwiches, lamb crackling buns and potato fritters, is so appealing its hard not reflexively to order all of it. And the other is that, well, bread is such a core feature that theres the distinct possibility of getting both uncomfortably full and a little fatigued. There are, of course, worse problems to have. But as a very pleasant evening played out there recently, I felt a slight longing for food with a little more breadth; a sense of our early enthusiasm being well and truly carbed.

My wife and I went on a stormy Saturday night, gratefully fleeing the Calpol-doused family home during toddler flu season. What we found was a cosy space that had the low-lit, romantic feel of a neighbourhood refuge, lightly sprinkled with older couples possessing real, sophisticated Curzon member energy.

Oklava Bakery + Wine

Oklava bread offered the menus first rocketing high; a gorgeously warm medley of squidgy olive muffins and fragrant, sesame-seeded sourdough alongside a salted medjool date butter that was like the spreadable quintessence of a hot cross bun. Just properly, properly spectacular, especially chased by glasses of luscious Urla Nexus Turkish wine from Christies tightly edited list. And Black Sea cheese pide, a heavily Instagrammed roundel of blackened, zaatar-speckled crust and gooey cured egg yolk bullseye, just about warranted the fame and fuss with its mucky collision of crunch, salt and ripe sweetness.

But then, by the time the tepsi kebab (a little-seen regional variant that comprised a lavishly spiced but somewhat ho-hum giant kofte patty squashed into a shallow circular pan before baking) came with kaleidoscopic salads and, oh God, sizeable rounds of puffed bazlama flatbread, it started to feel a touch effortful. Yes, there had also been some wilted Aegean greens infused with a great gust of garlic, and two hefty, honey-dribbled crash mats of fried hellim cheese (Turkish Cypriot halloumi). Yet there was the feeling that a few smart additions to the menu, another protein-based main, perhaps, may have made for a more rounded experience.

Im confident that this sort of evolution will come naturally (it seems telling that the Kyseri-era dish of beef manti dumplings has been essentially put on the permanent specials board after customers kept asking for it). And as two joyous mini loaves of moist, fine-crumbed pistachio cake arrived, it renewed my faith that Oklava Bakery + Wine is a thoroughly likeable operation thats merely a few tweaks away from greatness. After all, reimagining a restaurant is tricky. And, really, there are far greater sins than perhaps a little too much of the same good thing.

Oklava Bakery + Wine

1 Bread and medjool date butter 4.50

1 Aegean greens 5

1 Fried Helli 8

1 Cheese pide 12

1 Tepsi kebab 21

1 Pistachio cakes 5

2 Glasses of Urla Nexus wine 18

2 Efes beer 8

1 Pomegranate te3

1 Turkish coffee 3

1 Charity donation 1

TOTAL 99.50
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 22:05:26|Editor: xuxin

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PHNOM PENH, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's health authorities have put 44 people under quarantine for having contact with a Japanese man reportedly diagnosed with COVID-19, said a Health Ministry's Communicable Disease Control Department statement on Thursday evening.

A Japanese man reportedly tested positive on Wednesday for the virus after he landed at Japan's Nagoya Airport. The man on Tuesday evening took a flight from northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city before taking a connecting flight to Japan.

The statement said that the Siem Reap provincial health authorities had found four persons having close contact with the patient and about 40 others having indirect contact with him.

"They are placed in quarantine for 14 days for health observation," the statement said.

According to the statement, the Japanese man is a businessman.

Cambodia confirmed the first and only case of COVID-19 on Jan. 27. The victim is a 60-year-old Chinese man. He was discharged from hospital on Feb. 10 after fully recovering from the disease.
She recently stirred buzz with her forthcoming thriller, The Woman In The Window, which sees her star as an agoraphobic who becomes deeply entangled in the lives of her neighbors.

The six-time Oscar-nominated actress, 45, made an unusual departure from her typically chic style with a Canadian tuxedo, while making a trip to the hair salon in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

The mother-of-one, who shares a nine-year-old with husband Darren Le Gallo, beamed, before getting her signature auburn tresses touched up in a pair of white trainers.

Double denim: Amy Adams, 45, made an unusual departure from her chic style with a Canadian tuxedo, while making a trip to the hair salon in Beverly Hills

While navigating her way into salon, the actress paid her parking meter and held onto her trendy, beige bucket bag.

Adams, who rarely rocks double denim, flaunted her legs in a light-wash pair of ripped jeans and a matching shirt with a plunging neckline.

The Sharp Objects star kept the look modest, by pairing the denim top with a white tank underneath.

Laid-back: The mother-of-one, who shares a nine-year-old with husband Darren Le Gallo, beamed, before getting her signature auburn tresses touched up in a pair of white trainers

The Golden Globe winner appeared in great spirits, as she flashed her teeth and cheerful expression under a pair of her signature over-sized sunglasses.

The redheaded beauty did not appear to be rushing to her appointment, as she purchased a snack and took a leisurely stroll.

For the outing she kept her makeup minimal and swept her locks in a ballerina-inspired top knot.

Chic: The Golden Globe winner appeared in great spirits, as she flashed her teeth and cheerful expression under a pair of over-sized tinted sunglasses

Smiling: The mother-of-one, who shares a nine-year-old with husband Darren Le Gallo, beamed, before getting her signature auburn tresses touched up in a pair of white trainers

While Adams appeared solo, she is typically not far from her other half, who she got engaged in 2008, but waited until 2015 to tie the knot in an intimate ceremony outside of Santa Barbara, California.

In 2013, the screen star told Vanity Fair she wanted something 'family-oriented and laid-back' for the big day.

Despite the long engagement, the pair have always been deeply committed to each other.

Upcoming role: She recently stirred buzz with her forthcoming thriller, The Woman In The Window, which sees her star as an agoraphobic who becomes deeply entangled in the lives of her neighbors

Casual: For the outing she kept her makeup minimal and swept her locks in a ballerina-inspired top knot

'We always had the commitment, but now he's stuck with me and I can really act out. I'm kidding. The truth is, I feel a stronger sense of family, a bigger sense of permanence, which is a nice thing for me,' she told The Times.

The lovebirds met during acting classes in 2001, but initially sparks didn't fly. Amy explained: 'I had another boyfriend, and Darren was dating some girl I did scenes with him, and I liked him and thought he was really sweet.'

She also joked: 'I was really focused on the classeshe was a little scared of me.'

But, when they both appeared in a the short film Pennies together, they quickly started dating.
In 1984, the Sikh community in India faced the worst-ever riots that took away basically everything from them.



The Sikh riots of 1984 will always be instilled in our history as the most hateful act of ethnic cleansing. But that, in no way, has made the community bitter or hateful. In fact, the community is an epitome of empathy and generosity and it's reflected in the work they put in to safeguard and provide relief whenever it is required.

Sikhism always teaches one the truest tryst with service. Service toward mankind is upheld with dignity and immense respect in the Sikh community, and every time India faces a grave situation the community helps by providing aid, regardless of the fact that they've been victims of severe violence initialled upon them by the same state.

Ever since the recent Delhi violence, that took place on the 25th of February 2020, the Sikh community, namely the Khalsa Aid has been at ground zero since day one, providing food and comfort for those who have lost their homes.

The Delhi Gurudwara's have also opened their doors for anyone who needs a place to stay and langar is being distributed at protest sites and violence-affected areas across the city.

With everything the Sikhs give back to the community, we thought they were definitely worth a special mention here.

Here's how and when the Sikh Community has come together from all around the world, regardless of their caste, community, religion and the violence instilled upon them, to help those in need:

(1) Khalsa Aid Providing Shelter To Kashmiri Students

After the Pulwama terror attacks, where over 40 CRPF personnel were killed, a lot of Kashmiri students across the country were under threat of verbal and physical violence and hence, were running back home from all across the country.

The Khalsa Aid came forward to offer help to all the distressed students by giving them shelter and also helped them get back home safely.

Besides providing transportation and helping the students relocate, the good Samaritans at the Khalsa Aid were also ensuring that they provided sanitation needs and food as well.





(2) Khalsa Aid During Assam Flood

The Khalsa Aid volunteers from Punjab helped the victims who were stranded in the 2018 Assam floods, which were devastating, to say the least.

Besides helping people evacuate, the volunteers also provided the victims with food and other basic amenities. They hired boats to help people leave the area and provided them with sanitary items and groceries.

The Gurudwara Singh Sahib also fed whoever was hit by the flood.

(3) Khalsa Aid During Kerala Flood

In 2018, Kerala too saw the worst floods ever and the Khalsa Aid was there to relentlessly help the affected people by providing them with food, aid and shelter. Around 8,000 people who had lost their homes were being fed by the Khalsa Aid back then.

(4) Khalsa Aid Providing Water To Drought Hit Maharashtra

Maharashtra was hit a severe drought last year and the Khalsa Aid joined relief work by providing 6,000 litres of water every day, to help the situation.

Around 22 lakh people were affected by the situation and the team was in Nasik for over a week. Besides arranging water tankers and providing clean, drinking water to the remote parts of the state, the volunteers were also sanitising water well with purifying tablets and other aids.

Maharashtra Drought:



Our @khalsaaid_india team is providing water to the people of #Maharashtra (India ). The drought has hit many areas, our teams are stepping up the water supply. @CMOMaharashtra @thetribunechd @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/itOJejdFVJ  Khalsa Aid (@Khalsa_Aid) May 20, 2019





(5) Khalsa Aid Helped Syrian Refugees In Serbia

The non-profit organization reached Serbia and helped rehabilitate Syrian refugees by providing them with food, water, medical and educational assistance.

They also helped provide food and aid towards the refugee crisis globally and were there helping out in times of need, relentlessly.

Whenever there is a calamity, a disaster or a form of mob violence, the Sikh community always comes forth and helps serve humanity.

If you visit the violence-affected areas in Delhi post the riots, you will see Khalsa Aid provide relief and rescue aid to the people who're still there trying to survive.

They've also been visiting protest sites, assuring everyone to remain at peace and maintain calm.

We're very grateful towards the Sikh community to always put service towards mankind before anything else and show empathy when it's required the most.
Hyderabad, March 5 : Cyberabad police on Thursday arrested Congress MP Revanth Reddy on charges of illegally using drone to capture images of a farmhouse allegedly owned by Telangana minister K. T. Rama Rao on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Reddy, a member of Lok Sabha from Malkajgiri constituency, was later produced before a court, which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. He was shifted to Cherlapally Jail.

According to police, Revanth Reddy surrendered at Narsingi police station and argued with the police over the case booked against him.

Police said he was explained about his involvement and evidence available. When he refused to co-operate with the police, he was arrested and produced before a magistrate.

The police had earlier booked the MP, his brother Krishna Reddy and seven others for illegally using the drone to capture images of the farmhouse and surroundings in Miyakhangadda. Five persons were arrested in the case.

They were booked for criminal conspiracy, violations of orders of public servant, abetment and causing harm to the public.

Revanth Reddy, who is a key leader of Congress party in the state, targeted K.T.Rama Rao for allegedly building the farmhouse in violation of the norms.

Rama Rao is the son of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Working President of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Several projects have been delayed due to the outbreak, including Salman Khans Radhe.

Salman Khan, who was to travel with a large crew to Azerbaijan to shoot for his upcoming film Radhe for a week, has cancelled the schedule due to the ongoing coronavirus scare.

The coronavirus scare is going to affect a lot more film schedules now, and this is just the beginning. There are many film shoots that were to happen in foreign countries in the coming few days because the filmmakers wanted to go to Europe during the summer, that has set in India rather early. But the situation is not really conducive for people to travel now and one cannot endanger many lives, says an insider. Radhe will now be shot in India instead for a week.

However, it is not just the shooting schedules that are getting affected. Many theatres in various European, as well as Asian countries, are already shut due to the spread of the virus worldwide. The situation is not alarming in India at the moment, but the film trade is on its toes.

The Daniel Craig starrer James Bond film No Time to Die was to release in India as well in April, but had to postpone the release to the end of the year, even though we had blocked theatres for them. We are also seeing how the situation pans out in India, says a senior distributor.

China has become a huge market for Bollywood films and all those films that are slated to release in China have been put on hold because of the situation, says another trade source.

Sanskriti Media
I ts a Thursday evening and Im sitting cross-legged on a mat at Anatomie Studio, a converted railway arch in Peckham.

The vibe is low-key and cosy: people pad around in leggings, vests and socks with fruit teas as they wait for the class to begin. I spot my friend, T, taking his shoes off by the door and wave  he has come straight from the office (hes in HR for a big US company) and he is still in his work clothes. A semicircle is forming around us: there are several dozen Londoners here tonight, mostly aged from 20 to 35, ranging from people in suits with their ties off to students from nearby Camberwell College of Arts.

Looking at us, youd probably think we were about to do a guided meditation. But actually, T  who really is just a friend  is going to be tying me up as we learn the basics of shibari, a type of Japanese rope bondage. Well both remain fully clothed throughout, and at the end of the evening well part ways with a hug. For many of the attendees, the story is the same: a few have come with partners, but lots are with friends, or are solo and will be paired up when the class gets started.

If everything about that paragraph has made your eyebrows shoot off the top of your head, you wouldnt be the first. Although you can buy body harnesses from Asos and Lady Gaga has been shot in rope for Vogue Japan by photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, even the word bondage tends to elicit sniggers; its persistently misunderstood as just being a means to an X-rated end.

Actually the rope itself is the main course, Anna Bones, Anatomies co-owner, tells me. The focus in shibari is on the process, the emotions and the headspace  the point is that youre enjoying tying someone, moving them around and then untying them, or vice versa. Or, as she puts it on Anatomies website: In shibari the model is the canvas, the rope is the paint and brush, and the rigger [the person who does the tying] is the rope artist.

Warm and thoughtful, Bones discovered shibari while completing her PhD in anthropology at UCL in 2013. In Japanese, shibari literally means to tie (it has its roots in the Edo period, when the Samurai would use rope to immobilise their opponents). The ties range from simple wrist or ankle loops to gravity-defying suspensions from bamboo poles. Some people exclusively tie, others only like to be tied, and many switch between the two roles. Bones met her husband Fred (Anatomies co-owner) through rope, and the two started hosting workshops with visiting tutors in their living room. The demand was so great that within a couple of years theyd started teaching themselves, gone full-time and opened Anatomie, the UKs first and only dedicated shibari studio.

Their twice-weekly rope jams are at the heart of a busy and diverse scene: Peer Rope London runs monthly sessions at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, and Hitchin Bitches, a network for those who identify as female, genderqueer, non-binary and intersex riggers, is going strong. Anatomie also offers life-drawing classes incorporating rope, and weekend workshops at which more experienced practitioners can learn how to safely suspend someone. It feels like London is following in the footsteps of liberal US cities such as New York and San Francisco, where people talk about rope in much the same way as they might rock climbing or pottery classes: its just another activity that enriches their lives.

One of the questions Bones gets asked the most is, Is it sexual? In fact, she hears it so often that she did a survey of Anatomies attendees, and collected their responses for an Instagram story. Its like dancing: with some people it is, with others its not, is how one member puts it. Quite often its more like dancing with a friend, offers another unprompted. Thats the beauty of rope, says Bones with a smile. Its very versatile.

Personally, my trips to Anatomie have helped me navigate a year of change. Ive gone fully freelance, which I always dreamed of doing. But with that have come huge spikes in anxiety about the future, along with waves of guilt whenever I try to slow down. After getting nowhere with various mindfulness apps, I remembered that when I was cramming for my A-levels I used to wrap my dressing gown belt around my wrists while revising. I wasnt really sure why I was doing it: all I knew was that I found having my movements restricted took the pressure off me and cleared my mind. When I read about Anatomie in Time Out, I wondered if going there might have the same calming effect. It did  in fact, I quite often end up falling asleep.

People are drawn to shibari for all kinds of reasons. Karl, a 39-year-old architect, first came to Anatomie with someone he was dating, who was a regular. He wasnt sure what to expect. Id have been far too intimidated to go alone, he says. But the technical side of tying  getting the rope to lie straight and knotting neatly  appealed to him, and he really liked the atmosphere. I do acroyoga [a kind that includes acrobatic balancing] and there are definitely some overlaps. In fact, Id say it was friendlier than a yoga studio.

For Elise, 27, the psychological aspect of relinquishing control was part of the attraction. Its the feeling of not having to make decisions, she says. As a self-employed person my working life is a constant hustle, and its all on me. So to be able to just mentally let go of everything for the time youre being tied is really nice. She also switches. When Im tying its a journey, starting somewhere and seeing where it takes me without having an idea of the finished result. But regardless of which role Im taking, its something that literally and figuratively binds you to a person more strongly.

Its like dancing: with some people it is sexual, with others its not

Bones picks up on this too: in a city such as London that can encourage isolation, she says, people are crying out for contact and connection. Its intimate; people are drawn to that. We have people who identify as asexual, but still crave touch. And just being in the space encourages conversations about things like your mental health I think it can definitely make people better communicators.

Creating this kind of atmosphere relies on a culture of enthusiastic consent: rather than being a one-off yes or no, its an ongoing dialogue between the person doing the tying and the person being tied. Far from making things awkward, it deepens the experience. (Twitter pundits who moan about our increasing awareness of consent ruining dating could learn a lot from an Anatomie session.)

Back in the studio, T is rolling up his sleeves while I cross my arms behind my back. Were both quite new to rope, so were starting with a simple box tie. The moment he wraps the rope around my wrists, checking in with me to make sure Im okay, I feel the days anxieties lifting. John Donne was right, I think, not quite managing to shut off the writerly bit of my brain: to enter in these bonds, is to be free.

Beginners rope jams run at Anatomie Studio every Thursday (anatomiestudio.com)
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 70, has been married at least six times.

His first, in 1979, was to his first cousin and First Lady of Dubai, Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, who was 17 at the time - nearly 13 years younger than Sheikh Maktoum.

She is the mother of twelve of his children including Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, their heir-presumptive, who was born in 1982.

His other wives include Sheikha Randa bint Mohammed Al-Banna, from Lebanon, where another of Sheikh Maktoum's wives, Sheikha Delila Aloula, was also born.

Algerian-born wife Sheikha Houria bint Ahmed Al Maash is the mother of Princess Latifa, and the sheikh is also married to Zoe Grigorakos, who has Greek origin, and another unknown wife.

All of these have consistently evaded the public eye, but the sheikh's sixth and most 'junior' wife, Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan, is used to the limelight.

While Princess Haya - the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and his third wife Queen Alia - was born in her father's kingdom, she received a British education, reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford.

She married Sheikh Maktoum in 2004, aged 29.

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein And Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum At The First Day Of Royal Ascot

The princess is an accomplished horse rider, becoming the only woman to win a medal in the Pan-Arab Equestrian Games, having been the first woman to represent Jordan in international equestrian sport.

She competed in showjumping at the 2000 Olympics for Jordan and has been a goodwill ambassador for the UN world food programme.

Princess Haya is reported to have fled Dubai with her children and 31 million in June 2019, seeking asylum in Britain.

The sheikh and Haya had long been a fixture in British high society and are independently both friends of the Queen.

Last year the sheikh  unaware his wife was fleeing him in fear of her life  had been waiting for her and their children at his sprawling estate in Newmarket, Suffolk, one of several enormous homes the 70-year-old monarch owns in the UK. They never turned up.

She had taken their daughter Princess Jalila, then 11, and son Prince Zayed, then seven.

The reign of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, has been mired in controversy.

Left to right: Ivanka Trump, the daughter and senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai and Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Since his accession in 2006, he has undertaken sweeping reforms in the UAE's Government, and has been held responsible for turning Dubai into a wealthy and global mega city.

The sheikh trained in the military before being appointed to head of the Dubai Police Force and Dubai Defence Force, and was the UAE's first defence minister in December 1971.

In January 1995, he was pronounced Crown Prince by his elder brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and embarked upon a policy of tackling Government corruption that led to the arrest, charging, and unusual public 'naming and shaming' of 14 officials, including six officers.

After around one decade of acting as the UAE's de facto ruler, he became Vice President in January 2006, and Prime Minister of the UAE that February.

He has created and encouraged the growth of numerous Dubai businesses and economic assets, including Dubai World, Dubai Holding, and Emirates flight.

Sheikh Maktoum's rule has been mired in controversy.

Queen Elizabeth II (R) greets Emir of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (L) and Jordan's Princess Haya bint al-Hussein (C) in the Royal Box on the second day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet in Ascot, west of London on June 15, 2016

He has come under criticism by human-rights groups for alleged infractions, presiding as he does over a judicial system which mandates the execution of criminals by firing squad, hanging, or stoning.

Sentencing for flogging - a legal punishment for criminal offences such as adultery, premarital sex, and alcohol consumption - ranges between 80 and 200 lashes.

Apostasy from Islam and homosexuality are a crimes punishable by death, while women in the country require permission from male guardians to marry and remarry.

It is not permitted to be critical of the UAE Government, royal families, officials, and police, in any way. Attempts to demonstrate in public are met with resistance.

Human Rights Watch has accused the UAE regime of violating rights to freedom of expression, while US intelligence identified that the UAE had developed its own messaging app - to be used for spying purposes.

The UAE Government has also been accused of kidnapping, detaining, and torturing political opponents and expats, often to extract forced confessions of alleged plots to overthrow the regime. For instance, during the Arab Spring in 2011, at least 100 activists were jailed and tortured.

The Arab Organisation of Human Rights listed 16 different methods of torture used by the UAE Government, including electrocution.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused the UAE of running secret prisons in Yemen where prisoners are forcibly disappeared and tortured.
President Alassane Ouattara of Cote dIvoire has put an end to months of suspense and speculation Thursday when he announced that he will not seek a third term at the helm of his country.

I would like to solemnly announce that I will not be a candidate in the October 31, 2020 presidential election and I will transfer power to the younger generation, Ouattara said in a speech to Congress.

Ouattara, first elected in 2010 and then re-elected in 2015, had kept Ivorians guessing over his political plans. Last year he hinted that he could run again if his traditional rivals were candidates.

Octobers election is a major challenge for the country after its 2010-2011 ballot ended in violence between political rivals.

In 2010-11, the then-president, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede his defeat in the elections and to step down. The ensuing standoff with Ouattara triggered violent street clashes that killed 3,000 people.
U.S. Strikes Taliban After Afghan Security Personnel Killed In Attacks

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan March 04, 2020

The United States has conducted a "defensive" air strike against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province after a checkpoint manned by Afghan forces was attacked.

"The US conducted an airstrike on March 4 against Taliban fighters in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand, who were actively attacking an #ANDSF checkpoint. This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack," U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett said in a tweet.

The strike came just hours after Taliban militants killed at least 20 Afghan security officers in a string of attacks and on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump's "very good" chat with the Taliban's political chief.

The wave of violence is threatening to unravel a February 29 agreement signed in Doha between the United States and the Taliban that would allow allied forces to leave Afghanistan within 14 months in return for various security commitments from the extremist group and a pledge to hold talks with the Afghan government -- which the Taliban has so far refused to do.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has warned he was not committed to a key clause in the deal involving the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

The Taliban said it would not take part in intra-Afghan talks until that provision was met.

And on March 2, the militant group ordered its fighters to resume operations against Afghan forces, saying that a weeklong partial truce between the Taliban, U.S., and Afghan forces that preceded the Doha agreement was "over."

"Taliban fighters attacked at least three army outposts in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz last night, killing at least 10 soldiers and four police," said Safiullah Amiri, a member of the provincial council.

Another attack killed six soldiers in the same northern region, Amiri added.

Washington has said it would defend Afghan forces if they came under Taliban attack.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-conducts- defensive-strike-on-taliban-after-20-afghan- forces-killed-in-attacks/30467989.html

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

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Please note that certain dates have been updated.

MONTREAL, March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) announces that as of Saturday, March 7, most of its trains will resume service on their normal schedule.

As of this Saturday, all services between Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa will be offered, with the exception of trains 45 and 655, which will be resuming the day after on Sunday, March 8.

Furthermore, VIA Rail confirms that the Canadian, which resumed operations with a first departure on March 4, is now back to its full and normal schedule.

VIA Rail service on the Prince-Rupert  Prince-George  Jasper route remains suspended at this time as we continue to work with the infrastructure owner, CN Rail, on a resumption timeline.

As a result, VIA Rail will continue to call back the vast majority of the 1000 employees affected by the temporary suspensions announced on February 19.

Passenger promise

All current reservations on those segments will be protected. As we begin to resume all of our operations, our services may take some time to get back to normal. We may experience trip delays and late departure times (passengers are encouraged to visit our website before they leave), our seat availabilities may be limited, and the wait time to speak with an agent on the phone might be longer than usual.

VIA Rail remains committed to offer peace of mind to its travellers. That's why, as we return to normal operations, travellers will be able to cancel or modify their reservation at any time prior to departure during the month of March without incurring any service fees. This includes all travel up to and including March 31, 2020 and any travel after March 31, 2020 if their outbound train is on or before March 31, 2020.

We thank our clients for their patience and understanding as we continue to work to provide them with the level of service they have become accustomed to receiving from VIA Rail.

Please find below a summary of routes in service:

Overview of service resumptions*

Route Service Montreal-Toronto Full service to resume Saturday, March 7 Toronto-Ottawa Full service to resume Sunday, March 8 Toronto- London-Windsor In full service Toronto-Sarnia In full service Toronto-Niagara Falls In full service Quebec City-Montreal-Ottawa In full service Senneterre-Jonquiere In full service The Ocean (Montreal-Halifax) In full service Winnipeg-The Pas In full service The Canadian (Toronto-Vancouver) In full service The Canadian (Vancouver-Toronto) In full service



*This information is subject to change without notice.

As of March 4, 1071 trains have been cancelled because of the blockades.

More than 165 000 passengers have been affected.

Overview of service cancellations*

Route Service Cancelled until (inclusively) : Prince Rupert-Prince George-Jasper Cancelled Saturday, March 7



*This information is subject to change without notice.

All passengers are encouraged to visit our website for more information. Details on the refunding procedure are available on our website: https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information.

About VIA Rail

As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and all its employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and about 180 more communities through intermodal partnerships, and safely transported over 5 million passengers in 2019. The Corporation has been awarded five Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2007. Visit the "About VIA Rail" section at https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.

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The New Milford Senior Citizens Advisory Board will hold its annual open meeting March 12 at 9:30 a.m. at the New Milford Senior Center.

The public is invited to attend the meeting at the center located in the Richmond Citizen Center at 40 Main St.
LUCKNOW Many parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, were lashed by rain and hailstorm for the second consecutive day on Thursday afternoon, throwing normal life out of gear.

The showers were caused by western disturbances, said Met officials.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanth directed officials across the district to assess the damage to crops by hailstorm and provide immediate relief to farmers, said a state government spokesperson.

Showers brought down the temperature in the evening. According to meteorological department, Lucknow recorded a maximum of 28.1 degrees Celsius, which was 1.4 degrees lower than normal while the minimum was at 16.6 degrees, four degrees above normal.

The Met department forecast light rains and thunderstorm across the state in the next 24 hours. Lucknows maximum and minimum temperatures were likely to be recorded at 29 degrees and 16 degrees Celsius, said officials.

Considering the huge gap between minimum and maximum temperatures, experts issued health warnings for the general public. They also hinted towards a rise in viral infections.

Fall in temperature is conducive for virus growth. Rains will certainly make the temperature fall in Lucknow and nearby areas, said Dr Surya Kant, HoD, respiratory medicine at KGMU.

He said people need to keep themselves safe by taking preventive measures.

Officials at state and district levels were alerted about the weather forecast.

Fatehgarh in western UP recorded a minimum temperature of 11.6 degrees while Prayagraj and Varanasi had maximum temperature of 30 degrees.

Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav accused the state government for delay in relief measures after the rains. Farmers have lost their standing crops due to untimely rains and the state government is busy doing loss assessment instead of providing relief.
The will hear on Friday a plea for the direction to the Union government to prepare a proforma for the collection of country's residents data for updating the Population Register.

A Lucknow bench of the high court sought on Wednesday the Centre's preliminary stand on city resident Manvendra Pratap Singh's plea, which said the Union government has decided to update the NPR database along with the India 2021 house-listing and housing census from April to September 2020.

A bench of justices Govind Mathur and Chandra Dhari Singh asked the Centre's counsel to seek the government stand on the plea by Friday.

In his petition filed through advocate Aftab Alam, Singh submitted that the central government has issued an instruction manual for updating the NPR 2020 as per the provisions of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue Of Identity Cards) Rules 2003.

As per the instruction manual, the NPR of all "usual residents" of the country was created in year 2010, the petitioner said adding the field work for collecting the NPR data had been undertaken along with the house-listing and Housing Census 2010.

The petitioner said the scheme for creation of NPR, undertaken as per the provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the rules of 2003, would contain details of the country's "usual residents", irrespective of their citizenship.

"During the aforesaid process, the Aadhaar number from each residents shall also be collected in addition to his/her mobile number, election photo identity cards or voter ID card number, Indian Passport number and driving license number, if available with residents, the petition said.

Elaborating on the above facts, the petitioner claimed that the data collected from the residents shall later be made foundation for the creation of the Register of Citizens (NRC), and therefore, it would be necessary for the citizens to have a copy of the pro-forma in which all his personal data is provided by him.

The petitioner further stated in the PIL that according to Rules 2003, no adverse decision can be taken by the government on including or excluding a resident from the NRC without hearing him properly for which he needed to be provided with all the material, the government may rely for its decision.

The formation of a fixed proforma for the NPR updating exercise would come handy for the purpose of supply of information to a citizen in case of his exclusion from the NRC, the petitioner argued.




The people who once got jealous of their friends chilling in Italy are now running away from them. The people who once believed in sharing their food have now turned into Joey Tribbiani, and won't let people come anywhere close to their food or drink. People are now having major trust issues, because you never know if the person sitting next to you has come in contact with someone who tested positive for it.



People across the world are currently terrified of the deadly coronavirus aka COVID19 and they have all the reasons to be worried. A virus outbreak that started in Wuhan has now spread across the whole world. No matter which part of the world you travel to, you can never be sure about your safety.

Everyone is currently in a panic mode right now, except these three people in Kerala who were discharged after being completely cured. These three people are now free to go anywhere they want to, after they recovered from coronavirus and the entire credit goes to Kerala's efficient healthcare system.

And they recently got praised for the same on BBC where a panel was discussing how Kerala efficiently dealt with coronavirus and curbed the virus from spreading. The experts talked about how other states and countries can learn from Kerala and how it has developed its health infrastructure really well. The expert further added, "Not just hospitals, but also the primary healthcare centres, which is the first level of contact of the population."

BBC news discusses how Kerala tackled the Corona virus and continues to do so. Shows once again why an efficient primary healthcare system is important.



Hope other states also tackle the virus in a scientific manner.#Kerala #coronavirusindia pic.twitter.com/nnqCt4jsmR  Korah Abraham (@thekorahabraham) March 4, 2020

People on social media too are lauding Kerala and their efficient healthcare system.



Kudos to Kerala Government, The state successfully handled the nation's first three positive cases.#coronavirusindia@ShashiTharoorhttps://t.co/0BR9nPme1I  Shekhar Mishra (@incshekhar) March 5, 2020

Exactly. Only the state of kerala was proactively managing the situation due to earlier experience. None of the other states had measures in b place to screen entry points such as airports. This should have been made mandatory at every airport. https://t.co/l03fYuZqhr  Onward Kerala (@onwardkerala) March 4, 2020

BBC discusses how Kerala tackled the Corona virus and continues to do so.  Shows once again why an efficient primary healthcare system is important.



Hope other states also tackle the virus in a scientific manner. #Kerala #coronavirusinindia #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/MZBcCzlo0e  #Titella (@fcbarxelonaa) March 4, 2020

Nowadays, most of the people scared about the corona recently it's completely affected human beings not only health but also wealth. On the other hand, Kerala has defended coronavirus with efficient medical strategies. #coronavirus #KeralaNo1 #coronavirusindia pic.twitter.com/nfyCzfWvGT  Bivin George (@george_bivin) March 5, 2020

BBC News Channel reveals the secret of Kerala's success in fighting #coronavirus #coronavirusinindia pic.twitter.com/EbtPZb4oVI  Rocky (@Rcky35029503) March 5, 2020

If you look at the state's past record, there's nothing Kerala hasn't put up a brave fight against - floods, Nipah virus, Zika virus and now Coronavirus. But, each time Kerala has emerged stronger and proved why it deserves to be called 'God's Own Country' in India.
A military veteran who lost the use of his right arm in a motorbike accident and was later imprisoned for money laundering is now making a living from his newfound love of pottery.

Gary Fulton, 53, from Hayle, Cornwall, who served in Northern Ireland and Kenya, was one of the last soldiers to guard Nazi Rudolf Hess at Spandau Prison in Berlin.

Following his military career, the former armed forces officer, who lives with his wife, Susan, 55, was knocked off his motorbike by a car in 2002 and rendered unconscious while he was going round a roundabout in Truro, Cornwall.

Then in 2017, he learned pottery while he was in prison for conspiring to launder VAT money, and continued with the hobby after he was released, selling pieces to galleries and at fairs.

The craftsman says that his disadvantage means that each piece he makes is unique.

Gary Fulton (pictured), 53, from Hayle, Cornwall, lost the use of his right arm while he was riding his motorbike in Truro

Gary (left and right), who served in Northern Ireland and Kenya, an, 55, was knocked by a car while going round a roundabout in Truro

The military veteran found his newfound love of pottery while he was serving time in prison for money laundering. Pictured: Gary holds one of his pieces of work at his workshop

Gary, who was left with a brachial plexus injury, said: 'I used to ride motorbikes foolishly and had an accident. I was knocked off at a roundabout which subsequently left me in a coma and on life support and when I woke up I had lost the use of my right arm.

'I was completely paralysed. It was called a brachial plexus injury, consequences of which is a hell of a lot of pain and my right arm completely useless, but you get on with life and you crack on.

'A year after that I had a heart attack that resulted in a coronary artery bypass - through my accident, not through ill health or anything - and it wiped me out. But I've always just got on with life.

'My wife's always cheered me up and encouraged me to keep going, and that's what I've done.'

He added: 'I can't remember anything about the collision, I was sparked out.

'I was in a coma for a while, I nearly died and was on life support, it was a bizarre time.'

When he came through, Gary was told that his arm was seriously damaged and that he would never regain full use of the limb.

Despite being told that his arm was seriously damaged and that he would never regain full use of the limb, Gary (at his workshop) did not let the injury stop him from embracing life

Gary (left and right at his workshop) was invited to attend a session with a rehabilitation group while in prison and soon discovered his love of pottery

He continued: 'Doing large things presents problems but you just try and work around it.

'If I want to build up the walls I need something to support it and I don't have a second hand to do that with. I'm hoping to have a way around that by using tongs.

'As you go bigger the centrifugal force pulls the clay apart, it has a tendency to fly off and get a bit messy.'

Gary turned to pottery after he ended up in prison for money laundering and served two years and three months of his sentence.

While behind bars, Gary, a father-of-four and grandfather of six, signed up to distance learning and was invited to attend a session with rehabilitation group Landworks, based in Totnes, Devon.

Gary said: 'I was in prison for money laundering, I served two years and three months.

'It had a massive impact on my life, it wasn't a great time. I was found guilty, what can you do?

'It was horrible, you have to get the most out of a bad situation.

'I started distance learning and I had the opportunity to go to Landworks in Devon. That's where I learned pottery.'

After setting his sights on pottery, Gary said that his disadvantage made each piece he made unique - and he was now hoping to start making a living from his new passion.

Gary said: 'I try, it's not the easiest thing to do but I enjoy it and people seem to like what I make.

The military veteran said centre-ing large lumps of clay can be difficult one handed and that he was restricted when it came to the size of his pottery pieces

Gary said that his disadvantage made each piece he made unique and he hoped to make a living from this work

The veteran has made a few hundred pieces in total and now wants to focus on his pottery

'Centre-ing large lumps of clay can be difficult one handed, I'm a bit restricted by the size of stuff I can make but I'm trying.

'Every piece is different. They will be similar sizes but no two are the same.

'Everything is hand made and it's rustic, I'm not an expert by any means but people seem to like what I make. It's a lovely feeling.

'I've made a few hundred pieces in total I'd have thought, generally in a week I'll make around 20 to 30 pieces.

Now, Gary lives a quiet life by the seaside and says he wants to focus on his pottery - which he sells at art and craft fairs, and in a few local galleries.

He added: 'I do it mostly in the evenings and weekends. I try to sell them at craft fairs and markets, and they're in a few galleries.

'I've got a day job as well, in telesales - selling windows and conservatories.

'I've been doing it for three years, since 2017.

'My life has never been dull, I could never be accused of being boring. Stuff happens to lots of people, I just take each day as it comes.

'I just want a quiet life to be honest, and I'm hoping I can make something of the pottery.'
Dubais ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum ordered the abduction of two of his daughters and orchestrated a campaign of intimidation against his former wife, a British judge has ruled.

Judge Andrew McFarlane said he accepted as proved a series of allegations made by Mohammeds former wife, Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, 45, half-sister of Jordans King Abdullah, during a custody battle over their two children at Londons High Court.

Haya fled to London on April 15 last year with the children, Jalila, 12, and Zayed, 8, fearing for her safety amid suspicions that she had had an affair with one of her British bodyguards.

Her lawyers argued that Mohammeds treatment of two of his older daughters by another marriage showed her children were at risk of being abducted too.

As part of the custody case, Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Court division in England and Wales, made a series of findings of fact about allegations raised by Haya during hearings over the last nine months.

McFarlane said he accepted her claim that Mohammed arranged for his daughter Shamsa, then aged 18, to be kidnapped off the streets of Cambridge in central England in 2000, and had her flown back to Dubai.

He also ruled it was proved that the sheikh had arranged for Shamsas younger sister Latifa to be snatched from a boat in international waters off India by Indian forces in 2018 and returned to the emirate in what was her second failed escape attempt.

Both remained there deprived of their liberty, McFarlane said.

After the ruling became public on Thursday, Mohammed said it only represented one side of the story.

As a Head of Government, I was not able to participate in the courts fact-finding process, this has resulted in the release of a fact-finding judgment which inevitably tells only one side of the story, he said in a statement issued by his lawyers.

He said a decision to allow the judgments to be made public did not protect his children from media attention in the way that other children in family proceedings in the UK are protected.

In the judgments, McFarlane accepted that the sheikh subjected Haya to a campaign of intimidation which made her fear for her life.

He said the sheikh, who married Haya in 2004, had divorced her on the 20th anniversary of the death of her father King Hussein of Jordan, timing she said was deliberate.

I have ... concluded that, save for some limited exceptions, the mother has proved her case with respect to the factual allegations she has made, McFarlane said.

The sheikh, 70, vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, did not appear himself during the court case and instructed his lawyers not to put forward a challenge to the claims, which his lawyers said he rejected.

The judgment does not amount to a determination of criminal guilt but it is likely to deal a reputational blow to the sheikh, regarded globally as the visionary force behind Dubais leap on the international stage.

RESTRICTIONS LIFTED

The judges conclusions were made in December but could only be reported after restrictions were lifted after the UK Supreme Court earlier rejected Mohammeds request for permission to appeal against their publication.

McFarlane said the allegations made by Haya about the abduction and torture of Shamsa and Latifa and the threats made against her were proved, with the exception of her claim that an arranged marriage was being sought between Jalila and Saudis Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Last July, the judge had issued a temporary forced marriage protection order in respect of Jalila over Hayas fears but said these were only based on hearsay evidence.

The allegations that the father ordered and orchestrated the kidnap and rendition to Dubai of his daughters Shamsa and Latifa are of a very high order of seriousness, said McFarlane.

They may well involve findings, albeit on the civil standard, of behaviour which is contrary to the criminal law of England and Wales, international law, international maritime law, and internationally accepted human rights norms.

McFarlane said the sheikh had denied all the allegations, but said of his account relating to Shamsa and Latifa that he has not been open and honest with the court.

I have found that he continues to maintain a regime whereby both of these two young women are deprived of their liberty, albeit within family accommodation in Dubai, he said.

The sheikh married Haya, believed to be his sixth wife, in 2004. McFarlane said in his judgement that at some stage in 2017 or 2018, she had an affair with one her bodyguards and her relationship with her husband had deteriorated by early 2019 when she left Dubai.

Mohammeds lawyer told the court Haya had closed the childrens bank accounts and withdrawn about $32 million before arriving in Britain.

FRIENDS OF UK ROYALS

Haya and Mohammed are both on friendly terms with members of the British royal family and in the past the sheikh, one of the founders of the Godolphin horse racing stable, has been pictured with Queen Elizabeth at Britains Royal Ascot horse races.

Haya, who shares his love of horses and competed in equestrian jumping in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, was schooled in Britain and is now living with their children in the couples luxury mansion near Kensington Palace in west London.

McFarlane said the case had been unique.

Outside the austere wood-pannelled courtroom of the Royal Courts of Justice, four or five bodyguards wearing earpieces patrolled, with only lawyers and a small number of journalists, including Reuters, allowed to be present.

The lawyers benches were filled with some of Britains most senior legal operators including David Pannick, who successfully represented anti-Brexit campaigners in two high-profile court victories over the government and was drafted in by Mohammed to lead his team during the case.

Haya herself attended all the hearings, accompanied by her legal team which included Fiona Shackleton who represented British heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles in his divorce from his late first wife Princess Diana.

Giving evidence in person last November, she told McFarlane she feared the sheikh would abduct her two children, take them back to the Gulf Arab state and she would never see them again.

I have seen what has happened to their sisters and I cant face the fact that the same might happen to them, she said.
The total number confirmed cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in India has reached 29 as one more person in Gurugram tested positive for the infection. The latest positive case is an employee of Paytm in Gurugram.

According to the company, the employee who works in the Gurugram office had recently returned from a vacation in Italy. "One of our colleagues based out of Gurgaon office who recently returned from Italy has sadly been tested positive for Coronavirus. He is receiving appropriate treatment. As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately," the company said in a statement.

BCCL

Following the development, the company has advised its employees to work from home for the next couple of days while the Gurugram unit gets sanitised.



The previous case which was also confirmed in NCR was a man who had recently returned from Italy. He had then visited his relatives in Agra and six members of the family have since tested positive for Covid-19. Authorities are also trying to identify everyone who the individual had come into contact with since his return.

BCCL

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said that at least 215 people came in contact with the Covid-19 affected group of Italian tourists that had visited various places in the state. Samples of 93 people have been taken, out of which 51 have been tested negative whereas reports of 41 others are still pending.

India saw a massive spike in the number of Covid-19 cases after the Italian tourists and their driver tested positive. With 107 deaths so far Italy has the most number of fatalities to the viral infection outside China, which has registered more than 3000 deaths since December.

AFP

Meanwhile in Bengaluru where the techie from Hyderabad who tested positive for Covid-19 worked, five more people have been admitted to the isolation wards of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases.

The Karnataka government has advised city-based companies to allow their employees to work from home if they have flu-like symptoms.

"Those employees having flu-like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette," the Health Department said in its advisory.

BCCL

In Bihar, fourteen people including five from Siwan and four from Gopalganj who had recently returned from coronavirus-hit Iran have been quarantined. They have been kept in isolation for 14 days in the hospital. The state surveillance system has so far identified 121 people who have arrived from places hit by a coronavirus and they were enrolled for observation.
The UKs human rights watchdog is under increasing pressure to investigate Islamophobia in the Conservative Party after being handed a fresh dossier detailing allegations against more than 300 people.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) added claims about MPs, party members, councillors and advisers to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the document submitted on Thursday.

The dossier sent to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and seen by the PA news agency also reiterates allegations of Islamophobia against the prime minister.

MCB secretary general Harun Khan said the Tories have a systemic and widespread Islamophobia crisis and accused the party of denial, dismissal and deceit.

He criticised the EHRC for having failed to give any response to its first formal call for the watchdog to investigate in May and urged it to now take swift action.

The Tories have committed to an inquiry into all forms of discrimination within the party but have resisted calls to set up an independent inquiry into Islamophobia specifically.

The MCB, which represents mosques, schools and charitable associations, handed its first document to the EHRC in May detailing about 150 individuals it believes have displayed Islamophobia or made anti-Islam or anti-Muslim comments.

But in renewing its calls for the EHRC to investigate it has submitted a document which has swelled to include double the number of claims.

Mr Khan said it was extraordinary that the watchdog has not announced whether it will take action in the 10 months since the first document was submitted.

There is no doubt that the Conservative Party has an Islamophobia crisis: it is institutional, systemic and widespread. The partys response has been one of denial, dismissal and deceit, he said.

This results in clear discrimination against Muslims because of their religion.

The absence of meaningful action by the Conservative Party despite the wealth of evidence makes it all the more important that the EHRC recognises the impact of this level of Islamophobia in our governing party, and takes swift action.

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi went viral last year after he asked the PM to order an inquiry into Islamophobia within the Conservative Party (Getty)

An EHRC spokeswoman said the watchdog was still waiting for the Tories to reveal the terms of its inquiry while considering a decision.

We are actively considering what, if any, action we may take in relation to the handling of Islamophobia and other discrimination within the Conservative Party, she said.

We are also awaiting the final terms of reference of the partys independent review which we will consider as part of our decision-making process.

Allegations added to the dossier include:

- The PMs chief adviser Dominic Cummings orchestrating the Vote Leave campaign playing on fears of immigration and hate against Muslims, including when claiming Muslim-majority country Turkey was joining the EU.

- Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski being reprimanded but not suspended over speaking at a conference alongside far-right leaders.

- New MP Dehenna Davison being pictured with two far-right activists, one of whom was allegedly pictured burning a Koran next to a message with a racial slur reading f*** P****. She has said the pictures were taken at a public event and that she in no way whatsoever condones their views.

- Karl McCartney, who is also from the new intake of Tory MPs, retweeting posts by the anti-Islam activist known as Tommy Robinson.

- Sally-Ann Hart, another newcomer, describing as an affecting read an anti-Islam activists article claiming the womens march against Donald Trump had been hijacked to promote the Muslim agenda.

- Andrew Sabisky, who was forced to stand down as an adviser over numerous comments, using a discredited statistic forecasting the UK to be a majority Islamic nation by 2050.

The submission contains allegations against 16 MPs, one MEP, nine election candidates and 183 party members, among others, according to the MCB.

And it includes the dehumanising and offensive remarks by the PM in which he likened Muslim women who wear a veil to bank robbers and letterboxes.

During the general election campaign, he apologised for all the hurt and offence that had been caused to the Muslim community by Islamophobia within the party.

The PM has insisted the party has a zero-tolerance approach to Islamophobia, but the MCB said this does not appear to be the case.

The Conservatives and all the individuals named in this report have been contacted for comment apart from Mr Sabisky, who has not been contactable.

PA
Omaha, NE, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medical Solutions, one of the nations largest healthcare staffing companies, announced its CEO Craig Meier has been named to Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) 2020 North American Staffing 100 List. Sponsored by Indeed, the annual list recognizes leaders whose impact on the workforce solutions ecosystem elevates the industry and drives its evolution. SIA is the global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions.

Im honored and humbled with this recognition by Staffing Industry Analysts, said Meier. While Medical Solutions has enjoyed great success as we continue to grow and evolve as a company, it wouldnt be possible without our talented and inspiring team of employees. Our team is engaged, invested, and leads with care every day  for our business, our customers, and for each other. They're the heart and soul of Medical Solutions; who we are today where were going tomorrow.

Under Meiers leadership, Medical Solutions has been named among SIAs Best Staffing Firms to Work For, by Inc. magazine as one of the Best Workplaces for 2019, and one of Modern Healthcares Best Places to Work in Healthcare.

The companys high level of employee satisfaction has contributed to its growth. Medical Solutions was ranked by SIA in 2019 as the 31st largest U.S. staffing firm (based on 2018 revenue) and has consistently earned top spots on its largest travel nurse staffing and fastest-growing U.S. staffing firms lists. In addition, Medical Solutions has been named 12 times to the Inc. 5000 list.

In 2019, Meier led company efforts alongside partner TPG Growth to acquire C&A Industries, ranked by SIA as the 34th largest U.S. staffing firm and parent company to healthcare staffing leader Aureus Medical Group. It was the largest acquisition of a healthcare staffing company in the industrys history.

According to SIA, the Staffing 100 list is not a ranking, but an aggregation of the top individuals who are spearheading growth for their organization and the industry by creating efficient processes, using technology to create new models of work that are driven by people, and setting the gold standard for operational practices and business performance.

As movers and shakers, the 2020 honorees are leading the industry through change and transformation into a new world of work, said Subadhra Sriram, Editor & Publisher, Media Products, Staffing Industry Analysts. Our ecosystem is more interconnected than ever before; its frontiers are more varied and areas like diversity and inclusion, compliance, workers rights and online talent marketplaces have become more complex and integral to todays business models, with technology enabling more sophisticated solutions.

ABOUT MEDICAL SOLUTIONS

Medical Solutions specializes in placing registered nurses in temporary travel assignments throughout the United States. The companys workforce solutions include Medical Solutions Plus, a managed service provider that offers hospitals and healthcare systems a streamlined approach to contingent workforce processes, helping facilities gain efficiencies, control labor costs, and enhance patient care standards. The company also houses Nurse Bridge, its job action healthcare staffing division, provides EHR and EMR conversion services, EXELerated Staff for healthcare crisis situations, and Advanced Practice, serving the specialty staffing needs of healthcare facilities. Medical Solutions is headquartered in Omaha, Neb., with company locations in San Diego, Cincinnati, Denver, Tampa, and Tupelo, Miss. In 2019, the company acquired Omaha-based C&A Industries and in 2018, acquired PPR, located in Jacksonville, Fla. Medical Solutions was one of the first travel nursing and allied healthcare staffing companies to be certified by the Joint Commission and has been continuously certified since January 2005. For more information, visit https://www.medicalsolutions.com.
One question has dominated this years crowded, confusing Democratic presidential primary:

Which one of these people has the best chance of defeating President Trump?

Just days ago, it seemed as if Democrats might never settle on an answer. There were six major candidates still in the race. Joe Biden had yet to win a contest. Mike Bloomberg loomed large. Bernie Sanders was the tentative frontrunner.

But Bidens 28-point victory in South Carolina on Saturday triggered one of the most rapid turnarounds in recent political history, and by the time the dust settled on Super Tuesday, Biden had swept Southern states that had been toss-ups as recently as last weekend (North Carolina, Virginia) and Northern states that had looked like locks for his rivals (Massachusetts, Minnesota).

Biden won Texas, a state where Sanders led in eight of the last nine polls, and looked likely to hold Sanders to a single-digit margin of victory in California, a state where Sanders had hoped to amass an insurmountable delegate lead.

All of a sudden, Biden seemed to have the clearer path to the nomination  and to beating Trump. Thats because the results on Super Tuesday  the closest thing to a national primary in American politics  validated the former vice presidents claim to electability and undermined his rivals.

Joe Biden addresses a primary election night campaign rally on Super Tuesday, March 3, in Los Angeles, with his wife, Jill, left, and his sister Valerie. (Chris Carlson/AP)

Of all the 2020 candidates, the two septuagenarians have always offered the starkest contrast on the issue of what it will take to oust Trump. Sanders has long said he will win by adding votes on the left. Biden claims he will win by holding onto voters in the middle.

At his Super Tuesday night rally in Burlington, Vt., Sanders vowed that his candidacy would create the highest voter turnout in American political history  particularly among young voters, new voters and voters of color. Its one of his signature lines, a cornerstone of his political revolution.

Yet Sanders has not demonstrated that he can deliver on this promise. In every one of the 15 states and territories that voted Tuesday, Sanders drew a smaller share of the vote than he drew during his primary contest against Hillary Clinton four years earlier. Even in his home state of Vermont, he won only 52 percent of the vote, down from 86 percent in 2016.

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In the run-up to Super Tuesday, a New York Times analysis found that the demographic groups Sanders is counting on have not been turning out in historic numbers, either. The Times reported that in the Iowa precincts where Sanders won, turnout increased by only one percentage point from 2016; that turnout increased far more in the New Hampshire townships won by former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, than those where Sanders won; that the share of young voters remained essentially unchanged everywhere; and that the share of first-time voters actually decreased.

Those patterns largely persisted on Super Tuesday. According to the exit polls, the youth turnout was down from 2016 in Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont and Texas  and in many cases, Sanders won a smaller share of the youth vote than he did last time around.

If youre Bernie Sanders, this is your worst-case scenario, commentator Van Jones said on CNN. Because youre now beginning to see the logic of the revolution begin to break down  the idea that youre going to have young people come out in large numbers.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont meets supporters at a campaign rally in Springfield, Va. on Feb. 29, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP)

(A new study by political scientists at Yale and the University of California, Berkeley, showed that nominating Sanders would drive many Americans who would otherwise vote for a moderate Democrat to vote for Trump  losses that Sanders could only offset by inspiring an unprecedented 11-percentage-point turnout boost among young left-leaning voters.)

Biden mocked Sanderss rhetoric during his own election night rally in Los Angeles. People are talking about a revolution, Biden said, referring to Sanders. We started a movement. Weve increased turnout. The turnout turned out for us!

Biden was correct to claim that his core supporters had shown up  particularly in suburban swing districts across Virginia, North Carolina and even Texas, which are likely to play a major role in Democratic efforts to defeat Trumps GOP in November.

In Virginia, 1.3 million Democrats voted, nearly double the 722,000 Democrats who voted in the 2016 primary, and also far ahead of turnout in 2008, which was 976,000. Biden won the state overwhelmingly, with 53 percent of the vote to Sanderss 23 percent.

It doesn't seem great for Sanderss electability narrative that turnout seems to be increasing more in states where he isnt doing as well, said analyst Nate Silver, founder of the data journalism site FiveThirtyEight.

In Fairfax County, Va.  the dense suburban county just outside Washington, D.C.  Biden received almost 129,000 votes, compared to the 88,000 votes Hillary Clinton received there in the 2016 primary.

Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said that Democrats should remember the 2018 midterms, when they regained control of the House of Representatives largely by flipping Republican seats in suburban districts.

The suburban tsunami was how we won then, Tanden tweeted. We ignore these lessons at our peril for 2020.

Former Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs agreed. Suburban neighborhoods  are crucial in a swing state in a general election, Gibbs said on MSNBC. Those are the places where the congressional candidates took seats from Republicans in 2018 and where somebodys going to have to do well in 2020 to be next president of the United States.

Then there was the African-American vote. Biden trounced Sanders among black voters, a bedrock Democratic constituency. In North Carolina, Biden beat Sanders by 40 points among African-Americans. In Virginia, Bidens margin was even larger: 55 points.

Super Tuesday may have been disappointing for Sanders, but with wins in Colorado, Utah and Vermont, plus a likely victory in delegate-rich California, he will remain close to Biden in the overall delegate count. That is in large part because of his impressive Latino outreach program, which propelled him to victory in the Nevada caucuses and helped him outpace Biden by 34 points among Latinos in California.

Yet even there  a state where Sanders opened 23 field offices  the Latino share of the electorate was down two percentage points from 2008, according to preliminary exit polls. In Texas, it was unchanged from 2008 and 2016.

While it's impossible to say for sure which Democratic candidate would perform best in a general election, Super Tuesday showed that Biden can turn out the voters he needs to compete. Sanders, meanwhile, has yet to prove that he can lure his coalition to the polls in record numbers.

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Lake and Porter counties (in Indiana) could see some flooding and dune and beach erosion as that occurs tonight, Carlaw said. A lakeshore flood advisory, which is one step down from a warning, is in effect for Cook County, and although the waves and the wind arent going to be directed as much to the shore as it will be in Indiana, we could still see some impact.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Lima, Peru  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:42 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20687a249 2 People UN-Secretary-General,Javier-Perez-de-Cuellar,obituary Free

Former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar, who was known for his peace-making efforts including brokering a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, died Wednesday in his native Peru, aged 100, his son said

Perez de Cuellar served as UN secretary general from 1981 to 1991, when he was often described as a "pacifist by vocation and nature."

Lauded by his countrymen as one of the most illustrious Peruvians of his era, Perez de Cuellar led the United Nations through a period marked by the fight against world hunger, the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, as well as the civil war in US-supported El Salvador which led to UN-mediated peace talks.

"My dad died after a complicated week. He died at 8:09 pm tonight (0109 GMT Thursday) and is resting in peace," his son Francisco Perez de Cuellar told RPP radio.

Perez de Cuellar was known for his efforts to reconcile warring parties.

He considered the 1990 independence of Namibia, one of the last colonial enclaves on the African continent, his greatest accomplishment as secretary general.

Perez de Cuellar's popularity prompted him to accept the presidential nomination from one of Peru's leading political parties -- the Union for Peru -- in 1995, which pitted him against then-incumbent president Alberto Fujimori.

An 'inspiration'

The unifying force behind the Union for Peru, Perez de Cuellar won only 21.8 percent of the vote, coming in second behind Fujimori who got 64.4 percent.

In 1997, informants revealed that Perez de Cuellar had been subject to systematic surveillance and phone tapping during the campaign, ordered by the head of Fujimori's intelligence services, Vladimiro Montesinos.

Following the collapse of the Fujimori regime in November 2000, Perez de Cuellar was appointed head of a government of "unity and national reconciliation."

As prime minister, he helped expose a web of corruption woven by Montesinos over the course of Fujimori's 10-year rule.

After the election of President Alejandro Toledo in 2001, Perez de Cuellar was appointed ambassador to France.

Born into an upper middle-class family in Lima and educated in Catholic schools, Perez de Cuellar spent most of his professional life outside his homeland, in diplomatic posts in Britain, Bolivia, Poland, the former Soviet Union, Switzerland and Venezuela.

He was president of the UN Security Council from 1973 to 1974 and was UN permanent representative in Cyprus from 1975 to 1977.

The career diplomat's son and daughter are from his first marriage, along with six grandchildren. He and his second wife, Marcela Temple, had no children.

A lawyer by education, Perez de Cuellar received honorary doctorates from nearly 40 universities around the world.

Antonio Guterres, who currently heads the UN, wished him "with pride & joy" a happy 100th birthday on Jan. 19.

"On this momentous occasion, we at the UN draw on his example for inspiration & are deeply grateful for his many contributions and achievements as Secretary-General," Guterres wrote on Twitter.

Perez de Cuellar's remains will lie at the Peruvian foreign ministry before burial on Friday, his son said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - As the number of coronavirus cases in the United States grows, President Trump took time yesterday to point a finger at former President Obama, blaming changes made by his administration for the current testing delays and kit shortages.

Also in Washington, the House passed a virus response package worth over $8 billion that next goes to the Senate. Over 150 confirmed cases are currently in the U.S. while the world total has

Live coronavirus tracker

Coronavirus news in the U.S.

Obama urges public to stay calm and listen to the experts on coronavirus (The Hill)

California declares state of emergency (cleveland.com)

Cruise ship being held off California coast for testing (CNN)

Top hospital braces for coronavirus pandemic with secret warehouse full of emergency supplies (NBC News)

Five more cases of virus confirmed in New York (NY Post)

How Philadelphia is preparing for a possible outbreak (PhillyMag)

First probable case announced in New Jersey (NJ.com)

Coronavirus news around the world

Passengers wear protective masks walk in their way to their plane as workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak, in the departure terminal at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 5, 2020. The novel coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people globally, causing around 2,700 deaths, mainly in China. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)AP

China is trying to prevent coronavirus from being brought back from other countries (CNN)

Australia warms millions could become infected (The Guardian)

Japan to quarantine passengers from China, S. Korea (Geo News)

U.K. moving towards part 2 of virus plan (BBC)

First death announced in Switzerland (Bloomberg)

Local coronavirus news

Summa Health opens 24/7 hotline to answer questions about coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Local health agencies prepare for coronavirus (Athens News)

Cleveland APL says have a back-up plan for your pets if you get sick (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus concerns has Beachwood travel agency working overtime (Fox 8)

Read complete prior coronavirus coverage on cleveland.com
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest supermarket group, Tesco , will start price matching Aldi on hundreds of everyday items, firing the latest salvo in its fight to stem the market share gains of its rival. Tesco said its price matching with Aldi, a German-owned discounter, would include products such as its packs of 5% fat lean beef steak mince, Greek-style yoghurt and ready-to-eat large avocados as well as branded products. The initiative will also be available online, it said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest supermarket group, Tesco , will start price matching Aldi on hundreds of everyday items, firing the latest salvo in its fight to stem the market share gains of its rival.

Tesco said its price matching with Aldi, a German-owned discounter, would include products such as its packs of 5% fat lean beef steak mince, Greek-style yoghurt and ready-to-eat large avocados as well as branded products.

The initiative will also be available online, it said.

The UK industry leader still has a 27.2% share of the market, but it has been chipped away by Aldi and rival discounter Lidl, who have been aggressively opening new stores and now have a combined 13.7% - more than treble the level of a decade ago.

All of Britain's traditional big four supermarket groups, also including Sainsbury's , Asda and Morrisons , have been fighting back by trying to narrow the price gap with the discounters and by investing in the services they offer that discounters do not.

For example in October, Tesco become the first major British supermarket group to offer a subscription customer loyalty scheme.

However, Thursday's initiative is the first time Tesco has directly price-matched Aldi.

Aldi was dismissive of Tesco's move.

Our promise to our customers is they will always pay the lowest prices on every product we sell. Its why millions of shoppers continue to switch to Aldi from our more expensive competitors, including Tesco," said a spokesman for the group.

In 2018 Tesco abandoned a price-matching scheme which gave shoppers instant reductions on branded goods at the till, having introduced it with much fanfare in 2015.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
CROWN POINT  A Hammond man convicted last month of attempted murder for attacking another man with a sledgehammer in 2018 will be assigned a new public defender to help him pursue a motion for a mistrial.

Patrick J. Ross, 41, represented himself during much of his trial the week of Feb. 17 after accusing former public defender Casey McCloskey of colluding with the state to secure his conviction.

After McCloskey denied the allegations and withdrew from the case, Ross took the stand and admitted he was "popping Xanax like Tic Tacs" and drank a fifth of gin before attacking the man Jan. 25, 2018, outside Scott Middle School in Hammond.

Ross admitted he was upset because he learned the man, with whom he had a long-running feud, would be picking his son up from school.

The man Ross attacked fathered a child by Ross' ex-wife while Ross was incarcerated for breaking a beer bottle over the man's head in 2012, according to testimony during Ross' trial.

Ross said in closing arguments he didn't think he should be convicted of attempted murder because he didn't intend to kill the man.
Supreme Court lifts RBI curbs on cryptocurrency business

The Supreme Court has allowed banks to provide virtual currency services, including trading, to clients, in a setback to the Reserve Bank of Indias policy decision not to allow unregulated trading in virtual currencies, also known as cryptocurencies.

The order comes on a petition filed by certain traders engaged in trading in virtual currencies, which claim the advantages of a commodity while serving as a medium of exchange and a store of value.

The apex court agreed with the claim of the petitioners in the case that virtual currencies are not money or legal tender, but commodities and therefore outside the powers of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate.

RBI took a stand that while unregulated cryptocurrencies are not recognised as legal tender, they can be used as a medium of exchange and hence a ban on them was justified so as to safeguard the payment system in the country.

The court, however, held the view that the exact identity of virtual currencies eludes precision.

Some call it an exchange of value, some call it a stock and some call it a good/commodity. There may be no difficulty in accepting the divergence of views, if those views are not driven by fear of regulation, the judgment said.

The order is expected to help restart trading in such currencies, even as the union finance ministry said it would take a decision on further action after studying the Supreme Courts order.

While arriving at the decision, the Supreme Court also examined how virtual currencies are treated by regulators in foreign jurisdictions and under foreign laws.

The apex court seems to have agreed with the claim of the petitioners in the case that virtual currencies are not money or legal tender, but commodities and therefore outside the powers of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate.

RBI also took a stand that while VCs are not recognised as legal tender, they can be used as a medium of exchange and hence a ban on them was justified so as to safeguard the payment system in the country. The court, at the outset, acknowledged that the exact identity of virtual currencies eludes precision.

Some call it an exchange of value, some call it a stock and some call it a good/commodity. There may be no difficulty in accepting the divergence of views, if those views are not driven by fear of regulation, the judgment said.

It noted that there was unanimity of opinion among the regulators and the governments of various countries that though virtual currencies have not acquired the status of a legal tender, they nevertheless constitute digital representations of value and that they are capable of functioning as a medium of exchange.

The IMF, the FATF, the European Central Bank, the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States, Department of Treasury and the Canadian Revenue Authority treat virtual currencies as digital representations of value. The European Central Bank went a step further by describing a virtual currency as a type of unregulated digital money, the court said.

The state of Liechtenstein, the apex court said, considers virtual currencies as digital monetary units which can be exchanged for legal tender and also be used to purchase goods or services, thereby assuming the character of a legal tender. The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority treats virtual currencies as units of account and consequently as financial instruments. Luxembourg has taken an official position that crypto currencies are actual currencies. Further, some of the states in the Unites States of America have passed laws recognizing virtual currencies as electronic medium of exchange, the apex court noted.

Thus, it was the courts conclusion that governments and money market regulators throughout the world have come to terms with the reality that virtual currencies are capable of being used as real money. But at the same time, the top court was also opined that foreign governments, statutory authorities and banking regulators are in denial that VCs do not have the status of a legal tender, as they are not backed by a central authority.

While the Supreme Court dismissed the contention of the petitioners that they are carrying on an activity over which RBI cannot exercise its regulatory powers, it ruled against RBIs order saying it was disproportionate and prevented people and companies from engaging in a business which is legal in India.

BBB received a total of 37,283 scams in 2019 with employment scams ranking no.1 most risky. However, the bureau said the most notable rise in scams was that in cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrencies, however, pose the risk of huge scams and swindling of money as it acts both as a store of value and medium of exchange while having no regulatory oversight.

Cryptocurrency scams in 2019 are reported to have caused losses of about $3,000, up from $2,100 in 2018.
Before the 1998 Clinton impeachment vote, Mr. Houghton declared, The main issue is how to heal, rather than further divide, the nation. He was a co-author of a censure resolution and urged the Republican leadership to put it to a vote rather than pursue impeachment. It would have required the president to pay a $500,000 fine but would have avoided a Senate trial and Mr. Clintons possible removal from office. The leadership refused, and after impeachment, the president was acquitted by the Senate on both charges.

Mr. Houghton also differed from most Republican colleagues on raising the minimum wage (he favored it) and on abortion rights (he generally supported them). He also broke with most of his colleagues in voting to reform campaign financing by banning so-called soft money, donations given in ways to avoid regulations or limits.

Though calling himself a proud member of the National Rifle Association, he supported a ban on military-style assault weapons, saying they have no place in the nations cities. When Republican legislation was put forward in 1998 to amend the Constitution to allow organized prayer in public schools, he opposed it.

People are screaming about getting the government off our backs, he said, but they turn around and have the government tell our children how to pray.

After the 1994 elections gave Republicans control of the House for the first time in 40 years, and the divide with Democrats grew deeper under the new speaker, Newt Gingrich, Mr. Houghton helped establish a bipartisan retreat for members of Congress and their families on the theory that civility and personal friendship would foster cooperation on Capitol Hill.

He also founded, in 1997, the Republican Main Street Partnership, a policy group (it calls itself the governing wing of the Republican Party) for party members in and out of government who, according to the group, are mainstream fiscally conservative and support pragmatic common-sense solutions to the challenges our country faces.

In 2004, after announcing at age 77 that he would not run that year for a 10th term, Mr. Houghton lamented that he was one of a dying breed of Republican moderates.
A Rosary Bead Fitted as a Pendant, with the Annunciation, c. 1520-50, possibly from Burgundy (in agate, gold, champleve, and transparent enamel) is among objects in the show "Glory of Spain." Photo: Hispanic Society of America / Hispanic Society of America Photo: Hispanic Society of America / Hispanic Society of America

You have to get up close and personal with The Duchess of Alba.

Yes, Francisco Goyas iconic portrait contains a bravura display of painting, with many tones of black that define the ladys lacy Spanish costume. But theres also a potentially scandalous story happening.

The year is 1797, and the recently-widowed, 35-year old duchess wears two rings on the fingers of her right hand, one with her name and one with the artists. Shes pointing to the ground, where the phrase Solo Goya (Only Goya) is etched into sand.

Scholars dont know the details of their relationship, but Maria del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Alvarez de Toledo y Silva Bazan was one of the Spanish courts most striking figures in the late 18th century. Many men were smitten by her. She died five years after Goya finished the painting, and he kept the canvas for the rest of his life, never offering it for sale.

The Duchess of Alba may be the showstopper of Glory of Spain, this springs big show in the Upper Brown Pavilion at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; but its just one of 220 deliciously ornate treasures that range from large canvases to golden pendants about the size of a thimble.

More Information 'Glory of Spain: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library' When: Through May 25 Where: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet Details: $18-$23, children 12 and under free; 713-639-7300, mfah.org

Displayed chronologically across six color-coded galleries, the show is essentially a museum-within-a-museum. Its treasures span 4,000 years of culture, progressing through antiquity, the Medieval era, the Renaissance, Spanish America, the Enlightenment and modern Spain, when religious themes gave way to contemporary, secular subjects.

Youd think some enormous castle and its adjacent cathedral had been raided, with textiles, pottery, metalwork, reliquary, illuminated manuscripts and maps filling out spaces between masterpiece paintings.

That castle is the Hispanic Society of Americas Museum and Library, which MFAH director Gary Tinterow calls one of the countrys best kept secrets. The show represents only a portion of the Societys cache, on tour while its buildings in Harlem undergo renovations. The show premiered in 2017 at Madrids Prado, where it drew 500,000 visitors.

Condensing the soul of Spain

Founded by philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington, the only son of railroad and transportation magnate Collis P. Hungtinton, the Society was a lifetime in the making. The young Huntington was born in 1870 and so loved museums as a kid, he wrote that he wanted to live in one. By the age of 16, he was fixed on Spanish art and literature and acquiring manuscripts.

By 1904 he had enough material to establish his library and immediately began collecting decorative arts and painting for the new institution. Money was apparently no object. His mother, Arabella Huntington, paid $650,000 in 1910 to contribute Diego Velazquezs 17th century portrait Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares  a record at the time.

With many purchases for his museum, Huntington got very lucky, says Society director Mitchell Codding. Its always important for a collector to acquire the best works they can early on, because theyre only going to get more scarce and valuable.

Huntington, who died in 1955, did not collect decorative art and paintings from Latin America. The Society has acquired objects from that part of the world during the last 25 years. As a result, Codding says, Theres a very unique opportunity to see the movement of all the arts and culture that came out of Spain over 4,000 years.

Huntington envisioned a museum that would condense the soul of Spain into meanings, through works of the hand and spirit, he wrote. If I can make a poem of a museum it will be easy to read. Even without including Latin America, his enterprise turned epic.

Consider the vinyl mural behind the alabaster effigy of a duchess from 1498, for example. Thats just atmosphere for the traveling show, but the Society owns the entire architectural surround it depicts, from a church in Segovia, which is 30 feet tall and part of a matched pair.

The show opens on a pure note, with a smallish room of antiquities that includes pottery from the Bell Beaker culture of about 2400-1900 BC; the Palencia Hoard, a cache of gold, silver and electrum jewelry that was discovered in 1911; and the graceful marble bust of a handsome young Roman.

Beautifully-patterned, colorful ceramics and rare textiles in the next rooms point to the influence of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula in later centuries. The intricate, horizontal patterns of the only surviving, intact Alhambra silk (ca. 1400) can be appreciated from across a room. But a viewer could easily overlook an equally rare ivory Pyxis, or perfume holder, from about 966, carved with leaves, flowers and flourishes; a treasure Christians later saved and repurposed as a reliquary.

A Catholic world

Christianity drove Spanish art for centuries, of course. I felt as if Id stepped back into the Catholic world of my childhood among so many religious treasures  embellished liturgical vestments, gold and silver chalices, altar pieces, wooden sculptures and too many dreamy paintings to count depicting Mary and pious saints and martyrs.

I know these paintings from the holy cards the nuns gave us as prizes in grade school. They were my first contact with art. Seeing them now, life-size, I appreciate them anew, and more than ever.

James Anno, the MFAHs new associate curator of European art, gets credit for organizing the show so efficiently. He is especially awed by the art in the Golden Age rooms.

It would be difficult to collect a greater representation of Spanish Baroque art than what we can see here, with Velazquez, Franciso de Zurbaran, Alonso Cano, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Juan Carreno de Miranda and Juan de Valdes Leal, he says. If you open up your art history survey book and want to get the greatest highlights, these are the names youre going to see.

The sensational eye candy doesnt let up. If anything, it gets more luminous toward the end, where the paintings include several important canvases by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, who was the worlds top-selling contemporary artist in the first decade or so of the 20th century.

You may want to plan for more than one pass, and allow plenty of time.

molly.glentzer@chron.com
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- It is the flow of people, as much as money, that keeps the global economy ticking over. It follows that a sudden halt to the movement of workers, shoppers and tourists should worry us just as much as the drying up of credit during the global financial crisis in 2008. With fewer obvious quick fixes, the virus outbreak should perhaps concern us even more.

A little over a decade ago, it was the U.S. housing market that soured. Investors lost confidence after years of unbridled lending and poor regulation, and an American credit crunch went global. To fight it, central banks unleashed an unprecedented policy response; governments increased spending and in some cases snapped up teetering assets.

Today, its all seizing up again, but not because of capital. Instead, hundreds of millions of people are unable or unwilling to move, causing simultaneous supply and demand shocks. More than a month after Lunar New Year, Chinese factories are only slowly reopening, and consumers are staying home. Elsewhere, barriers erected to stop travelers from China, Iran and elsewhere will take time to come down, especially when such controls fit with a prevalent populist agenda.

Where people go and dont go matters because this is where the economic damage is caused. That comes not from the virus itself  absent a demographic hit on the scale of the 1918 Spanish flu  but from the measures to contain the outbreak, and the fear it sows among populations. Its a salutary reminder of just how central the flow of humans is to the world economy, from students in Australia and tourists in Paris to farmers-turned-factory workers in Chinas cities. The increase in those movements in recent decades makes the shock of an abrupt standstill all the more stark.

Chinas draconian containment measures, isolating the central hub of Wuhan and the surrounding region, offered the first clear signal of how severe the consequences could be. With transport of goods and workers blocked, manufacturers and their clients outside China soon felt the pinch. That continues: Februarys manufacturing purchasing managers index sank to a record low, below even the nadir of November 2008, and new order numbers provided little reason to cheer. Even when work does restart, some local authorities have imposed special restrictions to quarantine newly returned workers.

Story continues

Provided there is no fresh surge of cases, manufacturing will come back. Restoring human mobility globally will take longer.

Thats because its not just about factory workers in China. The crunch is, or could be, far broader: foreign students keeping Australian universities afloat; Chinese tourists spending $18 billion a year in Thailand; families migrating to New Zealand; skiers in Japan; bankers in New York. Schools are now shut in Japan and South Korea, and pockets of Europe too. Executives who are usually racking up air miles to oil the cogs of multinationals are being forced to scrap travel. Millions are already working from home.

Its a huge hit to productivity and consumption, and much of that will take far longer to resume even if the spread is contained. Few countries and companies will rush to scrap controls.

Some of the demand associated with that mobility  for conferences, education, and to a degree even tourism  may well be destroyed, not deferred. Thats bad news for destinations such as Thailand and Hong Kong, which rely on a chunk of the more than 150 million Chinese who travel abroad annually, and more broadly for an ailing travel industry. Empty airports wont be filling up soon. And spare a thought for cruise companies.

The biggest problem with a human crunch, though, is that it may be harder to fix than a credit seizure. When banks become reluctant to lend, ultra low rates and liquidity injections help. Some of that response is already happening, with this weeks Federal Reserve emergency half-point cut coming hours after Group of Seven finance chiefs pledged to do all they could to combat the crisis.

Fiscal measures will be positive too, keeping companies alive by providing support with rental or other payments, encouraging forbearance from banks and getting consumers to spend. Thats important, given the heavy indebtedness of non-financial corporates in China, in particular: Their debt load has ballooned to more than 150% of GDP, Rabobank estimates.

Not everything is grim. There could be productivity gains if companies are forced to figure out what to do with fewer workers.In the end, though, the only real cure for the human crunch will be a vaccine and better healthcare systems. These are problems that can hardly be fixed fast.

To contact the author of this story: Clara Ferreira Marques at cferreirama@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brooker at mbrooker1@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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A cabinet subcommittee will consider income support for people who

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will chair a meeting on the matter next Monday. This follows representations from trade unions and employers in recent days.

Mr Varadkar said: The Government recognises that employees who need to self-isolate, in accordance with medical advice, should receive income support. This will require flexibility and responsiveness by employers and in government social protection schemes. Following consultation with employers and trade union representatives, proposals will be considered by the cabinet subcommittee next Monday.

In particular, the Government agreed that employees complying with medical advice from the HSE should receive income support in doing so and should not be disincentivised to disclose symptoms.

The Taoiseach has asked officials to meet with employer and trade union representatives to discuss how this assistance can best be provided. This is in addition to ongoing, wider stakeholder engagement on managing the impact of Covid-19.

Following this consultation, proposals will be considered by the cabinet subcommittee chaired by the Taoiseach next Monday.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) wrote to Mr Varadkar, asking him to intervene to ensure nobody would be out of pocket. They said the threat of losing income would deter workers from self-isolating and, potentially, contribute to the spread of the virus.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) advised that workers who stay away from work as a precautionary measure may have no legal right to be paid.

In her letter to the Taoiseach, Patricia King, ICTU general secretary, said, hundreds of thousands of workers could be affected.

Some workers, through no fault of their own, may simply be unable to afford to self-isolate, she said.

Employers body, Ibec, wrote to the Department of Social Protection, requesting the introduction of a special emergency social welfare payment at the level of job seekers benefit.

This payment would be applicable from the first day of employment stoppage.
The odor of marijuana in a car that police in Berkeley stopped for other reasons wasnt enough to justify a full-blown search of the vehicle now that California has legalized possession of cannabis by adults, an appellate panel has ruled.

Marijuana and alcohol now receive similar treatment under the law, said the Appellate Division of Alameda County Superior Court in a ruling barring evidence of a loaded handgun that police found during the search. The ruling was issued in December and was published by the state courts this week as a precedent for future cases.

It is one of the first appellate decisions on the effect of Proposition 64, the November 2016 initiative that allowed adults over 21 to buy, possess and use marijuana. They can possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow as many as six plants for personal use, but cannot smoke pot in public or drive while under the influence.

The court said police were on a specialized DUI patrol on University Avenue one night in September 2017 when they saw a car drive past them without a front license plate. They turned on their lights and siren, and the driver immediately pulled over to the curb and was cooperative, the court said.

An officer smelled marijuana and questioned the driver, Andre Shumake, who replied that he had some bud in the center console. Suspecting the drug was being transported illegally, the officer searched the car and found a closed plastic tube in the console that contained 1.14 grams of marijuana bud, or dried flower, the court said.

Believing there might be more marijuana in the car, the officers searched further and found no drugs, but discovered a loaded pistol under the drivers seat.

Shumake had not been driving erratically, and passed a field sobriety test at the scene. Superior Court Judge Margaret Fujioka ruled that the search was legal and allowed prosecutors to use the gun as evidence of illegal weapons possession, but was overruled by the appellate panel.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The possession of the cannabis flower in this case was lawful, Presiding Judge Noel Wise said in the 3-0 ruling. She said it was properly enclosed in a container and was only a fraction of the one-ounce maximum allowed by Prop. 64.

Prosecutors argued that police still had grounds to search the car and would have found the gun. But Wise said the only evidence officers had was the strong smell of fresh and recently burnt marijuana and Shumakes statement that he possessed a small amount of the drug, not enough to justify a search of a driver who was cooperating and showed no signs of impairment.

Anyone 21 years and older can now lawfully smoke marijuana in California and, as (the officer) testified, the smell can linger for more than a week, Wise said. Given the legality of personal use of marijuana in the state of California, there was not a fair probability that (the officer) would find evidence of a crime in a legal search.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Dang was among the three Congress MLAs and one Independent legislator who were currently holidaying in Bengaluru.

Bhopal/New Delhi: In a dramatic turn of events, a ruling Congress MLA on Thursday resigned from the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, indicating a looming crisis ahead for the Kamal Nath government.

The Congress legislator from Suwasara in Mandsaur district, Hardeep Singh Dang, sent his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker N.P. Prajapati and chief minister Kamal Nath. Mr Dang was among the three Congress MLAs and one Independent legislator who were currently holidaying in Bengaluru.

The four MLAs have been missing for the last one week.

In another development, family members of Congress MLA Baishahulal Singh, who was among the four MLAs now on a tour to Bengaluru, filed a report in the local police station in Annupur in MP that he has been missing for the past several days. Mr Dang cited negligence towards his constituency by the Kamal Nath government as the reason for resigning. I was not made a minister in the state nor was development work carried out in my constituency, he wrote in his resignation latter.

The political drama in Madhya Pradesh continued on Thursday with two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one Samajwadi Party legislator, who were purportedly rescued by Congress state ministers from a Gurgaon luxury hotel, claiming nobody from BJP had taken them hostage. The Congress, however, maintained in Delhi that the BJP had abducted 14 of their MLAs.

Taking strong exception to their portrayal as pliable politicians by Congress by staging the rescue operation, the three MLAs, who were among the six MLAs rescued by MP ministers Jai Vardhan Singh and Jitu Patwari from a Gurgaon hotel, described the entire narrative on the rescue operation by the two ministers as a white lie.

Nobody has taken us to Delhi and arranged our accommodation in any hotel nor did anybody rescue us. The two ministers asked us if we will be available for a chat. We were later asked to come with them to Bhopal in a chartered plane, BSP MLA Sanjeev Kushwaha told reporters here.

It is ridiculous to say that we were kept in a hotel to be purchased by the BJP. This is absolutely baseless charge which tarnished our image in public. We stood by the Kamal Nath government and will do so in future, he added.

Another BSP legislator Rama Bai ridiculed the claim by Congress veteran Digvijay Singh that she was misbehaved with by BJP leaders in the Gurgaon hotel, describing it as not true. She added: Nobody can dare to touch Rama Bai, leave alone misbehaving with her.

SP MLA Rajendra Shukla also echoed similar sentiments, saying that a section of Congress leaders wanted to shore up their image before their party high command, and hence they staged the whole drama.

The ruling Congress in Bhopal on Thursday found itself on a sticky wicket following the outbursts by the two BSP MLAs and one SP legislator who support the Kamal Nath government. We have never mentioned the names of MLAs rescued from the hotel. It is true some MLAs were missing, said Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja.

In New Delhi, the Congress central leadership again claimed that the BJP was destabilising its state government. It accused the saffron party of trying to bring down the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh by abducting 14 MLAs of the ruling alliance.

The atmosphere created by the BJP in the country (is of) targeting and breaking Opposition party leaders with threats of raids, etc, and forcing them to join or ally with the BJP so they can form the government, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media. Wherever other parties have made governments, their (BJPs) aim has been to destabilise them. This fever to destabilise state governments rises when the Rajya Sabha elections are due, he said.

Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed the BJP abducted 14 MLAs and accused the saffron party of being hand in glove with the mafia in Madhya Pradesh, which wants to topple the Congress government in the state. Eleven mafias have been identified and are being reined in by the Congress. They had been active for 15 years. The Vyapam scam is unravelling. So, this is a conspiracy to bring the Madhya Pradesh government down, he said.

Senior Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijay Singh, both of whom lost last years Lok Sabha polls, are the two main contenders for Rajya Sabha berths from the state. Digvijay Singh is a sitting Rajya Sabha member and is retiring later this month.

Chief minister Kamal Nath is keen to induct a local leader for one seat, leaving the fight open between Mr Singh and Mr Scindia for the other seat.
Rapper Nicki Minaj's husband Kenneth Petty is currently in a legal turmoil as he failed to register as a sex offender in Calfornia after relocating from New York, reported Fox News.

Petty surrendered himself to the authorities after failing to register as a sex offender, following which he was taken into custody.

According to Fox News, the records from Sheriff's Department of Los Angeles county suggests that Beverly Hills Police Department arrested Petty earlier in November 2019 but the charges against him have not been ascertained.

He was set free after a USD 20,000 bond.

As told to Fox News by the US Attorney's office, the 41-year-old appeared in the court for the first time on Wednesday. The proceedings included the hearings of his bond and its arraignment.

Petty was pleaded not guilty and has since then been released on a bond of USD 100,000.

"He is required to submit to electronic monitoring and his travel was restricted to Southern California," Fox News quoted the US Attorney's Office.

Petty will further have a status conference on March 23 which will determine the following steps in the trial to be taken place on April 28.

He was earlier convicted in 1995 for the first-degree rape of a minor girl.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Our vision has always been to make sales success inevitable," said Timo Rein, CEO and co-founder of Pipedrive. "To us, that means providing a complete toolkit to organize and accelerate the entire sales cycle that gives businesses and sales professionals total confidence in their abilitiesfrom generating and qualifying leads to driving and closing deals to managing existing customers. The trick is to deliver that functionality with software that is both powerful and simple at the same time. The Mailigen team has exceptional technical know-how and shares our commitment to ease of use. Together, we will offer sales and email marketing solutions that solve more of our customers' problems and are even more useful."

According to Gartner , marketing is the fastest-growing sub-segment of CRM, a view supported by an analysis of Pipedrive's customer base, which shows demand for marketing tools increasing year over year. A recent survey among Pipedrive customers indicated that 38% of sales professionals in the US and UK use email marketing tools as part of lead generation and engagement of customers. In addition, 88% of Pipedrive users involved in marketing at their company say that email marketing is important in helping them to meet their objectives.

Over the next few months, the companies will focus on integrating both technical platforms and organizations and will soon come to the market with a new, high-value offering for customers. "Joining the Pipedrive team is a great opportunity to create more value for both Pipedrive and Mailigen customers," said Janis Rozenblats, CEO and co-founder of Mailigen. "By joining forces with Pipedrive, we are combining two strong purpose-built products, providing our customers more focused and robust sales and marketing solutions. In addition, both companies have world-class technical teams and are a great cultural fit."

After the acquisition, Rozenblats will continue to head up the email marketing operations in Latvia, making Riga the fifth development hub for Pipedrive; the other hubs are Prague, Lisbon, Tallinn, and Tartu.

Mailigen helps businesses acquire and build lasting relationships with customers through email, social, and mobile channels. Pipedrive, the #1 user-rated CRM software, is the first CRM platform developed from the salesperson's point of view. The tool addresses sales professionals' most pressing needs: speeding up prospecting and lead qualification, reducing time spent on repetitive tasks, and gaining greater visibility into sales performance.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Key Capabilities of Mailigen

Email Marketing

An intelligent email builder with block building technology creates emails that are simple, beautiful and mobile responsive.

Real-time analytics support quick action to achieve better results.

A/B testing improves campaign results.

Subscriber list management eases segmentation.

Social media integration with email enables cohesive campaigns.

Email Automation

Behavior-based automation workflow builder with segmentation, survey, and triggered response tools facilitate more precise targetingthe ability to deliver what customers want, when they want it.

Dynamic email content makes creating and delivering personalized HTML content easier.

eCommerce enabled email marketing messages like a shopping cart abandonment emails and product education email series.

Online Surveys and SMS marketing

Private email invitations, drag and drop editor, and responsive survey design ensures personalized and secure surveys that are beautiful, fit with a company's brand image, and work on any device or browser.

SMS campaigns with personalization and link tracking capabilities allow users to reach their customers with time-sensitive information and include SMS as part of a lifecycle automation workflow along with the email.

About Mailigen

Mailigen is an intuitive email automation platform offering flexible solutions for small to medium-sized businesses. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Riga, the capital of Latvia, the company has 22 employees. Mailigen's biggest markets are the United States, other English-speaking markets, Latvia, and Russia. Learn more at Mailigen.com.

About Pipedrive Inc.

Founded in 2010, Pipedrive is the first CRM platform developed from the salesperson's point of view. Today, Pipedrive is used by sales teams at more than 90,000 companies worldwide. Pipedrive is the top-rated CRM and has offices in Dublin; Lisbon; London; New York; Prague; Tampa/St. Pete; Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia; and, with the acquisition of Mailigen, Riga, Latvia. Learn more at Pipedrive.com .

SOURCE Pipedrive Inc.
Princess Shamsa was snatched from the streets of Cambridge 20 years ago. She has not been since in public since.

Now High Court judge Sir Andrew McFarlane has sensationally concluded that her autocratic father Sheikh al-Maktoum is keeping her captive.

It means Dubai will come under international pressure to free her and her sister Princess Latifa from their torture chambers in their fathers palaces.

Before going on the run herself and being captured in 2018, Latifa recorded a chilling video claiming her elder sister Shamsa was kept on medication to control her mind that had made her like a zombie.

She said Shamsa had been kept in the dark continuously for months, perhaps years. She could not open her eyes properly for a long time because she had not seen daylight for so long. Kept prisoner in a Dubai palace, Shamsa had tried to kill herself many times.

Before going on the run herself and being captured in 2018, Latifa recorded a chilling video claiming her elder sister Shamsa (pictured in an undated photo) was kept on medication to control her mind that had made her like a zombie

Until now, the extraordinary story of the zombie princess Shamsa and her kidnap could only be pieced together from second-hand reports.

In mid-July 2000 the headstrong then 19-year-old princess  reportedly angry her father wouldnt let her go to university and disgusted by Dubais human rights record  evaded high-security at her fathers sprawling Longcross estate in Surrey, where the family spent most summers.

She drove her black Range Rover to the corner of the grounds and escaped through a perimeter fence on to Chobham Common, then ran off.

Staff discovered her abandoned car the next day, sparking chaos. As a search operation swung into action, the sheikh flew in from his horse racing base in Newmarket, Suffolk, to take charge.

All staff were sent out, on horseback or in cars, to search for the runaway. Nothing was found except Shamsas discarded mobile on the common.

In mid-July 2000 the headstrong then 19-year-old princess  reportedly angry her father wouldnt let her go to university and disgusted by Dubais human rights record  evaded high-security at her fathers sprawling Longcross estate (pictured) in Surrey, where the family spent most summers

For a few weeks, his teenage daughter evaded capture by staying at a hostel in south London. But on August 19, her fathers henchmen caught up with her outside a bar in Cambridge. The sheikh had traced her after ordering the bugging of Shamsas friends phones, the High Court judgment found. He had even offered a Rolex watch bribe to one.

Shamsa later wrote in a letter she apparently managed to smuggle out of captivity that I was caught by my father. She wrote: He managed to track me down through someone I kept in touch with. He sent four Arab men to catch me.

They were carrying guns and threatening me. They drove me to my fathers place in Newmarket  there they gave me two injections and a handful of tablets. The very next morning a helicopter came and flew me to the plane, which took me back to Dubai. I am locked up.

I havent seen anyone  not even the man you call my father. I told you this would happen.

She was flown to Deauville in France by helicopter and then to Dubai by private plane, probably the sheikhs Boeing 737 business jet or his smaller Gulfstream G-IV, both of which were in Europe that August.

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attend day two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in an undated photo

According to a friend of Shamsa, Longcross staff were made to sign confidentiality agreements forbidding them talking about her disappearance. Nothing was made public. Then in March 2001, Cambridgeshire police received a phone call from a British solicitor with a bizarre tale to tell.

He said he was acting for Princess Shamsa and gave details of the alleged kidnapping and how she was smuggled out of the UK.

The allegation was passed to David Beck, then detective chief inspector of Cambridge CID. Kidnap is a major offence, he said. Its not every day that an allegation involving a head of state lands on a police officers desk.

Sir Andrews ruling said Mr Beck  who gave evidence  had interviewed Shamsas friends and many of the sheikhs staff, who corroborated several aspects of the story.

View on Beach Palace of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai, UAE on November 26, 2011

At least one of those closely involved in the abduction, identified as Mohammed Al Shaibani, remains one of the sheikhs assistants to this day.

The sheikh tried to fob off police by saying his daughter felt constricted by the security arrangements that were necessarily in place around her.

He told detectives she had gone missing and they feared she had been kidnapped, adding: She was more vulnerable than other young women of her age because her status made her a kidnap risk. Her mother and I were extremely worried about her safety and wellbeing.

I emphasise that her mother and I jointly decided to organise a search for her. When she was found, I remember our feeling of overwhelming relief that she was safe and had not come to any harm.

Sir Andrew said this statement had actually helped corroborate the allegations, especially as he confirmed the search for her.

He concluded it was true the father ordered the unlawful abduction of his daughter, Sheikha Shamsa, from the United Kingdom to Dubai.

Yesterday Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: An investigation into the alleged abduction of Shamsa Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2000 was carried out in 2001. With the evidence that was available to us this was insufficient to take any further action.

A review took place in 2017 and it was again concluded there was insufficient evidence to take any further action. This is no longer an active investigation and we are not in contact with the victim.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a cold starlit night two years ago, the yacht Nostromo was nearing the Indian coast after a 1,500 mile journey across the Arabian Sea.

On board were the skipper, a French adventurer and sometime spy, a three-man Filipino crew and two women passengers, one a Finnish national, the other Her Highness Princess Latifa al-Maktoum.

The princess, who had hired the yacht and its captain to flee her despotic father for a new life abroad, was in her cabin below deck as the Nostromo slowed to five knots, the speed of a fishing boat, to lessen the risk of being spotted.

On board were the skipper, a French adventurer and sometime spy, a three-man Filipino crew and two women passengers, one a Finnish national, the other Her Highness Princess Latifa al-Maktoum (pictured)

They were not pirates but commandos sent to retrieve the princess, whose father was billionaire Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, ruler of oil-rich Dubai and horse race-loving friend of the Royal Family. She had locked herself in her bathroom when the men smashed their way in, saying: Come on Latifa, lets go home

Then out of the darkness, two speedboats roared alongside. They carried 15 masked men armed with Israeli-made laser-pointed assault rifles who tossed smoke bombs and stun grenades on board before storming the vessel where they handcuffed and beat the captain, Herve Jaubert, and seized the crew at gunpoint.

They were not pirates but commandos sent to retrieve the princess, whose father was billionaire Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, ruler of oil-rich Dubai and horse race-loving friend of the Royal Family. She had locked herself in her bathroom when the men smashed their way in, saying: Come on Latifa, lets go home. Kicking and screaming that she would rather die than go, she was hurled into one of the speedboats.

It was the last anyone would see of the princess until December 2018 when, in an incendiary intervention, Mary Robinson, Irelands first woman president, declared the then 33-year old was in the loving care of her family.

Mrs Robinson posed for photos alongside the princess. The pictures were later released in an apparent attempt to prove that she was not being held against her will  although she looked withdrawn and dishevelled. Pointedly, Latifa had predicted any attempt at escape would result in sedation and claims of mental illness.

They carried 15 masked men armed with Israeli-made laser-pointed assault rifles who tossed smoke bombs and stun grenades on board before storming the vessel where they handcuffed and beat the captain, Herve Jaubert, and seized the crew at gunpoint

In the uproar that followed, Mrs Robinson was accused by human rights groups of being a willing pawn in the PR battle between the United Arab Emirates ruling family and the world.

So what really happened to Latifa?

Her story started to be told in February 2018. In a hotel room with the curtains drawn, a young woman speaks to a camera. It is Latifa, one of the 30 children of Sheikh Mohammed by his six wives, who described her father as one of the most evil men in the world. She then calmly and methodically details what life  and in particular hers  is like in money-no-object Dubai.

Her home is a palace with 100 staff and when she goes out she has a driver to take her. Her days are spent scuba diving, messing around on jet-skis and skydiving. But she was followed and watched at all times, not permitted to drive and foreign travel was unthinkable. Her passport was kept from her. Any individual freedom was erased  two of her sisters were even named Latifa, too.

In her video, Latifa labels her outwardly benign father, who often takes tea with the Queen, as a major criminal... responsible for a lot of deaths. She also tells how an elder sister, Shamsa, ran away from the family while staying in Surrey and remained at large in the UK for two months before being grabbed off the street, drugged like a zombie and imprisoned for eight years.

Undeterred, at 16 Latifa too tried to escape from Dubai but was caught at the Oman border. She claims she was imprisoned for more than three years, tortured by beatings and kept in solitary confinement for days on end.

Basically, one guy was holding me while the other guy was beating me, and they did that repeatedly, she told Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish woman she had befriended in Dubai, adding: They told me: Your father told us to beat you until we kill you  thats his orders.

Latifa said in the 2018 video filmed before her second escape bid: It was constant torture, constant torture, even when they werent physically beating me up, they were torturing me. They would switch off all the lights. I was in solitary confinement by myself totally, and theres no windows, theres no light, so when they switched off the light, it was pitch black.

They would switch it off for days, so I didnt know when one day ended then the next began and then they would  they would make sounds to harass me and then they would come in the middle of the night to, pull me out of bed to beat me.

Pictured: The Nostromo US yacht which was illegally seized off the coast of India. In the uproar that followed, Mrs Robinson was accused by human rights groups of being a willing pawn in the PR battle between the United Arab Emirates ruling family and the world

Emirati authorities rubbished all the claims. But now the High Court has found them to be true. Then, aged 19, she was abruptly freed and allowed to hire tutors. Her affluent life resumed but her dream to escape continued. Latifas second breakout plot was hatched over seven years. She enlisted ex-naval officer Herve Jaubert, a former French spy who had once escaped the UAE wearing a burqa, and offered him hundreds of thousands of euros to get her out.

On February 24, 2018, Princess Latifa, then 32, and Miss Jauhiainen went to a cafe for breakfast. Latifa removed her full-length abaya robe and they drove to Oman. It was Latifas first time sitting in the front of a car, so we took selfies, Miss Jauhiainen has recalled. They sailed in a dingy 16 miles off the coast of the capital Muscat, to a rendevous at sea with the Frenchman, who was waiting with jet-skis.

Then they zoomed over the waves another 15 miles to his 100ft yacht, Nostromo, where his Filipino crew were waiting to sail them over the Arabian Sea to Goa, where the princess hoped to fly to the US and claim asylum. But the Sheikhs electronic snoopers were almost certainly tracking their smartphones.

Latifa and I were in the cabin when we heard what sounded like gunfire, recalled Miss Jauhiainen. In terror we locked ourselves in the bathroom, but the cabin started filling with smoke.

Outside they came face to face with Indian commandos, armed with machine guns. I was pushed to the floor. They tied my hands behind my back and told me Dont move or well shoot you. She was marched to the outer deck, pushed over the railings towards the sea and told: Take your last breath. Were going to shoot your brain out.

n this Wednesday, June, 15, 2016 file photo, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, right, greets Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and the Ruler of Dubai and his wife Princess Haya of Jordan in the royal box on the second day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting at Ascot, England

Miss Jauhiainen said: Latifa kept repeating that she was seeking political asylum, but she was taken, kicking and screaming. Her last words were: Dont take me back  just shoot me here.

The Finnish woman, Mr Jaubert and his crew were taken to a prison in the United Arab Emirates where they were interrogated for hours before suddenly being released after two weeks.

The act of piracy happened in international waters, against a US-flagged yacht. The princess was flown away in a helicopter. Her Instagram account was deleted soon after. But Latifa had an insurance policy  she had made the chilling video in case she was caught, and entrusted it to a lawyer in America. Days later it was released on YouTube, where so far it has been viewed 4.2million times.

The High Court judge concluded of Latifa: She was plainly desperate to extricate herself from her family and prepared to undertake a dangerous mission in order to do so. I feel confident in relying upon all that Latifa has said in the video and elsewhere.

Sheikh Maktoum told the court in a statement that she had been manipulated by Mr Jaubert whose objective was to extort money. He claimed: To this day I consider that Latifas return to Dubai was a rescue mission.

His ex-wife Princess Hayas legal team sought to require the sheikh to bring Shamsa and Latifa to England to be interviewed as part of the case. But he claimed they were adamant they did not wish to.

The judge has now ruled: I do not accept that Shamsa and Latifa have been given a free choice.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5

Trend:

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov is in Vienna (Austria) by invitation of Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammad Barkindo, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Energy on Mar. 5.

Shahbazov will attend the 8th of OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting to be held on March 6.

The situation on the global oil market will be discussed at the meeting, and the issue of decision-making on the level of production for the period after March will be considered.

An agreement to reduce oil production by another 500,000 barrels per day was reached at the 7th of OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, held in Vienna on December 6, 2019. Azerbaijan accept an obligation to reduce daily production by 27,000 barrels.
The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) has warned the public of a new technology scam, which calls VNPT subscribers from foreign numbers in order to entice them to call back and get hit with charges.

Customer service staff of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT). The company recommends customers report scam calls via the operator's hotline 18001091.  Photo courtesy of VNPT

The calls were made from overseas telephone numbers such as Moldova (+373), Tunisia (+216), Equatorial Guinea (+240) and Burkina Faso (+226).

Scammers called subscribers via OTT applications early in the morning and late at night. The calls would last several seconds.

In case subscribers called back the phone number, their accounts would be immediately charged a huge amount of money when the call was successfully connected, it said.

VNPT has urging the public to be alert to all calls and messages from strange international numbers to avoid being scammed.

It has proactively classified and blocked suspected calls from international numbers showing signs of fraud. It has also updated technical measures to proactively prevent scam calls.

The telecommunications company has also provided subscribers with a number of signs to distinguish scam calls and ordinary calls. International calls or text messages must display a plus (+) or the two digits of 00, and the next two digits are not 84, which are the Vietnamese country code.

The telecommunications company said it had been co-operating with relevant police agencies to further investigate and eliminate the scam.

The company has also notified subscribers that they can contact the VNPT service number 18001091 or the hotline of the Criminal Police Department 0692348560.  VNS

VN telecoms firms turn to digital content Telecommunications firms are turning towards developing their own digital content, the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA) under the Ministry of Information and Communications has said.
Tension prevailed in parts of Coimbatore early on Thursday after two mosques came under attack in the city, following which security was beefed up, police said

Coimbatore: Tension prevailed in parts of Coimbatore early on Thursday after two mosques came under attack in the city, following which security was beefed up, police said.

While a bottle filled with petrol was hurled at a mosque in Ganapati locality, there were reports of stones thrown at another place of worship in Kovaipudur, they said.

The incidents were suspected to be in retaliation to an alleged attack on a Hindu Munnani worker late on Wednesday night.

Both Hindu and Muslim outfits have called for a dawn-to dusk bandh here on Friday to condemn the incidents.

Madukkarai Anand, District Secretary of Hindu Munnani, was attacked by some unidentified people, who came on bikes, while he was returning home after participating in a pro-CAA 'dharna' in the city on Wednesday.

A large posse of police were deployed in sensitive areas to prevent any untoward incidents, even as Anand was undergoing treatment at the Government Hospital.

Investigation is underway in connection with both the incidents, police said.

Talking to reporters in Coimbatore, Hindu Munnani functionary Kadeswara Subramanian described it as an "organised" attack to incite violence.

He accused the DMK, Congress and Left parties of instigating the members of Muslim community to "take political advantage" and "indulge" in violence.

The Social Democratic Party of India petitioned the Police Commissioner, seeking to bring to book those involved in the attack on the mosques.

It also sought protection to all mosques in the district.

Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat in a release said some people who did not believe in peace had hurled the petrol bomb on the mosque.

The outfit urged the state government to take steps to prevent such attacks on Muslims and their property.
One of the things that has attracted me to Aurora Cannabis (ACB) for some time has been its decision to forego giving up control of the company as Canopy Growth (CGC) has done, which eventually resulted in Constellation Brands taking control of Canopy, while changing its business model.

With Aurora under pressure because of the problems associated with the Canadian cannabis market, especially the snails pace of awarding licensing and opening retail outlets, resulting in too much supply because Aurora and others had based production capacity built-out, to a major degree, on hundreds more stores being opened by now.

In this article we'll look at whether or not Aurora should, or will be forced to, give up control of the company in order to support long-term operations and growth, or even if it will be able to attract a suitor now that the Canadian cannabis market has temporarily collapsed.

Understanding the Canadian problem

It's obvious as to the basic failure of the Canadian governments in regard to the licensing process and the serious lack of retail cannabis stores to sell product in. What isn't understood as much are the various elements of the business and market and how they've been impacted by this.

For example, the black market continues to flourish and defend its lower prices because in the major Ontario and Quebec markets they have almost no competition from the legal cannabis market. Because companies have limitations associated with the inability to scale because of so few stores, they can't compete on price with illegal producers and sellers.

Another factor is it limits the potential to attract many new customers that may want to give cannabis a try for the first time. It also undermines the potential of derivatives because of the lack of retail outlets.

Can or will Aurora seek out an investment partner

Watching the terrible impact of Canopy Growth's under performance on the earnings of Constellation Brands, it's going to be difficult for Aurora to attract a large suitor if that's what it decides to do.

Story continues

On the other hand, the plummet in the valuation of the company makes it much less expensive to take a significant position in, if a company wants to enter the cannabis sector with one of the largest producers in the world as its partner.

I think a major problem here is that those that have been impressed with Aurora, have been so because of its independence and willingness to take risks. If it changes direction and gets a cash infusion in exchange for basically losing control of the company, it will no longer be as attractive over the long haul, once the cannabis market reverses direction.

At the same time, it will need more capital going forward, so it will have to decide what direction it wants to take to cover its expenses as it and the cannabis market go through growing pains.

As mentioned earlier, the company isn't near as attractive as it was about a year ago, and it's questionable whether or not it can attract a company that wants to invest in it.

For that reason, making a deal with a distribution partner or partners may be a better route to take as long as it can raise additional capital.

Conclusion

Personally, I think Aurora Cannabis can continue to go it alone if it chooses to, although it will require it to find ways to improve its balance sheet.

The other challenge is the lack of progress in Canada has created an issue concerning what I call demand discovery, by which I mean there is no way of knowing the size of the legal cannabis market demand in Canada until hundreds of more cannabis stores and dispensaries are operational; that makes it hard to plan for future production capacity management.

As with all the cannabis producers located in Canada, Aurora Cannabis has an important piece of the business puzzle outside of its control, and based upon past performance of the various Canadian governments, this isn't inspirational for near-term prospects for the company.

Aurora still has among the best cost per gram and has been able to be among the top five recreational sellers in Canada based upon price. It also has a strong presence in international markets that it has just started to tap the potential growth in.

The key will be securing more operating capital in order for the market to work out the challenges the company now faces. If it manages to do that, it's still my favorite for long-term performance in the sector.

To find good ideas for cannabis stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.
(CNN) -- Elizabeth Warren is dropping out of the presidential race, a source familiar with her plans tells CNN, following another round of disappointing finishes in primary contests across the country on Super Tuesday.

The Massachusetts senator, who centered her bid on a promise to wipe out corruption in Washington, announced her decision on a staff call Thursday morning.

"I wanted you all to hear it first, and I wanted you to hear it straight from me: Today, I'm suspending our campaign for president," Warren said, according to a person on the call.

She continued, "I know that when we set out, this was not the call you ever wanted to hear. It is not the call I ever wanted to make. But I refuse to let disappointment blind me -- or you -- to what we've accomplished. We didn't reach our goal, but what we have done together -- what you have done -- has made a lasting difference. It's not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters -- and the changes will have ripples for years to come."

Warren's path to the nomination has been narrowing since the first round of voting in Iowa, where she placed third. In subsequent contests in New Hampshire and Nevada, she dropped down to fourth. In South Carolina, she came in a distant fifth.

The New York Times first reported that Warren is exiting the race.

Despite the mounting setbacks, Warren's campaign was as recently as Sunday touting a plan to amass delegates through the late spring and make a play for the nomination, as a unity candidate, during the Democratic National Convention this summer. But those hopes were effectively dashed on Super Tuesday, when she failed to win her home state of Massachusetts, finishing third behind former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, and mostly underperformed in a series of key states.

Her exit officially leaves Biden and Sanders as the final top contenders for the Democratic nomination.

Her departure follows those of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the latter of whom finished ahead of Warren in each of the four early state contests. Their rush to Biden, and the moderate consolidation that followed, combined with Sanders' lock on progressive voters left Warren in a political no-man's land. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg exited the race on Wednesday.

Visit CNN's Election Center for full coverage of the 2020 race

Both Klobuchar and Buttigieg endorsed Biden on Monday. Warren, a respected progressive leader who has been fiercely critical of the former vice president and, at least until the current campaign heated up, a friend and ally of Sanders, has not yet indicated who she will support moving forward. Sanders said he spoke to Warren on Wednesday, but did not share any details from their conversation.

Once considered a leading contender for the nomination, Warren's plummet began months before the first ballots were cast in what was a crowded primary field that saw multiple candidates shoot up in the polls before being batted down by their rivals. Of those who dropped out of the race before her, she was endorsed only by former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. He threw his support to Warren in early January, about a month before Iowa, but despite his passionate advocacy, failed to arrest her slide.

Warren was, at first, tripped up by the controversy surrounding her decision to publicize a DNA test meant to prove her Native American ancestry. She apologized to Native American leaders for both the DNA test and her controversial past claims.

She swore off big donors and began a trail tradition that became one her trademarks: a "selfie" line that followed her events and allowed voters to share a brief but intimate moment with the candidate

Warren touted her grassroots fundraising efforts by posting clips online of her calls to small dollar contributors and began doing a "pinkie promise" with some of her youngest female supporters, "so that they'll remember that running for president is what girls do."

Her campaign really took off in the spring and summer 2019 as she rolled out a comprehensive suite of what would eventually add up to more than 70 policy plans, addressing everything from anti-corruption legislation to the Green New Deal.

By the fall, she was leading in a number of early state polls and appeared to have gained a foothold with liberal voters around the country. They embraced her as the candidate with "a plan for that" -- an identity the campaign embraced and ran with -- and, in some progressive circles, was viewed as the more electable option over fellow favorite Sanders.

But her standing began to slip in the fall, when her support for "Medicare for All," the universal, government-run medical insurance program, came under stricter scrutiny from moderate rivals like Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg. In response, she released a pair of proposals: one to finance Medicare for All without raising any taxes on middle class voters and another that would have effectively broken up the bill into two pieces.

Warren's attempts to quiet the critics backfired. Opponents of Medicare for All, boosted by an industry spending campaign designed to drive down its popularity, continued their attacks. Progressives, too, became dissatisfied, voicing concerns over the senator's commitment to passing the legislation.

By the Iowa caucuses, Warren had fallen behind Sanders and had begun to see a sizable number of her more moderate supporters flock to Buttigieg, who, despite their political differences, also appealed to more affluent, white college-educated voters.

But the crushing blow likely came later, in South Carolina, where she finished a distant fifth.

Throughout the campaign, Warren kept up a concerted effort to directly address the African-American community. Her targeted plans-within-plans sought to combat economic and social inequality with proposals that acknowledged and offered policy solutions that she argued would begin to undo generations of systemic discrimination in everything from housing to health and business. But when the contest arrived in down South, her attempts to make inroads into the community fell flat.

Despite those setbacks, the campaign continued to argue that Warren was the only candidate who could bridge the Democratic Party's divisions -- a progressive with the credentials and charisma to win over voters across the ideological spectrum.

By February, though, the campaign -- which had spent its dollars in anticipation of a long nomination fight -- was in a cash crunch. She got a fundraising boost after a lauded debate performance in Las Vegas, where she targeted Bloomberg over the billionaire's past treatment of women at his company and his support for "stop and frisk" during his time as mayor of New York City.

But because of high early voting in Nevada, which happened before the debate, the bump that followed didn't translate into a surge of support in the state's caucuses days later.

In the final weeks of her campaign, Warren also relented on her long-standing refusal to accept the support of a super PAC, which ended up spending heavily -- in excess of $13 million during its brief run -- across the Super Tuesday map, arguing that she would not unilaterally disarm in an increasing expensive campaign.

As her prospects dwindled, Warren increasingly turned her fire on Sanders, arguing that, for all their policy agreements, he was -- unlike her -- an ineffectual legislator with a short resume of accomplishments during three decades in Congress. The turn began to upset some progressives who worried that her criticism would damage the Vermont senator at a time when moderates were coalescing around Biden.

But there is no clear sign that Warren's departure, without a vocal endorsement and energetic campaigning on his behalf, will benefit Sanders. Her coalition of support was ultimately too thin to vault her into the upper tier of the primary, but its ideological diversity likely means that it will splinter among the remaining candidates.

This story has been updated with additional reporting from Warren's staff call.
Construction of the National Cathedral is scheduled to begin in the first week of April 2020 following a groundbreaking ceremony held in Accra today, Thursday, March 5, 2020.

The one month period is to allow for the completion of the groundwork preparations.

According to the National Cathedral Secretariat, the Marlian Embassy and the Passport Office will be demolished within the same period to pave way for the construction to begin.

In an interview with Citi News, the CEO of the Secretariat, Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah stated that a plan will be announced by the end of the month detailing strategies to raise funds for the construction.

We are still left with two buildings that need to go [down] by the 1st of April [2020]. Then we can say construction has started. We are in that process of negotiating the final details of the contract. So we are in the stage where we are finalising discussions for the contractor. Weve been confident and almost encouraged by the donations coming in. But Ive always said that today really will mark the beginning of the major donations, he said.

Government has been criticised for championing the National Cathedral project.

But President Nana Akufo-Addo who initiated the project maintains that construction of the National Cathedral is pivotal to the development of Ghana.

Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, on the other hand, advised against the political colourization of the project.

According to him, the Cathedral will be beneficial to future generations.

He said: This project which is something to do with God and country, posterity and generations yet on board, let it not be subjected to the reasons of men to debate [and politicise it]. Let it not be subjected to controversies. But let us for once go beyond debate,

citinewsroom
The suspect in the deadly shooting of an Alabama police officer last month grabbed an assault rifle from the back seat of his BMW and opened fire from the sedan when he realized police were in front and behind his vehicle on Interstate 65, according to an SBI agent.

Preston Johnson, 37, was in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Alaric May in the February slaying of Kimberly police Officer Nick ORear and the attempted murder of Warrior police Officer Lee Glenn. Johnson is charged with three counts of capital murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. He also has been indicted on federal gun charges.

The shooting happened Tuesday, Feb. 4, on Interstate 65. ORear, a 33-year-old father of two with a child on the way, was struck in the head. He was pronounced dead in early the next morning at UAB Hospital.

Jefferson County Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Roberts and Deputy District Attorney Deborah Danneman are prosecuting. Johnson is represented by appointed attorneys David Simpson and Wakisha Hazzard.

Family members of both ORear and Johnson attended Thursday. Johnsons family, who have not made any public statements about Johnson or the accusations against him, declined to comment. Johnson smiled at them when he was brought into the courtroom.

State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Pete Acosta, the lone witness in Thursdays hearing, testified about witness statements. That night, Glenn  the Warrior officer  was parked alongside I-65 and spotted an approaching black BMW. When the driver of the BMW  later identified as Johnson  spotted the patrol cruiser, he began to drive erratically. Glenn activated his emergency equipment, Johnson failed to stop, and a chase began.

Revealed in Acostas testimony today: A woman civilian was doing a ride-along with Glenn.

As Glenn pursued the black BMW, testimony showed, ORear heard the radio traffic and joined in. When he entered I-65, he was ahead of Johnsons vehicle and Glenn was behind the suspect.

Acosta testified that a woman was with Johnson. He had picked her up and was taking her to her mothers house. That woman told police that when Johnson noticed a police officer behind him, he told her to grab a gun. She refused. At that point, she told agents, Johnson reached into the back seat and retrieved a long gun, which court records state was a Norinco Mak-90 AK-47.

Johnson, according to the witness, fired through the front windshield at ORears vehicle and then fired through the back windshield at Glenns vehicle. Once they realized there were no more police officers behind them, they exited the interstate and parked the BMW behind a church. Johnson then made some phone calls and the pair was picked up by another man and woman in a white GMC pickup truck.

Johnsons passenger told police they left multiple items in the woods near where they had left the BMW. Acosta said investigators recovered the assault rifle, a Glock 9 mm handgun, a set of keys, a military camouflage jacket, a purse, a backpack and some narcotics.

Acosta said investigators had quickly identified Johnson as a suspect because of the vehicles description and law enforcements previous contact with him. A lookout bulletin was issued first to law enforcement only, but later a Blue Alert went out statewide.

Authorities were able to determine that Johnson had switched vehicles because the wife of the man who picked up Johnson was tracking him via social media, according to court testimony. The wife said she had called her husband to see if he was coming home and he told her he had to go pick up Johnson who had either had a wreck or was having car trouble. The wife then saw news bulletins that Johnson was wanted, and she called police to tell them that Johnson was with her husband. It wasnt clear in testimony how the woman was tracking her husbands movements, but Acosta said it wasnt through a phone app.

Johnson and the other man and two women were taken into custody shortly before 1 a.m. on Feb. 5 on U.S. 78 near Dora. Jefferson County deputies, Adamsville and Sumiton police were among those at the arrest.

Johnsons passenger picked Johnson out of a photo lineup as the man she was riding with. After questioning, Johnson was taken to the Jefferson County Jail and the other man and two women were released without being charged.

Acosta testified that both police cruisers  those belonging to ORear and Quinn  were heavily damaged by gunfire. Additionally, ORears vehicle suffered additional damage from crashing into the interstate median after he was shot. ORears rear window was shattered by gunfire, and there was blood evidence throughout the vehicle, including on ORears headrest.

Simpson, one of Johnsons attorneys, argued that it was premature to charge Johnson with capital murder. He pointed out that the investigation is ongoing and said that the woman riding with Johnson had not, and could not, yet be eliminated as the person who fired the shots.

This is a bit premature, Simpson said. There is another viable suspect. He said Johnson was under substantial hardship facing charges of killing a police officer.

Prosecutor Roberts, however, said there was substantial evidence against Johnson to send the case to a grand jury for indictment consideration. The judge agreed and bound the case over, ordering Johnson remain held without bond.

Johnson has a lengthy criminal history, according to state and federal court records.
San Francisco, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cobalt.io, the first Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) platform, today unveiled a new lineup of product enhancements that give modern agile development teams the ability to do fast and frequent pentests and enhance development and security operations. The platform transforms yesterdays broken pentest model into a data-driven application security engine by using a combination of data, technology, and talent to build hacker-like testing into development cycles for software applications and environments. Specifically built for tech-driven software companies, organizations can start a pentest in 24 hours with Cobalt.io, compared to two weeks or more through legacy pentest methods.

With the proliferation of apps and the widespread adoption of agile development, its imperative that software companies have the ability to pentest in a more fluid and on-demand manner, said Jacob Hansen, CEO, Cobalt.io. The consultancy model is not fit for this era, and automation has failed to solve this. Pentest as a Service removes friction in the pentest process with its find-to-fix workflow and vastly improves the delivery in terms of both speed and cost.

New platform enhancements include:

Cobalt.io Credits - the first delivery model that standardizes cost with unit of work for flexible, cost-effective pentest consumption. Instead of being tied to a traditional all-in-scope assessment, estimate the amount of pentesting you anticipate across a contractual year and assign Credits as needed for specific use cases. With Credits, security teams can start a pentest in 24 hours, saving agile teams time by eliminating scheduling and onboarding back and forth with a vendor with each new feature release.

Pentest Wizard - a self-starter guide that helps you select your assets, set your pentest objectives, specify details, and finalize the testing timeline. Complete critical steps autonomously to create a thorough pentest brief in a simple and efficient manner.

Vulnerability taxonomy - more granular categorization of vulnerability findings, with 25 high-level categories and 135 sub-categories. Pentesters spend more time finding vulnerabilities and less time writing about them, while customers receive more detailed reports that make it easier to assign and remediate risk.

JIRA bi-directional integration (available June 2020) - the ability for security and development teams to communicate back-and-forth online and in-platform through JIRA. Instead of manually uploading findings into JIRA, this two-way communication creates operational efficiencies and expedites the remediation process.



Cobalt.io empowers more than 500 customers to pinpoint, track, and remediate software vulnerabilities with its PtaaS platform. The new generation of software companies, including HubSpot, Palo Alto Networks, and GoDaddy use Cobalt.io today.

The introduction of credits on the Cobalt.io platform for the planning and consumption of penetration testing effort has provided me with great flexibility, said Eric Galis, Vice President of Compliance and Security, Cengage. I am now able to allocate resources according to the complexity, sensitivity, and criticality of the resource to be tested, allowing me to strategically maximize my application security budget.

About Cobalt.io

Cobalt.ios Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) Platform transforms yesterdays broken pentest model into a data-driven application security engine. Fueled by a global talent pool of certified pentesters, Cobalt.ios platform delivers actionable results that empower agile teams to pinpoint, track, and remediate software vulnerabilities. Hundreds of organizations, including the new generation of software companies, now benefit from high-quality pentest findings, faster remediation times, and higher ROI for their pentest budget.

Visit cobalt.io to learn how Cobalt.io is securing apps for companies such as HubSpot, Palo Alto Networks, GoDaddy, Vonage, and Axel Springer, and join us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Attachment
Editor's note: In the first part of this essay, Edward P. Joseph described the competing schools of thought on Washington's current policies on Iran. He then dissected some of the contradictions that challenge the case for a radical reversal of policy. He continues in part two.

Iran does not pose a serious threat to the United States and Iran can play an active role in the Middle East

A pillar in the case for wholesale engagement is that Iran does not pose a serious threat to the United States. Despite its missile advances, its proxies and its facility with asymmetrical warfare, it is argued that the regimes conventional forces are antiquated compared to those of the United States and its allies in the region. Engagement advocates also maintain that Iran is no longer much of a terrorist concern, particularly compared to the hydra-like, decentralized Sunni jihadist threat, which gets inspiration from a host of Gulf actors, notably Saudi Arabia.

Not only does Iran lack the tools to threaten the United States, say advocates for engagement, but its regional activities are grounded in the understandable aim of maximizing Irans security interests in a deeply hostile environment. For example, Irans trans-shipment of missiles to Lebanons Hezbollah, whose arsenal now bristles with tens of thousands of missiles, is said to be Irans main strategic deterrent against Israel.

Beyond opening up useful military and political channels with Iran, engagement advocates now envision a wholesale reorientation of U.S. policy. Instead of trying to contain Iran, advocates say the United States should embrace a new regional order that recognizes Irans legitimate interests in developments in the Arab world. The principles of this new order should be non-aggression and non-interference in one anothers internal affairs. Advocates cite proposals by Rouhani for the Hormuz Peace Endeavor, among other initiatives.

This revisionist appeal comes at the very moment when Irans regional agenda is drawing increased criticism at home and defiant protests abroad. Among other examples, Iraqi protesters, most of them Shiites, burned down the Iranian consulates in Basra and Najaf. The instincts of the protesters, who are furious about Iranian meddling in Iraq, are correct. They stand as a rebuke to the Orwellian use of the terms non-aggression and non-interference by the Iranian regime. Irans regional policy is manifestly a parade of aggressive interference, driven by Tehrans bid to project offensive power in the region. In short, Iran is the chief source of its own supposed security threats.

The proof lies in comparison with Turkey. Virtually identical in population, Turkey and Iran are both non-Arab, Islamic countries grounded in cultures, languages and civilizations that date back millennia. Their relations with Riyadh are tense. Each rankles the Saudis (and allied Sunni states) with claims to leadership over and protection of significant portions of the Middle East and the wider Muslim world. Both Iran and Turkey vigorously back the Palestinian cause and volubly assail Israel. And while Turkey is a treaty ally of the United States, and Iran an American adversary, Turkeys president does not hesitate to defy American wishes, as happened with the recent purchase of a Russian missile-defense system against the express demands of Washington.

Yet despite this host of similarities, only Iran perceives the need for a strategic deterrent against Israel. Despite all its similarities to Iran, and despite living in the same volatile neighborhood, Turkey does not mobilize against a possible Israeli strike. The reasons are obvious and go well beyond Turkey's membership in NATO: Turkey does not vow to annihilate Israel, it has no nuclear program, and it does not arm Hezbollah or Hamas with missiles. It follows that the only plausible reason that Tehran, alone, needs to deter the Israelis is because of the menace Iran poses to Israel, not vice-versa.

There is a similar, unmistakable contrast between Turkey and Irans relations with their shared nemesis, Saudi Arabia. To Riyadhs irritation, Turkey ostentatiously joins with Qatar in backing the Muslim Brotherhood around the region. Doha and Ankara take opposite sides from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in the escalating conflict in Libya. In 2018, Ankara exploited its possession of key evidence in the gruesome Khashoggi affair to inflict severe damage on Riyadhs emerging leader, Mohammed bin Salman. Despite the bitter rivalry and open tensions, the notion of an assault by either Turkey or Saudi Arabia on the other is as remote as the Iranian threat to the Saudis is real.

Does Iran nevertheless face a serious military threat from Saudi Arabia? Last September, Iran devastated two Saudi oil installations with an audacious attack. Despite all the advanced weaponry the Saudis have received from the United States over the years, the Saudis cowered. Not only does Riyadh seem to lack the will to strike Iran, its efforts in Yemen suggest that it also lacks the capability. The Saudis have vastly outspent and outgunned the Iranians in the catastrophic proxy-civil war, to little avail.

It's true that the Saudis hold demeaning views towards Shiites. Riyadh continues to back the spread of Wahhabism, an Islamist strain linked to jihad. Bellicose remarks by Bin Salman preceded by one month a 2017 terrorist attack in Tehran by ISIS adherents that killed 17 Iranians. Saudi arrogance opened an unnecessary dispute with Qatar, aggravated the civil war in Yemen and resulted in the kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister.

But there is little evidence that the bumbling Saudis represent a threat comparable to Iran. In Syria, Iran has provided the longest, most steadfast support to the regime of Bashar al Assad. Along with Russia, Tehran shares significant responsibility for the nearly half-million Syrians who have perished, and the 12 million more who are displaced.

The casualties that Iran has helped inflict in Syria dwarf that of any modern conflict in the Middle East, except for that between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. The claims that Saudi hostility creates legitimate fears for Iran in Iraq are equally implausible. It would be principally up to Baghdad, not Tehran, to raise such concerns. But unlike Tehran, Baghdad strives for peace with both capitals. As noted, Iraqi Shiites -- the very community that Tehran claims it is protecting -- have risen in protest. The intensity of these protests is all the more striking given the relatively tame anti-American protests in the wake of the Soleimani assassination, which also took out a revered Iraqi militia leader.

Finally, it is hard to conjure up how Iraq will again be a serious threat to Iran. Its arch-nemesis, Saddam Hussein, is long gone. Iraq today is safely under the control of Iraqi Shia, who are an absolute majority in the country. Under the American post-invasion architecture, Shiite political predominance in Iraq is virtually codified. The fact that following each election, Washington has tacitly agreed with Tehran as to which Shiite figure will occupy that position should have extinguished any residual anxiety in Tehran about its neighbor.

Washington should build on the Iraq experience, however tentative, to open channels of communication. Likewise, Washington should encourage, not discourage, countries like the United Arab Emirates, Oman and others to speak with Iran. Irans economic isolation does not depend on its political isolation, which can only make the regime more paranoid. The prospects for new negotiations -- the optimal outcome -- are enhanced with the regimes regional and international contacts.

In short, containment and communication can proceed in tandem. There is no need to recklessly embrace Iran in a brave new regional order. First, there is no regional order in the Middle East for Iran to be excluded from. The last decade has seen the region lurch from dictatorship to democratic revolution to conflict, caliphate and civil war.

Second, Iran offers no affirmative vision or political model to replace the current regional disorder. There is no need for pretentious terms like revolutionary power or revisionist power for Iran. It is not a power to begin with. It is a so-called resistance state that has defined itself in opposition to the United States. This was clear in Irans reaction to the Soleimani strike. Whereas most nationalist leaders would have proclaimed their determination to fulfill the national vision, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders vowed to expel the United States from the Middle East.

Third, Iran is not a source of order. While the United States under the past two administrations has tried to reduce its involvement, willingly ceding influence to Russia, Iran has consistently sewn discord, contributing a positive role only in the fight against ISIS in Iraq. In crisis-addled Lebanon, Irans decades-long sponsorship of Hezbollah denies the fragile Lebanese government the monopoly on force  a sine qua non of a sovereign state.

Indeed, Lebanon offers Iran an opportunity to behave as a responsible actor. Last June, the International Criminal Court issued indictments of two senior Hezbollah commanders for culpability in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The two main figures, among four named in the indictment, have refused to cooperate. Iran could demonstrate its bona fides by using its influence over Hezbollah to have the indicted agree to face justice in the Hague.

Absent concrete steps like this, it is hard to see any grounds to embrace Iran as a responsible actor in the Middle East. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is often mocked for suggesting that the overall goal of Administration policy on Iran is for it to become a normal state. What makes the aspiration risible is precisely that it is so detached from todays reality of a noxious, destabilizing, repressive regime in Tehran. However, there is at least an empirical record (under the Obama administration) showing that external pressure can modify Iranian behavior. The notion that pretending Iran is a normal country will eventually make it so is at least as unrealistic as trying to contain it, and certainly more dangerous.

The JCPOA was merely arms control and  Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program 

Defending the JCPOA against the charge that it has done nothing to rein in Iranian behaviour, engagement advocates insist that the JCPOA was merely a form of arms control. Had the Trump administration not withdrawn from this arms-control deal, the argument goes, the parties would have built confidence over time, and the JCPOA would have been followed by agreements on regional activities and missiles.

The notion that the JCPOA is a form of traditional arms control is misleading and distorts the true challenge of controlling Irans nuclear ambitions. For starters, Iran continues to maintain that it has never sought a nuclear weapon. The JCPOA includes this assertion in the preface. As a matter of semantics, the nuclear deal cannot be arms control when one party does not acknowledge its intention of producing arms.

This leads to the larger, inescapable question: If Iran is nonetheless engaged in a good-faith arms-control endeavor, then why does it deny the obvious and maintain a provable falsehood about its intentions? Irans dissembling goes straight to the questions and concerns that Democrats and Republicans alike have raised about the nuclear deal since its inception -- and that persist despite Tehrans general compliance with its terms. Does Iran intend to eventually give up its nuclear program or is it simply biding its time until key restrictions in the JCPOA expire? If its security agenda is benign, why does it need nuclear weapons at all?

The questions serve as their own rebuttal to the blithe assumption that the nuclear deal would be followed by subsidiary agreements on Irans regional activities and its missile program. These spheres are not severable, discrete areas of concern like trade; they are inextricably linked to the overarching pursuit of nuclear weapons. The primary purpose of Irans nuclear program is precisely to free up Tehran so that it can undertake malign activities in the region, without fear of reprisal. In short, to make Iran immune from conventional deterrence. (Thats one reason why it doesnt acknowledge having such a program, to avoid having to explain its purpose.) Surrendering those activities would strip the nuclear program of its meaning. To suggest that Iran would discard the very activities that nuclear weapons would protect is contrary to everything we know about the regime.

It may be that the terms of the JCPOA were the best that could be reasonably obtained given the circumstances. But pretending that it resolved the nuclear question or paved the way for Iran to give up its problematic activities is heroically optimistic. Characterizing the deal as arms control is dangerous sophistry. Already in January 2016, Rouhani asserted that the JCPOA conferred unspecified nuclear rights on Iran.

The JCPOA was an interim measure to stop a rogue state from going nuclear. It did not turn Iran into the Soviet Union, Russia, China or any other nuclear state whose interests and prerogatives the United States must weigh and respect. Indeed, it was Irans rogue character -- manifested by its regional activities -- that made its nuclear program such an urgent priority.

In the face of maximum pressure, Iran has three broad nuclear options: rush to produce a nuclear weapon and thereby achieve conventional deterrence; continue to edge away from compliance with the JCPOA, shortening the time needed to produce a nuclear weapon; or enter into the negotiations that the administration has offered. As Zarif reiterated at the Munich Security Conference, Iran conditions multilateral talks on initial sanctions relief from the United States, while the administration wants bilateral talks without preconditions.

At the same time, why would any government re-enter negotiations related to an agreement it was respecting? Whatever the basis for its decision, the administration seems to forget that it was Washington, not Tehran, that unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA. Other than the example of the flimsy, failing deal with North Korea that Trump struck with Kim Jong Un, the administration has given Iran little assurance that this time it will respect the terms of a grand bargain.

The important question is not why Iran wont come to the table, but why it doesnt leave it altogether. Why does Tehran remain bound by the JCPOA at all? It is puzzling that an agreement that supposedly was unpopular among hardliners at the time, arduous to negotiate, and disappointing in the results it has delivered for Iran, would find such steadfast support. Clearly, the JCPOA satisfies some core aims of the regime, at least compared to the alternative. Identifying what those are would shed light on Tehrans true intentions.
EPC contract signing ceremony of Phuoc Ninh solar power project

The signing ceremony with the EPC contractor for the 45MWp Phuoc Ninh solar power project took place on March 2, 2020 at T&T Groups office between the owner Ninh Thuan Energy Industry JSC (a T&T Group subsidiary) and a consortium consisting of SESJ-SSSA-NSN as the EPC contractor.

The EPC package is the main package of the project that includes engineering, procurement, construction, and O&M (operation and maintenance) for a duration of two years from the issuance of the completion certificate. The contractor is responsible for training and technology transfer to the owner during O&M.

Phuoc Ninh Solar Power Plant is located in Phuoc Minh and Phuoc Ninh communes, Thuan Nam district, Ninh Thuan province, with a capacity of 45MWp. After completion, the plant will supply the national grid with an average of 75 million kWh of electricity each year.

The representatives of the owner and the consortium colouring a Daruma Doll to mark the start of the project

The project is located in Ninh Thuan province, the region featuring the highest level of solar irradiation in Vietnam, a hot spot for solar power investment. Besides strict requirements on construction quality, the project also requires the contractor consortium to meet an extremely urgent schedule.

The Vietnamese government is perfecting the regulatory framework for renewable energy development, including solar power, opening up many opportunities for prospective investors.

This is a challenge that the consortium of SESJ-SSSA-NSN, building on Sharp Group's over 60 years of technology and technical resources and NSNs 17 years of management and construction expertise, is willing to undertake and support owner in bringing the project into operation successfully on schedule.

Recognising the importance of the package, as well as the urgent schedule, after receiving the letter of award on December 24, 2019, NSN has immediately begun handling work items, establishing a project board based in Ninh Thuan, and mobilising manpower and machinery to meet the schedule.

The Vietnamese government is perfecting the regulatory framework for renewable energy development, including solar power, opening up many opportunities for prospective investors as Vietnam is still in a phase of booming energy demand.

Previously, on December 20, 2019, NSN teamed up with Sharp Corporation to set up SNES Joint Venture, focusing on solar power in Vietnam and regional markets, providing optimal techniques for rooftop projects and solar power plants, contributing sustainable values to the investor, workers, and society alike.
In a familiar passage from Marks gospel, Jesus gets asked what matters most. Embroiled in a cauldron of theological unrest over taxes and what happens after we die, Jesus impressed with agile wisdom. An Old Testament Law professor, overhearing, interjected his own question: Of all the commandments, which is most important? (Mark 12:28). There were over 600 commandments in Old Testament Law, the Torah, addressing practically every aspect of Jewish life. Earnest followers of God wanting to live morally had a hard time keeping track. Distill it down for us, will you?

Typically with law professors, Jesus presumed a trap. Hed answer their questions with questions or tell parables with punch lines to trap them. This time, however, at least here in Mark, Jesus perceived his inquirer to be a straight shooter. So he answered plainly: The most important one . . . is [to] love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (vv. 2930). Orient your entire self in worship to the Lord and everything else falls into line.

This first command is known among Jews as the Shema, from the Hebrew word meaning listen. The Shema hangs on observant Jews doorposts, is recited twice every day, and is sought to be the last words spoken at ones death. I knew a sweet Christian saint who sang the Shema three times a day with his wife. He said he sang it so often because he didnt want to forget to do it, since, as we all know, loving God is one of those things that if not done deliberately never happens by itself.

Jesus proceeded to add a second commandment, which he equated with the first: You shall love your ...

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By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Politics

But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflectaions on human nature? James Madison, Federalist 51

They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery. Frank Herbert, Dune

Key dates coming fast now, so I added some counters:

Some of the next primaries. (I picked the major dates; here is a complete calendar.)

2020

We encourage readers to play around with the charts; they are dynamic, and there are a lot of settings, more than I can usefully show here. Here is a link to alert reader dks project. You can also file bug reports or feature requests using the same contact process as for Plants, below. Thanks  but no promises!

I dont think theres any point in doing a national poll, since its only the states in the next tranche of primaries on March 10 that matter: ID, MI, MS, MO, and ND. These are state polls, and so they are all small samples, irregular, and bad. I did some Super Tuesday states, but not all. You are welcome to play around with the dks project for your own state (pick from the States dropdown at top right). There are also no polls (here or at RCP) for ID or ND. SO

MI:

MI numbers:

MO:

MO numbers:

WA:

WA numbers:

Reader reports from the ground on ID, MI, MS, MO, and ND welcome!

* * *

Biden (D)(1): I know Clyburn is trying to help.

Rep. Jim Clyburn: "[Joe Biden] was being a little bit too robotic, because I know him. Look, he's always loose  I think all of the stuff about him being too touchy, making people uncomfortable, I think it caused him to pull back and not be himself." pic.twitter.com/pHsTfW5Lnd  The Hill (@thehill) March 5, 2020

Biden (D)(2): The Democratic Partys risky bet on Biden [Vox]. The Democratic elite has unified around Biden largely on the grounds of electability, that hes more likely than chief rival Bernie Sanders to beat Trump in the general election. But Johnsons comments underscore that Biden might not be nearly as safe on that front as either Democratic officials or voters think. Theyre risking setting themselves up for a fall campaign mired in scandal and innuendo  a 2020 version of Her Emails that plays right into Trumps drain the swamp narrative.  It was never her emails. It was always her server. Clintons email server was indeed a real scandal; a Constitutional officer privatized her public communications and then erased half of the server they were kept on before turning them over to the FBI ffs! Though granted the Republicans butchered their case. Similarly, how is Hunter Biden  who I would totally vote for over, say, Pete Buttigieg; at least Hunter has lived!  getting fifty large for a no-show job in an industry he knew nothing about not a scandal?

Biden (D)(3): The anybody-but-Bernie comeback [Ryan Cooper, The Week]. [L]ets be frank: Biden is clearly suffering some kind of cognitive decline. He performed horribly in almost all of the debates, frequently rambling off on bizarre tangents. He opened his speech Tuesday night by mixing up his wife and his sister. He also has a habit of making up fake stories  like that he was involved in civil rights protests, or that a general asked him to honor a brave soldier, or most recently, he was arrested in South Africa trying to visit Nelson Mandela. None of these things happened.  I linked to this article below, but this is a good prose compiilation.

Gabbard (D)(1): Does the DNC Have It out for 2020 Candidate Tulsi Gabbard? [The National Interest (RH)]. One of the new rules the DNC added in February was that a candidate with even a single convention delegate would qualify for the debate stage, no other perquisites required. Tulsi Gabbard supporters were ebullient yesterday evening when, in the caucus in American Samoa, Gabbard qualified for either one or two DNC delegates. She came in second place, which equaled only 103 votes in the tiny territory. Gabbard was born in American Samoa and is partially descended from Pacific Islanders. But it did not take long for the DNC to starve the fire among her supporters. We have two more debatesof course the threshold will go up, tweeted Xochitl Hinojosa, Communications Director for the DNC in the minutes after the announcement of Gabbards delegates.  Throwing a flag on the Betteridges Law violation; ever-shifting election rules emitted by opaque processes are a hallmark of Third World regimes.

Trump (R)(1): Trump calls WHOs global death rate from coronavirus a false number' [Guardian]. Donald Trump declared live on television on Wednesday night that he did not believe the World Health Organizations assessment of the global death rate from coronavirus of 3.4%. I think the 3.4% is really a false number, he told Sean Hannity, one of his favorite conservative Fox News hosts, in a phone interview broadcast live. Now, this is just my hunch, Trump began, before continuing that based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this, and its very mild  theyll get better very rapidly, they dont even see a doctor, they dont even call a doctor. He went on: You never hear about those people, so you cant put them down in the category of the overall population, in terms of this corona flu, and/or virus. So you just cant do that.'  Yikes. If nothing else, insanely risky politics that puts Trumps 2020 election in jeopardy.

Warren (D)(1): Elizabeth Warren ends her presidential campaign, holds off on endorsement [USA Today]. Warren told reporters outside her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home that she would not endorse a candidate yet. Not today, she said when asked about an endorsement. I need some space around this and a little time to think a little more.  An official with Bidens campaign confirms that Biden spoke with Warren by phone yesterday. The official would not comment on Warrens political plans, including an endorsement.

Warren (D)(2): Bidens twitter account weighs in:

Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in people's lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate.  Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 5, 2020

We need her continued work in the Senate. In other words, Warren will not be rewarded with a position in a Biden administration. (As Ive been saying for some time, the political class regards Warren as an unreliable counter-party; they cant have a private meeting with her without her version showing up in the media a year later when it serves her purpose. This primary has cruelly exposed weakness, and it is about to be cruel to Biden.)

Warren (D)(3): I campaigned hard for Elizabeth Warren. Dont tell me to just get over my grief now shes dropped out the race [Independent]. Elizabeth Warren has suspended her campaign and her ardent supporters are grieving. In addition to the deep grief that were feeling, were also despondent over the sexism that guided swaths of voters  even though they loved her, found her brilliant, the most qualified, the most able  to cast their chips in on someone else instead, in the name of electability.  I agree that the electability narrative is appalling; the political class has managed to turn a good portion of the electorate into the most vile of creatures, the Democratic Strategist. And election is not a Keynesian beauty contest!

* * *

Super Tuesday: The Empire Strikes Back:

MA: MASSACHUSETTS 2020 DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY Exit Poll Versus Reported Vote Count [Theodore de Macedo Soares, TDMS|Research]. The 2020 Massachusetts Democratic Party presidential primary was held on March 3, 2020. Election results from the computerized vote counts differed significantly from the results projected by the exit poll conducted by Edison Research and published by CNN at polls closing. As in the 2016 Massachusetts primary between candidates Sanders and Clinton, disparities greatly exceed the exit polls margin of error. Sanders won Massachusetts in the exit poll and lost it in the computer count. The discrepancies between the exit poll and the vote count for Sanders and Biden totaled 8.2% double the 4.0% exit poll margin of error. Warrens and Bidens discrepancies totaled 8.0%, also double the margin of error. These discrepancies replicate the total discrepancy of 8.0% favoring Clinton in the 2016 Massachusetts Democratic Party primary between her and Sanders. This time two progressive candidates exhibit the same discrepancies now favoring Biden representing the establishments choice. Presidential candidates Bidens and Bloombergs vote counts exhibited the largest disparity from their exit poll projections. Bidens unobservable computer-generated vote totals represented a 15.7% increase of his projected exit poll share. Bloomberg increased his vote share by 28.2%.  Interesting, particularly the comparison to 2016. (A cursory search on Theodore de Macedo Soares yields this LinkedIn and this corporate profile. Can some helpful reader with a LinkedIn account post details on Soaress profile? Thanks.)

ME: Maine saw massive turnout in Tuesdays election. Heres how it broke down. [Bangor Daily News]. Turnout for the presidential primary on Tuesday was four times greater than the 2016 caucuses. The state had estimated that between 15 percent and 20 percent of registered voters would make it to the polls. Instead, about 45 percent of registered voters turned out for the vaccine referendum, while about 200,000 voters participated in the Democratic presidential primary, compared with 48,000 who partook in the 2016 caucuses. The turnout reflects what proponents of a presidential primary had hoped for when the Legislature switched from party-run caucuses to a state run primary last year. In 2016, just 15 percent of Democrats and 7 percent of Republicans turned out for their parties respective caucuses, which were characterized by long lines at Democratic-run caucuses and long drive times to Republican events.  Maine really is leading the nation; first, with RCV, and now with taking primaries out of the hands of the parties (who have obvious incentives for election fraud).

A wild Super Tuesday boosts Biden and brings new challenges for Sanders [Dan Balz, WaPo]. The rapid consolidation around Bidens candidacy has given him what Sanderss money and ground game could not produce, and the results Tuesday put the former vice president in position to compete on at least an even basis with the senator from Vermont for supremacy in the contest to become the partys nominee. South Carolina provided a shot in the arm for Bidens candidacy that no one could have predicted, shifting the terrain overnight. The results prompted Klobuchar and former South Bend., Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg to end their campaigns, and their immediate endorsements of Biden accelerated the consolidation. There were other elected and former elected officials who joined the Biden team at the same time. Collectively, they sent a signal to the many voters who had decided not to support Sanders but were uncertain where to put their allegiance. Establishment Democrats who a week ago were worrying about how quickly the field might shrink rushed to embrace Biden.  The Establishment circled the wagons round Biden, and Dem loyalists responded. Simple as that. That Biden was the only one they could circle the wagons around is a sign of terrible weakness, not strength. Obama managed to decapitate the party, along with everything else!

The anybody-but-Bernie comeback [Ryan Cooper, The Week]. For decades, the cliche about American political parties has gone that Republicans fall in line, while Democrats fall in love. But for a significant portion of todays Democratic electorate, that is not the case. Joe Bidens campaign came back from the brink of death on Super Tuesday, on the winds of a sudden burst of coordinated support from the Democratic establishment.  Authoritarian followers, as I said. With RussiaGate, we knew it; with Biden, we really know it. Whats really frightening is that the Democrat base is anchored in the PMC; the professional managerial class, which is granted its privileged position at least partly because of an ability to exercise independent judgement and apply critical thinking skills. I mean, otherwise, that Yale degree is just a piece of paper from a trade school, right?

Thoughts On Super Tuesday [Daniel Larison, The American Conservative]. One thing that everyone can rejoice in is the complete failure of the Bloomberg campaign. Mike Bloomberg made an extremely costly bet of more than $500 million that he could buy his way into this nominating contest, and when all is said and done he will have only a very small number of delegates and no wins outside of Samoa. As I said when he jumped into the race, Bloomberg had no constituency among Democratic voters, and he proved to be an even more abysmal candidate than I thought he would be. Most Democratic voters turned their noses up at the arrogant authoritarian oligarch, and that is a very good and healthy thing for the future of our political system.  Yep.

What We Learned on Super Tuesday [Amy Walter, Cook Political Report]. [I]n the end, Biden had the more powerful GOTV operation: Donald J. Trump. Democrats want to beat Trump. Biden is the guy who is most likely to do it. The end. In the next hours and days, well have a better sense of the final delegate count, but at this point, the once unthinkable has happened: Biden will end Super Tuesday with more delegates than Sanders.  Of course, the polls say that Sanders can beat Trump, too  and the Democrats wouldnt have to eat their seed corn  the Sanders vote  to do it. So perhaps there are other factors here than those considered by Walters (who leaves the donor class out of the equation, and attributes agency to Biden). Then again:

Turnout in Virginia nearly doubled compared to the 2016 Democratic primary. And Joe Biden got nearly as many votes in 2020 as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders combined in 2016.  Matt Viser (@mviser) March 4, 2020

I dont want to confuse GOTV with expanding the electorate; achieving that is the goal of the Sanders campaign; preventing it, the goal of the Democrat Establishment. However, GOTV wasnt supposed to work against Sanders; I have to question whether there arent issues with relational organizing. Are the relationships being built out into the working class who are non-voters? (Thats why hearing that the Sanders text operation has issues could be concerning: Text is asynchronous, unlike voice, so reaches those with the kind of schedule that comes from having three shit jobs.

Yes, this would be handy. Odd that were not doing it:

A realtime crowdsourced map of vote irregularities, like the one Golos used for 2011 Duma elections, wouldve been effective to show how widespread this shit is. But US govt only backs these technologies to destabilize official enemies, not to promote democracyso too bad for us https://t.co/BKxwkCU0JJ  Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) March 3, 2020

Super Tuesday: Mystery dark money group spends almost $1m on anti-Bernie Sanders ads across 10 states [Independent]. Almost $1m has been spent on political adverts attacking Bernie Sanders by a group not legally required to reveal its donors, it has been reported. In a development that will be of intense concern to the 78-year-old Vermont senator and his supporters, it was reported that the so-called political action committee Big Tent Project Fund, had spent $868,000 on digital ads. This follows previous expenditures on adverts attacking the progressive former mayor of Burlington. The group had previously spent almost $5m in adverts attacking the senator during the caucus in Nevada and the primary in South Carolina. Politico said the the nonprofit organisation  commonly known as a dark money group because it is not legally required to disclose its donors  said in a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday that it spent just the money in 10 states, all of which were voting today on Super Tuesday. Now who is funding these ads? Why are they funding these ads? Well, because we have a corrupt political system, Mr Sanders said about the group at a news conference on Monday.  Film at 11.

* * *

* * *
Thousands of Virgin Media and Sky customers have been left without internet or phone access on Thursday morning due to outages affecting parts of England.

Virgin customer reports of broadband problems surged overnight before reaching a high of around 4,300 by 11am, according to independent outage monitor website Downdetector.

Home and business users alike have been affected by the outage, which appears to have badly affected parts of the south, including Southampton.

The network operator is reportedly scrambling to investigate the cause of the dropout and is working on a quick fix.

Sky broadband customers have also been affected by an outage on Thursday, in particular those in the south of England.

Virgin Media spent Thursday morning apologising to customers for the issue, which it is working to fix as soon as possible

Outage maps from Down Detector also show properties further north that have been affected by the Virgin outage, including Manchester, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The complaints from Virgin Media customers appear to have started to climb dramatically from about 6am Thursday morning

We are aware of an issue affecting services for customers in Southampton and some surrounding areas, Virgin Media said in a statement to MailOnline.

We are working to fix the issue as quickly as possible and apologise for any inconvenience.

The network also said the issue is affecting services for customers in surrounding areas including Andover, Bournemouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Winchester and Yeovil.

The company did not confirm what is causing the outage or when it will be fixed, and claims that it only affected people in Southampton and the surrounding area.

However, outage maps from Downdetector  which collates reports of outages from multiple sources  also show properties in London and further north that have been affected, including Manchester, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Virgin Media customers took to social media to complain about the outage, which has also affected businesses.

When you run a business from home, this s**ts a death sentence, tweeted @CamReadman.

Virgin is reportedly scrambling to investigate the cause of the dropout, which is affecting services in Southampton and elsewhere

'Any news on when service will be resumed? No communication and no idea when i will have what i PAY MONEY FOR. Its a joke. I missed the England rugby game weekend before last too!! I want compensation and some idea when its gonna be fixed,' tweeted @elainecotter.

Another Twitter user said that it had been nearly 12 hours since their internet had gone down and Virgin Media had had last night to resolve this issue.

The official Virgin Media account replied: We are aware of an issue affecting services for customers in Southampton and some surrounding area.

A spokesperson for Virgin told MailOnline at around 4:45pm on Thursday that the issue had finally been sorted.

'The issue impacting services for customers in Southampton and some surrounding areas has been fixed and services have been restored,' they said.

'We apologise for any inconvenience experienced while services were disrupted.'

One Virgin Media broadband customer in London told MailOnline that they have been without internet for a whole week with 'no clear explanation'.

They were told that their Wi-Fi and phone line is on a building site and that engineers were being denied access to it by a site manager.

The Virgin employee also told them that they couldnt say when it would be fixed and that other customers in the area were also affected.

Sky listed areas east of London that would be affected by scheduled maintenance, although more areas including in and around Portsmouth appear to be affected too

As for Sky, the company had tweeted last night that it will be conducting essential maintenance that may affect services throughout the small hours.

'Due to essential maintenance customers in the following areas may experience an intermittent or complete loss of Broadband and Talk service on the 5th of March at 00:00 until 06:00,' it said, followed by a list of locations.

However, Sky broadband went down in some areas that the company didn't even list, including Portsmouth, according to one customer, and the Downdetector map for Sky shows parts of the northwest affected too.

Sky customers have been badly hit around the south coast, especially in Southampton and Portsmouth

The Sky outage chart from Down Detector shows reports peaked just before midnight last night but rose again to 687 at about 7:15am

Sky later confirmed that customers may currently not be able to make or receive calls in South East England, the Isle of Wight and Nottinghamshire.

Engineers continue to work hard but, due to a significant break in the south east, 'the fix is taking longer than hoped', Sky said.

It expects to have the issue  caused by a fibre-cable break  fixed just after lunchtime Thursday.
WARREN, Mich., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AVF Holdings, Inc. (the "Company"), announced today it has made the difficult decision to wind down operations and begin liquidation sales at all of its company owned stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio. The Company operates under the brands Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep and Scott Shuptrine Interiors. Levin & Wolf Furniture in Ohio and Pennsylvania will be sold to Robert Levin, pending court approval. Eight Wolf Furniture stores in Maryland and Virginia will also be liquidated.

"Despite our best efforts to remain open, the Company's brands and operating performance have been hit hard by a challenging retail environment," said Diane Charles, Art Van Furniture spokesperson. "We recognize the extraordinary retail, community and philanthropic legacies that Art Van Furniture has built for decades in the community."

Art Van Elslander, opened his first furniture store in metro Detroit in 1959, growing it to the number one furniture and mattress retailer in the Midwest.

"On behalf of the Company we want to offer our sincere appreciation to our employees for their dedication, commitment and hard work. We also want to extend our gratitude to the many customers, vendors, franchisees, charities and communities who have supported these retailers," continued Charles.

The liquidation sales will begin Friday, March 6 at all Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep, and Scott Shuptrine Interiors in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri, and select Wolf stores in Maryland and Virginia.

SOURCE Art Van Furniture

Related Links

http://www.artvan.com


Id like to address Ms. Kirsten Baesler, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the highest level teacher and educational administrator in our state.

Ms. Baesler, the first thing you need to do is figure out the difference between a mistake and a choice. I make "mistakes" in my checkbook when I subtract sometimes. You made a "choice" to get in a car and endanger peoples lives the other night, and now you are quickly back-tracking with a bunch of Im sorries, and I need to get help and take care of myself. Youre right. Thats the second thing you need to do. And the third thing you need to do is to withdraw your name for consideration for another term leading our esteemed educators in this state. And I make that statement as a retired veteran of the North Dakota public school system who has sat in meetings face to face with you.

Your behavior comes about a month after I had to read and hear in the news that the top law enforcement official in my county, someone who I respect, was charged with the same crime. Why are the people we entrust to lead us making such poor choices? Can we really trust you any longer? These are not mistakes, not when you ask us to help you rise to the level of authority you have, and then let us down in this way? Your behavior cannot be rewarded with the continued privilege of being the leader of North Dakota schools.

Jesse Krieger, Stanton

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At the reception (Photo: VNA)



PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said he was delighted to know that the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recently removed Vietnam from the list of destinations with risk of COVID-19 outbreak spread.



He affirmed that Vietnam has strived to take effective measures in the fight against the epidemic, thereby reaping positive results.

Feldman, for his part, said he is accompanied by representatives from tens of US-ABC member enterprises who want to explore cooperation opportunities in Vietnam.

Expressing his hope that the ASEAN-US Summit will be held soon, Feldman said the US business community believed that the Vietnamese government will succeed in containing the outbreak.

The US-ABC also plans to launch a support programme for Vietnams businesswomen this year, he said.

On the occasion, US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J. Kritenbrink conveyed a letter of President Donald Trump to the PM explaining the postponement of the ASEAN-US Summit over COVID-19 fears.

He affirmed that the US highly valued Vietnams efforts in dealing with issues related to bilateral ties, especially trade.

Speaking highly of Vietnams efforts to well control the epidemic, the ambassador noted that US enterprises feel secure when being present in Vietnam during the visit.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam is working to build a plan to achieve a harmonious and balanced trade with the US.

As for several specific contents, Vietnam will work closely with the US to devise suitable measures meeting both sides interests, he said, adding that Vietnam pledges to offer all possible support to US companies to successfully do business in the country.

Under the witness of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and US-ABC President Feldman exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on enhancing industry and trade cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the US-ABC.

The MoU outlines a number of priority goals, including boosting cooperation in trade promotion, economical and effective use of energy, industry and chemicals, goods consumption in domestic markets, sharing of information for the development of e-commerce and digital economy, protection of consumers and popularisation of laws./.
New York: President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has sold his stake in a company investing in Opportunity Zone projects offering tax breaks he had pushed for in Washington, sparking criticism that he was benefiting from his White House role.

A filing at the Office of Government Ethics released Monday shows that Kushner received permission to defer capital gains taxes on the sale of his stake in Cadre, a digital platform for smaller investors in commercial properties. Kushner's holding in the private Cadre was worth between $25 million and $50 million, according to a financial disclosure report he filed with federal ethics officials last year.

A person familiar with the sale said Cadre asked Kushner last summer to consider selling because of worries that some potential new investors in the firm might raise conflict-of-interest issues. The person was not authorized to speak of Kushner's personal finances and spoke only on a condition of anonymity.

Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, pushed for the Opportunity Zone tax breaks to be included in Trump's 2017 tax overhaul. The breaks offer investors big cuts in capital gains taxes if they put money into businesses and buildings in 8,700 poor, struggling neighborhoods across the country that otherwise might not attract the money.

Cadre has said it plans to invest heavily in those neighborhoods, though it is unclear just how much it has done so. Kushner also has stakes in more than a dozen properties in Opportunity Zones owned by his family firm, Kushner Cos. It is not clear if the company has taken advantage of the breaks.

Kushner stepped down as CEO of Kushner Cos. and gave up management positions at Cadre when he joined the White House three years ago.

Asked for comment, Kushner ethics lawyer Abbe Lowell referred to an earlier statement he gave to Bloomberg News saying that Kushner has complied with all ethics rules and that the sale is the latest example of how seriously he takes this responsibility.

Cadre declined to comment.

Kushner co-founded Cadre with his brother, Joshua, and current CEO, Ryan Williams.

A Forbes magazine cover story last year said investors were shying away from the company given the links to Kushner and the Trump administration. It quoted CEO Williams saying, I would be lying if I said the political angle wasn't frustrating or concerning. There are people who won't work with us, and we get that.

Still, Kushner's financial filings filed with federal ethics officials suggest the company isn't doing so badly. The $25 million minimum value of Kushner's stake at the end of last year is up sharply from three years ago when it was valued at at least $5 million.
Photo: Liquidity Wines

B.C. wine entrepreneur Anthony von Mandls Iconic Wineries of British Columbia has bought Liquidity Wines in Okanagan Falls for $12.5 million, more than one of Liquiditys 13 investors has told Business in Vancouver.

The winery was profitable and the investors decided that the time was right to sell. No one at von Mandl's Mark Anthony Group or Iconic Wineries of British Columbia immediately returned BIV's phone calls.

"If I had my dream team for Liquidity to work with, it would be that group," said CEO Ian Macdonald. "They have such skills and such resources, such passion around quality and about brand. That's really been a Liquidity story for us all along, even though we're small."

Macdonald and partners Dale Shwed and Jim Davidson launched the winery after buying the property in late 2008. They are the wineries three main investors. Among 10 smaller investors is Coastal Contacts founder Roger Hardy.

Iconic Wineries of British Columbia include brands such as Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, CedarCreek Estate , Road 13 Vineyards, CheckMate Artisanal Winery and Martin's Lane Winery.

Liquidity may be best known for its 2016 Reserve Chardonnay winning Frances Chardonnay du Monde gold medal in 2018  an award that prompted the winery to tout the wine as the best Chardonnay in the world. Iconic Wineries of British Columbia has focused on trying to win global wine awards, as its Martin's Lane won the title of world's best Pinot Noir in the under 15 category at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2013.

Von Mandl also owns Mark Anthony Group, which is a large company that rose to prominence for creating and producing Mike's Hard Lemonade. Von Mandl, however, sold Mike's Hard Lemonade, Palm Bay, Okanagan Premium Ciders and Stanley Park Brewing to Labatt for $466 million in 2015.

Liquidity Wines' sale comes as consolidation in B.C.s wine sector has been ramping up. Land prices remain high and many winery principals are either reaching retirement age, dying or enduring divorces, according to B.C. wine author and industry observer John Schreiner. Some he said, just want to take money off the table.

He pointed to von Mandl last year buying Road 13. In 2014, he bought CedarCreek Estate Winery.

One of the largest batches of Okanagan winery purchases in recent years was in September 2017, when Andrew Peller Ltd. spent $95 million to buy Grey Monk Estate Winery, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards and Black Hills Estate Winery.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund spent $1.03 billion in 2016 to buy Canadian wine assets from Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE:STZ)  a transaction that included brands such as Sumac Ridge, Inniskillin, Black Sage Vineyard, Stellers Jay, See Ya Later Ranch and a 49% stake in NkMip Cellars. It then started buying other wineries such as Laughing Stock Vineyards for an undisclosed amount in November 2017. It then bought Culmina Family Estate Winery last year.

Schreiner believes consolidation is a good thing.

"Given that there are 350 wineries in an area as small as B.C., yeah," he said.

He explained that when wineries become large, there can be money saved through economies of scale.

Running a winery that produces a few thousand cases is manageable for a husband-and-wife team, as most wine is sold either from the winery itself, or through a wine club. As production ramps up to between 5,000 and 10,000 cases or more, there needs to be various agents in Vancouver, Victoria or other cities, and this eats into profit. Larger conglomerates that already have large distribution networks are able to add a newly acquired winery to that distribution network with relatively little added cost, Schreiner said.

"The economics of wine in the Okanagan and the Similkameen [valleys] are not easy because the land cost for the most part is quite high," he said. "If you don't own or control a lot of your own vineyards, then you're buying grapes, and the grape prices have gone through the roof."
"I am profoundly saddened at the passing of my predecessor, Javier Perez de Cuellar. He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world," he expressed in a statement.

According to Mr. Guterres Mr. Perez de Cuellar's life spanned not only a century but also the entire history of the United Nations, dating back to his participation in the first meeting of the General Assembly in 1946.

He added that the Peruvian diplomat's tenure as Secretary-General coincided with two distinct eras in international affairs: first, some of the iciest years of the Cold War, and then, with the ideological confrontation at an end, a time when the United Nations began to play more fully the role envisaged by the founders.





"Mr. Perez de Cuellar played a crucial role in a number of diplomatic successes including the independence of Namibia, an end to the Iran-Iraq War, the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, the peace accord in Cambodia and in his very last days in office a historic peace agreement in El Salvador," he highlighted.

Lastly, Mr. Guterres extended his "deepest condolences to Mr. Perez de Cuellar's family, the Peruvian people and so many others around the world whose lives were touched by a remarkable and compassionate global leader who left our world a far better place."





He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world - @antonioguterres on the death of former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar.



Read full statement: https://t.co/pvF4bDmj5F pic.twitter.com/n6dSjLGL99  UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) March 5, 2020

(END) NDP/MVB
Vienna

The Swiss government has filed a criminal complaint over the US Central Intelligence Agencys alleged use of a cryptography company as a front to spy on various governments secret communications, the Swiss attorney generals office said yesterday.

The complaint against persons unknown for alleged breaches of the law governing export controls follows recent reports on Operation Rubicon, which for decades involved the CIA and German BND spy services covertly reading other nations secret messages encoded with technology sold by Swiss firm Crypto AG. The case of Crypto, which sold encryption devices and software while being secretly owned by US and German intelligence services that could freely read what it encrypted, is embarrassing for neutral Switzerland and could hurt its international reputation, particularly if it turned a blind eye.

Although the outlines of Operation Rubicon were known for years, new details about its scope and duration were made public last month by Swiss, German and U.S. investigative journalists. The Office of the Attorney General confirms it has received a criminal complaint by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) dated Feb. 2, 2020 regarding possible violations of export control law, the attorney generals office said in a statement. SECO is part of the Swiss Economy Ministry.

The attorney generals office will review the complaint before deciding whether to open criminal proceedings, the statement said, confirming a report by newspaper SonntagsZeitung. The technology Crypto sold to dozens of governments including those of Iran, India, Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, Chile, and Argentina had deliberate flaws or built-in back doors that made messages easily readable to US and German spies. In effect, those client countries paid millions to be spied on. SonntagsZeitung said SECO, which is in charge of authorising exports of sensitive equipment, believes it was deceived into clearing the sale of Cryptos machines and software, and argues it would never have done so had it known of the scheme. The Swiss government has appointed a former Swiss Supreme Court justice to look into Operation Rubicon. He is due to report back by the end of June and the cabinet will be briefed. But pressure is mounting for parliament to launch its own investigation to find out who in Switzerland knew about the scheme.
It is an unlikely friendship that grew out of grief and has become a source of support and activism in the aftermath of the Boeing 737 MAX Ethiopian Airlines crash one year ago. Nadia Milleron lost her daughter Samya, 24, in the crash and Zipporah Kuria, now herself 24, lost her father Joseph Kuria Waithaka. The two are now close friends after teaming up to campaign for improved aviation safety in the wake of the disaster on March 10 that killed 157 people. Milleron, from Massachusetts, is the niece of famed US consumer activist Ralph Nader, while Kuria is the daughter of a British family of Kenyan origin. Also part of their closely-bonded group is Milleron's son Tor Stumo, 21. "We are family now, bonded by blood and by loss," Kurai told AFP as the trio walked together on a sunny winter's day through Times Square and Central Park in New York. "I think every time we feel a bit lost, we lose a bit of hope, we look at each other and we know we are not in it alone," Kurai said. Emotions are high, and the three often veer between tears and smiles, comforting each other affectionately. Milleron said they hoped that "by helping each, supporting each other and understanding each other, we could prevent other families to go through what we are going through." Milleron and Kurai have become formidable activists, taking to the corridors of power to campaign for their common cause. In Cologne, Kurai pressed European aviation regulator EASA to independently inspect the MAX before clearing it for a return to service. And in Washington they lobbied regulators and politicians, attending congressional hearings where pilots and aviation experts accused Boeing of cutting corners on safety in the rush to develop the MAX as a rival to an Airbus plane. - 'Frustration and impotence' - Nadia Milleron, her husband Michael Stumo and their son Tor were among the first families at the crash site after flying to Addis Ababa immediately from the US. "We went through a phase where we thought that they were survivors and they weren't," Tor recalled of those horrific days. "Then we thought we could get her body back and then we learned that there were just remains smaller than fingers, and then we learned that we couldn't even get those remains. "And months later, the whole feeling there was helplessness and ignorance and frustration and impotence." Samya's grave is in Massachusetts, but her family say about one-third of her remains are left in the Ethiopia soil that the plane plunged into at high speed. - 'Close to my dad' - Milleron and Kurai first met in October in Ethiopia. Kuria, who was born in Kenya but emigrated aged nine with her family to Britain, helped Milleron navigate byzantine African administration. They next met in December at congressional hearings in Washington. And Kuria, who created a website for victims' families, was in New York to hook up again and spend a week with Milleron and her family at their home in Sheffield, Massachusetts. "Going to Samya's home I think will be another opportunity to get to know her a bit more," Kuria said. "It will also bring me closer to my dad because she was close to him when they died." Samya Stumo had been working for ThinkWell, an NGO backed by Bill Gates focused on health care in developing countries. She was on her way to Kenya to meet colleagues when the plane went down. It was the second 737 MAX plane to crash within five months, partly due to faulty software -- and the model has been grounded ever since. Waithaka, 55, a former probation officer in Hull, England, had returned to Kenya in 2015 to work with communities on agriculture techniques to boost their food supply. Milleron, Kurai and Stumo have chaneled their grief and anger into activism, lobbying for better safety standards and to overturn US deregulatory policies that contributed to the MAX tragedies. "I gave Samya everything that I had to give her," Milleron said. "And so it's nice that I can connect with a young lady, who is also trying to make a good difference in the world and make her father's death not in vain."
Bulandshahr : , March 5 (IANS) In a shocking incident, two Muslim men were brutally assaulted and abused in Bulandshahr district.

Videos of the Monday night incident emerged on social media on Wednesday evening in which a group of six to seven men were seen surrounding the two victims and repeatedly kicking and punching them, even as they cried out in pain and begged for mercy.

One of the attackers, a man wearing yellow pants and an orange jacket, is seen grabbing a lathi and attacking the man cowering near the rear wheel of a silver car parked by the side of the road.

One of the men who were assaulted has also claimed the attackers abused them with religious slurs and accused them of cow slaughter. They were also threatened with acid attacks, he further alleged.

It is unclear who shot the video of the attack, in which some other men can be seen sitting on motorcycles and casually observing the horrific assault.

"We were on our way to the market to buy carrots... you can ask the store. They (the attackers) parked bikes in front of us and dragged us away. There were around six or seven men. They asked us, "You think this is Delhi?" one of the men told reporters after the attack.

He also said that his friend and he had been dragged to a location where others were waiting with chains and weapons.

"We had nothing to do with the Delhi violence," he said.

The Bulandshahr police are investigating the incident but have termed it a 'brawl that may have been sparked off by an incident of eve-teasing".

An FIR filed by the police in the matter does not mention any reasons for the attack.
A motorist who was towing a dangerously defective trailer which became dislodged from his 4 x 4 and hit a mother and son who were walking to school, had his case adjourned at Dundalk Circuit Court last week so his suitability to perform community service can be assessed.

Aidan Smyth (47) of Liscumiskey, Smithboro, Co. Monaghan had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to the woman, on the Avenue Road, Dundalk on September 28, 2017.

The victim told gardai she was walking her son to get his school bus around 8.35 and just woke up sitting on the footpath, having been hit by a trailer along with her son.

The sentencing hearing last Thursday heard how the flatbed trailer  which had been carrying another trailer, had become dislodged from an Isuzu Trooper driven by the defendant.

The injured party  who was airlifted to St. James hospital in Dublin, suffered two broken toes, had metal plates inserted in her right foot. Skin was ripped off leaving a hole in her foot, which required a skin graft and she also sustained torn knee ligaments and a dislocated shoulder.

She spent five weeks in hospital following the collision and both she and her son  who was rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, required physio.

A PSV inspection established that the trailer  which had been bought the day before, had dangerously defective rear wheel due to corrosion. It had no effective brakes on any of the wheels and had no breakaway brake, to prevent it rolling away if it became dislodged.

The court also heard the bumpy condition of the road was a contributory factor and while he rang 999 immediately, the defendant was so shocked, he was unable to speak to the call taker and handed it to a passer-by.

The court was told Mr. Smyth is a part-time farmer who is a carer for his 88 year old mother.

The Defence barrister stressed that the manner of his clients driving was not dangerous.

Judge James McCourt said the dislodgement was foreseeable and described it as an act of extreme foolishness and extreme stupidity and the consequences although very bad  could have been an awful lot worse.

He said it was clear the defendant is not the sort of man who would ordinarily come to the attention of the police authorities.

He adjourned the case to April 21st for mention, so a Probation Service can prepare a report on whether Mr. Smyth is a suitable candidate to perform community service instead of a prison sentence.
CHICAGO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunt Club, a new category of search firm helping companies leverage the power of relationships and referrals to achieve a better hiring experience, has been named one of Crain's 2020 Best Places to Work in Chicago.

The full Best Places to Work in Chicago rankingplus a breakdown of the rankings based on company sizewill be announced at a live event on April 17. To see the list of finalists visit https://www.chicagobusiness.com/news/best-places-work-2020-finalists .

"We started with a team of five in 2014 and have grown to more than 80 employees today," said Nick Cromydas, Co-founder and CEO at Hunt Club. "Our people are the nucleus of how we help other companies build thriving workplaces. This award reflects our promise to support our employees with the resources, benefits, and opportunities to grow their career, knowing their well-being and satisfaction contributes to our success."

In partnership with Best Companies Group, Crain's surveyed thousands of employees on the types of working conditions, benefits and culture that make a company a great place to work. The awards program is designed to identify, recognize and honor the 100 best companies to work for in Chicago.

Winners were determined by the results of a weighted survey of employees and employers, conducted by Crain's in partnership with Best Companies Group.

About Hunt Club

Hunt Club is a new category of search firm helping companies leverage the power of relationships and referrals to achieve a better hiring experience. Hunt Club's proprietary technology transforms thousands of subject matter experts into the world's most powerful talent network. Through our network of over 10,000 experts and 5M+ candidates, Hunt Club has helped over 500 companies find and engage the very best talent. For more information, please visit https://www.huntclub.com/.

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Crain's Chicago Business is the top source of news, analysis, and information on business in metropolitan Chicago for decision-makers in the private and public sectors. Crain's Chicago Business is the leading source of information on Chicago's economy, the companies, industries and institutions that operate here and the entrepreneurs and innovators who drive the city's growth.

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Fyfe shared her personal philosophy and hope for the fundraiser, which raised over $60,000. The event is to celebrate life. You never know what the next day holds, so live in the moment, celebrate the small things, love one another. That is what is important. ... Early detection is the key, and giving women the knowledge to do this is our mission.
NUR-SULTAN -- The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) has extradited to Kazakhstan the former managing director of the country's BTA Bank, Rustam Ibragimov, an alleged associate of a leading opposition figure residing in France, Mukhtar Ablyazov.



The Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office said on March 5 that Ibragimov is suspected of assisting Ablyazov with the illegal transfer of significant sums of money from BTA Bank to foreign financial institutions.



According to the office, Ibragimov's extradition became possible after a Kyrgyz passport he used had been found to be illegal as a result of joint efforts between Kazakh, Kyrgyz and U.A.E. authorities.



Ibragimov has been placed in a detention center in Kazakhstans largest city, Almaty, the statement added.



Ablyazov, a former BTA head, is wanted by Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine on suspicion of embezzling some $5 billion. Ablyazov and his supporters reject the charge as politically motivated.



Ablyazov was sentenced to life in prison in absentia in 2018 after a court found him guilty of masterminding the murder of a banker in 2004.



In a separate trial in absentia in Kazakhstan that ended in 2017, Ablyazov was convicted of embezzlement, abuse of office, and organizing a criminal group and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ablyazov, who coordinates the activities of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement from abroad, denies all the charges.



Several politicians and activists have fled Kazakhstan in recent years, fearing for their safety or anticipating politically motivated prosecution.
Apollo Tyres on Thursday said it will cut 750 jobs at its plant in the Netherlands over a period of two years in order to have a "sustainable business" and focus on producing only high-value tyres.

The home-grown tyre major had acquired Vredestein Banden BV (VBBV) for an undisclosed sum in 2009 from Russia's bankrupt largest tyre manufacturer Amtel-Vredestein NV.

Apollo Vredestein BV (AVBV) had a meeting with its employees to discuss the future of the plant in Enschede and the company's plans to build a more sustainable business in the Netherlands, Apollo Tyres said in a statement.

AVBV intends to specialise the production in Enschede to a level where only high-performance Vredestein tyres will be produced at a profitable level, it added.

"Aligning the plant to the intended specialised and sustainable production level, will unfortunately result in AVBV having to reduce its workforce in the Netherlands by around 750 full-time employees, over a period of 24 months," Apollo Tyres said.

Explaining the rationale behind the step, the company said: "Within the current operating environment certain tyre sizes can no longer continue being produced in Enschede at a sustainable and competitive level. The company therefore intends to specialise the plant towards high-value tyres and to secure a sustainable future in the Netherlands."



"The operating environment for AVBV and the entire tyre industry has changed significantly over the last few years," Apollo Vredestein President Benoit Rivallantof said.

Despite large investments made in recent years in modernising the plant, the factory employees' dedication and continuous efforts to make the site economically viable has proved ineffective against the accelerated market transformation and has required a strategic adaption of the site to secure it has a sustainable future in the long run, he added.

"After a deep analysis of the profitability and sustainability of the products currently produced in the Enschede Plant, we regrettably could not arrive at a different conclusion," Rivallantof said.

The company is aware that its employees and their families will face a great deal of uncertainty as a result of this difficult decision, he added.

"As a responsible employer we will comply with all statutory obligations towards our employees. We will regularly inform our employees about developments within this process and offer them all necessary support and assistance," Rivallantof said.

The strategic aim is to specialise the Enschede plant to an extent where AVBV will only produce agricultural tyres and high value niche segment passenger car tyres with a short production run, the tyre maker said.

The plant in Enschede will become the centre of excellence for quality, innovation and production agility, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:55:49|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm said on Thursday that the Lebanese cabinet has approved a draft law to lift banking secrecy, MTV local TV channel reported.

Also, Lebanon's financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim froze the assets and properties of 20 Lebanese banks.

Lebanon has lately witnessed a shortage in U.S. currency due to transfers made by big depositors to foreign countries despite the unofficial capital control imposed on small depositors.

Protesters who have started an demonstration since Oct. 17 last year have been calling for investigations into the transfers that took place and resulted in low liquidity in U.S. dollars at the Lebanese banks.

Protesters accused banks owners of assisting big depositors to transfer their money to other countries, leading to the current financial crisis in Lebanon.

Protesters have also been demanding for the fight against corruption and investigations into the bank accounts of Lebanese officials inside Lebanon and in foreign countries after the country's public debt reached an alarming level of over 90 billion dollars without witnessing any projects being implemented in the country.

The new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed to fight against corruption and adopt reforms necessary to deal with the current financial and economic crisis.
Global Mobile Economy Valued at $4.9 Trillion by 2025 as 5G Ramps Up

5G has gained significant traction over the past year and is now live in 24 markets worldwide, supported by an expanding roster of 5G devices and growing awareness among consumers. According to the 2020 global edition of the GSMA's flagship 'Mobile Economy' report series, 46 operators in 24 markets had launched commercially available 5G networks by 30 January 2020. One in five mobile connections is forecast to be running on 5G networks by 20251

"The mobile operator worldwide investment forecast will be more than a trillion dollars over the coming years, focused on rolling out advanced networks to serve both consumer and enterprise customers," said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. "Over the last 12 months we have seen the 5G 'hype' make way for reality: millions of consumers are already migrating to 5G, while enterprises are beginning to embrace 5G-enabled network slicing, edge computing and low-latency services."

The new report reveals that:

5G has arrived but 4G is still king: 4G was the world's dominant mobile technology last year, supporting more than half (52 per cent) of global connections. Despite the emergence of 5G, 4G will continue to grow over the coming years, increasing to account for 56 per cent of connections by 2025.

The industry is investing heavily in 5G: Mobile operators are expected to spend $1.1 trillion worldwide between 2020 and 2025 in mobile CAPEX, roughly 80 per cent of which will be on 5G networks.

The smartphone is becoming ubiquitous: Smartphones are forecast to account for four of every five connections by 2025, up from 65 per cent in 2019.

IoT will be an integral part of the 5G era: Between 2019 and 2025, the number of global IoT connections will more than double to almost 25 billion, while global IoT revenue will more than triple to $1.1 trillion.

Subscriber growth is slowing, but the industry still has people to connect: The number of unique mobile subscribers2 at the end of last year stood at 5.2 billion (67 per cent of the population) and is forecast to grow to 5.8 billion by 2025 (70 per cent).

Half the planet connected to the mobile internet: Almost half of the global population (3.8 billion people) are now mobile internet users, forecast to reach 61 per cent (5 billion) by 2025.

5G to add $2.2 trillion to the global economy over next 14 Years

According to today's report, mobile technologies and services generated 4.7 per cent of GDP globally last year, a contribution that amounted to $4.1 trillion of economic value added3. This contribution is forecast to grow to $4.9 trillion (4.9 per cent of GDP) by 2024 as countries around the globe increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by increased take-up of mobile services. The mobile ecosystem also supported more than 30 million jobs in 2019 (directly and indirectly). It made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with $490 billion raised through general taxation.

5G is forecast to contribute $2.2 trillion to the global economy by 2034, with key industries such as manufacturing, utilities, and professional and financial services benefitting the most from the new technology.

The new report 'The Mobile Economy 2020' is authored by GSMA Intelligence, the research and consulting arm of the GSMA. To access the full report and related infographics, please visit: www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA

_________________________ 1 It is forecast that there will be 8.8 billion SIM connections by 2025, excluding cellular IoT, up from 8.0 billion in 2019 Connections totals exclude cellular IoT connections. 2 A unique mobile subscriber represents an individual that can account for multiple SIM connections 3 GDP contribution comprises mobile operators (0.7% of GDP); related industries (0.5%); indirect contribution (0.5%); and productivity improvements (2.9%).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005299/en/

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The Gallipoli dawn service and other Anzac Day services around the world are under review amid the "rapidly developing" global coronavirus outbreak.

The Morrison government is planning for the next month's services in Turkey and France to go ahead as planned - as well as services in Thailand, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea - but has conceded the final go-ahead for the events will rely on up-to-date expert medical advice.

Australians and New Zealanders take part in a dawn service for Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli in 2012. Credit:AFP

Turkish authorities have closed the border with Iran temporarily because of the COVID-19 outbreak, with a crackdown on travellers from China, Italy, South Korea and Iraq in the past 14 days.

Federal Veterans' Affairs Minister Darren Chester said Anzac Day services in Turkey and France held a "special significance" to many Australians who have relatives who fought and died there during World War I and Australian authorities were closely monitoring the situation.
Story of ham radio moon bounce pioneer on ABC News ABC News recalls achievements of Australian amateur radio moon bounce pioneer Ray Naughton VK3ATN who passed away in 2012



The ABC News story says:



You probably haven't heard of Ray Naughton's feat of science  not many people have. But 55 years ago, the quiet electronics store owner from Birchip, in western Victoria, successfully completed Australia's first ever moon bounce.



The amateur radio fanatic had spent most of his time alone in a paddock, tinkering away on an antenna capable of bouncing a radio signal off the moon and back again.



Ray Naughton was told at the time that it was impossible with what experts said was limited equipment but he proved industry experts wrong, resulting in an all-expenses-paid trip to the US to share his knowledge with scientists.



Read the ABC story at

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-04/australias-first-moon-bounce-schocked-us-experts/11339552



The first Amateur Lunar tests & contacts web site records Ray had decided to start with the 144 MHz band and his antenna consists of four rhombics with 342 feet on each leg. The individual beams are stacked roughly one wavelength apart with a mean height of 24.4 feet.

Apex angle for 144.090 Mc is 11 degrees 28 minutes. Calculated gain is approximately 34 dB with a main-lobe radiation angle of 4 degrees. This is approximately the performance one might expect from a 150 foot diameter parabolic reflector. The half-power beamwidth is 3.5 degrees which allows about 8 to 10 minutes of moon time at full gain. (Minus 1 dB points.)



On July 18, 1966 at 2259 GMT Ray received the first copyable signals from K6MYC in California. On November 28, 1966 he had a two-way contact with K32MWA/2 in New Jersey and on December 29, 1966 at 1146 GMT Ray and K6MYC in California finally completed a two-way contact after nine months of trying.



The first Amateur Lunar tests & contacts

http://www.ok2kkw.com/eme1960/eme1965eng.htm
Auckland (New Zealand) 05 Marsh 2020 (SPS)- Polisario Front Representation in Australia and New Zealand declared in a Press Release this Thursday that the Front has initiated a legal case before New Zealand High Court against New Zealand Superannuation Fund, for its investment in imports of illegally mined and imported phosphates from the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

The Sahrawi national liberation movement, Polisario Front, the text stressed, has commenced legal action as part of its efforts to stop illegal imports of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara to New Zealand. The Polisario Front has applied for judicial review of certain investment decisions by the Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

Polisario says that these decisions support Moroccos ongoing illegal occupation of Western Sahara, and the illegal extraction and exportation of Western Saharan phosphate, and are inconsistent with the Guardians statutory obligation to manage and administer the Fund in a manner consistent with avoiding prejudice to New Zealands reputation as a responsible member of the world community.

Saharawi Representative, Mr. Kamal Fadel, stated that the Sahrawi people are determined to protect their natural resources with all available means. This legal action is a message to all who are involved in the exploitation of Sahrawi natural resources that they face legal action, reputational risks and investor withdrawal.

This application follows successful legal action by the Polisario Front overseas, including the seizure and sale of a cargo of Western Saharan phosphate in 2017 that was transiting through South Africa en route to New Zealand. In that case, the High Court of South Africa found the Sahrawi Government to have ownership of the cargo and observed Western Sahara to be illegally occupied by Morocco through the use of armed force..

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund is a New Zealand Government savings vehicle established to help pre-fund the cost of universal superannuation, or pension, in New Zealand. Its estimated value is over $44.5 billion. The Fund is managed and administered by the Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, a Crown Entity. The Guardians of the Fund have a statutory obligation to manage and administer the Fund in a manner consistent with avoiding prejudice to New Zealands reputation as a responsible member of the world community.

The Fund is exposed to occupied Western Sahara through its investments in farms that use Western Saharan phosphate supplied by Ballance, and interests in companies operating in the occupied territory. Since 2012, the Guardians international peers, including the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, National Employment Savings Trust (United Kingdom), APG (Netherlands), AP Funds (Sweden), FDC (Luxembourg), and BMO Global Asset Management, have excluded companies that extract resources from Western Sahara for ethical reasons.

The Polisario Front says that the Funds continuing investments prejudice New Zealands reputation as a responsible member of the world community and is seeking orders that the Guardians reconsider the Funds investments that are exposed to Western Sahara.

Western Sahara has been substantially occupied by Morocco since 1975, when Spain relinquished its colony of Spanish Sahara, and allowed Morocco to take military control of the region. The United Nations does not recognise Morocco as the sovereign or administering power of Western Sahara, and in 1975, the International Court of Justice found that Morocco did not have historical ties with Western Sahara that could support a claim to sovereignty.

Today, Morocco occupies around 75% of Western Sahara, and the Polisario Front controls the remainder of the territory. The Polisario Front has been recognised by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara. In 1976, Polisario proclaimed the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as the legitimate government representing the Saharawi people. In 1982 SADR became a member of the Organisation of African Unity, to become in 2001 a Founding Member of the African Union.

Western Sahara is recognised as a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations listed in its Decolonisation list, and under international law the Sahrawi people have an inalienable right to self-determination and sovereignty over natural resources located in their territory.

Located within the Moroccan-occupied area of Western Sahara is a phosphate mine at Bou Craa. Throughout the Moroccan occupation, phosphate has been mined at Bou Craa and exported through the port at El Aaiun (also within the occupied territory) by Phosphates de Boucraa, which is owned by the Moroccan Royal Family.

The annual mining and export of phosphate incentivises Morocco to continue its illegal occupation of Western Sahara and to direct an economy in extension of its annexation of the territory. This encourages Morocco to continue delaying a referendum under the auspices of the United Nations that would allow Western Sahara to assert its independent sovereignty.

Over the past decade, a number of companies worldwide have ceased imports of Western Saharan phosphate on the basis of ethical concerns, and countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States no longer import phosphate from the territory. However, New Zealand companies Ballance Agri-Nutrients Limited (Ballance) and Ravensdown Limited (Ravensdown) continue to purchase and import Western Saharan phosphate and, through them, New Zealand is the only remaining importer of Western Saharan phosphate in the western world. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
And to be fair, I actually agree that Obama was much too cautious on some fronts. Back in 2009 I was very publicly tearing my hair out over the obvious inadequacy of Obamas economic stimulus, which I predicted (correctly) would be a political disaster, because the failure to achieve dramatic results would play into Republican hands. And I believe that Obama could have gotten much more if he had been willing to use reconciliation to bypass the filibuster, the way Republicans did in ramming through the 2017 tax cut.
I think our business is already a positive contribution to the economy and the community at large as we help people achieve a basic human needto find quality housing, says Cashona Rinehart, district operations director at FirstKey Homes Memphis.

After an EF-1 tornado, with winds up to 105 mph, destroyed the Cottonwood Apartments, an approximately 555-unit apartment complex in Memphis, TN at the end of 2019, the local FirstKey Homes Memphis stepped in to help many of the 300 displaced residents find homes.

Shortly following initial storm recovery efforts, that impacted its own residents, FirstKey Homes contacted The American Red Cross and Leasing Angels, Inc., to help with the post-storm housing efforts. Leasing Angels is a real estate services firm contracted by the Shelby County Community Services Agency located in Memphis, Tennessee. With support from the Shelby County Housing Department, FirstKey Homes Memphis and Leasing Angels were able to assist displaced renters in relocating to available FirstKey Homes.

I think our business is already a positive contribution to the economy and the community at large as we help people achieve a basic human needto find quality housing, says Cashona Rinehart, district operations director at FirstKey Homes Memphis. But when you are assisting with providing someone a new start, after a traumatic event, it makes what we do even greater and gives it an even stronger purpose.

It is important for FirstKey Homes to be a good partner in the communities where we live and work, adds Rinehart.

Although formed in the wake of a natural disaster, the outcome of this public/private collaboration is one example of the positive impact that business and community leaders can have on the lives of many people, states Cecilia Cheeks, vice president of Communications and Community Relations at FirstKey Homes.

FirstKey Homes, a single-family rental home property management company, now has plans to continue working with Leasing Angels, who has agreed to refer their clients to FirstKey Homes when helping Memphis residents find the right home.

For more information, visit http://www.FirstKeyHomes.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter at @firstkeyhomes.

About FirstKey Homes, LLC

FirstKey Homes, LLC is a privately-owned, single-family rental home property management company with corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. FirstKey Homes manages more than 24,000 homes through local operations in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Memphis, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, St. Louis, and Tampa/Ft.Myers. With a mission to improve the quality of living for renters across America, FirstKey Homes offers homes that are affordable, free from major maintenance and repair costs, located in a variety of neighborhoods in over 25 major metropolitan markets.
Cambodia to Prioritize Combatting Coronavirus Impact on Economy Amid Raw Material Shortages

2020-03-04 -- Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday announced that his government is placing a priority on combatting the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on his country's economy, which he said is expected to last for a year or more.

COVID-19 has caused a severe disruption to the global supply chain originating in China, where more than 80,000 people have been infected and nearly 3,000 people have died since authorities warned of the outbreak early this year.

Authorities there have since scrambled to contain the spread of the virus, putting quarantines and travel restrictions in place that have created a dearth of raw materials that Cambodia's crucial garment industry relies on to keep its factories operating and its workers employed.

Speaking at an event in the capital Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said that as of Wednesday "there are 18,000 workers who lost their jobs" and "at least 20 factories that have suspended production" in Cambodia due to lack of raw materials.

"Our top priority is to fight against COVID-19this is all we need to focus on," he said.

The prime minister said that the government will "cut 50 percent of expenditures to all ministries," and 25 percent of funding to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, and the Council of Ministers, in a bid to shore up resources to fight the impact of the virus, although "civil servants will continue to get their pay checks."

Cambodia's economy can expect to "take a hit for at least one year," he added, without providing details.

Hun Sen appeared to downplay the number of laid off workers and factories that have suspended operations, which Ministry of Labor spokesman Heng Sour recently said had nearly reached 20,000 and more than 30, respectively.

Heng Sour also warned earlier this week that in March, at least 200 factories are expected to face raw material shortages, and as many as 160,000 workers would be affected due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Owners' plea

Hun Sen's comments came as Cambodia's Garment Manufacturers Association (GMAC) and Footwear Association submitted a joint proposal with Cambodia's Ministry of Industry, calling on the Chinese government to urgently send raw materials to certain factories facing the risk of suspending their operations.

Ken Loo, secretary general of GMAC, told RFA's Khmer Service that Chinese suppliers had begun the process of sending around 60 percent of raw materials for Cambodian garment and footwear productionsuch as cloth, cotton, glue, and buttonsearlier this year, but shipping was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which also caused several factories in China to close.

He said that the longer it takes for China to send raw materials, resulting in production setbacks in Cambodia, the more factories will be forced to close their doors.

"It won't be easy to order raw materials from China, because it will take several months for them to ship to Cambodia," Loo said.

"We'll have to check the quality of the raw materials, because we aren't able to buy them as soon as they are needed, and now, we don't yet know whether companies may increase the cost of shipping."

Nguon Channara, a deputy secretary general of the Footwear Association, said that some shoe factories had suspended productions for "a short time" due to lack of glue, plastic, and buttons deemed essential to the production of footwear. The lack of any one raw material affects production as a whole, he said.

The Footwear Association official said he was unable to predict when any raw materials China's government sends might arrive in Cambodia, as COVID-19 continues to spread.

"For the [Footwear] association, we had a meeting with the Ministry of Industry last week, and the government has agreed to ask the Chinese side to speed up the sending of raw materials once Chinese factories begin processing products for export," he said.

Attempts by RFA to contact Ministry of Industry spokesman Um Sotha and Foreign Ministry spokesman Kuy Kuong went unanswered Wednesday, as did attempts to reach China's ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Wentian, about the government's proposal on the urgent sending of raw materials.

However, Ministry of Labor spokesman Heng Sour told local media that the shortage of raw materials had caused some factories to ask for a suspension of operations.

Ath Thun, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation (CLC), said the shortage of raw materials had severely impacted factories and workers, and could lead to longer-term losses for the industry.

"We don't yet know whether [the factories] will be able to survive the expected hit to production over the next two months," he said.

"If they are not able to restore production to normal levels, it will seriously affect the industry."

EBA suspension

While the outbreak of COVID-19 in China has thrown production for Cambodia's garment industry into disarray, observers have suggested that even tougher losses are in store for factories and workers when combined with an expected drop in orders from buyers in the European Union in anticipation of a return to tariffs on some Cambodian imports.

The EU in mid-February announced plans to suspend tariff-free access to its market under the "Everything But Arms" (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodia's exports, citing rollbacks on human rightsa decision that would reinstate taxes on garments and footwear beginning Aug. 12, unless it is overturned by the bloc's governments or its parliament.

The suspension, which Hun Sen has shrugged off and called an attack on Cambodia's sovereignty, will result in a loss of around U.S. $1.1 billion of the country's annual U.S. $5.8 billion in exports to the bloc, some 75 percent of which are made up of clothing and textiles.

Reported by RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun and Pheap Aun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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 March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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By Trend

It is not necessary to talk about some kind of influence of coronavirus on economic activity between Azerbaijan and Russia, Chairman of the Management Board of the VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) Evgeny Kirin said at a press conference on the results of the activities of VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) in 2019, Trend reports.

Kirin noted that the problem with the spread of coronavirus did not affect the work of the bank and expressed confidence that the outbreak of COVID-19 did not affect business activity between the two countries either.

We surely carry out certain preventive measures in order to prevent the likely occurrence and spread of the disease, but there is no serious threat to our work and it is not expected, the chairman said.

The volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to $167.1 million in January 2020, remaining almost unchanged, compared to January 2019. In 2019, the trade turnover between these countries exceeded 3 billion manat ($1.7 million).

Moreover, the volume of exports from Azerbaijan to Russia in the structure of the trade turnover exceeded $50 million in January 2020, which is 2.5 percent or $1.2 million more compared to the same month of 2019.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on Mar.)

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
As regulators review a decade of tech industry acquisitions for signs of monopolistic behavior, proposing remedies is going to be a tough challenge.

Why it matters: Tech companies like Google and Facebook grew giant in part by rolling up startups that are now fully integrated into their businesses. Despite heated antitrust rhetoric, it would be a tall order for regulators to reverse hundreds of deals or force divestitures of the essential business lines those transactions helped build.

Driving the news: Bloomberg reported last week that, when Google bought ad tech company Invite Media in 2010, the firm dumped cash to stay below the size threshold that would trigger federal scrutiny of the deal.

Now the FTC says it's going to review even smaller acquisitions by Google and other tech giants going back an entire decade as it weighs antitrust action.

The Invite Media story doesn't prove any wrongdoing, but it suggests prior acquisitions may have involved efforts to hide information from federal regulators.

By the numbers: Bloomberg counted a total of 362 acquisitions made by Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft between 2010 and 2019 that were small enough to escape FTC review.

Where it stands: The FTC is now embarked on a review of precisely those deals  those struck from 2010 on that weren't reported to antitrust authorities.

The agency is conducting the review under its authority to perform studies outside of law enforcement investigations. But FTC Chairman Joe Simons isn't ruling out the possibility of enforcement action stemming from the inquiry, up to and including unwinding anticompetitive acquisitions.

That's on top of separate antitrust probes into Big Tech from the Justice Department, House Judiciary antitrust panel and state attorneys general.

What's next: Candidates and policymakers like Elizabeth Warren have framed undoing anticompetitive tech mergers as a straightforward matter. But such efforts would face years of court battles and uncertain outcomes.

That's the case for major acquisitions that resulted in subsidiaries distinct from the core company, such as Facebook's purchase of Instagram  never mind hundreds of tiny deals.

"It's very hard to unscramble the eggs," Bill Baer, DOJ antitrust chief under the Obama administration, told Axios. "Once a business is integrated, especially with a technology company, it is awfully hard to unwind."

Be smart: Washington still has some tools to help counter competitive harms stemming from past mergers. Regulators could use the courts or a settlement to get companies to put up assets or money to seed a new competitor, for instance.
Brand management company WHP Global is getting another big investment as it looks for brands to rescue.

Oaktree Capital Management is adding $150 million to its equity stake in WHP Global, taking Oaktree's total investment to $350 million. The latest capital raise, in addition to a debt facility already in place with BlackRock, gives WHP Global north of $1 billion in buying power.

"Walk any mall, and you will see our acquisition targets," WHP Global chairman and CEO Yehuda Shmidman told CNBC. "Our aim is to rescue powerful, legacy brands in difficult situations."

WHP Global is one of several growing brand management companies, like competitors Authentic Brands Group and Marquee Brands, which hunt for big name brands struggling under the weight of a broken operational or financial circumstance. The goal, Shmidman said, is to unlock the value of a brand that is restrained under its current environment.

Given the current state of retail transformation, there may be a lot of opportunity to come.

These brand management companies do not own the branded goods themselves, but rather the intellectual property, or more simply, the name. It is an asset-light model, as brand managers employ other partners to manufacture and distribute the goods.

Authentic Brands Group has recently gone deal hunting in bankruptcy court. In late 2019, ABG acquired luxury department store chain Barneys' intellectual property, and fast-fashion retailer Forever21 in partnership with mall operator Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners. In August 2019, BlackRock invested $875 million in ABG, about 30% of the brand management company.

WHP Global launched its business with the purchase of Anne Klein from Premier Brands Group last year for an undisclosed amount. Shmidman saw Anne Klein as strong brand inside a distressed parent company.

"We look for brands with a half a billion dollars or more in global sales volume, high brand affinity, high brand awareness, strong purchase intent by consumers  and the key is open opportunity for growth in digital channels and international global channels" Shmidman said. He is also the vice chairman of Tru Kids Brands, the company that now owns the new Toys R Us brands, and the former CEO of Sequential Brands Group.

WHP Global also announced Thursday it has closed its deal to buy the Joseph Abboud menswear brand for $115 million. Men's Wearhouse owner Tailored Brands will continue to sell and rent Joseph Abboud in certain categories in the U.S. and Canada, and it will continue to be manufactured in a Massachusetts factory. WHP Global plans to build the brand internationally and in new categories.

Anne Klein was the first brand WHP Global acquired, and since 2019, WHP Global has expanded the brand's distribution to China, India and Mexico. Together, Joseph Abboud and Anne Klein brands put WHP Global's gross merchandise value at $1.4 billion.

Shmidman said he remains on the lookout for new brands to buy. His company's focus is on fashion, but he's looking at home and housewares, too.

"If you know of a good one, let me know," he said.
John Collyer, former Bridgewater police chief, heads into Nova Scotia Supreme Court for his sentencing with his wife Sheri Collyer in Bridgewater, N.S., on March 4, 2020. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian press)

Ex-Police Chief Sentenced to 15 Months in Jail for Sexually Exploiting Teen

BRIDGEWATER, N.S.Moments before a former Nova Scotia police chief was sentenced to 15 months in jail for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl, the victim read a statement in court, describing John Collyer as the monster who ruined her life.

The woman, now 20, spoke in a clear but monotone voice, saying Collyer was like a father to her when she and her mother moved to Nova Scotia and were in need support from the community of Bridgewater, which is near the provinces southwestern coast.

She said Collyer, then deputy chief of the Bridgewater Police Service, and his wife stepped forward to help.

Court heard the senior police officer became a mentor to the girl, who was then 12 years old. He took her to appointments, on shopping trips and sometimes to a beach near his home.

But something happened when she turned 15, she said.

The things he said to me got worse, but I didnt tell anyone about what he would say to me, she said, clutching a yellow sheet of paper. One day, I went with John and he started crying, saying he couldnt trust himself around me anymore. He was acting like things were my fault.

As she spoke in court, Collyer sat motionless in the front row of the public gallery, his wife of 33 years at his side. Wearing a grey suit and green shirt and tie, the balding and bespectacled 56-year-old kept his hands folded in his lap, and his face remained expressionless.

Though Collyer has denied any sexual interest in the complainant and has maintained his innocence, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Mona Lynch convicted him of sexual exploitation last October.

During Collyers trial, a psychiatrist testified that at the time of the offence, the girl had an intellectual and emotional age of between 10 and 12 years old.

The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, said the assault transformed her from a fun and outgoing person to a reclusive, suspicious individual who not even my family wants to be around.

She said people now look at her as if she was broken.

I was always told that the only monsters I had to worry about were the ones in the movies or under the bed, she said. John, youre the monster Im looking out for now.

Her mother also read a statement in court, saying other people had warned her that Collyer and her daughter were spending too much time together in 2016.

If you cant trust the chief of police, who can you trust? she said. I felt like a large failure as a parent for letting that happen . I feel responsible for all of this.

Collyer, who now works in landscaping and snow removal, was also sentenced to one year of probation and his DNA will be added to the national sex offender registry for 20 years.

Outside the court, Crown prosecutor Roland Levesque said Collyers crime marked a serious breach of trust for the community.

As a society we depend on police officers to uphold the law and to protect us, he said. When a police officer breaches that trust  its very disheartening for everyone in the community.

The 26-year veteran of the police force was originally charged in May 2017 with sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation, but one of the exploitation charges was withdrawn. He was suspended from the force shortly afterwards.

Sexual exploitation involves the sexual touching of a minor by a person in a position of trust or authority.

Collyer was tried on one count of sexual assault and one of sexual exploitation. Lynch found him guilty of both crimes, but she ordered a conditional stay on the sexual assault conviction based on the principle that an accused cannot be convicted of two offences arising from the same actions.
Government has conducted 11,20,529 screen tests at border check posts amid coronavirus outbreak in the country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Eight central teams visited the bordering villages of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar to review activities at border crossing. The screen test were done in collaboration with five states, Seema Shastra Bal (SSB) and Land Port Authorities.

"Gram Sabhas have been conducted in villages adjoining the borders to create awareness amongst people about the disease and precautions to be taken in collaboration with Panchayati Raj Ministry," Harsh Vardhan said.

Also read:Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: Another case confirmed in Ghaziabad, tally rises to 30

On March 5, the health minister gave a statement about actions that government has taken so far to prevent coronavirus risk.

"The ever increasing magnitude of this outbreak globally calls for a concerted effort by not only health but all sectors of Government. Our government has initiated a series of action to prevent entry of the disease and to contain it. I am daily reviewing the situation," Harsh Vardhan said in Rajya Sabha.

He also stated that he has met with several ministries four times since the inception of coronavirus in India on February 3, 2020.

Apart from screening at border check posts, government has initiated screening of passengers in 12 major seaports and 65 minor ports in the country. As on 4 March, 16,076 persons have been screened at the ports, Harsh Vardhan said.

So far, India has reported 30 positive cases of coronavirus.

Also read: Taj Mahal on coronavirus alert! Masked personnel, thermal guns welcome tourists

Also read: Coronavirus update: Cognizant shuts Hyderabad office, asks employees to work from home
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 18:06:52|Editor: huaxia

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China offers help to coronavirus-hit Japan and South Korea. The two countries were among the earliest to help when the epidemic first broke out in China
To mitigate the impact on businesses, we will register COVID-19 as a notifiable disease. This will help companies seek compensation through their insurance policies in the event of any cancellations they may have to make as a result of the spread of the virus.

According to data published by the department on March 04, there are now 85 confirmed cases in the country. Nearly 17,000 people have been tested.

Read more: Policy wording critical as businesses eye coronavirus claims

Commenting on the coverage trigger, a spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) noted: Commercial insurance policies provide cover against a wide range of risks, that can be tailored to the needs of individual businesses, including extensions to cover. Businesses who are concerned about this should check the scope of their cover, and speak to their insurance adviser or broker.

It may be possible to buy consequential business interruption cover for notifiable diseases as an extension to a business insurance policy, subject to any policy terms and conditions. Standard business insurance policies are designed and priced to cover standard risks, not those that are very unlikely, such as the effects of COVID-19.

The ABI added that, under Solvency II, all UK insurers are capitalised to withstand severe events like a pandemic, which the current outbreak still technically isnt.

Read more: UK broker ActiveQuote: coronavirus is covered

Meanwhile it was announced that the statutory sick pay for those affected by the coronavirus who need to self-isolate will be made available from day one.

I can today (March 04) announce that the Health Secretary will bring forward, as part of our emergency legislation measures, to allow the payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick instead of four days under the current rules, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told members of Parliament in an update.

No-one should be penalised for doing the right thing.

Separately, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it is working closely with the financial services sector to ensure an effective response to the outbreak. All firms are expected by the FCA to have contingency plans in place to deal with major events.
LANSING -- The Michigan Supreme Court has decided to require discovery in all misdemeanor proceedings in district court.

Discovery is the exchange of information by both parties in a court proceeding. Previously defendants in district court could get things like police reports only if the prosecutor agreed. There also was not a formal system that all prosecuting attorneys offices had to follow.

Now the information will be available to all defendants who ask for it. The rule is reciprocal. The defendant only has to provide discovery to prosecutors if they have first asked for discovery from prosecutors and prosecutors have provided it.

Chief Justice Bridget McCormack wrote in a statement agreeing with the court order that the change will promote efficiency, fairness, and justice in our district courts."

Early information helps resolve cases more efficiently, conserving the resources of both the parties and the courts," she said.

Many prosecutors offices already provide discovery to defendants in these types of cases, McCormack said. But there are still some areas where turning over valuable information, like police reports, is not routine.

This is the problem with the lack of any required discovery: a defendants ability to adequately weigh the pros and cons of accepting a plea deal or proceeding to trial should not, in my view, depend on the particular practice of the prosecuting office handling their case, McCormack said.

The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) said in a letter to the justices that the rule change goes too far and will slow the efficient handling of criminal cases.

Instead, it submitted a proposal that would have required some pretrial discovery, but not go as far as the rule adopted by the court.

A representative from PAAM was unavailable for comment for this story.

Justices Stephen Markman and Brian K. Zahra disagreed with the new rule approved on a 5-2 vote.

In a dissenting statement, Markman said he was concerned the costs would be higher than the supporting justices believed. Markman gave a list of predicted additional expenses, including that it would cause more disputes and therefore more appeals, and that it would require more judicial resources to meet the growing burden on the state courts.

Yet concerning its benefits, these seem considerably more vague: no compelling case has been made for why this change, described as drastic by the state prosecutor association, should be adopted today after 180 years of experience in Michigan with a more informal and relaxed misdemeanor discovery process, Markman said.

No compelling case has been made for why the present case-by-case treatment of misdemeanors--- in which accommodations are readily and routinely made by prosecutors, trial courts, and defense counsel -- has not sufficed to ensure due process and fairness for defendants.

The new rule goes into effect on May 1.

More From MLive:

Michigans recidivism rate lowest in state history

New Disney movie can open at Michigan theater chain following bankruptcy judges order

Michigan Supreme Court wont hear appeal of woman convicted of killing, dismembering man in U.P.
The French government faced down two no-confidence votes Wednesday over an overhaul of the country's byzantine pensions system, a key victory after fierce protests and a massive transport strike that brought France to a standstill for weeks this winter. The bill's passage in the lower house of parliament clears a major hurdle for one of President Emmanuel Macron's signature reforms, though the text still faces opposition as it moves to the Senate. The law passed in the small hours after the government survived two no-confidence votes introduced by the opposition against Macron's centrist majority. The attempt to topple the government came after it employed a rare constitutional measure to cut short a debate that had become bogged down in a morass of opposition amendments, effectively forcing the bill through. Trade unions and opposition parties slammed the move as anti-democratic, but their calls for fresh protests against a bill that triggered the longest French transport strike in decades fell largely on deaf ears. Critics say the introduction of a single, points-based system will force people to work beyond the official retirement age of 62, or receive lower pensions. The government argues that abolishing the country's 42 separate pension regimes, which offer early retirement and other benefits mainly to public-sector workers, will be fairer and end years of deficits. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe hailed the text as a victory for "social justice", saying that "those who defend the status quo... too often are just talking nonsense." Damien Abad, head of the rightwing Republicans in the National Assembly, denounced "an unprecedented parliamentary fiasco" to push through a reform in which French workers will be "the biggest losers". - Questions remain - If passed, the reform will be phased in over the coming years for people born since 1975 but will not affect the pensions of those already nearing retirement age. Macron's overhaul is the most extensive in a series of pension reforms enacted by successive governments on both the left and right, aiming to end chronic budget shortfalls as people live longer. A government commission estimated last year that the deficit could reach as much as 17 billion euros ($19 billion) by 2025 if no changes are made. Yet many details of the reform, including how much a point will be worth when people retire, have yet to be determined. Many people remain sceptical of the new system, with 56 percent of voters in an Ifop poll published on February 13 saying they opposed a points-based system. The government has promised to negotiate with unions on how to finance the new system, but it has already warned that if no deal is reached people will have to work beyond 62, one of the lowest retirement ages in the EU.
The third and fourth cases are also a husband and wife, who are in home isolation and doing well, state health officials said. The man was previously hospitalized at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. The CDC has confirmed one of those two cases, and the state is waiting on confirmation of the other. Illinois and other states are doing their own testing and sending positive results to the CDC for confirmation.
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Mostly clear. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
District Magistrate of Lucknow Abhishek Prakash on Thursday held a meeting to ensure the preparedness of various civic bodies and other stakeholders for a possible coronavirus outbreak. The DM instructed various authorities to maintain cleanliness, stop illegally operational meat shops and conduct regular fogging operations in the area.

The meeting also saw the presence of the hotel industry representatives, apart from the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Development Officer.

"If any patient shows symptoms of coronavirus, refer them immediately. There should not be any laxity in this," Prakash said.

He informed that 6 hospitals including Lok Bandhu Hospital, Dr. Shyama Prasad Hospital, Balrampur Hospital, KGMU, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, SGPGI, were being prepared for dealing with cases of possible coronavirus outbreak.

Civic agencies have also been asked to immediately stop the functioning of illegally operational meat shops and ban the sale of meat and its products in open areas. "Hotels and restaurants have also been asked to ensure cleanliness and proper hygiene," he said.

He informed that a control room number 0522-2622080, 0-7839700132 will be working to impart the information about the disease.

Meanwhile, as a precaution, the Avadh Guest House in Chitwapur has issued an order stating that no non-veg and egg will be served in the hotel premises.

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

Die Kommentare auf weltwoche.ch dienen als Diskussionsplattform und sollen den offenen Meinungsaustausch unter den Lesern ermoglichen. Es ist uns ein wichtiges Anliegen, dass in allen Kommentarspalten fair und sachlich debattiert wird. Scharfe, sachbezogene Kritik am Inhalt des Artikels oder wo angebracht an Beitragen anderer Forumsteilnehmer ist erwunscht, solange sie hoflich vorgetragen wird. Personlichkeitsverletzende und diskriminierende Ausserungen hingegen verstossen gegen unsere Richtlinien. Sie werden ebenso geloscht wie Kommentare, die eine sexistische, beleidigende oder anstossige Ausdrucksweise verwenden. Beitrage kommerzieller Natur werden nicht freigegeben. Zu verzichten ist grundsatzlich auch auf Kommentarserien (zwei oder mehrere Kommentare hintereinander um die Zeichenbeschrankung zu umgehen), wobei die Online-Redaktion mit Augenmass Ausnahmen zulassen kann.

Die Kommentarspalten sind artikelbezogen, die thematische Ausrichtung ist damit vorgegeben. Wir bitten Sie deshalb auf Beitrage zu verzichten, die nichts mit dem Inhalt des Artikels zu tun haben.

Das Nutzen der Kommentarfunktion bedeutet ein Einverstandnis mit unseren Richtlinien.

Unzulassig sind Wortmeldungen, die

Nichts mit dem Thema des Artikels zu tun haben

Kommerzieller Natur sind

andere Forumsteilnehmer personlich beleidigen

einzelne Personen oder Gruppen aufgrund von Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion herabsetzen

in Rechtschreibung und Interpunktion mangelhaft sind

verachtliche Abanderungen von Namen oder Umschreibungen von Personen enthalten

mehr als einen externen Link enthalten

einen Link zu dubiosen Seiten enthalten

Nur einen Link enthalten ohne beschreibenden Kontext dazu

Als Medium, das der freien Meinungsausserung verpflichtet ist, handhabt die Weltwoche Verlags AG die Veroffentlichung von Kommentaren liberal. Die Online-Redaktion behalt sich jedoch vor, Kommentare nach eigenem Gutdunken und ohne Angabe von Grunden nicht freizugeben. Es besteht grundsatzlich kein Recht darauf, dass ein Kommentar veroffentlich wird. Weiter behalt sich die Redaktion das Recht vor, Kurzungen vorzunehmen.




A group of European parliamentarians on Wednesday (March 4) slammed Pakistan for misusing Kashmir and Kashmiris for past 70 years at United Nations in Geneva.

Gianna Gancia and Fulvio Martusciello, Members of European Parliament during the conference made statement that Pakistan ever since Independence of India has been engaged in stopping development projects in the region using terrorists and Islamabad has always supported terrorism. They added that Pakistan is known across the globe to be a haven for terrorism to prosper and it has infiltrated several terrorists and anti-social elements to Kashmir.

Senge Sering, who runs a think tank named Gilgit Baltistan Studies, remarked that major part of Kashmir has been illegally occupied by Pakistan for the last 70 years and Kashmir has time and again been the victim of Pakistans political purposes. The abrogation of Article 370 has infused new lease of life for Kashmir but Pakistan is trying to undermine the emancipation process of Kashmir using fake propaganda.

Moreover, based on his experience in Kashmir, he said local people of Kashmir did not want a special status given by Article 370, their only desire was to become an Indian. However, Pakistan conducted a huge propaganda on whats going in Kashmir; Pakistani lobby peddled fake news on Jammu and Kashmir situation at the European Parliament.

Other than members of European Parliament, the conference was attended by experienced panellist like Syed Tehmeena, Executive Director of South Asia Democratic Forum, Paulo Casaca, Former Member of the European Parliament Nathan Gill, Expert on South Asia from European Commission, Brian Toll, President of JKNAP Sajjad Raja, President of Gilgit Pakistan Studies, Senge Sering and Journalist Atika Farooqui.
A Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) jawan allegedly shot himself dead with his service weapon on Wednesday, the police said.

"The deceased, Anil Yadav, committed suicide in Orchha Police Station area of Narayanpur district," informed P Sundarraj, Inspector General of Bastar Range while speaking to ANI.

An investigation into the matter is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ialuna will be responsible for strategic business development, client relations and account management for the industry-leading Fides multi-banking product portfolio.

Fides Treasury Services Ltd., the global leader in multi-bank connectivity and communications, has announced the hire of Marco Ialuna as a vice president of client relations.

Ialuna has a strong background in financial software sales, most recently for Assentis Technologies AG, where he was responsible for growing the companys Swiss client base and building strategic partnerships with financial institutions and key stakeholders. Prior to that, he held positions at companies including OXIAL, Hanse Orga, Thomson Reuters and Credit Suisse. He will draw upon his more than 15 years of experience in marketing, sales, and business development to help expand Fides client base and build strategic partnerships in Switzerland and beyond.

Switzerland is Fides home country, and we are proud of our strong local customer and partner base, said Simon Kaufmann, Fides Head of Client Relations. I am pleased to have Marco join my team to help us further strengthen our local relationships as we continue our global growth.

Ialuna will be responsible for strategic business development, client relations and account management for the industry-leading Fides multi-banking product portfolio.

Fides has a long history of financial technology leadership and innovation, said Ialuna. I am excited to be part of a growing organization that puts customers at the forefront of its business plans.

ABOUT FIDES

Fides is the global leader in multi-bank connectivity and transaction communications.

With the industrys largest bank connectivity network, Fides helps over 3,000 active clients communicate with more than 10,000 banks globally. Our geographic reach spans 170 countries across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions.

Committed to helping corporations optimally connect and interact with their banks for over a century, Fides solutions deliver critical multi-bank account statement, payment workflow and reporting capabilities that allow treasury and finance teams to easily, accurately and securely communicate with their banks through any possible channel such as SWIFT, EBICS, SFTP, APIs or any alternative network.

Press Contact: Please email marketing@fides.ch for all press inquiries


There is no scientific evidence to show that coronavirus spreads through eating chicken, mutton and seafood, FSSAI chief G S G Ayyangar said on Thursday and asserted that the virus would not survive in higher temperature.

"It is basically an animal virus. Let us leave it to scientists to figure out how it has been transmitted...however, ours is a tropical country and once the temperature crosses 35-36 degrees celsius, no virus will survive.

"Let us pray to God that winter ends and temperature rises," he said.

There are at least 29 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in India.

Amid apprehensions that the infection could spread through eating chicken, mutton and seafood, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO said there is a misconception about it.

"There is a misconception that coronavirus will spread through chicken, mutton and seafood. There is nothing like that. It is scientifically not proven.

"I am a scientist, I will not buy this argument," Ayyangar told reporters here.

Ayyangar, who was earlier with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said it is a matter of time that vaccine for coronavirus will be developed as India has a good track of handling viruses.

"Whether it is Ebola virus or Avian flu, we have handled them very well. It is a matter of time. We have to take precaution. We have to be on our toes," he said.

Urging people to take precautions, he said coronavirus is like many other viruses and developing a vaccine will depend on the complexity of the virus.

The government is making all efforts to isolate the virus. "Once we are able to isolate the virus, then it takes sometime to find a vaccine to counter the virus," he said at an event organised by industry body Assocham.

Addressing the event on nutrition and functional foods, Hexagon Nutrition Managing Director Vikram Kelkar said prices of vitamin supplements have been volatile recently and spread of coronavirus has affected the supply across the world.

On March 2, poultry breeders demanded a relief package from the government claiming that the sector has incurred heavy losses of around Rs 1,750 crore in a month due to fake that eating chicken could spread coronavirus.

Poultry bird prices have plunged to Rs 10-30 per kg at farm gate level due to a slump in chicken demand while the average cost of production is Rs 80 per kg, the All India Poultry Breeders Association had said in a representation to the Ministry of Animal Husbandry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deep in the Nubia, a region along the Nile in southern Egypt, a baby crocodile sits on Mamdouh Hassan's shoulder to wow tourists.

The reptiles are a source of income for Egypt's Nubian minority, with visitors paying to marvel at the tamed creatures.

But beyond bringing in tourist dollars, crocodiles play an important role in the culture of the ethnic group with a history dating to Pharaonic times and its own unique language.

The Nubians traditionally lived along the banks of the Nile in southern Egypt with roots extending into northern Sudan.

In Gharb Soheil, a Nubian village near Aswan, mummified crocodile heads still adorn the doors of the traditional blue and white domed homes.

A mummified crocodile hangs at a house in the Nubian village of Gharb Soheil. By Khaled DESOUKI (AFP)

Crocodiles represent an important physical totem of blessings in Nubian belief.

In Gharb Soheil a stuffed crocodile on the door shows that the homeowner keeps the large reptiles as pets.

Outside his humble home in the village, Hassan gently rubbed the back of Francesca -- a 1.5-metre (five-foot)-long, 15-year-old crocodile.

"I have raised her since she was born," the 45-year-old said lovingly of his pride and joy.

"She lives on fish, meat and chicken."

Pet crocodiles

Mamdouh Hassan holds a taxidermied crocodile at his home in Gharb Soheil. By Khaled DESOUKI (AFP)

During the reign of president Gamal Abdel Nasser, the construction of the Aswan High Dam created a reservoir over traditional Nubian lands.

When Lake Nasser began filling in 1964, 44 Nubian villages were flooded.

While the Nile's crocodiles benefited from the new habitat, Nasser never fulfilled his promise to adequately compensate Nubians with new land.

Instead, about 50,000 Nubians were displaced to villages north of the dam, on the west bank of the Nile near Kom Ombo and Aswan -- a narrow strip of land with limited space for agriculture.

Ever since, Nubians have demanded the return of their lands and have maintained their culture by modernising their traditions. Keeping crocodiles became a way to supplement incomes and promote their heritage.

Mamdouh Hassan's father taught him how to raise and tame baby crocodiles. By Khaled DESOUKI (AFP)

Hassan learnt to domesticate crocodiles from his father.

"My father was one of the first people in the Nubian village who really pioneered the idea of bringing in crocodiles as pets to lure tourists," he told AFP.

In the 20 years since, he has developed a keen sense for where and when wild crocodile eggs will hatch.

Female crocodiles lay their eggs along the banks of Lake Nasser where Hassan watches for the baby reptiles to emerge before carrying them home.

"The crocodile's aggressive nature is tempered by growing up in the home with us and being cared for," he said.

Francesca is the star of the show in the village, Hassan says. She was named by Italian tourists who enjoyed her sunny personality, so Hassan kept the name.

Visitors snap selfies with the lounging beasts, while the villagers regale the tourists with Nubian folk tales about the crocodiles.

Hany, a tourist from Cairo, was delighted with the spectacle of Hassan opening the crocodiles' mouths wide with his bare hands.

"I came here with my family to spend school holidays, for the kids to enjoy seeing the crocs," the 35-year-old said.

'Angels of the Nile'

Mamdouh Hassan has developed a keen sense for when baby crocodiles will hatch from their eggs in nests buried on the banks of Lake Nasser. By Khaled DESOUKI (AFP)

For ancient Pharaohs, the crocodile-headed god Sobek embodied the fluid nature of the Nile and was prayed to for protection from the annual floods.

A temple is dedicated to Sobek in Kom Ombo, engraved with pictograms and hieroglyphics detailing the embalming of crocodiles.

To this day, Nubians maintain a tradition of crocodile taxidermy, one that remains true to a centuries-old technique.

"Although we know very well the value of crocodile leather, we do not sell it... we cherish it," Hassan explained.

A dead crocodile is skinned from its gut and filled with straw or sawdust. Large crocodiles take about a month to mummify while a smaller one dries in a few days, Hassan said.

"This is Franco, who died last month," he said of the large mummified head of one of his former pets.

Abdel-Hakim Abdou, a curly-haired, 37-year-old cafe owner who recommends Hassan's terrarium as a must-see tourist attraction, rhapsodised about the importance of crocodiles to Nubians.

"The Nile for the Nubian represents life... everything that roams in it we consider angels," he said.
KENT, Ohio -- Two of the nine Kent State University students wounded during the shootings of May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on Vietnam War protesters, will return to campus in May to serve as commencement speakers.

Thomas Grace will deliver the address for the advanced degree commencement ceremony on May 8, and Dean Kahler will be the speaker for the One University Commencement on May 9, the university announced Thursday in a news release.

We are privileged to have Dean and Tom serve as our commencement speakers, said KSU President Todd Diacon. Both have huge hearts and great respect for Kent State and have been loyal alumni for decades. They are the perfect choice to cap off our May 4 50th commemorative year.

Kahler was a 20-year-old, first-quarter freshman when he decided to attend his first protest rally on May 4, 1970, according to Kent State. A guardsmans bullet struck his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down, and he has used a wheelchair ever since.

"I am honored to be asked to be the speaker at commencement, Kahler said. I have always considered Kent State my second home. I like coming back and visiting Kent State as often as I can, and I am excited at the prospect of coming back.

Kahler said he is still writing his speech, but its overall theme will be, when one door closes, new ones open, and theres a big door opening for you. He also expects to discuss the importance of good citizenship and giving back to the community.

Kahler, 70, returned to Kent in the fall of 1970 and graduated with a bachelors degree in education in 1977. He spent his life in public service, teaching for 15 years and working for the Ohio Industrial Commission, the Ohio Attorney General and the Ohio Secretary of State. He served two terms as an elected Athens County Commissioner.

After living for many years in Southeast Ohio, Kahler returned to Northeast Ohio in 2009 to retire to Plain Township in Stark County.

Grace was also 20 years old at the time of the shooting, and considered himself an ardent anti-war activist. A bullet struck the heel of his left foot during the May 4 rally.

It is indeed a great honor for me to receive such a weighty invitation to serve as the graduate commencement speaker for spring 2020, 50 years removed from when the university experienced its worst day and month, Grace said. Few institutions faced such challenges, and none have done better, over the last quarter century, than Kent State, in meeting the many challenges that arose from that dark time in our history.

Grace is a historian, scholar and researcher. He wrote Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties, which was published in 2016.

After a career in social work and as a union organizer, Grace earned a doctorate in history in 2003 and began a second career as an assistant professor of history at the State University of New Yorks Erie Community College.

He is a frequent visitor to the Kent State campus and served as a consultant on the creation of the universitys May 4 Visitors Center.

For more information, visit www.kent.edu/commencement about Kent States commencement ceremonies, and www.kent.edu/may4kentstate50 about the universitys May 4 commemoration.

Read more:

Kent State paying $83,000 to bring Jane Fonda to campus for May 4, 1970 commemoration event

Jane Fondas Kent State gig includes first-class hotel, town car and other perks

Joe Walsh, David Crosby to headline Kent States May 4, 1970 commemoration concert

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The ruler of Dubai is today found to have ordered the kidnap and torture of two runaway daughters - including one from the streets of Britain.

The High Court said billionaire Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - a friend of the Queen - had Princess Shamsa abducted from Cambridge after she went on the run in 2000.

And it found he ordered commandos to snatch her sister Princess Latifa from a yacht in 2018 as she too tried to escape from Dubai.

Their father - one of Britain's most important allies in the Middle East - has been declared responsible for both terrifying abductions.

Neither princess has been seen in recent times and both apparently remain locked up in their father's palace, the High Court has found.

Princess Haya is pictured with her husband Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum at Ascot Racecourse in 2008

The High Court said billionaire Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - a friend of the Queen - had Princess Shamsa (pictured) abducted from Cambridge after she went on the run in 2000

The court also found he ordered commandos to snatch her sister Princess Latifa (pictured) from a yacht in 2018 as she too tried to escape from Dubai

The court concluded, on a civil law standard of the balance of probabilities, that the Sheikh had acted 'contrary to the criminal law of England and Wales, international law, international maritime law, and internationally accepted human rights norms'.

Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the family division, published his findings after a 10-month case which began last year when the Sheikh's youngest wife, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, ran away from Dubai in fear of her life.

She fled to London with their couple's daughter Jalila, 12, and son Zayed, eight.

In May, the Sheikh, 70, sent his lawyers to the High Court to demand the 'summary return' of his children to Dubai.

It has backfired spectacularly, with him losing his children, his wife, and his international standing.

Sheikh Maktoum, one of the world's richest men worth 9billion, and who is also prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where a million Britons visit each year, has been found to have waged a terrifying campaign of harassment against his wife.

Sir Andrew said: 'The mother has proved her case with respect to the factual allegations that she has made.'

Princess Haya is pictured at the Court of Appeal with Baroness Fiona Shackleton on February 28

Shamsa: the princess who escaped her father's Surrey mansion in the family's Range Rover before being 'abducted on the streets of Cambridge' and flown back to UAE Sheikha Shamsa al-Maktoum, 38, was in the UK on holiday with her extended family at their Longcross estate near Chobham in Surrey in 2000. In a bid to better her future and escape her life in Dubai - restricted as it is by incorporated elements of sharia, or Islamic Law - the princess used this opportunity to dodge guards and flee from her family in mid-July. Shamsa is believed to have driven a black Range Rover to the edge of the vast estate, where the Emirati ruler had installed his family, before dumping it and slipping through an open gate onto Chobham Common. She stayed with her friends for six weeks in London before being found out by her family. That August, the princess was apparently abducted in Cambridge by the Sheikh's staff while walking out of a bar and taken to an airport in southeast England, before being flown back to Dubai on a private jet. In March 2001, after having been contacted by a British solicitor who had spoken to Shamsa, Cambridgeshire Police began investigating the incident. During enquiries, people close to Shamsa in the UK substantiated her story of the escape, and the matter was even raised in Parliament. However, the police investigation stalled when they ran into a denial of access to Shamsa by Dubai authorities and non-cooperation of the Longcross estate staff. Little is known about Shamsa's circumstances during the past two decades, save for Latifa's account in her video that she is kept confined to one room and constantly supervised by nurses and a psychiatrist. She is given regular medication which Latifa asserts is designed 'to control her mind'. Today, the judge said that 'the allegation that Shamsa has been deprived of her liberty for much if not all of the past two decades, living in circumstances as described by Latifa, is, I find, proved.' Advertisement

In his ruling, these included: 'Firstly, that in August 2000 the father ordered and orchestrated the unlawful abduction of his daughter Shamsa from the United Kingdom to Dubai.

'Secondly, that, on two occasions in June 2002 and February 2018, the father ordered and orchestrated the forcible return of his daughter Latifa to the family home in Dubai.

'With respect to both Shamsa and Latifa it is asserted that following their return to the custody of the father's family they have been deprived of their liberty.

'The father has conducted a campaign, by various means, with the aim of harassing, intimidating or otherwise putting the mother in great fear.'

Princess Haya also alleged that Sheikh Mohammed had made arrangements for Jalila - then aged 11 - to be married to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. The allegation, however, was found not proved by Sir Andrew.

Racehorse-loving Sheikh Maktoum, who personally earns $1million a day from oil revenues and is a fixture in British high society, spent millions of pounds trying to keep the High Court case secret.

He hired no fewer than eight top-flight QCs and an enormous retinue of solicitors to fight his former wife the Press and even his own children's court appointed guardian to win them back and stop the damaging findings being published.

Pictured: Sheikh Mohammed with his son Zayed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and daughter Sheikha Al Jalila during Day One of Royal Ascot

Sheikh Maktoum is pictured shaking hands with the Queen at Ascot racecourse in June 2016 alongside his ex-wife Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein

Latifa: the princess who was 'beaten and tortured' after her first abortive escape, aged 16, and was 'captured by UAE-Indian agents' 50miles off the coast of Goa Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, one of the Sheikh's children by six different wives, spent seven years plotting her escape from caged luxury. The princess, 33, revealed in a video message that she had first attempted fleeing Dubai aged 16, but was apparently captured by her father's staff at the border, imprisoned for three years, beaten, and tortured. She first reached out to French businessman and former navy officer Jean-Pierre Herve Jaubert, 62, at his home in the Philippines after reading how he had fled from Dubai in 2008 by dressing up in a burka to fool border agents. Latifa is believed to have saved as much as 315,000 to pay for her escape, and had bemoaned her restricted life, trapped as she felt by her powerful father and the oppressive nature of predominantly-Islamic UAE society. The princess met Finnish martial artist Tiina Jauhiainen in 2014, and the two became close friends - so much so, in fact, that both plotted Latifa's escape. In March 2018, Latifa, who changed her clothes and sunglasses, drove with Tiina across the UAE border to Oman, before setting out to sea. The pair, who had planned to seek political asylum in the US, faced a 26mile-trip by boat and jet ski out to international waters to meet Jaubert. By sailing under a US flag, they hoped that any interception by UAE agents would cause an international incident. The group planned to head for Goa in India. After a week at sea, Jaubert claims they were being tracked by reconnaissance planes and were intercepted by Indian agents 50miles off the coast of Goa. Jaubert is thought to have survived torture. Advertisement

But the High Court, then the Appeal Court and then the Supreme Court all rejected his bid for secrecy, ruling the world should know what Sir Andrew had concluded about his 'criminal' behaviour.

The Daily Mail led the fight for open justice, and the court supported guardian was told that supported the Press efforts to shine a spotlight on the autocratic Dubai regime and its 'sham portrayal of itself as an oasis of tolerance'.

Oxford-educated Princess Haya mounted her own escape from Dubai after discovering the truth about Shamsa and Latifa, and fearing the same fate.

The court heard it was 'not fanciful' to worry her own children could be snatched by helicopter from the streets of London, given the history.

Pictured: Today the Supreme Court in London refused to hear Sheikh Al Maktoum's appeal

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: the 'modernising Sheikh' accused by human-rights activists of 'torturing political dissidents by electrocution' and 'spying' - as well as 'running secret detention camps in war-torn Yemen' Sheikh Maktoum is Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. Since his accession in 2006, he has undertaken sweeping reforms in the UAE's Government, and has been held responsible for turning Dubai into a wealthy and global mega city. The sheikh trained in the military before being appointed to head of the Dubai Police Force and Dubai Defence Force, and was the UAE's first defence minister in December 1971. In January 1995, he was pronounced Crown Prince by his elder brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and embarked upon a policy of tackling Government corruption that led to the arrest, charging, and unusual public 'naming and shaming' of 14 officials, including six officers. After around one decade of acting as the UAE's de facto ruler, he became Vice President in January 2006, and Prime Minister of the UAE that February. He has created and encouraged the growth of numerous Dubai businesses and economic assets, including Dubai World, Dubai Holding, and Emirates flight. Sheikh Maktoum's rule has been mired in controversy. Allegations concerning the abduction of two of his children - princesses Shamsa and Latifa - have been brought to the forefront during the high-profile High Court case involving his wife Princess Haya, who fled Dubai in 2019. He has come under criticism by human-rights groups for alleged infractions, presiding as he does over a judicial system which mandates the execution of criminals by firing squad, hanging, or stoning. Sentencing for flogging - a legal punishment for criminal offences such as adultery, premarital sex, and alcohol consumption - ranges between 80 and 200 lashes. Apostasy from Islam and homosexuality are a crimes punishable by death, while women in the country require permission from male guardians to marry and remarry. It is not permitted to be critical of the UAE Government, royal families, officials, and police, in any way. Attempts to demonstrate in public are met with resistance. Human Rights Watch has accused the UAE regime of violating rights to freedom of expression, while US intelligence identified that the UAE had developed its own messaging app - to be used for spying purposes. The UAE Government has also been accused of kidnapping, detaining, and torturing political opponents and expats, often to extract forced confessions of alleged plots to overthrow the regime. For instance, during the Arab Spring in 2011, at least 100 activists were jailed and tortured. The Arab Organisation of Human Rights listed 16 different methods of torture used by the UAE Government, including electrocution. Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused the UAE of running secret prisons in Yemen where prisoners are forcibly disappeared and tortured. Advertisement

The High Court heard evidence from a retired police detective, former DCI David Beck, who led an investigation into the kidnapping of Princess Shamsa from Cambridge.

He said he had been blocked from visiting Dubai after the Foreign Office became 'involved' in the matter. Charles Geekie, a QC for Princess Haya, said there was 'interference' from the Foreign Office after the then Foreign Secretary, the late Robin Cook, expressed 'a direct interest' in the case.

Sheikh Maktoum has denied all the allegations against him. He told police in 2000 that Shamsa was vulnerable and just a child and he felt 'relief' when his missing daughter was found.

The Sheikh insisted to the High Court that in the case of Latifa, she had been kidnapped and he had 'rescued' her. He rejected all the allegations brought by his ex-wife.

The court found them all to be true, except for two, one of which was the suggestion that Princess Jalila could be married off to Mohammed Bin Salman.

In a statement issued after the judgments were published, Sheikh Mohammed said: 'This case concerns highly personal and private matters relating to our children.

'The appeal was made to protect the best interests and welfare of the children. The outcome does not protect my children from media attention in the way that other children in family proceedings in the UK are protected.

'As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court's fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a 'fact-finding' judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story.

'I ask that the media respect the privacy of our children and do not intrude into their lives in the UK.'
Yet, as the coronavirus epidemic spreads across the globe and in Australia, that sort of international goodwill seems to be in very short supply.

We know from experience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude needs to be both fast and sustained  like a marathon but run at the pace of a sprint. Thats only possible if every nation and every organisation does its part. And everyone has to do more.

At the height of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014, US President Barack Obama went to the United Nations to make a call for joint action.

Instead, the outbreak has largely heightened tensions between countries. Some people here and in the US have blamed China for suppressing news of the coronavirus outbreak for weeks, or even months, after it was identified. Some have also attacked the World Health Organisation for not raising the alarm sooner.

On the other hand, China has described Australias decision to slap a travel ban on it as an overreaction. China said the bans were unnecessary because they were put in place after it imposed a draconian lockdown which has been surprisingly successful in confining the epidemic to the province of Hubei.

Soldiers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus in Gyeongsan, South Korea. Credit:AP

It is very hard to know which side is right in this fast changing situation. COVID-19 is a new disease with a poorly understood fatality rate and path of transmission. No one has a rule book on how to deal with it.

It seems likely China sat on information for crucial weeks, although that may have been because it misunderstood the risks. Equally, it is a fair criticism that the WHO is often slow to respond if it might offend a powerful country.
Legislators of the Bahujan Samaj



Party and the Samajwadi Party, who were brought in a special plane by Congress leaders to Bhopal, on Thursday denied charges of horse-trading and abduction by BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh.

While reiterating their support to the Congress-led Kamal Nath government, BSP MLAs Ram Bai and Sanjeev Singh Kushwaha and SP legislator Rajesh Shukla denied that any BJP leader contacted them and offered a deal.

A group of Congress, BSP and SP MLAs arrived here on Wednesday afternoon in a special plane along with Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, Rakesh Shukla, the SP MLA from Mehgaon, denied the Congress' charges of horse- trading and abduction by BJP leaders.

"There is nothing like that. I and a BSP MLA (Kushwaha) coincidently reached Delhi together and were staying at a hotel in Gurugram. We are not weak that someone can abduct us," Shukla said, adding that none from the BJP contacted him in the past two-three days.

Reiterating his support to the Kamal Nath government, Shukla said the government might have been facing "threat from Congress leaders", but not from him.

Asked about returning in the chartered plane along with Congress leaders, Shukla said he was called by state ministers Jaivardhan Singh, Jitu Patwari and Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh to the Madhya Pradesh Bhawan in New Delhi and offered the flight.

"Since I have to return to Bhopal, I came with them," he said.

Taking potshots at Congress leaders, Shukla expressed surprise that those who were allegedly abducted were denying the charges, while "outsiders" were making claims about them.

BSP MLA Kushwaha also denied abduction and horse- trading charges, and said it is "not a crime" to visit Delhi. He also denied being contacted by any BJP leader.

While expressing his party's support to the Congress- led regime, Kushwaha said, "I was contacted by Digvijaya Singh and offered special plane to Bhopal. So, I took the flight."



Kushwaha and Shukla also said that Congress leaders should be prevented from issuing statements about "horse- trading and abduction", at least about them.

Kushwaha also demanded that chief minister take action against the ministers who were claiming they were "rescued" from BJP leaders.

"The horse-trading by BJP are all rumours...We were not abducted. I went there and returned on my own free will," another BSP MLA Rambai also said.

Asked about her presence in a Haryana hotel, as seen in a viral video, Rambai said, "Ask about the truth of this video to Jaivardhan Singh and Jitu Patwari as they were also present."



To a question about Digvijaya Singh's allegations that she was taken to Delhi by BJP leader Bhupendra Singh, the BSP legislator said she was in the same flight in which the BJP leader was also travelling.

"I have not got any offer from any leader," she said, when asked about Digvijaya Singh's allegations that huge money was offered to the MLAs in a bid to topple the government.

In a late-night political drama in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, the Congress alleged that the opposition BJP took eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the Kamal Nath government.

On Thursday morning, the Congress held a press conference in New Delhi, in which it claimed the BJP "abducted 14 MLAs" to bring down its government in Madhya Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
However, these countries have the most prepared health systems in the continent and are least vulnerable.

Increased resources, surveillance, and capacity building should be urgently prioritised in African countries with moderate risk of importing cases of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as these countries are estimated to be ill-prepared to detect cases and limit transmission.

The new findings are from a modelling study published in The Lancet that estimates the preparedness (ie, health system capacity) and vulnerability (ie, demographic, environmental, socioeconomic and political conditions that could impact a country's ability to respond) of African countries, as well as their likelihood of importing COVID-19 cases from China. The authors note that their findings need to be interpreted in context, and they estimate that the overall risk of importing COVID-19 cases to Africa is lower than to Europe (1% vs 11% of people travelling out of China go to Africa or Europe, respectively) but that the response and reaction capacity is more limited in Africa.

Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Nigeria were included in the 13 top priority countries identified by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on their direct links and volume of travel to China [1]. The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was confirmed in Egypt on Friday 14 February 2020.

China is Africa's leading commercial partner with high volumes of travel between the two locations through which the novel coronavirus could reach the continent.

Several measures to prevent importing cases from China have already been implemented in many African countries. However, limiting and controlling transmission after importation requires additional measures (such as heightened surveillance, rapid identification of suspected cases, patient transfer and isolation, rapid diagnosis, contact tracing, and follow-up of potential contacts). These measures require technical and operational expertise and resources, which rely heavily on health systems, meaning that transmission in countries with weaker health systems is a major public health concern.

"African countries have recently strengthened their preparedness to manage importations of COVID-19 cases, including airport surveillance, temperature screening at ports of entry, recommendations to avoid travel to China, and improved health information provided to health professionals and the general public. However, some countries remain ill-equipped," says study author Dr Vittoria Colizza, Inserm, Sorbonne Universite, France. [2]

She explains: "While almost three-quarters of all African countries have an influenza pandemic preparedness plan, most are outdated and considered inadequate to deal with a global pandemic. In addition, despite efforts to improve diagnostic capacity from WHO, some countries do not have the resources to test for the virus rapidly, meaning that tests would need to be done in other countries. It is essential to train, equip, and strengthen the diagnostic capacities of hospital laboratories close to infectious disease and emergency departments to reduce the time to deliver results, manage confirmed cases and contacts more rapidly, and preserve strict infection control measures. Equally, increasing the number of available beds and supplies in resource-limited countries is crucial in preparation for possible local transmission following importation." [2]

In the study, the authors estimated the risk of African countries importing a COVID-19 case from China using data on the volume of air travel from infected Chinese provinces to Africa and the proportion of COVID-19 cases in the Chinese provinces as of 11 February 2020. The Hubei province was not included, given the travel ban introduced by Chinese authorities on 23 and 24 January 2020.

The authors estimated each country's potential capacity to detect and respond to cases based on two WHO indicators: preparedness (ie, functional capacity to manage emerging epidemics, using the WHO International Health Regulations Monitoring and Evaluation Framework State Party Self-Assessment Annual Reporting) and vulnerability (ie, ability to manage emerging epidemics based on demographic, environmental, socioeconomic and political conditions, using the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index). The African countries at risk of importing cases were grouped by the Chinese provinces estimated to contribute most to their risk.

Egypt, Algeria and South Africa were at the highest risk of importing a COVID-19 case from China, but had moderate to high preparedness and low vulnerability.

There were several countries in the group with the second highest risk of importing a case from China, and their levels of preparedness and vulnerability varied. For example, Nigeria and Ethiopia had moderate preparedness, but high vulnerability, and their countries had substantially larger populations that could be potentially exposed. However, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya had similar importation risk and population sizes, but variable levels of preparedness and high vulnerability (except Morocco which had low vulnerability).

All other African countries had low to moderate importation risk with low to moderate vulnerability and mostly low preparedness, except for Tunisia and Rwanda.

The authors grouped the at-risk African countries by the Chinese provinces that could potentially lead to the cases being imported. Cluster number 1 (18 countries) was highly exposed to Beijing, and moderately exposed to Guangdong province and Shanghai, cluster number 3 (Botswana and Lesotho only) was exposed exclusively to the potential risk from airports in the Fujian province, and cluster number 2 (7 countries) was heavily exposed to risk from Guangdong province and weakly to Zhejiang province. [3]

The authors warn that although certain Chinese provinces potentially pose higher risk of importing cases to Africa, enhanced surveillance at airports should still consider possible importations from lower-risk provinces. In addition, shifts in local and widespread transmission in Beijing, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces could have profound implications for risk in Africa.

Dr Colizza concludes: "The aftermath of recent epidemics and pandemics (eg, severe acute respiratory syndrome, H1N1 pandemic, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and Ebola) have highlighted the need to reinforce national public health capabilities and infrastructure. These factors remain at the core of global health security, because they are the first line of defence in infectious disease emergencies. Crisis management plans should be ready in each African country, and involvement of the international community should catalyse such preparedness. We hope that our estimates help to inform prioritisation for intensified support in African countries expected to be at moderate to high risk of importation of COVID-19 cases and with relatively low capacity to manage the health emergency." [2]

The authors note some limitations in their study, including that it only used air travel data, and the risk of importation from other points of entry, such as seaports, was not evaluated. In addition, there was insufficient passenger data (reason for travel [tourism vs business], nationality, age, sex, and socioeconomic status) to allow the authors to assess differences in risk for different types of travellers.

###

Peer-reviewed / Modelling

NOTES TO EDITORS

This study was funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, Agence Nationale de la Recherche. It was conducted by researchers from Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifiques, INSERM, Sorbonne Universite, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidemiologie et de Sante Publique, Networks and Services Laboratory at Orange Experience Design Laboratory Chatillion, The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Universite de Paris, Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital, Assistance publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Treichville, Universite Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Maladies Infectieuses Dans Les Pays a Ressources Limitees, INSERM U1219, University of Bordeaux, University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston Children's Hospital.

The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com

[1] https://www.afro.who.int/news/african-region-reinforces-preparedness-novel-coronavirus

[2] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article.

[3] The countries in each cluster are as follows:

Cluster number 1: Algeria, Angola, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Cluster number 2: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia.

Cluster number 3: Botswana and Lesotho.
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG52) arrived in Da Nang today, beginning an official visit to Vietnam.

The USS Bunker Hill (CG52)

The US delegation was led by Admiral John C.Aquilino, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, and US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink.

After the welcome ceremony, Vice Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Ho Ky Minh co-chaired a press conference with Admiral John C. Aquilino.

Minh said local authorities and people warmly welcome the visit by the US naval ships, which is a practical activity to celebrate the 25-year diplomatic relations and promote the bilateral comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

Admiral John C.Aquilino expressed thanks to the city for the warm welcome, especially in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic spreading all over the world.

During the visit, which will last until March 9, the US delegation will participate in community activities such as cultural and sport exchanges, and share their expertise and experience in response to incidents, disasters and diseases. They will also visit popular tourism destinations in the city.

The same day, the commanders of the US naval ships paid a courtesy visit to Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Huynh Duc Tho.

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) is the second US Navy aircraft carrier to visit Da Nang over the past three years, after the USS Carl Vinson in March 2018./.VNA

UK Royal Navys ship visits Hai Phong The UK Royal Navys survey vessel HMS Enterprise arrived at Tan Vu port in the northern city of Hai Phong on February 19, beginning a week-long visit to Vietnam.
Chuck Schumer warned Republicans who supported Donald Trump's appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices will "pay the price" as opponents prepare for a crucial blow to abortion rights.

In an unprecedented breach of the Supreme Court's impartial view from the bench, Justice John Roberts said the Senate Minority Leader's remarks outside on Wednesday were "dangerous" and Donald Trump said "serious action" must be taken.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," he said in a statement. "All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favour, from whatever quarter."

The court is set to hear the first abortion-related case under the Trump administration, which has supported efforts to overturn a landmark 45-year-old decision that guarantees women's access to abortion without excessive government intervention.

In June Medical Services LLC v Russo, the court will hear a challenge to a Louisiana law requiring doctors that perform abortions have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals, which opponents say effectively prevents people from seeking a termination in a state where two of its three remaining clinics  all hundreds of miles apart  could close under the rule.

It's similar to a Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016 after justices rules the policy was too restrictive. Plaintiffs in the 2020 case argue that a reversal of that 2016 decision would not be justified.

A decision could arrive in June.

The outcome could rest on the decisions of conservative justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, who were appointed to the court by the president and approved by a majority of Republicans.

Mr Schumer told protesters that legislatures attempting similar moves to restrict abortion rights "have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price ... You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

Mr Trump weighed in on Twitter, calling his impeachment foe's remarks "a direct & dangerous threat" the Supreme Court: "If a Republican did this, he or she would be arrested, or impeached. Serious action MUST be taken NOW!"



Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Show all 20 1 /20 Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced New York AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Atlanta Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Washington, DC Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Louisiana AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Louisiana AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Missouri AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Washington, DC AFP/Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Georgia Getty Protests across US after abortion laws enforced Alabama AFP/Getty

The president has previously attacked liberal Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and said they should recuse themselves from cases involving his administration.

In a statement, Mr Schumer's office said he was referring to the "political price" that Republicans will pay "for putting them on the court and a warning that the justices will unleash major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights" against the Supreme Court's ruling.

He told protesters: "We are here to send these folks a message: 'Not on our watch' ... We're going to stand together in one voice and take a stand on behalf of women and families throughout the country. We're going to stand against all these attempts to restrict a woman's right to choose, and we will win."

Mr Trump and his Republican allies have stacked benches in lower courts across the US, giving conservative governors and lawmakers a path to uphold restrictive abortion legislation in their states in the hopes of mounting a challenge to the foundational Roe v Wade decision at the Supreme Court.

The moves have galvanised abortion rights groups across the South, which have rallied at the capitol and joined groups from across the US, as well as anti-abortion protests that have gained the president's support.
The philanthropist Magda Gobran, known as both Mama Maggie and Egypts Mother Teresa, is among the candidates nominated for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. Garnett Genuis, a conservative parliament member from Alberta, Canada, nominated the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox activist for serving the poor and disadvantaged, which he said she does regardless of faith or ethnicity.

She works to cross widening divides and heal those who have been hurt, Genuis said in the nomination letter on Jan. 23 to the Nobel Committee. The letter also gave compelling examples of the children helped by Mama Maggie's association, Stephens Children, such as Muslim Hawwa and Christian Anthony, both of whom faced poverty, discrimination and abuse. The letter also pointed out that Stephens Children, one of the largest charities in the region, gives equal compassion to people regardless of their religion at a time when violent acts of religious persecution are rising in Egypt.

Copts in Egypt have been witnessing a series of sectarian violence, religious persecution, and attacks on their churches and worship places. In November 2018, Islamic militants ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery, killing seven people. In December 2016, 25 people were killed and 49 others were wounded by suicide bombers while praying in St. Marks Cathedral in Cairo. The Islamic State declared responsibility for this attack.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo receives nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and then prepares a shortlist of candidates. The laureates are announced in October; winners receive the Nobel medal and diploma in December in Oslo.

Mama Maggie, born in Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, was a successful professional, first on the management team of a marketing firm and later as a university professor of computer science in the 1980s. But her family had a tradition of helping the needy regularly; particularly her father, a doctor, offered free treatment to people in need.

In her 30s, she started visiting the garbage slums located on the fringes of Cairo. The majority of the people living in this area are Christians; only a few Muslims reside there. Mama Maggie and her church friends were excited to witness the other side of Egypt, which they did not know much about. The garbage pickers, who collect and recycle trash for a small amount of money, lived under harsh conditions. The neighborhood lacked basic infrastructure and hygiene; there was no sewage system and little access to clean water. The children and families were impoverished, uneducated and had little means to escape the way they lived. Women and children in particular faced abuse, violence and harassment.

I was wondering why there are people living like that and I felt I had a role toward them, a calling to save these children and give them hope for a better future, Mama Maggie told Al-Monitor, explaining why she decided to establish an association named after Christianitys first martyr.

Stephens Children, established in 1989, now has a network of 2,000 professionals  teachers, doctors, craftsmen and nurses  in addition to volunteers who contribute to the organizations activities. More than 20% of the staff members are from the same slums they serve, so they understand the problems of the families they deal with.

The organizations team builds relationships with the children and families by paying weekly home visits to help with psychological issues and raise awareness on health and hygiene. Over 13,000 children receive home visits, which include mentoring, counseling and trouble-shooting of family issues if necessary.

The organization offers opportunities in early, elementary and secondary education. Over 90 community education centers provide preschool and kindergarten to almost 18,000 children. They teach them the basics of Arabic and English, mathematics, religion and hygiene, and they arrange regular medical checkups for the children and monthly parents' meetings.

In 2012, the organization opened Joy ("Farah in Arabic), its own elementary school in Cairo. With a capacity of 1,000, Joy follows the elementary school curriculum set by the Egyptian Ministry of Education. At the beginning of each school year, Mama Maggie greets the children at the school and the community education centers by giving them new sandals and clothes after she washes their hands and legs herself.

Given the high illiteracy rate among girls in the slums, the organization arranges literacy classes for girls and women to help them learn basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. These classes are intended to help them get back on track and re-enroll in the regular educational system or find a job and earn money.

The organization also has three vocational training centers that help boys learn how to manufacture and repair shoes; girls learn how to knit and sew. The products are distributed among the children who live in the slums.

I chose children because they are the future. If you dont start developing them at an early age, they will grow up to have exactly the same life and values that their parents have and the community will remain the same, Mama Maggie said.

The organization has been working for over 25 years and has changed the lives of 33,000 children. It has branches in Cairo, Alexandria, Upper Egypt governorates and the Western Desert.

It is a great thing that this is done by a woman and a Christian especially in a society like Egypt where the majority is Muslim and usually women face restrictions on freedoms, Sameha Nasr, professor of sociology at the National Research Center, told Al-Monitor.

Nasr said, This can really eliminate any prejudices in the society against these two social segments: women and Christians.

Mama Maggie said her dream is to reach every needy child in Egypt and everywhere until they all have bright futures.

She has been awarded for her work both in the region and beyond. In 2017  declared The Year of Giving by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan  she was honored as an Arab Hope Maker among five Arab leaders.

In 2018, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi chose her on Mother's Day along with 42 other women as Mothers of the Year. Last year, US First Lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recognized Mama Maggie among 10 women at the International Women of Courage Awards ceremony for her exceptional role of changing lives in her community.

She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize eight years ago by five Republican US congressmen for devoting her life to serving poor and miserable children and families regardless of their religion.
DUBLIN, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AerCap Holdings N.V. ("AerCap") (NYSE: AER) today announced that Pieter Korteweg, the Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), has decided to retire from the Board with effect from the close of the Company's annual general meeting of shareholders in 2020 (the "2020 AGM").

"We are extremely grateful for Pieter's excellent work and valuable contributions during his years of service. Under Pieter's chairmanship, the Company has become the industry leader and delivered exceptional financial performance," said Aengus Kelly, CEO of AerCap.

The Board has appointed Paul T. Dacier to succeed Mr. Korteweg as Chairman of the Board with effect from the close of the 2020 AGM. Mr. Dacier has been a Non-Executive Director of AerCap since 2010 and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2013. Mr. Dacier's appointment as Chairman of the Board is subject to his re-appointment as a Non-Executive Director at the 2020 AGM.

"Paul's extensive experience as an executive, his board experience with other companies and his tenure with AerCap as a Non-Executive Director and as Vice Chairman of the Board are a solid foundation for success in his new role as Chairman of the Board," added Mr. Kelly.

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aircraft leasing with 1,334 aircraft owned, managed or on order and $43.7 billion of total assets as of December 31, 2019. AerCap has one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Los Angeles, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle and Toulouse.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE AerCap Holdings N.V.

Related Links

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Four people convicted for the December 16, 2012 gang rape and murder of a young paramedical student in the national capital will hang at 5:30am on March 20, a court in Delhi ordered on Thursday, issuing a black warrant in the case for the fourth time after jail authorities argued that the men have exhausted all legal remedies against their death sentence.

Though the counsel of three of the four convicts sought time from the court to deliberate legal options, additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana observed that there was no statutory bar in issuing the death warrant.

In view of the same, it is directed... (that the) convicts to be hanged by the neck until they are dead on 20.03.2020 at 5:30am, the court said, in an order that was welcomed by the mother of the 23-year-old victim.

The victims family has accused Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26), Pawan Gupta (25) and Akshay Thakur (31) of delaying their petitions and wasting the time of courts in order to stall the execution process.

After Thursdays order, Asha Devi, the victims mother, said she hopes that the convicts, who are lodged in Delhis Tihar jail, will finally be hanged.

Today, a new date has been given because all remedies have been exhausted. I hope that this date is final and they are hanged and my daughter gets justice. There is an end to everything and this is the end for them. Still, till the time they are not hanged, we are ready to fight them. But the biggest victory will be when they are hanged, she said.

The court set the fresh execution date a day after the President rejected the mercy petition by Gupta, whose curative petition in the Supreme Court was dismissed on March 2. The pleas by his three co-convicts, too, have been rejected.

While a curative petition in the Supreme Court is considered the last judicial resort for redressal of grievances, a mercy plea by the President is the last legal remedy for a litigant.

This is the fourth time that a death warrant has been issued in the keenly watched case.

The first date for the execution (January 22) was postponed to February 1 on the grounds that the convicts were yet to avail all legal remedies. Then, on January 31, the trial court stayed till further orders the execution of the death warrant. On February 17, the court set March 3 as the new date for the hanging of the four convicts. On March 2, the court deferred the hanging again after Gupta filed his mercy plea.

On Thursday, advocate Irfan Ahmed, the public prosecutor (PP) who appeared for the Tihar jail authorities, pointed out that the convicts have availed all legal remedies.

Advocate AP Singh, who appeared for Gupta, Thakur and Sharma, said he wanted to consult his clients about the next step. Singh also said Thakur, after the rejection of his first mercy plea, has filed a second petition, which has details of the financial condition of the family.

Ahmed replied that the jail authorities have no information about the second mercy petition and that they have not got any intimation from the Presidents office or the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The court asked authorities to convey this information to Thakur and his counsel.

Legal aid counsel advocate Ravi Qazi represented Singh in the court.

While the Supreme Court has rejected Singh and Sharmas challenges against the rejection of their mercy pleas, Gupta and Thakur have not moved the top court over the dismissal of their pleas.

Advocate Ajay Verma, the convener of National Forum for Prison Reforms, said: This could be the last and final date and the convicts will not be given any further time as they have exhausted all their remedies. There is no impediment in their hanging.

Senior advocate Rebecca John said a 14-day period has been granted to the convicts after the rejection of the Guptas mercy petition. The Supreme Court, in its 2014 judgment in the Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of India case, stipulated that there should be a 14-day gap between the rejection of mercy plea by the President and the date of execution.

Unless the Supreme Court stays the execution for an extraordinary reason, this appears to be the final date, John said.

The four convicts brutally assaulted and gang-raped the 23-year-old woman on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, before throwing her out of the vehicle. The woman died about two weeks later at a hospital in Singapore.

Ram Singh (35), the fifth accused in the case, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail in 2013. A juvenile, the other accused in the case, was convicted by a juvenile justice board in 2015, and was released from a correctional home after serving a three-year term.

In September 2013, a fast-track court awarded death penalty to the four convicts. This was upheld by the high court in March 2014 and by the Supreme Court in May 2017.
The battle against coronavirus is moving to the next phase as the number of people infected in the UK continues to rise.

Here is all you need to know today:

 What is the scale of the problem?

Cases of coronavirus in the UK more than doubled in 48 hours as the country moved towards the delay phase of tackling the virus.

A patient with underlying health conditions became the first person in the UK to die after testing positive.

The older patient had been in an out of hospital for other reasons but was admitted on Wednesday evening to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and tested positive.

Some 116 people have tested positive, including 105 in England, two in Wales, six in Scotland and three in Northern Ireland.

Just two days ago there were 51 UK cases.

China has reported more than 80,000 cases and almost 3,000 deaths.

Outside China, there have been more than 12,000 cases and over 200 deaths across more than 75 countries.

 How bad could it get?

Half of all coronavirus cases in the UK are most likely to occur in just a three-week period, with 95% of them over a nine-week period, according to Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.

Prof Whitty said he had a reasonably high degree of confidence that 1% is at the upper limit of the mortality rate for the virus, although Wuhan in China, which has a weaker health system, had seen an 8% to 9% mortality rate for those aged 80 and over.

 What is the Government doing now?

The UK has moved to the delay stage, which means measures can be ramped up to delay its spread, with possibilities including school closures, encouraging greater home working, and reducing the number of large-scale gatherings.

However, officials say closing schools would possibly only have a marginal effect, adding that children do not appear to be as badly affected by Covid-19 as other groups.

 What is the UK Government recommending people do on returning from infected regions?

Story continues

People returning from Hubei province in China, Iran, locked-down areas in northern Italy and special care zones in South Korea in the past 14 days should immediately self-isolate at home and call NHS 111.

Those returning from a number of other areas, including the rest of China and Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, should self-isolate if they develop symptoms of a 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.

 How do I self-isolate if I am asked to?

If you are told to self-isolate, you should stay at home and not go to work, school or public places.

You should also not use public transport such as trains or buses, or take taxis.

You should try to avoid close contact with family members and do not have visitors to your home.

However, it is fine for friends, family or delivery drivers to drop off food.

A woman at Green Park station on the London Underground wearing a protective face mask (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

 What will happen to the economy?

The collapse of regional airline Flybe has been blamed in part on a drop in demand caused by coronavirus.

The Government estimates that up to one in five workers in the UK could be off sick during a coronavirus peak.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced new sick pay changes as part of emergency coronavirus legislation so that anyone self-isolating is paid from day one rather than day four as current rules state.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that while the hit to the economy in the UK and globally could be significant, it will ultimately be temporary.

 What about a vaccine?

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 (WHO) has convened a group of experts to fast-track promising tests, drugs and vaccines, but Prof Whitty says it would be lucky to get a vaccine for Covid-19 in the next year.

The UK Government is putting 40 million into trying to find a vaccine and is also aiming to improve treatments for patients with the disease.

A clinical support technician extracts viruses from swab samples at Glasgow Royal Infirmary (Jane Barlow/PA)

 What is a coronavirus?

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 had not been previously identified in humans. The respiratory disease it causes has been named Covid-19 by the WHO.

 Where did it come from?

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people, the WHO says.

The first cases identified were among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China.

 How is it spread?

Experts believe the virus is spread in cough and sneeze droplets.

The virus can survive on surfaces for several hours, but it is unclear exactly how long for.

Government scientists say a small proportion of people will pass on the virus while having no symptoms themselves.

A person uses soap before washing their hands (Philip Toscano/PA)

 What steps can I take to protect myself?

Wash your hands with soap and hot water more often. Do this for at least 20 seconds each time.

The NHS says people should also wash their hands when they get home or arrive at work.

Hand sanitiser can be used if soap is not available.

Anyone with coughs and sneezes should catch them in a tissue, which is then put in a bin. Wash your hands afterwards.

People should also avoid close contact with people who are unwell, and avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth if their hands are not clean.

 Should I avoid public places?

Most people can continue to go to work, school and other public places.

The current Government advice states mass events and public gatherings should not be cancelled, and people should continue to act normally for now.

People only need to stay at home and self-isolate if they are advised to do so by 111 or a health professional.

A woman with a cold blowing her nose with a tissue (Yui Mok/PA)

 What are the symptoms?

Initial symptoms include fever, cough, tightness of the chest, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

More severe cases can cause pneumonia, sepsis and septic shock, which can lead to death.

There are no specific treatments or vaccines but symptoms can be treated.

 Are some groups more at risk?

The UK Government says most cases appear to be mild and those who have died in Wuhan appear to have had pre-existing health conditions.

The Government says the elderly and people with pre-existing illnesses would be at highest risk.

Overall, around 1% of people who become infected might end up dying but this is significantly higher among people over 80, officials said.

But Prof Whitty says the great majority of people will recover from this virus, even if they are in their eighties.
Five provinces in Vietnams Mekong Delta have declared a state of emergency after drought and saline intrusion broke records in the region.

As of Wednesday, authorities in Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Ca Mau, and Long An Provinces have declared the state of emergency after extreme weather conditions had immensely impacted local residents lives and production.

In 2016, drought and saltwater intrusion in the countrys rice basket  a nickname for the Mekong Delta  were deemed the most serious in a century.

However, all previous records have been broken in this years dry season.

Local residents and authorities were prepared for the weather phenomenon as they had been every year, but they were apparently caught off guard by the unusually early onset of saline incursion this year.

Ben Tre has been suffering the heaviest toll since mid-January and was the first province in the Mekong Delta to announce a state of emergency.

About 5,000 hectares of rice paddies in the province are expected to be completely ruined, while approximately 20,000 hectares of fruit trees will also be affected.

Wells are being drilled to supply freshwater for residents in Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre

Water scarcity is another headache in Ben Tre, as local residents now have to buy freshwater for up to VND300,000 (US$13) per cubic meter for daily use.

If this problem persists, my family may have to spend tens of millions of Vietnamese dong [VND10 million = $430] on freshwater by the end of the dry season, which we cannot afford, Nguyen Van Hau, a local farmer, said.

In other provinces such as Soc Trang, where authorities have yet to declare a state of emergency, drought and saltwater intrusion have also posed a lot of challenges.

Saltwater intrusion has never been this extreme. I have suffered losses of about VND15 million [$646] so far, said Nguyen Thanh Liem, a rice farmer.

According to Pham Tan Dao, manager of the provincial Branch of Irrigation, about 2,500 hectares of rice paddies in Soc Trang have been impacted.

Authorities in the affected provinces have taken certain mitigation measures, such as regularly monitoring the salinity in local rivers, dredging and renovating canals, and providing residents with necessary tools for freshwater storage.

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There are several possible reasons why Senator Elizabeth Warren, pictured at a campaign rally in Michigan, surged into the top tier of candidates only to flounder at the voting booth in the month to Super Tuesday

Elizabeth Warren rose in the Democratic presidential nomination race on policy strengths but in recent months her campaign slipped into political quicksand, overshadowed by two rivals: one a radical populist, the other more moderate.

On Tuesday, the 70-year-old Massachusetts senator, a combination of ebullient campaign trail charm and schoolmarmish determination, suffered her worst setback yet, a multi-state thrashing at the polls by fellow candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.

With 18 of 50 statewide contests complete -- 14 of them on Super Tuesday -- Warren placed first or second in none of them, including her home state of Massachusetts, a clear embarrassment.

Onetime nomination rival Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur who quit the race last month, weighed in on Twitter: "Elizabeth Warren deserves to be doing better than this."

Her transparency about her campaign's costly health care plan may have spooked voters. Perhaps her debate stage evisceration of Michael Bloomberg made her appear too strident, as critics claimed.

Some may have rejected her about-face on accepting donations from deep-pocketed political groups. Or are Americans just not ready to elect a woman president?

There are several possible reasons why Warren surged into the top tier of candidates last summer only to flounder at the voting booth for the past month.

Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics pointed to one of the clearer hypotheses: she was squeezed from both sides.

"Warren got crowded out by Sanders to her left and more moderate candidates to her right, to the point where I don't think she had much of a constituency beyond some high-end suburban voters," Kondik said.

Campaign manager Roger Lau said Wednesday that Warren was taking time to "assess the path forward."

But by most measures her candidacy is dead.

Sanders revealed that he spoke with Warren on Wednesday but did not say whether he asked for her endorsement.

The Washington Post reported the two camps were in early discussions about possibly joining forces in the event Warren drops out of the race.

But in a sign Warren is awkwardly perched between her two rivals, her allies were also in talks with Biden's team about a possible endorsement, the daily said.

- Ideology vs details -

Warren's unusual silence Wednesday contrasted sharply with the enthusiastic chants of "Dream big! Fight hard!" that have echoed through her rallies.

The former Harvard law professor cut her teeth on the 2008 financial crisis, guiding president Barack Obama towards creation of a consumer protection agency to help weather the recession.

Her experience as a number-crunching people's advocate helped project her early image as a can-do policy wonk.

"I have a plan for that," she said at rallies, where she pushed proposals for everything from tackling the climate crisis to investing in rural America, rather than focusing like a laser on making 2020 a referendum on Trump.

"Bernie has these broad ideological brush strokes. Warren said she has specifics," Tobe Berkovitz, associate professor of advertising at Boston University and a longtime Democratic media consultant, told AFP.

"If you're very specific, sooner or later you're going to have to explain it."

A case in point is Medicare for All. While Sanders has been vague about what his plan for a government-run health system would cost, Warren announced her estimate: an eye-popping $20.5 trillion over 10 years.

Cries of fiscal overload followed.

She also faced a backlash when she and Sanders exchanged strong words this year. Warren criticized him for telling her privately that he believed a female nominee could not defeat Trump.

"She couldn't figure out a way to attack Bernie and really go after his voters, who were part of her potential base," Berkovitz said.

Pundits have theorized that Warren does not have the "electability" of a Biden or Sanders.

But feminist writer Jessica Valenti, who has described the "misogynist condescension" she has received for supporting Warren, said gender bias is playing a role in the race.

"Don't tell me this isn't about sexism," Valenti wrote in an essay on Medium.

There are also intangible qualities at play in politics, beyond a well-oiled campaign operation or relentless ground game, that can make or break a candidate.

Voters "want someone they think is in their corner, is going to fight for them, and is authentic," Berkovitz said.

Trump and Sanders managed to convey that to voters, he added, but "Warren didn't."
This picture taken on February 8, 2020 shows a part of the first rail line linking China to Laos, a key part of Beijing's 'Belt and Road' project across the Mekong, in Luang Prabang. From an artificial island in Sri Lanka to a bridge in Bangladesh and hydropower projects in Nepal and Indonesia, China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road plan is stuttering under the effects of the deadly coronavirus. (Photo by AIDAN JONES/AFP via Getty Images)

By Iain Marlow, Karlis Salna, Anusha Ondaatjie and Dandan Li

Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative has long been seen as a way to project Chinas influence around the world. Now, the coronavirus is showing how the trade and infrastructure program can help export the countrys troubles.

The deadly outbreak is prompting delays and disruptions to Chinas construction and investment plans overseas, risking years of planning and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic diplomacy. Quarantine measures are preventing Chinese workers from making it to foreign building sites, domestic firms supplying overseas projects face acute labor shortages and fears are mounting that workers will inadvertently spread the virus to new locales.

Projects that have been affected since the virus emerged in December include a $5.5 billion high-speed rail line in Indonesia. Theres also a separate railway initiative in neighboring Malaysia, construction projects in Sri Lanka and corporate expansion plans in Pakistan.

The disruption has exposed another pitfall of the regions growing dependence on Chinas backing for major infrastructure projects. Even as the pace of new coronavirus cases slows in China, host countries remain wary of avoiding future outbreaks, with deadly infection surges in places like Iran, Italy and South Korea serving as a warning about how quickly a small cluster can spin out of control.

While there are risks of delays and cancellation of projects, there are also risks in early resumption, said Bonnie Glaser, who has advised the U.S. government and directs the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Xi seems determined to demonstrate that life is returning to normal and he wants to get the economy churning again, Glaser said. Resuming BRI projects is probably among his goals, not only for economic reasons, but also because BRI activities are a lever to enhance Chinese political influence.

Story continues

Even before the outbreak, Xi had been seeking to rebrand and scale back his Belt and Road ambitions amid an economic slowdown at home and backlash from some partner nations concerned about the costs. The U.S. has led a global campaign against the program, arguing that Chinas reliance on loans locked poorer countries in debt traps while advancing its own strategic aims.

The virus has thrown up another hurdle, as countries bar or quarantine Chinese visitors. One official involved in BRI planning in Beijing said last week that a failure to stop the virus spreading outside of China would inevitably take a toll on projects.

Still, another Chinese official in Beijing said that the impact to key projects remained limited and that significant disruptions were likely to remain an issue only in the short term. That optimistic assessment was shared by Deng Xijun, Chinas ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

There are challenges to the trade and investment relations between China and relevant countries in the framework of the Belt and Road, Deng told reporters in Indonesia on Feb. 21. Deng said that China was supporting enterprises and businesses involved in BRI to resume their work in an ordinary way.

The same day, however, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan acknowledged that the multibillion dollar Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway -- a flagship BRI project -- was likely to face delays. More than 300 workers remain stuck in China.

In neighboring Malaysia, a dozen of the roughly 200 Chinese workers building the $10.4 billion East Coast Rail Link hail from Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak. Theyre not allowed back to the Southeast Asian nation, while other workers can return after a 14-day quarantine process.

An elderly man wears a mask near a makeshift barricade wall intended for deliveries that is meant to control entry and exit of outsiders to a residential compound on March 4, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. (Photo by Getty Images)

In Pakistan, which hosts numerous BRI projects spanning power and construction, two companies -- Engro Polymer & Chemicals Ltd. and Pakistan Oxygen Ltd. -- have said their projects face slowdowns because their Chinese contractors alerted them to delays stemming from hampered mainland facilities.

There has been widespread disruption to efforts in Sri Lanka, where Chinese investment is building the massive Port City Colombo, an expansion of the capital city via land reclamation.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce recently reported that about half of 100 firms surveyed said that business was affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Government road and apartment construction projects involving Chinese contractors have slowed down, said Nissanka Wijeratne, secretary general of the Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka.

Chinese workers returning to Port City Colombo have self-quarantined and there have so far been no major delays at the countrys biggest construction site, said Thulci Aluvihare, head of strategy and business development for the project, which is being built by state-owned China Communications Construction Co.

(Source: Bloomberg)

The virus may prompt a shift in focus by Chinese firms in the future, according to Arv Sreedhar, Singapore-based executive director at investment firm Atlantic Partners Asia. China is under incredible stress from the current situation and has other priorities for its money, such as coming to an acceptable agreement with the U.S. on the trade war, and fighting both the health and financial aspects of the coronavirus, he said.

Investment Shrinks

Chinas overseas investments were beginning to tail off and consolidate before the virus brought the countrys industry to a standstill.

The American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, which have tracked 3,600 major Chinese overseas transactions since 2005, found that outbound investment last year totaled just $68.4 billion. Thats a 41% plunge from 2018 and the lowest in a decade. The figure is far less than the Chinese Ministry of Commerces official tally of $124.3 billion in total overseas investment last year.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Going forward, China could concentrate its BRI programs in fewer countries, working to avoid criticism by making its outbound investment less aggressive and one-sided, said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Xi could retrench and advertise more loudly that the BRI is a group effort, he added. Its going to be harder for host governments over the next year to tout their supposedly close relationship with China as contributing to development.

 2020 Bloomberg L.P.
VANCOUVERA proposed class-action lawsuit should raise questions about how much Canadians can trust their public institutions, says a lawyer for the plaintiffs, who want $900 million back from a public auto insurance system that, in their view, cheated millions of British Columbians.

Filed Tuesday in British Columbia Supreme Court, the suit alleges the Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) and the province took costs for medical care out of benefits meant for accident victims.

Those added costs have ended up driving up insurance rates, the lawsuit alleges.

In Canada, were heavily dependent upon our social institutions, and we just need to ask some critical questions, lawyer Scott Stanley told the Star.

Can we trust them, especially when we dont have a choice?

Stanley said, for the most part, he believes Canadian public institutions are run well but in the case of ICBC, there has been an alarming lack of transparency with how money accrued by the Crown corporation has been used. The suit alleges the province has been raiding ICBCs budget for its own purposes.

British Columbia has a compulsory government-run insurance system. ICBC had previously capped recovery costs for accident victims at $150,000. Starting with accidents after Jan. 1, 2018, that cap was increased to $300,000.

But that money isnt for costs covered under the provinces Medical Services Plan, argues Stanley.

In lawsuit documents, its alleged  among other claims such as negligence and misfeasance in public office  that ICBC and the province took hundreds of millions of dollars dating back to 1988 from accident victims benefits in order to pay for their medical treatment.

The lawsuit alleges that amounts to an unconstitutional tax that was illegal to charge.

Theyre funnelling this money from ICBC into MSP, and then they go and apply for rate increases on the basis they spent all this money. But this is money they shouldnt have been spent, argues Stanley. Theyre basically having ICBC subsidize the costs of doctors visits, and weve already paid taxes for that.

The practice has cost accident victims their accessing of full benefits and has driven up insurance costs, the lawsuit claims. Stanleys clients hope to win as much as $900 million in restitution for ICBC customers.

Stanley said he discovered the practice when he once asked ICBC to reverse such charges on a clients file, and the corporation agreed. If they can reverse the charges, the question about why theyre doing it at all should be asked, he said.

The Ministry of the Attorney General said Tuesday it has not yet received notice of the case and therefore could not comment.

The named plaintiffs are accident victim Brayden Methot and Robert Rorison, who is also a president of a local MADD chapter. Rorison represents ICBC ratepayers, while Methot, who was left quadriplegic in an accident north of Kamloops, B.C., in 2014, represents those who have had accidents.

Methot said ICBC used money he needed after his accident to pay for costs related to his accident, and its hurt his ability to afford things he needs now to deal with his injury.

Nothings cheap when youre in a wheelchair; you need every dollar that you can get, Methot said from his home in Williams Lake, B.C., in the central part of the province.

He said part of the reason he launched the case is to raise awareness about practices his suit alleges ICBC is employing. He said he imagines there are many others who will sign on to the suit if it goes ahead as a class action.

I dont want ICBC to be getting away with this any longer, Methot said. Me and my lawyer are going after these guys.

The allegations highlight concerns going beyond benefits and compensation for accident victims, said Duff Conacher, the co-founder of Democracy Watch.

Conacher said the case raises questions about the auditing protocol of government organizations across Canada. He said auditing practices are weak and create situations such as the one alleged in the lawsuit, though its particular allegations have yet to be tested in court.

If Canada had better auditing of government organizations, he said, perhaps the alleged scheme would have been detected and stopped.

But, Conacher said, even with regular audits theres not enough enforcement.

No one ever gets penalized, he said. We say, Just resign and we wont go after you.

If the suit is successful, Conacher said, it would partly show the province went outside of the medical system to pay medical costs while at the same time fighting doctors in the province in a court case where theyre arguing for the right to accept private insurance.

Meanwhile, if the case is a winner, the customer could be on the hook again to pay for the damages, said Vancouver lawyer Paul Doroshenko, whose firm, Acumen Law, specializes in criminal law and ICBC claims.

Doroshenko is not involved in the case but said ICBC was set up to cover car accident claims, not government budget shortfalls. The question of whether the government can pinch money from ICBC to pay for other services is an interesting question to be answered in court.

Ultimately ICBC could end up paying that amount out as a settlement and then getting it back through your rates in the future, he said.

Where is the money going to come from?

Read more about:
A baby boy is among the latest patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Australia, as NSW records its first COVID-19 related death and the number of cases in the country climbs to more than 50.

The boy's 40-year-old mother returned to South Australia from Iran on Sunday and was diagnosed with coronavirus on Wednesday. Her son tested positive the following day.

It is the first known coronavirus diagnosis of a baby in Australia. Both the mother and her baby are in a stable condition at Flinders Medical Centre.

They arrived in Adelaide on March 1 on Malaysia Airlines flight MH139 after a stopover in Kuala Lumpur.
Laredo City Council on Wednesday night voted 6-2 to select Robert Eads as the City of Laredos next city manager. Mayor Pete Saenz immediately vetoed the vote based on a perceived conflict of interest between Eads and Councilman Marte Martinez, which was overridden.

READ MORE: Drama unfolds around open Laredo city manager position after candidate drops out after news reports

This was a contentious meeting, with Councilman George Altgelt making three previous motions that all failed: that they start this process over again to seek new applicants, that they select Keith Selman, and then that they select Co-Interim City Manager Rosario Cabello, which could not be considered because her name was not on the agenda.

Council interviewed Eads and Keith Selman, assistant city manager in Corpus Christi and former Laredo planning director, for around two hours each in council chambers.

Council members Roberto Balli, Marte Martinez, Alberto Torres, Vidal Rodriguez and Rudy Gonzalez voted in favor of Eads appointment with Altgelt and Nelly Vielma voting against.

In a quick speech before the meetings closure at 11 p.m. Eads thanked council for this opportunity and said it wont be squandered. He also recommended Cabello to serve as his deputy city manager.

Mayor Saenz said he had advocated for appointing a city manager from outside Laredo in order to create a level playing field for everyone on City Council. But he said that he and Eads work well together and that they will continue to do so. Council shouldnt become enamored with their management team, but respect each other, Saenz said.

This was the final step in a yearlong process to find the next leader of the citys administration, which has been without a permanent head since Horacio De Leon resigned in January 2019. He was the third city manager of Laredo in four years.

Several council members and the mayor took this as an opportunity to embark on a nationwide search to find a rock star leader of the City of Laredo.

In an effort to separate themselves a little from the selection process, council created an ad-hoc committee to seek out, interview and rank candidates for the position.

On Feb. 15, the committee interviewed the top four candidates who had applied and ranked them individually. Their scores were combined and Eads landed on top, with Selman ranked second.

READ MORE: Laredo City Council to interview top city manager candidates

Over the last month or so, there has been extensive discussion about this search process and Eads as a candidate. After it came to light that Eads was a former patient of Councilman Marte Martinez, a medical doctor, local political pundits and several members of council condemned their relationship as a conflict of interest.

All of this discussion came to a head Wednesday night during Councilman Altgelts questioning of Eads ethics and the truthfulness of his application.

Altgelt asked if its ethical for someone Eads paid for medical services to vote him into the highest-paid job at the city. Eads responded that he has not seen that this would be an ethical issue.

The councilman also questioned a claim on Eads application that said he convinced Penske to move its entire operations from Del Rio to Laredo, but they were already here, Altgelt said. And he questioned Eads claim that he had a major role in developing the Outlet Shoppes and attracting Medline to Laredo.

Eads had previously said that ethics for him was very black and white, and that the real challenge is deciding between two rights.

But Mayor Pete Saenz argued that they had different definitions of black and white. For Saenz, Eads relationship with Martinez is black; for Eads, its white, the mayor said.

Saenz asked both Eads and Selman what they would do if a council member or mayor approached them with sensitive information that could embarrass another elected official, but were told not to disclose it.

Selman said if someone tells him something in confidence, that he has to honor that. And if he cant honor it, hell have to tell the right then and there. Eads said if there is an ethical issue or illegality, that it would need to be exposed. But again Saenz noted that their perceptions of ethics are subjective.

Atgelt also asked Selman what he would do if he was in Eads situation, with his doctor among the people considering him for the job. Selman referred to his personal code of ethics, but said those do not address how a council should act.

Councilman Alberto Torres questioned the quality of Selmans relationships with previous council members in Laredo while he was planning director. He also asked what he would do if a council member wanted to see a development that he didnt agree with.

READ MORE: Ethics Commissions 'frivolous' ruling upheld after complaint made against Laredo city managers

Selman said that as a certified planner he is compelled to give his recommendation, and if he were to give a recommendation he doesnt agree with, that would be unethical, he said.
Ministers from the group of oil-producing countries will meet in Vienna Thursday to try to overcome their divisions on how to react to the fall in oil prices in the wake of the novel epidemic.

The group already had to contend with abundant supply on global markets weighing on prices but the spread of COVID-19 across the world has sent them plunging.

The European benchmark of Brent sank to under 50 dollars on Sunday, a level not reached since July 2017.

The effects of the virus on global demand -- particularly in worst-hit China -- has blown a hole through the group's attempt to support prices at its last meeting in December by agreeing on production cuts.

The only option for -- and its allies in the Opec+ grouping who will be joining meetings on Friday -- would appear to be another round of production cuts.

The success of the summit, which has been called three months ahead of the next scheduled meeting, will above all hang on the alliance between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the world's second and third-biggest producers and the most important players in the and Opec+ groupings respectively.





ALSO READ: OPEC struggles to get Russian backing for oil cut amid coronavirus crisis

"Their objective will be to overcome their differences of opinion so as to be able to speak with one voice from tomorrow," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.

The splits on the way forward even within Opec were on display on Wednesday as delegations arrived.

The chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation Mustafa Sanallah said he was wary of any additional cuts.

"I think there's no need to reduce," Sanallah told AFP, adding: "I think the price is good right now." However Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said a cut of "at least... around half a million barrels" was necessary to stabilise the market.

Saudi Arabia is also a supporter of further cuts, with Riyadh even thought to be amenable to a cut in the order of a million barrels per day.

But Russia may be harder to convince on this score, with Russian President Vladimir Putin being quoted on Sunday as saying the current market price was "acceptable" and above the level foreseen in Russian economic planning.

Russia's RIA Novosti agency reported Wednesday that Moscow's delegation was proposing an extension of the existing deal with no fresh cuts.

Aside from bridging their differences on the effect of the virus on the market, the assembled diplomats are also having to accommodate changes to their routines in Vienna.

Two medical workers were on hand to screen the temperatures of all those entering Opec headquarters on Wednesday.

Opec's Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak were seen in a video tweeted by the organisation attempting a "footshake", gently bumping the sides of their feet together in a more hygienic alternative to a handshake.

The cartel has also taken the extraordinary step of barring access to its headquarters for the media due to the "risk that would come from convening such a vast number of people in one place".

Livestreams of the beginning of meetings will instead be made available to journalists at a press centre assembled in a nearby hotel.

In a statement on Tuesday Opec said it was following UN guidelines for such meetings and planned to "shorten the format of such gatherings, limit the number of participants and cancel any related side-events".
Tickets are now available for the 12th Annual Fort Bend County Fairs Crawfish Boil and Fish Fry scheduled Friday, April 3.

Crawfish season runs from November to July, with the best crawfish generally expected in the Spring. Warmer winter weather with fewer cold snaps this year provided a robust supply of plump and flavorful crawfish this year, according to fair officials.

If you and your family have not been, join us. We will be serving up crawfish until it runs out, long tables full of family and friends; it is a good time, Fair Manager Cindy Schmidt said in a press release. It is another way that the Fairs Board gives back to our community and raises money for scholarships.

Guests will enjoy all-you-can-eat crawfish and fried fish and music provided by Texas Red Hot Sounds ll. Drawing chances will be sold and guests can bid of prizes during a live auction.

The food is wonderful which is one reason why the crawfish boil is one of the most popular events each year leading up to the county fair, Fort Bend County Fair media representative Barbara Magana Robertson said. Plus, many people come to support local students as the event raises funds for the Fort Bend County Fair Scholarship program

The crawfish boil is scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds Building C with music and dancing to follow dinner service.

More from Kristi Nix: Nehls brothers celebrate primary election results

Tickets are currently available online for $35 through March 27 Children six to 11-years-old are $15 with free admission for those under five years-old. For Life Members, a new $5 discount is available for members who buy tickets at the door or at the fair office and present their membership card. The Life Members discount is not available for online purchases.

The Fort Bend County Fairgrounds are located at 4310 TX-36. For more information, call the fair office at 281-342-6171 or visit www.fortbendcountyfair.com/
Absconding AAP councillor Tahir Hussain was arrested by Delhi Police on Thursday after a court here dismissed his plea seeking to surrender before it in connection with alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma during the recent violence in northeast Delhi.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja refused to entertain Hussain's plea saying that the relief sought by him was outside the court's jurisdiction.

The court said that as per the provisions of 177 Criminal Procedure Code (Ordinary place of inquiry and trial), the offence shall ordinarily be inquired into and tried by court within whose local jurisdiction it is committed.

"In the instant case, the offence has been committed within the jurisdiction of PS Dayalpur which falls within the jurisdiction of Karkardooma Court. The reason given in the application for moving this application does not justify the conduct of the applicant to choose this forum for seeking the reliefs," the judge said.

Advocate Mukesh Kalia, appearing for Hussain, submitted that there is a grave apprehension of threat to his life and therefore he has not surrendered before competent court as there is "charged environment" in Karkardooma District court.

He said Hussain has no connection or involvement in the FIR registered by the police and he is being falsely implicated.

Considering the gravity of the situation, Hussain wishes to surrender before the court, he said.

The court said the Delhi High Court has specifically made a division of the jurisdictions, be that of the police stations or the courts district-wise and work has been allocated accordingly.

It said: "This court is a special designated court dealing with the matters of MPs/MLAs. The high court has designated this court as special court to deal with cases on fast track with endeavour to dispose of the same within one year as its objective.

"The applicant does not fall in the aforesaid category, hence this application cannot be even entertained by this court."



The court further said that the relief sought by Hussain does not fall within the domain or jurisdiction of this court, "hence, no such relief can be granted. In view of the observations, the application deserves to be dismissed".

As the court dismissed Hussain's plea, a Delhi Police team, which had already arrived, arrested him and took him into custody.

Hussain moved the surrender application before the court saying that he was willing to join the investigation and wanted to surrender in the case.

Hussain has been booked in the murder case of the IB staffer in northeast Delhi amid violence over the new citizenship law last week.

Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had then suspended him for alleged involvement in the violence which has left at least 42 people dead and around 200 injured.

The family of Sharma (26), who was found dead in a drain near his home in northeast Delhi's riot-hit Chand Bagh area, has accused Hussain of being behind the killing.

On the complaint of Sharma's father, the police registered an FIR against Hussain, who has rejected the charge. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi four days ago after violence between anti-and-pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act groups spiralled out of control.

Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at local residents and police personnel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AYR, Scotland, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Having undergone extensive renovation works and collaborated with a whole host of exciting partners to create the ultimate getaway experience, Cloncaird Castle, a 16th century castle situated in Ayrshire, Scotland, will now offer its guests the chance to enjoy a digital detox and Forest bathing along with a holistic spa in a converted tower.

Giving guests the chance to escape the demands of everyday life, Cloncaird Castle has teamed up with Adventure Carrick, who specialise in outdoor adventure activity experiences throughout Ayrshire, in order to offer a digital detox day and retreat that promotes the many benefits of switching off your phone and disconnecting from the modern world.

Each digital detox day or retreat incorporates a full programme of activities that make the most of Cloncaird Castle's 140 acres of stunning surroundings. As part of the detox and retreat, a guide will introduce you to a whole host of physical activities, while teaching you different ways of practising mindfulness for a better quality of life.

As well as providing an escape from the modern world, the Castle's atrium and grounds provide the perfect space for weddings and events with a truly unique feel. Top Scottish fashion designer, Joyce Young also used the Castle as a backdrop for her latest collection, producing stunning images that show both the castle and her designs in an incredible light.

Andrew Mellon, Manager at Cloncaird Castle said: "We are extremely pleased that the Estate is also becoming much greener and embracing Eco Tourism, utilising our 140 acres. We have also collaborated with over 30 local makers, artisans and businesses to create the new Cloncaird.

"A highlight last weekend was Joyce Young's 2020 Collection being previewed and photographed in the Castle and grounds. Some amazing images were achieved."

Providing guests with exclusivity, luxury, and Scottish charm, Cloncaird Castle has refurbished 8 holiday cottages on the estate along with an Honesty shop championing local food and drink products. Local and Scottish provenance along with green credentials is the way forward for this hidden gem.

Notes to editor

Additional Drone footage, Castle and Fashion Images available on request.

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099633/Cloncaird_Castle.mp4

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099624/Cloncaird_Castle_Joyce_Young.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1099625/Cloncaird_Castle.jpg

CONTACT

Andrew Mellon, General Manager 01665-750345

0777-804-1445

pressoffice@the-style-academy.com
Arrangements are being made to facilitate the return of stranded Indians from Iran in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak through normal civil aviation channels, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said as of now there are no Indians infected with the virus in Iran.

He also said Indian Embassies across the world are on the job wherever there has been an outbreak of coronavirus.

The Indian Embassy in Iran was putting out regular updates and the mission continues to be in touch with all the Indians in that country, including fishermen, he said.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said an Indian medical team was reaching Iran to set up its first clinic at Qom by the evening to start screening for coronavirus.

Asked about reports that 495 Iranian tourists in India are untraceable, Kumar said MEA has not received any information about it from the Iranian Embassy.

"The tourists we are talking about have been here before coronavirus outbreak and they can't return as no flights are operating between the two countries at present. They will leave once the flights resume, there should be no panic," he said.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said that based on various requests, the Indian Embassy in Iran has reached out to Indian fishermen, including from Kerala, stuck in Kish Island and Assaluyeh.

"All are in good health. Their basic requirements are met. Embassy is in constant touch!" he said on twitter.

Kumar also said the Indians in Iran are being advised to follow the health protocol as given out by the WHO and local authorities.

"Our mission has opened a 24/7 helpline. Arrangements are being made to facilitate the return of stranded Indians from areas of concern through normal civil aviation channels," he said.

"We need good cooperation from Iranian authorities so that an appropriate screening process can be set up before the Indian nationals can be facilitated to take those flights back home," he said.

Asked if India will impose further travel restrictions, Kumar said it is an evolving situation.

On the overall preparedness to tackle the coronavirus issue, Kumar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is personally taking a lot of interest in the preparedness of India to deal with the situation.

"There is a group of ministers, regular meetings are being held, both Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Health are deeply involved. Our Embassies across the world are on the job wherever you have a certain number of cases. They have opened 24/7 networks for people to connect to them," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The pace of rapid transit expansion in Toronto often seems glacial.

Though new subway and LRT lines unfold on paper and political campaign platforms with alacrity, true tunnel and surface routes often fail to materialize for decades, or are ditched entirely.

That said, there are several meaningful transit projects being built in the city and wider GTA, representing tens of billions of dollars in federal, provincial and municipal spending.

Transit in the works

Others are in advanced stages of design and preconstruction and have secured funding behind them.

This is a look at the major projects being completed and contemplated for the region.

Eglinton Crosstown LRT

Though this private-public partnership (P3) project just announced an opening delay of unknown months beyond its September 2021 deadline, it is intensely underway  as construction-enraged merchants and residents along its churned-up Eglinton Ave. route will attest. The 25-station line will run for 19 kilometres  10 of them underground  between Kennedy Rd. in the east and Weston Rd. in the west.

Originally budgeted for $5.3 billion for construction, the line is expected to cost some $12 billion when financing, long-term maintenance and other costs are factored in. It is a provincial Metrolinx-owned enterprise that is being built by Crosslinx Transit Solutions  a private consortium that includes huge construction players EllisDon, Aecon, SNC-Lavalin and ACS.

Construction began in the summer of 2011. The line will feature connections to GO Transit, the UP Express, as well as bus, streetcar and subway routes run by the TTC, which will also control its day-to-day operations.

Originally scheduled to open in 2020, the line is expected to carry more than 5,000 passengers an hour during peak travel periods and reduce travel times by 60 per cent over current commutes.

Finch West LRT

When proposed a decade ago it was originally expected to open this year. But the line, which will cost an estimated $1.2 billion to build, is now in pre-construction phase and will not be taking on passengers until at least 2023.

The 11-kilometre line will feature 18 stops, 16 of them on the surface and two underground  one interchanging with the Finch West subway station at its eastern end and the other at Humber College, its westernmost terminus.

Running for the rest of its Finch Ave. W. path along a dedicated right of way, it will connect with GO Transit, TTC and regional transit networks and is expected to carry 46,000 passengers each weekday.

Its being built and will be maintained by Mosaic Transit Group  another consortium of major private companies  which won the contract in 2018 after line-owner Metrolinx put out a 2016 call for proposals.

Hurontario LRT

This 18-kilometre, 19-stop line will link Mississauga and Brampton up their Hurontario St. (Hwy. 10) spine on a dedicated right of way.

Though down from an original 23 stations, the project still carries a $1.4-billion construction budget and is expected to open in the fall of 2024.

Line owner Metrolinx announced a winning bidder for the project last October in the consortium Mobilinx, which includes multiple large design, construction and financial players.

There are now several utility moving initiatives underway to clear a path for the line, which will run from the Port Credit Go Transit station in the south to the Brampton Gateway Terminal at Steeles Ave. in the north.

It will replace one of the GTAs busiest bus routes, the MiWay 19 Hurontario, which carries 25,000 passengers a day through the Mississauga portion of the route.

GO Transit Rail Expansion

The multi-faceted expansion of the network  which would include an increased number of stations, trains running all day in both directions at 15-minute intervals over core segments, and the electrification of key rail sections  would fundamentally transform the commuter system into a regional transit service.

The $16.8-billion Metrolinx project, which would be the provinces largest and allow the system to carry more than 200 million passengers annually by mid-century, was expected to be largely completed by 2025.

Early work on the project is already underway and Metrolinx has boosted service by more than 30 per cent in the last two years, according to the agency. But snags in the procurement process for the final stage of the P3 project reported by the Star in January have cast doubt on the 2025 scheduling.

Scarborough Subway Extension

This controversial project, which would replace a proposed and well-researched LRT line, provides just three new stations over a 7.8-kilometre route. The $5.5-billion line would replace the aging and elevated Scarborough RT as an expansion of the Bloor-Danforth Line 2 subway. The expansion would feature connections to GO Transit and regional bus services as well as the new Eglinton Crosstown.

Despite a business case put forth by Metrolinx concluding the projects costs would far outweigh its benefits, the subway extension is moving ahead and minor pre-construction work is starting. The province plans to open it by 2029 or 2030.

The Ontario Line

Introduced in a snap announcement by Premier Doug Ford last April, this line came seemingly out of nowhere as a proposed replacement for a downtown subway relief line that had been approved by the city after years of planning.

The $11-billion project would snake its way 15.5 kilometres from Exhibition in the south to the Science Centre in the north, with approximately 15 stations whose locations have yet to be determined.

Operating smaller trains than its existing subway counterparts, the Ontario Line could provide 90-second service intervals and carry 34,000 passengers an hour during peak periods. It would, at an estimated 389,000 weekday riders, accommodate some 180,000 more daily passengers than the shorter relief line it will replace, which was meant to unburden Line 1s Yonge St. segment as it quickly reaches capacity.

Planning for the project continues, including due diligence work, further refining the design and engineering work and seeking environmental approvals, according to Metrolinx.

Yonge Subway Extension

This proposed expansion of Line 1 from Finch Station into York Region would add 7.4 kilometres and six stations to Line 1 at an estimated cost of $5.6 billion.

It has a tentative opening date of 2029-30.

Eglinton Crosstown West Extension

This proposal would take the Crosstowns current termination at Weston Rd. out toward Pearson airport by 2031 for $4.7 billion.

The line would be built mostly in costly underground tunnels despite travelling through relatively sparse neighbourhoods in Etobicoke. The province is pushing ahead with the plan despite the fact that, like the Scarborough subway extension, a new business case for the Crosstown West shows its costs will far outweigh its benefits.

One Toronto. Two possible futures. Ten years to get it right. Toronto has never been bigger, bolder and more successful  or faced so many serious problems. To attract talent and grow sustainably, we need to address the citys transportation, affordability and infrastructure needs. If we ignore these threats, the inner city buckles. Its time to start thinking about solutions.

Read more about:
(Newser)  Pet cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus on to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. That's the conclusion of Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department after a dog in quarantine tested weak positive for the virus Feb. 27, Feb. 28, and March 2, using the canine's nasal and oral cavity samples, the AP reports. "There is currently no evidence that pet animals can be a source of infection of COVID-19 or that they become sick," a department spokesman said in a news release. Scientists suspect the virus that causes the disease originated in bats before passing it on to another species, possibly a small wild mammal, that passed it on to humans.

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Experts from several institutions agree, however, that the dog has a low-level of infection and it is "likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission." In general, pet owners should maintain good hygiene, including not kissing their pet and washing hands before and after handling animals and their food, authorities say. People who are sick should avoid contact with pets and a veterinarian's advice should be sought if changes in a pet's health conditions are detected. "Apart from maintaining good hygiene practices, pet owners need not be overly concerned and under no circumstances should they abandon their pets," the department spokesman said. The dog, and another in quarantine that has tested negative for the virus, will be tested again before being released.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
A lady wearing protective face masks crosses the road along Orchard Road, a famous shopping district in Singapore, on Valentine's Day. Singapore declared the COVID-19 outbreak Code Orange on February 7, 2020.

Maverick Asio / Echoes Wire / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Singapore has a strict protocol for tracking cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The system relies on police, surveillance footage, ATM records, and a dedicated team of contact tracers, who map out where patients went in the days and weeks before they were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Anyone who catches COVID-19 in Singapore can expect to answer a lot of questions about where they've been, and who they've met along the way.

If they don't comply, people can be put in jail for months or subject to thousands of dollars in fines. That is how seriously the southeast Asian city-state of 6 million takes its disease contact tracing.

"Contact tracing teams have been working round the clock" for more than 13 hours a day, tracing back the steps of anyone who's contracted the novel coronavirus, a Singapore Ministry of Health spokesperson told Business Insider.

So far, the ministry has picked up 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and quarantined more than three thousand others, to help stop the spread of the virus. Here's how the tightly-controlled system works.

The novel coronavirus spreads rapidly when people are in close contact with infected patients. But if you can keep COVID-19 contained, the spread stops.

singapore covid 19 deserted

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

That's what's happened in China, and the strategy seems to be working well in Singapore too.

"We don't even talk about containment for seasonal flu  it's just not possible," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva on Tuesday. "But it is possible for COVID-19. We don't do contact tracing for seasonal flu  but countries should do it for COVID-19, because it will prevent infections and save lives."

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The Ministry of Health in Singapore employs a dedicated team of 140 contact tracers, who work in shifts from 8:30 in the morning until 10 at night every day of the week.

singapore covid 19 temperature screening

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Anyone in Singapore who's diagnosed with COVID-19 will be subject to very detailed interviews about where they've been and who they've seen.

singapore covid 19 masks outside

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

"Think of what has happened in the last five days," Dr. Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease specialist in Singapore, recently told The World. "What did you do? Where did you go? Who did you meet?"

These are the kinds of questions that Singapore health workers aim to answer when they interview patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

But disease investigators in Singapore don't rely solely on memories. Tracers can also tap the police for help and run back surveillance footage from local businesses.

singapore covid 19 street cleaning

Ore Huiying/Getty Images

"They make use of all resources, including the police," Nam said. "If you realize it, everywhere we go, we do leave a digital signature, be it from the cash we draw, or the use of the ATM card or the credit card. It leaves digital signatures all around. Now with all this information, we actually try to track and find out where the person has gone. "

As the contact tracers conduct their interviews, they're also listening for clues about where the person might've picked up their infection.

singapore covid 19 masks

Ore Huiying/Getty Images

Though it's possible for the novel coronavirus to get passed around on hard surfaces, by far the most common source of transmission is through respiratory droplets spread by person to person contact.

That's why people who are sick are encouraged to isolate themselves and wear a mask when around others. A safe distance of 6 feet is recommended.

At the hospital, tracers sketch out what's called an activity map, which outlines all the places the sick person went in the 14 days before they started showing symptoms.

singapore covid 19 chinatown

Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

This helps better determine where the person might've picked up their infection.

COVID-19 patients are also asked to think back to the places they went and people they touched after they initially started showing symptoms, such as a dry cough, or a fever, so anyone who was in the area can be alerted that they might've caught the bug.

singapore covid 19 sanitizer

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

This is also how the Ministry of Health has been able to better determine which cases in the country are "linked" to one another.

The contact tracing team's goal is to have a complete picture of where the patient has been over the past two weeks within 24 hours of a confirmed illness.

singapore covid 19 empty Haji Lane .JPG

Reuters/Edgar Su

Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the Ministry of Health has used this strategy to quarantine at least 3,291 people, who all had some contact with at least one of the city-state's 117 confirmed COVID-19 patients, when they might've been symptomatic.

singapore covid 19 airport

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Most people have finished their quarantines by now, but 381 were still under lockdown as of March 5, the ministry said.

Family members, colleagues, and travel companions are all commonly subject to quarantining. If they develop any COVID-19 symptoms during their quarantines, the close contacts move into hospital isolation.

singapore covid 19 street life

Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Others who didn't have quite the same level of intimate contact with a patient, like fellow shoppers, may just get phone calls for the next 14 days from the government.

singapore covid 19 stocking up on supplies

Ore Huiying/Getty Images

They're asked to keep a close watch on their own health, and if they develop symptoms, put on a mask and go see a doctor.

Lying to a contact tracer, or withholding information about where you've been, is against the law in Singapore.

singapore covid 19 temperature check

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

A Chinese couple was charged with lying to health authorities about where they'd been before and during one quarantine in February. They could serve up to 6 months in jail, have to pay a fine as large as $10,000, or both.

singapore covid 19 empty Chinatown.JPG

Reuters/Edgar Su

"MOH [Ministry of Health] was able to establish their true movements through detailed investigations," the ministry said in a release.

In February, Singapore set aside $800 million to combat the coronavirus outbreak amid fears it could prompt a recession.

singapore covid 19 sightseeing

Ore Huiying/Getty Images

Singapore's deputy prime minister said the government is doing everything in its power to "slow down the spread of the virus," Bloomberg reported.

Part of the reason that Singapore is so proactive about tracking down every single COVID-19 case is because the country was hard-hit by the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003.

singapore covid 19 being tourists

Ore Huiying/Getty Images

33 people died from SARS in Singapore during that outbreak, 17 years ago. Others who were suspected of having the illness wore electronic bracelets to better ensure they didn't leave the house.

So far, no one in Singapore has died from COVID-19.

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International Womens Day (IWD) is nearly here, with people around the world gearing up to celebrate female empowerment and womens rights.

In the US, the celebration isnt just limited to Sunday 8 March, as the whole of March is Womens History Month, when the country honours women and all they have accomplished while also raising awareness of the work still needed to be done to reach gender equality.

As with every year, brands are joining in this years IWD celebrations by offering deals, discounts and donations.

These are 20 brands that are honouring women and giving back for International Womens Day.

Kendra Scott

Jewellery designer Kendra Scott is launching a friendship bracelet in celebration of International Womens Day, with 20 per cent of the proceeds benefiting various womens organisations.

According to WWD, the Everlyne Friendship Bracelet will be available in six colours and include stones such as rose quartz, turquoise and mother of pearl.

In addition to the bracelet, the brand is hosting a Kendra Gives Back shopping event from 4 to 8 March, with 20 per cent of all purchases made in store benefiting female empowerment organisations.

Net-A-Porter

In celebration of IWD, Net-A-Porter has teamed up with 20 female designers to create a limited-edition capsule collection of shirts and sweatshirts, with the proceeds going to Women for Women International, a global charity that helps female war victims in developing countries.

The collection includes collaborations with Isabel Marant, Stella McCartney and Alexa Chung.

Sundry Clothing

Clothing brand Sundry is donating 100 per cent of proceeds from the sale of its Femme Vintage Tee to womens empowerment organisation Step Up.

Oak + Fort

To celebrate women, Oak + Fort is launching a collection of t-shirts, with all proceeds to be donated to IWDs official charity, Catalyst.

The brand will also donate an additional $5 for every t-shirt selfie posted on Instagram with the hashtag #Ofchangemakers.

L'Occitane

This year, the French skincare brand is marking IWD with a new shea butter balm called the Solidarity Balm, with 100 per cent of profits donated to the L'Occitane Foundation to fund non-governmental organisations that support womens leadership in Burkina Faso.

Harper Wilde

Inclusive bra company Harper Wilde has teamed up with bullying prevention nonprofit Kind Campaign to celebrate IWD.

On IWD, 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of the Be Kind bra will go to the Kind Campaign.

Fossil

The watch brand is celebrating IWD through a collaboration with illustrator Bijou Karman for a collection of watches, earrings and tote bags featuring illustrations of women.

25 per cent of the proceeds from the collection will benefit Girls Rising, a charity that promotes education for young girls.

Tory Burch

On 5 March, the Tory Burch Foundation will be hosting an Embrace Ambition Summit focusing on confronting stereotypes and creating new norms, and featuring speakers such as Gloria Steinem and Ashley Judd, according to WWD.

The handbag brand will also release an Embrace Ambition bracelet and tote bag, with 100 per cent of proceeds going to the Tory Burch Foundation, which supports female empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Allen Schwartz

In honour of IWD, Allen Schwartz is donating 100 per cent of all sales made on 8 March to the Downtown Womens Center (DWC) of Los Angeles, which focuses on empowering women who are experiencing homelessness.

Ba&sh

Clothing label Ba&sh is celebrating IWD with its Beautiful & Strong t-shirt, with 100 per cent of proceeds benefiting Women for Women International.

The brand will also donate an additional one dollar for each post shared on social media with the hashtag #bashstrongertogether.

Kate Spade

Kate Spade has partnered with author Cleo Wade to launch a capsule collection of totes and sweaters featuring motivational quotes in honour of IWD.

The collection is part of the brands On Purpose program, which works with a leather production facility in Masoro, Rwanda that employs more than 230 women from local communities.

Cora

Organic feminine care company Cora is asking its followers to share stories of personal evolution with the hashtag #formercurrentchallenge.

For every post, the brand will give pads and health education to young girls in Kenya and India.

The brand is also selling a Fearless Necklace, which provides a whole year's supply of pads and health education to a young girl in Kenya.

Gap

Gap has partnered with Rebecca Alexander and Hannah Corderman, two women who have Usher Syndrome, to create limited-edition t-shirts in honour of IWD, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the companys global program PACE, which provides education and life skills training to women.

Kind Healthy Snacks

In honour of IWD and the 100th anniversary of equal voting rights, Kind has launched a limited-edition Kind Equality bar to support gender equality, with 100 per cent of the proceeds donated to the Alice Paul Institute, a nonprofit organisation dedicating to advancing gender equality, with a minimum of donation of $10,000.

Benefit

Beauty brand Benefit is celebrating IWD by offering free head shots to women in eight countries across three continents in its boutiques.

The Makeover Their Profile initiative aims to help women improve their LinkedIn profiles, as profiles with pictures are viewed more frequently.

Fabletics

The workout brand is honouring women this IWD by giving away a t-shirt that reads: Its 2020. Women Wear the Leggings with every purchase in-store and online on 7 and 8 March, according to WWD.

Fabletics is also donating $25,000 to Girl Up, the United Nations foundation that works towards gender equality.

Diane Von Furstenberg

To celebrate IWD, the designer is hosting her third annual InCharge Conversations event at her store in New York City, which will feature speakers including Jameela Jamil, Gloria Steinem and Girl Scouts of the USA ceo Sylvia Acevedo.

DVF will also launch a limited-edition collection of clothes and accessories inspired by InCharge, with a portion of proceeds going to nonprofit womens leadership training organisation Vital Voices.

Von Furstenberg has teamed up with Amazon as well, to launch the Amazon x #InCharge page, which will feature a curated page of products from 20 female-owned businesses.

& Other Stories

In honour of IWD, the brand is working with nine female photographers, who have created self-portraits for the brands #herimageherstory campaign.

For every post shared on social media with the hashtag, the brand will donate 1 to CARE, an organisation that promotes education for young girls, with proceeds from the sales of the self-portraits, which will be sold as posters, also going to the organisation.

Casetify

The phone accessories maker is celebrating IWD by donating 100 per cent of proceeds from its Her Impact Matters Collection, designed by female artists, to the Malala Fund.

Birdy Grey

From 2 to 8 March, bridesmaid dress company Birdy Grey will donate a dress to The Princess Project, an organisation that provides free prom dresses to girls in need, every time a mauve dress is sold.

During the initiative, all mauve dresses will be marked down to $49.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Jennifer Anistons ex-husband Brad Pitt was the reason behind her decision to agree to Friends reunion. Hollywood star Brad Pitt reportedly made the much-awaited Friends reunion possible by encouraging his ex-wife, and one of the shows lead actresses, Jennifer Aniston to say yes to it.



Aniston is believed to have taken advice from Pitt after being reluctant to return alongside her Friends co-stars, say reports.

Pitt reportedly met Aniston on her birthday last year and she sought his advice on the matter. He encouraged the idea and said it would honor their success as fans still hold the show in high regard.



Pitt, who once had a cameo in the popular sitcom, had apparently advised her that it was the right time for her to agree and urged her to say yes when everyone got together in October to celebrate the shows 25th anniversary.

The shows actors - Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry - who are rumoured to take home 2 million pounds (Rs 18,75,75,107.38 approximately) each for their appearance, confirmed a comeback on February 21.



They will be coming together for an untitled, unscripted reunion special that will celebrate the series, which ran from September 1994 to

May 2004.
It is no great revelation to say that our national electoral politics has been turned inside out, upside down  or even in a number of different directions that is reminiscent of Milton Bradleys Twister game. While one person, one vote inherently carries with it the possibility of strange, unexpected or even highly undesirable outcomes, historically there is usually a banal predictability to our de facto two-party system. Sometimes the Republican candidate wins; sometimes the Democratic candidate wins. Some people are elated; others are disappointed. Rinse, wash, repeat 

Occasionally, however, the losing team experiences something akin to the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. (I use the word team purposely; our politics has become so parochial, so bitter, so adversarial that even the analogy of opposing teams may not adequately describe the rancor that attends the seemingly intractable battles between Democrats and Republicans.) Certainly, this has been the case since the 2016 presidential election  which feels like it never quite ended.

It is in this social, economic, political and cultural context that we find ourselves reflecting on the results of last weeks Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina. (Fortunately, the Palmetto state spared us of the highly problematic caucus format that plagues us, especially in Iowa.) As we all know, former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign hinged on his performance in South Carolina  especially among African Americans, whose support determined the primarys winner. As professor-turned-pundit Eddie Glaude of Princeton University pointed out on Meet the Press, its ironic that Black folks have  for the moment  saved centrist Democratic politics. Given our growing disaffection (and, for some, disgust) with the Democratic Party, Bidens Black-people-fueled primary victory heralded our strategic importance.

The outcome of the South Carolina primary is very interesting for at least two reasons. One is that Rep. James Jim Clyburn, who as majority whip is the third highest-ranking member of the U.S. House, decided to announce his support of Joe Biden following last weeks Democratic debate. Generally speaking, such endorsements are substantially less important than in years long past. However, exit polls suggest that Clyburns full-throated endorsement of his longtime friend did matter  a lot. (Clyburn did so despite the fact that he has been openly critical of those who are running Bidens campaign.)

Clyburn, who will be 80 years old in a few months, wields the kind of power  and commands the kind of respect  that results from decades of being on the battlefield. He is one of the old school leaders who puts the e in establishment politics. (Incidentally, endorsing Biden so forcefully did not come without some risk. Had the former vice president stumbled, or even failed to win convincingly, Clyburns stature and prestige may have suffered.) And it is worth mentioning the fact that, thus far, Sen. Bernie Sanders has not expanded the Democratic base, as he and his surrogates frequently claim he will do. Sanders barely beat Biden among young Black voters  who are among Sanders core constituency.

I should point out that Black voters are not a monolith; even Clyburns own grandson supported former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg before his exit from the race. Still, there remains among most of us a sense of collective defense. To borrow from Ben Franklin, We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

The other interesting aspect of African Americans support of Biden is the possibility that it might spur him on to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. (Assuming, of course, that South Carolina is not an anomaly vis-a-vis Black support for him.) Finally, if Biden then went on to win the presidency, it is fair to say that Black people in South Carolina, in effect, would have played the central role in determining that outcome. Admittedly, those are many ifs, but that conclusion is not at all hyperbolic.

Black people have frequently served as Americas conscience, especially as it regards to our own political interests. Perhaps this is no better demonstrated today than in the fact that former candidate and billionaire Mike Bloomberg had been steadily collecting endorsements from high-profile Black political leaders  despite his atrocious record regarding racial issues while he served as mayor of New York. In my view, by taking the deliberative step of publicly supporting Bloomberg, his Black supporters made the affirmative decision to place being an American above being an African American.

Similarly, by supporting Joe Biden over former candidate Tom Steyer, who supported reparations, Black folks testified that the goal of returning our nation to sanity is more important to us than rolling the dice on someone who (it would appear) was unlikely to defeat Donald Trump this November.

If Joe Biden does prevail in the presidential contest, I am hopeful that his victory will not be Pyrrhic for Black folks. We deserve more. It is incumbent upon us to demand it.

Larry Smith is a community leader. Contact him at larry@leaf-llc.com.
Patricia Arquette is taking Donald Trump to task on the topics of climate change and womens rights.

The actor urged others to vote Democrat in the 2020 presidential election through a series of tweets on Wednesday.

Donald Trump has done nothing but expedite climate change inducing policies with four more years that would only get worse, she wrote.

Say no to mass extinction and the destruction of our planet. Vote Democrat.

Arquette envisioned a future with a Democrat in the White House and a majority Democrat Senate and House.

Make it happen, she added.

She then highlighted the importance of reproductive rights, adding: Womens right to chose is hanging by a thread. DO NOT LET TRUMP WIN.

You lose the courts for a generation you will lose many things.

Arquette tweeted on the same day Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race, endorsing Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren has since also terminated her campaign.

Three Democrats remain in the running for the nomination: Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Tulsi Gabbard.

On the Republican side, William F Weld is running against the president.
Italy-based airline Alitalia will drop the Rome-Seoul route and close its Korean office this month due to financial difficulties. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



Alitalia, Italy's flagship carrier, has decided to close its Korean office at the end of this month amid financial difficulties aggravated by the outbreak of COVID-19, company officials in Seoul said Thursday.



Both Korea and Italy have seen a snowballing number of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, with each country having reported thousands of patients. This has led to fewer passengers on flights, making things worse for the already beleaguered air carrier that has been struggling financially for decades.



"Alitalia will drop the route from Rome to Seoul on March 10 permanently, and the Korean office will be closed at the end of March," a Korean office official said.



The air carrier, which has operated the Rome-Seoul route four times a week, has notified passengers, who have already booked tickets, of the cancelation of the flights in an email, saying, "We apologize for the inconvenience."



But passengers expressed complaints about the unilateral decision.



"Alitalia just sent me an email saying that my flight has been canceled, without any advance notice. I was frustrated," said a 56-year-old customer who was planning to travel to Rome in June with her son. "I've already booked my hotel and tour programs there, many of which are non-refundable. Who's going to pay for that? I think Alitali should have provided alternative options for customers before just canceling our flights."



Regarding the complaints, the company official said, "Passengers will receive a full refund without any additional fees. We are unable to arrange alternative flights as the office will be closed."



Along with the Rome-Seoul route, the Italian airline also decided to drop the route from Rome to Santiago, Chile on March 29 in an effort to downsize its business.



According to the Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily newspaper, Alitalia was suffering a loss of 76,000 euros ($85,000) per day from these two routes alone.



Amid a spike in infections in both countries, air carriers in Korea have also decided to suspend flights to Italian cities.



Korean Air, the nation's top flag carrier, decided to suspend its services to Rome and Milan temporarily, while the second-largest carrier, Asiana Airlines, will also halt the Incheon-Rome route. Asiana has already suspended the Incheon-Venice route.



On Thursday, Korean Air said that it has begun checking temperatures of passengers seeking to take airplanes for all international routes from Incheon International Airport as a precaution against any further spread of the new coronavirus.



"We have secured eight thermal imaging cameras," a Korean Air official said. "We will not allow passengers with fevers over 37.5 degrees Celsius to board our planes."




As tourists look for an alternative to destinations like Thailand, hotel investors are delving into the Vietnamese market. Photo Le Toan

According to Raymond Clement, managing director of Savills Hotels Asia Pacific, while long term investors will not be deterred by short-term hurdles, sellers could face more challenges due to the cash flow being negatively impacted.

This shortage could put some owners, especially those investing in highly-leveraged projects, under financial pressure which will result in higher incentive for sale of assets or looking for co-partnerships, Clement said.

As a result, Vietnam and its neighbouring countries might witness a larger number of offerings this year, especially in the coastal destinations where the drop in arrivals is more severe, he added.

Clement told VIR that international funds are increasing their interest into the Vietnam hospitality market. Among those are dedicated funds such as Lodgis Hospitality Holdings, KSL Capital Partners, and Gaw Capital.

Apart from that, many domestic investors are also owning large portfolios of hospitality assets such as Vingroup, Sun Group, Thien Minh, and Muong Thanh.

Three state-owned tourism companies  Saigontourist, Ben Thanh Group, and Hanoitourist  are expected to become a prime opportunity for overseas investors as they have many existing luxury hotels and golden land areas in the city centres, which can be ideal for the development of high-end hotels.

Elsewhere, in its APAC Hotel Investment Highlight 2019 report, JLL released from its portfolios that the Regis Bay Hotel Danang was offered for sale.

Despite the COVID-19 impacting several industries and hospitality being among the most vulnerable sectors, long-term investors still remain attracted to the Vietnamese market. Clements outlook for 2020 is upbeat given positive sentiment and sustainable interest from foreign investors into both emerging and mature markets.

A strong bidding environment is expected as both overseas and domestic investors look to enter these tightly-held markets, seeking higher yield opportunities across the Asia-Pacific, Clement said.

He added that this optimism may falter if the current outbreak continues, resulting in significant disruption to the tourism industry, especially in markets that heavily rely on Chinese demand.

Seeing events out

Meanwhile Michael Piro, COO of Indochina Capital, explained that he has not yet seen any owners or investors act rashly or decide to put their properties on the market due to COVID-19.

Although it is still early days, I do not believe that the virus will have this influence on the mass market  if owners are putting their hotels up for sale now, they had been planning to do so for a while, Piro told VIR.

Piro accepted that the virus outbreak has damaged current hotel and resort performance, which in turn will affect the transaction value of these assets.

However, it may be impossible at this point to predict the true impact of the virus, and everyone needs to tread cautiously to wait and see how long the situation will drag on for.

At Indochina Capital, we continue to push forward with our mergers and acquisitions engagements while taking into account the impact of COVID-19 and employing a strategy that will maximise returns for our clients, he added.

Piro added that as Vietnam has only officially recorded 16 cases of COVID-19 and has been recognised by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its efforts in fighting against the coronavirus outbreak, the current impact on tourism and hospitality has actually been driven mostly by fear and use of precautions.

We have not observed any significant decline in international interest in Vietnams hospitality arena, and we are confident that the segment will not be affected in the long term by the current outbreak, he insisted.

As an international hotel company managing diverse brands and hotels in various locations, Christian Pucher, senior director of Asia development at Hilton Worldwide, said that foreign investors remain optimistic about Vietnam as a tourism destination, bolstered by the encouraging numbers in arrivals over the last decade when international arrivals increased three-fold from five million in 2010 to over 15 million in eight years.

Our presence is set to triple as we grow from our current three hotels in the country to 12 in the coming years, and we are absolutely confident that the market will continue to boom as new destinations emerge and gain their spots on the global tourism map, he said.

Pucher added that investors mostly pay interest in first-hand factors such as benefit growth or project scale, but the sustainability of the venture has been skipped while this factor has been more and more important in modern life when people are more concerned about environmental protection and healthcare.

Limited transactions

Despite being considered attractive for foreign investors, hotel transactions in Vietnam in the past few years have been lower compared to regional peers, due to the lack of assets offered and a number of successful cases not being publicly announced.

In 2019, significant hotel transactions in Vietnam were disclosed, included Warburg Pincus Investment Fund acquiring a majority share of Ho Tram Grand Strip resort, and Malaysia-based Berjaya Group selling 75 per cent of its stake in InterContinental Hanoi Westlake for more than $53 million.

Over the past few years, Vietnams hospitality industry has experienced tremendous growth as the result of several driving factors including infrastructure, technology, and changing customer behaviour.

Global tourists have started to see Vietnam as a valid alternative to Thailand  the hospitality industry leader in Southeast Asia. As such, both hotel investors and operators have been actively looking at Vietnam as a potential market for investment opportunities.

According to Savills Vietnams fingues, hospitality properties in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2019 was among the top priorities for investment. in the eye of foreign and local investors considering both cities have had stable occupancies in 2019 (81 and 69 per cent, respectively) and rates ($119 and $118, respectively).

Due to the shortage of rooms and limited hotel pipeline with only 26 announced projects coming to market in the next three years, these pivotal cities have been receiving considerable attention from investors.

Unlike coastal destinations where most investors are looking for 5-star or luxury properties, main cities have witnessed rising attention on lower-positioned products, as long as they are competently designed.

According to experts, typically a property must have proper back and front of house, and sufficient facilities, to be attractive to investors. Among all products, an asset in vacant possession is perceived as a highly attractive investment as it allows financiers to rebrand the hotel, adding significantly more value to the products.

The hotel operator selection plays a critical role in hospitality project planning. It is necessary that the developer clarifies the business model and project positioning before involving the operator.

Vietnam needs more brands  local, regional, and international, as well as more quality properties, according to Savills. However, in order to achieve sustainable and extraordinary results, cautious moves together with long-term visions by exploring the real value of Vietnamese abilities are recommended to define the competitive position on the tourism map.

Vietnamese tourism achieved remarkable growth in 2019 with more than 18 million international visitors, up by 16.2 per cent compared to the year before.
Amber Heard and girlfriend Bianca Butti couldn't hide their affection for one another while out getting groceries in LA on Wednesday.

The actress, 33, and cinematographer, 38, looked very much in love as they stocked up on food and beverages at the upscale Gelson's market.

Inside the shop the pair shared a tender moment, when Bianca was seen holding Amber's face sweetly.

Affection: Amber Heard and girlfriend Bianca Butti looked very in love when they went out for groceries on Wednesday

The couple only had eyes for each other, sharing a love gaze.

Amber continued the PDA by whispering something into Bianca's ear and kissing her on the side of the face.

The Aquaman beauty was clad in her signature casual cool style, pairing a loose sweater with a black midi skirt and shiny loafers. Her effortless look was completed with a messy braid.

Bianca was also dressed for comfort, rocking a denim jacket, skinny jeans and hip ankle boots.

Sweet moment: The couple only had eyes for each other, sharing a love gaze

For your ears only: Amber continued the PDA by whispering something into Bianca's ear and kissing her on the side of the face

The couple, who have been dating since January, already seem quite attached - with sources calling Amber 'happier than ever.'

'Amber is fine and happier than ever,' an insider told Us Weekly back in February.

'Bianca has been very supportive of her, and Amber feels like she can trust her and be comfortable around her, especially since they were friends first.'

That source added that Heard is 'enjoying spending time' with Butti, and has even gone as far as to say she 'really loves her.'

Smitten: The couple, who have been dating since January, already seem quite attached - with sources calling Amber 'happier than ever.' The actress is seen in 2018 above

And Amber's been lucky to have Bianca to support her while her ongoing legal brawl with ex Johnny Depp continues to get more and more contentious.

The exes, who were wed from 2015 to 2017, have been waging a he-said, she-said war against each other.

Johnny is suing Amber for defamation, claiming a 2018 Washington Post essay written by Heard falsely branded him an abuser.

In his legal filings, the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor accused Heard of abusing him throughout the duration of their relationship, claiming she was prone to violent tantrums.

The defamation case is set to begin in August this year, after being pushed back from its February start date when Deep failed to meet a deadline to submit records of his drug and alcohol use.
Two people, who had a travel history to coronavirus-hit Italy and South Korea, fled from a Jammu-based government hospital's isolation ward, but were brought back, officials said on Thursday. They were admitted to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Samples were taken and sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, they said.

Jammu: Two people, who had a travel history to coronavirus-hit Italy and South Korea, fled from a Jammu-based government hospital's isolation ward, but were brought back, officials said on Thursday. They were admitted to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Samples were taken and sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, they said.

There was adequate hospital security outside the isolation ward, but relatives of one of the people "forcefully" took their patient with them after which the other also fled, a senior GMCH official said. They "fled" on late Wednesday night, the official said.

The two were brought back and admitted to the GMCH on Thursday, Dr Shafqat Khan, who has been nominated by the government as the nodal officer for coronavirus prevention in Jammu and Kashmir, told PTI.

If the samples taken from them test positive of coronavirus, they will be quarantined, officials said, adding that no positive cases of the virus have been found in the Union Territory so far. Symptomatic people have been instructed for home quarantine, they said.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 30, including 16 Italians, the government has said, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.

People have been advised not to panic as there is no truth in the information being circulated on social media about the death of one person in the Union Territory, the officials said.

Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak here

Jammu and Kashmir has been put on alert to deal with any threat emerging due to coronavirus, they said.

"People are urged not to listen to rumours. There is no reason to panic," Khan said.

Officials said around 200 people who have travel history to coronavirus-affected countries or had contact with people from such countries have been identified.

Twenty-one suspected cases have been tested till date and "no positive case has been reported so far across Jammu and Kashmir", a senior official said.

He said a "100 percent self-declaration at the airports of Jammu and Srinagar will start from Thursday to trace any such person having travel history to the affected countries."

"Further, check points for passengers travelling by road have been set up at Lakhanpur and Lower Munda (Zig) to identify individuals with travel history to these countries," the official said.

Financial Secretary in the Health Department Atul Dulloo reviewed arrangements at the GMCH during a visit to the hospital.

Round-the-clock data control centres have been established at Srinagar and Jammu to receive information on travellers coming from coronavirus-affected countries, Principal Secretary for Planning and Information Rohit Kansal said.

He added that all suspected cases are being managed as per protocols.

The government on Thursday appointed officers to ramp up efforts for prevention of novel coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bhupinder Kumar, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), J&K, will be the overall in-charge of the coronavirus control efforts in the Union Territory, according to an order.

Kumar will work under the supervision of the financial commissioner of the health department

The order also states that Shafqat Khan will work under the supervision of the mission director.

Divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and chief medical officers will be in-charge of their respective areas, as per the order.

They will ensure detection at airports and railway stations, and take steps to created adequate facilities for isolation of suspected cases.
The Hague, March 5 : The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday ruled that an investigation into the alleged war crimes committed by the US and others in the Afghan war could go ahead.

Thursday's development comes The Hague-based ICC overturned on appeal a previous decision to block the investigation, the BBC said in a report.

The actions of the Taliban, the Afghan government and US troops since May 2003 were expected to be examined.

The US is not a signatory of the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens, but Afghanistan is, however, a member of the court.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has been seeking a formal investigation into the alleged crimes since 2017, said the BBC report.

A 2016 report from the ICC said there was a reasonable basis to believe that the US military had committed torture at secret detention sites in Afghanistan operated by the Central Intelligence Agency.

It also said that it was reasonable to believe the Afghan government and the Taliban had committed war crimes.
Five Vietnamese sailors went missing as a fishing boat carrying eight crew members caught fire in waters off the resort island of Jeju of the Republic of Korea (RoK) on March 4, reported Yonhap News Agency.

The fishing boat catches fire in waters off Jeju island of the RoK (Photo: Yonhap)

The RoK Coast Guard said that a fire broke out on the 29-tonne ship at around 3:18 am (local time) in waters about 74 km southeast of Udo Island near Jeju.

Two Koreans aboard have been rescued so far, while another one is unaccounted for, with search operations still under way.

Adverse weather conditions have hampered efforts to put out the fire and find the crew, Yonhap said, quoting a Coast Guard officer.

Body of missing Vietnamese sailor found in sunken Panamanian ship

Cargo ship Jia De (Photo: vesseltracker.com)



Nguyen Van Tri, one of the two Vietnamese sailors working onboard a Panama-flagged cargo ship that sank on October 12, 2019 in Tokyo Bay of Japan, was found dead inside the vessel.

The victims wife, Huong Thao, told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that the ship owner informed the company that sent her husband to work on the ship Jia De about the finding on February 14.

However, the Japanese side just confirmed the information after conducting ADN tests more than one week later, the wife said, adding that she is completing necessary procedures to bring her husbands ashes home, scheduled for March 5.

Tris Vietnamese crewmate, Pham Van Duc, had been rescued by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG).

The sailors were among the 12-member crew of the 1,925-tonne ship that sunk while anchoring in the bay as typhoon Hagibis approached. The other sailors included three from Myanmar and seven from China.

Apart from Duc, two Myanmar and one Chinese people were rescued by the JCG while the remaining eight sailors were confirmed dead./. VNA
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Linkedin Retno LP Marsudi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 08:25 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20685edc6 3 Opinion Afghanistan,peace-talks,Retno-Marsudi,Taliban,united-states Free

At the end of last month, I was invited to witness the signing of the peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Doha. At the same time, the joint declaration between Afghanistan and the US was released and further marked a pivotal moment in the peace process.

The day after, I flew to Kabul to meet with the leaders of Afghanistan and to launch the Indonesia-Afghanistan Womens Solidarity Network.

These are highly encouraging developments that we have waited for a long time to happen in the region.

The peace accord between the US and the Taliban, widely known as the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, and the joint declaration between Afghanistan and the US are the first steps in the peace process in

Afghanistan.

These deals are surely not an end. Rather they are the beginning of a new chapter for the peace process, which will be followed by intra-Afghan negotiations. The negotiation process between the parties in Afghanistan is very crucial for the future of the nation. It is fundamental that the future of the land be determined by Afghan people through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process.

As the country has endured more than 40 years of conflict, we need to first restore trust among all parties in Afghanistan to ensure success in the intra-Afghan negotiations. This is where Indonesias role comes to the fore. Addressing the trust deficit and progressing the peace process in Afghanistan has been Indonesias long-standing goal.

Indonesia, which is a cofacilitator or like-minded country with Qatar, Uzbekistan, Norway and Germany, has been actively facilitating the peace process in Afghanistan. The five countries or the quint are committed to continuing support for sustainable peace in Afghanistan.

At present, Indonesia is holding the role as facilitator (copenholder) of the issue of Afghanistan in the United Nations Security Council along with Germany.

Indonesias contribution to the peace process in Afghanistan became increasingly visible following President Ashraf Ghanis request to President Joko Jokowi Widodo during the formers visit to Indonesia in 2017.

Back then, President Ghani told President Jokowi that Afghanistan wanted to learn from Indonesia on how to consolidate democracy, the rule of law and constitutional governance. He said Afghanistan aimed to join Indonesias global efforts to promote Islam as rahmatan lil alamin (a blessing for the universe).

Since then, Indonesia has played a role as an impartial and balanced party to all parties involved. Indonesias genuine involvement in the process is also part and parcel of its constitutional mandate.

We cannot deny our historical connection with Afghanistan, among the first countries that acknowledged Indonesias independence in 1945 and a supporter of the Asia-Africa Conference in 1955 in Bandung. The bilateral relationship between the two countries has now lasted 65 years.

This is why the road to peace and stability in Afghanistan is not only in the interests of Afghanistan, but also Indonesia, the region and the world at large.

To build Afghanistan peace, Indonesia has focused on the role of clerics and the empowerment of women.

First, as the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia believes in the significant role of clerics in promoting the values of peace and in building peace. Indonesia has taken various initiatives on this, for example by inviting the High Peace Council of Afghanistan and the holding of the Trilateral Ulema Conference in May 2018, which helped the peace process make progress.

As a follow-up measure, Indonesia has proposed to host the Indonesia-Afghanistan Ulema Conference later this year as part of Indonesias continuous commitment to promoting the role of clerics in the intra-Afghanistan negotiations and implementation of the peace deals.

Second, it is of high importance to ensure that the ongoing peace process will consider the role of women. We need to create a space for a meaningful participation of women in determining the future of Afghanistan. There can be no peace or stability in Afghanistan without the involvement of women.

Last year, we hosted the Dialogue on the Role of Women in Building and Sustaining Peace in November in Jakarta to promote a more significant role of Afghanistan women in peacebuilding. On March 1, I went to Kabul along with Indonesian women leaders to discuss the empowerment of women in promoting peace in Afghanistan.

As I have witnessed and talked to women leaders of Afghanistan from all walks of life, I could not hide my admiration for the spirit, willingness and potential capability of these women in contributing to the peace process.

Creating a platform is of crucial importance as a vehicle to unite the women of Afghanistan, not only to contribute to the peace consolidation there, but also to build the countrys future.

Moving forward, in creating favorable conditions for democracy and peace to grow in Afghanistan, Indonesia will continue to take part and become one of the facilitators in the process, and full support from the international community is key.

Indonesia, along with several like-minded countries, will continue to push for the progress of the process so that the people of Afghanistan can enjoy long-lasting peace.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
: The Kerala government has given its nod to a proposal aimed at encouraging students aged between 18 and 25 years to take up part-time jobs while pursuing so as to help them gain work experience and hone their skills.

The government has decided to accept the proposal as a policy decision at the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, an official press release said.

The aim is to ensure that in a fiscal, 90 days of work is assured for students in government departments, local body organisations, PSUs and private companies.

This will help in developing a work culture among students.

Honorariums will be given to students by the organisations employing them part-time, the release said.

Students aged between 18 and 25 years will be permitted to become part of the scheme which will help them to gain work experience and hone their skills, the release added.

In another decision, the government decided to release Rs 26 crore from the Chief Minister's disaster relief fund for providing compensation to farmers who suffered crop loss during the 2018 floods.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday the upsurge in violence in Afghanistan in recent days is unacceptable and said it must cease immediately for the peace process signed last weekend to move forward.

Speaking at a news conference at the State Department, Pompeo said all sides should stop posturing and prepare for the intra-Afghan negotiations, including practical discussions about prisoner releases.

"We know that the road ahead will be difficult. We expected it, we were right. The upsurge in violence in parts of Afghanistan over the last couple of days is unacceptable. In no uncertain terms violence must be reduced immediately for the peace process to move forward," Pompeo said.

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 and represent a step toward ending the 18-year-war in the nation.

Since the signing, the Taliban had decided on Monday to resume normal operations against Afghan forces, though sources have said they will continue to hold back on attacks on foreign forces.

Washington in response carried an air strike on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan on Wednesday. A U.S. forces spokesman said the Taliban fighters were actively attacking an Afghan checkpoint and the strike was a defensive one.

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Health authorities in Kashmir have kept five persons with a recent history of travelling to coronavirus-affected countries in the isolation ward of the SKIMS hospital hereafter they showed symptoms of the disease, officials said on Thursday.

"We have kept the five persons in the isolation ward at the SKIMS hospital in Soura," they said. The officials added that samples of the suspects were collected and sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

READ: OPEC Finds Alternative Form Of Greeting Amid Coronavirus Dread, Watch Video

Of the five, one had travelled to Thailand while two had been to Iran, they said, adding that the remaining two had a recent travel history to the epicentre of COVID-19 in China's Wuhan. The Jammu and Kashmir administration took several steps on Wednesday as part of its efforts to control the spread of coronavirus, after a sudden spike in the number of positive cases in the country.

National Health Mission Director Bhupinder Kumar was appointed as the in-charge of the coronavirus control efforts in the Union territory, an order issued by the General Administration Department said. The divisional commissioners of the Kashmir and Jammu regions have been made in-charge of the programme in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

The government has directed officials to set up detection centres at all entry points, including airports and railway stations. Besides creation of quarantine and isolation facilities, the government has also directed for a proper surveillance of those put under home quarantine.
1. Joe Biden energized his campaign with Super Tuesday victories in nine states.

He also gained the endorsement of Mike Bloomberg, who withdrew from the race today. Mr. Bidens lead in delegates is small, but could be hard to beat.

Bernie Sanders, the other front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, acknowledged that the youth turnout on Tuesday was disappointing. But he declined to call on Elizabeth Warren, who occupies a similar progressive lane, to drop out.

On Wall Street, gyrating stocks ended with a 4 percent gain  a recovery at least partly attributed to Mr. Bidens strong showing.
Social media ban lifted in J&K

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 05: The authorities have partially lifted the ban on the use of social media in Jammu and Kashmir. The move comes seven months after the Centre abrogated Article 370 in the erstwhile state.

Authorities however added that curbs on both high speed 3G and 4G internet services have been extended until March 17. With regard to the pre-paid SIM cards, service providers have been asked to provide access only after the same are verified as per the norms imposed on post paid connections.

It may be recalled that the 2G services with slow internet was restored and 1,674 white-listed websites were approved by the government.

J&K: Internet restored after being snapped to plug rumours about Geelani's health

"In the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State (read Union Territory) and for maintaining public order the Internet speed will continue to be restricted to 2G only. While the post-paid SIM card holders shall continue to be provided access to the Internet, these services shall not be made available on pre-paid SIM cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for post-paid connections," the latest order issued by principal secretary of the Home Department, Shaheen Kabra says.

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Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 7:31 [IST]
Five people, including a family of 3, who arrived in Vizag from Malaysia have been shifted to a quarantine after being detected with mild fever. The family had gone on a vacation to Malaysia and Singapore. Another 2 people who arrived from Bahrain are also quarantined. Samples of these people have been sent to Pune and Hyderabad for testing. Around 4,300 people have been screened at the Vishakhapatnam airport till now.

Andhra Pradesh is on high alert after an increase in suspected cases of coronavirus. Eleven new suspected cases were reported on Wednesday from Vishakhapatnam, Srikakulam, East and West Godavari and Krishna districts.

The state government has screened around 262 passengers with coronavirus symptoms and quarantined them so far. Of these passengers, around 170 people have returned from quarantine without any infection whereas 92 have been kept in isolation and their reports are awaited.

While hearing a PIL on COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana HC has also asked the government to take significant steps "on a war footing" to prevent the development of coronavirus. The Telangana HC has also directed the government to take the required precautionary and issue advisories and alerts against any large Holi celebrations.

Also read: Coronavirus scare: UP sets up 18-member committee to monitor situation

Also read: IRDAI asks insurance companies to cover coronavirus
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant on the street to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, at Gangnam district in Seoul on March 5, 2020. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korea Has Over 6,000 Coronavirus Cases, Including 2 More US Military Dependents

South Korea has seen its cases of the novel coronavirus increase 60-fold since Feb. 20, with local health officials reporting 322 new cases of the virus on March 5.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported a total of 438 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the national tally to 5,766. On Thursday, the Korean government reported additional 322 cases as of 4 p.m. local time, taking the total number of infected to 6,088.

According to local outlet Yonhap News Agency, there are now at least 40 deaths in connection to the coronavirus.

Also on Thursday, U.S. Forces Korea reported that two dependents stationed in Daegu have tested positive for COVID-19.

The two cases bring the total number of USFK-related infections to six, including one U.S. soldier.

Daegu, home to about 2.5 million people and located about 186 miles southeast of the capital Seoul, is the epicenter of the outbreak in South Korea, accounting for more than half of all known cases in the East Asian country.

One patient, who has been in self-quarantine since Feb. 26, is a dependent of a USFK active duty service member. The patient is currently under direct medical care and supervision from U.S. military medical providers.

Another patient, who has been in self-quarantine since Feb. 28, is a female dependent of a civilian employee working for the U.S. Department of Defense. She and her spouse are now both under quarantine at their residence.

KCDC and USFK health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether anyone else may have been exposed, USFK said regarding the female patient.

So far KCDC has not announced details of the 322 new cases.

Of the 5,766 known cases, 4,327 are in Daegu and 861 are in the broader North Gyeongsang province.

According to KCDC, 69.6 percent of all cases in Daegu are connected to Shincheonji Church.

Many of those cases related to the church have been traced back to a 61-year-old female follower who tested positive for the virus on Feb. 18 as the countrys 31st confirmed case.

Seoul has 103 confirmed cases and the coastal city of Busan has 92. South Chungcheong province has 86 known cases, while South Gyeongsang province has 74 cases.

At South Koreas southern resort island of Jeju, there are now four confirmed cases of the virus, an increase of one from Tuesday.

Among the 5,766 cases, 88 people have recovered and been discharged from isolation.

On March 5, the South Korean government designated Gyeongsan, a city in North Gyeongsan province, as a special care zone due to a recent spike in infection cases, according to Yonhap.

Korean Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip explained that the designation means that the government will take extraordinarily strong quarantine measures to combat the outbreak.

Gyeongsan, located just east of Daegu, is about 205 miles southeast of Seoul.

Daegu and Cheongdo, a county in North Gyeongsan province, have been designated special care zones since Feb. 21 due to the severity of the outbreak in the two areas.
LONDON  Ventilators in short supply. Intensive care beds already overflowing. Some health workers buying their own face masks or hoods. And if cases of the deadly coronavirus surge in anything like the numbers some experts have predicted, doctors say they would have to consider denying lifesaving care to the frailest patients to prioritize those with better chances of surviving.

If we havent got ventilatory support to offer them, its going to end in death, said Dr. George Priestley, an intensive care doctor and anesthesiologist in Yorkshire in northern England. I dont want to be alarmist. I just want someone to pay attention.

With the number of coronavirus cases in Britain climbing to 115 this week, and on Thursday the first fatality, Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered the first hints of how a health system sapped by years of austerity-driven reductions in budget growth would try to cope.

But for doctors already dealing with overflowing wintertime wards, there was little faith that even the most ambitious plans could keep the National Health Service from being deluged by a crisis that strikes where it is weakest  a severe shortage of beds for critically ill patients, which puts it behind much of Europe and has alarmed doctors for years.
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Story by Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA and Brad Bumsted and Sam Janesch of The Caucus
MARCH 5, 2020  UTSA is collaborating with fellow UT System institutions to bring students an online career expo like never before. Students at all partnering institutions will have the opportunity to virtually network with employers from across the nation.

Other partnering institutions include UT Austin, UT Health San Antonio, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Permian Basin, UT Rio Grande Valley, UT Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center.

This event will be the first time that universities across the UT System work together in hosting a recruiting-networking event. The University Career Center initiated this collaboration with the idea of creating a recruitment opportunity for students across Texas. Mario Vela, career center executive director, and Regina Gomez, interim assistant director of employer relations, connected with career services offices across the UT System to develop the experience.

The purpose of leading the UT System Virtual Career Expo is driven by UTSAs Classroom to Career initiative, Vela said. At this virtual expo, students will have the ability to expand their career networks and explore a variety of industry roles they may have not been exposed to. This expo will allow UTSA to create new partnerships with national organizations and continue to grow our relationship with current partners.

If you have a contact at an organization that you believe should be recruiting at this event, email Mario Vela.

For more details about the career expo visit Virtual Career Expo.

Students can prepare for the expo by reviewing the attending employers prior to the event and preparing to interact with employers through a chat rather than a face-to-face interaction like they would at a traditional career fair.

Students should review at what time each employer will be online to ensure that they will be in the expo while that particular employer is online. Once a student has connected with an employer in the general chat, employers can invite particular students to a private chat where they can ask more specific questions about a students experience and qualifications.

Students can also prepare for the expo by reviewing their resume and using the University Career Centers resume templates, uploading their resume to VMock for instantaneous feedback or by stopping by the University Career Centers drop-in hours every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Mayor Bill de Blasio briefs media on first registered community transfer covid-19 patient in New York at City Hall. Lev Radin | Pacific Press | Getty Images

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed Thursday two new cases of COVID-19  a man and a woman with no known connection to other people recently diagnosed with the virus. Tweet 1 "To ensure we are able to test as many people as possible, we urgently need the CDC to increase our supply of COVID-19 test kits and expedite the approval of any testing approaches developed by private companies," the mayor said in a tweet Thursday morning. The two new cases increase the city's total cases to four, according to de Blasio. New York City is also investigating at least 5 others for the virus, according to city's website. Earlier in the day, de Blasio told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that local health officials had found "four people as of this morning who have tested positive."



"Of the tests we've completed, 25 have come back negative so far," he said. Representatives from New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene declined to share with CNBC what hospitals the patients are being treated in.

On Sunday, New York officials confirmed the state's first coronavirus case, a woman who recently traveled to Iran and is currently isolated in her Manhattan home. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed Wednesday five new COVID-19 cases in the state  hours after he said that a family of four in Westchester all had the virus. The two new cases Thursday bring the state's total to at least 13. As of Wednesday, there are at least 129 cases of the new coronavirus in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 49 of those cases are people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, and the Diamond Princess cruise ship. At least 24 are travel-related infections, while 16 were caused by person-to-person spread. U.S. health officials are also investigating 40 other cases with currently no clear reason for infection, the CDC said. Earlier in the outbreak, the CDC sent out test kits to public health labs across the country. CDC officials have since said those kits were defective, and it released new guidance and kits for detecting the virus. Cities and states are now working on improving their local capacity for diagnosis so that clinicians don't have to depend on shipping the tests to CDC labs, which can delay the process.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Nuinsco Resources Limited ("Nuinsco" or the "Company") (CSE:NWI) today announced that diamond drilling at the Sunbeam gold property near Atikokan in northwestern Ontario has intersected the down-dip extension to the structure hosting gold mineralization at the Sunbeam Mine.

Diamond drill holes were collared to test for an extension of the host structure and gold mineralization from the historic Sunbeam mine, a reported high-grade underground gold mine that was exploited between 1898 and 1905. No exploration has been conducted on the formerly patented mine site since the mine closed 115 years ago.

Diamond drill holes NS-20-01 and 02 intersected 3.1m (from 74.15m) and 4.32m (from 81.0m) respectively of the chlorite and quartz-vein mineralized structure at the Sunbeam mine - consistent with historic reports of the zone's thickness and extending the intersection of it approximately 30m (100ft) below the lowest level of the old mine workings. Identifying the depth extension to the host structure is a significant exploration result - combined with the known strike-extent of the structure from historic pits and trenches, exceeding 300m, it demonstrates a substantial domain of gold-mineralized rock extending below the known historic depth extent and is essentially unexplored.

"Visual results from the drilling are encouraging and the implications to extending mineralization are positive, and we are now awaiting assays," said Paul Jones, CEO. "Technical issues with the drilling equipment and insufficient available water to supply the drill necessitated the early curtailment of the program which did not allow the primary target area to be tested, however further drilling is planned to continue to evaluate the mineralization."

Previous exploration conducted by Nuinsco identified gold mineralization in mine waste dumps and vein material that confirms high-grade gold mineralization is present at the site. Samples collected by Nuinsco from waste-rock at the mine returned analyses as high as 122g/t gold (refer to Nuinsco media release dated 21 March 2019); these findings concur with results reported in historic records. Host mineralization at the Sunbeam Mine is a northeast striking, sheared zone of altered, schistose rock within which sulphide and gold bearing quartz veins occur within a three metre wide chloritic zone. Historically pits and shafts were excavated to trace the quartz veining and schist along strike in excess of 300m and historic workings on the mineralized structure at the Sunbeam mine extend from surface to approximately 90m vertically.

As well as the Sunbeam mine the 101 mining claims of the Sunbeam gold property, optioned by Nuinsco in 2017, encompasses numerous other sites of gold mineralization including the historic Roy and Pettigrew deposits and a number of other gold showings located on northeast-striking, gold mineralized trends that traverse the project area and comprise at least ten kilometres of exploration target on the property.

The Property is located in northwestern Ontario, 27km northeast of the town of Atikokan and 15km southeast of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef gold deposit. It is accessible from Hwy 11 via well maintained logging roads.

P.L. Jones, P. Geol., is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this press release regarding the Sunbeam project.

About Nuinsco Resources Limited

Nuinsco Resources has over 45 years of exploration success and is a growth oriented, multi-commodity mineral exploration and development company focused on prospective opportunities in Canada and internationally. Currently the Company has two properties in Ontario - the high-grade Sunbeam gold prospect near Atikokan and the large, multi-commodity (rare-earths, niobium, tantalum, phosphorus) Prairie Lake project near Terrace Bay. In addition, Nuinsco has recently completed an agreement for gold exploitation at the El Sid project in the Eastern Desert of Egypt - a project with the potential to provide near-term revenue.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historic fact, that address activities, events or developments that Nuinsco believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate, "expect," and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may," "will," "can," "should," "could," or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of Nuinsco based on information currently available to Nuinsco. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of Nuinsco to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on Nuinsco. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to successfully complete financings, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, production rates varying from estimates, changes in world copper and/or gold markets, changes in equity markets, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, imprecision in resource estimates, success of future development initiatives, competition, operating performance of facilities, environmental and safety risks, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain tenure to properties and/or necessary permits and approvals, and other development and operating risks. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Nuinsco disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Nuinsco believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

To learn more, please contact:

Paul Jones, CEO

paul.jones@nuinsco.ca

416 626-0470 x 229

Sean Stokes, Executive VP

sean.stokes@nuinsco.ca

416 626-0470 x 224

Cathy Hume, Consultant

cathy@chfir.com

416 868-1079 x 231

Website: www.nuinsco.ca

Twitter: @NWIResources

SOURCE: Nuinsco Resources Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579333/Nuinsco-Identifies-Mineralized-Extension-at-the-Sunbeam-Gold-Property-Atikokan-Ont
(Photo : Yohann LIBOT on Unsplash) [WATCH] This Anti-Cancer Drug Extracted From Fungi, Turns Insect Into a Zombie; But How? (Photo : Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash) [WATCH] This Anti-Cancer Drug Extracted From Fungi, Turns Insect Into a Zombie; But How?

A newly-discovered anti-cancer drug is now being studied. However, unlike standard procedures and medicinal packets, this drug came from fungi that also makes insects turn into a living zombie. Does this also mean that you can turn into a zombie once you induced the said medicine?

Shocking! These fungi can make zombie insects, but it can also heal cancer! Willing to try?

Cancer is now one of the deadliest diseases in the world. In the United States, an estimated population of 1,735,350 new cases of cancer was diagnosed in the country, and 609,640 died from the disease two years ago.

This number continues to increase over time, and everyone is worried about getting this disease. Luckily, a new drug is now being studied and formulated for the people living with potential cancer to be cured of the disease like never before.

According to the report in The Conversation, Cordyceps, parasitic fungi, release spores that reportedly fight against cancer cells. This contains a molecule called cordycepin that many studies revealed that could switch on a cellular protein called AMPK.

AMPK or the magic bullet of the health industry can allegedly heal some types of diabetes and cancer, which can even extend the lifespan of a normal human being. This information still has no scientific basis or explanation of why this protein can heal diseases; however, it is proven to be effective.

Though the process seemed to be easy -- since you only have to get cordyceps--getting these fungi can be hard to achieve on a typical day. This fungus is complicated to acquire that markets sell them for the prices equivalent to silver and gold bars.

This zombie caterpillar can cure cancer like never before, here's how

As explained by BBC Earth, cordyceps are created when they infect insects like ants or caterpillars. Since it is a fungus, it infects its host until it dies, but before that, abnormal behavior can be seen with the insect-- this was the inspiration behind the term 'zombie' fungi since it forces insects to do things they do not normally do or like to do.

While the zombie effect on human beings is not yet verified by any scientists or researchers, cordyceps fungus remained to be one of the most in-demand traditional Chinese medicinal remedies for any type of ailments in the world.

Due to this, it is also not true that ingesting these cordyceps will turn you into a zombie yourself; however, scientists and doctors advise in The Conversation that AMPK protein can sometimes trigger more cancer cells on a human body-- which prohibits the body to heal overtime properly.

Aside from being an unverified healing cure for cancer, cordyceps are also being sold in the market to be used as a 'viagra' or an aphrodisiac medicine used especially for men.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Researchers have identified a promising new drug combination that could significantly help the immune system target cancer cells and kill them.

The study published in Cell, describes a treatment that works by combining an intravenous dosage of a well known anti-nausea drug, prochlorperazine (called Stemetil in Australia), with existing cancer treatments.

University of Queensland (UQ) scientist Associate Professor Fiona Simpson, who led the exhaustive research project, said it could lead to new treatments for some cancers.

Dr Simpson has spent the past decade working on the research project, a tribute to her mother who she lost to cancer in 1999.

"The anti-nausea drug works by changing the surface of the tumour cells so that existing cancer drugs which target tumours are better able to interact with the immune system," Dr Simpson said.

"The result is that cancer cells become sitting targets that can no longer escape the immune system.

"We observed a process we haven't seen before and which increased the 'natural killer' immune cells' ability to attach to, and kill the cancer. It is almost as if the killer cells become zipped to the tumour cells."

The treatment can be combined with and improve the effectiveness of existing cancer drugs like cetuximab, trastuzumab and avelumab and was studied on tumours from head and neck, breast and metastatic colorectal cancers in mice, as well as five patients with head and neck cancer.

"These heroic patients volunteered for a 'no benefit trial', consenting to have a tumour biopsy followed by a 20-minute intravenous transfusion of Stemetil, and then another biopsy," Dr Simpson said.

"We were able to show that the Stemetil altered the tumour cell surface in these patients."

Following the initial findings, the researchers combined Stemetil with an anti-cancer antibody drug resulting in the disappearance of all the tumours from ten mice with head and neck cancer.

Dr Simpson was curious to see what would happen if they re-introduced the same cancer back into the mice four weeks later.

"Amazingly, their cancer was rapidly eliminated - as if the new combination, in addition to being more effective, was also able to teach the immune system how to better recognise cancer cells," Dr Simpson said.

"The mice developed a long-term immunity to the cancer they initially had."

The Fiona Simpson Cancer Research group has been working with expert immunologists including UQ's Dr James Wells to translate the research findings to patient treatments.

"Our long-term vision is to use this approach to not only clear a patient's cancer in the immediate term, but to prevent their cancer coming back in the future by establishing protective 'immune memory'," Dr Wells said.

Dr Simpson's team is now completing a safety trial of the combination of Stemetil and cetuximab in head and neck cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and adenoid cystic carcinoma patients at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

The collaboration involved researchers and doctors from UQ's Diamantina Institute and Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The Princess Alexandra Hospital, Children's Medical Research Institute, The University of Newcastle and The University of Sydney.

The University of Queensland's technology transfer company UniQuest will seek to identify commercialisation opportunities.

###

The research was supported by the PA Research Foundation, NHMRC, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Cancer Council Queensland and the Rotary Club of Nundah.

This study is published in Cell (DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.019).

Images, captions, interviews and b-roll footage available via Dropbox.

Media: Fiona Simpson, f.simpson@uq.edu.au, 0422 721 656; UQ communication, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 73366 7575.
New Delhi: Tahir Hussain, the suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor accused in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma during the recent riots in northeast Delhi, was arrested on Thursday (March 5, 2020). He has been also accused of attempt to murder and of inciting the mob to indulge in violence and riots.

Tahir Hussain was arrested by Delhi Police Crime Branch just before he was going to surrender at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi. He had filed an anticipatory bail petition in Delhi's Karkardooma Court in connection with an FIR in which he has been accused of killing Ankit Sharma.

Ankit Sharma was killed by a mob during the riots near his home and Hussain has been accused of directing the rioters to target the IB staffer. He has been charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 365 (kidnapping and abduction) and 302 (murder) under which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment or death sentence.

Hussain has been named in two more cases of violence in Delhi although he has not been made accused in them. The FIRs in which Hussain has been named are registered at Dayalpur and Khajoori Khas police stations in connection with the violence in these areas.

Ankit Sharma's body was recovered by police from a drain in Chand Bagh area of Northeast Delhi on February 26. His father Ravinder Kumar had lodged a complaint naming Hussain as accused in the murder of his son following which Delhi Police filed an FIR.

Ankit Sharma's father alleged that Hussain, whose office is located near Chand Bagh Pulia area, had sheltered a large group of men who were pelting stones and petrol bombs during the violence.

At least 48 people were killed and over 200 injured, many of them seriously, in the riots which started following clashes between pro and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in Northest Delhi.
A preschool cook and a man who recently visited Malaysia became Singapores latest confirmed infections yesterday.

The two new patients brought the total known cases in Singapore to 112 as of Thursday morning and prompted the Creative O Preschoolers Bay at 31 International Business Park to close until Monday for disinfection.

A 62-year-old Singaporean woman who worked as an assistant cook at the school was linked to the 94th patient, a 64-year-old woman who tested positive on Feb. 26, the Health Ministry said.

The other case involved a 43-year-old permanent resident who visited Malaysia for four days, Feb. 18-21. His illness was confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Thirty-three people are being treated in hospitals including seven who remain in critical condition. Seventy-nine people have so far been discharged and no fatalities have been reported.

Catch up on all of Singapores cases the list and map below. For a regularly updated version of this list and more COVID-19 coverage, visit Coconuts Singapores Health page.

Click the top left icon for a list of all cases or on a colored marker directly for more information.

112 (Singaporean)

A 62-year-old assistant cook at the Creative O Preschoolers Bay at International Business Park was confirmed with the infection on March 4. The Singaporean woman is also linked to the 94th patient and was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

111

A 43-year-old permanent resident who was in Malaysia from Feb. 18 to 21 tested positive for COVID-19 on March 3. He was taken to the National University Hospital. He lives on Compassvale Street.

110 (Singaporean)

A 33-year-old Singaporean man linked to the 93rd patient tested positive for COVID-19 on March 3. The employee of Wizlearn Technologies was isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases after he was identified as a close contact. The man lives on Upper Boon Keng Road.

109 (Singaporean)

A 70-year-old Singaporean man who works at Fish Mart Sakuraya on West Coast Road tested positive for the infection on March 2. The man, who lives in Everton Park, was taken to the Singapore General Hospital.

Story continues

108

A 34-year-old Filipino maid employed by case No. 101 tested positive for COVID-19 on March 2. She also works in the same household as case No. 102.

107 (Singaporean)

A 68-year-old Singaporean linked to the 94th case tested positive for the infection on March 1. The woman lives at Bishan Street 13 and was in Jakarta, Indonesia from Feb. 11 to 14.

106

A 54-year-old Japanese working on the same floor as Wizlearn Technologies at Science Park Road tested positive for COVID-19 on March 1. The man lives at Tampines Street 45.

105 (Singaporean)

A 49-year-old Singaporean linked to Wizlearn Technologies tested positive for COVID-19 on March 1. The man had attended a business meeting with the 95th patient at Toa Payoh Hub and stayed at his home in Upper Bukit Timah before he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

104

A 25-year-old maid from Myanmar tested positive for COVID-19 on March 1. She was employed by case No. 103 and was in Batam, Indonesia from Feb. 21 to 23 before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. She lives at Bukit Batok Street 31.

103 (Singaporean)

A 37-year-old Singaporean and family member of the 93rd patient tested positive for COVID-19 on March 1. Before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, the woman was in Batam from Feb. 21 to 23, went to work at Asia Asset Recovery in Bukit Batok Industrial Park and stayed at her home at Bukit Batok Street 31.

102

A 41-year-old Filipino maid employed by case No. 101 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 29. The woman had accompanied her employer to the eye clinic at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital before she was hospitalized.

101 (Singaporean)

A 61-year-old colleague of case No. 103 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 29. Before he was hospitalized, the Singaporean man was in Batam from Feb. 21 to 23, went to work at Asia Asset Recovery and visited the eye clinic at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. He lives at Bukit Batok Street 24.

100

A 20-year-old Malaysian man linked to Wizlearn Technologies tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 28. He lives on Holland Avenue.

99 (Singaporean)

A 27-year-old Singaporean man linked to Wizlearn Technologies tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 28. He lives at Jurong West Street 81.

98

A 24-year-old Singapore man linked to the 93rd, 95th and 97th patients tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 28. He lives at Jurong West Street 61.

97

A 44-year-old employee of Wizlearn Technologies tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 27. The woman attended a business meeting at the Agency for Integrated Care on Maxwell Road, went to work and stayed home at Choa Chu Kang North 5 before she was isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

96 (Singaporean)

A 12-year-old studying at Raffles Institution tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 27. The Singaporean boy is the family member of case No. 94 and lives in Jalan Jurong Kechil. He had attended a language class in Bishan before he was taken to the KK Womens and Childrens Hospital.

95 (Singaporean)

A 44-year-old man linked to case No. 93 tested positive for the infection on Feb. 27. He attended several business meetings at Sport Singapore, the Singapore Aviation Academy and Toa Payoh Hub before he was taken to the National Center for Infectious Diseases. The Singaporean lives in Choa Chu Kang Crescent.

94 (Singaporean)

A 64-year-old woman and family member of the 96th patient tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 26. The Singaporean mostly stayed home in Jalan Jurong Kechil before she was taken to the Singapore General Hospital.

93 (Singaporean)

A 38-year-old man linked to Wizlearn Technologies tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 26. He lives at Bukit Batok Street 31.

92 (Singaporean)

A 47-year-old man tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 26. The Singaporean mostly stayed home at Serangoon Avenue 3 before he was isolated at the Sengkang General Hospital.

91 (Singaporean)

A church staff from the Grace Assembly of God tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 22. The 58-year-old wife of the 83rd patient is also linked to the Life Church and Mission cluster. She mostly stayed home in Rivervale Drive before she was admitted to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

90 (Singaporean)

A woman linked to the Life Church and Missions cluster tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 23. The 75-year-old Singaporean mostly stayed home at Bishan Street 12 before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

89

An employee of Affinity Equity Partners tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 22. The 41-year-old permanent resident went to work, visited the Bishan Community Club and stayed home at Serangoon Avenue 3 before he was taken to hospital.

88 (Singaporean)

A woman linked to the 66th patient tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 22. The 30-year-old Singaporean lives at Hougang Street 91.

87 (Singaporean)

A man repatriated from Wuhan, China on Feb. 9 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 21. The 32-year-old Singaporean is also linked to case No. 76.

86 (Singaporean)

A student of the Singapore Institute of Technology tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 20. The 24-year-old man is also linked to case No. 82. He lives at Bukit Batok East Avenue 5.

85

A 36-year-old Chinese man working in Singapore and with no recent travel history to China tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 20. He was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

84 (Singaporean)

A 35-year-old employee of Lonza Biologics linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster of infections tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 19. She went to work, visited the Bugis Junction shopping mall and stayed home in Aljunied before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

83 (Singaporean)

A 54-year-old employee of Philemon Singapore linked to the Life Church and Missions cluster of infections tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 19. The Singaporean man travels to Malaysia frequently for work and lives in Rivervale Drive.

82 (Singaporean)

A dengue patient tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 18. The 57-year-old woman lives at Jurong West Street 41.

81 (Singaporean)

A man linked to the Grace Assembly of God megachurch tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 18. The 50-year-old mostly stayed home on Lower Delta Road before he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

80 (Singaporean)

An administrative staff of the National University Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 18. The 38-year-old woman is linked to the 66th patient. She lives in Fernvale Link.

79

A family member of case No. 72 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 17. The 35-year-old Malaysian employee of a food manufacturing facility in Admiralty had gone to work before she was taken to the National Center for Infectious Diseases. She lives in Woodlands Crescent.

78 (Singaporean)

A woman linked to the Grace Assembly of God church tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 17. The 57-year-old is an administrative staff of a community hospital run by a voluntary welfare organization. She lives in Dairy Farm.

77 (Singaporean)

The second DBS Bank employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 17. The 35-year-old had made contact with his infected colleague, went to work at the banks satellite office at Ngee Ann City, and stayed home on McNair Road before he was isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

76 (Singaporean)

A baby repatriated from Wuhan, China on Feb. 9 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 16. The one-month-old boy was taken to the KK Womens and Childrens Hospital.

75 (Singaporean)

A woman related to the 41st patient tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 16. The 71-year-old was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

74 (Singaporean)

An employee of Hi-Yew Technology linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster of infections tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15. The 29-year-old man went to work on Ubi Road and stayed home on Mei Ling Street before was taken to the Alexandra Hospital.

73 (Singaporean)

A Singaporean soldier who attended a service at the Grace Assembly of God church tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15. The 43-year-old was a close contact of case No. 51. He lives at Lorong 8 Toa Payoh.

72

A Chinese man who made contact with case No. 59 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15.

71 (Singaporean)

A man who made contact with case No. 66 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15. The 25-year-old Singaporean is linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster.

70 (Singaporean)

A woman related to case No. 66 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15. The 27-year-old is linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster.

69

A worker from Bangladesh tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15. The 26-year-old man had worked at the construction site at 10 Seletar Aerospace Heights.

68 (Singaporean)

A woman related to case No. 66 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15. The 79-year-old woman is linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster.

67 (Singaporean)

A woman related to case No. 61 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 14. The 56-year-old had attended a church service at the Grace Assembly of Gods Bukit Batok branch.

66 (Singaporean)

A church staff tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 14. The 28-year-old man went to Grace Assembly of God and the Gods Kingdom Bread of Life church near Bishan before he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. He lives in Mei Hwan Drive.

65 (Singaporean)

A woman related to the first infected DBS employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 14. She attended a service at the Church of Christ the King in Ang Mo Kio and stayed home in Mei Hwan Drive before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

64 (Singaporean)

A taxi driver tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 14. The 50-year-old man lives at Jurong West Street 81.

63 (Singaporean)

An employee of Singapores national water agency, or PUB, tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 14. The 54-year-old linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster had isolated herself in a room at the Marisson Hotel in Bugis before she was taken to the National Center for Infectious Diseases. She lives at Potong Pasir Avenue 3.

62 (Singaporean)

A woman linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 44-year-old mostly stayed home in Tanjong Pagar before she was taken to the Singapore General Hospital.

61 (Singaporean)

An employee of Legacy Office Supplies and linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 57-year-old man went to work and stayed home at Jurong West Street 64 before he went to the National University Hospital.

60 (Singaporean)

A staff of the Grace Assembly of God tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 51-year-old woman mostly stayed home at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 before she went to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

59 (Singaporean)

A private healthcare worker tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 61-year-old man mostly stayed home on Wilkinson Road before he went to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

58 (Singaporean)

A Grace Assembly of God staff tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 55-year-old man mostly stayed home in Jalan Kelichap before he went to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

57 (Singaporean)

A man linked to the Grace Assembly of God tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 26-year-old lives on Senja Road.

56

A worker from Bangladesh identified as a close contact of case No. 47 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 30-year-old was taken to the government quarantine facility before he went to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

55 (Singaporean)

A man related to the first infected DBS employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 30-year-old went to work on Pulau Bukom, attended a service at the Church of Christ the King in Ang Mo Kio before he went to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

54 (Singaporean)

A woman linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 13. The 55-year-old mostly stayed home at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 before she went to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

53 (Singaporean)

A National University of Singapore staff tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 12. The 54-year-old man is linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster. He lives on Hillview Avenue.

52

A worker from Bangladesh tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 12. The 37-year-old man living in Campbell Lane is linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights cluster.

51 (Singaporean)

A church staff of the Grace Assembly of God tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 12. The 48-year-old man lives at Bishan Street 13.

50 (Singaporean)

An employee of DBS bank tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 12. The 62-year-old man lives in Mei Hwan Drive.

49 (Singaporean)

A staff of the Grace Assembly of God tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 11. The 46-year-old man visited the church branches on Tanglin Road and in Bukit Batok before he was taken to the National University Hospital. He lives in Toh Guan Road.

48 (Singaporean)

A staff of the Grace Assembly of God tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 11. The 34-year-old man visited several places before he went to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. They include both church branches on Tanglin Road and in Bukit Batok, the Plaza Singapura shopping center, the Star Vista mall, the Fusionopolis in the One-North office district and his home at Bukit Batok Street 25.

47

A worker from Bangladesh who worked at the construction site 10 Seletar Aerospace Heights tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 10. The 39-year-old man stays in a rental flat on Veerasamy Road.

46

A casino employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 10. The 35-year-old man from Johor Bahru went to work at the Resorts World Sentosa before he went to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

45 (Singaporean)

A two-year-old evacuated from Wuhan, China on Jan. 30 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 10. The girl was taken to the KK Womens and Childrens Hospital.

44 (Singaporean)

An employee of security firm Certis Cisco tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 9. The 37-year-old went to the firms headquarters in Paya Lebar and was on duty during the Chingay street parade before he went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

43 (Singaporean)

A Resorts World Sentosa employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 8. The 54-year-old Singaporean man went to work once and stayed home in Fernvale Close before he went to the Sengkang General Hospital.

42

A worker from Bangladesh tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 8 and was admitted into the intensive care unit.

The 39-year-old man went to work at the construction site at 10 Seletar Aerospace Heights, visited the Mustafa Centre shopping mall and stayed at The Leo dormitory in Kaki Bukit before he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

41 (Singaporean)

A 71-year-old man tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 8. He had picked up his grandchild at the Pats Schoolhouse in Kovan, visited the Paya Lebar Methodist Church and attended a gathering at the Braddell Heights Residents Committee before he was admitted to the hospital. He lives on Upper Serangoon Road.

40 (Singaporean)

An employee of the Yong Thai Hang Chinese medicine store tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 8. The 36-year-old stayed home in Bedok North before he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases

39 (Singaporean)

A man who attended the business meeting at the Grand Hyatt tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 8.

The 51-year-old was in Malaysia from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 and stayed home in Jurong West Central before he went to hospital.

38 (Singaporean)

A woman who went to the The Life Church and Missions tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 8.

The 52-year-old also visited Marina Bay Sands, Chinatown, Plaza Singapura and stayed home at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 3 before she was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

37 (Singaporean)

A private-hire driver tested positive for COVID-19. The 53-year-old man from Jurong East Street 32 was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

36

A woman who attended the business meeting at the Grand Hyatt tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 7. The 38-year-old permanent resident was in Johor Bahru from Jan. 25 to 28, visited a family member at the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and stayed home at Bukit Batok Street 31 before she was taken to the KK Womens and Childrens Hospital.

35 (Singaporean)

A taxi driver tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 7. The 64-year-old man visited the Redhill Market and Hawker Centre and stayed home in Henderson Crescent before he was admitted to the Singapore General Hospital.

34 (Singaporean)

An employee of the Yong Thai Hang Chinese medicine store tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 7. The 40-year-old woman had made contact with case No. 19 and 20. She stayed home on Sin Ming Road before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

33 (Singaporean)

A woman linked to the Life Church and Mission cluster tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 6. The 39-year-old woman was in Malaysia from Jan. 22 to 29 before she was admitted to the Sengkang General Hospital.

32 (Singaporean)

A teacher from Victoria Junior College tested positive for COVID-19. The 42-year-old woman visited Changi Airport, the Singapore Zoo and stayed home on Elias Road before she was admitted to Parkway East Hospital.

31 (Singaporean)

A man who goes to the Life Church and Mission tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 6. The 53-year-old from Tampines Street 24 was admitted to the Changi General Hospital.

30 (Singaporean)

A man who attended the business meeting at the Grand Hyatt tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 6. The 27-year-old had visited Far East Square, the Junction 8 mall and stayed at home on Shunfu Road before he was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

29 (Singaporean)

A man who reportedly attended a Chinese New Year lunch in Jurong tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 5. The 41-year-old was taken to the Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital.

28 (Singaporean)

A baby tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 5. The six-month-old son of case No. 21 and 19 was taken to the KK Womens and Childrens Hospital.

27 (Singaporean)

The husband of case No. 19 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 5. The 45-year-old private-hire driver visited Tiong Bahru Plaza, Tiong Bahru Market, the Beo Crescent Market and Food Centre and stayed at his home in Bukit Merah before he was taken to hospital.

26

The daughter of case No. 13 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 4. The 42-year-old Chinese national arrived in Singapore with her mother on Jan. 21.

25 (Singaporean)

The husband of case No. 24. tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 4. The 40-year-old man met a group of Chinese tourists at the Diamond Industries Jewellery Company in Harbour Drive where he works.

He visited the Pasir Panjang Hawker Centre and the Hougang Polyclinic before he was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

24 (Singaporean)

A tour guide who led a group of Chinese tourists in Singapore tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 4. The 32-year-old woman brought the group to the Yong Thai Hang Chinese medicine store, went to the Hougang Polyclinic, visited a nearby supermarket and stayed home in Buangkok Green before she went to the hospital.

23 (Singaporean)

A man evacuated from Wuhan, China on Jan. 30 tested positive for COVID-19. The 17-year-old was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

22 (Singaporean)

A man evacuated from Wuhan, China on Jan. 30 tested positive for COVID-19. The 41-year-old was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

21

An Indonesian maid employed by case No. 19 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 4. The 44-year-old woman was taken to the Singapore General Hospital.

20

A colleague of case No. 19 tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 4. The 48-year-old woman from Hougang Street 61 was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

19

An employee of the Yong Thai Hang Chinese medicine store tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 3. The 28-year-old woman from Bukit Merah met the group of Chinese tourists at the store before she was hospitalized.

A chest x-ray had initially come back negative for pneumonia.

18

A Chinese national from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore on Feb. 1. The 31-year-old woman arrived in Singapore with case No. 12 and stayed at the Home Suite View hotel before she was taken to National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

17 (Singaporean)

A 47-year-old woman evacuated from Wuhan, China on Jan. 30 tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 31.

16

A Chinese national tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore on Jan. 31. The 38-year-old arrived in Singapore on Jan. 22 and had stayed home on Nathan Road before he went to the Singapore General Hospital.

15 (Singaporean)

A 47-year-old woman evacuated from Wuhan, China on Jan. 30 tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 31.

14

A Chinese man working in Singapore tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 30. The 31-year-old returned to Singapore from Wuhan, China on Jan. 26 and stayed home at Jurong East Street 13 before he was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

13

A Chinese tourist tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore on Jan. 30. The 73-year-old woman arrived in Singapore with her family members, including case No. 2, on Jan. 21. She stayed at ParkRoyal Collection Pickering and Oasia Hotel Downtown, and visited Changi Airports Jewel before she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

12

A Chinese woman who arrived in Singapore with her family on Jan. 22 tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 26. The 37-year-old stayed at the Village Hotel Sentosa, Hotel 81 Princess, Home Suite View Hotel, and visited Orchard Road and Geylang before she was hospitalized.

11

A Chinese woman who traveled to Singapore with case No. 4 tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 29. The 31-year-old arrived from Wuhan, China on Jan. 22.

10

A Chinese man working on a cargo vessel tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore on Jan. 20. The 56-year-old arrived in Singapore from Wuhan on Jan. 20 and was staying and working on the ship before he was suspected of having the disease during a health check at the Marina South Pier.

8 and 9

A married couple from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 29. They arrived in Singapore on Jan. 19, visited the Life Church and Missions and stayed at Lorong Lew Lian before they went to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

7

A Chinese tourist from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 27. He arrived in Singapore with family and friends on Jan. 23 and stayed at Marina Bay Sands before he was hospitalized.

6

A Chinese tourist from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 27. The 56-year-old stayed in Pasir Ris Grove before he went to the Changi General Hospital.

5

A Chinese woman from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 27. The 56-year-old stayed at home on Ceylon Road before she was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

4

A Chinese man from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 25. The 36-year-old arrived in Singapore on Jan. 22 and stayed at the Village Hotel Sentosa before he went to Sengkang General Hospital.

3

The son of case No. 1 tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24. The 37-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, China was isolated as a suspect case on Jan. 23.

2

A Chinese woman from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24. The 53-year-old arrived in Singapore with family on Jan. 21 and stayed at the J8 Hotel at 8 Townshend Road, visited Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands, and Gardens by the Bay before she was taken to hospital.

1

A Chinese tourist from Wuhan, China tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 23. The 66-year-old arrived in Singapore with family on Jan. 20 and stayed at the Shangri-Las Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa on Sentosa island before he went to the Singapore General Hospital.

Chinese tourists from Guangxi province

A group of 20 Chinese tourists from Guangxi province visited Singapore from Jan. 20 to 22 and transited on Jan. 27. Two of them tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home. Places they visited in Singapore: Yong Thai Hang Chinese medicine store Diamond Industries Jewellery Company in Harbour Drive Meeting You Restaurant at 14 Hamilton Road Royal Dragon Restaurant at 2 Havelock Road T Galleria by DFS DResort @ Downtown East in Pasir Ris.



Related:

A local told Ronan Keating ships stranded off Singapore due to COVID-19

COVID-19 updates: Virus grounds Singapore flight; infection cluster in Malaysia; Thailand confuses everyone; test kits go to Myanmar

UK releases images of suspects in Singaporean student coronavirus attack

This article, Mapping COVID-19: Singapore preschool closed after COVID-19 case in kitchen, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
A NUMBER of students in Limerick have been told to self isolate following confirmation this Thursday that there are four patients with the coronavirus receiving treatment in a local hospital.

In a notice circulated, students from a specific course have been told to self isolate immediately until Thursday March 12.

The students are asked to please await further instructions and the message states that there is currently an emergency hospital meeting regarding same.

While there is no indication that any of these students have the coronavirus, the Limerick Leader understands that they may have come into contact with someone with the virus.

It was confirmed today that four people with the coronavirus are being treated at the University Hospital Limerick in Dooradoyle.

The two males and two females are understood to be in an isolated unit.

"We thought all cases would be sent to the National Isolation unit in Dublin, but they have been referred here," a hospital source told the Limerick Leader.

There are a total of six cases of the virus now confirmed in Ireland. The other two are being treated in the Isolation Unit in Dublin.

A statement is to be issued later in the day.

For advice and updates on Covid-19 log onto the HSE Website








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Today, I would like to talk about what appears to be ongoing and systematized violations of human rights which apparently has the backing of the Office of Prosecutor in the City of Gatineau. Under the auspices of Gatineau Prosecutor Mathieu Cloutier black men, First Nations people and poor people are all being subjected to terrorizing through the Gatineau Police.

The results of state terrorism by the City of Gatineau against ordinary Canadians who happen to be black men, of First Nations background or financially poor, is apparent.

Do you know that since I have worked in the mid-1980's in Place du Portage in the heart of "secteur Hull" which is now referred to as 'downtown Gatineau', I have never seen one homeless person or panhandler? You might have noticed this too if you have ever ventured into Gatineau; and I can tell you the reason for this is not that Gatineau has become a "Socialist Utopia".

Just ask Mathieu Cloutier who apparently supports Gatineau's Police creating fear and panic among black men, First Nations people and the poor.

The apparent lack of signs of poor people in Gatineau's downtown core can be attributed to the terrorizing of poor people who flee to the bousum of Ottawa for "safety", where they will be less likely beaten-up and thrown in jail simply for being poor, a black man or aboriginal.

Whatever harassment that the poor experience in Ottawa at the hands of the Ottawa Police, indeed, in no way compares to the concerted efforts of the Gatineau Police to totally rid the city of its poor and to target certain visible minority populations through state terrorism.

I have heard of multiple incidents in which innocent black people walking from Ottawa across the bridge into Gatineau have been systematically targeted by Gatineau Police.

Wikpedia defines state terrorism as "acts of terrorism" which a state conducts against another state or acts of terrorism which a state conducts against its own citizens.

Indeed, outside of the Gatineau's downtown core I have personally witnessed multiple incidents of the Gatineau Police interrogating poor people minding-their-own-business and not bothering anyone. Indeed, many black men and First Nations people have found out that in Gatineau, the Police don't have to have any bona fide reason to stop you and demand your driver's license as one black man found out who was ticketed $48 for walking beside rather than on the sidewalk.

One First Nations woman who was staying in a local hotel in Gatineau told me about one of her accounts of being subjected to bodily assault.

When she complained, nothing was done about it. Instead, she was subjected to further harassment by the police which has involved following her at night when driving to the point of almost running her off the road; then taunting her with a peace sign and then parking in front of her place of residence for no reason other than to make her fearful.

In downtown Gatineau, where Cloutier endorses police harassment, the same black man who was stopped by police because they said he was "walking funny" was stopped two hours later for alleged jay walking. This black man had been interrogated by police for 20 minutes for walking funny when he was simply looking for a place to use a public washroom.

When this black man was driving a rented vehicle, he noticed a Gatineau Police cruiser making a left turn into the same street he was making a right turn from to go into Boul Maloney.

The first thing this black man thought when he saw this Gatineau police cruiser was here we go again. Indeed, this Gatineau cop proceeded to make a U-turn, then followed this black man for five minutes before putting on his sirens. Gatineau Police officer badge #5708 told this black man that the reason for his stop was not because he committed an infraction but simply because he was driving a rented vehicle and he, as a Police Officer had the right so stop and demand to see the drivers license of anyone he sees fit for any reason he dreams-up.

There you have it folks! Gatineau under Cloutier is apparently a Police State in which civilians shall be subjected to indiscriminate search, harassment and seizure.

Having been stopped by police for "walking funny" this police, Officer Bergeron once again demanded that this black man show then his driver's license.

This is the kind of bullsh-t terrorism going on in the City of Gatineau under Cloutier's watch.

It is no wonder why so many people in Ottawa dread the thought of going into Gatineau. Can you blame them and especially so if they are a black man, First Nations individual or financially less affluent person simply minding their own business?

Does Mr Cloutier have any shame for the climate of fear and panic which he has apparently sought to support in which innocent civilians are being subjugated to humiliation and a variety of unspeakable human rights abuses which include beatings and assault.

Montreal is not the only city in Quebec where the police and their prosecutor ought to be held responsible for systematic human rights abuses.

If Mr Cloutier has an ounce of contrition for having supported a systematized environment of human rights abuses by Dirty Cops terrorizing innocent civilians, he should resign from his Office and allow for the appointment of a prosecutor who has far greater respect for the Quebec Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
South Africa: Teachers, Nyati camp implicated in Enock Mpianzi's death

Parktown Boys High School educators, together with the Nyati Bush Camp, have been found liable in the death of Enock Mpianzi in what Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has described as a damning report.

Lesufi released the forensic investigation report on Wednesday evening at a parents meeting at the school. The report was compiled by Harris Nupen Molebatsi Attorneys (HNM).

HNM recommends that Nyati should be held responsible, and liable, for its negligent and reckless actions that contributed to the circumstances that led to the death of Enock Mpianzi, said Attorney Peter Harris.

Ahead of the meeting, parents raised concern over the presence of the media at the meeting highlighting previous inaccurate reporting on the tragedy and the reputation of the school.

The MEC then issued a directive that the media be addressed in a separate meeting following the parents departure.

The Mpianzi family received the report into the death of their child on Wednesday morning ahead of the parents meeting.

The report comes two months after the 13-year-old Grade 8 pupil drowned during a school orientation camp at the Nyati Bush Camp in Brits, North West.

No authorisation for Parktown Boys Camp

Investigations found that proper authorisation was not granted by the department for the camp to take place. Despite the lack of authorisation, the school proceeded with the camp.

The appropriate authorisation necessary for the School to conduct the Grade 8 Orientation Camp at Nyati was not granted by the GDE.

It appears that the school simply proceeded to hold the Camp contrary to the required approval and authorisation processes of the GDE, said Harris.

In light of this, the GDE was found negligent in its failure to ensure proper authorisation.

Inaccurate roll-calls upon departure

In what would form second knot to the tragedy, an inaccurate roll call was taken at the school upon departure for the trip. It was this roll call that became a point of confusion.

Lack of provision of accurate roll call lists to Nyati reveals a lack of rigour in preparation and planning for the Nyati Camp, said Harris.

Teachers arrived late to river rafting activity

Additionally, educators arrived late to the start of the water activity flouting their duty.

On all accounts, the educators present at the river indicated that they did not witness any signs of distress; it did not occur to them that it was a problem that the learners were not wearing life jackets and they were not aware that a learner was missing during or after the water activity.

In their capacity of in loco parentis (in the place of a parent), HNM is not satisfied that Ms Mbuyisa, Ms Reynolds, Mr Reddy, Mr Kruger and Mr Ratala discharged their duty to take all reasonable steps to protect the safety and wellbeing of the learners at Nyati, read the report.

The reports has recommended that the GDE direct the SGB to proceed with disciplinary action against the educators.

No life jackets issued

In a shocking move by the Nyati Bush Camp, no life jackets were provided to the learners, despite strong water currents in the river.

During investigations Nyati Bush Manager Anton Knoetze revealed that only 12 life jackets were available, this while 204 learners were expected for the camp.

Enock becomes fifth to die at Nyati Bush Camp

Investigations also found that four other learners; Portia Sowela, Thuso Moalusi, Thumi Mokomane and Mellony Sias had lost their lives during water activities at the camp making Enock the fifth pupil to lose his life at the camp.

Given what has taken place at Nyati Camp, including four previous deaths, and the fifth death of Enock Mpianzi, we find his misrepresentation and presentation of false evidence to be scandalous and offensive, read the report.

The GDE has since banned all activities at the Nyati Bush camp.

Criminal charges have been laid already. Our attitude is simple - there is a loss of life. Where there is a loss of life, I always advise our legal team that we are not going to go on a defensive mode.

Our approach is to negotiate, persuade each other and agree on a settlement. Our approach is to ensure that there is a reasonable settlement on this particular matter, said the MEC.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Demi Lovato has struggled with substance abuse for much of her career. Shes often been very candid about her issues. Her honesty is part of the reason why so many of her fans find it easy to identify with her. Lovato has inspired audiences to find hope during tough times.

Lovato recently went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to discuss why she relapsed. A message she got from her team triggered her to begin using drugs again. Find out why a message from her team caused her to start drinking and doing drugs again.

Demi Lovato attending the 2017 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater | Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Why Demi Lovato relapsed

USA Today reports that on March 4th, 2020, Lovato appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. According to Today, DeGeneres asked what caused Lovato to break six years of sobriety. Lovato said she got sober at 19, before she could legally drink. She was able to get clean because she got the help she needed. She added she took on the approach of a one-size-fits-all solution, which is sobriety, just sobriety.

According to People, Lovato felt controlled by the people around her. To combat her problems with food, her team would remove even fruit from her hotel rooms so she wouldnt eat extra sugar. Her team would also remove phones from her hotel rooms so she couldnt order room service.

According to USA Today, Lovato revealed her struggles with an eating disorder led her to relapse into substance abuse. Her relapse began with profound feelings of discontent. She saw her eating disorder getting worse and wondered why she was sober. She thought Im six years sober, but Im miserable. Im even more miserable than I was when I was drinking. Why am I sober?'

Demi Loavtos appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Lovato sent a message to her team discussing her feelings. Her team said she was being selfish, as her breaking her sobriety would ruin things for not just you but for us as well. Then, her team left her.

Their reaction made Lovato feel abandoned, which reminded her of her relationship with her alcoholic father. Today reports Lovato recounted what happened next. I drank, and that night I went to a party and there was other stuff there, and it was only three months before I ended up in the hospital with an OD.

The fight continues

According to USA Today, Lovato was hospitalized following an overdose in July 2018. At the time, she thanked God for saving her in an Instagram post. In the same post, Lovato said addiction is something she must fight continuously. Today reports Lovato went to rehab in August 2018 before returning home 90 days later in November 2018.

Demi Lovato attending 103.5 KISS FMs Jingle Ball 2017 in Rosemont, Illinois | Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

Lovatos fight goes on. She told DeGeneres she was the one who decided she needed to get sober. She told members of the audience who are fighting addiction they can overcome their struggles. You can get to the other side and it may be bumpy, but you are a 10 out of 10. She said any addict who takes responsibility for their actions can learn to love themselves.

Lovato has seen hard times. However, shes working through her issues. Hopefully, her actions will inspire others to do the same.

Also see: What Demi Lovato Wants People to Remember Her For

How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
A British court found that the ruler of Dubai conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, documents unsealed Thursday show.

A judge at the High Court in London ruled that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 70, "acted in a manner from the end of 2018 which has been aimed at intimidating and frightening" his ex-wife, Princess Haya, 45.

Judge Andrew McFarlane said the sheikh "ordered and orchestrated" the abductions and forced return to Dubai of two of his adult daughters from another marriage: Sheikha Shamsa, then 19, in August 2000, and Sheikha Latifa in 2002 and again in 2018.

The judge made the ruling in January but the sheikh fought to prevent it from being made public. The UK Supreme Court quashed that attempt on Thursday. The Dubai ruler and his ex-wife have been battling in a British court over the welfare of the two children they have together.

The sheikh's lawyers had sought the children's return to Dubai, while Princess Haya asked for them to be made wards of the British court and stay in the UK.

Princess Haya, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, moved to London last year and applied to the court for protective orders, using British laws intended to safeguard victims of forced marriage and domestic abuse. The forced marriage protection was requested for her daughter.

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

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
RADNOR  Radnor police now have a fish story.

Wednesday, police in Radnor reported that an alligator gar fish was found in the pond at Fenimore Park in Wayne earlier this week.

The alligator gar fish is among the largest fresh water fish in North America. They commonly live in warmer waters that include the gulf area. A resident found it dead in the pond at the park.

They were told by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission that the fish could not live in the cold water. The fish was turned over to fish and boat commission for preservation and educational purposes, police said.

Police are advising residents not to try to relocate rare pets in township parks but to call them instead they will provide resources that can help.
Opinion Article

5 March 2020

SHOCK THERAPY "We are the healthiest, wealthiest, and longest-lived people in history. And we are increasingly afraid. This is one of the great paradoxes of our time." These wise words are not mine, but Daniel Gardner's, author of one book everyone should read, especially during these crazy days: Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear. Other essential reads about what Naomi Klein calls the "Shock Therapy" (the exploitation of crises to establish dubious and questionable policies) are Panicology, by Simon Briscoe, the aforementioned Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Klein, and one of my favorite non-fiction works of all times: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

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THE BLACK SWAN: COVID-19

Over the years, I quoted Taleb so massively in my articles, books, and lectures, warning about a black swan occurring, that, after this whole coronavirus madness started, several clients texted me saying:But what is a Black Swan?Taleb writes,

Is Coronavirus a Black Swan? Let's break it down:

Coronavirus IS an outlier, it DOES lie outside the realm of regular expectations, and NOTHING in the past can convincingly point to its possibility. Check .

. Coronavirus DOES carry an extreme impact. Check .

. Coronavirus makes us "concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable" (even though these explanations are usually either conspiracy theories or plain BS). Check.

And, yet, I feel that the black-swan-iness of Coronavirus does not lie in the condition per se, rather in the way media covered the news.

PANICOLOGY: IS TOXIC MEDIA THE REAL PANDEMIC?

Photo: Travel Singularity

In my profession, I learned never to trust my emotions nor my personal biases: I look at data, analyze, weigh risks and opportunities, and then (and only then) I make a decision. After twenty years of doing it, this impacted my personal views on life as well, and I am less prone to follow my gut instincts than I was in my 20s. It's some kind of occupational disease (or I am simply getting old). So the only thing I can do, the only thing my brain has been trained to do, is clinically looking at numbers: as of today (March, the 4th), there are around 90,000 cases in the world, with 80,000 of them in China. 94% of patients already recovered. The fatality rate fluctuates violently from age group to age group, with a mortality of around 15% on people in their '80s, versus 0.4% on people in their '40s. The Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention published an infographic that's worth 1,000 words, here it is:

THE ITALIAN CASE

Fiumicino Airport on 04 March 2020  Photo: Travel Singularity

And that, again, is China, where the majority of cases are. Now, let's take a look at the most affected European Country, which happens to be my Country as well (even though I left it years ago): Italy. Most tourist attractions have been closed, events (such as the famous Venice Carnival) canceled, schools shut, and people are banned from leaving or entering the affected areas without proper authorization. Pharmacies are running out of facemasks and hand sanitizers, and citizens are assaulting supermarkets to stock up food. While I am writing this, I am in Italy, so it's not some second-hand news. People ARE going bananas over here. But I digress. We have 2,500 confirmed cases in Italy, mainly in Lombardy and Veneto, and 79 deaths. These numbers look scary, but (and this is something us smartypants marketers know too well), lying with statistics is so damn easy. First, if you're immune system is good, you're likely not going to die. Victims in Italy were all in their '80s or '90s or, when younger, people with pre-existing serious conditions (such as the 62-year-old man who died was on dialysis). Moreover: 2,500 cases for 60M Italians. That is 0.004% of incidence. If we look at the death rate, that's 0.0001%, and I am still counting all age groups. Still scared? Let me rephrase it: the odds of being struck by lighting in your whole lifetime are 300 times higher than dying from Coronavirus in Italy, yet I don't see people going around dressed as Tesla coils.

THE LONG-TERM OUTCOME: A MESSAGE OF HOPE

Photo: Travel Singularity

Over 5% of Italian GDP comes from tourism, and this panic is not helping. Most OTAs are imposing (not suggesting, imposing) flexible cancellations to all Italian properties (here below the email Expedia sent last week), and I have clients running at a 5% occupation rate, but I am sure that we can all learn something from this (media)disaster.

"We do not always respond to shocks with regression," Naomi Klein wrote, "sometimes, in the face of crisis, we grow upfast." I believe that. I believe that because I know travel is a resilient industry. Always have been, always will be. I was a congress organizer when 9/11 happened; We thought it was the end. It wasn't. I was a GM when the 2008 crisis stroke; We recovered from that as well. I was consulting for Greek hotels when their GMs could not withdraw more than 50 a day at ATMs; We outlived that. And we will recover from Coronavirus as well, but not by publishing posts like the one below (please, stop doing that, my hotelier friends, this only fuel the paranoia) rather by taking a step back and looking at this whole pandemic as we look at booking conversion rate: as we do understand that 0.0001% is a very (VERY) low figure when it comes to transactions, that number does not change when applied to a virus. It is still statistically irrelevant. I end this piece with another quote from Taleb (seriously, buy the book NOW https://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Improbable-Robustness-Fragility/dp/081297381X/).

Photo: Travel Singularity

"A life saved is a statistic; a person hurt is an anecdote. Statistics are invisible; anecdotes are salient." Think about it next time you read an Italian newspaper...
Ambulances in a staging area at the North Kirkland Community Center, which is a short drive from the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, in Kirkland, Washington, on March 4, 2020. (David Ryder/Reuters)

Washington County Recommends 2.2 Million People Work From Home

Washington states King County, where 31 COVID-19 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths have been reported, urged its more than 2 million residents to work from home to try and reduce the number of infections.

Workplaces should enact measures that allow people who can work from home to do so. Taking these measures can help reduce the number of workers who come into contact with COVID-19 and help minimize absenteeism due to illness, said King County officials in a statement on Wednesday night.

Whats more, people over 60, pregnant women, or individuals with underlying health problems should stay at home as much as possible as they are people who are most at risk of succumbing to the virus, according to the county. County officials also said that it discourages large gatherings or groups of people.

People who are sick also shouldnt leave their homes often, officials said, adding that locals should avoid visiting hospitals, long-term care facilities, or nursing homes, as much as possible.

If you need to go, the statement read, limit your time there and keep six feet away from patients.

Reporters and photographers at the site in South Seattle where King County will be placing several temporary housing units to house patients undergoing treatment and isolation in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus, on March 3, 2020. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

Over the weekend, amid a spike in new cases and the first U.S. death from COVID-19, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency. Days later, King County declared an emergency of its own after it was determined there was a likely outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, which has been linked to most of the cases and deaths.

As of Wednesday evening, 39 confirmed cases and 10 deaths had been confirmed in Washington state, according to the Department of Health. Most of the cases and deaths have been centered in King County, while nearby Snohomish County has one death and several cases.

A worker shields a patient on a stretcher being taken to an ambulance at the Life Care Center of Kirkland in Washington state on Feb. 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced Monday that his county would buy a motel and use 14 modular units, which were originally intended for housing homeless people, to hold infected people. One part of that plan reportedly materialized on Wednesday after King County purchased an Econo Lodge in Kent, although it wasnt confirmed by King County officials.

We do understand we all share a role in keeping the county safe and the region safe, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph told KIRO7. But we are concerned about the choice of the location, the lack of communication, and the lack of what weve been able to determine is a plan for making sure this facility is safe, she said.

Vice President Mike Pence, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. coronavirus response, will travel to the state capitol Olympia to meet with Inslee. It came after Pence told a news conference that any American can be tested for COVID-19.
It's often said that beauty comes at a price - and for Jessika Power, that price is $60,400.

The former Married At First Sight star stunned fans this week by revealing her total spending on cosmetic procedures since April 2019.

She shared a 'Transformation Thursday' post to Instagram in which she listed her surgical and non-surgical work - including cheek filler, Botox injections in her jaw and forehead, and lip injections.

Beauty isn't cheap! Jessika Power stunned fans this week by revealing she has spent $60,400 on cosmetic procedures since April 2019. Pictured before and after her surgery transformation

According to the Daily Telegraph, Jessika spent $40,000 on veneers, $13,500 on a fat transfer from her thighs to her breasts, $1,800 on cheek Botox, $1,200 on forehead Botox, and another $1,200 on 'jaw slimming'.

Jessika initially had lip injections when she was younger but these were 'botched'.

'I used to do beauty editorial photo shoots, and photographers always said one lip was smaller. I did not want to conform to the whole modelling thing but I started noticing it more, the more it was brought up,' she said.

'I had it done and they completely botched the procedure. Being young, I thought it would get fixed if I had more filler.'

Last April, she had her lip filler dissolved for $1,100 and then had them re-injected twice for $1,600 - totalling $2,700.

Hey, big spender! According to the Daily Telegraph, Jessika spent $40,000 on veneers, $13,500 on a fat transfer from her thighs to her breasts, $1,800 on cheek Botox, $1,200 on forehead Botox, and another $1,200 on 'jaw slimming'

A long road: Last April, she had her 'botched' lip filler dissolved for $1,100 and then had them re-injected twice for $1,600. Pictured before and after her most recent lip injections

Prior to appearing on MAFS, Jessika had a 'problem with her thighs' so she injected fat from her upper legs into her breasts.

'My doctor said he could take it out and put it in my breasts to make them fuller,' she explained.

Despite having undergone extensive plastic surgery, Jessika has warned her 23-year-old sister against getting any cosmetic treatments.

'She's only 23. Eliza wanted a breast augmentation because she matured too early,' she told The Daily Telegraph earlier this week.

'I told her she's too young. I think cosmetic surgery and cosmetic injections comes down to how you feel and how you look.'

'I don't want her to get it!' Despite having undergone extensive plastic surgery, Jessika has warned her 23-year-old sister, Eliza (left), against getting any cosmetic treatments

Meanwhile, Jessika also has a new man in her life: 35-year-old landscaper and father-of-one James Brown.

The pair are currently enjoying a 'romantic getaway' at a Gold Coast resort.

'We're just having a quiet few days at a resort. It's a bit of a romantic getaway and I'm definitely liking what I'm seeing!' Jessika told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

According to Jessika, James is 'more mature' than men she has dated in the past.

'He's just a gentleman, he opens the door for me and treats me really nice, which is a bit different from the guys I normally date,' she said.
Health authorities in Telangana are racing against time to identify everyone whom the 25-year-old techie who was tested positive for Coronavirus (Covid-1) had come into contact with after 36 of the 88 people showed some symptoms of the deadly infection.

Though none of them have tested positive for Covid-19 so far the authorities are waiting for the test results. Those who showed symptoms include his co-passengers on the bus from Bengaluru to Hyderabad.

The IT professional who works at a software firm in Bengaluru is believed to have contracted the virus while he was on an official trip to Dubai. After his return to Bengaluru on February 19, he had gone to the office before taking the bus to Hyderabad.

The 25-year-old used to stay in a PG accommodation, which he shared with another guy. After he was tested positive, the techie's roommate and several others in the same building have been examined and none of them have so far shown any signs of Covid-19. There are also fears that the bus could have transported the virus to other cities. It has since emerged that the same bus had made several trips to Pune till last week.

The Apollo Hospitals in Secunderabad has asked 20 of its staff to self-isolate for 14 days as they came in contact with the patient who tested positive for Covid-19 when he had visited the OP with symptoms of fever.





Meanwhile, Telangana health minister Etela Rajendar said that the condition of the patient has improved since Monday. He also said that the state government has arranged for a total of 3,000 beds in both government hospitals and private medical colleges across the state.

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On Tuesday, six people in Agra had reportedly shown symptoms of Covid-19. According to the authorities, all the six suspected cases depicted a high viral load during sample testing and the sample has now been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for further examination.



The six people who are now quarantined reportedly got the virus from the man who had earlier tested positive in Delhi, after he had gone to Agra, soon after returning from Italy.

The Noida school which the Mayur Vihar resident's children study has decided to shut down for three days as a precautionary measure as he had attended a birthday party along with his child at Hotel Hyatt Regency which also had some of their classmates as students from another school in Noida.

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The patient also dined at the restaurant at Hyatt Regency last Friday. The hotel has now asked employees who were present at the restaurant to self-quarantine for two weeks. The hotel is also conducting daily temperature checks for all its employees and contractors when they enter and exit the building, said Julian Avers, general manager, Hyatt Regency, Delhi.

Another case in which Covid-19 was suspected has tested positive. According to the NIV Pune, the Italian tourist who had tested positive in one of the samples in Jaipur indeed has the infection. Following this, some 24 people, including 21 Italian tourists, the driver, and conductor of their bus and a tour guide have been quarantined.




With more COVID-19 cases expected in New York, the state Education Department is recommending K-12 school districts follow guidance from the U.S. Center for Disease Control which urges schools to sterilize and prepare for school closures and remote learning.

But school officials in the Capital Region, particularly those overseeing urban and rural districts with high poverty rates or inconsistent internet service, say they currently lack the infrastructure necessary to homeschool students on a large scale in the event of an outbreak of the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus that surfaced in China last year.

"It's a particularly vexing problem," Schenectady Superintendent Laurence Spring said. Statistics suggest that "about 75 percent of households in our district have internet, however, in many households, the main internet access is their smartphone."

Schenectady city schools, which serve nearly 9,200 students, have begun stocking portable WiFi hotspots to distribute to students without internet. Google Classroom can provide an inexpensive teaching platform, but preparing for large-scale deployment of hotspot devices in a city that is under quarantine is a logistical hurdle that hasn't been solved, according to Spring.

Mohonasen Central School District Superintendent Shannon Shine, who oversees the 2,800-student district in Rotterdam, said it is not clear whether the local internet grid could handle video streaming for thousands of students learning at home.

"Even if we were prepared with equipment (most of our students have district-issued Chromebooks), it might not be possible to carry out, especially if other districts found themselves similarly situated," Shine said in an email.

A spokesman for Ballston Spa Central School district in Saratoga County said the 4,000-student district currently has no plans to teach remotely.

"That is impractical unless a district already had all the components in place  i.e. laptops and internet access in all homes, etc.," spokesman Stuart Williams wrote in an email.

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At Berne-Knox-Westerlo, which enrolls 760 students in rural Albany County, recent capital projects have improved the district's capacity for remote learning, but administrators say they are trying to figure out how to remotely manage other operational procedures like payroll, accounts payable and system maintenance.

"The collective planning coordinated across regions is a significant resource in supporting local districts. We have already received guidance in planning and alignment of strategies with our emergency plans," BKW Superintendent Timothy Mundell said. "We must be mindful of details such as seat time and lab completion to qualify to sit for Regents exams, preparation for AP exams, and administration of the upcoming NYS grades 3-8 assessments in the coming weeks."

Moving the classroom and operations online appears to be a lighter lift for some of the region's smaller districts. Galway Central School District spokeswoman said the 800-student Saratoga County district is prepared for a school work-from-home situation with 1:1 devices, Google Classroom and hotspots for students who don't have internet access at home.

Duanesburg Central School district, which has approximately 700 students, is developing plans to deliver instruction to home-bound students using currently available technology including classroom cameras and software, Chromebooks, mobile hotspots and laptops, according to Superintendent Jeffery Ziegler.

The COVID-19 risk remains low in New York, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other officials repeatedly emphasize; as of Thursday, there were 22 confirmed cases, all of them clustered in downstate. While there aren't any known cases in the Capital Region, dozens in the area are being quarantined and observed for symptoms. The state Health Department is now mandating two-weeks of isolation for anyone who visits a high-risk part of the world.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Four private schools and two public school districts in Westchester County announced temporary closures this week in response to concerns about student exposure to the virus.

Officials in Italy, a coronavirus hot spot, announced Thursday that all schools in the country will close for two weeks as the government works to contain the virus. China, Japan and Hong Kong have also closed their schools and are turning to online learning platforms.

Schalmont school officials on Thursday confirmed that students from two households in the 1,800-student Schenectady County district were under quarantine after their families traveled to high-risk countries, but said the students are not showing symptoms.

"We will be monitoring the situation and working with health officials to determine whether there is a need for any additional measures or steps to be taken," officials wrote in a memo to parents. "If this becomes necessary, we will immediately notify parents and guardians so that the necessary arrangements can be made to care for children."

The Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014, which earmarked $2 billion for technology upgrades, was supposed to address some of the disparities in technology access between districts, but approvals for the funding have been hampered by bureaucracy and backlog.

In addition to technological challenges, school officials throughout the state are seeking clarity from state health and education officials on building-level infection control practices, protocols for monitoring sick students, as well as state accountability measures for chronic absenteeism, according to a survey of school board members by the New York State School Board Association released Thursday.

"Coronavirus represents a brand new challenge for schools and other institutions, and its clear from the survey that most board members need additional guidance about how to deal with it," NYSSBA Executive Director Robert Schneider said.

Mandatory quarantines is a challenge for larger urban districts like Schenectady and Albany which have long struggled to reduce chronic absenteeism. Students who miss 18 days in a year are deemed chronically absent. One 14-day quarantine, even if excused, could have serious implications for a school under receivership or another SED accountability program, Spring said.

State law also requires a reduction in state aid for each day less than 180 days that schools are in session unless a waiver is granted by the state. If a coronavirus outbreak were to result in school closures in New York, 88 percent of school board members believe schools should not lose funding if their schools were open for instruction for fewer than 180 days, according to the NYSSB survey.

SED officials said they are working with state and federal agencies to producing updated guidance for school districts. In the meantime, the Capital Region BOCES has been coordinating coronavirus communication materials for districts to distribute to families. BOCES District Superintendent Anita Murphy on Wednesday announced a weekly video conference call for superintendents to exchange the latest federal and state guidance and discuss solutions to some of these challenges.

"As the local BOCES we are the glue between all the districts in the region, so we do a lot of collaboration together and share best practices," Capital Region BOCES spokeswoman Adrienne Leon said. The video conference is "a chance for everyone to jump on at the same time and share information ... it makes the whole process a little less scary."
Staff should work from home if bosses believe there is a serious risk of infection.

Madrid, Spain  The Spanish government has advised companies to close and send staff to work at home if there were a serious risk to workers of contracting coronavirus, as authorities on Thursday reported the third Spanish death from COVID-19.

Yolanda Diaz, the employment minister, has issued a guide to firms, insisting they should stop work if bosses believed there was a serious, imminent and inevitable risk of infection to workers if another staff member had been diagnosed with the virus.

Companies which have to close temporarily may be excused from paying staff social security contributions to the government, according to the guidelines.

The move came as Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Spains second-biggest lender, transferred 100 staff from its trading floors in central Madrid to offices on the outside of the Spanish capital under contingency plans.

However, business groups on Thursday accused Spains left-wing government of feeding fears by advising companies to close or send their staff home.

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Antonio Garamendi, president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations, told Al Jazeera: We think that the government has made a serious error by putting out a guide which causes a scare and confusion. It does not correspondent to the real threat of the virus according to the health ministry.

Companies and unions have not been consulted and it has been put out for political reasons.

A spokesman for the Spanish government also appeared to undermine the statement of the employment minister, saying: The advice concerning the coronavirus should only come from the ministry of health.

Meanwhile, a 99-year-old woman in Madrid became the third victim of the virus in Spain, as the number of cases across the country rose to 234.

A 69-year-old man was at first thought to have died from pneumonia on February 13, but after tests were carried out, it was confirmed that the cause was coronavirus.

An 82-year-old man from the Basque Country in northwestern Spain, who had been suffering from chronic illness, died on Wednesday after contracting the virus.

Health authorities in Valencia, in southeastern Spain, were on Thursday investigating if the death of two more people in February were caused by the coronavirus.





All medical staff in Madrid have been told by the regional government not to go to any meetings, so as to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.

Across Spain, the government has also advised police and air traffic controllers to avoid all meetings unless they are in the open air, and not to have contact with people who have travelled to high-risk countries such as China or Italy.

Jose Maria Molero, of the CSIT union of professional health workers in Madrid, told Al Jazeera: It is obviously a good thing to advise doctors, nurses and auxiliary workers who may have had contact with patients who have the virus from going to meetings and spreading the virus.

However, we think that these guidelines should be more clearly defined because some staff, like radiographers or surgeons, who do not have any contact with patients, may find their work is curtailed.

Schools across Spain remain open. However, it was reported in Catalonia that in some schools, parents are offering to home school their children.

Marches planned in cities across Spain to celebrate International Womens Day (March 8) on Sunday are still going ahead, organisers said.

However, there were signs that public opinion was in favour of cancelling public gatherings and closing schools.

A survey for La Vanguardia newspaper on Thursday found 81 percent backed halting all large-scale gatherings and sending school pupils home, while 19 percent opposed. Nearly 14,000 voted online.
A researcher works in a lab that is developing testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus at Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation in Nutley, New Jersey on Feb. 28, 2020. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

First Patient Tests Positive for New Coronavirus in New Jersey

A patient tested positive for the new coronavirus in New Jersey for the first time, officials announced.

The patient is a male in his 30s who has been hospitalized in Bergen County since March 3. A sample tested by the state Department of Health came back positive.

The sample was pending confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) but was being treated as confirmed.

State officials are working aggressively to keep residents safe and contain the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new virus, SARS-nCoV-19.

According to Judith Persichilli, the states health commissioner, most New Jersey residents are at a very low risk of contracting the new illness. The state Department of Health previously said New Jersey was preparing for a potential outbreak of the virus.

Officials said state residents should follow guidance from the CDC and state Health Department to contain the spread of COVID-19. The CDC recommends people prevent the illness by avoiding close contact with sick people, not touching ones eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and washing hands frequently.

People who are ill should stay at home.

Other recommendations include covering a cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in the trash, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces using a cleaning spray or wipe.

MTA cleaning staff disinfect the 86th St. Q train station in New York City on March 4, 2020. (Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

People walk through Manhattan with surgical masks as fears of the coronavirus spreading through the U.S. increase in New York City on March 4, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Americans should prepare for significant disruption to their lives, including having plans in place in case their workplaces or childrens schools close or are limited by outbreaks of the virus. Employers should encourage sick employees to stay home and consider letting people work from home if possible.

Some areas have begun discouraging large public events.

The CDC is also recommending that people avoid traveling to parts of the world most affected by the new virus, including China, Iran, South Korea, and Italy.

There are 100 confirmed cases now in the United States, Vice President Mike Pence, head of the Coronavirus Task Force, told reporters on Wednesday night. That doesnt include the people evacuated from Japan or China who have become ill since returning to America and being quarantined at military bases.

Most of the cases are on the West Coast, in California or Washington state.

The virus first emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has spread to over 50 countries. The virus primarily spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

There are currently no vaccines or proven treatments, though many patients have recovered through rest and medical care. About four out of five patients dont require hospitalization, according to international health experts.

Of the nearly 100,000 people who have tested positive for the virus worldwide, around 3,000 have died.

While New Jersey reported its first case on Wednesday, neighboring New York reported a sharp increase in cases, including family members of a man who lives in Westchester and works in the borough of Manhattan. Nine people in contact with the man tested positive, including his wife and children and several neighbors.

Officials said about 1,000 people were asked to self-quarantine and monitor themselves for symptoms of the new virus. Symptoms are similar to those for the flu and include fever and a dry cough.
Photo: Tuan Nguyen/Unsplash

Missed the most recent top news in Seattle? Read on for everything you need to know. Major vendors cancel appearances at Emerald City Comic Con, organizers offer ticket refunds to fans Read the full story on SeattlePI. Breathtaking blooms: 7 Seattle spots to see spring blossoms Read the full story on SeattlePI. After 11 years, Seattle pizza favorite Flying Squirrel closes Seward Park location Read the full story on Eater Seattle. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

While Emerald City Comic Con's organizers stated that the popular event will proceed as planned on March 12-15 , many major vendors, publishers, comic artists and authors are pulling out of the event amid COVID-19 concerns in Seattle.

Spring is right around the corner in Seattle, and the colorful buds of flowers are just beginning bloom.
The coronavirus is mutating as scientists identified a second strain, which is more aggressive and contagious.

As healthcare officials fight to curb the outbreak of coronavirus, a team of researchers from China says a new study shows that COVID-19 is mutating, with at least two types of virus circulating across countries now.

This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles give coronaviruses their name, crown-like. Credit: NIAID-RML

The more aggressive strain has infected about 70 percent of the people tested, while the less aggressive strain is tied to the rest of the cases.

The researchers named the aggressive strain as "L type," and the less aggressive type as "S type." The L type was more often seen in patients from Wuhan, China, where the virus first emerged in late December 2019. On the other hand, the S type is the one currently spreading in other countries. The L type strain has since declined steadily since January.

"These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)," they wrote in the paper published in the National Science Review, the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In the study, the researchers have identified 149 mutations in the 103 genome sequences of the novel coronavirus. Health experts believed that these mutations happened recently, while 83 of the mutations are nonsynonymous, which means that it can affect and alter the amino acid sequence of a protein, resulting in a biological change in the organism.

"Our results suggest that the development of new variations in functional sites in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike seen in SARS-CoV-2 and viruses from pangolin SARSr-CoVs are likely caused by mutations and natural selection besides recombination," the researchers wrote in the study.

Further studies needed

The team from Peking University's School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, added that human intervention might have placed more severe selective pressure on the L type of the virus, which can become more aggressive and spread rapidly. Meanwhile, the other type might have boosted in relative frequency because of a weaker selective pressure.

In summary, our analyses of 103 sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes suggest that the L type is more aggressive than the S type and that human interference may have shifted the relative abundance of L and S type soon after the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.

The scientists warned that the data basis of the study is minimal.

As previously noted, the data examined in this study are still very limited, and follow-up analyses of a larger set of data are needed to have a better understanding of the evolution and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2.

There is an urgent need for immediate and comprehensive studies that will combine genomic data, chart records, and epidemiological information on the clinical symptoms of patients infected with the coronavirus.

A. Haplotype analysis of SARS-CoV-2 viruses. A. The haplotype networks of SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Blue represents the L type, and red is the S type. The orange arrow indicates that the L type evolved from the S type. B. Evolution of the L and S types of SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Genome sequence alignments with the seven most closely related viruses indicated that the S type was most likely the ancient version of SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus by the numbers

The coronavirus cases have spiked over the past few weeks, with South Korea, Italy, and Iran gaining the spotlight over the rapid spread of the virus. The virus has spread to more than 60 countries, infecting nearly 98,000 people and killing 3,348 people, most of whom are from Wuhan City in Hubei province, China.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a declining supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. It urges suppliers and manufacturers to boos supply to help doctors and nurses who are working in the front line of the health crisis.

Italy and Iran have reported a sudden surge in deaths related to COVID-19. Italy has 3,858 cases and 148 deaths, while Iran has a staggering 3,513 cases and 107 deaths. South Korea has the most number of cases outside mainland China with more than 6,088 confirmed cases and 35 deaths.

Other European countries have reported their first coronavirus cases, suggesting a vast spread of the virus. The WHO has not yet declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, though it said that the increase in transmission and infections is alarming.
Meghan Markle sensationally quit her role as Rachel Zane in Suits once she became engaged to Prince Harry and now one company wants to see the actress back on the small screen.

German cosmetics company Biotulin has reportedly offered Meghan Markle USD$5 million if she returns to Suits for a five-second cameo.

Meghan Markle has been offered USD$5 million to appear on Suits for five seconds. Photo: Getty Images

Meghan, here with her on-screen love interest Patrick J. Adams, quit her role as Rachel Zane after getting engaged to Prince Harry. Photo: Getty Images

As The Mirror explains, that means that if the Duchess of Sussex were to accept, she would be raking in a cool USD$1 million per second.

While the offer may be tempting, its highly unlikely Meghan will be making her acting return on Suits, especially as the show has now been cancelled.

However, thats not to say that Meghan wont be popping up on our screens elsewhere, as just last week it was revealed that shes actively looking for a role in a superhero film.

A source revealed to The Daily Mail that the former TV star has her eyes on a major blockbuster, directing her agent Nick Collins to nab her a big role in an upcoming film.

He has said she wants her return to acting to be part of an ensemble cast in something like a superhero film, a source told the Daily Mail.

Meghan is planning a series of meetings in Hollywood. She has already done the voiceover for Disney and now word is out that shes looking for a superhero film, as a voiceover or even on screen.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will make they final appearance as working royals this week. Photo: Getty Images

The Duke of Sussex were caught in an embarrassing moment at the Lion King premiere ahead of their jaw-dropping royal step-down announcement pitching Meghans voiceover work to Disney CEO but it looks like that networking is well and truly paying off.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make their final appearance as working royals later this week, with royal sources saying its likely to be an emotional time for Prince Harry.

The Queen has extended an olive branch to the pair, allegedly telling her grandson in a four-hour meeting at Buckingham Palace on Sunday that he will always be welcomed back into royal life.

Harry's talk with his grandmother took place in Windsor Castle, where he joined the Queen for a light lunch and tea as they discussed his future.

Story continues

The Queen had a lot to talk to Harry about and this was the ideal time for them to both say their piece, a royal source told The Sun newspaper.

"Sunday was the first time the Queen has had the chance to talk to Harry on his own and really find out what his plans are.

It was a much more relaxed environment and they were both able to speak their mind."
Lenovo-owned Motorola has now announced the follow-up to last years Moto-branded mid-ranger with the arrival of the Moto G8. This time around, the design of the device has been changed significantly in terms of camera placement. That highlights what appears to be the biggest step forward from the Moto G7, while the rest of the design is fairly familiar.

The back panel on the Moto G8 no longer houses a circular camera array. Instead, Moto has moved the cameras to a vertical array configuration, with the primary 16-megapixel fast-focusing snapper set apart from other sensors. The LED flash is offset to the right of that, set above and to the left of the Moto logo.

The build is water-repellant but does not feature an IP rating or deeper water and dust resistance. A single loudspeaker remains at the center of the audio experience.

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Motos secondary cameras are less well-defined as of this announcement. The entire array is AI-managed and capable even in low light, according to the company. But the secondary cameras are an ultra-wide-angle lens and a Macro Vision camera.

In the former case, the company says that the lens will fit in four-times the content in-frame as the 78-degree primary camera. The Macro Vision lens gets shots that are five-times closer than the standard snapper.

That design change carries over to the front of the gadget. Moto has abandoned the water-drop notch in favor of a hole-punch design for the display panel. The company hasnt provided any details about that cameras specifications.

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Moto G8 delivers more than a familiar design with revamped cameras

Aside from the camera system and overall device design changes, Moto has followed suit on its previous iterations in the Moto G series. That starts with a respectable 4,000mAh battery. The company hasnt defined charge times for that but it does indicate that its designed to allow for up to 40-hours of usage.

The battery supplies power to an octa-core Qualcomm-built Snapdragon 665 SoC, centered around AI processing. That allows for better performance, camera capabilities, and security. Behind that, Moto supplies 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The latter figure is expandable via SD Card up to 512GB, leaving plenty of space for apps and media.

The hardware enables two software features from the familiar Moto Experiences to a new Moto Gametime. The latter software is newer and, as its name suggests, is geared at mobile gaming. Specifically, it blocks interruptions and bolsters performance in gaming.

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All of that resides in an Android 10 firmware environment. As with prior Moto gadgets, thats an almost stock bloat-free variant of the OS, resented to the user via a 6.4-inch HD+ Max Vision display.

Specs

Specifications for the Moto G8 have not been fully laid out just yet. But, for those who want a closer look at what has been revealed, those are compiled here for easier viewing.

Screen size 6.4 HD+ Max Vision display SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 RAM 4GBGB Storage 64GB, expandable up to 512GB Cameras 16MP fast-focusing main camera

ultra-wide-angle lens

Macro Vision 5x camera Battery 4,000 mAh Charging Up to 40 hours usage OS Android 10 Colors Neon Blue, Pearl White

Pricing and availability

Moto hasnt provided any details about the pricing of the Moto G8, available in blue and white hues, at all.

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The Moto G8 hasnt been announced for the US for the new phones either. Thats a step away from previous launches of its G series from the Lenovo-owned company. For now, the device is also only launching in Brazil as of today. Other regions will be seeing a roll out in sales over the coming weeks. Specifically, that will be in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia.
QORDAI DISTRICT, Kazakhstan -- The mistrust is palpable among the local communities in southern Kazakhstan's Qordai district nearly a month after ethnic clashes between Kazakhs and Dungans claimed 11 lives and injured dozens of others.

Many Dungans are uncertain if they want to rebuild their homes and resume their lives in the villages where the deadly events occurred the night of February 7-8. They say they don't feel safe anymore and are unsure about the future.

"There were some disagreements, arguments between the two communities in the past, but we haven't seen anything on this scale," a Dungan man says.

Tens of thousands of Dungans have lived in Kazakhstan's Zhambyl Province and the neighboring Kyrgyz province of Chui since the late 1800s. Dungans, also known as Hui, are Sunni Muslims who speak a Mandarin dialect.

Their ancestors fled China after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Dungan Revolt of 1862-1877. More than 100 years later, some Dungans feel they could be told "at any moment" that they don't belong in Kazakhstan.

"We can live here, we can work, learn Kazakh, but we could be told at any moment that we're Dungans," the man said. "I don't believe there is a future for us here."

Some ethnic Kazakhs, meanwhile, blame the Dungans for provoking the violence. In the predominantly Kazakh village of Qarakemer, an ethnic Kazakh man who gives only his first name, Tlek, says the conflict was the Dungan community's fault.

"They are to blame, I think," Tlek says, pointing in the direction of Masanchi, which is separated from Qarakemer by a dried-up, seasonal stream. "One needs to behave peacefully, to live peacefully. Had they lived normally, no one would have touched them."

Another man, an ethnic Kazakh from the Qordai district center, shares that sentiment. "The Dungans provoked the clashes," he says. "They beat up traffic police, they beat up an old man. You know what Dungans say? They say, 'The land belongs to us.' This is their attitude toward us, Kazakhs, who gave them the land."

Kazakh authorities had initially said that a road-rage brawl involving police officers and three Dungans was thought to have triggered the clashes. But on March 1, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev blamed "criminal groups" for the violence, saying the clashes were caused by one group trying to take over another group's cross-border smuggling business.

Toqaev made the comments during a visit to Qordai to meet with affected residents. Kazakh officials have been taking measures in an attempt to restore trust among the communities. Police patrol the streets in the villages of Masanchi, Auqatty, and Bulan-Batyr where the violence broke out.

Officials say more than 30 houses, 17 commercial buildings, and 47 vehicles were destroyed or damaged during the clashes. Some 23,000 people, most of them Dungans, fled the area.

In Masanchi, a Dungan resident showed his house and car, which were set on fire during the night of violence, but says his family was not at home and was unharmed.

Beds, a refrigerator, and blackened walls can be seen inside the house through broken windows. The man doesn't yet know if he will get any compensation for the damage to his property.

"We've since cleaned up the house a bit, but don't know what to do with the car," he says. "We were promised some compensation but haven't heard anything concrete yet."

Like many other locals, the man doesn't want to give his name and is reluctant to talk about the deadly clashes.

There are many other burnt and blackened houses and shops in Masanchi, along with a so-called cemetery of cars, where dozens of destroyed vehicles were dumped.

Authorities say the majority of those who fled to Kyrgyzstan during the violence have since returned home.

One Dungan woman says the district chief recently met with the Dungan community to reassure them the situation is under control. "He told us not to worry, told us to begin planting in the fields, and that they would guarantee our safety. But people don't want anything now."

Farming is the main way for Dungans to make a living in Qordai. But despite the warm weather, most of the farmland and backyards belonging to the Dungans remain unattended to, a highly unusual sight in Qordai, where the farms usually begin working in February.

The woman says many members of the Dungan community are no longer thinking about their land. "They're thinking about leaving Kazakhstan," she says. "They are thinking about the future of their children."

At least 10 Dungan families have left Qordai in recent days and the community members say it might be the beginning of a possible exodus. Their main destination, they say, is Russia's Krasnodar region and the Saratov and Volgograd regions, which have good farmland and many empty villages. There are also already Dungan communities in those areas.

"The most important thing is that there is land and we can begin our lives anew," one ethnic Dungan man said.

Asked about what he would do with his house in Qordai, the man said he would try to sell it. "If it doesn't sell, then I would raze the house with a bulldozer so nobody could have it after we leave," the man said.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by Pyotr Trotsenko of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
The Indian Army recently used anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers and artillery shells to target Pakistan Army positions opposite the Kupwara sector, sources said on Thursday.

The Indian Army action was in response to frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan Army to push infiltrators into the Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir, Army sources told ANI.

In November last year, ANI had reported that Indian Army will deploy its recently-acquired Spike anti-tank guided missiles on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stops to talk to reporters briefly as he leaves the US Capitol after meeting with Congressional Democrats and Republicans, in separate closed-door meetings, on recent developments with the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19 in Washington, DC on March 4, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Chinese Media Spread Fake News, Negative Propaganda About US Coronavirus Outbreak

In recent days, Chinese state-run media have begun focusing on the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States, painting it as more severe than the epidemic in China.

Some Chinese media outlets also spread outright falsehoodsincluding a claim that the virus originated in the United States.

The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year.

Meanwhile, the Chinese regimes recent official figures have reported a decline in infections, though internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times and eyewitness accounts show that authorities have been underreporting cases.

This past week, the United States reported cases of community spread for the first timecases of unknown origin, whereby patients did not have recent travel history to virus-stricken countries or have close contact with infected people.

Harping on US Outbreak

Chinese state media took the opportunity to highlight the U.S. outbreak.

On March 4, state-run outlet Xinhua re-published a blog post titled, With justice on our side, the world should thank China.

Now the United States is in turmoil. More and more states have declared a state of emergency, while the whole country is extremely short on medical supply. A coronavirus epidemic is almost inevitable.

The article went on to explain that U.S. reliance on supply chains in China proves that the former needs the latter to contain the virus. Most facial masks in the U.S. market are made and imported from China The majority of medicine in the U.S. is imported from other countries If China bans exports to the United States, the latter will enter into hell caused by the coronavirus.

Furthermore, the article claimed, the United States and other countries should thank China because China did not ban travel to and from the United States, which would have damaged the American economy severely, and cause the U.S. stock market to crash.

Many generic drugs and other pharmaceuticals in the United States are indeed manufactured in China. The current outbreak and resulting global shortage of medical supplies have exposed the problem with concentrating the worlds supply chains in a single country, China.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in a Feb. 23 interview with Fox News that Chinese authorities were exacerbating the shortage by placing export restrictions on N95 masks produced by Chinese factories belonging to American firm 3M.

[China] nationalized an American factory that produces them [the masks] there, he said.

Fake News

On Feb. 24, Chinese state-run newspaper Securities Times published an article based on unverified claims made by Paul Cottrell, who according to his online bio, is a finance PhD based in New York. He posted a YouTube video claiming that sources told him more than 1,000 people have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in the United States.

As of press time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced 80 infections, excluding Americans who were repatriated from elsewhere and tested positive for the virus.

Using Cottrells claims as its basis, the Chinese article claimed that the U.S. CDC was hiding the true scale of the U.S. outbreak.

Chinese media also began spreading a claim that the virus originated in the United States.

It started when Chinas top virology expert Zhong Nanshan said at a press conference on Feb. 27 that there was a possibility the novel coronavirus did not originate from China.

That same day, a Taiwanese politician named Pan Hwai-tzong said during a television program that aired on the pro-Beijing cable channel EBC News: The coronavirus is from the United States. Pan is a councillor from Taipei city, and a professor at the Taiwan National Yang-Ming University.

Chinese media republished this claim by Pan. Some professors in mainland China have since clarified in media interviews that Pans comments have no scientific basis.

Taiwanese netizens and media also criticized Pan for pandering to Beijing.

U.S.-based China commentator Tang Jingyuan said he believes the Chinese regime is purposefully using the U.S. outbreak to mislead Chinese citizens about the current outbreak within its borders.

We clearly see that the coronavirus epidemic in China is very severe, which is totally different from what government authorities claim. Chinese people see for themselves what is happening around them, Tang said.

Thus, the Chinese regime hopes to shift peoples focus to the United States as a distraction.

It tries to fool people into thinking the virus is from the United States, and have Chinese people show hatred toward the U.S. Then, they wont think about what the Beijing regime is doing, Tang added.

And by emphasizing severe outbreaks outside China, it can tell people that China has a better system, Tang said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay remaining AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay, according to sources.

The telecom department wrote to all telcos asking them to pay balance dues "without delay" and submit detailed bifurcation of payments (explanation of self-assessed amounts), which it said are necessary for proper reconciliation of legitimate AGR dues.

The government has so far received about Rs 26,000 crore from AGR payments, including adhoc/ buffer amounts given by telcos to meet any reconciliation differences with the telecom department.

However, the amounts paid by telcos is woefully lower than the DoT's Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) calculations, prompting the telecom department's latest move.

Sources privy to the development said that as the amount paid by telcos is based on their own self-assessment, the department has asked them to explain how they have arrived at the said calculation, and pay the balance amounts.

They said the letter was not in nature of a 'threat' but rather seeking an explanation for the basis of companies' calculations and asking for remaining statutory payments.

Bharti Airtel has submitted over Rs 18,000 crore to the DoT declaring that it has made full and final settlement towards its AGR liabilities but the amount is far less than Rs 37,500 crore (including Telenor) that the government estimates the company owes it.

It is pertinent to mention here that Bharti Airtel on Saturday said it has made payment of Rs 8,004 crore towards AGR dues to the government, an amount over and above Rs 10,000 crore it has already paid earlier.

The amount of Rs 8,004 crore includes Rs 3,004 crore towards a full and final settlement on AGR dues based on self-assessment, and a deposit of buffer Rs 5,000 crore to cover the DoT's reconciliation differences.

Similarly, Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 2,197 crore in AGR dues, and earlier this week topped that up with additional Rs 2,000 crore to cover reconciliation differences, while DoT estimates its liabilities to be about Rs 14,000 crore.

VIL has so far deposited Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches to the DoT but is still assessing its full AGR dues.

According to the government's calculation, VIL owes Rs 53,000 crore in such liabilities.

In all, 15 entities owed the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore in unpaid statutory dues -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and VIL account for about 60 per cent.

These dues arose after the Supreme Court, in October last year, upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

The Supreme Court last month rejected a plea by mobile carriers such as Bharti Airtel and VIL for extension in the payment schedule and asked companies to deposit their past dues for spectrum and licences.

Since the February 14 tongue lashing that the Supreme Court gave telecom companies for missing its previous deadline of January 23 to pay past dues as well as the DoT for failing to enforce it, firms and the telecom ministry had been doing separate maths on the actual dues.
Bengaluru, March 5 : To promote affordable housing, stamp duty on new flats or apartments costing less than Rs 20 lakh would be reduced to 2 per cent from 5 per cent from April 1, said state chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday.

"I propose to reduce stamp duty on first time registration of new flats or apartments costing less than Rs 20 lakh to 2 per cent from 5 per cent," said Yediyurappa while presenting the state budget for ensuing fiscal 2020-21 in the legislative assembly here.

The state revenue department has collected Rs 10,248 crore till February, which is 87 per cent of the annual target of Rs 11,828 crore fixed for the fiscal 2019-20 a year ago.

The revenue collection target for fiscal 2020-21 is fixed at Rs 12,655 crore.

"As online registration of bank and NBFC (non-banking financial companies) loan documents will be facilitated through national e-Governance Service Ltd, stamp duty can be paid online from the new fiscal," Yediyurappa told the lawmakers in the House.

The Kaveri software of the stamps and registration department will be integrated with the e-Aasthi (property) application of the state urban development department.

"Kaveri-2 software application will be developed in the new fiscal for registering immovable property documents," added the chief minister.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 09:52:56|Editor: zyl

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KAMPALA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Latest figures from the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) show that agency banking, which was introduced to the country in 2018, has overtaken the use of automated teller machines (ATMs), an official from the Ugandan banking sector told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"The amount of money transferred through agency banking now stands at 2.2 trillion shillings (about 603 million U.S. dollars) on a monthly basis. This is 800 billion shillings (219 million dollars) higher than that transferred through the ATMs," said Wilbrod Humpreys Owor, executive director of the UBA.

The country launched the agency banking system with the aim of making formal financial systems and services more accessible.

Owor said that the number of agents for agency banking, since it was launched two years ago, has grown fast to today's 12,154, indicating that more people in Uganda have adapted to the system.

In contrast, the number of ATMs, which was first installed in Uganda in 1997, now stands at 923, according to Owor.

Meanwhile, the UBA on Wednesday signed a collaborative agreement with the Financial Technology Service Providers' Association, a non-profit organization in Uganda, to promote innovation, knowledge sharing and professional practices in the development of digital financial services.

Owor said the partnership between banks and financial technology service providers is critical to building the digital payment and business infrastructure, making it possible to bring clients into the financial system at potentially lower costs through technology.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff Department knew that deputies took pictures of Kobe Bryant's body and later shared them at a bar. However, the department has been accused of covering up the incident.

The County Sheriff's Office in Los Angeles received a complaint about a young police officer who shared the gruesome pictures of Kobe Bryant three days after the helicopter crash. It was stipulated in the report that it happened at a popular pub in Norwalk, California.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva later ordered the destruction of the photographs. It was also believed that the department tried to hide any related news about the exposed images.

According to legal experts, the destruction of the photographs means the destruction of evidence. Villanueva also said that even though there is no policy about taking personal photos at a crash scene, the eight deputies who are involved in sharing the images of Kobe Bryant's corpse did not follow normal investigative procedure.

It is stated in the department's investigative procedure that to "record, store, document, catalog, transmit, and/or forward any image, document, scene, or environment captured as a result of their employment and/or while performing official department business that is not available or accessible to the general public," using their phone is not allowed.

In a report from Fox News, spokesman of the National Transportation Safety Board said that they asked local authorities if there are images that have investigative values.

For the chairman of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission Patti Giggans, he said that there seems to be a cover up of misconduct, but he hopes that it is not the case.

This was also supported by a former NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone who said that the complaint about the shared images of Kobe Bryant's corpse was mishandled.

He said that the sheriff was supposed to confiscate the mobile phones and ensure that photos were not shared with anyone outside the department. Moreover, he also said that the department should have documented the photos.

The lawyer of Vanessa Bryant has now called an internal investigation and was asking for the harshest possible form of discipline for the involved deputies. She also said that what they committed was a form of violation of human decency, respect, and most of all a violation of the privacy rights of the victims and families.

Moreover, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors, also asked that there be people outside of the department to investigate as to what is happening in the department and anything that is believed to be involved with corruption.

Jessica Levinson, a professor from the Loyola Law School, said that the idea that the deputies who took the pictures of Kobe's corpse and promised to delete it is not how it is to be. For her, there is an inherent conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, Villanueva has given few details but declined to answer some questions and requests from the media. It was found out also that Jorge Valdez, Sheriff's Information Bureau captain, said last week that he was not aware of any complaints filed last week about the said shared gruesome images involving eight deputies.
First Patient Tests Positive for New Coronavirus in Nevada

The first patient tested positive for the new COVID-19 coronavirus in Nevada, health officials announced on March 5.

The case is considered a presumptive positive until the test is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but is being treated as confirmed for now, Dr. Fermin Leguen, health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, said at a press conference.

The patient, a Clark County resident, is being held in airborne isolation at a local hospital, according to Kimberly Hertin, the districts disease surveillance supervisor. The patient is a male in his 50s with an underlying health condition.

Officials declined to name the hospital at which the patient is being cared.

The man recently traveled to Washington state and Texas, officials said. Washington state has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country and 10 of the 11 deaths from the illness have taken place there. Texas authorities said on Wednesday that the first patient tested positive for the new virus.

There is no sign of community spread of the virus at this time, or cases with unknown origin, and officials are working on tracing people who came into contact with the patient. Contacts of the man are being asked to self-quarantine and monitor themselves for symptoms of the new virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19.

The State of Nevada and our local health authorities are taking this situation very seriously and have been preparing for weeks in anticipation of a presumptive case, Gov. Steve Sisolak said in a statement.

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)

New cases in other states were also announced on Thursday. New York authorities reported a doubling of cases, mostly connected to a cluster linked to Manhattan and Westchester County, while Washington officials reported dozens of new cases.

Illinois said its fifth patient was a man in his 20s who returned to Cook County after traveling to Italy, where the number of cases has exploded in recent days.

As of Tuesday night, in Nevada more than 400 people were or are currently under monitoring, the state Department of Health and Human services said. About half of those completed monitoring without developing symptoms or were determined to have no risk. Fourteen people had tested negative for the virus.

Dr. Mark Pandori, director of Nevadas public health laboratory, told The Epoch Times earlier in the week that he expected the number of people being tested in the state to increase. The case definition from the CDC could continue to change, he saidthe CDC later in the week issued guidance allowing states to test anyone, subject to a doctors orderand the expectation that surveillance testing, or testing a wider variety of specimens, would become routine.

Eventually, well be able test without any criteria, he said.

Under an emergency use authorization issued by the Food and Drug Administration, Nevada and other states appeared to be legally bound for now to follow the CDC definition if using the test kits the federal agency manufactured, he said.

Nevada was working on getting its capacity higher. The state lab could potentially test up to 100 specimens a day when the capacity is boosted, Pandori said.

The state lab director said there was some suspicion that there were undetected cases in the state because of the connection to northern California, where a slew of cases have been confirmed in recent weeks.
Prince William and Kate Middleton, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, practiced a rare public display of affection as they headed to the Noel Coward Theatre in the West End for a special viewing of the musical Dear Evan Hansen. Walking into the venue, William was spotted reaching out to put his arm around his 38-year-old wife as they climbed the steps.

The event was scheduled last Tuesday to raise money for the Royal Foundation. As photographers documented the royal couple's arrival at the theater, one image caught Prince William place his arm around his wife's back.

The Duke and Duchess spent their second day in Ireland by visiting Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health providing vital support to people aged between 12 and 25 across a series of one-to-one, community, school, and online services. They charmed the public who endured the chilly weather and waited outside the premises of the organization. The pair thanked them for their support with waves, smiles, and cheers.

Prince William put his hand on Kate's back as they were entering the organization's building. At Jigsaw, the royal pair greeted their hosts by shaking hands without wearing gloves in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

Given their top royal status, the pair is commonly not showy of their affection towards each other. In more pictures from their visit to Ireland, the royal couple can be seen with smiles swiped across their faces as they indulge in some PDA.

Also read: Meghan Markle's Biggest Disappointment with Ex-Husband

Prince William and Kate touched down in the city of Dublin on Tuesday. Following a day of meetings and visits, they visited the Guinness Storehouse's Gravity Bar to spend the evening at a reception hosted by Robin Barnett, the British ambassador to Ireland.

Kate made a rare public display of affection in front of the Guinness sign when she lovingly touched her husband's arm while they shared a laugh.

William donned a slick blue three-piece suit, while Kate was draped in an ankle-length metallic emerald green dress. She matched her outfit with a pair of green heels, statement earrings, and a gold clutch bag.

Considering this is an international tour, the Cambridges are usually particularly careful with how they show their feelings for each other. Thus, this show of care is a rarer occurrence.

The Duke of Cambridge is known for remaining poised and professional when in public. The royal couple typically does not hold hands when carrying out royal engagements.

The pair was spotted talking to Game of Thrones star, Liam Cunningham. Kate was also spotted holding a pint of beer. Meanwhile, William joked about Queen Elizabeth II visiting the venue nearly 10 years ago.

The Duke and Duchess' love was celebrated when the couple walked down the Love Lane in Temple's Bar. The narrow street was made brighter and colorful by street artists and the messages of love shared on its walls.

Related article: Meghan Markle's Relationship With Mother Doria Ragland: What's the Real Score?



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When voters approved the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts, they envisioned a safe, accessible regulated marketplace that created new economic opportunities for the state and especially for individuals who were hurt most by prohibition.

Today the Commonwealth can take pride in the fact that its vision is moving towards reality: The Cannabis Control Commission has authorized Pure Oasis, LLC to open as soon Monday, marking the first operating marijuana retailer in Boston and first certified economic empowerment applicant to launch adult-use cannabis sales on the East Coast.

As important as this milestone is, we recognize it is just a first step. There is much work left to do. Ideally, this should serve as motivation to open more businesses that accomplish Massachusetts mandate to ensure full participation in the legal industry by those most impacted by the war on drugs, and particularly people of color.

Immediately after promulgating our adult use of cannabis regulations, 122 individuals or entities were certified to receive priority licensing review for demonstrating residency in, experience with, or business practices that promote economic empowerment in, areas of disproportionate impact. The law also gave priority review to existing medical marijuana treatment centers. Unsurprisingly, retail openings have skewed toward those businesses and other monied operators whose ownership may not reflect the equity provisions.

The good news is Massachusetts industry is still in its early stages and the Commission publishes data to hold itself accountable as implementation moves forward. We also continue to meet ongoing challenges with policy updates such as expedited review of certified minority businesses within the general applicant pool, among other groups.

In total, the Commission has received about two-dozen applications from certified economic empowerment entities. Eight, including Pure Oasis, have received licenses. Meanwhile, eligible applicants suggest they have not taken advantage of their priority status due to a lack of capital, difficulty with local approvals, or a wait for new license categories.

Our agency is working tirelessly to help constituents overcome those obstacles, whether they are systemic or not. For example, the Commission created the nations first statewide Social Equity Program to provide disproportionately affected Massachusetts residents training and technical assistance. It is designed for individuals interested in owning, operating, working for, or alongside cannabis businesses, and the first cohort concludes coursework this spring. So far, three participants have received licenses.

From the beginning, certain fees have been waived for qualified applicants. Both certified economic empowerment applicants and Social Equity Program participants will receive exclusive access to new delivery and social consumption licenses when they become available. And, with those opportunities, applicants can be pre-certified by our agency to vet their ability to stand up a sustainable business before they negotiate with investors and municipalities.

The Commissions efforts are just one part of the solution. Pure Oasis success underscores how critical it is that the state, municipalities, and private industry work closely together to achieve the results the law requires, and voters demanded.

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Last week, the Commissions executive director and I wrote a letter to the Legislature with suggestions for building upon Massachusetts nation-leading equity mandates including: 1) codify the Commissions Social Equity Program into law; 2) require equity at the local level; and 3) divert a percentage of cannabis tax revenue to create a state loan fund that would address the lack of capital among disproportionately impacted applicants. I am grateful the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy has since released a bill addressing these issues.

The City of Boston, for one, should be applauded for signing host community agreements with Economic Empowerment Applicants like Pure Oasis even before it enshrined its commitment to equity with a city ordinance. Other municipalities are also codifying their own equitable licensing processes in accordance with Commission guidance.

Private industry has stepped up through their mandatory positive impact and diversity plans. As a result, incubators, accelerators, and mentorship programs are available that aim to open up the marketplace to applicants with fewer advantages. Personally, I have worked with banking institutions to bring critical components of an equitable industry online, including cash management and lending services.

Pure Oasis, whose owners are people of color and come from the neighborhood where history will be made, is the first to say they hope to break some barriers and create opportunities for others like (themselves) with their opening.

I agree with them wholeheartedly and look forward to working with more partners to make sure Massachusetts cannabis industry continues moving in the right direction.

Steven J. Hoffman is chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Concern over the Wuhan coronavirus has prompted some Cleveland companies to contemplate whether they are capable of operating when the virus spreads to Ohio by letting employees work from home.

Some major employers would need remote-work options in case theyre forced to quarantine employees exposed to the virus, or protect employees if outbreaks become more widespread.

And that planning could have long-term effects, speeding up a trend toward more employees routinely working remotely, one expert told cleveland.com.

Theres a growing number of professionals, who because of high-speed conferencing technology, can now work at home, said Michael Goldberg, an associate professor of design and innovation at Case Western Reserve Universitys Weatherhead School of Management and executive director of the universitys Veale Institute of Entrepreneurship.

A lot of employees have wanted and mandated these kinds of abilities, Goldberg said.

How would it work?

In an era where most companies interact with the internet, some employees can work anywhere.

Cleveland.com, for example, uses cloud-based internet systems to post content online. Employees can access those secure systems from any place with internet access.

Companies that use in-house computer systems also can create remote access through "virtual private networks that allow workers to interact with computer systems just as if they were at their desktop computers.

Were probably better positioned for this kind of shock than weve ever been, Goldberg said.

What plans are in the works?

Medical Mutual, a large health insurance company based in Cleveland, recently tested the capacity of its virtual private network to handle an increase in employees working from home.

The company has about 1,000 employees in downtown Cleveland and large offices in other cities around Ohio.

For the health and wellbeing of our employees, as well as our members, Medical Mutual has a business continuity plan in place that covers a variety of incidents, including illness outbreak, Executive Vice President Tom Dewey said in an emailed statement. Because of the plans we have in place, we are confident Medical Mutual would continue to serve our members regardless of where our employees are physically located.

Emergency response plans, or what KeyBank refers to as "standard business resiliency plans, are being tweaked in response to the coronavirus.

In KeyBanks case, that includes limiting international business travel. The Cleveland-based bank also is monitoring advisories from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and encouraging employees to routinely take their laptop computers home with them, said Matthew Pitts, KeyBanks regional communications manager for Northeast Ohio, Western and Central New York.

We utilize work from home if and when possible and conduct regular tests on our employees' ability to do so, Pitts said. We always encourage employees who are sick to consult with their manager about working from home or taking time off to get well.

An email this week from Cleveland State Universitys administration asked its college deans to assess options for remote activities, including estimates for:

The number of courses already in an online format.

Which courses can be converted quickly to an online format.

Which could be converted over a longer period.

Which courses and activities, such as lab classes or individual music lessons, that likely cannot be converted.

Bill Lubinger, associate vice president for media relations and communications at Case Western Reserve University, said Case, too, has discussed remote options for students and for employees.

What are the limitations?

A great many workers cant work remotely because of the nature of their jobs.

Police still have to be on patrol. Manufacturing employees have to be on assembly lines. And many service sector businesses  such as grocery stores, pharmacies, shops, restaurants, nursing homes and dry cleaners -- would need to remain open to interact with customers.

Why all the planning?

As of Thursday, the CDC reported the virus was present in 99 people in 13 U.S. states. Ten deaths have been attributed to COVID-19.

There are no known cases in Ohio, as of yet. But what health officials view as the virus inevitable arrival has prompted discussion of how to protect places where large numbers of people gather.

Whats the long-term impact?

If COVID-19 prompts employees to do more work remotely, it will only speed what has been growing practice, Goldberg predicts.

He recalled discovering what he described as digital nomads while visiting the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa to do Fulbright research in 2018.

Despite their extremely remote location, workers conducted business with their counterparts around the globe using internet connections.

Youd go into a co-working space and theres all sorts of people working there, he said. Theres a lot of people already making these changes.

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The federal government of Nigeria has disclosed that the identity of the Italian who brought coronavirus into Nigeria was not made public because it negates medical ethics.

According to Osagie Ehanire, the minister for health, for such to be done, the patient would need to give his consent.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Some Persons Who Flew Into Lagos With Italian Patient Gave Us False Information: Commissioner

Speaking while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the federal executive meeting(FEC) on Wednesday, the minister further explained that Patrick Sawyer, the Ebola index case, was different because he was already dead at the time and as such his identity didnt matter anymore.
Two teenagers who killed an A grade student in a horrifying 'Rambo' knife attack and were caught on CCTV 'fist bumping' in celebration have been jailed.

William Haines, 18, viciously attacked Yusuf Mohamed, 18, stabbing him in the heart outside a grocery shop in Shepherd's Bush, west London, on the evening of June 26 last year.

Mr Mohamed sought refuge in the store where he was followed by Haines' 17-year-old friend who knifed him in the leg as he cowered on the floor, the Old Bailey heard.

Afterwards, the 'pleased' attackers were seen on CCTV smiling as they gave each over a congratulatory 'fist bump'.

The victim had been stabbed eight inches deep to the chest penetrating right through his heart and into his lungs, with the blade rammed into his body right up to the hilt, as far as it would go, the Old Bailey heard.

William Haines, left, was found guilty of Yusuf Mohamed's (right) murder at the Old Bailey

Haines, who refused to attend court, was sentenced in his absence to life with a minimum term of 17 years after being found guilty of murder and possessing a blade.

He had written a letter to the court saying: I do not want to go. I was not informed by the court. They can do it without me. I do not want to attend.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was handed 10 years in custody having been cleared of murder but admitted manslaughter and having a knife.

The court heard Haines, of Acton, west London, had two previous convictions for having blades in public in 2019 and had been on bail at the time of the attack.

In a victim impact statement, the victim's sister Ayan Mohamed described him as a 'gentle soul' who was kind and quiet.

The A* student had been awaiting his A-level results and dreamed of studying engineering at university when his life was 'snatched away so brutally', she said.

She added: 'Yusuf's future has been snatched from him. We will never get to see the man he was to become.'

Judge Angela Rafferty QC paid tribute to family members for their quiet dignity throughout the trial.

The attackers were seen on CCTV smiling as they gave each over a congratulatory 'fist bump'

Sentencing, the judge described how Mr Mohamed was attacked 'without warning or provocation'.

She told the 17-year-old defendant in the dock: 'He was walking in the street when he encountered William Haines and you.

'William Haines walked across the street to confront him. He took out a large knife he had been carrying. He stabbed Yusuf to the heart. The wound was 20cm deep.

'This was in broad daylight in public view. Yusuf had no time to defend himself whatsoever.

'As he lay on the ground you used a large knife and lunged at him repeatedly in his leg.

'Those moments for Yusuf Mohamed must have been filled with horror, terror and confusion.

'You accepted that Yusuf would have been very, very afraid at the time you started attacking him with a knife.'

Police officers are seen collecting evidence outside the convenience store where Mr Mohamed was stabbed to death last year

The judge said Haines had provided no real explanation, only that he 'acted in anger and saw red' while the younger defendant had said he followed him because of 'peer pressure'.

Judge Rafferty told the pair: Those moments for Yusuf Mohamed must have been filled with horror, terror and confusion.

Williams Haines says he cannot remember what he did it is likely that he in fact cannot face what he did.

I saw you both smiling and fist bumping, trying to hide your faces from camera as you left the scene.

You, [the youth] then attacked Yusuf Mohammed with a knife, a defenceless boy who was seeking safety in a shop who was on the ground cowering from you.

You told the jury that you bought and carried a large knife in public in the months in the build up to the attack. That made it all the more likely you would use it in an attack.

Haines had admitted stabbing Yusuf but said he could not remember it, the court

Sarah Dale, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'This devastating, cowardly and unprovoked attack has led to the death of an innocent 18-year-old who had so much to look forward to in life.

'On what should have been a routine walk to the nearby shop for some milk, Yusuf was set upon for no apparent reason.

'Armed with knives and in the violent way that these defendants attacked him, there could be no doubt as to their deadly intentions. After they fatally stabbed Yusuf, they fist-bumped in callous celebration.

'Nothing can take away the pain that Yusuf's family and friends must be feeling, but we hope these convictions provide them with some level of comfort at this distressing time.'
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In Los Angeles, a group of 15 friends have tested positive for coronavirus following a trip to an exclusive ski resort in Italy. Pam Angel (above) told KCBS-TV that her husband and two sons were on the trip and all three have tested positive

A mother whose sons and husband who tested positive for coronavirus in a Los Angeles suburb 10 miles from Kim Kardashian's home has spoken out.

Pam Angel told KCBS-TV that her husband and one of her adult sons are in self-quarantine, but her other son has underlying health issues and is being treated at Providence Tarzana Medical Center.

'He can't talk without coughing. He feels like he has a pallet of bricks on his chest, he's not eating,' she said.

The three men were among a group of about 15 who traveled back to the United States on February 27 after visiting Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomite Mountains, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

The Los Angeles County Health Department has confirmed seven cases of coronavirus among a group of travelers who recently returned from northern Italy.

Sources tell DailyMail.com that the other members of the group, who reside elsewhere, have also fallen ill since returning home.

Angel says they didn't realize at the time that there had been an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy.

'It's been aired that it was over in Asia and in China, but it wasn't being aired that it was anywhere else,' she said.

Italy has been hard-hit by the coronavirus where more than 3,000 people have tested positive for the diseases, and more than 100 people have died.

In the U.S, 15 people have died and more than 200 have tested positive.

Angel's husband and sons live in Tarzana, which is less than 10 miles from Calabasas, which is home to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, as well as a string of other celebrities, including Drake and Will Smith.

A fourth man, a US citizen and also on the trip, is said to be in a coma in Switzerland, where he now resides.

The rest of the men who were on the trip, who were said to be 'previously healthy guys in their 40s and 50s' have all since fallen ill, with one coughing up blood, according to sources.

They live in states across the U.S, including Arizona where two cases have been reported.

A group of 15 friends - some who live in Los Angeles - have tested positive for coronavirus following a trip to the Cortina d'Ampezzo (above) in Italy's Dolomite Mountains in February

Three of the men on the trip live in Tarzana, which is about 10 miles from the city of Calabasas and home to Kim Kardashian. The men were among a group of about 15 who traveled back to the United States on February 27 after visiting Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomite Mountains

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS? Like other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold and that triggered SARS, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are:

Fever

Dry cough

Shortness of breath

Difficulty breathing

Fatigue Although having a runny nose doesn't rule out coronavirus, it doesn't thus far appear to be a primary symptom. Most people only become mildly ill, but the infection can turn serious and even deadly, especially for those who are older or have underlying health conditions. In these cases, patients develop pneumonia, which can cause: Potentially with yellow, green or bloody mucus

Fever, sweating and shaking chills

Shortness of breath

Rapid or shallow breathing

Pain when breathing, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Low appetite, energy and fatigue

Nausea and vomiting (more common in children)

Confusion (more common in elderly people)

Some patients have also reported diarrhea and kidney failure has occasionally been a complication. Avoid people with these symptoms. If you develop them, call your health care provider before going to the hospital or doctor, so they and you can prepare to minimize possible exposure if they suspect you have coronavirus. Advertisement

A source told DailyMail.com of the ski trip friends: 'The man hospitalized at Tarzana was traveling with two other friends and when they they arrived at LAX, the infected person was taken to the hospital.

'They were all screened, but since his two other friends had no symptoms they were told they could go home.

'Then days later, they both developed symptoms and have been diagnosed with the virus. They contacted officials and were instructed to self-quarantine at home for two weeks.

'The fact that they were able to just go home in the first place is really alarming because that means travelers are not being screened properly. Just think of all the other people on that flight. Do they even know they might be infected?'

Celebrities including Will Smith, Drake and Katie Holmes all have homes in the nearby area.

Others on the trip to northern Italy are said to live across the whole of the US, including Arizona where there are two cases, with symptoms 'much worse than what's being told to the public'.

A source told DailyMail.com: 'There were about 15 friends in the group that went on the ski trip in Northern Italy. They are all sick and one friend is still in Italy. He is American but lives in Switzerland. He is in a coma.

'The other friends live in different states, including Arizona. One person has been coughing up blood. It's much worse than what's being told to the public.

'[Donald] Trump has been saying it's mild, well it's not mild.'

The coronavirus death toll in the US is now at 15 after three more people were reported dead in Washington state on Friday.

Of the 15 deaths, 14 have been reported in Washington state and one in California.

Many of the cases in Washington, including at least six deaths, have been linked to an outbreak at a nursing home facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. Thirteen of the Washington deaths have occurred in King County, which is where the nursing home is. One person died in nearby Snohomish County.

The California death was linked to a cruise ship that was still being held 400 miles off the coast on San Francisco on Friday amid fears of a suspected coronavirus outbreak.

An increase in testing across the country has seen a jump in confirmed cases in Washington, New York and California - with Pennsylvania and Indiana reporting its first cases in the last 24 hours.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb said on Friday that a man who was exposed to coronavirus on a trip to Boston had tested positive in the state's first case.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf confirmed on Friday that two people had tested positive in the state and they are both in self-isolation at their homes. One of the people had traveled overseas to a country where COVID-19 is present, while the other person had been exposed visiting another US state.

Separate from those cases, five Pennsylvania school announced on Friday they would temporarily be closing as a precaution.

The University of Washington has canceled classes and is making students take classes and finals remotely.

In New York, two private Manhattan schools closed for sanitization after 44 people in the state tested positive. One school in New Jersey also closed over fears some of its students may have come into contact with an infected Manhattan attorney who passed the virus on to dozens more.

Angel's husband and sons live in Tarzana (above), a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley

One of those who returned from Italy is now said to be quarantined at Tarzana Medical Center (pictured) after arriving at LAX at the end of February

Tarzana, where three of the men live, is less than 10 miles away from the exclusive neighborhood of Calabasas, which is home to several celebrities including Kim Kardashian (pictured in Paris this week)

Kim Kardashian and her mother Kris Jenner snapped up a condos worth about $1.5 million each in Calabasas

Thousands of passengers on Grand Princess cruise ship to remain in their cabins after Coast Guard delivers coronavirus testing kits

Passengers on the cruise ship off the California coast have been instructed to stay in their cabins as they waited for test results on Friday that could show whether the coronavirus is circulating among the more than 3,500 people aboard.

The Grand Princess cruise ship was banned from docking at the port in San Francisco until passengers and crew complaining of flu-like symptoms during a 15-day roundtrip cruise to Hawaii could be tested for possible coronavirus infection.

On Thursday, the US Coast Guard airlifted a batch of diagnostic kits to the ship via helicopter, and public health officials said samples collected would be flown back to a San Francisco Bay Area state laboratory for testing.

State and local officials acted after learning that 35 people aboard the ship, which is carrying about 3,500 people, had fallen ill, and that two passengers who had traveled on the same vessel for a voyage last month between San Francisco and Mexico later tested positive for coronavirus.

One, an elderly man from Placer County near Sacramento with underlying health conditions, died this week, marking the first documented coronavirus fatality in California. The other, from the Bay area, was described by Newsom as gravely sick.

Health officials say both individuals likely contracted the virus while they were aboard the ocean liner.

The Princess cruise line said fewer than 100 passengers and crew from the Hawaii voyage of its Grand Princess have been identified for testing, including those who were ill.

The predicament of the Grand Princess cruise liner was reminiscent of the Diamond Princess vessel that was quarantined off the coast of Japan in February and was, for a time, the largest concentration of cornoavirus cases outside China.

Some American passengers from that ship were ultimately repatriated to military bases in California for extended quarantines.

The Grand Princess cruise ship has been banned from docking in San Francisco until passengers and crew complaining of flu-like symptoms during a 15-day roundtrip cruise to Hawaii could be tested for possible coronavirus infection

On Thursday, the US Coast Guard airlifted a batch of diagnostic kits to the ship via helicopter, and public health officials said samples collected would be flown back to a San Francisco Bay Area state laboratory for testing

The Grand Princess is currently 400 miles off San Francisco and heading for port having returned from Hawaii after 11 passengers and 10 crew reported symptoms of coronavirus

Surge tents have been set up in front of the Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California just in case there is a potential overflow in coronavirus cases at the hospital

The surge tents were set up to treat possible influx of coronavirus patients after California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency

New York coronavirus cases jump to 44 - including five people in the city

The cases in New York state jumped to 44 on Friday, including five in New York City after a woman in her 50s tested positive following a trip to Israel.

The majority of the cases are in Westchester County and are linked to a 50-year-old Manhattan attorney who infected 29 others including his wife, 20-year-old son, 14-year-old daughter, a neighbor and another family of five.

Two other cases - a woman in her 80s and man in his 40s - were also announced but are unrelated to the attorney. The two patients are currently in intensive care. Officials have not revealed any other information about their cases.

There is also now four people on Long Island who have the disease.

A 39-year-old female healthcare worker who has not been linked to the attorney had earlier tested positive after returning from a trip to Iran.

The new cases announced on Friday morning include a man in Manhattan, three members of the Young Israel congregation in New Rochelle, two friends of the lawyer, two staff members who live in Rockland County and worked at a bat mitzvah, and three people connected to New York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital.

The rabbi of the Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue, which the attorney is a member of, is among those who have tested positive.

The rabbi also teaches at the Yevisha University in Manhattan, which is where the attorney's son attends classes. The university has urged students to self-isolate as a precaution.

It comes after health officials urged 1,000 residents to self-quarantine after members of two families linked to the attorney were diagnosed with the virus.

Two private Manhattan schools - the all-girls Spence School on Manhattan's Upper East Side and the all-boys Collegiate School on the Upper West Side - have also now closed for sanitization.

One school in nearby New Jersey - Frisch School - also closed over fears some of its students may have come into contact with an infected Manhattan attorney.

In New York, health officials put hundreds of residents in self-quarantine after members of two families in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle were diagnosed with the virus. Two more unrelated cases were confirmed in New York City on Thursday, raising New York state's total to 13. A female healthcare worker who is also not linked to the attorney was the first in the state to test positive after returning from a trip to Iran

Trump's CDC trip fiasco: President WILL visit its HQ after calling off tour at last minute over fears of positive test for coronavirus as he signs $8.3 billion emergency spending bill amid mounting questions over lack of testing kits

President Trump will visit the CDC in Atlanta on Friday after initially calling it off because a person at the government facility was being tested for the virus.

Trump told reporters on Friday that concerns were raised a day earlier about 'one person who was potentially infected' who worked at the CDC.

'Because of the one person they didn't want me going,' he added, explaining why a planned stop at the agency, which is working with state and local officials to help combat the spread of the new virus, was left off his schedule.

Trump said the person has since tested negative for the new virus.

Soon after, however, the White House confirmed the trip was back on and would take place on Friday afternoon.

Trump had planned to sign an $8.3 billion coronavirus response funding bill at the CDC but he instead signed it at the White House before his departure to travel to view tornado damage in Tennessee.

More than $3 billion of the spending bill money is intended for research and development into vaccines, test kits and treatments. There are no so far no approved vaccines or treatments for the illness, which began in China and has spread to some 80 countries and territories.

President Donald Trump boasted in a tweet on Thursday about the low US fatality count in comparison to the rest of the world

Trump had boasted in a tweet on Thursday about the low US fatality count in comparison to the rest of the world.

'With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!' he tweeted.

He later said during a town hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Thursday night that he will continue to shake hands with people despite the coronavirus fears.

'I love the people of this country and you cannot be a politician and not shake hands,' he said. 'I'll be shaking hands with people and they want to say hello and hug you and kiss you, I don't care. You have to do that.'

Trump started off his town hall defending his administration's response to the outbreak and again blamed President Barack Obama for the lack of testing kits.

He tried to deflect criticism of his administration's response to the disease by blaming Obama for a federal regulation that made it harder to enact widespread testing  an accusation that has been shown not to be true.

Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Washington state on Thursday after being tasked by Trump to lead the coronavirus response, has admitted that the administration won't be able to fulfill its promise to deliver one million coronavirus testing kits by the end of the week.

He said there were not enough tests to meet demand going forward.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, earlier acknowledged missteps by the administration in failing to get coronavirus test kits out quickly, but said the overall response was going well.

President Trump called off a visit to the CDC in Atlanta on Friday because a person at the government facility was being tested for the virus before signing an $8.3 billion coronavirus response funding bill

Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Washington state on Thursday, admitted that the administration won't be able to fulfill its promise to deliver one million coronavirus testing kits by the end of the week

Fear grips Wall Street as stocks plunge and Dow sinks another 800 points amid coronavirus chaos despite strong report on American job market Stocks kept falling sharply Friday, and bond yields took even more breathtaking drops as a brutal, dizzying couple weeks of trading showed no sign of letting up amid fears caused by the rising coronavirus death toll in the United States. At Friday opening, the Dow sank a further 800 points after closing down 970 points on Thursday evening. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also both down almost 3 percent as large swings in the market continued amid uncertainty over the spread of the coronavirus and its economic fallout. Even a better-than-expected report on U.S. jobs wasn't enough to pull markets from the undertow. It's usually the most anticipated piece of economic data each month, but investors looked past February's solid hiring numbers because they came from before the new coronavirus was spreading quickly across the country. Fear coursed across borders and across markets. The lowlight was another plunge in Treasury yields to more record lows. The 10-year Treasury yield falls when investors are worried about a weaker economy and inflation ahead, and it fell below 0.70%. Earlier this week, it had never in history been below 1%. It was at 1.90% at the start of the year, before the virus fears took hold. U.S. stock indexes slumped nearly 3 percent in morning trading, following nearly 4 percent losses for Europe and 2 percent losses for Asia. Crude oil lost 7.2 percent on worries that producers won't cut supplies enough to match the falling demand from an economy weakened by the virus. A measure of fear in the U.S. stock market surged 20 percent. Advertisement

Top coronavirus expert says he CAN'T promise at least one million test kits in next week as CDC comes under fire for lack of testing and delays in approving kits

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he can't make any promises about when enough test kits will be made available.

He said the goal within the next two weeks was to have more than a million tests ready but he couldn't promise that would happen.

'I can't guarantee that, that's an issue that would have to go through the FDA and the companies to see if that's available,' Dr Fauci told TODAY.

'So I cannot promise it but that's what the goal is - within the next couple of weeks - to get the million plus [out].'

He earlier acknowledged missteps by the Trump administration in failing to get coronavirus test kits out quickly, but said the overall response was going well.

State and local authorities have been stepping up testing for the illness following a debacle with faulty kits from the CDC that officials say initially delayed results.

It is believed one of the chemicals used in the test did not work properly, resulting in the test being recalled and then re-manufactured.

Another issue was that the CDC initially set narrow criteria on who could be tested. At first, only those with a travel history to China - where the outbreak emerged - or those who had been exposed to a confirmed coronavirus patient were tested. That changed after the first patient of 'unknown diagnosis' was confirmed in California, believed to be of so-called community spread.

'There were certainly some missteps in the beginning regarding getting tests out, some technical issues that slowed down the process,' Dr Fauci said.

The CDC and other health officials have come under fire for how slowly Americans are being tested.

'I'm not happy about the lack of the appropriate number of test kits  that's for sure  but other areas of the response, I think, are going well,' Dr Fauci said.

He also expressed frustration at the lack of screenings at US airports.

Concessions vendor at XFL game attended by 22,000 people and Homeland Security employee test positive - as Facebook and Amazon are among those to close offices

Health officials in Washington state - who are dealing with the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US - have revealed a concessions vendor at an XFL game attended by 22,000 people and a Homeland Security employee are among the latest to test positive for coronavirus in the Seattle area.

The employee worked at a concessions stand at CenturyLink Field on February 22 during the Seattle Dragons XFL game. Officials said that the risk to the 22,000 people who attended the XFL game last month was 'low'.

Health officials in King County, Washington confirmed on Thursday that an employee who worked at the February 22 Seattle Dragons XFL game at CenturyLink Field has now tested positive for the virus.

Homeland Security notified employees on Thursday night that a worker in the Seattle-area had also tested positive for coronavirus.

Health officials in Washington state have revealed a concessions vendor at an XFL game attended by 22,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in the Seattle area

The employee worked at a concessions stand at CenturyLink Field on February 22 during the Seattle Dragons XFL game. Officials said that the risk to the 22,000 people who attended the XFL game last month was 'low'

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE 11 US PATIENTS WHO DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS So far, 11 people have died of coronavirus in the US, federal and local health officials say. Ten of the deaths have occurred in Washington state - nine in King County and one of Snohomish County. Most came from Life Care Center, a long-term care facility in Kirkland. One deaths has occurred in Placer County, California. Here's what we currently know: 1. A man in his 50s was brought from Life Care Center to Harborview Medical Center on February 24. He died two days later and is the first death in the US from coronavirus 2. A man in his 50s from King County who had underlying health conditions. He was hospitalized and died at EvergreenHealth on February 29 3. A man in his 40s from Snohomish County who died after being hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland on March 1 4. A woman in her 70s, who lived at Life Care and was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. She had pre-existing conditions, and died on March 1 5. A man in his 70s, linked to Life Care, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He died on February 29 and pre-existing conditions 6. A man in his 70s, who was also a resident of Life Care, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He died on March 1 and also had underlying health conditions 7. A woman in her 70s, who was a Life Care resident, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth and died on March 2 8. A woman in her 80s, who was linked to Life Care and was previously reported to be in critical condition at EvergreenHealth, died on March 1 9. A woman in her 80s, who was a resident of Life Care and was never hospitalized, died at her family home on February 26 10. A tenth death was confirmed on March 4, but Public Health - Seattle & King County has not yet released information about the latest death 11. An 69-year-old man died on March 4 in Placer County, California after likely becoming infected on a Princess cruise ship that traveled from San Francisco to Mexico between February 11 and 21 Advertisement

The Seattle office, which houses US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and Federal Protective Service, has already been closed since Tuesday with employees ordered to work from home.

An employee there had been suspected of having coronavirus after they reported feeling ill soon after visiting nursing home where the major outbreak has occurred.

An employee at Amazon's Seattle headquarters was also confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week, potentially exposing some 50,000 others who work at the plant.

An employee at Facebook's Stadium East office in Seattle also tested positive. The company said the office will be closed until at least March 9.

Mastercard Inc closed its office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and an annex location near its headquarters in New York after an employee contracted coronavirus. Earlier this week, the Brazil-based employee traveled to the annex office in Purchase, New York. Both locations are now undergoing a sanitization process.

Washington state health officials buy a $4 million motel and set up a quarantine site made up of 'mini hotel room' trailers for infected patients

Officials in Washington have bought a $4 million motel and set up a coronavirus quarantine site made up of 'mini hotel room' trailers as they scramble to deal with the unfolding crisis.

They bought the EconoLodge motel in suburban Seattle for $4 million earlier this week to be used as a quarantine facility for coronavirus patients.

Officials have also started setting up trailers in one neighborhood in what will become a temporary quarantine village that initially won't have water or sewage.

The two-story, 84-room motel is part of the efforts officials are taking in an epicenter of the outbreak in the US. Its hard surfaces, easy-to-clean floors and separate heating-and-cooling units in each room were exactly what officials were looking for when they started looking for in a quarantine facility.

The doors of each room open to the outside, rather than to a central hallway, reducing the likelihood of contact between the patients. The individual heating-and-cooling units reduce the chance of germs spreading through a ventilation system.

Residents of King County are also being advised to work from home to avoid possible exposure. Officials in the County, which includes Seattle and is home to over 2.2 million people, have urged local businesses to allow employees to telecommute for the next three weeks in an effort to curb the outbreak.

They are also recommending that higher-risk groups - including people over the age of 60, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions or weakened immune systems - stay home and away from large social gatherings.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington have come under pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and canceling large events.

While the state and Seattle have declared emergencies, giving leaders broad powers to suspend activities, they have not issued any orders to do so.

Health officials in Washington state, where they are dealing with the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US, have bought a $4 million motel for infected patients

Officials in King County, which is where the majority of Washington cases are, also started setting up trailers in one neighborhood in what will become a temporary quarantine village that initially won't have water or sewage
IKOULA leader in dedicated servers, outsourcing and Cloud Computing innovates by launching the first IPv6 IPv4 micro server. By combining the Raspberry Pi 4 technology with IKOULA professional infrastructure and 24/7 support, the French hoster introduce a versatile dedicated server for less than 10 month.

"When we created IKOULA in 1998, we were ahead of our time by anticipating the explosion of Web. Even today, it is important for us to anticipate the needs of our customers, by offering them innovative products," explains Jules-Henri GAVETTI, CEO co-founder of IKOULA. "By providing these two types of IP, we anticipate the shortage of IPv4, while allowing users to address all of their current services without any restriction."

Often wrongly perceived as a pure home server, the Raspberry Pi 4 hides its true nature. It can be a great tool for a professional usage when it is used in "Remote" mode, in a datacenter. By choosing to host their Raspberry remotely, users can benefit from the security system of a datacenter, a support team available at all times, but above all they can benefit from a high availability, a professional electrical network and an asynchronous 1Gbps bandwidth. In other words, this product is the perfect mix to host a website, develop some applications, back up all kind of data, or even create a VPN, or a set of Docker servers.

The lower power consumption is another advantage of this kind of micro server, compared to a conventional dedicated server. Opting for this product will truly reduce the ecological impact of your activities.

For more information, please click here.

About IKOULA

Pioneer of the French Cloud since 1998, IKOULA owns its own Datacenters in France (Reims and Laon), as well as two subsidiaries in Spain and the Netherlands. Because Human Being is part of its DNA, IKOULA maintains a close relationship with its customers, and puts at their disposal reactive teams of experts, available 24/7, able to advise them and accompany them in their activities. IKOULA's teams are multilingual, in order to meet the internationalization challenges of all its customers, spread over more than 60 countries on 4 continents.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005358/en/

Contacts:

PRESS:

IKOULA

Laurane VASSOR ARCARO +33 01 84 01 02 69

lvassorarcaro@ikoula.com

Lucas FOURRE +33 1 84 01 02 59

lfourre@ikoula.com
A recent Post Bulletin article cited Greater Minnesota city leaders making a compelling case for a state bonding bill of at least $1.5 billion to restore deteriorating rural infrastructure, especially for water and wastewater systems, and for more state investment in affordable child care and housing.

Across rural and Greater Minnesota, headlines like these point to growing consensus that all our regions need and deserve more public investment in the vital stuff that local economies and people in our communities need to truly thrive.

This stuff includes: affordable health care, housing, and child care; high-speed broadband; roads and bridges and transportation mobility; infrastructure, especially water and wastewater treatment; and help transitioning to more sustainable agriculture and land use as climate change disproportionately threatens our precious rural places, from farms to forests to wilderness.

Community groups and businesses in Greater Minnesota are not only demanding this richly deserved investment, they also are taking their own initiatives to revitalize their localities and protect their environment. They are improving the education and health of their human capital, addressing local racial disparities and economic inequalities, and trying their best to become more attractive to newcomers and business growth. Admirable efforts in Rochester include the emerging Cradle 2 Career partnership, focused on erasing disparities in education outcomes, and the Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association.

Dozens of inspiring local examples like these, along with scores of practical policy recommendations for a more evenly prosperous North Star State, can be found in The Minnesota Equity Blueprint. This new guidebook was officially unveiled on Feb. 27 by teleconference in six communities along the Mississippi River (Winona, North Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Brainerd, Grand Rapids and Bemidji).

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The Blueprint contains 140 recommendations in all, on 170 pages richly illustrated with charts and maps that explain our challenges. Instructive story boxes provide detail on local enterprise and creativity that are improving lives. The booklet is intended for every Minnesotam: policymakers, workers, business owners, non-profits and local community organizations.

Among the many recommendations that emerged with special impact on Greater Minnesota: relieve farm and business regulatory burdens that often do not account for rural realities; increase funding for the Border-to-Border Broadband development program; encourage rural "placemaking efforts that bring arts and cultural amenities to small towns; expand welcoming initiatives for immigrants like those in Winona and Rochester; increase support for rural small business incubation and access to capital; help rural landowners and communities shift to sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and restoration of lakes and rivers quality; and provide more funding in bonding bills and other programs for rural water and wastewater treatment.

The Blueprint is one of the most comprehensive, practical and constructive policy frameworks our state has seen in recent decades. It also is one of the first to integrate rural and Greater Minnesota into a framework of "equity, which has typically been applied to urban communities of color.

This idea of rural-metro solidarity was reflected in a recent joint commentary published by the Center for Rural Policy & Development. The authors were Tim Penny, president of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (and a former Democratic congressman) and Charlie Weaver, executive director of the Minnesota Business Partnership (and a former Republican legislator from the Twin Cities). They said:

"These dynamics (rural-urban differences) obscure a fundamental truth: Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro are both integral to our states identity and a critical part of Minnesotas current and future success  We are one state with several economies and several economic regions. Urban and rural together define the success of our state."

Dane Smith is Senior Policy Fellow and President Emeritus of Growth & Justice, a research and advocacy organization that seeks a more equitable and environmentally sustainable economy for Minnesota. The Minnesota Equity Blueprint can be downloaded from the Growth & Justice website, www.growthandjustice.org
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 13:37 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206878b99 1 Business Indonesia,coal-miner,Adaro,Bukit-Asam,financial-report,profit,exports,China Free

A fall in global coal prices as a result of lower demand from main coal buyer China hit the bottom lines of mining heavyweights PT Bukit Asam and PT Adaro Energy in 2019.

Bukit Asams profit slumped 19.1 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 4.06 trillion (US$286.78 million) in 2019, while Adaros profit slumped 3.2 percent yoy to $404.19 million in the same year. The companies profits declined as lower commodity prices had offset their higher sales volumes, which had grown 13 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

We, in the coal industry, are very sensitive to prices, said Bukit Asam commerce director Adib Ubaidillah at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (4/3).

We expect 2020 to be a challenging year and we will continue focusing on improving operational performance, mitigating costs and improving efficiency, said Adaro chief executive officer Garibaldi Thohir in a statement on Wednesday.

Read also: Indonesia tightens grip on nickel and coal exports

Indonesia's coal price reference (HBA) fell 28.2 percent over the course of last year to $66.3 per ton in December 2019 due to declining coal demand in China, Europe and the United States.

Indonesian miners say prices were also affected by the governments domestic market obligation (DMO) policy that required miners to sell a quarter of their production domestically at $70 per ton, which was below market prices in the first half of 2019.

Such miners potentially face another challenging period in 2020 as the Southeast Asian country officially extended in January its DMO policy for another year and as Chinese factories remained closed for a third consecutive month due to the novel coronavirus epidemic. Chinas industry accounts for 70 percent of electricity consumption in the worlds second-largest economy.

Weaker power demand and weaker industrial activity [in China] inevitably impacted both domestic production and consumption of thermal coal, wrote market analyst Gavin Thompson, energy vice chairman for Asia Pacific at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, in a media newsletter on Feb. 4.

Imports are also expected to slow, with reports of Indonesian producers already being asked to delay loadings. The effect on prices though is likely to be muted; prices fell so much through 2019 that globally many producers are already operating at negative margins.

Read also: Coal miner Bukit Asam to invest Rp 4t this year, mostly on infrastructure

Bukit Asams revenues increased 2.9 percent yoy to Rp 21.79 trillion in 2019. The increase was, however, offset by a sharper 12.4 percent increase in production costs to Rp 14.18 trillion.

Bukit Asam stocks, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) as PTBA, rose 4.22 percent on Wednesday despite reports of a decline in the companys profit, higher than the increase in the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), which gained 2.38 percent.

Bukit Asam president director Arviyan Arifin said the company would aim to be more efficient in all its activities to reduce costs and improve profit margin. He also hoped that prices would also improve in the global market despite the coronavirus outbreak.

We are optimistic that in 2020, hopefully, prices will not be as bad as in 2019, he said.

Furthermore, the coal miner has mitigated losses from a shrinking Chinese market since 2017 by expanding its exports to India, Southeast Asia and Taiwan, among other new markets, said Adib.

Meanwhile, Adaros financial report shows that sales volume increased 9 percent yoy to 59.19 million tons in 2019. Yet, the companys revenue dropped 4 percent yoy to $3.46 billion due to falling commodity prices. The miners operational costs also rose 3 percent yoy to $2.49 billion.

Adaro stocks, traded on the Indonesian bourse as ADRO, rose 5.7 percent on Wednesday, above the JCIs 2.38 percent.
Randeep Hooda Ready To Introduce Rumoured Girlfriend Lin Laishram To His Parents, Is A Wedding On The Cards?
Two people, who had a travel history to coronavirus-hit Italy and South Korea, fled from a Jammu-based government hospital's isolation ward, but were brought back, officials said on Thursday.

They were admitted to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Samples were taken and sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, they said.

There was adequate hospital security outside the isolation ward, but relatives of one of the persons "forcefully" took their patient with them after which the other also fled, a senior GMCH official said.

They "fled" on late Wednesday night, the official said.

The two persons were brought back and admitted to the GMCH on Thursday, Dr Shafqat Khan, who has been nominated by the government as the nodal officer for coronavirus prevention in Jammu and Kashmir, told PTI.

If the samples taken from them test positive of coronavirus, they will be quarantined, officials said, adding that no positive cases of the virus have been found in the Union Territory.

Symptomatic people have been instructed for home quarantine, they said.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 29, including 16 Italians, the government has said, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.

People have been advised not to panic as there is no truth in the information being circulated on social media about the death of one person in the Union Territory, the officials said.

Jammu and Kashmir has been put on alert to deal with any threat emerging due to coronavirus, they said.

"People are urged not be give ear to rumours. There is nothing to panic," Khan said.

Officials said around 200 people who have travel history to coronavirus-affected countries or had contact with people from such countries have been identified.

Twenty-one suspected cases have been tested till date and "no positive case has been reported so far across J-K", a senior official said.

He said a "100 per cent self-declaration at the airports of Jammu and Srinagar will start from Thursday to trace any such person having travel history to the affected countries."



"Further, check points for passengers travelling by road have been set up at Lakhanpur and Lower Munda (Zig) to identify individuals with travel history to these countries," the official said.

Financial Secretary in the Health Department Atul Dulloo reviewed arrangements at the GMCH during a visit to the hospital.

Round-the-clock data control centres have been established at Srinagar and Jammu to receive information on travellers coming from coronavirus-affected countries, Principal Secretary for Planning and Information Rohit Kansal said.

He added that all suspected cases are being managed as per protocols.

The government on Thursday appointed officers to ramp up efforts for prevention of novel coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bhupinder Kumar, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), J&K, will be the overall in-charge of the coronavirus control efforts in the Union Territory, according to an order.

Kumar will work under the supervision of the financial commissioner of the health department



The order also states that Shafqat Khan will work under the supervision of the mission director.

Divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and chief medical officers will be in-charge of their respective areas, as per the order.

They will ensure detection at airports and railway stations, and take steps to created adequate facilities for isolation of suspected cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has expressed fears over the level of preparedness in Abuja to combat the raging coronavirus. Go...

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has expressed fears over the level of preparedness in Abuja to combat the raging coronavirus.Going forward, Lawan asked the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, to immediately release the sum of N620m to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), an amount budgeted for emergency response to the Coronavirus (COVID  19) outbreak.Lawan made the call on Wednesday when the leadership of the Senate undertook a tour of Isolation Centres located at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.The Senate President, while speaking to journalists after an inspection of two facilities, bemoaned the lack of preparedness and expressed frustration at the state of the isolation centres which were yet to be completed.Speaking on the findings of the Senate leadership, Lawan said, First of all, let me say that the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the management of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital are in high spirits, looking determined to discharge their mandates and obligations.But from our inspection here, the temporary isolation centre is really not in good shape, it doesnt look ready to receive any patient, and I believe that this is something that we need to fix between now and tomorrow.We are in an emergency, even if we dont have people who are affected, we shouldnt just rest on our oars. We have to do everything and anything possible to fix that temporary isolation centre to be prepared to receive anyone who falls sick in this respect.I am sad, we are indeed actually sad, that of the N620 million that was supposed to be released to this place for fixing of everything here to NCDC, not a kobo has been released.We are going to get across to the Minister of Finance and all the other authorities that have anything to do with this to release this money latest between today and tomorrow.The Senate President, further lamented that Nigeria, despite being a country with the largest economy in Africa, is yet to have a completed Isolation Centre in any of the geo-political zones that would provide emergency response to disease outbreak in the country.He charged those saddled with leadership responsibilities in the country to live up to expectations through timely discharge of their mandates and duties.Theres no way that Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, with a population of two hundred million, and yet the Federal Capital and six surrounding states of the North Central, you dont have one room that you can call an isolation centre, where anyone who unfortunately falls into this crisis will be taken to. This is not acceptable.So, we are going to ensure that the money is released, we are not going to put pressure. This is what they are supposed to do, and they must do it.I also believe that we should have a replication of the permanent site, we should be able to complete this and then have five others across the remaining geo-political zones of the country.Lets spend money for our people, we waste money for some things that are less important. This is about the health and lives of the people of this country, and therefore, no investment is too much.So, we should be prepared at all times. We had Ebola, SARS, now we have Coronavirus, we do not know what else will come, but we should be prepared and ready for any eventuality, and no investment is too much.The contractor said by the end of this month this should be ready, we pray it should be faster, but by the end of tomorrow, that temporary site must be ready.Theres no generator, no electricity, nothing. There were two or three air conditioners brought this morning, maybe because yesterday we said we were coming here. This is not acceptable.As leaders given responsibilities, we have to do what is right. This is unfortunate. So, the Ministry of Finance should release the N620 million between today and tomorrow.The Senate President assured Nigerians that the relevant committees of the Senate will carry out a follow-up on Thursday (today) to ensure that work on the isolation centres begins and is completed.The Senate Committee on Health will come back tomorrow (Thursday), we want to see that temporary isolation centre fixed.We need to be committed, we need to be very serious, and this is the essence of our oversight, but because it is very important, we decided that the leadership of the Senate should lead this oversight, Lawan said.
HARTFORD, Conn.  Universities that rely on international enrollment are expected to take a big hit in the next academic year as canceled entrance exams and travel restrictions in China because of the coronavirus make it impossible for students to enroll and attend college.

Over 660,000 Chinese students study abroad annually  close to half of them at schools in the United States, where they represent the largest group of foreign students by far  and many universities have come to rely on their tuition dollars.

To avoid losing students, universities have begun planning to enroll admitted students initially through online programs, accepting alternatives to traditional standardized tests and considering virtual orientations for students and their families in China.

At the University of Buffalo, Joseph Hindrawan, an associate vice provost, said the virus represents the biggest crisis he has experienced in 25 years in international enrollment management.

This has been carrying on for months already and we dont see the end of the tunnel, he said. Everything is unpredictable.

As the virus began to spread through China, organizations canceled SAT exams and tests for English language proficiency that foreign students must take to enroll in American universities. Then the government began imposing travel restrictions that keep students from meeting with recruitment agents, securing paperwork and applying for visas.

Tan Weiwei, a 17-year-old student in Changsha, the capital of the southern province of Hunan, spent her winter break studying for the SAT, facing a wall plastered with motivational slogans. When the March exam she was registered for in Malaysia was canceled, she said she felt lost and anxious about what it could mean for her dream of studying in the U.S.

Tan, who was wanted to study abroad since first traveling to the U.S. at the age of 13, is now planning to take the SAT in August or October.

I have made another plan. What I am faced with is fewer opportunities and greater pressure, Tan said.

SAT exams were canceled in March in China and for students traveling from China to other countries to take the SAT, according to Jaslee Carayol, a spokeswoman for the College Board, the company that administers the test. The next exam is scheduled for May. A limited number of tests are offered in China, which is among countries where SAT tests have been canceled in the past because of concerns about possible cheating.

Test centers also have been closed for the ACT exam in China, Hong Kong and Thailand, said Ed Colby, an ACT spokesman.

The Educational Testing Service has suspended the TOEFL English proficiency test and GRE exams through the end of March in China, where it normally has more than 375 test centers open, spokeswoman Ally Norton said. Testing also has been suspended countrywide in Iran, with local delays in other countries including Italy and South Korea.

A survey of 100 student recruitment agencies in China found two-thirds of them forecast a decline in students going abroad this year as a result of the virus. But the survey, by the Beijing Overseas Study Service Association and the China Overseas Study Service Alliance, also found that 64% expect students who intended to study abroad ultimately will do so despite delays.

At the University of Connecticut, officials are developing a program that allows admitted students from China to take instruction online for the fall semester, and then join the campus in person in the spring. The university also is looking into providing housing over the summer for incoming students from China who are already attending U.S. secondary schools and enrolled students who cannot return home.

We have close to 10% of our entering class coming from mainland China. If youre thinking about 10% of the class may not actually be able to come for reasons that are beyond our control, thats concerning, said Nathan Fuerst, a UConn vice president for enrollment planning. Were concerned for students safety and well being, and were concerned for the institution and everything they bring to the institution.

Schools in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom have begun offering flexibility on deadlines for testing and application materials, said Derrik Karst of eduFair, a company that connects Chinese students and international schools. In light of the test cancellations, many universities also have begun temporarily allowing students to demonstrate English proficiency through online platforms such as Duolingo.

The University of Buffalo, like many U.S. schools, typically sends representatives to China for an orientation session for accepted students and their families. This year, if needed, they are looking into hosting a reception online.

Buffalo administrators also are following virus developments closely and fear it could affect domestic enrollment, if students are reluctant to study far from home, and long-term international enrollment if Asian economies are sent into recession.

High school junior Zhang Qingqing, who lives in the southwestern China megacity of Chongqing, was planning to take the SAT in Thailand this month before it was canceled. She is interested in media and film, fields in which she thinks the U.S. is far ahead of China.

If you miss the March exam, you have one less chance to test your level, said Zhang, who is hoping to take the test in Bangkok in May.

I hope the virus outbreak can end soon, she wrote on her microblog, and everyone can get through this period safely!

____

Associated Press news assistant Chen Si contributed to this report from Shanghai, China.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 04:01:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday expressed their rejection of harming Egypt's historical rights to the Nile River water by the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

"The water security of Egypt is an integral part of the Arab national security," said the Arab top diplomats during a meeting of the Arab League Council in Cairo.

Ethiopia declined a U.S.-sponsored ministerial meeting with Egypt and Sudan in Washington in late February to conclude a deal over the rules of filling and operating the GERD.

While Ethiopia, an upstream Nile Basin country, eyes massive benefits from the dam construction, downstream Egypt is concerned it might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of Nile water.

"The Council announces rejection of any unilateral measures that might be taken by Ethiopia, including starting filling the GERD reservoir, without reaching a comprehensive agreement governing the dam filling process and organizing its operation," said an AL resolution issued following the meeting.

Filling the reservoir, whose total capacity is 74 billion cubic meters, may take several years. Egypt seeks to prolong the period to avoid the negative effects of water shortage, which is a main point of the talks.

Earlier, Egypt criticized Ethiopia's absence from the Washington talks, saying Ethiopia "deliberately" hindered the path of negotiations.

Egypt's fellow downstream country Sudan expects future benefits from the GERD construction despite the Egyptian concerns.

The tripartite negotiations have been fruitless for years until the U.S. recently sponsored the fresh rounds of talks in Washington to push for an agreement, which was supposed to be signed by the three parties in late February.

Ethiopia started building the giant dam in 2011, which is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity and become Africa's largest hydropower dam upon completion.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu distorted the provisions of the verdict related to the Khojaly events. Along with the fake propaganda thesis by Azerbaijan, the article published on February 26 illuminated the official verdict of Fatullayev vs Azerbaijan case completely out of the context and obviously distorted.

According to their claims, ECHR stated that what happened in Khojaly amounts to a war crime or a crime against humanity. These false claims were later on spread by an Arabic website  Albosala.com.

Fatullayev VS Azerbaijan

In 2007 Azerbaijans law enforcement organs opened a criminal case against the editor-in-chief of the Real Azerbaijan journal Eynula Fatullayev accusing him of statements of defamations related to the Khojaly events. Taken as the basis to launch a criminal case were Fatullayevs critical articles about the state officials published on the pages of Real Azerbaijan as well as the articles containing evidence contradicting the official thesis about the events in Khojaly (ECHR verdict, 1st paragraph). In February 2005, the editor of the journal started his thread of articles under Karabakh diary name, summing up his thoughts after his 10-day visit to the Republic of Artsakh.



I have visited this town [Naftalan] where I have spoken to hundreds (I repeat, hundreds) of refugees who insisted that there had been a corridor and that they had remained alive owing to this corridor ... [They were killed] not by [some] mysterious [shooters], but by provocateurs from the NFA battalions ... [The corpses] had been mutilated by our own ...(1,2,3).

He was sentenced to a prison term by the Azerbaijani court and appealed the decision of the court in ECHR where the verdict of the court was assessed as an act of violation of Fatullayevs rights in a number of provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, ordering the immediate release of the journalist from the Azerbaijani authorities.

ECHR verdict and the Khojaly events

On the 87th paragraph of the official verdict of the ECHR on Khojaly states, Moreover, the Court notes that it is an integral part of freedom of expression to seek historical truth. At the same time, it is not the Court's role to arbitrate the underlying historical issues which are part of a continuing debate between historians that shapes opinion as to the events which took place and their interpretation. Court accordingly considers that it is not its task to settle the differences in opinions about the historical facts relating to the Khojaly events''. This being said, the Court has never made such a decision in connection with the contradictory views or facts and has never included the statement published by Anadolu in his verdict.

Another statement of the verdict reads, However, apart from this aspect, there appears to be a lack of either clarity or unanimity in respect of certain other aspects and details relating to the Khojaly events. For example, there are conflicting views as to whether a safe escape corridor was provided to the civilians fleeing their town. Likewise, there exist various opinions about the role and responsibility of the Azerbaijani authorities and military forces in these events, with some reports suggesting they could have done more to protect the civilians or that their actions could have somehow contributed to the gravity of the situation. Questions have arisen whether the proper defence of the town had been organized and, if not, whether this was the result of a domestic political struggle in Azerbaijan.

In view of the above Court considers the various matters related to the Khojaly events to be open to ongoing debate among historians and as such should be a matter of general interest in modern Azerbaijani society.

In this regard, the Court noted that a democratic society should tolerate discussion of topics that may be perceived in this society as a war crime or a crime against humanity.



Anadolu agency distorted the content of the decision rendered in the case, tearing out part of the said sentence of the 87th paragraph from the context and presenting it as a "conclusion of the court". In fact, the Court actually found that the contradictory information related to the Khojaly events did not allow to make a final conclusion and, at the same time, clarified that as an arbiter the solution of such case does not fall into its responsibilities.

ECHR called into question the theses about Khojaly that were spread by Azerbaijan and underlined the uncertainty of the parts that need to be studied, stating: Rather, the applicant [Fatullayev] was supporting one of the conflicting opinions in the debate concerning the existence of an escape corridor for the refugees and, based on that, expressing the view that some Azerbaijani fighters might have also borne a share of the responsibility for the massacre. Besides this, the Court also stated that the role and responsibility of the Azerbaijani authorities in either failing to prevent or contributing to the Khojaly events is the subject of ongoing debate.

Fatullayev was released on a presidential pardon in 2011 and established Azerbaijans Haqqin.az (Azerbaijani version - Virtualaz.org) website which currently serves as a propaganda platform for Aliyev. Fatuallayevs case is a vivid example of how everyone who speaks or acts against the authorities is treated unless they dont act the way the Azerbaijani authorities command.



When it comes to the media that carry out anti-Armenian propaganda on behalf of the Azerbaijani authorities - they have constantly faced justified arguments from the Armenian side, and regardless of whether the Turkish or other media sources become another tool for Azerbaijani propaganda, the reality remains the same. In 2012 Ilham Aliyev declared that Armenians spread all over the world are our main enemies, approving that anti-Armenian propaganda has become the main policy of present-day Azerbaijan.

Turkish state news agency distorts the facts: ECHR called the Khojaly events into question





Turkish state news agency Anadolu distorted the provisions of the verdict related to the Khojaly events. Along with the fake propaganda thesis by Azerbaijan, the article published on February 26 illuminated the official verdict of Fatullayev vs Azerbaijan case completely out of the context and obviously distorted.

According to their claims, ECHR stated that what happened in Khojaly amounts to a war crime or a crime against humanity. These false claims were later on spread by an Arabic website  Albosala.com.

Fatullayev VS Azerbaijan

In 2007 Azerbaijans law enforcement organs opened a criminal case against the editor-in-chief of the Real Azerbaijan journal Eynula Fatullayev accusing him of statements of defamations related to the Khojaly events. Taken as the basis to launch a criminal case were Fatullayevs critical articles about the state officials published on the pages of Real Azerbaijan as well as the articles containing evidence contradicting the official thesis about the events in Khojaly (ECHR verdict, 1st paragraph). In February 2005, the editor of the journal started his thread of articles under Karabakh diary name, summing up his thoughts after his 10-day visit to the Republic of Artsakh.



I have visited this town [Naftalan] where I have spoken to hundreds (I repeat, hundreds) of refugees who insisted that there had been a corridor and that they had remained alive owing to this corridor ... [They were killed] not by [some] mysterious [shooters], but by provocateurs from the NFA battalions ... [The corpses] had been mutilated by our own ...(1,2,3).

He was sentenced to a prison term by the Azerbaijani court and appealed the decision of the court in ECHR where the verdict of the court was assessed as an act of violation of Fatullayevs rights in a number of provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, ordering the immediate release of the journalist from the Azerbaijani authorities.

ECHR verdict and the Khojaly events

On the 87th paragraph of the official verdict of the ECHR on Khojaly states, Moreover, the Court notes that it is an integral part of freedom of expression to seek historical truth. At the same time, it is not the Court's role to arbitrate the underlying historical issues which are part of a continuing debate between historians that shapes opinion as to the events which took place and their interpretation. Court accordingly considers that it is not its task to settle the differences in opinions about the historical facts relating to the Khojaly events''. This being said, the Court has never made such a decision in connection with the contradictory views or facts and has never included the statement published by Anadolu in his verdict.

Another statement of the verdict reads, However, apart from this aspect, there appears to be a lack of either clarity or unanimity in respect of certain other aspects and details relating to the Khojaly events. For example, there are conflicting views as to whether a safe escape corridor was provided to the civilians fleeing their town. Likewise, there exist various opinions about the role and responsibility of the Azerbaijani authorities and military forces in these events, with some reports suggesting they could have done more to protect the civilians or that their actions could have somehow contributed to the gravity of the situation. Questions have arisen whether the proper defence of the town had been organized and, if not, whether this was the result of a domestic political struggle in Azerbaijan.

In view of the above Court considers the various matters related to the Khojaly events to be open to ongoing debate among historians and as such should be a matter of general interest in modern Azerbaijani society.

In this regard, the Court noted that a democratic society should tolerate discussion of topics that may be perceived in this society as a war crime or a crime against humanity.



Anadolu agency distorted the content of the decision rendered in the case, tearing out part of the said sentence of the 87th paragraph from the context and presenting it as a "conclusion of the court". In fact, the Court actually found that the contradictory information related to the Khojaly events did not allow to make a final conclusion and, at the same time, clarified that as an arbiter the solution of such case does not fall into its responsibilities.

ECHR called into question the theses about Khojaly that were spread by Azerbaijan and underlined the uncertainty of the parts that need to be studied, stating: Rather, the applicant [Fatullayev] was supporting one of the conflicting opinions in the debate concerning the existence of an escape corridor for the refugees and, based on that, expressing the view that some Azerbaijani fighters might have also borne a share of the responsibility for the massacre. Besides this, the Court also stated that the role and responsibility of the Azerbaijani authorities in either failing to prevent or contributing to the Khojaly events is the subject of ongoing debate.

Fatullayev was released on a presidential pardon in 2011 and established Azerbaijans Haqqin.az (Azerbaijani version - Virtualaz.org) website which currently serves as a propaganda platform for Aliyev. Fatuallayevs case is a vivid example of how everyone who speaks or acts against the authorities is treated unless they dont act the way the Azerbaijani authorities command.



When it comes to the media that carry out anti-Armenian propaganda on behalf of the Azerbaijani authorities - they have constantly faced justified arguments from the Armenian side, and regardless of whether the Turkish or other media sources become another tool for Azerbaijani propaganda, the reality remains the same. In 2012 Ilham Aliyev declared that Armenians spread all over the world are our main enemies, approving that anti-Armenian propaganda has become the main policy of present-day Azerbaijan.

Vanuhi Karapetyan
The India-EU summit which was slated to be held later this month will now be rescheduled in view of the outbreak, the said on Thursday.

India and EU decided to reschedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to in view of the advice by health authorities in the wake of the outbreak, MEA Spokesperson said.

He also said no case of any Indian being affected by in Iran has emerged.

Indian embassies across world are on the job to help Indians, he said as several countries grapple with the outbreak of the deadly virus.

On criticism by global bodies over the violence in the capital, Kumar said the situation in Delhi is fast returning to normal and law enforcement agencies are doing their best.

Asked about critical comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Delhi violence, he said these were driven by his political agenda.

To a separate question on the US-Afghan peace deal, he said India will continue to extend all support to Afghanistan for its overall development.

He also said that India has conveyed its concerns to China over the seizure of an autoclave from a Pakistan-bound Chinese ship by Indian authorities at Kandla port.

The concerns were conveyed as the autoclave recovered has military use, he added.
Advocates on both sides of a bill to repeal the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed handgun spoke to state lawmakers at a public hearing this morning.

After the hearing, the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill on a 6-4 vote, moving it into consideration for a vote by the full Senate.

The bill is by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, who has sponsored it for years. But it has never made it all the way through the Legislature. Alabama law enforcement officials have mainly opposed it.

Its legal in Alabama to openly carry a handgun. But to carry a concealed gun or a loaded gun in a vehicle requires a permit from a county sheriff.

Allen and representatives of several gun rights organizations spoke in favor of the bill, saying that people should not have to get permission for an activity thats protected by the 2nd Amendment. They said criminals dont buy permits anyway and the requirement only restricts law-abiding citizens who want to carry a weapon for protection.

Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham and Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones spoke in opposition to the bill, saying the permit requirement is an important tool for law enforcement.

Sheriff also depend on pistol permit fees to help support their operations.

Dana Ellis of Hoover, a volunteer leader with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which promotes policies to reduce gun violence, and Sonny Brasfield, executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, also spoke in opposition to the bill.

Lawmakers who support eliminating the permitting system that keeps us safe dont stand for Alabama voters, Ellis said in a statement released by the organization. What this comes down to is responsible gun ownership. If you want to carry a concealed gun in public, you should go through a background check.

Chris McNutt of the National Association of Gun Rights, who testified for the bill, said 15 other states have constitutional carry, or no requirement for a permit to carry a concealed gun. McNutt said they are Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and North Dakota.

Beth Alcazar of the United States Concealed Carry Association and of Bama Carry, said she teaches women how to use handguns for protection. Alcazar, noting that openly carrying a handgun is legal, said it makes no sense to require a permit just because a gun in concealed by clothing.

Voting in favor of the bill today were Sens. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore; Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville; Larry Stutts, R-Sheffield; Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Will Barfoot, R-Montgomery; and Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the committee chairman.

Voting against it were Sens. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham; Malika Sanders-Fortier, D-Selma; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro; and Tom Whatley, R-Auburn.

Whatley said he voted against the bill to make a statement about another issue, what he said was a lack of action on road projects since the Legislature approved an increase in the state fuel tax last year. Allen, sponsor of the pistol permit bill, chairs the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee.

Why are we spending time on this when we could be fixing roads and bridges? Whatley said.
Michel Barnier, the European Unions chief Brexit negotiator, warned of serious divergences with the UK after the two sides ended their first week of negotiations over their future relationship.

And he rebuffed a request from the British government to wrap up an early deal on access to the single market for Londons banks.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels yesterday, Barnier said the two sides are at loggerheads on four key issues: competition policy, where the EU wants the UK to commit to a so-called level playing field to prevent its economy being undercut; criminal justice and law enforcement, where the UK says it wants to withdraw from the European Court of Justice and the European Convention on Human Rights, something the EU opposes; fishing, where the EU wants continued access to British waters; the way any deal would be structured.

Britain favors a series of mini-agreements in case some issues become impossible to resolve, while the EU insists there must be one all-encompassing deal.

There are many serious divergences, Barnier said. But an agreement is possible -- even if difficult, he added.

As the talks began earlier this week, officials were privately downbeat on the chances of an agreement, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened to walk away if no deal is in sight by June. But on Thursday, both sides described the first round of talks as constructive.

The mood music was better than expected, EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan told reporters in Dublin on Thursday. Once the initial skirmishing is out of the way, hopefully we can make a lot of progress between now and the end of June.

Brussels has made any trade deal conditional on the two sides reaching an accord on fish.
Boris Johnsons senior adviser Dominic Cummings has been accused in the House of Lords of pursuing a vendetta to undermine the BBC.

The broadcaster Joan Bakewell read out a series of comments made by Mr Cummings before he entered government in which he called the BBC a mortal enemy of the Conservatives, and said the right should aim to end the corporation in its current form and establish a partisan TV news channel along the lines of Fox News in the US.

Citing the governments boycott of Radio 4s Today programme since Decembers election, Baroness Bakewell, a Labour peer, demanded to know whether or not the ongoing agenda Dominic Cummings has set out for undermining the BBC is now government policy.

And she was backed by film producer David Puttnam, who accused Mr Cummings and the government of embarking on a campaign of intimidation and destabilisation towards the BBC.

Broadcaster and Labour peer Melvyn Bragg told peers that Mr Johnsons administration was set on a childish policy of sending a wrecking ball through the national broadcaster.

Ten highest paid BBC presenters Show all 10 1 /10 Ten highest paid BBC presenters Ten highest paid BBC presenters Joint 10th: Jason Mohammad & Vanessa Feltz Each earns 355,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 9. Claudia Winkleman Salary: 370,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 8. Zoe Ball Salary: 370,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 7. Andrew Marr Salary: 390,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 6. Alan Shearer Salary: 440,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 5. Steve Wright Salary: 465,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 4. Huw Edwards Salary: 490,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 3. Graham Norton Salary: 610,000 PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 2. Chris Evans Salary: 1.25m (Evans left the BBC in December 2018) PA Ten highest paid BBC presenters 1. Gary Lineker Salary: 1.75m PA

The warnings came in a House of Lords debate on the day that new culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, accused the BBC of providing a narrow urban outlook and called on it to reflect all of our nation, and all perspectives.

In a speech to a media conference in London, Mr Dowden warned that perceptions of news impartiality was now higher for some commercial channels than for the public service broadcaster and said that the BBC needed to think boldly about its future in the context of younger generations favouring YouTube or streaming services like Netflix.

During the election campaign, Mr Johnson questioned whether the BBCs longstanding model of funding through the licence fee still made sense given the growing popularity of on-demand streaming services.

And ministers recently launched a consultation on decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee, sparking claims that they were trying to take away the corporations financial stability.

Chariots of Fire producer Lord Puttnam, a Labour peer, told the House of Lords that the current project to undermine public service broadcasting was not new, but was part of a decades-long campaign of salami-slicing and intimidation by successive Conservative governments.

Tory administrations had sought to take the wind out of the BBCs sails and erode the trust it enjoys from the public, he said.

But he said Mr Cummings approach to the public service broadcaster represented a massive departure from conservatism with its genesis in Trumpian populism.

Lord Puttnam accused the government of embarking on a campaign of intimidation and destabilisation towards the BBC (David Sandison)

He told peers the BBC had emerged as the digital gold standard in the provision of trusted information in an era of fake news.

He added: We are watching a well-rehearsed process of intimidation and destabilisation. We cannot allow an unremitting vendetta to rob us of the most valuable asset democracy has at its disposal.

Lord Bragg lambasted the Tory administrations approach towards the corporation. Referring to disparaging comments made by a senior Downing Street source, he said: It appears this government wants to thwack the BBC. A word straight from the nursery. Over the years the Tories have a good record of thwacking.

He added: The declared policy of sending a wrecking a ball through an organisation thats taken almost 100 years to evolve and is now fine-tuned to every class, age group, creed and niche in this country is childish.

Former BBC director general John Birt, a crossbench peer, dismissed the Netflix myth that new subscription services made the BBC less relevant. He pointed out the broadcaster continued to account for 26 per cent of all UK consumption, compared with around 2 per cent by Netflix.

The two organisations are not remotely comparable, neither in their purpose nor in their popularity, said Lord Birt.

Liberal Democrat former minister Lord McNally said the licence fee should be protected from populist ways of weakening it.
Iran closes schools amid coronavirus fear

Iranian officials announced that education suspended in the country until March 20 to curb coronavirus outbreak.

Iran has suspended education in schools and universities for two weeks over rapid spread of the new type of coronavirus across the country.

Elementary and secondary schools as well as universities were closed in the virus-hit country until March 20, Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki told reporters.

HEALTH MINISTER ASKED CITIZENS TO STAY AT HOMES

Namaki asked citizens to stay at their homes, saying traveling is very dangerous these days as the virus is spreading fast across the country.

The death toll in Iran from the new coronavirus has climbed to 107, the country's Health Ministry announced on Thursday. Fifteen additional people died of the virus as new cases were reported across the country in the last 24 hours, spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said at a news conference in the capital Tehran.

The latest figure brought the total number of infections to over 3,510, said Jahanpour.
telent and Tait Communications enable improved firefighter safety on the ground for East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

East Sussex, United Kingdom, 05 March 2020 ? Tait Communications has been chosen by East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (ESFRS) to provide a new safety critical fireground communications solution, improving firefighter safety. The equipment will be supplied and installed by telent, its long-term IT partner and a specialist in the effective operation of the UK?s critical national infrastructure.

Fireground radios provide a vital safety critical communication tool for local communications between firefighters and on-scene incident commanders. They are used by firefighters in breathing apparatus when operating hoses, scaling ladders and entering buildings. ESFRS? current radios are aging and require urgent replacement.

The solution, developed by operational teams at ESFRS working with Tait Communications, in collaboration with telent, overcomes these challenges by providing better compatibility with firefighters? breathing apparatus for improved voice and audio performance in digital mode. In addition, new audio accessories with large buttons are incorporated for easier use when wearing protective gloves and an enhanced digital communications range allows multiple radios to be used together over both long and short distances. When the ?Push To Talk? button is pressed on the digital radio, it sounds an alert tone indicating to the firefighter to start talking, increasing usability and user confidence especially for breathing apparatus wearers in zero visibility, high stress conditions.

Following successful simulated incident trials, telent will supply 350 Tait handheld digital radios to ESFRS. These will be a mix of ATEX units for use by firefighters and non-ATEX units for use by incident commanders, with both units sharing a common battery. Ongoing support and maintenance of the radios will be provided by telent.

?Crucially, this solution will enhance communications between firefighters on the ground, providing them with better protection and ensuring they can carry out their vital work safely,? said Richard Fowler, Assistant Director, Operational Support and Resilience, at ESFRS. ?As the radio was designed specifically to meet the requirements of our fire service, it targets the key areas that needed to be addressed to improve our operational capabilities.?

The solution runs on pre-defined operational channels and uses a 4-Watt ATEX radio transmitter, a four-fold increase over typical analogue devices, providing increased operational range. It has been developed to work with Drager breathing apparatus, retaining the benefits of the Lung Demand Valve (LDV) noise suppression, while optimising the clarity and volume of speech on the digital channels.

With the radios able to operate in close proximity, each firefighter may be issued with a radio, eliminating the need for sharing radios at an incident, providing a major safety benefit. To further enhance the coverage range, telent will provide ESFRS with portable repeaters that can be deployed ? for example, in a high-rise building ? enabling coverage throughout the incident area on demand. Further digital communication options are available to link the fireground radio solution to the Incident Command Unit using the Tait Unified Vehicle solution which integrates fireground radio with 4G/LTE, including Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth for hands-free voice operation. It will enhance Incident Command Unit (ICU) operators? freedom, enabling them to move about and increase productivity and efficiency, with the added benefit of voice recording of radio communications on the channel.

Barry Zielinski, Operations & Services Director at telent, said: ?We are delighted to expand and continue our work with ESFRS. Providing safety critical solutions as a trusted IT partner to the emergency services sector is a key focus for telent and we?re proud to be able to deliver communication services to support fire and rescue services across the country as they carry out their crucial work.?

?Tait is committed to providing enhanced safety critical radio communications products and solutions to vertical markets including fire and emergency response,? said Andrew Gill, Managing Director EMEA at Tait Communications. ?Along with ESFRS and our long-term partner, telent, we have developed an easy-to-use, high-capability solution that is suited for the intensity of fire and rescue situations. We look forward to continuing our work developing and delivering mission-critical products and services to the sector.?
Editor's Note: This article was updated on March 5 with the name of the dog at New Lotus Moon.

The Woodlands resident Rebecca Schner poured her heart, soul  and personal funds  into her newly opened small business, New Lotus Moon, in November 2018.

She opened the shop in part to sell fair trade arts, crafts, jewelry and other items to local residents in what was at the time a vibrant Grogans Mill shopping center. Business was good and she felt like she was making a positive impact on both the local economy and people whose crafts she sells.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Closure of Randalls in Woodlands stirs concerns for viability of 2 shopping centers

All that changed on Feb. 15 when a nearby Randalls grocery store closed its doors for good, leaving the oldest village shopping center in The Woodlands without a main tenant to drive customer foot-traffic to other businesses.

I sat here in tears on Saturday (Feb. 29) and didnt think it would be this bad, Schner said of the decline in both customers and sales. It is like a ghost town. I really did not think it would drop off this bad. It was dead (on Feb. 29) and it has only been two full business weeks (since Randalls closed). I thought (a decline) would be gradual, but it has been a big drop off.

Coping with closure

Schner is one of nearly a dozen business owners or managers in the Grogans Mill shopping center who recently formed a merchants association to strategize ways to cope with the Randalls closure, help local officials find a replacement business as quickly as possible and also pressure the owner of the building her store and others are located in to upgrade facilities and be more responsive to their repair concerns.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Randalls to close five grocery stores in Houston area

The Grogans Mill shopping center has multiple businesses within its boundaries, however the Randalls store is still owned by parent company Albertsons and two adjacent strip center buildings are owned by a California-based businessman and managed locally by JBeard company. With no more customer foot-traffic coming from Randalls as in the past, small stores like Schners New Lotus Moon as well as SN Liquor, Brothers Pizza Express and Maine-ly Sandwiches have been struggling.

Bruce Cunningham, a member of the Grogans Mill Village Association board and one of the founders of The Woodlands Farmers Market  which is hosted in the centers parking lot each Saturday morning from 8 a.m. until noon, has been one of the most active advocates for the small businesses. Cunningham has been working overtime trying to connect developers, business owners and others in an effort to find a replacement for Randalls as soon as possible. He told members of the townships Ad Hoc Economic Development Committee on Feb. 25 that Schner had reported only $70 in sales for one business day and that the owner of Brothers Pizza, Manny Bekiri, had also said business was down.

Sales slump

Schner declined to offer specifics on her stores daily finances during an interview on March 3, but said Cunningham was accurate in describing the struggles she and other businesses now face.

People drive up and think Randalls is still open. Then they see it is closed and they drive away, Schner said while holding her small dog, who is named Astrid, inside her store that has has the sweet scent of patchouli oil and incense, which she sells. It is a huge drag. I think from the numbers I had on Friday and Saturday (business is down) about 80 percent. I felt good as Id seen an upswing in business at Christmas. (After the Randalls closure) It just went down.

The Villager also visited Maine-ly Sandwiches, a popular New England-style lobster roll and fried clam strips eatery in the center. At a normally busy dinner hour of 5 p.m., there was only one customer in the restaurant. In an effort to raise awareness of his business, owner Mehmet Ozpagda has lobbied officials at the farmers market to allow him to sell sandwiches.

Nearby by Brothers Pizza Express has also seen a downturn in sales, said an on-duty shift supervisor who asked to not be named in this article. He said the popular pizza joint is still seeing decent sales of bulk orders for parties or business lunches, but that individual in-restaurant diners have been in short supply since Randalls closed more than two weeks ago. In a pre-emptive move, officials with Chef Chans Chinese restaurant decided in late January to open the restaurant on Sundays after learning of the impending closure of Randalls as a way to stimulate business.

MORE FROM JEFF FORWARD: Woodlands business owners in Grogans Mill Shopping Center join forces to save their stores from demise

Another store that has struggled is SN Liquor, a small business that sells beer, wine and other alcohol as well as Texas Lottery tickets and high-end cigars. During a visit on March 3 by The Villager staff, no customers entered the store over a nearly one-hour period of time.

Elio Velasquez, the manager of SN Liquor, admitted that since Randalls closed on Feb. 15, business at the liquor outlet has been, a little slower, than usual. He also said there have been false rumors that the store is closed after one of his employees did not show up for work and the store did not open for several hours. The delay in opening, he said, caused some regular customers to think the business had closed like Randalls.

Many of my (regular) customers, I have not seen them since Randalls closed, Velasquez said. Ive been having some more of the Woodlands Resorts guests walking over to buy liquor for their conference parties.

Velasquez said he and the stores owner, whom he did not identify, were concerned about how long the empty space that housed the old Randalls would sit empty. He said a former Randalls located on on Texas 242 that closed several years ago has still not reopened with a new business, although he did acknowledge a movie theater is going to occupy that site. He said the store will not change its hours of business or the number of days open at this time, and he sees no need to reduce his staff.

Alcohol does not go bad, as they say, and that is a pro for us, Velasquez added. Because we dont have many employees, that helps, too.

Schner said one positive of the experience is the support she said she and other businesses have received from Cunningham, the Grogans Mill Village Association as well as Director Ann Snyder of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors. Snyder is the chairperson of the Economic Development Committee and been active behind the scenes trying to find a solution to the issue.

Schner said Snyder personally visited New Lotus Moon and other businesses to hear firsthand about their woes and offer support.

I felt represented and I felt heard, Schner said of Snyders in-person visit. I do understand the townships limitations, but it is nice to see they care.

jeff.forward@chron.com
Autoclave seized on Chinese ship by India could have been for nukes in Pakistan

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 05: The Chinese ship that was seized recently by India had declared an autoclave as an industrial dryer.

The Indian authorities who detained a ship bearing a Hong Kong flag which was bound to Port Qasim in Karachi said that the vessel almost managed to get away. Had action not been initiated immediately, the ship would have got away and made its way into Pakistan.

The ship was detained for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in the launch process of ballistic missiles, as an industrial dryer.

When a Pakistan bound Chinese ship almost got away at Gujarat

Now the analysts too have confirmed that the autoclave can be used to manufacture of the motor of long range missiles. Had this ship made its way to Pakistan, then the autoclave may have been used for Pakistan's Shaheen nukes. It may be recalled that both China and North Korea had helped Pakistan in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

The ship which was detained on February 3 underwent a detailed inspection at the Kandla Port in Gujarat. In order to check the large autoclave on board, a second team of the DRDO was sent to Gujarat, sources tell OneIndia.

The ship which is named Da Cui Yan carried a Hong Kong flag. The ship left the port on the Yangtze River in China's Jiangsu province and was bound to Port Qasim in Pakistan. The vessel was intercepted on the basis of intelligence inputs. During examination it was found the autoclave has been certified as a dual use item, which can be used both for military and civilian purposes.
DZHANKOY, Ukraine -- A Russian-controlled court in Ukraines Crimea has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to 6 years in prison for being a member of an extremist group, in what Amnesty International called "the latest example of the wholesale export of Russias brutally repressive policies" to the Black Sea peninsula.



The Dzhankoy district court on March 5 found Sergei Filatov guilty of being a member of the religious group and handed down the sentence on the same day, the Jehovah's Witnesses said in an email.



According to the group, Filatov is the religious organization's first member sentenced in Russia-annexed Crimea, and the 30th Jehovah's Witness convicted in Russia and Crimea since 2017. Ten of the convicted have received prison sentences.

Russia officially banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in April 2017 and deemed it an "extremist organization," a designation the U.S. State Department has characterized as "wrong."

Filatov, a father of four, had to move from continental Ukraine, where the Jehovah's Witnesses are legal, to Dhankoy to take care of his ill daughter, his supporters told Crimean Solidarity, a rights group that has members in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine.

Crimea has been controlled by Moscow since March 2014 after Russia forcibly annexed the peninsula, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted amid a wave of public protests.

Sergei Filatov is a prisoner of conscience, facing years in a penal colony solely for expressing his faith. Across Russia, Jehovahs Witnesses are being sent to jail, tortured and harassed under vague counter-extremism legislation, said Marie Struthers, Amnesty Internationals Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.

It is chilling to see the Russian authorities roll out their pursuit of Jehovahs Witnesses across the border, Struthers said in a statement.

Also, on March 5, another court in the Crimean city of Yalta, convicted another member of the religious group, Artyom Gerasimov, of organizing extremist activities and fined him 400,000 rubles.



The group says the case against Gerasimov stemmed from his bible studies sessions with others.



The Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia for decades due to the views of its members about military service, voting, and government authority in general.



Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, nine Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in Russia. They include Danish citizen Dennis Christensen, who was sentenced in February 2019 to six years in prison in the western city of Oryol.

The charges against Christensen have been condemned by rights groups in Russia and abroad.

With reporting by the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Only two weeks ago, the Swedish government announced that it would establish a second Truth and Reconciliation commission (TRC) in addition to the already planned Truth commission on historical abuses and mistreatment of the Sami. The second is to deal with historical injustices committed towards the Swedish national minorities Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset.

This is just the latest TRC set up in the Nordic countries, which also counts the Norwegian TRC and planned Finnish TRC. The new Nordic TRCs often point to the Canadian TRC as a source of inspiration. However, though it is only mentioned occasionally, the first attempt to adapt the TRC model to a Nordic welfare state history was the Greenlandic Reconciliation Commission (GRC). And the other Nordic TRCs could learn important lessons from the Greenlandic process, especially in terms of handling the history of the Nordic welfare state  a topic that turned out to arouse ambiguous attitudes and strong reactions in both Greenland and Denmark.

Recommended reading Jean-Pierre Massias: The Canadian commission is a new model for transitional justice

The origins of Greenlands reconciliation process

The Act on Greenland Self-Government of 2009 recognizes Greenland as a people pursuant to international law with the right of self-determination. Elected just a few years later, former Greenlandic Prime Aleqa Hammond (2013-14) saw a need to gain momentum for her declared political ambition of independence in her life time. In her view, mental decolonization was key to preparing Greenlanders to cut the ties from Denmark and establishing a reconciliation commission was a tool to get there.

Greenland with its 56.000 population is slowly transitioning towards ever-greater degrees of sovereignty. It formally ceased being a colony in 1953, when incorporated into Denmark as a county. In 1979, after two decades of intense political mobilization, it obtained Home Rule and in 2009 Self-Government. Together with the Faroe Islands, Greenland remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark (often referred to as the Unity of the Realm in Denmark), consisting of three countries united in one constitution and monarch. Greenland finds itself at the center of attention in an increasingly intense geopolitical struggle, recently witnessed in U.S. President Donald Trumps offer to buy Greenland. The idea of future Greenlandic independence is shared by most Greenlandic political parties, although they disagree on when, how, on what conditions and not least, how the relations to Denmark should look like in the future.

Hammonds government considered including Denmark in the reconciliation process at some point. However, Denmark itself opted out of the process early on; when asked about the GRC former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Social Democrats) answered: We have no need for reconciliation. One might have expected that this answer would lay the process dead. However, as mental decolonization and mastering ones own past and future within Greenland was the main ambition to the GRC process, Hammond did not consider Danish participation crucial.

Reconciling Greenlanders with themselves

The GRC was established in August 2014. It consisted of six highly educated commissioners with no prior affiliations to Greenlandic political parties. The commissioners represented different groups within the Greenlandic society in terms of regions, ethnicities and language. Staying loyal to the mandate, the GRC only operated with a vague conception of Denmark as a colonial power, but did not attempt to mete out neither state nor individual accountability. Instead, the GRC formulated a four-sided reconciliation definition dealing solely with reconciliation within Greenland: 1) Reconciliation with ones self and ones own background (personal reconciliation); 2) Reconciliation with the past (things that happened); 3) Reconciliation between groups in the Greenlandic society (human relations at large); 4) Reconciliation between generations (on an individual level).

Interestingly, it was not the first odd 250 years of Danish colonization that preoccupied the GRC but rather the detrimental effects of the policies conducted in the period 1953-1979, after Greenland formally had ceased being a colony. In this period, often referred to as the modernization period, Denmark introduced a number of intensive reform programs meant to bring Greenland  now a region in a welfare state consolidating itself  on par with the rest of the population.

This meant radical changes for the Greenlandic population. After 1953, the traditional hunting culture was swiftly replaced with the cultural requirements of a modernized fishing industry. Greenlanders from small settlements were moved into huge modern building blocks in larger towns and the authorities rolled out different educational reforms, including efforts to increase the number of Danish-speaking Greenlanders.

The reforms aimed at heightening livings standards and improve public health  not least to put an end to the rampant tuberculosis. They did indeed increase public health considerably and gave some Greenlanders new educational opportunities. However, the gap between the official rhetoric of equality between Danes and Greenlanders, and the lived realities created frustrations amongst Greenlanders. Greenlanders increasingly felt sidelined in a development controlled by the Danish authorities. To some it inspired political action canalized into the political mobilization leading to Home Rule in 1979. To others, it resulted in an internalized feeling of inferiority leading to a host of social problems impairing Greenlandic lives for decades to come. It was exactly this feeling of being second rank, which Hammond wanted the GRC to address and mend.

Keeping Denmark out of the process

The GRC not only aroused strong objections in Denmark, it also encountered fierce opposition in Greenland. Surprisingly, this often came from Greenlandic politicians and intellectuals that had previously engaged with ideas of some form of process to reconcile or master the past. More than anything, this had to do with Hammond herself. Her political visions of an independent Greenland, her controversial decisions to allow mining for uranium and her line towards Danish-speaking Greenlanders deeply divided the Greenlandic public. Moreover, her short period in office was characterized by political scandals. Ultimately, she was ousted first from government and later from her party Siumut.

The heavy associations to Hammond kept haunting the public legitimacy of the GRC even after her fall. Moreover, the fact that Denmark was not part of the process led to some confusion as to who was to be reconciled with whom and not everybody shared the idea of a need of internal reconciliation  least of all one dictated by Hammond.

Articulating the injustices of the welfare state

The Greenlandic reconciliation process is often referred to as a failure in Greenland. When the GRC handed in its final report in December 2017, Greenlandic Prime, Kim Kielsen (Siumut) dryly commented that he had not yet had the time to read the (70-page long, easily read) report, clearly indicating that he did not intent to either. No real attempts to follow up on its seven recommendations have been made so far. In the 3 years it functioned, the GRC ended up being an object of intense political debate at first and almost complete indifference towards the end, which ultimately impaired the process substantially.

However, while the association to Hammond clearly made it difficult for the GRC to fulfill the task of creating reconciliation between Greenlanders, the process exposed other layers of emotions directly tied to the period 1953-79. For better or worse, the direct and indirect assimilation policies conducted in this period both created a high number of family ties between Greenland and Denmark. The fact that the reform programs  carried out in the name of equality and mostly with good intentions  in this period laid the foundation for a welfare state model in Greenland, including free public health and education, makes the critique of this particular chapter in history quite ambivalent to many Greenlanders. Articulating a critique would have been knotty even without Hammond.

Despite a number of variations, the Nordic TRCs, just as well as the Greenlandic, all deal with the history of the Nordic welfare state in its making. The critique implied is not of the regular neo-liberal sort, but one raised by population groups that are often depending on its services. This creates a very particular type of context to all the Nordic TRCs. Whatever turns they may take in the coming years, they will most likely run into the same convoluted topic and all the questions it implies. A look to Greenland could be instructive in that regard.
American International College located in Springfield, MA, has been designated a Military Friendly School for 2020-2021. American International College is proud to be recognized as an institution that assists men and women who serve our country.

American International College (AIC) has again been named a Military Friendly School. Continuing in its mission to provide veterans and their spouses with the finest choices for post-secondary education, VIQTORY, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that connects the military community to civilian employment and educational and entrepreneurial opportunities, has released the 20202021 Military Friendly Schools list.

The Military Friendly Schools list provides a comprehensive guide for veterans and their families using data sources from federal agencies, veteran students, and proprietary survey information from participating organizations in order to help them select the best college, university, or trade school to receive the education and training needed to pursue a civilian career.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation are evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey completed by the school. This year, fewer than 800 schools nationwide earned this prestigious designation.

American International College is proud to be recognized as an institution that assists men and women who serve our country. The college appreciates the value of the many educational and leadership experiences that occur in the Armed Forces, and the excellent foundation that military experience provides. In turn, we give veteran students transfer credits for service in the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, helping service members and veterans get a head start on earning their degrees, says AIC President Vince Maniaci.

Methodology and criteria were determined by VIQTORY with input from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the individual institutions survey scores with the assessment of its ability to meet thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer) and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.

The entire 20202021 Military Friendly Schools list is available online at militaryfriendly.com. More information about AICs commitment to attracting and supporting military students can be found online at aic.edu.

# # #

Founded in 1885, American International College (AIC) is a private, co-educational, doctoral granting institution located in Springfield, Massachusetts comprising the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Health Sciences. AIC supports and advances education, diversity, and opportunity for its students and the community.
BAXTER, Tenn.  Billy Dyers cellphone blared out an emergency alert, then his wife Kathys phone followed, giving them just enough time to get downstairs and flip on a TV to check the news.

Then the tornado hit.

When the sun rose Tuesday morning, the Dyers emerged to find the walls around their corner bedroom gone. Their mattress was perched precariously on their bed's headboard, with only sky all around.

"Thank God we had enough time to get downstairs to the basement or we would probably not be here," Dyer said.

State emergency officials said 24 people died when fast-moving storms crossed Tennessee early Tuesday. Eighteen of them, including five pre-teen children, died in Putnam County, some 80 miles east of Nashville. Eighty-eight more were injured in the county.

Twenty-one people remain unaccounted for, Putnam Sheriff Eddie Farris said, and about 40 percent of the rubble remains to be searched.

People across Nashville were awakened by outdoor sirens warning of the tornado danger early Tuesday. Sirens also sounded in parts of Putnam County, but in the Dyers' Double Springs community, deep in the Tennessee countryside, no such systems exist.

"If the cellphones didn't have the emergency call, it wouldn't have been good," Dyer said.

The twisters ripped off brick facades, bent metal poles and shredded more than 140 buildings while burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements.

Officials are still assessing the damage.

John C. Tune Airport, a smaller airport in Nashville that generally serves corporate and private aircraft, estimated $93 million in infrastructure damage, not accounting for 90 destroyed aircraft and other damaged vehicles. Nashville International Airport emerged unscathed.

In Nashville, 33,000 customers remained without power Wednesday, and Nashville Electric Service said most customers able to still receive power will be restored by Monday.

The storm has already spurred an outpouring of private donations, including $1 million from Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk and the Titans Foundation.

Dyer's own 34-year-old daughter, Brooke, found shelter in the basement of the house he grew up in next door, and then "called me screaming and crying." Moments after the tornado passed, he ventured out into the darkness and freed her from the rubble.

"Thank God my mother had a basement, a very small basement," the 64-year-old Dyer said. "She was standing there between the crack of the door screaming and crying, top of the house gone."

Gov. Bill Lee declared an emergency, sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts and ordered flags over the state Capitol to fly at half-staff until Friday for those killed. President Donald Trump, who plans to visit Friday, tweeted: "The USA stands with the people of Tennessee 100%, whatever they need!"

National Weather Service survey teams indicated that the damage in Nashville and Wilson County to the east was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, with wind speeds up to 165 mph, the agency said. One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile stretch of Nashville, including parts of downtown.

The tornado that struck Putnam County damaged more than 100 structures along a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) path that wiped some homes from their foundations and scattered debris. The garage Dyer's father used as an auto mechanic was scraped off its concrete slab, with metal rafters crushing the front and rear of his red Mustang with an Elvis Presley license plate.

Terry Cooler, an elder at the Double Springs Church of Christ, found only a hole in his roof, which he thinks was caused by flying debris. Much worse was the fate of the mother of a deacon at his church, who lost her home in the storm and then was rushed to a hospital for angioplasty and a stent.

"I'm sure the stress didn't help her," Cooler said. "She's 86 and lost everything."

Dyer and his neighbors spent Tuesday picking through shattered glass, busted walls and drenched belongings for anything to salvage.

After surveying the damage Tuesday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee marveled at people's resilience.

"In the worst of circumstances, the best of people comes out, and that's what we're seeing," he said.

Justin Douglas, 22, was one of them. He's a native of Mt. Juliet outside Nashville, and recently graduated from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville  both places hit hard by tornadoes. He said he knew some of the victims.

"Back home, there were some family friends that they found laying in the bed with the house collapsed on top of them, and then a guy I went to church with growing up, his daughter passed and I don't know how him and his wife are," Douglas said. "I heard they were in the hospital in rough shape."

Douglas moved his skid-steer loader to the Double Springs area Tuesday night, ready to help clean up Wednesday.

"Well, we need to go help because these are our friends, our neighbors, our family," Douglas said. "We're going to go help."

___

Teresa M. Walker of The Associated Press wrote this story. AP contributors include Jonathan Mattise in Nashville and Kimberlee Kruesi, who traveled with the governor.
DETROIT, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on Unidirectional (UD) Tapes Market by Fiber Type (Carbon Fiber UD Tape, Glass Fiber UD Tape, and Other UD Tapes), by Resin Type (Thermoset UD Tape and Thermoplastic UD Tape), by End-Use Industry Type (Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Consumer Goods, Wind Energy, Oil & Gas, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2020-2025.

This comprehensive report, from Stratview Research, studies the UD tapes market over the trend period of 2014 to 2019 and the forecast period of 2020 to 2025. The report estimates the current and future demand for UD tapes at the global, regional, and country level. The report also studies all the major suppliers of UD tapes across the globe. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for market participants as well as investors in the identification of low-hanging fruits as well as formulate growth strategies.

Unidirectional (UD) Tapes Market: Highlights from the Report

UD tapes are composed of endless fibers that are orientated in one direction impregnated with a polymer resin matrix. UD tapes are layered together to form a laminate or a component. The number of layers depends upon the rigidity and strength required for the component. UD tapes offer significant weight reduction and helps various industries (aerospace and automotive) reduce carbon emissions. It is made by impregnating carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber or natural fiber stacked together in one direction, with a thermoset or thermoplastic resin.

Over the decades, thermoset UD tapes have been widely used across various industries, as they are cheaper, highly reactive and have ease of impregnation. High usage of carbon fiber/epoxy composites in the aerospace industry owing to their lightweight, high strength and modulus, and excellent fatigue performance; is also one of the major factors behind the dominance of thermoset UD tapes in the market. Thermoset UD tapes are widely used for making primary aerostructures such as fuselage and wings of the next-generation aircraft programs as they offer maximum strength and stiffness in one direction which is the desired property for large structures. In recent years, thermoplastic UD tapes are also gaining traction in a wide array of applications as they offer higher toughness, high chemical resistance, easy & quick consolidation, quick cycle time, recyclability, and unlimited shelf life.

UD tapes represent less than 1% of the total composite materials market in terms of volume; however, it is anticipated to grow at one of the highest rates in the years to come. Stratview Research's estimates suggest that the global UD tapes market is set to grow at an attractive CAGR of 6.1% over the next five years to reach an estimated value of US$ 3.9 billion in 2025. Several factors are behind the growth of UD tapes in a wide array of end-use industries in which inherent benefits of UD tapes over competing metals including steel and aluminum and composite materials, such as compounds and fabric prepregs, have been the biggest driver across industries.

Click Here and Run Through the TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/347/Unidirectional-Tapes-Market.html

Carbon fiber UD tape is likely to remain the growth engine of the market during the forecast period. Aerospace & defense, automotive, consumer goods, and wind energy are likely to remain the major markets for carbon fiber UD tapes in years to come; however, aerospace & defense will remain the biggest market. Both thermoset and thermoplastics are gaining momentum in carbon fiber UD tapes.

Based on the end-use industry, aerospace & defense is expected to remain the dominant segment, whereas automotive is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period. UD tapes have witnessed an increased penetration in various sections of an aircraft, such as in wings, fuselage, clips, clits, brackets, and profiles. Increasing demand for aircraft in emerging economies and continuous increase in global military expenditure are the major growth drivers.

With the increasing demand for composite materials in the aircraft industry, there has been a greater urge for automation in the manufacturing processes. AFP and ATL processes are such technologies that can lay prepreg materials at a much faster rate than laying prepreg materials manually and have been efficacious in gaining consequential shares in the aerospace prepreg market. UD tapes (slit and UD tape) are the materials of choice for such manufacturing processes. Similarly, the role of UD tape is pivotal in developing large-size blades at a lower weight. UD tapes are increasingly preferred in crucial blade sections, such as spar cap.

Register Here for a Free Sample of the Detailed Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/347/Unidirectional-Tapes-Market.html

In terms of region, North America is projected to remain the largest market for UD tapes during the forecast period. North America is the largest manufacturing hub of the aerospace industry, backed up by Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, and Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. The USA is estimated to remain the biggest demand generator for UD tapes not only in North America but also in the world. The country is the largest market for UD tapes in the aerospace & defense industry, marine, construction, and other end-use industries. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market for UD tapes during the forecast period driven by upcoming commercial and regional aircraft, such as C919 and MRJ, opening of assembly plants in China by Boeing and Airbus and opening of assembly plants of automotive OEMs in the region.

Key players in the UD tapes market are BASF SE, CELANESE CORPORATION, Evonik Industries AG, Hexcel Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber and Composites, Inc., SABIC, SGL Carbon SE, Solvay S.A., TEIJIN LIMITED, and Toray Industries, Inc. Advancements in the resin system, new product development, collaboration with tier players/OEMs, and execution of mergers and acquisitions are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.

Market trend and forecast analysis.

Market segment trend and forecast.

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Emerging trends.

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.

Key success factors.

This report studies the unidirectional (UD) tapes market and has segmented the market in four ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the four ways in which the market is segmented:

Unidirectional Tapes Market, By Fiber Type:

Carbon Fiber UD Tape (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Glass Fiber UD Tape (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Other UD Tapes (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Unidirectional Tapes Market, By Resin Type:

Thermoset UD Tape (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Thermoplastic UD Tape (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Unidirectional Tapes Market, By End-Use Industry Type:

Aerospace & Defense (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Automotive (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Consumer Goods (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Wind Energy (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Oil & Gas (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Unidirectional Tapes Market, By Region:

North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , The UK, Russia , and Rest of Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , India , and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America , the Middle East , and Others)

Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the advanced materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Advanced-Materials.html

Related premium market reports in the advanced materials industry are:

Aircraft Pressure-Sensitive Tape Market by Aircraft Type (Commercial Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, General Aviation, Helicopter, and Military Aircraft), by Tape Type (Specialty Tape and Masking Tape), by Backing Material Type (Fiberglass, PET, PP, and Others), by Adhesive Type (Silicone, Acrylic, and Rubber), by Application Type (Interiors and Exterior), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World); Market Size, Share, Trend, Forecast & Competitive Analysis: 2019-2024.

Carbon Fiber Tape Market by Form Type (Prepreg Tape, Dry Tape), by Resin Type (Epoxy, Polyamide, Bismaleimide, Thermoplastic Resin, and Others), by Manufacturing Process Type (Hot Melt Process, Solvent Dip Process), by End-Use Industry Type (Aerospace, Marine, Pipe & Tank, Sporting Good, Construction & Infrastructure, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World); Market Size, Share, Trend, Forecast & Competitive Analysis: 2019-2024.

About Stratview Research

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We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

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A popular full-moon party in southern Thailand known for its raucous revelry has been cancelled because of the coronavirus, an official said Thursday, the latest hit to a tourism industry which foresees a loss of six million visitors this year. Tourism is a cornerstone of Thailand's economy, and the virus has wreaked havoc as visitor numbers have dwindled in the wake of the epidemic. Attracting some 40 million foreigners a year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand confirmed Thursday the country could see a loss of six million visitors in 2020. Their absence, particularly the Chinese, has turned once-popular tourist attractions -- such as animal-themed parks in Pattaya and the sandy beaches of Phuket -- into near-ghost towns. The full moon party on southern island Koh Phangan -- which draws some 10,000 partiers each month -- will be the latest casualty, according to a local official. "To prevent the spread of COVID-19, (the business association) has voted to suspend the party," Somchai Somwong, Koh Phangan's acting district chief, announced Thursday. The cancellation comes the week the Thai government plunged tens of thousands of holiday plans in doubt. Its health minister announced -- and then swiftly rescinded -- an order for all inbound travellers from 11 countries and territories to undergo quarantine, sending waves of concern on Twitter among Thais and foreigner visitors. On Thursday, the palace mouthpiece Royal Gazette said four countries -- South Korea, Italy, Iran, and China, including Macau and Hong Kong -- would be classified as "high-risk areas". But details on whether foreign travellers from the four countries would be subjected to a two-week quarantine were not immediately announced. Thailand currently has 47 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The latest announced Thursday include a 42-year-old Thai man and a 29-year-old Italian man, who is currently hospitalised in Chonburi province. Both had returned from Italy, where there are more than 100 fatalities from the coronavirus. Despite Bangkok being a major flight hub, Thailand's response to controlling the coronavirus spread has appeared ad hoc. Conflicting information given by ministries has added to public mistrust, fuelling panic buying of hand sanitisers and face masks across the country. The Commerce Ministry on Thursday sent out more than 100 "caravans" throughout the country to sell packs of face masks -- drawing lines of retail workers when they stopped at shopping malls. Revellers in full cry on the beach during the full moon party on Ko Phangan island in 2016 Commuters wear face masks on a river boat in Bangkok
Kruger said Wednesday that his research, which included information from IDOT, Oakbrook Terrace and his department, showed that crashes decreased to 35 in 2012 from 67 in 2011 after IDOT had completed safety improvements for the intersection. That number went as low as 23 in 2015, but increased to 36 in both 2017 and 2018, and to 49 in 2019. The red-light cameras were activated in August 2017.
On the website of the Verkhovna Rada the status of the document indicates that the project was withdrawn on March 4, 2020

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine withdrew the draft law No. 2708 on labor, which was planned to introduce a new Labor Code in action. This is stated in the card of the draft law on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

On the website of the Verkhovna Rada the status of the document indicates that the project was withdrawn on March 4, 2020.

Earlier, the monitoring mission of the European Trade Union Confederation, which visited Ukraine on February 25-27, 2020, announced the need for amendments to the draft law No. 2708, which are proposing to introduce new labor legislation.

Experts opposed certain provisions of the draft labor law. In particular, trade unions believe that the bill deprives workers of legal protection, and trade union committees deprive them of the ability to protect them.

As we reported, the initiator of the draft law was the Cabinet of Ministers of Honcharuk (dismissed yesterday), the approved it on December 27, 2019. After that, the document was sent for consideration the Verkhovna Rada.

The most important changes concerned the order of dismissal of an employee at the initiative of the employer.
WEST READING, Pa.- The coronavirus is a growing concern in the United States, with many parents worrying about how it will spread among children.

"Just like any virus that we pay attention to, the basics are the basics," said Dr. Bunmi Ojikutu, the chair of pediatrics at Reading Hospital.

"When kids do have it, it's showing up like a mild viral illness," Ojikutu said. "That helps us feel better about how kids will fare with this."

She said that information is based off of data from other parts of the world, where the virus has been circulating longer.

Experts said one of the best ways to avoid spreading germs is still the simplest. Wash your hands.

"You want to wash well and get in between the crevices with soap and water," said Ojikutu.

Many local schools are monitoring the coronavirus and have put out district-wide messages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has guidelines for schools based on where they're located and if the virus is present in that area.

Most schools have contingency plans for emergency situations.

"Viruses tend to be seasonal, and this one showing up at this time," said Ojikutu. "Time will tell us if it's going to behave like a usual seasonal virus."

She advised talking to your children but to spread facts and not hysteria.
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The death toll of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities on March 5 and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance, saying the situation in virus-hit Wuhan still remains severe despite positive progress.

China's National Health Commission said on March 5 that it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.

All the deaths were in the epicentre of the virus, Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, which continued to be ground zero of the COVID-19.

Also on March 4, 143 new suspected cases were reported while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952, the NHC said, adding that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 80,409 by the end of March 5.

This included 3,012 people who have died of the disease, 25,352 patients still undergoing treatment and 52,045 patients who have been discharged.

Also on March 4, two imported cases (people arriving from abroad) of the novel coronavirus infection were reported on the mainland, all of which were in Zhejiang Province.

By the end of March 4, 20 imported cases have been reported, the commission said.

By the end of March 4, 104 confirmed cases, including two deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in Macao and 42 in Taiwan, including one death, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Forty-three patients in Hong Kong, nine in Macao and 12 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

In Hubei province, from where the COVID-19 originated in December reported 134 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 new deaths on Wednesday, the local health commission said.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,466 and that of total deaths to 2,902, which included 2,305 fatalities in Wuhan.

The province also saw 1,923 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on March 4, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 40,479.

Among the 20,765 hospitalised patients, 4,747 were still in severe condition and another 1,041 in critical condition, it said.

Hubei province also reported 67 new suspected cases of the virus on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance on the prevention and control work of the COVID-19 as the situation in the Wuhan City and Hubei Province remains severe.

After arduous efforts throughout the country, the current situation of the epidemic prevention and control has continued to improve, and production and people's living have been recovering, Xi said in a meeting of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) on Wednesday here.

He called for more efforts to accelerate the establishment of an economic and social order that is compatible with the prevention and control work of the epidemic, so as to consolidate and expand this hard-won good momentum and create condition to build a moderately well-off society in all respects, and completely eliminate absolute poverty, state-run CGTN reported.

The epidemic prevention and control work remains tough in Hubei province and Wuhan city, and the risk of the epidemic spreading is increasing due to increased movement of people and gatherings in other regions, he pointed out.

He asked relevant authorities to deepen global cooperation and play China's role as a responsible major country.

It is imperative to promptly advance various tasks of economic and social development, orderly promote the resumption of work and production, realise the orderly flow of people and property, the connection of production, supply and marketing, and the effective integration of domestic and foreign trade, and minimise the loss caused by the epidemic, Xi said.

The CPC meeting highlighted the importance of the COVID-19 prevention and control work in Beijing and called for more efforts in preventing the situation from rebounding.

The meeting also urged more scientific research into test kits, vaccines and medical supplies.

By the end of March 4, there have been 12,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus outside China, with over 214 deaths, statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed on March 5.

In the past 24 hours, 2,103 newly confirmed cases outside China have been reported and four new member states--Argentina, Chile, Poland and Ukraine--have reported cases of COVID-19, the state-run People's Daily reported.

South Korea confirmed 438 more cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 5,766, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Japan confirmed over 1,037 coronavirus cases, and so far 12 people have died due to the infection.

Italy reported a total of 107 deaths of the deadly coronavirus, taking the total number to 3,089.

In Iran, the deadly infection claimed 92 lives out of more than 2,922 cases.

The US' death toll from the COVID-19 rose to 11 on March 5 and nationwide there are nearly 160 confirmed cases.

France said that 21 new cases of COVID-19 had been identified with a total of 285 cases now diagnosed, of which 12 were cured and four have died.
The identity of virtual currencies (VC) was one of the most keenly contested aspects in the cryptocurrency case before the Supreme Court.

It was the claim of the petitioners in the case that VCs are not money or legal tender, but commodities and therefore outside the powers of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate.

RBI also took a stand that while VCs are not recognised as legal tender,they can be used as a medium of exchange and hence a ban on them was justified so as to safeguard the payment system in the country. The court, at the outset, acknowledged that the exact identity of virtual currencies eludes precision.

Some call it an exchange of value, some call it a stock and some call it a good/commodity. There may be no difficulty in accepting the divergence of views, if those views are not driven by fear of regulation, the judgment said.

In order to address this issue, the court examined in detail about how VCs are treated by regulators in foreign jurisdictions and under foreign laws.

It noted that there was unanimity of opinion among the regulators and the governments of various countries that though virtual currencies have not acquired the status of a legal tender, they nevertheless constitute digital representations of value and that they are capable of functioning as a medium of exchange.

The IMF, the FATF, the European Central Bank, the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States, Department of Treasury and the Canadian Revenue Authority treat virtual currencies as digital representations of value. The European Central Bank went a step further by describing a virtual currency as a type of unregulated digital money, the court said.

The state of Liechtenstein, the apex court said, considers virtual currencies as digital monetary units which can be exchanged for legal tender and also be used to purchase goods or services, thereby assuming the character of a legal tender. The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority treats virtual currencies as units of account and consequently as financial instruments. Luxembourg has taken an official position that crypto currencies are actual currencies. Further, some of the states in the Unites States of America have passed laws recognizing virtual currencies as electronic medium of exchange, the apex court noted.

Thus, it was the courts conclusion that governments and money market regulators throughout the world have come to terms with the reality that virtual currencies are capable of being used as real money. But at the same time, the top court was also opined that foreign governments, statutory authorities and banking regulators are in denial that VCs do not have the status of a legal tender, as they are not backed by a central authority.

In consonance with the international position, the court concluded that though VCs are not recognized as legal tender, they are capable of performing some or most of the functions of real currency.

Regarding the RBIs role, the court held that there is no mandate that the role and power of RBI can come into play only if something has actually acquired the status of a legal tender.

Thus, it ruled that if an intangible property can act under certain circumstances as money (even without faking a currency), then RBI can definitely take note of it and deal with it.

Hence it turned down the contention of the petitioners that they are carrying on an activity over which RBI cannot exercise its regulatory powers.

But it ruled against RBIs order because it was disproportionate and prevented people and companies from engaging in a business which is legal in India.
The morning after the Senate trial of President Trump was one of the rare occasions over my yearlong tenure as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee when I was able to join my family for breakfast. My duties for the impeachment and its trial had made me particularly scarce. My teenage daughter wasted no time, startling me as I was taking my first sip of coffee. Dad, do you think the impeachment was worth it? Instinctively, I immediately replied: Of course it was, sweetheart!

In the weeks since, as I packed up our files for transmission to the National Archives, said farewell to my co-counsel and returned full-time to life off Capitol Hill, I have often thought about her question. Had I told her the truth? Had Congresss work on the impeachment and trial really left the nation, the Constitution and the future better off? How could I be so sure?

Since the Senate verdict, events have given an even sharper edge to my daughters question. The presidents misconduct has intensified: Having a decorated war hero and impeachment witness, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, marched out of the White House, together with his equally blameless twin brother; further actual and threatened retaliation against government officials like, most recently, Elaine McCusker, whose nomination to a top Defense Department post was withdrawn (after she questioned the suspension of assistance to Ukraine last year); public presidential interference with the Roger Stone sentencing; a rash of dubious pardons that undermine accountability for the corrupt and politically well-connected; and self-promoting presidential distortions about his handling of the coronavirus that bring to mind his false claim that his call with the president of Ukraine was perfect.

But I stand by my answer. Impeaching the president was absolutely worth it: The work of Congress to hold Mr. Trump accountable over the past year has left democracy and our nation stronger. There are five reasons.
French doctors, scientists and laboratory managers are meeting at the Elysee Palace Thursday as President Emmanuel Macron looks to "take stock of the state of the coronavirus and find solutions to deal with the crisis.

The gathering of 30 of the country's best health professionals comes as Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told TV news channel BFM that France has no intention of following the example of Italy and 12 other countries in closing schools and universities.

More than 95,000 people have been infected and over 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, which has now reached some 80 countries and territories.

France is currently in a stage 2 epidemic response, which consists of looking to contain the spread of the virus for as long as possible. Authorities have said, though, that the transition to a stage 3 response seems inevitable.

The number of cases in France has reached 285, with 15 people hospitalised in a serious condition.

Meanwhile an Elabe poll published Wednesday shows 52 percent of French people are not worried about the spread of the virus, known as Covid-19.

The IMF said the epidemic posed a serious threat and would slow global growth to below last year's 2.9 percent.

At a time of uncertainty... it is better to do more than to do not enough, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
An adorable dog has found a new best friend and forever home after abuse and neglect left her blinded.

Terrier mix, Puddin, one, was born with sight, but a rough start to life left authorities with no choice but to remove her infected eyes and sew her eye-sockets shut before she found happiness with a new owner in Texas.

Cute pictures show the adorable pooch loving life, playing fetch without a care in the world, toying with a cloth stuck on her head, and snuggling up with new owner and student, Cory Gonzales, 23, from Lubbock.

Despite her lack of sight, Puddin can clearly still show emotion as these heart-warming pictures show. The happy pup can be seen rocking a pair of sunglasses and happily playing with her toy bone.

Terrier mix, Puddin, one, was born with sight but a rough start to life left authorities with no choice but to remove her infected eyes and sew her eye-sockets shut, but she eventually found happiness with a new family

Cory Gonzales, 23, from Lubbock, pictured with a friend, gave Puddin a home after her former owners let her go following a legal battle

While it is unknown what caused the pup's diseased eyes, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas (SCPA) had to take the case to court to rescue the six-week-old mistreated mutt.

'She either was scratched during play or maybe got into something worse. Her owners sought medical help so late that it progressed and got pretty severe,' said Cory.

'They let it get so bad before going to the vets that animal control was called to see if they could help. When asked to hand Puddin over the neglectful owners refused, so a long drawn out legal battle began.

'But aside that, we don't know anything about her family history. I hope maybe one day we will. All I know is that Puddin was the name the SPCA of Texas gave her when they rescued her.

Authorities had to sow poor Puddin's eyes shut in order to save her from a serious infection she caught mysteriously (pictured as a pup)

The pup's former owners were neglectful and did not flag's Puddin's infection to a vet before it was too late

'At the end of it Puddin was saved, but her eyes were destroyed. They were causing her too much pain. She was blind and needed to have her eyes removed.'

After seeing the cuddly young dog on an internet ad, the Cory was captivated by the then four-month-old canine and gave her a forever home.

Dog-lover Cory is now on a mission to encourage owners to adopt and not shop for pooches, to raise awareness that even visually impaired pets are perfect.

'I was looking to adopt a dog because I really wanted to have a companion when going back to grad school. I couldn't bring my family dogs from home, so I fell in love with Puddin,' he said.

Puddin is now living her best life with Cory. Pictured rocking a pair of sunglasses on a sunny day's walk

Cory takes Puddin everywhere, and even though the pup (pictured) cannot see, she is still having plenty of fun

'I think just because a dog needs special attention or has special needs doesn't mean it's going to be any more different or difficult than raising a typically developing dog.

'We haven't had any added challenges with Puddin other than working on additional commands such as watch out or up and down for stairs.'

Puddin leads a high-quality life taking long naps and trips to the dog park with pooch-pal Murphy, just like any other dog.

Cory said training Puddin has not been more challenging than any other dog, but added he had to teach her special command, such as 'watch out'

Dotting pup dad Cory got Puddin created an Instagram account for his rescue, where she gathered 135,000. She now even has her own line of Puddin products (pictured)

Proud doggy-dad Cory has begun to sell merchandise after requests from fans and Puddin is loved by 135,000 followers on Instagram.

'My mother actually suggested I create an Instagram, she thought Puddin was the cutest and thought the world needed to see,' Cory said

'The response has been mostly positive, but we have had a couple of people say some not nice things but to be honest I don't even give it the time of day. There is nothing but positive vibes allowed in Puddin's house.

Puddin's owner encouraged people to rescue dogs instead of adopting puppies, because they needed homes too

Puddin got her name from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas (SPCA) who rescued her as a puppy

Cory had Puddin trained - or attend 'puppy school' and the pup seemed ready to take her first day on

'Please rescue a dog. It is simple. Those babies need homes, and they will just give you all the cuddles and kisses.

'I think it's incredible so many people all over the world feel so much love for this incredible dog like I do.'

You can follow the dynamic duo on TikTok and Instagram @mydearpuddin.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:14:11|Editor: xuxin

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BANGKOK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Thai navy has prepared a place in eastern Thailand for the quarantine of Thai nationals returning home from South Korea amid the COVID-19 outbreak, navy spokesman Vice Adm. Prachachart Sirisawat said on Thursday.

The navy's place, which has several buildings normally used as reception houses for navy officers and guests on Ao Dong Tarn beach in the premises of Sattahip naval base in Chonburi province, has been prepared for use to quarantine some 200 people who will be among the Thais coming from South Korea, according to the navy spokesman.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said several other military spots have been prepared for quarantine.

Thousands out of a total of over 22,000 Thai nationals, currently employed in South Korea, are expected to return home shortly while hundreds have already returned and have been thermo-scanned at airports. Nine of those returnees were found to have a fever and are currently quarantined for a 14-day period.

Meanwhile, another four COVID-19 cases have been reported in Thailand, bringing the total to 47 on Thursday, according to Disease Control Department Director General Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai.
The Senators support in Illinois continues to grow with strong recent polling and a groundswell of thousands of grassroots volunteers organizing with Bernie 2020 across the state, his campaign said in a news release announcing the Saturday rally. Sen. Sanders previous trips to Illinois have included a Chicago rally that drew 12,500 people and a fair contract strike meeting to stand in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and SEIU Local 73.
Vodacom has announced that its national security team, in partnership with the South African Police Services (SAPS), has arrested suspects belonging to one of the largest battery theft syndicates in South Africa.

The network said that through an intelligence-driven operation initiated by Vodacom National Security with the assistance of the SAPS, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department and Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department arrested five suspects and recovered stolen batteries in Soweto.

The successful arrest of members belonging to one of the largest syndicates stealing batteries nationally follows an incident at the Middelburg R35 base station sites in Mpumalanga province where Vodacoms lithium batteries were stolen.

Suspects had managed to flee the scene before local police arrived.

We are not resting on our laurels, Vodacom chief risk officer Johan van Graan. We are fighting back and the clear message that we want to send to thieves out there is that you will be caught and you will be prosecuted.

That we were able to use our systems to track the movements of the members of the syndicate from Mpumalanga to Gauteng demonstrates the efficacy of the high-tech systems and technologies we have adopted to stem the tide of battery theft.

We are constantly implementing new technologies to make sure that the thieves are caught and prosecuted, Graan said.

Taking on syndicates

Vodacom said that this arrest is a crucial step in making progress against these large battery theft syndicates across the country, adding that it would protect its base stations by any means at its disposal.

Crucially, the suspects apprehended at the scene were linked to various cases of battery theft and vandalism across the country. What is clear is that through this arrest we are making inroads into one of the biggest syndicates operating inside the country, Graan said.

We are using all the means at our disposal to protect our base stations, so we can afford our customers unmatched customer experience and uninterrupted mobile service whether they are in urban or deep rural areas of the country.

Battery theft is rampant in South Africa, with base stations belonging to all operators being vandalised and robbed on a daily basis.

This results in network providers losing hundreds of millions of rand on an annual basis to theft and vandalism, with Vodacom stating that it is losing R120 million to vandalism and theft each year.

Battery theft does not only hurt the mobile networks investment into infrastructure  it also cuts off entire communities from their mobile connection.

Each theft incident can result in the network in that area being down for days, and can severely impact businesses as well as anyone relying on the internet to study, Vodacom said.

Vodacom repeatedly sees situations where people cant make emergency calls and are put in danger by these criminals  sooner or later these criminals will cost someones life.

Now read: 7 arrested in MTN battery theft crackdown
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-04 23:37:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NEW DELHI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A special police officer (SPO) and a civilian were killed, while as another SPO wounded Wednesday in a militant attack in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The attack was carried out at village Warpora in Sopore of Baramulla district, about 58 km northwest of Srinagar.

"This evening militants fired upon two SPOs in Warpora, killing one of them on spot and wounding another. A civilian who was standing close to them was also killed," a police official said. "The wounded SPO has been removed to the nearest hospital, wherefrom he was referred to Srinagar."

Following the attack contingents of police and army rushed to the spot. However, reports said militants managed to flee from the spot after the attack.

So far no militant outfit claimed responsibility of any such attacks.

Militant groups are engaged in a guerilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. The militants often carry out attacks on police and army in the region.

Gunfights between the two sides takes place intermittently.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
A fake aristocrat fraudster who served a four-year prison sentence for a 2.7 million scam is back in court after more than 100,000 allegedly went missing from her late fathers estate.

Rosemary Cubbin was jailed in 1992 after going on a spending spree with money stolen from a London hospital charity, splashing out on a penthouse overlooking the Thames, Caribbean holidays and a party at The Savoy.

She gave herself the bogus title Lady Aberdour while living the high life, sending a chauffeur to buy steak for her labrador Jeeves from Harrods, renting a helicopter to fly to Wales and once hiring a driver to take her dog from London for a walk in Scotland.

When caught out by a forged cheque, she fled to Brazil before being brought back to the UK to face justice.

The 58-year-old, now Rosemary Cubbin after marrying her Army captain partner, is under police investigation again after around 110,000 was said to have gone missing from the estate of her late father Dr Kenneth Aberdour.

Her brother Robert asked a High Court judge to remove Mrs Cubbin as an executor of the estate, claiming around 90,000 in cash and valuable items from their fathers home are unaccounted for.

The court heard the Office of the Public Guardian investigated spending from the estate between 2014 and 2016, finding 156,544.60 as a cause for concern and Mrs Cubbin was sacked as her fathers attorney in November 2017.

She has since repaid 47,510 but Joshua Winfield, representing Mr Aberdour, said she should be removed as an executor as she cannot account for a significant sum of money.

The Public Guardian investigated her conduct as attorney of the deceased, the late Dr Aberdour. That investigation was by a body of unimpeachable independence from the parties in this case.

The conclusion was that she had to account to the estate for missing funds, household items and certain unsubstantiated payments.

It is my submission that there is clearly a case here with reasonable prospects of success to recover money and items from Mrs Cubbin.

He added that Mrs Cubbin has also produced receipts for legitimate spending but said the missing money and possessions added up to a 109,568 shortfall. Mrs Cubbin disputes her brothers figures, saying that around 30,000 is owed to the estate.
I would like to know what the presidential candidates are doing to protect themselves, their staff, their respective constituents and reporters from becoming infected by the coronavirus while on the campaign trail. It seems to me that the candidates could easily and inadvertently infect thousands of people who gather at campaign sites. Are the candidates making contingency plans in the event that large gatherings are prohibited in the future?
Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria have long been patrons of the arts.

And the couple showed their appreciation Tuesday at the Academy of the Arts Achievement Awards in New York City.

Hilaria cut a chic look in an ankle-length leopard print satin duster over a black dress with metallic white gold stilettos and gold jewelry.

Chic display: Hilaria cut a chic look in an ankle-length leopard print satin duster over a black dress Tuesday at the Academy of the Arts Achievement Awards in New York City

She arrived on the arm of her husband, who suited up in a navy blue blazer and grey slacks with a burgundy necktie and black leather dress shoes.

Alec was on hand to present the Special Award for Leadership and Philanthropy to Ted Hartley.

Hilaria took to her Instagram story with a sweet note Alec wrote to her on the back of his place card: 'You're the most beautiful woman in the world.'

The couple caught up with pal Kelly Ripa, who served goddess vibes in a black wrap dress with gold and purple metallic print.

Arm candy: She arrived on the arm of husband Alec, who suited up in a navy blue blazer and grey slacks with a burgundy necktie and black leather dress shoes

Love letter: Hilaria took to her Instagram story with a sweet note Alec wrote to her on the back of his place card: 'You're the most beautiful woman in the world'

Squad goals: The couple caught up with pal Kelly Ripa, who served goddess vibes in a black wrap dress with gold and purple metallic print

The Live with Kelly and Ryan host presented Barry Sonnenfeld with the Performing Arts Award.

She was accompanied on the red carpet by Andrea Grover, who donned a black dress with lace cutouts and floral beading.

Ripa was also spotted mingling with Jordan Roth, who dazzled in a pink floral kimono.

They showed their support for Salman Rushdie, who was honored with the Literary Arts Award.

Gal pals: She was accompanied on the red carpet by Andrea Grover, who donned a black dress with lace cutouts and floral beading

Pretty in pink: Ripa was also spotted mingling with Jordan Roth, who dazzled in a pink floral kimono

Biggest fans: They showed their support for Salman Rushdie, who was honored with the Literary Arts Award

Little black dress: Rosie Perez put on a stunning display as she arrived in a black floor-length boatneck dress

Date night: She was accompanied by husband Eric Haze, who looked sharp in a black suit with a black dress shirt

Girl squad: The Birds of Prey star also posed for some photos with Hilaria and Ripa on the red carpet

Rosie Perez put on a stunning display as she arrived in a black floor-length boatneck dress.

She was accompanied by husband Eric Haze, who looked sharp in a black suit with a black dress shirt.

The Birds of Prey star also posed for some photos with Hilaria and Ripa on the red carpet.

The event was hosted by Academy of the Arts President Eric Fischl, who was accompanied by wife April Gornik.
An email from Superintendent Jennifer Ivory-Tatum to parents said the Department of Children and Family Services received a report over the weekend and began an investigation Monday afternoon.
More than half of Montanans  57% to be exact  think that some degree of action should be taken to address climate change. That sentiment is up 3 percentage points from last year, and up 12 since 2011.

The numbers were announced Feb. 20 as part of the 2020 Conservation in the West Poll, run every year as part of Colorado Colleges State of the Rockies Project. Since 2011 the survey has polled voters in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Arizona and New Mexico on their attitudes toward a wide range of environmental topics.

Support for conservation on public lands has remained consistent and strong over the decade-long history of our poll, Corina McKendry, director of the State of the Rockies Project and an associate professor of Political Science at Colorado College, said in a press release.

The urgency and demand for action behind those feelings is now intensifying as voters in the West increasingly believe their lands and lifestyles are coming under attack from the impacts of climate change and energy development.

On the topic of climate change, 57% of Montanans agreed with taking action  39% of them with the statement that Climate change has been established as a serious problem, and immediate action is necessary, and 18% with the statement that: There is enough evidence that climate change is taking place that some action should be taken.

The impacts of climate change in the Treasure State have been very or somewhat significant according to 53%. The 2017 Montana Climate Assessment projects that average temperatures will continue climbing in coming decades, with a wide range of environmental impacts. A majority of Montana respondents also indicated that it was important that their governor and member of Congress have plans to reduce the carbon pollution that drives climate change.

Lee Banville, a political analyst at the University of Montana, agreed overall that climate change has emerged as a more pressing issue in the last decade and Montanans are more concerned about it, but he saw a few caveats in the polling.

Of that 57% figure reported in the summary of statistics, he said, you want to be careful when they lump that data together, noting that some action could encompass even minimal steps. He also isnt surprised that the poll didnt delve into exactly what actions Montanans might like to see.

There arent a lot of polls that push deeper into actual actions, he said, venturing that specific, concrete steps may prove less popular than action in the abstract.

But the numbers bear out what Amy Cilimburg, executive director of Climate Smart Missoula and a drafter of the Climate Ready Missoula plan, sees on the ground.

It clearly squares with what we see, that we need action, she said of the poll. To me, the most interesting thing is not the number, but the trendline showing greater concern about climate change over the years. Weve seen that quite strongly.

Both Helena and Missoula, she pointed out, have recently adopted resolutions committing themselves to 100% clean energy by 2030.

Its a reputable poll, she said. Its good to see were heading in the right direction.

The Conservation in the West Poll also found:

 44% of Montanans consider issues involving clean water, clean air, wildlife and public lands to be a primary factor in deciding whether to support an elected public official.

 60% described reducing Endangered Species Act protections for threatened species as a bad change.

 59% opposed privatizing the management of campgrounds and other visitor services at national parks.

 67% of Montanans supported full, dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

To view the full results, visit coloradocollege.edu/other/stateoftherockies/conservationinthewest/2020/.

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NUR-SULTAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2020) SULTAN, March 5 (Sputnik) - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Kazakhstan for high-level talks on bilateral ties, including on security cooperation, his secretariat said on Thursday.

Medvedev is expected to meet on Friday with Kazakh Security Council Chairman Nursultan Nazarbayev, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and National Security Committee Head Karim Massimov.

"During his working meetings, Medvedev will discuss the Russian-Kazakh relations, including security cooperation," the secretariat told reporters.
A coalition of groups from Berks, Reading and Kutztown called for local climate action during a panel discussion held on Kutztown Universitys campus on Tuesday, March 3.

Hosted by Sunrise Movement Berks, Reading for 100, and Kutztowns Trinity Lutheran Church, the event brought together university students, staff, sustainability professionals, and community members to launch a climate movement at the university demanding the administration to create a climate action plan.

The panel drew a crowd of about 50 campus and community members.

Panelists included Kevin Lugo, sustainability and solid waste manager for Reading city; Dr. Michael Davis, a professor at KU; Hadley-Rae Fout, a KU student; Stephany Paola Goico, Sunrise Berks media coordinator and Reading Area Community College student; Bradley Flamm, director of sustainability at West Chester University; and Rev. Inge Williams, who serves at Friedens Church in Shartlesville.

Keynote speaker Shana Rose, a 2016 environmental geography/psychology graduate from KU, serves as Reading for 100s Berks County outreach coordinator and represents KU on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educations Climate Action Task Force.

Rose talked about her experience attending the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, or COP23, in Germany in 2017, representing the American Association of Geographers and the Republic of Liberia, as well as the 2019 edition of the convention, COP25, in Spain in December.

Its really important that we begin to understand that what happens there is connecting to our community, and we cant ignore what happens somewhere else that must happen here, too.

Before leading the panel, Rose said, I think one of the important things to think about is, are you willing to stand up and fight for someone you dont know from somewhere else to have a livable future.

Rose expressed frustration in progress, or lack thereof, at KU regarding climate action.

If we are going to create a sustainable future for Kutztown University, there must be transparency across the board, Rose said. There must be stakeholders that arent just administrators and professionals in the field, but there must be faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members at the table discussing the future in a holistic way, whether that means drafting a climate action plan, or developing a panel.

I just dont see that happening at the moment at Kutztown, but I see the drive and the will from a lot of people here in our community, Rose added.

Flamm noted how, in some ways, his university is ahead of the curve compared to Kutztown  enacting a climate action plan in 2013  enabling him to provide insight into what experiences theyve had.

We are, I think, a model in some ways, but not a blueprint of what to do, Flamm said. The university has had some success at addressing our carbon emissions.

He noted that, in the past decade or so, the university has dropped their emissions by about a third, despite a 20 percent increase in building space and student population. He also said the universitys efforts have been benefitted by partnerships with the West Chester borough and Chester County communities.

The best way to forge ahead with the university and the campus community is pretty much to develop a vision as to what exactly were ultimately trying to do, Davis said regarding Kutztown. We have all these resources at the university and within the local area that we can utilize, and if we can bring them all to the table, we can forge ahead and make ourselves more resilient, more sustainable in a way that brings multiple angles to the table, and we can build upon that and make it work for everybody. Were all in this together, and we all win together or lose together.

Lugo explained that every community will be different, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Im from Berks County. I also lived in Seattle and worked for one of the most progressive departments of transportation in the country at a city level, Lugo said. What worked in Seattle isnt going to work in Reading. We dont have the money, we dont have the people, we dont have Microsoft, we dont have Amazon. The solutions arent going to be the same.

Lugo noted that he thinks its important to look at other like-sized communities for guidance.

The benefit of being behind the curve is that you dont have to make it up as you go, because someone else has already done it for you, Lugo said.

Davis added on, saying that the capabilities to take action are no longer out of reach.

If you have something that works, you emulate it and you build upon it, Davis said. Thats what gets us to where we need to go, were not trying to reinvent the wheel.

Rose noted that a petition is being circulated that will be presented to KU administration, to show the fact that there is not just a strong student population educated and motivated, but that there is a community behind them and is going to support them.

The panelists also emphasized the importance of conversations on the subject of climate change, to better understand and help others better understand the topic.
They were initially considering alternative signage technologies, but were more impressed with e-paper technology, comments Iraklis Kitsonas, International Sales Manager at AMCO.

Papercast e-paper displays used in Santorini and Syros smart city initiatives

Greece enhances municipal transport with passenger information projects

Travelers on Santorini and Syros will benefit from real-time passenger information on solar powered e-paper bus stop displays as a result of smart city projects led by Papercast partner, AMCO Inspired Technologies.

These projects are part of a wider national strategy to develop intelligent transport systems to handle the increasing demand for travel with sustainable transportation. Both projects were awarded to AMCO during 2019 and are expected to make a significant contribution towards improving the quality of life for residents and visitors.

In Santorini (officially Thira) the scope is to develop and operate an intelligent telematics platform for the public bus service. The technology will enable the municipality to optimise route planning and provide passengers with real-time trip related information. AMCO is providing a comprehensive solution that includes a Transit Management System (TMS) with Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) from Papercast partner LIT Transit, and a Passenger Information System (PIS). It encompasses a complete control centre that consolidates information from bus driver consoles to provide real-time passenger information. This live service information is delivered via smart bus stops using Papercast e-paper displays and associated system applications (such as mobile app and website).

In the Syros Ermoupolis Municipality, AMCO is providing an integrated multi-channel information system for bus transport using similar technology components to Santorini. The public will be able to gain information on public transport routes and the estimated time of arrival at bus stops in real-time on Papercast e-paper passenger information displays. The system includes LED and LCD passenger information displays within the city buses showing route itineraries, next stop and journey times. Live information is also available in real time via a smartphone mobile application, SMS and a customized web application. All data will be gathered in the central management platform, featuring state-of-the-art functionality and providing remote monitoring and management.

They were initially considering alternative signage technologies, but were more impressed with e-paper technology, comments Iraklis Kitsonas, International Sales Manager at AMCO. Papercast offers a self-sustainable solution that is completely solar powered and installed off-grid without any power or connectivity requirements. It also performs extremely well as an outside display, with excellent visibility even in direct sunlight. Overall, Papercast offers intelligent technology that blends seamlessly with the islands idyllic scenery.

AMCO has become the leading provider of Fare Collection and Passenger Information Systems for public transportation as a result of its ability to design, develop, implement and support complete systems from scratch. The company has successfully implemented hundreds of projects for private and public sector enterprises across Greece.

Papercast is revolutionising the way operators provide passenger information at the bus stop. The unique attributes of e-paper make it ideal for outside use, with unbeatable screen visibility, even in direct sunlight. Couple this with wireless connectivity and the exceptionally low power consumption achieved by Papercasts engineers, and the displays can be continuously solar powered without changing the battery  no power or connectivity cables are required. Additionally, Papercasts sophisticated cloud-based management system offers simple integration with open data standards, as well as the ability to control all aspects of the display and its content remotely. Transport authorities can now provide live arrivals and other information to passengers at bus stops where previously it would not have been feasible.

-- ends --

ABOUT PAPERCAST

Papercasts next generation bus stop passenger information solution uses wireless solar powered e-paper displays, with a comprehensive content management system developed exclusively for public transport needs. The platform enables transport providers to effortlessly keep passengers informed on real-time and advance service information at bus stops in a clear and user-friendly format.

http://www.papercast.com

Share this story and follow Papercast on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube

CONTACT INFORMATION

Kerry Marchbank

Marketing Manager

+44 (0)7817 916654

kmarchbank@papercast.com
After rocking several green looks at the beginning of the latest royal visit to Ireland, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is switching things up in a bold way. Wednesday night, she donned a vintage magenta Oscar de la Renta dress for a reception hosted by Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney.

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit Ireland - Day Two (WPA Pool / Getty Images)

The duchess attended the event, hosted at the Museum of Literature Ireland, with husband Prince William, who gave a keynote speech at the event. The couple also looked at some historical treasures, like a first-edition copy of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses."

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit Ireland - Day Two (Phil Noble / Getty Images)

Kate paired the bright dress with simple black pumps and a small black clutch, which kept the attention on the details of the dress including sweet black polka dots and ruffle details on the neckline. The classic style inspired some Twitter users to draw comparisons to Princess Diana's style.

Aww, looks like a Diana dress.  Fabnsab (@fabnsab) March 4, 2020

And in fact, Princess Diana did wear a similar pink, polka-dot dress in April of 1985, when she visited the Vatican with Prince Charles.

Kate's dress at the event Wednesday night (right) was very similar to one worn by Princess Diana in 1985 (left). (John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty (Left), Kensington Palace (Right))

In Diana's 1985 version of the look, her outfit was entirely pink with a slightly different neckline and pearl earrings, while Kate's 2020 style featured a pair of delicate hoops and a playful ponytail.

Earlier in the visit, Kate debuted a sleek, stylish new haircut, trading her long locks for a chic, shoulder-length look.

The colorful vintage dress is just one of the amazing outfits the duchess has worn on the royal visit. On Tuesday, she sparkled in an emerald green midi dress while visiting Guinness Storehouse's Gravity Bar with William.

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit Ireland - Day One (Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty Images)

She's also worn more casual looks, including a black, polka-dot blouse and dark jeans during visits to the National Centre for Youth Mental Health and Extern Charity's Savannah House, two organizations that aim to help young people with mental health support and key life skills.

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit Ireland - Day Two (Facundo Arrizabalaga / Pool via Getty Images)

The couple's three-day royal visit marks their first trip to Ireland and the first time a royal has visited the country after Brexit. On Thursday, their final day in the country, the royal couple will visit Ireland's west coast.
Warriors also shared the challenges they have faced during recovery from their injuries and transition to civilian life. Army Spc. John Palmer illustrated that the voice of America's veterans is invaluable when implementing change.

"I tell veterans that if they want change, that change begins with us," said Palmer. "Warriors need to advocate for the change they want to see, and our efforts will pave the way for the veterans who follow after us."

Other warriors were challenged by the nature of the event, overcoming social anxieties and physical limitations to speak up for a generation of wounded veterans.

"The biggest issue, like most events, was showing up because I have a lot of physical issues, and they tend to kickstart my emotional issues relating to those injuries," said Army Spc. Ryan Pearson. "But behind every veteran issue is a person. To be able to put my voice forward to explain how drastic some of these health challenges have been means a great deal."

By speaking with warriors, Congress members and their staff not only gained a valuable perspective on these critical issues  they were able to discuss solutions.

"Meeting with the representatives when we told our stories, you could see their passion and motivation," said Army Spc. Yomari Cruz. "That triggered additional questions and discussion that allowed us to share our firsthand experiences. For me, it means that coming out here and having the courage to be the voice for our brothers and sisters is actually making a difference."

"It's important for veterans to help our leaders come up with solutions to problems," said Army Staff Sgt. Cody Chism. "This advocacy event provided us with an opportunity to engage our elected officials at the highest level so that positive change can take place."

"The work we do is no substitute for warriors themselves speaking with our nation's leaders. That's why events like today's matter," said Jose' Ramos, WWP government and community relations vice president. "It gives those who live these realities every day a chance to make their voices heard about what they're experiencing. We're proud of the work they did today and the conversations we were able to have. True progress can only come from understanding."

These 26 warriors also attended a joint hearing of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs and Armed Services committees, where WWP CEO Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Linnington discussed WWP's top legislative priorities for 2020. To see the full testimony, click here.

About Wounded Warrior Project

Since 2003, Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has been meeting the growing needs of warriors, their families, and caregivers  helping them achieve their highest ambition. Learn more.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project
Workers wearing a face mask disinfect as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. /AP-Yonhap



SEOUL - Makers of soju, South Korea's national drink and one of the world's best selling spirits, are jumping into the fight on the largest outbreak of coronavirus outside China by sharing their stockpiles of alcohol with makers of sanitzers.



Disinfectants, such as hand sanitizers, are flying off the shelves, along with medical-grade masks, as infections in South Korea have surged past 5,000 in just over a month since its first patient was diagnosed.



South Korean soju makers have responded to soaring ethanol demand for sanitizers by donating the alcohol that goes into the drink, a distilled spirit with 17% to 20% alcohol by volume traditionally based on rice, but now often wheat or potatoes.



"Ethanol demand for disinfection has grown while supply is limited...we have decided to provide it," an official of Daesun Distilling, based in the southeastern city of Busan, told Reuters.



To banish the virus, the company has pledged to donate 32 tons of ethanol for use in disinfecting buildings and public places in Busan and southeastern Daegu, the city at the center of South Korea's outbreak.





South Korean army soldiers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, March 4. /AP-Yonhap
OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo (L), Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman (C) and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak (R) attend an Opec-JMMC meeting in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi on September 12, 2019.

OPEC has agreed to impose a deeper round of production cuts in order to support oil prices, paving the way for crunch talks with non-OPEC leader Russia, who still has to agree to the plan.

The 14-member group, led by Saudi Arabia, decided on Thursday to cut production by 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) through the second quarter of the year.

OPEC added the group would review this policy at its next meeting on June 9.

The proposed cuts, which were at the top end of analyst expectations, are believed to be conditional on approval from Russia.

It means energy market participants will now turn their attention to a meeting of both OPEC and non-OPEC members, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, on Friday.

Ahead of the OPEC+ meeting, analysts were concerned a long-standing energy alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia would come under intense scrutiny.

That's because Russia's appetite for deeper production cuts has been far from certain in recent weeks. Moscow is reportedly in favor of an extension to the current level of cuts rather than a further reduction.

Oil prices reversed early gains to move lower on Thursday. International benchmark Brent crude fell below the key $50 level, sliding 2.4% to $49.93, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 88 cents, or 1.88%, to settle at $45.90 per barrel.

Speaking shortly after the OPEC meeting on Thursday, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said that Tehran would remain exempt from the proposed reduction.
The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration on Wednesday lifted the ban on social media enforced since the nullification on August 5 of the special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 of the Constitution.

Soon after the ban was lifted, Iltija Mufti, the daughter of former J&K chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, took to Twitter and put out the following post: My mother last tweeted on August 5 post abrogation of Article 370. Today as I tweet for the first time from Kashmir post decriminalisation of social media, I m swept by saudade & painful nostalgia. Will we ever heal? When will this nightmare end?.

Iltija has been handling her mothers Twitter handle since she was detained on August 5. Last month, Mufti was shifted to detention under the Public Safety Acty (PSA), which allows her to be held without trial for up to two years. She had been held in preventive custody earlier.

Iltija also questioned the futility of the ban. She tweeted: Seems like J&K administration finally realised the futility of ban on SM [social media] since Kashmiris circumvented it through VPNs [virtual private networks]. Simply became a cat & mouse chase where Kashmiris outwitted state apparatus i.e.Big Brother.

Omar Abdullah, another former J&K chief minister and a National Conference leader, who too has been detained under the PSA, chose to maintain silence on Twitter --- despite being known to be a regular on the microblogging service --- even after the ban was lifted on Wednesday.

His Twitter timeline still shows his last post on August 5 before he was put under house arrest: Im especially concerned about the people living in the Pir Panchal & Chenab Valley regions. These areas have been very susceptible to attempts at communal violence. I hope the Govt has taken adequate precautions to ensure no communal trouble breaks out, reads his last post.

The administration of J&K, now a Union Territory, will allow unrestricted internet access with 2G speed, said Shaleen Kabra, principal secretary, home department. The new order is applicable only till March 17.

The order said mobile users with post-paid SIM will have access to internet services, but those with pre-paid SIMs will be able to access internet only after undergoing verification norms that are applicable for post-paid SIM subscribers. Internet connectivity will be available on fixed landline connections as well, it added.

The order made no mention of allowing access to so-called whitelisted websites as had been the earlier norm. The J&K government started reviewing the restrictions on the internet following the Supreme Courts January 10 directive to review the ban on internet services in the newly formed Union Territory (UT) every week.

There are no restrictions except those specified above. The whitelisting process for websites is over, said a senior home department official on condition of anonymity.

On February 24, the J&K home department had announced 1,674 whitelisted websites and domain extensions, which can be accessed in the UT.

On January 24, the J&K administration had announced restoration of low-speed mobile internet and fixed landline connectivity in all districts in the UT with access to a white list of 301 websites and restrictions on all other portals, including social media.

On January 15, the administration had restored broadband facilities in government offices, banks and also in a bid to boost tourism.

Telecom services have been restored in a phased manner across J&K.
After working closely with the UN Refugee Agency and the Greek government, the Grand Duchy has decided to accept ten young refugees in a bid to relieve pressure from Greek islands.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn announced the decision in Brussels on Wednesday during a Justice and Home Affairs crisis meeting held by European authorities.

The refugees are currently housed in a camp on one of the Greek Aegean islands. Asselborn suggested that each member state of the EU accept a number of underage refugees to help lessen the strain on Greece while, at the same time, helping the situation of some of the migrants having arrived in Europe.

As the minister put it, "We should not play with the lives of people in a state of misery in the twenty-first century." Speaking to journalists, he added that Luxembourg knew it could not solve the issue on its own, but that his country could send a signal out to its European counterparts. European authorities have been in discussions since Christmas and these could last through to Easter, a situation Asselborn described as deplorable. He stressed the importance of helping the Greek authorities, but not only in a financial way.

Currently, more than 42,000 people are staying in refugee camps in the Aegean. According to the UN Refugee Agency, a third of these migrants are not yet adults. Tensions have been exacerbated and Greek infrastructures utterly overwhelmed after Turkey fully opened its borders.

The EU has accused Turkey's Erdogan administration of abusing the refugee crisis for political gain. European interior ministers have condemned the government of allowing illegal border crossings.

Foreign ministers of the EU will meet in Zagreb on Friday to discuss the military escalations in Syria, which notably caused the heightened tension between Turkey and the EU.
And, again improbably, the American story line is the strength of Zerozerozero  when its onscreen, theres more to watch than a coolly efficient international crime thriller. Perhaps because they couldnt fall back as easily on mafia or narco cliches, Sollima and his collaborators came up with a framework for the American family  domineering father, children struggling to prove themselves in the business, sister fiercely protective of brother with degenerative disease  thats usefully melodramatic and gives Riseborough and DeHaan room to portray a real and subtly moving relationship.

Their scenes, as the sister and brother tend to the shipment through increasingly dangerous and implausible complications on the Atlantic and in Africa, provide emotional and dramatic jolts in whats otherwise a polished, visually absorbing, highly engineered prestige-TV package. Locations in northern Mexico, southern Italy and the Sahara are photographed in ways that are simultaneously arresting and unsurprising, and the Gomorrah-like ambience  violent action depicted with a melancholy austerity of tone and style  is reinforced by the incantatory music of the Scottish band Mogwai.

That kind of package is an impressive thing in its own right, and the Italian sequences have their share of coups, like an opening scene in which the gangster emerges from a cramped, windowless cell into a wild mountain landscape. But Zerozerozero also has stretches, especially in the Mexican story line, that serve mostly to fill our expectations of this kind of show, sequences in which the narco-thriller conventions are just there for their own sake. As a globe-spanning attempt to tell a start-to-finish story of the drug trade, Zerozerozero evokes Steven Soderberghs 2000 film Traffic (based on the superior British mini-series Traffik), and it shares the movies tendency to sacrifice dramatic specificity for the sake of broad-brush platitudes.

It has a saving grace, though, in Riseborough, who overcomes an attention-grabbing hairdo  a two-tone affair resembling an alien warriors helmet  and makes human and disarmingly charming what could have been a flat, cartoonish character. Spoiler alert: Her character, unlike many, survives, and the smile that pops onto her face amid the carnage of the shows final scene is enough to make you hope for a second season.
New Delhi, March 5 : Amid the coronavirus scare in the country, a man who arrived from Kenya via Dubai insisted on getting tested at Raipur airport, the government said on Thursday, after a section of the media had reported that one confirmed case of COVID-19 was detected in Chhattisgarh.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provided the clarification after it was reported earlier in the day that a person tested positive for the novel coronavirus that has claimed over 3,000 lives in China -- the epicentre of the virus outbreak, so far.

According to the Health Ministry, a person at Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur insisted on a test for COVID-19 after he arrived from Kenya via Dubai.

"At the airport he insisted on getting tested. We have sent his sample to Nagpur. Results awaited. Meanwhile, he is at home, in isolation," an official said.

According to the travel advisory, the government said passengers, both foreigners and Indians, arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan must undergo medical screening.

While the advisory does not encompass Dubai or Kenya in it, some cases have been reported from the Middle East.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier said travel advisories would be revised on the basis of the coronavirus situation.

At least 28 cases have been reported from India so far, according to the Health Ministry, of which 3 from Kerala had been cured earlier.
Photo: The Canadian Press Peter MacKay addresses the crowd at a federal Conservative leadership forum during the annual general meeting of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative party in Halifax on February 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Conservative party leadership candidates Peter MacKay and Erin O'Toole are poised to kick their respective campaigns up a notch as both have now secured places on the contest ballot.

On Friday, MacKay will move his efforts at winning the job beyond attending meetings and roundtables with party members and deliver a speech to a luncheon crowd at the Regina Chamber of Commerce.

O'Toole is also seeking to attract an audience with the expected release of a detailed platform next week.

He teased elements of it today, including a promise to use the notwithstanding clause to allow for mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of crimes.

While there are eight people currently vying for leadership of the party, only O'Toole and MacKay have raised the entire $300,000 entry fee and obtained the 3,000 signatures backing their bids, ensuring they're on the ballot.

The six others have until March 25 to meet those milestones.
HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) has published its 2019 Sustainability Report, highlighting the Group's achievements and milestones in improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the past year, and its efforts in becoming an active global influencer in ESG.

Highlights of Ping An's sustainability achievements include:

Better serve the real economy

Ping An provided risks protection for over 1,000 major projects of the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Greater Bay Area, served over 3 million small and micro enterprises with integrated financial services such as insurance, loans and financing, and provided over RMB1 trillion in insurance coverage and financing services for farmers and rural enterprises in 2019, providing greater dynamics and efficiency in the real economy.

Tech for Social Good

Powered by "finance + technology", Ping An is committed to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and other core technologies to develop inclusive finance and its loan balance reached nearly RMB900 billion. Through online consultation and intelligent management solutions, Ping An's medical technology benefitted over 300 million patients and assisted 14,000 community-level medical institutions and 300,000 doctors in 2019. Ping An integrated the ethical and legal requirements into the product life cycle, in order to ensure the "human-oriented" and "tech for social good" technological development.

Exerting insurance's nature in risk management

Ping An made more efforts to develop and provide social security products, inclusive financial products and environmental products under the theme of sustainable development. In achieving a stable growth in its insurance performance, Ping An is committed to providing risk protection for social equity and sustainable development. In 2019, Ping An's sustainable insurance insured amount reached RMB121.21 trillion.

Co-development with employees during fast growth

Ping An attaches great importance to talent attraction, and focuses on cultivating and motivating employees, identifying talents and meeting development needs with technological means. In 2019, the company developed a customized career development and education system with total training amounted to RMB1.096 billion. Meanwhile, we have implemented the core employees stock ownership scheme since 2015 and launched the employee long-term service scheme in 2018. Ping An constantly shares its development achievements with employees to boost the company's long-term co-development.

Upholding responsible investment and promoting its development in China

Ping An is striving to become a leading responsible investor in China and exploring the global responsible investment market. The Group became the first asset owner signing United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) in China. In 2019, green investment reached RMB51.245 billion, social and inclusive investment amounted to RMB903.204 billion, the balance of green credit loans reached RMB24.273 billion and the balance of social and inclusive loans amounted to RMB898.921 billion.

Advancing the "Ping An Rural Communities Support" initiative

Ping An furthered the "Ping An Rural Communities Support". In 2019, regarding the Village Officer Program, the total poverty alleviation fund granted was RMB15.745 billion. For the Village Doctor Program, 949 village and township clinics were upgraded, 554 mobile health checks in countryside were conducted and 11,175 village doctors were trained. Regarding the Village Teacher Program, 11,826 village teachers were trained and 1,054 village primary schools were upgraded.

The Group adopted multi-dimensional and multi-layered methods to achieve poverty alleviation through industry promotion, healthcare and education support, aiming at not only poverty alleviation, but also the sustainable development of the rural population. As of 31 December 2019, Ping An had implemented the "Ping An Rural Communities Support" in 21 provinces or autonomous regions across China, and worked out an innovative poverty alleviation model of "education supporting training, industry-oriented self-sustaining capacity building, One Village and One Product, and production and sales empowering".

Richard Sheng, Board Secretary of Ping An said, "Ping An has been improving its ESG performance to promote its comprehensive value in the capital market. We believe that, supported by excellent ESG management and practice, Ping An will achieve better risk management, seize the opportunities to boost the steady development and demonstrate its capacity of creating long-term value for investors."

2019 Sustainability Report of Ping An: http://www.pingan.com/app_upload/images/info/upload/ef0f6aca-eba2-476c-869d-80a0d88f28cd.pdf
An employee of the Internet company Facebook walks through the courtyard of the company campus in Menlo Park, California.

A Facebook worker based in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for the coronavirus, and the company is encouraging all 5,000 employees in the area to work from home the rest of the month.

"A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. We've notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety," a company spokesperson said Wednesday night.

Facebook is closing its Stadium East office until Monday, the end of the incubation period for the contractor, who was last in the office on Feb. 21.

The company is encouraging all Seattle-based employees to work from home until March 31, based on King County's updated guidance. Washington state has reported the largest number of coronavirus cases in the United States. Ten people in the state have died from the virus as of Wednesday night. Health officials have reported at least 39 confirmed cases, while 231 people remain under supervision.

Earlier this week, a Seattle-based employee of Amazon tested positive for COVID-19.

Amazon notified employees of the update in a memo, saying, "The employee went home feeling unwell on Tuesday, February 25 and has not entered Amazon offices since that time."

-CNBC's Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this report.
P rince Harry has said he was "proud to serve Queen and country" as he and wife Meghan Markle met military veterans at one of their final events before they quit royal life.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the Endeavour Fund Awards to recognise the sporting and adventure achievements of wounded, sick and injured service personnel.

It was the first time the duchess carried out a public royal duty in the wake of the Megxit crisis. She and the prince will step down as senior royals on March 31 following a small number of public appearances in the coming days.

Harry and Meghan seemed in good spirits as they smiled for the cameras and crowd who greeted them in the rain at Mansion House in London on Thursday night.

The Duke of Sussex speaks during the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House / Getty Images

In a speech at the reception, the prince told the audience "Meghan and I are so happy to be back with you", with both handing out awards during the evening.

Addressing the veterans, Harry, who served with the Blues and Royals and the Army Air Corps, spoke of the honour of serving his grandmother amid reports of tensions between the royals.

He said: "Being able to serve Queen and Country is something we all are rightly proud of, and it never leaves us. Once served, always serving!

"Leaving the military and hanging up your uniform is - we know - an incredibly hard thing to do...unless of course it's blue in colour...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Endeavour Awards 2020 1 /44 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Endeavour Awards 2020 Reuters Getty Images Reuters AP PA AFP via Getty Images AP PA Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Reuters Reuters Getty Images Reuters Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA PA Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images REUTERS AP PA AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images

"But being forced to hang it up due to injury, beyond your control, can be even more difficult to accept.

"It can take time and effort to recognise the fact that it is something that happened to you, rather than something that's wrong with you - so please don't ever forget that."

The Endeavour Fund is a body set up by the Royal Foundation to finance inspiring sporting and adventure projects aiding the recovery of veterans.

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive at the Endeavour Fund Awards / REUTERS

The duke added many of the servicemen and women had told him they "had his back" and was keen to offer his own support.

He said: "I feel lucky to be able to count myself as one of you; and am deeply proud to have served among you as Captain Wales.

"A lot of you tonight have told me you have my back, well I'm also here to tell you, I've always got yours."

He added: "You have all had to demonstrate physical and mental strength that I doubt you even realised you had. Never underestimate what your actions, your choices and your resilience means to others.

"You should all be tremendously proud of what you've achieved and the positive service you continue to provide to so many.

"To see you guys excelling and uplifting others while doing it makes me incredibly proud and grateful to all of you - because you don't have to do it, you choose to do it."

Arriving at the venue, Meghan wore a bright blue Victoria Beckham dress and linked her arm under Harry's as he held an umbrella above their heads as they walked inside.

Meghan took to the stage to present the 'Celebrating Excellence' award, which is given to those who achieve excellence in their chosen sport or adventurous challenge.

She said: "It is very nice to be back [at the event], it is the third year.

"As you all know I can feel it is just the most inspiring space.

"I will say, watching the [nomination] videos all the way in Canada, we had the same moment as you, where each of us [said] 'how are we going to choose."

Prior to the ceremony, the couple mingled with guests, which included television star Ross Kemp, during a reception event.

At times, the duke was very animated as he joked with award nominees, while Meghan asked questions and listened intently, clutching her purse by her side.

Ex-Royal Marine Lee Spencer, who holds the world record for the fastest unsupported row across the Atlantic Ocean despite losing his right leg in an accident, won the award, which was collected by his wife.

Meanwhile, Harry presented Army veteran Tom Oates with the final prize of the night, the Henry Worsley Award, which is given to an individual who has best inspired others through adversity.

Mr Oates lost his fiancee weeks after returning back from Afghanistan when she was struck by a car in front of him.

He now supports others with metal health difficulties and regularly speaks about his own experiences at events.
March 5, 1970: Donna Huffaker, 18-year-old Hale County 4-Her, has been awarded a $500 Texas Home Demonstration Association scholarship.

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Huffaker of Hale Center was selected for her excellent work in 4-H projects and activities, leadership and personal development.

--OLTON  Harold Carson has recently presented music students in a series of informal popular programs. These were held in the studio of his home.

--BIG BONE  Joe Gonzales, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jose Gonzales, 608 E. 9th, looks at an old oversized bone he found recently at Haynes Boy Scout Camp east of Silverton. Joe found the bone, believed to be from an extinct form of giant bison, while on a camping trip with Boy Scout Troop 214. (photo)

March 5, 1980: If these days of equal rights, full recognition will be given to the men of Wayland Baptist College campus Thursday evening at 8 p.m., when Waylands Student Foundation hosts the first Mr. Wayland Pageant.

--Masons from Lubbock set concrete blocks into place for the new addition to the mens dorm at Wayland Baptist College. Once completed, the wing will accompany more than 40 additional on-campus students.

March 5, 1990: KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Despite a severe cutback in the program last year, the Wayland mens track team still managed to finish fourth Saturday in the NAIA National Indoor Meet which they had won the past five years.

--Two local hunting enthusiasts have high hopes of bringing home trophies taken with the help of their high-rise portable deer blind.

Ershel Johnson and Mike Coffman, both USDA federal meat inspectors for Excel meat packing plant, say the blind is ideal for a panoramic view of the hunting range.

The two met four years ago while working for Swift Meat Co., north of Dumas. Johnson moved to Plainview about that time and Coffman came about a year later. They have been deer hunting buddies ever since and started their project about 18 months ago.
MANILA, Philippines  The Department of Health (DOH) is not requiring the 196 Filipino repatriates from Macau to stay in a quarantine facility upon their arrival in the Philippines next week.

Instead, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said they will only be required to do a 14-day home or self quarantine since they are just considered persons under monitoring (PUM).

The Health Secretary explained this is because they are not coming from Wuhan City in China, the epicenter of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The DOH is joined in by the Bureau of Quarantine and the local government units in monitoring the health conditions of all repatriates.

If ever they show symptoms or signs of COVID-19, thats the time they will be required hospital confinement.

Masiguradong binabantayan sila (We want to ensure that they are properly monitored) by way of monitoring for fever, cough and colds and other symptoms of respiratory illness,

Meanwhile, the DOH insists that they have enough funds to address the needs of every potential coronavirus patient. MNP (with details from Aiko Miguel)

The post Filipino repatriates from Macau to do home quarantine  DOH appeared first on UNTV News.
Some 170 MPs' signatures have been collected to convene the special meeting.

Ukraine's parliament plans to decide on Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka's dismissal on March 5.

A draft resolution was registered in parliament to hold a special parliamentary meeting on this issue on Thursday, MP Maksym Buzhansky of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction told reporters, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Read alsoDraft resolution on no confidence in Ukraine's prosecutor general registered in parliament

"It has been registered already, 170 [MPs'] signatures have been collected to convene the special meeting with the minimum being 150 signatures," he said.

According to him, the meeting is to begin at 18:30 Kyiv time on March 5.

Commenting on the likelihood of Riaboshapka's dismissal, Chairman of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction David Arakhamia said: "The parliament is set to do this with a majority of votes."

He added that he would personally vote for Riaboshapka's dismissal.

Asked by journalists whether there was a candidate for the Prosecutor Generals' post, Arakhamia said: "We will look for [the nominee] together with the President's Office, but the faction has a unanimous position on Serhiy Ionushas. A lot of people support this member of our team."

At the same time, Arakhamia added that he was not sure whether Ionushas would become a nominee, but if he was nominated, "he would definitely get votes."

Asked what was the last straw to dismiss Riaboshapka, Arakhamia mentioned the fact that the Prosecutor General's Office did not sign documents to serve ex-President Petro Poroshenko with charges.

"The last straw ... that's a very good question. It seems like ... well ... No, I don't know for sure. Perhaps the signing of papers to serve Mr. Poroshenko with charges  perhaps this was the last straw. Everything is ready to sign them, but for some reason no one has done this. We have a great deal of questions to ask Mr. Riaboshapka. We have questions to ask everyone and we will ask them," he said, according to LBTV.

The Prosecutor General's Office reportedly refused to accept documents prepared by investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation to serve the fifth president, Petro Poroshenko, with charges because of "they had poorly been prepared."
The move by Turkey to send Syrian combatants to Libya to fight alongside factions supporting the Government of National Accord has triggered a maelstrom among Syrians and on the Arab and international stage.

The storm began when human-rights sources revealed that Syrian fighters belonging to Turkish-backed factions in Syria had been recruited and trained to go to Libya. Some sources reported that hundreds of Syrian combatants had arrived in Libya, while others put their number in the thousands, and several have already been killed in battle.

Other human-rights monitors say that pro-regime fighters have also left for Libya, this time to fight alongside the rivals of the Government of National Accord. Civilian flights have been observed flying between military airports in Syria and Libya.

Most Syrians reject the idea that their compatriots are being sent to Libya and have changed from being revolutionaries to mercenaries. They describe those who have trained and left Syria as hirelings no matter what incentives or pressure were forced upon them.

Syrian public figures have issued a statement denouncing any combatant who agrees to travel to Libya to fight, saying that the Libyan people alone should decide their fate and fight their battles.

The issue has been further amplified due to the conflict between regional and international powers in the Middle East. Syria is a main focus, even though Libya is brimming with foreign mercenaries who are fighting on all sides of the conflict.

Former UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salama has confirmed that there is a large number of non-Libyans fighting on all the Libyan fronts. There are fighters from more than ten countries, most recently arriving from Syria.

It is unclear how many Syrian fighters there are in Libya. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has admitted there are Syrians alongside Turkish troops in Libya fighting on the side of Fayez Al-Sarraj, the prime minister of the Government of National Accord, in Tripoli against Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army.

He added that Turkey was training these fighters and that it had signed an agreement on security and military training at the behest of the Libyan Government.

Some Syrian factions have refused to go to Libya because their battle is against the regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the mercenary militias it has recruited.

Rami Abdel-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the number of Syrian fighters who were sent to Libya is more than 2,600 to the Al-Tikbali military base, which is under the control of pro-Turkey elements.

A source close to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood said these fighters were convinced they are protecting legitimacy in Libya.

According to Abdel-Rahman, at least seven recruitment centres have been opened in different locations in northern Syria. Contracts to fight in Libya can reach up to $2,000 a month. So far, the number of registered recruits has reached more than 2,000, mostly from the groups of Sultan Murad, Suleiman Shah, the Al-Moatassem Brigade, the Suqur Al-Shamal Brigade, the Al-Hamzat Brigade, the Al-Sham Al-Islami Legion and the Al-Masrqand Brigade.

They all claim to be opponents of the Syrian regime and pro-Turkey. A good portion of these fighters are Turkmens, he said.

The combatants are in Libya as part of Turkish security units, and Syrian media close to the regime claim they have been promised eventual Turkish citizenship though this is likely to be propaganda.

Speaking of fighters who have moved to Europe, Abdel-Rahman said that there is information that some of these mercenaries quickly signed up not because they wanted to fight in Libya, but to take advantage of the trips organised by Turkey to transport combatants to Libya, with the intention of crossing from there to Europe.

Some of the mercenaries who have headed to Libya have already started their onward journey from Libya to Italy. At least 17 of them are already in Italy, and some have left for Algeria to eventually travel to Europe. At least 28 Syrian mercenaries have been killed during battles in Tripoli.

Some Syrian fighters have gone to Libya not for political, military or ideological purposes, or to defend one Libyan party or another, but as a means to another goal, such as reaching Europe or to earn more income.

A source in the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) told the Weekly that more than 100 fighters who had trained in preparation for combat outside Syria had abandoned their plans due to community pressure.

He said no more than 1,000 were interested in fighting overseas, some of them had withdrawn, and it was unclear if they had left for Libya. The numbers of those who want to train and fight outside Syria have dropped sharply, the source said.

Youssef Hammoud, a SNA spokesman, vehemently denied that any SNA fighters were involved in operations in Libya, insisting to the Weekly that the mission of the SNA is to remain in Syria to fight the regime, Russia and their militias.

Responding to reports that Syrian opposition fighters had left for Libya with Turkish assistance, Hammoud said that the Defence Ministry of the [opposition] Interim Syrian Government vehemently denies that any of our forces have been sent to Libya. The priority of the SNA is to protect the Syrian people from the militias of the regime, its Russian and Iranian backers and terrorist separatist groups affiliated with the regime that want to tear the country apart.

We are staying in our land, fighting the forces of sectarianism and tyranny until our people find security. We will continue to serve our people and defend them, especially in the face of the barbaric Russian attacks caused by the imbalance of power on the ground, Hammoud said.

Ahmed Hamadeh, a dissident military official and former spokesman for the Syrian Military Command Council, told the Weekly that until today, the SNA officially denies this issue. Everything in the media is unsubstantiated. There have been reports about the Sultan Murad group and some individuals assisting and coordinating with the Turkish forces, but not as a fighting force.

All opposition military leaders agree that there are auxiliary elements of the SNA who have left for Libya with Turkish military consultants as logistical field support and not for combat purposes. They are civilians who left combat some time ago, and their role is to look into establishing military bases in Tripoli and the surrounding areas based on a memorandum of understanding signed by Turkey and Libya last month, they say.

Their numbers are no more than 200, and their work will be consultative, translation, communication, administration and in depots. None of them will carry weapons.

It is difficult to identify the exact number of Syrians in Libya, or to know the reason why they are there. However, it is easy to connect this issue with regional and international conflicts due to direct or indirect inter-regional conflicts, while the major world powers are clashing in the region either directly or through proxies.

This creates a form of chaos that has been spawning crises in other countries in the region.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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YEREVAN.  The NO campaign headquarters has filled 99.5 percent of its seats in precinct election commissions. Ruben Melikyan, co-founder of the Path of Law NGO of Armenia and representative of the NO campaign in the forthcoming referendum on amending one article of the Constitution, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He explained that out of 2,008 election commissions throughout the country, 1,975 will be represented by two members, each, from the NO headquarters, and by one, each, in 31 electoral commissions. "We have the opportunity to involve proxies who will ensure our presence in all precincts," Melikyan said, in particular.

The aforesaid constitutional referendum is scheduled for April 5. Authorities have suggested early termination of the powers of seven members of the nine-member Constitutional Court, including of its president, calling them the representatives of the former "regime."
Apple has joined the group of major tech companies not attending this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) music and tech.

The tech giant follows Facebook who announced Monday evening that it is pulling out of the conference over growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

The virus outbreak, with a global death toll exceeding 3,000, has spread to more than 60 countries, upending global supply chains and threatening economic growth.

It has led to the cancellation or disruption of other events including The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Facebook's F8 annual developers conference last month.

Facebook is the fourth major tech company to cancel their attendance to the event over the global outbreak  Twitter, Intel and TikTok announced they will also not be going to the conference.

Facebook has joined the group of major tech companies not attending this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) music and tech

Tracy Clayton, a Facebook spokesman, sent out an email Monday evening stating: 'Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year.'

SXSW, set to be held in Austin, Texas, next week, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

However, as of Monday, SXSW officials are still moving ahead with their plans to host the festival set for March 13 through 22.

Event officials shared in a statement: 'SXSW is working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event. As a result of this dialogue and the recommendations of Austin Public Health, the 2020 event is proceeding with safety as a top priority.'

The social media giant announced Monday evening that it is pulling out of the conference over growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak

Facebook is the fourth major tech company to cancel their attendance to the event over the global outbreak  Twitter, Intel and TikTok announced they will also not be going to the conference. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (pictured) was set to speak at the event

TikTok announced on Tuesday that it is pulling out with a statement saying, 'While we think the risk is relatively low, we are erring on the side of caution as we prioritize safety for our team, creators, partners, artists, and brands.

'We are looking at a variety of alternative ways to bring parts of the previously scheduled experience to audiences in creative new forms.'

Twitter was the first to make moves against going to the event, which announced a company-wide non-essential travel ban over the weekend, along with canceling its plans to attend.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter's founder and CEO, was scheduled to be a featured speaker at the festival before canceling and Facebook also had a large number of its staff speaking on panels.

The cancellations come as a petition signed by more than 30,000 people urge SXSW to cancel the event.
Rachel Lim is one of those most enviable success stories: A college dropout whose side hustle turned into a multimillion-dollar business.

The 32-year-old has risen the ranks of the fashion industry after quitting university at the age of 21 to co-found her international womenswear brand Love, Bonito.

But despite finding success as an academic breakaway, the business leader said it's not a path she recommends to other would-be entrepreneurs.

"My answer is always no," Lim told CNBC Make It, referring to the many students who ask her if they should quit college to start a company.

"What people don't see is that we actually dabbled in this for a while before coming out to take that leap of faith to start," said the Singaporean entrepreneur, who originally started Love, Bonito as a fashion blogshop with friends during her school years.
The US military in Afghanistan launched a drone strike Wednesday against Taliban fighters as they were carrying out an attack against Afghan security forces at checkpoint in the southern province of Helmand.

The bombing, coming just days after the February 29 signing in Doha of the so-called Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between Washington and the Taliban, is one more indication that this deal to end Washingtons nearly two-decade war is already beginning to unravel.

A US military spokesman in Kabul said that the drone strike was the first aerial bombing carried out by US forces in 11 days, since the start of a week-long reduction in violence agreed to by the Taliban as a pre-condition for concluding the agreement in Doha. Col. Sonny Leggett, described the attack as a defensive strike to disrupt the attack on the security forces of the US-backed Afghan puppet government.

Leggett tweeted: Taliban leadership promised the intl community they would reduce violence and not increase attacks. We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments.

In fact, the Taliban promised no such thing. The reduction of violencenot a full ceasefirewas entered into as part of negotiating process between Washington and the Islamist movement that it has been fighting since it overthrew the Taliban-led government, known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with the US invasion of October 2001.

These negotiations excluded the US-backed regime in Kabul headed by President Ashraf Ghani and included no commitment by the Taliban to halt military operations against its forces. It pledged only not to attack the US and its allies in the NATO-dominated coalition. Any end to attacks on the forces of the Kabul regime would depend on an agreement reached in the intra-Afghan negotiations that are called for in the Doha accord, the Taliban has insisted.

The US military spokesman said that there had been 43 attacks on Afghan government checkpoints on March 3, while the Kabul regime stated that at least 20 of its soldiers and police had been killed. The Afghan National Army (ANA) has been heavily dependent upon US air power in its attempts to defeat the Taliban, which now controls more of the country than at any time since the 2001 invasion. In many areas, ANA ranks have broken in the face of smaller Taliban forces.

The US drone strike came one day after US President Donald Trump held a 35-minute phone call with the Talibans deputy chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. According to the Talibans account of the conversation, Baradar pledged that the group would seek positive future bilateral relations once the terms of the Doha agreement were implemented.

These terms include, on Washingtons side, a reduction of the present US occupation force in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600 by July, to be followed nine-and-a-half months later, at the end of April 2021, by a pullout of all US and coalition forces. In return, the Taliban has pledged to deny the use of Afghan soil to Al Qaeda or any other group that could threaten the security of the United States and its allies.

For his part, Trump declared at a press event held after the conversation, The relationship is very good that I have with the mullah. In the same appearance, he repeated a theme that he has continuously returned to, declaring in relation to the Afghan war, Its a fight that, if we had to, wed win. But I dont want to kill millions of people. We would win it fairly quickly, but I dont want to kill millions of people. Trump has repeated so many times that he does not want kill millions that one can only assume that he desperately wants to, if not in Afghanistan, then somewhere else on the planet.

While the Doha agreement calls for intra-Afghan negotiations to begin on March 10next Tuesdayamid rising armed clashes and deep divisions within the Kabul regime itself, this appears extremely unlikely. The stated objectives of these negotiations, a permanent and stable ceasefire and an agreement over the future political roadmap of Afghanistan, appear nowhere in sight.

The agreement signed between Washington and the Taliban in Doha calls for the release of 5,000 imprisoned Taliban fightershalf of the total held by the US and its puppet regimealong with 1,000 government forces held captive by the Taliban. A side agreement reached between the US and the puppet regime of President Ghani, also reached on February 29, merely calls for confidence-building measures such as a prisoner exchange.

President Ghani has stated that he has not agreed to any release of prisoners and that Washington does not have the right to negotiate such a swap. This apparent rebellion by a regime that is entirely dependent upon US money and firepower for its very survival is driven by the fact that Taliban prisoners, who number some 10,000, are one of the few bargaining chips it has left.

The Taliban has in turn insisted that it will not discuss anything with the regime in Kabulwhich it justifiably regards as illegitimateuntil the release of the prisoners. Until talks are held, it has stated, its attacks on the regimes forces will continue.

Who will participate in such talks is by no means clear. It was only last month that Ghani was proclaimed the winner of presidential elections held in September of last year amid charges of ballot stuffing and fraud. His principal rival, Abdullah Abdullah, has refused to recognize the results and has attempted create a parallel government, even naming governors of some provinces. For its part, Washington has yet to officially recognize Ghanis victory, merely noting the announcement of the official results, while issuing no statement of congratulations. Most of the worlds governments have followed suit.

In Washington, the deal presided over Secretary of State Pompeo in Doha has come under attack from both Democrats and Republicans.

In an op-ed piece published by the New York Times, Susan Rice, the former national security adviser to Barack Obama, wrote that the fundamental weaknesses of the Doha accord will most likely endanger Americas national security and doom prospects for a just and lasting peace. First and foremost, the US would be left without any military or counterterrorism capacity in Afghanistan, leaving it facing the prospect of a Vietnam-style withdrawal of Americans under fire. In other words, a nearly 19-year-old war that has claimed the lives of over 175,000 Afghans, killed nearly 2,400 US troops, while wounding tens of thousands more and cost well over $1 trillion, must continue.

A group of Congressional Republicans, led by Liz Cheney, the partys third-ranking member in the US House of Representatives, issued a statement warning that the Doha deal would place the security of the American people into the hands of the Taliban, and undermine our ally, the current government of Afghanistan.

Under similar pressure, Trump backed off from his vow to pull all US troops from Syria, leaving behind a force of over 500 to secure the oil in the countrys northeastern Deir Ezzor province. There is every prospect of his repudiating the Afghanistan agreement once the 2020 elections are over.

Underlying the opposition within both capitalist parties is not a concern over the security of the American people or terrorism, but rather the strategic interests of US imperialism that underlay the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan in the first place. A continuing presence in the country provides a means of projecting military force into the energy-rich regions of Central Asia, as well as on the borders of Iran and China, as well as in close proximity to Russia.
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Residents of a Washington county where 44 people have tested positive for coronavirus and nine people have died are being advised to work from home and schools are shutting down to avoid possible exposure to the killer strain.

Eleven people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus, and 165 people have tested positive nationwide. Washington state has been at the epicenter of the outbreak, with 44 cases and 10 deaths.

In the state, King County has recorded nine deaths, and Snohomish County has recorded one death.

The country's eleventh dead was recorded in California on Wednesday - the state's first death. An elderly cruise ship passenger in his 70s died after being held in isolation.

The widespread outbreak has now left public health officials in King County, which includes Seattle and is home to over 2.2 million people, urging local businesses to allow employees to telecommute for the next three weeks in an effort to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.

Residents of King County, Washington, where 31 people have tested positive for coronavirus and nine people have died, are being advised to work from home to avoid possible exposure to the killer strain. Two women wearing masks are seen leaving the Life Care Center in Kirkland, where the majority of the state's coronavirus cases were reported

Medics wheel out a person on a stretcher from the Life Care Center of Kirkland on Wednesday as the death toll in Washington state climbed to 10 and another death was reported in California, bringing the nationwide death toll to 11

They are also recommending that higher-risk groups - including people over the age of 60, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions or weakened immune systems - stay home and away from large social gatherings.

The latest recommendations announced Wednesday came after an employee at Amazon's Seattle headquarters was confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus, potentially exposing some 50,000 others who work at the plant.

Hours later officials confirmed that an employee at Facebook's Stadium East office in Seattle had also tested positive. The company said the office will be closed until at least March 9.

Northshore School District, which serves 22,000 students across King and Snohomish counties, announced late Wednesday that it was closing all 36 of its schools after a parent or volunteer at Woodmoor Elementary tested 'presumptive positive' for coronavirus.

The US death toll rose to 11 on Wednesday with 167 confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide

The Seattle area has been at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, with 39 cases and 10 deaths reported as of late Wednesday. The majority of the cases are believed to have originated at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland. Two other cases have also been reported at Amazon's South Lake Union complex and at Facebook's Stadium East office

Northshore Superintendent Michelle Reid issued a statement saying the schools will remain closed for up to 14 days 'while we continue to monitor the situation and health department recommendations'.

Reid said administrators plan to begin conducting classes online on Monday.

She noted that multiple individuals across the district are under self-quarantine after being exposed to the virus at a nursing home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland where the majority of the 39 Washington state cases have occurred.

Authorities launched a federal investigation into the nursing home, Life Care Center, on Wednesday.

Seema Verma, head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on Wednesday said the agency is sending inspectors to Life Care along with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out what happened and determine whether the nursing home followed guidelines for preventing infections.

Last April, the state fined Life Care $67,000 over infection-control deficiencies following two flu outbreaks that affected 17 patients and staff.

An unannounced follow-up inspection in June determined that Life Care had corrected the problems, Verma said.

Health officials in North Carolina reported that a person from Wake County tested positive for the illness after visiting the nursing home.

Most of the Washington state victims were patients at Life Care Center (pictured). The nursing home is now the subject of a federal investigation

Medics are seen outside the Life Care Center on Wednesday

The patient's flight from the Seattle area to the Raleigh-Durham airport raised fears other passengers were exposed to the virus.

'My understanding is we have the manifest. Now the trick is to go find them,' said Robert Redfield of the CDC.

Life Care Center said on its website that it is screening employees for symptoms before they start work and as they leave.

The nursing home is prohibiting visits from residents' family members.

Meanwhile, public officials in Washington are facing increased pressure to take more aggressive steps against the outbreak, including closing schools and canceling large events.

While the state and Seattle have declared emergencies, giving leaders broad powers to suspend activities, they have not issued any orders to do so.

'We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now,' Gov Jay Inslee said.

'Right now, we are deferring to the judgment ... of these organizations.'

'We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now,' Gov Jay Inslee said Wednesday

The state health department issued a notice on Twitter warning residents not to lick their mail-in ballots ahead of the primary on March 10

King County Executive Dow Constantine has announced it had purchased an 85-bed Econo Lodge motel south of Seattle to house patients for recovery and isolation

A fence limits access to a back parking area of an Econo Lodge purchased to house coronavirus patients in motel in Kent, Washington

While some individual schools and businesses have shut down, the governor said large-scale school closings have not been ordered because 'there are so many ramifications for families and businesses,' especially for health care workers who might not be able to go to work because of child care responsibilities.

The state health department issued a notice on Twitter asking residents not to lick their mail-in ballots ahead of the primary on March 10.

'Whether healthy or sick, please don't lick!' the appeal stated.

Meanwhile, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced it had purchased an 85-bed motel south of Seattle to house patients for recovery and isolation.

The US death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a patient succumbing in California - the first reported fatality outside Washington state.

WHAT ARE THE CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS? The virus, called COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as door handles or railings. Coronavirus infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms including a sore throat, headache, fever, cough or trouble breathing. Severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Advertisement

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.

Shortly before the California death was announced, Princess Cruise Lines notified passengers of its Grand Princess that federal health officials are investigating a 'small cluster' of coronavirus cases connected to the ship's mid-February voyage.

It asked current passengers to stay in their cabins until were cleared by medical staff and said those who had been on the previous voyage should contact their doctor if they develop fever or other symptoms.

The Grand Princess is at sea off Mexico and will return early to San Francisco, where CDC and company officials will meet to determine the course of action, the cruise line said.

In Los Angeles, a contract medical worker who was conducting screenings at the city's main airport has tested positive for the virus.

The person wore protective equipment while on the job so it was unclear how the worker contracted the virus, Homeland Security officials said.

In New York, health officials put hundreds of residents in self-quarantine after members of two families in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle were diagnosed with the virus - bring the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 11.

Gov Andrew Cuomo said the disease appeared to have spread from a Manhattan lawyer, 50, to his wife, 20-year-old son, 14-year-old daughter, a neighbor and another family of five.

A female healthcare worker who has not been linked to the attorney had earlier tested positive after returning from a trip to Iran.

Health officials said the lawyer, who is in intensive care at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, was suffering from severe pneumonia, which put him in more danger than others who have also tested positive.

His family remain quarantined in their home in New Rochelle in Westchester County. The neighbor, who initially drove the attorney to the hospital when he started suffering from coronavirus symptoms last Friday night, is also under self-quarantine at home.

Following the positive tests, Cuomo said about 1,000 people in Westchester County and New York City will be contacted by health professionals and asked to self-quarantine.

They include some 300 people from New Rochelle synagogue the infected family attends, two people at the son's university, an unconfirmed number of students at the daughter's school in the Bronx, seven employees and one intern at the Manhattan law firm and eight staffers at New York Presbyterian-Lawrence Hospital.

The lawyer commuted every day on the Metro-North Railroad from his home in New Rochelle to his small law firm across from Grand Central Terminal. His wife and one of their four children also work at the firm.

Seven law firm employees were identified as being at risk of coronavirus after having close, prolonged contact with the infected attorney.

Yeshiva University, the private Jewish university where the lawyer's diagnosed 20-year-old son is a student, canceled classes at its Washington Heights campus on Wednesday as a precaution.

The SAR High School in the Bronx where the lawyer's diagnosed 14-year-old daughter is a student was shut down after his positive test was announced Tuesday.

The Westchester Torah Academy where the children of the other family who tested positive had already decided to close until Friday as a precaution.

Health officials on Tuesday directed the family's synagogue, Young Israel of New Rochelle, to halt services immediately. Congregants who attended February 22 services as well as a funeral and a bat mitzvah on February 23 were directed to quarantine themselves at least through Sunday.

The Manhattan lawyer commuted daily from New Rochelle to Grand Central Terminal before heading to his office in Midtown Manhattan. This map shows where in the city and Westchester County he and his family came into contact with people with

The sudden outbreak came after New York health officials revealed on Monday that a female healthcare worker in Manhattan, aged in her 30s, was confirmed to be the state's first case.

In what he said was a piece of good news, Cuomo announced that tests in other suspected cases around the state had come back negative, including for the husband of the healthcare worker.

The husband and wife had recently traveled together to Iran where the disease is widespread.

Cuomo, as he has done in recent days, sought to reassure the public that the disease is often passed by close contact, not casual contact like riding in the same subway car as a person who may be sick.

'We have an epidemic caused by coronavirus but we have a pandemic that is caused by fear,' Cuomo said on Wednesday.

'There are going to be many, many people who test positive. By definition, the more you test, the more people you will find who test positive.

'It is easily transmitted, but 80 percent of the people who get the virus will self-resolve. The other 20 percent may be medically ill and even require hospitalization, in which case we have that capacity.'

The 50-year-old attorney, who lives in Westchester County and commutes to his midtown Manhattan law firm (above), was confirmed as the state's second case on Tuesday

Yeshiva University (above), the private Jewish university where the lawyer's diagnosed 20-year-old son is a student, canceled classes at its Washington Heights campus on Wednesday as a precaution

The World Health Organization has since warned that the fatality rate of the virus (3.4 percent) is higher than initially thought - making it more than three times deadlier than the flu.

Cuomo had earlier quoted the estimated fatality rate as being 1.4 percent, which he attributed to the CDC. That rate was based on a Chinese study that had factored a bigger group of patients who were both young and old.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading expert on coronavirus in the US, told Congress on Wednesday it was still too early to determine accurate mortality rates of the disease in America because it wasn't yet clear how many had been infected.

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday agreed on an emergency funding package worth more than $7 billion to address the spread of the disease. The bill would be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives later on Wednesday.

The number of cases across the country continued to increase on Wednesday with an Amazon employee at the company's Seattle headquarters - which is just 12 miles from the outbreak nursing home - testing positive for coronavirus.

Amazon confirmed late Tuesday that the employees had tested positive for coronavirus after going home sick from work on February 25. An Amazon spokeperson told DailyMail.com: 'We're supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine.'

The internal email sent to Amazon employees in Seattle and nearby Bellvue said that any employees who had been 'in close contact' with the infected worker were notified separately, the Seattle Times reports.

The email instructed employees experiencing symptoms to stay at home and seek medical attention.

'Your health is our top priority and we are continuing with enhanced deep cleaning and sanitization in the office,' the message said.

Amazon has more than 50,000 employees in Seattle and more than 275,000 full-time workers across the U.S. Last week, Amazon became one of the first U.S. companies to crack down on employee travel due to the outbreak, banning all 'non-essential' work trips.

Washington state has become an early coronavirus hot zone as the virus rapidly spreads across the U.S. The number of infections in the U.S. has now climbed past 150 with cases scattered across at least 15 states.

'What is happening now in the United States may be the beginning of what is happening abroad,' said Dr Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Messonnier noted that in China, where the outbreak began more than two months ago, older and sicker people are about twice as likely to become seriously ill as those who are younger and healthier. Most cases, however, have been mild.

An Amazon employee at the company's Seattle headquarters (above) has tested positive for coronavirus - just 12 miles away from the nursing home where six infected patients have died

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE 11 US PATIENTS WHO DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS So far, 11 people have died of coronavirus in the US, federal and local health officials say. Ten of the deaths have occurred in Washington state - nine in King County and one of Snohomish County. Most came from Life Care Center, a long-term care facility in Kirkland. One deaths has occurred in Placer County, California. Here's what we currently know: 1. A man in his 50s was brought from Life Care Center to Harborview Medical Center on February 24. He died two days later and is the first death in the US from coronavirus 2. A man in his 50s from King County who had underlying health conditions. He was hospitalized and died at EvergreenHealth on February 29 3. A man in his 40s from Snohomish County who died after being hospitalized at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland on March 1 4. A woman in her 70s, who lived at Life Care and was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. She had pre-existing conditions, and died on March 1 5. A man in his 70s, linked to Life Care, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He died on February 29 and pre-existing conditions 6. A man in his 70s, who was also a resident of Life Care, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth. He died on March 1 and also had underlying health conditions 7. A woman in her 70s, who was a Life Care resident, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth and died on March 2 8. A woman in her 80s, who was linked to Life Care and was previously reported to be in critical condition at EvergreenHealth, died on March 1 9. A woman in her 80s, who was a resident of Life Care and was never hospitalized, died at her family home on February 26 10. A tenth death was confirmed on March 4, but Public Health - Seattle & King County has not yet released information about the latest death 11. An 69-year-old man died on March 4 in Placer County, California after likely becoming infected on a Princess cruise ship that traveled from San Francisco to Mexico between February 11 and 21 Advertisement

In suburban Seattle, 27 firefighters and paramedics who responded to calls at the infected nursing home were tested for the virus on Tuesday using a drive-thru system set up in a hospital parking area.

The nursing home outbreak is also the source of the first case in North Carolina, it was revealed on Tuesday. A man in Wake County tested positive for the virus after visiting the care facility in Washington and then flying back home.

It was revealed on Tuesday that two people who had died last week at the nursing home had since tested positive for the disease.

One of those Life Care residents, a male in his 50s, died last Wednesday after being taken to a Seattle hospital. A woman in her 80s, who was a resident of Life Care but was never hospitalized, died at her family home that same day.

Test results only just confirmed that they both had coronavirus.

Officials have not yet determined how the senior living facility became the epicenter of where the majority of deadly cases have been linked to.

The jump in the death toll came as health officials promised to ramp up coronavirus testing across the US and vowed to test a million people by the end of the week.

Officials have also revealed that at least a quarter of the cases across the country have been transferred through communities rather than travel.

An increase in testing for the coronavirus has started to shed light on how the illness has spread in the US with newly confirmed cases in New York, Georgia, Florida and New Hampshire.

Florida declared a public health emergency after confirming its three cases. A man in his 60s with no recent travel history was diagnosed on Sunday with coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a 29-year-old woman who had recently returned from Italy tested positive on Sunday before her sister became the third case on Tuesday.

That woman claims she told the CDC of her symptoms after flying from Italy to New York on her way back to Florida. She claims the CDC told her she was okay to continue on the flight from New York to Tampa. She was tested for coronavirus after arriving back in Tampa last week.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said he expects community-related cases to grow in the coming weeks.

'My concern is as the next week or two or three go by, we're going to see a lot more community-related cases,' he said. 'That's of great concern.'

The total number of cases in the US includes people who tested positive after returning from travel to outbreak areas in other parts of the world, their close contacts and infections that appear to be from community spread - people who did not travel or have known contact with other infected people.

Dr Fauci, who is the top coronavirus expert in the country, said community spread made it almost impossible to predict how many cases there will be.

'The very fact that you have community spread the source of these infections are not entirely known. People are cropping up with infections and you can't trace where they got it,' Dr Fauci said.

State and local authorities have been stepping up testing for the illness following a debacle with faulty kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that officials say delayed results.

In response to the faulty tests, the Food and Drug Administration over the weekend allowed state and local labs to develop their own tests for coronavirus. It will see an increase in tests being carried out, according to FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn, who said he expects more than 1 million people to be tested within the next week.
United State officials on Wednesday stepped up warnings about the potential security risks from the fast-growing, Chinese-owned TikTok as a lawmaker unveiled legislation to ban the social media app from government devices.

At a Senate hearing, officials from the FBI, the Justice Department and Homeland Security said the video-sharing app could become another tool exploited by Chinese intelligence services.

Senator Josh Hawley, who convened the hearing, said he was introducing a bill to ban TikTok from all United States government devices, calling it "a major security risk for the American people."

TikTok, which is especially popular with teens, is believed to have been the most downloaded app worldwide last year, but US officials have expressed concern over its connections with the government in Beijing.

"TikTok is one example of an application where the average citizen doesn't understand the implications of what's behind it," Clyde Wallace, an official in the FBI's cyber division, told the hearing.

"It's basically controlled by a state-sponsored actor."

While the various data points collected by TikTok may not seem sensitive, Wallace said the information may be aggregated and "used for many purposes."

In his written testimony, Wallace said Chinese-owned social media applications may collect personal data including biometrics, contact lists, location data and bank and credit card details.

"Any and all data can be transferred to other locations and associated entities to include the Chinese parent company," he said.

Bryan Ware, a cybersecurity official at the Department of Homeland Security, echoed those fears, saying that TikTok data could become part of a large database exploited by China.

"China has amazing programs in collection of data and developing artificial intelligence and analytics against that data for purposes that we don't fully know... and that should give us great concern," Ware said.

"There's certainly no place for applications like TikTok on government devices and government networks."

Adam Hickey, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's security division, said the aggregation of data from TikTok "makes it easier for intelligence services to either recruit or hack into systems used by government employees."

Samm Sacks, a cybersecurity fellow at the New America Foundation specializing in China, said Chinese regulations may enable the government to "essentially require anything that they want of these companies" even if some privately push back at the requests.

TikTok has said its operations were not influenced by the Beijing authorities.
A school bus during a safety event for children at Trailside Middle School, in Ashburn, Va., on Aug. 25, 2015. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images)

Proposed School Exclusion Bad for Americas Kids, Doctors and Educators Say

Commentary

Ameer Hamideh is a smiling, bubbly 9-year-old. Born with cerebral palsy, Ameer is confined to a wheelchair and uses an assisted communication device to help him speak.

After immunizations triggered a severe seizure disorder when he was 5 months old, his family was told by their neurologist that it wasnt safe for Ameer to have further vaccines.

But this past summer, Ameer, who lives in Buffalo, N.Y., was one of the thousands of children barred from school after New York state passed a law in June 2019 to abolish vaccine exemptions.

While proponents argue that these measures are important for public health, doctors, research scientists, and educators disagree. They say that mandating medicine is bad for children and for public health.

Excluding children from school because their parents have certain religious beliefs regarding vaccination is discrimination, not sound public health, says Dr. Kelly Sutton, a physician who has been practicing family medicine for over 40 years, in both California and Rhode Island. Public health is served best by sanitation, nutrition, education, and selective vaccination with attention to risk factors for vaccine injury.

Tom Young, who has been teaching in Connecticut for more than 20 years and who currently teaches fourth grade in Danbury, agrees.

If you believe vaccinations work, then the only people who might get sick are the unvaccinated kids. So I dont see the logic of excluding any children, Young says.

Young is troubled by the idea that children would be barred from school based on the religious or philosophical beliefs of their parents.

Every child deserves a free public education, Young says. Its always harmful to exclude any group of people, its stigmatizing to isolate anybody. Youre basically making the child into a leper.

Legislation that mandates vaccines ignores the fundamental American value of choice and informed parental consent, writes Superintendent Robert Long, of the East Quogue School District, in a letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, about a push to include influenza and HPV on the list of required vaccines.

In New Jersey, a bill similar to New Yorks was defeated on Jan. 13 after a groundswell of protest. Other states where lawmakers, many of whom accept large financial contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, unsuccessfully tried to pass school exclusion laws include Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Missouri, and Colorado.

But Connecticut legislators have pledged to revisit the issue now that the General Assembly is back in session. That promise has left many concerned.

Instead of encouraging vaccination, these laws promote exclusion and discrimination, unfairly affecting low-income families, says Gabrielle Sellari, an educator and mother of two who has a masters degree in special education. When the unpopular law passed by one vote in New York, hundreds of families, Sellari says, chose to leave the state. Many settled in Connecticut.

Forced compliance is not the right approach, says Sellari, whose son has life-threatening food allergies. If you dont believe your child needs hepatitis Ba vaccine against a sexually transmitted diseaseyou shouldnt be forced to do it for him to attend school.

Members of the Church of Christ Scientist, as well as Eastern Orthodox Old Believers, and many Catholics, Christians, and Orthodox Jews also say taking away religious exemptions to vaccines is wrong. Pro-life religious adherents, including many from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, refuse vaccines that contain cell lines grown from aborted fetal tissue. Some Jews, as well as many Muslims object to the use of pig products (porcine gelatin) found in certain vaccines. Jehovahs Witnesses refuse products made with human and animal blood. Animal-derived products used in manufacturing vaccines include amino acids, glycerol, detergents, gelatin, enzymes, and blood, according to the FDA.

Vegans also reject vaccines made with animal products, which include canine kidney cell protein (in the quadrivalent influenza vaccine), egg protein (in certain flu vaccines as well as in the yellow fever shot), and bovine serum albumin (found in over half a dozen vaccines, including rotavirus and chickenpox).

Respect for people with different religious points of view is important, Sellari says. A health advocate and a member of the board of Health Choice Connecticut, Sellari points out that Connecticut is the Constitution State and that the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

The basic question really is, Who should have control over children? Should it be the parents or should it be the state? says Dr. Sue McIntosh, a retired pediatric hematologist-oncologist who was affiliated with Yale New Haven Hospital. Parents must have the freedom to make medical choices for their young children.

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., is an award-winning journalist and author of Your Baby, Your Way: Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Parenting Decisions for a Happier, Healthier Family. A Fulbright awardee and mother of four, she has worked on a child survival campaign in West Africa, advocated for an end to child slavery in Pakistan on prime-time TV in France, and taught post-colonial literature to non-traditional students in inner-city Atlanta. Learn more about her at JenniferMargulis.net

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Bernie Sanders is 78. Joe Biden is 77.

And one of them looks likely to take on Donald Trump, who is now 73, but became president after he turned 70.

Joe Biden, at a sprightly 77, and Bernie Sanders, 78, are campaigning to wrest the presidency from the 73-year-old Donald Trump. Credit:AP

Elizabeth Warren looks out of the race, despite her youthful 70 years. And the millions 78-year-old Michael Bloomberg threw at his Democratic nomination bid was never going to be enough.

On getting older, perhaps we could learn a thing or two from our US friends, who value wisdom and experience and age, and a few grey hairs.
Constellations of thousands of satellites from companies like spacex and OneWeb could hamper the ability of astronomers to spot 'dangerous asteroids', study warns.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) study examined the impact satellites from the likes of Amazon, SpaceX and OneWeb would have on astronomy.

Companies plan to launch thousands of communications satellites into orbit in the next few years in order to provide a satellite broadband internet service.

Some of these are visible in the sky and astronomers from the ESO say the worst affected telescopes will be those doing wide-field surveys of the night sky.

These telescope arrays scan large parts of the sky very quickly and so are crucial in spotting supernovae and potentially dangerous asteroids.

ESO says a good step would be for the industry to ensure they darken the satellites before launching them into orbit - something SpaceX said it would do.

Scroll down for video

Around 19 Starlink satellites were imaged shortly after launch in November 2019 by DECam on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Astronomers have been raising concerns about the impact of mega-constellations of satellites on scientific research since they were first proposed.

So far SpaceX have about 240 Starlink Satellites in orbit but plan to have thousands over the next few years. OneWeb and others also plan to launch a similar number.

When conducting the study ESO researchers worked on there being over 26,000 broadband satellites orbiting the Earth.

The study found that wide-field surveys - particularly those done with large telescopes such as the US National Science Foundation's Vera C Rubin Observatory - would be most affected by the satellites.

Up to half of exposures with the Rubin Observatory would be 'severely affected', depending on the time of year and the time of night, the study found.

'Mitigation techniques that could be applied on ESO telescopes would not work for this observatory although other strategies are being actively explored.'

This image shows the night sky at ESO's Paranal Observatory around twilight, about 90 minutes before sunrise. The blue lines mark degrees of elevation above the horizon and once all constellation satellites launch dozens of them could be visible in this view

Wide-field survey telescopes have been listed as a top priority by funding bodies and astronomers due to their unique capability to generate very large data sets and to find observation targets for many other observatories.

The researchers discovered that large telescopes like ESO's Very Large Telescope and the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope will be 'moderately affected' by the constellations under development.

The effect is more pronounced for long exposures from the telescopes - with up to 3 per cent of all exposures during twilight ruined by the constellations.

Shorter exposures would be less impacted, with fewer than 0.5 per cent of observations of this type affected.

Observations conducted at other times during the night would also be less affected, as the satellites would be in the shadow of the Earth and therefore not illuminated.

Depending on the science case, the impacts could be lessened by making changes to the operating schedules of telescopes, though these changes come at a cost.

'We will lose some telescope time due to the satellites crossing the field of view,' ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut told BBC News.

'For us, for ESO telescopes, this is something that we can mitigate by scheduling, and by 'closing the shutter' when they pass overhead.'

Further studies are required to fully understand the scientific implications of this loss of observational data and complexities in their analysis, ESO says.

Professional and amateur astronomers alike have also raised concerns about how satellite mega-constellations could impact the pristine views of the night sky.

The study shows that about 1,600 satellites from the constellations will be above the horizon of an observatory at mid-latitude, most of which will be low in the sky - within 30 degrees of the horizon.

Above this - the part of the sky where most astronomical observations take place - there will be about 250 constellation satellites at any given time.

While they are all illuminated by the Sun at sunset and sunrise, more and more get into the shadow of the Earth toward the middle of the night.

'Once you crunch the numbers, the numbers are not as bad as what some people feared,' Dr Hainaut told BBC News.

'People said 'oh no, there'll be 40,000 bright satellites in the sky? No, there won't be, simply because most of these satellites will be below the horizon, and then most of the others will be in the shadow of the Earth. That's the first bit of good news.

'The second bit of good news is that the space industry, and specifically Space X and OneWeb are talking to us. They are really listening.'

The Milky Way, our own galaxy, stretches across the sky over Paranal, the site of ESO's Very Large Telescope. Paranal has about 300 clear nights per year but this could be hampered with thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit

Overall, these new satellite constellations would about double the number of satellites visible in the night sky to the naked eye.

These numbers do not include the trains of satellites visible immediately after launch and before they reach their final position in orbit.

Whilst spectacular and bright, they are short lived and visible only briefly after sunset or before sunrise over a limited area on Earth.

Satellite constellations will also have an impact on radio, millimetre and submillimetre observatories, including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX).

They didn't go into the specifics of the impact it would have on these telescopes as part of this study but do plan to examine it in future research.

A spokesperson for the American Astronomical Association said they wanted to find a way to work with SpaceX and others without 'giving up the night sky'.

This 2D diagram illustrates that an observer at mid-latitude would see only a fraction of the constellation satellites orbiting the Earth. To be visible, satellites need to be above the observer's horizon and be illuminated by the Sun

'The goal of Starlink is to provide worldwide internet service, an aspiration we do not want to impede, but this requires one to two orders of magnitude more low Earth orbiting satellites (LEOs) than currently exist,' they said.

Observatories around the world are taking measures to 'raise awareness of this issue' with the likes of the United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the European Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies.

This is alongside work with the space companies to find practical solutions.

ESO says it is important to 'safeguard the large-scale investments made in cutting-edge ground-based astronomy facilities.'

Various agencies have called for the development of regulatory framework to ensure the 'harmonious coexistence' of technological advances in low Earth orbit with the use of ground based observatories.

The American Astronomical Society said: 'We do not want to give up access to optical observations from the ground.

This image shows the night sky above the construction site of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope, which is planned to start operating in late 2025. Unlike other telescopes it will only be 'moderately affected' by the constellations currently under development

'Our group's task is to find a path forward that accommodates both uses of the sky.'

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) said there are no internationally agreed rules or guidelines on the brightness of orbiting manmade objects.

Until now this wasn't a priority as there weren't enough objects in the right orbit to make a notable difference - but the likes of SpaceX and OneWeb will put more up in a short time than have been launched to date in over 50 years of spaceflight.

The IAU said that technological progress is only made possible by parallel advances in scientific knowledge.

'Satellites would neither operate nor properly communicate without essential contributions from astronomy and physics,' an IAU spokesperson said.

'It is in everybody's interest to preserve and support the progress of fundamental science such as astronomy, celestial mechanics, orbital dynamics and relativity.'

The findings have been published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Attorney General Letitia James is warning New Yorkers to be cautious of scammers who are using heightened public fear surrounding the coronavirus to take advantage of people.

James has already issued a cease and desist order to an entity that is marketing a product as treatment for COVID-19, even though there is currently no FDA-approved vaccine to prevent or treatment to cure the virus.

As we experience more cases of coronavirus, it is imperative that New Yorkers remain calm, but stay vigilant, James said.

In addition to being mindful about our health, we must also be aware of unscrupulous actors who attempt to take advantage of this fear and anxiety to scam or deceive customers, she said.

Anybody who feels they may have been a victim of a scam should contact the attorney generals office to file a complaint, she said.

James offered the following scam prevention tips:

Coronavirus: Full coverage on SILive.com

NEW YORK CORONAVIRUS CASES RISE TO 22

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday afternoon that the total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in New York has increased to 22.

At least three people are hospitalized among the newest cases, Cuomo announced at a press conference.

With these new cases we are doing the same thing as we have done with the other cases: Tracking down people who have had contact with the known positive #coronavirus cases," Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

"We are trying to contain as much as possible the spread of each case we find  but we expect more cases, he said.

The announcement comes hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the two additional New York City cases  a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s, which are included among Cuomos latest confirmed cases.

$8.3 BILLION EMERGENCY FUNDING BILL PASSES HOUSE

The House of Representatives voted to pass a bipartisan funding package to address the coronavirus (COID-19) with the help of Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Now on its way to the Senate, the $8.3 billion package will be used for a robust response to what officials are calling a public health emergency.

Of the $8.3 billion, $950 million will go to state and local health agencies for surveillance, laboratory testing, infection control, contact tracing, and mitigation.

Rose said an all-hands-on-deck response is needed.

Getting this funding passed and out to the front lines is essential to that goal and will provide critical to support New York State and Citys efforts. I will continue working to ensure those in the community are well informed and supported, which is why I have launched a new resource page. What we cannot allow to happen is for misinformation or xenophobic stigmas to take holdparticularly against our Chinese-American community, Rose said.
Troubled private sector lender Yes Bank was placed under a 'moratorium' on late Thursday, with the RBI capping depositor withdrawals at Rs 50,000.

Troubled private sector lender Yes Bank was placed under a "moratorium" late on Thursday, with the Central government capping depositor withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding the board with immediate effect.

The RBI superseded the board of Yes Bank, which has not been able to raise required capital for the last six months. It also appointed former Chief Financial Officer of SBI, Prashant Kumar as the administrator of Yes Bank.

"The Reserve Bank came to the conclusion that in the absence of a credible revival plan, and in public interest and the interest of the bank's depositors, it had no alternative but to apply to the central government for imposing a moratorium under Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949," the RBI said in a statement late in the evening.

The statement said the bank management had indicated that it was in talks with various investors and they were likely to be successful. The bank was also engaged with a few private equity firms for exploring opportunities to infuse capital.

"These investors did hold discussions with senior officials of the Reserve Bank but for various reasons eventually did not infuse any capital.

"Since a bank and market-led revival is a preferred option over a regulatory restructuring, the Reserve Bank made all efforts to facilitate such a process and gave adequate opportunity to the bank's management to draw up a credible revival plan, which did not materialise," the statement said.

In the meantime, the bank was facing regular outflow of liquidity, the apex bank said, justifying its actions.

The actions come hours after sources said the government has approved a plan wherein State Bank of India (SBI) and other financial institutions would bailout Yes Bank.

If the plan is implemented, it would be the first major instance in many years where a private sector lender would be bailed out using public money.

Soon after the announcement was made, Congress leader Sanjay Jha took a dig at the Centre, saying 

Reporter: Madam, #YesBank is become bad, Madam Madam: Shut up! Didnt you all want a bad bank all these years?  Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) March 5, 2020

Some others recalled Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor's statement from 2016 praising demonetisation 

In 2004, Global Trust Bank was amalgamated with Oriental Bank of Commerce and in 2006, IDBI Bank took over United Western Bank.

The curbs on Yes Bank come after similar action was taken against fraud-hit cooperative lender PMC Bank in September, where depositors are still in the lurch.

With inputs from PTI
Transmission electron micrograph of the virus particles that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient and captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland, in February 2020. (NIAID/CC BY 2.0)

Heres How to Tell If You Have the Coronavirus, and When You Should See a Doctor

With the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak spreading across the United States, its prompted a number of fears. However, suffering from a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or other respiratory problems doesnt always mean you have been infected with the mysterious new disease.

The symptoms of the coronavirus such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, and runny nose are similar to those of the common cold or influenza. However, COVID-19 appears to be more deadlynamely among older people and those with underlying health problemsthan the flu.

The virus can cause pneumonia, and people who suffer from it say they have breathing difficulties and a cough. In severe instances, there have been reports of organ failure and many of those who have died were in poor health or elderly. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), symptoms can range from mild to severe. And some people do not report any symptoms at all.

The agency recommends the following: Call your healthcare professional if you feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19, or if you live in or have recently traveled from an area with ongoing spread of COVID-19. Your healthcare professional will work with your states public health department and CDC to determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19.

Individuals who are experiencing these symptoms but can manage them with over-the-counter drugs, water, and by just staying at home should just continue doing so, according to some experts. If these drugs are effective, it might just be the flu.

People walk through Manhattan with surgical masks as fears of the coronavirus spreading through the United States increase in New York City on March 4, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

If you feel well enough that if it werent for coronavirus you wouldnt see a doctor, dont see a doctor, Lauren Sauer, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine, commented to The Washington Post.

So far, in the United States, there have been at least 164 confirmed cases across about 15 states, according to Johns Hopkins website. Health officials have warned that many more people are likely to get infected. Of the cases, some are travel-relatedmeaning that someone has traveled to an outbreak area such as China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, or Italywhile some have spread person-to-person, and some were evacuated from Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess ship. So far, at least 11 people have died from the virus.

One should call their primary-care doctor if they have a cough and a fever, said Maria Raven, chief of emergency medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. Those with a fever that doesnt stop, weakness, shortness of breath, lethargy, or weakness should talk to a doctor or another health-care professional, said Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, according to the Post. Adalja said those symptoms are signs of pneumonia.

Chinese vegetable vendors wear protective masks as they wait for customers at a local market in Beijing, China, on March 4, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Adalja said that if one decides to go to a doctor or hospital, they should call ahead and tell them about any potential respiratory problems.

The CDC recommends avoiding all non-essential travel to China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy. Japan is at a level two alert, while Hong Kong is at a level one watch.

Health experts in various states have also said that people should avoid close-contact with a person who appears to be sick, coughing, or sneezing. Dont touch your eyes, nose, mouth, or face and cover your cough and sneezes, they have recommended. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Currently, the CDC does not recommend that Americans purchase and wear face masks unless one has COVID-19 or is displaying symptoms.

The COVID-19 virus, which is in the same family of coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS, is believed to have emerged in Wuhan, located in Chinas Hubei Province late last year. In China, its believed that tens of thousands of people have been infected, while critics have accused the ruling Chinese Communist Party of imposing draconian controls and censorship.
By Ahmad Ghaddar, Shadia Nasralla and Rania El Gamal

VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC pushed on Thursday for a bigger-than-expected oil output cut to support prices that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak, effectively presenting its non-OPEC partners with an ultimatum to back the move or face a price collapse.

OPEC's proposal to curb supplies by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of 2020 was a surprise, given the group was expected to propose cuts of 1 million bpd and, hours earlier on Thursday, had said curbs should be limited to the second quarter.

But an unusual informal meeting of OPEC ministers in a Vienna hotel on Thursday evening announced that the group now wanted the cut - already the biggest since the 2008 financial crisis - to run until the end of year.

Russia and Kazakhstan, both members of the broader grouping known as OPEC+ which meets in Vienna on Friday, said they had not yet agreed to a deeper cut, raising the risk of a collapse in cooperation that has propped up crude prices since 2016.

OPEC+ already has a deal in place for 2.1 million bpd of cuts.

OPEC said after Thursday's formal ministerial meeting that the market faced an "unprecedented situation" as efforts to stop the coronavirus spreading has driven down demand for oil by dampening economic activity around the world.

Riyadh, OPEC's biggest producer, has been pushing for a significant cut to lift oil prices that have tumbled 20% since the start of year. But it has struggled to win over Moscow.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday he was ready for a drop in oil prices if there was no deal. Kazakh Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev, another non-OPEC producer, said talks were only focusing on extending existing curbs to June.

"Moscow perhaps is underestimating that Saudi Arabia may be ready to walk away if it doesn't get a positive answer," said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects think-tank.

'IN THIS TOGETHER'

Story continues

Russia has been hesitant in previous negotiations and has then signed up to deals at the last minute. But OPEC sources have said negotiations with Moscow this time have been tougher.

Two OPEC sources said on Thursday that, if Russia failed to sign up, there was a risk Saudi Arabia would insist on scrapping OPEC production limits altogether.

After its formal ministerial meeting, OPEC ministers had said non-OPEC states were expected to contribute 500,000 bpd to the overall extra cut.

Suhail al-Mazroui, energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, said OPEC did not want to carry the burden of cuts alone and non-OPEC had to help. "We are all in this together. So its not going to be us making a decision alone," he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is already cutting well beyond its quota under the existing pact, reducing its output by about 10%. Russia, with bigger total production, has reduced its output by a fraction of Riyadh's cut.

Gary Ross, founder of Black Gold Investors, said a worst case scenario in which Saudi Arabia returned to full production would send oil prices down to $25 to $30 a barrel.

That would take prices to a level that would be painful for OPEC states, already struggling with prices at around $50, but also for Russia, which has said it can balance its books at $40.

"OPEC+ have little choice but to cut output substantially given the virus related demand losses," Ross said, adding that he expected Russia "will join because it is overwhelmingly in their economic interests."

Brent oil prices <LCOc1> initially rose 0.6% on news of OPEC's plan to cut by 1.5 million bpd, but then gave up most of those gains when Russia and others suggested a deal was not in the bag.

The proposed OPEC cut of 1.5 million bpd, if approved, would bring the group's overall output reduction to 3.6 million bpd or about 3.6% of global supplies.

The last time OPEC reduced supplies on such a scale was in 2008 when it cut production by a total of 4.2 million bpd to address slower demand because of the global financial crisis.

OPEC hold its next ministerial meeting on June 9.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Edmund Blair)
The Foundation Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen has donated NOK 22.5 million to a Norwegian national centre for the fight against Alzheimer's disease. The grant was made public on 26 February.

Edvard Moser, from the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, will lead the new centre, with May-Britt Moser as deputy head. The goal is to translate Nobel Prize-winning brain research from laboratory to patient.

The history of Alzheimer's disease is long and painful. In 1901, a young German psychiatrist meets Mrs. Auguste Deter. Auguste was disoriented, suffering from memory impairment and hallucinations. She had lost much of her language and her husband was no longer able to care for her.

"I've lost myself, so to say," Auguste D. told her psychiatrist. What particularly amazed him was that the woman was in the middle of her life, barely 51 years old and far too young for the disability to be age-related.

Within five years, Auguste was dead. The psychiatrist wondered if her brain held clues that could shed light on the mental illness. With the family's permission, he examined Auguste's brain.

Never before had the psychiatrist held in his hands a human brain so severely atrophied. The shrinkage was particularly evident in the cerebral cortex, the outermost layers of the brain where the little grey cells that are so important for higher brain functions reside.

To continue his search for signs of the disease, the psychiatrist had to look into the brain. Carefully, he cut the brain into thin slices, which he then coloured with silver salts to increase contrast. Under the microscope he found further traces of disease. Two different forms of accumulation had formed in the cortex of the brain tissue. One type was found in between brain cells, and the other had accumulated inside the brain cells.

Today, these two accumulations are known as beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein.

The young psychiatrist was Alois Alzheimer, and the illness he had discovered in Auguste Deter was named after him. Thanks to the Deter family, who gave their consent for Auguste's brain to be studied, Alzheimer was able to give the world a first glimpse into how this disease alters both the brain and the mind.

Today, more than a hundred years later, Alzheimer's has become one of the greatest threats to public health. The world still knows little about what Alzheimer's is or what causes the disease, and nothing is known about how it can be stopped. There is no effective treatment.

But researchers know where it all starts, deep inside the brain, in an area the size of a fingernail, called the entorhinal cortex. The area is closely interwoven with the brain's memory centre, which suggested early on that this area had an important function.

Little was known about the entorhinal cortex until 2005, when the Mosers discovered grid cells and found the brain's seat of space and navigation in the middle part of the brain structure. In 2018, they discovered a network of brain cells that sort our experiences into the right order, like beads on a string in the outer end of the entorhinal cortex. The sequencing of experiences forms the building blocks of our sense of time.

The entorhinal cortex gives rise to two brain functions that are fundamental to our ability to make sense of the world: the ability to translate the continuous flow of impressions and events into separate experiences with unique addresses both in space and in time.

It is also the starting point for the massive cell death that works its way through the brain, resulting in the devastating loss of cognitive function that we have come to know as Alzheimer's disease.

We know that special neurons in the entorhinal cortex are the very first in the cerebral cortex to die from the disease. This cell death starts decades before the earliest symptoms are noticeable.

So it is not surprising that confusion about time and place, getting lost on familiar paths, or having difficulty remembering what you did yesterday or just moments ago are among the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

"Our sense of space and time are among the very first brain functions that are impaired in Alzheimer's," says Edvard Moser.

Researchers believe there are several reasons why there has been so little progress in the Alzheimer's field in recent decades.

One reason may be that researchers intervene too late in the course of the disease, when large parts of the brain have already been affected and damaged. Another reason is likely that researchers have conducted their experiments on types of brain cells other than the special entorhinal neurons that are naturally affected by the disease at an early stage.

It is precisely here, in the brain regions where place, time and memory occur, that researchers from the new Jebsen centre will focus their attention.

"If we are to understand what causes Alzheimer's, we need to identify the early mechanisms of the disease in the particular area where it occurs. We need to uncover reliable biomarkers of the disease which we can use to develop an early diagnosis. Knowledge about the very first route the disease makes may enable us to intervene in the process and stop the disease before cells die and brain functions start to unravel," says Edvard Moser.

The new centre will bring together Alzheimer's specialists across disciplines to collaborate on a set of projects designed to bridge the gaps from basic science to clinical implementation. The centre's research will tackle everything from basic research in rats and mice to clinical research in humans. Each step, from the lab to the patient, will be quality assured with what is called translational research.

Here, promising basic research results on healthy brains will be translated to brains that have been affected by Alzheimer's disease, and the most significant findings from human brain disease will be translated into animal models for testing before being introduced to humans.

Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser will lead the translation of Nobel Prize winning research from bench to bedside. The centre will be located at ya Campus in Trondheim and will unite university and hospital and link them with prominent national and international partners.

The Jebsen researchers will also have access to state-of-the-art technology. This includes the 7-Tesla brain imaging machine from NORBRAIN 2, which can be used for both basic and clinical research in patients.

###

The national research centre was made possible by a donation from the Foundation Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen of NOK 22.5 million. The Central Norway Regional Health Authority has contributed NOK 11.25 million and NTNU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has contributed NOK 5.63 million. The Norwegian National Association for Public Health, with its expertise and close contact with patients and relatives, will collaborate closely with the centre.

The K. G. Jebsen Centre for Alzheimer's Disease will officially open on 1 October 2020, and the money will fund five years of operation.
While our PM was busy globe trotting overseas in an attempt to to stroke his ego and gain a seat on the UN Security Council, which will do nothing for Canada, the minority eco terrorist fringe bleeding hearts were doing their best to hold the Canadian economy hostage. Well now our PM has come home and while his drama professors taught him how to cry on demand they never prepared him for how to use a firm hand and run a democracy.

Now we the Canadian people financially suffer while Pierres boy cowers and tries to figure out what to do now that his stern words have not frightened the terrorists into taking down their illegal barricades. We have a military, its time to take the bull by the horns and put an end to this madness, its hurting too many hard working tax paying Canadians but then Trudeau who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth cant understand that concept. The vocal fringe minority is trying to run the country and our PM keeps telling us he will solve the issue with dialogue, God help us if were ever invaded by a foreign country while the current weak-kneed PM is at the helm.

Hopefully Eastern Canadians wake up and use their vote to put someone in power in the next election that is more qualified to run our country and use the power of the office to protect the Canadian people and our economy before its too late.

Guy Bissonnette, Kelowna
The Democrats have been moving toward socialism for years, so it is not surprising that Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and proud Democratic socialist seems to have a possible path to the Democrats nomination for president.

I would guess that many of Sanders young supporters have no idea what socialism means to older people, or that many governments based on those principles have failed.

Like former President Barack Obama, Sanders uses the word transform, suggesting drastic changes to our American way of life. Some forms of socialism have sought seek destruction of a countrys traditional society in order to build a totalitarian state. This would represent government control over every part of our lives. Socialist societies can also be anti-religion.

President Dwight Eisenhower said in 1955, Without God, there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first  the most basic  expression of Americanism.

President Ronald Reagan said  without God, Democracy will not and cannot long endure. Sadly, even though the United States is not currently under socialist rule, worship of God is being slowly eliminated from the public square.

For all of Bernie Sanders ideas about free stuff supported by taxation, such as college tuition, student-loan forgiveness, and Medicare for all including undocumented immigrants, Sanders has no reasonable plan to pay for all of it. The cost would be phenomenal.

Peter Schweizers best-selling book, Profiles in Corruption provides information about alleged scandals involving Democratic candidates, including Sanders and Joe Biden. Becoming familiar with the candidates is important to voting responsibly. The battle for the future of the United States depends on it.

Barbara Essington, Carneys Point Township

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Senator Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is working on verifying a document which details a misinformation campaign against Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin, who Joe Biden bragged about getting fired.

Johnson told Fox News Wednesday that the document, still needs to be verified, raises some eyebrows regarding the rationale behind Shokins dismissal from his post as Ukrainian prosecutor general in 2016.

I know it was a big explanation that everybody wanted him fired, but there is a document, we have to verify it, but there is a document supposedly contemporaneous that said that the contact by Blue Star to the prosecutor generals office was all about apologizing for the misinformation campaign conducted against Shokin, Johnson said.

President Trump and Republican allies have repeatedly harped on the fact that Joe Biden, who was point man for the White House in Ukraine at the time, threatened to withdraw $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine if the country did not fire Shokin, who was accused by the State Department and U.S. allies in Europe of being soft on corruption.

Johnson, who first asked in November for documents relating to Hunter Bidens role at Burisma and his interactions with State Department officials, wants to subpoena former Ukrainian embassy official Andrii Telizhenko, who worked as a consultant for the Washington-based Blue Star Strategies.

Documents released in November show how Blue Star Strategies, which was hired by Burisma to help deal with corruption allegations, tried to leverage the Biden name to secure a meeting with the State Department as part of a campaign to rehabilitate Burismas image.

Johnson brought up Blue Stars use of Hunter Biden on Wednesday, and said that his probe aims to let the American people see what this possible corruption is.

President Trump, asked by Sean Hannity about Johnsons probe later Wednesday, said the Bidens and Burisma will be a major issue in the campaign if Joe Biden becomes the Democratic nominee.

Story continues

I will bring that up all the time because I dont see any way out for them. I dont see how they can answer those questions. I hope they can, Id actually prefer it that they cant but I dont believe they will be able to answer those questions. That was purely corrupt, Trump said.

More from National Review
Alia Bhatt on Wednesday attended the screening of Guilty starring her best friend Akanksha Ranjan Kapoor in Mumbai. The Netflix original, which is produced by Karan Johar, will release on March 6. Kiara Advani and Gurfateh Singh Pirzada are also part of the project.

As the Raazi actress made her way to the event, what caught everyone's attention was the wallpaper that appeared on her phone. Alia, who was dressed in a summery lilac dress, was making her way to her elevator when the shutterbugs found what they were not looking for. Alia was accompanied by her sister Shaheen, who opted for a green outfit.

The zoomed-in shot of the clip, shows a photo of Alia and her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor as her phone's wallpaper, making their fans go 'awwwww'. Fans can't seem to stop swooning over the couple's romance.

Many #Ranlia fans posted gushing comments with heart and heart-eye emojis and netizens left fire emojis of the video.

Rumours about the couple getting married soon has been one of the most talked about topics in B-Town. It is said that Ranbir and Alia are set to tie the knot in December this year. Reportedly, their wedding will take place following the release of the Ayan Mukerji directed fantasy drama Brahmastra, on December 4.

Alia has an array of projects in the pipeline, including Sanjay Leela Bhansali's biographical drama, Gangubai Kathiawadi, releasing September 11. Next up, she has SS Rajamouli's RRR, which marks her South Indian debut.

Follow @Nes18Movies for more
In this Feb. 11, 2020 photo, the Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge as it arrives from Hawaii in San Francisco.

Princess Cruises said it will test some of the passengers and crew aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which California health officials said is the site of another COVID-19 outbreak. The company said fewer than 100 people would be tested.

The ship, which was on a two-week voyage to Hawaii, was ordered to return early to San Francisco, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, adding that passengers and crew have developed symptoms. A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that three passengers who were previously on the ship have since tested positive, including one who has died.

Shares of parent company Carnival Corp. fell more than 14% Thursday.

The ship was due to arrive in San Francisco on Wednesday, Newsom said, but is currently off the coast of California, according to Seascanner, which tracks the location of ships. Executive director of San Francisco's Department of Emergency Management Mary Ellen Carroll said Thursday there are about 3,500 people aboard the ship. Of that, 35 people have exhibited symptoms, Carroll said, though some have recovered.

"That ship is now being delayed to provide ample opportunity for the CDC in partnership with Coast Guard and state health officials to conduct tests," Newsom told reporters late Wednesday, "because we have a number of passengers and crew members who have developed symptoms on this cruise ship."

Newsom added that the U.S. Coast Guard will deliver test kits to the ship by helicopter on Thursday. The kits will be analyzed at a lab in Richmond, California, Newsom said, "where we'll be able to very quickly, within just a few hours" test the samples. However, San Francisco's Mary Ellen Carroll said Thursday that test results are expected Friday.

San Francisco officials did not say what would happen if people on board the ship test positive for COVID-19.

"Once we have results from the tests, the CDC and the state will determine the most appropriate location for the ship to berth," Carroll said.

Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard were not immediately available for comment.

Only passengers and crew who have symptoms and people who were guests on the ship's previous voyage will be tested, the company said in a statement, adding that it's fewer than 100.

Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruises did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Health officials in northern California's Placer County announced Wednesday that they traced the first COVID-19 death in the state, and the 11th in the country, to the Grand Princess cruise ship. The patient who died was aboard the ship from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 on a trip from San Francisco to Mexico.

An unknown number of passengers remained on the ship for the voyage to Hawaii and are currently quarantined in their cabins, according to a letter sent to passengers by the company on Wednesday.

More than 2,500 passengers were on the ship for the Feb. 11 voyage, Newsom said, over half of whom are Californians. That does not include the ship's crew, Newsom said, adding that U.S. health officials are contacting everyone who was on board the ship for testing. He said California is now monitoring 9,400 people for COVID-19.

Princess Cruises is also the operator of the Diamond Princess ship, which was the site of what might have been the first major COVID-19 epidemic outside of China. The Diamond Princess was quarantined at a Japanese port on Feb. 4 after a previous guest, who didn't have any symptoms while aboard the ship, tested positive for the virus.

There were 3,700 passengers and crew aboard the ship, and more than 700 became infected. The Japanese government and other nations eventually evacuated their citizens from the ship.
Employees of AIBEA and AIBOA will go on a bank strike against the mergers of ten public sector banks (PSBs) which the Union Cabinet approved on Wednesday.

A section of bank employees reportedly called for a nation-wide strike on 27 Marth to protest the mega bank mergers, which will come into force on 1 April.

The banking services are expected to be hit during the one-day strike as the strike call has been given by two major employees unions of the state-run banks.

Employees of All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) will go on strike on 27 March against the mergers of ten public sector banks (PSBs) which the Union Cabinet approved on Wednesday, reported IANS quoting a top leader of AIBEA.

"Banks themselves face problems due to huge pile of bad loans. While the public sector banks made a total gross profit of Rs 150,000 crore for the year ended 31 March 2019, because of total provisions towards bad loans, etc amounting to Rs 216,000 crore, the banks ended in a net loss of Rs 66,000 crore," CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA, said.

"Can anyone believe that the merger of banks will result in the recovery of the huge corporate bad loans? Rather, as we have observed after merger in State Bank of India (SBI), bad loans in SBI has gone up. The same risk is facing these banks now," he said.

In October last year, employees of state-run banks had gone on a nation-wide one day strike to protest against the government's mega-merger plan of the PSBs.

The union said the government was merging banks to serve the interests of big businesses who had looted these banks in the form of non-payment of loans.

The one-day strike was called by AIBEA and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI).

In August 2019, the government announced a plan to merge 10 public sector lenders into four to create fewer and stronger global-sized banks.

It had announced four new sets of mergers of state-run banksPunjab National Bank taking over Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India; Syndicate Bank merging with Canara Bank; Union Bank of India will amalgamate with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank; and Indian Bank will merge with Allahabad Bank.

 With inputs from agencies
To argue that such legislative action is mala fide and needs corrective action is to express the patronising attitude of the West that perceives formerly colonised societies as inferior, incompetent and exotic.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), whose purpose of existence is a mystery to many, has disgraced itself again  this time by making a clownish intervention in Indias top court against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Moved by UNHRC chief Michelle Bachelet Jeria  a socialist, political activist and a former president of Chile  the plea is an attempt by the UN body to make itself a party in the case filed against CAA in the countrys top court. If UNHRCs real motive was to kick up controversy and generate some relevance, it seems to have succeeded.

An indignant India has taken the bait. In a statement released to the media, spokesperson for the Union Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, called CAA an internal matter of India and concerns the sovereign right of the Indian Parliament to make laws. The statement reiterated we strongly believe that no foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaining to Indias sovereignty and goes on to add: We are clear that the CAA is constitutionally valid and complies with all requirements of our constitutional values. It is reflective of our long-standing national commitment in respect of human rights issues arising from the tragedy of the Partition of India.

For good measure, the MEA statement also clarifies that India is a democratic country governed by the rule of law. We all have utmost respect for and full trust in our independent judiciary. We are confident that our sound and legally sustainable position would be vindicated by the Honble Supreme Court.

India tries too hard to make its case. It neednt have. No one takes the hypocritical UNHRC seriously. The cesspool of political bias  as the US described it while pulling out of the council in 2018  has exceeded its mandate this time by filing frivolous litigation and interfering with the sovereign right of a nation to determine its own refugee policy.

The original petitioner (former diplomat Deb Mukharji) has expressed discomfort with the foreign bodys intervention on Indias internal issue and the court may do well to throw out the plea and levy a fine on the organisation.

The CAA may have triggered protests inside India, but the country is not a tinpot autocracy unlike many of UNHRCs member states. The protests witnessed in India are the internal debates of a robust democracy. The legislation has been passed after a thorough argument in Parliament that represents the will of the people, by a government that has been democratically elected through the worlds largest electoral exercise and enjoys overwhelming mandate.

To argue that such legislative action is mala fide and needs corrective action is to express the patronising attitude of the West that perceives formerly colonised societies as inferior, incompetent and exotic. Theres a word for this attitude: orientalism. Edward Said did warn us about it.

The CAA is a humane, compassionate law that seeks to heal some of the festering wounds of Partition. If it seeks to expedite citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from three of Indias neighbouring states that are Muslim-majority and Islamic republics, then it is done through the application of certain criteria within a specific context  rooted in Indias unique history as a civilisational state.

As External Affairs Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar explained recently during a meeting with European ministers in Brussels, the CAA is not unlike the refugee and resettlement policies in Europe where Germany, for instance, allowed ethnic Germans from eastern Europe to seek citizenship by giving them a naturalised pathway.

This notably does not mean that India has shut the door on giving citizenship to Muslims  the key charge against CAA  but it has made a positive discrimination in favour of certain religiously persecuted communities just as the US did in 1990 through the Lautenberg Amendment via which the immigration of Jews and evangelical Christians from former USSR was fast-tracked. The Bahai community of Iran, a minority in the Muslim-majority nation, was added to this group through the Specter amendment in 2004.

In calling the law fundamentally discriminatory in nature, the UNHRC has exposed its poor understanding of a complex issue, or worse still, has made a statement of mala fide intent driven by misplaced political activism.

#India: We are concerned that the new #CitizenshipAmendmentAct is fundamentally discriminatory in nature. Goal of protecting persecuted groups is welcomed, but new law does not extend protection to Muslims, incl. minority sects: https://t.co/ziCNTWvxc2#FightRacism #CABProtests pic.twitter.com/apWbEqpDOZ  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) December 13, 2019

The representative picture of protests attached to this tweet is indicative of the confusion that the UN body suffers from on CAA.

In Assam, where the protests initially kicked off, the CAA has been seen as a legislative tool that may threaten Assams demography and endanger further its ethnic population. Therefore, there has been a total rejection of the law in the state, unlike elsewhere in India where protests have centred around the fact that it is not inclusive enough. By adding this picture accompanying its comment on discrimination, the UNHRC has exposed its tragic ignorance on the subject.

And thats not surprising. The key problem facing the debate around CAA in western liberal media and progressive political circles is its failure to understand or appreciate the complexity of the issue and an almost existential need to strip every debate to the bone in a form of black-white binary for a polarised and pointless argument. Add to this the western prejudice towards the rise of nationalistic impulses in India and an intrinsic hatred towards the political forces that espouse it.

This is where the whole issue gets more interesting. UNHRCs move to intervene in Indias judicial procedure and interfere with Indias sovereign rights is reflective of a more fundamental phenomenon at work  the western worlds unease with the political revival of societies shaking off their colonial past and expressing their nationalism  sometimes (as is the case with India) through democratic validation.

The Wests unease with nationalism has its reasons. But it also reflects the intellectual inadequacy of liberal thinkers who paint all nationalisms with the same brush. As EAM Jaishankar recently elaborated during his speech at the 6th India Ideas Conclave, painting (of) all nationalisms with the same brush is not the thinking of nationalists at all. On the contrary, it is the strategy of globalists who seek to simplify the world into an advantageous binary proposition. By doing so, they put very different political phenomena  some assertive, others more reactive and the rest just simply expressive  in the same basket. That makes it much easier to explain. And as we have often discovered, to demonize as well.

Why is this problematic? To take Indias example, in its political revival and expression of nationalism lies an expression of its Independence from colonial rule and reinforcing of its roots as a civilisational nation-state. India is a prime example of democracy being driven deeper and reinforced further beyond the West, but its normative behaviour cant be expected to conform with the western standards of democracy. The biggest problem around the conversation with nationalism is that West is unable to handle this expression and departure from normative standards set by the west through its complex web of institutions such as the United Nations.

These mediums and institutions, to quote from Jaishankars speech again, are self-appointed arbiters of political correctness. Apparently, their judgements are of such high order that they claim superiority over the verdict of democracy and the will of legislatures.

This is the crux of the debate. Therefore, be it the UNHRC or the Freedom House that in its latest report has denounced Indias turn towards Hindu nationalism the intolerance is evident with the political revival of nations that are finally emerging from a colonial hangover. The West needs to wrap its head around it because it is an indomitable force of history that is finally correcting its course.
Pair taken into custody after a search reveals firearm

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  Elements of the Ministry of Public Security and Municipal Transit of Solidaridad secured two subjects, a firearm, cartridges and a motorcycle.

In a statement, it was reported during a patrol Tuesday night along 115th Avenue, police marked two people aboard a motorcycle to stop. As municipal police approached, one of the subjects undertook an escape.

Police requested support in locating the fleeing male. Meanwhile, the other subject was found carrying a firearm with cartridges.

The fleeing man was intercepted by police and also taken into custody.
Lok Sabha was adjourned on Thursday



till noon as vociferous protests and sloganeering by Opposition parties over the Delhi violence disrupted proceedings for the fourth straight day.

Amid din, three questions were taken up during the Question Hour.

For the second day, Speaker Om Birla was not present in the House and the proceedings were presided over by BJD leader B Mahtab.

Around 30 members, mostly from the Congress, were in the Well of the House shouting slogans and displaying placards, demanding resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah over the Delhi violence.

Mahtab repeatedly said disruptions would serve no purpose. If the government and the opposition sit down and settle differences, then issues such as Delhi violence and coronavirus can be discussed in the House, he added.

Mahtba also said that the Speaker was disturbed by the happenings in the House, due to which he decided not to preside over the proceedings.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HSBC has sent more than 100 of its London staff home after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the first known case at a major company in Europe's main financial hub.

Italy's UniCredit also told some staff to go home after two new infections were reported among its employees - one in Germany and one in Italy.

The possibility of the coronavirus spreading across the finance industry is worrying regulators, who fear the absence of important staff could lead to liquidity problems in markets if firms cannot operate their trading operations normally.

The European Central Bank has asked euro zone banks to urgently test their large-scale remote working arrangements, or other flexible working arrangements for critical staff, a letter dated Tuesday that was seen by Reuters showed.

German and British financial regulators have also said they are watching how prepared banks and other institutions are.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

At HSBC, an employee in its research department in London self-isolated on Sunday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The employee was later confirmed to have the coronavirus and on Thursday morning the bank sent home more than 100 people from the research department, a bank spokeswoman said.

HSBC has told staff who came into contact with him to work from home as areas affected undergo a thorough clean.

"We have been informed that one of our employees at 8 Canada Square has been diagnosed with COVID-19. This colleague is under medical supervision and has self-isolated," the spokeswoman said. "All staff whose roles allow remote working have been told they can work from home if preferred."

HSBC's London office is in Canary Wharf, a major financial district that hosts many investment banks, including Citi, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Barclays.

HSBC's headquarters remains open, the bank said.

NEW CASES AT UNICREDIT

Italy's UniCredit raised the number of its workers infected with coronavirus to three on Thursday and sent home staff who dealt with them.

Unicredit said it had told all employees who have been in contact with a contractor in its Munich office who has tested positive for the virus to self-quarantine for two weeks.

The bank has closed its Piacenza office, where another employee who has tested positive, and a branch in the northern Italian city, Unicredit said in a statement.

It advised all employees who may have been in close contact with the colleague to self-isolate for 14 days and said it would contact all customers who had been in the Piacenza branch in recent days.

Italy has been hit harder by the coronavirus than any other in Europe, with 107 deaths and more than 3,000 confirmed cases.

Banks globally are readying out-of-town offices and isolating some teams to ensure they can keep trading if coronavirus spreads in more major financial centres.

Goldman Sachs has been testing a back-up site in Croydon, south London, and Citi has been preparing an office in Lewisham, southeast London, sources familiar with the matter said. JPMorgan is testing back-up locations in Basingstoke, to the southwest of the capital, and another city centre site.

In Spain, BBVA said on Thursday it had transferred up to 100 staff from its Madrid trading floor to a location just outside the city as part of its contingency plan to protect operations from potential disruption related to the coronavirus outbreak.
TORONTO, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Bud Farms Inc. (CSE:NBUD) (NOBDF) ("NORTHBUD" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its U.S. subsidiary, Bonfire Brands USA Inc., has signed a letter of intent (the LOI) for a master lease and operations agreement with an experienced California-licensed operator (the Cultivator) to operate the cultivation facilities at the Companys Salinas, California farm.



Terms of the LOI

As per the terms of the LOI, the companies will work together towards completing a definitive agreement before May 1, 2020, in which the Cultivator will lease the Companys cultivation facilities at its Salinas farm for 5 years, with options to extend the lease for up to an additional 5 years, and Bonfire Brands USA will receive the following consideration:

Lease payments starting at approximately USD$1 million per year in year 1, with incremental increases that could bring the annual rent to as high as USD$1.8 million per year;

A royalty equal to 3% of the gross revenue generated by the Cultivator from its use of the Salinas farm; and

The right to acquire up to 15% of all the product harvested by the Cultivator on the farm at a discount to market rate with extended payment terms.

During the term of the proposed agreement, the Cultivator will be responsible for 100% of the costs associated with staffing, operations, licensing and compliance with respect to the farms cultivation facilities; moreover, the Cultivator is committed to fund and manage the build-out of an additional 230,000 sq. ft. of licensed cultivation space over the first 24 months of the proposed agreement.

Our objective when we acquired the Salinas farm was to secure access to the high-quality, low-cost cannabis that has always been grown in that area, known as the salad bowl of America, said Justin Braune, President of Bonfire Brands USA. This proposed agreement will allow the Company to immediately achieve EBITDA-positive operations at our largest facility without incurring the significant capital investments that have debilitated many companies in our industry. By retaining preferential purchasing terms, the Company can focus on its branded product distribution business on the back of the estimated 40,000 pounds of production capacity that the Cultivator will bring online over the next 24 months.

Story continues

Sean Homuth, NORTHBUDs CEO added: Partnering with a proven licensed cultivator who has been operating in Salinas for multiple years achieves the following objectives: it significantly de-risks our California operations while allowing the Company to increase its asset value; it reduces our capital expenditure requirements while still generating significant revenue; and it builds EBITDA-positive operations without limiting our access to a cost-efficient and reliable supply chain on which to build our branded product portfolio within the state of California.

About North Bud Farms Inc.

NORTHBUD, through its U.S. subsidiary Bonfire Brands USA, has acquired cannabis production facilities in California and Nevada. The Salinas, California 11-acre farm is actively cultivating cannabis in its 60,000 sq. ft. of licensed greenhouse production space, and also has active distribution and processing licenses. The Reno, Nevada property contains a world-class cannabis production, research and development facility with 5,000 sq. ft. of indoor cultivation, and holds medical and adult-use licenses for cultivation, extraction and distribution. Through its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, GrowPros MMP Inc., the Company is pursuing a license under The Cannabis Act, to cultivate in its state-of-the-art purpose-built cannabis production facility located on 135 acres of agricultural land in Low, Quebec, Canada.

For more information visit: www.northbud.com

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements and information included in this press release that, to the extent they are not historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements, include but are not limited to those identified by the expressions anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, should and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management.

Forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, those regarding the closing of the definitive agreement with the Cultivator, the success of the Companys licence application with Health Canada, the Companys ability to execute its strategic plan, conditions in the cannabis market, the Company entering agreements in connection with the B2B supply of cannabis and the Companys transition into a revenue-generating operational phase of development are based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risk factors included in the Companys final long form prospectus dated August 21, 2018, which is available under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com . Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company's management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect information, events, results, circumstances or otherwise after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law including securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities of the Company.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

North Bud Farms Inc.

Edward Miller

VP, IR & Communications

Office: (855) 628-3420 ext. 3

investors@northbud.com


Nicki Minajs husband arrested

Nicki Minajs husband Kenneth Petty was arrested Wednesday after failing to register as a sex offender. E! News reports the United States Attorneys Office of Los Angeles confirmed Petty surrendered to federal authorities and was taken into custody. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $100,000 bond. Petty, who married the Yikes rapper last year, served four years in prison for attempted rape in New York in 1995 and 10 months for first-degree manslaughter in 2006. Complex reports Petty was required to register as a sex offender in California, and was arrested during a traffic stop in Beverly Hills in November. He now faces up to 10 years in prison.

Update: This afternoon, Kenneth Petty pleaded not guilty to the single count in the indictment. An April 28 trial date was set before U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in Los Angeles. Mr. Petty was ordered released on $100,000 bond.  US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) March 5, 2020

New Batmobile revealed

The Batman director Matt Reeves has revealed the first look at the new Batmobile that Robert Pattinson will be driving around Gotham City. The vehicle looks much more stylish and Fast and Furious than past versions of the Batmobile, but there are hints of Adam Wests classic crime-fighting car as well. The Batman reboot, also starring Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell, is due in theaters June 25, 2021.

Nik Wallenda walks across active volcano

Daredevil Nik Wallenda successfully walked across an active volcano in Nicaragua during a two-hour special on ABC called Volcano Live! hosted by Chris Harrison on Wednesday. The 41-year-old tightrope walkers stunt was the highlight of the Flying Wallendas event, along with an aerialist act by his wife Erendira Wallenda. Both wore gas masks due to the toxic vog -- fumes that are basically volcanic fog -- and high winds were a danger, but ET reports some viewers criticized the feat as not dangerous enough due to their use of safety harnesses. But hey, who else is brave enough to walk over a volcano?

MORE BUZZ:

Supergirl star Melissa Benoist pregnant with first child ( ET

Dixie Chicks return with new song ( RS

Kim K, Cher, Naomi Campbell pose as sexy biker girls for fashion video ( DM

Journey sues 2 former members for $10 million ( BB

Hocus Pocus 2 director announced for Disney+ ( Variety

Ride Along director Tim Story sued for 2-year-olds death in hot tub ( TMZ

Lady Gaga announces 6-city tour ( RS

Justin Guarini to star in Britney Spears-inspired musical ( BB

K-Fed stepping in after Britney Spears son tells grandfather to go die ( DM

Eternal Bliss trailer: Taika Waititi plays a death cult leader ( SF

Taika Waititi making 2 animated Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series ( V

Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias teaming up for 2020 tour ( RS

Buzz is a daily roundup of entertainment news from movies, TV, music and celebrity gossip.

Katy Perry pregnant, expecting first child with Orlando Bloom https://t.co/QIwlUWIeCT  Geoff Herbert (@deafgeoff) March 5, 2020
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil cinema does not produce enough feminist movies as it has always faced a severe shortage of women scriptwriters, said director Pa Ranjith, speaking at Dr Renuka Mukerji Somasekar Endowment Lecture organised by Womens Christian College on Wednesday. People often ask me why there are no stories in recent day Tamil cinema that addresses womens issues. This is because, the industry does not have enough women, he said. While there are many women writers and technicians in the television industry, there are very few in the cinema industry, he said.

The problem is men can, at best, empathise with women. But, we cannot understand society from their point of view. The women we see and the one women see are different. Women need to tell stories they see with their eyes, he said. He said in some of the Tamil cinema, women played central role only if they were presented as unglamorous and religious figures like Avvayyar.

Later, Christian women like Rita played villain roles briefly, there were comedians like Manorama and Sachu, he said. Most intellectual women in Tamil cinema industry are usually killed in the movie or face a bad ending, he said. Pointing there was a spike in women-centric movies during the peak period of Balachandar and Bharathiraja, Ranjith said the roles these women played were still well within the social standards of the time.

Many of these roles focused on sexual freedom, women having to prove sexual purity and their ability to wear clothes they want. However, feminism is not just about this. There is a need for a new kind of women-centric stories that represent more nuanced issues, he said. He appealed to college students and women to enter cinema industry into various roles.
: The 590-km coastline



of Kerala would soon get protection from geo-tubes instead of conventional granite seawalls, thanks to the new coastal conservation plan of the Left government in the state.

Detailing the initiative at the Assembly, Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma on Thursday said the government was planning to use off-shore breakwater system to protect the seashore.

It would bring in a change in the conventional practice of protecting coasts using boulders and sandbags.

The move was after taking into account environmental issues caused by the use of granite and other such materials for constructing seawalls, the Minister said.

"The first initiative in this regard will be launched at Punthura here this month," she said.

A total of Rs 150 crore has been sanctioned from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for the whole project and Rs 17 crore was earmarked for Punthura alone, the Minister said.

If the 700-metre project from Punthura to Valiyathura succeeds, the off-shore breakwater system would be extended to Shangumukham six km away, she said.

The off-shore breakwater geo-tubes have successfully been implemented in places like Chennai and Visakhapatnam, the Minister added.

Deploying granite blocks and erecting seawall using boulders and sandbags had been the conventional practice in the southern state to check sea erosion and protect the coasts from high tides.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 60 out of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam have decided to further delay reopening of kindergartens, primary and junior secondary schools until March 17.

A health worker sterilises a classroom in Nghe An Province

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Huu Do told the news at the meeting of the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control, held on March 4.

Do said the ministry would release steps for health checks at schools this afternoon.

The Ministry of Health reported that 1,830 people were tested negative for the COVID-19 in Vietnam as of 4 pm on Wednesday, up 61 cases from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 92 suspected cases are being quarantined and 16.191 other have been monitored due to close links with suspected cases and or coming from COVID-19 affected areas, an increase of 817 from a day earlier, according to the ministry. VGP

High-school students return after long break caused by COVID-19 fears Thousands of high-school students from across Ba Ria-Vung Tau province have joined students in other localities in returning to school on March 2.
Clarence House have confirmed that the Duchess Of Cornwall will attend Ladies Day at Cheltenham Racecourse next week, following concerns it would be cancelled amid the coronovirus epidemic.

Camilla, 72, will attend the second day of the festival, which runs from the 10th to 13th of March, to present the trophy to the winning owner, jockey and trainer of The Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase - a race open to horses aged five and over.

The royal, who is an honorary member of the Jockey Club attends the festival most years and is an avid equestrian fan.

This year the Chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse, Martin St. Quinton, has asked Camilla to present the trophy to the winner of The Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase.

Clarence House have confirmed that the Duchess Of Cornwall (seen today) will attend Ladies Day at Cheltenham Racecourse next week, following concerns it would be cancelled amid the coronovirus epidemic

Camilla has a great interest in horses and is associated with seven equine charities including The British Equestrian Federation, The Brooke Hospital for Animals and Ebony Horse Club.

During the festival, Camilla will go into the Winners Enclosure prior to the first race to view the recently introduced Ruby Walsh Award, a tribute to the famous jockey.

Ahead of The Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase, the royal will go into the Paddock to view the horses.

Before departing, HRH will present the cup to the winning owner, jockey and trainer of the Queen Mother Champion Steel Chase.

Camilla, 72, will attend the second day of the festival, which runs from the 10th to 13th of March, to present the trophy to the winning owner, jockey and trainer of The Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase - a race open to horses aged five and over (seen last year at festival)

Last year Camilla presented jockey Nico de Boinville with a trophy after he won the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase on Altior. It was the horse's 18th consecutive victory, matching the record held by four-time Stayers' Hurdle winner Big Buck's.

Camilla also presented the winning horse's owner Patricia Pugh and trainer Nicky Henderson with their own trophies.

The confirmation of Camilla's attendance comes after racing officials confirmed the Cheltenham Festival would go ahead despite coronavirus concerns last month.

'All remains full speed ahead for the Festival in a fortnight's time,' a spokesperson for Cheltenham Racecourse said.

'Racing continues to liaise closely with government to stay on top of the situation and we are looking forward to four fantastic days of racing at Cheltenham.'
By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Josh Hawley on Wednesday said he will introduce legislation banning federal employees from using social media app Tik Tok on their devices, adding to growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade and technology transfers.

Already, several U.S. agencies that deal with national security and intelligence issues have banned employees from using the app, which has been rapidly growing in popularity among U.S. teenagers and allows users to create short videos.

About 60% of TikToks 26.5 million monthly active users in the United States are between the ages of 16 and 24, the company said last year.

In November, the U.S. government launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Cos $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly. https://reut.rs/32Rva2H

Hawley's plan demonstrates broader concerns among lawmakers about collection and sharing of data on U.S. users with the Chinese government. Many lawmakers are generally skeptical of China and see it as a threat to free speech and online privacy and security. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)
It was a cloudless evening in April last year when a luxury private jet glided in to land at Farnborough airport near London.

Her Royal Highness Haya bint al-Hussein stepped off the opulently-appointed Boeing 737  and became the third princess to flee one of the worlds richest and most powerful families.

And so far Princess Haya, the glamorous 45-year-old Oxford-educated youngest wife of the ruler of Dubai, is the only one to have successfully escaped.

Disembarking into the crisp British air after the seven-hour flight from Dubai, she kept her two young children close.

Princess Haya of Jordan. The sheikh and Haya had long been a fixture in British high society and are independently both friends of the Queen

Her Royal Highness Haya bint al-Hussein, the glamorous 45-year-old Oxford-educated youngest wife of the ruler of Dubai, is the third princess to flee one of the worlds richest and most powerful families

By car, they were whisked into central London where, shortly before midnight, they swept through the black iron gates of an 85million mansion in central London which she had bought in February 2018 without her husband.

The daughter of Jordans late King Hussein, Princess Haya was quite unlike any of Sheikh al-Maktoums five other wives.

Her mother, Queen Alia of Jordan, died in a helicopter crash when she was two, and she was sent to England to board at 30,000-a-year Bryanston School.

She went up to Oxford to study philosophy, politics and economics at St Hildas College, where she met open-minded people who were prepared to debate anything.

The princess competed in showjumping at the 2000 Olympics for her country and has been a goodwill ambassador for the UN world food programme.

The sheikh now has to suffer details being made public of his young wifes extramarital affair with her British bodyguard, former infantry soldier Russell Flowers (circled)

She also had a fun side, confessing to a penchant for raunchy Jilly Cooper novels and mixing a love of Chanel with high street clothes.

Last year the sheikh  unaware his wife was fleeing him in fear of her life  had been waiting for her and their children at his sprawling estate in Newmarket, Suffolk, one of several enormous homes the 70-year-old monarch owns in the UK. They never turned up.

Russell Flowers at Royal Ascot in June 2018

The sheikh and Haya had long been a fixture in British high society and are independently both friends of the Queen.

His Godolphin stables at Newmarket are one of the worlds most successful racing organisations, and she is a racehorse owner in her own right.

It was only hours before the sheikh twigged that his young wife  once the liberal face of the monarchy in Dubai but who had drifted into an affair with her British bodyguard  had left him.

Worse, from his perspective, she had taken their daughter Princess Jalila, then 11, and son Prince Zayed, then seven.

Ensconced behind the walls of their bullet-proof London mansion, Princess Haya received a cryptic message from one of her husbands associates about a wife being slaughtered in anger.

It was part of a sinister campaign of fear and intimidation the sheikh had been waging against his young wife. The couple had not enjoyed an intimate relationship with each other for a significant period of time, according to yesterdays judgment, but it was Hayas discovering the truth about her husbands torture of his two older daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, that split them apart.

It was Hayas discovering the truth about her husbands torture of his two older daughters, Shamsa (pictured) and Latifa, that split them apart

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, June 16, 2016 in Ascot

Her husband  who once told her nothing happens here if I dont know or command it  did not welcome her interest in the princesses, she said. Twice she found a gun on her bed which she took as a death threat.

In early February last year, there was a chilling telephone conversation with the sheikh in which he cruelly suggested Zayed was a desert boy  in a few months we will take him from you, you will see.

Then in March, he told his youngest children: We dont need your mum any more, do we? The children replied: Yes we do, the court ruling revealed. Sheikh Maktoum responded: No, we dont need her.

On March 11, a helicopter landed on Hayas lawn, and one of the security guards told Zayed: Bubba is angry with Momma. He is going to send her to the jail. The princess said her young son clung to her leg with terror. It was a warning, the court heard.

Princess Haya's husband  who once told her nothing happens here if I dont know or command it  did not welcome her interest in the princesses, she said, one of whom was Latifa (pictured)

On April 15, in utter terror, Haya took her children and fled to the UK in fear of her life.

Today a team of smartly-dressed bodyguards wearing earpieces accompany her and the children everywhere, on the infrequent occasions they dare leave the safety of their mansion.

One of the former British police chiefs responsible for her protection was himself threatened by a representative of the ruler of Dubai in London.

The High Court ruling says that, despite his significant experience, the officer was seriously troubled and concerned about the threats. In public, nothing was said about the seismic rupture between two of the most powerful ruling dynasties in the Middle East and the ramifications for diplomatic relations within the region and between Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Less than a month after her midnight flit, the fugitive princess was meeting the Queen at Windsor Castle. A month after that, in June, it was the sheikhs turn to join Her Majesty, at Royal Ascot.

But behind the scenes, a menacing domestic drama was unfolding as the sheikh  trained at Sandhurst-precursor Mons Officer Cadet School  sent an army of top-flight British lawyers to the Royal Courts of Justice in London to demand the summary return of his children. The millionaire princess recruited her own fearsome legal squad.

The lifting of the veil of secrecy shrouding the case means the details of the extraordinary marital feud have burst into the open.

Just as humiliatingly for the sheikh, he also now has to suffer details being made public of his young wifes extramarital affair with her British bodyguard, former infantry soldier Russell Flowers.

The relationship began at some stage in 2017/18. Matters did not come to a head until early 2019 when Haya claims her husband phoned her and said: I have received bad news about you. I have heard that you are sitting in the palace with the British security (a reference to the bodyguard). I am starting to doubt you.

The sheikh and Haya had long been a fixture in British high society and are independently both friends of the Queen. Pictured: The sheikh and Haya at Ascot in 2012

Sir Andrew said in his ruling: The effect of this call on the mother (Haya) was chilling. She says, I was terrified.

After she fled to Britain in May that year she claimed her husband sent her a message saying: You and the children will never be safe in England.

Haya asked the High Court for, and was granted, a non-molestation order  a law designed to help victims of domestic violence.

The couples unprecedented London court clash cost 5.2million, it is estimated.

The sheikh hired Lady Helen Ward, who handled Guy Ritchies split from Madonna. On Princess Hayas side was Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, known as the Steel Magnolia, who represented the Prince of Wales in his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales.

As the case unfolded, Haya attended every hearing, flanked by flamboyantly-dressed Baroness Shackleton, and did not flinch when she climbed into the witness box to swear her oath on the Koran.

Even before his estranged wife took the stand, the sheikh was desperately looking for a way out. He had started the High Court case, but had rapidly lost control of it.

His children were formally made wards of the court, meaning all significant decisions in their lives were now in the hands of the judge.

He was apparently aghast at the prospect of being dragged into the court. As with most family court hearings, the judge wanted the father to give evidence in person.

Under no circumstances, the message came back loud and clear, was this Arab statesman going to subject himself to such a spectacle.

With reverse gears crunching, the sheikh tried to pull out of the case. It could not be reported at the time, but he completely abandoned his demand for the summary return of his children.

Yet still the case went on, with Sir Andrew refusing his permission to withdraw and making clear he still had to make findings of fact in order to inform future decisions about the childrens welfare.

During the ensuing fact-finding hearing, Hayas claims went uncontested because the sheikhs entire legal team walked out of court.

Eventually the case would backfire on the sheikh spectacularly, leading him to lose his children, his wife  and his standing as an international statesman.
Just a day after deadly tornadoes, officials in Nashville were surprised by how many voters still lined up. Due to storm damage, six precincts had to merge. Read more

On the bloody morning after Democrats Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states including the nations two largest, California and Texas, there were a slew of political winners and losers  and one newly minted true-blue American hero: Hervis Rogers.

You might have heard about Rogers or seen his name on social media: Hes the guy down in Houston who works two jobs yet raced to his local polling place at Texas Southern University, a historically black college, and got on a massive line there to vote just before the 7 p.m. cutoff. Time passed. Someone passed out free cookies at one point. The clock chimed midnight and yet the exhausted Rogers still refused to surrender his right to vote.

 READ MORE: At Philly campaign kickoff, Joe Biden and fans  young and old  party like its 2015 | Will Bunch

It is insane, but its worth it, Rogers told reporters as he waited in line before casting a ballot around 1:30 a.m., in the darkness of a Super Wednesday. I mean, I wouldnt feel right if I didnt vote. I feel like its  I voice my opinion, but it dont feel right if I dont vote. So I said, Im going to take a stand and vote. It might make a difference.'

Theres a lot to say about both the tenacity of Rogers and what he had to go through. For one thing, his plight really drove home the moral crime of how hard we make it in America  supposedly the worlds foundational democracy  for everyday people to exercise their right to vote. Its also worth noting who Rogers waited so long to cast his ballot for: former vice president Joe Biden, whose string of victories on Super Tuesday will likely go down as an epic night in American political lore, although the reasons for his win were  complicated.

But the biggest victors this week were not the candidates but the voters, who in many cases went to great lengths to ensure their voices were heard. The roar of democracy was loud in Rogers Texas, where voters did not allow the fact that predominantly GOP election officials have closed 750 polling places, many in black and brown neighborhoods, to deter them from casting ballots. And in California, where students at places like the UCLA campus endured more-than-2-hour lines (showing that Democrats arent that much better at running elections). In Nashville, raked on Monday night by tornadoes that killed at least 25 people, officials were stunned at a voter turnout that forced them to keep many polling places open until 10 p.m.

The stats are almost as impressive as the stories. Most states showed an increase in Democratic primary turnout from 2016, averaging an impressive 33 percent gain, and a few even did better than 2008, considered the high watermark year because of the groundbreaking candidacy of Barack Obama. The results in Virginia  once a reliably Republican state as recently as the George W. Bush era  were astounding. The 1.3 million who cast Democratic ballots in the Cavalier State was up 69 percent from four years ago, and markedly higher than Obamas 2008.

The biggest turnout increases came in the upscale suburbs of northern Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. Once considered a political battleground, these affluent bedroom communities clearly cannot abide the presidency of Donald Trump. The region became a hotbed of the so-called resistance in 2017 and a point break for the blue wave that took back the House for Democrats in 2018. The Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, appearing Wednesday night on MSNBC, called Super Tuesday in Virginia a revolution of the bourgeoisie.

Most of the media coverage has focused on Tuesdays biggest winner  and not surprisingly, since Biden had seemed dead in the water just a few short days ago  but very little attention has been given to the even more important story on the aftermath of the primary-palooza. That would be the one overwhelming loser.

President Trump.

Almost everything that happened on Tuesday  the spike in turnout, the willingness of people to stay in line for hours, and the shocking surge of votes and high-profile endorsements for Biden  including among people who liked other candidates better, but bought into the conventional wisdom that the moderate former veep is the best chance of ousting Trump in November  was driven by the same things. The fear that millions share that the American Experiment will never recover from four more years of a vainglorious authoritarian in the White House. That, and a determination to show that rest of the world that America is better than Trump.

Its hard to believe that it was less than a month ago that Trump was acquitted at an impeachment trial in which Republican senators refused to hear the overwhelming evidence that an American president abused the powers of the presidency in an effort to dig up dirt on a political opponent (who just happened to be Joe Biden). Since then, the ADD-addled media has focused less on how Trump continues to debase his office and more on two stories: The coronavirus outbreak and the Democratic presidential race.

Yet both those stories have been deeply infused with Trumps gross unfitness to sit in the Oval Office. The nations response to the potential public-health disaster has been underwhelming and even alarming in part because Trump cares so little for the working functions of government  he abolished a pandemic response unit that had been set up by the predecessor he despises, Obama  and in part because the president demands flattery and avoiding bad news.

In the presidential race, the vast pool of Democratic voters had appeared paralyzed for months  looking for some kind of sign from heaven on the one sure path to getting Trump out of office. That seemed pretty silly, until that sign actually came  at least, according to some earthly interpretations  in the form of the Biden endorsement by revered South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, and a subsequent South Carolina landslide powered by older African-Americans like Clyburn.

The South Carolina result triggered 72 cataclysmic hours of a kind most political junkies have never seen before  the rapid-fire dropouts and Biden endorsements from Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Beto ORourke, coupled with the instant immolation of Mike Bloomberg (whose only rationale for running had been a weak Joe Biden) and a worsening fear factor around the anti-Trump viability of Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

[Warren] would have been my preferred choice, but I was also thinking about who would ultimately be the one who would represent us well in the Democratic Party and I dont think she had enough to get us there, 31-year-old Elo Ratliff told The Roots Terrell Jermaine Starr as he interviewed black and brown voters in Oakland in Tuesday. Ratliff was just one of a tsunami of Warren-or-Bloomberg-to-Biden voters, playing political calculus with an endgame of getting Trump out.

As I was two-thirds of the way through writing this column, Warren  whom Ive hailed in this space for running a remarkable issues- and value-driven campaign  abruptly abandoned the race, leaving the field to Biden and his leftist bete noire, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The rejection of Warren  and the 2-ton weight that hovered over her campaign the entire time, the moral panic that America still isnt ready to elect a woman president and may never be  is utterly heartbreaking.

The erasure and then elimination of the brightest beacon in the 2020 race, fueled by voters whove forgotten that theyre voters and think theyre auditioning for a pundit gig on MSNBC, is one of just of number of deep concerns I have over the suddenness of the stampede to Biden, even as the ex-Delaware senator sits a March 17 Florida landslide away from all but clinching the nomination in Milwaukee this summer.

 READ MORE: Live from East L.A.: How the Latino vote became the secret weapon for Tio Bernie | Will Bunch Updated: February 28, 2020 - 12:25 PM

Im also worried that the Democratic Party establishment is doing what it always does best  shooting itself in the foot  in its rapid embrace of Biden that was driven by the possibility that Sanders, a democratic socialist, had briefly been on a clear path to the nomination. The voters who have stuck by the Vermont senator and his progressive ideals  nearly every Democrat under age 30, and the rapidly growing Latinx bloc  are the best hope for future not just of the party but of America. Why the glee in pushing these voters away?

But my biggest worry about the Biden surge is  Joe Biden. Hes a horrible candidate, and his big wins in South Carolina were all about the love from party stalwarts like Clyburn and the unlikely base combo of African-Americans and white boomer suburbanites, and nothing that Biden did to make his inept campaign any better. The 77-year-olds bouts of incoherence on the trail pose a major threat to his chances against Trump in November. And his muddled and sometimes Republican-sounding past on everything from race and gender equality to the Iraq War and bankruptcy law will be exploited by both Brad Parscale and Vladimir Putin in a massive social-media campaign to get young and black and brown voters to defect or stay home.

And yet  at least for one day, anyway  Im going to look past all of those worries to focus on the bright side. There is one thing that feels more powerful that the sometimes painful fissures within the Democratic Party  and that is the burning and sometimes desperate shared passion to end the Trump presidency, Whatever new speed bumps occur in the road to Milwaukee and beyond, that remains the destination of this journey, and Tuesdays voting was a giant step in that direction. Now we owe it to Hervis Rogers, American hero, to bring it home.
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By GENE JOHNSON, RACHEL LA CORTE and MARTHA BELLISLE

Associated Press

SEATTLE  The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a patient succumbing in California  the first reported fatality outside Washington state  as federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home where most of the victims were stricken.

Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said.





. . .
Portuguese wine producers join forces for live virtual event in absence of Prowein

A Portuguese online wine retailer has organised a live-streamed two-day virtual trade event to help Portuguese wine producers present the wines they were going to bring to international trade fair, Prowein.

The event (called Portugal Wine Week), is free for all those involved and it is aimed at trade professionals from around the world, including importers, sommeliers and retailers. It will be held on the same dates as Prowein was due to take place (March 16 and 17).

The digital event, organised by online wine retailer Adegga, will consist of a series of interviews with dozens of wine producers, hosted by Andre Ribeirinho as a Portuguese wine correspondent, and it will also include some guest speakers.

It will be streamed live from both Lisbon and Porto via www.portugalwineweek.com and registration is now open via the same website.

Ribeirinho told DRN: The event will comprise of a live stream with interviews and there will also be the opportunity for producers to set-up private meetings with potential clients afterwards. The full programme will be on the website next week.

Adegga has organised several virtual wine tastings with consumers in the past. Portugal Wine Week is the first virtual wine event we have organised for professionals, but we will have an experienced technical and event management team behind us.

He also noted that Adegga will provide all of the contact details and support for industry professionals who are interested in any particular wines or producers and might want to arrange a meeting or tasting session in the future.

This is the first of a series of innovative events Adegga is launching this year to support Portuguese producers and promote their brands worldwide. Later this year, Adegga will be launching a US-focused Portugal Wine Week, that will bring Portuguese wine trade ambassadors together to celebrate Portuguese wine.

Related articles:
Press Release

5 March 2020

The U.S. hotel industry reported mixed year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 23-29 February 2020, according to data from STR.



In comparison with the week of 24 February through 2 March 2019, the industry recorded the following:

Occupancy: -1.7% to 64.1%

Average daily rate (ADR): +1.6% to US$129.67

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -0.2% to US$83.16

Occupancy and ADR declines for the week were most pronounced on the weekend (28-29 February). Also of note, U.S. airport hotels reported a 3.8% decrease in occupancy for the week.

"We continue to monitor performance in proximity to U.S. airports for early indicators of a coronavirus impact," said Jan Freitag, STR's senior VP of lodging insights. "What stands out are the demand patterns in airport markets that see a greater volume of international traffic. We saw declines in airport markets like Newark, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and New York, while markets with a lot of domestic traffic like Orlando, Dallas and Atlanta were actually up for the week. The coming weeks will be important to monitor for more defined trends, especially with increased coverage around the outbreak and potential event schedule adjustments."

Among the Top 25 Markets, San Francisco/San Mateo, California, posted the week's largest RevPAR gain (+28.1% to US$240.24), driven by the highest rise in ADR (+28.6% to US$305.10). Occupancy in the market was down slightly (-0.4% to 78.7%).

"San Francisco is interesting because group occupancy jumped year over year while transient occupancy was down by double digits," Freitag said. "At the same time, ADR was up significantly in each segment. The thought there is that those already committed to stay in the market for event-related travel went through with their trip, while leisure travelers perhaps altered their plans."

Aligned with the aforementioned increased airport hotel demand, Orlando, Florida, experienced the highest rise in occupancy (+6.7% to 86.0%) and the second-largest jump in RevPAR (+11.8% to US$126.03).

Oahu Island, Hawaii, saw the only other double-digit increase in RevPAR (+10.8% to US$193.28), due primarily to the second-largest gain in ADR (+7.5% to US$234.47).

Of note, Los Angeles/Long Beach, California, registered a 2.2% lift in occupancy to 79.2%.

Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin, reported the steepest decrease in occupancy (-8.2% to 56.4%).

New Orleans, Louisiana, recorded the only double-digit drop in ADR (-12.7% to US$174.59).

Chicago, Illinois, registered the largest decline in RevPAR (-12.0% to US$61.71).

Of note, New York, New York, saw a 0.8% dip in occupancy to 77.1%.
India Ratings and Research expects the Covid-19 outbreak to increase downside risks for the steel sector in the near term, even as modest domestic steel prices have already begun to hurt operating margins. However, the magnitude of the impact would depend on the evolving severity and duration within China and the spread of the virus to other parts of the world, the rating agency said.

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Digital Editor
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lost a bruising battle with President Barack Obama in 2015 when it failed to stop the Iran nuclear deal after spending millions and alienating large swaths of the Democratic party.

But now that the nuclear deal is on life support, the influential lobby group is mustering significant Democratic support for President Donald Trumps campaign to undo a key provision of the accord at the United Nations. Thousands of AIPAC activists convened on Capitol Hill this week to ask lawmakers to support extending the UN conventional arms embargo on Iran, which expires in October as the first sunset provision in the nuclear deal.

The push to extend the sunset provision has even generated support among nuclear deal proponents on Capitol Hill, in part because Iran said it would not comply with the deal's requirements following the Jan. 3 killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. The step came amid President Donald Trumps maximum pressure campaign on Tehran following US withdrawal from the accord.

The reality is the nuclear deal doesnt exist today, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the Middle East panel, told Al-Monitor. You have to live in that reality. I dont think itd be great policy to let the embargo disappear if were not in the [deal]. So, Im generally sympathetic to the idea that were going to need to re-up it and be back in a position to negotiate with the Iranians in the next administration.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the State Departments top Iran diplomat, Brian Hook, both announced Friday that the United States would seek a UN Security Council resolution to extend the Iran arms embargo before it expires in October. Iran has claimed that both Russia and China have expressed interest in selling arms once the embargo expires.

In a bid to bolster Trumps efforts, AIPAC is asking lawmakers to co-sponsor a bipartisan resolution calling for an arms embargo extension, introduced by Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev. A bipartisan group of 16 senators have already co-sponsored the resolution.

AIPAC has not asked for an equivalent resolution in the Democratic-held House and has instead asked lawmakers to sign onto a letter urging Pompeo to seek a UN arms embargo extension, authored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and top Republican Mike McCaul, R-Texas.

But some Obama-era negotiators and anti-war groups fear that extending the arms embargo makes a potential revival of the nuclear deal less likely, even if Trump loses his reelection campaign in November.

My view is that it is categorically true that the expiration of the arms embargo was a reasonable concession to make for all the nuclear limits that Iran was giving up on in the [deal], said Jarrett Blanc, who oversaw the nuclear deals implementation under Obama. I believe it remains a reasonable concession as a means to keep alive a version of the [deal] to return to future diplomacy. And I think its important to note that its easy to demagogue the arms embargo, but its practical effect is fairly limited.

Blanc told Al-Monitor that even if the embargo expires, additional restrictions on the sale of surface-to-air defenses to Iran would remain.

And some anti-war groups worry that the Trump administration and AIPAC are using the arms embargo as a ploy to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran in addition to the crippling US sanctions already in place.

Hassan El-Tayyab, the legislative manager for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, told Al-Monitor that Democrats are inadvertently agreeing to things that sound good on their face but could put the death knell on the [nuclear deal].

El-Tayyab noted that the State Department released a legal opinion in December arguing that the United States could pursue UN snapback sanctions  which could not be vetoed at the Security Council  even though it has withdrawn from the accord. The Associated Press reported at the time that the legal opinion was a concession to Iran hawk Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to release his hold on the nomination of Stephen Biegun to serve as Pompeos deputy.

Its not a legal question, said Blanc. This is fundamentally a political question. We dont know if they could pull this off: Maybe it could, maybe it couldnt. Certainly, if they did, it would be a very bloody and bruising fight.

Other Iran hawks have instead called on the European signatories to the deal to trigger snapback sanctions after they activated the dispute resolution mechanism in January following Tehrans decision to further de-commit from the pact.

The Europeans absolutely promised us that they would hold the Iranians to their commitments, and that they would implement snapback sanctions if indeed they stepped out of line from the agreement, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, told Al-Monitor in an interview last month. And lo and behold, theyre not. They continue to drag their feet. They continue to play footsy under the table with them, and frankly its very difficult to understand why.

Risch put out a statement today applauding the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for admonishing Iran over its failure to comply with UN inspections. The IAEA rebuke came hours after Iran announced that it has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November, far exceeding the limits laid out under the nuclear deal.

I urge Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA, reverse its recent nuclear activities and accept the invitation from the Trump administration to begin talks, said Risch.

And the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., announced earlier this week at AIPACs annual policy conference that he is working with another Republican Iran hawk, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to formulate a concrete diplomatic strategy. Menendez noted that he and Graham have been talking with our European partners about multilateral strategy to get Iran back to the table on nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and terrorism.

We must be willing to use the right economic and diplomatic levers to engage Iran in a serious dialogue about its nuclear weapons program, including its ballistic missiles, Menendez told AIPAC.
File photo

According to a report by Punch Metro, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, has dismissed reports that repentant and rehabilitated Boko Haram members were being recruited into the Nigerian military.

Olonisakin, who was represented by Chief of Defence Policy and Plans, AVM Nurudeen Balogun, stated this at a Stakeholders Meeting of Operation Safe Corridor on Thursday in Abuja.

At the meeting convened by the Defence Headquarters to work out modalities for the transfer of rehabilitated ex-Boko Haram terrorists to their national and state governments, Olonisakin said, I wish to assure Nigerians that none of the rehabilitated Nigerians from OPSC Deradicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration has been recruited into the Nigerian Military or any of its sister agencies.



Stringent measures have been put in place to prevent such from happening.

The Federal Government of Nigeria and indeed the armed forces as well as the security agencies are committed to ending the insurgency in the North-East and other forms of criminalities bedevilling the nation.

Earlier, the Coordinator of OPSC, Maj.-Gen. Bamidele Shafa said the programme had become a global model for other countries to emulate in recent time.



Since the commencement of the programme, OPSC has admitted 893 clients including 874 adults and 19 minors for the DRR Programme in Gombe out of which 280 including 2 Chadians have so far been transferred to their respective national and state authorities.

Presently, there are 606 clients undergoing the programme in the camp.

Also, 86 minors passed through UNICEF Child Care Programme at the Bulumkutu Rehabilitation Centre in Maiduguri in conjunction with Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, he said.
A couple of weeks ago, Paige Moody was enjoying life in Florence, Italy, looking forward to participating in a European Union government simulation program and interning with an international lawyer as she earned her masters degree.

But her experience came to a sudden halt last weekend when concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus in Italy prompted the U.S. government to strengthen its warning to U.S. citizens to avoid travel there, and led to James Madison University canceling her program.

On Wednesday night, Moody returned home to Richmond, where she will finish her studies online from her parents home, rather than completing her semester in Europe.

I was heartbroken, said Moody, 23.

JMU and many other universities throughout Virginia and the U.S. have decided to recall students studying abroad and cancel planned spring break trips scheduled for this coming week  particularly to China, South Korea and Italy.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took a sharp swipe at Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for his attempt to assure people that the government was on the top of the health crisis.

Soon after the health minister spoke in both houses of Parliament to update members about the steps taken by the government, Gandhi picked on his assurance that the situation was under control to tweet his attack.

The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Gandhi said in a tweet.

Over the last few weeks, the Congress leader has been nudging the government on the microblogging site to take the infection a lot more seriously than he thinks, the government does.

On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi demanded that the government share its action plan too and not just assurances.

Its time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis, Rahul Gandhi said.

In his statement to Parliament, health minister said the Centre had asked the states to form rapid response teams at the district, block and village levels since instances of community transmission had been observed. The government has confirmed 29 cases of the infection including 16 Italian tourists. This figure includes the countrys first three cases reported from Kerala last month. The three have since recovered.

Gandhis tweet did not allude to a controversial remark by Rashtriya Loktantrik Party lawmaker Hanuman Beniwal that underscored the number of cases reported from Italy.

According to news agency Press Trust of India, he sought a probe to ascertain if the coronavirus is being spread from the home of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Congress members had stormed the Well of the House as soon as Hanuman Beniwal made the remark and shouting slogans, tearing papers and throwing some on the table of the Speaker, the PTI report said. Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the chair, immediately adjourned the House.
Researchers calculate that the effects of air pollution shorten the lives of people around the world by an average of almost three years

Polluted air is a public health hazard that cannot be evaded. It is widely known that long-term exposure to air pollution enhances the risks of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University Medical Center Mainz now calculated in a new study that the global, public loss of life expectancy caused by air pollution is higher than many other risk factors such as smoking, infectious diseases or violence.

Air pollution caused 8.8 million premature deaths worldwide in 2015. This corresponds to an average reduction in life expectancy per capita of 2.9 years. In comparison, tobacco smoking reduces the life expectancy by an average of 2.2 years (7.2 million deaths), HIV / AIDS by 0.7 years (1 million deaths), parasitic and vector-borne diseases such as malaria - by 0.6 years (600,000 deaths). "Air pollution exceeds malaria as a cause of premature death by a factor of 19; it exceeds violence by a factor of 17 and HIV / AIDS by a factor of 9. Given the huge impact on public health and the global population, one could say that our results indicate an air pollution pandemic", said Jos Lelieveld, director at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and first author of the study.

This study is the first to examine the global impact of air pollution on human health compared to other risk factors worldwide. "Our comparison of different global risk factors shows that ambient air pollution is a leading cause of premature mortality and loss of life expectancy, in particular through cardiovascular diseases", says Thomas Munzel, director of the Cardiology Center at the University Medical Center in Mainz and co-author of the paper.

Relationship between pollution and disease

The scientists examined the connection between exposure to pollutants and the occurrence of diseases. In order to calculate the worldwide exposure to pollutants, which primarily include fine particles and ozone, the researchers used an atmospheric chemical mode. They then combined the exposure data with the Global Exposure - Mortality Model that derives from many epidemiological cohort studies. Using these tools and data, scientists investigated the effects of different pollution sources, distinguishing between natural (wildfires, aeolian dust) and anthropogenic emissions, including fossil fuel use. Based on their results they could estimate the disease-specific excess mortality and loss of life expectancy in all countries world-wide.

The study results show that the mortality caused by ambient air pollution is highest in East Asia (35 percent) and South Asia (32 percent), followed by Africa (11 percent), Europe (9 percent) and North- and South America (6 percent). Lowest mortality rates are found in Australia (1,5 percent) associated with the strictest air quality standards of all countries. "We understand more and more that fine particles primarily favor vascular damage and thus diseases such as heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure. It is of outmost importance that air pollution is adopted as a cardiovascular risk factor and that it is distinctly mentioned in the ESC/AHA guidelines of prevention, acute and coronary syndromes and heart failure", continued Munzel.

Avoidable deaths

According to the findings of the study, almost two thirds of the deaths caused by air pollution, namely around 5.5 million a year are avoidable, and the majority of polluted air comes from the use of fossil fuels. The researchers estimate that the average life expectancy world-wide would increase by more than a year if the emissions from the use of fossil fuels were eliminated.

The team from the University Medical Center Mainz and Max Planck Institute for Chemistry published a similar paper last year focusing on the consequences of air pollution in Europe. According to the earlier study, nearly 800,000 Europeans die prematurely every year due to illnesses caused by air pollution. Polluted air shortens the lifespan of Europeans by more than two years.

###

Original publication

Jos Lelieveld, Andrea Pozzer, Ulrich Poschl, Mohammed Fnais, Andy Haines, Thomas Munzel

Loss of life expectancy from air pollution compared to other risk factors by country.

Cardio-vascular Research 2020

https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvaa025

Published: 03 March 2020
AFP via Getty Images

Joe Biden hailed Elizabeth Warren as the fiercest of fighters for middle class families after she decided to suspend her presidential campaign, while seemingly closing the door to the senator joining his potential White House administration.

The former vice president celebrated Ms Warren in a statement posted to his Twitter account shortly after she announced her decision to end a bid for the Democratic nomination on Thursday, writing: Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in peoples lives.

We needed her voice in this race, he said, and we need her continued work in the Senate.

Mr Bidens statement on the latest departure from the 2020 race left virtually no room for political analysts and TV pundits to ponder whether he would announce Ms Warren as his running mate, if he managed to secure the Democratic nomination.

His comments came as the Massachusetts senator told her supporters on Thursday she needed some space to decide how to move forward after suffering a weak showing in the first key votes across the country, as well as on Super Tuesday. While Ms Warren was at one point seen as a possible frontrunner in the Democratic primaries, her support slipped in recent months as Bernie Sanders  another progressive candidate in the race  gained momentum against Mr Biden following the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primaries.

Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in people's lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate.  Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 5, 2020

I want to take a little time to think a little more, Ms Warren said on Thursday, as reports indicated she was looking for a way to exit the campaign gracefully.

Story continues

While progressives called on her to back Mr Sanders for the nomination, the Vermont senator also released a statement that said Ms Warren has taken on the most powerful corporate interests because she cares about those who have been left behind.

.@ewarren has taken on the most powerful corporate interests because she cares about those who have been left behind. Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today. I know that she'll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will.  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 5, 2020

Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today, he added. I know that she'll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will.

Ms Warren, who declined to endorse Bernie Sanders for the presidency in 2016 and instead backed former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, could be seen as a crucial voice of support for either Mr Sanders or Mr Biden as the two appeared set for a lengthy and challenging competition.

It remains unclear for now whether Ms Warren will back either of the leading Democratic candidates. Several former presidential hopefuls have backed out of the race in recent weeks, from Mike Bloomberg to Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, with all three of those moderate candidates swiftly endorsing Mr Biden for the nomination.

A report from January revealed Mr Sanders campaign was looking into whether Ms Warren could possibly serve as both a vice president and treasury secretary at the same time. But the two sparred during the Democratic debates, after which Ms Warren accused Mr Sanders of calling her a liar on national TV for refuting claims that he told her a woman cant win against Donald Trump.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The man who, police say, robbed four banks in a spree on Staten Island is also accused of three holdups in his home borough of the Bronx.

And he could have been released without bail Wednesday from Criminal Court in St. George, if not for a charge added by the Staten Island district attorneys office.

Dennis Rivera, 58, of 2300 block of Grand Concourse in the Bronx, is charged in connection with seven bank robberies in 2020.

Rivera initially was arrested Friday and charged in connection with the incidents in the Bronx, then, released on his own recognizance by a Bronx Criminal Court judge, per state bail reform laws in which unarmed bank robbery does not qualify as a crime in which the courts are permitted to set bail.

On Sunday, police charged Rivera with multiple counts of bank robbery in connection with the daytime holdups on Staten Island, at banks in Port Richmond, Sunnyside, West Brighton and Castleton Corners. Those charges did not indicate Rivera was armed during any of the alleged incidents.

Prosecutors added an armed robbery charge between the time he was first arrested, and arraigned five days later, according to court records.

JUDGES RULING

Based on the armed robbery charge -- in addition to a criminal record that prosecutors said included seven felonies and 10 misdemeanors -- Criminal Court Judge Robert Helbock set bail at $100,000 insurance company bond, $200,000 partially-secured bond or $50,000 cash bail.

After reviewing the various charges against you, the sentence that you face, your appearance history in the past, your parole and probation revocations...I do believe bail is appropriate in this circumstance, said Helbock.

An attorney with the Legal Aid Society representing Rivera said Wednesday the additional charge is based on what the district attorneys office has classified as movement in his pocket, during one of the robberies, which might indicate he was carrying a weapon.

Thats not going to be enough for robbery in the first degree, she said.

A spokesman for the district attorneys office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

DEFENDANTS ALLEGED CONFESSION

Prosecutors said in court Wednesday that Rivera confessed to all of the robberies on Staten Island, except for the Jan. 29 incident at Northfield Bank in Port Richmond. The NYPD released multiple surveillance photos of a suspect during the investigation of the robberies of a man who resembled the defendant who appeared in court Wednesday.

Rivera allegedly passed a note to the teller in each of the four incidents on Staten Island demanding loose cash, authorities said.

In total, he made off with more than $17,000 from the Staten Island banks, police said. It wasnt immediately certain if any of the money had been recovered.

He was arrested Feb. 28 in the Bronx for a charge of criminal possession of what authorities believed to be cocaine, in addition to the robbery charges, court records show.

Rivera did not appear to have any family members or friends in attendance Wednesday.

According to a law enforcement source, his arraignment in Richmond County was delayed due to multiple trips to the hospital.

It wasnt immediately clear why Rivera had received medical attention.
James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), speaks during an interview in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 18, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

US to Redouble Efforts to Ensure Taiwans Global Participation, Official Says

TAIPEI, TaiwanThe United States will redouble its efforts to ensure Taiwans participation on the global stage, a senior U.S. official told President Tsai Ing-wen on March 5, amid the Chinese regimes efforts to prevent the island from having any international footprint.

China says Taiwan is a Chinese province and that only Beijing has the right to represent Taiwans 23 million people in international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), unless the island accepts that its part of China.

Tsai, who was reelected by a landslide in January on promises she would stand up to the regime in Beijing, says Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

James Moriarty, the U.S.-based chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles Washingtons relations with Taipei in the absence of official ties, told Tsai in the presidential office that the two have shared values.

During President Tsais second term, we will redouble our efforts to expand Taiwans participation on the global stage, a need exemplified by the ongoing spread of coronavirus, Moriarty said.

Taiwan has been infuriated by Chinas efforts to block its access to the WHO during the outbreak, something the United States, Japan, and some European countries have urged the health agency to reconsider.

Moriarty praised Taiwans approach to containing the virus. Taiwan has reported 42 cases and one death.

Taiwans measured, transparent and evidence-based approach to containing this disease is a testament to the strength of its democratic system, he said.

It also underscores for the whole world to see the value that Taiwan can bring to international organizations. Countries around the world stand to benefit from Taiwans knowledge, experience, and generosity.

The institutes director, Brent Christensen, is based in Taipei and acts as the de facto U.S. ambassador to the island.

The United States is Taiwans most important international backer and arms supplier. China calls Taiwan the most important and sensitive issue in its relationship with the United States.

The Chinese regime has ratcheted up pressure on Taiwan in the past month, with its air force flying close to the island at least three times, forcing Taiwan at least twice to scramble fighters to intercept.

Taiwan has urged China to focus its efforts on fighting the new coronavirus rather than menacing the island.

By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
Chennai, March 5 : Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drone that can take on rogue drones, an IIT-M statement said on Thursday.

The IIT-M said that the drone developed by its researchers can help law enforcement and security agencies as well as armed forces to secure air space over critical civilian and military installations against surveillance by rogue drones.

"It can track down rogue drones visually, hack into their GPS navigation system, following which the target drone is forced to change its flight path or land safely," the statement said.

According to IIT-M, the drone can be controlled over the Internet and can navigate autonomously as compared with most existing drones that operate on 'line of sight', that is, the operator must keep the drone within their eyesight.

Using the Internet to control the drones also allows for deploying a swarm of drones that can intelligently detect and track people, drones, vehicles and other objects.

This drone system was designed by a team comprising Vasu Gupta, a final-year BTech student, Department of Aerospace Engineering, and Rishabh Vashistha, a Project Associate working in RAFT Lab, Department of Aerospace Engineering.

"Our current prototype is equipped to detect and track objects visually, fly through the Internet and land precisely. Our next step will be to conduct exhaustive tests on the system and ensure its reliability for catering to a wide range of demanding missions that pose a challenge to our law enforcement and defence agencies. The programmable nature of our aerial vehicles also opens up the possibility of using multiple vehicles as a team and accomplish a common mission," Ranjith Mohan, Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, was quoted in the statement.

"The target drone's GPS sensor locks onto our fake radio station transmitting at a much higher power than the available satellite's transmission power. Following this, the drone generates fake GPS packets by mathematically modelling the time differences at the receiver's end," Gupta said.

"Using four of such time differences, the GPS sensor calculates its 3D position and calibrates the rogue drones' time to our spoofed clock. This way, we alter the latitude, longitude, altitude and time of the rogue drones," Gupta added.

"Algorithmically altering the 3D position allows us to move the target drone locally. Moreover, when a large variance is given in the spoofed GPS position, a failsafe (if any) is invoked at the target side which results in a safe landing of the target drone," Vashistha said.

According to Vashistha, the electronic countermeasure was tested against nearly all the civilian GPS receivers used by the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry such as ublox and DJI inhouse GNSS and have been able to take down the drones almost instantaneously (within 4-5 seconds).
Chandigarh, March 5 : Asserting that his government would take all legislative and judicial remedies to protect interests of the people, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered the constitution of a committee to evolve a strategy in the light of the High Court order relating to constructions in the Sukhna Lake area.

It was not viable to displace the tens of thousands of people living in the constructions around the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, said the Chief Minister, while chairing a high-level meeting to discuss the issue.

The Chief Minister asked Advocate General (AG) Atul Nanda to coordinate with his Haryana counterpart to ensure a formidable defence in response to the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to demolish the constructions in the Sukhna Lake area.

Amarinder Singh also directed the Chief Secretary to designate nodal officers from Forests and Local Government Departments to assist the AG's office to prepare the state's response in the court, said an official spokesperson after the meeting.

The spokesperson said the committee set up by the Chief Minister will be headed by Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar, besides MP Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari, MLAs Parminder Singh Pinki, Fatehjung Singh Bajwa, Kanwar Sandhu and Amandeep Singh as members.

The committee has been mandated to evolve a consensus strategy in consultation with the AG's office to decide the future course of action, through the formulation of a multi-pronged strategy involving all stakeholders including the state of Haryana.
After staying up late watching the Super Tuesday results dribble in, I got up Wednesday morning, poured myself some coffee, and took the dog out for a walk.

As I pondered the messy Democratic primary campaign that had started more than a year ago, I was hit by a thought. A few minutes later I checked my email and found a message from a reader who had the same thought:

Most Progressives/Democrats want to do away with the Electoral College and replace it with the national vote total in order to determine the presidential winner. So, why do the Democrats use this arcane delegate approach in the primaries? Why not just determine the winner via the popular vote total of all the primaries combined?

Why not indeed? I can see why people might want to see an election go to the winner of the popular vote. And there are a few reforms that might move in that direction. (I prefer the Maine-Nebraska system of awarding electors based on Congressional Districts. Thats similar to the way most states award delegates.)

But abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment. And the small states would never agree to a national popular vote. It would deprive them of the many advantages they have under the current system.

But we could certainly get rid of the state equivalent of the Electoral College. And its about time we did, said a former New Jersey governor who expects to go to this summers Democratic National Convention as a Joe Biden delegate.

You could have a national primary-election day, said state Sen. Dick Codey. Obviously this hasnt been handled too well.

No, it hasnt. The current system gives far too much power to small states like Iowa, which holds the first caucuses and New Hampshire, which hold the first primary.

There were more people on my block where I grew up in Orange than there were voting in Iowa, he joked.

As for New Hampshire, Codey recalled going door-to-door for former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley in the 2000 Democratic primary there.

On one block, everybody was a former ambassador, he said. If they supported the right candidate, hed make them ambassador to Bermuda or something.

And then theres the way the results come in from the individual states.

By the way, is Iowa finished counting? he joked.

Yes, it has. But then theres California, which has by far the most delegate spots at 415.

By the day after the election, about a third of those delegate races in California remained undecided. They wont be decided until next week. California permits mail ballots to be submitted until Friday, so the counting will go into next week.

That didnt stop a lot of news outlets from proclaiming that Biden had taken the lead in the national delegate count.

But till those final numbers come in, we wont know who won the most delegates on Super Tuesday.

Bernie Sanders is being reported as the loser now, however. And thats whats crucial when it comes to building momentum. (And Bernie has weighed in to make that exact point.)

Codeys suggestion is for a system under which each state would have uniform rules and uniform reporting standards for its primaries. As it now stands, a candidate running for president has to file slates under the differing rules of 50 states. Then there are territories ranging from American Samoa to the Virgin Islands, each with its own rules.

Those rules can be extraordinarily complicated. If you doubt that, I invite you to read the state Democratic Committees requirements for filing a delegate slate in New Jersey. Those rules go on for 44 pages.

The rules for the Electoral College take up less than a page of the constitution.

The Democrats rules even include a section on challenges to the requirements themselves. At convention time such challenges are not infrequent.

All of this is great fun for us journalists, as is the rest of the candidate-selection process. But its a little loony for presidential contenders to have to begin these massive, military-style campaigns 18 months or so before Election Day.

I for one would not want to change it. But then I dont want to change the Electoral College either.

If you, however, are among those who fly into high dudgeon at the mere mention of the Electoral College, I would suggest you direct your dudgeon somewhere it might do some good.

That would be at your elected officials. They cant change the Constitution.

But they can change the rules for the presidential primaries. If they dont like Codeys idea of holding all the elections on one day, they could simply keep the current schedule and nominate the candidate who gets the most votes at the end. (At the moment, that candidate is Biden, according to Real Clear Politics.)

But until they change the current primary system, their complaints about the Electoral College should fall on deaf ears.
Think youve seen all Northern Ireland has to offer and taken the selfie to prove it?

Discover NIs vivacious new brand, Embrace a Giant Spirit, is about to unleash a new immersive Northern Ireland that will prove theres a whole other side that youve yet to discover at home.

Sending out a giant message to our overseas visitors, and reminding those who live here of the under-discovered, is an exciting new brand from the thinking heads at Discover NI. It homes in on the landscape, people, passion and history that writes an all-consuming narrative of our rich tourism offering.

Think of it as Northern Ireland but through a different, more enthralling and high definition lens. Known as Embrace a Giant Spirit, the brand allows you to celebrate authentic experiences that connect with the features, faces and fables that give Northern Ireland its enviable character .

And to bring this inviting brand to life, artist Colin Davidson has paired up with Discover NI using the stroke of a brush to create an illustrative logo that he says awakens our entire offering.

Speaking about the brand he said: It encapsulated the confidence we as people from here have about where we live."

From fishing trips underneath the chalky early morning skies of Portrush, to tours of NIs most impressive Game of Thrones backdrops, an awe-inducing cliff edge experience at the Gobbins to a stunning navigation of National Trust property Mount Stewart and its impeccably manicured grounds right through to an emotive Walled City Tour and a delectable Belfast Food Tour, there are many itineraries yet to be explored here.

Catch and Sea is one giant experience that opens up a view of the Causeway coast from the confines of a magical fishing boat tour. Think the imposing Dunluce Castle to the towering cliffs and stunning wildlife that inhabits the area as your backdrop.

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For those who love the drama of a cliff edge, more adrenalin-inducing moments can be found at the Gobbins where a network of walkways and bridges hug the basalt cliff face. Take a 2.5hr tour and open up the geological and geographical masterpiece that is Northern Ireland.

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If the indoors is more your choice of tipple, any one of NIs regal National Trust properties and their surrounding grounds marry history with architecture. Or venture to the elegant Georgian Hillsborough Castle where you can walk in the footsteps of royalty, through plush and lovingly restored State Rooms including the Throne Room, State Drawing Room, Lady Greys Study, State Dining Room, Red Room and Stair Hall.

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For an emotive experience, walk Derrys Walled City where tour guides will open up more than 400 years of history as well as glorious architecture. No matter what the weather in Londonderry, tours will go ahead sensitively unlocking the poignant stories of the city; from Bloody Sunday to the Apprentice Boys, the traditions of the marching season and the famous murals.

And if the latter works up an appetite a Food Tour of Belfast will introduce some pretty spectacular culinary delights to satisfy any palate. From the independent foodie retailers at St Georges Market to the local food and drink producers that make up a truly native menu, theres a taste of NI waiting to be savoured.

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Tapping into all the senses, Embrace a Giant Spirit calls on you to present NI through in a new light, one that shares the story of NI and invites the world to be part of the next invigorating chapter.

We invite you to embrace our giant spirit and to awaken your own...

Plan your short break now from 99 b&b discovernorthernireland.com
As many as 16,076 crew members and passengers onboard ships from China or having travelled to coronavirus-hit countries have been scanned and not allowed to disembark at Indian ports as a precautionary step, a shipping ministry official said on Thursday.

However, all possible assistance and help are being provided to them -- onboard 452 ships anchored at designated places -- as per WHO guidelines in case of any fever or symptoms.

"As many as 452 ships with EXIM cargo and 16,076 crew and passengers have arrived at Indian ports so far from China or a travel history to countries affected from coronavirus. As a precautionary measure to prevent any outbreak, we have not allowed the passengers and crew to disembark but ships were allowed to anchor at designated places. The cargo was brought with all precautions.

"No shore pass is being issued to the crew/seafarers having travel history from the infected countries," the official told PTI.

The official said that as per WHO guidelines, scanning of all aboard on the vessels are being done and all necessary facilities are being extended to them.

The protocol is being maintained with all help in case of fever or sickness to those on board.

The official added that at Paradip port a crew member onboard Chemstar Stellar developed fever, and he along with his wife were evacuated and transferred to SCB Medical College, Cuttack for further testing. The vessel had departed from Zapu, China on February 10 and had reached Paradip Port on March 1.

Enroute, it had been to South Korea and finally departed from Singapore on February 25 and reached Paradip Port limits on March 1.

The official said that earlier two crew members on board MV Magnate from China had fever during scanning on February 19 at berthing and their samples later tested negative for COVID-19.

Prior to this, a Filipino crew on board MV Boudicca was detected with COVID-19 like symptoms and was kept in isolation at the ship's hospital, the official said, adding that the sample of the crew sent to Kasturba Hospital, Mumbai was found negative.

All required protocols are being followed.

India has 12 major ports -- Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) -- that handled 699.04 MT of cargo during 2018-19. There are about 200 non-major ports under the control of states.

The government last month had directed all 12 major ports to immediately put in place screening, detection and quarantine system for disembarking seafarers and cruise passengers as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak.

The Ministry of Shipping has said it has issued necessary directions to the 12 major ports to "place a screening, detection and quarantine system immediately for disembarking Seafarers or Cruise Passengers".

Directions had also been issued to ports to procure N-95 masks as well as thermal scanners to screen passengers, besides obtaining self-declaration from arriving crews/passengers.

In India, 30 positive cases have been reported so far, including 16 Italian tourists. Globally, the virus has claimed over 3,000 lives besides infecting more than 90,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York, including 11 new cases announced Thursday, is not unexpected because that number is bound to increase as testing for the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus expands.

Four of the people infected with the virus are hospitalized. The confirmed cases involve three individuals in New York City, including a health care worker who returned from Iran with symptoms, as well as one person on Long Island and 18 others in Westchester County, all with a nexus to an attorney who remains hospitalized, in part, because he had an underlying respiratory condition in addition to the virus.

State Health Department Commissioner Howard Zucker on Thursday said the condition of the 50-year-old attorney, who lives in New Rochelle, has improved. Many others, including the attorney's family, remain quarantined in their residences because their symptoms do not require hospitalization.

Cuomo said "about 1,000 people" are quarantined in Westchester County out of precaution.

Furthermore, he said the effort to coordinate a statewide response, including enlisting private labs to help augment testing, has been "all-consuming" and experts are uncertain if the virus might diminish as the summer months arrive, which is normally when the flu virus dwindles.

"The more people you test, the more positives you are going to find," Cuomo said, adding that there are ample reserves of testing kits available to physicians through the state Health Department, but that physicians and those with symptoms should use good judgment in determining whether they need to be tested.

"You can't just test anyone," Cuomo said, noting there are protocols as to who should be tested.

Thursday's news conference at the Capitol is one of multiple that the governor has conducted this week across the state. He was departing for Nassau County, where the latest case involving a 42-year-old patient was discovered, after again urging calm. The COVID-19 is similar to the flu in that it is more serious for people in vulnerable populations  elderly or those with compromised immune systems  and that deaths and hospitalizations are likely in 20 percent of the cases, he said.

"I'm worried about undue fear and anxiety," he said. "I'm worried about nursing homes, senior care facilities, any senior congregate setting."

The outbreak is occurring at what is normally the annual height of state budget negotiations and stirring economic unrest on Wall Street and around the world. Cuomo said he stills hopes the state budget will be delivered on time April 1, but that "this is a priority."

"Again, the greatest obstacle that we face here is not understanding the situation," he said. "The only way I know to combat that is to communicate with the people of the state. ... (But) this is a management, logistical monster to deal with."

The state has devoted $44 million to the health outbreak, which Cuomo and other state officials characterized as an "emergency." The federal government has allocated $8.3 billion to the problem, including $35 million for New York. Cuomo said it is not enough and indicated that New York should have received more federal dollars.

"The states are on the front lines here," Cuomo said. "You don't see any federal officials running around here taking samples."

Robert Mujica, the state's budget director, said the money set aside for coronavirus is being used for outreach and testing, but added that if the "emergency continues for weeks we will be spending much more than that."

New York's first case was reported Sunday in Manhattan involving the woman who had recently traveled to Iran.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved an emergency funding bill that devotes more than $8 billion to coronavirus testing, health care supplies, vaccine development and reimbursing states.

The bipartisan bill passed the Senate with one vote of opposition from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who wanted to make cuts to foreign aid in order to pay for the virus response. The bill will now go to President Donald Trump for a signature.

The bill allocates $3 billion for research and development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for coronavirus. It designates $2.2 billion in federal public health funding for prevention, preparedness, and response, along with $950 million for state and local health agencies to conduct surveillance, laboratory testing, infection control, contact tracing, and other coronavirus mitigation efforts.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The package contains funding for vaccine development so that any vaccine is affordable and available to everyone, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. It has funding for equipment and medical supplies. It boosts local governments and hospitals.

The legislation ensures that state and local governments will be reimbursed for coronavirus spending, something that has been a source of anxiety for those governments as the outbreak spreads. It directs millions at community health centers that sometimes are one of the only providers of medical services in rural areas.

The bill takes steps to ensure that vaccines and treatments for coronavirus are affordable and allows seniors to access tele-medicine services for coronavirus treatment. It also provides money for loans to small businesses to offset the financial impact of the epidemic.

Vice President Mike Pence said this week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated the coronavirus test as essential so it's covered by all private insurance and Medicare and Medicaid.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Thursday that he will press for legislation to make sure the coronavirus vaccine is also covered by Medicare and free for eligible seniors.

The novel coronavirus shows us how critical is to make vaccines available to the most susceptible groups, and in the case of the coronavirus, that appears to be seniors, Schumer said.

Previously: Cost of vaccine slows congressional deal on response

Cuomo: Second New York coronavirus case confirmed

Gov. Cuomo: NY gets OK to run its own coronavirus tests

Churchill: The coronavirus and the sick way we treat workers

Legislature gives $40M, broad powers to Cuomo amid coronavirus
Delhi High Court on Thursday adjourned the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the acquittal of ex-telecom minister A Raja, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi and others in the 2G scam case.

A single-judge bench of Justice Brijesh Sethi adjourned the matter and scheduled it for further hearing on March 24, 25 and 26.

A petition has also been filed against the probe agency's appeal challenging their acquittal claiming that it is now 'infructuous' due to the 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act. The petition was filed by RK Chandolia, one of the accused in the 2G spectrum case and then private secretary of former telecom minister A Raja.

Notably, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate had moved the Delhi High Court in March 2018 against the acquittal of all accused in the 2G spectrum case which came to light in 2017.

In December 2017, a Special CBI Court had acquitted DMK politicians A Raja, Kanimozhi, and fifteen others, implicated in the 2G spectrum case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A helicopter landed in a university car park to deliver a forgotten bag to a student in South Africa.

Footage of the bizarre school-run to the North West University's Vaal campus at Vanderbijlpark south of Johannesburg was filmed on Friday last week.

The student collects his bag from the chopper - while its helicopter blades are still whirring - as amazed students watch on.

A student casually ambles towards a helicopter, parked across multiple spaces, to collect his bag at the North West University's Vaal campus at Vanderbijlpark

In the clip, the helicopter can be seen parked across multiple spaces, just a few yards away from other parked cars.

The student casually ambles towards the whirring chopper - believed to be a Robinson R44 Raven - as someone exclaims: 'Ok sure, I think he forgot his bag.

As the man ducks, the bag is pushed out of the helicopter door. He grabs it and walks away.

The filmer exclaims: 'F****** chopper came to deliver his f****** bag. Who the f*** is he. Guys, guys wait who is he?'

As the man ducks, the bag is pushed out of the helicopter door. He grabs it before walking away

A university spokesman confirmed that a helicopter did land on the NWU's Vaal campus (pictured) in front of the student centre

As the student walks away, the filmer exclaims: 'F****** chopper came to deliver his f****** bag. Who the f*** is he. Guys, guys wait who is he?'

She shouts louder: 'Who the f*** are you?'

Without a backwards glance, the man slowly makes his way back into university.

The camera then points back to the chopper as the filmer exclaims: 'Dude, I am losing my mind. I am losing my f****** mind.'

The helicopter then lifts up from the ground and soars away.

Another student told a local newspaper: 'How cool is that! This guy is saying his parents, rather than drive to the uni, just decided to fly over all the traffic!

'Trouble is if he forgets his coursework again he will have no excuses for not getting it on time as his tutors will know all about his whirlybird.'

The camera then points back to the chopper before the vehicle lifts up and flies away

The Robinson R44 Raven helicopter is worth 300,000 and costs 150 an hour in fuel to fly (stock image)

University spokesman Willie du Plessis said: 'After watching the video I can confirm a landing on the NWU's Vaal campus in front of the student centre.

'At this stage we do not have any other information about the helicopter' he said adding it was unclear whether it had permission to land in the car park.

The Robinson R44 Raven helicopter is worth 300,000 and costs 150 an hour in fuel to fly.

It can reach speeds of up to 140mph and fly over 300 miles.
T he ruler of Dubai orchestrated the abduction of his daughter from UK streets and has held her captive for the last 20 years, a High Court judge has found in a bombshell ruling.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 70, ordered his men to kidnap his teenage daughter Sheikh Shamsa in Cambridge in 2000, before flying her out of the country from his horse-racing headquarters in Newmarket, the court ruled.

Shamsa, now 38, had been attempting to stay in the UK, but once returned to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) she has been deprived of her liberty for much if not all of the past two decades, Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division of the UK High Court has ruled.

The Sheikh, a personal friend to the British Royal Family, also ordered his men to stop another daughter, Sheikh Latifa, from fleeing Dubai in a daring undercover mission, the judge found.

The ruling was made by the High Court / AFP/Getty Images

He said Latifa, now 35, had tried to escape in 2018 but was thwarted after nine days on the run, when Indian special forces boarded her boat off the coast of Goa and captured her.

A friend said Latifa was dragged away kicking and screaming, and was heard shouting out: You cant get me back alive. Dont take me back. Shoot me here dont take me back.

Sir Andrew made a series of damaging findings of facts against the Sheikh, who is an international powerbroker in his role as ruler of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, during his custody battle with estranged wife Princess Haya bint al-Hussein.

Todays ruling will be embarrassing for the Royals, and pose questions for the government who hold information on the kidnap of Shamsa but have refused to disclose it to the court for fear of damaging international relations.

Princess Haya outside Britain's High Court / AFP via Getty Images

The Princess, 45, fled to the UK last April with her two children, Sheikha Jalila, 12, and Sheikh Zayed, seven, sparking a court bid by Sheikh Mohammed for them to be returned to Dubai.

However when the allegations against him were aired in private proceedings attended by members of the British media, he mounted an expensive legal battle to keep Sir Andrews rulings veiled in secrecy. He said this was done to protect the safety and welfare of his children.

The Sheikh insists Shamsa and Latifa live a happy private life in Dubai, he denies claims of law-breaking, and he says the case is only about deeply personal and private family matters".

A statement from his representatives said: This case concerns highly personal and private matters relating to our children.

"The Appeal was made to protect the best interests and welfare of the children. The outcome does not protect my children from media attention in the way that other children in family proceedings in the UK are protected.

"As a Head of Government, I was not able to participate in the Courts fact-finding process, this has resulted in the release of a 'fact-finding' judgment which inevitably tells only one side of the story.

"I ask that the media respect the privacy of our children and do not intrude into their lives in the UK.

The Dubai ruler's case was being heard at the High Court today / AP

In his ruling, Sir Andrew found most of the Princess allegations against the Sheikh were proven, and he also ruled that she had been the victim of a campaign of fear and intimidation before and after fleeing from the familys palatial home.

Sir Andrew said Princess Haya had woken up to find a gun next to her bed, the Sheikhs men had threatened to take her away to a remote prison, and she had been sent menacing messages by her husband and his associates.

A video had also been posted online of the Sheikh performing a sword-waving traditional Bedouin dance of victory over ones enemies, which the Princess took as a threat.

I find that the cumulative effect of each of these episodes was to place the mother in a position of great fear leading her to conclude that she had no option but to leave Dubai with the children as she did, said the judge.

The father has therefore acted in a manner from the end of 2018 which has been aimed at intimidating and frightening the mother, and that he has encouraged others to do so on his behalf.

The ruling makes findings of fact that the Sheikh has broken UK and international laws as well as international maritime law and internationally-accepted human rights norms.

Sir Andrew said Sheikh Shamsa, then 18, detailed her abduction in Cambridge in a letter, saying: I am being watched all the time so Ill get straight to the point. I was caught by my father, he managed to track me down through someone I kept in touch with.

I was caught on the 19th August, in Cambridge. He sent four Arab men to catch me, they were carrying guns and threatening me, they drove me to my fathers place in Newmarket, there they gave me two injections and a handful of tablets, the very next morning a helicopter came and flew me to the plane, which took me back to Dubai.

She believed a friends phone had been bugged and pleaded for UK Home Office intervention, adding: I havent seen anyone, not even the man you call my father. I told you this would happen.

I know these people, they have all the money, they have all the power, they think they can do anything.

Sir Andrew ruled he could not be sure the men were carrying guns or the Sheikha had been drugged, but he found she had been taken in a car by three or four men who were working for her father, to his home in Newmarket.

Shamsa was held overnight at the Newmarket premises by the three men, said the judge. On the following morning, 20 August 2000, at 5am the three men and Shamsa departed from Newmarket in a helicopter that had arrived the previous evening. They flew to Deauville in France and then transferred to a jet for the onward flight to Dubai.

He backed Latifas suggestion that her sister is now confined to one room and constantly supervised by nurses and a psychiatrist.

Latifa made her own attempt, with a confidante, to escape from Dubai, driving over the border to Oman on 24 February 2018 before taking a dinghy to a yacht, named the Nostromo, the ruling said.

However her friend told the court Indian special forces boarded the boat on March 4, setting off smoke grenades to subdue the crew before dragging away the Sheikha.

Latifas last words that I heard as she was dragged away kicking and screaming were words to the effect that You cant get me back alive. Dont take me back. Shoot me here dont take me back in English, said the friend, who claimed she was also held captive in degrading conditions and interrogated.

In a video about the escape plan which subsequently ended up on YouTube, Latifa said: Im making this video because it could be the last video I make, yeah.

Pretty soon Im going to be leaving somehow and I am not so sure of the outcome, but Im 99% positive it will work. And if doesnt then this video can help me because all my father cares about is his reputation.

He will kill people to protect his own reputation. He only cares about himself and his ego. So this video could save my life. And if you are watching this video, its not such a good thing either Im dead, or Im in a very very very bad situation.

The judge found: There is no ground for doubting that it was indeed Latifas settled ambition to escape from Dubai, saying he believed it was a capture rather than a rescue when special forces intervened.

She was pleading for the soldiers to kill her rather than face the prospect of going back to her family in Dubai. Drawing these matters together I conclude, on the balance of probability, that Latifas account of her motives for wishing to leave Dubai represents the truth. She was plainly desperate to extricate herself from her family and prepared to undertake a dangerous mission in order to do so.

During the secret court hearings, a senior police chief gave evidence to support the mothers claims that she fears for her safety, as she insisted the Sheikhs poems published online had been used to intimidate her.

The court heard the couples marriage deteriorated towards the end of 2018 when the Sheikh discovered the Princess had been having an affair with a British bodyguard. He secretly divorced her under Sharia Law on the February 7, 2019, deliberately choosing the 20th anniversary of her fathers death to do it.

All the revelations can be published today after a successful media application to shine a light on family proceedings which are normal held in private. This morning the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempted by the Sheikh to avoid publicity.

Justin Rushbrooke QC, for the Princess, said the Sheikh had adopted a pick-and-choose attitude to his participation in these proceedings and refused to come to give evidence.

The Sheikh, through his legal team, denied the allegations against him, insisting he had organised a search for Shamsa when she was missing and at risk of kidnap.

He claimed Latifa had been taken away in a plot to extort money out of him, and he told the court that neither of his daughters wanted to take part in court proceedings, despite being offered independent legal advice.

In her initial submissions to the court, Princess Haya said she had hoped the issues could be solved privately and recognised a high-profile court fight would damage the relations between the royal court of Jordan, Jordan itself, Sheikh Mohammeds household and wider family, Dubai , the UAE, and the UK.

She said she had been subjected to lurid reporting and character assassinations, with a public impression that she had simply taken the Sheikhs money and fled Dubai following an extra-marital affair.

Making his decision to make the rulings public, Sir Andrew said he needed to correct the false narrative despite accepting he would unleash a media storm, adding: The landscape of public opinion needs to change so that it is more firmly founded on the true facts.
DePauw University, Greencastle, tapped Lori White to become the schools next president, making her the first Black person and woman to hold the position.

The universitys board of trustees voted unanimously to appoint her March 3. White is currently vice chancellor for student affairs at Washington University in St. Louis and will succeed D. Mark McCoy, who has been DePauws president since 2016.

White will be the schools 21st president in its 183-year history.

Throughout my career my commitment has been grounded in what I believe are the distinctive values of liberal arts universities such as DePauw, White said in a press release, and what makes them so special  that is, a focus on creating and sustaining community, engaging in collaborative leadership and decision-making and thinking about our greater sense of purpose as institutions of higher learning.

Justin Christian, who led the 18-member search committee and is an alum of DePauw, said White became the committees choice because shes a true intellectual with a transparent, genuine nature.

Clearly, her credentials were exemplary, he said.  She had a very broad set of experiences that were student-centric that we felt like would be tremendous for DePauw.

The committee spent eight months searching for a new president and, according to Christian, seriously considered about 40 candidates.

White will start her new post July 1.

Before joining Washington University in 2015, White worked with other institutions of higher education, including as vice president for student affairs and clinical professor of education at Southern Methodist University, as well as associate vice president for student affairs at the University of Southern California.

Kathy Patterson Vrabeck, chair of the board of trustees, said in the press release White is a team-oriented leader whos passionate about the liberal arts.

Throughout her career, Dr. White has brought a student-centered approach to her work and the work of the institutions she has served, Vrabeck said.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
NORTH READING, Massachusetts, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TraceLink Inc., a network-based platform company with the world's largest integrated digital supply network, today announced the continued expansion of its leadership team with the addition ofJim Mills as the head of data science and Jamshed Dubash as general manager of its Smart Supply and Logistics/IoT business unit. Mills and Dubash are among several new strategic hires that TraceLink has made in the last 12 months.

"The TraceLink network and the immense amount of data flowing through it creates the ideal environment to leverage new technologies to help the pharmaceutical industry address ongoing challenges related to logistics, drug shortages, inventory management and more," said Shabbir Dahod, president & CEO of TraceLink. "Bringing in industry leaders like Jim and Jamshed, who have decades of experience in their respective technology specialties is an important strategic investment for TraceLink as we develop new ways to support improvements and advancements in life sciences."

Mills, with more than 30 years of experience in technology research and innovation, will be central to helping customers realize the unprecedented value and insights derived from data on TraceLink's Digital Supply Network - amassed from over 276,000 trade partners and more than 6 billion serialized medications.

"With its central role in the pharmaceutical digital supply chain, TraceLink is uniquely positioned to help customers uncover data science solutions to both existing and emerging challenges," said Mills.

"There's a lot of exciting opportunity and potential that awaits and I look forward to working with the team to enable a more interconnected and data-driven pharmaceutical supply chain ecosystem."

In his role as general manager of TraceLink's Smart Supply, Logistics, & IoT business area, Dubash will focus on identifying business opportunities in the IoT market space for TraceLink. He will use his experience to lead a business area responsible for developing solutions for real-time visibility across value points in the pharmaceutical supply chain, allowing companies to accurately track the integrity, quality, and availability of critical medicines.

"Within the pharma industry, IoT has the potential to be a great disruptor, particularly with the rise of precision medicine, where the role of IoT will become critical in ensuring every patient receives the medicine they need, when they need it," said Dubash. "TraceLink's network is a game-changer, providing a unique venue for IoT to further transform and enhance processes throughout the pharma supply chain, and I am excited for what's to come."

The hiring of both Dubash and Mills reflect TraceLink's continued commitment to bringing in the top talent in the industry to help deliver the most value possible to its customers.

About TraceLink

TraceLink is a network-based platform company that leverages its digital supply network and digital network platform to bend the supply chain around the patient. Through its industry-leading digital supply network, the TraceLink Digital Network Platform can enable seamless data sharing and process orchestration across the entire healthcare industry, enabling the creation of a real-time, patient-driven supply network. Leading life science companies, hospitals and retail pharmacies trust TraceLink to deliver complete global connectivity, visibility and traceability of pharmaceuticals, ensuring that every patient gets the medicines they need, when they need them, safely and securely. For more information on TraceLink and our solutions, visit www.tracelink.com .

TraceLink is funded by Georgian Partners, Willett Advisors LLC, Vulcan Capital, Goldman Sachs, FirstMark Capital, Volition Capital and F-Prime Capital.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  A plan to reroute Alaska highway traffic during summer construction is expected to cause disruptions that one official said will seem like a monster.

It's going to be Carzilla,'  Alaska Department of Transportation Central Region Design Chief Jim Amundsen said during a town hall meeting Saturday in Chugiak.





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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Jack Horner, the palaeontologist who inspired the movie juggernaut Jurassic Park, found his first dinosaur bone when he was just eight. His father had seen something sticking out of the earth as he rode across the prairies of Montana, North America, long the heartland of dinosaur discovery, and it was there that he took little Jack fossil hunting. The bone still sits in Horners office today. The success of Jurassic Park in 1993 would launch a new generation of palaeontologists and an unprecedented boom for the field, opening up frontiers from Argentina to Australia and rewriting the story of the scaly monsters on screen. Within three years, on a hillside in China, a farmer had stumbled upon the worlds first glimpse of a feathered dinosaur. Today, close to one new dinosaur species is discovered every week. This year the big find to hit headlines is a new species, and likely a new genus, of tyrannosaur exhumed from the dust of Alberta, Canada, pictured above. Far from the image of the lumbering lizard doomed to extinction, palaeontologists now know dinosaurs as natures great success stories. In their 185-million-year reign on Earth, they weathered tremendous upheaval. Continents broke apart, volcanoes rained lava, temperatures and toxic gases climbed, monster wildfires scarred the land. Still dinosaurs spread to all its corners, growing to the size of passenger planes or emerging in strange new shapes including, eventually, as birds. In South America and Asia, whole new ecosystems are being unearthed, from huge spiked herbivores to strange bat-winged vampires. In outback Australia, a literal treasure trove of fossils has been found down an opal mine, many species preserved as vibrant gems. Now in another era of planetary change (this time of our own making), and with news from NASA that an asteroid nearly the size of the one that took out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago will soon sail hair-raisingly close to the Earth  what can we learn from these creatures? How has palaeontology evolved since Jurassic Park? What discoveries have put Australia on the map? And will we ever bring a dinosaur back to life?

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An artist's reconstruction of thanatotheristes or the Reaper of Death, discovered this year. Credit:Julius Csotonyi Why are scientists still finding so many dinosaurs? Horner sat next to director Steven Spielberg as a consultant on the set of Jurassic Park, and remembers well the hordes of students who suddenly signed up for his university classes after the film hit cinemas. But it wasn't a flash in the pan, says palaeontologist and author Steve Brusatte, who has himself helped discover somewhere in the order of 15 to 20 new dinosaurs. The students kept coming and today the resulting gold rush of discovery shows no signs of slowing down. "We're not running out of dinosaurs," Brusatte laughs. Palaeontologist Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza has tracked the rate of new finds since the first bones were unearthed in the 1800s, including that sudden surge. He too belongs to the Jurassic Park generation, the scientists "who never grew up", but says better technology is also speeding up dinosaur hunting as they compare finds online. Out in the field, Horner says the tools are still mostly what they were when he started. Dinosaur bones eventually become rock (and in some places, such as Australia, gem stone), which makes them nearly impossible to pick out from the landscape with scanners. Yet, back in the lab, X-rays, 3D printing, even molecular particle accelerators now come into play. "And we can send drones out for us now to take pictures, Horner says.

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All of those fresh eyes in the field can sometimes catch what has been missed. This years new tyrannosaur on the block gathered dust in a museum cabinet for almost a decade before PhD student Jared Voris decided to take a closer look. Now dubbed the Reaper of Death, the tyrannosaur is the oldest found in Canada. In life, it would have been about the length of two cars. "We're confident it's a new genus as well as a new species," Voris says. "The ridges in the jaw and the [shape of] the cheekbones are really different." But sometimes, Horner warns, the hype can get ahead of the science. Many dinosaurs vary wildly in size and shape over their life cycle and baby dinosaurs have on occasion been "discovered" as their own separate species. Darla Zelenitsky and Jared Voris with the bones he dusted off and identified as a new genus of dinosaur known as the Reaper of Death. Credit:Royal Tyrrell Museum How do fossils form? To survive the tens of millions of years between death and discovery, dinosaur remains need cover from the elements. Most will decay completely but sometimes the conditions are just right for preservation - usually when an animal dies near water and is buried under sediment such as mud or silt. Water infused with minerals will seep into the hard, longer-wearing parts, the bones or teeth, as they break down, gradually replacing and encasing them. Over millennia, they are compressed into rock or "fossil". Sometimes other substances such as tar or ice can do an even better job of preserving the original remains, leading to remarkable discoveries such as intact feathers or even soft tissue.

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An artist's impression of the seven-metre-long Lightning Claw, the largest carnivorous dinosaur found in Australia. What is Australia's dinosaur history? On Australia's west coast, some of the world's largest surviving dinosaur footprints are still in the rock, spanning almost two metres each. But it is on the east coast that most of Australia's fossil record is being dug up  and it's taken a quantum leap forward in the past few years, according to the Australian Museum. One hundred million years ago, in the last great age of dinosaurs known as the Cretaceous period, the dry continent was lush and green. Pterosaurs or iron dragons ruled the skies and ancient crocodiles shared hunting grounds with creatures such as Lightning Claw, pictured above, the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever found in Australia, with its "grappling hooks" for hands. Much of the east was swamped by a shallow inland sea  creating the perfect conditions for fossils. It seems to be the only place in the world where the dinosaur fossils have turned to opals so its literally a treasure trove." While our most complete dinosaur skeletons have come from Queensland, opal miners in remote NSW have stumbled upon the most beautiful. Down a mine shaft in Lightning Ridge is one of the richest fossil collections ever discovered from Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent that once accounted for two-thirds of todays land, including Australia. Here, dinosaur remains were buried under reactive minerals  glass or silica ash  from a chain of volcanoes erupting up north near the Great Barrier Reef at the time. Under the "Martian-like" conditions, the most unique opals in the world took shape in the rock  and in dinosaur bone. It seems to be the only place in the world where the dinosaur fossils have turned to opals so its literally a treasure trove, laughs Phil Bell, a palaeontologist at the University of New England. "Some species have rich veins of colour through them, blues and reds."

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Fossils have been picked out of opal hauls since mining began at the site in the 1900s  Australia's first prehistoric mammals were discovered there as well as some dinosaur species. But its hard work, climbing metres down rickety ladders into black chasms to dig with pick axes and jackhammers. Most of whats been found has come off the back of the miners themselves. Even then, no one had studied the fossils in depth until 2013, when Bell ventured into the dark beneath Lightning Ridge and found a wealth of life, including Lightning Claw and an entire herd of the plant eater Fostoria. "Not all of the bones are gem-quality, a lot are just the dark or opaque part of the opal, but some of those Fostoria bones do shimmer with the entire spectrum of colours," Bell says. "These things are worth tens of thousands of dollars as jewellery but they're priceless as fossils." An artist's impression of a Weewarrasaurus identified by Phil Bell and his team at Lightning Ridge in Australia. Credit:James Kuether They are so precious that palaeontologists and the Australian Opal Centre are working with the local mining community to save them from commercial trade. When broken up for their gems, the fossils fetch a decent sum. But in a region hit hard by drought, they can bring more value, the argument goes, as a tourist attraction. "Until Lightning Ridge, we'd been dealing with [bones] from Victoria's coast and Queensland," Bell explains. "We had those beautiful big [sauropod] tracks in Broome but that was our sole image of what dinosaurs in Australia looked like. Suddenly, here was this virtually untapped window into our past." Paleontologist Phil Bell excavating for opalised fossils in the Lightning Ridge mine. Credit:Phil Bell

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The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear the petition of Sara Abdullah Pilot, sister of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, against his detention. Omar has been detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA).

The matter pertains to liberty, a bench led by Justice Arun Mishra had observed on Monday, rejecting Attorney General Venugopals opposition to the top court hearing the habeas corpus petition in the case.

Sara Pilot has challenged her brothers detention under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) which was imposed on him on February 5 this year. The 49-year-old is under detention since August last year when the Centre abrogated Article 370 and placed Kashmir valley in a state of lockdown. His detention in 2019 was under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers an executive magistrate to order a person to execute bonds for keeping the peace.

Right before his detention was to expire in February 2020, the administration issued a fresh order under the PSA that allows authorities to detain a person without trial for a maximum period of two years.

In her Habeas Corpus (which literally means produce the body) petition, Sara prayed for orders to produce Abdullah in the Supreme Court. She argued that he is a votary of peace and there is overwhelming evidence to prove the same.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration, meanwhile, informed the Supreme Court on Monday that Omar Abdullah has been detained under the PSA considering his past conduct and possibility of such conduct being repeated on his release, which may prejudice the public order.

Terming Abdullah as a very vocal critic of abrogating Article 370, the J&K administration claimed that his acts squarely fell within the realm of public order as it was calculated to disturb public peace and tranquility.

The detenu has been a very vocal critic of any possible abrogation of Article 370 prior to its abrogation on August 5, 2019. It is submitted that considering the very peculiar geo-political position of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and its geographical proximity with Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the concept of public order needs to be examined contextually, it said.

It also said that Abdullah should have moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to avail his remedy before approaching the apex court.
Dublin: Prince William has asked emergency workers if they thought coronavirus was being hyped up by the media during his first official visit to Ireland.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, are shown Bog Oak at the Teagasc Animal & Grassland Research Centre at Grange, in County Meath, near Dublin, Ireland. Credit:Getty Images

Chatting to them at a reception organised by the British ambassador at Dublin's Guinness brewery on Wednesday, William also joked that he and his wife Kate were spreading coronavirus.

"I bet everyone's like: 'I've got coronavirus, I'm dying', and you're like 'no, you've just got a cough,'" William said to the emergency workers.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Members of a Congress created federal body that monitors violation of religious freedom abroad on Wednesday expressed concern over India's amended citizenship laws, saying it could result in the "wide-scale disenfranchisement" of Muslims in the country.

Members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) along with an invited panel of experts convened a hearing mainly focused on India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Rohingya Muslims issue in Myanmar to help develop policy recommendations for the US government in response to the issues.

Noting that the right to a nationality is a fundamental human right and serves as a bedrock for accompanying political and civil rights, USCIRF chair Tony Perkins said that denying individuals this fundamental recognition not only strips them of accompanying rights but also denies them the ability to participate in the political process and use legal pathways to seek redress for discrimination and persecution.

Referring to the CAA and the National Register of Citizens(NRC), Anurima Bhargava, USCIRF Commissioner, said the recent actions by the Indian government were troubling.

"There are fears, however, that this law in conjunction with a planned National Population Register and a potential nation-wide National Register of Citizens, or NRC, could result in the wide-scale disenfranchisement of Indian Muslims," she said.

"This would leave them vulnerable to prolonged detention, deportation, and violence. We are already seeing this process being conducted in the northeastern state of Assam. The NRC is a mechanism for identifying illegal migrants in the region," she alleged.

India has previously described the comments by the USCIRF and a "few individuals" over violence in the national capital as "factually inaccurate, misleading" and an attempt to politicise the issue.

"We have seen comments made by the USCIRF, sections of the media and a few individuals regarding recent incidents of violence in Delhi.

"These are factually inaccurate and misleading, and appear to be aimed at politicising the issue," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said last month.

The new citizenship law passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019 offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

After the enactment of the law, protests erupted across the country over fears that the CAA, and a planned nation-wide NRC and NPR may marginalise the minority Muslim community.

The Indian government has maintained that the CAA is an internal matter of the country and stressed that the goal is to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries.

Bhargava said that many Indians of all faiths have been exercising their peaceful right of protest to express their opposition to this law.

"However, it is with great dismay that we have seen a deadly crackdown by government authorities against the protestors and recent violence in Delhi that have targeted Muslim communities," she said.

Gayle Manchin, USCIRF vice-chair, cited the examples of countries like Vietnam, Bahrain and Kenya to say that many governments are stripping people of their citizenship simply because of the faith they practice in clear violation of international human rights standards.

Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences at Brown University, told the Commission that using CAA, the NRC can render stateless a large number of Muslims, even if they were born in India and have lived in the country for decades, as have their ancestors.

"That is an important reason the protests have not ceased. The protesters can clearly visualise extreme Muslim marginalisation and its attendant negative consequences, should NRC become the law of the land," he said.

"The fear is that if the existing Muslim citizens of India are unable to produce documents of Indian ancestry, which simply can't be ruled out until we know what documents are required, the NRC, using CAA, can easily call them infiltrators," he said.

That, in turn, will make them an object of internment or expulsion, and/or deprive them of the right to vote, he said.

In contrast, if the Hindus have a similar documentary deficit, they would neither be interned, nor expelled, nor disenfranchised.

They can simply claim they are welcome only in a Hindu homeland and persecuted elsewhere in South Asia, which will open the door for Indian citizenship for them, Varshney said.

Testifying before the USCIRF, Azeem Ibrahim director, Displacement and Migration Program, Center for Global Policy, and a former Strategic Policy Advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, reiterated the talking point of the Pakistani leader on the CAA and the NRC.

"This is not just an attack on the rights of refugees and the intent is to remove citizenship for those already living in India. This is being done using a revised census," he alleged.

Ibrahim alleged that the rights of Muslims as citizens of India are now under direct threat.

Human Rights lawyer from Assam Aman Wadud told the Commission that the NRC and the CAA are not in the interest of India.

"The procedures followed are arbitrary and unfair, and will, as the Assam experience shows, resulted in the harassment, disenfranchisement, and detention of the poor, and the helpless," he said.
Police in Lithuania intervened in a domestic dispute on Wednesday after a man locked his wife in the bathroom over fears that she may be carrying the coronavirus.

We got the report that a husband and two adult sons refused to let the woman out of the bathroom after she told them that she could have contracted the coronavirus, national police spokesman Ramunas Matonis told AFP.

The woman reportedly told her husband she may have caught the disease new coronavirus when she spoke with a person who had arrived from abroad.

Police officers arrived, there was no violence, no complaint, therefore an ambulance was called, the police spokesman said.

Local media reported that the woman tested negative for the presence of the new coronavirus, which has so far infected one person in Lithuania, an EU Baltic state of 2.8 million people.

The 39-year-old male victim had recently returned from Verona in an area of northern Italy that has recorded Europes highest number of deaths from the disease.

The virus death toll in Italy passed 100 on Wednesday.

Altogether the virus has killed over 3,000 people worldwide, most of them in China.
ZUMBROTA  Ted Galaty says he was doing his due diligence when he mailed a package of industrial hemp to Colorado for testing.

After learning the lab hadnt received his sample, Galaty looked up the package tracking Tuesday morning. The package status showed an "Alert" in large, red letters followed by, "Seized by Law Enforcement."

The package seizure is just the latest policy hurdle Galaty, owner of Hemp Maze Minnesota, has faced as state and federal policies are still being ironed out to regulate the fledgling industrial hemp industry.

On Wednesday afternoon, after Galaty had a short conversation with Rachel Williams, inspector and team leader of the U.S. Postal Services Contraband Investigation & Interdiction Team, the package was resealed and sent on its way to Colorado.

Galaty was mailing the hemp to have the level of THC it contains tested. Federal guidelines specify industrial hemp cannot contain 0.3% THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. Galaty was testing the first of four planned indoor-grown hemp crops.

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Under postal guidelines, the sender of any package containing industrial hemp must have proof the product was grown under a valid state license and have lab results showing the product contains less than 0.3% THC  the very results Galaty was hoping to obtain by sending his hemp for testing.

The certification he provided of the seeds that produced the plants allowed him to meet the requirements.

Galaty said he understood the due diligence postal inspectors need to perform.

"Im not saying theyre in the wrong," he said. "We just need to work out a better way to do this."

The inconvenience isnt only on hemp growers.

Because hemp resembles and smells like federally banned marijuana, dealing with hemp shipments has created extra work for inspectors.

"It creates an undue amount of work for us," Williams said.

Although some states have legalized marijuana, it remains a banned substance at the federal level.

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"Obviously, we dont want drugs in the mail," Williams said.

Galaty said he sent the samples to the Colorado lab for testing to save money. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture will test hemp crops on site but charges $250 for each grow location compared to about $30 the Colorado company charges.

"It adds up when you have to test each crop in each location," Galaty said. "If you have five greenhouses, thats five tests."

If the test shows higher than 0.3% THC, Galaty will have to destroy the crop.

"Id rather not spend $250 and just find out I need to destroy the plants," he said.

The Minnesota Legislature established a pilot program for industrial hemp production for research purposes, as allowed under the 2014 Farm Bill passed by Congress.

The 2018 Farm Bill removed industrial hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act and authorized states to establish industrial hemp production policies and allows interstate transport of hemp crops and CBD oil.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture drafted interim guidelines regulating licensing, transportation and testing of industrial hemp for growers in 2020.

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Growers are also under Minnesota Department of Agriculture guidelines established in 2014, when the state established a hemp production pilot program. Sometimes those policies overlap, and some could be interpreted to contradict each other, he said.

Once hemp was legalized, the number of permitted growers in Minnesota surged from 43 in 2018 to 350 in 2019. The number of acres of hemp in the state rose from 1,258 to 15,310 in that same span.

However, with policies to navigate and few supply chains for hemp products, Galaty said he expects to see some early adopting hemp farmers to move away from the crop in the next couple growing seasons.

Galaty, a long proponent of the multifaceted plant, said he plans to stick with it.

"For us, its more about what this plant can do for the future for all of us," he said. "My feeling is, I want to be at the front of it."

Project aims to a-maze with hemp
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is not expected to arrive until August, and yet its codenames have just been revealed. Yes, codenames, plural. Well explain in a minute.

In addition to these codenames for the Galaxy Note 20, the codename for next-gen Galaxy Buds has also been revealed. That being said, all of this information comes from Roland Quant, a well-known tipster.

Several Galaxy Note 20 series codenames surfaced

The source claims that the Galaxy Note 20 codenames will be Project C, Canvas2, and Canvas1. The first two codenames got confirmed by the tipster, but the third one is just a guess on his part, as there is a Canvas2.

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The Canvas2 codename is probably reserved for a larger Galaxy Note 20 model. Were not really sure whats going on with the Project C codename, but we may get some info regarding that soon as well.

Now, regarding the next-gen pair of truly wireless earbuds. The Galaxy Buds+, that just launched with the Galaxy S20, were codenamed Popcorn. Well, it seems like a codename for their successor is Bean.

Were not sure what will Samsungs next-gen truly wireless earbuds be called, but chances are they will include Galaxy Buds brand. Maybe the Galaxy Buds 2, or something of the sort, well see.

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The Galaxy Fold 2 may arrive alongside the Note 20

The Galaxy Note 20 arrival is still far away. March just started, and the phone is not expected to arrive until August. The device is rumored to come with the Galaxy Fold 2, Samsungs new foldable flagship.

Both of those devices are expected to include an S Pen stylus, and chances are that both will sport a display camera hole. You can expect to see a design similar to the Galaxy S20 series.

Samsung may opt for sharper edges on the Galaxy Note 20 series, though, similar to the Galaxy Note 10. Well see at least two Galaxy Note 20 smartphones, if the previous year is any indication. The Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Pro are expected.

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The Galaxy Note 20 series smartphones will be fueled by the Snapdragon 865, while Samsung will probably release Exynos 990 models as well. If the Galaxy S20 is any indication, the Exynos 990 models will be available in both Europe and India.

The Galaxy Note 20 series is expected to utilize camera sensors that have been included in the Galaxy S20 series, but were not sure what combination just yet. Samsung may opt to use the 108-megapixel sensor from the Galaxy S20 Ultra for the Pro Galaxy Note 20 model.

On the flip side, Samsung may go crazy and introduce more than two Galaxy Note 20 handsets. The Ultra model may be a real possibility this year. Nothing has indicated that just yet, but anything is possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 22:55:40|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TOKYO, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of domestic violence cases investigated by Japanese police rose for a 16th successive year to a record high in 2019, the National Police Agency (NPA) said in a report Thursday.

According to the NPA, the total number of cases investigated in the recording period totaled 9,161, marking an uptick of 73 cases from a year earlier.

The agency also said in its report that 82,207 consultations about possible domestic violence incidents were made nationwide, up 4,725 from the previous year.

In detail, the NPA's report showed that 8,168 of the cases investigated, equating to about 90 percent of the total, were regarding instances of assaults. The report also said that there were three cases of murder and more than 100 cases of attempted murder in the recording period.

Consultations to the police about domestic violence were predominantly made by women, the report showed, with 80 percent of alleged victims of domestic violence being female, and 80 percent of the alleged perpetrators being male.

The NPA also said that in the recording period the number of male victims of domestic violence tripled from 5,971 logged in 2014, to 17,815 in the latest report.

Consultations regarding stalking totaled 20,912, dropping by 644 reports made a year earlier, while there were 109 less reports of stalking that resulted in the police taking further action, totaling 2,355 cases in the recording period, the NPA said.

The agency noted an increase in the number of young people becoming victims of revenge pornography, with a total of 1,479 consultations made over the crime, rising by 132 compared to a year earlier, with the number of victims being mostly women.

The NPA said that 637 consultations were made by women in their 20s, rising by 122, while those made by women under 20 stood at 376, rising by 24.

The agency said that those in their 30s and 40s who had fallen victim to this crime had marked a downward trajectory in the recording period.
Ken Cuccinelli, an acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told senators Thursday that CBP has amplified its screening for potential coronavirus cases at U.S. land-border points of entry, in addition to its airports. The agency has excluded over 300 foreign nationals at the three border crossings most heavily used by Chinese nationals, some of whom he said had flown to Canada or Mexico in an effort to skirt U.S. travel restrictions pertaining to the coronavirus.
Long-term meditators process emotions more quickly and calmly

Meditation is an age-old practice of inner focus. In the past, it was associated with monks and sages who were on a quest for enlightenment. Today, meditation has spread to the masses as more people seek the calm and clarity that only a moment of internal quiet can provide.

One factor helping to popularize meditation is proof. For most of the 20th century, science was skeptical of such subjects. In the last few years, however, several studies have been able to validate and verify some of the benefits of meditation.

Take, for example, one of the better-studied forms of meditation: yoga. It was once a fringe activity, but now yoga studios are virtually everywhere. Many were intuitively drawn to the practice, and science has encouraged others to try it. Today, researchers have amassed enough good evidence for doctors to confidently recommend yoga to their patients.

Meditation is usually associated with stillness, but the twists and bends of a yoga routine make it more of a moving meditation. This is an activity in which the state of mind is as essential to the practice as the physical positions.

A far less studied form of moving meditation is called qigong (chee-gong). Sometimes referred to as Chinese yoga, people have practiced qigong for thousands of years. Qigong practice is said to lead to better health and peace of mind, but science is still unpacking the benefits it has to offer.

Just like there are several types of yoga (Hatha, Iyengar, Kundalini, and so on), there are also several types of qigong. Perhaps the best-known variety is tai chi, which looks like a graceful dance between the practitioner and an invisible flow of energy.

So what do people get from practicing these mysterious mind-body movements? A new study sheds some light with a look at another type of qigong called Falun Gong. The results are in the February 2020 edition of the journal Brain and Cognition.

Ben Bendig, Ph.D., and his team were drawn to study Falun Gong for several reasons. First, its a qigong practice that became very popular, very quickly, when it was first released to the Chinese public in 1992. Within seven years, there were an estimated 70 million to 100 million Falun Gong practitioners found across China. And yet, unlike with yoga, only a few studies have attempted to measure Falun Gongs effects.

Another source of inspiration for Bendig was anecdotal evidence, which includes several reports of clearer thinking and better health among people who practice Falun Gong. In 1998, the Chinese government conducted surveys of Falun Gong practitioners across the country. They found that 98 percent of the 31,000 practitioners surveyed experienced significant health improvements soon after they began the practice. More than 90 percent reported suffering from various illnesses before practicing, and more than 70 percent experienced complete or near-complete recovery from their conditions.

Some have credited Falun Gong with hard to believe results; debilitating diseases and disfiguring injuries are claimed to have vanished with consistent practice. But explaining how this could possibly happen is something no study has been able to tackle.

In Bendigs own experience with the practice, Falun Gong helped alleviate his depression and chronic pain. But he wanted evidence that the practice could demonstrate a measurable effect.

Obviously there was a personal interest, but primarily it was because its such a popular qigong practice, and very little research has been done on it, he said.

Bendigs team focused their inquiry on the mind. They wanted to see what impact this practice had on the brain long term. They looked at two groupsone consisting of people who had just learned the Falun Gong exercises, and another group who had regularly practiced for at least two years. Both groups were given cognitive tests at the beginning of the study. Later, groups were retested immediately following a 90-minute Falun Gong exercise session.

They did the same activity. The difference is the level of experience with that activity, Bendig said. Practitioners showed improved cognition, particularly for conditions that required coordination of both hemispheres of the brain. They had a huge improvement after meditating for dealing with this inter-hemispheric character that the novices did not improve.

Better Emotional Regulation

Compared to conventional exercise routines, like cardio or weight training, Falun Gong exercises are soft and slow. There is some gentle stretching and an exercise in which the hands move in a circuitous pattern around the body. Some postures are held for extended periods. The eyes remain closed throughout the exercises, while instrumental Chinese music plays in the background.

Both groups in the study performed the same gentle movements to the same music, so why did novices do comparatively poorly on cognitive tests? While the experienced group was more familiar with the physical routine, Bendig speculates that their advantage comes more from the mind than the body.

An essential part of practicing Falun Gong is in trying to maintain a clear mind. Unlike some meditative practices, there is no focus on the breath or any deliberate mental activity such as reciting a mantra. While the physical movements are easy to pick up, getting the mind into this focused relaxation state can take years to master and may even be disorienting at first.

The practitioners were better at using this. Whereas the novices, the more relaxed they were, the worse they did, Bendig said.

Meditation is traditionally seen as a way to see through the distractions and attachments always grabbing at our attention, and there is evidence to validate this claim. Studies have shown that meditators process emotions differently and are better than non-meditators at emotional regulation. Bendigs study adds to a trend that shows meditators may be able to process emotions faster and are less distracted by them compared to non-meditators, resulting in less interference with cognitive tasks.

My guess was that practitioners would be less influenced by negative emotions, but they werent influenced by positive emotional cues either, Bendig said. The positive emotional cues were too distracting to novices, but somehow practitioners were not distracted by it. I wasnt necessarily expecting that. It shows that, in general, practitioners can regulate their emotions better.

Of course, practicing Falun Gong involves more than qigong exercises. Seasoned practitioners also strive for a high moral standard when going about the rest of their day; the heart of the practice is about following the universal principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. But just how much this factor adds to the cognitive advantages shown in Bendigs study is not yet known.

One take away from this study is a lesson in patience. If you tried meditation but became frustrated because you werent able to achieve tranquility right away, give it a bit more practice.

This is something that has meaningful effects for people, said Bendig.
The town in the shocker Bacurau is fictional, a bit magical, at once ordinary and otherworldly. Its filled with faces that have life etched in them, which helps deepen the realism. And while the story is set in the near future, it looks like the present: the charming landscapes, laughing children, crowing roosters, the grinning balladeer with a guitar. Then, the guns come out, history rushes in and a ghost pops by. (It smiles.)

In the wild world of Bacurau, queasy humor meets razor-sharp politics and rivers of blood. An exhilarating fusion of high and low, the movie takes a shopworn premise  townsfolk facing a violent threat  and bats it around until it all goes ka-boom. Part of whats exciting is how the filmmakers marshal genre in the service of their ideas, using film form to deflect, tease and surprise. The movie looks and plays like a western but also flirts with dystopian science fiction and pure pulp: bang, bang, splat. By the time the cult actor Udo Kier rolls up its clear that anything gleefully goes.

Its also obvious that the writer-directors Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dornelles are having a good time, and they want you to have one too. Dornelles has worked as a production designer on Mendonca Filhos movies, including his sui generis Neighboring Sounds and Aquarius. Their partnership proves seamless on Bacurau, which flows despite a switch-backing story that starts with a truck bouncing along a remote highway, a woman riding shotgun. The countryside is green in the way of certain deserts, but empty coffins litter the road, along with a corpse.

It is quite the enigmatic opener, a variant on those puzzlers that begin with a body sprawled on the parlor floor next to a bloody candelabrum. But theres no clever detective to put the pieces together. (You have to do that yourself.) Theres also no obvious narrative blueprint and precious little exposition. There are instead beauties, mysteries and characters, like that passenger, Teresa (Barbara Colen), who arrives in Bacurau on the day of a funeral. As Teresa walks through the seemingly empty town, dragging a suitcase, she passes its boozy doctor, Domingas (Sonia Braga, the one and only). And then Teresa hails a man who pops a hallucinogen in her mouth.
Investors are looking for the calm in the coronavirus storm, and U.S. residential real estate appears to be it, specifically single-family rental homes.

These investors are not, however, coming to the U.S. to tour the homes themselves. They're buying them online.

Roofstock, a 5-year-old California-based fintech company, lists single-family rental homes for sale on its website, most with tenants already in place. It also offers management services, so the investor never has to visit the property. In the last few weeks it has seen traffic from investors in Asia on its site jump 500%. CEO Gary Beasley said it is a direct result of the coronavirus.

"I think it may be people looking to invest capital into what may be perceived as more stable areas that don't have as much of an effect, at least not yet, from the virus," said Beasley. "I think people look at hard assets, things like real estate, which are uncorrelated generally to the stock market, and specifically U.S. housing, that tends to perform quite well on a relative basis during times of market volatility."
A Yeshiva University student wears a face mask on the grounds of the university in New York City on March 4, 2020. A Yeshiva student has tested positive for COVID-19. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

2 New Coronavirus Cases in New York After 9 in Contact With One Patient Tested Positive

Two more patients in New York City tested positive for the new coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on March 5, one day after officials said nine people who had contact with a man whos hospitalized in Manhattan tested positive.

The two new patients are hospitalized in intensive care units, de Blasio said on March 5. One is a man in his 40s and one is a woman in her 80s.

Neither patient has a travel history to areas affected by the virus nor any link to the other people in the area diagnosed with COVID-19.

City disease detectives are tracing close contacts of both individuals and will ensure they are appropriately isolated and tested immediately, de Blasio said in a statement.

We are going to see more cases like this as community transmission becomes more common. We want New Yorkers to be prepared and vigilant, not alarmed.

A man walks past SAR High School, which has been shut down due to COVID-19 in the Bronx borough of New York City on March 3, 2020. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Officials are moving to isolate each suspected patient and trace suspected contacts before placing them into quarantine, usually in their homes.

Officials said early March 4 that four people who had contact with a 50-year-old male patient who lives in Westchester County, just outside the city, and is hospitalized at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, became confirmed cases.

The mans wife, son, and daughter, as well as a neighbor who drove him to a hospital in Westchester on Feb. 27, tested positive, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference. The man first showed symptoms on Feb. 22. The patient, a lawyer who works in Manhattan, was transferred to the hospital in the city on March 2.

Another five cases linked to the lawyer were confirmed later in the day, including a friend of the patients.

The friends wife, two sons, and daughter all tested positive as well, Cuomo told reporters. The children attend the Westchester Torah Academy.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference in New York City on March 2, 2020. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

The kids of the lawyer attend SAR High School in the Bronx borough of New York City and Yeshiva University in the city, officials previously said.

Westchester Torah Academy and SAR High School are closed until March 6, while Yeshiva University closed one of its campuses for the rest of the week. A synagogue that the family attended was closed as well.

People from the institutions who show symptoms should call a health professional, Cuomo said.

Earlier March 4, the governor said any New Yorkers who are feeling ill shouldnt go to work amid the virus outbreak.

The virus first emerged in China in December 2019 and has since spread to over 50 countries. A rising number of states have reported cases, with New Jersey reporting its first case late March 4. Some 160 people in the United States have tested positive, though that number keeps increasing, with 11 deaths reported, all but one in Washington state.

Experts recommend avoiding sick people and frequently washing hands as well as regular cleaning of objects and surfaces.
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The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is preventing President Donald Trumps administration from enforcing its Migrant Protection Protocols, otherwise known as the Remain in Mexico policy, for asylum-seekers to stay in the country. Restrictions remain in place until March 11 for review by the Supreme Court. The ruling only applies to Arizona and California, the states under the courts authority, and not New Mexico and Texas.

The ruling affirms the courts ruling last week that the policy violates both United States and international law. The policy, which went into effect in January 2019, requires asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while they wait for their immigration hearings. The Trump administration considers the policy a great success, saying it has curbed the uncontrolled flows of migrants at the southern border, but advocacy groups have found that thousands of migrants required to wait have been kidnapped, raped, or tortured.

The appeals courts decision will take effect on March 12 if the Supreme Court opts not to hear the case. Attorneys with the Justice Department argue that stopping the program would create massive and irreparable national security and public safety concerns because U.S. Customs and Border Protection lacks enough detention space to house thousands of new migrants who, they contend, would create a rush on the southern border.

Lawyers challenging the policy say the Supreme Court should deny the governments request for a stay because the 9th Circuits original decision did not require the government to allow asylum-seekers affected by the policy to immediately re-enter the United States. They point out in court filings that the decision requires the government pursue an orderly unwinding of the policy.

The Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration on immigration issues before. In January, the court allowed the government to temporarily continue enforcing a policy barring migrants from applying for asylum unless theyd already been denied asylum in another country while in transit to the United States.
Members of His House Christian Fellowship, a registered student organization at Ferris State University pose with the family who received a home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, built during spring break 2019. Big Rapids' Wesley House and the Newman Center campus ministry also have spring break outreach plans in New Orleans and Chicago, respectively. Members of His House Christian Fellowship, a registered student organization at Ferris State University pose with the family who received a home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, built during spring break 2019. Big Rapids' Wesley House and the Newman Center campus ministry also have spring break outreach plans in New Orleans and Chicago, respectively.

Hundreds to thousands of miles of travel are ahead for members of three Ferris State University registered student organizations, who intend to participate in nonprofit outreach endeavors during spring break.

The largest contingent departing Big Rapids is from His House Christian Fellowship, which will involve as many as 39 students, staff and other supporters of project work with Casas Por Cristo, an El Paso, Texas-based nonprofit. Campus minister Mitchell Robey said they plan to build two single-family homes while in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

This is my 21st such trip, whether we take students during the summer, or on spring break, Robey said. Students from Michigan Tech are joining our group for this years program. When we arrive, the ground will be clear, and we will erect and complete these houses during our time in Juarez.

A group of 26 will take part in the outreach planned by Wesley House, in Big Rapids, in cooperation with peers from Central Michigan University. Wesley House Pastor Kim Bos said last years destination was Panama City, Florida, and their plan for 2020 spring break week is in and near New Orleans.

We try to go to a different place every year, so our students can be persons of faith with experiences from a variety of settings, Bos said. There will be community work with nonprofits at several locations during our trip.

Jordan Brinker, a Communications major from Oxford, said she enjoyed the Panama City spring break trip.

That was a really cool experience, Brinker said. I got to meet a pastor at one of our stops, whose daughter was nonverbal. During my conversations with him, she would react both positively and negatively, based on her feelings. That was very impactful.

First-year Journalism/Technical Communications major Meghan Hartley, of Grandville, said heading to New Orleans, and nearby outreach locations will be a significant cultural exposure for her.

I understand that we will be doing some volunteering in wetlands, along with our assignment in New Orleans, Hartley said. Personally, I can do without seeing any snakes, alligators or wild hogs.

Wesley House members conducted several fundraising events to support their trip.

I am really excited about this experience, building on the Key Club activities I had during much of my high school years, Hartley said. I know we will be assisting at a ranch for abused horses, doing some replanting projects in a wetlands area and helping schoolchildren with their homework.

The Newman Center campus ministry is continuing its relationship with the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago. First-year Nuclear Medicine student Kalyn Larva, of Sparta, said work sessions will involve various projects from around the convent.

We expect to support completing their daily chores along with offering outreach to the homeless in that area, Larva said. This will be the first kind of experience I have had like this. I am excited to be involved in this opportunity.
With cases of coronavirus being



reported in the country, opposition members in Lok Sabha on Thursday suggested that the government check the black marketing of sanitisers and masks and also ensure their availability.

Responding to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan's reply on virus cases in the country and steps taken to tackle it, Congress leader of the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue of rising prices of sanitisers and masks.

He also said there is an urgent need to check rumours regarding spread of the disease.

Chowdhury said his party leader Rahul Gandhi had forewarned the government on the impending threat from coronavirus.

Echoing similar sentiments, BSP MP Ritesh Pandey said the government should ensure the availability of sanitisers and masks in the market.

While AIADMK MP Kanimozhi said there are airports in the country where there is no thermal screening facility available to detect the virus.

She also suggested that dedicated facilities for screening coronavirus should be set up near airports.

Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy suggested the government should show small video clips on TV to make people aware of steps needed to contain the virus.

Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant said the government should do something about Indians stuck in different coronavirus affected countries.

Raghu Rama Krishna Raju of the YSR Congress Party said Hindu culture of greeting people with a 'namaste' is the best way to prevent the spread of the virus, inviting sharp reactions from some opposition MPs from Kerala.

Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJD said screening and quarantine facilities should be set up in cities like Bhubaneswar.

Nama Nageswara Rao of the TRS said special funds should be provided to state governments to deal with the virus.

SP leader Akhilesh Yadav said the government should take special care to publicise guidelines so that people become aware about preventive steps to tackle the virus.

Supriya Sule said the central government should help state governments and conduct regular press briefings on the situation.

Independent MP from Maharashtra Navneet Kaur, who spoke while wearing a mask, said reasons should be disclosed for closure of two schools in Noida.

Jayadev Galla of TDP, Hasnain Masoodi of National Conference, AM Ariff of CPI-M, ET Md Basheer of the IUML, NK Premchandra of RSP also spoke on the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Netflix signs Waititi to turn Roald into Gold

Oscar winner Taika Waititi has signed on to develop two animated series based on the work of Roald Dahl for Netflix.

Oscar winner Taika Waititi will create and direct two new animated series for Netflix. Credit:Invision

Waititi, the New Zealand writer-director-actor-producer of Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit (for which he won the best adapted screenplay Academy Award last month), will write and direct two series that spin off from Dahls book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first is described by the streamer as a series based on the world and characters of the book, while the second is a wholly original take on the Oompa-Loompas, the little people who work in Willie Wonkas chocolate factory. Waititi will be showrunner on both.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has twice been adapted into a live-action feature film, with Gene Wilder starring as the slightly creepy chocolatier in 1971s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and Johnny Depp playing an equally unsettling Wonka in Tim Burtons Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that the government is "working on logistics" with the Iranian authorities to bring back Indians who, along with their families, are stranded in Iran as the Coronavirus death toll in the Middle East country surged to 90.

"Update for Indians stranded in #Iran and for their families: Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities," the External Affairs Minister wrote on Twitter.

Urging the families to 'keep faith,' Jaishankar also said that a group of ministers is constantly monitoring the progress.

"Understand the concern of families," he added.

Tightening travel restrictions as cases of coronavirus surge, India on Wednesday suspended all the visas granted to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan on or before February 03.

Coronavirus death toll in Iran has now crossed 90 while over 90,000 people across the have been infected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since the launch of the most recent trilateral talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), there has been an unequivocal truth: Ethiopia has done nothing other than buying more time. A final deal should have been concluded by the end of February after the mediation of the United States and the World Bank to resolve the nine-year standoff among the three nations. Now Ethiopia sees the US and the World Bank as neocolonialists which would like to impose things on a country that has been proud over all the years of safeguarding its sovereignty.

Oddly enough, Ethiopian officials have recently connected issues pertaining to the filling and operation of the dam with sovereignty clearly to mobilise the crowds, as if the enemy was at the gates, ready to infringe upon the countrys sovereign rights and independence. This was an old tactic widely exercised by Ethiopian officials, particularly under late prime minister Meles Zenawi, and re-employing it now is a reminder that the incumbent Ethiopian government is much like the pouring new wine into old wine bottles.

Ethiopia withdrew from participating in the last round of talks held in Washington DC, 27-28 February  the date set, five months ago, for reaching a final agreement. Ethiopian officials said they needed more time for consultations with local parties and legal experts before signing any agreement. More than seven years of intense diplomatic activities, endless meetings and smile diplomacy have not been seemingly enough for the landlocked Horn of Africa nation to decide on a final binding compromise on the dam. In practice, this is not intransigence: it is much more akin to belligerence.

Effective participation with high-level delegations in the previous rounds of talks brokered by Washington since they started in October 2019 implied Ethiopian consent on a need for a joint US-World Bank role to resolve the stalemate after the country failed to remain committed to any findings of talks with Egypt over the GERD. Otherwise, Ethiopia would have boycotted the meetings right from the start, if it had a firm belief they were of no avail. Were Ethiopian officials expecting a favoured deal well-designed for them, and that when this did not emerge, they threw a hissy fit?

The statement of the US Treasury Department, the broker of negotiations between the three nations, made it clear that seven years of technical studies and consultations between the three countries, and the resulting agreement, provides for the resolution of all outstanding issues on the filling and operation of the GERD. Every single detail has been, therefore, discussed over seven years of meetings at regional levels as well as those in Washington. Inability to reach an agreement after all these tough years simply means Ethiopia was not willing to reach an agreement at all.

Final testing and filling (of the GERD) should not take place without an agreement, the statement reads. This has infuriated Ethiopian officials and made them resort to the sovereignty-related argument. A joint statement by the Ethiopian ministries of water and foreign affairs expressed disappointment over Washington and concluded that the country will commence first filling of the GERD in parallel with the construction of the dam. Across the course of negotiations, Ethiopia has committed itself, though disavowed now, not to cause any significant harm to downstream countries  Egypt in particular as the Nile is the sole source of fresh water to the nation. As for Sudan, its ambassador in Addis Ababa, Mukhtar Bilal Abdel-Salam, recently described his countrys support for Egypt at the talks underway in Washington DC as rumours disseminated by Egyptian media outlets and social media platforms.

Provoking Cairo, he went to say that the GERD would not have seen the light without the help of Sudan. Well noted, Mr Ambassador. Clearly, Egypt is playing solo to safeguard the rights of its own people to Nile waters.

In effect, a unilateral initial filling of the dams reservoir at a level of 595 metres above sea level to allow for test operations of two hydropower plants means a loss of some 20 billion cubic metres of Egypts quota of the Nile only this year. This is a significant harm for the average Egyptian, whose quota of water per capita has dreadfully fallen into the lowest level possible (roughly 500 cubic metres  already below the Water Poverty Index internationally estimated at 1,000 cubic metres).

Furthermore, the Ethiopian cabinet hit the final nail in the coffin of current and future talks stating that Ethiopia will not participate in any GERD-related talks that might be of any harm to the country. Ethiopia, as the joint statement of water and foreign affairs ministries clarified, is the owner of the GERD. But it is not the owner of the Nile, the river that has flowed for thousands of years downward from the Ethiopian Plateau into Egypt and will continue to flow for eternity no matter what, because this is an issue of survival and existence.

Given the fact that the agreement brokered by Washington DC has been a balanced one, taking into account the interests of all three nations, Egypt did sign in initial letters of the agreement. This did evidence its commitment to the process as the US statement elaborated. While regretting the unjustified absence of Ethiopia from participating in the decisive round of talks in Washington DC, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has emphasised, in plain language, that the country would continue to defend the interests of the Egyptian people with all possible means.

Egyptian officials have repeatedly reiterated that they will never allow any tampering with the lifeline of the Egyptians  the Nile. Egyptian authorities have braced for impact long ago by taking harsh measures to ration the use of water, including the ban on the cultivation of a daily staple for average Egyptians, rice, a highly consuming water crop, over an acute shortage of enough water for irrigation. This cost Egyptians dearly as prices of the staple skyrocketed, homage which Egyptians paid to allow Ethiopians carry on with their plans for a fair utilisation of the Nile. Ethiopia responded with persistence on equal utilisation of the Nile River, demanding in meetings a given share of the river for future irrigation purposes.

Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian prime minister, is racing against time to win the next general elections, slated for 29 August. The initial date for holding the elections was May this year, but the delay is clearly now rooted in a political game aimed at inflaming the sentiments of average Ethiopians when they see their GERD realised two months ahead of elections, a well-knitted recipe to gain the confidence of voters when they go to the polls, even if this would rock the stability of the whole region. If Ahmed was not willing to proceed with talks on the GERD, Ethiopia may have asked for a postponement of the whole process, including the construction of the dam, till the end of elections.

This is not likely to happen as the dam is now being politicised to distract average Ethiopians from a volatile situation at home where they are torn between unionists led by Colonel Ahmed and ultranationalists who would like to maintain the status quo of the ethno-federal system.

Instead of addressing pressing issues and mounting divisions in Ethiopia, it was much easier for Ahmed and his entourage to rally the crowds to close ranks in the face of an external enemy: Egypt. Patriotic sentiments have been inflamed and ordinary Ethiopians have already turned their backs on the fact that their country is a powder keg and that the spark is the next elections.

Ahmed, the Nobel Peace Laureate, has failed to make peace both at home and abroad, with his neighbours. The reckless behaviours of the Ahmed-led government jeopardise peace in an already troubled region and it is now up to the international community to exercise more pressure on Addis Ababa in order to strike a balanced deal on the Nile before the protagonists in this drama lock horns.

The writer is a former press and information officer in Ethiopia and an expert on African affairs.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 March, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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SHIMLA: Yoga will be introduced as a separate subject for study in government senior secondary schools in Himachal Pradesh, state education minister Suresh Bhardwaj told the assembly on Thursday.

Responding to Jawalamukhi BJP MLA Ramesh Chand Dhawalas query during question hour, Bhardwaj informed the House that introduction of yoga as a subject was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Partys vision document.

The education minister said the Himachal Pradesh State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in Solan had been asked to prepare the required syllabus for the classes. Subsequently, the SCERT prepared the syllabus which was forwarded to the state education department for giving final touches, he added.

As soon as the syllabus is finalised, recruitment and promotion rules will be framed for the appointment of yoga teachers, the minister added.

With this, yoga will be introduced as a separate subject for students of Classes 9 to 12, Bhardwaj added.
The government on Thursday asserted there is no shortage of medicines or raw ingredients for drugs and that adequate supplies are available for next three months, amid coronavirus outbreak.

IMAGE: A doctor distributes homeopathy medicine claimed to prevent COVID-19 in Hyderabad. The AYUSH ministry recommended the homeopathy medicine Arsenic Album 30, as a 'prophylactic' that could be effective to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. Photograph: PTI Photo

A group of ministers is also monitoring the situation on a daily basis to ensure preparedness for the challenge posed by the outbreak.

Minister of chemicals and fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda said all initiatives are being taken to ensure there is no impact of the disease in India.

"There is no shortage of any APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) in the country. We have sufficient APIs and medicines in the country," he said adding "for another three months there is no shortage for undertaking production in the pharma sector".

Gowda was addressing the 5th international exhibition and conference on pharmaceutical and medical industry organised by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Gujarat government and industry chamber Ficci.

"Our government has taken all initiatives to ensure that as far as our country is concerned, coronavirus should be stopped, and there is no hazard as far as this issue is concerned," he said.

Coronavirus is a challenge and "we should make all efforts that need to be taken...," he added.

Speaking on the preparedness for coronavirus in the country, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizer Mansukh Mandaviya said the government has formed a group of ministers for this and it is tackling and monitoring the situation on a daily basis.

"A task force has also been set up regarding APIs and I am leading it. We have decided to increase the production of APIs in the country so that we are not dependent on any country for them," he said.

Mandaviya further said,"We have discussed in detail to ensure that we are able to sustain in the international markets regarding the APIs and we are shortly coming out with two policies. The benefit of these schemes will be for the API parks and medical drug parks. India will become self-sustained in APIs."

Talking about the restrictions imposed recently on exports of 26 APIs and formulations, he told reporters: "It is not a permanent measure and is being reviewed on daily basis. It has been done to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines in the country regarding coronavirus."

On Tuesday, India, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, restricted the export of common medicines such as paracetamol and 25 other pharmaceutical ingredients and drugs made from them, as it looks to prevent shortages amid concerns of the coronavirus outbreak turning into a pandemic.

Besides over-the-counter painkiller and fever reducer paracetamol, drugs restricted for exports included common antibiotics like metronidazole, and those used to treat bacterial and other infections as well as Vitamin B1 and B12 ingredients.

A notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade had said the export of 26 APIs and formulations would require licence.

"A crisis like this also provides a vision and we are also planning on how to grow in the API sector in future and ... we are coming with policies to ensure growth of APIs and medical device sector in the country. Action plan for this is being prepared and stakeholders consultation at secretary level has started," Mandaviya added.

Highlighting the importance of pharma sector in the country, the minister said, India is a developed country in the sector and despite global recession, the industry is growing at 12 per cent and medical device sector is growing between 20-25 per cent.

The government also launched a 'Pharma Bureau', which will help facilitate both foreign as well as domestic investment in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry in India. Pharma Bureau will act as a policy think tank to support the government as well as the industry.

During the inaugural session of the conference, Zydus Group Chairman Pankaj Patel said the present situation is a "wake up call as natural calamities" can strike anytime.

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani thanked the Modi government for approving a bulk drugs park and a medical devices manufacturing park in the state.
Another area event celebrating the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethovens birth will take place Sunday, March 8, and it offers the chance to see the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra and a dynamic soloist in concert.

The orchestra, led by maestro Philip T. Ventre, will perform a Beethoven program at 2 p.m. in the new Ann and George Colony Hall at Choate Rosemary Hall, featuring two masterworks, Symphony No. 3 Eroica and Piano Concerto No. 5, also known as Emperor.

The WSO opens the program with the Eroica, first publicly performed in 1805, Ventre says in an email. The powerful and ground-breaking piece, composed while Beethoven was battling his hearing loss, ushered the musical world into the Romantic Era and changed the form of the symphony for the next two centuries, noted Ventre.

The majestic Emperor Concerto, first performed in 1811 in Vienna, demands virtuoso performance by the soloist and subtle orchestral colors and changes leading to a triumphant conclusion.

Karine Poghosyan, an Armenian-American pianist who has done two other solos for the WSO, will be the piano soloist for the concerto. She has has appeared as a soloist in Carnegie Hall and with concert orchestras in the United States, Canada and in Vienna, Austria.

The Emperor is the absolute epitome of Beethovens Heroic Period, Poghosyan said in an email exchange. It truly has it all  deep soulful lyricism, bright touches of humor and, ultimately, the most empowering message of victory we all so often need.

Tickets ($25) are available on the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra website, by calling 203-697-2261 or at the door an hour before the concert. Shuttle buses will be available for audience using spaces on the Choate campus and at the Moses Y. Beach School.

The Wallingford Symphony was founded in 1974 by Ventre and Terrence Netter, director of the Paul Mellon Arts Center. In addition to its regular season, the WSO presents special concerts in Wallingford and has presented concerts in nine Connecticut communities, including the outdoor summer July Pops Concerts in Wallingford for 45 years and in Madison for 27 years.
In light of the ongoing developments related to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and its impact on financial markets, the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurances Securities Division is reminding Tennessee investors to beware of con artists who are seeking to capitalize on fear and uncertainty.



We know con artists are opportunistic and use current events to cloak their schemes with an air of immediacy and legitimacy. Never make an investment decision without understanding what you are investing in, who you are doing business with, where your money is going, how it will be used, and how you can get it back, said TDCI Commissioner Hodgen Mainda.

Always ask if the salesperson and the security are registered with their state or provincial securities regulator.TDCI Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Bowling, who oversees TDCIs Securities Division, said investors should be on the lookout for scam artists trying to use the market downturn and the coronavirus to scare investors into so-called safer, guaranteed investments.If you have concerns about your retirement accounts or investments, talk to your financial professional, Ms. Bowling said. Avoid making decisions based on panic or fear.To help investors identify common telltale signs of possible investment fraud, TDCI has provided three questions to ask before making a new investment.Is the investment being offered with a guaranteed high return with little or norisk? All investments carry risk that you may potentially lose some or all of your money. Anyone who says their investment offer has no risk is lying. No one can guarantee an investment return.Is there a sense of urgency or limited availability surrounding the investment? If the offer is legitimate, it will be there later. If someone offers you a cant miss investment opportunity and puts you on the spot, dont be afraid to walk away.

 Is the person offering the investment, and is the investment itself, properly licensed or registered? For the same reasons you wouldnt go to an unlicensed doctor or dentist, you should avoid unregistered investment salespeople and their products.



Consumers who suspect they might be a victim of securities or insurance fraud should contact the Tennessee Securities Division  Financial Services Investigations Unit at 615-741-5900. To file a complaint online, visit here.



Questions about a broker? Research the background and experience of financial brokers, advisers and firms at https://brokercheck.finra.org/.



For the latest updates about how Tennessee is prepared for an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) visit: https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.
ENDEAVOUR ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

George Town, March 5, 2020  Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Alison Baker as an independent non-executive director.

Alison Baker is a chartered accountant with over 25 years experience in providing audit, capital markets, advisory and assurance services. Alison has extensive emerging markets experience in the energy and mining sectors, having previously led the UK and EMEA Oil & Gas practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and prior to that the UK Energy, Utilities and Mining Assurance practice at Ernst & Young.

She is currently a non-executive director and Audit Committee Chair at FTSE250 listed companies KAZ Minerals plc and Helios Towers plc, the leading independent telecommunications tower company in Africa, and senior independent director and Audit Committee Chair at Rockhopper Exploration plc. She is a qualified chartered accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematical sciences from Bath University.

Commenting on the appointment, Michael Beckett, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: The Board of Endeavour is very pleased to welcome Alison. She brings with her key expertise in auditing and corporate reporting that will further strengthen the Boards skills as Endeavour continues its commitment to best practice governance and reporting standards.

Following Alisons appointment, Endeavours Board is composed of nine members, of which eight are independent directors: Chairman Michael Beckett, James Askew, Alison Baker, Sofia Bianchi, Olivier Colom, Livia Mahler, Wayne McManus and Naguib Sawiris as non-executive directors, and Sebastien de Montessus as executive director, President and CEO.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Martino De Ciccio



VP  Strategy & Investor Relations

+44 203 640 8665

mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com Brunswick Group LLP in London



Carole Cable, Partner

+44 7974 982 458

ccable@brunswickgroup.com

ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION

Endeavour Mining is a TSX listed intermediate African gold producer with a solid track record of operational excellence, project development and exploration in the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt in West Africa. Endeavour is focused on offering both near-term and long-term growth opportunities with its project pipeline and its exploration strategy, while generating immediate cash flow from its operations.

For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com .

Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK

Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Attachment
Secretary General praises Croatia's contributions to NATO, participates in meeting of EU Defence Ministers

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

04 Mar. 2020

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked Croatia for its strong contributions to NATO during a visit to Zagreb on Wednesday (4 March 2020). The Secretary General is in the country to meet with the country's leadership, as well as attend a meeting of European Union Defence Ministers.

In his meetings with President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Croatia for its contributions to NATO missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. The Secretary General underlined that NATO remains fully committed to stability and security in Western Balkans and that Croatia plays a key role, in particular by supporting NATO partnerships in the region and being a champion of NATO's Open Door policy. Mr. Stoltenberg also congratulated Croatia for its first presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Mr. Stoltenberg is participating in a meeting of EU Defence Ministers on Wednesday evening. Arriving at Zagreb's National and University Library, the Secretary General underlined the importance of NATO-EU cooperation in addressing challenges too complex for any one nation or organisation to face alone. He pointed to the crisis in Syria and the refugee and migrant crisis as a common challenge requiring common solutions. He further said he would brief ministers on the prospects for peace in Afghanistan, and called on the Taliban to honour their commitments under the agreement reached on 29 February, including to reduce violence.

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Russian Ball of Budapest will be held again for the 12th time in 2020 in the Grand Ballroom of the Budapest Marriott Hotel, where the organisers welcome guests of every nationality with champagne, vodka, caviar - and more Russian specialities.

The opening dance is followed by the Gala Dinner showcasing the flavours of the traditional Russian cuisine.



The performance by artists from Moscow is followed by music and dancing for guests until dawn.



The Grand Prize of the raffle is a trip for two to Saint Petersburg or Moscow.



The Official Drink of the Ball is Russian Standard vodka, offered by Roust Hungary.



Fine Wines are from Badacsony, Eger and Szekszard, served with the Gala Dinner and the midnight snack.



Program

* Gate opens:18:30

* Welcome champagne, vodka and caviar

* Opening dance: 19:30

* Official opening 19:40

* Gala Dinner with white, rose and red wine and with vodka: 19:45

* Dinner music with Russian songs

* Show of the Russian performers 22:00

* Dance

* Fashion show: 00:15

* Raffle: 00:30

* Midnight snack

* Closing time: 03:30

(subject to modifications and extensions)



Dress code:

Black tie Formal evening dress for ladies, dinner jacket/tuxedo (or dark suit) for gentlemen



Entertainment program:

Singers, dancer and musicians from Moscow

Live music: Marschall Show Band



Grand prize of raffle is a trip for two to Moscow or to Saint Petersburg (flight and 4 star hotel included) offered by Marriott Hotel and 1000 Ut Travel Agency.



Ticket price

Drinks, programs and VAT, excluding the raffle):

HUF 48 000/guest

VIP ticket (around the dance floor and with panoramic view HUF 58 000/guest

(including all the services offered by the ball, all the meals,



Venue:

Budapest Marriott Hotel

1052 Budapest. Apaczai Csere Janos utca 4.



Tickets:

Rozsa PR Agency

e-mail: media@rozsapr.hu



Click here to visit Rozsa PR Agencys website online
[March 05, 2020] Cielo Acquires Shanghai-Based AsiaNet China to Expand Global Footprint

BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cielo, the world's leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner, announced the acquisition of AsiaNet China, an RPO, executive search, recruitment, and payroll (HRO) business based in Shanghai. "There's major demand for RPO in the China market," said Sue Marks, Cielo Founder and CEO. "This acquisition builds on our existing capability in China to better serve our regional and global customers. We're also excited about the skills and capabilities of our new team members. We've worked closely with AsiaNet China since 2018, and we have great respect for their business, their leadership and their reputation for delivering positive results for their clients." AsiaNet China was founded by Daniel Liu in early 2000 and has offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Hong Kong. They serve customers across a range of industries including engineering, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, supply chain, infrastructure, construction and properties, autootive and technology. AsiaNet China and Cielo currently partner to provide in-country support to various Cielo clients.



"Joining Cielo strengthens our capabilities in both RPO and executive search," said Daniel Liu, CEO and founder of AsiaNet China. "Further, it significantly increases our ability to serve international companies and sizeable Chinese enterprises in the Greater China Region. We are excited to continue producing great work for our current clients, as well as Cielo clients in China." The acquisition of AsiaNet China gives Cielo a significant foothold in China, with the addition of three offices in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. The two companies will combine their Hong Kong operations into one office. The new presence and local capability enable Cielo to respond to growing demand for its RPO services in the country, benefiting existing Cielo clients and better positioning the company to win global customers.

The AsiaNet China team will operate under the Cielo brand name, with existing team members continuing to support current clients. This acquisition marks Cielo's latest investment in growing its global footprint. Over the last year, the company has expanded its delivery centers in Manila and Buenos Aires and added offices in Paris and Cologne. About Cielo

Cielo is the world's leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner and industry innovator delivering RPO, Total Talent Acquisition, consulting and executive search services in 100+ countries. We design comprehensive, people-centric solutions and leverage Cielo TalentCloud  our award-winning technology suite featuring CRM, AI, automation and analytics capabilities  to help our clients find, attract and hire the specific talent to move their businesses forward. To learn more, visit cielotalent.com. CONTACT:

Matt Quandt

(262) 439-1673

[email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/336468/Cielo_Logo.jpg

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-04 23:45:29|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Lao authorities have told foreign airlines to check the temperature of their pilots, flight attendants and passengers before flying to Laos in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Task Force Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, led by Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Somdy Douangdy, on Wednesday issued an announcement instructing the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to notify foreign airlines that operate flights to Laos.

According to the announcement, foreign airlines are required to check the temperature of everyone in the categories listed above before letting them board a flight. Anyone found to have flu-like or COVID-19 symptoms must be treated in that country. Once they have recovered, the person or persons can fly to Laos as planned.

People who arrive in Laos and show flu-like or COVID-19 symptoms will be taken to a hospital for observation and asked to provide samples for lab tests.

A person arriving in Laos without any symptoms is required to self-monitor and take his or her temperature daily for 14 days. If going to a public place, they must wear a face mask. Enditem
A 26-year-old female employee of the Nebraska State Penitentiary has been arrested on suspicion of unauthorized communication with a prisoner.

This makes the third such employee arrested on suspicion of improper contact with an inmate since late February. The arrest was made by the Nebraska State Patrol.

The woman had worked with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services for about one year.

She is being suspended from her job. Unauthorized communication with a prisoner is a felony.

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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition B, a $682.5 million emergency preparedness bond, according to the latest election results released on Wednesday afternoon.

Prop B, also known as the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response bond, asked voters whether the city should sell the bonds to finance infrastructure improvements at the city's emergency response facilities, like fire and police stations.

The measure garnered 81 percent of the vote, well above the two-thirds needed to pass.

Mayor London Breed, who first introduced the bond back in May 2019, applauded the proposition's passage Wednesday.

"We know we need to act now to ensure that we're as resilient as possible for the next major disaster," Breed said in statement.

"We know that it's not a matter of 'if,' but a matter of 'when' the next major earthquake will strike. This ESER Bond will help our city make critical infrastructure investments so that we're prepared for the next earthquake or other natural disaster, and so our first responders can take care of our residents when it matters most."

According to Breed's office, of the $682.5 million, $275 million will go toward seismic retrofitting and resiliency projects for fire stations and support-related facilities; $153.5 million will help expand the city's Emergency Firefighting Water System; $121 million will fund seismic retrofitting and resiliency projects for the city's police stations and support facilities; $70 million will fund disaster response facilities; and $9 million will go toward the Department of Emergency Management's 911 call center.

San Francisco voters first approved a $412 million ESER bond in 2010 and then a second $400 million ESER Bond in 2014. The bonds are administered by the city's Department of Public Works, which designs and implements most infrastructure improvement projects the bond funds.

Police Chief William Scott said of the measure, "These much-needed seismic safety and infrastructure resiliency resources will enable San Francisco first responders to protect our city and residents during a major disaster."

Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson said, "When a disaster strikes, our firefighters need to be able to respond immediately. From my experience as a firefighter and a paramedic, I know first hand how important it is to have the infrastructure and facilities that allow our first responders to do their jobs."

Preliminary election results released Wednesday also indicated San Francisco voters approved four other measures placed on the ballot.

Proposition A appeared to garner more than 70 percent of the vote, well above the 55 percent needed to pass. The measure asked voters whether to allow the City College of San Francisco District to sell $845 million in bonds to renovate the school's buildings, including seismic retrofitting and environmentally sustainable upgrades.

For Proposition C, 68 percent of voters approved it, surpassing the simple majority needed.

The measure asked voters whether to continue providing former Housing Authority employees rehired by the city, retiree healthcare coverage based on their combined years of service and date of hire. Because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandated the city takeover the Housing Authority last year, dozens of employees were laid off, however, many workers were either transitioned into other city jobs, or given severance packages through a deal with the mayor's office.

Proposition D garnered 68 percent of the vote, according to the preliminary numbers, just above the two-thirds majority needed to pass. Prop D allows the city to tax property owners in certain commercial districts for keeping ground-floor spaces vacant past 182 days.

Voters also appeared to narrowly pass Proposition E, as the latest results indicate it garnered more than 54 percent approval.

The measure, which needed a simple majority to pass, asked voters whether to restrict large office projects if the city fails to meet state mandated affordable housing goals.

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.
[March 05, 2020]

Coalfire Atlanta Office Ranked Top Workplace

WESTMINSTER, Colo., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Coalfire, a provider of cybersecurity advisory and assessment services, announced today that the company has been recognized as a Top Workplace in Atlanta by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).

Now in its 10th year, the AJC's Top Workplace rankings were determined by surveying more than 40,000 employees at nearly 3,000 companies nominated in the metro area. With 51 employees in its Atlanta office, Coalfire ranked 15th among 65 in the small company category.

"We are excited and honored to be named a Top Workplace in Atlanta," said Dixon Wright, VP Delivery and Atlanta Site Lader for Coalfire. "We work tirelessly on building great teams and culture, and making Coalfire a place where people are excited to show up to work every day."







AJC partner Energage, a human resources consultancy based in Philadelphia, conducted the surveys using a standards platform that places value on pay, benefits, flexibility, training, expectations, transparency, accountability, and performance. The firm has developed its criteria over 14 years studying how cultural initiatives and employee engagement can come together to create the best places to work.

"This award is a result of a lot of hard work from a lot of people," said Wright. "I could not imagine working with a more talented, hardworking, and fun team."

About Coalfire

Coalfire is the trusted cybersecurity advisor that helps private and public sector organizations avert threats, close gaps and effectively manage risk. By providing independent and tailored advice, assessments, technical testing and cyber engineering services, we help clients develop scalable programs that improve their security posture, achieve their business objectives and fuel their continued success. Coalfire has been a cybersecurity thought leader for nearly 20 years and has offices throughout the United States and Europe. For more information, visit www.coalfire.com.

For media inquiries:

Mike Gallo

(212) 239-8594

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coalfire-atlanta-office-ranked-top-workplace-301016688.html

SOURCE Coalfire
Alessandra Ambrosio had just returned to Los Angeles after indulging in the festivities of Brazil's annual Carnaval festival.

But the 38-year-old model let the world know she was back on vacation Wednesday, when she shared a slew of tantalizing bikini snapshots taken on the beaches of Mexico.

Ambrosio donned the latest silhouette from her swimwear line GAL Floripa for the seaside shoot that included sand, surf, and margaritas.

Best advertisement: Alessandra Ambrosio took to Instagram on Wednesday to flaunt her stellar bikini body while vacationing in Mexico

Fit as can be: The trim and toned model donned the latest design for her GAL Floripa swimwear line

Her brunette tresses were strewn up into a messy bun, which allowed the model to show off her enviable bone structure to the camera.

Alessandra opted to showcase her natural complexion, but amped up her mug with a few swipes of mascara and a tinge of pink on the lips.

The swimsuit sported by Alessandra, listed on the GAL Floripa website as the Yantra Bikini, came in a gorgeous mustard shade that complimented her enviable tan.

Before heading outside to brave the sand and surf, the model took an obligatory mirror selfie, which gave her 10.3million Instagram followers a reason to drool.

Cheers: Alessandra snapped a quick selfie video of herself drinking a refreshing beverage on the beach

Wish you were here: Ambrosio beamed as she posed next to a picture perfect palm tree on a Mexican beach

Business and pleasure: Though the model was on the beach for a GAL Floripa photo shoot, she made sure to mix in plenty of fun into the jam packed day

Once on the beach, the Brazilian bombshell posed beside a picturesque palm tree.

Alessandra could not help, but document the entire day on Instagram from her early morning call time to her beach chair views.

The retired Victoria's Secret angel was joined by her reliable team of makeup artists, photographers, and production assistants for the day's shoot.

Whenthe team was not shooting, Alessandra took shelter in a nearby cabana where she enjoyed some exotic beverages and plenty of opportunities to lounge.

Celebrate: Alessandra and her entire team celebrated post-photoshoot with drinks and plenty of delicious local food

Lounging: While on set, the Brazilian bombshell shared some enviable views from her beach chair

Always on vacation: Ambrosio just returned from celebrating the annual Carnaval festival in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, but the brunette bombshell was back at the beach for her trip to Mexico on Wednesday

Once the shoot came to a close, the model treated her team to rounds of refreshing drinks and plenty of local food.

Ambrosio launched GAL Floripa in May of 2019 in collaboration with her younger sister Aline Ambrosio and her best friend Gisele Coria.

'We always had this dream. We grew up in Florianopolis, which is an island south of Brazil, and swim was always like our second skin. We were always in a swimsuit going from one beach to another and always wanted to have a bikini shop there one day. That was our dream when we were 18,' said Ambrosio to People at the time of launch.
Egypt on Thursday confirmed its third case of the novel coronavirus amid the global spread of the disease, Anadolu agency reported citing local media.

The new case is an Egyptian citizen who tested positive for the virus a few days after returning from Serbia and spent 12 hours in France for transit, local media said, citing the Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mogahed.

The infected citizen was put in quarantine.

Egyptian authorities earlier announced two confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,443 suspected cases of the novel virus, which all tested negative.

The number of confirmed cases across the globe has reached 95,000, with the death toll standing over 3,200.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has criticised the central government over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

"The Health Minister saying that the Indian Govt has the #coronavirus crisis under control is like the Capt of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable," he said.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan while addressing the Rajya Sabha today said that he and a group of ministers and PM Modi were personally monitoring the situation. He advised people not to worry and maintain proper hygiene.

He had also appealed to the people earlier to not panic and take precautions. He advised people against believing fake news spread regarding the outbreak.

He released a twitter list that people can subscribe to get 'correct & updated information on #coronavirusinindia'.

He said that the government was in regular touch with WHO, regional officials and state governments to contain the virus.

The Minister today had addressed the Lok Sabha too regarding the steps the government was taking to counter the spread of coronavirus.

The Union Minister also said that all international passengers will be screened at the airports. He said that he had met the Delhi Health Minister and officials and have asked them to build wards for isolating coronavirus patients.

The Health Minister has been active on Twitter updating people on discussions and advisories regarding the virus. He had earlier said that India had detected the virus on time and has prepared itself before WHO issued an alert.

The Health Minister had also confirmed that till date, 29 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country.

Also read: Taj Mahal on coronavirus alert! Masked personnel, thermal guns welcome tourists

Also read: Coronavirus update: Cognizant shuts Hyderabad office, asks employees to work from home
(Natural News) The global mortality rate for coronavirus (COVID-19), the disease caused by the new coronavirus that first appeared in China and is now spreading across the globe, is much higher than what was previously thought, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The WHO, in an announcement from their headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday, set the new rate at 3.4 percent, a number thats much higher compared to their previous estimate, which was pegged at 2 percent.

Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the press briefing.

The WHO previously said that the mortality rate of the coronavirus globally could range from 0.7 to up to four percent  depending on the quality of the healthcare system of the country where it is being treated. Early in the outbreaks onset, however, scientists had concluded the death rate would be around 2.3 percent.

During an earlier press briefing held Monday, WHO officials admitted that they dont know how COVID-19 behaves, adding that they still dont have any idea as to how the infection is transmitted and what treatments will work to effectively stop the disease.

This is a unique virus, with unique features. This virus is not influenza, Ghebreyesus said during the Monday press briefing. We are in uncharted territory.

Ghebreyesus made the statement after several people highlighted what seemed to be overlapping symptoms of both influenza or flu and the coronavirus (COVID-19). This has prompted inquiries as to whether standard flu medication can be used to stop the spread of the new infection.

He also noted in a statement that the coronavirus (COVID-19), which has infected over 95,126 globally, with 3,253 confirmed dead, does not transmit as efficiently as the flu, based on data that they have so far.

According to Ghebreyesus, this means that containment is still possible.

Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHOs Health Emergencies Program, said this finding has given health officials a glimmer of light that the virus could be contained.

Here we have a disease for which we have no vaccine, no treatment, we dont fully understand transmission, we dont fully understand case mortality, but what we have been genuinely heartened by is that unlike influenza, where countries have fought back, where theyve put in place strong measures, weve remarkably seen that the virus is suppressed, Ryan added.

We dont even talk about containment for seasonal flu  its just not possible. But it is possible for COVID-19, Ghebreyesus said. We dont do contact tracing for seasonal flu, but countries should do it for COVID-19 because it will prevent infections and save lives.

Coronavirus mortality rate still subject to change  experts

Health experts, meanwhile, say the fatality rate of the novel coronavirus is still subject to change, with the rate possibly set to drop as the number of cases continues to rise. According to experts, this is because an estimated 80 percent of the coronavirus cases are mild and that the patients checking into hospitals have the most severe symptoms. A report released by Business Insider revealed that people with symptoms mild enough to recover at home without seeking medical treatment are not counted in the official records.

As of press time, the coronavirus is confirmed to have infected 95,126 people, with 3,253 confirmed dead, mostly in China. The disease has since spread to at least 58 other countries, including the U.S., which has more than 125 cases so far, with 11 recorded deaths. (Related: New York State monitoring 700 people for coronavirus, while NYC is on high alert for possible outbreaks.)

Nancy Messonnier, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a statement published February 25, warned that the further spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. is inevitable.

Get the latest news on the dreaded coronavirus outbreak at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

CNBC.com

BusinessInsider.com

AHA.org
[March 05, 2020] The PR Council and Its Member Firms Launch Close the Say Gap, Aim to Make Women's Expertise More Visible

In celebration of International Women's Day (March 8), the PR Council (PRC) today launched Close the Say Gap. Through this program, the PRC and its Member agencies have set a goal to collectively train at least 5,000 women as spokespersons for conferences, events and media interviews. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005799/en/ According to Kim Sample, PRC President, "The Gender Pay Gap has widespread awareness, but little attention has been paid to one of the underlying causes: The Say Gap. Women, especially women of color, have low visibility as experts in business and public life." An analysis by Talkwalker conducted specifically for Close the Say Gap, reveals that women were quoted in 32.9% of U.S. media coverage during the last six months while men were featured in 67.1%. "The public relations industry - as the gatekeepers and promoters of subject matter experts (SMEs) - can play a huge role in correcting this," Sample says. The issue is not a lack of expert women across every industry and sector: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women hold almost 52% of all management and professional-level jobs, and the National Association of Women Business Owners documents 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. Further, 64% of new women-owned businesses were started by women of color last year.



"When women aren't being seen as the experts we are, we don't win the better jobs nor command the higher salaries. And worse, still, is the situation for young women and girls not yet in the workforce because you can't be what you can't see," according to Heather Kernahan, PRC Board Member and Hotwire (News - Alert) North America CEO. Hotwire intends to train 2,020 women this year in celebration of Hotwire's 20th anniversary, according to Kernahan. The PRC's Member agencies will champion the initiative in a number of ways:

Talk about the program internally to identify ways to take action.

Help spread awareness of the Say Gap and its impact on women and girls by sharing the problem and solutions on social media channels.

Provide at least one free media and presentation training to equip women who are business and community leaders to be ready as spokespersons at events and with media. Newly trained spokespeople will be registered and promoted on Qwoted (a free expert platform designed to help journalists identify SMEs to write better stories faster).

Lead by example and identify one new female spokesperson within the agency and get her on stage and in media at least two times this year.

Take a pledge to only participate in panels with equal gender representation - no "manels."

Work with clients on other solutions, including auditing client organizations to ensure they have diverse SMEs, training the identified women and developing thought-leadership campaigns for new female SMEs. "We have been excited to involve the industry in solving this problem since Claire Mason, CEO of strategic communications consultancy Man Bites Dog first shared her thought leadership on the problem last year," Sample said. "IWD is the perfect U.S. launchpad for our agencies to create measurable change." Mason added, "Increasing the visibility of women and diverse experts in business and in public life is critical to building a diverse and inclusive future. We are delighted that the PR Council is taking action to Close the Say Gap." About PR Council Established in 1998, the PR Council (PRC) is composed of America's premier global, midsize, regional and specialty agencies across every discipline and practice. It is the leading trade association for agencies, designed to empower the present and next generation of communications professionals, industry innovators and business leaders through education, events and industry resources. The PRC's active members from over 110 leading U.S. agencies represent more than 80% (est.) of all U.S. PR firm revenues and employ over 12,000 professionals. About Talkwalker Talkwalker is a social listening and analytics company that empowers over 2,000 brands and agencies to optimize the impact of their communication efforts. We provide companies with an easy-to-use platform to protect, measure, and promote their brands worldwide, across all communication channels. Talkwalker's state-of-the-art social media analytics platform uses AI-powered technology to monitor and analyze online conversations in real-time across social networks, news websites, blogs and forums in 187 languages. Talkwalker has offices in New York, Luxembourg, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore. It is also the home of Talkwalker Alerts, a free alerting service used by over 500,000 communications and marketing professionals worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005799/en/

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T he new head of the London fire brigade today revealed he had apologised to bereaved victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster as he sought to regain their trust.

Andy Roe also issued a plea to residents of the capitals 7,000 high-rise blocks to set aside any post-Grenfell doubts and continue to follow firefighters advice in the event of a blaze.

He was appointed by Mayor Sadiq Khan to speed the transformation of a brigade heavily criticised by the fire watchdog for being too slow to address the failures of Grenfell, and met members of the Grenfell Next of Kin group this week.

In his first interview since starting the job on January 1, Mr Roe, 45, told the Standard: I never ever want to be in the situation again where I have to sit across the table from so many bereaved families. I offered an apology. I felt that some of our institutional shortcomings meant we had let our own people down, who were so brave that night.

He said he was committed to meeting everyone affected by Grenfell, which claimed 72 lives.

He said: I cant bring their families back. I will never be able to understand nor make better their pain. The best I can do is show that we have listened, that they are respected, that I understand them and we are here to serve them and protect them and listen to what they say. If anyone knows something about that fire and knows what needs to change, it is those people. We lost their trust.

It was Mr Roe who, 18 minutes after arriving on scene at Grenfell on the night of the disaster in June 2017 abandoned the stay put advice being given to residents and ordered 999 call-handlers to tell them to try to escape.

The Grenfell Tower inquiry has said more lives could have been saved if stay put had been rescinded sooner by commanders already on the ground.
Camilla Parker Bowles will definitely need to live with the "Queen" title as soon as Prince Charles takes over the throne from Queen Elizabeth II.

According to Charlie Proctor, a royal expert and editor of Royal Central, the potential title which Camilla will get after Queen Elizabeth II's death will be Queen Consort.

The statement made by Proctor came after the Clarence House, the official residence of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, claimed that the Queen Consort title would not be available for use upon the heir to the throne's accession.

"The intention is for the Duchess to be known as Princess Consort when the Prince accedes to the throne," the house clarified in the said document. "This was announced at the time of the marriage, and there has been absolutely no change at all."

However, the royal expert pointed out that if the Palace would try to change Camilla's supposed legal title, it could cause a constitutional mess to the whole royal family and its monarchy.

"It would be surprising if the situation wasn't at least reconsidered," Proctor continued.

The title of Queen Consort shall be legally given to the wife of a reigning king since she is expected to share the social rank and status of her husband. Because of this fact, Camilla is scheduled to appear more frequently in numerous royal engagements soon.

What Camilla Wants

To recall, right after Prince Charles and Camilla had a civil wedding ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2005, they stated that the Duchess of Cornwall would have "Princess Consort" as her title once her husband stands as the monarch.

In the meantime, Camilla received the titles "Princess of Wales" and "Duchess of Cornwall" upon their marriage. However, she opted to use the later and never let anyone call her "Princess of Wales" -- the title of Prince Charles' ex-wife, the late Princess Diana.

Royal biographer Penny Junor also explained why Camilla never wanted any parts of the Queen title.

Through her book, The Duchess, Junor said: "She is in this position because of her love of the man, not because of her desire to be anything more than a support to him."

Moreover, a representative of the royal couple made it clear last week to the Daily Star that Camilla would instead be called "Princess Consort" once the Prince of Wales becomes king.

What The Brits Wants

Before 2019 ended, The Express conducted a poll and asked the people whether they would be pleased to call Camilla as "Queen Camilla."

The results showed that 62 percent of Britons claimed that they would not be happy to see Prince Charles' second wife claim the title.

Meanwhile, 35 percent of the participants voted that they were okay with it, and the remaining 3 percent were still unsure.

Despite the low approval she got, another poll started by YouGov last year revealed that Camilla is currently the 11th most famous member of the Royal Family and ranked eight in The Firm.
Choosing whether to end a hard-fought White House bid is only half of it.

Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts progressive who went from leading economics expert to senator and presidential candidate within a decade, also faces the challenging decision of who to endorse in exiting the 2020 race after a brutal Super Tuesday in which she didnt win a single state  not even her own.

She announced the end of her campaign Thursday morning.

While the Warren campaign has long maintained that it would battle over the course of the long haul to face President Donald Trump in November, senior staff on Wednesday acknowledged that expectations were not met. Campaign manager Roger Lau said in a statement that the campaign fell well short of viability goals and projections, and we are disappointed in the results.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who rallied with support from African Americans, moderates, older voters and late deciders as Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar left the race, took not only Massachusetts but more than half the Super Tuesday states.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the progressive Vermont independent who challenged the Democratic establishment with a presidential run first in 2016 and again in 2020, won a handful of states including the biggest delegate stronghold, California. But his recent rise hasnt been enough to block a surging Biden, who dominated in South Carolina after an impactful endorsement from U.S. Rep. James Clyburn.

After her performance on Super Tuesday, Warren was assessing the path forward while the campaign kept plans under wraps.

She announced the end of her campaign Thursday, first speaking to her campaign staff before addressing reporters. Asked if she will endorse Biden or Sanders, Warren said, Not today."

Speaking alongside her husband, Bruce Mann, and dog, Bailey, outside their Cambridge home, Warren said, I need some space around this and I want to take a little time to think some more.

Whom might she support?

And where would her voters turn  a moderate and well-known establishment Democrat who Warren has painted as too eager to compromise with Republicans? Or a Democratic socialist whose proposals are largely in synch with hers but who remains, she argues, a lawmaker who hasnt gotten much done in decades?

Shes got three bad choices, political consultant Tony Cignoli said in an interview Wednesday. She goes with Bernie, and immediately the establishment, colleagues in the Senate and House, are looking at her and saying, youre kidding? It ostracizes her a lot. Or she goes with Joe, and youll hear a cry from the liberal, progressive left, especially in Massachusetts. The Bernie people will be unforgiving.

The third choice, Cignoli added, might be the worst: Do nothing, piss off both sides. Holy smokes, you wanted to get into this arena, but this is a really tough spot for her.

Scott Ferson, a Democratic strategist based in Boston, argued doing nothing might be best" for Warren over the long term.

I dont know how you falter saying, Thanks for your support ... now you can have at it,'" Ferson said with a chuckle.

Ferson said Warren never solidified her identity as a progressive who could move the needle if elected.

At first, she seemed to say, All you Bernie people will come to me because youll realize hes done this before and Im more electable. That didnt quite work, because people werent abandoning Sanders," Ferson said. "And she never presented herself as a moderate alternative.

He added that he didnt think Warren supporters would automatically back the other progressive in the race. If that was the case, they would have already been with Bernie, he said.

Ferson, whose company Liberty Square Group performed polling in some primary states, added that Warren suffered from circumstances in which many voters in Massachusetts and other states remained undecided until just days ago.

They could be a little agnostic about a candidate, but they were absolutely united in their hatred of Donald Trump, he said, of Democratic voters. And theyre trying to figure out whos the best candidate to go against him."

Biden was on the upswing" and the results showed a convenient coalescing around Biden across the board, Ferson said.

Ferson added that voters in Massachusetts, at least, separated their feelings on Warren from their vote  meaning they largely still back her enthusiastically as a senator and leading voice on progressive issues, but those sentiments didnt translate to enough votes against surges from both Biden and Sanders.

While Cignoli said there was no positive spin anyone could put on Warrens stunning losses on Tuesday, he said the impact of Bidens South Carolina victory were unexpected across the board and that the results were more of a matter of circumstances than strategy.

He noted that Biden spent incredibly small amounts of money campaigning in Massachusetts compared to Warren and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and added that she had led or been competitive in polls less than two weeks ago.

Any political consultant or pundit who tells you theyre not stunned is lying, Cignoli said, adding that Biden staffers and supporters were were equally surprised.

Cignoli said the support from Clyburn, and in turn, African American pastors throughout the south, help erupt backing for Biden over the weekend.

Uncle Joe, overnight, turned into Joe Cool," he said.

Cignoli described Warren as a better public servant and better candidate than this process has allowed her to be." He said her winning debate performances decimated Bloombergs campaign but may have hurt her in unexpected ways, with fiery attacks that are typically reserved for corporate CEOs and Trump administration aides suddenly leveled at Democratic opponents Buttigieg and Klobuchar.

Neither consultant saw a path forward for Warren to seal the Democratic nomination.

Its a two-person race, Ferson said, referencing Biden and Sanders.

Several progressives and Sanders surrogates called for her to exit the race.

Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota on Tuesday said, Imagine if the progressives consolidated last night like the moderates consolidated, who would have won? Thats what we should be analyzing."

Bloomberg, who ended his campaign on Wednesday, endorsed Biden, saying the Delaware Democrat was the best bet against Trump.

How much will Bloombergs support  in the form of staff and untold millions on advertising  help Biden in his third White House bid?

Ferson noted that, As much as we might like to poke fun at Mike Bloomberg for the most expensive per-vote race in history of humanity ... we make fun at our own peril, because hes got billions he can put some place. If he does use it to try to defeat Donald Trump, he gets a bust on Bidens shelf just like Jim Clyburn.
Warren Doyle, of Mountain City, Tennessee, has hiked the entire 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail 18 times, including nine thru-hikes.

Ignoring all the side trips involved in an AT thru-hike, thats a total of more than 39,000 miles. Its an informal, but legendary, record.

He also led eight group thru-hikes of the AT, seven of which saw a 100 percent completion rate among the hikers.

But theres so much more on Doyles resume that has earned him a spot among the Appalachian Trail Museums 10th class of inductees into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.

The class, which will be formally inducted on Saturday, May 2, during the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet at the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, also will include Chris Brunton, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; the late Thurston Griggs, of Baltimore, Maryland; and the late Jim Stoltz of Helena, Montana.

Doyle also played a leading role in founding the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association in 1983 to encourage long-distance hiking and promote hiking interests.

Through his Appalachian Trail Institute, Doyle educates prospective hikers on the proper strategies to successfully hike the AT and other long distance trails. His program covers not only the physical conditioning needed and proper gear, but also emphasizes the emotional and psychological aspects necessary for a successful thru-hike. Scores of thru-hikers credit Warren with inspiring and guiding them to complete their lifelong goal.

His doctoral thesis was on the sociology of a group long distance hike.

Chris Brunton emigrated to the U.S. from England in 1967. Soon after he joined the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, where he has been a dominant force in trail construction and maintenance ever since.

Known to most as "Trail Boss", he has served for decades as district manager for an AT section in West Virginia and Virginia, including three miles that he personally maintains.

In 1979 the National Park service began to acquire land in northern Virginia to eliminate more than 14 miles of road walk for the AT. Brunton was one of three trail leaders flagging and then building the new trail.

As the work progressed, he also began to help identify additional tracts available for purchase. He was instrumental in helping to develop relationships with local landowners.

By the end of the project in 1989, 55 tracts totaling more than 1,600 acres were acquired and the Rollercoaster section of the AT was created.

In 1982 PATC acquired a house just off the AT in Loudoun County, Virginia. Brunton took over the job of renovating it, and under his leadership, the house became the Blackburn Trail Center, one of the iconic stops on the trail.

Like many other icons of the Appalachian Trail, the late Thurston Griggs led a full life separate from the trail. He had a doctorate in Chinese history and worked at the University of Maryland. But he also dedicated most of his adult life to the preservation of the AT.

He joined the Mountain Club of Maryland in 1959 and served two terms as its president. He also served as MCMs archivist for many decades and in various other positions.

He was the first editor of Appalachian Trail Conservancy's newsletter The Register, and a member of its board of directors, including vice chair.

He worked relentlessly to preserve and protect the Appalachian Trail, mostly in Pennsylvania and Maryland. He was a key player in expediting the Trust for Appalachian Trail Lands purchase of Bagtown Road, which has since been named the Thurston Griggs Trail, a side trail to the AT.

At what many would consider an advanced age, Griggs became one of the first AT Ridge Runners. Additionally, he served as the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club's AT overseer between Turner's Gap and Lamb's Knoll.

Shortly before his death in October 2011, the National Park Service's Appalachian Trail Park Office awarded him the Golden Service Award for 50 years of service. Thurston also received the AT Museums initial Lifetime Achievement Award that year.

The late Jim Stoltz, universally known as Walkin Jim, was a musician, author, photographer, artist and environmental activist.

In his lifetime, he accomplished numerous long-distance treks, including a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1974. In total, he hiked more than 28,000 miles of long-distance trips.

Between trips, he created, produced and performed original shows of his travels with photography and music, always incorporating his keen sense of environmental awareness and justice for all things wild. His musical, hiking, and environmental career spanned 45 years.

Stoltz produced eight musical albums and one music video for children, Come Walk With Me. His poetry was published as "Whisper Behind the Wind."

His lifework and dreams centered on his desire to share the beauty, the unique character, the mood and the value of wilderness through his music, writings, art and activism. In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal called him the Music Man of The Wilderness.

The AT Museum has previously elected nine classes to the Hall of Fame. The Charter Class, elected in 2011, included Myron Avery, Gene Espy, Ed Garvey, Benton MacKaye, Arthur Perkins and Earl Shaffer. Members of the 2012 class were Emma Gatewood, David Richie, J. Frank Schairer, Jean Stephenson and William Adams Welch. The 2013 Class was Ruth Blackburn, David Field, David Sherman, David Startzell and Eddie Stone. The 2014 Class was A. Rufus Morgan, Chuck Rinaldi, Clarence Stein and Pamela Underhill. The 2015 Class was Ned Anderson, Margaret Drummond, Stanley Murray and Raymond Torrey. In 2016, Maurice J. Forrester, Jr., Horace Kephart, Larry Luxenberg and Henry Arch Nichols were inducted. The 2017 Class was Harlean James, Charles Parry, Mildred Norman Ryder and Tillie Wood. In 2018, William Kemsley Jr., Elizabeth Levers, George Masa and Bob Peoples were elected. Members of the 2019 Class were Jean Cashin, Paul Fink, Don King and Bob Proudman.

For more information about, or tickets to attend, the May 2 Hall of Fame Banquet visit

The Hall of Fame Banquet will be the kickoff of the museums Hall of Fame Weekend of public programs at Pine Grove Furnace State Park at Gardners.

The Appalachian Trail Museum opened on June 5, 2010, along the AT as it passes through the state park.

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Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
The Gujarat Congress has



decided to take out a foot march from Sabarmati Ashram here to Dandi in Navsari district to commemorate the 90th anniversary Mahatma Gandhi's historic 'Salt March'.

The foot march will commence on March 12, the date on which Mahatma Gandhi embarked on the iconic march 90 years ago to break the salt tax law imposed by the British government on local Indian population, Congress spokespersons Manish Doshi said on Thursday.

"Congress will take out the foot march from Sabaramti to Dandi to commemorate the anniversary of the Salt March taken out by Mahatma Gandhi from here," Doshi said.

"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to come for the launch of the march, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also likely to join the march on different dates," he added.

The nation is celebrating 150th birth anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi.

During the salt march, Mahatma Gandhi had walked 384 kms for 24 days with his followers from 12 March, 1930 to April 6, 1930.

The salt march was a defining moment in the Indian non-violent freedom movement. The entire nation became part of the movement against the British rule in India after that.

Doshi said that during the march, the party aims to highlight the situation prevailing in the country.

"The march will highlight the prevailing situation in the country following introduction of Citizenship Amendment Act and Delhi riots," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Princess Estelle's prestigious Stockholm school has closed after it was revealed a pupil had contracted the Coronavirus.

The Swedish princess is studying at home after it was confirmed that a pupil at Campus Manilla had tested positive for coronavirus, Swedish website Aftonbladet reported.

Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel received a message from the school and had Estelle stay at home after the news came out. This is the first case of a child being affected by the virus in Sweden, where there are 60 confirmed as of this morning.

On Monday, Estelle's grandparents, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, cancelled a formal dinner 'out of consideration' for the 150 guests they were supposed to entertain on Wednesday, amid growing fears that the virus is spreading.

Princess Estelle of Sweden, eight, is studying at home after her Stockholm school closed following the confirmation that a pupil had contracted the Coronavirus

Located in Stockholm, Campus Manilla (pictured) informed all parents it would close its doors for safety reasons

It was reported that parents of Manilla pupils received a message on the school's intranet warning them that one of the students had contracted the virus.

It read: 'The purpose for closing the entire school is to ensure the safety of students, guardians and staff in a situation where many are concerned and where we now know that a student at the school is confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus.'

Margareta Thorgren, the Court's Head of Information, has since confirmed that Princess Estelle was studying at home.

'I can confirm that the school is closed. They have informed all parents with children at Campus Manilla that a student has been discovered who has tested positive for the coronavirus. This means that Princess Estelle is conducting her studies from home today.'

'I think people around the world and Sweden feel a great concern, when a positive case for a child has also been discovered.

'So, of course, it is a major concern among all parents at school today. Therefore, it is extra important to listen to the recommendations of the Public Health Authority, follow them, and at the same time to not suffer from panic,' she added.

King Carl XVI Gustaf, 73, and Queen Silvia, 76, were due to host 150 guests at the stunning Royal Palace, in Stockholm, Wednesday night but cancelled amid coronavirus fears. Pictured, the couple (centre) with l-r: daughter-in-law Princess Sofia, son Prince Carl Phillip, daughter Crown Princess Victoria and son-in-law Daniel at an official government dinner at the Royal Palace in March 2019

Others pupils' parents have expressed their frustration and questioned why the school did not taker action sooner.

'I'm not willing to play Russian roulette with my child when it comes to such a serious illness, said one parent.

King Carl XVI Gustaf, 73, and Queen Silvia, 76, were due to host 150 guests at the Official Government dinner Royal Palace, in Stockholm, on Wednesday.

It is thought other members of the Swedish royal family, including their children Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Carl Phillip, were due to attend, as well as senior members of the Swedish government.

It comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in the UK jumped overnight to 51.

In a statement released yesterday, the Swedish royal court said: 'In recent days, a number of cases of infection from the novel coronavirus have been detected in Sweden.

'The Public Health Authority considers the risk of detecting cases of covid-19 in Sweden to be high, but the risk of the infection spreading is considered low.
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.
by P. Mario Mendes

Self-support groups have turned tribal women into entrepreneurs. The sale of gourmet products generated 2.5 million rupees in 2019. The businesswomen trained in marketing, hygiene standards, packaging and labelling. The goal now it to create new production centres.

Raigad (AsiaNews)  After working as farm labourers, then in the brick kilns, some 40 tribal women in Raigad district (Maharashtra) became their own bosses thanks to the help of the Centre for Social Action (CSA) of the Archdiocese of Mumbai. On the eve of 8 March, International Women's Day, AsiaNews publishes the testimony of CSA director Fr Mario Mendes.

The CSA launched a Livelihood Programme, a year and half ago, to help transform the lives of some tribal women in Raigad district of Maharashtra by turning women from Self Help Groups (SHGs) into entrepreneurs. These were trained to produce a variety of healthy snacks. An independent sales and marketing wing was set up to sell these tribal products in parishes, schools and businesses in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

Sales from January to December 2019 exceeded 2,500,000 rupees. About 80% of this amount was placed directly into the bank accounts of each SHG through NEFT payment as soon as the products were made. In turn, the tribal women distributed the profits amongst themselves. About 20% of the amount was used for transportation and other logistics for the sales. CSA does not take any amount from the sales of these products.

The seeds of this initiative were sown a couple of years ago at an annual evaluation of CSAs work with the Kathkari tribal people in Raigad. These tribals are mostly landless and usually work as agricultural labourers during the monsoon. After the agricultural season they migrate with their entire family to nearby brick kilns or construction sites as they dont have any other source of livelihood. The CSA team realised that this economic migration was preventing the tribals from developing any roots and most importantly their children were not getting any education as the parents were constantly on the move.

To prevent this seasonal migration, it was decided to pilot a project to ensure that tribal women were provided with a sustainable livelihood, year-round. Four social work production centres run by dedicated and enterprising religious sisters  Jan Vikas Kendra, Khopoli; Prerana Charitable Trust, Rees; Asha Kiran, Paned and Amardeep Charitable Trust, Mangaon  were chosen as training and production centres.

Some 40 tribal women who agreed to be trained were formed into four separate SHGs. After training and induction, separate bank accounts were opened for each SHG, to be operated by the SHG members themselves.

Then followed months of training to make traditional foods like laddos, papads, chaklis, chutneys, pickles, malted nachni flour and other healthy food items, all from locally sourced materials and under strict hygienic conditions.

Many of these tribal women had never cooked on gas at all, but they were all equal to the task and quick learners. Once the initial training was over, test batches of products were made and sold in a few places to test consumer reactions. The feedback was always positive and encouraging.

Since all SHGs are located at a considerable distance from Mumbai, the dire need was for a sales and marketing wing to bring the freshly produced products to Mumbai and then sell them at the earliest. An independent marketing organisation, the Nav Jeevan Enterprises (NJE), set up by Pauline Serrao, came to the rescue by offering to handle all logistics and sales. The arrangement was that 80% of the MRP value is paid to the SHGs; this ensured that the NJE does not function a middleman. The NJE would pick up all products from the production centres and within 72 hours ensure payment to the tribals by NEFT, no cash payments at all.

Another important aspect was maintaining a high standard of hygiene. The CSA organised multiple training sessions, displayed charts of Hygiene Dos and Donts, and taught the tribals to use gloves, face-masks and head caps during food production.

The women also learnt to maintain proper production records. Further, the various venues of food production (in the social work production centres run by the religious sisters) were assisted in obtaining their FSSAI registration. Labels for the products were designed and printed. Each of the SHGs were provided packaging equipment and trained to package the products. All this was done and continues under strict supervision by CSA staff.

One of the SHGs, Ram Samarth Mahila Bachat Gat Paned, was recognised by the Khalapur Block Development Officer as one of the most enterprising SHGs and has been awarded 50,000 rupees to develop their business.

Of course, challenges have been plentiful but the team has weathered many a storm and is determined to continue with great zeal so that many more SHGs are set up and many more tribal women and their families benefit in the long run.

We learnt that parish sales go up exponentially when the local community is involved. In order to sustain this effort, it is necessary to hold simultaneous weekend sales in at least three parishes each weekend.
Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita, were questioned for the second consecutive day on Thursday in connection with a money-laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Goyal was questioned on Wednesday and taken to his south Mumbai residence where searches were conducted till the early hours of Thursday. He was again called on Thursday to record his statement. Accordingly, he and his wife reached EDs Ballard Pier office in the afternoon and left around 10.30pm.

The agency has questioned the erstwhile Jet Airways chairman multiple times in the past, in connection with purported violations of provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), relating to foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.

Trouble mounted for the businessman after the ambit of the probe was widened to cover alleged contraventions under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Goyal refused to interact with the media during his ED visits.

The agency had earlier claimed that Goyals business includes 19 privately-held companies of which 14 are registered in India, and five abroad. ED has alleged that Goyal also indirectly controls various other entities abroad, some of which are located in tax havens.

As per EDs probe during the FEMA investigation, fictitious or inflated payments appeared to have been made to some foreign entities under various airline lease agreements and aircraft maintenance agreements. Large sums were reportedly sent abroad by way of inflated commission to a group entity in Dubai, which acted as the airlines exclusive overseas general sales agent (GSA), ED had mentioned in an earlier statement.

The ED probe is now focused on alleged irregularities and inflated payments made to the Ireland-based firm which leased out aircraft to Jet Airways.

ED had last year searched the premises of Dubai-based NRI Hasmukh Deepchand Gardis son-in-law in Usha Kiran building on Carmichael Road in south Mumbai. Gardi, who had invested in the now-defunct Tail Winds Limited, the parent company of Jet Airways that Goyal started at the Isle of Man, a tax haven, and had featured in the Panama Papers relating to his companies in India, United Arab Emirates, and the British Virgin Islands.

A fresh case was registered against the Goyals this month under the PMLA that deals with the profit of crimes emanating from predicate offences. This case is based on a scheduled offence recently registered at MRA Marg police station for allegedly cheating a Mumbai-based travel company of 46 crore.

HT had first reported about the case on February 23.
Mumbai, March 5 : Adding to the growing number of event cancellations amid rising coronavirus concerns, Swedish music streaming service Spotify is rescheduling all events in India, including one media event which was scheduled to take place in Mumbai on March 24.

Earlier, retail giant Amazon's Cloud arm Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Wednesday announced it has cancelled its flagship Summit in India owing to the growing new coronavirus concerns. AWS was scheduled to organise the summit in Mumbai from April 7-9.

Spotify said it decided to reschedule the events as it wants to ensure that one's health and safety are not compromised.

Coronavirus is now a reality in India, with 29 cases confirmed all over the nation by the first half of Thursday.

Amid growing concerns, the past few days have seen cancellations of a number of business and media events, leading some companies to opt for virtual or soft launch of their products.

A number of companies including Twitter have even encouraged their employees to work from home.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 5, 2020) - RIWI Corp. (CSE: RIW) (OTC Pink: RWCRF) (the "Company" or "RIWI"), a global trend-tracking and prediction technology firm, reported its annual audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019. All figures are reported in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. RIWI's financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS").

RIWI Highlights for 2019 (in U.S. Dollars):

The Company had its second consecutive profitable year in 2019, generating net income of $909,816, an increase of 118% compared to 2018.

RIWI's 2019 revenue was its highest in the Company's history. Revenue in 2019 grew by 17% to $3,110,878 compared to $2,667,677 in 2018.

RIWI generated $1,147,021 in cash from operations in 2019, ending the year with over $3.04 million in cash. This represented a 264% increase in cash from operations, compared to 2018.

As at December 31, 2019, the Company had working capital of $3,759,533 compared to $2,349,503 as at December 31, 2018. This 60% increase results primarily from the Company's increase in sales revenue, and from controlling costs.

RIWI enjoyed positive earnings per share growth in 2019, $0.05 per share compared to $0.02 in 2018.

Financial Summary:

In U.S. Dollars 2019 2018 2019 vs. 2018

% Change Revenues 3,110,878 2,667,677 +17% Net income 909,816 416,536 +118% Operating cash generated 1,147,021 315,089 +264% Earnings per share $0.05 $0.02

Debt 0 0



"I am pleased to report that our transition during 2019 to a recurring-revenue business model - in the form of subscription-based services and long-term, renewable contracts - delivered us a second year of profitability, increased revenues, and more cash to power our growth," said Neil Seeman, RIWI's Chief Executive Officer.

"We continue to focus on customer delivery excellence and to sharpen our sales process for more growth globally. That means serving new clients in new markets, building more market awareness for our proprietary data collection services, hiring excellent salespeople - and boosting recurring revenues and profit," he added.

RIWI's audited annual Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, are available via RIWI's website at https://riwi.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

RIWI Hires Neil Weitzman as Chief Revenue Officer

RIWI is pleased to announce that Neil Weitzman has joined the Company as Chief Revenue Officer. He oversees all revenue-generating processes, including marketing, sales, and customer success. Mr. Weitzman has more than 20 years of experience in data monetization, data analytics, and selling SaaS-based data offerings to business clients. His past roles include Vice President of the Consumer & Shopper Practice and Analytics Practice at Nielsen, Head of Media and Audience Insights at Rogers, and Vice President at Deloitte. Prior to joining RIWI, Mr. Weitzman led Marketing and Partnerships as Senior Vice President at Environics Analytics.

About RIWI

RIWI is a global trend-tracking and prediction technology firm. On a monthly or annual subscription basis, RIWI offers its clients tracking surveys, continuous risk monitoring, predictive analytics and ad effectiveness tests in all countries - without collecting any personally identifiable data. https://riwi.com.

RIWI CORP.

Signed: "Neil Seeman"

Neil Seeman, Chief Executive Officer

For more information, please contact:

Daniel Im, Chief Financial Officer

danielim@riwi.com | +1-416-205-9984 ext. 2

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

Information and statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation that involves risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information included herein is made as of the date of this news release and RIWI does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking information unless required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and reflects management of the Company's expectations or beliefs regarding future events. This forward-looking information is based, in part, on assumptions and factors that may change or prove to be incorrect, thus causing actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/53195
A man wearing a face mask walks past a deliveryman as he waits outside a Starbucks store as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China February 7, 2020.

Starbucks warned investors on Thursday that store closures in China due to the coronavirus outbreak are likely to result in a 50% decline in its same-store sales in China during its fiscal second quarter.

However, it said that it was seeing signs of a pickup in its business in China, and it hasn't yet detected any slowdown in the U.S. Shares of the company fell less than 1% in extended trading.

For the second quarter, the shuttered stores will cut revenue by between $400 million and $430 million in China, the coffee chain said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Starbucks predicted China's second-quarter same-stores sales growth would be about 3%. However, the widespread COVID-19 outbreak, which begain in China, forced Starbucks to close the majority of its stores at the beginning of February.

During the first quarter, China made up about 10% of its revenue.

The company stated that more than 90% of its stores in China are now open but are operating under elevated safety protocols, including minimal cafe seating. The cafes have also reduced store hours due to overall low levels of foot and vehicle traffic, the company said.

Starbucks said that it plans to have all stores to open by the end of the quarter and traffic "will improve modestly" in comparison to February's severe slowdown. The statement added that the company has halted new store openings in China, and it has pushed back some openings until its next fiscal year.

"In short, we see encouraging signs of recovery in China, our U.S. business momentum continues, and we are prepared to respond to implications of COVID-19 in every market around the world," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in the filing.

The company had previously stated in its first-quarter earnings that the coronavirus outbreak could deal a blow to its fiscal 2020 outlook, but it said the magnitude of the impact would depend on the duration of store closures.

Starbucks also moved its annual shareholder meeting scheduled for March 18 online due a coronavirus outbreak in the Seattle region.
Milrem Robotics, one of the leading manufacturers of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) introduced at UMEX 2020 its mission proven, fifth generation THeMIS UGV designed to assist soldiers on the battlefield while enhancing their combat effectiveness.

The THeMIS UGV has been especially designed to withstand harsh environments and hot climates. It has proven itself in Mali, Africa where it has been deployed since early 2019 during the French lead anti-insurgent operation Barkhane. The vehicle has driven more than 1000 km during various missions in one of the toughest regions in the world with lava rock soil, loose sand and high temperatures reaching 50 C in the shade.

We are pleased to be back in Abu Dhabi, where just a few years ago we tested the prototype of our unmanned vehicle for durability in hot conditions. Today we are presenting a mature and robust product that has proven itself in extreme hot climates and, as our clients have already determined, will greatly enhance warfighting capabilities, stated Kuldar Vaarsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.

The THeMIS UGV is in serial production and has already been delivered to France, US, UK, Netherlands and Norway in logistics configuration intended to provide combat support and carry supplies with an option to integrate additional kinetic or non-kinetic payloads.

This tracked multipurpose UGV can be equipped with remote weapon systems, tethered drones, C-IED solutions and ISR sensors. With the possibility to mount various payloads the UGV acts as a force multiplier.

The THeMIS has become the industry standard UGV sought out for various payload integration projects. Together with partners like Kongsberg, FN Herstal, MBDA, ST Engineering and EOS more than a dozen different systems have already been integrated, Vaarsi stated.

Live firing tests have been conducted with five different weapon systems, including the JAVELIN anti-tank missile system.

The fifth generation THeMIS incorporates NATO STANAG standards in the vehicles architecture, safety, air transportability, power offload and other aspects.

In addition, the UGV has been equipped with autonomous functions including point-to-point navigation, obstacle detection and avoidance, enabling it to follow dismounted troops, patrol a perimeter, provide front line resupply and evacuate casualties with minimal intervention by the operator.
To understand why, we need to go back to 1963, when President John F. Kennedy warned of a world in which 15 or 20 or 25 nations may have these weapons. Kennedy expressed the widely held belief that further proliferation was likely, if not inevitable. Every nation that possessed the capability to build a bomb had done so and American officials worried that the trend was about to accelerate.

That didnt happen. Having stood at the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union redoubled efforts to stabilize their nuclear relationship and prevent other states from crossing the nuclear threshold. The nonproliferation treaty was one result of those efforts. Under the treaty, states that didnt have nuclear weapons pledged not to develop or acquire them, while those that did committed to eventual nuclear disarmament.

But it wasnt just U.S.-Soviet arms control negotiations that turned the proliferation tide in the 1960s. Even more important was Washingtons determination to assure its allies in Europe and Asia that they could rely on America for their nuclear security. Only after they were convinced that the American nuclear guarantee was credible, did allies like Germany and Japan decide to forego a national nuclear option and join the nonproliferation treaty.

Whenever new developments seemed to call the American guarantee into question  as when a new generation of Soviet medium-range missiles were deployed in Europe in the 1970s and when North Korea expanded its nuclear and missile programs in the 1990s and 2000s  Washington worked to reassure its allies that its nuclear commitment remained strong and credible.

In recent years, new questions about the credibility of the American nuclear guarantee have returned. One reason is the changing strategic environment. In Europe, a more adventurous and better-armed Russia no longer shies away from using military force, as its invasion of Ukraine and its support for the Assad regime in Syria have underscored. In Asia, Chinas rapid rise has expanded its military reach throughout the Asia-Pacific, and North Korea has emerged as a potent foe, armed with nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that threaten the entire region.
Health care in Philadelphia is at an inflection point that we must address and do so quickly. The news over the past few months has been alarming. We witnessed the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital  taken over by California-based for-profit American Academic Health System two years prior. That same system also put the future at risk for St. Christophers Hospital for Children and its actions may also result in some 530 residency slots leaving our citys academic medical centers. Jefferson, Einstein, Temple and others, stepped up and stepped in to help the many patients, doctors and caregivers impacted by the sudden closure of Hahnemann, for one simple reason  it was the right thing to do. Just last week, Mercy Hospital in West Philadelphia, owned by Michigan-based Trinity Health, announced its closure.

These systems  both for profit and non-profit and located outside Philadelphia - failed to keep these institutions viable in a city that desperately needs access to health care. Collectively, we have failed the patients and the caregivers of our great city. More than 10 hospitals in the region have closed in the past 20 years  delivering an economic blow, typically costing hundreds, if not thousands, of good-paying jobs, and further limiting patient access to quality health care. These two latest closures should be a wakeup call to the federal, state and local government agencies that hold the future of Philadelphia-area health care in their hands.

Jefferson and Einstein, coming together as two mission-driven, non-profit, safety-net hospitals with strong Philadelphia roots, see our merger as an opportunity to improve patient access to care in vulnerable areas of the city.

Jefferson and Einstein are culturally aligned  with a mutual goal of improving lives for all of our patients. At a time when regional and national politicians and leaders are seeking ways to better support essential safety net hospitals, we see this merger as a creative solution to preserve access and enhance services to the residents of North Philadelphia  and underserved communities, generally for one simple reasonit is the right thing to do.

We are very disappointed in the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) and Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (AG) attempt to block our merger and the benefits it would provide our city, and we will take time to review their complaint and prepare our response.

We strongly disagree with the FTC and AGs position that the merger would reduce competition in any part of the Philadelphia region. By focusing solely on patients with commercial insurance, the FTC and AG failed to appreciate the importance of this transaction to maintaining access to high-quality health care Philadelphia area residents. This was always, and is about doing the right thing for the communities of Philadelphia and the patients we serve. In fact, Jefferson and Einstein demonstrated a financial commitment to ensure much-needed access to care in North Philadelphia.

These are the facts: 30% of hospitals in Philadelphia that predominantly serve government insured and under-insured populations have closed in the last few years. Our underserved communities need and deserve better access to quality health care. We are concerned about the impact of this decision and the effect it will have on our communities. The FTC and AG had an opportunity to support a merger that would have joined two non-profits committed to doing whats right for their patients by coming together with their combined strengths to improve patient access to high quality care for those who need it most.

In a city and region that prides itself on our medical and educational assets, we are becoming a tale of two healthcare cities for those at the margin. We are at a crucial point and we need to support voiceless members of our community who depend on a vibrant Einstein for their health and well-being.

Stephen K. Klasko is the president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health. Barry R. Freedman is president and CEO of Einstein Healthcare Network.
Steve Huang, a Taiwanese-American businessman from Los Angeles, ran into Shen Yun artists during his business trip to Peru.

After the one-in-a-million encounter with the artists in a foreign country, he saw them perform in Florida one week later.

The performance left Huang feeling uplifted.

Oh, I feel really inspired, like what they want to share from the heart, said Huang after watching Shen Yun with his friend Shahab Emrani at the Mahaffey Theater in Florida on Feb. 19.

Chinese has thousands and thousands of years of culture and spirituality, and in one fell swoop went like this and it was gone, he said in reference to the cultural revolution in China. And now, its great to bring it back and to see it live and thrive and we can bring it back into the culture, all over the world.

Its very aesthetic. I felt light, felt great. Beautiful movements, very, very fluid dances, beautiful music, great singing overall. Perfect. Great job, said Emrani, a member of the Clearwater Downtown Development Board. That two-string instrument is beautiful. The wail that it does, it is a very aesthetic sound. The correct word is not a wail, but its just very beautiful as if theres a spirit speaking to you.

Since ancient times, Chinese people believed that their culture was bestowed by gods. For thousands of years, traditional Chinese art forms such as music and dance have been integrated into peoples lives, expressed in benevolence, beauty, and other virtues.

However, after the communist regime took power, the core of Chinese culture was systematically destroyed.

Huang really appreciates artists efforts to restore these ancient values around the world.

There is a lot of loss in values in terms of going into money and very materialistic things versus the very spiritual parts, which is really important. Thats the basis of how we came about and thats our past. Its our culture, Huang said. And I think its great to bring that back out into the world, and its so important.

Emrani especially loved the spiritual aspect and the message that came through the performance.

The message is, we are spirits. We live in a materialistic world, but dont forget, there is a spirit within the world and you that lives on, said Emrani. So, bringing on 5,000 years of spiritualism into this world and going around the world and giving out that message is very, very nice. I liked it. It was very aesthetic.

Theres something that unites Shen Yun artists beyond performing arts. Besides their daily training, these artists are also spiritual seekers on a shared journey.

I can see the full essence of the being and the spirit, the divine spirit flowing through these young amazing dancers. You can see it flowing through them in how they express themselves. I feel it, I feel inspired, said Huang.

They both expressed their words of gratitude and encouragement to Shen Yuns artistic director and all of the artists, and are looking forward to seeing the performance again.

Keep doing it. We will be back the next time you guys have another one and continue to share all your creativity with the rest of the world, said Huang.

I think that the artistic director and the troop portrayed a beautiful message, so my communication is, continue, keep creating, said Emrani.
U.S. Army Spc. Fernando Jimenez, right, engages a target with a Javelin shoulder fired anti-tank missile during a live-fire as part of Exercise Rock Sokol at Pocek Range in Postonja, Slovenia, March 9, 2016. (Army photo by Paolo Bovo / Department of Defense)

US Approves Anti-Tank Missile Sale to Poland

The State Department On March 4 approved a potential sale of 180 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and related equipment to Poland, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement, adding that it notified Congress about the potential sale.

The purchase request, which includes training, U.S. technical assistance, and other elements of logistics support, was made by Poland in September last year, according to the DSCA statement.

The proposed sale does not currently include any offset agreement, but it can be added in the negotiation phase, according to the statement.

The potential contract would be fulfilled by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Javelin Joint Venture.

The potential deal is in line with the foreign policy and national security strategy of the United States and will also improve the security of Poland, a NATO ally, thus contributing to the overall security and stability in the Eastern European region, the statement says.

The proposed sale will help Poland build its long-term defense capacity to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in order to meet its national defense requirements, the statement says, and it will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

Javelin is a fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile that can be carried and launched by a single person, or even fired from an unmanned ground vehicle, according to a Raytheon website. Javelin has been used in Afghanistan and Iraq in more than 5,000 engagements, the website says.

The State Department approval also includes 79 requested Javelin Command Launch Units, which perform surveillance and allow a gunner to see the targets.

Polands Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak welcomed the approval. He said on Twitter:

[The Polish Territorial Defense Force] @terytorialsi will soon get Javelin launchers with missiles. The State Department has already approved the sale. The contract includes training equipment, spare parts, and training. We are waiting for the consent of Congress and then we will start price negotiations.

Juz niedugo do @terytorialsi trafia wyrzutnie Javelin wraz z pociskami. Departament Stanu wyrazi zgode na ich sprzedaz. Kontrakt zawiera sprzet szkoleniowy, czesci zamienne oraz szkolenia. Czekamy na zgode Kongresu i przystepujemy do negocjacji cenowych.  Mariusz Baszczak (@mblaszczak) March 4, 2020

Ukraine signed a contract for the Javelin anti-tank missile system in the last quarter of 2019, according to Reuters.

Poland has already signed a $4.6 billion deal with the United States for its F-35 jet fighters. In 2018, Poland signed a contract for procuring the Patriot air and missile defense system, as well as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, according to the Department of State.

Poland is a crucial strategic ally in Central Europe and cooperates with the United States in international fora to promote stability and security in the region. To Polands east, Russia continues to engage in frequent malign influence activities and hybrid threats, including cyber, and use unconventional tactics to undermine our collective security, Department of State says in a December statement.

Together, the United States and Poland maintain pressure on Russia, which continues to undermine the rules-based international order, the statement says.
Facing Birkenau are exact digital prints of the same works, as if to dissolve their momentousness. Between the four Birkenau paintings and the four copies are four gray mirrors, and everything appears under dimmed lights. If Birkenau is meant to assert that we will never truly understand the Holocaust, at the Breuer everything adds up too easily: The abstract paintings express the inexpressible, the copies indicate that even the worst can happen again, and the mirrors force us to face our place in history.

Its the one room in this otherwise impeccably hung exhibition that feels overfilled. If it were up to me Id hang the Birkenau paintings like any others, and leave us to our grief. Yet I suspect Mr. Richter, closely involved in the organization of this room, has his own aims with the copies and the mirrors. The Third Reich and the G.D.R. inculcated in him a lifelong doubt of ideologies  but now, nearing 90, the artist doubts even his own doubtfulness, and he seems less confident than his many admirers of what Birkenau achieves. For 60 years, he has treated uncertainty as an ethical duty. That remains true even at this final celebration, and with every pass of the squeegee, he has modeled how an artist can create in the face of doubt, face down the fear of wrongness, mistrust oneself and still fight on.

That is the priceless example he offers todays young artists, whose every mistake or hesitation gets pounced on by digital Savonarolas. So much dogmatism out there, so much high-volume moralizing. The voice we need to hear is the voice that says: I dont know. Im not sure. Im still thinking. Im still working.

Gerhard Richter: Painting After All

Through July 5 at the Met Breuer, 945 Madison Avenue, Manhattan; 212-731-1675, metmuseum.org. It travels to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles on Aug. 15.
Cast members pose for a photo during a press conference for the new Netflix series "Kingdom" Season 2 in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Netflix Korea



By Kwak Yeon-soo



The much anticipated Netflix original series "Kingdom" season 2 will premiere on March 13 with the original cast. The new season will pick up from the ending of season 1 with a more intense storyline and additional characters.



"Kingdom" is a zombie mystery thriller set during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1897). Consisting of six episodes, the story revolves around Crown Prince Yi Chang, played by Ju Ji-hoon, who fights against a mysterious plague and the people behind an evil scheme.



Season 2 will star the previous main cast, including Ju, Bae Doo-na and Ryu Seung-ryong, and will feature a guest appearance by Jun Ji-hyun. Details about Jun's character are still under wraps.



Screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, who also wrote popular TV series "Signal," drew the story from a 19th century royal court document that recorded tens of thousands of deaths in the capital amid the outbreak of an unidentified epidemic.



Kim Seong-hun, the director behind the previous season, produced the first episode of season 2 while another director Park In-jae newly joined to produce episodes 2 to 6.



The first season of "Kingdom" was released in January last year and grabbed viewers' attention worldwide for combining the concepts of zombies and historical drama.



"Compared with season 1 when zombies rise, season 2 will feature how the Joseon Kingdom falls. It will be an absolute rollercoaster," director Park said.



"The young queen, played by Kim Hye-jun, will be playing a bigger role so please look forward to her new transformation."



He also expected the drama's international audience to display their interest in Korean architecture during the Joseon Kingdom.



In season 1, many viewers showed interest in "gat," a traditional Korean hat seen in the show. In the past, Koreans wore varying styles of "gat" based on their social status and circumstances.



"You might want to look closely into Korean architecture. It's very detail-oriented and colorful," Park said.



Writer Kim said she wanted to focus more on familial politics and power struggles. "For this season, I wanted to feature how blood ties and family were of particularly great importance during the Joseon Kingdom. Bloodline also played a role in dividing social classes," she said.



Actor Ju expressed satisfaction about his character, who transforms his role to become the savior of his people from that of a wanted man in season 1.



"In the first season, I was running away from the evil Cho Hak-joo clan, the queen's family. In the second season, I'll be going after them to become the next king," he said.



Ju said he enjoyed working with Netflix because of the freedom and sufficient time they granted him.



"Because 'Kingdom' had only six episodes unlike any other Korean TV series that usually consist of 16 episodes, we were able to make it high quality," he said.



Actress Bae explained that while season 1 is about witnessing the rise of the new plague, season 2 is about figuring out what causes the zombies to stay active and how to prevent infection.



"Kingdom" season 2 will be seen in over 190 countries through Netflix. Subtitles will be available in 27 languages, and dubbed versions will also be available.


Hundreds of victims of Ponzi scheme kingpin Bernie Madoff really don't want him to get out of prison despite his claim that he is dying. They recently told a judge their reasons in often-heartbreaking letters.

"Our lives, and not just financially, also emotionally, mentally, and physically . . . were Destroyed," wrote one victim, who noted that her husband lost $850,000 to Madoff.

Another woman wrote, "I lost all my money and my husband of 40 years committed suicide because of his horrific crimes.

"As far as I am concerned, he should spend the rest of his life in jail," she wrote to Judge Denny Chin in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Releasing Madoff, a third victim told Chin, "would be to put another knife in the hearts of his victims."

Those three letters are among the approximately 520 that Madoff victims sent Chin on the heels of Madoff's court filing last month seeking early release from his 150-year prison sentence because he has terminal kidney disease.

Madoff, who had headed Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in New York City, pleaded guilty in 2009 to 11 crimes related to the swindling of billions of dollars from thousands of investors over several decades in what prosecutors have called the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

His new lawyer says the 81-year-old Madoff could be dead in 18 months or less given his medical condition, which has left him mainly wheelchair bound in a federal medical prison facility in North Carolina.

Madoff is seeking so-called compassionate release, which was granted several months ago to former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers, who died last month shortly after being set free from a 25-year prison term for a massive accounting fraud.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday evening filed a memorandum opposing Madoff's request, saying he "has demonstrated a wholesale lack of understanding of the seriousness of his crimes and a lack of compassion for his victims, underscoring that he is undeserving of compassionate release himself."

The filing notes that out of the hundreds of letters from victims sent to Chin, just 20, or 4% of the total, support Madoff's request.

The individual letters are expected to be publicly released at some point.

But prosecutors in their filing quoted parts of a number of letters to bolster their argument opposing the idea of releasing Madoff.

Prosecutors noted that after Madoff's scheme was exposed in 2008, two investors committed suicide "upon realizing the substantial losses they had incurred as a result of investing with Madoff."

"Madoff's son Mark hanged himself on the second anniversary of Madoff's arrest," prosecutors wrote.

"Moreover, as reported by the many victim submissions provided in response to Madoff's motion, Madoff caused many victims immense personal suffering, including by wrecking their family's financial security ruining their retirements or other life plans, or exacerbating the health conditions themselves or loved ones."

"Many of these victims were not independently wealthy, and worked their entire lives to accumulate the savings that Madoff stole to fuel his and his family's extravagant lifestyles."
Federal officials have launched an investigation into the Seattle nursing at the centre of a major coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll in the US climbed to 11.

As Mike Pence prepared to visit Washington state and tens of thousands of technology firm employees were advised to work from home to try and reduce the spread of the virus, authorities said they would be probing the LifeCare Centre in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle.

Ten of the USs eleven fatalities have been in Washington state, and most of them were residents of the care facility. At least 39 cases have been reported in the state and officials believe the virus may have been undetected for weeks.

Seema Verma, the head of the centres for medicare and medicaid services (CMS), part of the department of health and human services, said in a media briefing she was ordering state authorities monitoring care facilities to focus on limiting infections.

The action was being take, she said, to make sure that were doing everything we can as a health care system to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Show all 16 1 /16 Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Gondoliers wait for customers in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Gondoliers wait for customers in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A man wearing a protective mask walks past the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A gondolier on the Grand Canal as the sun sets in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A local pulls a trolley as she leaves a street food market in Venice, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. A U.S. government advisory urging Americans to reconsider travel to Italy due to the spread of a new virus is the "final blow" to the nation's tourism industry, the head of Italy's hotel federation said Saturday. Venice, which was nearing recovery in the Carnival season following a tourist lull after record flooding in November, saw bookings drop immediately after regional officials canceled the final two days of celebrations this week, unprecedented in modern times. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Locals wait for a mass at the barely empty San Salvador church in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. A coughing Pope Francis told Italy, 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. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Tourists wearing protective masks take photographs in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks as the country's confirmed cases surpassed 1,000. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Tourists wearing protective masks look at their smartphones as they have a break at the St. Mark's square in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks as the country's confirmed cases surpassed 1,000. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A couple stand at the Rialto bridge during a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks as the country's confirmed cases surpassed 1,000. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. Reuters Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty water bus after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Tourists shelter against the rain with umbrellas as they walk in the empty St. Mark's Square during a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Gondolas are parked on a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks. AP

She said the CMS was sending inspector to LifeCare, along with experts from the centres for disease control and prevention.

Last April, Washington state fined LifeCare $67,000 over infection-control deficiencies following two flu outbreaks that affected 17 patients and staff. An unannounced follow-up inspection in June determined that Life Care had corrected the problems, said Ms Verma.

The probe came as tens of thousands of employees from companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and Expedia, were advised to work from home.

 England's chief medical officer says UK has moved to 'delay phase' of tackling coronavirus

Amazon, which has its headquarter in Seattle, recommended employees in the area to work from home until the end of the month, after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.

Also, Facebook said a contractor at its Seattle office was diagnosed with the coronavirus and that it would shut the location until March 9. A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the COVID-19, the company said.

Officials have suggested organisations postpone or cancel activities that involve gatherings of more than ten people.

We have encouraged people who are responsible for large gatherings to give consideration whether it really makes sense to carry those on right now, said governor Jay Inslee said. Right now, we are deferring to the judgment of these organisations.

On Wednesday night, California declared a state of emergency as officials said an elderly person from Placer County, near Sacramento, had died after testing positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise.

In the nations capital, Donald Trump again played down the threat the virus posed.

He told Fox News the 3.4 per cent mortality rate announced by the World Health Organisation was false and suggesting it was under 1 per cent. He said: This is really my hunch.

Additional reporting by agencies
A couple had been married for 58 years when they died side-by-side during a tornado event that ravaged their Tennessee home.

James and Donna Eaton, aged 84 and 81, were resting when their mattress was thrown from the bed as the tornado weaved through Mt. Juliet, a suburb of Nashville.

Four tornadoes whipped through Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, killing 24 people and becoming the state's second deadliest tornado event in history.

The Eatons' home on Catalpa Drive was leveled by the tornado.

James 'Jimmy' Eaton (left) and Donna (right) died side-by-side when a tornado leveled their home in mt. Juliet, Tennessee

Four tornadoes touched down in Tennessee, including one in Cookeville and another in Mt. Juliet (pictured)

Mt. Juliet Police Department Capt. Tyler Chandler told Today: 'The home of that family, the Eatons, was probably [in] the worst part of the damage.'

The Eatons were longtime residents of Mt. Juliet, and James 'Jimmy' Eaton would have turned 85 on Wednesday.

The couple's 24-year-old grandson, Jake Hardy-Moore, told the Tennessean: 'They showed Christ's love and his sacrifice. They both loved our families through challenging times of life.

'They were the ones we looked to when times were difficult, and they kept us pointed toward God and to be dependent on God.'

Pictured: Volunteers work to clear debris from the Phillips family's home in Cookeville, Tennessee on Wednesday

Donna and James were members of First Baptist Church Mt. Juliet for 40 years and remained active parishioners until their deaths.

James would oftentimes visit hospitals with Pastoral Care & Senior Adult Pastor David Fallin. He also helped with the church coffee bar on Sundays.

Donna was a retired business manager at First Baptist and continued to help with office duties as needed.

Donna (left) and James (right) were asleep in their bedroom when the tornadoes force threw the mattress across the room

Pictured: Donna and James celebrating their 50th anniversary with loved ones in Tennnessee

First Baptist Church Mt. Juliet announced on Twitter that a funeral would be held for the sweet couple on Saturday.

'A great tribute to a special couple. Married 58 years. Always supportive. Always there. Always cheerful. We will cherish their lives,' Pastor Phillip Dunn said of the couple.

Dunn continued: 'To know them was to love them. They carried with them a happy spirit, and their love for their church family was a model to all of us.

Phillip Dunn, a pastor at First Baptist Church Mt. Juliet, said the Eatons were 'supportive' and 'always cheerful'

'To know that they were taken from us so quickly in a storm shocks all of us. We can also rest assured that Jim and Donna loved Christ and woke up with their faith becoming sight.'

Chandler said the tornado touched down in Mt. Juliet for seven to eight miles within city limits.

In addition to the Eaton, a person working security at a warehouse also died because of the tornado.

'I personally continue to drive through the damaged areas and see how everyone has a great attitude and come together to help each other,' Chandler said.

'Sometimes it takes a major incident to bring a community together, and our community has always had a strong bond but this has brought us even closer.'

The four tornadoes that landed in Tennessee on Tuesday have killed 24 people thus far and damaged several homes

Among the 24 people who died, several were young children and rescue crews continuing to sift through miles of wreckage for survivors and some 73,000 people are still without power.

Putnam County released names for 18 of the tornado victims, including a young couple who died with their toddler son and a mother-of-two.

As of Thursday, there were 18 deaths in Putnam County, three in Wilson County, two in Davidson County and one in Benton County.

At least two twisters tore across the state after midnight on Tuesday, shredding more than 140 buildings and burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements. Sirens and cellphone alerts sounded, but the tornadoes moved so quickly that many people in their path could not flee to safer areas.

'It hit so fast, a lot of folks didn't have time to take shelter,' Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said. 'Many of these folks were sleeping.'

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts as at least 70 people are still unaccounted for nearly 24 hours later.

About 156 people have been hospitalized after being pulled from the wreckage.

Gov Bill Lee declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts as an unspecified number of people are still unaccounted for. Rescue crews are seen helping a woman out of her home in Mount Juliet

Early findings by National Weather Service (NWS) survey teams indicated that the damage just east of Nashville was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, the agency said.

One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown. It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church.

Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a two-mile path of destruction in Putnam County, wiping some homes from their foundations and depositing the wreckage far away.

The tornadoes left a trail of devastation as it passed through Camden, Cookeville and Mt Juliet. Downtown Nashville was also severely damaged

Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable.

Schools, courts, transit lines and an airport were closed. More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged, forcing Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.

Voting hours have been extended in Davidson County after four Democratic presidential candidates sued to keep polls open.

A Davidson County Chancery Court judge ruled that polling locations in the county whose seat is Nashville must remain open until 8pm CST. Two so-called megasites, where anyone in the tornado-hit county can go to vote, will be open until 10pm.

Putnam County releases names of 18 tornado victims Stephanie Field - 30's female Harlan Marsh  4 to 5-year-old male Jessica Clark  30s female Amanda Cole  34-year-old female Hattie Collins  4-year-old female Dawson Curtis  6 to 7-year-old female Terry Curtis  54-year-old male Joshua Kimberlin  male in his 30s Sawyer Kimberlin  2 to 3-year-old male Erin Kimberlin  female in her 30s Todd Koehler  male in his 50s Sue Koehler  female in her 50s Patricia Lane  67-year-old female Leisha Littenberry  28-year-old female Bridgette (Ann Marie) McCormick  12 to 13-year-old female Keith Selby  male Cathy Selby  female Jamie Smith  30 to 35-year-old female Advertisement

Governor Lee also said 'a number of people' are still missing.

'It is heartbreaking. We have had loss of life all across the state,' Lee said. The governor ordered all non-essential state workers to stay home Tuesday before going up in a helicopter to survey the damage.

President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the state Tuesday morning.

'Prayers for all of those affected by the devastating tornadoes in Tennessee. We will continue to monitor the developments. The Federal Government is with you all of the way during this difficult time.'

During his speech at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference on Tuesday, the president said: 'Before I begin I want to send my warm wishes to the great people of Tennessee.'

'I'll be going there Friday. Our hearts are full of sorrow for the lives that were lost,' he added.

The tornadoes were spawned by a line of severe storms that stretched from Alabama into western Pennsylvania.

Tuesday's tornado system was the third to rip threw downtown Nashville. According to the NWS, the previous two twisters occurred in the city in 1933 and 1998.

The 'March 3, 2020 Nashville Tornado had a path near but not quite exactly like the tornadoes of April 16, 1998 & March 14, 1933,' the service said.

Both the 1998 and 1933 tornadoes hit during the afternoon while Tuesday's occurred just after midnight.

On Super Tuesday in February 2008, Nashville residents fell victim to a night time system that caused damage across Middle Tennessee during a tornado outbreak.

The roof came crashing down on Ronald Baldwin and Harry Nahay in bedroom of the one-story brick home they share in East Nashville. 'We couldnt get out,' said Baldwin. 'And so I just kept kicking and kicking until we finally made a hole.'
A mother-of-four has avoided jail after rorting more than $45,000 from Centrelink over four years.

Renjena Anyer Nyour, 41, pleaded guilty to dishonesty causing risk of loss to the Commonwealth at Werribee Magistrates Court, in Melbourne, on March 2.

Nyour claimed Newstart payments despite earning $181,000 between April 2012 and November 2018, according to Wyndham Leader.

She was working for seven different daycare providers at the time.

Renjena Anyer Nyour, 41, pleaded guilty to dishonesty causing risk to of loss to the Commonwealth after rorting Centrelink out of more than $45,000 over four years (stock)

The Sudanese refugee, who came to Australia in 2004, was given a four-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months.

She also plans to pay $87 a fortnight of her $45,440 debt - meaning she will make more than 520 installments.

Nyour was putting her daycare wages and her welfare money into two different accounts, which were both in her name.

Authorities discovered Nyour's deceit through data matching in 2017.

She was discovered to have 'falsely represented' her circumstances 103 times over the four years.

Centrelink asked Nyour in for a 'formal interview' but she refused, the court was told.

The Sudanese refugee was given a four-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months in Werribee Magistrates Court on Monday (stock)

She claimed her husband filled out the forms but she was the one who lied.

Nyour's lawyer said her client was illiterate.

Magistrate Urfa Masood said Nyour's offending was unacceptable however the magistrate accepted that she had taken responsibility for her actions.

Nyour had paid back $241.30 to Centrelink at the time of sentencing.
Officials confirmed Thursday that a man from Fort Lee in Bergen County is the first person in New Jersey to have a presumptive positive test result for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

But what does presumptive positive mean?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that essentially means that a state laboratory has got a positive test result but the CDC hasnt confirmed it yet.

The CDC told KHOU 11 in Houston that before it can be considered a true positive result, a respiratory specimen from the patient must be sent to a CDC lab to be tested again. Its not clear if the test the CDC performs is the same one state labs are using.

The center told the news station that those confirmatory tests are done rather quickly but it all depends on the transportation time and the volume of specimens the CDC is dealing with. As the number of presumptive positive cases continue to be reported across the country, that volume is likely growing.

In New Jersey, the initial coronavirus test can only be performed at New Jersey Public Health Environmental Laboratories in West Trenton. The federal government is sending an additional 500 test kits to the lab after Vice President Mike Pence announced that all restrictions on test kits would be lifted, meaning anyone can be tested with a doctors order.

The CDC said that when someone has a presumptive positive test result, they are isolated and steps are taken to limit any possible transmission of the virus, just as though it was a confirmed case. That might include placing them in an airborne infection isolation room with a special ventilation system and requiring only essential staff to enter the room while wearing protective equipment including gloves, gowns and a respirator.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said the 32-year-old man with the presumptive positive test result is stable and in isolation while being treated at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he arrived on Tuesday.

Sololich said officials are hoping to interview the man today to learn more about how he might have contracted the virus.

In an email to Hackensack University Medical Center staffers, Chief Physician Dr. Daniel W. Varga said the man has also been placed on restrictions with regard to visitation and that the hospital is complying with all CDC guidelines.

Another patient at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck is under observation and suspected of having COVID-19, hospital officials told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. Its not clear when the state lab will know if it is a presumptive positive case or not.

There are more than 93,000 cases worldwide and more than 3,100 deaths from COVID-19, mostly in China. The virus has infected more than 150 people in the U.S. and killed 11.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Western forces will only leave Afghanistan if the Taliban make good on their commitment to reduce bloodshed, the head of NATO warned Wednesday, as attacks surge. The militants have ramped up violence against Afghan forces since signing a deal with Washington at the weekend, casting doubt over peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, due to begin on March 10. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told AFP that a "long and hard" road to peace lay ahead but warned the Taliban that if they reneged on the agreement, foreign forces would not leave. "It is a very difficult situation and Taliban must honour their commitment. We need to see reduction in violence," Stoltenberg told AFP in an interview in Zagreb, where he attended a meeting of EU defence ministers. "We can only deliver our side of the deal if Taliban deliver their side of the deal." US President Donald Trump has touted the deal, signed in Doha, as a way to end the bloody 18-year US military presence in Afghanistan. But overnight, Taliban militants killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a string of attacks in the latest breach of the partial truce. Under the terms of the deal, US and other foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with the government of President Ashraf Ghani. - 'No alternative' - NATO, which has a 16,000-strong training and support mission in Afghanistan, has long insisted it would only leave when conditions were right -- in particular that terrorists could not use the country as a springboard for attacks abroad. "The agreement that was signed on Saturday was an important first step, but it's only a first step," said Stoltenberg, who as prime minister of Norway sent troops to Afghanistan following the US-led invasion that overthrew the Taliban in 2001. "The road towards peace will be long and hard and we have to be prepared for disappointments." "At the same time there is no alternative. The only way to have a peaceful solution is a negotiated agreement and to talk to Taliban." With an election coming up in November, Trump is keen to make good on pledge to end America's longest war, but observers say it appears the Taliban have yet to be convinced to come to the negotiating table with Kabul. Barely three days after signing the partial truce deal, the Taliban announced they were resuming their offensive against Afghan government forces. In a sign of their intent, the militants have mounted 30 attacks in 15 of the country's 34 provinces in the space of 24 hours, according to the Afghan interior ministry.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- International phytocannabinoid-rich biomass originator and processor, Green Point Research (GPR), is excited to announce that Matthew "Matt" Turner will be joining the executive leadership team as the newly appointed Chief Science Officer (CSO). GPR's global positioning, vertical integration, and quality premium genetics have helped it earn its reputation as a leader in the growing hemp industry. Adding a uniquely qualified CSO with such a strong combination of deep technical knowledge and operational expertise is expected to aid the company in its ambitious future growth plans as it meets the current and future market demand from institutional purchasers for bulk cannabinoid products.

Matthew Turner, Chief Science Office at Green Point Reseach Healthy seed start growing at GPR nursery in Fort Meade

"Matthew joins us at a vital time as we focus on expanding sales of our premium quality seeds, clones, and genetics to meet the growing demand of farmers looking to enter the hemp industry," said David Hasenauer, CEO of Green Point Research. "With his deep understanding of optimizing extraction and refining operations, we have created an unparalleled process, which will allow us to become the largest low-cost cultivator and processor of hemp biomass."

As the Chief Science Officer for Green Point Research, Turner is responsible for overseeing the technology, design, construction, and operation of Green Point's extraction and refining operations. Turner brings a wealth of knowledge in extraction and refining operations, having previously constructed and managed extraction and refining plants as Cargill's Global Manufacturing Operations Manager. His twenty-five years of experience also includes executive leadership through roles as VP of Manufacturing and Engineering with Golden Peanut, COO of Justin's Nut Butter, and CEO of DeSmet Ballestra, one of the world's technical leaders in the edible oil extraction and refining business.

"Cannabidiol is the most misunderstood compound on earth. I look forward to advancing knowledge and education about the hard-working compound while working with Green Point Research to fully optimize our vertically-integrated operations," adds, Matthew Turner, newly appointed Chief Science Officer for Green Point Research.

An Army veteran, Turner served with the 101st Airborne, 5th Special Forces Group and instructed at United States Military Academy West Point. Turner holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Austin Peay State University and one in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He went on to earn a Master of Science in Management at Murray State University and another in Chemical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

A published writer, Turner, has contributed to several publications, including Modern Applications of Chemistry. He also co-authored Patent Application number 20030134018, titled "Process for Oil Extraction".

Turner is a married father of three and currently resides in Florida. He's also active in the community and supports a number of organizations, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

About Green Point Research

Green Point Research (GPR) is a vertically integrated phytocannabinoid-rich biomass originator and processor founded in 2016. GPR controls its supply chain from seed to processing bulk cannabinoids for business to business sale. Satividol, a cannabidiol (CBD) softgel, is among the products the company produces. Contact Green Point Research at 954-500-HEMP to learn more about the Green Point Method and how to purchase seeds, seed starts, and clones. For more information, please visit www.greenpointresearch.com.

Media Contact:

Lais Pontes Greene

(954) 960-6083

[email protected]

SOURCE Green Point Research

Related Links

https://greenpointresearch.com


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Innovation, Science and Industry (ISI) Minister Navdeep Bains said Bell, Telus, and Rogers have to cut prices of mid-range plans by 25 per cent, and will be held accountable by producing quarterly updates that will be made available to the public.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would cut cell phone bills as an election promise, after which Bains said that reductions will be measured from the time he received his mandate letter after the 2019 election.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance Canada, Bains clarified that carriers are expected to lower prices to the 25 per cent target for plans that offer 2GB to 6GB of data in the next two years.

The brands that offer plans in this range are the carriers flanker (mid-range) brands that include Bells Virgin Mobile, Rogers Fido, and Telus Koodo.

Weve seen price reductions in the high-end plans and low-end plans but in the mid-band space between two and six we have not seen significant price reductions, Bains said. Were targeting that area because the average Canadian uses 2.5GB per month.

He noted that his ministry reviewed total subscribers of all the carriers and saw that 40 per cent of Canadians are on mid-range plans.

Bains did not say if there would be legislation to implement the 25 per cent reduction.

He did indicate that the government, through Statistics Canada, will provide quarterly updates for greater transparency on all the plans from the three carriers so Canadians can clearly see the progress [of] a company that has made a 25 per cent reduction.

This will apply pressure to companies, he said.

He did not clarify if this was a moving target but said that affordability for Canadians is a topic that will always be considered by the government.

When it comes to lowering cell phone prices these are areas that are important and we are confident this plan will provide real choices, he said.

Telus only brand to claim to meet Liberal promise so far

In January, Vancouver-based national carrier Telus began branding specific plans with a True North Affordability sticker. The badge, according to the carrier, was to direct customers to plans that meet the Liberals target.

Story continues

The carrier compared plans to a projected plan of action that the Liberals posted during their election campaign.

On its flanker brand Koodos website, a package for a family of four would cost $2,760 annually.

The plan of action to reduce cell phone prices by 25%. Via Innovation, Science and Industry Canada

With the new pricing plan put forth by Bains, this would now require Koodo to reduce prices for a family of four by $730 annually.

Bains said that the government has a clear starting point and mechanism that will require carriers to reduce its prices further.

Weve been upfront with the carriers about this, he said, adding that the department has consistently been speaking with the the three largest companies, Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

Canadians expected to consume nearly 20GB of data when 5G comes

5G, the next generation of wireless networks, has not been made commercially available yet, except in select urban areas. Duncan Stewart, director of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte Canada, said in countries where 5G is available, consumers are tripling their data consumption.

Data published in November of last year said that 5G subscribers [in South Korea] were using almost 26GB of data per month in September 2019, while LTE subscribers only used 8.3GB, suggesting a more than tripling of data use for those on 5G compared to 4G, he said in a Twitter direct message.

Equity analysts have also suggested that once 5G rolls out fully, more Canadians will subscribe to unlimited data plans.

Bains said that Canadians will still have the option of cheaper mid-range plans when 5G is implemented.

Prices have come down for low-end and high-end [when 5G fully arrives] it will project to 20GB but Canadians will still be provided with an affordable option in the 2 to 6GB space, he said.

He did not say if the 25 per cent target will change based on consumer behaviours.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief.
(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.







COMPANIES







ITV said its annual results were ahead of expectations, driven by revenue growth in the second half of the year. For 2019, pretax profit fell 6.5% to GBP530 million from GBP567 million in 2018 as operating costs increased 6.1% to GBP2.77 billion from GBP2.61 billion. The broadcaster reported a 3.2% rise in total group revenue to GBP3.89 billion from GBP3.77 billion in 2018. Broadcast total revenue was down 1.9% year-on-year to GBP2.06 billion as total advertising revenue slipped by 1.7% to GBP1.77 billion but was guided to fall 2%. ITV proposed a final dividend of 5.4 pence a share, taking the total payout to 8p, unchanged from 2018. Looking ahead, ITV expects advertising revenue to be up 2% in the first quarter of 2020, though early indications suggest it will be down 10% in April. The broadcaster noted that it has seen travel advertising deferments relating to the coronavirus outbreak.







Aviva reported a rise in operating profit in 2019, ahead of consensus, but saw its underwriting profit slip, as the insurer looks ahead under a new corporate structure. Aviva posted a statutory pretax profit of GBP3.93 billion for 2019, more than double the GBP1.65 billion reported the year prior. This was helped by a GBP40.58 billion investment income, after a GBP10.91 billion loss in 2018. Aviva is paying a final dividend of 21.40 pence per share. This takes the 2019 total to 30.90p, 3% higher than a year before. The 2019 results are Maurice Tulloch's first as chief executive, and the first results after "simplifying" the company in late 2019.







David Stevens is to retire as chief executive of Admiral Group, the motor insurer said, as it reported a "record" annual profit. Stevens, a co-founder of Admiral in 1991, has been CEO since May 2016. Admiral has decided to replace him with Milena Mondini de Focatiis, the current head of Admiral's UK & European Insurance business. She will assume the role of CEO after the transition period. Turning to 2019 financial results, Admiral posted a pretax profit for the year of GBP522.6 million, which it said is a record. This is 10% higher than 2018, and meets guidance given by Admiral in February of between GBP510 million and GBP540 million of pretax profit. Insurance premium revenue increased by 5.8% to GBP2.20 billion, with Admiral's net insurance premium revenue up 5.6% to GBP709.4 million. Outgoing CEO Stevens said it was the first time pretax profit has topped GBP500 million, saying it was "another freight train year" for the company.







Schroders held its annual dividend steady as profit dropped amid challenging market conditions, but the value of managed assets beat consensus expectations. For 2019, the asset and wealth management group reported a 4% drop in pretax profit to GBP624.6 million from GBP649.9 million the year before, on revenue that declined by 2.4% to GBP2.54 billion from GBP2.63 billion. Pretax profit before exceptional items was down 8% at GBP701.2 million from GBP761.2 million in 2018, but remained above consensus expectations of a 10% drop to GBP684.5 million. The group declared a final dividend of 79.0 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 114.0p, in-line with the prior year. Looking ahead, Schroders said that despite recent market weakness, the group remains well placed to generate growth over the long term. In the short-term, however, the coronavirus has created considerable uncertainty in economies and markets.







Melrose Industries said annual profit performance comfortably beat internal expectations. The turnaround specialist also said it is considering a sale of the Air Management operations of Nortek. Melrose delivered a pretax profit of GBP106 million for 2019, swinging from a pretax loss of GBP542 million the year before. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit was 32% higher at GBP889 million. Birmingham-based Melrose delivered revenue of GBP10.97 billion in the year, up 35%. The company is paying a final dividend of 3.4 pence per share, giving a total for the year of 5.1p, up 11% on 2018's payout. Melrose, looking to 2020, expects another year of progress in each business. It is too early to quantify the impact of coronavirus, the company said, and it remains focused on "what we can control".







The global airline industry could lose up to USD113 billion in revenue this year due to the impact of the new coronavirus, an industry body warned, as the epidemic spreads rapidly worldwide. "The turn of events as a result of COVID-19 is almost without precedent," said Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association, following a meeting in Singapore. "In little over two months, the industry's prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse."







John Lewis Partnership embarked on a strategic review following a third consecutive year of falling profit. John Lewis's profit before bonuses, tax, exceptional items, and accounting changes for the 52 weeks to January 25 was down 23% to GBP123 million, though the statutory figure rose 25% to GBP146 million. The company's revenue was 1.6% lower at GBP10.15 billion. John Lewis is paying a bonus to staff of 2%, compared to 3% last year, totalling GBP30.9 million, which is 31% lower than the amount of cash returned to staff in its previous financial year. The strategic review, White said, will be completed by the autumn. It will look at how the core retail business can be improved and also look at new operations outside of retail.







MARKETS







London shares were sharply lower with the threat of the coronavirus becoming prevalent as more companies warn over its affect on earnings. Oil was down as the OPEC meeting in Austria gets underway. US stock market futures were pointed to a sharply lower open after the state of California on Wednesday declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus spread.







FTSE 100: down 1.7% at 6,697.40

FTSE 250: down 1.9% at 19,375.21

AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.7% at 879.80

GBP: up at USD1.2920 (USD1.2812)

EUR: firm at USD1.1166 (USD1.1141)

GOLD: flat at USD1,644.80 per ounce (USD1,643.40)

OIL (Brent): down at USD50.55 a barrel (USD52.17)

(changes since previous London equities close)







ECONOMICS AND GENERAL







The latest eurozone construction purchasing managers' index signalled the fastest expansion in activity for a year, IHS Markit said. The PMI rose to 52.5 in February, up from 51.9 in January. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion, and one below contraction. By country, Germany's construction PMI rose to 55.8 from 54.9, with homebuilding the best performing category.







Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are meeting in Vienna on Thursday to try to overcome their divisions on how to react to the fall in oil prices in the wake of the novel coronavirus epidemic. The group already had to contend with abundant supply on global markets weighing on prices but the spread of COVID-19 across the world has sent them plunging. The European benchmark of Brent sank to under USD50 on Sunday, a level not reached since July 2017. The effects of the virus on global demand - particularly in worst-hit China - has blown a hole through the group's attempt to support prices at its last meeting in December by agreeing on production cuts. The only option for OPEC - and its allies in the OPEC plus grouping who will be joining meetings on Friday - would appear to be another round of production cuts.







California declared a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus Wednesday as a cruise ship was held off the coast over fears of a new outbreak. The measures came as the death toll in the US hit 11, including the first fatality in California, and lawmakers in Congress agreed to provide more than USD8 billion to fight the rapidly spreading disease. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the emergency measures as he reported the death of an elderly person who had taken a cruise to Mexico. "The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Newsom told reporters.







Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Even the elderly are likely to survive being infected with coronavirus, the Chief Medical Officer said today - but they might need to self-isolate during a major outbreak.

Professor Chris Whitty said that even among very vulnerable groups, the majority of patients would make it through a dose of the illness.

He also insisted that mounting fears of mass infections in the UK, it was not yet necessary for older people to stay away from other people.

Prof Whitty said the government was putting together a plan to help pensioners who did need to be isolated for a 'short time' at a later stage. It is expected to involve using FaceTime or Skype to keep them in touch with family and friends.

The moves emerged as Prof Whitty warned that half of all cases in the UK could happen within a period of just three weeks - meaning in a bad scenario the health service could be 'way' over bed capacity.

He said the government had now essentially moved to the 'delay' phase of its response - with efforts to contain new cases having failed.

The experts predicted that UK cases will keep rising, saying infections are taking place between Britons, and the chances the virus will fade away in the short term are now 'slim to zero'.

Giving evidence to the Health Select Committee, Prof Chris Whitty said: 'I'm expecting the number only to go up.'

An nurse during a demonstration of the Coronavirus pod in Northern Ireland yesterday

A woman who works at the Cumberland Infirmary, in Carlisle, is one of at least four NHS workers to have caught the coronavirus already. She caught the illness in Italy and travelled home through Germany

On ITV's This Morning. Boris Johnson insisted he will be guided by scientists - saying there will be a 'balance' between 'draconian' measures to limit the spread and keeping society functioning

Prof Whitty warned 'community transmission' was happening in the UK, and the government's focus had moved from the 'contain' phase to focus on efforts to 'delay' the spread.

Locations on new coronavirus cases 'WILL be released' The government will keep releasing information about the location of new coronavirus cases, the Chief Medical Officer said today. Prof Chris Whitty was pressed on suggestions the government will not provide daily geographical information after a sharp rise in cases. But he blamed a 'communications fumble', saying in fact the government will give details - although there might be a 'short delay' to get the facts correct if there are a large number of cases. 'We are intending to provide geographical information. In fact in the medium term we will provide much more information with maps and a dashboard,' he said. 'What we are intending to do is have some kind of delay to make sure we have got the details right... 'What we don't want to do is give people incorrect information.' Officials had been accused of 'secrecy' after the new arrangements were mooted, with claims the public should be given as much information as possible so they could protect themselves. Authorities in Singapore reveal the exact street where each case is diagnosed. Advertisement

Giving evidence to MPs as the number of UK cases hit 90, Prof Whitty said: 'This could be anywhere from a rather bad winter for the NHS, but in spring or summer through to huge numbers way overtopping the ability of the NHS to put everyone in beds, and that obviously would have big pressures on the service.'

Prof Whitty also backtracked on suggestions that the authorities could stop providing geographical information about new cases in the UK. After complaints about a lack of transparency, he said such details would still be released and blamed a 'communications fumble'.

Prof Whitty said elderly people should not self-isolate themselves yet.

'We do not think it is a good idea - whilst there is almost no transmission, there is some in the community,' he told the committee.

'People self-isolating over this period, they could then be having to isolate themselves, which inevitably involves some social isolation, for some months and that would not be a good thing in our view societally.'

Prof Whitty said they were trying to avoid older people coming into contact with the virus, while keeping them in touch with society.

'We are still working this through, but what we do want to do is make sure that if people cannot provide face-to-face contact - and they may not be able to for a relatively short period of time - work out ways in which we can at least encourage people to make contact through other routes,' he said.

Prof Whitty said that, even for high-risk age groups, catching coronavirus did not mean you would be 'a goner'.

He added: 'Even in the most vulnerable, oldest groups, in the very stressed health service which Hubei was at the point when most of the data come out of, the great majority of people who caught this virus - and not everybody will - survived it, the great majority, over 90 per cent.

'So, I think it's easy to get a perception that if you are older and you get this virus then you're a goner - absolutely not, the great majority of people will recover from this virus, even if they are in their 80s.'

Coronavirus 'can stay on bus and train handrails for 72 hours' Coronavirus can stay on bus and train handrails for up to 72 hours, the Chief Medical Officer said today. Prof Chris Whitty said the disease could last for around three days on hard surfaces, longer than on soft surfaces. But he insisted there was no problem taking buses and trains as long as people washed their hands and did not touch their faces. Asked about the risk from handrails, Prof Whitty said: 'There will be some risk of transmission and the risk peaks immediately after they've done it and goes down over time. 'It's probably largely gone by 48 hours and almost completely gone by 72 hours on a hard surface. Soft surfaces viruses last for a shorter period.' He added: 'Just touching it will not give you the virus. It's if you touch it and then touch your face having not washed your hands between them. 'If you go on the tube and touch a rail that's fine but just be aware of what you do with your hands. 'Don't touch your face, wash your hands and then you can do what you like.' Advertisement

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has insisted he will be guided by scientists - saying there will be a 'balance' between 'draconian' measures to limit the spread and keeping society functioning.

At least four NHS staff have caught the illness, which has now infected 90 people in the UK, along with two other people in hospitals and a medical student in London.

Three new cases were confirmed this morning by the Scottish Government, in people from Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, and Grampian, bringing the country's total to six.

Healthcare workers are at particular risk of contracting and spreading the virus because they come into close contact with sick perople and meet a lot of different patients, visitors and colleagues.

King's College Hospital, in London, yesterday put parts of its buildings in lockdown after two coronavirus cases were discovered there, and another was diagnosed at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

One of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed with the virus was a GP working in Brighton, and another hospital doctor in nearby Worthing contracted the illness.

NHS workers in Carlisle and Maidstone and a patient and a student at King's College Hospital have also all been diagnosed.

Giving evidence to the Health Select Committee, Prof Whitty said: 'I'm expecting the number only to go up.

'There are now several - not large numbers - but several cases where we cannot see where this has come from in terms of a clear transmission, either because someone has come directly from overseas or because they've had a close contact with someone who has recently returned from overseas.

'That I think makes it highly likely therefore that there is some level of community transmission of this virus in the UK now.'

He added: 'It is here at very low levels at this point in time, but that should be the working assumption on which we go forward.

Asked by chairman Jeremy Hunt whether the government had shifted its focus fro 'contain' to 'delay', Prof Whitty said: We are now basically mainly delay.'

A patient at King's College Hospital, London, has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, along with a virology student who was studying there

A queue of people was pictured outside Boots in Wimbledon this morning reportedly waiting to buy hand sanitiser

Prof Whitty said that, even for high-risk age groups, catching coronavirus did not mean you would be 'a goner'.

He said that firstly 'we intend to do what we can to make sure that they are the group that is least affected, as far as we can'.

He added: 'Even in the most vulnerable, oldest groups, in the very stressed health service which Hubei was at the point when most of the data come out of, the great majority of people who caught this virus - and not everybody will - survived it, the great majority, over 90 per cent.

'So, I think it's easy to get a perception that if you are older and you get this virus then you're a goner - absolutely not, the great majority of people will recover from this virus, even if they are in their 80s.'

Prof Whitty suggested if the situation deteriorates there might not be enough space in mortuaries.

'It depends how much worse it gets,' he said. 'But there are plans for this. This is standard planning for many emergencies.

'The final common pathway, sadly, for some emergencies can be that there is a large number of people dying at the same time.

'This is a very standard part of the toolkit that local authorities think through for all emergencies, including major epidemics.'

Prof Whitty was pressed on suggestions the government will not provide daily updates on the location of new infections.

But he blamed a 'communications fumble', saying in fact the government will give details - although there might be a 'short delay' to get the facts correct if there are a large number of cases.

'We are intending to provide geographical information. In fact in the medium term we will provide much more information with maps and a dashboard,' he said.

'What we are intending to do is have some kind of delay to make sure wqe have got the details right...

'What we don't want to do is give people incorrect information.'

In other key developments today:

ITV revealed travel companies are deferring their TV advertising because of the disease, with advertising revenue due to drop 10 per cent in April.

Europe's largest regional airline Flybe has collapsed into administration, with sources saying coronavirus 'made a difficult situation worse'.

The Grand Princess cruise ship, with around 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew, is being held off the coast of California after a former passenger died from Covid-19.

Kings College Hospital in south London, confirmed two recent patients had tested positive for Covid-19, with some staff told to self-isolate.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which is chaired by the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, is meeting later to discuss the situation.

Prof Whitty told MPs it had initially been hoped that the virus could have been contained mainly within China with a few outbreaks elsewhere and once the authorities got on top of it the Covid-19 would go away.

But, he said: 'That is becoming an extraordinarily unlikely long-term outcome.

'We are not completely there and it is important to acknowledge that for 'contain' we need to have an international view about what we do about this.

'This is something which we should, in a sense, take the views of other nations as well as our own.

ITV warns adverts are being pulled over coronavirus fears ITV has warned that its advertising revenues are being hit by the outbreak of coronavirus as travel companies pull their ads from TV. The broadcaster said it has already felt the pinch in March, and is expecting a 10% drop in ad revenue in April. It comes as the company reported a 1.5% drop in full-year advertising revenue in 2019, although that is better than the 2% fall it had previously forecast. Pre-tax profit fell by 7% to 530 million, on revenue of 3.9 billion, up 3%. ITV said it is too early to tell how big the overall impact of coronavirus will be. It still expects ad revenue to grow by 2% in the first three months of the year; however this does not include April. The disease has spread around the world since it was first discovered in China late last year. Almost 100,000 people are now thought to have been infected, with several thousand deaths reported. Advertisement

'But I think we need to be realistic about the fact that with so many different outbreaks, containing looks pretty optimistic.'

He said the delay phase was aimed at pushing back the peak of the epidemic.

That could move the peak of cases away from the 'winter pressures on the NHS in all four nations of the UK'.

It would also allow more time for research into the nature of the Covid-19 virus and, thirdly, there was a possibility that - as with flu and colds - there could be a seasonal element which meant the rate of transmission went down.

Prof Whitty said there would not be a 'step move' from the contain phase to the delay phase but 'we are putting greater and greater priority on the elements of this which are delay'.

'For the early stages of delay, contain and delay are very similar, not quite the same. They are largely around finding early cases, isolating them, following their chains of transmission, where necessary isolating those people,' he said.

But as time goes by there would be measures that involved 'changes to society', he said.

Prof Whitty said deaths from Covid-19 could be a 'very small number' as a proportion but a 'large absolute number' depending on how many are infected.

The impact on the health service would be most sharply felt over a period of around three weeks to nine weeks at the height of the epidemic.

'For those people who get the disease severe enough to need hospital but not severe enough, fortunately, to kill them, they will still need NHS and health care.

'One of the things which is clear, if you model out the epidemic, is you will get 50% of all the cases over a three-week period and 95% of the cases over a nine-week period, if it follows the trajectory we think it's likely to.

'If all of those were spaced out on the NHS over two or three years, that would be easily manageable, but it's the fact they are so heavily concentrated.'

The period at the height of the epidemic would mean the NHS has 'huge pressure on it for a relatively short period of time'.

Access to critical care beds could be under the most pressure in the NHS as a result of the virus, Prof Whitty said.

'The bit of the system which will come under pressure first will be those conditions that require people to have oxygen and particularly to have critical care beds, and that bit, I think, will come under pressure at quite an early stage if we have a high-end-of-the-range epidemic for this,' he said.

Prof Whitty said he believed infections among NHS workers would be 'similar to other areas' - because staff would be told to curb their usual habits of working through illness.

'NHS staff are remarkably determined to come and serve their professions,' he said.

'They may come in with quite significant feelings of unwellness.. We would definitely not wish them to do that in this situation.'

He said: 'The difference between presenteeism in the NHS, which is remarkable, and some areas of work would go away - and we would want it to go away.'
The Governments new decree on automobile transportation is expected to help get the transportation market back on track, according to the Ministry of Transport.

From the beginning of April, cars providing passenger transportation services via ride-hailing apps would be treated like taxis.  Photo nhipcaudautu.vn

The Decree 10/2020/ND-CP will take effect from the beginning of April in the context that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) has hugely changed the transportation market, making old regulations outdated.

The ministry said the decree demonstrated the Governments determination to use technology in automobile transportation management, simplify administrative procedures and remove inappropriate regulations.

The decree aims to create a fair playing ground for transportation service providers, increase convenience for passengers and ensure safety.

The most noteworthy point of the new decree is that it clearly distinguishes transportation service providers from ride-hailing platform operators.

An automobile transportation service provider can perform at least one of the stages of transportation services like directly operating vehicles, managing drivers or actively offering fees while ride-hailing platform operators could not intervene in any stage but only help connect drivers and passengers.

Tran Bao Ngoc, director of the Transportation Department under the Ministry of Transport, in an interview with Tuoi Tre (The Youth) online newspaper, said this would enable companies like Grab to select the most appropriate model for their operation, as transportation service providers or ride-hailing platform operators.

The decree coming into force would also signal the end of the pilot project of tech-based cars which allowed ride-hailing cars to operate in five provinces and cities including Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang, Quang Ninh and Khanh Hoa.

Ngoc said that with the new decree, ride-hailing cars could operate in all 63 provinces and cities nationwide if they met legal requirements.

All cars providing passenger transportation services via ride-hailing applications will be treated like taxis from the beginning of April.

This means such cars must have a taxi sign on the roof or a sign made of reflective material on the front and rear window. The installation must be completed before July 1.

In addition, roof signs would no longer be compulsory for traditional taxis. Instead, they could also opt for a taxi sign made of reflective material on the front and rear window.

This aims to ensure fairness between ride-hailing cars and traditional taxis.

According to Nguyen Van Xang, chairman of Ha Noi Union of Transport Technology Cooperatives, which manages more than 14,000 tech-based cars, said the new decree would create a legal framework for ride-hailing car firms which would benefit both drivers and passengers.

Xang said the market for tech-based cars would be expanded to 63 provinces and cities which would create opportunities for drivers.

The new decree, replacing the Decree 86 issued in 2014, also regulates all vehicles providing transportation services from nine seats or higher must install cameras before July 1 to record their journey. This regulation aims to improve transportation service quality and ensure traffic safety.  VNS

Decree 10 legalises ride-hailing for benefit of passengers and drivers Vietnam has legalised ride-hailing, opening up opportunities for ride-hailing firms and bringing more benefits to passengers and driver-partners.
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing municipal government has released a three-year plan to promote the innovation and development of industries related to the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.

Beijing will foster breakthroughs in key and core technologies, and create a sound ecology for Beidou-related industries via cultivating competitive enterprises, according to the plan.

The total output value of the Beidou navigation and location service industry in Beijing will exceed 100 billion yuan (about 14.4 billion U.S. dollars) by 2022, it said. Beijing will also build an innovation center for Beidou-related industries with global influence and set up a standard application system.

Beijing will set up seven major demonstration projects to promote the application of the Beidou system in smart transportation, environment protection and intelligent logistics, according to the plan.
By Online Desk

Bollywood actor Yashpal Sharma said that artistes have no caste or religion, and one shouldn't make movies to please someone.

The 'Lagaan' actor said that the day a filmmaker/actor "considers to make a film to please the Prime Minister or Home Minister, they die."

Thank you Yashpal Sharma Sir for saying what needed to be said by an Artist. pic.twitter.com/xVaR9k4D7W  Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) March 3, 2020

Yashpal Sharma also said he opposes the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

During an interaction with ANI, Yashpal Sharma mentions, I may not know everything about it (CAA, NRC), but I am against the citizenship law and the NRC because the whole country has been unnecessarily entangled into these, creating an atmosphere of fear."

Yashpal is known for his work in some popular films like Lagaan, Gangaajal, Ab Tak Chhappan, Rowdy Rathore.

ALSO READ: Delhi riots - SC refuses to allow victim to intervene in hate speech case against Harsh Mander

Meanwhile, the death toll in Delhi violence has risen to 47 after four bodies were brought to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Sunday evening.

Two Special Investigation Teams (SITs) have been constituted under the Crime Branch, Delhi Police, to investigate the violence.



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

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.

ALSO READ: Northeast-Delhi on edge as four more corpses fished out of drains



The Delhi Police said it has registered 369 FIRs and arrested or detained 1,284 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 district over the past three days, an official said.
TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unisync Corp. (Unisync)(TSX:"UNI") is pleased to announce that it will be featured in a BTV-Business Television series to be aired on BNN-Bloomberg and Bell Express Vu at 5:00pm PST on Saturday, March 7th and at 1:30pm PST on Sunday, March 8th.



The feature will also be available on Air Canada Seatback television on the Business Channel and will be aired Nationally in the US on the Biz Television Network on Sunday, March 15th @ 5:30am, 6:00pm & 9:00pm PST and on Tuesday, March 17th @ 5:00pm & 8:00pm PST. The video can be accessed by clicking the following link: https://www.b-tv.com/unisync-a-leading-provider-of-corporate-apparel-company-feature-ep-347/ .

BTV-Business Television is Canada's longest running business show. With Hosts Taylor Thoen and Jessica Katrichak, BTV features emerging companies across the country to bring investment opportunities to everyday people. The Unisync feature is also available on the BTV homepage at: www.b-tv.com .

ABOUT UNISYNC

Unisync is a broad-based vertically integrated North American enterprise with exceptional capabilities in garment design, domestic manufacturing, and off-shore outsourcing, including state-of-the-art web based B2B ordering, distribution, and program management systems. Unisync operates through two business units: UGL and Peerless.

UGL provides full-service, managed apparel programs for major corporations and government-related entities through operations across Canada and has expanded into the US marketplace through the establishment of a 45,000 sq. ft. distribution and service facility in Henderson, Nevada, and a sales and service facility in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Nevada facility is now staffed and distributing new uniforms for the launch of its first major US based airline account which is currently rolling out its new designs to employees. UGLs customer base includes a broad list of North American iconic brands as well as municipal and provincial agencies across Canada.



Winnipeg based Peerless specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of highly technical protective garments, military operational clothing, and accessories for a broad spectrum of Federal, Provincial and Municipal government agencies in Canada.

For more information on our capabilities, products and services, please visit our website at www.unisyncgroup.com .

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Matthew Graham, CEO
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn said she was troubled by the allegations that witnesses were threatened and asked for a submission from the plaintiffs lawyers documenting in greater detail the information that you have by March 18. Netburn gave the attorneys permission to redact the names of the witnesses. The submission will initially be filed under seal and will not be available to the Saudi governments legal team, the judge ruled.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 10:14:56|Editor: zyl

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SYDNEY, March 5 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of Australia's recent bushfire crisis, a new scientific study is calling for one of the country's most beloved animals -- the koala -- to officially be reclassified as endangered.

Examining a period of 15 weeks from Oct. 1, 2019 to Jan. 10, 2020, the report commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and prepared by the research group Biolink, conservatively estimated that around 5,000 koalas, or 12 percent of the population in New South Wales (NSW) State were killed as a direct result of the bushfires.

But while some koalas may have escaped the flames, IFAW wildlife campaigner Josey Sharrad told the Australian Associated Press on Thursday, the figures do not include the ongoing losses which are expected due to habitat destruction.

"The surviving koalas have nowhere to go," she said. "We want them to have breathing space to recover because they've been hit so hard."

"The prolonged drought, excess land clearing, habitat loss and now the fires - it's hit at the heart of so many significant koala populations."

With more research to be completed covering the period to Feb. 10, 2020, the report found that the iconic marsupials are facing "serious challenges" when it comes to their long-term survival.

As well as low reproductive rates and loss of habitat through development, the ongoing threat posed by bushfires and climate change puts the specie's future at significant risk.

"The consequence of more frequent fires is that remaining koala populations are simply not able to recover from one fire event before being subjected to another," Sharrad said. "These fires have been a game changer."

"Everything needs to be re-thought. They're literally fighting for their survival."

In response, the NSW state government is reported to be considering an emergency endangered species listing, meaning there will be greater funding for conservation available and increased restrictions on land clearing near koala habitat.
In what could be a major breakthrough in the murder case of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, the CBI has recovered a firearm from a creek in neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra, sources in the probe agency said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) hired services of a foreign sea explorer agency to search and recover the firearm used in the killing of Dabholkar.

The CBI earlier claimed in a Pune court that one of the accused shooter, Sharad Kalaskar, dismantled the firearm used in commission of the crime and threw it in a creek in Thane.

"A weapon has been recovered during the search operation, but whether it is related to the crime or not will only be confirmed after the ballistic report from the forensic laboratory," a CBI official told PTI on Thursday, on condition of anonymity.

He, however, refused to divulge any further details about the recovered weapon.

Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar, one of the accused in the case who was arrested and is currently on bail, is alleged to advised Kalaskar to destroy the firearms used in the crime.

Punalekar, before his arrest, had represented members of the Sanatan Sanstha and other activists in various cases in courts.

The CBI earlier claimed that during the investigation, it came to light that in June 2018, Kalaskar visited Punalekar's chamber in Mumbai where he explained his role in the killing of Dabholkar.

"Punalekar then told Kalaskar to destroy the firearms used in the killings, including of journalist Gauri Lankesh (in Bengaluru)," the CBI earlier claimed before the Pune court.

The agency also told the court that on July 23, 2018, Kalaskar dismantled four country-made pistols (by taking out barrels and sliders) and threw them from a bridge in Thane creek while on way to Nallasopara (in adjoining Palghar district) from Pune.

Dabholkar, a well-known anti-superstition activist, was shot dead on August 20, 2013 in Pune.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Radio Red Zone broadcasts from a town under quarantine and brings listeners useful health advice and sense of community.

Codogno, Italy  As the coronavirus grips Italy and stringent measures are taken to slow the spread of the infection, a local radio station is providing citizens with a sense of normality amid a quarantine.

The station broadcasts from Codogno, a town now known as the Wuhan of Italy under lockdown. Trains do not stop there, and the streets are empty.

Good morning, Codogno! says 82-year-old presenter Pino Pagani, starting his live broadcast from inside Lombardys red-zone area, where about 50,000 people have been under quarantine for almost two weeks.

Pagani then reads an inspirational message sent in from listener Diego Lazzanoni, an Italian living in Castiglione dAdda town:

We are here in our homes to fight with our childhood friends and families. Although we are on our knees right now, I feel the silent vicinity of my town. Even if the streets are empty, and no sound is to be heard, I know that when this nightmare is over, we will be partying as we alone know how. We dont and wont give up.

Messages like this can often be heard on Radio Zona Rossa, or Radio Red Zone, which was set up amid the coronavirus emergency, using the local Radio Codognos frequencies.

Twice a day, presenters update Italians under quarantine with the latest government information, opening hours for shops and post offices and timings for medical wards.

Guests, including authorities, are invited on air to shed light on their efforts to tackle the infection.

The channels Facebook page has about 1,000 followers who send in messages of appreciation as they find ways to entertain themselves at home  you guys are great, thank you, Pino.

People need to talk and have information, Pagani told Al Jazeera. In particular the elderly, who are going through a very tough time, as they are sometimes left on their own.

Listeners often call in with questions.

An old lady called us a couple of days ago, saying she lacked a thermometer to take her temperature, said presenter Francesco DAdda. She asked about what she should do.

Within minutes, Radio Zona Rossa alerted the local branch of the civil defence, which provided the woman with a thermometer.

Classrooms at the Piero Gobetti high school in Turin have been sanitised as part of measures to try and contain a coronavirus outbreak [Massimo Pinca/Reuters]

Another elderly lady called the radio feeling extremely lonely.

Luckily, we were here with other colleagues, said Pagani. We kept her entertained for about half an hour. Afterwards, the radio speakers contacted the womans municipality to highlight her situation of need.

Italy is the European epicentre of the virus, the worst-hit country on the continent. More than 3,000 people have been infected, and almost 150 have died. In the lockdown area, more than 550 people caught the virus.

Radio Zona Rossa constantly reminds citizens of what they can do to contain the virus, such as keeping a safe distance of at least one metre from other people.

We have everything we need inside the shops, Pagani said, adding that people should not flock to grocery stores to panic buy and create queues.

We dont know when the quarantine will end. This is a great mystery. Knowing the answer is worth several thousand euros, he joked.

Meanwhile, as Italy struggles to cope, the Catholic Mass has been suspended throughout much of the countrys north in an attempt to limit large congregations.

But the faithful have found other ways to worship during the current Lent period. Priests now live-stream their celebrations on Facebook and YouTube.

A YouTube page of a church in Codogno, the San Biagio Parish, has more than 100 subscribers who praise the high-quality images that are broadcast. Radio Zona Rossa also streams some sermons.

Technology has also come to the aid of teachers and students. Schools have closed across the country until mid-March, and students can follow their courses and present their dissertations on webcams connected to digital platforms provided by their faculties.

Federico Tassone, a 22-year-old nuclear engineering student at the Polytechnic University of Milan, said: Lessons are uploaded on a platform that students can access with their university credentials  Maybe this is not the only solution, but it is the best one available at the moment.
As a low-cost regional airline, Flybe was operating in a very competitive and price sensitive market, and it was vulnerable to rising costs, said Lucy Budd, professor of Air Transport Management at De Montfort University, in an email on Thursday.

Mr. Braithwaite added: Flybe ran out of options and ran out time. He warned that Flybe might have been the first airline whose collapse was sped up by the virus, but that it wouldnt be the last.



The carriers financial problems go back at least to October 2018, when it issued a profit warning based on projections of weaker demand. Its shares fell by about a third, as analysts pointed to increasing competition with budget carriers like Ryanair and uncertainty leading up to Britains departure from the European Union. Brexit was widely considered to be a factor in last years collapse of Thomas Cook, the British travel agency.

Flybes prospects briefly brightened a year ago when it was bought for 2.2 million pounds ($2.8 million) by Richard Bransons carrier, Virgin Atlantic, and its partners, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

But financial problems continued, and the British government announced this year that it was exploring options that could lead to its recovery, including adjustments to the Air Passenger Duty, a tax paid by plane operators.

In January, Sajid Javid, then chancellor of the Exchequer, said the government would take new measures to support connectivity across Britain.

I welcome Flybes confirmation that they will continue to operate as normal, safeguarding jobs in U.K. and ensuring flights continue to serve communities across the whole of the U.K., he said in a statement at the time.

But the measures received a lukewarm response from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Its not for government to step in and save companies that simply run into trouble, he told the BBC in January, but be in no doubt that we see the importance of Flybe in delivering connectivity across the whole United Kingdom.
AKRON, Ohio -- A driver died and his two passengers were hurt Wednesday evening after they crashed into a ravine on Akrons northwest side, according to police.

Paramedics brought Mitchell Lucas, 68, to Cleveland Clinic Akron General, where he died, police said.

A 33-year-old man in the front seat and a 64-year-old woman in the back seat were also taken to Cleveland Clinic Akron General for what police reported as non-life threatening injuries.

Around 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Lucas was driving a 2014 Dodge Journey northbound on Smith Road approaching the intersection of Diandrea Drive, when he drove off the right side of the road and into a ravine, police said.

All three people in the car were wearing seat belts, and speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash, police said.

The crash remains under investigation.
(ANSA) - Rome, March 2 - Ryanair became the latest airline to announce it was scaling back Italian services due to the coronavirus outbreak on Monday. "Ryanair today notified passengers that it was reducing its short haul flight program (mainly to and from Italy) by up to 25% for a 3 week period from Tues 17th Mar to Wed 8th Apr, in response to the Covid-19 Virus," the airline said in a statement.

"Over the past week, Ryanair has seen a significant drop in bookings over that late March/early April period, in response to the Covid-19 Virus. "There has also been a significant step up in passenger no-shows on flights, particularly from and within Italy".


SAN JOSE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Inspire Investing's first two biblical ETFs, Inspire Global Hope ETF (NYSE:BLES) and Inspire Small Mid Cap Impact ETF (NYSE:ISMD), hit three years of trading last Thursday since their launch on the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 27, 2017.

Since their debut, Inspire has launched additional funds bringing the total to five ETFs under their management, the latest of which being the Inspire International ESG ETF trading under the ticker WWJD, gathering a total of $444.5M AUM in their family of ETFs.

"Three years ago when we launched our first two ETFs, BLES and ISMD, a lot of people did not think we were going to make it," says Robert Netzly, CEO of Inspire Investing. "The media ran stories postulating that there are not enough investors who believe in biblical values anymore to make funds like ours viable. Three years later, we're still here and by God's grace we have been very successful. Against some of the media's assumptions, investors all over the world have supported the success of our funds and are aligning their investments to support the biblical values they hold dear. Every year that goes by provides more credibility that biblically responsible investing is a valuable investment approach that is serving a vast community of faith-based investors who have been left behind by Wall Street. I believe the best is yet to come."

About The Inspire Global Hope ETF (NYSE:BLES)

The Inspire Global Hope ETF is a biblically responsible ESG (environmental, social and governance) ETF that invests on a global scale, searching out inspiring, biblically aligned large companies ($5B+ market cap) from both the U.S. and around the world, using the innovative Inspire Impact Score methodology to identify companies that are making a positive impact on the world and avoiding those acting at cross-currents to biblical values.

BLES is equally weighted, rebalanced quarterly and targets a geographic composition of 50% United States, 40% developed international and 10% emerging markets. The ETF seeks to deliver quality performance characteristics and to replicate investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the Inspire Global Hope Index.

Since inception on Feb. 27, 2017, the BLES annualized return was 9.61% on the NAV (net asset value) with a market price return of 9.63%, as of the end of the previous quarter. The one-year return as of the end of the previous quarter for BLES was 27.90% on the NAV, with a market price return of 28.35%. BLES trades on the New York Stock Exchange and had total net assets of $136.6M as of Feb. 27, 2020.

About The Inspire Small Mid Cap Impact ETF (NYSE: ISMD)

The Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact ETF is a biblically responsible ESG ETF that invests in inspiring, biblically aligned small-cap ($1-2B market cap) and mid-cap ($2-3.5B market cap) companies in the U.S., as determined by Inspire's Impact Score methodology.

ISMD is equally weighted, rebalanced quarterly and targets a composition of 50% small cap and 50% mid cap companies covering a diverse array of sectors in the United States. The ETF seeks to replicate investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact Index.

Since inception on Feb. 27, 2017, the ISMD annualized return was 6.66% with a market price return of 6.69%, as of the end of the previous quarter. The one-year return as of the end of the previous quarter for ISMD was 24.43% on the NAV with a market price return of 24.79%. ISMD trades on the New York Stock Exchange and had total net assets of $85.2M as of Feb. 27, 2020.

The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by visiting http://www.inspireETF.com. Total annual operating expenses are 0.62% and 0.72% for (BLES) and (ISMD), respectively.

Rapid Growth and Impact

Inspire's commitment to supporting biblical values such as pro-life, traditional marriage and ending human trafficking with their investment offerings seems to resonate with investors across the globe.

In just three years, Inspire has managed to gather over $444M Assets Under Management (AUM) across all five of their ETFs, as of Feb. 27, 2020. Inspire Investing's discretionary AUM grew 152% in 2019, bringing total assets to $634.5M as of Dec. 31, 2019. This incredible growth follows Inspire being recognized as the 8th fastest growing registered investment advisor (RIA) firm in the nation in 2018 with AUM growth of 92.43%, according to Financial Advisor Magazine's "Top 50 Fastest Growing RIAs" annual report.?

Inspire has also been able to create meaningful impact in the lives of people across the globe thanks to the institutions, investors, and advisors using Inspire ETFs. Through the ministry partners of Inspire's Give50 campaign, where Inspire donates 50% or more of their corporate net profits generated from management fees, they have been able to facilitate Bible distribution, aid in natural disaster relief, build clean water wells, provide support for pro-life counseling, build a church in Guatemala, and more. You can learn more about Inspire's Give50 campaign at www.inspireinvesting.com/impact.?

About Inspire Investing

Inspire Investing is a leading faith-based investing firm that specializes in creating biblically responsible ESG investments. All Inspire ETFs utilize the innovative Inspire Impact Score methodology, which measures a company's positive impact on the world to identify companies that align with the values of faith-based investors.

Visit www.inspireinvesting.com to learn more about Inspire's biblically responsible investment products and inspiring impact projects.

Media contact:

Eric Smyth

Media Relations

(831)382-6572

inspire@inspireinvesting.com

# # #

Investment advisory services offered through CWM Advisors, LLC dba Inspire, a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC.

Important Risk Information: Inspire, the adviser, provides the index for the Inspire Funds to track. The indexes use software that analyzes publicly available data relating to the primary business activities, products and services, philanthropy, legal activities, policies and practices when assigning Inspire Impact Scores to a company. The securities with the highest Inspire Impact Scores are included in the Indexes and are equally weighted. As the Fund may not fully replicate the Index, it is subject to the risk that investment management strategy may not produce the intended results.

Past performance is no guarantee that the Funds will achieve their objective, generate positive returns, or avoid losses.

Securities in the Index or in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities markets or other asset classes. The Fund may focus its investments in securities of a particular industry to the extent the Index does. This may cause the Fund's net asset value to fluctuate more than that of a fund that does not focus in a particular industry. Fluctuations in the value of equity securities held by the Fund will cause the net asset value ("NAV") of the Fund to fluctuate.

Investments in foreign securities could subject the Fund to greater risks including currency fluctuation, economic conditions, and different governmental and accounting standards.

The Fund is not actively managed and the Adviser will not sell shares of an equity security due to current or projected underperformance of a security, industry or sector, unless that security is removed from the Index or the selling of shares of that security is otherwise required upon a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology. Tracking error may occur because of imperfect correlation between the Fund's holdings of portfolio securities and those in the Index. The Fund's use of a representative sampling approach, if used, could result in its holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Index. To the extent the assets in the Fund are smaller, these risks will be greater.

Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. To obtain a prospectus which contains this and other information, call 877.658.9473, or visit https://www.inspireetf.com. Read it carefully. The Inspire ETFs are distributed by Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Inspire and Northern Lights Distributors, LLC are not affiliated. 3293-NLD-3/4/2020

Related Files

Inspire-Story-Book.pdf

Q4-2019-ETF-Factsheets_final.pdf

Related Images

Related Links

BLES Factsheet

ISMD Factsheet

SOURCE: Inspire Investing

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579309/Inspire-Investings-First-Biblical-ETFs-Hit-3-Years-of-Trading
Journalist Golunov ordered to undergo mental examination  attorney

 Moskva city news agency, Alexander Avilov

17:23 05/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 5 (RAPSI)  The Investigative Committee of Russia has sent journalist Ivan Golunov to a mental examination, his lawyer Sergey Badamshin has told RAPSI.

The examination is to check if the journalist has psychosocial disabilities and psychoactive substance dependence.

Earlier, all five ex-police officers, investigators allege are involved in the case, were placed in detention for two months, until March 29.

Defendants are ex-Moscow narcotics control policemen Igor Lyakhovets, Denis Konovalov, Akbar Sergaliyev, Roman Feofanov, Maxim Umetbayev. They are charged with abuse of power, evidence tampering and illegal drug trafficking. All the men except Konovalov plead not guilty.

Investigators believe that they planted drugs on Golunov. Thus, they falsified the results of operative search activity that later became inculpatory evidence against Golunov in a drug dealing case; however, the drugs had been earlier illegally bought and kept by the police officers, according the Investigative Committee.

In late December 2019, investigators opened the case over arrest of Golunov. The journalist was recognized as an injured party. All five defendants in the case have been dismissed from police.

Golunov was arrested in Moscow on June 6, 2019. On June 8, the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow placed him under house arrest for 2 months. According to the Interior Ministrys official statement, police seized nearly 4 grams of methylmethedrone from Golunov.

The journalist pleaded not guilty, insisted that the drugs were planted on him during the arrest and claimed that his prosecution is related to his journalistic investigations.

According to his defense, an examination showed no drugs in his biomaterial.

On June 11, charges against Golunov were dropped because of a lack of evidence that he participated in the crime, and the journalist was released.

On June 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed two generals of police on the back of the arrest of Golunov.
A woman in a face mask walks in the downtown area of Manhattan, New York City, after further cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in New York on March 5, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Senate Approves $8.3 Billion Emergency Coronavirus Package, Sending Bill to Trump

The Senate passed the Houses $8.3 billion coronavirus bill on Thursday, with a single vote against the measure coming from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)

The $8.3 billion emergency funding measure easily cleared the House on Wednesday in a 415-2 vote just hours after the House and Senate appropriations leaders, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), unveiled the plan.

The bill, which passed 96-1 in the Senate, includes around $3 billion in vaccine research and some $2.2 billion in prevention and preparedness efforts, greatly exceeding a proposal put forward by the White House last week. But President Donald Trump told reporters that he wasnt opposed to a larger spending package.

If they want to give us more money, thats okay; well take more money, Trump said at the time.

The spending package also includes $500 million to expand access to health services to seniors, who are considered the most at-risk group during the COVID-19 outbreak. Many of the virus deaths around the world are among older people and individuals who are suffering from underlying health problems.

Paul put an amendment on the measure to cut funding for certain international programs to cover the costs of coronavirus spending. However, the Senate voted in a bipartisan manner to kill the amendment.

I support our governments efforts to fight the coronavirus, Paul said in a statement ahead of the vote. We also owe it to the American people to do it in a way that avoids piling billions more in debt on their backs.

A man in a face mask rides the subway in Manhattan after further cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New York on March 5, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

More than 100 cases and 11 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the United States so far. The vast majority of the deaths have occurred in Washington states King County, said officials.

This should not be about politics, this is about doing our jobs to protect the American people from a potential pandemic, Shelby said in a statement on Wednesday. We worked together to craft an aggressive and comprehensive response that provides the resources the experts say they need to combat this crisis. I thank my colleagues for their cooperation and appreciate President Trumps eagerness to sign this legislation and get the funding out the door without delay.

The American people are counting on our government for a fully-funded, coordinated, and comprehensive government-wide response to the coronavirus, Lowey said in a statement of her own.

Over the past week, amid negotiations, both Democrats and Republicans said more funding is needed to address the outbreak.

As the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States continues to grow, Congress is taking swift action this week to provide our health experts, hospital, health care providers and state and local governments the funding they need, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor earlier in the week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday lauded the bipartisan efforts to come up with a deal.

The way to secure these urgently-needed resources with speed and certainty was to forgo partisan posturing, forgo micromanagement at the leadership level, and let bipartisan appropriators do their work, McConnell told reporters.
DENVER, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- While attention across the world will focus April 22 on "Climate Action" to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Colorado travelers have boundless opportunities every day to make Earth Day a mindset. Visit Colorado.com.

Care for Colorado Principles: Colorado joined with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics to create the principles about traveling responsibly.

' Colo-Road Trips': The microsite is a searchable online collection of itineraries aimed at inspiring travel in less-visited destinations and seasons.

Electric Byways: By this fall, Colorado travelers should be able to traverse at least five of the state's 26 Scenic and Historic Byways with an electric vehicle.

Sustainable Destinations:

Aspen : Aspen is one of seven cities in the U.S. that runs on 100 percent renewable energy. To help promote responsible tourism, the Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA) created the Aspen Pledge . In direct support of climate action, Aspen Ski Co. launched Give A Flake in 2018.

Glenwood Springs : Glenwood Springs also runs on 100 percent renewable energy. All three hot springs attractions use geothermal heat and recycle BTUs to reduce energy consumption. With a new reservation system and shuttle for Hanging Lake , Glenwood Springs is ensuring that this natural wonder is protected.

Breckenridge : This September, Breckenridge will host the Mountain Towns 2030 Summit to gather like-minded mountain destinations with the unified goal of operating at net zero by 2030 . The town has invested more than $22 million in protecting land from development.

Denver : The Mile High City is consistently ranked among the most sustainable cities in the country. Visitors can make their trip to downtown low impact by taking the University of Colorado A-Line from Denver International Airport to Denver Union Station .

Fort Collins : From the Pace Bike Share Program to city Transfort buses that run on bio-diesel/compressed natural gas and a new e-scooter pilot program, examples of sustainability abound. Fort Collins is home to over 50 protected Natural Areas encompassing more than 36,000 acres and more than 100 miles of trails.

Steamboat Springs : Sustainability is a value that permeates many areas of the community, as exemplified by the free mass transit system and a plastic bag ban. The Yampa Valley Community Foundation's Trail Maintenance Endowment Fund (TMEF) funds trail and trailhead maintenance projects and recently introduced new "donation stations."

Vail : Vail partnered with Walking Mountains Science Center and Sustainable Travel International to become the first sustainable mountain resort destination in the world and the first certified sustainable destination in the United States certified by a GSTC-Accredited certifying body, Green Destinations .

Activities Good for the Earth:

ACES at Rock Bottom Ranch , Basalt: A 113-acre wildlife preserve and educational ranch offering farm dinners.

Colorado Stargazing: Experience the Night Tour , various destinations: This new dark skies tour launches this spring and connects several of the state's locations known for their stargazing opportunities.

Dandelion Day , May, 9, 2020, Carbondale: The celebration highlights activities and products associated with sustainability, community and spring.

Park to Park Shuttle to Chautauqua , Boulder: The program provides satellite parking and free shuttle service to reduce vehicular impacts.

Ridgway Farmers Market , Fridays May to October, Ridgway: The market operates with a philosophy of supporting vendors who are local and follow sustainable practices.

Walking Mountains Science Center , Avon: The center provides opportunities to explore nature through natural science and sustainability programs.

YMCA of the Rockies Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration , April 24-25, 2020, Estes Park: In addition to regularly scheduled activities, guests will enjoy family-friendly ecology events such as planting trees.

Eco Lodging:

Badger Creek Ranch , Canon City: Guests are provided with an off-the-grid, authentic and sustainable ranch experience.

C Lazy U Ranch , Granby: In partnership with the Nature Conservancy, the property has placed an additional 1,221 acres under permanent easement as of 2020.

Marble Distilling Company , Carbondale: A zero waste operation that recaptures 100 percent of its process water and reuse energy harvested from the distillation process to heat the facility.

Mellow Moon Lodge , Del Norte: This 1940s motor lodge opened last year as an eco-friendly property focused on outdoor adventure travellers.

The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa , Avon: The first Colorado resort to earn Silver LEED certification and expanding its efforts with the creation of the new Westin Riverfront Eco Journey.

SCP Hotel , Colorado Springs: Born out of a vision to help make the world a better place by serving those who value personal wellness, social good and the environment.

Weston Pass Hut , Leadville: This remote escape is built with locally harvested and milled beams and an earth-covered, naturally insulated tundra roof.

Voluntourism:

Colorado Fourteeners Initiative: Helps restore and maintain the trails and fragile plant life.

Colorado Mountain Bicycle Association (COMBA): Dedicated to building new singletrack trails and maintaining current trails.

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP): Offers many opportunities for people to give back to the land.

Rocky Mountain Field Institute : Engages thousands of community volunteers every year through the completion of trail and restoration projects.

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC): Motivates and enables people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources.

Wildlands Restoration Volunteers : Provides an opportunity to learn about the natural environment and take direct action to restore and care for the land.

SOURCE Colorado Tourism Office

Related Links

http://Colorado.com


The world witnessed an increase of 31,000 ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) in 2019, taking the total number of such people  those with a net worth of $30 million or more  to 513,200, says the Knight Frank Wealth Report for 2020. This translates into a 6.4 per cent jump over 2018.

India, according to Knight Frank, ranks 12th and had 5,986 such individuals in 2019, which is likely to reach 10,354 by 2024. The number of billionaires in India, on the other hand, is likely to reach 113 by 2024, up from 104 in 2019. Amongst asset classes, Indian UHNWIs are most ...
CLEVELAND, Ohio  United Airlines is the first carrier to announce a reduction in flights within the United States due to a drop in demand from the spreading coronavirus concern.

The airline announced Wednesday that it would reduce domestic flights by 10%, and international flights by 20%, starting in April.

Its unclear where the reductions will come from, and whether Cleveland will be affected. An official with Cleveland Hopkins said the airport had not been notified of any schedule changes.

The carrier said changes would be loaded into Uniteds system on Saturday. United is the largest carrier at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, with approximately 25% of all flights.

Separately, JetBlue Airways announced that it too would reduce capacity because of the coronavirus, cutting seats by about 5%. JetBlue offers service from Cleveland Hopkins to Boston and Fort Lauderdale.

The United cuts will most likely be accomplished primarily via a reduction in frequency and changes in seasonal flying. No domestic destinations will be dropped, according to a letter sent to employees from United CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby.

The move is the latest from the airline industry, which has been rocked by the global health crisis in recent months.

The International Air Transport Association said Thursday that the coronavirus could wipe out $63 billion to $113 billion in annual global airline revenue, an impact almost without precedent, according to association president Alexandre de Juniac.

In addition to the United capacity cuts, the letter from Munoz and Kirby also outlined a series of employee-related cost-cutting moves, including postponing salary increases, a hiring freeze and voluntary, unpaid leaves of absence. We sincerely hope that these latest measures are enough, but the dynamic nature of this outbreak requires us to be nimble and flexible moving forward in how we respond, the two wrote.

Transportation analyst Seth Kaplan said other U.S. carriers would likely follow Uniteds lead.

I dont think it will take long, said Kaplan. To one degree or another, theyre all experiencing the same kind of demand softness.

In the meantime, intrepid travelers will likely find some airfare bargains in the coming weeks, said Kaplan, noting a well-publicized $99 fare to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines. And Im sure there will be some good deals to Europe.

The reduction in demand is just the latest move from a jittery airline industry, attempting to contain the fallout from the crisis. Earlier this year, a majority of global airlines restricted travel to China, where the virus originated, and then added restrictions to South Korea, Japan, Italy and other affected destinations.

In addition, United and other U.S. airlines have substantially eased penalties for rescheduling flights, in an attempt to reassure a nervous public. United is currently allowing any customer who bought or buys a ticket between March 3 and March 31 to change it for free within a year.

Read more:

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Should I cancel my trip? Experts say it depends.

Masks not necessary, hand washing is best

Berea grad calls for empathy

Another Ohioan tested negative for coronavirus; health officials urge caution

Protecting patients, health care workers priorities as Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth and UH prepare for coronavirus

Inside the coronavirus outbreak: Former Clevelander gives account of daily life in Shanghai

Ohio economy could feel impact if Chinas coronavirus outbreak continues much longer

Novel coronavirus less deadly than past epidemics, local experts say
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020

Tech giant Google is looking to open its first data center in Indonesia this year to enable the company to take the advantage of the growing demand for cloud computing services in the country, one of companys senior executives has said.

Google Cloud Indonesia country director Megawaty Khie said in Jakarta on Wednesday that, with the establishment of the data center, the company would be able to provide a reliable cloud infrastructure for its local customers.

This year, in the next couple of months, we will launch a regional Google Cloud in Jakarta, Megawaty said during a press briefing.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 18:14:20|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- "Work resumption" has become the latest buzzword on China's Internet as people from all walks of life get back to business after a long holiday disrupted by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, data from Internet search giant Baidu showed.

In the past week, the number of searches for information on work resumption has soared by 678 percent from the previous week, according to a report released by Baidu Thursday.

More than 80 percent of the grocery stores and supermarkets in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are now open for business, the company's data showed.

Meanwhile, another bright spot is that the virus-stricken tourism industry sees signs of recovery as more than half of the scenic areas in cities including Hangzhou and Guangzhou reopened to visitors.

Emerging industries like artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing also gained popularity, with the number of searches surging by over 100 percent.
Russian citizen fined $4,000 for murder threats against Moscow judge

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

13:51 05/03/2020

MOSCOW, March 5 (RAPSI)  Moscows Meshchansky District Court on Thursday sentenced a resident of town of Voronezh Mikhail Kvasov to a 270,000-ruble fine ($4,000) for murder threats to Moscow judge Stanislav Minin, RAPSI was told in the courts press office.

Prosecutors earlier asked court to fine Kvasov 300,000 rubles ($4,500).

The defendant pleaded not guilty. The man said he had published the incriminating statement in support of rallies and did not imply to threaten the judge.

According to case papers, on September 5, 2019, an Instragram user with the nickname Chimera of All Russia published the judges photo and wrote that Minin had sentenced illegal rally activist Konstantin Kotov to 4 years in prison.

Investigators claimed that between September 7 and 12, 2019, Kvasov having a criminal intent and knowing about public danger of his actions posted a comment to the publication calling to take part in rallies and promising to kill the judge.




Cairo

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani, participated in the meeting of the Arab Ministerial Quartet Committee on the follow-up on the crisis with Iran and ways to counter its interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries. The committee consists of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Secretary General of the Arab League. The meeting convened in Cairo yesterday, on the sidelines of the 153rd regular session of the Arab League Councils ministerial meeting.

The ministerial committee discussed the developments of the crisis with Iran, the path of Arab relations with Iran, and ways to counter the Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries. The Ministerial Committee issued a statement condemning the unacceptable foreign interferences in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Yemen by the Secretary-General of the terrorist group Hizbollah. It described them as a blatant interference in the internal affairs of those countries to incite sedition and hatred and an extension of the dangerous role played by Hizbollah, one of Irans arms to destabilise the region. The committee stressed that this party represents a main source of tension and needs to be deterred, alongside those who support it.

It also emphasised the need to compel them to immediately stop those statements and all practices that hinder the efforts made to promote peace in the region. It stressed categorical rejection of any abuse to symbols and leaders, and called on the Lebanese government to condemn the statements and the blatant interference by one of its main components, within the framework of commitment to brotherly relations binding the Arab countries with Lebanon.

The committee denounced the ongoing Iranian interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Irans support for terrorism, training and harbouring terrorists, stirring sectarian drifts, and continuing hostile statements at various levels in order to destabilise security and stability in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It also condemned Irans establishment of terrorist groups in the Kingdom who are funded and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in breach of the principle of respect for the sovereignty and independence of states, and non-interference in their internal affairs, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.

It stressed support to all measures taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain to maintain its security and stability. The committee also hailed the decisions of a number of countries to classify the so-called Al Ashtar Brigades in the Kingdom, which are based in Iran, as a terrorist organisation, and a number of its members on the list of terrorism. It stressed that this reflects the determination of the countries in the world to address terrorism and its advocators at the regional and international levels.

The committee hailed Bahrains hosting of the Warsaw Process Working Group on Maritime and Aviation Security on October 21 and 22, 2019 in which more than 60 countries participated. It underscored the role of the Kingdom of Bahrain in bolstering regional security and stability and confronting the risks posed by the Iranian practices to maritime and air navigation in the region. The committee also denounced the continued Iranian and Turkish interference in the Syrian crisis and the serious implications this entails on the future of Syria, its sovereignty, security, stability, national unity and territorial integrity.

It asserted that such interference does not serve the efforts to settle the Syrian crisis by peaceful means in accordance with the contents of Geneva. The Committee stressed the importance of standing firmly against any Iranian attempts to threaten energy security, freedom and safety of marine installations in the Arab Gulf and other maritime lanes, whether carried out by Iran or its affiliates in the region. It affirmed that this constitutes a clear and explicit threat to security and peace in the region and the world, and threatens the stability of global economy.
Connie Crayden and Jonethen Musulin's relationship ran into serious trouble after he told her couldn't see a future with her on Tuesday's episode of Married At First Sight.

And it seems the 27-year-old's real reason for wanting to leave the experiment is because he feels 'trapped' by his bride, also 27.

A source told Thursday's OK! magazine: 'Connie follows him wherever he goes! He's feeling pretty trapped by her.'

Ready to leave: Married At First Sight's Jonethen Musulin, 27, seems set to leave his marriage with Connie Crayden after a source claims he's feeling 'trapped' in the marriage

'He's freaking out about her unpredictable and clingy behaviour,' they added.

Daily Mail Australia has approached Channel Nine for comment.

This comes after Jonethen, 27, essentially ended his tumultuous relationship with wife Connie during a picnic date on Tuesday.

While Connie was feeling good about rebuilding their relationship, Jonethen blindsided her by telling her that he couldn't see a future with her.

A source told OK! magazine: 'She follows him wherever he goes! He's feeling pretty trapped by her. He's freaking out about her unpredictable and clingy behaviour,' they added

'All our arguments have piled up on me': This comes after Jonethen, 27, essentially ended his tumultuous relationship with wife Connie during a picnic date on Tuesday

He said: 'There's been a bunch of negative things. A bunch of red flags for me. I think I pushed them all aside, so all our arguments have just kind of piled up on me.'

The long-haired hipster went on to say that the only reason that they'd had a good week together was because he wasn't being himself and was 'holding back on everything.'

'I'm just so on edge about what I can say at the moment. I just feel like I'm walking on eggshells.

Jonethen said: 'It's really shined a light. Like, how is this gonna work? I feel like we're sacrificing too much of ourselves to force this thing.

'I feel like I'm walking on eggshells': Jonethen told Connie, 'it's really shined a light. Like, how is this gonna work? I feel like we're sacrificing too much of ourselves to force this thing'

Meanwhile, Connie vented to producers about Jonethen's admission and called the whole talk was 'heartbreaking'.

'It was a huge slap in the face - a roundhouse kick to the face,' she said.

'I just feel so disheartened because I really thought that we turned it around.'

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
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I was busy running around the ER on a particularly busy shift when my phone buzzed, and a text message from Janes ex-boyfriend David popped up on the screen. I was surprised since I had not talked to him in over three years; therefore, I ignored it until I had a moment to myself an hour later and finally opened the message.

The first line of his message got straight to the point.

Hey, I just learned that our friend Jane tragically died a short while ago, and I thought you deserved to know.

I read this line several times, hoping I had misread something, hoping this was a mistake. However, after a phone conversation with David a short while later, I learned that Jane had committed suicide.

I was not only devastated by this news, but I also felt trapped in a permanent state of melancholy for weeks. Jane had been not only my first close friend to commit suicide, but also my first colleague in medicine to do so.

To me, and everyone who knew her, she was extremely hardworking, compassionate, and brilliant. Since she always appeared happy and upbeat on the surface, people would never assume that she was actually struggling internally.

Jane was someone I strongly felt was bound to change the world and would be lauded on International Womens Day, yet in a tragic irony, I found out about her death on International Womens Day.

She worked tirelessly to overcome the grueling trenches of medical school and countless microaggressions as a woman of color in a surgical field in order to earn a spot in one of the most coveted surgical subspecialty residencies where she was a star.

She was a woman from an immigrant family with humble beginnings who was curious about the world, loved to travel, had an unquenchable passion for learning, and was one of the most open and accepting people Ive ever met.

Jane identified as lesbian and a person of color, and for this heterosexual Muslim man who grew up in a more traditional and conservative Nigerian family, she taught me more about how to be welcoming and empathic towards those unlike myself than anyone else in my life.

No story is more quintessential about Janes character than when she messaged me during one of her intensive care unit rotations to ask about whether it was OK for her patient, who was a practicing Muslim, to have tube feeds during the day if they still wanted to observe Ramadan. It takes a special person to go above and beyond for their patients like this, and Jane was that person and more.

Janes story is tragic; however, the reality is that her story is not unique in medicine, especially amongst trainees. Although Jane was my first physician colleague to commit suicide, she will certainly not be the last. A recent study estimated around 400 physicians commit suicide per year. Amongst medical trainees, suicide is more prevalent than it should be. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) reports that 23 percent of interns (first-year residents) have suicidal thoughts. Additionally, they also report that 28 percent of residents in the U.S. experience a major depressive episode during residency compared to 7 to 8 percent of those in a similar age range in the general population.

Despite these glaring numbers, there are risks that trainees are forced to consider when seeking help for mental health concerns. All physicians learned about and helped treat psychiatric patients in medical school and theoretically understand how to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness, as well as the importance of medical management of those disorders. However, there is still a significant stigma surrounding seeking help for mental health disorders.

For example, most of the applications for medical licensure after residency training ask invasive questions about whether someone has had mental health issues and if they sought help for it.

During a panel discussion that I attended about resident wellness at an annual meeting for emergency medicine physicians, I heard various residents talk about how they delayed seeking out mental health services due to the fear of having to report this to the licensing board.

Others mentioned that they would pay exorbitant amounts to seek counselors outside of their insurance so that these sessions would not be on their permanent records. This fear hinders or delays individuals from seeking out much-needed services, which can be dangerous, particularly for those experiencing suicidal ideation.

In fact, studies show that physicians who committed suicide were less likely to be receiving mental health services than non-physicians who did so.

Those currently struggling with their mental health should know that the demanding experience of residency, from the lack of sleep to the stressors of patient care to the seemingly never-ending administrative tasks and requirements from ones training program, will certainly exacerbate these struggles.

Since the stressors of medical training are likely not going to change anytime soon, it is paramount to work towards establishing an environment in which seeking help for mental health is not seen as a red flag in the eyes of other physicians or the administrators that hire them.

Fortunately, some residency programs are making significant progress to address these issues. Some have opted to hire a mental health counselor whose sole purpose is to help support residents. No insurance is required to see this person, and all the sessions are confidential. Others have opted to pursue providing more wellness services to help trainees destress on a regular basis from yoga and meditation courses to sponsored wellness days where all residents are given extra time off to help them re-center and relax.

All of these initiatives are a step in the right direction. However, there is a lot more work to be done to de-stigmatize seeking help for those struggling with mental health issues. For residency programs with trainees struggling with mental illness, I think the minimum that should be provided for these individuals is: Encouragement for them to seek help, funding for services for them to seek out counseling, and confidence that their request for help will not jeopardize their future career prospects.

Perhaps, if we are able to provide this amount of support to all of our colleagues seeking help, we can help prevent them from taking their own lives, and instead, give them the support they need to continue healing others as they swore to in the Hippocratic Oath that we all took at the start of medical school.

The author is an anonymous physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Schools in greater Houston, and especially those in and around Fort Bend County, are changing their approaches to the potential spread of the new coronavirus after a man in his 70s tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.

Pearland ISD and Lamar CISD officials announced they will suspend their districts perfect attendance rules for the remainder of the school year, and will recognize students who did not have any absences between Aug. 15, 2019 and the beginning of March with the distinction instead. Both urged students and staff to stay home if they are sick, to wash hands frequently and to disinfect things they touch often. Lamar CISD noted that state laws regarding students school attendance still apply, but that the attendance of medically fragile students will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
Doris Carter, a woman of strong faith who was born in Barbados in 1951, has published her latest book The Dark Family Secrets: an unhappy memoir of corruption and greed.

The author shares, On August 18, 1951, in Barbados, my mother, Clara Carter, gave birth to me, Doris Carter, and my twin sister, Dorothy. Dorothy, who was head of records of the United States was the family secret. My mother gave Dorothy away when she was born so I never knew her, but she always knew about me. In my early thirties, I moved to Montreal, Canada, where I won the lottery for five hundred thousand dollars. My sister, Dorothy Allen, who was living in New York City at the time found out about my winnings and made her way out to Montreal, Canada. After going through hell and back with my estranged husband to get the ticket from him, I couldnt even cash in the lotto ticket. I was told that according to their records, I had died on the seventh of April, and they had the death certificate to prove it. Turns out that my twin sister, Dorothy, and my exsister-in-law, Angela Smith, along with a lawyer by the name of Albert Gomberg committed a federal crime and filed the certificate, and a doctor from Montreal General Hospital signed off on it. Question, what would you do in my position? When your back is against the wall and you dont know who you can trust, not even your own lover? Follow me through all the crazy twists, turns, and evil ways family can betray you.

Published by Page Publishing, Doris Carters engrossing book is a heartrending tale of family betrayal and the corrupting influence of selfishness and greed.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase The Dark Family Secrets at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday addressed young police officers and asked them to put technology to good use in the services.

"You (cops) should not only be fair and credible but also should see fair and credible. You have to provide secure India, this responsibility will be on you internally and externally both," NSA said while addressing SPs conference in Gurugram.

"Ballot box elects the legislature, legislature make law. Law making is sacrosanct in the society it is done by the leaders of the people, you are the one to enforce the law. If you can't implement laws enacted in Parliament, what good are those laws? You are a law enforcement agency," he said.

Doval continued: "Technology is the great enabler which reduces constants and increases variables. We are preparing for tomorrow's war not for the battle of Plassey. A beat constable should get technology gadgets."

While asking officers to make ground-level changes, which can help the last man standing on the ground to be more innovative and technology-friendly, NSA Doval said: "You are the officers who will be seeing 100 years of freedom. I am the only one in this hall who born before independence. Everything changed in the past will change in the future."

"You have to first identify the problem, define the problem, and find ways of solution, think how technology can be used," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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For months, reports of an investor in sight for beleaguered private lender Yes Bank have received much ink. Yes Bank, Indias fifth-largest private lender, has been trying in vain to raise Rs 14,000 crore in fresh capital.

In January, the bank said it rejected a proposal from Canadian investor Erwin Singh Braich and Hong Kong-based SPGP Holdings to invest $1.2 billion. Few analysts were surprised by the outcome because the offer was suspect.

The bank then said it was considering offers of investment from London-based Citax Holdings and Citax Investment Group. But that deal too didnt fructify.

Time was fast running out for the bank, which has been beset by a pile of bad loans due to its exposure to a bunch of troubled sectors.

The high drama surrounding the survival of Yes Bank could finally be coming to an end. According to a Bloomberg report, the Narendra Modi-government has asked State Bank of India (SBI) to bail out Yes Bank by forming a consortium of banks.

Yes Bank said it has not received any such communication from the Reserve Bank of India or any other government or regulatory authorities or from the SBI and we are unaware of any such decision. The Bank in the usual and ordinary course of its business continues to explore various means of raising capital/ funds through issuance of securities to diverse set of investors to meet its business/ regulatory requirements, subject to compliance with prescribed procedures and receipt of statutory/ regulatory approvals, Yes bank said.

How did the bank survive through these months of uncertainty?

The mood was of desperation and the only thing that kept things going in Yes Bank was hope, recounted a person who was closely associated with the crisis. Since January, there was a sense of resignation internally. No one knew where things are heading to, the person said.

It wasnt always so. There was hope in the bank management of finding investors in the first six months after new CEO Ravneet Gill took charge. But the cheer began fading after investors, who initially appeared willing to put money on the table, turned wary due to the worsening finances and corporate governance issues.

Only question that remained to be seen was whether the bank will still retain its identity after the takeover or will cease to exist as we know it today, the person quoted above said.

Curtains down, finally

Asking SBI to bail out Yes Bank is not without precedent. In 2004, the erstwhile Global Trust Bank was merged with Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

There have also been other distress takeovers involving private lenders. In 2006, the erstwhile United Western Bank merged with IDBI and in 2010, Bank of Rajasthan merged with ICICI Bank. But what makes Yes Bank case an exception is the size of the stressed assets involved. According to rating agency Moody's, the bank's total dud assets are likely to cross 12 percent this year.

More than 40 percent of its Rs 30,000 crore of exposure to lower-rated entities are likely to turn sticky before March. Last month, for the second time in two months, India Ratings downgraded long-term issuer rating on certain debt instruments of Yes Bank to 'A-' from 'A' and also maintained it on the rating watch 'negative'.

Banks such as Kotak Mahindra were initially rumoured to be potential acquirers but given the stress on its books, suitors disappeared. A government-bank led bailout was the only remaining option.

More than meets the eye?

Doubts have also been cast on the value of the stressed assets. The rumour is that the actual stress is significantly bigger than what is speculated, said Naresh Malhotra, a banking consultant based in Mumbai and a former SBI official.

A clearer picture of the banks troubled assets will emerge when Yes Bank announces its third-quarter results on March 14. The bank might not announce the results if the reported merger proposal with SBI turns official by then.

Analysts said Yes Bank is part of a grouping of banks whose stressed assets will increase in the third quarter by the addition of exposure to struggling businesses such as DHFL, Suzlon and Altico. Under RBI norms, banks must set aside money against doubtful assets.

The quantum of such provisions depends on how bad is the asset. Yes Bank is a corporate lender, with this segment constituting about 62 percent of the total loan book. Retail loans constitute just about 20 percent.

How the drama unfolded

During its golden days, Yes Bank was an object of envy for most competitors. It was even billed as the next HDFC Bank by a section of analysts. Successive quarters of 30 percent-plus growth and a booming corporate loan book made it an investors darling.

But even then there were murmurs about the kind of growth and exposure in Yes Bank, said Vaibhav Agarwal, senior vice-president, research at Angel Broking.

Cracks first appeared on the books of the bank when the RBI found a huge divergence in bad loan figures reported by the bank and what emerged in its inspection. In FY19 alone, Yes Bank reported a divergence of Rs 3,277 crore in bad loans and Rs 978 crore in non-performing asset (NPA) provisions.

Since then, the bank has been struggling to raise funds despite repeated commitments made by Gill to shareholders.

After equating his holding in the bank to "Diamonds that are forever", in November last year, Yes Bank's founder Rana Kapoor sold almost all of his stake in the bank. The resignation of Yes Bank's independent director Uttam Prakash Agarwal in January, citing "serious concerns" on the state of affairs at the private sector lender and deteriorating practices, further scared investors, who dumped the shares.

Yes Bank, which had earlier guided the markets with a Rs 14,000 crore fund-raising plan, in early January, said it will raise Rs 10,000 crore and called an EGM on February 7 to seek shareholders nod to raise its authorised capital. Analysts raised eyebrows on the repeated breach of commitment post guidance.

We stopped tracking the stock a while ago. No client wants to touch a stock with these kinds of issues, said a Mumbai-based analyst on condition of anonymity.

As on date, Yes Banks market capitalisation is just over Rs 9,500 crore. That is a shadow of the amount  Rs 14,000 crore  that it initially forecast to raise from the market to stay afloat.

Whats in it for SBI?

For SBI, there is nothing much to cheer about the Yes bank deal. To be sure, this is unlikely to have a direct impact on SBIs books as the bank is expected to only facilitate the deal instead of taking up the majority stress on its books, bankers said. SBI has been pressured to do this. Given an option, they wouldnt have touched a bank like Yes, Malhotra said.

Still, given the kind of stressed assets, including the speculated hidden assets, on Yes Banks books, it is a risky bet for SBI. Even in a consortium format, SBI will have to pool in significant amount of money to clean up the mess in Yes Bank.

Ideally and theoretically speaking, SBI and other PSU banks need to buy the bank at Re 1," Macquarie analyst Suresh Ganapathy wrote in a note on Thursday commenting on the reports of Yes Banks takeover by SBI-led consortium.

"Yes Bank has a net worth of around Rs 25,000 crore. Its below investment grade book (BB&Below) is around Rs 30,000 crore and BBB book is at around Rs 50,000 crore. If we assume substantial proportion of BB&below book is wiped off and say 10-15 percent of BBB book is to be written off, it implies the current net worth of the bank is zero (after factoring in 25 percent tax benefits), Ganapathy said.

SBI is getting a balance sheet with about Rs 30,000 crore loans are in the stressed category. The actual burden will be known when the full scale of Yes stressed assets is known by the acquirers.
Chef and owner Louie Alexakis is no newcomer to downtown. His father-in-law owns Greek Islands and his uncle owns Santorini  both longtime Greektown veterans  and Alexakis, in his words, did my years of service at both. He created his first Avli restaurant in Winnetka 11 years ago, then opened a sister property, Avli Taverna, in Lincoln Park in 2018. Last year, Alexakis jumped at the chance to take over the old Sumi Robata space to bring his dreams of Greek cuisine to the city center.
Ukraine's Government Reshuffle Raises Concerns Over Reform Agenda

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service March 04, 2020

KYIV -- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has abruptly reshuffled the Ukrainian government, putting the country's commitment to reforms into question at a time when Kyiv is seeking to finalize a new loan program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

At a special parliament session on March 4, lawmakers voted to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and backed Zelenskiy's choice for his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

The reshuffling comes six months after Zelenskiy ushered in the youngest and freshest government to reduce the influence of oligarchs and eliminate opportunities for corruption -- two aspects that have dominated Ukrainian life since the country gained independence in 1991.

The shake-up also comes days after a mission from the IMF visited Kyiv to discuss a long-delayed $5.5 billion loan. Ukraine has failed to unlock the loan program, seen as crucial to economic stability and investor confidence, over policy and legislative disagreements.

In all, 291 members of the Verkhovna Rada approved Shmyhal's appointment, with 59 opposing and 46 abstaining, while nine did not vote.

Earlier, 353 lawmakers voted to accept Honcharuk's resignation. A total of 49 deputies abstained, and nine did not vote.

Parliament approved other cabinet members, including new foreign, defense, and finance ministers.

In a speech before parliament ahead of the votes, Zelenskiy blamed Honcharuk for failing to halt an industrial slump and for not meeting tax-collection targets. Honcharuck, a political newcomer, was named prime minister in August 2019.

"We need new brains and new hearts in the government," he said.

But the reshuffle raised concerns that key policy issues like land reform could be delayed.

"All of a sudden, when we expected stability and passage of major pieces of legislation, there is major upheaval and things seem to be up in the air," Morgan Williams, the president of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, a D.C.-based lobby, told RFE/RL.

"The business community is wondering why now, who is behind all these changes," he added.

Williams said the business community was concerned about the replacement of Finance Minister Oksana Markarova, who was well respected by markets and Ukraine's Western backers, and Economy Minister Tymofiy Mylovanov, who had been leading the controversial agricultural land-market reform that is now stalled in parliament.

Reshuffle Questions

John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and an analyst at the Atlantic Council, also questioned the merit of Zelenskiy's sudden reshuffle.

"We all understood that he was a newbie and that there would be some changes," he told RFE/RL. "The question is, what do those changes bring? There is a default position to expect the worst" because of independent Ukraine's nearly 30-year history of promising reform and not delivering.

In the latest reshuffle, Makarova was replaced by her deputy, Ihor Umanskiy.

Dmytro Kuleba replaced Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko, who was appointed as deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

Andriy Taran, a retired general, is the new defense minister, replacing Andriy Zahorodnyuk.

The new health minister is Illya Yemets, who served in that post for several months in the administration of former President Viktor Yanukovych.

Controversial Interior Minister Arsen Avakov kept his job.

The new ministers of economy, education, energy, and environment have not been appointed yet.

Shmyhal, 44, was named deputy prime minister in February. He previously served as head of the regional administration in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, where he made a name for himself as a business-friendly governor.

In 2017-2019, Shmyhal worked as an executive at DTEK, an energy holding owned by Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. Shmyhal has rejected allegations that he was close to Akhmetov, saying he never met him and was hired to work for DTEK through a competitive process.

A native of Lviv, he headed several business enterprises for most of the previous decade before entering the civil service at the Lviv regional administration. He has studied abroad, including in Belgium, Canada, Georgia, and Finland.

Responding on March 3 to reports that Shmyhal had been chosen to replace Honcharuk, Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense with responsibility for Ukraine, cautioned Kyiv against allowing oligarchs "a pathway" back to power.

"If you do, you will lose the support of the Western community," said Carpenter, who is now a managing director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, during a March 3 conference dedicated to Ukraine.

"So much is at stake here and if we see the influence of people like Dmytro Firtash, Rinat Akhmedov, and other oligarchs through proxies, through people more beholden to their interests than to the national interest, then the [reform] project starts to unwind. I hope that they consider very wisely who they put into what jobs," he added.

A 35-year-old former lawyer and a political newcomer, Honcharuk was named prime minister in August 2019. He immediately fell into disfavor with Ihor Kolomoyskiy, the powerful oligarch that backed Zelenskiy.

Honcharuk fought Kolomoyskiy's attempts to recover PrivatBank, which was nationalized in 2016 following a $5.6 billion bailout. Western financial institutions could turn down Ukrainian aid requests if Kyiv hands the bank back to Kolomoyskiy.

Some analysts have speculated that Zelenskiy's reshuffle is an attempt to get other Ukrainian oligarchs, such as Akhmedov, to back his standoff with Kolomoyskiy.

Melinda Haring, a Ukraine analyst at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, rejected that interpretation, calling it a "fat chance."

Honcharuk previously submitted his resignation on January 17, amid a scandal surrounding an audio recording in which he allegedly disparages the economic knowledge and competence of both himself and Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy at the time declined to accept it.

Honcharuk and his ministers had submitted a land-market reform bill into parliament and turned over several hundred state-owned companies to be privatized in moves lauded by western governments and lenders.

Land reform passed a first reading in parliament in November 2019, but opposition parties have submitted several thousand amendments, delaying its passage in a second reading.

Western analysts have said land reform would be the biggest driver of Ukraine's economic growth in the coming years. Ukraine is one of just six countries, including Cuba and North Korea, that doesn't have a land market. However, powerful interests inside the country have been opposed to land reform and other policies pushed by the Honcharuk government.

"The government changes just create another period of uncertainty and instability and possibly delay what we thought could be a major year for Ukraine's economy," said Williams.

Zelenskiy won a landslide victory in April 2019 on promises to end endemic corruption, attract foreign investment, and end the war in the east with Russian-backed separatists. Three months later, his Servant Of The People party swept national elections, giving him unprecedented power to push through major economic reforms that had been stalled by oligarchs for decades.

However, public trust in Zelenskiy has slid from nearly 80 percent in September to around 50 percent last month, polling figures from Kyiv-based policy center Razumkov Center show.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-s- parliament-votes-as-expected-to-accept -pm-s-resignation/30468676.html

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

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EDWARDSVILLE  An investigation into the Madison County Administration may not be as over as previously announced.

On Monday G. Edward Moorman, the attorney for Madison County IT Administrator Robert Dorman, filed a motion indicating the investigation is ongoing, or that a second investigation may be underway.

Information is limited because, according to the filings, all of the related documents have been sealed by the courts.

On March 2 a motion for rule to show cause was filed in Madison County as part of the original case claiming Madison County Sheriff John D. Lakin was in contempt of court for failing to comply with a judicial order releasing a laptop seized from Dormans office. It also seeks to clarify which judge is dealing with the case and requests a hearing to determine whether an outside prosecutor should be appointed.

This comes after visiting Judge Jerry Crisel of the Second Judicial Circuit in Mount Vernon issued an order on Feb. 5 terminating the prosecution and investigation into the Madison County Board administration and ordering the return of seized items, including several computers. The order came approximately two years after the initial investigation started.

At a Jan. 24 hearing, McGinley Andrew of the Illinois Attorney Generals Office said her office had withdrawn and ended the investigation begun in January 2018 when officers from a special Madison County Public Corruption Task Force raided several administration offices, seizing computers and other items.

Eventually the case was turned over to the Illinois Attorney Generals office for investigation and prosecution with Crisel appointed to oversee the proceedings.

The motion claims the sheriffs department did not return the IT Departments laptop but, instead, had another judge  not part of the original case  issue a seizure warrant for the computer. That warrant was served in January.

The motion states that, because the sheriffs department did not return the property, Lakin must show why he should not be held in contempt.

The motion also states that, before the attorney general withdrew, another judge issued an order extending the sealing of the original warrant affidavit for 90 days and sealed the order so it is not apparent who requested said order. The motion states the attorney generals office had no objection to unsealing the affidavit and either the sheriffs department or the Madison County States Attorneys Office, which had been removed from the case by Crisel, requested the new order.

The motion states that one day after Crisels order releasing the evidence, another judge issued the seizure warrant and all of those proceedings have been sealed. While the Illinois Attorney General had reported to the court that its investigation was complete  the Madison County States Attorney, despite the fact that it had been removed from the investigation, requested that the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor be appointed  and another judge not previously assigned to this matter issued a new order appointing the Appellate Prosecutor, the motion states.

Lakin declined to comment on the matter Wednesday. Chief Deputy Sheriff Maj. Jeff Connor, in an email, said the department has not seen the filing and any comment from Lakin would come through his attorney.

As of Wednesday afternoon, officials with the Madison County States Attorneys Office and Illinois Attorney Generals Office had not responded to requests for information.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
As many as 190 economists and social scientists have appealed to the government to delink Census 2021 from National Population Register (NPR) exercise as there is an apprehension that it could be used to determine citizenship.

A statement to this effect was posted on the website of International Development Economics Associates.

The economists and social scientists in a statement expressed their deep concern about major implications for the Indian statistical system, of the attempt to combine data collection for the 2021 Census of India with that for the proposed National Population Register.

Noting that the Census data are important in enabling central and state governments to exercise their basic functions and meet their responsibilities to the people, the statement said, "It is therefore essential to ensure that the exercise of data collection for Census 2021 is absolutely safe, comprehensive and uncontaminated by any other factors."



The Census of India, which provides a basic household and population listing based on anonymous data, is an essential requirement for the country and provides the statistical basis for all assessments of the conditions of the population and for necessary social and economic policies.

There is a real danger that the concerns around the National Population Register and the fears that are growing among substantial sections that investigators can determine whether a respondent's citizenship is 'doubtful', the statement said, adding, "This possibility has already led to widespread public distrust and suspicion about the NPR, and it is not at all clear that there are any benefits from the NPR at the present juncture."



The statement also pointed out that conducting NPR along with the Census also violates Clause 15 of The Census Act 1948 that bars anyone from accessing 'any book, register or record made by a census-officer in the discharge of his duty'.

"It also violates the provision in the same clause that 'no entry in any such book, register, record or schedule shall be admissible as evidence in any civil proceeding other than a prosecution under this Act'," the statement observed.

In order to preserve the integrity of Census 2021, it should be completely delinked from any NPR exercise, the statement said adding that in any case, any attempt at data collection for the NPR should be abandoned at present.

The signatories include Harsh Mander (Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi), S Irfan Habib (former Professor, NUEPA, New Delhi), Alex Thomas (Azim Premji University, Bengaluru), Amit Bhaduri (former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), R Nagaraj (Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai).

C P Chandrasekhar (former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University), Jayati Ghosh( Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), Barbara Harriss-White (Oxford University),Debraj Ray (Professor, New York University, USA), Deepankar Basu (University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA), Guglielmo Chiudi (former Professor Sapienza University of Rome) and Amiya Kumar Bagchi (Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata) are also among the signatories.

The NPR is a list of "usual residents" of the country. A "usual resident" is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more.

The data for National Population Register was collected in 2010 along with the house-listing phase of Census of India 2011.

The data was updated in 2015 by conducting door-to-door survey.

Now it has been decided to update the National Population Register along with the house-listing phase of Census 2021 during April to September 2020 in all the states/union territories except Assam, according to the website of the Office of the Registrar General, and Census Commissioner.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The chief executive of Flybe wrote to his employees moments before the regional airline fell into administration to tell them of his sadness over the companys collapse.

In an email to staff in the early hours of Thursday morning, Mark Anderson said that he shared the news of the administration with enormous sadness and a deep feeling of sorrow.

A Flybe aircraft at Berlin's Tegel airport. (Bildquelle/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

Despite every effort, we now have no alternative  having failed to find a feasible solution to allow us to keep trading.

Some 2,400 jobs at Flybe are now at risk, after the coronavirus fallout pushed the already flagging Flybe into administration on Thursday morning.

Administrators from financial services firm EY were appointed earlier this morning to oversee the process.

Read more: Coronavirus pushes flagging Flybe into collapse, risking 2,000 jobs

I do appreciate how distressing this news is and the shock and numbness that you will be feeling, Anderson wrote.

Despite your hard work, commitment and some amazing results which we have delivered, and have been achieving up to the last day of operation  particularly for our customers who depend on us across the country, we have come to the end of the road, he said.

Anderson said that the coronavirus fallout, which has sapped demand across the airline industry, put additional pressure on an already difficult situation.

I am very sorry that we have not been able to secure the funding needed to continue to deliver our turnaround plan.

Flybe had requested a 100m loan from the government, but this idea was rejected.

Read more: What to do if you are a Flybe employee or passenger

Anderson took over as CEO of Connect Airways, the consortium that owns Flybe, in July.

The consortium is backed by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation, and Cyrus Capital Partners.

Although I have only had the honour of being your CEO for 8 months, its been an incredible privilege to lead such an amazing team of people and the Flybe family, Anderson wrote.

I am just so sorry that we have not been able to see this through. I feel so proud of you and want to take this opportunity to thank you and wish you the very best for the future.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK
San Francisco police are aiming to pick up the pace on 272 reforms called for by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016, as the department may be only 40 percent done, police said Wednesday.

Though some progress has been made, 163 of the 272 tasks have yet to be submitted. Forty-eight are essentially done and a total of 109 have bee submitted for review,

"We have to have a sense of urgency," Police Chief Bill Scott said, adding that they're trying to pick up the pace.

Reforms were started in 2016 following a series of police killings that resulted in the resignation of former police Chief Greg Suhr. When Donald Trump was elected president, the U.S. Department of Justice ended its reform work with San Francisco police.

It was restarted in 2018 with the California Department of Justice and a security risk management firm Hillard Heintze, which was a contractor with the U.S. Department of Justice when it conducted its review of the Police Department in 2016.

Despite the slow progress, some positive changes have been reported.

Since 2016, overall use of force incidents dropped 56 percent to 1,649 and the number of times an officer pointed a gun at someone dropped by 67 percent to 868.

Those improvements, Scott said, haven't reduced crime per se, but they likely will build trust and faith in police, who can solve more crimes as people come forward to provide information to officers.

Also, Scott said that even though 163 reforms have yet to be completed, police have already changed policies to reflect the reforms they will seek official approval for.

Two men suspected of robbing a Safeway store in the Midtown neighborhood of Palo Alto in January have been arrested and one remains at large, police said.

The trio entered the store at 2811 Middlefield Road about 12:40 a.m. Jan. 11. One brandished a handgun and ordered a store employee to the ground near the pharmacy. A second suspect then broke the pharmacy's glass door and stole an unknown amount of prescription drugs, police said. The third suspect served as a lookout.

The three then ran from the store and left in a pickup truck that was last seen headed east on the Oregon Expressway.

The two suspects arrested were identified after police made surveillance images that resulted in a tip from the public.

Police identified the suspect who pointed the gun as 22-year-old Erik Eulogio Perez, who does not have a permanent known address.

Perez was arrested Feb. 16 while being held at the Kern County Jail after being arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Police identified 18-year-old Anthony Nicolas Alcantara-Medina of East Palo Alto as the suspected lookout in the robbery and he was arrested Feb. 24 by East Palo Alto police at a residence in the 1000 block of Ruth Court.

Alcantara-Medina is in custody at the San Mateo County Main Jail both on the Palo Alto warrant and failure to appear warrant in a robbery and carjacking case in East Palo Alto.

At least two people were transported for smoke inhalation injuries and seven others displaced following a fire at a home in Antioch early Wednesday morning, according to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District officials.

The blaze was contained at about 5:11 a.m. after being first reported at 4:03 a.m., fire spokesman Steve Hill said. A total of 6 adults and 3 children - including seven treated at the scene for smoke inhalation by paramedics -- have been displaced and are being assisted by the American Red Cross.

Crews are expected to be at the home, located at 5468 Southwood Way, throughout the rest of the morning for mop-up, Hill said. The home suffered "extensive" damage, per Hill. The cause is under investigation.

A total of 40 rescue personnel - 29 firefighting crew and 11 medics -- were at the scene, Hill said.

A Madera man was arrested in unincorporated Vallejo after his attempt to flee Solano County Sheriff's Office deputies during a pursuit was foiled when his right-front tire rolled off the vehicle.

The pursuit started about 1 a.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated part of the city, sheriff's officials said.

The driver, identified as David Lee Jones Jr., 38, ignored a sheriff's deputy who activated lights and siren, fleeing instead. Sheriff's officials said it was soon determined Jones was driving a stolen vehicle.

After the tire fell off, Jones ran from the vehicle and through some backyards, before being found by deputies in the 500 block of Yuba Street, hiding on a porch, sheriff's officials said.

An Amtrak train struck a vehicle on the tracks Wednesday morning in Oakland, officials said.

Coast Starlight Train 11 struck the vehicle just before 9 a.m. between the Coliseum and Jack London Square stations, an Amtrak official said.

There were no injuries to the train's 117 passengers or crewmembers, but the train has been delayed for about one hour.

Official details on whether the vehicle was occupied were not immediately available, but a fire department spokesman said a call for emergency assistance was cancelled.

A woman died at the hospital after being struck by a driver while crossing the street Monday afternoon, San Jose police said.

Officers who arrived at the accident scene at North 21st and Washington streets shortly after 1 p.m. determined that a woman driving a 2010 silver Nissan Titan was turning left onto Washington Street when she struck the pedestrian, who was in the crosswalk while crossing Washington.

The victim was taken to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

The victim's identity of the will be released by the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office after it is confirmed and next of kin are notified.

Police said it was the eighth fatal collision and third vehicle vs. pedestrian fatal collision of the year in San Jose.

The 17th annual International Ocean Film Festival, originally scheduled for for March 12 to 15 at San Francisco's Cowell Theatre and other Bay Area venues, has been postponed, organizers said Wednesday.

"Out of an abundance of caution, and in light of the still developing situation with COVID-19, we have decided to postpone this year's festival until all travel restrictions for visiting filmmakers have been lifted, and most importantly, out of respect for our audiences," said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the Festival.

This year's festival of 56 films selected from 15 countries includes four world premieres, six United States premieres, nine West Coast premieres and six Bay Area Premieres.

"This is easily the most diverse group of films we've ever had, with the greatest international participation to date," Blanco said.

Organizers said they are working to finalize a new series of festival dates, likely for mid- to late summer.

A motorcyclist was killed in a collision Tuesday evening, marking the ninth traffic fatality in San Jose this year, police said.

Police were called about 6:30 p.m. to the scene on Monterey Road at Valleyhaven Way, where the adult male motorcycle rider was pronounced dead at the scene.

The preliminary investigation indicated that the 2006 Suzuki motorcycle was northbound on Monterey Road approaching Valleyhaven Way when it collided with a 2015 Jeep that made a left turn from southbound Monterey Road to eastbound Valleyhaven Way.

The woman driving the Jeep and a child passenger were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said alcohol and drugs do not appear to be a factor in the collision.

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Los Angeles County's new voting system is supposed to make elections more accessible.

But on Tuesday, many voters found casting a ballot to be anything but easy. At L.A. County's new in-person voting locations, many people faced long wait times -- sometimes in excess of three hours -- caused by technical problems that marred the system's debut.

Late Tuesday, the county's top elections official apologized. On Wednesday, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called for an investigation.

"Some hiccups are to be expected with a new system," said Hahn in a statement, "but there were widespread reports of problems."

"These issues," Hahn added, "need to be fixed before this November."

The snafu prompted California's Secretary of State to issue a stern statement Thursday: "In Los Angeles County, too many voters faced unacceptably long wait times," Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. "Voters who waited patiently for hours deserve our praise for their commitment to democracy. Voters deserve better."

Padilla said Los Angeles County should mail a ballot to every registered voter, and address staffing, logistical, training and equipment issues that bogged down voting in the country's largest jurisdiction on Super Tuesday.

New: CA Secretary of State Alex Padilla @CASOSvote is calling on Los Angeles to mail a ballot to every voter for the November election, and fix vote center issues: support, training, and technology problems that caused hours-long long lines to vote Tues.



Voters deserve better. pic.twitter.com/UeYdgEjhR1  Libby Denkmann (@libdenk) March 5, 2020

State Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), one of the authors of the Voter's Choice Act -- the law that's ushered in massive changes to the voting system in 15 California counties so far -- also weighed in.

I plan to introduce legislation requiring @CountyofLA to send #voters ballots by mail and/or providing more vote centers on #ElectionDay2020. It will make for a much better experience for voters and ensure that no one is discouraged from voting because of lines or delays. pic.twitter.com/LABVhAvHDH  Ben Allen (@BenAllenCA) March 5, 2020

SO WHAT WENT WRONG ON ELECTION DAY?

Let's break down what we know so far...

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC CHECK-IN STATIONS

Remember how in elections past, you signed your name -- probably upside-down -- in a giant white book that confirmed you lived where you were registered?

L.A. County's new system tossed those old paper rosters. Instead, election workers now check in voters electronically, on iPads that are connected to a database of registered voters.

This change was huge. It allows voters to check in at any one of 979 "vote centers" to cast a ballot. Even if that location isn't close to where a voter lives, the system still prints a ballot with the races from their home precinct. (It's also designed to prevent anyone from voting twice, because the database is regularly updated.)

But L.A. County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said this process proved to be a choke point when hundreds of thousands of Angelenos showed up to vote on Tuesday. Many of the electronic poll books had problems with connectivity, Logan said, and this slowed the flow of voters.

ABOUT THE STATE'S VOTER DATABASE

What types of "connectivity" problems did these check-in devices experience? We still don't know exactly.

It's not clear if there was a problem with the iPads themselves -- or if slowdowns were related to internet connections in some buildings that hosted the vote centers. California has regulations on the books requiring any electronic poll books that are connected to wi-fi to have secure, dedicated wireless access points.

Also, California has a statewide database of registered voters, finished in 2016, called VoteCal, that encountered some problems in other counties on Tuesday.

Padilla's office said in an email that 15 counties "had connectivity issues" with the database -- but that Los Angeles was not among the affected counties.

ABOUT THE NEW TOUCHSCREEN VOTING MACHINES

Voters vote on the new voting machines at LAC+USC Medical Center. (Chava Sanchez/ LAist)

Tuesday night marked the first election for L.A. County's new "ballot-marking devices," voting booths each fitted with its own touchscreen, headphones, printer and ballot container. These devices were key features in the county's big overhaul of how and where Angelenos vote.

In general, Logan said the ballot-marking machines performed well, once people could get to them.

On Twitter, the CEO of Smartmatic -- the vendor that built the new ballot-marking devices -- highlighted the ambitiousness of L.A. County's election plans.

"Only those initiated in the elections path," wrote the CEO, Antonio Mugica, "know how difficult it is to pull the biggest revamp in US election history."

two new voting technology systems -BMDs and new ePollBooks. All of this in the largest and most complex jurisdiction in the US!! - Long lines in some centers, sure. Areas of improvement, absolutely. - But I dont know anyone that could have pulled this off on the first try!  Antonio Mugica (@antoniomugica) March 4, 2020

But there were also widespread reports of paper jams and other unexplained technical problems. Many in KPCC's and LAist's audiences reported machines were "out of order," contributing to wait times at their vote centers.

A spokesperson with the L.A. County Registrar's office estimated earlier Tuesday that about 20% of the machines were not in service.

Some of this could be due to election worker error: the ballot marking devices were, after all, brand new. It's also possible that poll workers were not adequately trained on the new technology, adding to wait times.

But people who did get in to vote had positive things to say: KPCC/LAist heard from many voters in Los Angeles who had a good experience with the new ballot-marking devices.

ABOUT THE NEW VOTING LOCATIONS

(Screenshot: L.A. County Registrar/Recorder's website)

This primary marked the first time that voters could cast a ballot at any of the 979 vote centers in L.A. County. But predicting which vote center a resident would choose proved difficult.

Reports of long wait times at downtown locations, as well as on college campuses -- where volunteers sent pizzas to students waiting in line -- suggest that there weren't enough staff or equipment at the vote centers with the highest demand.

Logan said his office plans to review the locations. The centers, he said, "were not as evenly distributed as one might desire."

The idea of the new vote centers, part of the Voter's Choice Act, is to make it easier for people to vote: Many opened 10 days before Election Day; others opened last weekend. Half a dozen were open overnight between Monday and Tuesday.

But these consolidated vote centers replaced roughly 4,800 neighborhood polling places. And not everyone may have known where the new locations were: vote center locations were only announced to the public a little over a month ago.

WHAT OTHER ISSUES MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO LONG WAIT TIMES?



Same-day changes. State law now allows same-day voter registration at all polling places and the ability to switch your political party on Election Day. No Party Preference voters also had the option to ask for a crossover ballot to vote in the Democratic primary -- all of which could add to the time it takes to check-in and process voters.

State law now allows same-day voter registration at all polling places and the ability to switch your political party on Election Day. No Party Preference voters also had the option to ask for a crossover ballot to vote in the Democratic primary -- all of which could add to the time it takes to check-in and process voters. Few people voted early. The idea of an 11 day voting period is great -- if enough people take advantage of it. But many vote centers were virtually empty during early voting. County Supervisor Janice Hahn told KPCC/LAist that county officials should have foreseen that few people would vote early, leading to a rush on election day. "We should've been prepared to have more people vote yesterday," Hahn said.



Californians had good reason to wait to cast their ballots -- three major candidates dropped out of the race by the time Super Tuesday happened.

Reporters Caroline Champlin and Kyle Stokes contributed to this report.
The State Bank of India board has given in-principle approval to consider an investment opportunity in YES Bank. In a late night statement on Thursday, SBI, however, said no decision had yet been taken to pick up stake in the bank.

Highly-placed sources indicated a rescue plan involving SBI and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was being discussed and an announcement in this regard might be made soon. While the finer details of the deal are being worked out, it is anticipated that both SBI and LIC together will take a 51 per cent stake in the bank, with a ...
Canada plans to focus its next budget on tackling climate change and its effects but the insurance industry, amid skyrocketing costs, is concerned the government will move too slowly on the key first step of mapping flood risks.

Flood mapping is used to underwrite flood insurance, assess bank exposure across mortgage portfolios, inform home buyers, and plan new infrastructure. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged sweeping climate action during his re-election campaign last year, including C$150 million ($112.2 million) for flood mapping. The federal budget is expected at the end of March.

Flooding is by far the single greatest peril facing Canadians as a result of climate change, Craig Stewart, vice president of federal affairs for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told Reuters.

Stewart said the natural resources ministry is proposing doing the mapping itself with the focus only on fluvial  river and lake  flooding, in a process that would take 10 years.

The natural resources and finance ministries both declined to say whether such a measure would be in the budget.

We cant take a decade to complete flood maps for this country, and we need to make sure were mapping urban and coastal flooding as well, Stewart said. He estimates it could be done within three years if the government collaborates with the private sector.

A government source said the approach it will take on mapping has yet to be decided.

Current mapping is on average 20 to 25 years out of date, said Blair Feltmate, head of the University of Waterloos Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation Faculty of Environment.

Insurers spent C$1.9 billion annually, on average, between 2009 and 2019 on catastrophic flooding claims, compared with an average of C$422 million per year in the 1983-2008 period, according to Insurance Bureau data. The four-fold increase was driven mostly by flood loss and the majority of claims were residential.

Last year, a government-commissioned panel on sustainable finance also recommended a public-private partnership for the mapping.

A member of the expert panel, Tiff Macklem, the dean of Torontos Rotman School of Management and a former Bank of Canada senior deputy governor, said flood mapping is an immediate priority.

The Expert Panel envisaged a model where the private sector would pay a membership fee, Macklem said. This type of model  would be both less expensive and provide higher-quality data.

($1 = 1.3371 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, editing by Matthew Lewis)

Photograph: Rescue workers help evacuees retrieve some belongings from flooding from the Lake of Two Mountains on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Quebec, Canada. Photo credit: Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP.

Topics Carriers Flood Canada
Giota Miroti, the Milan-based top model from Greece, is looking forward to a busy year after featuring in international advertising campaigns and numerous magazine editorials. Her journey into modelling began in 2014 in Greece but she saw a boom in popularity after her move to Milan as she was rapidly snapped up to work with iconic Italian brands including Emilio Pucci, Erika Cavallini, Liviana Conti, Guess and many more. In 
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of the Calcutta High Court restrained the government from giving effect to the notice till 18 March.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday stayed the Centre's notice asking a Polish student to leave India for allegedly participating in a protest rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the city.

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya restrained the government from giving effect to the notice till 18 March when the court will pass an order on the student's petition.

Kamil Siedczynski, the student from Poland who is enrolled for a Masters' degree in the Department of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, was served a 'Leave India Notice' dated 14 February from the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Kolkata.

Opposing the Poland citizen's prayer, the central government told the court that being a student visa holder, a foreigner cannot challenge a law passed by the Indian Parliament.

In his petition before the high court, Siedczynski prayed for a restraining order on the authorities from giving effect to the notice, which asked him to leave India within 14 days of receiving the notice, and from deporting him.

Since he received the notice on 24 February, he was required to leave the country by 9 March.
Hyderabad, March 5 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday agreed, in principle, to supply drinking water to Tamil Nadu in consultation with his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Rao told a delegation from Tamil Nadu that the water will be supplied from a perennial and assured source. He suggested the delegation to send a formal request proposal from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to him and also to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart.

According to the Chief Minister's office, Rao suggested that soon after receiving the proposal, there should be a meeting between three states at the level of officers and experts to prepare a report based on the discussions to proceed further.

"Let the officers come to a consensus for taking a final decision. As and when this materialises, let India learn through this as to how states can cooperate with each other," said KCR, as Rao is popularly known.

The delegation from Tamil Nadu consisted included Ministers S.P. Velumani and D. Jayakumar and officials.

KCR said that for the drinking water needs of any state. the neighbouring states should be benevolent. He said that the whole country should feel ashamed for the suffering of Tamil Nadu on the drinking water front.

He further said out of the 70,000 TMC of water available in India, after meeting the irrigation needs of the entire country, still there would be a surplus of 30,000 TMC. Out of this, only 10,000 TMC is enough to properly put to use for drinking water purpose in the country.

KCR spoke to Jagan Mohan Reddy over phone about the Tamil Nadu delegation's request. He told his Andhra Pradesh counterpart that since the suffering of Tamil Nadu is a known fact, they can extend cooperation to the state.
The Winklevoss Twins: Some may remember Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the identical twins from the movie Social Network. The duo attended Harvard at the same time Mark Zuckerburg did and claimed that he had stolen their idea of Facebook. They received $65 million payouts from Facebook, from which they bought bitcoin (around 1pc of the world's supply) in 2013, becoming billionaires in following years. (Image: AP)
Exclusive: Moldova's Most Notorious Oligarch Has Been In The U.S. Despite Sanctions, Officials Say

By Mike Eckel, Liliana Barbarosie March 04, 2020

He's one of the most powerful, and most notorious, tycoons in Moldova's three decades of independence, a man linked to the "theft of the century" -- the disappearance of $1 billion from Moldovan banks in 2014.

A longtime behind-the-scenes power broker, Vladimir Plahotniuc fled Moldova in June 2019 after being pushed out of parliament as part of a government shakeup brokered by Russia, the United States, and other European partners. He has dropped out of the public view since then, reportedly traveling under one or more assumed names and alternate passports.

In January, the United States hit the ousted oligarch and his family with visa restrictions "due to his involvement in significant corruption...that undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova."

Moldovan officials and U.S. officials with knowledge of the situation, however, told RFE/RL that Plahotniuc had been in the United States on several occasions in recent months, including at least once since the State Department imposed the visa restrictions. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The development has worried anti-corruption experts, activists in Moldova, and observers abroad who fear the U.S. administration is sending a bad signal to countries trying to root out corruption and improve governance.

"If Vladimir Plahotniuc is really somewhere in the United States, this would be unsurprising but disappointing," said William Hill, a U.S. diplomat who headed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Moldova in the late 1990s and 2000s.

"The U.S. lost a great deal of credibility and support in Moldovan civil society over the past few years due to Washington's continued, seemingly uncritical willingness to work with Plahotniuc almost up to the end of his days in power," he said. "Backing for Plahotniuc, tacit or explicit, caused many in Moldova increasingly to perceive American rhetoric in support of democracy and reform as largely self-interested anti-Russian geopolitics."

Moldovan officials, including the current president, Igor Dodon, have complained publicly for months that the United States wasn't doing enough to help bring Plahotniuc to justice. "We see that the Americans are not in a hurry," Dodon said in an interview last month, when asked specifically about where Plahotniuc was. "I think that this will affect the image of the United States, if, on the one hand, they make such statements, on the other hand, they still grant political coverage," he told RFE/RL.

Asked for further details about how Dodon knew Plahotniuc was in the United States, spokeswoman Carmena Sterpu told RFE/RL that it had been "personally confirmed...for President Dodon" by U.S. Ambassador Dereck Hogan.

Contacted by phone and by e-mail, the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau declined to comment to RFE/RL.

Plahotniuc could not be immediately reached for comment.

'Theft Of The Century'

Wedged between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is among Europe's poorest countries, racked by rampant corruption, political turmoil, and destabilized by Transdniester, a breakaway region that has been beyond Chisinau's control since a war broke out after pro-Russian separatists declared independence in 1990.

Between 2012 and 2014, more than $1 billion -- totaling nearly one-eighth of the country's GDP  disappeared from Moldova's biggest banks.

A confidential report commissioned by the central bank and conducted by international investigative firm Kroll documented how companies and individuals tied to a 28-year-old businessman took control of three major banks in that period. The businessman, Ilan Shor, then allegedly issued massive loans to his companies during a three-day period in November 2014, according to the report, which was later leaked and published by an opposition lawmaker.

Shor, who is currently believed to be in Israel, was charged in 2016 and later convicted of money laundering and embezzlement in connection with theft. Former Prime Minister Vlad Filat was found guilty of corruption in 2016, accused of taking bribes related to the theft. He was released in early December after serving three years in prison.

But the brazenness of the crime, and the perception that those behind it have not been held to account, has outraged and disillusioned many Moldovans.

Plahotniuc, meanwhile, was the head of the Democratic Party of Moldova, and served as the first deputy speaker of parliament in the early 2010s.

In June 2019, amid a political realignment that resulted in a coalition between pro-European and pro-Russian parties, including Dodon's Socialist Party, Plahotniuc fled Moldova. Days later, Russia filed criminal charges against him, alleging he was part of a drug-trafficking network.

In December, Dodon publicly stated that Plahotniuc was traveling on a different passport, under the name Vladimir Novak.

The National Anti-Corruption Center (CNA), meanwhile, sent two formal requests to the U.S. Embassy, requesting assistance in locating Plahotniuc.

The first, dated December 4, requests the assistance of "competent U.S. authorities (Department of Justice, FBI, Police)" in locating an individual whose name is blacked out. It also states that the person "might have been" at two locations in the Miami area, including the Setai Miami Beach Hotel, and the Portofino Tower between July 5-7, 2019.

The second, dated December 10, makes a similar request, and adds a second name, apparently an assumed name that Plahotniuc is known to travel under.

Angela Starinschi, a spokeswoman for the CNA, said the blacked-out names in the letters were Plahotniuc. "The CNA is waiting for an official response from the U.S. authorities. On unofficial channels, however, we already have the information that the [individual] is on the territory of the United States," Starinschi told RFE/RL on March 3.

On January 13, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the imposition of visa bans on Plahotniuc and his family.

U.S. government agencies declined to answer RFE/RL's questions about whether Plahotniuc was in the United States. The State Department referred question to the Department of Homeland Security, which refused to answer, citing privacy concerns.

The FBI also declined to answer questions from RFE/RL.

However, one U.S. government official confirmed that Plahotniuc had been in the United States in recent weeks, though it was unclear whether he was there when the official spoke, on March 4. Another person reported seeing Plahotniuc attending a lavish dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Miami, Florida, in late January.

Both individuals spoke on condition of anonymity.

"As far as I know, Plahotniuc is in the United States," Andrian Candu, a former speaker of parliament and Plahotniuc's godson, told RFE/RL on March 4. "This should be no surprise to anyone."

Kyle Parker, a top staffer for the Helsinki Commission, a U.S. government agency that monitors human rights, said the U.S. government had several policy tools to target criminals and corrupt officials around the world: the State Department visa designation; the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law aimed at targeting Russian officials deemed to be corrupt or human rights abusers; and a broader Global Magnitsky Act, which was passed in 2016 and targets such people worldwide.

Allowing Plahotniuc to be in the United States is problematic, he said. "This story has wider implications," said Parker, a former congressional staffer who was involved in drafting the Magnitsky legislation. "Something like this is demoralizing to people in places like Moldova where there's a struggle against massive official corruption."

"Preventing a situation like this is what we had in mind when passing the Magnitsky laws, we don't want to be a haven for kleptocrats," he told RFE/RL.

The law that Plahotniuc was designated under, known by its shorthand, Section 7031, is designed to bar entry to the United States for individuals found to be complicit in "significant corruption" or "gross violation of human rights." It does not appear to affect foreigners already in the United States.

Washington Influence?

While Plahotniuc's name is familiar among corruption researchers and experts on former Soviet republics, it is not widely known in broader circles.

Last month, however, his name gained wider currency, when U.S. news media revealed that Richard Grenell, the current acting director of national intelligence, had written a series of article published in U.S. newspapers defending Plahotniuc in 2016.

ProPublica, a U.S. investigative news organization, reported that Grenell did not disclose that he was paid by Plahotniuc for the work, and did not register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).

A representative for Grenell, who later became ambassador to Germany and special envoy for negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, did not disclose to ProPublica what Grenell's paid consulting work involved at the time, but he argued that Grenell did not need to register under FARA.

Valeriu Pasa, who leads a Moldovan civil society group called WatchDog.MD, said Plahotniuc's presence in the United States could be part of an effort by U.S. agencies to glean insights into the larger money laundering that has been documented in Moldova for more than a decade.

"He could be extremely useful and a really good source of information to the U.S.," Pasa said. "He could be a precious source of information, in the schemes of money laundering that he was directly involved in."

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in 2014 published evidence pointing to a massive, years-long scheme that involved criminal and corrupt politicians in Russia using banks in Moldova.

Sergiu Tofilat, a Moldovan corruption whistle-blower who was elected to the Chisinau city council last year, said the bigger problem for Moldova is that its judicial system had been wholly compromised by corrupt business and government officials. "We don't know the exact reasons why he is in the United States," Tofilat told RFE/RL. It would be a good thing "to get Plahotniuc back in Moldova and hold him accountable for the criminal activities that he committed in Moldova over the past 15 years, while in power or very close to power."

"But for that, we need a truly independent justice system," he said. "There is no truly independent justice system in Moldova, so there's no reason to extradite Plahotniuc because he could escape justice."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-most- notorious-oligarch-has-been-in-the-us-despite- sanctions-officials-say/30468719.html

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

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In a recent study, scientists at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute (RRI) found that research participants moved their eyes to determine whether they had seen an image before, and that their eye movement patterns could predict mistakes in memory.

In a recent study, scientists at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute (RRI) found that research participants moved their eyes to determine whether they had seen an image before, and that their eye movement patterns could predict mistakes in memory. They obtained these results using an innovative new eye tracking technique they developed.

"Our findings indicate that eye movements play a functional role in memory retrieval," says Dr. Jennifer Ryan, senior scientist at the RRI and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory. "They can tell us a lot about someone's memory."

This study builds on previous Baycrest research examining the link between eye movements and memory, including the role of our eye movements in memorization and the weakening connection between our eye movements and our brain activity as we age.

"When we see a picture, a face or something else that we have already seen, our eyes tend to look at the same locations as they did the first time. The brain compares important characteristics of what we are seeing to a mental picture in our memory, and it identifies the two as the same," says Dr. Bradley Buchsbaum, senior scientist at the RRI. "The brain is pretty good at this, even in conditions of lower visibility."

"If we see someone in the distance, or if their face is partially hidden by branches, our brain will compare the features that are visible to a mental picture to determine whether we know that person," says Jordana Wynn, lead researcher on this study, former PhD student at the RRI and current fellow at Harvard University.

This phenomenon is called "pattern completion." When it goes wrong, we may end up mistakenly waving to a stranger if he or she has similar hair or a similar nose to someone we know.

In this study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), participants were first asked to memorize a series of 30 new images on a screen. Next, they viewed another series, this time containing both some of the previously seen images and some new-but-similar images. They were then asked to indicate whether they had seen each one before. Their eye movements were tracked during both stages. Each image was shown briefly, ranging from 250 milliseconds to 750 milliseconds, before the participants were instructed to visualize it while looking at a blank screen.

Participants were highly accurate in identifying previously seen images as old, scoring almost 90%. They were more likely to be correct if their eye movements were the same as when they initially saw the image. On the other hand, they performed less well, at 70%, when faced with a new-but-similar image. In the latter case, the more participants repeated their initial viewing pattern instead of focusing on the different aspects of the image, the more likely they were to incorrectly identify the image as old.

To emulate real-world situations where we don't have full information, the researchers also used incomplete, or "degraded," versions of images. This ranged from 0 to 80% degradation, in the form of grey squares covering parts of the image. Remarkably, even when the image was 80% degraded, performance was much better than pure guessing, reflecting the strength of pattern completion.

"Using our eye tracking technique, we were able to map the participants' eye movements and observe that they were mentally picturing an image that they could not see," says Wynn. "They were using pattern completion."

Many studies have examined pattern completion over the past decades, but with one critical weakness. "These studies have all been based on the untested assumption that we can infer pattern completion is happening when participants mistakenly 'recognize' images that they have not seen before," says Wynn. "Our study is the first to use eye movement analysis, rather than behaviour, to show that people are in fact retrieving a memory of an old image when they make this mistake."

This study's findings have important implications in terms of assessing memory. "Some of the traditional tests used to diagnose memory impairments are quite verbal," says Dr. Ryan. "They often require good command of the English language, which can be a problem in a multicultural city like Toronto."

"With eye tracking, you don't have to ask people what they remember. You can just look at their eyes. This gives us a lot more information about their memory than we thought," says Dr. Buchsbaum.

This work was made possible with support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

With additional funding, the researchers could further examine the role of eye movements in memory retrieval. "This could lead to the development of better screening tools for dementia, which is the ultimate hope," says Dr. Ryan.

###

About Baycrest

Baycrest is a global leader in geriatric residential living, healthcare, research, innovation and education, with a special focus on brain health and aging. Baycrest is home to a robust research and innovation network, including one of the world's top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience, the Rotman Research Institute; the scientific headquarters of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, Canada's largest national dementia research initiative; and the Baycrest-powered Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, a solution accelerator focused on driving innovation in the aging and brain health sector. Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest provides excellent care for older adults combined with an extensive clinical training program for the next generation of healthcare professionals. Through these initiatives, Baycrest has remained at the forefront of the fight to defeat dementia as our organization works to create a world where every older adult enjoys a life of purpose, inspiration and fulfilment. Founded in 1918 as the Toronto Jewish Old Folks Home, Baycrest continues to embrace the long-standing tradition of all great Jewish healthcare institutions to improve the well-being of people in their local communities and around the globe. For more information please visit: http://www.baycrest.org

About Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute

Now in its 31st year, the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest is a premier international centre for the study of human brain function. Through generous support from private donors and funding agencies, the institute is helping to illuminate the causes of cognitive decline in seniors, identify promising approaches to treatment and lifestyle practices that will protect brain health longer in the lifespan.

For media inquiries:

Michelle Petch Gotuzzo

Baycrest

416-785-2500 ext. 6932

mpetchgotuzzo@baycrest.org
The new FX series Devs may be set in the world of high tech, but its creator is politely asking you to put yours down while checking it out.

Alex Garland wants you to choose to watch his show  really be present  not half-watch while fiddling with your phone. It's not that kind of show.

If somebody was spending a lot of time sending text messages or checking whats going on in the news on their phones while watching the story, it would make very little sense, he says.

Garland, who wrote and directed each episode, has a point: Devs is an absorbing meditation on the very essence of human existence and free will, all hidden in an elegant techno-thriller. It's worth putting down your gizmo.

The eight-part limited series is available starting Thursday exclusively on FX on Hulu and centers on the character of Lily, a young computer engineer working for a cutting-edge tech giant on a sprawling San Francisco campus.

When Lily's boyfriend disappears while working in the secretive Devs complex  where the company plans its coolest developments  Lily investigates. Along the way, Garland explores quantum physics, determinism and the laws of the universe. Seriously.
Kwon Sang-woo will join the cast of the film 'The Pirates 2'.

The actor's agency told News1 on March 3 that he "received the 'Pirate 2' script and is considering the appearance positively."

'The Pirates 2' is the sequel to 'Pirate', directed by Lee Seok-hoon, which was released in 2014. It attracted more than 6.86 million viewers, having headlined by Kim Nam-Gil, Son Ye-jin, and Yu Hae-jin.

Kim Nam-Gil earlier turned down a role in the upcoming sequel. Lee Kwang Soo is reported to replace Yoo Hae Jin, while Son Ye-jin and Kim Nam Gil are still up to star in the franchise. Kang Ha-neul, on the other hand, is reportedly positive in participating in 'The Pirates 2'.

Meanwhile, 'The Pirates 2' is slated to start filming in July this year and aims to premier in 2021.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are all set to meet in Moscow on March 5. The two presidents will reportedly talk about a ceasefire deal with the backdrop of increased fighting between Turkish and Syrian government forces in Idlib, Syria's northwestern province. As per reports, the meeting will also try to salvage a deteriorating relationship between two economic partners.

In hopes of reaching a ceasefire

Prior to his visit, the Turkish President reportedly claimed that the meeting with the Russian President will result in a swift ceasefire. According to reports, Russia, on the other hand, will try and maintain a perilous position of sparing with Turkey and supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to reports, Russia will try and convince Turkey to accept the new realities in Syria that the Syrian government forces will not back down to previous positions. Reports also indicated that both parties will have to give in on certain aspects if they wish to achieve a ceasefire.

Read: EU Must Support Turkey In Syria If It Wants Migrant Solution: Turkish President

Read: Turkish President Erdogan To Meet Putin In Russia As Situation In Syria Escalates

Reports have indicated that both Russia and Turkey are unhappy with each other's efforts to implement the Sochi agreement. The agreement that was signed by both countries in 2018, talks of the creation of a 'de-escalation' zone with 12 observation towers around Idlib.

Read: Putin Claims Foreign Powers Spreading Fake News About Coronavirus In Russia

Read: Migrants Tear Gassed For Trying To Swim To Greece After Turkey Opens Western Borders

The Russians believe that Turkey is not doing enough to separate 'moderate' rebels from 'terrorists'. The Russians also claim that the latest offensive that they launched in December last year is to try and dislodge these terrorists. Reports show that Ankara on the other had accused Russia of violating the ceasefire that was agreed upon in 2011 multiple times. According to reports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that while Kremlin acknowledges that the meeting will be a difficult one but continues to hope for new agreements will be discovered in the Sochi framework.
The Senate, on Thursday, approved N346.3 billion as the 2019 budget for the Niger Delta Development Commission. This is against the N409 billion proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This comes a day after the House of Representatives approved the same figure.

The president had in November 2019 transmitted the 2019 and 2020 budget estimates for the commission.

Although details of the proposed budget was not stated then, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Peter Nwabaoshi, said Mr Buhari presented a budget proposal of N409.9 billion for the NDDC for the 2019 fiscal year.

In the budget, the president proposed, Personnel Expenditure  22,338,190000, Overhead Expenditure  13,466,810000, Internal Capital Expenditure  4,083,000,000 and Development Projects 369,995,000,000.

However, presenting the report of the committee, Mr Nwabaoshi noted that the developmental aspect of the budget is basically a rollover of the 2018 Budget which is in furtherance of the drive to ensure completion of ongoing projects.

For revenue projections of the Commission, he explained that N128.6 billion was stated as statutory contribution by the federal government to the NDDC .

Since the proposed federal government contribution for year 2019 is higher than the amount approved by the National Assembly for the year, the Committee adopted N100.1 billion, he said.

READ ALSO:

He also said N35 billion stated as unpaid arrears by the Federal Government was not considered as part of the Commissions revenue projection by the Committee because the amount was not approved in the 2019 Appropriations Act by the National Assembly.

The Committee recommended that the lifespan of the budget be extended to enable the Commission achieve full implementation  accordingly, the 2019 NDDC Budget is recommended to elapse on May 31, 2020.

All the recommendations were adopted by the Senate.

Details of the budget

Revenue Profile:

a. Revenue Brought Forward  11,000,000,000

b. Federal Government contribution  100,188,900,000

c. Federal Government contribution (ie Unpaid arrears by Federal Government)  0

d. Oil companies contributions and Nigeria Liquefied Noturdl Gas Ltd (NLNG) and others  230,000,000,000

e. Ecological Funds  5,000,000,000.

f. Other Internally Realized Income  200,000,000

Total revenue  346,388,900,000

* Personnel Expenditure  2,338,190,000.

* Overhead Expenditure  13,466,810,000

* Internal Capital Expenditure  4,083,000,000

* Development Projects  306,500,900,000

TOTAL EXPENDITURE: 346,388,900,000
As many as 29 police officers



and personnel were examined by Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha, head of the magisterial enquiry into the police firing in the city in December 2019 which killed two anti- Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters.

A total of 176 police personnel have been directed to present their evidence before the magistrate for the enquiry.

ACPs K U Belliappa and Kodandarama presented his evidence on Wednesday, while ACP (central sub division) M Jagdish and ACP (traffic) M Manjunatha Shetty submitted their evidencein writing.

The next hearing is slated to be held on March 9 when statements of 41 officers including DCP (law and order) Arunangshu Giri will be recorded.

City police commissioner P S Harsha has been asked to submit his evidence on March 12, Jagadeesha said.

The enquiry report is to be submitted to the government on March 23.

Jagadeesha said he will seek an extension in the case of any delay in the recording of evidences.

Two people-Nausheen and Jaleel- were killed in the firing on December 19, 2019 during the protests here against the CAA.

The Karnataka government had decided to hold a CID probe and a magisterial enquiry into the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This post is part of Outward, Slates home for coverage of LGBTQ life, thought, and culture. Read more here.

The Supreme Court has me thinking of some patients of mine.

Last month, the court agreed to hear Fulton v. Philadelphia, and it will hear the case this fall. Fulton centers on Philadelphias refusal to let Catholic Social Services screen and certify potential foster parents because the agency will not work with same-sex couples. A local ordinance bars agencies from discriminating against LGBTQ people, so the city declined to renew its contract with Catholic Social Services. The agency sued, and although lower courts found no constitutional violation, the Supreme Court took the casean ominous sign for Philadelphia.

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The broad implications of the case, should the conservative majority side with Catholic Social Services, could be disastrous for anti-discrimination laws writ large. But I cant help but think about what it would mean for foster kids themselves.

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It made me think about Marcie and Brenda.

Marcie and Brenda are a married couple who have been bringing their kids to my practice for long enough that I cant even remember the first time I met them. (Their names have been changed to protect their childrens privacy.) Its been my privilege to provide care for their children. Some are biologically related to them, some are theirs through adoption, and many have been children theyve fostered.

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We have been fostering together for seven years, they told me in an email. Weve had eight long-term placements, eleven children total (three placements were sibling sets of two).

Thats 11 children in need of a safe, stable, and loving home, and who found one. Eleven children who got care and affection when they needed it most. But theres more that Brenda and Marcie give children placed with them than is conveyed by that figure alone.

We specialize in young children with special needs, they told me. We have fostered children with various issues, including fetal alcohol syndrome, tracheomalacia, reactive attachment disorder, spina bifida, limb difference, prematurity, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and various developmental delays.

Over the years Ive been their childrens pediatrician, I have come to know something about their family. Whenever I learn that another child has come to live with them, I know that child is going to receive the best care possible. Ive seen it myself on numerous occasions when Ive delivered medical care to one of their children. If a child has needed close monitoring for some kind of illness, they attend to them vigilantly and show up reliably no matter how many follow-up visits are needed. When any kind of additional treatment or support is necessary, they pursue it diligently. They are also a fun, cheerful family to be around, and it makes me happy when I see one of their kids on my schedule for the day.

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No matter how complex or intensive the needs a child placed with them may have, Marcie and Brenda will do everything they can to meet them. I know that child is in wonderful hands. Thats the kind of parents they are.

We knew there were children who were being placed in nursing homes and residential settings because of a lack of available, skilled foster families, they told me. We believe deeply that all children deserve the opportunity to wait for permanency in loving families. Children who are not given the opportunity to live within safe families during their earliest years often have attachment problems for the rest of their lives. Children with special medical/developmental needs are at an increased risk of these attachment issues. We knew we had the ability to love children completely, while also holding space for their forever family [adoptive or biological].

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To place a barrier between kids like those and a loving family opening its doors to them feels criminal to me. If I were to employ the same kind of religious language that is used to deprive same-sex families of the chance to be foster parents, Id call it a sin.

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To place a barrier between kids and a loving family feels criminal to me. Id call it a sin.

Catholic Social Services opposes same-sex marriage. So does at least one other foster care agency in Philadelphia, Bethany Christian Services. But Bethany Christian Services still certifies same-sex couples, because it does not let its religious beliefs get in the way of the best interest of the child. Catholic Social Services, by contrast, believes it is not in childrens best interest to place them with loving same-sex parents. Marcie and Brendas family refutes that belief.

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We fostered a sibling set of girls a few years ago who were five and seven years old, they told me. They had multiple placements before coming to our home, and we were committed to being their last stop before their adoptive placement.

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After ten months, an adoptive family was identified and we began the transition process, they continued. Part of the transition process was helping the adoptive family understand the girls behavioral and attachments special needs. The couple listened intently but didnt seem to understand the girls significant mental health needs. A month into the transition, the mother [of the male/female couple] said in a therapy session we attended together that the girls would do significantly better once they were in a real family, with a Mom and a Dad. They shared this belief with many of the girls helping professionals over the next few weeks.

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Needless to say, providing these children with opposite-sex parents did not actually help their mental health. The girls transitioned to them one month later, Marcie and Brenda told me, and the adoption disrupted after 18 days.

Clearly, the presence of heterosexual parents is not some kind of cure-all. Whether theyre gay or straight, some couples will be better parenting fits than others, and its not sound to generalize too much from a single example. But there is nothing innately superior to opposite-sex couples when it comes to raising children, as organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics have been saying for years.

If anything, there is a greater willingness on the part of LGBTQ parents to open their homes to children in need. According to Family Equality Council, same-sex couples are six times more likely to foster children than opposite-sex couples. The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law reports that 2.9 percent of same-sex couples were fostering children in 2016, as compared with 0.4 percent of opposite-sex couples.

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I am in favor of any agency that brings these children into loving, safe homes. I harbor no animus toward agencies with a religious affiliation. Two of the children my husband and I adopted were placed with us by an agency with such an affiliation. But no couples chances of having a child placed with them should depend on an agency having a tolerant worldview. If one is going to engage in the work of placing children with foster homes, then nothing should take priority over finding them a place where they will be safe and cared for. Applying some kind of doctrinal test of fitness on the basis of an arbitrary trait like sexual orientation will only keep kids from homes waiting to welcome them.

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As Frank Cervone, a lawyer and executive director of Support Center for Child Advocates in Pennsylvania, told a federal court, the religious criteria that CSS seeks to use to exclude qualified prospective foster parents have nothing to do with the best interests of the children whom we serve together.

As a result, Cervone continued, CSSs policy of rejecting qualified prospective foster parents or refusing to place children in loving homes with qualified same-sex foster parents based on religious considerations may result in harm to children.

The idea of Brenda and Marcies foster children being denied their loving care breaks my heart. Catholic Social Services is free to believe that same-sex marriages are wrong and illegitimate. But Philadelphia has a responsibility to value the best interest of the child above all else. And thats exactly what the city did when it refused to work with an agency that would keep kids out of homes like Brenda and Marcies. I can only hope the Supreme Court sees that Philadelphia is not engaging in religious discriminationits ensuring that children are not denied a loving home because their foster parents happen to be gay.
A year after rumors circulated that Elisabeth Moss and Tom Cruise were dating, the "Handmaid's Tale" actress decided to set the record straight.

The 37-year-old dropped by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Monday and a viewer asked the truth from the source herself.

Moss then asked the show host, "How did you miss that?" because apparently, Cohen had not heard about that gossip in the past.

"Oh my god, I would've been so excited for you. I would've DMed you," the host quipped.

According to "The Invisible Man" actress, when she heard the news that she was engaged to Tom Cruise, she was confused. People also started texting Moss asking her why they "didn't tell" them.

"Just confusion from my friends, but mainly poking fun at it because obviously, they knew that it wasn't true," Moss shared.

Cruise and Moss are two high-profile Scientologists in Hollywood. Speculation over whether the two were actually seeing each other reached a whole new level when OK Magazine ran a story about them dating. The publication even showed a photo of the "Mission Impossible" star cozying up with a "mystery blonde."

But when the actress even caught a glimpse of the supposed photo of her and Cruise together, she immediately knew the woman in question was not her.

"Then I saw it on the cover of one of the gossip magazines and I was like, 'I've never had that haircut,'" Moss told Cohen. "It was supposed to be a picture of the two of us and I was like, 'I've never styled my hair like that.' So it's clearly not me."

However, according to Too Fab, that picture of Cruise was actually a set photo from "Mission" Impossible - Fallout" where he was sharing a kiss with co-star Vanessa Kirby for the film.

Cohen later joked that Moss finally made it big in Hollywood once magazines publish fake marriage stories about them.

Too Personal?

This interview will probably be the most fans will hear from Elisabeth Moss discussing personal matters because she is usually private about her love life.

"I learned you just don't talk about it. Who really gives a sh** whether or not I'm dating anyone? I hate to put that importance on it," Moss said in an interview with Marie Claire in 2019,

Elisabeth, who was raised as a Scientologist, has remained quiet about her own faith. However, she fielded questions about the relevancy of her beliefs to the oppressive religion depicted on the Hulu drama "The Handmaid's Tale" she stars in.

Moss told The Daily Beast last year that she is an unabashed feminist and a supporter of LGBTQ rights because one of the things she believes in is freedom of speech.

"I believe we as humans should be able to critique things. I believe in freedom of the press. I believe in people being able to speak their own opinions," she continued, "I believe in people being able to speak their own opinions, I don't ever want to take that away from anybody, because that's important to me."

As for some actually hidden secrets in her life, Moss did tease the potential ending of her Hulu series, hinting she knows how many seasons the show will go on for and noting that the fourth season might not be the last.
D og-lovers have launched a legal battle to save a border collie on death row at an animal shelter.

Five-year-old Benji was due to be destroyed after apparently attacking another dog at the Mayhew animal rescue service in Kensal Green, where the Duchess of Sussex is patron.

He had been temporarily kenneled there while his owner was given cancer treatment.

When his owner died, the Mayhew  which also serves as Brents animal pound  assumed legal responsibility for the pet. During an assessment, Benji was reportedly involved in a dog-on-dog incident, leading to a last resort decision to put him down.

The Duchess of Sussex on a visit to the animal shelter in London / PA

News of the move has caused uproar, with nearly 12,000 people signing a petition to save the animal. Border Collie Spot, a Berkshire-based rehoming organisation, last week began legal action against the destruction order after being refused permission to take him on.

Gill White, who runs Border Collie Spot, said: We believe that Benji can be rehabilitated with someone with the experience, time and patience to work with him.

There is no need to destroy a dog with dog-on-dog aggression as this does not fall under the Dangerous Dogs Act, and it would be nice if both rescue centres could work together for Benjis sake.

The duchess chose the Mayhew as one of her first patronages. She visited the centre last year and posted pictures of another visit in January this year, shortly before leaving for Canada.

A Mayhew spokesman said it empathised with those upset by its plan to put Benji down, and said considering euthanasia was always the last possible resort.

It said because of the legal action it was restricted in what it could say but it had long-standing policies and procedures to ensure it did not rehome animals who may be a danger to themselves, other animals or humans.

It added: We understand that any situation involving the potential euthanasia of an animal is distressing. It is always the last possible resort our team would consider, and we empathise with everyone asking questions in relation to a case of this nature involving a border collie in our care, Benji.
The two-year project dedicated to opening, cataloguing and archiving the Luxembourg Government State Intelligence Service (SREL) archive is coming to an end, but the project has appeared more time-consuming than initially thought.

Two years ago, MPs passed a law that mandated the opening of the intelligence service archive from the 1960s to 2001.

The purpose of the project was to determine the ins and outs of the intelligence service's archive, namely why, when, and who was subject to checks by the service. Two historians were charged with the mission to catalogue, conserve, and value the archive.

However, two years later the deadline for the project to conclude is coming up, and the historians in charge of the project are far from finished with the time-consuming work. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel met with the relevant parliamentary commission to discuss how to continue at this point. Should the deadline for the project be extended or not?

The parliamentary commission's response was a resounding yes, with MPs from across the political spectrum in agreement. MPs specifically focused on one issue, pointed out by Green MP and party leader in the Chamber Josee Lorsche: the archives of Luxembourg's intelligence service during the Cold War years must be carefully catalogued and examined.

As she elaborated, the issue must be considered from a historical perspective. Luxembourgers have the right to know what happens in the country, especially as the Cold War had an impact on the citizens of Luxembourg. As Lorsche put it: "All of those people who were even remotely engaged left-wing politics - or even just travelled to eastern Europe - were monitored, whereas others were not. It is our duty to discover what happened."

CSV party leader in the Chamber Martine Hansen agreed, saying this is a clear call for the Prime Minister to adapt the law to allow the mission as stipulated in legislation to be fulfilled. She added that the historians' recommendations should also be taken into consideration.

These recommendations include allowing archivists to adequately order and catalogue the documents in question. The Left's Marc Baum said the invested historians had begun the process, but the work is by far not complete. He explained that they have attempted to create a sense of order: "They noted themselves that there must be a number of documents that they are unable to considerate as they're located in some boxes somewhere. It remains unclear if these are duplicates or new information. They need to determine these matters before seriously getting to work."

Hansen believes the SREL has hired an archivist to focus on this task. Another recommendation was that the period of the Cold War should be completely examined and combined with army and police archives.

In the meantime, no documents can be destroyed before the law has been voted on. This includes duplicates, MPs specified.
Tanaiste statement on death of former UN Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar

Statement

It is with much sadness that I have learned today of the death of Javier Perez de Cuellar, a distinguished career diplomat from Peru who led the United Nations during a tumultuous decade, from 1982 to 1991.

During these years, and especially from the mid-1980s, as the world emerged from the Cold War, numerous conflicts and disputes dominated the international agenda. Mr. Perez de Cuellar won confidence and trust across the international community, enabling him personally to play a key Good Offices role in bringing many of these situations to peaceful, agreed outcomes.

These included the decade-long war between Iran and Iraq; the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan; the peace agreement in El Salvador and Central America; the situation across Indo China; the bringing about of independence and majority rule in Namibia, an exemplar UN process that paved the way for the peaceful transition in South Africa.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar steered the UN Organization through the institutionally demanding period at the end of the Cold War. He played an important behind the scenes role in support of a peaceful transition in Europe and at the global level. It was entirely fitting that, during his tenure as Secretary-General, the UN peacekeeping forces were awarded the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize for work in Mozambique and Angola.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar cooperated closely with Ireland throughout his decade in office as United Nations Secretary-General, beginning with our two-year tenure on the UN Security Council in 1981-1982. He was a friend of Ireland. He retained the services of an Irish diplomatic official as a close aide throughout the years of his many achievements. He will be well and warmly remembered in this country.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

ENDS

PRESS OFFICE

5 MARCH 2020

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Students and employees who have a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms or respiratory illness should contact their doctor and stay home until their symptoms go away, according to CPS. Sick students will be sent home immediately, and CPS has asked for families to make sure schools have current contact information and for parents or guardians of children who have conditions such as asthma to take special precautions.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 06:50:39|Editor: huaxia

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Epidemic control staff sterilize a mosque in Beirut, Lebanon, March 5, 2020. Lebanon has started from Wednesday a sterilization campaign in several areas in the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Bilal Jawich/Xinhua)

CAIRO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Wednesday received international aid to support its efforts to fight COVID-19, while more countries in the Middle East took further steps to stop the spread of the virus.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that a large consignment of aid was shipped to Iran from the World Health Organization. Earlier Wednesday, the first humanitarian aid from the French government was handed over to Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

In addition, the United Nations Children's Fund, China, Turkey and Austria, as well as the European countries, have also provided medical supplies to Iran to help contain the coronavirus, Mousavi added.

Meanwhile, Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said that the novel coronavirus has infected 2,922 people across the country, 92 of whom have died. A total of 552 people have recovered and left hospital.

Iran's First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said Wednesday that the Iranian government has suspended its officials' participation in international events and exhibitions, except for the Foreign Ministry, to "reduce possible disease transmission to the foreign countries."

Lebanon, which announced two new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, received 600 medical protective goggles and a batch of testing kits donated by Chinese companies and expatriates in the country.

"The Chinese here acted quickly after they knew about the first COVID-19 case in Lebanon," Xu Zhuming, representative of the donor companies and individuals, told Xinhua.

"We stand together with the Lebanese people in the fight against COVID-19," he added.

So far, Lebanon has confirmed a total of 15 coronavirus cases in the country. A sterilization campaign in several areas in the country started on Wednesday to prevent the spread of the virus.

Lebanon's General Directorate of Civil Aviation urged the Middle East Airlines to start sterilizing the terminal building and the general aviation building, as part of the preventive measures.

In addition, Governor of Beirut Ziad Chbib has decided to sterilize Beirut's streets to protect citizens from the virus while calling upon all municipalities to do the same. The Lebanese city of Baalbek has also sterilized various official departments.

In Egypt, the government temporarily banned all arrivals from Qatar over fears of the spread of the coronavirus, the cabinet said in a statement. On Sunday, Qatar banned all arrivals from Egypt, except for Qatari citizens.

Egypt's Health Ministry earlier on Monday announced a second case of COVID-19 infection, involving a foreigner who was tested positive for the coronavirus. But the first patient recovered on Thursday.

There are four more countries in the region reporting new confirmed COVID-19 cases or death from the virus on Wednesday.

In Iraq, the Health Ministry announced three more cases of COVID-19 infection, two in the eastern province of Diyala and one in Najaf province, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 35.

In Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, the health authority reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in Iraq, which involved a 70-year-old man. Iraqi Health Ministry later announced the second death of a woman infected with COVID-19 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

In Algeria, four new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 12.

In Oman, the Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday three new cases of novel coronavirus infection, bringing to 15 the total number of confirmed cases in the country.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia confirmed the second case of novel coronavirus, involving a Saudi national who arrived with the first case from Iran through Bahrain.

The Saudi Interior Ministry also announced temporary suspension of Umrah for citizens and residents, as part of its preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus.
Rohini D By

As the world gazes at yet another March 8 (International Womens Day), it is time to take note of what has been accomplished, what remains undone, the lost opportunities and dashed hopes, the milestones reached and those yet to be achieved. The spirit soars as one hears of the success in a hard-fought legal battle that secured women a permanent commission in the Indian Army. The sore point is that it had to be a hard-fought battle. Be it the impressive feat of our Women in Blue in the ongoing ICC T20, or of the women who laid a bridge to the Moon through their Chandrayaan, each of them have breached a wall.

Now picture this. 153. That is Indias ranking in the Gender Development Index given by the UNDP out of a total of 166 countries. India is at the tail-end of the list, way below many sub-Saharan countries and some of our third-world neighbours like Bangladesh and Nepal. Even if one wishes away these statistics, more such reports by world bodies project almost the same picture - like the Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum placing India at 112 out of 153 countries. Gaps galore at all levels. They exist in economic opportunities like participation in workforce, in wage gaps, in a lack of access to healthcare and in opportunities for education. While the issues are ubiquitous, women in rural areas fight a harder battle against these gaps.

The problem of women empowerment in rural areas lies in the fact that there is a glaring lack of awareness of basic civil liberties. Menstruating women are isolated even to this day in many rural areas. A son preference culture ensures that even food distribution within the family is tilted in favour of the menfolk. Not to mention its impact on sex ratio (both at birth and beyond). What ossifies this is a set of moribund values that instil a self-effacing culture in women while reinforcing their self-defeating attitudes and perceptions. Access to school education is another problem. For many girls in rural India, as opposed to their urban counterparts, the Right to Education may still be news. Very often the proclivity to learning is disincentivised by the prospect of having to travel to a distant school, fraught with its own risks and difficulties.

The silver lining, though, is in the success stories of micro-credit across the world. The micro-creditors chose women as their target client primarily for two reasons: 1) Women have no access to collateral, considering their access to economic opportunities. 2) The repayment commitment is honoured by women very earnestly and zestfully. But the social ramifications of micro-credit schemes were interesting. World over, many studies found intriguing results. Women were found to utilise the income generated in starting a supplementary venture or in their childrens education, virtually building the social capital for the nation, whereas men were found to be using the additional income in indulgences like alcohol, tobacco, smoking, etc.

In fact, what was found was a further positive correlation between such economic opportunities and the decision-making abilities of women in deciding the size of family, childrens immunisation and education. They were found to have a greater control over the forces in their environment and reported a greater feeling of well-being vis-a-vis those without such economic opportunities. This difference in spending patterns, though debatable, explains the rationale for tilting development programmes in favour of women, who can drive socio-economic change. Women-engineered programmes, particularly at the grassroots level, may thus be an effective tool of the bottom-up process of development.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has a community approach to eradicating open defecation. The programme - which has enabled the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 and talks of clean water and sanitation - might go on to reap richer dividends if it is women-driven. Women groups in rural areas could be encouraged to enrol as Swachhagrahis, or volunteers, in large numbers. They could be trained to use digital platforms that are used to alert the sanitation crew when the solar-powered waste storages are full. The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana could be routed through the female members of an eligible family.

A targeted skill development scheme under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana specifically directed at women in rural and semi-urban areas to equip them for gainful employment is likely to give more power to them. What might be a game changer is a multidimensional ecosystem to build the capabilities of these women. It should include formal learning infrastructures, micro-credit access, skill training and market access for local produce. Traditional products in the form of arts, handicrafts and pottery have lost market and therefore production due to aggressive globalisation. It is thus imperative to revive these simple community-run economies and bridge gaps in marketing through branding and advertising.

It is not a coincidence that across cultures, women have been hailed as the prime movers of family and society. Adages abound, like the one in India:

The woman is the eye of the family, a woman educated is a generation educated. But the most powerful sentiment I found was in Margaret Thatchers words: If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman. It is time to move beyond seeing her as a symbol of societys honour and accept the fact that she is the prime force of change. More power to Her.

Rohini D is an IRS officer (Views are personal) Email: rohini.divakar@gmail.com
The natural product has the ability to strengthen and promote hair growth

An Australian luxury natural beauty brand has been crowned the winner at the international 2020 Beauty Shortlist Awards for the Best Hair Oil award.

The Indagare Natural Beauty Hair Renewal Oil, priced at only $39, was as stand-out from competitors for its ability to transform dry hair, strengthen follicles and promote hair growth.

The lightweight but potent product contains 100% natural ingredients and infuses several essential oils, including camellia oil to stimulate scalp recovery and ylang ylang essential oil to condition the hair and scalp.

The Indagare Natural Beauty Hair Renewal Oil, priced at only $39, was as stand-out from competitors for its ability to transform dry hair, strengthen follicles and promote hair growth

Indagare's CEO and founder, Tanya Joslin, said: 'We are humbled to stand on the world stage alongside brands we respect and admire. To get this sort of recognition for our Organic Hair Renewal Oil feels amazing'.

'I am so proud to be part of the natural beauty movement where brand owners and formulators are putting their heart and soul into every single formulation, creating efficacious and often incredibly unique toxin-free products.'

The brand recommends applying the oil in sections, avoiding the scalp, and brushing through the ends one hour before washing your hair.

Though for a more effective treatment, apply to your hair overnight and wash in the morning, or add three to four drops on the palm of your hand and brush through to the ends before blow-drying.

The brand recommends applying the oil in sections, avoiding the scalp, and brushing through the ends one hour before washing your hair

For a more effective treatment, apply to y our hair overnight and wash in the morning, or add three to four drops on the palm of your hand and apply to the ends before blow-drying

What's the product made from? Canellia oil - used for centuries by Japanese Geishas for glossy locks Argan oil - ideal for soothing scalps from irritation Sesame oil - restores health to scalp and hair Peppermint essential oil - helps increase the circulation of blood flow in the scalp to promote healthy hair growth Ylang ylang essential oil - conditions the hair and scalp Rosemary essential oil - relieves irritated, dry scalps and promotes hair growth Source: Indagare Natural Beauty Advertisement

The multifunctional formula has been well received on social media, with shoppers praising the product online.

'To say I was stunned would be an understatement, my hair is sleek and glossy and looks so fabulous. I'm keeping this now for weekly treatments to use overnight from now on,' one customer wrote online and rated the product five out of five stars.

'This lightweight oil is very nourishing for my very dry hair and has stopped the frizz and brought back my curls, especially after recently having my hair lightened. Have always used oils on my hair and will keep using this one,' another said.

The brand's Relax & Nourish Body Oil also won at the Beauty Shortlist Awards and was chosen for the Editor's Choice Award.

'To say I was stunned would be an understatement, my hair is sleek and glossy and looks so fabulous,' one customer wrote online and rated the product five out of five stars.

The Beauty Shortlist Awards initiated in 2012 by journalist Fiona Klonarides and have grown to be the UK's leading indie beauty awards.

Each year thousand of international brands and products enter from both large and small green beauty labels.

This is the single awards competition Indagare Natural Beauty take part in, as the event offers as 'level playing field' for independent brands.

'Whether you are a big or a small brand, their expert judges are trusted and completely neutral,' the brand said.
BERLIN - At least seven people were involved in the November theft of 18th-century jewels from a unique collection in Dresden, German authorities said Thursday as they released a sketch of one possible suspect.

A large diamond brooch, a diamond epaulette and other treasures were taken from Dresdens Green Vault early on the morning of Nov. 25.

The Green Vault is one of the worlds oldest museums. It was established in 1723 and contains the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, comprising around 4,000 objects of gold, precious stones and other materials.

Shortly after the theft, authorities offered a 500,000 euro ($557,000) reward for information leading to the recovery of the jewels or the arrest of the thieves.

On Thursday, prosecutors and police said they have determined that an Audi S6 used in the theft and later set alight in a Dresden garage was sold to an unidentified buyer in August. They said they believe a young man who picked up the car from the seller in Magdeburg, another eastern German city, was connected to the break-in and released a sketch of a slim dark-haired man believed to be about 25.

The car may have been repainted before the break-in, authorities said, bolstering suspicions that the theft was planned well in advance.

Analyses by investigators, based in part on video footage, led them to conclude that at least seven people were involved.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 14:03:59|Editor: huaxia

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HOHHOT, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Another 20 county-level regions in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have been removed from the country's list of impoverished counties, local authorities said Thursday.

This means that all 31 impoverished county-level regions in Inner Mongolia have shaken off poverty, according to the regional poverty relief office.

The region will continue to adopt poverty alleviation measures to prevent people from returning to poverty, said the office.

Since 2013, more than 1.55 million rural people have bid farewell to poverty in Inner Mongolia by the end of 2019, with the poverty headcount ratio dropping to 0.11 percent in 2019 from 11.7 percent in 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:59:02|Editor: huaxia

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HAIKOU, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A video shot by Chantel Smit, a South African teacher who works in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, has recently gone viral online.

In the short video, Chantel, together with her family, praised the local police for doing an excellent job in the fight against the novel coronavirus and showed their gratitude to a police officer who has been giving a helping hand to her family during the difficult period.

The Smits came to Haikou in November last year. She works at a foreign language school and her husband Johan is a househusband, taking care of their baby girl at home. Two months later, however, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) upended their lives and they had to stay at home to avoid virus infection.

On Feb. 2, the couple received a phone call from a local police station, but they were unable to communicate with the police officer as they do not speak Mandarin. But after a while, another officer who speaks English called back, asking about their information and if they needed any help.

Chantel told the policeman that they had no masks and had no idea where to buy one as all masks were sold out when the contagion first started.

"He told us not to worry, and about 15 minutes later, he came to our apartment and gave us 10 masks," Chantel recalled.

"I was so shocked and thankful that he went through all this trouble to make sure we got some masks," she said, adding the policeman gave them five surgical masks and five ordinary ones. "But due to the shortage at the time, it didn't matter to us."

A few weeks later, the policeman knocked on their door again and brought them more masks. And this time, the masks were mailed by the policeman's parents from his hometown in eastern China's Fujian Province.

"Once again we were in shock and so grateful to him. We are in a foreign country and we are not locals, but he decided to take care of us and made sure we were okay," Chantel said. "He gave us peace and hope during this difficult time. He is kind-hearted and selfless, therefore, we consider him to be our hero."

The hero of the Smits, Tang Runze, is a young man who has been a police officer for just one year. The 24-year-old said it is his daily work to check the status of residents in the community. The police need to inquire about residents' movements to know if they have recently traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, and check their body temperature.

Learning about the difficult situation facing the Smits, Tang decided to lend a hand.

Chantel shared the whole story on her WeChat page and wrote "Thank you, policeman, your kindness is overwhelming. China is truly our home away from home."

"This is a difficult time in China and an act of kindness like this makes you positive and happy," said Chantel, explaining why she wanted to share this positive story with more people.

Besides sharing the story on WeChat, Chantel and Johan also made a video to show their gratitude, saying "We're fighting with China."

Chantel said the Chinese government has done a fantastic job in containing the virus.

Tang and the couple have now become friends. Learning that the couple had trouble ordering groceries, he taught them to buy vegetables and food online via apps.

The couple has now gotten used to staying at home. "We play with our baby a lot. We cook together and clean a lot. We appreciate the extra time that we have to spend with our daughter," Chantel said.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday expressed disappointment over the sorry state of the temporary isolation centre for victims of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Abuja.

While he described the centre as a sorry sight, he wondered why not a singe room can be called an isolation centre in Abuja and the whole North-central. This, he said, is despite allocating over N600 million for isolation centres to help contain the virus.

Mr Lawan, said this when he visited the facility located at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja.

The centre, he said is not in good shape and does not look ready to receive any patient  which is something that should be fixed by Thursday, he said.

We are in an emergency even if we dont have people who are affected, we shouldnt just rest on our oars. We have to do everything and anything possible to fix that temporary isolation centre to be prepared and ready to receive any one who falls sick in this respect.

But officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) lamented that the federal government is yet to release funds to it from the N620 million earmarked to fight the disease.

The Senate President, however, urged the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Health to immediately release the money to enable the NCDC put in place what is required to combat the pandemic.

He also promised that the Senate would ensure the release of the money.

He also called on the NCDC to replicate the building of its permanent isolation which is said to be 88 per cent complete in the other five geo-political zones of the country.

Speaking to reporters after the tour, Mr Lawan said officials are in high spirits looking determined to discharge their mandate and obligation.

We are indeed sad that the N620 million that was supposed to be released to the NCDC for fixing of everything here, not a kobo has been released. We are going to get across to the Minister of Finance and all the other authorities who have anything to do with this to release this money between today and tomorrow latest.

Theres no way that Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, with a population of 200 million, and yet the Federal Capital and six surrounding states of the North-central, you dont have one room that you can call an isolation centre, where anyone who unfortunately falls into this crisis will be taken to. This is not acceptable.

Lets spend money on our people, we waste money on some things that are less important. This is about the health and lives of the people of this country, and therefore, no investment is too much.

He said relevant committees of the Senate will follow-up on Thursday to ensure that work on the isolation centre begins and is completed.

The lawmakers comments comes a day after the health minister, Osagie Ehanire, visited the leadership of the Senate and discussed the countrys level of preparedness as well as progress made so far.

The news of the first recorded case of the virus was made known early last Friday, following confirmation from the Lagos State Government.

Many have, however, commended the NCDC for their efforts in tackling the disease.

The virus, which originated from China in December, has spread to about 60 countries. The respiratory disease, which has killed over 3,000 people, is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing, and germs left on inanimate objects.

Symptoms of the disease can include a sore throat, runny nose, fever or pneumonia and can progress to multiple organ failure or death in some severe cases.
New Jersey residents who attended a Westchester County synagogue are being asked to self-quarantine out of an "abundance of caution after they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Wednesday.

The guidance called for anyone who visited Temple Young Israel in New Rochelle, New York, for services, a funeral or a bat mitzvah from Feb. 22-23 to remain at home until at least Sunday.

While the risk to any given individual is likely to be low, we felt it was important to share this guidance for any New Jersey residents who may have attended these services and events, Persichilli said.

New Yorks second coronavirus case is connected to the temple, officials announced Tuesday.

The patient, a 50-year-old New Rochelle attorney who works in Manhattan, is in serious condition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, according to reports.

The Westchester County Health Department issued a similar guidance Tuesday for New York residents.

Persichilli said those who visited the temple should remain at home and "not go to work, attend school, go shopping or attend religious services or gatherings anywhere and should have no guests, visitors or staff in their homes.

Meanwhile, New Jersey recorded its first presumptive coronavirus case Wednesday night, a man in his 30s hospitalized in Bergen County.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Jeff Roberts may be reached at jroberts@njadvancemedia.com.

Have a tip? Let us know at nj.com/tips.
The director-general of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Paul Reid has described the coronavirus as an unprecedented situation and called on the public to keep focused.

Mr Reid told Newstalks Pat Kenny show that he was urging the public to do everything asked of them by the HSE and public health officials. People shouldnt create a sense of panic nor should there be a sense of complacency.

He said that 20m is being spent to bring 25 new ICU beds into operation, with recruitment taking place to staff them. A further 20m has also been spent on protective equipment for staff.

Mr Reid said he understood the frustration when the HSE declined to name schools involved, but said that it was a challenge for the HSE to get the right balance for the appropriate actions for the benefit of everyone across the country.

He encouraged everyone to go to the HSE website for detailed advice and said that the contact traceability process is ongoing in the west of Ireland and that where schools were involved they have been informed.

We have to ensure we dont have areas stigmatised or panic. It is not good practice to identify anyone in this process.

Hand hygiene and coughing/sneezing etiquette were important to keep the virus in the containment phase, he said. We are following WHO and ECDC advice. We are monitoring the situation on an hourly basis.

Mr Reid said there was no doubt that Ireland is now in an unprecedented situation and that this was a virus that spreads quickly. A longer containment phase meant that the health service can build capacity.

He declined to predict the numbers that could be infected by the virus. The aim is to prevent a surge of people going to hospital which was why home testing by the ambulance service had been introduced.

Part of the HSEs escalation plan is to contain the surge, to increase ICU beds and for hospitals to plan "a pathway of where cases will be brought.

The HSE will do what is required, resources will be provided to contain the virus for as long as possible, he said. If staff get sick themselves then agency nurses will be brought it.

Mr Reid added that the HSE has gotten the fullest support from the government. He went on to thank the staff in the public health service for their very inspiring response which has been phenomenal.

There is a need for the public to take this seriously, if they do we will contain this for as long as possible. But we have to prepare for the next scenario.
Government has reportedly cleared a plan to hand over the beleaguered YES Bank to public sector banks and financial institutions. State Bank of India (SBI), the largest lender in the country, has purportedly put together a consortium for this purpose.

However, YES Bank has stoutly denied having any information in this matter. "The bank has not received any such communication from the Reserve Bank of India, or any other government or regulatory authority, or from the SBI, and we are unaware of any such decision," the private lender said in a filing to the stock exchanges. "We are not in a position to comment on such news items."

Meanwhile, SBI's response has kept everybody guessing. "We will abide by the timelines of SEBI in disclosing the developments, if any, in the matter to stock exchanges," stated the public sector bank.

ALSO READ:SBI to buy stake in YES Bank? It's govt order, claims report

YES Bank is in dire need of capital because of deterioration in its asset quality, NPA provisioning, and losses in its books.

At the end of second quarter of FY20, its core capital ratio stood at 8.7 per cent, as against RBI-mandated 8 per cent. This could plunge if NPAs rise further. The gross NPAs are already at 7.4 per cent in September 2019. The bank need more than Rs 10,000 crore as capital for growth. In fact, YES Bank's entire market capitalisation of valuation has plunged to below Rs 10,000 crore.

YES Bank CEO Ravneet Gill had said the capital would be in place before December last year. Gill, who had initially said the capital would be raised in various tranches, later communicated that the bank is exploring the possibility of raising it in one go. In November, the bank announced that it would raise $2 billion in a share sale. So far, the bank hasn't made any progress to raise fresh capital.

The speculation over merger are now heating up as new slippages would impact the bank.

ALSO READ:YES Bank share rises 27% amid report of SBI-led consortium to buy stake

The last merger where a public sector bank (PSB) was brought in to save a private bank was in early 2000 decade when the Global Trust Bank (GTB) collapsed because of its exposure to stock market. After the Ketan Parekh scam, the bank lost substantial amount of money. In 2004, the RBI solemnised the merger of GTB with Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC). Later in 2010, the RBI encouraged another merger between Bank of Rajasthan and ICICI Bank. The RBI was uncomfortable with the promoter of Bank of Rajasthan, and inspection by regulators unearthed various violations.

Currently, any PSB is not in a position to shoulder a merger because of the consolidation exercise which is already underway. The current move is hinting at a possibility of several lenders and financial institutions pumping in money to save a bank. But it is not easy, as seen in the recent acquisition of IDBI Bank by LIC. The insurance giant had to pump in huge money to save IDBI Bank, whose gross NPAs spiraled to over 25-26 per cent. Things are now stabilising at IDBI Bank, which would soon shed the tag of weak bank amd come out of the RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework.

If capital situation at YES Bank deteriorates, the RBI has the option to take it into its fold under PCA. The framework involves monitoring the bank, put restrictions on risky lending, and nurse it back to health. Clearly, the government and the RBI don't want any bank to fail as there would be a chain reaction. Any failure of a bank generally leads to loss of trust in the banking system. In fact, it can impact the entire private banking sector, which now has over 30 per cent market share in deposits and advances.

ALSO READ:RBI may have a solution for Yes Bank's billion-dollar problem
Vijay Deverakonda has a crazy fan following. The actor has always been receiving love from fans for his good looks and acting. However, some fans take their craziness to another level and Vijay has faced the same issue recently.

A fan of Vijay Deverakonda reportedly created a fake profile with the actor's name on Facebook. He started with Vijay's female fans. But this didn't stop here. The miscreant also started asking for s*xual favours from young girls.

After learning about this miscreant fan, Vijay Deverakonda asked his assistant Govind to chat with him as female. Govind introduced himself as a girl named Hema, and trapped in Vijay's plan, the culprit started sending love signals to him.

Soon after getting confirmation, Vijay Deverakonda filed a complaint to the city Cyber Crime ACP KVM Prasad and requested him to take action against him. Inspector N Mohan Rao registered a case and started an investigation. The details about Vijay's fake miscreant fan is yet to be known.

Vijay Deverakonda himself confirmed that the fan used to talk with girls as Vijay and tried to get s*xual favours from them. Hence, he filed the complaints.

Also Read : Vijay Deverakonda Slips While Walking Towards Versova Jetty; Video Goes Viral

Coming to work, Vijay will next be seen in Puri Jagannadh's pan-India directorial venture. The film is tentatively titled as Fighter and also stars Ananya Panday in the lead role while Ronit Roy and Ramya Krishnan play pivotal roles. The film is co-produced by Charmme Kaur under Puri Connects and Karan Johar under Dharma Productions.
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been positioned as a 'Leader' in Everest Group PEAK Matrix Healthcare Payer Digital Services Assessment with Service Provider Landscape 2020.

The report evaluated the digital services capabilities of 23 IT service providers, in the healthcare payer sector globally and mapped them on the Everest Group PEAK Matrix based on several vision and capability, and market impact-related parameters. Wipro was positioned as a leader owing to its balanced portfolios, the ability to come up with innovative digital use cases, and continued investments in technology and services capability development.

According to the report, Wipro's solutions are designed to manage various providers, payers and beneficiary (patients) data in compliance with government regulations. Wipro Healthcare has worked on unlocking new value streams in healthcare digital delivery leveraging its strong capabilities in digital technologies and consulting to deliver end-to-end engagement with clients.

"The healthcare industry is experiencing fundamental changes including a shift from a volume- to a value-based care model, the entry of technology players, and the increasing importance of patient centricity. As a result, payers are adopting digital technologies to enhance their operating models and optimize costs, and they are looking for service providers to help navigate challenges such as siloed operations, disconnected information systems, and fragmented member information, to truly focus on breakthrough innovation and value-based care outcomes," said Nitish Mittal, Vice President, Everest Group. "With its consultative approach, design-thinking-led solutions, focus on digital-led transformation and platform-play, Wipro is emerging as a partner of choice."

Mohd Ehteshamul Haque, Senior Vice President and Global Head Healthcare and Services Vertical, Wipro Limited said, "Members of health plans today expect better care and digital engagement at lower premiums. Our Payer strategy addresses the changing market by helping health plans create personalized member experiences at competitive costs. Our three-pronged approach of leading with tailored Digital Platforms, Digital Operations and Digital Transformation for the Payer Market is paying off. Our rating as a Leader underlines the success of our strategy for this unique segment."

To know more about the report click here https://www.wipro.com/healthcare/form/wipro-positioned-as-a-leader-in-the-healthcare-payer-digital-service-providers-peak-matrix-assessment-2020/

About Wipro Limited

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 175,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005458/en/

Contacts:

Wipro Media Contact:

Purnima Burman

Wipro Limited

purnima.burman@wipro.com
Why a kimono is the timeless cover-up that will always take your outfit up a notch

Madonna at the 1999 Grammys. A striking image by photographer and kimono devotee Akira Times. Thom Brownes menswear take, 2016. A modern Japanese version at the V&A. East meets West on the Duro Olowu catwalk, 2015. Alexander McQueen goes back to the future, 2018

Despite being engaged in the very serious business of previewing an exhibition on a dark, rainy afternoon, I am spinning like a child in a mirrored chamber full of fuchsia and sky-blue silks, tulip patterns and roses as big as fists.

We are used to the Victoria & Albert Museum entertaining us with lavish visual delights. However, the dazzling spectacle of East meets West in its latest set-to-be blockbuster, Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, is especially joyous.

It embraces more than 300 items, from 17th-century treasures that have never before left Japan, via priceless haute couture from Yves Saint Laurent for Dior, John Galliano and Comme des Garcons founder Rei Kawakubo, to outfits sported by Madonna, Bjork and Freddie Mercury.

This celebration of the kimono will be Europes first major exhibition on the garment. For, despite many in the West regarding it as traditional and timeless  the very opposite of fashion  the V&A is keen to establish the kimono as a dynamic and constantly evolving fashion force.

As keeper of the Asian Department and exhibition curator Anna Jackson explains: We tend to think of fashion as being a European invention, but what this exhibition shows is that it flourishes elsewhere in the world.

The kimono never really changed its shape, because its not about the body  its about whats happening on the surface of the cloth and how you can design any pattern, any scene. Its a very different conception of what clothing is, and thats why people have marginalised it.

The reasons why the museum has decided to hold the exhibition now are threefold. First, there is this summers Tokyo Olympics, turning attention to all things Japanese. Second, Japanese art and design has been one of the V&As strongest suits since it was founded in 1852. And thirdly, kimonos are having a moment  being taken up again as much by women (and men) on the streets of Japan as they are by London fashion students.

As curator Josephine Rout notes: It looked as if the kimono might die out in Japan. But then there was a resurgence about 20 years ago with young people wearing kimonos as a reaction against the ubiquity of Western fast fashion. And suddenly its very much a fashion thing again: kimonos are fun, liberating, young.

The kimono, meaning the thing to wear, first became a hit during the mid 17th century when the increasingly wealthy merchant classes in Japan created a vibrant fashion culture about themselves to display their affluence and social sway.

From far left: kimonos are making a comeback on the streets of Japan; Freddie Mercury on stage in 1977; an 18th-century robe on show at the V&A

The kimonos USP is that it is constructed with minimal shaping, not cut to emphasise the body a la most Western dress. This formula provided a blank slate upon which decoration could flourish. It also created a layered, relatively covered look, with a seductiveness in what was left uncovered, be it a wrist, ankle or bare foot.

It was during the late 19th century, when Japan opened up its ports to foreign trade, that the style took off worldwide. Kimonos could be purchased from department stores such as Liberty & Co, taken up by free spirits wishing to express their artistic flair.

Later, in the early 20th century, designers such as Paul Poiret, Mariano Fortuny and Madeleine Vionnet abandoned restrictive, corseted-waist styles in favour of loose layers draping from the shoulder kimono-style, with women breathing easy at last. The Japanese, meanwhile, began donning Western dress.

After the Second World War, kimono-wearing in Japan was seen as staid, ceremonial and associated with a past many were keen to forget. Today, East and West are reclaiming the garment as a modishly gender-neutral site of creativity. And so, in the V&As final room, we have Jotaro Saito concocting kimono couture, textile queen Hiroko Takahashi modelling her punchy, geometric designs, and the kimono inspiring global names such as Alexander McQueen, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thom Browne and Yohji Yamamoto. Compare these with the dashing Fujikiya pinstripe take, which V&A director Tristram Hunt must surely sport to the exhibitions launch.

One emerges enraptured, longing to robe oneself in some fabulous Japanese finery. Fortunately, the gift shop will oblige with rails of vintage and specially commissioned kimonos, if not Kyotos finest couture.

Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, sponsored by MUFG, runs until 21 June at the V&A, London. Tickets from 16, vam.ac.uk

My kimono obsession - YOU's beauty director Edwina Ings-Chambers

For me they are a style staple, as essential to my wardrobe as trousers or a trench coat

It started in my early teens when I discovered a silk number from the 1930s that had belonged to my mothers aunt. I quickly adopted it as a dressing gown, wafting around the house like an extra in an old Hollywood movie (in my own head, at least). The beautiful weighty silk of it, the delicate but colourful print, the reversible element (one side is a base shade of spring sky blue, the other black) and those loose, low-hanging sleeves that add drama and elegance.

Almost all of mine are vintage finds from fairs, shops and the occasional auction, largely ranging from the 20s to the 50s. Although theyre made in Japan, they have been created with a Western wearer in mind, and so are knee length rather than the traditional floor length, yet with the same beautiful cloth and prints.

They are of varying lengths and fabrics  early rayon versions are in the mix  and I have different uses for them. A floor-length pink one is a swanky dressing gown which I take on trips abroad (I once wandered round the Hotel du Cap in the South of France in it feeling very F Scott Fitzgerald novel-esque), but with the right accessories it can double as an evening dress.

Others are day-to-day dressing gowns or loungewear. Most are worn as knee-length jackets or summer cover-ups.

Thats part of the kimonos charm  its versatility. And with its billowing shape and sleeves its also flattering no matter the body shape beneath it. Of course, that could be because none of mine (bar a simple blue and white cotton version my sister brought me back from a trip to Niigata in Japan) have a sash (or obi). So each is at once both sophisticated yet also floatily casual.

For me they are a style staple, as essential to my wardrobe as trousers or a trench coat. Though I currently own more than 20 of them, my obsession shows no sign of abating.

My latest quest includes finding one similar to those worn by Lady Mary in Downton Abbey. Any pointers?

Meet your new spring essential

YOUs fashion director Shelly Vella picks her favourite kimono-style wraps

Black floral, 115, People Tree x V&A, peopletree.co.uk. Khaki, 49.50, Per Una, marksandspencer.com. Black and pink, 1,500, Gucci, net-a-porter.com. Orange, 58, freepeople.com. Red floral, 42, oasis-stores.com. Vintage, 120, daughterofabohemian.com

vam.ac.uk
Onondaga County will open six polling sites for voters to cast ballots up to 10 days before the 2020 New York presidential primary election on April 28.

Each county in New York is allowed to designate its own polling sites under the states early-voting law.

Registered voters will be allowed to vote at any of the six polling stations in Onondaga County beginning Saturday, April 18 and continuing daily (including weekends) through Sunday, April 26, according to the Board of Elections.

No early voting will be allowed on Monday, April 27, as poll workers prepare for Election Day on April 28.

Only voters enrolled in the Democratic Party will be eligible to fill out a ballot in the Democratic presidential primary election.

But any registered voter in the 50th Senate District will be allowed to cast ballots at the early voting sites in the special election to fill the seat of former state Sen. Bob Antonacci, R-Onondaga.

Democrat John Mannion, of Geddes, will face Republican Angi Renna, of Manlius, in the 50th Senate District special election.

The district stretches from DeWitt and Manlius west into the city of Auburn and 4 towns in Cayuga County. In Onondaga County, the district also includes the North Side of Syracuse and the towns of Clay, Lysander, Elbridge, Skaneateles, Van Buren, Otisco, Onondaga, Geddes and Spafford.

Five of the six polling sites are the same as those that Onondaga County opened for early voting in the November election. The only new site will be in Camillus, in place of one in Van Buren.

Heres a look at the early voting sites and hours:

Polling locations

Camillus Fire Station, 5801 Newport Road (rear entrance), Camillus

Clay Town Hall Courtroom, 4401 Route 31, Clay

DeWitt Town Hall Courtroom, 5400 Butternut Drive, DeWitt

LaFayette Fire Station #1, 2444 Route 11 South, LaFayette

Armond Magnarelli Community Center, 2300 Grant Blvd., Syracuse

Southwest Community Center, 401-425 South Ave., Syracuse

Hours for all polling sites

Saturday, April 18: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 19: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Monday, April 20: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tuesday, April 21: Noon to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, April 22: Noon to 8 p.m.

Thursday, April 23: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Friday, April 24: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 25: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 26: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Read more

New York presidential primary 2020: What you need to know

Elizabeth Warren plans to drop out of presidential race

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
EBRD loan of BRb 20 million to support Belarusian SMEs

Loans with longer maturities and no FX-related risks to boost smaller firms

Loan helps Belarus develop sustainable, commercially oriented banking sector

Belaruss smaller firms will benefit from a new opportunity to develop their business thanks to an EBRD local currency loan of BRb 20 million to the countrys largest independent private bank, Minsk Transit Bank (MTBank). The funds will be on-lent to local micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME).

MTBank is one of the biggest providers of finance to SMEs and retail clients in Belarus.

The country has over 112,000 SMEs, which are responsible for almost a quarter of the countrys GDP and employ around 1.5 million people. They also contribute to 42 per cent of the countrys external trade. The EBRD loan will help make the sector more competitive and resilient.

The support and development of SMEs has been identified as one of the key priorities by the government of Belarus and the EBRD, which is offering both financial and knowledge transfer assistance to local small businesses.

The funds provided to MTBank will help limit foreign exchange-related risks for borrowers with local currency revenues and will offer loans with longer maturities to clients in Belarus. The bank will be able to further develop its SME lending portfolios.

Since the start of its operations in Belarus in 1992, the EBRD has invested almost 2.8 billion in 126 projects in various sectors of the country's economy.
Kerala: Low yields force large-scale migration of fishermen

by K RAVEENDRAN

March 05,2020 | Source: Free Press Journal

Declining fish stock in the Kerala sea waters is forcing large-scale migration of fisher folk from the states prominent fishing areas. The phenomenon has also affected the availability and price of fish, an essential part of the food culture of people in the state, putting family budgets under strain. Prices of most popular fish varieties have more than doubled. The fish stock problem began surfacing in the wake of the Ockhi cyclone, which ravaged the coastal areas of the state, changing the fishing eco-system. The cyclones impact zone also saw large-scale disruption of employment for the fisher folk. Lack of employment and indebtedness caused by the disaster have forced the fishermen to leave the shores and seek employment in other countries.



They have been mainly targeting West Asian countries of UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Iran, where they are exploited by unscrupulous agents and sponsors. The plight of the migrating fishermen was brought into focus over the week-end, when scores of fishermen from Kerala stranded in coronavirus virus-hit Iran sent an SOS message to the state government seeking its intervention in rescuing them. A video posted on the social media showed the fishermen confined to their room without food and other essential supplies due to the virus outbreak.



Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar asking for central help for their rescue. State authorities said they were also seeking the help of NORKA, the government organisation looking after the welfare of overseas workers from Kerala, to secure their safe return. Family members of the affected fishermen have claimed that their sponsors have failed to provide the stranded men with food and other supplies and shirking their responsibility as their employers. Reports suggest that the sponsors have refused the fishermen permission to leave, claiming that they owe money in terms of visa charges and other fees. All the stranded people are from Thiruvananthapuram district, which bore the brunt of the Ockhi storm. At least a 100 people from the area have gone to places like Iran and UAE with work permits issued by local companies there.



The fishermen reportedly suffer exploitation at the hands of these companies, as they are not provided even regular salaries. The workers have to fend for themselves from the cost of the catch on the fishing boats after paying the owners their fixed costs. This often leaves the workers with little money. The state government has been trying to restore the ecological balance along the coast, by increasing the fish stock and undertaking other developmental initiatives in the area. But these have not produced the desired results, forcing the traditional fishing workers to seek other forms of gainful employment.
British Chambers of Commerce director-general Adam Marshall. (DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)

The UK government should announce a hardship fund in the Budget for any small and medium-sized firms hit by the coronavirus, according to a senior business leader.

Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), has written to new chancellor Rishi Sunak urging him to roll out measures to support companies on 11 March, Yahoo Finance UK can reveal.

The government warned earlier this week one in five UK employees could be left absent from work if the outbreak escalates. Falling demand and travel restrictions as well as Chinese supply chain troubles have already hit many firms hard, including the collapsed airline Flybe.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance UK at the BCCs annual conference in London on Thursday, Marshall said he had seen anecdotal stories of member firms struggling to get hold of certain consumer goods, plastic supplies for manufacturing and shipping containers to move goods. Tourism firms have seen cancelled bookings and lower demand.

Read more: UK workers to get three more days sick pay over outbreak

He said some firms may see a more direct impact in the coming weeks, and a business rate holiday or one-year discount could help them absorb extra costs.

The government should also ensure firms pay clients on time to prevent cashflow troubles, and scale up current time to pay tax support by HMRC, according to the BCC.

A business hardship fund could include support for costs around emergency remote working, while the government could also help with wages at any firms that see public contracts curbed over the virus.

The BCC also argues firms who have seen credit pulled or struggle to secure loans if the virus curbs lenders appetite for risk deserve support under the governments enterprise finance guarantee scheme.

Marshall told Yahoo Finance UK the government should back business wholeheartedly in the Budget amid not only the outbreak but also fresh trade uncertainty linked to Brexit. He had warned in his speech it was a simple fact that moving goods, hiring staff and following official rules would all cost firms more in years to come.

Story continues

He said the BCC respect the fact ministers had made political choices on the UKs EU relationship and immigration reforms. But he hit out at the portrayal of worried firms as anti-Brexit saboteurs, throwing their wooden clogs into the machine of progress.

Firms were right to warn higher costs will be borne by consumers and our communities as well as firms, Marshall said, and he urged ministers to give companies time to prepare for changes and work with them on detail.

Marshall also told a crowd of local business leaders from across the country it was not enough to leave firms to take it on the chin, after the government finally acknowledged increase costs earlier this year. Infrastructure from road repairs to Heathrow expansion, green investment incentives, lower business rates and export support could all ease the burden on business, he said.

Read more: Flybe CEO tells staff of deep feeling of sorrow over collapse of airline

The chancellor sent a statement to organisers apologising for not attending amid his Budget preparations and praising British business, which was read out to guests.

Sunak had also released a statement on the coronavirus on Monday, promising firm action to support firms, the public and government services. We are well prepared for this global threat and, as the wider economic picture becomes clearer, we stand ready to announce further support where needed.

The Treasury has not responded to Yahoo Finance UK with a comment by the time of publication.
[March 05, 2020] Dynata And CMNTY Join Forces To Deliver Community-Based Consumer Insights

Partnership seamlessly integrates the largest first-party data set and online communities to help brands recruit consumers and create faster and deeper engagement, at scale DALLAS and NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynata, the world's largest first-party data and insights platform, and CMNTY Corporation, a global provider of online community platforms for companies, today announced a partnership to help brands improve audience engagement by leveraging insights for ongoing, deeper engagement, creating a more complete picture of their customers and generating stronger, more resilient relationships. The brand-customer relationship is changing as consumers now expect to have a voice in product development, marketing and even strategic decisions their favorite brands make, and what they stand for. Creating a community for that voice to be heard, along with the ability to act based on that feedback, gives brands the ability to improve their understanding and response to the opinions and behaviors of consumers, leveraging those insights to connect with customers and deepen those relationships for smarter decision-making. Using Dynata's access to 62 million consumers and business professionals  the largest of its kind in the insights industry  together with CMNTY's online community-building capabilities, brands can stay connected with consumers in real-time, ensuring they have a secure place to share opinions and sentiments on products, services and other activities. Brands can evolve continuously around their customers and adapt tochanging preferences and market conditions with speed and scale, ensuring their products, services, experiences and brand purpose remain aligned to customer needs, which builds more authentic and profitable relationships.



"People belonging to an online community give companies permission to 'see' into their lives," says Maxim Schram, founding CEO of CMNTY. "This allows brands to develop a deeper understanding of customer needs by establishing stronger and more authentic connections with real people. By integrating Dynata's rich first-party data set into our software, we enable our clients to find the right connections in just a few clicks. Building a new brand community or adding potential customers to an already existing community is now easier than ever." CMNTY Platform combines a variety of online quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. It allows companies to host online group discussions, co-creation sessions, surveys, mood boards, heat maps and private messaging to name just a few. Built-in data analysis, AI-powered visualization and automated reporting solutions make the platform an indispensable tool for forward thinking brands and market research agencies.

"Understanding your customer is the key to creating better experiences for them, and that starts with collecting and analyzing the insights you obtain through the multiple touchpoints along the customer journey," said Hugh Davis, president, Dynata Solutions. "Our fully-permissioned first-party data, capturing hundreds of data points, delivers the level of data quality and scale to drive those insights. Adding Dynata Communities, in partnership with CMNTY, will help our customers gain deeper understanding of their consumers leading to higher retention and brand loyalty, ultimately leading to revenue growth." About Dynata

Dynata is the world's largest first-party data and insights platform. With a reach that encompasses 60+ million consumers and business professionals globally, and an extensive library of individual profile attributes collected through surveys, Dynata is the cornerstone for precise, trustworthy quality data. The company has built innovative data services and solutions around its robust first-party data offering to bring the voice of the customer to the entire marketing continuum  from strategy, innovation, and branding to advertising, measurement, and optimization. Dynata serves nearly 6,000 market research, media and advertising agencies, publishers, consulting and investment firms and corporate customers in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Learn more at www.dynata.com. About CMNTY

CMNTY is a global SaaS provider in online communities for qualitative and quantitative research used by brands and market research agencies. For more than a decade, CMNTY's innovative Do-It-Yourself solution, ensured adoption by the largest companies globally resulting in thousands of communities, each enabling them to connect, engage and understand their audience. CMNTY's full service offering, from strategy to design and moderation, helps companies to reach full value within the shortest time possible. CMNTY is globally available via its network of research partners or direct in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Reach out at www.cmnty.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dynata-and-cmnty-join-forces-to-deliver-community-based-consumer-insights-301018490.html SOURCE Dynata

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The work of the poultry farm was blocked by an attempt by officers of the enforcement service to take inventory of the enterprise's property as part of a NABU probe.

Today, March 5, employees of the State Enforcement Service, in violation of sanitary rules, tried to get into the area of a Kyiv-based poultry farm. The workers who went out to defend their enterprise accused the Director of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) of revenge for the words printed on eggs during a protest rally: 'Sytnyk Out!'

This was reported by the Ukrainian News.

Read alsoAgrarians demand NABU chief Sytnyk's dismissal over pressure on their business

The work of the poultry farm, which is part of the Avangard agricultural holding, was blocked due to an attempt by officers of the enforcement service who came to take inventory of the enterprise's property as part of a NABU probe. The poultry farm points to unlawful pressure and an attempt to disrupt production processes, because the enterprise has nothing to do with the case referred to by the enforcement service. In addition, such enterprises are now put under enhanced biosecurity conditions as ordered by the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in connection with increased sanitary measures to prevent the spread of bird flu in Ukraine. Therefore, unauthorized persons' access to the area is prohibited. Members of the enforcement service attempted to enter such a facility without observing the sanitary rules and safety requirements.

But most of the employees who defended their poultry farm were outraged by the fact that such actions, in their view, are connected with personal revenge by NABU Director Artem Sytnyk for the printed words on the eggs. The fact is that thousands of workers of the agricultural holding gathered near the buildings of the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Prosecutor General's Office in Kyiv for a rally on February 5. They came out in defense of jobs from the actions of Artem Sytnyk, who was accused of trying to disrupt the sowing campaign and block the work of poultry farms by interrogating 10,000 workers and opening cases against the allegedly non-existence of Eurasia's two largest agricultural holdings.

At that time, the company's employees handed the eggs with the printed words 'Sytnyk Out!' over to Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka and tried to pass them to NABU Director Sytnyk. The eggs with the printings were brought by Kyiv poultry farm's workers, and Artem Sytnyk and his subordinates knew this. That is why the workers accused Sytnyk of revenge and an attempt to destroy the enterprise.

Now members of the enforcement service have left the poultry farm, and the company's top managers are waiting an official document from the service with explanations on what basis the service's officials were trying, in violation of the rules, to enter the area of the enterprise, which is not a party to the case and a court ruling.

Reference information: The Kyiv poultry farm, which is part of the Avangard agricultural holding, has been operating for 60 years. It produces 290 million eggs a year and pays UAH 23 million (about US$924,000) in taxes. The average salary at the enterprise is about UAH 15,000 (about US$603) per capita per month. Most workers at the poultry farm are young people to whom the company provides housing. Some 10% of the company's employees were employed in collaboration with Brovary's municipal employment center.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

By Yusif Aghayev  Trend:

The loss on compulsory liability insurance of vehicle owners remains at a high level in Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Central Banks data.

Azerbaijani insurers collected insurance premiums for this type of insurance in the amount of 6.9 million manat (over $4 million), while they paid indemnities in the amount of over 6 million manat ($3.5 million), thereby demonstrating a loss worth 87.5 percent in January 2020.

Azerbaijani insurers collected insurance premiums for this type of insurance in the amount of 6.5 million manat ($3.8 million) in January 2019, while they paid compensation in the amount of 5.4 million manat ($3.2 million); thus, the loss ratio was 83.4 percent.

The increase in loss ratio for this type has been demonstrating progressive growth over the past few years. This happens amid the changes in the activity of the participants of the Compulsory Insurance Bureau of Azerbaijan, as a result of which the availability of compulsory types of insurance has increased.

As a result of digitalization, the processes of sale and registration of insurance certificates for compulsory liability insurance of vehicle owners have been optimized. The insurance policies are formalized online.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges investors in Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) 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: Jan. 30, 2019  Feb. 24, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Apr. 27, 2020

Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/TUP

Contact An Attorney Now: TUP@hbsslaw.com

844-916-0895

Tupperware (TUP) Securities Class Action:

The Complaint alleges that Defendants misrepresented and failed to disclose that Tupperware lacked effective internal control over its financial reporting, which led to Tupperware falsely reporting accounts payable and accrued liabilities for its Fuller Mexico beauty business. The Complaint also alleges that the Company provided inflated EPS guidance and concealed that, in light of its dire prospects, Tupperware would need relief from its $650 million Credit Agreement.

The truth emerged on Feb. 24, 2020, when Tupperware announced it would not timely file is 2019 annual report due to an ongoing internal investigation into the accounting for Fuller Mexicos accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Tupperware also revealed that it expected 2019 EPS to be $0.00-$0.34, representing an 800% year-over-year decline. Finally, based its grim 2020 outlook, the Company disclosed that it was forecasting the need to revise its $650 million Credit Agreement to avoid a debt acceleration.

On this news, Tupperware shares crashed over 45% in a single trading day.

Were focused on investors losses and proving that Tupperware inflated Fuller Mexicos accounts payable and concealed certain liabilities to appear more profitable, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you purchased shares of Tupperware and suffered significant losses, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman .

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Tupperware 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 TUP@hbsslaw.com .

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 .
Over 300 youths were inducted into the "Naga National Army," the armed wing of the Naga rebel group, National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), on Wednesday after over three months of intensive training.

The induction took place at a time when NSCN (IM) is engaged into a war of words with the Centre's interlocutor and Nagaland Governor R N Ravi over the outfit's core demand for a separate flag, Constitution for the Nagas and integration of all Naga-inhibited areas.

The DH on Tuesday reported how the NSCN (IM) slammed Ravi over the latter's recent statement alleging the outfit was deviating from the contents of the Framework Agreement signed in 2015 to find a permanent solution to the decades-long Naga conflict.

A source in NSCN (IM) told DH on Wednesday evening that 305 youths were inducted during a "passing out parade" held at the general field training centre near the outfit's headquarters at Hebron near Dimapur.

"The new recruits were inducted after over three months of rigorous training. It was 63rd batch military training course," said the source.

The new recruits were provided training on foot drills, arms training and guerilla warfare along with political and spiritual classes.

When asked about the possibility of further recruitment, the source said, "recruitment is a continuous process as long the Naga youngsters are coming forward to join the naga political struggle."

The NSCN (IM), which is in ceasefire since 1997, has its own army which is lodged in designated camps as agreed in the ceasefire agreement.

Most Naga groups including the NSCN (IM) claim that Nagas were never part of India and had lived as a separate entity before the British.

Nagaland had seen largescale violence since they declared Independence on August 14, 1947.

The Centre in October last year had concluded negotiations with Naga groups including NSCN and Naga National Political Group, a forum of seven other rebel groups, and is expected to ink the final agreement soon to end the decades-long conflict.
A former medical director of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital Dr Thomas Anaba has urged President Akufo-Addo to cancel tomorrow's Independence Day Celebration in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.

According to him, such a measure will show to the Ghanaian people how serious the government is taking the preventive measures in avoiding an outbreak of the virus in Ghana.

Let us cancel the independence day celebration because it is a risk for spreading the virus. Such a move will show the Ghanaian people how serious the President is taking this fight. Cancelling the celebration will be a strong message to the people that we serious about preventing an outbreak. The President should set the right example by taking such measures, he should show more leadership in these matters, he told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday.

However reacting to the call, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service says it is very safe for the President to go ahead with the celebration tomorrow.

Ghana will observe its 63rd Independence Day Anniversary tomorrow Friday, March 6. The celebration will be marked with a national event attended by the President in Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of the Ghana Airport Company, Yaw Kwakwa, has assured President Akufo-Addo that the Kotoka International Airport is ready to deal with any threat posed by covid 19, the coronavirus that is currently sweeping through the world.

He gave the assurance when he addressed journalists at the Kotoka International Airport after giving President Akufo-Addo a guided tour through the processes that passengers arriving at the airport are subjected to by way of checks to ascertain their health status.

We are well prepared to deal with the coronavirus issue through every international standard, Mr. Yaw Kwakwa said.

Visit of the President

On the visit of the President, Mr. Kwakwa said it was to afford the first gentle of the land an opportunity to know at first hand the level of preparedness of the airport in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

From what he said when he was getting into his car, he is very satisfied that we have put in place measures along international guidelines to make sure that the country is well protected against the coronavirus Mr. Kwakwa stated.

---Starrfm.com.gh
Researchers from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have made a promising new advance for the lab's high-speed "electron camera" that could allow them to "film" tiny, ultrafast motions of protons and electrons in chemical reactions that have never been seen before. Such "movies" could eventually help scientists design more efficient chemical processes, invent next-generation materials with new properties, develop drugs to fight disease and more.

The new technique takes advantage of a form of light called terahertz radiation, instead of the usual radio-frequency radiation, to manipulate the beams of electrons the instrument uses. This lets researchers control how fast the camera takes snapshots and, at the same time, reduces a pesky effect called timing jitter, which prevents researchers from accurately recording the timeline of how atoms or molecules change.

The method could also lead to smaller particle accelerators: Because the wavelengths of terahertz radiation are about a hundred times smaller than those of radio waves, instruments using terahertz radiation could be more compact.

The researchers published the findings in Physical Review Letters on February 4.

A Speedy Camera

SLAC's "electron camera," or ultrafast electron diffraction (MeV-UED) instrument, uses high-energy beams of electrons traveling near the speed of light to take a series of snapshots - essentially a movie - of action between and within molecules. This has been used, for example, to shoot a movie of how a ring-shaped molecule breaks when exposed to light and to study atom-level processes in melting tungsten that could inform nuclear reactor designs.

The technique works by shooting bunches of electrons at a target object and recording how electrons scatter when they interact with the target's atoms. The electron bunches define the shutter speed of the electron camera. The shorter the bunches, the faster the motions they can capture in a crisp image.

"It's as if the target is frozen in time for a moment," says SLAC's Emma Snively, who spearheaded the new study.

For that reason, scientists want to make all the electrons in a bunch hit a target as close to simultaneously as possible. They do this by giving the electrons at the back a little boost in energy, to help them catch up to the ones in the lead.

So far, researchers have used radio waves to deliver this energy. But the new technique developed by the SLAC team at the MeV-UED facility uses light at terahertz frequencies instead.

Why terahertz?

A key advantage of using terahertz radiation lies in how the experiment shortens the electron bunches. In the MeV-UED facility, scientists shoot a laser at a copper electrode to knock off electrons and create beams of electron bunches. And until recently, they typically used radio waves to make these bunches shorter.

However, the radio waves also boost each electron bunch to a slightly different energy, so individual bunches vary in how quickly they reach their target. This timing variance is called jitter, and it reduces researchers' abilities to study fast processes and accurately timestamp how a target changes with time.

The terahertz method gets around this by splitting the laser beam into two. One beam hits the copper electrode and creates electron bunches as before, and the other generates the terahertz radiation pulses for shortening the electron bunches. Since they were produced by the same laser beam, electron bunches and terahertz pulses are now synchronized with each other, reducing the timing jitter between bunches.

Down to the femtosecond

A key innovation for this work, the researchers say, was creating a particle accelerator cavity, called the compressor. This carefully machined hunk of metal is small enough to sit in the palm of a hand. Inside the device, terahertz pulses shorten electron bunches and give them a targeted and effective push.

As a result, the team could compress electron bunches so they last just a few tens of femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second. That's not as much compression as conventional radio-frequency methods can achieve now, but the researchers say the ability to simultaneously lower jitter makes the terahertz method promising. The smaller compressors made possible by the terahertz method would also mean lower cost compared to radio-frequency technology.

"Typical radio-frequency compression schemes produce shorter bunches but very high jitter," says Mohamed Othman, another SLAC researcher on the team. "If you produce a compressed bunch and also reduce the jitter, then you'll be able to catch very fast processes that we've never been able to observe before."

Eventually, the team says, the goal is to compress electron bunches down to about a femtosecond. Scientists could then observe the incredibly fast timescales of atomic behavior in fundamental chemical reactions like hydrogen bonds breaking and individual protons transferring between atoms, for example, that aren't fully understood.

"At the same time that we are investigating the physics of how these electron beams interact with these intense terahertz waves, we're also really building a tool that other scientists can use immediately to explore materials and molecules in a way that wasn't possible before," says SLAC's Emilio Nanni, who led the project with Renkai Li, another SLAC researcher. "I think that's one of the most rewarding aspects of this research."

This project was funded by DOE's Office of Science. The MeV-UED instrument is part of SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source, a DOE Office of Science user facility.

SLAC is a vibrant multiprogram laboratory that explores how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invents powerful tools used by scientists around the globe. With research spanning particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, materials, chemistry, bio- and energy sciences and scientific computing, we help solve real-world problems and advance the interests of the nation.

SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

###
WASHINGTON - Canada is taking a lead role in what Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Thursday he hopes will become an international effort to better protect civilian airliners around the world from being shot down over conflict zones.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Minister of Transport Marc Garneau listens to a reporter's question following an announcement in Ottawa, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Canada is spearheading what Garneau hopes will become an international effort to protect civilian airliners around the world from being shot down over conflict zones. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

WASHINGTON - Canada is taking a lead role in what Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Thursday he hopes will become an international effort to better protect civilian airliners around the world from being shot down over conflict zones.

Garneau was in the U.S. capital to promote what he's calling the Strategy for Safer Skies  a Canadian-led multilateral effort to improve co-ordination, communication and intelligence-sharing between civil aviation agencies and airlines around the world.

"As a global community, we cannot add any more names to the list of lives that have been lost, of families whose lives have been turned upside down," Garneau told an audience of aviation executives, industry leaders and experts at a summit meeting hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"We must find ways to better manage civil aviation above conflict zones."

Canada has been seized with the issue ever since January, when  in the midst of Iran's ballistic-missile retaliation against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. soldiers for the targeted killing of senior Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani  a Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot out of the sky over Tehran.

Flight PS752 had been bound for Kyiv, but was laden with passengers destined for a connecting flight to Toronto, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and many others with connections to Canada. All 176 people aboard perished.

Iran initially denied involvement, only to admit three days after the crash that its military fired a pair of missiles at the jet, having mistaken it for a hostile target.

Following the disaster, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear Canada would take steps to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. He cited the specific expertise of the Netherlands, which developed a number of recommendations after a Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down over separatist-held territory in Ukraine in 2014, killing 298.

In neither case was the airspace closed to passenger flights, despite the obvious risk, Garneau said.

"We are not going to depend entirely on the countries where this may be happening, where there may be conflict," he said.

"There has to be an intelligence-gathering process, there has to be a risk assessment following that intelligence gathering and there has to be a sharing of that information. In the case of Iran and Ukraine, they did not themselves close their airspace, and as a result of that, certain airlines flew in and out or over that airspace."

Canada will lead efforts among its partner countries, including members of a working group established after the Jan. 8 incident, to better share information, warnings and directions for avoiding dangerous airspace, and to improve airline safety protocols and day-to-day practices.

The initiative already has the support of the United States, where the Federal Aviation Administration operates an existing "Notice to Airmen" system designed to keep U.S. pilots and carriers apprised of potential dangers.

"The United States, of course, is a world leader with respect to how they issue (those notices) to airlines over conflict zones, so there's a lot of good things in place," Garneau said.

Eventually, he said, the initiative will include the Montreal-headquartered International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency that helps to co-ordinate air travel standards and practices around the world among the nearly 200 countries that operate air carriers.

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.

They are probably a good vehicle for making sure the information is properly disseminated."

In an interview Wednesday, Garneau said Canada has already issued two notices of its own since the Ukrainian jetliner was shot down, warning airlines to avoid potentially perilous flight paths over Libya and Syria.

"We're already beginning to put into practice some of the things we think will be part of the Safer Skies strategy."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.

 With files from Jordan Press and Mia Rabson in Ottawa; follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version used an outdated figure for the number of Canadians killed.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As New York City agencies are ramping up their precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Department of Transportation (DOT), responsible for maintaining and operating the Staten Island Ferry, is stepping up its cleaning efforts in an attempt to curtail the spread of the potentially deadly illness.

The DOT will maintain its around-the-clock cleaning of the St. George and Whitehall ferry terminals, with preparations being made to provide supplemental cleaning on the boats throughout the day, according to the agency.

The DOT says ferryboats will be subject to deep cleanings of all surfaces and touch points at least once every 72 hours, similar to the measures being undertaken by the MTA on the citys buses and trains.

While not specifically linked to the ferry, DOT employees have been handing out flyers at the Whitehall terminal in recent days to educate travelers on the virus.

The Staten Island Ferry provides a crucial link between Staten Island and Manhattan for approximately 70,000 daily weekday passengers.

MTA RAMPS UP SANITIZATION EFFORTS

The MTAs mass transit divisions -- New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Access-A-Ride, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North -- have significantly ramped up the frequency and intensity of their sanitizing efforts, using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed disinfectants.

Frequently touched station surfaces like turnstiles, handrails and MetroCard vending machines will be disinfected daily, with the agencys full fleet of trains, cars and buses undergoing full sanitization every 72 hours.

This includes 472 stations throughout the subway system, 21 stations along Staten Island Railway, 124 stations and terminals along Long Island Rail Road and 101 stations throughout Metro-Norths New York territory, as well as 6,714 New York City Transit subway cars, 64 Staten Island Railway cars, 1,100 Long Island Rail Road and Metro-Norths cars, 5,700 buses and 1,341 dedicated Access-A-Ride vans.

The agency has also rolled out new health guidance public service announcements (PSAs) both in stations and on trains and buses. The PSAs will complement existing advisories that have been deployed on 3,600 subway screens, 2,000 bus screens, 550 railroad screens and at 84 subway station street entrances.

Customers are advised to avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth, wash their hands often with soap and water, cover their coughs and sneezes with a disposable tissue and remain home if they are sick.

The safety of our customers and employees is our first priority as we continue to monitor the coronavirus, said Patrick Warren, MTA chief safety officer. The MTA is enhancing its cleaning regimen across all our operating agencies to ensure the system is safe for everyone. The best defense against COVID-19, according to the National Centers for Disease Control, continues to be good hygiene -- frequent hand washing and self-care.
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. A discussion over the situation in Syrias Idlib, namely on the Turkish military intervention, escalated into a brawl and fistfight in Turkeys parliament.

The brawl was seemingly sparked after an opposition lawmaker from CHP party called Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a traitor.

The clash on Wednesday started when Engin Ozkoc of the opposition Republican Peoples Party took the rostrum. During a news conference shortly before, Ozkoc called Erdogan dishonorable, ignoble, low and treacherous," according to AP.

During a speech to members of his party, Erdogan himself had accused the opposition earlier of being dishonorable, ignoble, low and treacherous for questioning Turkeys military involvement in Syrias northwest Idlib province.

The opposition and ruling parties began exchanging bitter words and it quickly escalated into a physical brawl.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
The month of March allegedly brings the end of the long Chicago winter, so what better time to pull the scarf down from your face and take a look at the theater world around you? This month, Chicago openings offer audiences shows with different points of view.

Maria Dizzia (left) stars in What the Constitution Means to Me at Broadway in Chicago and Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play opens at the Goodman Theatre this month.

( Tess Mayer / Allison Stock)

1. My Dear Hussein

Silk Road Rising (at Chicago Temple)

March 17-April 19

Nahal Navidar's newest play makes its world premiere at Chicago Temple. A co-production by Momentary Theatre and Silk Road Rising, My Dear Hussein is the story of Parvaneh, a precocious 4-year-old Iranian girl who uses her imagination to turn the brutal reality of the Iraq-Iran war into a fanciful game. Directed by Tlaloc Rivas and starring Shadee Vossoughi as Parvaneh, Navidar's surrealistic childhood fantasy is sure to be a transportive piece of theater.

2. What the Constitution Means to Me

Broadway in Chicago (at Broadway Playhouse)

March 4-April 12

As a teenager, playwright Heidi Schreck competed in Constitutional Oratory conventions across the country to earn college tuition money. In 2019, Schreck brought her gusto and incisive wit to Broadway, in a play examining the modern role of the US Constitution. In the national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me, arriving at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place on March 4, Tony nominee Maria Dizzia steps into Schreck's shoes, accompanied by original cast members Mike Iveson and Rosdely Ciprian. Shreck's personal, political play may be just what you need to reinvigorate your civic passion in this long, fatiguing election season.

3. Hundred Days

Kokandy Productions (at Chopin Theater)

March 14-April 12

This indie-folk musical memoir recounts the courtship and whirlwind romance of real-life husband-and-wife songwriting team Abigail and Stuart Bengson. Emilie Modaff and Royen Kent star as the Bengsons, accompanied by a backing band of musicians who occasionally play supporting roles. Kokandy Productions brings this intimate cabaret musical to the Chopin Theater for its Chicago premiere, which promises to be a heartfelt romantic experience.

4. School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play

Goodman Theatre

March 7-April 12

Jocelyn Bioh's biting high school comedy makes its Chicago premiere, following two acclaimed sold-out off-Broadway runs. At an exclusive all-girl's boarding school in Ghana, queen bees, wannabes, and schemers run the show  until a transfer student from the United States arrives to shake up the status quo. Directed by Lili-Anne Brown, who returns to the Goodman Theatre after directing last season's acclaimed world premiere of Ike Holter's Lottery Day, School Girls explores themes of colonialism, colorism, and feminism with razor-sharp humor.

5. Legends the Musical

Black Ensemble Theater

March 5-April 12

The Black Ensemble Theater presents a new musical examining the civil rights movement and the current impact of racism in the United States. Though it features classic songs like "What's Going On" and "Time to Make That Change," Legends is far from the average jukebox revue. Ensemble founder Jackie Taylor, who writes and directs the production, intends it to be an educational piece of theater, infused with history and honesty.

6. Teenage Dick

Theater Wit

March 6-April 19

Shakespeare's most devious monarch is given a contemporary spin at Theater Wit in Mike Lew's Teenage Dick. This Richard III is a high school junior, bullied for his cerebral palsy and his tendency to monologue. Macgregor Arney plays the titular Dick, whose plans to become class president assume a Machiavellian bent. Directed by Brian Balcom, Teenage Dick promises to be a fast-paced comedic view of disability, perception, and ambition, told with care by authentic voices.
Blue Bell Ice Cream has a sweet new flavor in stores today.

The Texas-based company describes Cookie Dough Overload as vanilla ice cream with hints of brown sugar, mixed with three different kinds of cookie dough pieces - chocolate chip, peanut butter and fudge.

The company says the flavor is available in half gallon and pint sizes.

Blue Bell has an ice cream factory in Sylacauga and regularly rolls out seasonal flavors for limited release along with new varieties.
Jiiva-starrer Tamil romantic road movie Gypsy is all set to release this Friday i.e. March 6, 2020. Directed by Raju Murugan, the film also stars Natasha Singh, Lal Jose, Sunny Wayne and Susheela Raman in pivotal roles.

Gypsy has created a solid buzz amongst the masses as it was trapped in the censorship issue. Initially, the Censor Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) disagreed to censor the film as some scenes resembled the issues that happened under the rule of Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. They also asked to mute some controversial dialogues and names which resembled with real-life characters. The makers appealed to the Film Certification Appeal Tribunal (FCAT) regarding the issue which later got resolved. The government wing cleared the film and it received 'A' certificate with some minor cuts.

Amidst all, film journalists recently watched the Jiiva-starrer Gypsy and shared their opinion on Twitter. Let's see what the critics have to say about Gypsy.

.@Music_Santhosh's soul stirring music levitates #Gypsy to a whole new level. #RajMurugan's vision has been butchered by the Censor board is what I see.



One thing about @JiivaOfficial - some stories are just written for him.



Waiting for the poignancy to hit harder.  S Abishek Raaja (@cinemapayyan) March 4, 2020

#Gypsy 1st half: @JiivaOfficial plays a free-spirited traveler who embraces all cultures, regions & religions - exciting role. His dancing horse Che is a showstealer There's also a 'Bombay' kinda love story, with an orthodox Muslim girl



Violent communal riots @ the interval  Kaushik LM (@LMKMovieManiac) March 4, 2020
The Woodlands Township Development Standards Committee lost the newest member with the unexpected resignation of Bala Iyer, who had been appointed to the seven-member committee in December 2018 and joined in January 2019.

Hennie Van Rensburg, director of covenant administration for The Woodlands Township, confirmed Iyers resignation during a meeting of the DSC on Wednesday, saying Iyer had submitted his resignation to the townships board of directors, which appoints four of the seven members of the committee. Van Rensburg said he was not aware of the reason Iyer gave for his resignation, noting that he had been at the most recent meeting of the DSC in late February.

Contacted via email on March 5, Iyer told The Villager that he left the DSC to, focus on my personal and professional lives.

I had notified (DSC Chairman) Walt (Lisiewski) earlier in 2020 that if there are things that will interfere with my ability to fulfill my role at DSC, I will leave immediately, Iyer wrote in his email. I missed some (meetings) in 2019 due to work related travel and family needs, so there were some discussions already in place about the possibility of my departure. When the time came, I notified the Township Covenant contact about my decision. I also left (Alden Bridge Village Association board) at the same time.

Iyer said he has no immediate plans to be, engaged in the public domain at this time, bu that, once my son leaves for college, that may change.

During an interview in 2019, Iyer, now 47, said his 2018 appointment to the DSC was his first experience with governmental service. Iyer lives in the Village of Alden Bridge with his wife and son, who is in the 10th grade. Iyer received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at a college in India, and then after moving to the United States, earned a masters degree in computer science from the University of Oklahoma. He is a project manager with Exxon Mobil and has lived in The Woodlands for 15 years.

Related: Newest member of Woodlands DSC still learning, but has lots of enthusiasm

He said during his 2019 interview that joining the DSC was a way to be involved in the community at the ground level, noting that he felt a personal desire to serve the community he and his family call home.

I wanted to play some role in the governance of the community, Iyer said in 2019. Then I just happened to see an article about the DSC (seeking new members) and threw my hat in. I said, This is my chance. Growth of the community got me interestedto take part in stewarding it and managing it, kind of like a son. Growth is necessary whether we like it or now. The community here is a great place to live.

The DSC is made up of seven members, four of whom are appointed by the township Board of Directors to two-year, unpaid terms. The remaining three members of the committee are appointed by The Woodlands Development Company as part of a community agreement between the two entities. Iyer joined the board after another member, township Director Brian Boniface, had resigned from the committee in late 2018 following his re-election to another two-year term to the township Board of Directors.

The committee meets twice monthly, hearing cases ranging from covenant violations by both residential and commercial property owners and also approving or rejecting requests for covenant variance alterations, such as cutting down trees, changes in paint colors or home renovations that may be outside what is allowed by township design standards.

The township board of directors will vet candidates to replace Iyer at a yet-to-be determined meeting, Van Rensburg said.

jeff.forward@chron.com
Incinerated coronavirus bodies, nuclear fallout, and pollution were among theories to explain mysterious black rain falling on parts of Japan.

Soot-coloured rainwater was reported to authorities and on social media by people living in several wards in Saitama Prefecture in Japan, on 2 March.

The majority of 'black rain' reports came from the city of Hasuda - but other affected areas included Ageo, Iwatsuki and Kuki, also in Saitama.

Hasuda City officials issued a statement saying they were investigating the matter after receiving multiple complaints of 'black puddles in roads and on cars', according to SoraNews24.

Dark black blobs of rainwater collect on a window in Saitama Prefecture in Japan, creating an ominous picture for its citizens

Swirling soot-coloured puddles collect outside a person's property. Other similar sites were also reported collecting on and dripping from cars

Some Saitama citizens expressed concern over possible nuclear-related materials in the atmosphere, many on Twitter using #blackrain.

'Black rain came down today over a wide area,' said one person on Twitter.

'It looks like oil and is under investigation. They said they checked radiation levels and nothing unusual was found. Black rain is disturbing,' they added.

Another person wrote: 'That's a little too scary.' While another said: 'That's about as bad an omen as you can get these days.'

Hasuda City officials were said to have measured radiation levels and found 'nothing out of the ordinary'.

However, they added that the cause of the black rain water was a mystery and further investigation was necessary.

A person's balcony fills up with sooty rainwater, collecting in little black clumps like iron filings

More sooty water cascading from this hybrid car, creating dark streaks along the white body

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Are they secretly burning the bodies of coronavirus victims?'. While another said: 'Didn't North Korea fire missiles on that day?'

One person on social media speculated whether oil had fallen from a plane passing overhead.

Another, sounding slightly more panicked, wrote: 'This is fine. Everything's fine.'

People who witnessed the black rain covering their homes and property were understandably unnerved, as similar ominous signs were also reported during the Second World War.

The United States dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

Three days later the US dropped a second A-bomb over Nagasaki. An estimated 120,000 people were killed during both catastrophic blasts.

Radioactive material was sent up into the atmosphere at the time causing 'black rain' to fall over the areas of nuclear attack.

Scientists who tested a school uniform worn by a girl exposed to the rain contaminated by the Hiroshima bombing were able to detect Caesium-137, a radioactive isotope, 70 years later.

However, no nuclear activity was reported in Saitama and some said the likely explanation for the black rain was pollution, SoraNews24 said.

A collection of black bubbles on a silver vehicle vent, caught on camera by a Saitama citizen

It later emerged that a 'gigantic' fire had broken out in Hasuda around the time of the rainfall.

It was the blaze, at what is thought to be a large commercial building, that was speculated to be the cause of the black rain.

'Its pretty easy to see how that much smoke could mix in with and dye much of the downwind precipitation black,' SoraNews24 said.

Other speculation about the fire's link to the black rain also appeared online.

'I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but there was a fire in the area that same day,' one person wrote.

'I think it was caused by a fire in the area,' said another.

'It was a fire at a plastic factory. There you go!' said a third.

One SoraNews24 reporter said: It doesnt explain why Hasuda City never acknowledged this on their website.

'At a time when the dispersion of information is more important than ever, its very unsettling that they were either unaware of the gigantic fire in their own city, or didnt feel it was necessary to mention while people online were speculating about mass-cremations and North Korean missiles,' they added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said no case of coronavirus infection has been found in the state and there was no cause for panic, but caution was necessary for the next eight to ten days.

Addressing a press conference here, he also said people should refrain from visiting crowded places.

"Extra precaution is needed to be taken during the next eight to ten days....people should celebrate the Holi festival in a restrained way," he said.

The medical staff at the airports will be increased for conducting thermal screening of all the passengers arriving from other countries, Thackeray said.

Thermal checking is being carried out at Nagpur and Pune airports in the state too, he said.

Mumbai municipal commissioner Pravin Pardeshi, also present at the press conference, said additional quarantine beds have been kept ready at private hospitals in the city.

Pardeshi also stated that people need not wear face masks, which the medical staff who are treating suspected coronavirus patients need.

Some 18,000 passengers arrive at the international airport in Mumbai every day, the commissioner said.

So far about 70,000 passengers have undergone thermal checking and 90 of them showed symptoms of the disease. But 83 of these patients eventually tested negative for the virus while the lab reports of seven people were awaited, Pardeshi added.

Earlier, making a statement in the Legislative Assembly, chief minister Thackeray said his government was taking all necessary steps for the prevention of the "coronavirus epidemic".

"I want to tell people that the next eight days are crucial and we have to remain cautious," he told the House.

"We need to tackle the crisis effectively without getting scared and panicky," he said. "If we get scared, we may end up committing avoidable mistakes," he added.

Adequate testing facilities were in place in Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune, the chief minister said.

"There is enough stock of masks. We need to see if the vacant Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai can be used for quarantine facilities," he added.

He had instructed authorities to provide masks and required clothing to the cleaning staff of international flights at the airports in the state, Thackeray informed.

Hotel managements have also been instructed to check if foreign tourists checking into their hotels have undergone thermal screening, he said.

"I have instructed the Information and Publicity department to issue advertisements for mass awareness at railway and bus stations regarding precautions to be taken," he said.

Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided not to celebrate Holi in view of the virus epidemic this year, Thackeray said, "When there was an outbreak of swine flu, the dahi-handi celebrations were cancelled (in Maharashtra). I pray that the coronavirus epidemic gets burnt in the Holi fire," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hunt, a veteran farmer whose ancestors settled in Murrurundi 152 years ago, knows better than most how events like this strengthen the community.

At 85 years old, he can remember tough droughts going back to 1946. His grandfather told him about the worst ones in his memory, reaching back into the nineteenth century.

Hunt and Annette, his wife of 60 years, understand this land, and they've seen the resilience of its people during the toughest times. Coming together at bush events is part of their survival strategy, he says.

If you're battling out all the week, feeding and carting water, a couple of days away from it  thats a great source of relaxation. Itll take your mind off what's happening back at the place, even if its only for a few hours.

More than ever, this community needs respite. Murrurundis water supply ran out last March, and since then, water has been trucked in daily from Scone. After years of dry conditions, its been the final straw for many farmers, as Hunt knows himself.

His 2200-acre sheep and cattle property 17 kilometres outside of Murrurundi has suffered badly. We started to get dry in 2017, he says.

He sent his cattle northwest to a family member who still had water and feed. When they also ran out, Hunt had no option but to sell all the cattle. Then he had to reduce his sheep from 2,000 to 800.

We were pretty upset at the time, he recalls. But as it turned out, it was the best move we could have made because there was no water here. If we'd have fed them and hung on, the feed bill would have been a lot worse.

The drought has left many farmers here wondering whether to battle on or cut their losses.

I had one fella say to me yesterday that he's finally had good rain, after he unloaded all his stock only a couple of weeks ago, says Hunt. And he said, If Id only hung on another few weeks. But you've just got to make those decisions.

While Hunt has seen plenty of droughts in the region, hes astonished by the strength of the community response. Most heartening of all, entries for this years King of the Ranges were high  close to the record levels achieved five years ago, before the drought.

The people still came. They competed, bantered, and spoke of rain, hope and regeneration. It was the best show of support that Murrurundi could have wished for, says Hunt.

To have so many come in such a drought has been just tremendous, he says.

This month you can use BPAY, Australias leading bill payment service, to support Aussie farmers by making a donation at ruralaid.org.au/BPAY.

The BPAY Scheme is managed by BPAY Pty Ltd. BPAY Payments are offered by over 150 BPAY Scheme members. When you use BPAY the BPAY Scheme is paid fees relating to processing costs and BPAY Scheme membership. Contact your financial institution to see if it offers BPAY and to get the terms and conditions. Any financial product advice provided by BPAY Pty Ltd in relation to BPAY payment products is general advice only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on such advice, you should review the Product Disclosure Statement and consider whether BPAY payment products are appropriate for your personal circumstances.
In a sophisticated operation, the CBI scoured through 40-feet of sand at the seabed in a creek near Thane to recover a gun which might be the clinching evidence in the killing of rationalists including Narendra Dabholkar, officials said Thursday.

The agency relied on the expertise of a Dubai-based company -- Envitech Marine Consultants -- which used hi-tech Norwegian equipment and Ukrainian divers to detect the gun in a 40-feet thick layer of sand on the seabed in an operation that cost Rs 7.5 crore, to be shared by the governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Rationalists Dabholkar, Gauri Lankesh, M M Kalburgi and Govind Pansare were shot dead in similar fashion allegedly by right wing extremists, they said.

The agency is probing the killing of Dabholkar who was allegedly shot dead on August 20, 2013 in Pune by members of Sanatan Sanstha, a right wing extremist group, whereas the Karnataka police is investigating the murders of Kalburgi, Lankesh and Pansare, they said.

"The weapon will be sent for ballistic tests which will give a clear picture whether it was used in Dabholkar's murder or any other case. Meanwhile, the search operation is still going on to locate other weapons used in similar murders," an official said.

Initial reports indicate the killers' modus operandi being similar in all the four cases and that the killings may have some common actors, they said.

Alleged shooter in the Dabholkar case, Sharad Kalaskar, has claimed to have thrown four weapons used in the murders in the creek on the directions of a Sanatan Sanstha member, the agency had said.

Finding a gun in the huge creek area meant managing through tides, looking into dirty water, rocks and sand in the seabed as the suspected weapon could have been at any depth of sand, officials said.

After the interrogation of suspects, the agency narrowed the area where they had thrown their respective weapons from the bridge.

Senior officials gave a go-ahead for using expertise of Envitech which brought in equipment from Norway and expert deep sea divers from Ukraine to successfully find a weapon which might have been used in Dabholkar's killing.

The sonar (sound navigation and ranging) technology helped the agency to locate metal objects through depths of the seabed which was followed by a delicate layer by layer removal of sand using a crane arm fixed on a floating platform, they said, adding that it was ensured that the crane only removed sand without touching the weapon as it could have damaged the potential evidence.

Later, expert divers from Ukraine were sent to bring out the weapon with careful handling, the officials said.

The operation footed a bill of Rs 7.5 crore to be shared by the governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One news item in the automobile industry in Ghana that has sparked outrage especially among members of the Automobile Dealers Union Ghana (AUDG), is the proposal to ban the importation of used (second-hand) vehicles of more than ten years old, and salvaged cars also known as accident cars; through the Customs Amendment Bill 2020, currently before Parliament.

This was first made public by the Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu during a media encounter.

The latest information is that the Customs Amendment Bill, 2020, has actually passed the second reading stage in Parliament; meaning the Bill could be fully passed anytime soon, after the amendments are debated, despite the Minoritys objection to the Bill in its current form, due to its likely impact on job loses.

The government premises its intended action on the fact that some Automobile giants like Volkswagen, Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan, Rhino and Synotrucks, are working on setting up vehicle assembly plants in Ghana to produce for the local market.

It is great that Ghana has grown politically, economically and socially to a point where such respected automobile companies are willing to open assembly plants for their operations as has happened in other African countries like Kenya and Rwanda.

Regardless of this milestone, the claim that salvaged cars cause road accidents, as part of the reasons stated by the Honourable MP and Minister, does not have any scientific or statistical grounding. Then also, wouldnt a complete ban of salvaged cars significantly reduce the direct tax revenue of the government?

The government itself has predicted an estimated revenue loss of GHS802 million over the next three years after the review of the policy. It, however, expects this loss to be partially offset by the additional revenue from customs duties on vehicles not covered by the programme, according to the joint report of the joint committee on Finance and Trade, Industry and Tourism.

In view of the above, instead of clearing old cars on our roads to ensure road safety, shouldnt the better and first alternative be to screen the calibre of commercial vehicles on our roads; as citizens risk their lives in rickety commercial vehicles popularly known as trotro most of which have not seen proper vehicle maintenance in decades, but still have valid roadworthy certificates.

Also, a complete ban on over-aged vehicles is a great initiative as vehicles that are over-aged may pose health hazards to both humans and the environment due to emission problems; a reason why some new vehicles are re-called even in developed countries. In spite of the above, some sections of the proposal on the ban on importation of second-hand cars arguably needs to be revised due to the reasons below;

Diversity of the cars on the Ghanaian Market

That a few automobile companies have expressed interest in setting up assembly plants in Ghana is a laudable idea; but begs the question, what about the other car brands like the BMWs, Ford, Hyundai, etc.?

Should this bill be passed, will that mean Ghanaians will be forced to only use the brands with assembly plants in Ghana if they cannot afford new cars of other car brands they desire?

Such a bill might restrict the average Ghanaians car choice in favour of the few automobile brands with plants in Ghana. Doesnt this mean infringing on freedom of choice, which is a basic human right? In assessing these underlying issues, one may ask, what about rather boosting and empowering local brands like the Katankas that already have assembly plants to rather produce cars that will be competitive, economical and affordable for the average Ghanaian surviving on the minimum wage.

The question is; how many Ghanaians can afford these brand new cars? And even if Ghanaians are able afford these brand new cars, how will such a car be called if a careless driver wrecks something as trivial as a tail light and it goes for fixing or insurance claims are made on it. Salvaged?

Salvaged Cars are not the reason for road accidents in Ghana

Data from the National Road Safety Commission indicates that in 2018, inattentiveness by drivers and over-speeding were the leading causes of the loss of human lives at a rate of 41.8 and 26.8 percent respectively.

Cars with damages from mild to severe and minor dents are all classified under salvaged, and not only flood cars or cars that have been involved in accidents as claimed by the honourable Minister.

Salvaged cars with minimal damage do not pose threats to the Ghanaian environment or endanger human lives when purchased; the reason why local automobile companies like Andcorp Autos advises Ghanaians to check the history of vehicles purchased from dealers in order to be informed about the prior condition of these vehicles.

Misplaced priorities?

Another compelling argument is that Ghana still imports some basic needs like clothing, food items (specifically rice), even though the skill set and capacity of manufacturing them locally exist; yet we want to ban something as critical as a car that we do not have the capacity to manufacture at the moment. Up to now, second-hand clothing, popularly known as Obroni Wa Wu poses health threats to the citizens who use them. But for all these years, what have we done to regulate the importation of some of these basic needs?

The Point

There is no doubt the condition of a car can determine the safety of its passengers, hence Andcorp Autos advises citizens to always verify the history of cars they purchase.

To end with, banning of used cars (whether salvaged or not) is ill-advised. Even a developed country like the USA with most of the various car manufacturers present still has over 45,000 used cars (second-hand) dealership with a greater percentage dealing with salvaged cars, and only 17,750 brand new car dealerships.

The author is a Managing Partner of Andcorp Autos, a fully owned Ghanaian Automobile Company and on-demand auto purchasing company which offers the best option for purchasing and importing quality vehicles (brand new, clean, salvaged) from USA, Canada and Asia.

Authors email address: [email protected]
Three new cities across North America, Europe and Australia will play host to the world's only Human-Centered AI Conference

Today, Dataiku, one of the world's leading Enterprise AI and machine learning platforms, announced the lineup for its 2020 EGG Conferences, with events planned in eight cities worldwide. EGG, The Human-Centered AI Conference, is a series of one-day gatherings focused on issues at the forefront of data science, machine learning, and AI, exploring real-life Enterprise AI use cases and how to create organizational change with scalable AI systems that enhance not replace humans.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005748/en/

A previous EGG Conference (Photo: Business Wire)

Since 2017, EGG has attracted more than 5,000 data leaders at the world's first conference focused not just on what AI can do, but, practically, how companies can get there. As human-centered AI as a concept continues to gain traction globally, the conference is expanding to new and exciting hubs for AI: Montreal, Frankfurt and Sydney. These three new events complement the existing roster of EGG events in New York City, San Francisco, Paris, Amsterdam and London.

EGG 2020 will bring together a wide variety of global data leaders, from data team managers to CIOs, CDOs, and more, with sessions around overcoming both organizational and technical challenges on the path to Enterprise AI. Attendees will leave EGG with concrete next steps for shaping the future of AI in their own organizations.

Each event will feature hand-selected speakers who have been through the organizational and technical change associated with AI transformation before and who demonstrate a desire to share their insights and learnings with their peers. These international EGGs will bring a global outlook to the discussion while also shedding light on concerns for human-centered AI developments at the regional level. Each conference also allows AI leaders to get global perspectives in a local setting in a year that has already seen a number of global community events and conferences postponed during a health crisis.

"With EGG, Dataiku is building a global network of engaged industry leaders that will be shaping the future of Enterprise AI worldwide," said Dataiku CEO Florian Douetteau. "Since the beginning both of the EGG Conference and of Dataiku as a company our goal has been to connect people. Hosting EGG in three new cities is just another way that we facilitate collaboration for the greater good of the data community."

Since its inception, EGG has garnered a global reputation as a conference that brings together thought leaders and those at the forefront of AI. Past speakers have included leaders from Mercedes-Benz, University of Oxford, BBC News, Disney Parks Resorts, Morgan Stanley, and WIRED, with participation from brands like AWS, Pivotal, Looker and PwC.

For the past two years, EGG attendees have also participated in an AI survey. The results from the November 2019 EGG event surveys in San Francisco, Paris, and Amsterdam were released last week, showing differences in how non-managers and data executives think AI will impact their work as well as steps their organizations are taking toward better data quality and more responsible AI. Get a copy of the AI Impact Survey results.

The 2020 EGG Series includes:

New York City June 11

London June 23

Montreal Sept. 24

Sydney Oct. 12

San Francisco Oct. 21

Paris Nov. 3

Amsterdam Nov. 10

Frankfurt Nov. 24

Registration is already open for select EGGs (including London and New York City), and exciting, industry-leading speakers will be announced in the coming weeks and months.

About Dataiku

Dataiku is the centralized data platform that democratizes the use of data science, machine learning, and AI in the enterprise. With Dataiku, businesses are uniquely empowered to move along their data journey from data preparation to analytics at scale to Enterprise AI. By providing a common ground for data experts and explorers, a repository of best practices, shortcuts to machine learning and AI deployment/management, and a centralized, controlled environment, Dataiku is the catalyst for data-powered companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005748/en/

Contacts:

Dave Donohue

dataiku@strangebrewstrategies.com
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Linkedin Hyonhee Shin and Ju-min Park (Bloomberg) Seoul, South Korea  Thu, March 5, 2020 14:40 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206883764 2 World South-Korea,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,outbreak,health,infectious-diseases,infection Free

South Korea declared a "special care zone" on Thursday around a second city hit hard by the coronavirus and the US military confirmed two new cases among relatives of its troops in the country, as it battles the biggest epidemic outside China.

Australia became the latest country to impose travel restrictions on South Koreans, with almost 100 nations now limiting arrivals from the East Asian country which reported 438 new coronavirus cases on Thursday for a total of 5,766.

The South Korean government declared a "special care zone" around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, promising extra resources such as face masks and warning against travel there.

Gyeongsan has seen a spike in new cases in recent days, many of them linked to a fringe Christian group at the center of the South Korean outbreak. Similar zones have been declared around neighboring Daegu city and Cheongdo County.

About 75% of all cases in South Korea are in and around Daegu, the country's fourth-largest city, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

"Every day is sad and tough like a war. But our Daegu citizens are showing surprise wisdom and courage," Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin told reporters on Thursday.

About 2,120 patients were waiting for hospital beds in Daegu, city officials said. Dozens of newly commissioned military nurses were due to begin work in the city on Thursday, the health ministry said.

The KCDC reported five more deaths from the virus, bringing the total in the country to 37. The flu-like virus that emerged from China late last year has infected more than 95,300 people and killed almost 3,300 around the world, mostly in China, according to a Reuters tally.

KCDC Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook advised all South Koreans to stay home and avoid "any gatherings, especially those that take place in enclosed places with many people such as religious events".

He also advised employers in Asia's fourth-largest economy, home to tech giants like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, to work from home.

'Deeply regrettable'

US Forces Korea (USFK) reported two new cases, for a total of six cases in soldiers, employees or people related to the roughly 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

Despite the new cases, USFK had resumed sending troops to bases in Daegu and surrounding areas, according to military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Commanders believed the bases were protected from the outside population, and that the troop rotations were needed to maintain readiness in the face of continued threats from nuclear-armed North Korea, the newspaper reported.

Australia's move to ban the arrival of foreigners from South Korea is a blow to Seoul's efforts to prevent the United States from imposing such restrictions.

"It is a deeply regrettable step, and we will closely consult Australian authorities for a swift revocation of the measure and to minimize inconvenience for our citizens," South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Kim In-chul told reporters.

South Korean officials met the US ambassador in Seoul on Wednesday to urge the United States not to limit travel. Similar talks would be held on Friday with diplomats from other nations, the foreign ministry said.

According to the US State Department, anyone with a fever of 38 Celcius is already banned from boarding direct flights from South Korea to the United States.

Korean Air Lines said on Thursday it would screen all passengers departing Incheon airport for high temperatures and reject those deemed a risk.

South Korea sent three "rapid response" teams to Vietnam on Thursday to assist more than 270 citizens quarantined in that country over coronavirus concerns, the fore
Italy closes its schools

One case becomes 10 in the N.Y. suburbs

A W.H.O. expert discusses Chinas fight

Get the latest updates here, plus maps and full coverage

Italy closes all its schools

The country ordered all schools  from day care centers to universities  to shut down until at least March 15 as the outbreak there grew rapidly. Italian students will join hundreds of millions of children whove been forced to stay home because of the coronavirus in China, South Korea, Iran, Japan, France, Pakistan, the United States and elsewhere.

The closings are an extraordinary public health experiment, with many ripple effects. The burden is likely to fall particularly hard on women, who across the world still perform most child care duties.

Gao Mengxian, a security guard in Hong Kong, has stopped going to work so she can watch her daughters. Masks are pricey, so she ventures outside just once a week. She spends most of her time helping her daughters, 10 and 8, with their online classes, fumbling through technology that leaves her confused and her daughters frustrated.

Theyre always saying: When can we go out to play? When can we go to school? Ms. Gao said.

A case swiftly becomes a cluster in New York

One coronavirus case, a man of around 50, has quickly led health officials to discover at least nine more infected people around the New York City suburb of New Rochelle. They include the mans wife and two children; a friend who drove him to the hospital; a friend who was in close proximity with the man; the friends wife, and three of their children.
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA is hosting a media teleconference at 10 a.m. EDT Monday, March 9, to discuss an international collaboration aimed at improving our understanding of air quality. The teleconference will stream live on the agency's website.

Scientists from the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands will discuss a pioneering new constellation of space-based instruments designed to advance global air quality science and monitoring.

The first part of the three-mission constellation already is in space. Last month, South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instrument was launched aboard the GEO-KOMPSAT-2B satellite. During the next few years, GEMS will be joined by NASA's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument and ESA's (European Space Agency's) Sentinel-4 spacecraft. Each mission will make hourly daytime air quality measurements over different parts of the Northern Hemisphere from geostationary orbit.

Panelists for the media teleconference are:

Barry Lefer , tropospheric composition program manager in NASA's Earth Science Division at agency's headquarters, Washington

, tropospheric composition program manager in NASA's Earth Science Division at agency's headquarters, Jhoon Kim , GEMS principal investigator at Yonsei University , Seoul, South Korea

, GEMS principal investigator at , Kelly Chance , TEMPO principal investigator at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts

, TEMPO principal investigator at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Ben Veihelmann , Sentinel-4 principal investigator for ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

To participate in the call, media must contact Joe Atkinson at [email protected] by 5 p.m. Sunday, March 8, for dial-in instructions. The public can send questions during the teleconference using the hashtag #AskNASA.

For more information about NASA's Earth science programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/earth

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


Insurance giant Aviva has said it faces a 70m bill so far from the recent UK winter storms and has seen a coronavirus hit to its Asian and Italian businesses (Chris Radburn/PA)

Insurance giant Aviva has said it faces a 70 million bill so far from the recent UK winter storms and has seen coronavirus hit its Asian and Italian businesses.

The group received weather-related calls from 13,000 customers, but stressed it is responding quickly by helping fix damaged properties and using the latest technology to settle claims after Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge.

It added that the coronavirus outbreak presents a new uncertainty to the outlook for 2020 and revealed it has been testing contingency plans for staff to work remotely if needed.

Aviva said it is early days in assessing the impact on the business of the outbreak, but that activity has been knocked across its Asian and Italian businesses and it has received around 500 travel claims so far and paid out 500,000.

Weve made good progress, but there is much more to doAviva chief executive Maurice Tulloch

Chief executive Maurice Tulloch said the group is well prepared  were ready to respond.

Full-year results showed a 6% rise in operating profits for 2019 to a record 3.2 billion as new business lifted 2% to 1.2 billion.

Mr Tulloch said the results showed signs that the overhaul at the group is starting to pay off.

In 2019, we set out our priorities and financial targets, strengthened our leadership team and remained focused on helping our customers prepare for a better future, he said.

Weve made good progress, but there is much more to do.

Results showed the group made savings of 72 million over 2019 under a programme to eventually cut costs by around 300 million a year.

In June the group announced plans to axe 1,800 jobs, just months into Mr Tullochs tenure at the top.

The group confirmed that around 1,200 of these job cuts have been made so far.

Aviva  which employs around 30,000 staff in total  said at the time that savings will also be made across central costs, contractor and consultant spend, reduction in project spend, and in other areas.

Mr Tulloch also revealed a structural shake-up in November and plans to sell off its Hong Kong arm, but said it would keep businesses in Singapore and China.

Aviva has been divided across five operating divisions  investments, savings and retirement; UK life; general insurance; Europe life; and Asia life.
Chinese scientists find two mutations from COVID-19 virus

Global Times

By Wang Qi Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/4 22:28:40 Last Updated: 2020/3/4 23:38:40

Chinese scientists found that the coronavirus causing COVID-19 has two mutations, S-cov and a more dangerous L-cov, that features higher transmissibility and inflicts more harm to the human respiratory system.

Medical experts said there might be more variants discovered as infections spike globally, since the mutation occurs from virus' adapting to different environments and hosts.

By analyzing the genome-wide molecular evolution of 103 novel coronavirus samples, scientists from Peking University's School of Life Sciences and Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences found 101 samples that can be categorized into S-cov and L-cov based on 149 mutation spots on virus strains.

The research was published Tuesday in the National Science Review.

The paper states that S-cov, accounting for 30 percent, is closer to the bat-related coronavirus and is relatively older, while the L-cov was more prevalent in the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan but declined in early January.

Most of the patients were infected with only one of the two variants. But sample of an American patient who had recently traveled to Wuhan suggested he might have been infected with both. Scientists say the possibility of a third mutation cannot be ruled out.

Yang Zhanqiu, a Wuhan-based virologist, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the American patient was probably infected with a third variant yet to be identified with enough samples. Usually a person can only be infected with one subtype of the coronavirus because different types clash with each other.

It is very likely that the adaptation of the coronavirus to different environments and hosts leads to the mutation before infecting humans, which means there is more than one wildlife as a middle host and more than one place of origin, Yang said.

More mutations could occur as the virus is now spreading globally, he said.

Top Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan said last week that COVID-19 "may not have originated from China" and some experts believe that the coronavirus has multiple birthplaces with different transmission chains.

Hang Changshou, a virologist and former research fellow at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times that virus mutations do not affect current prevention measures as they are targeted to all viruses.

New variants will not weaken the effectiveness of the existing treatment methods as the mutation was minor in the gene sequence and did not change the nature of the virus. On the contrary, it would be helpful in research on the pathogen and the development of targeted vaccines, Hang said.

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New York.  How big and thick is the Glass Ceiling? New analysis suggests that it covers all aspects of womens lives  including the household  and that it is constructed, not of glass, but of pervasive bias and prejudice against women held by both men and women worldwide.

These were the findings behind the new Gender Social Norms Index released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today. This index measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80 percent of the worlds population.

This new analysis reveals that, despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90 percent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women, providing new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality, and a potential path forward to shattering the Glass Ceiling.

According to the index, about half of the worlds men and women feel that men make better political leaders, and over 40 percent feel that men make better business executives and that men have more right to a job when jobs are scarce. 28 percent think it is justified for a man to beat his wife.

Information is also available on how bias is changing in around 30 countries. It shows that while in some countries there have been improvements, in others, attitudes appear to have worsened in recent years, signaling that progress cannot be taken for granted.

We have come a long way in recent decades to ensure that women have the same access to lifes basic needs as men. We have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent since the year 1990. But gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality. Today. the fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices. said Pedro Conceicao, head of UNDPs Human Development Report Office.

The Power Gap

This new analysis sheds light on why enormous power gaps still exist between men and women in our economies, our political systems, and our corporations despite real progress closing gender inequalities in basic areas of development like education and health; and the removal of legal barriers to political and economic participation.

For example, while men and women vote at similar rates, only 24 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women and there are only 10 female heads of government out of a possible 193. Women in the labour market are paid less than men and are much less likely to be in senior positions: less than 6 percent of CEOs in S&P 500 companies are women. And while women work more hours than men, this work is more likely to be unpaid care work.

The work that has been so effective in ensuring an end to gaps in health or education must now evolve to address something far more challenging: a deeply ingrained bias  among both men and women - against genuine equality. Current policies, while well intentioned, can only take us so far. said Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP.

2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25), the most visionary agenda on womens empowerment to date.

UNDP is calling on governments and institutions to use a new generation of policies to change these discriminatory beliefs and practices through education, and by raising awareness and changing incentives. For instance, by using taxes to incentivize fairly sharing child-care responsibilities, or by encouraging women and girls to enter traditionally male-dominated sectors such as the armed forces and information technology.

#MeToo, #NiUnaMenos, #TimesUp. #UnVioladorEnTuCamino. The womens rights demonstrations were seeing across the world today, energized by young feminists, are signaling that new alternatives for a different world are needed, said Raquel Lagunas, UNDP Gender Team Acting Director. We must act now to break through the barrier of bias and prejudices if we want to see progress at the speed and scale needed to achieve gender equality and the vision laid out in the Beijing Declaration over two decades ago and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Link to Index and Report: http://hdr.undp.org/en/GSNI
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Bangkok, Thailand  Thu, March 5, 2020 18:42 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2068a0169 2 World Thailand,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,COVID-19,outbreak,health,disinfectant Free

Thailand's postal services began disinfecting all packages received from overseas on Thursday to counter the spread of the coronavirus, although the World Health Organization has said it is safe to receive post from badly affected countries, like China.

The Southeast Asian nation reported four new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing its total to 47. One person in Thailand has died has from the disease, which first erupted in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

There have been no reports of the virus being contracted from packages posted from overseas, but the plan to disinfect them is one of the latest measures taken by authorities to halt the spread of the disease.

"Thailand's post offices will disinfect every package arriving from overseas, at headquarters, including at Suvarnabhumi airport, Lak Si post offices, express mail service and delivery trucks," Thailand Post Chief Executive Officer, Korkij Danchaivichit, told reporters.

In advice to the public posted on its website, the WHO said: "People receiving packages from China are not at risk of contracting the new coronavirus. From previous analysis, we know coronaviruses do not survive long on objects, such as letters or packages."

The new cases in Thailand included an Italian male, a Chinese student and two Thai nationals who returned from China and Iran, Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the Department of Disease Control said in a news conference on Thursday.
Sixteen years after joining the faculty of Indiana Universitys Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Karen Bravo made history by being the first person of color to be named dean.

Previously, she served as vice dean of the school and in various administrative capacities.

Bravo, originally from Jamaica, practiced law in New York and Boston before being recruited by Indiana University in 2004. Since then, Bravo has championed several movements on the IUPUI campus, including co-founding IUPUI Next Generation 2.0, an effort to increase diversity on the campus.

We met with faculty and staff, and we linked it to the strategic plan, Bravo said. We realized that in higher education, women and minoritized persons are not represented, and have more difficulty accessing training to be positioned for the next level of leadership.

Bravo, who has studied human trafficking extensively, is also the founder of Slavery: Past, Present and Future, an annual conference that brings experts from around the world together to discuss the history of human exploitation and ways slavery still exists in the modern world.

I did not know human trafficking existed until I was in the Republic of Armenia  doing a Rule of Law Reform project, Bravo said. One of the projects was working on human trafficking in the context of Armenia. I came back [to the states] and went to New York University to do a masters in trade regulation. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had always been interested in the slavery question, so somewhere between trade regulation and human trafficking, I really saw the connection of the economics of human trafficking and the concept of human trafficking as a new form of trade in persons.

Bravo was drawn to the classroom by the opportunity to, as she said, get more into the weeds of certain topics. While she wont be teaching for the first year of her new position, she is looking forward to engaging with students, staff and faculty to further the law school.

[This school] is the heartbeat of the Indianapolis legal education, she said. Id like to have a strategic planning process where were able to hear from all our stakeholders, faculty, alums and students, to develop goals for our school, admissions  and maintaining academic rigor.

IUPUI Chancellor Nasser Paydar believes Bravos appointment follows in the recent movement to make the IUPUI campus more reflective of the community.

Karen Bravos selection as the 13th dean of the McKinney School of Law at IUPUI reinforces our campuss commitment to building visionary executive leadership, strengthening ties to the community, and reinforcing a diverse and inclusive culture, Paydar said in an email. This milestone appointment in the life of McKinney Law follows a number of executive appointments  in the past several years, the majority of which have been people of color and women.

While Bravo is making mental preparations to transition into her new position on July 1, she has conflicting feelings about being the first Black person to hold the position since Indiana University acquired the school in 1944.

Im a little conflicted, because its 2020, she said, and one sort of thinks theres no more firsts to be had. I was interested in leadership, so being able to compete and get the position is wonderful. I know that for the institution, its a new change  and Ive got great outpourings of love and support  its wonderful for students and prospective students, its the messaging that this kind of achievement is possible.

Beyond working on the schools strategic plan and increasing diversity  an issue she said law schools around the country are working to address  Bravo is looking forward to making a name for the school around Indianapolis.

Im really [looking forward to] bringing the community together, she said. Getting us to understand what makes us different and how were going to project that into the future so we can continue to be a high-functioning law school providing value into our students and serving the needs of Indiana and our country.  And to do what lawyers do; to serve justice.

Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.
MANILA, Philippines  Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday, March 5 pushed for amendments to the countrys existing laws against money laundering amid the alleged influx of foreign cash into the country which is suspected to be linked to illegal activities.

The bringing of huge sums of money in and out of the country in past months with seeming impunity indicates the urgent need for action from our government, not just by the Executive but also by the Legislative, Lacson said in a statement.

Our authorities should keep up with, if not keep one step ahead of, criminals who are trying to do the same, he added.

He said that while there is a need to address the corruption that that is one big reason for authorities tolerating money laundering, the gaps at the existing laws, such as Bank Secrecy Law and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, should also be looked into.

There is also a need to take a long, hard look at gaps in our existing laws, including the Bank Secrecy Law and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, he said.

Lacson also said that the amendments to these laws should also make sure that they cannot be weaponized for political purposes.

The senator said he has experienced such abuse when some of his accusers prompted him to waive his rights under the Bank Secrecy Law to belie their claims that he has dollars in his account.

And acting from those experiences, I proposed amendments to the AMLA and filed a bill excluding all public servants from the Bank Secrecy Act, he said.

Lacson made the statement after Senator Richard Gordon claimed in a privilege speech on Tuesday that some $447 million or equivalent to P22 billion were brought into the country from September 2019 to February 2020, based on the report of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The sums of cash were allegedly carried by 47 individuals, mostly Chinese nationals, arriving in the Philippines from Hong Kong and Singapore.

The post Amendments to PHs Anti-Money Laundering laws pushed in Senate appeared first on UNTV News.
New Delhi revokes ban on social media sites and restores full but slow-speed internet access for two weeks in Kashmir.

Authorities in India on Wednesday temporarily revoked a ban on social media sites and restored full internet access in Indian-administered Kashmir for two weeks, seven months after New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of its statehood and semi-autonomy and enforced a total communications blackout.

Internet access over mobile devices, however, will remain restricted to slow speeds.

The restoration of the internet will remain in effect until March 17, a government order said. It gave no explanation of the time limit. A recent Supreme Court order had said the internet ban could not be indefinite.

The order issued by the regions home secretary, Shaleen Kabra, said internet access over fixed lines will be restricted to registered customers.

They have finally restored internet, but after destroying so many businesses and ruining so many careers Khurshid Ahmed, a Kashmiri student

AK Srivastava, an official at state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the leading broadband service provider in Kashmir, told the Associated Press news agency it has begun implementing the new government order.

When it imposed the internet ban in August, the government said it was necessary to prevent anti-India protests and attacks by rebels who have fought for decades for Muslim-majority Kashmirs independence or unification with Pakistan, which administers the other part of Kashmir.

Both countries claim the Himalayan region in its entirety since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

An official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that in the past social media was used to mobilise people for funerals that resulted in law and order disturbances.

Post August 5, such Kashmir has not witnesed such disturbances. Subversive elements have lost interest to indulge in stone-pelting, he said, referring to anti-India protests in the region.

Authorities in January slightly eased the internet ban allowing people to access government-approved websites [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]

Fear to express political thought

Digital rights activists denounced the internet restrictions and said they represented a new level of government control over information allowing it to further restrict freedoms in Kashmir. Legislators in Europe and the US also called on the government to end the curbs.

Authorities in January slightly eased the internet ban, allowing the Indian-administered territorys more than seven million people to access government-approved websites over slow-speed connections. But the ban on social media remained in place.

People resorted to virtual private network (VPN) apps in a bid to bypass the firewall to access social media websites. VPNs use proxy servers that allow users to change their location to circumvent regional internet blockades.

While many welcomed the latest government move, some expressed concerns that now it would be easier for the government to trace the IP addresses of the users.

There is a fear to express political thought about the situation on social media, with the help of VPN it might help to hide IP addresses. Now, when people would start using social media and start tweeting it would make their IP addresses completely traceable, 29-year-old Zainab Fatima, a resident of Baramulla in north Kashmir, told Al Jazeera.

The authorities in the region have already cautioned residents against the misuse of social media. Five people have been so far arrested for using VPN.

The portion of the divided Kashmir region that Hindu-majority India controls was already one of the most militarised places in the world before the government scrapped its statehood, began pouring in more troops and imposed harsh curbs on civil rights and information, including a blackout on the internet,cellphones, landlines and cable TV.

Internet shutdowns are a favoured tactic of the government of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]

Longest internet shutdown in a democracy

The internet lockdown  the longest ever in a democracy  inflicted heavy losses for the regions economy, according to the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which said at least 150,000 jobs were lost. Local tech companies had to close or relocate to other areas of India, suffering heavy losses.

During the service blackout, critically ill patients could not access government healthcare or seek insurance reimbursements online, students couldnt apply for fellowships or scholarships and distraught families could not contact relatives outside the region.

They have finally restored internet, but after destroying so many businesses and ruining so many careers, said Khurshid Ahmed, a university student in Srinagar, the regions main city. Though late, the international shaming has worked.

Internet shutdowns are a favoured tactic of the government of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During protests in New Delhi against a citizenship law passed late last year that fast-tracks naturalisation for immigrants of all South Asias major religions except Islam, internet and cell service were frequently disrupted.

Since Modi came into power in 2014, the internet has been suspended more than 365 times in India, according to the global digital rights group Access Now.

In Kashmir, internet bans have been more frequent. More than a third of Indias internet bans in the last six years were imposed there, some lasting months.

In 2017, United Nations experts said a ban on social media sites that year had the character of collective punishment.

Additional contribution from our Srinagar reporter whom we are not naming due to security concerns
Three, two, one  Go ahead. O.K. My name is Eva Schloss. Would you like to ask me some questions about my life? Why dont you ask me a question about Auschwitz? Why dont you ask me a question about Auschwitz? Everybody said, Never again, Auschwitz. We have learned our lesson. But it looked bad again in the world. The hatred, discrimination. So I thought it really necessary to teach and to speak about it. My name is Pinchas Gutter. I will answer any questions you might have for me. How old were you when the war ended? I was between the ages of 13 and 14 when the war ended in 1945. But he doesnt move much, really. And thats his choice. But its very Jewish to talk with your hands. Yes, it is. And you should feel comfortable to do. And you can. Exactly. Yeah. Its going to be somewhat normal in a hundred years time to have a person sitting in this position. And it wont seem as unnatural. When you start to get into the questions and you start to get into the dialog, you kind of lose sight of the fact that the persons not actually there. Gosh. My goodness. This is Andrew. Yes. Hi, Andrew. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Lisa. This is Lisa, her granddaughter. Right now, theres about a hundred cameras on the stage. So were recording everything in all directions. The idea behind the green is that we can then take out the green and replace it with any other environment that youre going to be talking in the future. So this could be a classroom. It could be a museum. We could put those backdrops behind you. In the beginning, I didnt know really how to speak. You know, Im saying you have to learn. Eventually, I found my own voice. O.K., here we go. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? Im feeling very well A little nervous. O.K. When did you first start telling your story? Since 1986, I started to speak for the first time. And I havent really stopped since. Today is October the 9th, 1996. The survivor being interviewed is Eva Schloss. Maiden name Geiringer. I realized suddenly that people are interested and people do want to know about it. And this was really, a big turning point in my life. This is a repeat after me. My name is Eva Schloss, and Im a Holocaust survivor. My name is Eva Schloss. Im a Holocaust survivor. Im actually a recording, so I cant answer that question. Im actually a recording. I cant answer that question. I dont remember. I dont remember. Maybe you should try to reboot. Maybe you should try to  Reboot. Rebook? Reboot. Reboo O.K., never mind. Too technical for me. I dont quite imagine how people will feel about that, to pretend it is somebody really speaking to them who lived in that time 30 or 50 years ago. How did it feel to wear the yellow star, Eva? I was quite a stubborn child, and I didnt want to wear the yellow star. I didnt see why that was necessary. And I had a big fight with my mother. I didnt want to, but my mother explained to me very, very carefully and thoroughly why it was dangerous not to wear it. Can I just tell you, these answers are great. Theyre just the right length with the right amount of details. Wonderful. Thank you. What happened when you arrived at Auschwitz? Men and women were separated. So people clinged to each other, cried. And really, really horrible. And they guards came and beat us apart. And my father took me by the hand and said, Eva, dear, God will protect you. I often think of actors who do every day the same story. I vary it because if I would do the same thing all the time, then I might get fed up with it. Have you come up with a name for the contraption that youre in yet? Cage. The cage? O.K. Big cage. So describe to us as the most emotional situation that you had to face while you were in Auschwitz-Birkenau. I think the biggest shock I experienced was when I saw my naked mother walking out of this barrack, knowing that she was going to be gassed. I think that was the hardest moment I experienced. And was she? She was saved, and we were reunited. And she lived for a long, long time till 93 years old. Id always seen it in front of my eyes. So I lived with it, really. You know? I saw the inside of the cattle truck where we were moved. I saw the arrival in Auschwitz. I saw everything. At night especially, when I was not busy. You know, all those images came back till I started to speak about it. Then, I could let go. O.K., this is over here. Right here. These are the gas chambers over here in this area. And these are the forests around here. Yeah. The pond where you would have gone to get water is all around this area here. How does it make you feel looking at that? Very confused because when you were inside, you had no idea  Of how big it was around it, yeah. And where, and what, and how things were connected to it. Yeah, exactly. And even when I was there now, I was completely disoriented. Theres not a day goes by when I am not thinking about them in one way or another. I wasnt coping at all after the war. And it was Otto Frank who came very often to our house who saw how I was suffering, and he really helped me a lot. I dont think I ever replaced Anna for him. I personally had the feeling very often, but that he never, ever made me really, really think that. But I just felt, that when he looked at me, I always thought, is he thinking, why did this child survive and why not my own daughter? Do you remember how you felt about Anne after you read the diary? I must say, I wasnt particularly interested in it at first. Why not? I was much too busy to cope with my own grief. Anna frank says in her diary when she dies, she would like to live on. Meaning she wants to become immortal. And she has succeeded. How did your daughters cope with having two parents who both experienced trauma? As soon as they were teenagers and older, and started to know more about our history, I think they had difficulties to cope with it. To accept it. She told us anecdotes and stories, but it was almost like it was someone elses experiences, not her own. There was a certain time where she didnt want to talk about it and was protecting us. Our whole generation has been uprooted. And as a result of the experiences through which all of us have gone, we have some psychological problems. All of us, of one kind or another. And our anchor to the future is our children and grandchildren, which hopefully well find back into normality. Great day. Great day. Youre going to miss us, though. Say I miss it? Yeah, youre going to miss it. Im not so sure. Thats a wrap. [applause] Woo! Bravo! Bravo! [interposing voices] So, back to normality. Normality. Although, you still picked to wear gray silver. Yeah. I cant go right into a color after all this. Yeah. You need to ease yourself back to color? See you. Say goodbye to the studio. You didnt say goodbye to the cage. No. Here we go. Usually, twice a week, I go out speaking. I said to my daughters, who think I dont have to do all this, I need it for my sanity. Too hot? Uh-uh. I got over it, the suffering. The only thing what I still dont get over really, and I dont think I ever will, is the loss. This project will almost immortalize her, so that she can go on telling the story once shes no longer with us. But it is still a story, really. Its what it is. Unless you live through it, you cant fully identify. I hope you dont forget what youve heard here today. Goodbye.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: In the wake of 29 positive novel coronavirus cases reported in India, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at the district, block and village levels, stating cases of community transmission have been observed.

As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 29, including 16 Italian tourists.

The figure includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month.

The three patients have since recovered.

Screening of all foreign nationals has been mandated since March 4 and has started in most airports from Wednesday evening.

The process should stabilise by Thursday with additional staff being provided by the states, the ministry said in a statement.

"Since, in addition to COVID 19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed, it has been decided to involve district collectors and states have been asked to form rapid response teams as the district, block and village levels," the ministry said.

A total of 3,542 samples have been sent for testing, of which 29 have been found to be positive for COVID-19 till now.

Testing of 92 samples is in process and 23 samples are being reconfirmed, the statement said.

Private sector will also be engaged for COVID-19 management.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will hold a meeting with key partners in the evening.

Fourteen Italians, who tested positive for coronavirus and were quarantined at an ITBP facility in Chhawla, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon.

MEA has also been in touch with Iran on possible evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stuck in the coronavirus-hit nation, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday.

Making a statement on the situation after cases of coronavirus surfaced, he said a total of 29 people in India have tested positive, including three initial cases in Kerala who have since recuperated and discharged.

New cases include one in Delhi with a travel history of Italy and another in Telengana, who came in contact with a Singapore national in Dubai.

Six persons, who came in contact with the person infected with the virus in Delhi, have tested positive, he said detailing steps taken by the government to contain its spread.

"The government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in India," he said.

The government has carried out two evacuation missions, bringing back a total of 767 from China.

All of them have been kept in quarantine and have so far tested negative for the virus, he said.

The minister said the government is following up with Iran to tie-up evacuation of Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Tehran and Qom as per need.
Former United Nations chief Javier Perez de Cuellar passed away on Wednesday in Lima, the capital of his native country Peru, the local media said.

Perez de Cuellar was the fifth secretary-general of the global body, serving as secretary-general from 1982 to 1991, during the Iran-Iraq war, Xinhua news agency reported.

In January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent greetings to Perez de Cuellar on his 100th birthday anniversary.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ukraine will continue moving in the EU and NATO direction

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba Open source

Newly-appointed Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted that Ukraine would continue following the EU and NATO, as he reported on Facebook.

The course of Ukraine in foreign policy remains unchanged. It, particularly, means that we continue moving in the EU and NATO, Kuleba noted.

Moreover, he announced the main priority directions of the work at his new position.

Literally, five theses to the point from me on my priorities at the position:

Peace, security and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Economic diplomacy with a special focus on the attraction of investment in Ukraine and support of the industry. Public democracy to make the world be fascinated by us and see us not only as of the victim of the aggression but as an attractive country, which is full of possibilities. Every Ukrainian is a drop in the ocean named Ukraine, an integral part of our people. The diplomats should do everything to make every Ukrainian be proud of Homeland, feel its support and protection wherever in the world he/she is. I will actively encourage foreign Ukrainians not to break ties with Homeland. To motivate everyone who wants to return home. To inspire everyone who is ready to be the lawyer of Ukraine in the country of residence, the minister wrote.

According to Kuleba, the dialogue with the parliament is important for the implementation of these ambitious tasks.

I am always open to communication with MPs and I am sure that we will hear each other. The most valuable asset of the Foreign Ministry is people, every professional and energetic person deserves decent and comfortable conditions of work at home and abroad, he concluded.

As we reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appointed Dmytro Kuleba as the Foreign Minister of Ukraine.
Not only is this a better use of TAA facilities and resources, it will give our arriving international customers a better and more welcoming impression of Tucson and our airport, Danette Bewley, TAA President and CEO, said in a news release.

Because (TIA) is a Port of Entry, its not uncommon for business leaders and other VIPs to land here to go through Customs, and our existing facility is outdated and not very inviting.

Design work has been completed for the new CBP facility and the airport expects to award a construction contract soon, with construction beginning by the end of this month, said Mike Smejkal, TAAs vice president of planning and engineering.

Construction could take up to eight months, and the CBP could move by the end of this year, the airport authority said.

In 2019, the CBP at TIA processed 2,017 aircraft arrivals  an average of 5.5 per day  with 8,207 passengers. The airport CBP also processed $1.1 billion in imported international merchandise and conducted 42,567 interviews for enrollment in Global Entry.
A Federal High Court in Kano on Thursday ordered the status quo be maintained in the matter regarding the suspension of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Wednesday granted an interlocutory injunction suspending Mr Oshiomhole from office, based on an application by some members of the party.

But Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Kano granted the order reinstating Mr Oshiomhole in a motion exparte filed by one Aliyu Muhammad-Rabiu.

Justice Allagoa ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise anybody other than Mr Oshiohmole as the National Chairman of APC, pending the determination of the substantive matter before it.

The court restrained parties in the matter from giving effect to the purported suspension of the national chairman from Ward 10 of Etsako West of Edo State on November 2, 2019.

Justice Alagoa ruled: All the parties to this suit are directed to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and disposal of the motion on notice filed herein that is, an order directing the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th defendants either by themselves, servants, privies, assigns or any officer howsoever described and whatever name called from giving effect to the purported resolution of the ward, Etsako West Local Government area of 2nd November, 2019 suspending the 2nd defendant (Oshiomhole) as a member of the 1st defendant (APC) pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

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Also that the 3rd defendant (INEC) is restrained from dealing, communicating or howsoever recognizing any person order than the 2nd defendant (Oshiomhole) as the National Chairman of the 1st defendant (APC) for any party business or carrying out any duties vested on the commission by the Electoral Act.

Further more, that the time the defendants in this suit shall enter appearance and file their processes in defence of this suit is abridged to seven (7) days.

The applicants counsel, Johnmary Chukwukasi, moved the ex parte motion as the court fixed April 8 for hearing on the motion on notice.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Votes are still being counted on Super Tuesday, and theyll continue to be counted for several days, especially in California and Colorado. The details of the final results will matter. But from whats in now and what good projections suggest, its pretty clear that only former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders still have any chance of winning the Democratic presidential nomination  and that Biden now has a significant advantage.

Biden has already won several states, but more importantly hes probably going to come out of Tuesdays voting with a lead of more than 50 delegates. Thats despite the fact that the geography of the Super Tuesday primaries tended to favor Sanders a little bit. When Sanders and Biden were more or less tied recently in a forecasting model built by the statistics website FiveThirtyEight, that model also had Sanders gaining roughly a 50-delegate margin over Biden. For Biden to reverse that calculation means he's emerging as the clear favorite.

Beyond that, it appears that the Tuesday results significantly understated Bidens advantage, because a lot of early voting happened before the former vice president recovered from his weak February start in Iowa and New Hampshire. That is, Biden did much better in Election Day voting than overall.

That said, only a third of the delegates will be chosen after all the latest votes are counted, and so theres plenty of time for Sanders to rally, beginning with six more states that vote on March 10.

But hes going to have a seriously uphill battle. Its likely that polling over the next few days will show a national lead for Biden, and leads in key upcoming states. And Biden is going to have the resources to extend that lead, because over the last several days Democratic party actors have decided in his favor, as can be seen in the flood of endorsements he received beginning after his crucial second place finish in Nevada on Feb. 22. That party support will mean that his campaign from this point on will be fully funded, will have no shortage of expertise and volunteer hours, and will have plenty of surrogates to help him get positive media coverage. These are all things that Biden was short of in the early states  and even in the Super Tuesday events, where he was massively outspent by Sanders.

Story continues

Not only is Biden taking a delegate lead, but hes also significantly improved his chances of winning a delegate majority and therefore clinching the nomination by the end of the primaries and caucuses. Again, its early in the count, but it appears that ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, is going fall short of winning 150 delegates. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren will have a total of 100 or so, including those she won earlier. Add to that the delegates won by candidates who have already exited, and there will be fewer than 300 delegates going to candidates other than Biden and Sanders. That means that if Bloomberg and Warren drop out and win no more delegates, Biden would need to beat Sanders by something below 300 to reach a majority, even without counting any delegates he might pick up from the dropouts. (For the details on how this works, see Josh Putnams excellent explanation). After tonight, that seems quite possible.

What happened? The problem for Sanders remains that he has run a factional candidacy, in many cases aggressively so. Hes done little to reach out to groups that didnt back him in 2016, and his staff and enthusiastic supporters have done plenty to antagonize everyone who isnt already with him. Including, in many cases, natural allies. As a result, Democratic party actors outside of his faction were highly resistant to accepting him as their nominee. They werent all that enthusiastic about Biden, either  he had far less support (measured in endorsements and other indications of party-actor support) than Hillary Clinton had in 2016, or sitting Vice President Al Gore had in 2000, or former Vice President Walter Mondale had in 1984. Thats one of the reasons there were so many candidates this time around. When theres no clear choice, party actors tend to use the early primaries as sources of information about the candidates, and while Iowa and New Hampshire were muddled, Nevada and then South Carolina sent very clear signals to everyone who was looking for an alternative to Sanders. Which turned out to be an awful lot of Democratic party actors, and then eventually quite a few Democratic voters.

The best hope for Sanders is that he still has an enthusiastic faction on his side, and Biden still has the same weaknesses that made party actors unenthusiastic about him in the first place. The race isnt over yet. Still, Bidens lead is real, and hes going to be hard to beat.

To contact the author of this story: Jonathan Bernstein at jbernstein62@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Landman at jlandman4@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 15:56:52|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, March 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in has exchanged letter with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the presidential Blue House of South Korea said Thursday.

Yoon Do-han, senior Blue House press secretary, told a press briefing that Kim sent his letter to Moon on Wednesday to console the South Korean people fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the letter, Kim said he believed that South Korea would prevail over the outbreak without fail, expressing his wish for a good health of his compatriots in the South.

In response, Moon sent his letter to Kim Thursday to express his gratitude for the DPRK leader.
CEO Dr Wolfgang Baier. (PHOTO: Luxasia)

SINGAPORE  The CEO of Luxasia Group breezed into his office for our interview after a meeting. But I couldnt help noticing something that stood out in Dr Wolfgang Baiers all-blue outfit: his colourful Nike sneakers. It was a Friday and he was dressed casually, in blue jeans, a blue shirt and blazer.

I asked if he always wears funky shoes and he proceeded to show me his socks, which are as colourful as his sneakers. Fun. Beyond that, he is all business as he answered questions from this Yahoo Lifestyle Southeast Asia reporter.

Baier has served as their CEO since August 2016 and in 2019, the family business, which was founded by Patrick Chong, experienced a double-digit sales growth in their brick-and-mortar stores, as well as more than 30 times growth in their e-commerce efforts in three years.

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Since 1986, they have brought us brands from all over the world including Bvlgari, Guerlain, Hermes, La Prairie, Peter Thomas Roth, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, and SK-II. In addition, the group has led successful joint ventures with the likes of Elizabeth Arden, LVMH Group, and Yves Rocher.

On some of the most popular niche and cult brands that beauty fans here and in the region love, Baier pointed to the Diptyque bottle on the table and said, You see one already here and Diptyque has beautiful fragrances and candles. Another one is Byredo which comes from Scandinavia and we also have Maison Francis Kurkdjian from France and Creed (from England). In the skincare category, there are Evelom, 3Lab and Jack Black. We also have cult makeup brands like By Terry and a couple Korean brands (such as Jung Saem Mool). We have quite a wide range from home brands, fragrances to skincare and makeup.

Also, they are Southeast Asias only multi-label niche and cult beauty omnistore concept, where brands are made available on both offline and online platforms.

Story continues

The third luxury beauty concept store, escentials at ION Orchard was launched in December 2019. There, beauty fans can find cult New York City favourite D.S. & DURGA, avant-garde perfumer Frederic Malle and luxury fragrance and cosmetics range from By Kilian.

The escentials ION store. (PHOTO: Luxasia)

As 88% of people born since 1997 are saying they want brand experiences from digital and physical channels, the need for brands to provide an omnichannel retail experience is ever more important.

They always go online to see what there is out there. Education and learning is very much online. People educate themselves and share their stories online. You need to be there to engage them to buy something online or engage them to come to the brick-and-mortar store and follow-up with a nice experience to convert them (into customers), said Baier, who hails from Austria and was previously the CEO of SingPost Group before he made the switch to luxury brands.

He also shared with us the outlook on trends that will shape Asia's fragrance and beauty industry in 2020.

For luxury fragrance, they are seeing the trend of layering of different scents for a more individualistic scent profile, the rise in popularity for travel-friendly, compact-sized fragrances and genderless fragrances  focusing on evocative themes and experience association, as opposed to gender-based categorisation.

For luxury make-up, inclusive beauty  all shades and colours  matters as well as multi-efficacious products such as foundation with sun-care and moisturising properties or primer that doubles up as a setting spray and a hydrating mist. We will also be seeing a lot more natural by-products and recyclable ingredients for products such as using coffee grounds for facial scrubs.

Baier professed that he has a 7-step skincare routine. Well, this morning  8  because I was a bit tired and I had a mask on, he laughed.

I love masking, he continued, crediting his complexion to one of the important steps of any skincare regime.

Apparently, he is also a huge fan of fragrances, counting some of the brands in Luxasias portfolio in his arsenal.

WATCH:

escentials ION is located at 2 Orchard Turn, #03-27, Singapore 238801.

In addition to the latest ION orchard boutique, the brand has two other stores located in Orchard Road  the flagship boutique at escentials Paragon, and a shop-in-shop concept at escentials TANGS at TANGS Plaza.
by Alex Burns | Raptors Correspondent | Wed, Mar 4th 11:59pm EST

Svi Mykhailiuk scored 13 points (5-14 FG, 3-9 3PT, 0-2 FT), four assists, one rebound and one steal across 24 minutes during the Pistons' 107-114 loss to the Thunder on Wednesday.

Fantasy Impact:

The Kansas product has played well as of late, averaging 13.3 points and 3.3 three's per game over his last three. It will be interesting to see how the rotation is effected now that Jordan McRae has joined the team, but the second-year pro figures to serve as a good source of three's and can be a sneaky DFS option at times.
It could be very easy for the Taliban to say all the things that we want to hear in order to get us down to a zero or a very low troop presence, said Jeremy Butler, a former Navy officer who runs the veterans service organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Probably with the assumption that the U.S. and the president would be not particularly inclined to reinvest servicemen and women back into the country.

A third of IAVAs veteran members deployed to Afghanistan at least once, according to Butler, and some have five or more combat deployments there. Many of the veterans he spoke with in recent days were especially concerned that the peace deal was signed before the Afghan government had agreed on how to share power with the Taliban after U.S. forces leave. We want to end the engagement in Afghanistan, Butler said. We just want it to be done the right way.

Theres been a growing consensus among veterans groups in Washington that a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan is long overdue. Last year, Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative advocacy group, made ending the post-Sept. 11 wars a legislative priority  a policy agenda it shared with more progressive veterans groups on the left, like VoteVets and Common Defense.

Anecdotally, when you talk to veterans and service members about going to Afghanistan again and again and again, the response that you get is that people are tired, said Nate Anderson, the executive director of Concerned Veterans for America. People are tired of fighting this war that has no clear objective and that has no end in sight.

Anderson, who deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Green Beret, added that the agreement signed over the weekend was a step in the right direction, but he added that the deal should not be considered a substitute to a full withdrawal of American forces from the country.

For other veterans, the idea of negotiating with the Taliban was unsettling, given the groups history of human rights abuses. Lydia Davey, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006, said she was ambivalent when she first heard the news, but then she thought more about the stories about life under the Taliban. Davey recalled one of her Afghan colleagues telling her that he had been arrested and beaten with electrical cords after the Taliban raided a wedding and arrested all of the men for listening to secular music at the reception.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- When two Oneida County doctors returned from a trip to Italy over the weekend, they notified the county health department theyd been in a country with an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The doctors reported no symptoms, so they were told they could return to work, county Public Health Director Phyllis Ellis said today.

After they saw an undisclosed number of patients on Monday, however, one of the doctors developed a fever and upper respiratory symptoms, Ellis said. Because the two had traveled together, they closed their office and were both were tested for the coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Wednesday morning, the tests came back negative. Ellis said today in an interview with Syracuse.com that both doctors remain at home because they are sick with something other than the novel coronavirus.

The doctors and the unspecified number of patients the two doctors saw on Monday dodged a bullet: Symptoms of the disease sometimes take days to develop, and had the doctors been infected, they could have passed it on to patients, who could have taken it out into the community, where it would become increasingly difficult to contain.

"The two individuals tested negative for the coronavirus, and that means that the circumstances do not require the extensive testing with others, said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente at a news conference Wednesday. Had (the tests) been positive, we would be having a different discussion today.

County officials have publicly declined to identify the two doctors. Ellis said today she did not know how long the doctors were in Italy or what part of the country they had visited.

The incident reveals the sometimes rapidly shifting landscape of advice from the state and federal governments. Ellis said her department told the doctors they could see patients because the federal guidance in effect over the weekend allowed travelers from Italy to go to work if they did not have symptoms of the coronavirus, which include fever and coughing.

If you were coming back with no symptoms and you had not been with anybody that had symptoms or was ill, you did not need to be followed, she said. At the time they came home they were just travelers and had no exposure to anybody that was sick.

An archive of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web page from Saturday morning recommends travelers avoid nonessential travel to Italy, but does not urge them to stay home upon return. By Wednesday, that page had been updated to say that travelers returning from Italy should stay home and monitor their health during travel and for 14 days after returning to the United States.

Today, that page had been updated yet again to say all travelers returning from Italy should stay home for 14 days after returning to the United States and practice social distancing.

This information changes daily and multiple times a day, Ellis said.

Ellis said Wednesday that the two doctors would observe the 14-day self-isolation, and that she would notify the health department if their conditions changed. She said today that because the tests were negative, the doctors did not have to remain isolated for two weeks, but were staying home because they were sick with a different illness.

If youre tested and we know youre negative, you could develop the flu, you could develop other viral symptoms, she said These people are still sick with another type of infection.

The CDC says that a person could test negative but still have the COVID-19 virus in the early stages of infection." If a patient tests negative after developing symptoms, however, that likely means that the COVID-19 virus is not causing their current illness.

Italy, one of the original hot spots of the outbreak after the virus escaped China, has had more than 3,000 cases of the coronavirus, and more than 100 people have died. Italy has closed all schools and colleges through March 15 to try to contain the disease.

Worldwide, there have been more than 94,000 cases with 3,200 deaths.

New York state has 22 confirmed cases; 18 of them are in Westchester County, just north of New York City. Twelve Onondaga County residents are being quarantined at home after returning from China. None have tested positive.

READ MORE

In age of coronavirus, can we still shake hands? A germ expert helps us cope

Dogs, cats cant pass on coronavirus to humans, but can test positive

Coronavirus update: 12 in Onondaga County quarantined after returning from China

Coronavirus update: NY has 22 cases, including first on Long Island
The total number confirmed cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in India has reached 30 as one more person in Gurugram tested positive for the infection. The latest positive case is an employee of Paytm in Gurugram.

BCCL

According to the company, the employee who works in the Gurugram office had recently returned from a vacation in Italy. Read more





No Face Masks, Sanitisers Available, Out Of Stock Everywhere As Coronavirus Fear Spreads

With the second case of Coronavirus (Covid-19) confirmed in Delhi NCR and many more who they have come into contact, under observation for possible infection panic has gripped the national capital about the outbreak.

BCCL

As a result, people are flocking to stock face masks and hand sanitizers to keep themselves safe from being infected. Delhi-NCR which usually sees a high demand for n95 face masks during the winters when the air quality is the lowest has been witnessing a sudden spike in demand for them in the past few days. Read more



All Delhi Primary Schools Shut Till March 31 To Prevent Spread Of Coronavirus

Delhi government announced all primary schools in the national capital will be shut till March 31 in wake of rising Coronavirus cases.

AFP

Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia posted the notification on his official Twitter account. Read more

Nirbhaya Rapists Will Now Be Hanged On March 20 At 5:30 AM As Court Issues New Death Warrant

A Delhi Court has issued fresh death warrants for the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. The court has set March 20 as the new date for the executions to be carried out.

The fresh death warrants were issued on the plea of the Tihar Jail authorities a day after the President of India rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four convicts. Read more

Former Jet Airways Boss Naresh Goyal Booked For Money Laundering

Trouble is mounting for Naresh Goyal, former chairman of the grounded Jet Airways after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a fresh case of money laundering against him and the airlines.

BCCL

On Wednesday, the ED also conducted raids at his premises in Mumbai and also questioned him after filing the case. Read more



Internet Returns In Jammu & Kashmir: Here's How Kashmiris Feel After A 7-Month Long Ban



After more than seven-long months of waiting, wanting and despair, people of Jammu and Kashmir finally had something to cheer about yesterday, ironic yet, they are back accessing social media.

The ban on social media was placed after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year. Read more
JAL will replace multiple legacy systems with IBS's iCargo Terminal Operations solution for Japan, the workhorse that will manage the entire operations process covering the import, export, transfers, warehouse operations and airports operations across the network. Along with significant savings in legacy system maintenance costs, JAL will also benefit from major efficiency improvements through the iCargo solution. iCargo is the industry leader in Japan and the only non-Japanese system in this market today that has full Japanese Customs NACCS reporting capabilities. The real time availability of operational information through iCargo also helps generate actionable intelligence to understand the overall utilization of assets and thereby improve operational efficiencies.

iCargo is an integrated solution that supports the end-to-end business functions such as cargo reservations, rating, manifesting, import & export operations, warehouse management, revenue accounting, air mail handling and revenue management of cargo carrying airlines and ground handlers. iCargo follows the air cargo industry best practices and is fully compliant with global industry standards and initiatives such as Cargo iQ, C-XML, OneRecord, e-AWB and e-Freight in general.

IBS offers enterprise class availability of the iCargo business solution to all its customers with the solution hosted in IBS's data centres around the world. Deployed globally with many of the world's leading airlines and ground handlers, 5 of the top 15 global cargo airlines have deployed iCargo to manage their air cargo business.

"JAL is an iconic name in the airline industry and we are proud to welcome them to the iCargo community. Their aim is to drive efficiency improvements and iCargo, the leader and IT platform of choice for airlines especially in the Japanese market, will help their transformation into digital freight," said Ashok Rajan, Senior Vice-President & Head, Cargo & Logistics Solution Business, IBS Software.

About Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines (JAL) was founded in 1951 and became the first international airline in Japan. A member of the oneworld alliance, the airline now reaches 405 airports in 66 countries and regions together with its codeshare partners with a modern fleet of 238 aircraft. Awarded as one of the most punctual major international airlines and a certified 5-Star Airline by Skytrax, JAL is committed to providing customers with the highest levels of flight safety and quality in every aspect of its service, and aims to become one of the most preferred and valued airlines in the world.

About IBS

IBS Software is a leading SaaS solutions provider to the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations for customers in the aviation, tour & cruise and hospitality industries. IBS's solutions for the aviation industry cover fleet and crew operations, aircraft maintenance, passenger services, loyalty programs, staff travel & air-cargo management. IBS Software also runs Demand Gateway, a real time business-to-business and business-to-consumer merchandising and distribution platform providing hotel room inventory, rates and availability to a global network of hospitality companies and digital sales channels. For the tour and cruise industry, IBS provides a comprehensive customer-centric, digital platform that covers onshore online and onboard solutions. IBS Software operates from 11 offices across the world. Blackstone is a shareholder in IBS Software. Further information at https://www.ibsplc.com/.

SOURCE IBS Software
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Sydney, Australia  Thu, March 5, 2020 11:22 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20686d896 2 World #Australia,#coronavirus,South-Korea,travel-ban Free

Australia will ban the arrival of foreigners from South Korea and conduct enhanced screenings of travellers from Italy to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Morrison said Australia will also extend the travel ban on foreigners arriving from mainland China and Iran.

"It affords the best protection and enables us to slow down the rate of transmission," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
Members of the Saemaul Women's Association make facial masks on their own in Busan, Thursday, amid a serious supply shortage caused by the rapid spread of COVID-19 nationwide. About 10,000 masks they produced will be provided to needy neighborhoods. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



The government conducted an administrative investigation search of the headquarters of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, linked to most COVID-19 infections here, to secure more precise lists of its followers and facilities nationwide, officials said Thursday.

The investigation was started amid a growing controversy over the secretive sect's uncooperative attitude toward the government's desperate efforts to track down people exposed to the new coronavirus and stop its rapid spread.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 322 new cases as of 9 p.m. Thursday, bringing the nation's total number of infections to 6,088. On Wednesday, it detected 438 additional cases.

Most of the new infections were again identified in Daegu and the neighboring North Gyeongsang Province, with a major cluster linked to the Daegu branch of the minor religious sect.

Six more patients died from the virus, raising the death toll to 42. The fatalities were mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses.

The KCDC said a joint investigation team consisting of health authority officials and forensic analysis specialists from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office conducted a search of the Shincheonji headquarters located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as municipalities have claimed that the lists of worshipers supplied by it were different from those each local government obtained from the church's branches.

This has raised suspicions that the church omitted information about some members when reporting to the government and municipalities.

"We decided to search the Shincheonji headquarters as some local governments have raised questions over the credibility of the lists supplied by the church," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters during a briefing. "Precise information is essential for a thorough quarantine. The government gave prior notice of the search to the church the previous day."

The joint investigation team is checking lists of active members and trainees of the church, and their attendance records as well as addresses of facilities nationwide.

Kim noted that Health Minister Park Neung-hoo consulted with Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae in advance before starting the investigation.

With more than 80 percent of the country's coronavirus cases coming from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the government, earlier in the day, designated Gyeongsan in the province as the nation's third "special care zone" for virus infections, after Daegu and Cheongdo were designated as such, Feb. 21.

The KCDC said more than 70 percent of North Gyeongsang Province's COVID-19 patients confirmed Tuesday came from Gyeongsan, noting that 135 Shincheonji followers out of 262 in the province were believed to reside there.

The government increases its monitoring and quarantine activities in the special care zones, and provides more medical resources and staff.

The KCDC added the government is allowing hospitals and pharmacies to check whether people have traveled to Italy and Iran amid soaring numbers of infections and deaths in those countries.

From now on, medical staff can check on a patients' travel history to those countries through the International Traveler information System and Drug Utilization Review.




PR-Inside.com: 2020-03-05 20:51:17

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Nuinsco Resources Limited ("Nuinsco" or the "Company") (CSE:NWI) today announced that diamond drilling at the Sunbeam gold property near Atikokan in northwestern Ontario has intersected the down-dip extension to the structure hosting gold mineralization at the Sunbeam Mine.Diamond drill holes were collared to test for an extension of the host structure and gold mineralization from the historic Sunbeam mine, a reported high-grade underground gold mine that was exploited between 1898 and 1905. No exploration has been conducted on the formerly patented mine site since the mine closed 115 years ago.Diamond drill holes NS-20-01 and 02 intersected 3.1m (from 74.15m) and 4.32m (from 81.0m) respectively of the chlorite and quartz-vein mineralized structure at the Sunbeam mine - consistent with historic reports of the zone's thickness and extending the intersection of it approximately 30m (100ft) below the lowest level of the old mine workings. Identifying the depth extension to the host structure is a significant exploration result - combined with the known strike-extent of the structure from historic pits and trenches, exceeding 300m, it demonstrates a substantial domain of gold-mineralized rock extending below the known historic depth extent and is essentially unexplored."Visual results from the drilling are encouraging and the implications to extending mineralization are positive, and we are now awaiting assays," said Paul Jones, CEO. "Technical issues with the drilling equipment and insufficient available water to supply the drill necessitated the early curtailment of the program which did not allow the primary target area to be tested, however further drilling is planned to continue to evaluate the mineralization." Previous exploration conducted by Nuinsco identified gold mineralization in mine waste dumps and vein material that confirms high-grade gold mineralization is present at the site. Samples collected by Nuinsco from waste-rock at the mine returned analyses as high as 122g/t gold (refer to Nuinsco media release dated 21 March 2019); these findings concur with results reported in historic records. Host mineralization at the Sunbeam Mine is a northeast striking, sheared zone of altered, schistose rock within which sulphide and gold bearing quartz veins occur within a three metre wide chloritic zone. Historically pits and shafts were excavated to trace the quartz veining and schist along strike in excess of 300m and historic workings on the mineralized structure at the Sunbeam mine extend from surface to approximately 90m vertically.As well as the Sunbeam mine the 101 mining claims of the Sunbeam gold property, optioned by Nuinsco in 2017, encompasses numerous other sites of gold mineralization including the historic Roy and Pettigrew deposits and a number of other gold showings located on northeast-striking, gold mineralized trends that traverse the project area and comprise at least ten kilometres of exploration target on the property.The Property is located in northwestern Ontario, 27km northeast of the town of Atikokan and 15km southeast of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef gold deposit. It is accessible from Hwy 11 via well maintained logging roads.P.L. Jones, P. Geol., is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this press release regarding the Sunbeam project.About Nuinsco Resources LimitedNuinsco Resources has over 45 years of exploration success and is a growth oriented, multi-commodity mineral exploration and development company focused on prospective opportunities in Canada and internationally. Currently the Company has two properties in Ontario - the high-grade Sunbeam gold prospect near Atikokan and the large, multi-commodity (rare-earths, niobium, tantalum, phosphorus) Prairie Lake project near Terrace Bay. In addition, Nuinsco has recently completed an agreement for gold exploitation at the El Sid project in the Eastern Desert of Egypt - a project with the potential to provide near-term revenue.Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains certain "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historic fact, that address activities, events or developments that Nuinsco believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate, "expect," and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may," "will," "can," "should," "could," or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of Nuinsco based on information currently available to Nuinsco. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of Nuinsco to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on Nuinsco. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to successfully complete financings, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, production rates varying from estimates, changes in world copper and/or gold markets, changes in equity markets, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, imprecision in resource estimates, success of future development initiatives, competition, operating performance of facilities, environmental and safety risks, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain tenure to properties and/or necessary permits and approvals, and other development and operating risks. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Nuinsco disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Nuinsco believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inhere
LAPORTE  An experienced real estate developer is a new player on the economic growth team in LaPorte.

Tom Casey will become city planner on March 10.

Hes replacing Beth Shrader, who is taking the role of director of transportation and planning for the city of Valparaiso.

Casey said the direction Mayor Tom Dermody is taking the city was a factor in his decision to accept the offer.

I know LaPorte well. This community has been very good to me over the years and I am excited to be able to give something back, he said.

Casey was most recently senior vice-president of Space Center, a privately held commercial real estate company with over 17 million square feet of office and industrial properties throughout the country.

According to the mayors office, Casey led Space Centers acquisition of the former Whirlpool facility at the Thomas Rose Industrial Park, and expansion of the 137-acre park several years ago on the citys east side.

He also was responsible for developing and managing a Space Center portfolio of over three million square feet in the Midwest region.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused Russia Wednesday of violating the Open Skies Treaty designed to improve transparency and confidence between the militaries of the two superpowers. Esper told a congressional hearing Russia had been blocking the United States from conducting flights over the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad and near Georgia that are permitted by the 18-year-old agreement. "We've also been denied access to military exercise overflights," he said. "I have a lot of concerns about the treaty as it stands now." The deal, which has 32 other signatories, permits one country's military to conduct a certain number of surveillance flights over another each year on short notice. The aircraft can survey the territory below, collecting information and pictures of military installations and activities. The idea is that the more rival militaries know about each other, the lower the chances of conflict. Esper said he raised the issue last month in the meeting with NATO defense ministers. "This is important to many of our NATO allies, that they have the means to conduct the overflights," he said. The Pentagon operates two old OC-135 aircraft for the overflight operations, and Esper acknowledged the need to update the aircraft, even if the Pentagon has not set aside the cash. "At this point time, until we make a final decision on the path forward, I'm not prepared to recapitalize aircraft," he said. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he raised the issue last month in the meeting with NATO defense ministers
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TORONTO, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) welcomes the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) proposed amendments to address financial exploitation and diminished mental capacity of older and vulnerable investors.



IFIC supports the CSA in its efforts to protect the financial wellbeing of vulnerable investors and provide important guidance to the investment funds industry, said Paul Bourque, President and CEO, IFIC. This is a priority area for the industry and all of its stakeholders, and we are pleased that the CSA continues to advance this effort.

IFIC specifically welcomes the introduction of a requirement to take reasonable steps to obtain the name of a trusted contact person and rule proposals to enable firms to put a temporary hold on transactions in a clients account.

IFIC will review the package of proposed rule amendments issued today for comment, and will prepare a detailed submission prior to the June 3, 2020 deadline.

About IFIC

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is the voice of Canadas investment funds industry. IFIC brings together 150 organizations, including fund managers, distributors and industry service organizations, to foster a strong, stable investment sector where investors can realize their financial goals. By connecting Canadas savers to Canadas economy, our industry contributes significantly to Canadian economic growth and job creation.

For more information please contact:
Photo: The Canadian Press People sit a recommended distance apart from each other during a presentation in Milan, Italy, Wednesday.

The slowdown in coronavirus cases out of China offers a sliver of hope that the global outbreak can be controlled, but whether that can happen anytime soon without drastic measures remains to be seen, public health authorities say.

With China accounting for the overwhelming majority of the world's 94,000 infections and 3,200 deaths since the virus first surfaced there in late December, its hard to see the country as a success story. But some experts believe the easing of the crisis  there are now more new cases being reported outside China than inside it  suggests containment is possible.

World Health Organization outbreak expert Maria Van Kerkhove, who recently travelled to China as part of a team from the U.N. health agency, said the international experts noted a drop in cases there since the end of January.

We scrutinized this data and we believe this decline is real, she said, adding that the extraordinary measures undertaken in China  including the unprecedented lockdown of more than 60 million people  had a significant role in changing the direction of the outbreak.

We believe that a reduction of cases in other countries, including Italy, Korea, Iran, everywhere, that this is possible, she said.

But the path to containment outside China is sure to be rocky, and no one is predicting when the outbreak might end.

There is some consensus among public health experts: The virus is likely to be around for quite some time, perhaps many months, and will continue to spread to many places, but it can probably be controlled with standard public health measures, though not as quickly as in China.

There is another consensus: China's outbreak has given other countries the advantage of knowing what theyre up against. The virus was an unknown entity when it appeared in China, and authorities there discounted the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

The Chinese experience has bought other countries time to prepare and knowledge to better understand the nature of the virus.

But Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said there is a more ominous message from the Chinese outbreak: Authoritarian, free-speech restricting, individual rights-violating policies can panic populations, make conditions in an outbreak zone worse, and still fail to contain worldwide spread of a virus of this nature."

Emergency medicine physician Dr. Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University, said widespread quarantines, lockdowns and travel bans of the sort ordered by Chinas regime are unlikely to be used in other countries. How those less-aggressive approaches will play out is unclear, she said.

As China's numbers have stabilized, "we are seeing this rapid escalation around the world. At this point I believe things will get much worse before they get better," Wen said Tuesday, "and we have no idea what the trajectory will look like now that there is person-to-person transmission around the world.

While the crisis appears to be easing in China, alarming clusters have turned up in Italy, Iran South Korea and Japan. The U.S. has more than 120 cases in at least 15 states, with 11 deaths, all but one of them in Washington state.
One Wisconsinite who traveled to China has already contracted the respiratory infection. The Dane County resident was released from isolation last week after recovering and testing negative for the virus twice. DHS said one person in the state remains under investigation for the virus, with test results pending. Officials underscored the current risk to the public remains low in Wisconsin. The Centers for Disease Control is now leaving it up to clinicians to decide who gets tested for the virus.

At least eight lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, attended the briefing, as well as a large number of staffers for lawmakers and representatives of third party organizations.

Its important for the public to remember that there are many more people who are subject to the regular flu than there are for the coronavirus, so we want to be safe but we also dont want to have any kind of public hysteria where we overreact in a way that hurts people more than helps them, Vos said.

He said he doesnt currently anticipate the Legislature needing to take any action regarding the coronavirus.
JUNEAU, Alaska - A Juneau bird rescue organization is caring for two eagles found with neurological damage.

Alaska Department of Transportation workers found the eagles in the Lemon Creek area between downtown Juneau and the Mendenhall Valley and called the Juneau Raptor Center, the Juneau Empire reported.

Workers found a dead eagle with the two injured eagles. The cause of injury to surviving eagles is not known but they could have suffered concussions or eaten toxins, said raptor centre general manager Kathy Benner..

The first two had what appears to be the same issue, Benner said. The third one was hit by a car, and it was killed pretty much instantly.

The community landfill is near Lemon Creek.

If we get more birds in with this exact same symptoms, well try to figure out if theres something at the dump theyre eating, Benner said. You never know. It could be in someones backyard.

Prescription medicine and euthanized pets can be toxic to eagles because of the chemicals they contain.

The centre rescues dozens of bald eagles every year and last year rescued 33.

The centre will provide supportive care until the birds can travel to the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka, which is equipped to support long-term recovery.
Archbishop Nelson Perez delivers the homily during his installation Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Read more

Pray together. Shake hands. Share food.

These are all parts of typical religious services, but the spread of the coronavirus has worried congregations and has temporarily changed age-old religious practices.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced new rules to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, which include slightly modifying Holy Communion. Wine is usually shared from a communal chalice, but since germs can spread quickly this way, parishioners will not drink wine during Communion, said the Rev. Dennis Gill, the rector of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Those seeking Holy Communion will instead only eat the bread, a practice he says is fairly common during flu season.

Were hearing the invitation from health officials to respond to the situation as carefully and responsibly as we can, Gill said.

Gill said that the archdiocese is telling priests, deacons, and Communion ministers to wash their hands before Mass. They should also use hand sanitizer before Communion, he said.

The archdiocese plans to let each congregation decide how it will handle the sign of peace. When signaled during Mass, parishioners tell one another Peace be with you and shake hands. Gill said that each church can decide whether it will continue the handshakes, replace them with head bows, or discontinue the practice altogether.

Gill said he hopes coronavirus doesnt distract people from their worship.

Even in the midst of this possible coronavirus crisis, the emphasis still needs to be on keeping focus on the Lord, he said. Thats always, but even now more so.

Some synagogues are also modifying parts of their services, and, like many organizations, are sending notes of precautions. Kol Ami in Elkins Park, for example, told its congregation to refrain from hugs and kisses. We know this is hard. We suggest waving, smiling, or putting your hand on your heart to greet your neighbors, read the email.

Fort Washingtons Or Hadash has changed how it distributes challah bread. The congregation normally gathers around the challah, with each person placing a hand on the bread or on another member who is touching it.

Now, everyone will gather without touching the challah, and the rabbi will slice and distribute it while wearing gloves.

Its a difficult call, said Barbara Weisman, Or Hadashs education director. We dont want to throw out ritual traditions for the sake of panic.

Rabbi Alanna Sklover said Or Hadash is looking into starting a live stream of its services so people can join remotely. This option, she says, would be valuable even after coronavirus passes.

Sklover believes a sense of community helps people get through tough times.

At the heart and the core of all of this is How do we keep the value of the community?  she said. It would be so easy to fall down a rabbit hole of isolation.

Some Philadelphia Muslims are concerned with how coronavirus could affect the hajj, a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca that takes place during the last month of the Islamic calendar, this year starting in July. Last year, more than two million people made the pilgrimage.

Last week, the Saudi government temporarily banned voluntary pilgrimages to the countrys holy sites and is offering refunds to Muslims whose plans were canceled by the policy.

The ban temporarily stranded a few local Muslims at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to Philadelphias chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Ahmet Tekelioglu, CAIRs outreach and education director, said he understands anxiety about coronavirus. He sees mosques sending more health reminders, but is determined to not let the disease thwart religious practices.

We are not stopping all life, Tekelioglu said. Everybody needs to take precautions like a sensible person to keep clean.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus anxiety is all around. Dont oversaturate yourself,' Philly experts advise.
ATHENS, Greece, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Intracom Telecom, a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor, announced the supply of its market-leading Point-to-Point microwave (PtP MW) radio, OmniBAS, to the Border Management Programme for the Maghreb, funded by the EU. The company undertook the responsibility to deploy the products with local engineering and installation services.

Through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the Border Management Programme for the Maghreb, implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), seeks to improve the Moroccan authorities' capacity to manage their borders, in order to protect vulnerable migrants, deal with irregular migration, and dismantle cross-border criminal networks. Intracom Telecom was selected for the provision of its reliable split-mount OmniBAS solution in order to strengthen the Moroccan authorities' capability to meet these challenges.

The Programme is taking advantage of the system's unrivalled capabilities, unparalleled flexibility and outstanding performance to further improve communication and data transfer between the relevant authorities. The company's OmniBAS systems, consisting of high-performance indoor and outdoor (ODU) units, provide leading-edge modulation up to 4096-QAM for high throughput radio communications, support XPIC functionality and maximize the efficiency of the radio resources used.

Christian Chataigner, Commercial Director of Intratelecom Morocco, stated: "Being aware of the heavy migration pressure in Morocco we know how important it is to offer solutions that would efficiently address the issue and support of the Border Management Programme for the Maghreb. We are glad to supply our technology that focuses on upgrading and supporting the Moroccan authorities' network, providing the proper management and control tools for border surveillance."

John Tenidis, Marketing Director of Intracom Telecom's wireless solutions portfolio, commented: "Intracom Telecom's OmniBAS split-mount links are the ideal solution to strengthen border management and minimize or even eliminate eventually irregular migration, not only in Morocco but in any country that is facing similar issues. Company's solution has been widely deployed in Europe for critical communication networks and we are confident that we will address this challenging project successfully."

About Intracom Telecom

Intracom Telecom is a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor operating for over 40 years in the market. The company has become the benchmark in fixed wireless access and it successfully innovates in the 5G/4G wireless RAN transport and small-cell SON backhaul international arena. Intracom Telecom offers a comprehensive revenue-generating software solutions portfolio and a complete range of ICT services, focusing on IoT, SDN/NFV, Big Data analytics & data-driven intelligence, and Smart City solutions. Moreover, it addresses the Energy & Utilities industry, emphasizing on smart metering and end-to-end IT solutions. Intracom Telecom is also active in the defense systems sector providing security integrated systems for critical infrastructure protection and border surveillance. The company has extensive know-how and a proven track record in the market, serving fixed and mobile telecom operators, public authorities and large public and private enterprises. Intracom Telecom maintains its own R&D and production facilities, and operates subsidiaries worldwide. For more information please visit: www.intracom-telecom.com

SOURCE Intracom Telecom
ANN ARBOR, MI  Derek Oldham said hes a product of responsible psychedelic drug use and he firmly believes it has helped him become a better person.

Erik Massey said plant-based medicines have helped his mental wellbeing.

Both are advocating for decriminalization of magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs in Ann Arbor.

Joined by other supporters of the Decriminalize Nature Ann Arbor (DNA2) campaign, they made their case before City Council Monday night, March 2, discussing the therapeutic benefits of entheogenic plants and fungi.

That includes psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca, mescaline and ibogaine.

Community members deserve access to medicines that have been used for thousands of years, Massey told council, arguing people seeking help for various conditions shouldnt fear prosecution for safe and effective treatments.

There are studies from Johns Hopkins and NYU that show that plant-based psychedelics like psilocybin are well-tolerated and demonstrate a high safety profile, as well as remarkable results for treatment-resistant depression and addiction, he said.

Erik Massey speaks out before the Ann Arbor City Council on March 2, 2020, advocating for decriminalization of magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs as part of the Decriminalize Nature Ann Arbor campaign.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

I myself have gone through a process of healing from depression, from anxiety, and am still working through my own past traumas, he said. And my ability to be an engaged member of the community, a present and loving father for my son, and my own best version of myself, has been significantly enabled by healing through plant medicines.

Like the DNA2 campaign in Ann Arbor, there are over 100 decriminalization campaigns in communities across the country, psychedelic advocates told council.

The movement is gaining momentum now that marijuana is legalized in Michigan and other places.

Denver became the first U.S. city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms last year, followed by Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, which decriminalized all entheogenic plants.

Advocates say non-addictive psychedelics can, for example, provide a pathway out of opioid addiction.

The world is in dire need of healing, and currently the medical model thats available has failed so many people, Massey said. There are rampant epidemics of addiction, and the problems that we face as a society are ubiquitous  theyre prevalent, theyre everywhere  and we need help.

Massey encouraged council members to look into the issue and read peoples testimonies.

There are countries like Peru where ayahuasca is considered a national heritage, he said. And we have Americans traveling, veterans seeking help from PTSD.

Some council members havent been eager to take up the DNA2 groups proposed decriminalization resolution, but Council Member Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward, suggested Monday night hes open to bringing forward a proposal.

You know, its plant medicine, its ancient medicine, its part of the planet, and its part of the biosphere that we exist in, he said. And I think its an important thing, and I like what theyre doing with it and Im happy to bring something forward.

Hayner told members of the group he looked forward to working with them, drawing applause.

From left, Council Members Anne Bannister and Jeff Hayner, both 1st Ward Democrats, at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting on March 2, 2020.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

DNA2s proposed resolution would make arresting people for entheogenic plants the citys lowest law enforcement priority.

And were not talking about legalizing plants, Hayner said. Were talking about basically maintaining the status quo, where the police department has so many other concerns, so many things to look out for  the opioid crisis, heroin  all kinds of things  its not on their radar.

Council Member Anne Bannister, D-1st Ward, said shes interested in learning more and discussing it with all parties, including city residents and police.

She said she also wants to learn more from University of Michigan researchers working on the issue.

Oldham talked about the prevalence of mass shootings and gun violence in the U.S., saying theres a lot of bad news and sometimes it feels like theres no hope for so many.

But there are a number of scientists, therapists, doctors, farmers and activists in Ann Arbor working together to find a solution, he said, adding psychedelics are part of it.

At first, it seems like an extreme jump, but the war on drugs is a failed effort. Modern pharmaceuticals are not helping the rapid growth of mental illness sweeping our nation," he said.

He referenced the fact that a group of private donors gave $17 million last year to start the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

You have big names like Johns Hopkins opening up psychedelic research centers and having astounding success with test subjects for treatment-resistant depression and end-of-life anxiety, he said.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia found psychedelic drug use is associated with reduced partner violence in men, Oldham noted, and University of Alabama researchers found people whove used psychedelics are less likely to commit assault or steal.

Our very own University of Michigan hosted a psychedelic symposium last year, Oldham said. The decriminalize movement is gaining momentum at an exponential rate."

A large crowd of residents, including several Ann Arbor firefighters, packed into the council chambers for the Ann Arbor City Council meeting March 2, 2020.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Oldham told council members this is their chance to claim a podium spot on the national charge to decriminalize a safe and effective solution to so many of our nations problems.

If we wait, more people will die. If we act, we can save lives, put Ann Arbor on the map, allow more research, more information and more solutions, he said.

He told council members if they Google mushroom cartel, theyll find a story about a Spanish company price-fixing canned mushrooms.

Thats it, he said. The people standing before you tonight are not a cartel, but most of us are criminal because of our relationship with these plants and fungi."

If council acts, he said, You will be celebrated and remembered for the heroic decision to decriminalize the opportunity for all of us to become better people.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

Ann Arbor group aims to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, plants

Ypsilanti adds ex-offenders as protected class in nondiscrimination ordinance

Ann Arbor-Detroit hourly bus service has launch date

Ann Arbor sees surge in absentee ballot requests for 2020 presidential primary

Ann Arbor officials recognize youth poet laureate, hear a poem
Former UN General Secretary Javier Perez de Cuellar delivering a speech on 16 January 2007 during a celebration commemorating the 15th anniversary of the peace accord in San Salvador.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, a Peruvian diplomat who played a crucial role in ending the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988, died on Wednesday at his home in Lima aged 100.

Perez de Cuellar was a two-time head of the United Nations, which he led from 1982 to 1991 as some of the iciest years of the Cold War gave way to the end of the Soviet Union and greater efforts at international cooperation.

Perez de Cuellar was the fifth head of the world body and its only leader from Latin America to date.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed Perez de Cuellar's crucial role in securing the release of American hostages held in Lebanon as well as peace accords in Cambodia and El Salvador during his time in office.

"He was an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world," Guterres said.

Perez de Cuellar once said his proudest achievements were his role in security independence for Namibia and the peace accord that ended the Iran-Iraq conflict. However, his diplomatic efforts were unable to halt the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990.

After leaving the world body, Perez de Cuellar made an unsuccessful bid for the Peruvian presidency in 1995, losing to incumbent Alberto Fujimori.

He served as prime minister in a national unity government for roughly eight months after Fujimori's administration collapsed amid a corruption scandal in late 2000.

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra expressed in a statement on Wednesday his profound regret for Perez de Cuellar's death, saying the diplomat had "dedicated his entire life to the task of glorifying our country."
This reluctance to articulate immigrations benefits is especially striking given how readily its critics cite its supposed harms. They say immigrants increase crime, lower wages, threaten jobs, spread disease, strain government budgets and abet terrorism. The point isnt that these claims are all true  immigrants have crime rates lower than natives  just that critics make their case in clear, concrete terms.

By contrast, progressives defend immigration with bland abstractions  our diversity is our strength  if they defend it at all. Most approach the issue through a civil rights lens, as a matter of doing justice to the poor and oppressed (which it is) rather than meeting Americas economic needs or slowing demographic decline (which it can be as well).

People on the left have a hard time arguing why immigration is important to the country, said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group that explores ways to lower migrations costs and increase its benefits. This is still one of the most pro-immigrant societies in the world, but that diffuse feeling hasnt been matched with a coherent, cogent, succinct political case.

The border crisis commands so much attention that legal immigration and its benefits are regularly overlooked. Many Americans would be surprised to learn that three-quarters of immigrants are here legally.

With the foreign-born share of the population nearing record highs, and restrictionists seeking cuts in legal admissions, progressives cant afford to remain merely anti-anti-immigrant. If they want to sustain the longest, most diverse epoch of mass migration in American history, they need to explain why.

*

To understand the progressives mind-set, it is important to understand their two-decade quest for legalization and its bitter residue.

If the right sees the undocumented as invaders, the left sees them as victims of poverty and violence. Even more, it sees them as family and friends. The average undocumented person has been in the United States for 15 years. Many have American children. Progressives warn that deportation campaigns destabilize entire communities, harming immigrants and natives alike.
An imam and the 'wife' he married without realising 'she' was a man have been charged with 'going against nature' under Uganda's anti-gay laws.

Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba, 27, and Richard Tumushabe, 19, were bailed last Thursday ahead of their trial for 'having carnal knowledge with a person against the order of nature.'

Mutumba, who has been suspended from duties at his mosque in Kayunga, claims he only discovered Tumushabe was a man when police arrested his 'wife' for theft.

Mutumba claimed he hadn't been intimate with his 'wife' since the wedding two weeks before because Tumushabe said 'she' was menstruating. The pair were released on 1million shillings (200) bail each at Mukono Magistrates' Court.

Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba, 27, says he had no idea his bride Richard Tumushabe, 19, was a man when they married (pictured on their wedding day)

Tumushabe, who is also charged with two counts of theft, admitted pretending to be a woman so he could marry the imam and steal his money, local media reported.

Mutumba said he thought he was marrying a woman called Swabullah Nabukeera when they wed in a traditional Islamic ceremony in December.

But Tumushabe was rumbled when he was arrested or theft of a television set and clothes from his next door neighbours in January.

Tumushabe, 19, was searched by police after he was caught stealing and they discovered he was not a woman

A female police officer carried out a body search on the suspect, thinking Tumushabe was a woman, and found out he was actually a man.

Mutumba is said to be 'too devastated' to talk about the incident and needs counselling.

Friends and colleagues said they were also fooled by the imposter, who usually wore a hijab.

Amisi Kibunga, who also works at the mosque, said: 'He had a sweet soft voice and walked like a woman.'

Kibunga also revealed that Mutumba had complained four days after the wedding that his new bride refused 'to undress while they slept.'

The suspect later told police his real name was Richard Tumushabe and he admitted he married Mutumba in a bid to steal the cleric's money.

Mosque officials said they suspended the imam despite confirming he had entered the marriage thinking Nabukeera was a woman.

The mosque's head imam, Sheikh Isa Busuulwa, said the suspension was necessary to 'preserve the integrity of their faith.'

The pair appeared at Mukono Magistrates' Court last Thursday where they are both receiving free legal representation from Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum

He said Mutumba had worked at the mosque for four years and was one of its three imams.

The head cleric added that though he had attended Mutumba's marriage reception, the mosque had not been involved in the wedding celebrations.

The men are receiving free legal representation from Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum.
The Supreme Court of India allows cryptocurreny trading in India and claims that the Reserve Bank of Indias ban on dealing in cryptocurrency, virtual currencies like Bitcoin unjustified. This has been a major development in the cryptocurrency sector as RBI earlier restricted lenders from banking transaction for cryptocurrency exchanges and traders.

The apex court comments on the RBI circular, If a central authority like RBI, on a conspectus of various factors perceives the trend as the growth of a parallel economy and severs the umbilical cord that virtual currency has with fiat currency, the same cannot be very lightly nullified as offending Article 19(1)(g).

However, the Article in the Constitution gives the right to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business, which opened the gates for the virtual currency investors and businesses in India. Thus, cryptocurrency will be boosting in India along with the digital asset already popular in global markets.

Owing to its susceptibility to frauds, cryptocurrency faced a lot of initial backlash. However, as long as crypto-firms are maintaining thorough identity checks and performing audits (as they were doing earlier) any company should be allowed to trade. We view the lift of the ban as a forthcoming step. With the regulation now in place, Cryptocurrency firms should start focusing on deploying stronger KYC, user data privacy, and AML policies. These measures also reinforce the governments key concerns such as financing illegitimate activities, money laundering, and terrorist financing. - Arpit Ratan, Co-founder, Signzy, a RegTech startup said. [source: Hindustan Times]

But, the cryptocurrency companies have legitimate cause for concern, which is that on several occasions that it shared the central banks views on cryptocurrencies. Before all this, the government must do well to understand the benefits of cryptocurrencies and allow their use and work towards creating an effective regulatory regime for them.
WASHINGTON  A brewing fight about which country has the right to tax some of the worlds most profitable companies, including Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google, could devolve into a multi-front trade war, regardless of whether President Donald Trump is still in the White House.

Even if a Democrat wins the presidency in November, it could be tempting to continue the Trump administrations policy of using trade sanctions to retaliate against new taxes on U.S. tech companies.

A tit-for-tat trade war is already building with France, which passed a 3% tax on large tech companies that went into effect at the start of 2019. The U.S. responded with the threat of tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of French cheese, sparkling wine, and makeup, prompting the European Union to consider tariffs on U.S. goods.

All sides have agreed to a tax cease-fire until the end of the year to see if a broader global agreement can be worked out at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Democrats have been as opposed to the digital services taxes as Republicans, Brian Jenn, a former Treasury official during the Obama and Trump administrations, said. While very few Democrats are a fan of tariffs, it looks like the tariff approach at least bought a temporary victory in the case of France.

The U.S., along with more than 130 counties, is currently negotiating at the OECD about a new international tax system that would redefine which countries can tax which corporate profits. A revamped global tax code could apply not just to tech companies, but also to other multinational firms that have customers in countries where they dont currently record profits.

Worst Case Scenario

Negotiators need to reach an agreement this year before several countries  including France, Canada and Italy  plan to move forward with their own taxes on tech giants.

A retaliatory tariff fight with the U.K could begin even sooner. That countrys version of the tax is set to go into effect in April, and U.S. officials have suggested responding with tariffs on car exports.

That could be the worst case scenario for companies such as Amazon.com Inc. that could end up paying taxes to several countries on the same income. And they have reason to worry  its far from certain that there will be an deal this year.

Im very skeptical that the U.S. will agree to this proposal by the end of this year  or ever, said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Itll been a long period of friction until we get a true settlement.

One of the main challenges of the ongoing talks is to reach a consensus by December that is sufficiently robust to halt the proliferation and imposition of digital services taxes, said Manal Corwin, the principal in charge of international tax policy at accounting firm KPMG.

Without enough of a deal to keep the parties at the negotiating table, U.S. companies could face taxes from the approximately dozen countries that have proposed the idea, causing either a Republican or a Democratic administration to fend off levies on income that the U.S. views as within its right to tax.

There arent a lot of other tools in the toolbox to address unilateral taxes in a meaningful way, Jenn, who has also served as a U.S. delegate to the OECD and is now a partner at law firm McDermott Will & Emery.

Seeking Consensus

A progressive candidate, such as Senator Bernie Sanders, with a history of opposing free trade measures, could be inclined to use trade sanctions as a way to fight back, said Jeff VanderWolk, a former OECD official who is now a partner at law firm Squire Patton Boggs. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has traditionally supported trade agreements, may be less inclined to take that approach, he said.

The negotiations are centered around two main points: establishing a global minimum tax so companies cant avoid taxes entirely, as well as reallocating taxing rights, meaning some countries with many customers or users of a digital service could tax some of the profits even if the company doesnt have business operations there.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said after a G-20 Finance Ministers meeting in Saudi Arabia that theres pretty much consensus about the minimum tax. The point of contention is reallocating taxing rights, which the U.S. wants to be optional for companies.

The OECD estimates that its approach  revamping taxing rights and a minimum levy  would result in countries collecting $100 billion more a year in tax revenue.

Such an agreement could end up hampering the proposals from some Democratic presidential candidates to raise taxes on corporations. If other countries have the right to tax some of Google and Facebooks profits, that means the U.S. wont get a cut of that money. That could mean theyd need to find revenue from other sources to fund their policy priorities.

Reliable System

The OECD plan is structured so that those companies would pay more tax abroad, regardless of U.S. tax policy, Daniel Bunn, vice president of global projects at the Tax Foundation, said. The potential U.S. tax take from highly profitable companies based in the U.S. would shrink whether we have a policy of higher taxes on businesses or not.

Its still not clear how the U.S. would fare under the global approach. The U.S. would lose the right to tax some profits from highly profitable technology and pharmaceutical companies, but could gain some of that back from foreign companies that have lots of U.S. customers, including French luxury brand conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE or German carmaker Mercedes-Benz AG.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said this month he approves of the OECD efforts, even though it would increase his companys overall tax bill, because it would create a stable and reliable system going forward.

The OECD digital tax talks have created strange bedfellows. In Congress, the response has been unusually bipartisan with key Republicans and Democrats both supporting the administrations efforts to come up with a global deal. And the Trump administration is coming to the defense of Amazon and Facebook, two companies the president frequently criticizes.

Theres skepticism however that Congress would actually be able to pass the legislation required to implement any deal reached at the OECD. Lawmakers have been publicly supportive of participating in the negotiations, but they might not ultimately like the outcome, said Sam Maruca, a former IRS official who has represented the U.S. at the OECD.

The U.S. is paying lip service to the process. Treasury is convinced that theyre not going to be able to get it through Congress, Maruca, now a partner at law firm Covington & Burling, said. When push comes to shove theres likely to be a lot of gnashing of teeth.

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The Royal Family has shared fascinated photos showing the Queen riding the London Underground in the 1960s.

The Queen, then aged 42, travelled on the Tube in March 1969 as part of an engagement to officially open the new Victoria line.

Colourised photographs from the outing were shared on the Royal Family Instagram account yesterday to mark Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall's visit to the London Transport Museum on its 20th anniversary.

The Royal Family has shared fascinated photos showing the Queen riding the London Underground in 1969. Pictured, the Queen buying a ticket before boarding the Victoria line

The photos show the Queen buying a ticket before making her way through the barrier and down the escalator to the Tube platform.

They were shared with the caption: 'The Queen became the first reigning Monarch to travel on the London Underground when she opened the Victoria line in 1969.

'These photos show The Queen buying a ticket at Green Park Station. The Victoria Line was Londons first completely new underground railway for 60 years.'

The Queen, then aged 42, travelled on the Tube in March 1969 as part of an engagement to officially open the new Victoria line. Pictured, passing through the ticket barrier

The Queen officially opened the line before riding two stops from Oxford Circus, in central London, to Victoria train station.

During the journey the Queen took control of the train in the driver's cab while at Green Park - the closes stop to her home at Buckingham Palace.

It was the Queen's second trip underground, the first had come in 1939 when she was 13 with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.

The Queen officially opened the line before riding two stops from Oxford Circus, in central London, to Victoria train station. Pictured, the Queen on the escalator to the platform

She has since ridden on the London Underground on a number of occasions.

In 1977 as she opened up part of an extension to the Picadilly Line and travelled between Hatton Cross and Heathrow on the train.

Her most recent trip underground was a visit to Aldgate station in 2010, to view a plaque in honour of those killed in the July 7 bombings in 2005.
Romanian Crown Custodian Margareta and Prince Radu on Wednesday started a three-day visit to the Republic of Poland, the first foreign visit of the Royal Family in 2020.

According to romaniaregala.ro, Her Royal Highness Margareta will participate in the opening gala of the "Women Leadership Forum," a conference that takes place in Warsaw, under the High Patronage of the Crown Custodian.On Thursday morning, the Crown Custodian will deliver a speech in the opening of the debate called "Women Today: Voices from Central Europe," a part of the "Women Leadership Forum."She will deliver a speech on the topic "Women's participation in the public life," at the Community of Democracies (CoD), an intergovernmental coalition of states around the world, which aims to promote democratic values.Romania took over the CoD Presidency from Poland, in September 2019, with the Permanent Secretariat in Warsaw being chaired by Secretary General Thomas Garrett (the U.S.).Moreover, in a ceremony at the Warsaw Rising Museum, the Crown Custodian will award the Red Cross of Romania's Royal House to three veteran women of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, to honour the relations between Romania's Kingdom and the Republic of Poland in 1930, when our country was an important ally of Poland in its aspirations for independence, sovereignty and freedom.Her Majesty and Prince Radu will meet, at Romania's Embassy in Warsaw, with members of the Romanian community living in Poland's capital, as well as with Romanian servicemen deployed in missions in Poland, from NATO Battle Group and FRONTEX.At the University of Warsaw, Prince Radu will hold a conference, followed by a dialogue between the students and the two Romanian guests.Furthermore, the Crown Custodian will meet with the leadership of the Polish Red Cross and with leaders of the "Ladies Council of the Polish Red Cross" organisation, and Prince Radu will tour the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), a European institution which includes servicemen from EU countries
Joe Biden powered to a dominating sweep of the US south and surprisingly strong showings in New England and the upper midwest, as he sought to seize control of the Democratic presidential race and overtake Senator Bernie Sanders as the delegate leader.

Mr Sanders was holding on to a lead in California, the state with the biggest delegate haul of the Super Tuesday primaries, as votes were slowly counted there.

But Mr Biden's victories -he also had a narrow lead in Texas, a stunning recovery in that state - threatened to at least erase the lopsided delegate advantage Mr Sanders hoped to gain from the day's voting. The results set up a more vigorous fight ahead that presents the party with real choices: a pragmatist vowing a return to normalcy and a populist promising a revolution.

Mr Sanders easily won his home state, Vermont, and carried Colorado and Utah.

But Mr Biden's victories were significant and widespread, with a string of states across the South offering an early confirmation his win three days earlier in South Carolina had dramatically reshaped the presidential contest.

With most precincts reporting, Mr Biden was winning by double digits in the Super Tuesday states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama. He also won Minnesota, Oklahoma and - in an embarrassment to home-state Senator Elizabeth Warren - Massachusetts.

In states where he spent little money and no time, and had few field offices, he won as late-deciding voters rushed to support him. Even in a race marked by volatility, the results capped a head-spinning 72 hours.

Mr Sanders just days ago appeared to be en route to a potentially insurmountable lead in delegates after a near-win in Iowa and victories in the second and third contests, New Hampshire and Nevada. Mr Biden seemed on the verge of being forced from the race, after successive fourth, fifth and distant second-places. But after his mammoth victory in South Carolina, moderates rapidly coalesced behind the former vice-president, rivals dropped out and endorsed him, and he racked up margins of victory so large that Tuesday's races were projected as victories immediately after polls closed.

His win in Virginia testified to the rapid reversal of fortunes. Despite having held only one rally there - and opening only one field office and spending far less than some of his rivals - Mr Biden was on course to win every congressional district and carry the state in a landslide.

As soon as polls closed in North Carolina - with a strong body of suburban women and African-American voters, both targets for the party and groups that lean toward Mr Biden - he was declared the winner there as well.

His quick wins in Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee were also largely powered by big margins among women, black voters, moderates and those without college degrees. He also appeared to benefit from high turnout in the same kinds of suburban areas that helped Democrats win the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections, winning by massive margins in suburbs around Richmond, Virginia.

Turnout in Virginia was almost double 2016's total and also exceeded 2008 levels.

About half of Democratic primary voters said they made their decisions in the past few days, and Biden won about six in 10 of them, compared with about one in six for Mr Sanders, according to network exit polls.

In North Carolina, nearly a third of voters were late deciders, and more than half of them supported Mr Biden, compared with Mr Sanders who garnered about 20pc.

Early results showed a dismal finish for Mike Bloomberg, who has poured some $500m of his own money into trying to win over voters concerned about Biden's strength. His only win early in the night was in the caucuses in American Samoa, where he captured 50pc of the vote.

House representative Tulsi Gabbard also won a delegate from the US territory in the South Pacific, and under current rules that could allow her to qualify for debates, although the Democratic National Committee indicated it will soon increase the threshold.

It was the most critical day so far for the Democratic nominating contest, with a third of the total pledged delegates up for grabs in 14 states spread around the country and the potential to offer a clarifying moment in a race marked by volatility.

There were 1,357 delegates at stake as the race burst out of the first four states, where the candidates spent the bulk of their time over the past year, and became much more national. ( Washington Post)
Veteran actress Tanuja, known for her girl-next-door image in the late-60s and 70s Bollywood, is setting new goals for every woman this International Womens Day.

From what seems to be a picture from a holiday shes at with daughter and actress Tanisha along with other celebrities, Tanuja proves that age is just a number when it comes to showing her diva-esque side.

She was spotted in a cobalt-blue one-piece swimsuit, enjoying poolside smiles with the other ladies in the picture. Tanisha recently celebrated her birthday in Alibaug and celebrated with her friends and mother at a resort in Alibaug, about an hours boat ride away from Mumbai.

Bikinis in the history of womens clothing has been traced back to as early as 5600 BC. Actress Brigitte Bardot, Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner are some of the names known to have popularised this garment at Cannes Film Festival in 1953 and movie appearances subsequently.

According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, the bikini is the most popular type of female beachwear around the globe because of the power of women, and not the power of fashion. He explains, The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women.

Sharmila Tagore in a scene from An Evening in Paris.

The National Legion of Decency lay pressure on Hollywood to keep bikinis from being featured in movies. The Hays production code for US movies, introduced in 1930 and strictly enforced in 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited navels on screen.

Raquel Welchs fur bikini in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C. gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history.

Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore appeared in a bikini in her 1967 film An Evening in Paris, followed by a magazine cover. This was the first time an Indian actress had appeared in a bikini. This then set a trend for other actresses namely Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Dimple Kapadia and others in the 1970s.

In the 1983 Star Wars franchise, Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia Organa was captured by Jabba the Hutt and forced to wear a metal bikini complete with shackles. The costume was made of brass and was so uncomfortable that actress Carrie Fisher described it as what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell. The slave Leia look is often imitated by female fans at Star Wars conventions.

What did you think of Tanujas look?

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: The Telangana Legislative



Assembly is expected to pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during the Budget session beginning on Friday.

Voicing opposition to the amended citizenship law, the state cabinet had on February 16 urged the Union government to abrogate the CAA.

TheFebruary 16 Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, had said it felt the CAA would lead to discrimination on the basis of religion while granting citizenship, thus jeopardising secularism as envisaged in the Constitution.

TheCabinethas decided to pass a resolution against the CAA in the Assembly, the way Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have done, according to an official release on February 16.

Coming out strongly against theCAA, Rao had earlier said he may convene a meeting of regional parties and Chief Ministers to oppose it.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, a friendly party of the ruling TRS, has also sought to shelve the National Population Register (NPR) in the state.

Owaisi had said they would request the Chief Ministerto put on holdNPRin the state.

The Budget session would start with the customary address of the Governor to the joint sitting of the legislature on Friday.

The Chief Minister on Wednesday called on Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and handed over the copy of the Governors address as approved by the state cabinet, according to an official release.

The opposition Congress, which held a meeting of its leaders here recently, said it would raise farmers issues, among others, during the Assembly session.

Alleging that the TRS government diluted the Rythu Bandhu (farmers investment support scheme) introduced with fanfare, Congress MLC TJeevanReddy had demanded that the scheme be implemented without any limitations and that ex- gratia be paid to the kin of all farmers who committed suicide.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Trump said Thursday that the federal government will begin withholding funding from sanctuary cities after a federal court ruling last week upholding the administrations right to do so.

As per recent Federal Court ruling, the Federal Government will be withholding funds from Sanctuary Cities. They should change their status and go non-Sanctuary. Do not protect criminals! Trump wrote in a morning tweet.

A three-judge panel on the 2nd Circuit Appeals Court in Manhattan ruled last Wednesday that the Justice Department could deny millions of dollars in federal-grant funding to cities that buck the administrations immigration enforcement policies. The court found that Congress has allowed the attorney general the prerogative to impose conditions, such as cooperation with immigration authorities, on the release of federal grant money.

The courts decision rightfully recognizes the lawful authority of the attorney general to ensure that Department of Justice grant recipients are not at the same time thwarting federal law enforcement priorities, a Justice Department spokesman said.

The move comes amid the administrations crackdown on sanctuary cities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun 24-hour surveillance operations near homes and workplaces of undocumented immigrants in cities that refuse to coordinate with U.S. immigration authorities. The operation to increase arrests includes a request from ICE for at least 500 special agents as well as immigration SWAT teams to locate and deport undocumented immigrants living in sanctuary cities.

Last weeks ruling was the latest in a series of court decisions, many of which ruled against the administration. In 2017,A seven states and New York City sued the Justice Department over then-Attorney General Jeff Sessionss announcement that he would withhold funding from sanctuary cities who attempted to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation by denying access to jails and refusing to share information with authorities.

More from National Review
A man jailed for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl who was babysitting his grandchild can now be named by the media, after he lost a sentence appeal.

Joseph Carey (63), with an address at St Ronans Green, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, had denied sexually assaulting the girl at his home on a date in August, 2001, when he was aged 44 and the girl was aged 13.

He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to two-and-a-half years imprisonment with the final four months suspended by Judge Elma Sheahan last June, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal today.

Carey was not named following his conviction, despite the wishes of the now adult woman, because arguments were made in a separate case by a Wicklow child rapist that complainants cannot waive their right to anonymity as a matter of law.

The Central Criminal Court has delivered a ruling in relation to the Wicklow case, which is currently under appeal.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said today that there was nothing to prevent Careys identity being published. He said the publication of Careys details could lead to the identification of the complainant, but the complainant was prepared to take that risk, in order for Carey to be named.

Dismissing an appeal against the severity of Careys prison sentence, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the three-judge court could find no error in principle.

Mr Justice McCarthy said the complainant was staying overnight in Careys home as a babysitter when the assault took place. She was sharing a bed with another child, when Carey entered the room, put his hands down her pyjama bottoms.

Carey apologised to the complainant at the time, but subsequently denied making this apology and contested the case on the basis that she was making it up.

Mr Justice McCarthy said the two families were close, and the complainant had to live beside her abuser for over a decade after the assault.

He said the offence involved a breach of trust because the victim had viewed the man and his family home as a safe place to go to.

The court heard that the woman and her mother went to gardai in 2001 but no file was ever sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the subsequent investigation was unable to establish if a formal statement had ever been made. A referral was made to the HSE from the local garda station but no intervention was made, the court heard.

Mr Justice McCarthy, who sat with Mr Justice Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards, said the sentencing judge had regard to all relevant factors and the appeal was therefore dismissed.
TEFAF 2020: 7,000 years of art history in 7,000 seconds (dont worry, we did the maths  thats just under 2 hours)

From an Anatolian idol to images of the Cern nuclear research facility via Flemish and Italian Old Masters  a whistlestop tour arranged, for your convenience, in chronological order

For 2020, The European Fine Art Fair  or TEFAF (7-15 March)  in Maastricht has a new tagline: Experience 7,000 years of art history. To put that claim to the test weve mapped out a tour of some of this years highlights which covers that timeline, from start to finish, in 7,000 seconds  or just over 116 minutes. A note of warning: this itinerary requires serious stamina. 7,000 BC to the 1st century BC: spend 15 minutes in the Ancient Art section Maastrichts Exhibition & Conference Centre covers 30,000 square metres, and has been home to TEFAF since 1988. This year 275 dealers from 20 different countries will compete for the attention of collectors. It pays to be prepared, which we are, so after entering the building, take a right after the cloak room, then the fourth and final left. This leads you to the Ancient Art section, which is where our journey through 7,000 years of art history begins. Galerie David Ghezelbash (425) has possibly the oldest work at the fair (excluding fossils)  a 7,000-year-old black steatite idol figure from Neolithic Anatolia. This curvaceous female (below, left) sits cross-legged and hides her modesty with her hands. It is thought she represents an ancient fertility goddess from a time that pre-dates the written word.

A rare Anatolian steatopygia feminine idol, 6th-5th millennium BC. 5.4 x 4.2 x 3.5 cm. Photo: Galerie Ghezelbash Acrobat sitting on a ladder. Bronze. Height: 9.2 in (23.5 cm). Iran, probably Luristan  2nd millennium BC. Photo: Galerie Kevorkian

Moving next door, we jump forward 3,000 years with Galerie Kevorkian (432), which has a mysterious miniature bronze model of an acrobat atop a ladder. It was made during the second millennium BC in Luristan, which is in modern-day Iran. Opposite is antiquities dealer Charles Ede (426). TEFAF is without doubt still the best art fair in the world, says Martin Clist, the gallerys director. Many others try to steal its crown but dealers save up their best pieces to launch here.

Greek bilingual eye-cup, circa 520 BC, attributed to Pheidippos. Terracotta. 12.7 cm high, 31.6 cm diameter. Photo: Charles Ede gallery, London

Among the reliefs and statues on show with Charles Ede is an ancient Greek eye-cup from 530 BC. Decorated with nude athletes and satyrs, its inscribed with what Clist says is essentially a pick-up line from an older man to a younger man, along the lines of Hi there beautiful boy. This intriguing ceramic carries a price tag of 80,000.

Roman intaglio of a head of Dionysus set in an antique ring, Republican, circa 1st century BC. Carnelian and gold. Intaglio: 1.4 cm long. Photo: Kallos Gallery

Nearby, Kallos Gallery (434) has a beautiful 1st-century BC Roman ring engraved with the head of Dionysus. Although the world of ancient art isnt something youd normally associate with trends, these gems are more popular than ever, particularly among jewellery designers and new collectors, says Christies antiquities specialist Claudio Corsi. The 2019 sale of the Sangiorgi Collection of ancient gems at Christies played an important role in this upswing. From 8th-century China to 17th-century Japan: spend 25 minutes in the Antiques area

Set of six court lady musicians and dancers, Tang dynasty (618-907), early 8th century. Beige earthenware, polychrome pigments. Dancers: 28/29 cm cm high. Musicians: 18/19 cm high. Photo: Studio Roger Asselberghs  Frederic Dehaen

Heading west into the Antiques section of the fair, we arrive at Gisele Croes (180), which has a set of six beautifully preserved earthenware female court musicians from Chinas Tang Dynasty (618-907), while Gregg Baker (260) is showing an almost metre-high gilt-wood Buddha statue from the Japanese Kamakura Period (1185-1333).

A gilt-wood figure of Amida Buddha, Kamakura Period (1185-1333), Japan. 80 cm high. Photo: Gregg Baker Asian Art

Just across the way, Mullany (157) is presenting a superb French medieval gilt limestone statue of the enthroned Virgin and Child made in around 1330.

Enthroned Virgin and Child, circa 1330. Limestone with original polychrome and gilding. 57 x 29 x 23 cm. Photo: Mullany

Next door, Galerie Jean-Christophe Charbonnier (184), specialists in Japanese historical arms and armour, has a menacing iron, leather, silk and silver lacquer warriors outfit from the 17th century that shouldnt be missed.

Daimyo armour of the Hon-Kozane Tachi-Do type, Japan, 17th century. 52.4 x 33.5 x 23.6 in (133 x 85 x 60 cm). Photo: Galerie Jean-Christophe Charbonnier

Back to 17th-century Europe: your first visit to Paintings, returning to Antiques, covering around 25 minutes Heading north towards the Paintings section, Fondantico di Tiziana Sassoli (372) has a striking picture of Saint Paul from 1612 painted by Lucio Massari, while Galerie Terrades (337) is showing a portrait of St. John by Jusepe Leonardo from circa 1635-40. Comparing these Spanish and Italian paintings makes for an interesting exercise in art history.



Lucio Massari (1569-1633), Saint Paul Exhorting the Ephesians to Burn Heretical Books, circa 1612. Oil on canvas. 193 x 277.5 cm. Photo: Fondantico di Tiziana Sassol

Jusepe Leonardo (1601-1656), St. John the Baptist, circa 1635-40. Oil on canvas. 185 x 111 cm. Photo: Galerie Terrades

Still in the Paintings section, Robilant + Voena (380) will be hanging Allegory of Touch by the Flemish painter Michiel Sweerts (1618-1664) between sculptures and paintings by Lucio Fontana from the 1950s and 60s. The recently rediscovered painting, below, depicts a young man, captured in what the gallerys director Benedict Tomlinson calls a moment of pure stupefaction. It was painted sometime around the mid-1650s before the artist joined a missionary organisation, Missions Etrangeres, with which he travelled to Palestine and then Persia.



Michael Sweerts (1618-1664), Allegory of Touch. Oil on canvas. 75 x 60 cm. Photo: Robilant + Voena

A short stroll back south brings you back into the Antiques section, to one of the more niche booths at TEFAF  Toth-Ikonen (244), Netherlandish dealers in Russian religious icons. On show is an intensely cropped late-17th-century Eastern Orthodox Deesis, showing Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and a particularly ragged-looking Saint John the Baptist. It would originally have been prayed to by those seeking forgiveness and a merciful judgement. Today, its valued at 35,000.

Deesis. Russian, late 17th century. 40.5 x 88.3 cm. Photo: Toth-Ikonen Gallery





Nearby, Salomon Lilian (309) is representing the Dutch Golden Age with Jan Steens entertaining Merry Company in an Inn from the second half of the 17th century.



Jan Steen (1626-1679) Merry Company in an Inn. 17th century. Oil on panel. Photo: Salomon Lilian

On to the 18th century: squeeze in 5 minutes looking at sculpture Circling back past the Restaurant La Concorde (which offers fine dining from midday) youll find Daniel Katz (100), which has dedicated the entirety of its booth to Neoclassical sculptures. Among them is a pair of busts by Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828).

Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), busts of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), 1788. Marble. 29 cm and 26.7 cm high. Photo: Daniel Katz Gallery

Christies Early European Sculpture & Works of Art specialist Milo Dickinson, who has been making the annual pilgrimage to Maastricht for TEFAF since he was 19, thinks this pair are a must-see, noting the extraordinary skill required to produce such vitality on such a small scale. Tom Davies, the director of Daniel Katz, says he rates TEFAF so highly because its the fair best attended by museums, as well as refreshingly young collectors.

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Racing through to the 19th century: 10 minutes with a Van Gogh and the Spanish Master of Light Directly opposite is Simon Dickinson (402). Among works by Picasso and Rodin is a large, charming picture of a farmhouse by Vincent van Gogh  undoubtedly one of this years fair highlights. The painting was picked up in junk shop in north London in the 1960s for 45, where the seller had assumed it was by an artist with the surname Vincent.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Paysanne devant une Chaumiere (Peasant Woman in Front of a Farmhouse), 1885. Oil on canvas. 62.9 x 112.4 cm. Photo: Dickinson Gallery, London and New York

Next, head southeast to Lopez de Aragon (175) to see a large carnival scene painted in 1893 by the Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla, who was recently dubbed the Spanish Master of Light in a solo show at the National Gallery in London.

Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923), Valencia Fiesta, 1913. Oil on canvas. 120 x 198 cm (47.2 x 78 in). Photo: Lopez de Aragon

Modern art, starting in the 1950s: reckon on a quarter of an hour Walking due north brings you to the 57 galleries of Modern Art, which until a decade ago was largely overlooked at TEFAF.

Piero Manzoni (1933-1963), Achrome, 1959-1960. Squared sewn canvas, 70 x 50 cm. Courtesy Galerie Karsten Greve St. Moritz Paris Koln  VG Bild-Kunst, 2020 Piero Manzoni (1933-1963), Achrome, 1962. Pebble stones and kaolin on canvas, 74 x 56 cm. Courtesy Galerie Karsten Greve St. Moritz Paris Koln  VG Bild-Kunst, 2020

Galerie Karsten Greve (414) has two spectacular all-white Manzoni works from 1959-60 and 1962, while The Mayor Gallery (451) provides surely one of the fairs Instagram hits  Pop artist Jan Haworths 1967 sculpture of an old lady knitting in a rocking chair.

Jan Haworth (b. 1942), Old Lady II, 1967. Fabric, thread, wood, stuffing, leather and rocking chair. 40 x 20 in (101.6 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy The Mayor Gallery, London

Galleria Continua (502), which has outposts in Italy, France, China and Cuba, is a newcomer to the fair this year, exhibiting a solo booth of sitting, squatting and standing sculptures by Antony Gormley from his 2011-12 series MASSIVE BLOCKWORKS.

Antony Gormley (b. 1950), STRETCH, 2012. Steel. 137.8 x 80.1 x 41.2 cm. Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA. Photo by Stephen White, London.  The artist

Mario Cristiani, Galleria Continuas co-founder, says it chose to exhibit only Gormley because he is an artist who is in dialogue with the art of every time and knows how to occupy the space of a huge collection. Lets not forget Design: worth 5 minutes Further north still is the design section of the fair. Loic Gaillard, co-founder of Carpenters Workshop Gallery (609), explains why it is making its debut this year: TEFAF is the cross-collecting fair  and we will give it a contemporary edge.

Wendell Castle (1932-2018), Lady Midnight, 2014. Stained ash with oil finish. 96.5  152.4  94 cm (38  60  37 in). Photo: Carpenters Workshop Gallery

Among functional sculptures by Nacho Carbonell, Maarten Baas and Vincent Dubourg is a brilliantly carved ash-wood chair by Wendell Castle from 2014. Youll want to stop by Works on Paper, too: a good 10 minutes A hike to the the fairs south-west corner and up a flight of stairs brings you to the Works on Paper section. Among the 24 exhibitors is Galleri K (718), which has brought a monumental inkjet print of the Cern nuclear research facility taken by the German photographer Thomas Struth.

Thomas Struth (b. 1954), Alice, Cern, Saint Genis-Pouilly, 2019. Inkjet print. 277.1 x 236.4 cm (109 x 93 in). Edition of 6. Photo: Galleri K.  Thomas Strut

And to finish, the Showcase section: using up the last 400 seconds of your allotted 7,000 Finally, hotfoot to the south-east corner of the fair where the Showcase section sees TEFAF supporting five up-and-coming galleries. One of this years selections, TAFETA (SC3), is showing some hyperrealist pastel on paper portraits by self-taught African artist Babajide Olatunji.

Babajide Olatunji (b. 1982), Tribal Marks Series II #52, 2019. Charcoal and pastel on paper. 106  152 cm (41.7 x 59.9 in). Courtesy of the artist & TAFETA
BUCKS COUNTY >> Police in Northampton, Lower Southampton and Upper Makefield townships report the following incidents and arrests: Lower Southampton THEFT >> In the early morning hours on Monday, Jan. 10 two individuals made off with the entire change machine from the Feasterville Laundromat along Bustleton Pike. The male appears to be "cracking himself up" while he hatches his scheme...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference at the California Department of Public Health in Sacramento, California, on Feb. 27, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Declares State of Emergency in All 58 Counties Over Coronavirus

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proclaimed a state of emergency due to the outbreak of new coronavirus, which now has 53 confirmed cases across the state.

In a statement, the governor said that California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus.

The declaration is to help the state advance resources to prepare for further cases. Newsom said that the proclamation is about resourcefulness.

LIVE: Governor @GavinNewsom and State Health Officials hold a #COVID19 briefing in Sacramento. https://t.co/epnqSKL40h  Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) March 5, 2020

Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies over the new coronavirus outbreak.

Newsoms announcement came just hours after the first death in California was announced. The case involved an elderly man in Placer County, near Sacramento, who had underlying health problems.

It is currently believed that he may have been exposed while on a cruise that traveled between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

The mans death marks the 11th in the United States due to the virus SARS-CoV-2. He was one of two people who have so far tested positive for the virus after returning from the cruise ship. Authorities are tracking down other passengers on the cruise who may have been in close contact with the two individuals.

It also marks the first U.S. death outside of Washington state, which is where the other 10 deaths related to the new coronavirus were confirmed. The deaths are believed to have been related to a cluster of at least 39 coronavirus cases in two Seattle-area counties that are believed to be community transmission.

At least 18 of the 39 cases, including six deaths, were connected to the LifeCare Center of Kirklanda long-term nursing facility for the elderly in Seattle.

Ambulances are seen in a staging area at the North Kirkland Community Center, which is a short drive from the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, in Kirkland, Washington, on March 4, 2020. (David Ryder/Reuters)

Back in California, public health officials said on Wednesday that six new coronavirus patients had been detected in Los Angeles County, one of whom was a federal contract medical worker conducting screenings at Los Angeles International Airport. As the person wore protective equipment while on the job, it remains unclear how the worker contracted the virus, Homeland Security officials said.

Three others patients were most likely infected while traveling recently in northern Italyone of the areas hardest hit by the outbreak.

Of the six, only one has been hospitalized. The other five are recovering in home isolation.

Cases in New York state rose to 10 on Wednesday. The cases involve three family members and the neighbor of a lawyer who was previously confirmed to have the virus. The neighbors wife and three of his children have also been infected, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is current for Tuesday 4 p.m., listed 129 confirmed and presumed cases in the United Statesup from 108. According to the website, 80 people were detected through the public health system in 13 states, while 49 were repatriated from abroad.

Lawmakers in the House reached a bipartisan agreement to approve an $8.3 billion emergency bill to help fund efforts to contain the virus. The measure will need to be approved by the Senate, after which President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law.

The administration is working to allow laboratories to develop their own coronavirus tests without seeking regulatory approval first, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jocelyn Brandeis (L) & Julia Angelen Joy

The spread of COVID-19 coronavirus will be the worlds largest test-run of a mass work-from-home scenario and theres a possibility it might fail.

For small and medium-sized businesses  all 30.2 million of them or 44% of U.S. economic activity  this means making significant changes to daily operations, with little time to prepare, in a rapidly changing situation.

While policies for working from home range from an enthusiastically promoted company perk to a frowned-upon last resort, only 10% of the current U.S. employment-population has a steady grasp of how to work-from-home and maintain long-term productivity.

There are going to be areas of quarantine in the U.S., and workflow is going to be dramatically changed," CBS News contributor Dr. David Agus told CBS MoneyWatch.

If you are one of the 90% of the organizations who do not currently offer remote work, you need to be prepared  from CEO to receptionist, and from accounting to waste management  to have your team move to an entirely remote operation, with little or no warning, under duress.

Questions your team needs to consider now:

Can your organization deliver at current levels if a percentage of your staff gets ill? Do you have trained back-up for every role? Who will step in? Are they prepared now? How will you handle employee illnesses or self-quarantines? Will you assist staff if they face extenuating circumstances? If schools and daycares close, how will you support employees that are parents or grandparents? Will you be offering employees the opportunity for virtual attendance to conferences or will you be canceling all travel? What if an important supplier or partner is closed due to an outbreak? What if a vendor closes mid-project? What if deliveries halt nationwide? What if your business is named in the news? Are you prepared to address concerns? Do you have a trained spokesperson? What is the chain of command for addressing the media?

"Not working for an indefinite amount of time is unsustainable for individuals, businesses and the national economy. Providing an opportunity for efficient work-from-home alleviates the damage caused by the pandemic," said Alex Konanykhin, co-founder and CEO of TransparentBusiness.

The CEOs job is to be in control of the situation and to present information to the employees in the calmest manner possible. Be honest, humble, and show that you care. A crisis is no time for jokes or charm.

The only thing people care about is how business will be handled and that they, their jobs, and their loved ones are financially and physically secure.

The CEO should use all available methods to communicate with the employees early and often, including all-hands meetings, internal channels, and social media.

Employee Communications

When creating solutions to these difficult changes, always be sure to express concern and emotion for those in harms way. Employees will always be the greatest advocates of the company, but in a crisis, loose lips sink ships.

CEOs need to contain the rumor mill as fast as possible. The CEOs goals for communicating are:

Ensure that employees and customers are safe. Assure the public that the company can still function. Correct any problems while preventing new ones.

Operational Considerations

If a quarantine does go into effect, CEOs will be leading teams from afar, and there may be a learning curve for many. Working with computers and software within an enterprise is often different than working on a home computer. Assessing the tech capabilities of all staff members will be essential.

The company may have to provide laptops, iPads or cell phones to ensure employees can remain connected and productive. There are many free offerings across the web; however, no-cost solutions often have limited technical support. The company may have to purchase enterprise solutions that offer training or provide that internally.

In addition to technology updates, contact details need to be updated so that everyone can be reached, especially managers. Keep in mind that if there is a quarantine, people will not be leaving their homes; therefore, all IT issues will need to be dealt with by phone or computer.

There are companies that will thrive; some companies will survive despite leadership; and some companies will go under, never to be heard from again.

As CEO, you have the responsibility to lead the way if your company has a physical shut-down. You need to prepare for this possibility ahead of time to avoid scrambling the minute it happens.

***

Jocelyn Brandeis is a New York City-based PR consultant & writer with 25+ years' experience. Julia Angelen Joy is president of Z Group PR and has worked with more than 100 small businesses on a variety of corporate messaging, digital marketing, and public relations solutions.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Even as stalwarts of the energy calendar such as CERAWeek bow out in the face of coronavirus, OPEC+ is doggedly convening this week in its Viennese petri dish. But in what may count as the most OPEC-plussy move ever, the organization waited until beyond the last minute, after many journalists had flown in already, to inform them they wouldnt actually be allowed to enter the building.

OPEC+ is having a hard time responding to a black swan that threatens a repeat of the global financial crisis. IHS Markit, which shelved CERAWeek, now estimates oil demand in the first quarter will fall by 3.8 million barrels a day, sharper even than in early 2009. It now also expects 2020 will record an annual decline, an exceedingly rare occurrence.

OPEC+ has inherent weaknesses, exemplified by the fact that it had to add that + in the first place. Of the 20 members subject to supply curbs, just four  Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  account for 70% of the oil being withheld(1). Of those four, Russia has never really put the us in plus and has resisted calls for even deeper cuts this year. The rest of the gang mostly offer the comfort of numbers and a periodic boost for Viennese hotels at this point.

Saudi Arabia is now reportedly pushing for further supply cuts of more than 1 million barrels a day. As it is, curbs both voluntary and otherwise have pushed OPECs crude oil output to less than 28 million barrels a day as of February, according to Bloomberg data. More cuts would take it below the level reached in early 2009, when the group agreed to rapid cuts to shore up prices amid the financial crisis.

In several crucial respects, however, this time is different. Back then, both the U.S. and, especially, China unleashed enormous fiscal stimulus to counteract the economic disruption. This time, the crisis emanates in China, and the Trump administration is relying on the Federal Reserve to shore things up  which seems like a big ask, if the initial reaction to Tuesdays surprise rate cut is any indication. Moreover, while marginally cheaper money may offer some extra economic cushioning, it is unclear how far this will offset sheer physical disruption if fears of coronavirus widen. Consider: If you hold off on taking a flight because youre worried about catching a novel disease, would a cheaper air ticket necessarily persuade you to risk it?

Story continues

Just as the Fed is shooting bullets from a depleted magazine, so OPEC+ is discussing further cuts barely three months after the last set were unveiled at a fractious meeting. Brent crude is trading in the low $50s per barrel, which is where it was when the whole OPEC+ show first got going more than three years ago. This is despite the fact that, as of January, more than 5 million barrels a day of potential supply were either being held back by OPEC or suffering some sort of disruption, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. And these numbers dont include voluntary cuts by non-OPEC members.

Given the EIA data tracks only crude oil, Januarys figure of 5.6 million barrels a day being offline actually equates to almost 7% of this years refinery throughput, according to International Energy Agency estimates  which are now likely out of date and too high. In light of that, its unclear how much of an impact moving another million barrels a day of supply into the spare capacity column will actually have.

Notice in that chart how the balance between OPECs spare capacity and its disrupted capacity has shifted, primarily because of Libyan and Venezuelan collapse and the resumption of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The ignominious truth of OPEC+ is that a large part of its success to date in supporting oil prices  such as that is  is owed to the degradation of several of its key members. This matters because those barrels have been genuinely removed from the market, in the sense that its doubtful they could return quickly(2).

Voluntary cuts from the likes of Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, would likely take time to implement, and production could resume quite quickly when prices rise  and the oil market knows this. We may get another big cut at the end of this week. All along, though, these cuts have been a signal of fundamental weakness. Like the Fed, OPEC+ may be shocked at how little awe it inspires.

(1) As per data for January 2020 from the International Energy Agency.

(2) Libyas could, potentially, but several countries involved in that countrys conflict, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have a vested interest in delaying that as long as possible.

To contact the author of this story: Liam Denning at ldenning1@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities. He previously was editor of the Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column and wrote for the Financial Times' Lex column. He was also an investment banker.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not got to Belgiums capital Brussels for the India-EU Summit which has been deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

As far as India-EU Summit is concerned which PM Modi had to attend, the health authorities of both the countries suggested that travelling must not take place at present. So, it has been decided that Summit will be rescheduled on a mutually convenient date, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a press briefing.

The decision has been taken in the spirit of close cooperation between the EU and India who share same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon, he added.

At least two staff working for the European Union administration in Brussels tested positive for the novel coronavirus and are receiving treatment, European officials said on Wednesday.

Also watch: 29 coronavirus cases in India; PM Modi monitoring situation: Harsh Vardhan

One case, a man working at the European Defence Agency (EDA), had returned from Italy on February 23.

The second, who works in security for the European Council, is thought to have been infected in Brussels after having contact with the first man.

Also read: Like the Titanic Captain: Rahul Gandhi disses govt on coronavirus crisis

Meetings at the headquarters of the Brussels-based EDA have been cancelled until March 13, said Elisabeth Schoeffmann, head of media and communication at EDA.

Brussels is the de facto capital of the 27-nation union and home to many of its institutions, including the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament.

Parliament has already limited public access to its buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg, amid fears that large gatherings could hasten the spread of the outbreak.

More than 90,000 people have been infected and around 3,200 have died worldwide since the virus erupted in China.
Signs started to present on Monday that the important pillars of this provision to negotiate the end to the Afghanistan conflict were going to unbuckle, but moments after, the United States ratified what was announced as a historic pact with the Taliban.

News emerged on Monday that the fight between the defense units of Taliban and Afghan marks the end to this decrease in aggression that established the basis for the statement signed by Saturday by U.S. and Taliban officials.

This statement calls for these prisoners to be issued in the conversation for up to 1,000 Afghan government prisoners by March 10.

Ashraf Ghani, the Iranian President, the opposition of the Taliban's responsibility was followed after the signing of the deal. According to the reporters, Ghani said that the decrease in disorder and brutality will extend until peace will be achieved.

He also added that he can't promise that the 5,000 convicts will be granted freedom.

After a couple of days from the signing of the treaty, authorities from Senior Pentagon gave a warning notice opposing the act of being a little hasty. Mark Esper, the Defense Secretary, reported that the authorities are still trying to discover the issue of the assault, which caused casualties, that was denounced in the territory of Khost on Monday.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff's chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, indicated the number of terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS who are currently based in Afghanistan.

Milley also added that they are not certain whether the Taliban is held accountable for the crime and warned that getting rid of the violence in the country won't be guaranteed. He does not believe that absolute peace would be achieved.

As was settled, the army of the United States will commence the pull-out during the 10 days to diminish within 135 days the footprint of 8,600.

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday the commencement of the withdrawal to be done by the United States that day. Nevertheless, Esper is not sure whether it would happen but remembered that he has permitted U.S Forces-Afghanistan's commander to commence.

Esper also added that in the duration, they would be experiencing a lot of obstacles and complications so he won't be looking forward to the things that are yet to happen. The agreement that was made is confronting some difficulties with allies of President Donald Trump.

Sen. Lindsey Graham stated during the "Fox & Friends" on Monday that they shouldn't cut their connections with Afghanistan and let revolutionary Islams to make their move. He added that they already have the opportunity to discontinue the ongoing war with Afghanistan in a wise and well-planned method but they are looking for remnants of the U.S. forces to act as counter-terrorists in case terrorism occurs.

Roya Rahmani, a United States Afghan ambassador came back from Kabul on Saturday to comment on Esper's remarks and pledged that in case the Taliban will go against the agreement of lowering the violence, he will issue a U.S. response.

He observed that the duration of diminishing the violence has been declared as the lowest level of all time and has served as a confidence for the people of Afghanistan. On the other side, Kabul authorities are bothered about the disagreements between the administration of the Taliban and Afghanistan on the important matters about the democratic values.
Insurance company Aviva blamed the governments 2% motor insurance levy for a fall in profits to 54m in Ireland last year.

The figure is a 16% reduction on 64.6m recorded in 2018. The company also said a 2% fall in earned premiums led to the fall in profits and the reductions were partly offset by lower large losses and more benign weather in Ireland last year.

The motor insurance levy was introduced in December 2018 on all personal, fleet and commercial motor insurance and is used to fund a motor insurers insolvency compensation fund.

The wider Aviva group, which offers life and general insurance in the UK, Europe, Canada and Asia saw operating profit rise 6% to a record 3.7 billion.

The company said it would pay a dividend of 30.9 pence per share, up 3% and in line with forecasts.

The insurer said it has already received around 500 travel insurance claims related to the coronavirus so far and paid out more than 500,000.

Avivas new chief executive Maurice Tulloch said the coronavirus epidemic presents a new uncertainty in 2020.

Its early days yet, and certainly theres an awful lot of global uncertainty around it. And our customers expect us to be open, whether its raining or its pouring, whether youre dealing with global situations like that.

Avivas Irish operation in the life insurance section saw operating profit jump by 49% to 68m mainly driven by the purchase in 2018 of Friends First.

The Group also operates a number of defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes in the UK, Ireland and Canada.

In Ireland, the value of Avivas defined benefit obligation was 1.19bn while assets were 961m resulting in a 233m deficit.
He claimed last year that he smokes $40,000 of marijuana per month at his weed production facility Tyson Ranch.

So it was fitting the Mike Tyson would light up a joint as soon as he was finished with dinner on Wednesday.

The 53-year-old former heavyweight champion enjoyed at meal at the celeb-friendly night spot Craig's Restaurant in West Hollywood before lighting up.

Deep breath: Mike Tyson lit up a joint as soon as he got in the car after having dinner at the celeb-friendly restaurant Craig's in West Hollywood on Wednesday

Mike stepped out of the restaurant wearing a simple black jacket over a black turtleneck.

He stayed on theme with black jeans, black loafers and a dark ski cap.

After dinner, he stepped into his chauffeured car and lit up before letting out a sizable puff of smoke.

Monochrome: Mike stepped out of the restaurant wearing a simple black jacket over a black turtleneck

Back in black: He stayed on theme with black jeans, black loafers and a dark ski cap

Time to relax: After dinner, he stepped into his chauffeured car and lit up before letting out a sizable puff of smoke

Entrepreneur: Mike is certainly an expert on the reefer, as he opened the massive Tyson Ranch to supply all things marijuana-related

Mike is certainly an expert on the reefer, as he opened the massive Tyson Ranch to supply all things marijuana-related.

The Hangover actor broke ground on a 40-acre plot of land in 2018, after having success with his marijuana company Tyson Holistic Holdings, which was launched in 2016.

The ranch, located in California City, 100 miles north of Los Angeles and 60 miles southwest of Death Valley, already has 20 acres devoted just to growing marijuana, but Mike also plans to introduce a factory to make edibles, as well as an extraction facility, according to Bleacher Report.

Businessman: The Hangover actor broke ground on a 40-acre plot of land in 2018, after having success with his marijuana company Tyson Holistic Holdings, which was launched in 2016

Desert paradise: The ranch is located in California City, 100 miles north of Los Angeles and 60 miles southwest of Death Valley

Growing operation: It already has 20 acres devoted just to growing marijuana, but Mike also plans to introduce a factory to make edibles, as well as an extraction facility, according to Bleacher Report

Tyson hopes his ranch won't only be a production facility and a high-end dispensary, but a leader in marijuana tourism.

The facility will eventually feature an amphitheater and the Tyson Cultivation School, which will teach other growers the ins and outs of marijuana cultivation.

He also plans to build a series of cabins and open a campground for 'glamping,' a kind of upscale camping with luxurious amenities and hotel-style service.

Wow: On an episode of his podcast Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson from August, he revealed that he and his friends smoke $40K dollars of weed every month, against monthly profits of $500K

Non-stop: His guest, rapper Jim James, seemed stunned by the amount. 'That's a lot of weed,' he said, widening his eyes. 'That's nonstop, every second weed right there'

Though he's working on growing his own marijuana empire, the convicted felon also has a penchant for smoking up large swaths of his own stash.

On an episode of his podcast Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson from August, he revealed that he and his friends smoke around $40K dollars of weed every month, against monthly profits of $500K.

His guest, rapper Jim James, seemed stunned by the amount.

'That's a lot of weed,' he said, widening his eyes. 'That's nonstop, every second weed right there.'
My lasting mental picture of Will Pomerantz and Nancy Harrow's About Love is of a woman holding a hat as men surround her and attempt to draw the winning "ticket" from a hat that will give them the right to kiss her hand. This is also one of the haunting images of Ivan Turgenev's 1860 novella, First Love, on which this new play (with added songs by Harrow) is based. Competently staged and performed under the banner of Culture Project at the Sheen Center, it is nevertheless mostly forgettable  spare that one image.

The tableau perfectly encapsulates the role of Zina (Silvia Bond), daughter of a downwardly mobile aristocratic Russian family and the star around which a solar system of men rotates. That includes our dwarf planet of a narrator, Peter (Jeffrey Kringer), who is staying with his mother (Jean Tafler) and Father (a stern and imposing Tom Patterson) in a rented country home outside of Moscow. Zina lives next door, where she entertains her suitors: There's the doctor (Dan Domingues), the cavalry officer (Patterson), the poet (Tafler), and the count (Helen Coxe). How is a middle-class 16-year-old like Peter to compete for her attention?

Zina doesn't have to try very hard to get his. She says jump, and he literally does  understandable behavior for the teenager, but absolutely pathetic for the older men, who behave in much the same way. Zina treats them like a cult leader treats supplicants, singling each out for abuse in sadistic tests of their devotion. In one such scene, she asks the doctor to hold out his hands so she can stick a pin into it, just to see how he responds to the pain. He complies, with a macho laugh that fades to a grimace (vivid performance by Domingues).

It's hard to see why he would put himself through it. Bond plays Zina somewhat absently, so that we never feel the radiant glow of her personality that surely drew these men in the first place. When she turns the sun off, we don't miss it because it was never there to begin with.

The fresh-faced Kringer is much more convincing as the naive schoolboy who falls for her, and he also makes a compelling narrator  when that job isn't being handled by the other actors.

Jean Tafler, Dan Domingues, Silvia Bond, Jeffrey Kringer, Tom Patterson, and Helen Coxe appear in About Love.

( Russ Rowland)

Pomerantz (who also directs) has written About Love in the fashion of story theater, with ample narration (much of it pulled directly from translated Turgenev) and performers playing multiple roles. They easily transform from one role to the next using Whitney Locher's quick-change-friendly costumes, which live on racks on the side of Brian C. Staton's wooden platform of a set. Allen Hahn is able to convey both interior and exterior settings with his powerfully suggestive lighting. Using this lean design to maximum effect, Pomerantz stages a brisk production with little fat or sentimental indulgence.

The one exception occurs when Harrow's songs arrive to stop the narrative in its tracks and deliver little platitudes like, "Life is short, but it's our fate / Live before it is too late." Harrow has attempted to blend jazz with a traditional Russian sound, and has ended up with six numbers that sound like they might have been cut from an early draft of Cabaret.

Beyond that inventive misfire, Pomerantz is faithful to the spirit and substance of Turgenev's story. The benefit of an adaptation that hews so closely to the source material is that it allows us to peer into the dark heart of Turgenev's Russia, a land in which men are either alphas or superfluous, and in which women are demonic temptresses to be tamed. "I need someone who will break me," Zina candidly tells Peter. So we are less shocked than we should be when a man takes a riding crop to her in a later scene.

Silvia Bond plays Zina, and Jeffrey Kringer plays Peter in About Love.

( Russ Rowland)

Of course, like its Russian antecedent, About Love is told entirely from the male perspective. We can glimpse fragments of context that might explain (if not justify) Zina's behavior: her uncouth and unwell mother (revoltingly played by Coxe), their dire financial situation. But in the end, it is Peter's story and the tragedy of his first love takes precedence over the tragedy of Zina's only life.

This is the same unquestioningly patriarchal perspective that has so attracted disillusioned right-wingers across the globe to the ridiculous notion that Russia is the last bastion of true masculinity in a world fallen to feminists and homosexuals. This isn't a myth invented by Vladimir Putin, either. As About Love vividly demonstrates, it has much deeper roots, and those roots have come up through the ground in our own country to nurture proud boys and revanchist men. A more opportunistic adapter might have titled the play Cucked by Dad: A Russian Bedtime Story. Sadly, About Love isn't nearly so bold.
Cigarette maker Godfrey Phillips India on Thursday declared an interim dividend of Rs 24 per share amid a tussle among members of the promoter family for settlement of business empire set up by late industrialist KK Modi.

The board of directors of the company has declared an interim dividend of 1,200 per cent at Rs 24 per share of face value of Rs 2 each on 5,19,93,920 equity shares for 2019-20, Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) said in a statement.

The record date for the payment of interim dividend has been fixed on March, 18, 2020, it added.

"We are committed to enhancing shareholder value consistently in the medium and long term. Continuing with KK Modi's legacy, we are highly invested in our employees as well as customers," GPI President and Managing Director Bina Modi said.

She further said, "Our company will also strive to deliver profitable and sustainable growth in the coming years."



Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court had dismissed a petition filed by Bina Modi seeking to restrain her son Lalit Modi from going ahead with arbitration proceedings in Singapore.

Lalit Modi had sought selling of various assets, including family-controlled businesses of the KK Modi group and divide between Bina Modi, her two children Charu Bhartia and Samir Modi and himself.

GPI is the flagship firm of Modi Enterprises selling cigarettes under brands such as Four Square, Red & White, and ?Cavanders.

It also has ?an exclusive sourcing and supply arrangement with Philip Morris International to manufacture and distribute Marlboro brand in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Sandalwood film industry is currently reeling in the effects of the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the world. A number of films including Puneeth Rajkumars upcoming biggie Yuvarathnaa have canceled their international shooting schedules. For the unversed, Darshan starrer Roberrt makers had also announced a while back that they had called off the plan to shoot a song sequence in Spain.

Filmmakers and production houses are taking preventive measures by planning on changing their international traveling plans. Many of them are now finalizing new locations within India or postponing the shoot schedules.

For the uninitiated, team Yuvarathnaa was all set to travel to Slovenia for a song sequence. But the production house Hombale films recently took to social media to share the change in plans for the Puneeth Rajkumar starrer. The tweet read, The shoot for Yuvarathnaa in Europe has been cancelled due to the #CoronaVirus scares. Will keep you all posted for further updates. Dont believe in speculations/ rumours. (sic)

Karthik Gowda, executive producer of Hombale Films went on to add, I dont think coronavirus has affected the film industry, except for those who were planning to shoot abroad, which is just 4 to 5 per cent. It doesnt make a difference. There is always an alternative.

Many other filmmakers have also announced there change in plans. Jayathirtha, director of the movie Banaras was all set to shoot a song in Singapore but has now shifted to Sri Lanka. The director revealed, Circumstances have led us to compromise on locations. But at the same time, we cant take risks. My story demanded a place like Singapore. But now we have dropped it and have opted for Sri Lanka. If need be, Goa can be an alternative.

Prem who is gearing up for the release of his next film Ek Love Ya has also shared that his films shooting schedule has gone for a toss due to the virus scare, thus leading to a change in the films release date. He said, We had planned to shoot a song either in Egypt or France. But the outbreak has led to the change of schedule and place, and I am yet to take a call.

Prajwal Devarajs Arjun Gowda makers have also called off their abroad shooting schedules. The cast and crew had planned to shoot the songs of the film overseas. The makers are now in search of locations in India to complete the songs.

ALSO READ: Darshan Starrer Roberrt Shoot Cancelled Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

ALSO READ: Puneeth Rajkumar To Head To Europe For The Last Schedule Of Yuvarathnaa
TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (16,779.53, up 355.91 points.)

Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 33 cents, or 1.48 per cent, to $22.64 on 13.8 million shares.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Down two cents, or 1.94 per cent, to $1.01 on 7.9 million shares.

Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 50 cents, or 1.42 per cent, to $35.72 on 7.6 million shares.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down 16 cents, or 1.69 per cent, to $9.32 on 6.9 million shares.

Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Up $1.41, or $2.79 per cent, to $52.01 on 6.3 million shares.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Up nine cents, or 5.08 per cent, to $1.86 on 6.15 million shares.

Companies in the news:

Air Canada (TSX:AC). Up 13 cents to $35.07. The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an attempt by airlines to suspend the countrys new passenger rights charter until an appeal of the regulations is heard. A judge turned down a motion by Air Canada, Porter Airlines Inc. and 14 other carriers to freeze the traveller protections while the appeal is being dealt with. Justice David Near said Tuesday that the appellants did not show on a balance of probabilities that the rules would cause irreparable harm. Tabled in May 2017, the passenger bill of rights aims to beef up compensation for travellers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage.

Bombardier Inc.  Bombardier Inc. says it is concerned about a new report that links it and other companies to the evident forced labour of Muslim minorities in China. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says factories that claim to supply products to global brands ranging from Apple to Nike are exploiting at least 80,0000 Uighur Muslims under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour. The think tank says some of those workers were transferred to KTK Group, a Chinese company that makes rail equipment such as doors and seats and that counts Bombardier as a customer. Bombardier says it contacted KTK after the report came out this week to confirm the manufacturer is adhering to Bombardiers code of ethics.

Enbridge Inc.  A delayed inspection and a failure to predict how fast cracks could develop from corrosion are cited in a report describing the cause of an explosion and fire in an Enbridge Inc. natural gas pipeline northeast of Prince George, B.C., in October 2018. No one was injured in the incident but 125 people in a two-kilometre radius were evacuated as a precaution and the outage in the almost 50-year-old pipeline led to natural gas shortages throughout British Columbia. In its final report released Wednesday, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the 90-centimetre (36-inch) pipeline  part of the T-South gas system that supplies much of southern B.C.  ruptured due to stress corrosion cracks on the outside surface of the pipe.

Aecon Group Inc. (TSX:ARE). Up 27 cents to $16.02. Aecon Group Inc. is forecasting another year of income growth on the heels of record annual revenue, as the construction firm continues to shore up its backlog of infrastructure projects. Chief financial officer David Smales predicted revenue growth in the single digits, but still relatively strong, for 2020. Smales cited a full order book and high demand for infrastructure and public-private partnerships in Canada, including urban transit and nuclear refurbishment projects. Aecon expects more than 40 per cent of its $6.79-billion backlog  roughly in line with 2018  will be worked off in 2020, building on a six per cent boost in 2019 revenues to $3.46 billion.

Bank of Nova Scotia. (TSX:BNS). Up $1.09 to $70.73. The chief executive of Scotiabank saw his total compensation for last year fall compared with 2018. In its management proxy circular, the bank says Brian Porter earned $12.6 million in total compensation last year, down from nearly $13.3 million in 2018. Porters pay for 2019 included $1.3 million in salary, nearly $5.6 million in share awards, nearly $1.4 million in option awards, a cash bonus of $2.3 million, $2 million in pension value and $3,500 in all other compensation. That compared with a 2018 pay packet that included $1.2 million in salary, $6 million in share awards, $1.5 million in option awards, a cash bonus of $2.5 million, $2 million in pension value and $3,000 in all other compensation. Scotiabank earned nearly $8.8 billion in its 2019 financial year, up from $8.7 billion in its 2018 financial year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.
Kristi Nix

Supporters of Fort Bend County brothers Trever and Troy Nehls gathered at Richmonds Freedom Hall to celebrate primary race successes on Tuesday, March 3. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls was spotted smoking a cigar after the results posted around 9 p.m. indicated he was headed to a runoff election against Kathaleen Wall on May 26 for the Republican nomination for U.S. Congressional District 22 currently held by Pete Olson, who is retiring. Election results also showed that Trever Nehls, who currently serves as Fort Bend County Constable, won the Republican party ticket for the seat soon to be vacated by his brother. But for Trever Nehls, the campaign celebration is on hold until April as hes in Kuwait on active military duty as a colonel for the U.S. Army reserves. His wife, Kerri, played host alongside her brother-in-law to the small army of supporters and campaign volunteers, many of whom went door-to-door during the campaign to talk to voters about the Nehls brothers campaigns. Troy Nehls said volunteers worked tirelessly and, in the end, delivered more than 3,000 campaign signs to Fort Bend County residents.

The experience has been completely overwhelming. Honestly, I feel humbled by the outpouring of support I received from the community, Nehls said, crediting his campaign success to a grassroot campaign effort. No one wins an election on their own and I was overwhelmed by the amount of support I received during my campaign; the hundreds of hours people gave of their time to help me has been a humbling experience. I feel truly grateful.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins has remained comfortably perched at the top of various bestsellers lists since its January 21 release and subsequent selection as the February pick for Oprah's Book Club. This success came in spite of Flatiron Books's almost immediate cancellation of Cummins's nationwide tour following threats allegedly made against the author and the booksellers hosting her. The controversy surrounding the novel, which sold for seven figures, and its author has abated somewhat since Macmillan executives met last month with a group of Latinx activists objecting to the book's stereotypical portrayals of Mexico and Mexican immigrants. Still, tonight's Oprah Winfrey interview with Cummins on Apple TV's new Oprahs Book Club streaming series may prompt another eruption of complaintsor it could mollify critics.

The two-part episode focusing on Winfrey's February selection will begin streaming on Apple TV at midnight tonight. According to Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions, and the Oprah Winfrey Network, Winfrey and Cummins will be joined in the first half of the program by Latina authors Reyna Grande, Julissa Arce, and Esther Cepeda, as well as members of the Latinx community for an in-depth discussion of the book and real-life migrant experiences that will be raw, revealing. In the second half, Winfrey will lead a discussion with Latinx people who saw themselves reflected in the book, who will share their insights into real-life migrant experiences.

In a reference to claims by her critics that Cummins had appropriated a Mexican immigrant experience that she herself has not lived, Winfrey, who selected American Dirt for her book club just as the controversy over the book was building, said that she had heard and understand the concerns and wanted to bring together many voices to lean into this conversation because for 25 years on the Oprah Show, I learned that is the only way I think we can actually gain a better understanding of one another.

The program was taped on Feb. 13 in Tucson, Ariz., with a carefully selected audience of Oprah Book Club members, who were not informed of the location of the taping until 24 hours before it took place. Attendees were asked not to tell anyone of the location, to bring only small bags or purses, and to leave cell phones in their cars. The closely guarded taping has been taken by some of the book's fiercest critics as an attempt to protect the author rather than to encourage a serious narrative.

Oprahs trying to drag the conversation back to Cummins and the white victimhood narrative, complained Roberto Lovato, a founding member of #DignidadLiteraria, the grassroots organization that emerged in response to the controversy and met with Macmillan last month. The group's representatives, Lovato told PW before the show's taping, were not invited to participate in the discussion. He added: The control and secrecy are astounding.

In an open letter to Winfrey published on Literary Hub the day before the taping of this evening's episode, #DignidadLiteraria called for Winfrey to meet with its leaders to discuss "the actual problem: the continued underrepresentation of Latinx authors in publishing and in your highly influential book club." Winfrey was also asked "not to play into tried and true narratives of white victimhood that paint Latinx people as a violent, barbarian horde of censorship" in the episode that airs tonight.

More recently, another grassroots organization of Latinx activists, Presente.org, partnered with #DignidadLiteraria to formally request that New York governor Andrew Cuomo instruct the states Human Rights Division to open an investigation into potential discrimination against Latinx people in the Big Fives hiring and employment practices, as well as in the lack of representation in books published by and about Latinx peoples. The U.S publishing industry may be systematically discriminating against Latino communities, the letter to Cuomo stated. The century-long patterns of exclusion...intimates pervasive, structural racism that the industry itself cannot be trusted to correct without supervision.
RAWLINS  Its been close to 30 years since Medicine Bow has had a police department.

Since then, the town has relied on law enforcement agencies in the surrounding area, such as Hanna and Rawlins, to help when needed.

But although the officers want to do everything they can to keep people in the county safe, theres only so much they can do if theyre miles away and response is needed immediately.

In the past when the town has needed response, were not always close by, Hanna Marshal Jeff Neimark said. The town needed someone who was readily available and can provide services to the community.

Since October, a hiring board comprised of Medicine Bow town officials, Carbon County Sheriff Archie Roybal and Neimark have been working together to hire a new police chief, the first one in the community in decades.

Medicine Bow Mayor Sharon Biamon reached out to Neimark specifically because of his extensive knowledge regarding running smaller law enforcement agencies. With the new wind energy projects in the area creating jobs, Neimark and the hiring board expected many people coming into the town that holds fewer than 300 people.

With this influx, they wanted to find a candidate who would be prepared for the small-town life, but where work still needed to be done.

The time spent on the hiring board meant not only looking at candidates, but preparing an entire office for the new chief once they arrived.

The board found a company in Salt Lake City to lease a police vehicle and install the required equipment, ordered radios and other furnishings and obtained required radio frequencies. Neimark mentioned that the board even has purchased a house for the new chief to live in.

I believe the town has been very smart in the way theyve approached hiring a new chief, he said. Buying a house was thinking outside of the box, because it shows this employee that the town cares about his well-being and wants them to stay.

While the new chief will be the only officer in town for the time being, there is a possibility that more positions could be added to the department in the future. Neimark said that the hiring board discussed this possibility and expect the new chief to assess what the town needs after some time in the position.

Like Neimark, the new Medicine Bow chief will also be a marshal, a term used in the frontier days to describe the head of law enforcement.

Ultimately, the hiring board decided on recently retired California Highway Patrol Trooper David Ridge as the new chief. Neimark believed that Ridge was beginning in the position this week, but couldnt say for sure.

Calls placed to Biamon went unreturned as of press time. Neimark praised Ridges responses and demeanor during the interview process, also touting the former troopers 25 years of experience as one of the reasons the board decided on him.

Were really excited for Medicine Bow to have such a great person who also has such a great background, he said. David has a bachelors and masters degree; he has exceptional training experience; hes always wanted to be a police chief somewhere, so I think its going to be a great working relationship with him.

Neimark expects that while law enforcement will be a portion of Ridges job in Medicine Bow, the new marshal will provide various types of community services, such as animal control or responding to life alerts.

When youre a small agency, this is a neat position to be in, he said. You can provide extra services to people who dont always have it. A lot of times, youre trying to provide resources to people and helping them get in touch with services they need. Its a very rewarding job.

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Federal prosecutors on Wednesday told a judge that they oppose Ponzi scheme kingpin Bernie Madoff's recent request for early release from prison on compassionate grounds due to his terminal kidney disease.

"The nature of Madoff's crime  unprecedented in scope and magnitude  wholly justified the 150-year sentence this Court imposed and is by itself a sufficient reason to deny Madoff's motion," prosecutors wrote in a filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

"Furthermore, since his sentencing, Madoff has demonstrated a wholesale lack of understanding of the seriousness of his crimes and a lack of compassion for his victims, underscoring that he is undeserving of compassionate release himself."

The filing by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which cited letters from some of the more than 500 victim who have written Judge Denny Chin to oppose Madoff's early release, pointedly does not dispute Madoff's claim that he could die in less than two years.

But prosecutors said that the 81-year-old's condition in a federal prison facility in North Carolina had improved since last November, when he restarted dialysis treatments.

And they noted that when Madoff was sentenced in 2009, a judge had rejected an argument by his lawyer for a 15-to-20 year sentence, which could give him a chance to die a free man, "to send a message that Madoff had been punished to the fullest extent of the law."

"Even though time has passed and Madoff may now be near the end of his life, that message is equally important," prosecutors wrote. "He should not be released."

A lawyer for Madoff, who orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in history while running Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in New York City., last month said in a court filing that the fraudster has "less than 18 months to live."

The attorney said Madoff is suffering from "numerous other serious medical conditions" including cardiovascular disease and hypertension.
The most important thing is that the party is going to respect the court order (on Oshiomholes suspension) the national working committee will meet soon on the matter, he said.
A report released late last week states Indigenous University of Winnipeg students experience some of the highest degrees of racism recorded in North America.

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This article was published 4/3/2020 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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A drum circle takes place during Assiniboine Community Colleges 2019 fall feast. (Submitted)

A report released late last week states Indigenous University of Winnipeg students "experience some of the highest degrees of racism recorded in North America."

The University of Winnipegs chair of Indigenous studies, Jacqueline Romanow, was inspired to pursue the research after a January 2015 Macleans story "Welcome to Winnipeg: Where Canadas Racism Problem is at Its Worst" by former Winnipegger Nancy Macdonald.

"There was a lot of debate going back and forth. And people said, Yes, it is. No, it isnt," she said. "It was basically people just writing based on their feelings or their own experiences or lack of those experiences. Right? So I thought it would be a good idea to actually have some quantitative data  then we would argue about whether there is or isnt."

Knowing the problem could lead to working on how to deal with it, added Romanow, who also teaches the mandatory Indigenous credit requirement the university instituted, with leadership from Indigenous students.

The study involved surveying 111 Indigenous students via an "Experiences of Discrimination Instrument," which Romanow then compared with data from a similar study out of the University of Alberta, as well as with data about the African American and Latino American experience of racism used in the Alberta study. These questions had to do with students experiences at school and outside school.

The study also asked questions about worrying about race, day-to-day unfairness and recent experiences of racism.

"I was expecting it to be high," Romanow said. I was surprised that it was as high. ... In particular, though, the most surprising thing was the amount of stories that students told me."

Romanow had included space to share stories if the students wanted to.

"And whereas not every one answered every numbered question, every one of them, 111, wrote me some story about their experiences of racism. And those were shocking," she said. "The first time I read through them all it was a lot to take. I was really emotionally overwhelmed and I felt bad."

Students hang out at the Assiniboine Community Colleges cultural centre. (Submitted)

From the moment they leave the house, an Indigenous student can experience malicious and harmful racism.

"Whether they walk or take the bus, at school and at work, in malls and restaurants, Indigenous students suffer threats, insults, ignorance, bad treatment and sometimes even violence. It is considered to be a common occurrence by far too many," Romanow stated in the report.

Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College, like the University of Winnipeg, are signatories to the December 2015 agreement: Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint for Universities, Colleges and Public School Boards: Making Excellence in Indigenous Education a Priority.

Chris Lagimodiere, director of the Indigenous Peoples Centre at Brandon University, said the university is making progress on the 10-commitment agreement, whose points centre on improving Indigenous student outcomes and cultural teachings. Since the signing, those commitments have been expanded. A university Senate sub-committee came up with 110 recommendations based on them.

The centre itself provides Indigenous students with holistic support  cultural programming and academic and social support  and it strives to make them feel like they belong. The centre is involved in partnerships with university departments and community organizations.

Lagimodieres job is also about Indigenous initiatives at the university  work related to the 10 commitments.

While Lagimodiere would not directly divulge Indigenous students experiences, he did acknowledge that he has heard similar anecdotes of racism to those Romanow outlines.

Recently, the university received a sizable donation from an alumna and her family so that it can create a transition program for Indigenous students, as well as a staff position.

"We know that, as a western, colonial institution, we do not always present a welcoming or familiar face to students with Indigenous backgrounds. I am so grateful to Daphne (Wagner) and David (Green) for their vision and their benevolence in helping us adapt to better serve these students," university president David Docherty stated in a mid-January news release.

In her interview with The Brandon Sun, Romanow spoke of that sort of thing.

"With all this talk about Indigenization in universities and colleges, some extra effort has to be put into providing supports and resources for Indigenous students and recognition for the unique struggles that they have just getting into the classroom, and that extra burden they bear," she said.

As for Brandon itself, Lagimodiere said that from what he hears, the city can be a pretty racist place.

Assiniboine Community College is a somewhat different institution. Students often stay for a shorter period of time, and the college offers community-based programs, such as at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation and Long Plain, Sandy Bay and Ebb and Flow First Nations, for which they work directly with communities. Like the university, it organizes events, such as the fall feast, and has a long list of cultural programming.

"It would be pretty naive to think that Brandon is an island onto itself and racism isnt alive and well in various forms in the community. Even in our institutions and organizations," said Kris Desjarlais, director of Indigenous education at Assiniboine Community College.

"Its there  day-to-day racism. But during the time Ive been at the college (two years), the times that blatant racism has been brought to my attention is minimal."

Desjarlais, who said racism does need to be called out, believes in fighting the stigma, discrimination and racism with positive messaging.

Romanow has a similar take on it.

"I do think that education is the answer," she said. "But, you know, just showing general respect for Indigenous people and Indigenous knowledge as a way of being is pretty important."

To see Romanows full report, visit policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Manitoba%20Office/2020/02/IndigenousStudentExpwithRacismWpg.pdf

 mletourneau@brandonsun.com

 Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.
Photo credit: Drew Angerer - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

Today, the conservative-majority Supreme Court heard a case that, depending on its ruling, holds the potential to obliterate the reproductive rights enshrined in 1973's landmark Roe v. Wade.

In the case of June Medical Services LLC v. Russo (previously v. Gee), abortion providers are challenging a 2014 Louisiana state law that requires them to have admitting privileges with a nearby hospital, or the right granted to a doctor by a hospital to have their patients admitted to that facility. This requirement, abortion providers argue, would eliminate the already-few access points to abortion in the state. Currently, there are only three abortion providers in Louisiana.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that a similar law was unconstitutional.

Four years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a nearly identical Texas law in the case of Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. Proponents of the Texas law, which included an additional stipulation that required abortion providers to meet the standards of an ambulatory surgical center, argued that these conditions would improve the health care of patients. Still, in a five-three ruling, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled the law unconstitutional for placing an "undue burden" upon those seeking abortions.



Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote of the case, "Many medical procedures, including childbirth, are far more dangerous to patients, yet are not subject to ambulatory surgical-center or hospital admitting-privileges requirements."

So then, why is the Supreme Court hearing a nearly identical case today?

"This Supreme Court case is about this Court's willingness to gut precedent, period," says Ilyse Hogue, NARAL Pro-Choice America president, in a statement to BAZAAR.com. "SCOTUS heard a case identical to this one in 2016 and the Court decided  that these states are passing laws to close clinics, at the expense of people's health, and that's unconstitutional. The single thing that has changed since then is the makeup of the Court. Nothing else."

Story continues

The Supreme Court now leans toward a conservative majority.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to overturn Roe v. Wade's epochal ruling and has worked to make good on his promise by filling the Supreme Court with conservative judges. Opportunity came early in Trump's presidency when he filled the late Antonin Scalia's seat with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017. Then, after Justice Anthony Kennedy retired a year later, Trump pushed through Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who ascended to the bench despite a history of hostility against reproductive rights and highly publicized accusations of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

"Most women are not over the travesty of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court," Hogue continues. "The fact that he will hear this case, which could bring us one step closer to decimating our rights and our freedoms, adds insult to injury."

Photo credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS - Getty Images

A district court initially struck down Louisiana's 2014 law.

In 2017, after the Supreme Court ruled that Texas's law was unconstitutional, a district court struck down the nearly identical Louisiana law, deferring to the "undue burden" precedent set in the Supreme Court's 2016 ruling. The state, however, then appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans in 2018. With a three-judge panel, the Fifth Circuit upheld Louisiana's law, a stunning rebuke of the Supreme Court's opinion just two years prior.

After the Fifth Circuit refused to rehear the case in early 2019, the Supreme Court reentered the fray, placing a temporary hold on the state's law. By October, the court announced it would be hearing the case.

"This is the same law they already considered and decided on four years ago," Kristin Ford, the national communications director of the NARAL Pro-Choice America, tells BAZAAR.com. "If in fact they changed their minds, it's a really, really troubling sign that Kavanaugh came to the bench to impose an ideological agenda. It really undermines the credibility of the court and the legitimacy of the court as an institution."

Another complication enters the mix.

In a separate petition arising from June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, the state of Louisiana is also challenging the legal right of abortion providers to sue on behalf of their patients. "There is little evidence that their patients' interests actually align with Plaintiffs' position that the burdens of such protections exceed their value," the state wrote. "On the contrary, undisputed record evidence (including of Plaintiffs' poor safety record, inadequate credentialing practices, and questionable efforts to undermine the law at issue) shows Plaintiffs are directly adverse to their patients' interests."

If the Supreme Court decides to include this request in its ruling, the future of abortion litigation would also be severely altered since abortion providers and clinics have brought forth every major abortion case after Roe v. Wade, ABC reported.

Ford adds that, depending on the Supreme Court's ruling, "This will particularly hurt low-income women, women of color, trans and nonbinary people, people in rural areas, indigenous communitieseveryone who already has a hard time accessing reproductive health care."



Photo credit: Alex Wong - Getty Images





States moved quickly to pass anti-choice legislation.

Amid the chaos in court, similarly insidious laws to that of Louisiana and Texas have been increasingly passed throughout the country, as anti-choice legislatures and politicians become more emboldened to chip away at the rights secured in Roe v. Wade. The surge of anti-choice legislationor what reproductive rights advocates call TRAP (targeted regulation of abortion providers) lawshas been primarily concentrated in the South and Midwest.

Meanwhile, more liberal states have pushed through protective measures in the case that Roe v. Wade falls. New York, for instance, passed the Reproductive Health Act in early 2019, which codifies the rights under Roe v. Wade into state law. Other protective, pro-choice policies include ending insurance coverage bans on abortion and expanding the scope of practice, or allowing qualified medical professionals to offer abortion services.

Although the landscape on reproductive rights may seem grim, advocates like Ford and Hogue encourage people to stay active and vote.

"We will be out in force for the hearing, we will be out in force for the decision, and you can be sure we will be out in force in November to hold accountable the senators who ignored our voices and installed Kavanaugh to the highest court in the land," Hogue says. "When you come for our rights, we come for your seats."

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The heritage-listed Binna Burra Lodge, ravaged by bushfires in September, will receive an extra $1.8 million in government funding to rebuild, taking the total to $3.4 million.

The rainforest lodge in the Gold Coast hinterland was reduced to a smoking shell last year after dangerous conditions prevented firefighters from getting close enough to extinguish the flames.

Queensland's treasured Binna Burra Lodge before and after a bushfire gutted the rainforest retreat in September. Credit:Binna Burra Lodge

The inferno, believed to be sparked by a discarded cigarette butt, scorched the lodge's dining area, reception and library, as well as most of its cabins. The Tea House and campground survived.

The lodge was the area's biggest employer before it burnt down during the worst start to the state's bushfire season in 130 years of records.
Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary told the media his party would be reaching out to other Opposition parties for a joint protest.

Parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi then moved a motion to suspend the members from the House for the remaining period of the Budget Session, that was passed by a voice vote amid protests by the Opposition. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Seven Congress MPs were on Thursday suspended from the Lok Sabha for the rest of the Budget Session for gross misconduct and violation of rules. The principal Opposition party was quick to term it as undemocratic, and said it would consult all other Opposition parties for a joint protest against the move.

The House has been seeing repeated disruptions since the beginning of the second half of the Budget Session on March 2, with the Opposition demanding a discussion on the Delhi riots and the government insisting that any such discussion be held only after Holi.

However, on Thursday, the Opposition agreed to a discussion on the coronavirus threat in the House in the morning. As soon as the House reassembled post-lunch, the Opposition again started demanding a discussion on the Delhi violence but the Chair pushed through passage of the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020.

Congress members were in the Well seeking suspension of Hanuman Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, a regional outfit from Rajasthan backed by the BJP, who had made certain remarks against the Gandhi family.

Earlier, during Zero Hour, when MPs across party lines were speaking on the coronavirus outbreak after health minister Harsh Vardhan had read out a statement on the issue, Mr Beniwal, participating in the discussion, said there should be a probe on whether the coronavirus was being spread from the home of Congress president Sonia Gandhi as a large number of people who were found to be affected by the virus are from Italy. As of now, 14 Italians have tested positive for coronavirus in India.

BJP MP Rama Devi, who was in the Chair, adjourned the House till 3 pm, but before that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi was seen throwing papers kept on the Lok Sabha Speakers podium. Soon after that, Rama Devi adjourned the House till 3 pm.

When the House reassembled at 3 pm, BJPs Meenakshi Lekhi, who was presiding over the House, named seven Congress MPs  Gaurav Gogoi, T.N. Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Manicka Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan, Benny Behanan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla.

Parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi then moved a motion to suspend the members from the House for the remaining period of the Budget Session, that was passed by a voice vote amid protests by the Opposition.

That this House, having taken serious note of gross misconduct of these members utter disregard to the House and authority of the Chair and having been named by the Speaker, resolve that these members be suspended from the service of the House from the remainder of the session, Mr Joshi said, reading out the motion.

Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary told the media his party would be reaching out to other Opposition parties for a joint protest. We will be talking with them over the phone and I think all the Opposition parties... we are in the same voice, none of the Opposition parties will allow this government, who are hell bent of throttling the voice of the Opposition parties. We wouldnt budge from our own demand that the Delhi riot issue has to be discussed inside Parliament. It is our legitimate right, it is our moral duty, that is why we have been elected as members of Parliament, we have been elected by the people to raise the concern, apprehension of the common people of our country, he said.

The Rajya Sabha too was adjourned for the day after a discussion on the coronavirus outbreak.
After a lull for four days, an incident of violence was reported during curfew hours on the outskirts of the Meghalaya capital here on Thursday, while curfew was relaxed at many places and mobile internet services were restored in all the six districts where it was withdrawn, police said.

Miscreants hurled stones at a taxi in the Nongmynsong area on the outskirts of the state capital while the night curfew was on, the police said, adding that the vehicle was partially damaged in the incident.

Shillong and its outskirts under East Khasi Hills district are under a night curfew since Saturday.

However, curfew was lifted at Nongmynsong at 6 am till further orders, officials said.

Unidentified men attempted to torch a car at the Umsning bypass in Ri-Bhoi district, partially damaging the vehicle, the police said.

Currently, there is no night curfew in Ri-Bhoi district.

Mobile internet and messaging services, which were withdrawn in six districts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region on Friday night, were restored at 10 am, the police said.

Meanwhile, curfew has been relaxed in Shillong and other areas of the state, and law-enforcing authorities are keeping a close watch on the situation.

Curfew imposed in the Iew Duh market area on Saturday afternoon was lifted for seven hours at 6 am.

Curfew has also been relaxed in the Police Bazaar and Anjali Cinema areas from 9 am till 4 pm, Assistant Inspector General of Police G Iangrai said in a statement.

Two persons were killed in separate incidents of attacks by miscreants, after a rally organised by the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) at Ichamati against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and to demand the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) was targeted by a group of people on Friday, killing a KSU member.

A 28-year-old man was stabbed with a broken bottle by an unidentified miscreant and shops rented to businessmen were set on fire in Photkroh town in South West Khasi Hills district on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An official from the Mangyongdae District emergency anti-epidemic headquarters disinfects a tramcar to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Songsan Tram Station in Pyongyang on Feb. 26, 2020. (Kim Won Jin/AFP via Getty Images)

North Korea Quarantines 7,000 to Prevent Coronavirus Outbreak: Report

North Korea has placed at least 7,000 people under quarantine in an attempt to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, according to reports.

Thousands in the countrys Kangwon and North and South Pyongan provinces have reportedly been placed under quarantine, according to Lee Eun-Jae, a representative of South Koreas United Future Party, who cited information from the Seouls National Intelligence Service.

While North Korea has not yet confirmed the outbreak in the country, South Korea is closely monitoring the situation as people are put under quarantine in Gangwon and Pyongan Provinces, he said, according to South Koreas Yonhap News Agency.

There are possibilities that North Koreans who visited China before the borders were closed may have been infected with the virus, he added.

The dynastic totalitarian dictatorship in North Korea has not confirmed any cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus which originated in neighboring China, but it has put in place high-intensity measures that the countrys state media says are to prevent coronavirus infections.

These measures include a ban on foreign tourists, reinforced border checks, and the suspension of most air and rail travel within and out of the country. State media KCNA also said a that month-long quarantine period had been imposed on people showing symptoms of the virus.

As the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea soared to 5,766 Thursday morning, including 35 deaths, experts have become increasingly concerned that Pyongyang is covering-up cases and deaths.

There is no way that North Korea is not being impacted by the coronavirusthey are clearly lying as they dont want to show any weakness or that there is any threat to the regime, Harry Kazianis, director of Korean Studies at the Center for National Interest, told Fox News last month.

Considering how there are many porous sections of the North Korea-China borderand how the Kim regime depends on illegal trade to surviveit is clear the virus has come to North Korea, he added.

Im 100 percent sure that North Korea already has infected patients, Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea expert at South Koreas Korea University, told AP.

He added that North Korea would be helpless if it were to suffer an outbreak similar to South Korea.

Meanwhile, a World Health Organization (WHO) official has said there are no indications of any cases of the new coronavirus in North Korea.

At the moment there are no signals, there are no indications we are dealing with any COVID-19 there, Dr. Mike Ryan, head of WHOs emergencies programme, told a news conference in Geneva on Feb. 18.

Ryan said WHO officials had no reason to believe that there are any specific issues going on in North Korea.

KCNA said Kim on Feb. 29 discussed enforcing top-class anti-epidemic steps to prevent the spread of the virus.

In case the infectious disease spreading beyond control finds its way into our country, it will entail serious consequences, Kim was quoted as telling the meeting of the ruling Workers Partys powerful politburo. No special cases must be allowed within the state anti-epidemic system.

He instructed the officials to seal off all the channels and space through which the infectious disease may find its way, and strengthen check-up, test and quarantine, KCNA added.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hours after New Jerseys first confirmed case of the coronavirus was confirmed as a Fort Lee resident, the boroughs mayor said the patient is a healthcare worker from New York City who had an apartment in town.

In Borough Hall Thursday afternoon, Mayor Mark Sokolich said the patient, a 32-year-old man whose name has not been made public, lives in New York with his family, but maintained an apartment in Fort Lee.

"While in Fort Lee this individual had no known contact with any other individuals, Sokolich said.

The man has no school-aged children, said Sokolich, and had not visited any level-3 countries - which have widespread or ongoing community spread of the virus. The patient had not used public transportation and had driven his own car to town, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said at the same event.

The mayors comments add more details to the states first confirmed case of the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China and has infected more than 93,000 worldwide. The virus has already claimed the lives of 3,100 across the globe. It has infected 99 people in the U.S. and killed 10, according to the CDC, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The man first felt ill on Sunday, officials said.

The next day, Monday, the man drove to New Jersey and still felt sick before seeking treatment Monday night. The man went alone to the apartment he maintains in Fort Lee, and lives on the first floor, Sokolich said. The mans apartment building does not have an elevator, he said.

"During the course of this entire day, your mind wanders, Sokolich said. We were preparing for worst case scenarios. We were preparing for high-rises. We were preparing for schools. Fortunately the circumstances confirmed were not required to deal with any of that.

Sokolich confirmed that in the past 14 days, the man was only in town for that one day.

That one isolated evening was his appearance here in Fort Lee, he said.

The Fort Lee press event occurred minutes after Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who is the states acting governor as Gov. Phil Murphy recovers from surgery, announced the states second presumptive case of coronavirus. That patient is from Englewood.

While he said the chance of contracting the coronavirus was very low, Tedesco said that precautions are being taken in Bergen County. Like many school districts across the state, Bergen county schools were canceling all overseas travel, he said.

Additionally, Tedescos office put out a statement warning county residents of stores that are price gouging as the frenzy to purchase cleaning and disinfectant products such as hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes increases.

Sokolich warned the community that acts of bias in town would not be tolerated and that any such instances should be reported immediately. But otherwise, Fort Lee was business as usual, he said

Fort Lee is open for business, Sokolich said. "Were continuing to conduct our lives.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich addresses the media March 5, 2020.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, enter your email address below.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

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When the novel coronavirus outbreak hit China in late December and January, the government sprang into crisis mode. Hard-hit cities like Wuhan, where the outbreak began, went into complete lockdown. Millions worked from home or self-quarantined for weeks on end. New hospitals were built in a matter of days to treat the sheer number of patients. People who broke quarantine rules or lied about their travel history were detained.

Soon, the virus spread over the globe, with many countries banning movement of citizens to some ordering sanitisation of public spaces.

Take a look.

South Korean soldiers in protective gears sanitise shacks as a luxury high-rise apartment complex is seen in the background at Guryong village in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Heo Ran/Reuters

Students sit apart from each other as they do self-study at an elementary school where the facility was opened for children who cannot stay at home alone while their parents are at work, in Nagoya, central Japan. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

A guest peers out from a window at H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel, which is on lockdown after the novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Adeje, in the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain. Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters

Workers with protective face masks on ride smart self-balancing scooters as they control a robotic sprayer spraying disinfectant at a residential compound in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Hubei province, China. Photograph: China Daily/Reuters

Vehicle Maintenance Utility Service Worker Thiphavanh 'Loui' Thepvongsa wipes down an off-duty bus with a disinfectant during a routine cleaning at the King County Metro Atlantic and Central Base in Seattle, Washington, US. Photograph: Jason Redmond/Reuters

A woman stands near a Coronavirus 'pod' at a hospital in London, Britain. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Tourists queue to enter the Louvre as the staff closed the museum during a staff meeting about the coronavirus outbreak, in Paris, France. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

Men ear protective face masks following the coronavirus outbreak, as they pray on a street during Friday prayers in local souq, in Manama, Bahrain. Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

A man in a protective suit sanitises a water taxi as part of measures to try and contain a coronavirus outbreak, in Venice, Italy. Photograph: Manuel Silvestri/Reuters
bb wrote:

Hi. Congrats! Do any of these schools/programs offer a STEM degree you could leverage?



Posted from my mobile device

Hi, thank you.UC Davis just started offering STEM and GWU does not have STEM.What do you think which program is better for an international student with tech background aiming for managerial role in the tech industry?Also, though I have not received the decision yet, if I am admitted to UC Irvine, which one would be better for me?I would appreciate any advice.
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The bridge on one of the most prestigious ocean liners ever to sail the high seas has been opened to the public for the first time in its 52-year history.

Visitors are now able to explore the command room on Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), where access was once only reserved for senior crew or VVIPS.

It is also the first time that the ship, which is now a floating hotel in Dubai, has offered daily tours since it launched in 1967.

The bridge on the QE2, which has been opened to the public for the first time in its 52-year history. The ship is now a floating hotel in Dubai

The bridge, where the captain controlled the ship, has been left almost intact since the vessel retired from service in 2008

The QE2 was registered in Southampton and operated from 1967 to 2008. In 2007, the Gulf emirate of Dubai bought the vessel for $100million from Cunard Line

The bridge, where the captain controlled the ship, has been left almost intact since the vessel retired from service in 2008.

Visitors to the bridge are able to get up close and personal with the maritime equipment that the crew used to cross the Atlantic 812 times and circumnavigate the world 25 times.

They can stand at the helm where 25 of the QE2's captains stood before and find out what happened when a 40-foot wave engulfed the bow of the ship.

They can also discover where the crew would work out how to navigate the oceans before modern technology replaced traditional map reading.

The captain's day room, the chart room, the flag room and the chief crew captain's offices, where plans to avert crisis would take place and where the captain would entertain the world's most notable passengers, can also be discovered.

Guests might also like to take a selfie from the bridge with the skyline of Dubai in the distance.

The QE2 was originally registered in Southampton and operated from 1967 to 2008.

Guests might like to take a selfie from the bridge with the skyline of Dubai in the distance

In its heyday, the QE2 was capable of a top speed of 39mph and carried a total of 1,892 passengers, along with 1,040 officers and crew

When she was retired she had completed 1,400 voyages, covered a distance of six million nautical miles and hosted almost 2.5million passengers

Captain Robin Woodall, master of the QE2, on the bridge of the ship as it was sailed into Liverpool as part of Cunard's birthday celebrations in July 1990

Weighing 48,923 tons, the vessel is 963ft long, 105ft wide and 171ft tall.

In its heyday, she was capable of a top speed of 39mph and carried a total of 1,892 passengers along with 1,040 officers and crew.

Before being refitted with a diesel power plant in 1986, she was the last oil-fired passenger liner to cross the Atlantic in scheduled service.

When she was retired she had completed 1,400 voyages, covered a distance of six million nautical miles and hosted almost 2.5million passengers.

The ship boasts 224 rooms and suites, a spa, a theatre, a selection of bars and restaurants and a shopping arcade

In the deluxe rooms on board the floating hotel, the original porthole windows remind guests of the ship's seafaring days

In 2007, the Gulf emirate of Dubai bought the QE2 for $100million from Cunard.

It is now a floating hotel that is permanently moored in Mina Rashid port.

The ship boasts 224 rooms and suites, a spa, a theatre, a selection of bars and restaurants and a shopping arcade.

Tours of the bridge are available daily and pre-booking is essential. The cost of a tour starts from 28.




Coronavirus

South Africas health minister, Zweli Mkhize on Thursday confirmed that the country has recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus.

The Minister said the virus was brought into the country by a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy.

It is the first case in southern Africa and the latest confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Senegal.

This morning, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.

A report by AFP revealed that the case was detected in the countrys eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.

The patient and his wife were part of a group of 10 people who arrived back in South Africa from Italy on March 1.

Two days later, on March 3, he consulted a private general practitioner with a fever, headache, sore throat and a cough.

Italy has emerged as the European hotspot for the deadly virus with the national death toll at 107, the deadliest outbreak outside China.

More than 90,000 people have been infected and over 3,000 killed worldwide since the virus first emerged in China in December.

South Africa is preparing to repatriate 184 of its citizens  comprising students, teachers and other professionals working in Chinas Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic.

The governments information department also announced that two South Africans working on the cruise ship Diamond Princess who had initially tested positive for the virus, have now tested negative and will shortly be making their way home.
If alcohol is legal, tobacco is legal and cannabis is too, another substance scientists say is far less harmful and far more useful should be up for consideration as well.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) are calling on the federal government to legalize a queer sex drug commonly called poppers.

Poppers, the non-scientific name for products with alkyl nitrites, are commonly used by gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, usually to enhance their sexual experience.

Poppers were never formally legal. Nor were they illegal. Since the 1970s, they were marketed in liquid form as leather cleaners, fresheners or polish removers. However, instead of regulating the market, Health Canada under Stephen Harpers Conservatives cracked down on it in 2013. It made sales of poppers punishable by up to three years in jail and fines of up to $5,000.

Products containing alkyl nitrites may pose serious risks, including death, Health Canadas website says. Since it is difficult to control how much is inhaled, people can accidentally overdose.

But a research scientist who led a new study on perspectives of young men who have used poppers told the Star, Canada has a regulatory framework that is maximizing harms associated with a substance rather than minimizing them.

Rod Knight, an assistant professor at UBCs Department of Medicine, says unlike other substances, the effects of poppers are short-lived and overdosing is unheard of.

The study titled Poppers, queer sex and a Canadian crackdown: Examining the experiences of alkyl nitrite use among young sexual minority men was published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Drug Policy.

It offers a qualitative analysis based on 50 in-depth interviews with Vancouver men aged 15 to 30 who researchers label sexual minority. The participants came from a cross-section of racial backgrounds including white, 2-spirit Indigenous, Black, Latin American and Asians of various backgrounds. The interviews were conducted in 2018 and 2019.

The researchers wrote they were struck by the extent to which the men aligned their identities with this drug.

A lot of the guys who are using when theyre having sex are what we refer to as the bottoms  theyre the receptive partner, said Knight. They said in order for them to have sex that doesnt hurt, they need to take this substance. When inhaled, poppers give users a rush but they also relax muscles and prevent tearing during sex.

The study found that while poppers play an important role in the experience of sexual pleasure and the ability to reduce harms during anal sex, federal regulations were putting these men at risk by forcing them to buy potentially unsafe products from unregulated sources.

Some men told researchers they would order a bottle online, have it shipped to a post office box in the U.S. and then bring it across the border. This is not a crime: alkyl nitrites are not a controlled substance, possession is not a crime.

Not everyone is comfortable having to find these roundabout ways to find poppers.

I have purchased them off, of, like, people will advertise them on Craigslist and on Grindr and SCRUFF, one participant told them. Its a bit uncomfortable for me cause it kind of feels a, like, a little bit drug dealer-ish.

The bottles can come with labels that look fake, and users cant be certain of the authenticity. They are inhaling it. So there are risks associated with it, Knight said.

No drug  not even mundane old acetaminophen (such as in Tylenol)  is without a downside.

Knight says if done from a formulation thats safe, there are no side effects to poppers. Some guys say its given them a headache. Some, over a long period of time, develop retinal maculopathy, or blurred vision, but that comes from a particular formulation of poppers.

The trouble is there isnt a lot of data on either potential side effects and harms or benefits.

In Canada, we dont have a regulated supply, so I dont know if users are taking that type or if theyre taking something safe, Knight said.

A separate survey of popper use by Vancouvers Community Based Research Centre (CBRC) before the ban found between 20 and 30 per cent of sexual minority men used it. Some seven years later, the percentages are still the same. If the ban was intended to stop people from using it, it hasnt worked.

Because poppers are so predominantly linked to queer lifestyles, they have flown under the radar of our largely heterosexual society.

This also begs the question: how much of Health Canadas edict is ideologically motivated against gay culture stemming from stereotypes about gay drug abuse and gay promiscuity, and how much comes from safety concerns?

That decision, says Knight, is a bit of a black box. We only know about it from talking to folks in the community. To date, theres been very little transparency around it.

In response to questions from the Star on Monday, Health Canada pointed to various links on its website, and asked for more time to respond but did not respond by Thursday.

Young gay men are confused about the crackdown. They expressed a lot of confusion around why this drug they derive so much value from and they see so little harm associated with it ... why would it be banned in Canada, Knight said.

If poppers are to be regulated, they need to undergo a formal review by Health Canada and be guided by peer-reviewed data.

Its time for Health Canada to initiate a review and come to a decision on how this can be safely regulated, Knight said. Otherwise, its just creating context where harms are going to be maximized.
BEIJING  To keep his 40 employees indoors and away from Chinas virus outbreak, the manager of an electronics factory in Dongguan, near Hong Kong, says he hired a cook and arranged dormitories for them.

Cjtouch Electronic Co., which makes smartphone touch screens, is one of thousands of manufacturers trying to protect employees while they gradually reopen after anti-virus controls shut down much of the worlds second-largest economy.

We have adopted strict prevention measures, said its general manager, Zhang Feng.

Trying to curb the soaring cost of anti-virus controls, the ruling Communist Party has told local officials in areas deemed at low disease risk to help reopen factories that make the worlds smartphones, toys and other consumer goods.

They were idled when Beijing extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep workplaces empty in hopes of containing the virus that emerged in central China in December. Offices, restaurants, cinemas and shopping malls also were closed.

Officials have orders to prevent a spike in infections as millions of workers who returned to their hometowns for the holiday flow back to Chinas southeastern factory belt and big eastern cities.

Following government instructions, factory operators are buying face masks by the thousands and jugs of disinfectant. Employees are scrutinized for the viruss telltale fever.

Some manufacturers bar outsiders. Others remain closed due to a lack of employees or raw materials.

Cjtouch is in Guangdong province, home to thousands of export-driven factories. It is back to 90% of normal production, Zhang said. In the three weeks since it reopened employees have used more than 3,000 masks, he said.

We hired someone to cook for employees so they dont need to eat outside and persuaded them to stay in dormitories and not go out, Zhang said.

The government has told anyone who can work from home to stay there, but factories need employees on their assembly lines.

Some still are stranded in their hometowns by the suspension of bus and train service or curbs on leaving areas deemed at high disease risk.

Mingliang Electronics Co. in the eastern city of Weifang in Shandong province resumed work this week with 20 of its 30 employees, said a manager who would give only her surname, Liu. The company makes circuit boards for U.S., European, South Korean and Japanese customers.

The rest cannot make it due to restrictions on movement ordered by local authorities in the countryside, said Liu.

Those who are at work wear masks and are checked twice a day for fever, Liu said.

We keep the place clean by disinfecting three times a day, mopping the floor and wiping computer screens with disinfectant, she said. We ordered nearly 2,000 masks for employees.

The Yayuan Toy Factory, which makes plastic cars in the southeastern city of Yiwu, a hub for export manufacturers, still is shut down due to virus fears and the difficulty of finding employees, according to its owner, Cui Ting.

Cui said his workforce of 12 went home to Shanxi province in western China and Guizhou in the southeast for the holiday and have yet to return.

We havent resumed production yet, because I still worry about the infection risk due to asking my employees to travel, said Cui.

Cui said he expects to get new orders in a few weeks but is in no hurry.

Life matters more, said Cui.

Despite the renewed activity, forecasters say Chinas economic growth will be flat to negative for the three months ending in March, a marked decline from the previous quarters 6% growth.

UBS estimates factory output expanded only 1.2% in January and February from a year earlier. UBS economists Ning Zhang and Tao Wang say exports probably fell 17%.

Travel disruptions also are raising costs for manufacturers that have to pay higher wages to get or keep scarce employees.

The government has promised tax breaks, low-interest loans and other aid, but it is unclear how many companies might shut down for good due to the burden of paying rent and other expenses with no revenue.

Yinhong Protective Product Co. in the city of Xiantao in Hubei, the province at the center of the outbreak, is paying super high wages of up to 1,800 yuan ($250) a day to attract workers, said its sales manager, Chen Jihao.

Demand for masks, protective clothing and disinfectant is soaring, but producers arent reaping a windfall. Chen said Yinhongs output has increased by 20% to 1.2 million masks per day, but the government pays below-market prices.

Cjtouch in Dongguan kept paying employees during the shutdown, Zhang said.

Lesen Xiping Electronics Co. in the southern province of Hunan, which makes cosmetics equipment, is paying more for labor and for materials including LED display panels, said its sales manager, Flora Fang.

We are paying extra to keep workers under the current circumstances, Fang said.

The company, which exports to the United States, Germany and Mexico, requires its workforce of 20 to wear masks and disinfects its factory daily.

We do hope that everything will return to normal by the end of April, she said.

___

AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed.

___

The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A suspect has been charged in connection with the death of a man whose body was found in a rural area of Jackson County on Sunday.

Raymond Lawrence Talley, a 27-year-old from Woodville, is charged with murder, possession of methamphetamine, illegal possession of a firearm and four counts of altering a serial number on a firearm, according to the Jackson County sheriffs office. Hes held in the Jackson County jail without bail set, records show.

If convicted, Talley faces up to life in prison.

Talley is charged in the death of Charles David McEwen, a 36-year-old local man whose body was found in a wooded area of the Estillfork community on Sunday afternoon. The Jackson County sheriffs office is investigating McEwens death as a homicide.

Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen declined to comment on the cause of death, a motive for the killing or the circumstances leading up to the homicide.

Further information wasnt immediately available.
Bill Clinton has described his affair with Monica Lewinsky as one of the ways he managed his anxieties.

The former president discusses his infidelity as such in Hillary, a new documentary series coming to Hulu this Friday.

At one point, hes asked: Why do you think you took that risk with your marriage and your child and your country?

Everybodys life has pressures and disappointments, terrors, fears of whatever, he says in part in his response.

Things I did to manage my anxieties for years. Im a different, totally different person than I was, a lot of that stuff 20 years ago.

Clinton also says he regrets the toll that the headline-making affair has taken on Lewinskys life, stating: I feel terrible about the fact that Monica Lewinskys life was defined by it  unfairly, I think.

Over the years Ive watched her trying to get a normal life back again. But youve got to decide how to define normal.

Hillary, out on 6 March and described by Hulu as remarkably intimate portrait of a public woman, will consist of four episodes.

The programme documents her life and political ascent from First Lady of Arkansas to Senator, Senator, Secretary of State, and ultimately, presidential candidate.
Firefighters battle 3-alarm fire at apartments that caught fire Wednesday Kansas City firefighters are battling a fire Wednesday night at the Willow Creek Apartments where crews battled a multi-alarm fire last night.Fire crews were called at 9:34 p.m. to the 100 of West 99th Terrace on the fire.

It'll be windy and try tomorrow as well . . . Here's the latest on tonight's local blaze and more deets about a weather service warning . . . Read more:
As a 19-year-old Marine, I received a meritorious commendation for designing a logistics system and process for embarkation, which allowed for our unit to be deployed faster. Compiling and maintaining logistics support data, calculating combat logistics support requirements, and coordinating combat logistics functions to support Marine Corps operations and deployments were an emerging field made more difficult prior to the prevalence of computer systems. I have had a lifelong fascination with systems and processes ever since.

Systems and processes are what makes everything work, from the most complex to the seemingly insignificant. A system consists of interconnected and interdependent components organized to accomplish a specific goal. The processes are the things you do in order to make any given system work most efficiently. In education, all schools, regardless of where they are located, are very dependent on systems and processes for success.

So why are teachers frequently often left out of the process? In the last six years, student discipline has been one of the major issues in Tennessee that educators cite as an issue that we must address. Common sense would indicate that more teacher participation in student discipline issues might improve job satisfaction, address teacher retention, and solve more student behavioral issues. Student discipline is one of the major reasons why teachers say they are leaving the profession. All educators understand that students will misbehave. However, classroom teachers hope that they have an administrator who reinforces and supports their authority to maintain discipline in the classroom.

Unfortunately, not having a high-quality administrator at every school often means good discipline is even more difficult. Teachers set the discipline for their classrooms, but administrators set the culture for their school. Administrators that do not support classroom teachers and set lenient discipline policies end up creating learning environments where unruly students take away from students who wish to learn.

In order to maintain control in the classroom, policies must be clearly defined. Lets be clear, todays infractions are not chewing gum, being out of a seat, or throwing paper. Reports include offenses of a sexual nature, cursing teachers, fights, and sometimes even worse. Frequently students are allowed to do things in school that could land them in jail when, and if, they graduate. Student discipline is now a time-consuming and exasperating issue, and teacher input has rarely been solicited.

Superintendents of School and Boards of Education can establish policies that can improve the process. One thing is certain - all it takes is one rebellious student who gets his or her way, day after day, to destroy a classroom. When processes are flawed, systems inadvertently fail. We should all want to create a system that serves our students and to do that we must get the discipline process right. Creating a more integrated system is what House Bill 2134/Senate Bill 2252 will do for our schools in Tennessee. The legislation already has nearly 60 sponsors in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

The legislation, known as the Teachers Discipline Act, authorizes a teacher to manage the teachers classroom, discipline students, and refer a student to the principal or the principals designee to maintain discipline in the classroom. The legislation authorizes a teacher to remove a student from the classroom whose behavior interferes with the learning process, violates the student code of conduct, or poses a safety threat. Establishes the process for a students removal and return to the classroom.

Critics want to play on the fear that some teachers will simply remove all students from their classrooms. It is clear this scare tactic is promulgated by those who have neither read the legislation or do not comprehend it. Three safety features are built into this process: 1) The LEA itself establishes the process, which includes adherence to federal and state laws; 2) The principal still ultimately makes the decision on student removal; 3) Students themselves are afforded an opportunity to explain the situation. States like Georgia, Texas, and Florida already have much more robust and stricter laws to address student discipline. It is worth noting that in Georgia, suspension and expulsion rates have now decreased in recent years.

Children cannot learn in a classroom where their teachers spend a significant amount of time dealing with student discipline issues. It can be unsafe, for the teacher and the other students, and significantly disrupts the learning environment. In Who Killed School Discipline? author Kay Hymowitz wrote: When students believe that the adults around them are not only fair but genuinely concerned with protecting them, the school can become a community that, like a good family, inspires affection, trust. We need a better process for our discipline issues to create a better public-school system. House Bill 2134/Senate Bill 2252 is a step in the right direction.

----

JC Bowman is the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville.



* * *

As a credentialed federal agent, I authored an Appeals System for the Depart of Defense that eventually appeared, in part, as a Presidential Executive Order.



Having said that and having read the complete text of the proposed House Bill 2134/Senate Bill 2252, it is/they are nothing but an Appeals level for misbehaving students that will saddle our teachers with yet another extracurricular task. As if they didnt have enough to do...



If passed as written, the Bill will create an Administrator's Dreammore expensive administrators and more work for teachers that has nothing to do with student in-class discipline. Worse yet, the Bill would force teachers to accept back into their classrooms those misbehaving students whom they have rejected at least twice.



With decades of personal experience with misconduct followed by appeals, two things quickly occur; (1) lawyers become involved, and, (2) the miscreant suddenly becomes well-groomed with hair cut, dressed in a suit and tie or modest feminine attire while being on their best behavior. Triune Appeals Panels, under any name or guise, are too easily swayed by those actions and put the teacher in jeopardy  and afraid to go through the process again (or just plain give up in disgust).



This Bill is nothing but Feels-Good Legislation.



R. Roland Smith

Chattanooga




















Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Ukrainians to make fewer trips abroad and focus on domestic tourism due to the spread of the coronavirus in the world.

He said this during a visit to the medical center of the National Guard of Ukraine in the village of Novi Sanzhary in Poltava region, where the 14-day observation period for Ukrainians and foreigners evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan ended on Thursday, the press service of the head of state reported.

"Compared to many European countries, we have the smallest number of these cases, and we are controlling it. We have a beautiful country. We have many places where you can rest properly until this story is over," Zelensky said.

On March 5, the Ukrainian Health Ministry completed the observation of Ukrainians and citizens of eight countries evacuated from China. Laboratory tests showed that all people under observation in the Novi Sanzhary medical center were not infected with the Covid-19 virus.

Forty-five Ukrainians and 27 foreign nationals (from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Israel, Montenegro, and Panama) were transported to Ukraine on February 20 by a SkyUp Airlines aircraft from the Chinese city of Wuhan and placed in observatory at the medical center of the National Guard of Ukraine in Novi Sanzhary. A total of 94 people were under observation, including the crew and accompanying persons.

The coronavirus outbreak has killed 3,285 people and infected 95,416 worldwide as of March 5, 2020. Some 53,278 patients (55.6%) have recovered.

Outside China, 14,850 cases were recorded in 74 countries, not including Ukraine.

op
(Alliance News) - PME African Infrastructure Opportunities PLC on Thursday said it will hold a shareholder meeting in April to pursue a delisting from AIM.

PME said a meeting was initially scheduled for February 4, allowing for the delisting to become effective on February 12, if the shareholder backed the proposal.

PME added that the Qatar Investment Authority, its largest shareholder, called for the company to delay the meeting. QIA said this would allow it "additional time to consider the delisting".

If the resolution is passed during the April 7 extraordinary general meeting, PME will delist with effect April 17.

Shares in the company were untraded in London on Thursday, last quoted at USD0.04 each.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Former Solicitor General Harish Salve expressing his opinion in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act said the principle of equality does not mean that every law must have universal application.

Salve in an article in a leading national daily said the principle of equality would not result in taking away the power of making classification from the state.

"If a law deals equally with members of a defined class, it is not open to the charge of denial of equal protection on the ground that it has no application to other persons," said Salve citing that CAA's avowed objective is to enable conferment of Indian citizenship upon members of minority communities who hail from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

He rubbished the criticism against CAA being anti-Muslim.

Salve said there is no law, rule or notification published -- or even a draft circulated -- that would suggest that the government has any intent, which is to send out Muslims from India.

"The Prime Minister has denied it. If any procedure put in place requires Muslims alone all over India to prove their citizenship in a manner more onerous than that applicable to any other community, such a procedure would be unconstitutional," he added.

Salve insisted that classification on the basis of religion is not per se unconstitutional, as the Constitution confers special rights upon members of minority religious communities in India.

He said if the law was broader and allowed members of all religious communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to migrate into India, then there was no need of borders.

He added that the citizenship of a country is presently based on similar principles followed in almost all countries, which are governed through rule of law.

Detailing on acquiring citizenship, he said it is by birth, descent, naturalization or when territories are acquired, and people are categorised illegal migrants after they enter a country without necessary permission, and then they are liable to face deportation.

He insisted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016. After this, the Bill, for further scrutiny, was referred to a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament. This committee recommended the Bill in its report on January 4, 2019.

"The controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act appears to simmer -- and of late has led to communal riots. I have failed hopelessly to comprehend what the controversy is all about," said Salve in the article.

Detailing on the procedure of deportation, Salve said that illegal migrants are deported under the Foreigners Act 1946 and the Citizenship Act 1955.

He added that according to the law of 1946 and 1955 Muslim migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh can be deported, but if CAA was taken away, then Muslims from Bangladesh or from other country who have been identified as illegal migrants would be liable to be deported similar to illegal migrants who are Sikh, Buddhist or Christian.

Salve said it is difficult to accept the criticism of CAA as being discriminatory in nature, as it is a law which is designed to confer the benefit on an identified class of persons, and which identification is based on a rational criterion.

He reiterated that CAA is not discriminatory on the ground that the legislation could have created a wider class, arrived at by applying a broader criterion for identifying the class of those who would benefit by the legislation.

Citing the demographic consequences of the Bangladesh war in the northeast, which led to Assam Accord, Salve said this resulted in the enactment of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, which further convoluted the process to identify and remove illegal migrants.

"This law was successfully challenged by those who claimed that it was a betrayal of the Assam Accord -- the Supreme Court in Sonowal's case, taking the government to task for its failure to identify and deport illegal migrants -- it is in this case that the idea of a detention centre was mooted," added Salve.

Detailing on National Register of Indian citizens, he added that rules were framed in 2003 after the process of enumeration, throughout the country in a house-to-house approach, where doubtful cases were selected for further inquiry. And these rules have existed since then, but have not been operationalized yet.

Salve emphasized that even the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that what is better for the country should be left with the government to determine which of many possible schemes is the best for the people of the country.

"Do we really need proof that minorities are persecuted in these Islamic republics? How can Parliament be faulted for coming to a conclusion that such minorities in the three named neighbours need to be protected?" questioned Salve.

He reiterated that even more tenuous argument is finding discrimination as the law does not extend to every citizen of every country (or some countries) who has suffered religious persecution.

Salve also added that special measures taken to address demographic distortions caused by the Bangladesh conflict in defined geographic areas could not become template for the rest of the country.

Concluding the article, Salve said: "Polarisation between castes and religions is as old at least as the notion of modern India.

"I also find a growing polarisation between those who have enjoyed the perquisites of power over decades and between those who have replaced them. Add to this mix the fact that certain ideologies which are but dust on the bookshelves of political history in the countries of their origin continue to be romanced by intellectuals, some of whom dominate civil society and civil discourse."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At least two people were taken to hospitals following a five-vehicle pileup that caused extensive traffic delays on the Brooklyn-bound Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Thursday morning.

A person was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn and a second person was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze from a crash called at about 9:55 a.m. on the bridge, according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.

Five vehicles were involved in a collision midspan on the Brooklyn-bound upper level roadway, according to a spokeswoman for the MTA.

The HOV and an adjacent lane were closed during the emergency response. The lower level remained open to drivers. All lanes were reopened to traffic after an hour, at about 10:55 a.m., according to the MTA spokeswoman.

FDNY and EMS responded to the scene.

A person also was transported to Maimonides following a crash reported on the span about 45 minutes earlier, at 9:17 a.m. , according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.
People pass a sign for JPMorgan Chase at its headquarters in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase has begun sending hundreds of its traders and salespeople in New York and London to backup locations as Wall Street girds itself for the coronavirus. The bank plans on moving approximately half its sales and trading staff in New York and London to a pair of backup locations near each city, retaining the other half at the main headquarters, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Employees in New York may be sent to offices in Brooklyn or New Jersey, the person said. "We are starting to shift people as a precautionary measure at this stage, and one that we are beginning now as a way to ensure seamless execution over time," JPMorgan executives said Thursday in a staff memo. "Dividing our workforce into different locations improves our ability to serve clients continuously while reducing the health risks associated with physical contact should a case arise."

The move is the most high-profile example to date of the steps banks are taking to protect workers and prevent business disruptions amid the coronavirus outbreak. It appears that the virus has begun to impact the industry's employees: in London, HSBC cleared out a section of its Canary Wharf offices after a research department employee fell ill. In the U.S., Amazon and Facebook have both said that workers in Seattle have caught the coronavirus.

Working from home
Ceasefire came into effect after midnight in Idlib amid reports of fresh violence between Turkish and Syrian troops.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have announced a military ceasefire in Idlib, after a meeting in Moscow that lasted six hours.

Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria, has witnessed increased violence and bloodshed since last December, the start of a Russia-backed Syrian offensive to regain control over the region.

At 00.01 tonight, as in, from midnight, the ceasefire will be put in place, Erdogan told reporters on Thursday in the Russian capital.

Erdogan added that Turkey, which has sent thousands of troops into Idlib to repel the Syrian army, would not remain silent if Syrian government forces continued attacks and warned that Ankara would retaliate with full force.

Putin said Russia did not always agree with its Turkish partners but hoped the deal will serve as a good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to [the] suffering of [the] civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis.

Even as the ceasefire came into effect, Turkeys state-owned Anadolu news agency reported early on Friday that Turkish forces killed 21 Syrian troops and destroyed two artillery pieces and two missile launchers, in retaliation of the killing of two Turkish soldiers in Idlib earlier on Thursday.





Since last December, more than 300 civilians, including at least 100 children, have been killed in Idlib.

Nearly one million people have been internally displaced to the border with Turkey, most of them forced to camp out in the open  the worst humanitarian crisis in Syrias nine-year-old civil war, according to the United Nations.

Erdogan on Thursday said the two leaders agreed to help these refugees return to their homes.

Turkey and Russia on Thursday also agreed to establish a secure corridor along a key east-west highway in Syrias Idlib and hold joint patrols on it as of March 15.

In a joint statement read out by the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers, the two sides said the secure corridor would stretch 6km (3.7 miles) to the north and 6km to the south of the M4 highway.

They said their defence ministers would agree on the parameters of the corridor within a week.

Presidents Erdogan, (left), and Putin shake hands after their joint news conference following their meeting in Moscow, Russia on March 5, 2020 [Sefa Karacan/Anadolu]

Until the latest crisis, Putin and Erdogan had managed to coordinate their interests in Syria even though Moscow backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Ankara supported the opposition forces.

Earlier on Thursday, al-Assad accused Turkeys president of supporting terrorists.

Erdogan is unable to tell the Turks why he is sending his army to fight in Syria and why his soldiers are being killed there because the issue has nothing to do with Turkish interests but with his Muslim Brotherhood ideology, he told the state-owned Russia 24 channel.

The Idlib crisis marks the first time Ankara has launched a direct offensive against al-Assads forces.

Al Jazeeras Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Hatay on the Turkish-Syrian border, said Erdogan managed to get some huge concessions in the talks with Putin.

I think this is going to be seen as a massive victory for Erdogan, Ahelbarra said. They got the ceasefire plus the safe corridors and also resettlement of the civilians back into their areas.

Erdogan wont have to be concerned about his soldiers. Also, Turkey has been very concerned about a protracted conflict in Idlib that would pave the way for four million civilians to cross into Turkey. I think now those are some of the people that will be able to go back to their villages.





After dozens of his troops were killed in Syria, Erdogan has threatened Europe with a fresh migratory crisis by allowing refugees to travel on to Europe from Turkey, which he said can no longer handle new waves of people fleeing war-torn Syria.

On Thursday, Putin offered his condolences to Erdogan over Turkish losses in a Syrian air attack but noted there were also deaths among Syrian forces.

The two Turkish soldiers who were killed in an attack in Idlib on Thursday raised the number of Turkish soldiers killed since the beginning of February to 60.

After Turkey downed several Syrian jets, Moscow warned Ankara its aircraft would be unsafe if they enter Syrian airspace  a veiled threat to engage Russian military assets in Syria.

Fighting continued on Thursday in Idlib during the talks in Russia. Opposition activists there blamed Russian aircraft for an attack on a rebel-held village, which they said killed at least 15 people, including children, and wounded several others.

The Russian military had no immediate comment on the claim, but it has staunchly denied similar previous claims, insisting it has not singled out residential areas.

Ceasefire agreed is very shaky

Despite Thursdays breakthrough, hopes for peace among some Syrians remain low.

Raja Androon, a 65-year-old Syrian from Idlib whose two sons were killed by Syrian government forces, now lives in Antakya in southern Turkey.

The talks may result in less fighting, but Im not holding my breath for the Syrian regime to get out of Idlib, she told Al Jazeera. I hope Idlib will come under autonomous rule, and not fall under Assads control.

Mustafa Sejari, an analyst and member of the Syrian opposition Mutasim Brigades, was also sceptical, saying that Erdogan and Putin were trying to save face regarding their interests on the ground, and nothing more.

He told Al Jazeera: The regime will not withdraw from Idlib  The ceasefire agreed upon is a very shaky one, and from the first violation of it the battles will resume once again.

Makeshift shelters of internally displaced Syrians are seen from a hill top in Idlib [Umit Bektas/Reuters]

According to the press conference, safe passage will be allowed for the displaced civilians to return to their homes. However, where will they return to if the Syrian regime forces are still on the ground? Previous examples have shown that opening a humanitarian corridor to allow aid through will not stop Russia from continuing to bomb civilians.

According to the volunteer organisation White Helmets, 612 Syrian civilians have been killed by government forces and their allies since the beginning of this year.

Alexey Khlebnikov, Middle East expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, told Al Jazeera: I think its pretty obvious that Russia got what it wanted  Of course it wont guarantee that no violations will occur, but judging by previous deals, this will be more sustainable.

Both cannot afford a direct confrontation anyway, theyve spent years building a relationship. For Turkey, the buffer zone close to their border is the most crucial: they dont want Syrian forces to go further north. The problem in this deal is that Ankara stands alone in the effort  or not  to solve the problem of terrorists in Idlib province. But the pressure on Erdogan is mounting, and I think theyll have to accept to do something about it.

Anton Mardasov, a Moscow-based Middle East analyst, said: The Kremlin maintains the status quo in Idlib and pressures Turkey to restructure the opposition  and will control the roads.

Some points remain unclear, though. In principle, Assad is not supposed to interfere, but well see how that goes.

With reporting by Linah Alsaafin in Antakya and Julian Colling in Moscow.
Chennai, March 5 : The Madras High Court on Thursday ordered police to arrest those who are protesting without permission in the hosiery town of Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu.

Hearing a case against anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Tiruppur as it affects free traffic flow, the court ordered the police to arrest those holding protests without permission.

Protests against CAA have been held in various parts of the country including Tamil Nadu.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The closure of New York Citys first Blaze Pizza was sudden. What do patrons do with unused gift cards intended for use at the New Dorp restaurant?

Gift cards are good at other locations, said the corporate office. Customers with further questions can email guestservices@blazepizza.com, as per the pizza chains Facebook page admin.

A recording on the New Dorp phone line referred patrons to a location at 1255 Raritan Rd., in Clark, N.J. There is also a Blaze in Fresh Meadows, Queens.

Closing restaurants is never easy, but sometimes necessary for the health of a system, said the Blaze corporate rep in an email to the Advance, adding, The Staten Island Blazes last day of business was February 28. Employees were met at the restaurants and notified in person.

The artisanal pizza concept at 2590 Hylan Blvd. came to the borough in a new New Dorp strip mall in May 2017, and promised an 11-inch pie ready for consumption in 180 seconds. The business co-existed with other restaurants in the complex -- like Hook & Reel, Chipotle and Carvel Ice Cream.

The question of unredeemed gift cards also arose when Charlie Brown shut down in late 2019. The company that owned the former Mariners Harbor steakhouse, Praesidian Capital, directed calls to the individual restaurants. A representative at the Edison, N.J., business said at that time that gift certificates purchased on Staten Island could be redeemed at any Charlie Browns in New Jersey.

When Surf and Barca closed for re-branding, restaurateur Vic Rallo said he would honor the cards at the restaurants new renditions. Around St. Patricks Day, Surf will turn into two concepts -- Navy Pier Prime & Taproom -- with sit-down dining upstairs and its more casual watering hole counterpart downstairs. Barca has morphed into Pastavino and opened in February and indeed had accepted the former entities certificates since its first day, Tuesday, Feb. 19.

As restaurants open and close as normal through the years in the borough, the chance of losing money on a gift card investment is real. Would the district attorneys office take up the case of a fleeced foodie?

A spokesman for the Richmond County D.A.s office said, A criminal prosecution can only move forward if we can prove there was intent to commit fraud. In other words, we would have to be able to prove that when the card was sold that the owner never intended to accept it as payment.

He advised that a customer file a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs. The spokesman also suggested, If the gift cards were purchased with a credit card, the purchaser should notify their credit card company to see if they can be refunded.

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EDWARDSVILLE  The Madison County Republican Central Committee has voted to endorse Appellate Judge John Barberis in the March 17 primary race for the Illinois Supreme Court.

Barberis, of rural Madison County, is running against Judge David Overstreet of Jefferson County to fill the Supreme Court seat being vacated by retiring Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier. Both currently serve on the Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon.

Im thrilled to have the endorsement of my home county, said Barberis. It is the greatest privilege of my life to serve my neighbors, friends and family on the Appellate Court. I would be honored to serve them on the Supreme Court with the values and convictions that have guided me my entire life.

The Madison County Republican Central Committee held a special meeting Wednesday to decide on an endorsement. Madison County GOP Chairman Ray Wesley said countywide endorsements are unusual.

We rarely endorse candidates in the primary, Wesley said. Our bylaws require a two thirds majority vote by committeemen to win an endorsement. It is purposefully very difficult. Our committeemen felt this race was too important to the future of Illinois to sit this one out.

Barberis said he was pleased with the endorsement.

The endorsement of the Madison County Republican Party is the crown jewel of endorsements in this race, he said. The 5th District covers 37 counties, yet more than 30 percent of the vote in this primary election comes from Madison County alone. Im very excited to have this support with less than two weeks to go until the March 17th election.

The 5th Judicial District includes 37 counties with the most populous being Madison and St Clair counties. The March 17 winner will face Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Judy Cates who is running unopposed in the Democrat primary.

Karmeier announced his retirement in November. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 2004.

Madison County Board Member Tom McRae, a candidate for circuit clerk, was among those voting for Barberis at the meeting.

Many voters tend to ignore the judicial elections because they are low profile and most often judges are listed near the bottom of the ballot, McRae said. They may be the most important people we vote for and get the least attention. Justice Barberis is a true conservative and constitutionalist.

Also expressing his support was Madison County Treasurer Chris Slusser.

We can count on Justice Barberis to uphold our constitutionally protected freedoms, like our Second Amendment rights and the rights of the unborn, Slusser said. He has a common sense track record of interpreting the law in a fair and unbiased way for all parties.

Barberis won his appellate court seat in 2016; his current term ends in 2026. Prior that he was a judge in the Third Judicial Circuit, which includes Madison County.

Overstreet has served on the Fifth District court since 2017.
Texas colleges are slowly becoming more selective, a glance at the latest U.S. News & World Report's 2020 Best Colleges roundup shows.

The the rankings and consumer advice company's roster of strong schools from across the state encompasses educational institutions that range from private to public and small liberal-arts schools to sprawling, Texas-sized campuses.

Its latest data shows that some of the most difficult schools to gain acceptance are mostly situated in larger cities: Houston, Dallas, and Austin.

HEALTH: Rice sends employee nasal swab to CDC for coronavirus testing

Of course, some college towns also feature highly sought-after universities, including Texas A&M University at College Station, which subscribes to the Top 10% Admits program, as does the University of Texas  although UT now only rakes the top 6 percent.

That rule offers criteria that gains applicants automatic admittance, barring special circumstances, and can differ slightly from school to school. To qualify for A&Ms program, applicants must have attended a Texas high school, rank in the top 10 percent of the graduation class on or before the application deadline and must satisfy the State of Texas Uniform Admission Policy. They must also complete the new foundation plan with the Distinguished Level of Achievement.

That measure, implemented in 1997 and originally introduced as Texas House Bill 588, applies at several Texas schools, including Texas Tech, UT Dallas, University of Houston, Texas State University and University of North Texas.

Its important to note that independent publications offer their own  sometimes differing  statistics when it comes to educational data. For instance, school data site Niches roundup of college acceptance rates in Texas tend to deviate roughly a few percentage points from U.S. News data.
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CQ Printing, a family owned commercial printing and branding company, announces the launch of their Direct to Garment (DTG) printing division for apparel printing. DTG capabilities provides high quality, short-run custom printing options for customers with a quick turnaround time. Apparel can be printed in single or multi-color designs. Founder and CEO, John Bechke stated, "We are thrilled to debut our DTG capability to complement our already growing apparel division, and build a more well-rounded service offering."

CQ Printing has been in business for over 42 years, providing commercial printing, design, direct mailing, signs and banners, branded apparel and promotional products. CQ Printing offers a one-stop shop for all their client's needs, providing high quality products and services, serving northeastern Ohio with offices and a production facility in Strongsville and Medina.

www.cqprinting.com

SOURCE CQ Printing

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By Trend





The operational headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers has disseminated another statement in connection with coronavirus, Trend reports on March 4 referring to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Azerbaijan is ensuring the return of its citizens who are in Iran, the statement said. In this regard, the appeals of Azerbaijani citizens received through the hotlines of the embassy in Tehran and the consulate general in Tabriz are registered.

The citizens return through a special corridor at border checkpoints at the predetermined time, the message said. For this purpose, citizens who have arrived from Iran at the Astara border checkpoint are temporarily accommodated and are provided with all necessary conditions.

In accordance with the established schedule, 276 people returned to Azerbaijan and were transported to the quarantine zones by the special vehicles, the statement said. Azerbaijani citizens arriving from Iran are on a quarantine for a period from 14 to 29 days. All citizens are required to comply with the quarantine regime.

For additional information, it is recommended to appeal via the hotlines created at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran and the consulate general in Tabriz, the statement read.

After registration of appeals, Azerbaijani citizens are planned to be transported by planes and across the land border through a special customs corridor.
KAMPALA  President Yoweri Museveni and Turkish Ambassador to Uganda have discussed the threat of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

I have spoken to his excellency Yoweri Museveni who clearly stated those who use weapons against civilians are terrorists, Kerem Alp, Turkeys ambassador to Uganda, told Anadolu Agency.

Alp said Turkey has a common understanding with Uganda that U.S.-based FETO leader Fetullah Gullen is a terrorist and his organization killed and injured many people in Turkey, as they attempted to over throw the government.

The diplomat said there were some FETO followers who had sought to hide in Uganda and were working in schools or hospitals.

They have been disguising as humanitarian workers and even giving scholarships to Ugandans hiding their true identity, he said, adding: We have convinced Ugandan authorities about the true nature of this heinous organization and its followers.

Closure of schools

In December last year, the ambassador noted, board members of Turkiye Maarif foundation  a Turkish education foundation created to manage FETO-run schools abroad  visited Uganda and held talks with Education MinisterJanet Museveni.

We hope to establish Maarif Foundation in Uganda this year, he added.

The diplomat further explained that his office was still in discussions with Ugandan authorities on how Maarif Foundation could assume the management of schools run by FETO as well as the management of FETO-affiliated hospitals by competent Turkish state organizations.

We as the government of Turkey are providing alternatives to the Ugandan government on the existing infrastructure so that there is no vacuum left after FETO stop operating in Uganda, he said.

Alp said once Maarif Foundation starts operating in Uganda, the quality of education in schools they run will increase and as the cost of education will decrease.

The diplomat also said the Turkish embassy is collaborating with Ugandan security officials in monitoring the businesses run by FETO members.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the failed coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016 which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

The group which claims to run charities has a considerable presence abroad including in Africa, where it runs private schools and hospitals which serve as a revenue stream for the terror group.

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Naresh Goyal (Image: Reuters)

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case against former Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Bombay High Court directed the Mumbai Police to registered a case against Goyal and his wife Anita under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on order of the metropolitan magistrate for allegedly cheating Mumbai-based Akbar Travels of India to the tune of Rs 46 crore. The complaint was lodged by company CFO Rajendran Neruparambil.

Searches were carried out at Goyals residence by officials in the evening on March 4. He was summoned to the ED office, where he was questioned for around four hours and then taken to his Mumbai residence at nine pm.

Goyal and his wife were earlier questioned by the agency on multiple occasions for violations under the Foreign Exchange Manipulation Act (FEMA).

In August 2019, the ED probed diversion of funds from loans borrowed by Jet Airways in the period of over a decade. Goyal and others had allegedly misused loans borrowed from various banks and diverted it to foreign countries through ghost companies.

The company took loans totalling around Rs 9,000 crore from various institutions and the ED suspects that more than 20 to 30 percent of this sum was laundered overseas. The ED carried out raids and searches at 12 locations across Mumbai and Delhi in relation to the case under FEMA.

Goyals statement was recorded by the agency at his Delhi residence. ED also raided the premises of Hasmukh Gardi, a close aide of Goyal.

Gardi was promoter of Jet Airways for a long time and his company Tail Winds Corporation was floated by Goyal in the Isle of Man, Europe.

ED suspects that the initial funding to the company was done by some elements from the underworld.

Gardi name also appeared in the 2016 Panama papers leak. He is also under investigation by the ED and Income Tax Department in a case filed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and Black Money Act, respectively.

A source told Moneycontrol that Garidi owned around two dozen shell companies and his Carmichael Road premises was raided by ED sleuths on March 5.

The Serious Fraud of Investigation Office and Income Tax Department are also investigating Jet Airways in this matter. Goyal tried to flee the country but was detained at the airport.
A decision by the Oyo State Government to build a secretariat in Ibadan for the grassroots system of government in the state has added fuel to the crisis between the government and the elected local government chairpersons in the state.

The government directed the 33 local government caretaker committees to contribute N15 million each for the project, but the elected local government chairpersons have kicked against the project.

Governor Seyi Makinde had upon his inauguration in May last year dissolved the local government councils, sacking the chairpersons who were elected under the administration of his predecessor, Abiola Ajimobi. Later in December, Mr Makinde appointed caretaker committees to run the councils.

But late last year, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Shehu Malami, directed the state government to recall the chairpersons, based on a Supreme Court judgment that governors have no powers to suspend elected local government councils.

The chairpersons attempts to return to office were marred by violent protests until the state government obtained a court injunction barring them from forcibly taking over the councils.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Makinde had directed the 33 local government caretaker committees to raise N495 million for the construction of the ultra-modern secretariat complex, each of them contributing N15 million.

The directive was conveyed to the caretakers via a memo from the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission, Akin Funmilayo, dated February 20.

According to the memo, the contributions should be paid into the special Local Government Service Commissions Secretariat Complex Project, Account No. 6658133018 (Sort Code 214181721) with First City Monument Bank (FCMB).

I wish to refer to the recent approval granted by His Excellency, Engr Seyi Makinde, the Executive Governor of Oyo state, for the execution of the above -named project and to crave your indulgence to release the sum of fifteen million naira (N15,000,000.00) only approved by His Excellency as contribution by each of the thirty-three (33) Local Governments in the state towards the successful execution of the project, the memo stated.

But the Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, on Thursday described the project as a fraud.

In a statement he made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, Mr Abass-Aleshinloye said ALGON found out that the directive was a fraudulent scheme to siphon Council funds by using the illegal caretaker chairmen as pawns. It is a white elephant project designed to siphon money regularly from local government purse.

The illegality becomes more pronounced when the huge fund is expected to be coughed out by illegal caretakers, who in principle and law, must not have access to local government account. This is also a breach of NFIU guideline on local government finances.

Building an imaginary secretariat is not, cannot and must not be a priority of any serious people-focused, responsible local government administration in view of compelling needs to provide good roads, renovate dilapidated primary schools, primary health centres, provide water, markets, agricultural inputs, among others, for the grassroots.

These illegal caretakers are hereby strictly warned in their own interest not to be accomplices to this ultra-modern fraud by the State Government. It is a sure way to EFCC net, to prosecution and eventual imprisonment. The Governor has immunity against arrest and prosecution which they dont have, so dont be entrapped by any illegal gubernatorial order. In a democracy, there is nothing like obey the last order and ignorance is never an excuse in law.

We advise them not to ruin their lives because of mere pittance they may receive from the ultra-modern loot. No law, we repeat, no law empowers a state governor to direct local government administrators to release money or stylishly loot for him. Local Government finances are properly budgeted for based on a needs assessment of the Council Area and appropriately approved by the Legislative Arm. Anything to the contrary is fraud and stealing by tricks.

Mr Abass-Aleshinloye also urged Mr Makinde to recognise the elected council chairpersons, vowing that no intimidation or blackmail would make them surrender their mandate.

Speaking earlier on the issue through a statement last week, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, said the memo was leaked by some persons with the aim of embarrassing the local government service commission and the governor.

He said the governor approved the construction of the building, with a view to serving as the headquarters of the grassroots system of government in the state.

For the information of those who have constituted themselves as nay-sayers, let it be placed on record that Governor Seyi Makinde only approved the construction of the building in question. He did not ask any local government to donate funds for unknown reasons or for the fight of imaginary security challenge.

I have read the memo from the Local Government Service Commission of Oyo State, which was leaked by some persons, ostensibly with the aim of embarrassing the Commission and the Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde. Come to think of it, whats the essence of it all? The Governor gave approval for the construction of the Headquarters of the Local Government Service Commission, which in practice, is to serve as the headquarters of the Grassroots system of government in the state.

There are three tiers of government in the country; the Federal, State and the Local Governments. The Federal Government has its Federal Secretariats in the FCT, Abuja, and in different state capitals, the 36 states equally have their secretariats in the capital cities of the States. The Local Governments have secretariats in the council headquarters but are also supposed to have a secretariat at the state capital to coordinate their activities through the Local Government Service Commission.

Take note of the fact that the Local Government Service Commission services over 50,000 retired and service staff of local governments in the state. A state like Osun, which was excised from Old Oyo State, built its own Local Government Service Commission secretariat way back under the administration of Chief Bisi Akande at the start of the Fourth Republic. So why should the Commission in Oyo State continue to remain a tenant, when its services are in no way performed on ad-hoc basis?
When an employee of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre in New Hampshire showed signs of possible coronavirus last week, a medical worker who had examined him told him to avoid contact with others, pending further tests. Instead, he went to a mixer at a crowded music venue.

Three days later, he was confirmed as the states first coronavirus case.

And now a second case has been confirmed  a close contact of the patients  raising new questions about what should happen when suspected coronavirus patients ignore requests to self-quarantine.

The man, who came down with flu-like symptoms after a trip to Italy, has now been officially ordered by New Hampshires health commissioner to isolate himself at home.

The individual is complying now, said Jake Leon, communications director for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

News that a healthcare worker could have exposed students at the event last Friday night, a mixer for doctors and Dartmouth College students, swiftly reverberated on the nearby campus.

Students learned of a possible exposure in an email sent out by the university on Tuesday, which revealed that a man who later tested positive for coronavirus had attended the mixer held for students at the colleges Tuck School of Business on 28 February. The event occurred on the same day that the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had issued a new Italy travel advisory, warning all those who had recently been to the country to stay home and monitor their health for 14 days.

Across the country, thousands of travellers returning from places with substantial outbreaks of the virus have been asked to stay home and avoid contact with others for 14 days, a request that largely relies on the honour system. As the virus spreads, many worry that the recommendations are not always followed.

In the New Hampshire case, the man went to the doctor on Friday with a fever and respiratory symptoms and was tested for a range of possible ailments, health authorities said. Doctors advised him to quarantine himself but did not test him for coronavirus until Monday after other viruses were ruled out. He arrived at the social event hours after the warning Friday.

A man wearing a face mask walks down Wall Street in New York City as more cases of coronavirus emerge across the United States (EPA)

Dartmouth College officials, in a message to students, said an investigation was underway to trace the close contacts of the individual and said no Dartmouth students were considered close contacts to the patient at this time. It was unclear whether the second patient who tested positive had attended the mixer or was exposed at another time.

The general vibe is we are all pretty concerned that this medical professional showed up to the event, despite being told to self-isolate, said Christie Harrison, a first-year Tuck student who sang with the band that performed at the mixer on Friday night. She estimated that about a hundred business school students attended, along with 30 or 40 resident physicians associated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, an academic medical centre located near Dartmouth College.

We all were just excited to have one of the last few parties of the quarter and be off-campus, Harrison said. She said investigators appear to have made efforts to trace those who interacted with the man at the mixer and have asked them to self-quarantine. Those who did not interact with him, like herself, were simply told to monitor their health and alert authorities if they came down with symptoms, she said.

The college was really great at communicating all of that to us, in a timely manner, Harrison said. The college has been really transparent with us throughout the process.

Gunnar Esiason, a Tuck student who considered going to the mixer on Friday night, but did not, said he nonetheless felt distressed about the potential exposures because he has underlying health issues. In my opinion, it is shocking that a healthcare worker would do this if it is, in fact, true, said Esiason. He has since left campus and was planning to take exams remotely.

The mixer was hosted at the Engine Room, a music and comedy venue in White River Junction, just across the border in Vermont. According to a message on the clubs Facebook page, owners received a call from Dr Benjamin Chan, an epidemiologist with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, informing them that an individual who tested positive for coronavirus had attended the event on Friday night. Vermont health authorities had also been in touch.

Dr Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, announces that six new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the county, where there was one previously (AP) (AP Photo/Stafanie Dazio)

The management said it was in the process of professionally cleaning the facility and had cancelled at least three events that were to be held there this week.

Angry patrons wrote back on Facebook that the coronavirus patient should be jailed or fined.

But it appears that the patient was under no legal obligation to stay home at the time. Under New Hampshire law, a person who refuses to comply with a formal isolation order issued by the health commissioner is guilty of a misdemeanour. In other states, refusing to comply is a felony. But on Friday, the patient had not been diagnosed and had merely been advised by a healthcare worker to stay home. The formal isolation order was issued after the mixer, after the patient was tested on Monday and the results were determined presumed positive, state authorities said.

New Hampshire officials have made clear in their public statements that they feel the patient acted irresponsibly. But he does not appear to have broken the law.

You cant bring criminal charges for being a bonehead or just not doing what you were told was advisable to do, said Wendy Parmet, faculty director of the Centre for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University. Its not illegal to ignore the advice of your healthcare provider, or even the health department until officials follow the particular procedures to issue a formal health order, and those procedures vary by state.

There is a downside to punishing a single individual in such a case, she said.

We certainly dont want people to think that they shouldnt get tested because if they do, theyll open themselves up to criminal liability, or a policeman at the door enforcing quarantine, she said. Those are consequences that deter testing, treatment and compliance.

The second New Hampshire patient who tested positive for coronavirus, also a man from Grafton County, is also under isolation at home.

The New York Times
It is clear that the Centre and the armed group are not on the same page while interpreting the Framework Agreement signed between the parties on 3 August 2015 which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed as historic.

Since independent India in 1947, North East India has been witnessing a bewildering line-up of insurgencies gripping states such as Nagaland, Mizoram Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Even after several ceasefire agreements and SoO or Suspension of Operation Agreements, there are at least over 50 armed outfits operating in the North East region with their presence in the upper Sagaing region of Myanmar. Out of these, at least eight are separatist organisations. It must be said that the Naga insurgency which first took birth as Naga hostiles is without a doubt, the mother of insurgencies in the region.

Fortunately, the hostilities with most of the Naga armed groups have ended since 1997 through a series of ceasefire agreements and dug-in on a never-ending spree of peace negotiations. It is another matter that the talks with the Nagas is impeded by cryptic ceasefire ground rules and the complex question of the feasibility of integrating all the Nagas, scattered across the northeastern states, particularly Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, under one political unit, the core demand of the principal Naga armed group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaak-Muivah group), NSCN-IM.

It is a fact that many viewed the on-going Indo-Naga Political Peace Talks as the forerunner to resolving all of the divisive armed movement going on in the region. On the positive side, the Indo-Naga Talks has yielded at least a Framework of Agreement in the 23 years of negotiating and just when words were doing the rounds that the talks is coming close to culminating into an accord, the tone and substance of a statement made by the peace talks interlocutor-turned Nagaland Governor RN Ravi, revealed the fragility of the talks as it stands today.

In an interview to a local daily of Nagaland, the Nagaland Post, Governor Ravi accused the NSCN-IM of delaying the peace pact by making mischievous interpretation of the agreed positions on contentious issues. The interlocutor-turned governor was quoted as saying that, Framework Agreement is a commitment to settle the Naga political issue on the basis of power sharing with due regard to the contemporary realities. The governor further accused the NSCN-IM of trying to mislead the people by imagining things which are not in the Framework Agreement.

While stating categorically that the Naga political issue belongs to the Naga people and not a single entity has franchise over it, Ravi hinted the possibility of dropping NSCN-IM to deliver a peace pact together with other stakeholders if necessary.

Meanwhile NSCN-IM, through a press release by its publicity department said that the political solution which would be worked out with the Government of India shall be a Naga solution of the Nagas wherever they are, hinting at the contentious Pan Naga entity. The emergency meeting of its functionaries, including the collective leadership, Kilonsers, Tatars, heads of departments and its Army officials further asserted that the Naga National Flag and the Constitution is an inalienable right of the Nagas for an honourable political solution.

Anthony Shimray, the military chief of the NSCN-IM is quoted as saying that the Government of India had conceded that the history of the Nagas was unique and that there would be shared sovereignty with the rest of India.

It is clear that the Centre and the armed group are not on the same page while interpreting the Framework Agreement signed between the parties on 3 August 2015 which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed as historic.

Governor Ravi had stated categorically that there would be no separate flag and constitution for the Nagas under the peace deal. Ravi stated that the NSCN-IM has adopted a procrastinating attitude to delay the settlement raising the contentious symbolic issues of separate Naga national flag and constitution on which they are fully aware of the Government of Indias position.

Significantly, the Centres stalemate with the NSCN-IM peaked after the abolition of Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir. All of a sudden, the Modi government abolished the provision under which the state had a separate flag and a constitution. This swift move by the Centre has fuelled a strong air of apprehension about the possibilities of similar action against the special provisions that are enshrined in Article 371A for the Nagas.

Article 371A states that no Act of Parliament  with respect to religious or social practices of the Nagas, their customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, ownership and transfer of land and its resources  shall apply to the state unless the Assembly decides by a resolution.

Notwithstanding the decline of violent activities in the last one decade and several political talks between a number of armed ethnic groups who are on 'Suspension of Operation Agreements' with the government, the ongoing Indo-Naga talks seem to be giving the wrong signals, especially to the Manipur insurgents. They seemed to have hardened their stance by saying that there are no options other than to endure on the armed struggle against India.

Even as the law and order situation in Manipur has shown signs of improvement, the border state still remains the most violent state, accounting for 50 percent of the total violent incidents reported across the northeastern region. Primarily, Manipur is affected by activities of the Meitei, Naga, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar and Muslim armed groups with the Meitei insurgents accounting for about 57 percent of insurgency-related incidents.

Irengbam Chaoren, the elusive guerrilla leader who leads one of Manipurs most potent armed outfit, the Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF), in a press release, emailed to mark the outfits 41st Rising Day, ruled out getting into any peace parley with the Government India, saying his party will never compromise on the question of Manipurs freedom.

In his press communique, Chaoren said that under the current situation it will be impossible to come to any form of agreement on the liberation of Manipur through dialogue between the Government of India and the revolutionary groups of Manipur".

Explaining his position, the rebel leader termed Indias initiative for dialogue is basically about merging the revolutionaries into the Indian mainstream, make them real Indians; disarm the revolutionary groups and bring a solution within the Constitution of India".

Giving reference to the NSCN-IM and Government of India peace-talk, Chaoren said that Indias approach has been testified repeatedly by the accords signed earlier and the on-going political dialogues. The RPF president emphasised that RPFs armed movement to liberate Manipur is a response to the call of the over 2,000 years old national history of independence and freedom. He said that RPFs armed movement is now over 40 years old and is fundamentally against the Government of Indias colonial rule.

He further rejected the views of the Indian security analysts who reasoned that the lack of development and unemployment brewed insurgency in the North East. The armed movement is not a manifestation of grievances against administrative or economic policies formulated by the Government of India for the people of Manipur. The armed movement is a movement to liberate Manipur and establish self-rule, Chaoren said.

He then went on to say that the revolutionary movement for the liberation of Manipur will evidentially attain the Ultimate Victory given its long written national history and the fact that Manipur was forcefully annexed.

This strong-worded message from the chief of RPF whose armed division, the Peoples Liberation Army, PLA, is a headache for the Indian Army comes at a time when Manipur is gripped in the tense atmosphere emitted by the post CAA or the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Coalition for Indigenous Rights Campaign, CIRCA, a citizens' organisation of Manipur had termed the passing of CAB 2019 as "an act of declaring war on the indigenous people of the North East. Following the CAA related unrest, social observers in the state have said that insurgency in the northeast may get a fresh lease of life with the Modi government bend of enforcing the CAA.
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed Syria and Iran, the White House press service said.

The two leaders emphasized the need for the United States and France to work together to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere said in a series of tweets.



The leaders also discussed the upcoming G7 summit, Iran's atomic activities, and the Syrian situation which is resulting in a humanitarian crisis in the northwestern part of the country, Deere added.



An Elysee official said Macron had suggested the idea to use the G7 forum to accelerate efforts to fight the disease. President Trump thought that was a very good idea and the right forum, the official said.
Written By:Stacy Simon

The rate at which people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the US is dropping among people 65 and older but rising in younger age groups, according to research from the American Cancer Society. In 2020, 12% of colorectal cancer cases will be diagnosed in people under 50  about 18,000 cases. Rates have been increasing since the mid-1980s in adults ages 20-39 years and since the mid-1990s in adults ages 40-54 years, with younger age groups experiencing the steepest increase.

During the past 20 years, rates of colorectal cancer fell in people 50 and older, largely because more people were getting recommended screening tests. Screening can prevent colorectal cancer by finding and removing growths, called polyps, in the colon and rectum before they turn into cancer. It can also often find colorectal cancer early, when it's small, hasn't spread, and might be easier to treat.

When the numbers over the past 20 years are looked at more closely, some differences emerge. Among people 65 and older, this decrease continued as rates dropped by 3% per year from 2011 to 2016. But for those 50 to 64, the trend reversed, and rates rose by 1% per year from 2011 to 2016. And in people under age 50, rates rose by 2.2% per year.

Death rates for colorectal cancer also vary by age group. From 2008-2017, death rates declined by 3% per year in people 65 and older, but only went down by 0.6% in people 50 to 64. They increased by 1.3% in those younger than 50.

The findings are published in Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2020 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and its companion piece Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2020-2022. The reports, published every 3 years, provide a detailed look at colon and rectal cancer trends and present the latest information on survival, prevention, early detection, treatment, and ongoing research.

Racial and ethnic disparities

Rates of colorectal cancer cases and deaths vary among different racial and ethnic groups. Some of the differences are due to risk factors including smoking and excess body weight as well as access to health care and colorectal cancer screening. Rates of colorectal cancer during 2012-2016 were lowest among Asian/Pacific islanders at 30 per 100,000. Rates for non-Hispanic whites were 39 per 100,000 and for Blacks they were 46 per 100,000. The highest rate was among Alaska Natives at 89 per 100,000.

Death rates followed the same trend, however the difference among groups is about twice as large. For example, colorectal cancer rates are about 20% higher in Blacks than non-Hispanic whites, but death rates are almost 40% higher in Blacks. Among Alaska Natives, death rates are about double those in Blacks. American Indians/Alaska Natives are the only racial group where colorectal cancer death rates are not declining.

Screening rates

In 2018, 66% of people 50 and older were up to date with colorectal cancer screening. But among those 50 - 54, its less than half. Screening rates are also low among people who have been in the US less than 10 years (26%), those who are uninsured (30%) or have Medicaid (53%), and Asian Americans (55%).

Rebecca Siegel, MPH, American Cancer Society Scientific Director, Surveillance Research and lead author of the report said, We could save countless lives by increasing access to screening in rural and other low-income areas, especially in Alaska, and incentivizing primary care clinicians to ensure that all patients 45 and older are screened, as well as facilitating healthier lifestyles in our communities.

The American Cancer Society recommends regular colorectal cancer screening for people at average risk starting at age 45. People with a family history of the disease or who have other risk factors should talk with their doctor about starting screening at a younger age. Several different tests can be used to screen for colorectal cancer. Talk with your doctor to find out which tests might be right for you and talk to your insurance company about coverage.
Islamabad, March 6 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday told the Senate that Pakistan neither desires "any security role of India in Afghanistan" nor wants presence of militant organisations - Al-Qaeda and ISIS - in the landlocked country, a media report said.

Briefing the Upper House on the February 29 peace deal between US and Taliban, the Foreign Minister told the house that India had always played role of a spoiler. "There were spoilers in the past and they are even today, within and outside Afghanistan, who want to get their own objectives." Pakistan doesn't want that footprints of Al-Qaeda and Daesh or ISIS grow in Afghanistan because their presence would disrupt peace in the region, the minister said in a policy statement in the house.

Talking about the joint declaration issued by US and Afghan government in Kabul the same day when peace agreement was signed, and the former's offer to the latter to help address its misunderstandings with Pakistan, Qureshi said that Pakistan wanted to resolve all issues with Afghanistan bilaterally.

"The third force cannot find a way out for us," he said adding that this would be a preferred option for Pakistan.

Reiterating that Pakistan was never part of the peace talks and their role "has always been and will always be" that of a facilitator, the minister said Pakistan cannot give guarantee or take responsibility to peace in Afghanistan. "This is a shared responsibility, and all (stakeholders) will have to play their role. There are many powers, interests and motives (involved)," he added.

He said that the true test of the Afghan leadership begins now as Afghan people want peace. "Can they rise to the occasion and chart a peaceful way forward or not, only time will tell." He added that Pakistan would not be able to bear influx of more refugees if Afghanistan witnessed instability. "If violence erupts in the neighbouring country, there will be a spillover of it in Pakistan." Highlighting the Pakistan's objectives to bring peace in the war-torn country, the Foreign Minister argued that Pakistan wishes secure and regulated border with Afghanistan but would never want joint operations. We also wish to see safe and respectful return of Afghan refugees and want to remove a negative perception about Pakistan present in the minds of a certain faction in Afghanistan, he said adding that Pakistan would engage with such people.

"There were some forces in the past and there are present today who are sceptic about the deal," the foreign minister said adding that some people in Afghanistan and US understand that the effort will be futile. He explained if peace prevails in Afghanistan, it has a dividend with having positive effect on Pakistan who will getting opportunities to enhance regional connectivity and restart its stalled projects with central Asian states. Similarly, landlocked countries would get trade route through Gwadar Port and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project would benefit from this.
Altogether 118 coyotes were killed and $10,000 handed out in cash prizes. The biggest winner took home a cash prize of $2,000 for killing the heaviest animal, Photo by the HSUS

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Our latest investigation into a New York State wildlife killing contest gives Americans another grisly glimpse into a world of shocking animal cruelty: one where coyotes, including heavily pregnant females, were lured to their death using bait and digital calling devices, their bodies mutilated and then disposed of in dumpsters.

The contest, held over the weekend of February 7 to 9, was organized by the Federation of Sportsmens Clubs of Sullivan County in New York. In a frenzy of killing, 636 people from New York and five neighboring Pennsylvania counties competed to kill the most and the heaviest coyotes.

Altogether 118 coyotes were killed and $10,000 handed out in cash prizes. The biggest winner took home a cash prize of $2,000 for killing the heaviest animal: a 50.3-pound female whom he lured with bait.

This contest is billed as one of the largest in the Empire State. Like all wildlife killing contests we have investigated so far, including two in Maryland that we recently exposed, it exists in a bizarre universe in which animal cruelty is celebrated and rewarded rather than shunned.

Participants employ modern technology like digital calling devices and expensive night scopes to locate and kill the animals, and then participate in gruesome and archaic rituals. For instance, to discourage cheating by bringing the same coyote in twice, two toes from each dead coyote were cut off upon arrival.

Once the animals were weighed at the fire department in White Sulphur Springs, New York, some of the dead coyotes were thrown in the fire departments dumpster. One participant remarked, If its not useful, we throw them in the dumpster. Some of them are pretty messed up.

Another participant, referring to a heavily pregnant female killed in the contest, observed, She might be right full of babies too, you know? He added that an obviously pregnant female coyote had been cut open at the event and the babies already had hair on them  they were ready ya know

Most Americans would not stand for such cruelty, but there are hundreds of such contests held all across the United States each year. We have made it our mission to close down each one of them. Our undercover investigators have already exposed similar events in New Jersey and Oregon, in addition to New York and Maryland. In 2018, we documented the heartbreaking results of the Bark at the Moon Coyote Clubs New York State Predator Hunt in Macedon, New York. We focused on New York again this time because the state is second only to Pennsylvania in all of the eastern United States in the number of these kill fests that it hosts each year.

While participants try to rationalize the killing by claiming that they are keeping coyote populations in check, scientists and even state wildlife agencies have stated time and again that the contests provide no credible wildlife management service. Wild carnivores like coyotes and foxes regulate their own numbers according to available habitat and prey, and the random and mass killing of these animals does not prevent conflicts with livestock, people or pets. On the contrary, it can actually lead to an increase in coyote numbers in the long run by disrupting their stable breeding structure, and opening up space and resources for new coyotes to come in.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation points out that randomly killing coyotes will not result in an increase in the numbers of deer for hunters. A recent research study covering New York and other eastern states also found that coyotes are not adversely impacting deer populations in that region.

Most Americans see wildlife killing contests as pointless, sadistic, unsporting or wasteful. As awareness grows, lawmakers have already banned such contests in California, Vermont, New Mexico, Arizona and Massachusetts. Bills or proposed regulations to ban them are also being considered in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maryland, Oregon, Colorado and Washington state.

In New York too there are now bills in both chambers that would put an end to this senseless killing. The Assembly version, A.722B, was introduced by Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick. The Senate version, S.7542, was introduced by Sen. Monica R. Martinez and it has already passed the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. If you live in New York, please contact your state legislators and urge them to swiftly pass these bills. And if you live in a state where wildlife killing contests are held, please download our toolkit Wildlife Killing Contests: A Guide to Ending the Blood Sport in Your Community, and contact your HSUS state director to get involved. Theres growing momentum to end these outdated and inhumane contests; lets work together to send them into the pages of history as soon as possible.
Cartels Push Huge Amounts of Meth, Fentanyl Into US

Arizona sheriff says cartels create demand by flooding communities with free or cheap drugs to get people addicted

PINAL COUNTY, Ariz.If drugs arent stopped along the U.S.Mexico border in Arizonas remote desert, chances are, a large proportion will end up traveling through Pinal County on its way to Phoenix, a major trafficking hub.

Around 40 percent of illicit drugs enter the United States through Arizona, said Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

Hard narcoticssuch as heroin, methamphetamines, and fentanylare usually hidden in vehicles and driven through one of Arizonas seven ports of entry along its border, while marijuana has traditionally been backpacked through the desert between border crossings.

In the past few years, Mexican drug cartels have been flooding the United States with methamphetamines and fentanyl, driving the supply so hard and dropping the price so low that it pushes up addiction rates and the market then demands more drugs.

Our demand is based on what the cartels pushing. The demand is what the cartels create in our society, Lamb told The Epoch Times.

So they go out into areas and they will give out meth at a reduced price, or free, to certain places. They love rural areashard-working, blue collar people that are, life has got its boot on their throats. They get into those communities, and then it trickles into the cities. And once theyre into the cities, its a lot easier.

The increase is reflected in meth seizures at the border, especially at ports of entry. Border agents seized more than 82,000 pounds of meth along the whole southern border in fiscal year 2019, compared to less than 24,000 pounds in fiscal 2014.

I would venture to say were not catching 20 percent, Lamb said of the border seizures, based on his conversations with the Border Patrol drug unit. Its probably more around 10 percent.

Inside the United States, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seizures of meth more than doubled from about 50,000 pounds in fiscal 2017 to 112,000 pounds in fiscal 2019.

Lambs office in Pinal County seized 3,000 percent more meth in 2019 (153 pounds) than it did in 2018 (4.4 pounds).

Its a billion-dollar business that will only change if the cartels bottom line takes a significant hit, Lamb said.

Take Walmart, for example. Walmart has  an accepted loss ratio that theyll accept, whether its through theft, damaged goods, stolen goods, whatever it may be. Theyre not going to change their ways very much unless it exceeds that threshold, he said.

Well, the cartels no different. Theyre a billion-dollar industry and they have their own threshold. Now Ive heard its anywhere between 20 and 25 percent. Weve never impacted that. I think Ive heard of maybe once or twice where weve impacted it to where they changed the way they do things.

Along with the increase in volume coming into the United States, the meth produced in the Mexican super labs is getting close to 100 percent in purity, according to the DEA.

Meth and fentanyl are both made in labs, making it easier and cheaper for cartels to produce year-round, without the land area and large staff needed for crop maintenance that heroin and cocaine require.

The number of deaths caused by psychostimulants (predominantly methamphetamines) increased by 37 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). More than 10,000 Americans died from an overdose involving psychostimulants in 2017, the CDC reported.

Pinal County and the Indian Reservation

Pinal County is almost 5,400 square miles, about the same size as Connecticut, and its southernmost point sits about 55 miles north of the U.S.Mexico border.

The southwest corner of the county overlaps with the Tohono Oodham Indian Reservation by about 20 miles, but Lambs deputies only patrol to the edge of the reservation. Although Border Patrol runs a checkpoint inside the reservation, law enforcement other than tribal police is generally shunned. The Tohono Oodham Nation has its own Constitution and judicial system.

The reservation, which is also about the size of Connecticut, shares 75 miles of largely open border with Mexico, and many of its residents live and travel freely between the two countries. This, along with the harsh and remote Sonoran Desert terrain, makes it a perfect drug-trafficking corridor for cartels.

Drug traffickers also exploit the high levels of unemployment and poverty on reservations, DEA research indicates.

The Tohono Oodham Nation didnt respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comments about how drug and human smuggling affects the reservation.

Lamb said most of the drugs his deputies seize are within the five-mile stretch where the reservation ends and interstates 8 and 10 converge. I-8 provides a direct link to San Diego, while I-10 goes straight to Phoenixone of the largest drug trafficking hubs in the country.

The DEA says cartels continue to smuggle multiple tons of marijuana through the Tohono Oodham Reservation, as well as cocaine, heroin, and meth.

Methamphetamine continues to be the most prevalent drug seized from drug operations in Indian Country, the 2018 DEA report states.

In 2018, the last of 18 Mexican cartel affiliates was sentenced for operating a marijuana-smuggling network through the Tohono Oodham Reservation, according to the Justice Department.

The cartel had placed scouts up on high ground inside the United States, who would then guide the marijuana backpacking groups past law enforcement, using radios and cellphones, the Justice Department said.

Co-conspirators would provide the scouts with food, water, binoculars, cellphones, camping equipment, cold and hot weather clothing, and communications equipment.

Although cross-border marijuana seizures are down, Lamb said, youre kidding yourself if you think the cartels have backed down on the marijuana business.

All we did was make it legal for the cartel to grow it [in the United States] and sell it, he said. I would say that 80 percentand I think a lot of other people would agreethat 80 percent of the legalized marijuana sales here in Americain those states, Colorado, Californiaare produced and sold by the Mexican cartels.

Anti-Smuggling Unit

Lambs anti-smuggling unit conducts regular operations to ferret out scouts, as well as to catch illegal aliens and drug smugglers.

Sgt. Chris Martin leads the unit of four detectives, two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and one Border Patrol agent. The operations often also include personnel from the Bureau of Land Management and state police. The BLM has an enforcement arm that works to keep the public lands safe and undamaged by smugglers, Martin said.

Were really looking to target the organizations that smuggle the contraband and the people, he told The Epoch Times. So say we get a group thats coming through the desert, and weve got eyes on them, whether its a camera or its a team on the high ground, or whatever it is, we generally like to let them load up into a vehicle, because Im more interested in the driver and the vehicle and the cellphones and the organizations thats doing that.

Several months ago, the unit caught a group of illegal aliens after they had loaded up into a waiting truck.

One of the illegal aliens really started getting agitated and trying to get away from us, Martin said. They discovered the man was from El Salvador and that he had an arrest warrant in Nevada for child molestation.

So he really didnt want to get caught and put back in the system, Martin said. Theres a reason why we need to do what were doingthats not a guy that we want back here.

He said most of the illegal aliens they catch nowadays are wearing new camouflage clothing, shoes, and large backpacks. He thinks these are provided by the cartels and theyre used as decoys for drug smugglers. If the group is being pursued by law enforcement, the drug smugglers will run off, while the others will give up and get caught.

Last spring, the aliens who surrendered to law enforcement had large backpacks with new sleeping bags in them, Martin said. Whos going to carry a sleeping bag for 70 miles when you dont need one because its not cold? he said.

A popular pickup spot is in the Vekol Valley area at mile marker 157 on I-8, which then links to the I-10 to Phoenix at Casa Grande. Illegal aliens and drug smugglers can walk directly from the border, up through the reservation to I-8. The highway is flat and the nearby trees provide some coverage while aliens await their ride. Piles of discarded camo clothing, backpacks, and water bottles are strewn all through the wash near the highway, evidence of the frequent pick-ups made here.

Recent construction on the highway, however, has disrupted the pattern and pushed some of the traffic to different areas, including a local canal.

Another popular pick-up area for smuggling loads is near the Silver Bell Estates, a remote community that also abuts the reservation. Discarded clothing and water bottles are abundant, and fresh tire tracks early one November morning suggest a missed opportunity to catch a smuggler.

Smuggling loads happen all day long, said Sheriffs Deputy Erik Larsen. For every one that we catch, theres probably six or seven that go by.

Larsen said deputies used to see a lot of French fry loadswhere theres a bunch of people standing up in the back of a pickup or hanging onto a Tahoe. The smugglers are trying to move aliens and drugs further north as quickly as possible.

Lamb said all different types of vehicles are used for smuggling, from commercial to personal.

A truck that we pulled over was full of jalapenos and we found people hidden in the jalapenos, freezing to death, Lamb said, adding that cocaine and heroin also were found on that shipment.

The smuggling of humans has become just as big for the cartels as drug smuggling, he said.

We just have a constant flow. I think last week, we had a day where we captured two and nine and seven and four people. Its nonstop for us, he said.

Twenty years ago, 15 years ago, you could come over here on your own, if you knew the route. The cartels own those routes now, so you dont come across unless you paid the cartel a fee to come across.

And the cartel uses it as their transportation model. So you pay the cartel to come across and then they make you carry drugs. And they dont care whether or not you live or die because theres a gazillion other people waiting to do the same thing.

Building a border fence that cuts through the reservation along the U.S.Mexico line is an unlikely and unfeasible scenario, Martin said.

But as the amount of fence increases along either side of the reservation, the reservation corridor will become more and more valuable to the cartels, he said.

The solution is to strengthen what theyre currently doing with interdiction efforts along the five-mile band at the edge of the reservation, Martin said.

And if were successful enough at making it hard to get off the reservation with contraband, then they will go somewhere else.

Fentanyl

Aside from meth, illicit fentanyl is being brought into the United States in increasing amounts. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 100 times more potent than morphine.

Fentanyl seizures in Arizona have more than tripled each year since 2016.

More than 1 million fentanyl pills were seized by Arizona law enforcement and the DEAs Phoenix division during fiscal 2019. About 380,000 were seized in fiscal 2018.

Mexican cartels began to manufacture their own fentanyl and press the drug into pill form as the primary opioid substance, marketing the pills as Mexican oxy to those seeking opiate-based pills on the street, the 2019 National Drug Threat Assessment from the DEA states.

In the past, fentanyl had mainly been mixed into heroin to boost the high, but now its often pressed into small blue tablets and stamped with M30 to closely match the color and markings of prescription oxycodone pills.

Buyers may be unaware the pills contain fentanyl, of which a 2mg dose can be fatal.

Youre going to see more and more increase in fentanyl, said Lamb. Fentanyl is cheap to produce. Its very potent. It increases dependability and addiction.

Lamb said other drugs can easily be laced with fentanyl, including marijuana, which gets the kids hooked on the drugs a little bit quicker.

In 2018, the sheriffs office didnt seize any powdered fentanyl or M30 pills.

But in 2019, 551 M30 pills were seized, along with nine pounds of powdered fentanyl. Seizures of pure fentanyl pills increased by 75 percent.

Fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioidsprimarily sourced from China and Mexicocontinue to be the most lethal category of illicit substances misused in the United States, the 2019 DEA report says.

The volume of fentanyl trafficked from Mexico is high, but the purity is typically low (less than 10 percent pure on average), according to the DEA.

Conversely, fentanyl trafficked through the mail from China typically arrives in smaller quantities that are highly pure (frequently 90 percent or higher purity), the DEA report states.

Clandestine fentanyl pill pressing operations are dotted all over the United States, according to the DEA.

These operations are popular since traffickers can invest in as little as a kilogram of fentanyl powder and produce hundreds of thousands of counterfeit fentanyl-containing pills to generate large amounts of revenue, the report states.

The use of the dark web and cryptocurrency has made it more difficult for law enforcement to track transactions and communications.

Lamb said wherever a drug market exists in the United States, the cartel has a presence there.

Because they have to make sure that they can recoup their money for the product that theyve delivered and sold. They get their money and then, that money starts to flow back towards Mexico, he said.

The Sinaloa cartel maintains the most expensive footprint in the United States, while the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG) has become the second-most dominant domestic presence over the past few years, according to the DEA.

On Feb. 20, the DEA announced the launch of Operation Crystal Shield to target eight major methamphetamine transportation hubsAtlanta, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix, and St. Louis.

These areas accounted for more than 75 percent of methamphetamine seized in the United States in 2019.

The DEA said many opioid addicts are reportedly transitioning to meth, while drug traffickers and dealers are selling meth as counterfeit pills or using methamphetamine as an adulterant.

The emerging trend of methamphetamine in pill form also targets prescription stimulant users and appeals to non-traditional drug users due to the length of the high and the cheap price of methamphetamine, the DEA states.

Lamb said the focus needs to be stopping the drugs at the border.

If you care about humanity, you should absolutely care about border security, he said. The drugs that are coming into this country are harming communities, harming our children, our adults, everything.

Now will they find a different way? Probably. But you cant raise the white flag. You cant just give up because you think theyre going to bring it in anyways. You stop them. And if they have to find a more expensive route to bring in their product, then thats going to increase the cost of drugs, which is inherently going to reduce usage.
Three balaclava-clad thieves who smashed their way into a Melbourne home and demanded cash before shooting a man in the leg are thought to have fled to Sydney in the days after the terrifying early-morning home invasion.

Eight months after the incident, police have released images of two cars and a man they believe are connected to the aggravated burglary and shooting on June 10 last year.

Some of the images released by police. Credit:Victoria Police

The 53-year-old victim was at his home on Cornish Road in Emerald with two women aged in their 20s when the three men in dark clothing and balaclavas broke in about 4.30am.

They threatened the residents with a gun and demanded cash before one of the men shot the victim in the leg. He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and has since told police he does not know the offenders.
Satellite traffic management system to ensure reliability of services to end users

Paris, March 5, 2020 - Atos , a global leader in digital transformation, has been chosen by Arabsat , one of the world's top satellite operators and leading satellite services provider across the Middle East and Africa, to provide a state-of-the-art satellite monitoring solution to mitigate interferences in Arabsat's satellite services and ensure the highest quality of service to its end-users.

The Atos solution, the SkyMon carrier monitoring system (CMS), is now operational at Arabsat's ground stations throughout the region, including a main site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It monitors all payload signals and traffic within Arabsat's satellite fleet, in different locations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - to detect interferences in real time and help Arabsat eliminate service interruption. This is a key asset to deliver the optimal quality and ensure the reliability of Arabsat's satellite services to its customers.

More specifically, the Atos solution performs spectral, radio frequency and quality of service (QoS) measurements to detect interferences, unwanted signals, transmission breaches or unknown satellite carriers - whether they are hidden or visible on the spectrum, continuous or intermittent. All of these can be identified on one single solution in order to take prompt counteractive measures.

"Thanks to Atos'radio frequency traffic monitoring system, we make sure to quickly identify all irregularities and rapidly coordinate response actions when the slightest problem occurs. This allows us to provide the highest quality of service to our customers, which is our most important objective." said Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEOat Arabsat.

"We are delighted to support Arabsat in its day-to-day mission to deliver satellite-based, public and private telecommunications services to tens of millions of homes in more than 80 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Europe." said Bruno Milard,VP, Head of Business Unit Aerospace & Defense Electronics at Atos. "To gain precious time in solving interference-related issues, Arabsat can rely on SkyMon's fully-integrated comprehensive geolocation system."

For more information about SkyMon, please visit https://atos.net/en/products/aerospace-defense-electronics/skymon/carrier-monitoring

The Atos experts will be at " Satellite 2020 " in Washington DC from March 9 to 13 on booth 1344.

***

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of  12 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos|Syntel, and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Press contact:

Lucie Duchateau - +33 7 62 85 35 10 - lucie.duchateau@atos.net

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The Sean Glasser Scholarship Program will award one scholarship of $2,000 to an undergraduate or graduate student in the U.S. or Canada

JERSEY CITY, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2020 / Sean Glasser is excited to announce that he will be launching a new scholarship program to support hopeful and budding entrepreneurs. The Sean Glasser Scholarship Program will offer one scholarship of $2,000 for tuition, books, or boarding to a college or university student in the U.S. or Canada.

Students majoring in business or engineering who are currently entrepreneurs or hope to be after school are eligible to apply.

Sean Glasser is an entrepreneur from Jersey City, New Jersey. He is the founder and CEO of BLUETRACK Inc., an e-commerce company that he opened in 2002 when he was a sophomore in college. As someone that grew up with an entrepreneurial mindset himself, Sean Glasser is looking forward to helping budding entrepreneurs achieve success.

Applicants of the Sean Glasser Scholarship Program will be asked to submit proof of enrollment in order to be eligible for this opportunity. Applicants will also be asked to write and submit a 500-word essay detailing their major, their idea for their business, and explaining why the applicant believes new entrepreneurs and competition in the marketplace helps the consumer and what areas of our economy may benefit from more competition. The Sean Glasser Scholarship Program is expected to launch mid to late March.

For more information, please visit www.seanglasserscholarship.com.

About Sean Glasser

Sean Glasser is the founder and CEO of BLUETRACK Inc., which prints promotional products for companies. With hopes of becoming an FBI agent and pursuing his Criminal Justice degree, Sean Glasser opened a small e-commerce site his sophomore year of college with only $600. He grew it while in school and upon graduation added a print shop with a college friend. Eventually, BLUETRACK expanded from only selling light-up products to becoming one of the world's leading sources of stress balls. The company eventually acquired the domain stressballs.com and built a loyal base of 40,000 customers, including big names like Google, Nike, Netflix, and Disney among others. The company is continuing to expand its offerings and will be opening a new corporate headquarters in Montclair, New Jersey in late 2020.

Contact:

Sean Glasser

apply@seanglasserscholarship.com

SOURCE: Sean Glasser

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/579263/Sean-Glasser-to-Launch-Scholarship-for-Hopeful-Entrepreneurs
The Covid-19 virus outbreak presents employers and employees with the thorny issue of sick leave, but there are conflicting views over who should pay.

David McCarroll, partner at law firm Ronan Daly Jermyn said he has already had cases where employees have opted to "self isolate" without securing permission from their employer.

They may have family members who might have been exposed and fear they have the virus.

"If every worker self regulates, this will give rise to difficulties," he said. The concern is that if the employer gives way and continues to pay the person who is on leave, a precedent will be set leading to trouble down the line if others choose to self-isolate. There is no statutory obligation on employers to pay staff absent on sick leave.

Mr McCarroll said, however, that employers do need to "act in a measured fashion in line with advice from public health officials".

He warns firms against shutting any business without first taking into account advice from public health officials.

Employer representatives have appeared to suggest that paid leave in such circumstances could be treated as being part of an employees holiday entitlement.

Employment law expert Ciaran OMara said, however, decisions of the European Court of Justice make it clear that annual leave entitlements cannot be reduced in this way.

There is a basic health and safety principle  the obligation to provide employees with a safe work environment

He added that employers cannot contract out of health and safety law.

Mr O Mara said: "If someone is sent home, they cannot be taken off the payroll the next day. What they would be getting, essentially, is safety leave."

Ibec is seeking form the Government "a special emergency social welfare payment" which would be "at the level of Job Seekers Benefit, for a two-week period from the first day of employment stoppage, waiving the qualifying period".

The crisis also brings the issue of the so-called gig economy into sharp focus. Gig workers faced with no income may seek to argue that they are employees even though they may be described as self- employed.
Some FMCG firms are also educating consumers by engaging their brands to communicate with the consumers, through special campaigns on digital and mainstream media, to make them aware about the benefits of regular hands wash as prevention for coronavirus

New Delhi: Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are ramping up their production and optimising distribution channels to meet the rising demand for hand sanitizers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Some FMCG firms are also educating consumers by engaging their brands to communicate with the consumers, through special campaigns on digital and mainstream media, to make them aware about the benefits of regular hands wash as prevention for coronavirus.

The companies have assured that they have enough stocks to tackle the situation.

"We have ramped up our production capacity. We are also trying to ramp up through our vendors also," Godrej Consumer Products Ltd CEO (India and SAARC) Sunil Kataria told PTI. However, he also added that hand santizers are premium products in India.

"The way we have to address this problem is through that we all need to communicate the right education to the people and send messages to the consumers that best precaution and prevention from coronavirus is regularly washing hands," he added.

GCPL, which had Godrej Protekt brand in the segment, has started a digital campaign to create awareness about it.

ITC, which is present in the segment through its brand Savlon, said it is ensuring that there is an adequate supply of hygiene products in the market.

"ITC is ensuring adequate supply of Savlon hygiene products in the market. Savlon continues to focus on enhancing awareness about hand hygiene and urges consumers to maintain good hygiene practices," according to an ITC spokesperson.

FMCG major HUL, which is present in the segment with Lifebuoy hand sanitizers, is also ensuring its products' availability to the consumers.

"Given the surge in demand for hygiene products, we have redoubled our efforts to ensure that consumers have access to products that keep them safe such as Lifebuoy hand sanitizers and hand wash," said an HUL spokesperson.

While Dabur is running a series of awareness campaigns across digital platforms and social and mainstream media to educate the public about how to keep themselves safe from coronavirus.

"Our key healthcare brands such as Dabur Chyawanprash, ImmunoDab and Giloy Ghanvati are running informative campaigns to drive awareness about staying protected from such illnesses," said Dabur India Marketing Head (Healthcare) Mukesh Mishra.

Mishra also said the company is also organising a question-and-answer session, particularly for mothers, with ayurvedic doctors on digital media platforms to address their queries regarding coronavirus and how to keep their families protected from it.

However, FMCG major RB India (erstwhile Reckitt Benckiser), which is one of the leading player in the segment with its brand Dettol, has declined to comment on the issue.

Hand sanitizers have vanished from general shop and chemist shops in many areas of the national capital and adjoining towns as people resorted to panic buying amid the coronavirus outbreak.
* Hoteliers warn of collapse in reservations

* Travel industry accounts for 10% of global economy

* Unclear how quickly it will recover from crisis

By Elisa Anzolin, Josephine Mason and Maya Nikolaeva

MILAN/LONDON/PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - Venice hotelier Judith Boulbain has to go back almost two decades to the 9/11 attacks to recall a time when business was this bad.

Only a month before Easter, one of the busiest holidays in the European calendar, the owner of the Hotel San Samuele in the heart of Venice has seen more than 80% of reservations cancelled, and future bookings have evaporated.

The coronavirus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has spread around the world, with more new cases now appearing outside China than inside.

Italy is the worst-hit country in Europe, preparing to close schools, cinemas and theatres after more than 100 people died and confirmed coronavirus cases rose above 3,000.

"People are scared, some left early, others didn't show up, others called to ask for a refund," says Boulbain, 46, originally from France, who has been running the Italian hotel since 2006 and has been in the business for almost 25 years.

Her problems illustrate the havoc across the global travel industry, as companies restrict employees' travel, major trade shows are axed and holidaymakers choose to stay at home or postpone plans to book a spring break or summer holiday.

BIG BUSINESS

The rapid spread of the virus has plunged the travel and tourism industry, which accounts for more than 10% of global economic growth, into one of its worst crises, according to interviews with more than a dozen industry experts, hotel owners and tour operators.

Travel and tourism accounted for about 319 million jobs, or 10% of total world employment in 2018, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Leisure represents almost 80% of the total compared with 20% for business spend, it says.

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Airlines have suffered the most since the outbreak began, but hotel groups like Hyatt Hotels Corp, cruise operators like Carnival Corp and holiday companies including TUI are also reeling.

"We don't know when this (epidemic) is going to end," says Boulbain.

BLEAK OUTLOOK

Experts paint a bleak picture in the near term.

International travel is expected to fall by 1.5% this year, the first drop since 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis, according to consultancy Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, rates of travel fell just 0.3%.

With China at the centre of this latest outbreak, Asia Pacific will be the hardest hit region, with a double-digit decline in visitor arrivals forecast for 2020 at 10.5%, according to Tourism Economics.

People have become more resilient to health crises over the past decade or so, on average returning to travel and holidays swiftly once an outbreak is contained, Tourism Economics' analysis shows.

But the coronavirus is unprecedented in its geographic spread. The consultancy is using SARS as its benchmark, which means they expect the virus to be contained by the end of the first half of the year.

Under that scenario, travel rates would start to recover from around July but it will take until 2021/22 before the industry has recovered completely, David Goodger, managing director of Europe and the Middle East at Tourism Economics, told Reuters.

"If the spread of the coronavirus continues, the impacts on tourism could last longer and be much more severe than SARS," the consultancy said in a report published this week.

KNOCK-ON EFFECT

It's having a knock-on effect beyond tourism. Businesses near a hotel on the Spanish island of Tenerife, which has been under lockdown with hundreds of tourists inside since Feb. 24, are struggling to deal with the lack of customers.

Beverley Veness, a hairdresser from England and owner of the 'Bamboo' hair salon for the past seven years, located in a shopping centre in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel, said her business had been "massively affected" by the lockdown.

"Last week I probably did as many costumers in the whole week as I would do in maybe two hours," she told Reuters, holding an empty appointment book.

To woo customers into making bookings for later in the year, many hotel chains including Melia Hotels, Pangea Group and B the Travel Brand in Spain said they are offering discounts and loosening their cancellation policies.

With almost no bookings for the coming months, Ca Pagan, a boutique hotel in Venice's city centre, is offering a discount of up to 60% in March and up to 30% in April, owner Giacomo Busatto says.

"Only some Italians are coming, no foreign people," he said.

Those measures may eventually lure back travellers but people are more likely to book last-minute as they wait and see how and where the virus spreads.

"We do not know for how long we can carry on like this. We are losing money. We already had an exceptionally high tide, what's next? A plague?" says Boulbain.

(Reporting by Josephine Mason, Elisa Anzolin in MILAN, Maya Nikolaeva in PARIS, Illona Wissenbach in FRANKFURT, Ingrid Melander and Belen Carreno in MADRID; Guillermo Martinez and Marco Trujillo in TENERIFE; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
By Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. death toll from coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles, while Seattle-area health officials discouraged social gatherings amid the nation's largest outbreak.

The first California death from the virus was an elderly person in Placer County, near Sacramento, health officials said. The person had underlying health problems and likely had been exposed on a cruise ship voyage between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

It was the first coronavirus fatality in the United States outside of Washington state, where 10 people have died in a cluster of at least 39 infections that have emerged through community transmission of the virus in two Seattle-area counties.

Although the Placer County patient who died was not believed to have contracted the virus locally, that case and a previous one from the San Francisco Bay Area linked to the same ocean liner have led health authorities to seek other cruise passengers who may have had close contact with those two individuals.

Hours after the person's death was announced, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency in response to the coronavirus, which he said has resulted in 53 cases across the nation's most populous state.

"The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Newsom said in a statement.

Newsom said the cruise ship, named the Grand Princess, had later sailed on to Hawaii and was returning to San Francisco, but would not be allowed into port until passengers had been tested for the virus.

"We are holding that ship off the coast," Newsom said.

Six new coronavirus patients were confirmed in Los Angeles County, public health officials said on Wednesday. One was a federal contractor who may have been exposed while conducting medical screenings at Los Angeles International Airport, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported.

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Three others likely were infected while traveling recently to northern Italy, one of the areas hardest hit in the global outbreak. Of the six in Los Angeles County, only one has been hospitalized. The other five are recovering in home isolation.

The greater Seattle region represents the biggest concentration of cases detected in the United States from a virus that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, mostly in China, where the epidemic originated in December.

With most of the Seattle-area cases not linked to travel or exposure to people who might have been infected abroad, that means the virus has gone from being an imported phenomenon to taking up residence in Washington state, health officials say.

At least 18 cases, including six deaths, were connected to a long-term nursing facility for the elderly, called LifeCare Center of Kirkland, in a Seattle suburb.

GRAPHIC: Tracking the novel coronavirus https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html

'DISTANCING MEASURES'

Seattle health authorities urged a number of measures for curbing further spread of the disease, including recommendations for anyone aged 60 and older and individuals with underlying chronic health problems or compromised immunity to stay home and away from large gatherings and public places.

They also urged companies to allow their employees to work from home as much as possible, stagger shifts to ease commuter congestion on public transportation and avoid large work-related gatherings.

"The distancing measures that we're recommending are essential because we need to slow the spread of the disease to the point where we are able to continue to handle the load," said Patty Hayes, the public health director for Seattle and King County.

A growing number of U.S. companies are adopting such steps. On Wednesday Microsoft Corp asked its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and in the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible until March 25.

In New York state, the number of cases rose to 10 on Wednesday. Three family members and a neighbor of a lawyer who was previously identified as infected tested positive. The neighbor's wife and three of his children have also contracted the virus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

About 1,000 people in suburban Westchester County, where the two families live, were under self-quarantine orders because of possible exposure, Cuomo said.

"We are, if anything, being overcautious," he said.

AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, said Wednesday that people in a group from New York that attended its 18,000-person policy conference in Washington, D.C., this week potentially had been in contact with an individual who contacted the coronavirus before the conference.

Dozens of Congress members attended the conference, as well as Vice President Mike Pence.

EMERGENCY FUNDS

U.S. lawmakers reached bipartisan agreement on an $8.3 billion emergency bill to help fund efforts to contain the virus. The bill garnered enough votes to pass in the House of Representatives.

More than $3 billion would be devoted to research and development of coronavirus vaccines, test kits and therapeutics. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the fast-spreading illness.

The administration is working to allow laboratories to develop their own coronavirus tests without seeking regulatory approval first, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said.

The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 129 confirmed and presumed cases in the United States, up from the previous 108. They were 80 reported by public health authorities in 13 states plus 49 among people repatriated from abroad, according to the CDC website.

Those figures do not necessarily reflect Wednesday's updates from three states.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Laila Kearney in New York; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Maria Caspani and Hilary Russ in New York, David Morgan and Richard Cowan in Washington; writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Lisa Shumaker, Cynthia Osterman, Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast.)
Mayor Sylvester Turner gathered Thursday with a couple dozen staff members and city officials for lunch at Ocean Palace in Asiatown in a bid to alleviate concerns and tamp down on rumors about COVID-19.

Concern and rumors about the disease have cut into traffic at Asiatown restaurants and businesses.

The outing was planned before a man in Fort Bend County tested presumptively positive for the new coronavirus Wednesday, the areas first non-imported case.

Turner said he anticipates Houston and Harris County eventually will experience COVID-19 cases as well, but he urged Houstonians not to panic.

We dont want the fear to put us at a point where we are doing more damage to ourselves than the virus, he said at the restaurant.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend coronavirus case is first in Houston area

Houstons public health lab gained a single test kit to analyze samples on Wednesday, allowing the city to conduct its own tests instead of sending samples to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. The kit has the capacity to test 700 specimens suspected of carrying the disease, enough for about 200 to 400 patients.

Turner said the city is trying to be very transparent about its testing process and will notify the public if  or when  a case surfaces in Houston or Harris County.

Part of the reason for that transparency, he said, is to ensure that unfounded rumors do not cause damage to small businesses, as they have in Asiatown, and public health in general.

The citys lab tested the sample that came back positive on Wednesday. The case involves a 70-year-old Fort Bend County man who recently traveled abroad. He is isolated at a hospital in stable condition. The sample has been sent to the CDC for confirmation.

Fire Chief Sam Pena, who attended the lunch, said it is his understanding that the man was traveling with two other people, who he said he believes are self-quarantining at this point. He said the Houston Fire Department did not respond to the case, but he has ensured personnel have the proper equipment to respond to such calls when they come.

Its on our doorstep, he said.

Turner said the city continues to collaborate with county, state and federal health officials in monitoring the virus.

City leaders gathered at the Houston Emergency Center on Thursday morning for a task force meeting on Houstons planning and response to the virus.

Public Safety Director George Buenik, who was at the Ocean Palace lunch, would not go into specifics on what the citys procedures are for responding to a case, but like others he urged folks to take sensible precautions  practicing good hygiene and washing hands.

On HoustonChronicle.com: 'It was only a matter of time': Coronavirus case marks milestone for Houstonregion

City Councilmember Tiffany Thomas, State Rep. Gene Wu and several department heads also attended the lunch.

At the restaurant, Turner took his personal bottle of sanitizer and said he does not go anywhere without it. He shared some with Pena and Buenik before they dug into their dim sum.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
Within minutes of news emerging that Elizabeth Warren would suspend her presidential campaign on Thursday, President Donald Trump fired off a tweet.

Bringing back his long used nickname for the Massachusetts senator, Trump argued Warren dropped out THREE DAYS TOO LATE.

Warren announced to members of her campaign the end of presidential campaign late Thursday morning.

I know that when we set out, this was not the call you ever wanted to hear. It is not the call I ever wanted to make, she said in remarks shared with reporters. I am so proud of how you all fought this fight alongside me: you fought it with empathy and kindness and generosity  and of course, with enormous passion and grit.

Her decision comes following a brutal Super Tuesday performance, in which she didnt win a single state. She placed third in her home state of Massachusetts, behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The Super Tuesday contest followed weeks of questions over whether Warren could win her home state, with her strongest competition in Massachusetts believed to be Sanders, who held a pair of back-to-back rallies in Springfield and Boston ahead of the primary. Biden was the surprise winner in Massachusetts Tuesday. He won with 33.7% of support from Massachusetts voters, compared to Sen. Bernie Sanders 26.7% and Warrens 21.2%.

Warren also lost to Biden in Oklahoma where she grew up and hoped her roots would clinch the state for her.

In tweeting about Warren Thursday, Trump claimed she drew votes from Sanders, dividing progressive voters and allowing Biden significant wins on Tuesday.

Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mikes head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary...THREE DAYS TOO LATE. She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020

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A man and a woman have been jailed after scamming almost 50,000 worth of food and hotel bills after pretending to have lived with one of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Carmel Daly 50, and Robert Kenneally, 52, were found guilty today of fraud by false representation following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

Daly was sentenced to four years and three months in prison today, while Kenneally, was sentenced to four years and nine months.

The court heard the pair, both of Kensington, London, falsely claimed to have been living in Grenfell Tower, six months prior to the fire, which claimed the lives of 72 people in June 2017, with Dennis Murphy.

The pair told Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) council and the Red Cross that they had been sharing a flat with Mr Murphy - resulting in them being given a room at a hotel, clothing and financial assistance.

They were later provided with a flat rent-free, with no requirement to pay council tax or other bills.

The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 killed 72 people / Getty Images

The pair were exposed by an investigation by the RBKC fraud team and then interviewed by police on 5 April 2018.

Detectives analysed CCTV footage from Grenfell Tower, five days before the fire, and neither Daly or Kenneally could be seen.

The jury also heard evidence from Mr Murphys neighbour, who was sure he lived alone.

Mr Murphys son, sister and mother also said they had never heard him talk about Daly and Kenneally living with him.

Analysis of Mr Murphys telephone records revealed he had not had a single contact with any of the numbers attributed to Daly and Kenneally.

Daly and Kenneally were charged with fraud on 25 April 2019.

Detective Constable Ismail Mattar, of the Grenfell Tower investigation, said: The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire brought out the best in humanity, with members of the public and local services working round the clock to help survivors who had been left homeless.

Unfortunately, a number of people like Daly and Kenneally cynically sought to abuse this kindness and personally profit from the tragedy, which killed 72 people.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday urged the public and private sectors to work in alliance and build on the strengths of each other to tackle novel coronavirus.

"It is time for public and private sectors to come together and work as an alliance in the spirit of collaboration and co-ordination for collective efforts towards COVID-19 management," he said after holding a high-level meeting with owners and heads of private hospitals of Delhi-NCR.

The minister discussed the preparedness in terms of bed capacity of hospitals for infected cases, isolation wards, protocols for sample collection and testing, protocols for outdoor patients among others.

According to an official statement, private hospitals of Delhi-NCR were asked to create a pool of beds. The NITI Aayog would support the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and private hospitals in doing so, so that the data of availability of beds along with the requisite trained manpower is known, it said.

Collaboration on sample collection and testing was also discussed, wherein Secretary, MoHFW stated that 35 labs have been identified across the country, number of which will be increased to more than 100 in the coming days, the statement said.

A presentation was made about the current situation and ongoing activities of COVID-19 management in the country.

Vardhan said with the collective efforts of the central ministries and states/UTs, precautionary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

He said states continue to be on high alert regarding prevention, community surveillance and effective hospital management.

The Union minister said it is during times like these, when the public and private sector can form an alliance and work towards shared goals in public interest, pooling in collective resources and building on the strengths of each other.

The hospitals informed the government that they have taken up various outreach activities for enhancing awareness among their hospital staff, the statement stated.

They also volunteered to enhance awareness among the communities through their own efforts as well.

Vardhan added that it was also important for people to access authentic and credible sources of information regarding the disease.

A man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has tested positive for novel coronavirus, taking the total number of such cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALEPPO  Syrians living in the areas held by the Turkish-backed opposition in northern Aleppo have been living in constant worry since Syrian regime forces and their allies made significant advances in the northwestern province of Idlib in the past two months.

There have been rapidly progressing attacks by the regime forces backed by heavy Russian air support and systematic bombing and destruction of the opposition-held cities and towns on both sides of the M5 highway linking Aleppo to Damascus. Syrians in northern Aleppo fear they will face a similar fate should the regime forces move toward them after achieving their goals in Idlib.

Mohamad Rasheed, an activist reporting for local news outlets in northwestern Syria, told Al-Monitor that the regime forces and their allies are frightening civilians in the areas they took control over in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside with such atrocities as desecrating graveyards.

The Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas are now home to a large number of displaced people who fled the regime forces shelling in the Idlib countryside and the western countryside of Aleppo during the months of February and January. They settled in several cities including al-Bab, Marea, Azaz and Afrin as well as in the border camps, where the population density has increased significantly.

The Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas also house thousands of people displaced from the northern countryside of Homs and later from eastern Ghouta, eastern Qalamoun and southern Damascus, as well as from the Daraa province during 2018. Should the regime forces carry out a military operation there, a humanitarian catastrophe could be unimaginable.

Rami al-Sayed is a photojournalist working for AFP who was displaced from southern Damascus and now resides in the city of Afrin. He told Al-Monitor, The Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas have become a haven for the two million civilians who have been displaced by the oppression of the regime forces and the militias backed by Iran and Russia from the various Syrian provinces. These areas are their last resort and if the Assad regime and its allies invade, there will be genocide.

Sayed added, We were displaced from Damascus to the countryside of Aleppo because we refused to live in the confines of the regime. We could never and would never do that. The Assad regime and the Iranian-backed sectarian militias fighting alongside it pose a serious threat to the pro-opposition Syrians. Assads forces and their allies cannot be trusted  take the arrests they carried out in several areas after reconciliation deals with the regime despite Russian and Iranian guarantees. Many were even recruited to fight against the opposition.

Mohammed Bakkour, a teacher in the city of Marea north of Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, If the greed of the Assad regime and its allies leads them toward the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas in the Aleppo countryside, I will not be able to survive because I participated in the peaceful revolutionary movement against the regime, and so I am at risk of being killed or arrested if I stay here. There is no way I would live in an area controlled by the Assad forces, so I will be looking for [another] place where I can live with dignity.

Bakkour explained, The Assad regime is assisted by brutal sectarian militias backed by Iran and other militias supported by Russia that are no less criminal, so millions of people are threatened with genocide, and they have every reason to worry about their fate. The international community must stop the massacre in Idlib first so worse doesn't happen later on in other areas.

Mahmood Talha, a journalist who works with Thiqa News Agency, told Al-Monitor, I do not expect the regime forces to attack the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield areas because Turkey will not abandon the two areas so easily."

Talha added, The impact of the Idlib battles on the economic situation in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas has been great. But popular opposition circles in Aleppo countryside believe that the regime and its allies, Russia and Iran, want to control all of Syria and that no area will be spared from their greed.

Amer Abdel-Rahman from the city of al-Bab in eastern Aleppo works in the clothing industry. He told Al-Monitor, Fears that the regime forces will invade all opposition areas in northwestern Syria have affected market movement. My business is barely surviving; instead of buying ready-made clothes, people save money for what is more important, such as living expenses and perhaps at some point displacement from the area if the Assad regime forces advance.

Abdul Malek Harraj, who studies English literature at the University of Aleppo, fears for his future if the regime forces continue to invade the opposition areas. The battles of Idlib affected us as students. We are worried about our fate, and I personally fear losing my education. I cannot stay here if the regime forces advance. I will be arrested and forced to serve in their ranks, he told Al-Monitor.

Lawyer Youssef Hussein is a member of the Syria Free Bar, an independent syndicate of lawyers who oppose the Syrian regime, told Al-Monitor, People in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas live in a state of fear and panic, since their places of residence are at risk. They hope for a safe area where they will not be bombed and killed, because all Syrians who oppose the regime now live here as they are unable to migrate abroad since the Syrian-Turkish border is closed.
Zelensky on Riaboshapka no-confidence vote: MPs are voting, my opinion is that if there is no result he shouldn't hold the post

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the head of a given agency, in particular Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka, should not keep his or her position, if no results are demonstrated.

"I'm sure they will tell me: Ah-y-yah, you can't touch the prosecutor general. Although, you know, we have come a long way since the election campaign. Let members of parliament vote there as they want, but my personal opinion is very simple: if there is no result, the official should vacate the position," Zelensky said at a meeting with representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in Poltava region on Thursday. The event was attended by ambassadors of G7 countries.
LOS ANGELES  Robert Durst has never been charged in the 1982 New York disappearance of wife Kathie Durst, who was later declared dead despite no body being found, but on Wednesday a prosecutor in a Los Angeles courtroom repeatedly told a jury that he killed her.

Bob Durst killed his wife, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said at one point during his opening statement at the trial of the real estate heir Durst, who is charged only with the murder of his friend Susan Berman in 2000.

The judge in the case has ruled that the prosecution can provide evidence and say that Durst killed his wife to establish motive for Bermans killing, and Lewin took full advantage, repeating and emphasizing the statement.

He said it so much that it drove Dursts attorney Dick DeGuerin to interrupt.

Ive got to object to this conclusion that Bob Durst killed Kathie, said DeGuerin, who said it was an impermissible legal argument and not a presentation of evidence. He was overruled.

DeGuerin is the attorney who got Durst acquitted in his first murder trial in 2003 in Texas, when Durst testified that he had dismembered and disposed of his neighbor Morris Black, but his death had been an accident in a struggle over a gun.

Durst, 76, who looked frail and walked very slowly when he entered the courtroom, has denied killing Berman or having anything to do with his wifes disappearance.

He has long said that on Jan. 31, 1982, the last day anyone saw Kathie Durst, he had spent the day with her at their suburban home in South Salem, N.Y., then put her on a train to Manhattan, where they had a penthouse and where Kathie had a shift at a clinic in her work as a medical student.

The evidence will show that there are no witnesses or evidence that Kathie ever got on that train, Lewin told jurors. Well demonstrate that Kathie Durst never left that house. He came home, and he killed her.

The prosecution played several clips of Durst admitting to pushing, shoving and pulling the hair of his wife, taken from interviews Durst did in 2010 for The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, the HBO documentary series that helped lead to his arrest in 2015.

Prosecutors alleged that just days after Kathie Dursts death, her husband enlisted his best friend Berman to act as his media spokeswoman and to help him cover up her killing, at one point posing as Kathie Durst in a phone call to her medical school to demonstrate that she was still alive.

Prosecutors allege that 19 years later, when New York police had reopened the investigation and were about to interview Berman, Durst shot and killed her.

Andrew Dalton is an Associated Press writer.
In addition to the commission, the ordinance establishes three-member district councils in each of Chicagos 22 police districts. The councils are responsible for nominating commission members, who will be selected by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Commission members will be selected based on their expertise in areas such as civil rights, social work, work with immigrant and undocumented communities, and law. Two of the seven commissioners will be between the ages of 18 to 24 and have experienced police misconduct.
Swiss major IMR Metallurgical Resources-AG has proposed to set up a steel plant in Kadapa district of at an investment of over Rs 12,000 crore and an annual production capacity of 10 million tonnes.

IMR chief and other officials came up with the proposal during a meeting with the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Thursday, a press release said.

This would be the second steel plant that has been proposed in Kadapa district in the Rayalaseema region of the state.

As the Centre allegedly did not come forward to set up the steel plant in Kadapa as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the state government decided to establish one on its own and the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for it on December 23 last.

The state government also entered into an agreement with National Mineral Development Corporation for supply of iron ore for the proposed steel plant, with a capacity of three million tonnes.

Now, the Swiss firm has come up with a new proposal for setting up the steel plant that could be the second in the district, official sources said.

The Chief Minister told the visiting industrialists that the steel plants could spur industrial growth in Kadapa district and increase employment opportunities.

The state government was ready to provide all the basic infrastructure for the plant, he said, adding that connectivity to Krishnapatnam port, railway and highways was readily available.

IMR officials said their activities in iron ore, coal and gold mining extended to Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Columbia, Italy, Ukraine, besides India.

The company was into power and steel production as well. Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Industries Special Chief Secretary Rajat Bhargava, IMR-AG chairman Hans Radolf Weld, director Anirudh Misra, project president Arindam De and other officials attended the meeting.




Sayragul Sauytbay (R) talks about her International Women of Courage Award and the detention centers for Muslims in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, outside the U.S. State Department in Washington, March 3, 2020.

On March 4, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hosted the Annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards in Washington, honoring a dozen women from around the world who have taken extraordinary risks, including a Muslim of Kazakh descent, Sayragul Sauytbay.



Originally from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Sayragul is a former medical doctor who was separated from her family, tortured, imprisoned, and faced execution for speaking out about the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) repression of Muslim minorities.



In July 2016, Sayragul and her family left Xinjiang to move to Kazakhstan, but Chinese authorities confiscated her passport and prevented her from going. From November 2017 to March 2018, she was forced to teach Chinese to ethnic minority inmates in a Xinjiang detention camp. She then successfully fled to Kazakhstan to avoid being sent back to the camps, believed to hold as many as 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities.



Sayragul began speaking out about the CCPs repression of Muslims, sparking an international response against the rights abuses. She and her family now live in Sweden, where they received asylum.



She bravely provided accounts of Xinjiangs internment camps and continues to inspire other former detainees and their family members to come forward and tell their stories to the world, Pompeo said at the awards ceremony.



Following the award ceremony at the State Department, Alim Seytoff, director of RFAs Uyghur Service asked Sayragul about her thoughts on her award and the message it sends to Chinese authorities and about the reasons behind Chinas persecution of Muslim minorities forced into the camps. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

RFA: How do you feel about receiving the 2020 International Women of Courage Award from the U.S. State Department?

Sayragul: Im really excited. They gave really high credit to my work, even though I dont believe I did such great things. What makes me really happy is that I have had the opportunity make the voices of millions detained heard even louder in a great democratic country like the U.S. which highly values human life. I have met with many high-level officials and raised the issue with all of them. For me, this is a great opportunity to help free the people in the camps.

RFA: What message is the U.S. trying to send to China by giving you the award?

Sayragul: Officials in President Donald Trumps administration, especially Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have been voicing support for the long-suffering people in East Turkestan [XUAR] for a long time. Im extremely grateful to President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for their support. I believe it is a signal to put more high-level pressure on China to close the camps.

RFA: You initially fled to Kazakhstan, then moved to Sweden, and now youre in the U.S. But what about your relatives back home?

Sayragul: China imprisoned my over 70-year-old mother and younger sister after I fled to Kazakhstan. They were all innocent because they had no connection with me. I moved away soon after I got married. I didnt live with them in the same place. I had never told them about the camp where I worked or the nature of my work. Nobody besides me knew about it. I had no business with them. I didnt even tell them about my flight. I later learned they were released, but I provided the U.N. with their names, addresses, photos, and contact information. They promised they would follow their cases. I dont have direct communication with my relatives, so I dont know about their current situation.

RFA: Why do you think China is detaining millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other indigenous Turkic Muslims in the camps?



Sayragul: I believe this is not something that occurred in one day. This is the result of long-term planning during the past several years. Their objective has several stages. The first stage is to assimilate all ethnic groups and eliminate their differences. They have already began this first stage. In their view, East Turkestan is a very beautiful, resource-rich, and huge region, so they want to get rid of people using all sorts of pretexts and make the region theirs. But the people are innocent. That is the reason why they have murdered some and attempted to assimilate others. They are also turning locals into loyal members of the CCP to be their eyes and ears so they can carry out the second and third stages. The current situation has already surpassed ethnic and religious issues and has risen to a level of humanitarian tragedy.

RFA: China accuses camp survivors like you  whether Kazakhs or Uyghurs  who tell the world about their ordeals in the detention centers, as liars trying to deceive the international community into believing that the facilities are not vocational skills training centers as the Chinese describe them. How do you respond?

Sayragul: To fight for truth is a great calling. I am telling what I have seen. China has always accused people like us in order to justify its evil policies. Were all aware of how evil and dishonest the Chinese Communist Party is, so that is how it is justifying its rule by portraying us as liars. But you can never deface the truth. Were fighting for the truth, not falsehood. Were telling exactly what has happened.

RFA: China established the camps in early 2017 and has detained 1 million to 3 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, and other indigenous people. People of those nationalities who live in exile have begun focusing only on their own ethnic group when speaking out about the camps. Is this approach working?

Sayragul: We have long passed the time of focusing on one particular ethnic group. Because we are few, our fate  whether Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or Uyghurs  is the same. We are facing the end of the world now. At a time like this, we cant say, I will focus on mine, and you focus on your cause, because our opponent is the same. The tragedy that has befallen us is the same. That is why we should all unite, support one another, and strive together. Then, I believe, we will be stronger and do even greater things.

Reported and translated by Alim Seytoff of RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
MALVERN, Pa., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuronetics, Inc. (STIM), a commercial stage medical technology company focused on designing, developing and marketing products that improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from psychiatric disorders, today announced that the Company and Christopher A. Thatcher, President and CEO of Neuronetics, have mutually agreed that Mr. Thatcher will cease serving as the Companys President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. In connection with his departure, Mr. Thatcher also resigned as a director of the Companys Board of Directors (the Board). Mr. Thatchers employment is expected to continue through May 1, 2020, during which time he will provide transition services and advice to the Company. This mutual agreement was not the result of any inappropriate action by Mr. Thatcher, any violation of company policy, any accounting irregularity or any material deterioration in the business of the Company. The Company reaffirms the guidance that it provided on March 3, 2020.



The Board has established an interim Office of the President to provide ongoing leadership and oversight of the day-to-day operations of the Company while the Board of Directors conducts a search for a new CEO. The Office of the President is to be filled by Steve Furlong, Chief Financial Officer, and Andrew Macan, General Counsel, both of whom will remain in their current positions while carrying out their new responsibilities. Neuronetics Board appointed Brian Farley, Chairman, as the liaison to the Office of the President and he will meet regularly with and oversee the activities of Office of the President. Neuronetics has asked Mr. Thatcher to serve as an advisor to the Company through May 1, 2020.

We wish Chris well as he departs to pursue interests outside the Company and appreciate his willingness to continue as an advisor for us over the next two months. We are grateful for his service to our company over the past five plus years, said Mr. Farley. We are pleased to have experienced executives in Steve and Andy to work with the Board and serve in the Office of the President. I am excited to work directly with them while we conduct a formal search for a new CEO.

Story continues

Mr. Thatcher said, It has been a privilege to be part of Neuronetics and its dedicated team for over five years, and I am very proud of being part of a team that built the category-leading NeuroStar Advanced Therapy System and commercial organization. It has been an incredible opportunity to have helped thousands of patients suffering with Major Depressive Disorder and their families renew their lives with NeuroStar. I believe that the Company has a great future and is in excellent hands with a strong team that will continue to build on the important progress we have made.

Mr. Furlong joined Neuronetics in July 2019 with over 33 years of commercially focused finance experience. Prior to joining Neuronetics, Steve served as Senior Vice President of Finance at Metabolon Inc. He was also CFO at Rapid Micro Biosystems, a creator of innovative products for fast and accurate detection of microbial contamination. Steve spent 14 years at Hologic Inc., a global leader in womens health solutions. He also served in various finance roles at Safety 1st, Stratus Computer Inc and Raytheon Company. Steve has a Master of Science in Finance degree from Bentley University and a BA in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University.

Mr. Macan has served as Neuronetics Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary since January 2020. Prior to joining Neuronetics, Mr. Macan was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., a Russell 2000 diversified minerals company, from October 2018 until January 2020. He served in roles of increasing responsibility with Axalta Coating Systems, LLC, from October 2013 until October 2018, most recently as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Americas, and The Chubb Corporation, from October 2003 until October 2013, including as Vice President, Corporate Counsel and Secretary for over 8 years. Mr. Macan began his career in private practice at Ballard Spahr LLP and Dechert LLP. He earned a B.A. in Government from Franklin & Marshall College and his J.D. from Emory University School of Law with distinction and Order of the Coif.

About Neuronetics

Neuronetics, Inc. is a commercial-stage medical technology company focused on designing, developing, and marketing products that improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from psychiatric disorders. Our first commercial product, the NeuroStar Advanced Therapy System, is a non-invasive and non-systemic office-based treatment that uses transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, to create a pulsed, MRI-strength magnetic field that induces electrical currents designed to stimulate specific areas of the brain associated with mood. The system is cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the treatment of major depressive disorder in adult patients who have failed to achieve satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medication in the current episode. NeuroStar is also available in other parts of the world, including Japan, where it is listed under Japans national health insurance. Additional information can be found at www.neuronetics.com.

Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Statements in the press release regarding Neuronetics, Inc. (the Company) that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as outlook, potential, believe, expect, plan, anticipate, predict, may, will, could, would and should as well as the negative of these terms and similar expressions. These statements include those relating to: the Companys business outlook and current expectations for upcoming quarter and fiscal year 2020, including with respect to revenue, gross margins, operating expense, the level of new system sales and any specific projections provided; the Companys expectations regarding domestic and international growth opportunities, additional indications and the build out of its NeuroStar Advanced Therapy System platform; expectations or beliefs regarding future events, potential markets or market size, and technological developments; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing items. These statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those projected. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to: the Companys ability to achieve or sustain profitable operations due to its history of losses; the Companys reliance on the sale and usage of its NeuroStar Advanced Therapy System to generate revenues; the scale and efficacy of the Companys salesforce; availability of coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors for treatments using the Companys products; physician and patient demand for treatments using the Companys products; developments in respect of competing technologies and therapies for the indications that the Companys products treat; product defects; the Companys ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its technology; developments in clinical trials or regulatory review of NeuroStar Advanced Therapy System for additional indications; and developments in regulation in the United States and other applicable jurisdictions. For a discussion of these and other related risks, please refer to the Companys recent SEC filings which are available on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or changes in the Company's expectations.

Investor Contact:

Mark R. Klausner

Westwicke Partners

443-213-0501

ir@neuronetics.com
Coronavirus Outbreak: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, via Twitter, said that India was ready to set up its first screening clinic in Iran at Qom by today evening. He also said that the government is in constant touch with Iranian authorities to work out the logistics to bring Indians back.

Amid concerns over the health of over 1,200 Indian nationals stuck in Iran  the second country after China to report highest number of casualties  the government offered some hope for their families. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, via Twitter, said that India was ready to set up its first screening clinic in Iran at Qom by today evening. He also said that the government is in constant touch with Iranian authorities to work out the logistics to bring Indians back.

The external affairs minister added that the authorities are also working on the logistics with their Iranian counterparts for the return of the Indians stranded in the country.

Click here to follow LIVE news updates on Coronavirus

Jaishankar said the Indian medical team was likely to set up its first clinic at Qom by the evening to start screening for coronavirus. "Update for Indians stranded in #Iran and for their families: Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities," the minister said in a tweet.

"Group of Ministers constantly monitoring progress. Understand the concern of families. Keep faith," he said in another tweet.

Update for Indians stranded in #Iran and for their families: Our medical team for screening arrives in Iran today. Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Screening process will start immediately thereafter. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2020

As concerns mounted over spike in coronavirus cases in India, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday formed a task force and said efforts are on to screen the people who came in contact with the infected Delhi man and 16 Italian tourists. Many resident welfare associations and schools cancelled events as people in the city were urged to avoid large gatherings.

Isolation wards in 19 government and six private hospitals are being readied incase of need across the national capital and thermal scanning of all passengers landing from abroad is being conducted at the airport, Kejriwal said. The man from Delhi, who tested positive on Monday, was among 29 confirmed cases in the country. These include 16 Italian tourists who had travelled by road and stayed at two hostels here. The latest case was of a Paytm employee working in Gurgaon, Haryana.

With inputs from agencies
A BRIDE fell 25 feet from a hotel bedroom window just hours after her wedding reception, the Limerick Leader has learned.

It occurred at a hotel in County Limerick shortly before 6am on Saturday morning. Gardai, two units from Limerick Fire and Rescue Service and ambulance personnel attended the scene.

The woman was rushed to University Hospital Limerick with pelvic injuries and a number of broken ribs. It is understood the bride, who is aged in her late 20s / early 30s, is not from Limerick. The groom is from County Limerick.

It is believed she was smoking out an open window, lost her balance, tumbled out onto a roof, slipped down the roof and then fell to the ground below. Her new husband immediately raised the alarm.

Two units from Limerick Fire and Rescue Service responded to a call-out at 5.44am. They remained at the scene until 7.30am. They gave medical assistance until the paramedics arrived.

A garda spokesperson said they were called at approximately 6am.

A female fell and was then taken to University Hospital Limerick for treatment, said the spokesperson. Gardai said they are treating it as a tragic accident.

One local told the Leader it is the talk of the area.

What a thing to happen the morning after your wedding day. I dont know if they had a honeymoon booked for the following days. Hopefully they didn't.

It is a good 25 foot drop to the ground. The roof broke her fall for some of it. Luckily the emergency services were there very quickly and looked after her.

If she had landed differently it could have been a lot worse. Please God she will make a full recovery, they said. The Leader contacted the bride and groom this Wednesday but they hadnt replied at the time of going to press.
China's first face mask vending machine has been installed to sell 800 masks, but it only allows each customer to buy a pack of two per day.

People are seen yesterday standing three feet apart in a long queue to purchase the 12 yuan (1.34) masks in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province of eastern China.

'I queued for two hours,' one of the residents told the local media, 'The price is good, but the only thing is we couldn't get more masks.'

People are seen yesterday standing three-foot apart from each other in a long queue to purchase the 12 yuan (1.34) masks in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province of eastern China

China's first face mask vending machine has been installed to sell 800 masks a day, but only allowing each customer to buy a pack of two. A couple are pictured buying the masks

The machine, which was placed in the community on Monday, is pictured above. Residents are seen purchasing the masks by first scanning their national ID to verify their information

Customers are limited to buy two masks every 24 hours and required to scan their ID before they can make the purchase.

After having their ID verified, buyers can pay for the masks on their phones with WeChat Pay or Alipay.

The machine, which was placed in the community on Monday, was designed by Topow, a local tech company with specialising in virtual reality products.

The company is also planning to launch an upgraded version of the vending machine that can check people's temperature after scanning their ID, the CEO of Topow, Liu Ke, told Pear Video.

Although the residents are happy with the price, they are said to wait for as long as two hours

China has ordered its citizens to wear face masks regularly as mandatory protection to stop the virus from spreading. The picture shows the process of buying masks from the machine

The enhanced vending machine will also alert authorities if a person's temperature is abnormal, according to Pear Video.

China has ordered its citizens to wear face masks regularly as mandatory protection to stop the virus from spreading.

Globally, fears of the spreading coronavirus have led to a sell-out of face masks as the price soars 800%.

Globally, fear of the spreading coronavirus has led to a run on sales of face masks despite medical experts' advice that most people who aren't sick don't need to wear them. The picture shows people in Hong Kong queuing outside a cosmetic store for buying masks on February 3

A man is pictured wearing 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, South Korea

But one medical expert told MailOnline that masks 'cannot' protect against the virus and that wearing them may even make it worse.

Meanwhile Public Health England has warned that there is 'very little evidence' that masks are effective 'outside of clinical settings' such as hospitals.

Yet recent testing by the Health and Safety Executive has found that any kind of protection is better than nothing.

People are pictured lining up outside a pharmacy in Beijing to purchase protective masks

Commuters are seen wearing protective masks travels on the Jubilee Line and the Central Line

The worldwide toll of those infected by COVID-19 reached more than 96,000 people, including 3,301 deaths. The total number of cases in the UK has risen up to 90 today

Chinese residents are also advised to keep a minimum distance of 1.5 metres (4.92 feet) away from one another in public.

The deadly virus has infected over 80,400 people in China, including 3,012 deaths.

South Korea, Iran and Italy are the worst-affected countries outside China as the worldwide toll of those infected by COVID-19 reached more than 96,000, including 3,301 deaths.
As Bloomberg TV wrapped up its live coverage of Super Tuesday, correspondent Kevin Cirilli asked, "Who had the worst night tonight?"

A straightforward question, but it was awkward because of where it was asked: On the television network belonging to Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Washington bureau chief Craig Gordon let out an "uhhh" and didn't hold back: "I would have to say that Michael Bloomberg probably had the worst night."

Gordon foreshadowed Bloomberg's exit from the race, which was announced on Wednesday morning.

The end of Bloomberg's campaign also puts an end to a tricky stretch of time for the Bloomberg News division of his financial media company. But his endorsement of Joe Biden, and the spending he's expected to do for the rest of the campaign, could bring new complications for the newsroom.

Bloomberg journalists were tasked with covering a presidential bid by their boss -- something that hasn't happened in the US since the days of William Randolph Hearst.

The unusual dynamic created tensions inside Bloomberg News, which were only amplified in recent weeks when Bloomberg the candidate gained in the polls. Bloomberg the newsroom started to discuss what it would be like to cover Bloomberg as president.

"We really do have a firewall with the campaign," said one journalist at Bloomberg News, who spoke about the boss on condition of anonymity.

But the campaign created headaches because management imposed rules against investigating Michael Bloomberg and his Democratic rivals -- and those rules were widely criticized by outside journalists and President Trump.

Multiple staffers at Bloomberg News, speaking privately, said on Wednesday they were relieved to see Bloomberg's campaign end.

But relief wasn't the only emotion at Bloomberg LP headquarters. The company employs thousands of people, and most have no connection to politics coverage. There are plenty of Bloomberg fans who wanted to see him do well, even if that meant a sale of the company. "People are disappointed for him," a veteran employee said.

A management committee has been running the company in his absence. Now, with his race over, he is expected to return to work, the same way he did after serving as New York City mayor.

Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg LP, said in an email to staffers on Wednesday, "We look forward to seeing him back at the company soon."

But Bloomberg's vow to spend some of his $52 billion fortune to ensure Trump's defeat means that he still be a big factor in the 2020 election cycle. And that means he will still be a newsworthy subject for Bloomberg's political journalists.

Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said in a memo to staff on Wednesday that the newsroom will return to election business as usual.

"Now that Mike has said he is leaving the race for President, we will return to our normal coverage of the election; we will follow exactly the same coverage rules for the Democratic presidential candidates and President Donald Trump," he said. "We will disclose Mike's financial support for other Democrats  just as we have always done where his financial support for political causes is relevant to our reporting."

On Wednesday Bloomberg News colleagues praised Mark Niquette, the main reporter assigned to cover the owner's campaign for the newswire.

Columnist Brian Chappatta tweeted that Niquette "has been a complete and total pro."

Niquette's stories on the web and the newsroom's coverage on TV and radio have all contained disclosures about Bloomberg's ownership, just in case anyone didn't already know.

Bloomberg TV's Super Tuesday coverage didn't puff up Bloomberg -- if anything, it downplayed his candidacy altogether. Anchor David Westin concentrated on Biden's standout performance and the election's implications for businesses, which is the network's chief focus. While other networks talked about electability, Bloomberg TV talked about tax policy.

As the evening wore on, Bloomberg TV passed along other outlets' news reports that Bloomberg the man would be reassessing his campaign on Wednesday. Anchors also noted that he would be under pressure to drop out of the race.

So when Axios broke the news on Wednesday morning that Bloomberg was out, Cirilli came on from Washington with analysis.

"No," he said, "it is not a big surprise."

The top editors of Bloomberg Opinion, including David Shipley and Tim O'Brien, moved from the company to the campaign last fall. Bloomberg the company had no immediate comment on whether they will return now.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 17:49 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206899dc6 1 Health Classical-Hatha-Yoga-Festival,yoga,health,festival Free

A festival focusing on hatha yoga is to be held for the first time at the Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort in Balis Klungkung regency from March 14 to 15.

Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga that focuses on physical technique.

According to a statement from the organizers, the Classical Hatha Yoga Festival this year is to include, among other events, Surya Shakti, which is said to boost practitioners energy; Spine Strengthening, which consists of poses to strengthen the spine; and Bhuta Shuddhi Initiation, which aims to balance the participants physique and mental state.

The festival also provides sessions for beginners in yoga, named Upa Yoga, and a meditation process named Dhyanam.

Read also: Dharma Patanjala: a compelling look at yoga practices in ancient Bali

The yoga teachers are said to be former students of Isha School of Hatha Yoga in India.

Tickets to the event are available starting from Rp 800,000 (US$56.33) for Indonesians and $100 for foreigners on the festivals website. (wir/kes)
By AFP

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa on Thursday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus, a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy, health ministry announced.

"This morning, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.

It is the first case in southern Africa, and the latest confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Senegal.

The case was detected in the country's eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.

The patient and his wife were part of a group of 10 people who arrived back in South Africa from Italy on March 1.

Italy has emerged as the European hotspot for the deadly virus with the national death toll at 107, the deadliest outbreak outside China.
Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said Wednesday that he would be introducing a motion to censure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) for disgusting, shameful, and frankly, WEAK comments directed at Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

I would call on Schumer to apologize, but we all know he has no shame, Hawley tweeted. So tomorrow I will introduce a motion to censure Schumer for his pathetic attempt at intimidation.

Schumer, addressing a crowd of abortion-rights advocates in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, threatened President Trumps two appointees as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for June Medical Services v. Russo, the first major pro-life case since 2016.

You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions, he said. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.

After a deluge of criticism, including a statement from Chief Justice John Roberts on the dangerous comments, Schumer held his ground and did not apologize.

For Justice Roberts to follow the right wings deliberate misinterpretation of what Senator Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsberg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes, a spokesperson for Schumer responded.

President Trump also took aim at Schumer Wednesday evening, echoing the minority leaders own language in saying that he should pay a severe price for threatening the justices.

There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020

Politicos Playbook reported Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) also plans to take aim at Schumer, and will denounce him in opening comments on the Senate floor.

Story continues

Contrary to what the Democratic leader has tried to claim, he very clearly was not addressing Republican lawmakers or anybody else, McConnells comments read. He literally directed the statement to the justices, by name. And he said, quote, if you go forward with these awful decisions, which could only apply to the court itself. The minority leader of the United States Senate threatened two associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Period.

More from National Review
AMHERST  With the new coronavirus lurking, the four-town Amherst-Pelham regional school district is in the process of developing a plan for an unfortunate scenario if (an outbreak) was to occur locally, Superintendent Michael Morris said during a committee meeting Monday.

The school chief said he plans to provide a preparedness update the regional school board meeting March 10.

We want to make sure we have a concise, clear plan, before we share anything with the general public. The preventative approach is already in place, Morris said at Mondays Amherst School Committee Meeting.

Morris added it has been a bad year for influenza.

One of the things we are continuing to stress is this is one of the worst flu seasons that Massachusetts has ever had ... and that is affecting our schools pretty significantly, both at the staff and the student end, Morris said.

The towns health department has been regularly updating the community on the new coronavirus, including on its website. In an update posted Thursday, it says:

The Town has systems in place to address just this type of situation. We have experienced experts who are actively monitoring and managing the situation in the Town. ... At every level, emergency response plans  plans that have been set-up, reviewed, and updated regularly for years  and are being reviewed for this particular situation.

The website says the risk of infection in the area is low, but it is possible cases will emerge here. It notes that Massachusetts has one confirmed case and one presumptive case of COV-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

The good news is we are prepared and have time to get ready, Amherst public health department said.

Related Content:
Thousands of attendees and presenters may stay away from a big literary conference this week in San Antonio because of coronavirus concerns.

About 10,000 writers, editors, publishers and educators were expected to attend the AWP Conference and Bookfair, the largest literary conference in North America, which runs through Saturday at the Convention Center.

About 40 percent decided not to come, said Cynthia Sherman, executive co-director of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, a national organization dedicated to advancing the art of writing.

We always knew that there would be people who made the decision not to come, and we support each individual choice, she said. We wish we didnt have to deal with a pandemic. Its new for all of us.

She expects attendance will be between 5,000 and 7,500.

Theyll be arriving in a city that made national news this week when Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared a health state of emergency. The spark: on Saturday, a virus-infected evacuee from Wuhan, China, visited North Star Mall and checked into a hotel near San Antonio International Airport after being released from quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

WIN TICKETS: Spurs Nation is giving away four box seat tickets to the March 22 home game

The woman tested negative for the virus twice, but the third test came back weakly positive.

The AWPs board found itself in the same position as a lot of other convention organizers  deciding whether to go forward with their event essentially at the last minute, after months of preparation. Sherman described AWP board members deliberation as a really large debate.

There were people who wanted to cancel. There were people who did not, she said. We recognize that there are people who had their own personal decisions about coronavirus and being here.

Diane Zinna, the associations other co-director, resigned because of the decision.

I am brokenhearted, but I resigned from AWP this morning over the decision to hold the conference, Zinna posted on Twitter on Tuesday.

Sherman said the association gave staff members the choice to come or not.

Everybody came. They were really excited about coming, she said. Diane made her own personal choice, and it was a different choice, and we support that.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio, Bexar County in battle with the CDC over evacuees in coronavirus quarantine

The board made its choice after consulting with Nirenberg and public health officials.

We were guided by the best information we were able to get, said Sheila Black, director of development for the association and the former executive director of Gemini Ink in San Antonio. The city has been amazing in working with us to develop a really good health plan.

A great number of attendees supported the decision to carry on with the conference, Sherman said. Only about 10 percent of the 611 book fair exhibitors pulled out.

On ExpressNews.com: Keep up with coronavirus coverage

Still, the conference will be scaled back because of absentees. About half the 400 scheduled panels have been canceled or rescheduled.

One of those was a tribute to Naomi Shihab Nye. It was scratched after another San Antonio poet, Jenny Browne, decided not to travel to the conference from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she is a Fulbright Scholar at Queens University.

Other convention organizers say they, too, are following through on their plans  and closely monitoring local and federal health warnings on coronavirus.

Like the writers organization, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America sought assurances from Nirenberg. The group of researchers and therapists is set to hold its annual meeting in San Antonio from March 19 through March 22.

Organizers expect about 1,000 attendees.

We are planning on coming but did want to talk to the mayor about the situation in the city, said Susan K. Gurley, the associations executive director. She called the mayors office Wednesday morning.

Nirenberg said he had an aide talk to Gurley, assuring her that to date, there had been no cases of coronavirus transmission in San Antonio  in other words, no cases where one person spread the disease to another within the city.

All 13 known cases in San Antonio have been among evacuees from China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan who were under quarantine.

On ExpressNews.com: Diamond Princess evacuees finally head home, despite local officials efforts to extend their coronavirus quarantine

The hysteria and fear is the worst, the mayor said. We want to people to understand that San Antonio is a safe place to work and play. We have zero cases of community spread of the disease.

Nirenberg acknowledged he may have stoked some anxiety by declaring a local state of disaster and public health emergency Monday. But he said it was a necessary step.

Following the patients visit to North Star Mall and her brief stay at a hotel  before being returned to the Texas Center for Infectious Disease  Nirenberg said he wanted to ensure local public health officials had authority to prevent similar occurrences.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff made a similar declaration at the county level Monday, soon after Nirenbergs announcement.

Convention organizers, Nirenberg said, should rest assured that San Antonio will do whatever is necessary to keep the city safe from coronavirus.

Each day that there is not a community transmission of the disease gives San Antonio an advantage, he said.

Gurley wanted to talk to the mayor directly to better understand what the city is doing to keep visitors safe. She said a small number of conference attendees have canceled because of coronavirus concerns, but that the current situation is there is not a rush on cancellations.

The association has canceled several of the 140 planned seminars because speakers have decided not to attend.

We are worried about attendance, she said.

One of the conferences objectives is to discuss the anxiety and depression brought on by the spread of the coronavirus.

This is real for people  its important that we talk about the issue, Gurley said.

Organizers of another conference, for the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, also are going ahead with plans to bring 1,200 members to San Antonio March 30 to April 2.

Poul Lemasters, the associations legal counsel, said officials are monitoring coronavirus developments in San Antonio on a daily basis.

Hopefully, we wont have to cancel, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: 'It was only a matter of time': Coronavirus case marks milestone for Houston region

A key reason the association is pressing ahead with its meeting plans, Lemasters said, is that there have been no reported cases of the disease spreading here person-to-person.

Another San Antonio conference, planned by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, is scheduled for March 17 through March 21 at the Convention Center.

The organization posted a notice on its website to assure attendee that safeguards will be in place to try and reduce the risk of infection at the meeting and at San Antonio hotels.

For example, additional hand sanitizer stations have been installed, and high-contact areas such as railings, door knobs, rest rooms, elevator buttons and escalator handrails will be cleaned and disinfected more frequently, officials said in the notice.

Other conferences planned for San Antonio have put similar notices on their websites, but organizers concede they can be a double-edged sword  they also remind attendees there are no guarantees when it comes to coronavirus.

jkiest@express-news.net

Randy.diamond@express-news.net
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Linkedin Arra Primanta (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 5, 2020 09:36 677 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206864dd5 3 Science & Tech marketing,GDP-Ventures,digital-marketing,live-chat,technology,online-marketplace Free

The number of online businesses continue to rise every year, including those in Indonesia.

According to Republika Online, these online business in Indonesia have reached a combined value of US$12 billion. Meanwhile, Unlocking Indonesia's Digital Opportunity by management consulting group McKinsey & Company suggests that the transition from offline to online businesses will contribute up to $150 billion to Indonesia's economic growth by 2025.

Online businesses have grown hand in hand with the rapid spread of internet users across the nation. To date, over 93.4 million of Indonesia's 260 million population are active internet users, of which 73 percent use mobile devices to access the internet. This figure is expected to grow on a daily basis.

Considering the growth in internet users and online businesses, Indonesia's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs are also growing increasingly popular. To date, more than 3.8 million SMEs have opened online stores across a variety of platforms from social media to online marketplaces and messaging apps.

Online businesses, as part of' economic activities in the country, cannot be separated from its people's habit of chatting. It is not far-fetched to assume that the markets huge reliance on this chatting habit might prompt big e-commerce players to install a chat feature to accelerate online transactions. Incorporating a chat feature might offer a sense of comfort and familiarity, especially for potential customers who still have concerns about making online transactions.

It is thus inevitable that chat features have become one of the key tools in providing customer service. Big brands have also welcomed this practice with open arms, readily providing their customers with contact numbers that link directly to the chat feature. Ever-growing technological developments have expanded the array of customer service tools that incorporate substantial chat features like LiveChat, Omni-Channel, Live Agent, Chatbot and more.

Millennials and Gen-Z are the largest targeted cohorts of the e-commerce market, which might be aware of the phrase customer experience is the new currency, as a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study attests that 73 percent of customers make their purchasing decisions based largely on great customer experience.

The chat feature as a customer service tool can boost customer experience as, according to eMarketer, 63 percent of customers will revisit a website if it offers LiveChat or Chatbot for replying to customer queries in real-time. Using AI technology, analyzing customer conversation using transcripts is feasible to gain insight for improving the business's customer service further. (kes)

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Arra Primanta is a communications strategist with 13 years in the field of communications, including marketing and storytelling.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Usually when you think of date-night, you conjure a candlelit dinner, a stroll along the beach or even cuddling in front of fire pit to end the evening. But for Sarah and Julian Danner, their last stop after date night is to their favorite bakery for a cup of coffee and a relaxing atmosphere. Nights like those inspired the Danners to open Redeemed Coffee Shop in January.

We love coffee, Sarah Danner said. Raos inspired us to start up our own coffee business because of its long history and it also being family owned.

The shops decor honor Vidors history and its residents, Danner said.

When we were working on renovations, people would come in and tell us that the shop used to be a diner and tell us stories about the location, she said. We just wanted to our shop to continue to connect with our customers and add more history.

Danner said that the name of the shop is faith-based.

Me and my husband met at Faith Assembly Church, she said. We both believe in redemption through Jesus Christ.

More Information Redeemed Coffee Shop Where: 1212 N. Main St., Vidor Hours: 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday Information: 409-422-0500 See More Collapse

Work continues on the shop. Danner said that they want to add a bookcase to a corner of the room to create a book nook.

The idea is for customers to take a book and leave a book, she said.

The Danners arrive at the shop early each morning to make baked goods from scratch before going to their day jobs. He is an electrician at Exxon Mobil and she teaches pre-K to kindergarten at Faith Assemblys private school.

My husband makes the scones and I make the apple pies, turnovers and blueberry muffins, Danner said. I sell the apple pie turnovers to save money for our familys mission trip in May.

Many of the recipes the couple use come from friends and family.

The chicken salad sandwiches are a family recipe on my husbands side of the family from Florida, she said. Mays Chocolate Delight was inspired by a friend from Columbia.

Before she went back home, May made me a Colombian basket of treats, Danner said. It was a collection of coffees and candy. We add the candy to a crescent roll and put powered sugar over it. It sells out very fast.

Mays Chocolate Delight pairs well with the coffee because the chocolate is semisweet.

Customers order the Delight with either the white chocolate mocha or the chocolate chip raspberry coffee, she said

In addition to coffee, the shop offers a variety of teas, frappes, smoothies and soft drinks. Pastries are augmented with healthier options such as fruit cups and parfaits.

Our goal is to retire early from our day jobs and work the coffee shop full-time, and open another location in Southeast Texas, Danner said.
The TV industry is second to none when it comes to misleading, obscure, hyperbolic, and useless terminology and specifications. Manufacturers try to baffle you with bull Err, bedazzle you with numbers and fancy names. Case in point: its an industry that can keep a straight face while telling you that 3840 horizontal pixels equals 4K horizontal pixels (4K equals 4096, but whos counting?)

Dont worry, were here to help with no-hype, no-frills, plain-language (or as close as we can get) definitions of the terms and specs youll encounter when you go shopping for your new TV. Well also present some basic advice that will have you schooling your local big-box store pro in no time.

Rather than present everything in alphabetical order in one long document, forcing you to resort to Ctrl-F to find what youre looking for, weve organized the terms into four linked segments. Our second installment covers display types and display technologies, after that, we dispel the mysteries of color spaces and standards, and we wrap up the series with the lowdown on LCD backlighting tech.



Sony Sony's 900F is much like its model 900E. Processing is improved, but the basic technology and flaws remain the same.

Before we dive into our definitions, clarifications, and truth-telling, heres a key piece of advice: Trust what you see. Display the right material on the TVs youre considering buying, and your eyes will tell you the difference. No vendor ever put a demo on its TV that would reveal a shortcoming, but you can use the YouTube app thats present on nearly every TV to search for TV testing video. These can reveal picture-quality issues the manufacturers cherry-picked demos wont.

Since theres no guarantee the TV on the showroom floor will be connected to the internet, you might want to find these demos with your computer, first and download them to a USB thumb drive and play them nearly all TVs will play files from mass storage.

Terms describing the size, speed, and resolution of displays are created and thrown about in such an ad hoc fashion that it can be daunting to steer through the mess. Thats a great place to start, so allow us to clarify things for you in this first installment.

Screen sizes

32-inch, 42-inch, 55-inch, and so on: The diagonal measurement of a TV display, i.e., the distance from the upper left corner of the active part of the display to the lower right.

Inch class: A rounding term used for marketing purposes. For instance, when a display measures 42.5 inches, its marketed as 43-inch class (vendors invariably round up). Read the specifications for the actual size.

LG Since when does 3,840 equal 4K? When the consumer electronics industry decides its expedient for the purposes of marketing and advertising.

Resolution

For the purposes of this glossary, resolution is the number of horizontal rows and vertical columns of pixels on a flat-panel display. Modern TV display resolutions include 1280x720 (HD), 1920x1080 (Full HD), 3840x2160 (4K UHD), and 7680x4320 (8K UHD).

More specifically:

720p/720i: Resolution of 1280x720 pixels. This is also sometimes referred to as HD, Standard HD, or SHD. The p stands for progressive scanning (each row of pixels is drawn sequentially), and the i for interlaced scanning (odd-numbered rows of pixels are drawn first, and then the even-numbered rows are drawn).

1080p/i: Resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Also known as Full HD or FHD. The p stands for progressive scanning, and the i for interlaced (explained above).

2160p: Resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. Also known as 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition). The p stands for progressive scanning (explained above). There are no interlaced 4K UHD displays.

4320p: Resolution of 7680x4320 pixels. Also known as 8K UHD. Once again, the p stands for progressive scanning. There are no interlaced 8K UHD TVs.

Samsung The Q900s image is the best Samsung has produced to date. The 8K is wonderful, and the 4K UHD renderings are better to our eyes than on a native 4K display.

QHD (Quad HD): A tweener resolution of 2560x1440 pixels (1440p), which has a 16:9 aspect ratio and is four times 720/Standard HD. Its unlikely youll see this in TVs, but its common in computer displays. Its sometimes called WQHD, though weve also seen 21:9, 3440x1440 called WQHD which may also called UWQHD, or Ultra Wide Quad HD. Yes, there are entirely too many display resolution acronyms; even experts can get confused.

SUHD: This is not a resolution, but Samsungs marketing terminology for its 4K UHD TVs that utilize color-enhancing quantum-dot technology and some other advanced tweaking features.

Ultra HD (UHD): Youll see this appended to both 4K (3840x2160 pixels) and 8K (7680x4320 pixels) TVs. You might see 8K TVs described as Full UHD.

Terms relevant to resolution

Aspect ratio: The number of horizontal pixels (or rows) for every vertical pixel (or column). This is generally described as a whole number ratio (16:9 for 1920x1080, 16:10 for 1920x1200, and so on), but it can also be expressed in decimal form as as 1.77 (16:9) or 1.6 (16:10). Nearly all modern TVs have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which is the standard used by nearly every type of media content, including DVD and Blu-ray.



Thinkstock Nearly all modern TVs have aspect ratios of 16:9, the more square 4:3 aspect ratio having fallen out of favor.

Interlaced (i): Short for interlaced scanning; i.e., refreshing the even-numbered rows of pixels in one cycle, and then refreshing the odd-numbered rows in the next cycle. As it take two cycles to refresh the entire display, a stated refresh rate of 60Hz might effectively be only 30Hz. Interlaced displays are largely extinct apart from the second-hand market.

Progressive (p): Short for progressive scanning, which means all the rows of pixels are refreshed in sequence every cycle. Here again, cycles are stated as refresh rates: 60Hz, 120Hz, and so on.

Speed

Refresh rate, scanning rate, or vertical frequency: The number of times per second a display is redrawn. 60Hz means 60 times (cycles) per second, 120Hz means 120 times per second. Thats as fast as they go in consumer TVs (there are some 144Hz computer monitors, but thats beyond the scope of this article.

Faux rates employed in marketing, such as Effective Frame Rate, Motion Rate, et al, are indicative, but fuzzy numbers that can also be misleading. Higher faux rates are generally better, but they factor in techniques (e.g., frame insertion and strobing the backlight) used to lessen artifacts such as judder (jerks in the video stream). Look for the true refresh rate in the online specifications. A display that can refresh at 120Hz, or 120 cycles refresh per second will deliver a better picture than a 60Hz TV; otherwise, vendors wouldnt bother.

Response Time: This would more accurately be called refresh time, as its a measure of how long it takes for your display to redraw itself. Good luck finding response time listed in TV specifications, but if you cant see motion blur, its quick enough: Probably less than 12 milliseconds for a 60Hz TV, less than 8ms for a 120Hz TV, and hopefully faster than that.

Samsung Dont confuse Samsungs Clear Motion Rate with an actual refresh rate, its a marketing term that incorporates three aspects of Samsungs TVs.

AquoMotion, Clear Motion Rate, MotionFlow, TruMotion, et al: These are the faux refresh rates described above. Most modern TVs create interpolated frames (a mix of one frame and the next) and insert them in between the real frames to reduce artifacts. This is possible because most video material plays at 24fps or 30fps, while the TVs are redrawing either 60 or 120 times per second. While interpolation makes for smoother-appearing action scenes, it comes at the expense of sharpness and detail as the process can be less than 100-percent accurate.

These terms, which generally include a number, are absolutely not true hardware refresh rates. As explained above, all TVs refresh at 60Hz or 120Hz, and either rate is more than adequate to the task of displaying 30fps video, but the more cycles, the more effective the tricks are.

FreeSync (AMD), Adaptive-sync (VESA), G-sync (Nvidia): These terms describe the ability of a TV to alter its refresh rate to match the number of frames arriving from a source. This can eliminate artifacts such as image tearing when gaming, where the number of frames per second delivered by a GPU can vary wildly. FreeSync is based on Adaptive-sync and is free; G-sync is proprietary to Nvidia.

Click to read our next segment: Display types and technologies.
Yves here. Wowsers, the uncommon article that upends conventional wisdom. Many armchair pundits have argued that the reason women in the US stopped postponing motherhood was concern about their famed biological clock and/or more women coming to believe that having it all was a myth and motherhood was therefore given more weight than doggedly sticking to a career. This article argues that the impact of China import competition on wages made staying in the workforce less attractive.

By Wolfgang Keller, Director of the McGuire Center for International Economics and Professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder and Hale Utar, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Grinnell College. Originally published at VoxEU

The 20th century saw a steady increase in the number of women postponing motherhood to enhance their labour market opportunities. Sometime in the early 2000s, that trend ended. This column compares the experience of women in the US and Denmark and finds that women of childbearing age who experienced diminished labour market opportunities because of import competition from China turned towards family life, while men focused on finding a new career path in the labour market. Import competition from China raised the likelihood of marriage for women but not for men.

The 20th century saw an equalisation of womens and mens opportunities in the labour markets in many countries. Take labour force participation in the US, for example. Shortly after WWII, men were almost three times as likely to be in the labour force as were women; by the year 2008, womens labour force participation stood at around 83% of mens, as shown in the top panel of Figure 1.

Figure 1 Womens labour force participation and first-time motherhood

In striking contrast to the strong trend throughout much of the 20th century, there has been little convergence in labour force participation rates across gender since the early 2000s. While a number of factors might play a role (Fortin 2005, Goldin 2014), in this column we argue that changing labour market opportunities should be seen together with family outcomes that determine the work-life balance of men and women. In particular, the lower panel of Figure 1 shows that sometime in the early 2000s, the rise in the number of women postponing motherhood  a choice typically made to enhance labour market opportunities  stopped for both US and Danish women.

Recent evidence shows that differences in the labour adjustment to globalisation made by men and women plays an important role in this change. When faced with a negative labour market shock of a given size, female workers are more likely than male workers to take time out of the labour market for family goals: only women give birth and, in contrast to men, women struggle to achieve their fertility goals beyond a certain age (a constraint we refer to as the biological clock).

In Keller and Utar (2020), we study the effects that the rising number of exports from China had on Danish workers as the country entered the WTO in late 2001. This intensified import competition from China closed many career paths in the manufacturing sector in Denmark, leaving a switch to the growing service sector as the only viable path. The study investigates how this loss of labour market opportunities for workers due to a plausibly exogenous shock affects fertility, childcare uptake, and the formation and duration of marital unions. Crucially, rising import competition is but one type of labour demand shock that women respond to by establishing a different work-life balance than men due to their biological clock; another instance is job displacement due to plant closure (Del Bono et al. 2012, Huttunen and Kellukumpu 2016).

We combined administrative data on all firms and their workers with complete family histories from population registers, which allows us to follow workers from job to job (or unemployment) as they make key family decisions on co-habitation, marriage, divorce, and children. The impact of the negative labour shock is found by comparing labour market and family experiences of workers employed at Danish firms that are hit hard by rising import competition from China with the experiences of less affected workers. Figure 2 shows the impact on labour earnings between 2002 and 2007 for four sets of workers, women and men who are either young or old (fertile-age and post-fertile-age, respectively).

Figure 2 The missing earnings of fertile-age women

Figure 3 Gender gap in trade adjustment costs

By 2007, labour earnings of affected older men are much lower than earnings of unaffected older men, in line with a negative impact of import competition on earnings. For younger men, there is no comparable impact, because affected young men are able to adjust to the shock by switching to jobs in other sectors without delay. Human capital theory tells us that young workers are more willing than older workers to pay the cost of adjustment because they have a longer career ahead to recoup the investments.

It is striking that the impact of the negative labour shock is very similar for fertile-age and older women: both groups lose about 80% of their initial annual earnings over the course of five years following the shock. As a result, we show that import competition leads to a substantial gender earnings gap, but only among fertile-age workers (Figure 3). Put differently, the advantage of being young disappears for women adjusting to globalisation. What explains the finding that fertile-age women adjust as poorly to the labour market shock as do older women?

One possibility is that women were hit harder than men by import competition from China because women tend to be employed in particularly vulnerable firms, industries, or occupations. Another possibility is that young women have lower earnings than young men because they are more negatively affected by the technology shocks correlated with import competition. Our analysis rules out both hypotheses.

Rather, fertile-age women who experience diminished labour market opportunities because of import competition from China turn towards family life, while men focus on finding a new career path in the labour market. Figure 4 shows that import competition from China raises marriage likelihood for women but not for men.

Figure 4 Impact of exposure to rising import competition on marriage likelihood

Figure 5 shows that women respond to rising import competition by having more babies; the same is not true for men. Women in Denmark can respond to a negative labour demand shock by increasing fertility in part because the country has substantial insurance and transfer policies that limit personal income losses despite a decline in earnings.

Figure 5 Impact of exposure to rising import competition on childbirth

In our paper, we develop the findings in the figures in a rigorous difference-in-difference framework. We also document that as long as female workers are of fertile age, the tendency to move to family life increases with age, which supports the idea that they are motivated by their biological clock.

The move towards family activities most often happens when women are in a weak labour market position due to import competition, such as unemployment or a spell outside the labour market. This supports the view that the shift of women from the labour market to family activities is induced by lower labour market opportunities.

In sum, our analysis highlights substantial differences in trade adjustment of workers across genders and proposes fertility-related biological differences and the biological clock in particular as a new factor behind the non-convergence in labour market performance indicators across gender.

See original post for references
- Dr Lawrence Tetteh has stated that the building of the National Cathedral is very important and that nothing should hinder its construction

- According to him, even if it meant that the government has to demolish all buildings in Accra to build the National Cathedral, it must be done

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN believes in

Founder of Worldwide Miracle Outreach, Dr Lawrence Tetteh, has stated that the building of the National Cathedral is very important and that nothing should hinder its construction.

According to him, even if it meant that the government has to demolish all buildings in Accra to build the National Cathedral, it must be done.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for the construction to commence, he brushed off suggestions that there are several things the money meant for the building could be used for but the building was also important.

READ ALSO: It will be an act of thanksgiving to build the National Cathedral - President Akufo-Addo

"...building a National Cathedral is just as building, a house of God. Building a Cathedral is the most important, people have questioned why we are breaking buildings, even if we can break the whole of Accra and use it to build the house of God so be it," the man of God noted.

He says building the National Cathedral is as important as any other thing and we must put in all our efforts to see this through.

"It is not about the President or any other oppositions, it is about the work of God. Let's even break the whole of Ghana and use it for church if we want peace. When it comes to building the house of God I will not politicise it", he said.

READ ALSO: Rawlings offers 25,000 bounty on arrest of Sogakope assemblymans killers

In other news, President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated the reason why he is so bent on the construction of the National Cathedral which he believes is pivotal to the development of Ghana.

According to a Citinewsroom report, Ghana's performance against neighbouring countries is solely by the grace of God, the president is believed to have claimed.

Addressing dignitaries present at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the cathedral, he stated that the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the construction goes to affirm his conviction about the project.

READ ALSO: National Cathedral walling will be an exact replica of the one in Isreal - Board secretary

Faces of Ghana: Ghanas 1st Female Police Bemoans High Rate of Police Indiscipline | #Yencomgh

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
New Delhi, March 5 : Refuting claims made by Jawaharlal Nehru University's Students' Union (JNUSU) of a steep hike in admission and medical fees, the university administration on Thursday clarified that there is no such fee hike.

The university administration has also issued a statement explaining the break-up of the fee structure for different courses.

"There have been some media reports citing an increase in the institution's fee for prospective students set to join JNU in the academic year 2020-21. The University would like to clarify that there is no such hike in the fee, including the one-time medical fee," university administration said on Thursday.

On Wednesday the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) claimed that the university had hiked admission and medical fees for the new admission, creating a stir.

JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh claimed that the admission fee, which was Rs 283 earlier, was hiked to Rs 780.

She told IANS, "The medical fee, which was Rs 9 per year earlier, has now been hiked to Rs 1,000 per year."
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, asylum seekers on the California and Arizona borders will be protected from a restriction by President Donald Trump's administration beginning on March 12.

The restriction initiated by the administration last year requires Central American asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while they pursue their asylum claims.

A group of 11 asylum applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and six organizations claim in a lawsuit that the policy is illegal and subjects asylum seekers to danger in Mexico.

On Friday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 2-1 vote that the policy violates federal immigration law. It upheld a nationwide preliminary injunction issued last year by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of San Francisco.

The Justice Department then asked the appeals court to stay the injunction while it appeals to the Supreme Court.

In Wednesday's order, the appeals panel by the same 2-1 vote refused to grant a full stay of the injunction. It said the injunction can go into effect in California and Arizona, which are in the territory of the 9th Circuit. But it granted a partial stay permitting the policy to continue in Texas and New Mexico, which are in different appeals court circuits.

The panel also said the preliminary injunction won't go into effect in California and Arizona until March 12, to give the Justice Department time to seek a full stay from the Supreme Court.

The policy is entitled the Migrant Protection Protocols.

The panel majority wrote that "it is very clear that the MPP violates" immigration law "and it is equally clear that the MPP is causing extreme and irreversible harm to plaintiffs."

Asked whether the Justice Department plans to ask the Supreme Court for a full stay, spokesman Alexei Woltornist said the department declines comment.

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Judy Rabinovitz, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, said, "If the administration had any respect for the law or any sense of decency, it would end this program immediately. We will continue working to permanently end this illegal and inhumane policy."

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
A Sydney cheese shop has launched a massive sale on more than 200 varieties - but shoppers will need to say the secret code at the counter to get the discount.

Formaggi Ocello in Surry Hills is offering 20 per cent off some of the world's finest cheese range when you say 'purple' at the checkout for two days only.

From 10am to 6pm on Friday to 9am to 6pm on Saturday, customers can stock up on their favourite soft and hard cheeses for a fraction of the price.

A Sydney cheese shop has launched a massive sale on more than 200 varieties - but shoppers will need to say the secret code at the counter to get the discount

Formaggi Ocello in Surry Hills is offering 20 per cent off some of the world's finest cheese range when you say 'purple' at the checkout for two days only

Cheese connoisseurs can expect to find a huge selection of some of the world's finest Italian, French, Swiss, and Australian farmhouse cheeses.

During your shop, you can also pick up other items for a grazing platter or picnic such as fresh bread, biscuits, jams, honey, mustard fruits, truffle products and cured meats like prosciutto and salami.

The discount does not apply to wedding cheese 'cakes', grazing boxes, bar food, wines and in-store cheese experiences.

Formaggi Ocello was opened in 2001 - and has since become one of the country's biggest stockists.

During your shop, you can also pick up other items for a grazing platter or picnic such as fresh bread, olives and cured meats like prosciutto and salami

Catering to all tastes and budgets, the store sources only the finest products from more than 200 local and international cheeses

Catering to all tastes and budgets, the store sources only the finest products from more than 200 local and international cheeses.

'Each year we travel extensively throughout Europe to discover new cheeses for the Australian market,' the owner said.

'Our specialty is rare cheeses and we take great pride in selecting cheeses that have been made in certain seasons at altitudes where animals roam freely and milk quality is at its best.'

To maintain its condition, the fresh cheeses are air fright and then transferred a purpose-built maturation room, which is visible to customers in the store.

Storage in the maturation room allows the cheeses to age to perfection in specific temperature and humidity conditions.
San Francisco, March 5 : 'Grand Princess', a cruise ship with thousands of passengers was barred from returning to its home port of San Francisco on Wednesday and has been held 400 miles off the California coast in the US.

The Daily Mail reported that the ship had previously carried two passengers who contracted coronavirus and one among them died. Currently at least 20 people on the ship have been reported ill. The ship is carrying around 2,500 passengers and normally has around 1,150 crew members, according to npr.org.

The ship was returning to San Francisco from a voyage to Hawaii amid the suspected coronavirus outbreak, the report said.

Two passengers who had travelled on the same ship on a previous voyage last month between San Francisco and Mexico later fell ill and tested positive for the coronavirus. One of the infected two was a 71-year-old man who died on Wednesday. It is California's first fatality from the disease.

The second person is currently in hospital and is said to be "gravely ill", Daily Mail reported.

Eleven passengers and 10 crew members who are currently on the same ship have now reported symptoms that could turn out to be the coronavirus, seasonal flu or the common cold.

It is not clear if the 21 people currently reporting symptoms are among the 62 who were on the Mexico leg of the trip and came in contact with the two infected passengers.

Since the outbreak of the disease, globally, more than 92,000 people have tested positive and 3,100 have died so far. In China, the epicentre of the infection death toll due to the novel coronavirus increased to 3,012 with a total of 80,409 confirmed cases on Thursday.

The US has so far reported around 160 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and according to USA Today, around 30 of them are in California. California and Los Angeles declared states of emergency on Wednesday. San Francisco, the fourth most populous city in California issued its declaration a week ago.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the status of the screening procedure of people coming from the neighbouring countries through land borders in view of the coronavirus threat and urged officials to ensure round-the-clock deployment of doctors at the entry points, officials said.

He also held a video conference with the chief secretaries, DGPs and other senior officials of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Punjab, besides the director general of the BSF and the SSB, to take stock of the situation and steps being taken to check every person entering the country through the land border posts.

Bhalla reviewed the status of the screening of people coming from the neighbouring countries through the land borders, a home ministry official said.

The state governments were informed that a regular screening was being done by doctors at various transit points and the people living along the international borders were sensitised through gram sabhas.

Bhalla urged all the officials to ensure round-the-clock deployment of doctors so that a full screening was done without fail, the official said.

On Wednesday, the home ministry announced that a full medical check-up and scanning were being carried out at all land ports in the country, including Atari, Dera Baba Nanak and Agartala, to detect suspected coronavirus cases among the incoming passengers.

The ministry said the land ports under its control had fully-equipped medical teams present to screen all incoming passengers from the neighbouring countries.

Pilgrims visiting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan cross over through Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab. Both Dera Baba Nanak and Atari are located in Punjab along the Indo-Pak border.

The home ministry said India was well-prepared to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Medical check-up points have also been set up at the integrated check posts (ICPs) at Petrapole (West Bengal) and Agartala. Both Petrapole and Agartala are located along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

The ministry said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is organising training programmes at the Atari, Dera Baba Nanak, Petrapole and Agartala ICPs.

A total of 30 people, including 16 Italian tourists, have tested positive for coronavirus in India. The list includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. The three persons have been discharged following recovery.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Photo: VNA)

The office said that after receiving information about Flight VN814 with a Japanese passenger suffering from COVID-19, municipal authorities immediately identified five passengers entering Vietnam on the same flight.

They include one Vietnamese, three French and one Australian.

The Vietnamese was then taken to a quarantine centre, and his family members quarantined at home.

The three French people went to Bangkok, whereas the Australian returned to his country.

On March 3, the Japanese passenger boarded Vietnam Airlines Flight VN814 with 72 others from Cambodias Siem Reap to HCM City, then took transit Flight VN340 to Japans Nagoya City.

After arriving in Japan, he showed symptoms of fever and tested positive for COVID-19.

Flight VN814 carried 67 passengers and six cabin crew members. A total of 61 passengers had connecting flights on March 3 night to London, Japan, Busan and Manila. Six passengers checked in at HCM City including one Vietnamese, three French, one Australian and one Filipino. The Filipino passenger flew home on March 4.
If it wasn't for a Faustian bargain by Maasai women's rights campaigner Dr Kakenya Ntaiya, three young women from a remote Kenyan village with no electricity or running water wouldn't be studying in Sydney.

By now, they would have most likely have undergone female genital mutilation, a routine rite of passage in puberty. And they would have been married off as young as 11 or 12 to an older man in exchange for a dowry of seven cows, only to spend their lives fetching water or caring for cattle.

Dr Kakenya Ntaiya, in red, is the first Maasai woman to go to university in the US, pictured with two university students Peyian Kortom (in yellow) and Sharon Tiyo (blue). Credit:James Brickwood

Dr Ntaiya is visiting Sydney to talk at International Women's Day events this week. She hopes other universities will follow the lead of Sydney, UTS and the University of Western Sydney - where the three Kenyan students are studying - and offer additional scholarships.

On arriving in Sydney last year, chemistry student Peyian Kortom, 19, in her second year of arts at the University of Sydney, was worried about where to find a river to wash herself and her shoes before eating. "Where is the stream?" asked Ms Kortom, who had never had hot or running water, flushed a toilet or used a computer before she arrived.
The adult stepson of an Arkansas man convicted of raping his six-year-old son to death with a stick lunged at his stepfather while testifying during the sentencing phase of his capital murder trial Thursday, prompting a judge to declare a mistrial for the entire case.

Quinton Martin, 24, had told the jury that Mauricio Torres, 50, had physically abused him as a child on a daily basis and jumped up from the witness stand after a prosecutor asked about sexual abuse, KHOG-TV reported.

Martin, who is in prison on drug possession charges, wore shackles on his legs. As he leaped over a court reporter and made a 15- or 20-foot dash toward Torres and his attorneys sat, they flipped the table where they were sitting on its side to block his path.

An Arkansas judge on Thursday declared a mistrial in the capital murder case of Mauricio Torres, 50 (left), after his stepson, Quinton Martin, 24 (right), charged at him while testifying at his sentencing hearing

On Wednesday, a jury found Torres guilty of raping to death his six-year-old son, Isaiah (pictured), with a stick in 2015

Law enforcement officers present in the courtroom then held the stepson down as he cried and screamed.

It was not clear if Martin had been sexually assaulted at the hands of his stepfather as a child.

Following the dramatic courtroom outburst, Torres' defense lawyer Jeff Rosenzweig asked the presiding judge to declare a mistrial, arguing that what the jurors saw 'cannot be unseen.'

In arguing for a mistrial, Rosenzweig characterized what happened in court that morning as an 'extraordinary, violent attack' the likes of which he had never seen in more than 40 years of practicing law, reported KNWA.

After clearing the courtroom and reviewing surveillance video of the incident and relevant case law, Judge Brad Karen granted the motion for a complete mistrial, citing the 'shock on the jurors' faces' when Martin lunged at his stepfather.

The prosecution will have a chance to appear before the judge on March 19 and make an argument for upholding the conviction.

Torres' defense asked the judge to throw out his conviction, arguing that Martin's outburst tainted the sentencing phase (pictured in June 2019)

Prior to the judge's ruling, Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith proposed instructing the jury to disregard the incident, or put Martin on the stand a second time under guard.

Smith also suggested bringing in a new jury for the sentencing phase, and presenting to them the same evidence and witnesses that were presented to the first jury, before deciding on a death sentence or life in prison without parole for Torres, reported 4029TV.

On Wednesday, Torres was found guilty of capital murder and battery during his retrial in the 2015 death of Isaiah Torres.

Mauricio Torres' 2016 conviction and death sentence were overturned by the Arkansas Supreme Court, which ruled 4-3 last April that Arkansas authorities couldn't use rape as a justification for the murder conviction because the assault occurred in Missouri. Torres' son died at an Arkansas hospital a day after the assault.

Torres' attorneys have said his actions were intended as punishment for eating a piece of cake without permission during a camping trip to Missouri, and the father didn't know they could kill the boy.

A medical examiner testified that the boy's death was caused by a bacterial infection resulting from sodomy and chronic child abuse.

Mauricio Torres (pictured in 2015) is alleged to have violated his son Isaiah on a camping trip as a punishment for eating a piece of cake without permission

Isaiah's death was caused by a bacterial infection resulting from being sodomized with a stick and chronic child abuse

Torres' wife, Cathy, pleaded guilty in 2017 to capital murder for the child's death and was sentenced to life without parole.

During Mauricio Torres' trial, jurors heard that he and his wife would allegedly beat their son with cables and shoes and gave him coal in his stocking at Christmas, reported Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Isaiah's 12-year-old sister testified that she witnessed her parents pulling her brother's teeth with pliers and made him sleep in a dog cage.

She also says he was forced to stay in a large trash can for a month while she would often act as guard so he wouldn't escape to eat food.

She told the court she witnessed her father beating him with a stick - and he also made her and her twin sister beat him too.

The sister also told jurors she remembered her mother pouring bleach over her brother while her father scrubbed his skin.

In March 2015, the boy was said to have been forced to squat while the stick was in his rectum and his mother Cathy injured him further by pushing him to the ground with it inside him.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 20:32:22|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused the Western countries of politicizing the humanitarian situation in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, according to the state news agency SANA.

In a statement, the ministry said the Western countries keep on politicizing the humanitarian situation in Idlib in a way that serves their interests without caring about civilians losing their lives and homes.

It said the Western countries blame the Syrian forces for the humanitarian situation in Idlib, ignoring the crimes committed by the Turkey-backed rebels.

Such double-standard shows the size of "hypocrisy and lies in the policies of such countries," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the statement urged the international community and European officials to take a "truthful stance and to let go of their colonial agendas" regarding what's happening in Syria.

The statement also reminded the Western countries that fighting terrorism is the Syrian army's right, as the army is fighting "terrorist groups" headed by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which is the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

The statement comes in the wake of Western condemnation of the Syrian army's campaign in Idlib.

European countries are concerned about a new wave of displacement from Idlib, as nearly 1 million people reportedly fled their homes since December when the army started the operation to liberate certain areas in Idlib.

Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and it's largely run by the HTS and other Turkey-backed rebel groups.
Organic molecules present in truffles, coal and oil on Earth have been identified on the surface of Mars and may hint at the presence of alien life on the red planet.

These chemicals, called thiophenes, are important molecules as they contain both carbon and sulphur  two ingredients essential for life.

NASA's curiosity rover has identified signs of them on the surface of Mars and astronomers think the most likely source of origin is from biological processes.

Further analysis by the Rosalind Franklin rover that will launch later this year will help add credence to the tentative theory, researchers hope.

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NASA's curiosity rover has identified signs of thiophenes on the surface of the red planet and astronomers believe the most likely source is from biological processes. These chemicals contain both both carbon and sulphur  two ingredients essential for life

WHAT ARE THIOPHENES? Thiophene molecules have four carbon atoms and a sulphur atom arranged in a ring. Both of these elements are essential for life. Thiophenes are found on Earth in coal, crude oil and oddly enough, in white truffles. Thiophenes can also be created through a chemical reaction called thermochemical sulfate reduction. This process involves a set of compounds being heated to 248 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) or more. Advertisement

Washington State University astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch looked into how thiophenes came to exist on Mars.

Their findings, published in the journal Astrobiology, indicate the chemicals were likely produced by biological processes and not chemical reactions.

This is a major step in the hunt for Martian life but is not concrete proof, the scientists say.

'We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but we still need proof,' Dirk Schulze-Makuch said.

'If you find thiophenes on Earth, then you would think they are biological, but on Mars, of course, the bar to prove that has to be quite a bit higher.'

NASA's Curiosity rover (pictured) has identified signs of them on the surface of the red planet and astronomers believe the most likely source is from biological processes

Thee most likely source of these chemicals is thought to be biological processes of primitive lifeforms but it is also possible they were formed after a meteor impact.

A space rock crash landing can cause searing temperatures and thiophenes can be created if a host of certain chemicals are heated to around 120C (248F).

HOW WILL ROSALIND'S 'ALIEN HUNTING' CAMERA WORK? The camera system, called Pan-Cam, was designed by engineers at University College London. It perches atop the rovers high mast and is fitted with sensors that scan the planet's surface in search of minerals or water. Once it identifies an area, it will travel towards it at 47 inches an hour, then drill down to take a biopsy of the land. The samples will then be stored into a self-contained laboratory on the rover, where it'll be crushed and examined. Advertisement

If thiophenes were made as a result of biological processes it is likely it was via bacteria three billion years ago.

Back then, Mars was warmer and wetter and a more hospitable land where the key chemical reaction to form thiophenes can take place - a reaction called sulfate reduction process that creates thiophenes.

Data from Curiosity has been exhausted and astronomers hope the imminent launch of the Rosalind Franklin rover can shed more light on the chemicals and their origin.

It will be carrying a Mars Organic Molecule Analyser, or MOMA, which can collect large samples and analyse them without having to destroy them.

Analysing isotopes - chemical strains that can reveal its history - could help learn more about this potential indicator of life on Mars.

Dr Schulze-Makuch said: 'Organisms are "lazy". They would rather use the light isotope variations of the element because it costs them less energy.

Yet even if the next rover returns this isotopic evidence, it may still not be enough to prove definitively that there is, or once was, life on Mars.

'As Carl Sagan said extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence",' Dr Schulze-Makuch said.

'I think the proof will really require that we actually send people there, and an astronaut looks through a microscope and sees a moving microbe.'
Five servicemen received minor injuries in an explosion of simulated ammunition at a military base in Russia's northwestern Murmansk Region, according to a regional emergency service source.



"Five servicemen received minor injuries as a result of a violation of safety requirements and the subsequent explosion of a simulated ammunition round during scheduled exercises at a military base in the Pechenga district of the Murmansk Region," Sputnik cited the source as saying.



All the injured servicemen have been taken to hospitals.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREAHighly contagious and manifesting in some with little or no symptoms, the coronavirus has the world struggling to keep up. But when it comes to containing the epidemic, one country may be cracking the code  by doubling down on testing.

South Korea is experiencing the largest virus epidemic outside of China, where the pneumonia-causing pathogen first took root late last year. But unlike China, which locked down a province of more than 60 million people to try and stop the illness from spreading, Korea hasnt put any curbs on internal movement in place, instead testing hundreds of thousands of people everywhere from clinics to drive-through stations.

It appears to be paying off in a lower-than-average mortality rate. The outbreak is also showing signs of being largely contained in Daegu, the city about 150 miles south of Seoul where most of the countrys more than 5,700 infections have emerged.

Its an approach born out of bitter experience.

An outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2015 killed 38 people in South Korea, with a lack of kits to test for the MERS pathogen meaning infected patients went from hospital to hospital seeking help, spreading the virus widely. Afterwards, the country created a system to allow rapid approval of testing kits for viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics.

When the novel coronavirus emerged, that system allowed regulators to collaborate quickly with local biotech companies and researchers to develop testing kits based on a genetic sequence of the virus released by China in mid-January. Companies were then granted accreditation to make and sell the kits within weeks  a process that usually takes a year.

In a short space of time, South Korea has managed to test more than 130,000 people for the novel coronavirus, using kits with sensitivity rates of over 95 per cent, according to the director of the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine.

Thats in stark contrast to countries such as its neighbour Japan and the U.S., where the issues China experienced early on  with unreliable and inadequate testing resulting in thousands of infected patients not being quarantined until it was too late  are now threatening to play out.

Testing widely has meant South Korea knows where its infections are centred, and so far theyve been able to keep them largely contained with outbreaks beyond Daegu in the minority. In the capital Seoul, home to 10 million people, there have only been 99 infections.

President Moon Jae-in has cast the virus fight as a battle, saying the country is at war, with a pathogen thats killed more than 3,200 people globally and sickened more than 95,000. With parliamentary elections due in April, his government is under pressure to curb the outbreak and has faced criticism for not closing the border fully to travellers from China. Moons administration is seizing on the countrys testing apparatus as a solution.

The emphasis on diagnosis is also being credited with helping patients get treatment early, bringing the mortality rate from the virus to under one per cent  below every other affected country save Singapore, where the outbreak is on a much smaller scale.

The coronavirus is highly contagious and even those without symptoms can transmit the virus, which makes it hard to stop infection among communities, said Lee Hyukmin, director at the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and a professor at Yonsei Severance Hospital. Without enough testing capabilities, the death rate will be high as the delay worsens the damage in the lungs.

By late February, when South Koreas outbreak began to accelerate, four local companies had approval to sell kits to test for the virus. The country is now able to test more than 10,000 people a day. In neighbouring Japan, only 2,684 people in total have been tested as of March 3.

The tests can deliver results within hours, with sensitivity rates of over 90 per cent and are relatively easy to administer. Officials in Seoul have started operating drive-through testing stations in three districts where people can get tested without leaving their cars.

The country is also exporting its testing kits elsewhere, including to China, Europe and Pakistan, according to the manufacturers.

Seegene Inc., a diagnostics company based in Seoul, started developing its coronavirus testing kit during the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

It was an adventurous investment for the company to start developing the test kit, as we werent sure how contagious the virus would be at the time, said Park Yo-Han, an investor-relations manager at Seegene. We thought we needed to contribute to society.

The companys stock has soared 22 per cent this year on expectations its sales will grow.

While pharmaceutical giants such as Roche Holding AG have also developed reliable coronavirus testing kits, Seegene can churn out tests more quickly using a production system automated with artificial intelligence, said Shin Jae-Hoon, an analyst at Hanwha Investment & Securities Co.

The countrys inroads in test kit production also reflect South Koreas position as a powerhouse for complex manufacturing, with electronic parts such as memory chips and OLED displays that go into smartphones and laptops made there. The country spends more of its economic output on scientific and technological research than its most advanced rivals such as Japan and Germany.

In Hubei province, the region of China that has been devastated by the virus and is still under mass quarantine, the shortage of tests and their tendency to throw up false negatives meant that thousands of infected patients were not hospitalized before they spread the virus widely to other people.

China used massive social distancing to respond to the outbreak, but that would be difficult to replicate in most countries and might have adverse economic consequences, said Ben Cowling, associate professor at the School of Public Health of University of Hong Kong.

Similar issues are now cropping up elsewhere. Japan is facing criticism for a failure to test widely and well: two passengers let off a cruise ship the country locked down for weeks in Yokohama harbour to contain the virus tested positive after they returned home. Local officials from Tokyo to further-flung prefectures such as Wakayama say they dont have enough test kits.

The U.S. case tally  at 106 infections and nine deaths  has some speculating the country just isnt testing enough. New York and Florida have complained of faulty tests and a shortage of supply, and fewer than 2,000 people had been checked for the virus nationally as of last week.

Similar scenarios are playing out in other virus hot spots such as Iran and Italy. Expanded testing will likely show that transmission within communities has been taking place for longer than realized, said Raina MacIntyre, professor of infectious diseases at the University of New South Wales. In the U.S., the emergence of cases with no risk factors suggests that community transmission is a serious concern, she said.

For South Korea, widespread testing has helped it get a handle on the scale of the epidemic, but once diagnosed with the virus patients need to be isolated and treated. In Daegu, hospital beds are running out and public anger is rising over a shortage of masks and other supplies.

We are testing people on the biggest scale, at the fastest pace in the world, and disclosing the results transparently and instantly to public, Moon said in a speech on Tuesday. We believe this is the best thing we can do for now in order to prevent further spread in local communities.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio  A group that advocates on behalf of Ohio judges sent a note to its members this week that implored them to plan ahead on how a coronavirus outbreak might affect court operations in their communities.

Ohio Judicial Conference Executive Director Paul Pfeifer wrote in his email Monday that judges should not only discuss how to staff courthouses in the event of an outbreak, but also how they might deal with lawsuits and requests for legal intervention related to the virus. If the government cancels an event or orders a quarantine, the judges might have to preside over potential civil-rights and business lawsuits.

As Judges, you are not only community leaders, but will also be expected to be the ultimate arbiter of any disputes challenging the authority of public health officials and local law enforcement to limit freedom of assembly, commerce and travel, Pfeifer, a retired Ohio Supreme Court justice, wrote in his email.

The plans Pfeifer spoke of come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to report more cases of the virus in the United States. Its important that court business continue, even if its reduced due to a lack of staff, Pfeifer wrote in his email.

Municipal and county courthouses across the state are among the most heavily-trafficked public buildings, which underscores the need to plan.

Judges now have more flexibility to work for home via laptops and mobile devices. Still, its important that judges keep cases moving, especially in criminal cases where a defendants rights could be violated if cases languish and trials are delayed, Pfeifer said in a follow-up interview.

The executive director recommended in the email that judges should be certain that everyone has two weeks worth of nonperishable food and medical supplies at home.

He also said that judges should meet with local public health and law enforcement officials, as well as elected officials, "to be certain everyone understands their role in a community health crisis and the outer boundaries of their powers.

Nothing can create community panic faster than local officials being at odds with each other in a crisis, Pfeifers email continues. Opening direct communications now can reduce the risk of public turf disputes.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Brendan Sheehan said in an interview Wednesday that the court has an emergency plan in place should there be an outbreak in the area. Judges will be in place to work, and Sheehan said he would encourage his colleagues to either cancel nonessential court proceedings such as pretrial conferences or hold them over the phone.

For now, though, the courts run as normal, and that wont change unless health officials say they should do otherwise, Sheehan said. He said the court is meeting with the county executive and health department.

Everybodys got to be on the same page, Sheehan said.

The note comes in the wake of a 170-page plan the Ohio Supreme Court recently completed and publicized in January that addresses judges powers and laws invoked during a public health emergency. Pfeifer also noted the importance of the plan.

You help avoid panic by being prepared to deal with it in a reasonable way, he said in the interview, adding that having courts prepared to work, even on a skeleton crew, helps instill confidence in the community.
Support: Billionaire Mike Bloomberg says Joe Biden has the best chance of beating Donald Trump. Photo: Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters

Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York who had hoped to self-fund his way to the Democratic presidential nomination but was spurned by voters in Tuesday's balloting, has dropped out of the race.

Mr Bloomberg endorsed Joe Biden, saying the former US vice president had the best chance to win in November.

"I've always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday's vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden," Mr Bloomberg said in a statement.

He will put his resources "in the broadest way possible behind Joe Biden's candidacy", said Tim O'Brien, a senior adviser to the Bloomberg campaign.

"We have long-term leases and long-term contracts with the team and the intention was always to put this big machine we have built behind whoever the nominee is."

Mr Biden, in turn, has signalled he will welcome Mr Bloomberg's financial support, drawing a sharp contrast with Senator Bernie Sanders, whose advisers have said they would reject any independent assistance from the billionaire.

"This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics," Mr Biden declared in a tweet addressed to Mr Bloomberg yesterday morning. "It's about defeating Donald Trump, and with your help, we're gonna do it."

Mr Bloomberg, a media tycoon worth an estimated $60bn (54bn), entered the race in November and quickly spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money to flood social media, television and radio with ads that boasted "Mike Will Get It Done".

Through exorbitant sums of money and despite skipping the first four state nominating contests, Mr Bloomberg managed to rise in national polls, earning the ire of fellow candidates who accused him of trying to buy his way to the nomination.

His unconventional schedule also meant Bloomberg avoided any truly unscripted public appearances until the February 19 Democratic debate in Las Vegas when he appeared stoic and shaky in a performance that was widely panned. ( Washington Post)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka Open source

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka, as well as other heads of departments, should not occupy their positions if they do not show the results of work, as Interfax-Ukraine reported.

I am sure that I will be told: tut, tut, you cannot touch the prosecutor general. However, you know, we passed a long way together, including the election campaign. The MPs should vote as they want to but my personal opinion is very simple: no result  you should not occupy the position. And it is fair when you talk about it, Zelensky said.

He added that he considers Ryaboshapka to be a good specialist concerning the work of the Office of the Prosecutor General; however, during the stay in the office, he failed to show the result.

According to Oleksandr Kachura, MP from the ruling Servant of the People faction, in addition to the resignation of Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk, Verkhovna Rada shall decide on the resignation of Prosecutor-General Ruslan Ryaboshapka. The draft resolution on the dismissal of Ryaboshapka from the position of Prosecutor General was registered yesterday by the MPs of the "Servants of the people."

The Parliament Committee on Law Enforcement has decided to recommend the parliamentarians to consider a draft resolution on a vote of no confidence to Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Ryaboshapka.
Seven days after death of an undertrial prisoner, Deepak Shukla, 26, the kin cremated the body on Thursday after commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal transferred sub-inspector Richa Rani, station house officer (SHO) at Division Number 5 police station. and suspended assistant sub-inspector Charanjit Singh.

The police chief has also ordered departmental inquiry against the SHO.

ASI Jaskaran Singh, in-charge, Kochar market police post, and constable Mandeep Singh were already suspended in the case. The family had refused to cremate the body until action was taken against the SHO.

On Thursday, the kin of victim huddled at Chandigarh Road for protest that continued till the police chief took action against the SHO and ASI. The family received body from the civil hospital and performed last rites at the cremation ground in Chandigarh road.

Rajesh Kumar, uncle of Deepak Shukla, said though they had cremated the body, but they will continue struggle for justice to Deepak Shukla.

Shukla was arrested on charges of lifting vehicle on February 22 and produced before a local court.

The court had sent him to two-day police remand. On February 24, he was again produced before a court and sent to judicial custody. But the police took him back to the police post and sent him to the jail only on February 25. He died two days later.
After having faced other global outbreaks such as H1N1 and SARs, did we not learn anything about processes and procedures from those previous diseases? Duckworth said. You know, Americans have been flying commercially for more than a century, yet today on the cusp of a global pandemic, the inability of the federal government to collect and share critical data effectively with U.S. airlines and local partners is really hindering our ability to stop the spread and fight this disease.
[March 05, 2020] AnyClip Wins Funding from Google

NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AnyClip announced this week that it has received funding from the Google News Initiative's Innovation Challenge to create Luminous Watch, a streaming video page experience for media companies that mimics the functionality and design of today's most popular video-on-demand services while accessing advanced video management tools supported by a patented AI backbone. Unlike traditional video solutions, which rely on expensive technology stacks and manually-operated content management tools, Luminous Watch disrupts the streaming paradigm with AI-powered tools and services that help digital media companies of any size or type to break into -- and thrive in -- the lucrative streaming video business. With a pay-as-you-go service model available with no up-front cost, Luminous Watch is easily added to any website or mobile app. Through a back-end platform, Luminous Watch ingests owned and licensed video and accesses AnyClip's patented AI technology to analyze each video's image and audio contents frame-by-frame. In this analysis, detailed keywords, people, brands, phrases images and actions are detected within each moment. This information is tagged to the content in the form of data, which is then used to structure content libraries and power advanced content search features used by editorial teams curating channels or playlists. On the front-end of the platform, content data is then used to organize videos into a customizable hub of browsable channels and playlists. As viewers engage with this content, the platform automatically understands their interests and uses content data to organize playlists and channels of related videos to watch. All Luminous Watch streaming activity can be fully ad-supported, providing publishers with a valuable and sustainable new revenue opportunity. AnyClip's Luminous Watch was one of few projects selected out of more than 500 applications to the Google News Initiative (GNI)'s Global Innovation Challenge program. Launched in 2019, Google's Innovation Challenges support the GNI's global effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. Across a two-year period, GNI Innovation Challenges will allocate $30 million in funding to kickstart projects like Luminous Watch that support new thinking in online journalism and develop new publishing business models for news organizations. While the product's audience and business benefits to publishers are substantial, AnyClip sees Luminous Watch's impact as fartherreaching: a means to democratize how people get their news, shifting from push to pull experiences that embrace personalization versus editorialization, facilitated by technology.



"As behemoth conglomerates gain traction with audiences and advertisers alike, it is increasingly difficult for any publisher to thrive in today's media landscape without new business models and new technologies," says Gil Becker, AnyClip's President and CEO. "Luminous Watch was invented with this need in mind: a way to radically change the way content is delivered to users, providing publishers with the same tools and smart engines used by today's most evolved streaming services. We are grateful to Google for their funding of AnyClip's Luminous Watch project and we are honored to support journalism in the digital age through our alignment with the Google News Initiative." AnyClip expects to release an initial version of Luminous Watch to publishers worldwide later this summer. The product is the fourth AI-powered streaming video solution introduced by AnyClip since 2018; previous Luminous Platform releases include Luminous Studio, an online video platform (OVP) offering flexible tools and services for editorial and operations teams; Luminous X, a fully-automated content recommendation video player; and Luminous N, a native content player that displays a site's most recent articles, or a curated collection of articles, in a social video story format.

For more information about Luminous Watch and to gain early access to the product's beta launch, please contact AnyClip through their website at www.AnyClip.com. About AnyClip

AnyClip is a video data and technology company revolutionizing the digital video industry with tools, insights and services for media companies and advertisers. Using patented AI analysis and deep video content data at its core, AnyClip's Luminous Platform tools and players challenge traditional, manual-data-powered solutions by using automation to support more efficient and effective video strategies. The Platform offers four AI-powered video player products: Luminous Studio, an online video platform (OVP) and editorially-curated player; Luminous X, a fully-automated video recommendation player; Luminous N, a native content recommendation player; and Luminous Watch, a streaming video experience page that mimics the functionality and design of today's most popular video-on-demand services. In addition to technology products, the Company also offers full monetization and account support services for media companies, as well as data-supported advertising solutions for marketers and brands. AnyClip has growing offices in New York, Tel Aviv, London and Berlin and is backed by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), Roman Abramovich's Ervington Investments, former Sony America President & CEO Michael Schulhof, and Limelight Networks.

www.anyclip.com About the Google News Initiative The Google News Initiative is Google's effort to bring together products, partnerships, and programs to help journalism thrive in the digital age. It is focused on three key objectives: elevating quality information, evolving business models to support quality journalism, and empowering news organizations to use new technology to meet their needs. More information can be found through the following Google resources:

https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/

https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/innovation-challenges View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anyclip-wins-funding-from-google-301017419.html SOURCE AnyClip

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Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party has overwhelmingly defeated its foes and will have no problem forming a right-of-center government. Bibi reprised his incredible victory during the waning days of the Obama administration. How did he do it? In reality, the American left was his biggest unintentional ally.

When Israelis discovered that the State Department was funding Netanyahu's detractors, the Israeli public was outraged. It did not make much news in the United States, and no impeachment charges were brought against the president for "meddling" in foreign elections. However, Israelis vote in outstanding numbers. It is not uncommon for almost 70% of Israelis eligible to vote to show up at the polls. That is 12 to 15% more than take part in typical American elections. They all knew that President Obama hated Netanyahu, and regardless of their own political affiliations, no small country will tolerate the big bully trying to push them around.

Two years ago, when President Trump was elected president of the United States, many Israelis were worried about the rightward turn of events. This softened support for Netanyahu, and in the last year he has barely cobbled together a caretaker government.

Enter Bernie Sanders, one of the dumbest guys in politics. Sanders's recent scathing and unfounded criticism of the Israeli government was repeated in Israel ad nauseam. Sanders has come to typify the self-hating Jew who rejects everything about his background and religion, only to help the enemies of the Jewish people. This may do well for Sanders in the eyes of Soviet-era totalitarian minds, but it does not help him in a robust democracy such as that in Israel. Netanyahu's convincing victory is not only a tribute to successful domestic and foreign affairs policy, but also a reaction to American left-wing meddling in Israeli politics.

Israel is certainly not without its challenges, both domestic and foreign. There are still those leftists in Europe and the United States who would like to demonize and boycott Israel, just as Jews faced economic isolation for millennia.

Unfortunately, most of the Democratic Party today has very little understanding of Israel, its democracy, or the values of its people. They see political life in terms of black and white, right and left, and without appreciating the nuance of a sophisticated progressive society. The leftists of Europe and the United States have developed the totalitarian mindset that came to define Soviet-era politics such as those found in even modern-day Russia, China, and a variety of other non-republics.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's supporters made Piers Morgan taste the bitterness of life after he criticized the royal couple once again.

During the recent episode of Good Morning Britain, Morgan and his co-host Susanna Reid talked about the latest travel of Meghan and Harry to the U.K. and the fact that they did not bring their son Archie with them.

"Susanna [Reid] and Charlotte [Hawkins], on this issue of if Archie doesn't come on this trip - and we don't know for sure, maybe he will come - if he doesn't come... isn't it a bit odd?" the 54-year-old Piers asked his co-host.

Morgan went on and put himself in the Sussexes' shoes, claiming that since he has four kids, he and his wife have always agreed that they would not be leaving the country if their kids were that young.

Susanna, who appeared agree on Piers' point, said that she could not do the same thing that Harry and Meghan did. She uttered that she could not physically get on a plane together with his husband, knowing that their children were home alone.

Since Morgan seemed to be just finding fault on Harry and Meghan, the fans of the royal couple did not let him go easily this time and hit back at him online by demanding him to "leave Harry and Meghan alone."

"OMG. Leave Harry and Meghan alone. Each person is different," one fan said.

Another Twitter user wrote, "I need to let you all know that #BettyFromBuckingham aka the queen left her children, for 6 months and went on a royal tour. So please leave #HarryandMeghan alone when it comes to THEIR SON #Archie."

However, no matter how many criticisms he receives, it seems like Morgan is unstoppable when it comes to publicizing his opinions about the Sussexes.

Morgan Being Imprudent This Week

It was the second time Morgan slammed the Sussexes this week.

When the former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe appeared in an interview on the same ITV television program, he warned the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that their son is their biggest threat when it comes to their security. It came after the news about the couple leaving Archie in Canada emerged.

Wharfe even referred to Archie as "a real kidnap risk." With that said, he suggested that the couple should focus on him right now instead

Because of this, the GMB broadcaster expressed his disbelief over this setup.

Royal Hater Since Day One?

Aside from the recent condemnations of the Sussexes he recently expressed, it is worth noting that Morgan has been lambasting the royal couple for years now.

In the past, Morgan called Harry a "hypocrite" as he continued to fly on private jets despite launching his ecological travel plans. Harry, however, put the fire out during the launch of his eco-tourism project at Google Climate Change Summit in Sicily and clarified that he needed to travel on private jets to protect his family.

In another instance, Morgan spoke on TMX Fox News Special Documentary "Harry & Meghan: The Royals In Crisis" earlier this 2020. In the docu, he called Meghan as a "self-obsessed" Kardashian and a person who is trying so hard to be like Princess Diana.

"If Meghan Markle thinks she is going to emerge from this as some kind of Princess Diana figure, she needs to think again," Morgan exclaimed.. "She's going to end up like a mini royal Kim Kardashian with all the ignominy that goes with that title."
Pakistan has screened 7,60,000 people for the novel coronavirus and five persons in the country have tested positive so far, a senior official said on Thursday.

Chairing a meeting of the Coronavirus Emergency Core Group here, Prime Minister's Advisor on Health Zafar Mirza said over 7,60,000 people entering the country were checked at various entry points.

"The federal and provincial governments, as well as other institutions, are fully ready to meet the challenge and protect the people," he said.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Pakistan rose to five on Tuesday. Education institutions in Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan have been closed after the deadly virus surfaced.

Pakistan has also closed its border with Iran and Afghanistan.

The novel virus reportedly first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has claimed over 3,200 lives globally.

The World Health Organisation last week raised the 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.)
WASHINGTON  For the past year, the U.S. Secret Service has shuttled hundreds of agents to a training site just outside the capital as it prepares for a costly, contentious presidential campaign.

Tuesday night, the need for such preparation became clearer when protesters rushed the stage where former Vice President Joe Biden celebrated a string of primary election victories.

Biden was not harmed by the sign-waving protesters, who were repelled by his wife, Jill Biden, and a campaign aide. But the jarring scene prompted a House committee Wednesday to urge the Department of Homeland Security to consider assigning protective details to Biden and Bernie Sanders as they battle for the Democratic nomination.

Both campaigns have been operating without government protection, but the Secret Service's involvement appears more likely as the presidential campaign heats up.

Decisions on protection assignments are made by the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with congressional leaders. Late Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said it was "ready to execute" if requests were made by the candidates or a bipartisan group of congressional leaders. Biden appeared closer to making a formal request Thursday when he told NBC's Today that Secret Service protection is "something that has to be considered."

Since last year, nearly 500 Secret Service agents have completed weeklong training sessions to ready themselves for the rigors of the campaign season, including the parties' political conventions in Milwaukee and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Instructors have drilled agents on scenarios ranging from urban combat to manning rope-lines and securing stages like the one protesters rushed Tuesday night.

Major presidential and vice presidential candidates automatically receive Secret Service protection within 120 days of the general election. But many candidates receive it much earlier in the campaign cycle.

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For the 2020 campaigns, the agency had prepared to provide protection for as many as eight candidates at one time after the initial roster of Democratic hopefuls swelled to more than 20.

A spate of mass shootings has made preparations more daunting. Secret Service officials were briefed by local law enforcement and medical authorities involved in the response to the 2017 Las Vegas attack  the largest mass shooting in American history  as the agency began setting its protective strategy for campaign venues across the country.

Officials said the mass shootings underscore the risk both to candidates and their thousands of supporters.

"The scope is enormous," said Ken Valentine, who served as chief of the agency's Dignitary Protection Division until his retirement last week. "Part of the reason it's so enormous is the ramifications of this not going well are enormous. And so the preparations are intense."

Secret Service agents worked for free after hitting pay caps

The raucous 2016 campaign pushed the agency to its limits as more than 1,000 agents maxed out on overtime and salary months before the election.

Despite new legislation that boosted agents' maximum annual compensation by about $25,000, hundreds of agents are expected to reach their pay caps before the end of this year. That means they will end up working long hours for free.

More: Donald Trump raises Secret Service pay caps by signing new bill

More: Secret Service director tells agents: I am 'fighting' to get you paid

The U.S. Secret Service has been shuttling teams of agents to its suburban Washington training center in recent weeks in preparation for what promises to be the agencys most demanding and costly campaign season yet.

"A lot of the journeymen (senior special agents assigned to the campaigns), the ones who are doing a lot of the hard work in this thing, will far surpass" the pay cap, he said.

In 2018, President Donald Trump signed legislation that raised combined salary and overtime limits from $164,200 to $189,000. That highlighted the agency's crushing workload for the 2016 election and during the first years of the Trump administration.

Congress intervened to boost pay after USA TODAY reported in August 2017 that about 1,200 agents and officers already had hit the mandated pay caps for the year.

In the early days of the Trump administration, the service protected up to 42 officials, including 18 Trump family members. That number has since dropped to 38, according to the agency, which does not identify those it protects.

By comparison, 31 people received protection under the Obama administration.

Though the pay measure passed, Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., a sponsor and member of the House Homeland Security Committee, has said the additional money wasn't a permanent fix.

"This is a short-term solution to a long-term problem," the congressman said then. "We'll take what we can get right now."

Valentine acknowledged that compensation levels continue to shadow the agency, but asserted its mission has not been compromised.

"I would love to pay everybody more," he said before his retirement. "I'm a lot more focused on making sure they've got what they need. When we're in the thick of it, the money thing is not even talked about. It's a non-factor."

Preparing for the 'worst case'

The Secret Service motorcade was churning toward its downtown destination when a gunman driving a late-model minivan made his move.

A burst of gunfire from the driver's automatic rifle disabled the presidential candidate's limousine, leaving the candidate dangerously vulnerable as the suspect's van blocked the path forward.

The advantage didn't hold for long.

Within seconds, teams of heavily-armed agents swept up both sides of the street before unleashing an ear-piercing fusillade. The threat was eliminated.

Since last spring, similar "worst-case" scenarios have played out in a mock village built on the tranquil grounds of a Beltsville, Maryland, training center just off the busy Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

Agents have prepared for the campaign season by engaging in simulated street combat and preparing for more common situations like candidate rope-lines.

"As an agency, we certainly saw a higher level of aggressiveness from a lot of the crowds" in 2016, said Brian McDonough, the assistant agent in charge of the Protective Detail Training Section.

At some venues, bike racks were used as a buffer between candidate and crowd. But people jumped the barriers for better vantage points.

"We were actually having to physically detain" people, said McDonough, who has served on details for Biden and President George W. Bush. "Probably, for a lot of agents, it became a little less academic because there was so much of it going on."

McDonough said clips of the 2016 confrontations are now incorporated in the training regimen.

"I think it benefited what I do by making sure that people aren't going to get complacent, because all I have to do is insert a video from three years ago into my PowerPoint presentation and it really drives the issue home."

Secret Service agents practice protecting presidential candidates at the agency's training center.

Trained in everything from food allergies to mass shootings

Apart from physical protection exercises, each weeklong training session includes hours of briefings on search and seizure laws. Intelligence analysts provide backgrounders on potential threats. A full day is dedicated to emergency medicine.

Once teams are assigned to candidates, agents receive detailed medical briefings for them and their families, from food allergies to chronic illnesses.

The first of the 16 training classes began in March 2019. Instructors also have traveled to more than a dozen field offices to prepare agents for deployments on advance teams wherever they might be needed.

As agents begin traveling with candidates, the operations will be monitored from the fifth floor of an office building in downtown Washington, D.C., where supervisors will provide logistical, technical and other support. Giant televisions will allow managers in Washington to track campaign events as they unfold and monitor agents' schedules as they move from city to city.

"We are seeking a 360-degree sphere of protection around anyone we undertake to protect," Valentine said.

That mission must account for the possibility of a mass shooting.

The challenge is not an unfamiliar one. In the run-up to the 2016 party conventions, the country was jolted by a pair of deadly shootings that targeted police officers. Five officers were killed in Dallas and three died in Baton Rouge in separate ambushes on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

While the Secret Service's preparations have included mass shootings for years, the Las Vegas attack brought a dreaded worst-case scenario to chilling reality.

"It's not just keeping the candidate safe," Valentine said. "Our job really extends out to the crowd. We're responsible for every person."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Secret Service prepares to protect presidential candidates
EC declares bypolls to seven Rajya Sabha seats in six states

Bypoll: EC notice to Assam minister for 'give and take' remark

Dogs photo in voter ID card! Bengal man plans to sue EC

India

oi-Deepika S

Kolkata, Mar 05: A Bengal man who applied for correction in election ID card got a fresh one with a photograph of a dog instead.

Narrating the ordeal, Karmakar alleged that the error was intentional and intended to humiliate him in public.

"Yesterday I was called at Dulal Smriti School and this voter ID card was given to me. The officer there signed and gave it to me but he did not see the photo," Karmakar told news agency ANI.

He threatened to file a defamation suit against the Election Commission of India (ECI).

However, Block Development Officer (BDO) Rajarshi Chakraborty said that it was a mistake and the voter ID card has already been corrected.

Explained: The link between Indian citizenship and the voter identification card

Karmakar will get the revised ID card with the correct photo, the BDO asserted, according to ANI.

"As far as the dog's photo is concerned, it might have been done by someone while filling online application. The photo has already been corrected," Chakraborty said.

Amid fear over the possible citizenship screening exercise, the incident has created a large-scale panic across Bengal.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 13:55 [IST]
(Newser)  An overseas airline has filed a lawsuit against a hacker who booked a "free" flight from Belgium to New York. The Brussels Times reports that Brussels Airlines wants $22,000 in damages from the 25-year-old man after he flew himself and two buddies to the US in business class in 2016. "The man bought a number of tickets through a special app that was intended for employees only," prosecuting attorney Karel Berteloot tells HLN, adding that the man then canceled the tickets to get his money back, but fiddled with the URL on the tickets to somehow get them to still work on boarding day. Per USF News, the airline's $22,000 damages request includes the price of the tickets themselves, miscellaneous airport fees, and around $1,000 the airline coughed up to close the "loophole" that allowed the hacker to get into the airline's system in the first place.

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It's not the first time this particular individual has been busted "for similar facts," per the Times: He was convicted in 2017 of hacking into the networks of companies including Lufthansa and Mobistar and is on probation. The hacker's lawyer said the $1,000 penalty shouldn't be included, arguing that the hacker did the airline a favor by showing it "exactly where [its] weaknesses are." "They should be grateful for that," the lawyer adds, per HLN. Berteloot doesn't concur: "The man would [be better off using] his talents legally." A verdict in the hacker's case is expected later this month. (After these scooters were hacked, they started offending people.)
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The Nifty Metal index fell about 10 percent during the January 31-March 3 perid, largely impacted by the global volatility due to Coronavirus which has led to the destruction in demand. But there is still a silver lining for Tata Steel and JSW Steel.

While being conscious of the near-term demand destruction emanating from Coronavirus, we see the supportive environment for metals from 2HCY21 on the back of expected Chinese stimulus, credit impulse, and global liquidity support, Ambit Capital said in a report.

We see global and domestic mill utilization scaling up through FY22, supporting spreads. Both Tata Steel (TSL) and JSW Steel (JSW) should generate >20% EBIDTA CAGR through FY22E, said the report.

As an early cycle, metal, steel stand to benefit the most from Chinese infrastructure spend. Global cyclical recovery and re-stocking should provide added support. On the valuations front, peak earnings in FY22, 10-15% is below expectations.

Ambit has initiated a buy call on Tata Steel with a target of Rs 550 which translates into an upside of over 40 percent from March 3 closing level of Rs 387 on the BSE. It is also Amibits top pick on steeper Indian cost curve post

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

JSW Steel is also a buy call with a target of Rs 350 which translates into an upside of another 40 percent from March 3 closing level of Rs 245 on the BSE.

India Entering Sweet Spot:

India entering sweet spot as capacity additions to lag demand growth. Capacity additions in India through FY23E should underwhelm given: a) no material greenfield expansion and b) majors have expanded capacity through stressed asset acquisition.

Even assuming 4.9 percent CAGR steel demand growth through FY23, compared to 5.7 percent CAGR in the previous 5 years, we expect incremental capacity additions to lag demand growth through FY23, suggesting reduced dependence on exports for volume growth, said the note.

Ambit forecasts utilization approaching 86 percent on an effective basis by FY23E (vs 82% in FY20E), driving profitability.

Valuations:

Both Tata Steel and JSW Steel provide significant earnings growth through cycle. Ambits FY21E estimates for Tata Steel and JSW Steel are 10 percent below consensus on conservatism around demand destruction, but a quick V-shaped recovery could provide upside to our expectations.

We anticipate stronger growth in FY22, with EBITDA estimates 3-5% above consensus. Both Tata Steel and JSW should generate >20% EBITDA growth through FY22, TSL on operating leverage and JSW on higher Dolvi volumes. Current valuations suggest peak earnings in FY22 10-15% below our expectations, said the note.

Ambit sees Tata Steel as trading stock, while JSW Steel as a long-term play. Risks to the thesis include greater and longer than expected impact from Coronavirus, shallower than anticipated Chinese stimulus spending, and lower Indian steel demand growth necessitating higher dependence on exports.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
In a file photo, Maurice Hill, accused of shooting six police officers during an hours-long standoff, is led out of the Philadelphia Police Department 1st District station in South Philadelphia after being arraigned on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. Read more

After Maurice Hill surrendered to police, ending a 7-hour standoff in Tioga in which police say he shot six officers and fired at dozens more, he was treated at Temple University Hospital as an officer stood guard nearby.

From his hospital bed, Hill, then 36, yelled at hospital staff and hurled obscenities, Officer James Balmer testified Thursday.

At one point, according to Balmer, Hill lifted his head and shouted: I hope all them cops is dead!

Balmer was one of more than 15 Philadelphia police officers to testify Thursday about Hills alleged shooting spree in August, the largest shooting of police officers in modern Philadelphia history.

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Danielle Burkavage, officers described the chaos they say Hill created by unloading a hail of bullets inside and outside a rowhouse where hed camped out on the 3700 block of North 15th Street, an incident that stemmed from a botched drug raid.

No one died during the shooting and ensuing barricade. Several of the six officers who were wounded by gunfire testified in December that Hill began firing as they sought to secure the house to search for possible narcotics. After that hearing, Hill was held for trial on 11 counts of attempted murder and related crimes.

The accounts provided Thursday by Balmer and his colleagues offered a glimpse at the pandemonium on the street outside the house Aug. 14. Following the testimony, Hill was held for court on dozens of additional crimes, including an additional 22 counts of attempted murder. He will face even more charges at another preliminary hearing scheduled for April.

One responding officer, Gregory Creachen, testified Thursday that bullets fired from the rowhouse came within inches of his head as he ducked behind a parked car.

Another, SEPTA Officer Andrew Schermerhorn, said that as he and others were preparing to enter the house through a basement door, shots came flying out a window overhead and glass cascaded to the ground.

Officer Alex Nicholson said he and a colleague had entered an abandoned house nearby to scout the situation. As he tried to find a safe place to get settled, Nicholson said, his colleague unexpectedly pulled him to the ground.

As he grabbed me, Nicholson said, shots started coming through the window.

In court, Hill sat next to his lawyer, Edward Meehan, displaying little emotion as he read from papers at the desk where he was seated.

Municipal Court Judge Karen Y. Simmons dismissed some of the attempted-murder counts against Hill, saying he would be held for court on reckless endangerment instead.

Simmons also said she would allow Hill to request a transfer to a Delaware County facility while he awaits his next court appearance.
Lao Airlines will launch a direct air route between Da Nang and Vientiane, capital of Laos, with three flights per week from March 29.

Aircrafts at Da Nang International Airport. A new direct air route will connect the city and Vientiane, Laos from March 29. VNS Photo Cong Thanh

The citys tourism promotion centre confirmed the new route on Thursday, stating the flight will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Lao Airlines will use ATR-72 aircraft with 70 seats for the new flights, which will boost tourism, investment and trade between the two cities and northeast region of Thailand.

The Vientiane-Da Nang flight will take off from Lao at 11.10am before arriving at Da Nang International Airport at 12.50pm. Meanwhile, the flight will leave from Da Nang at 1.30pm, landing at Vientiane airport at 3.30pm.

Deputy director of the citys tourism department Nguyen Xuan Binh said a series of tourism promotion events will be organised to mark the launch of the new air route, including fam trips, tourism exhibitions, fairs and roadshows in Da Nang, Vientiane and Luang Prabang.

One way tickets for the flight will be sold from US$190 to $392, while promotional fares will start from $25.

Lao Airlines offers ticket prices and information on the flight at www.laoairlines.com.

In 2012, Lao Airlines started the Pakse-Savannakhet-Da Nang flight, but stopped it in 2013. Da Nang and Laos decided to restart a direct flight in 2016, which was expected to help raise more investment from Da Nang to Laos in agriculture, mining, trade and tourism sectors.

Da Nang had built relationships with provinces in southern Laos and signed assistance projects for provinces in Laos worth a total of $2 million from 2013 to 2017.

The city inked 29 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with cities and provinces such as Vientiane, Savannakhet, Champasak, Sekong, Salavan, Attapu, Bolikhamsay and Xaynhaburi.

Da Nang invested $52.3 million in Laos' garment, mine ore, industrial and agricultural sectors, but bilateral trade turnover could reach $2 billion.

Last year, Cambodia's Angkor Air also launched direct flights between Da Nang and Phnom Penh with four flights per week with an aim of promoting tourism links among Laos-Cambodia and Vietnam in the tourism development campaign: Three Countries  One Destination via border gates in the Central Highlands region.  VNS

HCM City  St. Petersburg direct air route proposed Ho Chi Minh City has proposed a direct air route linking it with Saint Petersburg city of Russia in an effort to facilitate bilateral tourism, investment, trade and people-to-people exchange.
At the same time, the only man who has a confirmed case of ovid-19 is now feeling better.

As of Wednesday night, there is only one patient with a confirmed coronavirus diagnosis reported in the city of Chernivtsi, western Ukraine, that's according to the press service of the regional state administration.

It is noted that the patient is feeling better, while his wife, who has remained under observation at home, also gives no reason to be concerned  her condition is satisfactory with no signs of the disease.

At the same time, the number of local residents who are still being tested for ovid-19 has increased.

Read alsoUkrainian border guards prevent smuggling of over 3,600 medical face masks to Romania (Photo)

"Another four locals were admitted at the infectious department of the regional clinical hospital with signs of infectious disease," reads the statement.

Their samples were sent to the Virology Laboratory of the Public Health Center.

A morning update said two more persons, also local residents, were hospitalized upon their return from Italy, one of the hotbeds of coronavirus outbreak.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 3, Ukraine confirmed the first case of a coronavirus in a man who returned with his wife from Italy to Chernivtsi region. Doctors hospitalized the infected patient, while his wife has remained under observation at home.


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Asset management company Schroders plc (SDRC.L, SDR.L) reported Thursday that its profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2019 declined 4 percent to 624.6 million pounds from 649.9 million pounds last year.



Profit before tax and exceptional items decreased 8 percent to 701.2 million pounds from 761.2 million pounds in the prior year. The company noted that the amortisation of intangible assets, along with the cost of structural changes, contributed towards exceptional costs of 76.6 million pounds, compared to 111.3 million pounds in 2018.



Net income for the year was 2.125 billion pounds, compared to 2.124 billion pounds a year ago. Basic earnings per share were 178.9 pence, down 2 percent from 183.1 pence last year.



Net operating revenue declined 1 percent to 2.05 billion pounds from 2.07 billion pounds a year ago, reflecting changes to the business mix.



The Board will recommend to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting a final dividend of 79.0 pence, which is unchanged from 2018. This will bring the total dividend for the year to 114.0 pence, the same as last year. The final dividend will be paid on 7 May 2020 to shareholders on the register at 27 March 2020.



Looking ahead, Schroders said that in the near term, Covid-19 is creating considerable uncertainty for economies and markets. The company believes its business resilience is sufficient to deal with this, but the impact on economies and markets will be highly correlated with how effective containment measures are.



Separately, Schroders said that Matthew Westerman will join the Board as a non-executive Director, effective 9 March 2020, and will stand for election at the Annual General Meeting or AGM on 30 April 2020. Matthew will be a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Nominations Committee.



Philip Mallinckrodt will retire as a Director at the conclusion of the AGM on 30 April 2020. He initially joined Schroders in 1994 and served in a number of senior executive positions.



Claire Fitzalan Howard will join the Board as a non-executive Director on 30 April 2020, subject to her election at the AGM. Claire will be a member of the Nominations Committee.



Schroders noted that following these appointments, the company will have a majority of independent non-executive directors on the board, in line with its policy.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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On March 19, 2020, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PST, Palo Alto University will host Superstar Psychologists in Technology, a psychology workshop featuring a presentation from Sam Jaffee, User Experience Researcher at Google. This event will be sponsored by Palo Alto University Research Professor C. Barr Taylor, m2Health, i4Care and Behavioral Intervention Technologies (BITS) student group.

Sam Jaffee attended Bowling Green State University, where he received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology and also studied motion perception and spatial problem-solving in digital environments. Following his completion of the Ph.D. program, Jaffee worked as a User Experience Researcher at Capital One for two years, supporting various credit-related products. His career at Google began after a one-year stint at Alma College, where he took a visiting professorship. In his work with Google, Jaffee's work focuses on improving mobile keyboards.

Outside of his current work, Jaffee has a passion for teaching and hopes to utilize his experiences from the applied world to improve the academic experiences of students inside and outside of psychology and the social sciences.

The event will take place at the Palo Alto University E-Clinic Suite C15A, at the Los Altos campus. Maureen O'Connor, Ph.D., J.D., president of Palo Alto University, will moderate the event. Dr. Jaffee's presentation will be preceded by a reception that will include light refreshments and food. President O'Connor is excited to welcome Jaffee to speak at this event and stated, "Palo Alto University celebrates professionals that pave the way for innovation in psychology. Jaffee's technological expertise is exactly what we'd like to share with others working toward advancing in the field."

To learn more about this opportunity and other available psychology and business workshops, interested parties can register to attend the event virtually by joining via ZOOM. For more information, visit http://www.paloaltou.edu or call 650-433-3828. The Palo Alto University campus is located at 1791 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.

Palo Alto University is dedicated to improving the human condition through excellence in teaching, research and scholarship in the fields of psychology and counseling. With an unwavering commitment to diversity and to the communities it serves, PAU offers doctorate, master's and bachelor's programs, as well as hands-on clinical training. A private, non-profit university, PAU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Connect at: http://www.paloaltou.edu
- Over GHC2 billion has been lost in Africa as a result of the coronavirus, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced

- The outbreak of the virus has affected the operations of several industries, including the airline industry

- Airlines that have cancelled flights to and from China include South African Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Air Tanzania, Air Mauritius, EgyptAir, RwandAir and Kenya Airways

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that Africa has lost about $400 million in two months due to the coronavirus.

The outbreak of the virus in China has affected the operations of several industries.

In Africa, the effects of the coronavirus has taken a toll on the operations in the airline industry.

Source: Business Insider

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: New reports show Africans use more of modified versions of Whatsapp

Per a Business Insider report, even though it is not as widespread in Africa as it is in the rest of the world, some airlines have suspended flights to and from China.

They include South African Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Air Tanzania, Air Mauritius, EgyptAir, RwandAir and Kenya Airways.

According to IATAs vice president, Raphael Kuuchi, the losses in the continent's aviation industry have so far come from suspended and cancelled flights on routes to China.

In other news, there is an ongoing debate about the volume of funds raised by startups in Africa in the year 2019.

This comes in the wake of reports of various sums of monies given in support of businesses of startups in the year.

YEN.com.gh understands that three venture-funding studies carried out to ascertain the true facts led to three different results.

The tests were done by Disrupt Africa, a media outlet, WeeTracker, a database website and Partech, a global investment firm.

Per a report by Partech, African startups received a total of $2 billion from venture capitalists in the year 2019. WeeTracker fixed the amount at $1.3 million and Disrupt Africa pegged the amount at $496 million.

Techcrunch.com reports that the variance in the figures of $1.5 billion could be traced down to venture capitalist valuations in the selected countries.

Partech and WeeTracker drew the same conclusions with regard to the top three recipients of funds in Africa and named them as Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt, in that order.

READ ALSO: New report shows that African startups raised about $ 2 billion in funds in 2019

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Yenkasa: Coronavirus: Is Ghana ready? | #Yencomgh

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Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain was arrested on Thursday as he reached a Delhi court to surrender in connection with an FIR registered against him over violence in Northeast Delhi. Hussain was taken into custody by Delhi Polices Crime Branch.

Hussain was arrested after the court rejected his application to surrender. He has also filed an anticipatory bail plea at Karkardooma court in Delhi which will hear the case, news agency ANI reported.

Hussain has been named in the FIR filed by the family of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer, who accused him of murdering he 26-year-old. The official Ankit Sharmas body was found in a drain in Chand Bagh, near Hussains house.

Hussain had told a TV channel moments before heading for the court that he is going to surrender. He had reiterated that he had left Chand Bagh, one of the worst affected areas in Delhi violence, on February 24 after being rescued by the police from his three-storey house. My Allah knows I am not guilty, he had said.

He was suspended by the AAP after allegations from the IB officials family. Sharmas family claims that Hussain incited the mob which had caught the IB staffer and killed him.

The police had, meanwhile, issued a clarification after users on social media claiming that a police team rescued Hussain and his family from their house in Chand Bagh during the riots.

The Delhi Police had eaelier said that Hussain is absconding along with his family members and has switched off his cellphone. The last known location of his cellphone was near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, an investigator associated with the case said, asking not to be named.

The police have registered four FIRs against Hussain and his house was searched and he was found absconding.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 47 lives and left over 300 injured.

A large number of properties have been damaged as frenzied mobs had torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.
English professor named Open SUNY Online Ambassador

Alex Reid, associate professor in the Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences, has been recognized as a 2020 Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador.

Ambassadors are exemplary online SUNY educators, who are enthusiastic and effective in online teaching, and who can be positive and strong advocate for online teaching in our SUNY community, according to the programs website.

Reid is a coordinator of the Professional Writing and Digital Communication Graduate Certificate in the Department of English. The flexible program is designed for students who are interested in pursuing careers in technical, professional and digital communication, as well as students in other fields who want to further develop their communication skills.

The demands placed upon technical and professional communicators are changing at a rapid pace, following the developments of social media, big data, artificial intelligence and related advancements, Reid says. The aim of my work and our program is not only to prepare students for current challenges, but to provide them with the intellectual flexibility to succeed in a media environment that is sure to continue changing rapidly."

Reids research and teaching interests include digital media studies, rhetoric and composition, professional writing and game studies. He was nominated for the award by UBs Educational Design Collaborative.

As we examine our online teaching opportunities in the college, we recognize Alexs impressive abilities in online instruction, and point to his skills and abilities as a standard in online education, says JonJay Stockslader, director of online learning and continuing education in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is an outstanding faculty member and part of the UB and the SUNY instructional communities.

Reid received a certificate of recognition and a digital badge at a ceremony during the SUNY Online Summit, held last month in New York City on Feb. 26

For more information, visit the website for the Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassadors program.
By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan and Russias Rostov Region have signed cooperation agreements in industry, tourism, consulting, humanitarian and other sectors during a business forum held in Baku on March 4.

This business forum took place during the visit of a delegation, led by Governor of Rostov Oblast of Russia Vasili Golubev, to Azerbaijan.

Nearly 100 businessmen from both countries acting in trade, industry, education, healthcare, agriculture, logistics, insurance, consulting and other sectors attended the business forum.

Addressing the forum, Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said that political will and joint efforts of Azerbaijani and Russian presidents have provided a solid foundation for expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.

It was mentioned that one of the important directions of Azerbaijan-Russia cooperation is also trade and investment cooperation, and expansion of relations between both countries entrepreneurs play a significant role in achieving this goal.

Azerbaijan closely cooperates with more than 70 federal entities in Russia, including Rostov Region.

There is great potentials in industry, agricultural machine building, alternative energy, humanitarian and other sectors to expand relations with Rostov Oblast.

Informing the forum participants about reforms implemented in the country, Mikayil Jabbarov invited entrepreneurs of Rostov Region to benefit from favourable business and investment opportunities created in Azerbaijan.

Governor of Rostov Oblast of Russia Vasili Golubev expressed his satisfaction with his visit to Azerbaijan. He also noted that business forums and events held with the participation of business circles are essential for the development of bilateral relations.

Speaking about trade and investment opportunities of Rostov Oblast, he noted the potential for the development of relations with Azerbaijan and the increase of trade turnover.

Azerbaijans ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu and Russias ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov emphasized that political relations between the countries are in the high level. They also noted that mutual visits and meetings are the sign of the great importance given to the improvement of Azerbaijan-Russia relations.

At the event, information was given about joint Azerbaijani-Russian projects in Rostov.

The Head of Voterfoll PRO LTD Konstantin Kuzin, the Managing Director of Aviakompaniya Azimut JSC Eduard Teplichkiy and the rector of South University (Management, business and law institution) Imran Akbar made representations on the activity of the enterprises they represent.

At the end of the event, a presentation was demonstrated about tourism and investment opportunities of Rostov Region.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Donald Trump slammed the 'fake news' Thursday, claiming misinformation is being spread about him telling people that feel sick to still go to work as concerns over coronavirus continue to escalate.

'I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work,' Trump asserted in a tweet Thursday morning. 'This is just more Fake News and disinformation put out by the Democrats, in particular MSDNC.'

'Comcast covers the CoronaVirus situation horribly, only looking to do harm to the incredible & successful effort being made!' Trump continued, referencing Comcast-owned MSNBC, which he has dubbed 'MSDNC' to imply that the network is controlled by Democrats.

The president irate tweet comes after reports claimed following his interview with Sean Hannity Wednesday night that he was urging people to go to work even if they weren't feeling well.

'A lot of people will have this and it's very mild,' Trump said or coronavirus during a wide-range interview with the Fox News host Wednesday night. 'They'll get better very rapidly.'

Donald Trump asserted the media is twisting his words in new reports that say he is urging people who feel sick to still go to work

'This is just more Fake News and disinformation put out by the Democrats,' Trump posted to Twitter Thursday morning

During a call-in interview with Fox News on Wednesday night, Trump said people will 'get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work'

Trump engaged in a wide-range interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night, and claimed that people who contract coronavirus don't even have to go the doctor and will get better

Trump also said he has responded great to the coronavirus outbreak and claimed he and others are 'working very hard' to keep the cases and death toll low

He then claimed that people who contract coronavirus shouldn't go to the doctor because they will get better without medical assistance.

'They don't even see a doctor. They don't even call a doctor,' Trump continued in his rambling interview with Hannity. 'You never hear about those people. So you can't put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu and/or virus. So you just can't do that.'

'So, if you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better,' Trump said.

So far 11 people in the U.S. have died after contracting coronavirus  10 in Washington state and one in California

This comment sparked several political pundits and media personnel to claim that Trump was insinuating that people who may have contracting coronavirus should still go to work  contrary to what medical professionals and infectious disease experts have advised.

'With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!' Trump boasted in another tweet posted Thursday morning.

As of last week no one in the U.S. had died from contracting coronavirus.

But over night last Friday, a man in his 60s in Washington state died from the fast-spreading respiratory virus.

Ten more people died in the following days and there are more than 150 confirmed cases in the U.S.

Trump also quoted Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who praised the president for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak

There are more than 150 cases in the U.S. and rising, and top experts say coronavirus has reached 'pandemic proportions'

Of the 11 deaths in the U.S., 10 were in Washington state and one in California  but the cases are spread around 17 different states all over the country.

Trump tweeted a quote from Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton praising the president for his response to the coronavirus outbreak.

';I want to commend the President for how he has handled the CoronaVirus situation, especially his early decision to shut down access into our Country from China, despite strong opposition to that decision.' @SenTomCotton Thank you Tom!' Trump posted to Twitter.

The president has continuously downplayed the threat of coronavirus, even has the country's top experts on immunology and infectious diseases claim the threat has reached 'pandemic proportions.'

It's likely he may have suggested people continue to go to work as the Stock Market faced its worse week since the 2008 financial crisis as concerns over coronavirus reached new heights.

The impact on the economy comes over concerns regarding international trade and companies closing several locations  including Starbucks and Apple closing hundreds of stores in China, where the virus originated.
The first case of the Coronavirus in Tennessee has been confirmed by Governor Bill Lee's office and the Tennessee Department of Health.

The patient is a man from Williamson County who had recently traveled out of state.

Officials said the man has mild symptoms and is being quarantined at home along with family members who are being monitored.

Becky Barnes, administrator of the Hamilton County Health Department, said, "There are no Coronavirus cases in Hamilton County yet, but we anticipate there will be."

She said her office has been in close contact with the Centers for Disease Control and the state Health Department.

Ms. Barnes's staff is also working closely with County Emergency Preparedness.

She said there has been some testing here for the virus.

She said a resource team has been formed on the topic and its members are available to speak with businesses, schools, and other groups.

A Coronavirus Hot Line has been set up at 423 209-8383. It is currently being manned Monday-Friday from 8-4.

Ms. Barnes stressed that individuals should thoroughly wash their hands often and avoid touching their eyes and nose. If sick, they should remain at home. Those who are not ill should avoid contact with those who are sick.
Manama

His Excellency, Mr. Ali bin Muhammad Al Rumaihi, Minister of Information Affairs, confirmed that the Saudi citizen who was declared infected by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the "Corona" virus had arrived in Saudi Arabia via Bahrain before activating the strict procedures in all ports of the Kingdom, and before Iran announced Virus outbreaks in its cities.



His Excellency the Minister of Information Affairs, during a television interview with his happiness, Al Arabiya News, praised the continuous cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in various fields, expressing Bahrain's support for the precautionary measures taken by Saudi Arabia to protect pilgrims and visitors to the Prophets Mosque from the Corona virus, and affirming the continued coordination between The two countries in implementation of the royal directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the country's monarch, the Almighty, may God bless him and sponsor him for the good and good of the two sister kingdoms.

The Minister of Information Affairs stressed during the interview that the measures taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain to prevent the spread of the virus in the Kingdom were proactive and received the approval of many citizens to protect them and public health in the community, noting that all cases announced in the country are cases that entered Bahrain from Iran in ways that are not Directly, there is no Corona virus inside the Kingdom.

The Minister of Information Affairs concluded the meeting by emphasizing that the ports of the Kingdom of Bahrain are open to all and proceed naturally, and that the Kingdom is taking strict measures for those coming to the country targeting only those coming from affected areas.
State-run power giant NTPC on Thursday said the central government has sold 3.12 per cent stake in the company through CPSE ETF, which has reduced the promoter's shareholding to 51.02 per cent.

The government sold 30.87 crore equity shares (3.12 per cent equity stake) in NTPC on February 3, 2020, the company said in a BSE filing.

The government sold the shares to Nippon Life India Asset Management India, which is the asset management company of the CPSE ETF mutual fund scheme, it said.

After the divestment, the government stake in NTPC came down to 51.02 per cent from 54.14 per cent.

The NTPC share closed 0.09 per cent down at Rs 107.90 on BSE on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Upcoming political events in the Bay Area:

FRIDAY

Our bodies, our planet: Breaking the Chains editor Nathalie Hrizi speak on the state of the womens movement, and San Francisco public school educator Jael Castro discusses the leading role women have played in the critical struggle to respect the environment. Sponsored by San Francisco Party for Socialism and Liberation. $3-$10. 7 p.m., 2969 Mission St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Facebook: Author Steve Levy discusses his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story. Benefit for KPFA-FM. $12 advance, $15 at the door. 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St., Berkeley. More information is here.

SUNDAY

Politics for teenagers: Democracy Online: A Political Discourse Conference for Teens features experts in ethics, journalism and technology to discuss the role of the internet in politics. Free. 10 a.m., Mitchell Park Community Center, 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. More information is here.

Spanish for activists: A session on canvassing in the Latinx community, sponsored by Democracy Action. Intended for intermediate and advanced Spanish speakers. Bring a laptop and phone. Free. 10:30 a.m., 80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 20, Sausalito. More information is here.

Women in leadership: Women in local leadership panel to celebrate International Womens Day. Featuring Bivett Brackett, small-business owner and candidate for San Francisco Democratic Central Committee, and San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Nancy Tung. Free. Noon, Re:store, 120 Maiden Lane, San Francisco. More information is here.

MONDAY

Civility: A discussion of the increasing polarization of society and the impacts of civility and outrage as alternative ways to it. Part of the Professor of Practice Series at Pacific School of Religion. $20. 6 p.m., Bade Museum, 1798 Scenic Ave., Berkeley. More information is here.

Swing Left San Francisco: Former Federal Election Commission chair Ann Ravel is the guest speaker at groups general meeting. 6:30 p.m., Park library branch, 1833 Page St., San Francisco. More information is here.

THURSDAY

Breaking down the primary: Political experts discuss the results of Californias primary. Panelists include Aimee Allison, founder and president of She the People; Jennifer Fernandez Ancona, co-founder of Way to Win; and pollster David Binder. Hosted by KQED and SPUR. $10 for nonmembers, free for members. SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 15

Watch party: For the Democratic presidential debate. $10. 5 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 17

Primaries 101: An explainer on how the Democratic presidential nominee will be chosen, with Stanford University political science Professor Bruce Cain. $5-$10. 6 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

American Jews and Israel: Former Knesset member Yossi Beilin, chairman of the Geneva Initiative, on the relationship between Israelis and American Jews today and where we go from here. Hosted by Center for Jewish Peoplehood. $18 in advance, $25 at the door. 7 p.m., Osher Marin JCCs Hoytt Theater, 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael. More information is here.

Dan Pfeiffer: Pod Save America podcast co-host on A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again. $27 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $8 for students. 7 p.m., Oshman Family JCCs Schultz Cultural Hall, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. More information is here.

MARCH 18

Beating Trump: David Plouffe, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, in conversation with Oakland Democratic Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks on How to beat Donald Trump. $15 overflow seating. 6:30 p.m., Commonwealth Club, 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

Congress at War: Fergus Bordewich, author of the new book on Congress role in winning the Civil War, in discussion at Book Passage. Free. 7 p.m., 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. More information is here.

MARCH 20

Naturalization test: Mannys trivia night focuses on questions asked of prospective U.S. citizens on the naturalization test. Free. 6 p.m., 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 21

Robert Reich: UC Berkeley public policy professor and former U.S. labor secretary talks politics and his new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It. $32 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $9 for students. 7 p.m., 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara Convention Center Theater, Santa Clara. More information is here.

Noam Chomsky: Political activist and social critic on What Hope for Palestine-and Beyond? The World After 2020. Introduced by Daniel Ellsberg; musical performance by Naima Shalhoub and Excentrik. $29-$99. 7:30 p.m., Sidney Goldstein Theatre, 275 Hayes St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 22

Nuclear agreements: Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley CAREs and a longtime nuclear disarmament advocate, discusses U.S. and other nations stances as nuclear agreements are implemented or come up for renewal. Hosted by Peace Action of San Mateo County. 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, 300 East Santa Inez Ave., San Mateo. More information is here.

MARCH 27

Jesse Wegman: Journalist and editor discusses his new book on the electoral college, Let the People Pick the President. $7. 7:30 p.m., Keplers Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. More information is here.

MARCH 28

State Sen. Scott Wiener: San Francisco Democrat holds a town hall meeting. 1 p.m., Bayshore Community Center, 450 Martin St., Daly City. More information is here.

APRIL 1

Suppressed: The Fight to Vote: Screening of documentary on the 2018 gubernatorial election in Georgia, in which Stacey Abrams ran to be the first African American woman elected governor in the U.S. Hosted by Ladies of the Resistance and Swing Left San Francisco. Free. 7 p.m., 639 Howard St., San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 4

Racial justice: A session on white fragility and cultivating resilience for coping with it, drawing from the work of racial justice experts including authors Robin D'Angelo and Resmaa Menakem, theater practitioner and political activist Augusto Boal, and activist, racial justice trainer and psychotherapist Katherine Roubos. Hosted by Showing Up for Racial Justice Marin. Free. 1 p.m., YWCA, 30 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael. More information is here.

APRIL 7

Thomas Piketty: Author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century and Capital and Ideology on global history, contemporary politics and his vision of a more just and equal future. Free. 4 p.m., Pauley Ballroom, 2495 Bancroft Way UC Berkeley. More information is here.

APRIL 9

Pelosi challenger: Shahid Buttar, running against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her San Francisco seat, in conversation at the Commonwealth Club. $5 for nonmembers, $3 for students. Noon, 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 16

Assemblyman David Chiu: San Francisco Democrat explains his support for a constitutional amendment to allow control of campaign spending. Hosted by Business for American Promise. $10. 5 p.m., Variety Club Preview Room, 582 Market St., San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 17

Race and politics: A forum on the role of race in elections, apportionment and political outcomes. Speakers include law professors from UC Berkeley, Duke University, Georgetown University and UCLA. Free. 12:40 p.m., UC Berkeley School of Law, Booth Auditorium 175, Law Building. More information is here.

APRIL 28

Democracys future: Stanford University history Professor David Kennedy on the future of democracy in America. $30 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $10 for students. 6:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

To list an event, please email Politics Editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com.
A Vietnamese national has been placed in quarantine while four foreigners have boarded flights to Thailand and Australia after entering Ho Chi Minh City on the same plane as a Japanese national who then tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Authorities previously searched for five passengers on Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 from Siem Reap, Cambodia that landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City at 10:03 pm on Tuesday.

On the same flight was a Japanese passenger who later tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Japan.

The five passengers, namely one Vietnamese, three French citizens, and one Australian, entered the southern metropolis on the same day without being placed in quarantine.

A search was launched for these passengers after it was learned that the Japanese passenger was infected with COVID-19.

As of Thursday morning, the citys Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it has located all five passengers.

The three French nationals already boarded a flight to Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday while the Australian flew to his home country the same day, according to immigration officials.

The remaining passenger, a Vietnamese, has been placed in a quarantine zone in the southern metropolis while her family members are under home quarantine.

There were a total of 67 passengers and six crew members on flight VN814 from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday evening.

Sixty-six passengers, including the Japanese patient, have left Vietnam for the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.

The flight crew has been isolated as per regulations.

Over 95,300 people have been infected and 3,285 killed globally by COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Over 1,000 infections have been confirmed in Japan, with 12 deaths, as of Thursday.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 3:39AM

We've reported about Facebook and Twitter not attending South by Southwest (SXSW) because of coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns; but, now, we learn that Apple and Netflix are also pulling out of the tech, music, and film festival. Apple was supposed to host the world premiere of Spike Jonze's Beastie Boys Story at SXSW, as well as premieres of musical series called Central Park and documentary series Home. There were also supposed to be a talk featuring Little America's creators Kumail Nanijani and Emily V. Gordon. Netflix, on the other hand, was supposed to host a panel and five film screenings.

As of Monday, SXSW is still happening. The organizers updated its site to have a page dedicated to any questions related to the coronavirus' impact on the event. The webpage also contains tips on how to prevent spreading the disease.
Flybe aircraft are pictured on the tarmac at Exeter airport in Exeter, south-west England, on March 5, 2020. (Geoff Caddick/AFP via Getty Images)

British Airline Flybe Collapses as Coronavirus Deals Final Blow

British airline Flybe collapsed on Thursday after a plunge in travel demand, making the long-struggling regional airline one of the first big corporate casualties of the coronavirus outbreak.

The failure of an airline that connects all corners of the United Kingdom with major European destinations not only puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but could also see some airports struggle and regional economies hit.

All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect, Flybe said after the government walked away from a rescue package agreed in January.

Airlines around the world have been cancelling flights and warning of a hit to profitability after coronavirus first emerged in China, hitting flights across Asia, before it spread to Europe and beyond.

British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air, and United Airlines are among those warning on the impact of a virus that looks set to hit the industry harder than the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Lufthansa airplanes are seen parked on the tarmac during a strike of cabin crew union at Frankfurt airport, Germany, on Nov. 7, 2019. (Ralph Orlowski/Reuters/File Photo)

Flybes collapse will also cause more problems for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had promised to level up Britain by investing in regional transport links.

His government had agreed a rescue deal for the 41-year-old airline in January, saying it was important to maintain connections across the country for its eight million passengers. It said on Thursday there was nothing more it could do.

We are also urgently working with industry to identify how key routes can be re-established by other airlines as soon as possible, Transport Minister Grant Shapps said.

Scotlands Loganair, another regional airline, has committed to maintaining 16 Flybe routes, a junior minister told parliament, adding that the government stands ready to support regional airports by working with industry to keep others going.

But while some Flybe routes might be attractive to airlines with smaller planes like Loganair, many do not have enough passengers to attract airlines like easyJet and Ryanair, which operate bigger planes, aviation expert John Strickland said.

There will be some routes which will get left uncovered because they simply are too small and not economically viable unless theyre flown as subsidised routes, Strickland said.

Flybe, the largest independent regional airline in Europe, operated between 81 airports and was owned by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group, and Cyrus Capital.

The owners said they had ploughed more than 135 million pounds ($174 million) into the business in the last 14 months, including around 25 million pounds pledged in January.

Financial Trouble

Januarys rescue deal had seen the government agree to match the owners support for Flybe with a potential loan, a deferral of taxes and a review of local flight tax rules.

That briefly formed part of Johnsons plan to try to boost the regions of Britain beyond London. Without Flybe though, some regional airports like Exeter, Birmingham, and Southampton will have much poorer connections.

However, rival airlines complained that the state should not prop up failing companies and environmental campaigners argued any move to reduce the cost of flying did not fit with the governments aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

A Flybe plane takes off from Manchester Airport in Manchester, Britain, on Jan. 13, 2020. (Phil Noble/File Photo/Reuters)

Flybes 68 aircraft flew to airports including Belfast City in Northern Ireland, Jersey in the Channel Islands, Birmingham in central England and Scotlands Inverness, and provided more than half of UK domestic flights outside London.

The pilots union said airline staff had been betrayed by the owners and the government.

In a sign of the ripple effect the virus can have, Britains biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster ITV warned on Thursday its advertising revenue had already been hit by travel companies pulling spending.

Stobart and Virgin Atlantic said they were deeply disappointed with the outcome.

Sadly, despite the efforts of all involved to turn the airline around, not least the people of Flybe, the impact of COVID-19 on Flybes trading means that the consortium can no longer commit to continued financial support, they said.

It is the second major British airline to go bust in six months after the worlds oldest travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed in September, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.

The countrys broader airline strategy was also thrown into disarray last week when a court ruled a plan to expand Europes biggest airport Heathrow was unlawful.

By Sarah Young and Kate Holton
MOSCOW  The presidents of Russia and Turkey said they reached agreement on a cease-fire to begin at midnight Thursday in northwestern Syria, where escalating fighting had threatened to put forces from the two countries into direct conflict.

The deal struck by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also would set up a security corridor along a key east-west highway in Idlib province.

Putin voiced hope the agreement will serve as a good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to suffering of civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis.

The agreement appears to achieve Russias key goal of allowing the Syrian government to secure control over strategic highways essential for consolidating its grip on the country after a devastating nine-year war.

But in a nod to Turkeys interests, the deal also puts the brakes on Syrian President Bashar Assads push to reclaim control over all of Idlib province, the last opposition-controlled region that borders Turkey.

Erdogan said he and Putin agreed to help refugees return to their homes. More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since Assads forces began an offensive in December backed by Russian airstrikes.

Both leaders had underlined the need for an agreement at the start of the Kremlin talks, which lasted more than six hours. One goal had been to prevent damaging their bilateral relations and blossoming trade.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres takes note of the cease-fire agreement and hopes it will lead to an immediate and lasting cessation of hostilities that ensures the protection of civilians in northwest Syria, who have already endured enormous suffering, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Guterres also called for a return to the U.N.-facilitated political process, aimed at ending the nine-year conflict, Dujarric said.

Until the latest crisis, Putin and Erdogan had managed to coordinate their interests in Syria even though Moscow backed Assad while Ankara supported the governments foes. Both Russia and Turkey wanted to avoid a showdown but the sharply conflicting interests in Idlib province made it difficult to negotiate a mutually acceptable compromise.

The Syrian offensive in Idlib has resulted in Turkey sending in thousands of troops to repel the Syrian army. Clashes on the ground and in the air have left dozens dead on both sides. Russia, which has helped Assad reclaim most of the countrys territory, has signaled it wont sit by while Turkey routs his troops.

The fighting also has pushed nearly 1 million Syrian civilians toward Turkey, which already hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees. Erdogan responded by opening Turkeys gateway to Europe in an apparent bid to persuade the West to offer more support to Ankara.

He has frequently threatened to open Turkeys borders to Europe, maintaining that the European Union has not upheld its end of a more than 6 billion-euro deal designed to stem the flow of migrants after more than 1 million people entered the EU in 2015.

Putin discussed the situation in Idlib with European Council head Charles Michel, who met the Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday. The Kremlin said Michel informed Putin about the EUs efforts to block the flow of migrants.

Putin offered Erdogan his condolences over Turkish military losses but noted that Syrian troops also suffered heavy casualties. Turkeys Defense Ministry announced that two more of its soldiers were killed Thursday, raising the number slain in Syria since the start of February to 60.

The worlds eyes are on us, Erdogan had said. The steps we will take, the right decisions we will take here today will help ease (concerns in) the region and our countries.

After Turkey had downed several Syrian jets, Moscow warned Ankara on Sunday that its aircraft would be unsafe if they enter Syrian airspace.

Opposition activists in Idlib blamed Russia for Thursdays strike on a rebel-held village that they said killed at least 15 people, including children, and wounded several others. The Russian military had no immediate comment, but it has denied similar claims by insisting it hasnt targeted residential areas.

The fighting in Idlib is the most severe test of Russia-Turkey ties since Turkeys downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015. Russia responded then with sweeping economic sanctions, cutting the flow of its tourists to Turkey and banning most Turkish exports  a punishment that eventually forced Turkey to back off.

Turkey cant afford a replay of that costly crisis, much less a military conflict with a nuclear power, but it has a strong bargaining position. Moscow needs Ankara as a partner in a Syrian settlement, and Russias supply routes for its forces in Syria lie through the Turkish Straits.

Moscow also hopes to use Ankara in its standoff with the West. Last year, Turkey became the first NATO country to take delivery of sophisticated Russian air defense missile systems, angering Washington. Turkey has put its deployment on hold amid the crisis in Idlib.

The talks in Moscow marked the 10th meeting in just over a year between Putin and Erdogan, who call each other dear friend and have polished a fine art of bargaining.

In October, they agreed to deploy their forces across Syrias northeastern border to fill the void left by President Donald Trumps abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces. Before that, they had negotiated deals that saw opposition fighters from various areas in Syria move into Idlib, and in 2018 carved out a de-escalation zone in Idlib.

They blamed one another for the collapse of the Idlib deal, with Moscow holding Ankara responsible for letting al-Qaida-linked militants launch attacks from the area and Turkey accusing Moscow of failing to rein in Assad.

The Russian and Turkish foreign ministers said Thursdays agreement involves a cease-fire to be enforced starting at midnight along existing battle lines. The deal also envisages setting up a 12-kilometer (7-mile) security corridor along the M4 highway to be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops, starting March 15.

A security corridor along the M4 that crosses Idlib to reach the Mediterranean province of Latakia, where Russia has its main base, will help solidify Assads gains and strengthen his control.

Earlier this year, Assad retook control of the M5 highway linking Damascus with Aleppo, the countrys commercial capital. As part of their latest offensive, Assads forces have pushed back the militants who were blocking it.

Earlier this week, Russian military police deployed to the strategic town of Saraqeb, sitting on the junction of the two highways, to ward off any Turkish attempt to retake it.

In the deal with Erdogan, Putin appeared to accept the presence of Turkey-backed militants in areas alongside the border and put brakes for now on Assads attempts to claim full control over Idlib. That compromise will allow Turkey to secure its stake in Syria and prevent refugees from fleeing across the border.

Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute, said the agreement freezes the conflict on the ground.

The fighting was not expected to flare up again until the next moment when Putin feels emboldened enough to push further, Cagaptay said.

For his part, Erdogan avoided a situation where Turkeys borders would be overwhelmed by refugees, while also preventing a rupture with Russia, the analyst said.

Cagaptay also said Assad did not emerge the winner.

His military capabilities have been undermined by Turkey, he said. We witnessed a NATO country pummeling Assads third-rate army.

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian upper houses foreign affairs committee, hailed the deal as a compromise that respected security interests of each country.

The only alternative to the talks would be trying to sort out the differences on the battlefield, and neither side needs that, he said on Facebook.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.
With lenders approving a Rs 23,000 crore (Rs 230 bn) resolution plan for Reliance Communication, as much as Rs 5,500 crore (Rs 55 bn) will flow to Chinese banks, clearing about 55 per cent of their principal dues, including of those lenders to whom firm's promoter Anil Ambani had allegedly given a personal guarantee.

A committee of RCom creditors on March 4 unanimously approved the insolvency resolution plan to settle unpaid debt of Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel, sources in the panel said. All the 38 lenders voted unanimously.

While Reliance Jio will get the tower and fiber assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd for Rs 4,700 crore, UV Asset Reconstruction Co Ltd (UVARC) will get assets of RCom and Reliance Telecom (spectrum) for Rs 14,000 crore, they said.

After considering a clawback clause, the resolution plan fetched Rs 23,000 crore, which will go towards paying dues of Chinese banks, who are the largest lenders, they said, adding Chinese banks will receive Rs 5,500 crore and their principal debt would stand reduced to Rs 4,500 crore.

Against the alleged personal-guarantee of one debt, the Chinese banks would receive Rs 1,800 crore (USD 250 million) and their exposure will reduce by 55 per cent to USD 300 million (Rs 2,200 crore).

The Chinese banks -- Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China -- had dragged Ambani to the UK court to recover outstanding.

The sources said the total principal secured debt of banks is around Rs 33,000 crore. Under the plan, 38 lenders of RCom can recover over 70 per cent of their outstanding of Rs 33,000 crore secured debt, they said.

"The committee of creditors (COC) has approved the resolution plans of RCOM and its subsidiaries RTL and RITL with an absolute majority of 100 per cent by the lenders at the COC meeting, as against the mandatory requirement of 66 per cent," a source said.

Lenders submitted claims of around Rs 49,000 crore in August of which Rs 33,000 crore estimated to be secured debt. Reliance Jio and UV Asset Reconstruction Company Limited were the highest bidders for RCOM assets at the CoC meeting held on January 13, 2019.

Jio had placed a bid of around Rs 4,700 crore for the tower and fiber assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), while UVARCL has made an offer of Rs 14,000 crore for spectrum, real estate assets, enterprise, and data center businesses held by RCom and Reliance Telecom Ltd.

In addition, the creditors will clawback the priority payments of Rs 4,300 crore made to Chinese (Rs 1,300 crore) and Indian lenders (Rs 3,000 crore).

"Loans of Chinese lenders will reduce by nearly 65 per cent to around Rs 4,000 crore from around Rs 12,000 crore. This is the highest-ever recovery of dues by financial creditors in the telecom sector, which has seen the exit or shut down of 11 out of 12 telcos since 2012," the source claimed.

According to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, the recovery to lenders in the case of Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel was 63 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively. "The bidders have committed to pay 30 per cent of the proceeds of around Rs 7,500 crore within 90 days," the source said.



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Do workers who graduate with a bachelor's degree still out-earn workers without a college degree? Yes, but the price of attending college has gone up, so the net return of a college degree has gone down a little bit. Still, over a lifetime, college graduates earn about $900,000 more relative to high school graduates. Even if you discount that figure to take into account the types of students who go to college, the "opportunity cost" of not being in the labor force and other factors, the net value of a college degree is still about $350,000 over your lifetime compared with a high school degree.

A recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis suggested that the value of a college education has declined. Is college still worth the cost? For the average person, college is still overwhelmingly a good decision. But like any investment, there are risks. The potential negative consequences are greater now than they were for previous generations. Not only are you taking time out from the labor market, but you're paying more to attend college. Plus, many students are taking out debt that's nearly impossible to discharge in bankruptcy. But the biggest risk is not graduating, because you still have the debt but don't have a degree.

Douglas Webber is an associate professor in the economics department at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he focuses on labor and the economics of higher education.

How does the major a student selects affect the outcome? The choice of a major may be the single biggest financial decision people will ever make. If you list majors from top to bottom based on earnings, it's roughly a $2 million differential. But lifetime earnings shouldn't be in the top three things that you base your decision on, in part because job satisfaction matters. There's an economic reason, too. If you compare average earnings for an English major to, say, an accounting major's earnings, accounting looks a lot better. But frankly, if that person is not very good at accounting, they'll earn less than the average accounting major. In that case, you may maximize your earnings potential by choosing English.

How does student borrowing factor into the equation? Debt is a huge factor. If you take out a lot of debt for a low-earning major, the chances that it's going to pay off are less than 50-50. If you're an engineering major with a generous financial aid package, the chances it will pay off are virtually 100%.

And there are huge differences between federal student loans and private student loans. The protections that exist within the federal Stafford loan program are very strong and limit the consequences if you're unable to repay your debt. Private student loans don't have those protections. If you're attending a lower-cost school, you might be able to get most or all the way through college with only federal loans.

What should students and families consider when choosing a school? Finding a school that's right for you is a very personal decision. But it's important to look up a school's graduation rate, average earnings of graduates and other statistics on CollegeScorecard.gov to see if the school does a good job of getting students through to graduation and helping them find good jobs.

Students generally have a good sense of the value of different majors. They know that economics, engineering and finance are the high-earning majors and that music, humanities and the liberal arts are low-earning majors. But they have a really poor sense of the magnitude of the difference. Students should make a list of the majors they're considering and then look at the projected earnings for each. Understanding that won't change a lot of decisions, but they should be aware of the labor market they'll be going into.
Becoming pregnant can be a lengthy and stressful process for one in every six couples. As fertility treatment protocols are based on the "average woman", approximately 30 per cent of patients need a personalized approach in IVF. In January, the first babies were born in Estonia after the use of genetic testing prior to IVF treatment.

The pilot program for using personalized medicine in fertility treatment started in 2019 at two major fertility treatment centers in Estonia - East Tallinn Central Hospital (ETCH) and West Tallinn Central Hospital (WTCH). Patients were chosen to the program after they had gone through repeated unsuccessful IVF treatments and the cause for infertility had remained unclear. In a year, a total of 50 patients participated in the program, 17 patients managed to get pregnant and 3 babies have already been born.

The patients were tested with novel beREADY test that reflects the readiness of uterine lining prior embryo transferring. The day of testing has been chosen according to the standard treatment plan. To measure the readiness, a tiny tissue sample is taken and a set of 67 biomarker genes are analyzed by DNA sequencing technology. The outcome of beREADY testing shows that one in three patient requires personalized treatment plan and the standard timing is out of optimal. The test has been developed by the researchers of Competence Centre on Health Technologies (CCHT).

A total of 26 patients have been tested at the ETCH, there are already 9 pregnancies and 2 live births. The head of the fertility treatment centre at ETCH, Dr Tiina Loog, considers using personalized medicine an important step towards more accurate and patientfriendly medicine.

We have been offering endometrial receptivity tests at our fertility treatment center since 2016, first in collaboration with the IVI laboratory in Spain. However, since April 2019, we switched to the test developed by CCHT, which is equally accurate as well as more affordable for the patient. Of course, the test does not guarantee a pregnancy, but it definitely helps to choose the most suitable day for the endometrium to be ready for the embryo. Especially in cases where repeated IVF treatments have been unsuccessful." Dr. Tiina Loog

The implementation of personalized medicine also had a positive beginning in another IVF clinic - WTCH. At WTCH 34 patients have been tested, eight are pregnant and one has delivered her baby. For most patients, the embryo transfer is yet to come.

"We recommend the endometrial receptivity test to patients, who have had several unsuccessful rounds of IVF treatment. On several occasions we have altered the embryo transfer timing based on the test results. As patients become more aware of the possibilities of modern medicine and going through multiple IVF treatments is both emotionally and financially difficult, the test has also been requested by patients who want increase their chances of getting pregnant during the first cycles," explained the head of the center, Dr Katrin Kask.

The manager of the Precision Medicine Laboratory at CCHT, Kaarel Krjutskov, noted that it is critical to contribute to the start of the fertility treatment and use personalized medicine for increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy.

"The endometrial receptivity test is like an insurance, so that the valuable embryos are transferred back to uterus just at the right time - not too soon nor too late. As fertility treatment is time-consuming and the age of the women increases with each additional cycle, becoming pregnant can be increasingly difficult. Thus, the test should not be the last resort for patients, but a prerequisite for continuing the fertility treatment after pregnancy has not been achieved with the first or second cycle," said Krjutskov.
In a nutshell: Developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Perseverance tips the scales at near 2,300 pounds. It is undergoing final assembly and inspection at Kennedy Space Center with a planned launch date of July 17, 2020. Should everything go according to plan, the rover will touch down on the Red Planets Jezero Crater just after 3:40 p.m. Eastern on February 18, 2021.

NASA on Thursday announced that the successor to its Mars Curiosity rover, which has been perusing the Red Planet since 2012, will be called Perseverance.

The rovers name came about through an essay contest that was open to K-12 students across the country. In total, some 28,000 entries were submitted and evaluated by nearly 4,700 volunteers. From there, 155 semifinalists were selected before the group was eventually whittled down to just nine finalists.

Seventh grader Alexander Mather from Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, was ultimately chosen as the contest winner. In addition to forever being associated with NASAs upcoming rover mission, Mather and his family will also get to attend Perseverances launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida this summer.

NASA has relied on contributions from school-age children to name each of its four previous Mars rovers dating back to Sojourner in the late 90s.
The two frontrunners promise to overturn Trumps foreign policies, but pledge a very different approach.

Super Tuesday, the day when registered voters in 14 states cast their ballot to elect their partys nominee, has cemented former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders  the only candidates with the chance of winning a majority of delegates following a lengthy primary season  as the undisputed frontrunners in the race for the Democratic Party ticket.

Barring unforeseen events at a contested convention in July, it is all but certain one of the two men, who are both in their late 70s and have long track records as elected officials, will face US President Donald Trump in the general election in November.

If either Biden or Sanders wins in the general election, they will have a major hand in forming US foreign policy in the wake of an administration whose so-called America first approach to diplomacy has reshaped the role of the United States in the world and altered how Washington is viewed by allies and foes alike.

So far in the race, foreign policy has been far from central topic, with Senior Vice President of the Council on Foreign Relations James M Lindsay noting that talk of US strategy abroad was AWOL in the Democratic debate in Las Vegas on February 19, adding that the omission could be a metaphor for foreign policys role in the 2020 campaign.





While relegated to the margins, foreign policy has not been completely absent from the race, with both Sanders and Biden pledging to undo hallmark Trump foreign policy measures. Both have derided Trumps Middle East plan, which the administration has touted as a road map to peace between Israel and Palestine.

The candidates have also used the foreign policy as a wedge in recent weeks, with Sanders, an avowed anti-interventionist, seizing on then-Senator Bidens 2002 vote in favour of the US invasion of Iraq. Biden has repeatedly called the vote a mistake.

During a February debate in South Carolina, Biden had accused Sanders of not condemning the authoritarian governments of Cuba and Nicaragua, referring to Sanderss previous praise for Havanas education policy. Sanders called the claim categorically untrue.

Here is where both the key candidates stand on foreign policy:

Joe Biden

Biden, 77, served for almost 40 years as a senator from his home state of Delaware, and then for two four-year terms as vice president in the administration of former President Barack Obama, and often references his foreign policy qualifications when pitching himself as the candidate to beat Trump.

The former vice president, who served as the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, has promised a complete reversal of Trumps policies if elected president, framing his foreign priorities around combatting the strongmen and thugs of rising authoritarianism across the globe, restoring alliances, and re-establishing the US leadership, in particular, in fighting climate change and promoting democracy.

If we give Donald Trump four more years, well have a great deal of difficulty of ever being able to recover Americas standing in the world and our capacity to bring nations together, he said. I think itd be catastrophic to our national security and to our future. We cant let it happen.

The travel ban imposed by the Trump administration on several majority Muslim countries would be removed under Biden, and he would end the US support of the Saudi war in Yemen, he has said.

Democratic 2020 US presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden brush hands as they have an exchange in the 10th Democratic 2020 presidential debate [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Biden has promised that the continuing conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan, where a recent deal struck between the Trump administration and the Taliban aims for an eventual withdrawal of all US troops, would also be reassessed.

He has also stressed a need for steady leadership in the Middle East, as opposed to a complete overhaul of the US strategy, with an approach to counterterrorism that utilises special forces teams and air raids to combat specific groups, as opposed to large troop deployments.

During the third Democratic debate in 2019, Biden again said his 2002 vote in favour of the US invasion of Iraq was a mistake, saying he never should have voted to give Bush the authority to go in and do what he said he was going to do.

Biden has also long called for a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and has criticised the Trumps Middle East plan. A peace plan requires two sides to come together. This is a political stunt that could spark unilateral moves to annex territory and set back peace even more, he said of the plan.

Palestinian officials should do more to condemn violence against Israel, Biden has said, while Israeli officials should stop the expansion of settlements. He told the New York Times he does not think the US embassy in Jerusalem should be moved back to Tel Aviv.

Bernie Sanders

Sanders, 78, the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress, has framed his foreign policy through the belief that it is inextricably linked to domestic policy, and has full-throatedly criticised the history of US military intervention abroad.

In an op-ed in June 2019, Sanders said he would rethink the US foreign policy, extricating the country from wars in the Middle East and reorienting strategy to prioritise diplomacy and working collectively with allies over military action.

He has argued that his vision does not involve a US retreat from the world stage, but rather the use of diplomacy and cooperation instead of force to further US interests.

We need to rethink the militaristic approach that has undermined the United States moral authority, caused allies to question our ability to lead, drained our tax coffers, and corroded our own democracy, he wrote.

He has also said he would completely withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, while blasting the so-called war on terror as staggeringly wasteful and leading to the proliferation of terrorism, not its destruction.

American power should be measured not by our ability to blow things up, but by our ability to build on our common humanity, harnessing our technology and enormous wealth to create a better life for all people, Sanders wrote.

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden speak at the ninth Democratic debate in Las Vegas [Mike Blake/Reuters]

Sanders has said he will overturn Trumps travel ban while putting a moratorium on deportations pending an audit of policies and practices. He has also said he would end the US support for Saudi forces in Yemen.

When it comes to Israel-Palestine, Sanders has been outspoken. He has said he supports a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict while opposing the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

He also criticised statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that backed Israels right to build settlements in the occupied West Bank  which the US had long maintained were an obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal. This is clear from international law and multiple United Nations resolutions, Sanders tweeted after Pompeos announcement.

In regards to Trumps Middle East plan, Sanders has said it doesnt come close to being in compliance with international law and would only perpetuate the conflict.
Hussain has been booked in the murder case of the IB staffer in northeast Delhi amid violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) last week.

The Delhi Police on Thursday arrested suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in connection with alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma. This was after a court dismissed Hussain's petition to surrender before a magistrate.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja rejected Hussain's plea saying that the relief sought by him was outside its jurisdiction.

As the court dismissed Hussain's plea, a Delhi Police team, which had already arrived, arrested him and took him into custody.

Hussain moved the surrender application before the court saying that he was willing to join the investigation and wanted to surrender in the case.

Advocate Mukesh Kalia, appearing for Hussain, argued before the court that Hussain was facing life threats and was forced to move a surrender plea before the Rouse Avenue court instead of Karkardooma court.

The lawyer said Hussain has been falsely implicated in the case and sought protection for his life and property.

Hussain has been booked in the murder case of the IB staffer in northeast Delhi amid violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) last week.

Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had on 27 February suspended the councillor for his alleged involvement in the violence which has left at least 42 people dead and around 200 injured.

Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar, on whose complaint the FIR was lodged, has named Hussain as an accused. He has alleged that the suspended AAP councillor, whose office is located near Chand Bagh Pulia, had gathered men who were pelting stones and petrol bombs during the violence which led to tension and fear among the residents.

At least 47 people including Ankit Sharma and Police Head Constable Rattan Lal have died while around 200 people sustained serious injuries in the violence that raged for three days in northeast Delhi.

With inputs from PTI
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday (local time) announced a ceasefire in Idlib, following a meeting in Moscow that lasted six hours.

"At 00.01 tonight (Friday), as in, from midnight, the ceasefire will be put in place," Al Jazeera quoted Erdogan as saying.

He added that Turkey, which has sent thousands of troops into Idlib to repel the Syrian army, would not 'remain silent' if the Syrian government forces continued attacks, and warned that Ankara would retaliate with full force.

Meanwhile, Putin said that Russia did not always agree with its Turkish partners, but hoped the deal will serve as a good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to the suffering of the civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis.

More than 300 civilians, including at least 100 children, have been killed in Idlib since December last year.

According to the United Nations, nearly one million have been internally displaced to the border with Turkey, most of whom are forced to camp out in the open - the worst humanitarian crisis in Syria's nine-year civil war.

Erdogan has said that both leaders have agreed to help these refugees return to their homes.

Moreover, Ankara and Moscow also agreed to establish a secure corridor along a key east-west highway in Syria's Idlib and hold joint patrols on it as of March 15.

"The secure corridor would stretch 6km (3.7 miles) to the north and 6km to the south of the M4 highway," the leaders said in a joint statement read out by the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers.

The two leaders reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria during their meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sanders campaign officials were hopeful that as more votes were tallied in California  Tuesday's biggest prize  the delegate advantage Biden had built would shrink or disappear entirely. Even if it does, though, the path ahead for Sanders is a treacherous one, with some states that present opportunities but many others that seem more favorable to Biden.
Six months after striking a rare deal with prosecutors, in September 2019 he was officially cleared of criminal charges alleging he used his campaign funds for private use. Federal prosecutors in Chicago dropped all charges against him after he completed a probationary period during which he stayed out of trouble and paid back $68,000 to his congressional campaign funds that hed used for personal expenses. His record was wiped, meaning he would be free to run for public office again if he chose to do so.
The American President told he would bring up Hunter Bidens ties to Ukraine if Joe Biden became Democratic nominee

ABC News

The criminal case, opened in Ukraine against former US Vice President Joseph Biden, will become one of the important topics in the U.S. election race. President of the United States Donald Trump said this, as Fox News reported.

Trump was asked if he thought the investigation would affect the U.S. election campaign.

This will be an important topic during the campaign. I will keep mentioning this because I do not know how they can get out of this," the American leader said.

Speaking about Biden and his supporters, Trump said: "I do not see how they can answer that."

As we reported earlier, Ukraines State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) registered criminal proceedings on the pressure on ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin by the former US Vice President Joseph Biden, as Interfax-Ukraine informed.

The SBI entered information about a criminal offense into the Unified register of pre-trial investigations, Shokin's lawyer Oleksandr Teleshetsky said at a press conference.

The lawyer reported that it was being investigated under Part 2 of Art. 343 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (interference with the activity of a law enforcement officer).
An Australian newspaper has printed extra blank pages to be cut out and used as toilet paper after coronavirus panic-buying sparked a shortage.

Darwin paper NT News's front page said: 'We've printed an eight-page special lift-out inside, complete with handy cut lines, for you to use in an emergency.'

There have been shortages of loo roll throughout the country as shoppers stock up on supplies with the number infected by COVID-19 rising to more than 50 on Thursday.

Violent altercations over diminishing loo roll supplies have occurred at several supermarkets and last night a truck carrying toilet paper burst into flames.

An Australian newspaper, Darwin's NT News, printed blank pages for its customers to cut out and use as loo roll in case of an emergency today amid a deepening crisis over toilet paper stocks at the nation's supermarkets

Darwin paper NT News's front page said: 'We've printed an eight-page special lift-out inside, complete with handy cut lines, for you to use in an emergency.'

YES, WE ACTUALLY DID PRINT IT #toiletpapercrisis pic.twitter.com/jusP50ojYu  The NT News (@TheNTNews) March 4, 2020

Depleted toilet paper supplies at a supermarket in Melbourne as shoppers panic buy during the coronavirus outbreak

The semi-trailer caught fire on the Gateway Motorway near Murrarie as toilet paper panic buying intensified across Australia. Firefighters and ambulance crews rushed to the scene, with the truck blocking the northbound lanes of the motorway.

And today, a brawl over loo roll broke out at a supermarket in New South Wales which ended in police deploying a taser.

Police were called to a store in Tamworth, about four hours drive north of Sydney, after the man allegedly lashed out and attacked another customer and a worker.

Coronavirus fears have triggered runs on several products, including hand sanitisers and face masks, with images of shoppers stacking trolleys with toilet rolls spreading on social media.

But supermarkets and manufacturers urged calm, reassuring customers that deliveries were increasing to compensate for the demand.

Two major supermarket chains have also limited purchases on toilet paper to help quell the stockpiling.

A delivery truck carrying toilet paper crashed and burst into flames in Brisbane last night

Amid the chaos, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken out and encouraged Australians to go about their business as usual.

Mr Morrison said he had consulted with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, with the fallout affecting global supply chains and consumers 'panic buying' as the crisis continues to escalate.

Last week the Government initiated its Emergency Response plan, meaning the health sector is working to prepare for an outbreak, however, at this stage it does not mean a lot for the general public.

Under a worse-case-scenario public gatherings will be cancelled, people will have to work from home and aged care homes will be placed into lock down.

Experts have advised residents to prepare but not panic.

At Costco warehouses shoppers were seen loading up their trolleys with extra-large packs of toilet tissue

University of Queensland virologist Ian Mackay suggested buying 'a few extra non-perishable items' when doing your weekly shop, ABC reported.

John Robertson, the CEO of organisation Foodbank Australia recommended grabbing a few tins of soup, pet food and baby formula.

Other recommended items to keep in the house include matches, batteries and a torch.
Congress lawmaker Kabil Sibal on Thursday gave a notice in Rajya Sabha for a short discussion over the 'outcome of the recent visit of the US President to India'.

During his two day visit to India from February 24 to 25, the US President participated in a host of engagements over the course of his nearly-36-hour-long trip, including a roadshow, visit to the Taj Mahal, addressing a mammoth crowd at the 'Namaste Trump' event at Ahmedabad, among others.

India and the United States further strengthened their defence and security cooperation, with the two countries giving a nod to an agreement under which India will get USD 3 billion of advanced military equipment including Apache and MH-60 Romeo helicopters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Short sellers on Wall Street added to their positions during the recent coronavirus-related sell-off, making more than $US50 billion ($75 billion) in profits over seven trading days, according to data from financial analytics firm S3 Partners.

There was nearly $US15 billion of additional short selling between February 24 and March 3, bringing total domestic equity short interest to $US848 billion. Those short sellers made $US51.3 billion in mark-to-market profits, S3 said in a report published on Wednesday. The S&P 500 Index fell 10 per cent over the same period.

Short selling is betting against a company's share price by borrowing stock and selling it on the open market with the aim of buying it back later at a lower price to pocket a profit.

It's been a massive week of losses on Wall Street. But there were some winners too. Credit:Bloomberg

The most profitable short since February 24 was Tesla, "a very familiar name for short sellers," the firm said. Investors who bet Tesla would decline made $US1.1 billion over the seven-day stretch, recouping some of their $US9 billion in year-to-date losses as shares fell 17 per cent.
Theres a great chapter there about Chaim Rumkowski, Turturro said, referring to the head of Polands Lodz ghetto during World War II, who, thinking he was saving them, presided over the resettlement of thousands of Jews. Hes someone who thinks, I can negotiate, I can protect everybody. I think that may have inspired the character.

Ryder, who says she has been a Roth-head since she was 18, plays Evelyn, Besss sister (younger in the book, older in the series), who talks herself into falling in love with Bengelsdorf and becomes his willing accomplice. Its a part she was eager to get because she thought it would be interesting for a change to play a weak woman, not a strong one (as she did in Show Me a Hero, about a ruinous desegregation battle in Yonkers). But it caused her so much anxiety, especially after a scene in which she dances at a White House state dinner with the Nazi foreign minister Von Ribbentrop, that she almost went to the emergency room.

I think it was something to do with Turturro, she said. Even before we started shooting, he was saying, Im going to drink the Kool-Aid and totally, totally believe what Im saying. He was just so good, it was scary. Sometimes I was afraid that it was going to start making sense  the words that were popping out of his mouth. But it was hard for me to forget that my character was so on the wrong side of everything. I got there about 90 percent, but there was always a part of me that knew how horribly wrong she was.

Like Ryder and Turturro, Spector, who plays Herman, read The Plot Against America when it first came out, back in the George W. Bush era. I thought it was resonant even then, he said. But we didnt know from demagogues back then.

Kazan, on the other hand, said that she had never read any Roth before signing on to be Bess and that when she did look at The Plot Against America, she was struck by how prophetic it seemed. Its impossible not to see the parallels, she said. I remember thinking when I read the book, People arent going to believe this; theyre going to think we invented it just for the show.

During shooting, Simon said he worried about tampering with Roths great work. You lose some things, you maybe gain some things  thats the nature of adaptation, he said last month, after the series had wrapped. At first I was really worried about the violence I was about to do to Roths book. And I will say that when I was in the middle, I thought, Im messing with something primal here. And when he passed away I thought, Well, Im sorry hes not here, but at least I dont have to show him what Ive done.
Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) election management committee attend a meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Feb. 28. DPK floor leader Rep. Lee In-young, right, general secretary Rep. Yun Ho-jung, second from right, were among five DPK members who reportedly discussed plans to launch a satellite party at an unofficial meeting. Yonhap



DPK considers forming coalition with minor parties to win April election



By Jung Da-min



The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is facing a dilemma over whether to create a "satellite party," as the possibility of the party taking majority in the 300-seat National Assembly seems to be low under the new electoral system.



Some party members say it is necessary for the party to set up such an organization or otherwise explore other options, such as forming a progressive coalition with minor parties under the slogan of political reform. Others say such options are contrary to the purpose of the new electoral system that is aimed at making the Assembly more reflective of the various policies of different parties.



In late December, the Assembly passed the electoral system change bill pushed ahead by the DPK and four minor parties. Under the new system to be applied starting at the April 15 general election, 47 of 300 seats are set for proportional representation. Minor parties, which usually do not take large numbers of seats for constituencies, will stand a better chance of winning proportional representation seats.



The then-main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), which is now the United Future Party (UFP) after a merger with a conservative minor party, strongly opposed the system change because it meant the party was unlikely to win as many proportional representation seats as before.



In an attempt to subvert the new system, some LKP (now UFP) members left the party voluntarily and set up the Future Korea Party as a satellite party to the LKP, on Feb. 5. The satellite party aims to take as many proportional representation seats as possible and subsequently remerge with the main opposition UFP after the election.



The DPK and other liberal minor parties have strongly denounced the conservative satellite party, saying such a move undermines the purpose of the electoral system change. However, as the election date nears and the ruling bloc's approval rating is falling amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the DPK is now realizing it may lose the majority position in the next National Assembly to the conservative big tent.



A recent media report on an unofficial meeting between five DPK members including its floor leader Rep. Lee In-young and general secretary Rep. Yun Ho-jung, said that they were planning to launch a satellite party, but Yun later told reporters that such an idea is against the DPK's stance since they acknowledge that the Future Korea Party, the UFP's satellite party, is ruining the meaning of the electoral reform.



Many of the DPK members agree that creating a satellite party is not an option, as it could lead to a loss of public trust as well as confidence from the four minor parties it had partnered with to pass the electoral reform bill.



"The DPK pushed ahead with the electoral reform and condemned the launch of the UFP's satellite party  We ask people to exercise wise judgment on the Future Korea Party," Rep. Kim Hae-young, a member of the DPK's Supreme Council, said during a party meeting, Friday last week.



Another DPK member Rep. Choi Jae-sung said Monday at a press conference at the Assembly, "The party should not give up the cause of the electoral reform for fear of losing some proportional representation seats."



But other DPK members say forming a strategic coalition with liberal civic groups could be an option for a "detour" to win the election. Recently, some civic groups presented a proposal to the DPK and other liberal minor parties, under which the groups would create a party consisting of some members from the DPK and the liberal minor parties in order to win proportional representation seats under the new party's ticket. Those lawmakers would then return to their original parties.



To be successful, the plan requires consent and participation from minor parties. However, some minor parties are reluctant to join the move because the participation could suggest their absorption into the bigger DPK.



"We can't agree on the proposal (from the civic groups)," minor progressive Justice Party spokeswoman Kang Min-jin said, Monday. "Responding to a trick with another trick will only give indulgence to the UFP's shameless acts."



Justice Party Rep. Lee Jeong-mi also said the coalition plan could backfire. "Centrist voters could think the DPK is the same as the UFP and turn their back on the DPK. Then the ruling party, while trying to take a couple of more proportional representation seats, could be in bigger trouble," Lee said in a radio show, Thursday.


DES MOINES, Iowa, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kemin Crop Technologies, the Kemin Industries business unit focused on providing crop protection and crop health solutions for specialty crops and commercial greenhouses, has announced a strategic partnership agreement with Laboratoire M2, a Canada-based technology and science company, to distribute THYMOX CONTROL, a thyme-oil-based biopesticide, effective immediately.

THYMOX CONTROL is an innovative, broad-spectrum, contact fungicide-bactericide concentrate designed with Laboratoire M2's breakthrough patent-pending, proprietary nano-emulsion technology. THYMOX CONTROL's unique formula delivers the highly efficient and stabilized antimicrobial power of thyme oil's active ingredient to control fungal and bacterial plant pathogens  including powdery mildew, grey mold (Botrytis cinerea) and fireblight (Erwinia amylovora)  via cell membrane disruption. Multiple trials have proven efficacy on a wide variety of commercial greenhouse plants and specialty crops such as apples, pears, wine grapes, cherries, hops and industrial hemp. With no re-entry interval, a zero-day pre-harvest interval and no maximal residue limit, THYMOX CONTROL offers great benefits to growers.

"We are very excited to partner with Laboratoire M2 to expand their commercial reach and offer a novel product like THYMOX CONTROL to U.S. growers," said Marsha Bro, General Manager, Kemin Crop Technologies. "At Kemin, we believe in the power of essential oils to control pests on crops. Laboratoire M2 has embraced the power of thyme oil as a very effective fungicide-bactericide with THYMOX CONTROL, making it a natural fit with our biopesticide portfolio. Based on our technical experience with horticultural oils, we are confident that U.S. growers will be able to incorporate this product seamlessly into their integrated pest management programs for disease control."

Kemin Crop Technologies will be the distributor of THYMOX CONTROL in the U.S. THYMOX CONTROL is exempt from registration with the U.S. Environmental Protection and is minimal risk FIFRA 25(b)-exempt pesticide. The product is registered and available for sale in more than 34 states in the U.S.

"THYMOX CONTROL is built on 10-plus years of science and experience in developing and testing leading biodegradable, disinfecting and antimicrobial products," said Frank Palantoni, CEO, Laboratoire M2. "Our breakthrough nano-emulsion technology answers the growing demand for effective and alternative pesticides to reduce the use of antibiotics and underperforming chemical options. In fact, THYMOX CONTROL has demonstrated efficacy even on antibiotic-resistant plant pathogens. We are thrilled to partner with Kemin to commercialize THYMOX CONTROL in the U.S. agricultural market."

Click here to learn more about THYMOX CONTROL.

About Kemin Industries

Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services. The company supplies over 500 specialty ingredients for human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies and textile industries.

For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offer product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products.

Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 2,800 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.



About Laboratoire M2

Laboratoire M2, based in Sherbrooke, Canada, is a well-respected technology company, with core competencies in product innovation and expertise in environmentally sustainable, green disinfection and bio-security technology. The company currently markets a range of leading biodegradable, disinfecting and antimicrobial products under the trademark THYMOX based on their proprietary technology platform under three business units: Animal Health, Surface Disinfection and Crop Protection. Its line of animal health products includes THYMOX HOOF and THYMOX FOOTBATH which are used to protect farm animals, particularly dairy cows, from the hoof disease, digital dermatitis. Its crop protection unit now includes THYMOX CONTROL and THYMOX GRO which are used in greenhouses, orchards and vegetable farming to clean surfaces or control plant pathogen such as fungi and bacteria. Laboratoire M2 also distributes products and ingredients under private label agreements in institutional, retail, and crop protection markets.

Media Contact:

Tatiana Giacinti, Product Manager, [email protected], 515-559-4607

 Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2020. All rights reserved.  Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A. Certain statements, product labeling and claims may differ by geography or as required by government requirements.

SOURCE Kemin Industries

Related Links

http://www.kemin.com


Five passengers, including four foreigners, who entered Ho Chi Minh City on the same flight as a Japanese national who has now tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remained unaccounted for as of Thursday morning as the Ministry of Public Security has been asked to join efforts to track these passengers for quarantine.

The five passengers, namely one Vietnamese, three French citizens, and one Australian, were on Vietnam Airlines flight VN814 from Siem Reap, Cambodia that landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City at 10:03 pm on Tuesday.

On the same flight was a Japanese passenger who later tested positive for COVID-19 in Japan.

The citys Center for Disease Control and Prevention made a plea on Wednesday for the passengers to immediately contact local health authorities to be quarantined as per regulations.

As they have not presented themselves to local authorities as of Thursday morning, Vietnams national steering committee for fighting COVID-19 has requested that the Ministry of Public Security run over the list of passengers who arrived on flight VN814 on Tuesday for the five passengers addresses in Vietnam.

In a dispatch sent to both the ministry and the administration of Ho Chi Minh City, the steering committee also asked that all people who have been in contact with the Japanese COVID-19 patient, including crew members and ground staff, be quarantined for monitoring.

The aircraft used to operate flights with the Japanese passenger on board as well as any public area the passenger made contact with while he was at Tan Son Nhat must be disinfected.

After landing in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday evening, the Japanese boarded a connecting flight, VN340, to Nagoya, Japan that departed at 1:19 am on Wednesday and tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Japan with a fever.

At least 70 people including crew members, passengers, and ground staff of Vietnam Airlines flight VN341 which returned to Ho Chi Minh City from Nagoya at 1:55 pm on Wednesday after having transported the sick Japanese passenger have been placed in quarantine in the southern metropolis.

Among the 67 passengers on the Siem Reap - Ho Chi Minh City flight, 61 boarded connecting flights to other destinations while six entered the city.

One of the six passengers, a Filippino, already left Vietnam for their home country on another flight on Wednesday.

Over 95,300 people have been infected and 3,285 killed globally by COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

Over 1,000 infections have been confirmed in Japan, with 12 deaths, as of Thursday.

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 infections since February 13.

Vietnam requires a compulsory 14-day quarantine period for anyone entering the country with a recent travel history to areas affected by COVID-19.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has raised its concern to the Ministry of Health that many Chinese passengers, who had left China for more than 14 days before entering Vietnam from areas that have not been affected by COVID-19, still run a high risk of being infected with and spreading the viral disease as their countries of arrival might have not strictly monitored them for disease prevention.

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Tulip is considering closing its Tipton plant in the West Midlands, putting 642 jobs at risk.

The UKs biggest pork processor has announced it will be entering into collective consultation with employee representatives over the future of the fresh pork manufacturing site.

As part of its on-going operational review and business recovery plan, Tulip is proposing to transfer operations from the West Midlands site to alternative sites within its UK network. This will place 642 roles at Tipton at risk of redundancy, a spokesperson for the company said.

In August 2018, Tulip announced it had invested over 1m in a new mincing line at its factory in Tipton to improve efficiencies and increase output at the site.

The spokesperson said: Tipton has a long history and is well established in the local area with many long-serving employees, however, the site itself requires significant investment and redevelopment to cater for future requirements, while its location places severe restrictions on any further development.

The business is keen to retain the experience and skills of the Tipton team where possible. Transfer opportunities to alternative Tulip sites will be explored thoroughly if the closure is confirmed and employees will be presented with a number of options as part of the consultation process.

Tulip recently announced that its Bodmin plant, which was under threat of closure, will remain open, although 124 jobs have gone at the site.

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The general perception of Elizabeth Warrens campaign strategy was that she ran as a wonk, as the policy person whose plans were so detailed that they might possibly be enough to fix this mess. Those who were sent to study her campaign more closely narrowed in on something a little more specific about her: Elizabeth Warren had plans, yes, but she was campaigning as a teacher. Thats what Dahlia Lithwick saw on the trail way back in June, when the polls were still going Warrens way, and what Rebecca Traister has always observed in the senator who was previously a professor and before that had taught children with special needs. It made a certain amount of sense as a strategy: Educating voters everywhere (and Warren went everywhere, even to the deepest-red pockets) about the purpose of government and its potential might be the only way to claw some back, grueling though it may be.

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But as I watched her campaign, I saw something else, too. She wasnt just running as a teacher or a wonk. Elizabeth Warren was running as a woman. She was unapologetic about it. It went beyond embracing her identity as a teacher, though an identity as a teacher is surely gendered itself. Her stump speech included her own personal story of being alone with her children in Texas, with no idea how she was going to take care of them and also have a career. (She only managed to have one because her aunt came to watch the kids while Warren went to law school.) Later on in the campaign, she expanded her story further backward, to include her experience being let go from her first teaching joba job she lovedbecause she was visibly pregnant. It wasnt necessarily a winning narrative for herthe press jumped all over it, suggesting she was lying about the discrimination and picking her story apart for discrepancies. But it did resonate with one group of voterswomen who in turn shared their own stories of discrimination in their pregnancies.

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Warren was teaching here too. She was trying to explain to people what, exactly, it is like to be a woman in America, still, today. Her lessons were not just drawn from her own life, either. Warren launched her campaign in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the site of 1912s Bread and Roses strike, led by seamstresses. She told those seamstresses stories, and she told other stories of other working-class women, black women, who led labor movements decades ago. In Atlanta, she spoke of the washerwomen who went on strike in 1881; in New York she spoke of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy. At one of her last appearances before Super Tuesday in L.A., she told the story of 1990s Justice for Janitors strike, an effort led by immigrant women.* I was not surprised to see attendees describe it as a lecture on Twitter afterwardWarrens events were closer to lectures than rallies. She was trying to teach people their own history, a project she understood as essential for building a better future.

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The lectures didnt get as much attention as the eviscerations she performed on other candidates, but in those, too, Warren was successful partly because of how unapologetic she was about being not only a woman, but being on womens side. (She has no interest, quite obviously, in being a cool girl.) She is the reason why Michael Bloomberg could not hide behind the idea that his abuse of women was merely a joke that some people took the wrong wayshe opened that night by stating plainly that calling women horse-faced lesbians isnt funny. In the next debate, after another tussle with Bloomberg, she got into the on-camera debate that has since led to Chris Matthews quitting his jobin that exchange, she simply and relentlessly pointed out the problem of believing a man who clearly has an incentive to lie over a woman who does not. As it became painfully clear that Warren would not do well on Super Tuesday, supporters tried to make sure she would get credit, at least, for kneecapping these two powerful men.

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Warrens campaign had real, meaningful flaws. She had trouble expanding her base beyond college-educated white voters. Though she tried to continuously center racial justice as a piece of every issue, she didnt win over black voters. Her terrible decision to take a DNA test to claim tribal heritage was always a problem. There was never any guarantee she would succeed, nor should there have been.

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Her exit from the race will leave, as the two front-runners, two white men in their late 70s. It will once again re-up that queen of all questions, can a woman win the election, which exists in many womens souls like a wound whose scab never has time to heal before it is repunctured, the kind of wound you know will leave a scar if it ever does smooth over.

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We will compare her to Hillary Clinton. Everyone did. On most terms, Warren should have been the opposite of the last Democratic nominee: Neither her success nor her baggage were tied to her husbands career; she was ethically scrupulous and hostile to the donor class. If Hillary was performing the role as the first woman nominee, it felt as if Warren was simply a woman who was running for president. Yet the same script somehow applied to bothtoo calculating, too prepared, too unlikable.

We can look at Warrens performancehow she changed the terms of the race, even without changing the delegate countand reassure ourselves that more women attempting to run can only be a good thing: It can only clear the path for more women, for different sorts of women, for different strategies, for more learning. These are all true facts, for another day. But today, the way that I feel is that Elizabeth Warren ran as a woman, and she lost.
CASPER  Wyoming had the second-highest suicide rate in the United States in 2018, according to data released earlier this month.

More than 25 Wyomingites out of every 100,000 died by suicide that year, a sweeping report by the American Association of Suicidology found. That was well above the national rate of 14.2 and barely trailed New Mexico, which had the highest rate in America. It was, however, lower than Wyomings rate in 2017, when the figure was more than 27 people per 100,000.

Its one of our top priorities, easily, said Lindsey Martin, who leads the state Health Depar...
WASHINGTON  Rep. Abby Finkenauer sat in her Washington home last month, looking at the flight she was scheduled to take back to Iowa and the nearly eight-hour layover she'd have to suffer through.

The pain worsened as she stretched into a yoga position called the child's pose, a small trick she's employed over the years battling endometriosis.

As she realized the pain would prevent her from returning to her district, Finkenauer also realized that she'd had enough. Phone in hand, the Iowa Democrat and newly engaged congresswoman started googling hysterectomies, what could be the ultimate solution to a condition without a cure.

"I'm 31 and I am just tired of having this pain, and there just aren't many options," she explained on Wednesday, sitting in a chair in her Capitol Hill office. "I am somebody who was just recently engaged. Daniel and I hope to have a family one day in Iowa and, you know, the fact that I went that far as to start googling that was just, it was frustrating."

The freshman Democrat who represents a swing district that she helped turn blue in 2018 stared at the screen then started digging deeper.

She read that about 1 in 10 women have the same condition she was diagnosed with when she was a teen, that it was a leading cause for women to get hysterectomies, a procedure removing a woman's uterus and thus taking away her ability to give birth, and that the condition was one of the least funded by Congress despite it affecting nearly 200 million women worldwide.

In a 30-minute interview in her office, Finkenauer for the first time  publicly discussed the years of pain she's endured and worries that talking about endometriosis, a painful disorder affecting women where tissue similar to what typically lines the uterus grows outside the uterus, would make her appear weak in a politically charged environment that tends to feed off such characteristics.

More: She made history with AOC but Congress' second-youngest woman, Abby Finkenauer, is her own Democrat

Story continues

While noting she was very nervous to talk about something so personal, the Iowa Democrat outlined how she was taking her battle against endometriosis public, launching a new congressional caucus on Capitol Hill that aims to both promote education and bolster the small amount in funding the disorder receives from Congress.

'Like getting stabbed with a knife'

Living with endometriosis is nothing new for Finkenauer but it still hasn't gotten easier.

"It feels like getting stabbed with a knife," she said, motioning as though she was being pierced in her abdomen. She said while those sharp pains tend to subside, the pain in her lower back can last much longer and feels almost like her back is in "a vise grip."

She was diagnosed when she was 18 after spending four days in the hospital due to the intense pain. She later had two surgeries where doctors burned off the affected tissue, which she said later grew back.

More about endometriosis: Fewer than a third of women really know about this common disorder

More: Lena Dunham undergoes total hysterectomy following endometriosis battle

She's had to manage the pain while performing her duties in Washington. Walking around the tunnels of the U.S. Capitol, going to vote on the House floor and attending committee hearings have all come with a painful price.

Finkenauer never thought too deeply about speaking out about the condition, even suffering in silence for years while serving in the Iowa statehouse.

"When you are young and a woman, sometimes there are, you know, you can't afford to have people think you can't do it," said Finkenauer, the second-youngest woman elected to Congress. "I mean they already think you can't do it because, maybe they think you can't do it because you're woman, maybe they think you can't do it because you're young."

"I didn't want to give anybody another reason for them to think I couldn't do my job," Finkenauersaid. "And so I never shared it."

An Oct. 20 tweet from Rep. Abby Finkenauer announcing her engagement.

Her fiance, Daniel Wasta, has been her rock, including when Finkenauer was debating having a hysterectomy. He's told her to do "whatever you need to do. I'm with you," Finkenauer said. "Because he's watched it, right, he's seen me have the pain, and it breaks his heart because there's nothing he can do."

'Strong as hell'

But that one flight and the internalization of her condition that came after changed everything.

The thought of eliminating her chances to give birth, the millions of women who shared this condition with her and the lack of money Congress spends researching the disorder led her to a conclusion.

"I started thinking about it and I'm like, Well, here I am in Congress with the ability to do something about this and say something about it and raise awareness of it because part of the reason that it's been so frustrating is because there isn't really great treatment options," Finkenauer said.

Some doctors recommend surgery, pain relievers, hormone therapies, including sending your body into early menopause, but there is no cure for the condition. The National Institute of Health, which gets most of its funding from Congress, spent about $13 million last year researching the condition, a far cry from the billions spent on aging, obesity, dementia and various cancer research.

She started reaching out to fellow members of Congress, talking to them about her story and the need to dedicate more resources to both researching the condition and raising awareness as many women who suffer from endometriosis have not been diagnosed or treated.

Finkenauer started off sending a message to a group of female lawmakers she's grown close with since coming to Washington, which includes a number of frontline Democrats. Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat representing a swing district in Nevada, saw the message and immediately offered her support, signing on as one of the more than two dozen inaugural members of the caucus.

Lee, who says she's dealt with infertilitysomething many women with endometriosis experiencesaid she wanted to help. "I think it's important for women around this country to see that their leaders experience some of the same struggles that they have."

Finkenauer also approached a host of others, including Puerto Rico's resident commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon about the issue and told her story, which Gonzalez-Colon called "very compelling" and personal. She noted that she also wanted to focus more attention on endometriosis due to a large number of Puerto Ricans who have the condition.

"I think it's a remarkable opportunity for somebody to spread and educate many other people," the Republican and nonvoting delegate said in an interview. She will serve as co-chair of the caucus. "This condition will not ask what party you're affiliated with," she said.

Finkenauer admits she is nervous talking openly about something so deeply personal.

But she hopes it can help others. She plans to tell her story on the House floor Thursday afternoon and announce the formation of her new caucus, which will also mark one of the first days of endometriosis awareness month. Her fiance plans to watch the speech from the public viewing gallery overhead.

"It doesn't make me weak that I have this," she said. "In fact, I hope folks see that, especially women who do have it or are people who love the women who have it, realize that they are strong as hell."

Finkenauer says she hopes her speech and the focus she's putting on endometriosis will offer a glimmer of hope for those who suffer without a definitive cure.

"You're not alone in this and maybe there's hope," she said. "When you have this kind of pain, sometimes a little bit of hope that there might be something someday, it goes a long way."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Abby Finkenauer talks about endometriosis battle
A man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has tested positive for novel coronavirus in Ghaziabad, taking the total number of cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

In some relief for Telangana, blood samples of two persons from the state which were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for confirmation tested negative.

Till Wednesday, 29 people, including 16 Italian tourists, tested positive for coronavirus. The list includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. The three persons have been discharged following recovery.

Meanwhile, five people who came in contact with the Paytm employee who works in Gurgaon and lives in west Delhi have been tested and quarantined till their results come in, Delhi government health officials said.

The Paytm employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease with flu like symptoms on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurgaon, an official said, citing his counterpart in the suburban town.

Delhi government health officials are also coordinating with their counterparts in Noida to ascertain the number of people he came in contact with.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced that all primary schools in the national capital will remain closed till March 31 to prevent the possibility of spread of coronavirus.

The outbreak also cast a shadow on the India-EU summit which was slated to be held later this month and will now be rescheduled.

According to MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, India and EU decided to reschedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels in view of the advice by health authorities.

He also said no case of any Indian being affected by coronavirus in Iran has emerged and Indian embassies across world are on the job to help Indians.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said an Indian medical team is in Iran and the authorities here are working on the logistics with their Iranian counterparts for the return of the Indians stranded there in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

He said the Indian medical team was likely to set up its first clinic at Qom to start screening for coronavirus.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan sought to allay fears saying the government is taking all steps to prevent spread of coronavirus and the scale of interventions has been increased in alignment with the evolving situation in India where 28,529 people have been brought under community surveillance and monitoring.

Making a suo motu statement first in Rajya Sabha and then in Lok Sabha on steps taken to contain the virus, he said as on March 4, 29 positive cases have been reported in the country.

Official sources on Thursday said one more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad and the middle-aged man had a recent travel history to Iran.

The health ministry said in addition to COVID 19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed and so it has been decided to involve district collectors and states have been asked to form rapid response teams as the district, block and village levels.

It also said that India has imposed additional visa restrictions on people travelling from or having visited Italy and South Korea, making it mandatory for them to submit certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from laboratories authorised by the health authorities of their countries.

This will come into effect from 0000 hrs of March 10 and is a temporary measure till cases of novel coronavirus subside, the ministry said in a travel advisory.

The government has already suspended all regular visas/e-visas granted on or before March 3 to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan who have not yet entered India in view of the emerging global scenarios regarding COVID19 disease.

According to the advisory, the government has also suspended visa on arrival (VoA) issued on or before March 3 to Japanese and South Korean nationals who have not yet entered India.

Amid reports of the coronavirus outbreak in China affecting the Indian pharma industry, Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Sadanand Gowda said that there is no shortage of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for at least three months.

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients are the raw materials required to produce medicines. They are also referred to as bulk drugs.

Meanwhile, 14 Italians, who are among those who have tested positive, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon from an ITBP quarantine centre.

The hospital issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying these patients are housed on a completely separate floor, which has been quarantined and has no contact with the rest of the hospital.

There is a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear looking after these patients. All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor.

The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, the statement said.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre here on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus.

An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS medical college.

Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said 175 people have been tested so far for coronavirus in the state with 157 of them showing no sign of the infection.

Of the remaining 18 tested, six are from Agra and one from Ghaziabad, he said, referring to the seven cases which have tested positive.

The reports of the remaining 11 are yet to be received from NIV, according to the minister.

Seven persons from three families have been isolated at home at Seoni in Madhya Pradesh for suspected exposure to the coronavirus following their return from Italy last month.

Though none of them exhibited symptoms of the infection, the step was taken as a precaution as Italy is the worst-affected country in Europe from the coronavirus, an official said.

The Sikkim government has decided to suspend issuing Inner Line Permit (ILP) to foreign nationals following coronavirus scare as a precautionary measure.

Foreign nationals are required to obtain ILP from the state government to visit Sikkim, while a domestic tourist must get permit from the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department to visit Nathula, a mountain pass in East Sikkim district which links the state with China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump sought Wednesday to deflect criticism of his administrations response to the coronavirus onto his predecessor, complaining that a federal agency decision under President Barack Obama had made it harder to quickly enact widespread testing for the virus.

The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what were doing, and we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion, Trump said. That was a decision we disagreed with. I dont think we would have made it, but for some reason it was made. But weve undone that decision.

It was not entirely clear what he was referring to. Health experts and veterans of the government during Obamas presidency said they were unaware of any policy or rule changes during the last administration that would have affected the way the Food and Drug Administration approved tests during the current crisis. Moreover, if there were, Trump did not explain why his administration did not change the rules during its first three years in office.

The coronavirus outbreak is now into its third month. Testing restrictions were lifted over the weekend.

Trump appeared intent on focusing attention on the Obama administration at a time when his own handling of the outbreak has come under intense criticism. He made a point of using the former presidents name in comments to reporters during a White House meeting with airline executives, called to discuss the economic effect of the virus.

Among other things, critics have pointed to the dismantling of a White House effort set up by Obama to respond to global health emergencies. The officials involved have left and not been replaced over the past two years, a point made by Obama administration veterans in recent days.

No coronavirus issue has attracted as much attention as testing, which even now lags behind other countries dealing with the virus. Local health agencies have complained that a lack of coronavirus tests has hindered their abilities to identify patients, and tight restrictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on who could be tested have meant that some infected patients waited days before a diagnosis. The last restrictions were lifted Tuesday.

We want to make sure the American people can go to their doctor, can go to the local MedCheck or CVS and obtain access to coronavirus tests, Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the administrations response to the virus, said Wednesday during a White House meeting with laboratory executives.

In raising the testing issue, the president appeared to refer to a practice that limited the ability of laboratories run by states, universities and private companies to conduct medical screenings not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

On Saturday, the agencys commissioner, Stephen Hahn, allowed those labs to use tests that they had independently developed. The labs had to submit evidence of the tests accuracy before the FDA completes its review. Dozens of labs have now applied for emergency approval under the decision.

Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC director, said the regulatory change was quickly making tests more available. Its really very, very important, he said at the White House event with Trump. Its whats changed the availability of testing overnight.

Michelle Forman, a spokeswoman for the Association of Public Health Laboratories, whose members had complained that the Food and Drug Administration took too long to approve their tests, said there were some discussions during the Obama administration about whether to tighten restrictions on laboratories that developed their own tests, but nothing was ever put into place.

She said the association, which represents state and local government labs, was not aware of any Obama-era rules that changed how the labs were regulated or how applications in a public health crisis were reviewed.

Dr. Luciana Borio, who oversaw public health preparedness for the National Security Council in Trumps White House and was previously the acting chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration under Obama, also said she was unaware of any such rule changes during the last administration.

The FDA had long held that in an emergency, it wanted to ensure that labs develop tests that were accurate, she said. But it shouldnt be more onerous, in theory, because these are very speedy and streamlined, she said, adding that such approvals can happen within 24 hours.

The Project Bioshield Act of 2004 enabled the Food and Drug Administration to require labs to get agency permission to perform certain tests during a public health emergency. In 2009, the Obama administration used that authority for the first time for the H1N1 virus, according to Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, who was then the agencys principal deputy commissioner.

Separately, during the Obama administration, the Food and Drug Administration first started proposing the regulation of lab-developed tests, but that was to apply outside of emergency situations. It was never finalized. It would have required all lab-developed tests to get premarket review.

Instead, the agency issued a series of guidances regarding such tests.

The Food and Drug Administration took the position that during a public health emergency, nongovernment labs should come to it before doing tests. But at any time, the agency was prepared to suspend that practice, as it did Saturday.

Obama did not immediately respond to the presidents remarks Wednesday, but he separately posted a message on Twitter urging Americans to follow advice from the CDC.

Protect yourself and your community from coronavirus with common sense precautions: wash your hands, stay home when sick and listen to the @CDCgov and local health authorities, he wrote. Save the masks for health care workers. Lets stay calm, listen to the experts, and follow the science.

Trump, joining the meeting with airline executives, which had been set to be led by Pence, sought to reassure Americans that the outbreak was under control and portrayed the cancellation of hundreds of thousands of international flights to affected countries like China as a boon for domestic travel.

A lot of people are doing a lot of domestic business now, I can tell you, the president said. Theyre staying in this country. They feel safe because we have a  if you look at a percentage, we have a very, very small percentage of infections.

Asked if he considered it safe to fly, Trump pointed at the executives around his table: Where these people are flying, its safe to fly.

But the airline executives made clear that they were struggling to convince passengers of that. Right now, the fear is almost worse than the virus, Nicholas Calio, president and chief executive of Airlines for America, the trade association for leading passenger and cargo airlines, told Trump, gently pressing him to do more to reassure the traveling public.

Trump did not directly offer any additional help. Yeah, no, were doing a good job, he responded.

But the famously germ-phobic president said he was doing his part by following medical advice on how to avoid becoming infected. I havent touched my face in weeks, he said. Been weeks. I miss it.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Its spring break time on college campuses, and that means students travel.

If they traveled to a country on alert for the coronavirus, colleges in the region are asking them not to return to campus for 14 days and to monitor their health during that time.

Temple, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova, and St. Josephs University are among the local schools asking affected students, faculty, and staff to stay away.

Some call it self-monitoring. Some use the word quarantine. Others say self isolate.

Regardless of the term, the practice is a good one, said Steve Alles, director of the Philadelphia Department of Public Healths Division of Disease Control, given that the city is trying to prevent the illness from being brought into the community.

Universities have a little bit of extra risk  because of their international travel programs and students who come from places like China, maybe Italy, and also things like spring break, where a lot of their student body travels," he said.

At Temple, the notice from Mark Denys, senior director of health services, went out Thursday.

If you have traveled to any of these countries during the past 14 days, including during spring break, this means you must self-monitor for 14 days from the date you arrived back in the U.S., the message said. You may not return to any of Temples U.S. campuses during that period.

The countries include China, Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.

Last week, Villanova asked students returning from Italy to stay off campus for 14 days. The university this week extended that request to include any of the countries on alert.

You must call the Student Health Center  to review recent travel history and receive guidance regarding your self-monitoring period and return to campus, the school said.

Colleges have to rely on students willingness to comply. While many campuses have canceled school-affiliated spring break trips abroad, some students travel independently and arent required to tell universities their destinations before they leave.

Alles said he doesnt expect compliance to be a problem.

With something thats high profile like this, getting a lot of news attention and that has some fear,  we typically get a lot better cooperation, he said.

He said he would not extend the isolation period to students who traveled in countries not yet under alert, even recognizing they may have traveled through an international airport.

Being in a layover [at an airport] in an affected country doesnt constitute the same risk as being in the country exposed to the people," he said.

Temple spokesperson Ray Betzner said the university wont know the impact until students start reporting that they need to stay off campus. He stressed that no students or staff at any of Temples campuses have been diagnosed with the virus.

Faculty have been asked to provide alternative learning options.

We are working to ensure that if you do need to self-monitor, your studies are not disrupted and your academic progress is not affected, Denys said in the campus message.
Kuwait has suspended an earlier decision requiring some travellers to undergo a test for the new coronavirus to be allowed entry into the country, the Kuwaiti cabinet said in a statement on Thursday.

The Kuwaiti government has "instructed the civil aviation authority to suspend a decisionregarding imposing measures of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test on travellers coming to the country from some states," the cabinet said in a statement carried by state news agency KUNA.

Kuwaits civil aviation authority said on Tuesday passengers from 10 countries including Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey must provide certificates issued by the Kuwaiti embassy in their countries saying they are coronavirus free.

Travellers who do not produce the certificates will not be allowed to enter Kuwait, the aviation authority said at the time.

In its Thursday's statement, the cabinet said the move to suspend the new measures came "due to the inability to implement the procedures and examinations in some countries for technical reasons.

The Kuwaiti government instructed authorities to come up with "practical alternatives" that would ensure that travellers coming to Kuwait are virus-free as soon as possible.

Kuwait has 58 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).



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Life.Church pastor Craig Groeschel quarantined for 2 weeks after coronavirus exposure

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Life.Church Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel and pastor and innovation leader at Life.Church Bobby Gruenewald have been quarantined by health officials after being exposed to the coronavirus at a conference in Germany.

In a video titled "Something Different This Month, Groeschel, whose church has 90,000 attenders at its 34 campuses spread over 10 states, broke the news to Life.Church members late Wednesday afternoon.

"You might notice that the background for this month's video update looks a little different. Watch this video to find out why," Groeschel said, revealing he taped his video from his home instead of the church's headquarters.

"If it looks like I'm shooting out of my bedroom, the reason is it's because I'm shooting out of my bedroom," he said.

Groeschel said he and Gruenewald, founder of the YouVersion Bible app, were already on a plane headed home when they learned that someone at the three-day Willow Creek Germany summit had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

After sharing the news with a flight attendant, the pastors were met with health authorities once they landed.

"We decided to isolate ourselves for the full 14 days, no contact with anyone whatsoever," Groeschel said.

The good news is, Ive gotten time to pray, he added. Ive written sermon outlines through like, the end of May.

In his video, he made sure people knew that he and Gruenewald would not be at church to prevent any possible spread of the disease, adding that both men felt great.

"We will not be at church, don't worry. We're going to stay completely away. We're trying to do this out of an abundance of caution to ensure that everyone is safe," Groeschel said.

In the video, he did not specifically say when the quarantine period will be completed but he hinted that it would be over soon.

Groeschel asked that church members pray for him because he missed his family.

I dont think we need prayers for our health, I need prayers because I havent seen Amy or my kids in a long time, he said. Were all doing great.

Willow Creek Deutschland Leitungskongress 2020 took place Feb. 27-29 in Karlsruhe, in southwest Germany. The summit ended early after organizers become aware of the diagnosis. In a statement, they said the decision was a "preventative measure."

"We would like to inform you that we have ended the Willow Creek Leadership Summit 2020 in Karlsruhe early," said the announcement. "This was done for reasons of safety. According to health officials, participants were never in any danger.

"Nonetheless, we have decided to end this event as a preventative measure so all participants can get home safely."

As of Thursday, more than 87,137 cases of the illness had been reported globally, according to the World Health Organization. The United States confirmed its 11th death from the outbreak on Wednesday, along with more than 150 confirmed cases.

More cases of COVID-19 are likely to be identified in the coming days, including more cases in the United States, the CDC said on its website. Its also likely that person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including in communities in the United States. Its likely that at some point, widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States will occur.

Vice President Mike Pence was assigned by President Trump to spearhead the U.S. federal governments response to the global outbreak of coronavirus.

Last week, the White House Flickr account posted a photo taken on Feb. 26 showing Pence praying with members of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce in his White House office. The photo shows Pence in a circle with others bowing their heads in prayer.

Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham and the head of Samaritans Purse evangelical humanitarian charity, called the photo touching and powerful.

Lets join them in asking God for His wisdom, direction, & help in the response to this virus, Graham tweeted.
The U.S. Space Force is preparing to accept troops transferring from other services, officials told lawmakers this week. But some would-be Space Force professionals might have longer to wait than others.

The sixth and newest military service, which was signed into existence by President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, 2019, is now operating with the aid of some 16,000 airmen detailed on a temporary basis from what was formerly known as Air Force Space Command. A Space Force headquarters element is also beginning to take shape, with roughly half of the needed 200 personnel in place.

Meanwhile, planners are still establishing pay and personnel processes ahead of allowing troops to transfer into the ranks. Those first transfers are expected to happen around Sept. 1 of this year, said Maj. Gen. Clinton Crosier, director of Space Force Planning.

"We have men and women ... temporarily assigned, in the same way an officer or enlisted member can be assigned to a combatant command or a joint service or something like that," Crosier told the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on defense during a Wednesday hearing. "Of those 16,000, a portion of those -- probably about 6,000 -- will be offered the opportunity to formally transfer into the U.S. Space Force."

Related: Here Are the 16 Jobs That Will Be Available to Troops in US Space Force

That transfer, he added, will involve the formal resignation of the member's current commission, or termination of enlistment, and an official recommissioning or enlistment in the Space Force.

"It's a very technical process that has to take place," Crosier said.

Space Force is the first new military service since the creation of the Air Force in 1947, and officials have emphasized that they're building it deliberately and seek to incorporate 21st century human capital management policies and career flexibility.

The service -- which, at a planned end strength of 15,000, will be by far the smallest -- will rely heavily on Air Force infrastructure and processes. Crosier told the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services earlier this week that, at least at first, entry-level Space Force recruits and officer candidates will enter the service via another service's boot camp or commissioning pipeline, further reducing overhead.

Those joining at the entry level may have a while to wait, though.

After Air Force space operators are invited to join the ranks, Space Force will next accept "volunteers from space intelligence, space acquisition, space communication," Crosier said, adding that that development will likely take place a few months later.

But while the Space Force headquarters cadre already has several soldiers, sailors and Marines in place, would-be transferees from those services will likely have to wait years to join the ranks.

"Our plan for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps transfers has always been in the [fiscal] 2022 timeframe, simply because we believe it will take some time to get the transition right with those Air Force members who are transitioning. And we're more similar between Air Force and Space Force for obvious reasons," Crosier said. "But then, we want to take the appropriate amount of time to make sure, when we transfer those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, that we've got all the right pieces of infrastructure in place to be able to do that."

It appears Space Force will have its pick of candidates when it's ready to accept transfers. According to a Space News report, nearly 6,000 people applied for just 31 open civilian positions in the office of Chief of Space Operations Gen. John "Jay" Raymond.

In a written statement to the subcommittee Wednesday, Lt. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of Space Force, reflected that enthusiasm.

"Following Congress' decisive and bipartisan work to establish the Space Force as our sixth branch of the armed forces, we can confidently report excitement across the Department is high," he said. "And the commitment from our leadership to get this right is resolute."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read More: All Military Services Now Screening Recruits for Deadly Coronavirus
Tennessee is under a state of emergency Wednesday after the deadliest tornado day in seven years.

Survey teams reported damage caused by an EF-3 tornado in East Nashville, Donelson and in Mt. Juliet, about 20 miles east of Nashville, though it's unclear how many tornadoes touched down, the National Weather Service said.

Before dawn Tuesday, 24 people were killed, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the storms. Officials in Putnam County, which suffered 18 storm-related deaths, said they are working to locate 22 people who are unaccounted for, down from 38 earlier in the morning.

Donelson was hit especially hard, with surveyors estimating the widespread damage was caused by tornado winds of up to 165 mph.

Meg Selby and Mac Warren were in their Donelson home sleeping when the storm alarms on their phone awoke them early Tuesday. They heard tornado sirens outside, so they corralled their dogs and headed to their storm cellar.

The couple, who are engaged to be married March 28 and just bought their home in September, thought the storm would pass, but the local meteorologist warned the twister was headed their way.

"Listening to her talk about the path ... the tornado was on, it went from being kind of a precautionary thing to living through something very catastrophic," Selby told CNN.

Added Warren, "It got quiet, and you could hear this sort of slow roar, and it just got gradually louder and louder."

The house started shaking, he said. The temperature dropped. The pressure intensified and his ears popped, he said.

"It was terrifying," he said.

They emerged from the cellar to find their home  a fixer-upper they said had brought them closer together as they worked on repairs  destroyed. Most of its roof had been ripped off. Windows were blown out. Their garage doors were warped, and their belongings had been tossed everywhere, both inside and outside the home.

"It kind of just feels like it's all been taken from you, and we'll get back on our feet, but we'll always talk about this time of our lives, of getting to just invent something together," Selby said. "To not really have anything to show for it now is hard, and I, retrospectively, wish I had more pictures."

Their wedding venue seems OK, Warren said, so the nuptials will go on as planned, but the couple say they are canceling their honeymoon to Hawaii to focus on making sure they have somewhere to live.

Where the damage stands

Officials in Putnam County, which suffered extensive damage, went door-to-door Tuesday searching 150 standing structures. They planned to continue through the night into Wednesday morning, hoping to find people in the subdivisions hardest hit by the severe weather and at least one tornado.

The weather service has yet to survey the damage in Putnam County, saying crews will begin once it is safe to do so.

East Nashville residents had only a six-minute warning to get to safety, according to Davidson County.

"I got the warning and in less than 10 minutes you could just feel the pressure, my ears were popping we all ran downstairs and just huddled together," Danielle Theophile told CNN affiliate WSMV. "It went by so fast."

Tuesday was the deadliest tornado day since May 6, 2013, when a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, according to the weather service.

It wasn't immediately clear how many tornadoes struck the region, but tornadoes were reported several times along a 145-mile stretch of central Tennessee  from Camden, about 80 miles west of Nashville, to the Cookeville area, about 80 miles east of Music City, the weather service said.

More than 35,000 Nashville customers were without power early Wednesday, according to the Nashville Electric Service. Crews were "having trouble" getting to the affected areas because of downed power lines.

Metro Nashville Public Schools and all extracurricular programs are canceled Wednesday because of the damage and outages, the district said.

"We know that families are facing challenges due to their children suddenly being out of school," said Adrienne Battle, the school district's interim director. "We're sensitive to those issues and eager to get students back in classrooms as soon as possible, but the extent of the tornado's impact requires us to take at least one more day."

One school will require a few days of repairs; another, up to several weeks, the district said.

Polling affected

The storms fell on Super Tuesday, and many of the polling locations were in the storm's path.

Some locations were destroyed or damaged, and in some instances, multiple polling places were consolidated into one.

"We've deployed generators to polling stations that don't have power," said Gov. Bill Lee. "We want folks to get out there and exercise their right to vote."

The four top campaigns  Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren  filed a lawsuit along with the Democratic Party to extend voting after the storm delayed the opening of polls.

A judge approved five so-called "mega-sites," extending voting until 10 p.m. CT (11 p.m. ET), while other voting locations in the precinct remained open until 8 p.m.

President Donald Trump will visit Nashville to tour the damage Friday, and the federal government will be assisting in recovery efforts, the White House said.

Volunteer state

Those suffering from the damage aren't doing so alone; strangers and neighbors have come together to help each other out.

"We're called the Volunteer State, and there's a reason for that  because Tennesseans have a real spirit of generosity and service to one another," Lee told reporters. "As governor, now I get to see it happen for real."

Theophile said both her home and her neighbor's home lost their roofs, and her neighbors, an elderly couple, had their roof collapse on them, she said. She worked to dig them out.

Michelle Whitten was sleeping when a friend called her to say that she and her three children were in the tornado's path. She grabbed her children and rushed to a closet, she said.

"As soon as we did that, we hear the wind howling as it's over the house and hear something like a train over us. The house started to shake, and windows shattered. We could hear ... loud boom sounds," she told CNN. "I've never been so scared in my life!"

In East Nashville, a neighbor came to help board up a large window at a Crye-Leike Realtors office that was blown out.

"That's just how East Nashville is. That's one of the reasons we like selling over here and living over here," said a broker with the office.

Photos: Aftermath of the deadly tornado in Tennessee

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A proposed climate law to enforce the European Union's commitment to be climate-neutral by the year 2050 has drawn criticism from environmental organizations and activists including Greta Thunberg.

Plans for the European Climate Law, as it's known, were unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday.

In a statement issued alongside the announcement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the law as the "legal translation of our political commitment, and sets us irreversibly on the path to a more sustainable future. It is the heart of the European Green Deal." Among other things, the Commission said its Climate Law included "measures to keep track of progress and adjust our actions accordingly."

Announced toward the end of last year, one of the European Green Deal's central aims is for the EU to be climate-neutral  that is to say "an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions"  by the year 2050.



Poland, which is heavily dependent on coal, is currently the only EU country not to back this aim. In December 2019, the European Council noted this stance, stating: "One Member State, at this stage, cannot commit to implement this objective as far as it is concerned, and the European Council will come back to this in June 2020."
LINCOLN  Eleazar Rodriguez of Cozad won $35,000 playing the 10X Bingo Multiplier Scratch game from the Nebraska Lottery.

Rodriguez purchased his winning ticket at Pump & Pantry #32 at 604 E Highway 30 in Cozad.

When Rodriguez claimed his prize on March 2 at the Nebraska Lotterys Lincoln office, he said he had to check his ticket over and over again before he could believe it was real.

I was very excited, he said.

A $3 Scratch game, 10X Bingo Multiplier offers players a chance to win prizes from $3 to $35,000. The chances of winning $35,000 are one in 600,000, while the odds of winning any prize are one in 3.45.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Gustav Stickley House Foundation has released renderings showing what the interior of the famous furniture makers home in Syracuse will look like after a $2.2 million restoration.

The renderings show restored chestnut wood covering the walls of the homes first floor, as well as restored quarter sawn oak floors.

If Gustav walked in when the restoration is finished, he wouldnt be able to notice that much has changed, said Beth Crawford, senior associate with Crawford & Stearns Architects and Preservation Planners and project manager for the restoration.

Photo shows the living room of famed furniture maker Gustav Stickley's home in Syracuse as it appears now. Gustav Stickley House Foundation

Rendering shows how the living room of famed furniture maker Gustav Stickley's house in Syracuse will look after restoration to its 1900s' appearance. Gustav Stickley House Foundation

Photo shows the front room of famed furniture maker Gustav Stickley's home in Syracuse as it appears now. Gustav Stickley House Foundation

Rendering shows what the front room of famed furniture maker Gustav Stickley's home in Syracuse will look like after its restoration. Gustav Stickley House Foundation

Photo shows famed furniture maker Gustav Stickley's second-floor bedroom in his Syracuse home as it currently appears. Gustav Stickley House Foundation

Rendering shows famed furniture maker Gustav Stickley's second-floor bedroom in his Syracuse home as it will appear after its restoration. Gustav Stickley House Foundation

Other work on the interior will include the installation of new plumbing, new electrical system, a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, and an elevator to provide access for people with disabilities to its upper floors.

The nonprofit foundation will launch a $2.2 million fundraising campaign Thursday night (March 5) to pay for the restoration. The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Everson Museum. Tickets are $50 a person and can be purchased at the door or in advance at the foundations website, gustavstickleyhousefoundation.org.

$2M campaign launched for Gustav Stickley house restoration in Syracuse

The foundation has raised $150,000 to date for the interior work.

Stickley is known for his mission-style furniture and was a major influence in the American Arts & Crafts movement. He bought the home at 438 Columbus Ave. in 1900 and renovated it following a Christmas Eve fire in 1901. The renovation turned the three-story home into the first comprehensive Craftsman-style residential interior in the United States.

Stickley lived in the house until 1905, when he moved his companys headquarters to New York City. He moved back to the home in 1919, when his daughter then owned it. He died in the home in 1942. It is currently owned by the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, which has plans to transfer ownership to the Onondaga Historical Association.

The OHA plans to operate the home as a museum, event space and a guesthouse. Four suites on the second and third floors, including Stickleys restored second-floor bedroom, will be available for rent by guests.

The home will be furnished with a mix of original Stickley furniture donated to the foundation and reproductions that will be produced by L. & J.G. Stickley Inc., the Manlius-based furniture company started by Stickleys brothers Leopold and John George in 1900.

Restoration of the homes exterior was completed in June 2018.

Look at restored exterior of furniture maker Gustav Stickleys house in Syracuse (photos)

Exterior of Gustav Stickley in Syracuse restored 22 Gallery: Exterior of Gustav Stickley in Syracuse restored

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

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In the days before his spring 2020 couture show back in January, Jean Paul Gaultier took to social media to announce that the show would be his last.

After half a century in the fashion business, the French designer was hanging up his hat  but, as he said in the video he posted on twitter  Gaultier Paris the brand, would live on.

The fashion rumour mill quickly kicked into turbo drive with speculation of what this could mean.

On Wednesday, the brand revealed the new concept would involve Gaultier handing over the creative reins to a different designer each season.

In a move that seeks to capitalise on the success many brands have experienced with the guest designer concept, Gaultier plans each season to invite a different designer to interpret the codes of the House and give the vision of the Haute Couture, said the brand in a statement.

The idea of different designers interpreting one Haute Couture brand came to me in the nineties for a Parisian Haute Couture House who found itself without a designer, explains Jean Paul Gaultier. I am pleased that this concept will become reality now with Chitose Abe of Sacai as the first guest designer. I admire her work, we have many things in common creatively and a similar vision of fashion. I am glad to give her the complete freedom.

For Chitose Abe, whose brand Sacai released a phenomenally successful collaboration with Nike back in 2015 (which is ongoing), it presents an exciting opportunity to interpret the codes of the wild and wonderful world of Gaultier, and to benefit from his Parisian ateliers industry-leading know-how.

I have a long held admiration for Jean Paul's unique vision of subversive femininity and his originality, both of which Ive strived towards in my work since the beginning. Its a true honour to be given the opportunity to be custodian of his house as the first designer of this project, said Chitose Abe in a statement.

With Sacais strength in subversive sportiness and graphic prints injected into the theatricality and irony of Gaultier, we are no doubt in for a treat.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump drew parallels Wednesday between her youth welfare initiative and a group of women from around the world whom the State Department has recognized for acts of courage in their countries.



Although the Be Best initiative was designed for children, the first lady said the program ties nicely into the accomplishments of the women who share the stage with me.



Without positive support, guidance and well-being, which are just some of the attributes today's children need, they will not enter adulthood with the empathy and strength needed to help others as selflessly as the women here today, Mrs. Trump said at the annual State Department ceremony.



A dozen women from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, an autonomous prefecture in China, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe received the 2020 International Women of Courage Award on Wednesday from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.



One recipient was imprisoned in Syria and now helps families of forcibly disappeared Syrians. Another is the mayor of Maidan Shar, a town in Afghanistan's conservative Wardak province, who has faced death threats and angry male mobs. Other recipients are journalists and human rights advocates.



Mrs. Trump noted that Wednesday was her fourth year attending the ceremony. She said she is inspired by the personal stories of each of the women, noting that they often risk their safety to help others.



These are the faces of true heroism, she said.



International Women's Day is Sunday.
Iran will set up checkpoints to limit travel between major cities and urged citizens on March 5 to reduce their use of paper money to fight a spreading outbreak of the new coronavirus, which has killed at least 107 people across the Islamic Republic.

The announcement in Iran came as Palestinian authorities said the storied Nativity Church in the biblical city of Bethlehem, built atop the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely later in the day over coronavirus fears.

These mark the latest disruptions of life across the Mideast from the new virus, which has seen over 3,740 confirmed cases.

Iran's Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced his country's new restrictions at a televised press conference. He added that schools and universities will remain closed through Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20.

He said people should stay in their vehicles at gas stations and allow attendants to fill their gas tanks to avoid the spread of the virus.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Iran and Italy have the world's highest death tolls outside of China.

The Palestinian Health Ministry meanwhile said it was preventing all tourists from entering the West Bank. The ministry did not specify for how long. Most tourists to the West Bank visit the biblical city of Bethlehem, where the Nativity Church is located, and Jericho.

The measures comes after suspicions that four Palestinians had caught the new coronavirus. A Palestinian official said the four had tested positive for the virus but that the tests were sent to Israel to verify the results.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to discuss the issue with the media. They would be the Palestinian territories' first cases if confirmed.

The Palestinian Health Ministry also said churches and places of worship in Bethlehem will be closed for two weeks.

Earlier today, the United Arab Emirates warned its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing worldwide coronavirus outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines.

The country's Health and Community Protection Ministry warning comes as its capital, Abu Dhabi, sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from hard-hit Hubei in China to a quarantine set up in its Emirates Humanitarian City. They include citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Health officials warned that those travelling abroad could face quarantine themselves at the discretion of authorities. The UAE is home to some 9 million people, with only about 1 million estimated to be Emirati citizens.

The UAE is home to Emirates, the government-owned airline based at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel. Abu Dhabi also is home to Etihad, the country's national carrier. Both airlines have encouraged staff to take time off as international travel has dropped due to the virus.

The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted Islamic worship in the Middle East, as Saudi Arabia on March 4 banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, while Iran cancelled Friday prayers in major cities.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ended his presidential campaign Wednesday after a poor performance in the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses where Bloomberg had expected to pick up significant delegates.

As he made his exit, Bloomberg endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.

Ive always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterdays vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden, Bloomberg said in a statement leaving the race.

Tuesday was the first time Bloomberg appeared on the ballot in any state having run on a strategy to skip the first four contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. On Tuesday however, Bloomberg only captured a first-place finish in the American territory of American Samoa and lost decisively to Biden in states Bloomberg invested heavily while Biden remained absent.

Bloombergs exit narrows the field down to four major candidates still competing for the partys coronation in Milwaukee this summer, including Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Biden and Sanders were the only two other candidates to capture first-place wins in any Super Tuesday states. Warren came in third in her home state of Massachusetts where Biden placed first despite not having a presence in the New England state.

In total, Bloomberg earned 44 delegates Tuesday and spent more than $5.1 million on each, according to Fox News. Bloomberg spent more than $550 million on his entire campaign.

---thefederalist.com
Bada bing, bada bean  wait, what?

A coffee shop inspired by The Sopranos called Bada Bean Cawfee is opening four New Jersey spots.

Here are the four locations:

Newark: 540 Broad St.

Montgomery: Montgomery Promenade at 1200 Route 206

Toms River: 1922 Hooper Ave.

Woodbridge (Edison): Menlo Park Mall at 55 Parsonage Rd.

Each shop will open in about six-to-eight weeks, co-owner Andrew Adelman told NJ Advance Media.

Inside each of the shops will be mugshots, Jersey-esque quotes and clips on loop from the The Sopranos, The Godfather and A Bronx Tale."

Menu items have Mafia-inspired names such as Fugetaboutit and The Victim."

Adelman, a Woodbridge native, said small New Jersey Turnpike signs will be placed on select food items to play up the Jersey vibe.

The origins of Bada Bean Cawfee date back to when Adelman opened a nightclub called Polly Esthers in New York.

I grew up saying cawfee, Adelman said. We did Sopranos Sundays at the club and started putting cawfee and bada in front of bean on the menu to spin-off bada bing. Once everyone started saying it like that at the club, I knew I had something.

The first Bada Bean Cawfee was on the Seaside Heights boardwalk and seasonal. That location has since closed, Adelman said, so the business could focus on year-round shops.

Bada Bean Cawfee was founded in 2018 by Adelman and Peter Pannullo, who is from Holmdel.

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

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An Indian steel magnate recently told U.S. President Donald Trump he plans a multi-billion-dollar investment in Alabama. Economic development officials in the state arent talking, but the company confirms the proposal involves its steel mill near Mobile.

Trump visited India in late February; his itinerary included a Feb. 25 meeting with a group of business leaders that IndiaToday.com referred to as the creme de la creme of India Inc. Among them was Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of steelmaker ArcelorMittal, who praised Trumps policies and was in turn praised by Trump for his companys contributions to the U.S. steel industry. The two also traded remarks about a vaguely defined but purportedly massive investment in Alabama.

Those remarks made ripples at the time in Indian media. In the U.S. they appear to have first been reported a week later by Business Alabama, in a report drawing on the Trump administrations official transcript of the meeting.

According to that transcript, the following exchange took place:

MR. MITTAL: Mr. President, we are going to announce a multi-billion-dollar investment in Alabama state.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thats a great place.

MR. MITTAL: Are you interested to come and (inaudible) formation?

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Well, you let me know. Ill be there for the groundbreaking. No, thats a great  I know youre investing. I know youre looking at Alabama, right?

MR. MITTAL: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: I know. I had heard that. Thats great for a very  thats a big plant and thats going to be this super-efficient, super-modern. Thats going to be a showcase, I hear.

MR. MITTAL: I know that you always know more than I do about my own business. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Right. No, but people know about  people know about that. Thats a great  thats a great thing for Alabama and its an incredible place to invest.

ArcelorMittal has a major presence in Alabama: The giant steel mill known as AM/NS Calvert, at the north edge of Mobile county. While barely a decade old, the mill has had an eventful history. It was built by ThyssenKrupp at a cost estimated to be as high as $5 billion and opened in 2010 only to languish amid a global economic slump. Battered by the uphill fight to recoup its investment, ThyssenKrupp sold the stainless unit off to Finnish company Outokumpu. Then it sold the rest of the mill to AM/NS, a partnership of Arcelor Mittal and Nippon Steel-Sumitomo Metal, for $1.55 billion. AM/NS made additional investments; along with a generally improving economic climate, the mill gradually reached its expected capacity. By late 2019, it was doing so well that steel trade was even driving a strong year for the state docks in Mobile. AM/NS said the mill had a workforce of over 1,600 team members.

The remarks from Mittal and Trump dont spell much out. They dont make clear whether the investment in question is an expansion of the existing facility or a new one. They dont single out the southwest portion of the state. They dont clarify whether a groundbreaking is right around the corner or whether the notion is still in the talking stage.

Brook Dolbare, communications manager for AM/NS Calvert, confirmed that ArcelorMittal is weighing some possibilities for the site.

We believe that there are opportunities to further strengthen ArcelorMittals existing operations in Alabama to ensure that we are securing cost-competitive slab supplies as well as optimize the productivity of the asset, said a statement provided by Dolbare. Detailed analysis is ongoing and further announcements will be made in due course as appropriate.

AM/NS Calverts primary work consists of taking millions of tons of slab steel per year and processing it into coil steel suitable for use by various industries such as automakers. Most but not all of that slab steel comes in via the Pinto Island steel terminal in Mobile. Port officials have said the terminal set a record last year, handling an estimated 3.8 million tons of slab steel. But that flow has been affected by Trump Administration tariffs and quotas, which have raised prices and handling fees for imported supplies.

According to ArcelorMittal corporate information, the company operates six steel-making sites in the United States, none of which are in the Southeast.

On the states side, those who might be able to provide additional detail are staying mum. Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield responded via email, I am not able to comment.

George Talbot, executive director of communications and external affairs for Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, said It is the Administrations policy not to comment on active economic development projects. A representative of the Mobile County Commission referred inquiries to David Rodgers, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerces vice president for economic development. Rodgers likewise said that Our policy is to not comment on potential ongoing economic development projects.

The original ThyssenKrupp mill project received state and local economic incentives, including cash and tax breaks, valued at more than $800 million. At the time, officials said the major motivation for the incentives was the need to entice ThyssenKrupp to choose the Alabama site, rather than one it was considering in Louisiana.
Adding to a flurry of recent activity in the self-driving-vehicle space, autonomous trucking startup TuSimple announced Thursday it has expanded service for current customer UPS Inc (NYSE: UPS) with new routes in Texas.

The San Diego-headquartered company will expand its UPS runs to 20 trips per week and has added an extra route between Phoenix and El Paso, Texas. Ten runs per week are on the new route, while the other 10 are on an established route between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.

UPS's partnership with TuSimple dates back to March 2019, when the two companies launched an ongoing pilot program. Five months later, UPS Ventures, its venture division, made a strategic investment in the robotic trucking outfit. The amount was not disclosed.

Scott Price, UPS chief strategy and transformation officer, said in a statement that the logistics giant partnered with TuSimple to explore autonomous technology for its Global Smart Logistics Network, "which aims to improve network efficiencies, safety, and customer service."

TuSimple has been "instrumental" to this initiative, Price added, so it was "a logical next step for us" to expand the test to additional routes.

Founded in 2015, TuSimple operates a fleet of self-driving trucks out of Tucson. The company has an office in China, but testing there has been suspended due to the coronavirus, Jason Wallace, director of marketing, told FreightWaves last month.

The autonomous trucking startup joins a handful of other new companies aiming to ship long-haul freight using self-driving big rigs. The space has seen an uptick in activity recently, with winners and losers more clearly demarcated.

On March 2, Waymo, Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving arm, announced its first outside investment, a .5 billion raise led by Silver Lake Management LLC, a private equity firm. In January, Waymo started testing its self-driving trucks on roads in Texas and New Mexico.

Einride, a Swedish self-driving truck outfit, announced it was expanding into the U.S. and hiring its first remote drivers this year.

Story continues

Meanwhile, as FreightWaves reported last week, another remote-operated autonomous startup, Starsky Robotics, is struggling to find a buyer after failing to secure additional funding.

The addition of a new route and an expanded number of TuSimple runs come as the company aims to expand its autonomous capabilities and demonstrate the first driverless operation in 2021. Currently, all TuSimple runs feature a human driver behind the wheel.

Image Sourced from Pixabay

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 5th March 2020.

Here are the major headlines.

WANTED: US Places $7m Bounty On Boko Haram Leader, Shekau

The US Department of State has announced a $7 million reward to anyone that can provide credible information that will lead to the arrest of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau. The Department made this known in a tweet posted by their official Twitter account.

Court Suspends Oshiomhole As APC National Chairman

A federal high court sitting in Abuja has suspended Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Daily Trust reports.

Deji Adeyanju Mocks Oshiomhole Over Suspension

Popular human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has taken to his Twitter handle to mock the suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole.

APC To PDP  Diri Is An Illegitimate Governor

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa says the state governor, Douye Diri, may have been declared winner by the supreme court, but the people consider him as illegitimate. This was made known in a statement by Doifie Buokoribo, spokesman of APC in the state on Wednesday.

Supreme Court Verdict: An Endorsement Of Electoral Fraud  PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the Supreme Court ruling on its application for a review on the judgement that sacked Emeka Ihedioha as governor as an endorsement of electoral fraud. This was contained in a long statement released via the official Twitter handle of the party.

Oshiomhole: PDP Felt They Could Impose Ihedioha On Imo

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has reacted to the Supreme Court dismissal of the application of Emeka Ihedioha, former governor of Imo state, seeking a review of the judgement which sacked him by describing the judgement as refreshing.

Nigeria Has Attained Food Security Since Border Closure  Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that the country has attained food security following the closure of land borders across the country. This was part of his remarks while meeting with Bashir Mamman Ifo, the outgoing president of the ECOWAS Bank for investment and development (EBID) and George Nana Donkor, his successor.

Shehu San Kicks Against Bill To Ban Public Protest In Nigeria

Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has taken to his Twitter handle to kick against a proposed bill seeking to ban public process. The former lawmaker from Kaduna pointed out that any bill aiming to ban public protest or procession is a manual for tyranny and a clear declaration of war against the rights and liberties of the people guaranteed by the constitution.

Buhari Not Responsible For Nigeria Being Africas Largest Economy  Omokri Tells APC

Reno Omokri has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) to desist from heralding President Muhammadu Buhari as the brain responsible for Nigerias re-emergence as Africas largest economy.

Fani-Kayode Raises Questions About Coronavirus In Nigeria

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has expressed that something is unclear about the Italian citizen who tested positive of Coronavirus.
More districts would likely have been affected, as 230 were set to be eligible for the grant funding, according to the Office of Public Instruction.

In an emailed statement, Daines called the delay "good news for Montana's rural schools. Im glad to see the Department of Education listen to our requests and delay the decision that would result in Montanas low income rural schools losing almost half a million dollars.

In an emailed statement, Tester praised the delay but still criticized DeVos, a frequent target for democrats.

Time and time again, Secretary DeVos has shown a complete disregard for the needs of rural schools and Montana students  and were going to do something about it."

Tester previously announced he would pursue a legislative fix to ensure that the use of free and reduced lunch data worked with the Every Student Succeeds Act. His Wednesday statement said he would "keep working on a permanent fix."
We've reached the point all the coronavirus experts told us was just a matter of time - local transmission of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week called for calm, asking people to stop clearing the supermarket shelves of toilet paper and that "Australians should continue to go about their lives in their normal way and just exercise common sense".

A customer walks past empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in Sydney on March 4, 2020. Credit:Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Meanwhile, Attorney-General Christian Porter spelt out existing - as yet unused - biosecurity laws introduced in 2015, which allow the detention of infected citizens if theyre not complying with authorities.
GOVERNMENT officials from a major Chinese city have sought the help of a former Limerick mayor in sourcing face masks.

As the global crisis over the Covid-19 coronavirus continues, foreign office staff from the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing reached out to Jim Long.

The former Fine Gael member, who lost his council seat in 2014, established a partnership with the city  which has a population of over eight million  during his term as mayor in 2011-12.

Monica Hao, of the foreign affairs office of the city wrote in an email: We are seeking surgical masks, N95 masks, medical protective clothing which could be used by doctors and patients. If you have contact to any suppliers of above mentioned products, please ask them to offer quota to me.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Mr Long admitted he was surprised to receive the message, but is glad to help out.

I have put out a few overtures and Ive passed on their details. Ive been reading lately that there are companies locally that would supply the masks. I still have connections to China, and Im glad theyve remembered that, he added.

Elsewhere, amid global concern over coronavirus, a Kilmallock company has received a timely boost, as its been able to create more than 20 new jobs.

In a week where the disease  codenamed Covid-19  has reached these shores, Irema Ireland, based in the towns business park, which is Irelands only surgical and respirator mask manufacturer, is in the process of ramping up to 24/7 production, as it copes with unprecedented demand.

Company spokesperson Kieran OBrien said the firm has been inundated with requests since the coronavirus broke out in January. As the Limerick Leader went to press this Wednesday, two new cases were confirmed bringing the total number on the island to five.

Demand has peaked in the last couple of weeks. We are probably seeing 15,000 visits to our web site a month, as opposed to a usual month of 2,000. Thatd be the scale of how busy the company is, he said.

Read also: Coronavirus moves closer to Limerick

Established in Kilmallock back in 1985, Irema is a global leader in the design and manufacture of disposable face masks for medical, dental and industrial manufacturing professionals.

Most medical institutions would normally rely on China to supply the masks, but with this market out-of-bounds for the foreseeable future, Irema has picked up the demand, Mr OBrien explained.

To put this in context, we had 46 people employed on January 26. We have today hired another 14 people bringing us up to 60 people, and were in the process of hiring in the region of 15 to 20 people to allow us to ramp up to a 24/7 shift cycle and to keep it running week-in, week-out, he added.

Meanwhile, with fears growing of a local lockdown due to an outbreak of the virus, the organisers of Limericks St Patricks Day festival  which will draw tens of thousands of people to the city centre  have said at the moment it is business as usual.

Our event management team are monitoring the situation closely. In line with the requirements of our event licence, we will be contacting all relevant organisations in the event that national guidelines are issued or the situation changes, said a council spokesperson.

At present, according to the Department of Health, Ireland is a low risk country when it comes to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the boss of another city company which supplies medical equipment says demand for their products has exploded.

Dan Corbett of Ambicare, located in Henry Street, was forced to post notices on his shop window this week advising customers that they are out of stock of protective face masks.

People are looking for masks, hats, and the alcohol hand sanitiser. Theres been a massive increase in demand, hundreds and hundreds of per cent really, he said.

As a consequence, the firm is prioritising its regular customers, and contacting them as soon as supplies come in.

Meanwhile, the new president of the Irish Hotels Federation Elaina Fitzgerald has said that tourism is down as a result of the global incident.
Government poised to accept that coronavirus cant be contained

Britain recorded its biggest jump in coronavirus cases yesterday with clear signs that the infection is now spreading freely in this country, increasing the risk of an epidemic. Thirty-two more patients were confirmed in England, three times more than in previous days, plus two in Scotland and two in Northern Ireland, taking the UK total to 87. A ban on handshakes is being considered and Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said the government was poised to accept that the virus could no longer be stamped out in Britain. It would switch from aiming to contain it to delaying its spread. In efforts to ensure that the public follow health advice, the Behavioural Insights Team, or nudge unit, has been brought into the Downing Street war room.  The Times

NHS hospital in lockdown after two patients test positive  Daily Telegraph

Parliament could be shut for months to tackle coronavirus  The Times

Debates may be carried out over Skype  Daily Mail

More:

Self-isolating workers will get sick pay from day one  The Times

Move to weekly UK updates criticised by experts  The Guardian

Coronavirus has mutated into more aggressive disease, say scientists  Daily Telegraph

Flybe collapses as outbreak hits bookings  The Times

Sony and Nike become latest big names to lock down UK offices  Daily Mail

Latest advice  HM Government

Comment:

Why Johnsons fortunes will be shaped by coronavirus  Patrick OFlynn, Daily Express

At best, coronavirus is a dry run for the catastrophic pandemic to come  Allister Heath, Daily Telegraph

Editorial:

How long will the advice to wash our hands suffice?  The Sun

>Yesterday:

Taliban deal must honour fallen troops, Johnson told

Former military chiefs have challenged Boris Johnson to ensure that the British troops will not have fought and died in vain in Afghanistan amid rising concerns over President Trumps peace deal with the Taliban. Mr Trump confirmed yesterday that he had spoken to a Taliban leader after the weekends signing of an agreement with the militant group responsible for the deaths of thousands of Nato troops, including 405 British troops. The agreement, which the Taliban insist requires the release of 5,000 of their captured fighters, has caused consternation in Kabul, where the Afghan government insists that it has not agreed to the condition. The prospect of power-sharing with the group, another condition of the deal, has led to fears that it will reverse advances in areas such as womens employment and education.  The Times

Veterans need to know they did not fight in a pointless war  The Times

Prime Minister and Scottish Conservative leader discuss making migration occupation list more flexible for Scotland

Boris Johnson and Jackson Carlaw have discussed making an official shortage occupation list more flexible for Scotland following a business backlash against the Tories immigration blueprint. Senior insiders told the Telegraph the Prime Minister and Scottish Tory leader held talks over reforming Scotlands list to make it more agile and comprehensive, allowing more employers to use it to hire staff from abroad. Key immigration requirements, including a salary threshold, can be waived or watered down for those jobs included on the list Speaking following the talks in London, Mr Carlaw said he was hopeful and confident a plan would be announced shortly that would address the concerns of key Scottish sectors.  Daily Telegraph

Crackdown on EU immigration to hit Budget growth forecast  FT

Priti Patel: New system will unleash our countrys full potential

This new legislation gives the UK full control over who comes to this country for the first time in decades. We are shaping how our immigration system works for the whole of the UK, building a high-skill, high-wage economy, where no region or nation is left behind. We are restoring public trust in our immigration system with a system that truly works for this country. Our focus is on the skills people have to offer and their potential to contribute, rather than solely where they come from, demonstrating the UK is open for business more than ever before We want to end the reliance on cheap, low-skilled labour coming into the country and instead focus on making sure we have exactly the right skills our economy needs to grow and prosper.  Daily Telegraph

Eustice says EU fishing vessels could pay to access British waters

The environment minister has refused to rule out EU boats paying to access Britains fishing waters after Brexit. Speaking to MPs this morning, George Eustice opened the door to Brussels paying for continued access to our waters, following in the footsteps of Greenland. His comments came during a meeting of the EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee, where the minister told the Bloc to prepare for big changes. With the two sides in a furious spat over Britains fishing waters, the Camborne and Redruth MP was asked if he had considered a financial arrangement to break the deadlock. He said: We have as an independent coastal state, and given the resources in our waters, we do have a very strong hand. Mr Eustice also confirmed that the EU will lose access to UK fishing waters, but was optimistic a deal could be reached with the bloc by July.  The Sun

Government urged to stop promising no Irish Sea checks  The Guardian

>Today: Stephen Booths column: We must not allow the EU to bind our hands in trade negotiations with other partners

Labour accused of coordinating bullying allegations against Home Secretary

Labour was yesterday accused of coordinating bullying allegations against Priti Patel after Jeremy Corbyn revealed civil servants had made complaints to the Labour party. As Boris Johnson declared in the Commons he was sticking by his outstanding Home Secretary, Tory allies of Ms Patel accused civil servants of undermining their impartiality with politically-motivated moves and called on the Cabinet Secretary to investigate. Ms Patel is said to be facing a tsunami of allegations that she bullied staff at the three departments where she has been a minister: the home office, the department of work and pensions and the department for international development (Dfid).  Daily Telegraph

Patels regret at bitter departure of her top official  Daily Express

Johnson pushed to disclose when he heard bullying claims  The Guardian

Commons spends 800,000 on staff payoffs and NDAs  The Times

Comment:

Allegations are turning into a #MeToo moment for the civil service  The Civil Servant, The Guardian

Messy political row exposes a deep fault-line between the Government and the civil service  Guy Adams, Daily Mail

Not very bright or a force of nature?  Arj Singh, Huffington Post

Why is Patel still in her job? Because the boss needs her there  Martin Kettle, The Guardian

>Yesterday: John Redwood in Comment: Lessons for managing civil service obstruction from the Thatcher years. And my role as head of her Policy Unit.

Sunak has ruled out mansion tax

Rishi Sunak is set to signal the end of the decade-long freeze on fuel duty in next weeks Budget  but has ruled out a so-called mansion tax, Tory sources revealed last night. The new Chancellor is under intense pressure to maintain the fuel duty freeze, with Tory backbenchers warning a rise in tax would alienate voters The Chancellor has ruled out introducing a mansion tax. The idea of an annual levy on high-end homes was said to have been favoured by the PMs chief adviser Dominic Cummings but was opposed by many Tory MPs and has now been dropped. Treasury sources said Mr Sunak had been forced to scale back ambitions for the new Governments first Budget because of economic uncertainty created by the coronavirus.  Daily Mail

Red Wall voters urge Sunak not to hike fuel duty  The Sun

Spend 8bn to kickstart plan to decarbonise economy, chancellor told  The Guardian

More:

Javid planned to fund tax cut with Brexit dividend  FT

Johnson faces battle to fund infrastructure ambitions  FT

>Today: Nick King in Comment: The Chancellor should look to Laffer for Budget inspiration and cut taxes

>Yesterday: Nola Leach in Think Tanks: The Chancellor must end the tax systems discrimination against families

Dowden to accuse the BBC of having a narrow outlook

The BBC has provided a narrow urban outlook and failed to reflect the views of millions of British voters, the new Culture Secretary will say on Thursday. In his first speech since taking up the role, Oliver Dowden will suggest that the corporation lacks diversity of thought and failed to understand the strength of pro-Brexit feeling or concerns about immigration. His remarks will be seen as an attack on the BBC over its perceived Left-wing bias, and a warning that the Government plans to overhaul the corporation when a new chairman is installed next year. Mr Dowden will give the speech at a media conference this morning where fellow speakers include Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC director-general.  Daily Telegraph

He will also question whether the corporation has guarded its unique selling point of impartiality  Daily Mail

Leadsom takes parting shot at Bercow

Andrea Leadsom used her Commons resignation speech to deliver a parting shot at John Bercow, joking that he was the only politician she would tell to f off. The former business secretary  who regularly sparred with the ex-Speaker in the Commons  also said the Brexit referendum result was as good as Mr Bercows face when she reprimanded him for calling her a stupid woman. In a personal statement after Prime Ministers Questions, Mrs Leadsom recalled her first rebellion against a three-line whip when she joined 80 other Tory rebels to vote for a referendum on EU membership in 2011. She said this led to media speculation that she had told the former chancellor George Osborne to f off. Well, I can assure you that theres only one person to whom I might be tempted to provide such frank advice she said.  Daily Telegraph

Long-Bailey vows to commit to nationalisation if she becomes leader

Rebecca Long Bailey has vowed to tear up Tony Blairs legendary reforms and commit Labour to nationalisation again if she becomes leader. The Corbynista candidate wants to rewrite Clause 4 of the partys constitution to commit the party to expanding democratic public ownership. Mr Blair famously ditched the partys commitment to common ownership in 1995, in a move which ushered in the New Labour revolution. Pitching to the partys hard-left members, Ms Long Bailey is calling for a Clause 4 for our time. She says she wants members to help re-pen the constitution. But she has laid out what she wants in it, including expanding democratic public ownership and universal provision of high quality public services to guarantee the building blocks of the good life.  The Sun

Left-winger crumbles in brutal car crash interview  Daily Express

Corbyn gets booed during British Kebab Awards  The Sun

as she keeps up pressure on Starmer over donations

Keir Starmer has said the largest donation to his Labour leadership campaign has been the 100,000 from a like-minded lawyer that he has already declared, as he came under attack from rival Rebecca Long-Bailey. The pair appeared in separate interviews with the BBCs Andrew Neil on Wednesday, and Starmer was challenged over the source of his funding. He said he was complying with Labours rules for declaring donations and, after being repeatedly pressed by Neil, said the 100,000 contribution  details of which were published on Tuesday  was the largest he had received. That donation came from Robert Latham, a fellow barrister. Nobodys given me more than 100,000, that biggest donation went up yesterday or the day before, he said.  The Guardian

Northern leaders demand review of Green Book

Political and business leaders from northern England have proposed reforms to public spending rules they say are necessary for the government to fulfil its promise to level up prosperity across the UK. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is already reviewing the Green Book rules, which favour infrastructure investment in wealthier areas such as London and the south-east of England because they focus on short-term, national gains. In a letter to Mr Sunak, the leaders set out detailed changes to the Green Book they want implemented in the Budget on March 11. The current static accounting-based approach only benefits schemes which deal with growth that will already happen, as opposed to making growth happen where it otherwise might not, they said.  FT

US senators urge UK to scrap role for Huawei in 5G network

A cross-party group of 20 US senators has called on the UK to reverse its decision to allow Huawei in to the countrys 5G mobile network, highlighting the significant security, privacy, and economic threats of the plan. In an unusual letter addressed to the House of Commons, some of the most influential politicians in Washington strongly urge[d] the United Kingdom to revisit its recent decision. They argue that Chinese companies are compelled to co-operate with Beijings espionage operations and that  contrary to reassurances by the British intelligence officials  the risks of Huawei spying on UK communications cannot be mitigated. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the intelligence committee, and Mark Warner, the committees Democratic vice-chairman, are among those who signed the letter  FT

Promise of Huawei phase-out is not enough, say Tory rebels  The Guardian

Comment:

Britain risks plunging the Five Eyes alliance into crisis  John Hemmings, Daily Telegraph

Biden grabs control of Democratic primaries as Bloomberg pledges cash

The transformation of Joe Biden from joke to juggernaut was complete yesterday when Michael Bloomberg pledged his vast resources to help him to build on a successful Super Tuesday and go on to win the White House. Mr Bloombergs $58 billion personal fortune, his team of data experts and about 2,000 campaign staff will first be deployed against Bernie Sanders, his rival in what is now effectively a two-horse race. Mr Biden, 77, was widely written off after poor early primary results and lacklustre appearances last month but he roared back into contention on Tuesday with surprise wins in Texas, Minnesota and Massachusetts, going on to rack up ten state victories. Mr Sanders, 78, who won four states, including California, did not have the successful night that his early momentum had suggested as moderate voters coalesced against him at the 11th hour.  The Times

>Today: ToryDiary: Writing brief lives of Americas Presidents taught me that Trump is far from being the first outlandish one

News in Brief:
SALINE, MI  Bullying and harassment between students are not relegated to classrooms or school grounds, Saline Area Schools argued in a March 3 court filing.

Four students sued the district last month claiming school officials cant legally discipline them for sending racist messages to fellow students in a Snapchat group.

In a court response filed this week in federal court, the school district argued previous court cases have set precedent allowing the discipline of students for conduct, in class or out of it, which for any reason  materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.

The lawsuit, filed by four unidentified students punished for their role in an offensive string of Snapchat messages in January, argues that Saline Area Schools acted outside the scope of its authority by disciplining them for speech that occurred at home, over the weekend and for conduct that was not related to school in any way.

The districts response filing claims the group Snapchat incident on Jan. 26 led to a plethora of complaints, with some African American students reporting fear and difficulty focusing on schoolwork.

"Plaintiffs Motion argues for a black-and-white world that does not exist, where on-campus speech can be regulated but off-campus speech cannot, the district argues in the court filing. ... Courts have rejected this simplistic worldview because bullying and harassment are no longer relegated to the hallway and schoolyard. Rather, they now occur in the cyberworld - with social media and technology continually evolving.

If a school district loses its ability to discipline overtly racist misconduct, the ability to provide a safe environment for students to learn will be substantially eroded. That is untenable.

The lawsuit calls the districts actions unconstitutional, and the plaintiffs filed a motion last week asking a judge to order full reinstatement to classes and extracurricular activities.

In its response, the district states the students were not irreparably harmed by their punishment, with two of the students already back in classes, while the other two remain suspended until the end of the current trimester on March 6.

The districts response indicates the two of the students who who returned to class after completing a class on racism may resume extracurricular activities March 9. The other two students who remain suspended are still being allowed to complete coursework and take final exams, the districts response states.

Beginning March 9, the two students who currently are suspended will finish the remainder of the school year in an alternative education setting, which will include one-on-one academic support, according to court documents.

The students attorney Stephen Kallman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The incident involving the Snapchat group was brought to the districts attention Monday, Jan. 27, Superindentent Scot Graden previously said in a letter to parents. Administrators conducted an investigation and determined the incident was an act of racism that created harm to all of our students, especially students of color," Graden wrote.

The chat group included many students who left the thread after a plethora of racial slurs and offensive memes began to appear.

The Snapchat messages, which were provided to The Ann Arbor News/MLive, were delivered in a previously existing Snapchat group. The groups history showed several students were added to the group prior to a number of racist messages being exchanged in a lengthy and somewhat incoherent chat primarily between two individuals.

After several racist terms were used in the chat, one of the African-American children jokingly suggested that everyone on the chat say the N word at the same time to stop racism and many of the children did so, the lawsuit claims.

Students in the initial Snapchat group understood the messages to be a joke, but because some members left the group chat, what they posted was immediately erased, leaving only the texts or images posted by the remaining members in the group, the lawsuit states. After a number of black students logged off the chat, another black student joined the group late and was therefore unable to see the prior postings by the other African-American children.

The late-arriving African-American student saw the posts by the Caucasian children and recorded a video of the snap chat, the lawsuit claims.

New members were introduced to the group, with one individual posting My ni****, followed by another who wrote Sup n***. The name of the group also was changed to Racist," featuring two gorilla emojis.

The same two individuals continued to share messages with the group, with one individual posting messages including WHITE POWER and THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN."

While the students lawsuit insists the Snapchat group was understood to be a joke, it had consequences that impacted district operations, the school district argued in its response.

What Plaintiffs dismiss as immature banter is more accurately characterized as overt racism or hate speech, Saline Area Schools response states. More importantly, it had the foreseeable consequence of creating a hostile environment for African American students, who reported that they were afraid to attend school and were distracted from their schoolwork.

The incident stoked tensions in the district during subsequent school board meetings and in a community conversation, where students and parents expressed frustration and concern with the racial climate within the district.

The conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion at Saline Area Schools quickly turned volatile when one parent asked another why he didnt stay in Mexico."

READ MORE:

Tense moment at meeting on racial climate illustrates problem at Saline Area Schools

Saline students sue school district for punishment from racist Snapchat group

Saline students punished over racist messages seek return to class, activities in court filing

Saline community focuses on uncomfortable conversations in examining path forward
Poland - Javelin Missile and Command Launch Unit

Media/Public Contact: pm-cpa@state.gov

Transmittal No: 20-09

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2020 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Poland of one hundred eighty (180) Javelin missiles and seventy-nine (79) Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $100 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

The Government of Poland has requested to buy one hundred eighty (180) Javelin missiles and seventy-nine (79) Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs). Also included are Basic Skill Trainers (BST), Missile Simulation Rounds (MSR), Battery Coolant Units (BCU), tool kits, modified 2-level maintenance parts, training, U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance, transportation and other related elements of logistics support. The total estimated program cost is $100 million.

This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of a NATO ally and partner nation which is an important force for peace, political stability, and economic progress in Eastern Europe.

This proposed sale of the Javelin system will help Poland build its long-term defense capacity to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in order to meet its national defense requirements. Poland will have no difficulty absorbing this system into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractors will be Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture, Orlando, Florida and Tucson, Arizona. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. However, the purchaser typically requests offsets. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor(s).

Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Poland.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.

All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov.

-30-

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Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is pivoting to podcasts. Sort of.

The businessman turned politician turned CNN commentator is launching a nonprofit called Humanity Forward  an activist organization with the goals of lobbying to protect private data, funding political races that align with Yangs platforms, and launching a podcast.

After the campaign ended, it was obvious to everyone that we needed to start a new org that kept moving the goals of the campaign forward, Yang told Yahoo News on Wednesday afternoon.

Yang said he hopes to lean heavily into the activist world with his new organization as it fights for data rights, a key platform of his campaign. He explained that users who visited Humanity Forwards website could authorize it to lobby large media conglomerates on their behalf, in hopes that companies that are profiting from user data would share those profits back.

Yangs presidential campaign had placed a heavy emphasis on universal basic income (UBI), a $1,000-a-month payment that the entrepreneur said the U.S. government should pay each citizen. At a debate, he even vowed to have his presidential campaign give such payments out to 10 families. His nonprofit is doing the same thing: One person who donates $10 to Humanity Forward will receive $1,000 a month for a year. The group has also pledged to give $500,000 in UBI to residents in an unnamed town in New York state.

Andrew Yang speaks during the New Hampshire Youth Climate and Clean Energy Town Hall on Feb. 5 in Concord, N.H. (Mary Altaffer/AP)

The company will also be funding political races, particularly those that spotlight UBI. Presidential candidates are potential recipients too, though Yang demurred when asked if there are any White House hopefuls who currently catch his eye.

Ive been having conversations with the candidates, he said. Obviously the field has shrunk a lot. And I have communicated that something big around universal basic income would go a long way. Thats been a big part of the conversation.

Among the Democrats still in the presidential race, only Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has signaled that she is open to adding UBI to her platform. She has not gained traction in the primary contests.

Story continues

And although Yang was friendly with the other Democrats and had a bench of celebrities like Dave Chappelle and Teri Hatcher supporting his candidacy and his nonprofit, he said he wouldnt use his inaugural episode to show off that network.

We have a number of people that have already agreed to come on. I dont think were going to lead with, like, a superfamous celebrity because thats not really the goal of the podcast, he said. So well probably have someone who is deep into the future of work or technology or artificial intelligence.

All of this is not cheap for his nascent nonprofit. Big-name celebrities can help with donations, but Yang said he is counting on grassroots support from his Yang Gang supporters to lift the group off the ground. He did not rule out disclosing the donors.

I think we would want to disclose. Wed have to take a look at it because some of the people that are donating might want anonymity for any of a number of reasons, he said. So I dont think theres really a very sinister agenda if someone makes a secret donation.

Yang also has plans for Humanity Forward to host a summit in Washington, D.C., focused on the future of work  another campaign pillar  as well as work on voter education and outreach.

Yang ended his presidential bid after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Soon after, rumors circulated that he was positioning himself for a run for mayor of New York City or a vice presidential pick. He did not rule out either of those options while talking to Yahoo News.

I wouldnt say it precludes me from a political run, but Im very focused on this org, and I believe that this is the next stage of the movement, he said.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Description

GIS  05 March, 2020: The richness of a language lies in its diversity and when Government set up the Akademi Kreol Repiblik Moris (AKRM) last year, the diversity of our mother language, the Mauritian Kreol, was taken into consideration. In fact, all Mauritians identify themselves with Mauritian Kreol, thus, the unifying element of the language. We are proud of our mother language, which transcends all communities and cultures and is a symbol of our identity and rally all Mauritians.

The Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, made this statement, today, at the Mauritius Institute of Education, in Reduit. She was speaking at the launching of activities to celebrate the 2020 edition of International Mother Language Day. The chairperson of the Akademi Kreol Repiblik Moris and Director of the MIE, and, the Chairperson of the Creole Speaking Union were also present.

In her keynote address, Mrs Dookun-Luchoomun, highlighted the role of the AKRM in standardising and structuring Mauritian Kreol, which is an ever-evolving and dynamic language, and also in ensuring that citizens make use of the languages correct spelling and grammar. The ultimate aim is to have a spelling and grammar that is recognised and official and used nationwide, she stated. A vocabulary has to be elaborated and we must be able to promote this language across all sectors and all spheres of our society, she emphasised.

Government, assured the VPM, will give the necessary means to enable the population to learn read and write Mauritian Kreol in its proper structure and training will be offered to that end. Moreover, she recalled that Mauritian Kreol is widely used by many organisations, the media, and the public and private sectors.

Mrs Dookun-Luchoomun further elaborated on key initiatives in promoting the use of our mother language which include: the introduction of Mauritian Kreol in schools as an optional language, finalisation of correct spelling and grammar rules, setting up of a Kreol unit at the MIE as well as publishing of the third edition of the Mauritian Kreol dictionary.

The AKRMs logo which depicts the diversity of the Mauritian population was unveiled on that occasion. In addition, a two-day exhibition retracing the history of Mauritan Kreol was inaugurated. Other activities being organised include a round table on the theme Kreol Morisien, Lang Nasional, ki so inplikasion pou nou pei, nou sosiete ek nou bann institision.

International Mother Language Day

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999.

This International Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
[March 05, 2020] European Families Globetrotting More Than Ever Before

LONDON, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeAway launches first Family Holiday Insider revealing European travel trends Today HomeAway, a global expert platform in family holiday rentals, reveals that European families are going on holiday to foreign destinations now more than ever before. Its Family Holiday Insider, an analysis of the latest trends in family travel and price developments in the holiday rental industry, found only 12% of European children today have never been abroad. According to the survey of 9,000 parents across Europe with children under the age of 15, more than half (55%) see the benefits of the family holiday in spending quality time together and strengthening the bond between them and their loved ones. The same number of parents (55%) also feel that having fun together and unwinding from everyday stress is crucial, while 49% said spending more time with the family creates a positive outlook for the future of the whole family, showing how much emotional value parents place on family time together. Are the kids of today globetrotters? The majority (53%) of European children have travelled to between 1-3 foreign countries in their lifetime, according to their parents. A quarter (25%) have travelld to between 4-6 foreign holiday destinations with their family. Only 12% of European children have never been to a foreign country in their lifetime.



The Swedes and the Dutch are the most intrepid young travellers in Europe, with 5% of children from Sweden and the Netherlands having visited more than 10 countries, followed by 4% of kids from the UK. The Italians and the French have stayed closer to home, with 19% and 18% respectively having never travelled abroad, potentially favouring a staycation in their beautiful home countries. For their parents, however, it was a very different story when they were children. Over a third (34%) of parents interviewed said they had never travelled to a foreign destination when they were the same age as their kids. The Swedes and the Dutch of the parents' generation remained the most well-travelled still, as 4% respectively said they travelled to more than 10 destinations as a child.

As travel has become more convenient and less expensive for families in Europe, a generation of little globetrotters has been born. Notes to editors About HomeAway

HomeAway, a Vrbo brand and part of Expedia Group, based in Austin, Texas, is a leading online marketplace for the vacation rental industry with sites representing more than two million unique places to stay around the world. For more information about HomeAway, please visit www.homeaway.co.uk.  2020 Vrbo, an Expedia Group Company. All rights reserved. Vrbo, HomeAway, and the Vrbo and HomeAway logos are trademarks of HomeAway.com, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners About the Family Holiday Insider

The report provides families and holiday-home owners with industry insights, helping them find the right place for the right budget to make travelling together more enjoyable. It also discloses what holidaymakers want and expect from their holiday and how holiday-home owners can adapt to those expectations to help families build unforgettable memories when staying in their homes. The report is available for European markets including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria, in all corresponding currencies and languages. For more information, visit the website here: www.HomeAway.co.uk/fhi About the research

Data is based on an online survey among more than 9,000 parents aged 18+ with children under 15 from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria. The survey was carried out by Atomik Research during December 2019. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/744896/HomeAway_Logo.jpg

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The decision by Indias Supreme Court to lift the central banks ban on cryptocurrency trading could soon translate into notable growth in trading volumes, according to cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

Indias Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) order dated April 6, 2018, which prohibited banks from providing services to entities dealing with cryptocurrencies.

The top court called RBIs ban unconstitutional, bringing cheer to the crypto market community.

Related: Indias Supreme Court Ruling Is a Win for the Whole Blockchain Industry

Put simply, Indian traders will now be able to directly deposit Indian rupee (INR) from bank accounts to crypto exchanges. As a result, it will be more convenient for users to cash in and cash out of their holdings.

This is the first step towards embracing cryptocurrency in India, which has the potential of becoming one of the largest crypto markets. Ashish Singhal, chief executive of the cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch.co, told CoinDesk.

India was doing very well in terms of trading volumes, contributing about $50 million to $60 million per day before the RBI ban, according to Singhal.

In India, a huge damage was done due to the lack of awareness and RBIs decision, said Kumar Gaurav, founder and CEO at online crypto banking platform Cashaa.

Related: Libra Plus? A New Global Digital Currency Strategy for Facebook

Volumes subsequently dipped after the central bank issued banking restrictions and commercial banks responded by advising account holders not to engage in cryptocurrency transactions.

For instance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, one of the largest lenders in India, has diligently sent multiple notification emails to account holders in the last two years warning against the use of credit cards for cryptocurrency exchanges.

In line with the instructions issued by RBI, we also wish to advise you that, if transactions relating to any kind of virtual currencies are witnessed on your Kotak Credit Card, the Bank shall be constrained to block your Credit Card without any further intimation, the email reads.

Story continues

As a result, Indians crypto traders were forced to use peer-to-peer crypto trading platforms, which allow direct transfer of cryptocurrencies into the individual accounts without the intervention of any financial institution or government authority. However, liquidating cryptocurrency holdings is quite difficult when dealing with P2P platforms.

Also, RBIs decision was widely misinterpreted as legal ruling deeming cryptocurrency trading as an unlawful activity.

With the Supreme Courts latest ruling, the situation is widely expected to change for the good.

Crypto exchanges including WazirX will now be able to enable banking channels for fiat deposit and withdrawals, said Nischal Shetty, founder & CEO of Mumbai-based cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, which was recently acquired by Binance, the worlds largest exchange by trading volume.

Shetty expects volumes on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges to grow by 10 times in the near future.

CoinSwitchs Ashish Singhal anticipates average daily volume rising as high as $50 million to $60 million  the level seen before the RBI ban  and may surpass that level.

A sharp rise in volumes cannot be ruled out in India, a country with a population of over 1 billion. The Supreme Court judgment could help erase the misconception that cryptocurrencies are illegal and may draw more investors to the market.

The clarity that the judgment has brought, will help crypto adoption as a whole and which in tune will see a spike in volume, said CoinDCX Chief Executive Sumit Gupta. CoinDCX has actively voiced its thoughts on behalf of Indias crypto community on the RBI ban over the last two years and was quick to allow bank transfers following the ruling.

Focus on compliance

The Supreme Court decision to lift the bank is a forthcoming step and cryptocurrency exchanges should now start focusing on deploying stronger know-your-client (KYC), user data privacy, and AML policies, according to Arpit Ratan, co-founder of RegTech startup Signzy.

Indeed, that would help build trust and reduce risks of cryptocurrency transactions being exploited for illegal activities, such as crimes, money laundering and tax evasions.

Moreover, Indian lenders serving cryptocurrency entities will now face similar which banks in other, developed countries such as Japan, Europe, and the U.S. are facing.

Cashaa, with its huge crypto-focused customer base, can provide a powerful system that will be very helpful for RBI to understand the [anti-money laundering] issues coming due to onboarding crypto companies is needed, said Kumar Gaurav, founder and CEO of Cashaa.

Premature optimism?

The general consensus is the Supreme Courts ruling would open a path to favorable regulations towards protecting all stakeholders, including companies, customers and users.

However, despite the top courts decision, the government could still ban cryptocurrencies.

Theres still a bill that the Parliament has to discuss. It has changed shapes and forms but hopefully this will be the framework for how cryptocurrency is traded in the country, said Prashant Swaminathan, founder and CEO of Tandem, a peer-to-peer bitcoin (BTC) trading platform told Mint, an Indian financial daily newspaper.

The Indian government had submitted a draft crypto bill named entitled Banning of Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currencies to the Supreme Court in August 2019, seeking to ban the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender or currency and prohibit mining, buying, holding, selling, dealing in, issuance, disposal or use of cryptocurrency.

However, the government did not introduce the draft bill in the winter session of the parliament held between Nov. 18 and Dec. 13.

So the regulations and legalities of operating cryptocurrency businesses in India remain unclear. As a result, volume growth may still not be as strong as some expect.

Related Stories
4 More Countries Report First Coronavirus Cases; Italy Closes All Schools

By VOA News March 04, 2020

Four more countries are confirming their first coronavirus cases while Italy is shutting down all schools for 10 days.

Chile, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia reported their first cases Wednesday. The Hungarian cases involved two Iranian students, while the one in Slovenia involved a patient who had traveled through Morocco and Italy.

Italy has Europe's largest number of coronavirus cases  2,700, with 100 deaths. Its government made what it called the "prudent" decision to close all schools through March 15.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at his daily virus briefing Wednesday that 75 countries had reported cases. He urged all nations to act on what he called "The 3 C's"  first case, first cluster of cases and first sign of community transmission.

"Our message to all countries is this is not a one-way street. We can push this virus back," he said. But he said he was concerned that in some countries he did not name, "the level of political will does not match the level of the threat we face."

Tedros, referring to the published report on the outbreak by the WHO-China Joint Mission, said it urged all countries to "educate their populations, to expand surveillance, to find, isolate and care for every case, to trace every contact, and to take an all-of-government and all-of-society approach. This is not a job for the health ministry alone."

The United States reported its 11th coronavirus death, that of an elderly man near Sacramento, California. His death was announced just hours after a 10th person died from coronavirus in Washington state, where all of the other U.S. fatalities have taken place so far.

Many of victims were also elderly and lived in a nursing home. Health experts said senior citizens are especially vulnerable to the virus.

The California death prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency because of the potential for the spread of the virus. Washington and Florida have declared emergencies as well.

At least 129 U.S. cases have been reported, and the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to tackle the virus, including for vaccine research and purchases of test kits and treatments. Some of the money would also be used in international efforts to stop the virus.

The Senate was expected to pass the measure, and U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to sign it. Many in Congress said they thought the administration's initial request for $2.5 billion wasn't enough, prompting Trump to say that he would accept much more.

Trump said earlier Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak had "probably" had a "positive impact" because he said Americans were staying home to shop and travel rather than spending money abroad.

As of late Wednesday, the WHO reported nearly 93,000 coronavirus cases worldwide and 3,160 deaths.

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A paint brand is renaming its pink shades because the previous labels were based on "old-fashioned gender stereotypes".

Valspar, one of the biggest paint brands in the world, has revealed it will be changing the names of pink shades called Dollface, Sweet Angel, Girly Girl and Ladylike, among others.

The company hopes that the new names will be empowering and gender-neutral, with replacements including Woke Up Like This, Anything You Can Do, and Like a Boss.

Other shades that Valspar intends to rename are Shy Up, Dolled Up and Dainty Delight.

In order to create the new names, the company has sought the help of a feminist academic, Dr Jane Sunderland from Lancaster University.

Dr Sunderland said: Traditional ideas such as pink is for girls often contain stereotypes about gender that restrict aspirations and opportunities.

These stereotypes are out of place in the 21st century where gender equality is expected. The language we use matters. It not only reflects the world around us, it also helps us construct it.

The professor continued to explain that how things are named plays an important role in building an equal society.

All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Show all 17 1 /17 All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Nadia Murad, 2018 The Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 'for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict'. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Malala Yousafzai, 2014 The Pakistani activist, who champions female education, became the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at 17 years old, receiving the accolade 'for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education'. Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2011 The Liberian politician was one of three female recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, all of whom received the recognition 'for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work'. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Leymah Gbowee, 2011 The Liberian peace activist, who also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, lead the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement, which contributed towards the Second Liberian Civil War coming to an end in 2003. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Tawakkol Karman, 2011 The journalist, politician and human rights activist from Yemen was the third person who jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, having co-founded and lead the group Women Journalists Without Chains. Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Wangari Muta Maathai, 2004 Wangari Muta Maathai, a social, environmental and political activist from Kenya, passed away in 2011. Seven years prior, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize 'for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace'. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Shirin Ebadi, 2003 The Iranian political activist, human rights activist, lawyer and former judge co-founded the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Iran. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 'for her efforts for democracy and human rights', having 'focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children'. Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Jody Williams, 1997 American political activist Jody Williams received the accolade 'for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines'. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Rigoberta Menchu Tum, 1992 The Guatemalan-born K'iche' Indigenous feminist and human rights activist became the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 'in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples'. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 The Burmese politician, who is the first State Counsellor of Myanmar and the leader of the National League for Democracy, received the Nobel Peace Prize 'for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights'. Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Alva Myrdal, 1982 Alva Myrdal, a Swedish sociologist, diplomat and politician, jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Garcia Robles in 1982. She was a leader of the disarmament movement. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Mother Teresa, 1979 Regarded as one of the most prominent humanitarians in history, Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa was awarded the accolade in 1979. She passed away less than two decades later. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Betty Williams, 1976 In 1976, Betty Williams, from Belfast, Ireland, was one of two women to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Williams co-founded the Community of Peace People, previously named the Northern Ireland Peace Movement. Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Mairead Corrigan, 1976 Mairead Corrigan was the second recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976, having co-founded the Community of Peace People alongside Williams. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Emily Greene Balch, 1946 Emily Greene Balch, an American sociologist, pacifist and economist, was a leader of the Switzerland-based Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, a role that resulted in her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Jane Addams, 1931 Sociologist and activist Jane Addams became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. She was the first international president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. AFP via Getty Images All the women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Baroness Bertha von Suttner, 1905 Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner was the first woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, and the second female Nobel laureate after Marie Curie in 1903. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905, having become a campaigner for disarmament. Getty Images

The term Dollface suggests both an object and a possession, whereas Girly Girly implies someone who cant really be taken seriously, she added.

This is a hugely positive move by a mainstream brand. Valspar is taking responsibility and driving change which is a step in the right direction.

Valspar is encouraging social media users to vote on their favourite new names for some of its other shades, which they can do so by heading to the brand's Facebook and Instagram pages.

The new names will be revealed on Valspar's website in April 2020.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed officials to be on alert pertaining to Coronavirus. Bihar faces threat from people visiting Bihar from Nepal and China as Bihar shares a 1400 km porous border with Nepal. Nitish Kumar has asked officials to screen people visiting from Nepal.

While speaking to Reporters in Patna Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that " people should take precautionary measure pertaining to Coronavirus. Bihar Govt has issued an advisory of alert. A large number of people from Nepal and China visit Bodh Gaya. Officials have been asked to monitor people coming from Nepal bordering Bihar as it's a porous border. It has to be ascertained whether people coming in from Bihar visited China or not.

READ: Independent MP Navneet Ravi Rana seen wearing mask in Lok Sabha amidst Coronavirus scare

Bihar govt has taken the extra precautions, so people should not be scared. Officials have been put on alert and we had a threadbare discussion at the highest level how to make efforts to handle this " So far no case of Coronavirus affected patient has been detected in Bihar.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said that " so far we have not had any case of Corona Virus. we have collected 50 samples out of which the results of 47 have tested negative. we have screened 1.2 lakh people coming in from 49 different areas of Nepal. We have made 20-bed isolated ward in Gaya.

READ: US, Israel cancel joint military exercise 'Eagle Genesis' amid coronavirus fear

RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav has while attacking Bihar govt for lack of medical facilities said that "when the health minister Mangal Pandey and Bihar Cm Nitish Kumar cannot tackle encephalitis in Bihar, they do not have the capacity to counter coronavirus ."

So far no case of Corona Virus patient has been detected in Bihar, but the Bihar faces imminent threat from people visiting Bodh Gaya, from Nepal and China. A large number of Buddhist devotees congregate at Bodh Gaya, the land of Gautam Buddha, for pilgrimage.

READ: Ram Gopal Varma pens a letter to Coronavirus, fans say "campaign for precautions instead"

READ: Greece confirms 21 new cases of coronavirus in group arriving from Israel
LANSING, Mich. - A retired Michigan State University professor who admitted to sexually touching a subordinate employee without consent nearly 20 years ago pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge.

Former MSU professor Robert Pittman on Wednesday pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for assaulting Vance Kincaid in 1999 just before Pittman retired and moved to California.

I believed that a co-worker of mine was willing for me to approach him and to allow his pants to be unzipped and his penis briefly touched in a sexual way, Pittman said during his plea hearing Wednesday. I now realize I was mistaken and that it was not consensual.

The Associated Press doesnt identify victims of sexual assault, but Kincaid has spoken out publicly.

Kincaid testified in court last year that between 1997 and 1999, Pittman, his supervisor at the time, invaded his personal space and experienced unwanted touching that became more persistent, the Lansing State Journal reported.

In June 1999, Kincaid was working alone in an office when Pittman grabbed the back of his head with both hands and kissed him, placing Pittmans tongue inside his mouth, according to Kincaids testimony. Pittman unzipped Kincaids pants despite attempts to push him away, Kincaid said. Pittman proceeded to put his hand down Kincaids pants and touched his genitals, Kincaid testified.

A key evidence in the case was a confession from Pittman during a phone call Kincaid made while an MSU police detective was present. Pittman said it was during that call that he realized his contact with Kincaid was not consensual and acknowledged he didnt ask for consent.

The retired professor faces up to two years in prison for the fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge, which is a high court misdemeanour. Initially, though, he faced up to 15 years, but prosecutors opted to dismiss a felony charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a misdemeanour assault and battery charge.

Pittmans sentencing is scheduled for April 8.

After Wednesdays hearing, Kincaid said MSUs response to the case has been more stressful than the legal process itself, calling human resources purveyors of institutional protection.

The university continues to put me through the wringer, Kincaid said. Theyre treating my advocacy as being unprofessional.

MSU didnt immediately respond to The Associated Press request for comment Thursday.
A woman who graduated from an Ocean County high school was among the 24 people killed by tornadoes that devastated Tennessee Tuesday morning.

Jamie Smith, a 36-year-old graduate of Jackson Memorial High School moved to Tennessee 10 years ago after her parents retired there, her brother, Joseph Loff of Freehold Township, told NJ Advance Media Wednesday evening.

Smith, who owned an office cleaning company, was living near Nashville in Cookeville, Tennessee, with her 8-year-old son, Logan, when the the fast-moving twisters swept through the area early Tuesday, Loff said.

It was unclear Wednesday evening exactly how Smith died.

Logan was staying with her father with her when the storms hit and the pair was unharmed, he said.

Loff said he cannot believe that his sister is gone.

She was a very kind person and everyone she encountered loved her, he said.

Loff said his sister had returned to New Jersey as recently as last summer to visit friends and family and spend some time at the beach.

She will definitely be missed dearly by many, her brother said.

Eighteen of the people who died, including five pre-teen children, died in the same county where Smith was living, Putnam County, which is about 80 miles east of Nashville. Eighty-eight more were injured in the county.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declared an emergency, sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts and ordered flags over the state Capitol to fly at half-staff until Friday for those killed. President Donald Trump, who plans to visit Friday, tweeted: The USA stands with the people of Tennessee 100%, whatever they need!

National Weather Service survey teams indicated that the damage in Nashville and Wilson County to the east was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, with wind speeds up to 165 mph (266 kmh), the agency said. One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile (16 kilometer) stretch of Nashville, including parts of downtown.

The tornado that struck Putnam County damaged more than 100 structures along a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) path that wiped some homes from their foundations and scattered debris.

This article contains material from the Associated Press

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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FREDERICTON - When it comes to maple syrup production in Canada, Quebec dominates, but a claim by Ontario of being second has left a sour taste in the mouths of some producers in New Brunswick.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FREDERICTON - When it comes to maple syrup production in Canada, Quebec dominates, but a claim by Ontario of being second has left a sour taste in the mouths of some producers in New Brunswick.

A new television commercial meant for the Ontario market says that province is second in production, but the claim is disputed by New Brunswick.

Maple syrup cans are seen at a sugar shack Friday, February 10, 2017 in Oka, Que. When it comes to maple syrup production in Canada, Quebec dominates, but a claim by Ontario of being second has left a sour taste in the mouth of some producers in New Brunswick. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Louise Poitras, executive director of the New Brunswick Maple Syrup Association, says Ontario was only second in 2018  when New Brunswick had a bad year  and otherwise her province has outproduced Ontario every year since 2012.

"It was the only year in the last seven years that new Brunswick wasn't ranked second," Poitras said.

According to Statistics Canada, Quebec produces more than 90 per cent of maple syrup in Canada. New Brunswick has been in second place since 2008, with the exception of 2009, 2011 and 2018, when that position was held by Ontario.

Ray Bonenberg of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers' Association said the commercial was produced late last year when the 2018 figures were still the most recent, and there was no intent to deceive.

"We said to the New Brunswick folks, 'Sorry that you feel annoyed but it's not inaccurate.' We didn't do this on purpose," he said.

"We're not in a competition with any other province or the United States, because we work together. It doesn't matter to us where we rank. The big thing for us is quality and making sure we can market our syrup," Bonenberg said.

He said the main emphasis by producers is on marketing "Canadian" maple syrup.

"I told Louise, 'Tell your producers to sharpen up their drills and we'll see what happens in 2020,' and we laughed," he said.

Of the maple syrup consumed in Ontario, only about 50 per cent is produced domestically in the province.

Poitras said unlike Ontario, New Brunswick exports much of its maple syrup, so every tool  including its production ranking  is important.

"We sell a lot of our maple syrup to Quebec, Germany, France and Australia. We are taking advantage of that second rank," she said.

Poitras said New Brunswick is looking to grow its export markets, and additional Crown land made available in 2015 is expected to allow the industry to grow in each of the next 10 years.

New Brunswick produced a record 2.7 million litres of syrup and maple products last year. Poitras said that brings in about $40 million annually.

Bonenberg said the television ad will air for another two weeks and then be updated. In the meantime, they'll use the internet to set the record straight.

"We're going to post on social media about the back-and-forth between Ontario and New Brunswick and encourage everyone to get out and buy maple syrup. We are both looking forward to a banner year," he said.

Bonenberg joked that Ontario producers have a right to be upset with their colleagues from New Brunswick.

"You have all the lobster!" he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Another four cases of COVID-19 in Ontario were reported Thursday, but Ontarios top doctor says theres no need to hoard hand-sanitizer or other home supplies as the best defence against the virus is proper washing with soap and water.

Im not sure why toilet paper is the biggest thing, but it seems to be one of the things that people like at this stage, chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said, as the number of cases in the province jumped to 24.

New cases are popping up across Canada. Eight were reported in British Columbia Thursday evening, including the first instance of community transmission in that province. One more case was reported in Quebec and the first presumed case was announced in Alberta.

The latest Toronto case revealed Thursday night is a person who travelled to Las Vegas for an international conference. According to an internal email sent to staff in the University Health Network, the person went to the Emergency Department at Toronto Western Hospital Wednesday with respiratory symptoms.

All protocols were followed and the patient was assessed and sent home to self-isolate, said the email, from Gillian Howard, the vice-president of public affairs and communications at the University Health Network.

The patient is now at home and being monitored by Toronto Public Health, she continued. We are continually reviewing our processes to ensure that we are current with the situation as it changes.

Another of the new Ontario cases involves a Waterloo Region woman in her 50s who recently returned from Italy, where there is a huge outbreak in the north around Milan, and becomes the first case from that country in Ontario. The second is a man who had recently been to Iran.

Peel Regions public health revealed the third new case late Thursday afternoon  a Mississauga resident who was on a Grand Princess cruise ship that travelled from San Francisco to Mexico between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21.

A 71-year-old California resident who died earlier this week was on the same voyage, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency. The ship is now floating off San Francisco after its scheduled trip to Hawaii was postponed while passengers are tested. According to Global Affairs there are 235 Canadians on the ships manifest.

The unidentified Mississauga resident returned to Canada on Feb. 28 and developed symptoms the next day. He did not go to hospital until Wednesday and was later sent home to remain isolated, said Dr. Jessica Hopkins, Peels medical officer of health.

To protect the health of the public and prevent community spread, Peel Public Health has immediately launched an investigation to identify potential sites of exposure within our community and any individuals who may have come in close contact with the case during their period of communicability, she added in a statement.

Williams said shoppers concerned about the potential course of the new coronavirus need to be reasonable, given relatively low risk levels here so far. And he offered help from public health officials if people in self-isolation run low on anything.

We will assist them in any way we can, so they should not feel desperate theyll run out of something, he told reporters, noting friends and neighbours can also be called upon to make deliveries.

Clean hands are important, he said, but theres no need to go overboard with hand sanitizer when an old-fashioned alternative is better.

Hand sanitizer is meant to be around in mobile places where you dont have access to a sink and soap, Williams said.

We know that hand sanitizer is not as effective as a thorough hand washing with soap and water ... if youre bringing back big containers to your house to use in the household, why are you not using your sink and your soap and your water?

The main thing people should be stocking up on are things that are hard for others to arrange, such as prescription renewals, providing the quantities are not so large the drugs will pass their expiration date before being used, Williams said.

The new cases of COVID-19 from Italy and Iran were assessed and tested in hospital before the patients were sent home to self-isolate.

The woman who had been in Italy went to Grand River Hospital in Kitchener upon her return Tuesday with mild symptoms that had been evident on the plane, Williams said. Waterloo Region public health officials have the flight manifest and are notifying passengers who sat within two rows of her that they may have been exposed, and tracing other contacts.

The man in his 60s who flew back from Iran on Saturday went to the emergency room at Sunnybrook hospital on Tuesday. Toronto public health workers are tracing his contacts and movements.

Williams said he expects more cases from Italy, the European country thats been worst hit by the new coronavirus that originated in China three months ago and has never been seen in humans before. A recent cluster of cases who had recently returned from Egypt have been traced to a cruise on the Nile River where another passenger must have been infected, Williams added.

Ontarios public health lab is now doing about 220 tests a day, triple the rate of a week ago, as COVID-19 sees significant spikes in dozens of countries. There have been more than 100,000 infected and at least 3,000 killed, mostly in China.

To look for wider person-to-person spread of the bug in Ontario, medical officials have recently tested 270 patients with other illnesses in health care settings in recent days but none have tested positive.

That type of testing will continue to detect any community spread for which public health officials have been preparing given the fast-growing number of cases and deaths in Italy, Iran, South Korea and Washington state in the U.S.

While there is no need to begin cancelling or curbing mass gatherings at this time, Williams said health officials are preparing information sheets for organizers of large public events to help with safety precautions. That will be released in the coming days.

He cautioned against travels to any hot zones for the new coronavirus, particularly for the elderly or anyone with underlying health conditions like heart disease, diabetes or respiratory challenges, saying there would be considerable risk.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board is considering a motion to require enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures in schools, install more hand sanitizer dispensers and to discourage food sharing among children.
Rawai longtail boat accident claims drivers life

PHUKET: A 61-year-old boat driver died after being hit by his longtail boats propeller while trying to come ashore at Nai Harn beach, Rawai yesterday (Mar 4).

accidentsChinesemarinetourismtransport

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 5 March 2020, 11:07AM

Rescue workers taking the driver of the boat, Mr Phittaya, to Vachira Phuket Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The longboat, captained by Phitthaya Yukhunthorn, was travelling from Klong Mudong with two Chinese tourists and a tour guide as passengers to Nai Harn beach.

Witness reports state the boat struggled in strong winds as it advanced to the beach and the four people were thrown overboard.

On-duty lifeguards saw the incident and rushed to help. However, a fatal wound had been inflicted to Mr Phitthayas head, reportedly from the boats propeller after he had been thrown into the water.

Mr Phitthaya was pronounced dead at the scene. The tourists and the guide escaped unharmed.

Capt Jarat Lemphan of the Chalong Police, together with Rawai Deputy Mayor Theerapong Thaodang and Ruamjai rescue workers, went to the scene at around 2pm to discover Mr Phitthayas body.

The lifeguards immediately called rescue teams for help but it was, unfortunately, too late, commented Capt Jarat. Phitthaya died on the beach.

Capt Jarat said Mr Phitthayas body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for further examination and will be given to relatives in order to conduct a religious ceremony.

There were no additional comments from police in regards to whether adverse weather conditions were the cause for the boat experiencing problems and the four people being thrown overboard.
Vietnam is strongly committed to completing the role of ASEAN Chair in 2020, promoting the ASEAN community and foreign affairs as well as improving the working way of ASEAN.

Participants at the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in Da Nang City.  VNS Photo Truong Ngoc Thanh

Vietnamese deputy minister of foreign affairs, Nguyen Quoc Dung, made the statement at the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (ASEAN SOM) in the central city on Wednesday.

He said the ASEAN SOM was the second activity this year, and it focused discussions on achievements of a retreat of foreign ministers of the ASEAN (AMM Retreat) in Nha Trang in January.

Dung, who chaired the ASEAN SOM, said the meeting also discussed plans and preparations for the 36th ASEAN Summit from April 8-9, and the ASEAN-New Zealand Commemorative Summit on April 9 to be held in Da Nang.

At the opening ceremony, the deputy minister also confirmed that Vietnam was a safe destination for all visitors, and measures were taken in prevention and monitoring of the novel coronavirus, or Covid-19.

Dont worry. We carried out all preparations for ensuring safety and health for all participants at the meeting, he stressed.

Participants at ASEAN SOM also expressed support for initiatives and priorities proposed by Vietnam in the year of chairmanship as well as plans for ASEAN Community development in 2025 and ASEAN after 2025.

Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum, deputy permanent secretary of Thailands Foreign Affairs Ministry, highly appreciated the preparations by Vietnam at the ASEAN SOM.

He said Vietnam has been doing well in stopping Covid-19 from spreading.

Chaiyindeepum also expressed his hope that Vietnam would host ASEAN meetings successfully in the role of ASEAN chairmanship this year.

Participants also discussed the implementation of the ASEAN Charter, the co-operation of sub-region and the Mekong region as well as improving womens role in building the ASEAN Community.

Following the ASEAN SOM, the 9th ASEAN Co-coordinating Council Working Group Meeting (ACCWG) and ASEAN Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) will continue from March 5-6.

Vietnam has chosen the theme Cohesive and Responsive for the ASEAN Chairmanship 2020.

The ASEAN SOM drew the participation of 10 ASEAN member countries and deputy secretary of ASEAN.  VNS

ASEAN senior officials gather in Da Nang The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) took place in the central coastal city of Da Nang on March 4 with the participation of hundreds of senior officials from the 10 ASEAN member countries.
Lucknow, March 5 : The Yogi Adityanath government has made arrangements for medical screenings of all foreign passengers arriving at the Lucknow and Agra airports, in view of the coronavirus scare.

Three passengers at Lucknow airport were taken to an isolation ward after they showed preliminary symptoms.

"They will remain in isolation till their tests report negative," said an official.

The state government has also ordered fogging of all cow shelters in the state after it was reported that animals are also susceptible to the virus.

Meanwhile, Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash has banned the sale of semi-cooked meat and meat sold in the open. All restaurants have been asked to maintain high standards of hygiene. However, some restaurants have already put up notices saying that non-vegetarian food will not be served there.
Q. Does a term life insurance policy pass through to the non-spousal beneficiaries such as adult children on a tax-free basis in the same way a whole or universal life policy does?

 Insured

A. Life insurance is often used so provide beneficiaries with a windfall after the insured dies.

According to IRC 72, the Internal Revenue Code that outlines all the rules, life insurance proceeds are generally income tax-free, said Ed Gaelick, a Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant with PSI Consultants in Glen Rock.

That would be regardless of the type of insurance such as term, universal, variable or whole life, he said.

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But theres an important distinction to make.

While most life insurances would be income tax free, theyre not necessarily free of the estate tax, he said.

There is no longer an estate tax in New Jersey but federally, you could be subject to the tax if an estate exceeds $11.4 million in 2019 or $11.58 million in 2020. And the rate could be as high as 40%.

Gaelick said certain transactions can negate the income tax free advantage of life insurance.

One example is a transfer for value.

So if a parent had transferred ownership of their policy to a third party, who then named themselves as beneficiary, upon their death, benefits would be income taxable, Gaelick said. However there are several exceptions that still allow the tax free status.

There are some other exceptions, so you should run your specific situation by your tax advisor.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
Oil slipped amid a split between Saudi Arabia and Russia over whether deeper production cuts are required to offset the demand hit from the coronavirus epidemic.

Futures fell 0.9% in New York Wednesday. The first day of OPEC+s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting culminated in Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak leaving the gathering amid disagreement on the scope of proposed oil production curbs.

Riyadh has pushed for a supply reduction as big as 1.5 million barrels a day, while Moscow favors maintaining output at current levels through to the end of the second quarter. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the committee made a wonderful recommendation but declined to provide details. OPEC+ ministers will discuss the recommendation at talks in Vienna on Thursday and Friday.

PREVIOUSLY: Oil jumps for a second day on OPEC recommendation

OPECs meeting falling apart hurt the momentum oil had built, said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. The market is going to need production cuts if it is ever going to stabilize.

The coronavirus outbreak has worsened since the Joint Technical Committee first recommended a production cut of 600,000 barrels a day in February. OPEC and its allies are widely expected to agree on deeper output cuts, but its not clear whether that will be enough to bolster oil. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and two consultants said they expect demand to shrink in 2020 for only the fourth time in nearly 40 years.

Italy announced a nationwide closing of its schools until March 15 in an effort to curb the worst outbreak in Europe while, in the U.S., Los Angeles County reported six new cases. Total coronavirus cases globally topped 93,000.

FUEL FIX: Our energy news. Your inbox. A perfect combination.

Meanwhile, government data showed that U.S. oil stockpiles rose by 784,000 barrels last week, well below the 3 million barrel forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. U.S. crude oil production hit an all-time high at 13.1 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The market also got some support from the bigger-than-expected draws in gasoline and diesel stockpiles.

West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery fell 40 cents to settle at $46.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent futures for May fell 73 cents to $51.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, putting its premium over WTI at $4.18.

The markets structure remains weak and options pricing is at its most bearish since June.

--With assistance from Alex Longley and Sharon Cho.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 00:14:36|Editor: zyl

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ADDIS ABABA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) on Wednesday disclosed the postponement of a high-level ministerial conference, which was scheduled to be held later this month in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, due to concerns pertaining to the COVID-19.

The Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which was slated to be held from March 18 to 24 in Addis Ababa as part of the 53rd session of the Economic Commission for Africa, was postponed amid growing mounting global concerns regarding to the spread of the COVID-19, the ECA announced in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The ECA also disclosed that in addition to the Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, it will also "postpone all public meetings" due to fears emanating from the spread of coronavirus.

"Following global health concerns pertaining to the COVID-19 coronavirus and the need for added vigilance, upon consultation with partners, the ECA will postpone all public meetings until further notice," an ECA statement read.

"These include the 2020 Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. ECA will reach out to ministers to discuss member states preparedness," the ECA announced.

According to the ECA, the 53rd session of the ministerial conference expected to feature deliberations on digitization and its impacts, including the challenges and the means, through which it is forcing a character makeover of the technology industry.

Experts and policymakers attending the high-level meeting are also expected to deliberate on how digitization is opening up opportunities in agriculture, services and clean energy, and how these can help spur the processes of industrialization and diversification, while providing options for adapting to climate change, including methods to ensure resilience, it was noted.

The upcoming conference, which is expected to present a call for action to take an active part in ensuring that the African continent prepares adequately for the world ahead, further envisaged highlighting Africa's endowment of clean energy potential, and the risks of expensive environmental damage, according to the ECA.
Mumbai, March 5 : Cash-starved private lender Yes Bank may be rescued by a consortium led by country's largest lender State Bank of India as reports suggest that government has approved a plan in this regard to save the bank from sinking.

As per reports, SBI would soon start the process to identify other members of the consortium before a bid is made to takeover the ailing bank. Despite attempts, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar was unavailable for comments.

Following the development, YES Bank scrips jumped 25.77 per cent (at 11.52 a.m.) to hit a high of Rs 36.85 a share. Shares of state-run SBI fell 0.09 per cent to Rs 285.05 per share.

Earlier, in January, SBI chairman had suggested that some solution would be found to bail out the private lender.

Reports earlier indicated that the Hinduja Group with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP is seeking to pick up a stake in embattled Yes Bank. However, both Yes Bank and Hinduja Group have not disclosed any information regarding the same.

The fourth-largest private lender had earlier said it has delayed its third-quarter earnings as the bank is reviewing non-binding expressions of interest from four investors.

In a filing to the BSE earlier, the bank has said it received non-binding expressions of interest (EoIs) from several investors including J.C. Flowers & Co, Tilden Park Capital Management, OHA (UK) LLP (part of Oak Hill Advisors), and Silver Point Capital.

Yes Bank has borne the brunt of several ratings downgrades due to the uncertainty over its capital infusion plan. A number of rating firms have red-flagged the bank's exposure to stressed projects too.

Rating agency ICRA noted that Yes Bank's solvency profile remains weak with net NPA/CET of 36 per cent as on September 30, 2019.

Owing to uncertainty over its future, Yes Bank, once billed as a favourite of traders, has gained the reputation of being one of the biggest wealth destroyers in the market.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear pleas challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) after the conclusion of hearing in the Sabarimala case. Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Central government on Thursday, told a bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde that Centre will file its reply within two days.

'A hearing for two hours may be required for arguments'

CJI Bobde asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal to mention the matter again after Holi break after Sibal mentioned the petitions for urgent listing. Sibal said some interim orders are required in the case and a hearing of two hours may be required for arguments. CJI Bobde said the Bench will consider its listing after the Sabrimala matter.

The top court had earlier issued notice to the Central government seeking its response on the pleas challenging the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Over a hundred petitions have been filed in the apex court for and against the amended citizenship law, which is being protested against at several places across the country.

The amended law grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and took refuge in India on or before December 31, 2014.

A nine-judge bench is re-examining various religious issues, including the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple and mosques, and the practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community.

Supreme Court to set up a vacation bench

The apex court will go on a week-long Holi break next week before reopening on March 16. The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will set up a vacation bench for the seven-day Holi break to hear urgent matters. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it will not be on the day of Holi but during the week. Till now, the apex court had a vacation bench during the summer break of nearly two months.

READ | Supreme Court dismisses fourth and last curative petition filed by Nirbhaya rapists

READ | Plea in Supreme Court alleges fake social media handles root cause of riots; seeks removal

A vacation bench of the Supreme Court is a special bench constituted by the Chief Justice of India under the Supreme Court rules under Rule 6 of Order II of The Supreme Court rules, 2013. The court takes two long vacations each year, the summer and winter breaks, but is technically not fully closed during these periods.

READ | Supreme Court paves way for virtual currency; Bitcoin to be now used in India

READ | Supreme Court dismisses Fadnavis' plea in 2014 Poll Affidavit case; Ex-CM to undergo trial

(With agency inputs)
Heres The Oregonians weekly look at the numbers behind the states economy. View past installments here.

Travel through Portland International Airport fell back to earth in 2019 after a decade of rapid growth. With airlines already ratcheting back amid the coronavirus outbreak, 2020 figures to be even weaker.

Its a major reversal from the past several years, when passenger volumes at PDX grew by more than 50% -- nearly double the national rate.

More than 19 million people flew in or out of PDX last year, the highest tally on record. Thats according to data from the Port of Portland, which runs the airport.

The growth reflected the states robust economy in the years after the Great Recession  and perhaps Portlands ascendance as a tourist destination. Or maybe it was the growth in corporate outposts across the city that have techies flying to and from headquarters.

But something changed in 2019. National passenger traffic increased 4.9%, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, but Portlands growth came to a screeching halt  passenger traffic was virtually unchanged from 2018.

What happened last year? Its not clear.

Maybe it was a simple game of catch-up, said port spokeswoman Kama Simonds.

We were growing ahead of the curve. Now we are essentially holding steady, she said, while growth evens out with the national rate.

Boeings decision to ground the flawed 737 MAX plane forced airlines to cancel many flights and prioritize their most profitable routes, Simonds said. She said Portland might have had more than its share of flight reductions  though the strong passenger growth nationally suggests Boeings troubles didnt slow growth elsewhere.

Or maybe PDX was simply nearing capacity. The airport is in the midst of a $1.3 billion overhaul designed to make room for more flights.

Regardless, theres a very good chance 2020 will be slower. The port doesnt have passenger data for the past several weeks yet but theres abundant evidence the coronavirus is keeping people off planes.

Companies and trade organizations have canceled dozens or hundreds of conferences and many travelers are making their own decision not to fly in fear of exposure to the virus. Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it will scale back flights between Portland and Tokyo and United Airlines says it will reduce all domestic flights by 10% in April, and international flights by 20%.

Add to that the possibility of a recession triggered by the virus, which would slow all kinds of economic activity -- including travel.

The U.S. Travel Association, an industry group that promotes traveling, predicts that international travel into the U.S. from other countries will fall 6.0% over the next few months. That would be the largest dip since the start of the Great Recession.

The group notes that government health experts arent advising people restrict domestic travel but the association acknowledges the coronavirus is having a profound effect.

"There is a lot of uncertainty around coronavirus, and it is pretty clear that it is having an effect on travel demandnot just from China, and not just internationally, but for domestic business and leisure travel as well, said Roger Dow, the associations CEO.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Legendary French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier may have hung up his scissors, but his fashion house will live on under an ever-changing carousel of guest designers, he said Wednesday.

The flamboyant creator -- who bowed out last month after half a century at the top of the fashion tree with a musical spectacular in Paris -- said a guest designer will be given the keys to his haute couture studio every season.

I have the pleasure to announce the new concept for my Haute Couture, 67-year-old Gaultier tweeted.

Each season, I will invite a designer to interpret the codes of the House and I am doubly pleased that Chitose Abe of Sacai will be the first one.

The two were photographed together on the roof of Gaultiers Paris headquarters in the famous blue overalls he and his collaborators wear.

Abe, 48, is one of the most admired Japanese designers, counting Vogue supremo Anna Wintour and the doyenne of fashion critics, Suzi Menkes, among her fans.

She was also one of the very rare rivals that the late Karl Lagerfeld showered praise upon, calling her one of the most interesting designers working today.

I have the pleasure to announce the new concept for my Haute Couture. Each season, I will invite a designer to interpret the codes of the House and I am doubly pleased that Chitose Abe of Sacai will be the first one ! #JeanPaulGaultier #ChitoseAbe

Photographed by #GioStaiano. pic.twitter.com/27dyeEmnsj  Jean Paul Gaultier (@JPGaultier) March 4, 2020

Abes genius is in her unique cut and in recutting and splicing clothing together, creating a sum that is greater than its parts.

She trained with Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garcons in Tokyo and worked with Junya Watanabe before striking out on her own 20 years ago.

The Jean Paul Gaultier label shows a new collection twice a year during Paris haute couture week, the elite club that is regarded as the creme de la creme of fashion.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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United Nations, Mar 5 (UNI) Positive developments in South Sudan have moved the country further along the road to sustainable peace, a top UN official has told Security Council members.

The worlds youngest nation has been mired in instability and conflict for nearly all the eight years since it gained independence from Sudan.

In 2018 President Kiir and his former Vice-President and long-time political rival, Mr. Machar, signed a peace accord with the hopes that it would end the crisis and improve the lives and safety of millions of South Sudanese. Last month, Mr. Machar was sworn in as first Vice-President, sealing the peace deal at the State House in the capital of Juba.

On 15 February, President Salva Kiir  against the wishes of many of his many supporters  agreed to a compromise to return South Sudan to its pre-2015 position of 10 states, although he added three administrative areas, Special Representative and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) David Shearer told the Council via VTC.

He noted that Mr. Machar had accepted the challenge to join a transitional government in Juba serving as the countrys First Vice President  despite transitional security arrangements not yet in place.

With the deadlock broken, five Vice Presidents were subsequently sworn in.

Mr. Shearer attributed the progress to the political willingness of two men who put the interests of their country first: President Kiir for making a critical concession, and Mr Machar for agreeing to return to the capital.

UNI XC JAL 0747
KALAMAZOO, MI  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has reappointed Bobby J. Hopewell of Kalamazoo to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee.

Hopewell, Kalamazoos longest serving mayor who stepped down in 2019, is the president and CEO of Mobile Health Resources, Inc.

He was first appointed to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee in April 2019.

Hopewell said on March 5 that he is very grateful for the opportunity to serve Governor Whitmer and the people of the State of Michigan in the role.

The work of the staff of MEDC and the Executive Committee in creating our new economic development strategic plan is extremely innovative and has potential for major impact," Hopewell said in an email message.

I am especially excited about the tactics that will be employed to support marginalized individuals and people of color...creating equity and new pathways for great ideas and projects to be realized that have been at times disregarded in traditional economic development work, Hopewell said. Support of these individuals that have great ideas only helps improve the economy for Michigan, local communities and at the neighborhood level.

Hopewell holds a Master of Arts in organizational learning and performance from Western Michigan University. He was reappointed to represent the private sector for a term commencing April 6, 2020, and expiring April 5, 2024.

Hopewell became the citys longest-serving mayor after running unopposed in 2017. He did not seek re-election after his sixth term expired in November 2019.

Mayor David Anderson was elected in 2019.

The Exchange building in Kalamazoo is one example of a development that has received financial support from the MEDC, through the organizations Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF). The MSF board approved a $6.4 million loan for the development in 2016.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation conducts due diligence and administers programs on behalf of the MSF.

Another recent example is a $215,000 grant from the MEDCs Tribal Business Development unit, which supports and promotes economic development for the states 12 federally recognized Indian tribes. The 2018 grant was given to Seven Generations Architecture & Engineering, a tribe-owned architecture and engineering company, to help fund its move to downtown Kalamazoo.

The grant will help fund renovation of the new space along with purchasing of machinery and computer equipment, the company said.

More:

Plans for 15-story Exchange Building in downtown Kalamazoo move ahead

End date delayed for The Exchange building construction
(5 March 2020): P/F Bakkafrost ("Bakkafrost") initiated, on 13 January 2020, a compulsory acquisition of all of The Scottish Salmon Company PLCs (SSC) depositary receipts recorded in the Norwegian VPS system (the Depositary Receipts), and common shares issued in physical form (the Common Shares, and collectively, the Equity Instruments).

The compensation per Equity Instrument is NOK 28.25, i.e. the same amount as the amount paid in the mandatory bid for the Equity Instruments which Bakkafrost completed in December last year.

The holders of the Equity Instruments in SSC could, at the latest on 24 February 2020, apply to the Royal Court of Jersey for it to make an order to effect that: (a) Bakkafrost should not be entitled and bound to acquire the remaining equity instruments in SSC by way of the announced compulsory acquisition; or (b) specify terms of acquisition different from those offered by Bakkafrost.

No such order is made by the Royal Court of Jersey by the end of the six-week period. Hence, Bakkafrost has today formally notified SSC of the compulsory acquisition and made payment of the compensation for the Equity Instruments to SSC, in accordance with the provisions of Article 118(5) of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991, as amended.

SSC will, today, record Bakkafrost as the owner of all the Common Shares in the Register of Members and arrange for payment thereof to each recipient of the compensation, by way of cheques which will be sent to the addresses registered in the Register of Members.

Holders of the Depositary Receipts as per the end of trading on 4 March 2020, as reflected in the VPS as of 6 March 2020, will receive the settlement amount to the NOK account recorded on their VPS account on or about 9 March 2020.

The Depositary Receipts will as of today be subject to a trading halt (suspensjon) on Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE).

Following completion of the settlement, SSC will summon an extraordinary general meeting to approve of a proposal to delist the Depositary Receipts from OSE.

- - -

For further information, please contact:

Regin Jacobsen, CEO of P/F Bakkafrost: +298 235001 (mobile)

Hgni Dahl Jakobsen, CFO of P/F Bakkafrost: +298 235060 (mobile)

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

Turkmenistan is taking all necessary measures to prevent outbreak of dangerous infectious diseases, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Turkmenistans embassy in Azerbaijan.

On March 5, 2020, the successive briefing with participation of the heads and representatives of the diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan was held at Turkmenistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As was noted during the meeting chaired by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, all the necessary measures on the prevention of the dangerous infectious diseases are being implemented in the country. This work is conducted in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, while taking into consideration the national legislation of Turkmenistan.

As was announced earlier, Extraordinary Commission on combating the spread of diseases was established in Turkmenistan in January of the current year. The participants of the briefing were informed that not a single case of coronavirus or a suspected case has been detected in Turkmenistan.

During the speeches, it was underlined that Turkmenistan stands for timely informing and training of the population, including the expansion of epidemiological surveillance. The necessary measures are taken in the country for the provision of medicines and medical tools.

It was also noted that the Government of Turkmenistan is taking all the steps for effective and uninterrupted functioning of land, railway, air and water transport.
VICTORIA - Dozens of Indigenous youth and their supporters packed blankets and tarps Thursday, ending a 17-day protest at British Columbia's legislature that saw a fire burning constantly at the front steps and people camping overnight at the building's ceremonial gates.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 5/3/2020 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Protesters gather their belongings as they pack up their camp at the British Columbia legislature grounds in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday, March 5, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner

VICTORIA - Dozens of Indigenous youth and their supporters packed blankets and tarps Thursday, ending a 17-day protest at British Columbia's legislature that saw a fire burning constantly at the front steps and people camping overnight at the building's ceremonial gates.

The conclusion of the protest followed the arrests of five people who refused to leave the building Wednesday night after meeting with Scott Fraser, B.C.'s minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation.

Ta'Kaiya Blaney said the Indigenous youth are leaving the legislature but their movement for the rights of Aboriginal Peoples continues. She said the protest to support Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in northwest B.C. who oppose a natural gas pipeline through their traditional territories was successful.

"The Indigenous youth are coming together in ways that go beyond the pipeline," said Blaney. "It's about Indigenous sovereignty and it's about affirming for our young people that we can take our power back."

She said the youth leaders decided to stay inside the legislature building Wednesday night because Fraser would not commit to stopping the Coastal GasLink pipeline opposed by the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs.

"Our demands have always been that Coastal GasLink be removed from Wet'suwet'en sovereign land and that a good faith relationship with Wet'suwet'en people cannot take place while that industry and that pipeline construction is happening without consent," said Blaney.

Coastal GasLink is building a natural gas pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat. It is part of a $40 billion liquefied natural gas export project in Kitimat.

Fraser said he was disappointed the meeting with Indigenous youth leaders resulted in arrests.

He said he invited the youth leaders into the legislature as a gesture of goodwill to discuss ongoing deliberations with the West'suwet'en.

Outside the legislature on Thursday, Fraser said the meeting lasted 90 minutes, twice as long as it was scheduled.

"They ended in a good way, I thought," he added.

The minister said he believed his offer of respectful talks would conclude with the youth leaving the building in an orderly manner.

"It is the basis for the work we have done with the hereditary chiefs and I thought that would be reciprocated," Fraser said. "I found in my time as minister that by providing that respect it is usually reciprocated, and I'm very disappointed it was not."

Liberal house leader Mary Polak called Fraser's judgment "appalling" because it taxed police resources as extra officers were called to the building to make arrests.

During a testy question period, Premier John Horgan said the arrests and ongoing Indigenous rights protests across Canada are marking a tumultuous time in Canadian history. He urged the Opposition to work with the government to resolve Indigenous issues rather than point fingers.

"We agreed in November as a unit, every member of this house, to work towards genuine reconciliation," said Horgan, referring to the unanimous adoption of the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"That's what we're trying to do," he said. "Is the mob outside helpful? I would suggest not."

Blaney called the premier's comments about a mob "irresponsible."

Victoria police said five people were taken into custody at about 9 p.m. Wednesday and each faces a charge of mischief. They were released on conditions that they stay away from the legislature grounds and a surrounding park.

Police said there were no injuries in the arrests and they alleged the protesters called for others to surround the legislature building.

They said officers were "actively obstructed" and because of the size of the crowd, it took several hours for the protesters to be safely transported to police headquarters.

"Officers who were responding to the scene were surrounded by over 100 protesters and were unable to respond to emergency calls for service," police said in a news release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 03:44:40|Editor: huaxia

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ALGIERS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Algeria announced on Wednesday four new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 12.

The Algerian Health Ministry said in a statement that the four new cases "were registered in the same family circle of the previous four cases in the province of Blida, some 50 km south of the capital Algiers."

"The epidemiological investigation is still underway to detect and identify all the people who were in contact with these patients," said the statement.

On Feb. 25, Algeria announced the first COVID-19 case of an Italian national who arrived in Algeria on Feb. 17.

Four more cases of COVID-19 from a family in Blida were recorded later after being infected by two family members from France. The latter two were confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 after returning back to France.

On Tuesday, Algerian Health Ministry announced three new cases who were also close contacts of the previous four cases from the family in Blida.

Health authorities have been calling on citizens to stick on prevention measures, including washing hands constantly, and taking necessary protection measures in case of travelling abroad to avoid contamination. Enditem
Patna, March 5 : As many as 89 persons, including 14 who have returned from Iran, are under observation for coronavirus or COVID-19 in Bihar even as no positive case has so far been reported in the state, Health Minister Mangal Pandey has said.

Blood samples of 48 persons were tested for coronavirus in Bihar, out of which 44 were found negative, he said after attending a high-level meeting of officials here late Wednesday evening. Blood reports of three persons were yet to be received.

The blood sample of one person was contaminated, following which another sample was drawn and sent for analysis.

Health Department officials said of the returnees from Iran who are under observation, five are from Siwan, four from Gopalganj, apart from Buxor and Ara.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who presided over the Wednesday evening meeting, said that there was no need to panic and that district officials have been directed to convey to panchayats the precautions to be taken against coronavirus.
A pregnant woman has been brought to tears after a stranger verbally abused her at a supermarket.

Ebony was shopping with her girlfriend Lisa at a Coles at Brookside in northern Brisbane, when a man approached her and told her he hoped her baby would die.

Lisa said she's hesitant about Ebony returning to the supermarket on her own after the experience, the Courier-Mail reported.

A pregnant lesbian has been brought to tears after a stranger verbally abused her during an outing at a Queensland shopping centre (stock image)

'She was just going about her day when a man she describes as being in his mid- 50s - completely unprovoked - told her ''I hope your baby dies, it's better off without you'',' Lisa said.

She said her girlfriend was left shocked to the point of tears, and the couple chose to leave immediately rather than responding to the man's comments.

But the effects of the comments didn't disappear for the couple, who say they have endured discrimination in the past for raising a child as two same-sex parents.

'It affected us for a few days. It shook Ebony up a lot and caused unnecessary concern for the baby. I guess as an expectant mum, she was already filled with concern, so someone saying something like that plays on your worst fears,' Lisa said.

Lisa has described the comments has 'vile' and 'disgusting' in a community she otherwise said is extremely welcoming for the same-sex couple.

While there was no immediate response from strangers, the couple are hoping sharing the story will encourage others to speak up if they encounter homophobia.

Brookside Shopping Centre manager Russell Shaw told the Courier-Mail he hadn't heard about the specific incident.

'But I would certainly encourage anyone in that instance to report it immediately to the store, our security and to our police beat on site at the centre so action can be taken,' he said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Brookside Shopping Centre and Coles for comment.
Chris Phillips, Caro Macdonald, Anu Hasbold

Three projects pitched at the Australian International Documentary Conference this week have secured a $100,000 commission each, with 50/50 funding from Screen Australia and Al Jazeera English.

The focus of a pitching competition was to create an opportunity for Australian filmmakers to tell true stories with international appeal.

They will produce a 25-minute documentary to be released on AJE Witness platforms.

Head of Documentary at Screen Australia Bernadine Lim said, The pitches and trailers presented at AIDC blew us away with the quality of their subject rigour, visual impact and diversity of ideas.

These three teams have earned a unique opportunity to build professional relationships and learn from collaborating with an international, award-winning documentary platform to take their stories to the world.

Executive Producer of AJE Witness, Fiona Lawson-Baker said, We are so excited to move ahead with these three filmmaking teams in collaboration with Screen Australia. We have been very impressed with the high quality of applications as well as the five pitches presented at AIDC. These documentaries capture a diverse range of human experiences against a backdrop of topical global issues. They represent the best emerging documentary talent in Australia, and we cant wait to show them on Witness for Al Jazeeras global audiences.

At the Coalface

In the wake of Mongolias ban on raw coal, this documentary follows Manibold Lkhamjav and his family as they navigate the transition away from coal. They live in Nalaikh, a sparse post-Soviet town in Mongolia, where every winter locals dig dark tunnels into the earth to cut raw coal and sell it on the black market. This project is from Victorian director Anu Hasbold.

This is Reality

East Timorese ex-resistance fighter turned artist Osme creates a fictional alter-ego called Rambo Marabunta, a roving TV reporter to question the population and interrogate his own past. He starts by posting short clips on Facebook and quickly grows into East Timors first YouTube star. This project follows Osmes journey as the local TV station offers him a prime-time slot for the first East Timorese reality TV show. This documentary is from NSW director Chris Phillips (Lost Rambos).

Give Us Green, Darling!

Darwins laksa queen, Amye Un is a local personality with a cult following. When she recently chastised her local council for the lack of greenery in a video, it went viral and embarrassed the council into action. Buoyed by her popularity, Amye now wants to try her luck by standing in the Territory 2020 elections and is set to take on the Northern Territorys most powerful to give us green. This documentary is from Northern Territory director Caro Macdonald.
By David Shepardson and Aradhana Aravindan

WASHINTGON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The coronavirus epidemic could rob passenger airlines of up to $113 billion in revenue this year, an industry body warned on Thursday, while the head of Southwest Airlines said a drastic drop-off in travel demand seemed fear-driven, similar to the feeling after Sept. 11, 2001.

"We could discount prices tomorrow and it wouldn't do any good," Southwest Airlines Co <LUV.N> Chief Executive Gary Kelly said at an aviation conference in Washington.

Earlier, Kelly told CNBC: "9/11 wasnt an economically driven issue for travel, it was more fear, quite frankly, and I think thats whats manifested this time. I think theres elements of both but it has a 9/11-type feel.

"Hopefully, well get this behind us quickly."

The Dow Jones U.S. Airlines Index [.DJUSAR] closed down 8.6%.

The estimated revenue hit to the sector was made by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which said the impact could range between $63 billion and $113 billion this year, depending on the progression of the virus.

That was more than three times its forecast for a $29 billion impact made just two weeks ago.

The COVID-19 virus emerged in China late last year and has now spread to more than 80 countries, leading to travel and other restrictions. It has killed more than 3,300 people and infected tens of thousands more, raising fears of a pandemic that could plunge the global economy into recession.

Airlines across the globe are rushing to cut flights and costs, and warning of a hit to earnings.

"There are lots of airlines that have got relatively narrow profit margins and lots of debt, and a cash flow shock like this could certainly send some into a very difficult situation," IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce told a media event in Singapore.

British regional carrier Flybe became the first big casualty of the outbreak after the British government walked away from a rescue package agreed upon in January due to the scale of the hit to demand over the virus.

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In a sign of the new difficulties for airlines, a Turkish Airlines jet <THYAO.IS> was flown back to Istanbul without any passengers on board on Thursday on orders from Singapore after a passenger who had arrived on the same plane on Tuesday tested positive for the virus.

South Korea, Italy and Iran have been particularly badly affected. Germany, Japan, France, Spain, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong have all reported more than 100 cases.

IATA said its lower forecast was based on the virus being contained in current markets with over 100 cases as of March 2, while the higher estimate was based on a broader epidemic. Both scenarios assume there will be a recovery by late summer.

Meanwhile, Southwest warned that the epidemic could wipe up to $300 million from its first-quarter operating revenue and Norwegian Air <NWC.OL> became the latest airline to scrap its profit forecast for 2020.

Norwegian, a pioneer of low-cost transatlantic travel, has been struggling for years due to cutthroat competition and heavy debts built up during rapid expansion.

Its shares, which have lost nearly 60% of their value this year, ended 13% lower on Thursday.

Analysts say few airlines are likely to remain unscathed, as both business and tourist travel are being affected, with meetings and events being canceled and companies limiting travel to protect employees.

Data provider ForwardKeys said on Thursday new flight bookings to Europe from elsewhere in the world fell by 79% in the last week of February, as the virus took hold in popular tourist destinations such as Italy.

"The drop-off in bookings to Italy is even worse than we have observed in the past for some of the most disruptive events such as terror attacks," ForwardKeys Vice President Insights Olivier Ponti said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Additional reporting by Sarah Young in London, Terje Solsvik in Oslo, Jamie Freed in Sydney, Kate Holton in London and Laurence Frost in Paris; Writing by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Keith Weir and Matthew Lewis)
[March 05, 2020] New Blog Series from McGraw-Hill Gives an Inside Look at the Company's Work Culture

NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new blog series from McGraw-Hill called "Behind the Cube," a riff on the company's iconic red cube logo, takes people inside the walls of the company to meet employees who work on various teamsfrom sales to marketing to product development, and from the U.S. and beyond. Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8289056-mcgraw-hill-work-culture-blog-series/ The Behind the Cube series is meant to provide insight into the company's culture and core values, while simultaneously giving employees a chance to share their day-to-day job responsibilities, favorite aspects of McGraw-Hill, and personal interests. The series, found on the company's Ideas in Education blog, began in November 2019, with the most recent released in February 2020. Some highlights: "McGraw-Hill has one of the most open and inclusive cultures I've encountered in my career. We are truly a family that spans the world! Everyone wants to see you grow and it's always about how we can get better together." -Antoinette Moore, Learning Technology Representative in Central Mississippi (November 2019) | To hear more from Antoinette, click here . "The best part about working at McGraw-Hill is having the autonomy to innovate, excel and pursue projects that are close to my heart." - Dr. Sreyoshi Bhaduri, Senior People Researcher in New York City ( December 2019) | To hear more from Sreyoshi, click here .



"McGraw-Hill is such a special and diverse company that offers growth and exposure to different kinds of projects and fields. There are so many opportunities to learn more and everyone I work with has always been supportive of my personal career growth." -Santiago Martinez, LatAm Training Manager in Mexico City (January 2020) | To hear more from Santiago, click here . "The impact you can have is such a fulfilling feeling, knowing that each conversation you have with a customer could help the next doctor, CEO, or President." -Michael Killian, Learning Technology Representative in Dubuque, IA (February 2020) | To hear more from Michael, click here .

McGraw-Hill

McGraw-Hill is a learning science company that delivers personalized learning experiences that drive results for students, parents, educators and professionals. We focus on educational equity, affordability and learning success to help learners build better lives. Headquartered in New York City, McGraw-Hill has offices across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions for PreK-12, higher education, professionals and others available in more than 75 languages. Visit us at mheducation.com or find us on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn or Twitter . Contact:

Tyler Reed

McGraw-Hill

(646) 766-2951

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-blog-series-from-mcgraw-hill-gives-an-inside-look-at-the-companys-work-culture-301017127.html SOURCE McGraw-Hill

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Steve Farber, the kid from North Denver who founded a law firm with childhood friends and left his mark on nearly every aspect of recent Colorado history, died Wednesday at his Denver home surrounded by family.

Farber, 76, was friends with presidents and an adviser to senators, governors and mayors. From his perch as a founding partner and president of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, one of the most powerful legal and lobbying firms in the country, he negotiated deals for the Denver Broncos and helmed the site committee that brought the Democratic National Convention to Denver in 2008.

"Today, with great sadness, we say goodbye to a Colorado legend, Steve Farber," said his lifelong friend, Norm Brownstein, who founded the influential firm with their friend Jack Hyatt in 1968, in a statement.

"Throughout his career, Steve was one of the most respected and accomplished leaders in the country," Brownstein said. "He inspired change not only at the firm, but throughout Colorado and across the nation. Steve was often the first call CEOs, politicians and community leaders made because they knew he would find a way to get the job done. The firms ability to thrive for more than 50 years is a testament to Steves leadership, work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit.

"I think former Governor John Hickenlooper put it best when he said, Steve has millions of friends but you always feel like you are the most important."

Added Brownstein: "Goodbye, my brother. Its been an incredible ride."

At the center of many of the Front Range's landmark projects, Farber put together funding for Denver International Airport, the E-470 highway and the T-REX project, Hickenlooper noted in a 2018 proclamation honoring the 50th anniversary of the firm's founding. That work, he said, demonstrated the firm's commitment "to ensuring Denver remains a thriving and growing city."

"I look at this city. Im pretty proud when I see what its become. Its a heck of a city," Farber told Colorado Politics in a 2015 interview in his office, surrounded by memorabilia from decades at the center of national politics and Denver's endeavors to become a world-class city.

Farber Viking Denver attorney Steve Farber, a founder of the law and lobbying firm Brownstein Farber Hyatt Schreck, is pictured in a 2015 ad featuring gradu

With a broad smile, Farber pulled from a sheaf of papers an image from an ad campaign he'd recently participated in to promote Denver's North High School.

"I am a Viking," the ad read, next to a photo of a smiling Farber.

"I have pride in my high school," he said. "I have pride in the city I live in."

Farber, a lifelong Democrat, honed his political chops early in his career helping college classmate and fraternity brother Hank Brown, a Republican who later joined the firm as a partner, win election to Congress.

"When Norm and I first got involved in politics," Farber recalled with a chuckle, "we had Hank Brown, and we aligned ourselves with Hank, which wasnt a smart thing to do as Democrats."

While he remained comfortable working across the aisle  I try to avoid the hostilities between parties," he said  Farber became known as a powerhouse Democratic fundraiser and strategist starting in the mid-1980s when he ran the first of Roy Romer's three successful campaigns for governor.

Friends for decades with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Farber co-chaired the Clinton Global Initiative in Denver for two years and was a top fundraiser for Hillary Clintons presidential campaigns, belonging to the group of bundlers known as "Hillblazers," who raised more than $100,000.

On the verge of the last presidential election, Farber said he was alarmed at the nativist turn the Republican Party was taking.

"Weve heard all our lives  when I was a young kid, the immigrants were settling in Denver," he said. "Im an American. America is based on opening our doors to people, being civil to people who need help. Weve always been that way. Your parents and my parents taught us, thats the way of our country, thats the way the United States should be."

Farber, who received a transplanted kidney from his son Gregg in 2004, co-wrote a book about the procedure and founded and chaired the American Transplant Foundation, which works to eliminate the shortage of transplant organs.

"I wouldnt be here if transplants werent around," Farber told Colorado Politics. "People need to be informed about how you deal with this. I said, if I get through this, Im going to start a foundation, Ill raise the money, Ill do what I can, because theres people dying. Weve saved people in 35 states now, who ultimately went through our program. So it works. It taught me a lot of lessons in life."

The American Transplant Foundation on Wednesday mourned Farber's passing.

"The legacy he left, though, will live on forever," the foundation said in a statement. "Steve believed that no one should die while waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Through his own struggle of trying to find a living donor due to kidney failure, he realized how much needed to be done to help save lives here in America."

Noting that Farber's intention was to establish a foundation "that goes beyond awareness and provides real help to transplant patients and their loved ones," Anastasia Henry, the foundation's executive director, said the foundation has helped save 1,417 lives provided $832,000 in direct support for patients and families, as well as helped pass legislation to support living donors and their families.

Farber was on the board of trustees of the Anti-Defamation League, the Children's Diabetes Foundation, the Race to Erase M.S. Foundation and the Children's Hospital Foundation. He was also a member of the boards of Citywide Banks, Denver Health Foundation, Aurora EDC and Alliance for Choice in Education, and chaired Denver Hospice's capitol campaign, according to his law firm's website.

Services are pending, Brownstein said.
TORONTO, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (RioCan or the Trust) (TSX: REI.UN ) is proud to announce today its Green Bond Framework. RioCan is the first REIT in Canada to establish a Green Bond Framework. Our aim is to finance sustainable investments or projects.

As a responsible community steward, we are proud to launch our Green Bond Framework. It is an important advancement in RioCans progress towards embedding sustainability practices across all aspects of our business, said Edward Sonshine, Chief Executive Officer of RioCan. Our Green Bond Framework enables us to raise capital in support of initiatives and activities as we grow and build for the future in an environmentally sustainable way.



RioCans Green Bond Framework has been reviewed by Sustainalytics, a global leader in providing environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and analysis. Sustainalytics issued a second party opinion confirming that RioCans Green Bond Framework aligns with the International Capital Markets Association Green Bond Principles 2018.

To enable investors and other stakeholders to follow the development of RioCans green bond issuance and to gain insight into how net proceeds of a green bond issuance are used, RioCan will provide annual updates on its website and/or Annual Report until net proceeds of a green bond issuance are fully allocated to Eligible Green Projects. A copy of RioCans Green Bond Framework is available at https://investor.riocan.com/RioCan-Green-Bond-Framework-March-2020 . To learn more about RioCans ongoing commitment to sustainability and to access related documents, please visit: www.riocan.com/about/sustainability

About RioCan

RioCan is one of Canadas largest real estate investment trusts, with a total enterprise value of approximately $15.0 billion as at December 31, 2019. RioCan owns, manages and develops retail-focused, increasingly mixed-use properties located in prime, high-density transit-oriented areas where Canadians want to shop, live and work. As at December 31, 2019, our portfolio is comprised of 220 properties with an aggregate net leasable area of approximately 38.4 million square feet (at RioCan's interest) including office, residential rental and 14 development properties. To learn more about us, please visit www.riocan.com.

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Disclaimer

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or solicitation of an offer to buy, any RioCan securities or a recommendation to engage into any investment activity, in any jurisdiction or to any person or entity. No representations or warranties, express or implied, have been made as to the accuracy or completeness of the information in this press release and this press release should not be relied on in connection with, or act as any inducement in relation to, an investment decision.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements reflect RioCans current beliefs and are based on information currently available to us. These statements are not guarantees and are based on estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Accordingly, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this document and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances.

For further information contact:



RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust

Qi Tang

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

416-866-3033
HARTFORD  The Democratic co-chairs of the Labor and Public Employees Committee are looking to move the goalposts for reducing greenhouse gas emissions further than Gov. Ned Lamont.

The proposal is part of a bill thats dubbed a Green New Deal. The bill that received a public hearing this week calls for greenhouse gas emissions to be lowered by 80 percent by 2050. Lamont had called for a 45 percent reduction by 2030.

Some advocates and lawmakers dont believe Lamonts initiative goes far enough in addressing the crisis we face, said John Humphries, executive director of the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs.

However, its not exactly clear why the Labor and Public Employees Committee would be taking up this legislation, which seems more appropriate for the Energy and Technology Committee.

Everything that goes on in this state is a labor issue, and thats because everybody who works in this state is part of the community, Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, said. Everything we do affects all of the workers in Connecticut, and so moving to a green economy, a green deal is really critically important. Not just for those looking for future work but also for those working today.

Like the federal Green New Deal proposal, the Connecticut legislation seeks to address climate change and economic inequality.

The Connecticut bill calls for an assessment of the latest scientific information and relevant data regarding global climate change and the status of greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts in other states and countries. With this information in hand, the legislation calls for lawmakers to initiate a plan to cut carbon emissions and transition Connecticut toward a clean energy economy with good-paying green jobs.

Many who spoke Tuesday in favor of the legislation said that Connecticuts current energy policies disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities. The bill proposes the creation of an Environmental Equity Working Group to identify disadvantaged communities for pollution reduction.

Air pollution and climate change affect the most vulnerable communities, said Natalie Ochoa, a senior at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk.

The bill would require 40 percent of the benefits of any new policies to be directed to disadvantaged communities, and 40 percent of energy efficiency funds be spent on low- and moderate-income households.

The bill also includes a proposal to re-train and educate current energy workers like those in power plants, or even those more loosely attached to carbon-producing industries such as auto dealership employees, for greener jobs in a new eco-friendly economy.

This is a critical measure necessary to ensure an equitable transition for employees in energy sector jobs that may be impacted by the law, said Louis Ricardo Burch, Connecticut director for the Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

Kushner agreed that Connecticut must be proactive when it comes to anticipating a shift of this magnitude in its work sector.

Were going to soon be faced with a crisis where we have to quickly move to new technologies and have to make sure the right workers are there and properly trained, Kushner said. We cant just put people out of work and expect our economy to move forward.

The bill also contemplates a carbon tax and requires the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to determine an amount which accurately reflects the social, environmental, and public health costs associated with each ton of greenhouse gas currently produced, according to Burch.

Those in opposition at Tuesdays public hearing argued that renewable energy alone is not capable of providing for the entirety of the states energy needs.

Electric lines cannot accommodate the amount of electricity it would take to put electric vehicles and electric heat pumps in peoples homes, said Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketing Association, which is an organization of 585 members with 13,000 Connecticut-based employees whose priority is to strengthen and protect the future of the petroleum industry.

Steven Guveyan, executive director of Connecticuts Petroleum Council, said it would be unreasonable to convert all the ambulances and snowplows into electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Herb stressed that homeowners will be forced to pay additional money per gallon of home heating fuel to transition to an all-electric economy.

Someones going to have to pay for this and as I go through the bill not too much is said about cost because nobody really wants to deal with that, Guveyan added.

Guveyan said this would result in disproportionate costs to fixed- and low-to-medium-income households throughout the state, which he said was a contradiction to one of the bills most important goals.

If power goes out in an all-electronic economy, now we cant charge our vehicles, cant get to work, it halts commerce. At least with gasoline and generator backups we could still move about our state to deliver products and goods, Herb said.

The concerns about the costs required for such a switch, and the inherent susceptibility of an all-electric economy, outweigh the benefit that would be ultimately realized by the bill, according to Herb.
Her friends ended up in quarantine as the Covid-19 virus spurred lockdowns in the Lombardy region, while Lazarski was able to return to Rome where her main study program was based. She wasnt there for long, though, as Marquette University announced that students spending the semester in Italy had to return home. After some chaotic packing, she boarded a flight back to the states and is now in a proactive self-isolation, though she is not thought to be exposed to the virus, did not test positive and is showing no symptoms.
Suzanne Arena, whose 16-year-old daughter is friends with the sick teenager, has gone over the timeline again and again since then, wondering how much exposure occurred before the teacher was tested, and before those test results were made public.She learned about the sick staff member, she said, when a rival school refused to compete against St. Raphael Academy in a cheerleading contest scheduled for Sunday morning  team membrers had heard there was coronavirus at St. Raphael.
Heidi Li Feldmans experience as a supporter of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary prepared her, in some way, for 2020. In 2008, she believed Clinton was uniquely well equipped for the job, but she also saw a tremendous amount of fear and hatred directed at both Clinton and her female supportersin part coming from other Democrats who supported Barack Obama. All my life I have witnessed the large and small ways in which women are systematically and individually subordinated in any context where any power is at stake, she said this week. If you were an involved supporter of Clintons run in 2008, you lived those dynamics. You couldnt come out of that experience naive about the potential for a woman to become president of the United States.

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Feldman, a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, was more than an involved supporter of Clinton in 2008. She co-founded a nonprofit that pushed for the DNC to open the Democratic convention to a roll call vote and speeches on behalf of Clinton. Anything less, the group warned, would be a coronation of Obama. Feldmans group was part of the larger PUMA movementparty unity my assa cohort that BuzzFeed later referred to as Hillary Clintons dead-enders. Feldman eventually moved on, and she supported Clinton again in 2016. This cycle, she supported Elizabeth Warren. Im not depressed about it. Im annoyed, she said the morning after Super Tuesday. I think a lot of women who are 40, 50, 60 years old are incredibly fed up.

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I think a lot of women who are 40, 50, 60 years old are incredibly fed up.  Warren supporter Heidi Li Feldman

As the Democratic field has narrowed rapidly over the past several weeks, plenty of voters are disappointed that their candidate didnt make it to the end. But theres a special kind of defeat experienced by women who supported Hillary Clinton through multiple election cycles and supported Elizabeth Warren through this one. Most of these women say theyll vote in November for any Democratic candidate against Donald Trump. But many of them havent forgotten how Bernie Sanders delayed his endorsement of Clinton in 2016. Theyre exhausted by the aggressiveness of some of his supporters. Theyre uninspired by Biden. I thought wed moved on from having two men basically cockfighting on the debate stage, Warren supporter Sayu Bhojwani said.

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The day after Super Tuesday, Kim Haas was experiencing a mixture of disappointment and relief. She was sad that her candidate, Warren, had performed so poorly. She also felt a particular antipathy toward Sanders and his supporters, though, so she was gratified at the possibility that Biden could slow him down. But its not optimal. Its like: I waited four years for this? Haas sees Sanders focus on revolution as unrealistic, and she compared his supporters to Trump fans: They both have the tendency to follow people without question. Haas, who was also active in the PUMA movementshe operates a pro-Clinton blog under the pen name Riverdaughtersaid she will write in Warrens name on her ballot.

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"I thought wed moved on from having two men basically cockfighting on the debate stage."  Warren supporter Sayu Bhojwan

Serene Arena, who lives in Chicago, agrees with Sanders on almost every policy issueon paper. She reads the socialist magazine Jacobin and considers herself a social democrat, a term she said describes Sanders, too. But she viewed Elizabeth Warren as much more likely to get things done, and she is exhausted by the endemic sexism that she sees holding her candidate back. I see [Sanders] as a perpetuation of that, she said. I dont see where he is really lifting women up so much as letting the women who believe in him come with him. In January, Warren accused Sanders of having told her in 2018 that he did not think a woman could win the presidency. (Sanders denied her account.)

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Bhojwani, who supported Clinton in the 2016 primary, acknowledges Sanders activism in the civil rights movement but sees his recent record on racial and gender issues as thin, and is unimpressed by his apparent lack of interest in getting up to speed. (Bhojwani emphasized that her support of any candidate does not represent her organization.) She described Warren, by contrast, as a fast learner on issues like black maternal health with a strong record of legislative achievement.

When you look at someone like Sanders, the way he behaves onstage, his mannerisms and his way of speaking, his single-mindedness, his very limited track record of getting anything donea woman would have been torn apart, Bhojwani said. As for Biden: Imagine a woman who had lost every state in every presidential primary, running for the third time.
Storyful

Supporters of world No.1 Novak Djokovic gathered outside a courthouse in Melbourne on January 10 as the player appealed against his deportation from Australia in the hope of staying to play in the Australian Open.According to court filings, Djokovics lawyers say he was granted a visa on November 18. An exemption certificate was issued by Tennis Australias chief medical officer on December 30, they said.The hearing on Monday was due to start at the Federal Circuit and Family Court at 10am but was delayed multiple times due to technical issues. According to local reports, Judge Anthony Kelly said a professor and an eminently qualified physician have produced and provided to the applicant a medical exemption.Further to that, that medical exemption and the basis on which it was given was separately given by a further independent expert specialist panel, established by the Victorian state government. And that document was in the hands of the delegate.And the point Im somewhat agitated about is, was what more could this man have done? Judge Kelly asked.Footage by Slobodan Bendjo shows fans waving Serbian flags and dancing outside the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne. Credit: Slobodan Bendjo via Storyful
By Trend

Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, Colonel-General of the Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev met with Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Azerbaijan Hamad bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Khudair, Trend reports on March 4 referring to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.

Mehdiyev said that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia are successfully developing.

"A high level of cooperation is important and friendly relations between the heads of two states play an important role in the development of the bilateral relations," the chairman said.

The reforms in the Azerbaijani customs system, initiated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, helped simplify customs procedures, increase the country's export and transit potential and transparency, promote international trade and create modern customs procedures, Mehdiyev added.

The trade between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia is developing, but both countries have more opportunities to increase the volume of import-export operations, Mehdiyev said.

The chairman stressed the importance of fully using these opportunities.

Mehdiyev also touched on the relationship between the customs services of the two countries, stressing the development of relations in the field of customs, the importance of interaction and exchange of experience to intensify the cooperation.

In turn, Hamad bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Khudair said that Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to the development of relations with Azerbaijan.

Stressing the high level of relations between Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, the ambassador emphasized that there are good opportunities for expanding cooperation in the economic, trade, investment, agricultural and other spheres.

The ambassador also stressed the need to further strengthen the ties between the customs agencies of the two countries and increase trade turnover.

Hamad bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Khudair added that he would make every effort to further strengthen the bilateral relations.

Then the sides also exchanged the views on other issues of mutual concern.

The goal of the Azerbaijani Customs Service is to protect Azerbaijans sovereignty, economic and national security, as well as improve the social well-being of people, promote the international trade, as well as ensure security, collect customs payments and transfer them to the state budget, as well as prevent fraud in the field of customs affairs and the fight against international terrorism.

---

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo County commissioners were confronted with some harsh truths during the boards March 4 meeting, including feedback from employees who called the elected officials dysfunctional and toxic in an anonymous survey.

Minnesota-based consulting company deepSEE Consulting prepared a 22-page study in July, which recommended the county hire a diversity and inclusion officer. The study outlines responsibilities such as training employees, identifying key positions and promotional paths and developing diversity and inclusion performance reviews.

The survey found discrepancies between how employees rated their own cultural competency versus how they evaluated their coworkers, employers and county leadership, consultant Sara Tayor said.

County leaders lack of cultural competency feeds their unconscious bias and therefore leads to miscommunications, Taylor said.

The deepSee survey asked employees to self-evaluate their productivity and how miscommunications affect their ability to get work done.

Employees reported losing 15.4%, or 72 minutes per day, to miscommunication and misunderstandings. That lost productivity means the county suffers an annual loss of $6,703,361.43, based on average Kalamazoo County annual payroll of $43,985,311.24.

Commissioners were both shocked and skeptical of the nearly $7 million loss, and revisited it throughout their discussion Wednesday.

The staggering financial impact pushed the general opinion of the board toward follow the consultants recommendations of cultural competency training and hiring an officer dedicated to diversity and inclusion.

Part of this issue is our own board culture and at the price that has been given we cant afford not to do it, Chairperson Julie Rogers said. It is difficult to hear this information, but I think its critical to move our organization forward.

Last month, the board debated how to best expand and legitimatize the countys equity task force.

The equity task force was initially created to address the race disparity seen in Kalamazoo Countys infant mortality data, and to increase the countys involvement with the collaborative Cradle Kalamazoo.

The task force recommended an outside consultant review the countys cultural competency as an employer, a recommendation which prompted deepSees survey in spring 2019.

While pointing out flaws at the leadership level, the consultant was wary of engaging with an equity task force made up of community members until the commissioners first work on cultural competency among themselves.

You literally do not have the current competence to take in everything that a community group might event tell you, Taylor said. Much less be able to respond to it.

Commissioners agreed that the work needed to happen within, despite the information presented being hard to swallow."

Meanwhile, commissioners continue to question the impact that anticipated vacancies might have on the board, as some members have filed to run for other elected offices.

Democrats Rogers, Stephanie Moore, Christine Morse have filed paperwork for state House campaigns. Democrat Meredith Place has filed to run for county clerk.

Democrat Jen Aniano pointed out that if commissioners set the new standard for cultural competency, then that will be a legacy that continues beyond the current board.

Organizational culture is not something that comes and goes with 11 people sitting up here," Aniano said. When you create a culture the purpose of it is to make it stay.

Among the survey, there was a widespread perception of distrust and disrespect from the top down, Taylor said.

The board was serving as a role model of how to behave, Taylor said. Essentially creating a monkey-see-monkey-do mentality.

Taylor quoted from focus group discussions: If the commissioners can say this, I can say this. If the commissioners can act this way with each other, I can act this way with my colleagues.

Other discrepancies also included that while county leaders believe they are open to diversity and inclusion, people of color within the county do not experience diversity and inclusion efforts from leadership.

Focus groups discussions also aired out that people of color bear the weight of being the one and only minority in a department, and outside perceptions from the community suggest the county is not a minority-friendly employer, Taylor said.

A real sense that if youre going to work here as a person of color its going to be a difficult place to work, Taylor said.

Also on MLive:

Kalamazoo County debates membership of planned diversity committee

Pot shop sues Kalamazoo for delaying recreational sales

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer not ruling out presidential endorsement ahead of primary
WHO warns all countries that coronavirus threat must be taken seriously

The World Health Organization's director general is concerned that some countries are not taking the threat of coronavirus seriously enough. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuss says that successfully containing the epidemic requires a coordinated international response.
Local police said they are treating the deaths as a murder suicide (stock photo)

An Irish woman has been found dead alongside her two children and husband in the US in what local police suspect is a murder-suicide.

The four bodies were discovered at the family home in Reno, Nevada, shortly after 11am local time (7pm Irish time) on Wednesday.

The woman is believed to be from Co Kerry.

The Department of Foreign Affairs here said it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance.

Reno Police said it discovered four bodies at a home in south Reno when they called to the property after it was reported members of the family had not been seen for some time.

A spokesman or Reno Police Department said: Subsequent investigation revealed three other deceased subjects within the residence that are believed to be members of the same family who reside there. This appears to be an isolated incident and there is no threat to the community.

Local police said they are treating the case as a murder suicide.

The bodies were removed from the property and are being examined by the local medical examiners office.
Bouncing back after two devastating floods, Kerala recorded the highest growth rate in domestic and total tourist arrivals in 24 years attracting around 1.96 crore domestic and foreign visitors in 2019, registering a growth of 17.2 per cent.

The total earnings from tourism stood at Rs 45,010.69 crore, notching a robust 24.14 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

The total tourist arrivals touched over 1.95 crore which included 1.83 crore domestic visitors and 11.89 lakh guests from abroad, a press release said.

In 2018, the number of tourists visiting Kerala was 1.67 crore (domestic tourists 1.56 crore and foreign tourists 10.96 lakh).

The growth rate in the inflow of domestic tourists was 17.81 per cent while for the foreign tourist arrivals, it was 8.52 per cent.

"We have bounced back with great vigour after suffering unprecedented floods and torrential rains for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. This is the highest growth rate since 1996.

Our figures show that there was a very significant increase in the footfalls from May 2019 and it prevailed till the end of the year," an elated Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.

"We are optimistic about sustaining the growth momentum this year also but it will depend on how quickly the world finds a solution to the problem of Coronavirus outbreak," he added.

Of the 14 districts, Ernakulam attracted the largest number of tourists (45,82,366), followed by Thiruvananthapuram (33,48,618), Thrissur (25,99,248) and Idukki (18,95,422).

In terms of statistics, Kerala registered an increase of 27.8 lakh domestic tourists as compared to the previous year.

Of this rise, Ernakulam district recorded 6.13 lakh, Idukki 5.62 lakh, Thiruvananthapuram 3.25 lakh, Wayanad 2.55 lakh and Kozhikode 2.52 lakh, which were the significant gainers during this period.

Further, the number of increase in international tourists was 93,364 compared to a year earlier, of which Ernakulam accounted for 34,057, Idukki 30,373 and Alapuzzha 20,706 the three districts with significant gains.

The total foreign exchange earnings (FEE) from tourism crossed Rs 10,000 crore for the first time, touching a figure of Rs 10,271.06 crore and registering a growth of 17.19 per cent over the previous year.

Ernakulam alone generated Rs 4,508.32 crore of the FEE, accounting for 43.9 per cent of the total foreign exchange earnings from tourism sector.

It was followed by Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 2,680.06 crore) and Alappuzha (Rs 1,003.37 crore).

In terms of total revenue earned from the tourism sector, Ernakulam topped with Rs 12,816.54 crore, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 8,700.12 crore), Thrissur (Rs 4,646.08 crore) and Idukki (Rs 3,984.4 crore).

Tourism Secretary Rani George said the huge growth in tourist arrivals in the face of most adverse circumstances was achieved by an aggressive, multi-pronged strategy to woo back the visitors.

"We allayed the apprehensions of visitors by holding roadshows in our traditional and emerging markets.

An important component of the roadshows was a three- minute video film, 'Human by Nature,' our latest brand campaign that showed the state in a new light by creating symmetry between its people and natural beauty.

The upsurge in tourist arrivals is a testament to the resilience and vibrancy of tourism sector of the state," she added.

"We were able to overcome the horrendous consequences of unprecedented floods in double-quick time.

The damaged infrastructure was repaired swiftly, and we were able to send out a strong message to tourists across the globe that Kerala is ready to embrace them with its famed hospitality and charm," Tourism Director, P Bala Kiran said.

He also attributed the growth to a string of new tourism products, especially the Champions Boat League (CBL), saying it had the potential to transform Kerala into a 365-day destination.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Our Netflix binging habits and constant Instagram scrolling is as polluting to the environment as flying, a new BBC Three documentary has revealed.

Experts are warning about the impact a huge rise in data use could have on the planet, following the launch of streaming services from the likes of Disney and Apple, the growth in cryptocurrencies, and the rollout of 5G.

By time two-year-old Stormi Kardashian West is a teenager, the internet may be using fifth of the world's electricity - the same as the whole of America.

Dirty Streaming: The Internet's Big Secret explains how three quarters of the world's internet use is video - and the data centres where they are stored are largely powered by fossil fuels.

It revealed how binge watching an entire series like Peaky Blinders generates the same emissions as driving from Birmingham to Manchester.

Our Netflix binging habits and constant Instagram scrolling is as polluting to the environment as flying, a new BBC Three documentary has revealed. Pictured is presenter Beth Webb, who hosts the programme

As our demand for video grows, so does the demand on the data centres - which are essentially the physical locations of 'the cloud' - which house them.

In turn, the data centres use up more power - both to store its millions of files and keep its powerful servers cool.

To watch a video on your device, your request travels from your phone, through different networks, under the ocean along fibre optic cables to a data centre somewhere in the world where it is stored.

It then travels back to you in thousands of pieces, reassembling as a video when it gets to your phone. The higher the resolution, the greater the transmission of data.

Professor Ian Bitterlin, a consulting engineer and visiting professor at Leeds University, said the rollout of 5G is set to launch 'another vast avalanche of data use'.

Speaking in the documentary, he explained: '5G will generate much more traffic and demand much more power, which is not good for climate change.'

Meanwhile Dr Mike Hazas, a professor at Lancaster University's School of Computing and Communications, added that watching shows in high definition uses up to fives times the amount of energy.

'If you go to high definition, the number of pixels and the amount of information that comes across is four to five times as much, and so you can equate that roughly to being four to five times the amount of energy,' he said.

'The network's having to do more and then the data centre far away is also having to do a bit more.'

Dr Bitterlin added: 'If you're doing a heart operation somewhere, with remote video, then absolutely yes [you need HD].

'Watching a video on a phone, with most people's average eyesight? Absolutely not.'

Meanwhile Dr Mike Hazas, a professor at Lancaster University's School of Computing and Communications, added that watching shows in high definition uses up to fives times the amount of energy

Dr Hazas pointed out that streaming a video or doing anything else on the internet also uses three to four times more energy if you're on 3G or 4G compared to if you're on WiFi.

'If you have the choice, watching that video at home as opposed to during your daily commute is a better way,' he advised.

'In terms of energy consumption, things like autoplay and infinite scrolling, because they keep us engaged, that keeps the data flowing which keeps the energy flowing.

'I've got a three-year-old and when he's a teenager, I would hope that we'd also think about, "Oh is this a video that I really wanted to stream, am I really going to be here in the next five minutes to actually watch it, or is this the kind of thing I should switch off?"'

The largest data centre hub in the world is in Loudoun County in Virginia, US - where AOL was based - which sees upwards of 70 per cent of the internet run through it every day.

Dr Hazas pointed out that streaming a video or doing anything else on the internet also uses three to four times more energy if you're on 3G or 4G compared to if you're on WiFi

The area has 13.5 million square feet of data centre space and is part of Amazon's cloud business. Since 2008, data centre construction there has been ongoing.

According to the documentary, Amazon earns more profit from selling its cloud space than it does from its Alexa products and one day deliveries.

Alex Rough, a network engineer who used to work for Amazon, told reporter Beth Webb: 'The problem with data centres is not their prevalence, not exactly their size; it's mostly about the fossil fuels that power them.'

Most of the fossil fuels that power the Virginia data centres comes from Dominion, an energy company which historically hasn't been very green.

As our demand for video grows, so does the demand on the data centres - which are essentially the physical locations of 'the cloud' - which house them. In turn, the data centres use up more power, generated from fossil fuels. Pictured: one of Dominion's coal power stations which is billowing steam into the atmosphere

During the show Beth visits one of Dominion's coal power stations which is billowing steam into the atmosphere.

Alex claimed: 'I think it just comes down to pure profit, and what is more profitable to them in the short run game, and that's essentially what it is, them playing a game with climate change and racing against the course of time.'

At the end of the documentary, it's pointed out that the viewer has used enough energy to travel 225m in a car just by watching the programme.

A spokesperson for Amazon told the BBC: 'Moving to Amazon Web Services (AWS) is much more sustainable than on-premises infrastructure, as AWS has always focused on energy efficiency and continuous innovation in our data centers in order to reduce energy usage and increase operational excellence. Renewable energy also plays a significant role in reducing our overall carbon emissions, and Amazon will continue to enable new renewable projects as we work towards our goals of achieving 80 per cent renewable energy by 2024 and 100 per cent by 2030.'

A spokesperson for Dominion said: 'Dominion Energy is committed to net-zero carbon and methane emissions by 2050.'

Dirty Streaming: The Internet's Big Secret is available on BBC Three on iPlayer from March 5.
Born in Lima in 1920, Mr. Perez de Cuellar joined Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1940 and the diplomatic service in 1944.





He subsequently served as Secretary at the Peruvian embassies in France, the United Kingdom, Bolivia and Brazil, and as Counsellor and Minister Counsellor at the embassy in Brazil.

Having returned to Lima in 1961, he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador the following year, successively occupying the posts of Director of the Legal Department, Director of Administration, Director of Protocol and Director of Political Affairs.





Thus, he would later serve as a Peruvian Ambassador to different countries including Switzerland, the Soviet Union, Poland, and Venezuela.





In 1966, he was appointed Secretary-General (Deputy Minister) for Foreign Affairs. In 1981, he served as Legal Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.





In 1971, he was appointed Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations, and he led his country's delegation to all sessions of the Assembly from then until 1975.





In 1973 and 1974, he represented Peru in the Security Council, serving as Chair of the council at the time of the events in Cyprus in July 1974. On September 18, 1975, he was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, a post he held until December 1977, when he rejoined his Foreign Service.





On February 27, 1979, he was appointed as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.

From April 1981 while still holding this post he acted as the Secretary-General's Personal Representative on the situation relating to Afghanistan. In that capacity, he visited Pakistan and Afghanistan in April and August of that year in order to continue the negotiations initiated by the Secretary-General some months earlier.





In May 1981, he again rejoined his country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs but continued to represent the Secretary-General in the context of the situation relating to Afghanistan until his appointment in December of that year as Secretary-General of the United Nations.





He held that post between 1982 and 1991, in which he played an outstanding role in the ceasefire negotiations of diverse international conflicts.





Over the course of a successful diplomatic career and during his 10 years as Secretary-General of the United Nations, his tireless work for world peace and solidarity among peoples has been recognized in his country of origin and around the world.





Visionary and staunch advocate of multilateralism, and as chief representative of the UN, he called on countries to work on the protection of the environment and towards sustainable development, thus initiating the debate over an issue that nowadays deserves global attention.







In his letter, the Secretary-General said that Mr. Perez de Cuellar had held such office with dignity and commitment starting in the 1980s and indeed through his last moments as Secretary-General in 1991 with the historic El Salvador peace accords, which were signed at the last minute of his term.


Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 16:14:23|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, March 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in has exchanged letter with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the presidential Blue House of South Korea said Thursday.

Yoon Do-han, senior Blue House press secretary, told a press briefing that Kim sent his personal letter to Moon on Wednesday to "convey his message of comfort" to the South Korean people who are fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak.

As of Thursday morning, South Korea reported a total of 5,766 infected patients.

In the letter, Kim said he believed that South Korea would prevail over the outbreak without fail, conveying his best wish for the continued good health of his compatriots in the South.

Kim showed his worry about the health of Moon, saying he will continue to quietly send his best wishes for Moon to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak.

Through the letter, Kim expressed his "candid" thoughts and positions on the situation of the Korean Peninsula, but the Blue House did not elaborate on it.

In response, Moon conveyed his gratitude through a personal letter to Kim earlier in the day, the Blue House said.

It was the first time this year that the leaders of the two Koreas exchanged letters.

In 2019, Kim sent his letter to Moon in October to console the South Korean president for his mother's death, while Moon delivered his letter to Kim to invite the DPRK leader to the special summit between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held in the southeastern port city of Busan in November.
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Linkedin Choi Ji-won (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network)  Thu, March 5, 2020 16:33 676 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206890cb8 2 Entertainment Netflix,kingdom,streaming-service,series Free

Global streaming giant Netflixs zombie-thriller Kingdom is returning with a second season next week, with the same cast members and even bloodier action than before.

Taking place in the Joseon era, Kingdom tells the story of how Prince Chang struggles to save his kingdom from a fast-spreading mystery disease.

Featuring the same main cast members from the first season, Kingdom season two will star Ju Ji-hoon as Prince Chang, Bae Doona as medical assistant Seo-bi, delving into the secrets of a herb behind the disease that turns humans into zombies, and Ryu Seung-ryong as Jo Hak-joo, the power-hungry minister trying to overthrow the prince.

According to Kim Eun-hee, writer of both seasons of Kingdom, the first season was a prelude to the war with the zombies with the follow-up showing the war between mankind and zombies, and how the characters uncover the circumstances behind the disease,

The writer, directors Kim Seon-hun and Park In-je and the main cast of the drama series -- Ju, Bae, Ryu, Kim Sang-ho, Jeon Seok-ho, Kim Sang-kyu and Kim Hae-joon -- discussed the upcoming drama series during a livestreamed press conference Thursday.

This season will be all about blood, the writer said.

Not only about red blood, but about the royal blood as well. The series will depict both the bloodthirsty sufferers of the undead disease and mankind lusting at the throne.

According to Ju, the second season will be even more intense and frenetic than the previous season.

While Prince Chang was being chased in the previous season, hell transform into a chaser in the stories to come, Ju said.

Kingdom season two is also the first drama series in Korea to be produced by two directors, each taking charge of different episodes. While Kim from the original season produced the first episode of the second season, Park directed the remaining five episodes.

Prince Chang, who chases after the secrets of Saengsacho (the herb of the undead) in season one, will find out what it is and what he can do for his kingdom in the following season. It will be about the demolition of the kingdom, director Park said.

Top Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun stars in the second season of Kingdom, although her exact role has not yet been revealed.

Kingdom, which debuted in January 2019, proved to be a worldwide hit, even with the exclusively Korean language and settings of the story. Netflix, confident in its success, had confirmed the production of the second season even before airing the initial episodes.

The producers hinted at another season still to come.

If the second season turns out to be a success, hopefully we could return with the story set in a bigger universe. Personally, Im hoping to go for ten seasons, the writer said.

The six-episode season two will be released exclusively on Netflix on March 13.

Topics :

This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
Ready, Set, Vote: Heres Everything You Need to Know for the 2020 Primaries
Emily Ratajkowski shared a video clip to her Inamorata Instagram account on Thursday morning that is not really safe for work.

The brunette bombshell was modeling some of the items from her own lingerie line which has become a best seller.

The cover girl was dancing around as she called the rust colored lace bra and undies 'sexy and supportive.'

Daring: Emily Ratajkowski shared a video clip to her Inamorata Instagram account on Thursday morning that is not really safe for work

Top brand: The brunette bombshell was modeling some of the items from her own lingerie line which has become a best seller

There was no music playing as she moved her hips then showed off her generous backside and flipped her hair.

Her abs looked very strong and her waistline was tiny as she looked to be in the best shape of her life.

This comes after the Vogue model urged her followers to get out and vote on Super Tuesday: 'A Democracy means one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections,' she said. 'Tomorrow we have the opportunity to restore our democracy and make our country prioritize the interests of its citizens.'

They do wonders: The cover girl was dancing around as she called the rust colored lace bra and undies 'sexy and supportive'

Shake it: There was no music playing as she moved her hips then showed off her generous backside and flipped her hair

The star told her followers she already voted early during a Monday Instagram post.

'Tomorrow is Super Tuesday which means 1357 pledged delegates (33.8% of the nationwide total) are up for grabs.

'I voted in California via absentee ballot for @berniesanders! For far too long the political establishment has sacrificed the interests of the people for those of corporations and billionaires.

She must hit the gym every day: Her abs looked very strong and her waistline was tiny as she looked to be in the best shape of her life

And there is the ring: She flashed her double diamond engagement ring from her husband

'Thats why we have a country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, an environmental disaster on our hands and millions of people in insurmountable debt whove been denied fundamental human rights like health care and education.

'A Democracy means one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections.

'Tomorrow we have the opportunity to restore our democracy and make our country prioritize the interests of its citizens. Go vote!'

Her home life: Here EmRat showed a photo of her husband Sebastian and their dog

This comes after the Instagram pinup attended the Versace show and hung out with fellow supermodel Bella Hadid in Milan, Italy.

The siren looked at ease as she wore her long brown hair down over her shoulders while in a pair of Versace sunglasses that fit her perfectly.

For shoes, she chose white leather Nike sneakers.

She was hopping between shows at this season's Milan Fashion Week.

Ratajkowski looked sensational as she arrived at the Versace Fall/Winter 2020 show in the Italian fashion capital on Friday afternoon.

Do it! This comes after the Vogue model urged her followers to get out and vote on Super Tuesday: 'A Democracy means one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections,' she said. 'Tomorrow we have the opportunity to restore our democracy and make our country prioritize the interests of its citizens'

The model, 28, put on a busty display in a tiny red blazer dress, as she showcased her more than ample assets in the plunging number.

The thigh-skimming outfit also showcased Emily's tanned and toned legs, while she teamed the dress with a pair of strappy gold heels.

Emily carried her essentials in a red leather clutch bag but otherwise kept her accessories to a minimum, simply adding pair of gold hoop earrings.

She wore her brunette locks in a loose straight style and highlighted her model features with a bronze pallet of make-up including a slick of lip gloss.

Best friends: She was hopping between shows at this season's Milan Fashion Week. Ratajkowski looked sensational as she arrived at the Versace Fall/Winter 2020 show in the Italian fashion capital in late February

Emily was recently in Jamaica on Valentine's Day with her husband, the Uncut Gems producer Bear-McClard.

They were joined by their pal Josh Ostrovsky and his new influencer second wife Caitlin King.

Emily got married in February 2018 after a whirlwind romance and engagement to Sebastian.

She made a splash with her surprise courthouse marriage to Sebastian in New York City, wearing a $200 Zara trouser suit.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday that his country was concerned over the violence in Delhi and alleged that the new citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens were efforts to disenfranchise India's 200 million Muslims.

Qureshi made the remarks during a seminar in Islamabad which was organised by the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies - a think-tank.

"The pogrom of Gujarat is being replayed on the streets of New Delhi. This is a matter of deep concern to Pakistan and should be to the entire world," Qureshi said.

He alleged that the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens were efforts to disenfranchise India's 200 million Muslims.

Qureshi said those promoting hatred in India must be held accountable for the crimes against humanity.

The Indian capital witnessed horrific violence last week following clashes between supporters and those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act. According to authorities, at least 42 people were killed in the violence.

Massive protests took place across India in the last two months over the new law with the opposition parties and rights groups terming it as violative of founding principles of Indian Constitution.

According to the law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution will be given Indian citizenship.

Qureshi said Pakistan was not in favour of any conflict with India but it would not keep silent at the excesses committed against the people of Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have been at odds after New Delhi abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories.

Pakistan reacted strongly to India's decision and downgraded bilateral ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was an internal matter. It has also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A north Alabama man was sentenced today for driving under the influence of alcohol in a deadly ATV crash.

Ryan Tolliver Johnson, a 22-year-old from Lexington, was sentenced to serve two years in a Lauderdale County work release program, followed by three years of probation. Circuit Judge Gil Self ordered a 10-year split sentence, meaning if Johnson violates probation he could be sent to prison for the remaining eight years.

Ryan Tolliver Johnson pleaded guilty in a deadly ATV crash that happened in Lauderdale County, Ala.

Johnson pleaded guilty earlier this year to criminally negligent homicide in the ATV crash death of 20-year-old Jackson Newton.

The crash happened during the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2017 when five people, including Johnson and Newton were on a Polaris Ranger that overturned in a field near Rogersville.

Jacksons mother, Lori Newton, wrote in a letter to Judge Self that she believed Ryan Johnson hadnt fully taken responsibility for his actions.

I know nothing will ever bring Jackson back or give us back the life we had, Lori Newton wrote in the letter, which is one of several victim impact statements included in public court records.

But I do feel that people should be held accountable and suffer the consequences for their destructive and careless actions," Lori Newton wrote.

At his sentencing hearing today, Johnson said he felt sorrow and regret for his decision to drive on the night of the crash, according his his attorney.

I know I have left a huge hole in the lives of many, Johnson read from a prepared statement shared with AL.com by his attorney.

Not a day goes by that I do not think about and pray for Jackson and his family, Johnson said. My hope is that one day the Newton family can find it in their hearts to forgive me.

Defense attorney Ralph Holt said hes disappointed Johnson is required to serve work release in addition to probation.

But Im grateful hes not in prison, Holt said.

In the work-release program, Johnson will be incarcerated, Holt said, except when hes working or traveling to and from his job as an apprentice at a local electrical company.

He was sweet, goofy, loving and so funny, such a cut-up, his mother wrote. He wasnt perfect and I knew that. But he was someone who could light up a room when he walked in.

The Newton family will never be the same without Jackson, who was a courteous, caring and kind young man, his mothers letter says.

No matter where I go or where I am I always feel like Im looking and searching for Jackson, his mother wrote.
Photo: Patrick Tomasso/Unsplash

Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Detroit. Detroit police searching for breaking and entering suspect Read the full story on CBS Detroit. Michelle Obama to host voter participation rally at University of Detroit Mercy Read the full story on CBS Detroit. Detroit family of 5 seeks help after losing everything in house fire Read the full story on Graham Media: WDIV Detroit. Police: Serial robber who threatened worker accused of robberies in Detroit, Warren, Troy, Eastpointe Read the full story on Graham Media: WDIV Detroit. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

The Detroit Police Department is seeking the public's assistance to identify an unknown male suspect involved in breaking and entering into an apartment complex multiple times located on the city's west side.

Former first lady Michelle Obama plans to host a rally in Detroit later this month for a nonpartisan, nonprofit voter advocacy organization she co-chairs.

A Detroit family of five needs help after they lost everything in a house fire last week.
The US-based General Motors (GM) has stated it will stop selling Chevrolets this year and shut down its factory in Thailand from which Chevrolets are exported to Vietnam.

GM said it will stop assembling Chevrolets in Thailand and sell its factory to Great Wall Motors (GWM) from China.





GMs Andy Dunstan said the group has made a decision because of the lackluster sales in Thailand and exports.



Tri Thuc Tre in mid-February quoted its sources as reporting that the shutdown of the factory in Thailand would have big impact on the export of Chevrolets to regional countries, including Vietnam.



In Vietnam, VinFast is the distributor of Chevrolet cars after the transfer deal in 2018. There are two possible scenarios after the GMs factory in Thailand shuts down. VinFast will have to stop distributing Chevrolet products, or the products will be imported from other countries.

In Vietnam, VinFast is the distributor of Chevrolet cars after the transfer deal in 2018. There are two possible scenarios after the GMs factory in Thailand shuts down. VinFast will have to stop distributing Chevrolet products, or the products will be imported from other countries.

In the second case, if VinFast wants to continue enjoying preferential tariffs to keep the selling prices competitive, it will have to import products from ASEAN countries. However, the factory in Thailand is the only GM facility which has export capability.



GWM affirmed that it will be in the ASEAN market and Australia, but bringing cars to Vietnam is not likely to happen. If VinFast imports from a non-ASEAN country, the import tariff will be much higher, which makes the selling prices less competitive.



Tri Thuc Tre commented that Chevrolet is not the only brand that VinFast is managing. The Vietnamese automobile manufacturer is developing its new products. In general, importing Chevrolets from non-ASEAN markets will be impossible.



Sources said VinFast stopped importing Chevrolet in early 2020.



The sales of Chevrolets have decreased sharply recently. In 2019, only 2,657 cars were sold, while the figure was 12,334 in 2018. The market share of Chevrolet in VAMA (Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association) has dropped from 4.5 percent to 0.9 percent, the sharpest decline in 2019.



Because of the low turnover, many Chevorlet models have been declared dead. Captiva, Orlando and Cruze are among them.



GMs business has experienced a slump throughout ASEAN. The situation is bad not only in Thailand and Vietnam, but in Indonesia as well. In October 2019, GM said it would leave the market by March 2020 because of unsatisfactory sales.



Meanwhile, VinFast affirmed that the GMs departure from Thailand wont affect VinFasts Chevrolet sale in Vietnam, because VinFast is working with global GM.



Nguyen Thi Van Anh, deputy general director of VinFast, affirmed that VinFast will continue distributing Trailbrazer and Colorado and province maintenance and repair services for Chevrolet products in Vietnam.

Linh Ha

Vinfast subsidizes VND300 million for every car sold VinFast, the automobile manufacturer belonging to Vingroup, said it is selling cars at a loss.
A protester is held back by Jill Biden and her husband, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, during a primary election night rally in Los Angeles on March 3, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

Biden: Candidates Might Need Secret Service After Rally Disruption

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Democratic presidential candidates might need the Secret Service, citing the protester who invaded the stage he and his wife were on earlier this week before being tackled by a campaign adviser.

Thats something that has to be considered the more outrageous it becomes, Biden, 77, said during an appearance on NBCs Today show on Thursday.

Biden said he was worried about his wife, Jill Biden, who grappled with the protester before campaign adviser Symone Sanders tackled the woman.

She did the same thing at another event in New Hampshire when a guy I didnt even see him coming behind me  and she runs up and grabs him, Biden said, referring to his wife.

She and my daughter have more courage than I think. Anyway thats what I worry about, I worry about Jill, he added.

Biden said its becoming increasingly apparent that the remaining candidates require protection by the Secret Service, a federal law enforcement agency that protects top officials in America.

People arent permitted to gain access to stages the candidates are on. The protester in Los Angeles held a sign reading Let Dairy Die before Jill Biden grabbed the woman and Sanders rushed over and tackled her. A second protester was also blocked by Jill Biden.

Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill watch as a protester is tackled at a rally in Los Angeles on March 3, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is joined by his family on stage during a rally in Essex Junction, Vermont, on March 3, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The last thing we need is anybody hurt, Biden said.

Robert Gibbs, a press secretary during President Barack Obamas administration, called for Secret Service for both Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after the Los Angeles situation.

What happened tonight was nothing short of genuinely scary, Gibbs said.

In a letter to acting Department of Homeland Secretary Chad Wolf this week, the House Committee on Homeland Security asked for Secret Service for Sanders and Biden, saying they appear to satisfy several criteria outlined in guidelines issued in 2017.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the Secret Service is authorized to protect major presidential and vice presidential candidates within 120 days of the general presidential election, as well as the candidates spouses. The general election is slated for Nov. 3.

In a statement to CNN, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service said teams are ready to protect candidates.

Our men and women stand ready to execute this vital mission when a candidate makes a request through the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Congressional Candidate Advisory Panel, the spokeswoman said.
Head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Serhiy Haidai and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to Ukraine Istvan Ijgyarto have discussed prospective projects to be implemented in the region, the administrations press service has reported.

The meeting took place in Sievierodonetsk on March 4. And tomorrow [on March 5] in the village of Valuyske in Stanichno-Luhansk district, the renovated building of the rural clinic of general practice/ family medicine will be opened. It has been restored and supplied with medical equipment with the help of Hungarian partners, reads the statement.

It notes that medical staff of the clinic will provide necessary aid to local residents, as well as residents of the temporarily occupied territories.

We look forward to a fruitful cooperation in the future and are open to any suggestions. I will do my best if partners require support in implementing further projects in the region. In addition, I will assist in organizing high-level work meetings. Each of them is part of Luhansk regions restoration, Haidai stressed.

Istvan Ijgyarto, in turn, noted that the Hungarian government is working hard to improve the situation in Luhansk. "By implementing such projects, we hope for the development of this territory," the diplomat said.

iy
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 06:57:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ABUJA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 223 children, including 10 girls, have recently been cleared of suspected ties with armed groups in Nigeria, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.

The children were released late Tuesday from the Nigerian army administrative custody and Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison in the northeastern part of Nigeria, said Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.

Some of the children had been missing for up to four to five years, with many presumed dead by their families, according to Hawkins.

"The release of these children is a huge step forward and one to be welcomed and celebrated," the UNICEF official said.

The children will now immediately enter a program that will help them reintegrate into their communities, re-engage with families, and take the first steps toward creating a new life and means of livelihood, he said.

"These children deserve to have a normal childhood and now require our full care and support to re-enter the lives that were so brutally interrupted by this devastating conflict," he added.

Since 2016, about 3,559 people associated with armed groups had been released from administrative custody, including 1,743 children, or 1,125 boys and 618 girls, according to official data by the UNICEF.

UNICEF is working closely with Nigerian state authorities to help with reintegration programs for all children formerly associated with non-state armed groups, and others affected by the ongoing conflict in Nigeria's northeast region, said Hawkins.
The enemy did not attack Ukrainian positions from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on March 5.

Russia's hybrid military forces on March 4 mounted six attacks on Ukrainian Army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with four Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action.

"Russian occupation forces violated the ceasefire six times on March 4," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said on Facebook in a morning update on March 5. "Four members of Joint Forces were wounded amid enemy shelling."

The enemy opened fire, employing proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Read alsoSweden's Foreign Minister on Russian aggression in Donbas: "Devastation and suffering"

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the villages of Krymske, Orikhove, Myronivske, Shumy, and Travneve.

In addition, the enemy twice provocatively shelled disengagement site No. 3, using small arms. There were no casualties. The Ukrainian military did not fire back, thus adhering to the ceasefire.

The enemy did not attack Ukrainian positions from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on March 5.
LIMA, Peru  Javier Perez de Cuellar, the two-term U.N. secretary-general who brokered a historic cease-fire between Iran and Iraq in 1988 and who in later life came out of retirement to help re-establish democracy in his Peruvian homeland, has died. He was 100.

His son, Francisco Perez de Cuellar, said his father died Wednesday at home of natural causes. Current U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the Peruvian diplomat a personal inspiration.

Mr. Perez de Cuellars life spanned not only a century but also the entire history of the United Nations, dating back to his participation in the first meeting of the General Assembly in 1946, Guterres said in a statement late Wednesday.

Perez de Cuellars death ends a long diplomatic career that brought him full-circle from his first posting as secretary at the Peruvian embassy in Paris in 1944 to his later job as Perus ambassador to France.

When he began his tenure as U.N. secretary-general on Jan. 1, 1982, he was a little-known Peruvian who was a compromise candidate at a time when the United Nations was held in low esteem.

Serving as U.N. undersecretary-general for special political affairs, he emerged as the dark horse candidate in December 1981 after a six-week election deadlock between U.N. chief Kurt Waldheim and Tanzanian Foreign Minister Salim Ahmed Salim.

Once elected, he quickly made his mark.

Disturbed by the United Nations dwindling effectiveness, he sought to revitalize the world bodys faulty peacekeeping machinery.

His first step was to shake the house with a highly critical report in which he warned: We are perilously near to a new international anarchy.

With the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and with conflicts raging in Afghanistan and Cambodia and between Iran and Iraq, he complained to the General Assembly that U.N. resolutions are increasingly defied or ignored by those that feel themselves strong enough to do so.

During his decade as U.N. chief, Perez de Cuellar would earn a reputation more for diligent, quiet diplomacy than charisma.

Faced early in his first term with a threatened U.S. cutoff of funds in the event of Israels ouster, he worked behind the scenes to stop Arab efforts to deprive the Jewish state of its General Assembly seat.

In dealing with human rights issues, he chose the path of discreet diplomacy.

Franklin Briceno is an Associated Press writer.
A man has been tasered by police at a discount shop in Australia after an argument reportedly over toilet paper.

The 50-year-old man was arrested over the alleged assault, which happened in a Big W department store in Tamworth, in northeast NSW, on Thursday afternoon.

Police have been told a 50-year-old man began to argue with a staff member and another customer before he assaulted them at a department store in Bridge Street, a NSW Police spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo News Australia.

A 50-year-old man was tasered by police following an alleged assault at a Big W over toilet paper. Source: Google Maps

Officers from Oxley Police District arrested the man just after 10am (local time) on Thursday.

He was tasered by police when they arrived at the scene.

Yahoo News Australia understands the confrontation was about toilet paper.

The man was taken to the local police station, where he is assisting police with their inquiries.

We're aware of an incident in our Tamworth Big W store earlier today, a Big W spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.

Police were called in response to the incident by store security. None of our team members were injured.

The spokesperson also confirmed the store remains open.

Berala Woolworths (pictured) like many other stores across Australia were wiped clean, as shoppers panicked and started hoarding toilet paper. Source: Cynthia Su

People need to stop being stupid and acting with a herd mentality regarding toilet roll hoarding, one person wrote on Big Ws Facebook page, siting the incident at the Tamworth store.

The incident comes after shoppers have left toilet paper aisles empty in recent days as they scramble to stockpile the grocery staple amid coronavirus fears.

Videos have emerged of people clearing the shelves and now both Coles and Woolworths have imposed limits on how many packs of toilet rolls each customer can buy at one time.

On Wednesday, police were called to a Woolworths in Sydneys west after reports of a person being threatened with a knife also allegedly over toilet paper.
[March 05, 2020] Tesseract Ventures Secures $2 Million Investment from UMB Capital Corporation

Tesseract Ventures, a Kansas City-based technology company helping organizations become smarter, better connected and more efficient through next-generation robotics, 21st century software and radically connected platforms, is pleased to announce the closing of a $2 million investment from UMB Capital Corporation, a financial entity headquartered in Kansas City, MO. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with UMB as we grow Tesseract," said John Boucard, founder and CEO, Tesseract Ventures. "Both companies are committed to fostering innovation in Kansas City, and it's wonderful to work with a team that understands the potential of this space. The process has been seamless so far and we're looking forward to working together to build something special." Tesseract is consistently working to bring recognition and high-level innovation to the Kansas City area. Financial backing from one of Kansas City's largest financial entities ensures the company will be able to continue the development of their innovative work. Utilizing this investment, Tesseract plans to broaden its expertise in areas such as advanced robotics, AI systems, 21st century Construction + Design and its own internal research and development studio, Future Lab. Investments like this make it possible for Tesserct to expand its presence in the community and continually pursue technological advances.



"With a long history of making investments across the country, we are honored to be a part of Tesseract's equity round of financing," said Mariner Kemper, chairman, president and CEO, UMB Financial Corporation. "We believe they demonstrate what makes Kansas City great - an entrepreneurial spirit and the drive to make businesses work smarter." As a next-generation technology company, it is the mission of Tesseract to create tools that will maximize and enhance productivity for corporations globally. This investment from UMB Capital Corporation solidifies backing from local companies and supports the technology revolution currently taking place in Kansas City.

For more information about Tesseract, visit www.tesseractventures.io. About Tesseract Ventures Tesseract Ventures was founded in 2018 by John Boucard, a veteran inventor, engineer and technologist. The company enables businesses to defy the boundaries of space and time through next-generation technologies. Robots, smart spaces, wearables and radically connected platforms are just some of the tools created by Tesseract in its mission to make industries smarter, better connected and more efficient. The company is based in Kansas City, MO - America's most quietly revolutionary place. For more information, visit www.tesseractventures.io. About UMB Capital Corporation UMB Capital Corporation is a small business investment company founded in 1984. Since then, our focus has evolved to a multi-strategy fund, investing in companies in the Midwest and across the United States. Our specialty is effectively capitalizing middle-market businesses, as well as helping high-growth financial technology companies achieve long-term goals. Over the last five years, UMB Capital Corporation has assisted more than 40 companies by providing financial solutions that meet their financial needs. Our typical investment ranges from $500,000 - $7,500,000 in the middle market strategy and $250,000 - $2,500,000 in the financial technology strategy. For more information, visit UMB's website. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005519/en/

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Annual international TV conference MipTV -which was due in April in Cannes- has been cancelled due to the growing coronavirus fears.

The cancellation includes MipDoc and MipFormats events.

Organisers Reed Midem have also postponed a Canneseries festival to October.

MipTV is a major trade event for broadcasters from around the world with Australian networks and production houses buying and selling titles.

In the current context, many of our clients have expressed concerns about travelling at this time. Rescheduling MipTV in the coming months is not feasible, so the most appropriate course of action is to cancel MipTV for 2020, Reed Midem said in a statement.

The well-being of our clients, partners and staff is our priority. We are grateful to clients for their support and constructive input during this challenging period. We look forward to welcoming everyone to Mipcom (from) October 12-15 and we are delighted that Canneseries will be at our side again this year.

The cancellation follows Frances ban on indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people, declared by Frances health minister.

Upcoming TV festival Series Mania, which runs from March 20-28, is set to continue as its audience numbers are fewer than 5000.

Source: Variety
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar



on Thursday said the state government was taking steps to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and called upon the people to be aware while avoiding panic.

Talking to reporters outside the Assembly premises here, he said officials were instructed to keep a close tab on the arrival of visitors at tourist spots like Bodh Gaya and along the porous Indo-Nepal border.

Being the place where Buddha had attained enlightenment, Bodh Gaya attracts Buddhist pilgrims from far and wide including the Far East where adherents of the faith live in large numbers and which is among the regions worst- affected by Covid-19 disease.

"Similarly, the Nepal border is also a route that travellers from adjoining countries like China are known to take for entering Bihar. Instructions have been issued to keep a close watch (on them)," Kumar said.

"All efforts are being made by the government. It is requested that people avoid panic though they must be aware of necessary precautions and the course of action to be followed if symptoms (of the disease) are found," Kumar added.

Earlier, inside the state Legislative Council, BJP MLC Sanjay Mayukh flagged the issue of migrant workers from Bihar having been abandoned at an unspecified location in Iran upon suspicion that they are suffering from the disease.

Some of the migrants, who hail from districts like Saran and Siwan, had on Wednesday shared on social media a video expressing their plight and seeking help from Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We have already taken up the matter with the Centre and hopefully their safe return will be ensured at the earliest," Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told the Council.

The Centre has recently suspended visas granted to travellers from a number of countries, including Iran, where a surge in the number of people afflicted from the dreaded virus has been reported.

According to state Health Minister Mangal Pandey, at least 14 people have been quarantined at hospitals in the state upon their return from the West Asian countries where they had gone in search of livelihood.

However, so far the state has not confirmed any case, even as the coronavirus scare has resulted in a sharp rise in the demand for face masks and steep fall in the prices of poultry products in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Huma Abedin joined forces with Hillary Clinton on the red carpet for the New York premiere of her highly anticipated four-part documentary on Wednesday.

The former presidential candidate's long-time aide appeared in good spirits as she arrived at the Directors Guild of America Theater for the series, in which she will feature heavily.

The documentary, which is set to be released tomorrow, examines Clinton's 2016 failed presidential bid and the Monica Lewinksy scandal.

Huma Abedin joined forces with Hillary Clinton on the red carpet for the New York premiere of her highly anticipated four-part documentary on Wednesday

Huma Abedin joined Hillary Cinton on the red carpet for the New York premiere of her much anticipated four-part documentary series on Wednesday. She then made a dash for it with Clinton who later appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. She is pictured arriving ahead of the show

Abedin looked chic in a blue dress and large sunglasses at she swept the Hulu premiere, posing in front of the obligatory sponsored backdrop.

But she didn't hang around - and made a dash for it with Clinton who later appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Abedin, a longtime confidant of former Secretary of State Clinton, will feature heavily in the documentary.

She was vice chair of Clinton's 2016 campaign and prior to that was deputy chief of staff to Clinton, who was Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

Clinton has said that 'nothing was off limits' with regards to the Hulu series based on her life and 2016 Presidential Campaign.

The former presidential candidate's long-time aide appeared in good spirits as she arrived at the Directors Guild of America Theater for the four-part film, which she will feature heavily

Clinton looked smart in a burgundy suit as she graced the red carpet for the New York premiere of her documentary series

Abedin looked chic in a blue dress and large sunglasses at she swept the premiere, posing for in front of the obligatory sponsored backdrop

A series of bombshells from the doc have already emerged including how she slammed Bernie Sanders, saying 'nobody likes him'.

'He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done,' Clinton says in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.'

Model Iman poses on the red carpet as she joins a slew of famous faces at the screening

Clinton was in high spirits at the premiere - which examines Clinton's 2016 failed presidential bid and the Monica Lewinksy scandal

Former Chief of Protocol Capricia Marshall (left) and actress Kathy Najimy (right) attends the New York Premiere of Hillary on Wednesday

The documentary is directed by The Kid Stays In The Picture and Gringo director Nanette Burstein (pictured) and launches on Hulu on March 6

The documentary is directed by The Kid Stays In The Picture and Gringo director Nanette Burstein and launches on Hulu on March 6.

Executive produced by Burstein, Howard T. Owens and Ben Silverman for Propagate, the series gives viewers an up-close view of Clinton amid her historic 2016 presidential run and shares never-before-seen footage from behind the scenes.

Clinton herself is interviewed as well as her husband former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, staff, friends and journalists.

It includes biographical chapters of Clinton's life and examines how she became one of the most polarizing women in the world.

Aliza Walden and Dana Walden pose for a photo with Hillary Clinton

Clinton made a dash for it and sat down with Jimmy Falon to discuss the hotly anticipated new series

Fashion designer Donna Karan and actress Zosia Mamet attend the Hulu premiere in New York

Clinton has revealed she sat for around 35 hours of interviews for the series.

Abedin filed for divorce as disgraced husband Anthony Weiner entered into a guilty plea for sexting a 15-year-old girl in May 2017, which DailyMail.com exposed a year earlier, but withdrew her request in January, deciding to settle privately.

The disgraced politician was released from prison in February 2019 and went straight to living in a halfway house in the Bronx.

It comes after Weiner has been lobbying to be allowed access to his son's school again, after he was blocked from the premises following his conviction.

Abedin filed for divorce as disgraced husband Anthony Weiner entered into a guilty plea for sexting a 15-year-old girl in May 2017. Pictured: The pair in 2015

The former US Congressman, 55, continued to take his eight-year-old son Jordan to school in New York after her served 18 months in prison, but he is only allowed to collect the child from the gate.

Now Weiner  who represented New York's 9th congressional district for more than 12 years  reportedly wants to gain access to school grounds and it has upset parents of attendees.

The disgraced politician not only wants to pick up his son from inside, but wishes to attend parent-teacher meetings, a source claimed.
Capt. Jay Singh-Sohal works in Strategic Communications for M&C Saatchi and serves as a captain in the Army Reserve. He is the Conservative candidate for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.

It is almost six months to the day since I last wrote for Conservative Home, following my selection to be the Conservative candidate for the role of West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). What a time it has been.

Ive been combining preparing for the campaign with new daddy duties. Learning and shaping my approach to delivering locally on our partys law and order agenda, while re-learning how to deal with late night feeds and nappy changes, et al.

The daily work commute from Royal Sutton Coldfield to London Soho has ceased, and Ive cleared the diary of the extra-curricular charity work I do to fully focus on the election campaign ahead. As a first-time candidate, its all very new and exciting but Im taking this campaign very seriously indeed. The outcome matters hugely for the West Midlands.

Politically, of course, it has been seismic since party conference, with a multitude of failed votes on leaving the EU, a General Election before Christmas which saw the West Midlands knock six bricks out of Labours Red Wall, and the delivery of (the last time Ill mention the word) Brexit on the 31st January.

Now, we have a domestic agenda which makes us proud to be called the party of law and order, and a Prime Minister and Home Secretary delivering on this, with policies including hiring 20,000 new police officers nationally over the next three years.

Of those, 366 will be coming to the West Midlands in the first year alone. And our police force has received the highest funding settlement outside of London, and the largest it has ever had; with nearly two thirds of a billion pounds from central government.

Whilst the Government gets on with the business of delivering, weve been entertained by the shambolic pantomime that is the West Midlands Labour Party in action. Finally finding out, after postponement, delay, confusion, and (ultimately) ridicule, that their candidate to take on our esteemed Mayor Andy Street is none other than Liam Byrne. The author of that famous Im afraid there is no money note written after Labours 2010 election defeat now wants to run the West Midlands engine. The Hodge Hill MP has done well to earn his nickname across the region, Mr Austerity.

Meanwhile, the sitting Labour PCC, former Labour Minister and Plymouth MP, David Jamieson, is heading for another retirement. While I wish him well, it could not come soon enough. He has done the job for the last six years while Labour has been in charge of our policing since the role was created in 2012. Their track record is frankly abysmal. Closing over half the police stations across the West Midlands Force area while 34 million has been spent on the refurbishment of his office block in the centre of Birmingham is just the tip of the iceberg.

It is hardly surprising that, against that backdrop of retrenchment from community-based policing, the region now faces the harsh realities of:

Some of the worst burglary and theft figures in the entire country, with all the resultant misery and expense that it brings,

An explosion in knife crime that this last weekend saw three serious stabbings in three of our boroughs, including the tragic killing of a teenager, and

National notoriety as one of three main County Lines drug dealing centres in the UK.

Beneath that, I am finding, when knocking on doors and speaking to residents across the region, a community at its wits end over unattended crime incidents, vandalism, yobbish and anti-social behaviour, and car crime. While serious crime runs rampant, it is these so-called little things that grate the most. That is Labours policing legacy for the West Midlands.

David Jamieson has made an art-form out of politicising everything that goes with the role, losing trust and belief in the Commissioner as a force for positive change. He plays people off against each other, entertains bloated bureaucracy, interferes on issues outside his remit, and above all fails to do what he was elected to do and tackle rising crime.

His replacement, the best Labour could muster to run for PCC and my opponent, is from the far fringes of the hard left. A Champagne Socialist selected before Jeremy Corbyn realised his true potential as an electoral disaster. Heralded as the Momentum-sponsored candidate across social media, Simon Fosters hobbies include redistributing wealth and hanging out with Coventry MP Zarah Sultana.

Jamieson, Foster, and the West Midlands Labour cabal blame austerity for everything, yearning for the golden days of 2010 when they were in power and before tough choices had to be made to balance the books that they ran red. Their argument is not getting far with voters  how can it when their own Mayoral candidate is the very man who gave us the need to make tough spending decisions in the first place.

In May, Mr Austerity will take on Mr Investment in Andy Street. What a contrast. A failed politician against the man who led John Lewis at its zenith and is applauded for the rejuvenation of the West Midlands economy.

The West Midlands has moved past failure, way past austerity, and has rejected the politics of blame and shirking responsibility which Labour continue to cling on to for identity. Now the thriving region demands action. I get this totally. As a resident and lifelong Brummie, I care passionately about the region where I was born and brought up; where I live today and choose to raise and school my children.

Thats why my mantra for this campaign is a very simple one.

Thats why, if Im elected on May 7th, my job as PCC wont be to play politics or score points. It wont be to argue about budgets nor to oil up to the bureaucracy. I wont play with trains nor pursue photo opportunities. No, the people of the West Midlands want one thing above all else from their Police and Crime Commissioner. What they want forms my very simple mantra. Its to Get Crime Down. When Im elected, that is what I will do.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea has touted investments made by government to tackle perennial flooding in Ghana.

He says the over GH200 million allocated by the current government so far cannot be matched by any other government in the country's history.

Addressing a group of journalists on a tour to inspect ongoing drainage projects at some flood-prone areas in Accra, the Minister stated that: Since we started the constitutional arrangements under the 1992 constitution, no government had invested in drainage more than President Akufo-Addo. We want to put it on record. But for the fact that he found additional monies off-budget for us to do some of these drainages, the situation would have been disastrous. A sum of GH200 million was allocated for drainage purposes under the 2018 flood control program.

We are hoping that well get more money to continue. If we dont tackle these things seriously, we cant tackle the powers of the rain. There will be rain inundation and flood will occur and people will begin to blame the government, he said.

Prosecution

Mr. Atta Akyea also insisted that persons who dump garbage into drains must be prosecuted to show the government's commitment to addressing the menace.

Filth is not good for the nation. The Ministry of Sanitation and the local government systems should begin to also push so that people caught dumping filth into drains are prosecuted. If you get a few people who have been fined or imprisoned, it will serve as a deterrent to other people, he noted.

US$523 million needed to tackle flooding

The Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea last year said that an estimated US$523 million is needed to permanently deal with the perennial flooding in Accra and other parts of the country.

We need a sum of 523 million dollars to further tackle the flooding problemCabinet will soon consider the financial engineering necessary in dealing with this long-standing problem which has been rocking the nation since Nkrumah's days, he said.

Most places in the country get flooded at the least downpour.

Proffering solutions to these challenges, Mr. Atta Akyea said the nation deserves subterranean drains which are environment-friendly but capital intensive which will eliminate the yearly ritual of desilting when it rains.

---citinewsroom
Cape Town [South Africa], Mar 5 (ANI): South African Health Ministry on Thursday reported the first case of coronavirus in the country, involving a 38-year old man with travel history to Italy -- the European nation which has reported the most coronavirus cases outside of Asia.



"This morning, Thursday, March 5, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize tweeted.

"The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020," the following tweet read.

First originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, coronavirus has spread to more than 80 countries across the world, including India. (ANI)


Mumbai, March 5 : The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' plea to reopen the financial accounts of CG Power and Industrial Solutions for the period of 2014-15 to 2018-19.

The MCA had approached the NCLT in November seeking to reopen the financial statements of CG Power Industrial Solutions for 2015-19 on the basis of the company's announcement on the exchange about financial irregularities.

The Mumbai bench of the NCLT also directed the government not to rely on the report by Vaish Associates, and asked them to conduct a separate investigation through an independent government agency.

The Centre has already ordered for an investigation by the SFIO. The tribunal also said that the investigating agency should also look into the involvement of ex-Chairman, directors, key managerial persons (KMPs) and other staff of the company.

It also said that the report of the investigating agency should also considered while submitting the recast accounts.

The company in August last year disclosed the findings of risk and audit committee (RAC), which revealed that the firm and the group together could have under-reported Rs 3,600 crore liabilities in financial years 2017 and 2018.

Erstwhile CG Power Chairman Gautam Thapar, CFO V.R. Venkatesh and others were removed from the company board in August over alleged under-reporting and siphoning of money to Thapar's other firms. They were eventually barred from the stock markets and Thapar was also summoned by the MCA.

Thapar, however, has maintained that the transactions took place with due approval of the board.
FLINT, MI -- The Michigan Supreme Court will decide whether Flint residents will have their day in court against the state, former Gov. Rick Snyder and others through a proposed class action lawsuit.

Justices heard arguments Wednesday, March 4, from attorneys for Flint residents, including water crisis activist Melissa Mays, and for state and city officials theyve sued in the state Court of Claims.

Filed in January 2016, the lawsuit claims Snyder, emergency managers and departments of state government violated Flint residents bodily integrity by exposing them to lead-contaminated water and hiding what they knew about it. It claims that in addition to the health effects of the water crisis, homeowners suffered financial losses due to diminished property values for which they werent compensated.

From the governor to the emergency managers ... They covered up (and) told people (their water) was safe, downplaying the severity of the toxins this community was exposed to, said Julie Hurwitz, an attorney representing the citizens. If we cannot hold this state accountable ... I would suggest our Constitution would not be worth the paper its written on.

Hurwitz and other attorneys sued Snyder, state agencies and former emergency managers in the Michigan Court of Claims, alleging city residents constitutional rights were violated. But the state, represented by the Department of Attorney General, sought to have the case dismissed, saying the residents took too much time to file the lawsuit, and failed to allege facts that resulted in a violation of their rights.

The Court of Claims dismissed part but not all of the complaint, and the state appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which upheld the decision in a split decision before the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments about whether the case should move forward.

The Supreme Court now has until the end of the current term on July 31 to make a decision.

Nathan A. Gamill, and attorney for the state, told justices Wednesday that the lawsuit seeks to expand existing options for suing the state and relies on a vague constitutional doctrine to seek taxpayer funds ... even when (residents) have multiple alternative remedies available, and even when they cannot show that it was the state that caused their alleged injuries..."

In a written brief filed with the court, Gamill claimed the lawsuit is flawed, partly because there was no state policy that caused the water crisis.

In a separate federal lawsuit, a U.S. District Court judge has already ruled that a bodily integrity claim can move forward under the U.S. Constitution because the conduct of many of the individual governmental defendants was so egregious as to shock the conscience and violate plaintiffs clearly established fundamental right to bodily integrity."

In that same case, the judge initially dismissed a claim against Snyder but reinstated it after considering new information filed by attorneys for the Flint residents and businesses.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in that case, allowing the federal lawsuit to move forward.

On Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court wrestled with whether the state Constitution provides for a bodily integrity claim and whether residents filed their lawsuit too late after the citys water source was changed on April 25, 2014, triggering the water crisis.

Emergency financial managers appointed by Snyder made a series of decisions that led to the change in Flints water source for 17 months, and state regulators never required water from the Flint River to be treated to make it less corrosive to the lead pipes and plumbing in homes and the water distribution system.

Justices asked questions of attorneys on both sides of the lawsuit Wednesday, and Justice Richard Bernstein questioned Gamill why residents cant have their day in court against the state agencies and officials that actually caused the harm.

Justice Stephen Markman questioned attorneys for the residents about the right to bodily integrity, calling it a new and novel right.

The state Constitution, Markman said during questioning, is not an all-purpose remedy for every wrongdoing (by the) government.

Watch a recording of the arguments from March 4, 2020

Emergency managers werent state employees, lawyers argue in Flint water lawsuit

U.S. Supreme Court wont hear case related to Flint water crisis
Nearly half of self-identifying Anglicans in England support same-sex marriage, according to a poll.

YouGov asked over 5,000 people across the UK whether they believed same-sex marriage to be right or wrong.

Of the 1,171 people surveyed in England who identified as Church of England, Anglican or Episcopal, 48% said that same-sex marriage was right, contrasting with around a third (34%) who said it was wrong and 18% who answered "don't know".

The poll did not ask about church attendance.

When YouGov first asked the question in 2013, 38% of self-identifying Anglicans said that same-sex marriage was right. That figure rose to 45% in 2016.

The 2020 poll found that they are still less likely than the rest of the population to support same-sex marriage, with 60 per cent of total respondents believing same-sex marriage to be right. Support within the wider general public has also risen from 46% in 2016.

Londoners were more likely to support same-sex marriage (68%), as were those aged 18- to 24 (74% vs 37% of 65+).

The latest poll was conducted on behalf of the Ozanne Foundation, which is campaigning for LGBT equality in the Church of England.

The foundation's director, Jayne Ozanne said: "These results show that those opposed to same-sex marriage are now clearly in the minority, and that a substantial group within the Church of England believe same sex marriage is right.

"This shows the urgent need for the Church of England hierarchy to recognise and respect the clear views of a significant proportion of its members, which are steadily increasing as time goes by."

The Bishop of Liverpool and chair of the Ozanne Foundation, the Rt Rev Paul Bayes said: "These results provide a challenge to us in leadership within the Church of England to ensure that we understand the views of the people we serve.

"Attitudes are indeed changing quickly, and we must be open to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through them if we are to be an effective witness of God's love to the nation."

Others in the Church of England were more sceptical of the findings. Peter Ould, Church of England priest and commentator on sexual identity, said that self-declared Anglicans should not be conflated with active members of the Church of England.

He accused Ozanne of using a "manipulative" definition of 'Anglican' "which doesn't reflect the actual members in the pews".

"If all of these 'Anglicans' were actually attending church there would be well over 10 million people worshipping in the Church of England every Sunday!" he said.

He added: "On top of this, the change in support from the last survey is well within the margin of error, meaning there is no statistical significance in the claimed increase in support for same-sex marriage."

Church of England minister Liam Beadle tweeted: "I'm not sure what this is meant to demonstrate. We don't do theology by opinion poll. Indeed, my opinion and the Church's teaching can be in tension without my wanting any doctrinal revision!"

Matthew Mason, tutor in ethics at the Pastors' Academy, posted a similar comment on Twitter: "This would only be remotely interesting or relevant if you gave a clear definition of what respondents mean by 'Anglican' - my father worked in prisons for a couple of decades, and almost everyone self-identified as CofE, and also revealed the questions you asked."

Re-posted with permission from Christian Today


CARDIFF (dpa-AFX) - Car insurance provider Admiral Group Plc (ADM.L) reported Thursday that Group statutory profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2019 rose 10 percent to 522.6 million pounds from 476.2 million pounds last year.



Profit after tax attributable to equity holders of the parent was 432.4 million pounds, up from 395.1 million pounds last year.



Earnings per share increased by 8 percent to 148.3 pence from 137.1 pence last year, with growth slightly lower than the pre-tax profit growth of 10 percent due to an increase in the weighted average number of shares.



The Group's share of pre-tax profit also increased by 10 percent to 526.1 million pounds, driven by UK Motor insurance, with strong releases of prior year claims reserves.



Group turnover increased 5 percent to 3.46 billion pounds from 3.28 billion pounds in the prior year. Customer numbers increased 7 percent to 6.98 million.



Net revenue was 1.35 billion pounds, up 7 percent from 1.26 billion pounds in the prior year.



The company said its board of directors have proposed a final dividend of 77.0 pence per share (2018: 66.0 pence per share) representing a normal dividend of 56.3 pence per share and a special dividend of 20.7 pence per share. The dividend will be paid on 1 June 2020. The ex-dividend date is 7 May 2020 and the record date is 11 May 2020.



Separately, the company said that Group Chief Executive Officer David Stevens has notified the Board of his intention to retire from his position as Group CEO and as a director in twelve months' time.



David will be replaced by Milena Mondini de Focatiis, the Group's current Head of UK and European Insurance, who will be promoted to Group CEO-Designate and join the Board as an executive director in due course. Milena will assume the CEO role after the transition period.



David co-founded Admiral in 1991 and has been Group CEO since May 2016. He will continue to work for the Group in a part-time advisory capacity after the transition period.



Milena joined Admiral in 2007, and was most recently appointed Head of UK and European Insurance in July 2019.



Admiral Group also said that Michael Brierley, a non-executive director, has joined the company's Remuneration Committee as a member with effect from 4 March 2020. Justine Roberts, also a non-executive director, has stepped down as a member of Admiral's Remuneration Committee with effect from the same date.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Pol O Conghaile with Paul Carty, Managing Director, Guinness Storehouse, at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

Paul Carty, Managing Director, Guinness Storehouse, sits by a new mural by Aches at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

The new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

The new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

Paul Carty, Managing Director, Guinness Storehouse, at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

Inside the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

The Duke of Cambridge and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge talking with Irish actor Liam Cunningham at the Guinness Storehouse JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Pol O Conghaile at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

A panoramnic view of the new Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin

Panoramic views from the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

"It's like a dream come true," says Paul Carty.

Standing by a spanking glass wall in a 20 million expansion to the Gravity Bar, the Guinness Storehouse Managing Director is drinking in 360-degree view that now extends from the Dublin Mountains to Howth Head.

Opening today, the figure-of-eight expansion doubles the size of Dublin's best-known viewing platform, a 721m2 addition to a structure famously designed to look like the head of a pint at the heart of St James' Gate.

"The Gravity Bar is like the jewel in the crown," Carty says, explaining the decision to embark on a 16-month expansion that also sees the addition of new bars, a dedicated kitchen and murals of Arthur Guinness and the famous Guinness toucan by Dublin artist, Aches.

"Everybody comes in here to redeem their complimentary pint at the end of the tour... but it was just too tight. At any one time you could have 300 people [in the original bar], and they wanted to dwell and sip their pint in comfort and look over the view over Dublin," he says. "So the capacity drove us."

The new bar space will function like the old, capping off Storehouse tours, and 50 panes of floor-to-ceiling glass are inlaid with inscriptions picking out highlights from the city skyline.

Expand Close A panoramnic view of the new Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin / Facebook

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Whatsapp A panoramnic view of the new Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin

The 46m-high bar is one of Dublin's hero tourist attractions, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stopping by this week, and previous celebrity visitors including Bill Clinton, Pink, Tom Cruise and Queen Elizabeth.

"In my prior life I ran five-star hotels in Bahrain, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, and I met very important dignitaries, but when I came back here and the Queen visited, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up," Carty recalls.

Diageo was told in advance that the Queen and Prince Philip wouldn't drink any Guinness, he reveal. "But they were really tickled pink by the pouring of the pint... and she just loved the view."

The expansion is also something of a parting glass for Carty, who is set to retire on May 1 and will be replaced by Catherine Toolan.

Expand Close Paul Carty, Managing Director, Guinness Storehouse, at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Paul Carty, Managing Director, Guinness Storehouse, at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

When he came on board 20 years ago, the then-Guinness Hopstore was pulling in a respectable 400,000 visitor a year.

Since "decanting" the business into the Guinness Storehouse in 2000, at the time a 42 million redevelopment of a former fermentation plant, it has gone on to become Ireland's most visited paid-for attraction.

The new Gravity Bar follows several developments for Diageo in Dublin, including a new behind-the-scenes brewery tour, the Open Gate Brewery, and Roe & Co - one of the city's new wave of whiskey distillery experiences.

RKD, the architects behind the initial development, were brought on board again to transform the top of the seven-storey storytelling showcase, while ODonnell ONeill Design were the interior designers.

Expand Close A toucan by street artist Aches, at the newly expanded Gravity Bar in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron. / Facebook

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Whatsapp A toucan by street artist Aches, at the newly expanded Gravity Bar in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

Views aside, murals by Irish street artist Aches, who recently painted Dolores O'Riordan next to King John's Castle in Limerick, are the most eye-catching additions... working together with copper and turquoise furniture tones to play off the industrial feel of bare concrete and exposed ceilings.

Guinness loves its stats, and here's another - with over 1.7 million visitors a year, Aches' murals will be among the most viewed artworks in Ireland.

The new bar space also comes as another high-profile addition to The Liberties, a richly historical quarter that has recently seen the opening of new Hyatt Centric and Marriott Aloft hotels, as it has new distilleries like Pearse Lyons and Teeling's - prompting talk of a resurgence in the city's famous 'Golden Triangle, as well as gentrification debates.

From the toucan's-eye-view, Carty points out an 11-acre site that is marked for future development as a new 'Guinness Quarter' that will add more apartments, offices and retail.

"We've seen a huge uplift in the area" over the past 20 years, he remarks. "I'd like to see it as a new, cultural alternative to Temple Bar".

Expand Close Pol O Conghaile at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pol O Conghaile at the new Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron.

"I believe we are now at the tallest point in Dublin," Carty goes on to suggest. "Guinness is on a gradient up from the centre of Dublin, therefore we are reliably informed that we are at the highest point."

"I even suggested we could do a zip wire from here, right into Roe & Co," he laughs.

The Gravity Bar in Numbers

46: metres in height

50: panes of glass used to create the 360-degree view

600: people worked on the site

110,000: pints it would take to fill the new space

1.7m: people visit the Guinness Storehouse every year

20: years since original bar opened
Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Health Ministry's Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, talks about Vietnams methods to effectively deal with COVID-19.

Dr Luong Ngoc Khue.

Thanks to medical staff all over the country, all 16 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam have now been treated. What do you think about this success?

All 16 cases have been successfully treated and released from hospital  which is a significant milestone for our health sector.

Our treatment so far has proved its effectiveness. The feeling that doctors will try to do their best for patients has given them a sense of trust and optimism. The World Health Organization has recognised Vietnams efforts in these regards.

Despite recording only 16 positive cases so far, we have prepared for many possible scenarios.

For those already released from hospital, their physical and mental well-being still needs to be constantly monitored and medical workers need to look after them and encourage them. To this end, central-level healthcare establishments and their local level counterparts have been working together.

We have directed hospitals and medical centres in Khanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa and Vinh Phuc  the three provinces with the most cases in the country  to continue focusing on their patients and make sure they are not subject to discrimination or social isolation.

Further surveillance is still necessary.



How did the country manage to treat the COVID-19 patients?

As soon as the information regarding the emergent pneumonia-like disease was available in China, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam led a robust response team that involved the health sector and all related agencies.

As per protocol with regards to dealing with infectious outbreaks, Vietnam set out professional guidelines quickly. We immediately organised a professional panel with leading experts in the field and came to a conclusion that the coronavirus disease appeared to share many similarities with the devastating Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that occurred from 2002-04.

New treatment and prevention guidelines were quickly developed based on existing evidence before the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. Training sessions were then held for doctors and medical staff around the country.

Even when the three first positive cases were released from Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City, the Tropical Diseases Hospital in Khanh Hoa Province and Thanh Hoa Province General Hospital, we updated treatment and prevention guidelines to include more details, from initial reception and quarantining patients, to administering medicines or drips.



Has Vietnam followed WHO guidelines?

Vietnam was always one step ahead of WHO recommendations.

All 16 cases released from hospital are in good health and no deaths have been reported.

The patients ranged from elderly people to a months-old baby, and there were those with several underlying health issues like high blood pressure, heart complications or diabetes. There was also a Chinese patient from Wuhan who had undergone a lobectomy due to cancer.



What measures has Vietnam taken in terms of decentralising treatment and prevention efforts?

The public can put their confidence in Vietnams health sector.

For patients with mild symptoms and no severe developments, they can be treated at provincial-level medical centres. Thanh Hoa and Khanh Hoa provinces have proved this possible, so we certainly dont need to bring all COVID-19 patients to central-level hospitals.

With the four on-site mottos (on-site leadership, on-site forces, on-site facilities and on-site logistics) combined with the full support of central-level experts and doctors, grassroots-level hospitals and medical establishments can be capable of successfully treating SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.



Effective quarantining will be critical in containing the outbreak. Can you elaborate on this?

To deal with an infectious disease, the first principle is effective quarantining. Regarding patients  no matter whether they are suspect cases or positive cases  hospitals need to strictly abide by quarantining rules set by the health ministry in order to protect the community, patients and the doctors themselves.

COVID-19 has proved to be a highly contagious disease. In neighbouring China, many doctors and medical staff have succumbed to the disease, and thats a costly lesson. Therefore, the health ministrys objective is to prevent medical staff from becoming infected and prevent the spread from hospitals to the public. There have been no cases of infected doctors in Vietnam, fortunately. The health ministry has also tried to provide medical staff with essential protective gear to protect themselves.

With that being said, quarantine efforts need close co-operation from public security forces and local governments.

We have set out three forms of quarantine.

First, a quarantine zone for suspect cases, they are not positive cases but they need to be isolated from the community. The second zone is for infected people with mild symptoms who can still go about their daily activities without outside support. The third zone is for acute positive cases that need special management.  VNS

Vietnam successfully produces SARS-CoV-2 test kit The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technologys Institute of Biotechnology (IBT) announced yesterday that it has successfully produced a new coronavirus test kit, with a test time of 80 minutes since the RNA sample is collected.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

Three more people's tests were positive among those who arrived in Azerbaijan from Iran and underwent medical check-up, Trend reports referring to the Operational Headquarters created under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers in connection with coronavirus.

As reported, these individuals have been infected with coronavirus.
A veteran Peruvian diplomat, lawyer and professor, he was the first and only Latin American citizen to hold the top UN job so far.









Born in Lima (Peru) on 19 January 1920, he was appointed to lead the UN after 42 years of diplomatic service.





Distinguished diplomatic career





"Mr. Perez de Cuellar's life spanned not only a century but also the entire history of the United Nations , dating back to his participation in the first meeting of the General Assembly in 1946," Mr. Guterres expressed.





Over the course of his career, in addition to being his country's Ambassador to Switzerland as well as the then Soviet Union, Poland and Venezuela Mr. Perez de Cuellar held many high level positions in Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1971.





During his month presiding over the UN Security Council, in July 1974, he ably-managed the crisis in Cyprus. A year later, he was appointed as the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Cyprus for two years, then went on to become the UN chief of Political Affairs and Representative of the UN in Afghanistan.





The Cold War period and the growing role of the UN





Mr. Guterres said that his predecessor's tenure as Secretary-General coincided with two distinct eras in international affairs: first, some of the iciest years of the Cold War, and then, with the ideological confrontation at an end, a time when the UN began to play more fully the role envisaged by the founders.





In 1982, his tenure as UN chief started with intense negotiations between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands/Malvinas. Persistent through the countless challenges, Mr. Perez de Cuellar produced a now famous phrase, referring to the peace talks: "The patient is in intensive care but still alive."





Despite health issues, he agreed to serve for a second term as UN chief. In his acceptance speech in 1986, he referenced the financial crisis that the UN was going through at the time, saying that "to decline in such circumstances would have been tantamount to abandoning a moral duty toward the United Nations."





Reiterating his unshakable faith in the permanent validity of the Organization, he added that the UN's "difficult situation" provided a "creative opportunity for renewal and reform."





"Mr. Perez de Cuellar played a crucial role in a number of diplomatic successes including the independence of Namibia, an end to the Iran-Iraq War, the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, the peace accord in Cambodia and in his very last days in office a historic peace agreement in El Salvador," the current UN chief underlined.





His second term was also marked by the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Among others, his team facilitated political stability in Nicaragua.





In 1987, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for the promotion of Ibero-American co-operation. In 1989, he received the Olof Palme Prize for International Understanding and Common Security, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.





Long after his term as Secretary-General ended in 1991, he remained true to the values of the UN, and continued advocating for peace, justice, human rights and human dignity throughout his life. Decorated by some 25 countries, he was also the recipient of several honorary degrees.





In his speech to the Nobel Committee which awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to UN Peacekeeping Operations in 1989 he defined the role of inter-governmental organizations like the United Nations as being to "draw the line between struggle and conflict." Thanks to his unyielding determination, he helped many nations "stay on the right side of that line."





"I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Perez de Cuellar's family, the Peruvian people and so many others around the world whose lives were touched by a remarkable and compassionate global leader who left our world a far better place," Mr. Guterres concluded.





Editor's note: Information provided by the United Nations.



I am profoundly saddened at the passing of my predecessor, Javier Perez de Cuellar.



He was a remarkable & compassionate global leader who left our world a far better place.



I extend my deepest condolences to his family, the Peruvian people & all those whose lives he touched. pic.twitter.com/o5UpLwliHQ  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 5, 2020

(END) NDP/MVB
Joe Biden joked at a fundraiser in Southern California's Bel Air neighborhood Wednesday night that he doesn't need Secret Service protection on the campaign trail because his wife is able to do the job.

The former vice president's comments come after Jill Biden warded off anti-dairy industry protesters rushing that stage at his victory rally in Los Angeles Tuesday night.

'I'm probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service,' Biden quipped at the fundraiser. 'Whoa, you don't screw around with a Philly girl, I'll tell you what.'

In the past few days, the United States Secret Service has considered putting out protection for Biden and fellow frontrunner candidate Bernie Sanders, who has also faced pretty forward protests.

He is referencing his Super Tuesday celebration rally in California when his wife physically halted vegan, anti-dairy industry protesters from reaching her husband, who was speaking on-stage

Joe Biden joked Wednesday night at a Los Angeles fundraiser that he doesn't need Secret Service protection because his wife, Jill Biden (left), is able to do the same job

'I'm probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service. Whoa, you don't screw around with a Philly girl, I'll tell you what,' he quipped at the Bel Air fundraiser

A campaign aide also assisted in dragging one of the sign-wielding protesters off the stage

Biden referenced those reports during his remarks at the fundraiser Wednesday and jested that he married out of his league.

'I thought I heard on the news on the way over that that the committee in charge of Secret Service decided they have to start providing Secret Service for us,' he said. 'I think that's because they're afraid Jill's going to hurt someone. I tell you what, man, I married way above my station.'

Biden took a more serious tone when he was asked about the protesters on the Today Show Thursday and questioned on whether he and Bernie Sanders should now get Secret Service protection.

'Well, I think that's something that has to be considered, the more outrageous some of this becomes,' Biden told Savannah Guthrie.

'I tell you my wife's something else, isn't she? I wasn't scared for me, I was worried about for Jill,' Biden said, recalling that she did the same thing at an event in New Hampshire when a man approached him from behind.

When the man tried to interrupt him, Jill Biden put her arms around the man, turned him around and helped push him away.

'That's what I worry about,' Biden said. 'I worry about Jill.'

As the vegan protesters stormed the stage at Biden's California rally Tuesday night, Jill warded them off by physically grabbing wrists and pushing them away from reaching her husband.

A campaign aide also dragged one of the sign-wielding protesters off the stage.

The House Homeland Security Committee is requesting the Secret Service provide protection, especially after the demonstration Tuesday.

Sanders' faced protesters in the middle of last month while holding a rally in Nevada days before the caucuses were held there  and some were topless. They were also protesting the U.S. dairy industry.

Biden's government protection as vice president ended six months after leaving office in January 2017.

As a candidate he has not sought assistance and Sanders has also been campaigning without Secret Service protection.

Biden's Secret Service protection expired six months after he left his vice presidential post in January 2017, but the Department of Homeland Security is considering assigning details to Biden and fellow frontrunner Bernie Sanders for the remainder of their campaigns

Sanders has also faced the same forward vegan protesters, when a bout of them, including several shirtless women, descended on an event in Nevada ahead of the caucuses there last month

The anti-dairy protesters are more forward than some other groups and have stormed stages rather than sticking to demonstrating from the audience

Others shared GIFS and videos comparing Jill's moves to an act of female heroism

Sanders and Biden, who are 78- and 77-years-old respectively, have not been harmed by any of the protests.

The spectacle Tuesday night wasn't the first time Jill Biden, 68, has gotten involved when protesters decide to descend on her husband's campaign events.

During an event in New Hampshire the night before voters cast their ballots, Jill assisted in removing a protester, walking over, putting her hands on the man and physically pushing him from the room.

'I'm a good Philly girl,' she told reporters afterward.

The protester came out guns blazing immediately as the former vice president began to speak at the event in Manchester.

Biden mentioned that he had seen this protester before, claiming it was 'the same guy back.'
Donald Trump has blamed his governments shambolic response to the coronavirus epidemic on the Obama administration  without offering any evidence or explanation.

The US president claimed the Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what were doing, and we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion.

Declining to specify what decision he was referring to, Mr Trump added: That was a decision we disagreed with. I dont think we would have made it, but for some reason, it was made.

Mr Trump has previously drawn comparisons between his response to the outbreak and the Obama administrations response to the Ebola epidemic of 2014. At the time, he called his predecessor a psycho and railed against evacuations of Americans from areas hit with Ebola  a tactic his own administration is now employing.

Barack Obamas Ebola czar, Ronald Klain, has strongly criticised the Trump administrations handling of the current epidemic, telling MSNBC the government response was subject to a crisis of both confidence and competence.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

The have been 11 deaths from coronavirus in the US so far. On Thursday the first outside Washington state was confirmed in California, which has declared a state of emergency.

The US has struggled to manage its response to the spread of the disease, with initial diagnostic efforts badly botched and federal workers sent to help quarantined people without proper protection.

Some have blamed difficulties in responding to he virus on numerous cuts to relevant agencies and programmes imposed by the Trump administration.

The president himself has repeatedly appeared startlingly uninformed about the virus, recently suggesting it could be prevented with the flu vaccine.

Mr Trump has also been criticised for appointing his vice-president, Mike Pence, to head up the response to the epidemic. While governor of Indiana, Mr Pence was blamed for responding too slowly to an HIV outbreak, reportedly because of his reluctance to open needle exchanges. Hundreds of people were ultimately infected.
Bandhan Bank share price closed higher in trade today after brokerage Motilal Oswal initiated coverage on the stock with a buy call. Share price Bandhan Bank ended 6.02% or 24.10 points higher at Rs 424.50 compared to the previous close of Rs 400.40 on BSE. The large cap stock rose up to 6.13% to Rs 424.95 intra day on BSE.

It has lost 12.47% in last one year and fallen 16.45% since the beginning of this year.

On NSE, the stock closed 5.97% or 23.90 points higher at Rs 424.30 compared to the previous close of Rs 400.40. During the day, it hit an intra day high of 440.40.

Motilal Oswal said the stock offers great long-term opportunity post correction. It expects the bank to deliver industry leading return on asset/RoE of 3.7%/23.4% for FY22. Valuations appear reasonable, the brokerage added.

It initiated coverage for the bank with a target price of Rs 500 per share.

"The private sector lender has demonstrated a strong track record in growing its balance sheet/earnings and maintained a robust market share/cost leadership with its low-cost DSC network. It has also deftly handled external events like demonetisation/GST, wherein it restored the normal delinquency rate within three months," said Motilal Oswal.

The merger with GRUH has helped improve product diversification, reduce concentration risk and increase cross-sell opportunities (around 68 percent of GRUH's book has a ticket size of less than Rs 10 lakh), the brokerage added. Bandhan Bank stock which stood at Rs 469.80 on February 12 has corrected 9.68% since then as domestic indices have taken into account the rising effect of coronavirus on Indian economy.

The private sector lender reported a huge jump in net profit, including that of merged Gruh Finance, to Rs 731 crore for December 2019 quarter. Bandhan Bank had reported a post tax net of Rs 331.26 crore in the year ago period. However, the results were not comparable as the reported quarter includes the performance of gruh Finance, with which it merged in 2019.

The microlender-turned-universal bank had to set aside Rs 200 crore as loan loss provisions after evaluating risks for its portfolio from in the restive North Eastern India.

Over a tenth of the Kolkata-headquartered bank's overall book come from Assam, had witnessed a spate of protests by citizens over the passage of the amendments to Citizenship Act by both Houses of Parliament.
Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister



Umang Singhar on Thursday put out a cryptic tweet, seeking to link the poaching row to the March 26 biennial polls for three Rajya Sabha seats in the state but maintained Congress government was completely safe.

The Congress leader, with his statement, appeared to toe the line of the BJP which has been saying it has nothing to do with the ongoing political drama, that according to it, was an outcome of infighting in the ruling party in run-up to the RS polls.

The Congress has accused the BJP of attempting to poach MLAs of the party and its allies in its bid to bring down the Kamal Nath government, a charge strongly denied by the opposition party.

Honourable (Chief Minister) Kamal Nathji government was completely safe. This (poaching row) is all a fight to reach Upper House. Rest you all understand, Singhar tweeted.

Singhar, a tribal leader, is considered a bete-noire of Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP from the state whose term is ending soon.

Last year, the minister had openly dubbed Singh as a "blackmailer", alleging he was running a proxy government in Madhya Pradesh, a charge rejected by the veteran Congressman's son Jaivardhan then.

The minister's tweet comes at a time when Singh is being seen as a "saviour" of the Kamal Nath government.

He was the first one to raise the red flag in the party, alleging the BJP was trying to "poach" MLAs of the Congress and its allies with allurements to destabilise the 14-month-old Nath government.

The former chief minister made the allegation while talking to reporters on Monday in New Delhi.

Singh, according to people close to him, arrived early Wednesday at the hotel in Haryana where a group of MLAs, said to be target of poaching bid, was cooped up and brought them back to Bhopal.

Thus, he thwarted a BJP bid to topple the Congress government, one of his loyalists said.

However, the BJP has sought to link the political drama to internal fight in the faction-ridden Congress ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.

Without naming Singh, BJP vice-president and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters in Indore on Wednesday night, A (senior Congress) leader in order to strengthen his claim for RS berth, played a trick to mount pressure on high command by putting the blame on the BJP.

After losing the Lok Sabha polls to BJP MP Pragya Thakur from Bhopal last year, Singh, in all likelihood, would seek re-election to the Upper House, Congress sources said.

The ruling party may field former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in the RS elections, they said.

Scindia, like Singh, had lost general elections from Guna.

The BJP may renominate former Union minister and Dalit leader Satyanarayan Jatiya in the RS polls, party sources said.

The three RS seat falling vacant are currently held by Singh (Congress), Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP).

Despite depleted numbers after the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP will make all out effort to retain the two seats, where the Congress wants to take it tally to two from one as it has more legislators this time around.

The 230-member Assembly has 114 Congress MLAs followed by the BJP (107). The simple majority mark is 116.

Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the BSP and one of the Samajwadi Party (SP) are providing crucial support to the Congress government. Two seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

Members of a state's Legislative Assembly vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Some 15 rare paintings seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the residence of fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi are scheduled to be auctioned on March 5.

These paintings and other items were seized by the ED from Modi's houses after the agency registered a money laundering case against him and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 13,600 crore.

The auction is to be held after the Bombay High Court on March 4 refused to stay the process. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice NR Borkar heard a petition filed by the businessman's son Rohin Modi, claiming that the paintings were owned by the Rohin Trust, of which he was a beneficiary, and not owned by Nirav Modi.

Rohin Modi's counsel Amit Desai argued that the paintings cannot be construed as proceeds of crime and his client was not an accused in the case.

The plea was opposed by the EDs counsels Anil Singh and Hiten Venegaonkar, who argued that Rohin Modi, Nirav Modi and his wife were beneficiaries of the trust. They further argued that the paintings were attached by the ED in March 2019, and an advertisement for the auction was issued in January 2020.

The bench, after hearing arguments, noted that the petitioner (Rohin Modi) had approached the court at the "eleventh hour".

"The Rohin Trust has not approached this court...neither have the other beneficiaries of the trust, Nirav Modi and his wife, approached this court. There is no attempt to justify late approach," the bench said in its order.

"In this situation, we are not inclined to pass interim orders. The ED shall file its affidavit in response to the plea by March 23," the court said.

The bench, however, directed the ED to deposit the auction proceeds in a separate bank account and not use the same until further orders.

Earlier on March 4, cars, sculptures and personal objects of value including watches and designer handbags belonging to Nirav Modi went under the hammer.

According to a Business Standard report, the auction was conducted by Saffronart on behalf of the deputy director, ED, Mumbai. It was expected to garner Rs 50 lakh in proceeds, but generated over four times that number, said the report.

(With inputs from PTI)
Wednesday, the nonprofit group, Freedom House, releases its annual report on freedom and the state of democracy around the world. Continuing a 14-year trend, some of the findings are discouraging. As VOAs Arash Arabasadi reports, the group says individual freedoms and democratic systems are under attack. VOA Khmer's Sisovann Pin narrates.
Randy Lee Hinecker

March 11, 1958 - March 3, 2020

Plymouth- Randy Lee Hinecker, 61, went to be with the Lord on March 3, 2020.

A memorial service will be held at 4:00pm Friday, March 6, 2020, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 3rd St NE, Mason City.

Visitation will be from 2:00pm to 4:00pm on Friday, March 6, 2020, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 3rd St NE, Mason City.

Randy was born March 11, 1958, in Iowa City, IA, to Crystal (Brooking) Hinecker. Randy graduated from Nora Springs Rock Falls High School in 1976. He enjoyed memories made with friends while playing sports.

Randy met his high school sweetheart Ellen Kay Byington and spent the rest of his life loving her. They were married on April 15, 1978 at the Old Stone United Methodist Church in Rock Falls, Iowa.

Randy spent his life serving others as a professional driver, most recently retiring from Mercy Hospital-Mason City. Randy enjoyed spending time with his family, cheering on his beloved Vikings, and fixing anything he could get his hands on. He was a faithful friend, loving and serving others in endless ways. He loved driving around Clear Lake, attending his grandchildren's sporting and school events and traveling with family on special vacations, with the most recent to Sedona, AZ, to see the Grand Canyon.

Randy is survived by his wife of 41 years, Ellen Hinecker; two daughters Christine Douglas of Nora Springs, IA and Melissa (Ryon) Schleppenbach of Hastings, MN; three grandchildren, Chylee Douglas, Madison and Isabel Schleppenbach; grand-dog Ali; sisters, Cathy (Victor) Nava and Deborah (Jerry) Hickman; siblings of Ellen, Karen and Paul Birkedal, Peggy and Brad Schuver, Holly and Lynn Gallagher; as well as many nieces and nephews that will forever cherish Uncle Randy.

Randy was preceded in death by his mother Crystal Hinecker, and mother and father in-law, Mike and Margaret Byington.

Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel 126 3rd St NE, Mason City, IA. 641-423-2372 ColonialChapels.com
Increase in demand for aromatherapy, rise in preference for natural ingredients, demographic changes, and evolving applications in pharmaceutical industry fuel the growth of the global essential oils market. By product, the orange segment would remain lucrative by 2026. On the other hand, by geography, Asia-Pacific would grow at the fastest CAGR of 9.3% throughout the forecast period.

Portland, OR, March 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global essentials oil market was estimated at $8.00 billion in 2018 and is expected to hit $15.61 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 8.7% from 2019 to 2026. The report offers a detailed analysis of top investment pockets, top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, market size & estimations, competitive landscape, and fluctuating market trends.

Rise in demand for aromatherapy, increase in preference for natural ingredients, demographic changes, and evolving applications in pharmaceutical industry drive the growth of the global essential oils market. On the other hand, high price, limited knowledge regarding weed management, and dearth of awareness among end-users curtail down the growth. Nevertheless, revenue opportunities in establishing direct distribution network is anticipated to pave the way for an array of opportunities in the near future.

Download Sample Copy of Report with TOC@ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1412

The orange segment to rule the roost-

Based on product, the orange segment held the highest share in 2018, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the total market in 2018. The same segment is also expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 9.3% by the end of 2026. The other segments discussed in the report include eucalyptus, cornmint, peppermint, citronella, lemon, lime, clover leaf, and spearmint.

The food and beverages segment to maintain its dominance during the study period-

Based on application, the food and beverages segment garnered nearly two-fifths of the global market share in 2018, and is projected to dominate throughout the forecast period. The cleaning and home segment, on the other hand, would cite the fastest CAGR of 9.3% from 2019 to 2026. The other two segments assessed in the market report take in spa and relaxation, and medical.

Story continues

North America to dominate till 2026-

Based on region, North America contributed to two-fifths of the total market revenue in 2018, and is projected to maintain its top status during the estimated period. Simultaneously, the region across Asia-Pacific would showcase the fastest CAGR of 9.3% during 20192026. The provinces of Europe and LAMEA are also analyzed in the report.

Send Me Enquire for Essential Oil Market@ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1412

Frontrunners in the industry-

Key market players analyzed in the global essential oils market report include West India Species, Inc., Biolandes, Moksha Lifestyle Products, Sydney Essential Oils Co. Pty Ltd., Essential Oils of New Zealand, Young Living Essential Oils, Farotti SRL, The Lebermuth Company, doTERRA International, and H.Reynaude & Fils. These players have incorporated exclusive market strategies such as partnerships, collaboration, mergers & acquisitions, and new product launch to brace their stand in the industry.

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The Afghanistan agreement signed last weekend in Doha did not, as was to be expected, lead to peace immediately breaking out. The Taliban resumed attacks after their demand for the release of prisoners was rejected, and the Americans responded with air strikes.

The opposing sides are in agreement on one thing, however  none of them want the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate allegations of atrocities committed during this long and bloody war.

The US does not recognise the ICC, and the Afghan government, which does recognise the court, opposes the inquiry. Moreover, the chances of the Taliban handing over its fighters to be carted off to The Hague to face foreign, infidel justice is nil.

This, indeed, was the initial conclusion of the ICC when it rejected the request for the investigation from its chief prosecutor, the Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda. It emphasised that the prospect of a successful prosecution was extremely doubtful because the US, the Afghan government and the Taliban would refuse to cooperate.

The US administration said at the time that it would revoke or deny visas to ICC staff who sought to enter the country to investigate allegations against US citizens in Afghanistan or anywhere else. Ms Bensoudas visa was promptly revoked.

One can expect Donald Trump, who has pardoned American service personnel prosecuted in the US on charges of war crimes in Afghanistan, to defy the wishes of the US military and go on a Twitter diatribe against the ICC.

US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shake hands during the signing ceremony of the peace agreement in Doha on Saturday (EPA/Stringer) (EPA/STRINGER)

Nevertheless, the ICC is proceeding with the investigation. Its appeals chamber now says that a lower court misinterpreted some of the organisations rules in arriving at the first decision. The chairperson, Piotr Hofmanski, said: The prosecutor is authorised to commence investigation in relation to events dating back to 2003 as well as other alleged crimes [related to] Afghanistan.

It remains unclear just how the ICC will gather evidence and bring alleged perpetrators to court given the obstacles that it faces, and what measures it intends to take to deal with the restrictions.

Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Show all 20 1 /20 Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Nooria*, 15 in the home her family has lived in for the past two years in Mazar-i Sharif She was forced to flee her home with her family after their town was attacked by armed groups. Nooria describes a rocket hitting her neighbours home killing many inside. They fled on foot with just the clothes on their backs and she now lives in Mazari Shariff where Save the Children have enrolled her in school and provide vocational training Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Nooria* hopes for a future with no war; "When they attacked our village, the rocket hit our neighbour's house and they all died. Our house then caught fire and we ran away. My friends who I used to play with - I still don't know if they are alive or if they are dead. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict I'm hoping for a better future, to learn, to support my family and to get them out of this difficult life. And I'm hoping for a future where there is no war. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Naveed*, 16 at his family home in Mazar-i Sharif Naveed lost his leg when he stepped on a mine aged just 8-years-old. He was herding the family's sheep in the mountains near their home when he triggered a landmine Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict After months of medical treatment his right leg was eventually amputated. He received physiotherapy and a prosthetic leg from the International Committee for the Red Cross in Mazar Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Now enrolled in school, Naveed is being given vocational training by Save the Children. For around a year I felt and dreamt that I still had my leg. But when I woke up and saw, there was no leg. Sometimes Id feel with my hand to check and find it wasn't there. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict If someone has loses their leg, it does not mean that they have lost their mind." Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict "With the help of our minds we can continue to study, learn, and work to make the future of our families brighter. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Naveed and Mahboob*, 55 (Naveed's father) Several years ago Neveed's father, Mahboob, was brutally beaten with rifle butts by armed groups after, he says, he failed to provide food for them while they were stationed in the family's village. He suffered brain damage which affected the right side of his body, speech and his brain function Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Habiba*, 14, and Arezo*, 15 in a village outside Kabul Habiba and Arezo were injured with their mother three years ago in a suicide bombing in Kabul. Arezo is still traumatised from what she saw and has become completely withdrawn Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Arezo's younger sister Habiba cares for her, takes her to lessons and anywhere she wants to go. They are both in school through Save the Children's 'Steps towards Afghan girls' education success' (STAGES) programme, which helps the most marginalised girls get access to education, stay in school and learn. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Habiba says: When I woke up and I opened my eyes I saw lots of bodies and I thought I was not alive any more. It was horrible. I'll never forget that. Whenever there is a big sound she gets scared because she was traumatised by the sound she heard during the attack. I love my sister, and I help her with her lessons, I take her anywhere." Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict "She's older than me but I feel like the older one because I support her. I hope for a better future for me and my sister. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Khalida*, 10 in a classroom in a village outside Kabul Two years ago Khalida lost her 18-year old brother when he was killed in an explosion in Kabul. She misses him every day and says the family are still carrying the grief of his loss Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict "Two years ago, my brother was going to Kabul when an explosion happened and he lost his life. We are still carrying the grief and are crying over him. At the time we were happy, everyone was happy. Now no-one is happy in the family. When I remember him, I cry and feel so bad. I hope for peace and that war will stop, and that nobody loses their brother Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict I want to get education to become a teacher. I want to teach others who have never been to school Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Sema*,11 at her family home in Kabul Sema recalls coming home from her aunt's house and being told that her father had been killed in a suicide attack Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict Sema still thinks about him every second and likes to look at his prayer beads (Tisbeh) to remember him. They hang from the curtain in the family home. She loves school and wants to become a teacher one day. Sema says she wants peace in her country to stop other children losing their fathers. We still have lots of his belongings, like his car, his clothes, his watch, his shoes. Whenever we see them we cry. He gave us all so much love every moment and he is on our minds. I want for the powerful people around the world to stop the war and bring peace, because I don't want other children to lose their fathers. Andrew Quilty/Save the Children Afghanistan war: lives of children devastated by the endless conflict I want to become a teacher to serve the country and I don't want any girls to be illiterate. I want to teach all the girls, so they have access to education. *Names have been changed to protect identities Andrew Quilty/Save the Children

This does not mean, however, that the search for justice should be abandoned. As Steve Crawshaw, the policy and advocacy director of the human rights group Freedom from Torture, pointed out: This announcement is important in reminding us that nobody is above the law. Nobody should get away with war crimes and torture. Many torture survivors who come to Freedom from Torture are from Afghanistan, and we know that torture is committed by government and rebel forces alike.

Donald Trump has said that torture absolutely works, thus giving a green light to torturers worldwide. Dangerous talk like that must be confronted. Torturers must be held to account, whoever they represent and wherever they are.

This was a significant move for the ICC on another count. The court has been criticised for focusing on alleged crimes of smaller nations and their leaders in the developing world, very often ones in Africa, while avoiding investigating more powerful states.

In this context, taking on the United States over Afghanistan is an important step in the courts stated aim of pursuing without fear or favour the cases of injustice that fall under its remit. We shall have to see how far it gets in doing so.
Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles A. Fiore has abruptly resigned from his position, officials announced Thursday.

Fiore, who assumed the role less that three years ago, has been replaced by Christine A. Hoffman, who will serve as acting prosecutor, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Fiore told his staff in an email that his decision to leave was made for family reasons and to pursue other opportunities, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A prosecutors office spokesman referred questions about the departure, which was effective at 12 p.m. on Thursday, to the state Attorney Generals office.

A spokesman with that office declined to comment.

Efforts to contact Fiore on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Prior to becoming prosecutor, Fiore served as solicitor for Monroe Township, Gloucester County, worked as municipal prosecutor for several South Jersey towns and was planning and zoning attorney for the City of Woodbury. He also maintained a private law practice in Williamstown from 1991 until his appointment as prosecutor.

Former Gov. Chris Christie nominated Fiore to replace Sean Dalton.

Dalton, who had been county prosecutor since 2002 and was serving as a holdover appointment after completing two five-year terms in the post, was surprised at the time by news that he was being replaced.

Christine A. Hoffman has been named to serve as acting Gloucester County prosecutor following the sudden departure of Charles A. Fiore.

Hoffman has worked for 22 years as a prosecutor, serving recently as the deputy director of the state Division of Criminal Justice in the AGs office.

I have great confidence in Acting Prosecutor Hoffman, who will guide the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office through this transition, Grewal said in a statement. She is a career prosecutor and no-nonsense manager with a deep commitment to public service.

Before joining the Division of Criminal Justice in 2000, she served as an assistant prosecutor in the Burlington County Prosecutors Office.

While Grewal praised Hoffman in his announcement, he offered no similar comments on Fiore, apart from noting his departure.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System also agreed to pay more than $77,000 for the costs of the state Board of Pharmacys investigation involving Mount Carmel West hospital, which has since closed, and William Husel, the fired doctor charged with murder in the deaths of 25 patients over several years.
The Tripura government on Thursday said it has identified 18 locations in eight districts to resettle the displaced Bru community people who had been living in relief camps in the state for the past two decades.

Thousands of Bru community people have been living in relief camps in North Tripura district since 1997. They had fled Mizoram to reach the neighbouring state because of ethnic clashes. By now, the total number of these internally displaced people has risen to around 34,000.

"District Magistrates of the state's eight districts have identified 18 locations to resettle the Brus. Now the government will examine if the lands are suitable for their permanent settlement," Law and Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath said here.

A quadripartite agreement signed on January 16 by representatives of the Brus, the central, Tripura and Mizoram governments in New Delhi allows these tribal people to permanently settle in Tripura.

"A maximum of 300 to 350 Bru families would be resettled in one location and the government would set up schools for their children and provide them agricultural land," said Nath who is also the cabinet spokesperson.

A day after the agreement was signed, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb said it will take at least six months to resettle the 34,000-odd members of the community.

The Brus are staying in six camps at Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of North Tripura district. They get free ration and a cash dole from the Centre.

According to the agreement, each Bru family would get one 1200 square feet plot and Rs 1.5 lakh to build a house, Rs 4 lakh fixed deposit in the name of the family and Rs 5,000 per month along with free ration for the next two years.

A total of Rs 600 crore was sanctioned to resettle them within Tripura.

"Our Government will also provide them certificates of Permanent Resident of Tripura, Aadhaar card, Scheduled Tribes (ST) certificate and ration cards. The benefits which the tribals in the state get would also be provided to them," Nath said.

The agreement was signed one-and-a-half months after the ninth initiative to send the Bru refugees back to Mizoram failed. Of the targeted 4,447 families, the CM had said only 350 families could be repatriated.

The vexed Bru issue started from September, 1997, following demands of a separate autonomous district council by carving out areas of western Mizoram adjoining Bangladesh and Tripura.

The situation was aggravated by the murder of a forest guard in the Dampa Tiger Reserve in western Mizoram by Bru National Liberation Front insurgents on October 21 that year.

The first attempt to repatriate the Brus from Tripura was made in November 2009.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Pastor Ken Peters was faithfully leading his small church in Spokane, Washington, when a guest preachers Sunday sermon grabbed his heart and prompted an unexpected response. That providential moment led to the creation of The Church at Planned Parenthood (TCAPP), a monthly gathering of Christians from various churches to worship God, boldly preach the gospel message and spend time in corporate prayer repenting for our nation and for the churchs silence on abortion  while standing together outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic.

We spoke with Pastor Ken to learn more about TCAPP and to understand the impact that this church plant is having nationwide. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation.

West: Tell me about the pivotal moment that started TCAPP.

Peters: Reverend Rusty Thomas of Operation Save America came to our church to stir us up about the murder of the unborn in our nation. He was preaching on when Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He said, If you have any worship leaders, have them go out to Planned Parenthood with a guitar and start worshipping. If you have any intercessors, get them out there praying. If you have any preachers, get them out there preaching.

I thought, That sounds like church: preaching, worship, and prayer. I felt like the Lord spoke to me and said, Dont you dare plant another regular church until your next church campus is the church at Planned Parenthood, an outdoor church. I got up after the sermon and announced to the congregation that our next church was going to be a church at Planned Parenthood!

West: My guess is there was surprise and even concern after your passionate proclamation. Describe the reaction.

Ken Peters: My wife looked at me like I was crazy! And Reverend Thomas literally bent over. He said he had never heard of such an idea. It was so simple, yet so profound because he had just proclaimed that the church will win against the gates of hell. Quite frankly, after I made the announcement, I began to doubt. I was afraid. My church was supportive but they waited to see if I would follow through on my promise.

West: Two months later, in October 2018, you held the first service of the new church plant. What happened?

Ken Peters: I was expecting my wife and maybe 20 people to show up  maybe a couple of elders and deacons from the church because they felt obligated. But 175 people came for the first service! The church was so gracious  they followed their crazy leader and responded.

West: Describe the atmosphere at a TCAPP service.

Ken Peters: You can literally feel the spiritual warfare. When its almost time to start, people are coming in from everywhere because they have to park in the surrounding neighborhoods and walk because Planned Parenthood wont let us use their parking lot. The police are there with five to eight police cars with their lights flashing. They have to put up barricades on both sides of the street because weve attracted a number of protesters.

West: Some might wonder if you are there protesting Planned Parenthood. Is your worship service directed toward Planned Parenthood?

Ken Peters: We are not a protest. We do not engage with the protesters. We are there to call upon the Lord. Its spiritual warfare, not warfare of the flesh. We are having church, believing that the gates of hell will not prevail.

West: You are following the model of worship, prayer and preaching but is your preaching geared towards pro-life issues?

Ken Peters: Its naturally going to be more focused on the life issue because were right next to Planned Parenthood. If the preachers want to preach the gospel, thats what they do. A picture is worth a thousand words when you have Christians out there worshipping God. You dont have to say anything about life, but everyone knows why you are there.

West: TCAPP is growing across the country and there are other locations replicating what you started. Talk about your vision as this church is gaining attention and more people are learning about it.

Ken Peters: My vision is that the bushel is taken off the church. Jesus said, You are the light of the world, a city on a hill. Either keep your light under a bushel or let your light shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. My ultimate goal is to see revival and to see the church activate.

West: Why do you think the church has been largely silent on abortion?

Ken Peters: I think its become a political issue. Churches want to reach everyone. But theyve stayed away from issues that might chase people away, instead of realizing that Christ himself is the Truth and we dont need to be afraid of the Truth. I think we can speak truth boldly and not hatefully.

West: What has been the biggest cost to you in starting TCAPP? Whats been the biggest gain?

Ken Peters: A year ago, I was a pastor with a cute family, a church and a Christian school. In the last year, Ive been labeled a hateful bigot, an extremist that is a danger to society. We have had people come to our home church and stand outside our doors protesting, screaming at our church people as they come and go. So thats the cost.

I never thought me making a difference would be starting a church at Planned Parenthood, but the Lord works in mysterious ways. I thought only 20 people were going to show up at our first service. Now, we have 650 people and are on the front page of the newspaper.

The Lords given me a prophetic voice in this nation through the craziest yet simplest of ideas. Weve heard many, many stories of the blessing of The Church at Planned Parenthood.



Since our interview with Pastor Ken Peters, the Spokane city council is now considering an ordinance to essentially silence TCAPP. The ordinance could lead to fines of $500-$1,000 and up to 30 days in jail. Please continue praying for Pastor Peters and The Church at Planned Parenthood.
File / Hearst Connecticut Media

GREENWICH  Police were called to a fast-food restaurant parking lot on West Putnam Avenue on Tuesday afternoon on a report of an altercation, one in which racial slurs were allegedly used, police said.

Frank Rogers, 55, of Pilgrim Drive, Greenwich, was charged with second-degree breach of peace.
Credit: Sanjay Parikh After some cryptic teasers, Asking Alexandria has revealed the details of the band's next album.

The sixth studio effort from the U.K. metallers -- its first since 2017's self-titled effort -- is called Like a House on Fire, and will arrive on May 15.

Like a House on Fire includes the previously released songs "The Violence" and "They Don't Want What We Want (And They Don't Care)," as well as a new track called "Antisocialist," which you can download now via digital outlets.

Asking Alexandria will launch a U.S. tour in support of Like a House on Fire alongside Falling in Reverse in April.

Here's the Like a House on Fire track list:

"House on Fire"

"They Don't Want What We Want (And They Don't Care)"

"Down to Hell"

"Antisocialist"

"I Don't Need You"

"All Due Respect"

"Take Some Time"

"One Turns to None"

"It's Not Me (It's You)"

"Here's to Starting Over"

"What's Gonna Be"

"Give You Up"

"In My Blood"

"The Violence"

"Lorazepam"

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 03:45:51|Editor: huaxia

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Xu Zhuming (R), representative of the donor companies and individuals, introduces the donated equipment to the representatives of Lebanese Health Ministry, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 4, 2020. Chinese companies and expatriates in Lebanon on Wednesday donated a batch of medical equipment to help the country combat the novel coronavirus. (Xinhua/Li Liangyong)

BEIRUT, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies and expatriates in Lebanon on Wednesday donated a batch of medical equipment to help the country combat the novel coronavirus.

"The Chinese here acted quickly after they knew about the first COVID-19 case in Lebanon," Xu Zhuming, representative of the donor companies and individuals, told Xinhua.

Xu delivered 600 medical protective goggles and a batch of testing kits to the representatives of Lebanese Health Ministry.

"After the confirmation of the case of COVID-19 infection in Lebanon, the Chinese community and companies in the country voluntarily gave donations for the purchase of medical equipment," said Xu, who runs a restaurant in Lebanon since decades ago.

"We stand together with the Lebanese people in the fight against COVID-19," he added.

Mustafa Bilani, representative of Lebanese Health Ministry, said that the ministry appreciates the donations from the Chinese community in Lebanon, which he said reflected the deep friendly ties between the two peoples.

Lebanon reported two new cases of COVID-19 infection on Wednesday, bringing to 15 the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5

Trend:

Turkmenistan will participate in the 85th meeting of the CIS Economic Council, Trend reports citing Turkmen Media News Agency.

The 85th meeting of the CIS Economic Council will be held in Moscow on March 13, 2020, the agency reported.

Among other topics, an Action Plan for the Year of Architecture and Urban Planning in the Commonwealth in 2021 will be discussed. The initiative of holding the next year in the CIS under this motto was offered by Turkmenistan, and the Turkmen initiative was unanimously approved by the CIS member states.

During the 85th meeting of the CIS Economic Council, priority areas of cooperation within the CIS in the field of transport for the period until 2030, measures to implement the Social and Demographic Policy Concept in the CIS for 20202023 will be reviewed.

The agenda also includes, among others, the CIS Prize 2019 awarding ceremony for achievements in the field of quality of products and services.

Members of the delegations will take part in the plenary meeting of the CIS+WORLD International Economic Forum. Its program includes the CIS+WORLD 2020 International Tourism Congress and thematic sections.
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A South Korean news channel has issued a statement regarding a recent report on the treatment of its nationals placed under quarantine in Vietnam, as the Southeast Asian country struggles to maintain its grip on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam on Wednesday said YTN  a 24-hour tabloid news channel broadcast throughout South Korea  had made an official announcement on Monday regarding the report.

The announcement recounted a YTN news report broadcast on February 25 and 26 which shared the opinions of some South Korean tourists who had been sent home after a brief stay in a quarantine camp in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang.

The interviewees were among a group of 20 South Korean visitors who, together with two Thai tourists and 58 Vietnamese, arrived in Da Nang on a flight from Daegu  South Koreas COVID-19 epicenter  on February 24.

Pursuant to the quarantine guidelines issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health for all people arriving from disease-hit areas, including Daegu, the South Koreans were told they would need to be isolated for monitoring.

As the South Koreans refused to follow the local authorities quarantine request, the group was temporarily kept at the Da Nang Lung Disease Hospital before boarding a Vietnamese government-sponsored charter flight back to their home country.

Included in YTNs report was the South Korean visitors distaste for the meals served to them at the hospital in Da Nang, which included what appeared to be rice, kimchi and banh mi (Vietnamese stuffed baguette).

The South Korean nationals interviewed for YTNs report stated that their meal comprised only some pieces of bread, according Thanh Nien (Young People), a Vietnamese-language online newspaper.

The South Koreans also complained that the quarantine conditions in Vietnam were so bad that they could not even wash.

A screenshot of YTNs announcement released after its controversial news report sparked an outrage from Vietnamese netizens.

Immediately after it was aired, the YTN report stirred a wave of outrage amongst Vietnamese social media users who criticized the South Korean channel for its one-sided reporting.

Many also argued that Da Nang authorities treated the South Koreans with elaborate courtesy as banh mi is a celebrated Vietnamese food known around the world while the kimchi was a thoughtful touch, particularly as it would never have been made available in a regular Vietnamese meal.

Vietnamese netizens said that the South Korean visitors, instead of complaining, should have thanked Vietnam for its proactive measures to prevent and combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

Anger over the report seemed to spread further than just the borders of Vietnam, with #20KoreansStopLying and #AplogizeToVietNam taking over the Twitterverse and topping real-time trends on the social media network.

YTN issued an official statement regarding the controversy on Monday, explaining that the channel had been consistently providing reports on the South Korean citizens quarantined in Vietnam during that time.

The network excused the report as part of its obligation of conveying all relevant interview content without adding or censoring details.

The channel also said it regretted that some of the complaints and expressions in the interview were broadcast without filtering.

"We only intend to convey the stance of isolated individuals at the Vietnamese hospital, but not to downplay or disregard the typical culture of Vietnam [sic]," YTN said.

The news broadcaster added that it has learned from the experience and will attempt to be more cognizant of cultural differences in its reporting.

COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected nearly 95,400 people and killed 3,285 globally as of 9:00 am on Thursday, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

South Korea has reported 35 deaths out of its 5,766 COVID-19 cases, according to the same source.

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 infections since February 13.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Coronavirus turmoil spreads

Federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus as the U.S. death toll climbed to 11, including the first fatality outside Washington state.

Officials in Californias Placer County, near Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. The victim had underlying health problems, authorities said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom late Wednesday declared a statewide emergency due to coronavirus. Washington and Florida had already declared emergencies, and Hawaii also joined them Wednesday.

Washington also announced another death, bringing its total to 10. Most of those who died were residents of Life Care Center, a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle. At least 39 cases have been reported in the Seattle area, where researchers say the virus may have been circulating undetected for weeks. (Associated Press)

Featured stories

U.S. health system is showing why its not ready for a coronavirus pandemic (Washington Post)

United Airlines to reduce U.S. flights due to coronavirus outbreak (Associated Press)

Scientists say theyve identified 2 strains of COVID-19 (ABC News)

The CDC says to skip work if youre ill. Problem is, many cant (CBS News)

When can we go to school? Nearly 300 million children are missing class (New York Times)

National news

A road separates properties filled with debris near Lebanon, Tenn. Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee early Tuesday, shredding more than 140 buildings and burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements. (Mark Humphrey, Associated Press)AP

Biden declared presumptive winner of Maine Democratic primary (CBS News)

Bernie Sanders says of course Im disappointed after Super Tuesday (CBS News)

Bloomberg drops out of presidential race, endorses Biden (Politico)

3 still missing after EF-4 tornado in Tennessees Putnam County (NBC News)

In rare rebuke, Chief Justice Roberts slams Schumer for threatening comments (NBC News)

Prosecutors oppose Ponzi king Bernie Madoff bid for early prison release, dont dispute hes dying (CNBC)

Virginia gun safety bills head to Democratic governor for signature (CNN)

World news

U.S. conducted airstrike on Taliban fighters following attack on Afghan checkpoint (CNN)

US defense department linguist charged with espionage (BBC)

Israel election: Netanyahu seeks defectors after failing to secure majority (BBC)

Ukraines President Zelensky replaces his Prime Minister (CNN)

Climate change made Australias fire season more intense, study finds (CBS News)

Syria war: Satellite images reveal Idlib destruction and displacement (BBC)

Venezuelas president urges all women to have 6 children (Associated Press)
In 1946, British authorities charged four top officials at the camps with war crimes. One escaped before trial, another was hanged and two others were imprisoned. One of the lead British investigators, according to the Justice Department, was the late Capt. Anton Walter Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, who had escaped Vienna with his family in 1938. One of the British military judges was Earl Edward John Spencer, whose daughter, Diana, would go on to become the princess of Wales.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 06:30:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LJUBLJANA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec said on Twitter Wednesday that the first infection with COVID-19 had been confirmed in the country.

Following the prime minister's announcement, Health Minister Ales Sabeder told the press that the infected person had come to Slovenia from Morocco via Italy.

The patient is currently being treated at the infection ward of the UKC Ljubljana hospital, he added.

The Slovenian National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) is identifying the people who have been in contact with the infected individual.

"Our job is to find them and provide them with advice so that the infection does not spread," said Maja Socan, an associate professor at NIJZ.
Bank of Baroda announced that Moody's Investors Service on 04 March 2020, has affirmed Bank of Baroda's (BoB) domestic and foreign bank long term and short term deposit ratings of Baa3, stable/P-3.

At the same time, Moody's has downgraded BoB's Baseline Credit Assesment (BCA) and adjusted BCA to ba3 from ba2.

In addition, Moody's has downgraded BOB's long term and short term Counterparty Risk Assessments to Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr) and the long term and short term domestic currency counterparty risk ratings (CRR) to Baa3/P-3 from Baa2(cr)/P-2(cr) and Baa2lP-2, respectively.

Moody's has also assigned a long term and short term foreign currency CRR of Baa3/P-3 to BOB.

The outlook is stable.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The high court of England and Wales on Thursday denied bail to diamantaire Nirav Modi for the fifth time after his defence team failed to convince the judge that a new package of exceptionally stringent bail conditions would make it impossible for him to flee.

Modi, 49, was arrested in March 2019 and is facing extradition to India to face charges of fraud and money-laundering linked to a Mumbai branch of the Punjab National Bank. Lodged in the Wandsworth jail, Modi appeared by videolink, dressed in T-shirt and jeans.

Modis team offered 4 million pounds as security deposit and obey house arrest conditions, in which even to move from bedroom of his central London flat to the hall or other part of the flat, he would have to ask for permission from a 24-hour security guard.

Modi offered to pay for the surveillance by a company, with whom a memorandum of understanding was placed before the court. He also offered to have his phone conversations recorded and meeting only approved visitors.

Nicholas Hearn, barrister for the Crown Prosecution Service appearing on Indias behalf, countered the bail request on the ground that the arrangement with the company was not underpinned by law; nothing had changed since the last time when he was denied bail.

The security company arrangement is not practical. The guard will not be contractually obliged to stop Modi (if he were to leave his flat), but only to inform the police, he said. Judge Dove agreed, adding that by the time the police arrive, it may be too late.

Hearn also countered the claim that Modi will not interfere with witnesses by saying that he knew languages other than English. Even if his phone conversations were recorded, it would pose practical difficulties; besides, Indian investigators in his case are not based in the UK.

Modis lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, told the court that he had been attacked in jail several times, and had also been the subject of an extortion attempt. His mental health had deteriorated in jail, leading to further depression, the barrister contended.

Fitzgerald said that instead of fleeing, Modi had offered to surrender before his arrest in March 2019. He had shown faith in the British legal system; did not have any incentive to flee to an uncertain fate to another country, nor to breach bail conditions and return to jail.

Judge Dove, however, recalled previous judgements that noted that the scale of allegations of fraud against Modi amounting to nearly 1 billion US dollars, and concluded that he is refusing bail on the ground that the risk of Modi absconding remains significant.

Modis five-day extradition trial is due to begin on May 11 in the Westminster Magistrates Court. His key ground to oppose extradition is the claim that Indias request is politically motivated and part of an alleged conspiracy against him by some government departments.

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A pro-Trump truck is parked near downtown Scranton on Wednesday, before President Donald Trump's Fox News town hall the next day in Joe Biden's Pennsylvania hometown. Read more

SCRANTON  With Joe Biden riding high after a commanding performance in the Super Tuesday Democratic primaries, President Donald Trump is coming here to offer some counter-programming in a state that helped deliver him the White House four years ago.

Trumps appearance in Bidens hometown of Scranton on Thursday night, for a Fox News town hall meeting, will serve as a reminder of just how important Pennsylvania is in November. And it may underscore an uncomfortable truth for his would-be rivals: Its not always easy being a Democrat in Northeastern Pennsylvania these days.

Last year, an independent candidate was elected mayor of Scranton, in Lackawanna County, after her Democratic predecessor was hauled to prison for corruption. Republicans took control of the County Council in neighboring Luzerne County. A longtime Democratic state senator left the party, citing discomfort with partisan purists. And the House seat held by a local Democratic congressman is seen as a top target for Republicans in November.

Theyre losing elections, theyre losing voters.... In counties like mine where they have us outnumbered pretty dramatically, were coming closer than we have in a very long time, said Lance Stange, chairman of the Lackawanna County GOP.

Democrats were caught off guard when many white working-class voters supported Trump in 2016.

Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Luzerne County by 26,000 votes, one of three counties in the state that swung his way after backing Barack Obama. Trump lost Lackawanna County, where Scranton is the county seat, but significantly outperformed previous GOP presidential nominees there.

And while Democrats still outnumber Republicans, party registration figures since Trumps election have shifted almost six percentage points in the GOPs favor.

Republicans have also been gaining ground in Luzerne County, to the south. Exhibit A is State Sen. John Yudichak, who announced in November that he would leave the Democratic Party and caucus with the Republicans in Harrisburg. The son of a coal miner whom Yudichak described as a New Deal Democrat, Yudichak said the party had moved away from those values.

 READ MORE: Pennsylvania Democrats dont just want to beat Trump in 2020: They want the state House back

More and more I started to see kind of the rise of what I see the radical left become more and more prominent in the national conversation  and that kind of seeped into the state Democratic Party, Yudichak said earlier this year. And more and more I saw that I wasnt going to be able to be an effective voice for my constituency.

State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, a seven-term Democrat from Wilkes-Barre, took a different view. Its not hard to be a Democrat in Northeastern Pennsylvania, he said, because the party still stands for workers, collective bargaining, and affordable health care.

Just because I have an extremist on the left doesnt mean I lose my ability of being a Democrat, my beliefs, Pashinski, also the son of a miner, said Wednesday in his district office, where he keeps a photo of himself and Biden on the wall. A sign on the door says, Keep it made in America.

I find some of the young legislators with the extreme left energetic, very bright, and they have dreams," Pashinski said. Without dreams, without moving the bar, you become stagnant and stale. But the question is, how fast and how far is practical?

Democratic strategists said the landscape wont get better for them in national elections any time soon. The party still does well in cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, but broader Northeastern Pennsylvania is a lost proposition for the Democrats in 2020, one Pennsylvania Democratic strategist said.

Local Democrats did have something to celebrate Wednesday: Bidens Super Tuesday romp, just a week after many had counted him out.

 READ MORE: Joe Biden scores big Super Tuesday wins as Bernie Sanders takes California

When it comes to people in Scranton, they werent worried about the election as much as they were worried about him," Evie Rafalko McNulty, the Lackawanna County recorder of deeds and a Democratic superdelegate, said Wednesday in her office here.

And now? "They're psyched."

I think the people are realizing  nothing against Sen. Sanders  the people are realizing that Joe Biden is our only hope of changing the resident at the White House," McNulty said.

Trump, who has been showing up in states before Democrats vote there, would like to cut short the fun.

We like to troll, Trump said at a rally in North Carolina on Monday, a day before the states primary.

Thursdays meeting is to be held at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple.

Jack McGovern, 67, stopped his car across the street on Wednesday to take a picture of the Fox News truck outside. He sent it to his daughter, a doctor in Florida who also supports Trump. I feel he has done what he said he was going to do more so than any other recent president, said McGovern, who had a Keep America Great bumper sticker on his car.

I truly believe he has the best interests of the country at heart," McGovern said. I know hes going to win reelection, hands down.

And what does he think of the hometown favorite? Joe Biden comes here. He goes down to Green Ridge every time theres an election, McGovern said. But he has yet to do anything for the city of Scranton.

Stanley Grand, 75, described Trump as a moral abomination.

I have no use for the gentleman, he said of the president while taking an afternoon walk. Grand, a retired museum director and art history professor, said his wife followed politics more closely. She likes Biden, he said. Anyone is fine with me.

McNulty, the superdelegate, said Democrats have a few surprises planned for Trump, including a billboard near the expressway. The message? Its Biden Country.

Staff writers Julia Terruso and Jonathan Lai contributed to this article.
Actor Ali Fazal considers Kenneth Branagh's "Death on the Nile" as the next big step in his career abroad and he has come back with a lot of learning.

Fazal, who previously worked on Hollywood movies such as "Fast and Furious 7" and "Victoria and Abdul", features in "Death on the Nile" alongside a star-studded cast of Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Rose Leslie and Emma Mackey, among others.

The actor said his career in the west has just started and he wants to keep on developing his skills as he goes forward.

"It's a nascent part of my career in the west so I'm only learning with each passing day and project. And being on sets of 'Death on the Nile' too was a progressive growing experience for me.

"When you shoot with people who are masters of their craft, you end up learning a lot of things. I'm humbled by the experience and the time I spent on the sets," Fazal said in a statement.

The film is a follow-up to 20th Century Studio's 2017 blockbuster "Murder on the Orient Express".

Kenneth Branagh, who helmed the first part, is returning to the director's chair and reprise his role of Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

Fazal said he has fond memories of the days he spent on the project as he found the whole cast to "extremely kind, professional and warm".

"The entire bunch is a wonderful group of people who bring a certain energy every time they walk onto the sets. So I hope I managed to learn from them and I hope I have brought my best to the table.

"We were a diverse bunch who were bringing some very valuable contributions that it almost felt like the Olympics. It was the amalgamation of these unique energies that made it so interesting," the actor added.

"Death on the Nile" is scheduled to be released worldwide in October this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NFU Mutual has listed five changes Chancellor Rishi Sunak should make to Inheritance Tax in next week's Budget.

Inheritance Tax is one of the most unpopular and emotive taxes collected by HMRC.

Even though its paid by a small percentage of the population, the taxman collected 5.4bn in 2018/19, a figure which has doubled in eight years.

Its complexity can scare, but new the Chancellor could introduce a number of simple measures that would provide a feel good element to the budget.

Here are five changes NFU Mutual Chartered financial planner Sean McCann says Mr Sunak could make on March 11.

Holiday Lets

Farmers have diversified into holiday lets for many years," Mr McCann said, "They have significant tax benefits over Buy To Lets. HMRC treat them as a trade for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.

But when it comes to Inheritance Tax the rules are different. In many cases they are deemed to be an investment which means they can be subject to tax on death.

Wed like to see this contradiction amended to stop any more families receiving a surprise tax bill when a loved one dies.

Dont penalise the life-long farmer

Farmers can potentially benefit from Agricultural Property Relief on their farm house meaning that in many cases it is free from Inheritance Tax.

One of the conditions for getting the relief is that the house must be occupied for agricultural purposes.

Problems can arise if the farmer has to move out to go into care and doesnt return to live in the house.

At the moment HMRC review on a case by case basis, but wed like to see clear guidance to make it easier for farming families to plan, Mr McCann said.

Scrap the Residence nil rate Band

The Chancellor has been urged to scrap the Residence nil rate Band and increase the tax-free exemption on death to 500,000 for everyone.

Mr McCann explained: Former Chancellor George Osborn promised families they could leave 1million free from IHT  but the Residence Nil-Rate Band is far too complicated and penalises those without children.

Mr Sunak should remove the Residence Nil-Rate Band, and raise the tax-free amount everyone can leave behind from 325,000 to 500,000. This would be both easier to understand and fairer for everyone.

Dont charge IHT on Life Insurance

"If a life insurance policy isnt written in trust, your family could lose 40 per cent of the pay out in inheritance tax," Mr McCann said.

In 2016/17, there were 7,970 estates which paid a total of 774million in inheritance tax on life insurance policies.

Making all life insurance policies free of IHT is a simple change that will mean those who take out cover to protect their families get the full benefit, rather than losing a large chunk in tax because they were not made aware of the need for a trust, he said.

Make tax free gifting easier

Mr McCann said there are a myriad of exempt gifts including gifts on marriage, small gifts, gifts out of normal expenditure, and even gifts to political parties.

They all have different rules and limits, he said: Sweeping these away in favour of one annual simple annual tax-free gifting allowance of 15,000 would be easier to understand, encouraging parents and grandparents to pass wealth on during their lifetime.
Both security and police bodycam footage shows 38-year-old Richard Ruiz engaged in the shootout with officers from the Phoenix Police Department at the Desert Sky Mall on December 23

Shocking security camera footage shows the moment a carjacker shoots a Good Samaritan who was trying to help the woman who had just had her car stolen.

Phoenix police released security footage of the terrifying moment Richard Ruiz, 38, opened fire at Desert Sky Mall on December 23.

Police first responded to calls at around 11am from a woman who said that Ruiz - who at the time was unidentified - had tried to take her car at gun point.

When she tried driving away, Ruiz shot her twice, according to a release from the city.

Ruiz then approached a second woman and held her at gun point, prompting her to run away from her red pick-up truck.

Ruiz is said to have jumped into the driving seat before driving around the parking lot to look for the woman. The woman screamed loudly and hid near a man who was headed inside the mall.

As the man tried to go inside to get help, surveillance footage shows Ruiz drives up to the building and shoots him in the shoulder, as bystanders stood nearby.

Scroll down for video

Ruiz shot a woman twice before he stole another woman's pickup truck

The carjacker drives off and police arrives moments later.

The injured man is seen pointing them in the direction of to Ruiz's location.

Officers can be seen following Ruiz who makes his way back to where the injured man is stood and tries to shoot at him again.

Luckily the man is able to hide behind a concrete pillar.

The injured victims were retrieved by officers and placed in a patrol car before they were taken to a nearby medical center for help. Police state that the injuries sustained were not life threatening.

They continued pursuing Ruiz, with one officer ramming his patrol vehicle into the truck driven by the carjacker in an attempt to throw him off.

Ruiz continued driving and stopped just south of the mall, exiting the vehicle with his weapon.

He shot a man who tried to help the woman who had her vehicle stolen

Officers can be seen following Ruiz who makes his way back to where the man is and tries to shoot at him again, only for the man to hide behind a pillar at the mall

Ruiz continued driving and stopped just south of the mall, exiting the vehicle with his weapon. Officers opened fire on Ruiz

Police bodycam footage shows officers opening fire on Ruiz, eventually striking him. Ruiz died at the scene.

Authorities determined that there were three victims involved in the shooting, the two that were shot and the woman who had her vehicle stolen.

The two officers involved in the shooting came from the Maryvale/Estrella Mountain Precinct, with one of the officers having three years of service and the other having 17.

'Conclusions about whether the actions of the officers are consistent with department policy and the law will not be made until all facts are known and the investigation is complete,' the release states.
Kuwait

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced today that it has not recorded any new infection with the newly created Corona virus (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours.



Dr. Buthaina Al-Mudhaf, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health Assistant for Public Health Affairs and Assistant Undersecretary for Supportive Medical Services said at the eighth press conference that the medical team supervises and follows up two cases of Kuwaiti women who suffer from chronic diseases and entered into intensive care, one of them is stable and the second is critical.



She pointed out that the ministry is taking precautionary measures for arrivals from all countries, pointing out that it will apply these measures to those coming from Syria, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, in addition to China, Sri Lanka, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Lebanon.






Were excited to be partnering with an organization like CareDash that puts transparency, and trust, at the forefront of their efforts.

RepCheckup (RepCheckup.com), a simple-to-use customer feedback and review management software, announced a partnership with CareDash, the webs fastest growing healthcare review website, that enables RepCheckup users to respond directly to reviews left on their CareDash profiles without having to leave the RepCheckup dashboard. The partnership comes as a result of RepCheckups new DirectResponse feature, which allows users to respond to their online reviews faster than ever before.

Were excited to be partnering with an organization like CareDash that puts transparency, and trust, at the forefront of their efforts, stated RepCheckup Founder and CEO, Garrett Smith. From our early days, we have focused on helping our users be transparent while building consumer trust in their business through online reviews. Thanks to this partnership, we can now make it faster, and easier for practices and healthcare systems to do both on CareDash.

CareDashs growth to almost 2M patients a month searching for care is tied to a balanced and transparent approach for both patients, practices and physicians, said CareDash CEO Ted Chan. RepCheckup is one of the best designed platforms for review management, especially in healthcare. Were excited to be working with their clients to make it easier to manage CareDash profiles.

RepCheckup DirectResponse eliminates the need for users to visit their CareDash profile in order to respond to reviews. Now, users can respond to existing and new reviews without having to leave the RepCheckup dashboard. The integration utilizes CareDashs API, which allows for healthcare listings and review managers to seamlessly manage their client data. This allows users to save the hassle and time involved with visiting multiple sites to properly manage their reviews.

RepCheckup DirectResponse is available to users on a paid subscription plan and is currently available for CareDash, Facebook, and Google My Business profiles. Additional review websites are expected to be added in the coming months.

For more information about DirectResponse, or to get your own RepCheckup account, please visit https://www.repcheckup.com. For more information about CareDash, or to claim your profile, please visit https://www.caredash.com.

About RepCheckup

RepCheckup is a simple-to-use customer feedback and review management software that helps businesses capture actional data and insights about their customer experience. RepCheckup helps consistently generate new customer feedback and positive online reviews, while monitoring reviews on over 20 popular websites. In less than 5 minutes per day, RepCheckup can help you gain control over your reputation, ensuring the offline realities of the service you provide are accurately reflected online. For more information, visit https://www.repcheckup.com

About CareDash

Launched in 2016, CareDash is a rapidly growing healthcare provider directory and review site devoted to improving the patient experience. With a deep commitment to transparency for both healthcare providers and patients, CareDash uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to weed out fraudulent reviews. CareDash is based in Cambridge, MA and is backed by Link Ventures General Partner David Blundin. For more information, visit https://www.caredash.com
Empty shelves are seen at a supermarket at Macquarie Centre following reports of the coronavirus

By Byron Kaye and Colin Packham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's major grocers put strict limits on purchases of toilet paper on Wednesday, after shoppers stripped shelves in a rush of panic buying spurred by fears over a coronavirus, while the country recorded its fourth case of local transmission.

One of the first nations to take a hard line in tackling the epidemic, Australia imposed border controls a month ago on visitors from the epicentre of the outbreak in China.

However, Australia now has 44 cases, four of them involving people who caught the disease despite not having left the country.

Despite the few sufferers compared to countries such as Iran and South Korea, social media has been awash in recent days with photographs and videos of people stockpiling goods, from staples to sanitisers.

The demand for toilet paper, in particular, has sparked the trending hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis on Twitter, along with photographs of overloaded shopping trolleys, and calls for calm from baffled officials.

"We are trying to reassure people that removing all of the lavatory paper from the shelves of supermarkets probably isn't a proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time," Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told a parliamentary panel on Wednesday.

The biggest grocery chain, Woolworths Group Ltd, limited sales to four packs a shopper, to keep up stock levels while suppliers ramp up production. The local arm of Costco Wholesale Corp limited buyers to one bulk buy pack each.

Even Prime Minister Scott Morrison has weighed in on a purchasing trend that appears to be at odds with other countries' stockpiling of items with a long shelf-life, such as tinned goods, telling the public major grocers had assured him they could meet any spike in demand.

Police confirmed they were called to a supermarket in Sydney to deal with "a disturbance in an aisle", with media saying the authorities had cordoned off the toilet paper shelves as a result.

Story continues

Shoppers have swooped on other products also. Costco has put limits on purchases of milk, eggs, rice, disinfectants and soap. Weeks ago, Coles Group Ltd began posting signs in stores warning of shortages of hand and laundry sanitiser.

Coles said it was working with suppliers and transport partners to improve availability of popular products, but did not confirm if it was also rationing sales of some.

"We have increased deliveries from our distribution centres and our teams are working hard to fill the shelves," it said in an emailed statement.

German-owned discounter Aldi Inc and U.S.-listed Kimberly-Clark Corp, which makes toilet paper for the Australian market via domestic units, were not immediately available for comment.

TRAVEL BANS

While the bulk of Australia's virus victims caught it overseas, the two latest cases involve people who have not left the country.

The most populous state of New South Wales said a female aged care worker had caught the virus, which has spread to at least one resident of the centre where she worked.

It said an 82-year-old man was in hospital, while officials await results of a test on a 95-year-old woman who died on Tuesday after developing a respiratory illness.

"Whether it was related to coronavirus, we don't know," state health minister Brad Hazzard told reporters about the death.

State officials were already investigating how a 53-year-old doctor was stricken, despite having no infected patients. A fourth case, announced on Monday, involved a woman who could have caught it from her brother.

Since Feb. 1, Australia has banned foreigners who recently travelled through China, and extended its ban last week to arrivals from Iran, but cautioned it could no longer guarantee an infected person would not penetrate border checks.

The government on Wednesday confirmed a man who had recently returned from Iran had caught the virus, prompting officials to order two weeks of self-isolation for anyone arriving from Iran since Feb. 19.

(Reporting by Byron Kaye and Colin Packham; Editing by Jane Wardell and Clarence Fernandez)
The Jharkhand government on Thursday



informed the Assembly that all the closed schools in the state would be re-opened.

Replying to the debate over "Income and Expenditure for the financial year 2020-21", Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon also said the government would appeal to retired teachers to spend an hour or two in schools where there is a shortage of teachers.

" is the first step for development. Those schools which have been closed will be reopened. I will go to villages and motivate the retired teachers to spend an hour or two in schools," Oraon said, ruing shortage of teachers in subjects like science and language in schools.

Oraon said the Hemant Soren government would focus on quality expenditure with stress on the outcome.

"In the Budget (2020-21), the government has focused on the social sector ensuring 'roti, kapda aur makan' (food, clothing and housing) to the people in the Budget.

"It underlined Rs 50,000 additional funds under the 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana', distribution of saree, dhoti and lungi and of ration cards," Oraon said.

The benches of the opposition were empty as BJP MLAs staged a walkout before the ministers reply.

The saffron party has been demanding an early announcement of the name of the Leader of Opposition.

However, another opposition party, the AJSU party, joined the debate with its president Sudesh Mahto claiming the Budget did not reflect promises made by the ruling parties in their poll-manifesto.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PATERSON, N.J., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PVWC will be replacing a hydrant and valves on MAIN STREET between MICHIGAN and BUFFALO AVENUES on Friday, March 6, 2020.

Water will be shut off between the hours of 10 A.M and 5 P.M. in order to make these repairs in our ongoing efforts to improve service to our customers. This work will also result in some unavoidable noise and discoloration of water. PVWC assures all customers that the water will be safe for use during this period; however, customers are cautioned to determine if the water is clear before washing clothes (or any other processing) as staining may occur.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers. If you have any questions, please call our customer service department at 973-340-4300.

Door tags will be distributed today by PVWC staff explaining that we will be working in the immediate area. PVWC will be working with a contractor (Montana) to expedite the replacing of the hydrant and valves. Every possible effort will be made to do the job in a safe and timely manner.

For more information about Passaic Valley Water Commission, visit www.PVWC.com. For specific information about lead in water, visit the lead page on the website.

Passaic Valley Water Commission is New Jersey's largest public water system providing reliable, high quality water to approximately 80,000 people in Paterson, Passaic, Clifton, North Arlington, Lodi, Prospect Park and West Milford (High Crest & Post Brook sections). Connect with us at www.PVWC.com, follow PVWC on Twitter (@PVWC), Instagram (@passaic_valley_water) and connect with us on FaceBook (@thePVWC).

Media Contact: Bryan Frierson at 201-494-6153 or [email protected]

SOURCE Passaic Valley Water Commission

Related Links

www.pvwc.com


Daylight Saving Time starts in 2020 on Sunday, March 8 at 2 a.m. Sometimes referred to as Daylight Savings Time or spring forward, the time change observed throughout most of the United States calls for clocks to be moved forward one hour.

It is always observed on the second Sunday in March and means people will lose an hour of sleep this weekend.

When does Daylight Saving Time end?

Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020 at 2 a.m.

It always ends on the first Sunday in November. Clocks are moved back one hour to mark the end of Daylight Saving Time.

What is the history of Daylight Saving Time?

The modern idea of Daylight Saving Time was first proposed in 1895 by George Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist (the study of insects) and astronomer.

Some credit William Willett, an English architect, for first proposing the idea in 1907. However, it was Hudson who came up with the idea nearly a decade earlier after becoming annoyed with the little amount of daylight during the summertime, which was interfering with his study of bugs.

He believed that there must be a way to make better use of the days light by shifting the clocks by two hours in the summer and then two hours back in the winter.

However, when Hudson presented the idea to the Wellington Philosophical Society, he was ridiculed by many society members. Willett was also disregarded when he proposed a similar idea to Parliament in 1907.

Why do we spring ahead during Daylight Saving Time?

Daylight Saving Time is a roughly century-old practice in the U.S. centered around making better use of the days light by shifting an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.

On Saturday, sunset in Trenton will be at 5:58 p.m. and on Sunday, it will be at 6:59 p.m.

When is the first day of spring? Does it match with Daylight Saving Time?

The first day of spring, otherwise known as the vernal equinox, is Thursday, March 19, 2020.

While Daylight Saving Time is often referred to by its reminder spring forward or spring ahead, it actually occurs before spring starts each year.

What states in the U.S. dont observe Daylight Saving Time?

While most state change clocks for Daylight Saving Time, there are some holdouts.

Arizona and Hawaii do not observe Daylight Saving Time. In addition, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not participate in Daylight Saving Time.

There is a proposal in Congress, called the Sunshine Protection Act, to make Daylight Saving Time year round. California voters have also approved ending Daylight Saving Time, but need federal approval for it to take effect.

What role did Benjamin Franklin play in Daylight Saving Time?

Franklin is credited with coming up with the notion of making better use of the day's light. While visiting Paris in 1784, Franklin came to believe that sunlight was being wasted during the day. In a joking letter to the editors of a Paris newspaper, Franklin proposed a tax on all Parisians whose windows were closed after sunrise.

He believed that this would "encourage the economy of using sunshine instead of candles," according to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.

What is the origin of modern Daylight Saving Time?

During World War I, the German Empire hatched an idea that most resembles the Daylight Saving Time that we observe today.

Believing that it would conserve fuel during the war, the German Empire in 1916 became the first to switch its clocks to save daylight.

When did the U.S. adopt Daylight Saving Time?

In 1918, the U.S. enacted the first Daylight Saving Time law as a way to conserve fuel. It was reintroduced during World War II.

In 1973, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, which made DST permanent in the U.S. This helped reduce confusion throughout the country with some regions of the U.S. participating in the practice and some regions opting out.

Wasnt Daylight Saving Time created for farmers?

A common misconception is that Daylight Saving Time was implemented as a way to improve farming practices. However, this is a myth.

During the early adoption of the practice in the U.S., farmers were among the biggest opponents of Daylight Saving Time, believing that it would disrupt their farming practices.

Does Daylight Saving Time actually conserve energy?

Not really, even though that was cited in the 2005 Energy Policy Act that extended Daylight Saving Time by a month.

A study three years later by the U.S. Department of Energy determined that the extended daylight throughout the year of 2005 saved a mere .5 percent in electricity use per day and only about .3 percent over the entire year.

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Japan will quarantine all passengers arriving from China and South Korea, the country's prime minister said Thursday, as the government ramps up measures to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

"We will strengthen immigration quarantines on people from the two countries," Shinzo Abe told a cabinet-level taskforce meeting on the virus.

"We will ask them to stay in designated areas for two weeks and not to use public transport," Abe added, saying the measures would come into force from March 9.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
They're taking a break from The Only Way Is Essex duties as filming for the new series has reportedly been cancelled in Tenerife amid coronavirus fears.

And Chloe Sims and her sister Demi let their hair down as they attended Sam Bird's launch party for his new single Run to You at London's Hard Rock Hotel on Thursday evening.

The reality TV veteran, 37, put on a typically busty display as she slipped into a belted PVC dress and a padded maxi coat emblazoned with the word 'Queen' in white graffiti print.

Here come the girls: Chloe Sims and her sister Demi let their hair down as they attended Sam Bird's launch party for his new single Run to You at London's Hard Rock Hotel on Thursday

Flaunting her lean legs, the media personality wowed in her deeply plunging number, which she paired with chain-strap heels.

The former glamour model commanded attention as she styled her statement outfit with a selection of silver jewellery.

With her tresses curled into a bobbed 'do, Chloe complemented her striking features with a smokey brown make-up look.

Make-up artist Demi, 23, flashed her toned abs in a turtleneck cropped top, leather shorts and strappy black footwear.

Looking good: The TOWIE veteran, 37, put on a busty display as she slipped into a belted PVC dress and a padded maxi coat emblazoned with the word 'Queen' in white graffiti print

Abs-tastic! Make-up artist Demi, 23, flashed her toned abs in a turtleneck cropped top, leather shorts and strappy black footwear

Meanwhile, TOWIE is said to be following travelling advice with cast members avoiding putting themselves in danger by staying at home.

It comes after a sixth person has tested positive for coronavirus at the Tenerife hotel, H10 Costa Adeje Palace, where British holidaymakers have been trapped.

A source told The Sun: 'Everyone's talking about it - the castmembers who were due to go have been told it's not happening now and they're rethinking plans.

'The last thing anyone would want is for them to be in danger and they're following travel advice when filming.'

A TOWIE spokesperson told MailOnline: 'No decisions have been made on filming locations for the next series.'

The show films in a special location each year for a special abroad series, including the likes of Thailand and Marbella in the past.
Mumbai, March 5 : Coronavirus is now a reality in India, with 29 cases confirmed all over the nation by the first half of Thursday. Stars and filmmakers across Bollywood and the southern film industry have united to spread awareness about the disease and stop panic on social media.

Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu shared a list of dos and don'ts on Instagram story. The list includes observing good personal hygiene, frequently washing hands with soap, covering one's mouth while sneezing and coughing, refraining from consumption of raw or undercooked meat, refraining from travelling to farms, live animal markets or where animals are slaughtered.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has suggested avoiding handshake or hugging. He has insisted on traditional Indian ways of greeting like salaam and namaste.

Sharing Salman's post on Instagram, actress Bipasha Basu wrote: "With Awareness and good hygiene we can fight anything. Well said @beingsalmankhan."

Not mentioning coronavirus directly, director Rohit Shetty has reposted nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar's post pertaining to "Common sense to deal with uncommon threats" on Instagram. The post offers tips like having amla daily, consumption of turmeric milk at night, hot water bath with neem leaves, washing hands before eating and refraining from shaking hands.

Veteran actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha took to Twitter to spread awareness through a series of tweets. In one tweet, he has appealed to all to stop rumor-mongering. "From #SafdarjungHospital & to all other hospitals. The fear that has gripped the city/nation should be cleared out by the media who can play an important role by preventing outright negative & fake news. Rumour mongering must stop. Media can be positive & responsible in these fearful & stressful times. They can also be very helpful in keeping the matter calm & fruitful. #CaronaVirus" Advising all to drink hot water in another tweet, he wrote: "This time, the Wuhan virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed at a temperature of 26-27 degrees. Therefore, drink more hot water. You can tell your friends and relatives to drink more hot water to prevent it. Go under the Sun. It has been cold recently, and drinking hot water is also very comfortable. It is not a cure and is good for the body. Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink ice, remember!"

Director Ram Gopal Varma took to Twitter to sarcastically express: "If there are much lesser number of cases in India, it either means we are just plain lucky or that coronavirus doesn't like Indians much."

Director Anubhav Sinha also shared the same point as Ram Gopal Varma that the number of cases in India is very low and requested everyone not to panic.

He tweeted: "Influenza kills more people every year. We are panicking because we think this shit is new and there is no cure for it. But the truth is that the mortality rate is very low. So... #DontPanic #Corona BUT #TakeCare."

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri tweeted: "A doctor told me that people who stay too much in central AC environment have a higher chance of catching Corona Virus than those who stay in open and natural environment. By that logic urban areas are more susceptible than villages."

-- Syndicated from IANS
Developers BAM are toasting the discovery of a treasure trove of historic documents during its multimillion restoration and redevelopment of what was once Irelands largest brewery.

The raft of documents, one which dates from the 1790s, was found inside safes which were retrieved from the landmark and listed Counting House building on the site of the former Beamish and Crawford brewery complex in the medieval heart of Cork City.

The haul includes several old maps, dozens of legal documents, mortgage and lease papers linked to property all over the city, as well as old unsigned cheque books and ledgers linked to the brewing companys operations.

BAM property project/development manager, Paul Kenneally, said each of the documents is remarkable in its own right, but combined, he said the collection gives a fascinating insight into the history and development of the former brewery building, and into the commercial and business activities of both the Beamish and Crawford families during the 18th and 19th centuries.

We have contacted the Cork City and County Archives about the discovery and we hope to hand all the material over to the archival experts there soon, he said.

It is hoped that once the documents are examined and catalogued, they will be made available for study. It is also hoped that permission may be given later to put some of the more interesting documents on display in the restored building.

The documents were discovered after the building team removed several large safes, some up to six feet tall, from the Counting House building. The safes were so heavy, a tower crane was used to lift them from the building. Adhering to the advice of conservation architects, the builders drilled tiny holes in the safe walls and inserted snake-cameras to peer inside and assess the contents, before carefully removing the safe doors to discover the documents inside.

Among the items is a handwritten legal document issued by the company and dated 1797, complete with wax seal, just five years after the brewery firm was established; a rent document from the 1800s detailing lease arrangements for a property on Oliver Plunkett St for the value of 341 five shillings; a legal document, dated 1890, signed by Richard Beamish and Arthur Crawford; and several indenture documents which had to be signed by publicans before they could lease licensed premises from the brewery.

News of the discovery emerged yesterday as work continues on the conservation and redevelopment of the Counting House as a five-storey complex, zoned for office and education uses.

The original planning permission allowed for an interpretive centre, a seven-screen cinema and viewing tower but BAM was granted permission over two years ago to modify the plans, dropping the cinema and observation tower in favour of developing a large office precinct, to include educational purposes, while retaining the heritage aspects of the buildings.

The key heritage features, including the County Houses striking Tudor-fronted facade, and many of its original internal features including roof timbers, walls and arches, stairs, railings and meeting room panelling, as well as several vast two-to-three storey-tall copper hoppers and other machinery used in the brewing process, are being conserved and retained in site.

It is expected that the building will be complete by the end of the year.

The huge restoration project is one element of BAMs near 150m regeneration of the former brewery site.

A large student apartment complex is due to open later this year, but legal and planning issues must still be resolved before work can start on the long-awaited 6,000-capacity event centre adjoining the Counting House.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 07:16:48|Editor: huaxia

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CHICAGO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- General Motors (GM) revealed on Wednesday its third-generation global electric vehicle (EV) platform powered by low-cost batteries, which the U.S. automaker believes will help transform itself to an all-electric future.

"What we have done is build a multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that rival our full-size truck business with much less complexity and even more flexibility," said Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO.

"Our team accepted the challenge to transform product development at GM and position our company for an all-electric future," she told the audience at an event detailing GM's EV technologies and upcoming products.

Starting Wednesday, GM is gathering hundreds of investors, analysts, media members and policymakers to share details of its ambitious EV strategy on the GM Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan.

The heart of GM's strategy is a highly flexible, third-generation global EV platform powered by proprietary Ultium batteries, and a modular propulsion system.

According to GM, the new platform and propulsion system can power affordable transportation, luxury vehicles, work trucks and high-performance machines.

Vehicles built on this modular platform will offer an estimated driving range of up to 400 miles (640 km) or more on a full charge, with 0 to 60 miles (96 km) per hour acceleration as low as 3.0 seconds, and a battery energy storage ranging from 50 to 200 kWh.

The EV battery cells will be mass produced at a 2.3 billion-U.S. dollar joint venture plant that GM and LG Chem plan to build in Lordstown, Ohio.

The new battery will drive cell costs below 100 U.S. dollars per kWh, said GM, adding that ongoing technological and manufacturing breakthroughs can drive the costs even lower.

The Cruise Origin, a self-driving, electric shared vehicle, already shown to the public in January in San Francisco, was the first product revealed using GM's third generation EV platform and Ultium batteries.

GM said that its Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick brands will all be launching new EVs starting this year.

The major gas-powered automaker has in recent years invested heavily in electric vehicles, including a 2.2 billion-U.S. dollar EV assembly plant near Detroit. It has also partnered with other companies to develop autonomous vehicles (AV).

Meanwhile, GM has been gradually withdrawing from other non-profitable operations in Europe and Asian Pacific region to allocate capital for its EV and AV strategies.

Earlier this year, GM agreed to transfer two plants in India and Thailand to Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors.

The largest U.S. automaker in terms of vehicle sales has also announced its decision "to wind down sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and retire the Holden brand by 2021."

GM has expressed that all the moves are aimed at building on its comprehensive strategy to strengthen its core business, drive significant cost efficiencies and transform to an all-electric future.
The failure of an airline that connects all corners of the United Kingdom with major European destinations not only puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but could also see some airports struggle and regional economies hit.

Airlines around the world have been canceling flights and warning of a hit to profitability after coronavirus first emerged in China, hitting flights across Asia, before it spread to Europe and beyond.

Flybe, the largest independent regional airline in Europe, operated between 81 airports and was owned by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group STOB.L and Cyrus Capital.

The owners said they had ploughed more than 135 million pounds ($174 million) into the business in the last 14 months, including around 25 million pounds pledged in January.
I was going through a really rough patch in life in 2014, and in November, I found out I was pregnant. I was working three jobs  90 hours a week  as a single mom and just trying to take care of my two kids.

I also get really sick when Im pregnant  as in bed rest  and I knew that I couldnt afford to have another child. I made my decision based on what was right for me and right for my family at the time.

I was living in Boonville, Missouri, and working as a server and a bartender at three different restaurants. The wife of one of my bosses told me about Hope Clinic in Illinois. I could have gone to Planned Parenthood in Kansas City, which is 1.5 hours away, or St. Louis, which is 2.5 hours away, but I wouldve had to go to either of those clinics a total of three times because Missouri mandates a 72-hour waiting period between your initial appointment and the abortion, and then there is the abortion and the follow-up appointment.

I think those waiting periods are absolutely ridiculous. If someone is going in for an abortion, she already knows what she wants to do. It wouldnt have mattered if I had to wait three days or not. I wasnt going to change my mind.

I chose Illinois because there was no waiting period and I could go to the clinic just twice. Hope Clinic is in a suburb of St. Louis about 2.5 hours away, but it would mean I was able to take less time off of work by going to Illinois. It was also gas money for two days instead of three, and I was just so broke at the time.

I drove to Illinois with a friend of mine, and we had to be up there by 6 a.m. I feel very privileged that I could go to Illinois. So many women in this part of Missouri are low-income. I was struggling, but I still could go. I still had transportation to get there and the father helped me pay for it. But so many women dont have those things, so they have no way to get all the way to Illinois or make the trek three times to Kansas City or St. Louis. They dont have the resources to get there to get an abortion.

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Im now married and have two more children, 2-year-old twins. I met my husband a couple months before my abortion through my group of friends. We were just friends, and then we started dating around February of the following year. And weve been together ever since, for five years. Things just kind of progressed pretty naturally after I met him. And now Im a stay-at-home mom because the daycare of the twins would have been more than my salary.

The twins were a surprise, but it was different because I was in a much more secure place. I was only working one job. I had a stable relationship. Everything in my life was completely different than when I had gotten pregnant two years prior. I was pretty excited.

As told to Sheila Cosgrove Baylis

Women's Choices, Women's Voices
Does God Exist? I Do/Do Not Believe (This Book is for You): an exploratory manuscript that contains pages of scientific observation, philosophy, and evidence, which will shed light on the truth of Gods existence. Endorsed by atheists and theists alike, this book is a non-religious examination on the topic. Does God Exist? I Do/Do Not Believe (This Book is for You) is the creation of published author Craig J. Radford, the writer of Why Other People Get Lucky: A Definitive Guide on How to Change Your Luck. He resides between Florida and Idaho.

Radford shares, Does science prove God's existence or provide more reasons to doubt?

Does God truly exist? That is the age-old seemingly unanswerable question. But what if there was an answer? What if the answer has been staring us right in the face for centuries, but weve been too busy missing the forest for the trees?

This book invites you to take a step back and look at the broader picture. It offers anecdotes, observations and, most importantly, scientific evidence of the universal, all-encompassing, culture-transcending purpose that connects us all. In that purpose, we find many paths to a knowledge that has eluded humankind for as long as we have had the ability to wonder: proof that God does indeed exist. We find this knowledge in the stars, in the nature of time, in the laws of physics, in our own bodies, and in equations as complex as advanced calculus and unconditional love. Its just a matter of knowing where (and how) to look.

In a centuries-old debate that has always placed science in an adversarial role with faith, this book brings the two camps together, using logic and reason to prove the existence of God. For the atheist, these pages eschew scriptural references in favor of evolutionary, philosophical, cultural, and natural evidence. For the believer, this book enhances your faith with affirmative arguments steeped in mathematics, particle physics, and a host of other scientific and real-world observations. And for anyone who has ever looked up at the sky and wondered what might lie beyond, this book provides a clear, compelling, life-affirming answer.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Craig J. Radfords new book is an excellent source of worldly observations and evidence that allows readers to dive more deeply into their own beliefs and contemplate God free of religious bias. The material in this book will most assuredly strengthen existing convictions of Gods existence while also encouraging deeper reflection on humanitys most profound and timeless question.

View a synopsis of Does God Exist? I Do/Do Not Believe (This Book is for You) on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Does God Exist? I Do/Do Not Believe (This Book is for You) at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Does God Exist? I Do/Do Not Believe (This Book is for You), contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Russian and Turkish presidents have met in Moscow to discuss the recent escalation of tensions in Syria's Idlib province. The flare-up was triggered by intensified attacks by local terrorists against Syrian forces and latters retaliatory strikes, in which Turkish troops were caught in the crossfire, resulting in casualties on their part, Sputnik reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he has negotiated an agreement to resolve the ongoing tensions in Idlib province with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two countries have agreed following "uneasy, but productive" talks that they should not reduce their efforts in the fight against terrorism and reaffirmed their adherence to the Astana format for resolving the crisis in Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country will be sending additional forces to Idlib province under a new agreement with Russia, but that the status of Turkeys Operation Spring Shield will be "changed". Erdogan added that starting at midnight between 5 and 6 March a ceasefire regime will be established in Idlib for both Turkish and Syrian forces. The Turkish president said that the army reserves the right to respond to any hostile actions of the Syrian forces, but assured that otherwise Turkish troops will simply be monitoring that the ceasefire regime is abided by.

"We have established observation posts to reduce tensions in Idlib. These posts have pledged to only monitor the ceasefire regime's implementation, but not to control the field", he clarified.

Commenting on the recent events that prompted the escalation of violence in Syria's Idlib, Putin accused militants based in the province of restarting the hostilities in the region, which have led to casualties among the civilian population, the Syrian Army, as well as Turkish forces.

The Russian president added that Moscow doesn't always see eye to eye with Turkey when it comes to Syria, but noted that the two countries have always managed to find common ground in the end.

"Each time, in critical moments, we have always managed to find areas of common interest on existing issues and figured out acceptable solutions to them, while relying on the high level of our bilateral relations", Putin said.
- Somalia forces clashed in Mandera county on March 2 leading to destruction of property and harassment of Kenyan citizens

- State House noted the belligerent activities on its territory were aimed at provoking Kenya despite the countries' long-standing mutual respect

- Kenya and its neighbour are currently embroiled in a long standing boundary dispute and the case is pending before the International Court of Justice

The Kenyan government is miffed by the recent violations of its territorial integrity and sovereignty by the neigbouring Somalia national army.

The State House accused Somalia of harassing and destroying property of Kenyan citizens when its two military sides from the country clashed in Mandera on Monday, March 2, in breach of international laws.

READ ALSO: Let reggae play: Court dismisses anti-BBI case, says it can't stop Uhuru's executive orders

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Somalia colleague Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. The two nations are in territorial feud. Photo: State House Kenya.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Mbunge Wamuchomba adokezea kuwa eneo la Mlima Kenya litamuunga mkono Gideon Moi 2022

President Uhuru Kenyatta through Spokesperson Kanze Dena noted the belligerent activities on its territory were aimed at provoking Kenya despite the countries' long standing mutual respect.

"The baseless accusations and invalid allegations made by the Federal Government of Somalia that Kenya is interfering with Somalias internal affairs are part of a growing and persistent pattern of ill intent to use Kenya as a scapegoat and a tool to justify challenges in Somalia for political reasons. Kenya will not accept to be used in that manner," Kanze said.

Uhuru accused Somalia of harassing and destroying property of Kenyan citizens when its two military camps clashed in Mandera on Monday, March 2. Photo: State House Kenya.

Source: Facebook

Even though Kenya was marshaling its security resources in search for elusive peace in Mogadishu, the government wondered why the war-torn nation continued to create "artificial fissures" in pursuit of short term political expediency.

"We therefore urge the Federal Government of Somalia, to cease and desist from the unwarranted provocations and focus on managing its internal affairs for the welfare of her people, defeating terrorism and advancing the cause of peace, security and stability in the region," the statement added.

Some of the Jubbaland soldiers who were arrested following heavy gunfire in Mandera. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

It was reported that the gunfire between Jubbaland forces and those allied to the Federal Government of Somalia began in Somalia and spilled over to Kenya.

Its genesis was the planned capture of Jubaland prime minister Andirashid Hassan who has been residing in an unnamed hotel in Nairobi.

Kenya and her neighbour are currently embroiled in a long standing boundary dispute and Mogadishu even sued Nairobi at the International Court of Justice.

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.

Being a virgin in campus: University students tell us the benefits | Tuko Talks | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-05 07:12:15|Editor: ZD

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DUBLIN, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Four more confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Ireland, bringing to six the total number of such cases in the country, a health official said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press briefing, Tony Holohan, chief medical officer with the Department of Health, said that the four new confirmed patients are all from the west of the country.

They had traveled together to the same affected area in northern Italy, he said, adding that tracing for the close contacts with these newly identified patients has already been under way.

Ireland reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Feb. 29. The case involved a boy student from a secondary school in the eastern part of Ireland who had traveled to northern Italy.

Three days after, a female, also from the eastern region, was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus after coming back from an affected area in northern Italy.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has now extended its advice against non-essential travels to four provinces in Italy from the past few towns in the country in a bid to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 in the country.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Thursday the end of her campaign for the presidency after a poor showing on Super Tuesday that included a third-place finish in her home state of Massachusetts.

Warren informed campaign staff of her decision to drop out of the race on a conference call Thursday morning.

I know that when we set out, this was not the call you ever wanted to hear. It is not the call I ever wanted to make, she said. But I refuse to let disappointment blind me  or you  to what weve accomplished. We didnt reach our goal, but what we have done together  what you have done  has made a lasting difference. Its not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters. And the changes will have ripples for years to come.

So take some time to be with your friends and family, to get some sleep, maybe to get that haircut youve been putting off, she added. Do things to take care of yourselves, gather up your energy, because I know you are coming back. I know you  and I know that you arent ready to leave this fight.

Warren did not mention a possible endorsement in her call. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that she has had discussions with both Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden in recent days.

Elizabeth Warren talks to reporters outside her house in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Speaking to reporters outside her Cambridge, Mass., home, Warren expressed her gratitude for every single person who just moved a little in their notion of what a president of the United States should look like.

I will not be running for president in 2020, she said. But I guarantee I will stay in the fight.

Asked who her supporters should now support, Warren said: Lets take a deep breath and spend a little time on it  we dont have that this minute.

Sanders praised Warren and her campaign in a pair of tweets.

Sen. Warren has run an extraordinary campaign of ideas  demanding that the wealthy pay their fair share, ending corruption in Washington, guaranteeing health care for all, addressing climate change, tackling the student debt crisis and vigorously protecting women's rights.  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 5, 2020

Biden did, too.

Story continues

Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families, Biden wrote on Twitter. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in peoples lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate.

He also relayed a message to Bailey, Warrens golden retriever.

Champ and Major would love to have you over any time, Biden tweeted.

The two-term Democratic senator officially launched her campaign in February 2019 and rolled out so many legislative proposals that I have a plan for that became her go-to slogan. Her campaign leaned heavily on her biography, a story that took her from a working-class family in Oklahoma to the Harvard faculty and eventually the U.S. Senate.

Her launch was overshadowed by a controversy over her assertion of Native American descent, which she clumsily handled by submitting to a DNA test, and for which President Trump mocked her with the nickname Pocahontas.

Despite a rocky launch, Warrens mix of wonkiness and affability resulted in a steady rise in the polls through much of 2019, and by the fall she was a clear frontrunner for the nomination. But she alienated moderates who were worried by her big-spending proposals while struggling to hold on to progressive voters who began to coalesce around Sanders.

Her campaigns troubles began shortly after she began leading the Democratic field in October. Sanders was forced to leave the campaign for several days after suffering a heart attack but bounced back in the polls after New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed him.

Warren also struggled to explain her vision for Medicare for All, which has long been Sanderss signature proposal. Unlike the blunt-talking Sanders, she had difficulty explaining what kind of tax hikes her plan would necessitate and how it would be implemented. Trying to position herself to the right of Sanders but to the left of the rest of the field was unsuccessful, and she slowly descended in the polls.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during a rally in Detroit Tuesday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg had peeled off some of the affluent white voters supporting Warren, while Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar provided an alternative for those looking to back a woman in the race. Some on the left blamed Warren for talking about a private dinner she held with Sanders at which he supposedly told her that a woman couldnt win the presidency  an account the Vermont senator said was untrue.

Warren trudged on to disappointing finishes in the Iowa caucuses and in New Hampshire, a state that traditionally rewards candidates from neighboring Massachusetts. Despite a strong ground game and high-profile surrogates, she finished fourth in New Hampshire with just 9.2 percent of the vote, double digits behind Klobuchar and Buttigieg and far behind Sanders.

Her difficulties were illustrated by an NBC News New Hampshire exit poll, which found 43 percent of voters saying that Warrens positions were too liberal, 44 percent saying they werent liberal enough and only 7 percent saying they were just right.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergs late decision to enter the presidential race helped Warren regain some traction in the February debates. She had a standout debate performance prior to the Nevada caucuses, attacking Bloomberg over his political and business history, including his use of nondisclosure agreements to silence women who left his company over allegations of discrimination.

She failed to make the top three in either Nevada or South Carolina, winning no delegates as her campaign limped into Super Tuesday, where she was again unable to win a single state.

I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, Warren said Thursday. A progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for, and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is the incumbent for. And theres no room for anyone else in this. I thought that wasnt right, but evidently I was wrong.

Additional reporting by Dylan Stableford

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
New Delhi, March 5 : With COVID-19 cases beginning to show an upward trend in the country, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan updated the Parliament on Thursday over the measures taken by the government to contain the disease.

The Health Minister said that they were fully geared up to battle the virus.

The Minister told the Parliament, "As on March 4, at least 28,529 persons were brought under community surveillance and are being monitored," adding "The Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation." Talking about the Indians stranded in Iran, he said, "The government is following up with the Iranian authorities for the well-being of Indians stranded there and to tie-up evacuation as per the need. " The Minister said that screening of passengers was also initiated at 12 major sea ports and 65 minor ports in the country. He said that for containing the disease required all government departments to work in sync and not just the health ministry.

According to the Health Ministry over five lakh people have been screened at the airports. The ministry said that community surveillance is on and cluster approach has been taken to contain the disease.

The new coronavirus that broke out in the Wuhan city of China last year and spread to more than 60 countries is now making its presence felt in India too. At least 29 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported till Thursday and the numbers are beginning to increase.

While three cases in Kerala have been cured, one confirmed case each have been reported from Delhi and Telangana respectively. At least 16 Italian nationals, who were visiting Jaipur, have also tested positive apart from their driver, who is an Indian citizen.

Six people affected by the virus have been reported from Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Another positive case has been reported from Gurugram in Haryana. The patient is an employee of the PayTM.

Quarantine facilities have been set up for the patients by the ITBP and the Indian Army at Chhawla and Manesar. In Delhi, the Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospitals have been designated as nodal offices to deal with novel coronavirus cases.

At least 19 more laboratories are operating to conduct tests for COVID-19. Earlier, there were 15 laboratories involved in the process.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the paranormal investigation team Ghost Storm is again inviting the public to join them on a spirited adventure.

Coming off the heels of their sold-old Ghost Lab experience in January, the Norwalk-based Ghost Storm is holding a second live-audience event March 27 at Fright Haven, 411 Barnum Ave. Cutoff in Stratford.

Head ghost hunter/clairvoyant Nick Grossman, fellow clairvoyant Peter Cerow and the Ghost Storm team plan to deliver paranormal proof that things that go bump in the night are real, and will help people contact loved ones from beyond the grave, through a process called scrying.

Doors to the event, dubbed Ghost Lab: Paranormal Overnighter, will open at 10 p.m., with the show starting at 11 and running until 1 a.m., with time allotted for a question-and-answer period.

The Ghost Storm team will conduct the presentation in a private, secluded room surrounded by mirrors. The evening will unfold with a session on how to use paranormal investigation tools combined with actual psychic abilities, which Grossman said many people dont realize they have. They also plan to share their recent experience heading a paranormal expedition into The Freemason Lodge, and then attempt to make contact with several artifacts.

The event also will feature a display of the teams collection of possessed dolls, along with a centuries-old pirate liquor bottle that Grossman said has been the subject of numerous seances and paranormal activity. At the groups previous event, Grossman said a participant was holding the vintage bottle and the cork, made of glass, popped out.

Participants will also meet the faceless doll.

Grossman said a highlight of the interactive experience will be a midnight mirror scrying session. Scrying, he explained, is a mystical art in which someone holds a candle or light to a mirror and focuses on the image. He said that often opens a portal to the spirit realm, a technique Grossman said is used by many in European and Caribbean cultures.

At the previous event, Grossman said numerous participants saw departed loved ones in the mirror.

In the midst of the scrying segment, one gentleman saw his deceased grandfather during an out-of-body-experience; another confessed to seeing his face disappear into the mirror, and another lady saw her deceased parents by her side, Grossman said.

The event, sponsored by GhostTour.com, is limited to 50 guests. It is open to all ages, but guests under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are $39 in advance. If not sold out, admission will be $49 at the door.

For more information, call 203-795-4737, or visit Ghost Storms website https://vagaparanormal.com or their Facebook page.

jean.sos@snet.net
(Alliance News) - A patient with underlying health conditions has become the first person in the UK to die after testing positive for coronavirus.

The older patient had been "in an out of hospital" for other reasons but was admitted on Wednesday evening to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and tested positive.

The news comes as cases of coronavirus in the UK have more than doubled in 48 hours as the country moves towards the "delay phase" of tackling the virus.

Some 116 people have tested positive, including 105 in England, two in Wales, six in Scotland and three in Northern Ireland.

Just two days ago there were 51 UK cases.

A statement from the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said: "Sadly, we can confirm that an older patient with underlying health conditions has died.

"The patient has previously been in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons, but on this occasion was admitted and last night tested positive for coronavirus.

"The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, said he was "very sorry" to report the news and offered "sincere condolences" to the family.

He added: "The patient, who was being treated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, was an older patient who had underlying health conditions.

"We believe they contracted the virus in the UK and contact tracing is already underway."

Last week, the Foreign Office confirmed a British tourist who had been on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in Japan, had died from the virus.

Downing Street on Thursday said it is "highly likely" that coronavirus will now spread in a "significant way".

Earlier, Whitty warned that critical care beds in the NHS could come under intense pressure during a coronavirus epidemic.

Of the new cases, 17 people had recently travelled from countries or clusters already under investigation, while eight people contracted the virus in the UK and are being investigated.

Out of the cases identified in England, 25 of them are in London.

The North West and South East each have 17 cases, the South West 15, the East of England eight, the Midlands nine and the North East and Yorkshire 10 cases.

Four other cases are still to be determined.

Local regions reported that two new cases were in Staffordshire, one was linked to the University of Sussex in Brighton, two were in Wigan, one in Rotherham, two in Liverpool, and one in Birmingham.

Whitty gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee, with MPs including former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

He said it would be "lucky" to get a vaccine for Covid-19 in the next year, but it would "not get us out of a hole now", although other treatments may work.

Whitty acknowledged that people needing oxygen would stretch the health service, and said some "things may be considerably less well done" during the peak of an epidemic.

He pointed to potential stress on the service at the worst point, adding: "Depending on how high the peak, this could be anywhere from a rather bad winter for the NHS a but in spring or summer a through to huge numbers way overtopping the ability of the NHS realistically to put everyone in beds and that obviously would have big pressures on the service."

Half of all coronavirus cases in the UK are most likely to occur in just a three-week period, with 95% of them over a nine-week period, he said.

In a worst-case scenario, "the ratio of doctors to patients and nurses to patients would inevitably go down very sharply for a short period of time", he said, but said the NHS is "incredibly good at flexing" to meet demands.

He added: "The bit of the system which will come under pressure first will be those conditions that require people to have oxygen and particularly to have critical care beds, and that bit, I think, will come under pressure at quite an early stage if we have a high-end-of-the-range epidemic for this."

Whitty said he had a "reasonably high degree of confidence" that 1% is at the "upper limit" of the mortality rate for coronavirus, although Wuhan in China, which has a weaker health system, had seen an 8% to 9% mortality rate for those aged 80 and over.

He said the UK has now mainly moved to the delay stage of tackling the virus, where measures can be ramped up to delay its spread.

Possibilities include school closures, encouraging greater home working, and reducing the number of large-scale gatherings.

However, Whitty said closing schools would possibly only have a "marginal effect", adding that children do not appear to be as badly affected by Covid-19 as other groups.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to reassure the public on ITV PLC's This Morning show, saying it would be "business as usual" for the "overwhelming majority" of people in the UK.

"People can see that this country is going to get through this in good shape," he said.

Whitty said elderly people should not self-isolate yet, and neither should those with conditions such as asthma, adding there was no evidence of "deep harm" in children with asthma.

And he said pregnant women should not start worrying about coronavirus, but advised any smoker to stop.

Symptoms of covid-19 appear around five days after infection, he said. It then takes up to a week to recover, with the serious illness setting in for some after six days.

source: PA

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Extinction Rebellion climate activists march to the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge in Dartmouth, N.S., on Oct. 7, 2019, to block the bridge during the early morning rush hour as part of a string of protests in other Canadian cities. (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan)

Inaction and Regulatory Burdens Are Hindering Canadas Capabilities as a Global Competitor

Commentary

Despite the hastily completed agreement with the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, the federal governments foot-dragging in ending the solidarity protests across the country that were spurred by the dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline will only further entrench a culture of radical obstructionism and incentivize future actions similarly impacting the economy.

Such brinkmanship by our politicians has the potential to greatly incapacitate Canadas capabilities as a global competitor.

As a report from Canadas Economic Strategy Tables pithily puts it, the countrys resource sectors face severe growth and competitiveness challenges that are driving investment out of Canada and crippling the sectors ability to thrive.

One of the biggest problems is the excess burden the regulatory systems impose on companies, specifically the costs and delays that have resulted in Canada ranking dismally in the OECD in terms of how long it takes for construction projects to receive the necessary regulatory approval. (Canada ranks 34 out of 35 countries, according to the World Bank.)

The particular sector in question, oil and gas, is especially hampered by the enduring parochialism in Ottawa, despite that the sector employs about 740,000 people and contributes almost 11 percent to GDP and more than $20 billion a year in payments to governments, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The federal Liberals are known to be climate hawks, and their conception of Indigenous issues is inextricably linked with the climate change agenda. In this way they have ingratiated themselves to dogmatists who have hyper-politicized the climate issue and divorced it from the humility, good statesmanship, and dispassionate analysis it requires.

The most depressing aspect of environmental advocacy is that it co-opts a natural inclination to want to defend the environment and subjects it to the whims of apocalyptic doomsayers. It propounds a secular eschatology that dictates a consensus and condemns those who may not agree. Many in the climate change movement see environmentalism primarily as a pillar of their Marxian quest to uproot the social order. Their ideas are not rebuttable nor their terms negotiable.

Commitments to the climate issue seem to supersede the need to consider possible viable remedies for socio-economic ailments. But the governments tables for the Community Well-Being Index released last May indicate that, since most First Nations live in remote locations, their hope for economic advancement lies in the opportunities that the development of national resources provide.

In his research for the Fraser Institute, scholar and author Tom Flanagan shows that, despite evidence that the well-being of the average First Nations community has steadily improved, the gap between them and other Canadians had widened again by 2016, making it almost equal to what it was over 30 years ago.

When it comes to pipelines, Flanagan rightly points out that the opportunities derived from them allows Indigenous people to reap the full benefits of their consultation rights. The natural resource sector can offer high wages and benefit agreements can provide hundreds of millions of dollars to improve living standards; the Coastal GasLink project could mean millions of dollars in contract employment opportunities. Moreover, he demonstrates that the constant blocking of pipelines makes the right to consultation meaningless as it sacrifices the material betterment of people to the desires of the few.

Climate ideologues have been influenced by the likes of Maurice Strong, a Canadian socialist entrepreneur who essentially founded the climate change cause at the United Nations. Ardently believing in the idea of world government as being the most efficient way to save humanity from climate change and the greedy overlords who cause it, Strongs vision has underpinned the famous U.N.-sponsored Earth Charter and ambitious initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreementboth of which have ultimately had little effect, due to the dogmas and empty objectives that pervade them.

Both of these tout sustainable development, which suggests economic growth and environmental betterment are inseparable, but cant get around the problem of developing countries naturally choosing economic growth over any serious environmental commitments out of national interest. The solution, then, is to have the West atone for past climate crimes and put forth the necessary cash to transfer to developing nations, even though countries like China surpass much of the West in emissions and continue to use bugaboos such as coal.

Meanwhile, there has been an ongoing effort to stifle one of Canadas most prized industries in service of climate policies like achieving the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Due to the untenability of a lot of what comes out of the climate change obsession, especially as it relates to the crucial matter of Indigenous reconciliation, this is not a prudent approachneither for the national economy nor First Nations.

Shane Miller is a political writer based in London, Ontario. Follow him at @Miller_Shane94.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Sir, I was interested to read the open letter sent by leaders of Women's Aid and the Women's Equality Party in which they called on the Oxford University Press to abolish its dictionaries' 'sexist' definitions of the word 'woman'.

I share their outrage that the Oxford English Dictionary continues to include synonyms such as 'chick', 'popsy', 'wifie' and 'maid', along with sexist examples such as: 'God, woman, will you just listen?'

The prejudice does not end there. As a leading chicken, I believe the domesticated fowl community has for too long had to suffer the use of the word 'chicken' to mean 'cowardly', eg. 'I bet you wouldn't leap over that stream  you're chicken!'

It so happens that we chickens are well known for our courage and fortitude. History is littered with examples of brave chickens. The time has come for the OED to remove all trace of this singularly waspish definition.

Geoffrey Chicken (ret'd), The Coop, Taunton, Somerset

Pictured: red lobster with vegetable and lemon on black slate (file photo)

As a leading wasp, I take exception to the thoughtless letter above. For centuries, wasps have remained silent while successive dictionaries have offensively defined 'waspish' as 'querulous, testy and peevish'. Of course, no definition could be further from the truth. We wasps pride ourselves on our easy-going charm and good manners, and only sting people and animals as and when it is necessary.

It is time these outdated insults were eradicated. The compilers of the OED must act energetically and decisively. This is no time for sluggishness.

Wendy Wasp, Action on Wasp Abuse, Wimbledon

Pictured: Phil Argent cartoon of crab in scuba gear, printed in September 2011 in the Daily Mail

As chairmollusc for Justice for Slugs, I take grave exception to your previous correspondent.

Contrary to the abusive definition of 'sluggish behaviour' as 'lacking energy, slow to respond', we slugs are, in fact, remarkably alert, energetic creatures, leading busy and productive lives.

Our campaign to end such gratutious insults has suffered from poor funding. Some of us are as poor as church mice. But our struggle will never cease!

Susan Slug, Justice for Slugs, Southwold

As a leading light of the Church Mouse Association, may I say how deeply offended we are by the repetition of the simile 'as poor as church mice'?

Nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of church mice are very comfortably off and our historic nests are the envy of the world. Most of us are able to afford two or three holidays a year and live in some of the country's best abbeys and cathedrals.

It is high time the compilers of the OED stopped being so crabby.

Michael Mouse, Second Hole on the Right, The Old Rectory, Norfolk

Pictured: a lobster fisherman is sorting live lobsters (file photo)

We, the undersigned, wish to object in the strongest possible terms to your previous correspondent's use of the adjective 'crabby' to mean 'irritable and surly'.

The crab community has been subjected to this type of thoughtless abuse for far too long. Enough! Far from being irritable, we are well-known for our sweet nature and generous with our compliments. To suggest otherwise is crabbist and offensive. These catty definitions must cease.

Charles and Caroline Crab, directors of Crustaceans Against Abuse

In this day and age, I find it hard to believe that Mr and Mrs Crab should indulge in their deeply wounding and ill-founded remarks against the cat community.

Through our cuddliness, elegance and calm, cats have become the most popular of all household pets.

If we were in any way gossipy or given to tittle-tattle, as the Oxford English Dictionary definition of 'catty' suggests, then we would never have established such a remarkable reputation. As it is, our owners value our extraordinary sense of discretion.

How dare the Crabs continue to parrot the offensive term 'catty' in its outdated meaning of 'spiteful and malicious'!

Cat Stevens, Cat Deeley and 124 others

Those of us in the pressure group Proud To Be A Parrot are upset by your correspondents' casual use of the verb 'to parrot' in its meaning of 'to repeat mindlessly'.

Parrots are internationally recognised as highly intelligent creatures. We boast many members in Mensa and currently occupy all the key positions in the British Cabinet.

For any dictionary to suggest otherwise is unacceptable. I call on all other members of the animal kingdom to join us in our campagin to fight thoughtless prejudice wherever it occurs.

This is no time to be sheepish.

Pretty Polly Parrot, Portsmouth
No one expected mob wife Roberta Williams to fade quietly into obscurity when her underworld figure husband Carl Williams died in a brutal jail bashing in 2010.

But her latest effort to mark a decade since her husbands death is surprising, even by Carmela Soprano standards. After all, it was only six months ago Williams was spruiking a GoFundMe campaign to fund a reality TV series on her life. But the fundraising hit a hurdle when she was accused of extorting and threatening to kill a producer working on the production.

Those charges are scheduled for a committal hearing in May.

And sadly - or not - the Kardashian-inspired trainwreck never got off the ground.
Amid growing concerns about the coronavirus, Google is now offering G Suite free trials to all customers. Thats based on an announcement made via the companys blog. The goal here, Google says, is to help workers earn their paycheck from home while helping to limit the spread of the virus.

More directly, the company is offering free trials of its services for educators, students, and remote employees. Thats via the offering covering both G Suite and G Suite for Education. So it includes features typically found in the Enterprise variant of those services.

In both cases, the features are geared toward helping keep face-to-face meetings and discussion going, as needed. So the focus here is on advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities.

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The search giant says that getting in on the free trials will unlock larger meetings, to begin with. Those will allow up to 250 participants per call as well as streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain. Moreover, it tacks on the ability to record meetings  which are then saved via Google Drive.

Coronavirus is impacting the industry at large

Among other actions taken by Google in response to coronavirus outside of its free G Suite offerings, the company also recently canceled its annual I/O 2020 event. That also followed confirmation that at least one Googler had been afflicted by the virus.

Now, thats a key event for Google every year. The search giant utilizes the mainstage to talk not just about advances its making in Android but also in the wider developer world. That includes innovation in AI, Chrome, web, and other technology. But it also has served, as of last year, as an announcement platform for Googles midrange Pixel a series handsets.

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The announcement of the cancellation came just weeks after the ticketing for the event went live.

Well beyond Google, other major world events have been negatively impacted as well. Not only did coronavirus herald the cancellation of GSMAs MWC 2020, likely the biggest mobile event annually. It also was cited as a reason for Facebooks cancellation of its F8 Conference, OnePluss decision to hold an online-only launch for the OnePlus 8, and others.

In the interim, major mobile producer Foxconn has also suffered dips in production and demand. Samsung has blamed coronavirus for slow sales of its preeminent new flagship series, the Galaxy S20. And LG was forced to shut down a factory producing mobile phone screens as well.

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That all stacks on top of the virus being blamed for slower software updates and slower phone shipments. So this is impacting the mobile industry as a whole and other industries, rather than only impacting Google.

How long do these G Suite free trials run?

Now, Google obviously has no way to determine just when the need for workers to operate from home will come to an end. But the company is ensuring that its free trials are long-standing rather than short-term, in a bid to counteract that.

In the case of its G Suite Enterprise free trial features, thats going to equate to months rather than weeks. Specifically, the search giant says its free trials will run until July 1, 2020.
department of justice building

REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst

The Justice Department charged 61-year-old Mariam Taha Thompson, a Pentagon linguist, with espionage on Wednesday.

Thompson is accused of transmitting highly classified national-defense information, including information about confidential sources, to a foreign national who is suspected of having ties to the militant organization Hezbollah.

An affidavit attached to the criminal complaint against Thompson said she began accessing classified information in the Pentagon network on December 30 the day after the US launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and the same day protesters stormed the US Embassy in Iraq to protest those strikes.

Thompson continued accessing classified information for six weeks after, until February 10. In that time period, President Donald Trump also ordered the assassination of Iran's top military general, Qassem Soleimani.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Justice Department on Wednesday charged Mariam Taha Thompson, a 61-year-old linguist at the Pentagon, with leaking the identifies of US spies and their methods to a foreign national who is suspected of having connections to the Hezbollah militant group and to whom she was attracted to.

According to a press release, an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint against the defendant said the information Thompson collected and transmitted "included classified national defense information regarding active human assets, including their true names."

"By compromising the identities of these human assets, Thompson placed the lives of the human assets and US military personnel in grave danger," the press release said.

The affidavit, which was signed by FBI Special Agent Danielle Ray, alleged that internal logs showed a "notable shift" in Thompson's computer activity beginning on December 30  the day after the US launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and the same day protesters stormed the US Embassy in Iraq to protest those strikes.

Story continues

According to the affidavit, the logs show Thompson repeatedly accessing classified information on the Pentagon network that she didn't need to.

Specifically, the affidavit said, the defendant accessed "dozens of files concerning human intelligence sources, including true names, personal identification data, background information," and photographs of the sources for six weeks between December 30 and February 10.

In that six-week period, President Donald Trump also authorized the assassination of Iran's top military official, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was a widely revered figure within the country.

Thompson is also accused of accessing classified cables detailing information a source transmitted to the US government.

In total, the Justice Department said Thompson accessed 57 files that contained information about eight intelligence sources.

Thompson was charged in the District of Columbia and is scheduled to make her first appearance Wednesday afternoon before a federal judge.

FBI special agents conducted a legal search of Thompson's home on February 19 and found a handwritten note in Arabic under her mattress, according to the affidavit. The document further alleged that a translation of the note revealed that it contained the names of three confidential assets who were collecting information for the US government and instructed that their phones should be monitored.

It also contained classified information from Defense Department computer systems, as well as a warning to a target affiliated with a foreign terrorist organization tied to Hezbollah, the affidavit said.

The affidavit alleged that Thompson conveyed the classified information from the note to a coconspirator who she was romantically interested in, is suspected of having ties to Hezbollah, and has a relative working for the Lebanese government.

In another communication, the affidavit alleged Thompson transmitted information to her coconspirator that identified another confidential source and the information that person had provided to the US government. She is also accused of detailing techniques the assets used to collect information for the US.

The FBI arrested Thompson on February 27 at a US military facility overseas, where she was a contracted linguist and held top-secret security clearance.

Read the original article on Business Insider
[March 05, 2020] Too Cool for School? Think Again. Ohio Digital Learning School Enrollment is Now Open

The Ohio Digital Learning School (ODLS), a tuition-free online and blended public charter school, authorized by the Ohio Council of Community Schools (OCCS) welcomes families with students in grades 9-12, aged 16-21, who reside in Ohio to enroll for the 2020-2021 school year. Featuring an engaging web-based platform, live online learning sessions, and support from Ohio-licensed teachers and counselors, ODLS offers an individualized approach to learning for students of every ability level, including a competency in helping students who are struggling academically. ODLS serves as a dropout prevention and recovery charter school (DOPR), helping students from traditional schools with diverse learning needs, providing an education option for students who are struggling academically, and offering several programs that address students' individual academic challenges. Credit recovery courses are available for students who need to catch up in a subject, as well as highly targeted remediation sessions to build specific skills. There will also be a college and career-planning component.



"Our focus is helping students recover credits, address learning gaps, and overcome obstacles to successfully complete high school and find their 'PATH' to career and college success," said Kate Harkless, head of school for ODLS. "The online learning environment allows us to meet them wherever they are on their academic journey and get them where they want to go." In addition to online classes, students at every grade level will be encouraged to connect with their peers through school-sponsored activities, including online recognition assemblies and clubs, community outings, and student leadership opportunities.

Resources are available to help ODLS students and families navigate the online and blended learning experience. In addition to scheduled classes, teachers regularly communicate with students and families via phone and email in order to ensure they are supported and appropriately challenged. Students interested in enrolling are encouraged to visit odls.k12.com to find a schedule of upcoming information sessions, or download the free K12 app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Ohio Digital Learning School Ohio Digital Learning School, authorized by the Ohio Council of Community Schools, is a tuition-free online public charter school serving student in grades 9 through 12. As part of the Ohio public school system, ODLS is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the engaging curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ODLS, visit odls.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200305005016/en/

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A petition calling on Washington to take up the case of coronavirus reporter Chen Qiushi, who is being held by the authorities in enforced "quarantine" after he reported from the front line of the COVID-19 epidemic, has garnered tens of thousands of signatures since it was posted last month.



The petition on the White House website also highlights the case of Wuhan citizen journalist Fang Bin, who has stopped reporting since being hauled in for questioning by police after uploading video of dead bodies to social media.



"They published a few videos on WeChat, a popular messaging app among Chinese people, showing what was really happening in Wuhan under the current coronavirus epidemic," the petition text reads.



"Their audience and family members have lost contact with them for a couple of days now," says the petition, which is dated Feb. 8.



Both reporters remain incommunicado amid growing rumors that Chen has died, with a message posted to Twitter calling on people to do all they can to confirm or deny the rumor of Chen's death.



"The authenticity of this rumor can't be verified, but what is true is that nobody is able to contact Chen Qiushi right now," the person, who identified themself as one of Chen's "emergency contacts," says.



"I hope everyone will do everything in their power to confirm Qiushi's health status as soon as possible."



His friend and mixed martial arts (MMA) star Xu Xiaodong said the rumors are untrue, however.



"I can tell you now that Qiushi isn't dead, nor does have have COVID-19," Xu said in a social media post. "I would like to reassure everyone that there's nothing wrong with him at all."



Banned from family contact



Xu said he had official confirmation of Chen's health status, but that it was impossible to say when he would regain his freedom. Chen's family has also been asked not to speak to Xu, he added.



"Qiushi's family are banned from taking any calls from me, through any channel, even WeChat," he said. "I tried to contact his family but they aren't picking up, because they are breaking off contact with me, which has never happened before."



One of Chen's last broadcasts was from the newly built prefabricated hospital in Wuhan, which he had reached on a borrowed electric motor scooter, and which he described as "not fit to house infectious disease patients, as it was obviously designed to be a battlefield hospital."



In a video posted about the events of Jan. 29, Chen had already expressed concerns that the authorities were on his trail.



"I have the coronavirus in my face, and the entire law enforcement system of China on my tail," he said. "But I will carry on reporting from Wuhan for as long as I am still alive."



"If I'm not afraid to die, why would I fear the Communist Party?"



Second reporter detained



Authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last month also detained Li Zehua, a former news anchor with China's state broadcaster CCTV who quit his job to report from the front line of the coronavirus epidemic in the central province of Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital.



Li saw himself as the willing successor of previous citizen journalists who have since disappeared from Wuhan after reporting on the harsh reality of the epidemic for millions of the city's residents.



In one of Li's early videos, he says: "If one Chen Qiushi falls, 10 million more Chen Qiushi's will stand up to take his place."



The ruling Chinese Communist Party is cracking down on earlier signs of original news reporting coming out of Wuhan, replacing frontline video on social media with government-approved narratives about brave "heroes" on the front line.



As millions of people remain confined to their homes in central China, the party's powerful Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission has set up shop in Wuhan to take charge of the stories that emerge from that city, in spite of growing public anger over the lack of transparency in the early stages of the epidemic.



President Xi Jinping's right-hand man and party secretary of the commission Chen Yixin was dispatched to the city last month. A directive detailing the sort of "heartwarming stories" Chen wants to see coming out of Wuhan followed soon after, dated Feb. 18.



The party's central propaganda department has also sent more than 300 journalists to Hubei, of which Wuhan is the provincial capital.



They have been tasked with producing propaganda praising the disease prevention and control effort from the front line.



Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnams Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN), on Mach 4 called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to review its sanctions against South Sudan.

Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnams Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN)

Addressing a meeting of the UNSC in New York, the ambassador spoke highly of the establishment of a transitional government in South Sudan, saying the country would be able to settle pending issues if the political resolve is maintained.

He also lauded the performance of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), including contributions of the Vietnamese peacekeeping force.

UN Secretary Generals Special Representative and head of the UNMISS David Shearer, and Coordinator of the Womens Monthly Forum (WMF) on Peace and Political Processes in South Sudan Betty Sunday reported that the situation in South Sudan has seen progress, with the most noteworthy the formation of the transitional government on February 22 and the reduction in the number of states from 32 to 10 as before 2015.

This reflects the concession, political commitment and the resolve to act for the sake of the country of South Sudans leaders, they said.

However, the transitional government is facing a rage of challenges such as conflicts and violence, particularly sexual assaults against women and girls, millions of homeless people and 7.5 million in need of humanitarian aid.

Shearer affirmed that the UNMISS will continue its operation in South Sudan as the situation remains complex.

UNSC member countries expressed their support for the full implementation of the 2018 peace agreement and called on relevant parties to observe the ceasefire agreement.

They paid special attention to and backed international humanitarian aid to South Sudan. Many suggested the country pay more heed to the exercise of justice during the transitional period, step up anti-corruption, build a transparent financial system, and ensure rights to freedom and the involvement of different social strata, especially women, in national reconstruction./. VNA
For the first time, the Supreme Court will have a vacation bench during the upcoming one-week Holi break to hear urgent matters. Usually, a vacation bench of the apex court only sits during the nearly six-week long summer break in May and June.

New Delhi: For the first time, the Supreme Court will have a vacation bench during the upcoming one-week Holi break to hear urgent matters. Usually, a vacation bench of the apex court only sits during the nearly six-week long summer break in May and June.

Chief Justice SA Bobde said on Thursday that the vacation bench will not sit on the day of Holi but during the other days of the week. The CJI made the statement after advocate Nitya Ramakrishna mentioned for urgent hearing a matter relating to anticipatory bail in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Ramakrishna said there was urgency in the matter as the court is scheduled to go on break for Holi from 9 March and the High Court has granted protection to the accused only till 13 March.

To this, CJI Bobde said that a vacation bench will be constituted for the Holi break, for urgent and "death penalty related cases" that may need to be heard.

The apex court will go on Holi vacation of one week from 9 to 13 March.
We understand that this news may raise questions and concerns. Its important to emphasize that this employee is not showing symptoms and has not tested positive for COVID-19," Village Manager Phil Kiraly said in a statement. "We are following guidance from our local, state and federal health officials and will continue to monitor the employees condition at this time.
The Duchess of Cornwall appeared in good spirits as she joined Roald Dahl's widow Felicity to make a visit to a primary school to celebrate World Book Day today.

Camilla, 72, and Felicity, 81, spoke to children at Bousfield Primary School in Kensington, London, to mark the global event.

The Duchess was greeted by Cassie Chadderton, the chief executive of World Book Day, and headteacher Helen Swain ahead of the royal visit.

Camilla beamed and smiled as she chatted with children at the school to celebrate the literary occasion.

The Duchess of Cornwall, 71, appeared in high spirits as she joined primary school pupils in London today to celebrate World Book Day

The Duchess of Cornwall (right) was joined by Felicity Dahl at Bousfield Primary School in Kensington, London

Camilla is a passionate bookworm and patron of several organisations that support literacy including the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust and First Story.

She joined Felicity as they spoke to an assembly of pupils at the school about the importance of reading.

She appeared in high spirits as the visit, and could be seen smiling as she chatted with children celebrating the occasion.

The women were presented with posies as they joined pupils in their classrooms to mark the day.

The Duchess of Cornwall was greeted by headteacher Helen Swain as pupils and staff celebrated the big day

The Duchess spoke to an assembly of pupils on World Book Day to talk about the importance of reading

Camilla was greeted with flowers by a pupil (left). Felicity appeared beaming as she received flowers from a pupil (right)

Clarence House tweeted this morning: 'Today is #WorldBookDay, when the wonderful world of reading is recognised around the globe.

'The Duchess of Cornwall believes every person, young and old, should be able to share the love of reading.'

Clarence House tweeted this morning: 'Today is #WorldBookDay, when the wonderful world of reading is recognised around the globe'

In the tweet, the Duchess was pictured alongside an illustration of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Sir Quentin Blake in the book written by Roald Dahl.

Felicity, who produced the 1996 film Matilda and the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, both written by her late husband, appeared to get stuck into the literary activities.

Author Anthony Horowitz also joined the royal as he presented a book to pupils at the primary school during a talk

Year two teacher Nicola Castle with Felicity as pupils worked on activities as part of the global event today

The Duchess of Cornwall appeared in high spirits as she spoke with pupils at the school to mark the literary event

She founded the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre tucked away in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, where the author lived until his death in 1990.

The pair were also joined by mystery and suspense author Anthony Horowitz who enthusiastically presented a book to the pupils.

And the primary school has its own literary history as it stands on the site of the Beatrix Potter's house which was destroyed during the Blitz.

In 1988 a blue plaque was erected on the side of the school to commemorate the writer of tales including Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck.

World Book Day is a registered charity to celebrate authors, illustrators and books and is the biggest celebration of its kind.

The royal joined several school children in the classroom throughout her visit, where she advocated the importance of reading

Camilla spoke passionately about the power of reading (left) while she and Felicity also helped a girl with her activity on World Book Day (right)
1. Italy has confirmed that it will shut all schools and universities from Thursday until 15 March, as it battles to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the country's health service risked being overwhelmed. Most of the more than 3,000 cases are in the north but others have been confirmed in 19 of Italy's 20 regions, where the government says 107 people have died of the disease, 28 in the past 24 hours.



2. Iran reports 15 new deaths from the virus, bringing the total there to 92



3. Hospitals in the UK are asked to carry out consultations by video link to reduce the risk of infection



4. World Bank announces $12bn aid package for developing countries struggling with the virus



5. Chile and Argentina report their first cases of coronavirus



6. Hong Kong sends two chartered flights to repatriate citizens from Wuhan, where the outbreak began



7. India limits the export of certain medicines, prompting fears of global shortages of common drugs



8. German airline Lufthansa says it is grounding 150 of its 770 aircraft due to "extraordinary circumstances" in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters news agency reports.

Source: BBC









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Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks while standing with supporters at a campaign event at the W Los Angeles hotel in Los Angeles, California, on March 4, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Joe Biden Wins Maine Democratic Presidential Primary

Former Vice President Joe Biden has won Maines Democratic presidential primary, adding to his list of wins over Super Tuesday.

With 98 percent of votes in, Biden has 34.1 percent, ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanderss (I-Vt.) 32.9 percent. The Associated Press called the race for Biden on Wednesday afternoon.

Biden claimed victory in the New England state on Wednesday afternoon, writing on Twitter: Thank you, Maine!

Sanders, who won Maine with 64 percent in 2016, was forecasted to win the state leading up to Super Tuesday.

This is the 10th state that Biden has won or is projected to win out of the 14 states that held Democratic primaries on Super Tuesday.

He has won or is projected to win the Democratic primaries in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, as well as Minnesota and MassachusettsSen. Elizabeth Warrens home state. The Associated Press also called Bidens victory in Texas in the early hours of Wednesday, after a close race between Biden and Sanders.

Sanders is projected to win in California, the state with the most number of delegates on offer415on Super Tuesday. The Vermont senator also won in his home state, as well as Colorado and Utah, according to The Associated Press.

On Wednesday, Sanders told Democratic voters that they face a serious choice in picking between him and Biden.

What this campaign is, I think, is increasingly about is: which side are you on, Sanders said at a press conference in Burlington, Vermont.

Sanders said that his campaign is about taking on the entire corporate establishment, including insurance, drug, and oil companies, and the entire political establishment, which has been working frantically to defeat us.

Biden, by contrast, is running a campaign with support from both establishments, Sanders alleged. Biden wouldnt bring about the changes needed in the country, he said.

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination after winning no states except for the U.S. Territory of American Samoa over Super Tuesday, despite reportedly spending more than $500 million of his own money on campaign advertising.

Bloomberg is now endorsing Biden for the Democratic nomination. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also endorsed Biden after ending their bids in recent days.

Over a third of delegates, or around 34 percent, were up for grabs in Tuesdays Democratic nominating contests1,357 out of a total of 3,979 pledged delegates nationwide. A Democratic candidate needs to win at least 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot by the partys national convention in July.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Cairo, Egypt & New Delhi, Delhi, India  Business Wire India: Dr. Bina Modi, Chairperson - Modi Enterprises received an Award for Excellence in Business by the Egyptian Government at The Women Economic Forum 2020. The award by Women Economic Forum was presented to Dr. Bina Modi by Dr. Maya Morsy, President of National Council of Women (NCW) a world-renowned Egyptian political scientist and specialist in public policy.

The forum arm of the global network ALL Ladies League (ALL), the Women Economic Forum (WEF) is an international platform enabling women leaders, entrepreneurs, authors, thought leaders and celebrities across the globe to expand business opportunities and enhance personal influence through networking. With over 100,000 members across 150 countries, ALL & WEF are amongst the largest womens network. The event was attended by renowned women like Neerja Birla, Chairperson Aditya Birla Education Trust, Usha Agarwala, Ex-President FICCI Ladies Organisation and led by Dr. Harleen Arora, Global Chairperson, ALL.

Dr. Bina Modi, Chairperson of Modi Enterprises, one of the largest Business Groups in India, has also founded and built several successful brands including Bina Fashions, Ego Chain of Specialty Restaurants, along with luxury and lifestyle businesses. Dr. Bina Modis businesses are contributing to the legacy of US $ 1.5 billion conglomerate, Modi Enterprises. Besides heading her successfully performing companies, she also serves as the President and Managing Director of Godfrey Phillips India Ltd and Chairperson and Managing Director, Indofil Industries Limited.

Dr. Bina Modi was also a speaker along with other prominent participants and shared her vision of creating a more inclusive and inspired future for the Mission Million 2022 on connecting and empowering a Million Women Leaders.

On receiving the recognition, Dr. Bina Modi said, It has been an honor to be part of a prestigious global event by the Women Economic Forum (WEF) and receiving the Award for Excellence from the Egyptian Government. My journey, my experiences, my hard work, my failures and my successes have all merged into creating this path for me to set upon. It is a culmination of my lifes journey and this Award validates that.

Dr. Bina Modi has been awarded the Women of the Decade in Business & Leadership by WEF in 2018, been conferred with the prestigious Achievers Award in 2019 and has also been featured on Indias Most Powerful Women a book by Prem Ahluwalia.

Founded by Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi in 1930s, Modi Enterprises is today multi-billion dollar global conglomerate, expanded and shaped by Mr. K K Modi, the founders eldest son and Chairman of the Group.

The USD 1.5 billion-plus Group has diversified businesses across the country, mainly Modicare (direct selling), Modi Academic International Institute and KK Modi University (education), 24Seven (retail), Colorbar (cosmetics), Dessange (luxury services), Bina Fashions and Ego chain of specialty restaurants (hospitality). Enterprises like Godfrey Phillips India (FMCG) and Indofil Chemicals (agro, specialty and performance chemicals) are renowned leaders in their respective fields.

One of the key strengths of the Group is having one of the largest setups and capabilities for multi-product portfolio and multi-channel distribution in India. The manufacturing facilities of the Group are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, top certifications and incorporate best practices like TQM, Haichi-Ban, 5S, Kaizen Teian etc. The Group has also invested in comprehensive R&D capabilities and state of art facilities at both Godfrey Phillips India and Indofil Chemicals, and also employ some of Indias best scientists and experts.

Modi Enterprises is deeply committed to giving back to society and the environment where it operates in. Besides various CSR initiatives of the companies, the Group has its own Modicare Foundation that promotes education, youth programs, skill development and awareness for women and children. The Group also supports a number of educational institutions, hospital services and charitable trusts.

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by Business Wire India. No HT journalist is involved in creation of this content.

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Bhopal, March 5 : The news of 10 Madhya Pradesh MLAs, being held hostage to destabilise the Kamal Nath government, has created a stir. It's being alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offered Rs 25-35 crore to the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and Independent MLAs each, who were backing the Congress government.

Accusing the BJP of conspiring to topple the Nath government, former MP Chief Minister Digvijay Singh alleged that the MLAs had been taken to Delhi and later shifted to a hotel in Haryana.

However, BSP legislator Ram Bai was "freed" by Jayavardhan Singh, Digvijay Singh's son, and Jeetu Patwari, a Minister, he said.

Meanwhile, statements of some of the legislators "shocked" the Congress as none of them directly accused the BJP of any foul-play.

On Wednesday, of the six MLAs, brought to Delhi from Bhopal in a chartered plane, Sanjeev Singh Kushwaha (BSP) said no BJP leader had contacted him. He also denied that the Congress leaders had "freed" him.

Ram Bai, suspended BSP MLA also denied contacts with the BJP and travelling to Delhi in a chartered plane with them. She said her daughter was not well and she had booked a flight ticket for travelling to Delhi a week ago.

Rejecting the news that she travelled to Delhi with a BJP leader, Ram Bai said as a former BJP Minister was also in the same plane they greeted each other and nothing more. She also rejected reports of misbehaviour with her at hotel as "untrue".

Surendra Singh Shera, an Independent MLA, has also denied being in touch with the BJP leaders. He is in Bengaluru these days and said to be taken there by the BJP. Shera, however, said he came to Bengaluru with his family for his daughter's treatment.

On horse-trading speculations, Shera said, "I am with the government, but the government needs to be asked if it's with me." According to Patwari, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is behind this entire drama, and the Congress MLAs were in regular in touch with him.
The Police Command in Edo state on Wednesday said it has arrested a police inspector, who allegedly shot a civilian, Richard Odia to death in Benin in February.

This Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

Nwabuzor said the state Commissioner of Police, Lawan Jimeta, had directed an immediate orderly room trial (a mechanism for disciplinary action against personnel who erred in service) of the inspector.

He explained that police inspector was serving in Delta Command where he was attached to the Department of Operations and was on special duty to 301 Construction Company, Asaba.



The commands spokesman said the policeman was on escort duty from Asaba to Benin when he shot and killed the deceased.

He also said that the incident happened on Feb. 11 at about 7:00 p.m.

According to Nwabuzor, the police personnel, shot and seriously wounded the deceased with an AK-47 rifle at a road construction site at Asagba boundary on Benin-Auchi expressway, after a misunderstanding.

The deceased was immediately rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), where he unfortunately died on Feb. 12.

The Commissioner of Police, Lawan Jimeta, hereby condoles with the family and friends of late Richard Odia on his untimely death and assures them that justice will prevail in this case.

He has also appealed to them to remain calm and law-abiding as the command under his leadership, holds high premium on human lives.

He has however, invited anyone who witnessed the incident to come and give evidence during the trial because without witnesses, the aim of conducting the orderly room trial will be defeated, he stated.

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Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham, the Mohanlal-Priyadarshan project is gearing up to have a grand release this March. However, the latest reports suggest that the Mohanlal-Priyadarshan directorial is in trouble. Reportedly, the Marakkar family has filed a lawsuit again Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham, seeking to stop the release of the magnum opus.

According to Mufeeda Arafat Markkar, the petitioner who is a descendant of Kunjali Marakkar, the Priyadarshan directorial is distorting the history. The film is showing the historical character in poor light by dressing up the character in a sikh turban with Lord Ganapathy embossed in it. But according to history, Kunjali Marakkar IV used to wear a Turkish model turban.

Similarly, Kunjali Marakkar IV was a bachelor who dedicated his entire life to the country. But in Markkar Arabikadalinte Simham, the character gets a romance track. The Marakkar family feels that the Priyadarshan film should have stayed true to history, as it falls into the category of historical period drama.

However, Mohanlal and Priyadarshan, the lead actor and director of Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham have not responded to the allegations yet. But, Santhosh T Kuruvila, one of the producers of the project has stated that all misconceptions end after the film hits the screens on March 26, Thursday.

The much-awaited official trailer of Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham will be released today (March 6, 2020) at 5 PM by the leading man Mohanlal and Bollywood star Akshay Kumar. The Telugu trailer will be released by megastar Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan, while Suriya will release the Tamil version and KGF actor Yash will reveal the Kannada version.

Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham, which is jointly scripted by Priyadarshan and Ani Sasi, features an extensive star cast including Suniel Shetty, Arjun Sarja, Prabhu Ganesan, Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, Mamukoya, Siddique, director Fazil, Manju Warrier, Pranav Mohanlal, Keerthy Suresh, Kalyani Priyadarshan, and so on in the supporting roles.
Ne York, US (PANA) - Positive developments in South Sudan have moved the country further along the road to sustainable peace, the top UN official there told Security Council members on Wednesday
A 32-year-old man, working as an information technology (IT) professional, was allegedly duped of 12 lakh by a travel agent on the pretext of sending him abroad, police said on Thursday.

The police said the victim, identified as Rupak Kumar, of Noida, alleged that the accused, Tony Sharma, took the money from him to procure permanent residency (PR) of Canada.

According to the police, Tony was an agent working with Future World and assured the victim that he would get a visa for him for 28 lakh. The amount had to be paid in three instalments. However, after paying the first instalment of 12 lakh, the process of filing the application was to begin, but nothing was done by the accused, following which Kumar complained to police.

Based on Kumars complaint, the Sector 34 police have registered a case under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code against Tony.
The percentage of offenders returning to prison after they are paroled is now the lowest it has ever been in Michigan history.

The current recidivism rate is 26.7 percent, based on data gathered by the Michigan Department of Corrections tracking individuals released from prison in 2016.

State corrections reforms, jail-diversion programs and specialty courts are among the reasons for the improvement, according to state officials.

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist credits MDOC Director Heidi Washington with bringing Michigan to this important milestone.

Incarceration affects more than just the person going to prison  it impacts whole families and entire communities," he said in a statement. "That is why it is important for us to focus on smart reforms, like those made at the MDOC, so fewer people return to prison or find themselves there in the first place.

In 1998, the rate was nearly twice as much at 45.7 percent.

The current rate is down from last years 29.1 percent rate, which at the time was the second lowest rate since the state began tracking the three-year rates. The previous low was in 2018 at 28.1 percent.

The smart reforms made at MDOC since Washington started in 2015 include the Vocational Village, which trains low risk inmates in various skilled trades. But she also changed the mission of the department, said MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz.

RELATED: MichMash: The overlooked people struggling to find a place to live

That includes diversion programs and specialty courts that give judges more sentencing options than just prison.

If they do get sent to prison, their first day of prison is their first day of re-entry, Gautz said. We start talking to them right away about what their expectations are, what they need to do while theyre in prison in order to be able to get a potential parole at their release date, we assess what their risks and their needs are when they first come to us and then tailor programs or put them in programs that address those needs."

Gautz said the true mark of success for MDOC is not having as many repeat customers as it has in the past.

When you have fewer people coming back to prison that means you have less crime taking place, it means that you have safer communities, fewer victims and ultimately a reduction in the amount of tax dollars that have to come into our department to house individuals, Gautz said. So even if you arent connected in any way to the criminal justice system or dont know anybody who has been in prison or been on parole, this is affecting you as well.

One way to help ensure that a parolee doesnt re-offend is to ensure stability. The department has focused on employment in the past, but an increased need for affordable, stable housing has led the departments Offender Success program to focus more on finding places for ex-offenders to live.

RELATED: Ex-offenders struggle to find housing in Grand Rapids hot market

The department determined this years rate first by looking at how many people were paroled throughout 2016. Then it tracked every person for a full three years and looked to see whether each person returned to prison.

The data is broken down into regions and individual counties. Region 7, which includes just Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties, had the highest recidivism rate at 29 percent. Region 1, which includes 15 counties in northern Michigan, including Mackinac, Marquette, and Chippewa had the lowest rate at 21.2 percent.

West Michigans Region 4 had some of the highest recidivism rates in the state at 27.5 percent. Kent County had the third-lowest success rate in the region, after Newaygo and Osceola. The region as a whole had the third-highest recidivism rate in the state. Region 10 is composed of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties with a rate of 27.8 percent, compared to West Michigans 13 counties at 27.5 percent.

There are two ways ex-offenders can fail on parole. Either they commit a new crime and receive a new prison sentence or the parole agent finds that they have violated parole to the extent that it warrants the person going back to prison.

We actually brought more people back ourselves than the courts sent back to us, Gautz said. Were bringing back the people that need to come back."

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A student was evacuated from a Plymouth, Massachusetts, hospital with flu-like symptoms while a group of school community members were asked to isolate themselves after traveling to Italy due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, authorities announced Thursday.

School officials were notified late Wednesday evening by the towns fire department that the student was evaluated at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, released and sent home. The individual will continue to be monitored, according to Gary Maestas, superintendent of Plymouth Public Schools.

The student was a member of the group that traveled to Milan, Italy, during out most recent break, Maestas wrote in a letter to the school community. We have been in close contact with our partner school in Milan.

The respiratory infection, dubbed COVID-19, originated in Wuhan, China, but the threat of the disease has rapidly grown in other countries, including Iran, Italy and South Korea. More than 2,502 coronavirus cases and 80 deaths have been confirmed in Italy, according to the World Health Organizations most recent situation report.

More than 100 people have been diagnosed with the illness In the United States, and around 10 patients have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths were reported in California and Washington state. Two COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Massachusetts. A University of Massachusetts Boston student and a Norfolk County woman are recovering from the sickness currently.

Health experts have urged those who have contracted the coronavirus to avoid spreading the disease by self-quarantining themselves for several days.

Eighteen students and staff from a high school in Marion were also asked to isolate themselves after traveling to southern Italy recently. No one from the the group has prevented symptoms of the virus, school officials said.

The students and chaperones in Plymouth who traveled to Italy have been asked to stay home as well. Custodial and maintenance staff continue to sanitize buildings to the highest level possible, said Maestas.

We will continue to work in conjunction with the Plymouth Board of Health, local and state agencies to help guide us through this recent development, the superintendent said in his letter.

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Doctors are urging the public to clean their smartphones as often as they wash their hands in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The medics made the plea on Thursday's edition of Good Morning America, where a 'Coronavirus Command Center' was set up with multiple experts answering questions from anxious viewers.

One doctor declared that smartphones can carry thousands of germs, and failure to frequently wipe down devices might mitigate the effects of regular hand washing.

'As many times as you wash your hands today, you can consider wiping down your phone. They get pretty dirty,' the expert advised, adding that people should thoroughly wipe the front, back and sides of their smartphones.

The medics say alcohol wipes, such as those produced by Lysol, are most effective as they contain active ingredients that kill more than 99% of bacteria.

Doctors are urging the public to clean their smartphones as often as they wash their hands in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus

Q: How often should we be cleaning our phones?



A: Dr. Mel @ABCNewsHealth pic.twitter.com/Vupyj8SVU3  Good Morning America (@GMA) March 5, 2020

Meanwhile, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton also advised viewers to regularly wipe down computer keyboards and pens.

She similarly urged people to use the same type of alcohol wipes, and said the items still need to be cleaned even if they aren't used by multiple people.

The cautions come amid fears that coronavirus could live on surfaces for up to two weeks.

While Dr. Ashton declared that had not been proven, she stated that it's still sensible for the public to take precautions.

Elsewhere during her appearance on Thursday's edition of GMA, the medical expert stated that the coronavirus epidemic is moving too quickly to have an accurate death and illness rate.

In the US, more than 170 cases have been confirmed and 11 deaths, in California and Washington, have occurred

On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation announced the global mortality rate of the virus jumped to 3.4 percent, up from the previously reported two percent.

But Dr. Ashton said that people should not be panicking over the revised numbers.

'This is a dynamic and evolving situation,' Dr. Ashton stated.

'We're collecting data literally by the hour and that mortality rate depends on the denominator. It depends on how many people are truly infected and that number is still unknown.'

She said the rate is subject to change constantly because researchers don't know the exact number of people who've fallen ill. Pictured: Dr Ashton (left) speaks to Amy Robach (right)

Dr Ashton echoed the words of federal health officials, who've told Congress that it's still too early to determine US death rates from coronavirus.

During a meeting of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it's too early to report the rate because it's unknown how many have been infected with the disease.

He explained that researchers are still trying to work out the exact number of people who've fallen ill, because some may be asymptomatic.

As of lunchtime Thursday, more than 170 Americans have tested positive to coronavirus, with a majority of the cases clustered on the west coast.

Eleven American have died in relation to the virus - with all but one of the victims located in Washington state.

Worldwide, more than 96,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 3,300 people have died in relation to the illness

The higher death rate among older people likely indicates that the older patients either had other diseases at the time they were infected, weaker immune systems, or just worse overall health. Pictured: An equipment service worker sprays a disinfectant throughout a metro bus at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base, March 4
Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Constable Wayne Thompson has a message for animal abusers: If you have animals that you abuse, we will come after you, and you will be arrested and prosecuted for those crimes.

On Feb. 28, the Fort Bend County Constables Office Precinct 3 and the Houston Humane Societys Animal Cruelty Task Force seized 227 animals from a residence at the 2000 block of Saddlehorn Trail in Katy. This cruelty case is the largest of its kind in the county to date. The case is still ongoing, but according to Thompson, the suspect in the case appears to have been an animal hoarder.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Animal Cruelty Task Force seizes more than 200 animals from Katy home

On March 3, representatives from the constables office, district attorneys office, judges office and multiple animal welfare groups hosted a press conference to discuss the seizure and updates in the case.

According to Dr. Tony Malone, medical director of the Houston Humane Society, the animals consisted of ferrets, rats, dogs, cats, turtles, fish and birds. Some of the animals were deceased on scene, and some others died in transit from the property. The surviving animals are currently being treated by the Houston Humane Society.

MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox

The constables office animal cruelty task force is a nascent addition to law enforcement in Fort Bend County. The first full time cruelty investigator position was filled Oct. 1, 2019. According to Thompson, his office has the only law enforcement animal cruelty task force in the county.

Fort Bend County Judge KP George coordinated with the constables office to make sure law enforcement officers were able to move quickly to rescue the animals, which were in various states of health. George was part of the collaborative effort to initiate the task force, Thompson said.

The investigation began as a noise complaint from a neighbor. The responding officer stated that the homeowner was cooperative, but the officer noticed many ill or injured animals on the property and a strong smell of urine and feces. George quickly signed off on a warrant, and the task force returned the next day to remove the animals.

If you are abusing animals, we are going to catch you, and we are going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, George said.

Rene Vazquez, director of Fort Bend Animal Services added that before the task force was established, his organization had no way of handling cruelty cases.

Were there for the animals, so were there trying to help them, but we had no animal cruelty officer for Fort Bend at the time, Vazquez said. Now when we receive (cruelty) calls, we pass them off to the constables office, so its been a partnership.

Charges against the homeowner have not yet been filed because the animals are still being assessed. According to Thompson, the homeowner is also undergoing a psychological evaluation. The homeowner, who is described as a white female over the age of 60, has been cooperative with authorities.

Assistant District Attorney Sherry Robinson explained that any charges against the homeowner will be based on the final assessment of the animals and will take into account the owners mental state. Depending on the conditions of the animals and (the owners) state of mind, as far as whether she was intentionally abusing these animals  will be the determination of whether its a felony or misdemeanor, she said.

Dr. Carolyn Bender is the primary staff veterinarian at Houston Humane Society assigned to the case. Bender stated that all the animals are currently being treated, but the results of the investigation will determine the fate of the animals. If the owner surrenders her ownership of the animals willingly or if her ownership is legally revoked, the animals will be evaluated for the potential for adoption, and the Houston Humane Society will attempt to rehome them. Animals that are too sick or are unsuitable for adoption will be humanely euthanized, according to Michelle Turner from the Fort Bend County Attorneys Office. There is also a possibility that the animals could be returned to their owner.

In the meantime, the Houston Humane Society is in need of food and monetary donations to care for the animals. Bender estimated that the costs for the animals in the seizure will be more than $100,000. To donate to the Houston Humane Society to help the animals in the seizure, visit www.houstonhumane.org.

To report animal cruelty, contact the Harris County Animal Cruelty Task Force at (832) 927- PAWS.

claire.goodman@chron.com
E nglands top doctor is set to be grilled by MPs after the UK was hit by its biggest day-on-day spike in coronavirus cases.

It comes after officials warned that a UK epidemic looked likely, with the number of confirmed patients rising to 87.

Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty is due to appear before the Health and Social Care Committee on Thursday.

MPs will quiz Prof Whitty on how well prepared the UK is to deal with the impact of a possible global pandemic.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty (left), Boris Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific officer / Jeremy Selwyn

Among the 36 cases confirmed on Wednesday alone were two recent patients of King's College Hospital in South London.

Elsewhere, Italy is closing all schools and universities as it continues its fight against the most serious coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

Some 107 people have now been killed by the deadly illness in the country, which has also banned fans from attending all professional sport fixtures.

Globally, there are now more than 93,000 cases, with more than 3,000 deaths.

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

Government scientific experts predict the UK's coronavirus outbreak could last for around four to six months.

Three of the new cases recorded in England were passed on in the UK, raising fears that community transmission may now be taking hold.

The Department of Health has been updating the UK figures daily, with one Northern Ireland case among the 85 recorded at 2pm on Wednesday.

Nurse during a demonstration of the Coronavirus pod and COVID-19 virus testing procedures / PA

However, Northern Ireland later confirmed two more cases, taking the UK total to 87.

Earlier, Prof Whitty told the BBC there could be a need to do "extreme things" to protect the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.

He added: "At this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the UK."

But he stressed that for most people, "this will be a mild or moderate disease, anything from a sniffle to having to go to bed for a few days, rather like with mild flu".

Two more cases of the coronavirus confirmed in Northern Ireland

Prof Whitty suggested that shutting down cities in the UK would not be effective now.

He said: "Closing cities is really only appropriate if you have a significant epidemic in one particular place and almost nothing anywhere else.

"It made sense for China to respond in the way it did, but it would be very unlikely here ... This is now in multiple places in Europe and around the world."

As cases in the UK climb, the Department of Health said it would no "longer be tweeting information on the location of each new case".

It said: "Instead, this information will be released centrally in a consolidated format online, once a week.

We are working on this now and plan to share on Friday."

Meanwhile Boris Johnson said plans would soon be revealed on how the Government intends to delay the advance of coronavirus in Parliament and other large gatherings.

It comes as The Times reported a senior parliamentary source said the Commons and Lords could shut for up to five months to prevent MPs spreading the illness.

Britons who have returned from the Costa Adeje Hotel in Tenerife since Monday have been advised to self-isolate after a case of coronavirus was diagnosed at the hotel on March 2.

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

The London Book Fair at Olympia from March 10 to 12 was cancelled after major publishers pulled out amid coronavirus fears.

Four new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland, taking the total number of cases to six.

The two male and two female patients, from the western part of the country, were all "associated with travel" from the same affected area in northern Italy.

A letter to NHS trusts has also been published telling them to ramp up their plans for tackling Covid-19, including seeing patients via video link.

It sets out that a level 4 NHS incident has been declared - the highest level - meaning extra steps are needed.

A new Government publicity campaign seeks to drive home the message that regular hand-washing is the single most important action individuals can take in the fight against Covid-19.